Latest news with #AlexandertheGreat
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
See it: Ancient gold ring dating back over 2,000 years found in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM – A small gold ring embedded with a dark red gemstone dating back to ancient times 2,300 years ago, was recently discovered in the Jerusalem Walls National Park in Israel. The piece of jewelry was found in an excavation of a layer of earth and material from a time known as the Early Hellenistic period. Officials said this is the second gold ring found at the same site from the same time period within just a few months. They were discovered in the foundations of a large building, which connotes the wealth of those who lived inside. Several earrings were also recently discovered in the same layer. A number were made of bronze, and one was made of gold and adorned with a horned animal image and gold bead, according to officials. All the jewelry dates from the Early Hellenistic Period. How Scientists Accidentally Turned Lead Into Gold Researcher Dr. Marion Zindel surmises that the rings and the rest of the jewelry were buried intentionally. "One of the possibilities now being examined is that the jewelry found in the building's foundations was in the context of executing a well-known Hellenistic period custom in which betrothed women would bury jewelry and other childhood objects in the house foundations as a symbol of the transition from childhood to adulthood," she said. Researchers also noted that the design of the jewelry may have been influenced by trade with faraway empires at the time. Specifically, jewelry that combines gold with brightly colored gemstones was a fashion influenced by Eastern countries, such as India and Persia. "These fashionable influences were enabled thanks to Alexander the Great's conquests, and the consequent trade channels opening with these regions," officials said. How To Watch Fox Weather Those who were there when the ring was unearthed said it holds a deeper meaning. "When I held this ring in my hand, I felt part of my history," said Rivka lengler, excavator at the City of David. "I felt that I could actually touch and connect with the people who lived here in Jerusalem thousands of years ago."Original article source: See it: Ancient gold ring dating back over 2,000 years found in Jerusalem
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
These remote desert oases are Egypt's hidden gems
The world knows Egypt for the Pyramids of Giza and cosmopolitan Cairo, the tourist-trodden temples of Luxor, and Red Sea resort towns. These coastal and Nile River Valley destinations are a narrow view of a country that's 90 percent desert. Few travelers venture into that 90 percent. The vast Western Desert, which blends into Libya and beyond, is Egypt's great unknown. Adventurers since Alexander the Great have braved the harsh clime and been rewarded with the untouched nature and unique culture of Egypt's oases. Seclusion has kept these desert gems, if not secret, then still wild. Egypt's oases are time capsules of millions of years of human and natural history, from when whales had legs to the Roman Empire. There are golden mummies at the Bahariya Oasis and tombs vandalized with ancient graffiti at Kharga. There are natural masterpieces like geode-like salt lakes in Siwa Oasis, hundreds of bubbling hot springs at Dakhla, and unearthly landscapes of dead volcanoes and limestone hoodoos near Bahariya and Farafra. (How to plan the ultimate adventure in Egypt, from Cairo to the Red Sea) Fayoum has remained relatively untouched despite being only an hour from Cairo. Its name may ring a bell for the Fayum Portraits, the mummy masks found in museums like the Louvre and the British Museum. Just two remain in their hometown, at the Kom Aushim Museum, the oasis's first stop on the drive in from Cairo. But it's natural phenomena that Fayoum should be better known for. It's home to the prehistoric Lake Qarun, whose saline waters are a magnet for wintering birds, including flamingos. The unofficially named Magic Lake, so secret you won't find it on Google Maps, lures humans looking for a swim or photo op. Its waters reflect the sky, providing extraordinary views of the Milky Way. The lake is part of Fayoum's most popular attraction, the Wadi Al-Hitan UNESCO World Heritage Site—the world's largest whale graveyard, dating back 40 million years. (This desert oasis is a time capsule of Egypt's grand past) Before the late 1980s, Siwa Oasis was accessible only by camel. Today, it's