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By Monica Haynes - Post-Gazette

Be prepared to spend at least 90 minutes, probably longer on the weekends when attendance tends to be heavier. There are 140 artifacts from a variety of sources, including the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, cultural institutions such as the Egyptian Museum in Berlin and private collectors.

Among the artifacts are ancient coins that archaeologists believe bear Cleopatra's likeness. And guess what ? She looked nothing like Elizabeth Taylor.

Still, like the tale of King Tut (the Franklin Institute hosted an exhibition on the boy Pharoah three years ago), Cleopatra's is an intriguing story wonderfully told not only with artifacts but also through video clips, audio narration, maps and photographs.

"Based on our success with King Tut and through our own research, Egypt and Egyptian themes tend to resonate very well with the American public.

Why that's the case we don't know, but nevertheless, they continue to be interested," said Troy Collins, senior vice president, programs, marketing and business development for The Franklin Institute.

"Cleopatra is one of these very timeless, iconic pieces of history. ... People think they know a lot about [her], but once they know the true history and the true story, they become even more fascinated."

Visitors to the exhibition first encounter a room with a glass floor and blue and green lighting moving around the walls. It gives the feel of being underwater, where many of the artifacts were discovered. Beneath the floor is sand and items such as urns and portions of statues. They next enter a room where a brief film on Cleopatra is narrated by the Queen herself. (Actually, it's an actress.)

Egypt's last ruler was of Greek descent and a member of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. While her body has never been found and no one really knows what she looked like, she's been described by many ancient historians as "beautiful" and "intelligent."

The Romans obliterated all traces of her when they conquered Egypt in 30 B.C. Still, enough has been discovered to put together Cleopatra's life, a life less ordinary.

She was not the first Cleopatra, but actually Cleopatra VII. She was 17 when she became Pharoah and ruled the country with her younger brother, whom she married. She was well-educated and fluent in Ethiopian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek and ancient Egyptian.

She had one son with Julius Caesar (Caesarion or little Caesar) and three children with Mark Antony, including a set of twins.

Perhaps the artifact that gives the most insight into this mysterious monarch is a papyrus from the Egyptian Museum of Berlin, which bears her handwriting.

It was a document granting a tax exemption for a businessman and friend of Mark Antony. To it, Cleopatra added the word "ginesthoi" -- which means "make it happen."

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By Keith Morelli - The Tampa Tribune

In the pitch-black depths of an isolated North Port spring sits a silt-covered ledge that is revealing secrets about a prehistoric nomadic people, secrets held in murky silence for 100 centuries.

Now, with diving gear and artifact-collecting bags, archaeologists with the University of Miami and The Florida Aquarium are sweeping away the muck and uncovering that distant past.

This stuff could be as old as 13,000 years old, when wandering tribes traversed Florida. Their travels included stopovers at what is now known as Little Salt Spring, 90 minutes south of Tampa.

Artifacts are delicately uncovered from a ledge 90 feet below the surface, archaeologists say, offering up glimpses of what life was like for who is believed to have been Florida's first residents.

John Gifford, an underwater archaeologist with UM's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science along with aquarium divers are working together to gather the artifacts.

"In the last ice age, between about 10,000 and 13,000 years ago, the water level was 90 feet lower then than it is today," Gifford said. "It's generally thought that along that early beach area, those early humans left their tools or whatever artifacts they found at that site."

The site has been under excavation by scientists sporadically over the past three years, and only about 6 percent of the submerged ledge has been scoured.

"Little Salt Spring," Gifford said, "is where we have at least a fighting chance at finding some traces of human activity say 9,000 or 10,000 years ago."

The work is painstaking and somewhat dangerous but worth the effort, archaeologists say. Little Salt Spring, they say, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the state, and perhaps the nation, for its wealth of information about the dawn of civilization here in Florida.

The sinkhole's water chemistry and temperature have helped to create a one-of-a-kind, prehistoric submerged site where late Paleo-Indian and Archaic artifacts are unusually well preserved.

"Our research has only begun to scratch the surface of what this site may reveal to us," Gifford says in a statement released this week.

"The anoxic (absence of oxygen) environment at the bottom of the spring does not allow microbes and bacteria to live, so decomposition of organic material deposited there thousands of years ago is greatly reduced.

