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WHAT'S NEW?
Random Roundup Archives
A clearinghouse of Random Roundup files
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October 3 - 26, 2008 |
Tricks! Treats! Spirits!
Simon Worrall explains why a recent discovery on the seabed of the Indian Ocean will revolutionise our understanding of two ancient civilisations. "The local fishermen believe that there are underwater spirits guarding the wrecks," says Tilman Walterfang, as our boatman picks his way through a maze of coral reefs and submerged rocks. Haunted Castles!
Archaeologists discover earliest ever foundations at Hampton Court Palace from 800 years ago. Photo: A rooftop view of the excavations taking place in the courtyard at Hampton Court Palace - check out the gargoyles! The unexpected discoveries were made during excavations as part of a project to recreate Henry VIII's Tudor 16th century courtyards Tales From the Crypt! Black Comedy! Uncovered in Cebu City, Philippines: The skeletal remains [of a chieftan] and burial items could help “determine the people's level of wealth or power in society.” The chieftain's identity is not yet known. He was buried with large ceramic items, the gold mask and a dagger.
More to see! (If you dare.... Bwah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!) Have a safe and happy Halloween! |
Ancient Egypt had powerful Sudan rival, British Museum dig shows New evidence about the power of a Sudanese civilisation that once dominated ancient Egypt has come to light thanks to a British Museum expedition. Unique Female Burials Discovered in Iran: Nails have been used in the females’ burial and they have not been found in the males’ graves. This indicates that females were buried in a unique manner during that period of the times, according to archaeologists working at the Pahluj site near the village of Mirar-Kola in northern Iran... “The existence of bunch of the nails over and under the bodies’ heads and feet is very strange indeed and we have no explanation for them yet,” according to Farzad Foruzanfar (his role in the excavations not identified in the article). Ancient Metal Workshop Discovered at Bam (Iran): Metal seals discovered may date back to 3500-3400 BCE. Hmmm...if that is so, then this pushes back the date of the beginning of metallurgy about 1,000 years and would be an earth-shaking discovery. Cf. this story about copper ax-heads discovered by an amateur metal detectorist on the Isle of Mann that date from the early Bronze Age (2500 – 2150 BC) in a period sometimes called the Copper Age when, the accepted chronology says, metal working was in its infancy and was beginning to replace flint as the new, modern material. Who is right? Revealing the Past: Minute bits of fish bones, dead insects and plant material wedged in the timbers of the "Drogheda Boat" could be the key to the story of Ireland's transport system, 500 years before gridlock. Amazonian Queen Excavations Reveal Ancient Palace in Sanlaurfa Early Byzantine mosaic of the goddess Kticic uncovered on floor area; its wall mosaics depict the Amazonian queens Hippolyte, Antiope, Melanippe and Penthesileia (on horse) hunting in the forest. Settlement of Istanbul put back 6,000 years Early Buddhist Manuscript Painting: The Palm-Leaf Tradition: July 29, 2008–March 22, 2009, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY, USA)
Folio from a Manuscript of the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) India (West Bengal) or Bangladesh, Pala period, early 12th century - Opaque watercolor on palm leaf This installation of thirty palm-leaf folios features some of the earliest surviving Indian illuminated manuscripts dating from the tenth to the thirteenth century. It centers on one remarkable Mahayanist Buddhist text, the Ashtasahashirika Prajnaparamita Sutra ("Perfection of Wisdom"), illustrated through the Museum’s rare holdings of eastern Indian and Nepalese illuminated palm-leaf manuscripts, book-covers, initiation cards, thankas, and sculptures. |
• Video presentation: We must accept, first of all, that Everything Is Energy •Selections for Ki in Chinese and/or Japanese The character itself is a representation of steam (or breath) rising from rice.
Chinese "Qi" and Egyptian "Paut" describe the ancient differentiation between common and sentient matter while linking the multiplicity of sentient forms to sentient "oneness". • "Orienteering" technique: Sorting our way through the cosmic rice bowl... Differential gearing - Since the time of the engineer and inventor Ma Jun (c. 200–265), the Chinese had used a mechanical device known as the South Pointing Chariot in order to navigate on land (and possibly at sea, as the Song Shu text of c. 500 alludes).
A Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD) ladle-and-basin lodestone south-pointing compass, used by ancient Chinese geomancers, but not for navigation. However, it was not until the time of Shen Kuo that the earliest magnetic compasses would be used for navigation. In his written work, Shen Kuo made one of the first references in human history to the magnetic compass-needle, the concept of true north, and its use for navigation at sea. Shen Kuo Dated much later than when liubo was actively played (predating and most popular during the Han Dynasty c. 220 BCE - 221 CE) but it's interesting about "fish" being cut out of sheet metal, magnetized and floated in water. See also "Dream Pool Essays" • Finding xiang qi in a Dream Pool of facts... The Yutopian website discusses the origins of Chinese chess and echos David Li's theory that liubo was a direct ancestor of xiang qi. An Introduction to Chinese Chess by (Terence) Peter Donnelly Author of Hsiang Ch’i: The Chinese Game of Chess (1974) Babel Stone An interesting blog that fills in some missing pieces. "It seems likely from finds such as these that Chinese Chess was played not only in China but also in neighbouring territories, such as those under the control of the Khitans, Jurchens, and Tanguts..." Preface to Charles Kliene’s "Seven Stars: • Compassing Yesterday and Today
Silk Road History Is your head hurting yet?
