Jack Thorne on 'remarkably tender' Lord of the Flies

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 04, 2026 / comment : 0 news, films E

Award winners Jack Thorne and Marc Munden on their adaptation of William Golding's Lord of the Flies.

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Complete gilded Book of the Dead on display for the first time

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 03, 2026 / comment : 0

One of the only complete and gilded copies of the Egyptian Book of the Dead has gone on public display for the first time at the Brooklyn Museum. There are only ten known gilded papyri of the Book of the Dead, and most of them are fragmentary. This one is by far the best condition gilded version in existence.

The new exhibition, Unrolling Eternity: The Brooklyn Books of the Dead, showcases the papyrus in the funerary gallery of the museum’s Egyptian wing. The gallery has been refreshed with new exhibits to illustrate ancient Egyptian funerary practices and beliefs, including the richly decorated coffin and mummy board of Pasebakhaienipet, mayor of Thebes, several mummified people and animals, wall reliefs from the tomb of the vizier Nespeqashuty, one of the earliest examples of the Book of the Dead (1500–1480 B.C.). A selection of smaller objects like gold amulets, reed pens and preparatory sketches.

The gilded Book of the Dead dates to the Ptolemaic period (305–30 B.C) and is 21 feet long. It contains almost all of the 162 known spells from the surviving examples of the Book of the Dead. They are written in hieratic (cursive hieroglyphics) and illustrated with ink scenes and figures accented with gold. The script and double borders around the columns and illustrations identify the book as an example of the Memphite style of Lower Egypt. Some of the vignettes show visible underdrawings and rare traces of yellow orpiment pigment. We know the manuscript is complete because it retains the blank opening and closing pages that are usually lost.

The papyrus was bought by a British doctor, Henry Abbott, in the 19th century. He was an avid collector of Egyptian artifacts and had amassed thousands of objects when he put them on display in the first exhibition of Egyptian art in New York City in 1853. The entire collection was transferred to the New York Historical Society after Doctor Abbott’s death and was then loaned to the Brooklyn Museum in 1937. The museum officially acquired it in 1948.

The papyrus was too fragile to be displayed. It had been mounted on acidic paper backing that was putting strain on the delicate fibers. Only six inches of the scroll were even visible. The rest was still rolled up and could not be unrolled without risking too much damage. The museum embarked on a comprehensive conservation of the document three years ago, and experts were finally able to open the papyrus scroll all the way. They discovered it belonged to one Ankhmerwer (“may the god Mnevis live”), son of Taneferher (“the one beautiful of face”).

This video from the Brooklyn Museum goes into detail about the complex conservation process and the discoveries the team made in their study of the manuscript.

* This article was originally published here

The Fratellis cancel 20th anniversary tour due to singer's illness

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 03, 2026 / comment : 0 BBC News, news

Known for their hits Chelsea Dagger and Whistle for the Choir, the Glasgow band said the tour would be rescheduled.

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The Fratellis cancel 20th anniversary tour due to singer's illness

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 03, 2026 / comment : 0 news, films E

Known for their hits Chelsea Dagger and Whistle for the Choir, the Glasgow band said the tour would be rescheduled.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/5mQz3j0

The Night Manager villain inspired by John le Carré's own father

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 03, 2026 / comment : 0 news, films E

The son of The Night Manager author has said the series' villain is inspired by his own "evil" grandfather.

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The Night Manager villain inspired by John le Carré's own father

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 03, 2026 / comment : 0 BBC News, news

The son of The Night Manager author has said the series' villain is inspired by his own "evil" grandfather.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/4LXZ0eb

Neolithic teen “prince” was mauled by a bear

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 02, 2026 / comment : 0

A new study of the remains of a 15-year-old boy buried with luxurious grave goods in the Arena Candide Cave in Liguria, northwestern Italy, 27,000 years ago has found evidence that he was mauled to death by a bear. This is some of the first physical evidence of a violent interaction between prehistoric humans and megafauna, and the only one that is an articulated skeleton in a grave rather than a small bone fragment.

The grave was first discovered in 1942. The body of an adolescent male was placed supine on a bed of red ochre with a lump of yellow ochre below the jaw. The most ornate artifact found in the grave was the boy’s headdress made of hundreds of perforated shells and several deer canines. His grave also contained ivory pendants, four antler bâtons percés (spear-throwers) and a large flint blade held in his right hand. He was dubbed “Il Principe” (the Prince) because of this remarkable funerary assemblage. It is one of the most richly adorned graves of the Gravettian culture ever found in Italy.

Severe trauma to the skeleton was immediately evident to the archaeologists who unearthed it. The left scapula, left humerus, the left clavicle and left mandible had missing or damaged parts. The damage was so severe there was a hole between the neck, left shoulder and mandible. The yellow ochre lump placed there was likely connected to the wound, either to cover the disfiguring injury or as a ritual healing or restoration of wholeness.

From the start, the prevailing hypothesis was that the youth had been attacked by a wild animal during a hunt gone wrong. No comprehensive studies of the bones and injuries has been done, however, and when the skeleton was reassembled for display at the Ligurian Archaeological Museum after World War II, it was patched with resins and glues that obscured some of the fractures.

