241 posts
Latest Posts by s-afshar - Page 2
Detail of sacrificial bull from fresco of Jason and Pelias, Roman, 1st century AD (no later than 79 AD) Casa di Giasone, Pompeii (IX, 5, 18-21, triclinio f) Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Salla LXIX (inv. 111436) Detail in a fresco depicting Jason and Pelias: a young man leading a bull to sacrifice. This is the moment that King Pelias, not seen here, stands on the steps of the temple and recognizes Jason by his single sandal. The bull looks shocked!
Painted tile. Iran. 19th Century CE.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
Drawing of Sasanian rock relief: Ardashir I (r. A.D. 224-241) and the Zoroastrian divinity Ohrmazd [Ahura Mazda] at Naqsh-i Rustam, southern Iran, Lutf-'Ali Shirazi Iranian, 1812. MET (ID: 1998.6.3). This drawing of a Sasanian rock relief at Naqsh-i Rustam, Iran, depicts the investiture of Ardashir I (r. 224-241), who receives the ring of office from the supreme Zoroastrian god Ohrmazd, also known as Ahura Mazda. Both king and god are on horseback; the king wears a caftan, the prestigious riding costume of the Sasanian period, and his fan-bearer stands behind him. The horses trample the bodies of the last Parthian king, Ardavan, and the Zoroastrian evil spirit Ahriman. The drawing is one of several in the Metropolitan’s collection made by an Iranian artist Lutf-'Ali Shirazi (1998.6.1; 1998.6.2; 1998.6.4): they are comparable to renderings of Sasanian carved and rock monuments produced by early European travelers to Iran. (MET)
The classical Kufic script of the Blue Quran, by unknown, North Africa or Southern Spain, 9th or 10th Century CE.
Ghaznavid sultan Mahmud (r. 998-1030 CE) and his forces attacking the fortress of Zaranj in 1003 CE. Jami al-Tawarikh, 1314 CE. Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh (lit. 'The Compendium of Chronicles') is a work of literature and history, produced in the Mongol Ilkhanate. Written by Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318 CE) at the start of the 14th century, the breadth of coverage of the work has caused it to be called "the first world history". It was in three volumes and published in Arabic and Persian versions.
Clepsydra of Karnak
The oldest water clock of which there is physical evidence dates to ca. 1391-1353 BC, during the reign of Amenhotep III where it was used in the Temple of Amen-Re at Karnak. This alabaster water clock has 12 carved columns of 11 false holes, corresponding to the hours of the night. The water flowed through a very small hole made in the center of the bottom, emerging on the outside under the figure of a seated baboon. To know the time, one had to look inside the basin to observe the water level and read the time according to the nearest false hole. The outside surface of this clepsydra, or water clock, is decorated with figures and text that show symbols of certain planets and constellations and give a list of the protective spirits for each of the ten days of the ancient Egyptian week. The middle register, or section, is occupied by the circumpolar stars under the aspects of various gods and animals. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 37525 Read more
the first recorded kiss—CBS8383 II.8
ne mu-ni-sub₅ / and he has kissed her
King Lear performed in the fire-damaged ruins of Teatro Municipal de Lima (c. 1999), conceived by architect Luis de Longhi
Seyyed Mosque/ Isfahan/ Iran
Photography: Daryoush fardpour
A small terracotta cylinder recording the work on the walls of the city of Babylon by the king Nabopolassar (r. 626-605 BCE), founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. From Babylon, Mesopotamia, Iraq. Neo-Babylonian period, 625-605 BCE. British Museum (ID: BM 26263)
An Armenian decorated incipit page of the Canon Tables with a portrait of its author, Eusebius, by Malnazar (active about 1630s), and Aghap'ir (active about 1630s), Isfahan, Persia, 1637-38.
Getty Center (Ms. Ludwig I 14 (83.MA.63), fol. 488v)
Folio from a Manuscript of the Qur'an. Iran, Shiraz, 1550-1575. Ink, colors and gold on paper.
Fragment from the Tomb of the Dancers
Second Intermediate Period, 17th Dynasty, c. 1630-1550 B.C. From Dra’ Abu el-Naga’. Now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. AN1958.145
Read more
A Ziwiyeh gold plaque fragment, 7th century BCE. The Ziwiye hoard is a treasure hoard containing gold, silver, and ivory objects, also including a few gold pieces with the shape of a human face, that was uncovered in a plot of land outside Ziwiyeh castle, near the city of Saqqez in Kurdistan province, Iran, in 1947.
A satirical papyrus showing a lady mouse being served wine by a cat while another cat dresses her hair, a third cares for her baby, and a fourth fans her. The mice have hilarious huge, round ears.
