Two long-lost cities in Iraq have started to emerge: one in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan; the other is thought to be somewhere in the south.
The first suspicions of the existence of a city in the north of the country were aroused when fragment of a bronze statue of the Akkadian sun-king Naram-Sin was found during road building near the village of Bassetki in 1975. Dated from around 2250 BC, it had an inscription on the base indicating that it stood in the doorway of a palace.
In 2016, after five years of field work, archaeologists from the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (IANES) at the University of Tübingen, under lead researcher Professor Peter Pfälzner, did indeed uncover a large Bronze Age palace here. Then, last year, 92 cuneiform tablets were found stashed inside a vessel covered in clay.
Now deciphered, they show that, several centuries after the collapse of the Akkadian empire, this was the royal city of Mardaman, which Babylonian sources date to around 1800 BC when it was a commercial hub and centre of the Assyrian kingdom of Shamshi-Adad I.
Denne historien er fra July/August 2018-utgaven av Minerva.
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Denne historien er fra July/August 2018-utgaven av Minerva.
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ROMAN DISCOVERIES AT ANCIENT AUGUSTODUNUM
More than 230 graves have been uncovered at a necropolis in the French city of Autun, revealing a diverse mix in burial practices over a period of nearly 200 years, as well as luxury grave goods from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD that highlight the wealth of some of its ancient inhabitants.
INTO THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS
The Great Royal Wife of Ramesses II, Nefertari, was buried in one of the most spectacular tombs of Egypt’s Valley of the Queens. Well-educated and well-travelled, Nefertari played a crucial part in the political life of the pharaoh, and her importance was reflected through her magnificently decorated tomb. Lucia Marchini speaks to Jennifer Casler Price to find out more.
DEIR EL-BAHRI, 1894
Tensions were already high among the archaeologists, surveyors, and artists of the Archaeological Survey of Egypt in 1891 when an eventful dispute arose on Christmas Eve.
PUSHING BOUNDARIES
When the Etruscans expanded to the south and the vast plains of Campania, they found a land of cultural connections and confrontations, as luxurious grave goods found across the region reveal. An exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples sheds light on these ancient Italians at the frontier. Paolo Giulierini, director of the museum, is our guide.
A STUDY IN PURPLE
A tiny speck of purple paint from the 2nd century AD may yield clues to how ancient artists created the extraordinary portrait panels that accompanied mummified bodies into the afterlife.
Rome In The 8th Century: A History In Art
John Osborne CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, £75 HARDBACK - ISBN 978-1108834582
Thebes City Of Myths
Sparta is famous for its warrior tradition, Athens for its intellectual and artistic achievement. But what of Thebes? As ancient historian Paul Cartledge explains, Thebes too had a most distinctive image.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX? PLYMOUTH'S NEW MUSEUM OPENS
stories from the world of archaeology, art, and museums
PARTHENON, ATHENS, 1907
In 1903, the photographer Fred Boissonnas made his first trip to Greece with his frequent collaborator, the writer and art historian Daniel Baud-Bovy.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc 1814-1879
“Viollet-le-Duc needed connections: he had elected not to study architecture, preferring to learn on the job.”
