Was the Trojan Horse Real?

Was the Trojan Horse Real? JamesHoare Thu, 02/29/2024 - 09:35

* This article was originally published here

Curb Your Enthusiasm star Richard Lewis dies aged 76

He died peacefully in his home after suffering a heart attack, his publicist told US media.

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Journalists call for foreign media access to Gaza

More than 50 correspondents and presenters urge Israel and Egypt to allow them to enter Gaza.

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Journalists call for foreign media access to Gaza

More than 50 correspondents and presenters urge Israel and Egypt to allow them to enter Gaza.

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Nigerian Disney show flawed but delightful - critics

Historic series Iwájú presents a futuristic version of Lagos but where inequalities still persist.

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Preserved Roman wood cellar, staircase found in Frankfurt

A Roman wooden cellar complete with five-step staircase in an exceptional state of preservation has been discovered in Frankfurt and recovered. Dating to the late 1st century, the cellar is all that remains of the of a half-timbered Roman residential building which burned down in a fire. Roman cellars were not like basements today, but rather underground storage rooms formed by beams along the sides and boards on the floor. The beams and boards survived the millennia because they were carbonized by the flames.

The cellar was unearthed by a team from the Frankfurt Monuments Office in the Heddernheim district of northwest Frankfurt, in March of 2023. Founded as a civilian settlement attached to a series of fortresses established by Augustus during his German campaigns, modern-day Heddernheim was the ancient city of Nida. It was made the capital of the Civitas Taunensium area by the emperor Trajan in In 110 A.D. and at its peak had a population of 10,000. It was gradually abandoned starting around 260 A.D. under pressure from invading Alemanni confederation. Its ruins above ground were visible until the 15th century when they were pillaged for construction materials. Most of the underground remains were all but destroyed during real estate developments in the 20th century.

Few structures from ancient Nida have been found in excavations, and while the remains of wooden cellars have been found over the past century, they were not well-preserved and the technology to conserve and study them didn’t exist then. This cellar’s size and preservation are so extraordinary it is the best preserved remnant of the ancient city. It will give researchers a unique opportunity to learn about Roman Nida.

As soon as it was exposed to the elements, the cellar was in danger, so the floor, side beams and staircase were removed in a complex operation. The whole kit and caboodle weighed 50-60 tons, so it could not be raised whole, and as soon as any part of the soil around it dried out, the wood could have cracked. The team took an innovative approach. First they sprayed on a layer of synthetic resin, then a separating layer of silicone rubber and a final top layer of plaster to fix the surface. The cellar was then cut into 33 blocks to transport them to the restoration workshop of the Archaeological Museum Frankfurt.

At the museum, restorers removed the soil from the back and underside of the wood and reinforced the base with fiberglass. This was the first time this technique has been used. The conserved cellar was shown to the press, but there are no plans to put it on public display. Museum officials would prefer to return it to its original context, but it is a building plot privately owned by housing developers, so they’re considering creating an archaeological park nearby where the cellar and other finds made since construction began in 2021 (hypocaust heating, pottery kilns, a public latrine) could also be displayed.

This German language video gives a great overview of the site and the additional finds made in the cellar.

* This article was originally published here

Police seize 72 guns from French film star's home

Prosecutors say Alain Delon, known for his tough-guy persona on screen, does not have a gun permit.

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Police seize 72 guns from French film star's home

Prosecutors say Alain Delon, known for his tough-guy persona on screen, does not have a gun permit.

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Two men convicted of Run-DMC star's murder in 2002

Karl Jordan Jr, 40, and Ronald Washington, 59, targeted the musician after being cut out of a drug deal.

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Two men convicted of Run-DMC star's murder in 2002

Karl Jordan Jr, 40, and Ronald Washington, 59, targeted the musician after being cut out of a drug deal.

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Rare head of Mercury found at previously unknown Roman port town

An excavation of a medieval shipbuilding site in the hamlet of Smallhythe, near Tenterden in Kent, has revealed a previously unknown Roman settlement occupied between the 1st and the 3rd centuries. One of the artifacts from the Roman settlement is an exceptionally rare figurine of the head of the god Mercury made from pipeclay. Fewer than 10 pipeclay Mercury figurines from Roman Britain are known.

The figurine head is two inches tall. It was broken off at the neck, but would originally have had a body.

Religion was a central part of daily life in most Roman provinces, and statues as well as portable figurines of gods like the one discovered at Smallhythe were worshipped by both the Roman elite and the ordinary citizens in their homes.

Pipeclay figurines were made of clays local to central Gaul (modern-day France) and the Rhine-Moselle region and were imported, however most pipeclay figurines found in Britain are of female deities, the majority being of Venus.

This complete figurine probably would have depicted Mercury standing, either draped with a chlamys (a short cloak), or naked, holding a caduceus (a staff with two intertwined snakes).

Smallhythe today is 10 miles from the sea, but when the settlement was founded in the 1st century it was a port town. It was small compared to the major urban center of Roman Britain, but was a significant link in the chain of ports that together formed Rome’s import and export network in southern England. Timber and iron were exported out of the province to the continent and finished products were imported.

