The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—ANSA Med reports that the shells of eight ostrich eggs have been found at an ancient campsite in southern Israel’s Negev Desert. The eggs are estimated to be 4,500 years old, but could be up to 7,500 years old, according to Lauren Davis of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “The proximity of the eggs to the fire pit indicates that it was not a casual discovery but an intentional collection of eggs,” she said. “One of them was directly in the fire pit, which strengthens the conviction that they were used as food.” The shells had been crushed, but were otherwise well-preserved on the surface of the campsite by the shifting desert sands, Davis added. Burned stones, flint, stone tools, and pottery fragments were also recovered
ROME, ITALY—CNN reports that an international team of researchers analyzed samples of Roman concrete taken from a city wall at the site of Privernum, which is located in central Italy. Based upon recipes for concrete found in Roman texts, it had been previously thought that Roman engineers used slaked lime (lime mixed with water) as a binding agent, said Admir Masic of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But Masic and his colleagues have concluded that quicklime (calcium oxide) was used instead of, or in addition to, slaked lime. The high temperatures produced by the use of quicklime formed white chunks in the concrete known as lime clasts. Tests of the quicklime concrete recipe suggest that when later exposed to water, the lime clasts dissolved into any cracks in the concrete and sealed them before they could spread, resulting in the long-lasting nature of Roman concrete. Masic and his colleagues also noted that the high temperatures produced by using quicklime to mix concrete reduced its curing and setting times. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances
MAINZ, GERMANY—According to a statement released by the University of Mainz, researchers from the Austrian Archaeological Institute, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Kiel University, and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Elis have uncovered traces of a 2,500-year-old structure that may have been part of a sanctuary of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. The structure is located at the Kleidi site, on the western coast of the Peloponnese region of southern Greece. “The location of this uncovered sacred site matches the details provided by [the ancient Greek historian] Strabo in his writings,” said Birgitta Eder of the Austrian Archaeological Institute. Fragments of roof tiles and a piece of a marble ritual water basin, or perirrhanterion, were also recovered. Eder and the research team will continue to investigate the structure’s relationship to the seaside landscape, which earthquakes and tsunamis have transformed over time. The location may even have been chosen for Poseidon’s temple for this reason, the researchers concluded
As the new year begins, one of the most significant topics of the world’s focus is the struggle of Iranian people. The freedom movement of the Iranian people, which has ignited like a fire of wisdom and love against the bitter 43 years of oppressive rule under the Iranian Islamic dictatorship government, has dazzled the world with its light.
This year, many people of the world, especially those in Western countries, understand the oppressive and cruel conditions under which the Iranian people have been living, thanks to the news that has come from inside Iran. It is as though they see the trends of this tyrannical regime in the pages of their own histories, when freedoms were taken for granted or were forbidden.
Today, at the beginning of a new year, we feel closer to the people of the world who stand in solidarity with us against the oppressive and despotic Islamic government, who have marched with us and have risen the flag of freedom on the streets of cities all over the world, from Berlin to Stockholm, London to Washington, D.C., from Buenos Aires to Tokyo, from Wellington, New Zealand to Seoul, Korea. Thanks to the bravery of the men and women of our land, Iran, we now stand beside the freedom-loving people of the world, singing songs of freedom and crying for the loss of lives of our youth, the young people who have selflessly become the symbol of this freedom movement. Our freedom-loving beauties and brave heroes and heroines have stood on the streets of Iran in the face of the bullets of this occupier regime. At the start of this new year, the people of the world now stand with us and shout, “Women, life, freedom,” and demand a future free from oppression, tyranny, and the Islamic government.
As an Iranian writer in exile, with a heart that is wounded by the killing of hundreds of children and young people in my country, and worried about the thousands of young people in the medieval prisons of the Islamic regime, I cry with hope for a free new year. Today, I thank people of the world and hope, as Iranians do, to join you in a healthy and happy new year. I know that our dark times will soon be over and in a not-so-distant future, we will raise our heads and celebrate our freedom with the free people of the world.
With blessings and happiness for 2023,
Shokooh Mirzadegi
Dear Friends, and Supporters of World Cultural Heritage Voices.
On behalf of our colleagues and volunteers at WCHV, and on the occasion of the Global New Year of 2022, we would like to extend our regards and best wishes for a Happy New Year. Thank you for your support of WCHV, which has been so instrumental in achieving our goals and mission.
LUXOR, EGYPT—According to an EFE report, two tombs containing the mummified remains of dozens of senior officials and clergy have been found by a team of Egyptian and Spanish archaeologists from the Vizier Amenhotep-Huy Project. Amenhotep-Huy served as vizier in the 18th dynasty under the pharaoh Amenhotep III, who reigned from about 1390 to 1352 B.C., but he opposed religious practices promoted by Akhenaten, the pharaoh’s son. “He is a very important person,” commented team leader Francisco J. Martín. Two chambers connect the newly discovered tombs to the vizier’s tomb, a chapel with 30 columns located on the west bank of the Nile River. “They began to build other tombs from different dynasties within the vizier’s tomb, since the place was sacred,” Martín explained
CORVALLIS, OREGON—According to a statement released by Oregon State University, researchers led by Loren Davis have discovered projectile points thought to have been made by the earliest peoples in the Americas at the Cooper’s Ferry site, which is located near Idaho’s Salmon River on traditional Nez Perce land. The deadly, razor-sharp points, which range in size from approximately one-half to two inches long, have been radiocarbon dated to around 15,700 years ago. Davis said that the points are sharpened on one end, and have a stem on the other end that was likely attached to a dart. They are similar to projectile points of a similar age found in Hokkaido, Japan, he added, and could support the idea of cultural and genetic connections between the Ice Age peoples of northeastern Asia and North America. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Science Advances.
The ancient festival of Yalda and the expectation of Iranians today for light and freedom.
The Yalda Night celebration has been one of the most important celebrations for Iranians for several thousand years.
This celebration is held on the longest night of the year, coinciding with December 21, because ancient Iranians believed that on this night there would be a fierce battle between darkness and light, and when the sun comes, light will win over darkness. They stayed awake this night and waited until morning for the sun to come up, ushering dance and celebration.
This year, Yalda was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as intangible cultural heritage.
These days, with a revolutionary uprising against the dictatorial and misogynistic religious regime in Iran, they say:
We fight darkness and suffocation to achieve light and freedom.
The Sustainable Development Agenda is centred on people & planet, underpinned by human rights and supported by a global partnership determined to lift people out of poverty, hunger and disease. It will, thus, be built on a foundation of global cooperation and solidarity.Solidarity is identified in the Millennium Declaration as one of the fundamental values of international relations in the 21st Century, wherein those, who either suffer or benefit least deserve help from those who benefit most. Consequently, in the context of globalization and the challenge of growing inequality, strengthening of international solidarity is indispensable.
Therefore, the UN General Assembly, convinced that the promotion of the culture of solidarity and the spirit of sharing is important for combating poverty, proclaimed 20 of December as International Human Solidarity Day.
Through initiatives such as the establishment of the World Solidarity Fund to eradicate poverty and the proclamation of International Human Solidarity Day, the concept of solidarity was promoted as crucial in the fight against poverty and in the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
