Discover the Neanderthal Man at Paris Musée de l’Homme. For this second major exhibition, the museum focuses on another human species that disappeared over 35,000 years ago, after living on the Earth for over 350,000 years.

The Musée de l’Homme takes us 380,000 years back to meet the Neanderthal men. Throughout an incredible exhibition, the Musée de l’Homme offers us to observe this ancestor that hides many more secrets.

Living on the Earth for over 350,000 years, the Neanderthal Man disappeared over 35,000 years ago by leaving physical traces, rediscovered in the 19th century and analyzed by researchers worldwide. These traces, skeletons, skull bones, Lithic tools have been preserved for some at the Musée de l’Homme (a museum managed by the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle) and now presented through a major exhibition.

Suited for kids, this exhibition offers to live out several experiences, combining the rigor of scientific speech to a playful museography and workshops: evolving around 3 parts, we can discover how was the daily life of the Neanderthal men, how much time they lived and finally, the exhibition will give us pieces to answer the big question “How did the encounter between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens go? Was it hostile or did an interbreeding happen?”


To answer these questions, prehistorian and head of research at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) attached to the “Man and environment” department of the Muséum National d’histoire Naturel Marylène Patou-Mathis and prehistorian, paleolithician and local manager pf the INRAP (French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) Pascal Depaepe gathered over 180 items (fossils and contemporary documents) that change the prejudices about Neanderthal Men!

Of course, this Neanderthal exhibition will present famous bones including Neander’s skull, the Old Man from La Chapelle Aux Saints, the child from Pech-de-L’Azé, the woman from Saint-Césaire and will even reveal the daily life of the nomad hunter-gatherers with the reconstitution at scale 1/1 of the camp of La Folie Poitiers.

These archaeological items will be accompanied by paintings, texts, documents that will return of the varied welcomes this being received during the discovery of the first skull bone in the Neander valley in Germany (Tal in German), hence the name, Neanderthal Man!

Works of art, religious or scientific texts, the Musée de l’Homme presents the way the wrong reputation of Neanderthal in the 19th century has been made, this “Other” archaic brute being has nothing to see with the Modern Man at the time where Christianism used to struggle against the Theory of Evolution.

The exhibition starts on March 28, 2018 and runs to January 7, 2019.

For an overview of the exhibition see the Museum's 28 page Press Dosier (pdf, in French)

Source: SotiraParis [March 12, 2018]

The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki presents the temporary exhibition "Figurines. A Microcosmos of Clay".

The exhibition is devoted to ancient terracotta figurines, an important category of archaeological artefacts. Figurines have been manufactured in the Greek world from the Prehistoric era until the end of antiquity and it is easily understood that they are a characteristic and common find in excavations of sacred, funerary and domestic contexts. The Greek word ειδώλιο (figurine) is a diminutive of the ancient word ε?δωλον (idol) and is used to describe things that depict existing and imaginary beings and objects. The malleable and durable clay was the most favourite material, chosen by many generations to give shape and breathe life into images of humans, animals and objects.

Female figure playing with astragaloi (knucklebones), late 4th c. BC, Amphipoli  [Credit: ΥΠΠΟΑ - ΤΑΠ]

Satyr with a syrinx on a panther, 250-200 BC, Samothrace  [Credit: ΥΠΠΟΑ - ΤΑΠ]

The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki presents this major exhibition not only for the understanding of technical features, typology and evolution of the stylistic language and repertoire, but also for the exploring of the messages carried by these figures, which arrived to us after having traveled from the depths of time.

Standing female figure, 475-450 BC, Sindos  [Credit: ΥΠΠΟΑ - ΤΑΠ]

Flying Eros, 350-300 BC, Nikisiani, Kavala [Credit: ΥΠΠΟΑ - ΤΑΠ]

The exhibition is organized in two halls. In the first one, the focus is on the evolution of the coroplastic production over time, from the Neolithic period until the Roman era, offering to the visitor a panoramic view of terracotta figurines from the most important sites across Macedonia and Thrace. In the second hall the figurines are presented in thematic units according to their interpretation and context.

Aphrodite and Eros, mid 2nd c. BC, Veroia  [Credit: ΥΠΠΟΑ - ΤΑΠ]

Hedgehog (echinus) transporting fruits, 5th-4th c. BC, Ierissos (Akanthos), Chalkidike  [Credit: ΥΠΠΟΑ - ΤΑΠ]

In total, 291 figurines out of the 670 on display come from the collection of the AMTh. The rest come from the Ephorates of Antiquities in Northern Greece (Thessaloniki Region, Thessaloniki City, Chalkidike and Mount Athos, Imathia, Pella, Pieria, Kozani, Grevena, Kastoria, Florina, Kilkis, Serres, Drama, Kavala - Thasos, Xanthi, Rodopi and Evros). Most of them will be displayed for the first time to the public as an actual panorama of figurines dating from the 7th mill. BC to the 4th c. AD.

Selection of figurines from the exhibition [Credit: AMT]

In the framework of the exhibition, educational programmes, an experimental terracotta production workshop and an international conference will be held.