One of the other finds made in the excavation confirms the town’s role: a tile stamped “CLB,” an abbreviation of Classis Britannica, Rome’s provincial naval fleet. The Classis Britannica was not a military navy. Its job was to manage the transportation of materials, people and communications in the English Channel.

The pipeclay Mercury head and CLB tile will go on display with other artifacts recovered from the site starting February 28th at the Smallhythe Place museum.

* This article was originally published here

Top Disney movies boss steps down in shakeup

Sean Bailey, the boss of the media giant's live-action film studio, stepped down after 15 years.

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Top Disney movies boss steps down in shakeup

Sean Bailey, the boss of the media giant's live-action film studio, stepped down after 15 years.

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Paparazzo accuses Taylor Swift's father of assault

The photographer did not need medical treatment and Australian police are investigating.

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Paparazzo accuses Taylor Swift's father of assault

The photographer did not need medical treatment and Australian police are investigating.

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Romulus & Remus brooch found in Spain

A rare silver brooch depicting the she-wolf suckling the infants Romulus and Remus, the founding legend of Rome, has been discovered at the Hostalot – Idlum archaeological site in Vilanova d’Alcolea, Valencia, Spain. Dating to the 2nd century A.D., the brooch is unusual for its high quality of carving and because there are few comparable examples known.

The piece is small, just four centimeters (1.6 inches) long, and while the surface is worn, details of the original fine carving like the wolf’s mane are still visible. The original pin is still attached to its hinge in the back.

The Hostalot – Idlum site was a mansio, a rest stop on the Via Augusta road. Mansios were administered by the government to host officials, messengers and traveling dignitaries. They also offered horse-changing services to mail carriers to keep the postal service speedy and efficient. The Romulus and Remus brooch was unearthed from the main mansio building.

The Idlum mansio was built at the same time as the Via Augusta, so between 15 and 7 B.C., and appears to have been used for different purposes until it was abandoned in the 5th or 6th century: as a private residence, a production facility for agriculture or manufacturing or perhaps as a bathhouse. Fragments of ceramic tubes found in the recent dig season may have been used as water or steam conduits in a bathing facility.

* This article was originally published here

The Royal Mint unveils new George Michael coin

The new coin shows the Wham! singer in his signature Faith look.

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The Royal Mint unveils new George Michael coin

The new coin shows the Wham! singer in his signature Faith look.

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4,000-year-old copper dagger found in Poland

A rare copper dagger dating back more than 4,000 years has been discovered in a forest near Jarosław, southeastern Poland. Shaped like a flint dagger from the period, it is just over four inches long, but that is actually a large dagger compared to similar such finds because the metal was hard to come by and very valuable. This is the oldest dagger ever discovered in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (province).

The blade was discovered last November by metal detectorist Piotr Gorlach from the Historical and Exploration Association Grupa Jarosław, an organization of local history enthusiasts who search for archaeological materials with the permission of government heritage officials. Gorlach was looking for military objects from the World Wars that day without success. He had given up and was heading towards his car when his detector signaled the presence of metal under the forest floor. He saw the metal piece aged with a green patina and quickly realized it was much older than shrapnel from World War I. He alerted the voivodeship’s conservator of monuments and archaeologists from the Orsetti House Museum in Jarosław were deployed to examine the find.

According to archaeologist Dr. Marcin Burghardt from the Jarosław museum, the dagger discovered in Korzenica can be dated to the second half of the third millennium BC.

“In Polish lands, this is a period of enormous changes related to, among others, with a change in the main raw materials for the production of tools. Instead of flint tools commonly used in the Stone Age, more and more metal products appear, heralding the transition to the next period – the Bronze Age,” noted Dr. Burghardt.

He added that in this new era, tools, ornaments and weapons were made of bronze, an alloy created by combining two metals: copper and tin.

However, the currently discovered dagger from Korzenica – as noted by Dr. Elżbieta Sieradzka-Burghardt, an archaeologist from the museum in Jarosław – was not cast in bronze, but made of copper. “So it predates the development of bronze metallurgy,” the archaeologist noted. “In the third millennium BC, items made of copper were extremely rare, so only those with the highest social status could afford them. There is no doubt that the dagger is not a local product,” added Dr. Burghardt-Sieradzka.

It likely originated from the Carpathian Basin or the Ukranian steppe. Archaeologists hope metallurgic analysis will pin down the dagger’s origin. The blade is now part of the permanent collection of the Orsetti House Museum in Jarosław. After conservation and further study, it will go on display in June as part of the museum’s exhibition devoted to the oldest prehistory of the Jarosław area.

* This article was originally published here

SAG Awards: The winners and nominees

Oppenheimer, Barbie and American Fiction are among the films nominated at the event honouring actors.

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SAG Awards: The winners and nominees

Oppenheimer, Barbie and American Fiction are among the films nominated at the event honouring actors.

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India's music star Shreya Ghoshal 'living in the moment'

One of India’s most popular singers says she feels a duty to pass on what she's learnt to the next gen.

