Muslim hardliners known as Salafists have been blamed for destroying ancient stone carvings in the Toubkal National Park, south of Marrakech. The rock engravings dated back more than 8,000 years...
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Salafists blamed for destroying Morocco stone carvings
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Muddy lake bed holds radiocarbon 'Rosetta stone'
Mud at the bottom of Lake Suigetsu, Japan, could provide the most accurate way yet of calibrating radiocarbon dates. Every year for at least the last 60,000 years, a layer...
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2012.10.40: Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum. Volume VII: Festivals and Contests
Review of Antoine Hermary, Bertrand Jaeger, Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum. Volume VII: Festivals and Contests. Los Angeles: 2011. Pp. xx, 272; 35 p. of plates. $250.00. ISBN 9781606060742.![]()
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2012.10.41: L'arte dell'autoelogio: studio sull'orazione 28 K di Elio Aristide, con testo, traduzione e commento. Testi e studi di cultura classica, 50
Review of Lorenzo Miletti, L'arte dell'autoelogio: studio sull'orazione 28 K di Elio Aristide, con testo, traduzione e commento. Testi e studi di cultura classica, 50. Pisa: 2011. Pp. 235. €21.00 (pb). ISBN 9788846729606.![]()
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Mythic mosaics conceal subliminal messages
New research carried out by professor Luz Neira from the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) shows that depictions of Greek gods and heroes were symbols of the values of all that Rome stood for.
Previously it had been shown that memory and conscious self-interested re-use of myths was important, but this new research examines the possibility that there is a subliminal message regarding the Roman elites’ fundamental concept of civilisation versus barbarism.
Roman mosaic dating from the 3rd century BC representing a scene from the Odyssey. Image: Wikimedia
A new volume of work
Luz Neira was in charge of the co-ordination and publication of Civilización y barbarie: el mito como argumento en los mosaicos romanos (Civilization and Barbarism: Myths as plots in Roman Mosaics).
A number of specialists in Roman mosaics collaborated on the book, which offers a new perspective in the approach to mythology and its re-use throughout history, which was a result of “a conscious and self-interested phenomenon of re-semantization.”
In this case there are consciously chosen re-creations of certain mythological characters and episodes from different areas of the Empire, which were selected and even distorted in order to generate a spirit, deepen principles, or recall the foundations upon which their privileged position within the Roman state had been established, the researchers explain.
“They re-used certain Greek myths as symbols that reinforced what Rome stood for,” states Luz Neira, “because they were of transcendental importance, due to the universal values they depicted, and they became champions of civilisation”.
Achilles in Skyros
The scene of Achilles in Skyros, one of the most frequently depicted among the mosaics of the imperial epoch and which can be found, for example, in the villa of La Olmeda (Palencia), seems to be intended to highlight the archetype of the hero who is capable of giving his life for his country.
The legends of divinities such as Dionysius and Aphrodite, the Labours of Hercules, the Journeys of Perseus and the battles between Amazons and centaurs are some of the other mythological episodes that originated in Greece that the Romans appropriated as their own and converted into models to be followed.
“The memory of a legendary war and a mythological hero would become with the passing of time, and even up to the present day, the phenomenon with the greatest impact on people and individuals; this is what led us to analyse the myth as the story of the struggle between civilisation and barbarism,” she concludes.
Historiography in mosaics
Until now, the concept of the civilisation in the Roman Empire had been analysed using written sources and official images found in public spaces, in the sculptures or monumental reliefs, such as arcs, steles and commemorative columns.
However, very little in-depth research had been done on the representation of these concepts in private spaces, perhaps due to their domestic character.
“We were surprised by the absence of references of this type in the form of mosaics, where due to their unusual circumstances of conservation in situ the mosaic documentation offers an authentic repertoire of tile work, with geometric, plant and human figure decoration, connected to the private domestic contexts that pertained to the most privileged sectors of Roman society in any urban or rural location of the Empire,” comments Professor Neira.
In this respect it seemed unthinkable that members of the elite, who were involved in the government and matters of the Empire, would not have made use of the significant surface area of the mosaics that paved the living spaces of their domus and villa to commemorate their victories and their identification with Rome as a guarantor of civilisation as opposed to “barbarism”.
“They did it,” states Luz Neira, “by depicting re-used myths that evoked the values that, from an ideological point of view, Rome wished to represent.”
