Ancient ashes reveal details of huge volcano

http://www.euronews.com/ ^ | 6/4/18

[BBell]

Archaeologists have discovered ashes from one of the biggest ever volcanic eruptions in recorded history.

Excavations in Turkey’s ancient city of Smyrna, now located in Izmir, have revealed details from a Minoan eruption that took place some 3,600 years ago.

Smyrna was established about 5,000 years ago by the Greek tribe of Aeolians and later inhabited by Ionians.

It was mostly abandoned after it was captured by the Anatolian kingdom of Lydia in the 6th century B.C.

Archaeologists say the ashes will tell them a lot about the history.

“Now that we have identified those ashes with a more extensive work here, we are making an historical record of them,” said Professor Cumhur Tanrıver, head of the Smyrna excavation team.

“This work will provide an insight for the archaeological community. We will know the history of this eruption and how these eruptions, which affected the fate of the whole Mediterranean, caused the changes in Smyrna.”

Smyrna was an important port city and trade outpost on the coast of the Aegean Sea.

An excavation in the old city of Smyrna was launched in 2007 and has uncovered various important findings since then, the latest being these ashes.

About 100 people, including academics and experts from Turkey and abroad, are taking part in the Smyrna excavation.

[BBell]

1:24 video at link.

I guess volcanoes have always been around and wreaking havoc...

[Red Badger]

Hmmmmm........Wasn’t this about the same time as the Exodus?..................

[grania]

That volcano would explain the parting of the sea, the locusts, and just about everything else in Exodus. There’s been speculation about that since at least the late 1960s. There’s also been speculation that the destroyed city was Atlantis. Other speculation involves all of those legends of sailors who spread their culture when they had no home to return to.

[Zathras]

Probably too far away from Egypt.
Common thought it was Exodus stories-scripture revolved around the Santorini explosion.

[Red Badger]

Then maybe Sodom & Gomorrah?......................

[CtBigPat]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini

Same time period.

[Ancesthntr]

According to some, the Exodus was about 3,300 years ago. Others put it circa 1446 BCE, which is 3,464 years ago.

[Mr. K]

What it Krakatoa that exploded with such force that people 20 miles away were knocked unconscious and woke up deaf from ruptured eardrums?

[Rurudyne]

There is a clay tablet recovered from an archive that has been interpreted to be an ancient sage’s eye witness account of an meteor passing overhead.

Based on the star position data on the tablet the time of the even is close to that of S&G.

Moreover, the path indicated of the object would have it strike in the Alps and it has been suggested that the ejects plume would travel back along the path of the rock and land on the area devestated.

[JohnBovenmyer]

This ash was from that Santorini eruption according to this. I hope this will Improve dating and sizing of that eruption as current knowledge left big historical questions unresolved.

[elbook]

not the biggest news in the world — would have been bigger if they HADNT found the evidence.

from Thera/Santorini ? Perhaps evidence of a Tsunami mightve been better

[PGalt]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

(ping)

[PGalt]

https://www.google.com/search?q=Smyrna&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=ax9zObMC2HJyVM%253A%252CHofVzfLrKHEQ0M%252C_&usg=__mxkdLQUktUEAVreWgMYJe2fEEYY%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigtL_b0brbAhULjlQKHR_YDNAQ_h0IhwIwGQ#imgrc=ax9zObMC2HJyVM:

[SunkenCiv]

a llnk for me for later.

Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions
By Ronald H. Fritze
https://books.google.com/books/about/Invented_Knowledge.html?id=l2BrqdFg5AkC

[SunkenCiv]

I bought this book in May 2004. Zangger discusses the long history (circa 1885, much earlier than I'd thought) of the "Thera was Atlantis" idea, and beginning on page 44 cuts it to ribbons. It should be noted that Zangger has his own book about what was and wasn't Atlantis. ;') Check out pp 48-49 for a summary of the problems with the idea, and an amusing catalog of other things attributed to the eruption.

"Even when, during the respective Thera Conferences, individual scientists had pointed out that the magnitude and significance of the Thera eruption must be estimated as less than previously thought, the conferences acted to strengthen the original hypothesis. The individual experts believed that the arguments advanced by their colleagues were sound, and that the facts of a natural catastrophe were not in doubt... All three factors reflect a fantasy world rather than cool detachment, which is why it so difficult to refute the theory with rational arguments." -- Eberhard Zangger, "The Future of the Past: Archaeology in the 21st Century", pp 49-50.

The Future of the Past Archaeology in the 21st Century by Eberhard Zangger

[SunkenCiv]

My guess is, the ash hasn't been analyzed to determine its origin, and when it finally is (probably years or even decades from now) it will be shown to NOT match Thera's.

---

join or quit view topics view or post blog bookmark post new topic subscribe

---

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks PGalt.

[SunkenCiv]

[snip] Tanr?ver said, adding that the ashes have been tested at the Geography Department of Ege University. Tanr?ver noted that the volcanic explosion in Santorini spread ashes in the region and triggered tsunamis throughout the Aegean, causing the Minoan civilization in Crete to collapse. “Once the ashes are examined, they will provide us the opportunity to see what changes the explosion caused in Smyrna and how it affected the people their culture. It will be an indicator like a touchstone. We will also be able to chronologically rank some events in Smyrna that for which could not set an exact date before,” he said. [/snip]

https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2018/06/03/ashes-from-santorinis-minoan-eruption-found-in-smyrna-excavation

(note the near-complete lack of detail about the ash)

In 2012, some details about the excavations up to that time don’t mention the ash:

https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/smyrna-5/

In 2015, ditto:

https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2015/01/smyrna-agora-excavation-perimeter.html

In 2016, still nothing about the ash, but assurances that the site would soon be open to tourists. It is again mentioned that the latest finds are from classical Greek times, which by the conventional dating scheme is up to 900 years after the supposed supereruption of Thera:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-smyrna-to-complete-ring-of-history-105702

[SunkenCiv]

The BAR page on Thera etc:

https://members.bib-arch.org/biblical-archaeology-review/17/1/10

[SunkenCiv]

One of *those* topics.

---

join or quit view topics view or post blog bookmark post new topic subscribe

---