April 6 , 2008

Did the Chinese mistake a "cannon" in xiang qi (Chinese Chess) for the artistic "canon of proportions"? Well, chess and related board games are canonic expressions of a particular kind and all manner of things do get shot out of many different canons ... This week's meander through some explosive artwork and crisp photograhic images highlight the craft and courage of artists everywhere...

It is well known that representations of the human figure in ancient Egyptian art usually conformed to highly stylized principles in which the proportions between the different parts of the human body were determined by a set of fixed laws constituting a Canon of Art.

Museum of Harmony and the Golden Section
Mathematical Connections in Nature, Science and Art By Dr. Oleksiy Stakhov

Simulacra and simulations "The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth — it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. "Is the canon of chess more ideal than "real"?

Marion Drennen's Quantum Connections A Louisiana Artist working in Acrylic on Board, Marion's paintings incorporate the concepts of NUMBER and QUANTUM PHYSICS in an effort to evoke a sense of connectedness ...across time and space, within ourselves and in our relationships.

Mary Harrsch takes us on a photographic tour of several places. some of which may be of interest to chess hounds and board game researchers. Her photographs of New York's Metropolitain Museum of fine Arts exhibits bring back a few fond memories...

A visually stimulating tour de force from Ron Reznick's photographic archives... The J. Paul Getty Collection and L.A. County Museum of Art vie with some extraordinary wildlife shots that make this site a pleasure to tour.

An early canonic concept? The Sun-Headed Men
This world's man establishes the connection through images with the other world or his inner-world, or with the subconscious - if may we speak with terms of modern psychology. He makes models of these images, he either buries these models into earth or draws them onto rocks.

Mind of a Rock? Rock Art is "semantic" and chess pieces apparently have their own stories to tell. But what about those rocks? Talking rocks is the subject of this brief essay on consciousness. "Panpsychism may be easier to parody than to refute. But even if it proves a cul-de-sac in the quest to understand consciousness, it might still help rouse us from a certain parochiality in our cosmic outlook."

Homage to Pythagoras

From: Marion Drennen's Quantum Connections

March 30, 2008

A lyrical ode to the starry eyes of chess,
the game of the goddess!

My love must be a kind of blind love
I can't see anyone but you.

Archeoastronomy - The home page - cum blog of Alan Salut - a PHd candidate involved in finishing up his thesis on ancient astronomy and Greek colonisation. Lots of good links and insights about this relatively new field of study.

Are the stars out tonight?
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I Only Have Eyes For You, Dear.

More archeoastronomy - from Cloudbait Observatory, located under the dark skies of the central Colorado Rocky Mountains. A personal site from Chris L. Peterson that is worth exploring in its entirety.

The moon maybe high
but I can't see a thing in the sky,
'Cause I Only Have Eyes For You.

"Origins and Meanings of the Eight-Point Star"
"The shape that most clearly represents Morocco in my mind’s eye is the eight-point star. It is a simple shape made by overlapping two squares..." As we know there are other places perhaps more ancient that found this star quite important. Even so, this personal site offers a colourful tour of Moroccan culture.

I don't know if we're in a garden,
or on a crowded avenue.

The oldest solar observatory in the Americas has been found, suggesting the existence of early, sophisticated Sun cults, scientists report. It comprises a group of 2,300-year-old structures, known as the Thirteen Towers, which are found in the Chankillo archaeological site, Peru.

You are here
So am I
Maybe millions of people go by,
but they all disappear from view.

China finds ancient observatory: Archaeologists in northern China have reportedly found one of the world's oldest observatories.The remains, discovered near the city of Linfen in Shanxi province, are thought to be about 4,100 years old.

 

And I Only Have Eyes For You.

EXTRA!

Jan Xena, goddesschesses' very own warrior-goddess-reporter extraordinaire locks into the red transporter room at Piccadilly Circus and emerges on the other side of the known chess world!

EEEK! Does her recent visit with the distinguished court of Zenobia, "Empress of the East" suggest a hidden plot for universal conquest by these two powerful chess femmes?!! OR shall we take this Sassanian Origin for the Game of Chess as just an empty handed threat? My personal experience and the research of Dr. Ricardo Calvo say we should prepare for the unexpected!

March 23, 2008

And so begins this week's reconstructive adventure into the ancient art and science of tattoo...

