What is the Epimenides' Sleep? - The incredible story of the famous sage Epimenides

One of the most amazing, but also paradoxical stories from the time of ancient Greece is undoubtedly the story of Epimenides.

Both the concept of the cave and the concept of descending into it is not a simple matter, but hides a very serious initiation, connected with the revelation of secrets about life and death. Epimenides, one of the most famous sages who ever lived in Crete, slept in a cave for 57 whole years!

Epimenides is considered one of the most famous sages who ever lived in Crete. He was not only a religious teacher, but also known for his divination and prophetic abilities.

However, perhaps the knowledge of the most important event of his life has been preserved, thanks to which he has remained known until today.

Thus, his father once lost one of his sheep and sent his son Epimenides to the field where the sheep was lost, to look for it and bring it back.

Epimenides actually set out to find the sheep, but it seems that he got confused along the way and instead of reaching the field his father had shown him, he got lost and accidentally entered a cave. Being tired from the search for the sheep, he fell asleep.

What is particularly impressive, however, is that Epimenides slept in this cave for a whole 57 years! The memory of this paradoxical event has been preserved until our days by the proverbial phrase "Epimenides’ sleep".

But our story does not end here.

When Epimenides woke up, he went in search of the sheep again, believing that he had slept only a few hours.

But soon, in the effort of his new searching, he realized to his surprise that during his sleep everything around him had changed, since he could no longer recognize anything of what he knew before falling asleep.

The field had changed hands, even his village was undergoing very large and inexplicable changes, but even as he tried to find his own people, he found that he was no longer where he was before falling asleep.

Very soon Epimenides found that most of the people he knew had already died. Nevertheless, at some point he managed to find his brother, who by now was an old man and explained to him exactly what had actually happened.

Perhaps this event of Epimenides' sleep would not be so important if we did not have an important testimony from Diogenes Laertius.

In his book on Pythagoras, Diogenes Laertius mentions that Pythagoras traveled almost the entire world known at that time in order to come into possession of all the important initiations. On his way of searching the truth Pythagoras also visited Crete to meet Epimenides.

The esoteric knowledge that Epimenides possessed was thus so important that even Pythagoras aspired to be initiated by him and to complete his initiation, when together they descended into the famous "Idaeon andron", the cave where Zeus, the highest of the gods,  was born.

The revealing ancient text reads as follows:

...when he was in Crete with Epimenides, he came down to Idaeon andron

...Then (Pythagoras) visited Crete and descended to Idaion Andron accompanied by Epimenides, but also in Egypt to the depths;

but he also visited the shelters of the temples of Egypt.

and learned about the gods in secret.

Thus he learned the secret mysteries about the nature of the gods.

As we can see, Pythagoras shows a special predilection for visiting hidden mystical places in different parts of the planet, which are completely heterogeneous among themselves in terms of their religious beliefs.

With his attitude he proves that the inner initiation is in any case a valuable empirical knowledge necessary for our personal development.

We should add that "Idaion Andron" is a cave on a plateau on Mount Idi (Psiloritis) in Crete, where, according to Greek mythology, Zeus was brought up.

Today it is an important archeological site where excavations have been carried out since 1884 and various objects (archaic statuettes, vials, bronze shields) even from the Minoan period have been discovered.

It is therefore very likely that inside the “Idaion Andron” initiations took place on how to receive a divine education, similar to that of Zeus.

So, one of the results of this "Epimenides sleep" is the revelation of very important hidden secrets related to the understanding of the nature of God.

Undoubtedly, this is the highest knowledge that one can acquire and it can reveal to one the deepest meaning and the ultimate purpose of life, because both the concept of the cave and the concept of descending into it are not one and the same. It hides a very serious initiation, connected with the revelation of secrets about life and death.

Epimenides also became the occasion of a well-known paradox. In one of his poems he had written: "Cretans are always liars".

In the 19th century, on the basis of this sentence, the following logical paradox was formulated, also known as the Epimenides paradox: Epimenides says that all Cretans are liars, Epimenides is a Cretan, therefore Epimenides lies, therefore Cretans tell the truth, therefore Epimenides tells the truth, therefore Cretans are liars, and so on.

Epimenides' phrase was used by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Bishop of Crete, Titus, to rebuke the Cretans for their errors in the words of one of their own: "A prophet of their own said them; Cretans, you are liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." (1:12).

This Egyptian Relief is the earliest portrait of a Greek woman!

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BY DIMOSTHENIS VASILOUDIS

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Breaking Ground: Discovering the Earliest Portrait of a Greek Woman in Egyptian Relief Art

For centuries, historians and archaeologists have tirelessly worked to unravel the mysteries of ancient civilizations. Egyptian art, in particular, serves as an invaluable source of historical knowledge, providing insight into the society, culture, and everyday life of one of the world's most ancient and influential civilizations. One recent discovery has astounded the historical community: the earliest known portrait of a Greek woman beautifully etched into an Egyptian relief.

It is Egyptian and dates back to 1302 BC, about 100 years before the Trojan War! It is located on the Second Pylon of Pharaoh Horemheb at Karnak, the largest place of worship in ancient Egypt. The relief depicts a woman of obvious Greek origin. Her distinct Greek attire and the characteristic hairstyle clearly differentiate her from her Egyptian contemporaries, which makes this find particularly exciting.

In Horemheb's colossal relief group of prisoners of war, there is also a gang of captives (men and women) with their race-name "Haunebu" inscribed against them.

The heads of the men are distorted, but the profile of a woman is yet perfect, and this profile is the earliest portrait of a Greek woman in the world. Her eye is defaced, but the delicate outline of the features is yet unscathed. She is depicted with a thin long ringlet (probably one on each side), a characteristic feature of the female hair in archaic Greek art. Therefore, it can be assumed that this hairstyle was a "national fashion" quite earlier.

Statue showing the King Mentuhotep III as Osiris with a tall crown, long beard and an full-length cloak.

The ethnonym "Haunebu", as a general term for the inhabitants of the Aegean area, is mentioned for the first time as early as the time of Pharaoh Sankhara (Mentuhotep III), of the 11th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (2010-1998 BC), as it appears on a carved slab of his time.

After this mention, we hear no more of early Greeks in Egypt until they reappear as Danai or Danaeans (Tanaju), about half a millennium later, in the reign of Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC). This pharaoh was the equivalent of "Alexander the Great" of ancient Egyptian history. He conquered most of the then known world, building Egypt's largest empire ever.

He carved the names of hundreds of defeated nations and conquered cities on the walls of Karnak and the Great Temple of Ammun. In these famous inscriptions, also known as the "Annals of Thutmose III", we find the Greeks mentioned for the second time in Egyptian history, as a diplomatic meeting between the Mycenaean delegation and the pharaoh in the area of Syria is recorded.

The ethnonym "Haunebu" nevertheless survived until the time of the Ptolemies, when the Greeks ruled Egypt. The native Egyptian scribes of the comparative Hellenistic Era used it to denote the ruling race (the Rosetta Stone), just as their distant ancestors had used it to denote "Greek barbarians," people of the sea who had been captured in battle 15 whole centuries ago!

The Hall of Annals of Thutmosis III, Temple of Karnak in Thebes. (mid 15th c. B.C.) Thutmosis (Menkheperre) offers foreign gifts to Amun.

This remarkable find not only represents the earliest known portrait of a Greek woman in Egyptian art but also stimulates a reevaluation of our understanding of ancient societal interactions, cultural exchanges, and the roles of Greek women in Ptolemaic Egypt. It serves as an invaluable link to the past, allowing us a peek into the nuanced relationships between one of the ancient world's most formidable powers and its influential Greek contemporaries.

Like many great historical discoveries, this one prompts as many questions as it answers, reminding us of the rich and layered tapestry that is human history. As scholars continue to study this fascinating artifact, it is certain that we will gain even more insight into the complex dynamics of cultural exchange in the ancient world, the status of Greek women in foreign societies, and the extent of their participation in public and religious life.

In conclusion, the Egyptian relief portraying the earliest Greek woman is not only an artistic marvel but also a testament to the complexities of ancient societies and the rich tapestry of cultural exchange that has shaped human history. As researchers continue to unveil the mysteries etched into this invaluable piece of art, we look forward to the new chapters this will open in our understanding of our shared past.

What does the Daedalic Kore of Thera have to do with the Lady of Auxerre in the Louvre?

A very interesting observation is made by the curator of the Greek National Gallery, Marilena Kassimati, about the “Kore of Thera”, which was found almost intact in the cemetery of the ancient city of Thera and is on display for the first time in the new Museum of Thera.

The Kore of Thera, a statue of the 7th century BC, came to light, in November 2000, during a rescue excavation in the cemetery of the ancient city of Thera, in southeastern Sellada, by Theraean archaeologist Charalambos Sigala.

She associates her with the "Lady of Auxerre" which has been on display at the Louvre since 1907 - indeed others associate her with the Kore of Eleutherna. It is no coincidence that the creator of the Eleftherna Museum, Dimitris Stampolidis, believes that the Dame d'Auxerre is from Eleftherna.

Kore of Eleutherna

Ms. Kassimati writes:

The resemblance of the "Daughter of Thera" (a work of early archaic sculpture, almost intact, of supernatural size, which came to light in November 2000 during excavations in the cemetery of the ancient city of Thera) with the "Lady of Auxerre", from 1907 in the Louvre (75 cm high), is obvious, at least for me.

It owes its conventional name to the local museum of Auxerre (Musée Saint-Germain), while to this day nobody knows exactly how it got there, broken into three parts. Its value was immediately recognised in the Louvre, it was welded and published by a French archaeologist that same year.

These and other statues represent a stylistic phase in early Archaic art referred to as "Daedalic", also commonly referred to as the Orientalist period. This type was particularly widespread in Crete and now we have a similar project in Thera.

The Lady of Auxerre (Dame d'Auxerre): The Daedalistic female statue from Crete that came back to life through the film footage of the movie "TROY"

The Lady of Auxerre graced the cinematic palaces in Wolfgang Petersen's film Troy, but unfortunately for only a few seconds. Arguably, the placement of a statue referring to the archaic period in a prehistoric Aegean palace is anachronistic, as are many other architectural details of the film's sets. Be that as it may, this unique find was "revived" by Hollywood and traveled around the world through film footage, giving an opportunity to lovers of ancient art to familiarize themselves with its symbolism and messages.

Pistyros: An important mining center in ancient Macedonia, Greece

Pistyros was founded in the 7th century BC by Thassius on the border between Kavala and Xanthi, and its craftsmen processed silver, copper, iron and gold.

The small ancient city at a crossroads in Macedonia had rich deposits of silver, copper, iron and gold from the neighboring mines of Lekani town located on the Paggaio mountain and was the center of ore supply for the ancient Greek world.

Pistyros had strong fortifications, an impressive sanctuary and the archeological excavations brought to light a number of finds that testify to its short but interesting history.

The archeological site of Pistyros is located next to the old road from Kavala to Xanthi, 18 km east of Kavala, outside the village of Pontolivados. The choice of the site for the foundation and development of the city was not accidental, because nearby there was a lake with brackish water and abundant fish.

It is attested by Herodotus, who mentions it twice as "a Hellenic city by the sea  on the mainland", indicating an urban center with Greek facilities.

