Replies

Gods, Graves, Glyphs -- Weekly Digest #11

PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis

Data: Columbus Might Be Buried in Spain ^

Posted by wagglebee
On General/Chat ^ 10/02/2004 12:33:39 PM PDT · 4 replies · 26+ views

My Way News | 10/01/04 | DANIEL WOOLLS/AP
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Researchers studying DNA from 500-year-old bone slivers said Friday that preliminary data suggests Christopher Columbus might be buried in Spain, rather than in a rival tomb in the Dominican Republic - but for now they cannot be sure. The team insisted it had reached no conclusion and more research was needed. But it said some DNA samples taken from bones that Spain says are the explorer's matched DNA from a body widely believed to be that of his brother, Diego. Both were unearthed in Seville over the past two years as part of a pioneering experiment...

Measure could block Kennewick Man study ^

Posted by Bernard Marx
On News/Activism ^ 10/01/2004 7:12:56 PM PDT · 55 replies · 511+ views

Seattle Post Intelligencer via AP | October 1, 2004 | Matthew Daly
WASHINGTON -- Scientists hoping to study the ancient skeleton known as Kennewick Man are protesting a bill by Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell that they say could block their efforts. A two-word amendment would change an Indian graves-protection law to allow federally recognized tribes to claim ancient remains even if they cannot prove a link to a current tribe. Scientists say the bill, if enacted, could have the effect of overturning a federal appeals court ruling that allowed them to study the 9,300-year- old bones.

Ancient Middle East

Flame of the Ancient Faith Still Flickers in Iran ^

Posted by freedom44
On News/Activism ^ 07/15/2004 10:58:24 PM PDT · 17 replies · 275+ views

Yahoo! | 7/15/04 | Christian Oliver
CHAK CHAK, Iran (Reuters) - Zoroastrians say the sacred spring at Chak Chak, a shrine perched beneath a towering cliff face in the searing desert of central Iran, has lost none of its miraculous healing powers. "A 32-year-old Muslim came here as a last resort when he was dying from leukemia. I was not sure we should let a Muslim in but he insisted and spent the night here," said Goshtasb Belivani, a priest of Iran's ancient pre-Islamic religion. "During the night he was visited by a beautiful woman dressed in green who gave him sherbet to drink," he continued....

High-tech review confirms pedigree of early Bible source ^

Posted by PetroniusMaximus
On Religion ^ 09/28/2004 11:22:59 PM PDT · 21 replies · 278+ views

The Denver Post | September 28, 2004 | John Noble Wilford
High-tech review confirms pedigree of early Bible source.The words are among the most familiar and ecumenical in the liturgies of Judaism and Christianity. At the close of a worship service, the rabbi, priest or pastor delivers, with o!=nly slight variations, the comforting and fortifying benediction: "May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace."An archaeological discovery in 1979 revealed that the Priestly Benediction, as the verse from Numbers 6:24-26 is called, appeared to...

Solving a Riddle Written in Silver ^

Posted by 68skylark
On News/Activism ^ 09/27/2004 9:26:45 PM PDT · 23 replies · 757+ views

New York Times | September 28, 2004 | JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
The words are among the most familiar and ecumenical in the liturgies of Judaism and Christianity. At the close of a worship service, the rabbi, priest or pastor delivers, with only slight variations, the comforting and fortifying benediction: "May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace." An archaeological discovery in 1979 revealed that the Priestly Benediction, as the verse from Numbers 6:24-26 is called, appeared to be the earliest biblical passage ever...

Catastrophism and Astronomy

Explosions in the Sky: Supernovae Imminent? ^

Posted by cogitator
On News/Activism ^ 10/01/2004 12:59:05 PM PDT · 133 replies · 3,607+ views

SpaceRef | 09/30/2004 | NASA
After a Trio of Explosions Scientists say Supernova is ImminentThree powerful recent blasts from three wholly different regions in space have left scientists scrambling. The blasts, which lasted only a few seconds, might be early alert systems for star explosions called supernovae, which could start appearing any day. The first two blasts, called X-ray flashes, occurred on September 12 and 16. These were followed by a more powerful burst on September 24. The burst seems to be on the cusp between an X-ray flash and a full-fledged gamma ray burst, a discovery interesting in its own right. If these signals...

