Visitors will be able to see the Basilica at Pompeii again on Thursday, after safety interventions were carried out on the building.The Basilica in Pompeii [Credit: Agneta Freccero]
The interventions mainly concerned the plaster and the Basilica's columns, which were starting to show cracks.
Walls and columns have been restored to their old form adding material in nearly invisible ways, as in the case of the access steps to the building which were restored using mortar lime.
The Basilica is one of the highlights of any visit to the popular archaeological site.
Built in the second half of the second century BC, it was used for the administration of justice as well as for trade negotiations.
The magnificent building has a rectangular plan with three aisles, a pitched roof supported by central columns and half columns from the top of the walls, where original decorations are still visible.
In the back of the Basilica is the court, which can be reached by wooden stairs.
Visitors will have access to the Basilica only through the side entrance of the building.
Restoration work will begin next year at a Genoese castle, which is on UNESCO’s Temporary World Heritage List, in the Turkish Black Sea province of Düzce, officials have said.Akcakoca Genoese Castle [Credit: abozdemir/duzce]
The Culture and Tourism Ministry commenced a project to renovate and reanimate the original appearance of the ancient castle, which was built by the Genoese people 800 years ago, said Cüneyt Yemenici, the mayor of Akçakoca in Düzce.
“There will be bidding until the first half of 2016 for the restoration project. The tools necessary for the renovation have been determined,” said Yemenici.
Expecting the castle to reopen for touristic purposes in the summer of 2017, Yemenici indicated their communication and collaboration with the Culture and Tourism Ministry would continue.
He is one of the world's most famous dogs, the snarling, black-and-white mosaic canine and protector of the Pompeii archaeological site.'Cave Canem' mosaic from the entrance to the House of the Tragic Poet [Credit: ANSA]
Indeed, with his black hair, curled form, and bared teeth, the ancient canine has stood ready for almost 2,000 years to discourage intruders from setting foot in the Domus of the Tragic Poet, supported by the famous inscription 'Cave Canem' or 'Beware of the Dog'.
Now, this universal symbol of the city that was preserved under the ash of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD has been restored and returned to the public eye in the archaeological remains of Pompeii.
Years of rain, mud, dirt and neglect were gradually cleaned away to bring him back to public viewing just in time for the dog days at the end of July.
The work on the mosaic canine is just one in a series of measures aimed at restoring and protecting Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for future generations, said Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.
In a post on his Twitter feed, he wrote: "Offered to the public the splendid new staging of Cave Canem". "(At) #Pompei, every day a proud step forward," wrote the minister.
The canine mosaic is now protected beneath a transparent cover designed to allow full public viewing of the mosaic mutt, with his great sense of movement as well as the realism and attention to detail that has made it one of the world's best known of the Pompeian masterpieces. Other restored works as well as extended tourist routes through the archaeological site should also be offered soon, officials suggested.
Work has been continuing at Pompeii, which for decades was neglected and even plundered due to slack security and poor protection.
At some points, the United Nations even threatened to withdraw its UNESCO World Heritage Site designation unless adequate money was invested to restore and protect Pompeii.
But, slowly things seem to be turning around.
In March Pompeii's largest house - Villa dei Misteri, famous for its frescoes of the cult of Bacchus - reopened after a two-year restoration and a three-month closure for work on its paving.
"We have behind us a year of extraordinary work," Franceschini said at that time.
"We have closed three work sites while another 13 have been opened, nine contracts have been started and we have hired 85 people". Almost precisely one year earlier, Franceschini pledged the Italian government would catch up on delays in restoring the Pompeii archaeological site and treat completing the ambitious 105-million-euro Great Pompeii Project as a "national challenge".
"The challenge of Pompeii is a challenge for the nation," Franceschini said, reiterating the importance of the Great Pompeii Project, aimed at safeguarding the unique site.
The European Commission, involved in funding the project, has insisted that the restoration work must be completed by the end of 2015.
There is some urgency.
In April 2014, heavy rains led to several reports of collapsed walls at the Pompeii site, soon after UNESCO warnings that the miraculously preserved ancient city could "completely fall apart" and lose its world heritage status unless urgent action was taken.
Notwithstanding the grandiose plans being made by the successive governments for over a decade now, the monuments at the Buddhist heritage sites at Thotlakonda and Bavikonda are lying in a state of neglect.The damaged base of the main stupa at the Buddhist monument at Thotlakonda [Credit: C.V. Subrahmanyam]
A visit to Thotlakonda on Wednesday revealed that not much has changed during the last decade. The base of the main stupa has been damaged and heaps of damaged ancient bricks and material were seen lying at some places.
The centuries-old rock ‘thotlu’ (cisterns) with steps leading into them, for drawing of rain water, are still serving their purpose of collection of rain water. Tourists arriving by the AP Tourism buses are greeted by the monumental ruins and the sign boards and other amenities damaged by cyclone Hudhud in October last year.
Buddhist Monastery ruins at Thotlakonda [Credit: Dennis Kopp]
One cannot, however, ignore the laying of roads, landscaping and provision of some basic amenities at Thotlakonda and Bavikonda by the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) over a decade ago and works taken up in subsequent years.
The monuments can be protected only when scientific restoration is done to protect the stupas, chaityagrihas and relics discovered at the heritage sites. A proper coordination between the Archaeology and Tourism Departments and VUDA is needed for this purpose.
Buddhist Monastery ruins at Bavikonda [Credit: Dennis Kopp]
“The rich cultural heritage of Bhavikonda, Thotlakonda and Pavuralakonda, dating back to the 3rd century BC and the ashes of the Buddha, found in a Mahasthupa at Bavikonda, need to be protected. We cannot afford to lose them. Protecting them will also help tourism development in a big way,” says CII Vizag Chapter former chairman G. Sambasiva Rao.
