The year 2024 is not an amazing year in the world of history because the focus is more on artificial intelligence technology, devices with powerful chips and billions of investments to build data centers. But in this drought of historical news, we are still able to find the 10 most interesting historical news in Malaysia and abroad.
1. Buddha Statue Older than Angkor Wat and Borobodur Temple Found in Kedah
Cambodia has the Angkor Wat complex and Indonesia has the Borobodur Temple. These two historical relics that are thousands of years old are tourist attractions and provide a window into the history of our ancestors. Yesterday, researchers from the Global Archaeological Research Center (PPAG) research team, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) announced the discovery of a human-sized Buddha statue that is believed to be older than the two historical buildings in this neighboring country.
The statue was found at the Bukit Choras Archaeological Heritage Site, Yan, Kedah and is located on the north wall of Bukit Choras temple. It is made of stucco with the Buddha depicted in a sitting position while meditating. This discovery confirms that Bukit Choras was once an important religious site in the eighth to ninth centuries
Research was conducted at Bukit Choras between 21 April and 21 May last year by a team of local researchers led by Dr Nasha Rodziadi Khaw in collaboration with the National Heritage Department (JWN) and USM. The excavation work carried out revealed the building structures on the northern and western walls, clearly showing the main structure of the Bukit Choras temple. In addition to the Buddha statue, a Sanskrit inscription carved on the stone body and fragments of pottery were also found.
2. USM First University Granted Exclusive Digital Access to Francis Light Letters
University of Sains Malaysia (USM) through the Hamzah Sendut Policy Research Centre and Library became the first university granted the right to access digital images of Francis Light's letters by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
The Light Letters (1768-1794) is a collection of manuscripts, consisting of 1,200 letters in 11 volumes that include correspondence, writings and notes involving Malay kings and dignitaries from across the Malay Archipelago, business partners, wives of Malay nobles, Francis. Light, and several English merchants originally written over a period of 27 years between 1768 and 1794.
USM received digital access through the agreement reached through the Loan of Light Letters memorandum of agreement signed in September 2018. All digital images of The Light Letters are now freely accessible online by researchers and the public starting today.
The letters, which are placed under the Malay Archipelago Letters Collection 1768-1794, are the largest collection of Malay manuscripts in the world. In addition to letters, other documents such as bills, receipts, petitions and contracts are also included.
Until now, these letters could only be accessed physically by going to SOAS in person, which made it difficult for local researchers due to the high cost. All 11 volumes of this collection can be accessed via this link.
3. Kenyah Badeng Bamboo Hat Artifact Returned to Sarawak
An artifact in the form of a Kenyah Badeng bamboo hat was returned to Sarawak by the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, UK in early November. It is the second return of a historical object to Sarawak after the Niah Cave bone fragments to the Sarawak Museum in 2020.
The hat was seized when British colonial troops launched a raid to punish indigenous communities who opposed colonial rule between 1895 and 1896. It was acquired by the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1923 but has never been publicly exhibited.
Although the Kenyah Badeng bamboo hat has been returned, the Pitt Rivers Museum still houses more than 3,000 artifacts from Borneo, some of which are from the personal collection of the Rajah Brooke family, which was purchased in the 1920s.
4. World's Oldest Alphabet Believed to Be Found in Syria
The history of the use of alphabets in human writing may have changed with the discovery of a clay cylinder in a tomb at Tell Umm-el Marra, Syria. The finger-length cylinder features three never-before-seen alphabets. Through carbon-14 testing techniques, it is believed to have been created around 2400 BC, making it 500 years older than the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet, which is believed to have been created around 1900 BC.
The 4,400-year-old cylinder was discovered in 2004, with a paper published in 2021. But the study, conducted by archaeologists from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Amsterdam, only gained attention when it was presented at the American Society of Overseas Research event last November.
There are four letters written on the cylinder with a hole in the middle. Researchers have hypothesized that the cylinder was placed on the object to tell what was in the jar or a sign for the owner's name. The meaning of the words spelled by these letters is still unknown.
