It was just reported earlier today by BBC that UNESCO has removed the Belize Barrier Reef from its list of endangered World Heritage Sites after nine years.  It said that the government of the Central American country has taken “visionary” steps to preserve its coral Barrier Reef from further damage. The Belize Barrier Reef is the second largest in the world after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and it is home to many threatened species including marine turtles, manatees and the American marine crocodile.

UNESCO added the reef to its list of world heritage sites in 1996 but it was in danger in 2009 following plans by the Belize government to allow oil exploration in nearby waters.  UNESCO has been urging Belize to put safeguards in place to protect what Charles Darwin described as “the most remarkable reef in the West Indies”.

In 2012, Environmentalists organized an informal referendum in which 96% of those who took part voted against offshore oil activity.  Just last year, in December 2017, lawmakers passed a landmark moratorium on oil exploration in Belizean waters, which makes it one of only a handful of countries in the world with such legislation.

At UNESCO’s meeting earlier this month, in Bahrain, UNESCO praised Belize’s “visionary plan to manage the coastline”, saying that “the level of conservation we hoped for has been achieved”. This is a remarkable step for Belize which hoped that the country’s oil revenue would greatly help the economy in a country where the standard of living among many people is still low. The decision came just under a year after UNESCO opted not to place the Great Barrier Reef on its “in danger” list, arguing that Australia had taken action to preserve it too.

After several months of silence, officials at the Cultural Heritage Organization have finally revealed this week that a dam built 2500 years ago has been deliberately destroyed.

Achaemenid Dam, known as the “Bostan Khani,” is registered in the Iranian National Heritage List.

The dam was built during the reign of Cyrus the Great, and were preserved until the advent of the Islamic Republic. The remains are now destroyed due to policies of negligence towards non-Shia and non-religious monuments.

The dam was located on a branch of the Pulwar River, near Pasargad. Archaeologists believe that this unique work was designed to contain floods and store large amounts of water for public use as well as use in agriculture and horticulture. In fact, this historic barrier resembles modern engineering systems of water management, i.e. the same engineering and management endeavors that Iran has been lacking during the Islamic Republic due to inability, neglect, and profit-seeking attitudes of government officials.

The Achaemenid Dam, with its iron structures, was once damaged in the seventies by a local landowner, and the remnants of this damage were completely wiped out only recently.

This time, those who destroyed the dam were more equipped with tools such as bulldozers, tractors, loaders, and performed their work in a few days. Cultural Heritage officials say they have not been informed of these actions for a long time.

It is quite clear that, as always, the Cultural Heritage Organization is not ready to share the facts of such cases of the non-religious cultural and historical devastation with the people of Iran.

Earlier this month (June 2018) Italian scholars claim they have unearthed the first known piece by Renaissance genius Leonardo Da Vinci.  The piece which has been named  “The Archangel Gabriel,” a painted glazed tile, was signed and dated by an artist believed to be the 18-year-old Da Vinci.

The scholar’s claim is based on a signature and date painted in the angel’s jaw line, barely visible to the naked eye. It reads “Da Vinci Leonardo,” with the apparent date of authorship; “1471.”  Earlier this month, after three years of scientific and artistic investigations, Professor Ernesto Solari, an art historian and expert on the works of Da Vinci, along with Ivana Rosa Bonfantino, a handwriting expert, announced that this could be the first known work produced by Da Vinci.

As reported by CNN, the glazed tile was found by the descendants of the aristocratic Fenice family of Ravello, Italy. It is believed that the family did not know the origins of the piece or that it was even a Da Vinci, but, they realized it was something that shone a bit brighter than the other things they found when cleaning out the house, and that is when they called the experts to verify and find out who the artist might have been.

Bonfantino who has examined many historical handwriting samples, analyzed a number of Leonardo’s work, noting that his penmanship evolved from his youth, but claimed that the “match was very close” between different examples and the one found on the tile.

The scholars find this finding very exciting as they now have a glimpse into the work that Da Vinci did as a young man. It is thanks to the descendants of the family that found the artistic piece that the scholars can now attribute the work to Da Vinci.

“My hope is that it remains in Italy — it is part of our national heritage,” said Professor Solari, according to CNN.

Archeologists hail extraordinary find of suspected ‘Hun woman’ with a jet gemstone buckle on her beaded belt.

The ancient woman was buried wearing a silk skirt with a funeral meal. Picture: Marina Kilunovskaya

After a fall in the water level, the well-preserved mummy was found this week on the shore of a giant reservoir on the Yenisei River upstream of the vast Sayano-Shushenskaya dam, which powers the largest power plant in Russia and ninth biggest hydroelectric plant in the world.

