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In his influential book, "Troy and Homer," German classicist Joachim Latacz argues that the identification of Hisarlik as the site of Homer's Troy is all but proven. Latacz's case is based not only on archeology, but also on fascinating reassessments of cuneiform tablets from the Hittite imperial archives. The tablets, which are dated to the period when the Late Bronze Age city at Hisarlik was destroyed, tell a story of a western people harassing a Hittite client state on the coast of Asia Minor. The Hittite name for the invading foreigners is very close to Homer's name for his Greeks...

Living in the 'bowels of the earth' In caves all over Greece, archaeologists reveal the secrets of the past HEINRICH HALL * The mythical birthplace of Zeus: the Idaean Cave, central Crete AT SOME point between AD575 and 600, at least 33 men, women and children entered a cave near modern Andritsa, southwest of Argolid, in the eastern Peloponnese. They carried a Christian cross, some money and food supplies, perhaps intending to hide from some temporary threat. They were never to see the light of day again. One by one, they died from starvation, unable or unwilling to escape the...

Israeli police rushed into Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre to break up fist fights between dozens of Greek and Armenian worshippers on Orthodox Palm Sunday, witnesses said. Some 20 officers intervened after Armenian worshippers threw a Greek Orthodox priest out of the church, sparking a free-for-all, they said. Several worshippers then started beating the police officers with palm fronds they were holding for the Palm Sunday celebrations that mark the return of Jesus to the Holy City a week before he was crucified. After the incident, dozens of members of Jerusalem's Armenian community marched from the church to the...

How the Greek Agora Changed the WorldBy Heather Whipps, LiveScience's History Columnist posted: 17 March 2008 08:15 am ET It was the heart of the city – where ordinary citizens bought and sold goods, politics were discussed and ideas were passed among great minds like Aristotle and Plato. Who knows where we'd be without the "agoras" of ancient Greece. Lacking the concept of democracy, perhaps, or the formula for the length of the sides of a triangle (young math students, rejoice!). Modern doctors might not have anything to mutter as an oath. What went on at the agora went beyond...

Robed Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests went at each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity on Thursday as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning. Orthodox and Armenian priests clash in the Church of the Nativity two days after Christmas. The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. Any perceived encroachment on one group's turf can set off vicious feuds. On Thursday, dozens of priests and cleaners came to the fortress-like church to scrub and sweep...

Seven people were injured on Thursday when Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests came to blows in a dispute over how to clean the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Following the Christmas celebrations, Greek Orthodox priests set up ladders to clean the walls and ceilings of their part of the church, which is built over the site where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born. But the ladders encroached on space controlled by Armenian priests, according to photographers who said angry words ensued and blows quickly followed. For a quarter of an hour bearded and robed priests laid into...

ATHENS, Greece - On election day, the Papandreou name failed to work its old magic. Now, Greece's best-known political dynasty could face extinction after a half-century's affair with power. Shocked out of their usual voting patterns by the summer's unprecedented wildfires, Greeks dealt a blow to both major parties on Sunday, switching support to smaller groups. But the socialists fared by far the worst, clocking their poorest result in 30 years, while the conservatives were narrowly re-elected. George Papandreou — who heads the PASOK party founded by his late father, the anti-U.S. firebrand Andreas Papandreou — had barely finished his...

A Worldwide Push To Bring back chariot Racing THE WALL STREET JOURNAL May 24, 2007 SAO SIMAO, Brazil – On a drowsy May day in the country, tractors and combines were lumbering down dirt roads when, suddenly, a cloud of dust rose up on the horizon. Birds scattered. Rumbling across the green landscape came seven racing chariots, each pulled by four horses. Riding in the chariot decorated with an engraving of Alexander the Great was Luiz Augusto Alves de Oliveira, a 50-year-old sugar-cane farmer who has an epic plan: returning chariot racing to its ancient glory. In this May Day...

