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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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antiquities

Outside; Virgin Mary and Skull rosary bead, the star of the PAS 2022 Annual report launch. Center; Source: Portable Antiquities Scheme

UK Declared a Land Full of Hidden Treasure By British Museum

While Caroline Nunneley was exploring the Thames' shores in London, meticulously searching the mud on all fours for archaeological treasures, she encountered an unexpected find: a small, intricately...
Jim Fitton, a retired British geologist on holiday, was sentenced to 15 years of prison in Iraq for antiquities smuggling.		Source: YouTube screenshot / itv News

British Geologist Gets Ridiculous 15-year Prison Sentence in Iraq

In a legal case that has been unfolding in Iraq since the last week of March, the arrest of a retired British geologist has the seismic potential to rock diplomatic relations. When Jim Fitton was...
The 1,800-Year-Old marble bathtub from Aphrodisias.	Source: Hurriyet Daily News

Rare 1,800-Year-Old Marble Bathtub from Aphrodisias Rescued from Thieves

A raid by Turkish police on March 31, 2022 led to the recovery of a rare and valuable ancient artifact that was about to be sold by smugglers. In Turkey’s western or Aegean province of Aydin , law...
Prehistoric Guennol Stargazer Idol to Stay in the US, Court Rules

Prehistoric Guennol Stargazer Idol to Stay in USA, Court Rules

After eight steamy days in a U.S. court, it was ruled that a 6,000-year-old artifact will stay in the country. A Manhattan judge firmly rejected Turkish antiquities authorities’ claim for the return...
The brown quartzite King Tut statue for auction. Source: Christie's.

3,000-Year-Old Egyptian God Whips Up A Sand Storm Of Legal Battles

On July 4th, Christie’s auction house in London will sell a rare 3,000 years old, , statue of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun’s head, portrayed as the god Amun , which according to Christie’s listing “...
Meet the 800-Year-Old Golden Rhinoceros that Challenged Apartheid South Africa

Meet the 800-Year-Old Golden Rhinoceros that Challenged Apartheid South Africa

It may be small enough to sit in the palm of your hand, but even now – nearly 800 years after it was lost to sight in what is now South Africa – the Golden Rhinoceros of Mapungubwe has powerful...
Pottery and metal artifacts.

Massive Stash of Illegal Artifacts and 1000s of Human Bones Recovered From Indiana Man’s Basement Collection

The FBI’s art crime unit has announced that during a multi-year investigation it has uncovered a staggering hoard of stolen antiquities . The haul of antiquities was huge, and it included a large...
The ancient bible recovered from smugglers in Turkey. Credit: Diyarbakir Governor's Office

Stolen 1200-Year-Old Bible with Gold-Encrusted Motifs Recovered in Anti-Smuggling Raid in Turkey

A rare 1200-year old bible has been seized from a group of antiquities smugglers in Turkey. In recent years there have been a sharp spike in the numbers of historic artifacts smuggled into the...
Roman statue Minerva statue found in Oxfordshire.

Silver-eyed Minerva Statuette Kept in A Flora Tub for 10 Years is Part of a Record Year for Treasure Finds

A nearly 2,000-year-old Roman statuette of the ‘silver-eyed goddess Minerva’ that was kept in a plastic ‘Flora’ margarine tub, was part of a collection of 1,267 finds made across England, Wales, and...
Marine research and excavation in the area of the Mentor shipwreck

The Mentor Shipwreck and the Disastrous Journey of the Parthenon Marbles to Britain

The British Museum in London is one of the largest and extensive museums on earth, containing approximately eight million works—objects taken from all over the world during the time of the British...
It has been announced that a collection of 5000-year-old priceless artifacts that were looted in the wake of the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 have been identified in London. Local police seized the objects from an illegal dealer in antiquities.

Looted Iraqi Antiquities Can Finally Return Home After Simple Identification by British Museum

It has been announced that a collection of 5000-year-old priceless artifacts that were looted in the wake of the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 have been identified in London. Local police seized the...
The Osiris statuette from Saqqara, Egypt.

