Diversions

2003-07-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

Cahokia figurines
~~~~~

New technique helps solve mystery of ancient figurines

Thanks in part to new spectroscopic technology, researchers have solved a great mystery concerning some of North America's oldest pieces of sculpture.

With the use of PIMA -- a non-invasive Portable Infrared Mineral Analyzer -- an interdisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has identified the source and meaning of "spectacular late prehistoric" figurines found in several locales in the South and the Southeast -- in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

According to lead researcher Thomas Emerson, an archaeologist and the director of ITARP (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program), the figurines were made of Missouri flint clay from quarries near St. Louis. Artisans at Cahokia, the earliest and largest North American mound society, which was centered in southern Illinois, in all likelihood produced the iconic figurines in the 12th century during an "artistic explosion," but the objects were moved at various times and to various places, where they eventually were found.

There now is evidence that after they were moved, some of the flint clay icons were recarved and retrofitted as smoking pipes, indicating a radical change in their significance. "There is a vast difference between bowing to an ancestral being and smoking one," Emerson said.

The figures appear to have been disbursed only after Cahokia began to decline in the middle or late 13th century, suggesting that the transfers were associated with "the collapse of the old order." Determining when Cahokia-made figures arrived at their new locations "is an important link in the interpretive chain," the researchers wrote in the spring/summer issue of American Antiquity.

In their research, Emerson and his team analyzed 13 museum specimens originally found in the South and Southeast to identify the mineral composition of the raw material. Figures included a resting and a conquering warrior, various squatting and kneeling men, frogs and frog pipes and a "chunky" game player. Cahokian-style figurines are characterized by a highly developed realistic portrayal of human or near-human figures; they are dressed in specific costumes and shown carrying out specific deeds. Occasionally, however, they seem to portray mythical acts or beings.

The transported figures probably were used for long periods of time in their new locations. Their importance "doesn't lie in economic power but rather in symbolic and ideological power."

The association of these highly symbolic figures with Cahokia allowed the researchers to propose that many of the themes -- for example, fertility and warfare -- that later appear in Eastern Woodlands native cosmology, such as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex," were first codified in Cahokia in the 12th century."

Other researchers were Randall Hughes, Illinois State Geological Survey; Mary R. Hynes, ITARP; and Sarah U. Wisseman, Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials.

2003-06-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Space impact 'saved Christianity'
BBC

2003-06-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Vatican
~~~~~

Vatican puts art collection online
msnbc

The Sistine Chapel is now online. The Vatican put its enormous art collection on the Web on Tuesday, launching a new site for the Vatican Museums that it hopes will attract more tourists while also disseminating the church’s message around the globe...

[V]isitors can view entire galleries of the Egyptian and Etruscan museums, the Pinacoteca painting gallery, the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel — part of a collection that the U.N. culture agency, UNESCO, has recognized for its place in the world’s cultural patrimony...

Still under construction is a part of the Web site dedicated to the Vatican’s Secret Archives, including documents concerning the Vatican’s disputed role in World War II.

Celli said that site would be ready in “the near future” but he noted that the museum site had been in the works since 1998.

