Thursday November 12, 2009
An Irish cemetery in County Donegal, discovered in 2003, has yielded some fascinating medical data about the inhabitants of Ireland from more than 1,000 years ago. Findings have revealed evidence of cystic fibrosis, TB, cancer, multiple exostoses (bumpy bone disease) and even brain surgery, which the patient survived.
In case this seems familiar, another cemetery was uncovered just last week in Ireland; but that one was in County Kildare.
Find out more about the County Donegal cemetery in the article by Donal Thornton at Irish Central.
Follow me on Twitter
Wednesday November 11, 2009
A Hebrew Bible, published between 1516 and 1517, has been returned to its rightful owners after 71 years. The two-volume, black-leather-clad book, which includes commentaries by key medieval rabbinic figures, vanished from a library in Vienna on the night of November 10-11, 1938: Kristallnacht, the "night of broken glass." It surfaced at the New York City auction house Kestenbaum & Company in June; upon learning of its provenance, the auction house terminated the sale and its owner, who had not known its history, agreed to return it to Vienna. The Bible was repatriated to the Jewish community in Vienna at a ceremony at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, attended by representatives of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ), the U.S. Attorney's office, and the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien ( IKG ).
Find out more in the article at Media Newswire.
Follow me on Twitter
Thursday November 5, 2009
Archaeologists have discovered a hoard of more than 300 marble items dating to the 13th century in an excavation north of the Old City wall of Acre. The marbles were found in a cellar that had been sealed by a collapse, and include a large stone cross and a large fragment of the rare purple stone, porphyry. Dr. Edna Stern, excavation director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said that "The quality of the marble is excellent and it was undoubtedly imported from abroad." Find out more in the article by Jamie Romm at the Jerusalem Post.
Follow me on Twitter
Wednesday November 4, 2009
In County Kildare, Ireland, archaeologists have uncovered the skeletal remains of nearly 1,300 people from what is proving to be one of Ireland's largest medieval cemeteries. Located in Ardreigh, Athy, the cemetery was the last resting place for adults and children -- even a 20-week-old fetus -- from at least as far back as the 8th century up to the 14th.
Find out more in the article at Sindh Today.
Follow me on Twitter
