Talos

In Greek mythology, Talos was a giant automaton made of bronze to protect Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders. He circled the island's shores three times daily. Talos threw rocks at any approaching ship to protect his island. The origin of Talos varies. Some accounts describe him as the last survivor of an ancient race of bronze men, but the more popular versions attribute his creation to Hephaestus, god of the forge.

Talos had one vein, which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by one bronze nail. The Argo, transporting Jason and the Argonauts, approached Crete after obtaining the Golden Fleece. Talos kept the Argo at bay by hurling great boulders. Talos was slain when Medea the sorceress either drove him mad with drugs, or deceived him into believing that she would make him immortal by removing the nail. He dislodged the nail, and "the ichor ran out of him like molten lead", killing him.

5th-century BCE Greek vase depicts the death of Talos

Talos makes an appearance in the 1963 motion picture "Jason and the Argonauts" thanks to stop-motion wizardry. The film, however, cast Jason as the automaton's slayer instead of Medea.

Wolf-Rayet star found in our galaxy

A massive triple-star system surrounded by dust could be a Wolf-Rayet star, capable of unleashing the greatest release of energy known ... a sustained gamma ray burst.(GRB) Some 8,000 light years from earth, the star system is the first discovered in our own galaxy. Lasting between a few thousandths of a second to a few hours, gamma ray bursts can release as much energy as our sun will release over its lifetime. Long-duration GRBs – longer than 2 seconds – are thought to be caused by the supernova explosions of rapidly-rotating Wolf-Rayet stars.

The History of Humanity in 19 minutes

Since 200,000 BCE, humanity has spread around globe and enacted huge change upon the planet. This video shows every year of that story, right from the beginning.

Skeleton of pregnant woman found in Egypt

Archaeologists have found the remains of a woman who died towards the end of her pregnancy some 3500 years ago. The woman’s pelvis was fractured, and improper treatment likely killed her. Thought to be around 25 years old, the position of the fetus in her body suggested she had been due to give birth relatively soon. Researchers found beads made from the shells of ostrich eggs, as well as pottery and jars. The find was in Kom Ombo, which lies about 30 miles north of the southern city of Aswan. Pottery in the tomb resembled pots from Nubia.

In 2005, Russian scientists unveiled the bones of a woman who died in childbirth 7,700 years ago. The grave was first discovered in 1997 in a Stone Age cemetery in Irkutsk. Foetal bones revealed that the woman, who was between 20 and 25 years old, died while giving birth to twins - the earliest known evidence of twins in the archaeological record. Researchers believe that one of the twins may have been in the breech position and was only partially delivered. The second twin appears to have got trapped behind the first and died in the womb.

Duplicate foetal bones

Lost ancient city of Tenea found

Archaeologists have located the first tangible remains of a lost city that the ancient Greeks believed was first settled by Trojan captives of war after the sack of Troy. Finds included walls, marble or stone floors of buildings, household pottery, a bone gaming die and more than 200 coins dating to the 4th century B.C. Archaeologists discovered nine burials this year, finding gold, copper and bone jewelry, pottery and coins

There are artifact rich cemeteries surrounding Tenea. In one, antiquities smugglers dug up two remarkable 6th century B.C. marble statues of young men in 2010 and tried to sell them for 10 million euros. Tenea survived the Roman destruction of neighboring Corinth in 146 B.C., and flourished under Roman rule. It appears to have been abandoned in the late 4th century A.D.

Hoard of mummified cats found in Egypt

Dozens of cat mummies and rare mummified scarab beetles have been unearthed in seven ancient Egyptian tombs south of Cairo. The tombs are thought to date to the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, which ruled Egypt from about 2,500 BC to 2,350 BC. Depictions of cats were common, reflecting the ancient Egyptian worship of the cat-headed god Bastet.

Scarabs also held great religious significance in ancient Egypt. They were associated with the sun god Khepri.

Judaean Coins featured in Goldberg’s New York Sale

Two extremely rare Year 4 shekels are featured

The collection of Shlomo Moussaieff, consisting of over 150 extremely rare Judaean and Judaean-related Roman coins will be auctioned in the New York Sale held by Goldbergs Auction from January 8-10.

Superb Year 5 shekel

This sela, dated in Year Two (133/134 CE) of the Second Revolt, was struck over a tetradrachm issued by the Roman Emperor Galba, who reigned briefly for seven months from 68 to 69 CE.

