Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Iranian Salt Men
As part the ongoing tradition of archeological exchange between me (from Iran) and Dina (from Israel) and following her recent pottery post, I'm going to share a series of amazing archeological discoveries recently done in Iran.
From 1993 to December 2005, a series of salt mummies were found in the Chehrabad salt mine near Zanjan in northwestern Iran.
Do not miss this video from National Geographic
The 1st Salt Man:
This body was accidentally discovered by miners in 1993 in the Chehrabad salt mine. According to the Tehran Times, the man was approximately 35 years old and he "lived over 1700 years ago. He has long white hair and a beard and was discovered wearing leather boots and with some tools and a walnut in his possession." Since only the head and booted left leg were displayed, it may be that a good portion of his body was either not recovered or not well-preserved. A Wikipedia account gives a more complete list of the items found with the body: "three iron knives, a woolen half trouser, a silver needle, a sling, parts of a leather rope, a grind stone, a walnut, some pottery shares, some designed textile fragments, and finally a few broken bones." He was wearing at least one earring.
The second salt mummy, nicknamed the Twin Salt Man, was reported to have been found in November 2004 some 50 yards away from the site where the first salt mummy was discovered. The body seems to have become mostly a skeleton, though some preservation was noted: it still had hair and nails. According to Mehr News, the remains of the second salt mummy's skeleton "are almost perfect, and they include parts of the skull, jaw, both arms, as well as the left and right legs and feet. Several pieces of wool cloth and a piece of a straw mat with a unique style of weaving were also discovered beside the second Salt Man." This description seems to indicate that the first salt mummy may not have been as complete.
The 3rd Salt Man:
In January 2005, the third salt mummy was discovered, buried under a two-ton rock that caused considerable damage to the body (and resulting skeleton). According to mehrnews.ir, the body was accompanied by "[s]everal items such as a leather sack full of salt, a clay tallow burner, two pairs of leather shoes, and two cow horns....[all] in excellent condition." The director of the excavation revealed that 'The...leather sack was full of crystals of salt and was completely tightened. This indicates that the owner was about to carry it out of the mine, but was suddenly crushed by the heavy rock, leaving him no chance to escape."
The 4th Salt Man:
The fourth mummy was discovered in March 2005 and was the most preserved body to date. Researchers conducted X-ray and CT scans on the body and concluded that the mummy was a 15- or 16-year old male. Recent studies indicate that he died about 2,000 years ago.
According to Iran's Cultural Heritage News Agency excavators found a number of possessions with the young person: he wore two earrings and an iron dagger in a scabbard around his waist. Nearby were two pottery vessels (containing oil) that may have been used as lanterns. The teenager was wearing a knee-length quilted garment and thigh-high leggings (or gaiters). Reports appear to indicate that Salt Mummy 4 is in the best and most complete condition, though descriptions of the six mummies are sketchy at best. Reports indicate that the bodies of the other salt mummies are no longer intact, except for Salt Mummy 4.
The 5th Salt Man:
A report from Iran's Cultural Heritage News Agency indicates that a fifth salt mummy was discovered in December 2005, but no information about that mummy was given.
The 6th Salt Man:
Reports from Iranian news agencies in early June, 2007, suggest that a sixth salt mummy has been found. No specific information about the mummy has been provided to date, however. Scientists will not excavate the mummy and remove it from the mine until better preservation techniques have been found. Archaeologists worry that the first five salt mummies are in danger of deteriorating unless better preservation techniques are found. In the meantime, the sixth salt mummy will be left under a pile of salt and dirt until excavators have found a better way to preserved him. A new report states that the sixth mummy dates from the Roman era and is the body of a person buried under rocks during an earthquake. Archaeologists in Iran have contacted scientists at the German Mining Museum in Bochum for help in studying the mummy, the Chehrabad Mine, and the plant life found there
Researchers from Oxford University (Mark Pollard) and York University (Don Brothwell) have been invited by Iran's Archaeology Research Center to study the salt mummies. Additionally, Niels Lynnerup, a mummification expert from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, will be attempting to perform a reconstruction of the face of the fourth salt mummy. To do this, he will use around 1,000 MRI images of the body and face. Finally, excavations by a multinational team of archaeologists will begin in the salt mine to discover perhaps more information, if not more mummies.
Reference: http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/saltmummies.htm
From 1993 to December 2005, a series of salt mummies were found in the Chehrabad salt mine near Zanjan in northwestern Iran.
Do not miss this video from National Geographic
The 1st Salt Man:
This body was accidentally discovered by miners in 1993 in the Chehrabad salt mine. According to the Tehran Times, the man was approximately 35 years old and he "lived over 1700 years ago. He has long white hair and a beard and was discovered wearing leather boots and with some tools and a walnut in his possession." Since only the head and booted left leg were displayed, it may be that a good portion of his body was either not recovered or not well-preserved. A Wikipedia account gives a more complete list of the items found with the body: "three iron knives, a woolen half trouser, a silver needle, a sling, parts of a leather rope, a grind stone, a walnut, some pottery shares, some designed textile fragments, and finally a few broken bones." He was wearing at least one earring.