Where: Egyptian Museum Cairo
When: New Kingdom
Ancient interior in Armenia
Silver inlaid brass candlestick holder, Iran, 13th-14th century
from The British Museum
The Lycian Rock Tombs, Fethiye, Türkiye, c. 4th century BCE.
Columns inside Medinet Habu, Ramesses III mortuary temple colors are still vibrant. Can you imagine how bright they were back then?
Phrases in Coptic
ⲁϣ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲕⲣⲏϯ?(ash pe pekrēti?) : How are you?
ⲛⲓⲙ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲕⲣⲁⲛ? (nīm pe pekran?) : what’s your name?
ⲕϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲏⲣ ⲛ̀ⲣⲟⲙⲡⲓ? (K-khen wēr nrompi?) : how old are you?
ⲟⲩ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲕⲓⲟⲡⲓ? (Ou pe pekyopi?) : what do you do for a job?
Beef with dead British Archeologists. Part 1 - The Hittite Discovery
The Hittites can be said to have an overwhelming amount of mention in historical sources compared to other civilisations that were discovered in the 19th century so why were they considered a fictive people until the 20th century? In my humble opinion I put the blame for this squarely on the British. The British while greatly helping historical understanding through stealing everyones stuff have also had a constant infection of "gentlemen scholars" which had the main goal of beating their personal rivals within their fields. This may be what happened with the Hittites.
Lets lay the groundwork: What proof did we have before the year 1900 that the Hittites existed?
Over 60 mentions in the Old Testament
The discovery of their capital of Hattusa in 1834 that is identified later in 1886
The discovery of the Tel-el-amarna letters that have communication between the Hittites and Egypt.
The Kadesh inscriptions
The Ramesseum
The three seperate inscriptions of the Hittite-egypt peace treaty. The Egyptian one being by one of the most investigated areas of Egypt the temple complex of Luxor. Another inscription in Akkadian and a third in Hittite (classical neo-hittite was however not readable at this time).
What proof did we have that they did not exist:
The consensus of mostly British "orientalists", egyptologists and archeologists. Their reason being... that they had discredited all the mounting evidence so far and were very stubborn as to not give credit to their rivals. They were convinced they were right simply because they viewed themselves as superior historians and that their rivals that were supporting the evidence were wrong and inferior. This is the problem with the wealthy class of “gentlemen scholars” who typically have an ego larger than the Achaemenid empire.
Now is it known for sure that the contemporary British experts of the early 1900s contempt for one another was the reason for the slow discovery of the Hittites? Of course not, not entirely, Hittitotology is a quite young field of study some blame can be put on that aswell as the lack of interest in the topic but even so there is quite a lot of proof of the rift that this topic created among these experts and they were very reluctant to give any credit whatsoever to profound discoveries during the 19th century. It was most likely an example of confirmation bias, the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories, they discarded evidence for the Hittites for another unknown other unidentified civilisation simply because they had already preached the Hittites non-existance for years and did not want to contradict themselves.
Here's some proof though! (I would cite the source that compiled these but they should be boycotted for closely supporting genocide so they get no mention)
In 1909, Egyptologist Dr. Melvin Kyle recalled in The Hittite Vindication an earlier conversation with an esteemed colleague, writing: “In 1904, one of the foremost archaeologists of Europe said to me: ‘I do not believe there ever were such people as the Hittites ….’” (It seems likely this individual was Sir Ernest Alfred Thomson Wallis Budge, the famous Egyptologist.)
Archaeologist John Garstang wrote in 1929 that “25 years ago [1904] some of the foremost orientalists did not believe in the existence of a Hittite nation” (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).
Evolutionary geologist George Frederick Wright noted how the Hittites were used not only as an example of an error in the Bible but also as proofof the general falsity of the book itself. He wrote, “[T]he numerous references in the Bible to this mysterious people were unconfirmed by any other historical authorities, so that many regarded the biblical statements as mythical and an indication of the general untrustworthiness of biblical history” (“The Testimony of the Monuments to the Truth of the Scriptures,” 1910; emphasis added throughout).
Anyway enough about my personal beef with dead British archeologists this will be a recurring topic on this blog.
Summer Landscape (1875) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Currently in love with Minoan offerings depicted in Egyptian tombs
The Good and Bountiful Genies of Bet Pas'el Khirbet Farwan, Syria c. 191 CE
Aw, hell.
Palmyra. Temple of Baal. Main entrance showing engaged fluted columns.
Learn more / Daha fazlası https://www.archaeologs.com/w/palmyra/
Kees Scherer - Temple of Nefertari at Abu Simbel, Egypt, 1965-1968
The goddess Selket (with a scorpion upon her head) and queen Nefertari in the distance, depicted within the Tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the Queens.