Pigeons have taken roost in the eyes and ears of the Sphinx, where they are pecking away at the calcium-rich stone and leaving behind acidic droppings. This article outlines the history of conservation efforts, and calls for action to protect the monument from this new feathered threat. The jaw of a mouse may help scientists […]

After nine years of excavations, Russian archaeologists say they have found the capital of the Khazar kingdom, just north of the Caspian Sea. The Khazars adopted Judaism as a state religion between the eighth and tenth centuries, and built a city of huts surrounded by a triangular fortress made of bricks. A lead seal bearing […]