Old Maps, Expeditions and Explorations

The Egyptian Nobleman

2012-02-03T06:34:00.000+08:00

A noble's estate, like this one at Tell el Amarna, far more than a family dwelling. It was built around workshops, stables, shrines and banquet rooms. Servants were constantly busy—baking bread in the kitchens, bottling beer in the household brewery, storing grain in silos. There were scribes, vintners, was carpenters and herdsmen. The whole establishment was managed with the Egyptian passion for order, Although the household was run by the noble's steward, there is evidence that his wife also had a free hand—-"You should not supervise . . . your wife in her house," one father admonished his son.

The nobleman who controlled the land that the peasant worked often lived in considerable luxury. If he was a high-ranking official, his town or country house—made of the sun-baked brick the Egyptians used for all domestic architecture, from hovels to palaces—was usually set in a landscaped garden enclosed by a high wall. Its whitewashed elegance and columned veranda were reflected in a large pool stocked with fish and scattered with lotus blossoms. Visitors were greeted in a central reception hall about which were clustered smaller public rooms, guest rooms and the family's private chambers. Comfortable furnishings—couches, tables, chairs, beds, chests and colourful wall-hangings —attested to the competence of Egypt's craftsmen.

Those who dwelt within the royal palace itself enjoyed a life of splendour. Through broad courts, frescoed halls and corridors with friezes of faience tiles flowed a constant stream of imperial business. Shaven-headed priests, high dignitaries and army officers came and went on matters of domestic, foreign and religious concern. Subject princes from Syria and Palestine arrived, often accompanied by dazzling retinues. Upon a dais in a lofty, colonnaded audience hall the god-king sat enthroned, flanked by a bodyguard and attended by ranks of courtiers. Here he received ambassadors from the courts of Babylonia, Crete, the Hittites and other nations; here he accepted rich tribute brought by newly conquered chieftains in exotic dress.

Set apart from the pageantry of state were the pharaoh's private apartments—his robing chamber, bedroom and bath, and the adjoining quarters of the royal harem. Opening off the apartments was the Balcony of Appearances. From this vantage point, on festive or solemn occasions, the monarch displayed himself to crowds in a court below, and from it he bestowed gifts and decorations upon deserving retainers.

Though extremely remote in time, the civilization of ancient Egypt is in some respects more intimately known today than that of any other nation of antiquity. The Old Testament is rich in references to Egypt. In addition, history and literature written by the Egyptians themselves have endured in the stone of temples, monuments and tombs, and on papyrus scrolls.

The fundamental conservatism of the ancient Egyptians also helped to preserve the evidences of their civilization. Although they were subjected to alien rulers in their latter days and assaulted on every hand by foreign influences, they clung tenaciously to the customs and beliefs of their past. Thus many remains of their culture lasted virtually intact almost until modern times, to be observed first-hand and recorded by writers of the rising Western world.

The Egyptians themselves were responsible for the preservation of many artifacts of their civilization because of their distinctive attitude towards death. Since they viewed death as an extension of life, they prepared for it elaborately. Any man who could afford a proper tomb spared neither energy nor expense to furnish it with the many things thought indispensable for living in the hereafter. Geography and climate assisted in the preservation process. Most of the land bordering the Nile is desert, receiving little or no rainfall. The remains of the past, blanketed by dry sand, rested undisturbed through the millennia. Even the most perishable materials—delicate fabrics, articles of fragile wood, papyrus—survived relatively unscathed.

As a result of these two factors—religion and climate— Egypt remained a huge and unique storehouse of antiquity. Its artifacts span all the periods from primitive prehistory to the sophisticated and magnificent age of the pharaohs. Scenes painted on the walls of tombs from dynastic days onwards faithfully depict many details of Egyptian life. Their subjects range from the lowly tasks of farmers and servants and the happy games of children to the pomp and ceremony that attended gods and kings. Small wooden models reproduce dwellings, ships, soldiers in battle gear; butchers, bakers and brewers in their shops. Although the tomb furnishings— clothing, musical instruments, furniture, cosmetics, tools and weapons—were for the use of the dead, all shed light on the ways of the living.

EGYPT - THE ENDURING LAND

2012-02-03T06:33:00.001+08:00

Modern man knows of many ancient and wonderful civilizations, some of them of misty origin and impressive accomplishments. What sets Egypt apart from the others? For one thing, Egypt was one of the earliest of the ancient lands to weave the threads of civilization into a truly impressive culture. More to the point, it sustained its achievements unabated for more than two and a half millennia—a span of accomplishment with few equals in the saga of humanity.

Nature favoured Egypt. The early civilizations of Mesopotamia stood on an open plain, and they spent much of their vitality in defending themselves from one another. Palestine, farther west, was largely unprotected, a prey to invaders. In Egypt it was different. Desert barriers bordered the Valley of the Nile and discouraged invasion; the people lived in relative security. The scattered tribes that shared the river merged into villages instead of fighting among themselves; the villages learned to co-operate in controlling the river's annual flood so that all might reap abundant harvest.

Co-operation meant organization. And it was the gift for organization, perhaps more than any other single factor, that enabled Egypt to erect a dominant, enduring state.

The first important move in this direction occurred around 3100 B.C. At that time the Egyptian people, hitherto divided into two lands, Upper and Lower Egypt, found themselves under a single monarch—the first of 30 dynasties of pharaohs. They thereby became the world's first united nation and took a decisive step towards establishing a stable civilization. With the first two dynasties, which covered some 400 years, Egypt emerged from prehistoric obscurity into the full light of history. From that point on are numbered its greatest centuries. They are divided into three main eras—the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom, separated by two intermediate periods when the country's fortunes were temporarily at low ebb.

Each of the three Kingdoms was characterized by accomplishments of its own. The Old Kingdom, from about 2700 B.C. to 2200 B.C., was the period during which the great pyramids were built. With the Middle Kingdom, about 2000 B.C. to 1800 B.C., Egypt enjoyed an expanding political strength and broader economic horizons. The New Kingdom, beginning about 1600 B.C., saw the nation's zenith as a political power and its acquisition of an empire mostly in Asia. When the New Kingdom came to a close around 1100 B.C., Egypt's days as a great nation were over, although pharaohs, interspersed with foreign conquerors, continued to occupy the throne until the fourth century B.C.

The unique quality of Egyptian civilization began to emerge even under the earliest pharaohs. Political and social structure quickly crystallized into the form it was to maintain, with few interruptions, from then on. All power, in theory and to a great extent in fact, lay in the hands of the ruler. Cast in the double role of king and god, he sat enthroned at the pinnacle of society. Supporting him were the high officers to whom he delegated authority. Below them, the ranks of a vast bureaucracy rested upon the broad shoulders of workers and peasants.

The awakening of Egypt was accompanied by the introduction of writing, an all-important pre-requisite to successful centralized rule. Records could now be kept, instructions issued, history written down. The creators of poems, stories, essays and narratives could now entrust their works to papyrus rather than memory, and Egypt's literature was born. Methods of calculating kept pace with writing. It became possible to compute taxes with precision, to survey land, measure weights and distances, and reckon time.

Medical science may be said to have begun in Egypt. Though their knowledge was at times tainted with magic, the Egyptian doctors and surgeons of antiquity achieved international renown, and with some cause. Hippocrates of Cos, who fathered modern medicine in the fifth century B.C., and the famous Roman anatomist Galen, about 700 years later, both admitted a debt to Egypt.

With all power emanating from a single fountainhead, manpower could be amassed to tame the Nile. Under the first pharaohs, irrigation projects were launched on a grand scale; a spreading network of canals carried water to the fields, and dike systems held the river at bay and reclaimed thousands of arable acres.

As the Nile's green fringe of agriculture grew ever greater, so did the material wealth of its civilization. By 2600 B.C., Egyptian trading vessels bearing cargoes of lentils, textiles, papyrus and other native products were venturing regularly into the Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. Overland traders penetrated deep into Ntibia's hinterland to the south. Cities flourished beside the Nile, enriched by the treasures of Africa and the ancient East—copper, bronze, gold and silver, ivory and rare woods, lapis lazuli and turquoise, myrrh and spices, exotic animal skins and ostrich plumage.

Megalithes du Morbihan & The Carnac Stones - France

2011-12-31T18:55:00.003+08:00

Located at the heart of the largest megalithic area in western France, the Morbihan, and more particularly its coastal area, concentrates a large number of monuments, which are exceptional by their scale and variety. This implies the presence of a particularly dense and dynamic population, sufficiently prosperous to build such monuments.

There are almost 500 megalithic sites in Morbihan, but they are unevenly distributed over the area:

The main concentrations lies along the coast between the Blavet estuary and the Rhuys peninsula (including the Morbihan Gulf, the Quiberon peninsula and the Isle of Groix), in particular between the Etel and Auray river estuaries

Another large group of monuments is located on the Landes de Lanvaux, a line of hills between the Claie and Arz valleys, from the Blavet river in the West to the Oust river in the East.
Northern Morbihan has fewer monuments, but they are evenly distributed.
The area between the coast and the Landes de Lanvaux is relatively empty.

Megalithes du Morbihan.

But why did they build them?

Some megaliths, dolmen (stone passages) and tumuli (dolmen covered by large mounds) are graves and some single standing stones (menhirs) are associated with graves. But the reason for building the long lines of stones (alignments), the stone circles (cromlechs) and many of the menhirs has been lost in the mists of time. Some people think that they are calendars and observatories, so that ancient farmers knew the seasons and when to plant and harvest their crops and the priests could foretell terrifying phenomena such as eclipses of the sun and moon. Alexander Thom, who has surveyed many megaliths in Britain and France, believes that Carnac was a huge lunar observatory. The central of the complex was the huge broken menhir, Le Grand Menhir Brisé, beside the Marchand's Table and Er Grah tumuli at Locmariaquer. The sights to various tumuli and menhirs marked the extreme positions of the moon.

The Megaliths of Carnac
by Vicki Sherwood.

Carnac by The Megalithic Portal.

Many interesting black and white photographs: The Megaliths of Carnac

Carnac is the most dramatic of all the Breton sites, with more than 3,000 prehistoric stone monuments. These include long avenues of menhirs (single standing stones) and dolmens (multi-stone arrangements supporting horizontal slabs). Hewn from local granite, they were erected at different periods from early to late Neolithic (c. 4000-1500 B.C.). Now worn by nature and time, they are covered with white lichen. Theosophical literature contains numerous references to Carnac ...

The Mysteries of Carnac and Atlantis an article by Paul Johnson.

Website: Labyrinthos

2011-12-31T18:54:00.002+08:00

Prehistoric labyrinth petroglyph, Pansaimol, Goa, India

Have a history that can be traced back over 4000 years. The earliest examples, found carved on rocks, all have the same design - the classical labyrinth symbol...

Labyrinthos is the resource centre for mazes and labyrinths...

The African Labyrinth

2011-12-31T18:53:00.003+08:00

The labyrinth in its many shapes and forms has, throughout the ages, been recognized and used as an archetypal symbol of healing, rebirth, re-generation and transformation. The spider-web labyrinth design is based on the sand drawings of the Tchokwe people of northeast Angola. These drawings (sona) are linked through dots in the sand and show the skill of a visionary/sangoma.

According to Credo Mutwa, African labyrinths have existed for eons in Africa and are an integral part of every tribe in some shape or form. Apart from divination, the labyrinth is also used as an initiation tool into Umlando, the Great Knowledge.

The African Labyrinth

Every culture uses the path as an initiation; the sanusis and sangomas have to walk through several gates to reach the center where they perform certain procedures before they can exit. In some traditions one has to follow the path encountering seven dangers to find the green chief (representing the Earth God) without a leg in the center dome, receiving a gift for your journey forward. On the way out various people wearing different masks try to take the gift away, reminding one to take great care of the gifts of life bestowed on us. In the Zulu tradition kings were exposed to nine temptations (representing the nine months in a mother's womb) before they could finally enter the cave of rebirth, where they would find a young virgin sangoma that would usher them into this world giving them a blessing.

Antique Maps of America

2011-12-31T18:52:00.003+08:00

LINK

Stained Glass Map, Massachusetts, 1998

2011-12-31T18:51:00.003+08:00

"Brightening with each swipe of a workman's cloth, stained glass in the Christian Science Mapparium in Boston, Massachusetts, shows political boundaries and coastlines charted after millennia of mapmaking."

—From "Revolution in Mapping," February 1998, National Geographic magazine

Chronicles of Nineveh

2011-12-10T18:41:00.001+08:00

Photograph by Randy Olson, National Geographic

The rebuilt gates and mud-brick walls around the ancient city of Nineveh, near modern-day Mosul, Iraq, are popular tourist attractions.

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire from 705 to 612 B.C., but the city was reduced to rubble by attacks from Medes, Babylonians, and Susianians. Archaeologists found the "lost" city in the mid-19th century and began excavations and reconstructions.

Still—like many of the sites on the Global Heritage Fund list—Nineveh suffers from the pressures of modern society. "At site after site after site, you are losing half the site to new development, encroachment, [and] you're getting looting of the site," the group's Morgan said. "We are not even talking about natural disasters."

Basin of Maya Mysteries

2011-12-10T18:40:00.001+08:00

Photograph by George P. Mobley, National Geographic

The Mirador Basin in Guatemala, considered the cradle of Maya civilization, sits adjacent to the well-known Classical Maya ruins in Tikal National Park, including the Great Plaza of Tikal, seen above in an aerial picture.

The four cities in the Mirador Basin predate Tikal by as much as 1,200 years, but the Mirador ruins continue to lie abandoned under 2,000 years' worth of jungle growth. Threats to the approximately million-acre (405,000-hectare) site include looting, slash-and-burn agriculture, and illegal logging. (Explore an interactive map of the Maya Empire.)

Archaeologist Richard Hansen leads a project exploring the ancient site and is a proponent of responsible tourism as a means to protect the region.

"That will provide revenue for the poorest of Guatemala's population, and that's the key, to involve them in the model," he said. (Related: "Bowls of Fingers, Baby Victims, More Found in Maya Tomb.")

Temples' Potential

2011-12-10T18:39:00.001+08:00

Photograph courtesy Sourav De

Only 72 of the original 108 terra-cotta temples remain intact in the 18th-century village of Maluti, India. The temples were built during the Pala dynasty by devotees of the Hindu goddess Mowlakshi. Other temples at the site were dedicated to Shiva, Durga, Kali, and Vishnu.
Today, neglect, poor drainage, and overgrown vegetation are taking a toll on the complex. But "with proper restoration and maintenance, the temples have the potential to be a major source of economy in the small town of Maluti," the Global Heritage Fund says in its report.
"With no such plan in place, the temples are fast deteriorating beyond repair."
(See pictures of the new seven wonders of the world, as chosen in 2007.)

Monastyr

2011-12-10T18:38:00.001+08:00

Monastyr is a Polish role-playing game set in a dark fantasy world of Dominium. Its setting features a fantastic equivalent of the Age of Enlightenment. Most often, the game plays in a cloak and dagger mood and involves plotting, intrigue, but also struggle in the name of honour. The game has been inspired by such authors as Alexandre Dumas, père, Michael Moorcock and H. P. Lovecraft. It is published by Wydawnictwo Portal (Portal Publishing House) and it is currently available only in Polish.
The game does not shy from dealing with serious issues such as religion or race. The players have to play humans, and they are all followers of a certain monotheistic religion, know as Karianizm. The religion is based on Christian faith in one god mixed with reincarnation and the cycle of life known from Hinduism. The human countries, tied together with that religion, are involved in a long struggle against all other races (elves, dwarves, orcs, etc.); their religion dictates that all of those races are doomed and are beyond salvation, therefore must be exterminated as a minions of evil god Kusiciel (from polish Tempter.) Magic is also considered a sign of a devil or demons, so there are no (overt) mage characters.
The corebook, Monastyr, does not describe the lands of non-humans, instead it concentrates on the human empire, which, while united by a single faith and church, and is composed of over fifty separate countries, each involved in various struggles, political or military, with others.
Monastyr mechanics are based around the 3d20 system.

External links

(Polish) Monastyr's official website

Clava Cairns

2011-11-20T01:35:00.003+08:00

Neolithic passage tombs, of which the most famous and impressive examples include Newgrange in Ireland and Maes Howe in the Scottish Orkney Islands, are found extensively in Ireland and also in significant numbers in the more northerly parts of Scotland. In a cluster around the northern Scottish city of Inverness are found a few more modest examples of the genre, which dating evidence suggests were constructed at a relatively late date— around the year 2000 B.C.E. The so-called Clava cairns derive their name from a concentration of seven such monuments at Balnuaran of Clava, on the southern banks of the river Nairn some eight kilometers (five miles) east of Inverness. They comprise two types: the passage tombs (or passage graves) themselves and ring cairns, cairns surrounded by a circular raised bank but without a passage. Circles of standing stones surround several examples of both types.

Orientation was clearly an important consideration when a Clava cairn was being constructed. The orientations of the passages, where they exist, fall without exception within a quarter of the compass between west-southwest and south-southeast. The encompassing stone circles tend to have their stones graded in height with the tallest in the southwest. The southwesterly preference in the orientations of these monuments appears to follow a dominant tradition very similar to the one that controlled the broadly contemporary recumbent stone circles found farther to the south and east.

The most evident concentration of cairns at Balnuaran of Clava comprises two passage tombs and a single ring cairn, all surrounded by stone circles. The two passage tombs are arranged so that their passages are directly in line with each other. The ring cairn, although placed between them, is slightly off to one side and does not obscure the alignment. Alexander Thom visited the site as part of his extensive campaign in the 1950s and 1960s to survey many hundreds of Scottish megalithic monuments. He noted that the two passages were not only directly in line with each other, but also closely aligned upon midwinter sunset. Twenty years later the archaeologist Aubrey Burl completed a study of the Clava cairn orientations and concluded that, while the solstitial alignment was not generally repeated at other sites, the whole group had a consistent, broader pattern of orientation related to the moon. The simplest interpretation is that it related to the midsummer full moon. In this respect, again, the Clava cairns seemed to have much in common with the nearby recumbent stone circles. As it happens, the direction of midwinter sunset falls within the broader lunar range, and the obvious conclusion from considering the monuments systematically as a group was that their significance was in fact lunar, with the specifically solar alignment at Balnuaran of Clava itself being a fortuitous occurrence within this range. The Clava cairns stood for almost twenty years as a clear example of how studying a group of monuments as a whole can modify, and constrain, “oneoff” interpretations of individual sites.

All this changed in the late 1990s when another British archaeologist, Richard Bradley, commenced excavations at Balnuaran of Clava. One of his principal conclusions was that structural risks had been taken in order to conform to prevailing norms that (to our view) have no practical value—indeed, that seem to run counter to common sense. These included grading the heights not only of the surrounding stone circle but of the kerbstones and other stones within the cairn that governed its structural integrity: the tallest were placed on the southwestern side, something that made the overlying cairn structure inherently rather unstable. This confirms the importance of orientation but also hints at a much richer set of prevailing symbolic or aesthetic principles that governed the construction of these monuments.

Another extraordinary fact revealed by the excavations was that the various stones used in the construction of the cairns were often not, structurally speaking, best suited for the job. The choice of stone often seems to have had more to do with color than with (what we would see as) practical necessities such as size, shape, or strength. Most intriguing of all, stones of certain colors predominated in different parts of the cairns—with, broadly speaking, a preference for white stones facing sunrise in the east but red stones facing sunset in the west. Changes in color seem to have been related to the directions of solstitial sunrise and sunset. It is here that Bradley’s discoveries provide a direct challenge to the lunar conclusion: they suggest that the predominant symbolism at the site was solar. This, combined with the very fact that the solar alignment is so precise—the setting midwinter sun shone down the full length of the passage—argue strongly that the solar symbolism, and particularly the solstitial alignment, were deliberate.

The wider issue that this conclusion raises is methodological. Every aligned structure must point somewhere, and we must seek corroborating evidence if we wish to increase our degree of belief that any particular alignment upon a specific astronomical target was actually intentional or, at the least, came to mean something to certain people in the past. There are two main ways to do this. The first is to investigate whether the alignment is repeated at similar monuments in the locality. The second is to seek a broader range of contextual evidence relating to the case in question: evidence that could inform us about the broader symbolic principles prevailing in that particular instance. The example of Balnuaran of Clava shows the potential of both methods, but also shows that they can be in direct conflict, and raises the question of how we can best achieve a reconciliation in such circumstances. One solution may be to postulate that this site, evidently the most complex and sophisticated in the Clava cairn tradition, incorporated a layer of symbolism relating to the sun that was additional to the more commonplace, and more basic, relationship to the moon.

References and further reading Bradley, Richard. The Good Stones: A New Investigation of the Clava Cairns. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (Monograph Series 17), 2000. Burl, Aubrey. The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, 233–242. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. Larsson, Lars, and Berta Stjernquist, eds. The World-View of Prehistoric Man, 123–135. Stockholm: Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1998. Mithen, Steven, ed. Creativity in Human Evolution and Prehistory, 227–240. London: Routledge, 1998. Ruggles, Clive. Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland, 130–131. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. Ruggles, Clive, and Alasdair Whittle, eds. Astronomy and Society in Britain during the Period 4000–1500 BC, 257–65. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports (British Series 88), 1981. Trevarthen, David. “Illuminating the Monuments: Observation and Speculation on the Structure and Function of the Cairns at Balnuaran of Clava.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 10 (2000), 295–315.

LINK

Carahunge

2011-11-20T01:35:00.001+08:00

In a mountainous region of southern Armenia, near the town of Sisian, is an impressive stone setting consisting of over 150 standing stones varying from about one meter (three feet) to 2.8 meters (nine feet) in height. Approximately fifty more stones have now fallen. Of Neolithic date, probably built no later than the third millennium B.C.E. and possibly considerably earlier, the site broadly resembles many better-known megalithic monuments on the Atlantic seaboard of Europe, and particularly in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany. Surrounding a central dolmen is an oval-shaped ring about thirty-five meters (115 feet) in diameter consisting of about forty stones. An avenue runs out from the ring to the northeast, and other rows run north and south.

The site has been interpreted as an astronomical observatory and acclaimed as an Armenian Stonehenge. A distinctive feature of Carahunge is that about eighty of the stones in the north-south rows contained a small circular hole running through their upper section (although only about fifty of these stones survive intact). These curious holes have carefully smoothed edges and are around five centimeters (two inches) in diameter. Some are as much as twenty centimeters (eight inches) deep, opening out into wider depressions carved into each side of the stone. Three holes enter in one side of a stone, turn a right angle and then point directly upwards. An unresolved question is whether the holes, which seem remarkably unweathered if they are indeed prehistoric, were in fact added as a later feature.

A number of Armenian and Russian archaeoastronomers have investigated the possible use of these holes for observations of the sun and moon in prehistoric times. They have established, for example, that three or four of them are directed toward the point of sunrise on the summer solstice and another three or four toward the point of sunset on the same day. Other holes point in a variety of directions, all around the compass. They are also inclined at various angles to the horizontal, mostly up to about fifteen degrees; this means that most are directed toward points in the sky just above the local horizon. These facts raise the serious possibility that the holes were used for astronomical observations, whether contemporary with the construction of the original monument or later. It has even been suggested that the three right-angled holes contained mirrors and were used for zenith observation. To address these issues, a systematic study of the holes that remain in situ, paying careful attention to methodological issues, is urgently needed, because the site is unprotected and threatened by damage from sightseers and looters.

Inevitably there have been other claims—more speculative and less supportable— relating to the astronomical significance of the site. One is that it can be astronomically dated to the sixth millennium B.C.E. And direct comparisons with Stonehenge, which few now believe was an observatory, are less than helpful.

References and further reading Bochkarev, Nikolai. “Ancient Armenian Astroarchaeological Monuments: Personal Impressions of Metsamor and Carahunge.” In Mare Kõiva, Harry Mürk, and Izold Pustõlnik, eds. Cultural Context from Archaeoastronomical Data and the Echoes of Cosmic Catastrophic Events. Tallinn: Estonian Literary Museum and Tartu, Estonia: Tartu Observatory, in press. Herouni, Paris. “The Prehistoric Stone Observatory Carahunge-Carenish.” Reports of NAS of Armenia 4 (1998), 307–328. [In Russian.] Vardanyan, Gurgan. Carahunge: Armenia’s Stonehenge. http://www.carahunge.com/.

China's Lost Pyramids

2011-11-20T01:32:00.001+08:00

Deep within China near the ancient capitol of Xi'an lies a series of pyramid mounds virtually unknown outside the country. Entwined with the reality of these remote tombs, lies a legend of an even greater pyramid seldom seen; a pyramid of such size and grandeur as to put all the other pyramids of the world to shame. This is the legend of the white pyramid of China.

Interest in Chinese pyramids was greatly increased by the 1994 publication of Hartwig Hausdorf's Die Weisse Pyramide later translated into English under the revised title The Chinese Roswell (1998) in which he briefly describes his travels through China in search of the legendary great white pyramid of China. Hausdorf never locates his prize, but he did return from China with a series of photos of pyramid mounds that have been widely published in books and magazines and circulated on the Internet.

These photos sparked a renewed interest in a story that is over 50 years old, but has never been satisfactorily explained. Hausdorf cites very few sources in his book, but it is possible to track down where he appears to have gotten much of his material. The original source for Hausdorf's claims of a white pyramid apparently comes from Bruce Cathie's The Bridge to Infinity (1983), in which Cathie recounts the story of US Air Force pilot James Gaussman.

As Cathie tells it, during World War II, Gaussman was flying a routine mission between India and China when he suffered engine problems that forced him to descend to a lower altitude. In his report to an intelligence officer, he is quoted as saying:

"I banked to avoid a mountain and we came out over a level valley. Directly below was a gigantic white pyramid. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. It was encased in shimmering white. This could have been metal, or some sort of stone. It was pure white on all sides. The remarkable thing was the capstone, a huge piece of jewel-like material that could have been crystal. There was no way we could have landed, although we wanted to. We were struck by the immensity of the thing." 1
How Cathie came into possession of Gaussman's report is not indicated. In fact, there are no sources cited for Gaussman's story. This of course has not stopped numerous books and websites from quoting the tale as established fact. In an article for the December 2002 issue of Fortean Times entitled the "The White Pyramid," researcher Maoling MausoleumSteve Marshall poses the possibility that the Gaussman account may simply be an inaccurate retelling of a very real and well-documented sighting made by Colonel Maurice Sheahan, the Far Eastern director of Trans World Airline.

Sheahan's encounter was presented in 1947 in the March 28 edition of the New York Times, under the headline "U.S. Flier Reports Huge Chinese Pyramid In Isolated Mountains Southwest of Sian [Xi'an]." In the article, Sheehan is quoted as saying that the pyramid he saw seemed to "dwarf those of Egypt" and he estimates its height at 1000 feet and its width at 1500 feet. If these dimensions are accurate, this structure would indeed dwarf the pyramids of Egypt, the largest of which stands only 450 feet tall.

