Archeology

waltky · Oct 3, 2015

Finding Nefertiti...

Egypt's Lost Queen Nefertiti May Lie Concealed in King Tut's Tomb
October 01, 2015 High-resolution scans suggest the tomb of Ancient Egypt's boy-king Tutankhamun contains passages to two hidden chambers, including what one British archaeologist believes is the last resting place of Queen Nefertiti.

If proven, the discovery would be the most significant this century and shed light on what remains a mysterious period of Egyptian history despite frenzied international interest. Nefertiti, whose chiseled cheek-bones and regal beauty were immortalized in a 3,300-year old bust now in a Berlin museum, died in the 14th century BC. British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves told a news conference in Cairo on Thursday that he believes Tutankhamun's mausoleum was originally occupied by Nefertiti, thought by experts to have been his step-mother, and that she has lain undisturbed behind what he believes is a partition wall for over 3,000 years. "If it is true, we are facing a discovery that would overshadow the discovery of Tutankhamun himself," Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty told reporters. "This would be the most important discovery of the 21st century."

A bust of ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti at the New Museum in Berlin

Reeves said radar and thermal imaging could help establish whether secret rooms were indeed hidden behind Tut's burial chamber and what they might hold. Damaty said the next step would be to carry out radar studies at the site, which could begin in the next one to three months. King Tut, as he is affectionately known, died around 1323 BC. His intact tomb, complete with his famous golden burial mask, was discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 by another British Egyptologist, Howard Carter.

Experts have long sought to understand why Tut's tomb was smaller than that of other pharaohs and why its shape was more in keeping with that of the Egyptian queens of the time. Egyptologists remain uncertain over where Nefertiti died and was buried. She was long believed to have passed away during her husband's reign, suggesting she could be buried in Amarna, where her bust was found in 1912. More recently, most experts, including Reeves, have come to believe she outlived Akhenaten but changed her name and may have briefly ruled Egypt.

High-resolution scans
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Strasser · Oct 5, 2015

I was just reading about this the other day. Interesting stuff.

Alucard · Oct 13, 2015

This would be a great discovery.

Margot2 · Oct 13, 2015

Alucard said: ↑

This would be a great discovery.
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No kidding.. This would be great.

waltky · Oct 22, 2015

Turkey and Syria also plundering valuable relics...

Study: Islamic State not only group looting antiquities in Syria
Updated Oct. 21, 2015 - The Turkish YPG and the Syrian regime are also responsible for plundering valuable materials, the study says.

The war-related looting of Syrian antiquities is typically blamed on the Islamic State, but other regional players are equally guilty, a scholarly study indicates. An analysis by Dartmouth University scholars, published in the academic journal Near Eastern Archeology, reveals the Kurdish militant group YPG, the Syrian regime and other rebel organizations share responsibility for the pillaging of antiquities. Using research satellite imagery of nearly 1,300 archeological sites in Syria, the study, led by Dartmouth anthropology professor Jesse Casana, says more than 26 percent of areas held by Kurdish group YPG have experienced damage and looting since the civil war began in 2011.

Islamic State supporters posted photos of the destruction of the ancient temple of Baal Shamin, or "Lord of the Heavens," in Palmyra, Syria, earlier this year. A new study suggests the Islamic State isn't the only group responsible for looting antiquities since the start of the country's civil war.

That's more than the amount of looted sites held by IS -- also identified as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL -- at 21.4 percent, and the Syrian regime, at 16.5 percent. "Most media attention has focused on the spectacles of destruction that ISIS has orchestrated and posted online, and this has led to a widespread misunderstanding that ISIS is the main culprit when it comes to looting of archaeological sites and damage to monuments. Using satellite imagery, our research is able to demonstrate that looting is actually very common across all parts of Syria, and that instances of severe, state-sanctioned looting are occurring in both ISIS-held and Syrian regime areas," Casana said.

The study suggests the plundering of antiquities, the value of which leads to their overseas sale and to funding for political and military causes, is most prevalent where centralized authority is weakest, particularly in regions of Syria held by the YPG or other rebel groups. A total of 25 percent of archaeological sites in Syria have been looted since 2011. The removal of antiquities has been illegal in Syria since prior to the civil war, but current methods involve the use of bulldozers and other heavy machinery. The study noted the most extreme phase of plundering at Apamea, a massive Roman-era city in western Syria looted beginning in early 2012, came after the area was secured by Syrian military forces.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...quities-in-Syria/9111445440824/?spt=sec&or=tn
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See also:

Rebels, Syrian government work together to protect antiquities
June 22, 2015 - Despite a raging four-year civil war, rebel factions and Syrian officials are working together to protect the country's rich heritage sites from each other's bombs — and the Islamic State.

Across the country, irreplaceable artifacts have been under siege since 2011, when fighting erupted between the Syrian government and rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad. "Archaeologists from the two conflicting sides are calling upon fighters not to use archaeological sites as battlefields and guard them from looting and destruction," said Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of Syria's Directorate General of Antiques and Museums, which oversees ancient sites and archaeological digs. "We realized that only Syrians could protect their heritage," he added. "It's their history, and saving it is their responsibility."

The extraordinary but indirect cooperation comes as experts around the world sound the alarm over the destruction of historical Syrian sites dating to the early chapters of human civilization. A third of Syria's museums and at least 16 important archaeological sites have been damaged by warfare and pillaged by looters since 2011, according to the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington think tank. Using satellite images, the University of Arkansas recently documented 4,000 illegal excavations found at the ancient site of Apamea, a capital of the successors to Alexander the Great. "What we are witnessing now is utterly devastating to the cultural heritage of Syria," said University of Arkansas archaeologist Jesse Casana, co-director of the Syrian Heritage Initiative at the American Schools of Oriental Research.

The ancient city of Palmyra.

To turn that around, archaeologists with the opposing factions are working with neutral local committees and international experts to oversee ongoing excavations. "The goal is to save the Syrian archaeology irrespective of political orientation," said Cheikhmous Ali, a Syrian archaeologist who founded the Association for the Protection of Syrian Archaeology, based in Stasbourg, France, to coordinate oversight of ancient sites in rebel areas. The group counts Bosra — a former capital of the Roman province of Arabia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Syria — among its successes. The association helped coordinate a cease-fire between the rebels and the Syrian government, saving ancient ruins that included a well-preserved second-century Roman theater.

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Margot2 · Oct 22, 2015

waltky said: ↑

Turkey and Syria also plundering valuable relics...

Study: Islamic State not only group looting antiquities in Syria
Updated Oct. 21, 2015 - The Turkish YPG and the Syrian regime are also responsible for plundering valuable materials, the study says.
Click to expand...

I have never understood why people would destroy their own environment whether that is antiquities or infrastructure...

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