According to the Assyrian website www.ankawa.com, ISIS is planning to destroy the walls of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire and one of the most important archaeological sites in Iraq. Nineveh was sacked in 612 B.C. when the Assyrian Empire was overthrown.
The remains of the walls of Nineveh in north Iraq [Credit: AINA News]
Residents of the Bab Nergal area of Mosul said ISIS has informed them that it will blow up the walls of Nineveh with the start of operations to liberate Mosul by the Iraqi army.
In the last month ISIS has seized the content of the cultural museum in Mosul as well as destroyed Assyrian monuments in the city, which ISIS claims "distort Islam."
Assyrians are the the only indigenous people of Iraq, going back to 4750 B.C. In 2003, just before the U.S. invasion, there were 1.5 million Assyrians living in Iraq. Today there are about 500,000 remaining. A sustained, low grade genocide (report) perpetrated by Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds drove hundreds of thousands of Assyrians into exile in Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon.
On August 7 of 2014, ISIS moved into the Nineveh Plain, the last stronghold of Assyrians in Iraq, forcing nearly 200,000 Assyrians to flee their homes and villages, where they now live as refugees in the Dohuk and Arbel areas.
The ‘Theseus Ring,’ a gold signet ring unearthed in the Plaka district of Athens in the 1950s and dating back to the Mycenaean period, went on display on Monday for the first time at the Greek capital’s National Archaeological Museum.
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.
The Central Java Heritage Conservation Agency plans to restore the Hindu temple, known as Sukuh, this March as the earth beneath the temple’s foundation continues to shift.Conservation work to begin on the Hindu Temple of Sukuh [Credit: Antara Photo/Maulana Surya]
Some parts of the exotic temple complex will remain open to tourists during the renovations, but not the main pyramid-shaped structure.
The agency estimates that the renovation will be completed in 2016.
Before work can start, however, the agency and a team of archeologists will remove some stones from the pyramid to study the best method to stop the main temple from further damage.
The pyramid is now bulging on one side and could threaten the integrity of the entire structure.
The first stage of restoration is estimated to cost around Rp 1 billion ($79,000).
“Restoration was proposed last year as the temple’s foundation has continued to shift every year, making the pyramid lopsided,” the agency spokesman Wahyu Kristanto said.
The agency has also limited the number of tourists entering the pyramid on fears that overcrowding will trigger the foundations to collapse.
Wahyu said the pyramid’s structure is fragile as it is composed of rudimentary carved rocks held together with soil and clay, which is different from the Borobudur and Prambanan temples, which are made entirely out of stone.
Sukuh temple is located in Ngargoyoso on the slopes of Mount Lawu, around 1,186 meters above sea level. It was built at the end of the Majapahit Kingdom in the 15th century and “rediscovered” in the 19th century by British voyager Thomas Raffles.
The temple’s architecture is unusual as its main building resembles pyramids of Egypt and Mesoamerican civilizations.
Author: Ari Susanto | Source: Jakarta Globe [January 30, 2015]
The restoration of the Kızlar or Panaghia (ie., Virgin Mary) Monastery, one of the most important tourist spots in the Eastern Black Sea region, will soon come to an end and local officials are confident the site will boost local tourism.Trabzon’s famous Kızlar or Panaghia Monastery has been undergoing a restoration process for nearly a year. The work is almost done and the monastery will soon open to tourism [Credit: Hurriyet]
In a written statement, Trabzon Metropolitan Mayor Orhan Fevzi Gümrükçüoğlu noted Trabzon was a city of civilization and culture, and they were trying to revive the historical venues in the city to bring in more tourists.
For this purpose, the restoration of the Kızlar Monastery, located in the Boztepe neighborhood overlooking the city, began in March 2014. “The restoration project of the monastery had been made in the past with the financial resources of the municipality. Then we handed over this historical site to the Culture and Tourism Ministry for five years to begin the restoration. On our insistence, the ministry initiated a tender for the restoration and the contactor company who won the tender is carrying out the restoration,” the mayor said in the statement.
