Ancient History News Archive January 2012

Archaeological finds from cuneiform tablets and remnants of different vessels from over 4,000 years ago show that even around the dawn of civilisation, fermented cereal juice was highly enjoyed by Mesopotamia’s inhabitants. However, besides... [continue reading]

Popular Political Participation in the Late Roman Republic By Claudine Lana Earley PhD Dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington, 2009 Abstract: Roman democracy is in fashion. In particular, the publication of Fergus Millar’s... [continue reading]

Underground space use in Ancient Anatolia: the Cappadocia example By A. Erdem and Y. Erdem Underground Space Use: Analysis of the Past and Lessons for the Future, eds. Erdem and Solak (London, 2005) Abstract: Globalization... [continue reading]

A former University of Guam archaeologist has uncovered 3,500-year-old pottery and artifacts in Tinian, a find that could add to theories about how people first came to Micronesia.  Dr. Mike Carson, left, and Lino Villagomez place artifacts, found... [continue reading]

The Madness of the Emperor Caligula By A. T. Sandison Medical History, Vol.2:3 (1958) Introduction: Throughout the centuries the name of Caligula has been synonymous with madness and infamy, sadism and perversion. It has been said that Marshal Gilles... [continue reading]

Life on the edge: early maritime cultures of the Pacific Coast of North America By Jon M. Erlandson, Madonna L. Moss and Matthew Des Lauriers Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 27 (2008) Abstract: A variety of evidence suggests that the Americas may have been colonized... [continue reading]

Life on the edge: early maritime cultures of the Pacific Coast of North America By Jon M. Erlandson, Madonna L. Moss and Matthew Des Lauriers Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 27 (2008) Abstract: A variety... [continue reading]

Is Sexuality Sacred? A Biblical Connection By Renata Alexandre Student World, Vol.64 (2004) Abstract: The Christian Church has been in an uneasy relationship with sexuality nearly since her inception. In such a context, affirming sexuality... [continue reading]

The Dedicatory Presentation in Late Antiquity: The Example of Ausonius By Hagith Savin Illinois Classical Studies, Vol.17:1 (1992) Introduction: In a well-known analysis of the function of dedicatory pieces in Martial... [continue reading]

Waiting for Sulla By E. Badian The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 52, Parts 1 and 2 (1962) Introduction: There are many periods of history – and unfortunately not always the least important – that survive, for us, entirely or mainly in one version... [continue reading]

Minoan Aqueducts: A Pioneering Technology By A.N. Angelakis, Y.M. Savvakis and G. Charalampakis Proceedings of the 1st IWA International Symposium on WATER AND WASTEWATER TECHNOLOGIES IN ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS, edited by A. N. Angelakis and D. Koutsoyiannis... [continue reading]

The Historical Origins and Development of Gandhara Art By Iqtidar Karamat Cheema International Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture, Volume 8 (2007) Abstract: The region of Gandhara was the part of Achaemenian Empire in the... [continue reading]

Brendan Foley peels his wetsuit to the waist and perches on the side of an inflatable boat as it skims across the sea just north of the island of Crete. At his feet are the dripping remains of a vase that moments earlier had been resting on the sea floor, its home for more... [continue reading]

For 1,600 years, this city — Turkey’s largest — has been built and destroyed, erected and erased, as layer upon layer of life has thrived on its seven hills.   Hundreds of bricks stamped “Konstans,” made in Constantinople starting in the fifth century... [continue reading]

The Wall Street Journal Magazine has a very timely article on the conversation of historical sites across war-torn Afghanistan. A new sense of urgency has arisen as operations commence in valuable copper mines around the country. Please click here to read this article.

Swissinfo--a branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation--published this curious article about ancient lake settlements in November 2011. It was in 1854 when the first Swiss "lake-dweller" village was discovered outside Zurich, and since then over fifty more have been uncovered. Dating from roughly 5.000 to 500 BCE, these villages provide archaeologists... [continue reading]

Czech archaeologists have found a long lost temple from the Meroe period near the town of Vad Bon Naga in Sudan, Pavel Onderka, from Prague's Naprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, told journalists yesterday.  The Czech expedition has... [continue reading]

Legally Bound: A Study of Women’s Legal Status in the Ancient Near East Troy, Beth M Master of Arts, Miami University, History, (2004) Abstract This paper analyzes the legal status... [continue reading]

Observation and Prediction in Ancient Astrology Lehoux, Daryn History of Science and Technology Programme, University of King’s College, Halifax, Canada Studies In History and Philosophy of Science, Part A, Volume 35, Issue 2, June (2004)... [continue reading]

