September 7, 2008

Ancient gold treasure found in northern Greece puzzles archeologists Aug 29, 2008 ATHENS, Greece — A priceless gold wreath has been unearthed in an ancient city in northern Greece, buried with human bones in a large copper vase that workers initially took for a landmine.

French-Afghan team unearths Buddha`s headThursday August 28, 2008 (2127 PST)
(Quqnoos) - FRENCH and Afghan archaeologists have unearthed the head of a Buddha statue and a precious coin in the province of Bamiyan

Stonehenge investigations continue
ARCHAEOLOGISTS from around the country are investigating Stonehenge and the surrounding areas in, and visitors are being invited to come along to see history brought to life.

Stonehenge 'was hidden from lower classes'
Archeologists have uncovered the remains of what they believe to be a 20ft fence designed to screen Stonehenge from the view of unworthy Stone Age Britons

Physics is a changing tide for games development
Keith Stuart - The Guardian, Thursday August 28 2008
The future is about games in which emergent behaviour is as much a part of the scenery as well as the enemy AI and the sand box design structure. This is the point at which dead worlds come alive.

Flashback !!
Joseph Needham on Chinese Physics and Chess

PDF (1.88 Mb) Ch. 26 Physics - the Chinese orientation to chess - Ch. 26 Physics, (8) The Magnet, Divination, and Chess, pp. 314-334.

The Mysterious Trypilian Culture of Ukraine:  November 29, 2008 - March 2, 2009.  The Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is hosting a rare showing of artifacts from the Trypilian (Ukraine) culture (5400 - 2700 BCE).  Other Neolithic cultures, such as the Halaf, from what is now known as northern Syria and south-eastern Turkey (6500 - 5500 BCE), and the Vinca from what is now known as modern Serbia,  demonstrate their artistic legacies having much in common.

Trypilian "model houses".  Based on her evaluation of the excavated contents of an actual, near identical full-scale Cucuteni building, Marija Gimbutas believed it represents a temple.  Hmmm, is there a resemblance to last month's (July 13, 2008) house shrine excavated at Tel Rehov, Israel half way up the Jordan Valley between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee), dating from 10th-9th centuries BCE, several thousands of years later? 

(You can find more information on the Tel Rehov house shrine under July 13, 2008 Archive of "What's New" at Goddesschess)

Model for the Oscar? 

 

From The Museum of Cycladic Art
Stone
Early Cycladic II period - Syros phase
2800-2300 BC
H.: 30.7 cm
From Attica (?)

Description
While the greatest number of Early Bronze Age female figurines with folded arms have been produced in the Cyclades, the type was clearly known throughout the Aegean world, as several examples have been found in Mainland Greece, Crete and Asia Minor. The material used to sculpt this figure - a greenish stone instead of the far more common white marble - may point to a provenance outside the Cyclades, possibly in Attica. The seven creases across the abdomen are usually interpreted as post-partum wrinkles, a theory strengthened by the existence of figurines with swollen abdomens, taken to indicate pregnancy.

Flashback It's long, rambling, almost incoherent - gets to the point and somehow misses it. Chessoid Goes Hollywood... Scroll to the very bottom to get the punchline. A fitting conclusion might have been: Ptah as Oscar and Sothis as his partner symbolize a North-South (Ptah as "omphalaos" or "linga") East-West (Sothis as lateral compliment or "yoni") co-axial integration. Also, it has been remarked that both Ptah and Sothis frequently appear as transgendered figures. Thus they appear as complimentary aspects of a "complete" "male-female" compass and corresponding world view. (DMc - Sept. 7, 2008)

August 31, 2008
We're digging up the future - again...

"The Prittlewell Prince": Review of excavation and photos of artifacts. In October 2003 the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS) began an archaeological investigation at Prittlewell in south-east Essex. The work was part of a proposed road improvement on the site of a known Anglo-Saxon cemetery. Within a short time the archaeologists had discovered a burial that was clearly extraordinary. Among the precious artifacts recovered from the grave were 57 bone gaming pieces and two dice. Guardian newspaper article from April 9, 2004.

Dead Sea Scrolls to Go Online:  Over the next two years, the Israel Antiquities Authority will digitally photograph and scan every bit of crumbling parchment and papyrus that makes up the scrolls, which include the oldest written record of the Bible's Old Testament.  The images eventually will be posted on the Internet for anyone to see.

From The Biblical Archaelogical Review:  Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations, by Georgina Howell, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), 512 pp., 16 pp. illus., $27.50 US (hardcover)).  Reviewed by Julia M. Asher-Greve

Two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun will undergo DNA testing to determine their relation to the famous pharaoh.

Four Headless Sphinxes discovered in Egypt on a road between Luxor and Karnak, date back to the reign of King Nekhtnebef who founded the 30th Pharaonic dynasty (363-380 BC).