Source: Carlos III University of Madrid
More Information
- Mosaics of Zeugma
- Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gazi Antep
For Archaeology News – Archaeology Research – Archaeology Press Releases
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FUN: Egyptian life drawing class
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Alexandria built to celebrate birthday of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 BC and an examination of the topography of the city today allows the identification of the essential elements of the original urban system as it was laid out. It is suggested that the site was chosen for religious and symbolic reasons just as much as for commercial and topographic requirements.
Photograph of the early 19th century showing the Canopic road, looking west (courtesy C. Pallini).
Alexandria becomes the prototype for a series of Hellenistic towns designed as ‘king’s towns’ that aimed to make explicit the divine power of their founder, Alexander of Macedon.
Leo and the star Regulus.
A grid aligned on the Sun and Regulus
The researchers Giulio Magli and Luisa Ferro with the Politecnico of Milan claim in a paper published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology that the orientation of the orthogonal grid, which was based on a main longitudinal axis of the city (Canopic road), show that this axis is orientated to the rising sun on the day of Alexander the Great’s birth, July 20th, 356 BC by the Julian calendar. At the time of foundation, ‘King’s Star’ Regulus was also rising along that same alignment, and this bright star was known later as ‘Qalb al-Asad‘, which is Arabic for ‘the heart of the lion’, a perhaps obvious connection with the Lion of Macedon.
According to a comment on the science website Physorg, the sun’s declination changes only about a fifth of a degree each day around July 20th, so there would be about 4-5 days when the sunrise is at declination +20.5°, +/- 0.5° and aligned with the road. The alignment repeats, with the sunrise inching northward day by day, around May 22nd.
Alexandria, reconstruction scheme of the original town plan. 1) Canopic road 2) Heptastadion 3) Serapeum 4) Imperial palace 5) Isle of Pharos (@ Luisa Ferro).
The researchers looked at other examples such as the town of Selucia on the Tigris and the funeral monument of Antiochos I at Nemrut Dag in Anatolia to investigate whether this was just coincidence. With Alexandria and Selucia at the same latitude, the sun with a flat horizon would set in alignment with the longitudinal axis at Selucia the very same days as rising in Alexandria. Due to the slight difference in latitude the sun was actually setting along this direction on the days around July 27th, with a slight displacement, but in any case still very close to the date of birth of Alexander. At Nemrut Dag, the plinths holding the colossal statues in the eastern terrace point to sunrise on July 23rd (and May 22nd) – in addition the terrace also points to the rising of Regulus, which also occurred around the 23rd July at the Nemrut Dag latitude during the reign of Antiochos I.
The researchers are certain that aligning the main street and thus the city itself with Alexander’s birth date would have been a way to highlight his power. They plan to study other cities that were part of Alexander’s vast empire to see if they can repeat these alignments.
Source: Oxford Journal of Archaeology
More Information
- Luisa Ferro and Giulio Magli THE ASTRONOMICAL ORIENTATION OF THE URBAN PLAN OF ALEXANDRIA, Oxford Journal of Archaeology, DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0092.2012.00394.x ( PDF)
For Archaeology News – Archaeology Research – Archaeology Press Releases
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RIP Time Team
I just saw on Past Horizons that Time Team is getting the axe. For those who have never lived in the UK, Time Team was a TV show that undertook excavations all across the UK that was on the air for 20 years. Chances are a copycat version of the show has probably been aired in your country wherever you are. Alright, not everywhere but 30+ which is a lot for archaeology. It is a real shame that they can not keep the show on longer.
It appears that production costs have got out of hand.
Over the last decade the size of the production and the staff needed to support it and the budget has grown to an unsustainable level. On the final show of last year we had over 75 people in the lunch tent! Fro the first 5-10 years of Time Team it used to be just Mick, Phil, the cameraman, the Director and me in the pub?
Though it sounds like lots of people are interested in picking up where the show is leaving off.
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FUN: Early perfect pitch
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Blogosphere ~ The Complete Guide to Herodotus of Halicarnassus
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Blogosphere ~ What have the Etruscans ever done for us?
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Blogosphere ~ Does academic blogging matter?
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Blogosphere ~ APA Blog : CFP: Public and Private in the Roman House and Society Conference
American Philological Association: APA Blog : CFP: Public and Private in the Roman House and Society Conference.
