Archaeology Adventures

This blog is dedicated to archaeological finds from all over the world. The main themes will most likely be related to: - Western/ classical archaeology - egyptology - eastern/ asian archaeology.

[archaicwonder]

Roman Terracotta Sea-encrusted Amphora, Circa 1st-3rd Centuries AD

[archeologyadventures]

What's it like being an archaeologist?

Right now, I am not yet a "real" archaeologist, but I could tell you what my prof always tells us about being an archaeologist. It consists mainly of finding a job in first place. After you reached your Master degree usually a timespan of roughly 2-5 years exists, in which you work with fixed-term contracts. You either take part in excavations or preservation of monuments- if you're lucky. The time you get a long-term job ( at a university or in a museum ) must be really great on the other hand. Working on new issues , writing essays or books, publish books , teaching , organizing excavations, managing a museum. It's all a lot of work, but if you like this kind o work, it's wonderful.

[archeologyadventures]

what did you study before you started your degree?

I'm still working on my degree for classical archaeology. Classical archaeology is my main , japanese studies is my second subject. Pretty exotic, I know, but it's kinda difficult to link these two.

[archeologyadventures]

Busy Time

The reason I haven't been posting anything the last few months is the huge workload for university. I will try to be more active in the upcoming "vacation". I hope you still enjoy my blog and keep asking interesting questions. Have a nice day ! Your Archeology Adventures

[theancientwayoflife]

~Sleeping Hermaphrodite. Microasiatic marble. Roman copy of the mid-2nd cent. CE after a bronze original of the Asia Minor of the mid-2nd cent. BCE. Rome, Roman National Museum, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme.

[archeologyadventures]

What do you particularly enjoy about archaeology? Does it have to do with the idea of lost civilizations, or some fascination with how ancient peoples interacted with one another?

I think both.But not only these two aspects. Investigating the origins of an artifact or the age of a temple is a bit like detective work. You have to find the clues to support your thesis -if there are any- and collect the "evidence".

[theancientwayoflife]

~Bull. Near East, Sumerian, 889-853 B.C. Stone, gold, and lapiz lazuli

[ancient-mesopotamia]

It’s a well known fact that Egyptians are credited with the domestication of cats, but did you know that the history of felines in society dates back far longer than that?

Like many things in modern culture, the presence of cats in towns can be traced back to the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia. It is believed that around the same time that livestock such as cattle and goats began to be domesticated– around 10,000 years ago– cats, too, were becoming prevalent amongst humans. For the same reasons that the ancient Egyptians kept our feline companions around, so did the ancient Mesopotamians. Small and crafty hunters meant that farmers’ food stores would be safe from rodents as would their homes. Of course, Egyptians were the first to keep cats as pets, but that would not have been possible without the initial cat-human bond forged by Mesopotamians.

For reasons unknown, it is ultimately rare to find artwork depicting domesticated cats in collections dating back to Mesopotamia, but their relatives are much more commonplace. While the lion seemed to be the favored cat for sculptures and reliefs, the occasional panther made its way into immortalization at the hands of talented artists of the time.

[ancientpeoples]

Glass footed bowl

Roman (Eastern Mediterranean), 1st century BC

Source: The J. Paul Getty Museum

[theancientwayoflife]

~Braclet with the Protomes of Shinxes. Date: First half of the 4th century BC Place of finding: Crimea, environs of Kerch Archaeological site: Kul Oba Barrow Material: gold, enamel, bronze

[hellenismo]

Δεκάτη Ὑστέρα- Δεκάτη Φθίνοντος/ Μετεικὰς- Ἀμφιδεκάτη, XXI day From today’s sunset: twenty-first day of Thargelion. The twenty-first day is always sacred to Athena. (The main panel of this hydria with Herakles wrestling the Nemean lion, flanked by Athena to the left and Iolaos to the right, the Goddess moving left and looking back, wearing a high-crested helmet and snaky aegis, holding a spear and a circular shield with two dolphins as the blazon. From Attica, circa 530-520 BCE. Now in a private collection…)

[archaicwonder]

Roman Ribbed Glass Bowl with White Trailing, 1st Century AD

[archaeologicalnews]

Archaeologists and geographers team to predict locations of ancient Buddhist sites

For archaeologists and historians interested in the ancient politics, religion and language of the Indian subcontinent, two UCLA professors and their student researchers have creatively pinpointed sites that are likely to yield valuable transcriptions of the proclamations of Ashoka, the Buddhist king of northern India’s Mauryan Dynasty who ruled from 304 B.C. to 232 B.C.

In a study published this week in Current Science, archaeologist Monica Smith and geographer Thomas Gillespie identified 121 possible locations of what are known as Ashoka’s “edicts.”

First they isolated shared features of 29 known locations of Ashokan edicts, which were found carved into natural rock formations in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They then harnessed species-distribution modeling tactics—which includes examining sophisticated geographic information systems datasets along with Google Earth images—to overlay those unique characteristics against a geological and population map of ancient India. They believe they have identified locations that hold the same characteristics as proven sites and are significantly accurate markers for future discovery. Read more.

[aphroditeinfurs-deactivated2017]

Medusa Depicted In Famous Works of Art

1. Medusa by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1597

2. Medusa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1630

3. The Head of Medusa by Peter Paul Rubens, 1618

4. Zuleika Ponsen as “Medusa” by Pierre et Gilles, 1990

5. The Head of Medusa on the Gate of the Royal Palace of Turin, c. 16th century

6. Detail from Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini, 1545

7. Medusa by Arnold Bocklin, 1878

8. Head of Medusa by Unknown Flemish Painter (formerly attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci), c. 1600

9. Head of the Gorgon Medusa, Late 19th Century Czechoslovakian brooch

10. Detail from Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Antonio Canova, c.1804

[whencyclopedia]

PEOPLE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD: Seleucus I Nicator (Founder of the Seleucid Dynasty) 

DESPITE not receiving his share of the fallen king’s empire until several years later, Seleucus I Nicator ( Victor) was one of the more capable of the successors to the kingdom of Alexander the Great upon his death in 323 BCE. Seleucus and his descendants established what became known as the Seleucid Empire which lasted nearly 250 years.

As with the other successors to Alexander, Seleucus (358 – 281 BCE) was the son of a Macedonian nobleman, one of King Phillip II’s generals. While little else of his family is known, historians do speak of a dream his mother had in which he was fathered not by Antiochus but by the Greek god Apollo. In the dream she received a unique ring inscribed with the symbol of an anchor. According to the legend, Seleucus was borne with the same anchor symbol in the form of a tattoo on his thigh.

Read More 

Article by Donald L. Wasson on AHE

[ancientpeoples]

Mummy portrait of a woman in pink

Roman Egypt, 175-200 AD

Tempera on wood, 28 × 14.5 cm (11 × 5 ¾ in.)

From The Getty’s description:

Possibly discovered at Er-Rubayat in the Fayum, this Romano-Egyptian mummy portrait of a woman is painted in the flat, unrealistic style found on many of the portraits excavated at that site. The tempera technique used for this painting was a faster, easier, and less expensive medium than the encaustic used for portraits from other places.

The nature of tempera, however, forced the painter to create a less detailed and natural depiction. Yet even so, this cartoonish rendering conveys the woman’s distinctive pursed lips and cleft chin. Her elegantly styled hair, gold earrings, jeweled necklaces, and a hair ornament indicate her elite status.

Source: The J. Paul Getty Museum

[archaicwonder]

Roman Gold Ring With Crosses and Ivy Leaves, 3rd-4th Century AD

( you can see the ring better in its reflection)