The 2nd Salt Man:
The second salt mummy, nicknamed the Twin Salt Man, was reported to have been found in November 2004 some 50 yards away from the site where the first salt mummy was discovered. The body seems to have become mostly a skeleton, though some preservation was noted: it still had hair and nails. According to Mehr News, the remains of the second salt mummy's skeleton "are almost perfect, and they include parts of the skull, jaw, both arms, as well as the left and right legs and feet. Several pieces of wool cloth and a piece of a straw mat with a unique style of weaving were also discovered beside the second Salt Man." This description seems to indicate that the first salt mummy may not have been as complete.
The 3rd Salt Man:
In January 2005, the third salt mummy was discovered, buried under a two-ton rock that caused considerable damage to the body (and resulting skeleton). According to mehrnews.ir, the body was accompanied by "[s]everal items such as a leather sack full of salt, a clay tallow burner, two pairs of leather shoes, and two cow horns....[all] in excellent condition." The director of the excavation revealed that 'The...leather sack was full of crystals of salt and was completely tightened. This indicates that the owner was about to carry it out of the mine, but was suddenly crushed by the heavy rock, leaving him no chance to escape."
The 4th Salt Man:
The fourth mummy was discovered in March 2005 and was the most preserved body to date. Researchers conducted X-ray and CT scans on the body and concluded that the mummy was a 15- or 16-year old male. Recent studies indicate that he died about 2,000 years ago.
According to Iran's Cultural Heritage News Agency excavators found a number of possessions with the young person: he wore two earrings and an iron dagger in a scabbard around his waist. Nearby were two pottery vessels (containing oil) that may have been used as lanterns. The teenager was wearing a knee-length quilted garment and thigh-high leggings (or gaiters). Reports appear to indicate that Salt Mummy 4 is in the best and most complete condition, though descriptions of the six mummies are sketchy at best. Reports indicate that the bodies of the other salt mummies are no longer intact, except for Salt Mummy 4.
The 5th Salt Man:
A report from Iran's Cultural Heritage News Agency indicates that a fifth salt mummy was discovered in December 2005, but no information about that mummy was given.
The 6th Salt Man:
Reports from Iranian news agencies in early June, 2007, suggest that a sixth salt mummy has been found. No specific information about the mummy has been provided to date, however. Scientists will not excavate the mummy and remove it from the mine until better preservation techniques have been found. Archaeologists worry that the first five salt mummies are in danger of deteriorating unless better preservation techniques are found. In the meantime, the sixth salt mummy will be left under a pile of salt and dirt until excavators have found a better way to preserved him. A new report states that the sixth mummy dates from the Roman era and is the body of a person buried under rocks during an earthquake. Archaeologists in Iran have contacted scientists at the German Mining Museum in Bochum for help in studying the mummy, the Chehrabad Mine, and the plant life found there
Researchers from Oxford University (Mark Pollard) and York University (Don Brothwell) have been invited by Iran's Archaeology Research Center to study the salt mummies. Additionally, Niels Lynnerup, a mummification expert from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, will be attempting to perform a reconstruction of the face of the fourth salt mummy. To do this, he will use around 1,000 MRI images of the body and face. Finally, excavations by a multinational team of archaeologists will begin in the salt mine to discover perhaps more information, if not more mummies.
Reference: http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/saltmummies.htm
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Side Trip to Iran to Visit Serach Bet Asher
Special post for Dina from Jerusalem and all her Jewish friends in Israel and anywhere else including Iran.
According to Hebrew tradition it was Serah, the daughter of Asher and granddaughter of the Jewish patriarch Jacob, who first informed Jacob that Joseph was alive and the ruler of Egypt. Serah, play the harp for him and sing a song with the words "Joseph is alive." It’s believed that out of gratitude for this Jacob asked God to make her immortal and his prayer was granted. Following the legend to the time of Moses, it was Serah who informed Moses where to find the bones of Joseph, so he could carry them back to the promised land as Joseph desired.
The fact of her being the only one of her sex to be mentioned in the genealogical lists seemed to indicate that there was something extraordinary in connection with her history; and she became the heroine of several legends. According to the Midrash Serach was “the wise woman” who caused the death of Sheba ben Bichri. According to another legend she lived until the tribe of Asher was exiled by Shalmaneser V, went with them into exile, and died there. A site in Pir-i Bakran also known as Linjan (or Kukuli) is a village located 30 km southwest of Isfahan, Iran (somewhere between Isfahan and Shiraz) is identified as a notable tomb that attributed to Serah bet Asher and a synagogue in that city is named in her honor.
According to Hebrew tradition it was Serah, the daughter of Asher and granddaughter of the Jewish patriarch Jacob, who first informed Jacob that Joseph was alive and the ruler of Egypt. Serah, play the harp for him and sing a song with the words "Joseph is alive." It’s believed that out of gratitude for this Jacob asked God to make her immortal and his prayer was granted. Following the legend to the time of Moses, it was Serah who informed Moses where to find the bones of Joseph, so he could carry them back to the promised land as Joseph desired.
