Roman mosaic of Hercules found in Turkey, 500-year-old "goatelope" discovered in Austria, elite grave with 169 gold rings uncovered in Romania.
Roman Mosaic Featuring Life-Sized Depictions Of Hercules Found Inside A 1,900-Year-Old Bathhouse
AA PhotoUsing life-sized figures, this gigantic mosaic shows Hercules battling a series of mythological beasts, from the Nemean Lion to the Lernean Hydra.
According to mythology, Hercules was the son of Zeus, king of the gods in ancient Greece, and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Though he was blessed with both divine parentage and peerless strength, Hercules’ life took a fateful turn when he suddenly snapped and murdered his wife in a fit of rage. He then sought counsel with the Oracles of Apollo at Delphi, who told him to go to Tiryns and complete a series of extraordinary tasks that would be given to him by King Eurystheus. In order to atone for his crime, Hercules would spend the next 12 years completing the 12 Labors he was given, which included arduous challenges like slaying the great beasts of the ancient world.
Now, archaeologists in Turkey have announced the discovery of a 1,900-year-old Roman mosaic depicting the Labors of Hercules like never before. Uncovered inside a bathhouse in the ruins of the ancient city of Syedra, this 1,765-square-foot floor mosaic contains life-sized images of Hercules doing battle against the most fearsome creatures in all of Greek mythology.
Discover the full story behind this astonishing find here.
Researchers Just Found A 500-Year-Old Mummified “Goatelope” Inside A Melting Glacier
Ciril Jazbec/FacebookThe mummified chamois was found in Gepatschferner, Austria’s second-largest glacier.
A team of glaciologists working on the Gepatschferner — Austria’s second largest glacier — was elated to find a small, goat-like animal preserved inside a partially melted wall of ice while performing a routine check-in on a nearby weather station.
“It’s incredible, and it’s incredible that she’s sitting exactly where we do our research, and that we passed right when it was coming out of the ice,” said Andrea Fischer, an Alpine glaciologist who led the team from the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Innsbruck.
Dig deeper in this report.
Archaeologists Uncover Romanian Grave From 4500 B.C.E. Filled With 169 Gold Rings
Ţării Crişurilor Museum“The gold hoard is a sensational find for the period,” said lead archaeologist Călin Ghemiş.
Researchers digging in Crișana, Romania recently uncovered a 6,500-year-old grave of an elite woman that was filled with a whopping 169 gold rings. Alongside the gold, archaeologists uncovered a copper bracelet and 800 beads made from bone.
The woman belonged to the Tiszapolgár culture that thrived in Eastern and Central Europe between 4500 B.C.E. and 4000 B.C.E. However, relatively little remains known about this culture and how their customs informed this woman’s elaborate burial.
Read on here.
