As always, archaeological news takes us throughout the world and through the ages, from the dawn
of human history to the present day.
Archaeological discoveries are fascinating because they reveal more about ancient humans'
lives.
Every find adds to our understanding of the ancient past, leaving us wanting more.
And who knows how much more there could be out there, given the ancient people's incredible
achievements.
Many of the discoveries may be for the sake of curiosity, but others may hold the key
to mankind's destiny.
Nevertheless, a recent dig by archaeologists have unearthed Zeus’s God temple that has
been undisturbed for thousands of years.
What mysteries do these ruins hold, and how significant is this discovery?
Stay with us until the end as we go through the most recently uncovered things about the
ancient world of humans.
Gate to Temple of Zeus Unearthed in Turkey Magnesia, an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor
that is now part of Turkey's Aydin region, was home to a great stadium, temples, and
other artefacts; it has recently revealed another of its ancient treasures—the gate
of a Zeus temple.
Turkish archaeologists who have been digging Magnesia for decades recently rediscovered
the temple's gate, which was discovered in the 1890s by a German archaeologist who reburied
much of what he discovered.
The location is not distant from another temple devoted to the Greek goddess Artemis, which
has already been unearthed.
The entrance gate of the Temple of Zeus was discovered as part of ongoing excavations
in the Ortaklar area conducted by Ankara University Associate Professor Gorkem Kokdemir.
"I have been working on the Magnesia excavations since 1998," Kokdemir told interviewers.
According to Kokdemir, the valuable artefacts of the ancient Greek city of Magnesia were
first discovered during the Ottoman Empire's final years.
Carl Humann, a German archaeologist who also excavated in Bergama and other cities in western
Anatolia, excavated Magnesia from 1891 to 1892.
According to Kokdemir, Humann was the first modern individual to discover the temple devoted
to Zeus, but much of it was later reburied.
“He [spent] two years in Magnesia and [dug] up the Zeus Temple, the one we rediscovered
and is now in the news, in the agora,” Kokdemir told interviewers.
“It is significant because of architectural history.
It is dated back to the 3rd century BC, one of the earliest temples of the Hellenistic
period,” he explained.
As was common practice in that era, Humann simply carted off a significant portion of
what he found and gave it to the government of his own country when he excavated the ancient
city of Magnesia, which is located in what is now the province of Aydin in Turkey.
These historical treasures were highly sought after by archaeologists at the time.
Kokdemir mentioned that Humann had exposed the structural components of this temple,
and that Humann had transported around ten percent of the structure to Berlin.
"He took many goods to Berlin such as sculptures and inscriptions, along with parts of the
Zeus Temple."
He claims that visitors to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin can witness parts of the Temple
of Zeus that stand at an unbelievable height of 5.5 to 6 meters (18.37 ft) today.
He bemoans the fact that the structure of the temple has been finished with what he
refers to as "90 percent imitation parts."
According to Kokdemir, the Zeus Temple is one of the most significant sacred locations
in Magnesia and is also one of the most significant temples in the region.
“There is the Artemis sacred space there, there is also a sacred agora, the Zeus Temple
is in the sacred agora.
It is very significant; it is the second important cult [of Magnesia].
In ancient cities people worship not just one deity, they worship multiple gods or goddesses.
In Magnesia the first deity is Artemis, and the second deity is Zeus,” he clarified.
Kokdemir and his archaeological team are actively excavating what remains of the Temple of Zeus,
including its gate, in order to gather further architectural information, complete what is
still missing, and reintroduce the temple to rigorous archaeological research.
The Magnesia excavation team anticipates discovering sixty to seventy percent of the Temple of
Zeus Temple's original components.
They intend to begin restoring the temple, adding pillars measuring five meters (16.4
feet) in height and reconstructing the roof, making it a public site.
The Temple of Artemis is the largest religious structure in Magnesia, out of all the ancient
structures.
Kokdemir claims it is the fourth largest temple in Anatolia, after Ephesus' Temple of Artemis.
This was formerly regarded one of the seven wonders of the world.
The Temple of Artemis, built by Hermogenes, was his masterwork.
