Archeology, Architecture, Artifacts, Art & Ancient Findings Archeology, Architecture, Artifacts, Art & Ancient Findings s They built Petra, but who were the Nabataeans? 2007 07 10 It took over 2,000 years, but the Nabataean people have finally received international praise for creating one of the most remarkable civilisations of the ancient world. Originally a nomadic people from southern Arabia, the Nabataeans arrived in what is now Jordan around the 6th century BC. Over time, they abandoned their nomadic ways and established Petra as the centre of a ... Deciphering of earliest Semitic text reveals talk of snakes and spells 2007 01 26 Article picked up from: davidicke.com These serpent spells, written in hieroglyphic characters and discovered in an Egyptian pyramid, are the earliest continuous Semitic texts to have been deciphered.A 5,000-year-old Semitic text dealing with magical spells and snakes has been deciphered from an ancient Egyptian pyramid inscription, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced Monday. The texts, which were first discovered a century ... Snake Cults Dominated Early Arabia 2007 05 20 "Hostile Spirit" This photo shows a closeup of a 3rd century A.D. relief from Iran. The "hostile spirit" Ahriman is depicted as having a crown in the shape of a snake. Pre-Islamic Middle Eastern regions were home to mysterious snake cults, according to two papers published in this month's Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy journal. From at least 1250 B.C. until around 550 ... Missing slab could unlock mysteries of past 2006 12 29 Article picked up from: davidicke.com Ancient artifact from east Nashville has unique etchings Missing: one incised slab. Collector value: thousands of dollars. Historical value: priceless. For the past few years, archaeologist Tracy Brown has combed flea markets and collector shows across Tennessee and the Southeast, hoping to stumble upon the owner of a small stone slab first discovered in east Nashville 40 years ago. On the ... Snakemen Stone Reliefs Discovered in Jiroft, Iran 2006 02 19 Recent archeological excavations in Kenar-Sandal area in Jiroft resulted in the discovery of two stone reliefs. The reliefs depict two men with human faces but snake bodies. “These reliefs were carved on soapstones. They are 25 by 17 centimeter in size with a thickness of about 1.5 centimeters,” said Professor Yousof Majidzadeh, head of excavation team in Jifort. “This is the first time that such stone reliefs of creatures that are half human and half snake have been discovered in this historical site. However, carvings of scorpion-like human beings on stones and eagle reliefs had previously been discovered in this historical site." World’s oldest ritual discovered. Worshipped the python 70,000 years ago 2006 12 02 SACRIFIED TO THE PYTHON: The world’s oldest ritual ceremonies are twice as old as previously thought. More than 70,000 years ago in a small cave in Botswana, humans sacrificed spearheads to the python. Photo: Sheila Coulson.A new archaeological find in Botswana shows that our ancestors in Africa engaged in ritual practice 70,000 years ago — 30,000 years earlier than the oldest ... Egypt's Oldest Known Art Identified, Is 15,000 Years Old 2007 07 16 Etchings at Qurta, located about 400 miles (640 kilometers) south of Cairo, Egypt, depict a now extinct species of wild cow. The rediscovered artwork—similar in look and age to iconic paintings in Spain and France—pushes "Egyptian art, religion, and culture back to a much earlier time," archaeologists say. Photographs courtesy Dirk Huyge Rock face drawings and etchings recently rediscovered in southern Egypt ... Explorers find ancient caves, paintings in Nepal 2007 05 10 Explorers have discovered a series of caves decorated with ancient Buddhist paintings, set in sheer cliffs in Nepal's remote Himalayan north, leaving archaeologists excited and puzzled. An international team of scholars, archaeologists, climbers and explorers examined at least 12 cave complexes at 14,000 feet near Lo Manthang, a mediaeval walled city in Nepal's Mustang district, about 125 km (80 miles) northwest ... 