“Thai tourists are willing to come here but there is no information on the Buddhist heritage sites available on the east coast, the Deputy Consul General (Commercial), Royal Thai (Chennai), Tharadol Thongruang”, said at a recent meeting organised by the CII in the city.
View of Stupas at Bavikonda [Credit: India Tourism Travel]
“Estimates have been sent for development of tourist information centres and public amenities at the Buddhist heritage sites at Thotlakonda and Bhavikonda in the city at an estimated cost of Rs.80 lakh and Rs.76 lakh respectively. Tenders will be called once the approval of the government was received,” Tourism General Manager G. Bheemasankara Rao told The Hindu recently.
Author: B. Madhu Gopal | Source: The Hindu [July 18, 2015]
A cluster of buildings, covered with lush green weed, in the Pakistani city of Taxila is the treasure trove of a lost civilisation that once thrived in the country’s north-western region around the 7th century BC.Rapid urbanisation of the area and the plunder of the sites have taken a toll. Taxila is also ignored on the tourist map largely because of the country’s security situation. Seen here is the ancient Dharmarajika stupa [Credit: Nassim Khan]
Flanked by River Haro on the one side and Margalla Hills on the other, Taxila is a vast serial site that includes a Mesolithic cave and the archaeological remains of four early colony sites. “It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Asia,” according to UNESCO.
With so much to show the world, Taxila is ignored on the tourist map largely because of the country’s security situation, lack of tourism promotion, and privation of facilities in the city.
From the famous Grand Trunk (GT) Road, a small and poorly metalled road leads to Taxila Museum and the archaeological sites. The picturesque lush green natural landscape has changed dramatically over the last 25 years.
Unplanned houses, hand carts, shops and vendors’ stalls are the modern hallmarks of the area, instead of its previous relaxing and enjoyable natural beauty. The rapid urbanisation of the area and the plunder of the sites has cost the sites dearly and yet nobody pays attention to it.
The results are obvious. The Global Heritage Fund has identified Taxila as one of 12 sites worldwide that are “On the Verge” of irreparable loss and damage. The fund’s 2010 report attributes this irreparable loss to insufficient management, development pressure, looting, and war and conflict as primary threats.
View of the ancient city of Sirkap, Taxila [Credit: Buddhist Forum]
Moving along the dusty and crowded Grand Trunk (GT) Road from Islamabad to Taxila, the monument of Brigadier general John Nicholson, a famous military figure of the British Empire, greets a visitor. The monument is located on the Margalla Hills — the gateway to Taxila.
The sighting of Nicholson’s monument takes the visitor instantaneously to the days of British Colonial Raj. The time when teams of archaeologists were digging around the town of Taxila in search of the lost civilisations. The finding has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“It’s the marvel Pakistan got from the British Colonial Raj and yet it has not properly promoted as a tourist destination,” said Javed Iqbal, an archaeologist. Taxila is one of the three top Pakistani archaeology sites including the ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro — two of the main cities that comprise the Indus Valley Civilisation, he said.
Sir John Marshall, the director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928, began the excavations at Taxila that continued for the next twenty years. In 1918, Marshall laid the foundation stone of the Taxila Museum to preserve the precious findings.
The museum is built in the middle of the archaeological site and has a rich collection of relics, artefacts, stupas, and stone and stucco sculptures from different Buddhist monasteries, Gandhara Art and the Kushana period. The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the Vedic period (1500-500 BC) as a centre of Graeco-Buddhism, Bactrian Zoroastrianism and Animism.
Ahmad Alamgir, another archaeologist and historian, who met me at the museum said that only one significant development had been carried out by the government of Pakistan in almost a century.
Double headed eagle stupa at the ancient city of Sirkap, Taxila [Credit: Omer Khetran/WikiCommons]
“Sir Marshall actually could not complete the original plan of the museum when he had to leave for England. After the creation of Pakistan, the government of Pakistan constructed the northern gallery of the museum in 1998 … and that’s it,” he said.
The museum has a number of galleries in which findings from the surrounding sites have been presented subject wise. There are lines of wall and table showcases in the galleries and a complete stupa, from the Buddhist monastery of Mohra Moradu, stands in the middle of the main hall of the museum.
A vast collection of stucco heads of Buddha showing different faces and styles is the main attraction for tourists. The big Buddha heads are typically Gandharan in style, according to the archaeologists.
City of Cut Stone
The historic town of Taxila, originally Takaśilā in Sanskrit (meaning City of Cut Stone) is located around 35km from Islamabad just off the famous Grand Trunk Road. The city is still famous of its artisans, who keep their ancestors’ profession alive, by making stone sculptures, murals and panels.
They also produce flower pots, planters, fountains, garden ornaments, balusters, pillars and railings, and fire places. Taxila, according to historians, thrived from 518BC to 600AD. In 326BC Alexander the Great and his armies encountered charging elephants in battle against Hindu king Porus.
Before fighting the battle, Alexander marched through the city and was greeted by King Ambhi. In 300BC Taxila was conquered by the Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta Maurya that disintegrated the Bactrian Greeks, the successors of Alexander, in 190BC. Ashoka, the legendary king of India, ruled Taxila as governor under his father Bindusara’s rule. The city, which is a part of Rawalpindi district, is now a main industrial town of Pakistan with heavy machine factories and industrial complex, stoneware and pottery.
