Archaeology
Inscription on Naxian-style Sphinx deciphered
The portrayal of Sphinxes first emerged in Egypt and then expanded to the Near East and Greece in the Bronze Age, followed by Central Asia during the Iron Age.
In contrast to the Egyptian sphinxes, examples of Naxian sphinxes depict a winged lion with a female face that became a common form in the Greek and Roman times.
One such example of a Naxian-style Sphinx was uncovered in the Roman provincial town of Potaissa, located in present-day Romania, which was lost during the War of Independence of 1848-1849 from the art collection of Count Kemény.
This sphinx was likely associated with an Isis sanctuary at Potaissa and has an inscription with twenty letters around its pedestal that uses a variant of the Greek alphabet unlike the Pannonian dedicatory plaques, which use the Latin alphabet.
The study authors said: “The sphinx inscription alphabet has many archaic features that remind one of the Dipylon alphabet. On the other hand, it has some features that are closer to the Megara and Naxos alphabets.”
This suggests that the sphinx alphabet lies somewhere between the archaic Dipylon and the Megara alphabets. The I, R, S, and T letters in the sphinx inscription more closely resemble the Dipylon forms, whereas the A and M letters bear greater resemblance to the Megara forms.
It is conceivable that this transitional phase existed during the establishment of the Megara colonies in history, and that is the form that spread to Potaissa and appears on the Potaissan sphinx statue.
An examination of sketches depicting the sphinx revealed that the inscription constitutes a metric poem composed in dactylic hexameter. This intricate poetic meter originated from ancient Greek verses and was subsequently embraced by Latin literature. Dactylic hexameter employs a recurring rhythmic structure of six metric feet per line, accentuating certain syllables over others.
According to the study, the poem is written in a proto-Hungarian language and welcomes visitors approaching the sphinx: Íme imádd: itt híres oroszlán (“Lo, behold, worship: here is the holy lion”).
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology are excavating the crash site of a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress in an English woodland.
The B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).
The bomber was mainly used in the European theatre for daylight strategic bombing, complimenting the RAF Bomber Command’s night bombers in attacking German industrial, military and civilian targets.
Cotswold Archaeology have been tasked by the Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency to search the crash site for the remains of the pilot, who died when the B-17 crashed following a system failure in 1944.
Image Credit : Cotswold Archaeology
At the time, the plane was carrying a payload of 12,000lbs of Torpex, an explosive comprised of 42% RDX, 40% TNT, and 18% powdered aluminium. Torpex was mainly used for the Upkeep, Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs, as well as underwater munitions.
The pilot was declared MIA when the plane exploded into an inferno, however, using modern archaeological techniques, the researchers plan to systematically excavate and sieve the waterlogged crash site to recover plane ID numbers, personal effects, and any surviving human remains.
It is the hope of the excavation team members that they will be able to recover the pilot’s remains and return him to the United States for burial with full military honours.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense whose mission is to recover unaccounted Department of Defense personnel listed as prisoners of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) from designated past conflicts.
Header Image Credit : Cotswold Archaeology
Sources : Cotswold Archaeology
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists excavating at the ancient Tharsa necropolis have uncovered a Roman Era tomb guarded by two carved bull heads.
Tharsa is located near Kuyulu village in southeastern Turkey along the Adıyaman-Şanlıurfa Highway.
The site was situated on a major Roman highway from Doliche to Samosata, which today consists of a two settlement mounds and a large necropolis that dates from the 3rd century to the Byzantine period.
Excavations first commenced in 2021 which discovered a collection of Turuş Rock Tombs, a type of tomb construction carved directly into the bedrock.
In the latest season, archaeologists have excavated another Turuş Rock Tomb, however, this example was found to have two carved bull heads which is decorated with garlands and rosettes between the horns.
Bull heads, known as Bucranium, were a form of carved decoration commonly used in Classical architecture. In Ancient Rome, bucrania were often used on the friezes of temples in the Doric order of architecture, later influencing the architecture of buildings from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical periods.
Architectural examples of bucrania are representations of the practice of displaying garlanded, sacrificial oxen, whose heads were displayed on the temple walls.
Like similar Turuş Rock Tombs, the bull heads are carved directly into the bedrock, guarding a dozen rock cut steps descending into the burial chamber which has three arched niches known as acrosolia.
Mustafa Çelik, Deputy Director of Adıyaman Museum, said, “Tharsa Ancient City consists of 3 main archaeological areas: Big Mound, Small Mound and Necropolis Area. We started excavations in the necropolis area in 2024. We added 2 more rock tombs to the rock tombs we had previously uncovered. One of them is the rock tomb we identified today.”
Header Image Credit : Adıyaman Museum
Sources : Adıyaman Museum
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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