Daily News

The worlds of archaeology and the Bible move fast. Check back regularly for the latest news.

Planned Commercial Center Near Mount of Olives Sparks Protest

The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem has become a flashpoint for tension between Jews and Arabs. A protest has been raised against plans to build an Arab commercial center near the Mount of Olives, a project that protesters says will impinge on the skyline of the sacred site and block the view of the Jewish cemetery. The local planning and building committee is expected to deliberate over the course of several meetings before deciding whether or not the construction project will be permitted to go forward.

The Mount of Olives holds an important place in ancient Jewish and Christian traditions. It is first mentioned in the Old Testament in connection with David’s flight from Absalom, and the Book of Zachariah refers to it as the place where the resurrection will begin in the days of the Messiah. Over 150,000 graves are located on the mount, some believed to date from Biblical times.

Arutz Sheva reports on the protest over plans to build a shopping complex near the Mount of Olives.

Iraq’s Ancient Marshlands Get a Second Life

An area of Iraq that some believe is the site of the legendary Garden of Eden described in the Old Testament is getting some much-needed international attention. The United Nations Environment Program and the Iraqi government are working together to restore Iraq’s marshlands, which has been a valuable ecosystem of flora and fauna since the time of the ancient Mesopotamian empire. Authorities say that about 60 percent of the lakes and water plants in the marshlands, which surround the meeting point of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, have been revived. They attribute the success to the introduction of a water purification method that involves reeds, a technique that has already produced good results in Lake Biwa.

About 90 percent of the marshlands were destroyed under the rule of Saddam Hussein in the 1990s. Hussein ordered that dams and embankments be built in order to rid the area of anti-regime guerillas that had based themselves in the ancient marshlands. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of December, at which point the Iraqi government and the U.N. are expected to seek the site’s inclusion on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites.

Japanese publication Yomiuri reports on the marshland restoration project.

Can Ancient and Modern Culture Co-exist in Jerusalem?

A concert this week in the national park just outside of the Old City’s Jaffa gate is causing some stir, and not just among the music critics. The Israel Antiquities Authority, which is the state-run body charged with the supervision and preservation of archaeological sites in the country, approved and supervised the construction of seating and a podium for a concert to be held in the park this week. However, the performance and the construction required to hold it has ignited a debate about whether or not such events should be held in areas where archaeology and history are present in such abundance—and in such fragile states.

Dr. Shimon Gibson of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is the archaeologist responsible for preparing the excavations at the concert site for publication. He argues that the remains are very fragile and that regular events such as this week’s concert would negatively impact the site. However, Jerusalem regional archaeologist of the Antiquities Authority, Yuval Baruch, claims that the construction in question was done with the utmost care and that no antiquities were affected. “We are happy that people are coming to Jerusalem,” he says, “and we are not going to block cultural activity in the city.”

The Jerusalem Post reports on the ongoing debate about modern events held in the ancient city.

Microscopic Discoveries in the Catacombs of Rome

The catacombs of Rome are home to hundreds of thousands of the ancient dead, but a research study has just been published revealing that they are also the place of new life: micro-biotic life, to be precise. Two new species of bacterial life have been discovered on the walls of the ancient tombs that lie in the depths of the Catacomb of St. Callixtus, located just outside of Rome. While these two new species can, like many other types of bacteria, contribute to the decay of monuments, they also have the potential to produce molecules that have beneficial properties, such as antibiotics and enzymes.

Dr. Clara Urzi of the University of Messina in Italy has published the study in the September issue of the Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. “The special conditions in the catacombs have allowed unique species to evolve,” she says, “In fact, the two different Kribbella species we discovered were taken from two sites very close to each other; this shows that even small changes in the micro-environment can lead bacteria to evolve separately.” The two new species have been named Kribbella catacumbae and Kribbella sancticallisti.

Science Daily reports on the new bacteria species found in the Roman catacombs.

Pink Granite Statue of Ramsses II Unearthed Near Cairo

Archaeologists have uncovered the head of a pink granite statue of one of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs: Ramesses II, who ruled for more than 60 years, from 1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C. The find was made in Tel Basta, the ancient Egyptian capital in the Nile Delta, about 50 miles north of Cairo. While the nose and the characteristic beard were missing, the statue is identical to the many others that have been discovered of the long-reigning Egyptian ruler. The statue head measures about 30 inches high, and archaeologists are hopeful of finding the remaining fragments during further excavations of the area.