The photos were provided by the archeologist and director of the excavations, the Honorary Director of the Ministry of Culture, Stratis Papadopoulos.

The first systematic excavations took place in the 1970s for the opening of a canal in Nestos, but for the last eight years the archeological site has been systematically excavated under the direction of the archeologist and honorary director of the Ministry of Culture, Stratis Papadopoulos.

Pistyros was a small city founded by the Thasians in the 7th century BC, and in the second half of the 6th century BC the Thasians developed a strong trading activity, as shown by the coins, the abundant imported Thasian pottery and the impressive wall of marble plinths of Thasian origin, but also the engraved Greek inscription "ΘΑCΙΩΝ" on the inside of the northern entrance.

Its function as a mining center is evidenced by the discovery of fragments of the inner wall of a mining furnace - a rare find for archeological data -by the large amount of ore, but also by the presence of strong fortifications. According to Mr. Papadopoulos, the large quantities of metallurgical remains inside and outside the walls, as well as the study of the slag, indicate the processing of metals for supply, especially copper, silver, iron and possibly gold.

The photos were provided by the archeologist and director of the excavations, the Honorary Director of the Ministry of Culture, Stratis Papadopoulos.

Although there is no evidence of the items produced, it is assumed that they were weapons, tools, jewelry, but also coins. However, it is not excluded that trade took place in raw materials, that is, processed ores.

Although it was a small town with only 10 hectares, Pistyros was an important mining and trading center of antiquity, and from today's point of view one would say that it was a "stock exchange center" of ancient Macedonia.

Its importance is testified by the monumental wall that protected the treasure that lay within it, namely the abundant and expensive ore.

The excavations, completed a few days ago this year with the participation of students from the Universities of Patras and Ioannina, revealed the entire wall with towers and a unique carriage gate at the southeastern end of the city, with double doors and parastrades (side beams) of great dimensions. A second gate was located at the northeastern end of the fortress and provided access to the main road of the city.

Numerous derivations of ore processing suggest a metallurgical laboratory. In addition, in one of the two rectangular tanks found ends a lead pipe that transported liquid in a vessel, probably an amphora, and it is considered possible that the site was a winery with rooms for the transport and washing of fruit, wine cellars and wine cellars.

The photos were provided by the archeologist and director of the excavations, the Honorary Director of the Ministry of Culture, Stratis Papadopoulos.

A large complex of buildings has also been excavated, in the courtyard of which structures have been found that seem to be related to the metallurgical activities of its inhabitants, but also a one-room square building with built-in benches inside, which it cannot be excluded that it had a public character - perhaps a small parliament corresponding to the so-called seat of the politarchs in the market of Pella - but also houses.

The sanctuary of Pistyros was located to the west of a square. The investigations revealed a small temple with two rooms, in the tradition of the temples of the Cyclades and Thassos, whose wide axis was highlighted. Among the finds in the nave, a large grinder in the form of a "sacrificial bench", a libation vessel in the form of a "sacred cistern', female figures probably representing Aphrodite, and the clay hearth divided into four sections and decorated with spirals stand out.

At a distance of 5 meters north of the temple was found a square stone altar and between the temple and the altar grew a courtyard paved with stones for gatherings.

The photos were provided by the archeologist and director of the excavations, the Honorary Director of the Ministry of Culture, Stratis Papadopoulos.

In large spaces to the east and west of the altar, a considerable number of weaving weights were found, which was common in Macedonia at shrines of female deities such as Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis and the Mother of the Gods. Thus, it is assumed that in the sanctuary of Pistyros there was an intensive textile production in the service of the deity worshiped there.

In the east of the temple, a courtyard area with column bases and votive offerings was excavated. The most important find in this area is the inscription testifying to the worship of Zeus the Savior and King Philip. The inscription dates back to the middle of the 3rd century BC and probably refers to Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. A pottery workshop from the 3rd century BC was found in the central part of the city, and a similar one was also excavated by Mr. Papadopoulos in Limenaria on Thassos.

The systematic excavations at ancient Pistyros have yielded important movable finds dating from the late 7th to the 1st century BC: abundant imported and local pottery, a large number of sealed pottery and amphorae, many weaving techniques, figurines, coins, tools and jewelry. . Many vases seem to have been imported from Thassos, the Cyclades, from the coasts of Asia Minor and Attica.

The photos were provided by the archeologist and director of the excavations, the Honorary Director of the Ministry of Culture, Stratis Papadopoulos.

Of great interest are the inscriptions engraved on the front of the Archaic buildings, in several cases in Parian alphabet: "ἐπὶ τὰ λαια" (to the left). The first three or four letters of the names are engraved, as in the fortress of Thassos, and it is assumed that they belong to quarry owners and workers. In Pistyros there are several dozen inscriptions, among which the names Epig(enes), Glau(kos) and Mim(os) are frequently repeated.

The city was in full development from the 7th century BC to the end of the 2nd century BC, and it is still unknown when, how, and why its inhabitants abandoned it. Although there is evidence of seismic activity in the area, it is considered very likely that it was abandoned for economic reasons. In other words, it is possible that another mining center emerged in the same area and took over the baton of production and trade.

The Idalion Bilingual: A Keystone in Deciphering the Cypriot Syllabary

BY DIMOSTHENIS VASILOUDIS

In the realm of archaeology, some artifacts hold the key to unlocking hidden aspects of our past. The Idalion Bilingual, a small yet significant inscription discovered in Cyprus, is one such artifact. It played a pivotal role in deciphering the Cypriot syllabary, enabling researchers to unravel the linguistic threads of ancient Cypriot society.

Discovery of The Idalion Bilingual

The Cypriot syllabic script was deciphered in the 19th century (in 1870), by G. Smith. The reason was the Phoenician-Cypriot bilingual inscription found in Idalion. It was the key to the decipherment of the Cypriot syllabary, in the manner of the Rosetta Stone for hieroglyphs.

Egyptologist Samuel Birch (1872), numismatist Johannes Brandis (1873), philologist Moritz Schmidt, Wilhelm Deecke, Justus Siegismund (1874), and linguist H.L. Ahrens (1876) also contributed to the decipherment.

The Idalion Bilingual, found in the ancient city of Idalion, is an inscription that bears the same text in two different scripts. It was uncovered during excavations conducted in the 19th century, amidst the remains of the once prosperous city. The script on one side is in the well-known ancient Phoenician alphabet, while the other side is inscribed with the then-undeciphered Cypriot syllabary.

It was discovered by Robert Hamilton Lang in his excavations at the Temple of Idalium (modern Dali, Cyprus), whose work there had been inspired by the discovery of the Idalion Tablet in 1850. The stone was found in the centre of the temple, together with the five other Idalion Temple inscriptions. The stone is thought to have been a pedestal for a statue, as there is an apparent dowel hole in the top.

Lang wrote of his discovery:

The most valuable monument uncovered by my excavations is unquestionably the bilingual inscription in Cyprian and Phoenician, engraved on marble; an inscription which, I feel confident, will ultimately prove the means of enabling philologists to decipher the Cyprian alphabet ... The bilingual inscription proves also that, the two alphabets, Phoenician and Cyprian, had a contemporaneous existence.

It is currently in the archives of the British Museum, with identification number 125320.

 

Cracking the Code: Deciphering the Cypriot Syllabary

The Cypriot syllabary is an ancient script that was used in Cyprus from the 11th to the 4th centuries BC. Until the discovery of the Idalion Bilingual, the syllabary remained a mystery, its signs and symbols inscrutable to researchers.

The value of the Idalion Bilingual lies in its nature as a bilingual text. This meant that scholars could use the known Phoenician inscription to interpret the corresponding text in the unknown Cypriot syllabary, creating an invaluable linguistic bridge between the two scripts.

The decipherment process relied on recognizing that the same message was inscribed in both scripts, even though they appeared quite different. Researchers carefully matched up corresponding words and phrases from both inscriptions, leading to the identification of the phonetic values of the signs of the Cypriot syllabary. The decoding was a significant breakthrough, revealing the ancient script's structure and linguistic characteristics.

The Implications of Decipherment

The successful decipherment of the Cypriot syllabary, aided by the Idalion Bilingual, brought about profound implications for the study of ancient Cypriot history and culture. It opened a new window into the socio-political, economic, and cultural life of ancient Cyprus, as researchers could now read and interpret a multitude of inscriptions found across the island.

Through these texts, scholars have gained insights into the religious practices, administrative systems, and economic activities of ancient Cypriot society. Moreover, the knowledge of the Cypriot syllabary has shed light on the linguistic evolution of the region, tracing the roots and influences of the Greek language in Cyprus.

Description of the block; base, and votive offering that carries the bilingual inscription

The maximum width and depth of the stone are preserved, but the upper front surface of the stone is damaged on both the top left and especially at the top right and along the right side, where the beginning of both the Phoenician and the Greek texts are missing. The top of the base is also damaged, though the maximum preserved height in the middle appears to represent more or less the top of the base; however, the surface at the front looks like it has been hacked or chiseled, perhaps to remove the statue (if this had been made of metal), so there may have been some loss of the original height.

At the back left of the top surface is a deep oval trough, probably for securing the statue mentioned in the inscription; again, this is likely to have been mutilated in order to remove any metal. There are no corresponding holes on the right side or elsewhere on the top surface, though the top right is particularly damaged. The back of the pedestal is roughly chiseled but not broken in the way that the top has been mutilated, suggesting that this is the original surface; the rough finish suggests that it was not meant to be seen and was probably placed against a wall or another pedestal when originally erected.

The Phoenician text consists of three lines, written right to left (sinistrograde), but is incomplete on both sides. The Cypro-Syllabic text occupies four lines, also sinistrograde, of which the beginning of the first three lines are also incomplete, but are fully preserved on the left side.

Inscriptions

In Conclusion: The Power of the Idalion Bilingual

The decipherment of the Cypriot syllabary, facilitated by the Idalion Bilingual, underscores the power of archeology in understanding our past. This modest artifact became a pivotal key to unlocking a centuries-old script, providing valuable insights into a fascinating civilization that existed over two millennia ago.

The Idalion Bilingual stands as a potent symbol of the interconnectedness of human societies, highlighting how the decoding of a language can dramatically widen our understanding of the human experience. It is a testament to the rich tapestry of human civilization, inviting us to continually probe, explore, and appreciate our shared heritage.

The "Polycentric Museum of Aigai", the birthplace of Alexander the Great, has opened its doors to the public

A decades-long vision, the new, multi-faceted, central building of the Polycentric Museum of Aigai was inaugurated yesterday by Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni.

The museum is a new, holistic, and dynamic approach to the relationship between archaeological site, museum, and visitor. It integrates and unites the new central building with the whole of the archaeological site of Aigai (Vergina), which includes the Palace of Philip, the burial cluster of the Temenids, as well as the Museum of the Royal Tombs.

The Palace of Aigai, known today as Vergina, is considered not only the largest but, together with the Parthenon, the most important building of classical Greece.

The central museum building was designed to become the symbolic entrance gate to the archaeological site and the history of the Aigai, the history and culture of the Macedonians, but also the Hellenistic World, since this will host the physical headquarters of the digital museum "Alexander the Great, from Aigai to the Ecumene (World)".

