December 18th News

To be honest, this is the Christmas season, which in combination with work and the weather leaves me with little time. I will guarantee regular posting will begin again in January. Until then, I'll try to gather the news regularly, but may not succeed.

And, of course this is the time when the news is coming in, thick and fast.

New stories as of 8:01 AM:

Italian Antiquities 'Going Home'
Spiegel Online
Italy has been waging a campaign to reclaim its antiquities from museums around the world. On Friday it will celebrate the return of almost 70 masterpieces from the Roman, Greek and Etruscan eras with an exhibition in Rome...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,524061,00.html

Italy: New Exhibit Showcases Stolen Treasures
AKI
Rome,18 Dec. (AKI) - Dozens of ancient treasures, believed to have been looted from archaelogical excavations, have been returned to Italy, where they are on display for the first time...
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.1682985489

Recovered Antiquities Go On Display In Italy
Artinfo
ROME—Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities will go on display Friday in an exhibition of illegally trafficked ancient masterpieces that Italy has recovered, the AP reports...
http://www.artinfo.com/articles/story/26404/recovered-antiquities-go-on-display-in-italy

Italy Exhibits Its Recovered Masterpieces
Los Angeles Times
ROME -- Italian authorities Monday triumphantly unveiled an exhibition of dozens of ancient artworks returned by American museums in recent months, the symbolic conclusion of their decade-long campaign to repatriate objects looted from Italian soil...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-getty18dec18,0,7195492.story?coll=la-home-center

'Nostoi: Recovered Masterpieces'
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/12/17/arts/20071218_TREASURE_SLIDESHOW_index.html
A slide shown of eleven images of the recovered art objects. Descriptions of each image are included.

Stolen Treasures To Be Star Draw
Times Online
ROME An Etruscan antefix with Sileno and Menade dancing, is among 68 stolen or illegally exported treasures that Italy is to put on display after they were returned by American museums...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3066469.ece

Looted Art Displayed In Rome
Associated Press
ROME (AP) — Dozens of treasures from the Greek, Etruscan and Roman civilizations will go on display Friday in an exhibition featuring many of the ancient masterpieces recovered in Italy's campaign against illegal trafficking in antiquities.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5is_bcmuTOwPCXlYk6aWb_ugCT9RgD8TJE4D01

Looted Antiquities Return To Italy From Getty, Other US Collections
AFP
ROME (AFP) — Dozens of antiquities returned to Italy under hard-won accords with US museums, notably the Getty, were unveiled here Monday in what Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli called a new "season of cooperation."...
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDmDJuzySwFI614dIah46BD5igRA

British Museum Snubs New Greek Call For Elgin Marbles
AFP
LONDON (AFP) — The British Museum snubbed a new call for the return of the so-called Elgin Marbles to Athens Monday, saying its position over the disputed artefacts remains unchanged...
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jd_4xMxZl6wT2ZwRIvzYRLB2zf1A

New Acropolis Site 'Ripe' For Marbles Return: Greek PM
Khaleej Times
ATHENS - Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis said during a visit to the new Acropolis Museum construction site Monday that conditions are ‘ripe’ for Britain to return the Elgin, or Parthenon Marbles...
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2007/December/theworld_December583.xml&section=theworld&col=

New Details Of Ancient Roman Town Uncovered
MSNBC
New details of a buried ancient Roman town in England are being revealed for the first time using the latest technology...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22298156/

Ancient Racetrack At Risk From New Homes
EADT 24
ONE of the most important archaeological finds in Britain's oldest recorded town could still be encroached on by a housing development - despite receiving special recognition by the country's leading conservation organisation...
http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=IPED16%20Dec%202007%2021%3A52%3A50%3A080

Mesoptamia Was A Vital Link On Roman-Indian Trade Routes
Times Online
More than 60 years ago Sir Mortimer Wheeler proved that Roman pottery had made it all the way from Italy to India: the characteristic bright red of Samian ware, bearing the stamp of the Vibieni of Arezzo, showed up in his trenches at the ancient port of Arikamedu, on the southeastern coast near Pondicherry...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article3053057.ece

After Legal Odyssey, Homecoming Show For Looted Antiquities
The New York Times
ROME — In Greek, the word nostos means homecoming; the plural is nostoi. Hence the title of an exhibition that Italy has organized to trumpet the return of dozens of ancient artifacts that until recently adorned showcases in American museums and private galleries...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/arts/design/18trea.html?hp

Remains Of Medieval Bishops Identified
UKTV
The bones of six Scottish bishops from the Middle Ages have been idenfied using the latest techniques...
http://uktv.co.uk/history/news/aid/597422

The Nile Once Flowed Near Ancient Egyptian Temple At Karnak: Experts
Daily India
Washington, Dec: A series of discoveries at the foot of Egypt's famous Temple of Amun at Karnak have led archaeologists to believe that the river Nile once flowed near the temple. ..
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/200711.php/The-Nile-once-flowed-near-ancient-Egyptian-temple-at-Karnak:-experts

Surprise Find At Egypt Temple "Change Everything"
National Geographic News
A series of surprising discoveries has been made at the foot of Egypt's famous Temple of Amun at Karnak, archaeologists say...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071217-egypt-temple.html