By: The Scribe on Friday, June 29, 2007
As one of the deadliest projectile weapons known to man, the creators of the crossbow must have had some very intense warfare in mind as they developed this weapon. In fact, there is quite a bit of uncertainty over when and where the crossbow was first created and used, but evidence for its use first appears around the 4th century BC in China.
The earliest definitive evidence for Chinese crossbow use comes from manuscripts dating to the 4th and 3rd centuries BC in China, associated with the followers of Chinese philosophy Mohism, developed by a man named Mozi. This philosophy, although it asserted a belief in universal love, also called for the development of a political structure within which there was no central authority other than Mozi’s writings. The Mohists developed many ideas on fortification, statecraft, as well as agricultural theories, and were soon hired as advisors for the leaders of warring states.
Keeping this in mind, perhaps it isn’t so unusual that the first reference to crossbows appears in Chinese philosophical writings – the document discusses the use of a giant crossbow catapult during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Since the use of the crossbow occurred before the manuscript was written, it cannot be said for sure whether use of the crossbow originated in China – though it is certainly possible. However, Sun Tzu’s book The Art of War also refers to the use of crossbows, and this book first appeared around 400 BC.
There are also reliable records that crossbows were used in 341 BC at the Battle of Ma-Ling, and by the end of the 3rd century BC, the crossbow had been very well developed and was a standard weapon used in Chinese warfare. In fact, Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s tomb from 210 BC contained several crossbow pieces, strewn about between the Terracotta Warrior statues.
In the Greek world, the earliest documented evidence for crossbow use was during the Siege of Motya in 397 BC, described by the scholar Heron of Alexandria in his book on war machines from the 1st century BC. Of course, since the gap between the event and the book’s composition is quite wide, there is speculation over the authenticity of the report. Regardless, Alexander the Great is known to have used crossbows for the siege of Tyre in 332 BC – and his crossbows were the first to have documented use of ballista construction, which used torsion spring bundle technology to increase projectile force. Ballistae could actually the shoot lighter projectiles, providing they had higher velocities, over a much longer distance.
As improvements to the crossbow continued, the Greek world soon saw the introduction of a smaller, sniper model called the Scorpio. By the time the Siege of Rhodes came around in 305 BC, siege towers were being constructed with multiple crossbows: a large ballistae at the bottom, designed to demolish the parapet and rid it of troops, while the top of the siege towers held armor-piercing Scorpios to snipe soldiers patrolling city walls.
It turned out that these types of crossbows were so effective in ancient warfare that the basic styles and functions saw very minimal change until well into the Middle Ages!
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Tomorrow: So much for gun laws…
By: The Scribe on Thursday, June 28, 2007
In southeast Algeria, North Africa, there is a mountain range by the name of Tassili n’Ajjer in the Sahara that is composed of about 300 natural rock arches – and an incredible amount of rock paintings. These rock paintings date as far back as the Neolithic, and include depictions of horses, giraffes, crocodiles, and humans in the midst of cattle herding and hunting!
Some of the earliest pieces of rock art are actually less “paintings” and more “etchings”, as the artists seem to have sketched out images of local wildlife and human interactions, including some wildlife that now are extinct from the area.
In the picture here, there appear to be two female dancers, several big-horned rams, a camel with rider, and… a jellyfish!? Clearly, the jellyfish is rather out of place in this scene, but it attests to geological assertions that the Sahara was habitable for humans during the Neolithic period. In fact, much of the Sahara desert was covered in grasslands and lake basins, with giraffe, crocodiles, ostrich, hippos and antelopes living along the plains.
As usual, there are many theories as to why the Neolithic hunters chose to create so many paintings and etchings on Tassili’s rock arches. Some believe that it was a way to show appreciation to the gods, a symbolic representation of religious beliefs, while others have – perhaps not surprisingly – proposed that the humans in the pictures are actually aliens.