Vatican Museums Online

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003-06-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Western Han Dynasty
~~~~~

2000 year old rice wine found in China
Peoples Daily, June 21. 2003
About five kilograms of light green rice wine were found in the western China city of Xi'an Friday afternoon when Chinese archaeologists unearthed a bronze wine jar shaped like a phoenix head...The unearthed wine jar, 78-cm tall, was identified the largest bronze ware made in Western Han Dynasty.
More from the AP (June 23, 2003)
Liquor from the period had been found in other tombs but never so well preserved...Liquor made from rice or sorghum was a major part of ceremonies and ritual sacrifices in ancient China, with elaborate bronze cups and decanters cast specifically for the purpose.
Several drinking vessels, along with bronze bells, more than 100 jade pieces and part of a human skull were found in the tomb, which Sun said probably belonged to a member of the Han nobility.
More from AFP
The archaeologists who found it in Xian -- home to the famous terracotta warriors -- do not plan to drink it anyway but have stored it in a glass container for further study, Xinhua news agency reported.
The wine, which is so old that Roman emperor Julius Caesar could have tasted it, has "high purity, marking a mature wine-making techology," Sun Fuxi, a Xian archaeologist said.

Famous Han Tombs in China
China went through its first great development during the Han Dynasty (BC206-220AD). This more than 400-year period left later generations abundant cultural relics and over 10,000 tombs constructed for emperors and officials...The Han tombs were mainly made of brick and stone. They were placed deep in the earth so that they would not become rotten and thus be destroyed. That's why we find so many tombs of the Han Dynasty today.

The Breathtaking and the Bizarre: The Mawangdui Tomb Treasures
The late Princess Di had nothing on the very late Lady Dai. Some 2,100 years ago, this wife of Li Cang, Marquis of Dai, enjoyed every luxury that Han Dynasty Hunan had to offer. Xin Zhui, the Marquise of Dai, lived her life surrounded by lacquer boxes, ornate pottery, musical instruments and an astonishing array of fine textiles.
...
She may not have had a terra cotta army to escort her into the afterlife, but the Marquise certainly would have been well attended once there: Carved wooden figurines, painted and clothed in silk garments, include butlers, handmaidens, and an entire troupe of musicians to keep the Marquise entertained. A regiment of wooden soldiers stands on guard to protect her possessions. Actual musical instruments were included as well: A set of twelve pitch pipes to tune Heaven's chamber ensemble, bamboo flutes of various sizes, a 32-pipe mouth organ, and most impressive, a large 25-stringed zheng, or zither.

A noble lady must always eat well, even in the afterlife. An elaborate array of cooking, serving, and eating utensils testify to China's highly developed ancient culinary tradition. Large earthenware and cast iron pots, colorful clay storage vessels, and painted dinnerware were packed to ensure Madame Xin Zhui ate in style. Several wicker baskets of varying sizes were even included in case she fancied a paradisiacal picnic.
...
The Marquise was also equipped to create a new Garden of Eden. Orchid, magnolia, cinnabar, and prickly ash seeds were carefully packaged, as well as a wide variety of fruit, grain and vegetable seeds.

It goes without saying that an aristocrat must look good--in this world or next. The Marquise's cosmetic case is a mind boggling collection of multi-tiered boxes and capsules, and a different hair comb for every conceivable social function ensured she would always be suitably coifed.

By ancient aristocratic standards, Madame Xin Zhui was as well heeled as they came. Forty-nine changes of clothes were retrieved from her tomb, most of them impeccably preserved, and represent perhaps the most spectacular of the tomb's many treasures. Among the fabrics are pearl-white ramie, loosely woven hemp, and brushed cotton--not to mention an impressive array of silks. Verdant silk shoes, silk gloves embroidered with migrant birds, and a transparent gauze silk robe are only a few objects found in the Marquise's armoire. Even more impressive are the silk garments decorated with exquisite raised-thread brocade designs. Larger cross-shaped funerary banners display an entire theatrical mise-en-scene, and offer insights into the complex social, political, and cosmological worlds of early Han Dynasty culture.

Emperor's enigma: Tomb's secrets stay sealed
Washington Times, June 6, 2003
While the discovery 29 years ago of the marvelous terra cotta warriors that guard the burial site came as a complete surprise, the existence of the mound was common knowledge. Yet, to this day, the tomb of Qin (pronounced "Chin") Shihuangdi â€” who united warring states and took the name "China's First Emperor" â€” remains untouched by the spades of archaeologists. A conundrum wrapped in legend and rumor, the resting place of the emperor holds the promise of a treasure trove that staggers the minds of those who have studied, contemplated and dreamt of unearthing it.

Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) and the Silk Road
Liu Bang established the powerful Han Dynasty in 206 B.C. During the Han Dynasty, agriculture, handicrafts and commerce flourished, and the population reached 50 million. During his reign (140-87 B.C.), the most prosperous period of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che, Emperor Wudi, expanded the territory of the empire from the Central Plain to the Western Regions (present-day Xinjiang and Central Asia). He dispatched Zhang Qian twice as his envoy to the Western Regions, and in the process pioneered the route known as the Silk Road from Changan, through Xinjiang and Central Asia, and on to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Chinese silk goods were traded to the West along the Silk Road. As contacts between the East and West increased, Buddhism spread to China in the first century. In 105, an official named Cai Lun invented a technique for making fine paper, which is considered to have been a revolution in communication and learning.

Art from the Qin and Han Dynasties

Han Poetry
Life's years do not last
Life's years do not last a century, man ever nurses worries of one thousand years.
Morning is short alas! night is long, why not hold a candle and have fun?
Make merry we must while there's time! Can I wait for next year?
The fool who begrudges spending will just make posterity laugh out loud!
The immortal Wang Ziqiao it's hard to expect to equal him.

History of the Silk Road
The Silk Road was the information super highway of its age, serving as the conduit not only for goods but also for the transmission of knowledge and ideas between east and west...

The Heritage of Han
The unity of the empire was seen as a crucial task for every Chinese emperor, not only political, but also in the sphere of intellectuality, philosophy and culture. This claim of unity is still seen today, even if Confucianism is not any more the core of state or private thinking.
The word "China" derives from the name of the Qin Dynasty, and a lot of terms for "China" are derived from the name of the river Han that was also the name of the glorious Han Dynasty. "Chinese language" is called hanyu, "Chinese characters" are called hanzi, the people inhabiting China are called hanren or hanzu. The word "Han" does not simply mean "man", but "hero" (yingxiong hao han). Many small dynasties in later times styled themself "Han", even Korean and Japanese clans claimed to be decendents of the Han ruling clan Liu. The Korean capital Seoul is called Hancheng "City upon Han River". The centralized governmental system, legist law and Confucianism as state doctrine remained for almost two thousand years as foundations of the empire, led by the Han Dynasty.

Han Archeological Sites Lost to Three Gorges Dam
Sydney Morning Herald, May 31, 2003
[N]ew antiquities, including early human remains, are being found faster than they can be saved. The town of Fengdu has long been regarded as one of the best places in China to be buried from the point of view of a happy afterlife. It was torn down last October, and its thousands of hilltop tombs dating back to the 3rd century Han dynasty bulldozed to level sites for new apartment blocks.

"We can only save one-tenth of historic sites and relics," lamented Xu Guangji, a senior archaeologist of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to the state-run China Daily newspaper recently. "The rest will be forced to go under water."

Map of Han Dynasty

Chinese Tombs and Temples

Royalty in China

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003-06-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

The Inca Empire
~~~~~

