07 JANVIER 2015 NEWS: Gebel el Silsila - Khanewal - Zaoyang - Kathmandou - Mexique -
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EGYPTE – 
Gebel el Silsila - A rock inscription portraying the rare transfer of two obelisks from a quarry has been unearthed at Gebel el Silsila, Egypt’s largest sandstone quarries located to the north of Aswan, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty announced Monday. The discovery is the result of the Gebel el Silsila Survey Project, an epigraphic survey mission of Lund University, Sweden that has been active in the site since early 2014, according to the statement. Scenes depicting the phases and the technique of detaching blocks, loading them in sailing boats before sending them to their destinations through the River Nile, have been also discovered in the site. “The work technique shows a notable cooperation among the workers and the workshops at the quarry. The scenes of the rocks, which were precisely cut, confirm the advanced skills of ancient Egyptian labor,” Director General of Aswan Antiquities Department Nasr Salama said. Stables, several rock-cut shelters along with a sphinx, similar to those aligned at the Sphinx avenue connecting between Luxor and Karnak temples, have been discovered in the site, according to Dr. Maria Nilsson, director of the Gebel el Silsila Survey Project. “The project basically aims to document Gebel el Silsila’s epigraphic material in order to develop a database, catalogue and a topographic map for the site to have a better understanding of the area, its ancient visitors and what function and meaning the quarry marks had. The project also focuses on quarry marks and textual inscriptions carved upon the sandstone quarry faces,” said Nilsson. Gebel Silsila is a rocky gorge between Kom Ombo and Edfu villages where the Nile narrows and high sandstone cliffs come down to the edge of the river. Several shrines were cut in the area by the New Kingdom Pharaohs Tuthmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmosis III and Horemheb, archaeologist Sherif el-Sabban told The Cairo Post Tuesday.
PAKISTAN – 
Khanewal- Archaeology officials on Monday claimed to have discovered 67 bronze coins from the Mughal era during restoration of the mausoleum of Hazrat Khalid Waleed in Khanewal. Punjab Archaeology Department official Ilyas Khan said the coins had a Persian inscription. He said they were at least 500 years old, meaning that they came from the early Mughal era. He said archaeologists were working to determine whether they belonged whose era they belonged to – emperor Humayun, Akbar or Jahangir. a digging tool – hit a clay pot two feet under the ground,” he said. He said the pot broke, revealing the coins inside. Khan said he took the coins to Khatti Chor village of Kabirwala and a spent few days to study the coins and determine their value. He said an 800-year-old terracotta slab inscribed with Quranic verses, which is believed to be part of a tiles’ panel, an old fashioned lamp and a human skeleton were also recovered from the monument. The mausoleum stands on a 12-feet high platform. Khan said the coins were recovered from debris inside a room adjacent to the main chamber. He said the other objects and the skeleton were dug out at some distance from the room, inside the mausoleum. Khan said the roof of the mausoleum had collapsed five centuries ago. He said the tomb was built by Ali Bin Karmakh a governor of Multan in 1175-186 AD. According to local history, the military commander had come to this area with the armies of Sultan Mahmood Ghaznavi and died here.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/817275/archaeology-mughal-era-coins-found-at-khanewal-mausoleum/
CHINE – 
Zaoyang - A cluster of musical instrument, believed the earliest in China, have been discovered in central China's Hubei Province. Archaeologists found a broken Se (a twenty-five-stringed plucked instrument similar to the guzheng) and the frame of a Bianzhong set (bronze chimes) in tombs which could date back to more than 2,700 years ago. Zhang Xiang of the Hubei provincial institute of cultural relics and archaeological research, said the tombs were built in the late Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 B.C.-771 B.C.) or the Spring and Autumn Period (771 B.C.- 476 B.C.). They had been robbed and had collapsed. "Only half of the Se remains, but we can see clearly holes on it for cords," he said. "It is the earliest discovered in China. Delicately made, it demonstrates the high musical level of China 27 centuries ago." A 4.7-meter beam and seven pieces of chime bases decorated with dragon and phoenix patterns, symbols of royalty in China, were also excavated. "We have never found such large Bianzhong sets before," said Fang Qin, head of the institute. The graveyard where the tombs are located covers more than a square kilometer. Archaeologists also found 400 pieces of bronze, some pottery, and 27 horse-drawn carts.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2015-01/06/c_133900843.htm?
NEPAL -
Kathmandou - Nepalese and British archaeologists are trying to find a link between Maurya dynasty of India from third century BC, and Pashupatinath Temple of Nepal, which is believed to date back to the fifth century BC. Various coins, artifacts and water tanks were unearthened during an excavation carried out jointly by Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), the authority that manages the Pashupatinath Temple, and UK's Durhan University. "During the first phase of excavation which started last year, we have unearthed a 25-metre-long and 5-metre-deep water tank, which is supposed to supply drinking water to the city during 7th century AD," said Kosh Prasad Acharya, executive director, PADT. "We have also recovered a copper a coin with the inscription of 'Pashupatinath', sealed clay and clay potteries in the area, he said speaking at an interaction programme in Kathmandu. These suggest that there was a well-managed town spreading some half a square kilometer area at that time, he added. Geophysical studies with modern scientific technology was used for the first time in conducting the archaeological studies in Pashupatinath temple area. Prof Robin Coningham, who has been involved in the archaeological studies said that there is the possibility of Maurya period linkage to the Pashupatinath temple situated in the eastern part of Kathmandu city along the bank of Bagmati River.
MEXIQUE – 
Le fait est suffisamment rare pour justifier un billet sur ce carnet. La Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée National (France) a récemment autorisé un projet de recherches sur le Codex Borbonicus. Dans sa volonté de conserver un document polémique en sa possession depuis 1826 et probablement pillé du Palais de l'Escorial lors des guerres napoléoniennes en Espagne, le Palais Bourbon a tranché.Les analyses auquel sera soumis le document devront déterminer sa période de fabrication. Il existe depuis toujours un débat sur la temporalité de ce document parmi les ethnohistoriens. Certains prétendent qu'il fut élaboré avant l'arrivée des Espagnols en Nouvelle Espagne. D'autres considèrent au contraire qu'il fut peint dans les premières années de la Colonie. Plusieurs questions restent également en suspens : le Codex Borbonicus est-il l'oeuvre d'un tlacuilo(peintre) ou de plusieurs ? De combien de parties est-il composé ? Long de 14 m, peint sur 36 pages de grand format inhabituel (39 cm x 40 cm), le codex sera donc sorti de sa capsule maintenue à 18° pour être passé au crible d'une équipe dirigée par Bertrand Lavédrine, directeur du laboratoire du Centre de Recherche pour la Conservation, dépendance du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle.