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Archaeology

A curator points at a stretch of worn Roman mosaic pavement in a Canterbury museum in the 1950s.

Canterbury's Roman Museum could fall victim to the credit crunch

Canterbury City Council is the latest local authority set to close museums as part of cost-cutting measures. It is wielding the budget axe and has decided that saving the city’s Christmas lights is more important than keeping the Roman Museum open to the public.

Inside Archaeology

The Avenue of Sphinxes in front of the Luxor Temple

Excavation and restoration on the Avenue of Sphinxes

Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, and Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), along with the governor of Luxor, Samir Farag, will embark today on an inspection tour along the Avenue of Sphinxes that connects the Luxor and Karnak temples.

The naos piece in its original position in the Ptah Temple at Karnak.

Temple fragment returns to Egypt and its place

Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni and Dr. Zahi Hawass today returned a piece of red granite belonging to an ancient Egyptian temple to its rightful place - the base of Amenemhat I's naos.

A close up view of the Viscera Coffin of Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun secrets to be revealed

Monday, 1 February 2010

Egypt will soon reveal the results of DNA tests made on the world's most famous ancient king, the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun, to answer lingering mysteries over his lineage, the antiquities department said.

A fragment of the codex, showing where a heading has been applied in red ink.

Cracking the codex: Long lost Roman legal document discovered

Thursday, 28 January 2010

Dr Simon Corcoran and Dr Benet Salway of the history department at University College London have found fragments of an important Roman law code that previously had been thought lost forever.

A view down the aqueduct five metres underground. The chambers would normally be in darkness.

British film-makers uncover Trajan's hidden Roman aqueduct

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

Two British film-makers have discovered what they believe to be the source of the 1,900-year old aqueduct built by the emperor Trajan in the early second century AD.

Virtual recreation of King Tut's Death Mask

Lifestyles of the rich and famous... Egyptians

Monday, 25 January 2010

The rich and famous people of ancient Egypt lived a decadent lifestyle with fine wine, sex, high fashion, and plenty of partying. How do they compare with their equivalents today - the modern western celebrity set?

<b>1. Binge Drinking</b>  <p>It was under the emperor Tiberius that the Romans developed a taste for drinking on an empty stomach. Wine was available in quantity as well as quality, the former was cheap and mass produced - sometimes needing to be sweetened with lead acetate or more expensively with honey. At the Saturnalia (December Festival), drinking was the done thing with both the Romans and their slaves drinking large quantities of wine. Bars can be found throughout Pompeii, some opposite the famous brothel (sex with a prostitute cost the equivalent of 2 glasses of wine). Scenes of dinner parties in frescoes from Pompeii, often include semi-naked males and dressed females - one of whom is usually vomiting. The conclusion of the bibulous scene leads to nudity and sex in the mind of the viewer. </p>

Top ten passions of Ancient Rome

Thursday, 21 January 2010

The tomb after opening with the lead coffin inside.

Queen Eadgyth's remains discovered in Germany

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Remains of one of the oldest members of the English royal family, Edith of England, have been located at the Magdeburger Dom in Germany. A lead coffin was discovered, bearing the name Eadgyth, the old spelling for Edith. Inside the coffin, a nearly complete female skeleton was found, wrapped in silk.

A limestone statue of the Goddess Bastet discovered at Kom el Dikka.

Queen Berenike's cat goddess temple discovered in Alexandria, Egypt

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

The remains of a temple of Queen Berenike - wife of King Ptolemy III - have been discovered by archaeologists in Alexandria, Egypt.

More archaeology:

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