Archive for January, 2008
By: The Scribe on January, 2008
Discovered in a palace from the ancient city of Caesarea, a 1,400-year-old glass mosaic is thought to be the only one of its kind to exist in the current archaeological record.
The city of Caesarea was located on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, and had successive occupations during the Roman period and the Byzantine era, and it also contains some ruins from the Crusades. The history of the palace that was being excavated, where the mosaic was found, is relatively unknown – the owner of the palace has yet to be discovered, and the time of the building’s original construction remains to be seen. However, judging by the history of the surrounding area, the occupants were likely Christian.
The gleaming glass mosaic found here is unique because of the style of tiling used in its construction: there were two motifs used, both crosses and eight-petal rosettes, while some tiling was done with gold glass and other portions were done using the traditional, multicolored & opaque glass tiles.
The mosaic’s preservation over the centuries was incredible, likely due to the way the panel fell: face down onto the earth, which protected the blue, green, and gold shades from damage and fading.
What the panel was originally used for is unknown – and whether it belonged to a window, or was simply a decorative piece, was unclear from the excavation context. Regardless, the mosaic is a one-of-a-kind discovery, and a clear testament to the high quality of craftsmanship at the time.
Want to read more?
Tomorrow: More Ancient Standard
By: The Scribe on January, 2008
Sister Maria Celeste, born under the name Virginia Gamba, came into the world on August 16th, 1600. She was the daughter of the now-famous astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher Galileo Galilei and a woman named Marina Gamba – Marina actually bore all three of Galileo’s children, but the two never wed. As a result, Virginia and her sister Livia were considered illegitimate and unmarriable – and so Galileo entered his two daughters into the San Matteo convent of Florence just after Virginia’s 13th birthday.
Galileo wanted his daughters to have a good life and to be cared for, and since they could not marry, life in a convent was the best option at the time. Unfortunately, the girls were considered too young to make the decision to enter a convent for themselves, and Galileo was met with significant resistance from the church authorities. After a time, Galileo was able to obtain special dispensation from the Cardinal Maffeo Barberini – who just so happened to be an admirer of Galileo’s work – and in 1613, his two daughters were placed in the San Matteo convent of Arcetri, Florence.
In 1616, Virginia realized that the life of a nun was truly what she wanted for herself, and proceeded to “take the veil”. She chose the name of Sister Maria Celeste – young women were expected to take a new name, symbolic of their new devotion – which represented both her reverence for the Virgin Mary, and her father’s passion for astronomy.
As Galileo’s scientific books began to stir up controversy among leaders of the Catholic Church, father and daughter began composing letters to each other, an activity which likely sustained Galileo through some of his darkest trials. While very little is known about Maria Celeste’s actual life, about 120 letters have survived – written between 1623 and 1634 – that she wrote to her father while in the convent. Unfortunately, only one side of the story survives – after Maria died, the church authorities burned Galileo’s letters to his daughter, not wishing to retain the writings of someone considered to be a heretic.
The picture of Maria that emerges from these letters is of a caring, loving daughter, who was not only constantly concerned with her father’s well being, but who also seemed to nearly match him in intelligence and wit. She often prepared her father’s manuscripts, a feat which must have been remarkable to accomplish inside the convent – under the rule of the very church that accused her father of heresy. However, Maria saw that Galileo was a devoted man of God whose scientific discoveries clashed in no way with his religious beliefs – yet, in 1633, Galileo was tried and convicted of heresy.
For a time, Maria served as the convent’s apothecary, and was able to send various remedies to her father, now living in Tuscany, for his ailments, and managed to appeal to him on more than one occasion to help the convent’s upkeep – the convent of San Matteo was extremely poor, as the nuns had no means with which to feed themselves or repair the buildings. After notifying her father of various problems, Galileo even took it upon himself to ensure that the convent clock was running properly at all times.
When Galileo was convicted of heresy, he was sentenced to house arrest in Arcetri – which happened to be near enough to the convent that he could see its outer walls and hear the bells each day. Another portion of his sentence had been to recite the seven penitential Psalms once every week for the next three years, which Maria Celeste took upon herself to perform for him – however, it wasn’t long before she contracted dysentery and died on April 2nd, 1634, only four months after her father’s return to Arcetri.
Want to read more?
Tomorrow: More Ancient Standard
By: The Scribe on January, 2008
Apparently, the ancient Greeks were concerned more concerned about cleanliness and bacteria that they’re given credit for! In ancient Greek mythology, the goddess Hygieia was the daughter of the god Asclepius – the god of medicine and healing – and was associated with preventing sickness and the preservation of good health. Essentially, she was the goddess of cleanliness, health, sanitation… and the moon, oddly enough.