Recently Discovered Near-Earth Asteroid Makes Record-breaking Approach to Earth ^

Posted by BenLurkin
On General/Chat ^ 03/17/2004 10:05:44 PM PST · 15 replies · 144+ views

NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office | Wednesday, March 17, 2004 | Steven R. Chesley
A small near-Earth asteroid (NEA), discovered Monday night by the NASA-funded LINEAR asteroid survey, will make the closest approach to Earth ever recorded. There is no danger of a collision with the Earth during this encounter. The object, designated 2004 FH, is roughly 30 meters (100 feet) in diameter and will pass just 43,000 km (26,500 miles, or about 3.4 Earth diameters) above the Earth's surface on March 18th at 5:08 PM EST (2:08 PM PST, 22:08 UTC). (Close approach details here). On average, objects about the size of 2004 FH pass within this distance roughly once every two years,...

Modern History

Lucky Break: Study Finds Lewis and Clark Could Have Met Dire Weather ^

Posted by shotokan
On General/Chat ^ 09/30/2004 1:30:58 PM PDT · 18 replies · 128+ views

ABC News | Sept. 29, 2004 | Lee Dye
Sept. 29, 2004 ó If Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had set off on their historic expedition across what is now the northwestern United States a few years earlier, or a couple of years later, the dream of then-President Thomas Jefferson might have turned into a nightmare. The success of that venture contributed to the expansion of the West, based largely on glowing reports of lush, fertile regions where wildlife was abundant. But according to new research, Lewis and Clark were extraordinarily lucky. Unbeknownst to them, they had hit a narrow "window of opportunity" which created favorable images of the...

Epigraphy and Language

Phyrrus ^

Posted by Jason Kauppinen
On General/Chat ^ 09/26/2004 1:59:53 AM PDT · 6 replies · 117+ views

Phyrrus of Epirus, Phyrric How does one pronounce Phyrrus and Phyrric is it PIE-rus, PYRE-rus, FEAR-rus...???

Origins and Prehistory

Human populations are tightly interwoven ^

Posted by AZLiberty
On General/Chat ^ 09/30/2004 11:17:34 AM PDT · 19 replies · 157+ views

Nature | September 29, 2004 | Michael Hopkin
The most recent common ancestor of all humanity lived just a few thousand years ago, according to a computer model of our family tree. Researchers have calculated that the mystery person, from whom everyone alive today is directly descended, probably lived around 1,500 BC in eastern Asia. Douglas Rohde of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and his colleagues devised the computer program to simulate the migration and breeding of humans across the world. By estimating how different groups intermingle, the researchers built up a picture of how tightly the world's ancestral lines are linked. The figure of 1,500...

Retracing the footprints of time ^

Posted by SunkenCiv
On General/Chat ^ 09/30/2004 7:56:25 AM PDT · 4 replies · 75+ views

Alberta Report (via Web Archive) | September 9, 1996 | Steve Sandford
In an otherwise unremarkable gravel bluff on the banks of the Bow River in Calgary, University of Alberta researchers Jiri Chlachula and Alan Bryan believe they have unearthed the remains of what could be the oldest human artifacts in North America, the pair announced this month. If substantiated, the discovery pushes back the known date of human settlement in North America by several thousand years. Other earth scientists are sceptical about the find's authenticity: U of A geomorphologist Rob Young describes it as "based only on pure speculation." ...Comments Prof. Young: "Any dude could have put that rock there."

