Archaeology · Faith · Science · People
There is a theory that the body of Alexander the Great lies in Venice, passing as the relics of Saint Mark. The legend arises from the fact that in the 9th century the Venetians removed the relics of the Evangelist Mark from Alexandria and placed them in St Mark'
Archaeology · Art · Books · Heritage
In this case we are dealing with a monument described in the books: a funerary urn of the early 4th century BC bearing the image of the spirit of the deceased and of a guardian spirit. As you can see, the present state of the sculptural group differs markedly from
Archaeology · In the Press · London · Science
Beneath the Palace of Westminster, flint tools of the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras, about 6,000 years old, have been found, together with artefacts dating from the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages In Shaanxi Province in China, a network of 573 ancient stone fortifications has been found, the earliest
NB! · Archaeology · Architecture · Art · Science
It turns out that the famous lions over the main gate of the Mycenaean citadel, dated to the mid-13th century BC, were in fact looking backwards, not at one another. It is also thought that the lions' heads, which have not survived, were made of a different material,
Archaeology · Observations · Mores · Ethnography
President of Finland Tarja Halonen in the historical Eura dress at the annual Independence Day reception in 2001. The dress is an exact reconstruction of the attire of a Viking Age woman, found in a Viking burial at Eura in western Finland. Just imagine loving your country and your people
Archaeology · Science · Humour
A galleon filled to the brim with gold has been found in the Caribbean, yet the scientists somehow report that all they have managed to raise from the treasure ship is a piece of rope, some broken cups, three coins and a cannon. Curious, is it not? In the Caribbean
Archaeology · The East · Art · Museums · Observations
It is incredible that these objects were made in the 1300s BC and earlier. I can quite easily picture the golden couches in the form of lions and buffaloes, the busts of the celestial cow, the chests, the statues and the Nile barges sailing into the interior of my flat
Archaeology · The East · Science
Around the Dioscuri one can still read the inscription BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛOY EYKRATIΔOY, that is, "of the Great King Eucratides", ruler of Bactria in 171–145 BC. The Greco-Bactrian king ruled territories that included present-day Afghanistan, in the Hellenistic kingdom that arose from the conquests of Alexander
Archaeology · Heritage · Society
The operation was carried out by law enforcement and judicial officers from Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and the United Kingdom. Thirty-five people were arrested and more than 3,000 artefacts seized, including works of art, weapons, gold and cash, with a combined value exceeding €100 million. The authorities
Archaeology · The East · Museums
Six chairs in all were found in the tomb. This one is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Its state of preservation is fairly good; inside the tomb it stood in the chamber usually called the Antechamber, beneath one of the ceremonial beds, the Lioness Bed, together with several
Archaeology · Art · Museums · Science
It turns out that the original version of the sculpted portrait of Nefertiti had wrinkles. This was shown by a CT scan of the bust carried out in 2006, which revealed a second sculpture carved into the limestone core beneath the plaster. The inner face proved to be more realistic:
Archaeology · Faith · Geography · Books · Science
Plutarch, On the Pythian Oracles Yet neither Plutarch nor Herodotus speaks of these "divine vapours" at Delphi unambiguously. The haze from the rock is rather taken as a metaphor for otherworldly revelations. At least, such is the pragmatic reading of the legend. All the more so since the