From Elliott Avedon Museum & Archives of Games
An Egyptian Game in Assyria C.J. Gadd on "58 Holes" - "Being thus known in Egypt, Palestine, and Elam, it would be surprising if this game had not been played also by the Babylonians and Assyrians. It is proposed to quote or illustrate here several examples of the same kind of 'board' from these regions, which prove that there also it was familiar."

Explore the octad with Antothy Blake's neatly organized research site and while there check out Systematics (!?) - "the understanding of experience by use of number-term systems"

Cowboys and Curators?

Georgia Albert sends us this recent pic of Ulrich. curator of the Swiss Museum of Games, riding the Las Vegas range...

Americanopoly : A review of Americanopoly—America as Seen Through its Games is the latest book by games historian and researcher Bruce Whitehill, whose first work, Games: American Games and Their Makers, 1822-1992, was considered the benchmark in its field. Americanopoly shows the history of the United States from the 1840s through the present using commercially manufactured American games to tell the story.

Ed. Note: Each of us at Goddesschess were delighted to receive a copy of Americanopoly from our good friend Ulrich Schadler. The Swiss Museum of Games, where he is curator, recently hosted a special exhibition featuring Americanopoly.

August 24, 2008
Baubles, bangles, bright, shiny beads . . .

Bling from the past!
Credit payments into the future...

From the land of the Golden Fleece, incredibly delicate, intricate and beautiful earrings from circa 400 BCE.  Georgian National Museum, image from Biblical Archaelogical Review "Artifacts from the Land of the Golden Fleece."

It's the sort of classic jewellery favoured by modern women except these earrings were worn 2,500 years ago.  Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov discovered gold earrings, a ring and other funeral gifts dating back to the 5th century B.C. while excavating  a Thracian tomb near the village of Kushare, about 280km from Sofia, Bulgaria.

Rare copper pendant found at Fort James in Jamestown, Virginia:  A copper pendant found buried in the early fort-period cellar excavated earlier this year could be the profile of a Powhatan Indian. Bly Straube, Senior Curator at Historic Jamestowne, notes that the pendant may have been a type of identification badge for an Indian entering the fort. If it is indeed the likeness of a Powhatan Indian, it is one of only four known to exist outside of the 1580s drawings made by John White of the Roanoke (N.C.) colony.

Bling at the Blog! For more bling see at Jan Xena's sparkling Goddesschess blog

So how does one acquire expensive bling? As any treasure hoarding dragon knows, coins with monsters are one possibilty

- OR - one learns to play Monopoly!

Monopoly...and its ex-chequered past... Ed note: As kids we played this game endlessly - so often in fact, we began calling it "Monotony". What were we really learning from that game? Perhaps not all we bargained for. A recent look at the new Global Monopoly hints at a hidden history.

But first a word from the London markets!

Hall, Hubert: The Antiquities and Curiosities of the Exchequer. London, 1898
Contents: "The Ancient Treasury of the Kings of England;" "Treasure and Records;" "The Exchequer House;" "the Officers of the Exchequer;" "The Chess Game;" "Exchequer Problems;" "The Making of the Budget." On line Google Book source for Hall's chess analogies

And now, for the American round up ...

The Landlord's Game
The Landlord's Game is a board game patented in 1904 by Elizabeth Magie. It is a realty and taxation game, similar to Monopoly. Though many similar home-made games were played at the beginning of the 20th century and some predate The Landlord's Game, it is the first of its kind to have an attested patent. Large illustration of the game board and its miscellaneous parts...

Real Board Game History
By Mary Bellis - Anti-Monopoly! In investigating the history of the world's best selling board game, I discovered a trail of controversy surrounding Monopoly beginning in 1936. This was the year Parker brothers introduced Monopoly ® after purchasing the rights from Charles Darrow.

Monopoly and Landlord's Game - a Historical Review At Gameslist - a large selection of variants, excellent graphics and commentary on the history of monopoly and Landlords games; popular myths vs. historical facts...

Americanopoly : A review of Americanopoly—America as Seen Through its Games is the latest book by games historian and researcher Bruce Whitehill, whose first work, Games: American Games and Their Makers, 1822-1992, was considered the benchmark in its field. Americanopoly shows the history of the United States from the 1840s through the present using commercially manufactured American games to tell the story.

Ed. Note: Each of us at Goddesschess were delighted to receive a copy of Americanopoly from our good friend Ulrich Schadler. The Swiss Museum of Games, where he is curator, recently hosted a special exhibition featuring Americanopoly.

Stock Ticker:
Stock Ticker is a now out of print board game (graphic) that was popular upon its release and is still played today. It was released by Copp-Clark Publishing, a venerable Canadian publisher.

Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition

In this photo provided by Hasbro, "Mr. Monopoly" stands on a large version of the global game board of the new "Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition" after it was unveiled on the CBS Early Show in New York, Wednesday, August 20, 2008.

Hasbro Website:
Makers of the game...

Montreal Gazette News Article:
"In Monopoly, players compete to get rich by owning, renting, trading and selling properties and public services.

