The ring, which depicts a bull-leaping scene, was initially dismissed as fake before its authenticity was established by a team of Culture Ministry experts.
The scene depicted on the 15th century BC artifact also includes a lion and a tree.
Source: Kathimerini [January 12, 2015]
According to the plans, the new museum will have to adhere to strict bio-climatic architectural standards and must be situated as far away as possible from the sea, in order to better protect the antiquities and the museum itself from the elements.
The new museum will occupy a space of at least 5,000 square meters and will feature all of the exhibits displayed in the existing museum, along with many other artefacts located on the island’s archaeological sites and in storage.
The funds for the construction plans were donated by the London-based International Foundation for Greece.
Source: To Vima [January 23, 2015]
"Tragedies are caused by differences and by a lack of tolerance. Glory be to Him who creates greatness out of difference and lets peace and reconciliation reign," they teach us.
The exhibition will run until Feb. 22. 2015.
Source: Bozar Expo [January 12, 2015]
Invited guests, Archbishop of Thyateira Gregorios and Great Britain, Baroness Maddock, Lord Luce, and Lord Turnberg were among a few of the many guests welcomed by Baroness Berridge. Before a packed room she opened the presentation speaking about the link between religious freedoms and the destruction of cultural heritage.
Sponsor and co-coordinator Tasoula Hadjitofi presented two 12th century looted frescoes taken from the Monastery of Aspinthiotissa in the occupied area of Cyprus, Kyrenia which she repatriated on behalf of Walk of Truth. She spoke about the loss of freedom, identity and human indignity that occurs with war and destruction of cultural heritage.
Mrs. Hadjitofi stressed the importance of engaging global citizens in lending their support to create a world of Peace. From refugee to protector of cultural heritage she engaged the audience on the importance of unity in combating the mass destruction of cultural heritage taking place in Syria, Iraq and Cyprus.
Baron Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said, “It is imperative for international criminal tribunals to include destruction of cultural and religious heritage into their overall investigative strategies.
Professor Norman Palmer, a barrister practicing at 3 Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn, London and a visiting professor of law at King’s College, spoke for the need for a sound legal approach should be complemented with diplomatic and other initiatives that help us to restitute unlawfully removed cultural treasures.
The MP David Burrows, summarized the key points in a brilliant way and he and the Baroness will bring the findings to the House of Parliament and The House of Lords.
Author: Tasoula Hadjitofi | Source: Walk of Truth [December 17, 2014]
The gallery houses treasures that were found intact in 1922 along with the mummy of the 19-year-old boy king in the temple city of Luxor, and is a world famous tourist attraction.
Its renovation is part of a seven-year project to refurbish the entire Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square, and in turn revive downtown Cairo.
On Monday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab unveiled the newly renovated halls located at the eastern entrance of the Tutankhamun gallery.
The renovation of the museum has been aided by funds from the European Union and other international donors.
James Moran, who heads the EU delegation in Cairo, said the bloc supported the project in order to help to boost Egypt's tourism sector whose "revival... is fundamental for the economy".
The EU, he added, would offer 92,500 euros ($115,000) next year to help renovate the eastern wing of Tutankhamun gallery.
The Egyptian Museum houses the largest collection of pharaonic artefacts and has witnessed several alterations since it was first opened in 1902.
Four years of political turmoil since the ouster of veteran leader Hosni Mubarak has battered the country's economy amid falling tourist revenues and investments.
Source: AFP [December 15, 2014]
But the 2,500-year-old treasures from present-day Iraq have become part of a thorny archaeological debate over how to handle historically significant relics thought to have been dug up in the fog of war by Mideast antiquities robbers.
Experts in cuneiform writing, one of the world's earliest scripts, say the collection of 110 cracker-sized clay tablets provides the earliest written evidence of the Biblical exile of the Judeans in what is now southern Iraq, offering new insight into a formative period of early Judaism.
The tablets, though, also tell a murkier story, from the present era, according to scholars familiar with the antiquities trade - a story of the chaos in Iraq and Syria that has led to rampant pilfering of rich archaeological heritage and a rush of cuneiform tablets on the international antiquities' market.
The collector who owns the tablets on display this month at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem, insists they were purchased legally, decades before that looting began. However, an ancient history scholar familiar with the artifacts disputes that.
Leading U.S. museums have pledged not to exhibit unprovenanced artifacts that have surfaced in recent decades, as part of an effort over the last decade to discourage illicit antiquities trafficking. But cuneiform inscriptions have emerged as a notable exception, with some arguing these relics would be lost to history if they did not make it into scholarly hands.
"We are not interested in anything that is illegally acquired or sneaked out," said Amanda Weiss, director of the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem.
"But it is the role of a museum to protect these pieces," she added. "It's what we are here for."
The plundering of antiquities in the war-torn Middle East has become a primary concern for the archaeological community, and some archaeologists even compare satellite images of sites in Iraq and Syria to moonscapes, after antiquities robbers went through them.
Archaeologists claim the Islamic State extremists and militants from other groups are funding their activities in part through illegal trafficking of antiquities, and authorities worldwide have been taking action to try to stem the flow.