Speaking on the importance of the monastery in terms of tourism in the region, Gümrükçüoğlu said, “When the work is done, the Kızlar Monastery will serve tourism and revive the cultural, artistic and touristic life of Trabzon. We believe the city will become a rising star in tourism.”
He also noted artisans in the city were very pleased with the restoration, adding, “The monastery will be a frequently visited spot for local and foreign tourists. This makes the locals and artisans of the neighborhood very happy. The monastery will contribute to Eastern Black Sea tourism when it is opened. It will be a center of attraction for tourists visiting Trabzon. The historical rock church in the monastery and the rare frescoes will come to the surface when the restoration is done. The cost of the restoration project is 1.57 million Turkish Liras.”
The monastery complex built on two terraces and is surrounded by a high protective wall. The monastery was founded in the reign of Alexios III (1349–1390). The monastery initially comprised the rock church on the south side the chapel in its entrance and a few cells. Inside the rock church there are inscriptions and portraits of Alexios III, his wife Theodora and his mother Irene.
When war erupted in Libya in early 2011, Savino di Lernia and several other Italian archaeologists were stranded in the Sahara Desert. They had been studying Libya's prehistory at the Messak plateau in the southwest corner of Libya, which is home to some of the world's oldest rock art. As violence in the country escalated, the researchers took shelter in an isolated oil camp before they were eventually evacuated to safety on an Italian military aircraft.The Temple of Zeus at Cyrene, Libya [Credit: David Stanley/WikiCommons]
At first, di Lernia and many of his colleagues were optimistic about the future of archaeology in Libya after years of neglect under dictator Moammar Gadhafi. But today, di Lernia has trouble imagining what fieldwork will look like in the war-torn country.
Years after the conflict began, Libya is still unstable. The United Nations was holding talks in Geneva this week to attempt to unify the two rival governments in control of Libya since Gadhafi's dramatic downfall. Meanwhile, ISIS extremists have taken power in parts of the country, such as Derna, a city in the east, where the group Human Rights Watch has documented violent forms of abuse, including executions and floggings.
Alongside reports of human atrocities, there has been a steady stream of reports detailing the threats to Libya's cultural resources, from ideological destruction to unchecked development. In 2013, for example, there was construction equipment sitting at the Hellenic city of Cyrene, one of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Libya, ready to clear the way for houses. Another World Heritage Site, Ghadamès — a city sometimes called "the pearl of the desert" that was once home to the Romans and the Berbers — suffered rocket attacks in 2012. The same year, ultraconservative Islamists reportedly destroyed Sufi shrines and graves in Tripoli that don't conform to their beliefs. In 2011, robbers pulled off one of the biggest archaeological heists, stealing a hoard of nearly 8,000 ancient coins from a bank vault in Benghazi.
"I'm afraid if nothing happens, this will be a disaster for generations of Libyan archaeologists — and for universal heritage," di Lernia told Live Science. Today (Jan. 28), he published a commentary in the journal Nature to try to raise awareness about the situation within the scientific community. "It's very difficult to keep the light on Libya in this moment," di Lernia said.
Over the last four years, di Lernia, who is a professor at the Sapienza University of Rome, and his colleagues have been able to publish new research based on the wealth of material they collected in past field seasons. They've shown that dairy farms existed in a once-green Sahara. They have also analyzed Stone Age burials in the desert region.
Though access to the southeastern part of Libya has been restricted since 2011, di Lernia used to be able to travel to Tripoli. But as the fighting between Libya's two governments worsened over the past year, di Lernia wasn't able to get to Libya at all. From afar, it's difficult for international observers to assess the damages in the country.
"From time to time, I succeed in talking to my friends there, and they say that all sites are in danger, all sites are at risk," di Lernia said. "We don't know what's going on in many places. We don't know what's going on in the museums."
