This Is Not A Huge Carpet But The World’s Largest Mosaic Unearthed In Turkey

The world’s largest intact mosaic opened to the public on 2019 in Antakya, Turkey, as part of the newly built Antakya Museum Hotel. The 1,300-year-old, 9,000-square-foot mosaic was discovered in 2010. Archaeologists believe this vast mosaic with intricate geometries was the floor of a public building in the ancient city of Antioch. It was damaged during a series of major earthquakes in 526 and 528 A.D., but some of that damage only enhances its spectacular visual qualities because the mosaic remained connected to the floor and mostly intact even as the foundation itself undulated wildly.

Founded in 300 B.C. by one of Alexander the Great’s successor generals Seleucus I Nicator, Antioch was the capital of the Seleucid Empire until it was conquered by Rome in 63 B.C. and became the seat of the governor. Its location made it a hub of trade between the Mediterranean and the East. At its peak, Antioch had a population of half a million and was so important that it was considered a rival first to Alexandria and then to Constantinople as the second most important city in the Empire.

Today Antakya is internationally known for the great number and high quality of mosaics that have been found under its streets. The Hatay Archaeological Museum has a collection of Roman mosaics that is without peer, most of them lifted from excavations and conserved indoors. So it was not unexpected when construction of a new hotel revealed a spectacular late Roman mosaic. The approach taken to its preservation, however, diverged from the well-trodden path of earlier discoveries.

The sheer enormity of the mosaic required a different plan of action. Instead of lifting the mosaic, or part of it, or covering it for its own protection and building over it, archaeologists and architects worked together to create a hybrid: a museum hotel. The Antakya Museum Hotel, located near the Church of St. Peter, a crusader-era church built around a cave believed to be one of the earliest Christian churches in the world, would be built using the archaeology of the site as a lodestar.

EAA-Emre Arolat Architecture placed structural columns along the a former riverbed that crosses through the middle of the site and outside the perimeter of the mosaic. They built a platform on top of the columns to house the hotel’s amenities — ballroom, conference rooms, pool, gym — with passageways and viewing points for guests to view the incredible archaeology beneath them. The rooms are prefabricated units stacked on top of each other, which reduced the amount of on-site construction and the potential damage to the mosaic. The walkways and bridges that connect the rooms create an open space where the archaeology is in sight throughout the building.

Source: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2019/07/wor...

The Ancient Giants Of Nevada And The Mystery Of Lovelock Cave

Was North America once inhabited by a race of giants? According to an old legend supported by several challenging archaeological finds, it is possible. Many Native American tribes tell stories about the long-forgotten existence of a race of humans that were much taller and stronger than ordinary men.

These giants are described as both brave and barbaric and legends often mention their cruelty towards whomever they pleased.

The Paiute, a tribe that settled in the Nevada region thousands of years ago, have an outstanding legend about a race of red-haired giants called the Si-Te-Cah.

In the Northern Paiute language, ‘Si-Te-Cah’ literally means ‘tule-eaters.’

Legend has it that the giants came from a distant island by crossing the ocean on rafts built using the fibrous tule plant.

As odd as it may sound, this legend repeats itself all over the Americas, suggesting it might be an incomplete chronicle of a real event that happened long ago.

In Crónicas del Perú, sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador Pedro Cieza de León recorded an ancient Peruvian tale about the origin of the South American giants.

According to legend, they “came by sea in rafts of reeds after the manner of large boats; some of the men were so tall that from the knee down they were as big as the length of an ordinary fair-sized man.”

Could the giants of Peru and the Si-Te-Cah have been survivors of a massive cataclysm who took refuge on the American continent?

Legend tells that the Si-Te-Cah waged war on the Paiute and all other neighbouring tribes, spreading terror and devastation. Finally, after years of conflict, the tribes united against the common enemy and began to decimate them.

The last remaining red-haired giants were chased off and sought shelter inside a cave. The tribes started a fire at the cave entrance, suffocating and burning alive the Si-Te-Cah. Those driven out by the smoke were also killed.

In 1886, a mining engineer named John T. Reid happened to hear the legend from a group of Paiutes while prospecting near Lovelock, Nevada.

The Indians told him that the legend was real and the cave was located nearby. When he saw the cave for himself, Reid knew he was onto something.

Reid was unable to begin digging himself but news spread and soon, Lovelock cave was attracting attention. Unfortunately, the attention was profit-driven as guano deposits were discovered inside.

A company started by miners David Pugh and James Hart began excavating the precious resource in 1911 and had soon shipped more than 250 tons to a fertilizer company in San Francisco.

Any artefacts that might have been discovered were probably neglected or lost.

After the surface layer of guano had been mined, strange objects started to surface.