Sheahan places the location of the pyramid at the end of a long inaccessible valley at the foot of the Qin Ling Mountains about 40 miles southwest of Xi'an. Near the main structure he describes a smaller pyramid and at the near end of the valley are hundreds of small burial mounds visible from the Longhai railroad. In describing the structure he says, "I was impressed by its perfect pyramidal form and its great size." However, nowhere in the article does Sheehan describe the pyramid as being white, nor does he mention a crystalline capstone.

No photos accompanied the original New York Times article and photos were similarly absent in articles based on the same United Press story printed in other newspapers around the globe. Chinese pyramid photoA photo of the reported pyramid does not appear until two days later in the New York Sunday News for March 30, 1947. This photo has since been the focus of endless scrutiny and speculation. However, its origin and indeed what it actually shows has never been satisfactorily resolved.

Sheahan places the pyramid that he saw at the end of a valley within a mountain range. However, the published photo shows a structure lying isolated out in the open on a flat plain. Sheahan's description of the structure as having a "perfect pyramidal form" also contrasts with the flat topped appearance of the mound shown in the photo.

With these mysteries and tantalizing clues in mind, I determined to try to shed some light on this intriguing story. Through the wonders of modern satellite imagery it is no longer necessary to inspect a location in person, especially when searching for something as large as a 1000-foot tall pyramid. My search began with a visit to the Space Imaging website where it is possible to browse satellite photos from around the world for free. To see the full, high-resolution images one must pay several hundred if not thousands of dollars. However, because of the size of the target sought and its perfectly symmetrical form, high-resolution images were not necessary. If the pyramid existed, it would surely show up on the freely available satellite photos from Space Imaging.

I proceeded to spend several days downloading dozens of detailed satellite images and overlaying them upon a map of the region. Using satellite photos taken of the pyramids at Giza for size comparison, I sought pyramidal forms from the target region in China. What I found was quite startling. Spread across the landscape were scores of pyramids of varying size. One in particular seemed to closely match the size of the Egyptian pyramids, at least in its perimeter.

There was just one problem. These pyramids were in the wrong place. The pyramids I had located lay several miles northwest of Xi'an near the city of Xianyang. Furthermore, none of them appeared in the mountainous territory south of Xi'an. They all lay out in the open upon seemingly flat ground. I believed I had located the pyramid from the famous photo, but its location did not remotely match the description given by Sheehan.

I searched further among the hills and valleys of the Qin Ling Mountains southwest of Xi'an, but I could find no pyramids at all. In again referencing the target size of the pyramids at Giza, it soon became apparent that due to the strongly undulating terrain, there were simply no spots flat enough to even attempt construction of a pyramid of the size described. Clearly, something was wrong.
Enamored by the mystery, I determined to visit China myself and attempt to reconcile some of these conflicting stories. To read Hausdorf's description of his journeys to China brings up images of a clandestine operation as he ventures secretly into China's "Forbidden Zone." The notion of the pyramids lying in a forbidden zone appears to have started with the publication of Robert Charroux's Masters of the World (1967). This concept has been repeated over and over in various publications with no attempt made to verify its veracity. In fact, none of the pyramids I had located resided within any such restricted zone.

With visa's in hand, my friend Eric and I traveled from Beijing to the ancient capitol city of Xi'an now most famous for the terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang on display just east of the city. aerial view of pyramidAs the plane descended low through the clouds I searched the smooth green landscape below and to my utter surprise I could make out pyramids already! I fumbled through my carry-on bag, searching for my camera and was able to snap off a few shots before we landed. Maybe these pyramids wouldn't be so hard to find after all I thought.

Our time in Beijing had taught us how few people in China actually speak English. Now, arriving in a much smaller city we were prepared for things to be even more challenging. After gathering up our baggage, I decided to purchase a map of the region. Maps of the area around Xi'an were virtually impossible to come by in America and while I knew the relative locations of the pyramids in relation to the main city, I needed a map that actually had street names on it if I hoped to describe my desired destinations to a cab driver or local guide.

As I unfolded my new purchase, I came across a small portion of the map devoted to an overview of the region with places of historical interest denoted. To my surprise, many of the locations were signified by small images of pyramids! I opened my bag and took out my photocopies of the satellite maps I had prepared. A quick comparison of the two showed an almost identical match.
While I could neither read nor pronounce the names written on the map, I now had a page I could use to show locals exactly where I wanted to go. My excitement was already building as we began our bus ride from the airport to the city of Xi'an. After the sighting from the plane, I kept a careful watch out our window on the bus and was soon rewarded with glimpses of dozens of mounds of varying shapes both distant and near.
Arriving at our hotel, we were greeted by a representative of the travel agency we had booked our room through. terracotta armyTourism in Xi'an has skyrocketed since the discovery of the terracotta army just outside the city with local travel agencies offering a variety of packages designed to suit most tourists' needs. However, we weren't normal tourists. Sitting down with our tour guide Daniel, I spread out before him the maps, satellite photos and information I had gathered. From the look of surprise on his face I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that Daniel thought I was some sort of spy.

He explained to us that tours around Xi'an are generally divided between an eastern tour that visits the terracotta army and a much less popular western tour that visits some of the burial mounds scattered throughout the region. Many of these mounds he explained matched the pyramids I wanted to visit. We tried to negotiate with him for a customized tour that would take us beyond the normal stops of the pre-planned western tour and while he tried to be flexible, Daniel admitted that he was not familiar with all the locations I wanted to visit. However, he would be happy to help us as much as he could.

The next morning, we met Daniel in the lobby and climbed aboard a small van that would finally take us to the pyramids I had sought for so long. Our first stop was the largest pyramid I had identified from the satellite photos and is known locally as Maoling Mausoleum. Maoling MausoleumIts shape is now somewhat obscured by a covering of young trees, yet the structure still makes for an impressive sight. Photo in hand, I quickly identified the burial mound before me as the same one depicted in the black and white photo from 1947.

Making the steep climb to the summit, I surveyed my surroundings. Both near and far were smaller burial mounds of differing shapes and configurations. The view was impressive, but I was struck most of all by the fact that I had made it. I had finally arrived at this place I had spent over a year researching and examining in satellite photos. After all the talk of forbidden zones and inaccessible valleys, here it lay out in the open for anyone to admire.

Looking around me, I saw no foreign tourists and Daniel assured me that most of the people he brought here never took the time to climb the mound, being satisfied with merely viewing it from a distance. But the pyramid was certainly well known to the locals. Atop the summit, a dozen people walked or sat leisurely and one family was even enjoying a picnic lunch.

I knew from the satellite photos, that this pyramid's measurements around the base nearly matched those of the largest pyramid in Egypt. Climbing Maoling MausoleumHowever, it was not until I climbed it and then researched it locally that I discovered its exact height. Unlike the 1000 feet that had been claimed, the burial mound actually measures a little less than 150 feet in height.2 This is about one third the height of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. I must say though, that after descending the mound and nearly losing my footing on the treacherous slope, I really can't imagine it being much steeper.

Unlike the pyramids of Egypt with their carefully carved and fitted stones, Maoling Mausoleum is composed of densely packed earth. It stands as the largest and most impressive of 11 Western-Han imperial mausoleums and is the final resting place of Emperor Liu Che (also known as Wu Di) who reigned from 157-87 BC, making the tomb over 2000 years old. Chinese history tells us the tomb took 53 years to complete and was filled with precious burial objects, some of which have avoided the plundering of grave robbers and are on display at a nearby museum.

Satellite TombContinuing our tour, we visited several other burial mounds, but none were as impressive as the first. Some of the mounds could be entered after paying an entrance fee and many of them had small museums available onsite displaying artifacts recovered from the mounds. It struck me as odd that the grandest burial mound of them all required no entrance fee. In an area where tourism is so active it seemed strange that such an impressive site was left out of the agendas of most visitors to the region.

Over the next few days we took time to visit the other sights in the area, including the burial mound of Emperor Qin Shi Huang who unified the country in 221 BC. Emperor Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum has been the subject of endless speculation in its own right due largely to legends of the unimaginable wealth it is reputed to contain. In Records of the Historian: Biography of Qin Shi Huang, Han historian Sima Qian describes a burial chamber containing miniature palaces and pavilions with flowing rivers and surging oceans of mercury lying beneath a ceiling decorated in jewels depicting the sun, moon and stars.

Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum
Indeed the burial chamber was built as a miniature replica of the emperor's expansive empire complete with five holy mountains. History tells us that all the artisans who worked on the construction of the tomb were murdered in order to protect its secrets. To this day, the burial chamber remains unexcavated and continues to hold its secrets.

It is believed that Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum once stood almost 330 feet in height although the ravages of time have decreased these dimensions considerably to just 150 feet. From north to south, the burial mound measures almost 1700 feet and from east to west it has a length of just under 1600 feet.2 These measurements give the tomb a volume exceeding that of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, making it an awe-inspiring sight to behold. Qin Shi Huang's mausoleumStill because of Qin Shi Huang's tomb's gently sloping sides now distorted by a dense covering of trees, Maoling Mausoleum remains the more impressive of the two mounds for anyone searching for true pyramids in China.
While in Xi'an, I also visited as many bookstores as I could in search of any information available on other pyramids in the area. While books are plentiful in Xi'an, English books are relatively rare. I was able to dig up a few pieces of useful information however. Confirming my original identification of the pyramid from the 1947 photo, I found this item in the English tourist book Xian: Places of Historical Interest (2002), under the section describing Maoling Mausoleum: "In the 1930's, an American pilot, taking photos in the air, took Maoling Mausoleum for his discovery of a 'pyramid' in China." Despite listing an incorrect decade (dates and numbers are often mixed up in this English translation), this book would appear to offer the final bit of proof in offering a conclusive identification for the 1947 photo.

Maoling Mausoleum
However, one mystery remained. Did the photo printed two days after the publication of Sheahan's original account actually depict the pyramid identified in his sighting? Colonel Sheahan was an experienced pilot and in his account he places the pyramid he saw as lying 40 miles southwest of Xi'an. Maoling Mausoleum lies about 25 miles northwest of the city. Even a casual visitor to China will notice that even the simplest English is often misspelled and words are often omitted, switched around or used improperly. Is it possible that southwest and northwest were merely mixed up?
In a private correspondence with bible student E Leslie Carlson in 1961, Sheahan admitted that the original published height of the pyramid he saw was incorrect. He gives the correct height as being closer to 500 feet tall and not 1000 feet as originally published. The discrepancy occurred, he explained, during the conversion from the Chinese li to meters to feet.

But if Sheahan was able to clarify this error later on, wouldn't he have also pointed out any mistakes between northwest and southwest? Also, Sheahan places the location of the pyramid at the base of the Qin Ling Mountains. These mountains lie approximately 30 miles south of Xi'an. The only way to reconcile the story as reported with the published photo is if the photo shows a structure distinct from the pyramid Colonel Sheahan reported.

Is it possible that somewhere among the remote valleys of the Qin Ling Mountains a pyramid does indeed lie virtually unknown to the outside world? My intensive search through satellite imagery indicates that this is not the case. At least not in an area approximately 40 miles southwest of the city of Xi'an. While in the city I spoke with Daniel about the possibility of renting a helicopter or small airplane to Qin Ling Mountainsfly us out over the Qin Ling Mountains, but he assured me that such a thing would be impossible. I knew that I would have to leave Xi'an with only half of the mystery solved.

After Xi'an, our next destination was Chengdu, a city that coincidentally lies southwest of Xi'an. As our plane flew up above the Qin Ling Mountains I strained my eyes for a glimpse of the landscape below me. Even from several thousand feet the steepness of the mountains was apparent and I could make out no valleys wide enough to build a pyramid of the size reported. It's possible that something still lies out there among the formidable peaks, but the Qin Ling Mountains won't give up their secrets easily. As our plane rose up above the clouds, obscuring my view of the terrain beneath me, I was left with only fantasies of what might lie undiscovered below.

Further Reading: Die Weisse Pyramide
Hartwig Hausdorf
The Chinese Roswell
Hartwig Hausdorf
The Bridge to Infinity
Bruce Cathie
Lost Cities of China, Central Asia and India
David Hatcher Childress
Xi'an: China's Ancient Capital
Kevin Bishop
Xi'an
Cao Lei, Ying Ren (Editor)
China's Lost Pyramids

Gilgamesh Project by Neil Dalrymple

2011-11-20T01:31:00.001+08:00

This work was commissioned by the Mythstories, Museum of Myth and Fable, Wem, Shropshire. (www.mythstories.com)
The project was to produce eight tactile ceramic relief tablets (40cm x 30cm approx) depicting scenes from the epic story of Gilgamesh, a half god, half human giant from ancient Babylonian times.

The scenes were designed and created by Neil Dalrymple using the ancient Babylonian style of stone sculpture. This work tells selected extracts of the story of Gilgamesh and is made from stoneware fired clay. The tablets were textured, coloured and finished to give an impression of ancient stone.

Gobekli Tepe: Garden of Eden?

2011-09-29T07:16:00.002+08:00

Since the dig began in 1994, experts have made the journey to Kurdish Turkey to marvel at these 40-odd standing stones and their Neolithic carvings.

Klaus Schmidt says: "Gobekli Tepe is staggeringly old. It dates from 10,000BC, before pottery and the wheel. By comparison, Stonehenge dates from 2,000BC. Our excavations also show it is not a domestic site, it is religious - the world's oldest temple. This site proves that hunter-gatherers were capable of complex art and organised religion, something no-one imagined before."

Digging for history in Turkey - An archaeological dig tells us more about the Garden of Eden, says Sean Thomas.

See also:
Gobekli: your questions answered
Sean Thomas answers some FAQ.

A Place of Sanctuary - Creating Sacred Space

2011-09-29T07:15:00.003+08:00

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes health as “the condition of perfect bodily, spiritual, and social well-being and not solely the absence of illness and injury.” As described by the WHO, how many of us feel emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy on a daily basis? We work in structures called ‘sick-buildings;’ we go home to care for families so tired we are almost unable to function; and we increasingly lose our connection with any sense of our place in the universe. How do we reclaim our life and start to think that our life matters and that we are important in the overall scheme of things? One way of doing this is to create our own sanctuary/sacred space.

Creating our own sacred space restores our peace of mind and enables us to stand back from the turmoil in our lives in order to provide a place where we can reconnect with our sense of self and reclaim our power. Exploration of sanctuary is to create a link to the Divine as our soul asks us to love, accept, and provide hospitality to ourselves when we are spiritually hungry. Spirituality is more than a psychological and emotional need: it is an inherent biological need as our energy, our spirit, and our personal power is all one and the same force.

For Ideas and Options for Creating Sacred Space: Read more ...

Photo Gallery of Japanese Zen Gardens

2011-09-29T07:14:00.002+08:00

Monotonous rocks instead of colorful flowers; dry, gray sand as a substitute for glass-clear water; moss supplementing cherished flowerbeds. Even this can be a description of a garden. Everyone can recognize them at the first glance, but few can depict them in words.

Photo Gallery of Japanese Zen Gardens by Frantisek Staud with more than 250 photographs.

You want to see more? Then go here:
The Japanese Garden by Bowdoin

Although many of these gardens are located within Zen monasteries, this site does not explore the influence of Zen Buddhism on Japanese garden design, an influence that is often conjectural at best. Instead, the site is designed to provide the visitor with an opportunity to visit each garden, to move through or around it, to experience it through the medium of high-quality color images.

Articles by Philip Coppens

2011-09-20T14:47:00.003+08:00

Orcadian stones

The Orkney Islands sit on the northern tip of the British mainland. It is rumoured that one inhabitant once wrote “Bergen, Norway” as his nearest train station, rather than Edinburgh – let alone London as the nearest capital. The islands seem remote and yet they are the centre of a megalithic community whose traces remain clearly distinguishable in the landscape.

The Ring of Brodgar, one of the highlights of any visit to the islands, has an area of 90,790 square feet (8,435 m2) and thus ranks third in size after the Outer Circle at Avebury and the Great Circle at Stanton Drew, in what many consider to be the true heart of the Megalithic World, the coastal areas of south-western England and French Brittany.

Island of the Giants

The three small islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino float in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily and east of the Tunesian coastline. Though small, their history dates back thousands of years – and continues to throw a magical spell on many visitors. And we need to ask whether the modern tourists are the last in a series of sun worshippers that came to these islands.
Various megalithic monuments are located on Malta, dated at approx. 4000 BC. What is important is that the buildings are unique in style and that their builders – as is so often the case – are unknown.

Many interesting Artikles about enigmatic landscapes and megalithic civilisation around the world: Articles by Philip Coppens (English)
Check also his other projects.

Shadows & Stones: Ancient Irish Monuments

2011-09-20T14:46:00.000+08:00

Kilclooney More Dolmen, Co. Donegal

On a fine summer evening I finally made it to one of the finest portal tombs on these islands. The perfection of the monuments matched the sunset sky and I could have stayed here for hours on end. There are actually two portal tombs but the smaller one normally gets a token mention for the honour of sharing a cairn with the larger, more imposing monument.

Poulnabrone Dolmen,
Co. Clare

The tomb is box shaped with a steeply angled slab like capstone which is trapezodial in shape. Although the rear of the chamber has collapsed and a possible second capstone lies to the rear of the tomb, the structure is still very dramatic. The tomb was excavated in 1986 and the remains of 22 individuals were found in a disarticulated sate, bones pushed into the natural grykes of the burren bedrock.

Shadows & Stones - Photographs by Ken Williams

This site contains a selection of my photographic detours around Ireland, with a heavy emphasis on ancient Irish monuments. Some are well known icons of Irish heritage that feature regularly on calendars and postcards, others are un-sung treasures or have been simply forgotten and neglected. All of them offer fascinating insights into the culture of the late Stone Age and early Bronze Age people of Ireland who constructed these sculptures in stone as early as 7,000 years ago. These core photographic records of Irelands oldest building work and artwork are complemented by landscapes of Ireland and beyond as well as a selection of the many faces of the animal kingdom.

Theban Mapping Project

2011-09-20T14:45:00.002+08:00

Atlas of the Valley of the Kings:

Discover each tomb in the Valley in this interactive Atlas. Investigate a database of information about each tomb, view a compilation of more than 2000 images, interact with models of each tomb, and measure, pan, and zoom over 250 detailed maps, elevations, and sections. Experience sixty-five narrated tours by Dr. Weeks and explore a 3D recreation of tomb KV 14.

Atlas of the Theban Necropolis:

Explore the entire archaeological zone through this giant aerial photograph. Zoom in to see individual architectural details of temples and palaces as well as the topography of the area. Mouse over sites to get additional information about them.

Theban Mapping Project

There is much more than this great interactive window to the world of the Valley of the Kings:

Digital Imagery

The TMP's photographers, Francis Dzikowski and Matjaz Kacicnic, have completed taking comprehensive digital photographs of the walls of KV tombs currently open to the public (or likely to be opened soon). This photographic survey users will be able to call up both general photographs of tomb walls, details of scenes, and even individual hieroglyphs for study. Four tombs were not included in the survey because of technical problems, but the following tombs were completely photographed:

KV 1 Rameses VII
KV 2 Rameses IV
KV 6 Rameses IX
KV 8 Merenptah
KV 9 Rameses VI
KV 11 Rameses III
KV 14 Twosret/Setnakhte
KV 15 Seti II
KV 16 Rameses I
KV 34 Thutmes III
KV 35 Amenhetep II
KV 43 Thutmes IV
KV 47 Siptah
KV 57 Horemhab
KV 52 Tutankhamen
WV 23 Ay

Check the Sites in the Valley of the Kings, the Resources Index (with illustrated glossary and Egyptian Timeline), and don't miss the Articles provides a broader understanding of the history and development of the Valley of the Kings and the cultural practices that have influenced and shaped the construction and utilization of the tombs in it. Copious photographs, maps and drawings illustrate each of them.

Ancient city ruins found in northern Peru

2011-09-09T21:42:00.003+08:00

The ruins of an entire city that could provide the missing link between two ancient cultures have been found in northern Peru.

Archaeologists believe the city, at the Cerro Patapo site, could provide a connection between the Wari and Moche cultures. The site, 14 miles from the city of Chiclayo on the Pacific coast, dates back to the Wari culture, which existed between about 600 AD and 1100 AD. The Moche culture flourished from about 100 AD to 600 AD.

The huge site, which stretches over three miles, shows evidence of human sacrifice, with special sites for the practice and the remains of the victims found at the bottom of a nearby cliff. Researchers have also found ceramics, pieces of clothing and the well-preserved remains of a young woman.

"It provides the missing link, because it explains how the Wari people allowed for the continuation of culture after the Moche," said Cesar Soriano, chief archeologist on the project.

It is the first such evidence of Wari culture, whose people made their capital near modern-day Ayacucho, in the Andes, but travelled widely and are known for their extensive network of roads.

The 2,000-Year-Old Mystery Circle In Miami

2011-09-09T21:41:00.002+08:00

Miami Circle
Photo: www.miamicircle.org

Property developer Michael Bauman was in for a real surprise when he purchased a plot of land in downtown Miami in 1998. Bauman's plans for the land were seemingly simple: demolish a 1950-era apartment complex and build a luxury condominium in its place.

During a routine archaeological survey of the site, however, hundreds of mysterious holes were discovered in a layer of Oolitic limestone bedrock and Bauman's development plans immediately came to a halt. Through further investigation, twenty-four of the largest holes comprised a perfect circle, 38 feet (12 m) in diameter, and excavation results found a variety of artifacts ranging from human teeth to ancient tools.

Included in the artifacts were pieces of burnt wood which, after being tested for radiocarbon dating, are believed to be 1800-2000 years old. To date, Miami Circle is the only known evidence in the United States of a prehistoric structure built into bedrock. Evidence from this mysterious prehistoric "footprint" predates other known settlements along the East Coast.
The site is believed to have once been occupied by the Tequesta Indians, a local tribe whose known tools matched some of the shark tooth-related artifacts found during excavation. Theorists have suggested that the holes were structural postholes or part of the foundation for a building. Some believe the building was used for ceremonial purposes, as animal bones and unused tools appeared to be offerings.

Among these tools were two axe-heads made from basalt, a hard stone that is not indigenous to Florida. The finding of these tools contradicts the theory that the site was occupied by the Tequesta, however, as the volcanic rock is believed to have been from a location in Macon, Georgia - some 600 miles (970 km) away from the site.

The mysterious origin of the site has led to its nickname as "America's Stonehenge", (though there are a number of sites nicknamed this) and some critics and conspiracy theorists have offered alternative theories. Aliens, Mayans and septic tanks are among some of the suggested origins for the holes.

The State of Florida eventually purchased the land from Baumann after a series of high-profile disputes between Native American groups, contractors, and historic preservation committees. Miami Circle, otherwise known as Brickell Point or the Miami River Circle, was declared a National Historic Landmark in early 2009 and is currently under a 44-year lease agreement with the Historical Museum of Southern Florida. Visitors interested in the history of the Miami Circle can view artifacts on display through the museum's permanent exhibition: "First Arrivals: The Archaeology of Southern Florida."

Adam’s Bridge aka Rama’s Bridge

2011-09-09T21:39:00.002+08:00

Adam's Bridge, also known as 'Ram Sethu' meaning "Rama's Bridge", is a chain of limestone shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of India. Hindus believe that this bridge was built by Rama incarnation of Lord Vishnu to rescue his consort Sita who was abducted to Lanka by Ravana, as mentioned in the Ramayana.

Many historical inscriptions, coins, old travel guides, old dictionary references, old religious maps indicate that this structure is considered sacred by Hindus.

Rama's Bridge as seen from the air

In 2001, the Government of India approved a controversial multi-million dollar Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project that aims to create a ship channel across the Palk Strait by dredging through a portion of this causeway. Some organizations oppose this project using current alignment based on religious, economic and environmental grounds.

NASA distanced itself from the claims saying that what had been captured was nothing more than a 30 km long, naturally-occurring chain of sandbanks called Adam's bridge. It also clarified that, "The images reproduced on the websites may well be ours, but their interpretation is certainly not ours. Remote sensing images or photographs from orbit cannot provide direct information about the origin or age of a chain of islands, and certainly cannot determine whether humans were involved in producing any of the patterns seen". Prof. N. Ramanujam, Head, Post Graduate Department of Geology and Research Centre, V.O. Chidambaram College, astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar and a group of professors of Madurai Kamaraj University stated that Adam's bridge is a natural geographical feature which formed some 17 million years ago. In addition, Archeological Survey of India, with out carrying out studies itself, has said that the structure is natural.

NASA satellite photo of Adam's Bridge, Sri Lanka to the left.

Unbridgeable Myths: The mixing of myth and history is not the prerogative of the Hindu Right. For Dravidians, the Ram Setu has far less resonance than the myth of Lemuria known as Kumari Kandam in Tamil literature. On the lines of the Aryan theory, a section of Tamils has believed and sustained a Dravidian theory about 'Lemuria'.

Science Vs Mythology - see also the other informations about Sethusamudram.

In March 2007, over ten Hindu umbrella organizations from around the world joined together to launch the Save Ram Sethu Campaign (Ram Sethu Bachao Andolan) to increase the profile of the issue amongst the international communities.

One of them is Save Ram Sethu by RamSethu.
Another 'Save Ram Setu' project by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

It's not too late to participate!

The question is what if we today destroy this Ram Sethu, the bridge, and then tomorrow find a proof that this was indeed a man made construction? Will we get back the bridge? Can the lost heritage be brought back?

According to one Oceanographer, the construction of the Sethu Samudram Channel may also increase the risk of tsunamis on the coasts of South India as this shallow water has been protecting the calm sea on this side of the Gulf of Mannar from the wild sea of Bay of Bengal! See this article.

A Journey through California’s Spiritual Landscape

2011-09-09T21:38:00.003+08:00

California is famous for its diversity, its eccentricity, and its prophetic influence on popular culture. Since the 19th century, the Golden State has also been one of America’s most fertile climates for spiritual and religious movements. Beautifully weaving together text and image, The Visionary State is the first book to address the full story of “California consciousness.”

Ranging from Yosemite to Esalen, from televangelism to Neopaganism, from Mormon pioneers to contemporary Kali worshippers, acclaimed culture critic Erik Davis weaves together the threads of California’s religious history into an enchanting and vivid tapestry.

Michael Rauner’s haunting iconic photographs ground the book’s many stories in the sacred landscape and architecture of the Golden State. Together Davis and Rauner map the peaks and faultlines that characterize the place that is both the nexus and far frontier of American religion.
Visionary State: A Journey through California's Spiritual Landscape
by Erik Davis, Photographs by Michael Rauner.

World of Darkness: Mysterious Places

2011-09-09T21:37:00.002+08:00

This book serves as both supernatural atlas as well as a solid storytelling resource for STs wanting to flesh out the locales of their own, private World of Darkness within their own chronicles. If you're a reader of science or dark-themed fiction, then there is no doubt that, at some point or other, you have experienced the hairs on the back of your neck rise with the creepily detailed description of a place or a thing that serves as a backdrop or, sometimes, as a focal point to a story.