"The reconstruction of ancient games is a very complicated subject where archaeological evidence, literary sources in Greek and Latin, and knowledge of general mechanisms of board games must be combined." - Ulrich Schadler Board Game Studies

(click image)

The Unique History of Chess Pieces Chess pieces are not only the rank-and-file of a chess game, but they are also the heart and soul of the chess game experience.

For more examples of incised markings, see Anna Contadini's collection of Islamic chess pieces.

Tattoos The Ancient and Mysterious History By Cate Lineberry- Smithsonian.com, January 01, 2007 Humans have marked their bodies with tattoos for thousands of years. These permanent designs - sometimes plain, sometimes elaborate, always personal - have served as amulets, status symbols, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs, adornments and even forms of punishment.

Ancient Egypt - the Light of the World by Gerald Massey Book 2 of 12 - Totemism, Tattoo and Fetishism as Forms of Sign Language

Tattoo History - A Brief History of Tattoos and Body Art Being one with the group or for standing out, the tattoo has always been a good bet. Here is a brief history of tattoos.

From red Hot Pawn: "I have several tattoos; one of which is really large, and I'd like to get a chess tattoo on my ribs. Let me dig up the image I've in mind."

From Edinburgh "I've always wanted a chess tattoo. So when I found out there was a new Tattooist at the West Port I went along to fulfill my dream."

More tattoo amusement from Susan Polgar's Blog.

Tattoo removal with Dr. Chess (!!) simply traces the laser light over the tattoo to begin the fading process. The lasers do not burn or cut the skin in any way. The skin remains intact, except for an occasional blister

Tattoo You or Tattoo Me?

(click image)

March 16, 2008

Out of Africa, Not Once But Twice - Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News March 14, 2008 -- Modern humans are known to have left Africa in a wave of migration around 50,000 years ago, but another, smaller group -- possibly a different subspecies -- left the continent 50,000 years earlier, suggests a new study.

Wine-carrying ship dates back 2,300 years The vessel, dating from the late Classical period (mid-fourth century B.C.) is one of only a few such ships to have been found so well-preserved, said University of Cyprus visiting marine archaeologist Stella Demesticha

Baltic yields 'perfect' shipwreck: A near-intact shipwreck apparently dating from the 17th century has been found in the Baltic Sea, Swedish television has said.

Did more frequent El Ninos 5,000 years ago drive early Peruvian hunter-gatherers from the coasts to the dry valleys of Norte Chico, forming the foundation for all subsequent Andean civilizations? Along the coast of Peru, a mysterious civilization sprang up about 5,000 years ago. This was many centuries before the Incan Empire. Yet these people were sophisticated.

Satellites spot lost Guatemala Mayan temples: GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Ancient Mayan astronomers aligned their soaring temples with the stars and now modern archeologists have found the ruins of hidden cities in the Guatemalan jungle by peering down from space.

Mayan Warfare FROM BLOG: Song of the Open Road - I am on a continuous vagabond journey around the world. Tips on how to travel the world on the cheap as well as yarns of the Open Road

The Geometry of Music

When you first hear them, a Gregorian chant, a Debussy prelude and a John Coltrane improvisation might seem to have almost nothing in common--except that they all include chord progressions and something you could plausibly call a melody. But music theorists have long known that there's something else that ties these disparate musical forms together.

http://music.princeton.edu/~dmitri/

Geometry, Music and Healing by Ani Williams

March 9, 2008

"It's in the cards!"
"No! It's the dice, stupid!"
They seek here, there and everywhere...

Why dice, cards and chess?
Let's ask the old man...

Stuart Culin's publications are a major source for anyone intersted in the ethnogrophy of games. Consequently, this page includes detailed biographical information about Culin with an annotated bibliography of his many publications.

Culin's work includes: "Comprehensive exploration of chess, playing cards, and other table and board games as played in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. Some content deals with similarity of North American Indian games and the games played in Europe and Asia.

Trionfi is the earlier name of Tarot cards, and that's, what this site is dedicated to. "We want to present material useful for the research of the oldest Tarot cards, and, of course, also to the question, where these objects come from and how they developed."

Sound familiar? If not - try this site instead! LOL!

The history of playing cards in Europe commences around 1370-1380. Out of an apparent void, a constellation of references in early literature emerge pointing to the sudden arrival of playing cards, principally in Belgium, Germany, Spain and Italy. Of course dice and certain board games were already long-established, and so playing cards were probably a new and novel addition to the repertoire of gambling pastimes.

