A "unique" Roman headstone is the first of its kind unearthed in the UK, experts believe. The tombstone was found near skeletal remains thought to belong to the person named on its inscription, making the discovery unique.
The rare Roman tombstone marking the grave of a 27-year-old woman unearthed in Cirencester [Credit: BBC]
Archaeologists behind the dig in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said they believed it marked the grave of a 27-year-old woman called Bodica. The bodies of three children were also found in the "family burial plot".
Neil Holbrook, of Cotswold Archaeology, translated the Roman inscription on the tombstone, which reads: "To the spirit of the departed Bodica [or Bodicaca], wife, lived for 27 years."
Mr Holbrook said: "The unique aspect is that you can put a name to the person who lies beneath the tombstone."
A skull was found near the Roman tombstone which is believed to belong to the 27-year-old woman [Credit: BBC]
"What's weird is that the inscription only fills half of the panel, so there's a space left below it. You can see horizontal marking-out lines, so I guess what they were going to do was come back later when her husband died and add his name to the inscription," Mr Holbrook added.
He added that the skeletal remains, including the skull, were being excavated from beneath the headstone.
Mr Holbrook has suggested the name Bodica was of Celtic origin. "Perhaps Bodica is a local Gloucestershire girl who's married an incoming Roman or Gaul from France and has adopted this very Roman way of death," he said.
He said making the "good quality" headstone must have cost "quite a lot of money" at the time.
The headstone's detailed carved pediment - or triangular top section - was particularly interesting, he said.
"Looking at the pediment, those little 'teeth' which we could see from the back are decorative swirls. It looks like a draping of a cloth or sheet, so in many ways the decoration is really fine."
The tombstone was discovered during a dig at a Roman cemetery in Cirencester [Credit: BBC]
About 300 to 400 Roman tombstones have been discovered in the UK, with the tombstone being the tenth found in Cirencester.
The stone, which is made of Cotswold limestone, was partially cleaned up on-site by the team, but will be taken away for further inspection.
Mr Holbrook said it was "amazing" the tombstone had survived.
"When they built the garage in the 1960s they scraped across the top of the stone to put a beam in. If they'd gone a couple of inches lower they'd have smashed it to smithereens."
Roman tombstones were often taken away and smashed up to be re-used in buildings in Cirencester in the Medieval period.
The tombstone was lifted up by archaeologists revealing details of the Roman who was buried there [Credit: BBC]
"This stone might have fallen over quite quickly, and was covered over, and that's why it escaped the stone robbers," Mr Holbrook said.
A total of 55 Roman graves have been found during the dig at St James Place. A further 70 graves were discovered on the same site of the former Bridges Garage on Tetbury Road and a bronze cockerel figurine was found in 2011.
Cirencester, or Corinium as it was known, was the largest town in Roman Britain after London.
A painting hanging on the wall in an art gallery tells one story. What lies beneath its surface may tell quite another.
After Raphael 1483 - 1520, probably before 1600. It is an oil on wood, 87 x 61.3 cm. (Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876) [Credit: Copyright National Gallery, London]
Often in a Rembrandt, a Vermeer, a Leonardo, a Van Eyck, or any other great masterpiece of western art, the layers of paint are covered with varnish, sometimes several coats applied at different times over their history. The varnish was originally applied to protect the paint underneath and make the colors appear more vivid, but over the centuries it can degrade. Conservators carefully clean off the old varnish and replace it with new, but to do this safely it is useful to understand the materials and structure of the painting beneath the surface. Conservation scientists can glean this information by analyzing the hidden layers of paint and varnish.
Now, researchers from Nottingham Trent University's School of Science and Technology have partnered with the National Gallery in London to develop an instrument capable of non-invasively capturing subsurface details from artwork at a high resolution. Their setup, published in an Optics Express paper, will allow conservators and conservation scientists to more effectively peek beneath the surface of paintings and artifacts to learn not only how the artist built up the original composition, but also what coatings have been applied to it over the years.
Traditionally, analyzing the layers of a painting requires taking a very small physical sample -- usually around a quarter of a millimeter across -- to view under a microscope. The technique provides a cross-section of the painting's layers, which can be imaged at high resolution and analyzed to gain detailed information on the chemical composition of the paint, but does involve removing some original paint, even if only a very tiny amount. When studying valuable masterpieces, conservation scientists must therefore sample very selectively from already-damaged areas, often only taking a few minute samples from a large canvas.
