Coptic Museum reopens after three year renovation

The Coptic Museum, the only one in the World dedicated to the art and antiquities of Christian Egypt, reopened its doors today after three years of restorations. Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, was present at the inauguration of the museum located at Misr Al Qadim (Ancient Egypt), where Christian, Islamic and Judaic temples are located. The museum, whose renovations have cost 5 million dollars, contains antiquities that date from the Coptic period, which spanned between the V and VII centuries of our era.

The objects displayed rise up to 16000 pieces approximately, arranged as possible in chronological order in 12 different sections. If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!

DNA shows foreigner worked on royal tomb

DNA shows foreigner worked on royal tomb: "DNA tests have identified the remains of what may prove to be China's first foreign worker - an early European who worked on the mausoleum of China's first emperor.

The DNA tests were done on remains from one of the laborers' tombs surrounding the mausoleum of Qinshihuang, in northwestern Shaanxi Province.

The mausoleum was built more than 2,200 years ago.

Scientists found the foreign remains among 121 shattered human skeletons in a tomb about 500 meters from the famous museum housing the life-sized terracotta warriors and their horses and weapons.

The discovery means contacts between the people in east Asia and those in what is now central Asia began a century earlier than the previously supposed Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) period, said Duan Qingbo, head of the Qinshihuang Mausoleum Excavation Team under the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage.

Scientists collected bone fragments from 50 sets of remains in the laborers' tomb that was unearthed in 2003 and from these extracted 15 DNA samples.

Most of the bodies were males aged from 15 to 55, Duan said.

Tan Jingze, an associate professor at Shanghai-based Fudan University, which conducted the DNA tests, said one sample had genetic features commonly associated with the Parsi in India and Pakistan, the Kurds in Turkmenistan and the Persians in Iran." If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!

'Fang' dentures link to skeleton

BBC NEWS : "A man whose 4,500-year-old bones were found in Mexico may have worn ceremonial dentures made from jaguar or wolf fangs, an archaeologist claims.

The find is said to represent one of the earliest examples of dentistry in the Americas.

The man's remains were found in volcanic ash beneath a cliff painted with ancient rock art in a remote mountain region of western Mexico.

James Chatters, an archaeologist and palaeontologist with Amec Earth and Environmental and a member of the research team, said the man's upper and front teeth had been removed - possibly to insert a ceremonial denture made from the palate of a wolf or a jaguar.

"Such a denture might be something like the mouthparts of a predatory animal or some fierce animal of some sort," he said.

It was also possible the man's teeth had been cut off for cosmetic reasons, or to indicate special status, perhaps as a priest or shaman, Dr Chatters said.

He would not have been able to bite with his front teeth but appears to have been well-fed. An examination of the body indicates he did not do hard work, perhaps having been an important person in the society.

The man may have died from an infection related to his dental work, Dr Chatters explained.

"They cut his teeth off right down to gum and exposed the pulp cavity, and he had two abscesses in his mouth at the time he died. Blood poisoning is a possibility there," he said."

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