The winner forces all other players to go bankrupt."

" Montreal will be represented on the board by a picture of St. Joseph's Oratory and players will have to shell out $4 million to start developing property and taking out mortgages on the site."

Somehow, I seriously doubt Brother Andre or Elizabeth Magie would approve ...

 

August 17, 2008

Roving our planet with the quick, the quicker, and other footloose ancestors... some dearly departed amongst 'em!!

• Around Africa in a Phoenician Boat: A crew of 20 to set sail in an attempt to recreate historic voyage referenced in Herodotus.

• The Viking replica longship Sea Stallion returns to home waters in Roskilde after a 2,800 nautical-mile round trip between Denmark and Ireland.

• Thracian Chariot Burial Uncovered in Bulgaria:  The skeletons of two riding horses apparently sacrificed during the funeral of the nobleman, along with well preserved bronze and leather objects, some believed to horse harnesses, were unearthed in a separate pit. Finds date to approximately 100 CE. 

• Ancient Ships in Art History: The Ceremonial Uses of Ships in ancient Egypt and Egyptian art... 

• Bronze age remains 'may be tribal chieftain.' The discovery of the middle-aged man's remains and burial casket, or cisk, was made by an amateur archaeologist, Trevor Renals, as walked on Constantine Island, North Cornwall.  It is believed the man was from the middle bronze age, between 1380 and 1100BC.

• Stone Age Cemetery Found in Sahara (Niger) reveals a mystery - where did the Tenerians come from?  The Kiffians and the Tenerians, successively occupied the area of the "Green Sahara" over a stretch of several thousand years.  The Kiffians, some of whom stood up to six feet tall, both men and women, lived there during the Sahara’s wettest period, between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago.  Ceramics with wavy lines and zigzag patterns were identified as Kiffian, a culture associated with northern Africa. Pots bearing a pointillistic pattern were linked to the Ténérians, a people named for the Ténéré desert, a stretch of the Sahara known to Tuareg nomads as a “desert within a desert.”  Christopher M. Stojanowski, an archaeologist at Arizona State University, said the two cultures were “biologically distinct groups.” The bones and teeth showed that in contrast to the robust Kiffians, the Ténérians were typically short and lean and apparently led less rigorous lives. The shapes of the Ténérian skulls are puzzling, researchers said, because they resemble those of Mediterranean people, not other nearby groups.

• Tunnel Excavation Reveals Ancient Remains:  Human skeletons, which experts say could be more than 8,000 years old, were found in four prehistoric graves recently unearthed at the Marmaray tunnel excavation site in the Yenikap? district of Istanbul. The graves might date back to between 6,400 B.C. and 6,200 B.C. The human skeletons were the oldest skeletons unearthed so far during the Marmaray project, which will be the first underwater tube to connect Europe and Asia beneath the Bosporus. 

New Discoveries
Changing times - changing paradigms

The idea that the Chinese may have reached the New World at least 500 years before the Vikings and 1,000 years before Columbus is as tantalizing as it is controversial. In Liang-shu (Records of the Liang Dynasty), set down almost 1,500 years ago, the story is told of an itinerant monk named Hui Shen who set sail with his four Buddhist companions on a four-decade-long, trans-Pacific odyssey with the intention of introducing their religion to the peoples they encountered across the “Great Eastern Sea”.

When other researchers reported that New Mexico’s Zuni Native blood types, religion, and language have unmistakable Japanese links, or that old Mayan had common linguistic roots with old Sino-Tibetan—and that these Asian influences appear to have arrived abruptly within the past 1,500 years—it was a sign the iconoclasts of Asian dispersal had overwhelmed the bastion of American uniqueness. Gavin Menzies' "1421: The Year China Discovered the World" about a global circumnavigation accomplished by Chinese Admiral Zheng He is nothing to Hui Shen!

August 10, 2008

A mixed black bag of marbles containing mummies, jade, nard and other interesting items ...

• An Egyptian archeological mission has unearthed a 5,000-year-old royal burial ground in southern Egypt, the official MENA news agency reported on Saturday.

• Saqqara yields Late Period Treasures:  While removing surface sand, archaeologists from the university stumbled upon a part of the tomb of Wadj-Mes, overseer of the guards during the reign of Pharaoh Rameses II (1304-1237 BC), as well as a number of burial shafts on the tomb's eastern side. 

• The secret of Maya green The blue-green colour of veszelyite seems to have been chosen to blend in with and even imitate jade

• Eight perfectly preserved mummies, believed to be some 4,500 year old, were found by workers engaged in a restoration project in Chile's far north, Spain's EFE news agency reported on Saturday quoting media report.  "These mummies date back to between 2,000 BC and 5,000 BC." archaeologist Calogero Santoro told the daily El Mercurio.

• Pond digging leads to rare statue:  A rare 10th century CE basalt sculpture of the God Vishnu was discovered during pond dredging at an estate in Bangladesh. Antiquities smugglers made their bid for the artifact and were rebuffed; two museums are now vying for custody of the sculpture.  How soon before it disappears into the nether-world of illegally traded antiquities? 

