Ancient World Review

The Roman Province Of Mauretania

"Mauretania ... was in ancient times a part of North Africa corresponding to the Mediterranean coast of what is today Morocco," according to Wikipedia. "Mauretania originally was an independent tribal Berber kingdom from around the 3rd century BC. It became a client state of the Roman empire in 33 BC, then a full Roman province after the death of its last king Ptolemy of Mauretania in AD 40."

According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD, 3rd ed. revised), "[m]ost of the country is high and rocky, supporting sheep and producing a little wine; corn and olives grew on the coast, in the Mulucha valley, and on the plains of Volubilis and [Sala Colonia]. The chief exports were wine, ebony, precious woods, and purple dyes."

Next video shows the ruins of Chellah, a fortified medieval Muslim necropolis built on the site of Sala Colonia. Views of the Roman ruins begin at around 2:10.

Berber Mauretania was in touch with Spain "from early days, binding Europe and Africa by piracy and colonization," according to the OCD. "The bulk of the population belonged to the Moorish branch (1) of the Berber race, while a string of Phoenician trading stations was established on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts during the 8th and 7th cents. BC."

(1) Technically, "Moor" doesn't have any racial connotations. According to Wikipedia, "medieval and early modern Europeans variously applied the name to Arabs, Berber North Africans and Muslim Europeans." The Berbers were apparently a mixed Semitic and North African ethnic group and they don't appear to have been sub-Saharan in origin.

Mauretania had a complex and chaotic history which included the rise of various kingdoms which became involved in the Roman Jugurthine War (112-106 BC). An excellent account of this war can be found in The Jugurthine War by the Roman historian Sallust. In 25 BC, Octavian handed over the rule of Mauretania to the king of Numidia, Juba II, "whose capitals were at Iol (Caesarea) [modern Cherchell] and probably Volubius," according to the OCD.

The murder of Juba's son in Rome led to disturbances in Mauretania, which was then pacified by the Romans. "In or about 44 [AD], Claudius constituted two Mauretanian provinces, ruled by procurators, with capitals at Tingis and Caesarea." (OCD) The provinces were Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis.

The structures at Volubilis were built over a period of many years. The city walls -- 1.5 miles long with eight gates -- were added in the 160s (AD). According to the OCD,  "The forum is probably Neronian (AD 54-68), the two sets of baths are both Flavian in origin, and two street grids with different orientations in the north and north-eastern quarters are both now known to date from before the end of the 1st century." The city and surrounding farms were abandoned around 255 AD after a reorganization by Diocletian.

"The city fell to local tribes around 285 and was never retaken by Rome because of its remoteness and indefensibility on the south-western border of the Roman Empire. It continued to be inhabited for at least another 700 years, first as a Latinised Christian community, then as an early Islamic settlement. In the late 8th century it became the seat of Idris ibn Abdallah, the founder of the Idrisid dynasty and the state of Morocco."

Roman Graffiti In Egypt

Related: Archaeologists studying 2,000-year-old graffiti discover reviews from tourists carved into the stone of the tomb of King Ramesses VI (2017)

Skeleton Of Teenage Girl Found Buried With Two Bull Skulls In Egyptian Pyramid

"Egyptian archaeologists excavating the ruins of a pyramid 60 miles outside of Cairo have discovered the skeletal remains of a 13-year-old girl huddled inside a tomb." Source: Daily Mail.

"Exactly how or when she died is a mystery, though the experts say the site itself dates back to the end of the Third Dynasty roughly 4,600 years ago.

"The tomb was empty apart from the skeleton, which was buried in the squatting position, but the team also found two animal skulls and three ceramic vessels nearby that were likely placed as funerary offerings."

Metropolitan Museum Of Art Will Return Looted Coffin

Video from Jan. 2019.

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art will return an ancient gilded coffin to Egypt after New York prosecutors determined that it had been looted from that country, the museum said." Source: Daily Mail (Feb. 2019).

"The museum had purchased the prized coffin, dating from the first century BCE, in July 2017 from a Paris art dealer for a price of nearly $4 million.

"But the Manhattan district attorney's office determined that the mummy-shaped golden coffin had been sold with fake documentation, including a forged 1971 Egyptian export license."

Note: This is the coffin of "Nedjemankh, a high-ranking priest of the ram-headed god Heryshef of Herakleopolis," The museum says that it will try to recoup its considerable investment but if I had paid four million dollars for anything I wouldn't let it go so quickly unless I was sure I could get my money back. In any case, this is a classic example of the risks involved with buying archaeological artifacts from private dealers.

Mold Formations Confirm That King Tut's Tomb Was Prepared In A Rush

"King Tut, silent in Egypt's Valley of the Kings for 3,000 years, may still have secrets to reveal. Researchers, examining what remains of ancient microbes on the walls of the young pharaoh's tomb, surmise that he may have been buried in a hurry, so quickly that the walls had not even dried when the tomb was closed." Source: ABC News (2006).