1m-years-old footprints found at Margalla Hills 2007 07 29 Islamabad, July 27: In what appears to be a major discovery, archaeologists have found two over one million years old human footprints preserved on a sandstone at the Margalla Hills. The Indusians Research Cell, which is working under the supervision of world renowned archaeologist and historian Dr Ahmad Hassan Dani of Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, has made ... Million-year-old human tooth found in Spain & Mysterious origins of man (Video) 2007 07 03 This picture released by Fundacion Atapeurca shows a human tooth found in the Atapuerca Sierra, near Burgos. Spanish researchers on Friday said they had unearthed a human tooth more than one million years old, which they estimated to be the oldest human fossil remain ever discovered in western Europe.(AFP/FA-HO) Spanish researchers on Friday said they had unearthed a human tooth more ... Bronze Age Sky Disc Deciphered 2006 02 28 A group of German scientists has deciphered the meaning of one of the most spectacular archeological discoveries in recent years: The mystery-shrouded sky disc of Nebra was used as an advanced astronomical clock. The purpose of the 3,600 year-old sky disc of Nebra, which caused a world-wide sensation when it was brought to the attention of the German public in 2002, is no longer a matter of speculation. King David’s Palace Found in East Jerusalem? 2006 01 05 Does an amazing new discovery show that the Bible is supported by science? Many archeologists are calling the latest Israeli archeological discovery “the find of the century” (Canadian Jewish News, October 20). Eilat Mazar, an Israeli archeologist, is claiming to have unearthed, in East Jerusalem, the palace of biblical King David. King David was the 10th century b.c. poet-warrior and slayer of Goliath, whom the Bible says consolidated and expanded the ancient Israelite kingdom into a regional power. Scientists Find Ancient Hobbit-Sized People 2004 10 28 Once upon a time, on an isolated island of Indonesia, there lived a colony of little people — very little people. Not only did anthropologists find the skeletal remains of a hobbit-sized, 30-year-old adult female, in this fairy-tale-like discovery they also uncovered in the same limestone cave the remains of a Komodo dragon, stone tools and a dwarf elephant. Hobbit cave digs set to restart 2007 01 28 Archaeologists who found the remains of human "Hobbits" have gained permission to restart excavations at the cave where the specimens were found. Indonesian officials have blocked access to the cave since 2005, following a dispute over the bones. But Professor Richard "Bert" Roberts, a member of the team that found the specimens, told BBC News the political hurdles had now ... Ancient 'Hobbit' not a malformed human 2007 02 02 An 18,000 year-old 'Hobbit' skeleton unearthed in Indonesia is a new species closely related to Homo sapiens, according to evidence released today. Some scientists had theorised that the skeletal remains found on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 belonged to a pygmy or a microcephalic - a human with an abormally small skull. But researchers from Florida State University ... Ancient Vishnu idol found in Russian town 2007 01 08 An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia's Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The idol found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than ... Celestial Find at Ancient Andes Site 2006 05 15 Archeologists working high in the Peruvian Andes have discovered the oldest known celestial observatory in the Americas, a 4,200-year-old structure marking the summer and winter solstices that is as old as the stone pillars of Stonehenge. The observatory was built on the top of a 33-foot-tall pyramid with precise alignments and sightlines that provide an astronomical calendar for agriculture, archeologist Robert Benfer of the University of Missouri said. Ancient Solar Observatory Discovered in Peru 2007 03 04 The fortified stone temple at Chankillo. Credit: National Aerial Service, Peru The oldest solar observatory in the Americas has been discovered in coastal Peru, archeologists announced today. The 2,300-year-old ceremonial complex featured the Towers of Chankillo, 13 towers running north to south along a low ridge and spread across 980 feet (300 meters) to form a toothed horizon that was used ... New archaeological findings on political power in Peru 2007 03 25 A team from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the University of Almería has completed its second part of the "Proyecto La Puntilla", an archaeological expedition to the Peruvian province of Nazca, where last year it discovered a new type of construction. The latest findings show that a new political power based on the exercise of violence emerged on the ... 