Turkey yesterday leveled criticism at a report drafted by the Human Rights Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) with regard to the situation of the Greek minority on the islands of Bozcaada and Gökçeada. “The draft report is not impartial and it contains serious shortcomings,” Murat Mercan, head of the Turkish delegation in PACE, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. He emphasized that the Turkish side would work hard during the commission's meetings and the General Assembly sessions for the report to be balanced. The report penned by Swiss parliamentarian Andreas Gross was...

Scientists examining documents dating back 3,500 years say they have found proof that the origins of modern medicine lie in ancient Egypt and not with Hippocrates and the Greeks. The research team from the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology at The University of Manchester discovered the evidence in medical papyri written in 1,500BC – 1,000 years before Hippocrates was born. "Classical scholars have always considered the ancient Greeks, particularly Hippocrates, as being the fathers of medicine but our findings suggest that the ancient Egyptians were practising a credible form of pharmacy and medicine much earlier," said Dr Jackie Campbell. "When...

Why the Greeks could hear plays from the back rowAn ancient theatre filters out low-frequency background noise. Philip Ball3-23-2007 Modern actors can be heard clearly 60 metres away on a windless day. Nico Declercq. The wonderful acoustics for which the ancient Greek theatre of Epidaurus is renowned may come from exploiting complex acoustic physics, new research shows. The theatre, discovered under a layer of earth on the Peloponnese peninsula in 1881 and excavated, has the classic semicircular shape of a Greek amphitheatre, with 34 rows of stone seats (to which the Romans added a further 21). Its acoustics are extraordinary:...

Ancient Mashed Grapes Found in Greece Jennifer Viegas, Discovery NewsAncient Grapes March 16, 2007 — Either the ancient Greeks loved grape juice, or they were making wine nearly 6,500 years ago, according to a new study that describes what could be the world’s earliest evidence of crushed grapes. If the charred 2,460 grape seeds and 300 empty grape skins were used to make wine, as the researchers suspect, the remains might have belonged to the second oldest known grape wine in the world, edged out only by a residue-covered Iranian wine jug dating to the sixth millennium B.C. Since the...

Tirana, March 7, 2007 (AENews) – Protests against Greek soldiers' anti-Albanian song is rising in Albania while politicians have called for a contained and calm response. In Durres and Elbasan, protesters burned Greek flags while the entire population is bewildered by the level of hatred and violence in the text of Greek Soldiers' song. A private video showing Greek soldiers singing "We are gone a make shoe-strings with Albanian guts" was published last week on the Internet, then was commented by the Greek and Albanian media. Foreign Relations committee in the Albanian Parliament called Thursday on the population to stop...

First Pompeii uncoveredSamnites founded city in Third Century BC (ANSA) - Rome, February 1 - The origins of the famed buried city of Pompeii have emerged from years of excavations, an international conference in Rome was told Thursday. The first Pompeii was not built by the Romans or even by the Greeks who preceded them, but by an ancient people called the Samnites, Pompeii heritage Superintendent Piero Guzzo told a packed audience of archaeologists and scholars. Wielding photos of inscriptions, votive offerings and even entire buildings, Guzzo said "a new season of studies has begun". "For the first time we...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, March 13, 2006 – The 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division - known as the Spartans - assumed authority for the coalition's Regional Command East from the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in a ceremony here today. Army Col. John W. Nicholson Jr. of Task Force Spartan took responsibility for coalition forces in the region's 11 eastern provinces from Army Col. Patrick J. Donahue of Task Force Devil. Civil and military leaders, servicemembers, base employees, contractors and visitors attended the ceremony. Gov. Marijadeen Patan of Khowst province, Afghan National Army Gen. Mohammad Achram...

The only complete example of a Mycenaean suit of armor ever found is to be sent for conservation work, 46 years since its discovery at Dendra in the Argolid, the Central Archaeological Council (KAS) has decided... [I]t is made up of four pieces: a neckpiece, two epaulettes, a breastplate and an articulated section with three straps to protect the rest of the warrior’s torso. Broad strips of metal were fastened to a leather lining which appears to have covered the body from neck to knee. At 15 kilos, its weight must have made it hard to move in and it...

