Category Archives: WORLD

ASIA, IRAQ, WORLD

Remains Of Long-Lost Temple Of Musasir Discovered In Iraq

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.

Remains Of Long-Lost Temple Of Musasir Discovered In Iraq

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
EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

An extraordinary find: Ancient, underground Etruscan pyramids spotted in Italy

An extraordinary find: Ancient, underground Etruscan pyramids spotted in Italy

Archaeologists are scratching their heads about an underground pyramid-shaped structure they have been excavating beneath the historic medieval town of Orvieto in Italy. But it may not be a mystery forever. They hope to find answers as they continue to tease artifacts and architectural materials from the soil.

Ancient Etruscan Underground Pyramids Discovered in Italy

“We discovered it three summers ago and still have no idea what it is,” write Prof. David B. George of St. Anselm College and co-director Claudio Bizzarri of PAAO and colleagues about the site. “We do know what it is not.  It is not a quarry; its walls are too well dressed. It is not a well or cistern; its walls have no evidence of hydraulic treatments.”

Calling it the “cavitá” (‘hole’ or ‘hollow’ in Italian), or hypogeum, the archaeologists have thus far excavated about 15 meters down.

They marked their third year at the site in 2014. By then they had uncovered significant amounts of what they classify as Gray and Black bucchero, common ware, and Red and Black Figure pottery remain. They have dated deposits to the middle to the end of the 6th century BCE.

“We know that the site was sealed toward the end of the 5th century BCE,” George, et al. continue. “It appears to have been a single event. Of great significance is the number of Etruscan language inscriptions that we have recovered – over a hundred and fifty. We are also finding an interesting array of architectural/decorative terra cotta.”

Excavation on the west wall of the hypogeum near the Etruscan tunnel that connects this pyramidal hypogeum (Room A) with an adjacent one (Room B).
Looking from Room B through the Etruscan tunnel into Room A
Above and below: The medieval columbarium – a place for raising pigeons – in the cavità used as a lab to sort bucchero.
An extraordinary find: Ancient, underground Etruscan pyramids spotted in Italy

Orvieto has long been known for its scenic medieval architecture. Located in southwestern Umbria, Italy, it is situated on the summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff, commanding a view of the surrounding countryside, and surrounded by defensive walls built of the same volcanic tuff. 

Beneath it and in the surrounding areas of the medieval town, however, lie ancient Etruscan and Roman remains, a focus of archaeological investigations and excavations by various teams for decades.

George’s excavations have centered on four different sites in the area, two (Coriglia and the Orvieto underground structures) of which will be further excavated in the near future.

The Coriglia excavations have resulted in a wealth of finds, including monumental structures such as Etruscan and Roman walls, Etruscan and imported Greek ceramic materials, three large basins dated to the Roman Imperial period, and apsidal structures with associated features related to the management of water for baths or other purposes.

“We have uncovered evidence for occupation of the site dating from the 10th century BCE all the way to the 16th century CE, as well as random realia from World War II,” write George, et al.

View of Orvieto.
At Coriglia: Trench F showing a viscera with hydraulic cement and flooring with a collapsed vault to the right (Likely 2nd century CE). On the left a medieval industrial reuse of the structure.
‘Trench C’ showing the recently discovered caldarium of a Roman bath (Imperial period) at Coriglia

Overall, excavations under George and Bizzarri’s direction in the area have recovered monumental structures, sculptures, mosaics, coinage, inscriptions, ceramics, frescoes, and numerous other artifacts.

Looking forward, he anticipates new finds that will shed additional light and answer more questions about what the sites at Orvieto and Coriglia are all about.

“We are still trying to determine how the structure was ‘killed’ [filled in and then abandoned] – in a short period of time confined over the course of a few months or over a much longer period,” says George, referring to the cavitá.

“The tight dating of the Attic pottery seems to indicate a short period but the enormous quantity gives one pause. At Coriglia, our current hypothesis is that it is a sanctuary. We wish to test this by excavating in areas that should yield architectural and ceramic evidence that would be associated with such use.