In the case of Aigai, the planning of the projects had from the beginning the aim of the systematic and universal restoration and highlighting of the particularly extensive archaeological site so that it could develop into a huge archaeological park with modern and high-level infrastructure and services that will offer visitors full, unified, and comprehensive knowledge and experience of the history of the city of Aigai, its kings, and wider Macedonia.

The royal tombs are presented within a grass covered mound, mimicking the original burial tumulus

The main phase of redevelopment and enhancement of the area of the Palace and the Necropolis, an area of almost 550 acres, has already been completed, which, in the summer of 2021, opened to the public as a visitable tree-planted area for archaeological and naturalistic tours.

The large atrium will host the exhibition of architectural members from the palace.

The Polycentric Museum of Aigai currently comprises the following sections:

1. The main museum building: The project was joined in 2010 and the construction of the shell was completed in 2016. Between the years 2014-2016 the demolition/restoration of the upper floor of the propylon and part of the side arcades of the palace presented in the large atrium of the museum was completed.

2. The Museum of the Royal Tombs with the tomb of Philip II.

3. The archaeological park of the necropolis with the royal burial cluster of the Temenids.

4. The palace and the theater.

5. The recorded church of Agios Dimitrios located at the eastern end of the archaeological site.

6. Any monuments, clusters of monuments or parts of the archaeological site that are maintained, organized and can receive visitors can be successively added to this set.

The main building of the museum, apart from the introductory exhibit "A Window into the World of Alexander the Great"” hosts five exhibitions:

1. The exhibition of architectural members with the restored part of the palace as a central exhibit: In the large atrium of the museum, in a protected area, a 30-meter-long section of the upper floor of the central part of the facade of the Palace of Aigai has been restored.

2. The exhibition of sculptures, which concerns findings from long-term excavations at the wider archaeological site of Aigai,.

3. The central exhibition "Memory of Aigai"” in which findings from the excavations of Aigai are exhibited, presents findings that reveal the identity of the city, traces of religious ceremonies, and the foundation of the palace.

4. The periodical exhibition "Antidoron of the World," held in collaboration with the Numismatic Museum and the collector Theodoros Aravanis: The periodical exhibition "Antidoron of the World" tries to approach the phenomenon of the Hellenistic World, the expansion of Greek civilization to the Far East, through the forms of the protagonists of developments, as depicted on coins, the official symbols of their power and authority.

5. The art exhibition "Material Memory" features works by the painter Christos Bokorou that were created especially for the presentation in the museum of Aigai.

How Alexander became a Jewish Name?

By Yehuda Shurpin, Chabad.org

Original title: Why Is Alexander a Jewish Name?

Throughout history, Jews have been careful to retain their distinctly Jewish names. In fact, our sages tell us that although more than two centuries of exile and slavery in Egypt had all but assimilated the Children of Israel into the idolatrous society of Egypt, one of the reasons why they merited their miraculous redemption was that they retained their Jewish names.1

Traditionally, Jewish names are Hebrew, Yiddish or Ladino. Some other names that have crept in over the years and have become accepted as Jewish names are actually translations of Jewish names in foreign languages.

The name Alexander, however, is unique. It originates from the Greek king Alexander the Great, ruler of Macedonia, who established the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen. In other words, its origin is definitely not Jewish.

Another difference: When names of non-Hebrew origin are written in Hebrew documents, such as a bill of divorce, there is a specific style of spelling used. Alexander, however, is spelled according to the Hebrew rules.2

How did Alexander gain such a special place in Jewish nomenclature?

Simeon the Just and Alexander the Great

The following is recorded in the Talmud3 and Megillat Ta’anit:4

On the 21st Kislev5 of the year 3448 from creation (313 BCE), after Alexander the Great brought an end to Persian rule and marched through the Land of Israel, the Kutheans, bitter enemies of the Jewish people, convinced Alexander that the Jews rebelled against his sovereignty and that their Holy Temple in Jerusalem should be destroyed.

Alexander marched on toward Jerusalem at the head of his army. Hearing of this, Shimon HaTzaddik (Simeon the Just), who was then the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) and one of the last remnants of the Men of the Great Assembly, donned the priestly vestments and went to greet Alexander, along with a delegation of Jewish dignitaries bearing torches.

The two groups walked toward each other all night. When dawn arrived, Alexander asked the Kutheans, “Who are these people coming to meet us?”

They said to him, “These are the Jews, who have rebelled against you!”

The two camps met each other at Antipatris. When Alexander saw Shimon HaTzaddik, he descended from his chariot and bowed before him.

“Should a great king such as yourself bow to this Jew?” asked the members of his entourage.

“I do this,” he replied, “because the image of this man’s face appears before me and leads me to victory when I am on the battlefields.”

Alexander then asked the representatives of the Jewish people why they had come to him.

“Is it possible,” they replied, “that gentiles will try to mislead you into destroying the Temple, in which we pray for you and that your kingdom not be destroyed, and we should remain silent and not tell you!?”

“Who are these people who want to destroy it?” asked Alexander.

“They are these very Kutheans who stand before you,” replied the Jews.

“If so,” said the king, “they are given into your hands to deal with as you please.”

The Jews destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim, plowing the area and sowing it with leeks (as a sign of complete destruction), just as they sought to do to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

The description of this encounter in traditional Jewish sources stops here. However, In the Sefer Yosippon,6 another crucial part of the story is added:

Shimon HaTzaddik then took Alexander the Great on a tour of the Holy Temple. Alexander, impressed, wished to donate gold to have an image of himself placed in the Holy Temple so that he would be immortalized. Shimon demurred, saying that it was forbidden for the Jews to have graven images, and certainly not in the Temple. He suggested that he instead give the gold to the poor. And as for memorializing the occasion, Shimon suggested an even better way: all male kohanim born that year would be named “Alexander.”

Alexander liked the idea, and the Jews, who were very thankful to Alexander for all that he did for them, including sparing the Holy Temple from destruction, gratefully named their children after him. Thus, the name Alexander forever became a Jewish name.

FOOTNOTES

1.See Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 32.

2.Igrot Moshe, Orach Chaim, vol. 4:66 & vol. 5:10.

3.Talmud, Yoma 69a.

4.Megillat Ta’anit, ch. 9.

5.This follows the date in Megillat Taanit. The Talmud records it as 25 Tevet.

6.Sefer Yosippon, ch. 10. (Not to be confused with Josephus. There is much discussion about the authorship of Yosippon and whether it is, in fact, Josephus. However, that is beyond the scope of our discussion.) In Antiquities of the Jews, book 11:8, Josephus mentions Alexander’s visit to the Temple, but does not mention the part about the priests being named after him.

By Yehuda Shurpin

Ancient Graffiti: How ancient Greek and Roman tourists left "bad reviews" in this Egyptian tomb

Text-photo: Ray Boone, PorcupineMerchant

“I visited and I did not like anything but the sarcophagus!”

That’s just one of many random scribblings left in the Tomb of Ramesses V & VI in the Valley of the Kings.

This tomb has been open since antiquity, and the evidence of that is everywhere. Ancient tourists left their marks — sometimes in Latin, most often in Greek. Usually they’re down low, but some are up near the ceiling, which obviously suggests there were spots where the sand rose quite high.

Some of the visitors were doctors. Others were philosophers or high-ranking officials. And for the most part, they weren’t only there as sightseers; they came as some sort of pilgrimage, as they believed the tomb to be that of Memnon, a hero in the Trojan War.

Which was obviously not true. Not even a little. But nearby, two giant statues were supposedly of Memnon — partially because of a singing sound they made in the morning. Don’t ask me how that story got started. I mean, I know why, but don’t ask. I’ll have to explain the whole thing, and neither one of us wants that.

Some of the graffiti is poetry, most is the equivalent of “I was here.” Someone would write their name and their occupation, and the most common phrase used was “I admired.” In one case, some dude’s secretary did the carving for him, and he just wrote “I admired” next to it. How lazy do you have to be, that you’re traveling around Egypt with your own personal graffiti artist?

Roman Holiday

It’s a little odd to think of Romans going on these elaborate vacations, but that’s exactly what happened. After all, they weren’t all that different from us. The wealthy ones would sail down to Alexandria, where they could see the famous lighthouse. Then they’d get a peek at the Pyramids, hop on a boat, and cruise down the Nile. Two of the Seven Wonders checked off the list.

Do you think they had some ancient equivalent of guide books? Probably — because all sorts of Romans were stopping at the Colossi of Memnon, which are absolutely covered in graffiti. Even the Emperor Hadrian visited. Then his boyfriend drowned in the Nile. But that’s a different story. Don’t ask. Why are you trying to get me off topic?

So you head down on this exotic Egyptian adventure, checking out all the sights, hanging around some awesome Egyptian festivals and drinking copious amounts of beer. And of course you’d go see those two huge statues and the tombs.

Like I said before, the Colossi of Memnon was a hot ticket item back then. Well, I don’t think there were actual tickets. It’s just an expression. Actually, there aren’t tickets now, either. They just sit by the side of the road.

These statues would “sing” in the morning, which we now think was the result of evaporating dew in the morning. The Romans thought these were of Memnon — they’re actually Amenhotep III — and due to him sharing one of his names with a name inside the tomb we’re talking about, the Romans decided it was the tomb of Memnon.

Now, despite the fact that we’re talking about a time over a thousand years after Ramesses V & VI, I’ve got to think some Egyptians knew the Romans were wrong. So why didn’t they correct them? That’s a good question, and I don’t have an answer. I guess if Romans are coming to your town and throwing money around, you just let them think what they want. Or maybe when an Emperor shows up, you don’t try to correct him. I probably wouldn’t. You just snicker at him behind his back.

Kind of like how I’d do if I met Jeff Bezos and he had some toilet paper stuck to his shoe. Am I going to tell him? No way.

The Entourage

“I, Ammonios, singularis of Italy, saw and admire it.”

With every super important official, there was surely an entourage. Like Bieber. Wait, is that an outdated reference now? Does Bieber still have an entourage?

So this guy named Ammonios wasn’t an official. He wasn’t a super important guy at all. Now, he was important in the military, as he was presumably a guard for an Emperor, but probably not the kind of dude who’d go on a really fancy vacation.

It gives you an idea of who was visiting these tombs. The rich folk, and everyone who came with them. And as I said, they were mostly respectful — well, as respectful as you can get when you’re scratching words into the walls. The bulk of the graffiti is placed in a way that it doesn’t obscure any of the hieroglyphs or other art.

A team from Poland did an extensive survey and found over a thousand instances of ancient graffiti in this tomb. But it’s not all just people writing their names and saying they had a nice time.

“I cannot read the hieroglyphs,” wrote one person.

“Why do you care that you cannot read the hieroglyphs? I do not understand your concern!” wrote someone else, right below it.

It seems that even back then, they had Twitter replies. I can just picture some Roman holding a torch, reading what someone else wrote, and thinking “Jesus Christ, what a moron. You’re looking at all of this awesome shit, and that’s what you’ve got to say?” So he hands his torch over to his buddy, pulls out a knife, and starts scratching a rebuttal.

Well…he probably didn’t say “Jesus Christ.”