The Olympics

Ancient Games were pagan entertainment package ^

Posted by presidio9
On News/Activism ^ 07/23/2004 6:33:12 AM PDT · 11 replies · 690+ views

Reuters | Fri 23 July | Paul Majendie
From spectacular chariot races to bloody wrestling bouts, the Ancient Olympics offered the ultimate pagan entertainment package. Competitors had to swear an oath on a slice of boar's meat that they had not used magic to boost their performances. Runners making a false start were thrashed by the official whip bearer. Wrestlers could tear out their opponent's intestines -- but eye-gouging was banned. Prostitutes made a year's wages in five days at the Greek spectacular. Married women were forbidden to attend the GamesA where all athletes performed naked. That gave writer Tony Perrottet the perfect title for his entertaining look...

Ancient Greeks' Olympics Didn't Start Out In The Nude ^

Posted by harrycarey
On News/Activism ^ 08/19/2004 8:16:49 AM PDT · 15 replies · 500+ views

AP | 8/19/04
Ancient Greeks' Olympics Didn't Start Out In The Nude POSTED: 8:23 am EDT August 19, 2004 UPDATED: 11:10 am EDT August 19, 2004 ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece -- The ancient Greeks may have been famous for competing in the nude. But they apparently didn't start out that way. Historian Lamros Lambracos says the earliest runners wore little skirts. In one race, he says, a runner lost his skirt and won the race. That ushered in the era of naked Olympics, he said. Lambracos, who has taught at New York University and the University of Athens, worked as a volunteer at the...

In ancient Greece, nudity was Olympic Games' great equalizer ^

Posted by MikalM
On News/Activism ^ 07/30/2004 6:18:16 PM PDT · 26 replies · 2,668+ views

San Francisco Chronicle | 7/30/04 | Charles Burress
Imagine Plato, a noted fan of ancient Greek athletics, providing color commentary for the upcoming Olympic Games: "Why in Zeus' name are they wearing clothes?" he might ask. The Olympics are returning to their original home in Greece next month but not to their original dress code. "This may be the most obvious and striking difference between today's athletes and the ancient Greeks," UC Berkeley archaeologist Stephen Miller says in "Ancient Greek Athletics," his new book on the ancient games. So embedded was competing in the nude that our word gymnasium comes from the Greek gymnos for "naked," Miller notes...

end of digest #11

Gods, Graves, Glyphs -- Weekly Digest #12

Ancient Egypt

Abydos Royal Enclosures

Posted by SunkenCiv
On Bloggers & Personal 10/04/2004 6:52:20 AM PDT · 1 reply · 74+ views

Francesco Raffaele | March, 4-7, 2003 | Francesco Raffaele
Another important discovery by David O'Connor was the fleet of 14 boats found out of the E side of the Shunet ez-Zebib (yet probably earlier in date than it). These were housed in mudbrick casing (white washed) and probably poles/ pennants were inserted in this casing; a boulder perhaps symbolized their anchors. The length of the structures varied from nearly 20 to 27m. In one of the boats seal impressions were found (no royal name, but Early First Dynasty in style) which haven't been published yet.

Quarry, Setting and Team Marks: The Carian Connection

Posted by SunkenCiv
On Bloggers & Personal 10/08/2004 3:20:42 PM PDT · 1 reply · 2+ views

University of Leiden (Netherlands) | 1998 | (about) Sheldon Lee Gosline
In this paper, the author proposes some specific attributions for signs deriving from the Carian or another West-Anatolian script found on in situ blocks from standing walls: quarry, block positioning, or team marks. The proposals are based on data from three distant yet related sites where such marks have been preserved, among which the Khnum temple terrace on Elephantine. In time, however, the quarry marks at Elephantine do not correspond with the other two sites. Therefore, the author proposes that the terrace was built several hundred years earlier than the Graeco-Roman Period to which the terrace is usually dated, or...