The ancient woman was buried wearing a silk skirt with a funeral meal – and she took a pouch of pine nuts with her to the afterlife. 

In her birch bark make-up box, she had a Chinese mirror.

Near her remains – accidentally mummified – was a Hun-style vase. 

‘The lower part of the body was especially well preserved.’ Pictures: Marina Kilunovskaya

A team of archeologists from St Petersburg’s Institute of History of Material Culture (Russian Academy of Sciences) working on the shoreline in Tyva Republic spotted a rectangle-shaped stone construction which looked like a burial. 

‘The mummy was in quite a good condition, with soft tissues, skin, clothing and belongings intact,’ said a scientist. 

Natalya Solovieva, the institute’s deputy director, said: ‘On the mummy are what we believe to be silk clothes, a beaded belt with a jet buckle, apparently with a pattern. 

Archeologist Dr Marina Kilunovskaya said: ‘During excavations, the mummy of a young woman was found on the shore of the reservoir.

‘The lower part of the body was especially well preserved … 

‘This is not a classic mummy – in this case, the burial was tightly closed with a stone lid, enabling a process of natural mummification.’

Astonishingly, the grave’s contents were preserved despite being underwater for long periods since the dam became operational in the 1980s. 

Scientists believe the woman was buried between 1,900 and 2,000 years ago though further tests are needed to date remains.

A Hun-style vase was found near her remains, leading archaeologists to speculate she was a member of the nomadic group, who dominated much of central Europe and Asia between the fourth and sixth centuries AD.

The Huns established their short-lived empire after spreading rapidly from China, and are believed to have contributed to the collapse of the western Roman Empire during the fifth century.

By The Siberian Times reporter

https://siberiantimes.com

After a property developer in noticed ancient ruins some 3-meters deep during a groundbreaking procedure in Turkey’s southwestern city of Muğla, he called local property authorities to verify the findings.

Bodrum Underwater Archaeological Museum Director Tayfun Selçuk, accompanied by three other experts examined the site and confirmed that the ruins are the remains of the villa of the richest fisherman of the Roman period, a Greek named Phainos. The ruins date back to 2nd century AD.

Archaelogical work at the construction site has resumed since June 18 while the findings were removed to Bodrum museum

The site is located in what was once known as the ancient Greek city of Halicarnassus and the discovery of the villa has unearthed many ancient artifacts.

Along with the ruins of the actual structure, experts have also located  10 tombs with some human remains, a 20 square meter mosaic, a well, a Roman bath, and other luxury items such as pottery, perfume bottles, and fishing equipment.

Read more at hurriyetdailynews.com

Trump administration officials on Tuesday said the U.S. has pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council, saying that the international body is “not worthy of its name.”

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced the withdrawal alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, following multiple news reports that the move was imminent.

Haley blasted the council as a “protector of human rights abusers and cesspool of political bias” and accused the body of “politicizing and scapegoating countries with positive human rights records.”

The withdrawal, which comes as the 47-member body begins a three-week session in Geneva, had been expected as a result of the Trump administration’s frequent criticism of the group’s treatment of Israel.

Haley repeatedly voted against U.N. measures that were critical of Israel, and she has rebuked the council for what she called a “chronic anti-Israel bias.”

The U.S., under former President George W. Bush, initially boycotted the council — established in 2006 — but rejoined in 2009 under former President Obama.

Haley has called for other reforms to the U.N. Human Rights Council, saying the group should make it easier to expel states with poor human rights records.

By YUYA TANAKA

YOSHINO, Nara Prefecture–Building a palace near the water’s edge isn’t the safest location, as it could endanger the lives of its residents in the event of flooding and other natural disasters.

However, a mysterious ancient palace was likely situated just beside the beautiful Yoshinogawa river during the Nara Period (710-784), possibly for the waterfront view afforded, according to new findings.

Ruins of a large building dating to the first half of the eighth century have recently been unearthed only 20 meters from the Yoshinogawa, which winds its way between mountains in southern Nara Prefecture.

The structure discovered at the Miyataki archaeological site here boasts special designs unique to emperors’ palaces, increasing the possibility that the find was the main building of the Yoshino no Miya detached palace, which records say Shomu (701-756) and other emperors frequented.

Archaeologists are currently making eager efforts to unlock the mystery of why the detached palace was built so close to the river.

Researchers of ancient history and the “Manyoshu” (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) poetry anthology have had aggressive discussions to identify the location of Yoshino no Miya since before World War II.

As the ruins of many buildings have been discovered in the Miyataki archaeological site along the Yoshinogawa in recent excavation surveys, Miyataki is deemed as an area where Yoshino no Miya was highly likely located.

