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Rolex
Awards
The leaders of many archaeological projects — including
Geoffrey Summers, who is unearthing an ancient city at Kerkenes
in Turkey, high-altitude archaeologist Johan Reinhard, and Adli
Qudsi, who is preserving the Old City of Aleppo — have
won Rolex Awards for Enterprise. The Rolex Awards magazine reports
on the work of these and other outstanding archaeologists, explorers,
environmentalists and inventors who are making major contributions
to mankind. To receive the complimentary magazine or to find
out how to win a Rolex Award, contact rae@rolex.com
or read the magazine on-line at www.rolexawards.com.
Tell Umm el-Marra,
Syria
In
1994, the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Amsterdam
inaugurated a long-term program of archaeological research based
at Umm el-Marra, located in the Jabbul plain of western Syria.
The primary goal of the project is the investigation of the
emergence, development, and
episodes of decline of a west Syrian urban society from the
Early to the Late Bronze periods (ca. 3000-1200 BC). In the
1970’s, excavations at Ebla revealed that western Syria
witnessed the birth of a distinctive urban civilization in the
third millennium
BC. Study of the development of this civilization furnishes
an important new perspective on the rise of cities and states
in the Near East, providing an alternative to the traditional
paradigms from Mesopotamia and Egypt. Among the noteworthy results
is the discovery of an apparent royal cemetery containing well
preserved tombs with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli objects
(www.jhu.edu/neareast/uem).
Join the Project Co-Director at Umm el-Marra for a private
tour of the excavations on The Hidden
Splendors of Syria.
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Camels
await riders on the Silk Road.
Dear
Far Horizons travelers,
I've
just returned from traveling through the verdant desert oases
and following the camel tracks along caravan routes of the
ancient Silk
Road in Western China. Although thousands of years of
history are still visible - massive walled cities built of
mud two thousand years ago, exquisite paintings in grottos
carved by Buddhist pilgrims, mosques and minarets covered
with delicate painted carvings, and incredible water systems
that have been in use for millennia. Our 2006 trip will be
led by MIT Professor Peter Perdue; please look for his new
book on the Silk Road - China Marches West: The Qing Conquest
of Central Eurasia.
Do
you want to escape the winter cold? We have several enticing
itineraries to offer you. Join Dr. Rebecca Brown in late December
in India,
with its cacophony of sites, sounds, and smells! Journey to
that remote speck of land - Easter
Island - with Dr. Steven Fischer in January. Explore three
countries - Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico - with Dr. Matthew
Looper in February and experience the most stunning of the
Capital
Cities of the Maya - Copán, Quirigua, Tikal, Yaxchilán,
Bonampak, and Palenque. LIBYA!
Many of you have requested that we design an itinerary to
this newly-opened country. I went to Libya in June to choose
hotels and meet with specialists, and I am proud to announce
that University of Illinois at Chicago Associate Professor
Jennifer Tobin, a Roman specialist, will lead our trip departing
on September 8, 2006. This trip will fill rapidly!
For
thousands of years, humankind has been awed by total solar
eclipses. Centuries ago, astronomers built enormous stone
monuments to mark eclipses at Stonehenge, and the ancient
Maya laid out hundreds of years of eclipse predictions in
the book we now know as the Dresden Codex. Like those who
came before us, we still experience a primal response when
the moon blocks the face of the sun, revealing the brilliant
flare of the sun's surface. On March 29, 2006, the shadow
of a full solar eclipse passes through the continent of Africa
and then through Turkey as the moon moves directly between
the earth and the sun. You can be there! Ask about our Solar
Eclipse trips to Eastern
and Western
Turkey! If you have email and have not been receiving our
weekly email newsflashes, you can sign
up here. Our newsflashes will keep you up to date when
we announce trips to new destinations and special events such
as museum exhibits and conferences.
Happy
traveling,
Mary Dell Lucas
Director
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