600 Year Old Amazon Mummies of the Chachapoyas Caught In Terror 2007 01 13 Hands over her eyes and her face gripped with terror, the woman's fear of death is all too obvious. The remarkable mummy was found in a hidden burial vault in the Amazon. It is at least 600 years old and has survived thanks to the embalming skills of her tribe, the Chachapoyas or cloud warriors. Eleven further mummies were recovered from ... Discovery could bring Peru's 'cloud warriors' to earth 2007 01 21 More images, slide show from usatoday.com: Chachapoya's the 'Cloud Warriors' A massive ruin offers fresh clues about the culture of Peru's vanished Chachapoya, the "cloud warriors" who battled the Inca Empire more than 500 years ago. Best known for building mountainous cliff-side tombs and filling them with bundled mummies, the Chachapoya (cha-cha-POY-ah) were once rulers of the northern Andes. Aside from cliff ... Ancient Tomb Found in Mexico Reveals Mass Child Sacrifice 2007 06 22 The skeletons of two dozen children killed in an ancient mass sacrifice have been found in a tomb at a construction site in Mexico. The find reveals new details about the ancient Toltec civilization and adds to an ongoing debate over ritualistic killing in historic Mesoamerica. Construction crews unearthed the burial chamber this spring near the town of Tula, the ... Ancient Mexicans took sacrifice victims from afar 2007 04 12 A file photo shows an aerial view of The Pyramid of the Moon at Mexico's Teotihuacan archeological ruins in this photo taken, September 2, 2004. Ancient Mexicans brought human sacrifice victims from hundreds of miles away over centuries to sanctify a pyramid in the oldest city in North America, an archaeologist said on Wednesday. (Henry Romero/ReutersAncient Mexicans brought human sacrifice ... Study Points to Human Sacrifice in Europe 2007 06 14 Europe's prehistoric hunter-gatherers may have practiced human sacrifice , a new study claims. Investigating a collection of graves from the Upper Paleolithic (about 26,000 to 8,000 BC), archaeologists found several that contained pairs or even groups of people with rich burial offerings and decoration. Many of the remains were young or had deformities, such as dwarfism. The diversity of the ... Who Were The Earliest Americans? 2006 05 31 In Atlantis In America: Navigators of the Ancient World Ivar Zapp and I proposed that when the identities of the first Americans were finally known that they would likely turn out to be South Pacific Islanders. The idea that open-sea navigators would be the first Americans was the result of our belief that the great stone spheres of Costa Rica were sculpted by the earliest peoples in the Americas and that they resembled structures used as sighting stones throughout the Pacific. Ancient mariner tools found in Cyprus 2007 07 21 A diver searches the Aspros area for ancient artifacts off the western coast of Cyprus, Akamas, Wednesday, July 4, 2007. Archaeologists excavating the seabed off Cyprus have discovered the tools of ancient mariners, which they believe were used by foragers more than 10,000 years ago before the island had permanent settlements. (AP Photo) Archaeologists excavating the seabed off Cyprus have ... Sailors may have cruised the Med 14,000 years ago 2007 07 23 Archaeologists in Cyprus have discovered what they believe could be the oldest evidence yet that organized groups of ancient mariners were plying the east Mediterranean, possibly as far back as 14,000 years ago. The find, archaeologists told Reuters on Wednesday, could also suggest the island of Cyprus, tucked in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean and about 30 miles away from ... Archaeologists set to unearth secrets of Scone and its kings 2007 07 06 It is one of the most evocative sites in Scotland's turbulent history - the place where Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scots before his victory over the English at Bannockburn. From the reign of Kenneth MacAlpin in the ninth century, every Scots king assumed the mantle of power, seated on the Stone of Destiny, on the ancient mound ... 