But it was unclear where the central part of Yoshino no Miya was. Most experts estimated the “residence where the emperor stayed must be on the safer mountain side, from which magnificent views can be enjoyed.”

However, the ruins of a building whose intercolumniation measures 16.3 meters east to west and 9 meters north to south were unearthed at Miyataki in an excavation that was started in December last year by the Yoshino education board and the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture.

While the huge building is believed to have had eaves on all its four sides, such an architecture was only allowed to be constructed for use as the Daigokuden hall, where the emperor administered political affairs, and the main building of the Dairi private residence of the emperor.

Michio Maezono, an archaeology professor at the Nara College of Arts, explained why the main structure of Yoshino no Miya was set up near Yoshinogawa based on the fact that various religious rites were held there since the Asuka Period (592-710).

“Core buildings were possibly installed near the river as religious services were held to honor the god of Yoshinogawa,” Maezono said.

Makoto Ueno, a professor of Manyoshu studies at Nara University, said Manyoshu poet Yamabe no Akahito, who is said to have lived around the same period as Emperor Shomu, described Yoshino no Miya as “land by a clean river” in his work.

“I previously thought the poem depicts the palace in an exaggerated way, but (the latest discovery of a large building near the river indicates) Yoshino no Miya was likely a detached palace to enjoy the beauty of the Yoshinogawa just as depicted in the poetry,” said Ueno.

According to “Nihon Shoki” (The Chronicles of Japan), Yoshino no Miya was commissioned in 656 during the Asuka Period by Emperor Saimei (594-661). Empress Jito, who reigned between 690 and 697 after succeeding her husband, Emperor Tenmu (unknown- 686), visited there on 31 occasions.

“Shoku Nihongi” (Chronicles of Japan, continued), Japan’s official book of history of the Nara Period, and other sources state the Yoshino no Gen administrative office was introduced to manage Yoshino no Miya during the period and given a special status.

While Shomu visited Yoshino no Miya soon after ascending to the throne in 724, he also went there in 736.

A “mokkan” wooden tablet associated with Shomu’s second visit to Yoshino no Miya has been discovered from a hole near the Heijo Imperial Palace in Nara city. Powerful aristocrat Fujiwara no Maro (695-737) is said to have helped send food and tableware to Yoshino no Miya and arranged personnel to accompany the emperor.

Akihiro Watanabe, deputy director-general of the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, who studies Japan’s ancient history and is familiar with mokkan, said the discovered wooden strip reveals how important the visit to Yoshino no Miya was.

“The mokkan clearly showed thorough preparations were made for the Yoshino trip,” he said. “The recently discovered building is highly likely part of Yoshino no Miya depicted in the mokkan, considering its building period and other characteristics.”

Watanabe also touched on the possible reason why the building was set up there.

“Putting priority on viewing magnificent views up close, it (the palace) was likely constructed by the river,” said Watanabe.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201806160004.html

 NANCHANG, Archaeologists have discovered a city dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1384-1644) in east China’s Jiangxi Province.

The provincial cultural relics and archaeology research institute said after seven months of examination and excavation, archaeologists confirmed a county-level city site in Tianbao Village, Yongfeng County.

Covering an area of around 550,000 square meters, the city is shaped like a gourd.

Archaeologists said that a 3,000-meter-long city wall has been discovered at the site. Inscriptions on several bricks in the wall showed they were produced in 1524. Some other bricks had inscriptions that showed the wall had been maintained between 1736 and 1850, during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Eight gates have also been unearthed during the excavation.

Source: Xinhua

By Mara Vigevani/TPS

An ancient winepress dating back to the Byzantine period was discovered two weeks ago at the Tzippori National Park in the central Galilee region an during archaeological excavations, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said Sunday.

The excavations, led by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, in cooperation with the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and sponsored by the Israel Antiquities Authority, took place in a 3.5 meter deep ancient water reservoir with a ceiling that rests on five arches from the Roman period.

The archaeologists were very surprised when they found the wine press as they had never previously encountered a winepress installed in secondary use in an ancient water reservoir.

“This is the first time we found a wine press in a place that was previously used as a water reservoir. Probably the owners of the vineyards thought it was a convenient location as it was close to their vines,” Dr. Zvika Zuk, chief archaeologist of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority told Tazpit Press Service.

According to the researchers, the water reservoir was adapted to a winepress in the 4th century C.E.

“The winepress was found in the largest water reservoir in the Tzippori National Park, which is part of the impressive water system at the site that also includes long aqueducts that provided water to the ancient city of Tzippori,” Zuk said.

http://www.jewishpress.com