The exhibition runs until 31 December 2018.

Source: Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki [March 02, 2018]

The Acropolis Museum started in 2015 a series of temporary exhibitions displaying important ancient artifacts, deriving from significant archaeological sites of the Greek periphery. The Museum’s goal is to present unusual subjects that will intrigue the current visitor and at the same time urge him to visit the places the exhibits originated from.

After “Samothrace. The mysteries of the great gods” and “Dodona. The oracle of sounds”, the third exhibition of the series concerns Eleusis and the great mysteries. Eleusis (Greek: Elefsina) is a town and municipality in West Attica, Greece. It is situated about 18 kilometres (11 miles) northwest from the centre of Athens. It is located in the Thriasian Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf.

The exhibition presents the most important artifacts brought to light by the archaeological excavation in Elefsina, such as the unique statue of the “Fleeing Persephone” (around 480 BC), the votive relief depicting Demeter and Kore (Persephone)(470-450 BC) and ceremonial vessels, such as kernos, plemochoe and thymiaterion, as well as monuments depecting the leading figures of the great mysteries, Hierophant and Dadouchos.


The exhibition includes archaeological findings from the Athenian Eleusinion and the Sacred Way, as the religious procession started from Athens with a host of Initiates and candidates for initiation and ended up in the Eleusis Telesterion. For this reason, a votive relief from the area of Eleusinion and distinctive findings from the Sanctuary of Aphrodite, which is located next to the Sacred Way at the area of Dafni, are on display before the entrance to the exhibition.

The exhibition gallery has the form of the Eleusinian Telesterion including a small-scale version of the dark Anaktoron where visitors can watch a 15-minute video presentation with aerial photographs of the Sacred Way, representations, models, the archaeological site of Eleusis and many emblematic exhibits.

The exhibition is conducted with the collaboration of the Acropolis Museum and the Ephorate of Antiquities of West Attica. The exhibits are on a loan from the Archaeological Museum of Eleusis and the National Archaeological Museum.

Eleusis: The Great Mysteries will run until Thursday, 31 May, 2018.

Source: Acropolis Museum [February 28, 2018]

The temporary exhibition Mummies in Bruges – Secrets of Ancient Egypt will be inaugurated on 31 March, 2018, at the Oud Sint-Jan Exhibition Centre in Bruges. 

This fascinating exhibition comprises 9 human and animal mummies from Ancient Egypt that are more than 2000 years old, plus more than 200 objects (likewise from Ancient Egypt), including some that have never been shown before. 

These objects and mummies belong to the collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden [National Museum of Antiquities] in Leiden (Netherlands), which boasts one of the 10 most important Egyptology collections in the world. 

Large information panels and videos throughout the exhibition provide explanations on the remarkable rituals of the Ancient Egyptians concerning death and their unshakable belief in the afterlife.

The exhibition is presented in 3 halls, each dedicated to a different theme:

Life in Ancient Egypt

In Hall 1 you will travel 5000 years back in time to the life of the ancient Egyptians. Timelines and maps are used to give you an idea of how this culture came into being.

The focus is on life along the Nile, the hieroglyphic script and the enigmatic Egyptian pharaohs. 

Magnificent archaeological objects, including statues, stelae with hieroglyphs and burial gifts tell the story of Ancient Egypt and its remarkable customs.

Mummies

In Hall 2 you will be immersed in the secrets of mummification and burial. Discover the centuries old process of mummification seen through the eyes of modern technology.

The mummies were scanned recently and virtually unravelled layer by layer. This process is explained with pictorial material and videos on various screens.

Discover also the magnificent objects between each layer and their symbolic meaning.

The exhibition shows 9 Egyptian mummies (human and animal) more than 2,000 years old, beautifully painted sarcophagi, and idols.

The afterlife

In Hall 3 you will discover the unshakable belief of the ancient Egyptians in the afterlife.

The deceased had to undertake a journey, which was explained in the extensively illustrated books of the dead. Secret rituals and spells were intended to facilitate the journey.

Pages from the books of the dead on papyrus, with the language of idols, magical amulets and scarabs are displayed in this hall.

The exhibition will run from the 31st of March till the 11th of November 2018.

Source: XPO Center Bruges [February 20, 2018]

In 1908, The Metropolitan Museum of Art began to excavate late-antique sites in the Kharga Oasis, located in Egypt's Western Desert. The Museum's archaeologists uncovered two-story houses, painted tombs, and a church. They also retrieved objects that reveal the multiple cultural and religious identities of the people who lived in the region.

The finds represent a society between the third and seventh centuries A.D., a time of transition between the Roman and early Byzantine periods, which integrated Egyptian, Greek, and Roman culture and art. This exhibition features some 30 works from these excavations.

Bowl with Floral Motifs, 4th–7th century [Credit: MET]

By grouping objects according to the archaeological context in which they were discovered, the exhibition explores the interpretation of ancient identities and artifacts and shows how archaeological documentation can assist in understanding an object's original function.

