logo
Eritrea: Commissioner of Culture and Sports Visits

Eritrea: Commissioner of Culture and Sports Visits

Zawya07-05-2025

Ambassador Zemede Tekle, Commissioner of Culture and Sports, visited the recently discovered ancient relic in Egri-Mekel, Emni-Haili sub-zone, on 2 May and held discussions with concerned bodies. Ambassador Zemede was accompanied by the Governor of the Southern Region and other regional officials, and was provided a briefing by experts regarding the nature and progress of the discovery.
Noting that ancient relics should remain at their place of origin to enable thorough research and collection of complete information, Ambassador Zemede called on all citizens to preserve heritage items, especially in areas where development programs are being implemented.
Dr. Tsegay Medin, head of Archaeological Research at the Commission of Culture and Sports, said that the human remains and their burial style are unique compared to findings from other areas, and that further study is required to determine their age.
Mr. HabteabTesfatsion, Governor of the Southern Region, expressed the readiness of the regional administration and the public to support the initiative.
Egri-Mekel is located 7 km southwest of Mendefera.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

How snail shells are shedding light on the Gulf's nomadic traditions and fishing heritage
How snail shells are shedding light on the Gulf's nomadic traditions and fishing heritage

The National

time2 days ago

  • The National

How snail shells are shedding light on the Gulf's nomadic traditions and fishing heritage

Snail shells collected at an archaeological site in Oman can be used to trace the Gulf's climate going back thousands of years, a new study reveals. This work can help us understand how people adapted to increasingly arid conditions in the region around 3000 to 2000 BCE, becoming more nomadic and settling in coastal areas. 'This was a time of major change in how societies were organised in the region, when the first monumental stone structures were built, people produced copper for trade with the civilisations of Mesopotamia and the Indus, and the date palm first came under cultivation,' Dr Lucas Proctor, one of the study's two primary authors, said. Central to the study in Ash Sharqiyah North province was the analysis of two types of oxygen in the shells of a land snail. Researchers compared the abundance of a heavier form of oxygen, Oxygen-18, to that of a much more common type, Oxygen-16. The study found that the extent to which the creatures incorporated Oxygen-18 correlated with how the area's climate had changed. Higher ratios of Oxygen-18 to Oxygen-16 were associated with arid conditions, while a lower ratio suggested a more humid climate. How shells document the past '[The ratio has] become more positive since 6000 BCE, indicating drier conditions,' said Dr Katharina Schmitt, the study's other primary author. 'Prior to this period, there was a recurring fluctuation between higher and lower values.' The paper, Unlocking the potential of the terrestrial gastropod species Zootecus insularis as a climate archive for arid regions, has been published in Nature Scientific Reports. The work links to a wider increase in the analysis of climatic data. In a 2021 paper, Prof Scott Elias, of Royal Holloway University of London, wrote that the drier results are partly due to natural variations in the Earth's climate in the era before human beings had any influence on climate change. As well as offering clues into the climate of the past, the shells also indicated a change in the type of vegetation growing as the region became much more arid. Dr Proctor said snails were 'great climate indicators' because they were very sensitive to alterations in the environment and were preserved in the ground for a long time. How many shells were analysed? More than 300 snails, including fossils, were collected, of which 169 were analysed in detail and dated. 'The snails are abundant in sediments throughout the Gulf region, so they can easily be collected from areas of interest,' Dr Proctor said. 'This is so important in arid locations like Arabia, where many of the traditional high-resolution climate records … struggle with preservation issues, gaps in their records, or only form in specific areas far away. 'Using these shells allows us to create a bridge between local conditions and these existing regional records to understand how different areas experienced these regional patterns.' While the approach used in the study has often been used to reconstruct climates and environments going back millions of years, it is 'much less common' to use land snails rather than aquatic snails, and to look at more recent timescales. Dr Proctor hopes the research 'will spur a wider interest in using a combination of preserved land and aquatic snail shells for climate reconstruction in the future'. How has the climate changed? Previous evidence indicates that between 12000 and 3000 BCE, global fluctuations in climate caused the Khareef monsoon – which now affects only southern Oman – to shift north, possibly as far as Abu Dhabi. This was caused by factors including the position of the Earth's orbit, the melting of ice sheets and the interaction of ocean currents and air masses, with both Arabia and the Sahara receiving far more seasonal rainfall than they do now. 'We think much of Oman and UAE could have supported savannah-like grasslands and seasonal lakes during this time,' Dr Proctor said. 'Eventually, around 6,000 to 5,000 years ago, this climate pattern began to change and the Khareef shifted south to its current position and a much more arid climate pattern took shape by about 4,000 years ago.' When it was humid the people living in the area could have nomadic foraging lifestyles in the interior, but more arid conditions meant communities had to retreat to the coasts or develop new strategies for living in the interior. 'This corresponds to the Late Neolithic transition, where we see the adoption of herding and specialised fishing economies,' Dr Proctor said. 'It probably also contributed to the adoption of date palm agriculture in the Bronze Age and the eventual invention of aflaj [irrigation systems] and the oasis system even later.'