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Burnt porridge crusts identified on Neolithic pottery

A study of burnt food residues in prehistoric ceramic vessels found in the Neolithic settlement of Oldenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, has revealed meals of varied cereals and wild plants and dairy, including a thick porridge with the same kind of intractable charred residue porridge so willingly leaves on pots today. Scanning electron microscopy and chemical analysis of food crusts caked to the inside of bowls identified the remains of emmer, barley and the starchy seeds of wild white goosefoot. The same ingredients have been identified in soil samples from the site.

Oldenburg was a Middle Neolithic settlement inhabited by Funnel Beaker groups, the first farmers of northern Europe, between 3270 and 2920 B.C., making it one of the oldest villages in Schleswig-Holstein. At its peak of occupation, there were about 40 dwellings in the village, an important example of how individual farmsteads evolved into small agrarian communities.

We know from stable isotope analysis and soil analysis which plants the Oldenburg farmers grew, the livestock they raised, which animals they hunted and plants they foraged, but less is known about the cooking practices, how they combined ingredients and prepared their meals. Analysis of the lipids absorbed into the ceramic have shed some light on the cooking of animal products, but new advances in microscopy and chemical analyses of residues have now opened up the possibilities of exploring cooked plant materials.

The new findings show that cereals indeed played an important dietary role and that wild plants enriched the food spectrum of the earliest farmers in the north. The barley was harvested when milky ripe and prepared in a similar way to the green spelt traditionally produced in Baden-Württemberg. The emmer was processed in a sprouted state, which gave the porridge a sweet flavour. Food in the Neolithic Age was therefore by no means bland, but rather varied. People had a highly differentiated sense of taste and attached great importance to good flavour.

So far, chemical analyses of the pottery have shown that the vessels contained dairy products. A look at the crusts burnt onto the cooking pot now shows that cereals and dairy products were probably processed into porridge for everyday use in the same vessels and formed a balanced dietary basis. “While the animal fats are absorbed into the ceramic and leave a signal there, the plant food components can only be detected in the burnt food crust,” emphasises Dr Lucy Kubiak-Martens, cooperation partner of BIAX Consult (Netherlands) and first author of the study. This shows how important a multi-method approach is for reconstructing Neolithic recipes created from a variety of ingredients. These discoveries expand our understanding of the long and complex process of transforming plants into meals during the period that followed the introduction of the agricultural way of life and cultivated plants in north-central Europe.

The study has been published in the journal  PLOS ONE and can be read here.

* This article was originally published here

NEWS TODAY

What Is Sciatica? Know Risk Factors, Warning Signs, Treatment And Preventive Measures To Soothe Nerve Pain

Ever experienced pain so much that it is disabling? It can be Sciatica but worry not! It is treatable and here is a short guide on how to avoid complications and prevent further pain. Consulting a specialist is advisable for best course treatment. Read here.  

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The Creator's Gareth Edwards on shaking up Hollywood

The director behind Oscar-nominated sci-fi film The Creator says he adopted a "guerrilla" approach.

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The Creator's Gareth Edwards on shaking up Hollywood

The director behind Oscar-nominated sci-fi film The Creator says he adopted a "guerrilla" approach.

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Grime star Wiley loses MBE over anti-Semitism

The rapper forfeits his award after making abusive comments towards Jewish critics and others.

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Tears in Verses: Emotive Sad Shayari Compilation

The Golden Age of Medieval Nostalgia

The Golden Age of Medieval Nostalgia JamesHoare Fri, 02/23/2024 - 00:00

* This article was originally published here

Concern over missing Sydney TV presenter and partner

Blood-stained clothes belonging to the couple were found in a bin and police are worried for their safety.

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US TV host Wendy Williams diagnosed with dementia

A care team for the US talk show host shared the update "to correct inaccurate and hurtful rumours".

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Brenda Blethyn opens university's crime scene flat

The actress told University of Surrey students she would have loved to have studied forensics.

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“Vanished church” found under Venice’s iconic Piazza San Marco

The remains of San Geminiano, the “vanished church” that moved around Piazza San Marco in Venice for centuries before its final destruction in 1807, have been discovered under the iconic main square. So far archaeologists have discovered pieces of the medieval pavements and walls and a brick tomb containing the skeletal remains of seven people. The tomb dates to the 7th or 8th century, predating construction of Piazza San Marco itself.

Tradition has it that the first San Geminiano church was built by order of the Byzantine general Narses in the mid-6th century A.D. in appreciation of Venice’s contributions to his reconquest of Ravenna. Saint Mark the Evangelist wasn’t even the patron of Venice then (Saint Theodore was), so there was no Piazza San Marco. For that matter, there weren’t even any doges until the 8th century, and it was only in the 9th century, after the relics of St. Mark were smuggled out of Abbasid-ruled Alexandria in a basket filled with pork by Venetian merchants, that Mark became the city’s new patron.

The Church of San Geminiano burned down in 976 and a new one built in the first decade of the 11th century. That one burned and collapsed after an earthquake in around 1108. The reconstructed church was then demolished in the late 12th century to accommodate the expansion of Piazza San Marco. It was relocated to another location on the newly-expanded Piazza. The 12th century church was demolished in the early 16th century and the new one relocated again. This last one would stand until 1807 when it was demolished by Napoleon to make way for a new wing of the long colonnaded buildings that embrace three sides of the piazza.