Head of a Female Figurine, 4th–7th century [Credit: MET]

On view are ceramics, ostraca (pottery shards used as writing surfaces), jewelry from burials, glassware, coins, copies of frescoes with early Christian images, and early 20th-century site photography.

Excavations in Kharga Oasis

The Kharga Oasis, located in the Western Desert of Egypt, was an important intersection connecting caravan roads from the Darfur province of Sudan (ancient Nubia) to the Nile Valley, a journey of 1,082 miles. As a result, objects and ideas from across Egypt, Nubia, and the eastern Mediterranean from the Pharaonic to early Byzantine periods made their way to Kharga.

Fragment of a Stela, 4th century [Credit: MET]

In late antiquity (fourth to seventh century), the region also bore witness to an expansive and vibrant Christian community, evidenced by new sacred spaces and the reuse of forts and temples as churches and monasteries. In 1908, The Metropolitan Museum of Art began excavations of late antique sites in Kharga.

String of Beads, 4th–7th century [Credit: MET]

The Met's archaeologists uncovered two-story houses, painted tombs, and a church. A selection of objects from these sites are on view in this gallery, revealing the multiple cultural and religious identities of people who lived in the region between the third and seventh centuries, a time of transition between the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Ointment Jar, 4th–7th century [Credit: MET]

The finds represent a society that integrated Egyptian, Greek, and Roman culture and art. Presenting objects according to the archaeological context in which they were discovered, this exhibition explores these ancient identities and artifacts and demonstrates how archaeological documentation can aid in understanding an object's original function.

Amulet, 4th–7th century [Credit: MET]

Art and Peoples of the Kharga Oasis has been unfolded on October 11, 2017, and will be running through September 30, 2018, at the Met Fifth Avenue, New York, USA.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art [February 14, 2018]

Early depictions of the gorgon Medusa - a monster from Greek mythology - show an ugly, winged woman with serpents entwined in her hair, bulging eyes, a wide grin, a protruding tongue, and boar tusks, among other frightening features. According to the myth, any man who met her gaze would immediately turn to stone. Beginning in the fifth century B.C., images of Medusa underwent a gradual transformation, changing from grotesque to beautiful.

The exhibition Dangerous Beauty: Medusa in Classical Art, which opened February 5 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, explores the changing ways in which Medusa was imagined and depicted from antiquity to the present day. A similar shift in representations of sphinxes, sirens, and the sea monster Scylla is also considered. The first exhibition to focus on this topic, it features 60 works in all media drawn primarily from The Met collection and emphasizes the enduring appeal of these figures in Roman and later Western art. The exhibition is made possible by The Vlachos Family Fund and Diane Carol Brandt.

In the fifth century B.C., the concept of ideal proportions of the human body took hold in Greek art. This idealization also affected how mythological beings were portrayed. For example, images of certain monsters-hybrid creatures having a woman's face and elements from the body of a beast, bird, or reptile-became more humanized and beautiful at this time.

Terracotta figurine of horse and rider from Cyprus, early 3rd century BC [Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

More than half of Dangerous Beauty traces the visual transformation of Medusa. Whereas early images focused on the monster's hideous visage, later representations portrayed her as a young and beautiful woman. The multitude of venomous serpents entwined in her hair, for example, in time became luxuriant curls, a pair of wings on her head, and two small serpents interlaced below her chin.

The exhibition features the earliest depiction of the beautiful Medusa in Greek art along with two dozen examples of Medusa images on ancient Greek armor, drinking cups, funerary reliefs and urns, gold jewelry, and architectural elements, as well as Roman and Neoclassical cameos. Contemporary use of the beautiful Medusa is illustrated by three garments designed by Versace that incorporate the company's logo-a head of Medusa-into their designs. Due to the fragility of textiles, these garments will be rotated over the course of the exhibition, with only one displayed at a time.

Gold pendant in the form of a gorgoneion (Gorgon's face) from Cyprus, ca. 450 BC [Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

The exhibition also includes works of art that depict other female composite beings from Greek mythology-sirens, sphinxes, and Scylla-that underwent similar transformations. The beautiful Medusa and Scylla are archetypes of the seductive but threatening "femme fatale" that emerged in the late 19th century in reaction to women's empowerment. A major theme in Symbolist art, the "femme fatale" is represented in the exhibition by drawings and prints by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edvard Munch.

The exhibition is organized by Kiki Karoglou, Associate Curator, Department of Greek and Roman Art.

Education programs will include an interdisciplinary talk, gallery talks, #Metkids, and Access programs.

A soundscape was composed for the exhibition by Austin Fisher, Associate Producer, Digital Department.

The exhibition is featured on The Met website, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

A Bulletin will be published in conjunction with the exhibition. The publication will be available in The Met Store (paperback, $14.95).

The accompanying Bulletin is made possible in part by the Jenny Boondas Fund. The Met's quarterly Bulletin program is supported in part by the Lila Acheson Wallace Fund for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, established by the cofounder of Reader's Digest.

Source: Broadway World [February 09, 2018]

The J. Paul Getty Museum announced today the acquisition of an early 5th-century B.C. bronze appliqué depicting the Etruscan Sun God Usil.

