Traces of Tenth-Century Temple Unearthed in Eastern India
The Hindustan Times reports that researchers led by Arun Malik of the Archaeological Survey of India uncovered traces of a building thought to be a tenth-century temple while excavating an area next to the eleventh-century Suka-Sari temple complex, which is located near eastern India’s city of Bhubaneswar.
ASI officials said while carrying out scientific cleaning of the two-acre land adjacent to the 11th-century Suka-Sari temple complex, they found the floor of the temple as well as a portion of wall containing beautifully engraved statues of danseuses of the temple that was earlier buried under the campus of a demolished Sanskrit college in Bhubaneswar.
“We think the temple was built on the Panchayatana model like the Brahmeshwara and Chitrakarini temples which are of the 10th-century origin.
A base (Shakti) of Shivling has also been found during digging at the site.
Another side of the wall is being dug out and it will require 10 more days to completely bring out the structures,” said Arun Mallick, superintendent of ASI’s Bhubaneswar circle.
Mallick said many ancient structures around the vicinity of Lingaraj temple are believed to have been damaged during the demolition drive carried out by the Odisha government for renovation of the old town area under Ekamra Kshetra Project.
“Bhubaneswar is said to be the city of more than 1000 temples. We believe many structures have been demolished during the current demolition exercise.
We tried to reason with them about not carrying out indiscriminate demolition. But the state government did not take note of our protests,” he said.
Among the heritage structures demolished around the Lingaraj temple is the 11th century Ganesh temple called Budha Ganesh on the northern side of Lingaraj complex.
It has been listed as a protected monument years ago and is one of the smallest Ganesh temples of Bhubaneswar.
The oldest structure in Bhubaneswar is Baitala temple, that is believed to have been built during the 8th century by the Bhaumakara kings.
10,000 Year Old Rock Paintings Depicting Aliens And UFOs Found in India
Even before the great tectonic plate shift, the former central province of India, now Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, was the site of pre-agrarian human settlement. That is why a number of prehistoric cave paintings have been discovered in the region. Some of them are known to us like Bhimbetka where we mainly find cave paintings made by a hunter-gatherer population.
Representational Image of cave painting in India dated from 1500-2000 BC found in Bhimbetka, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
Recently in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, just 43 miles from the local administrative centre of Raisen, ancient 10,000-year-old rock paintings depicting UFOs and extra-terrestrials have been discovered in the caves. The caves are hidden deep within the dense jungle in Charama region in Kanker district in tribal Bastar region. Located about 130km from Raipur, the caves come under village Chandeli and Gotitola.
A group of anthropologists working with hill tribes in a remote area have made a startling discovery of intricate prehistoric cave paintings depicting aliens and UFO type craft next to a look-alike ‘wormhole’ formation in the sky.
A few years back, a three-and-a-half- million-years- the old prehistoric human skull was discovered in the Ahthnor village of Madhya Pradesh by geologist Dr Arun Sonakia. Possibilities that the above image was drawn by those ancient humans can’t be ruled out, said Dr Sonakia.
The state of Chhattisgarh has an abundance of ancient rock paintings. Many sites have paintings of humans and animals in everyday scenes. However, some researchers have referred to some rather unusual paintings, such as those depicting what appear to be kangaroos and giraffes (mainly in Kabra hills of Raigarh area of the state of Chhattisgarh) which are not native to the country, as well as human-fish hybrid creatures. Now, it is claimed that aliens and UFOs can be added to this collection.
The paintings are done in natural colours that have barely faded despite the passing of years. The strangely carved figures are seen holding weapon-like objects and do not have clear features. Especially, the nose and mouth are missing. In a few pictures, they are even shown wearing spacesuits. The newly-discovered depictions date back some 10,000 years.
The images may be depicting extra-terrestrials and UFOs as the paintings include large, humanoid beings descending from the sky, some wearing what looks like a helmet or antennae, as well as a disc-shaped craft with three rays (or legs) from its base. There are several beliefs among locals from the area.
While few worship the paintings, others narrate stories they have heard from ancestors about ‘rohela people’, which translates to “the small sized ones”. According to legend, the ‘rohela people’ used to land from the sky in a round shaped flying object and take away one or two persons of village who never returned.
