Archaeology
Ancient Egyptian discovery rewrites history of Sudanese kingdom
Polish archaeologists excavating at the ruins of Old Dongola in Sudan have discovered Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics inscribed on sandstone blocks.
Old Dongola was the capital of the Nubian kingdom of Makuria, located on the eastern banks of the River Nile in Northern Sudan.
The Kingdom of Makuria emerged during the 5th century AD following the collapse of the Nubian Kingdom of Kush. At its peak during the 9th–11th century AD, the kingdom stretched from the area along the Nile from the Third Cataract, to south of Abu Hamad, and parts of northern Kordofan.
The kingdom saw cultural and religious reforms, referred to as “Nubization”, that sought to counter the growing influence of Arabic in the Coptic Church, and introduced the cult of dead rulers and bishops, as well as indigenous Nubian saints.
Image Credit : Dr. Dawid F. Wieczorek
Recent excavations at Old Dongola have uncovered over 100 blocks of white sandstone, inscribed with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics from the period of the 25th dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Nubian Dynasty.
The 25th dynasty was a line of pharaohs who originated in the Kingdom of Kush that reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt for nearly a century, from 744 to 656 BC. The 25th Dynasty’s reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and Kush, created the largest Egyptian empire since the New Kingdom. They assimilated into society by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions, temples, and artistic forms, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture.
The blocks found at Old Dongola were originally part of a structure, possibly a temple, built in the first half of the 1st millennium BC, the earliest example of human activity on the site identified so far.
Egyptologist Dr. Dawid F. Wieczorek said: “This is a huge discovery, because despite the 60-year Polish archaeological presence in Old Dongola, no evidence of such early construction activity on the site has been identified so far. It is impossible to say whether this material is local or was brought from some other site. Nevertheless, it is surprising that there are so many of these blocks, and from different parts it seems of the same temple.”
Some of the blocks are from the flooring, outer walls, and from a pylon (a tower flanking the entrance to the temple). “This would push back the known history of this city by over 1000 years,” said Dr. Wieczorek.
Within a radius of more than 100 kilometres from Old Dongola, there are no other known examples of sites with Egyptian-style architecture. The closest are Gebel Barkal (about 150 km up the Nile), and Kawa (about 120 km down the Nile). Both were leading urban and religious centres established during the New Kingdom in the 16th and 14th centuries BC.
Header Image Credit : Dr. Dawid F. Wieczorek
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Excavations at the Roman fort of Vindolanda have uncovered a possible phallus carving near Hadrian’s Wall.
Vindolanda (translated as “white field” or “white moor”) was a Roman auxiliary fort that guarded a major highway called the Stanegate.
No less than nine forts were built of timber or stone at Vindolanda from between AD 85 to AD 370, creating one of the most complex archaeological sites in Britain and a unique cultural legacy of frontier life.
Today, Vindolanda is an ongoing active archaeological site, with previous excavations uncovering thousands of perfectly preserved shoes, textiles, wooden objects, and the Vindolanda tablets (the oldest surviving documents in Britain that date from the 1st and 2nd century AD).
During the latest season of excavations, a possible phallus symbol has been uncovered in the last remaining turfed area within the boundaries of the fort. The symbol is carved into a stone slab and could be a depiction of a fascinus, used to invoke divine protection.
Phallic imagery can be found across the Roman world in sculptures, mosaics, frescoes, and portable objects such as pendants or bulla.
The Roman’s believed that the phallus was the embodiment of a masculine generative power, and was one of the tokens of the safety of the state (sacra Romana) that gave protection and good fortune.
Along the corridor of Hadrian’s Wall, there are 59 known phalli which consist of incised, relief, or sculpture phalli. Each architectural type of phalli have been grouped into one of nine morphological traits: the rocket, the hammer, the kinky-winky, the splitcock, the pointer, the double-dong, running hard, the beast, and the lucky dip.
Header Image Credit : Dr Rob Collins, FSA (via Twitter)
Sources : Vindolanda Trust
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
An analysis of carbonised papyrus from the Roman town of Herculaneum has revealed the burial place of Plato.
Plato (427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period and taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato’s most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals.
The scroll is one of many examples recovered at Herculaneum, a Roman town in the present-day comune of Ercolano in South-West Italy.
Along with the nearby city of Pompeii, Herculaneum was destroyed during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, burying the town under thick layers of ash and pumice.
Image Credit : CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Numerous scrolls and parchments made from papyrus were carbonised under the intense heat, however, as part of an ongoing project by archaeologists, a scroll containing the History of the Academy of Philodemus of Gadara (110-40 BC) has been partially deciphered.
The team used modern imaging techniques such as infrared, ultraviolet optical imaging, molecular and elemental imaging, thermal imaging, tomography, and optical microscopy digital.
Approximately 1,000 words have been identified (around 30% of the text entirety) which includes new details about Plato, the development of his Platonic Academy, and information that identifies his place of burial.
Archaeologists already knew that Plato was buried somewhere in the Platonic School in Athens, however, this latest revelation has pinpointed his burial to a private garden near the so-called Museion or sacellum sacred to the Muses.
Furthermore, the text has revealed that Plato was sold as a slave following the conquest of the island of Aegina by the Spartans sometime around 404 BC to 399 BC.
Header Image Credit : CNR – Image Credit : iStock
Sources : CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerchenrc
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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