Rome and Italy

Emperor Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus)

Posted by SunkenCiv
On Bloggers & Personal 10/08/2004 6:55:02 PM PDT · 2 replies · 38+ views

Illustrated History of the Roman Empire | circa 2000 | various
The Alemanni, Juthungi and Marcomanni invaded the empire in force, before even the Vandals had finished withdrawing. Once more northern Italy had to endure a force of barbarians descending upon it from the Alps... Aurelian rushed back to... Placentia. But the legions were no match for the barbarians this time and Aurelian suffered a severe defeat (AD 271)... If Aurelian had suffered a setback, he was still far from beaten. The barbarians now made one crucial mistake. In order to cover more ground - and so reap more plunder - they split up their huge army into several smaller forces....

PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis

Early (Ancient) Hair Sample Raises Questions

Posted by blam
On News/Activism 07/14/2004 8:21:37 PM PDT · 28 replies · 999+ views

Indian Country | 726-2000
Early hair sample raises questions Posted: July 26, 2000 - 12:00am EST WOODBURN, Ore. (AP) - Under a small Woodburn city park may lie the answer to who are the earliest Oregonians yet discovered. Scientists have found an ancient strand of hair in Woodburn's Front Street Park - a human hair that may have been left behind before modern American Indians settled in North America a few thousand years ago. The hair, found in a core sample during a June 1999 dig, could be one of the oldest found in the Western United States, said Alison Stenger, director of the...

The Skeleton in Armor

Posted by SunkenCiv
On Bloggers & Personal 10/08/2004 2:29:01 PM PDT · 3 replies · 47+ views

Fall River Police Department / Fall River History | 1883 | History of Bristol County
In the American Monthly Magazine for January, 1836, is a short article on the skeleton, then in the Fall River Athenaeum, portions of which we shall extract, not because the description is faultless, but because it is the account of one J. Stark who examined the remains for the purpose of describing them to the public. With Mr. Stark's speculations accompanying his description we have little concern. More facts and greater reflection would probably have led him to very different conclusions. He describes the skeleton as " the remains of a human body, armed with a breastplate, a species of...

Central Asia

Archeologists Unearth Remains of Genghis Khan's Palace on Mongolian Steppe

Posted by Pharmboy
On News/Activism 10/06/2004 6:04:21 AM PDT · 54 replies · 1,220+ views

Associated Press | Oct 6, 2004 | Audrey McAvoy
TOKYO (AP) - Archaeologists have unearthed the site of Genghis Khan's palace and believe the long-sought grave of the 13th century Mongolian warrior is somewhere nearby, the head of the excavation team said Wednesday. A Japanese and Mongolian research team found the complex on a grassy steppe 150 miles east of the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, said Shinpei Kato, professor emeritus at Tokyo's Kokugakuin University. Genghis Khan (c. 1162-1227) united warring tribes to become leader of the Mongols in 1206. After his death, his descendants expanded his empire until it stretched from China to Hungary. Genghis Khan built the...

Origins and Prehistory

Caveful of Clues About Early Humans: Interbreeding With Neanderthals Among Theories Being Explored

Posted by SunkenCiv
On Bloggers & Personal 10/05/2004 11:59:56 PM PDT · 12 replies · 142+ views

Washington Post | September 20, 2004 | Fredric Heeren
For the seven-member team, the hazards of reaching the site, accessible only by diving through frigid underwater passages, were worth it. Their finds may help answer some of the most hotly debated questions about early humans: Did they make love or war with Neanderthals? Were Neanderthals intellectually inferior to our human ancestors? ...The team included a Portuguese shipwreck diver and archaeologist, a French Neanderthal specialist, a Romanian cave biologist, and the three Romanian adventurers who discovered the human fossils while exploring submerged caves... [T]he ceiling lowered until they were forced, first, to swim on their backs and, finally, don...