The book starts with 'The Swimming Hole': At the bottom of a body of water, there is a cave where you can trade your blood for wishes. As ol' Ben Franklin used to say, "If men were granted half their wishes they'd double their trouble." Even more interestingly, the force protects the water and the owner wants to drain it; too bad for everyone nearby ...

I like also 'The Whispering Wood' - an arboreal Bermuda Triangle. It's both the literal "haunted forest" as well as the spiritual and philosophical "dark wood" that everyone finds themselves lost in from time to time ...

HUH!

World of Darkness: Mysterious Places
White Wolf Publishing, 2005 | 138 pages | PDF | 8 MB

Written by Kraig Blackwelder, Rick Chillot, Geoff Grabowski, James Kiley, Matt McFarland, Brett Rebischke-Smith and Chuck Wendig with interior artwork provided by Sam Araya, Greg Boychuk, Vince Locke, Chris Martinez, Mark Nelson, Jim Pavelek, Durwin Talon, Jaime Tolagson, Andrew Trabbold, and Cathy Wilkins.

Jantar Mantar

2011-09-09T21:36:00.000+08:00

The Jantar-Mantar (Sanskrit; translated as “Magical Device”) was built between 1728 and 1734 due to the drafts of Maharaja Jai Singh II (1693 -1743) in the centre of Jaipur, which itself was founded 1727 as new capital city of his principality ... The observatory consists of oversized stone observation devices, which get a good degree of accuracy due to their enormous dimensions. It is the biggest of five observatories, which Jai Sing II had built. The majority of the devices is typical for big observatories in the Islamic world ... His capital city and observatory are, in spite of Jai Singh II's scientific and political cosmopolitanism, of purely religious origin, a fact which is often ignored or forgotten.

Jantar Mantar by bomhardde (English version)

Das Jantar-Mantar (Sanskrit; übersetzt: "Magisches Gerät") wurde zwischen 1728 und 1734 nach Plänen Maharaja Jai Singh II (1693-1743) im Zentrum von Jaipur, der 1727 gegründeten neuen Hauptstadt seines Fürstentums erbaut ... Das Jantar Mantar von Jaipur ist das größte von 5 Observatorien, die Jai Sing II erbauen ließ.

Es besteht aus steinernen Beobachtungsgeräten von gewaltigen Ausmaßen. Viele Instrumente sind typisch für islamische Großobservatorien ... Zu oft wird übersehen, daß Jai Singhs II Hauptstadt und Observatorium trotz seiner wissenschaftlichen wie politischen Weltoffenheit rein religiösen Ursprung haben.

Jantar Mantar von bomhardde (German version)

Jantar Mantar presents the observatories through a variety of media and information sources, making it possible to explore and learn about these historic sites through interactive panoramic "VR" photographs, time lapse sequences, and 3D models as well as articles, drawings, and historic texts.

Jantar Mantar by JantarMantar.org, a project initiated by Cornell University Professor of Art, Barry Perlus.

Bosporus (Bosphorus)

2011-08-31T23:38:00.002+08:00

This narrow, zigzagging, 18- mile-long channel flows south-westward from the BLACK SEA to the SEA OF MARMARA. Beyond the Marmara, the current continues south and west through the HELLESPONT channel to the AEGEAN SEA. Like the Hellespont, the Bosporus borders part of north-western ASIA MINOR; it was considered to be a dividing line between EUROPE AND ASIA.

Shorter and generally narrower and swifter-flowing than the Hellespont, the Bosporus ranges in width from 2.5 miles to 400 yards. Its name, “cow ford” or “ox ford,” was in ancient times said to refer to the mythical wanderings of IO, a woman loved by the god ZEUS and transformed into cow by Zeus’s jealous wife, HERA. But the name may refer to a more mundane cattle crossing.

Around 513 B.C.E., the Persians under King DARIUS (1)—preparing to cross from Asia to Europe for their invasion of Scythia—spanned the Bosporus with a pontoon bridge consisting of about 200 ships anchored in a row. This was a remarkable engineering feat in the ancient world, although not as amazing as the Persians’ bridging of the Hellespont, a wider channel, 30 years later. In modern times the Bosporus, now a part of Turkey, was not bridged until 1973.

The Bosporus and Hellespont were the two bottlenecks along the shipping route between the Black Sea and the Aegean. This route had become crucial by about 500 B.C.E. when ATHENS and other cities of mainland Greece were becoming dependent on grain imported from the northern Black Sea coast. As a natural site where shipping could be raided or tolled, the Bosporus, like the Hellespont, offered wealth and power to any state that could control it. This, combined with the excellent commercial fishing in the strait and its value as a ferry point, helps to explain the prosperity of the Bosporus’s most famous city, BYZANTIUM, located at the southern mouth. Athens controlled the Bosporus in the 400s B.C.E. by holding Byzantium as a subject ally.

Further reading: John Freely, The Bosphorus (Istanbul: Redhouse Press, 1993); Yusuf Mardin, Bosphorus Through the Ages (Ankara: T. C. Kültür Bakanligi, 1995); Rhonda Vander Sluis, From the Bosphorus: A Self-guided Tour (Istanbul: Çitlembik, 2000).

TempleNet

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The Golden Vimanam at the Ranganathar Temple,
Srirangam - Tamilnadu

TempleNet The Ultimate Source of Information on Indian Temples.

Templenet is an online journal as well as a comprehensive encyclopedia on Indian Temples. It is intended to serve as a one stop source of information on these monumental pieces of work.
This website is targeted towards different classes of audiences - the resident and non resident travellers wishing to tour the Land of Temples - the armchair tourist - those with a serious interest in archeology, history , religion and mythology - and simply to anyone with an interest in Indian culture. This site will be a pointer to thousands of temples in India.

Mosques Around The World

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A Mosque (Masjid) contains symbolic or functional features, each one of which has its own history that is important to Muslims, one is the Mihrab, a niche that indicates the Qibla (direction of prayer), the Minbar (elevated pulpit) used for sermons, proclamations and readings, the Qubah {Dome} set on a high drum and a centralized or annular (ring-like) plan with two ambulatories or corridors the Minarat where the faithful are called for prayer. Today the Minaret serves as a visual inspiration indicating a Muslim community, or as seen in Mecca & Madina sanctuaries displaying as far as possible the location of a holy place.
The Mosque Review by Islamic Architecture. (English)

Mosques Around The World by IslamiCity.

And/Or

Ma'sajid Around the World by Islamicfinder.

The Shire - Place of Enchantment

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The Shire is not a place with emphasis on particular spiritual practices but is in our own way respectful and supportive of the Earth and all living beings on it; cultural and artistic enrichment and expression and spiritual diversity.

Cultural and spiritual vitality means:

• Shared creativity, artistic expression, cultural activities, rituals and celebrations.

• Sense of community unity and mutual support.

• Respect and support for spirituality manifesting in many ways.

• Shared vision and agreements that express commitments, cultural heritage and the uniqueness of our community.

• Flexibility and successful responsiveness to difficulties that arise.

• Understanding of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all the elements of life on Earth and the community's place in relation to the whole.

• Creation of a peaceful, loving, sustainable world.

If you like hobbits for neighbours, then consider buying a house in the
Shire of Bend, Oregon. Nice!

A little piece of Middle Earth ... southeast Bend? Not exactly. But The Lord of the Rings did provide at least part of the inspiration – as well as the name for “The Shire,” a radically different small residential development now in the planning stages.
Locate on a bit over six acres on the west side of Benham Road near Tillicum Village; The Shire will include about 30 homes ranging in size from roughly 1,500 to 2,100 square feet.

Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil and Labná

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Architecture, Restoration, and Imaging of the Maya Cities of Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, and Labná
by Reed College.

The main purpose of this web site is to make available enough large, high quality images that viewers may begin to explore these world famous Maya cities, perhaps even to decide that this is one place on earth they absolutely must visit in person.

At Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, and Labná, each major building is unique, many composed with exceptional refinement, the buildings and courts richly juxtaposed, creating distinctive urban spaces. Some buildings display a profusion of stone ornament, requiring hundreds of high quality photographs to see the complexity and beauty of these sites.

This web site includes 19th and early 20th century drawings, prints, and photographs, showing the appearance of these four cities before the extensive restoration campaigns of the twentieth century, and allowing us to see the variety of ways in which early explorers and scholars recorded these newly discovered wonders. In addition, there are over 1000 recent photographs, showing previously unpublished architectural and sculptural details, interior spaces, paint remains, current restoration, and approaches to the public presentation of these heavily visited sites.

Theology in Stone

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Thinking about church architecture has come to an impasse. Reformers and traditionalists are talking past each other. Statements from both sides are often strident and dogmatic. In Theology in Stone, Richard Kieckhefer seeks to help both sides move beyond the standoff toward a fruitful conversation about houses of worship. Drawing on a wide range of historical examples with an eye to their contemporary relevance, he offers refreshing new ideas about the meanings and uses of church architecture.

Kieckhefer begins with four chapters on the basic elements of church architecture-the overall arrangement of space, the use of an altar or pulpit as a centering focus, the aesthetics of church design, and the functions of sacred symbols.

He goes on to offer three extended historical studies, dealing with churches of medieval England, revival-style churches of America, and modern churches of twentieth-century Germany. Drawing on these case studies, he concludes with a vision of a new theology of church architecture--historically grounded, yet framed for our own time.

Theology in Stone by Richard Kieckhefer
Oxford University Press, 2004 | 390 pages | PDF | 3.4 MB

Helike - The Real Atlantis

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Disclose.tv - BBC - Helike: The Real Atlantis-1 Video
On a winter night in 373 BC, the classical Greek city of Helike was destroyed by a massive earthquake and tidal wave. The entire city and all its inhabitants were lost beneath the sea. What has bewitched archaeologists about Helike is that it was engulfed just when ancient Greece was reaching its height; when the philosophy and art that inspired the western world for thousands of years were invented.

Inspiring the myth

Its destruction was one of the most appalling tragedies of the classical world and most probably the reality behind the myth of Atlantis. But now, unlike Atlantis, a team of archaeologists may have found Helike - a lost city from the heyday of Greek civilisation. If it is as well preserved as everyone hopes, Helike could be a time capsule from this crucial time in human development.

For centuries there had been just no sign of it. All archaeologists had to guide them were obscure and often contradictory ancient texts. So, despite numerous expeditions trawling the waters off the coast of Greece and vast amounts of money and technology thrown at the problem, no one could find anything except two small coins, unearthed over a hundred years ago.

Not drowned but buried

Then, in 1988 Dora Katsonopoulou and Steven Soter took up the challenge. Dora had grown up with the legend from childhood and was determined to find the archaeological treasure on her doorstep. Together they went back to basics and re-examined the ancient texts. These said that Helike had sunk into a poros, which everyone had taken to mean Gulf of Corinthe. But Dora thought that a poros could also be an inland lagoon. If she was right, the lost city which had inspired Atlantis might not be under the sea, as everyone thought, but somewhere inland.

A landscape on the move

Studying the geology of the region, earthquake expert Iain Stewart argues that a large earthquake could well cause an inland lagoon. Small recent earthquakes in the region have caused ground liquefaction - a terrifying phenomenon where the ground literally turns to water beneath your feet. If the same had happened on a much larger scale then the whole city could have been plunged downwards, taking much of the city below sea level. But the earthquake in 373 BC could also have had a second more devastating effect. As well as liquifaction recent earthquakes have caused chunks of coastline to fall into the sea. If this happened on a large scale underwater landslides could cause a large wave, or tsunami. This would race across the Gulf of Corinthe, ricochet off the opposite bank and come charging back again, to crash over the sunken plain and fill in the lagoon.

Dora's theory makes sense, except for one thing. There is no lagoon in the region today. There is, though, a trail of clues that explains what could have happened. An ancient bridge that is strangely nowhere near water shows how river sediment coming down from the mountains changes the shape of the plain - over hundreds of years the lagoon would have silted up, hiding the lost city beneath solid ground. A host of boreholes drilled into the plain and a remote cave with the legend attached to it have helped pinpoint where the now underground city might lie.

Glimpses of Ancient Greece

Slowly Dora and Steven have pieced it all together, but there have been several false starts along the way. The first lot of ruins they found were Roman - a settlement built hundreds of years after Helike's disappearance to honour the famous lost city. Next they found ruins that turned out to be prehistoric - an early bronze age settlement built 2,500 years before Helike. It wasn't until 2001 that Dora and Steven at last got their breakthrough.

Whilst Horizon was filming, the team uncovered ruins from classical Greece. Securely dated by coins and pottery, the team are convinced they have at last found the city they've been looking for. It will take years to uncover Helike's riches, but for the first time in thousands of years, we have glimpses of the lost city that inspired Atlantis.

Source: BBC 2

Science as the key to solving the Ancient Mysteries

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Both science and wisdom serve to demystify the mysterious. Thereby, they should be expected to work hand in hand to prove the truth about the nature of our existence. In recent centuries, science has helped us see beyond much of the ignorance imposed through religious dogma and superstition. At great personal risk, numerous scientific pioneers like Galileo and Copernicus methodically pushed back the veils of ignorance imposed through Christian Rome’s religious strictures.

Thanks to those who refused to succumb to Christian Rome’s oppression and long-term suppression of the truth, we now know far more about our world and universe than the inhabitants of recent millennia. Even so, we still live in a civilization where those organizations and leaders that have been the greatest sources of ignorance, oppression, and conflict over the centuries, somehow still manage to deceive, delude, and manipulate billions. Since science has managed to lift the veils of darkness from the realities of the natural world, the time has arrived to do the same regarding the conceptual and spiritual aspects of existence that religion has purposely confounded for millennia.

The sages and scientists of ancient Egypt knew much that still eludes modern researchers. As repeatedly recorded in their words, they were helped by symbology and wisdom preserved by the scientist-sages of a much earlier period of civilization, which they called Zep Tepi, a.k.a. the First Times. Throughout this book I demonstrate that these wisdom symbologies originated from a deeply ancient source, then through millennia of use in ancient Egypt, Nubia, and elsewhere, and then into the Hebrew texts through AmenMoses’ efforts.

These ancient symbolic sources have always purposefully encoded a deeply profound merger of science and spiritual wisdom. Likewise, the underlying rules and structure of ancient symbologies are based on precise scientific principles and natural observations. It is already understood that Egyptian hieroglyphs are based on the natural world, but very few grasp that the underlying rules for the symbologies evidenced throughout the Nile Valley were based on very profound science that has long been erroneously misinterpreted as magic, mysticism, and religion.

Among the most important keys to demystifying pivotal details were simple conclusions from string theory and quantum physics. The most important was validation by theorists, via the math of string theory, that there are 11 dimensions to our reality. This vital detail clarified and validated why the numbers 4 and 7 and symbolic uses of 11 were so important in ancient symbolic concepts and narratives. The repeated uses of these numbers and the very specific contexts they are used within demonstrates that ancient sages purposefully and redundantly sent forth details to the future that precisely encode the actual structure of our 11 dimension universe. This and other science is verifiably encapsulated within very ancient symbolism and narratives. Many are aware that the numbers 4, 7, and 11 have a very special place in numerology and related mysticism. Now you are given the proof of why these numbers were so vitally important to the ancients, which also proves that religious and mystical assertions about them are mostly bunk.

Lemuria actually existed – Geologic Evidence

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India and Meganesia, comprised of Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, are fragments of the once existing supercontinent called Gondwana. Seafloor-spreading separated these land masses from one another, but as the spreading centers became inactive, they fused again into a single plate. So in the region of question there exist two sunken continents: Zealandia at the western edge of the Pacific and the Kerguelen plateau in the Indian Ocean. There is also another significant plateau near the Rodrigues triple point, where the mantle’s thickness is double the average (roughly 20 km), although nowadays there is no known geologic formation under the Indian or Pacific Oceans that corresponds to the hypothetical Lemuria. However, drilling carried out in 1999 from a research vessel discovered that the Kerguelen plateau was submerged about 20 million years ago due to rising sea levels. Samples of a 90 million-year-old sediment, collected from the seabed, revealed the existence of pollen and fragments of wood.

The Kerguelen plateau (continent), which presently is submerged 1 to 2 km below sea level, was formed beginning with volcanic eruptions 110 million years ago. Its size might have been even bigger than it is now, since the Broken Ridge underwater volcanic plateau, located west of Australia, was contiguous with it. Geologic evidence presented layers of soil and charcoal, which prove that this was dry land with flora and fauna. Its sedimentary rocks are similar to the Australian and Indian ones, suggesting they were once connected, possibly forming Lemuria.

Zealandia or Tasmantis, with its 3.5 million square km territory being larger than Greenland, is another nearly submerged continent, with New Zealand being its most notable remnant. It broke away from Gondwana, then from Antarctica, and lately from Australia and became almost completely submerged (93 percent) about 23 million years ago.

An interesting huge geologic formation in the Pacific is the approximately 2 million square km volcanic basaltic Ontong Java Plateau near the Solomon Islands, located close to the Antarctic-Pacific ridge by the Louisville hotspot, formed by a mantle plume, which is a lifting of hot rock from the Earth’s mantle. This resulted in the 4,300-km long Louisville underwater chain of over 70 seamounts in the southwest Pacific, stretching to the Indo-Australian plate, and specifically to New Zealand, and which may be connected with other ridges reaching the eastern islands of the Pacific.

The Indo-Australian plate may have been connected to the African plate and the Antarctic plate, forming one plate that could host the Kerguelen continent or similar formations in the past. The theory of plate tectonics states that Madagascar and India were parts of the same continent, and if we accept the Lemurian timeline we may conclude that early humanoids may have lived on this former continent, sharing the same genetic heritage, although the land itself has now drifted apart.

The clusters of islands filling the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and India remain as possible geologic evidences. The Mascarene Islands east of Madagascar have a common volcanic origin and form a distinct ecoregion, comprising the Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues islands, the Cargados Carajos shoals, and the banks or former islands of Saya da Malha, Nazareth, and Soudan. The Mascarene plateau, with an area of over 115,000 square km extending from the Seychelles to Reunion, is another evidence for the submerged Lemurian continent, as it has very shallow waters, having depths varying between a mere 8 meters to 150 meters. The plateau presents banks consisted of former coral reefs, some of which might have been islands in the geologic near past, when sea levels were even 130 meters lower than today.

The Saya de Malha bank (in English mesh skirt) is a very shallow bank of 40,808 square km, lying southeast of the Seychelles, which reveals that the whole was above water during the Ice Age. The bank is so proper that it was the site of an attempt to create an artificial island by creating seacrete and biorock. The other bank—Nazareth—has an area of about 11,000 square km (according to some sources, this varies between 7,625 and 26,000 square km). Other remnants of Lemuria may be the islands of Seychelles, Reunion, Zanzibar, Mauritius, and Chagos. Reunion, Comoros, and Mayotte are closer to Africa, while Chagos is in the middle of the ocean, halfway from Tanzania to Java.

Seychelles is an archipelago nation of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, altogether a mere 451 square km, located 1,500 km (930 miles) east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar. The main islands—the inner ones—are located on a shallow bank called Seychelles bank or Seychelles plateau, while the outer islands are situated at 230–1,150 km from the main island Mahe. The inner, central group are composed of 42 granitic islands called the Granitic Seychelles, which form the northernmost part of the Mascarene plateau, all being fragments of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana and thought to have been separated from other continents 75 million years ago. The Outer Islands comprising 46 percent are the Coralline Seychelles, five island groups made up of low-lying coral islands with dry, infertile soils. The fifth, the Amirantes Island, stretches at a distance of about 155 km, all on the shallow Amirantes bank/plateau, with depths varying between mostly 25 to 70 meters.

The Chagos group consists of 60 islands and seven atolls, having an area of around 15,000 square km, of which 12,642 square km form the Great Chagos bank, including lagoons. The Pitt bank, with almost 56 km in length and a width between 20 and 30 km, of an area of 1,317 square km and depth varying between 7 and 44 meters, makes the third largest atoll structure in the world.

The Maldives encompass 1,192 islets and 250 islands, being the lowest lying country with a maximum natural ground level of only 2.3 meters above sea level. This must have been much bigger in the period of glaciations, so this may be a reference to the classical Sanskrit texts dating back to the Vedic times mentioning the ‘‘Hundred Thousand Islands’’ (Lakshadweepa). This generic name, which would include not only the Maldives but also the Laccadives and the Chagos groups, is evidence that it was known and inhabited since ancient times, very possibly before the presumed sinking of Lemuria in 16,000 BCE, and it has been made part of it.

Lakshadweep or Laccadives/Minicoy/Amindivi Islands (the ‘‘hundred thousand islands’’) are located between Arabia and India. It officially consists of about 36 islands and islets covering in total 28 square km, but it also comprises 12 atolls, three reefs, and five submerged banks. Two banks farther north are not considered part of the group—the Angria and the Adas banks—but they have considerable size. Angria bank is a big, shallow, sunken coral atoll on the continental shelf, off the west coast of India, 40 km long by 15 km wide, with a minimum depth of 20.1 meters. Between Angria and the Laccadives lies the Adas bank, with 70 meters at its shallowest point, but all these could have been islands during the last Ice Age, with even more uplift in the previous ages, subsequently of much bigger size when Lemuria presumably existed.

Although current plate distribution may suggest the opposite, the flora and fauna of a portion of land on one plate may be the same as that of the adjacent land belonging to another plate. A good example is the northern boundary of the Indo-Australian plate with the Eurasian plate, which form the Himalaya and Hindu Kush. Its subducting boundary crosses the ocean from Bangladesh to Burma, Sumatra, and Borneo and is not parallel with the so-called Wallace line, which is the biogeographic boundary between the Asian and Australian indigenous faunas. That is also the case for Madagascar and India; although separated now, they preserved their original fauna or part of it in fossils, which is another indirect evidence for the possible existence of Lemuria.

Lemuria actually existed – Mythical Evidence

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In the reptilian literature, the sunken continent of Lemuria or Mu is sometimes shown as the homeland of a reptilian race of creatures, often identified with dragons. Reptilian humanoids, snakepeople, or lizardmen are common motifs in folklore, crypto-zoology, science fiction, mythology, and ufology. They are presented as being evolved on Earth parallel to mankind or as the remains of a prehuman civilization, eventually extraterrestrial. The myths and legends of many cultures throughout history abound in reptilian humanoids; in the Indian Naga, reptilian beings are said to live underground and interact with human beings on the surface. It is said that they once lived on a continent of the Indian Ocean that sank beneath the waves, which points to Lemuria. Indian texts also refer to a reptilian race called the Sarpa. Perhaps the supposedly best known of all ‘‘lives’’ on the other side of the Pacific; it highlights the early prehistoric connections between India, America, and Eurasia. The Aztec main god and sky god, Quetzalcoatl, the ‘‘feathered serpent,’’ was variously depicted either as a man, a serpent, or a reptilian humanoid.

Similar impersonation appears in the Bible in the book of Genesis, when God punishes the serpent for deceiving Eve by decreeing, ‘‘You should go on your belly from now on,’’ implying that the serpent had legs before then. Thus the snake is therefore often portrayed in Europe as a woman with a snake’s tail. East Asians venerate the dragons, and the underwater realms are referred to as where the dragon kings and their descendants live. The main mythology states that there is a direct human lineage descending from dragons, claimed often by East Asian emperors, who were believed to be able to interchange from humans to dragons at will. This lineage is not solely characteristic of Asian mythology; Greek mythology also abounds of reptilians like Cecrops I, the mythical first king of Athens who was a combination of man and snake. Lamia, a child-devouring female, was half woman–half serpent, and the god of the cold north wind, Boreas, was a winged man bearing snakes. Paleontologist Dale A. Russell came up recently with the hypothesis that the Chicxulub meteorite, which left a crater 180 km wide on the Yucatan Peninsula and on the surrounding seabed some 65 million years ago, did not exterminate all the dinosaurs and some of them became intelligent bipods called troodontids, who had fingers and binocular vision similar to humans, enforcing the rationale of the mythical persistence of such creatures (Russell 2009).

Grimoires: A History of Magic Books.

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Owen Davies. Grimoires: A History of Magic Books. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. 384 pp. $17.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-19-959004-9.

Reviewed by Adam Jortner (Auburn University)
Published on H-Albion (June, 2011)
Commissioned by Jeffrey R. Wigelsworth

The Magic Words

Owen Davies begins his latest history of the uncanny by quoting Richard Kieckhefer’s observation that “‘a book of magic is also a magical book’” (p. 2).[1] A history of grimoires, therefore, must not only recount the contents and ideas found in self-proclaimed spell books, but also uncover how those books were used. Such a problem, however, is one Davies has met in previous works on ghost stories and witchcraft--which also exist both as theories and tools.

Grimoires represents the broadest chronology Davies has yet attempted. Magical books date back almost to the invention of writing; this volume stretches from Moses and the Hebrew Bible to Anton LaVey and The Satanic Bible (1969). Practically, however, the story begins with medieval efforts to appropriate and interpret ancient magic, through the fifteenth-century rise of hermeticism, and into the democratizing effect of the printing press. Davies makes much of the expanded reach print gave to grimoires, and hence most of this account deals with the early modern and modern use of printed magical books by esoteric gentlemen and treasure-seeking rabble alike. Even if, as Davies argues, print did not eliminate handwritten grimoires, the print revolution created more grimoires and more stories about grimoires--the intellectual back and forth and anecdotal evidence that provide the two evidentiary supports of this study.

Rather like a magus himself, Davies weaves telling details from grimoires throughout his narrative, vignettes of magic or advice that convey a sense of the work and the context under consideration. Medieval Christian grimoires often used Hebrew characters in the belief that Hebrew letters had magical properties, and if authors did not know how to write Hebrew, they simply made up letters that looked close enough. Icelandic rune books featured curses that inflicted ceaseless farting on victims. Nineteenth-century American oneiromancy manuals advised those who dreamed of ants to bet on the numbers two, seven, and forty-one.

Davies handles the vast scope of the book well, moving chronologically by chapter and geographically within each era. Britain (and its grimoires) do not figure prominently in the text, perhaps because England seems to have preferred astrological texts to practical spell books. Nevertheless, Davies weaves several English thinkers (Reginald Scot in particular) into the broader debates on magic. Indeed, the scope of Davies’s work suggests that it is in the Americas where the grimoire tradition thrived in the twentieth century. Chicago--the home of William Delaurence’s publishing empire--was the center of grimoire publishing and esoteric practice in the modern age. Kardecism--one of Brazil’s enduring religious traditions--derived from grimoire hermeticism coupled with Spiritualist teachings. Mexico provided a home for Spanish grimoires during the interwar years, which in turn transformed the local healing traditions of curandismo (folk healing). The number of examples and stories from the former colonies of Europe (rather than Europe itself) underscores Davies’s contention that whereas the history of the grimoire in the modern West has often focused on “the esoteric philosophies, personal relations, and internal tensions” of a small number of Western occultists, “certain products of the Revival reached far beyond the parlors of Paris and London” (p. 185).