With all its movement, the exact locations of the original church and its immediate descendants were lost. Archaeologists unearthed the ruins in the center of the Piazza while working on the restoration of its paving stones. The brick tomb emerged first, then the wall and paving remnants. The excavation is now complete and the remains will be analyzed in the lab while the piazza’s paving stones are returned to their place over the early Christian remains of Venice.

* This article was originally published here

Hair Loss: What Leads To Rapid Hair Fall, Prevention And How Men And Women Are Impacted Differently

Hair is an integral part of our body and is closely associated with self-esteem. Hormonal changes, genetics, lifestyle and environmental factors all contribute towards hair loss. 

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Olivia Colman on why sweary letters were original trolling

The actor stars in a true story of a poison pen letter that pitted two neighbours against each other.

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Olivia Colman on why sweary letters were original trolling

The actor stars in a true story of a poison pen letter that pitted two neighbours against each other.

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Met Police take no further action against Wootton

The New Zealand-born broadcaster says in a statement that he has been "completely cleared".

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Caracalla medallion found in child’s grave in Bulgaria

Two Roman-era graves with rich grave goods including a rare bronze medallion of the emperor Caracalla have been discovered in Nova Varbovka, Bulgaria. One is a double burial of an adult man and a woman, the other of a young child, suggesting these graves were a family grouping. The artifacts found inside the graves date them to the first half of the 3rd century.

The burials were discovered last fall by a tractor driver when he hit a limestone slab while plowing a field near Nova Varbovka. He saw the human remains but didn’t realize they were archaeological in nature, so he reported the find to the mayor who reported it to the police thinking it might be a criminal matter. When the remains were examined by archaeologists from the Veliko Tarnovo Regional Museum of History, they were found to be from the Roman era and an emergency archaeological salvage excavation was launched. The dig took place in December 2023.

The excavation revealed two large graves built of brick masonry with plaster on the interior walls. They were covered with heavy slabs of limestone. The larger of the two was ten feet long and contained the remains of a woman about 45-49 years of age and a man of about 50-60 at the time of their deaths. The child was just two or three years old when he died and his grave is a little earlier than theirs, so he must have predeceased them.

The parents’ grave contained a pair of gold ladies earrings, a gilt pendant with a glass bead, a necklace of lapis lazuli and gold, a silver-plated fibula. The child was buried with a pair of gold earrings, glass bead jewelry, a ceramic wine amphora, two delicate glass lacrimaria (small vessels containing perfumes or unguents) and the bronze medallion issued by Emperor Caracalla (r. 198-217 A.D.) to commemorate his visit to the Pergamon’s Temple of Asclepius in 214 A.D.

The expensive burial facilities and grave goods were only affordable for the very rich in this time and place. Some of the limestone came from a quarry near Nicopolis ad Istrum, a Roman city about 25 miles southwest of Nova Varbovka founded by Trajan in the early 2nd century. Archaeologists hypothesize the adults were wealthy landowners from Nicopolis ad Istrum who had a villa rustica (country estate) where they spent their summers.

Chakarov, who excavated the burials along with colleagues Nedko Elenski and Mihaela Tomanova, noted that the Caracalla medallion could point to an Asia Minor origin for the occupants of the graves, which would be consistent with the fact that Nicopolis ad Istrum was built mainly by settlers from Asia Minor. “Of course, we are searching for an opportunity to make DNA and other analyses which our museum can’t afford, to see if this hypothesis is correct,” Chakarov said.

* This article was originally published here

Love Island All Stars final attracts 1m viewers

The All Stars format was a big switch up for ITV, but it doesn't seem to have revived the series.

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Windsor was 'a brilliant dancer and a lovely man'

Fans who watched and met late Strictly Come Dancing pro dancer Robin Windsor share their memories.

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Rare Merovingian gold ring found in Jutland

A metal detectorist has discovered a rare Merovingian gold ring dating to 500-600 A.D. in Emmerlev, Southwest Jutland, Denmark. The ring is made of 22-carat gold and is set with an oval cabochon almandine garnet, a red semi-precious stone prized among Germanic peoples as a symbol of power. The mount has four spirals on the underside and trefoil knobs where the band meets the bezel. The spirals and knobs are characteristic of the highest quality of Frankish manufacture, and rings of this type were worn by the elite of the Merovingian dynasty.

National Museum of Denmark curator Kirstine Pommergaard believes the quality and construction of the ring suggests there may have been an unknown noble family in the Emmerlev area with close connections to Merovingian royalty.

“The gold ring not only reveals a possible new princely family in Emmerlev, but also connects the area with one of Europe’s largest centers of power in the Iron Age. The gold ring is probably a woman’s ring and may have belonged to a prince’s daughter who was married to a prince in Emmerlev. Gold was typically reserved for diplomatic gifts, and we know that people married into alliances, just it probably happened with Thyra and Gorm the Old and in more recent times when Christian IX became known as ‘Europe’s father-in-law’ for marrying his daughters into other royal houses, ” she says.