More recently, researchers have begun to use non-invasive imaging techniques to study paintings and other historical artifacts. For example, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) was originally developed for medical imaging but has also been applied to art conservation. Because it uses a beam of light to scan the intact painting without removing physical samples, OCT allows researchers to analyze the painting more extensively. However, the spatial resolution of commercially-available OCT setups is not high enough to fully map the fine layers of paint and varnish.
The Nottingham Trent University researchers gave OCT an upgrade. "We're trying to see how far we can go with non-invasive techniques. We wanted to reach the kind of resolution that conventional destructive techniques have reached," explained Haida Liang, who led the project.
In OCT, a beam of light is split: half is directed towards the sample, and the other half is sent to a reference mirror. The light scatters off both of these surfaces. By measuring the combined signal, which effectively compares the returned light from the sample versus the reference, the apparatus can determine how far into the sample the light penetrated. By repeating this procedure many times across an area, researchers can build up a cross-sectional map of the painting.
Liang and her colleagues used a broadband laser-like light source -- a concentrated beam of light containing a wide range of frequencies. The wider frequency range allows for more precise data collection, but such light sources were not commercially available until recently.
Along with a few other modifications, the addition of the broadband light source enabled the apparatus to scan the painting at a higher resolution. When tested on a late 16th-century copy of a Raphael painting, housed at the National Gallery in London, it performed as well as traditional invasive imaging techniques.
"We are able to not only match the resolution but also to see some of the layer structures with better contrast. That's because OCT is particularly sensitive to changes in refractive index," said Liang. In some places, the ultra-high resolution OCT setup identified varnish layers that were almost indistinguishable from each other under the microscope.
Eventually, the researchers plan to make their instrument available to other art institutions. It could also be useful for analyzing historical manuscripts, which cannot be physically sampled in the same way that paintings can.
In a parallel paper recently published in Optics Express, the researchers also improved the depth into the painting that their apparatus can scan. The two goals are somewhat at odds: using a longer wavelength light source could enhance the penetration depth, but shorter wavelength light (as used in their current setup) provides the best resolution.
"The next challenge is perhaps to be able to do that in one instrument, as well as to extract chemical information from different layers," said Liang.
As the detailed 3 month excavation of Shakespeare’s Curtain Theatre comes to a close and development of >The Stage gets underway, recent discoveries are poised to completely transform our understanding of the evolution of Elizabethan theatres.
The Curtain Theatre [Credit: (c) MOLA]
After further careful excavation, it has now been confirmed that the rectangular theatre was purpose built for performance and entertainment, and housed a long, rectangular stage with evidence of an unusual passageway running beneath it.
The early stages of the dig confirmed that the theatre was not the polygonal structure we had anticipated, but this latest set of discoveries give us more detail about this early Elizabethan theatre. The discovery of an oblong stage which is far longer than expected and the mysterious passageway offers a tantalising glimpse into the secrets that are still to be uncovered. The MOLA teams is now embarking on post-excavation work to further explore the relationship between the unusual shape of the stage, the production and staging and the mysterious backstage areas.
16th century money pot finials [Credit: (c) MOLA]
Discovering that the theatre was purpose built tells us this was not a repurposed space with a stage added, it was a place where people came to be immersed in entertainment. It had timber galleries with mid and upper areas for those who could afford to spend a little more, and a courtyard made from compacted gravel for those with less to spend.
Throughout findings, archaeologists have also been able to tell that The Curtain Theatre is one of earliest Elizabethan playhouses where people actually paid money to see performances and be entertained. We know this because fragments of ceramic money boxes have been found. These fragments are a really exciting find because the pots would have been used to collect the entry fees from theatregoers and then been taken to an office to be smashed and the money counted. This office was known as the ‘box office’, which is actually the origin of the term we still use today!
A Bartmann jug medallion [Credit: (c) MOLA]
The excavation team also found glass beads and pins, these are small but fascinating finds that can offer us a glimpse backstage, as they may have come from actors’ costumes. They also unearthed drinking vessels and clay pipes, which relate to the making merry of revelling theatregoers and actors.
We now know so much more about the theatre than ever before and these discoveries offer a rare and exciting opportunity to explore the new questions they pose.
Archaeologist records the remains at the Curtain Theatre [Credit: (c) MOLA]
For now, the excavated remains of the Curtain Theatre, which takes its name from Curtain Road, have been carefully covered over with a protective membrane and a special type of pH neutral sand, while construction of The Stage, a new £750m mixed-use development backed by a consortium led by Cain Hoy and designed by architects Perkins+Will, continues.