Inca may have used knot computer code to bind empire
Independent, June 31, 2003
They ran the biggest empire of their age, with a vast network of roads, granaries, warehouses and a complex system of government. Yet the Inca, founded in about AD1200 by Manco Capac, were unique for such a significant civilisation: they had no written language...But a leading scholar of South American antiquity believes the Inca did have a form of non-verbal communication written in an encoded language similar to the binary code of today's computers. Gary Urton, professor of anthropology at Harvard University, has re-analysed the complicated knotted strings of the Inca - decorative objects called khipu - and found they contain a seven-bit binary code capable of conveying more than 1,500 separate units of information.

It has long been acknowledged that the khipu of the Inca were more than just decorative. In the 1920s, historians demonstrated that the knots on the strings of some khipu were arranged in such a way that they were a store of calculations, a textile version of an abacus.

Khipu can be immensely elaborate, composed of a main or primary cord to which are attached several pendant strings. Each pendant can have secondary or subsidiary strings which may in turn carry further subsidiary or tertiary strings, arranged like the branches of a tree. Khipu can be made of cotton or wool, cross-weaved or spun into strings. Different knots tied at various points along the strings give the khipu their distinctive appearance.

Professor Urton's study found there are, theoretically, seven points in the making of a khipu where the maker could make a simple choice between two possibilities, a seven-bit binary code. For instance, he or she could choose between weaving a string made of cotton or of wool, or they could weave in a "spin" or "ply" direction, or hang the pendant from the front of the primary string or from the back. In a strict seven-bit code this would give 128 permutations (two to the power of seven) but Professor Urton said because there were 24 possible colours that could be used in khipu construction, the actual permutations are 1,536 (or two to the power of six, multiplied by 24).

This could mean the code used by the makers allowed them to convey some 1,536 separate units of information, comparable to the estimated 1,000 to 1,500 Sumerian cuneiform signs, and double the number of signs in the hieroglyphs of the ancient Egyptians and the Maya of Central America.

If Professor Urton is right, it means the Inca not only invented a form of binary code more than 500 years before the invention of the computer, but they used it as part of the only three-dimensional written language. "They could have used it to represent a lot of information," he says. "Each element could have been a name, an identity or an activity as part of telling a story or a myth. It had considerable flexibility. I think a skilled khipu-keeper would have recognised the language. They would have looked and felt and used their store of knowledge in much the way we do when reading words."