The most well known Judaean-related Roman coin series is “Judaea Capta”, consisting of bronze, silver and gold coins celebrating the Roman victory over Judaea in 70 CE.

Judaea Capta type sestertii generally have the inscription IVDAEA CAPTA or VICTORIA AUGUSTI, but this extremely rare hybrid features the strange legend IVDAEA AUGUST.

Very rare Judaea Capta type gold aureus

The most important Judaean-related Roman coin issued in between the two Jewish revolts against Rome features the Emperor Nerva (96-98 CE)

SC (Senatus Consulto = by consent of the Senate).

Yemeni Police stop smugglers of statues in Marib

The Yemeni news agency reported that security forces seized gold statues and gemstones at a military checkpoints outside the capital. The gang confessed to selling the relics to Arab merchants who acted as brokers. The investigation revealed that many antiquities and gold bullion were smuggled out, and several archaeological sites have been destroyed. The aim of the Houthi militia is to destroy all national capabilities, including cultural heritage, where artifacts are seized in the Yemeni museums and official stores of the state and sold.

The Houthi movement, officially called Ansar Allah (anṣār allāh أنصار الله "Supporters of God"), is an Islamic religious-political-armed movement that emerged from Sa'dah in northern Yemen in the 1990s. They are of the Zaidi sect.

The ancient kingdom of Saba ruled over the lands of southern Arabia, centered in modern day Yemen. Saba is better known as Sheba, whose famous Queen was recounted as having visited Solomon. Biblical accounts speak of it's vast wealth.

Sabean bronze. Circa 6th Century BC.

Ashurbanipal

Ashurbanipal was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 668 BC to 627 BC. He is famed for amassing cuneiform documents for his palace at Nineveh. The Library of Ashurbanipal is now in the British Museum.

The British Museum also holds the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal set of reliefs. Ashurbanipal is considered by scholars as an archetypal academic librarian, in that his library set the course for how libraries of today operate.

Gold Medallion of Roman emperor Maxentius

On April 5, 2011, the auction firm Numismatica Ars Classica sold a rare Roman gold aurei medallion, which established what auction officials claimed was a new world record price. The Gold Medallion depicts Roman emperor Maxentius and sold for $1,407,550 U.S. Maxentius was Roman Emperor from 306 to 312. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius. The latter part of his reign was preoccupied with civil war. He was defeated at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, where Maxentius, with his army in flight, perished by drowning in the Tiber river.

The gold medallion is among the largest to survive, weighing eight aurei, and was part of cache intended for distribution to Maxentius’ military officers. Two survive with this example by far the finest. On the obverse, Maxentius portrays himself bareheaded at a time when all of his contemporaries are crowned, and on the reverse he wears the robes of a senator. Every aspect of the medallion must have been carefully considered. The patriotic reverse represents Maxentius as the one charged by Roma herself to deliver the capital from the degradations threatened.

The inscription “to Eternal Rome, guardian of our emperor” speaks volumes of how Maxentius presented his case for sustaining the rebellion.

Greek police arrest antiquities looter

The Ionic-style capital is dated to either the Classical or Hellenistic age, anywhere from the 5th to the 2nd centuries BC.

A 51-year-old man was arrested in central Monastiraki Square in Athens for the illegal possession of a column capital. The recovered part of the Ionic column contains the volute — the spiral-shaped ornament characteristic of the Ionic and later styles — and the abacus — the weight-bearing flat slab at the top of the column.

Narcissus

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a hunter from Thespiae who was known for his beauty. Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, a fixation with oneself and one's physical appearance or public perception. Nemesis lured him to a pool where he leaned upon the water and saw himself. Narcissus did not realize it was merely his own reflection and fell deeply in love with it, as if it was somebody else. Unable to leave the allure of his image, he realized that his love could not be reciprocated. He eventually turned into a gold and white flower. Narcissus is a genus of perennial plants of the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common names include the daffodil.

Ancient Celtic error Gold Stater

A rare variety of a Celtic gold coin will be auctioned in England next month. It is one of just eight Celtic gold stater coins known with this mistake. The coin is supposed to read “RICON” or “RIGON” across the obverse, indicating one of the issuing ruler’s titles (“high king”). Instead, the inscription is misspelled as the recognizable English word “COIN”