Archaeologists do not think the ring was at that location because it was lost on the way to somewhere else. Almost a thousand ancient and medieval artifacts (gold and silver trade coins, textiles, pottery) have been found at Emmerlev, evidence that busy international trade was taking place there for centuries. The trading post of Ribe was just 30 miles north of Emmerlev, an important stop in the lucrative trade network of the Wadden Sea region.

Gold and silver coins in the Emmerlev area confirm Merovingian contact, and the Merovingian kings and merchants did trade through the Wadden Sea network to Ribe. Making a marriage alliance with a Southern Jutland potentate would therefore have been highly advantageous to provide them with safe harbor and local influence.

The find was actually made in 2020, but the discovery of the ring has been kept up wraps until now to allow metal detectorists and archaeologists to explore the site without unwanted attention.The finder, Lars Nielsen, turned the ring in to the Museum Sønderjylland when he found it, and the local museum has now transferred it to the National Museum in Copenhagen.

”We’ve never seen anything like it out here. Many discoveries have been made over time that point to global trade connections at the Wadden Sea. The gold ring substantiates that there has also been an elite who have had something to do with music. Not everyone has had contact with the Merovingians, ” says Anders Hartvig, museum curator at Museum Sønderjylland.

Kirstine Pommergaard adds:

“The Merovingians were interested in entering into a network with families and individuals who could control trade and resources in an area. “Perhaps the princely family in Emmerlev had control over an area between Ribe and Hedeby and thus secured trade in the area,” she says.

* This article was originally published here

Amazing Immunity Hacks To Stay Fit And Healthy

A balanced and nutritious diet is necessary for the overall health and function of all cells, including immune cells. Nutrients critical for immune cell growth and function include vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, selenium, iron, and protein.

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Cobra-headed pottery handle found in Taiwan

Archaeologists from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan have unearthed a Neolithic snake-shaped pottery handle. Radiocarbon dating found it is 4,000 years old. Crafted in the shape of a cobra with its upper body raised and hood flattened ready to strike, it was discovered during a 2023 excavation of a sand dune on the northwest coast of Taiwan in the Guanyin District of Taoyuan City. The site was a major center of stone tool manufacturing during the Neolithic

Snakes have symbolic significance in many religions around the world, including in East Asian cultures. They can represent healing, as on the caduceus of Asclepius, god of medicine, metamorphosis and rebirth due their ability to shed their skins, the circle of life, as in the ouroboros (serpent biting its tail) of ancient Egypt, as intermediaries between heaven, earth and the underworld, as in the Aztec feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl and Apollo’s python who transmitted prophecy from the underworld to earth.

“Snakes are often regarded as symbolic animals in religion, mythology and literature, and are considered to be the bridge between heaven and man,” [Hung-Lin Chiu, associate professor of the Institute of Anthropology at Tsing Hua] said.

Given their ability to shed their skin, ancient societies in the region associated these animals with the cycle of life and death, and considered them to be symbols of creation and transition.

The snake-shaped pottery handle may have come from a sacrificial vessel for shamans in ancient tribal societies to perform rituals, according to the researchers.

“This reflects that ancient societies incorporated animal images into ritual sacrificial vessels to demonstrate their beliefs and cognitive systems,” Chiu said.

* This article was originally published here

Watch Baftas 2024 best bits... in two minutes

Laughter and tears for winners at the Bafta Awards 2024 in London.

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Online campaign seeks Easter Island statue return

A campaign by social media users in Chile seeks the repatriation of Hoa Hakananai'a moai to the island.

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'Oppenhomies' Murphy and Downey Jr scoop Baftas

Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr and Christopher Nolan all win Bafta Film Awards for Oppenheimer.

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Tomb of royal scribe found in Abusir

Archaeologists from the Czech Institute of Egyptology (CIE) have discovered the richly decorated shaft tomb of a royal scribe who died in the 5th or 6th century B.C., the time of Persian invasion of Egypt. Inscriptions name the deceased as Djehutiemhat.

A long sequence of apotropaic sayings against snakebite from the Pyramid Texts covers the north (entrance) wall . Interestingly, the snakes mentioned in these magical texts both represented a potential danger and could serve as powerful protectors of the deceased and his mummy. “While the entrance to the nearby Menechinekon’s burial chamber was protected by the guardians of the gates of the 144th chapter of the Book of the Dead, in the case of Džehutiemhat, snakes from the Pyramid Texts play this role,” adds Renata Landgráfová, director of the Czech Institute of Egyptology at the FF UK and an expert on the ancient Egyptian language and texts. The south and west walls are covered with a sacrificial ritual and an extensive sacrificial list. On the ceiling of the burial chamber there are depictions of the sun god’s journey through the sky, first in the morning and then in the evening celestial bar. The depictions are accompanied by hymns to the rising and setting sun.

