A marble bust of Caesar that could date to the founding of the French town of Arles in 46 B.C. was retrieved from the Rhone River. France’s culture minister, Christine Albanel, called the statue “the most ancient representation known today of Caesar.” Other statues were also found.

A third-century marble slab bearing three Roman nymphs was uncovered in southern Bulgaria. The site was built by Diocletian as a “favorite spot for relaxation and amusement of the Rome aristocrats,” said Mitko Madjarov, director of the Archaeological Museum in Hisar.  

Geologist Bob Burrell tells of his role in the discovery of an early sixteenth-century ship off the coast of Namibia while mining for diamonds.  

Museums around the world are opening new exhibitions. In Israel, a Dead Sea scroll of the Book of Isaiah will go on display this week for the first time in 40 years. The scroll dates to 120 B.C.  

Archaeological treasures from Afghanistan, including the Bactrian Hoard, will begin a tour of the United States later this month. Staff members of Afghanistan’s National Museum locked the Bactrian Hoard in a vault in the presidential palace for safekeeping during the Soviet invasion, where it stayed until 2003.   

The National Archeological Museum in Athens will display more than 1,100 objects of its 6,000-piece collection of Egyptian artifacts for the first time in six years.  

Canadian archaeologist Julio Mercader is opening a museum in Mozambique in order to keep its artifacts from leaving the country.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, May 14, 2008. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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