Latest news with #Archaeology
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Miss World 2025 contestants visit Buddhist heritage site in India
Contestants of the 72nd Miss World Festival from the Asian and Oceanic regions marked the Buddha Purnima festival by visiting Buddhavanam, a renowned Buddhist heritage site at Nagarjunasagar in the south Indian state of Telangana. The heritage tour aims to highlight Telangana's rich history and diverse cultural heritage to offer the contestants the region's profound spiritual and historical legacy. The day's itinerary included a stopover at a guest house near Chintapalli, followed by a photo session at Vijay Vihar, set against the Nagarjunasagar reservoir. The contestants then proceeded to Buddhavanam, the Buddhist theme park developed on the northern bank of the Krishna river, spanning 279 acres. This project, taken up by the Telangana Government as part of an integrated Buddhist Circuit, is designed to showcase the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. The site features intricately carved structures, including the Mahastupa, known for its breathtaking drum and dome carvings, and a virtual hanging sky with lotus petals, offering a mesmerising experience. Dr Shivanagi Reddy, a representative of the state's Archaeology and Tourism Department, emphasised the historical and architectural significance of the site, stating, "Buddhavanam is a testament to India's ancient Buddhist heritage and its role in spreading the message of peace and compassion across the world," the official said. "It's a privilege to share this rich history with the world through the Miss World pageant." The contestants explored the Buddhacharitha Vanam, depicting the life of Buddha, Jataka Park, which highlights stories from Buddha's previous lives, Dhyana Vanam for meditation, and the Stupa Vanam, home to the imposing Maha Stupa, before visiting the Buddhist Heritage Museum, which houses ancient relics and sculptural panels depicting key events from Buddha's life. The visit concluded with a theatrical performance by 18 artists, capturing key episodes from the life of the Buddha. Julia Morley CBE, chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organisation, expressed her gratitude for the warm welcome.
The Hindu
24-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Historian calls for restoration of ancient Mallela Gutta hillock temples of Vijayanagara era
Gorantla-based historian MyNaa Swamy on Saturday urged the State government to undertake the restoration of ancient temples of the Vijayanagara empire, located atop the Mallela Gutta hillock near Vanavolu road in Sri Sathya Sai district. Speaking to the media at the Madhavaraya temple here, Mr. Swamy said that a formal representation was being submitted to the Department of Tourism, Archaeology, and Culture, seeking the reconstruction of these historically significant structures. The historian said that the department's Principal Secretary, Ajay Jain, had positively responded to the representation and assured that a team of officials from the Archaeology wing would soon conduct a ground-level survey of the site. Mr. Swamy said that the two temples on top of the hillock were constructed in Vijayanagara architectural style. 'One of them is still called the Madhava Rayala Sannidhi. Both temples slowly slipped into oblivion and were subjected to neglect and dilapidation,' he said. The historian said that in recent years, he along with local villagers from Vanavolu, and surrounding hamlets, visited the ruined sites to assess the condition of the temples. The historian said that the inscription carved on a large rock in front of the temple was a testimony that Emperor Venkata Raya-II of the Vijayanagara empire had granted land to the temple for its maintenance in the year 1638 of the Saka era. Mr. Swamy called for the preservation of such historical monuments as they would not only highlight the cultural and religious significance of the region, but also serve as a testimony to the lost heritage of the Vijayanagara dynasty.