A display of the finds will sit alongside the theatre remains as part of a cultural and visitor centre at the heart of the completed development, which will also feature 33,000 sq ft of retail, over 200,000 sq ft of office space, more than 400 homes, and over an acre of vibrant public space including a performance area and a park.
Source: Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) [November 11, 2016]
Saxon remains have been found by archaeologists excavating Berkeley Homes development site on the Royal Arsenal Riverside site.
Saxon burial being excavated [Credit: South London Press]
Oxford Archaeology have uncovered evidence of nearly 3000 years of human activity on the west side of the site which in ancient times would have been a gravel peninsula surrounded by marshlands.
Surprisingly a burial site with 76 skeletons have been found which have been radio carbon dated to the late 7th or early 8th century meaning they are former inhabitants of Saxon Woolwich.
Project manager David Score said ‘It is amazing to find such a large number of relatively well preserved skeletons, despite all the later building on the site over the years. They seem to represent a mixed population with males and females, children and adults present. Only one possible knife was recorded as a probable grave deposit so it seems that the burials do represent an early Christian tradition’.
Previous excavations on adjacent sites have revealed an enormous ditch which was constructed in the late Iron Age which indicates trading with the Roman Empire across the channel.
Archaeologists have also recorded the remains of medieval houses and evidence of clay pipe manufacture in addition to remains from the Victorian gas works housed there.
Karl Whiteman, the divisional managing director for Berkeley, ‘It is incredible to see evidence from so many different time periods still in tact at Royal Arsenal Riverside. These excavations will enable us and the residents of Woolwich to get an even better understanding of what life was like here many centuries ago.”
Author: Mandy Little | Source: South London Press [October 16, 2015]
Researchers have used complex image analysis to uncover annotations that were hidden for nearly 500 years between the pages of England's oldest printed bible.
The annotations were discovered in England's first printed Bible, published in 1535 by Henry VIII's printer. It is one of just seven surviving copies, and is housed inLambeth Palace Library, London. The secrets hidden in the Lambeth Library copy were revealed during research by Dr Eyal Poleg, a historian from Queen Mary University of London.
"We know virtually nothing about this unique Bible -- whose preface was written by Henry himself -- outside of the surviving copies. At first, the Lambeth copy first appeared completely 'clean'. But upon closer inspection I noticed that heavy paper had been pasted over blank parts of the book. The challenge was how to uncover the annotations without damaging the book" said Dr Poleg.
Dr Poleg sought the assistance of Dr Graham Davis, a specialist in 3D X-ray imaging at QMUL's School of Dentistry. Using a light sheet, which was slid beneath the pages, they took two images in long exposure -- one with the light sheet on and one with it off.
The first image showed all the annotations, scrambled with the printed text. The second picture showed only the printed text. Dr Davis then wrote a novel piece of software to subtract the second image from the first, leaving a clear picture of the annotations.
The annotations are copied from the famous 'Great Bible' of Thomas Cromwell, seen as the epitome of the English Reformation. Written between 1539 and 1549, they were covered and disguised with thick paper in 1600. They remained hidden until their discovery this year. According to Dr Poleg, their presence supports the idea that the Reformation was a gradual process rather than a single, transformative event.
"Until recently, it was widely assumed that the Reformation caused a complete break, a Rubicon moment when people stopped being Catholics and accepted Protestantism, rejected saints, and replaced Latin with English. This Bible is a unique witness to a time when the conservative Latin and the reformist English were used together, showing that the Reformation was a slow, complex, and gradual process."
The annotations were written during the most tumultuous years of Henry's reign. The period included the move away from the Church of Rome, The Act of Supremacy, the suppression of the monasteries, and the executions of Anne Boleyn, Thomas More, and John Fisher, as well as the Pilgrimage of Grace, which moved Henry to a more cautious approach.
Dr Poleg was also able to trace the subsequent life of the book, after the point at which Latin Bibles had definitively fallen out of use. On the back page he uncovered a hidden, handwritten transaction between two men: Mr William Cheffyn of Calais, and Mr James Elys Cutpurse of London. Cutpurse, in medieval English jargon, means pickpocket. The transaction states that Cutpurse promised to pay 20 shillings to Cheffyn, or would go to Marshalsea, a notorious prison in Southwark. In subsequent archival research, Dr Poleg found that Mr Cutpurse was hanged in Tybourn in July 1552.