Anyway, if you’re ever in Luxor I’d highly recommend visiting this tomb. It’s one of the biggest in the Valley of the Kings, and the colors are still extremely bright. It does require buying an extra ticket, but it’s worth it. You don’t really notice the graffiti unless you’re looking for it. And in case you’re wondering, Ramesses V built part of it, then he died and Ramesses VI finished it. They were both buried here. I guess old Number 6 figured it’d be easier to take over than starting fresh.

And like the spirits of those ancient kings who live on in the afterlife, my plugs for my Instagram @rayoboone will never die. I have some other tomb pictures on there, you’ll just have to scroll down past the Baby Yoda hand sanitizer.

Kos Island, Greece: Revival of the original Hippocratic Oath for eminent Doctors from around the world

Doctors from the distant Anhui region of China, and representatives of the medical associations and universities of China from Anhui and Shanghai, as well as Italian doctors of Reproductive Medicine, were invited on a special ceremony at the Asclepeion of Kos to take the authentic Hippocratic Oath, an event organized by the International Health Tourism Center.

The revival of the Hippocratic Oath is one of the recent initiatives of the International Health Tourism Center, in cooperation with the Hippocratic Foundation that is located in Kos, within the framework of the Center's strategy for the dissemination of the ancient medical knowledge of Greece to today's and tomorrow's doctors of the international community, students from international medical universities, medical associations around the world and health tourism travelers.

The President of the International Health Tourism Center, President of Athens Medical Association and President of the Global Institute of Greek Doctors, and New Governor of Attica Mr. George Patoulis stressed that hosting the Chinese and Italian doctors in Kos by their participation in the Hippocratic Oath revival contributes to the realization of the vision of the Health Tourism Center "to make  Hippocrates the emblem and reference point to transfuse the values and deep medical knowledge of Greece to international science." 

The President of the International Health Tourism Center and President of Athens Medical Association thanked fellow Chinese doctors from the distant country, who came to Greece on the occasion of the 1st Fertility Festival, organized by the International Health Tourism Center, where they participated in a special session "Fertility from the East to West". Mr. Patoulis stressed that "the marriage of ancient and modern knowledge of the West and East, of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, with the collaboration of Chinese and Greek doctors of top scientific level might be among the most important challenges for medical science in the service of the patient and human health in the modern era." 

Chinese and Italian physicians expressed their enthusiasm for the official ceremony at the Asclepeion of Kos  .

"After what we lived, after what we felt, I will return to our University in Anhui and announce that from now on all our students will take the authentic Hippocrates Oath at Kos. And I am sure it will quickly be adopted by all the universities of China", said Peng Daiyin, President of China Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, and President of the China Education and Research Association of Chunese Medicine of High Education 

“The statement of the President of the University of Anhui shows that the International Health Tourism Center has managed in a very short time to bring great successes to our country," commented the Vice President of the Global Institute of Greek Doctors, an obstetrician and Reproductive Medicine specialist, Mr. Constantinos Pantos 

Mr. Filippo Maria Ubaldi, Clinical Director of the General Center of Reproductive Medicine of Italy, added that "Every doctor must once in his life come into this place to feel the energy, connect with the past, and understand that everything about Medicine really started here" 

The President of the International Health Tourism Center and President of the Global  Institute of Greek Doctors praised the importance of the Hippocratic Oath, which is nowadays, 2,500 years after its writing, adopted from multiple medical schools around the world, as he said and stressed that "the Oath of Hippocrates teaches more classically than any other medical oath the duty and the moral value of the physician's function, as international scholars of international medicine admit."

The Pythagorean "Greedy" Cup Explained: When Fluid Dynamics Meet Practical Jokes

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BY DIMOSTHENIS VASILOUDIS

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Laughing with Pythagoras: The History and Science Behind the Pythagorean 'Greedy' Cup, The Ingenious Prank of Ancient Greece, A Lesson in Physics and Moderation

It's no secret that human beings have always enjoyed a good laugh, and this trait extends far back into our history. Take the Pythagorean "Greedy" Cup, for example. It's a prime instance of the fact that even the ancients appreciated a practical joke. Named after the Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras, who was known for his work in geometry, the Pythagorean Cup is a fascinating blend of humor, creativity, and physics.

Pythagoras: More Than Just a Cup's Inventor

Although most famously known for the Pythagorean Theorem in geometry, Pythagoras of Samos (circa 570–495 B.C.) was far more than just a mathematician. He was also a philosopher and a mystic, whose influence stretched across various fields of study. Founding a philosophical and religious school in Croton (now Crotone, in southern Italy), Pythagoras and his followers, known as Pythagoreans, followed a way of life committed to studying mathematics, music, and the natural sciences as paths to spiritual refinement. His teachings and philosophies formed the cornerstone of the group's beliefs and practices, including a belief in the transmigration of souls, or reincarnation. The school made significant contributions to science, mathematics, and politics. In fact, the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse's length is the sum of the squares of the other two sides' lengths, is a cornerstone of modern geometry. Despite the many centuries since his lifetime, Pythagoras' influence still resonates in many areas of contemporary academic discourse and everyday life.

The Pythagorean Cup: An Overview

Also known as a Pythagorean Greedy Cup or a Tantalus Cup, the Pythagorean Cup is a device ingeniously designed to enforce moderation. It is a drinking cup that allows the user to fill it up to a certain level. However, if one gets too greedy and fills the cup beyond this point, all of the liquid inside drains out through the bottom. The principle behind it A simple yet effective implementation of fluid dynamics

The Design

At first glance, the Pythagorean Cup looks like any ordinary drinking vessel. The secret lies in its central column, which is an open-ended pipe running from the bottom of the cup to its rim. This column, a siphon tube, is hidden in the middle of the cup and is the key component that controls the flow of liquid.

If the liquid level remains below the top of the central column, the cup functions like any other; you can drink from it without any issue. However, if the liquid level rises above the top of the column, a siphon effect is created. Gravity pulls the liquid down the siphon tube, and due to the cohesive forces of the liquid, all of it is emptied out through the bottom of the cup, resulting in an unexpected surprise for the user.

The Science Behind It

The physics underlying the operation of the Pythagorean Cup is straightforward and elegant. It's based on the principle of communicating vessels, a theory in fluid dynamics that states that fluid in interconnected containers (vessels) will equalize to the same level. The Pythagorean Cup is essentially a set of communicating vessels.

Once the liquid fills the siphon tube, the weight of the liquid in the tube will be enough to overcome the liquid's surface tension. This creates a negative pressure at the top of the siphon tube, pulling the liquid from the cup into the tube and then out the bottom, emptying the cup completely.

The Humor and the Lesson

Historically, Pythagoras is said to have invented this cup to demonstrate the virtues of moderation to his students. The moral of the story is clear: one must exercise restraint and not be greedy, or else they risk losing everything.

Interestingly, despite its origins in ancient Greece, the Pythagorean Cup has managed to maintain its relevance over millennia, surviving as a novel curiosity and an educational tool. It serves not only as a tangible demonstration of basic principles in fluid dynamics but also as an amusing way to prank unsuspecting friends and family.

In conclusion, the Pythagorean "Greedy" Cup is an ingenious invention from ancient times that beautifully combines science, philosophy, and humor. It provides a tactile reminder of the importance of moderation while also serving as an unforgettable practical joke. Whether you're a student of physics, a history buff, or just someone with a penchant for pranks, the Pythagorean Cup has something to offer. In a world where technology often distances us from the physical world and its principles, this ancient device provides a refreshing and entertaining connection to our scientific roots.

A Greek Ode to Water: The New Permanent Archaeological Exhibition at the Piraeus' Metro

Blue is the dominant color at the "Municipal Theater" station in Piraeus Metro, with the choice not at all accidental. Inside the station, the history of water unfolds and its significant importance is highlighted.

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

The permanent exhibition highlighting the water supply system of the ancient city of Piraeus at the "Municipal Theater" station was presented to the citizens of the city today with the three stations of the Piraeus Metro, which were inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Greece. The Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, spoke about the doctrine of the harmonious coexistence of archeology and the Metro, which has as its principle respect for archaeological finds without them being a brake on the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects.

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

During the excavation research, the largest ever carried out in the city of Piraeus, 150 structures related to ancient water systems, characteristic of the ancient city of Piraeus, were uncovered. These come in addition to the more than 345 wells and 388 tanks already found in earlier excavations in the city.

The total area archaeologically controlled by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Piraeus and Islands in 5 Stations and 7 Ventilation Shafts, approaches 30,000 sq.m., while the rescue excavations were carried out on a total surface of 7,500 sq.m. All the excavation work was carried out under permanent archaeological monitoring, as well as the opening of the 7.6 km of the train passage tunnel.

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

The long historical duration of the Greek civilization - in time and space - has as a consequence, the activities of the modern era intersecting with the material testimonies of the past preserved underground.

The term "archaeological palimpsest" is used to denote the overlapping layers of material remains of human activity, which continues for centuries in the same areas, especially in the urban fabric of modern Greek cities. Especially in the case of a large area or the wide geographical distribution of public utility infrastructures, this meeting, between the works of today and the tangible evidence of history, becomes almost unavoidable.

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

The total area, which was archaeologically controlled by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Piraeus and Islands in 5 Stations and 7 Ventilation Shafts, approaches 30,000 sq.m., while rescue excavations were carried out on a total surface of 7,500 sq.m. All were carried out under permanent archaeological monitoring the excavation works, but also the opening of the 7.6 km of the train passage tunnel.

During these excavations, 150 structures related to ancient water systems, characteristic of the ancient city of Piraeus, were uncovered. These come to be added to the more than 345 wells and 388 tanks, which have been found in earlier excavations in the city.

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

In accordance with the provisions of the archaeological law, the Ministry of Culture asked the Attica Metro to implement a permanent exhibition on the Water Supply System of the ancient city of Piraeus at the "Municipal Theater" station. The challenge was particular for the Ephorate of Antiquities, as the museum exhibition had to be integrated into a crowded and bustling space.

The central idea was also the starting point for the composition of the museological concept: "The connection of water management with the historical and social development of the city of Piraeus from the Classical period to Late Antiquity".

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

The station, but also the center of the city of Piraeus, are decorated with an archaeological exhibition, which can act as a starting point for the interconnection - through cultural routes - of the residential and fortified remains, visible in the open archaeological sites of the modern city, of the Neosoicon and the Theater of Zea with the Archaeological Museum, creating a dynamic nexus of culture.

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

The 5 thematic sections are supported by four main exhibition types:

• The exhibition of copies of the water pumping, collection and transport systems, as they evolved from the founding of the city in the 5th century. e.g. to the Roman period (units 1 and 2)

• The exhibition of original exhibits related to the way a Piraeus house was designed and operated in relation to the management of the city's water resources. The central exhibit was placed under a glass floor of the underpass. It is about the reconstruction of a male classical house that was revealed in the rescue excavation during the construction of the Deligianni Well and which was detached and preserved for this purpose.

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

• The presentation of the use of water in the daily life of the ancient inhabitants of Piraeus with digital exhibits. On a video wall, figures from ancient iconography are projected on a human scale and in interaction with scenery that changes referring to the activity at hand. (section 4)

• The narrative concludes with the surveillance material that frames the country-by-country promotion of the preserved reservoir 27, at the level of the square of Ag. Konstantinou, near the central entrance of the station (section 5).

