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Posts posted by guy
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Invicta does excellent work.
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In August, a New York judge had ordered the return of this priceless headless sculpture from a Cleveland museum (see post below). The museum is now suing to have that order dismissed. The museum contests the Turkish claims it was a statue of Marcus Aurelius that originated in Turkey. In fact, the museum states the statue was much older (150-200 BCE) and probably is not of Turkish origin. Experts have suggested that the sculpture is, instead, of Sophocles, the Greek writer of tragedies..
The sculpture remains in Cleveland but is “seized in state.”
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/cleveland-museum-lawsuit-sculpture-2381754/amp-page -
Here is a nice article on the find and description of Queen Merit-Neith:
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23 hours ago, caesar novus said:
(title sounds backwards
Correction made.
Thanks.
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Hundreds of 5000-year-old sealed wine jars were found at the burial complex of Egyptian Queen Merit-Neith in Umm El Qa’ab necropolis near Abydos. Also at the complex we’re the tombs of 41 courtiers and servants.
Although the wine had evaporated and no longer was present, there was a lot of organic residue, grapes seeds and crystals.
Grape seeds found in the sealed jars.
https://www.sci.news/archaeology/meret-neith-wine-12342.html
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There has been some breakthrough with AI in reading the texts of the charred scrolls at Herculaneum. There are some 600 texts to be examined.
QuoteLuke Farritor, who is at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, developed a machine-learning algorithm that has detected Greek letters on several lines of the rolled-up papyrus, including πορϕυρας (porphyras), meaning ‘purple’. Farritor used subtle, small-scale differences in surface texture to train his neural network and highlight the ink.
Here is some background information about the Vesuvius Challenge:QuoteThe Vesuvius Challenge offers a series of awards, leading to a main prize of US$700,000 for reading four or more passages from a rolled-up scroll. On 12 October, the organizers announced that Farritor has won the ‘first letters’ prize of $40,000 for reading more than 10 characters in a 4-square-centimetre area of papyrus. Youssef Nader, a graduate student at the Free University of Berlin, is awarded $10,000 for coming second.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03212-1
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Here is another article on the painting of the Parthenon:
QuoteUsing luminescent imaging, archaeologists were able to find hidden chemical elements from traces of paint on the sculptures’ surfaces. The team found evidence of hidden patterns, such as floral designs and figurative depictions, that were created using a mix of four pigments.
The blue was made by the Egyptians and used often by ancient Greeks and Romans, the purple tint was produced using previously unknown ingredients, and the two whites were crafted from the mineral gypsum and a bone white pigment made from bone ash.
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/parthenon-marbles-paint-hidden-colors-study-1234682322/
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QuoteIt has long been assumed that the sculptures were left unpainted, however, using visible-induced luminescence imaging, the researchers have been able to identify microscopic traces of an Egyptian blue pigment on the sculpture’s garments. Egyptian blue is a man-made pigment composed of calcium, copper and silicon, that was commonly used in Ancient Greece and Roman, and even as far back as 3,000 BC in Egypt.
According to a study, published in the journal Antiquity: “Small traces of white and purple were also detected on the sculptures. True purple pigment was very valuable in the ancient Mediterranean; it was produced from shellfish, but the Parthenon purple apparently was not. The exact nature of the purple remains unclear, but classical texts refer to recipes to make non-shellfish purple.”
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/style/greek-parthenon-sculptures-painted-egyptian-blue-scn/index.html
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Wonderful video. Thanks. Very informative.
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There have been previous discussions about the possible way victims of Pompeii died (see thread below). There are several possible mechanisms: asphyxiation (lack of oxygen), pyroclastic flows (a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter), falling or collapsing buildings, and even a tsunami.
Another mechanism has been suggested about the cause of death: an earthquake. Two male victims aged at least 55 were found in the Casti Amanti at Pompeii beneath a wall that had collapsed before the area was covered in volcanic material. One of the victims appeared to be shielding his face from the falling wall.
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2023/5/17/pompeii-excavations-reveal-two-new-skeletons
Pompeii had experienced earthquakes before the fateful volcanic eruption in AD 77. Increasingly, the relationship between earthquakes and volcanic activity has become appreciated. Both involve disturbances of the tectonic plates.
