Greece Archives - Page 13 of 34

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered 400 rock-cut chamber tombs that date to 1,800 years ago and make up part of one of the largest rock-cut chamber tomb necropolises in the world.”

There is controversy over a renovation plan for the Bodrum Museum which would relocate the famous shipwrecks of the Museum of Underwater Archaeology in order to convert the space into a mosque.

The ancient city of Dolichiste was a thriving Lycian trading hub until it was partially submerged in the Byzantine period.

The tombs of gladiators in Ephesus shed light on our knowledge of the ancient warriors.

An Italian archaeologist who has been excavating in Turkey for 30 years is ready to retire.

“During the excavation of the now-famous northwest corner of Rameses III’s fortress from the first half of the 12th century BCE, archaeologists unexpectedly came across two more fortress walls covering each other.”

New exhibit at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis: “Writing in Three Dimensions: Myth and Metaphor in Ancient Egypt,” through November 29.

Personal letters provide insight into the lives of ancient Egyptians.

Archaeologists have made what they are calling a “sensational” new find with the discovery of a skeleton a step away from the sea at Herculaneum.

A Lebanese official has been caught with antiquities looted from Syrian museums in his office.

“Escape to the past and explore true crime in antiquity during a free week-long online experience of the Getty Villa Museum’s annual College Night.”

Leon Mauldin has recently returned from a tour of Greece and Turkey, and he shares photos of Assos and Corinth.

Thomas Parker, director of several archaeological projects in Jordan, passed away suddenly last month.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, A.D. Riddle, Paleojudaica, Explorator, BibleX

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Museums, New Exhibits, Sad News, Syria, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a collection of ancient tools that were used in religious rituals from the Temple of the Pharaohs (Boto) in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate north of Cairo.

The tomb of King Djoser in Saqqara has been reopened after restoration.

“A mass grave uncovered in Sidon, Lebanon, has shed new light on the Crusades and on the cruelty of medieval warfare.”

The United Nations announced that a 3,500-year-old tablet containing the Epic of Gilgamesh was returned this week to Iraq.

Most of Iran’s 746 museums have reopened after being closed due to Covid.

Istanbul’s Hisart Live History Museum covers a wide range of historical periods and features a large collection of diorama art.

“A team of Polish archaeologists in Nea Paphos, Cyprus have unearthed a 1,500-year-old two-sided amulet depicting a palindrome inscription written in ancient Greek.”

A digital interactive guide has been launched to provide visitors with information about the 205 archaeological museums in Greece.

Zoom lecture on Oct 6: “Alexander the Great: His Career, Character, and What Made Him ‘Great,’” by Jennifer Tobin.

Zoom webinar on Oct 13-15: “Work/Life: Institutions, Subjectivities and Human Resources in the Roman World,” hosted by the NYU Center for Ancient Studies.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Arne Halbakken, Joseph Lauer, Explorator, Charles Savelle

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Lectures, Museums, Persia, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Researchers in Saudi Arabia have discovered a sixth-century B.C.E. rock carving of the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus” along with a lengthy cuneiform inscription.

“Beneath the murky waves of the Venice Lagoon, researchers have discovered the remains of an ancient Roman road and other possible port facilities, like a dock, that may predate the founding of the Italian city.”

“A spectacular ancient mosaic floor that was part of a building from the Hellenistic period is among the important finds from excavations carried out recently at Fabrika Hill in Kato Paphos, Cyprus.” The photo is apparently not of the newly discovered mosaic.

NPR has a story on what lies below ground in Istanbul.

“Work has begun to refurbish the old Acropolis Museum near the iconic Parthenon temple and turn it into an exhibition space.”

“Held annually on [Turkey’s] Aegean coast, the Selcuk camel-wrestling festival is part of a nomadic legacy rooted in ancient Turkic tribes.”

“Between the years 193 – 235, the Roman Empire was ruled by a series of emperors who were originally Phoenicians.”

The new director of Michigan State University’s excavations at Isthmia has developed a new website to share both old and new research with the public. The website is here.

The US government has seized the Museum of the Bible’s Gilgamesh Tablet, declaring that it was illegally deported from Iraq.

Death by stoning is not so common these days, especially in the United States. But that’s how a gunman in Texas recently died.

Zoom lecture on August 29: “From Standing Stones to Sacred Emptiness: Textual and Visual Portrayals of Israel’s God,” by Theodore Lewis.

University College London and King’s College London are co-hosting an eLecture series in August, entitled Ancient Near Eastern Languages in Contact (ANELC). The first eLecture will take place on Wednesday 4 August from 16:00 until 17:00 BST (London), when Dr. Ohad Cohen of the University of Haifa will be speaking on “The Canaanite Melting Pot – The Theoretical Implications of ‘Languages in Contact’ to the Understanding of Late Biblical Hebrew.”

New release: The City of Babylon: A History, c. 2000 BC – AD 116, by Stephanie Dalley

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Wayne Stiles, Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Explorator, Mark Hoffman, Roger Schmidgall, Paleojudaica

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Arabia, Discoveries, Greece, Italy, Lectures, Mediterranean Islands, Mesopotamia, Museums, Resources, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

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A BBC Travel special reveals the scientific explanation to the deadly gases of the Ploutonion at Hierapolis. The story includes beautiful photos.