• Tell Edfu reveals "workaday world" of ancient Egyptians:  Archaeologists are now concentrating on ruins of ancient towns and cities that were previously ignored in the rush to excavate "glorious finds,"  and uncovering a wealth of information in the process.  

• Of Nubians and Nabateans: Implications of research on neglected dimensions of ancient world history - by Jesse Benjamin - Journal of Asian and African Studies, Nov 2001 v36 i4 p361(22) Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2001 E.J. Brill

• Nabataeans in Africa
During the reign of Philadelphos Ptolemey, the Zenon Papyri tell us of the relations between his agents and the Nabataeans as Zenon bought various aromatics in Palestine.

• Daaim Shabazz of The Chess Drum Blog reports: ChessBase has just made reference to an interesting article by TIME magazine who conducted an interview with Viswanathan Anand on the origins of chess. Guess where he says chess was invented… one guess. Anand is even talking “B.C.” See also: The Indian Defense

• Nard Anyone? Follow the royal trail of perfumes and incense...

The Games of Chess and Backgammon in Sasanian Persia By: Professor Touraj Daryaee
California State University, Fullerton 

Getting on the CAIS Case ...

An explanation from CAIS posted at The Chess Drum Blog. (Scroll down their page for the complete gist...)

Re: CHESS; Iranian or Indian Invention?
Edited by Shapour Suren-Pahlav 1998

Unfortunately sometime ago by a simple mistake
the above mentioned article (CHESS, Iranian or
Indian Invention? By Shapour Suren-Pahlav)
and “The Origin of Chess: SOME FACTS TO THINK
ABOUT” by Ricardo Calvo were confused with each
other upon publication by our website. Although
both titles were correct, the body of texts were
published in the wrong pages - i.e. Ricardo Cavalo’s
body of text was published in Suren-Pahlav’s page,
and vice-versa.

The mistake was later rectified but unfortunately
“Iran Society” and one or two other Iranian websites
have obtained a copy from our site before the
correction in early 2000. Iran society and others are
now being informed of the mistake and asked for it
to be rectified.

My Sincere apologies for any confusion.

Kind regards
Jennifer Schneider
CAIS Webmaster

August 3, 2008

The infallible armies of ancient empires
associated with board game cultures

The Egyptian army
Until the takeover of Lower Egypt by the Hyksos, most conflicts the Egyptians had fought had been civil wars, where mainly armies of conscripted peasants and artisans led by noblemen opposed each other, or relatively short campaigns south into Nubia extending the southern borders of the realm, or east and west into the desert regions.

The Early Achaemenid Persian Army
A History Resource by Mark Drury
The Persian army was very multicultural in its make up. It consisted of trained regular units of Persian and Median infantry and cavalry supplemented by conscripts from subject nations within the empire and well as hired mercenaries or garrison troops from within or from outside the empire.

Ancient Chinese Military and Warfare
This website focuses on a brief history of Chinese military, weapons, and warfare strategies.

Ancient Chinese military thoughts
Based on the reasonable understanding of wars and military problems in the slavery and feudalism societies, ancient Chinese military thoughts experienced a consistent development in the past thousands of years with the advancement of the society.

Ancient Greek War Technology
A science is said to be useful if its development tends to accentuate the existing inequalities in the distribution of wealth, or more directly promotes the destruction of human life. Godfrey Harold Hardy (1877-1947) A Mathematician’s Apology

(Above graphic) A war elephant used by the Kings of Pergamon against a Gaul, Louvre

Military History Of Ancient India By Gorkhali, 2006; Revised
Category: South and Southeast Asia: Military History

"The Persians are famed for their archers, the Turks for their horsemen, and India for its armies." - Arab proverb

India is one of the oldest civilizations on earth, going back more than 7,000 years...

Hindu military science recognizes two kinds of warfare - the dharmayuddha and the kutayuddha. Dharmayuddha is war carried on the principles of dharma, meaning here the Ksatradharma or the law of Kings and Warriors. In other words, it was a just and righteous war which had the approval of society...

“The ancient Hindus could navigate the air, and not only navigate it, but fight battles in it like so many war-eagles combating for the domination of the clouds."

(Col. Henry S Olcott (1832 – 1907) American author, attorney, philosopher, and cofounder of the Theosophical Society in a lecture in Allahabad, in 1881.)

For more Vimana (??!) intrigues - we mirthfully suggest you go here or here! (keeping in mind, of course that aliens like the flavour of chessboards ...)

Sumerian Warfare?
The Sumerians had never been very warlike, and they had only a citizen army, called to arms in time of danger. In about 2340 BC King Sargon of Akkad conquered them and went on to build an empire that stretched westward to the Mediterranean Sea. The empire, though short-lived, fostered art and literature.

