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Archaeologists in Cologne believe they have uncovered the foundations of the oldest known library in Germany, dating back to the 2nd Century.

A team from the city's Roman-Germanic Museum discovered the library remains while excavating the site of a Protestant church.

The building likely housed up to 20,000 scrolls, according to Dr Dirk Schmitz, a researcher on the expedition.

He described the find as "truly spectacular".

The archaeologists involved in the parish church project uncovered the remains of a Roman building from the 2nd Century.

Cologne was founded by the Romans under the name Colonia in 50 AD.

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The former library is thought to have had a size of around 20 metres by nine and was two storeys high.

"At first we thought they were the remains of a space for public gatherings," Marcus Trier, director of the city's Romano-Germanic Museum said, but the walls had "unusual, cavernous structures".

After intensive research and comparison with ancient buildings such as the Ephesus in Turkey, the archaeologists were confident they had found the remains of what used to be a library.

"It took us some time to match up the parallels - we could see the niches were too small to bear statues inside," said Dr Schmitz, from the Roman-Germanic Museum of Cologne.

"They are very particular to libraries - you can see the same ones in the library at Ephesus."

The historic ruins have also revealed niches and cases, which likely stored an incredible number of parchment and papyrus rolls. "Maybe 20,000," he estimates.

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The western German city on the Rhine River is over 2,000 years old - so stumbling upon ancient ruins is not unusual.

The foundations are now to be integrated as a significant part into the new protestant church and will be open to the public. Other remains of the newly found library will be left for further archaeological examinations.

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk. </s> Archaeologists have discovered what appears to be Germany's oldest known library with a structure dating back to Roman times and wall niches designed to house scrolls, not books, as seen in images made available to epa on Wednesday.

The discovery was made during construction work next to the Antoniter Church in what is now an important shopping area in the eastern city of Cologne.

"It is at least the earliest library in Germany, and perhaps in the northern provinces of Rome,” Dirk Schmitz, an archaeologist at the Roman-Germanic Museum of Cologne, told journalists.

The library's walls were first revealed during an excavation on the grounds of the church in 2017, Schmitz said.

Archaeologists recognized the Roman structures, something that did not surprise them as Cologne is among Germany’s oldest cities, having been founded in 50 AD and given the Latin name of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.

To begin with, the niches, measuring approximately 80 by 50 centimeters, were unexplained.

“It took us some time to match up the similarities," said Schmitz. "We could see the niches were too small to display statues. But they were cabinets for scrolls,” he added. “They are very particular to libraries, you can see similar ones in the library at Ephesus.”

It was not immediately known how many scrolls the library could have held, but Schmitz said it might have been “maybe 20,000.”

The construction would have been smaller than the celebrated library at Ephesus, which was built in 117 AD.

The find was made at a spot that has seen human activity for thousands of years, he said.

The Antoniter Church was erected as a Protestant church in 1802 on top of an older religious building.

It was badly damaged in World War II, then painstakingly restored and reopened in 1952.

The excavation revealed a room 20 meters (66 feet) long and nine meters wide that had an apse, an architectural feature that is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, the Roman-Germanic Museum of Cologne said.

The walls were made of a mixture of lime sand and a volcanic rock called trachyte, and archeologists have revealed two small polished floor pieces, the museum said.

Schmitz described the discovery as “really incredible, a spectacular find.”

He said the building would have been used as a public library due to its central location.

It is in the middle of Cologne, in the marketplace, or forum, a public space in the city center.

"Also, it is built using very strong materials, and such buildings, because of their large size, would have been public,” he said.

The walls will be preserved, with the three niches to remain viewable in the underground basement of the church's community center which is currently being built. </s> JERUSALEM: Archaeologists have uncovered a new cave that once housed Dead Sea Scrolls, in a discovery described as one of the "most important" in 60 years.

The Hebrew University in Jerusalem said the scrolls were missing from the cave, though, but hopes to find others.

The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, date from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD.

The around 900 scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in the Qumran caves above the Dead Sea.

"This discovery of a 12th cave could revolutionise the information we have on the Dead Sea Scrolls," Hebrew University archaeologist Oren Gutfeld told AFP, calling it one of the "most important" discoveries since 1956.

The parchment and papyrus scrolls contain Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic writing, and include several of the earliest-known texts from the Bible, including the oldest surviving copy of the Ten Commandments.

The cave discovered west of Qumran in the occupied West Bank contained no manuscripts, but there is ample evidence of their earlier presence.

