Archive for November, 2007
By: The Scribe on November, 2007
According to the production notes at the end of the book, the Cairo Codex of the Prophets – also referred to as the Codex Cairensis or the Codex Prophetarum Cairensis – was composed by a man named Moses ben Asher from Tiberias, “at the end of the year 827, after the destruction of the second temple.” This would place the manuscript’s creation at 895 AD.
The Codex is important for one single reason: it is believed to be the oldest known surviving Hebrew manuscript which contains the entire text of the Nevi’im, or prophets, from the Old Testament. Notably, the Codex contains only those books which belong to the Old Testament prophets according to Jewish tradition and terminology – including Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and most minor prophets with the exception of Daniel; also Judges, Joshua, Kings and Samuel are included as they were considered to be the ‘earlier prophets’.
In addition, there are 13 ‘carpet pages’ – these were an early Medieval version of illuminated manuscript decoration which was often found at the beginning of New Testament collections.
According to tradition, Moses ben Asher put together the Codex Cairensis with punctuation included, though according to some studies done on the manuscript, it turns out that it may actually have been written by a completely different person – for that matter, arguments against its authorship have actually resulted in doubts from the scholarly community as to its authenticity in terms of when it was written!
As for finding the Codex, the pieces of text were located inside of an old synagogue’s Gezina room, which functioned as a kind of storage space where faulty or worn out manuscripts could be placed and later disposed of formally, in order to not profane any sacred documents. Fortunately, as time passed, the Geniza room was walled over and forgotten, sealing the manuscript fragments safely for over a thousand years.
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Tomorrow: Horus of Hierakonpolis
By: The Scribe on November, 2007
At an ancient settlement in Puerto Rico, archaeologists have unearthed bodies, rock art, and large structures that may have belonged the to the Taino people – a Pre-Columbian indigenous culture which is thought to have migrated to the Caribbean from either South America or Mexico many centuries ago.
The Taino people were among the first cultures to run into Europeans when they arrived in the Americas, and thus it appears that this settlement probably dates from between 600 and 1500 AD. In fact, the site may even be the largest Taino settlement in the entire Caribbean, making it the most significant settlement these people ever developed – for starters, the site appears to have evidence of not only Taino occupation during the height of the culture, but also an occupation dating far back to a pre-Taino period.
The site on Puerto Rico is extremely well preserved, and while archaeologists knew that the area contained indigenous artifacts, the scope and significance of the site only became clear once construction began on a modern dam nearby. It was during the monitoring process of this work that a fascinating discovery was made: nearby to the dam site, there was a large plaza that covered approximately 40 meters by 50 meters of ground.
The plaza appears to be what the Taino called a ‘batey’, which was a rectangular area that the people built their settlements around – then they would use the plaza for things like ball games and ceremonial rituals. A number of the stones in the plaza also have ancient petroglyphs etched into them, which at the very least indicates the important functionality of the space. All evidence currently points to this being the largest known ancient ‘batey’ in the entire Caribbean as well. A number of the petroglyphs on the plaza’s stones depict a male figure with attached frog legs, which may hold a key to determining the origins of the Taino.
In and around the settlement, there have also been several burials located where some of the bodies were interred in rather unique positions – their legs were bent at the knees, and the bodies placed face down in the grave. This burial position hasn’t been seen at any other indigenous sites in the Caribbean, and it may also give indications as to from where the Taino originated.
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Tomorrow: More Ancient Standard
By: The Scribe on November, 2007
An anthropology professor from Trent University recently put together a study on the diets of the Inca who lived in ancient Peruvian town. By studying the remains of 500-year-old Incan mummies, she was able to reconstruct what kinds of foods they ate, how much they consumed, and when the food was eaten.
A number of Incan mummies were uncovered at the coastal town of Tupac Amaru, in the midst of an ancient cemetery. Since this area of Peru is extremely dry throughout the entire year, the preservation conditions for organic materials is very good – many of the ancient mummies are so well preserved that parts such as skin, hair, eyelashes, and fingernails remain on the bodies. In some cases, tattoos have even survived the decomposition process and are still visible.