Appliqué depicting the Sun God Usil, Etruscan, 500 - 475 B.C. Italy, Vulci. Bronze. H: 20 cm (7 7/8 in.) [Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California]

“This bronze appliqué that probably decorated an Etruscan chariot or funeral cart is of exceptional quality, representing the peak period of an artistic milieu in which Greek and Italic aesthetics merged to create a distinctively Etruscan style,” says Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “Bronze statuettes and reliefs are a particular strength of the Getty’s collection of Etruscan art and the Usil appliqué’s rarity and quality will assure it a significant presence in the newly reinstalled gallery at the Villa dedicated to this fascinating culture.”

The appliqué represents the solar deity Usil (the equivalent of the Greek god Helios and Roman god Sol), who stands with spread wings and dramatically splayed fingers. A nimbus of rays surrounds the head of the god, who wears a diadem, necklace, and a mantle over his shoulders. At the thighs, the figure merges into a broad plate decorated with undulating lines, suggesting the sea from which the sun emerges at daybreak and sinks at dusk.

Ornamental reliefs such as this functioned as fittings on funeral carts and chariots, which often accompanied the burials of Etruria’s equestrian elite. Probably affixed to the sides of the vehicle, the winged god reflects the imagery of a celestial divinity driving the chariot of the sun across the sky, which was common in Greek and later Etruscan art. The earliest Usil plaque, in the Vatican Museums, was reportedly found at Roma Vecchia between 1760 and 1775 and was illustrated by Francesco Piranesi in 1778. In 1845, four similar plaques were discovered in the Tomb of the Quadriga at Vulci, which preserved the skeletons of horses. Among the appliqués held in the National Etruscan Museum of the Villa Giulia in Rome, the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, and other museums, some may belong to that burial. Of that group, the Getty’s Usil appliqué is the best surviving example. Although displaying slight variations in size, facial features, form of the plate, and position of the rivets, all are associated with a preeminent bronze-casting workshop in Vulci.

This newest acquisition will go on display in the reinstalled Getty Villa when it opens in April 2018, and will join several related Etruscan bronzes, including a vessel foot depicting Usil in winged boots running over the crests of waves; and a lion head attachment with glass paste eyes, which likely capped the end of a chariot pole. A pair of candelabra with finials of a youth dancing and playing castanets is also attributed to a Vulcian workshop, which produced fine metalware for an international Mediterranean clientele.

The appliqué was acquired in the 1920s in Monte Carlo by Sylvie Bonneau-Arfa (b. about 1907), née Fatma-Enayet Arfa, the daughter of the Persian ambassador to the Russian court. In 1970 the appliqué went up for auction but failed to sell and was returned to the family. It had been brought to the attention of the Swiss archaeologist Hans Jucker in 1968, and was subsequently on loan to the Historisches Museum in Bern, Switzerland during the 1970s. The Getty acquired it at auction from the descendants of Ms. Bonneau-Arfa.

“This wonderful addition to the collection alongside the related objects in the new Etruscan gallery will introduce visitors to the art of Etruscan bronze sculpture, the significance of celestial divinities in Etruscan religion, elite burial practices, and the impressive parade armor of ancient Italy,” says Jeffrey Spier, senior curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Source: The J. Paul Getty Museum [February 07, 2018]

This exhibition, organized by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades in collaboration with the French School at Athens and the Byzantine and Christian Museum, brings together a selection of “snapshots” starring those who worked to uncover, protect, and enhance the unique archaeological and cultural wealth of the Cyclades from the late 19th century to the present. It includes one-of-a-kind archaeological exhibits from the islands, most of which are being exhibited for the first time.

Photo Credit: Nikos Mylonas

Emblematic finds coming from the museums of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades, foundations of the Church of Greece and original archival and photographic material from the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the French School at Athens present fascinating stories about those who worked tirelessly at the difficult and complex work of preserving the Cyclades’ monuments, as well as all those who actively participated in its reception.

Photo Credit: Nikos Mylonas

The narrative is roughly chronological, starting from the first excavations in the 19th century on Delos and Rheneia, and the contribution of the French School at Athens and the Archaeological Service of the newly-founded Greek state to the discovery of a splendid ancient sanctuary and bustling harbor which experienced distinctive moments of multicultural wealth. An outstanding exhibit in this section is the exceptional mural emblema from the House of Dionysus being exhibited in Athens for the first time.

Photo Credit: Nikos Mylonas

The exhibition’s second axis focuses on an iconic figure of Cycladic archaeology, Nikolaos Zaphiropoulos, who labored conscientiously until the end of his life, during periods critical for Cycladic antiquities and identity, having as his sole object the protection and enhancement of the islands’ archaeological wealth. His multi-faceted work includes the excavation of the cemetery of ancient Thera in Sellada, from which a selection of finds are presented here for the first time, including the impressive model of an oikiskos from a female burial that contained 103 objects – a Theran household of the age in miniature and perhaps the exhibition’s premier display.

