artifacts

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US Tourist Arrested for Hurling Museum's Statues to Floor

Lawyer says man was suffering from so-called 'Jerusalem syndrome'

(Newser) - Israeli police have arrested an American tourist at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem after he hurled works of art to the floor, defacing two second-century Roman statues. The vandalism late Thursday raised questions about the safety of Israel's priceless collections and stirred concern about a rise in attacks on...

Oldest Wood Structure Is a Surprise to Researchers
'When I First Saw It,
I Thought This Can't Be Real'
in case you missed it
Sep 24, 2023 2:50 PM CDT

'When I First Saw It, I Thought This Can't Be Real'

Oldest known wood structure found to predate modern humans by almost 200K years

(Newser) - Archaeologists have uncovered what is thought to be the world's oldest known wood structure, whose estimated age suggests woodworking is at least 175,000 years older than our species. A research team discovered five very old pieces of wood in waterlogged sediment near Zambia's Kalambo Falls in an...

1.9K-Year-Old Roman Swords Have a Story to Tell

Remarkably well-preserved weapons are discovered in an Israeli cave

(Newser) - Four Roman-era swords, their wooden and leather hilts and scabbards and steel blades exquisitely preserved after 1,900 years in a desert cave, surfaced in a recent excavation by Israeli archaeologists near the Dead Sea, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Wednesday. The cache of exceptionally intact artifacts was found about...

Pending Nazi Artifacts Law Boosts Sales in Australia

Anti-defamation official denounces auctions, which included signed Hitler pictures

(Newser) - Anticipation of a ban in Australia on selling Nazi artifacts has created what an anti-defamation official calls a "repulsive phenomenon"—buyers rushing to snap up offensive reminders of a horrific period. "I've been a full-time dealer for 14 years and I've never seen the number...

Pope Endorses Returning Artifacts Held by Vatican

'If you steal something you have to give it back,' Francis says

(Newser) - Pope Francis said Sunday that talks were underway to return artifacts in the Vatican Museum that were acquired from Indigenous peoples in Canada and voiced a willingness to return other colonial-era objects in the Vatican's collection on a case-by-case basis. "The Seventh Commandment comes to mind: If you...

Artifact That Was Displayed in US Goes Back to Egypt
US Returns Artifact to Egypt
Jan 4, 2023 5:41 PM CST

US Returns Artifact to Egypt

Looted ancient sarcophagus was smuggled into US in 2008

(Newser) - An ancient wooden sarcophagus that was featured at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences was returned to Egypt after US authorities determined it was looted years ago, Egyptian officials said Monday. The repatriation is part of Egyptian government efforts to stop the trafficking of its stolen antiquities, the AP reports....

'It Was Wrong to Take the Bronzes' and 'Keep Them for 120 Years'

Germany returns 20 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

(Newser) - The kingdom of Benin—whose earthen walls were said to be on par with those of the Great Wall of China—stood from the 11th century until 1897. That was the year the British invaded what's now southern Nigeria, burned it down, and made off with the Benin Bronzes:...

'A Spoil of War': Egyptologists Demand Return of Rosetta Stone

British Museum, which refused its return in the past, says there's no official request now

(Newser) - Egyptian archaeologists and thousands of supporters are demanding the return of one of the British Museum's most prized artifacts, along with other Egyptian treasures, saying their continued presence in the heart of the British Empire "supports past colonial endeavors of cultural violence." An online petition launched last...

Museum, Tribe Agree on Return of Wounded Knee Artifacts

Items are a fraction of those held by institutions that federal law says should be turned over

(Newser) - About 150 items considered sacred by the Sioux peoples that have been stored at a small Massachusetts museum for more than a century are being returned, museum and tribal officials announced Monday. The items including weapons, pipes, moccasins, and clothing—about seven or eight of which are thought to have...

Investigators Remove Artifacts From Met With Search Warrants

Repatriations to Italy and Egypt are planned for next week

(Newser) - More artifacts are on their way back to other countries after investigators bearing search warrants took them from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced that 27 ancient objects, valued at more than $13 million, were seized after a determination that they had...

Vatican Museums' Lesser Known Collection Is a Contested One

Indigenous groups want back the artifacts and art 'gifted' for 1925 exhibition

(Newser) - The Vatican Museums are home to some of the most magnificent artworks in the world, from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to ancient Egyptian antiquities and a pavilion full of papal chariots. But one of the museum’s least-visited collections is becoming its most contested before Pope Francis' trip to Canada,...