Various contradicting suggestions have been given to explain the original meaning of the word Tarot. They range from old Egyptian origin to a cardmaker from the French village Taraux who may have produced the original Tarot cards. The true remains an enigma.

Other Chinese playing-cards (which they themselves regard as gambling cards) use systems rooted in dominoes and Chinese chess- and Rummy-type games which were not known in Europe until relatively recently.

Alf Cooke was an important producer of playing cards and card games in the UK during the period 1920-1970. The company had been founded in 1866 by Alf Cooke, in Leeds, as a general printer. Playing cards were first produced under the name of  'British Playing Cards' during the years 1920-25 with a variety of unusual court card designs. The name was changed to 'Universal Playing Card Company Limited' in 1925.

Rounding up a handful of random quotes

Iacta alea est. - The die is cast.
Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon

The dice of Zeus fall ever luckily.
Sophocles

The best throw of the dice is to throw them away.
Advice from an old English proverb

Whose game was empires and whose stakes were thrones.
Whose table earth, whose dice were human bones.
Lord Byron

I cannot believe God plays dice with the universe.
Albert Einstein

Not only does God play dice with the universe, He's using loaded dice.
John Ford

Not only does God play dice, He throws them where we cannot see them.
Steven Hawkings

Triumph depends on a roll of Fate's dice; the ultimate prize is a place in Heaven.
Friedrich Nietsche

March 2, 2008

SPRING FASHION - PREVIEW EDITION
Windows on ancient "appearances"
- Traditional attacks on Eros and Justice -
or
Going in and out of style - with a royal bang

Women in Ancient Egypt by Caroline Seawright (whom we admire for her excellent articles on AE) "In the ancient world, Egypt stood out as a land where women were treated differently... women were much more free than their counterparts in other lands... though they were not equal with men, both men and women in Egypt accepted that everyone had their roles in ma'at (the natural order of the universe)... and that the roles of men and women were different."

Jezebel Special at Biblical Archaeology Review:  Fit for a Queen - Jezebel's Royal Seal; How Bad was Jezebel?; First Lady Jezebel.

Erich Lessing: Looking out the window. Archaeologists have unearthed dozens of small ivories depicting women gazing out small, square windows. Beneath the face is a row of elaborate columns; the windows have several recessed frames. This ivory comes from Arslan Tash, in northern Syria; a less well-preserved example was discovered in Samaria (see photo of ivory from Samaria), the capital city of Ahab and Jezebel. More than 500 ivory fragments were found in Samaria, and although it is tempting to identify them with the pagan cult materials that Jezebel introduced into Ahab’s court, the dating of the ivories is uncertain. Some ascribe them to the ninth century B.C.E., when Ahab ruled, others to the eighth.

The most common motif found on Phoenician ivories, the woman at the window may represent the goddess Astarte (biblical Asherah) looking out a palace window. Perhaps this widespread imagery influenced the biblical author’s description of Jezebel, a follower of Astarte, looking out the palace window as Jehu approached (2 Kings 9:30)

Looks like poor Jezebel might have received better justice in Egypt and Phoenicia... But, that might not have always been the golden rule...

The small house shrine published here for the first time provides significant support for the contention that the Israelite God, Yahweh, did indeed have a consort. At least this was true in the minds of many ordinary ancient Israelites, in contrast to the priestly elite.

In what I call folk religion, or “popular religion,” Yahweh’s consort is best identified as “Asherah,” the old Canaanite mother goddess. From "A Temple Built for Two: Did Yahweh Share a Throne with His Consort Asherah?" by William G. Dever.  At Goddesschess we ask "did Asherah share a throne with her consort Yahweh?"

Oh those sexy Viking women - outfits banned by the early Church!  Pssst - did they really wear blouses underneath those open-front dresses?

Dress for success and a game of chess!

Imagine what this overdress would have looked like on the queen or princess who wore it, 4,500 years ago...

Bead-net dress
Egypt, Qau, tomb 978, dynasty 5, 2494-2345 B.C.E.
Faience with modern string
Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London.
Photo by Mary Hinkley

This is just one of the treasures on exhibit right now (through June 8, 2008) at the Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina (USA), on loan from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London. More images online here...