The Egyptian Myth of Isis and Osiris Lansdowne, Zachary F. The Esoteric Quarterly, Volume 4, Number 2. Summer (2008) Abstract The ancient Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris appears to be a dramatic tale of betrayal and revenge: Isis is the wife... [continue reading]

A farmer from the southeastern province of Adana’s Gökbuket village, Ahlat Gezer has unearthed a historic graveyard while plowing.  Gezer’s tractor was suddenly stopped by an obstruction while he was plowing the field, which he rented from the Regional... [continue reading]

A set of bones discovered on a building site in Milton Keynes could be Roman, said a council archaeologist.  Human remains excavated at a building site in Milton Keynes The remains of more than one person have now been discovered at the Taylor Wimpey development... [continue reading]

An international team of archaeologists led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has found a series of more than 7,500-year-old fish seines and traps at an archaeological site near Moscow.  Wooden fishing trap found at the Zamostje 2 site... [continue reading]

The Roman town of Venta Icenorum, meaning market of the Iceni people, was discovered during the 1929-35 excavations and has been a popular place of both local and national interest, with the BBC’s Time Team filming there in 2010.  Aerial shot of the Roman... [continue reading]

Archaeologists are investigating the truth behind the story that Ice Age Neanderthals in Jersey would push mammoths off cliffs in St Brelade for food.  250,000 years ago it was possible to walk between Jersey and what is now St Malo in France About... [continue reading]

Ancient Egyptians paid special attention to the organs of their dead, embalming them so they would continue to function in the afterlife. Now it seems they did the same for sacrificed ibis birds, and even packed their stomachs with food so they wouldn't go hungry. ... [continue reading]

Bones unearthed during the construction of an oceanfront mansion could be up to 3,000 years old, archaeologists have determined.  Archaeologists with the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy are looking for artifacts along Fort Lauderdale beach... [continue reading]

The timing and pattern of the migration of early modern humans has been a source of much debate and research. Now, a new study uses genetic analysis to look for clues about the migration of the first modern humans who moved out of Africa more than 60,000 years... [continue reading]

A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists.  Golden Mountains of Altai Lying at the intersection... [continue reading]

Many of readers might be aware that Turkey has suffered a devastating drought this year. Turkey's bad weather has, however, made an archaeologist's dream. Recently, a long forgotten sea wall has been revealed just outside of Istanbul, in Bathonea. Once a port, complimenting the great nexus of Constantinople, Bathonea's treasures are quickly being uncovered, surprising... [continue reading]

France24 has recently reported that the Greek government has decided to allow many of its famed archaeological sites--like the Parthenon--to be made available for "commercial" use by companies, private institutions, and other organizations. The decision, made by the Greek Ministry of Cultural Affairs, has been met with disgust and confusion by scholars and archaeologists... [continue reading]

A recently discovered mysterious "winged" structure in England, which in the Roman period may have been used as a temple, presents a puzzle for archaeologists, who say the building has no known parallels.  The archaeological team inside the postholes... [continue reading]

Under the hot sun at Tel es-Safi in southern Israel -- the Philistine city of Gath -- archaeologists have been puzzling over life in the Iron Age city and how it was plundered and destroyed by some invading force hundreds of years before the common era. ... [continue reading]

In the basement of Harvard’s Semitic Museum, Alex Douglas looked at the pieces of baked clay in front of him, teasing out how they fit together into a small tablet, thousands of years old and marked with ancient cuneiform writing.  Adam Aja, an assistant... [continue reading]

Early history of wound treatment Forrest, Richard D. (Department of Internal Medicine, Centrallasarettet, Boedn, Sweden) Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Volume 75, March (1982) Abstract Wounds cause pain, bleeding, disability... [continue reading]

Glevum: The Roman origins of Gloucester By Nigel Spry Gloucester and District Archaeological Research Group, 2003 Introduction: In 1997 Gloucester celebrated its founding as a Colonia – the highest status to which any Roman settlement could... [continue reading]

Lupercalia: The True Origins of St Valentine’s Day By Wendy Brinker Published Online (2007) Introduction: Lupercalia is uniquely Roman, but even the Romans of the first century were at a loss to explain exactly which deity or deities... [continue reading]

2012 is a celebratory year for the city of Thessaloniki, marking the centenary of its liberation and incorporation into the Greek State. In a series of initiatives and projects, Thessaloniki unfolds its long history and diverse tradition, while promoting its contemporary... [continue reading]

Italy has returned to Libya the head of a 2,000 year-old statue that was smuggled out of the country in the 1960s.  The sculpture returned by Italy to Libya, known as the Head Domitilla, which was stolen from Sabratha, Libya in 1990, is seen on display... [continue reading]