New Evidence for Multiregional Origins

Posted by sarcasm
On News/Activism 09/05/2001 5:05:20 PM PDT · 30 replies · 167+ views

Anthropology | Alec Christensen
Part 1: The debate Over recent years, there has been a loud debate within palaeoanthropology over the origins of anatomically modern humans, or AMH. Opinions have polarized into two camps: Multiregional Evolution, or MRE, and Out-of-Africa, or OOA. The former group of anthropologists, including Milford Wolpoff and Loring Brace, argue that ever since members of the genus Homo first spread out of Africa, probably before 1 million years ago (mya), we have all been members of one species. The many different populations of humans were all subject to natural selection, and gradually evolved along similar lines. These different populations may ...

Our Species Mated With Other Human Species, Study Says

Posted by ValerieUSA
On News/Activism 03/06/2002 7:38:41 PM PST · 252 replies · 1,239+ views

National Geographic | March 6, 2002 | Hillary Mayell
A new piece of evidenceóone sure to prove controversialóhas been flung into the human origins debate. A study published March 7 in Nature presents genetic evidence that humans left Africa in at least three waves of migration. It suggests that modern humans (Homo sapiens) interbred with archaic humans (Homo erectus and Neandertals) who had migrated earlier from Africa, rather than displacing them. Ancient Origins In the human origins debate, which has been highly charged for at least 15 years, there is a consensus among scientists that Homo erectus, the precursor to modern humans, originated in Africa and expanded to Eurasia ...

Ten Lost Tribes

Abraham's Chromosomes?

Posted by yonif
On News/Activism 10/03/2004 6:45:44 PM PDT · 49 replies · 1,466+ views

AISH | Sept. 2004 | Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman
According to the written and oral traditions of the three major religions of the Western world, Abraham was a real person who lived in the Middle East nearly 4,000 years ago. According to each respective tradition, he was the first of the Fathers of the Jewish people, fathered the Arab nations and Islam, and laid the conceptual basis for Christianity. Tradition relates that he may have influenced early Eastern religion, as well.Abraham is the first to be called a Hebrew - Ivri -- one who passes over from one side to the other. He received this title because he actually...

British Israelism - an expose

Posted by Destro
On Religion 08/16/2004 11:42:28 PM PDT · 109 replies · 798+ views

David M. Williams' Theological Essays | David M. Williams
British Israelism - an expose OVERVIEW Anglo-Israelism (also known as British Israelism) is the unscriptural theory that Britain and the United States constitutes the 10 lost tribes of Israel who were carried away as captives by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. It is held by the advocates of this view that the Kingdom of Israel (consisting of ten tribes after their separation from the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the days of Rehoboam - I Kings 12:21) never returned to Israel after Assyrian captivity as did Judah and Benjamin after their 70 years' captivity in Babylon. The ten...

Eclipse Brings Claim Of Medieval African Observatory

Posted by blam
On News/Activism 12/04/2002 5:22:25 AM PST · 16 replies · 79+ views

New Scientist | 12-4-2002 | Stuart Clark
Eclipse brings claim of medieval African observatory 12:53 04 December 02 NewScientist.com news service Great Zimbabwe is a controversial site thought to have been a royal residence (Image: Corbis) Viewers of the total solar eclipse in Southern Africa early on Wednesday have also had their eyes opened by second startling event - newly released evidence that a medieval African site was an astronomical observatory. Starting just before 0600 GMT, the shadow of the Moon took 30 minutes to cross Africa from west to east, before heading over the Indian Ocean to make landfall in western Australia around 0900 GMT. In...

India's 'lost Jews' wait in hope

Posted by missyme
On News/Activism 08/19/2004 7:11:00 PM PDT · 597 replies · 3,442+ views

BBC News | August 18th, 2003 | Geeta Pandey
A team of senior Israeli rabbis is due to rule soon on whether thousands of Indians who say they are members of one of the lost tribes of Israel can settle there. Only 5,000 of the Benei Menashes have converted to Judaism Shlomo Amar recently led a delegation of rabbis to the north-eastern Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram where members of the Benei Menashe tribe live and practise Judaism. At the Beith-el Synagogue in the Manipur capital, Imphal, nine men wearing knitted skull caps read silently from the Old Testament. Four others stand on a wooden platform in the...