Ancient bread rises again as Turkey recreates 5,000-year-old loaf
Ancient bread rises again as Turkey recreates 5,000-year-old loaf

Khaleej Times

time27-05-2025

  • Khaleej Times

Ancient bread rises again as Turkey recreates 5,000-year-old loaf

In the early Bronze Age, a piece of bread was buried beneath the threshold of a newly built house in what is today central Turkey. Now, more than 5,000 years later, archaeologists have unearthed it, and helped a local bakery to recreate the recipe — with customers lining up to buy it. Round and flat like a pancake, 12 centimetres (five inches) in diameter, the bread was discovered during excavations at Kulluoba, a site near the central Anatolian city of Eskisehir. "This is the oldest baked bread to have come to light during an excavation, and it has largely been able to preserve its shape," said Murat Turkteki, archaeologist and director of the excavation. "Bread is a rare find during an excavation. Usually, you only find crumbs," he told AFP. "But here, it was preserved because it had been burnt and buried," he said. The bread was charred and buried under the entrance of a dwelling built around 3,300 BC. A piece had been torn off, before the bread was burnt, then buried when the house was built. "It makes us think of a ritual of abundance," Turkteki said. 'Moved by this discovery' Unearthed in September 2024, the charred bread has been on display at the Eskisehir Archaeological Museum since Wednesday. "We were very moved by this discovery. Talking to our excavation director, I wondered if we could reproduce this bread," said the city's mayor, Ayse Unluce. Analyses showed that the bread was made with coarsely ground emmer flour, an ancient variety of wheat, and lentil seeds, with the leaf of an as yet undetermined plant used as yeast. Ancient emmer seeds no longer exist in Turkey. To get as close as possible to the original recipe, the municipality, after analysing the ancient bread, decided to use Kavilca wheat, a variety that is close to ancient emmer, as well as bulgur and lentils. At the Halk Ekmek bakery (meaning "People's Bread" in Turkish), promoted by the municipality to offer low-cost bread, employees have been shaping 300 loaves of Kulluoba by hand every day. "The combination of ancestral wheat flour, lentils and bulgur results in a rich, satiating, low-gluten, preservative-free bread," said Serap Guler, the bakery's manager. The first Kulluoba loaves, marketed as 300-gramme (11-ounce) cakes that cost 50 Turkish lira (around $1.28), sold out within hours. "I rushed because I was afraid there wouldn't be any left. I'm curious about the taste of this ancient bread," said customer Suzan Kuru. Drought resistant In the absence of written traces, the civilisation of Kulluoba remains largely mysterious. In the Bronze Age, the Hattians, an Anatolian people who preceded the Hittites, lived in the Eskisehir region. "Kulluoba was a medium-sized urban agglomeration engaged in commercial activities, crafts, agriculture and mining. There was clearly a certain family and social order," said archaeologist Deniz Sari. The rediscovery of the bread has sparked interest in the cultivation of ancient wheats better adapted to drought. Once rich in water sources, the province of Eskisehir is today suffering from drought. "We're facing a climate crisis, but we're still growing corn and sunflowers, which require a lot of water," said Unluce, the local mayor. "Our ancestors are teaching us a lesson. Like them, we should be moving towards less thirsty crops," she added. The mayor wants to revive the cultivation of Kavilca wheat in the region, which is resistant to drought and disease. "We need strong policies on this subject. Cultivating ancient wheat will be a symbolic step in this direction," she said. "These lands have preserved this bread for 5,000 years and given us this gift. We have a duty to protect this heritage and pass it on."

Eritrea: Commissioner of Culture and Sports Visits
Eritrea: Commissioner of Culture and Sports Visits

Zawya

time07-05-2025

  • Zawya

Eritrea: Commissioner of Culture and Sports Visits

Ambassador Zemede Tekle, Commissioner of Culture and Sports, visited the recently discovered ancient relic in Egri-Mekel, Emni-Haili sub-zone, on 2 May and held discussions with concerned bodies. Ambassador Zemede was accompanied by the Governor of the Southern Region and other regional officials, and was provided a briefing by experts regarding the nature and progress of the discovery. Noting that ancient relics should remain at their place of origin to enable thorough research and collection of complete information, Ambassador Zemede called on all citizens to preserve heritage items, especially in areas where development programs are being implemented. Dr. Tsegay Medin, head of Archaeological Research at the Commission of Culture and Sports, said that the human remains and their burial style are unique compared to findings from other areas, and that further study is required to determine their age. Mr. HabteabTesfatsion, Governor of the Southern Region, expressed the readiness of the regional administration and the public to support the initiative. Egri-Mekel is located 7 km southwest of Mendefera. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store