February 24, 2008

It is written - but is it understood?

Exciting discovery: 38-pound stone holds an ancient alphabet: On the last day of his 2005 archaeological dig in Israel, Ronald Tappy was up in a cherry picker, photographing his site, when a supervisor asked him to look at "some scratches" a college volunteer had found on a stone.

London, (CAIS) Two Sasanian inscriptions written in Sasanid-Pahlavi (Middle Persian) language have been discovered in Kohan-Dedz historical site in northeastern Iran. An Irano-French archeology team has discovered two inscriptions written in Sasanid-Pahlavi language during the third phase of excavations in Kohan-Dedz.

Archaeology: Ancient Writing or Modern Fakery? Ravenna, Italy Yousef Madjidzadeh, chief of excavations at Jiroft in southeastern Iran, has found tablets that he believes display a hitherto unknown writing system. But the circumstances surrounding their excavation have raised doubts about the tablets' authenticity.

Are there similarities between the "Jiroft script" and the "Indus script?" Like a number of other ancient Indus "decipherments" in the past century, the work of Dr. Asko Parpola (University of Helsinki, website) has concluded that the Indus sign system represented an ancient Dravidian language.

Want to translate English into Egyptian hieroglyphics? Or into Assyrian, Babylonian, Sumerian cuneiform? There is a online translation tool created by a University of Advancing Technology instructor to do it for you!

The moving finger writes - and having written,
moves on...

Is Salvador Dali giving us the finger?

Auction Watch: Dali "Finger" Set sold for $23,400 at Gallery of the Palm Beaches auction on January 7, 2008.

A close up look at the details of the digits of renowned artist Salvador Dali (Spanish 1904-1989) could be found in the figures of a chess set designed by Dali at the request of his friend Marcel Duchamp in 1964 for the American Chess Federation. All of the pieces of the set were modeled after Dali’s fingers except the two Queens which used one of Dali’s wife’s fingers crowned with a tooth and the rooks which were modeled after the salt cellars of the Hotel Saint Regis in New York. Of the thirty two pieces sixteen are sterling silver and sixteen are silver gilt. The set was cast by F. J. Cooper of Philadelphia and was signed and numbered “AE 45.”

But! But! But!
This auctioned set is actually a remake of the original Dali set, which, in my opinion, is more aesthetically pleasing. I am not sure if it is a reproduction of an original or not, but a version of the Dali chess set resides in the Contemporary Works section of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and many of the works on display there are the Real McCoy. (DMc)

"I don't want to claim that Fischer was afraid of me. Most probably he was afraid of himself. He believed that the world champion has no right to make mistakes. But with such a belief you can't play chess, because you can't avoid mistakes." Anatoly Karpov

"Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.” Robert J. Fischer

"Nobody taught Bobby. Geniuses, like Beethoven, Shakespeare and Fischer come out of the head of Zeus. They seem to be genetically programmed, know before instructed." John Collins

"Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Fischer lasted as long as he did. The only other American chess genius, Paul Morphy, was found dead in a bathtub in 1884 at the age of 47, surrounded by women's shoes." Will Buckley (The Guardian, January 19, 2008)

February 17, 2008

Did music lead to medicine? The ancient Chinese think so. "Pleasant music works to cultivate one's temperament, to purify one's mind, and to deliver a sense of beauty. But has it ever occurred to you that the creation of music was originally intended as a medicine to cure?"

Ancient Chinese Astronomy: New insights from old information China has the world’s longest-running observations of the sky: though based in astrology, they are of unique importance to astronomy today.

Pair of Indian Hardstone-Inlaid Marble Games TABLE-TOP 20TH CENTURY Each of square outshape with moulded edge and frieze variously inlaid with foliate arabesques around a specimen marble chess-board

24½ in. (62.5 cm.) square (2)
On auction at Christie's (Lot 0187, estimated 4,000-6,000 GBP) on March 19, 2008 at the London, King Street location (Sale Number 7569)

A rare edition of MANDRAGORIAS, SEU HISTORIA SHAHILUDII, VIZ. EJUSDEM ORIGO, ANTIQUITAS, USUSQUE PER TOTUM ORIENTEM CELEBERRIMUS (HISTORIA NERDILUDII). OXFORD: SHELDONIAN THEATRE, 1694, by Thomas Hyde (1636-1703), from the library of the Earls of Macclesfield (Shirburn Castle) is going on auction at Sotheby's

(Lot 4070, estimated 800—1,000 GBP) Sale: L08400
Location: London, New Bond Street
Auction Dates: Session 1: Thu, 13 Mar 08 10:3

 

 

 

The latest on the ongoing controversy about repatriation of the Lewis Chess Pieces. "UK CULTURE minister Margaret Hodge has dismissed Alex Salmond's demand for the Lewis Chessmen to be returned to Scotland as "nonsense

 

Women in Black

 

A quad of chess queens this month. 

