No News like Ancient News – Roman frescoes discovered

[Paul]

Alesia in the wrong place
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19167600
The arguments and the fact that the present "site" has got european funding (which they obviously don´t want to loose) reminds me a lot about the arguments concerning  the site of the varus  battle being nowhere near where it´s now claimed to be.

[Patrice]

Alesia in the wrong place

Alesia location already was a mystery in the 19th century, when emperor Napoleon III was trying to find it.

So, it has been a French joke since a long time...

...as irate chief Abraracourcix told warrior Astérix in one of their cartoons: "Alésia? I don't know Alésia! I don't know where Alésia is! Nobody knows where Alésia is!"

[Paul]

Same thing with the Teutoburg forest battle...some of the "evidence" that has been produced in claim that it is where they say it is now is to say the least a bit  circumspect.

[Mad Doc Morris]

Whatever they drank up there, it's how to teach them barbarians culture after all.

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/ale-caesar-romans-and-caledonian-tribes-went-to-pub-together-1-2514282

Archaeologists surveying the world’s most northerly Roman fort have found an ancient pub. The discovery, outside the walls of the fort at Stracathro, near Brechin, Angus, could challenge the long-held assumption that Caledonian tribes would never have rubbed shoulders with the Roman invaders.
Indeed, it lends support to the existence of a more complicated and convivial relationship than previously envisaged, akin to that enjoyed with his patrician masters by the wine-swilling slave Lurcio, played by comedy ­legend Frankie Howerd, in the classic late 1970s television show Up Pompeii!.

[Mad Doc Morris]

Coincidentally (?) another batch of pyramids have been recently discovered - this time in Italy. Wonder what dark secrets they may keep…

http://news.discovery.com/history/etruscan-pyramids-120918.html

The first ever Etruscan pyramids have been located underneath a wine cellar in the city of Orvieto in central Italy, according to a team of U.S. and Italian archaeologists. […] The material from the deepest level reached so far (the archaeologists have pushed down about 10 feet) dates to around the middle of the fifth century B.C. "At this level we found a tunnel running to another pyramidal structure and dating from before the 5th century B.C. which adds to the mystery," George said.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Now that's exciting!

[Paul]

Has this one been mentioned?
http://siberiantimes.com/culture/others/features/siberian-princess-reveals-her-2500-year-old-tattoos/

[Mad Doc Morris]

Something about the recreation of Ancient instruments. Maybe the sound to play while gaming.

In 2004, more than 500 iron and bronze items placed as offerings to the gods were discovered a small 30cm-deep pit in Tintignac, in the Corrèze department. "These items were deliberately damaged so that they could not be used again by mere mortals," said Maniquet.



Unfortunately since it was impossible to play the instruments the pious Gauls had so carefully dismantled, Maniquet asked an instrument maker to reproduce a brass carnyx of the same size. The archaeologist worked with experts from the acoustics laboratory at the Maine-CNRS University in Le Mans, headed by Joël Gilbert, a brass instruments specialist, who carried out an in-depth analysis of the specimen.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/dec/11/france-gaul-carnyx-instrument-find?INTCMP=SRCH

[Mad Doc Morris]

About 3200 years after his death there's final proof that Pharaoh Ramesses III (presumed nemesis of Moses) was murdered by conspirators. That's what I call an ice cold case.

Ramesses III - the second Pharaoh of the 20th dynasty - is believed to have reigned from 1186 to 1155 BC. The discovery of papyrus trial documents show that in 1155 BC members of his harem made an attempt on his life as part of a palace coup. The conspiracy was led by Tiye, one of his two known wives, and her son Prince Pentawere, over who would inherit the throne, but it is not clear whether the plot was successful or not. The fate of Ramesses III has therefore long been the subject of debate among Egyptologists.

So a team of researchers, led by Dr Albert Zink from the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman of the European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen in Italy, undertook detailed anthropological and forensic analyses on the mummies of Ramesses III and unknown man E, the suspected son of the king. CT scans of Ramesses III revealed a wide and deep wound in the throat of the mummy, probably caused by a sharp blade – and which could have caused immediate death, say the authors.

Full article: http://www.bmj.com/press-releases/2012/12/17/study-reveals-pharaoh%E2%80%99s-throat-was-cut-during-royal-coup

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Being king was never easy

[Mad Doc Morris]

Maybe something for you raiders of the Lost Ark?

Was there a church in Mecca? Chiselled stonework with 'Christian figure' discovered at holy site in Yemen
An Archaeologist has discovered what he believes to be the ruins of a buried Christian empire in the highlands of Yemen.
The find has led to theories that there may have once been a Christian church in Mecca.
A stone carving of a Christian figure was found in Zafar, some 581 miles south of the Holy City, and is thought to have been made in the era of the Prophet Muhammad.

Full article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254657/Was-church-Mecca-Chiselled-stonework-Christian-figure-discovered-holy-site-Yemen.html

[Patrice]

...Perhaps the mythical kingdom of "Prester John"...?

[Mad Doc Morris]

That's what it reminded me of as well. Never have heard of African Christians invading Arabia before, though.

[huevans]

Before Islam, the Arabian Peninsula featured both Jewish and Christian kingdoms.

[Big Martin]

Always thought that Prester John was medieval wishful thinking. Maybe there was a distant basis in truth there after all.