"Beyond Mr Cutpurse's illustrious occupation, the fact that we know when he died is significant. It allows us to date and trace the journey of the book with remarkable accuracy -- the transaction obviously couldn't have taken place after his death," said Dr Poleg.
He added: "The book is a unique witness to the course of Henry's Reformation. Printed in 1535 by the King's printer and with Henry's preface, within a few short years the situation had shifted dramatically. The Latin Bible was altered to accommodate reformist English, and the book became a testimony to the greyscale between English and Latin in that murky period between 1539 and 1549.
"Just three years later things were more certain. Monastic libraries were dissolved, and Latin liturgy was irrelevant. Our Bible found its way to lay hands, completing a remarkably swift descent in prominence from Royal text to recorder of thievery."
Source: University of Queen Mary London [March 15, 2016]
London's relentless building boom has dug up another chunk of the city's history — one with a surprise for scholars of Shakespearean theatre.
Archaeologists work on the exposed remains as the site of Shakespeare's Curtain Theatre is excavated in Shoreditch in London, Tuesday [Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth]
Archaeologists are excavating the remains of the Curtain, a 16th-century playhouse where some of the Bard's plays were first staged, before a new apartment tower sprouts on the site. Unexpectedly, the dig has revealed that the venue wasn't round, like most Elizabethan playhouses. It was rectangular.
That came as a surprise, because the best-known fact about the Curtain is that Shakespeare's "Henry V" was first staged here — and the play's prologue refers to the building as "this wooden O."
"This is palpably not a circle," Julian Bowsher, an expert on Elizabethan theatres, said during a tour of the site Tuesday.
Archaeologists are excavating the remains of the Curtain, a 16th-century theatre where some of the Bard's play's were staged, before another gleaming tower joins the city's crowded skyline [Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth]
The discovery has made Bowsher rethink some of his ideas about Tudor playhouses. He suspects that the Curtain — unlike the more famous Globe and Rose theatres — wasn't built from scratch, but converted from an existing building.
"Out of the nine playhouses that we know in Tudor London, there are only two that have no reference to any construction," he said — including the Curtain. "It's beginning to make sense now."
Where does that leave "Henry V"? Heather Knight, senior archaeologist at Museum of London Archaeology , said the play may still have premiered at the Curtain in 1599, but without the prologue.
Archaeologist John Quarrell works on the exposed remains as the site of Shakespeare's Curtain Theatre is excavated in Shoreditch in London [Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth]
"There's a school of thought now that says prologues were actually a later addition," she said.
The Curtain's remains were uncovered in 2011 on a site earmarked for development in Shoreditch, a scruffy-chic, fast-gentrifying area on the edge of London's financial district.
Archaeologists began excavating intensively last month, before construction of a 37-storey luxury apartment tower and office complex named — with a nod to its heritage — The Stage.
They will keep digging until the end of June, and visitors can book tours of the excavations as part of events to mark this year's 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.
An archaeologist works on the exposed remains as the site of Shakespeare's Curtain Theatre is excavated in Shoreditch in London [Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth]
The site's developers have promised to keep the foundations of the historic theatre on public view and to build a visitor center to display some of the archaeologists' finds.
These include clay pipes that were used to smoke tobacco — introduced to Britain from North America in the 16th century — and a bird whistle which may have been used as a theatrical special effect. It could have featured in the scene in "Romeo and Juliet" — performed at the Curtain — in which the heroine reassures her lover that "it was the nightingale, and not the lark" that he'd heard.
Knight says the Curtain site "has probably the best preserved remains of any of the playhouses we've looked at."
Archaeologists work on the exposed remains as the site of Shakespeare's Curtain Theatre is excavated in Shoreditch in London, Tuesday [Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth]
The dig has uncovered the outline of a rectangular venue about 100 feet (30 metres) by 72 feet (22 metres) that could hold about 1,000 people. Workers have uncovered sections of the theatre's gravel yard, where "groundlings" who had bought cheap tickets stood, and segments of wall up to 5 feet (1.5 metres) high.
The new building that will rise on the site — where apartments are being offered starting at 695,000 pounds ($1 million) — is part of a construction boom, fueled by London's sky-high property prices, that is transforming large tracts of the city. In the process, it is creating something of a golden era for London archaeology.