The Lost Tribes -- Where Are They Today?

Posted by yonif
On News/Activism 09/04/2004 9:19:56 PM PDT · 105 replies · 1,699+ views

OHR | 28 August 2004 | Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman
Regarding your question as to where the Lost Tribes were exiled, we saw in the previous installment that according to our sources they were exiled south to Ethiopia, and East through Syria, Iraq, Iran, and as far as India. [This should not be confused with those Jews who settled these lands much later, after the Exile in Roman times]. In addition, while discussing whether the Tribes will be re-united with the Jewish people in the future (which will be brought in detail in the next installment), Tiferet Israel (Sanhedrin 10:3) mentions that there are remnants of the Tribes living in...

The Ten Lost Tribes: The Case for Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Pakistan

Posted by xzins
On News/Activism 09/24/2001 8:53:22 AM PDT · 89 replies · 1,006+ views

Moshiach.com | current | moshiach.com
What follows is initial evidence that links some people groups in Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Israel. It is thought provoking. HOWEVER, IN POSTING THIS, LET ME ENCOURAGE THE INTERESTED TO GO TO THE WEBSITE AND READ "OVERVIEW" IN WHICH THE CASE AGAINST THE TEN LOST TRIBES IS PRESENTED. Also, note that the "people of the book" as Mohammed called them (Christians or Jews), who converted to Islam, were considered by him to be totally Moslem and totally acceptable. The two sections below deal with Afghanistan and Kashmir. The Ten Lost Tribes: Afghanistan The Bible mentions the city of Medes as one ...

What the Bible Says About Persia and Persians

Posted by freedom44
On General/Chat 02/28/2004 4:16:41 PM PST · 13 replies · 64+ views

Farsinet | 2/28/04 | Farsinet
"In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of The Lord spoken by Jeremiah, The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "The Lord, The God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a Temple [see Temples] for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you - may his God be with him, and let him...

The Middle Ages

The Kadakkarapally Boat: An Ancient Sailing Barge in India

Posted by SunkenCiv
On Bloggers & Personal 10/09/2004 1:35:55 AM PDT · 1 reply

Institute of Nautical Archaeology | 2003 | Ralph K. Pedersen
Two maststeps, one amidships, and one double-socketed in the bow, indicate that this was a sailing barge. Its hull is divided into sections by bulkheads that either served to separate cargo or to stablize it. The bulkheads were not watertight.

The Real History of the Crusades

Posted by dennisw
On News/Activism 11/22/2003 4:23:29 PM PST · 60 replies · 221+ views

crisismagazine | April 1, 2002 | Thomas F. Madden
The Real History of the Crusades By Thomas F. Madden With the possible exception of Umberto Eco, medieval scholars are not used to getting much media attention. We tend to be a quiet lot (except during the annual bacchanalia we call the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan, of all places), poring over musty chronicles and writing dull yet meticulous studies that few will read. Imagine, then, my surprise when within days of the September 11 attacks, the Middle Ages suddenly became relevant. As a Crusade historian, I found the tranquil solitude of the ivory tower shattered by...

Catastrophism and Astronomy

When the Days Were Shorter

Posted by SunkenCiv
On General/Chat 10/04/2004 10:31:59 AM PDT · 10 replies · 116+ views

Alaska Science Forum (Article #742) | November 11, 1985 | Larry Gedney
Present-day nautilus shells almost invariably show thirty daily growth lines (give or take a couple) between the major partitions, or septa, in their shells. Paleontologists find fewer and fewer growth lines between septa in progressively older fossils. 420 million years ago, when the moon circled the earth once every nine days, the very first nautiloids show only nine growth lines between septa. The moon was closer to the earth and revolved about it faster, and the earth itself was rotating faster on its axis than it is now. The day had only twenty-one hours, and the moon loomed enormous in...

