As I have said in the past, I like to keep abreast of what is happening in Archeology and especially in the discovery of ancient cities. So lets see what is new in that area.

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Penn Universities, University Museum has joined with the School of Engineering in an attempt to improve archaeological procedure. Right now they will study an ancient city in Bolivia. The name of the city is Tiwanaku. It is referred to as the American Stonehenge. The city has huge pyramids and many statues. One of the innovations that comes from joining forces with the school of engineering is the use of digital photographs to create three dimensional models of artifacts. This may do away with having to measure the objects manually. Radar imaging will also save time since it will indicate where the digging should take place. Less artifacts will be recovered this way but there are way more artifacts recovered at digs than space to display them.

It looks like the ancient city of Cana has finally been discovered. Cana was the place that Jesus performed his first miracle. It was found west of the Israeli village of Kfar Kana, about eight kilometers from Nazareth. The archaeologists found the remains of stone buildings, a Jewish purification bath and kitchen utensils among other objects.

Iran is a place noted for some of the most ancient cities in the world. Well we can add another city to that list. A major industrial center was discovered that is over 5,000 years old. It was uncovered near the ancient city of Jiroft in southeastern Iran. Jiroft itself is thought to be the ancient city of Aratta by many. The Halil-Rud people were said to have occupied this area. Buildings, work shops and kilns were found among other things. It is thought that this city was responsible for producing products for export. Work shops for brass and marble products were discovered there also. The population must have been large because six huge graveyards were also discovered. There have been many archaeological sites discovered along the Halil-Rud River which is where this site is near.

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Artifacts have been unearthed in the ancient city of Thebes, which is 200 kms north of Athens. Some of the objects go back to the 3rd century BC. Some of the findings were an altar, pottery, bronze vessels, sculptures and many fragments. It is believed that the altar may be the Altar of Spindios Apollo, Apollo of the Ashes. Some of the statues are of Hercules and the feeling is that maybe they mark the house where ancient Thebians believe Hercules was raised.

An archeological team working in the Burnt City in Iran have found, what they believe is evidence, that 5,000 years ago women were in charge there. The evidence that they found were seals that were buried in many of the women's graves. These seals were a sign of power. There were so many women that had seals buried with them that it comprised 90% of all the seals found.

Back to the Americas. Archeologists are excavating at Teotihuacan in Mexico. This was the first great city in the Western Hemisphere, being over 2,000 years old and planned out to the last detail. It is located 25 miles north of Mexico City. It is not known who built it. A grisly find was made when it was discovered, iinside a tomb in the Great Pry amid, In the Pyramid of the Moon, ten people were buried along with the two bodies that were richly dressed. They had been sacrificed by having their heads cut off.

While not a newly discovered city, an interesting find was made it Rome, Italy. It was a complete ancient Roman bathing complex that takes up 14 acres. Included with this is a beautiful mosaic of 4 Romans, 3 crushing grapes and the 4th playing a musical instrument to entertain them. The complex is believed to have been built by the Emperor Trajan and is on top of Nero's residence known as Golden House. What is even more impressive is that some archaeologists are saying that an entire section of ancient Rome may be down there and may be well preserved.

Traces of the ancient city of Elam were found by Iranian archaeologists on Baladieh Hill in southwestern Iran, in Khuzestan Province. It is believed that it goes back in time to 4,000 BC and there is some evidence that writing was being invented at the time simultaneously with Egypt and Mesopotamia.

In China 2 prehistoric cities have been discovered in Henan Province at the Puchengdian ruins. One of the cities (ruins) dates back to 3,000 BC and is over 16,000 square meters in size. The East, South and West walls of the city still exist. Also found was the oldest kiln in China. It is over 5,000 years old and was found along with a fireplace, workshop and ash pit. So far over 400 relics or pieces of relics have been found, some of which date back to 2,100 BC.

A camp was found near South Padre Island in Texas. Artifacts in the area may be up to 5,000 years old. The objects were found in a clay dune and were underground about 6 feet. Was the Rio Grande Valley inhabited? It seems to have been, if not permanently then on a temporary basis. Some speculate that the people who camped threr belonged to a group that dates as far back as 7,500 BC.

Well that's it for now on my ancient cities update.