Archaeology and the Bronze Age

In Istanbul, construction of much-needed transit projects was halted when astonishing archaeological treasures began turning up. Now, archaeologists are poring over a stunning trove of artifacts, including some three dozen Byzantine-era ships.

There are easier places to make wine than the spectacular, desolate landscapes of southeast Turkey, but DNA analysis suggests it is here that Stone Age farmers first domesticated the wine grape.

An array of ancient artifacts are displayed by police after they were recovered. Greek police say they have arrested three people in connection with an armed robbery that targeted the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics. The three men were arrested Friday in the western Greek city of Patras, close to Ancient Olympia, after they tried to sell the most ancient of the antiquities to an undercover policeman [Credit: AP]

Archaeologists excavating at the ancient city of Limyra in southern Turkey recently uncovered the remains of an ancient synagogue, complete with a bath and menorah. Limyra was part of the Lycian League, a confederation of coastal cities considered one of the world’s first democracies* before being annexed as a province of the Roman Empire.

The exhibition “Examples of Sculpture in the Athenian Agora” at the upper floor of the Stoa of Attalos, which opened yesterday, Tuesday, November 20, 2012, marks the reopening of the Stoa of Attalos’ galleries. The exhibition is part of a project realized by the American School of Classical Studies and the 1st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.

Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology...

See a model of Titanoboa cerrejonensis, an extinct snake measuring 48 feet long and weighing 2,500 pounds, which was discovered at a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute-organized dig at the Cerrejon Mine in Colombia.

The 10,000 square-meter cave area in Gaziantep will be transformed into a museum, according to local mayor, Asim Güzelbey.

In a press conference, Güzelbey said he had been involved in establishing over 10 museums and was planning to build four more. “In the very near future, the largest history museum in Turkey will be in Gaziantep,” he said.

The statue is 125 centimetres tall and made of black granite and depicts a standing king wearing short dress with hands aside.

Christopher Tiers, head of the archaeological mission, said that early studies of the statue suggest that the artistic features of the depicted king confirm its royalty.

The statue is to be transferred to the storage facilities of the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) for restoration and documentation. Tiers asserted that excavation at the site is in full swing in order to find any additional statues that may enable archaeologists to identify the New Kingdom king.

We know from literary sources that ancient Cilicia, a province in southeast Turkey, had a significant Jewish population. The New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of Paul make it clear that the Jewish communities and synagogues of ancient Cilicia were proselytizing destinations for the apostle Paul, who was a native of Tarsus, the capital city of ancient Cilicia.

The 10,000 square-meter cave area in Gaziantep will be transformed into a museum, according to local mayor, Asim Güzelbey.

In a press conference, Güzelbey said he had been involved in establishing over 10 museums and was planning to build four more.

The underwater shipwreck excavation of the wreck of the ship Mentor, that sank off the island of Kythera in 1802 while carrying goods plundered from the Parthenon by British diplomat Lord Elgin has proved to be a treasure trove of personal items from the passengers and crew.