The Wall Street Journal has just published a review of Richard Miles’s book Carthage must be destroyed. The book examines the rise and fall of Carthage as a Mediterranean civilization: “Richard Miles draws a very good picture of the peaceful interaction through trade between the Carthaginians and Greeks, and later the Carthaginians and Romans.” You can read the entire review on the WSJ website.
While it was previously thought that humans and neanderthals never mixed, Wired reports that a recent DNA study of both human and neanderthal DNA has revealed the opposite. In non-African humans there is a part of DNA that is neanderthal in origin, which proves that there was human-neanderthal coexistence and reproduction.
A sample of ancient medicinal tablets dated to 130 BC has been DNA-analyzed. The result: Ancient pills consisted of various vegetables and herbs that can be found in any garden. Read below the fold for more details.
The British Museum has just uploaded a video lecture on the Nimrud Ivories, which were acquired by the museum in March 2011. In this lecture, given exclusively for Members, Nigel Tallis, Curator of Middle East, talks about this fascinating collection of over 5000 ivories that was excavated in Iraq between 1949 and 1963 by Sir Max Mallowan. The ivories represent a vital, and currently under-explored, resource for understanding the religion, society, economics and craft traditions of the Assyrian Empire.
Keith Roberts, author of The Origins of Business, Money, and Markets wrote an interesting article on Forbes, comparing changes in ancient Economies to what is happening in the modern world. The article An Investment Strategy Based on Ancient History (a strange title considering its content) is definitely worth a read.
The BBC reports that several Stone Age communities might be found under the sea off the Scottish coast. Rising sea levels have caused previously habitated land near the Outer Hebrides to now be covered by the sea. Read more on the BBC Scotland website.
The world of Cleopatra VII, lost to the sea and sand for nearly 2,000 years, will surface in Milwaukee on October 14, 2011 when Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt opens its doors. The Milwaukee Public Museum will be the third stop on the exhibition’s world tour.
International experts in classics and filmmaking are taking part in a University of Liverpool conference to discuss the re-emergence of ancient world films in popular culture.
Alasdair Wilkins — The Olympic Games first began in the ancient Greek city-state of Olympia. For all its fame, the city suffered a mysterious fate, destroyed by an unknown natural disaster. Now it looks like tsunamis were the culprit…despite being 30 kilometers inland.
The German Newspaper, Der Spiegel, recently ran a controversial article about the origins of modern Britons and the restructuring of British society as a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasions. It makes for interesting reading! Click here to learn more.
