From dmeadows@idirect.com Sun Jul 14 06:06:08 2002 Received: from mailscan2.cac.washington.edu (mailscan2.cac.washington.edu [140.142.33.16]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.12.1+UW01.12/8.12.1+UW02.01) with SMTP id g6ED67Nn089244 for ; Sun, 14 Jul 2002 06:06:07 -0700 Received: FROM mxu1.u.washington.edu BY mailscan2.cac.washington.edu ; Sun Jul 14 06:06:06 2002 -0700 Received: from twiddle.look.ca (twiddle.look.ca [207.136.80.125]) by mxu1.u.washington.edu (8.12.1+UW01.12/8.12.1+UW02.06) with ESMTP id g6ED66R8023233 for ; Sun, 14 Jul 2002 06:06:06 -0700 Received: from on-ham-a53-02-105.look.ca ([216.154.52.41]) by twiddle.look.ca with esmtp (Exim 4.05) id 17Tj4a-0005Uz-00; Sun, 14 Jul 2002 09:06:00 -0400 Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2002 09:02:30 -0400 From: dmeadows@idirect.com X-Mailer: The Bat! (v1.60q) Personal Reply-To: dmeadows@idirect.com X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Message-ID: <4112243841.20020714090230@idirect.com> To: aia-l@brynmawr.edu, classics@u.washington.edu, rome-arch@yahoogroups.com, greek-arch@yahoogroups.com, , , , CC: osiris@yahoogroups.com, amun@yahoogroups.com, egyptology@yahoogroups.com, centerforxenastudies@yahoogroups.com, , Subject: Explorator 5.11 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ================================================================ explorator 5.11 July 14, 2002 ================================================================ Editor's note: Depending on your mail software, some urls may wrap (especially those from the Telegraph) which will require you to rebuild the url at your end; if you get a 'file not found', check to see if the url wrapped on you. Most urls should be active for at least eight hours from the time of publication. ================================================================ ================================================================ Editor's note: the schedule for Explorator will be a bit out of whack over the next couple of weeks as we depart for our annual bit of naval gazing at the beach and I'm not sure what my internet access will be (if it exists at all). There will probably be an issue this coming Friday, then possibly a Monday after that. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks to David Detrich, Bill Kennedy, John McMahon, Michael Oberndorf, Terrence Lockyer, Bob Howe, Jean Laplante, Adrian Murdoch, W. Richard Frahm, Gene Barkley, Louis A. Okin, Trevor Watkins, Barbara Barrett, Maurice O'Sullivan and Susan Jaslow, for headses upses this week (a.a.h.i.h.l.n.o.o.) ================================================================ ================================================================ AFRICA, EUROPE, AND ASIA ================================================================ What might be humanity's oldest ancestor has been unearthed in Chad (and given the name "Tournai"; there's quite a bit of variation in most of these articles,especially the 'cf.' ones): http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2118000/2118055.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2122000/2122472.stm http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0710_020710_chadskull.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/778162.asp http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4459173,00.html http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0711/p01s03-usgn.html http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/biologicalscience/story/0,9834,752785,00.html http://www.nature.com/nsu/020708/020708-12.html http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=624&e=2&u=/ap/20020710/ap_on_sc/ancient_skull_chad_1 http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020708/hominid.html http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97&97&e=10&u=/hsn/20020710/hl_hsn/oldest_pre_human_fossils_found_in_africa__researchers_say cf: http://www.msnbc.com/news/779463.asp http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020712/sc_nm/science_skull_dc_1 .... and the oldest skull to be found outside Africa is boosting the 'Out of Africa' theory (is this theory actually being challenged?): http://www.dailycal.org/article.asp?id=8920 Here's the latest to claim they know the location of Noah's Ark: http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/story/1377023p-1495710c.html A pair of headdresses from Ur's 'Great Death Pit' have been rediscovered on a museum shelf (this goes beyond the usual 'we forgot it was there' sort of thing but it was a 'stumbling' situation): http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$CF4EQUAAAFU0JQFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2002/07/10/ntreas10.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/07/10/ixhome.html&_requestid=198896 http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_625492.html Zahi Hawass announced a major outreach program to get Egyptian children more interested in archaeology: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020710/ap_wo_en_po/egypt_kids__archaeology_1 The mummy of Rameses I is being returned to Egypt: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0712_020712_wireramses.