The engravings, which were discovered close to the Amoud al-Sawari monument, are said to date back to the times of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (ruled 161-180 AD.)... are six lines long and were found etched on an artefact measuring 50 centimetres long and 36 centimetres wide, which may perhaps be part of an ancient altar. The engravings are said to be writings glorifying the supreme ancient Greek deity Zeus along with several other Greek gods. The Amoud al-Sawari monument - also known as the Column of the Horsemen, or Pompey's Pillar - is located in the Karmouz district, which is...

True or false? Eight hundred years ago, a monk did his best to erase a copy of some of Archimedes' most important work, putting some prayers on the parchment instead, and the words of the great Greek mathematician were then gone forever. False. At Stanford University in California, some scientists are using X-ray technology to make the older ink shine through the later scribbling, thereby recovering a remarkable piece of history and doing something else to boot. They are giving us an illustration among many of how a civilization made great in part by the Greeks of antiquity remains great...

Did the Ancient Greeks and Native Americans Swap Starcharts? Author Ker Than I had a story on SPACE.com yesterday about a very cool discovery: a one-thousand year old petroglyph, or rock carving, that was found in Arizona and which might depict the supernova of 1006, or SN 1006. The carving is presumed to have been made an ancient group of Native Americans called the Hohokam. The researcher who made the discovery argues that symbols of a scorpion and stars on the petroglyph match the relative positions of SN 1006 to the constellation Scorpius when the star first exploded. Well, after...

Persecution and martyrdom of Christians under 20th century totalitarianism - mainly of Russian Orthodox Christians under Bolshevism - is by far the greatest crime in all of recorded history. It is several times greater than the Holocaust in terms of innocent lives brutally destroyed. It has killed more Christians in a few decades than all other causes put together in all ages, with Islam a distant second as the cause of their death and suffering. And yet it still remains a largely unknown, often minimized, or scandalously glossed over crime. According to the respected and reliable OUP World Christian...

Punta Scario is opposite to and only twenty minutes by sail from, the Egadi Islands which gave their name to the Roman naval victory that took place on the morning of March the 10th, 241 BC and ended the First Punic War. The wreck's contents, epigraphy and Carbon 14 determinations are consistent with this period, while circumstantial evidence points to a connection with the Battle itself. The Ship's architecture and contents show that it was not a merchantman, but some kind of hastily built auxiliary warship, possibly a Liburnian. After the Battle the wind had changed direction, so that by...

I post this because it is about a true story. This is one of those good movies that only word of mouth can support. If you have a group you can contact the site to arrange a private screening for your group. Many local Greek Churches and organizations are arranging the screenings. http://www.crete1941.com/home4.htm info@the11thday.com or 916-972-1120 The website says many of the actors were actual decendents of those who fought back the Nazis. I have actually had the pleasure of meeting some of these actual fighters and have the honor of being related to one. These people beat back the...

GREEK IOC member Lambis Nikolaou today denied playing a part in a voting mix-up during the July elections that allegedly led to London's selection as host-city of the 2012 Olympics. "The speculation concerning my role during the third voting round in the 2012 (host) city elections are completely without foundation," Mr Nikolaou said in a statement. "I did not vote in the third round, something I had already announced during the procedure," he said. The controversy arose on December 23, when Israeli senior IOC member Alex Gilady told BBC News 24 that London only won the bid for the 2012...

Fifteen percent of all workers say they have been discriminated against in their workplace during the past year, according to a new Gallup Organization poll. The survey was conducted to discover workers' perceptions of discrimination in their workplaces during a year that marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC's chairwoman, Cari M. Dominguez, said the information will help the agency compare employee perceptions of discrimination with complaints actually filed with the agency. For example, 31 percent of Asians surveyed reported incidents of...

As the European Union struggles to bring multicultural prosperity to the Balkan region of Europe, "the task is proving more elusive than ever," says American legal rights lawyer, Michael Rollins. One reason for the difficulty, says Rollins, is the E.U. policy of preferential avoidance of EU member countries regarding civil and human rights abuses. Rollins says matters between Greece and its neighboring country, The Republic of Macedonia, serve as a good example of how the European Union's policy of benign neglect by its member states has an effect on the socio-economics, trade imbalance, and other limitations to investments in the...