Photo Credit: Nikos Mylonas

The final section throws light on coordinated efforts to identify, protect, and conserve important Byzantine and Post-Byzantine monuments as well as unique artifacts of outstanding historical and artistic value. Stories concerning assemblages of monumental painting, portable icons and the challenges they present to conservation efforts form the narrative in this exhibition unit, whose exceptionally fine exhibits include two previously-unknown Byzantine icons, a number of detached Byzantine wall paintings, and an icon in the Byzantine style by El Greco unexpectedly discovered on Syros in 1983.

The exhibition will run until 28 February 2018.

Source: Byzantine & Christian Museum [February 02, 2018]

More than $50 million worth of gold bars, coins and dust that's been described as the greatest lost treasure in U.S. history is about to make its public debut in California after sitting at the bottom of the ocean for more than 150 years.

Chief scientist Bob Evans looks at gold bars recovered from the S.S. Central America steamship that went down in a hurricane in 1857 in a laboratory Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif. More than $50 million worth of gold bars, coins and dust described as the greatest lost treasure in U.S. history is about to make its public debut in California [Credit: AP/Jae C. Hong]

The 3,100 gold coins, 45 gold bars and more than 80 pounds (36 kilograms) of gold dust recovered from the wreckage of the S.S. Central America steamship are now sitting in a makeshift laboratory just south of Los Angeles.

Bob Evans, the chief scientist on the original voyage that discovered the shipwreck and its treasure in 1988, is now painstakingly cleaning each piece of gold by hand, soaking it in a solution and brushing off rust and grime that accumulated as the treasure sat 7,000 feet (2,134 metres ) below sea level.

Chief scientist Bob Evans shows a restored gold bar recovered from the S.S. Central America steamship that went down  in a hurricane in 1857 in a laboratory Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif [Credit: AP/Jae C. Hong]

"This is a whole new season of discovery," Evans told The Associated Press this week from the laboratory in Santa Ana. "We are now peering beneath the grime and the rust that is on the coins, removing those objects and those substances and getting to look at the treasure as it was in 1857."

The Central America was laden with booty from the California Gold Rush when it sank in a hurricane off the coast of South Carolina in 1857. Four hundred and twenty-five people drowned and thousands of pounds of California gold were lost, contributing to an economic panic.

Bars recovered from the S.S. Central America steamship that went down in a hurricane in 1857 are seen in a laboratory  Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif. More than $50 million worth of gold bars, coins and dust described as the greatest lost treasure in U.S. history is about to make its public debut in California. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Using sable paintbrushes and a cleaning solution, Evans has been restoring the gold —some of which is completely caked over in black gunk — to its original lustre for the past two weeks. He will continue that work through February, when the treasure will go on public display at the Long Beach Convention Center, just south of Los Angeles.

The gold is all for sale. Just one tiny coin alone could go for $1 million because of its combination of rarity and the history behind it, said Dwight Manley, managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group, which is displaying and selling the gold.

California Gold Marketing Group's Dwight Manley, center, and chief scientist Bob Evans examine gold coins in a laboratory Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif. The gold was recovered in 2014 from the wreckage of the S.S. Central America steamship and is now sitting in a makeshift laboratory just south of Los Angeles [Credit: AP/Jae C. Hong]

"This is something that in hundreds of years people will still be talking about, reading about, looking back on and collecting things from," Manley said. "There's no other ships that sank that haven't been recovered that rival this or are similar to this, so it's really a once-in-a-lifetime situation."

Meanwhile the deep-sea treasure hunter responsible for finding the gold in the first place continues to sit in an Ohio jail over his handling of the original treasure recovered from the Central America.

Rust-covered gold coins recovered from the S.S. Central America steamship that went down in a hurricane in 1857 sit in containers filled with water while being restored in a laboratory Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif. More than $50 million worth of gold bars, coins and dust that has sat at the bottom of the ocean since the shipwreck is about to go on public display in California [Credit: AP/Jae C. Hong]

Treasure hunter and Ohio native Tommy Thompson found the ship in 1988 after convincing 161 local investors to fund the voyage for nearly $13 million.

A lengthy battle ensued over who owned the gold, with Thompson and his investors eventually emerging as the victors over a group of insurance companies. Thompson's company sold 532 gold bars and thousands of coins to the California Gold Marketing Group for about $50 million in 2000.

Restored gold coins are stacked up in plastic sleeves in a laboratory Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, in Santa Ana, Calif. The majority of more than $50 million worth of gold bars, coins and dust that has sat at the bottom of the ocean since the ship it was on sunk in 1857 is about to go on public display in California [Credit: AP/Jae C. Hong]

Investors never saw any of those proceeds. In 2005, they sued Thompson, who then went into seclusion in Florida and later became a fugitive after an Ohio judge issued a warrant for his arrest in 2012.

Authorities tracked Thompson to a Florida hotel room in 2015. A judge has held Thompson in contempt since December 2015 for violating terms of a plea deal by refusing to answer questions about the location of 500 missing gold coins. He's been jailed ever since.


Thompson has previously said the coins were turned over to a trust in Belize. He has also said that the $50 million from the sale of the gold mostly went toward legal fees and bank loans.

Recovered in 2014, the gold going on display in California next month is only the second round of treasure brought up from the Central America.