Whatever the reason may have been for creating the extensive rock art at Tassili, one thing certainly remains clear: humans have a penchant for artistic expression, regardless of the time or place. Perhaps they were merely creating art for art’s sake?
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Tomorrow: Crossbow history
By: The Scribe on Wednesday, June 27, 2007
What are these stones, and why do they seem to be named after canned preserves? The truth is, they’re actually named after the town of Jelling in Denmark, and currently rest in one of Jelling’s churchyards between two large, earthen burial mounds.
These enormous rune stones were carved in the 10th century, during the transition period between traditional Norse paganism and Denmark’s Christianization. Due to the lack of written history for most of Scandinavia’s past, the few inscriptions found on these stones are quite valuable for their historic worth.
The smaller – and older – of the two stones was set up by King Gorm the Old, the last ‘pagan’ king of Denmark, as a memorial for his wife, Queen Thyre. The larger stone was erected by Harold Bluetooth in memory of his own parents, King Gorm and Queen Thyre.
The Jelling stones have a strong association with the establishment of Denmark as a nation, a notion which may have originally come from the inscriptions. The older rune stone reads: “King Gorm made this monument in memory of Thyvre, his wife, Denmark’s salvation”.
The Bluetooth inscription says:
“King Haraldr ordered this monument made in memory of Gormr, his father, and in memory of Thyvre, his mother; that Haraldr who won for himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.”
This stone also has an image of Christ on one side, and a picture of a lion wrapped in a serpent on the other.
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Tomorrow: More fascinating stuff!
By: The Scribe on Tuesday, June 26, 2007
*Note of Forewarning: This article deals with the topic of ancient sexuality, and may not be suitable for younger eyes.
One of the earliest gods of the ancient Egyptian pantheon was a god named Min, originally identified with Horus during the Predynastic period. First called the “Chief of Heaven” and associated with the sky, it was not long until Min became the primary fertility god of ancient Egypt.
In Egyptian art, Min was depicted wearing a tall feather crown, holding a flail in his right hand, and in his left hand… well, that’s where things start to get a bit awkward. Min is what can be called an ‘ithyphallic’ god, which means that he is shown in artwork with an uncovered and erect phallus – however, it should be noted that this kind of imagery was not necessarily seen as a sexual image by the Egyptians. Instead, it was a normal way of showing Min’s role as an agent of fertility.
In his role as a fertility god, Min was in charge of the rain, and each year at the beginning of the harvest season, there was a “Festival of the Departure of Min” – his statue would be taken out of his temple and brought into the fields, where participants would sing praises to Min and play games in the nude, hoping this would cause him to bless their harvest with his favor.
Playing games in the nude was not really a big deal to the ancient Egyptians – after all, in their hot and humid climate, serving women, dancers, and even farmers would work in the nude. Children typically didn’t even wear clothing at all until their official coming of age ceremonies.
Where things get a bit awkward for modern historians, however, is in the discussion of Min’s symbols. All the ancient gods had their own symbols, since religion was such an integral part of daily life in ancient Egyptian culture. Min’s symbols were mostly typical of a fertility god: a white bull, a barbed arrow, and… lettuce?
Lettuce, an item not usually associated with fertility, was apparently a favorite food of Min. Why? According to the ancient Egyptian texts, this particular variety of lettuce was considered to be an aphrodisiac – and not only that, but this lettuce plant was tall, straight, and when pressed… it produced a white, milky sap substance that was, of course, easily associated with another male bodily fluid.
In fact, ancient Egyptians considered a lot of things to be aphrodisiacs… some varieties of onion were forbidden to celibate priests, in fear that they might desecrate themselves if they took a bite! Regardless, Min was an extremely important ancient Egyptian god, and well respected among the people. Although seeing a depiction of a man holding himself on the side of a building or as a public statue would have a completely different meaning today, to the Egyptians, this was perfectly normal and acceptable. In fact, if Min and his phallus weren’t around – they might not have anything to eat next harvest season.
Tomorrow: Tasty jelling stones!
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