Wooden and other organic tools, as well as animals' soft tissues and bones, are preserved nearly intact in this unique environment."

In 2005, Gifford and his graduate students discovered two exceptional Archaic artifacts – a greenstone pendant and a carved stone that appears to be part of a spear thrower – estimated to be approximately 7,000 years old.

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By Shelley Fralic - Vancouver Sun

When we first tracked down James Delgado, a few weeks back, he was in Pompeii, Italy, on a working vacation with his wife Ann, exploring the ashy ruins of the fabled Roman Empire city buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Before Pompeii, he was undersea, on the bottom of the ocean off Spain, poring over the wreckage of a seventh-century Phoenician ship.

This week he's been home for a little R&R in Steveston, but Saturday he's off again, heading for St. John's, N.L., and a return trip to that most famous shipwreck of all: the Titanic.

If that is but a taste of a month in the life of a modern-day explorer, it's almost impossible to absorb the breadth of what James Delgado has done, is doing and will do as one of the planet's most renowned maritime archeologists.

At 52, he is the kind of man for whom rust never sleeps, an explorer, diver, historian, lecturer, television host, sea hunter, author (he has written or edited more than 30 books) and, if you ever had the pleasure, quietly impassioned storyteller.

There are many stories to tell. The Delgado CV is a blur of accomplishment. Born in San Jose, he attended universities in Southern California, worked with the U.S. National Park Service as a park historian in places like Alcatraz and became hooked on shipwrecks when he stumbled upon the excavation, in downtown San Francisco, of a buried shipwreck from the gold rush. 

The underwater archeology bug hit hard. By 23, Delgado had knowledge and experience and diving certification, and today estimates he's explored more than 100 sunken ships in oceans all over the globe, from the Mediterranean to Australia, from the Bikini Atoll to the Arctic, from the Baltic to Juno Beach.

There was the USS Arizona, the USS Utah, the Japanese battleship Nagato, the USS Saratoga, the USS Monitor and, in the Sea of Japan, Kublai Khan's lost fleet. Brigs, destroyers, aircraft carriers, battleships, polar explorers, submarines -- the Delgado dive list is not only historically significant, but fantastically exotic, an underwater narrative of maritime history.

In 1991, Delgado moved to Canada, settling into the job as executive director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, raising its profile through initiatives like the re-enactment of the Northwest Passage voyage aboard the St. Roch II, and rescuing and restoring the Ben Franklin, an oceanographic research vessel.

Along the way, he earned a PhD in archeology at SFU, became a Canadian citizen and was a cult hit on the cable television show, The Sea Hunters, co-hosting with fellow shipwreck hound, author Clive Cussler.

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From cbs4

The bar was in an exhibit that allowed people to hold it without danger of theft, or so museum operators thought. The insurance company is offering a $10 thousand reward.

It was a piece of history worth half-a-million dollars that you could reach out and touch, part of the treasure from the galleon Santa Maria on display at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West.

But where the bar used to be is now an empty exhibit. Apparently, someone managed to baffle security and walk off with their own personal treasure.

Wednesday afternoon, at 5:18 p.m., video security cameras recorded two suspects removing the bar from a case that had enabled museum visitors to touch and lift it, while keeping it secure.

Key West police and the FBI are working to identify the suspects who stole the bar, recovered from a wrecked 1622 Spanish galleon off the Florida Keys.

According to Alyson Crean, Key West Police spokeswoman, one suspect is described as a white male, about six feet tall with dark hair and a medium build. The second suspect is about five feet, six inches tall.

The 74.85-ounce bar had been on display at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum for more than 20 years and is worth about $550,000, according to museum officials.

It was recovered from the Santa Margarita shipwreck in 1980 by the late Key West shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher and his crew, while searching for the Margarita and Nuestra Senora de Atocha galleons.

By Brian Handwerk - National Geographic News

Slipping beneath the waves on April 15, 1912, the R.M.S. Titanic famously disappeared from view until 1985, when it was rediscovered on the bottom of the North Atlantic. 

Now, scientists say, the legendary liner—beset by metal-eating life-forms, powerful currents, and possibly even human negligence—could be vanishing for good.