Nearby, work on the new Crossrail transit line has uncovered everything from 14th-century plague victims to Roman sandals.
An archaeologist works on the exposed remains as the site of Shakespeare's Curtain Theatre is excavated in Shoreditch in London [Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth]
Knight says the Curtain dig is filling in the picture of one of the oldest and least-known London playhouses, which served as a base for Shakespeare's troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, between 1597 and 1599.
"This will give us real insight into these early playing spaces," Knight said. "It will help us understand the type of building that playwrights were writing for as well as performing in.
"It will also help us understand what type of audience was attending performances in these buildings. And also it'll fill in those gaps that are missing from the historical record."
A haul of valuable coins issued by Roman general Mark Antony have been discovered in a Welsh field - more than 2,000 years after they were buried.
The coins issued by Mark Antony were discovered in a Welsh field [Credit: Wales News Service]
It comes as archaeologists claimed to have found a small Roman fort on Anglesey, North Wales, in what has been described as a "ground-breaking" discovery.
The coins - unearthed by two friends out walking - have been hailed by historians as "a significant find".
Dr Richard Annear, 65, and John Player, 43, found the silver coins dating back to 31 BC buried in a field near the small village of Wick, South Wales.
The coins were found in a field in the small Welsh village of Wick [Credit: Wales News Service]
Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Annear reported the find to curators who were able to lift a small pot containing the coins out of the ground.
A numismatist described the three Roman denarii coins as "worth tens of thousands of pounds".
The rare hoard took place just a mile from another historic find of 130 denarii 15 years ago.
The coins date back to 31 BC [Credit: Wales News Service]
Assistant keeper at the National Museum of Wales, Edward Besly, said: "Each coin represents about a day's pay at the time, so the hoard represents a significant sum of money."
"The hoard's find spot is only a mile as the crow flies from that of another second century silver hoard found in 2000. Together the hoards point to a prosperous coin-using economy in the area in the middle of the second century."
The three silver denarii were part of a 91-coin haul comprising of currency issued by Roman rulers spanning 200 years.
Selection of coins found in a field in the small Welsh village of Wick [Credit: Wales News Service]
Currency dating back to the reigns of Emperor Nero, 54AD-68AD, and Marcus Aurelius, 161AD to 180AD, were also uncovered in the landmark find.
Senior Coroner Andrew Barkley ruled that the coins are "treasure trove" at Cardiff Coroner's Court.
The items will now be taken to the Treasure Valuation Committee, in London, where they will be independently valued.
Author: Gareth Wyn Williams | Source: Mirror [November 28, 2015]
The bodies of about 800 children aged under six have been unearthed by archaeologists ahead of the construction of a road in Lancashire.
The remains of two people were found in one grave [Credit: Headland Archaeology]
They were among 1,967 bodies exhumed at St Peter's Burial Ground, which opened in 1821 in Blackburn.
The large number of children found is being put down to a lack of good sanitation and medicines leading to a high mortality rate.
Many of them would have died from infections, the archaeologists believe.
Sixteen coins from 1821 - when George IV was king - were also found [Credit: Headland Archaeology]
Bodies were exhumed from about 30% of the burial ground, which was in "intense use" up to the 1860s, a spokeswoman for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council said.
Dave Henderson, an expert in the study of bones with Headland Archaeology, said full analysis of the skeletons had "barely started" but the team believed most of the children had died from infections in the lungs and guts.
He said: "They would have died quite quickly so the signs may not turn up in their skeletons."
Children were found buried with colourful glass bead jewellery [Credit: Headland Archaeology]
He said the town was becoming overcrowded at the time as it was "a very large centre for the industrial mills and the population grew very quickly".
The work could "throw light on the lives of ordinary people" outside London, where most previous large studies of this era have been carried out, he said.
Records of 176 memorial stones showed the most common names for girls were Elizabeth and Mary, while John and Thomas were popular for boys.
Archaeologists worked on 30% of the burial ground in Blackburn [Credit: Headland Archaeology]
Among the finds was a "time capsule", containing 16 coins in circulation at the time.
Experts believe one of the men buried at the site was a soldier injured in the Crimean War.
Julie Franklin, finds manager, said objects found in graves - including "some incredibly poignant findings of hands still bearing cheap brass wedding rings, or children buried with colourful glass bead jewellery" - revealed what was important to their loved ones.
An artist's impression of the foundations of the Georgian-era church [Credit: Headland Archaeology]
Some burials continued in existing family plots at the graveyard until 1945.