Janissaries - the Ottoman Empire's Infallible Army
Guest Author - Julie L Baumler
The Janissaries and their various guises over time are an excellent example of the potential for power to cause corruption.

See also the Wikipedia article on Turkish Janissaries.

CONGRATULATIONS KELLY WANG !

winner of

With much appreciated assistance from the Quebec Chess Federation and Richard Berube, our most recent award was presented to Kelly Wang of Montreal, Canada as "the most improved" young women player participating in the 2008 Canadian Open Chess Championship, (section E) held this year in Montreal Quebec.

Since last year's Turkish Open, those who have been closely following Kelly's progress have remarked upon exceptional improvements in her overall play. Sporting an ELO of 1209, Kelly has also been chosen as this year's Canadian representative in the World Youth Under 8 category for the upcoming international tournament to be held in Vietnam. In a brief telephone interview with Kelly's sister, we learned that she had already put her prize money to good use, purchasing two books - "Sillman's Complete End Game Course" and "The Anthology of Chess Combinations". These choices leave no doubt that Kelly is quite serious about her chess and has a very promising future ahead of her.

Although it was our original intention to dedicate this award to the player who promoted the first pawn of the tournament, we believe this slight change of plan is far better suited to the special skills involved in chess play and wish to thank Richard Berube of the Quebec Chess Federation for his role in facilitating the presentation of our award to Kelly.

In fact, The Goddesschess Partnership is most appreciative of the fact that our award found its way into the hands of a young, up and coming eight year old female chess player promoting her way through the ranks of women's and international chess. It didn't work out the way we planned - but - could this be the hand of a goddess at work?

Something about Xi Wang Mu

July 13, 2008

It is not generally known ... (but maybe it is now!)

Salome Alexandra
BAR 34:04, Jul/Aug 2008 - The Salome No One Knows by Kenneth Atkinson Long-time Ruler of a Prosperous and Peaceful Judea Mentioned in Dead Sea Scrolls

"When people hear the name Salome, they immediately think of the infamous dancing girl of the Gospels. ... In antiquity there was a considerably more famous Salome, however, who was revered for centuries."

The Sirius Lore
To the earliest Egyptians, Sirius/Sothis was the home of departed souls. Assem Deif shows how the triad Osiris-Isis-Nephthys affected other cultures.

The Papyrus Path
By Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg "There were once two Jewish temples in ancient Egypt. Both were found in the last century, but one was strangely lost again."

The Lost World
Armed with a map depicting a 10,000-year-old landscape submerged beneath the North Sea and fresh evidence from nearby sites, archaeologists are realizing that early humans were more territorial than was previously thought. Laura Spinney reports.

Oops! 
Famed statue of the She-Wolf suckling Romulus and Remus isn't 2,500 years old after all... A statue symbolising the mythical origins and power of Rome, long thought to have been made around 500BC, has been found to date from the 1200s.

Ring of Brodgar in Orkney,
the third-largest stone circle in the British Isles and thought to date back to 3000-2000BC, to be excavated ""Because so little is known about the Ring of Brodgar, a series of assumptions have taken the place of archaeological data. The interpretation of what is arguably the most spectacular stone circle in Scotland is therefore incomplete and unclear."

To What God?
BAR 34:04, Jul/Aug 2008 Altars and a House Shrine from Tel Rehov Puzzle Archaeologists by Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen

Israelite Or Pagan? although many house shrines have been found elsewhere, the one excavated at Tel rehov features a unique element: a lion with its paws extended onto the heads of two human figures. it is not clear how any of these house shrines functioned. They may have held fertility figurines or other sacred objects. it is also unclear who used this particular house shrine—Israelites or Canaanites. although Tel rehov was located in the northern kingdom of Israel, the artistic traditions reflected in rehov’s cultic objects suggest influence of pre-Israelite culture and possibly of a different place altogether (Late Bronze age Syria). What is clear is that these shrines were used in local, personal and more-obscure forms of ritual activity than the centralized, public religious-political centers in Dan and Jerusalem.

July 6, 2008

The Deterioration and Destruction of Ancient Sites:

“Decay is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.” (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, 563-483 B.C.)

• Pompeii in Ruins! The Italian government has declared a state of emergency at the Pompeii archaeological site to try to rescue one of the world's most important cultural treasures from decades of neglect. Archaeologists and art historians have long complained about the poor upkeep of Pompeii, dogged by lack of investment, mismanagement, litter and looting. Bogus tour guides, illegal parking attendants and stray dogs also plague visitors.

• Greek theatres threatened by chewing gum and high heels! Chewing gum, high heels, booming amplifiers and other modern plagues are seriously damaging Greece’s 2,500-year-old outdoor theatres and should be banned, according to the country’s powerful archaeological establishment.