Inside the burial chamber covered with relief decoration is a large stone sarcophagus, which also bears hieroglyphic inscriptions and depictions of gods, both outside and inside. The upper side of the sarcophagus lid is decorated with three columns of hieroglyphic text with the liturgy of the 178th chapter of the Book of the Dead , which is composed of excerpts from the much older Pyramid Texts . The longer sides of the lid are decorated with the 42nd chapter of the Book of the Dead dedicated to the deification of parts of the body of the deceased, including depictions of individual deities to which the deceased is compared. The shorter walls of the lid then bear images of the goddesses Eset and Nebtheta, with accompanying texts offering protection to the deceased.

On the outer walls of the sarcophagus there are excerpts from the Coffin Texts and the Pyramid Texts , which partially repeat sayings that already appear on the walls of the burial chamber. On the bottom of the inner wall of the sarcophagus bath, the goddess of the West is depicted, and its inner sides bear the so-called canopic sayings, spoken by this goddess and the earth god Geb. “The Goddess of the West inside the sarcophagus represents the protector, guide and symbolic mother of the deceased,” explains Jiří Janák, who analyzes and interprets religious and magical texts as part of field research. All the mentioned religio-magical texts were intended to ensure the deceased a smooth entry into a blissful and well-provided eternal life in the afterlife.

The team excavated shaft tombs in this area of Abusir, known for its burials belonging to important officials and military commanders of the 26th and 27th dynasties, in April and May of 2023. At the bottom of the 45-feet-long shaft is a burial chamber made of large limestone blocks. A smaller access shaft connected to the chamber through a 10-foot-long corridor. A stone sarcophagus inside the chamber is covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions and reliefs. Djehutiemhat’s tomb had been looted in antiquity, but some pottery bowls, jugs and lids were found in the small access shaft.

Osteological examination of the skeletal remains found that he was about 25 years old when he died. Despite his young age, he suffered from wear and tear of the spine from years of working in a kneeling position and had severe osteoporosis. Several other individuals buried in this part of the necropolis also suffered from osteoporosis. Egyptologists hypothesize that tombs in this section of Abusir may have belonged to an extended family.

* This article was originally published here

The Oscar-winning film that captured Navalny's life and possible death

The director of the 2022 Oscar-winning film speaks of his shock at the death of Alexei Navalny.

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The Oscar-winning film that captured Navalny's life and possible death

The director of the 2022 Oscar-winning film speaks of his shock at the death of Alexei Navalny.

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Did Bigfoot, Cricket or Piranha win Masked Singer?

The final identities have been revealed as the ITV reality singing show comes to an end.

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Did Bigfoot, Cricket or Piranha win Masked Singer?

The final identities have been revealed as the ITV reality singing show comes to an end.

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Medieval love token found under Gdańsk port crane

A tin turtle dove badge from the Middle Ages has been discovered during renovations of the 600-year-old Gdańsk port crane. The love token features a turtle dove perched on a banner inscribed “Amor Vincit Omnia,” meaning “love conquers all.” The badge originally had two loops on the back, now broken off, from which it would have been threaded on a chain or on a pin. These types of tokens were popular in the 14th and 15th centuries, a fashion imported from the west as similar pieces have been found in the Netherlands and Britain.

The love token was unearthed during work on the foundations of the Gdańsk Crane, a marvel of medieval technology and of historic preservation. The oldest surviving port crane in Europe, it was built between 1442 and 1444. The crane is a wooden structure between two three-story brick towers over the Motława river and was the largest water gate in Gdańsk. It was heavily defended, with cannon on the ground floor and openings in the upper stories for small arms to fire through.

The crane was used to raise heavy loads (cargo, masts for ship construction) to and from the water. It was powered by a mechanism of four human-powered treadmill wheels more than 20 feet in diameter on a common shaft. When all four wheels were employed, it could hoist cargo weighing up to two tons more than 80 feet high. Each treadwheel was operated by four men walking like hamsters. While its importance to trade and shipbuilding was already in decline in the 18th century, it was still being used in 1944. Much of it burned in 1945 and was reconstructed in the late 1950s and 1960s.

The crane is part of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk today, but has been closed to visitors since 2020 while the building undergoes the largest renovation project since its reconstruction after it took heavy damage during World War II. This time the focus was on historical accuracy and conserving the surviving original elements like the 1688 sundial on the southern tower. The monument, an icon of the city, has a newly clean brick façade and a new roof covered in ceramic tiles imported from Italy. The wooden crane housing looks completely different. Before the renovation it was black; now it has been repainted a warm brown that matches its appearance in depictions from centuries ago.

The interior has also been restored and updated with six rooms on the three stories of the Crane that will display Gdańsk’s mercantile history. Visitors will learn about the navigation of the port, how business was transacted by merchants and customs agents, shipbuilding techniques, the home life and downtime of Gdańsk’s residents. New recreations of historic spaces — a merchant’s office, a tavern and a bedroom in a burgher’s house — will give visitors a look at how people lived and worked in 17th century Gdańsk. And get this, the rooms will all have holographic guides, 3D moving holograms of a customs official, an innkeeper and a fictional composite of a merchant and shipowner named Hans Kross. How Star Trek is that? “Please state the nature of your mercantile emergency.”

The Gdańsk Crane is scheduled to reopen April 30th, 2024. The turtle dove love token, currently undergoing cleaning and conservation, will be on display in the renovated museum space when it opens.