We are still working on the phasing of our walls and getting a handle on three periods of expansion, at least one of which followed a mudslide.”

Even more important, however, maybe what their findings will ultimately say about the lives of people in the region so long ago. Write George, Bizzarri, and colleagues, “based on what is known from similar sites in the region, the members of our archaeological expedition may be confident that they will make discoveries that will reflect daily life in the Etruscan and Roman periods.”

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Archaeologists on HS2 line uncover grounds of perfectly preserved 16th-century manor gardens

Archaeologists on HS2 line uncover grounds of perfectly preserved 16th-century manor gardens

The remains of beautiful gardens belonging to a 16th-century manor house have been uncovered by archaeologists clearing ground for the high-speed HS2 rail line. The finding, near Coleshill on the outskirts of Birmingham, has been dubbed ‘Warwickshire’s answer to Hampton Court’.

Through a continuous excavation alongside the ruins of Coleshill Manor and its octagonal moat, which were first picked up by archaeologists two years ago, evidence of the large ornamental garden was discovered. Sir Robert Digby, who owned the house in its heyday, is thought to have married an Irish heiress and designed the 1,000 feet (300 m) long gardens to display his wealth and status.

HS2 and its archaeologist partners Wessex Archaeology have now released drone images of the area showing the outline of the enormous garden. Stunning aerial photos show well-preserved gravel paths, planting beds, garden pavilion foundations, and ornaments organized in a geometric pattern.

Archaeologists clearing land for the high speed HS2 train line have unearthed the remnants of stunning gardens belonging to a 16th century manor house
Archaeologists on HS2 line uncover grounds of perfectly preserved 16th-century manor gardens
Evidence of the large ornamental garden has been found by an ongoing dig alongside the remains of Coleshill Manor and its octagonal moat which were first picked up by archaeologists two years ago
This artist’s impression shows how the Coleshill Manor and its octagonal moat would have contained the lavish gardens around the year 1600

The 500-year-old site has drawn comparisons to London’s Hampton Court Palace and Kenilworth Castle and has been described as ‘one of the most exciting Elizabethan gardens’ ever found in England. Dr. Paul Stamper is a specialist in English gardens and landscape history and works at the University of Leicester.

He said: ‘This is one of the most exciting Elizabethan gardens that’s ever been discovered in this country.

‘The scale of preservation at this site is really exceptional and is adding considerably to our knowledge of English gardens around 1600.

‘There have only been three or four investigations of gardens of this scale over the last 30 years, including Hampton Court, Kirby in Northamptonshire, and Kenilworth Castle, but this one was entirely unknown.

‘The garden doesn’t appear in historical records, there are no plans of it, it’s not mentioned in any letters or visitors’ accounts.

‘The form of the gardens suggest they were designed around 1600, which fits in exactly with the documentary evidence we have about the Digby family that lived here.

‘Sir Robert Digby married an Irish heiress, raising him to the ranks of the aristocracy.

‘We suspect he rebuilt his house and laid out the huge formal gardens measuring 300 meters from end to end, signifying his wealth.’

Excavations are ongoing at the HS2 site to learn more about the Coleshill Manor, its moat, and the newly-discovered gardens
A Wessex Archaeologist show post medieval pottery from the Coleshill Medieval Manor site

HS2’s Historic Environment Manager, Jon Millward said: ‘It’s fantastic to see HS2’s huge archaeology programme making another major contribution to our understanding of British history.

‘This is an incredibly exciting site, and the team has made some important new discoveries that unlock more of Britain’s past.’

Wessex Archaeology’s Project Officer, Stuart Pierson added: ‘For the dedicated fieldwork team working on this site, it’s a once in a career opportunity to work on such an extensive garden and manor site, which spans 500 years.

‘Evidence of expansive formal gardens of national significance and hints of connections to Elizabeth I and the civil war provide us with a fascinating insight into the importance of Coleshill and its surrounding landscape.

‘From our original trench evaluation work, we knew there were gardens, but we had no idea how extensive the site would be.

‘As work has progressed, it’s been particularly interesting to discover how the gardens have been changed and adapted over time with different styles.