• More on Greece: Greek Ruins in Ruins! Extra staff have been dispatched to guard the great cultural gems of Greece as the government in Athens tries to deflect growing criticism of its handling of national treasures. Amid unprecedented protests from tour guides, travel companies and tourists irritated by conditions at prime archaeological sites, the ruling conservatives last week rushed hundreds of additional personnel to staff museums and open-air antiquities. "The situation at museums and sites around the country is bad," the culture minister, Michalis Liapis, conceded in parliament last week. "It has to be corrected."

• Are archaeologists complicit in the destruction of local heritage? That's the charge leveled in the continuing controversy surrounding the route of the M3 motorway near Tara Hill in Ireland.

• Oh Mummy! A 2,278 year old mummy of an Egyptian priestess is falling apart for lack of proper care in a Jaipur, India museum.

• Archaeologists are in a race against time as global warming and increasingly sophisticated looters destroy Scythian burial mounds.

• Microbes Destroying Ancient Ruins: In various places around the globe, from Ankor Wat to Easter Island to the Acropolis, microscopic organisms are accelerating the deterioration of monuments and historic landmarks. Scientists and conservators have only recently begun to understand the role that common bacteria and fungi play in destroying cultural sites and how — if at all — they can be stopped. This growing recognition is inspiring new techniques to combat microbial damage.

Rare amber gaming pieces

... dating to the time of the Vikings have been put on permanent display in a Swedish museum after being excavated by a team led by the University of Chester’s Dr Howard Williams. Working in partnership with archaeologist, Dr Martin Rundkvist, Dr Williams and the dig team excavated a boat-grave dating back to the 9th century AD at Skamby in Ostergotland, in South Sweden.

More on the excavation: Just SW of the mid-ship was a cluster of 23 well-preserved amber gaming pieces, some located on top of collapsed stones. The gaming set had thus probably originally been placed on top of the grave’s roof. Beneath the gaming piece cluster, a group of iron rivets and nails was found on the bottom of the cut. They may represent a box or a game board, although they formed no observable pattern and there was no sign of the L-shaped mounts typical for Viking Period game boards. Small curved fragments of iron rods here may be from rivets, nails or a simple strap buckle. A little spherical stone was also found here.

See also Antiquity article (2005) for general information.

June 29, 2008

Migration Theories:

• Evidence from the archaeological site in southern Chile confirms Monte Verde is the Americas earliest known settlement and is consistent with the idea that early human migration occurred along the Pacific Coast more than 14,000 years ago, but questions remain about just how rapidly that migration occurred.

• But, some evidence suggests man was already in Alaska 40,000 years ago: Jacques Cinq-Mars, a renowned archeologist living in Longueuil, is heading to Beringia - a vast territory that once spanned the Yukon, Alaska and Siberia - in hopes of resolving a controversy he unleashed nearly 20 years ago

• Did Humans Colonize the World by Boat?  Research suggests our ancestors traveled the oceans 70,000 years ago.

• New research analyzing mitochondrial DNA reveals that the "Out of Taiwan" theory of populating the islands of Southeast Asia is wrong!

• A dinosaur bone discovered in Australia has defied prevailing wisdom about how the world's continents separated from a super-continent millions of years ago (or perhaps the prevailing theories about evolution is wrong, although current science won't admit it...)

• For the past 10 years, University of South Carolina archaeologist Dr. Albert Goodyear has been digging up artifacts that indicate humans lived here 37,000 years before the Clovis people arrived. His is a controversial theory he tries to prove each time he dusts off a rock or stone tool fragment.

Navigation/Ancient Trade:

• Sailing Round the Dark Continent:  British sailor Philip Beale aims to rewrite a bit of African history by sailing round the continent in a boat built with the same materials he believes the Phoenicians used 2,500 years ago to make the same trip, when it was originally underwritten by Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt in 600 BCE.

• 6000-Year-Old Trade Link Between Clare & Cumbria Identified: Clare Museum and the Irish Stone Axe Project (ISAP) at University College Dublin have uncovered evidence of a 6000-year-old trade link between Ireland and Great Britain.  (This doesn't seem extraordinary; there is evidence of ancient trade between cultures all around the world, including Egyptian maceheads dated to about 3500 BCE excavated in northwestern China in 2001).

• L'Anse aux Meadows (Newfoundland) likely represents the first European contact with the New World, more than 1,000 years ago and 500 years before Columbus

• Myth of a "Pure" Race:  A team of forensic scientists at the University of Copenhagen that studied human remains found in two ancient Danish burial grounds dating back to the Iron Age discovered a man who appears to be of Arabian origin. The findings suggest that human beings were as genetically diverse 2000 years ago as they are today and indicate greater mobility among iron age populations than was previously thought. The findings also suggest that people in the Danish iron age did not live and die in small, isolated villages but, on the contrary, were in constant contact with the wider world.

Astronomers look skyward to track Odysseus

• Homer's ancient Ithaca may not be Ithaki
• Homer's Ithaca located

NEW YORK, June 24 (UPI) -- Astronomers from North and South America completed their odyssey determining when Odysseus slew his wife's suitors after returning home from the Trojan War.

June 22, 2008

The Devil, you say?