In the February 2012 edition of Smithsonian Magazine, there is an excellent article on the beautiful "Fayum portraits," dating from the Greco-Roman period of Egyptian history (c. 332 BCE--642 CE). Discovered between 1887 and 1889 CE, by the British archaeologist W. M. Flinders Petrie, these portraits are arguably some of the most exquisite portraits in the history... [continue reading]

Al Zubarah Archaeological Site, hopefully going to place Qatar for the first time on the Unesco World Heritage List, is being explored with cutting-edge technology to seek unprecedented insights from the past.  A magnetometer is being used in Al Zubarah... [continue reading]

The Ministry of Communications and Works, Department of Antiquities announces the completion of the latest season of excavation at the Early–Middle Bronze Age settlement of Kissonerga-Skalia. The excavations took place during July 2011 by a team of the University... [continue reading]

While corn was first domesticated in the valleys of central Mexico thousands of years ago, scientists and archaeologists now believe that popcorn originated from ancient Peru. According to a recent report from National Geographic, popcorn is over two thousand years old! Please click here to read the article in full.

The construction of Hadrian’s Wall By P.R. Hill PhD Dissertation, Durham University, 2003 Introduction: A number of scholars, notably Stevens and Hooley and Breeze, have examined the building of Hadrian’s Wall from the viewpoint... [continue reading]

Our history books inform us that the ancient Sumerians from the Fertile Crescent were the first to brew alcoholic beverages. Is this true though? Or did the Sumerians merely brew a very "low-alcoholic" drink?  The writers at Deutsche Welle review the evidence and make a judgment. Please click here to read this report.

Greek knowledge of India before the fourth century B.C Solomou, Stavros M.A. Thesis, University of British Columbia (1992) Abstract When Alexander the Great marched over to India towards the end of the 4th century B.C. and incorporated... [continue reading]

The regionalization of equestrians and centurions in the Roman Imperial Army McCormack, Eric P. M.A.Thesis, University of New Brunswick (1994) Abstract A secondary analysis of the findings from the prosopographical... [continue reading]

Is consent in medicine a concept only of modern times? By P Dalla-Vorgia, J Lascaratos, P Skiadas and T. Garanis-Papadatos Journal of Medical Ethics, Vol.27 (2001) Abstract: Although the issue of consent in medical practice has grown... [continue reading]

Domestic architecture of Roman Greece Papaioannou, Maria Doctor of Philosophy, University of British Columbia (2002) Abstract This thesis involves the study of the evolution of the domestic plan from a select number of representative Greek cities... [continue reading]

Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the History of Opium Addiction By Scott Ainslie The Proceedings of the 10th Annual History of Medicine Days, edited by W. A. Whitelaw (Calgary, 2001) Abstract: Opium is among a very short list of medications... [continue reading]

Theon of Alexandria and Hypatia By Michael Lambrou Creative Mathematics. Vol.12 (2003) Introduction: The mathematician and philosopher Hypatia flourished in Alexandria from the second part of the 4th century until her violent death incurred by a mob... [continue reading]

Meager Returns: Agricultural Wages in Roman Egypt By Edward Fox BA Thesis, Columbia University, 2007 Introduction: In February 247A.D, Eirenaios the manager (phrontistes) of a unit of the large estate belonging to Aurelius Appianus... [continue reading]

Analyzing Caesar’s Motivations and Emotions on the Banks the Rubicon By Michael Sweet Published Online, 2006 Introduction: Gaius Julius Caesar is among the most famous men in human history. His cognomen... [continue reading]

From War Elephants to Circus Elephants: Humanity’s Abuse of  Elephants By Mike Jaynes Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume 7, Issue 1 (2009) Abstract: This paper examines the historical human... [continue reading]

As the Romans retreated from Britain at the dawn of the fifth century CE, various Germanic tribes invaded and subdued the Romanized Celtic inhabitants. Following conquest, they left behind impressive barrows in addition to hoards of gold, silver, and other precious metals. Recently, National Geographic Magazine featured an article on the spectacular discovery... [continue reading]

Wet-nursing in the Roman Empire: Indifference, efficiency and affection By Anna Sparreboom Thesis M-phil., VU University, Amsterdam (2009) Introduction: The introduction of artificial baby food in the western world... [continue reading]

Why does the same, bizarre Bronze Age structure appear across Ireland and the United Kingdom? Was it something purely ceremonial or something with more practical purposes? In this article, freelance writer Erin Mullally investigates the importance of these structures to historians and anthropologists alike, uncovering clues along the way. Please click here... [continue reading]