In the fields of Bulgaria they are everywhere -- hundreds of mounds like huge molehills concealing the gold-filled tombs of ancient kings who left no other trace of their rule.Detail of a mural in the burial chamber in a replica of the Thracian tomb of Kazanlak, dated back to the 4th century BC in the central Bulgarian town of Kazanlak [Credit: AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff]
Known as tumuli, the burial mounds are the only remnants of the Thracian civilisation that inhabited the Balkan peninsula from the 2nd millennium BC to the 3rd century AD.
The accidental discovery of a tomb in 1944 revealed that the earthen structures were in fact manmade and that the burial monuments hidden within contained intricately crafted treasures.
Experts believe there are more than 15,000 of these tombs in Bulgaria, a tenth of them in the so-called Valley of the Thracian Kings near the central town of Kazanlak.
Many of the tombs have been looted, but a collection of surviving gold, silver and bronze objects are being shown at the Louvre museum in Paris until July 20.
Of the 1,500 tumuli in the valley, "only 300 of them have been excavated so far and about 35 revealed such rich burial monuments," said Kazanlak archeologist Meglena Parvin.
EU funds have been used to restore a handful of tombs that have been opened to public view, but most remain shut because of a lack of money for repairs.
"I feel sad that they are left like that. I hope that more money will come and we can restore and open them," Parvin said.
The Thracian burial tumulus Malka Arsenalka mound, which dates back to the end of 5th century BC, near the central Bulgarian town of Kazanlak [Credit: AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff]
The Thracians were a people of horse and cattle breeders, metal miners and goldsmiths who are believed to have had no alphabet of their own and left no written records.
They believed in the afterlife and the immortality of the soul, and buried deceased rulers with their horses, dogs, weapons, drinking cups and even playing dice.
The kings were considered sons of the great goddess Mother Earth and the burial rites were highly symbolic, Parvin explained.
"When he finishes his journey in this world, the king must return to the womb of his mother. That is the reason why we think that they built these artificial mounds around their funeral structures," she said.
In addition to the treasures, the bushy tumuli also conceal a variety of exquisite burial monuments.
Built from huge granite blocks or bricks, they consist of a corridor and one or more chambers, with each revealing its own meticulous design and ornamentation.
A mural of a woman's face can be seen in the burial chamber in a Ostrusha tumulus dated back the middle of the 4th century BC, near the central Bulgarian town of Kazanlak [Credit: AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff]
"No two tombs are alike," Parvin noted, leading the way through the antechamber of the tomb in the Shushmanets mound.
Inside, a slim column helps support the vaulted ceiling of the burial chamber, the walls of which are adorned by seven half columns.
The Ostrusha tumulus nearby contained a sarcophagus-like chamber hewn from a single granite block thought to have weighed 60 tonnes.
Its ceiling contains traces of drawings of people, animals, plants and geometric figures. The remains of six other rooms surround the burial chamber, none of which have been restored as yet.
The most famous tomb in the valley is the Kazanlak tomb, which was the first to be unearthed during World War II and has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1979.
The original is closed to visits to protect its fragile murals, which depict a funeral procession and a horse race, but visitors can view a replica right next door.
Tourists examine the Thracian tomb of Shushmanets, which is dated back to 4th century BC, near the central Bulgarian town of Kazanlak [Credit: AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff]
The site draws large crowds but the tourism revenue has not been converted into conservation funds, said Sofia-based archeological expert Diana Dimitrova.
"It is a pity that in Bulgaria somewhere the link is cut and the money from tourism does not go to restorations and archeological excavations," said Dimitrova, whose late husband, archaeologist Georgy Kitov, excavated most of the tombs in the Kazanlak valley and christened it the Valley of the Thracian Kings.
Dimitrova pointed to the three-chamber tomb of King Seuthes III which provided the pieces for the Louvre exhibition as an example of the problem.
A hit among foreign tourists in the years after it opened to the public in 2005, the tomb has been temporarily closed this summer while awaiting funds for emergency repairs.
"The Thracians built these splendid monumental structures to last forever," Dimitrova said.
"We cannot just uncover them and leave them like that."
Israeli officials deplored UNESCO’s condemnation of Israeli archaeological activity in Jerusalem’s Old City.The archaeological dig at City of David, with Silwan behind it [Credit: Olivier Fitoussi]
At a meeting this week in Bonn, Germany, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee voted 13-2, with five abstentions, to keep the Old City on its list of endangered World Heritage sites. It condemned the “persistence of the Israeli illegal excavations” in the Old City and a series of Israeli initiatives outside it, including the Jerusalem light rail line that runs near the Old City walls, the City of David archaeological site in Silwan and an elevator at the Western Wall, which UNESCO said severely affects the “visual integrity and the authentic character of the site.”
UNESCO is the United Nations’ education, cultural and scientific organization.
Dore Gold, the director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, condemned the committee’s decision as a one-sided resolution and noted its failure to cite any Jewish connection to Jerusalem, referring to the Temple Mount area only as a “Muslim holy site of worship.”
The UNESCO committee also expressed concern with an Israeli plan to build a cable car system in eastern Jerusalem, restrictions on freedom of access to the Temple Mount, and Jewish visits to the site, which the committee called “Israeli extremist groups’ continuous incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound.”
David Harris of the American Jewish Committee called it ironic that “at a time when Islamist terrorists are destroying world heritage sites in Syria and Iraq, this UNESCO committee hypocritically chooses to attack the record of Israel, which has carefully and diligently protected the worship sites of all religions.”
Turkey’s Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board has refused to declare a plot of land in Istanbul’s Silivri district as a first-degree archaeological site despite the discovery of artifacts from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras. Now, the artifacts face an even greater threat as a wind-power company has indicated that it wants to cover the findings and continue constructing 21 wind turbines.
Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine era tombs were discovered during the construction of a wind power plant in Silivri, but the Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board has not declared the area a first-degree archaeological site [Credit: Hurriyet]
Historical artifacts were discovered during the construction of Silivri Energy A.Ş.’s wind power plant belonging to businessman Abdullah Tivnikli in the village last February.
Among the artifacts were many Hellenistic- and Roman-era tombs and one-meter walls. After the protection board failed to declare the area a first-degree archaeological site, the company reportedly suggested to the board: “We cannot protect the field against treasure hunters. Let’s pour concrete on it and build wind turbines on it.”
The suggestion provoked a heated discussion on the preservation board, with only Dr. Aslıhan Yurtsever Beyazıt speaking out against the proposal. While other members recommended documenting the findings before pouring concrete on the site, Beyazıt demanded examinations at the site, but no investigation has yet been conducted.
On June 15, 2011, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality made amendments to its master plan for the construction of the wind power plant close to Silivri’s Fener, Kurfallı and Akören villages. The amendment was approved by the Istanbul Municipal Council in 2012.
A decision was subsequently made to build 21 52.5 MW turbines on an area of 440,000 square meters. The company started the construction last year, while the archaeological artifacts were found on the land of two turbines at the beginning of this year.
The Istanbul Archaeology Museum was informed about the artifacts, and further excavations by museum officials unearthed valuable architectural remains dating back to the late Byzantine era in the 11th and 12th century A.D.
The presence of many Byzantine-era tombs in the immediate vicinity suggests there could be a monastery in the area, according to officials. “This is a very important development for Thrace and Istanbul archaeology. It should be declared a first-degree archaeological site immediately,” one of the officials said.
“Since brick pieces were not found in the remains of the wall and a roughhewn stone was seen, it might be a Roman-era settlement,” the Istanbul Archaeology Museum said in a statement. “The remains of a structure, which is made up of big block stones, is thought to have been a wall from the Hellenistic era. The area might have been a Hellenistic and Roman settlement because the ceramic pieces around this structure show Hellenistic and Roman-era characteristics. The area might have served as a graveyard in the Byzantine era.”
In mid April it was discovered that the 600-year-old geoglyph, Triple Spiral, had been destroyed by agricultural invaders in Trujillo. In order to prevent similar disasters, the Ministry of Culture is improving protection and recovery of sites in the area.Archaeological site of Santo Domingo in Trujillo [Credit: Andina/Difusión]
The Ministry of Culture finished with the recuperation of the archaeological site of Quebrada Santo Domingo in Laredo district of Trujillo, reports Andina news agency.
The eradication of invasive crops, pipes and perimeter fences began at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8 and lasted until 4:00 p.m.
About 70 people, including members of the Decentralized Cultural Department of La Libertad (DDCLL) and members of the National Police of Peru (PNP) of the Tourism Division and Environmental Protection participated in the recovery.
“Today we are doing, more than anything a cleansing, of which an extrajudicial intervention has already been done on May 20, we’ve come to find that they have again invaded. So we will put greater emphasis on protection, in the security zone,” said prosecutor Javier Paredes.
During the clean up, the activity of invaders was evident. The site was being used to cultivate crops and for settlements. Prior to the clean up, the invaders withdrew their belongings peacefully.
“Our obligation is to exercise the powers laid down by law. In that sense our duty to persevere is in legal actions, which we will exercise as many times as necessary,” said director of DDCLL Maria Elena Cordova Burga.
Author: Hillary Ojeda | Source: Peru this Week [July 09, 2015]
Australia is home to one of the world’s great art treasures in the form of hundreds of thousands of rock art sites scattered throughout the country.Munnurru public rock art site on Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation land [Credit: Sven Ouzman]
Unfortunately, most Australians have not had the privilege of visiting these special places. Such a visit radically expands a person’s understanding of Australian history as something that goes much, much deeper than our shallow, colonial roots of the last few hundred years.
To reinforce this broader understanding of identity and heritage, archaeologists, chemists, geologists, and physicists from the universities of Melbourne, Western Australia and Wollongong, Archae-Aus consultancy, and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation launched a 3 year project across the Kimberley to date rock art using an astonishing variety of scientific techniques.
In 2014 the team was privileged to begin work along the King George River in Balanggarra Country, and has continued this year along the coast of Dambimangari Country.
The work involves careful study of the rock art and its associated cultural context and then taking very small samples mostly of mineral crusts, mudwasp nests and organic material growing on rock surfaces, for laboratory analysis.
These materials may also degrade the art itself over time, so understanding their formation will help guide future conservation and management practices.
No rock art dates are available yet – though indications are that some rock art is very recent, while other rock art traditions may be tens of thousands of years old.
These dates will help demonstrate to the outside world the depth and range of Kimberley rock art, and build the case for it to be recognised with World Heritage Site status.
These dates also help disprove false claims that some Kimberley rock art was not made by Aboriginal people.
To properly date and understand Kimberley rock art will take many years, but the Rock Art Dating Project team are confident the results will help grow a national pride and respect for this intellectual and cultural achievement made and looked after by Aboriginal people.
The ancient site of Herculaneum near Pompeii in southern Italy was shut to the public Monday afternoon because of a staff shortage that officials blamed on understaffing.Herculaneum [Credit: Alamy]
The Superintendent for Cultural Heritage responsible for the sites at Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia said in a statement that the closure "highlights the critical situation...at Mt. Vesuvius archaeological sites".
The 36 staff members at Herculaneum are divided between five shifts daily but that is inadequate for a site that covers an area of 4.5 hectares and requires six or seven staff per shift to supervise and protect the ancient site, officials said.
A sudden illness threw the schedule off and forced Monday's closure to the public, they added.
