Welcome

Chesstories

2007

November 25, 2007

° The Snake Stone - at Goddesschess Blog.

° There Be Dragons A fascinating overview of legends, both famous and obscure, about dragons and "serpents" from Sussex in England. With bibliography; also linked to other pages covering the folklore of Sussex.

° The ruins of a large Kushan city have been discovered has been discovered in Chittar Kot, Mansehra, the NWFP (Pakistan), high on an escarpment overlooking the Biran River.

° Copper Age Fashionistas - upswept hairdos, mini-skirts and bracelets were all the rage in Vinca society 7,500 years ago. More coverage.

Eek! "Off with her head" said the Queen... A classic representation of "goddess sitting on throne" figurine is from the Vinca culture, discovered during excavations at Plocnik (Serbia). She is reminiscent of the earlier Neolithic Great Goddess/Queen figure of Catylhoyuk and later Bronze Age ashdodas of the Middle East. The voluptuous figure with hands on belly (possibly pregnant) is a standard that was a classic for thousands of years and crossed multiple cultures in both the old and new worlds. The Vinca culture flourished from 5500 to 4000 BC in what is now Bosnia, Serbia, Romania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It got its name from the present-day village of Vinca, 10 km east of Belgrade on the Danube River, where early 20th-century excavations uncovered the remains of eight Neolithic villages.The discovery of a mine – Europe’s oldest – at the nearby Mlava river suggested at the time that Vinca could be Europe’s first metal culture, a theory now backed up by the Plocnik site, where a sophisticated metal workshop with a furnace and tools including a copper chisel and a two-headed hammer and axe were discovered. This might prove that the Copper Age started in Europe at least 500 years earlier than previously thought.

The Copper Age marks the first stage of humans’ use of metal, with copper tools used alongside older stone implements. It is thought to have started around the 4th millennium BC in southeast Europe, and earlier in the Middle East. The discoveries at Plocnik, confirming those at Vinca, probably push this date back some 500 years. Intriguing is the possibility of cross-cultural transference of metallurgical technologies.

Sir Francis Drake

In honor of the new film about Queen Elizabeth I (starring Cate Blanchett, reprising her role as the Queen), we feature Sir Francis Drake, "The Dragon." Collected sites about Drake's circumnavigation of the globe (lead ship, "The Golden Hind", perhaps named in honor of Gloriana, Queen Elizabeth I). Drake captained "The Revenge" during the epic battles with the Spanish in 1588. A great website featuring the English Battles with the Spanish Armada, includes portraits of some of the principals and paintings of the sea battles between the Spanish and the English fleets. (Portrait of Drake by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Date 1591, National Maritime Museum, London.)

November 18, 2007

° Two well known authors in the world of "alternate history" have new books out, and the Giza pyramids are prominently featured in both. The work of Zecharia Sitchin is well known to listeners of the Art Bell radio show back in the "old days." Sitchin's new book is Journeys to the Mythical Past (Amazon). Gnostic adventurer Philip Gardiner also has a new book, Gateways to the Other World (Amazon).

° The History before History: Part I - Impossible Fossils. There exist many fossils that challenge our modern understanding of history. An impression of a perfect human hand (with fingernail marks) was discovered in 110-million-year-old limestone in Glen Rose, Texas; a 100-million year-old petrified finger (fossil identified as DM93-083), which had its bone structure revealed through radiography, was found on Axel Heiberg Island in Canada; there is the well-known discovery of giant human footprints beside those of a dinosaur in Rìo Paluxy, Texas; and there are many more. The apparent soundness of our current theories is shaken each time an "impossible fossil" comes to light.

° Ancient Writing in Iran A second Persian rock inscription in geometrical script has been discovered in Kaftarlou hill in Kurdistan province that could be as old as 3,000 BCE. Also: Mehr News reports further excavations in Jiroft in search of more inscriptions.

° Joyce Tyldesley's Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt (Thames & Hudson) covers from Early Dynastic times to the death of Cleopatra, a span of some 3000 years. Some of the queens, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Nefertari, and Cleopatra are household names. But here, in splendid detail, and extremely well illustrated, are the other royal ladies. Too often the royal ladies of ancient Egypt are sidelined to the greater glory of their husbands, the pharaohs, but here Dr. Tyldesley brings them into the light, where their standing and often remarkable achievements are emphasized.

From the Metropolitan
Museum of Art (New York):

Mask (Kpeliye), 19th–20th century Côte d'Ivoire; Senufo

Wood, horns, fiber, cotton cloth, feather, metal, sacrificial material; H x W x D: 30 1/4 x 13 x 9in. (76.8 x 33 x 22.9cm)

The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1965 (1978.412.489)

Description: Small, finely carved face masks are worn at funerals by members of Poro, the Senufo men's society. The masks feature a delicate oval face with geometric projections at the sides. Their smooth, glossy surfaces are ornamented with raised and incised scarification patterns. The leglike forms at the base of the face allude to a traditional hairstyle worn by Senufo women. Considered feminine, the masks honor deceased Senufo elders with their grace and beauty and complement the aggressive male character of Senufo helmet masks. The feathers and animal horns attached to this example are unusual and may have served to enhance the mask's power to combat negative forces in the community.

November 11, 2007

° Kate Mosse, author of best seller historical novel "Labyrinth," has written a new one, "Sepulchre."

° Ancient Egypt Magazine, October/November, 2007 Volume 8, Issue 2, is available. They're also running a special sale - get all available back-issues (1-7) for 135 BPS.

° Biblical Archaeology Magazine online new edition is out (November/December 2007).

° Melting glaciers in Western Canada are revealing tree stumps up to 7,000 years old where the region's rivers of ice have retreated to a historic minimum. The fresh-looking, intact tree stumps beside retreating glaciers in Garibaldi Provincial Park, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north of Vancouver, British Columbia.

So, there may be some hope for a recovery of this missing link...

° A new study "Does Chess Need Intelligence? – A Study with Young Chess Players," by Merim Bilalic and Peter McLeod, Oxford University and Fernand Gobet, Brunel University. In PDF.

° Call for Chess in Education presenters for both the Texas Chess Association (TCA) Chess in Education and the United States Chess Federation (USCF) Chess in Education workshops. FOR BOTH WORKSHOPS: Presenters are encouraged to use 30 minutes, but one-hour presentations will also be considered. Topics should relate to chess in education. All presenters are required to submit an abstract (maximum 300 words) to Alexey Root alexey.root@gmail.com. Deadline for abstracts: 1/8/08 for TCA, 6/7/08 for USCF. Further information here (dates, times, locations, hotel rates, etc.)

Is it a board game? A maze?

It is reportedly an ancient seal revealed by an alleged descendant of the Kings of Yelang, an ancient kingdom in what is now Guizhou Province during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). The seal was made public by a Miao ethnic man who claims to be the 75th descendant of the king.

What does it say? Are the maze-like lines and circles around the perimeter merely decoration - or something else? It's design seems to vaguely echo that of some liubo boards, an ancient Chinese game that was immensely popular during the Han Dynasty, a game closely associated with the Goddess known as the Queen Mother of the West.