There is now a possibility that a destructive earthquake occurred simultaneously with the volcanic eruption, causing at least two fatalities that day.
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More than 400 fragments of iron was discovered in 2018 at Kalkriese, Germany, site of the Varus defeat at the Teutoburg Forrest Battle site. It has been recently reassembled and the result was a nearly complete set of lorica segmentata. It is made of 30 plates.
It has been suggested that it was so well preserved as it was part of a triumph ritual.
It is now on display for the first time in a new exhibit at Kalkriese Museum “Cold Case: Death of a Legionary.”
https://www.kalkriese-varusschlacht.de/museum-park/ausstellungen/cold-case-tod-eines-legionaers.htmlHere is a reenactor of the 1st century AD armor:
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A 2nd Century AD Roman head of Alexander the Great has been found in Prusias ad Hypium, Turkey. It measured 23 cm (or 9 inches).
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Radiocarbon dating in 2021 of grass seeds found in sediment layers above and below footprints have challenged notions of prehistoric dating: Humans arrived in America 7000 years earlier than expected.
QuoteThe 20th century experts thought the appearance of humans had coincided with the formation of an ice-free corridor between two immense ice sheets straddling what's now Canada and the northern US. According to this idea, the corridor, caused by melting at the end of the last Ice Age, allowed humans to trek from Alaska into the heart of North America.
Gradually, this orthodoxy crumbled. In recent decades, dates for the earliest evidence of people have crept back from 14,000 years ago to 16,000 years ago. This is still consistent with humans only reaching the Americas as the last Ice Age was ending.
Dated fossil footprints uncovered in New Mexico to around 23,000 years ago—the height of the last Ice Age. They were made by a group of people passing by an ancient lake near what's now White Sands. The discovery added 7,000 years to the record of humans on the continent, rewriting American prehistory.
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-humans-america-years-earlier-thought.html
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A tomb of a woman and her son have found along the Appian Way. I’m still looking for further details but this is an interesting find, nevertheless.
This discovery was not far from the recent discovery of the life-sized statue of Hercules along the Appian Way.
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A fragment of Roman amphora found in Spain was found to have an inscription of Virgil’s Georgics, which dealt with rural and agricultural themes.
The amphora shard was initially found seven years ago, but only recently was it translated.
The full passage reads:
QuoteQuid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram
uertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adiungere uitis
conueniat, quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo
sit pecori, apibus quanta experientia parcis,
HINC Canere Incipiam. Uos, or Clarissima Mundi 5
lumina, labentem caelo quae ducitis annum;
Liber et alma Ceres, uestro si munere tellus
Chaoniam pingui glandem mutauit arista,
poculaque inuentis Acheloia miscuit uuis;
et uos, agrestum praesentia numina, Fauni 10
(ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellae:
Munera Uestra Cano);
QuoteO you brightest lights of the universe
that lead the passing year through the skies,
Bacchus and kindly Ceres, since by your gifts
fat wheat ears replaced Chaonian acorns,
and mixed Achelous’ water with newly discovered wine,
and you, fauns, the farmer’s local gods,
(come dance, together, fauns and dryad girls!)
your gifts I sing.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/virgil-quote-roman-jar-180982426/
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Here is a wonderful video by Invicta about the logistics of the Roman army on the move:
Here is a great scene from the HBO series “Rome.”
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This coin from AD 67/68 was found in the duct. It dates from the first Jewish revolt against the Romans. It was thought to be intentionally deposited by Roman occupiers.
Here is another article about the discovered aqueduct. The Roman colony of Amelia Capitolina centered around Jerusalem was founded during Hadrian’s visit to Judaea in AD 129/130. It is thought that the aqueduct was repaired and maintained after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Excavations also uncovered 25 coins in the aqueduct foundations. These coins were distributed at almost equal distances. This was thought to be intentional, possibly placed by the Tenth Legion builders for good luck. Unfortunately, I could not find a more complete description of these 25 coins.
https://m.jpost.com/archaeology/article-761571
Here’s an old thread about the Legio X Fretensis that was involved in the First Jewish-Roman War:
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Many in the numismatic community have been critical the lack of prominent display of coin hoards. This appears to be a nice exception.