‘We’ve also uncovered structures such as pavilions and some exceptional artifacts including smoking pipes, coins, and musket balls, giving us an insight into the lives of people who lived here.

‘The preservation of the gardens is unparalleled.

‘We’ve had a big team of up to 35 archaeologists working on this site over the last two years conducting trench evaluations, geophysical work, and drone surveys as well as the archaeological excavations.’

Evidence of the manor, known as Coleshill Hall, and its previous occupants point towards a great feud between the Digby family and their rivals, the famed de Montfort clan, who now have a university named after them.

The hall came into the hands of Simon Digby in the late 15th century and the change of ownership set in motion huge alterations to the landscape around Coleshill and the hall, including a deer park and the formal gardens.

Excavations have revealed structures dating to the late medieval period, with evidence of a large gatehouse alluding to a possible 14th or 15th-century date.

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Archaeologists Find Remains of ‘Rare’, Ancient Mosque from 670 AD in Israeli City of Tiberias

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.

Archaeologists Find Remains of 'Rare', Ancient Mosque from 670 AD in Israeli City of Tiberias
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.”

EUROPE, ROMANIA, WORLD

The Aiud Artifact: 2,50,000 Years Old Piece Of Machinery Found In A Fossilized Bone

The Aiud Artifact: 2,50,000 Years Old Piece Of Machinery Found In A Fossilized Bone

The 250,000-year-old evidence that aliens once invaded Earth is hailed as a piece of aluminium that appears as though it was handmade. According to CEN, the finding of the mysterious chunk of metal in communist Romania in 1973 was not made official at the time.

After research, the item was discovered to be, to some extent, an ancient relic made of 12 metals and 90% aluminium with Romanian officials estimating it was in the range of 250,000 years old. The initial results were later confirmed by a lab in Lausanne, Switzerland, CEN reports.

Metallic aluminium was not really produced by mankind until around 200 years ago, so the discovery of the large chunk that is claimed to be up to 250,000 years old is being held up as a sensational find.

A piece aluminium that looks as if it was handmade is being hailed as 250,000-year-old proof that aliens once visited Earth

In 1973, builders working on the shores of the Mures River not far from the central Romanian town of Aiud found three objects 10 metres (33 feet) under the ground.

They appeared to be unusual and very old, and archaeologists were bought in who immediately identified two of them as being fossils. The third looked like a piece of man-made metal, although very light, and it was suspected that it might be the end of an axe.

All three were sent together with the others for further analysis to Cluj, the main city of the Romanian region of Transylvania. It was quickly determined that the two large bones belonged to a large extinct mammal that died 10,000-80,000 years ago, but experts were stunned to find out that the third object was a piece of very lightweight metal, and appeared to have been manufactured. 

The object is 20 centimetres (7.8 inches) long, 12.5 centimetres (4.9 inches) wide and 7 centimetres (2.8 inches) thick
In 1973, builders working on the shores of the Mures River not far from the central Romanian town of Aiud found three objects 10 metres (33 feet) under the ground

The object is 20 centimetres (7.8 inches) long, 12.5 centimetres (4.9 inches) wide and 7 centimetres (2.8 inches) thick. What puzzled experts are that the piece of metal has concavities that make it look as if it was manufactured as part of a more complex mechanical system.

Now a heated debate is going on that the object is actually part of a UFO and proof of visitation by an alien civilisation in the past.

Gheorghe Cohal, the Deputy Director of the Romanian Ufologists Association, told local media: ‘Lab tests concluded it is an old UFO fragment given that the substances it comprises cannot be combined with technology available on Earth.’

However, local historian Mihai Wittenberger claims that the object is actually a metal piece from a World War II German aircraft.  He believes that it is a piece of the landing gear from a Messerschmitt ME 262. 

The UFO hunters say that this explanation does not explain the age of the artefact. The metal object has now gone on display in the History Museum of Cluj-Napoca, with a sign that reads ‘origin still unknown’.

‘It is fairly rare for people to find chunks of metal attributed to UFO crashes’, Nigel Watson author of the UFO Investigations Manual told MailOnline. 

