Antiquities and Ancient Art

First Photos of Life-size Granite Statue of Queen Tiy (Akhenaten's Mother) Uncovered at Luxor

With news spreading through the popular press of last week's spectacular find of a life-sized statue of Tiy, wife of the powerful Amenhotep III and one of Egypt's most famous queens, we are pleased to present some of the very first pictures shot by Jay VanRensselaer at the active excavation site. A Johns Hopkins University archaeological expedition in Luxor, Egypt unearthed the masterpiece which dates back nearly 3,400 years.

The statue, which dates to between 1391 and 1352 B.C.E., was uncovered January 21 by the expedition's director, Betsy Bryan, Johns Hopkins professor of Egyptian art and archaeology. Bryan and a graduate student, Fatma Talaat Ismail, were clearing a portion of the platform of the temple of the goddess Mut in Luxor, an area dating to about 700 B.C.E. The statue, which was lying face down in the ground, appeared to have been used as building rubble, Bryan said.

The statue's back pillar was unearthed first and led Bryan to believe briefly that it dated from a far later period, since an inscription there was clearly made in the 21st Dynasty, about 1000 B.C.E., for a very powerful queen Henuttawy.

"The statue, however, when it was removed, revealed itself as a queen of Amenhotep III, whose name appears repeatedly on the statue's crown," Bryan said. She said she theorizes that perhaps this statue is of the great Queen Tiy, wife of Amenhotep III and mother of the so-called heretic king Akhenaten, who came to the throne as Amenhotep IV but later changed his name because of his rejection of the god Amen in favor of the sun disk Aten.

"Tiy was so powerful that, as a widow, she was the recipient of foreign diplomatic letters sent to her from the king of Babylonia in hopes that she would intercede with her son on behalf of the foreign interests," Bryan said. "Some indications, such as her own portraits in art, suggest that Tiy may have ruled briefly after her husband's death, but this is uncertain."

For reasons relating to inscriptions found on it, the statue of the queen definitely may be dated to the late years of Amenhotep III's 38-year rule, Bryan said.

"The king did marry his own daughter, princess Sit-Amun, and made her his great royal wife as Tiy became more elderly," Bryan said. "Thus the statue could also represent Sit-Amun as queen. Research on this highly detailed and exquisitely worked large-scale statue is only beginning. More story will be revealed."

The discovery was made during Bryan's 11th annual excavation at the Mut Temple Precinct, where she and her students are exploring the Egyptian New Kingdom (1567 to 1085 B.C.E.). The crew shares its work with the world through "Hopkins in Egypt Today," an online diary featuring images by university photographer Jay VanRensselaer and captions by Bryan, detailing the day-to-day life on an archaeological dig. It is located at www.jhu.edu/neareast/egypttoday.html.

Exciting New Find in the Heart of Roman Could Re-Write Famed City's History

New has been buzzing with the announcement that a major archaeological find underneath the Roman Forum in the heart of the ancient city may re-write the history of the city. 

According to a report on www.iol.co.za, Archaeologists said Friday they have spied what appears to be the roof of another tomb in a 3000-year-old necropolis, the latest discovery about a little-known, hut-dwelling people who preceded the legendary founders of Rome by some three centuries.

Archaeologist Alessandro Delfino said the roof is just meters away from a tomb he discovered and dug up on Thursday that appears to date to about 1 000 BC. The location was under Caesar's Forum, which is part of the sprawling complex of Imperial Forums in the heart of modern Rome.

Thursday's find set off a storm of excitement among archaeologists in Rome, as they anticipate a possible treasure trove of artifacts and architecture that could greatly enlarge knowledge about that period, which roughly straddles the transition from Bronze to Iron ages.

Finding another tomb could "indicate the existence of a series of tombs that were built well before the city's foundation," Delfino said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.  Read the full report on www.iol.co.za.

Excavations in Israel Reveal 70 AD Jewish Community Close to Walled City

An archaeological dig, about five kilometers north of the Old City, has uncovered a complete community that existed during the two generations between the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the Bar-Kochba Rebellion in 132 CE, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The dig is proceeding along a 360-meter stretch smack in the center island of Shu'afat Road, the main traffic artery from Jerusalem to Ramallah and farther north to Nablus (Schechem). Perhaps more importantly, and certainly more controversially, the artery is also the route of the future line No.1 of the Jerusalem Light Rail system.

In fact, the dig was undertaken at the request of the Moriah Company, a municipal company engaged as the contractor to prepare the infrastructure for the Light Rail. Israeli law requires Moriah to coordinate its works with the Authority, whenever archaeological remains are - or could be - affected.

The dig provides important evidence of the closest known Jewish settlement to walled city they were expelled from in 70 AD.  Click to read the full text.

Web Site Documents John's Hopkins Excavation at Mut Temple Precinct in Luxor

I received a note today that Egyptologist Betsy Bryan and her crew are once again sharing their work with the world through an online diary, a digital window into day-to-day life on an archaeological dig. This is a fascinating look at the unfolding excavation of an Egyptian site.  Visitors to the site will find

photos of Bryan and her students working on Johns Hopkins University's 11th annual excavation at the Mut Temple Precinct in Luxor, where they continue to explore the Egyptian New Kingdom (1567 to 1085 B.C.E.) .

According to Bryan, modern day Luxor is rich in finds from the New Kingdom, known as the "golden age" of Egyptian temple building. This is the sixth year Bryan and her team will be excavating the area behind the temple's sacred lake, where in previous years their finds have included industrial and food processing installations like granaries and bakeries.