It’s thought that Hygieia might have had her own cult as early as the 7th century BC, but it is more likely that during this period, the goddess Athena was associated with this title – in Plutarch’s writings, he mentions a bronze statue of ‘Athena Hygieia’. However, the early years of the cult were strictly local, and it was only after the ‘Cult of Hygieia’ was recognized by the Oracle of Delphi that the goddess’ worship began to spread.
It probably also helped that there were several critically devastating plagues in Athens in 429 and 427 BC, which was when the cult began to rise in prominence. Another plague at Rome in 293 BC also helped to secure her position there – the people were desperate for help in the face of such a dire situation, so naturally they turned to a goddess who was supposed to be in charge of health.
The largest temples and centers of worship for Hygieia were at Epidaurus, Corinth, Pergamon and Cos – and in these temples were statues of Hygieia to which suppliants would bring offerings. The Greek traveler and geographer Pausanias noted something very interesting about these statues – he noticed that in one Asclepion he visited, the statues of Hygieia were covered in women’s hair and piece of Babylonian clothes! According to inscriptions, the same types of offerings were also made on the Cycladic island of Paros.
Hygieia was a popular subject for artists from the 4th century until late in the Roman period. A Sicyonian artist named Ariphon, during the 4th century, even composed a hymn in celebration of the goddess, and a number of renowned ancient sculptors were responsible for creating statues in her image – including Scopas, Timotheus, and Bryaxis.
In terms of representation, she was often depicted as a young woman feeding a very large snake, which happened to be wrapped around her body. In a number of cases, the snake would be shown drinking out of a jar that she carried in her other hand – which is the origin for one of today’s modern symbols of pharmacy, the Bowl of Hygieia.
Want to read more?
Tomorrow: More Ancient Standard
By: The Scribe on January, 2008
Much of the information that exists about ancient Egypt comes from the burials of ancient pharaohs and the massive structures they commissioned in memorial of themselves – but what about the average person who lived in ancient Egypt? What about the middle class workers, the typical Egyptian who went to work every day to make a living, and came home at night to his family? Historically, very little time and effort has been put into understanding the common people of ancient Egypt, when in reality, it was their work that shaped the nation – no nation prospers without the help of its people, and there were far, far more average citizens than royalty!
An enormous stepping stone toward understanding the lives of the average citizen in ancient Egypt has come in the form of a rare, middle-class tomb found at Abusir, an ancient necropolis used during the 5th and 26th dynasties. The tomb dates back to the Old Kingdom, and perhaps even more shocking – it was fully intact upon discovery, having remained undisturbed for almost 4,500 years.
The man buried inside lived during the 5th dynasty, and according to archaeological observations, was a priest and politician in the Old Kingdom. He was considered “upper middle class” for the time, which placed him below the nobles but higher up in the social scheme than the lower class. The burial chamber was considerably smaller than royal officials or nobles – the room was about 10 meters below ground and had just enough room to pack in the body and a pile of personal effects and offerings: it was 2 meters by 4 meters in total.
Contrary to what many people think of when it comes to ancient Egyptian tombs, this tomb held no gold or silver – but the information gleaned was infinitely more valuable. Located behind a mud-brick wall in an ancient burial shaft, there were dozens of artifacts which are considered “ceremonial”: more than 80 miniature limestone vessels, 10 sealed beer jars, a small jug for perfume, and cups and plates for symbolic food and drink offerings. In addition, four small canopic jars were present – special jars used to hold the ‘important’ organs of the deceased after mummification.
The body rested inside a sarcophagus, but since the burial was done in the Old Kingdom – before the mummification process was perfected – the mummy was in an advanced state of decomposition. However, the same amount of care was given to his preservation: there were hundreds of faience beads inlaid on the burial wrappings, and his 2-meter long, gold-tipped walking stick was buried at his side. In addition, there was a wooden scepter in the sarcophagus that Neferinpu had the right to hold during his lifetime as a symbol of his seniority.
It was a false door to the tomb that revealed who Neferinpu was and why he was buried here. According to the inscriptions, he was part of the administration for two rulers during the 5th dynasty, holding dual posts of both priest and administrative assistant. He was likely responsible for some building projects, as was the custom, but even so would not have been considered part of elite society. During his lifetime, he would have been financially well-off – perhaps even considered “rich” by some – but not in the way that the elite members of society were.
Instead, Neferinpu probably lived comfortably off his salary, but remained part of ancient Egypt’s upper middle class. He was quite apparently loyal to whoever sat on the throne – considering he was able to sit for two administrations without getting deposed or replaced, and as a result, he was probably an individual who was very good at his job. Finding the undisturbed burial has revealed quite a bit about ancient Egypt’s everyday people – something which has, until recently, been a mystery.
Want to read more?
Tomorrow: Greek Goddess of Hygiene!
Next page