a 12-hour drive from Cairo. Yet, remoteness does little to dissuade those captivated by this mysterious oasis, just 30 miles from Libya. In antiquity, Siwa Oasis was a site for pilgrims seeking the wisdom of the Oracle of Amun. The temple's hilltop ruins are a highlight among the oasis's historic sites. Also notable are the medieval mud-brick Shali Fortress, towering over the city, and Gebel al-Mawta, the Mountain of the Dead, featuring hundreds of tombs carved into its face. But diving into Siwa Oasis' salt lakes easily surpasses all of them as a must-do. They look like liquified geodes, their electric-blue waters ringed by sparkling, crystallized shores. You can swim and float in hundreds of salt lakes, some large and others hardly big enough for one person. Bahariya Oasis is the most well-known of the five Western Desert oases in part because it's the easiest to reach from Cairo, but also because it has fascinating relics, hundreds of hot springs, and off-roading among volcanoes. It's said that Alexander the Great commemorated his visit to Siwa's Oracle of Amun with a temple of his own, which he built in Bahariya. It lies in ruins that you can visit, but more impressive is the Valley of the Golden Mummies burial site. Hundreds of gold-covered mummies have been uncovered there, and many more are thought to remain buried. Some are on display at the small on-site museum. Bahariya Oasis's best feature is the Black Desert, a Martian landscape of ancient dead volcanoes. Miles of sand mountains sprinkled with black volcanic rocks are captivatingly apocalyptic. A 4x4 adventure through them is a signature experience in Bahariya. The oasis's 400 natural hot-and-cold springs and Roman-era wells offer a refreshing rinse after a desert exploration. (Tour Egypt's Valley of the Whales for a window onto the history of evolution) Kharga is the 'Little Italy' of ancient Egypt. The Romans conquered the oasis as a strategic trading route, and Kharga today still exudes the glory of the Roman Empire. Most notable is the Fortress of El-Deir, an imposing structure rising out of the golden dunes, still nearly intact. It has been graffitied by the many travelers who have passed through since the third century, from Turkish traders to British soldiers during the World War I. Graffiti from prehistoric to medieval times can also be found at Gebel al-Teir, a mountain on the oasis' northern edge, where petroglyphs exist alongside the unique Coptic script of Egypt's Christians. The oasis's best site for Christian monuments is the expansive El Bagawat necropolis. Colorful biblical scenes—often covered in Greek graffiti—are painted on the hundreds of cave-like, mud-brick tombs at this Christian cemetery, one of the world's oldest and best-preserved. Dakhla, meaning 'inside' in Arabic, is perhaps even more of an insider destination than its neighboring Kharga. Like Kharga, Dakhla's prime was the Greco-Roman era. Ironically, the best remaining Roman monument in Dakhla is the ancient pagan Deir el-Hagar temple, similar to the Karnak Temple in Luxor. The other remarkable Roman feat in Dakhla now lies underground: A Roman settlement that formed the base of the village of Al Qasr. Today, it's an interesting maze of abandoned mud-brick buildings and narrow alleyways. Kharga has more ruins for the archaeological enthusiast, but Dakhla has endless hot springs to dip in. More than 600 springs bubble up from an aquifer thousands of feet below. You can soak in the pools of mineral-rich waters with a vista of pink limestone cliffs hugging the horizon. (A practical guide to travel in Egypt, from tipping culture to independent touring) Farafra is said to be Egypt's most isolated oasis. It's the entry point to the enigmatic White Desert, which looks like the surface of a moon in an alternate universe. In some areas, the glittering white sand is easily mistaken for a dusting of snow. In others, it resembles swaths of thick meringue on the world's biggest cake. Yet still other parts are fields of limestone hoodoos that tower precariously over your 4x4 like giant mushrooms. If you can handle the rough and tumble of the terrain, it's well worth venturing further into the desert to see the Neolithic remains that attract anthropologists from around the globe. About 30 miles out are remnants of a prehistoric village, the foundations of huts still standing. Nearby, rock art that's older than the pyramids decorates the walls of a cave, including handprints. Miranda Mullings is an American travel and culture writer based in Rome, Italy.