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2117000/2117093.stm http://www.msnbc.com/news/778592.asp http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=624&e=4&u=/ap/20020710/ap_on_sc/mummy_s_return_1 A New Kingdom tomb of 'Amun's Beekeeper's Supervisor' has been unearthed somewhere in Egypt: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html7/o090722g.htm A more extensive article on efforts to save Egyptian sites from rising water: http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DyeHard/dyehard.html There's going to be new excavations at Troy: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-07/13/content_481231.htm Archaeologists revealed this week some of the finds from the excavations of a Roman garrison at Luguvalium (a.k.a. Carlisle ... these items are all rather different): http://www.europe-daily.com/p/ae/f344c7e19674.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-1865536,00.html http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&ncid=732&e=7&u=/ap/20020708/ap_on_re_eu/britain_roman_life_2 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_2115000/2115876.stm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/07/09/nlabel09.xml Folks might be interested in the website accompanying a new documentary about the 'Barbarians' (and a subsequent review of the series): http://www.channel4.co.uk/history/microsites/B/barbarians/index.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/story/0,3604,751785,00.html The New York Times has a nice piece on the evidence for massive trade revealed in the excavations at Berenike: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/09/science/09SILK.html?ex=1027332835&ei=1&en=88c469a7293efbb3 http://www.iht.com/articles/64102.html Some Roman-era statuary have been found in Thessaloniki: http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12970&m=A10&aa=9&eidos=S Scientists have begun to poke and prod a Fayum mummy (2nd century A.D.) in Pretoria: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=ct20020707211400837M000272 Vermilion found in Japanese tombs dating to the Yayoi period might have come from China: http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=221812 I hope we'll hear more of this one ... the 2000-year-old corpse of a woman has been found *intact* in China's Jiangsu province: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_2127000/2127290.stm A number of seventh century A.D. pagodas have been found in the Bay of Bengal: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=15199261 An explosion at an archaeological site in Pakistan injured a number of tourists: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_2126000/2126786.stm http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020713/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_tourist_attack_10 Some Viking footprints have been found near Oslo: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020708/viking.html German scientists have successfully separated a number of Tang dynasty silk dresses: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-07/12/content_480616.htm A fifteenth-century fresco depicting Muhammed in Hades is causing a stir in Bologna: http://www.sltrib.com/2002/jul/07062002/saturday/751337.htm A recently-discovered Rubens has set a record at auction (CanCon for my fellow Canucks ... the 'unknown buyer' is, rumour hath it, David Thompson of the Thompson newspaper empire): http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9761 .... and a "rare" (as if they're all over the place) Michelangelo has been identified: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/10/arts/10MICH.html http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-352925,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2119000/2119099.stm http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9760 The Scotsman has an interesting piece on the 'Blue Blanket' banner: http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=744732002 A 17th century ship has come to light in Wales: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_627094.html ================================================================ THE AMERICAS ================================================================ Archaeologists working in that 'shantytown' on the outskirts of Lima have come across 25 more mummies: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=qw1026360900231B216&set_id=1 http://www.worldscientist.com/p/cf/e492ba035845.html http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=589&ncid=734&e=8&u=/ap/20020710/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/peru_mummies_1 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&ncid=624&e=1&u=/ap/20020711/ap_on_sc/peru_mummies_5 Archaeologists in Arizona are trying to determine the effect of wildfires on several archaeological sites: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020709/ap_wo_en_ge/us_wildfires_relics_1 This is probably more of a followup, but since they've been working on this project (more or less) for years, we'll draw your attention once again to the efforts to raise the Monitor: http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=MONITORGUN-07-12-02&cat=AN http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGATUXA3C3D.html We'll probably hear more about this one ... archaeologists have begun to poke around in what is believed to be Edison's basement: http://www.msnbc.com/news/779445.asp ================================================================ NEW ONLINE BOOKS ================================================================ *Central Sanctuary and the Centralization of Worship in Ancient Israel from the Settlement to the Building