St Peter's Church, which would have seated 1,500 parishioners, became dilapidated in the mid-20th Century and was demolished to ground level in 1976.
The Bishop of Blackburn will hold a memorial service this summer and reburials will take place in a different part of the graveyard.
The archaeological work on the area, which will be used for the building of the Freckleton Street link road, was commissioned by Capita on behalf of the council.
"Heartbreaking" graffiti uncovered in a Cambridgeshire church has revealed how three sisters from one family died in a plague outbreak in 1515.
The medieval graffiti, showing the names of Cateryn, Jane and Amee Maddyngley, was discovered on a wall of All Saint's and St Andrew's Church in Kingston, near Cambridge, by amateur archaeologists [Credit: Norfolk and Suffolk Medieval Graffiti Society]
The names Cateryn, Jane and Amee Maddyngley and the date were inscribed on stonework in Kingston parish church.
It was found by Norfolk and Suffolk Medieval Graffiti Survey volunteers.
Archaeologist Matt Champion said the project had shown church plague graffiti was "far more common than previously realised".
"The most heartbreaking inscriptions are those that refer to long-dead children," he said.
The Maddyngley graffiti is hidden under limewash near the door in All Saints' and St Andrew's church.
The family lived in Kingston, seven miles from Cambridge, and were tenant farmers who "rarely turn up in parish records", he said.
Records reveal the Maddyngleys had lived in Kingston since at least 1279 [Credit: Google]
Mr Champion believes Cateryn, Jane and Amee must have been children because their names are not found as adults in any of the records.
In 1515, there was an outbreak of bubonic plague in London which spread across south east England.
Mr Champion said Cambridge University suspended its classes and large gatherings of people were banned, "just as we see today with the Ebola outbreaks in Africa".
Children were particularly hard-hit and usually hastily buried in unmarked graves.
The graffiti survey was set up in 2010 and is the first attempt to survey pre-Reformation graffiti in churches since the late 1960s.
Volunteers use digital cameras and powerful lamps to reveal previously hidden or faded markings.
At least 60% of the 650 churches surveyed in Norfolk, Suffolk and north Essex have "significant amounts" of graffiti and volunteers have recorded up to 500 pieces in many of them.
The project has confirmed more graffiti is found to have been created during times of pestilence such as the Black Death of 1349 and subsequent outbreaks of plagues.
"It was a votive offering at a time where prayer counted," Mr Champion said.
The British Museum is to stage a major exhibition on two lost Egyptian cities and their recent rediscovery by archaeologists beneath the Mediterranean seabed. Opening in May 2016 for an extended run of six months, The BP exhibition Sunken cities: Egypt’s lost worlds will be the Museum’s first large-scale exhibition of underwater discoveries. It will show how the exploration of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus – submerged at the mouth of the River Nile for over a thousand years – is transforming our understanding of the relationship between ancient Egypt and the Greek world and the great importance of these ancient cities.
300 outstanding objects will be brought together for the exhibition including more than 200 spectacular finds excavated off the coast of Egypt near Alexandria between 1996 and 2012. Important loans from Egyptian museums rarely seen before outside Egypt (and the first such loans since the Egyptian revolution) will be supplemented with objects from various sites across the Delta drawn from the British Museum’s collection; most notably from Naukratis – a sister harbour town to Thonis-Heracleion and the first Greek settlement in Egypt.
Likely founded during the 7th century BC, Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus were busy, cosmopolitan cities that once sat on adjacent islands at the edge of the fertile lands of the Egyptian Delta, intersected by canals. After Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt in 332BC, centuries of Greek (Ptolemaic) rule followed. The exhibition will reveal how cross-cultural exchange and religion flourished, particularly the worship of the Egyptian god of the afterlife, Osiris.
By the 8th century AD, the sea had reclaimed the cities and they lay hidden several metres beneath the seabed, their location and condition unclear. Although well-known from Egyptian decrees and Greek mythology and historians, past attempts to locate them were either fruitless or very partial. The exhibition will show how a pioneering European team led by Franck Goddio in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities made use of the most up-to-date technologies to find them.
Thanks to the underwater setting, a vast number of objects of great archaeological significance have been astonishingly well preserved. Pristine monumental statues, fine metalware and gold jewellery will reveal how Greece and Egypt interacted in the late first millennium BC. These artefacts offer a new insight into the quality and unique character of the art of this period and show how the Greek kings and queens who ruled Egypt for 300 years adopted and adapted Egyptian beliefs and rituals to legitimise their reign.