Herculaneum - like the more famous Pompeii - was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites and concerns about their protection and preservation have been increasing amid reports in recent years about cave-ins, natural disasters, and outright thefts of priceless archaeological relics.
Another UNESCO-listed monument, one of the few secular buildings remaining in Greece from the Byzantine period, is ready to open to the public in Thessaloniki, bringing the number of the northern port city’s top global cultural heritage monuments to 14.The Byzantine bathhouse before and after restoration [Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture]
The Byzantine Bath of the Upper Town, on Theotokopoulou Street in Ano Poli, will be inaugurated in early July, 75 years after it was closed.
The 800-year-old facility has been fully restored in a project that took four years to complete and will be open not just to the public for visits but also to cultural associations and groups to stage events.
For the inauguration, the internationally acclaimed performance artist Ulay, who will be honored at the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, will present his interactive performance “Code of Conduct” from July 1-4 (4-8 p.m.)
While the marble sinks and European-style baths that have been salvaged from among the facility’s early-20th century fittings are no longer in use, the site continues to offer valuable insight into the personal hygiene habits of all the different people who made use of it through the ages. The Byzantines, for example, bathed in still water, while the Ottoman preferred running water.
The bathhouse was built some time between the late 12th and early 13th century, at a time when the 11th-century tradition of bathhouses was seeing a revival. Known later as Koule Hamam, it operated all the way up until 1940. Despite numerous changes and renovations, as well as abandonment during World War II and the scars of a series of strong earthquakes in 1978, its Byzantine roots are still apparent in its layout and architectural elements.
It is the biggest and most intact Byzantine-era bathhouse among a handful that have survived in Greece and the only one in Thessaloniki, according to the supervisors of the restoration project, Fani Revythiadou, an architect and restorer, and Constantinos Raptis, an archaeologist at the Thessaloniki Ephorate of Antiquities.
While it survived collapse thanks to significant structural supports put in place by the former 9th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities and a shelter protecting its exterior, it did not escape the construction boom of the 1960s and is now sandwiched between apartment blocks.
It is, nevertheless, an excellent example of the art of restoration and an important part of any tour taking in the secular monuments of Byzantine-era Thessaloniki and the bathhouse tradition that flourished mainly in Ottoman times, stresses the head of the Ephorate, Stamatios Hondroyiannis.
The Ministry of Antiquities approved the development of the Mons Claudianus archaeological site into an open air museum to exhibit the quarrying process used in Egypt during the Roman era.The Mons Claudianus archaeological site that stretches from the Red Sea to Qena province is to be restored with the view of developing it into an open air museum of Roman era quarrying in Egypt [Credit: Wikimapia]
Mons Claudianus is an area for granite quarries and houses a garrison, a quarrying site, a complete workers settlement with a horse stable and a granite water container.
Fragments of granite items have also been found, along with broken columns and a number of engraved ostraca (broken pottery).
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that during the Roman era, the area was called Granodiorite and it was used as a mine to collect construction materials.
UNESCO and UNITAR-UNOSAT (United Nations Institute for Training and Research- United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Program) signed an agreement to better protect the world's cultural and natural heritage sites by using geospatial photographic capabilities, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said Wednesday at a conference in London. The agreement comes as ancient sites in the Middle East are under assault by terrorist organizations which include the Islamic State (IS).
IS overtook the 2,000 year-old archaeological site at Palmyra, Syria, a city of Greek and Roman ruins, in May and has threatened to destroy it. Bokova said IS has destroyed mausoleums, temples and statues around the area on a wide scale, and planted explosives within the ancient city. It previously destroyed Assyrian ruins and artifacts in Syria.
Monitoring by satellite could reduce and document the extent of destruction, prepare reconstruction and provide evidence for international courts of justice, she added.
"We are very worried about Libya, being a divided country. We have a small office there and are working with the local governments and mayors. We are very concerned about the expansion of Isis (IS) and youth radicalization. We are worried about Somalia. This (the satellite program) is our response to extremism," Bokova said.
The agreement was signed Wednesday in Bonn, Germany.
Tucked away among northwestern New Mexico's sandstone cliffs and buttes are the remnants of an ancient civilization whose monumental architecture and cultural influences have been a source of mystery for years.Pueblo Bonito ruins, Chaco Canyon [Credit: Scott Haefner]
Scholars and curious visitors have spent more than a century trying to unravel those mysteries and more work needs to be done.
That's why nearly 30 top archaeologists from universities and organizations around the nation called on the U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday to protect the area surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park from oil and gas development.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, they talked about the countless hours they've spent in the field, the dozens of books they've published about the Chaco society and their decades of collective experience studying its connection to modern Native American tribes in the Southwest. They call Chaco a distinct resource.
"Many of the features associated with this landscape — the communications and road systems that once linked the canyon to great house sites located as far away as southeast Utah and which are still being identified to this day — have been damaged by the construction of oil and gas roads, pipelines and well pads," the archaeologists said.
They're pushing for the agency to consider a master leasing plan that would take into account cultural resources beyond the boundaries of the national park. They're also looking for more coordination between federal land managers, tribes and archaeologists.
The Bureau of Land Management is revamping its resource management plan for the San Juan Basin and all new leasing within a 10-mile radius of Chaco park has been deferred until the plan is updated, likely in 2016.
Tourists cast their shadows on the ancient Anasazi ruins of Chaco Canyon [Credit: AP/Eric Draper]
Wally Drangmeister, a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said the BLM's existing plan already takes into account cultural resources. He said there has been a push by environmentalists to tie Chaco to development in the Mancos shale more than 10 miles from the park.
Environmentalists have been calling for protections for the greater Chaco area, and Drangmeister said that expansive definition could put the whole San Juan Basin off limits.
