Archaeologists and Art Restorers Find Oldest Paintings of Apostles

ROME (REUTERS).- Archaeologists and art restorers using new laser technology have discovered what they believe are the oldest paintings of the faces of Jesus Christ’s apostles. The images in a branch of the catacombs of St Tecla near St Paul’s Basilica, just outside the walls of ancient Rome, were painted at the end of the 4th century or the start of the 5th century. Archaeologists believe these images may have been among those that most influenced later artists’ depictions of [...]

For Sale: One of the Most Significant Archaeological Projects of Recent Times

LONDON.- One of the most significant archaeological projects of recent times – a reconstruction of the great Orpheus pavement – is to be sold by Chorley’s on Thursday, 24th June 2010. Made from 1.6 million pieces of small, hand-cut clay blocks called tesserae, the 2,200 square foot (205 square metre) mosaic took 10 years for brothers Bob and John Woodward to complete. The Roman period was one of great prosperity for Britain and Gloucestershire was no exception. Large settlements were [...]

Archaeological Team’s Radar Reveals Extent of Buried Ancient Egypt City

CAIRO (AP).- An Austrian archaeological team has used radar imaging to determine the extent of the ruins of the one time 3,500-year-old capital of Egypt’s foreign occupiers, said the antiquities department Sunday. Egypt was ruled for a century from 1664-1569 B.C. by the Hyksos, a warrior people from Asia, possibly Semitic in origin, whose summer capital was in the northern Delta area. Irene Mueller, the head of the Austrian team, said the main purpose of the project is to determine [...]

Moctezuma II Exhibition Opens and Experts Hope to Uncover an Emperor’s Tomb Soon

MEXICO CITY (AP).- Archaeologists found some of the richest and most unusual Aztec offerings ever in excavations under a mammoth slab depicting an earth goddess and said Wednesday they hope to uncover an emperor’s tomb nearby. The seven offerings of strange and unparalleled oddities found under the stone slab depicting the goddess Tlaltecuhtli include the skeleton of a dog or wolf dressed in turquoise ear plugs, jadeite necklaces and golden bells on its feet. The 4-meter (13-foot) long carving of [...]

French Engineer Saves Damascus Treasures

DAMASCUS (REUTERS).- When French engineer Jacques Montlucon bought one of the famed, centuries-old courtyard houses of Old Damascus six years ago he had no idea it contained an architectural marvel. But Montlucon, who has restored artifacts from the Titanic and helped rescue goods from a sunken Napoleonic merchant ship, has a knack for uncovering the unexpected. “I was removing the heavy varnish covering the wood-paneled walls in the iwan (reception room) when figures of painted strange birds, monsters and castles [...]

More than 100 Impressive and Intact Ancient Cultic Vessels were Found

JERUSALEM.- A natural hollow in the bedrock that was exposed in archaeological excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority prior to the installation of the northern gas pipeline by the Israel Natural Gas Lines Company, at the foot of Tel Qashish (Tell el Qassis), did not cease to provide ancient surprises. For two weeks archaeologists of the Israel Antiquities Authority excavated the contents of the rock-hollow and removed from it more than 100 intact cultic vessels and other extraordinary items that [...]

Ancient Pottery Tradition Rediscovered & Transformed at Crystal Bridges

BENTONVILLE, ARK.- More than 50 years ago young Juan Quezada stumbled upon ceramic fragments from a lost civilization. Come see how this chance discovery inspired Quezada and the people of Mata Ortíz, Mexico to revive the art of their ancestors and bring new economic life to their tiny village. Both contemporary pottery handcrafted by artists from Mata Ortíz and the centuries-old ceramics that inspired the revival are featured in Transforming Tradition: Pottery from Mata Ortíz, organized by The Field Museum [...]

Mexican Archaeologists will Return to Egypt

MEXICO CITY.- After 5 years of uninterrupted archaeological, restoration and iconographic interpretation work, the Mexican delegation in charge of conservation at the Theban Tomb 39, in Egypt, will begin the 6th field season in September 2010. The goal is to open the site to public in 2013. Exploration at the Theban Tomb 39 continues to the exterior of it, since work at the interior is concluded, informed Dr. Angelina Macias Goytia, researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History [...]

Spain’s Cultural Ministry to Reopen Caves of Altamira Despite Scientists’ Warnings

MADRID (AP).- A cave complex boasting prized prehistoric paintings will reopen after eight years of closure, despite scientist’s warnings that heat and moisture from human visitors damage the site known as the Sistine Chapel of Paleolithic Art. The Culture Ministry and the site’s board of directors said Tuesday that visits to the Caves of Altamira in the northern Cantabria region will resume next year, although on a still-unspecified, restricted basis. The main chamber at Altamira features 21 bison painted in [...]

Offerings to Tlaltecuhtli to be Exhibited at Moctezuma II

MEXICO CITY.- Nearly a hundred Prehispanic objects deposited by Mexica as offerings dedicated to Tlaltecuhtli, goddess of the Earth, will be displayed for the first time at the exhibition Moctezuma II. Tiempo y Destino de un Gobernante (Moctezuma II. Time and Destiny of a Ruler), to be open in the second half of June 2010 in Templo Mayor Museum. The pieces exhibited at the show organized by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) are part of 16 offerings [...]

Athens’ Parthenon Scaffold-Free for First Time in Years

ATHENS.- Visitors to Athens have a rare window of opportunity to see the showpiece Parthenon temple on the ancient Acropolis without scaffolding for the first time in nearly 30 years as a major restoration work nears completion. The Greek government launched a project to restore the Parthenon and other buildings on the world heritage site in 1975, but it was not until 1983 that work started. Scaffolding has been up somewhere around the ancient temple ever since. But from now [...]

An Impressive Gold Coin from the Reign of Napoleon III was Discovered

JERUSALEM.- In an archaeological excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, which was conducted on Koifman Street in north Yafo, prior to infrastructure work by NTA – Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd, an impressive gold coin from the reign of Napoleon III was uncovered. The ten franc coin was minted in Paris in 1856, at the time of the Second French Empire, and is made of almost completely pure gold (93%). The image appearing on the obverse is that [...]

A Magnificent Pagan Altar was Exposed at the Barzilai Hospital Compound

JERUSALEM.- The development work for the construction of a fortified emergency room at Barzilai Hospital, which is being conducted by a contractor carefully supervised by the Israel Antiquities Authority, has unearthed a new and impressive find: a magnificent pagan altar dating to the Roman period (first-second centuries CE) made of granite and adorned with bulls’ heads and a laurel wreaths. The altar stood in the middle of the ancient burial field. According to Dr. Yigal Israel, Ashkelon District Archaeologist of [...]

57 Ancient Tombs with Mummies Unearthed by Archeologists in Egypt

CAIRO (AP).- Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday. The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt’s first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong to the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C. The discovery throws new light on Egypt’s ancient religions, the [...]

Russian Dagestan Village Defies Odds with Ancient Art

KUBACHI, RUSSIA (REUTERS).- The cacophony of hammered silver reverberates through the sole school of this tiny village nestled in the lush and craggy Caucasus mountains of Russia’s deeply turbulent Muslim region of Dagestan. Villagers in Kubachi, whose population is a mere 2,300, boast that every man, woman and child has mastered the ancient tradition of delicate silverwork, first brought to the region by Persian traders almost two millennia ago. Teacher Kultum Kutsulova, clad in a flowing white hijab decorated with [...]