‘The (in)famous Roswell flying saucer crash of 1947 is alleged to have left wreckage that was impossible to cut or burn and would return to its original shaped if crumpled up.

‘Unfortunately, the USAF whisked all the wreckage away leaving conspiracy theorists to think that the US government has a flying saucer stashed away in Area 51.

‘If UFO wreckage is kept from the grasp of the US government, or by mystery “Men In Black”, it usually has a mundane explanation. 

‘In some cases, our own satellites have crashed and have been regarded as UFO wreckage, which is a good way of keeping a space mission secret.

‘In this instance, it could be the wreckage of a satellite, and that’s why it was kept secret back in 1973.

‘As with all such cases, the debate between the UFO supporters and people with more Earthly explanations tends to rumble on without either side conceding defeat’.

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

The Mosaics of Piazza Armerina: The Villa Romana Del Casale

The Mosaics of Piazza Armerina: The Villa Romana Del Casale

This wonderful ancient Roman site near the town of Piazza Armerina was entirely off my radar and is the kind of spot that you will easily overlook without noticing it. But if you may, you really need to visit Villa Romana del Casale, since it is one of the best-preserved Roman ruins I have ever seen.

Villa Romana, rightly a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is most renowned for its incredible mosaics. Now, you could be saying, “So what, I’ve seen ancient mosaics before, and usually they’re not that complete or impressive.” But I’m telling you, the mosaics here are going to blow away your expectations. I’m wary of over-hyping this attraction,  so hopefully, the rest of this article will show you why you need to visit.

History of Villa Romana del Casale

With any historical attraction like this, you have to acknowledge its history to truly appreciate it. Although today found right outside Piazza Armerina Villa Romana del Casale predates the small city by many centuries. Built-in the 4th century AD, the villa replaced a smaller rustic residence from the 3rd century. Historians believe that a member of the Roman provincial aristocracy, possibly a governor, owned the villa at this time.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the villa was fortified in the 5-6th century AD. In later centuries, it grew to become a large medieval settlement, until its people abandoned it in the 13th century. In around the 15th century, a small community known as Casale was founded here over the now-forgotten ruins. The ruins were then essentially lost to time until the 19th-20th century when people started to discover the treasure trove beneath.

More and more of the ancient villa was uncovered by excavations in the 40s, 50s and 60s. It was only a matter of time before UNESCO declared it a Worth Heritage Site in 1997. Since 2004, those responsible for the sight have undertaken major recovery work to preserve the site and its incredible mosaics.

The Villa Romana Mosaics

Although there are quite a few elements to Villa Romana, the mosaics are easily the most noteworthy. I will touch on the other parts of the ruins a little later, but if I’m honest, they’re greatly overshadowed by the mosaics. Seeing the ruined outline of an ancient Roman villa is a rare thing, but to see room after room of that villa covered in intact mosaics is another thing entirely.

And it’s not like it’s the same mosaic patterns over and over. There’s an incredible variety of designs here, from mosaics with scenes related to a particular theme to beautiful geometric patterns. While the geometric patterns are nice enough, I personally enjoyed the thematic ones as they had a story or idea behind them.

Understanding the Mosaics

Some mosaics are centred around a theme like the seasons, showing you how that concept was perceived at the time. Others relayed an aspect of life at the time, such as women competing in athletic sports. Then there are the ones recounting a local legend or story from mythology, like the tale of Orpheus and the labours of Hercules. Imagine having a story from Roman mythology sprawled across your floor.

Because you’ll see these mosaics in most of the villa’s rooms. They decorated the floors of important halls, but also bedrooms and even regular service rooms and side rooms. That seems a little extravagant for the servant’s quarters or your pantry, but apparently not for them.

By the way, you do learn about each room, its purpose and design throughout your tour of the villa. As you go there are information boards that identify the themes and characters of the mosaic. They also often point out subtle symbolic or figurative elements that show the level of thought and detail that went into the mosaic design. With that understanding, you appreciate what you’re seeing even more.

