Discoveries That Changed History

Discoveries

That Changed History

Discoveries That Changed History
Sometimes, just when we think we know everything about something in the past, an amazing discovery shows us that we got it at least somewhat wrong.

While this is not an exhaustive list, these are some archaeological discoveries that changed the way we understand the past.

Table of Contents

A City Buried and Preserved in Ash: Pompeii, Italy (1748)
Unlocking Ancient Egypt: The Rosetta Stone Memphis, Egypt (1799)
Ancient Academics: The Library of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, Iraq (c.1850s)
Troy VI: Site of the Trojan War, Hisarlik, Turkey (1870)
Ancient Ingenuity in the Mountains at Machu Picchu, Peru (1911)
Tomb of Tutankhamun, Luxor, Egypt (1922)
Biblical History Unwrapped: The Dead Sea Scrolls Qumran National Park, West Bank, Israel (1946)
Our Humans Origins Discovered Olduvai, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania (1959)
China’s Terracotta Warriors Xian, China (1974)

Cover image attribution: National Geographic.

Image Attribution: National Geographic.

A view of part of the Temple Scroll that was found in Qumran Cave 11. Israel Museum. Wikimedia. Public Domain.

Ġgantija temples in Gozo, Malta, some of the world's oldest free-standing structures. By BoneA. Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Humans have always had to live knowing that we cannot control nature. On a day in 79 CE the people of Pompeii were reminded of this when nearby Mount Vesuvius exploded with such ferocity that the city was buried and rendered uninhabitable - to the point that it was largely forgotten along with the many citizens entombed in the ash that covered them.

Did you know...? In the beginning, Pompeii was excavated for art, not science.

A City Buried and Preserved in Ash: Pompeii, Italy (1748)

“Rediscovered” in 1748, and long before modern archaeology turned the discipline into a science, Pompeii is now the longest-running archeological excavation in the world. There are claims it was discovered by some explorers, or by a farmer digging a well and subsequently aimed to sell it to the local antiquities-loving viceroy.

"Garden of the Fugitives". Plaster casts of victims still in situ; many casts are in the Archaeological Museum of Naples. By Lancevortex. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pompeii is a priceless time capsule of the ancient Roman world and its discovery awoke the educated in Europe. (remember that academia declined somewhat during the middle ages) The suffering of the citizens in 79 CE put aside, Pompeii is a beautiful example of the preservation of an entire ancient city. (not to mention nearby Herculaneum, which suffered the same fate) We learn about the minority of elites through their villas and the shops and block houses of the commoners. The amphitheater was an important landmark, and frescos tell us that the Forum was bustling with social and economic activity.

Pompeii - The Forum - Colonnade. By Elliott Brown. Flickr.

A City Buried and Preserved in Ash: Pompeii, Italy (1748)

The Temple of Jupiter. Norbert Nagel. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.

In fact, it seems that there was much construction happening at the time, and perhaps reconstruction from an earthquake in 63 CE. Archaeologists have even found jars of preserved fruit and loaves of bread. These details give us rare insights into ancient Roman culture. On that day, people fled with their smaller valuables but couldn’t take everything. (though there were salvagers who tunneled through the walls and removed anything of value that they possibly could)

Pompeii, with Vesuvius towering above. By Qfl247. Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.

A City Buried and Preserved in Ash: Pompeii, Italy (1748)

Why is Pompeii so special? Having excavations happening in Pompeii for so long, the site is a history in its own right, demonstrating the achievements (and failures) of testing new techniques in archaeology. (no doubt hindered by the inevitable treasure hunters and charlatan archaeologists) However, even those considered serious for the time would carelessly damage frescos and pottery, which was seen as of little value. Frost was another enemy of the painted fresco walls. The discipline has evolved indeed! Additionally, eye-witness accounts of the disaster were written (one famously by Pliny the Younger). This gives us valuable perspectives from people who were there, which archaeologists as historians can use to piece the story together!

Pompeii also became something of an archeological testing ground. The victims you see at exhibits are plaster casts made from a technique developed by Giuseppe Fiorelli, an Italian archaeologist who took over the site in 1860. He noticed that the soft ash at the site were actually cavities of the dead. So, he used a high grade plaster to preserve what was left of the bodies. Yes, although the soft tissue deteriorated long ago, there are bones inside the casts. CT scans have taught us some things about the people, such as diseases they may have had. Examining the positions the victims were in, we can surmise some died from suffocating (fetal position) or were crushed by the building roofs weighed down by the piling ash. Many experts agree that after the pumice and ash fell, many died instantly from pyroclastic surge - a 100-mile an hour poison gas heat tornado.

A City Buried and Preserved in Ash: Pompeii, Italy (1748)

On another interesting archaeological note, American archaeologist Wilhelmina Jashemski pioneered a technique for making plaster casts of root cavities in order to learn what flowers, vegetables and fruits were grown in Pompeii! Unfortunately, the excavations that have been preserved by the volcanic ash for centuries are now threatened by erosion due to exposure from excavations. Needless to say, authorities are working hard to conserve and protect this rich archaeological masterpiece.

The Rosetta Stone was our key to unlocking hieroglyphs, the script of the ancient Egyptians. Napoleon Bonaparte, the infamous French dictator, had a desire to learn that was insatiable. The army of troops - and scientists - sent to invade Egypt demonstrates this. In 1799, a French officer with a keen eye caught sight of a polished stone slab while supervising the tearing down of an old wall in the City of Rosetta on the Nile Delta. (the French were building Fort St.Julien as a deterrent to the British) This would be the most important discovery to unlock the door to ancient Egypt.

Unlocking Ancient Egypt: The Rosetta Stone Memphis, Egypt (1799)

Rosetta Stone - British Museum. By Cristian Bortes. Wikimedia. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Two of the three languages were the key to unlocking hieroglyphs. - the ancient Egyptian script used for religious purposes and important government documents. Demotic was the script of the people, used for daily purposes. The second was Ancient Greek, used by the Greeks who ruled Egypt at the time the stone was inscribed.