* This article was originally published here

Is COVID-19 Leading To Heart Diseases? Doctor Shares Insight

Initially classified as a respiratory virus, the effects of COVID-19 on the cardiovascular system have become more evident over time, some experts point out. 

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'We're brown artists mixing Bollywood with Beyoncé'

British south Asian artists have historically been overlooked but now they are becoming mainstream.

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'We're brown artists mixing Bollywood with Beyoncé'

British south Asian artists have historically been overlooked but now they are becoming mainstream.

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Oldest bead in the Americas found in Wyoming

The oldest known bead in the Western Hemisphere has been discovered at the La Prele Mammoth site in Wyoming. Radiocarbon dating results indicate the tubular bone bead is approximately 12,940 years old.

There are very few Early Paleoindian beads known to survive, and most of them are not securely dated because they are made of minerals (caliche, hematite) rather than bone. The bone beads on the archaeological record were found in slightly more recent contexts than the La Prele example.

The La Prele Mammoth site was first excavated in 1987. They uncovered a Paleoindian camp where the remains of a young Columbian mammoth had been processed using chipped stone tools. Radiocarbon dates of the mammoth bones found the site was occupied around 12,940 years before the present. The bead was found in a hearth area of the site about 11 miles from the mammoth remains. Stone flake tools, bone needles and the butchered and burned remains of prehistoric bison were unearthed there, but the bead was not derived from bison bones.

Researchers employed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) to identify the animal the bone came from, and the material turned out to be lagomorph bone, most likely from a hare rather than a rabbit.

This finding represents the first secure evidence for the use of hares during the Clovis period, which refers to a prehistoric era in North America, particularly prominent about 12,000 years ago. It’s named after the Clovis archaeological site in New Mexico, where distinctive stone tools were discovered.

The bead is about 7 millimeters in length, and its internal diameter averages 1.6 millimeters. The research team considered the possibility that the bead could have been the result of carnivore consumption and digestion and not created by humans; however, carnivores were not common on this site, and the artifact was recovered 1 meter from a dense scatter of other cultural materials.

Additionally, the grooves on the outside of the bead are consistent with creation by humans, either with stones or their teeth. Beads like this one were likely used to decorate their bodies or clothing.

The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports and can be read in full here.

* This article was originally published here

Chalamet and Zendaya fever hits Dune 2 premiere

Screaming fans greeted the Hollywood heartthrobs at the world premiere of Dune: Part Two in London.

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Get back! Paul McCartney reunited with stolen bass

The Beatle said he was "incredibly grateful" to be reunited with his bass guitar stolen in 1972.

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Get back! Paul McCartney reunited with stolen bass

The Beatle said he was "incredibly grateful" to be reunited with his bass guitar stolen in 1972.

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Ancient Rome’s Failed Building Projects

Ancient Rome’s Failed Building Projects JamesHoare Thu, 02/15/2024 - 09:26

* This article was originally published here

Jewish man told to leave gig says London is scary

Jewish audience members at comedian Paul Currie's show say they felt "unsafe" and "threatened".

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Gems stolen from British Museum seen for first time

An exhibition will show 10 glass gems out of 350 items that have been recovered by the museum.

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Gems stolen from British Museum seen for first time

An exhibition will show 10 glass gems out of 350 items that have been recovered by the museum.

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Brand denies claim of sexual assault on film set

In court papers, Russell Brand claims his accuser "is unable to distinguish acting from reality".

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Celebrating the Electress Palatine, Florence’s last Medici heir and savior

On February 18th, Florence’s museums will commemorate the 281st anniversary of the death of Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, Electress Palatine, savior of Florence’s immense artistic heritage, with free admission to its museums. Florence celebrates the Electress’ great wisdom, tenacity and foresight in the disposition of her family’s inestimable legacy every year on this day, and every year the celebrations get more elaborate. The Palazzo Vecchio will be giving visitors the opportunities to converse with the Electress herself (in the form of a historical re-enactor, that is).

Anna Maria Luisa was the last of her dynasty, and after her death, the enormous artistic and architectural patrimony of the Medici was inherited by Francis Stephen of Lorraine, husband of Empress Maria Teresa of Austria, who would certainly have scattered it all, taking what he wanted to Vienna, melting down objects he didn’t care to keep, busting up Anna Maria’s legendary jewelry collection to sell the stones and selling off the innumerable artworks, objects and furnishings that today draw millions of tourists to Florence to the highest bidder. It is only thanks to the Family Pact she negotiated that the cultural treasures of Florence remained intact and in Florence instead of dispersed or destroyed. She died in the Pitti Palace (one of the museums offering free admission on the 18th) and her portrait welcomes visitors at the entrance to the Uffizi Gallery, an institution she created by stipulating in the Pact that it be transformed from the private family art gallery into one of the first public museums in Europe.

With her childlessness and death at the crux of Florence’s destiny, historians have hypothesized that syphilis, contracted from her philandering but much-loved husband, was the cause of both. Her body was exhumed in late 2012 as part of a collaborative project to assess damage caused to the family burials in the Medici Chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo. Osteological examination found no evidence of syphilis, to everyone’s surprise. Even Anna Maria herself was convinced she had it.