According to one archaeologist, the art reflects the belief among ancient humans that we are not alone in the universe. The findings suggest that humans in prehistoric times may have seen or imagined beings from other planets which still arouse curiosity among people and researchers.
Archaeologists typically identify them as ‘shamanic’ images of humans, or human-animal hybrids, and geometric forms. Images of figures with antlers, antennae, or spiritual rays are familiar, and in fact quite common, in shamanic art.
A clear image of what might be an alien or ET in a spacesuit can be seen in above a cave painting along with a classical flying saucer-shaped UFO that appears to be either beaming something down or beaming something up, in what might be an ancient UFO abduction scenario.
A force-field or trail of some sort is seen at the rear of the UFO. Also visible is another object that might depict a wormhole, explaining how aliens were able to reach Earth. Down below is the wormhole. The concept was discussed by physicist Stephen Hawking but in a skeptical manner. But isn’t it fascinating that ancient Indian possibly witnessed wormholes, UFO and alien visitations while Stephen Hawking remained skeptic about them?
Local archaeologist, Mr Wassim Khan, has personally seen the images. He claims that the objects and creatures seen in them are totally anomalous and out of character when compared to other, already discovered, examples of prehistoric cave art depicting ancient life in the area. As such, he believes that they might suggest beings from other planets have been interacting with humans since prehistoric times.
It may be better explained that encounters like this helped ancient Indian civilization to understand how those alien spaceship worked and later documented in ‘Vimana shastra’. This explanation, in turn, establishes the ‘ancient astronaut theory’ which postulates that human civilization was established with the assistance of benevolent space-travelling aliens.
On enlargement, two objects that look like hats floating in mid-air can be noticed, as also one of them appears to have portholes on it. Indian Vedic texts are full of descriptions of Vimanas. The Ramayana describes Vimanas as a double-decked, circular or cylindrical aircraft with portholes and a dome. It flew with “the speed of the wind” and made a “melodious sound”.
It is not uncommon in Madhya Pradesh that commoners claiming sight of UFO in nearby areas till this date. The latest entrant to the list of people in Madhya Pradesh that have claimed to have seen Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO), states Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Ramkrishna Kusmaria in July 2014.
Kusmaria said while he was on an official tour he spotted a UFO in Sukha village in Damoh district, about 135 miles from ancient cave painting site. Kusmaria said he clearly saw the object in the sky, and it was emitting sharp sparks. “The object caused damage to the standing crops in the area. I saw papaya fruits fall off the tree as the UFO passed by,” the minister said.
The State Department of Archaeology and Culture in Chhattisgarh is seeking assistance from the Indian Space Research Organisation to research a set of ancient rock paintings found inside caves near the town of Charama in Kanker district, in the tribal Bastar region.
Ancient China: Lost City With Pyramid and Human Sacrifices Is Rewriting History
Apparently, some archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a lost city in China that were around for more than 3,000 years ago. On a hill above China’s Tuwei River, researchers found a large stepped pyramid that once served as a palace center, along with defensive stone walls, tool-making rubble, and many pits filled with sacrificial human skulls.
According to archaeologists, Bronze Age discoveries contradict our interpretation of early Chinese culture and occupation, indicating the loess highlands was home to a complex society long before the traditionally assumed ‘centers’ emerged in the Central Plains.
The ancient city dubbed Shimao was home to a pyramid that stood at least 230 feet tall (70 meters) and was guarded by a huge inner and outer wall.
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a lost city in China that thrived more than 4,000 years ago. The pyramid was build out of a loess hill, with 11 massive steps tapering as they ascend, as shown above
Thousands of years ago when it flourished, from about 2300 BC to 1800 BC, the city spanned about 988 acres.
The pyramid was build-out of a loess hill, with 11 massive steps tapering as they ascend, the researchers write in a paper published in the journal Antiquity.
Beyond the entrance, they found a ‘large open plaza where rituals and political gatherings may have been held.’
According to the researchers, palaces were built atop the huge pyramid out of rammed earth with wooden pillars and roofing tiles.
The ancient city dubbed Shimao was home to a pyramid that stood at least 230 feet tall (70 meters), and was guarded by a huge inner and outer wall. Thousands of years ago when it flourished, from about 2300 BC to 1800 BC, the city spanned about 988 acres
On a ridge above China’s Tuwei River, the researcher found a massive stepped pyramid that once served as a palace center, along with defensive stone walls, tool-making debris, and a pit filled with sacrificial human skulls
It’s thought that the ruling elites lived atop the pyramid complex, which was likely also the site of artisanal or industrial craft production.
