U of Wash student finds rare carved gemstone at Israeli archaeological dig

October 13th, 2009 Swastika, 'Obama' carved into Mass. golf courseLAKEVILLE, Mass.

September 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Archaeologists have uncovered a rare gemstone engraved with the portrait of Alexander the Great during excavations at Tel Dor in Israel. This tiny gem was dug up by a volunteer during excavations by a team from the University of Washington-Seattle.

September 20th, 2009 Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians on Gaza borderJERUSALEM — A Palestinian Health Ministry official says Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian militants and wounded three in an incident along the Gaza border. Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said the men were hit by tank fire.

September 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An archaeological team, during excavations in Israel, has discovered a gemstone that has a portrait of Alexander the Great engraved on it. The excavations at Tel Dor were carried out by an archaeological team, which was directed by Dr.

September 2nd, 2009 Israeli archaeologists find ancient fortificationJERUSALEM — Archaeologists digging in Jerusalem have uncovered a 3,700-year-old wall that is the oldest example of massive fortifications ever found in the city, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Wednesday. The 26-foot-high wall is believed to have been part of a protected passage built by ancient Canaanites from a hilltop fortress to a nearby spring that was the city's only water source and vulnerable to marauders.

August 28th, 2009 Rare American goose decoy to be auctioned in NYCNEW YORK — A rare 19th-century hand-carved goose decoy that worked the Susquehanna (suhs-kwuh-HAN'-uh) River in northern Pennsylvania is going on the auction block in New York City. It could sell for as much as $400,000.

August 20th, 2009 Kenyan police make arrest in Scottish man's deathNAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan police say they have arrested a suspect in the death of a Scottish-born geologist. Assailants armed with arrows, spears and machetes killed 72-year-old Campbell Bridges last week in an apparent dispute over mining rights in southeast Kenya.

August 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Archaeologists, carrying out excavations at an historic landmark in Woking, Surrey, UK, have unearthed rare Valencian pottery, which date back to between 1450 and 1490. According to a report in getsurrey, teams from Surrey County Council Heritage Enterprise have led the dig at Woking Palace along with Surrey Archaeological Society.

July 10th, 2009 NY ROTC cadet dies at Fort Lewis, Wash., trainingFORT LEWIS, Wash. — An ROTC cadet has died in a night ground navigation exercise at Fort Lewis in Washington.

June 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The ruins of the oldest human settlement in the Aegean Islands found so far have been unearthed in archaeological excavations by a team of Greek, Italian and American archaeologists on the island of Limnos. The Aegean Islands are a group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east.

June 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists, by spotting strange crop circle-like formations from the air, have discovered a huge prehistoric ceremonial complex in southern England, which dating back to 6,000 years, is a thousand years older than the Stonehenge. The site includes the remains of wooden temples and two massive, 6,000-year-old tombs that are among "Britain's first architecture," archaeologist Helen Wickstead, leader of the Damerham Archaeology Project, told National Geographic News.

May 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of archaeologists has discovered pieces of pottery dating back to the third millennium BC, among other finds in Al Dour area of in Umm Al Quwain of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to a report in the Gulf News, the team was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, UAE.

May 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Egypt's Culture Minister Farouk Hosni has said that researches conducted via satellites have confirmed the existence of 132 archaeological sites in Egypt that witnessed no excavations until now. Farouk Hosni said that Egypt shows full cooperation with the research teams to explore the archaeological sites, and has recently issued a number of laws seeking to stop the illegal digging in areas likely to contain the buried monuments.

April 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Archaeologists have found an ancient temple in Turkey, filled with broken metal, ivory carvings, and stone slabs engraved with a dead language, which would cast new light on the "dark age" that was thought to have engulfed the region from 1200 to 900 B.C. Written sources from the era, including the Old Testament of the Bible, Greek Homeric epics, and texts from Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III, record the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age as a turbulent period of cultural collapse, famine, and violence.

March 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - As the Euphrates River dries up in Iraq's western Anbar province, ancient buildings are emerging from the river bed, which archaeologists can now access for the first time. According to a report by NPR (National Public Radio), the receding waters of the Euphrates River have revealed ancient archaeological sites, some of which were unknown until now.