The fact of her being the only one of her sex to be mentioned in the genealogical lists seemed to indicate that there was something extraordinary in connection with her history; and she became the heroine of several legends. According to the Midrash Serach was “the wise woman” who caused the death of Sheba ben Bichri. According to another legend she lived until the tribe of Asher was exiled by Shalmaneser V, went with them into exile, and died there. A site in Pir-i Bakran also known as Linjan (or Kukuli) is a village located 30 km southwest of Isfahan, Iran (somewhere between Isfahan and Shiraz) is identified as a notable tomb that attributed to Serah bet Asher and a synagogue in that city is named in her honor.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Missing the Willamette River
I think you might know about Lewis and Clark expedition. In canoes, they descended the mountains by the Clearwater River, the Snake River, and the Columbia River, past Celilo Falls and past what is now Portland, Oregon. At this point, Lewis spotted Mount Hood, a mountain known to be very close to the ocean. Later near the confluence of the Columbia and the Willamette, an obvious river intersection today but twice missed by Lewis and Clark as they paddled the Columbia.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
May 1st, White-Yellow Flower and Persian Calendar
Today is May 1st or Ordibehesht 11th. What is Ordibehesht? How much do you know about Persian calendar?
The Iranian calendar or Persian calendar is an astronomical solar calendar and one of the longest chronological records in history and is currently used in Iran and Afghanistan as the main official calendar. Beginning each year on the vernal equinox as precisely determined by astronomical observations from Tehran, this makes it more accurate than the Gregorian Calendar in being synchronized with the solar year, but harder to work out when a particular date would occur before the New Year preceding that date.
The Persian calendar, was introduced on 15 March 1079 by the Seljuk Sultan Jalal al-Din Malik Shah I, based on the recommendations of a committee of astronomers, including Omar Khayyam, at the imperial observatory in his capital city of Isfahan. Month computations were based on solar transits through the zodiac, a system integrating ideas from the Surya Siddhanta (India, 4th century). Later, some ideas from the Chinese-Uighur calendar (1258) were also incorporated. It remained in use for eight centuries.
Throughout recorded history, Persians have been keen on the idea and importance of having a calendar. They were among the first cultures to use a solar calendar, and have long favored a solar over lunar and lunisolar approaches. The Sun has always been a symbol in Iranian culture and closely related to the memory of Cyrus the Great himself. The first calendars based on Zoroastrian cosmology appeared in the later Achaemenian period (650 to 330 BCE). They evolved over the centuries, but month names changed little until now.
Ordibehesht is the second month of the Persian Calendar. Ordibehesht consists of two words of "Ordi" and "Behesht". Regarding "Ordi", its old Persian equivalent is arta-. In Middle Iranian languages the term appears as ard- and today as ord-. The word is also the proper name of the divinity "Asha", the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius"of "Truth" or "Righteousness". In the Younger Avesta, this figure is more commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta (Aša Vahišta, Arta Vahišta), "Best Truth".The Middle Persian descendant is Ashawahist or Ardwahisht; new persian Ardibehesht or Ordibehesht.
Isn't it nice that "Ordi-behesht" came from an ancient word "Arta-Vahishta" which means "Best Truth"?
The Iranian calendar or Persian calendar is an astronomical solar calendar and one of the longest chronological records in history and is currently used in Iran and Afghanistan as the main official calendar. Beginning each year on the vernal equinox as precisely determined by astronomical observations from Tehran, this makes it more accurate than the Gregorian Calendar in being synchronized with the solar year, but harder to work out when a particular date would occur before the New Year preceding that date.
The Persian calendar, was introduced on 15 March 1079 by the Seljuk Sultan Jalal al-Din Malik Shah I, based on the recommendations of a committee of astronomers, including Omar Khayyam, at the imperial observatory in his capital city of Isfahan. Month computations were based on solar transits through the zodiac, a system integrating ideas from the Surya Siddhanta (India, 4th century). Later, some ideas from the Chinese-Uighur calendar (1258) were also incorporated. It remained in use for eight centuries.
Throughout recorded history, Persians have been keen on the idea and importance of having a calendar. They were among the first cultures to use a solar calendar, and have long favored a solar over lunar and lunisolar approaches. The Sun has always been a symbol in Iranian culture and closely related to the memory of Cyrus the Great himself. The first calendars based on Zoroastrian cosmology appeared in the later Achaemenian period (650 to 330 BCE). They evolved over the centuries, but month names changed little until now.
Ordibehesht is the second month of the Persian Calendar. Ordibehesht consists of two words of "Ordi" and "Behesht". Regarding "Ordi", its old Persian equivalent is arta-. In Middle Iranian languages the term appears as ard- and today as ord-. The word is also the proper name of the divinity "Asha", the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius"of "Truth" or "Righteousness". In the Younger Avesta, this figure is more commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta (Aša Vahišta, Arta Vahišta), "Best Truth".The Middle Persian descendant is Ashawahist or Ardwahisht; new persian Ardibehesht or Ordibehesht.
Isn't it nice that "Ordi-behesht" came from an ancient word "Arta-Vahishta" which means "Best Truth"?
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