Eyes and anthropomorphic stone faces were found carved into the façade of the pyramid.
‘With its imposing height of at least 70 m, the pyramid could be seen from everywhere within the settlement, from the suburbs and even the rural fringes.
‘Thus it could well have provided a constant and overwhelming reminder to the Shimao population of the power of the ruling elites residing atop it – a concrete example of the ‘social pyramid.’
It’s thought that the ruling elites lived atop the pyramid complex, which was likely also the site of artisanal or industrial craft production
Researchers say mass sacrifices were also commonplace at Shimao, with six pits containing decapitated human heads discovered at the site on the outer rampart alone.
Human remains and jade objects associated with sacrifice were found at other Shimao monuments, as well.
‘The jade objects and human sacrifice may have imbued the very walls of Shimao with ritual and religious potency, amplifying its significance as a monumental center, enhancing the protective efficacy of the walls and making this a place of power in every sense,’ the authors wrote.
Beyond the entrance, they found a ‘large open plaza where rituals and political gatherings may have been held.’ According to the researchers, palaces were built atop the huge pyramid out of rammed earth with wooden pillars and roofing tiles
Notably, the researchers say the discoveries are indicative of Shimao’s status as a carefully constructed civilization.
‘This research reveals that by 2000 BC, the loess highland was home to a complex society representing the political and economic heartland,’ the authors wrote.
‘Significantly, it was found that Later Bronze Age core symbols associated with Central plains civilization were, in fact, created much earlier at Shimao.’
The Bronze Age discoveries challenge our understanding of early Chinese civilization and settlement, suggesting the loess highland was home to a complex society long before the traditionally assumed ‘centers’ emerged in the Central Plains
Remains Of Long-Lost Temple Of Musasir Discovered In Iraq
In an ancient stone carving, warriors brandishing shields and swords swarm over the columned facade of a grand temple. On one side, a palace stands with three women perched on top; on the other, above private homes, a ruler on a throne dictates to royal scribes. In the foreground, the peaks of northern Iraq soar.
For centuries, scholars and archaeologists have speculated about the whereabouts of this near-mythical temple and the powerful city where it resided. While they know its history, the storied city’s exact location has long been lost to time, until a recent report by a local archaeologist claimed to have hit upon the temple’s remains. Using clues pulled from surviving records and descriptions, Dlshad Marf Zamua believes that, after seven years of research, he’s found the last traces of Musasir in what is now a village called Mdjeser in Iraqi Kurdistan.
More than 2,500 years ago, the holy structure was the shining glory of the ancient capital city of Musarir, also known as Ardini, in modern-day Iraqi Kurdistan. For hundreds of years, around the first millennium BC, the house of worship and its home city was renowned as holy sites. Scholars believe that the temple was built in the late ninth century BC to honor the god Haldi—a winged warrior standing on a lion—and the goddess Bagbartu in the Iron Age kingdom of Urartu, which considered Haldi its national deity.
This ancient metropolis separated Urartu, a cross-section of Armenia, Iraq, eastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran, from the powerful empire of Assyria. The capital city had long been written about, first by an Assyrian king who said it was “the holy city founded in bedrock,” then by a later king who referred to the city’s ruler as a “mountain dweller,” and its own seal called it “the city of the raven.”
The adorned temple of Haldi was described as having multiple gates, where large numbers of animals were sacrificed. There was supposedly a courtyard, and scholars believe regional kings were crowned on its grounds, where they would later erect bronze statues in their own honor.
The region was a constant battleground for political powers in the Middle East, and in 714 B.C., the armies of Sargon II of Assyria captured and plundered the holy Musasir. Within the temple, they found a cache of treasure hoarded for centuries. The crusading king’s loot totaled an estimated one ton of gold and 10 tons of silver.
This was the eighth campaign for Sargo II, and one of the last major conquests led by a series of kings who would unite the Middle East under the rule of Assyria. Sargo II used claims of treachery by local rulers to justify the invasion, but it became clear that the vast wealth of the city was the real goal. He pledged the newfound riches to fund construction of “Sargon’s Fortress” the next year, with plans of making it the new center of Assyria, one of the great ancient empires. It was on the walls of Sargon II’s massive new palace that workers engraved scenes of the sacking of Masasir.