Hygienic conditions in ancient Rome and modern London By Lord Amulree Medical History, Vol.17:3 (1973) Introduction: Edwin Chadwick, acting on first principles only, outlined a programme for the improvement in the health... [continue reading]

I had the pleasure of interviewing Gordon Doherty, a Scottish writer of historical fiction, about his book Legionary (set in the Migration Age Byzantine Empire) and his latest book Strategos (set in the Medieval Byzantine Empire). In this interview, he talks about his interpretation of Byzantium and why it's a great setting for historical fiction. Click... [continue reading]

Infrastructure Protection in the Ancient World By Michael J. Assante Proceedings of the 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2009) Abstract: This paper provides lessons learned from ancient Roman attempts... [continue reading]

They got married, had children, made beer. Although they lived 3,500 years ago in Nippur, Babylonia, in many ways they seem like us. Whether they were also slaves is a hotly contested question which Jonathan Tenney, assistant professor of ancient Near Eastern... [continue reading]

Excavations just east of the Israeli city of Akko have unearthed a rare ceramic stamp more than 1.500 years old. The stamp, it is believed, was used by a Jewish baker named "Launtius," to certify his goods as kosher to potential customers. The stamp is engraved with an image of the iconic seven branched menorah and also contains lettering in Hebrew and Greek... [continue reading]

A magnificent 2,000 year-old silver-gilt Roman helmet of outstanding quality and international importance was unveiled today in England. Archaeologists who made the original discovery at Hallaton in Leicestershire, used to finding more glamorous gold... [continue reading]

Season 2 of Museum Secrets Premieres this week! Museum Secrets, the Canadian television show that explores museums from around the world returns for a second season on History Television, beginning January 12th, 2012... [continue reading]

I hope this this post finds all of our readers well and beginning a great start to 2012! If you are interested in ancient art--especially ancient African art--you should check out this news article from NewScientist. Drs. Nicole Rupp and Peter Breunig of the Goethe University Frankfurt have uncovered startling "terracotta heads" in Central Nigeria. Over 2.000... [continue reading]

Tracing the Origins of the Ancient Egyptian Cattle Cult By Michael Brass A Delta Man in Yebu, ed. Eyma, A.K. and Bennett, C.J. (Universal-Publishers, 2003) Introduction: Studies of ancient Egyptian religion have examined texts... [continue reading]

The Intellectual History of Catacomb Archaeology By Amy K. Hirschfeld Paper given at Commemorating the Dead: Texts and Artifacts in Context: The Shohet Conference on Roman, Jewish and Christian Burials (University of Chicago, 2005) Abstract: Since... [continue reading]

A world record was set at an auction earlier this week, when an ancient Greek coin was bought for more than $3.25 million (US). The entire collection of 642 ancient coins was sold off for approximately $25 million through New York-based A. H. Baldwin and Sons auction house on Wednesday. Known... [continue reading]

The first known Roman brothel token to have been discovered in London and most likely Britain, is on temporary display at the Museum of London. The token or spintria, depicts a man and a woman having sex on one face, and has the Roman numerals XIIII (14... [continue reading]

Romans and Goths in late antique Gaul: asepcts of political and cultural assimilation in the Fifth Century AD RUCKERT, JULIA, MARGARETA, MARIA Masters thesis, Durham University (2011) Abstract... [continue reading]

In search of Xerxes: images of the Persian king Clough, Emma Elizabeth Doctoral thesis, Durham University (2004) Abstract The figure of Xerxes, the Persian king who invaded Greece in 480 BC, is known to us primarily through Greek sources... [continue reading]

The Early Dynastic Through Old Kingdom Stratification at Tell Er-Rub’a, Mendes Adams,  Matthew Doctor of Philosophy, The Pennsylvania State University, December (2007) Abstract This project... [continue reading]

The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt Skocilic, Jasmina (University of Zagreb, Croatia) Expanding Horizons: Travel and Exchanging Ideas through the Ages, Journal of the XIIIth annual ISHA conference (Nijmegen, 2002)  Abstract Western man places religion... [continue reading]

The influence of Hannibal of Carthage on the art of war and how his legacy has been interpreted Messer, Rick Jay Master of Arts Thesis, Kansas State University (2009) Abstract This paper... [continue reading]

The deification of imperial women: second-century contexts By Karin S. Tate Master’s Thesis, University of Saskatchewan, 2011 Abstract: In the early second century AD four extraordinary imperial deifications are recorded... [continue reading]

Culture Contact, Cultural Integration and Difference: A Case From Northern Mesopotamia By Sevil Baltali Stanford Journal of Archaeology, Vol.5 (2007) Introduction: In this article, I revisit one of... [continue reading]