Source: Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

Greek Archaeologists Unearthed Stunning Roman-Era Statue of Hercules at Philippi, Eastern Macedonia

A larger than life-sized statue of Hercules, unearthed by archaeologists from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, may have adorned a public fountain.

The statue, depicting a youthful Hercules, dates to the 2nd century AD. © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

The latest season of archaeological fieldwork at Philippi in northeast Greece, carried out by members of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, came to an end last week with a startling new discovery.

This year’s excavations, led by Professor Natalia Poulou, focused on the east side of one of the main streets of the ancient Macedonian city, which meets another main axis passing further north. The point of convergence between the two streets is marked by a large square dominated by a richly decorated edifice, most likely a public fountain.

A lion's pelt hangs from the statue's left arm, attesting to its identity as the ancient hero Hercules.

© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

The edifice bore a special architectural decoration, fragments of which were discovered during the excavation. Its decoration was complemented by an impressive larger than life-sized statue from the Roman period, dating to the 2nd century AD.

The statue depicts a youthful Hercules, the Roman equivalent of the Greek Heracles, holding a club – fragments of which were found during the excavation – and a lion’s pelt hanging from his outstretched left hand, attesting to the identity of the hero. He is also depicted wearing a wreath of vine leaves with a tape at the back, the ends of which drape across his broad shoulders.

The archaeologists believe the statue adorned a public fountain.

© Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

According to the research team, and based on the findings from the excavation, the statue adorned a much later building from the 8th or 9th century. It is known form contemporary sources that Classical and Roman-era statues were used to decorate buildings and places of public use up until the Late Byzantine period.

The discovery at Philippi now confirms this to be the case – that pre-Christian statues were used to decorate public spaces in important cities of the Byzantine empire.

The excavations, attended by 24 students and funded by the Research Committee of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, will continue next year.

Goddess Athena's Statue Reveals Her True Colors (Video)

Did you know many of the white marble sculptures you see in the Greek and Roman galleries were originally painted?

For more than one hundred years, the MFA has been a leader in studying this ancient practice, today known as polychromy. In this three-minute video, learn about the latest technology the Museum is using to make new discoveries about the appearance of ancient sculptures, and see the MFA’s statue of Athena Parthenos in dazzling color!

Produced by Black Math.

Red-figure Technique in Ancient Vase Painting (Video)

In this five-minute animated video by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, journey back to the 6th-century BCE workshop of the Athenian master Andokides and witness an ancient artist’s moment of creative ingenuity.

For generations Athenian vase painters had employed black-figure technique, in which the figure is painted in a mixture of clay and water called slip and details are incised with a sharp tool. At some point—we don't know precisely when or why—a vase painter had the idea to reverse the scheme, leaving the figures the color of the clay and painting details with a brush. We now call this red-figure technique.

Learn how ancient vase painters created vases in both styles and marvel at the technical virtuosity of the multi-step firing process that contributed to their distinctive, high-contrast look.

The City of Sparta in Ancient Greece (Full Cinematic Documentary)

Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (Λακεδαίμων), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece.

Watch a documentary on the City of Sparta in Ancient Greece. Footage taken from Assassin's Creed Odyssey on PlayStation 4:

An 1800-year-old inscription was discovered in Hadrianaupolis indicating the existence of the Asclepius cult

An inscription pointing to the existence of the cult of Asclepius was found in the ancient city of Hadrianaupolis, which was used as a settlement in the Late Chalcolithic, Roman, and Early Byzantine periods in Eskipazar, a district of Karabuk province in the Black Sea region of Turkey.

The excavations, initiated in 2003 under the chairmanship of Associate Professor Ersin Çelikbaş, a lecturer in the Department of Archeology at the Faculty of Letters of Karabuk University, continue for 12 months of the year without interruption.

An inscription that states “Ailios Deiotaros presented the Savior Asklepios” was found on a piece of rock during the ongoing excavations in a square planned structure unearthed last year.

“Asclepius is the god of medicine in ancient times”

Associate Professor Ersin Çelikbaş told Anadolu Agency that the inscription is very important for the archeology of Hadrianaupolis and the Black Sea.

Çelikbaş said, “In the inscription is writing, -presented the Ailios Deiotaros to Asclepius the Savior-  We had guessed the existence of Asklepios here, but now that the inscription has been found, we have clearly identified the existence of the cult of Asclepius in Hadrianaupolis. Asklepios is the god of medicine in ancient times. In places where there is the culture of Asclepius, there are usually healing houses, that is, hospitals of the ancient period,” he said.

Noting that the healing houses of the ancient period were seen in Bergama and Allianoi, Çelikbaş continued as follows:

“We can say that the cult of Asclepius was detected for the first time in the Black Sea. We saw the figures of the god Asklepios on the coins minted by Hadrianaupolis. The figures on the coins do not express the cultural existence of a place one hundred percent. We saw patera and snakes on a votive column. We thought it was related to Asklepios, but The discovery of the inscription clearly revealed that there really was an Asclepius cult in Hadrianaupolis.”

“One of the most important cult centers of the Roman period”

Reminding that the Akkaya thermal spring is within the borders of Hadrianaupolis, Çelikbaş said, “Usually, the Asklepios is around the hot water springs. The biggest reason why the cult of Asclepius is here is probably that it is near the Akkaya thermal spring. We can say that Hadrianaupolis was one of the most important cult centers of the ancient period, especially the Roman period.

Stating that the inscription belongs to the 2nd century AC, Çelikbaş said, “This means the early imperial period. We can say that Hadrianaupolis was an important Roman city and a cult center in the early imperial period,” said.

Hadrianaupolis Ancient City

The ancient city, which was founded in the 1st century BC and was used as a settlement until the 8th century AD, is located 3 kilometers west of the district Eskiyapar.

The ancient city of Hadrianaupolis is often described as the “Zeugma of the Black Sea region” because of the mosaics unearthed there. In the ancient city, structures such as two baths, two churches, a defense structure, rock tombs, a theatre, an arched and domed structure, a monumental cultic niche, city walls, villas, other monumental buildings, and some cult areas have been found.

The History of Writing: Tracing the Development of expressing Language by Systems of Markings

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by dimosthenis vasiloudis

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Protowriting, ideographic systems, or early mnemonic symbols came before more advanced writing systems in the evolution of writing in human societies (symbols or letters that make remembering them easier).

A subsequent development is true writing, in which the content of a spoken language is encoded so that another reader may reasonably reconstruct the identical utterance written down. It differs from proto-writing, which frequently forgoes recording grammatical words and affixes, making it harder or even impossible to reassemble the precise meaning intended by the writer unless a substantial amount of context is already known in advance.

Writing innovations

The idea that writing originated in a single civilization and was called "monogenesis" persisted for a long time. According to academics, all writing originated in Mesopotamia's ancient Sumer and spread around the world as a result of cultural diffusion. This argument holds that traders or merchants traveling between geographical locations passed on the idea of representing language by written signs, though perhaps not necessarily the specifics of how such a system operated.

The finding of ancient Mesoamerican scripts, far from Middle Eastern sources, demonstrated, however, that writing had been created more than once. In at least four ancient civilizations, including Mesopotamia (between 3400 and 3100 BCE), Egypt (about 3250 BCE), China (1200 BCE), and lowland portions of southern Mexico and Guatemala, writing may have independently originated (by 500 BCE).

Some academics have suggested that ancient Egypt "The earliest authentic examples of Egyptian writing differ from Mesopotamian writing in both structure and style, indicating that they must have emerged independently. Although there is still a chance that Mesopotamian "stimulus dispersion" occurred, the influence could not have extended beyond the dissemination of an idea."

Because there is no evidence of communication between ancient China and the Near Eastern literate civilizations, as well as because Mesopotamian and Chinese approaches to phonetic representation differ, it is thought that ancient Chinese characters are independent creations.

The Vinča symbols.

The Rongorongo script of Easter Island, the Vina symbols from about 5500 BCE, and the Indus script of the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilization are all controversial. Since none have been translated, it is unclear if they all represent real writing, protowriting, or something entirely different.

The earliest coherent texts date from around 2600 BCE, and Sumerian archaic (pre-cuneiform) writing and Egyptian hieroglyphs are usually regarded as the earliest authentic writing systems. Both developed out of their ancestors' proto-literate symbol systems between 3400 and 3100 BCE. The Proto-Elamite script belongs to roughly the same time frame.

writing methods

Writing systems are distinct from symbolic communication systems. For most writing systems, reading a text requires some knowledge of the spoken language that goes along with it. In contrast, it's not always necessary to have a prior understanding of a spoken language to use symbolic systems like information signs, paintings, maps, and mathematics. Every human group has its own language, which is thought by many to be a natural and essential aspect of mankind.

Writing system development has been intermittent, uneven, and delayed, and old oral communication systems have only been partially replaced. Writing systems generally develop more slowly after they are formed than their spoken counterparts and frequently preserve traits and idioms that have been lost to the spoken language.

Three writing standards are thought to apply to all writing systems. First, writing must be comprehensive; it must have a meaning or purpose, and it must make a point or be able to convey that message. Second, whether they are physical or digital, all writing systems must include some kind of symbol that can be created on a surface. In order to facilitate communication, the writing system's symbols must resemble spoken words or speech.

The greatest advantage of writing is that it gives society a way to regularly and thoroughly preserve information—something that the spoken word could not previously do as successfully. Writing enables communities to communicate knowledge, transmit information, and

stages of development

Sumer

An ancient civilization of southern Mesopotamia, is believed to be the place where written language was first invented around 3200 BCE.

Beginning with the Neolithic pottery phase, when clay tokens were used to keep track of particular quantities of animals or other goods, writing first appeared. These tokens were initially imprinted on the exterior of spherical clay envelopes, which were later used to keep them. Afterwards, flat tablets were gradually introduced in place of the tokens, and signs were recorded using a stylus. Towards the end of the fourth millennium BCE, Uruk was where actual writing was first discovered. Other areas of the Near East quickly followed.

The earliest recorded account of the development of writing is found in a poem from ancient Mesopotamia:

The Lord of Kulaba patted some clay and wrote on it like a tablet because the messenger's mouth was heavy and he couldn't repeat the message. It has never been possible to write on clay before.

Enmerkar and the King of Aratta, a Sumerian epic written around 1800 BCE

Although there is agreement among scholars as to the difference between prehistory and the history of early writing, there is disagreement as to when proto-writing became "real writing." The criteria are somewhat arbitrary. In the broadest sense, writing is a way of keeping track of information. It is made up of graphemes, which in turn can be made up of glyphs.

Many centuries of shattered inscriptions typically follow the advent of writing in a particular region. The presence of coherent texts in a culture's writing system is how historians determine a culture's "historicity".

Standard reconstruction of the development of writing. There is a possibility that the Egyptian script was invented independently from the Mesopotamian script.

A conventional "proto-writing to true writing" system follows a general series of developmental stages:

Picture writing system: glyphs (simplified pictures) directly represent objects and concepts. In connection with this, the following substages may be distinguished:

• Mnemonic: glyphs primarily as a reminder.

• Pictographic: glyphs directly represent an object or a concept such as (A) chronological, (B) notices, (C) communications, (D) totems, titles, and names, (E) religious, (F) customs, (G) historical, and (H) biographical.

• Ideographic: graphemes are abstract symbols that directly represent an idea or concept.