This led to an official excavation being performed in 1912 by the University of California and another one took place in 1924. Reports told about thousands of artifacts being recovered, some of them being truly unusual.

Measuring between 8 to 10 feet in height, these mummies have since been referred to as the Lovelock Giants.

A piece of evidence that remains on-site until this day is a giant hand print, embedded on a boulder inside Lovelock Cave. We won’t go into further debate pertaining to this aspect and its implications.

Around the same time as the second Lovelock Cave excavation, another dig revealed a set of equally-disturbing finds.

According to a 1931 article published in the Nevada Review-Miner, two giant skeletons had been found buried in a dry lake bed close to Lovelock, Nevada.

The oversized remains measured 8.5, respectively 10 feet in height and were mummified in a manner similar to the one employed by ancient Egyptians.

Another common trait between these mummified giant remains and the ones discovered as far south as Lake Titicaca is the presence of red hair.

While some scientists believe the reddish colour is a result of the interaction with the environment in which they were buried, the mummies verify the legends, which described the Si-Te-Cah and their kin as red-haired giants.

Proponents of alternative history believe these violent giants were none other than the biblical Nephilim, the forsworn offspring of the ‘Sons of God’ with the ‘daughters of men.’

If this is true, there’s little chance we might get to see any of the giant mummies. Those interested in keeping history secret will never disclose their location.

Source: https://archaeology-world.com/the-ancient-...

Classified Vatican Archives

In the following video we will be exploring classified Vatican archives. Watch the video to find out more!

Living woolly mammoths could roam the tundra again soon

Scientists have sequenced a nearly complete woolly mammoth genome, which should bolster efforts to resurrect the Stone Age zoological rock star.

Working with two mammoth specimens excavated from different parts of Russia and from different eras -- one nearly 45,000 years old, the other just 4,300 years old -- an international team of scientists has sequenced a nearly complete genome for the extinct pachyderm. The achievement provides the most complete snapshot yet of what a woolly mammoth was, which also means we're as close as we've been in a few thousand years to seeing, in person again, what a mammoth is.

"I think in the future it is sort of inevitable that someone will be able to do it, and we will do it," Hendrik Poinar says in the video below. Poinar, an evolutionary geneticist at McMaster University and one of the senior scientists on the project, is referring to the possibility of cloning a woolly mammoth. "The bigger question," he says, "is should we do it."

Poinar does not offer up a definitive yes or no answer to the question, pointing out that a mammoth isn't the easiest species to bring back from extinction, because the gestation period is a full two years to birth just a single offspring, compared with a saber-toothed cat, which could produce more than one litter of prehistoric terror kittens in a single year.

However, Poinar also notes that there are valid ethical arguments for and against bringing back the mammoth, including concerns over diverting effort from more pressing conservation projects, and the belief that humans may have been partially responsible for overhunting the animal into extinction.

Regardless of the complicated ethical questions involved, he says that with the new genome data, it could be theoretically possible to bring back the mammoths within a few decades.

One team of mammoth revivalists -- not directly involved in the publication of the study on the newly sequenced genome -- is not interested in waiting anywhere near that long. A Harvard-based group of scientists led by Dr. George Church is working on bringing back a version of the woolly mammoth by essentially combining DNA from the extinct species with that of the living Asian elephant.

Rather than creating a sort of Hollywood-style "Mammoth Park," the goal of Church's group is partially to bring large elephants back to the northern tundra as a means of converting it back to grassland to help insulate the permafrost below, thereby slowing climate change.

Church's team believes the cloning process to build a mammoth from an Asian elephant and engineered mammoth cells can begin as soon as 2018, meaning the world's first mammoth in thousands of years could be born in the early 2020s.

Going to the zoo is about to get a lot more awesome, folks -- get ready.

Source: https://www.cnet.com/science/we-might-get-...

Dinosaur With A 'Mohawk' Of Spikes Discovered In Patagonia

As scientists gradually uncovered a dinosaur in southern Argentina, they were surprised to find a horny mohawk rising up from the dinosaur's spine.

The dinosaur, now known as the herbivore Bajadasaurus pronuspinax, had two-feet-long spikes protruding from its back. They were likely similar to horns seen on modern-day antelopes with thick keratin covering the bone spikes.

The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax roamed Patagonia 14o million years ago in the Cretaceous. It belonged to the sauropod family, which were known to have long necks and tails. This specific dinosaur likely measured about 30 feet long.

The diagram below is an illustration of what the upper neck of the dinosaur may have looked like. It lived during the early Cretaceous, nearly 75 million years before the T. Rex.

The dinosaur's spikes were likely used to fend off predators and make it more difficult and deterring to attack. The sharp spikes, creating a mohawk along the dinosaur's back are long and thin enough that they would have likely been surrounded by keratin in order to not break off during an attack.