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Blogosphere ~ Up Yours Rome and CIL XIII 2363
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Blogosphere ~ Channel 4 consigns Time Team to TV history
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Blogosphere ~ Mythic mosaics conceal subliminal messages
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This Day in Ancient History: ante diem xiii kalendas novembres
ante diem xiii kalendas novembres
- 480 B.C. — Battle of Salamis (one reckoning; seems a bit late)
- 127 A.D. — ludi votivi decennales pro salute Augusti
- c. 250 A.D. — martyrdom of Maximus of Aquila
- 1524 — death of Thomas Linacre … “the best Greek and Latin scholar of his age”
- 1952 — death of Michael Rostovtzeff (author of The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire and the Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World among other things)
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Know When to Say When
As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been reading Symeon the New Theologian. He has a section where he rewrites the prodigal son story with an emperor that forgives and accepts an opposing general. The emperor receives the humble and contrite general with a celebration and a feast, with a crown and robe for him. He goes on:
And this is not the whole tale, but day and night he rejoices and is glad with him, embracing him and kissing his mouth with his own. So much does he love him exceedingly that he is not separated from him even in his sleep, but lies together with him embracing him on his bed, and covers him all about with his own cloak, and places his face upon all his members.
Symeon the New Theologian, Ethical Discourse 10, Section 6 (pg 150-51).
I thought, wow, did I just read that? Fortunately the translator offers this footnote:
Sometimes the saint’s gift for images will exceed his discretion and good sense. This appears to be one such instance. We leave it in solely out of respect for the text. It is, however, consistent with the New Theologian’s uses of nuptial imagery elsewhere. See also his warning against taking his metaphors in a literal, sexual sense: ‘Understanding this spiritually, you who read, lest you be wretchedly defiled’ Hymn 46, lines 29-31.
Sometimes you’ve got know when to say when.
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Open Access Article- Musings on Early Farming Communities in...
Open Access Article- Musings on Early Farming Communities in Northwest Anatolia; and other Flights of Fancy
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Time Team to down tools in 2013
After 18 years, 20 series and more than 40 specials, Time Team will air its final series on Channel 4 in 2013. Further one-off specials are planned for at least into 2014 and the series will continue to be repeated across both More4 and Channel 4.
Channel 4 will increase its focus on new and innovative history programming; with new commissions with exclusive access to archaeological discoveries including the recently announced The King in the Carpark: Richard III and the brand new The People of Stonehenge (w/t), The Hood (w/t) - as well Attack of the Zeppelins (w/t) with Hugh Hunt.
Head of Factual Ralph Lee says: "I am incredibly proud that, as well as providing hundreds of hours of education and entertainment on Channel 4, Time Team has invested, over and above production costs, more than £4m in archaeology in Britain over the past 18 years. Time Team will continue to be on our screens for at least a further two years and we are discussing other ideas around archaeology with Tim Taylor, Time Team's creator and the production team behind it.
"Time Team was one of our first returning Factual formats and entirely original when it first aired - but with innovation vital to Channel 4's DNA, 2013 will see a renewed commitment to history programming with bold new approaches and formats as well as a range of one-off programmes."
Commissioning Editor for History Julia Harrington says: "Channel 4 history is all about bringing the past to life in eye-opening, entertaining and innovative ways, from the best archaeological scoops, to big factual dramas such as The Mill, to experiential formats such as Hilary Devey's Dole Office, and Guy Martin on our industrial past in the current series How Britain Worked."
Channel 4 is working with broadcaster Tony Robinson on a brand new history series Walking through History (w/t) for which he has devised four walks through major stories in British history: from charting the Second World War along the Dorset coast to the progress of industrial revolution in the Derbyshire Peak district, the Jacobin rebellions in the Scottish Highlands and the source of Tudor noblemen's' power in the Kent Weald.
Tony said: "Not many performers are given the privilege of featuring in two iconic TV series - but I've been lucky! Time Team was not only high-quality public service television; it also attracted a large and passionate audience both in the UK and overseas. I'm proud to have been associated with it."
Twenty years of Time Team will be celebrated in the last programme of the final series in 2013 - looking back over the highs and the lows, the people and the places and the achievements of a series which ran for over 250 episodes.
The digs have provided a wealth of information and research material currently stored by Wessex Archaeology. Channel 4, along with the programme makers Videotext and Picture house TV will work to maintain this archive as part of Time Team's academic legacy.
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