Titanic is falling apart.

Already explorers have documented caved-in roofs, weakening decks, a stern perhaps on the edge of collapse, and the disappearance of Titanic's crow's nest—from which lookout Frederick Fleet spotted history's most infamous iceberg.

"Everyone has their own opinion" as to how long Titanic will remain more or less intact, said research specialist Bill Lange of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

"Some people think the bow will collapse in a year or two," Lange said. "But others say it's going to be there for hundreds of years."

With Lange as optical-survey leader, a new expedition sets sail Sunday from St. John's, Newfoundland — roughly 350 miles (560 kilometers) from the ship's 2.4-mile-deep (3.8-kilometer-deep) resting place.

The goal: to virtually preserve Titanic in its current state and to finally determine just how far gone the shipwreck is, and how long it might last.

"We're trying to bring the actual hard data to the people who can make those determinations," Lange said.

The 20-day Expedition Titanic will use remotely operated submersibles to complete an unprecedented archaeological analysis of the two- by three-mile (three- by five-kilometer) debris field, including Titanic's two halves. The ship's bow and stern separated before sinking and now lie a third of a mile (half a kilometer) apart.

Thousands of high-resolution photos and video will be combined with acoustic and sonar mapping data to form a 3-D replica of the site, allowing scientists and armchair explorers to probe it in detail. (Explore a 2004 photomosaic of the Titanic wreck.)

Some photos will reveal never before seen parts of Titanic, organizers say. Other images, when compared to evidence from earlier years, will help experts gauge the rate of the wreck's deterioration.

Expedition Titanic will gather hard data too, for example by measuring the thickness of the ship's hull and by hauling up and examining experimental steel platforms placed at the site.

In addition, scientists will take readings of the surrounding water to uncover its ability to support marine life—a prime cause of Titanic's deterioration.

P.H. Nargeolet, co-leader of Expedition Titanic, made more than 30 submersible dives to the Titanic site in the 1980s and '90s—and saw it decline all the while.

Between 1987 and 1993, Nargeolet observed the gymnasium roof corroding and collapsing as well as the upper promenade deck deteriorating. On an early '90s dive he saw that the crow's nest—previously seen still attached to the forward mast—had disappeared altogether, apparently damaged to the point where it snapped off and fell to an as yet unidentified location (interactive Titanic wreck diagram).

"In some places I saw a lot of difference, and in others almost nothing visible has happened," said Nargeolet, director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Inc., a for-profit corporation that has retrieved Titanic artifacts for traveling exhibitions.

"For example, the stern section was the most destroyed part of the ship when it sank, and now most of the stern section is collapsed," he said. "The bow is pretty narrow and the strongest part of the ship, and it's still in relatively good condition."

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By Aaron Gouveia - Cape Cod Times

Imagine swimming through the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, peeking in portholes and seeing artifacts from nearly 100 years ago sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

And you don't even have to get wet.

Creating that scenario is the goal of a group of scientists, including researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who leave today on a 20-day expedition. They will use the latest in sonar technologies, acoustic imaging and high resolution video to create a virtual 3-D map of the Titanic wreck site that will eventually be accessible online.

"It's revolutionary in that we'll be using new technology to create the first archaeological site map of the Titanic," said David Gallo, WHOI's director of special operations.

The project is being led and funded by RMS Titanic Inc., the company with salvage rights to the Titanic and the wreck site.

Scientists at the oceanographic institution originally found the Titanic two miles beneath the ocean's surface in 1985. But 25 years later, the improvement in underwater technology is staggering, Gallo said.

Using a combination of remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles, Gallo said advanced sonar will scan the ocean floor around the crash site while a combination of acoustic imaging and WHOI-made 3-D high definition cameras record the area.

REMUS (Remote Environmental Measuring UnitS), a torpedo-shaped autonomous vehicle that travels in predetermined patterns to collect data, was also developed at WHOI and will be one of the mission's main tools.

The end result, said Gallo, will be merging all the different technologies to form a mosaic virtual map that will provide the clearest, most precise images of Titanic ever recorded.

Titanic, which is split on the ocean floor, has been visited in the past to retrieve artifacts, but Gallo said half of the crash site has never been explored. The best part, he said, is that it is not just scientists who will see it all first-hand.