The Muddy Hoard was found in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and dates to approximately AD 274 during the joint reign of Tetricus I and his son during the Gallic Empire. The hoard consisted of 9724 Roman coins, including an unrecorded denarius of Tetricus I. (Source Wikipedia)
A coin from the hoard of Laelian, a usurper against Posthumous of the Gallic Empire.
https://www.cambstimes.co.uk/news/23826699.roman-coins-found-huntingdon-display-st-ives/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66827194
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Political inscriptions have been found inside a home in Pompeii. Inscriptions were usually found on exterior facades of buildings.
QuoteThe team discovered electoral inscriptions in support of Aulus Rustius Verus, a candidate for the position of aedile. Aediles were in charge of maintaining public buildings (aedēs) and regulating public festivals. The office of the aediles was typically held by young men aspiring to high political office, traditionally after their quaestorship but before their praetorship.
Aulus Rustius Verus’s name appears in other inscriptions and is known in Pompeii for having held the highest public office in the city in the seventies of the 1st century AD, along with Giulio Polibius, owner of a splendid house on the Avenue of Abundance. , that of duovirea degree that was accessed after having been aedile, so archaeologists deduce that the newly discovered inscriptions are ancient and that Aulus Rustius Verus probably won those elections.
QuoteAccording to the press announcement: “Normally, these writings are found on the external facades of buildings, where the people could read the names of the candidates for the city’s magistrates. The presence inside the home was likely for events such as dinners to support candidates with the aim of promoting the campaign electoral to their guests”
The house owner was apparently a supporter of Aulus Rustius Verus, further evidenced with the discovery of a millstone placed in the atrium of the house inscribed with the candidates initials, ARV.
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/09/electoral-inscriptions-found-in-pompeii-house/148739
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A Roman statue thought to date between the first century BCE and the first century AD has been found in the Italian city of Tusculum, outside Rome. Tusculum was a popular resort area for wealthy Romans. Cato the Elder was born there.
QuotePizzo specified that “some characteristic elements, such as the fawn skin that covers his shoulders, allow us to hypothesize that it is a figure that can be traced back to a Dionysian context, chronologically framed between the mid-1st century BC and the mid-1st century AD.”
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A fragment of Psalms 46 written in Greek and thought to be of Byzantine origin was recently found in Israel. A tiny gold ring was also found at the site.
Quote"This is one of the most common psalms used in the ancient Christian liturgy. It appears that one of the monks drew a graffiti of the cross on the wall and underneath it, he penned a prayer he knew well," Ecker explained. "Based on the style of the script, the inscription dates back to the first half of the 6th century CE." He also noted, "Several grammatical errors in the transcription suggest that the writer did not speak Greek as his native tongue, but rather, he might have been a local, perhaps even a native of the region, and spoke Aramaic or another local language,"
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An unlooted Roman sarcophagus from the second century AD has been found in Northeastern France.
QuoteDuring the recent excavation, scientists discovered a lime sarcophagus limestone that measures 3.3 feet high, 5.4 feet long, and 2.6 feet wide, with a 1,700-pound lid held in place by iron pegs sealed with lead. The archaeologists first did X-rays on the sarcophagus then used an endoscopic camera. They found a skeleton of a woman inside, alongside a number of other objects, including a mirror.
“The skeleton occupied the entire space of the [5-foot] tank, the individual must have been around 40 years old and had a special status. Four oil lamps were found near her legs and shoulders, as well as a small mirror, an amber ring and a comb,” Balmelle added.
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The victims “relaxed position” suggests that the cause of death was asphyxiation.
The victims of Pompeii died a horrible death. Many times it was not, however, the high temperatures or crush injuries that killed them. It was suffocation (and lack of oxygen) that killed the victims.
QuotePiero Dellino, a professor of volcanology at the University of Bari, Italy, agrees with these conclusions. ‘People were not killed by the mechanics or other things. People were killed because they were breathing ash,’ he says. ‘It was not hot, just that the eruption lasted for a few minutes more than what can be breathable.’
Roman grave found at Hampshire construction site
in Archaeological News: Britain and Roman-Britain
Posted
A Roman graves and coin have been found in Hampshire during a water pipeline construction
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-67158304