Contemporary sources, including the British diplomat Horace Mann, chronicle that in the winter of 1741, an “ugly evil began to open itself on one side of the breast, and was examined and considered by Dr. Franchi to be unhealable.” The lesion was also described as a “deep plague under the left breast, which keeps getting deeper and wider and continuously emits an acrid, biting liquid, and sometimes a small hemorrhage of blood.”

Anna Maria thought the “ugly evil” was a syphilitic ulcer and, fearful that it would expose her beloved late husband for his many sins and posthumously destroy his reputation, refused to be seen by anyone besides Dr. Franchi and her ladies in waiting. Over the next two years, her health declined steadily as she isolated herself in her rooms. Soon she was so weak she could not get out of bed. A fervently devout woman, the Electress was unable to attend mass at her private chapel even in a wheelchair.

The morning of February 18th, 1743, she “rendered her soul to God.” It was Carnivale time, and Anna Maria’s death cast a profound pall on Florence. Horace Mann wrote: “All of our happiness is finished. The Carnivale is ruined and we must cancel all of the costume parties: The Electress died an hour ago.”

Shortly before her death, she wrote instructions on the disposition of her body. She wanted only her ladies to wash her face and hands before burial. She did not want her cadaver “uncovered or opened up,” and wanted to be buried immediately. That did not happen. The Medici had a centuries-old tradition of removing organs and embalming their dead family members, and when her body was exhumed from the crypt in the Basilica of San Lorenzo 270 years later, her viscera and lungs were found in a separate vessel.

When the exhumation took place in October of 2012, the research team took extraordinary measures to grant the Electress some measure of the dignity she had sought. For the week her coffin and its contents were examined, view of the tomb was blocked by opaque plastic sheeting. The remains were 3D scanned so they could be studied virtually while her actual bones returned to their final resting place. DNA was also taken from a bone fragment and from the organs interred separately. Breast cancer now seems the most likely cause of death, but the results of the investigation have not yet been published.

* This article was originally published here

Theatre bans comedian after Jewish 'threat' row

The theatre says Mr Currie "aggressively demanded" Jewish members leave his Saturday night show.

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'Wright had a brain like quicksilver' - Nicky Campbell

Nicky Campbell pays tribute to Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright, who has died aged 69.

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'Wright had a brain like quicksilver' - Nicky Campbell

Nicky Campbell pays tribute to Radio 2 DJ Steve Wright, who has died aged 69.

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Moment Sara Cox shares news of Steve Wright's death

She was speaking on Radio 2 after hearing the legendary DJ has died aged 69.

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Neolithic stone wall found on Baltic Sea floor

A prehistoric stone wall more than half a mile long has been discovered on the floor of the Baltic Sea in the Bay of Mecklenburg off the coast of Germany. Around 11,000 years old, it is the oldest human-made structure in the Baltic Sea and one of the documented human-made hunting structures in the world. More than a half mile long, it is also one the largest known Stone Age structure in Europe.

It is composed of 1,673 individual boulders placed next to each other for 971 meters along what was the shore of a lake before rising sea levels submerged it around 8,500 years ago. The deliberate alignment of the stones, the way smaller stones were used to connect larger three-foot boulders and the length of the wall indicates this was a megastructure built by Neolithic people, not a natural development caused by movement of glaciers.

The stones were first spotted by geologists investigating natural formations of manganese crusts on the seabed of Mecklenburg Bay in 2021. They reported the find to the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Office for Culture and Monument Preservation who arranged for a team of multi-disciplinary researchers to investigate the structure. They used submersibles to collected sediment samples, created a detailed 3D model of the wall from geophysical data and dove the site to explore the wall close-up.

From the sediment samples, researchers were able to date construction to around 11,000 years ago in the early Mesolithic period. It was built by hunter-gatherers who inhabited the area and was likely a drive lane (a means to control the movement of animals to force them into a restricted space or, in this case, the lake itself) used to hunt migrating Eurasian reindeer. Prehistoric stone walls like these have been found elsewhere in the world (Jordan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Greenland, the United States) but are all but unknown in Europe. The closest comparable example was found at the bottom of Lake Huron in Michigan where a stone wall was used to hunt migrating caribou 9,000 years ago. It is much shorter a wall than the Mecklenburg megastructure — 98 feet versus 3186 feet.

The stone wall and the surrounding seabed will be investigated in more detail using side-scan sonar, sediment echo sounder and multibeam echo sounder devices. Additionally, research divers from the University of Rostock and archaeologists from the LAKD M-V are planning further diving campaigns to search the stone wall and its surroundings for archaeological finds that could help with the interpretation of the structure.

Luminescence dating, which can be used to determine when the surface of a stone was last exposed to sunlight, may help in determining a more precise date that the stone wall was constructed. Furthermore, the researchers intend to reconstruct the ancient surrounding landscape in more detail.

“We have evidence for the existence of comparable stone walls at other locations in the Mecklenburg Bight. These will be systematically investigated as well,” explains Jens Schneider von Deimling from Kiel University.

The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and can be read here.

* This article was originally published here