None of these stories are, in themselves, new discoveries; indeed, almost the entire book is synthetic, as any broad study must be. Certainly as regards Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Davies has debts (which he acknowledges) to Ronald Hutton and Alex Owen. But most readers will search in vain for any extended historiographical quibbling, except for a well-argued aside on the sensitive topic of the grimoire tradition and life of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith Jr. Grimoires is not necessarily written for the layperson, but neither is Davies writing for academics alone. The book could well form the foundation for an upper-level collegiate class on grimoires and magic. Rather than posit transhistorical theories about “the” nature of magical books, Davies seems content with extensive documentation--but documentation is not explanation.

And yet, if showing the number and influence of magical books in Western history is Davies’s objective, then in showing volume, he makes an implicit argument: fully two-thirds of his world history of grimoires involves books published after the onset of the Enlightenment. The rise of printing, the spread of literacy, and the rediscovery of ancient Near Eastern cultures led to the creation (and re-creation) of many more grimoires in the years since 1700 than had ever before existed. Davies’s nineteenth-century predecessor, Arthur Edward Waite--who wrote an extended history of magic books in addition to designing tarot cards--noted the “remarkable bibliographic fact that such texts were issued, and on so great a scale, in the last decade of the nineteenth century” (p. 181).[2] Seen from the perspective of the grimoire, magic is a thoroughly modern phenomenon--not a survival or a retention.

This latter point represents an important piece of the argument for those who study magic, witchcraft, and esoterica; unlike many other subfields, historians of the supernatural often need to demonstrate the ubiquity and extent of their subject matter to convince colleagues and committees of the validity of their work. Several works in the last decade (some of them by Davies) have shown that magical, mystical, and esoteric thought thrived in the modern age, yet an older sociological predilection still persists that treats magic and miracle as exclusively premodern ideas that existed only as holdovers in the twentieth century. If Grimoires is correct, however, the nineteenth and much of the twentieth centuries provided the ideal environment for magical thinking. Magic is very modern. Other books have made a similar point, but it is a point worth hearing more than once, particularly when written with Davies’s élan.

Note

[1]. Richard Kieckhefer, Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997), 4.

[2]. Arthur Edward Waite, Shadows of Life and Thought (London: Selwyn and Blount, 1938), 137.

Ship as Monster

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Miniature of Noah’s Ark, Old English Hexateuch (London, British Library, MS. Cotton Claudius B. IV, f. 15v).

Living as they did, at the edge of the inhabitable world, the medieval English were very concerned with limits and boundaries. Their texts and images demonstrate a focus not only on the borders of the earth, of towns, even of individual bodies, but also on the borders of images and pages, which would result in the eventual English efflorescence of visual marginalia. Now, at the final boundary of this text, one frame seems of particular significance. On folio 14r of the Hexateuch—one of the most significant works to survive the Anglo-Saxon period, with approximately 400 images and “one of the first extended projects of translation of the Bible in a European vernacular”—we find an image of Noah’s Ark. Above, God explains to Noah the specifications of the ark. It must be three hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, with a window at the apex and a door and three decks, all of which are clearly present in the image, below.

This ark is, however, no mere boat. The illuminator has added particular touches that localize the ship, tying it to his own region. From the prow springs a lively dragon-head, with a curling blue mane and its mouth open wide. The stern has been transformed into a broad, flat tail, perhaps more like that of a fish than a dragon. As a result, the whole boat has become animate. Karen Olsen notes that “the depiction of the ship as a beast” in Old English and Old Norse poetry is quite common, with the sea-horse as the most frequently used metaphor. The term more frequently used in the Old English compounds is hengest (horse) which, it will be recalled, was also the name of the mythical founder of Anglo-Saxon England. This visual image, like many others, does not present a sea-horse but rather, a mighty seadragon, though it is somewhat equine in its features.

C. R. Dodwell and Ruth Mellinkoff argue that Scandinavian influences may account for the serpent-head on the ark. Surviving examples of actual Scandinavian ships of the Early Middle Ages feature dragon carvings at their prows, and on separate posts and copper vanes, “decorated with zoomorphic figures, which would also have been set at the ship’s prow.” Dodwell rightly notes that “it needs little perception to see that [the Hexateuch’s] ships, decorated with dragon-heads at the bow and stern, reproduce those used in northern Europe in the 11th century.” Still, Olsen notes regarding animate ships in Old English and Old Norse poetry that while “the Anglo-Saxon scop worked under sociocultural conditions very different from those of the Norse poet . . . of course, sea-travel was an important aspect of Anglo-Saxon society as well.” It ought be recalled that the Anglo-Saxons were, like the Scandinavians with whom they shared much of their mythology, a sea-faring culture. Boats played vital roles not only in their commerce and warfare, but also in their poetic works, such as “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer,” as well as their spiritual life; boats as burial structures, such as were found at Sutton Hoo, indicate that these vessels were more than simple conveyances to their owners.

Da Vinci Mona Lisa Mystery; Real Secret Codes Discovered

2011-07-20T15:06:00.000+08:00

Leonardo Da Vinci’s mysterious Mona Lisa has just gotten even more intriguing. The Italian genius apparently painted tiny numbers and letters into the eyes of the enigmatic painting, but their meaning is unclear.
The 500-year-old Renaissance masterpiece has long puzzled art historians, from Mona Lisa’s wry smile to the identity of the woman in the painting. Some believe it is Da Vinci himself, painted as a woman.
As for Da Vinci, he was a fan of riddles and secret codes and his paintings formed the basis of the best selling fictional work “The Da Vinci Code.”

The book by Dan Brown and the 2006 movie based on it starring Tom Hanks claimed the Mona Lisa contained secrets about the life of Jesus Christ.
The book postulated that Christ had a child with Mary Magadelene and established a blood line that exists to this day.
The real codes in Mona Lisa’s eyes may not be quite so consequential, but they are mystifying, nonetheless, not only for what they may mean, but also because of that fact that Da Vinci was able paint them so small.
The letters and numbers cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Italy’s National Committee for Cultural Heritage said the symbols were detected through high resolution images of the painting.
“To the naked eye the symbols are not visible, but with a magnifying glass they can clearly be seen,” said Committee President Silvano Vinceti.
“In the right eye appear to be the letters LV which could well stand for his name Leonardo Da Vinci, while in the left eye there are also symbols, but they are not as defined,” he said.
“It is very difficult to make them out clearly but they appear to be the letters CE or it could be the letter B. You have to remember the picture is almost 500 years old so it is not as sharp and clear as when first painted,” he added.
In the arch of the bridge in the background the number 72 can be seen or it could be an L and the number 2, he said.
The clue to the codes was found in a 50-year-old book about the painting that was discovered in an antique shop. It mentions the codes and symbols, Vinceti said.
“It’s remarkable that no-one has noticed these symbols before and from the preliminary investigations we have carried out we are confident they are not a mistake and were put there by the artist,” Vinceti said.

Naqsh-e Rustam (Panorama view).

2011-07-20T15:05:00.002+08:00

Naqsh-i Rustam (also Naqsh-e Rustam; in English, the Throne of Rustam) was considered a sacred mountain range in the Elamite periods (early first millennium BCE). The façades of Naqsh-i Rustam became the burial site for four Achaemenid rulers and their families in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, as well as a major center of sacrifice and celebration during the Sasanian period between the third and seventh century CE.

Achaemenid tombs
Four tombs belonging to Achaemenid kings are carved out of the rock face. They are all at a considerable height above the ground.

The tombs are known locally as the 'Persian crosses', after the shape of the facades of the tombs. The site is known as salīb in Arabic, perhaps a corruption of the Persian word chalīpā, "cross". The entrance to each tomb is at the center of each cross, which opens onto to a small chamber, where the king lay in a sarcophagus. The horizontal beam of each of the tomb's facades is believed to be a replica of the entrance of the palace at Persepolis.

One of the tombs is explicitly identified by an accompanying inscription to be the tomb of Darius I the Great (c. 522-486 BC). The other three tombs are believed to be those of Xerxes I (c. 486-465 BC), Artaxerxes I (c. 465-424 BC), and Darius II (c. 423-404 BC) respectively. A fifth unfinished one might be that of Artaxerxes III, who reigned at the longest two years, but is more likely that of Darius III (c. 336-330 BC), last of the Achaemenid dynasts.

The tombs were looted following the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire by Alexander the Great.

Sassanid reliefs
Seven oversized rock reliefs at Naqsh-e Rustam depict monarchs of the Sassanid period.
    The investiture relief of Ardashir I (c. 226-242):
    The founder of the Sassanid Empire is seen being handed the ring of kingship by Ahura Mazda. In the inscription, which also bears the oldest attested use of the term 'Iran' (see "etymology of 'Iran'" for details), Ardashir admits to betraying his pledge to Artabanus IV (the Persians having been a vassal state of the Arsacid Parthians), but legitimizes his action on the grounds that Ahura Mazda had wanted him to do so.
    The triumph of Shapur I (c. 241-272):
    This is the most famous of the Sassanid rock reliefs, and depicts Shapur's victory over two Roman emperors, Valerian and Philip the Arab. A more elaborate version of this rock relief is at Bishapur.
    The "grandee" relief of Bahram II (c. 276-293):
    On each side of the king, who is depicted with an oversized sword, figures face the king. On the left stand five figures, perhaps members of the king's family (three having diadems, suggesting they were royalty). On the right stand three courtiers, one of which may be Kartir. This relief is to the immediate right of the investiture inscription of Ardashir (see above), and partially replaces the much older relief that gives Naqsh-e Rustam its name.
    The two equestrian reliefs of Bahram II (c. 276-293):
    The first equestrian relief, located immediately below the fourth tomb (perhaps that of Darius II), depicts the king battling a mounted Roman soldier.
    The second equestrian relief, located immediately below the tomb of Darius I, is divided into two registers, an upper and a lower one. In the upper register, the king appears to be forcing a Roman enemy from his horse. In the lower register, the king is again battling a mounted Roman soldier.
    Both reliefs depict a dead enemy under the hooves of the king's horse.
    The investiture of Narseh (c. 293-303):
    In this relief, the king is depicted as receiving the ring of kingship from a female figure that is frequently assumed to be the divinity Aredvi Sura Anahita. However, the king is not depicted in a pose that would be expected in the presence of a divinity, and it hence likely that the woman is a relative, perhaps Queen Shapurdokhtak.
    The equestrian relief of Hormizd II (c. 303-309):
    This relief is below tomb 3 (perhaps that of Artaxerxes I) and depicts Hormizd forcing an enemy (perhaps Papak of Armenia) from his horse. Immediately above the relief and below the tomb is a badly damaged relief of what appears to be Shapur II (c. 309-379) accompanied by courtiers.

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Volcano - Pyroclastic Surges and Blasts

2011-07-20T15:04:00.002+08:00

Risk assessment. An ultimate goal of volcanologists is to minimize loss of life and property from explosive eruptions. Risk assessment, which accounts for both the probability of an event and its consequences, is an important step in attaining that goal. The ability to recognize pyroclastic surge events in the geologic record of a volcano is key in establishing probabilities of surge events. An area that needs particular focus is constraining the effects, or consequences, of pyroclastic surge events. This will involve predicting the dynamic conditions within surges and the responses of structures and people to those conditions.

Glossary

base surge A turbulent density current that flows outward from the base of a partially collapsing vertical eruption column derived from a hydrovolcanic (phreatomagmatic) eruption; a type of pyroclastic surge.
bed form (or bedform) The surface configuration of a bed; also the three-dimensional configuration of groups of strata having geometric shapes that repeatedly occur in nature such as ripples, dunes, and plane beds.
bedset (or bedding set; also bed set) A sequence of beds with distinct internal structures, textures, colors or compositions that sets them apart from other sequences, usually bounded by unconformities, or by fallout layers.
blast A sudden, violent, overpressured explosion projected laterally or vertically. At Mt. St. Helens the blast was directed laterally and produced a high-velocity dilute pyroclastic density current, or pyroclastic surge.
blocking Deflection of the lower, denser parts of a pyroclastic density current (PDC) by a topographic barrier while the low-density upper parts of the PDC continue to travel over the barrier.
flow regime Hydraulic conditions of noncohesive flow of sand and silt that develop ripples, dunes, plane parallel beds, and antidunes. Progressive changes in bed forms occur as flow regime increases. Low-flow regime conditions form small scale ripples that progress to dunes; high flow regime conditions form plane beds and then antidunes.
flow transformation Reversible changes (in sediment gravity flows) between turbulent and steady flow related chiefly to particle concentration, thickness of flow, and flow velocity.
hydrovolcanic All volcanic activity resulting from the interaction between meteoric or connate water and lava, magmatic heat, or gases at or near the earth’s surface (also phreatomagmatic).
pyroclastic surge Low concentration, turbulent pyroclastic density currents (PDCs). Two kinds of pyroclastic surges are wet surges, having temperatures less than 100*C where steam condenses and the surge is a three-phase system with water drops, solid particles, and gas; and dry surges, which have mean temperatures greater than 100* C and form by (1) hydrovolcanic eruptions with a low water/ magma ratio, or (2) by magmatic eruptions that are driven solely by volatiles. Also see base surge.
transport and depositional system The transport system carries particles from source to area of sedimentation. The depositional system deposits particles and includes local movement of particles, such as movement of a mass of particles down a steep slope, after being carried to a particular locality by the transport system.

Volcanism and Biotic Extinctions

2011-07-20T15:03:00.003+08:00

Extinction Events are increasingly seen as important factors in the history of life on Earth, and recent studies suggest catastrophic causes for at least some biotic mass extinctions. Two catastrophic processes that have been invoked are impacts of asteroids or comets and series of large volcanic eruptions. On one hand, the end-Cretaceous (65 Ma) mass extinction (the Cretaceous/Tertiary or K/T boundary) has been convincingly correlated with the impact of a 10-km-diameter comet or asteroid, and evidence of impact has been found close to the times of several other extinction events. On the other hand, the coincidence of the eruption of the Siberian flood basalt lava flow province and the even more severe end-Permian extinctions (250 Ma), and the near-coincidence of the Deccan flood basalt province (India) and the K/T extinctions, fostered speculations that flood basalt eruptions have contributed to a number of mass extinctions. Several workers compared the dates of extinction events of various magnitudes with dates of flood basalt episodes and found some significant correlations, supporting a possible cause-and-effect connection. Thus, it could be that extreme events of both extraterrestrial and terrestrial origin are responsible for many of the punctuation marks of the fossil record.

A major question regarding any possible relationship between flood basalt lava eruptions and extinction events involves the nature and severity of the environmental effects of the eruptions and their potential impact on life. Although the correlation between some flood basalt episodes and extinctions may implicate volcanism in the extinctions, it is also possible that other factors lead to the apparent association. Flood basalt episodes have been related to the inception of mantle plume activity, and thus may represent one facet of a host of geological factors (e.g., changes in seafloor spreading rates, rifting events, increased tectonism and volcanism, and sea-level variations) that tend to be correlated, and may be associated with unusual climatic and environmental fluctuations that could lead to significant faunal changes. It has also been suggested that a coincidence of both a large impact and a flood basalt eruption might be necessary in causing severe mass extinctions, and some workers have even proposed that large impacts might in some way trigger or enhance the volcanism.

Mexico’s Volcanoes

2011-06-28T23:22:00.001+08:00

Mt. Paricutín quiet and on fire!

Mexico is home to some of the world’s greatest volcanoes, and to some of the most active. Volcanoes were held sacred by the peoples of ancient Mexico. Now, as then, volcanoes are viewed with awe, respect, and often fear by people living in their shadows. The country’s highest peak is the mighty Mt. Orizaba. This snow-capped, 18,406-foot (5,610-meter) volcanic giant is the third highest mountain in North America. Most volcanic activity occurs in an area reaching from Mexico City southward. This huge capital city, in fact, is surrounded on three sides by a high wall of volcanoes—including Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl, both of which rise to over 17,000 feet (5,182 meters). Several of Mexico’s volcanoes have been active in recent years. Unfortunately, they are located in densely populated areas, and they pose a great threat to human life and property.

Certainly one of Mexico’s, if not the world’s, most famous volcanic peaks is Mt. Paricutín. One morning in 1943, a farmer named Dionisio Pulido was plowing his field near San Juan, a small town located some 180 miles (290 kilometers) west of Mexico City. Plodding along behind his yoke (team) of oxen, he suddenly noticed a strange odor. Imagine his shock when he saw a thin column of smoke spiraling upward from a small hole in his field! Not knowing what to do, he covered the hole with a rock and continued plowing.

Soon, he noticed even more smoke coming from the ground. Startled by this strange sight, he ran to the village to tell the priest and townspeople what was happening in his field. Many people returned to the field with him to see this strange event for themselves. When they arrived, a hole nearly 30 feet (9 meters) deep had formed. This gaping monster was now belching dense black clouds of foul-smelling smoke.

That night, a violent explosion shook the village, and a mountain began to rise from the field that Señor Pulido had been plowing only hours earlier. Within one week, the mountain had reached a height of 560 feet (171 meters). Two months later, it had grown to nearly 1,000 feet (305 meters) and was still growing. Today, a 1,300-foot (396-meter) high volcanic cinder cone—Mt. Pericutín—rises above the field in which corn once grew.

El Chicón is a large volcanic peak located in Chiapas State just east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. In 1982 the mountain erupted violently, spewing huge clouds of ash high into the atmosphere. Scientists believe that the volcanic ash shaded Earth from some of the sun’s rays, causing temperatures worldwide to be 2° to 3°F (.5 to 1.5°C) cooler for several years. “El Popo,” as Mexicans call the giant Mt. Popocatépetl, rises to an elevation of 17,887 feet (5,452 meters). It is one of the tallest active volcanoes in the world. Unfortunately, it is also located in one of the world’s most densely populated areas. More than 25 million people, including most residents of Mexico City, live within 40 miles (64 kilometers) of the volcanic peak. Recently, El Popo has shown increasing activity. During the late 1990s, the volcano once again began living up to its Aztec name—“Smoking Mountain.” It experienced several rather violent eruptions, sending huge clouds of smoke and ash thousands of feet into the atmosphere.

There is reason to fear Popocatépetl. Three things could happen that would devastate vast areas, two of which could take a terrible toll of human lives. First, an eruption of gas, dust, and ash (such as that of the late 1990s) could change Earth’s temperature for several years and also bury surrounding areas in gritty ash. A second type of event, a blast of hot lava and ash, would melt glaciers and snow on the mountain’s northern slope. This would cause lahars, or mudflows, that would race down the mountain and into the surrounding valley, destroying everything in their path. Finally, some scientists fear a more violent eruption, similar to the 1981 massive blast of Mount Saint Helens in Washington State. In such a densely populated area, were this kind of violent eruption to occur, millions of people could be killed and billions of dollars of property destroyed.

Much of western and southern Mexico also lies on fault zones that spawn severe earthquakes. Nearly all places located on the half of Mexico facing the Pacific Ocean have experienced destructive tremors. Many communities have been struck on numerous occasions. In 1985 a violent earthquake struck the heart of Mexico City. More than 10,000 people were killed, hundreds of thousands of families were left homeless, and the devastation caused billions of dollars in property losses.

Geocentrism - It makes the World go round!

2011-06-28T23:21:00.000+08:00

The Ptolemaic model of the solar system held sway into the early modern age; from the late 16th century onward it was gradually replaced as the consensus description by the heliocentric model. Geocentrism as a separate religious belief, however, never completely died out. In the United States between 1870 and 1920, for example, various members of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod published articles disparaging Copernican astronomy, and geocentrism was widely taught within the synod during that period.[citation needed] However, in the 1902 Concordia Theological Quarterly, Prof. A. L. Graebner claimed that the synod had no doctrinal position on geocentrism, heliocentrism, or any scientific model, unless it were to contradict Scripture. He stated that any possible declarations of geocentrists within the synod did not set the position of the church body as a whole.

The most recent resurgence of geocentrism began in North America in 1967, when Dutch-Canadian schoolmaster Walter van der Kamp (1913–1998) circulated a geocentric paper entitled “The Heart of the Matter” to about 50 Christian individuals and institutions. From these seeds grew the Tychonian Society and its journal, Bulletin of the Tychonian Society.

In 1984 Van der Kamp retired as leader of the Tychonian Society and Gerardus Bouw, an amateur cosmologist with a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Case Western Reserve University and a B.S. in astrophysics from the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) succeeded him. In 1991 Bouw reorganized the Tychonian Society as the "Association for Biblical Astronomy" and changed the name of the Bulletin to The Biblical Astronomer.

Previous works include Bouw's earlier With Every Wind of Doctrine (1984), Walter van der Kamp's De Labor Solis (1989), and Marshall Hall's The Earth is Not Moving (1991). Other modern geocentrists include Malcolm Bowden, James Hanson, Paul Ellwanger, R. G. Elmendorf, Paula Haigh, and Robert Sungenis (president of Bellarmine Theological Forum, author of the 2006 book Galileo Was Wrong).

Modern geocentrists subscribe to the view that a literal reading of the Bible contains an accurate account of the manner in which the universe was created and requires a geocentric worldview. For this reason, modern geocentrists are also creationists, many of whom actively promote creationism in the creation-evolution controversy, and a few, such as Hall even argue against modern views of celestial mechanics, although most, particularly Bouw and Sungenis, use General Relativity against the modern view. However, many creationists hold that while the Bible makes explicit historical claims regarding the origin of the Earth and life in the creation account in Genesis, it does not explicitly endorse geocentrism. The most popular creationist societies (specifically Answers in Genesis, Creation Ministries International and the Institute for Creation Research) explicitly reject the absolute geocentric perspective, and creationist journals such as TJ (now Journal of Creation) have rejected modern geocentric articles in favor of geokineticism (moving Earth). Geocentrists regard such groups as compromisers.

Modern geocentrists believe that they are the true standard-bearers for an appropriate integration of science and religion. In particular, Gerardus Bouw has claimed "Invariably, those [creationists] who do take more than a cursory look [at geocentricity] become geocentrists". Many modern creationists disagree, including Ph.D. astronomers such as Danny Faulkner.

Morris Berman quotes survey results that show currently some 20% of the USA population believe that the sun goes around the Earth (geocentricism) rather than the Earth goes around the sun (heliocentricism), while a further 9% claimed not to know.

Biblical references
Modern geocentrists point to some passages in the Bible, which, when taken literally, indicate that the daily apparent motions of the Sun and the Moon are due to their actual motions around the Earth rather than due to the rotation of the Earth about its axis. One is Ecclesiastes 1:5:
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
Another is in Joshua 10:12–13, where the Sun and Moon are said to stop in the sky:
Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

At this point, the Wycliffe Bible Commentary says:
"The usual interpretation of the miracle described herein is that God prolonged the daylight about a whole day (v. 13) to enable the Israelites to complete their pursuit of the enemy. However, if the sunlight was extended for ten, twelve, or more hours, so that the entire ancient Near East could have observed the phenomenon – a more spectacular miracle than the crossings of the Red Sea and the Jordan River – then it seems strange that only one other reference to the event (Hab. 3:11) is to be found in the OT ... What Joshua deemed necessary for his pursuing troops, already tired from their all-night climb, was relief from the merciless sun in the cloudless summer sky ... The true explanation of this miracle, told in ancient, Oriental poetic style, tends to confirm the idea that Joshua was looking for relief from the sun. The word dom, translated stand thou still (v. 12b), means basically 'be dumb, silent, or still'; and then 'rest' or 'cease' from usual activity ... Robert Dick Wilson demonstrated that the root dm in Babylonian cuneiform astronomical texts meant 'to be darkened.' Thus the sun is spoken of as 'dumb' when not shining ... Joshua 10:12–14 may then be translated: 'Now Joshua spoke to Jehovah, in the day that Jehovah gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel; and he said before the eyes of Israel, "O sun, be dumb at Gibeon, and thou moon, in the Valley of Ajalon." And the sun was dumb and the moon ceased (shining), until the nation took vengeance on its enemies – Is it not written in the Book of Jashar – For the sun ceased (shining) in the midst of the sky, and (i.e., although) it did not hasten to set about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah hearkened to the voice of a man; for Jehovah was fighting for Israel.'"

One may also note that miraculous contexts, such as this one and Hezekiah's miracle (II Kings 20:10–11, Isaiah 38:8), overrode one or more of the laws of physics and so would have nothing to say about geocentrism, whose description supposedly relies on no overriding of the laws of physics.
Psalm 104:5 (according to King James Version numbering):
[God] (w)ho laid the foundations of the Earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
A suggestion that the Earth is stationary (relative to Heaven) is Isaiah 66:1:
Thus saith the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool.

And another in I Chronicles 16:30
Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved.
Creationists ascribing to an inerrant, literal reading of the Bible such as those at Institute for Creation Research would argue that interpreting the descriptions of heavenly/spacial events as phenomenological rather than strictly scientific or literal is important and so assert that it is necessary to interpret the seemingly geocentric passages of the Bible as phenomenological because it is easily demonstrable that the Bible describes other heavenly events in similar language (the moon's light, stars falling from heaven, etc.).

They also argue that the Bible does not mix the phenomenological hermeneutic (or, interpreting the passage as being merely a description of the observer's point of reference) with the literal hermeneutic (or, interpreting the passage as what the observer saw, but also what literally happened). However, their critics would respond that Isaiah 13:10 does mix these two hermeneutics.

For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Critics argue that this passage includes literal descriptions (the sun going forth) as well as phenomenological descriptions (sun and stars darkened, moon actually shining light).
Those who allow for phenomenological descriptions can say that Amos 8:9 (“I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day”) simply means that the day will be dark at noon. Yet the geocentrist must hold that the sun literally doubles its orbit around the earth during the Tribulation period. However, even this would not solve it, because it says that the entire earth is dark. (See Amos 5:20—“Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?”)

Joel 2:2—“…a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness…”

Zeph 1:15—“That day is a day of…darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness…”
A faster-spinning sun would only mean that periods of consecutive daylight hours were shortened and would not plunge all the earth into darkness. Micah 3:6 and Jeremiah 15:9 are similar:
...the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them."
...(Jerusalem's) sun is gone down while it was yet day..."

Yet the sun dictates night and day. This clearly is both metaphorical and phenomenological. Specifically, it is called Jerusalem's sun. This refers to the daytime over Jerusalem specifically. Yet if the sun truly did "go down while it was yet day", this would mean its orbit increased in speed, even in a geocentric cosmology. The passage is therefore interpreted as a metaphor for the arrival of darkness in the land.
Ezekiel 32:7–8 "And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD."

In this passage, the only literal language is the "darkness upon thy land".

Recently, geocentrists have developed a new paradigm that God created the earth first and the heavens later, making the Earth incomplete at first and surrounding it with a "firmament" (a now-obsolete theoretical concept comparable to "sky") before completing it. This relates to geocentrism because it is claimed that God did not place the earth in the heavens, but rather created the firmament around earth, putting it in the center of the universe. However, not all geocentrists are in agreement on this position. The leading proponent of modern geocentrism, Gerardus Bouw, holds that planets and stars were created before the earth. Hence, the heavens they are in must have been created prior to the creation of the earth.