A 19th-century drawing of an ancient relief that depicts the sacking of the temple of Haldi by the Assyrians.
Several life-sized human statues of bearded males, dating back to the seventh or sixth centuries B.C., have also been discovered in Kurdistan.
In the carving, the temple is depicted with a classical pediment front and a colonnade of columns supporting the structure. If accurate, historians believe it could be the first known temple to use both those styles.
For the last 40 years, since they were unearthed during a military upheaval, local villagers in Mdjeser have been using these column bases in their homes and buildings, incorporating them into stairs, seats, or courtyard additions.
Marf Zamua, who teaches at Salahaddin University in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and is working on his PhD in Assyriology in the Netherlands, began collecting these recently exposed pieces. The 17 column fragments he’s found so far have led him to believe he’s discovered the long-lost temple. Along with these major finds are a collection of relics, seven stone statues, pottery, and a bronze depiction of a wild goat found in the area.
Life-size human statues and the remains of an ancient temple dating back some 2,500 years have been discovered in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. The region’s hilly environment, shown here.
It hasn’t been an easy task. Four decades of turmoil have devastated archaeological sites, but the chaos has also resurfaced previously buried treasures. Beginning in 2005, Marf Zamua began to document Late Bronze Age and Iron Age sites that were revealed during a period of unrest. He went from village to village looking for what had been uncovered. “Most of the objects [were] re-used for their daily life, such as using column bases as stairs and seats,” he remembers, “and statues as column stones in their houses.”
He also made a connection between architectural similarities between the modern village and the ancient city—idiosyncrasies in building styles that are uncommon elsewhere in the region, like the lack of outer compound walls and stacked houses. These findings were presented in June at the International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East in Basel, Switzerland.
Paul Zimansky, a professor of archaeology and ancient history at Stony Brook University, says the general area has been thought to contain the mythic temple for many years. And while he’s not yet convinced of the temple’s discovery, he says the bases found “may well belong to some sort of public building of the appropriate time.” He calls Marf Zamua’s discoveries “a major contribution to the archaeology of this valley.”
“I hope he can continue his work in spite of all the political turmoil,” Zimansky says. “The remoteness of the area has been both its curse and its blessing throughout history.”
Uncovering these treasures in Iraq has posed a special set of challenges for excavators. The area saw the suspension of digs after the 1981 Gulf War, Marf Zamua says, when the Iranian and Iraqi armies sowed the earth with thousands of landmines. Later, Kurdish fighters clashed with Iran and Turkey, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein destroyed thousands of Kurdish villages, including Mdjeser.
As it goes, history is bound to repeat itself. Just as Sargon II plundered Urartu to fund his war chest, antiquities across Syria and Iraq have been bombed flat and looted by rebels and government forces alike. In Iraq, invading militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham have torn through Mosul’s museum and are destroying ancient treasures at an alarming rate.
Marf Zamua denounces the pillaging, but says the rebels have been targeting Islamic architecture and relics more than pre-Islamic sites. Luckily, the Kurdish army has been successfully protecting the border since the surge, and Marf Zamua says he’s unconcerned about the interference with his work—he and the local antiquities department are moving ahead with plans to launch fuller excavations into locations where the objects were found
But there’s no telling whether the remnants of a mythic temple built to honor a winged man on a lion’s back will survive its resurrection. “They destroy anything they do not like,” Marf Zamua says of the modern-day invaders.
A winged bull with a human head, found during excavations. Stored in the Louvre.
A 19th-century drawing of an ancient relief depicting the plundering of the temple by the Assyrians.
Sargon II with a nobleman.
Armenian priests – astrologers are the keepers of the eternal fire of wisdom and knowledge
Drawing 12 zodiac houses. The revolutionary Dudosimal (twelve) system of Armenian Chaldean astrologers
Heavenly bull Taurus. Esoteric cuneiform table of Chaldean astrologers. Instruction book of rules
Part of a broken cuneiform script about observing celestial bodies in order to predict the future on the basis of cosmic phenomena. Up to natural disasters
Archaeologists Find Remains of ‘Rare’, Ancient Mosque from 670 AD in Israeli City of Tiberias
Archaeologists in Israel say they have discovered the remnants of an early mosque — believed to date to the earliest decades of Islam — during an excavation in the northern city of Tiberias.
