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EXPLORATOR
Watching the Web for News of the Ancient World
Volume 3, Issue 45 -- March 11, 2001
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Editor's note: Depending on your mail software, some urls may wrap
(especially those from the Telegraph) which will require you to
rebuild the url at your end; if you get a 'file not found', check to see if
the url wrapped on you. Most urls should be active for at least eight hours
from the time of 'publicatio'.
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Our usual eclectic selection for folks with a predeliction for archaeological information:
OLD WORLD NEWS
Discovery.com has an interesting item on the earliest known author who wrote in Sumerian:
There's a new theory as to what inspired the pyramids of Egypt:
One I missed: Egypt is going to rebuild the colossal statue of Ramses II which inspired Shelley's Ozymandias:
The Telegraph reports on the reconstruction of the face of "Lady X", a mummy from 1200 B.C.:
A brief item in Ananova reports on the discovery of a 2500 B.P. chariot in Scotland:
The Greek theatre at Syracuse has apparently been freed from Mafia control:
,4273,4147396,00.html
The technology used to read the Vindolanda tablets has crossed over to medical research:
,4273,4148104,00.html
Plenty discovered in China this week ...
The People's Daily reports on the discovery of a stone musical instrument in China:
... while Xinhua reports on the discovery of an ancient kiln:
... and an Eastern Jin dynasty tomb:
... and that Xingtai was probably an ancient Shang capital:
... and the unusual features of Gui palace:
A Greek farmer has been charged in relation to his attempt to sell a statue of Cybele:
Someone has stolen a hand from a relief in the British Museum (didn't someone do the same at an Italian museum last year? Sounds like a collector-vandal):
,2107,500462055-500704513-503850871-0,00.html
... and the BM has also lost part of the Epikourios Apollo frieze (this might actually be the same as the above):
The Independent reports on a 'custody battle' for gold from an 18th century shipwreck:
NEW WORLD NEWS
The big New World news this week is that Macchu Picchu is in danger of collapse ... or is it?
ON THE NEWSSTANDS
Although the site still has plenty of dead links, Discovering Archaeology has finally put up some new online content, including a nice piece on "Herodotus and the Cannibals", the history of Ukraine, and ancient fish traps (the latter two can be accessed via the bar on the right of the page when you get there):
Similarly, Egypt Revealed has some new online content dealing with the rock art discovered at El-Hosh:
CLASSICIST'S CORNER
In addition to the followups list below in regards to the Taleban's destruction of monuments, eKatherimini reports that Greece is/was pondering purchasing some of the monuments:
Folks might be interested in a review of *Loveplay*, a satirical bit of theatre with some classical content:
One I missed: a Latin teacher is the Foreign Language Association of Georgia's Teacher of the Year:
The Connecticut Post has a piece on the increasingly popularity of the Latin mass:
In the wake of Gladiator, a number of older sword and sandal classics are being rereleased:
FOLLOWUPS
Plenty of followups to the Taliban-blowing-up-ancient-monuments thing (please check out the petition which follows this section):
... and letters to the editors of the Telegraph and Guardian make an interesting point:
,4273,4150007,00.html
Japanese archaeological fraud:
SAGAS
Kennewick man:
,1136,37500000000120385,00.html
AT ABOUT.COM
Latin Guide Janet Burns has penned (inputted?) a piece on Commodus:
Ancient History Guide N.S. Gill has a useful feature on the language of geometry:
Archaeology Guide Kris Hirst muses on the destruction of cultural property:
<>
... and if you missed the chat with Tom Dillehay, poincherbrowserto the following for the transcript:
Tonight's chat, as previously mentioned is with Anita Cohen-Williams (9-11 EST); next week will be J. Barto Arnold from the Institute for Nautical Archaeology.
PETITION
[editor's note: this petition has been appearing on various lists this week and, quite frankly, it has the same problem all internet/email petitions have: it creates a lot of unnecessary (and probably overwhelming) duplication and relies on certain folks to remember to send their portion in to the proper people. On the plus side, though, it's legit (I checked) and since this newsletter reaches so many folks, I'm going to suggest that you simply send your signature (and title, if useful) to *me* (mailto:dmeadows@...) and I'll compile the list and send it to UNESCO]
The following petition is being circulated by UNESCO's
Bureau of Public Information. For background information,
see
UNESCO International Petition to Safeguard Afghanistan
Cultural Heritage
We, the undersigned, plead for an immediate end to the
Taliban edict to demolish Afghanistan's cultural heritage.
We further urge the Taliban spiritual leader Mullah
Mohammed Omar to enter into dialogue with the international
community -including the Arab and Islamic governments that
overwhelmingly have condemned these actions - in order to
explore proposals to safeguard this irreplaceable cultural
heritage from further, senseless destruction.
The edict of the 26th of February 2001 to destroy pre-
Islamic and Buddhist objects-including the world's largest
standing Buddha statues at Bamiyan-runs counter to all the
basic principles of respect, tolerance and the wisdom upon
which Islam is based, and is a breach of the Taliban pledge
made in 1999. We plead with Taliban authorities to stop
this irreversible assault on two millennia of Afghanistan's
artistic and cultural achievements, treasured not only as
the spiritual birthright of Buddhists everywhere but also
as a universal cultural heritage for people of all faiths
and nationalities.
-Please sign and also forward this e-mail to friends,
family, news groups, mailing lists etc.
-To avoid adding ">>>" onto the chain, please preferably
cut & paste the entire petition and list of names into a
new message prior to re-sending.
-The 100th, 200th, 300th etc. name to sign is requested to
also forward the updated list of signatures back to the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization at e-mail: "unesco.press@...".
REGULAR FEATURES
CTCWeb's Words of the Week
<url:>
Radio Finland's Nuntii Latini
<url:>
English translation (probably delayed ... hasn't been updated since August):
<url:
l>
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EXPLORATOR is a weekly newsletter representing the fruits of the labours of
'media research division' of The Atrium. Various on-line news and magazine
sources are scoured on a daily basis for news of the ancient world (broadly
construed: practically anything relating to archaeology or history prior
to about 1700 or so is fair game) and when a sufficient number of urls are
gathered (usually a minimum of three stories), they are delivered to your
mailbox free of charge! Those articles that don't expire, plus
supplementary links eventually find a home at:
The Media Archive:
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Explorator is Copyright (c) 2001 David Meadows; Feel free to
distribute these listings via email to your pals, students, teachers,
etc., but please include this copyright notice.
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