'Lost' coronation abbey unearthed 2007 07 23 Archaeologists have unearthed the site where Robert the Bruce was crowned king of Scotland. The location of the abbey at Moot Hill, the original home of the Stone of Destiny, was forgotten centuries ago. But it has now been identified by experts from Glasgow University who have been surveying the grounds of Scone Palace for the first time. They used scanners ... Stone of Scone - Stone of Destiny - Jacob's Pillow/Pillar Stone - BabyLon(don) & Rennes Le Chateau 2005 10 01 The Stone of Scone, more commonly known as the Stone of Destiny or the Coronation Stone. Traditionally, it is supposed to be the stone which Jacob used as a pillow. It was originally supposed to have been used as the Coronation Stone of the early Dalriada Scots when they lived in Ireland. Jupiter's Temple, Baalbek, Lebanon 2006 02 21 In 27 BC, the Roman emperor Augustus supposedly took the unfathomable decision to build in the middle of nowhere the grandest and mightiest temple of antiquity, the Temple of Jupiter, whose platform, and big courtyard are retained by three walls containing twenty-seven limestone blocks, unequaled in size anywhere in the world, as they all weigh in excess of 300 metric tons. Three of the blocks, however, weigh more than 800 tons each. This block trio is world-renowned as the "Trilithon". Baalbek: Lebanon's Sacred Fortress 2006 02 22 Andrew Collins, author of From the Ashes of Angels, investigates one of the worlds greatest enigmas - the Great Platform at Baalbek in Lebanon and uncovers its links with giants, Titans and a previously unknown culture. Today these wonders of the classical world remain as impressive ruins scattered across a wide area, but more remarkable still is the gigantic stone podiums within which these structures stand. An outer podium wall, popularly known as the Great Platform, is seen by scholars as contemporary to the Roman temples. Ancient Aryan civilization achieved incredible technological progress 40 centuries ago 2005 08 06 The Arkaim valley in the south of Ural was supposed to be flooded in 1987: local authorities were going to create a water reservoir there to irrigate droughty fields. However, scientists found strange circles in the center of the valley: the authorities gave archaeologists 12 months to explore the area. Scientists were shocked to find out that Arkaim was the same age as Egypt and Babylon, and a little older than Troy and Rome. China Finds Pyramid in Ancient Tomb 2007 07 03 Chinese researchers say they have found a strange pyramid-shaped chamber while surveying the massive underground tomb of China's first emperor and theorize it was built as a passageway for his soul. Remote sensing equipment has revealed what appears to be a 100-foot-high room above Emperor Qin Shihuang's tomb near the ancient capital of Xi'an in Shaanxi province, the official Xinhua News ... Beijing Unveils Centuries-Old Temples 2007 01 27 Amid its frenzied citywide makeover for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing unveiled two centuries-old temples Friday that were salvaged from decades of neglect and saved from the current construction boom. The modest temples - one to a fertility goddess, the other to a dragon deity who controls rain and rivers - sit on either end of the Olympic Green, a 1,000-acre expanse ... Egypt's Oldest Known Art Identified, Is 15,000 Years Old 2007 07 16 Etchings at Qurta, located about 400 miles (640 kilometers) south of Cairo, Egypt, depict a now extinct species of wild cow. The rediscovered artwork—similar in look and age to iconic paintings in Spain and France—pushes "Egyptian art, religion, and culture back to a much earlier time," archaeologists say. Photographs courtesy Dirk Huyge Rock face drawings and etchings recently rediscovered in southern Egypt ... Fossil DNA Proves Greenland Once Had Lush Forests; Ice Sheet Is Surprisingly Stable 2007 07 06 Ancient Greenland was green. New Danish research has shown that it was covered in conifer forest and, like southern Sweden today, had a relatively mild climate. Eske Willerslev, a professor at Copenhagen University, has analysed the world's oldest DNA, preserved under the kilometre-thick icecap. The DNA is likely close to half a million years old, and the research is painting ... Europe's oldest book soon to be deciphered 2006 06 06 A collection of charred scraps kept in a Greek museum's storerooms are all that remains of what archaeologists say is Europe's oldest surviving book - which may hold a key to understanding early monotheistic beliefs. More than four decades after the Derveni papyrus was found in a 2,400-year-old nobleman's grave in northern Greece, researchers said Thursday they are close to uncovering new text - through