What first sparked awareness of the issue, archaeologists say, was a deluge of cuneiform artifacts on the Western antiquities markets after the first Gulf War in 1991.
In the years that followed, archaeologists estimate that hundreds of thousands of small clay tablets with cuneiform inscriptions made their way into the hands of dealers. Many contained incrustations, indicating they were "fresh out of the earth," said Robert Englund of the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.
An American scholar of ancient Jewish history familiar with the tablets on display in Jerusalem said they were purchased on the London antiquities market at the time when cuneiform artifacts were flooding the market, a strong indication that the items were looted. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a potentially illegal activity.
London-based Israeli collector David Sofer, who loaned the cuneiform collection to the Bible Lands Museum, denied any foul play. He said he purchased the tablets in the United States in the 1990s from a person who obtained them in public auctions in the 1970s.
Sofer said a few tablets from the collection were displayed in a New York museum and a Los Angeles museum in 2013, and their import and export in the U.S. was properly reported to U.S. authorities. He would not name the two museums, or the person who sold them to him.
"These things would be lost, and wouldn't be recognized for what they are" if he hadn't bought them, Sofer said.
As common as cuneiform tablets are, few have been as celebrated as those on display in Jerusalem.
The tablets fill in a 130-year gap in the history of the Judeans exiled to Babylon after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in the 6th century B.C., said Laurie Pearce, a cuneiform expert from the University of California, Berkeley.
The earliest of the tablets, which have dates inscribed on them, is from just 15 years after the destruction of the First Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and the inscription suggests the displaced Judeans were more quickly absorbed into the Babylonian society than previously thought, said Pearce, who studied the collection.
The tablets include administrative documents such as land agreements, showing the Judeans were "integrated almost immediately," she added.
The Jerusalem museum says the tablets likely originate in today's southern Iraq, and reference common Judean names, including Netanyahu, the last name of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The topic of cuneiform artifacts still roils the archaeological community.
The American Schools of Oriental Research, an academic research association, bans scholars from publishing articles on artifacts illegally excavated or exported from their country of origin after 1970, when the U.N. adopted its policy against antiquities trafficking.
But in 2004, the association made an exception, allowing publications about cuneiform artifacts that have no record of how they were unearthed - under the condition that Iraqi antiquities authorities give their consent and that the artifacts are eventually returned to Iraq.
The exception was made because the esoteric wedge script writings are so valuable to historical study, said Eric Meyers of the association.
The policy is now again a point of contention in the field. Over the past year, scholars at the association have debated changing the policy again, with most experts leaning against publishing articles on cuneiform artifacts as these objects continue to hit the markets, Meyers said.
"It is a crisis in the region," he said.
Author: Daniel Estrin | Source: The Associated Press [February 12, 2015]
Considered the cornerstone of modern democracy, liberty, justice and the rule of law, the 1215 English charter forms the basis for legal systems around the world, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the US Constitution.
About 1,200 people, drawn from a ballot, have won the chance to see the unification event at the British Library, which brings together its two originals with those of Lincoln and Salisbury cathedrals.
The four parchments will then be on private display in the UK parliament, marking the start of a year of celebrations for a document that still has resonance eight centuries later.
"No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseized or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go and send against him except by the lawful judgement of his peers by the law of the land," the document states in Latin.
"To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice."
Charter made after rebel barons challenged king
In June 1215, the wayward King John agreed to the demands of rebellious barons to curb his powers and sealed the charter at Runnymede, a meadow by the River Thames west of London.
Although nearly a third of the text was dropped or substantially rewritten within 10 years and almost all the 63 clauses have been repealed, Magna Carta principles have become "a potent, international rallying cry against the arbitrary use of power", the British Library said.
One of Britain's Supreme Court judges, Anthony Clarke, said it was still important for governments seeking a balance between issues of security, individual rights, the rule of law and the "principles of justice that lie at the foundation of society".
He said the principles that justice should be available to all, the law applies to all equally and leaders can only exercise power in accordance with the law continue to be fought for in many parts of the world.
Magna Carta Trust, which looks after the memorial site in Runnymede, said the charter's importance was growing.
"800 years on, Magna Carta's best days lie ahead," it said.
"As an idea of freedom, democracy and the rule of law, it is lapping against the shores of despotism.
"The principles set out in Magna Carta have driven the Arab Spring and the continuing protests against despotism around the world."
Magna Carta 'linked to prosperity'
The principles of the Magna Carta extend well beyond the world's common law jurisdictions such as the United States, India and Australia which inherited England's legal system.
Lawyer David Wootton, a former lord mayor of London, said English law was the "common currency" of global business deals precisely due to the protections derived from Magna Carta.
"Investors regard their money as safe here (in London) because of the protections in the legal system," he said.
"There is a close relationship between economic development, societal development and the quality of a country's legal system."
Events are being staged across Britain throughout 2015 to mark the anniversary, including a major international commemoration event at Runnymede on June 15.
Exhibitions, debates, conferences, church services, lectures, charity dinners, theatre performances, tourist trails, village fetes, and even a national peal of bells are being staged.
There will also be a mock trial of the barons who forced the creation of the charter in parliament's Westminster Hall to debate whether they were guilty of treason.
Source: AFP [February 02, 2015]