This mosque’s foundations, excavated just south of the Sea of Galilee by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, point to its construction roughly a generation after the death of the Prophet Mohammad, making it one of the earliest Muslim houses of worship to be studied by archaeologists.
“We know about many early mosques that were founded right in the beginning of the Islamic period,” said Katia Cytryn-Silverman, a specialist in Islamic archaeology at Hebrew University who heads the dig. Other mosques dating from around the same time, such as the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the Great Mosque of Damascus, and Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, are still in use today and cannot be tampered with by archaeologists.
Cytryn-Silverman said that excavating the Tiberian mosque allows a rare chance to study the architecture of Muslim prayer houses in their infancy and indicates a tolerance for other faiths by early Islamic leaders. She announced the findings this month at a virtual conference.
When the mosque was built around 670 AD, Tiberias had been a Muslim-ruled city for a few decades. Named after Rome’s second emperor around 20 AD, the city was a major center of Jewish life and scholarship for nearly five centuries. Before its conquest by Muslim armies in 635, the Byzantine city was home to one of a constellation of Christian holy sites dotting the Sea of Galilee’s shoreline.
This 2014 aerial photo shows the site of the Al-Juma (Friday) Mosque in Tiberias, northern Israel.
Under Muslim rule, Tiberias became a provincial capital in the early Islamic empire and grew in prominence. Early caliphs built palaces on its outskirts along the lakeshore. But until recently, little was known about the city’s early Muslim past.
Gideon Avni, the chief archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, who was not involved in the excavation, said the discovery helps resolve a scholarly debate about when mosques began standardizing their design, facing toward Mecca.
“In the archaeological finds, it was very rare to find early mosques,” he said.
Archaeological digs around Tiberias have proceeded in fits and starts for the past century. In recent decades the ancient city has started yielding other monumental buildings from its past, including a sizeable Roman theater overlooking the water and a Byzantine church.
Since early last year, the coronavirus pandemic halted excavations and lush Galilean grasses, herbs, and weeds have grown over the ruins. Hebrew University and its partners, the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology, plan to restart the dig in February.
Initial excavations of the site in the 1950s led scholars to believe that the building was a Byzantine marketplace later used as a mosque.
But Cytryn-Silverman’s excavations delved deeper beneath the floor. Coins and ceramics nestled among at the base of the crudely crafted foundations helped date them to around 660-680 AD, barely a generation after the city’s capture. The building’s dimensions, pillared floor-plan, and qiblah, or prayer niche, closely paralleled other mosques from the period.
Avni said that for a long time, academics weren’t sure what happened to cities in the Levant and Mesopotamia conquered by the Muslims in the early 7th century.
“Earlier opinions said that there was a process of conquest, destruction, and devastation,” he said. Today, he said, archaeologists understand that there was a “fairly gradual process, and in Tiberias, you see that.”
The first mosque built in the newly conquered city stood cheek by jowl with the local synagogues and the Byzantine church that dominated the skyline. This earliest phase of the mosque was “more humble” than a larger, grander structure that replaced it half a century later, Cytryn-Silverman said.
“At least until the monumental mosque was erected in the 8th century, the church continued being the main building in Tiberias,” she added.
She says this supports the idea that the early Muslim rulers — who governed an overwhelmingly non-Muslim population — adopted a tolerant approach toward other faiths, allowing a “golden age” of coexistence.
“You see that the beginning of the Islamic rule here respected very much the population that was the main population of the city: Christians, Jews, Samaritans,” Cytryn-Silverman said. “They were not in a hurry to make their presence expressed into buildings. They were not destroying others’ houses of prayers, but they were actually fitting themselves into the societies that they now were the leaders of.”
Israeli archaeologists find 3,000-Year-old ‘Biblical royal purple dye’
In Israel, fragments of dyed thread uncovered dating back 3,000 years refer to the accounts in the Bible of the purple garments worn by royalty including King Solomon. Researchers from Israel find traces of woven fabric, a tassel, and fibers of wool dyed in so-called ‘royal purple’ from a dig site in the Timna Valley.
