Archive for the ‘history’ Category
Abandoned Yugoslav Monuments
May 23rd, 2011
A few decades ago, the Yugoslav government commissioned a series of huge sculpture/monuments to be built at a few historic locations. They’ve since been abandoned, so the Balkans are now scattered with what look like the relics of an ancient and completely alien civilization.
Also, on a personal note, I’m spending the summer in Boulder, CO, interning with the lovely people at Foraker Labs! So, you know, FYI. You should probably visit — Boulder is just incredibly awesome and I have a remarkably comfortable floor moderately comfortable futon.
Cephalophores
March 13th, 2011
While reading about the recording of the lives of the saints, I can across this amazing paragraph:
Sometimes too the author embellished the story. St. Denis is the patron saint of France. He is supposed to have been the first bishop of Paris and to have suffered martyrdom through being beheaded. According to legend, he immediately stood up and walked a good distance, carrying his head in his hands, to the place where the church which bears his name is now situated, a little to the north of Paris. This was miraculous enough, you would have thought, but there are ways to improve on it. In later lives there are saints who do exactly the same thing, but walk even further or are accompanied by other beheaded martyrs also carrying their own heads. In fact this motif became so common that the experts have invented a special name for this kind of saint: cephalophores. This is from Greek, and of course means “headbearers.”
Janson’s “Natural History of Latin”
books, history, language, memes, old dead white guys, words | No Comments »
Beowulf in Old English
November 7th, 2010
Benjamin Bagby performs Beowulf in the original Old English. The opening scene is above. It’s very impressive – the man’s got quite a presence.
The hidden gem in the above video, though, is the completely-open-to-interpretation audience reaction.
Nice find, Cooney!
12 Byzantine Rulers
October 13th, 2010
If you think listening to a 7-hour series of podcasts about Byzantine history sounds like a great idea, (1) we should probably be friends and (2) you’ll almost certainly enjoy Lars Brownworth’s 12 Byzantine Rulers.
It’s surprisingly fascinating stuff. The Byzantines are strangely easy to overlook, but they spent a millennium debating theology, appreciating Aeschylus, engaged in atrocious internecine conflict, maintaining a Mediterranean-wide economy and almost single-handedly holding back the tide of Arab conquest while the rest of Europe was struggling to retain literacy. Makes for good listening.
On a related note, I’m really enjoying Chris Wickham’s The Inheritance of Rome, which covers a similar time period but concentrates on the former Western empire’s perspective. It’s also a bit more concerned with the details of slower-moving social and economic trends than with individual derry-do, which Brownworth’s podcasts very entertainingly emphasize.
Infinite Jest had me hoping for a discussion of Byzantine erotica, but no such luck.
In the Land of Invented Languages
October 12th, 2010
Arika Okrent’s In the Land of Invented Languages offers an overview of the history of artificial languages (Esperanto, Lojban, Klingon, etc.). I’m pretty sure that anyone who likes my blog would enjoy it. *cough* Julia.
The Original Gilgamesh
October 1st, 2010
The Epic of Gilgamesh, as read aloud in the original Akkadian by Antoine Cavigneaux.
For more voices from the beginning of the world, see also part of the epilogue of the Codex Hammurabi and an incantation to ward off rabies. And there’s a lot more. Thanks, Cambridge!
It seems that there’s some scholarly debate over the specifics of cadence and pronunciation, but based on what we know this is about as good as it gets.
(via Open Culture)
books, history, language, old dead white guys | No Comments »
History of Umami
September 19th, 2010
So, you guys like {food} ∩ {history}, right? Then you’ll probably enjoy this article.
L’elephant triomphal
September 14th, 2010
History has forgotten French architect Charles Ribart, and with good reason. Here’s his wikipedia article, essentially in full:
In 1758, he planned an addition to the Champs-Élysées in Paris, to be constructed where the Arc de Triomphe now stands. It consisted of three levels, to be built in the shape of an elephant, with entry via a spiral staircase in the underbelly. The building was to have a form of air conditioning, and furniture that folded into the walls. A drainage system was to be incorporated into the elephant’s trunk. The French Government, however, was not amused and turned him down.
Little of his work now survives.
animals, architecture, cranks, history, ill-conceived plans, old dead white guys | No Comments »
Castro Loves Dolphins
September 14th, 2010
As we all know, Fidel Castro’s two great passions have always been (1) liberating the workers of the world from capitalist exploitation and (2) dolphin shows.
In this two-part interview, Castro discusses Ahmadinejad, Israel’s right to exist, his health, regrets over the Cuban missile crisis, and the continued relevance of the Cuban economic model, mostly while touring the (apparently excellent) Havana aquarium with the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg.
I’ve never seen someone enjoy a dolphin show as much as Fidel Castro enjoyed the dolphin show.
Remember, no matter how great the world seems, it’s actually much, much better.
Bonus fact: Che’s daughter is now a dolphin veterinarian.
Fishy Scholarship
June 12th, 2010
Now, I’m no expert on Babylonian mythology, and some of my information on this is a bit fragmented and sketchy, but apparently there was a myth in which a lot of Mesopotamian law and culture had been handed down by anthropomorphic fish-people before the Flood, after which the fish presumably became less talkative. In commemoration of this legendary past, Babylonian and Assyrian priests and scholars (on at least certain occasions) supposedly wore actual fish costumes. They wore a big fish-head miter and robes with scales and fins. At least, that’s the story I’m putting together from a brief reference in this episode of In Our Time and this JSTOR article.
Now, if anyone has any other reputable information about fish-dressed Babylonian scholars — or decent access to JSTOR, at least — I’d be thrilled to hear about it. This is the kind of bizarre history I like best. I’ve also never been so disappointed with modern academic regalia.