"Due to the sudden death of Tutankhamun (King Tut), it was believed that probably not enough time was available to properly finish King Tut’s tomb. Instead, it was believed that the tomb that was appointed to him was that of his vizier Ay (Aye). This was made apparent through the tomb’s size as most kings had larger and more elaborate tombs compared to King Tut. Not only was the tomb considered to be on the smaller side, but the burial chamber was the only room that had been painted within the structure. This conceivable late-planning tactic was further reaffirmed as the tomb only had a few large figures painted on the walls." Source: KingTutOne, Ancient Egypt Online.

Maze Of Tombs With 40 (?) Perfectly Preserved Mummies Discovered In Egypt

"Archaeologists have discovered a maze of tombs in Egypt holding tens of mummies, of all ages, possibly dating back to the Ptolemaic dynasty, which lasted from 305 to 30 B.C." Source: Live Science.

"The mummies, which likely belonged to a family from the elite middle class, were discovered at the Egyptian archaeological site called Tuna el-Gebel, which lies to the west of the Nile River, the Egyptian antiquities ministry announced. The burials date back to a line of rulers descended from Ptolemy Soter, who was one of Alexander the Great's generals."

Note: "Archaeologists have been exploring Tuna el-Gebel cemeteries for about 80 years. For instance, in 1934, archaeologists announced they had discovered fragments painted with mythical scenes at a house at the site, showing episodes of Agamemnon and Oedipus legends, according to a New York Times article. In 2017, they discovered a cemetery at el-Gebel with underground catacombs. And just last February, the discovery of a cemetery with mummified high priests was announced." (Live Science)

2200-Year-Old Winery Discovered In Egypt's Nile Delta

Video from 2012.

"Archaeologists recently uncovered ancient storage rooms in a 2,000-year-old winery, at a site in Egypt's Nile Delta to the north of Cairo." Source: Live Science (Jan. 2019).

"Inside these rooms — which appeared to be climate-controlled for keeping wine — archaeologists also found coins, pots used in winemaking and other pottery objects, said officials with the Ministry of Antiquities for the Arab Republic of Egypt ..."

Note: "Wine played an important role in ancient Egyptian ceremonial life. A thriving royal winemaking industry was established in the Nile Delta following the introduction of grape cultivation from the Levant to Egypt c. 3000 BC. The industry was most likely the result of trade between Egypt and Canaan during the early Bronze Age, commencing from at least the 27th-century BC Third Dynasty, the beginning of the Old Kingdom period. Winemaking scenes on tomb walls, and the offering lists that accompanied them, included wine that was definitely produced in the delta vineyards. By the end of the Old Kingdom, five distinct wines, probably all produced in the Delta, constituted a canonical set of provisions for the afterlife." (Wikipedia)

Researcher Unearths An Ice Age In The African Desert

Closed-captions helpful.

"While exploring the desert country in southern Africa, [geologists] stumbled upon a peculiar land formation -- flat desert scattered with hundreds of long, steep hills. They quickly realized the bumpy landscape was shaped by drumlins, a type of hill often found in places once covered in glaciers, an abnormal characteristic for desert landscapes." Source: Science Daily.

Note: The fact that southern Africa was once covered in ice isn't new, but this is apparently the first time anyone has studied these particular drumlins -- "the first evidence of an ice stream in southern Africa in the late Paleozoic Age, which occurred about 300 million years ago."

The findings "also confirm that southern Africa was located over the South Pole during this period" and "provide yet another tie between southern Africa and south America to show they were once joined ...".

Sexing Ancient Cremated Human Remains

Video from 2013. Mute the godawful music.

Note: In the video above, a laser is being used to "map individual bones and artifacts" in a middle Bronze Age cremation urn discovered in Hungary.

It appears that it may now be possible to actually tell the difference between men and women based on their ashes and bone fragments:

"Ancient cremated human remains, despite being deformed, still retain sexually diagnostic physical features, according to a new study. The authors provide a statistical approach for identifying traits that distinguish male and female remains within a population. " Source: Science Daily.

Next video shows the micro-excavation of another Bronze Age cremation urn. I'm not sure where this one was discovered.

Video from 2015.

Egyptian Mummy Oldest Heart Disease Case

Video from 2015.

"An ancient Egyptian princess would have needed bypass surgery if she'd lived today, according to researchers who examined the mummy and found blocked arteries in her heart in what's now the oldest case of human heart disease." Source: Live Science (2011).

"And she wasn't the only one: An investigation of 44 mummies revealed that nearly half had evidence of calcification in their arteries, or atherosclerosis."

Report from 2011.