The recently concluded 2008 Gibtelecom (Gibraltar) international tournament, in its 6th year, attracted chess stars from all around the world to compete in beautiful surroundings and for generous prize money. 

A separate Women's Event hosted some of the best female chessplayers in the world. Here are the top four finishers, all with 6.5/9 (they split the top 4 prize money of £9,000): (1st place) IM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan (GEO 2457),  (2nd place) IM Victoria Cimilyte (LTU 2475) (Cimilyte is married to super GM Alexi Shirov and has two children); (4th place) GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL 2464) (Stefanova, who earned her GM title in 2003 with a peak rating of 2560, was 2004 Women's World Chess Champion) and (3rd place) 16-year old IM Dronavalli Harika (IND 2455). 

These beautiful women from around the world amply demonstrate that chess ain't just for geeks! (or Muggles)...

February 3, 2008
a Special Focus on
Deterioration/Destruction of Ancient Sites

An Iranian-Italian archaeological team has started an emergency operation to restore one of the damaged bastions of Bam Citadel, severely damaged in an earthquake in 2003

Islamic Republic in Iran destroyed 60% of the architectural and archeological remains of Pol-Borideh in Chahar-Mahal Bakhtiari province overnight for road construction. The ancient site was registered on the National Heritage List.

CAIS reports that the Iranian Islamic regime destroyed the 2200-year-old Khoda-Afarid bridge also known as Negin, in Shiniyar district of Masjed-Soleyman in Khuzestan province

Swat Valley Buddha (Pakistan) defaced with dynamite by Islamic radicals

Silk Road art at Dunhuang Oasis in danger from shifting desert

Egypt's ancient rock art endangered by tourists who leave behind their filth and grafitti

Historians hustle as flood from dam project threatens ancient Alans town discovered in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia

Senet:
"His face in back - his face in front"
Still kicking after 5000 Years!
"I am yesterday and today - I know tomorrow"

"Located in the garden of the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium in San Jose is a large version of the Egyption board game called Senet."

What was senet? More than some chess historians would ever want to know, it seems. The game is described as being similar to backgammon. Obviously there was more to it than meets the eye. Ancient Egyptians considered it sublime.

February 3, 2008

From the very high

History of the depictions of the Stars, Constellations and other Celestial objects This site means what it says. Lots of excellent working links and a useful resource for all times and seasons.

Anthropology unites humankind rather than dividing it Only by understanding our cultural differences can we hope to get along on this planet, says Luke Freeman

Video: Art Theft's Odd Couple An ex-art smuggler and the former head of Scotland Yard's Art and Antiquities Squad have joined forces to expose illegal trade in ancient treasures.

to the lowest of low

UN vandals spray graffiti on Sahara’s prehistoric art Spectacular prehistoric depictions of animal and human figures created up to 6,000 years ago on Western Saharan rocks have been vandalised by United Nations peacekeepers. (A spry painted pox upon THEIR houses!)

and some points in between...

Ancient Mass Sacrifice, Riches Discovered in China Tomb A 2,500-year-old tomb containing nearly four dozen victims of human sacrifice has been excavated in eastern China, yielding a treasure trove of precious artifacts and new insights into ritual customs during the era of Confucius, archaeologists say.

Surprise Egypt Tombs Yield Ornate Coffins, Dog Mummies Four ancient tombs containing well-preserved mummies and ornate painted coffins have been unearthed in El Faiyum, an oasis about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Cairo (see map). (See photos of the tomb treasures.)

Is the United States Chess Federation in Trouble?
By Dylan Loeb McClain: "the federation’s finances... are not in good shape and the federation is projected to run a significant deficit..." (Why are we not surprised?)

