Archaeologist Abdul Qader Hussan of the Rihab Centre for Archaeological Studies believes he has located the first Christian church, which lies beneath Saint Georgeous Church in Rihab, Mafraq.
“We have evidence to believe this church sheltered the early Christians: the 70 disciples of Jesus Christ,” the scholar said.
The early Christians, described in the mosaic inscription on St. Georgeous floor as “the 70 beloved by God and Divine”, are said to have fled from Jerusalem during the persecution of Christians, to the northern part of Jordan, particularly to Rihab, he added.
Citing historical sources, the expert said the 70 lived and practised their rituals in secrecy in this underground church.
We believe that they did not leave the cave and lived until the Christian religion was embraced by Roman rulers.
“It was then when St. Georgeous was built,” said Hussan.
Saint Georgeous is believed to be the oldest “proper” church in the world, built in 230AD. This status is only challenged by a church unearthed in Aqaba in 1998, also dating back to 3rd century.
The findings in the graveyard near the cave offer valuable clues, according to Hussan.
“We found pottery items that date back from the 3rd to 7th century,” he added. The findings show that the first Christians and their offshoot continued living in the area till the late Roman rule.
German researchers at the University of Hamburg are claiming they have discovered the palace of the Queen of Sheba, a place that has long been theorized to have once held the Ark of the Covenant.
“From the dating, its position and the details that we have found, I am sure that this is the palace,” he said. The palace, that is, of the Queen of Sheba, who is believed to have lived in the 10th century BC.
After she died her son and successor, Menelek, replaced the palace with a temple dedicated to Sirius. The German researchers believe that the Ark was taken from Jerusalem by the Queen — who had a liaison with King Solomon — and built into the altar to Sirius.
“The results we have suggest that a Cult of Sothis developed in Ethiopia with the arrival of Judaism and the Ark of the Covenant, and continued until 600AD,” an announcement by the University of Hamburg on behalf of the research team said. Sothis is the ancient Greek name for the star Sirius.
The Ark was made, according to the Bible, of gold-plated acacia wood and topped with two golden angels. It is said to be the source of great power. In about 586BC, when the Babylonians conquered the Israelites, the Ark vanished.
Very little is known about the Druids who roamed the lands of England prior to the Roman invasion in 43 AD, though we do know Emperor Claudius ordered the extermination of the cult in 61 AD, wherein all groves and sacred structures related to the Druids were systematically destroyed, leaving us with very little information about who the Druids were.
This lapse in our knowledge may be changing, as archaeologists believe they have discovered the first Druid grave.
In the grave, archaeologists uncovered a board game with the glass counters laid out, medical equipment - the earliest ever found, a tea strainer still containing some kind of herbal brew, and some mysterious metal poles.
The first find at the site was made in 1996. But now, after 12 years of painstaking digging and research, the final report into the unearthing suggests that the grave could be the only one of a druid ever found.
The clues are not just in the objects buried with an obviously important man, but also in the way they are laid out.
The metal rods, possibly used for divining, are in a specific order and near the surgical equipment - scalpel, surgical saw, hooks and forceps. There is also a jet bead, believed to have been seen as magical.
"The so-called druid could have been a doctor. The tea strainer contains artemisia pollen, which is commonly associated with herbal remedies. Healing is an attribute given to druids," said Philip Crummy, director of the Colchester Archaeological Trust.
It's rare that any ancient tomb continues to hold riches, as more often than not, tomb-raiders have successfully pocketed the goods in one century or another. Such is not the case in Sweden, as a Bronze Age tomb near Stockholm's Arlanda airport has coughed up 472 silver coins that date to 850 A.D.
The newfound hoard consists only of eastern coins, which is unsurprising, since early Viking hoards are typically dominated by coins from the Middle East.
Most of the coins were minted in Arab locations such as Baghdad in modern-day Iraq and Damascus in Syria. The youngest coin dates to the A.D. 840s
But the oldest coins came from Persia, said dig team member Karin Beckman-Thoor.
These Persian coins must have been in circulation for centuries before being buried and "were very high quality," she said.
Now that's a good loot-drop. Bonus XP for all archaeologists involved. Hopefully the coins aren't cursed with some ancient spell.
#1 may be answered soon enough now that government authorities have cleared the way for the first excavation in 44 years. Digging is scheduled to take two weeks, samples of which will be dated within an accuracy of 10 years.
Professor Tim Darvill of the University of Bournemouth:
"This excavation is the first opportunity in nearly half a century to bring the power of modern scientific archaeology to bear on a problem that has taxed the minds of travellers, antiquaries, and archaeologists since medieval times - just why were the bluestones so important and powerful to have warranted our ancestors to make the gargantuan journey to bring them to Salisbury Plain?"
Both Tim Darvill and his cohort, Professor Wainwright, believe Stonehenge was a center of healing and hope this new dig will validate their theory.
Many of the human remains excavated from burial mounds around Stonehenge show signs of individuals having been unwell or injured prior to their death.
Chemical analysis of their teeth has shown that a good proportion of those buried near the monument were not locals, but in fact came from as far away as Wales, Ireland and the Lake District.
This evidence has led Prof Darvill and Prof Wainwright to conclude that Stonehenge was a source and centre of healing.
Archaeologists working at a site in east Kenthave unearthed the remains of a 4,000-year-old skeleton who was buried with a beer mug. Looks to me like it's the remains of the town drunk, but scientists who supposedly know more than I on the topic instead believe the remains are those of someone with a high status.
Possibly ceremonial objects were found buried with the individual, who could have been a high-status male.
No clues are given as to what those ceremonial objects are, but they probably found a fake I.D., rolling papers and a bag of Bronze Age weed. This pushes back the evolution of the slackerby several thousand years.