Pre-cuneiform tags, with drawing of goat or sheep and number (probably "10"): "Ten goats", Al-Hasakah, 3300–3100 BCE, Uruk culture.

Transitional system: graphemes refer not only to the object or idea that it represents but to its name as well.

• Phonetic system: graphemes refer to sounds or spoken symbols, and the form of the grapheme is not related to its meanings. This resolves itself into the following substages:

• Verbal: grapheme (logogram) represents a whole word.

• Syllabic: grapheme represents a syllable.

• Alphabetic: grapheme represents an elementary sound.

Designs on some of the labels or token from Abydos, carbon-dated to circa 3400–3200 BC and among the earliest form of writing in Egypt. They are remarkably similar to contemporary clay tags from Uruk, Mesopotamia.

The best known picture writing system of ideographic or early mnemonic symbols are:

• Jiahu symbols, carved on tortoise shells in Jiahu, c. 6600 BCE

• Vinča symbols (Tărtăria tablets), c. 5300 BCE[24]

• Early Indus script, c. 3100 BCE

In the Old World, true writing systems developed from neolithic writing in the Early Bronze Age (4th millennium BC).

Locations and timeframes

Comparative evolution

from pictograms to abstract shapes, in Mesopotamian cuneiforms, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Chinese characters

Proto-writing

The first writing systems of the Early Bronze Age were not a sudden invention. Rather, they were a development based on earlier traditions of symbol systems that cannot be classified as proper writing, but have many of the characteristics of writing. These systems may be described as "proto-writing". They used ideographic or early mnemonic symbols to convey information, but it probably directly contained no natural language. These systems emerged in the early Neolithic period, as early as the 7th millennium BC, and include:

• The Jiahu symbols found carved in tortoise shells in 24 Neolithic graves excavated at Jiahu, Henan province, northern China, with radiocarbon dates from the 7th millennium BCE. Most archaeologists consider these not directly linked to the earliest true writing.

• Vinča symbols, sometimes called the "Danube script", are a set of symbols found on Neolithic era (6th to 5th millennia BCE) artifacts from the Vinča culture of Central Europe and Southeast Europe.

• The Dispilio Tablet of the late 6th millennium may also be an example of proto-writing.

• The Indus script, which from 3500 BCE to 1900 BCE was used for extremely short inscriptions.

The Dispilio Tablet

The Dispilio tablet is a wooden tablet bearing inscribed markings, unearthed during George Hourmouziadis's excavations of Dispilio in Greece, and carbon 14-dated to 5202 (± 123) BC.

It was discovered in 1993 in a Neolithic lakeshore settlement that occupied an artificial island near the modern village of Dispilio on Lake Kastoria in Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece.

Even after the Neolithic, a number of societies used proto-writing as a transitional form before adopting formal writing. Such a mechanism might have existed in the quipu of the Incas (15th century CE), often known as "talking knots". Another example is the pictographs created by Uyaquk before the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language developed the Yugtun syllabary around 1900.

Ancient writing

The Bronze Age saw the development of writing in a wide range of cultures. Indus script, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Cretan hieroglyphs, Chinese logographs, Sumerian cuneiform writing, and the Olmec script of Mesoamerica are a few examples. Around 1600 BCE, the Chinese script most likely evolved apart from the Middle Eastern scripts. It is also generally accepted that the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican writing systems, which include the Olmec and Maya scripts, had separate origins. In 2000 BCE, it is believed that the first real alphabetic writing was created for Hebrew laborers in the Sinai by assigning Semitic values to mostly Egyptian hieratic characters (see History of the alphabet and Proto-Sinaitic alphabet).

Ethiopia's Geez writing system is regarded as Semitic. With roots in the Meroitic Sudanese ideogram system, it is most likely of semi-independent origin. The majority of alphabets used today are either direct descendants of this one invention, many through the Phoenician alphabet, or were designed in direct response to it. The early Old Italic alphabet and Plautus (c. 750–250 BCE) were separated by around 500 years in Italy, while the Elder Futhark inscriptions and early works like the Abrogans (c. 200–750 CE) are separated by a similar amount of time in the case of the Germanic peoples.

Cuneiform writing

The first Sumerian script was derived from a system of clay tokens used to denote different types of goods. This had developed into a system of keeping accounts by the end of the fourth millennium BC, utilizing a stylus with a circular form that was impressed into soft clay at various angles to record numbers. A pointed stylus was used to gradually add pictographic lettering on this to show what was being counted. Writing using a wedge-shaped stylus (hence the name "cuneiform") began to include phonetic features by the 29th century BCE and gradually replaced writing with a round stylus and a sharp stylus by about 2700–2500 BCE.

Cuneiform first started to represent Sumerian syllables around 2600 BCE. Ultimately, cuneiform writing evolved into a general-purpose system for writing numerals, syllables, and logograms. This alphabet was adapted to the Akkadian language starting in the 26th century BCE, and from there to others like Hurrian and Hittite. This writing system resembles Old Persian and Ugaritic scripts in appearance.

Hieroglyphics from Egypt

Literacy was concentrated among a well-educated elite of scribes, who played a crucial role in upholding the Egyptian empire through writing. To become scribes in the employ of temple, royal (pharaonic), and military authority, one had to come from a certain background.

According to Geoffrey Sampson, the general concept of expressing words from a language in writing was likely transmitted to Egypt via Sumerian Mesopotamia. Egyptian hieroglyphs "came into being a little after Sumerian script, and, possibly [were], invented under the influence of the latter." Despite the significance of early Egypt-Mesopotamia links, "no definitive judgment has been established as to the genesis of hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt" due to the lack of direct evidence. However, it is stated and agreed upon that "a very compelling argument can also be made for the independent development of writing in Egypt" and that "the evidence for such direct influence remains fragile."

Egyptian writing does suddenly appear at that time, but Mesopotamia has an evolutionary history of sign usage in tokens dating back to around 8000 BCE. Since the 1990s, discoveries of glyphs at Abydos, dated to between 3400 and 3200 BCE, may challenge the conventional idea that the Mesopotamian symbol system predates the Egyptian one. These glyphs were discovered in tomb U-J at Abydos; they were written on ivory and most likely served as labels for other items discovered there.

Even though he acknowledged that Egypt's geographic location made it a receptacle for many influences, Egyptian scholar Gamal Mokhtar maintained that the inventory of hieroglyphic symbols originated from "fauna and flora used in the signs [which] are essentially African" and that in regards to writing, "we have seen that a purely Nilotic, therefore African origin not only is not excluded, but probably reflects the reality."

Elamite writing

The unintelligible Proto-Elamite writing first appears around 3100 BCE. Around the latter third millennium, it is thought to have evolved into Linear Elamite, which was later supplanted by Elamite Cuneiform, which was adapted from Akkadian.

Indus script

Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not these symbols constituted a writing system used to record the as yet unidentified language(s) of the Indus Valley civilisation.

The Indus script has been assigned to markings and symbols discovered at numerous Indus Valley civilization sites due to the hypothesis that they were used to transcribe the Harappan language. It is disputed whether the script, which was in use from roughly 3500 to 1900 BCE, is a Bronze Age writing script (logographic-syllabic) or merely proto-writing symbols. According to analysis, it was written in boustrophedon or from right to left.

early SEMITIC ALPHABETS

Around 1800 BCE in Ancient Egypt, the first "abjads," which mapped individual symbols to individual phonemes but not necessarily each phoneme to a symbol, appeared as a representation of the language created there by Semitic workers. However, by that time, alphabetic principles had only a remote chance of being ingrained into Egyptian hieroglyphs for upwards of a millennium.

Did the Proto-Canaanite alphabet take its symbols independently of the hieroglyphs?

It is only until the end of the Bronze Age that the Proto-Sinaitic script separates into the Proto-Canaanite alphabet (c. 1400 BCE), Byblos syllabary, and the South Arabian alphabet (c. 1200 BCE). These early abjads remained of minor significance for several decades. The untranslated Byblos syllabary most likely had some influence on the Proto-Canaanite, which in turn provided inspiration for the Ugaritic alphabet (c. 1300 BCE).

Anatolian hieroglyphs

The Luwian language was written down using Anatolian hieroglyphs, a native hieroglyphic script found in western Anatolia. Around the fourteenth century BCE, it initially appeared on royal seals of the Luwians.

Chinese characters

The corpus of inscriptions on oracle bones and brass from the late Shang dynasty is the earliest authenticated example of the Chinese script that has been found so far. The oldest of these is believed to date from about 1200 BCE.

There have been recent finds of tortoise-shell carvings from around 6000 BCE, such as Jiahu Script and Banpo Script, but it is debatable whether or not the carvings are complex enough to be considered writing. 3,172 cliff carvings from the period between 6000 and 5000 BCE have been found near Damaidi in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. They contain 8,453 different characters, including images of the sun, moon, stars, gods, and scenes of grazing or hunting.

Replica

of ancient Chinese script on an oracle turtle shell

These pictographs are thought to resemble the first Chinese characters that have been confirmed to be written. Writing in China would predate Mesopotamian cuneiform, traditionally recognized as the first manifestation of writing, by about 2,000 years if it were to be considered a written language. However, it is more likely that the inscriptions represent a type of proto-writing, comparable to the modern European Vinca script.

Early Greek and Cretan scripts

Cretan relics include hieroglyphic writing (early-to-mid-2nd millennium BCE, MM I to MM III, overlapping with Linear A from MM IIA at the earliest). The Mycenaean Greek writing system, Linear B, has been decoded, but Linear A has not yet been. The three overlapping, but distinct, Aegean pre-alphabetic writing systems can be categorized according to their chronological order and geographic distribution as follows:

• Cretan Hieroglyphic / Crete (eastward from the Knossos-Phaistos axis) / c. 2100−1700 BCE

• Linear A / Crete (except extreme southwest), Aegean Islands (Kea, Kythera, Melos, Thera), Greek mainland (Laconia) and west Minor Asia (Miletus and maybe Troy) / c. 1800−1450 BCE

• Linear B / Crete (Knossos), and mainland (Pylos, Mycenae, Thebes, Tiryns) / c. 1450−1200 BCE

The archaeological finds with signs of pre-alphabetic scripts in the Aegean

(Up) The finds with signs of Linear B script reach about 6,000 and constitute the majority of the pre-alphabetic written monuments of the Aegean.

(Middle) About 1,400 are the finds which imprint Linear A and make up a 11% of all pre-alphabetic inscriptions.

(Down) Cretan hieroglyphics occupies 2% of the available finds with only 400 finds.

Illustration: Dimosthenis Vasiloudis

Mesoamerica

The Cascajal Block, a stone slab with 3,000-year-old writing that predates the first Zapotec writing from around 500 BCE, was found in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is an example of the oldest script in the Western Hemisphere.

Stela 12 and 13

from the southern end of Building L, in the Zapotec city of Monte Albán, Outside of Oaxaca, Mexico.

The Maya script is one of numerous pre-Columbian scripts found in Mesoamerica, and it appears to have been the most well-developed and extensively deciphered. The earliest clearly identifiable Maya inscriptions date to the third century BCE, and writing continued to be used until just before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century BCE. A combination of logograms and syllabic symbols, utilized in Maya writing, is somewhat reminiscent of current Japanese writing.