The exhibition will feature a number of extraordinary, monumental sculptures. A 5.4m granite statue of Hapy, a divine personification of the Nile’s flood, will greet visitors as they enter the space. Masterpieces from Egyptian museums such as the Apis bull from the Serapeum in Alexandria will be shown alongside magnificent recent finds from the sea. One such piece is the stunning sculpture from Canopus representing Arsinoe II (the eldest daughter of Ptolemy I, founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty). The Graeco-Macedonian queen became a goddess beloved to both Egyptians and Greeks after her death and is depicted here as the perfect embodiment of Aphrodite, a goddess of beauty ‘who grants fortunate sailing’.
The exhibition will also cover the arrival of Greeks in Egypt, when they were hosts and not rulers; privileged but controlled by the pharaohs. A complete stela from Thonis-Heracleion advertises a 380BC royal decree of the Egyptian pharaoh Nectanebo I. It states that 10% of the taxes collected on all goods imported from the ‘Sea of the Greeks’ into Thonis-Heracleion and on all trade operations at Naukratis were to be donated to an Egyptian temple.
A wide range of objects, from modest to grand and costly, bears witness to the piety of both inhabitants and visitors at these major religious centres. Lead models of barges uncovered in the sacred waterway linking Thonis-Heracleion to Canopus are unique and moving finds. They are associated with the Mysteries of Osiris, the most popular festival celebrated annually across Egypt during the month of Khoiak (mid-October to mid-November). Ranging in size from 6 to 67cm, these reproduce in metal a flotilla of 34 papyrus barges that would have been displayed on a waterway to celebrate the first sacred navigation of the festival. According to religious texts, each barge was to measure 67.5 cm and to bear the figure of an Egyptian god, and would have been illuminated by 365 lamps. The lead barges are lasting testimonies possibly left by people who, long ago, celebrated this festival in the Canopic region.
Only a tiny proportion of these sites have revealed their secrets. The on-going underwater archaeological mission continues to bring to light new masterpieces and further research every year as the most recent finds from 2012 will show.
Sir Richard Lambert, Chairman of the British Museum, said, “It’s hugely exciting to be announcing the British Museum’s first large-scale exhibition of underwater discoveries and to be welcoming these important loans to London. We are grateful to BP for their ongoing support without which ambitious exhibitions such as these would simply not be possible. We’re also delighted to be working with Franck Goddio, his expert team at IEASM, the Hilti Foundation and of course our Egyptian colleagues to bring the extraordinary story of these lost cities to life.”
His Excellency Nasser Kamel, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United Kingdom, said, "As well as looking for partners to invest in the Egyptian economy, Egypt is always searching for partners to help in exploring its heritage and treasures which are still hidden under its lands, and waters. This exhibition shows that despite what we know of its tremendous history and culture, Egypt still has a lot more to offer to?the world and we thank our partners in the UK, such as BP, for working with us in utilising our resources to develop our economy and through such an exhibition unraveling our history as well. I invite the people of Britain to visit this exhibition to get a glimpse of what Egypt has to offer, and come to Egypt to live that experience."
Bob Dudley, Group Chief Executive, BP, said, “BP is proud to support this fascinating exhibition which showcases the power of science and the pioneering spirit to discover what lies beneath the surface of the Nile Delta. By sharing these underwater treasures the British Museum is opening a whole new frontier for visitors to explore, and we are pleased to be a part of it.”
Franck Goddio, President of Institut Europeen d’Archeologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) and exhibition co-curator said “My team and I, as well as the Hilti Foundation, are delighted that the exhibition with discoveries from our underwater archaeological expeditions off the coast of Egypt will be on display at the British Museum. It enables us to share with the public the results of years of work at the sunken cities and our fascination for ancient worlds and civilisations. Placing our discoveries alongside selected masterpieces from the collections of Egyptian museums, complemented by important objects from the British Museum, the exhibition presents unique insights into a fascinating period in history during which Egyptians and Greeks encountered each other on the shores of the Mediterranean.”