In other conflict zones, such as Syria, archaeologists have turned to satellite imagery to assess damage to cultural heritage sites. Those images show that places like Apamea, a Roman city and once-thriving tourist attraction for Syria, has been turned into a moonscape because of the holes gouged out by looters. But the same approach might not work in Libya, di Lernia said, as satellites can't detect more subtle damages, such as graffiti that's been reportedly painted over rock art in the Tadrart Acacus mountains, near the Messak plateau.
Di Lernia used to spend months at a time at the Messak plateau, but he can’t imagine long archaeological field seasons resuming in Libya anytime soon. In Nature, he put forth a host of recommendations to rekindle research, calling for more support for museum, university and lab-based research. Di Lernia said he'd like to see more museum collections go online, and a Web-based library for rock art sites. He also wants to see international universities provide support and funding for Libyan students and scientists to train and work overseas.
"The only way to keep Libyan archaeology alive is to do lab research, desk research, working on the Internet and working on the digitization of cultural heritage in Libya," di Lernia said. "The situation in Libya is a part of a wider picture, I'm afraid. Probably we have to rethink our capacity to do research within this political framework."
An archaeological team with the University of Alabama is working to save artifacts from an eroding stretch of the Black Warrior River’s bank on the north side of Moundville Archaeological Park.Cultural resource assistants Petrina Kelly, left, and Ron Stallworth, right, work with cultural resource investigator Jera Davis on an excavation salvage Monday on the bank of the Black Warrior River at Moundville Archaeological State Park. [Credit: Erin Nelson/The Tuscaloosa News]
“This is a salvage operation to get as much as we can,” said archaeologist Jera Davis, who is part of the team excavating the site.
The sites along the bank overlooking the river have been endangered by rapid erosion caused by a shift in the river channel. The salvage effort is a stopgap measure until UA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can agree on a plan to stabilize the stretch of riverbank along the wooded northern border of the park, according to Matt Gage, director of the UA Office of Archaeological Research.
“Since 2010, we have really seen a major change in what is happening with the erosion in this area,” Gage said.
The university and the Corps are trying to work on a feasibility study, he said.
The stabilization work would likely be funded by local and federal matching funds, with the Corps responsible for the stabilization and the university assisting with the archaeological work at the site.
At a site below the raised walkway that runs along the edge of the bank, the team has been excavating a midden heap — or trash pit — for about a week.
The bank below the excavation is a steep slope of exposed sandy soil where the trunks of toppled cypress and gum trees protrude from the silt at the water’s edge.
Gage estimated the staff has about six to eight months of salvage work along the riverbank on the edge of the park. The salvage by the archaeologists needs to be done before the stabilization work begins and before the valuable archaeological deposits slide down the slope into the river.
Only about 15 percent of the massive Moundville complex has been excavated. The section threatened by the river is among the least explored, according to Davis.
The site overlooking the river was likely one of the first and last places to be occupied at the complex, which was inhabited from roughly the 11th to 16th centuries by Native Americans of the Mississippian culture. The site was a religious and commercial center, home to both elite and commoners of the culture.
Based on materials found in the trash pit, experts say the sites near the river were likely the residential areas for the elite members of the society. The items include such things as shards of elaborate ceramics and mineral pigments from the Midwest, Davis said.
The trash pits offer glimpses of daily life at the sprawling complex, once the second largest of its kind in what is now the United States.
Moundville is eligible as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage site, Gage said.
Erosion along the bank is speeding up, he warned.
“Every day, we are losing a little bit of Moundville,” he said.
In the past, a natural jetty formed by silt deposits at the mouth of Carthage Branch to the east of the park helped protect the stretch of riverbank by redirecting the current. The recent changes to the river channel eroded the natural barrier and began to cut away at the bank along the Moundville site, Gage said. He estimated that approximately 30 meters of riverbank has been lost since 1969. The Corps of Engineers stabilized a stretch of riverbank northwest of the park roughly 25 years ago with riprap and other stone to prevent erosion.