There is also some anecdotal evidence that khipu were more than mere knots on a string used for storing calculations. The Spanish recorded capturing one Inca native trying to conceal a khipu which, he said, recorded everything done in his homeland "both the good and the evil"...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BBC uncovers Scots jungle history
June 20, 2003

A BBC Scotland expedition has uncovered a major haul of artefacts from a failed attempt to create a wealthy Scottish empire in the Panama jungle.
The 17th century scheme - known as the Darien Venture - cost 2,000 lives, lost about half of the country's wealth and is said to have changed the course of Scotland's political history.

Many historians believe it also led many Scots to support the Act of Union and the abolition of the first Scottish Parliament in 1707.

...

During the expedition, the group found parts of the fortifications known as Fort St Andrews and the remains of huts in what was to be New Edinburgh, a communal oven and the wreck of a supply ship.

Also among the finds were Scottish pennies and a pocket sundial, musket balls, cannonballs, a grenade and tools.

All will be featured in 'Darien - A Disaster in Paradise' to be shown on BBC Two Scotland on Thursday, 10 July.

It will show dramatic reconstructions of the original venture - based on journals and letters sent by the original colonists - with actor Bill Paterson playing his namesake William Paterson, the visionary behind the venture.

...

"On one level it was complete folly to put so much of Scotland's hopes for the future in one basket, but in another way you can see what they were trying to achieve.

"If Darien had succeeded, Scotland may have remained independent with the possibility that the United Kingdom would never have been created."

However, the programme reveals the likelihood of success was always slim as the Spanish believed they owned the area, which was their main gold trading route, and were determined not to let the Scots get hold of it.

Untypically the English were at peace with Spain - for the first time in 30 years - and would offer no assistance to the colonists.

Leader of the expedition of international volunteers, Dr Mark Horton of Bristol University, said: "The absolute fatal flaw in the whole expedition was Scotland had not realised just how key this bit of land was to the Spanish because this was where all the gold and silver from South America was funnelled through.

"If they allowed the Scots into Darien then the Spanish Empire would have collapsed.

"New research and historical records in Madrid have shown that actually if the first campaign had failed the Spanish were mounting an even bigger one."

2003-06-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

New Blog Showcase
~~~~~

I decided to stick my head up out of my hole and submit Diversions to the New Blog Showcase this week at The Truth Laid Bear and could use all of the support I can get.

To vote for me, make a link in your blog to this Treasure of Nimrud post about the gold accessories that were recently recovered in Iraq.

Also, here are also a few interesting new blogs to check out:

A Blog of His Own--A random smattering of meandering thoughts

An Unsealed Room--A Window on Life in Isreal

Entre Nous / Musings of a former Belgian--Reflections on current affairs and the US-European cultural divide by a former Belgian "liberal mugged by reality

truck808--robert posts a photo of a truck every day at 8:08pm and shares a story inspired by that truck

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003-06-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

Ossuary of James

~~~~~

Burial Box Not from Jesus Brother, Experts say
Reuters

The burial box and its Aramaic inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" had excited speculation it could be the earliest physical reference to the founder of Christianity outside the New Testament.

But the director of Israel's Antiquities Authority, Shuka Dorfman, called it a hoax.

...

James, who was believed to have been stoned to death in 62 A.D., is mentioned in the Gospels as Jesus' brother. Jews and Protestants accept that, but Catholics -- who believe Christ's mother, Mary, was a virgin all her life -- say he was a cousin.

...

The committee concluded that "even if the ossuary is authentic, there is no reason to assume the bones of Jesus' brother were inside," and that the stone of the box was more typical of Cyprus and northern Syria than ancient Israel.

The committee's report said the inscription of the "James Ossuary" cut through the stone's patina, or natural fossilized sheen, and appeared to be in modern text, written by someone attempting to reproduce ancient biblical fonts.

The experts could not pinpoint when the inscription was forged.

An Israeli antiquities collector bought the ossuary in the 1970s but had no idea of its significance. Last year, he invited Andre Lemaire, a renowned French scholar of ancient texts, to examine it. Lemaire concluded the inscription was genuine.