Restoration Work Uncovers Statuette of Osiris Secreted in Pyramid Wall

Mostafa el-Waziri, the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt has announced an amazing discovery, one which is exciting and intriguing the experts. During routine restoration work on the...
The stele has hieroglyphic and demotic inscriptions and measures 41 inches

Rosetta-style engraving lauding Cleopatra I and two Ptolemaic Pharaohs unearthed in Egypt

A 2,200-year-old Rosetta-style limestone stele has been found at an ancient site near the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Though archaeologists and Egyptologists haven’t...
Some of the artefacts found after disappearing from the National Museum of Iraq. Ceerwan Aziz

Fifteen Years After Looting, Thousands of Artifacts are still Missing from Iraq’s National Museum

Craig Barker / The Conversation On April 10 2003, the first looters broke into the National Museum of Iraq. Staff had vacated two days earlier, ahead of the advance of US forces on Baghdad. The...
Palmyrean triad: Baalshamin, master of the skies, the Moon-god Aglibol and the Sun-god Malakbel (Yarhibol). Cultual relief, limestone, first half of the 1st century AD, found in one of the routes to Palmyra. The stele bears religious inscriptions carved by passers-by.

Scholar Made the Ultimate Sacrifice to Save Ancient Palmyra Treasures from the Hands of ISIS

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose real name was Ibrahim al-Badri, was once a lecturer of Islamic studies and an Imam at mosques in Baghdad and Falluja. He also served as an officer in the army of Saddam...
Youtube video screenshot from the new movie ‘The Mummy.’

Desecration and Romanticization – The Real Curse of Mummies

Craig Barker / The Conversation This June Hollywood’s tomb of old ideas will creak open yet again and present the tale of an ancient Egyptian tomb disturbed by a bumbling archaeologist and/or action-...
2,800-Year-Old Cursed Assyrian Stele Brings Bad Luck for Police Commissioner

2,800-Year-Old Cursed Assyrian Stele Brings Bad Luck for Police Commissioner

Whoever discards this image from the presence of Salmanu puts it into another place, whether he throws it into water or covers it with earth or brings and places it into a taboo house where it is...
Enormous 3,000-Year-Old Gold Torc Unearthed in England May Have Been Worn By Pregnant Woman

Enormous 3,000-Year-Old Gold Torc Unearthed in England May Have Been Worn By Pregnant Woman

A lucky metal detectorist has found a huge Bronze Age gold torc or circular belt that is being called the greatest archaeological find in England for more than 100 years, says a story about the find...
Easter Han tomb of Luoyang, Henan Province.

Social Networks Aid Army of Tomb Raiders in China

Looters have been skulking around and digging up family treasures as long as rich sites filled with valuable artifacts have existed, but now gangs have become sophisticated and organized, and are...
The clay vessel that contained balsam and had written on a fragment of Solon’s poem “Prayer to the Muses.”

Thracian tomb of a princess, child, and a spiritual man saved from looters at last minute

Treasure hunters have plundered many of Bulgaria’s thousands of archaeological sites, but the tomb of an ancient Thracian family containing the remains of a princess, a child and what researchers...
Silver coins and other ‘buried treasure’ were located by explorers in a cave in northern Israel. Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority

Explorers find Hidden Treasure in Cave – Coins and Jewelry Dating to Alexander the Great

Hidden treasure found by amateur explorers in a cave is being described as one of the most important discoveries in northern Israel in recent years. Members of the Israeli Caving Club have uncovered...
Egyptian landscape through Satellite

New satellite images reveal rape and pillage of Egyptian landscape

Egypt has long been aware of its problem with looters trying to get their hands on a slice of the riches that lie buried beneath the Sahara sand. But just how severe the problem is, was not fully...
Ancient Sekhemka statue

Shameful sell-off of ancient Sekhemka statue makes museum a pariah

A 4,400-year-old Egyptian statue will be sold by Northampton Museum in England, the Council has decided. The Council is auctioning off the historic Egyptian statue of Sekhemka in order to help pay...
10,000 ancient Iraq Tablet

American University returns 10,000 ancient tablets to Iraq

In a move that has pleased many historians and archaeologists, Cornell University has forfeited their vast collection of cuneiform tablets , which detail daily life in ancient Mesopotamia, considered...