"Not only will we see a lot of things we've never seen before, but down the road the public will be able to explore for themselves," Gallo said. "No more looking over James Cameron's shoulder."

In addition to creating a boundary map and charting the exact physical position of the ship, researchers will also document artifacts found within the Titanic and, with luck, gain new insights into the details of the sinking after the massive vessel struck an iceberg on April 15, 1912.

Scientists will also examine the structural integrity of the fragile iron ship, which has been eaten away by microbes. The microorganism samples could potentially allow researchers to better understand the process of so-called biodeterioration and give scientists an idea of how long the Titanic will remain intact.

Gallo said there is little doubt the wreck has been beneficial to sea life, but this trip will allow all the animals residing in and around the Titanic to be catalogued.

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By Jamie Tarabay - NPR

They call it the mystery ship: a wooden vessel that may have sailed the Hudson River and the East Coast, transporting goods between the flourishing Colonies.

Its remains were found last month in the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City. They've since been moved to a science lab in Maryland, where each day brings new discoveries.

The first thing that hits you when you lean toward the enormous tanks filled with water, where scientists use small brushes to clean the timbers, is the smell — a bit like rotten eggs.

Or, as Nichole Doub, head conservator at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, says, "that deep-woods smell after a really heavy rain." But after weeks of being "up to our knees and elbows" in it, she says, perhaps she's become desensitized to it.

The complex on the shore of the Patuxent River is full of dark, wet timbers from the mystery ship. The largest piece of the ship, called the apron, weighs in at 540 pounds. Doub puts the vessel's size at about 60 feet. She guesses it was a work boat, very solidly built, and used to transport cargo during the 1700s.

"This is a part of our country's history at a point when we had only just recently gained our independence, and where our nation relied very heavily upon our naval vessels as well as our ability to transport goods across water," Doub says. "And that really was a defining feature of who we were and how we were going to become the nation we are today."

But we don't know much else. Over the next few weeks, different experts will come to find clues. Someone will date the tree rings. Another will look at the woodworms.

The discovery of iron nails and spikes is causing the scientists to re-evaluate what they knew about shipbuilding technology at the time, which was thought to have relied more on wooden dowels. And the recent discovery of a coin, in a very special place, means they're going to have to call a coin specialist. Sara Rivers-Cofield, another curator, says the coin placement is an important clue.

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From  My Sunshine Coast

The Queensland Government will kick off a statewide survey of Queensland's historic shipwrecks to provide a better understanding of where the historic sites are off Queensland's coastline.

Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Kate Jones today announced the survey, to begin in Moreton Bay, will be carried out by the Heritage Branch of the Department of Environment and Resource Management, which has recently taken over management of Queensland's historic shipwrecks from the Queensland Maritime Museum.

"Queensland's coastline is littered with untold stories under the sea," Ms Jones said.

"We know there are more than 1,000 historic shipwrecks or abandoned vessels along the State's coast, as well as in our rivers and bays. But in most cases, data on these shipwrecks is scant and often inaccurate.

"Every one of these ships is an irreplaceable archaeological site which can tell us much about the lives of past generations of Queenslanders and oth ers who visited our shores.

"Through this survey, we will tap into the broad range of skills and equipment within our heritage and marine parks units to locate as many wrecks as possible and determine their significance."

Ms Jones said there is a wealth of information about unidentified shipwrecks among interested members of the community, historical researchers and diving groups.

"The first stage in this survey will be community consultation, with the department calling on members of the public, research organisations and diving groups to help build our knowledge of historic sites, starting with Moreton Bay.

"We know the people of Queensland are passionate about our underwater history - and there is a real interest in many of our shipwrecks among the diving community in particular.

"By working with the community we hope to build a clearer picture about the wrecks sitting off our coast."

Ms Jones said following this consultatio n, the department will next year commence targeted field operations using technology such as side-scan sonar, to confirm actual locations for mapping and preservation.

"While some wrecks in the Moreton Bay area are well-known such as the Aarhus, there are approximately 50 wrecks reported in and around the Bay listed on the National Shipwreck Database.

"In many cases, the locations listed are imprecise and we know very little about the history of the individual wrecks.

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