The area is rich in copper ore in the country’s south and has been mined since the 5th millennium BC. It belonged to Edom, the biblical kingdom. The discovery is the first time that purple cloth from about 1,000 BC has been discovered and represents a glimpse into the Biblical Kings’ wardrobes.
Purple dye was coveted for its vibrant colour and longevity — but its origins, being sourced in minute amounts from shellfish — made it expensive to use.
Scraps of dyed thread (pictured) unearthed in Israel that date back 3,000 years match the descriptions of the purple garments worn by royalty like King Solomon in the Bible
‘This is a very exciting and important discovery,’ said the Israel Antiquities Authority’s curator of organic finds, Naama Sukenik. This is the first piece of textile ever found from the time of David and Solomon that is dyed with the prestigious purple dye.’
‘In antiquity, purple attire was associated with the nobility, with priests, and of course with royalty.’ Direct radiocarbon dating has confirmed that the finds date from around 1,000 BC, matching the times of the biblical monarchies of David and Solomon in Jerusalem.
In the Old Testament, the colour is mentioned in the ‘Song of Songs’, chapter 3, verses 9–10.
‘King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon,’ the scripture reads. Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior inlaid with love.’
Royal purple dye — made from molluscs found in the Mediterranean, over 186 miles (300 km) north of Timna — is described in various Jewish and Christian texts. However, this is the first time that purple-dyed Iron Age textiles have actually been found in Israel — or, indeed, anywhere throughout the Southern Levant.
‘The gorgeous shade of the purple, the fact that it does not fade, and the difficulty in producing the dye — which is found in minute quantities in the body of molluscs — all made it the most highly valued of the dyes,’ explained Dr Sukenik. The dye, he continued, often cost more than the equivalent amount of gold.
‘Until the current discovery, we had only encountered mollusc-shell waste and potsherds with patches of dye, which provided evidence of the purple industry in the Iron Age.’
‘Now, for the first time, we have direct evidence of the dyed fabrics themselves, preserved for some 3000 years.’
Other organic materials — including Iron Age textiles, cords and leather — were also preserved at the Timna site thanks to the region’s extremely dry climate. These artefacts — which also date back to the time of David and Solomon — offer a unique glimpse into life during biblical times, the researchers said.
Researchers from Israel found remnants of woven fabric (pictured), a tassel and fibres of wool dyed in so-called ‘royal purple’ from a dig site in the Timna Valley
‘Our archaeological expedition has been excavating continuously at Timna since 2013,’ said Erez Ben-Yosef of Israel’s Tel Aviv University. If we excavated for another hundred years in Jerusalem, we would not discover textiles from 3,000 years ago.’
‘The state of preservation at Timna is exceptional and it is paralleled only by that at much later sites — such as Masada and the Judean Desert Caves.’
In recent years, the archaeologists have been excavating a relatively new site in the region, which is referred to as ‘Slaves’ Hill’.
‘The name may be misleading since, far from being slaves, the labourers were highly skilled metalworkers,’ added Professor Ben-Yosef. Timna was a production center for copper, the Iron Age equivalent of modern-day oil,’ the archaeologist continued.
‘Copper smelting required advanced metallurgical understanding that was a guarded secret and those who held this knowledge were the “hi-tech” experts of the time,’ he said.
‘Slaves Hill is the largest copper-smelting site in the valley and it is filled with piles of industrial waste such as slag from the smelting furnaces,’ said Professor Ben-Yosef.
‘One of these heaps yielded three scraps of coloured cloth. The colour immediately attracted our attention, but we found it hard to believe that we had found true purple from such an ancient period’.
According to the researchers, the purple dye — thought to have been called argaman in Hebrew — was produced from three species of mollusc that are indigenous to the Mediterranean Sea.
These species included the Banded Dye-Murex, the Spiny Dye-Murex and the Red-Mouthed Rock-Shell. The dye was made from a gland inside the body of the mollusc via a complex chemical process that lasted several days.
Argaman (purple) and tekhelet (azure) colours are often mentioned together in ancient texts and still have symbolic value and religious significance to this day. Temple priests, the Kings David and Solomon (pictured), and also Jesus of Nazareth are described as having worn purple
Today, most experts agree that two different precious dyes — the purple argaman and the light blue, or azure, tekhelet — were both produced from the purple dye molluscs, but using different levels of exposure to light.