While the Corps was previously able to stabilize the riverbank on the northwest corner of the park with aggregate, the erosion occurring now is a more challenging engineering problem because of the steep slope of the bank, which drops almost immediately into the river channel, Gage said.
Gage anticipates the project could cost anywhere from $7 million to $11 million.
“It all depends on what the Army Corps of Engineers decides is a possibility,” he said.
Author: Ed Enoch | Source: The Tuscaloosa News [January 26, 2015]
Hundreds of pillaged ancient Egyptian artifacts have been seized in an operation initiated by the Spanish Guardia Civil and the police of Cyprus, Europol announced Wednesday.Spanish authorities display some of the recovered Egyptian antiquities [Credit: CSM]
“The artifacts were discovered hidden in cheap vases during an inspection of a shipping container from Alexandria, Egypt, at the Port of Valencia on Spain’s Mediterranean coast,” said Director-General of Guardia Civil Arsenio Fernandez de Mesa.
The ancient Egyptian artifacts, with a total value of between 200,000 and 300,000 euros (U.S. $225,000-339,000), were recovered as part of a comprehensive crackdown launched by agents from European law enforcement authorities in 14 countries to prevent looting, theft and illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts.
The Spanish police showed the press 36 of the recovered Egyptian artifacts including “a majestic bust of Sekhmet, the ancient Egyptian warrior goddess, worth an estimated 100,000 euros ($125,000),” Spanish Police Captain Javier Morales was quoted as saying by news24.
Also among the most valuable recovered artifacts is a statue of Isis, ancient Egyptian goddess of magic, and a vase covered in hieroglyphics, said Morales.
This bust of Sekhmet was among the recovered artefacts [Credit: EFE]
“During the comprehensive operation, dubbed ‘Aureus,’ the agents carried out checks on 6,244 individuals, 8,222 vehicles, 27 vessels, as well as 2,352 inspections at antique and art dealers, auction houses and secondhand outlets. Checks were also stepped up at airports, land borders and ports in Europe,” according to Europol.
Most of Egypt’s major archaeological sites have been targeted for looting since the 2011 uprising toppled former president Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of ancient Egyptian artifacts, most of which were obtained from illicit digging activities, are now flooding the global markets, auction houses and electronic commerce websites.
In spite of the Egyptian government’s efforts to track smuggled artifacts inside Egypt and in auction houses abroad, the issue is still unsettled.
“During the past four years, Egypt has recovered over 1,600 artifacts and is currently working on other cases in many European countries,” Ministry of Antiquities’ Museums Sector head Ahmed Sharaf previously told The Cairo Post.
It is estimated that around $3 billion in Egyptian antiquities have been looted since the outbreak of the January 25 Revolution in 2011, according to the International Coalition to Protect Egyptian Antiquities, a U.S.-based initiative partnered with Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry.
Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [January 29, 2015]
A Kurdish official revealed on Tuesday evening that the ISIS organization had bombed large parts and tracts of the ancient Nineveh wall, indicating that such an act violates the right of human culture and heritage.
The media official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Mosul, Saed Mimousine said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, “ISIS militants blew up today large parts and expanses of the archaeological wall of Nineveh in al-Tahrir neighborhood,” explaining that, “The terrorist group used explosives in the process of destroying the archaeological fence.”
Mimousine added, “The Wall of Nineveh is one of the most distinctive archaeological monuments in Iraq and the Middle East,” adding that, “The fence dates back to the Assyrian civilization.”
Mimousine stressed that, “Bombing the archaeological monuments by ISIS is a flagrant violation of the right of human culture, civilization and heritage,” calling the international community to “take a stand to curb the destruction of historic monuments.”
Three whole years after the confiscation of 2,607 ancient Greek coins by German authorities in September 2011, the valuable antiquities have been returned to Greece.The ancient coins were seized in September 2011 in the luggage of a Greek citizen who was travelling by car to Munich [Credit: Protothema]
According to an announcement of the Culture Ministry, the coins were found in the luggage of a Greek citizen travelling by car to Munich and seized by the German police.