Tissue samples taken from the mummies – including pieces of hair, nail, skin, bone, muscle and tendon – were tested in order to obtain the chemical signatures that are left behind when human beings consume foods. Typically, a piece of bone will record the diet of an individual over the past fifteen years, due to its extremely slow growth rate. Also, since hair averages a growth rate of one centimeter per month, it can record an individual’s dietary habits during the weeks before death.
The study revealed that the Inca had rather extreme seasonal fluctuations in their diet: in the winter, the Inca ate mostly tubers, which includes items like potatoes, while in the summer their primary subsistence was on corn. For the mummies from this area of Peru, that was quite an odd find – historians have known that the Inca normally had an excellent ability to maintain a healthy stash of food stores and supply the food to their surrounding populations, but it appeared that the people here were relying heavily on cultivated foods in their diet.
That means that the Inca from this region were in a rather precarious position – for some reason or another, they weren’t getting access to stored food in any significant quantities from the centralized distribution of the Incan capital cities, and thus these people had no fallback plan for surviving crop failures. Also, the evidence gleaned from the mummies showed that most of the people died during the summer, which was contrary to typical thinking. Normally, ancient populations lost more people during the winter’s harsh conditions than in the summer – but for this group of Inca, the summer’s lack of dietary choices caused malnutrition and a susceptibility to disease.
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Tomorrow: More Ancient Standard
By: The Scribe on November, 2007
It was only after one of the bloodiest battles of the entire Middle Ages – The Battle of Anchialos – that the Bulgarians were able to rightfully settle in the area of territory known today as the country of Bulgaria. Initially, the area was known as the First Bulgarian Empire, and the first capital city was established by the Bulgarians’ ruler – Khan Asparukh.
The capital of Pliska was constructed in an area of 23 square kilometers, and had a moat and ramparts surrounding the outer walls. Refusing to take any chances against Byzantine invaders, even the inner walls of the capital were over 2.5 meters thick, and were built to about 12 meters high! The careful attention to stability, longevity, and strategic detail when it was built have caused the city to still be considered as one of the most impressive monuments of early Medieval architecture today.
Pliska was ahead of the neighbors in plenty of ways – the city had a functioning sewage system that was modeled on Roman sewers, and the heating systems throughout the entire city ensured that the people were kept safe and warm throughout the harsh winters. Fortress walls surrounded the city, both inner and outer, and at each corner there was a cylindrical-shaped tower for lookouts and nightly watchmen.
The interior of the city contained a palace for a later ruler, the Khan Omurtag, and this ‘Grand Palace’ contained a throne room and an adjacent Small Palace which served as the private residence of the Khans while they were in power.
In 811 AD, the city was sacked by the Byzantine army – but the Khan Krum was able to rid the city of its invaders after a short period. In an effort to help improve the city after its brief attack – and to maintain morale among the people – the next Khan actually hired and brought in several hundred artisans and craftsmen for the sole purpose of improving the city!
Pliska would see changes in its governmental structure, and in 865 AD, Christianity was adopted as the primary religion under Prince Boris. He constructed the Grand Basilica as a place of worship for the public, and in 886 AD, he established the Pliska Literary School in order to help ensure that the people were intelligent and well educated! However in 892 AD, the king’s son Vladimir revolted against the established changes, attempting to re-establish paganism as the official religion of Bulgaria.
Naturally, he was punished by his father – Vladimir’s eyes were “put out”, ie. blinded – and his younger brother Simeon was made ruler of Bulgaria. The period which followed has often been referred to by Medieval historians as the “Golden Age” in Bulgaria’s history. However, since the population and territory was growing – not to mention that Pliska still seemed to have deep-rooted pagan influences – Simeon soon moved Bulgaria’s capital from Pliska to Preslav, which was another fortified town in the same general area.
The importance of Pliska in the Bulgarian Empire gradually waned over the course of the 10th century, as Preslav saw a concentration of resources and governmental power. Two attacks by Byzantine raiders in 969 and 972 AD destroyed many portions of Pliska, and due to the shift of power into Preslav, the city was not rebuilt after the second raid.
Although the ancient Bulgarian capital is in ruins today, the city of Pliska is still greatly admired by historians as an example of some of the finest early Medieval architecture ever created.
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Tomorrow: More Ancient Standard
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