The government said Friday it would give cash bonuses to Greek mothers who have more than two babies, in an effort to boost the country's birth rate as the population ages. According to a draft law to be presented later this year, mothers would receive a tax-free, one-time payment of $2,444 for every child after the second, the Finance Ministry said. From 2007, the sum would rise to $3,055 per child, it said in a statement. Families with at least three children would also pay less tax on new cars. The Greek government, which already offers benefits such as tax...

PRISTINA (AA) - Filizler Turkish Cultural and Arts Association (TKSD), one of Kosovo's most active cultural associations, is organizing a ''Turkish Cultural Week'' in Kosovo for the first time in history. Sponsored by the Kosovo Cultural, Youth and Sports Ministry, a painting exhibition of Kosovo Turkish Writers Association Chairman Zeynel Beksac has opened and poems were read, accompanied by ''Filizler'' pianists. TKSD Chairman Ferhat Dervis delivered a speech indicating that they will do every thing to keep Turkish culture alive in the region. ''We expect more support from Turkey and want to make the Turkish cultural week an annual event,''...

Archaeologist tells of digs in Central AsiaVictor Sariyiannidis has spent his life searching for traces of Greeks Findings from the royal Bactrian graves. A statuette of a goat, exquisitely fine work cast in gold, a gold ring engraved with a seated Athena and an inscription, and a gold clasp . These are just some of the 20,000 ancient pieces of jewelry Sariyiannidis unearthed at the site of Tilia Tepe in 1979 in what is now Afghanistan. By Effi Hadzioannidou - Kathimerini When Victor Sariyiannidis discovered the 20,000 pieces of gold jewelry in 1979 in Tilia Tepe in Afghanistan — an...

Bishop Gerasimos Michaleas is the new metropolitan bishop for California and six other Western states. In a wide-ranging interview, Gerasimos spoke of such things as the TV show "Desperate Housewives," gay marriage, the war in Iraq and the politicization of the Terri Schiavo case. He admitted he is an unabashed fan of "Desperate Housewives." Said Gerasimos: "That little bit sultry TV program has so many truths in it. I'm watching it every time it's on." He said the show is popular because it depicts what goes on in many families and connects with viewers.

Does anyone know where I might be able to obtain information on Bishop Gerasimos Michaleas, who was installed as the new spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox San Francisco Diocese? I would like to know where he stands on "modern issues" as I have been told in Greek circles that he is very pro-gay when it comes to marriage. If you have any links, I'd certainly appreciate it.

No, this is not a blonde joke. If you want one of those, go to this week’s Humor File. Cleopatra was in fact a blonde. That’s because she was not Egyptian. She was a Macedonian Greek, with hair as blonde as Alexander’s. Alexander conquered Egypt in 332 BC, then went on to subdue all of the Middle East. When he died nine years later, his just-conquered empire was fought over and carved up by his generals. The one who ended up running Egypt was Ptolemy (367-283 BC). Declaring himself Pharaoh, he founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty, with twelve Ptolemies in succession,...

JERUSALEM (AP) - The Greek Orthodox Church is investigating the reported sale of sensitive Jerusalem property to Jewish organizations, a church official said Sunday, as Palestinian Christians staged a protest. The reported sale has sparked an uproar among Palestinian followers of the church, who accuse the Greek leadership of betraying the Palestinian cause. Dozens of faithful held a demonstration Sunday, calling Patriarch Eireneos a "collaborator" and demanding his resignation. Palestinian church leaders have also demanded that he step down. The controversy erupted after the Israeli daily Maariv reported Friday that the church had sold properties in the predominantly Arab sector...

East Bulgaria Reveals Minoan Pertainence 18 January 2005, Tuesday. The Eastern Rhodopes revealed an old-times funeral site obviously pertaining to an ancient Crete-Micenae cult dating 3,500 years ago. The demographic researcher Mincho Gumarov of Kardzhali has donated the local museum with unique finds of ceramics, bronze and silver. The artifacts from the late bronze epoch were found in the nearby Samara cave. The find's pertainence to the epoch of legendary Micenae derives from the found labris (short two-face ritual axe, characteristic of that civilisation) and a silver amulet of the cult to Mother Earth, as well as pieces of surgery...