This includes fragments of pottery in which they were placed and the leather straps, Gutfeld said.

Many of the caves containing the manuscripts were looted in the 1950s.

Heads of pickaxes dating from that time were found in the cave in another indication they had been looted, a Hebrew University statement said.

"We hope to find other caves containing or having contained manuscripts as part of the operation launched by the Antiquities Authority to carry out systematic excavations in the caves of the Judean Desert (where the Dead Sea is located)," Gutfeld added.

Many experts believe the manuscripts of the Dead Sea were written by the Essenes, a dissident Jewish sect that had retreated into the desert.

Other scholars believe they came from libraries of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and private libraries sheltered in caves.

The most recent scrolls date to around 70 AD, when Roman troops destroyed the temple.

The artefacts are mostly housed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, where some of the larger pieces are shown at the dimly lit Shrine of the Book.

The Shrine's white ceramic dome recalls the lid of the jars in which the manuscripts were uncovered. </s> The world's oldest message in a bottle was discovered on a remote Western Australian beach, a museum announced on Tuesday.

An Australian family discovered a bottle half-buried in the sand of tiny Wedge Island, about 88 miles north of Perth. Inside was a tightly rolled piece of paper.

"(We) were walking across the dunes when I saw something sticking out of the sand so I went to take a closer look," discoverer Tonya Illman said.

"The note was damp, rolled tightly and wrapped with string. We took it home and dried it out, and when we opened it we saw it was a printed form, in German, with very faint German handwriting on it."

The bottle was handed to the Western Australian Museum for analysis, who coordinated with German and Dutch agencies to research its history.

"This bottle was thrown overboard on June 12, 1886 at latitude 32° 49' South and longitude 105° 25' from Greenwich East.

From: Bark Ship Paula, Port: Elsfleth, Captain: D [illegible], On her journey from Cardiff to Macassar.

The finder is requested to send the slip in the bottle to the German Naval Observatory in Hamburg or the nearest consulate for the return to the same agency after filling in the information on the back.”

The WA Museum, along with the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) and the National Meteorological Service of the Federal Republic of Germany (DWD), determined that the message was genuine.

"Incredibly, an archival search in Germany found Paula's original meteorological journal and there was an entry for June 12 1886 made by the captain, recording a drift bottle having been thrown overboard. The date and the coordinates correspond exactly with those on the bottle message,” Ross Anderson, assistant curator maritime archaeology at the WA Museum, said in a statement.

German authorities said the bottle was one of thousands thrown overboard during a 69-year-long oceanographic experiment to research global ocean currents and discover more efficient shipping routes.

The bottle likely washed up on the beach six to 12 months later.

The experiments were conducted by German scientist Georg von Neumayer who became the first Director of the German Naval Observatory in 1876 and was a leading figure in drift bottle research. His worldwide experiment provided valuable data on the great ocean currents.

Some 662 of the messages were returned to Hamburg (about 10 percent) but none of the actual bottles were ever returned. The last time one of the notes was found was in 1934 in Denmark.

"The appearance of the form from the bottle found is exactly the same as that of other forms from the year 1886, which were sent back in the following years to the German Seewarte and are available to us in the original. The forms have changed a lot over the years, but in the 1886 period the form is exactly what you have," the BSH told the museum.

Archival records revealed the ship carrying the newly-discovered bottle was most likely transporting Welsh steaming coal.

The bottle has been loaned to the museum for two years.

The previous oldest message in a bottle had a similar history but was sent by British researchers and discovered by a German. </s> Archaeologists have uncovered a new cave that once housed Dead Sea Scrolls, in a discovery described as one of the “most important” in 60 years.

 

 The Hebrew University in Jerusalem said the scrolls were missing from the cave.

 

 The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, date from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE.

 

 About 900 scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in the Qumran caves above the Dead Sea. The parchment and papyrus scrolls contain Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic writing, and include several of the earliest-known texts from the Bible, including the oldest surviving copy of the Ten Commandments. “This discovery of a 12th cave could revolutionise the information we have on the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Hebrew University archaeologist Oren Gutfeld said, calling it one of the “most important” discoveries since 1956.



 The cave discovered west of Qumran in the occupied West Bank contained no manuscripts, but there is ample evidence of their earlier presence.

 

 This includes fragments of pottery in which they were placed and the leather straps, Mr. Gutfeld said. Many of the caves containing the manuscripts were looted in the 1950s. 