Manley, of the California Gold Marketing Group, bought the gold from investors this month. It was the first time investors saw returns since their initial investment in the 1980s, though some of them died waiting to see such a day.

The gold will be on display Feb. 22-24 at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Author: Amanda Lee Myers | Source: The Associated Press [January 29, 2018]

Achievements of ancient Greek technology can now be seen and admired in Athens at the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, Kostas Kotsanas, which opened its doors recently.

Credit: Thomas J. Nanos

The museum is a labour of love of Kostas Kotsanas; an engineer from Patras who for more than three decades has studied and reproduced the impressive constructions of the ancient Greek mechanics of classical and Hellenistic period.

The works cover a wide range of mechanisms and instruments, from automations and time recording, to mapping, astronomy and encryption.

The exhibits used to be displayed at the first location of the museum in Katakolo, Peloponnese. Now they are housed in an exquisite, renovated  three-story art nouveau building in Kolonaki, central Athens.

The building alone has a long history as being property of the family of Aspasia Manos; wife of King Alexander I, and among others, hosted the Athenian News Agency for years.

The exhibition area is about ​​700 square meters, housing the permanent exhibition “The High-Tech Inventions of the Ancient Greeks”, which includes more than 100 exhibits – copies of ancient Greek machines and other inventions, all functional and most of them interactive.


The exhibits have travelled to Greece, Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia.

Kotsanas; the mastermind of the museum, has written six books on ancient Greek technology.

He has also created the Museum of Ancient Greek Musical Instruments and Toys in Katakolo and the Archimedes Museum in Olympia, all with free admission.

Among the many exhibits at the museum is the wind sphere of Heron (mankind’s first locomotive steam machine), the astrolabe of Ptolemy, the “automatic vendor” of Heron (an automatic vase with a coin-box, where the devotees threw their oval to receive baptism) the first sonar warning mechanism in history, the first autonomous flying machine, the first automatic man-made waitress (a kind of robot) by Philon the Byzantine, Heron’s puppet vehicle, the hydraulic clock of Ctesivius, and of course, a copy of the Antikythera mechanism, the putative first computer of mankind.

Visitors can also see the separate exhibition of ancient Greek musical instruments, the collection comprised of 42 reconstructed operative instruments, such as Pythagoras’ helikon, Hermes’ lyre, the guitar and others.

Kostas Kotsanas, founder of the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, poses next to a model of Antikythera  calculating mechanism at the museum in Athens [Credit: Lefteris Partsalis]

Apart from the two permanent exhibitions, the museum will present periodical exhibitions on ancient Greek technology, including the works of Archimedes, ancient Greek games, ancient shipbuilding, ancient Greek siege engines, astronomy, etc.

Furthermore, educational programs and workshops for children and adults will be organized in the museum areas on robotics, mathematics, natural sciences, etc.

Visitors will also be able to buy handmade models, replicas of the exhibits, including an exact copy of the Antikythera Mechanism, the Parmenion Portable Solar Watch, the Hipparchos’ tetrantas, ancient Greek ships, toys, musical instruments, and other objects.

Author: Philip Chrysopoulos | Source: The Greek Reporter [January 24, 2018]

The exhibition 'Carthage and the Etruscans: an old friendship' at the Carthage National Museum was inaugurated on Friday January 19 by the Tunisian Culture Minister Mohamed Zine el Abidine and Tourism Minister Selma Elloumi-Rekik, in the presence of several political and economic personalities, ambassadors and actors in the field of history and heritage.

Credit: Musée national de Carthage

The public will have the opportunity to discover for the first time and for two weeks a collection of over 2,000 Etruscan archaeological items belonging to the period from the 4th to the 7th century BC, with the exceptional exhibition of a unique object presenting the 1st and oldest passport in the world of a Carthaginian travelling to Etruria (Italy).

This exhibition presents a rich and varied collection that testifies to the friendly relations between both peoples: trade, artistic, military and technical relations. The collection gathers Bucchero Nero ceramic objects, bronze objects and Greek-inspired pieces.

In this regard, director-general of the Heritage Directorate Abdelhamid Largueche stated that this exhibition points out the close relationship between the two peoples that went beyond trade relations to become a relation of sharing and alliance.

Credit: Musée national de Carthage

The exhibition will last for two weeks with students and pupils as the targeted public who will be accompanied by specialised mediators and guides, he pointed out.

In turn, Director of Research at the National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS) and specialist in the Etruscan civilisation Jean Gran-Aymerich laid emphasis in his exposé on the specificity of the Etruscan people compared to other populations of the same period at the level of language, origin and morals.

“The Etruscan people cultivated their difference with a unique language different from the Indo-European or Semitic languages, unknown origins and vanguard morals for that time,” he explained.

Credit: Musée national de Carthage

“The Etruscan woman had an important role as no other woman at that era (Roman, Greek or Punic). In fact, Etruscan women were able to attend public games and shows, participate in conferences alongside their husbands, inherit and provide their names as mothers to their children just as fathers,” he added.