These two colours are often mentioned together in ancient texts and still have symbolic value and religious significance to this day. Temple priests, the Kings David and Solomon and also Jesus of Nazareth are described as having worn purple-coloured clothing.
To reconstruct the mollusc dyeing process, Professor Amar travelled to Italy where he cracked open thousands of molluscs to extract raw material from their innards. This was then used in hundreds of attempts to reconstruct the ancient dye.
The Timna Valley — in the country’s south — is rich in copper ore and has been mined since the 5th millennium BC. It belonged to the biblical Kingdom of Edom.
Russian Divers Discover Ancient Roman Sea Fortress at Tartus
According to an announcement by Dmitry Tatarkov, director of the Centre for Maritime Science and Technology at Russia’s Sevastopol State University, an ancient port claimed to date back to the Roman period has been discovered off the Syrian coast of Tartus (SSU).
“It may not have even been a port, but it is a sea fortress from the 1st century AD. Remains of hydraulic structures, a lighthouse, and four marble columns have been found.
Accompanying ceramic materials will allow for a more detailed dating of the piece. This is a major finding,” said Tatarkov.
Underwater divers have discovered naval structures, an ancient port and a Roman sea fortress off the coast of Syria at Tartus.
More remains of the structures.
Scientists from Sevastopol State University discover the ruins of an ancient Roman port in the Syrian waters of Tartus. They are believed to be the remains of the ancient defensive walls of Arvard Island
“These are the remains of ancient Greek amphorae, Phoenician pots, Egyptian vases, and household items made of Roman stone.
These materials will allow us to rebuild the maritime trade routes linking this region with the major Mediterranean regions. We will be able to determine the life cycle of the ports that existed at the time,” he explained.
The ruins are thought to belong to the ancient Arvad Island which was originally settled by the Phoenicians in the early 2nd millennium BC.
They were found during the second field season by a Russian-Syrian archaeological mission launched in 2019 by SSU with the support of Russia’s Ministry of Defence and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy Sciences.
The expedition was carried out as part of an agreement between the university and Syria’s Ministry of Culture and includes both Russian and Syrian specialists.
According to the Russian university’s website, one of the objectives of the expedition will be the advanced training of Syrian specialists and students from Damascus University and the University of Latakia.
Tang-Dynasty Temple Complex Unearthed in Southwest China
Archaeologists have uncovered a temple complex dating back to the State of Nanzhao, a slave society established during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), according to the provincial research institute of cultural relics and archaeology in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
The photo was taken on Jan.13, 2021, shows an ancient temple complex dating back to the State of Nanzhao, a slave society established during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) in Dali, southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
The complex situated at the Wuzhishan ruins in the city of Dali was found with 14 foundations for structures, 63 stone walls, and 23 ditches.
More than 40 tonnes of tiles, along with over 17,300 other relics including pottery were also unearthed, said Zhu Zhonghua, a researcher who leads the archaeological project.
From January to July 2020, archaeologists conducted the excavation work on an area of 6,000 square meters at the site, 600 meters to the south of Taihe.
Taihe was the first capital of the Nanzhao regime after its ethnic Bai tribal head united the six tribes of the Erhai Region.
Photo taken on Jan.13, 2021, shows a tile discovered in an ancient temple complex uncovered in Dali, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. The inscription on it indicates that the temple might be a royal religious site of the State of Nanzhao.
In the complex, the researchers discovered a tile inscribed with the characters “Buddha sarira enshrined by the government,” which indicates that the Buddhist relics of Nanzhao’s royal court are likely to have been enshrined and worshiped inside the temple.
The complex is therefore believed to be a major religious site of Taihe, said the institute.
“Sarira” is a general term with a number of meanings, but is generally used to describe the bodily remains after a Buddhist cremation. The remains of Buddhist masters were often said to contain crystalline beads or pearl-like objects.
In the eastern part of the site, brick and tile kilns were also found with a large number of nails, gaskets, moulages, and other kiln ware, while defective glazed pottery was also unearthed.
The excavation helps reveal the layout characteristics of the temples built during the Nanzhao regime, the production status of the kilns, and funeral customs of the royal family, according to the institute.
Nanzhao reigned in what is now Yunnan Province as well as parts of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. Taihe was then the political and cultural center of the region.