Most of them are made of copper and date back to the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and post-Roman eras.
It should be noted that several members of an antiquities smuggling ring that was dismantled in March 2012 were involved in the case.
An Egyptian conservation group said Friday it will sue the antiquities minister over a "botched" repair of the mask of King Tutankhamun that left a crust of dried glue on the priceless relic.Picture taken on January 23, 2015 shows the burial mask of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt from 1334 to 1325 BC, at the Cairo museum in the Egyptian capital [Credit: AFP/Mohamed El-Shahed]
The golden funerary mask, seen Friday by AFP at the Egyptian Museum, showed the sticky aftermath of what appears to have been overzealous use of glue to fix the mask's beard in place.
A museum official, who spoke anonymously to avoid repercussions, told AFP the beard had fallen of accidentally when the mask was removed from its case last year to repair the lighting.
Museum head Mahmoud al-Helwagy denied that conservation workers had damaged the mask
"This is illogical and inconceivable," he told AFP. "These are conservation workers, not carpenters."
Antiquities Minister Mahmud al-Damaty also denied that the 3,000-year-old relic was treated carelessly.
"The job was done correctly," he told AFP, without explaining why curators needed to fix the mask.
Monica Hanna, an Egyptologist who inspected the mask, said what she saw had so shocked her that her group was taking the matter to the public prosecutor.
"We are presenting a complaint on mismanagement to the prosecutor tomorrow," said Hanna, from Egypt's Heritage Task Force, which has long battled mismanagement and looting of Egypt's legendary ancient artefacts.
According to the museum official, "there seems to have been a lapse in concentration and the mask hit the case and almost fell" when it was removed from its case.
"So (the curator) grabbed it in his arms to break the fall, and the beard separated," he said.
The long braided beard fit into the mask with a peg, and had been separated before, the official said.
"This mistake can happen. But what caused it to get worse? The curator was scared and he fixed it hastily."
The epoxy glue dried very quickly, said the official.
"You should use material (that dries slowly) and then support it, maybe over several hours or 24 hours, so you can fix mistakes," he said.
"Renovation work needs an adhesive that is easy to remove in case there is any damage, without leaving any traces."
Museum director Helwagy told the official MENA news agency that epoxy glue is used internationally to fix artefacts.
The death mask of the enigmatic boy king is one of the crown jewels of the museum, which also houses the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II.
The museum used to attract millions of tourists before a 2011 revolt -- centred in nearby Tahrir Square -- brought down president Hosni Mubarak and unleashed four years of tumult.
The plans for the construction of a new museum on the Greek island of Delos were approved by the Central Archaeological Council, after the funds for the plans were collected.
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.
The blue and gold braided beard on the burial mask of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun was hastily glued back on with epoxy, damaging the relic after it was knocked during cleaning, conservators at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo said Wednesday.In this Aug. 12, 2014, photo provided by Jacqueline Rodriguez, a man glues the beard part of King Tutankhamun's mask back on at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt. The blue and gold braided beard on the burial mask of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun was hastily glued back on with epoxy, damaging the relic after it was knocked during cleaning , conservators at the museum in Cairo said Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015 [Credit: AP/Jacqueline Rodriguez]
The museum is one of the city's main tourist sites, but in some areas, ancient wooden sarcophagi lay unprotected from the public, while pharaonic burial shrouds, mounted on walls, crumble from behind open panels of glass. Tutankhamun's mask, over 3,300 years old, and other contents of his tomb are its top exhibits.
Three of the museum's conservators reached by telephone gave differing accounts of when the incident occurred last year, and whether the beard was knocked off by accident while the mask's case was being cleaned, or was removed because it was loose.
They agree however that orders came from above to fix it quickly and that an inappropriate adhesive was used. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals.
