As government forces drive ISIS terrorists out of Mosul and nearby Nimrud the scale of destruction to one of Iraq’s greatest archaeological treasures comes to light. Once magnificent masterpieces of art are now broken into pieces and bulldozed flat. Moreover, the crippled Mosul Dam threatens to flood vast populated areas filled with archaeological sites with water from the Tigris river.
The impressive Macedonian era tomb at Amphipolis was discovered and explored in 2014, receiving worldwide media coverage due to its potential connection with the family of Alexander the Great. Now Greek archaeologists tracked 11 sections of marble statues from the tomb in various museums worldwide.
Archaeologists excavating the site of the Great Basilica in Plovdiv, South Bulgaria, revealed colourful mosaics and murals showing St Peter. The decorations are dated to 13th-14th century AD.
Archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Gortyn on Greek island of Crete, revealed new details about the city’s Temple of Apollo and unearthed a silver coin minted in Knossos with a depiction of the Minotaur.
Excavations at Istanbul’s Avcılar district unearthed hundreds of unguentaria – small ceramic or glass bottles – containing traces of antidepressants and heart medications. The find was made at the site of ancient Greek city of Bathonea.
A graffiti with a crossword of Greek words running top-to-bottom and left-to-right was found on one of the walls of the basilica at the agora of ancient city of Smyrna, İzmir, West Turkey. It is dated to be roughly 2000 years old.
Archaeologists discovered numerous ancient artefacts in the waters surrounding the island of Delos, following a shipwreck find earlier this year. Delos was known in the antiquity for its sanctuary of Apollo and Artemis.
Construction workers discovered a Byzantine Era stone tablet in a field in Karaman province, central Turkey. The stone tablet contains writing in Greek that was possible to be read.
Archaeologists discovered ancient Greek fortifications in the Kerch peninsula at Russian occupied Crimea. The structure belonged to the Bosporan Kingdom, that occupied the area 2000 years ago.
Roman tombs in the ancient city of Viminacium in Serbia, once provincial capital of Moesia Superior, revealed 4th century golden tablets with inscriptions believed to be curses and invocations of demonic forces. The find may be possibly the first of such kind as according to the Roman customs, gold was never put into graves.
New season of excavations conducted at Barikot in the valley of Swat (Pakistan) revealed fortifications built by the Indo-Greek kings that ruled the city after the siege by Alexander the Great.
New analysis of Herculaneum papyrus scroll fragments revealed the use of metallic ink in Greco-Roman literary inscription centuries earlier than previously thought.