high-tech digital analysis - from the blackened fragments left after the manuscript was burnt on its owner's funeral pyre. Celestial and Mathematical Precision in Ancient Architecture 2006 01 10 Many ancient ruins demonstrate that the people who constructed them had not only a special regard for celestial bodies and mathematics, but also a spot-on accuracy. From Egypt to Mexico, there is no doubt that past civilizations were involved in incredibly complex space calculations, mathematics and architectural endeavours. Although many historians and archaeologists debate exactly what these civilizations did intentionally and what they did by mere chance, here are a few examples of how ancient architecture was created with mathematics and the cosmos in mind. Global Orion Links: A Celestial Plan? 2006 12 05 Art by: jackandrewsart.com Humans naturally seem to resonate with the hermetic maxim “As above, so below.” We like the idea that the earth mirrors the stars. We even try to enhance this duality by constructing pyramids, temples, stone circles, henges, or sacred villages to reflect star patterns. Biblically speaking, God’s will shall be done “in earth as it is in heaven.” ... How Roman Towns Were Built on Star-Aligned Grids 2007 05 15 Ancient Romans built their towns using astronomically aligned grids, an Italian study has concluded. Published recently on the physics Web site, www.arXiv.org, maintained at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, the research examined the orientation of virtually all Roman towns in Italy. "It emerged that these towns were not laid out at random. On the contrary, they were planned following strong ... Rome's She-Wolf Younger Than Its City 2006 11 26 The icon of Rome's foundation, the Capitoline she-wolf, was crafted in the Middle Ages, not the Antiquities, according to a research into the statue’s bronze-casting technique. The discovery quashes the long-prevailing belief that the she-wolf was adopted as an icon by the earliest Romans as a symbol for their city. Recalling the ... More Clues in the Legend (or Is It Fact?) of Romulus 2007 06 12 Orphans A 16th-century fresco, in Bologna, Italy, of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. The story of Romulus and Remus is almost as old as Rome. The orphan twins were suckled by a she-wolf in a cave on the banks of the Tiber. Romulus grew up to found Rome in 753 B. C. Historians have long since dismissed the story as ... Ancient site on endangered list 2007 06 10 The ancient Hill of Tara in Meath - once the seat of Ireland's high kings- has been named one of the world's 100 most endangered heritage sites. The World Monument Fund has placed Tara on its "crisis list" following the go-ahead for the controversial M3 motorway through the site. The project has been bitterly opposed by environmental campaigners. They are ... Atlantis, Egypt, and Ireland? 2007 04 15 The Story of Princess Scota In 1955, archaeologist Dr. Sean O’Riordan of Trinity College, Dublin, made an interesting discovery during an excavation of the Mound of Hostages at Tara, site of ancient kingship of Ireland. Bronze Age skeletal remains were found of what has been argued to be a young prince, still wearing a rare necklace of faience beads, made from ... Tropical Stonehenge May Have Been Found 2006 06 29 A grouping of granite blocks along a grassy Amazon hilltop may be the vestiges of a centuries-old astronomical observatory _ a find archaeologists say indicates early rainforest inhabitants were more sophisticated than previously believed. The 127 blocks, some as high as 9 feet tall, are spaced at regular intervals around the hill, like a crown 100 feet in diameter. Viking Age Inca Indian Found in Norwegian Burial Ground? 2007 06 29 It has long been known that Viking explorers, traders, and settlers made their way across the North Atlantic, first to the North Sea Islands, then to Iceland and Greenland, and even to the Newfoundland area of North America. But the accepted narrative is that the forays into the American continent proper were brief, and their contact with the native peoples ... Armageddon - Mount Megiddo (Har-megiddo in Hebrew) 2005 09 14 Megiddo (me·GID·o), or Tel Megiddo (TEL-me·GID·o), an ancient fortified city, is one of the most famous battlegrounds in the world. Historians believe that more battles were fought at this location than anywhere else on earth. Anciently Megiddo's gates and walls witnessed the armed struggles