Geocentrists tend to be careless or sloppy with their interpretations of passages, attempting to prove their own view of Biblical cosmology without keeping passages in their intended context.[neutrality is disputed] For example, geocentrists cite Psalm 119:90:
...thou hast established the earth, and it abideth (see also Ecclesiastes 1:4).

The word "abideth" means "to stand", and geocentrists claim this further proof of their position.
However, critics point out that the context of this passage is about the Bible and its endurance. To claim this discusses a stationary earth seems out of place in this passage. Also, they would argue that the Hebrew word used here for established and abideth is also used in other passages to refer to the sun, moon, stars, and the heavens. For example:
Proverbs 3:19 says that the heavens are "established". In fact, it compares the establishing of the heavens to the founding of the earth.

God prepared the heavens in Proverbs 8:27;
The moon and stars are ordained in Psalm 8:3;
The day, the light and the sun are all established in Psalm 74:16; and
In Psalm 148:6, the sun, moon, stars, and the heaven of heavens are all established (this is the same word abideth, used in Psalm 119:90 to refer to the earth).
Geocentrists take passages such as Psalm 96:10 to be geocentric:
the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved.
Some geocentrists (such as Gerardus Bouw) identify Mercury and Venus as the "morning stars" of Job 38:7 and the "wandering stars" of Jude 14 as references to planets. Given that these are planets, then they only appear to be stars.

Finally, the movement of the Holy Spirit during Day One of Creation is not orbital movement. It is translated as "hovered over" in most modern Bible versions and the words "moved upon" is translated as "fluttereth over" (Deuteronomy 32:11) and "shake" (Jeremiah 23:9) in the King James Version. This would seem to support heliocentricity rather than geocentricity, since it gives the image of a stationary Holy Spirit hovering above the earth. If the Spirit was shining light on earth, then the earth must be moving in order to create day and night, a point argued by Dr. Robert McCabe at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary

Ocean heading for mass extinction, scientists warn

2011-06-28T23:19:00.002+08:00

Impending doom: the report says without swift action the fight to save species could be lost.
(Supplied : Linda Cash )

By Sarah Dingle

Scientists are warning of a potential marine massacre with a mass extinction of sea life akin to the death of the dinosaurs.

A new report says the seas are battling pollutants, overfishing and warming, and warns that without swift action the fight to save species could be lost.
The International Program on the State of the Oceans report brought together coral reef ecologists, toxicologists and fisheries scientists.
And when they compared notes, the result was grim.
Co-author Professor Ove Hoegh Guldberg, who specialises in reef ecosystems, says scientists found "unprecedented warming".
"We're seeing acidification in the ocean and now we're starting to see a drop in oxygen concentration throughout the major part of the ocean," he said.
"Now it's impacting directly on sea life, but the other is that it is a potential early step towards conditions which are associated with so-called mass extinction events."
Professor Guldberg does not want to be alarmist, but says a growing human population is to blame for many of the changes.
He warns the pressure will only increase, with the world's population set to grow by another 3 billion people in the next 30 to 50 years.
"As human populations have expanded in coastal areas - and it's really boomed throughout the world - you've had the modification of coastlines by the very fact that by destabilising vegetation you get nutrients and sediments going out in those coastal waters," he said.
"That's had a tremendously damaging effect in our neighbourhood. In South-East Asia for example, the entire loss of marine ecosystems that used to be there and used to support people."
Dr Alex Rogers is the scientific director of the International Program on the State of the Oceans and a professor of conservation biology at Oxford University.
He says when he got together with his colleagues they realised changes in ocean temperatures were occurring much faster than they had expected.
"The changes that people had been predicting would happen in the lifetime of our children, or our children's children, are happening really now before our eyes," he said.

Dead zones

Professor Guldberg says concerns about marine environments often take a back seat both in public debate and scientific research.
"They did a study last year where I counted the number of peer-reviewed papers on climate change on the land versus the sea and there were 20 more papers, 20 times as many papers, associated with problems on land versus the sea," he said.
He says the sea provides up to a quarter of the world's protein and is concerned about the proliferation of dead zones if nothing is done.
Dead zones are areas where oxygen levels in the water drop to zero, a condition known as anoxia.
He says in these conditions only certain species survive.
"It won't be fish that we like to eat. There are animals and plants - well in fact I shouldn't say animals but more plants and bacteria, green slime, that will prosper in the anoxic environment," he said.
Professor Guldberg says the ocean is the life support system for the planet's atmosphere and if uncontrolled degradation continues, the threat of mass extinction is real and does not just apply to the sea.
"If we barrel along as we are right now, there's an increasing risk that we will be entering into one of these mass extinction events," he said.
"This is where you essentially get a runaway set of conditions which will be very unsustainable as far as human or any other life that we have on the planet today."
"This comes back to the fact that the ocean is central to the climate and conditions across the entire planet."
Professor Guldberg says to control the pace of change the world must move to zero emissions within the next 40 years.
The report's findings will be presented at the United Nations headquarters in New York this week.

Disk of Phaistos

2011-06-28T23:17:00.005+08:00

In Greek tradition, a “sea people” who entered the Peloponnesus and the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean about four thousand years ago. They were the forefathers of the Achaean or Bronze Age inhabitants of Greece, named after their leader, Pelasgus, remembered as the First Man. A third-century B.C. vase painting portrays him emerging from the jaws of a serpent, while the goddess Athena stands ready to welcome him. In Aztec sacred art, Mesoamerica’s whiteskinned culture-bearer, Quetzalcoatl, the “Feathered Serpent,” identically appears out of a snake’s mouth. In both instances, the serpent signified their hero’s arrival by sea. Pelasgus was believed to have been born between the fangs of Ophion, a primeval, metaphorical snake personifying the undulating ocean. Athena’s presence in the vase painting signifies the destiny of Pelasgus as the first civilizer of Greece.

Notable mariners, the Pelasgians came from the Far West, where they conquered Western and Northern Europe, just as Plato’s Atlanteans were said to have done, previous to their arrival in the Eastern Mediterranean. The pre-Greek “Linear A” written language of ancient Crete and the enigmatic Phaistos Disk are attributed to the Pelasgians. The disk is a baked clay plate found at the Cretan city of Phaistos, inscribed in a spiral pattern on both sides with unknown hieroglyphs. According to the first-century B.C. Greek geographer Diodorus Siculus, writing was introduced by the Pelasgians, and the mathematical genius Pythagoras was supposed to have been directly descended from them.

Waves of immigrants from Atlantis who entered the eastern Mediterranean during the geologic upheavals of the late third millennium B.C. were referred to by the Greeks as “Pelasgians.”

LINK

The Origins of Kingship

2011-06-28T23:17:00.001+08:00

"So beautiful do you look when you are angry oh Mukunda"
"What happened to your oath not raise weapons in Kurukshetra?"

Clung onto the Lord's feet did Arjuna
Please do not slay the dear Pitamaha (Grandsire)
Both India and China had a concept of a golden age in the remote past that provided a model for later governments and peoples to emulate. This passage from the famous Indian epic known as the Mahabharata describes a three-stage process in the evolution of government in human society. Yudhisthira and Bhishma are two of the main characters in the story.

The Mahabharata Yudhisthira said: ‘‘This word ‘king’ [raja] is so very current in this world, O Bharata; how has it originated? Tell me that, O grandfather.’’

Bhishma said: ‘‘Currently, O best among men, do you listen to everything in its entirety—how kingship originated first during the golden age [krtayuga]. Neither kingship nor king was there in the beginning, neither scepter [danda] nor the bearer of a scepter. All people protected one another by means of righteous conduct, O Bharata, men eventually fell into a state of spiritual lassitude. Then delusion overcame them. Men were thus overpowered by infatuation, O leader of men, on account of the delusion of understanding; their sense of righteous conduct was lost. When understanding was lost, all men, O best of the Bharatas, overpowered by infatuation, became victims of greed. Then they sought to acquire what should not be acquired. Thereby, indeed, O lord, another vice, namely, desire, overcame them. Attachment then attacked them, who had become victims of desire. Attached to objects of sense, they did not discriminate between what should be said and what should not be said, between the edible and inedible and between right and wrong. When this world of men had been submerged in dissipation, all spiritual knowledge [brahman] perished; and when spiritual knowledge perished, O king, righteous conduct also perished.’’

When spiritual knowledge and righteous conduct perished, the gods were overcome with fear, and fearfully sought refuge with Brahma, the creator. Going to the great lord, the ancestor of the worlds, all the gods, afflicted with sorrow, misery, and fear, with folded hands said: ‘‘O Lord, the eternal spiritual knowledge, which had existed in the world of men, has perished because of greed, infatuation, and the like, therefore we have become fearful. Through the loss of spiritual knowledge, righteous conduct also has perished, O God. Therefore, O Lord of the three worlds, mortals have reached a state of indifference. Verily, we showered rain on earth, but mortals showered rain [religious offerings] up to heaven. As a result of the cessation of ritual activity on their part, we faced a serious peril. O grandfather, decide what is most beneficial to use under these circumstances.’’

Then, the self-born lord said to all those gods: ‘‘I will consider what is most beneficial; let your fear depart, O leaders of the gods.’’

Thereupon he composed a work consisting of a hundred thousand chapters out of his own mind, wherein righteous conduct [dharma], as well as material gain [artha] and enjoyment of sensual pleasures [kama] were described. This group, known as the threefold classification of human objectives, was expounded by the self-born lord; so, too, a fourth objective, spiritual emancipation [moksha], which aims at a different goal, and which constitutes a separate group by itself.

Then the gods approached Vishnu, the lord of creatures, and said: ‘‘Indicate to us that one person among mortals who alone is worthy of the highest eminence.’’ Then the blessed lord god Narayana reflected, and brought forth an illustrious mind-born son, called Virajas [who, in this version of the origins of the Indian state, became the first king].

Kiev Monastery of the Caves and Microminiature Museum

2011-06-19T04:11:00.003+08:00

This 1000 year old relic-filled cave monastery and UNESCO World Heritage Site also hosts an amazing micro-miniature museum.

Also known as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, first and foremost it is a a historic Orthodox Christian monastery, built on top of a massive series of tunnels. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the one of the largest museums in Kiev with many sub-museums held within it.

Though from a distance it looks like an standard orthodox church it is built on top of a hage and "very complex system of narrow underground corridors" that contain monks living quarters. Travelers in the 16-17th century wrote that "that the catacombs of the Lavra stretched for hundreds of kilometres, reaching as far as Moscow and Novgorod" which, though an exaggeration, helped make the complex famous. The catacombs also contain numerous burials and relics, such the bodies of mummified saints such as Saint Kuksha, Nestor the Chronicler, and Alipy of the Caves, which today are displayed covered with cloth.

Among the museums in the above-ground complex are the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, a Book and print history museum, a museum of Ukrainian folk art, a theater and film arts museum and the state historical library, but by far the strangest and most curious of the museums is the microminiature museum.

This too has a Ukrainian connection, as the micro miniatures are the work of the world microminiature master Mykola Syadristy. Syadristy was born in Ukraine in 1937 and has been crafting micro-miniatures since he was in his twenties or for nearly forty years. Among his creations are the words "‘Long Live Peace in Ukrainian engraved on a human hair, minuscule portraits of Ernest Hemingway and Yuri Gagarin, what is believed to be the world’s smallest book with 12 pages at an astonishing 0.6 square millimetres, each page filled with the writing and illustration of Syadristy himself.

Among the other items to be seen (all of which must be viewed through a microscope) are a golden chess set on a pin head and the picture of Russian composer V V Andreev etched onto glass and fitted into one half of a poppy seed.

Temple of Mithras

2011-06-19T04:10:00.002+08:00

Rebuilt remains of a temple to the Zoroastrian god Mithras.

Conspiracy theorists the world over look at major financial centers for signs of secret societies. Long before IIluminati, Masons, or even Templars had instituted their secret handshakes and hidden brotherhood - and even longer before bestselling author Dan Brown made everyone aware of them - ancient Rome had its own secret societies.

Mere blocks from the financial epicenter of the London Stock Exchange in the center of the city of London lies the reconstructed remains of a Roman temple to the Zoroastrian god Mithras, whose mystery cult was known to exist all over the empire. As would be expected of a secret society that came to power almost two thousand years ago, not much is known of the secret cult surrounding Mithras. Even in antiquity the rites were kept shrouded in secrecy, and male-only membership was proven with secret passwords and handshakes.

What we do know is that Mithras was a hero figure in a battle between good and evil, and that he is often depicted in a cave slaying a bull. He was popular with the military and political elite, so garrisons all over the Roman world were known to have temples dedicated to Mithras, called Mithraeum.
The Mithraeum in Londinium was built in the late second century, but seems to have fallen out of use by the early fourth century when the temple was filled with religious statues and apparently sealed. This temple was easily ignored; as was common with Mithraeum, it was built 18 feet below street level to create a symbolic cave emulating the one where Mithras slayed the bull.

The location of this temple to Mithras is hardly surprising, as the city of London (Westminster) is roughly in the same location as the Roman settlement in Londinium. Subsequent development in London's financial district lead to the Mithraeum being disassembled and rebuilt on Walbrook Street, where it can be seen by all at slightly above street level.

Great Blue Hole

2011-06-19T04:08:00.000+08:00

Massive underwater sinkhole made famous by Jacques Cousteau

The Great Blue hole, located just 100 kilometers (60 miles) off the coast of Belize, is an underwater sinkhole that researchers believe is the largest of its kind. Circular in shape and characterized by its rich, blue color, it is over 300 meters (984 ft) across and 125 meters (410 ft) deep. It lies in the center of an atoll called Lighthouse Reef, where an island of coral encircles the shallow, light turquoise-colored waters of a lagoon. Water levels there are so shallow that parts of the ring surrounding the dark blue sinkhole are even known to crest the surface at low tide.

The sinkhole originally formed as a limestone cave during the last glacial period, a time when sea levels were much lower. As the ocean began to rise, the cave system flooded and eventually collapsed, creating a "vertical cave" in the ocean. As such, the site is popular among divers, who flock to the area to see the geological formations that now lie in the ocean's depths.

One such diver was undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, who made the site famous in 1971 by declaring it one of the top ten best diving places in the world. At the time, Cousteau, sailing on his ship Calypso, investigated the sinkhole's depths and confirmed that it had, indeed, originated from a limestone cave formation. Huge stalactites and stalagmites were also found below the surface, some even reaching 9-12 meters (30-40 ft) in length.

These geological formations can still be viewed by divers today. It is said that the deeper one goes, the water becomes more clear and the formations, more complex. The Great Blue Hole is part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Eaglehawk Neck Tessellated Pavement

2011-06-19T04:07:00.002+08:00

Extraordinary geology resembles man made pavement

The isthmus connecting the Tasman Peninsula to Tasmania is covered in a pattern of regular rectangular saltwater pools. Although these depressions look distinctly man made, they are in fact the result of a rare type of natural erosion.

Occurring near sea coasts on flat rock which has broken into regular blocks, the effect is known as "tessellated pavement" for its resemblance to Roman mosaic floors (also called tessellated pavement). The pavement takes two forms. Depressions are known as pan formations, occurring when saltwater wears away the center portion of the stones into pools. The opposite effect is known as a loaf formation, when the edges of the stone are worn away leaving a rounded crown resembling rising bread.

Tessellated pavement is extremely rare, found only in a few places on Earth. The geology is not related to the effect that created the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and Fingal's Cave in Scotland. Those features were formed as basaltic lava cooled and fractured; tessellated pavement occurs as sedimentary rock erodes.

Eaglehawk Neck is also famous for its association with the prison colony at Port Arthur. In 1832, a military outpost was setup to watch for escaping prisoners, and dogs were positioned along the isthmus to raise a ruckus if they spotted an escapee. The motley army of dogs were described in 1840:
"There were the black, the white, the brindle, the grey and the grisly, the rough and the smooth, the crop-eared and the lop-eared, the gaunt and the grim. Every four-footed, black-fanged individual among them would have taken first prize in his own class for ugliness and ferocity at any show."
Port Arthur closed in 1877 (now open as a tourist attraction), but there is a monument to the dogs at Eaglehawk Neck. Along with the tessellated pavement, there are several other unusual geologic formations, including a natural arch and blowhole, nearby.

EARTH CHANGES

2011-06-08T15:00:00.000+08:00

Atlantis - The Great Deluge by Tom Miller

The idea that vast catastrophes have swept the earth in the distant past can be found in many of the ancient mythologies and philosophical traditions of the world. Plato’s famous dialogue Timaeus speaks for traditional lore worldwide when it comments,

There have been, and will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the greatest have been brought about by the agencies of fire and water, and other lesser ones by innumerable lesser causes. (Plato 1961, p. 1157)

Despite this, the theme of earth changes – past or future – played a very small role in occult traditions and secret society teachings until the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Most people in the western world before that time accepted the historical reality of the story of Noah in the Book of Genesis, and references to great floods and the changing of the earth’s landscape usually referred back to that belief. The nineteenth century, however, saw nearly all geologists accept the theory of uniformitarianism, which rejected the idea of global catastrophes and argued that the earth’s surface had been shaped by the same slow processes of mountain building, volcanism, erosion, and deposition that can be seen in the present-day world.

Two bestselling books by Irish-American author and politician Ignatius Donnelly (1831–1901) reintroduced the concept of catastrophic earth changes to popular culture. His Atlantis: The Antediluvian World (1882) argued that the lost continent of Atlantis had actually existed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, while his Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel (1883) proposed that the Ice Ages had been caused by a collision between the earth and a giant comet. His theories about Atlantis helped inspire Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–91), the founder of the Theosophical Society; Blavatsky’s second major book, The Secret Doctrine (1888), put Atlantis at center stage of a visionary prehistory of the earth. For good measure, Blavatsky added the lost continents of the Imperishable Sacred Land, Hyperborea, and Lemuria to her system; all but the first, she claimed, had been destroyed by vast cataclysms that completely changed the distribution of land and water on the earth’s surface.

The immense popularity of Theosophy during the century from 1875 to 1975 guaranteed these ideas a privileged place in the occult societies and alternative speculations of the twentieth century. Another crucial role was played by American clairvoyant Edgar Cayce (1877–1945), whose utterings in trance included a great deal of material about Atlantis. Cayce seems to have introduced the idea that another round of catastrophic earth changes was in the offing; he predicted that Atlantis would surface in 1968 or 1969, as part of a series of catastrophes that would plunge the western half of North America beneath the waves by 1998.

Long before these prophecies disproved themselves, the idea of an imminent wave of earth changes had spread throughout alternative circles, especially but not only in America. The Ascended Masters teachings, a diffuse but widespread American occult movement, proved a particularly receptive audience for earth-changes theories, and the New Age movement provided another venue for these ideas. As these currents spread, and the rejected knowledge industry became a major influence on popular culture, the idea that the world was approaching a series of vast geological catastrophes became common throughout the world.

These trends drew strength from the collapse of strict uniformitarianism in the earth sciences, beginning in the 1970s. Two major changes in scientific opinion heralded this shift. The first was the discovery of evidence suggesting that the great wave of extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous period some 70 million years ago, at the end of the age of the dinosaurs, was caused by a collision between the earth and a large asteroid. The second was the realization that much of northwest North America had been reshaped at the end of the Ice Ages by a series of immense floods of glacial meltwater let loose by the repeated breaching of ice dams in the area of modern Montana. Both showed that large-scale catastrophes had happened in the earth’s past, and thus provided credibility to the idea that others might occur in the future.

The emergence of the “new catastrophism,” as it has been called, resulted in a great deal of reexamination of the earth’s past and a renewed willingness on the part of historians to consider the impact of climate changes, volcanic eruptions, and similar events on the human past. It also lent additional force to the warnings by environmental scientists that climate change driven by human maltreatment of the global environment might cause massive disruptions to industrial society in the relatively near future. Inevitably, though, it also provided ammunition for visionaries of various kinds who claimed advance knowledge of less credible catastrophes. The much-ballyhooed Y2K problem – the anticipated failure of computer systems worldwide to handle the transition from 1999 to 2000 – was only the largest of many false alarms to grab headlines in the western world, and divert attention from less colorful but more likely threats to the survival of industrial society.

As global temperatures rise into un-precedented territory in the early years of the twenty-first century, the possibility of widespread earth changes can hardly be dismissed. To name only one possibility, the breakup of the West Antarctic ice sheet – a process that some scientists believe has already begun – would raise sea levels 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) worldwide, drowning more than a hundred major cities. Still, such possibilities need to be assessed carefully in the light of known fact and physical possibility, and the often inaccurate claims of popular literature on such subjects may not be the best guide in these challenging times.

Earth’s atmosphere

2011-06-08T14:58:00.003+08:00

The atmosphere is a band of gases—mostly nitrogen, oxygen, and argon—held around Earth by gravity. Air masses, each defined by fairly uniform temperature and humidity, move around the atmosphere. The interaction of air masses creates all the conditions that make up the weather—from clear, sunny skies to hurricanes and torrential rain. The pattern of weather over time in a particular region is called the climate. In some parts of the world, extreme weather conditions are part of the climate. In other places, the climate is less extreme, so people are totally unprepared when a weather disaster strikes.

Landslides

2011-06-08T14:58:00.000+08:00

Types of landslides
There are four types of landslides. Soil creep is a slow movement—as its name suggests—due to tiny shifts in the soil particles. Slumping is a faster slide, occurring when slabs of land slip down a slope. Debris flow happens when a slope becomes saturated with water and triggers a landslide of a water-soaked mass of soil and rocks. Rockfalls are sudden slides caused by heavy rain or frost dislodging larger rock pieces.

One type of natural disaster can happen in any part of the world. Wherever a steep hillside is found, when the pull of gravity is greater than the forces that hold together the particles on the slope, a mass of loose material may come crashing down the slope. On a rocky or muddy hillside, unstable rocks and soil can cause a landslide.

A TIME OF GREAT CHANGE

2011-06-08T14:56:00.001+08:00

The Aztec’s magnificent capital, Tenochtitlán, was built around 1325 on an island located in Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. The city was destroyed during battles of the conquest, but the Spaniard’s own capital, Mexico City, replaced it on the same site.

In the Spanish tradition, important public buildings were placed adjacent to the public square. The Cathedral of Mexico City (left) and the National Palace (right) face the Plaza de la Constitucion, one of the world’s largest public squares located in the nation’s capital.

With the conquest came great change. The Spaniards immediately began to place their imprint on the Mexican people and landscape. For the native peoples, the results were disastrous.

During the long siege, Tenochtitlán was completely destroyed by the Spaniards. Much of the damage was done in battle, but after the war was over, Spaniards destroyed everything that remained standing. They did not want the Aztecs to have reminders of their religion or empire, or any other link to their past. From the ruins of Tenochtitlán would rise a new magnificent capital—the Spanish-built Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City).

The new Spanish city was different in many ways. Rather than teeming with Native Americans, it was now home to people of a strange culture from a land far across the sea. Gone were the Aztec ceremonial centers and homes. In their place appeared Catholic churches and Spanish-style homes. A new language was heard in its streets, as Spanish replaced the Aztec’s Nahuatl tongue. New crops appeared in fields, new and strange foods appeared on dining tables, and previously unknown animals began grazing the countryside. With the Aztec empire gone, Spain would rule over Nueva España (New Spain, the name by which Mexico was then known) for the next 300 years. The area surrounding Tenochtitlán may have had a population of nearly 500,000 at the time of conquest. It was the largest city in the Americas, and possibly in the world. Five hundred years later, Mexico City is once again the largest urban center in the Americas and one of the largest in the world. What makes this fact so amazing is that it is also the world’s largest city at the highest elevation, and the world’s only capital not located on a river.