• Video 1 • Video 2 • Video 3 • Video 4 • Video 5 • Video 6 |
Either way, it's close enough to Halloween to offer a preview of some old headgear. Trick or treat, here is a sample of haberdashery. Pick your pillbox and if the fedora gives you fits (of inspiration, we hope), wear it! Let's begin at the beginning... maybe...
The so-called Sorcerer is a 15,000 year old Upper Palaeolithic painting in the Trois Freres cave in the French Pyrenees. It appears to show a shaman transforming into an animal. He is wearing a stag antler headdress and his feet appear to be furry and clawed. From France to Iran - quite a leap, even for a shaman!
Iran traces early human habitation
Goddess statue found in western Iran: The first phase of archeological excavations at Sheikhi Abad mound in Iran's Kermanshah Province has yielded the statue of a goddess. The statute, which resembles a figurine previously found in Kermanshah's Sarab-Mort, is believed by experts to be a valuable source of information. Skeletal remains of red deer, goat, ram and fish were also found at the site, which archeologists hope will elucidate how animals were domesticated in those days. Previous studies had dated Sheikhi Abad mound to nine to ten thousand years ago. Oh those teeny, tiny pictures! It appears we are not alone in our frustration over the lack of good photographic evidence of important archaelogical finds appearing (or not!) in press releases. In this era of dinky digital cameras there is simply no excuse for it! Here's what "Ishtar" over at Archaeolgica.org lays out for us on the subject of the antler shaped goddess. "I'm having the same trouble as you guys in seeing what is. ... the horns wouldn't rule it out from being female. On the contrary, at that time (roughly from the Neolithic up to the Christian period) you would expect it, as these are usually the goddesses at the heads of the very important Serpent Rites. For instance, Hathor, the Egyptian sun goddess had serpents coiled around her horns which carried the sun. Hathor was the earliest prototype for Isis, who also had horns."
Ishtar: "This next bit, from the news story, could have some significance." Quote: The first phase of archeological excavations at Sheikhi Abad mound in Iran's Kermanshah Province has yielded the statue of a goddess. The statute, which resembles a figurine previously found in Kermanshah's Sarab-Mort, is believed by experts to be a valuable source of information. Ishtar: 'Ab' means 'serpent', so the names of Sheikhi Abad and Sarab-Mort could be developments from serpent-worshiping centres. 'Mort' also means 'myrtle', after the myrtle trees found at the site, and myrtle was also used in serpent rites as we know from the Pyramid Texts.
This depiction of a god and goddess sitting either side of the World Tree comes from a Babylonian tablet circa 2330 BC. You can see there are two serpents entwined in the trunk of the tree, and the horned woman has a snake coiling up behind her. The woman is thought to be the goddess Ishtar and it is from the earliest record of what became the Garden of Eden story in the Bible, except in this original Mesopotamian version, the snake is not the devil but wisdom."
Ishtar: " ... depiction (above) of a horned goddess. It's dated to c 6,000 BC and it's from Mehrgarh in what was then Bharata-varsha, the old name for India. You can see the snakes coiled around the upper chest area."
Ishtar: "This horned theme was later developed into the lunar crescent, and the snakes around the upper chest were symbolised by strings of beads or 'japamalas'. However, in this picture, we can see that the trident behind the goddess Devi reflects the horns." "I think the earliest painting of Mary is this one dated to the 4th century from the Roman catacombs.
But it doesn't make sense that we have preserved images of goddesses going back to the 13000 BC (Venus of Willendorf) but none for the most famous of all until more than three centuries after the Christian era began. Having said all that, though, looking back at the picture of the news story, it does look much more like a horned antelope than a goddess!" Thank you, Ishtar! History of headgear in Persia Persia, India and Egypt... How do we put all these heads and their hats together and get them thinking chess? One possible source...
Name of Anahita in Different Cultures • "An inscription from 200 BC dedicates a SELEUCID temple in western Iran to "Anahita, as the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithra" • "The ANAHITA TEMPLE at Kangavar city of Kermanshah (a western province in present-day Iran) is possibly the most important one." As Dr Noury's comparative research clearly shows, a questionable source from Wikipedia (below) offers an incomplete synopsis... • "Aredvi Sura Anahita... is the Avestan language name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure, venerated as the divinity of 'the Waters' (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom." A new da Vinci Code?
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Czech archaeologists find unique 7000-year-old statue
"Qi which is also Romanized as Chi in Chinese or Ki in Japanese, is a fundamental concept of traditional Asian culture. Qi is believed to be part of everything that exists, as in “life force” or “spiritual energy”. It is most often translated as “energy flow,” or literally as “air” or “breath”.
This was apparently seen as the release of energy from the rice when this concept was first developed. To clarify, the character for rice is shown to the right. The Qi / Chi / Ki character is still used in compound words to mean steam or vapor.