 

 Heads of pickaxes dating from that time were found in the cave in another indication they had been looted, a Hebrew University statement said. “We hope to find other caves containing or having contained manuscripts as part of the operation launched by the Antiquities Authority to carry out systematic excavations in the caves of the Judean Desert (where the Dead Sea is located),” Mr. Gutfeld added. 

 

 The artefacts are mostly housed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, where some of the larger pieces are shown at the dimly lit Shrine of the Book. — AFP </s> A major new find of Roman artefacts in the North East has been likened to winning the lottery by archaeologists.

Thousands of a objects have been discovered in a barracks beneath the fourth-century fort of Vindolanda, south of Hadrian ’s Wall near Hexham in Northumberland.

It is one of the site’s earliest barracks and dates from around 105AD, which is before Emperor Hadrian began the 73-mile defensive barrier in 122AD.

The find includes two extremely rare cavalry swords – one of them complete, still with its wooden scabbard, hilt and pommel – and two wooden toy swords. One has a gemstone in its pommel.

Other weapons, including cavalry lances, arrowheads and ballista bolts were also left behind on the barracks floor and their discovery has also generated a bit of a mystery for those at the dig.

Dr Andrew Birley, Director of Excavations at Vindolanda, said: “You can imagine the circumstances where you could conceive leaving one sword behind rare as it is…. but two?”

“Both blades came from separate rooms, and are likely to have belonged to different people.

“One theory is that the garrison was forced to leave in a hurry, and in their haste they left not only the swords but also a great number of other perfectly serviceable items which would have had great value in their time.”

The latest discoveries cap a momentous few weeks of discoveries at Vindolanda.

Test pit excavations, below the stone foundations of the last stone fortress revealed a layer of black, sweet smelling and perfectly preserved anaerobic, oxygen free, soils in an area where they were completely unexpected.

Hidden in this soil were the timber walls and floors, fences, pottery and animal bones, from the abandonment of a Roman cavalry barrack. The excavated rooms included stables for horses, living accommodation, ovens and fireplaces.

While excavating the material from the corner of one of the living rooms the tip of a thin and sharp iron blade was found resting in its wooden scabbard. Further work revealed the whole sword.

Dr Birley spoke of the “quite emotional” moment of the story.

He said: “You can work as an archaeologist your entire life on Roman military sites and, even at Vindolanda, we never expect or imagine to see such a rare and special object as this. It felt like the team had won a form of an archaeological lottery.”

A few weeks later a second sword was found, this time without a wooden handle, pommel or scabbard, but with the blade and tang still complete and sitting on the floor exactly where it had been left thousands of years before.

Dr Birley said: “You don’t expect to have this kind of experience twice in one month so this was both a delightful moment and a historical puzzle.”

In another room were two small wooden toy swords, almost exactly the same as those that can be purchased by tourists visiting the Roman Wall today.

Roman ink writing tablets on wood, bath clogs, leather shoes belonging to men, women and children, stylus pens, knives, combs, hairpins, brooches and a wide assortment of other weapons including cavalry lances, arrowheads and ballista bolts were all abandoned on the barrack room floors.

Spectacular copper-alloy cavalry and horse fitments for saddles, junction straps and harnesses which were also left behind remain in such fine condition that they still shine like gold and are almost completely free from corrosion.

Visitors to Vindolanda will be able to see this cache of cavalry finds displayed in the site museum this autumn. </s> A conservationist works on a 1500-year-old mosaic floor bearing a Greek writing, discovered near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, as it is displayed at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem August 23, 2017. — Reuters picJERUSALEM, Aug 23 — A 1,500-year-old mosaic floor with a Greek inscription has been uncovered during works to install communications cables in Jerusalem’s Old City - a rare discovery of an ancient relic and an historic document in one.

The inscription cites 6th-century Roman emperor Justinian as well as Constantine, who served as abbot of a church founded by Justinian in Jerusalem. Archaeologists believe it will help them to understand Justinian’s building projects in the city.

The full inscription reads: “The most pious Roman emperor Flavius Justinian and the most 6God-loving priest and abbot, Constantine, erected the building in which (this mosaic) sat during the 14th indiction.”

Indiction is an ancient method of counting years that was used for taxation purposes. Archaeologists said the inscription suggests the mosaic dated to the year 550/551 AD.