The basin is one of the largest natural gas fields in the U.S. and has been in production for more than 60 years. More development is expected in some areas since technology is making it easier for energy companies to tap the region's oil resources.
Some archaeologists have theorized that Chaco's influence spread far and wide from its remote desert location. A World Heritage site, Chaco includes a series of great houses, or massive multistory stone buildings, some of which were oriented to solar and lunar directions and offered lines of sight between buildings to allow for communication.
Steve Lekson, a professor and curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, has spent years studying Chaco and its influence over the Southwest. He likened the process to learning how to play baseball after discovering home base and the pitcher's mound.
"You keep poking around and find more bases and the warning tracks and all that stuff. You need the whole picture to understand how the game is played," he said. "Of course, Chaco being a political system or major regional system is much more complicated than baseball. You need enough of the package intact so you can actually understand the structure of the thing."
Chris Farthing of England takes a picture of the Chaco Canyon ruins [Credit: Jeff Geissler/Associated Press]
Lekson and others said the hope that there's more to be discovered doesn't mean energy development should come to a halt.
"I don't think anybody is saying that, but we need to pay a lot of attention to how that's done and be cognizant of the larger issue," he said. "It shouldn't be a site-by-site thing."
The archaeologists' letter comes on the heels of a tour of the Chaco area by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico, and Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor. The two met with land managers and others after the tour.
Connor said there are Navajo allottees who want to develop their resources and other Native Americans who want to protect those resources.
"It's a balancing act throughout all of BLM's lands and I think Chaco is particularly unique," he said. "The more I learn about it, the more I was struck by the more we all have to learn."
Author: Susan Montoya Bryan | Source: The Associated Press [July 01, 2015]
Though the Chinese government promulgated the "Great Wall of Protection Ordinance" in 2006, the world famous ancient stone fortification is still disappearing at a tremendous speed, especially the parts in forsaken mountain areas.Sections of China's Great Wall are disappearing at a tremendous rate [Credit: Xinhua]
According to research by the China Great Wall Society, it is not optimistic about the protection of the Great Wall. For example, only 8.2 percent of the Great Wall built in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) is in good condition presently.
Moreover, in the report released by the Chinese State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2012, less than 10 percent of the Ming Great Wall is preserved adequately, 20 percent is moderately preserved, and almost 30 percent has disappeared.
The World Monument Fund based in New York announced in 2003 that the Great Wall was among the 100 most endangered historic sites.
Bad weather is one of the main causes of damage to the Great Wall. Dong Yaohui, the deputy of the China Great Wall Society, said that most parts of the masonry structure of the Great Wall are in Beijing and Hebei province. Though they are more stable than the sun-dried mud brick Great Wall, in the rainy seasons during July and August, they can be easily broken by storms.
Local data shows that in the summer of 2012, 36 meters of the Dajing Gate part of the Great Wall in Zhangjiakou, a city in northwestern Hebei province, was damaged by storms; the Shanhai Pass part in Qinhuangdao, a city in northeast part of Hebei province, leaked badly; while some fighting towers of the Wulonggou portionin Laiyuan, a city in western Hebei province, totally collapsed.
A tourist hikes on the wild Great Wall in Hebei province [Credit: Xinhua]
Even in the dry seasons, because of lack of protection, the Great Wall in the mountain areas in Hebei province was eroded by mountain springs or even plants. In Funing County, a county in Qinhuangdao, if you slightly touch the wall of the watchtowers, you will find soil peeling off. There are also trees growing in the cracks of the Great Wall.
People living around or travelling to the Great Wall which has not been developed into tourist attractions are also damaging the wall. According to Zhang Heshan, a Great Wall protector in Funing County, more travelers have been exploring the wild Great Wall in recent years. The frequent trampling has led to damage, causing the bricks to loosen, and even walls to collapse. However, there were not enough protectors to patrol around these areas, and not enough money to restore the damage.
Journalists from the Beijing Times also found that people in some villages of Lulong County, in the west part of Qinhuangdao, lived in the houses built with ancient blue and grey bricks. They told the journalists that these bricks were removed from the Great Wall nearby.
Some villagers even sold the Great Wall bricks with carved characters. An unnamed villager in Dongfeng Village told the Beijing Times journalist that the market price of these bricks is 40 to 50 yuan ($6.4 to $8.05) a piece, or even as low as 30 yuan ($4.83). The villagers collect such bricks from the Great Wall without a second thought.
Accordign to Dong Yaohui, it is difficult for the government to fully protect the Great Wall. "In Funing County, there are only 9 people in the department of cultural relics, but they have to go on a 142.5 km tour of inspection. It’s definitely impossible to take good care of the Great Wall by themselves," Dong said.
Workers repair the Banchangyu part of the Great Wall [Credit: Xinhua]
Dong also stressed that the counties along the Great Wall are relatively poor. Most of the counties surrounding the Great Wall in Zhangjiakou are national assigned poverty counties. Local governments cannot afford to repair and protect the Great Wall, or only invest in the parts which bring in revenue from tourism.
To some people, developing tourism is an effective way to protect the Great Wall. Xu Guohua, the head of Banchangyu Great Wall Development Company, said that the destruction from the villagers has stopped after development. Meanwhile, tourists know which part of the Great Wall is endangered.
"You have to admit that the development of the wild Great Wall brings rules and regulations to both the villagers and travelers. In recent years, the protection of the Great Wall in our scenic spot became much better than the undeveloped parts in our county," said Xu.
However, many point out that it is impossible to develop the whole Great Wall into tourism sites. And the development may bring more visitors to the endangered Great Wall, but not all the tourism development companies are committed to protecting the Great Wall. Instead, some of them only focus on the income from tickets, regardless of the intrinsic value of the Great Wall.