"Unfortunately he used a very irreversible material — epoxy has a very high property for attaching and is used on metal or stone but I think it wasn't suitable for an outstanding object like Tutankhamun's golden mask," one conservator said.
"The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick drying, irreversible material," the conservator added.
The beard on the Pharaoh’s mask was detached during cleaning at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and was “hastily” glued back on with epoxy [Credit: Al-Araby Al-Jedeed]
The conservator said that the mask now shows a gap between the face and the beard, whereas before it was directly attached: "Now you can see a layer of transparent yellow."
Another museum conservator, who was present at the time of the repair, said that epoxy had dried on the face of the boy king's mask and that a colleague used a spatula to remove it, leaving scratches. The first conservator, who inspects the artifact regularly, confirmed the scratches and said it was clear that they had been made by a tool used to scrape off the epoxy.
Egypt's tourist industry, once a pillar of the economy, has yet to recover from three years of tumult following a 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Museums and the opening of new tombs are part of plans to revive the industry. But authorities have made no significant improvements to the Egyptian Museum since its construction in 1902, and plans to move the Tutankhamun exhibit to its new home in the Grand Egyptian Museum scheduled to open in 2018 have yet to be divulged.
What the beard should look like [Credit: Profimedia]
Neither the Antiquities Ministry nor the museum administration could be reached for comment Wednesday evening. One of the conservators said an investigation was underway and that a meeting had been held on the subject earlier in the day.
The burial mask, discovered by British archeologists Howard Carter and George Herbert in 1922, sparked worldwide interest in archaeology and ancient Egypt when it was unearthed along with Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb.
"From the photos circulating among restorers I can see that the mask has been repaired, but you can't tell with what," Egyptologist Tom Hardwick said. "Everything of that age needs a bit more attention, so such a repair will be highly scrutinized."
Author: Brian Rohan | Source: Associated Press [Jabuary 22, 2015]
Authorities are looking for whoever dug up rocks from an archaeological site in Sedona and threw them over a steep embankment. The U.S. Forest Service says it happened Dec. 16 at Jordan Cave near the trailhead.Officials are seeking out the individuals in this photograph who may have information about the vandalism of an archaeological site [Credit: U.S. Forest Department]
Patrol Capt. Jon Nelson says several people were spotted removing the rocks, some dug out of the prehistoric floor of the site. The Forest Service has distributed a photo of three people who it says might be able to help with the investigation.
It's a federal crime to vandalize archaeological resources. Penalties range from a $5,000 fine and six months in jail to a $20,000 fine and a year in jail.
Authorities have unveiled what they said was a record haul of rare antiquities illegally looted from Italy and discovered during raids on Swiss warehouses belonging to an accused Sicilian art dealer.Antiquities recovered by Italian Carabinieri, military police, are displayed at Terme di Diocleziano museum during a press conference in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. Italian authorities have unveiled what they said was a record haul of rare antiquities illegally looted from Italy and discovered during raids on Swiss warehouses belonging to an accused Sicilian art dealer. The carabinieri police's art squad estimated the value of the 5,361 vases, kraters, bronze statues and frescoes at some 50 million euros. The works, from the 8th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D., were laid out Wednesday at the National Roman Museum and may go on public display. Carabineri Gen. Mariano Mossa said it was "by a long shot the biggest recovery in history in terms of the quantity and quality of archaeological treasures." They were found during an investigation into Basel-based art dealer Gianfranco Becchina, accused by prosecutors of being part of a huge trafficking network [Credit: Claudio Peri/AP]
Police estimated the value of the 5,361 vases, kraters, bronze statues and frescoes at about 50 million euros ($58 million). The works, from the 8th century B.C. to the 3rd century, were laid out Wednesday at the National Roman Museum and may go on public display.