Turkish nationalists gatecrash Orthodox Bosporus celebration AFP: 1/6/2005 ISTANBUL, Jan 6 (AFP) - Turkish nationalists chanting slogans and waving the flag of an extreme right-wing party Thursday tried to disrupt a Greek Orthodox religious ceremony here called the benediction of the waters of the Bosporus, eyewitnesses said. As part of a tradition dating back to Byzantine times, a crucifix is thrown into the waters and young divers plunge in, competing to recover it. Some 60 nationalists interrupted the proceedings waving flags of the National Action Party (MHP) and chanting: "This is Turkey here, like it or leave it." Hundreds of...

Gridlocked Greeks still paying for the miracle of Athens A member of the Chinese Olympic Committee came to Athens last May. He visited our Olympic sites, which were still under construction, and met members of the Greek Olympic Committee. "We in China will have all Olympic sites ready by 2006," he informed his Greek counterparts. "How wonderful," they replied. "We will too!" These jokes were a part of Athens' pre-Olympic life. But the jokes stopped abruptly on the night of July 4, when Greece beat Portugal 1-0 to win Euro 2004. After a long night of celebration in the streets,...

Dear Dr. Lewis, This e-mail is in response to your above-referenced article published today, Dec. 19th on ChronWatch.http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=11860. Very little of what follows will be news to you but please indulge me. These past 60 odd years the West has been on the defensive trying (ineffectually) to keep Islam at bay and Islam has been on the offensive their declared aim being to convert by armed force the infidels except the Jews whose eradication from this planet has been (with Europe's quiet acquiescence) pronounced, save young Jewish maidens destined to be parceled out to the harems of the faithful. It...

Greece's freed hijack hostages on Thursday portrayed their Albanian captors as bungling criminals just after money who were easily manipulated and armed with croissants, not dynamite. The bus hostage siege ended peacefully on Thursday when all 23 passengers were freed and police revealed the two hijackers had been bluffing when they threatened to blow up the bus. Greek officials said training that security forces received in protecting last August's Athens Olympic Games and phone calls to the gunmen from their relatives urging them to give themselves up played key roles in ending the drama. The hostages said the gunmen who...

The lake's progress In ancient times Lake Mareotis was a pleasure resort and watering spot surrounded by market gardens. Jenny Jobbins considers the fertile past of an area that is now desert Western Alexandria was once heavily populated in the Greek and Roman eras. Leucaspis, a residential seaport, is among the few surviving remains. Note Lake Mareotis in the background -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the Greek colonisers and Roman cohorts -- and, later, the Persians and Arabs -- marched to and from Cyrenaica along Egypt's northern coast they all had one aim in mind -- to hold and control North Africa. The...

Anyone who took offense at Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ", with its depiction of Jewish leaders condemning Jesus, should get ready soon to be offended all over again. Gibson, it is reported, has his heart set on doing a movie version of the story commemorated by Hanukkah. His text will be the novel "My Glorious Brothers" by Howard Fast. Ironically, this book is a sentimental favorite with the older-generation Jewish audience that also tends to be the main financial supporter of Gibson’s primary antagonist, the Anti-Defamation League, which led the drive to condemn "The Passion" as anti-Semitic. The...

ATHENS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Scuffles broke out on Tuesday between Muslim Greeks and a television crew filming an episode of a popular series near a mosque in northeastern Greece, police said. They said about 400 Muslim Greeks in the village of Echinos, angered by the presence of actresses not wearing head scarves near the entry of the mosque, gathered around the television crew demanding they leave.

If there was any hope that a second term would lead President George W. Bush to act in a less unilateral way than before, Washington’s surprise recognition of the “Republic of Macedonia” on Thursday, trampling on Greece’s sensitivities, showed clearly that the United States is not going to waste time with diplomatic niceties. The message to Greece and the European Union was clear: Get used to living with this America. There was no doubt that September 11, 2001 would change the United States and the way it acted in the world. Iraq showed that American reaction had developed into unilateral...