Christianity Today's weblogwith lots of links about the recent findings."
Repository of background information & articles about the ossuary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003-06-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Otto I
~~~~~

Skeleton Holds Key to German Emperor's Cathedral
Reuters
"This is one of the biggest finds in recent years in the history of medieval archeology," Ludowici, an archeologist from the Central European History and Culture institute in Magdeburg, told Reuters.
...

Historians had long believed that Otto's cathedral was sunk under the current cathedral building, completed in 1520.

Ludowici disagreed. Her research indicated that the old cathedral lay buried some 50 yards from its successor.

"Previous wisdom said the cathedral was one of Otto's palaces, but our findings show that people who are prepared to put in the research get rewards for their efforts," she said.

...

"The lavish decoration and the building's 41 meter (yard) width invite the conclusion that the church must be a cathedral. That is, the cathedral of Otto the Great," said Kuhn.

The cathedral's dimensions alone make it one of the largest to have been found from that period in Western Europe, and the discovery is of prime importance to art historians.

"Architectural finds of this order are so scarce that it will definitely challenge the preconceptions of art historians about monumental buildings from this period," said Ludowici.

Who was Otto I?
Many historians regard Otto I, king of the Germans from 936 to 973, as the architect of the Holy Roman Empire, ruling an area encompassing modern Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, eastern France and northern Italy.

Ludowici, with her fellow archeologist Rainer Kuhn from the state office for archeology, uncovered the foundations of the once-proud building in Magdeburg, where Otto founded an archbishopric and built a cathedral in 968 to consolidate church power in the East.

Later destroyed, a new cathedral was built in its place.

Ludger Koerntgen, lecturer in medieval history at the University of Tuebingen, said the cathedral was central to the establishment of Christianity in what is now eastern Germany, lands previously occupied by heathen Slavonic tribes.

"The cathedral was designed as the centerpiece of Otto's power base and thus a key element to the empire's structure which proved to be so enduring," Koerntgen said.

...

He inherited the eastern part of an empire founded by the Frankish king Charlemagne, who reinstated the office of the emperor as the secular head of the church with his coronation in Rome in 800 after becoming master of Western Europe.

After his death the empire split between east and west, and it was Otto's forebears, the dukes of Saxony, who eventually emerged as Charlemagne's successors in the East.

In 962 Otto was the first German king in almost a century to be crowned emperor by the pope. The power base he secured proved the foundation for the office of Holy Roman Emperor which would endure until its abolition by Napoleon in 1806.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003-06-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

Nefertiti
~~~~~

Mummy may be Nefertiti
Sunday Times

*One of the most legendary beauties of the ancient world

*Stepmother of the boy king Tutankhamun

*One of the most powerful women in ancient Egypt

Bust of Nefertiti

Who was she?
Nefertiti was the wife of Akhenaten. Nefertiti, which means "the beautiful woman has come" is one of the most famous and beloved of all ancient Egyptians. One of the best known Egyptian treasures is a bust of her that can be found in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. Not much is known about where she came from or who she was, but there has been much speculation about this. She appeared with Akhenaten during his fourth year at el-'Amarna, which was Akhenaten's new city. The city was dedicated to the god Aten. In the sixth year of his reign, her name was changed to Nefernefruaten, which means "Beautiful in beauty is Aten". They lived in 'Amarna and held religious ceremonies celebrating Aten.

They raised six daughters but no sons at 'Amarna. One of their daughters, Meket-Aten, died. Their mourning was shown on wall paintings. After the death of their daughter, Nefertiti disappeared from the court. Some evidence shows that she stayed in 'Amarna, but lived in a villa called Hataten.

Update:
Possible Nefertiti find met with skepticism
ap
Egyptologists cast doubt Tuesday on an expedition's claim that it may have found the mummy of Queen Nefertiti, one of the best- known ancient Egyptians.

Skeptics said X-ray analysis of the mummy found in Luxor's Valley of the Kings, the ancient royal burial ground for Egypt's pharaohs, indicates it is the body of a 16-year-old girl. Nefertiti is believed to have died in her 30s.

.....

Zahi Hawaas, secretary- general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said any similarity between the mummy's face and Nefertiti's statue isn't worthy evidence because during that period "art was idealistic and not realistic."

...

beOther Egyptologists have also said it will be very hard to prove the mummy belongs to Nefertiti.

Fletcher "is making a lot of assumptions," said Lisa Sabbahy, a professor of Egyptology at the American university in Cairo.