Antiquities recovered by Italian Carabinieri, military police, are displayed at Terme di Diocleziano museum during a press conference in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. Italian authorities have unveiled what they said was a record haul of rare antiquities illegally looted from Italy and discovered during raids on Swiss warehouses belonging to an accused Sicilian art dealer. The carabinieri police's art squad estimated the value of the 5,361 vases, kraters, bronze statues and frescoes at some 50 million euros. The works, from the 8th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D., were laid out Wednesday at the National Roman Museum and may go on public display. Carabineri Gen. Mariano Mossa said it was "by a long shot the biggest recovery in history in terms of the quantity and quality of archaeological treasures." They were found during an investigation into Basel-based art dealer Gianfranco Becchina, accused by prosecutors of being part of a huge trafficking network [Credit: Claudio Peri/AP]
Carabineri Gen. Mariano Mossa says it was "by a long shot the biggest recovery in history in terms of the quantity and quality of archaeological treasures."
Carabinieri Gen. Mariano Mossa, left, and Italian Culture minister Dario Franceschini pose for photographers near Antiquities recovered by Italian Carabinieri, military police, are displayed at Terme di Diocleziano museum during a press conference in Rome, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. Italian authorities have unveiled what they said was a record haul of rare antiquities illegally looted from Italy and discovered during raids on Swiss warehouses belonging to an accused Sicilian art dealer. The carabinieri police's art squad estimated the value of the 5,361 vases, kraters, bronze statues and frescoes at some 50 million euros. The works, from the 8th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D., were laid out Wednesday at the National Roman Museum and may go on public display. Carabineri Gen. Mariano Mossa said it was "by a long shot the biggest recovery in history in terms of the quantity and quality of archaeological treasures." They were found during an investigation into Basel-based art dealer Gianfranco Becchina, accused by prosecutors of being part of a huge trafficking network [Credit: Claudio Peri/AP]
They were found during an investigation into Basel-based art dealer Gianfranco Becchina, accused by prosecutors of being part of a huge trafficking network.
Illegal excavations carried out by tombs raiders underneath a residential house in Alexandria have uncovered a Graeco-Roman necropolis.Some of the objects discovered during illegal excavations [Credit: Ahram online]
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that the necropolis, in the Gebel Mahran area, includes a collection of tombs called Likoli, which have holes engraved in a rock-hewn wall.
The tomb raiders unearthed a collection of artefacts including 20 clay lamps, 18 glass bottles and a large number of clay pots.
Eldamaty said the pots give us a view of the pot industry during that period.
The ministry of antiquities is to send an archeological mission to the site to continue excavations and reveal more of these tombs.
The Tourism and Antiquities Police caught the criminal red-handed and they are now under investigations.
Following comprehensive diplomatic efforts between Egypt and Belgium, Leuven University has agreed to return a 35,000-year-old human skeleton to Egypt which it has held since 1980.The prehistoric human skeleton unearthed in the Nazlet Khater area of the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag [Credit: Ahram Online]
The skeleton came into the possession of the university according to the division law. The law allowed foreign missions to have a share in the artefacts they discovered at archaeological sites in Egypt.
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty explained that the skeleton was unearthed in the Nazlet Khater area of the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag during an excavation by the Leuven University archaeological mission.
After diplomatic efforts, he continued, the university agreed to return the skeleton because it is a very important artefact in the history of Egypt.
Ali Ahmed, head of the Stolen Antiquities Recovery Section, told Ahram Online that the skeleton will arrive next week and a committee is now studying how to put it on display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.
A large number of historical artifacts, including the head of a 2,000-year-old Hermes statue, have been seized during an operation by the Sivas Police Department Directorate of Anti-smuggling and Organized Crime Branch.The head of Hermes was seized after a three-month operation [Credit: DHA]
Following three months of preparation, the police department simultaneously raided various addresses in villages and districts of the Central Anatolian province of Sivas, as well as in Nevşehir, Adıyaman and Kayseri on Jan. 13, and discovered historical artifacts.