The Telegraph reports on the discovery of a statue of Ramesses II.

Piece by Piece, the Parthenon Comes Home

In a gesture undoubtedly designed to inspire the British to do the same, Italian president Giorgio Napolitano presented Greek authorities on Tuesday with a small fragment of what has become known to the world as the Elgin Marbles. The sculptures in question are named for the Scottish diplomat, Lord Elgin, who removed large portions of the Parthenon frieze to decorate his manor home in the U.K. in the early 19th century. The majority of the sculptures are now permanently on display at the British Museum despite Greece’s repeated requests for their return. The piece returned to Greece on Tuesday by the Italians was a small fragment depicting the foot of the goddess Artemis, a piece that had been given by Elgin to a friend in Sicily on his way back to London and which has been on display in a museum in Palermo for the last 200 years.

The 2,500-year-old Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena that is the crowning glory of the Acropolis in Athens, has suffered serious damage in the last several hundred years. It was heavily damaged in 1687 in a siege of the Acropolis by the Venetian army during the Ottoman occupation of Greece. Today, the heavy pollution of Athens continues to negatively impact the ancient monument. Because of this, many argue that the Elgin Marbles are much safer in the protected environment of the British Museum, which so far shows no signs of being willing to return the sculptures. Germany gave a fragment back to Greece two years ago, and the Vatican is reportedly poised to follow suit with two fragments currently in its possession.

CBS News reports on the return of a fragment of the Parthenon’s frieze.

Ancient Bronze Age Settlement Added to List of Sites in Legendary City

The coastal city of Paphos in southwest Cyprus has enjoyed distinction for several millennia. According to legend, the ancient city is the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. In the Greco-Roman world it was the island’s capital, and today it is listed as one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. Archaeologists have discovered settlements in the area that date from the very first Neolithic age in Cyprus, as well as an important Chalcolithic settlement. Now, scholars can add a Bronze Age settlement to Paphos’s archaeological pedigree.

At the site of Kissonerga-Skalia, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a site they believe was abandoned around 1700 B.C. The excavated remains include an unusually shaped curved wall that may have served as a perimeter wall, spreads of potsherds and ground stone tools. In other parts of the site, a freestanding furnace and other objects such as spindle whorls, a loom weight and agricultural tools help to give scholars a picture of prehistoric life on the island.

The Cyprus Mail reports on the Bronze Age settlement discovered in Paphos.

Billionaire Religious Leader Works to Preserve Ancient Islamic Sites

The 71-year-old billionaire and leader of the world’s 15 million Shia Ismailis has taken on the task of educating the world about the history and greatness of Islamic civilizations. The Agha Khan’s organization, called the Agha Khan Trust for Culture, has been working for the last five years in conjunction with the Syrian antiquities department to preserve and restore the 13th century citadel of Aleppo, an ancient city in Syria that sits at what was one of the crucial junctions of heavily traveled trade routes in antiquity. By restoring ancient sites of great significance in Islamic history, the Agha Khan hopes to broaden the modern world’s view of Islam and its historical context and contributions.

When describing his motivations for establishing such a venture to the AFP (Agence France Presse), the Agha Khan says that “one of the principles of Islam is that on his deathbed every person must try to leave behind a better world.” In helping to restore and preserve some of Islam’s great sites, the Agha Khan hopes to build bridges between people of different religions and cultures.

The Daily Star reports on the Agha Khan’s efforts to preserve important Islamic sites.

Ancient Assyrian Monastery Survives Modern War

A late sixth-century Assyrian monastery in Iraq has survived for more than 1,400 years; it has also survived the impact of a Russian tank turret that slammed into it after a U.S. missile hit the tank during the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. After that, the Dair Mar Elia (the Monastery of St. Elijah) was used as a garrison by the U.S. 101st Corps of Engineers. The structure’s importance was eventually recognized by a chaplain, at which point General David Petraeus ordered that the ancient monastic complex be cleared. Now, five years after the beginning of the war in Iraq, this valuable piece of Iraq’s cultural heritage is finally receiving some well-deserved attention from preservation experts.

