Two musical pieces written by Johann Sebastian Bach were recently performed for the first time ever, more than 300 years after they were composed. Both written for the organ, they are believed to date from the great composer’s very early career, when he worked as a organ tutor in Thuringia. Germany’s Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer … Read more
The razor – Hansons / Auctioneers SWNS A 2,000-year-old razor used to keep Romans looking sharp is set to go up for auction in England, where the catalogue included a fascinating history on the Romans’ grooming habits. The 3.5 inch-long (9 cm) iron blade had a hole for the shaver to put their finger in … Read more
Stacks of Timbuktu manuscripts at the Ahmed Baba Institute – credit, UNESCO Bureau of Mali, CC 4.0. INT Thousands of ancient Arabic texts have returned to their rightful place in the legendary Saharan trade city of Timbuktu after years of safe-keeping further south. Having undergone extensive digitization, fear that the content of the manuscripts may … Read more
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (left) shakes hands with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev – Credit: Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5-9) It’s a quote befitting the actions of the world’s oldest Christian nation, especially because its government just concluded a landmark agreement for peace … Read more
– credit Greek Culture Ministry In 2022, an elder Chilean man walked into the Greek embassy in Santiago on a mission: to turn himself in. Not that 77-year-old Enrico Tosti-Croce had done anything wrong, but rather he was putting a small family matter to rest. In the 1930s, a young Italian submariner visited Athens with … Read more
The Habsburg private jewels – credit, Habsburg Heritage Familienschmuck Nasuna Stuart-Ulin © A collection of jewels belonging to arguably Europe’s greatest ever royal dynasty is now set to go on display to the public for the first time in over 100 years. The jewels, including one of the largest cut diamonds in the world when … Read more
Handwritten messages from World War I soldiers found inside a bottle during beach clean-up in Australia – Credit: Debra Brown Australian soldiers slipped the letters into a bottle, closed the cap, and pitched it overboard from a ship in the Pacific Ocean as World War I battlefields beckoned them both. The bottle was a time … Read more