Peristyle Courtyard

While there are a few fragments of mosaics in the entrance to the villa, it’s the peristyle where you first get a real sense of the mosaics here. The peristyle is basically a central courtyard for the villa, with a portico surrounding a garden and fountain. What makes the peristyle special is that the walkways around the outside are covered in mosaics, most of which are nearly complete. That said, there’s also the ornately carved columns and even fragments of frescoes on the walls.

The mosaics here all follow a single design, that of an animal surrounded by a wreath. There’s quite some variety in the animals depicted, but also in the colours used. To see the mosaics, visitors walk on elevated walkways that really help give you a sense of the scale here. What’s more, the walkways bring you across to the rooms off the peristyle, many of which have their own unique mosaics inside.

Ambulatory of the Big Hunt

At this point in the visit, it’s hard to imagine anyone spot being a clear highlight. But then you come to the Ambulatory of the Big Hunt and it becomes clear that this is the highlight. You may have seen lots and lots of mosaics so far, but none quite like.

That’s because the Ambulatory of the Big Hunt is one continuous corridor mosaic that runs 60 metres from one side of the villa to the other. The scale of this mosaic is unbelievable, but the fact that it creates such a comprehensive scene is even more remarkable.

The ambulatory tells the story of the Roman Venatio, where wild animals were fought in amphitheatres for the purposes of entertainment, broken down into distinct episodes.

As you move from one side of the Ambulatory to the other, you follow the story of the Venatio. First, you see scenes of how wild animals were captured from across the Roman Empire. The size of the Roman Empire means that the scene includes quite an exotic range of creatures, from lions and rhinoceroses, but also mythical ones like griffins. Then, the scenes show the animals transported across the seas back to Rome. Once you understand the theme it’s amazing how clear the meaning is behind each episode.

Other Ruins of the Villa

Having talked about the mosaics to death, let’s take a quick look at the other things to see here. You’ll encounter other parts of the villa both before and after the mosaics, with the Roman baths and the Basilica the two most memorable. Admittedly, Roman baths with each of the different temperature rooms are fairly common at archaeological excavations. But I did like how you can see they heat each of the rooms with the cutaway floor inside.

Then there’s the Basilica, the largest and most important room of the villa, which hosted the court. Although it too has some mosaics to look at, what makes the Basilica special is its rare polychrome marble surfaces. The different marble used originates across the Mediterranean and its liberal use for the floors and walls highlights just how important this stately hall was.

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Israeli archaeologists find 3,000-Year-old ‘Biblical royal purple dye’

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.

Israeli archaeologists find 3,000-Year-old 'Biblical royal purple dye'
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.
MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Golden Eagle Sculpture Unearthed in Aztec Temple

Golden Eagle Sculpture Unearthed in Aztec Temple

According to a statement released by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), archaeologists led by Rodolfo Aguilar Tapia have uncovered a bas-relief sculpture of a golden eagle in the floor of the Aztec chapel dedicated to Huitzilopochtli at the Templo Mayor.

The well-preserved floor surface was covered during an expansion of the temple before the arrival of the Spanish in Tenochtitlan in the sixteenth century, Tapia explained.

“From what we have seen through photographs, it is a very beautiful piece that shows the great secrets that the Templo Mayor of Mexico Tenochtitlan has yet to reveal to us. I want to extend my appreciation to the INAH archaeologists who collaborate in this space, since, thanks to their effort and dedication, we can continue to recover our history and our memory.

Due to the health contingency, the fieldwork has had to be postponed, however, it is clear that there is also an important work of research and academic reflection that has not stopped “, said the Secretary of Culture, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, about this notable finding.

Although it was in February 2020 when a multidisciplinary team concluded the release and cleaning of this itzcuauhtli , a Nahua voice that means “obsidian eagle”, and with which the Mexica referred to the golden eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos canadensis ), it is now, when his investigation in the cabinet has been deepened, the finding is made known.

Carved on red tezontle and with dimensions of 1.06 meters long by 70 centimetres wide, this bas-relief is the largest in a set of 67 similar elements found so far in the Templo Mayor.

