Nearly a century back two young scholars from Oxford University, B P Grenfell and A S Hunt set out to excavate a site on the banks of the Nile in Egypt at a time when the tensions between the French and the British over the status of Egypt was particularly accute. Napoleon had already discovered the antiquities of Egypt and had published them in 11 volumes and Joseph Champillon had read the Rosetta's stone thereby unlocking the secrets of Egypts past. Just at a time when the pursuit of archae...

Ancient history is facinating largely due to the unexpected surprises it throws up/ Where is the tomb of the great conqueror, Alexander? Where is the last burial spot of Gengiz Khan? There are no answers to these questions. Only speculation tinged with the eternal hope that someday such questions will be answered. May be we have spoken too soon. The facination of ancient histoery probably also lies in the realisation that some questions will for ever remain a mystery. Last week saw the untang...