Ancient World Review

Discarded Neanderthal Tools Authenticated In West Sussex

This is a convoluted story of discovery and re-discovery. Sometime "at the start of the 20th Century," about 2300 stone tools were discovered when the foundation was being excavated for a house in Beedings, West Sussex, a county in southern England. The story doesn't say who discovered the tools, but whoever it was, they apparently decided the tools were fakes and tossed them down a well. Now they've been dug up again by archaeologists funded by English Heritage, the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, and they've been authenticated by the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain Project. They're real Neanderthal stone tools which "could have been used to hunt horses, mammoth and woolly rhinoceros." 

Moctezuma's Palace Discovered In Mexico City

"Mexican archaeologists say they have unearthed the remains of an Aztec palace once inhabited by the emperor Montezuma in the heart of what is now downtown Mexico City." (MSNBC) Note that "Montezuma" is the common English spelling of "Moctezuma." There were two Moctezumas, I believe, but this palace belonged to Moctezuma II, who was ruler when Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521. In true Christian style, the Spaniards destroyed the palace complex, known as Casas Nuevas, "thought to have comprised five interconnected buildings containing the emperor's office, chambers for children and several wives and even a zoo..." according to Elsa Hernandez, the leader of the archaeology team which unearthed the site. The Spaniards took Moctezuma prisoner--he later died in captivity--and built Mexico City, imposing Faustian Culture on the Aztecs and effectively terminating their development. Spengler considered the Aztec-Mayan Complex (he apparently wasn't aware of the Incas) as one of the eight high cultures of the world and the only one abruptly destroyed like this. The Aztec Empire contained the seeds of its own destruction, however. It was a bloodthirsty and tyrannical regime and the Spaniards couldn't have defeated the Aztecs without the cooperation of their subject tribes, who turned on them with a vengeance. Cortes liberated the region and then turned it into a Spanish colony.

"First Church" Discovered In Jordan

Archaeologists in Jordan have discovered what they are calling "the first Christian church in the world," according to the Jordan Times.  The "church" is actually a cave under the Saint Georgeous Church in Rihab (or Rehab--spelling unclear), Mafraq, about 40 miles northeast of Amman, the capital of Jordan. Photos of the find here. "We have evidence to believe this church sheltered the early Christians: the 70 disciples of Jesus Christ," said Abdul Qader Hussan, head of the Rihab Center for Archaeological Studies. Pottery finds date the site to the Third to Seventh Centuries. Mosaics on the floor of the St. Georgeous church describe these early christians as "the 70 beloved by God and Divine" who apparently fled from persecution in Jerusalem. Were these the so-called Seventy Disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke? Whoever they were, they lived in the cave and conducted rites there for several centuries until Christianity became the official religion of Rome. The Saint Georgeous Church was built in 230 AD and is believed to be the oldest "proper" church in the world, though there are a few other contenders. In any case, media descriptions of the find as "the first church" are misleading since temples and places of worship had been in existence long before Christianity had ever arrived on the scene.

Amphorae Recovered From 2,350-Year-Old Cargo Ship Near Cyprus

"Marine archaeologists have salvaged ancient wine vases piled on the hull of a 2,350-year-old cargo ship lying on the seabed off Cyprus' southern shore, the Mediterranean island's Antiquities Department said Saturday." (AP story here) The Greek merchant vessel is apparently from the 4th Century BC, the same period as the famous Kyrenia ship now on display at the Ancient Shipwreck Museum in Kyrenia Castle. In other words, these ships were transporting cargo around the Aegean and Mediterranean in the days of Alexander the Great. "Divers last month brought to the surface only a few of the more than 500 amphorae — terra-cotta vases used in antiquity to ferry liquid and other foodstuffs - for more study. They are of the type that carried red wine from the Aegean island of Chios — reputed to be the most expensive of classical antiquity, the Department said in a statement." Too bad the wine itself didn't survive. What do you want to bet that it would be better than anything made today?

Possible Pre-Ceramic Period Human Sacrifices Found In Peru

"Three possible human sacrifice victims have been found at a 4,000-year-old archeological site in Peru," according to the National Geographic News. The "apparently mutilated, partial skeletons"--two pairs of female legs and "the decapitated body of a young male in his twenties," (photos) were found at a site about 90 miles from Lima, Peru, and apparently date to the Pre-Ceramic Period (3000 BC to 1800 BC). The timelines I've seen for this period are all over the place and cover a lot of different cultures, but the find is considered important because "many researchers have characterized the Pre-Ceramic period as very peaceful, with no evidence of the kind of violence that was seen during the [later] Moche [A.D. 100 to 800] time of human sacrifices and mutilations," according to Alejandro Chu Barrera, the archeologist who led the dig. This is all pre-Inca. If these remains were actually sacrificial victims, it would suggest that human sacrifice was common throughout the region for hundreds of years before the Inca.

"Headless Pyramid" Lost And Found

"Archaeologists have uncovered the 'missing pyramid' of a pharaoh and a ceremonial procession road where high priests carried mummified remains of sacred bulls," according to Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council Of Antiquities. (AP) This is the so-called "headless pyramid" originally discovered by German archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius at Saqqara in 1842. He called it "headless" because its top was missing. Shortly after it was discovered by Lepsius, the pyramid was covered with desert sand in classic Hollywood "Curse of the Mummy" fashion and no one could find it until it was rediscovered by Hawass, a publicity-savvy archeologist who also announced the possible discovery of Cleopatra's tomb recently. "Hawass said the style of the pyramid and of a gray granite sarcophagus lid found in the burial chamber indicates the pyramid was from the 5th Dynasty, a period that began in 2465 B.C. and ended in 2325 B.C." (Source: MSNBC 6/5/08)

Ancient Egyptian Army Headquarters Discovered

"Egyptian archaeologists have discovered what they say was the ancient headquarters of the Pharaonic army guarding the northeastern borders of Egypt for more than 1,500 years, the government said on Wednesday." (Reuters. Story here.)

The fortress, made out of mud-brick with four guard towers, was apparently active from "the time of the New Kingdom until the Ptolemaic period," i.e. from around 1570 BC to the death of the famous Cleopatra VII (30 BC). It was built in the Sinai at the start of a military road which ran from the Nile Valley to the Levant (Syria, Palestine, etc.), presumably an important trade and invasion route. 

Cleopatra's Tomb May Have Been Discovered Near Alexandria

"A flamboyant archeologist known worldwide for his trademark Indiana Jones hat believes he has identified the site where Cleopatra is buried," according to the Sunday Times. Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, thinks he's found Cleopatra's tomb in the Taposiris Magna temple near Alexandria. "Hawass has discovered a 400ft tunnel beneath the temple containing clues that the supposedly beautiful queen may lie beneath. 'We’ve found tunnels with statues of Cleopatra and many coins bearing her face, things you wouldn’t expect in a typical temple,' he said." They've also discovered a bust of Mark Antony, so if this is Cleopatra's tomb, the Roman general may be buried there as well. If true, this would be a spectacular find. Bigger than King Tut.