Welcome to the 22nd episode of History News This Week. Please note that History News This Week will be online every Sunday at 09:30 PM Indian Standard Time i.e. 04:00 PM GMT. This week I have six interesting pieces of news items from the world of History and Archaeology followed by three great articles. Let’s begin!
Links to the news items, articles, latest released books and the history podcast recommendation of the week below:
Oldest human footprints in North America really are 23,000 years old, study finds
1,400-year-old gold figures depicting Norse gods unearthed at former pagan temple
Norwegian family finds 1,200-year-old Viking treasure while searching for a lost earring in their yard
Restoration works of Esna Temple reveals new celestial imagery
New path for early human migrations through a once-lush Arabia contradicts a single 'out of Africa' origin
Stage that once hosted William Shakespeare found, claims Norfolk theatre
How are ancient Roman and Mayan buildings still standing? Scientists are unlocking their secrets
Sun Tzu and the Art of Becoming Famous
Why Egypt Went to War in 1973
Links to order 'The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel and the fate of the Jewish People' below:
Amazon India:
Hardcover
Kindle
Amazon USA:
Paperback
Kindle
Links to order 'Bandi Jeevan: A Life in Chains' below:
Amazon India:
Hardcover
Kindle
Amazon USA:
Hardcover
Kindle
History podcast recommendation of the week:
Historical Blindness
Please don't forget to checkout Historylogy.com for latest book reviews and tidbits from the pages of history.
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Coming up: History News This Week - Episode: 022
Namaste Friends. My name is 'Shinil Subramanian Payamal' and you are listening to the Historylogy podcast.
Welcome to the 22nd episode of History News This Week. Please note that History News This Week will be online every Sunday at 09:30 PM Indian Standard Time i.e. 04:00 PM GMT.
This week I have six interesting pieces of news items from the world of History and Archaeology followed by three great articles. Let’s begin!
1st ─ Oldest human footprints in North America really are 23,000 years old, study finds
Paleo-human footprints dotting White Sands National Park in New Mexico are 23,000 to 21,000 years old, making them the oldest known fossilized trackways left by people in North America, a new study finds. However, not everyone agrees with the results.
The study, which used two dating techniques to verify the trackway's age, is a response to criticism that an earlier study published in 2021 by the same group used unreliable material to date the footprints. Now, all three results — the earlier, controversial one and the two new findings from different dating techniques — point to the trackways being 23,000 to 21,000 years old.
2nd ─ 1,400-year-old gold figures depicting Norse gods unearthed at former pagan temple
Archaeologists have discovered 35 miniature gold-foil depictions of Norse gods tucked inside the remnants of a pagan temple in Norway.
The gold foils, which are flat and as thin as a piece of paper, contain etched motifs depicting the god Frøy and the goddess Gerd and date to the Merovingian period in Norway, which began in 550 AD and continued into the Viking Age. The foils may have been used as sacrificial offerings.
3rd ─ Norwegian family finds 1,200-year-old Viking treasure while searching for a lost earring in their yard
A family in Norway unearthed more than they were expecting when they used a metal detector to search their yard for a lost earring.
Instead of finding the modern jewelry, they detected a signal beneath a large tree behind their house. And when they dug down, they discovered relics from a Viking burial: two bronze ornaments that experts say were once covered in gold.
4th ─ Restoration works of Esna Temple reveals new celestial imagery
An archaeological mission involving a joint Egyptian-German team has revealed new celestial imagery during cleaning and restoration works at the temple of Esna.
The Temple of Esna, also known as the Temple of Khnum, is a temple complex dedicated to the Ancient Egyptian god, Khnum, his consorts Menhit and Nebtu, their son Heka, and the goddess Neith.
5th ─ Researchers find that early human migrants followed lush corridor-route out of Africa
An international team of scientists has found early human migrants left Africa for Eurasia, across the Sinai peninsula and on through Jordan, over 80,000 years ago.
Researchers from the University of Southampton (UK) and Shantou University (China), together with colleagues in Jordan, Australia and the Czech Republic, have proved there was a "well-watered corridor" which funneled hunter-gatherers through The Levant towards western Asia and northern Arabia via Jordan.
6th ─ Stage that once hosted William Shakespeare found, claims Norfolk theatre
A theatre in Norfolk believes it has discovered the only surviving stage on which William Shakespeare performed.
St George's Guildhall in King's Lynn is the oldest working theatre in the UK, dating back to 1445.
During recent renovations, timber floorboards were found under the existing auditorium, and they have been dated back to the 15th Century.
The theatre claims documents show that Shakespeare acted at the venue in 1592 or 1593.
Now, coming to the three articles:
1st ─ How are ancient Roman and Mayan buildings still standing? Scientists are unlocking their secrets
In the quest to build better for the future, some are looking for answers in the long-ago past.
Ancient builders across the world created structures that are still standing today, thousands of years later—from Roman engineers who poured thick concrete sea barriers, to Maya masons who crafted plaster sculptures to their gods, to Chinese builders who raised walls against invaders.
Yet scores of more recent structures are already staring down their expiration dates: The concrete that makes up much of our modern world has a lifespan of around 50 to 100 years.
A growing number of scientists have been studying materials from long-ago eras—chipping off chunks of buildings, poring over historical texts, mixing up copycat recipes—hoping to uncover how they've held up for millennia.
2nd ─ Sun Tzu and the Art of Becoming Famous
How did Sun Tzu and The Art of War become synonymous with strategy in the West?
Sunzi’s (Sun Tzu) Art of War is rightly seen in China and the West as one of the greatest works on strategy ever written. ‘Sun Tzu’ is invoked not only in books on war, but on business and dating, and is presented in the West as the key to understanding the current strategy of the Chinese government. For most people Sunzi is the only strategist they know and the Art of War is the only work on strategy they may have read.
3rd ─ Why Egypt Went to War in 1973
In 1973, Egyptian soldiers hoisted their flag over Sinai, smashing the myth of Israeli invincibility. Fifty years on from the October War, who claims the victory: the president or the people?
Latest history book release of the week:
‘The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel and the fate of the Jewish People’ written by Walter Russell Mead is our pick of the week.
A groundbreaking work that overturns the conventional understanding of the Israeli-American relationship and, in doing so, explores how fundamental debates about American identity drive the country’s foreign policy.
Also available for pre-order is Sachindra Nath Sanyal’s famous autobiography ‘Bandi Jeevan: A Life in Chains’ which has been translated into English for the first time. The book releases on Monday, 9th of October, 2023.
History podcast recommendation of the week:
‘Historical Blindness’ hosted by Nathaniel Lloyd is our pick of the week.
Host Nathaniel Lloyd discusses his varied topics with breathless enthusiasm that is contagious, and he forces the listener to rethink the history they've been taught with a critical eye, covering topics such as the authorship of the Gospel of John and the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask.
I will provide links to all the news items, articles, books and podcast mentioned above in the show notes. Please feel free to check them out.
Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the ‘History News This Week’. Hope you found it interesting.
Please don't forget to subscribe to the Historylogy podcast on your favourite podcasting app and check Historylogy.com for book reviews and interesting tidbits from the pages of History. Looking forward to hearing from you. Have a great day and take care. Bye!