A sculpted head in the image of the ancient Greek god Hermes was among the artifacts seized in Sivas. It has been claimed that the head had found a buyer for $1 million three years ago, who then attempted to smuggle it abroad, but operations at the time failed to find the head.
Cumhuriyet University academics have confirmed that the head of Hermes was the original one, but further examinations would be conducted in the coming days.
Along with the head of Hermes, three rings, a plate, 23 coins, six Ottoman-language books, a metal ashtray, two column pieces and four stones inscribed with various motifs were also among the findings during the operation.
The remains of an ancient city have been put up for sale in Turkey, it's reported. Bargylia, which dates back to the fifth century BC, is on the north of the Bodrum peninsula, a popular holiday spot. It's being advertised by a real estate agency just like a holiday home, although the site is protected from building work, the BirGun news website reports.Bargylia dates back to the 5th century B.C. and is located near Güllük Bay on the northern coast of the Bodrum peninsula [Credit: Hurriyet]
The advert describes "a first degree archaeological site, facing the Bird Heaven Lake near Bogazici village, with full sea and lake view". Prospective buyers will need deep pockets - it's on the market for 22m Turkish liras ($9.6m; £6.3m). But those willing to splash out could find all sorts of treasures beneath the unexcavated ground. It's thought the site includes the remains of an amphitheatre, temple and Byzantine-era necropolis.
Archaeologists want the site and others like it to be bought by the government, to ensure they're properly looked after, but say the funding isn't available.
"Private ownership of those sites is obstructing archaeological work," says Binnur Celebi from the Archaeologists Association.
"However, the person or persons who acquire those sites can absolutely not conduct any construction activities."
The site even comes with a bit of Greek mythology. It's said that the mythical hero Bellerophon named it after his friend Bargylos, who died after being kicked by the winged horse Pegasus.
Egypt has formed a ministerial committee charged with developing a strategy to safeguard the country’s Islamic heritage by reinvigorating faltering projects.The Sultan Hassan Mosque and madrasa (school) is considered stylistically the most compact and unified of all Cairo's monuments [Credit: Flickr.com/desktopio]
“The committee has agreed to found a joint fund to complete stalled renovation projects to many mosques and other Islamic sites.” said Gamal Mostafa, part of the new committee and director general of the archaeological sites of Al-Sultan Hassan and al-Rifaai mosques. “[The committee] aims to tackle the bureaucracy and obstacles that inhibit the completion of Islamic heritage development projects.”
Over the past decade, several development projects – particularly in Cairo which is one of the world’s oldest Islamic cities – have been launched to protect Egypt’s ancient mosques, but lack of funding coordination and security following the 2011 revolution meant the majority of projects were abandoned.
The Egyptian government has been criticised over the increase in thefts, not only in mosques, but in Egypt’s heritage sites across the country. Following the 2011 revolution and the subsequent collapse of the country’s government, armed gangs, looters and general destruction placed the country’s rich cultural history in peril. As a result, Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab requested support from UNESCO to try and stem reports of ongoing chaos at Egyptian heritage sites.
Author: Tom Anstey | Source: Leisure Management [January 13, 2015]
A throne belonging to Emperor Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty in the 1700's has sold for 5.15 million US dollars at auction. The sale took place in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province.A visitor looks at a throne of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) during an auction preview in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Jan 7, 2015. The seat, made of rosewood and inlaid with gold and exquisite flowers pattern, is given a starting price of 35 million yuan ($5.6 million). It was from the Hall of Imperial Supremacy (Huangji dian) in the Forbidden City, the main hall in the area of Palace of Tranquil Longevity (Ningshou gong), which the Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) built for spending his years after his retirement [Credit: China News Service]
The throne, made of rosewood and inlaid with gold and a floral pattern, was owned by philanthropist Li Chunping.
It took him three years to buy the throne from a descendant of a royal highness of the Qing Dynasty in Tianjin.
Li said the final price was lower than he expected and that the throne will have a higher value after two or three years.
A buyer from Beijing bought the throne after three rounds of bidding.