of Solomon's Temple: A Historical and Theological Study of the Biblical Evidence in Its Archaeological and Ancient Near Eastern Context", a PhD thesis submitted to the University of Gloucestershire by Dr Pekka Pitkänen. http://www.zalag.net/OTstudies/Downloads.htm ================================================================ CRIME BEAT ================================================================ Items apparently related to the Schultz case are now being returned to Egypt: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020707/ap_wo_en_po/egypt_antiquity_returned_1 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020707/sc_nm/life_egypt_archaeology_dc_1 .... and there are more implications of the case: http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=9759 A relief in the Virgina Museum of Fine Arts is the latest artifact to be claimed to have been stolen: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAXXV93K3D.html http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020712/ap_wo_en_po/us_egyptian_relief_2 Al-Ahram has a nice piece on the discovery of a stolen artifact which was up for auction at Christies: http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/593/hr1.htm Another case: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html7/o130722m.htm A case in the making?: http://www.uk.sis.gov.eg/online/html7/o140722c.htm ================================================================ AT ABOUT.COM ================================================================ Archaeology Guide Kris Hirst's latest is a review of Vivian and Anderson's *Chaco Canyon*: http://archaeology.about.com/library/read/blvivian.htm ================================================================ REVIEWS ================================================================ Anthony Everitt, *Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician*: http://tinyurl.com/nnf ================================================================ EXHIBITIONS ================================================================ Conexiones: Connections in Spanish Colonial Art (Santa Fe): http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/14/arts/design/14BROC.html (cf. http://www.spanishcolonial.org/) ================================================================ CLASSICIST'S CORNER ================================================================ I was sent this one a while ago but it was trapped by one of my filters and sent into temporary obscurity: it's an interview with Rekha Thammana, who has achieved a perfect score on the National Latin Exam for four consecutive years: http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1022931804303160.xml Here's the latest installment of 'What kind of career can you get with a classics degree': http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,751526,00.html AthensNews has a nice piece on the antiquity of figs: http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12970&m=A40&aa=1&eidos=S "The Road to Perdition", we are told, is "salted with enough Old Testament revenge and reheated Greek tragedy to satisfy the most demanding classicist": http://www.westword.com/issues/2002-7-11/movies.html/1/index.html Folks might be interested in reading about the Dan David prize: http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020708-94767805.htm Peter Jones in the Spectator: http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php3?table=old§ion=current&issue=2002-07-13&id=2049 Radio Finland's Nuntii Latini http://www.yle.fi/fbc/latini/trans.html U.S. Weather in Latin: http://latin.wunderground.com/ ================================================================ FOLLOWUPS ================================================================ Byzantine Coin in China: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020708/ap_on_re_as/china_coin_unearthed_2 Crusader Castle on Cyprus: http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4653793%255E13762,00.html .... and a couple of issues ago we reported on an Indian researcher's claims to have deciphered the Indus Valley Script ... folks might be interested to read some of the comments made on the report in the Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/viewrec.asp?art_id=13404142 ================================================================ EXPLORATOR is a weekly newsletter representing the fruits of the labours of 'media research division' of The Atrium. Various on-line news and magazine sources are scoured for news of the ancient world (broadly construed: practically anything relating to archaeology or history prior to about 1700 or so is fair game) and every Sunday they are delivered to your mailbox free of charge! ================================================================ Useful Addresses ================================================================ Past issues of Explorator are available on the web at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Explorator/messages To subscribe to Explorator, send a blank email message to: mailto:Explorator-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe, send a blank email message to: mailto:Explorator-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com To send a 'heads up' to the editor: mailto:dmeadows@idirect.com ================================================================ Explorator is Copyright (c) 2002 David Meadows. 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