The ancient monastery is located in Nineveh province—an area that is rich in archaeological sites such as Hatra and Nimrud. Many sites in the area have remained unexcavated, a fact that has protected them from the ravages of war and looting. Both international and Iraqi organizations are interested in investigating and preserving monuments such as Dair Mar Elia, though they agree that security will first have to be restored to the troubled province before scholars will be able to work safely. In the meantime, the U.S. 94th Corps of Engineers is making a topographical map of the site, the first step of a process that will hopefully serve to preserve the sacred site for future generations of Iraqi citizens.

Smithsonian Magazine reports on the monastery of Dair Mar Elia.

Homer’s Troy Larger than Previously Thought

This year’s excavation season has given scholars evidence that the legendary city of Troy may have been larger than previously thought. Made famous by Homer’s Iliad, the city of Homer’s epic existed over 3,000 years ago in the late Bronze Age. According to excavation director Ernst Pernicka of the University of Tubingen, Troy may have been as large as 100 acres with a population as high as 10,000 people. Pernicka partially bases his conclusion as to the town’s size on a trench that surrounds the perimeter of the city. He believes that the trench probably functioned as a defensive structure and not as the drainage ditch that archaeologists had previously thought it to be.

Parts of two large pitchers were found in the trench near the edge of the town. Such vessels were used in or near homes for food storage. Their presence suggests that houses in the lower town extended to the trench, indicating a larger city and a greater population than previous excavations have concluded.

Bloomberg reports on the most recent excavations of ancient Troy.

Early Bronze Age Settlement Discovered in Eastern Turkey

An early Bronze Age settlement dating to the Hittite era has been discovered in eastern Turkey. The excavation team, headed by Professor Marcella Frangipane of the Italian La Sapienza University, discovered the site in Aslantepe in the Turkish province of Malatya. Frangipane and her team have identified a city perimeter wall that dates to 2900—2500 B.C. and a building that may date to 3000—4000 B.C.

Aslantepe is one of the most excavated sites in Central Anatolia, and thus far seven distinct phases of occupation have been identified, beginning with the Chalcolithic period and continuing through the Roman era. The first known palace in the world was built at Aslantepe in 3350 B.C., on the walls of which beautiful paintings have been successfully preserved.

World Bulletin reports on the discovery of an early Bronze Age settlement in eastern Turkey.

Egypt, UNESCO Planning Underwater Museum in Cleopatra’s Sunken City

Alexandria, Egypt has been a place of legend for millennia—long after much of the ancient harbor city, including Cleopatra’s palace, sank into the Mediterranean due to a series of earthquakes that began in the fourth century A.D. Located in the bay just offshore of the modern city’s coastline, the buildings and complexes where Egypt’s most famous queen lived and walked have been out of reach to all but the most dedicated underwater archaeologists. Recently, UNESCO has announced that it will be funding a research team to determine if the sunken city cannot once again be visible without the use of SCUBA gear.

Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and UNESCO are studying the feasibility of creating an underwater museum; one that will allow visitors to see the ancient ruins lying just below the surface of the water without moving or otherwise disturbing them. The proposed museum would also have an above-ground portion of the complex, where recovered artifacts could be displayed and seen before the visitor would continue through clear, fiberglass tunnels running under the surface of the water amid the sunken palace ruins. Egyptian authorities hope that such a project, if feasible, would revitalize the city’s landscape and its tourism industry.

National Geographic reports on the underwater museum project in Alexandria.

Temple and Statue of Ramesses II Discovered in Cairo

This week in Cairo, the bustling capital city of Egypt, archaeologists have uncovered portions of a temple and statue built to honor Ramesses II, the 19th Dynasty pharaoh who is perhaps the most famous ruler of ancient Egypt. The temple and statue remains were found in the area of Ain Shams in east Cairo and are over 3,000 years old. Discoveries such as this are unusual in the crowded and urban city, though in 2006 another colossal statue of Ramesses II was discovered there. That statue, made of pink granite and weighing 100 tons, was eventually moved outside the city to protect it from pollution.

Ramesses II was known to have built prolifically during his rule, constructing monuments and statues honoring his achievements all over the country. Ancient sources describe his reign as one of prosperity and power, lasting over 65 years. Upon his death at over 90 years of age, his mummy was interred in the Valley of Kings. Today, the mummy of Ramesses II is on display at the National Museum in Cairo and is one of the country’s greatest tourist attractions.

ABC News reports on the rare discovery of a temple to Ramesses II in Egypt’s capital city.