Topic: Archaeology

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The members of the Prussian Egyptian expedition atop the Pyramid of Cheops in October 1842 (image: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett)

Egypt expedition 1842

A Prussian tour to the land of the Pharaohs

One hundred and eighty years ago, the Prussian king sent a team of scientists to the Nile. The items they brought back were ground-breaking for the development of Egyptology, a science very much in its infancy at the time. An exhibition on Berlin’s Museum Island tells the storyMore

Hieroglyphs exhibition at the British Museum: Museums with guilt complexesThe West and the Middle East: Casting a long shadow – Napoleon's intervention in EgyptTreasures of the Ancient Middle East: Deciphering the first written languageQantara photo essay: Egypt's most famous revolutionary: Akhenaten
Cracking due to high temperatures is causing the colour of Egypt’s pyramids at Giza to change (photo: Egyptian tourist board/picture-alliance)

Climate change and Middle East monuments

The most endangered on Earth

Thanks to climate change, the Middle East is heating up faster than any other part of the world, putting the region's ancient pyramids, castles, holy and other heritage sites at even greater risk. Cathrin Schaer reportsMore

Tarik M. Quadir: "If we don’t pull together to save the earth, we will ‘sink’ together"Tobias Zumbraegel: How are Middle East countries coping with climate change?Climate change consequences for the Islamic world: Of infernal proportions
The ancient city of Susa in southwestern Iran (photo: picture-alliance)

Archaeological mystery

Ancient Elamite script from Iran deciphered?

For a long time, the writing system known as "Linear Elamite" was considered illegible. Now a team of archaeologists claims to have partially deciphered the writing system. But other researchers are more hesitant. Katrin Ewert has the detailsMore

Treasures of the ancient Middle East: Deciphering the first written languageBetween Tigris and Euphrates: Mesopotamia: the cradle of civilisationIran exhibition: "Ancient Culture between Water and Desert": The cradle of civilisation
The 3,400-year-old Bronze Age city in Iraq revealed by falling reservoir water levels (photo: Universities of Tübingen and Freiburg/KAO)

Archaeology in Iraq

Drought reveals Bronze Age city

Extreme drought in Iraq has given German and Kurdish archaeologists the unique chance to examine an ancient Bronze Age city that was hidden beneath the water of a reservoir for decades. Experts believe the ruins could be those of the ancient city of Zachiku. It was a race against the clock to complete work before the city was once again covered by the reservoir's rising water level. By Alexander FreundMore

Reconstruction in Iraq: Mosul's Old City rises from rubble in IraqGobekli Tepe: The Turkish hilltop where civilisation beganPhoto gallery: Spectacular finds in the ancient Egyptian necropolis of SaqqaraCultural heritage in Syria and Iraq: Casualties of war
Mysterious: the carved T-shaped megaliths at the prehistoric Gobekli Tepe near Sanliurfa, Turkey (photo: Ozan KOSE/AFP)

Gobekli Tepe

The Turkish hilltop where civilisation began

On a sun-blasted hillside in southeast Turkey, the world's oldest known religious sanctuary is slowly giving up its secrets. Gobekli Tepe, which means "Potbelly Hill" in Turkish, is arguably the most important archaeological site on EarthMore

Sensational find in Turkey: Turkish archaeologists discover subterranean city of MatiateThe Sufi Trail: Anatolia through the eyes of a pilgrimBaalbek Reborn: Temples: Virtual 3D tour of the Roman temples at Baalbek, Lebanon
The archaeologists have christened the huge underground city "Matiate".(photo: Halil Ibrahim Sincar/ Anadolu Agency/ picture-alliance)

Sensational find in Turkey

Turkish archaeologists discover subterranean city of Matiate

Welcome to the underground! In Midyat, Turkey, the gateway to a huge underground city has been discovered. It was used for over 1900 years and could accommodate up to 70,000 people. Hannah Fuchs has the detailsMore

Qantara dossier: Antiquities and historical monumentsThe Sufi Trail: Anatolia through the eyes of a pilgrimBaalbek Reborn: Temples Virtual 3D tour of the Roman temples at Baalbek, Lebanon
Coimbra riverfront with the old cathedral (photo: Marta Vidal)

Arabic inscription on Coimbra Cathedral

"Greatness will remain"

The façade of a twelfth-century cathedral is an unlikely place to find a message in Arabic script carved in stone, but so it is in the Portuguese city of Coimbra. Marta Vidal explores the background to the cathedral and examines how an 800-year Arabic inscription endured on the walls of a Roman Catholic house of worshipMore

Uncovering Portugalʹs Islamic roots: Where Christians pray facing MeccaSpain and Ibn Arabi′s heritage: The great master of MurciaGardens in Islam: A metaphor for heavenly paradiseLa Mezquita in Cordoba: Is Cordoba denying its Islamic heritage?
The Giza pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo (photo: Getty Images/K. Desouki)

Archaeology in Egypt

Ancient Pharaonic boat taken to Egypt's grand new museum

In Ancient Egypt, the pharaohs had "solar boats" built to take them into the afterlife. One of these boats was discovered in 1954. It has now been moved to the Grand Egyptian MuseumMore