How to protect the disappearing Great Wall? Obviously, it is an important test for Chinese society. Just like what Dong Yaohui said in an recent article, "the Great Wall belongs to everybody of China. The duty of protection of the Great Wall not only belongs to the government, but also to the common people. The most urgent goal for us is to arouse the enthusiasm of the public to protect the Great Wall. "
For more than a decade, he was the self-styled Indiana Jones of Egypt, presiding over its antiquities and striding through temples and tombs as the star of TV documentaries that made him an international celebrity.In this June 18, 2015 photo, Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former head of antiquities, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Cairo. For more than a decade, he was the self-styled Indiana Jones of Egypt, presiding over its antiquities and striding through temples and tombs as the star of TV documentaries that made him an international celebrity. But four years after the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and nearly ended his own career, Hawass can be found in a cramped office, lamenting the state of the antiquities bureaucracy he once ruled like a pharaoh and dreaming of a new museum whose fate lies in limbo [Credit: AP/Hassan Ammar]
But four years after the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and nearly ended his own career, Zahi Hawass can be found in a cramped Cairo office, lamenting the state of the antiquities bureaucracy he once ruled like a pharaoh and dreaming of a new museum whose fate lies in limbo.
His trademark wide-brimmed hat and safari vest may be hung up for now, but he is brimming with ideas on how to revive Egypt's antiquities and bring back tourists after years of unrest.
A long-planned new facility out by the pyramids, called the Grand Egyptian Museum, was intended to open this year, but the government says it is short the one billion dollars needed to complete the project.
"Government routine cannot work for museums," Hawass said in an interview in his office, asserting that state bureaucracy is one of the main reasons the current Egyptian Museum has fallen into disrepair. For the new museum, "the directorship, the curatorship, it can be from America, from Germany, from England, from any place in the world. You need this museum to be international."
He also says private, international sponsorship is needed.
"If you pay $10,000, I put your name, written on the wall of the museum. If you pay $100,000, I put your name on the facade of the museum. If you build a whole gallery, I will name (the gallery after you)," he said, adding that the government should announce that Egyptian monuments belong to the entire world, not just Egyptians.
As to the challenge of moving artifacts from the current museum in downtown Cairo over bumpy roads to the site of the new facility on the city's outskirts, Hawass says "any TV channel" would pick up the tab in return for exclusive rights to document the artifacts' restoration and transport. "They will run in competition to do this," he said.
Hawass knows TV. He was once a staple on the Discovery Channel and had his own reality show on the History Channel called "Chasing Mummies," the promo for which introduced him by saying "100,000 years of history belong to one man... Only he holds the key to the world's greatest ruins."
The productions earned him droves of fans abroad but led to accusations of grandstanding in Egypt, where he was seen by many as a self-promoter who mistreated subordinates and abused his position for personal gain. He lost his job as head of antiquities after the 2011 uprising and faced corruption charges, of which he was later cleared.
But his swashbuckling antics gave a boost to Egyptian archaeology, with fundraising efforts and international tours of King Tut artifacts generating tens of millions of dollars.
His name is still associated with many of Egypt's most famous digs, including grand discoveries such as the Valley of the Golden Mummies in Bahariya Oasis in 1999 and the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut almost a decade later. He has long campaigned to bring home ancient artifacts spirited out of Egypt during colonial times, and once said he had managed to recover 5,000 pieces.
Zahi was an outspoken supporter of his longtime patron Mubarak, and has praised President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the military overthrow of an Islamist president in 2013 and was elected last year. But that support has not translated into an official role other than promotional work for tourism in Egypt.
When asked about the state of antiquities today, Hawass says things have improved over the last year, carefully avoiding direct criticism of anyone in particular. But he points out that there is still theft, mismanagement and corruption - noting two incidents in recent months in which artifacts were found to have been replaced with replicas.
"This did not happen before," he said, adding that in order to prevent such abuses, "we need to restore the people before we restore antiquities," by boosting employees' salaries and providing them with health insurance.
Hawass insisted during the interview that he is focused on writing and has no desire to return to his previous position as head of the country's antiquities. "People come here every day and ask me to come back... I think I did my duty, and it's time for me now to publish all that I discovered."
But at the glitzy launch of his latest book earlier this month at a ceremony at a five-star hotel attended by hundreds of Cairo's elite, he was less guarded about possible ambitions to return.
"Maybe," he said, as a torrent of fans pressed to take photos next to him.
Author: Brian Rohan | Source: The Associated Press [June 30, 2015]
Thousands of examples of millennial old art carved into rocks and on the walls of caves are under threat as their location is often unknown and unprotected from artefact thieves.Warriors on horseback, southern Mauritania [Credit: British Museum/African Art]
Despite providing some of the oldest art in the world, Africa’s rock art tradition has long been overlooked by archaeologists and art historians alike.
Now the British Museum and Kenyan-based archaeological charity TARA (Trust for African Rock Art) are working to preserve this endangered heritage.
“The Museum wants to make Africa’s rock art available to both scholars and the general public alike. We hope to both protect and share this remarkable history for free with a global audience,” says Elizabeth Galvin, Curator of the African Rock Art Image Project.
The rock art tradition began in Africa 50,000 years ago, but abstract engravings may be up to 77,000 years old. It long predates writing, so serves as an important historical window into the culture and beliefs of early humans, and the world in which they lived. Today only a handful of isolated groups engage in the tradition, with a few sites still being used for fertility and rainmaking rituals.
The places in which ancient rock art is found have been little documented and largely unprotected, leading to a deterioration of the sites and the art itself. In 1996, TARA was set up, in order to record and protect the rich rock art heritage of the African continent.