IRON AGE WRITING

The Proto-Canaanite alphabet, which was used into the Iron Age, is all that the Phoenician alphabet is (conventionally taken from a cut-off date of 1050 BCE). The Greek and Aramaic alphabets were derived from this alphabet. They eventually gave rise to the writing systems that are currently used everywhere, from Western Asia to Africa and Europe. The Greek alphabet, on the other hand, was the first to use specific symbols to represent vowel sounds.

By Matt Baker

In the first centuries of the Common Era, the Greek and Latin alphabets gave rise to a number of European scripts, including the Runes, Gothic, and Cyrillic alphabets, while the Aramaic alphabet developed into the Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac abjads, the latter of which spread as far as Mongolian script. The Ge'ez abugida originated from the South Arabian alphabet. According to some academics, the Indian Brahmic family also descended from the Aramaic alphabet.

GRAKLIANI HILL WRITING

At Georgia's Grakliani Hill, behind a fallen altar from a temple dedicated to a fertility goddess from the seventh century BCE, an obscure script was uncovered in 2015. Grakliani's other temples' inscriptions, which depict animals, people, or decorative features, are different from these ones. Although its letters are rumored to be connected to ancient Greek and Aramaic, the script has no similarities to any known alphabet. In contrast, the earliest Armenian and Georgian letters come from the fifth century CE, right after the respective nations converted to Christianity. The inscription looks to be the oldest local alphabet ever uncovered in the entire Caucasus region. An portion of the inscription measuring 31 by 3 inches had been unearthed by September 2015.

Grakliani script on the basement of altar of goddess of fertility (XI-X c. BC)

Vakhtang Licheli, director of the State University's Institute of Archaeology, claims that "The writings on the temple's two altars have been kept in remarkably good condition. While the pedestal of the second altar is entirely covered with writings, the first altar has few clay letters carved into it." Unpaid students made the discovery. Inscriptions from Grakliani Hill were sent to Miami Laboratory in 2016 for beta analytic radiocarbon dating, which revealed that they were created between c. 1005 and c. 950 BCE.

WRITING IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

When the Greeks adopted the Phoenician script for use with their own language in the early eighth century BCE, the history of the Greek alphabet officially began. The Greek and Phoenician alphabets share a lot of similarities in terms of their characters, and both alphabets nowadays are written in the same order. The Phoenician system's adapter(s) added three letters to the conclusion of the series, known as the "supplementals." The Greek alphabet evolved into a number of different forms.

Early Greek alphabet on pottery in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens

One was utilized in southern Italy and west of Athens and is known as Western Greek or Chalcidian. The other variant, known as Eastern Greek, was spoken by the Athenians and in modern-day Turkey before spreading over the rest of the Greek-speaking world. The Greeks initially elected to write like the Phoenicians, from right to left, but subsequently switched to left to right. The lines would then alternately read from left to right, then from right to left, and so on. On occasion, though, the writer would begin the next line where the preceding one ended. Up until the sixth century, this style of writing, called "boustrophedon," mirrored the course of an ox-drawn plough.

Italic scripts and Latin

Cippus Perusinus

Etruscan writing near Perugia, Italy, the precursor of the Latin alphabet

All of the contemporary European scripts have their roots in Greek. The Latin alphabet, named after the Latins, a central Italian people who came to rule Europe with the emergence of Rome, is the most widely used descendant of the Greek script. Around the fifth century BCE, the Etruscan civilization, which employed a multitude of Italic scripts descended from the western Greeks, taught the Romans how to write. The other Old Italic scripts have not survived in very large quantities due to the cultural hegemony of the Roman state, and the Etruscan language is largely extinct.

WRITING DURING THE MIDDLE AGES

Roman rule in Western Europe fell apart, and the Persian Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire became the main centers of literary development. Latin, which was never a major literary language, lost prominence quickly (except within the Roman Catholic Church). Greek and Persian were the two main literary languages, but Syriac and Coptic were also significant.

Arabic quickly became a significant literary language in the area as a result of the development of Islam in the 7th century. Greek's status as a scholarly language soon lost ground to Arabic and Persian. The Turkish and Persian languages now use Arabic script as their principal writing system. The development of the cursive scripts for Greek, the Slavic languages, Latin, and other languages was also greatly inspired by this script.

The Hindu-Arabic numeral system was also extended throughout Europe thanks to the Arabic language. The modern Spanish city of Cordoba had emerged as one of the world's leading intellectual hubs by the start of the second millennium and was home to the largest library at the time. Its location at the meeting point of the Islamic and Western Christian worlds encouraged intellectual growth and written exchange between the two cultures.

THE MODERN ERA AND THE RENAISSANCE

By the 14th century, Western Europe had experienced a renaissance, which had temporarily increased the significance of Greek while slowly restoring Latin's status as an important literary language. In Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, a comparable but smaller emergence took place. As the Islamic Golden Era came to an end, Arabic and Persian also started to slowly lose ground. In order to codify the phonologies of the various languages, the Latin alphabet underwent several alterations as a result of the rebirth of literary development in Western Europe.

Writing has undergone steady change throughout history, in large part because of the emergence of new technologies. Technology advancements such as the printing press, computer, mobile phone, and pen have all changed how and what is written as well as the medium in which it is generated. Characters can now be generated with a button press rather than a hand motion, especially with the development of digital technology like the computer and the smartphone.

Eugenics Program in Ancient Sparta and the Unexpected Results

Ancient Sparta was a world leader in genetics research. Their program focused on improving the genetic quality of the Spartan population. What do you know about it?

The topic of eugenics has always been a controversial one and has drawn many critics. However, there is no doubt that it was significant in the development of Sparta. Let us look at the history of Eugenics in Sparta, the role it played in their society, and why it has remained such a contentious topic for so long.

WHAT WAS THE EUGENICS PROGRAM IN ANCIENT SPARTA?

Many Creek culture fans are curious about the brave heroes and want to know where their strength and power came from. It is where the eugenics program comes into play.

Eugenics is the study of how to improve the human race through artificial selection. It is an attempt to rid society of deformed or deformed individuals. Many nations have been doing it for a long time. The most famous example is ancient Sparta, where children who deviated from the norm were thrown into the abyss.

The eugenics program in ancient Sparta was a scheme designed to improve the genetic makeup of the Spartan population. It aimed to do this by selecting and breeding high-quality citizens while culling the population of lower-quality individuals.

The main principle behind the eugenics program was that people should be selected for their ability rather than their gene pool. This meant that people who were weak or unfit could be eliminated from the population without any feelings of guilt or regret. The goal was to create a society where only the best and strongest would survive and thrive.

During that time, it is estimated that around 2000 people were sterilized without their consent or knowledge. The motivations for the program were mainly economic. The Spartans believed that their superior genes would allow them to achieve greater things than other societies.

WHO IS THE FATHER OF EUGENICS IN ANCIENT SPARTA?

The man responsible for the ancient practice of eugenics in Sparta may have been Lycurgus. Lycurgus was a lawgiver and military general who rose to power in the late 8th century BC. As ruler of Sparta, he developed a unique social system that focused on segregation and class separation.

He believed that human beings were essentially different parts of animals, with some people inherently better than others due to their abilities or bloodlines. This ideology led him to implement policies such as forced marriage between members of different classes and strict birth control measures aimed at preventing poverty and inflaming racial tensions within Spartan society. These policies have been seen as precursors to modern-day eugenics movements, which focus on improving the genetic quality (fitness) of populations by reducing undesirable traits or genes.

WHAT WERE THE GOALS OF THE EUGENICS PROGRAM?

The eugenic program in ancient Sparta aimed to improve the population by selecting people who were deemed to be superior and eliminating those who were considered to be inferior. This was done through a variety of methods, including selective breeding, physical exams, and public executions.

The rationale for the eugenic program was based on the belief that those who were superior in various ways (such as intelligence or strength) should have more children than those who were inferior. The program was also intended to prevent the spread of disease and maintain the purity of bloodlines.

Though it is now seen as outdated and unethical, the eugenic program in ancient Sparta played an important role in shaping Spartan society and culture. It helped to create a hierarchical society where those at the top were able to control resources and manipulate the lives of their subjects.

HOW DID THE SPARTANS IMPLEMENT THE EUGENICS PROGRAM?

This program involved selecting elite warriors for breeding and culling the population of undesirable individuals. The process began by assessing each individual's physical capabilities, personality traits, and genetic makeup.

Based on this information, those who were deemed unfit for combat or a risk to society were executed or sent into slavery. In some cases, children who exhibited signs of weakness or defects were killed. However, this practice is thought to have been rarer than commonly believed.

The program was instituted by the ruling caste to maintain power and keep the population under control. The elite warriors were selected for their physical abilities, strength, and aggression.

However, they were also bred for obedience and fortitude. These qualities made them reliable instruments of war or slave labor, providing a source of sustenance and manpower when needed.

EUGENICS PROGRAM IN ANCIENT SPARTA: THE UNEXPECTED RESULTS

The ancient Sparta eugenics program was designed to improve the population by selecting the fittest members for breeding. However, it is now known that this program had many unintended consequences.

1. A REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF WOMEN

The eugenics program in Ancient Sparta was designed to decrease the number of women in the population. The program was based on the belief that women were weaker and less capable than men, and that they were a burden on society.

The eugenics program was created in the 6th century BC by King Leonidas I to improve the population through selective breeding. It involved selecting healthy offspring from among Sparta's citizens and sterilizing or killing those who were deemed unfit for survival. 

The program was controversial from the beginning, and it soon came to be seen as an attack on women as well as on their reproductive rights. Indeed, it is estimated that up to half of all Spartan women may have been sterilized under this program.

2. INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN

It also led to an increase in the number of illegitimate children because it was felt that these children were more likely to be healthy and successful than their legitimate counterparts.

3. IT CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GENETIC DISORDERS AND DISEASES

It may have led to the development of genetic diseases. While the program was designed to create a healthier population, scientists now believe that it may have inadvertently created conditions that allowed for the development of genetic diseases.

It is because the program did not consider the possibility of recessive genes. As a result, individuals with recessive genes were more likely to be born as a result of the program.

4. INCREASED VIOLENCE

The program created a population that was more prone to violence and aggression.

5. STRONGER ANIMALS

It is important to note that Sparta's eugenics program was not limited to humans only. It involved animals as well. By selectively breeding dogs and horses, for example, Sparta was able to create stronger and faster animals that could serve them well in battle.

6. INCREASED DISCRIMINATION

The eugenics program led to serious social consequences, including racism and classism. It provided for creating a system whereby those who were deemed to be inferior were kept in a segregated and poverty-ridden colony on the outskirts of town.

It was done to prevent them from breeding and effectively weakening Sparta's gene pool. Additionally, many people believe that the Eugenic Program ultimately resulted in the genocide of Spartans themselves.

7. SOCIAL INEQUALITY

The results of the program were surprising. While it undoubtedly failed in its goal of improving the quality of Sparta's population, it did result in some interesting side effects. For one, it led to social inequality between the wealthy and poor classes.

The wealthy were able to afford more healthy children and pass down their genes, while the poor were unable to do so and were, therefore, less likely to survive into adulthood. Additionally, it created a sense of superiority among those who were chosen for the program – they felt like they belonged to a select group that was superior to others. This led them to become more devoted to their society and its values.