More than a mouthful... on memes, tropes, cultural bias, perception, automata, chess symbolism, the "inevitability" of good and evil and how culture often portrays the idea of "evil" through denegrating stereotypes that affect our navigation of the world in general.

A meme is:
• An idea that, like a gene, can replicate and evolve.

• A unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation.

• A cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one generation to another by nongenetic means (as by imitation); "memes are the cultural counterpart of genes".

The term and concept of meme is from the 1976 book by Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene. Though Dawkins defined the meme as "a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation," memeticists vary in their definitions of meme.

Tropes are: ... (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

Function as a noun and derive in etymology from the Latin tropus, from Greek tropos turn, way, manner, style, trope, from trepein to turn

1 a: a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speech b: a common or overused theme or device : cliché (the usual horror movie tropes)

2: a phrase or verse added as an embellishment or interpolation to the sung parts of the Mass in the Middle Ages

Conspicuous Chess Tales and Allegories

(ed. note: The Devil personified as female shows a common medieval presumption that also carries over into Renaissance chess literature. This trend appears in Lucena's world via Roja's "La Celestina" (see also "Lucena an Escape into Chess" - pdf - by Dr. Ricardo Calvo and Runoko Rashisdi's outlook on the "Black Oppressor" - listed below...)

Paulo Boi and the Devil
This is a loose translation of a story which appeared in Les Cahiers de l'Echiquier Français (november-december 1936). Story, problem and drawing are by V. Barthe

Paul Morphy and the Devil "If chess was a religion, Morphy would be God." Chopin. A vignette describing Morphy's superhuman abilities appears in this religious reflection. "When the Devil Gets Kicked out of Heaven for Good " - Revelation 12:7-17

A Guide to Invernesshire's Mysterious Sites
Ruthven Barracks "The castle that once stood on the site of the barracks, was said to be haunted by its notorious lord, who was trapped in limbo playing cards with the Devil."

Conspicuous Humour

A local goddesschess event - In which the wrath of a ruthless goddess takes hold of Harold J. Ruthven Murray and puts him in his place... eternally...

The Devil's Dictionary of Chess
Kurt Godden's blog is inspired by Ambrose Bierce’s 1911 book The Devil’s Dictionary.

Conspicuous Philosophy

ed note: Chess provides a "memetic" structure around which eternal controversies take up formal position, However, seldom is the morality involved entirely "innocent" of cultural biases.)

Damned Chessmen
The Damned Chessmen are netherworld-crafted chess pieces which appear in Devil May Cry 3. They move of their own accord, and whether the game of chess is based on these demons, or vice versa, is said to be unknown.

A.D. 1250 Mabinogion, Welsh epic, attains written form. Chess mentioned.

Chess in any language "I find it fascinating that each language has a unique word for "Chess" and also the Welsh word "Gwyddbwyll" is important because I think there is a myth associated with it. Anyone familar with it?"

The Mabinogion was a collection of eleven (twelve) tales from the Welsh myths. The tales of the Mabinogion were preserved in two manuscripts, White Book of Rhydderch (c. 1325) and the Red Book of Hergest (c. 1400).

Arthur and Owain Playing Gwyddbwyll
Alan Lee - Illustration, 1984

Peredur and the Black Oppressor
The African Presence in Welsh Tradition - Tales from the Mabinogion by Runoko Rashisdi "My name is the Black Oppressor, and I am called that becasue I never left anyone round me without doing him violence, nor did I ever grant compensation." --The Mabinogion

The Chess Artist The true story of J.C. Hallman's friendship with Umstead wanders from interviews with chess-playing murderers to encounters with Nobel Prize-winning scholars to speed chess matches with Mongoliian girl champions and finally to the office-cum-throne room of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov...

Conspicuous Dreams - memes while we sleep?

Dreams
Chess Devil - Dreamed 1997/8/5 by Chris Wayan
http://www.worlddreambank.org/2/2GAME.HTM

The World Dream Bank: GAMES
Dreams of games, including chess, go, tag, puzzles, and cards, plus some strange dream games harder to name. The World Dream Bank has 1500 dreams and dream images plus 500 other pages on dreamwork and shamanism, creativity, genius, art, surrealism and fantasy. Unless otherwise noted, all material copyright Chris Wayan, 2001-2006.

Conspicuous Religious References

In the beginning was the board...
...and the board was empty and monochromatic. Then God created the pieces – the pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, queens and kings. And He saw that the game was somewhat gross, but still it was good. And then He played a first game against the One Whose Name Should Not Be Uttered. Alex Shternshain has annotated it.

New Oxford Journal (pdf files) Articles require regisitration and purchase fees. Chess and the Devil Notes and Queries, 1897; s8-XII: 354. ......University Press reply REPLIES CHESS AND THE DEVIL R. R. Boston, Lincolnshire...fashion upside down. T. WILSON. Harpenden. CHESS AND THE DEVIL (8th S. xii. 207, 251...story referred to in the Philidorian, a chess periodical of the early part of this century......