While the most likely purpose of the spikes was a defense mechanism, experts say that they may have been used to regulate the dinosaur's body temperature, as a mating display, or to store water in the tissue surrounding the spikes much in the way camels store water in their hump.

This animal fed on ground plants but upward facing eyes and a spike mohawk allowed it to deter predators as it spent its days grazing.

The dinosaur was discovered in Bajada Colorada, a small town in southern Patagonia. Most of the skull and the entire spine was uncovered, allowing researchers the ability to better study the dinosaur specimen.

Much in the same way porcupines, puffer fish, and rose plants use spines to deter predators, this dinosaur likely made any predator think twice before attacking.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/20...

Stunning Ancient Mosaics Adorn New Museum in Sparta, Greece

Two rare Roman floor mosaics discovered in Greece will feature in a new museum in Sparta which officially opens on November 21st.

The Abduction of Europa and Orpheus with the Animals mosaics were accidentally discovered in the late 19th century on private property.

The two mosaics discovered in 1872 and 1877 are from the end of the 3rd century AD and the start of the 4th century AD.

Mosaics in Greece fell to obscurity

Until now, the mosaics had no permanent home. One was left in a private garden while the other was placed in a wine storage space. The property was bought by the state, and a shelter was erected over them after which the mosaics fell to obscurity.

Researchers believe the two mosaics were part of the decoration of a bath complex. Possibly, the bath infrastructure and mosaics were part of a rich Roman house or two neighboring ones.

Both are distinguished for their composition, rich colors, and craftsmanship.

The 2.05 x 1.98 meter mosaic with the representation of the Abduction of Europa is the central theme of a larger mosaic floor. The woman is depicted sitting on the back of a bull, the form taken by Zeus, in motion towards the right while two winged cupids frame the figure.

With the introduction of the euro as the common European currency on January 1, 2002, Greece chose the representation of the Abduction of Europa in the Sparta mosaic as the motif for the two-euro coin, designed by Giorgos Stamatopoulos.

Orpheus is a Thracian bard, legendary musician, and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, traveled with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. He even descended into the Underworld of Hades to get his lost wife, Eurydice, back.

Mosaics discovered in Greece tell the story of Europa and Zeus

In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess of Argive Greek origin and the mother of King Minos of Crete. The continent of Europe is named after her.

Zeus, the king of the Olympian Gods, transformed into a beautiful white bull to abduct her. The story of Europa is one of the most famous tales of love and lust between the gods.

Zeus was not only known for being the most prominent deity in the ancient Greek pantheon. He also had a reputation for endless love affairs.

Europa was picking flowers with her helpers when she suddenly saw the bull approaching from afar. The princess was astonished by the beauty of the animal. As they neared each other, he quickly leaned down at Europa’s feet in an act of utter submission to her. Encouraged by her helpers, she climbed on the animal’s back.

Zeus got up and slowly started walking around. Soon, however, he accelerated his pace and eventually broke into a gallop, with Europa clinging on for her life. The king of the gods and the frightened princess reached the seaside and dived into the sea.

Zeus had carried Europa from Phoenicia to Crete. Once they got to the island, Zeus reclaimed his human form and finally materialized his lust by mating with her under an evergreen tree.

Europa’s earliest literary reference is in the Iliad, which is most likely from the 8th century BC. Another early reference to her is in a fragment of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, discovered at Oxyrhynchus. The earliest vase-painting securely identifiable as Europa dates back to the mid-seventh century BC.

Source: https://greekreporter.com/2022/11/18/roman...

Mysterious Discovery in Spain: Scientists Unearth a Coffin That Will Challenge European History

In this ground-breaking episode of "Unexplained History," scientists make an astonishing discovery in Spain that will challenge European history as we know it. After months of careful excavation, the team uncovers a visigoth stone coffin that dates back centuries. The coffin, unlike any seen before, is filled with mysterious symbols and artefacts.

The scientists work tirelessly to decipher the meaning behind these artifacts, and what they uncover is truly mind-blowing. The findings not only shed new light on the history of Spain but have far-reaching implications for our understanding of the ancient world. Join us on this incredible journey as we uncover the secrets of this mysterious coffin and discover the truth behind one of the greatest historical puzzles of our time. Get ready to be amazed as we present "Unbelievable Discovery in Spain: Scientists Unearth a Coffin That Will Challenge European History."

Incredible Recent Discoveries in Antarctica!

Step into the realm of mystery and adventure as we unveil the recent discovery of a hidden advanced civilization buried beneath the ice of Antarctica. With cutting-edge technology, scientists have uncovered evidence of a once-thriving society that flourished with technology beyond our modern understanding. What secrets will be uncovered, and what impact will this discovery have on our current understanding of the world?