Greek and Turkish Cypriot football match cancelled amid execution outcry AFP: 11/3/2004 NICOSIA, Nov 3 (AFP) - A charity football match between Greek and Turkish Cypriot players due to take place in the north of this divided island was postponed indefinitely on Wednesday after Greek Cypriot critics said the venue was a former execution site.

I attended the annual Greater Phoenix Greek Festival over the weekend. Lots of good food, dancing, etc. BUT I noticed many "Greeks for Kerry" buttons. I was told that they had no Bush buttons. Pretty sad. Seems not many Greeks are Republicans.

NICOSIA, Cyprus - A bomb exploded before dawn in a Greek Orthodox church in Turkish-occupied north Cyprus on Friday, causing damage but no injuries, authorities said. The attack followed media reports that Turkish Cypriot extremist groups had vowed to try to prevent services planned next week at the Saint Mamas church to celebrate its namesake's saint's day. Mehmet Ali Talat, the premier of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, said authorities would press forward with the first service at the church in decades, planned as a gesture of reconciliation between ethnic Turks and Greeks. Hundreds of Greek Cypriots who fled Morphou,...

KO-RE-TE, PO-RO-KO-RE-TE [koreter, prokoreter] -- Such officials are known at both Knossos and Pylos. The titles bear a suspiciously close resemblance to the Latin terms curator and procurator ("guardian" and "manager, imperial officer/governor" respectively). The Linear B evidence suggests that the koreter was a local official in charge of one of the sixteen major administrative units within the Pylian kingdom, and the prokoreter was evidently his deputy.

Cyrus the Great Cylinder, The First Charter of Human Rights By 546 BCE, Cyrus had defeated Croesus, the Lydian king of fabled wealth, and had secured control of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, Armenia, and the Greek colonies along the Levant. Moving east, he took Parthia (land of the Arsacids, not to be confused with Parsa, which was to the southwest), Chorasmis, and Bactria. He besieged and captured Babylon in 539 and released the Jews who had been held captive there, thus earning his immortalization in the Book of Isaiah. When he died in 529, Cyrus's kingdom extended as...

The island group of the northeast Aegean (Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios, and others) was the cradle of the culture which created the prehistoric cities of Polichne on Lemnos and Therme on Lesbos, both of which may be considered the earliest urban centres in Europe. Their origins can be traced back as far as the end of the fourth millennium B.C.. ... The origins of these "urban" settlements, at least in the case of Poliochne, may be traced back much further than the time of the founding of Troy. ... Troy with its long-lived occupation, is but a small fortified village...

"The Persians set forth from [an] oasis across the sand," Herodotus wrote. "As they were at their midday meal, a wind arose from the south, strong and deadly, bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand, which entirely covered up the troops and caused them wholly to disappear." Recently, however, human remains, daggers, metal arrowheads, and other objects likely associated with just such an army were accidentally discovered by a group of geologists working in the northwestern desert. Now a multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, geologists, and surveyors has been dispatched to determine whether this remote site is the graveyard...

TEHRAN (MNA) -- During the latest season of excavations of the northern gate of Takht-e Suleiman, an ancient Zoroastrian fire temple located in northwestern Iran, the stamps of two seals were discovered which indicate that objects entered Takht-e Suleiman from other regions with special tags attached to them which seem to be advertisements. They signify that an early form of advertising was being practiced during the Sassanid era (224-642 C.E.), Yusef Moradi, the head of the excavation team, said on Friday. “The team began its excavations in early August and found the stamps of two seals at the upper levels...

Secrets of an ancient Persian armada sunk off the coast of Greece 2500 years ago are being dredged up by modern archaeologists. A team from Greece, Canada and the United States has just completed a second expedition to retrieve artefacts from 300 ships of the Persian King Darius that were wrecked in a storm off the Mt Athos Peninsula, northern Greece, in 492BC or 493BC. Aucklanders will be among the first to hear the results today when three of the expedition leaders present their findings in a free public lecture at Auckland University. In two trips so far, last October...