Month: February 2015
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Senebkay, first Pharaoh to die in Battle
In collaboration with the Ministry of Antiquities, a University of Pennsylvania team discovered new evidence on the life and death of pharaoh Senebkay, founder of the 16th Dynasty of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt. The pharaoh’s skeleton’s forensic analysis performed by researchers directed by Dr. Josef Wegner indicated that the reason behind the death of this…
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Taposiris Magna Stele: Another Rosetta Stone
The SCA Archaeological Mission in collaboration with the Catholic University of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) working at the Taposiris Magna site succeeded in discovering a limestone stele inscribed with Hieroglyphic and Demotic inscriptions. The Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Eldamaty stated that the discovered stele contains 20 Hieroglyphic lines with royal cartouches of king “Ptolomy V” whom the stele…
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The Divine Gift of Writing
The gods were responsible for teaching humans how to write. Without their divine involvement, it would have been impossible for us, imperfect mortals, to develop such a valuable and powerful skill. This, and other similar explanations, was the way that most ancient societies accounted for the existence of writing. Itzamná, the Mayan god and ruler…
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Finding the hidden Naram-Sin rock relief in Iraq
I was chatting with my uncle about the archaeological reliefs in the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah. The Governorate is part of Iraqi Kurdistan and is about 400 km north-west of Baghdad. He said that he saw a relief in the year 1985 on a top of a mountain, south-west of the city of Sulaymaniyah. The name…
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The Punic-Roman Temple of Antas, Sardinia
Nestled in the middle of the Iglesiente mountains in the southwestern part of Sardinia, the ruins of the Punic–Roman Temple of Antas offer visitors a truly majestic sight. After lying abandoned for centuries, the temple was discovered in 1838 and extensively restored in 1967. Most impressively, the original Ionic columns were excavated and re-erected. The…
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Attila, the Scourge of God
The Creative Assembly has produced a short documentary on Attila the Hun to celebrate the launch of their latest historical computer game, Total War: ATTILA (also read our interview with the game’s lead designer). This seven minute film summarizes the life of Attila, his achievements, his cruel reputation, and his legacy. The documentary mixes narrative by Dr. Paul Harrison with 3D…
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Treasures Of The Lost Dhow
One of the most important discoveries in marine archaeological history occurred in 1998, just off Indonesia’s Belitung Island in the western Java Sea: A 1,200-year-old Arabian dhow with an astounding cargo of gold, silver, ceramic artifacts, coins, and tangible personal effects. The ship’s hold contained some 57,000 pieces in total and yet no human remains. The…
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Meet Apotheon
Ancient history is becoming more and more popular in gaming, but you rarely find a game that truly tries to bring ancient history to the modern world. Enter Apotheon, an indie game developed by the small team at Alientrap games, which looks like an animated scene from ancient Greek Black Figure Pottery. The game not only looks ancient,…
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Fifth EAGLE International Event 2015 in Cyprus
Use and Re-Use of Digital Cultural Heritage Assets – Interoperability, Repositories and Shared infrastructures 11-12 March 2015 Athalassa Campus 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street 2121, Aglantzia Nicosia, Cyprus Use and Re-Use of Digital Cultural Heritage Assets – Interoperability, Repositories and Shared infrastructures is the fifth in a series of international events planned by EAGLE BPN. The…
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Acting and Greek Theatre: Honoring Dionysus
Over the last few centuries, acting has developed into visual art that entertains people around the world in the form of stage plays or, in recent times, through the mediums of television and film. However, acting as we know it originated thousands of years ago with quite a different audience in mind. It developed as…