“Since the end of the 19th century, archaeological discoveries in Carthage have revealed that there are Etruscan objects in Carthage buried mainly in graves,” he indicated affirming that “today, after over a century and a half of excavations and discoveries, researches consider that Carthage has the most important collection in number and in variety of Etruscan objects.”

According to him, the 'Carthage and the Etruscans: an old friendship' exhibition illustrates that before Punic wars and clashes between the Carthaginians and the Romans, the Italic people had established privileged relations with the Carthaginians for about 4 to 6 centuries BC.

Credit: Musée national de Carthage

Taking the floor, Culture Minister Mohamed Zine el Abidine highlighted the importance of this exhibition as part of promoting heritage at the national and international levels.

Besides, he shed a light on the importance of the public-private partnership in promoting archaeological treasures in Tunisia, citing as an example the support of the Tunisian BIAT bank as a sponsor in the establishment of this new exhibition.

On this occasion, he announced the implementation of several projects to promote the historic city of Carthage as part of a new national plan for the promotion of national heritage in various Tunisian regions so that heritage becomes a source of riches and development.

In this connection, Director of the Carthage museum and site Sondes Douggui presented a project to enhance the site’s monuments: The rehabilitation, restoration and fitting-out of different monuments such as the Punic ports, the Tophet of Carthage, the UNESCO square, the reconstruction of the circus, the Maalgua tanks, the Roman theatre and the Carthage museum.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse [January 20, 2018]

From myth and legend to warfare, sport, and transportation, the horse played an integral role in ancient Greek culture. Wealthy Greeks belonged to the social class of knights and hunted to develop skills for fighting in the cavalry.

Red-Figured Lekythos, Unknown (Artist) [Credit: Travis Fullerton, © Virginia Museum of Fine Art]

Horses were among the earliest subjects explored by Greek artists and remained the most commonly depicted animal in the Archaic and Classical Periods. Artists and writers celebrated horses as symbols of wealth, power, and prestige but also as cherished companions of humans, heroes, and gods.

The Horse in Ancient Greek Art presents imagery of mythical horses like the winged Pegasos, who becomes a constellation, as well as horse-hybrids like centaurs and satyrs, creatures that are part human and part horse.

Many artists depict chariots, sometimes rushing into battle and sometimes in thrilling races, while others focus on horse races, carefully indicating the goads, bridles, reins, and bits. These images as well as scenes of grooming and feeding well-bred steeds reveal striking parallels between ancient and modern horse care and horsemanship.

The Horse in Ancient Greek Art features Greek vases, sculpture, and coins from the 8th through the 4th centuries BC drawn from private collections, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Tampa Museum of Art, and other museum collections.

The exhibition and accompanying publication explore the significance of the horse in ancient Greek culture, and imagery of the horse in ancient myth, war, sport, and competition. From some of the earliest examples of the horse in Greek art, to stunning examples of black and red-figure vases, the objects on view illustrate ancient equestrian life.

The Horse in Ancient Greek Art is co-curated by Dr. Peter J. Schertz, VMFA Jack and Mary Ann Frable Curator of Ancient Art and Nicole Stribling, Curator of Permanent Collections, National Sporting Library & Museum. The exhibition is organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the National Sporting Library & Museum, Middleburg, Virginia.

The exhibition runs from February 17, 2018 – July 8, 2018.

Source: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts [January 14, 2018]

The Block Museum of Art and the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University delve into the art and science of ancient artifacts in the exhibition “Paint the Eyes Softer: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt.”

Credit: The Block Museum of Art

“Paint the Eyes Softer” brings to Northwestern a series of mummy portraits produced in Egypt during the Roman period, a complete intact portrait mummy and other archeological finds from the Fayum region.

The groundbreaking installation was co-curated by Marc Walton, research professor of materials science and engineering at McCormick and senior scientist at NU-ACCESS (Northwestern University/ Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Study in the Arts); Taco Terpstra, assistant professor of classics and history in Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences; and Essi Ronkko, Block Museum curatorial associate, working in consultation with a group of Northwestern undergraduate student researchers.

Ancient Portraits 

A series of rare Roman-Egyptian funerary portraits on view within the exhibition were painted on wooden panels between the first and third centuries A.D. in Egypt. These visages of the dead were originally secured over the face of the deceased within the mummy wrappings.

Mummy portraits from Tebtunis, Fayum [Credit: Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology  and the Regents of the University of California]

When these works were excavated at the beginning of the 20th century, they transformed the world with their immediacy, thought to reveal naturalistic, individual likenesses of people who lived 2,000 years ago. Some of the earliest portraits in existence, these paintings offer viewers a face-to-face encounter with the past. The words on one sketch board still bear personal instructions to an artist of an earlier millennium: “(paint the) eyes softer,” it indicates in Greek.

The majority of the objects on view at the Block, which were excavated from the site of Tebtunis (now Umm-el-Breigat, Egypt), are loans from the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. One of the largest collections of Roman portraits to have remained intact since excavation, they provide a rare opportunity to study the material microhistory of painting tradition in a known context and to explore how ancient paintings were created.