Tutankhamun – his grave and his treasures: Replicas that dazzle and impressTreasures of the Ancient Middle East: Deciphering the first written languageGerman archaeologist and explorer Max von Oppenheim: Enchanted by the Myth of the Orient
The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus (photo: Issam Hajjar)

The "Syrian Heritage Archive Project"

Syria's cultural landscape lives on – in Berlin

Countless cultural assets were destroyed by the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian Heritage Archive Project in Berlin contributes to preserving their memory with an exhibition showing what has been lost – and what remains. By Christina KufnerMore

"Syrien – ein Land ohne Krieg": Syria, as it once was Aleppo soap: Balsam from a war zoneReconstruction of Aleppo: ″Others destroy and we rebuild″
Three clay fragments bearing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh (photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Armin; FRCP / CC-by-sa 4.0)

Treasures of the Ancient Middle East

Deciphering the first written language

Some time around 3200 BC, humans living in the ancient Middle East developed the first written language. George Smith presented fragments of the Flood narrative from the ancient Middle Eastern story of Gilgamesh at a conference in London in 1872 – and mankind’s first epic was rediscovered. By Melanie Christina MohrMore

Between Tigris and Euphrates: Mesopotamia: the cradle of civilisation Islamic archaeology: Samarra, centre of the worldIraq's National Museum re-opens: Only photos on view of the Nimrud treasures
Historian and author Michael Sommer (source: University of Oldenburg)

Non-Fiction: Michael Sommer′s ″Syria. Geschichte einer zerstoerten Welt″

Before the truth wars: The history of a destroyed world

In ″Syria. Geschichte einer zerstörten Welt″, Michael Sommer masterfully succeeds in throwing a spotlight on the past, every distinct detail illuminating a complex context. Questioning stereotypes, such as the alleged separation of Orient and Occident, he has produced a highly readable work for our time. Marius Meller read the bookMore

Palmyra's ancient queen: Zenobia, secular Arab heroineCultural heritage in Syria and Iraq: Casualties of warArchaeological artefacts and sites in Syria: When historical treasures become pawns in a civil war
What remains of the al-Hadba minaret belonging to Mosul′s 12th century Great Al-Nuri Mosque (photo: Reuters)

Cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq

Casualties of war

The wealth of cultural sites strewn throughout present day Syria and Iraq bear ample witness to the fact that this area was once revered as the cradle of civilisation – sadly, many of these sites have fallen victim to war, violence and looting. By Mey DudinMore

Islamic State′s destruction of Mosul: Razed to the ground Between Tigris and Euphrates: Mesopotamia: the cradle of civilisation Destruction of historic sites: Syria is losing its history
The ruins of Al-Nuri mosque in Mosul (photo: Reuters/Ahmaq News Agency)

Islamic State′s destruction of Mosul

Razed to the ground

Islamic State recently blew up Mosul′s landmark Al-Nuri mosque. The extent of the damage is only likely to be fully revealed when the jihadists are finally driven out of the city. By Joseph CroitoruMore

Interview with radical Islam expert Peter Neumann: Islamic State′s looting economyThe destruction of Yemen's cultural heritage: Treasures of humanity under threat Syria's cultural heritage in danger
Exhibits from the exhibition in Bonn's Bundeskunsthalle (photo: Bundeskunsthalle Bonn)

Iran exhibition: "Ancient Culture between Water and Desert "

The cradle of civilisation

Ancient Persians were visually oriented and close to nature. Artefacts that only narrowly escaped theft are now on show for the first time outside Iran. The German exhibition reveals the origins of present-day Iran. By Sabine OelzeMore

Cultural policy and architecture in Iran: Far from an Islamist UtopiaThe ''Roads of Arabia'' exhibition at the Museum of Islamic Art: Saudi Arabia's surprising treasuresIslamic Archaeology: Samarra, centre of the world
UNESCO World Heritage site Palmyra (photo: MAHER AL MOUNES/AFP/Getty Images)

Palmyra post-IS

A pawn in Assad's game

For Palmyra, Assad is just as bad as IS. Completely rebuilding Palmyra's destroyed cultural treasures would turn it into a kind of Disneyland, says archaeologist Annie Sartre-Fauriat. Interview by Sabine OelzeMore

Arab reactions to the reconquest of Palmyra: A dirty double-cross Palmyra's ancient queen: Zenobia, secular Arab heroineArchaeological artefacts and sites in Syria: When historical treasures become pawns in a civil war
Syrian soldiers retake the citadel at Palmyra (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/V. Sharifulin)

Arab reactions to the reconquest of Palmyra

A dirty double-cross

The reconquest of Palmyra is a bittersweet victory: with finger-pointing and insinuations, the warring factions are exploiting the site's destruction for propaganda purposes. By Joseph CroitoruMore

Palmyra's ancient queen: Zenobia, secular Arab heroineArchaeological artefacts and sites in Syria: When historical treasures become pawns in a civil warPhoto essay: Palmyra: an oasis of cultural history

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