Justinian was one of the most important rulers of the Byzantine era. In 543 AD he established the Nea Church in Jerusalem - one of the biggest Christian churches in the eastern Roman Empire and the largest in Jerusalem at the time.

“The fact that the inscription survived is an archaeological miracle,” David Gellman, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement.

“Every archaeologist dreams of finding an inscription in their excavations, especially one so well preserved and almost entirely intact.”

Researchers believe that the building of which the mosaic was once part, located beside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, was used as a hostel for pilgrims.

The mosaic, which was unveiled to the media on Wednesday, was discovered earlier this summer. Conservation experts have removed the mosaic and are treating it in a specialist workshop. — Reuters </s> Further evidence of the spread of Hellenic culture has been found in the form of a 1,500-year-old mosaic floor with a Greek inscription uncovered during works to install communications cables in Jerusalem’s Old City.

It was a rare discovery of an ancient relic and an historic document in one, citing 6th-Century Roman Emperor Justinian as well as Constantine, who served as Abbot of a church founded by Justinian in Jerusalem. Archaeologists believe it will help them to understand Justinian’s building projects in the city, the news agency Reuters said in a report on the discovery.

The full inscription reads: “The most pious Roman emperor Flavius Justinian and the most God-loving priest and abbot, Constantine, erected the building in which (this mosaic) sat during the 14th indiction,” an ancient method of counting years used for taxation purposes. Archaeologists said the inscription suggests the mosaic dated to the year 550/551 AD.

Justinian was one of the most important rulers of the Byzantine era. In 543 AD he established the Nea Church in Jerusalem – one of the biggest Christian churches in the eastern Roman Empire and the largest in Jerusalem at the time.

“The fact that the inscription survived is an archaeological miracle,” David Gellman, Director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement.

“Every archaeologist dreams of finding an inscription in their excavations, especially one so well preserved and almost entirely intact.”

Researchers said they believe that the building of which the mosaic was once part, located beside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, was used as a hostel for pilgrims. </s> 'Archaeological miracle': Construction workers stumble upon sixth-century mosaic in Jerusalem

Updated

A 1,500-year-old mosaic floor with a Greek inscription has been uncovered during works to install communications cables in Jerusalem's Old City — a rare discovery of an ancient relic and an historic document in one.

Key points: The mosaic was found among 'severely damaged' ancient remains

Archaeologists say the inscription dates it to AD 550/551

The mosaic has been removed and is being treated in a specialised workshop

The inscription cites sixth-century Roman emperor Justinian, under whose rule the Roman Empire finished converting to Christianity, as well as Constantine, who served as abbot of a church founded by Justinian in Jerusalem.

Archaeologists believe it will help them to understand Justinian's building projects in the city.

The full inscription reads:

"The most pious Roman emperor Flavius Justinian and the most God-loving priest and abbot, Constantine, erected the building in which (this mosaic) sat during the 14th indiction."

Indiction is an ancient method of counting years that was used for taxation purposes.

Archaeologists said the inscription suggests the mosaic dated to the year AD 550/551.

Justinian was one of the most important rulers of the Byzantine era.

In AD 543 he established the Nea Church in Jerusalem — one of the biggest Christian churches in the eastern Roman Empire and the largest in Jerusalem at the time.

The Nea Church was partially excavated in 1970, and contains an inscription similar to the newly discovered mosaic.

"The fact that the inscription survived is an archaeological miracle," David Gellman, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said in a statement.

"The excavation, in a relatively small area, exposed ancient remains that were severely damaged by infrastructure groundwork over the last few decades.

"We were about to close the excavation, when all of a sudden a corner of the mosaic inscription peeked out between the pipes and cables."

He said every archaeologist dreams of finding an inscription, "especially one so well preserved and almost entirely intact".

Researchers believe that the building of which the mosaic was once part, located beside the Old City's Damascus Gate, was used as a hostel for pilgrims.

The Damascus Gate was the main northern entrance to Jerusalem for hundreds of years, Dr Gellman said, and the area become one of the most important and active areas of the city with the emergence of Christianity in the Byzantine period.

The mosaic was discovered earlier this (northern) summer.

Conservation experts have removed the mosaic and are treating it in a specialist workshop.

ABC/Reuters

Topics: archaeology, history, human-interest, israel, palestinian-territory-occupied

First posted
Archeologists of the Romano-Germanic Museum report the discovery of the foundations of a Roman library building in Cologne. Dating from the 2nd century CE, it is the oldest library yet discovered in Germany.