“It is extremely exciting to have not only a large number of rare mummy portraits on display but also the only known annotated sketch of what was to become yet another portrait,” Terpstra said. “It represents a moment frozen in time. We are witnessing the process of artistic creation, providing a unique experience for the curators as well as the visitors to the exhibit. I am really proud of both our Weinberg College and McCormick School students. They have done a fantastic job of getting the most out of this fascinating material.”

The Hibbard Mummy 

The intact mummy of a young girl from the collection of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary on the Northwestern University campus complements the Tebtunis portraits in the exhibition. This complete mummy with a portrait embedded in its wrappings comes from the site of Hawara, a site close to Tebtunis in the Fayum region of Egypt.

The Hibbard mummy [Credit: Block Museum of Art]

The mummy, known as the Hibbard mummy or Hawara Portrait Mummy No. 4, is a portrait mummy of a young girl, approximately 5 years old. Acquired by the seminary in 2009, the mummy was previously loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2000 for an exhibit entitled "Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Ancient Egypt." The Block Museum exhibition has provided a new opportunity to examine this artifact.

Rachel Sabino, associate conservator of objects in the department of conservation at the Art Institute of Chicago was the member of a multidisciplinary team of specialists who recently performed treatment on and oversaw handling, packing and transport of the Hibbard mummy.

“The extended period of study permitted a thorough evaluation of the mummy’s condition, and as a result of these interdisciplinary discussions, much of the overlying, encrusting burial soil was reduced in order to eliminate strain on the wrappings and to make the surface more uniformly responsive to environmental changes, thus providing for the mummy’s long-term stability,” Sabino said. “This action yielded the ancillary benefit of enhancing the mummy’s legibility by more clearly articulating the pattern of the underlying wrappings and differentiating them from secondary wrappings.”

Exhibition as Laboratory 

In addition to the objects themselves, “Paint the Eyes Softer” highlights innovative techniques for the scientific study of objects. In recent years, the paintings have been the focus of a systematic study conducted by NU­ACCESS and UC Berkeley using a variety of imaging techniques. Recent scientific analysis conducted by NU-ACCESS has determined that some of the wood used in the creation of the panels was local, while some of it was brought in from the Balkans in southeastern Europe, opening interesting questions about ancient local economies and long-distance trade.

VIS-NIR-Fluorescence comparison of Mummy portrait [Credit: Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology and the Regents of the University of California and NU-ACCESS (6-21376)]

Students enrolled in an advanced undergraduate seminar in fall 2017 worked with exhibition curators Terpstra and Walton to continue the research of the NU-ACCESS project, combining materials science, archaeology and museum studies. Students conducted hands-on work in a laboratory environment to assess how ancient materials were made, used and buried and what this data means in a wider archaeological context.

As a capstone to this course, the students scientifically analyzed the Hibbard portrait mummy to collect meaningful scientific data. This materials-based approach provides new insights into the economic, historical and social context for art-making in the Fayum region and Roman Egypt.

The multidisciplinary course built upon findings from the research paper “A Roman Egyptian Painting Workshop: Technical Investigation of the Portraits from Tebtunis, Egypt,” authored by Walton and collaborators and published in the journal Archaeometry.

VIS-NIR-Fluorescence comparison of Mummy portrait [Credit: Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology  and the Regents of the University of California and NU-ACCESS (6-2378b)]

"This exhibit and class is an extension of my research over the past decade into Greco-Roman painting in Egypt,” Walton said. “It has been a pleasure to teach this technical and historical content to the students, to expose them to the gaps in our knowledge and to watch them respond to these problems with alacrity and enthusiasm. By bringing together students from engineering and the humanities, we have seen them come up with some unexpected and welcome conclusions that demonstrate their critical-thinking skills.”

In addition, students in a seminar on sound design, taught by Northwestern professor Stephan Moore, developed a unique soundscape for the exhibition. Through presentations, discussions, field trips and technical demonstrations, they explored the current state of sound design for museum exhibitions. As a final project, the students created a fully realized soundscape for the exhibition.

Interdisciplinary research 

The exhibition is presented as part of an ongoing art and engineering partnership between McCormick and the Block Museum that has included visiting artists, exhibitions and residencies focused on the productive intersections of creativity and scientific research.


“This unique exhibition is quintessentially Northwestern, arising from the DNA of the institution that values partnership and interdisciplinary inquiry,” said Lisa Corrin, the Block Museum Ellen Philips Katz Director. “Our students and faculty are able to come to significant, field-advancing findings by collaborating across multiple fields of expertise.

“This exhibition not only brings to Northwestern some of the most significant early portraits in existence, but demonstrates the way that art and engineering can come together in extraordinary ways,” Corrin said.

“This exhibit is just one of the many ways we are continuing to expand the intersection between art and engineering,” McCormick dean Julio M. Ottino said. “In addition to providing the tools of engineering to study the history of art, our partnership provides opportunities for engineers and artists to learn how each other works and thinks, expanding their own abilities in the process.”

The exhibition runs from January 13 - April 22, 2018.

Source: The Block Museum of Art [January 10, 2018]