Aurelia Masson-Berghoff, exhibition curator at the British Museum said “People sometimes assume that when two cultures mix, the essence of each is diluted and, as a result, weakened; this exhibition demonstrates the opposite. It is a rare opportunity to reveal the beauty and strength of Late Pharaonic art and culture, alongside the latest research on the momentous intermingling between Egyptian and Greek communities in Egypt at this time. We are illustrating this vibrant cosmopolitan world through Egyptian, Greek and ‘hybrid’ artworks, rarely ever displayed side by side. It shows ancient Egypt not as an isolated civilisation, but as the outward looking, influential and inclusive society that it was.”
The British Government is refusing to negotiate with Greece about the return of the so-called Elgin Marbles despite a request to do so from the United Nations, a decision that could prompt Athens to begin legal action for the first time.
Athens prepares legal action over the UK's 'grubby' refusal to negotiate [Credit: Independent]
British campaigners likened the UK’s stance to “clinging on to stolen booty for dear life” and contrasted it with the “generous act” of returning the sculptures to help a friendly country on the brink of economic collapse. Youth unemployment has hit 50 per cent and suicide rates have soared amid a crisis so severe the Financial Times has warned Greece could turn into a “quasi slave economy”.
In 2013, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) invited the UK to take part in mediation about the marbles, created 2,500 years ago to decorate the Parthenon temple in Athens. Then last year it asked for a response by 31 March.
However a Government source said the UK “won’t be able to make any significant announcement this side of the [May] election”.
A motion calling for the UK to reply to Unesco and move to return the marbles is to be filed in the House of Commons on Monday.
The failure to respond in time could prompt Greece to abandon decades of diplomacy and take legal action, possibly in the European Court of Human Rights. A team of lawyers in London, including leading QC Geoffrey Robertson and Amal Clooney, wife of actor George, is preparing a “book-length” document setting out the options.
A source who has advised successive Greek governments said the main problem was finding a court to take jurisdiction in the case, but once that hurdle was overcome “then the lawyers are saying there is about a 75 to 80 per cent chance of success”.
The marbles are regarded as some of the finest works of art in history and a symbol of the birth of Western civilisation. Some sculptures were taken to Britain by Lord Elgin in controversial circumstances just over 200 years ago when Greece was ruled by the Ottoman Empire.
Dr Elena Korka, director of antiquities at the Greek Culture Ministry, said the central issue was “reunifying these exceptional, outstanding and most important sculptures, which belong as an integral part of a unique symbolic monument for the whole world”.
“This is the essence of it, making something which exists today as whole as it can be… this is what the public wants, every poll shows it. It’s such an important issue. Even if Greece didn’t ask for it, the whole world would,” she said.
She said if the British authorities relented it would be “a day of true joy, not only for the monument itself but I think for the value of the gesture for the sake of co-operation”. “It would definitely help the [public] morale. It would be a huge boost,” she said.
Asked about the prospect of legal action, Dr Korka said Greece was “still so much into the process of mediation that we’re not thinking of the next step”. “We haven’t exhausted the possibilities so let’s not go so fast,” she said.
She added that the UK’s silence since 2013 was “not so polite really”.
David Hill, chairman of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in Australia, said there was a “growing appreciation even among people who are timid about the prospect of litigation that we have reached the point of last resort if this UNESCO gambit fails. The diplomatic and political strategies of the last 30 years have not produced any progress at all.”
Polls have consistently showed strong support in Britain for returning the marbles. In November, a survey for The Times found there was a two-to-one majority in favour.
Andrew George, chairman of Marbles Reunited and Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, said: “One of our friends is down on their uppers and we can offer something to them that might make their lives easier and give them a lift, which can only be good for their economy.
“It would be a generous act which would improve Britain’s standing in the world. At the moment we look rather grubby… like we are clinging on to stolen booty for dear life.”
He said he planned to lodge an early day motion in the Commons tomorrow calling for the Government to “demonstrate that Britain is prepared to... reunite these British-held Parthenon sculptures with those now displayed in the purpose-built Acropolis Museum in the shadow of the monument to which they belong, the Parthenon in Athens”.
The British Museum, which denies Elgin stole the marbles, argues that it “tells the story of cultural achievement throughout the world” and the Parthenon sculptures are “a significant part of that story”. It regards itself as “a unique resource for the world” with visitors able to “re-examine cultural identities and explore the complex network of interconnected human cultures” within its walls.
“The Parthenon Sculptures are a vital element in this interconnected world collection. They are a part of the world’s shared heritage and transcend political boundaries,” it says.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it would “respond in due course” to UNESCO.
Author: Ian Johnston | Source: Indpendent [March 07, 2015]