God, Mankind, the Devil and the classic chess game.
"In the old books, they say God and the devil used to be good friends. Some even go as so far to call the devil God's favorite. It goes on to say that God and the devil used to play many games."

The Devil is a Logician
(A Homily for First Sunday of Lent)
Bottom line: Satan uses logic to tempt Jesus - and us. (ed. note: No doubt Richard Dawkins would be very critical of this "logical" assumption.)

Conspicuous Reseach and Attempted Correctives

The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil from the Earliest Times to the Present Day by Paul Carus - (ed. note: It appears as though some historical conjuring tricks were performed over a long stretch of time...)

The Devil and the Pathology of History by Aaron Ross - "Throughout history, humanity has been faced with the problem of evil."

Chess With Death
Death and the Knight, from Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

"The opponent looked long and hard at the board. The abbot waited to see what long-term, devious strategies were being evolved. Then his opponent tapped a piece with a bony finger."

More:

As the Devil Commands (1933)
Mae Clarke, Neil Hamilton, and Alan Dinehart

Chess in the Movies
The award for best supporting game goes to...

Movies wih Chess Scenes by Bill Wall
(Note: a more thorough list can be found in the book Chess in the Movies by Bob Basalla

June 15, 2008

Digging the dig...

• Royal Burials in Iran: The female burials discovered at Ramhormoz (southern Iran) in May, 2007 are being examined by a team of archaeologists who think the girl and woman were most likely members of an Elamite royal family.  A golden armlet with floral motifs, two golden bracelets bearing deer-head patterns at each end, some ornamental stones with floral decorations, 155 golden buttons of various sizes, several statuettes of goddesses, a golden necklace, golden plaques with floral motifs, 99 golden necklace beads, 23 golden necklace pendants of various sizes, three marble stone dishes, earthenware and bronze dishes, several bronze bracelets, a fish-shaped goddess ornament, and a number of other artifacts have been discovered at the site.  More coverage with two photographs.

• A fresh analysis of a 5,000 year old mass grave excavated in Germany reveals a mystery: "Our analysis points to the local women being regarded as somehow special and were therefore kept alive."  Were the women captured simply for "companionship," as the story asserts?  Or was there something more going on?  

• Ancient Greek Burial:  A 2,300-year old grave containing a female skeleton, accompanied by four gold wreaths and gold earrings in the shape of dogs' heads set with semiprecious stones was uncovered during subway construction in Thessaloniki.  More coverage with photographs

• Alexander the Great's "Crown," Shield Discovered?  A re-examination of the original excavation done in 1977 yields surprising new findings.

• Honoring the Dead: Three Bronze Age round barrows excavated at Cossington, Leicestershire reflect Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Anglo Saxon times, showing how the three barrows were used in repeated ceremonies to honour the dead. They offer the first definite example of an Anglo Saxon cemetery sited on an earlier monument to be found in Leicestershire.  Silliest quote in the story:  “The re-use of the barrow by Iron Age, Roman and Anglo Saxon people is very interesting. These people could not have had any knowledge of the original use and meaning attached to the monument – but it survived as a prominent landmark in a fairly flat landscape and became the focus for settlement in these periods."  Really?  How arrogant to assume that the people who inhabited the area had no history and traditions passed down orally from generation to generation... 

• Older than Caral:  Is Bandurria in Peru the mother of all ancient American civilization? 

Guardians of Antiquity?

 
James Cuno, president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago, posits in his new book Who Owns Antiquity? (Princeton University Press, $24.95) that the UNESCO treaty and laws enacted around the world aimed at applying its principles have done nothing to stop looting and have succeeded only in inhibiting the global movement of art. UNESCO, he argues, has impoverished our understanding of one another and contributed to a stale, narrowly nationalistic view of culture.

More specifically, these laws have prevented museums like his from acquiring antiquities as they have in the past. He calls them "nationalist retentionist cultural property laws," and views them as one outcome of what he sees as the chauvinistic nationalism that has infected governments and led to the suppression of minorities and even ethnic cleansing.

“It is right to teach young people that chess is not a game of war, but is a beautiful game.”

(Russian Chess Grandmaster - Yuri Averbakh)

 

June 8 , 2008

The Goddesschess "Fighting Chess" Award
2008 U.S. Women's Chess Championship
Winner selected by G.M. Susan Polgar

Congratulations!



TATEV ABRAHAMYAN winner of the Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award,
who finished with six wins, three losses and no draws.

Some easy reading and listening...

Connections between Music and Chess by John Greschak: July 22, 1998 - May 24, 2008

Eshu's Cap: Improvisation at the Crossroads of the Diaspora
Marshall Soules, Ph.D. Malaspina University-College: "In his vernacular theory of the blues, Houston Baker situates the African-American idiomatic music at the railway junction, the place where road crosses tracks..."

Playing Chess With RZA By Dylan Loeb McClain