Yima and his Bull:
Gemini and Taurus in the Lascaux Caves
By William Glyn-Jones

"The possibility that constellations, specifically Taurus and the Pleiades, were represented in the artwork of the Lascaux caves has been suggested before. Luz Antequera Congregado first suggested in her doctoral thesis in 1992 that the dots above the shoulder of this bull depict the Pleiades (and that the dots on the bull's face are the neighbouring Hyades).

Why THIS showcase? Topics related to archaeoastronomy and associated sciences are helpful to folks researching chess and other more ancient games. A little local proof for the skeptics among us is available here, here and here.

January 27, 2008
Seeing is believing! But sometimes what lies on the surface is not enough to convince us. This week's Random Roundup concentrates on what lies beneath!

The Archeology Channel Explore the human cultural heritage through streaming media. Travel through time and feel the thrill of discovery. Examine the wonderful diversity of the human experience!

Women warriors may have battled in ancient Cambodia: Archaeologists have found female skeletons buried with metal swords in Cambodian ruins, indicating there may have been a civilisation with female warriors.

The "Lost Lady of Rome": 2,000 year old intact female burial inside a lead coffin discovered in the Village of Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire - once the site of a major Roman town, Isurium Brigantium (England)

An intact skeleton of a female has been excavated from an ancient tomb dating back to around 2,200 years ago in central China's Hubei Province.

Ancient tomb in Henan excavated.  It is believed the graveyard in which the tomb is located dates back to the Eastern Wei Dynasty about 1,500 years ago

Why gambling is good for you The current discussion on the pros and cons of gambling has concentrated on what are often the tragic results of poor judgment and lack of self-control. Maybe, maybe not! See Prudence Jone's Guardian article, then decide for yourself.

BURIED ALIVE! (but still breathing...)

The Death of Checkers

"Checkers has been around for more than 400 years, has been enjoyed by billions of players and has taught generations of young children the joy of strategy. And now it’s all over. This July, Jonathan Schaeffer, a computer scientist at the University of Alberta in Canada, announced that after running a computer program almost nonstop for 18 years, he had calculated the result of every possible endgame that could be played, all 39 trillion of them."

January 20, 2008

Archaeological collection discovered after relic hunter’s death An unusual collection of over 3,000 archaeological items was discovered two years ago in a Prague apartment whose owner died in a fire. Archaeologists who have examined the collection say it contains some unique artefacts – with very little scientific value because vital information about their origin is missing. Experts complain that people with metal detectors who dig for treasures of the past are causing more harm than they might think.

Designers sought to conserve Da Vinci Code church Rosslyn Chapel, the Scottish church made famous by Hollywood blockbuster The Da Vinci Code , is seeking architects to improve visitor access and provide 'comprehensive conservation of the chapel'.

Self-Paced Brain-Computer Interface Gets Closer to Reality Using the human mind to control computers could lead to a wide range of applications, such as giving people with limited motion the ability to operate machines. However, translating thoughts into actions is a great challenge for researchers. How can a system determine which thoughts should be acted upon, and which thoughts are merely personal thoughts and therefore should be ignored by the system?

Ancient "Lost City" Discovered in Peru, Official Claims Ruins recently discovered in southern Peru could be the ancient "lost city" of Paititi, according to claims that are drawing serious but cautious response from experts

Indian Sphinx
With a lion’s body and a human head, the sphinx is a well known symbol of ancient art and myth. For the ancients, it was an elevated spiritual being, embodying secret knowledge and wisdom, that guarded sacred places. The most famous example is the Great Sphinx of Egypt, guarding the pyramids. Though it usually is connected with the ancient civilizations of Greece and Egypt, many depictions are found also around the Mediterranean and in the Middle East. But as seen in this video, the sphinx (or purushamriga) is also part of Indian art and tradition.

RIP Bobby Fischer (1943-2008)
Thoughts of Robert J. Fischer

Although it is impossible to condone some of Bobby Fischer's more tactless remarks and outspoken views, it is equally impossible to overlook his genius. Like the game he played with such incredible mastery, there will be many different views on the man and his legacy. R.I.P. Bobby Fischer.

January 13, 2008

As a companion to Andrew Monkman's Showcased (see below) "flower of life", in The Heart of the World, Ian Baker describes his expedition to find the mythical Tsangpo Gorge in Beyul Pemako, the 'Hidden Lotus-Shaped Land'. (Amazon US).