Atlantis and Lemuria

2011-06-08T14:55:00.001+08:00

The Last of Atlantis, by Nicholas Roerich 1928 or 1929 Private collection

Atlantis
On Sinai Her Voice rang out. She assumed the image of Kali. She was at the basis of the cult of Isis and Ishtar. After Atlantis, when a blow was inflicted upon the cult of the spirit, the Mother of the World began to weave a new thread, which will now begin to radiate. After Atlantis the Mother of the World veiled Her Face and forbade the pronouncement of Her Name until the hour of the constellations should strike. She has manifested Herself only partly; never has She manifested Herself on a planetary scale. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.8.11
The antiquity of Atlantis can respond to flight beyond the planet. So broad are these gates that all the rest enters easily! Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.6.2
Let Our words about Fire not be regarded as abstract symbols. I speak of Fire truly existing. This is not the first time that the planet will experience the effect of this element. During each change of race Fire approaches as a purifying stream. Humanity remembers the devastation caused by the fusion of the Fire of Space with its subterranean fiery precipitates. Why repeat the destruction of Atlantis if it is possible to attract the beneficial aspects of the element of fire? But in order to approach Fire without fear it is necessary to learn to think about it and to assimilate it in the consciousness. Agni Yoga (1929) - 341
One must understand rhythms, for how else do we bring effectiveness to our actions? If lifeless sand arranges itself into special designs in response to rhythmic vibrations, then how much more is humanity influenced by rhythm! Not sorcery but knowledge will show the way to transformation. This path is an urgent one. Thus was humanity exhorted in the days before the end of Atlantis. Agni Yoga (1929) - 357
Following the time of Atlantis, in the rites of the Druids, while all the rest walked in a circle following the dawn-to-dusk movement of the sun, the chief priest performing the rite walked in the opposite direction. In this was contained the symbol of lesser and greater knowledge. Lesser knowledge is developed by following the flow of known energies, but great knowledge, facing the current of cosmic forces, extracts previously-unknown energies from what appears to be chaos. So in the cults of the sun, the steps of human ascent were wisely indicated. As you know, these were not abstract symbols but a reflection of reality; for example, the centers rotating against the sun produce special fiery energies. Agni Yoga (1929) - 428
In the most ancient scriptures the day and night of Brahma are indicated - this seems to explain the various states of life. But after Atlantis a wrong understanding of death appeared, and earthly life was locked in a shell of narrow-mindedness. Denial replaced knowledge. However, the day and night of Brahma exist in everything, even the throb of the pulse. First, the intervals of the pulse; then, the intervals of the body's sleep; and then the intervals of the physical and subtle states; and so on, until the pulse of Manvantara. Agni Yoga (1929) - 450
The truth of relativity has been accepted in mathematics, and all former calculations have proved erroneous. A like relativity exists in the world of evolution. The concepts of light and darkness, happiness and unhappiness, labor and rest, are likewise subject to the same law of relativity. When We speak of progress in thinking, We foresee the need of accepting this relativity. Precisely, the concept of the steps of ascent is beautiful. The spirit realizes that ascent is the page of wisdom on which is traced the entire power of Cosmos and the manifestation of motion. Progress cannot be affirmed on the lowest point of the great Origin. The temples of Atlantis knew this great principle. Infinity - Book 1 (1930) - 17
Unfortunately, the present time fully corresponds to the last period of Atlantis. The very same pseudo-prophets and a pseudo-savior; the same wars, the same treasons and spiritual barbarism. We take pride in the crumbs of civilization; the Atlanteans likewise knew how to fly across the planet in order to speedily cheat each other. The temples likewise became defiled, and science became a subject of speculation and dissension. The same occurred in construction, as if they did not dare to build solidly! Likewise, they rebelled against Hierarchy and were stifled with their own egoism. Likewise, they disturbed the equilibrium of the subterranean forces, and by mutual efforts a cataclysm was created. Hierarchy (1931) - 145
You can understand how the black lodges oppose humanity's perfectment, how they prefer the fate of Atlantis to the light of a new body. Let us be on watch, let us be vigilant, let us follow the Lord! Hierarchy (1931) - 208
The atmosphere is unusually dense! One must be especially dull-witted not to sense the phenomena manifested with each step. The condition of the world cannot be considered normal, yet the people of Atlantis also failed in like extent to see all that was already amazing. They even went further. They meted out capital punishment to all who pointed out the evident calamities. Of course, such a measure only served to hasten the destruction. People have never willingly acknowledged that they themselves are the basis of transmutation of psychic energy, and so they were never reluctant to divert the flow of this precious power. Heart (1932) - 455
Certainly it may be asked why in antiquity the danger of overcrowding did not arise. In the first place, the population was comparatively small; furthermore, let us not forget the fate of Atlantis, Babylon, and other once congested places which lie in ruins. Humanity remembers only a few of these burial grounds, but the cosmic laws have acted more than once. Hence, one should not be astonished that cosmic tension is increasing alongside the infection of the lower strata. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 324
The Great Architect builds eternally. It is senseless to suppose that certain parts of the Universe are completed and remain static. A great deal is made of the term evolution , but people have absolutely no conception of this process in its actuality. There has been much argument about the social structure, but it always has been presumed that human society exists in something inflexible and finite. The stories of the Deluge and of the glacial period are regarded almost as merely symbolic. and it is not proper even to speak of Atlantis, despite the testimonies of the Greek writers. One can see how the human consciousness evades everything that threatens its established comfort. Likewise, the concept of evolution is turned into an abstraction, thus not disturbing the consciousness of the petrified heart in the least. But does not the heavenly vault evoke thoughts about eternal motion? Only through such evolutionary concepts can one absorb the beauty of the earthly pilgrimage as the sojourn for ascent. The very briefness of the path should not disturb one, on the contrary, it should give one joy, as does the rotation of the sun. It is urgently necessary to expound to what extent evolution is incessantly in the hands of the Great Architect of the Universe. One should feel that the planet is in space, just as seamen know that the vast ocean is beneath their ship. At first seamen were terrified by this suspension over an abyss, but reality and experience accustom them to this truth. Every inhabitant of the planet is on a similar ship - below him is the abyss. The seamen cannot depend entirely upon their ship and scientific calculations, if they could there would be no shipwrecks. Astronomy knows a few heavenly bodies, but it does not know the starting point of the comets, and it does not anticipate the gigantic meteors. Only upon their obvious appearance are people notified, The destruction of entire worlds is sometimes noticed, but more often it occurs without attracting any attention. Astronomy is a night watchman! But what about the events taking place by day? Thus, we observe only approximately half of that which is evident. How much that is unexpected is concealed from the sleeping heart! Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 408
They will ask, "How can we best serve on Earth to effect the utmost benefit at present?" One must restore the health of Earth. By innumerable ways, one must carry out the world task of regeneration. One must bear in mind that people have destroyed the resources of Earth without mercy. They are ready to poison the earth and the air. They have laid waste the forests, these storehouses of prana. They have decimated animal life, forgetting that animal energy nourishes the earth. They believe that untried chemical compounds can take the place of prana and earthly emanations. They plunder the natural resources, unmindful that the balance must be maintained. They do not ponder over the cause of the catastrophe of Atlantis. They do not consider the fact that chemical ingredients must be tested over the course of a century, for a single generation cannot determine the symptoms of evolution or involution. People like to calculate races and sub-races, but the very simple idea of calculating the plundering of the planet never occurs to them. They think that by some act of mercy the weather will clear, and people will become prosperous! But the problem of restoring health does not enter their thoughts. Hence, let us love all creation! Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 630
Many times the end of the world has been proclaimed, but the planet still exists. The ignorant will again find therein cause to triumph, but they also scoffed on the eve of the fall of Atlantis. Moreover, disastrous collisions more than once have threatened the planet. Sensitive apparatus were able to foresee this circumstance. Even a short time ago the planet escaped collision by an extremely narrow margin. AUM (1936) - 521
It has been rightly observed that the basic qualities of consciousness have remained almost unchanged over a period of thousands of years. Perhaps such a shocking event as the destruction of Atlantis did produce a certain renovation of consciousness, but for this the magnitude of the shock must be tremendous. AUM (1936) - 529
In different epochs there have appeared particular themes and symbols, which could not have been regarded as the work of individual creators. They remained as signs of the entire epoch. At present the subject of Atlantis is being particularly mentioned. Quite independently, in different parts of the world people have recalled forgotten cataclysms. Let us not consider these remembrances as threats. We are far from menaces. We may remind and caution, but not one of Us makes use of the dark force of suggestion through terror. Free will remains the distinctive quality of man. It is to be regretted if this marvelous energy propels madmen into an abyss. One can take warning measures, but it is inadmissible to break the law of free will. In the course of the fate of Atlantis one may see that plentiful forewarnings were issued, but the madmen did not listen. Likewise, in other epochs reminders can be perceived. Brotherhood (1937) - 524
The exact knowledge sent out from Our laboratories often cannot be understood because the formulas are given in unusual symbols. But why should We distort ancient formulas that would otherwise have been forgotten? If some formulas survive from Atlantis, they should not be limited by today's scientific concepts. The science that synthesizes and the science that analyzes are worlds apart. Thus it is so difficult to find the harmony that flourishes in the Brotherhood. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 9
In books one can find some of Our names. They are very solemn ones. One can read about Manu, or about the Bodhisattvas. Remember that some nations are in need of lofty designations, but We are simply Servitors of Light and We revere Hierarchy. Our first call is for perfectment, not for titles or high rank. As it pertains to Hierarchy, this expression "titles and high rank" should not be understood in the earthly sense, in which people express their love for all kinds of ranks and distinctions. We serve the infinite Hierarchy. We accept leadership, not as a distinction, but as an immutable necessity. Such responsibility should be the foundation of all human communities. We do not attach importance to titles, for during Our many different lives We have had a great number of distinctions and titles in different languages. Many of these titles have been completely erased from human memory. Who can name the resplendent rulers of Atlantis? Only amidst the marshes of Tsaidam can one see the radiant images of former cities. Urusvati remembers the structures there, and the sculpture of the Great Bull. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 40
Urusvati knows how persistently We try to impress predestined discoveries upon the human mind. Let us take aviation as an example. One might think that after the flying ships of Atlantis, thought about victory over the air would have been abandoned for a long time to come, but thought about flight was destined to survive. People began to dream about airships, iron birds, and flying carpets. Solomon used a flying apparatus, and, finally, Our beloved Leonardo laid the foundation for scientific aeronautics. Thus one can trace in many fields of knowledge how ideas expressed in poetic legends gradually grew into scientific achievements. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 121

Atlantis - The Great Deluge by Tom Miller

You know how the free will of humanity is directed. There can be warnings of many kinds, even earthquakes, but free will prefers destruction of its own choosing. People know that explosions cause rain, yet they will continue to disturb the atmosphere even if threatened with the fate of Atlantis. There are some responsible scientists who try to remind humanity that the harmony of physical laws should not be broken. But people are indifferent, and do not realize what harmful forces are evoked from space by disharmony. A great effort should be made to restrain such free will. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 241
Very few accept the fullness of Service in its vitality and its achievements. These few know how the steps of Service have been formed and are ready to carry the living word wherever it will serve the General Good. Such heroes are ready to renounce the comforts of life in order to be able to offer inspiration to others. These few realize that, in addition to making scientific discoveries, it is necessary to unearth the spiritual treasures. Now, when multitudes of people are hurriedly shifting and seeking, it is especially difficult for mankind to reconcile material progress with higher spiritual values. The present age resembles a certain period of Atlantis, when the Atlanteans, too, could not find the necessary balance. But today people are aware of this discord, and this gives Us hope that the most vital nations will find the needed equilibrium. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 267

Lemuria
To the indications about medicines one should add that the skins of the musk animals were valued in Lemuria. Also, a chalice of cedar resin figured in the rituals of the consecration of the kings of the ancient Khorassan. Druids also called the chalice of cedar resin the chalice of life. And only later, with the loss of the realization of the spirit, was it replaced by blood. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.4.18
It is a fact that there exists a definite continuity between eras. Thus, the ancient cultures of Egypt and the Mayas were linked with Atlantis, which in turn was linked with Lemuria. The true impressions of this must be brought from the Subtle World and remembered, just as the lives in the far-off worlds should be remembered. While some memories persist in the form of fairy tales, they do not convince people. Such obliviousness to the past and the future limits man's consciousness and makes him a slave to the present. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 400
The relation of the hieroglyphics found in India to the inscriptions on Easter Island is unquestionable. Thus is disclosed the manifestation of a new relationship of peoples, which fully corresponds to the most ancient sources. Thus, once more you see how the chronicles have preserved the true historical data, but people accept them with difficulty. You observed justly that the facts about the Kalachakra are passed over in silence; this is due not only to ignorance but to an abhorrence of touching the fundamentals. Humanity passes over with equal shudders all the wells of knowledge - this applies to all worlds - and people will shudder just as much over the world of Fire. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 97.

Ancient Asia, Egypt and Greece
Much more of the wondrous occurs than we are accustomed to think. One could cite some historic instances of how prominent persons disappeared without leaving traces. But those who, for certain reasons, could not hide, apparently died, asking that they be covered tightly and that afterward thick layers of flowers be strewn upon them. During the night unknown persons came, made an exchange, and departed with the apparently dead. One could point out more than one case in Asia, Egypt, Greece, when events demanded such a transformation. Of course history represents these events in an entirely distorted manner. Empty tombs and secret cremations could recall much that is unknown to the people. One should measure with large scales. One should not assume that things are limited. Materia Lucida is ample for all achievements. One can develop great responsibility precisely through great measures. There are many ways, and if now We insist upon the shortest, it means that the limit of events has approached. It is correct to observe the causes and the course of events. But only a few feel responsibility for what takes place. I can affirm that each indicated situation has its most immediate designation. Since ancient days it was customary to investigate the disciple's degree of observation. For this, a seemingly abstract formula was altered and it was observed whether the keen intelligence would be capable of retrospection in order to find application for the formula expressed. The Teaching can deepen the understanding through observation. Heart (1932) - 565
You have already heard about certain empty tombs. You have heard about a very ancient custom, when sometimes a substitution was made for one thought to be dead. It must not be forgotten that through the ages a great many extraordinary actions have been accomplished, and not just once had a life to be interrupted. People have been initiated into the mysteries of existence, and so many names have been inscribed upon empty sepulchres! Thus, apart from the beaten paths of history, inscrutable achievements are created. One must become accustomed in one's consciousness to a great deal which is not governed by earthly laws. Who can affirm how events are being created? One can observe only a few outward signs, but the real channel of life is not written down in the state archives. Thus, people are astonished when one who, according to a tomb inscription, is supposed to be deceased, reappears ten years later and is identified by many persons. Of course, it is easy to overlook indisputable proofs. but honest observers can gather authentic evidence of many such events. Actually there is a history of the outer world and of the inner. It is not sorcery nor magic, but the path of the Higher World. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 259
There are many beliefs by which people shield themselves from reality, and it is therefore necessary to goad humanity into participating in all aspects of life. Many ancient thinkers emphasized this, but unfortunately their advice came down in the form of maxims which today are read, but never applied. The thoughts of Confucius, Pythagoras, and Marcus Aurelius are recorded in the pages of history, yet the average man is loathe to accept their authority. People are ashamed to reveal the cause of their ignorance, therefore it is important to persist in reminding them about participating in the totality of life. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 2 (1938) - 310
Not by accident has it been spoken about strange cases of the influence of vital emanations of all objects surrounding man. The ancient custom, of India, to construct for each heir a new palace is not without a profound basis. If it were possible to show how many bloody shadows there are around many thrones, how many terrors around ancestral portraits, how many tears upon necklaces, how many ghosts on the wall, humanity would be filled with respect for emanations. For, besides the physical effects of emanations, their psychic energy may be either constructive or destructive. How can a newly chosen ruler proceed by a new path amidst the dark oppression of past emanations! Many misfortunes are caused by these heritages of the past. Not only life beyond the grave was foreseen when in ancient times the personal belongings of the deceased were buried with him. Ancient wisdom was taking measures for the purification of space. Egypt knew the force of the law of emanations. Analyzing events and a succession of historic facts, one may easily become convinced as to how under the influence of emanations destructions have taken place. On the path to the Fiery World one should manifest caution and a profound discernment of emanations. How important it is to conserve each good accumulation! Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 77
Egypt was of lofty culture, but it cannot be said that the present culture is lower. Culture used to be centered in the north of India, but only a limited class of people possessed knowledge. Castes - foolish mustiness - have hindered culture. Indeed, the Lord Buddha wished to abolish this caste foolishness. The Teaching of the Lord was imbued with joy. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 3.1.2
Bodily pain is a natural fact, and cannot as such be banished. Of course, pain can be lessened by narcotics or by power of the will, but it also can be assumed by another conscious being. From ancient times there has existed the practice of groups of people assuming another's pain; for instance, in Egypt during the sickness of a Pharaoh. But the full effect was not often obtained. For this, outward agreement was insufficient - a spontaneous upsurge of inner unanimity was needed. Agni Yoga (1929) - 456
In the Mysteries of ancient Egypt there was a ritual called "The Sharpening of the Sword." The one to be tested was placed in deep darkness. He was approached by the Great Hierophant, who disclosed to him some of the Mysteries. Light illumined the Hierophant, then again everything sank into darkness. Afterward the priest designated as Tempter approached. Out of the darkness, the voice of the Tempter asked, "Brother, what hast thou seen and heard?" The tested one answered, "I was honored by the presence of the Great Hierophant." Agni Yoga (1929) - 520
The ancients knew of the one infinite element. The teachings of Greece and Egypt maintained this truth as the cornerstone of the foundation. The assimilation of this realization issues from an understanding of the principle of an affirmed fire. While the elements of nature do not pass from one state into another, it may be affirmed that the source of life lies in the higher spheres. The disconnected energies are attracted to other combinations. If one would observe the different combinations in Cosmos, one would become convinced of the law of goal-fitness according to which they are combined. Since all planetary combinations of all surrounding energies are gathered under the law of goal-fitness, one may approach an expanded conception of Infinity through the understanding of this great law of reciprocal action. Infinity - Book 1 (1930) - 399
Moses delved into the science of Egypt, but he outdistanced it through the Ten Commandments. Thus acts the Yoga of Hierarchy. Now We advise the scientists It is necessary that you observe the heart with all your processes, and you will encounter manifestations that are not clear to you. Heart (1932) - 500
It may be asked in what relation Our Teaching stands to the one already given by Us through Blavatsky. Answer that each century, after the manifestation of a detailed exposition, a conclusive culmination is given, which actually moves the world, along the line of humaneness. Thus, Our Teaching includes the "Secret Doctrine" of Blavatsky. Similarly, Christianity was the culmination of the world wisdom of the classic epoch, and the Commandments of Moses were the culmination of that of ancient Egypt and Babylon. However, the significance of the ramiform Teachings must be understood. It is hoped that people not only read Our books but accept them without delay, for I speak briefly of that which must be remembered. When I speak of the need of fulfilling My Indications, I ask you to fulfill them with complete precision. I can see more clearly, and you must learn to follow the Indication, which has in view your own good. A man fell under a train merely because he stepped upon the rails, but he had been forewarned and should not have done so. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 79
Advise the young scholar to collect everything regarding Fire from the most ancient teachings. Let the Puranas of India, the fragments of the Teachings of Egypt, Chaldea, China, Persia, and absolutely all teachings of the classic philosophy not be overlooked. Of course, the Bible, the Kabbalah, and the Teachings of Christ, all will yield plentiful material. Likewise, the assertions of the most recent times will add to the valuable definitions of Agni. Such a compilation has never been made. Yet can one advance toward the future without gathering the signs of millennia? Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 311
Why was the fire of lightning considered by the priests of Egypt to possess special magnetism? Was it superstition or knowledge? Why is the knowledge of the priests regarded as so very well-founded? Yet the facts, proved by research, confirm the fieriness of these teachers of Egypt. Was it not by experimental methods that the Egyptian priests arrived at the magnetism of the fire of lightning? One can imagine a specially condensed state of fiery energy during such powerful discharges. Of course, such tension may be perilous, but, properly directed, it can produce a purification of energy. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 528
The singular expression which you observed on the portraits pertains to the domain of Hiero-inspiration. Already in remote antiquity this spiritual penetration was understood. In ancient Egypt portrait images were used as a means of communion at a distance. Sacred Images likewise respond to spiritual communion. But this natural manifestation should be understood simply, as one more grain of knowledge, and not as magic or sorcery. No one can draft a boundary line to limit the knowledge of the spirit. No one has such an imagination as to be able to realize where the magnitude of energy could be cut short. Hence, one should conscientiously note all the understood details of various manifestations. One must rejoice at all such realizations, because these fiery beacons lead to the Fiery World. Consequently, on such paths one should apply great vigilance. One must accept reality as it is. Not distrust nor sleepiness, but the good eye and the opened heart lead to understanding of the new manifestations of the Fiery World. Observe how much the expression of the image becomes changed, and in the course of time you can compare this with events. It is needful, of course, to carry out observations upon people who have for you a special significance, and whom you know. The manifestation of such alterations of expression was called by the Egyptians the mirror of the soul. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 269
In truth, Egypt was great in attainments up into the time of Solomon. And Buddha, in a certain sense, received the chalice from Egypt. Thus the foundations of Wisdom have been harmoniously molded. Certainly, the Vedas too had a connecting link with former races. Often the Covenants grow in an evolutionary manner, but sometimes due to the depth of Karma the process becomes involutionary. But, withal, there has been an order of succession, and it precisely was a manifest equilibrium of the peoples. Denial of succession is ignorance. The very quality of life, the actual realization of the path, have been founded on successiveness, as an extension into Infinity. Quite often Hierarchy is represented as being finite, and from this issue all limitations and belittlements. The magnitude of Hierarchy extends into Infinity. Fiery World - Book 2 (1934) - 290
Certainly, the Initiates of ancient Egypt knew the great law which rules the whole Universe. The Pyramid itself presents a symbol of the mountain with a broad foundation and narrow summit. Indeed, the significance of the Chamber of the manifested King and Queen is that a crowning perfection is to be expected at the approach of all Cosmic Fiery dates. It is well to remember these manifested dates. It is well to remember these ancient indications and calculations. Thus is it possible to trace how from the most ancient times cosmic dates have been affirmed. One must also pay attention to the fact that those calculations lead up to our date and time. Thus immutable is Fiery Right, which has been inscribed on all the tablets, and which has been written by the great life of the eternal Magnet. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 198
We well understand the nature of the East, and because of its nature one should all the more note its reverence for Our Abode. Many Ashrams were transferred to the Himalayas because the atmosphere of other locations had become intolerable. The last Egyptian Ashram was transferred to the Himalayas because of the well-known events in Egypt and the adjoining regions. At the beginning of Armageddon all the Ashrams had to be gathered together in the Abode in the Himalayas. It should be known that at present We do not leave Our Abode, and We go to distant places only in Our subtle bodies. Thus the records about the inner life of Our Abode are being revealed. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 19
We have had opportunities to visit the ruins of temples erected by Us ages ago. There are many such temples in Egypt, in Greece, and all over the world. We know that these walls served their purpose and are no longer needed, but their essence remains and does not lose its freshness. Thus We testify, We who have experienced much and seen much. People often do not understand the correlation of the past with the future. Our Community has preserved many examples of Service, and We can testify to the continued vitality of all the Sacrifices. Supermundane - The Inner Life - Book 1 (1938) - 93

Ancient Times
In ancient cults there was a period called "the condition of opened treasures," when the priestess was already abiding on the eighth floor, entrance to which was prohibited, and the stairs were covered with the skins of leopards in order that no sound might penetrate. This state of "opened treasures" was so reverenced that the violation of the repose was punished as a religious offense. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 2 - Illumination (1925) - 2.7.15

Philosopher Kings
The welfare of nations is molded around a single personality. There are numerous examples of this throughout history, in the most diverse regions. Many will attribute this evident manifestation to the personality itself. But thus think the short-sighted; those who are far-sighted understand that such synthesis is nothing but the manifestation of the power of Hierarchy. Actually in all such manifestations the Hierarchy selects a focus upon which a current can be directed. Besides, a personality of this order possesses a fire, realized or unrealized, which makes the communion easy. But also indispensable is a certain quality on the part of the people themselves - trust in and recognition of the power. Therefore, in different matters I so often reiterate about authority. This quality is needed as a link of the fiery machine. You yourselves see how nations progress by affirming a leader. You yourselves see that there is no other way. Thus, the link of Hierarchy must be realized. One should not be short-sighted. Fiery World - Book 1 (1933) - 525

Cataclysm
Cataclysms result from conflict between the spatial fire and the flaming sediments of the planet. The planetary gases that are generated by the poisonous decomposition bring into action unbridled energy, Kamaduro. In other words, the physical nature of the planet is not in harmony with spatial fire. The luminous matter seeks to reconcile these disparate elements, but what we call darkness can paralyze the radiant matter, and then a cataclysm occurs. Agni Yoga (1929) - 307
In the history of mankind is revealed the great battle at the change of races; at the call to battle each summoned warrior takes up his arms. Providence leads nations by way of struggle; and you, My warriors, guard yourselves with the Shield of God's Will, and the Divine Song will ever find echo within you. Before the Deluge, when men were wedding and feasting and bargaining, Noah was already selecting the most stalwart oaks for his ark. Leaves of Morya's Garden - Book 1 - The Call (1924) - 120
Each Epoch leaves its impress in Eternity. These manifested remains of time are just as vital as life itself. Each Epoch leaves its echo, as a repetition of spatial records. But never do the records manifest a repetition, because to them are added always new energies and new decisions. An identicalness of time can be affirmed, but the reconstruction of the planet has its own new levers, and into the change go new energies. Thus Babylon fell, thus Rome fell, thus sands have covered civilizations, and waters engulfed empires. But for the change of our Cycle there approaches the most fiery, and the greatest, destruction and construction. Space is saturated with fiery energies for reorganization. Extraordinary is the time; the Fire is raging! On the path to the Fiery World let us manifest understanding of the approaching Fiery Cycle. Fiery World - Book 3 (1935) - 175.

Egyptian pyramids found by infra-red satellite images

2011-05-29T23:24:00.000+08:00

An infra-red satellite image reveals the city of Tanis. The infrared image on the right reveals the ancient city streets of Tanis near modern-day San El Hagar

By Frances Cronin BBC News

Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt.
More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings.

Initial excavations have already confirmed some of the findings, including two suspected pyramids.
The work has been pioneered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham by US Egyptologist Dr Sarah Parcak.

She says she was amazed at how much she and her team has found.

"We were very intensely doing this research for over a year. I could see the data as it was emerging, but for me the "Aha!" moment was when I could step back and look at everything that we'd found and I couldn't believe we could locate so many sites all over Egypt.

"To excavate a pyramid is the dream of every archaeologist," she said.

The team analysed images from satellites orbiting 700km above the earth, equipped with cameras so powerful they can pin-point objects less than 1m in diameter on the earth's surface.

Infra-red imaging was used to highlight different materials under the surface.

Test excavations
Ancient Egyptians built their houses and structures out of mud brick, which is much denser than the soil that surrounds it, so the shapes of houses, temples and tombs can be seen.

"It just shows us how easy it is to underestimate both the size and scale of past human settlements," says Dr Parcak.

And she believes there are more antiquities to be discovered:
"These are just the sites [close to] the surface. There are many thousands of additional sites that the Nile has covered over with silt. This is just the beginning of this kind of work."

BBC cameras followed Dr Parcak on her "nervous" journey when she travelled to Egypt to see if excavations could back up what her technology could see under the surface.

In the BBC documentary Egypt's Lost Cities, they visit an area of Saqqara (Sakkara) where the authorities were not initially interested in her findings.

But after being told by Dr Parcak that she had seen two potential pyramids, they made test excavations, and they now believe it is one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt.

But Dr Parcak said the most exciting moment was visiting the excavations at Tanis.

"They'd excavated a 3,000-year-old house that the satellite imagery had shown and the outline of the structure matched the satellite imagery almost perfectly. That was real validation of the technology."

The Egyptian authorities plan to use the technology to help - among other things - protect the country's antiquities in the future.

During the recent revolution, looters accessed some well-known archaeological sites.

"We can tell from the imagery a tomb was looted from a particular period of time and we can alert Interpol to watch out for antiquities from that time that may be offered for sale."

She also hopes the new technology will help engage young people in science and will be a major help for archaeologists around the world.

"It allows us to be more focused and selective in the work we do. Faced with a massive site, you don't know where to start.

"It's an important tool to focus where we're excavating. It gives us a much bigger perspective on archaeological sites. We have to think bigger and that's what the satellites allow us to do."

"Indiana Jones is old school, we've moved on from Indy. Sorry, Harrison Ford."

Egypt's Lost Cities is on BBC One on Monday 30 May at 2030 BST.

The Ten Suns of Heaven

2011-05-29T23:23:00.002+08:00

In the beginning, there were ten suns, the sons of Di Jun, Chinese Emperor of the Eastern Heavens, and his wife Xi He, goddess of the sun. They lived in a giant mulberry tree that grew up from the waters of the Heaven Valley—waters that were always boiling hot because the suns all bathed there. Each morning, the suns took turns shining in the sky, leaving the others resting in the tree. But one day, bored with their orderly life, they all rushed up into the sky at once and ran around wildly having fun. Their tenfold strength began to scorch the earth but when their parents told them to behave and come down they would not listen. So Di Jun sent his archer, Hou Yi, to teach his sons a lesson. Yi then shot down nine of the ten suns. Di Jun was devastated and he stripped Yi and his wife Chang E of their immortality and banished them from heaven.

Pan Gu Creates the World
In the beginning, the universe was contained within an egg, inside of which the vital forces of yin (dark, female, and cool) and yang (light, male, and hot) interacted with each other. Inside the egg, Pan Gu, formed from these forces, slept for 18,000 years. When he awoke, he stretched and broke the egg. The heavier elements inside the egg sank to form the earth, and the lighter ones floated to form the sky. Between the earth and the sky was Pan Gu. Every day, for another 18,000 years, the earth and sky separated a little more, and every day Pan Gu grew at the same rate so that he always filled the space in between. At last the earth and sky reached their final positions, and exhausted, Pan Gu lay down to rest. But he was so worn out that he died. His torso and limbs became the mountains. His eyes became the sun and moon, his flesh the land, his hair the trees and plants, and his tears the rivers and seas. His breath became the wind, and his voice the thunder and lightning. Finally, Pan Gu’s fleas became humankind.

