ancient history

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Dead Bodies Threaten Egypt's Pyramids: Report

Illegal cemeteries pushing toward monuments

(Newser) - Some of Egypt's greatest monuments are facing a threat: encroaching, illegally-built cemeteries. More than 1,000 tombs have been established this year on grounds where building is prohibited, the Guardian reports. "They came and took space for about 20 generations," says the head archaeologist at Dahshour, home...

Ancient Pharoah Ramses III Was Assassinated
 Ancient Pharaoh 
 Ramses III Was 
 Assassinated 
in case you missed it
Dec 22, 2012 7:00 PM CST

Ancient Pharaoh Ramses III Was Assassinated

X-ray points to severe throat wound, say researchers

(Newser) - The mystery of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh's death may have been solved. Experts knew of an assassination and coup attempt on Ramses III, but never ascertained whether the attackers had succeeded, USA Today reports. Now, new X-ray analysis suggests they did: "The extent and depth" of a wound...

Experts Cracking Oldest Undeciphered Language

5,000-year-old tablets may soon yield secrets

(Newser) - Experts trying to crack the world's oldest undeciphered language say they are close to making a breakthrough that could unlock a large cache of knowledge from the ancient world. The academics are using a high-tech imaging device to scan clay tablets and capture writing in the proto-Elamite language, which...

Jesus 'Wife' Papyrus Is a Fake: Expert

Francis Watson: Modern forger 'patched' it together

(Newser) - A New Testament scholar has weighed in on the ancient document that mentions Jesus having a wife, the Guardian reports. His verdict: Not worth the papyrus it's written on. "I would be very surprised if it were not a modern forgery," writes Francis Watson of Durham University...

Ancient &#39;Black Drink&#39; Surprises Archeologists
 Ancient 'Black Drink' 
 Surprises Archeologists  
in case you missed it
Aug 11, 2012 7:00 PM CDT

Ancient 'Black Drink' Surprises Archeologists

Beverage suggests America had trade network

(Newser) - It turns out our ancestors liked their caffeine buzz, too. Archeologists studying the ancient city Cahokia have located what they believe is evidence of a likely sacred beverage known as "black drink," which European settlers exploring the southeast US in the 1600s described in writing. What's surprising...

In the Holy Land, Attempts to Revive Jesus' Language

Schools in two villages teaching Aramaic

(Newser) - In two Holy Land villages—and, randomly, Sweden—efforts are being made to revive Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke that has been almost dead for centuries. The Palestinian village of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, and the Arab-Israeli village of Jish, in the Galilean hills where Jesus taught, were both inspired...

Ancient Instrument Pushes Music History Back 1K Years

Archeologists find remains of lyre in Scottish cave

(Newser) - Turns out even ancient Europeans liked subtle and complex music. Archeologists have found part of a 2,300-year-old lyre—the oldest instrument ever discovered in western Europe—inside a Scottish cave, the Daily Mail reports. The broken and burnt piece of wood "pushes the history of complex music back...

Gadhafi May Be Hiding Weapons at Historic Site

Development could endanger Roman ruins at Leptis Magna

(Newser) - Libyan rebels say Moammar Gadhafi is hiding weapons at a UNESCO World Heritage site—and if arms are there, NATO won’t "rule out" bombing it, CNN reports. "We will strike military vehicles, military forces, military equipment or military infrastructure that threaten Libyan civilians as necessary,” said...

Vikings Left Greenland Because of ... Climate Change

Sinking temps may have forced them out, says study

(Newser) - We’re far from the first humans to grapple with climate change: It seems several populations were forced to leave Greenland when things got too cold for comfort, according to a new study. The Saqqaq people arrived in Greenland some 4,500 years ago, and were gone when weather cooled...

Climate Change Linked to Fall of Rome

Climate shifts coincided with turmoil, say researchers

(Newser) - Changes in climate have played a huge role in European history, influencing or even causing events like the decline of Rome and the Black Death, according to researchers studying ancient tree growth. Tree-ring samples from nearly 9,000 of pieces of wood collected over 30 years reveal that a stable...

Roman Town Found in London
 Roman Town Found in London 
Nov 17, 2010 3:48 PM CST

Roman Town Found in London

Village rich with artifacts discovered just below surface

(Newser) - Excavators exploring the site of a planned hotel in west London stumbled upon an amazing archaeological find: well-preserved remains of a Roman settlement. Just a few feet below the surface, archaeologists found several burial sites and a Roman road. So far 11,500 fragments of pottery, 100 coins, and jewelry...

Archaeologists Find Cache of Bronze Age Weapons

Rare, delicate pottery found at site

(Newser) - A huge cache of Bronze Age weapons were unearthed today in Essex, England, the BBC reports. Axe heads, spear tips, and other objects dating back some 3,000 years were found under a field, where they had been buried for safe-keeping by their original owners. "To find a hoard...

Vanished Persian Army Turns Up in Sand
 Vanished Persian Army 
 Turns Up in Sand 
HERODOTUS WAS RIGHT DEPT
Nov 17, 2009 2:21 PM CST

Vanished Persian Army Turns Up in Sand

Evidence of 50K doomed soldiers found in Egyptian desert

(Newser) - Italian archaeologists in Egypt claim to have unearthed evidence of a 6th-century BC Persian military folly once thought mythical. Herodotus described an army of 50,000 Persians sent by their emperor, Cambyses, to destroy an oracle that had spoken ill of his ambitions. The army was, according to lore, beset...

Massive Ancient Gold Trove Likely Battle Booty

Experts compare record find to discovery of King Tut's tomb

(Newser) - Experts dazzled by a record trove of ancient gold and silver unearthed in an English field believe the hoard of coins, hilts and parts of shields was war booty stripped from fallen soldiers and buried on the run. It was finally unearthed by a man with a metal detector 14...

Were Dogs Domesticated as Dinner?

A look into the origins of the human-canine connection

(Newser) - Today, they’re man’s best friend, but dogs may have originally come to humans as their best bet for dinner. Researchers in Sweden examined the DNA of dogs around the world and found that they all seemed to be of the same lineage, pointing to “a single domestication...

Tech Breathes New Life Into Ancient Manuscripts

Digitization, scanning of crumbling manuscripts preserves history

(Newser) - Ancient documents have long odds of making it to the present intact, between fires and bugs and the other ravages of time. But today’s technology can tease information even out of charred papyrus scrolls, thanks to CT scans, infrared imaging, and X-ray fluorescence. And from there, digital images can...

Horses Tamed Earlier Than We Thought

(Newser) - Horses were domesticated 1,000 years earlier than thought, a finding that could prompt a rethinking of ancient human history, the BBC reports. A team from Exeter University found evidence of the use of harness bits on teeth—as well as horse meat and horse milk beverages—in Kazakhstan that...

Google Unearths 3D Ancient Rome

Users can surf city streets of 320 AD

(Newser) - Google Earth is providing users the opportunity to surf the streets of Ancient Rome via a 3D virtual reconstruction of the city as it was in the 4th century. Users can "enter" the Forum, stand in the sands of the Colosseum, or swoop over any of 6,700 buildings...

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