Better late than never. We missed getting this dispatch into Random Roundup in due time. To make amends... Auction Watch:

Sotheby's New York
November 21, 2007
Lot 207 
Sergio Carmargo (1930-1990)
CHESS SET: 32 PIECES

Estimated 20,000—30,000 USD
Lot Sold.  Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium:  20,000 USD
MEASUREMENTS 
smallest pawns: height::1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm), diameter: 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm); alternate measurements: largest pawns: height: 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm), diameter: 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
DESCRIPTION
white marble and black belgian marble
Edition of 10

"Someone or something bashed a guy known as Mummy No. 7 in the back of the head more than 1,500 years ago. Cal State Bakersfield anthropology professor Robert Yohe is trying to figure out the mystery behind his death."

Isotope analysis of teeth left behind from skulls removed from burials on Vanuatu give researchers new clues to the lifestyle and origins of the mysterious Lapita people, ancestors of today's Polynesians and Melanesians.

A little something for Russian chess researchers to ponder. An international archeological expedition to Lake Issyk Kul, high in the Kyrgyz mountains, proves the existence of an advanced civilization 25 centuries ago, equal in development to the Hellenic civilizations of the northern coast of the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) and the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.

An Iranian-Italian archaeological team has started an emergency operation to restore one of the damaged bastions of Bam Citadel, severely damaged in an earthquake in 2003

The "Flower of Life"...

...can be found in all major religions of the world. It contains the patterns of creation as they emerged from the 'Great Void'. Everything is made from the Creator's thought."

Andrew Monkman's websites - (click here and here) offer many visions to behold and some excellent research as well. Those interested in the rosette patterns appearing as decorative facets in chess and other board games may take note that the earliest use of rosette or asterid epigraphy is also Egyptian.

Although the so called Royal Game of Ur (c. 2600 BCE) does apply similar imagery, the first known use of the rosette appears meticulously and repeatedly incised with painstaking perfection onto at least one schist senet board of 33 squares. Currently stored in the Petrie collection, the board in question is of pre-dynastic (c. 3200-3300 BCE) Egyptian provenance. Like many other Egyptian precedents in sacred geometry, this discovery may give one pause to reflect on certain outlying possibilities buried deep beneath Egyptian soil.

January 6, 2008

A new hypothesis about why farming began - people wanted clothes, not food...

The flood believed to be behind the Noah’s Ark myth kick-started European agriculture, according to new research

Shades of Graham Hancock! Smithsonian Magazine wonders, are the Ethiopians really the keepers of the Lost Ark of the Covenant?

Workers unearthed an Old-Persian inscription belonging to the Achaemenid dynastic era during road construction in Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf (Iran). An article in The Tehran Times suggests that as many as five new words might be contained in the ancient Persian inscription. But it might be a fraud!

Mane and Tail?

This has been identified as a "horse comb," in this article at The Daily Mail (scroll down to article). Circa 25 - 75 CE, Great Britain, copper-alloy. We're doubtful. The comb is beautifully decorated with hatch-mark, scroll and spiral patterns. The hole in the center of the haft seems to be designed for ribbons to be threaded through, which would have added an additional decorative punch to the comb. If it were made of gold no one would question that the comb was a lady's accoutrement!

December 30, 2007

Archeologists have discovered the ruins of an 800-year-old Aztec pyramid in the heart of Mexico City that could show the ancient city is at least a century older than previously thought.

Chinese archaeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient city in eastern Zhejiang Province, which could better prove the long history of Chinese civilization.

A buried cache of 10,000 ancient Chinese coins weighing 1.5 tons uncovered in Changzi County, north China's Shanxi Province

Archaeologist and author Michael Cremo, the king of alternative history.

Epic Flood Triggered Ancient "Big Chill, Study Says: An epic gush of fresh water into the North Atlantic slowed a deep ocean current and triggered a century-long chill in Europe and North America some 8,200 years ago.

Remains of ancient civilization discovered on the bottom of a lake: An international archeological expedition to Lake Issyk Kul, high in the Kyrgyz mountains, proves the existence of an advanced civilization 25 centuries ago, equal in development to the Hellenic civilizations of the northern coast of the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) and the Mediterranean coast of Egypt...

Easter Island Stone Heads Endangered:
Gigantic statues will vanish without preservation effort

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