National Geographic
4 days ago
- National Geographic
These remote desert oases are Egypt's hidden gems
The world knows Egypt for the Pyramids of Giza and cosmopolitan Cairo, the tourist-trodden temples of Luxor, and Red Sea resort towns. These coastal and Nile River Valley destinations are a narrow view of a country that's 90 percent desert. Few travelers venture into that 90 percent. The vast Western Desert, which blends into Libya and beyond, is Egypt's great unknown. Adventurers since Alexander the Great have braved the harsh clime and been rewarded with the untouched nature and unique culture of Egypt's oases. Seclusion has kept these desert gems, if not secret, then still wild. Egypt's oases are time capsules of millions of years of human and natural history, from when whales had legs to the Roman Empire. There are golden mummies at the Bahariya Oasis and tombs vandalized with ancient graffiti at Kharga. There are natural masterpieces like geode-like salt lakes in Siwa Oasis, hundreds of bubbling hot springs at Dakhla, and unearthly landscapes of dead volcanoes and limestone hoodoos near Bahariya and Farafra. (How to plan the ultimate adventure in Egypt, from Cairo to the Red Sea) Fayoum Fayoum has remained relatively untouched despite being only an hour from Cairo. Its name may ring a bell for the Fayum Portraits, the mummy masks found in museums like the Louvre and the British Museum. Just two remain in their hometown, at the Kom Aushim Museum, the oasis's first stop on the drive in from Cairo. But it's natural phenomena that Fayoum should be better known for. It's home to the prehistoric Lake Qarun, whose saline waters are a magnet for wintering birds, including flamingos. The unofficially named Magic Lake, so secret you won't find it on Google Maps, lures humans looking for a swim or photo op. Its waters reflect the sky, providing extraordinary views of the Milky Way. The lake is part of Fayoum's most popular attraction, the Wadi Al-Hitan UNESCO World Heritage Site—the world's largest whale graveyard, dating back 40 million years. (This desert oasis is a time capsule of Egypt's grand past) Siwa Oasis Before the late 1980s, Siwa Oasis was accessible only by camel. Today, it's a 12-hour drive from Cairo. Yet, remoteness does little to dissuade those captivated by this mysterious oasis, just 30 miles from Libya. In antiquity, Siwa Oasis was a site for pilgrims seeking the wisdom of the Oracle of Amun. The temple's hilltop ruins are a highlight among the oasis's historic sites. Also notable are the medieval mud-brick Shali Fortress, towering over the city, and Gebel al-Mawta, the Mountain of the Dead, featuring hundreds of tombs carved into its face. But diving into Siwa Oasis' salt lakes easily surpasses all of them as a must-do. They look like liquified geodes, their electric-blue waters ringed by sparkling, crystallized shores. You can swim and float in hundreds of salt lakes, some large and others hardly big enough for one person. Bahariya Oasis Bahariya Oasis is the most well-known of the five Western Desert oases in part because it's the easiest to reach from Cairo, but also because it has fascinating relics, hundreds of hot springs, and off-roading among volcanoes. It's said that Alexander the Great commemorated his visit to Siwa's Oracle of Amun with a temple of his own, which he built in Bahariya. It lies in ruins that you can visit, but more impressive is the Valley of the Golden Mummies burial site. Hundreds of gold-covered mummies have been uncovered there, and many more are thought to remain buried. Some are on display at the small on-site museum. Bahariya Oasis's best feature is the Black Desert, a Martian landscape of ancient dead volcanoes. Miles of sand mountains sprinkled with black volcanic rocks are captivatingly apocalyptic. A 4x4 adventure through them is a signature experience in Bahariya. The oasis's 400 natural hot-and-cold springs and Roman-era wells offer a refreshing rinse after a desert exploration. (Tour Egypt's Valley of the Whales for a window onto the history of evolution) Kharga Kharga is the 'Little Italy' of ancient Egypt. The Romans conquered the oasis as a strategic trading route, and Kharga today still exudes the glory of the Roman Empire. Most notable is the Fortress of El-Deir, an imposing structure rising out of the golden dunes, still nearly intact. It has been graffitied by the many travelers who have passed through since the third century, from Turkish traders to British soldiers during the World War I. Graffiti from prehistoric to medieval times can also be found at Gebel al-Teir, a mountain on the oasis' northern edge, where petroglyphs exist alongside the unique Coptic script of Egypt's Christians. The oasis's best site for Christian monuments is the expansive El Bagawat necropolis. Colorful biblical scenes—often covered in Greek graffiti—are painted on the hundreds of cave-like, mud-brick tombs at this Christian cemetery, one of the world's oldest and best-preserved. Dakhla Dakhla, meaning 'inside' in Arabic, is perhaps even more of an insider destination than its neighboring Kharga. Like Kharga, Dakhla's prime was the Greco-Roman era. Ironically, the best remaining Roman monument in Dakhla is the ancient pagan Deir el-Hagar temple, similar to the Karnak Temple in Luxor. The other remarkable Roman feat in Dakhla now lies underground: A Roman settlement that formed the base of the village of Al Qasr. Today, it's an interesting maze of abandoned mud-brick buildings and narrow alleyways. Kharga has more ruins for the archaeological enthusiast, but Dakhla has endless hot springs to dip in. More than 600 springs bubble up from an aquifer thousands of feet below. You can soak in the