ISIS said to have blown up ancient temple in Palmyra. UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization, called the destruction of the Temple of Baalshamin a "war crime. " Maamoun Abdulkarim, Syria's director-general of antiquities and museums, said Sunday that sources in Palmyra informed him that ISIS members rigged the temple with large quantities of explosives and detonated them. There was uncertainty -- not unusual amid the chaos of the Syrian conflict -- over when exactly the damage was done to the temple, which dates from the first century. Abdulkarim said it was blown up Sunday. But the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, reported Sunday that its sources said ISIS blew up the temple about a month ago. 'They lied' The Syrian government's Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums is trying to find out more from people in Palmyra about the extent of the damage.
"They destroyed an incredibly important architectural structure," Abdulkarim said. Track record of trashing heritage sites. The crown jewel of the ancient city of Pompeii restored. "We know well that the world looks with great attention at everything that happens at Pompeii," Mr Franceschini said as he stood before a fresco of Dionysius and Aphrodite in the villa's main salon. "Today, Italy is proud to say to the world that we have turned a page. " People during the reopening of the Villa of Mysteries following the restoration of the frescoes in Pompeii Pompeii, a busy commercial city overlooking the Mediterranean, was destroyed in AD 79 by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius that killed thousands of people and buried the city in 20 feet (six metres) of volcanic ash.
But the ash also helped preserve Pompeii's treasures, providing precious information about life in the ancient world. Read more: Ancient Italy: alternatives to Pompeii The first excavations began in the 18th century, but even today only two-thirds of the site's 60 hectares (150 acres) have been uncovered. Hit by heavy rains, some of Pompeii's walls have literally crumbled. Roman drunkard found on Danish island. The 4.5 cm tall Roman bronze figure represents Silenus, a mythological creature based on the Greek figure of the same name. The bronze figure was found recently on the island of Falster and can be dated back to the late Roman Iron Age. It is unknown how the figure ended up on a Danish island.
(Photos: National Museum of Denmark) A bronze figure representing the Greek figure Silenus, from the time of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, has been found on the south-eastern Danish island of Falster. This find suggests that there was close contact between the Roman empire and Scandinavia, before and after the emperor's reign. A Roman on Falster The tiny bronze figure represents an elderly, bearded, balding man with thick lips and a plump nose. At first sight the figure seemed so finely detailed that the finder took it home in the belief that it was a modern object. In Greek mythology, Silenus (Greek: Seilenos) was a companion and tutor of the wine god Dionysus. Couch ornamentation The way to Falster. Crystal King - Google+ - An easy recipe for kids, for entertaining, for snacking!…
The Worst Ways to Die: Torture Practices of the Ancient World - In total, Julius Caesar reckoned that he had 1,192,000 enemies killed during his reign. Meanwhile the Emperor Tiberius would have young men's urethras laced shut before force-feeding them wine. And, under Caligula, it became customary to saw noblemen in half. It sounds bad -- but were these the cruellest of them all?
Would they qualify for the barbarity top 10? A new book, "Extreme Formen von Gewalt in Bild und Text des Altertums" (Extreme Violence in the Visuals and Texts of Antiquity) by Martin Zimmerman, a professor of ancient history in Munich, looks at current research into the kinds of violence that inspired "loathing, dread, horror and disgust.
" Its conclusion? Grisly Ends The judges of ancient Babylon were particularly enthusiastic. But the Assyrians seem to have been the masters of brutality. "The king was the deadliest," explains Andreas Fuchs, a specialist in the study of the Assyrians. Shock and awe at such punishments permeated every dealing one had with the ruler. The Tub. Category:Bibliotheca. Ancient Egypt Blog CHEOPS.
Politics. Wiki Classical Dictionary. Daily Life. History. Maps. Ancient Rome. Roman Deities. The religion of the Romans had undergone several evolutionary changes throughout the history of Rome. One of the greatness of Rome was their ability to change, adapt or absorb foreign ideas, customs and practices. The early Romans see their deities performing certain functions.
They were deities with specialised functions. The god would perform his task if his name were invoked. These gods were seen as objects that perform a task, such as a door. Unlike other religions, the early Roman deities had no myths. Most of the early Roman deities had agricultural and pastoral natures, especially deities of fertility. It wasn't until the Romans came into the contact with the Etruscans in Etruria (Tuscany) and the Greeks living in the Campania, that the early Roman deities underwent changes.
The earliest Roman deities were either invented by themselves, or their origin comes from Latin or Sabine pantheon. The three most powerful and important gods were the triad of Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus. Ancient History Links. Ressources Rome.