Category: Cultures
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Hieroglyphs and sacred symbols in Ancient Egypt
When Jean François Champollion succeeded in deciphering hieroglyphs for the first time in 1822, thanks to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, he had to overcome considerable difficulties of interpretation. The writing of the Ancient Egyptians shows a very different conception of the world from that of modern man. First of all, he had to…
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The Palatine Tables of Metaponto
On the right bank of the Bradano river, inside the archaeological area of Metapontum, are the remains of ancient columns. They seem to have defied time imperishable, immortal with their graceful fluting and elegant Doric capitals. They are called “Palatine Tables”, a heritage of ancient historical events. It is said that in the shadow of…
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The Lion-man, the oldest sculpture in the world
Since the 19th century, the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in Germany had already been the subject of various archaeological excavations. The importance of the site was therefore well known, but when Robert Wetzel and Otto Völzing started a new excavation campaign between 1937 and 1939, they could not imagine what they would find. Indeed, on 25 August…