of Assyrians, Canaanites, Egyptians, Greeks, Israelites, Persians, Philistines, and Romans. Excalibur, the Sword in the Stone or The sword of St Galgano, Tuscany 2005 09 14 The sword of St Galgano, said to have been plunged into a rock by a medieval Tuscan knight, has been authenticated, bolstering Italy's version of the Excalibur legend. Galgano Guidotti, a noble from Chiusdano, near Siena, allegedly split the stone with his sword in 1180 after renouncing war to become a hermit. For centuries the sword was assumed to be a fake. but research revealed last week has dated its metal to the twelfth century. The Crystal Sun - Lost Technology of the Ancients 2005 10 12 Ancient lenses! Well, how far back do they go? The earliest actual lenses which I have located are crystal ones dating from the 4th Dynasty of Old Kingdom Egypt, circa 2500 BC. These are to be found in the Cairo Museum and two are in the Louvre in Paris. But archaeological evidence showing that they must have been around at least 700 years earlier has recently been excavated at Abydos in Upper Egypt. Jerusalem's volatile archaeology 2006 04 28 Known as the Western Wall Tunnel it runs under the old walled city and along the length of the western wall of what was once the Temple of Jerusalem. Built by Herod the Great in 20 BC, the Temple itself was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70. All that survived was the rock platform - the Temple Mount - on which the Temple was built and the massive retaining wall that supported the foundations of the building. The Temple Mount, or the Haram al-Sharif as it is called by Muslims, meaning noble sanctuary, is holy to both Jews and Muslims. For most of the time since the 7th Century it has been in the possession of Muslims, who believe it marks the point where the Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven. Iran's priceless antiquities lie in line of fire 2007 03 06 In his quiet office at the British Museum in London, among portraits of dead explorers and 3000-year-old inscriptions, one of the greatest experts on the archaeology of the Middle East has a series of maps of Iranian nuclear installations spread out across his desk. John Curtis's maps fill him with foreboding: because they show how many of Iran's nuclear plants are ... Project Tatra - The Mystery Artifact in a Slovakian Cave 2004 11 30 Centre for Physical Trace Research is spearheading Project Tatra to locate a mystery structure/artifact/device found in a cave at the Tatra mountains in Slovakia by Tony Horak during World War II. Ted R. Phillips is now going back to Slovakia again to locate the mystery artifact. This mystery is just begining. Robot to dig for secrets of Cheops 2006 12 02 A robot archaeologist is to be sent deep inside Egypt's largest pyramid in a bid to solve secrets revealed by a first foray more than four years ago. ``The new robot will be sent down very narrow passages in the so-called Queen's Chamber, where the first robot was sent in 2002,'' said Zahi Hawass, who heads Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. Teams ... Egyptians, not Greeks were true fathers of medicine 2007 05 12 Scientists examining documents dating back 3,500 years say they have found proof that the origins of modern medicine lie in ancient Egypt and not with Hippocrates and the Greeks. The research team from the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology at The University of Manchester discovered the evidence in medical papyri written in 1,500BC – 1,000 years before Hippocrates was born. ... King Herod's grave uncovered in hilltop fortress 2007 05 10 Archaeologists have unearthed the grave of King Herod the Great, the ruler of Jerusalem who attempted to kill Jesus soon after his birth, it was announced today. Professor Ehud Netzer, of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that he had finally located the king's last resting place in Herodium, Herod's fortified palace on a hilltop outside Jerusalem, after a 35-year ... An Interview With Graham Hancock 2005 10 23 For the past twelve years, Graham Hancock has been bent on mastering the mysteries of northern Africa, encompassing Ethiopia and Egypt in his quest for knowledge of both the Ark of the Covenant and, most recently, the monuments of the Giza plateau. Nor, for that matter, is he a stranger to the pyramids of Mexico and Central America, or the Andes' strange ruins and landscapes. The Essential Archives © Red Ice Creations .