Art World's 'Indiana Jones' Recovers Relic in Surprising Way

Anonymous person gave to Arthur Brand stolen vials said to hold blood of Christ

(Newser) - Thieves were inconspicuously locked inside a French church on the evening of June 1. According to police, they burst out the next morning with one of the most cherished Christian relics: two lead vials containing pieces of linen said to be covered in the blood of Jesus Christ—collected in...

'Really Amazing Artifact' Found at Jesus' Supposed Crucifixion Site

Medieval altar would've stood at apex of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

(Newser) - A medieval altar, apparently long forgotten, has been rediscovered at the supposed site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. Recent excavations on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified , buried, and resurrected, revealed a large stone slab, "pressed against a wall...

Dad&#39;s &#39;Life-Changing&#39; Find: England&#39;s Oldest Gold Coin
It's the 'Most Valuable Single
Coin Find in British History'
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Jan 29, 2022 7:00 AM CST

It's the 'Most Valuable Single Coin Find in British History'

Metal detectorist dad Michael Leigh-Mallory credits his kids

(Newser) - An Englishman whose children returned him to his love of metal detecting now plans to fund their educations with the proceeds from his most valuable find to date: England's oldest gold coin. "I used to be a keen metal detectorist but once I had a family the detector...

Shipwreck Ring Belonged to One of the First Christians

Ring inscribed with 'Good Shepherd' among Roman-era treasures found off Israel

(Newser) - A gold ring belonging to one of the first Christians is among the treasures pulled from a Roman-era shipwreck off Israel, researchers say. Also discovered in the wreck off the ancient port of Caesarea is a bronze eagle figurine, bells meant to keep evil spirits at bay, various pottery, and...

Couple Used Caligula's Lost Mosaic as Coffee Table

Italian stone expert Dario Del Bufalo speaks on his 2013 discovery

(Newser) - Dario Del Bufalo, an Italian expert on ancient stone, was signing copies of his book, Prophyry, about the reddish-purple rock favored by Roman emperors when a man flipped to a page showing a priceless Roman mosaic that had vanished during World War II. "'Oh, Helen, look, that's...

Yale: Our Viking Treasure Is &#39;Fake&#39;
'The Vinland Map Is a Fake'
Sep 30, 2021 12:02 PM CDT

'The Vinland Map Is a Fake'

Analyses suggest storied map was forged in 20th century, isn't an ancient relic

(Newser) - It was once considered the oldest known map depicting North America. But the Vinland Map, credited to early Viking explorers, is not what it initially seemed, according to Yale University, which acquired it in the 1960s. For one thing, the calfskin parchment map of the North American coastline southwest of...

Gilgamesh Dream Tablet Is Finally Returned to Iraq

It was looted years before Hobby Lobby bought it in 2014

(Newser) - Update: A 3,500-year-old clay tablet looted from an Iraqi museum 30 years ago and bought by Hobby Lobby in 2014 is now officially Iraq's property again. The Gilgamesh Dream Tablet was formally returned at a repatriation ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution Thursday, CNN reports. Fareed Yasseen, Iraq's...

Jewish Artifacts Thought &#39;Lost For All Time&#39; Found in US
Jewish Artifacts Thought
'Lost for All Time' Found in US
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Jul 25, 2021 5:00 PM CDT

Jewish Artifacts Thought 'Lost for All Time' Found in US

Funeral scrolls, community records were illegally taken from eastern Europe around WWII

(Newser) - The Justice Department says it's recovered funeral scrolls, manuscripts, community records, and other priceless historical items stolen from Jewish people during the Holocaust that were thought to have been "lost for all time." The 17 artifacts dating from 1840 were taken from Jewish communities in Romania, Hungary,...

Historic Castle Reopens, Suffers $1.4M Theft

Mary Queen of Scots' priceless rosary among stolen items

(Newser) - Thieves have stolen historic treasures from England's Arundel Castle, including the rosary beads that Mary Queen of Scots carried to her execution in 1587. The thieves gained entry to the castle, occupied for centuries by the dukes of Norfolk, around 10:30pm local time on Friday by smashing a...

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