Excavations are underway at Claros, site of an ancient oracle in western Turkey.

After several years of restoration, the warren of corridors beneath the Colosseum floor has been opened to the public.

My Modern Met tells the story of a massive scale model of Rome that took about 35 years to build. Unfortunately, the Museum of Roman Civilization where it is housed has been closed for many years.

Caroline Wazer summarizes a recent study about slave collars in ancient Rome.

Brent Nongbri has written a guide to bookshops in Rome in the first century.

Greece has announced plans for five new or upgraded museums in Chios, Trikala, Sparta, Thyrreio and Ermioni.

A registry of all archaeological sites in Greece is now available online.

“Russia has begun a project to rehabilitate Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra in its latest efforts to gain a foothold in the country’s vital sectors.”

A CNN video documents the restoration of antiquities destroyed in the Beirut port blast.

“Egyptian police on Thursday arrested a former lawmaker and 17 other suspects on charges of illegal excavation and smuggling of 201 Pharaonic, Greek and Roman artifacts.”

Two people died while illegally excavating near the Giza pyramids.

Episode 1 of Ancient Lives on the Nile premieres on YouTube on July 9 at 5:00 pm Eastern.

Michele Cammarosano and Katja Weirauch explain the value and use of wax boards in the ancient Near East.

“The Painters of Pompeii” is an exhibit of 80 artifacts and artworks shown exclusively by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art from June 26 to October 17.

I found Bryan Windle’s interview of Mark Wilson to be very interesting and helpful.

HT: Agade, Ted Weis, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Ferrell Jenkins, Gordon Franz, Charles Savelle, Alexander Schick, Explorator, Paleojudaica, Chris McKinny

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Museums, Syria, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“Archaeologists believe that a 2,300-year-old jar from Ancient Greece containing the bones of a dismembered chicken was likely used as part of a curse to paralyze and kill 55 people in Athens.”

“A multinational team of archaeologists and scientists is reassessing the history of sea-level change in the Eastern Mediterranean based on underwater excavation and photogrammetry at sites on Israel’s Carmel coast.”

“An Egyptian archaeological mission is preparing to launch an excavation project in Saudi Arabia after several discoveries showed that ancient Egyptian King Ramses III had a presence in the Arabian Peninsula.”

Turkish Archaeological News has a roundup of stories from the month of May.

“The Covid-19 pandemic, however, has offered these thieves new opportunities to raid closed archeological sites, churches and museums [in Italy] for priceless artifacts while police are reassigned to enforce lockdowns.”

First discovered in 2015, a cache of Roman coins dating from 200 BCE to 27 BCE are now on display at the Santa Maria della Scala Museum in Siena, Italy.

A replica of Noah’s Ark has been deemed unseaworthy and is prohibited from leaving port.

Charles Aling is on The Book and the Spade discussing “Post-Exodus Disruptions in Egypt.”

Carl Rasmussen shares photos from “The Grotto of Paul” at Ephesus, including ancient paintings of Paul and Thecla.

If you’ll be at the Infusion Bible Conference this week, stop by the BiblePlaces table and say hi to Kris Udd and me. I haven’t had a chance to meet many roundup readers this past year, but our team has used the time to create some great new photo collections.

HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator, Charles Savelle, Paleojudaica

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Arabia, Discoveries, Egypt, Greece, Israel's Coast, Lectures, Museums, Turkey, Weekend Roundup

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

“A more than 4,000-year-old artificial mound in Syria may be the world’s earliest known war memorial.”

Hobby Lobby is suing former Oxford University professor Dirk Obbink to recover $7 million it paid him for artifacts that he allegedly stole.

A Smithsonian photographer joined a family following the ancient migration path across the Zagros Mountains in western Iran.

Certain artifacts to be loaned by the National Museum of Iran for the “Epic Iran” exhibit in London never arrived.

Portable X-ray fluorescence analysis is a rapid, inexpensive technique that may allow researchers to understand the archaeological record of a site without excavating. The underlying journal article is here.

Zoom lecture on June 9: “Warfare and Mercenary Forces in the Age of Amorites,” by Aaron Burke

International Conference (online) on June 8-10: Multifaceted Edom. Recent Research on Southern Transjordan in the Iron Age from an Archaeological and Cultural-Historical Perspective

As part of the Noah Symposium held at the University of Sirnak, Timo Roller spoke on the history of pilgrimage to Cudi Dagh, a possible landing place of Noah’s Ark. Roller has a couple of posts about the symposium (in German).

Orbis is a useful tool for exploring the Roman world, including determining travel times in 14 different modes in the New Testament era.

Carl Rasmussen shares photos of Cenchrea, a port of Corinth, as well as a very unusual find of glass panels depicting the harbor.

Bryan Windle reviews the latest edition of Mark Wilson’s Biblical Turkey. He also reveals why you may not (yet) want to get rid of your previous edition.

HT: Agade, Joseph Lauer, Arne Halbakken, Steven Anderson, Charles Savelle

Tagged Antiquities Trade, Greece, Jordan, Lectures, Museums, Persia, Resources, Syria, Technology, Turkey, Weekend Roundup