The arch of Titus stands on the Via Sacra which leads from the Colosseum into the Roman Forum. It marked Titus' campaign in Judea which led to the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. Titus' deified image is depicted lifted up to the heavens on the back of an eagle.
The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant
“We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years.”
The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant
“We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years.”
The Genomic History of the Bronze Age Southern Levant
“We find that Levant-related modern populations typically have substantial ancestry coming from populations related to the Chalcolithic Zagros and the Bronze Age Southern Levant. These groups also harbor ancestry from sources we cannot fully model with the available data, highlighting the critical role of post-Bronze-Age migrations into the region over the past 3,000 years.”
🇳🇴 Norwegian farmer finds 1,000-year-old Viking sword on family farm
“X-ray scans of the sword revealed outlines of rare inscriptions with a cross pattern and the likely presence of letters on the blade.
Based on these inscriptions, scientists said it could be a so-called Vlfberht sword, produced during the Viking Age or the early Middle Ages between 900 and 1050AD.”
Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe
“The historical and archaeological record leave no doubt that the development of culture and population in southwestern Germany was temporarily characterized by profound discontinuities, particularly during the third to first century BCE. The definitive end of the 2,000 years of relative genetic continuity from the Bronze throughout the Iron Age in southern Germany is marked by a sudden, sharp increase of Steppe-related ancestry during the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.”
Gretzinger, J., Schmitt, F., Mötsch, A. et al. Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe. Nat Hum Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01888-7
Biblical Gilgal: A Common Place Name or a Cult Site near Jericho?
“Gilgal was a national cult centre of the Kingdom of Israel, and in several references its name appears alongside that of Bethel (1 Sam 7:16; 2 Kgs 2:1–2; Hos 4:15; 12:12; Amos 4:4; 5:4–5). Bethel, located in the highlands, was the seat of a national temple (see Amos 7:13) and the place where the golden calf, the animal sacred to the Storm God, represented the God of Israel in his temple.”
First English settlers in North America ate dogs to survive
“Archaeologists excavated about 181 canine bones in Jamestown – representing at least 16 dogs that lived between 1607 and 1617 AD.
The dog remains showed evidence of bone modifications “consistent with human skinning, skeletal disarticulation, and meat removal” – meaning they were consumed by the colonists.”
“The implication is that Anglo-Saxon elites had access to significant quantities of Byzantine silver, something that dramatically alters our view of how economically and politically connected they were.”
“_ The implication is that Anglo-Saxon elites had access to significant quantities of Byzantine silver, something that dramatically alters our view of how economically and politically connected they were._”
“This episode examines the origins of Hebrew and its relationship with Canaanite dialects in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. The episode will explore archaeological artifacts such as an inscription from Izbet Sarteh in Israel, which may be one of the earliest inscriptions of the Hebrew language.”
#Video length: ten mintues and fifty nine seconds.
Remains of a triconch room in a 4th cent. Roman villa in Patti Marina, #Sicily. The room is comprised of three curved apses and a mosaic floor decorated with geometric patterns and animals.
“The fakes created during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century tell us another story, one of the rediscovery of the ancient Near East within the Orientalism movement. This fascination about the Orient and the past led certain individuals to create some fantastic stories and theories, such as those published by the writer Zecharia Stichin (1920–2010) who took the mythological battles of gods related in the authentic Babylonian Epic of Creation to be real astronomic phenomena.”
Michel, C. 2020. Cuneiform Fakes: A Long History from Antiquity to the Present Day. In: Michel, C. and Friedrich, M. ed. Fakes and Forgeries of Written Artefacts from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern China. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 25-60. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110714333-002
“The fakes created during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century tell us another story, one of the rediscovery of the ancient Near East within the Orientalism movement. This fascination about the Orient and the past led certain individuals to create some fantastic stories and theories, such as those published by the writer Zecharia Stichin (1920–2010) who took the mythological battles of gods related in the authentic Babylonian Epic of Creation to be real astronomic phenomena.”
Michel, C. 2020. Cuneiform Fakes: A Long History from Antiquity to the Present Day. In: Michel, C. and Friedrich, M. ed. Fakes and Forgeries of Written Artefacts from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern China. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 25-60. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110714333-002
“The extent to which the worship of Baal and Asherah affected Israel’s understanding of Yahweh is seen in the inscriptions found at Kuntillet Ajrud. Jezebel was not fully responsible for the ongoing worship of Canaanite deities in Israel and Judah but her reign gave legitimacy to the long held tendency.”
Dolan, M. (2024) “Jezebel: A Hebrew Disaster”, Buried History: The Journal of the Australian Institute of Archaeology, 40, pp. 39–48. https://doi.org/10.62614/7d25h288
Found at last: long-lost branch of the Nile that ran by the pyramids
"The highest concentration of pyramids in Egypt can be found in a stretch of desert between Giza and the village of Lisht. These sites are now several dozens of kilometres away from the Nile River. But Egyptologists have long suspected that the Nile might once have been closer to that stretch than it is today.
Satellite images and geological data now confirm that a tributary of the Nile — which researchers have named the Ahramat Branch — used to run near many of the major sites in the region several thousand years ago."
Found at last: long-lost branch of the Nile that ran by the pyramids
“The highest concentration of pyramids in Egypt can be found in a stretch of desert between Giza and the village of Lisht. These sites are now several dozens of kilometres away from the Nile River. But Egyptologists have long suspected that the Nile might once have been closer to that stretch than it is today.
Satellite images and geological data now confirm that a tributary of the Nile — which researchers have named the Ahramat Branch — used to run near many of the major sites in the region several thousand years ago.”
Found at last: long-lost branch of the Nile that ran by the pyramids
“Satellite images and geological data now confirm that a tributary of the Nile — which researchers have named the Ahramat Branch — used to run near many of the major sites in the region several thousand years ago.”
"After a thorough examination, we may conclude that the item’s amateurish preparation and local origin are suggestive of a scribal exercise. The use of an available mould that was not suitable for a tablet, the child’s fingerprint on the reverse and the corrected mistakes in the script all point to an inexperienced scribe."
“After a thorough examination, we may conclude that the item’s amateurish preparation and local origin are suggestive of a scribal exercise. The use of an available mould that was not suitable for a tablet, the child’s fingerprint on the reverse and the corrected mistakes in the script all point to an inexperienced scribe.”
Mystery as 1,600-year-old ancient Irish stone unearthed in English garden
“The 1,600-year-old stone, which is inscribed with an Irish language from the 4th century AD, was unearthed by a geography teacher in Coventry, West Midlands, in 2020.”
Theft of Bronze Age gold artefacts from UK museum sparks fresh concerns about lack of government investment in sector by Joe Ware #TheArtNewspaper
“The theft of a Bronze Age gold torc and bracelet from a UK institution has sparked calls for greater government investment in the museum sector.
Police are yet to make arrests and are appealing for information to track down two thieves who broke into the Ely Museum, Cambridgeshire, on 7 May and escaped on electric scooters.
With gold prices hitting a record high in recent months experts are worried that the precious artefacts, worth £220,000 in their current form, might be melted down for their scrap metal value.”