ASSYRIAN CAPITAL IN DANGER OF FALLING INTO THE TIGRIS

An Iraqi antiquities official warned this week that the first capital of Assyria, the 4,500 year old city now known as Qalah Sharqat, is in danger of falling into the Tigris River.

"This season, the river washed away dozens of clay tablets and statues because there is no protective flood wall," said Mohammed al- Jabouri, who works for the antiquities department in Salah al-Din. He said that the river has also washed out 30 meters of Assur, Assyria's ancient religious capital. "The antiquities department in Salah al-Din province has repeatedly asked the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to protect [Qalah Sharqat] from the flood, but the ministry has done nothing so far, as if this is a matter of no concern," al-Jabouri said.

The site was partially excavated in the early 1900s, but was abandoned after World War I. No work has been done since then to complete the excavation.

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RENOVATION TO MODERNIZE LUXOR UNDERWAY WHILE MANY FUME IN SILENCE

A large renovation and restoration project is currently underway in Luxor, home to Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Golf courses, five-star hotels, and an IMAX theater will appear in the city and lights will flood the Valley of the Kings by 2030. The Supreme Council of Antiquities is also working to restore the sphinxes along the way between the Karnak and Luxor Temples.

Many buildings have been demolished as a result of the project, including the old bazaar in Luxor, and homeowners living in the construction zone have been bought out. "We just cleaned the houses, cleaned the streets. You'll never find a clean city like Luxor now in Egypt,” said Samir Farang, who heads the renovation project. 

Many, however, including residents, architects, and archaeologists, are not happy with the project. Very few are openly vocal for fear of the consequences from the government, such as imprisonment or cuts in funding. "They want it to be all asphalt and strip malls and shopping centers. That's their idea of modern and progressive,” said one resident. "Many buildings from many different periods have been erased, or will be, and I think that's entirely negative," added an architect who works on Egyptian heritage projects. "At the end of the day, you're left with a kind of Disneyland piece of pseudo-pharaonic stuff, and the rest of it is swept away." 

Some homeowners in the area are prepared to take a stand. "They do what they want, we do what we want," said a resident of Maris. "We will beat and be beaten, we will kill and be killed. After we die they can take our homes." Despite this and other requests to halt the project, Farang remains seemingly unconcerned about the opposition. “Just a few people, maybe I removed their houses or something like that, they want to criticize,” he said. “We're talking about destruction for the public good. There are victims for every development."


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10 HAN DYNASTY TOMBS UNCOVERED DURING CONSTRUCTION WORK

Construction work at the site of a future apartment complex in South Beijing revealed at least 10 ancient tombs, thought to be from the Han Dynasty. Song Dachuan, head of the Beijing Cultural Relic Institute, told Chinese media on Monday that the tombs had been dated to the Han Dynasty based on the results of the initial excavation.

Archaeologists working on the site commented that the group of tombs could possibly belong to one family, based on the comparable sizes and styles of both the tombs and burial goods. The site is now being guarded by security while construction resumes in other parts of the area.



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LOCATION OF PHARAOH USERKARE'S LONG-LOST TOMB POSSIBLY DISCOVERED

A professor of archaeoastronomy has tentatively discovered the location of 6^th Dynasty pharaoh Userkare’s long-lost tomb near Saqqara. Giulio Magli, of Milan’s Polytechnic University, will publish his research in the next issue of Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry. By connecting lines between the tombs of the rulers of Egypt’s 6^th Dynasty, Professor Magli has identified a location in South Saqqara where Userkare’s tomb may be located. "We are talking of meridian and diagonal alignments, with pyramids raised at their intersections. The only missing piece in this sort of grid is the pyramid of Userkare," he said. "Diagonal axes -- generally oriented northeast by southwest -- governed Giza, Abusir and the Saqqara central field. But we have a different pattern with some 6th dynasty kings: their funerary monuments in South Saqqara appear to have been  planned according to meridian, north-south axes.”

Pharaoh Userkare is known only from Egypt’s king lists. He was the second ruler of the 6^th Dynasty, between Teti and Pepi I. "When Pepi I took control a few years later, Userkare disappeared from history. Finding his tomb might help understand those obscure years. The walls in his burial might also contain intact copies of the Pyramid Texts," said Magli.

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NEWLY DISCOVERED MYCENAEAN TOMBS COULD BE EVIDENCE OF CLASSLESS SOCIETY

Five chamber tombs were recently opened near Mycenae which date to 1350-1200 BC – the time of the Mycenaean Golden Age. Archaeologists have not yet found any elite burials, despite a wealth of human remains. One of the directors of the excavation project, Professor Angus Smith, discussed the findings recently, noting that the existence of the tombs is “no doubt related to the growth of Mycenae.” The absence of elite burials, though, has been proposed as tentative evidence of an ancient egalitarian society.

The Mycenaeans were known for their rich elite burials. The grave goods discovered at Ayia Sotira, the site of the recently uncovered tombs, were “modest finds.” There is a “distinctly different character to those around Mycenae. The wealthy and very wealthy tombs are missing,” Smith said. Various theories regarding this absence include grave robbing, undiscovered elite burials, and the aforementioned egalitarian society. “It does seem to be a community of agriculturalists who don’t seem to have a clear leader or clear elite mixed in amongst them,” Smith added. “Were they governed by the palace at Mycenae which sort of oversaw them? Or were they removed enough that they had their own system of politics and government but one that didn’t produce clear elites?”