pools of mineral-rich waters with a vista of pink limestone cliffs hugging the horizon. (A practical guide to travel in Egypt, from tipping culture to independent touring) Farafra Farafra is said to be Egypt's most isolated oasis. It's the entry point to the enigmatic White Desert, which looks like the surface of a moon in an alternate universe. In some areas, the glittering white sand is easily mistaken for a dusting of snow. In others, it resembles swaths of thick meringue on the world's biggest cake. Yet still other parts are fields of limestone hoodoos that tower precariously over your 4x4 like giant mushrooms. If you can handle the rough and tumble of the terrain, it's well worth venturing further into the desert to see the Neolithic remains that attract anthropologists from around the globe. About 30 miles out are remnants of a prehistoric village, the foundations of huts still standing. Nearby, rock art that's older than the pyramids decorates the walls of a cave, including handprints. Miranda Mullings is an American travel and culture writer based in Rome, Italy.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Tomb built for Alexander the Great's best friend is aligned with winter solstice, study suggests
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A grand tomb that may have been built for Alexander the Great's best friend and bodyguard around 2,300 years ago has an astronomical secret: Its burial chamber is aligned so that sunlight enters it on the winter solstice, a new study proposes. However, not everyone agrees with this interpretation. Some experts note that the ancient Macedonians used a lunisolar calendar, meaning the winter solstice's date would have moved from year to year. The tomb, now called the Kasta monument (also known as the Kasta tomb or Kasta tumulus), is near the ancient city of Amphipolis in northern Greece. In 2014, archaeologists excavated the tomb's burial chamber and found the skeletal remains of at least five people. For whom the monument was built is a matter of debate, but Hephaestion (also spelled Haphaestion), whose death in 324 B.C. sent Alexander the Great into severe grief, is considered a leading candidate by some scholars. In the new study, independent researcher Demetrius Savvides created a 3D model of the tomb and used Stellarium, an astronomical program that tracks how the positions of the sun and stars change over time, to re-create what the sky around the tomb looked like in 300 B.C. He found that on Dec. 21, the date of the winter solstice, the sun's light would have fully illuminated the burial chamber between approximately 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time, Savvides wrote in a study published May 15 in the Nexus Network Journal. Related: Was Alexander the Great eaten by sharks? Inside the wild theories for what happened to the iconic ruler's body. Sunlight reaches other parts of the monument at different times, he found. Around late July, it touches the entrance. Throughout autumn, the sunlight gradually travels on and near two carved sphinxes and finally passes between them, fully illuminating the burial chamber on the winter solstice. "It is highly probable that rituals were held within or in close proximity to the Kastas Monument, particularly on and around the winter solstice," Savvides told Live Science in an email. Initially, when the tomb was being built, it had no orientation to the winter solstice. But during its construction, the design was changed to create the solstice alignment, Savvides wrote in the paper. An alignment like this would have symbolized "themes of renewal, life, and cosmic order," Savvides said in the email. These themes are also seen in the tomb decoration, which shows a mosaic of Persephone, a goddess of vegetation and agriculture who is also queen of the underworld, Savvides noted. In addition, the tomb has a possible depiction of Cybele, a goddess who was associated with birth and fertility and was married to Attis, a god also associated with vegetation who died and was resurrected. One interesting question this research raises is whether Alexander the Great's tomb, which was constructed in Alexandria, had a burial chamber with an alignment like this, Savvides said. "The use of solar illumination and a consistent geometric design aligns with Hellenistic traditions where rulers, like Alexander the Great, used solar symbolism to reinforce their authority," Savvides said. "If we were to locate Alexander's tomb, it might resemble the Kastas Monument," Savvides said. Alexander's tomb has never been found and might be underwater or underneath Alexandria. Juan de Lara, a researcher at the University of Oxford who has investigated the alignments of ancient Greek buildings, had mixed reactions to the research. RELATED STORIES —Did Alexander the Great have any children? —How did Alexander the Great die? —'I nearly fell out of my chair': 1,800-year-old mini portrait of Alexander the Great found in a field in Denmark "I think it's great that scholars are asking these questions and using this technology to generate new ideas. In the case of the tomb, the researcher presented daring hypotheses," de Lara told Live Science in an email. "However, we must remember to be very careful when relating such findings to 'solar' events, as the Macedonians used a lunisolar calendar — meaning that the dates shifted from year to year." In other words, their winter solstice would have fallen on a different day each year, meaning this day of illumination might have been difficult to observe annually as the day changed. Additionally, de Lara noted that northern Greece is very cloudy in the winter and the effect may not have been noticeable.
Hindustan Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Roman mosaic art on display at Humayun's Tomb Museum in Delhi
Two fishermen carefully withdraw their nets from a river. The sunlight gleams on their bodies, and their sinewy arms appear tense, completely employed in their task. Their stance is wide, so as to not slip, and their jaws alert, eyes intensely focused on the task at hand; one of them appears to be instructing the other. This detailed image is not a photograph, but a 1,900-year-old mosaic tile made entirely of rocks not larger than a few millimetres. This is one of the five original pieces of art from Rome's Capitoline Museum, which are currently displayed at the Humayun's Tomb Museum as part of ongoing Mosaico exhibition. These pieces are roughly 1,700 to 1,900-year-old, and are on display till August 30. This is the first time that an international exhibition is being hosted at the museum located near Sunder Nursery. The exhibition follows the history of mosaics across Italy, spanning over 2,000 years. It is divided into seven areas, each depicting mosaics from an Italian city or town. The mosaics, seen through videos projected onto the walls, depict a variety of scenes from Italian history. These range from the famous wars of Alexander the Great and religious Christian imagery that adorn the ceilings of 5th century churches, to the daily habits and customs of Roman people at the time. 'The exhibition is articulated in two parts,' says Andrea Anastasio, director of the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre in Delhi, one of the organisers of the exhibition. 'It is a visual journey to take the viewer through the history of mosaics in Italy, and to make them understand the technique of Mosaic.' The five mosaics constituting the centrepiece of the exhibition are placed in a near-pitch black room. One is drawn to the tiles illuminated with yellow — the only lights in the room. One of the mosaics, visualising peacocks, originated from Roman emperor Hadrian's villa built around 120 AD, says Anastasio. The piece showcasing the fishermen is special for two reasons, he says. First, the colour shading is achieved using a sophisticated technique involving micro tesserae (small blocks of material used in mosaics), and second, the piece was excavated almost entirely intact. 'The original Roman cement that holds the entire mosaic is intact, whereas the other mosaics have been reconstructed on a new cemented base,' he added. Other pieces include a checkerboard pattern of alternating colours which the museum describes as a floor mosaic that originally decorated two rooms of Piazza d'Oro, a complex within Hadrian's villa. Another, stated to be 'probably a wall mosaic', depicts multiple motifs running across the design, and stands out due to its heavy usage of glass tiles. The description of a mosaic featuring the bust of a muscular male athlete states that it was originally part of a bath complex built by Roman emperor Septimius Severus in the late first century or early second century. A mosaic depicting two peacocks discusses themes of life, death, and resurrection. In it, one peacock is pecking a small bird on the ground, which is next to a poppy and other small plants. The description states that the peacock was a bird sacred to Dionysus, and symbolised immortality and resurrection beyond death. 'The beauty of this exhibition is in making the viewer understand the fascination of humans to reproduce reality in all forms,' said Anastasio. The second part of the exhibition will be held from October 2025 to March 2026, displaying 120 art pieces procured from the Museum of Civilization in Quebec. The main focus of the exhibition, Anastasio said, will be on floral motifs shared by different civilisations, from the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley. Aside from the Mosaico exhibition, the Humayun's Tomb Museum is currently also displaying a collection of antiquities and historical artefacts and models showing the history of Delhi, the focus being the emperor the tomb is dedicated to.