According to specialists, the relevance of the sculpture is denoted not only by its size and finish but also by its location, at the foot of the most important building for the Mexica and in the central axis that crosses the ‘chapel’ of Huitzilopochtli and the monumental sculpture of the goddess Coyolxauhqui. It is also close to Cuauhxicalco, a circular building whose name translates as “place of the eagle’s gourd”, where, according to 16th-century documents, the ritual cremations of the Tenochca rulers were carried out.

Golden Eagle Sculpture Unearthed in Aztec Temple
At 1.06 meters long and 70 centimeters wide, it is the largest of the set of similar sculptural pieces found so far. It was located at the foot of the Templo Mayor, in the central axis of the ‘chapel’ dedicated to Huitzilopochtli; would correspond to the government of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina (1440-1469 AD)

Regarding the discovery of the bas-relief, the archaeologist assigned to the PTM, Rodolfo Aguilar Tapia, who investigated the piece together with the interns in archaeology Mary Laidy Hernández Ramírez and Karina López Hernández; and in physical anthropology, Jacqueline Castro Irineo, from the National School of Anthropology and History, reported that it was verified during the ninth field season of the PTM.

This season, directed by the head of the Project, the archaeologist Leonardo López Luján, has focused on exploring under the ‘liga bridge’ that connects the streets of Guatemala and Argentina, wherein pre-Hispanic times the west plaza of the Sacred Precinct was located of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. The sculptural carving was part of a floor of that space, which would have been in use during the government of Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, between the years 1440 and 1469 of our era.

“This floor is unique in the entire Templo Mayor as it contains bas-reliefs that allude to the dual conception of the building. On the south side, where we are exploring, there are elements like this eagle, linked to the mythical cycle of the birth of Huitzilopochtli; while to the north, the bas-reliefs located earlier —the first in 1900 by Leopoldo Batres, and the later by the PTM and the Urban Archeology Program (PAU) – contain representations associated with Tláloc, the water cycle and the regeneration of corn “.

Aguilar Tapia specifies that thanks to the work carried out by archaeologists Eduardo Matos Moctezuma and Leonardo López Luján, today there is a defined stratigraphic correspondence, which allows researchers to know in which construction stage of the Templo Mayor the findings are located, and at what time belong the same.

Thus, he exemplifies, when the exploration at the aforementioned intersection began, the floor that the archaeologists saw was from Stage VI of the Templo Mayor, corresponding to the government of Ahuítzotl between 1486 and 1502, while now, after meticulous excavations, specialists have managed to reach Stage IV-a, that is, they have gone back in time to the 1440s and to the period of government of Motecuhzoma I.

The aforementioned plaza floor was covered since pre-Hispanic times during the expansion of the Templo Mayor. “That is why it has a good state of conservation,” says the researcher, noting that “it is an element that was never seen by the Spanish.”

The symbolism of the golden eagle

The pause in the fieldwork that the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it, allowed the PTM researchers to carry out the investigation of various elements, including the bas-relief. Among other aspects, the iconographic representations that exist of the golden eagle in historical sources such as the codices were studied, in order to correlate them with the sculpture discovered at the foot of the Templo Mayor.

One of those representations, Aguilar Tapia points out, is in Plate 50 of the Codex Borgia, where a golden eagle is shown posing on top of a mesquite tree, a tree that rises from a stark deity. “The interesting thing is that this image is iconographically very similar to the bas-relief that we find in the field, in both representations the feathers end in the shape of sacrificial knives, which allude to the Nahua name of the bird: obsidian eagle.”

For the Mexica, this bird of prey was closely related to war and sacrifice, while it was considered a nahual of the sun and, therefore, also of its tutelary god, Huitzilopochtli.

In the incoming seasons of the PTM field, the researcher concludes, the actions will focus on completing the exploration of the floor where the bas-relief is located to look for more others and then, with extreme care, temporarily remove them and be able to investigate under them in search of offerings or other architectural elements. “After all this exploratory process, with the support of restoration specialists, we will place each bas-relief in its precise place”, he concludes.

Similar elements could also be found when the excavations around Cuauhxicalco are resumed. The intention of the PTM is that, after its investigation, the bas-reliefs can be shown to the public in their original position: at the west foot of the Templo Mayor.