Fox News
23-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
Ancient Christian figurines discovered in 1,500-year-old desert graves
Archaeologists recently uncovered extraordinary artifacts from an ancient African Christian community in Israel, according to officials. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the finds on May 14. In a Facebook post, the organization said the objects were discovered during an excavation at Tel Malḥata, a mound in the Arad Valley of the Negev Desert. In ancient times, Tel Malḥata served as a crossroads that merchants from the Arabian Peninsula, India and Africa used. The items were found in 1,500-year-old graves of women and children, according to the IAA. Pictures show multiple figurines with human face shapes, along with scattered artifacts, including jugs and pottery fragments. Archaeologists also found other burial offerings, including glassware, bronze bracelets, and jewelry made of stone and alabaster. The burials were conducted according to ancient Christian tradition, with excavators describing the figurines as being "heads of African figures, carved in black wood." In a journal article, researchers said the figurines show that a Christian community lived in Southern Israel "about 1,500 years ago, possibly with some of its members coming from Africa." Said the article, "Carved from bone, and from ebony wood – a rare raw material originating from southern India and Sri Lanka – the figurines were designed in the form of women and men bearing prominent African facial features, and with a hole for the purpose of wearing them around the neck." The study added, "It seems their purpose was not only decorative, but also as intimate personal items carrying with them a story of identity, tradition and memory." The IAA noted that the artifacts were "carefully placed" among the deceased women and children, and after 1,500 years, they're still "exceptionally well-preserved." "It is possible that the figures represent ancestors, and thus they reflect traditions passed down from generation to generation – even after the adoption of the Christian religion," researchers said. The article continued, "It is likely that a woman and a child who were buried side-by-side, and in whose graves two of the figurines were discovered, belonged to the same family – and perhaps they were even mother and son." The IAA noted that unearthing African figurines in Christian graves in Israel is quite unusual and called the find "a rare discovery." "[It] deepens our understanding of the cultural diversity among the inhabitants of the country in this region about 1,500 years ago," the agency wrote. Eli Escusido, director of the IAA, described the findings as "moving, not only from an archaeological perspective, but also on a human level." He added, "They serve as a reminder that the Land of Israel has always been a crossroads of cultures and peoples – individuals arrived here, integrated into the local population, and yet still carried with them traditions and beliefs from distant lands." The grave discoveries are a few of many remarkable IAA finds in the past year. In December, the agency announced the discovery of the oldest-known Chinese inscription in Israel, which was found at the holy site of Mount Zion. In March, an Israeli child uncovered a 3,800-year-old Canaanite amulet at a mound called Tel Azeka, located in the Judean Foothills.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Very rare' African ebony figurines found in 1,500-year-old Christian burials in Israeli desert
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed three 1,500-year-old Christian burials that contain very rare figurines crafted from ebony and bone and depict people from Africa. The figurines — which were likely worn as pendants — might depict these individuals' ancestors, researchers wrote in a new study, which was published in the most recent 2025 issue of the journal 'Atiqot. It's possible that the buried individuals or their ancestors were Africans who had converted to Christianity and then moved to the Negev, the researchers wrote. "The figurines show that a Christian community lived in the south of the country about 1,500 years ago, possibly with some of its members coming from Africa," the researchers said in a statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority. The three burials, which held the remains of two women and one child, were found within a cemetery near the archaeological site of Tel Malḥata in the northeastern Negev. The cemetery dates to the Roman-Byzantine period and has many cist, or stone-lined graves. Archaeologists have been excavating Tel Malḥata since the 1970s and have found artifacts showing that the site has been occupied off and one since the Middle Bronze Age (2000 to 1500 B.C.). During the early Roman period, the site had a fortress or fortified mansion, which later became "a central settlement and an administrative capital" during the Roman-Byzantine period, the researchers wrote in the study. Various papers have noted that the site sat on "an important trade crossroads through which passed luxury goods from Arabia and beyond," the team wrote in the study. Related: Ancient Egyptian queen's bracelets contain 1st evidence of long-distance trade between Egypt and Greece Trade likely brought the ebony to the individuals. Ebony is a black wood, which in this case came from the Ceylon ebony (Diospyros ebenum), a slow-growing tree from southern India and Sri Lanka. The Byzantine Empire began trading with India and Sri Lanka in the fourth century A.D., which provided the empire with plants, spices, cotton, silk and ebony, the researchers noted. The burials date from the sixth to seventh centuries A.D., a few centuries after this trade started. Of the five figurines analyzed, three are made from bone and two from ebony. While bone figurines were "common from the Neolithic period onward, and used in domestic rituals as well as in burials," the team wrote in the study that "ebony figurines are very rare." Even though the deceased were buried in Christian-style burials, "it is possible that the figures represent ancestors, and thus they reflect traditions passed down from generation to generation — even after the adoption of the Christian religion," the researchers said in the statement. One cist tomb held a woman who died between the ages of 18 and 21 and who had several grave goods: glass vessels, a bronze bracelet and a bone figurine depicting a woman, the researchers reported. Another cist tomb held a woman who may have been slightly older — she died between the ages of 20 and 30. She was buried with two alabaster jars and several grave goods, including one bone figurine showing the "upper part of a female body" and one ebony figurine that "depicts a very detailed face of a female, with typical African features," the researchers wrote in the study. RELATED STORIES —2,100-year-old farmstead in Israel found 'frozen in time' after owners disappeared —3-year-old picks up 'beautiful stone,' discovers 3,800-year-old scarab amulet in Israel —2,300-year-old grave in Israel contains remains of Greek courtesan who may have accompanied Alexander the Great's army The last cist tomb held the remains of a 6- to 8-year-old child who was buried with bronze jewelry and two figurines — one made of bone and one of ebony. The ebony pendant "shows a very detailed face and torso of a male figure, with typical African features," the researchers wrote in the study. "The figurine has long hair, and possibly represents an ancestor of the deceased." The ebony pendants in the woman's and child's graves are similar in size and style, which hints that they were related and were perhaps mother and child, the researchers said. "It is likely that a woman and a child who were buried side-by-side, and in whose graves two of the figurines were discovered, belonged to the same family — and perhaps they were even mother and son," the researchers said in the statement.