Creation myths of Nü Wa
Human beings were created by the goddess Nü Wa, either out of mud and water, or with her brother Fu Xi. Wanting the gods’ approval, she and Fu Xi lit two bonfires and said, “If Heaven wants us to marry, may the smoke of the two fires mingle; if not, may it drift in separate ways.” It mingled, so they married; but Nü Wa was shy and covered her face with a fan—as brides still do today. Nü Wa felt protective toward humanity. When Gong Gong, the Water God, made holes in the sky during a battle with Zhu Rong, the Fire God, and the whole world was unbalanced and ravaged by fire and flood, Nü Wa melted stones to plug the gap and make the sky as good as new. And, to make it extra safe, she killed a giant turtle and used its four legs as pillars to support the four corners of heaven.

Lalibela

2011-05-19T18:39:00.002+08:00

The 11 12th-century churches chiselled out of red volcanic rock at Lalibela still hum with the sound of murmured prayer and the shuffle of bare feet.

Lalibela is a town in northern Ethiopia, known for its monolithic churches. Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities, second only to Aksum, and is a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. Unlike Aksum, the population of Lalibela is almost completely Ethiopian Orthodox Christian. The layout and names of the major buildings in Lalibela are widely accepted, especially by the local clergy, to be a symbolic representation of Jerusalem. This has led some experts to date the current form of its famous churches to the years following the capture of Jerusalem in 1187 by the Muslim soldier Saladin.

LINK

Qutb Minar

2011-05-19T18:38:00.002+08:00

The five-story Qutb (pole or axis) Minar (tower) in Delhi was begun in 1193 by Qutbuddin Aibak, a slave who rose to become a general, and finally the ruler of the Mamluk (Slave) dynasty (ad 1206–46). This massive stone structure was, for many years, the world’s highest single tower. The minar marked Aibak’s victory over the Rajputs, and the start of Muslim rule in India. It took stonemasons and sculptors over 150 years to build, and was finally completed in 1368.

Lalkot is the first of the seven cities of Delhi, established by the Tomar Rajput ruler, Anang Pal, in 1060. The Qutb complex lies in the middle of the eastern part of Lalkot. Building of the Quwwatu'l-Islam (Might of Islam) congregational mosque was begun in 1192 by Qutbu'd-Din Aibak and completed in 1198, using the demolished remains of Hindu temples. It was enlarged by Iltutmish (1211-36) and again by Alauld-Din Khalji (1296-1316).

The Qutb Minar was also begun by Qutbu'd-Din Aibak, in around 1202 and completed by his successor, Muhammad-bin-Sam. It was damaged by lightning in 1326 and again in 1368, and was repaired by the rulers of the day, Muhammad-bin-Tughluq (1325-51) and Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-88). In 1503 Sikandar Lodi carried out some restoration and enlargement of the upper storeys. The iron pillar in the mosque compound was brought from elsewhere in India. It bears a Sanskrit inscription from the 4th century AD describing the exploits of a ruler named Chandra, believed to be the Gupta King Chandragupta II (375-413). Of the other monuments, the Tomb of Iltutmish was built in 1235 by the ruler himself and Alai Darwaja was built in 1311 by Alauld-Din Khalji, who also began the construction of the Alai Minar.

The Quwwatu'l-Islam mosque consists of a courtyard, cloisters, and a prayer hall. The high arched screen facing the prayer hall was added in the 14th century. The Qutb Minar is a column built from red and buff sandstone blocks rising to a height of 72.5 m, tapering from 2.75 m diameter at the top to 14.32 m at the base, making it the highest stone tower in India. In addition to its traditional use for calling the faithful to prayer, it also has a monumental purpose, since a later Nagari inscription calls it Alauld-Din's 'victory monument' (Vijava-stambha). In its present form it consists of five storeys, the topmost of the original four storeys having been replaced by two storeys during the reign of Firuz Shah Tughluq. Each storey is separated from the next by highly decorated balconies, with pendentives and inscribed bands. The three earlier storeys are each decorated differently, the lowest being of alternating angular and rounded flutings, the second with rounded flutings alone, and the third with angular flutings alone; the same vertical alignment continues, however, through all three storeys. The whole structure was originally surmounted by a cupola, which fell during an earthquake and was replaced by a new cupola in late Mughal style in the early 19th century. This was so incongruous that it was removed in 1848 and now stands on the lawns to the south-east of the minaret.

The Iron Pillar is 7.02 m long, 0.93 m of which is below ground. It is built up of many hundreds of small wrought-iron blooms welded together and is the largest known composite iron object from so early a period. The remarkable lack of corrosion is attributable to the combination of several factors, among them the high corrosion-resistance of wrought iron, the climatic conditions in Delhi, and the likelihood that it was frequently anointed with ghee (melted butter). The deep cavity at the top suggests that it may at one time have been crowned by a Garuda image. The ornate Tomb of Iltutmish is in the north-west corner of the mosque. It consists of a square chamber of red sandstone with the tomb itself in the centre on a raised platform. The lower part of the interior is covered with fine Islamic carvings and arabesques. There is a marble mihrab (prayer niche) in the centre of the interior west wall. The Alai Darwaza, built from red sandstone and elaborately carved, is the southern entrance to the enlarged enclosure of the Qutb complex. The Alai Minar, to the north of the enclosure, is the base of a second minaret which was to overtop the Qutb Minar. It was begun by Alau'd-Din-Khalji, but he died before it reached the first storey and work on the structure was abandoned.

Until the thirteenth century Muslims continued to treat India as a land fit only for periodic plunder, a domain at “war,” rather than in “submission.” However, after 1206—the dawn of the Delhi sultanate, when the first of five Muslim dynasties established dominance over North India—Muslim rule remained an integral part at least of some portion of South Asia, if not its entire length and breadth. The Afghan “Slave” (Mamluk) dynasty lasted less than a century, followed by tougher Turkish Khaljis, who brought the faith of Islam to the Deccan, looting and plundering Devagiri, capital of pastoral Yadavas, worshipers of Krishna. Under Ala-ud-din Muhammad Khalji (r. 1296–1316), the sultanate reached its peak of power, but his sons were unable to consolidate their father’s phenomenal conquests.
The Sultanate Period (1192–1526)
As Ghaznavid power declined, it gave way to the reign of other “slave kings,” which included the dynastic succession of the Ghorids (1192–1290), the Khaljis (1290–1320), and the Tughluqs (1320–1398), culminating in the Lodi (1451–1526) dynasty. The Sultanate period, which lasted from the late twelfth to the early sixteenth centuries, began with the invasion of India by Muiz al-Din Ghori, who was of Turkish origin. Unlike Mahmud of Ghazni, who came to India simply to plunder and loot, Ghori and his descendants aimed to establish political control which manifested itself as the Delhi Sultanate.

The sultanates created a relatively stable political structure during this period, while the ultimate political authority rested with the Turkic sultans who, at least nominally, displayed Islam as their religious as well as political ideology. Among the populace, the religion of Islam meant something different. It was not synonymous with power or political dominance, and mostly grew among the poor. In fact, in the multifaceted social structure that developed in the midst of this complex period, it was generally acknowledged within the Muslim populace that the ulama held a religious authority that could not be subordinated or abrogated by the sultan, be he a local or imperial sultan. Instead, sultans generally attempted to legitimize their rule by acknowledging the authority of local ulama and particularly of Sufi saints.

It should be noted that during this period there was a creative cultural melding of traditions, which resulted in systems of military cooperation strong enough to head off the powerful Mongol advance, agrarian management systems that would survive well into the British colonial period, and an artistic and architectural synthesis so compelling that its creations still draw tourists to India today. Through the medieval period, Muslim intellectuals, Sufis, artisans, and travelers in general were attracted to South Asia from all parts of the Muslim world. This resulted in an administrative system resembling Islamic structures developed in the Muslim caliphates of Iraq and Syria.

The role of the Sufis was central to the growth of Islam, as they were generous in establishing their khanqahs. These centers also served as places for devotional and therapeutic needs. Sufis and religious leaders filled the need for education as well as spiritual fulfillment.

As the Delhi Sultanate became weak at the center, it resulted in the emergence of regional dynasties—in Bengal in the east and Gujarat in the west. The Bahmani kingdom in the south became independent of the Sultanate in 1347 and lasted for almost two hundred years before being split up into four smaller kingdoms. Its rulers, patrons of Sufi saints, also supported a variety of forms of Indo-Islamic art and the spread of Islamic tradition in South India.

In this regional arrangement of political power, Muslim culture developed in collaboration with local linguistic and social norms. This contributed to the increasing diversity of Islamic societies, cultures, and traditions. Muslim rulers and nobles formed alliances based on political and economic interests that went beyond religious and sectarian (Shia-Sunni) affiliation. Hindu kings fought with Turkish rulers, Muslim rebels collaborated with Hindus to secede from the Sultanate’s center, and so on.

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Wisdom of the oracle

2011-05-14T05:04:00.001+08:00

Delphi is located on the southern slopes of sacred Mount Parnassus, about 12 miles from the Gulf of Corinth. While some come here to question the oracle, most attend the site to celebrate a festival of Apollo or Dionysus. This reconstruction shows the entire Delphi complex, from the stadium at the top to the Sanctuary of Athena at the very bottom. The area of the plan is indicated in red.

The most famous oracle in Greece is that of Apollo at Delphi. It was discovered long ago that a cleft in the side of Mount Parnassus emitted a gas that caused seizures among the goats that grazed nearby. When a goatherd was also affected, the locals interpreted his convulsions and ravings as divine inspiration.

This became the place decreed by Apollo to be the omphalus (navel) of the world. Delegations now travel from all over Greece to seek advice, the words of Apollo interpreted through the medium of the Pythia, high priestess of Delphi.

The Pythia is crowned in laurel and seated on a tripod perched over the vaporous cleft. Any man (women are not allowed in the sanctuary) wishing to ask a question about the future must first be ritually purified by washing in the Castalian Spring, which is where Apollo killed the Python dragon.

The request is written down and given to the Pythia by a priest. Her utterances are usually so disjointed that her servant-priests are needed to interpret the answer—even then, they often get it wrong, to the questioner’s usually dreadful misfortune.
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The celebrant climbs a steep road toward the sanctuary entrance at its eastern corner. During a major festival this road is lined by numerous stores selling the pilgrims food, mementoes of their visit, and sacrificial offerings to place on the many altars. From the gate, the Sacred Way rises steeply in a zigzag, between the votive altars and then the state treasuries of several city-states.

It takes a sharp bend in front of the Athenian treasury before passing close to the rock on which in ancient times the mythical prophetess Sibyl sang her predictions in Gaia’s shrine. From here, the procession continues up past the Porch of the Athenians. This stoa (a covered walkway) is built in the Ionic order, and has seven fluted, or grooved columns, each made from a single stone. According to the inscription, it was erected by the Athenians after 478 BCE to house the trophies taken in their naval victories over the Persians.

The Sacred Way now bends around to take the last, steep rise up to the great Doric temple dedicated to Apollo. Inside is the adyton, the seat of the Pythia.

Facing the steps to the temple’s entrance is the large altar of the sanctuary. It was paid for and erected by the people of Chios, in the 5th century BCE. The monument is made of black marble, except for the base and cornice, which are of white marble, resulting in an impressive color contrast.

Heart of the Polis—the Agora

2011-05-14T05:04:00.000+08:00

AAthens is governed by an assembly of 500 elected members— called the Boule—who meet in the New and Old Bouleuterion. A “steering committee” of 50 selected Boule members, called the prytani, meets in the circular Tholos, which also houses the official weights and standard measures. B The old law court (top right) fell into disuse early on and cases are heard in the Hellaea, which is incorporated in the new south stoa. C The ancient race track has disappeared under the agora’s center, which is filled with market stalls and small stores.

The Greek agora, or marketplace, is a natural place for exchanging gossip, debating matters of state, and for public discussion. It is the center of trade and of politics, where the government meets and from where wars are conducted.

At the heart of every Greek city is the agora. It is the center of a city’s commercial life, and a social focus where people gather to meet friends. The finest agora in all Greece is found in Athens, which was once the place where an ancient race track existed for the annual religious games. Gradually, it developed into a market, and from there to the political hub of the city.

Farmers from the surrounding region still come to the central open space, erect their stalls, and sell meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, cheese, fruit, and eggs. Around the edges craftsmen have their numerous workshops, while here and there knots of men looking for work gather in spots where employers are known to hire for particular trades.

The political hub
To the east and south are the great stoas, or porches, colonnaded arcades that offer welcome shade and also provide space for small shops and business offices. The shops are open rooms with a counter across the front, and since they cost more to rent than a market stall, they tend to sell luxury goods.

On the western side of the agora sit the various government buildings that house the Boule and the Strategion. This is the center of the Athenian military command. In times of war, the Boule appoints a supreme commander—the strategos—who is responsible for the navy and the army. In other times, there were a number of strategoi, who acted as generals.

Together with altars and temples, you have in one place the essence of a Greek city.

Nabta

2011-05-05T04:54:00.002+08:00

Oldest Astronomical Megalith Alignment Discovered In Egypt. By Science Team

ScienceDaily (Apr. 3, 1998)
An assembly of huge stone slabs found in Egypt's Sahara Desert that date from about 6,500 years to 6,000 years ago has been confirmed by scientists to be the oldest known astronomical alignment of megaliths in the world.

Known as Nabta, the site consists of a stone circle, a series of flat, tomb-like stone structures and five lines of standing and toppled megaliths. Located west of the Nile River in southern Egypt, Nabta predates Stonehenge and similar prehistoric sites around the world by about 1,000 years, said University of Colorado at Boulder astronomy Professor J. McKim Malville.

The Nabta site was discovered several years ago by a team led by Southern Methodist University anthropology Professor Fred Wendorf. A 1997 GPS satellite survey by Malville, Wendorf, Ali A Mazar of the Egyptian Geological Survey and Romauld Schild of the Polish Academy of Sciences confirmed one of the megalith lines was oriented in an east-west direction.

A paper on the subject by the four researchers will appear April 2 in the weekly British science journal, Nature.

"This is the oldest documented astronomical alignment of megaliths in the world," said Malville. "A lot of effort went into the construction of a purely symbolic and ceremonial site." The stone slabs, some of which are nine feet high, were dragged to the site from a mile or more distant, he said.

The ruins lie on the shoreline of an ancient lake that began filling with water about 11,000 years ago when the African summer monsoon shifted north. It was used by nomads until about 4,800 years ago, when the monsoon moved southwest and the area again became "hyperarid and uninhabitable."

Five megalithic alignments at Nabta radiate outward from a central collection of megalithic structures. Beneath one structure was a sculptured rock resembling a cow standing upright, Malville said. The team also excavated several cattle burials at Nabta, including an articulated skeleton buried in a roofed, clay-lined chamber.

Neolithic herders that began coming to Nabta about 10,000 years ago -- probably from central Africa -- used cattle in their rituals just as the African Massai do today, he said. No human remains have yet been found at Nabta.

The 12-foot-in-diameter stone circle contains four sets of upright slabs. Two sets were aligned in a north-south direction while the second pair of slabs provides a line of sight toward the summer solstice horizon.

Because of Nabta's proximity to the Tropic of Cancer, the noon sun is at its zenith about three weeks before and three weeks after the summer solstice, preventing upright objects from casting shadows. "These vertical sighting stones in the circle correspond to the zenith sun during the summer solstice," said Malville, an archeoastronomer. "For many cultures in the tropics, the zenith sun has been a major event for millennia."

An east-west alignment also is present between one megalithic structure and two stone megaliths about a mile distant. There also are two other geometric lines involving about a dozen additional stone monuments that lead both northeast and southeast from the same megalith. "We still don't understand the significance of these lines," Malville said.

During summer and fall, the individual stone monoliths would have been partially submerged in the lake and may have been ritual markers for the onset of the rainy season. "The organization of these objects suggest a symbolic geometry that integrated death, water and the sun," Malville said.

Although some believe the "high culture" of subsequent Egyptian dynasties was borrowed from Mesopotamia and Syria, Malville and others believe the complex and symbolic Nabta culture may have stimulated the growth of the society that eventually constructed the first pyramids along the Nile about 4,500 years ago.

"The Nabta culture may have been a trigger for the development of social complexity in Egypt that later led to the Pharaonic dynasty," he said. The Nabta project was funded primarily by the National Science Foundation.

The site also contains a wealth of cultural debris, including small, fire-blackened stones from ancient hearths built along the ancient lakeshore as well as manos, metates and carved and decorated ostrich eggshells.

Mỹ Sơn

2011-05-05T04:53:00.002+08:00

Perhaps because so many people travelling down the Vietnamese coast are en route to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, My Son, about an hour from Hoi An, often gets overlooked. Yet it’s an incredible, eerie site of towering temples, covered in jungle creepers.

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Paro Taktsang

2011-05-05T04:51:00.002+08:00

Clinging to the edge of a 900m cliff, Taktshang Goemba (Tiger’s Nest Monastery) is famous in Bhutan but like so much of the remote kingdom, little-known outside. The monastery is not open to visitors but you can hike to a viewpoint to take in the epic scenery.

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The Nabta megaliths were recently discovered in the Egyptian Sahara.

2011-05-05T04:50:00.000+08:00

Oldest Astronomical Megalith Alignment Discovered In Egypt

The Nabta megaliths were recently discovered in the Egyptian Sahara. The circle of stones is astronomically aligned, although no one is sure of its exact purpose. It dates to between 4500 and 4000 BCE – making it 1,000 years older than the circle at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England.

The Nabtans erected five megalithic alignments all radiating like wheel spokes from a central cluster of stones.

Nabta boasts numerous fire hearths located around a stone calendar circle about 300 meters north of the mega stones. This stone circle is very small compared with the great structures of Stonehenge and Carnac but it demonstrates similar astronomical affiliations. Archaeologists, using global positioning systems, have surveyed the large radial stones and found that their alignments are exactly on the axis north-south and east-west as are the stones of the calendar circle.

The east-west line has been calculated to align with the rising and setting sun of the summer solstice more than 6,000 years ago.
Many cattle bones have been discovered, adding to the speculation that this was a place of animal veneration. The ancient Egyptians deified cattle, especially the cow. One tumulus contained a fully articulated cow while numerous other, more basic, tumuli contained some artifacts, unshaped stones, and disarticulated cattle bones.

Galilee

2011-05-05T04:48:00.002+08:00

The vast majority of Bible narratives occur in the hills, from the Galilee in the north, down through Samaria to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. “There is some rainfall (above 24 in.). The nights are cool in summer, cold in winter, when frost and snow are unusual but not unknown” (George Cansdale 1970, 27). The forests that once covered these hills are mentioned in stories of David. His son Absalom was killed in a forest, when his long hair caught on the branches of the trees. At one time, the region was alive with wild animals, which found plenty of grazing land, as well as fruits and nuts from the variety of trees.

The rock formations in the sandstone provide many holes and clefts that have served as homes to humans and beasts throughout the centuries. This was an excellent hiding place for David when he was fleeing Saul, and it was later used to shelter the Zealots and outlaws in Jesus’s day.

Galilee, the home of Jesus and his disciples, is north of the Plain of Esdraelon. The upland ranges of the hills here “stretch away northward, gradually rising as they come nearer to the high mountains of Lebanon. They rise in a series of steps, with scarp edges, facing generally south or south-east. The lower steps in the ‘staircase’ were and are fertile basin lands, separated from each other by barren limestone edges. In the time of Jesus, these basins were known for their grain, fruit and olives. They formed a prosperous, well-populated area. But the higher steps rise to a bleak and windswept upland. This is isolated and infertile, and lacks the forests of the higher mountain slopes farther north” (Pat Alexander, Eerdman ’ s Family Encyclopedia of the Bible, 6–7). This was sometimes divided into the Lower and Upper Galilee, with the northern section often under foreign control.

Galilee was a busy region, crossed by the great trade routes, bringing many strangers with news of the outside world; a mixed community with fishermen casting their nets on the Sea of Galilee and farmers tilling the soil of their fertile farmlands. It was full of people who were more racially mixed than in the Jerusalem region, and considered hayseeds by these city-dwellers.

Peru: 'sensational' Inca find for British team in Andes

2011-05-05T04:47:00.002+08:00

The Inca platform where the ancestor stones were found. Photograph: Observer

Discovery of sacred ancestor stones has archaeologists 'dancing a jig'
Dalya Alberge
The Observer, Sunday 5 December 2010

A British team of archaeologists on expedition in the Peruvian Andes has hailed as "sensational" the discovery of some of the most sacred objects in the Inca civilisation – three "ancestor stones", which were once believed to form a precious link between the heavens and the underworld.

The find, which was made on an isolated Andean mountainside, provoked joy among local specialists and the experts present from, among others, the British Museum, Reading University and Royal Holloway, University of London. No examples of the stones were thought to have survived until now.
"It was a very moving moment," said Dr Colin McEwan, the British Museum's head of the Americas, as he recalled seeing the stones for the first time.

Dr Frank Meddens, research associate of Royal Holloway, who was also on the expedition, said they had "danced a little jig on top of the mountain" after discovering the objects that they had only read about in 16th-century Spanish documents.

The Incas would have been just as overawed. The conical-shaped stones were among the most significant items in Inca society and religion. Key elements in ritual events, they were thought to facilitate a connection between different realms of the world – the celestial and the underworld of the ancestors – with the Inca king, as the divine ruler, acting as intermediary. And they were considered more precious than gold.

"This is a whole new category of object. It is nothing short of sensational," said McEwan of the three stones in red and white Andesite, a hard, granite-like rock, which were excavated some 2.5 metres beneath an Inca stone platform. The platform too was recently excavated and is a structure of distinctive stonework that once symbolised the imperial control of conquered territories.

The site – at Incapirca Waminan – is one of 20 undocumented high-altitude Inca ceremonial platforms explored by the archaeologists around the Ayacucho basin. Such sites were potent imperial symbols of religious and political authority as the Incas expanded outwards from Cuzco, a sacred city of temples and palaces in the central Peruvian Andes.

Ancestor stones represented deities, ancestors and the sun, and were imbued with supreme symbolic significance. They were greeted with incomprehension by Spanish chroniclers of the early 16th century, who sacrilegiously likened their shape to sugar loaves, pineapples and bowling pins. The insult, however, was returned: when the 16th-century Inca ruler Atahualpa was shown a copy of the Bible by the Conquistadors, he reacted with similar contempt.

According to Spanish sources, the stones were used in public solar rituals, sometimes draped in gold cloth and paraded. One witness wrote: "The stones… were held to be blessed and sacred."
Symbols of the ancestral essence of the Inca king, the objects were placed on display when the supreme leader was absent from Cuzco, the capital of the Inca people, in an attempt to demonstrate the perpetual presence and his power. The Incas believed their king to be a living god who ruled by divine right.

As the Incas had no system of writing, the significance of the archaeologists' unprecedented find is reinforced by the identification of ancestor stones in the decoration of a unique 16th-century Inca vessel (cocha) in the British Museum. Spanning 50cm in diameter, it bears a carved scene showing a central solar disc and two kneeling figures with their hands clasped as they honour an ancestor stone. They are flanked on either side by an Inca king and queen and high-ranking lords.

The Incas created a huge empire that stretched more than 2,400 miles along the length of the Andes and whose economy was based on taxed labour, with its people farming and herding animals, working in mines and producing goods such as clothing and pottery.

The sites for ceremonial platforms were chosen for their vistas of the snow-capped peaks, which were worshipped as mountain deities. It was at such sites that the Incas sacrificed children – the ceremony of capacocha – at moments of potential instability.

These structures also had sacred central spaces known as the ushnu, with a vertical opening into "the body of the earth" into which libations such as maize beer were poured. The ushnu platforms served as a stage from which the Inca king and his lords could preside over seasonal festivals and ceremonies.

First humans arrived in Britain 250,000 years earlier than thought

2011-04-19T22:39:00.002+08:00

Archaeologists digging on a Norfolk beach found stone tools that show the first humans were living in Britain much earlier than previously thought

Ian Sample, science correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 July 2010 18.04 BST
A spectacular haul of ancient flint tools has been recovered from a beach in Norfolk, pushing back the date of the first known human occupation of Britain by up to 250,000 years.
While digging along the north-east coast of East Anglia near the village of Happisburgh, archaeologists discovered 78 pieces of razor-sharp flint shaped into primitive cutting and piercing tools.
The stone tools were unearthed from sediments that are thought to have been laid down either 840,000 or 950,000 years ago, making them the oldest human artefacts ever found in Britain.
The flints were probably left by hunter-gatherers of the human species Homo antecessor who eked out a living on the flood plains and marshes that bordered an ancient course of the river Thames that has long since dried up. The flints were then washed downriver and came to rest at the Happisburgh site.
The early Britons would have lived alongside sabre-toothed cats and hyenas, primitive horses, red deer and southern mammoths in a climate similar to that of southern Britain today, though winters were typically a few degrees colder.
"These tools from Happisburgh are absolutely mint-fresh. They are exceptionally sharp, which suggests they have not moved far from where they were dropped," said Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London. The population of Britain at the time most likely numbered in the hundreds or a few thousand at most.
"These people probably used the rivers as routes into the landscape. A lot of Britain might have been heavily forested at the time, which would have posed a major problem for humans without strong axes to chop trees down," Stringer added. "They lived out in the open, but we don't know if they had basic clothing, were building primitive shelters, or even had the use of fire."
The discovery, reported in the journal Nature, overturns the long-held belief that early humans steered clear of chilly Britain – and the rest of northern Europe – in favour of the more hospitable climate of the Mediterranean. The only human species known to be living in Europe at the time is Homo antecessor, or "pioneer man", whose remains were discovered in the Atapuerca hills of Spain in 2008 and have been dated to between 1.1m and 1.2m years old.
The early settlers would have walked into Britain across an ancient land bridge that once divided the North Sea from the Atlantic and connected the country to what is now mainland Europe. The first humans probably arrived during a warm interglacial period, but may have retreated as temperatures plummeted in subsequent ice ages.
Until now, the earliest evidence of humans in Britain came from Pakefield, near Lowestoft in Suffolk, where a set of stone tools dated to 700,000 years ago were uncovered in 2005. More sophisticated stone, antler and bone tools were found in the 1990s in Boxgrove, Sussex, which are believed to be half a million years old.
"The flint tools from Happisburgh are relatively crude compared with those from Boxgrove, but they are still effective," said Stringer. Early stone tools were fashioned by using a pebble to knock large flakes off a chunk of flint. Later humans used wood and antler hammers to remove much smaller flakes and so make more refined cutting and sawing edges.
The great migration from Africa saw early humans reach Europe around 1.8m years ago. Within 500,000 years, humans had become established in the Mediterranean region. Remains have been found at several archaeological sites in Spain, southern France and Italy.
In an accompanying article in Nature, Andrew Roberts and Rainer Grün at the Australian National University in Canberra, write: "Until the Happisburgh site was found and described, it was thought that these early humans were reluctant to live in the less hospitable climate of northern Europe, which frequently fell into the grip of severe ice ages."
Researchers led by the Natural History Museum and British Museum in London began excavating sites near Happisburgh in 2001 as part of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project and soon discovered tools from the stone age beneath ice-age deposits. So far, though, they have found no remains of the ancient people who made them.
"This would be the 'holy grail' of our work," said Stringer. "The humans who made the Happisburgh tools may well have been related to the people of similar antiquity from Atapuerca in Spain, assigned to the species Homo antecessor, or 'pioneer man'."
The latest haul of stone tools was buried in sediments that record a period of history when the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field was reversed. At the time, a compass needle would have pointed south instead of north. The last time this happened was 780,000 years ago, so the tools are at least that old.
Analysis of ancient vegetation and pollen in the sediments has revealed that the climate was warm but cooling towards an ice age, which points to two possible times in history, around 840,000 years ago, or 950,000 years ago. Both dates are consistent with the fossilised remains of animals recovered from the same site.
"Britain was getting cooler and going into an ice age, but these early humans were hanging in there. They may have been the remnants of an ancient population that either died out or migrated back across the land bridge to a warmer climate," said Stringer.