According to Kokdemir, one of the reasons Magnesia was so significant in Ancient Greece
was that "in the 3rd century BC, 2300 years ago, there were games organized that were
the equivalent of the most important games in the Mediterranean region, the Delphi Apollo
Games."
Kokdemir went on to say that there are still numerous sites in Magnesia that must be unearthed.
While he and his colleagues anticipate that the Temple of Zeus will be restored to its
former splendor in a couple of years, depending on funding, the hippodrome, with its magnificent
capacity of fifty thousand spectators, will be the next stop for archaeologists.
“We may have to wait for 15 to 20 years to completely experience the amazing city
that is Magnesia, but it will be worth it," he says passionately.
A gruesome relic suggests that the ancient Romans fed their captives to Lions
Even though Britain was on the outskirts of the ancient Roman Empire, executions appear
to have been bloody spectacles.
Archaeologists believe lions were occasionally used to slaughter terrified captives, and
they now have evidence.
During University of Leicester excavations on the remains of a Roman house in 2016, archaeologists
discovered a sculpted bronze key handle portraying a man engaged in combat with a fearsome lion
in front of four undressed and scared teenagers.
According to a study published in the journal Britannia, the image suggests a public execution.
“When first found, it appeared as an indistinguishable bronze object, but after we carefully cleaned
off the soil, remarkably, we revealed several small faces looking back at us.
It was absolutely astounding,” said Leicester University archaeologist and study coauthor
Gavin Speed in a statement.
"Nothing quite like this has ever been discovered in the Roman Empire."
The key handle, dubbed the Friars Causeway key handle after the place where it was discovered,
"illuminates the brutal character of Roman authority in this province," according to
another coauthor, John Pearce of King's College London.
Criminals and prisoners of war could be thrown to wild creatures under Roman law.
Such events are well-documented at Rome's Colosseum, but this is the first proof that
the practice of using exotic animals to slaughter captives for public entertainment went as
far as Britain.
According to historians, Rome would have gotten lions from Mesopotamia and North Africa and
transported them to the empire's remote reaches via river boat and wagon.
“That was slightly worse than being condemned to the mines, which is the other way that
prisoners often met their end,” said Leicester University archaeologist Nicholas Cooper,
the paper's third author.
The man battling off the lion on the key handle is most likely a barbarian, with his long
hair, bushy beard, and naked body.
The scene depicts the impending death of those conquered by the Romans, emphasizing the futility
of battling the all-powerful empire.
Archaeologists believe it was created around 200 A.D, a century after Roman control was
established in Britain.
Excavations in Leicester have also turned up mosaic floors, roadways, and a Roman-era
theatre.
World’s Oldest Brewery Built for Ancient Egyptian Kings
According to Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, which made the revelation on social media,
archaeologists have uncovered what may be the world's oldest beer brewery.
The ancient brewery was discovered 280 miles south of Cairo by a team led by Matthew Adams
of New York University and Deborah Vischak of Princeton University.
The ruins are thought to date from the early First Dynastic Period, during the reign of
King Narmer (3273 BC to 2987 BC), Egypt's unifier.
"The brewery was located in a vast desert area that was exclusively reserved for the
use of Egypt's first kings, including Narmer," Vischak explained.
The brewery site was divided into eight parts, each measuring 65 feet by eight feet and containing
40 large clay pots arranged in two rows.
During the fermentation process, the containers would have housed a mixture of heated water
and grain.
At any given time, the industrial-sized facility could have produced up to 5,900 gallons.
The digs also turned up "evidence for the use of beer in sacrificial rites," according
to Adams' statement to the council.
“[The brewery] may have been built in this place specifically to supply the royal rituals
that were taking place inside the funeral facilities of the kings of Egypt.”
Archaeologists have made significant progress in determining the types of beers created
by ancient peoples.
In 2019, the Israel Antiquities Authority isolated 5,000-year-old yeast samples from
containers that would have been used to create the same type of beer the Egyptians consumed
and utilized them to brew beer and mead.
Similar techniques have been employed in Egypt to try to reproduce ancient sourdough bread.
The newly discovered brewery site was discovered by British archaeologists around the start
of the twentieth century, but it was not documented, and its precise location was forgotten.
Let us know what you think about these latest archaeological finds and which one piqued
your interest the most in the comments section.