8. POLITICAL INSTABILITY

The eugenics practice led to political instability, as those with weaker genes were more likely to be inferior in intelligence or other important qualities, making them unsuitable for political leadership or army command.

9. THE DIMINUTION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Eugenics also contributed to the diminution of cultural diversity, resulting from a homogenization of the gene pool caused by selective breeding for desired characteristics only within certain racial or ethnic groups deemed superior by the eugenicists – usually the wealthy elite class (although this has not always been the case).

10. LIMITED GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

In ancient Sparta, there were fewer opportunities for talented individuals due to greater racial or ethnic segregation by gene-based superiority/inferiority complexes among groups of people. Though the program was initially successful, over time it began to have negative consequences.

Firstly, it created a class of elites who had access to many resources that the general population did not. Secondly, it led to a decline in the quality of life for ordinary citizens because there were simply not enough people available to do the jobs that needed doing. Thirdly, it led to increased disputes between the classes because those at the top had more children than they could afford to support.

11. MASS STERILIZATION OF THE POPULATION

The goal of mass sterilization was to reduce the number of births of people with weak genes. As a result, they were less likely to reproduce and pass on their genes to future generations.

12. ELIMINATION OF SOCIAL CLASSES

The program led to the elimination of certain classes of people, primarily the poor and unruly.

13. LOSS OF KNOWLEDGE

Eugenics was controversial from the beginning, with many fearing that it would lead to an increase in discrimination and unfairness. It resulted in a lack of diversity and creativity among the Spartan population and a loss of human knowledge and wisdom.

It caused widespread discrimination against those who were not deemed attractive or strong. It ultimately led to a loss of knowledge about genetics and human evolution. The Spartans were unable to understand or appreciate the natural beauty of their people.

14. IT LED TO THE CREATION OF THE CASTE SYSTEM

The eugenics program in ancient Sparta led to the creation of a caste system that divided society into two groups: the aristocrats and the slaves. This caste system was based on genetics, and it allowed for the segregation of people according to their abilities and genetic traits.

15. IT CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROMOTION OF MANY HEALTH ISSUES

The eugenics program in ancient Sparta resulted in the promotion of unhealthy genes over healthy ones, which ultimately led to the spread of diseases like tuberculosis and cancer. It also had an impact on mental health, as it created feelings of inferiority among those who were deemed unworthy or unqualified for membership in society.

16. LIMITATION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Ancient Sparta prioritized soldier breeding to build the most powerful army. As a result, women's roles in society and rights were marginalized. The program created disparities between men and women because women were largely excluded from participation in society and its affairs.

All things considered, the eugenics program was a failure on many levels – but its surprising results provide people with an interesting perspective on how things can go wrong when people try to improve society using invasive methods.

WHO WERE SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS PARTICIPANTS IN THE EUGENICS PROGRAM IN ANCIENT SPARTA?

The eugenics program in ancient Sparta aimed to improve the human race through selective breeding. Some of the most famous participants in this program included King Leonidas, King Pausanias, and Aristodemus.

These leaders were often quoted as espousing that “All men are created equal” but that some races were better than others. The goal of these leaders was to ensure that bloodlines containing superior genes would be passed down through society while those with inferior genes would be eliminated. This divisive policy led to the mistreatment and even death of many people who did not fit into the elite mold established by these powerful officials.

WHAT ARE THE CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING THE EUGENICS PROGRAM IN ANCIENT SPARTA?

The eugenics program in ancient Sparta was a controversial policy that aimed to improve the fitness of the population by selecting people for breeding based on their genetic qualities. One of the primary reasons why the eugenics program in ancient Sparta has been so controversial is because it involved coercively removing people from their homes and forcibly transferring them to new locations.

It often resulted in forced sterilization and abortion, which were considered morally wrong by many people at the time. Though the eugenics program in ancient Sparta has been widely condemned for its cruelty, it does have some supporters who argue that it was necessary to prevent genetic degeneration and extinction of the Spartan race. Regardless of its motives, the eugenics program in ancient Sparta undeniably harmed many people who were forcibly transferred and sterilized.

WHAT WERE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF THE PROGRAM?

There are a few long-term effects of this program that are still being felt today. Firstly, it led to the emergence of a select group of extremely powerful Spartans who were able to maintain their power for centuries.

Secondly, it created a sense of superiority among the Spartans, which served as an inspiration for later generations. And lastly, it resulted in the birth of some deformities and diseases that are still present in the territories of former ancient Sparta.

WHAT CAN PEOPLE LEARN FROM ANCIENT SPARTA'S EUGENICS PROGRAM?

While some people may see the program as unethical, many others believe it is responsible for Spartan exceptionalism. It has been argued that the elevated level of fitness and general well-being amongst Spartans is due in part to their harsh selection process which created a select population with unique physical characteristics.

This information can be used today as scientists continue to search for ways to enhance human health through advances in genetic technology both globally and locally within certain areas (such as obesity rates).

This Magnificent Centaur Statue adorns a City in Greece's Magnesia Region

A new roundabout was inaugurated in the city of Volos in Greece.

The hub, in addition to its utilitarian function, has also an artistic imprint, since it houses the symbol of Pelion, the mythical Centaur, in an impressive sculpture.

Centaurs are creatures of Greek mythology, possibly as an idealized representation of the intense weather phenomena that follow by observing the speed of the clouds.

In history and art, the Centaurs have an anthropomorphic depiction, with a human upper body and an animal (equine) lower body. As idiosyncrasies, however, it seems that they were not sufficiently balanced and are presented as primitive species, which owed more to their animal nature than to their human heritage.

The myth places them in Pelion, the preeminent magical land of the Greek territory with rich evidence of meteorological observation that thus provided a handle for the famous witches. Thus their mythological presence in Thessalian land begins with a native king of the Lapiths.

Etymology

The Greek word kentauros is generally regarded as being of obscure origin. The etymology from ken + tauros, 'piercing bull', was a euhemerist suggestion in Palaephatus' rationalizing text on Greek mythology, On Incredible Tales (Περὶ ἀπίστων), which included mounted archers from a village called Nephele eliminating a herd of bulls that were the scourge of Ixion's kingdom. Another possible related etymology can be "bull-slayer".

Creation of centaurs

The centaurs were usually said to have been born of Ixion and Nephele. As the story goes, Nephele was a cloud made into the likeness of Hera in a plot to trick Ixion into revealing his lust for Hera to Zeus. Ixion seduced Nephele and from that relationship centaurs were created.

Another version, however, makes them children of Centaurus, a man who mated with the Magnesian mares. Centaurus was either himself the son of Ixion and Nephele (inserting an additional generation) or of Apollo and the nymph Stilbe. In the latter version of the story, Centaurus's twin brother was Lapithes, ancestor of the Lapiths.

Another tribe of centaurs was said to have lived on Cyprus. According to Nonnus, they were fathered by Zeus, who, in frustration after Aphrodite had eluded him, spilled his seed on the ground of that land. Unlike those of mainland Greece, the Cyprian centaurs were horned.

There were also the Lamian Pheres, twelve rustic daimones (spirits) of the Lamos river. They were set by Zeus to guard the infant Dionysos, protecting him from the machinations of Hera, but the enraged goddess transformed them into ox-horned Centaurs. The Lamian Pheres later accompanied Dionysos in his campaign against the Indians.

The centaur's half-human, half-horse composition has led many writers to treat them as liminal beings, caught between the two natures they embody in contrasting myths; they are both the embodiment of untamed nature, as in their battle with the Lapiths (their kin), and conversely, teachers like Chiron.

Centauromachy, tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, c. 480 BC,

Foundry Painter - User:Bibi Saint-Pol, own work, 2007-02-10

Centauromachy

The Centaurs are best known for their fight with the Lapiths who, according to one origin myth, would have been cousins to the centaurs. The battle, called the Centauromachy, was caused by the centaurs' attempt to carry off Hippodamia and the rest of the Lapith women on the day of Hippodamia's marriage to Pirithous, who was the king of the Lapithae and a son of Ixion.

Theseus, a hero and founder of cities, who happened to be present, threw the balance in favour of the Lapiths by assisting Pirithous in the battle. The Centaurs were driven off or destroyed. Another Lapith hero, Caeneus, who was invulnerable to weapons, was beaten into the earth by Centaurs wielding rocks and the branches of trees.

In her article "The Centaur: Its History and Meaning in Human Culture," Elizabeth Lawrence claims that the contests between the centaurs and the Lapiths typify the struggle between civilization and barbarism.

The Mykonos Vase: This is the Oldest Depiction of the Trojan Horse

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By Dimosthenis Vasiloudis

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"Mykonos Vase" Reveals Earliest Known Representation of the Trojan Horse

Discovered in 1961 on the Greek island of Mykonos by a local resident who unearthed it alongside human remains, the Mykonos vase, a large pithos, stands as one of the earliest artistic interpretations of the Trojan Horse narrative from Homer’s Iliad. This remarkable artifact is not just a centerpiece of the island's Archaeological Museum but a pivotal piece of Archaic period art, dating back to circa 670 BC.

Artistic Depiction on the Vase

The vase’s design is divided into distinct segments, with the uppermost section capturing the iconic Trojan Horse encircled by Greek warriors, identifiable by their characteristic rounded shields and spears, peeking from the horse’s portholes. Below this, three rows of metopes depict poised figures, hinting at an impending battle, while the bottom of the vase remains unadorned.

The artistic rendition on the pithos is formulaic; the warriors are depicted with their heads and legs extending from behind their shields. Unlike those portrayed in the upper metopes, the warriors on the main body of the pithos appear without shields, engaging directly with defenseless Trojan women and children, depicted with expressive gestures and thick tresses.

Mykonos vase, relief pithos, capture of Troy, 670 BC, AM Mykonos

Symbolism and Interpretation

This vase uniquely illustrates the sack of Troy by focusing on the deceptive Trojan Horse and the ensuing massacre. Unlike typical battle scenes, there are no Trojan warriors depicted—only vulnerable women and children—suggesting a critique of the Greeks’ merciless tactics. The separation of scenes into slaughter and deception emphasizes the brutality of the sack away from the battlefield’s front lines.

Noteworthy are three isolated figures in the central metopes: a warrior drawing his sword, a woman clasping her hands in despair, and a fallen warrior beside his shield. These solitary figures underscore the personal toll of the conflict, highlighting individual suffering amidst widespread violence. The central dead warrior, whether Greek or Trojan, symbolizes the universal futility and devastation of war.

The relief pithos from Mykonos, restored from fragments after the excavators accidentally broke it. Some parts are missing. The vessel had been used as a burial pithos for human bones. It is 1.34m tall and dates to around 675 BC.

Thematic Depth

The layout of the Mykonos vase suggests a complex narrative, resisting a straightforward chronological narrative and challenging the viewer’s perspective by juxtaposing the internal view from the horse’s portholes with the external havoc. This artistic strategy not only draws the viewer into the Trojan experience but also evokes a deeper empathy for the victims, reflecting on the tragic consequences of the Trojan war beyond the legendary deceit that precipitated it.

Through its detailed portrayals and symbolic representations, the Mykonos vase offers more than an archaeological curiosity; it provides a profound commentary on the nature of human conflict, the deceit that can precede destruction, and the innocent lives that bear the consequences.