5. The world's oldest figurative painting, 51,2000 years old, was found in Indonesia
Three years ago, the world's oldest figurative painting was found in Sulawesi, Indonesia, with an estimated age of around 45,500 years. Last July, the discovery of an even older figurative painting was announced, estimated to be around 51,200 years old. This has changed our understanding of when humans began to produce creative works of art.
The painting was discovered in a cave located in Bukit Karampuang, Sulawesi in 2017 by Oki Amrullah, a Cultural Heritage Guard. It consists of three human figures hunting pigs with spear-like weapons. It depicts a story of humans hunting and this is different from the stone carvings and palm prints that were also found on the cave walls.
Only after a study was conducted by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), the actual age of this painting was successfully confirmed with a laser-cut sample.
If you want to see the world's oldest painting produced by human hands, you need to go to Blombos Cave in South Africa which is estimated to be 75,000-100,000 years old. It displays geometric patterns carved on the surface of the rock. Figurative paintings show the development of humans in the field of art starting from basic patterns before producing abstract paintings like in Sulawesi.
6. Ancient Herculeneum Scroll Successfully Read and Translated After 2000 Years
Last year, the Vesuvius Challenge announced the success of reading the first verses contained in the ancient Herculeneum scroll that burned due to the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano. The city of Herculeneum, located next to Pompeii, is the location of thousands of ancient scrolls that have been preserved despite being buried for more than 2000 years. Now, the Vesuvius Challenge announced that the first 15 columns of one of the scrolls can finally be read and translated.
The translated section, believed to be the work of the philosopher Philodemus, contains writings about music, food and how to enjoy life. The success of reading the first layer of this scroll opens the opportunity for the 1800 Herculeneum papyrus rolls discovered in 1752 to also be read. The readable part so far is only 5% of the entire scroll that is still rolled.
The Vesuvius Challenge also announced three winners who used machine learning and scanning techniques to read the scroll that had burned to charcoal. Youssef Nader, Luke Farritor, and Julian Schilliger shared the $700,000 grand prize for solving an archaeological puzzle that is nearly 300 years old.
7. 8,600-Year-Old World's Oldest Bread Found in Turkey
Archaeologists from Necmettin Erbakan University's Science and Technology Research and Application Center announced the discovery of the world's oldest bread in Çatalhöyük, southern Turkey, in March. It is believed to be unbaked bread dough that is 8,600 years old.
After analysis, researchers found starch grains and empty spaces in the sponge-like artifact found at the archaeological site. This confirms that it is bread dough that has undergone the fermentation process but has not yet been baked. It is now confirmed as the world's oldest bread and shows how Neolithic humans made bread.
8. Plato's Grave Location and Last Moments Now Known
The ability to read the Herculaneum Scrolls that we placed above has led to the discovery of not only the location of the philosopher Plato's grave but also his last night before he died. The scroll containing the writings of Philodemus states that Plato was buried in a special garden at the academy he founded in Athens.
On his last night he complained of a fever but still managed to grumble that the entertainment provided by a flute player was unsatisfactory. It gives the impression that despite his old age he was still conscious and did not suffer from senility despite being around 80 years old. There are many more Herculaneum Scrolls that have not been read and researchers believe that more new historical mysteries will be solved in the future.
9. 303 New Nazca Lines Discovered With the Help of AI
These new lines on the surface of the Nazca desert are estimated to have been drawn by humans around 200 years BC. They are also smaller in size than the other Nazca lines that were discovered by Pedro Cieza de León in 1554. The Nazca lines have been classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Unfortunately, their status as a tourist attraction in Peru has caused permanent damage when wheeled vehicles drive over the painted drawings.
10. The Grand Egyptian Museum Finally Opens
The Grand Egyptian Museum is the world's largest archaeological museum and it finally opened its doors last October. Originally scheduled to open in 2013, it was delayed several times due to cost issues, unrest caused by the Arab Spring and Covid-19.
The museum cost over $1 billion and covers an area of 50 hectares, housing artifacts from all ancient Egyptian dynasties under one roof for the first time in history. Even though it has opened, only 4,000 visitors are allowed per day. In fact, at this point only a few exhibition halls are open, with the Pharaoh Tutankhamun hall, which is the most anticipated by history enthusiasts, not yet open because it has not yet been completed.