The Nairobi-based NGO are committed to improving awareness about this tradition, and the endangered state that rock art sites are in.
“The ultimate aim is to record all this incredible heritage for humanity before it’s too late,” says David Coulson, TARA’s Executive Chairman.
TARA signed the partnership agreement with the British Museum, so that the Museum could use a digital copy of TARA’s photographic archive to educate people further about rock art. Since the sites are often fairly inaccessible geographically, and susceptible to natural and man-made destruction, the project will allow both academics and general audiences greater access to the tradition.
It will be the first time that such an extensive rock art archive will be available to the British public, and will provide one of the most complete public databases on African rock art in the world. 25,000 digital photos of sites from across Africa will be included, alongside material from archaeological and anthropological research.
The collection will include images of sites across the Fezzan of Southwest Libya, with dates ranging from 10,000 BC to 100 AD. Sites in the Messak Sattafet and the Acacus Mountains, (part of the Tadrart-Acacus trans-frontier UNESCO World Heritage site) will feature, depicting a wide range of subjects, from hippopotami to men in chariots. A survey of the South African sites will show the different styles and subject matters of the Khoi, San and other groups of humans from thousands of years ago. As well as this early art, the collection will also exhibit engravings and graffiti by European settlers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
In East Africa, the TARA archive will reveal geometric paintings and engravings by Twa forager-hunters as well as images of livestock, shields and clan markings made by Maasai and Samburu pastoralists in rock shelters. In these photos, ‘rock gongs’ – rocks with natural resonance once used for communication – feature prominently.
For more information, please visit britishmuseum.org/africanrockart.
The British Museum’s African rock art image project is supported by the Arcadia Fund.
TARA have also set up a crowdfunding initiative for their organisation. To donate, click here.
Author: Daisy Fletcher | Source: The Independent [June 27, 2015]
China launched a project Wednesday to restore the oldest part of the Great Wall, a stretch in eastern Shandong Province.Photo taken on May 11, 2015 shows clouds over the Jinshanling Great Wall after rainfalls in Chengde, north China's Hebei Province [Credit: Xinhua/Guo Zhongxing]
The first phase of the project covers 18 sections of the "Great Wall of Qi" with a total length of 61 km. It will cost 208 million yuan (34 million U.S. dollars), according to Xie Zhixiu, head of the provincial cultural heritage administration.
Shandong will also launch projects this year to protect the natural environment and ancient military facilities along the Wall, said Xie.
Built between 770 BC and 476 BC in the ancient state of Qi, today's Shandong, the Great Wall of Qi started at a small village in what is now Changqing District of Jinan City, with passes, gates, castles and beacon towers along a total length of 641 km till it met the sea near Qingdao.
Due to natural erosion, construction, mining and land reclamation, the Great Wall of Qi is in a worsening condition.
As military defense projects, more than 20 emperors in ancient China ordered the building or renovation of walls and fortifications. The Great Wall of China was made a World Heritage Site in 1987.
The Central Java Cultural Heritage Preservation Center (BPCB) has begun restoring Sukuh temple in Karanganyar regency, Central Java, aiming to prevent existing structural damage in the centuries-old temple from worsening.Sukuh Temple, Karanganyar [Credit: Stefanus Ajie]
The pyramid-shaped temple, which was discovered in 1815, has sunk 20 centimeters on the northeastern side over the past few decades. Furthermore, stones are coming apart in extended areas of the southwestern side and on the stairs leading to the temple’s main building.
BPCB restoration working group chief Sudarno said the extensive damage had put the whole structure of the temple in danger.
“The current damage is the accumulation of damage [from previous years] and it’s dangerous. That’s why we’ve had to prioritize the restoration of the temple this year,” Sudarno said.
The restoration work, he went on, had officially begun on June 18 and would last for two years. To carry out the major project, the BPCB is working with a joint team comprising Borobudur temple conservation experts, Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University (UGM) archaeologists and structural engineering experts and geologists from the National Development University (UPN), also in Yogyakarta.
During the restoration, local authorities will close the temple’s 5,440-square-meter compound to the public for security reasons.
Located in Sukuh village, around 35 kilometers east of Surakarta, Central Java, Sukuh temple is perched at around 910 meters above sea level on the western slopes of Mount Lawu.
Archaeologists believe the Javanese-Hindu temple was constructed in the 15th century, probably at the end of the Majapahit Empire era (between 1293 and 1500 CE), thought to be represented in a relief depicting a giant eating a human.
The restoration of Sukuh will, according to Sudarno, be followed by the dismantling of the temple’s main structure for research purposes. The center of the pyramid remained uncharted territory, he said.
The earliest book about the temple, Proveener Beschrijpten op Soekoh en Cetho, which was written by Dutch archaeologist Van der Vlis in the mid 19th century, reported that the temple’s center was covered in concrete.
“So far we can only predict what is inside the central part of the temple, soil or stone,” Sudarno said.
This year, he added, the restoration work would be focused on dismantling and research, while next year was for reassembling. The estimated Rp 941 million (US$70,500) cost of this year’s restoration work, according to Sudarno, is met by the state budget through the Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry.
The head of BPCB’s cultural heritage protection, development and utilization section, Gutomo, said many temples in the region were in need of restoration following a devastating 2006 earthquake that hit Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java. Priority, he went on, was given to temples categorized as part of the national cultural heritage and those in dangerously poor condition.
Other temples undergoing restoration work this year include Plaosan, Sewu, Bubrah and Lumbung, all of which are located in the same area as Prambanan temple.
“These four temples are part of the Prambanan temple national heritage,” Gutomo said.
Author: Kusumasari Ayuningtyas | Source: The Jakarta Post [June 29, 2015]