She said that at the end of the Egyptian New Kingdom, many royal tombs were robbed. This prompted priests to collect all the mummies and put them in new coffins in other locations.

During this process, a wig belonging to one mummy might have been put on another, she said.

She said a DNA test also would not help because Nefertiti came from outside the royal family. She was the wife of Akhenaton - the 18th dynasty king.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003-06-07T23:15:00.000-07:00

Treasure of Nimrud
~~~~~

Ancient Assyrian Treasures Found Intact in Baghdad
National Geographic
Gold jewelry and other precious items recovered from royal tombs excavated at the ancient Assyrian capital of Nimrud, and objects from the royal cemetery at Ur, have been found where they were stashed for safetyâ€”in a vault below the Central Bank in Baghdadâ€”before the onset of the Gulf War in 1990.

The 2,800-year-old treasuresâ€”which are regarded by some archaeologists as rare and precious as the objects found in Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tombâ€”were in three cases that had been sealed and secured in the underground vault. The cases were not found until last week because the basement of the bank was flooded, possibly deliberately by bank officials as a way to protect the treasures from looters.

...

A documentary producer for Ultimate Explorer, Jason Williams, had been following the treasures of Nimrud story for nearly a decade. Ultimate Explorer host Lisa Ling traveled with Williams and a crew to Iraq to investigate what happened to one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time for a documentary to air in the United States on MSNBC on July 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Where did The Treasures of Nimrud come from?
The treasure came from four tombs containing what is thought to be the remains of four princesses or consorts of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud, in what is now northern Iraq.

Two of the tombs were discovered before the Gulf war in 1991, and details began to emerge in the West, but the subsequent isolation of Iraq put an end to the flow of information.

Before the presentation, the discovery of the remaining tombs was known to only a handful of academics.

The hoard, which dates from the 9th and 8th century BC, is thought by experts to rival that of 3,500-year-old Tutenkhamun in its quality and significance. One tomb alone was found to contain gold objects weighing 66lb.

It comprises hundreds of solid gold objects, including earrings, rings, necklaces, toe rings, diadems, plates, bowls and flasks, many of which are exquisitely engraved and set with semi-precious stones or enamel.

One of the most spectacular pieces is an elaborate head-dress made up of dozens of small linked pieces of solid gold and decorated with filigree work. Nimrud, Nineveh, Tall Brek and Ur were capitals of the Assyrian empire.

The tombs, two of which are bronze and two stone, were discovered in sealed chambers beneath the floors of vaults below the remains of a

Photos

City of Nimrud

Assyrian History

"A day in life of an Assyrian military officer, 701BC"
On a warm summer morning, even before the sunrise, when everybody else was still asleep in the house, Shimmokeen1 woke up at his home in Kalhu. He felt somewhat light-headed and a bit confused after last night's banquet that took place at his home...
continue

SUMERIAN CUNEIFORM
The world's first written language was created more than 5,000 years ago, based on pictograms, or simplified drawings representing actual objects or activities. The earliest cuneiform pictograms were etched into wet clay in vertical columns and, later, more symbolic signs were arranged in horizontal lines, much like modern writing. Cuneiform was adapted by several civilisations, such as the Akkadians, Babylonians and Assyrians, to write their own languages, and used for 3,000 years. Many of the clay tablets, and the occasional reed stylus used to etch cuneiform on them, have survived. Knowledge of cuneiform was lost until 1835 when a British Army officer, Henry Rawlinson, found inscriptions on a cliff at Behistun in Persia. They were identical texts written in three languages - Old Persian, Babylonian and Elamite - which allowed Rawlinson to make the first translation for many hundreds of years.

Assyrian Seige of Lachish in Juduh during the reign of Hezekiah

Virtual Tour of the Assyrian Wing of the Oriental Institute

Assyrian Palaces

Religion

Timeline

Modern Map with Achaeological Sites

Map of Assyrian Empire

Assyrian Search List

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003-06-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

Anglo Saxon brooch has oldest writing in English
Telegraph
What is believed to be the oldest form of writing in English ever found has been uncovered in an Anglo-Saxon burial ground. It is in the form of four runes representing the letters N, E, I and M scratched on the back of a bronze brooch from around AD650. The six inch cruciform brooch is among one million artefacts recovered from a site at West Heslerton, near Malton, North Yorks, since work began there in 1978. Dominic Powlesland, the archaeologist leading the excavation team, said: "This could well be the earliest example of written English we know of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003-06-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tintern Abbey
Inspired by Mirabilis.CA
~~~~~
Tintern Abbey was founded for Cistercian monks in 1131 and the present remains date from the late 13th century. The richest abbey in Wales would have begun to decay soon after 1536, by which time king Henry VIII had decided to appropriate the wealth of the religious houses. Many of the abbeys soon became roofless as their lead was quickly plundered and the fact that the ruins still stand is testament to the great skills of the medieval designers and craftsmen.