The goal of the "Hopkins in Egypt Today" Web site is to educate visitors by showing them the elements of archaeological work in progress. Photographer Jay VanRensselaer will capture images of the team as they carefully sift through trenches, uncovering mud brick walls, pottery sherds, animal bones and other remains. The daily photos and detailed captions emphasize not only discoveries, but the teamwork among Bryan, her students and their "gufti," the local crew members who are trained in archaeology. That teamwork is essential to a successful dig.

Dr. Rufus Fears Sees Similarities with USA to Ancient Rome; Parallels in Major Decisions Ahead

The text of a fascinating lecture by respected ancient history professor Dr. J. Rufus Fears of the University of Oklahoma is available online and well worth the read. (Unsolicited plug: Dr. Fears does a number of excellent video courses on ancient Greek and Roman history for the Teaching Company...highly recommended).  A few excerpts:

"We are on patrol today in Iraq. Men and women of the United States armed forces in armored vehicles patrol the streets of Baghdad. They pass in the way of so many who have come before them: the Egyptian charioteers of Ramses II, the Macedonian phalanx of Alexander the Great, the Roman legionnaires of Cae­sar and Trajan, the Crusaders of Richard the Lion-Hearted, the legionnaires of Napoleon, the Camel Corps of Lawrence of Arabia.

All of these have come through the Middle East. Many of them have come with the best of intentions, by their lights, to bring stability, even freedom to the Middle East. All have passed away. The Middle East has been the graveyard of empires.

In the course of history, we have come to take up that burden. We live in a time as momentous as that of the American Revolution, the Civil War, the days after Pearl Harbor. In each of these watersheds in our his­tory, we have not only taken up the burden, but we have advanced the cause of freedom...

The American people will have to make that decision as to whether we want to be a free repub­lic or a superpower. That is a crossroads that we will come to just as the Romans did. They first attempted to govern their empire with this old constitution, and it simply did not work. It is, however, possible to adopt a constitution so that you preserve the essence of political liberty and, at the same time, develop the institutions that can govern such an empire and preserve and expand the position of a superpower that brings peace and prosperity to the world...

I would say we’re very much like Rome around 88 B.C. We’re still a republic, we still have our free elections, and we still have a great deal of opportu­nity. But in 88 B.C., the full dimension of Rome’s involvement in the Middle East and its role of superpower began to come home to it. They chose to go down a road of intense partisan politics, fighting over small issues rather than seeing the big vision and, for a while, lacking leaders with a kind of foresight. So you can still enter the imperi­al age as a free republic and maintain that free republic."

The full archive of the lecture is available on the Heritage Foundation website.

Just Found: Ancient Fragment Depicts Buff Roman Gladiator Clad in G-String

Divers exploring a river near a former Roman Empire fort and settlement in Britain have found a piece of pottery that depicts the backside of a rather buff gladiator wielding a whip and wearing nothing but a G-string, according to the Discovery Channel quoting British researchers.

The image represents the first known depiction of a gladiator in such revealing attire. It adds to the evidence that ancient Romans viewed gladiators not only as fearless warriors, but also as sex symbols, said the article

Philippa Walton, who analyzed the object and is a finds liaison officer for the Cambridgeshire County Council, described the artifact to Discovery News. "The find is a small shard of pottery possibly from a drinking beaker made in Britain in the 3rd century A.D.," Walton said. "It depicts a man wearing a G-string and possibly holding a whip and is likely therefore to represent a gladiator."   

Click here for the full article plus a photo of the pottery sherd with the G-String clad gladiator.  Also see a superb, museum-quality terracotta statuette of a gladiator provocator (1st/2nd Century AD) available from Fragments of Time.

Sneak Peak: Details Emerge Regarding $275M Rennovation of Highly Anticipated Getty Re-Opening

The original Getty Museum, built on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, closed 8-years ago in preparation for a California-style $275-million facelift. The re-opening of the museum, which has been converted into a study center dedicated to the art and cultures of the Greeks, Romans and Etruscans, is among the most anticipated events in Southern California this year. 

The public will not be allowed into the new Getty until January 28, but we have a sneak peak courtesy of an indepth article in the Los Angeles Times. Here are a few excerpts:

• "Visitors will enter the museum through the atrium, the historically correct main entrance, instead of wending their way around the outer peristyle garden, as in the past. Those with sharp memories of the pre-renovation Villa will see at a glance that the atrium and second-floor galleries have new windows and skylights and that antiquities have replaced the European paintings and French furniture now displayed at the Getty Center in Brentwood. They will also discover that the museum has acquired a superb collection of ancient glass."


• "Few will notice alterations in the Temple of Herakles or such other changes as climate-controlled environments, security-glass-encased cabinets and new mounts for every single object. Even fewer will detect major infrastructure improvements such as steel reinforcements embedded in walls and floors, data ports under removable floor plates and a huge tunnel connecting the loading dock in a recently constructed office building with the museum's new freight elevator. Much of the money spent on the Villa paid for things the public will never see."


• "The floor plan is very much the same..but the collection is installed thematically."


• "The stone-clad Hall of Colored Marble and barrel-ceilinged Basilica were left largely intact. Other galleries have new terrazzo floors, based on Roman mosaic patterns and embedded with Roman numerals marking the progression of galleries. A painted black band runs around the bottom edge of most gallery walls, but color schemes vary. The extensive palette is keyed to the art and coordinated so that views cutting through several spaces are harmonious."


• "Labels were also a huge project...little icons on the labels (make it easy to) find an object immediately.  Text panels on the walls have timelines across the bottom, just to remind visitors of the time spans of these different cultures, with the earliest and latest piece in each gallery illustrated to show the chronological parameters of the room."

The Museum promises to be a spectacular enclave for all of us passionate about art from ancient Mediterranean cultures. Read the full article in the LA Times.