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OCTAVIAN WAS NAMED AS EGYPTIAN PHARAOH AT PHILAE

 

A newly translated Roman victory stele from the Temple of Isis at Philae shows Octavian’s name inscribed in a cartouche – proof that the Roman ruler was also viewed as an Egyptian pharaoh.

It is generally believed that Octavian was never crowned as pharaoh, although Egypt became part of his domain. The stele was erected in April 29 BC. Octavian became “Augustus” two years later, in 27 BC. The stele, which notes the end of Ptolemaic and Ethiopian rule in Egypt, was erected by the priests at the Temple of Isis and was commissioned by Octavian’s appointed prefect in Egypt, Gaius Cornelius Gallus.

The new translation was recently published in The Trilingual Stela of C. Cornelius Gallus from Philae. Professor Martina Minas-Nerpal, of Swansea University in Wales, was a part of the team who worked on the translation. “The name of Octavian is written in a cartouche - he’s treated as any other Egyptian king,” she said. “They had to have an acting pharaoh – the only acting pharaoh (possible) under Octavian was Octavian,” she said. “The priests needed to see him as a pharaoh otherwise their understanding of the world would have collapsed… He (Octavian) needed to have a calm province and the key element to keeping the province calm were the priests – they were key to the population.”

The Ptolemaic kings of Egypt used a similar strategy in order to relate to the traditional Egyptian kingship theology, especially strong in southern Egypt, where Philae is located.

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PARTHIAN WORLD HERITAGE SITE TO BE EXCAVATED

Iranian media reported last week that a team from the Kermanshah University of Science and Technology will work with archaeologists to excavate an ancient Parthian settlement at the World Heritage Site of Bistun.

"Last [Iranian] year under the directorship of archaeologist Mehdi Rhabar we focused our research on the Sasanian dynastic palace, and the outcome will be published in due course. In the process we have carried out a survey and opened a number of trenches on the nearby slope, which have been proven to be Parthian and will be our research objective for the next year [Iranian year]", said the director of the Bistun Archaeological Research Centre, David Daneshian.

Bistun, in western Iran, is located on an ancient trade route between Iran and Mesopotamia. The site also contains remains from prehistoric, Median, Achaemenid, Sasanian, and Ilkhanid periods. Bistun has been plagued by vandalism and plundering in the past. It was registered as a World Heritage Site in July 2006.

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LEAD SARCOPHAGUS FOUND NEAR ROME COULD CONTAIN "SOMEBODY OF SUBSTANCE"

A lead sarcophagus discovered in Gabii, outside Rome, could contain a gladiator or Christian dignitary, archaeologists say.

The 1,700 year old sarcophagus was discovered last year in a pit sealed with cement and is preparing to undergo lab testing. The find is unusual for a number of reasons. Romans generally cremated their dead. Among the uncommon Roman burials in sarcophagi, only a few hundred have been discovered in lead coffins. Of these lead coffins, most are rectangular in shape. The one found in Gabii has been described as having a burrito shape.

Archaeologists have not made much progress so far with the find. The coffin was not discovered with any grave goods, and x-ray and CT scans are not able to penetrate the lead. It is being transported to the American Academy in Rome for further testing, where scientists hope to get a glimpse inside without having to open the coffin completely.

Researchers hope the sarcophagus will lead to new insights into the Gabii civilization. Jeffrey Becker, a Roman archaeologist, notes that the lead "is a sure marker of somebody of some kind of substance," since lead was highly valuable during the time of the burial. Previous such sarcophogi have held elite clerical members, soldiers, and gladiators.

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MUMMY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT FOUND IN ALEXANDRIA

[Our 2010 April Fools Post]

Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, today announced the discovery of what is “most probably” the mummy of Alexander the Great. “I know this is Alexander,” said Hawass. “I can feel it in my heart.”

Alexander, who drank himself to death at a young age, was preserved for 2 years after his death in Babylon, where he died. His body was then paraded through the eastern part of his empire to Alexandria, the city he founded in Egypt. Egyptian embalmers there mummified their king’s body as a traditional Egyptian pharaoh. Ptolemy I is reported to have kept Alexander’s mummy in Egypt, although the funeral procession was supposed to have continued throughout the empire on its way to Alexander’s homeland in Macedonia.

In 1995, a Greek team discovered what they thought was Alexander’s tomb in the Siwah oasis in Lybia. They had hoped to discover his mummy as well, but searches proved fruitless. “They were looking in the wrong place,” explains Hawass. “He was obviously buried in the city that bears his name – Alexandria.

While analysis of the mummy and further excavations are still underway, Hawass briefly presented the evidence that identified it as belonging to Alexander. “Alexander was famous for his upward gazing expression. And as you can see in these low-res pictures, the mummy’s eyes look like they might have been looking upward. So, we can say, this is most probably Alexander.”

Some experts are not convinced that the mummy is actually Alexander, though. “We need to be very careful that we do not jump to conclusions,” said one Hellenistic scholar who wished to remain unnamed. “While I have great respect for the Supreme Council of Antiquities, I think they may have gotten a little ahead of themselves here.” He pointed out that none of the artifacts discovered with the mummy had yet been dated to Alexander’s era. 


“We can only hope that this is a poorly executed April Fools joke,” he added.

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