Take a virtual tour, and see the abbey restored to it's former glory.

Explore the abbey's ruins as they appear today.

See how the abbey inspired the Romantics
Turner's watercolor of the abbey's interior

William Wordsworth's Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey,
On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798
FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur.--Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
The day is come when I again repose
Here, under this dark sycamore, and view 10
These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,
Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,
Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
'Mid groves and copses. Once again I see
These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines
Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,
Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke
Sent up, in silence, from among the trees!
With some uncertain notice, as might seem
Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods, 20
Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire
The Hermit sits alone.
These beauteous forms,
Through a long absence, have not been to me
As is a landscape to a blind man's eye:
But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration:--feelings too 30
Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
As have no slight or trivial influence
On that best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered, acts
Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust,
To them I may have owed another gift,
Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,
In which the burthen of the mystery,
In which the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world, 40
Is lightened:--that serene and blessed mood,
In which the affections gently lead us on,--
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
And even the motion of our human blood
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body, and become a living soul:
While with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.
If this
Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft-- 50
In darkness and amid the many shapes
Of joyless daylight; when the fretful stir
Unprofitable, and the fever of the world,
Have hung upon the beatings of my heart--
How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,
O sylvan Wye! thou wanderer thro' the woods,
How often has my spirit turned to thee!
And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought,
With many recognitions dim and faint,
And somewhat of a sad perplexity, 60
The picture of the mind revives again:
While here I stand, not only with the sense
Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts
That in this moment there is life and food
For future years. And so I dare to hope,
Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first
I came among these hills; when like a roe
I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides
Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
Wherever nature led: more like a man 70
Flying from something that he dreads, than one
Who sought the thing he loved. For nature then
(The coarser pleasures of my boyish days,
And their glad animal movements all gone by)
To me was all in all.--I cannot paint
What then I was. The sounding cataract
Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,
The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,
Their colours and their forms, were then to me
An appetite; a feeling and a love, 80
That had no need of a remoter charm,
By thought supplied, nor any interest
Unborrowed from the eye.--That time is past,
And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this
Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur, other gifts
Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,
Abundant recompence. For I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour
Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes 90
The still, sad music of humanity,
Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
To chasten and subdue. And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;
A motion and a spirit, that impels 100
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still
A lover of the meadows and the woods,
And mountains; and of all that we behold
From this green earth; of all the mighty world
Of eye, and ear,--both what they half create,
And what perceive; well pleased to recognise
In nature and the language of the sense,
The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul 110
Of all my moral being.
Nor perchance,
If I were not thus taught, should I the more
Suffer my genial spirits to decay:
For thou art with me here upon the banks
Of this fair river; thou my dearest Friend,
My dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch
The language of my former heart, and read
My former pleasures in the shooting lights
Of thy wild eyes. Oh! yet a little while
May I behold in thee what I was once, 120
My dear, dear Sister! and this prayer I make,
Knowing that Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead
From joy to joy: for she can so inform
The mind that is within us, so impress
With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all 130
The dreary intercourse of daily life,
Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
Is full of blessings. Therefore let the moon
Shine on thee in thy solitary walk;
And let the misty mountain-winds be free
To blow against thee: and, in after years,
When these wild ecstasies shall be matured
Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind
Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms, 140
Thy memory be as a dwelling-place
For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then,
If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,
Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts
Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,
And these my exhortations! Nor, perchance--
If I should be where I no more can hear
Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams
Of past existence--wilt thou then forget
That on the banks of this delightful stream 150
We stood together; and that I, so long
A worshipper of Nature, hither came
Unwearied in that service: rather say
With warmer love--oh! with far deeper zeal
Of holier love. Nor wilt thou then forget,
That after many wanderings, many years
Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,
And this green pastoral landscape, were to me
More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!
1798.