A team of researchers obtained authorization from the museum to remove the bones for thorough analysis with modern technology. In addition to the known fractured and missing bones, the team found perimortem bite marks and a linear mark on the skull consistent with a claw swipe, that could not be explained by other potentially fatal scenarios (a fall from a great height, violence inflicted by another human). Given the large carnivores that were found in the region during the Late Pleistocene, the likeliest candidates for the perpetrator are a brown bear or a cave bear.

The researchers concluded that lesions on the boy’s skull and ankle were bite and claw marks, likely from a cave or brown bear, based on their patterns. “He was probably a budding hunter still learning his skills when this happened,” says lead study author Vitale Stefano Sparacello, a biological anthropologist at the University of Cagliari in Italy.

The animal dislodged the boy’s mandible, left a groove in his skull, broke his clavicle and left a bite mark on his right ankle. Even the boy’s left pinky toe had been fractured. Though we don’t know for sure, Sparacello contends that the injuries are indicative of a bear who would have viewed the boy as more of a menace that needed to be neutralized than a meal because these bears mostly ate plants.

Microscopic examination found evidence of a small amount of bone healing. This means the poor youth lived for a few days, no more than three, after he was absolutely savaged by the animal. That means despite having face and shoulder torn up and his foot bitten, the prince’s major blood vessels remained intact or he would have bled to death right away. He must have been saved by his companions and brought to safety.

The study had been published in the Journal of Anthropological Sciences and can be read here (pdf).

* This article was originally published here

Alan Carr accidentally revealed Traitors victory hours after filming

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 02, 2026 / comment : 0 news, films E

The comedian inadvertently revealed his victory to a cameraman while working the following day.

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Alan Carr accidentally revealed Traitors victory hours after filming

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 02, 2026 / comment : 0 BBC News, news

The comedian inadvertently revealed his victory to a cameraman while working the following day.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/vbHA6Ka

Devonshire archive acquires unique Tudor map

By: SGK ADVERTISING ADDA on February 01, 2026 / comment : 0

The only known original copy of a Elizabethan map of Kingsbridge has been acquired by the South West Heritage Trust after more than four centuries in private hands. Funded by a grant of £17,691 ($24,220) from the Friends of the Nations’ Libraries, the trust was able to arrange a private sale for £18,428 ($25,230) a week before the rare document was set to be sold at auction. It will now be publicly accessible to researchers at the Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter.

The bird’s-eye view of Kingsbridge, known as the “Kingsbridge Platt,” dates to 1586 and is the oldest known map of Kingsbridge. The map is a pen and ink drawing on vellum with watercolor wash. There are six different colors painted on the vellum, are still vivid. This is all the more significant considering that before the original was offered at auction in November 2025, the map was only known from a black and white reproduction published in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1796.

The front of the document is entitled: “The trewe platt of the newe bylding, upon fyve pyllers of stone, betwixt the Church styles of kyngsbrydge.” On the verso is a more simple ink label: “The mapp of Kingsbrig.” Both inscriptions are contemporary, written at the time the map was made. It depicts the important buildings of the Tudor town, including the 13th century parish church, the pillory and the timber-frame Market House, then dubbed “Chepe House,” where the manor court was held. There’s a preponderance of stone homes, unusual in an era when most homes were still wood, with blue slate and red brick tile roofs. The most elaborate home is the residence of George French, a merchant. Behind his house are outbuildings and an elaborate walled garden containing a bower house and an arch.

It was commissioned as an estate map documenting the properties of Sir John Petre, the son of Sir William Petre who had risen from modest origins as the son of a tanner to becoming Secretary of State to King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Mary. He was on Elizabeth I’s Privy Council, acting as deputy to Secretary of State Robert Cecil when he was in Scotland before finally retired due to ill health. Petre managed to navigate the rapids of four consecutive Tudor courts unscathed despite his Catholicism, the only privy councilor from the period to have served without having been interrupted temporarily or permanently by imprisonment, exile, house arrest, forced retirement or execution.

A large part of his success was doubtless due to his flexible attitude towards religion. He was willing to soft peddle his Catholicism when the winds blew that way, and he made an absolutely killing on the Dissolution of the Monasteries. His seat at Ingatestone Hall in Essex was a former abbey property he bought for a song, and he secured vast tracts of land, about 36,000 acres, from former monastic properties in Devonshire near where his family had lived since the 14th century.

Kingsbridge, less than 20 miles southwest of Torbryan where Sir William was born, was part of the Devonshire estates acquired after the Dissolution. The family is known to have hired skill draftsmen to document their Ingatestone estates, so it’s likely they employed one of those artists to do the same thing for Kingsbridge. John Petre, who would later be raised to the peerage as the 1st Baron Petre in 1603, inherited his father’s holdings after his death in 1572. His manorial land called Norton is visible on the map on the far side of the mill stream.

Scott Pettitt, Head of Devon Archives and Local Studies:

“Contemporary visual representations of provincial towns from the Elizabethan period are remarkably scarce. While several well‑known depictions of London, Oxford and Cambridge survive, illustrations of smaller towns from this era are seldom found.”

Geordie Greig, Chair of Friends of the Nations’ Libraries:

“Estate maps of the 16th century are extremely rare, and this sort of view even rarer. This is an exceptional example. It is an absolute triumph for South West Heritage Trust to have acquired it and we were delighted to help to secure the map for the people of Devon.”

* This article was originally published here