By TAREK EL-TABLAWY
.c The Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The workmen who built the pyramids received emergency medical care and even brain surgery, the head of an Egyptian archaeological team said Monday.
Zahi Hawas, the director of antiquities for Giza, said his team's excavation of 20 workers' tombs near the pyramids has thrown light on the lives of ordinary Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, which dates back to 4,500 years ago.
``This discovery provides clear evidence of worker lives - a chance to understand how these people lived, what they ate,'' Hawas said.
Archaeologists found six skeletons. X-rays revealed what may be the earliest evidence of brain surgery. The worker was operated on for a brain tumor, said Hawas.
The leg of another worker had been amputated and he had lived for 14 years after the operation. Tests on a third skeleton showed what could be the earliest proof of syphilis and the hand of a fourth skeleton was found in splints, Hawas said.
The ancient Egyptians were long believed to have been capable of performing complex medical procedures, including brain surgery and complicated births.
Hawas said that about 600 skeletons from two cemeteries for the pyramid builders have been exhumed and tested. A total of 12 skeletons had splints on their hands, which had presumably been injured by rocks.
``These were not slaves who built the pyramids. They were workers. This much care would not have been afforded to slaves,'' he said.
The workers were allowed to build small pyramids, made of mud-bricks, above their own tombs, Hawas said.
``The (mud brick) pyramids are like democracy. They were available for everyone,'' he said.
Some tombs bore inscriptions that gave the worker's position, such as ``Inspector of Pyramid Building'' and ``Overseer of West Side of Pyramid.''
AP-NY-07-27-98 1611EDT
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.
Thursday, July 30, 1998 at 11:28:04 (EDT)
CHINESE PROVINCE MAY HAVE ROMAN ANCESTRY, ARCHAEOLOGISTS SAY-By JUSTIN DEAR, Reuters
HONG KONG (July 29, 1998 9:58 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - A group of ancient Roman soldiers may have survived a devastating battle against the Parthian empire 2,000 years ago and made their way to China where their descendants still live.
In a desolate village in Gansu province in northwestern China, Chinese archaeologists recently come across people they believe are descended from the legionary veterans.
The archaeologists were doing excavation work in the village of Zhelaizhai and believe they may have discovered defense works built by the Roman army 2,000 years ago.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that the archaeologists also found people in the village whose physical characteristics are similar to people in Mediterranean countries. They are taller than average with light brown hair and blue eyes.
The scientists believe the Romans may have been survivors from a battle in 53 B.C. in Central Asia.
"There are historical records of more than 45,000 Roman soldiers engaged in a battle in Central Asia in 53 B.C. who were defeated by Asians. But, about 6,000 soldiers who survived, went missing after the fierce battle," Xinhua said.
The Roman army led by Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of the First Truimvirate with Julius Caesar and Pompey, was defeated by a Parthian army at Carrhae, now Haran, Turkey, in 53 B.C.
Roman historians make no mention of survivors traveling eastwards toward China.
.c Kyodo News Service
NAGASAKI, July 25 (Kyodo) - The ruins of a large pillared structure believed to have been used for religious rites in the fourth century was unearthed in Nagasaki Prefecture, southwest Japan, the local municipal board of education said Saturday.
The structure, which measures 9 meters long and 4.7 meters across and was supported by six pillars, is deemed to be one of the largest such buildings found for the early Kofun period (ca 300-710), officials of the Kunimi town board of education said.
The structure's remains, found in the Tsukuda ruins, had slots 1 meter deep and 1.3 meters in diameter for the pillars, leading archeologists to believe the pillars measured anywhere from 40 to 50 centimeters in diameter.
''As the spacing between the pillars is too wide, there's no way the structures could have borne the weight of grain stocks,'' a board official said, referring to why the structure most likely had served as a place of worship and thanksgiving rather than as a granary.
The Tsukuda ruins, which has yielded a variety of ancient artifacts dating from the mid-Yayoi period (ca 100 B.C.-A.D. 100), is noted for a huge amount of earthenware fragments from the late Yayoi period dug up in 1991 and Chinese porcelain from the Kamakura period (1185-1333).
AP-NY-07-25-98 0701EDT
Thursday, July 30, 1998 at 11:23:47 (EDT)
GERMAN WHO THOUGHT HE HAD SPECIAL POWER DIES AFTER JUMPING OFF CAIRO TOWER-Reuters News Service
CAIRO -A German tourist who believed he could escape death after visiting Egypt's pyramids was killed when he jumped off a tower in Cairo, security sources said on Thursday.
They said Adam Gotz was a "spiritual psychiatrist" who believed the Giza Pyramids were sacred places that provide spiritual energy to make believers transcend humanity.
On Tuesday he and his girlfriend Sarah climbed to the top of the 187 meter (617 feet) high landmark Cairo Tower in the Zamalek area of the city. The 30-year old Gotz climbed over the railing at the top and leapt to his death, the sources said.
Gotz had told 19-year old Sarah, a student in Germany, that he would prove to her everyone has a spiritual energy that frees them from death, the sources said.
Thursday, July 30, 1998 at 14:20:37 (EDT)
Thursday July 30, 7:59 am Eastern Time
WALT DISNEY Company Press Release
The Spectacular Unveiling Of "The World's Largest Cauldron" Draws Thousands to the Bewitching Town of Salem, Mass., to Celebrate the First-Ever Home Video Release of Disney's "The Black Cauldron"; Highly Anticipated Disney Classic Available On Video Aug. 4
WHAT: In a Guinness World Record-setting attempt, Walt Disney Home Video will unveil the world's largest cauldron in the bewitching city of Salem, Mass., to celebrate the first-ever home video release of "The Black Cauldron." Weighing more than 250 pounds, with a diameter of seven feet, the colossal cauldron will rise out of the ground and loom 13 feet above thousands of mystified onlookers. The awe-inspiring grand finale will light up the sky as magnificent flames and glittering mines shoot out of the cauldron 50 feet into the air.
During the exciting festivities, the throng of spectators will join together and perform the "Black Cauldron Boogie," an all-new toe-tapping, hip-shaking line dance created especially for this event.
An engaging fantasy, filled with swashbuckling action, heroic characters and rousing family fun, "The Black Cauldron" is one of the last remaining Disney Masterpieces to be released from the vault. This Disney treasure, unseen by audiences since its original theatrical release more than a decade ago, has been fully restored and digitally remastered and will be available for the ownable price of $26.99 (SRP) on Aug. 4.
WHO: Walt Disney Home Video and thousands of awe-struck guests
WHEN: Monday, Aug. 3
6 p.m.-9 p.m. (Cauldron Unveiling at 9 p.m.)
WHERE: Salem Common, Salem, Mass.
