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The History of Humanity

Wonders of Archeology

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“Archeology is the search for fact, not truth. If it’s truth you’re looking for, take philosophy.”

Indiana Jones

What is Archeology?

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The Rosetta Stone: Found 1799 in el-Rashid (Rosetta), Egypt.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Discovered 1947 in Qumran, West Bank, Israel.

The Palace at Knossos: Discovered 1878 in Heraklion, Crete.

City of Akrotiri: Discovered 1966 in Thira, Santorini.

Major Discoveries.

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The Rosetta StoneDiscovered by

French soldiers digging near a fort in el-Rashid Egypt.

One story inscribed in three separate languages.

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Texts of the Rosetta Stone

The first inscribed language was hieroglyphic, used only by Egyptian

priests.

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Texts of the Rosetta Stone

The second language was Demotic, used by Egyptian peasantry.

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Texts of the Rosetta Stone

The third inscribed language was Greek.

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Importance of the Rosetta Stone

Deciphered by Jean-François Champollion in 1822.

First time since approximately 1000 B.C.E anyone had read Hieroglyphs.

Led to major discoveries in the field of Egyptology.

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The Dead Sea Scrolls

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The Dead Sea ScrollsDiscovered by

Bedouins in the Qumran caves along the west bank of the Dead Sea.

Excavated a group of 11 caves between 1947 – 1956.

Group of 972 texts that were found in fragments and whole scrolls.

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Importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Written mostly in Hebrew, they are a group of Old Testament Biblical texts.

Helped prove validity of some Biblical texts.

Provided insight into early Judaism.

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The Palace of Knossos & City of Akrotiri.

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The Palace of KnossosMain excavation

started in 1900 by Sir. Arthur Evans.

Located on the Greek island of Crete.

Built around 3500 B.C.E

Home to the Minoan Civilization.

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The Palace of KnossosOnly multi-story

palace of its time.Contained 1,300

rooms.Destroyed by

volcanic eruption and tidal waves around 2500 B.C.E.

Recent theories believe it to be the heart of the “Lost City of Atlantis”.

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The City of AkrotiriLocated on the

Greek island of Santorini, just NE of Crete.

Built between 4000 – 3500 B.C.E.

Only city with multi-level housing of its time.

Home to the Minoan civilization.

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The City of AkrotiriDiscovered in 1967 by

Professor Spiros Marinatos

Was buried under 30 feet of volcanic ash.

Destroyed around 2500 B.C.E. in same volcanic eruption that destroyed Knossos.

Recent theories believe it to be an outlying city of “Lost City of Atlantis.”

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Archeology provides us with a vision into the past and describes to us what all of our ancestors lives were like. We receive a

snapshot of the time periods that have defined culture and society today.

History, through archeology, defines who WE are!

As Thomas Jefferson once said, “History, by appraising the students of the past, will enable

them to judge of the future.”

Importance of Archeology

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The Rosetta Stone: www.britishmuseum.org, www.ancientegypt.co.uk

The Dead Sea Scrolls: www.usc.edu, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org

The Palace of Knossos: www.ancient-greece.org, “Lost Worlds: Atlantis by The History Channel

The City of Akrotiri: www.travel-to-santorini.com, “Lost Worlds: Atlantis” by The History Channel

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