Jordan Times
12-05-2025
- General
- Jordan Times
Archaeologist reassesses scope of early Egyptian colonies in Southern Levant
Located 5km south of Gaza City, Tell es-Sakan has houses dating to 2,600-2,300 BC (Photo courtesy of Palestinian Department of Antiquities) AMMAN — The question of permanent Egyptian colonies in the southern Levant remains a matter of debate among scholars. Until the discovery of Tell es-Sakan, Archaeologist Eliot Braun was somewhat dubious of that characterisation, and he thought such occupation might have been confined to enclaves of Nilotic peoples within primarily south Levantine population centres. Braun accepts the existence of an Egyptian colony independent of south Levantine communities, but with reservations concerning its scope. "Scholars' characterisations tended to 'paint pictures' of that colony with very broad brushes and, I believe, to exaggerate the degree and nature of the Egyptian colonial episode. Their interpretations also purportedly indicated quite distinct territorial limits for the colony and even some rather precise descriptions of its socio-political and military activities," Braun said. Following is a brief review of the more detailed characterisations available in the literature, with my most recent interpretations of available evidence. Three, or possibly four sites in the southern Levant, all in the central, southwest fertile zone seem to have been populated by immigrants from Egypt's Nile Valley, he added. That hypothesis is extrapolated from the evidence of material culture at a handful of sites, which seems to have been predominantly Egyptian-associated, with little evidence of local south Levantine material culture. One site seems to have been central to the Egyptian colonial enterprise, while two or possibly three others were apparently its satellites, the archaeologist underlined. There may have also been a fifth site associated with the Egyptian colony, but information on it is equivocal. The first is Tell es-Sakan where wealth of Egyptian and Egyptianised material culture that apparently predominated at the site in four of the earliest strata, offers great credence to the idea of a permanent Egyptian community planted in the southern Levant, Braun elaborated, adding that the site is strategically placed adjacent to possible anchorages on the Mediterranean coast and not far from the border of the arid, northern Sinai land route. "Tell es-Sakan was an ideal location for a south Levantine colonial enterprise. The relative size of that occupation, as well as its associated massive fortifications, proclaim it the central site of Egyptian activity in the southern Levant in that time span," Braun underscored. The second is En Besor that was completely excavated and it has been dated to late EB I. The third is Tel Ma'ahaz which is less known and due to limited fieldwork, scholars concluded that it was a campsite. "However, the wealth of looted ceramics from the site argues for a more sedentary type of settlement as well as suggesting it too was largely, if not exclusively, populated by Egyptians," Braun underlined. The fourth one is Taur Ikhbeineh which is in a close proximity to Tell es-Sakan, and it seems likely that the site was some sort of satellite to the larger community occupying the fortified site nearby. The fifth one is locale of Sheikfh Zuweid, Northern Sinai Five intact Egyptian storage jars, four of which are published, purportedly from a locale near Sheikh Zuweid on the Wady el-Arish (located east of el-Arish where they were purchased) in northern Sinai, may, if indeed such a site existed and these vessels derive from it, indicate additional Egyptian activity at the very border of the southern Levant. "As these objects were looted in modern times, and acquired on the antiquities market, there is no surety of such an archaeological provenience. If such an Egyptian settlement actually existed there, then that site might have been associated with activity in more eastern regions, perhaps as a way-station on the way to copper sources at Timna and Faynan," Braun concluded.