Sanchi stupas.

2011-04-19T22:36:00.002+08:00

In 75 B.C., the tenth king of the Shunga dynasty, Devahuti (also known as Devabhumi) was murdered through a conspiracy by the minister Vasudeva, who founded the short-lived dynasty of Kanvas. Four Kanva kings ruled for only forty-five years; their dynasty’s end came at the hands of the Andhras in 30 B.C. The Sanchi stupas near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh were built during this period, but it is not possible to trace the precise contribution of the Kanva rulers to this building complex.

The Sanchi region is full of stupas, which number 60 in all: 8 in Sonar; 5 in Satadhara; 3 in Andher; 37 in Bhojpur; and 7 in Sanchi. Most of these are miniature; only a few are large. The building of stupas commenced in the third century B.C., when Ashoka, then governor, married Devi, the daughter of a local businessman. He selected the site of the hillock, which after the construction of the great stupa was known as Mahachetiya. The dimensions of the original stupa are known, though the existing stupa was built two centuries later. A portion of the original Ashokan pillar can still be seen near the southern gate.

The Mahachetiya (Stupa I) is 54 feet (16.5 m) high and covers a circular area 120 feet (36.5 m) in diameter. The hemispherical dome has a truncated top, surrounded by a low railing (harmika) consisting of a stone shaft topped by umbrellas (chhatravali). The body of the stupa is made of bricks surrounded by stone balustrades. At the ground level runs the pathway for clockwise circumambulation around the stupa during worship. This path is surrounded by a railing with 9-foot (2.7 m)-high pillars, placed at an interval of 2 feet (.6 m), with three crossbars. Unlike the Bharhut railing, the Sanchi railing is uncarved.

The four gateways that provide access to the stupa, however, are of great aesthetic merit. An inscription on the southern entrance records that it was executed by the guild of ivory carvers of Vidisha. The minute, low-carved renderings vary from gate to gate, although some episodes have been repeated. The representations are of Jatakas (previous births of the Buddha), life events, yakshas, nagas, mythical beings, nymphs, flora and fauna, processions, and a number of decorative motifs. Like Bharhut and Bodh Gaya¯, Sanchi also suggests the presence of the Buddha through symbols. Similarly, Gajalakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, is standing on a lotus, anointed by two elephants. The number of Jataka tales narrated here is only four, while at Bharhut no fewer than thirty are depicted. Nevertheless, the stupa at Sanchi is one of the most impressive examples of ancient Indian art.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Agrawala, V. S. Indian Art. Varanasi: Prithivi Prakasham, 1965. Arthashastra of Kautilya. Chap. 2. Translated and edited by L. N. Tangarajan. New Delhi and New York: Penguin, 1992. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. History of Indian and Indonesian Art. New York: Dover, 1965. Gupta, Swarajya P. The Roots of Indian Art. New Delhi: D. K. Publishers, 1980. Lohuizen-De Leeuw, J. E. van. The Scythian Period: An Approach to the History, Art, Epigraphy, and Palaeography of North India from the First Century B.C. to the Third Century A.D. Leiden: A. J. Brill, 1949. Ray, Niharranjan R. Maurya and Post Maurya Art: A Study in Social and Formal Contrasts. New Delhi: Thomson, 1975. Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra C. Political History of Ancient India. Rev. ed. Delhi and New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Saraswati, S. K. Survey of Indian Sculpture. New Delhi: Munishiram Manoharlal, 1975. Sharma, R. C. Bharhut Sculpture. New Delhi: Abhinav, 1994. ———. The Splendour of Mathura Art and Museum. New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, 1994. ———. Buddhist Art: Mathura School. 1995. ———. “Development of Indian Sculpture from Mauryan to the Kushana Period.” In Life, Thought, and Culture in India: From 600 B.C. to c. A.D. 300, edited by G. C. Pande. New Delhi: Munishiram Manoharlal, 2001. Smith, Vincent A. The Jain Stupa and Other Antiquities of Mathura. 1901. Reprint, Varanasi: Indological Book House, 1969.

WHIRLWIND

2011-04-19T22:34:00.002+08:00

Russia
The personification of a whirlwind, sometimes referred to as Vikhor'. In one story he abducts Nastas'ya of the Golden Braid, the wife of Bel Belyanin and mother of Peter Belyaninovich, Vasilii Belyaninovich, and Ivan Belyaninovich, and keeps her in a wondrous palace encrusted with diamonds and other precious stones on a plateau atop a high mountain range. There he also holds three maidens captive as the tsaritsas of his three kingdoms—the Copper Kingdom, the Silver Kingdom, and the Golden Kingdom, the tsaritsa of the latter being Elena the Fair. Each of the four palaces in Whirlwind’s realm was guarded by a multi-headed dragon that could only be placated with water drawn from a well nearby.

Whirlwind renewed his strength periodically from a barrel that contained a magical water that bestowed great strength on anyone who drank it. He also kept a second barrel, which contained a water that sapped the drinker’s strength. These two barrels ultimately were his downfall.

Ivan and his two brothers set off to search for their lost mother. Ivan finally found her, after climbing the tall mountains and passing through the three kingdoms. Nastas'ya of the Golden Braid told Ivan of Whirlwind’s secret, and by drinking of the strength increasing water and then swapping that with the strength-sapping one, Ivan was able to defeat Whirlwind, cutting off his head with a single blow, burning his body, and scattering the ashes in the wind.

Whirlwind had two servants, Lame and One-Eye, who could work wondrous magic. After Whirlwind’s death, these two served Ivan.

Bathymetric map

2011-04-19T22:33:00.002+08:00

A bathymetric map is a map that measures water depth across an underwater area. Although many people think of bathymetric maps as measuring ocean depths, this type of mapping can also apply to seas and lakes. A bathymetric map is a lot like a topographical map, except that the features contained in it are underwater. It may use various representations, including color and contour lines, to represent ocean or sea depth in a particular area. Some bathymetric maps use what's called a digital terrain model (DTM) to show how underwater depth levels differ in a region.

When cartographers began to make bathymetric maps, depth was often found by lowering some type of physical probe down into a body of water. This method could be time consuming and inaccurate. In modern times, this method has been replaced by sonar to give mapmakers a much better picture of what's on an ocean floor.

A bathymetric map can serve many different functions. Many of these types of maps give navigators a better understanding of underwater features that could threaten the safety of the specific sea path for a boat or vessel. A bathymetric map can also be helpful in diving missions, where search parties are looking to identify something located on an ocean or sea bottom, from a lost ship to jettisoned cargo. Many interesting undersea diving missions that have unearthed long-sunk treasures or famous lost ships have taken advantage of bathymetric mapping to more easily reach an undersea location. Bathymetric mapping is also used for "paleobathymetry," the study of ancient changes to underwater topography.

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Great Mappaemundi

2011-03-25T18:33:00.000+08:00

In a twelfth-century map contained with other miscellaneous material at the front of an English Computus manuscript, the marginalization of the British Isles reaches new heights. Here, Britannia actually lies within the double-lined border which marks the rim of the world. Hybernia and the semi-mythical island of Thule (variously identified as the Shetlands, Iceland or Norway) are drawn outside this rim, literally beyond the pale. They are the only regions to receive this treatment and in comparison with genuinely remote places like Africa and Asia, they seem—like the giants dwelling in the fens—to be forcefully excluded from the bounds of civilization. These notions are even reflected in a simple T-O list map in a tenth-century Anglo-Saxon manuscript of Isidore’s De natura rerum, which for a time was “patriotically reattributed to Gildas.” Here, the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe are neatly delineated by the ruled lines of the ‘T.’ The continents are filled with lists of countries, and, in the context established above, it seems more than chance that Brittania and Hybernia are situated as the last two lands in Europe, with the exception of the seemingly misplaced ‘Australia,’ or ‘Southern Land.’ Even in this simple, textual format, the British Isles have been shunted to the end of the list and, by implication, to the ends of the earth. Evelyn Edson points out an “oddity” in this map; Europe and Africa have been reversed. This may bear significance, as the T-O format was often connected to the body of Christ. From at least the ninth century, onward, “the idea of the T as a crucifix superimposed on the spherical earth, symbolizing its salvation by Christ’s sacrifice,” was common.

This idea was dramatically represented on the two of the great mappaemundi, or world maps: Hereford and Ebstorf. Hereford is capped with and image of Christ in judgment. He raises his hands to display the stigmata, the signs of the suffering he undertook to redeem mankind. Following the usual configuration, to Christ’s right we find the souls of the saved being led upward by an angel into the gates of Heaven while, to Christ’s left, we find the damned, ensnared in a ring of rope by a pair of devils who pull them downward toward the toothy mouth of Hell. In case we are unsure of the fate of these souls, angels hold out scrolls to clarify their respective destinations. On Christ’s right, “Rise—you will come to perpetual bliss,” and on his left, “Rise—you are going to the fire prepared in Hell.” Below these scenes, on Christ’s right we find Christian Europe and on his left, the monstrous races of Africa. On the Ebstorf map, Christ’s left hand, with which he damns the souls of the wicked at the Last Judgment, bursts out of the midst of southern Africa, teeming with monstrous, possibly soulless races of men. The implications of salvation and damnation seem clear. On the right, where Christ’s blessing hand is located, we would expect to find Britain. However, on the Ebstorf map, the British Isles have been shifted west, thrust almost under Christ’s feet, far from the North Pole. Since the islands appear much farther north on most mappaemundi, it seems possible that the creator of the Ebstorf map has consciously driven Britain from the hand which brings salvation. What, then, has been implied in the text-filled Isidore map, in which Europe has been shifted to the traditional place of Africa? Has the English artist cast himself and his countrymen down Hell’s eager gullet?

Great Serpent Mound - USA

2011-03-21T15:06:00.000+08:00

The Great Serpent Mound is a 1,330-foot-long, three-foot-high prehistoric effigy mound located on a plateau of the Serpent Mound crater along Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio. Maintained within a park by the Ohio Historical Society, it has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of Interior. The Serpent Mound of Ohio was first reported from surveys by Ephraim Squire and Edwin Davis in their historic volume Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, published in 1848 by the newly founded Smithsonian Museum.

Researchers have attributed construction of the mound to three different prehistoric indigenous cultures. Based on the use of more advanced technology, including carbon dating and evidence from 1996 studies, many scholars now believe that members of the Fort Ancient culture built it about 1070 CE (plus or minus 70 years). There are still anomalies to be studied. Serpent Mound is the largest serpent effigy in the world.

Dún Aonghasa - Ireland

2011-03-21T15:01:00.000+08:00

Dún Aonghasa is the most famous of several prehistoric forts on the Aran Islands, of County Galway, Ireland. It is located on Inishmore at the edge of an approximately 100 metre high cliff.A popular tourist attraction, Dún Aonghasa is an important archaeological site that also offers a spectacular view. It is not known when Dún Aonghasa was built, though it is now thought to date from the Iron Age.T. F. O'Rahilly surmised that it was built in the second century B.C. by the Builg following the Laginian conquest of Connacht.

Dún Aonghasa has been called "the most magnificent barbaric monument in Europe." The Proto-Celtic name, meaning "Fort of Aonghas", refers to the pre-Christian god of the same name described in Irish mythology, or the mythical king, Aonghus mac Úmhór.

Sigirya - Sri Lanka

2011-03-21T14:58:00.000+08:00

Sigiriya (Lion's rock)

Sigiriya (Lion's rock) is an ancient rock fortress and palace ruin situated in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka, surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and other structures. A popular tourist destination, Sigiriya is also renowned for its ancient paintings (frescos), which are reminiscent of the Ajanta Caves of India. The Sigiriya was built during the reign of King Kassapa I (AD 477 – 495), and it is one of the seven World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka.

Sigiriya may have been inhabited through prehistoric times. It was used as a rock-shelter mountain monastery from about the 5th century BC, with caves prepared and donated by devotees to the Buddhist Sangha. The garden and palace were built by King Kasyapa. Following King Kasyapa's death, it was again a monastery complex up to about the 14th century, after which it was abandoned. . The Sigiri inscriptions were deciphered by the archaeologist Senarath Paranavithana in his renowned two-volume work, published by Oxford, Sigiri Graffiti. He also wrote the popular book "Story of Sigiriya".

The Behistun Rock

2011-03-21T14:54:00.000+08:00

Discovered by Englishman Robert Sherley in 1598 while on a diplomatic mission to Persia, the Behistun Rock is a multilingual inscription authored by Darius the Great. The inscription begins with Darius’ autobiography and goes on to describe several events following the deaths of Cyrus the Great and Cambyses II. Much like the Rosetta Stone, the Behistun Rock includes the same passage in three cuneiform script languages: Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. The text was translated in stages by Georg Friedrich Grotefend (Old Persian), Sir Henry Rawlinson, Edward Hincks, Julius Oppert, William Henry Fox Talbot and Edwin Norris.

Importance
Not only does the inscription give us a look into the mind of Darius the Great, but it was also instrumental in opening up the cuneiform script. Archeologists gained a greater understanding of civilizations like Mesopotamia, Sumeria, Akkadia, Persia and Assyria by being able to decipher cuneiform.

Kensington Runestone

2011-03-21T14:50:00.000+08:00

Discovered: 1898
In 1898, a Swedish American farmer named Olof Öhman claims to have discovered a large stone while clearing his land of trees and stumps. The object was attached to the roots of a small tree. Öhman didn’t realize what he had discovered, so he took the 200 pound stone to the prominent citizens of Kensington. Kensington was a settlement in Douglas County, Minnesota. The Kensington Runestone is full of ancient writing and carved text. It is thirty-one inches high, sixteen inches wide, and six inches thick. Nine years after the discovery of the artifact, Hjalmer R. Holand from Wisconsin University announced that he had deciphered the writings. He claims the text to read “8 Goths and 22 Norwegians on exploration journey from Vinland over the west. We camp by 2 skerries one day-journey from this stone. We were and fished one day. After we came home, 10 men red with blood and tortured. Hail Virgin Mary, save from evil. Have 10 men by the sea to look after our ship, 14 day -journeys from this island year 1362.”

After Holand published his findings, a massive investigation was conducted. If the translation is correct, the Kensington Runestone would provide evidence that Scandinavian explorers reached the middle of North America in the 14th century, nearly 130 years before Christopher Columbus. Basically, it raised eyebrows over the possibility that North European explorers predated Columbus in America. The runestone has been analyzed and dismissed repeatedly. Almost all runologists and linguists consider the artifact to be a hoax. However, many people believe it is authentic. If the legend on the stone is true, it means that Vikings were in central Minnesota in 1362. That would require a major rewriting of world history and geography. The Kensington inscription consists of thirty different runic characters.

In July 2000, just over a hundred years after the Kensington Runestone was found, a detailed physical analysis of the artifact was conducted. In November 2000, geologist Scott F. Wolter presented preliminary findings suggesting the stone had undergone an in-the-ground weathering process of a minimum of 50–200 years in natural conditions. Scott F. Wolter has written a number of books on the Kensington Runestone. He has suggested that the stone was made by the Vikings Knight Templar in 1362, fifty years after the dissolution of the Knight Templar and several hundred years after the end of the Viking age. He also claims that the North American expedition helped Columbus find his way around the West Indies in 1492. The artifact remains a mystery. You can view it at the Runestone Museum in downtown Alexandria, Minnesota.

2011-03-21T14:39:00.000+08:00

Discovered: 1944
The Acámbaro Figures are a collection of small ceramic figurines allegedly found in Acámbaro, Guanajuato, Mexico. They were discovered by Waldemar Julsrud in July of 1944. According to accounts, Julsrud stumbled upon the artifacts while riding his horse in the Acámbaro area. He hired a local farmer to dig up the remaining figures, paying him for each object he found. Eventually, the farmer and his assistants discovered over 32,000 figures, which included representations of everything from dinosaurs to people from all over the world, including Egyptians, Sumerians, and bearded Caucasians. The Acámbaro Figures have been cited as out of place artifacts, as they are clearly human made and portray a large variety of dinosaur species. According to all history books, humans did not live in the time of the dinosaurs. Upon the discovery of the figures, many creationists from all over the world proclaimed the artifacts legitimate. If these figures are genuine, it could stand as credible evidence for the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans, which would severely damage the theory of evolution and offer support for the literal interpretation of the Bible.

Attempts have been made to date these figures using Thermoluminescence, or TL dating, and the results suggested a date around 2500 BCE. A man named Don Patton claims he found radiocarbon dates for the figures ranging from 6500 years to 1500 years ago; however, the objects are in very good shape and show no characteristic evidence of having been in the ground for at least 1500 years. If they were authentic artifacts, they should be scratched and marred from the rocky soil, which is characteristic of other objects found in that area of Mexico. Other supporters of the figures claim that the incredible detail of the dinosaurs suggest a firsthand experience with the creatures. The sheer number of the figures discovered is often cited as evidence for a hoax. To date, no credible scholars of archaeology or paleontology accept the discovery as valid.

The hidden city of Gondolin

2011-03-07T14:02:00.000+08:00

Gondolin by John Blanche

ECTHELION SLAYS ORCOBAL - illustration by Tom Loback
Ecthelion, Lord of the Fountain a great champion of the hidden city of Gondolin, who also later slew Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, Captain of the Hosts of Angband as told in 'The Fall of Gondolin' in Lost Tales II.

Down below the Tumladen Vale
And up above a ring of shale,
High walls of cliffs so very sheer
Protects a city shining; Dear.

They live undaunted for fear of foe
And live their lives nay gripped by woe.
The Founding of Gondolin
Turgon, the King of Gondolin, was son of Fingolfin and younger brother to Fingon. He ruled in the land of Nevrast for some time until the day when Ulmo led him to the valley known as Tumladen, concealed within the mighty encircling mountains. Here, the magnificent beauty that had been carved many a year ago bewildered him. Turgon desired to build a hidden city upon the small hill that lay in the middle of the valley - Amon Gwareth.

Fifty-two years in the making, the city stood as a hidden pinnacle of might and home to many of the Noldor and Sindar that traveled from Nevrast. Turgon named the city Ondolinde- ‘The Rock of the Music of Water’ for the fountains and springs from Amon Gwareth ran like a beautiful music which echoed in the valley of Tumladen; yet the Sindar dubbed the city Gondolin ‘The Hidden Rock’ of which its foundations were based. The city was nearly as great as that of Tirion - the city of the elves of Aman...

The Surrounding Land
Gondolin was set in a secret valley among the Echoriath; the Encircling Mountains. The southernmost of these mountains were named the Crissaegrim, for this is where the eagles of Manwë dwelt. The valley was named the Vale of Tumladen, and in its centre stood a flat-topped hill called Amon Gwareth, or the Hill of Watch, which rose 400 feet from the valley floor. The sides of the hill were steep and almost impossible to climb, especially towards the north.

Ulmos Prophecy
Ulmo was a Valar - the Lord of the waters. He loved the Noldor and protected them from the shadows of the North. Very rarely did Ulmo appear in front of the elves and less so in front of men! It was Ulmo who suggested to Turgon to move his people from the land of Nevrast and seek refuge by building a city concealed from Morgoths eyes. Once built Ulmo foretold to Turgon:
‘Remember that the true hope of the Noldor lieth in the West and cometh from the Sea. When Peril is nigh one shall come from Nevrast to warn thee…’

The Hidden Way
The only way to reach Gondolin on foot was to locate the Hidden Way, a tunnel in the Echoriath that was protected by Ulmo so that only those of the Gondolin could find it. The tunnel was originally excavated by the river that flowed out of the Vale of Tumladen. It was eventually enlarged slightly by the Gondolindrim so that the Elves could pass through it. At the end of the tunnel, but still underground, lay the first of the Seven Gates of Gondolin.

The City of Gondolin
The city was built of stone and was filled with houses, fountains and paved streets. It was dominated by the Tower of Turgon that rose 400 feet above the city in the central square in front of the palace. The streets of Gondolin were wide and paved with marble and many gardens produced a splendid colour. The fountains were plentiful not only in the squares but in houses and courtyards. The fountain in the King’s Square was the greatest of all.

The Bering Land Bridge and the “Clovis First” theory

2011-03-07T14:00:00.002+08:00

Hunters migrating from Asia across the Bering Land Bridge.

When glaciers form, they freeze up vast quantities of water that would otherwise return to the oceans. This causes water levels to go down, and as the waters recede, land that was once under water becomes exposed. Scientists believe that glacial periods beginning about one hundred thousand years ago created a sea level that was 300 to 400 feet (91 to 122 meters) lower than present-day sea level. They theorize that the low water level exposed a vast land bridge spanning the distance across the Bering Strait, from Siberia in northern Russia to the northwest tip of North America (present-day Alaska). The land bridge, called Beringia, probably remained exposed until about twelve thousand years ago. Then it vanished beneath the rising waters as the Great Ice Age ended.

Since the Europeans first arrived in the Western Hemisphere, people have been interested in the origins of the natives of the land. In 1589 José de Acosta (1539–1600), a Jesuit missionary (a member of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus, a religious order dedicated to spreading the Roman Catholic religion) stationed in South America, theorized that the first Americans had migrated on a route by land from Siberia. At that time the Bering Sea had not yet been discovered. In the late 1800s scientists expanded this theory, suggesting that human hunters might have followed big game from Siberia out onto a land bridge spanning the Bering Sea between Siberia and Alaska and then continued across present-day Alaska and farther into the Americas.

Until the 1920s most people thought the land bridge migration had taken place between four thousand and six thousand years earlier. Then, in 1926, a cowboy in Folsom, New Mexico, discovered a stone spear point embedded in the rib cage of a type of bison that has been extinct for nearly ten thousand years. This proved that human hunters had been living in North America for at least ten thousand years. Ten years later, in Clovis, New Mexico, stone spear points were found in the remains of a mammoth. These remains were discovered in a layer of earth that was deeper than the site of the Folsom spear points, indicating that they came from an even earlier age. The older spear points, which came to be known as Clovis points, were radiocarbon-dated (tested for carbon 14 level to see how old they were) and found to be about 11,500 years old. After the first of these spear points were found, many more Clovis points and tool kits were discovered throughout North America. The sharpened rocks, attached to lances or spears for hunting, could be easily identified because they were fluted or grooved at the base and showed remarkable craftsmanship. They proved that humans had been living throughout the area that is now the United States and parts of Central America since at least 9000 B.C.E. For several decades most scientists thought that the Clovis points signaled the earliest period of human life in the Americas. This later became known as the “Clovis First” theory.

From the late 1950s to the recent past, most scholars accepted the theory that the first people in the Americas migrated from northeast Asian areas such as China, Siberia, and Mongolia. People from these regions were very specialized ice age hunters, who had developed a nomadic lifestyle, following big game wherever the animals roamed. According to the theory, within about one thousand years, the American continents—from Canada to the southernmost tip of South America—were populated with these big game hunters, who gradually developed into what is now called the Clovis culture. (A culture is the arts, language, beliefs, customs, institutions, and other products of human work and thought shared by a group of people at a particular time.)

The early civilizations of Mesoamerica

2011-03-07T13:59:00.002+08:00

The Aztec city of Tenochtitlán was surrounded by Lake Texcoco and connected to the mainland by bridge-like roads.
In the years before the Spanish invaded the Americas, some thirty civilizations rose and fell in Mesoamerica, each with its own distinct languages, religious customs, and artistic styles, but still sharing in many general Mesoamerican traditions. The first of the civilizations to arise, as far as scholars know, was the Olmec (pronounced OLE-meck) culture, which flourished from about 1200 B.C.E. to 1200 C.E. (some new evidence suggests that it may have arisen much earlier). The Zapotec people of ancient Oaxaca (pronounced wah- HAH-kah), Mexico, existed at about the same time as the Olmec. A people known as the Teotihuacáns (pronounced TAY-uh-tee-wah-KAHNS), or lords of Teotihuacán, began building the first true city in Mesoamerica around the first century C.E. The great, peaceful cultural center of Teotihuacán (Place of the Gods) survived for about six centuries before it collapsed sometime after 750 C.E. One of its outstanding features is the 200-foot-high (61- meter-high) Pyramid of the Sun, the largest stone pyramid in all of pre-Columbian (existing before Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492) America and the third tallest pyramid of the ancient world.

The Pyramid of the Magician in Uxmal, Mexico, is a stunning example of Maya advancement in architecture.
The Maya (pronounced MY-uh) civilization of Mesoamerica grew out of a very early agricultural way of life, beginning around 2500 B.C.E. The Maya built great cities with stunning temples and pyramids throughout southern Mesoamerica. Maya priests and scholars, both men and women, were numerous, and they studied such subjects as astronomy, astrology, and mathematics. They developed the only complete writing system, in which the written text could fully reproduce the spoken language, in the ancient Americas. Most of the Maya civilization had collapsed before the Spaniards arrived in Central America and Mexico in the early sixteenth century. What was left of the great civilization was destroyed by the Spanish, who demolished Maya cities, burned the written records kept by the Maya, and forced the people to convert to Christianity. The Maya people still live in Central America in the twenty-first century, retaining their culture as farmers and artisans.

In about 950 C.E., the Toltecs (pronounced TOHLtecks), a warlike people, took control of many of the Maya regions and other parts of Mesoamerica. They brought with them the culture of the earlier Teotihuacán peoples. Then, in the thirteenth century, the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico, a huge, oval basin at about 7,500 feet (2,286 meters) above sea level in north central Mexico, covering an area of about 3,000 square miles (7,770 square kilometers) and consisting of some of the most fertile land of Mexico. They were such a nuisance with their raiding and stealing that the residents of the valley banished them to an island in the center of Lake Texcoco, which they fortified and used as a base of operation. On the island they built their own magnificent city, Tenochtitlán. The Aztecs continued to wage war on the other communities in the Valley of Mexico, and eventually established an empire that extended well beyond the valley. By the time the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec emperor Montezuma II (pronounced mohk-the-ZOO-mah; 1466–1520) ruled over a very large and powerful Aztec empire.