end of digest #12 20041009

Gods, Graves, Glyphs -- Weekly Digest #11
PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis
Data: Columbus Might Be Buried in Spain ^
	Posted by wagglebee On General/Chat ^ 10/02/2004 12:33:39 PM PDT · 4 replies · 26+ views My Way News \| 10/01/04 \| DANIEL WOOLLS/AP MADRID, Spain (AP) - Researchers studying DNA from 500-year-old bone slivers said Friday that preliminary data suggests Christopher Columbus might be buried in Spain, rather than in a rival tomb in the Dominican Republic - but for now they cannot be sure. The team insisted it had reached no conclusion and more research was needed. But it said some DNA samples taken from bones that Spain says are the explorer's matched DNA from a body widely believed to be that of his brother, Diego. Both were unearthed in Seville over the past two years as part of a pioneering experiment...

Measure could block Kennewick Man study ^
	Posted by Bernard Marx On News/Activism ^ 10/01/2004 7:12:56 PM PDT · 55 replies · 511+ views Seattle Post Intelligencer via AP \| October 1, 2004 \| Matthew Daly WASHINGTON -- Scientists hoping to study the ancient skeleton known as Kennewick Man are protesting a bill by Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell that they say could block their efforts. A two-word amendment would change an Indian graves-protection law to allow federally recognized tribes to claim ancient remains even if they cannot prove a link to a current tribe. Scientists say the bill, if enacted, could have the effect of overturning a federal appeals court ruling that allowed them to study the 9,300-year- old bones.
Ancient Middle East
Flame of the Ancient Faith Still Flickers in Iran ^
	Posted by freedom44 On News/Activism ^ 07/15/2004 10:58:24 PM PDT · 17 replies · 275+ views Yahoo! \| 7/15/04 \| Christian Oliver CHAK CHAK, Iran (Reuters) - Zoroastrians say the sacred spring at Chak Chak, a shrine perched beneath a towering cliff face in the searing desert of central Iran, has lost none of its miraculous healing powers. "A 32-year-old Muslim came here as a last resort when he was dying from leukemia. I was not sure we should let a Muslim in but he insisted and spent the night here," said Goshtasb Belivani, a priest of Iran's ancient pre-Islamic religion. "During the night he was visited by a beautiful woman dressed in green who gave him sherbet to drink," he continued....

High-tech review confirms pedigree of early Bible source ^
	Posted by PetroniusMaximus On Religion ^ 09/28/2004 11:22:59 PM PDT · 21 replies · 278+ views The Denver Post \| September 28, 2004 \| John Noble Wilford High-tech review confirms pedigree of early Bible source.The words are among the most familiar and ecumenical in the liturgies of Judaism and Christianity. At the close of a worship service, the rabbi, priest or pastor delivers, with o!=nly slight variations, the comforting and fortifying benediction: "May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace."An archaeological discovery in 1979 revealed that the Priestly Benediction, as the verse from Numbers 6:24-26 is called, appeared to...

Solving a Riddle Written in Silver ^
	Posted by 68skylark On News/Activism ^ 09/27/2004 9:26:45 PM PDT · 23 replies · 757+ views New York Times \| September 28, 2004 \| JOHN NOBLE WILFORD The words are among the most familiar and ecumenical in the liturgies of Judaism and Christianity. At the close of a worship service, the rabbi, priest or pastor delivers, with only slight variations, the comforting and fortifying benediction: "May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace." An archaeological discovery in 1979 revealed that the Priestly Benediction, as the verse from Numbers 6:24-26 is called, appeared to be the earliest biblical passage ever...
Catastrophism and Astronomy
Explosions in the Sky: Supernovae Imminent? ^
	Posted by cogitator On News/Activism ^ 10/01/2004 12:59:05 PM PDT · 133 replies · 3,607+ views SpaceRef \| 09/30/2004 \| NASA After a Trio of Explosions Scientists say Supernova is ImminentThree powerful recent blasts from three wholly different regions in space have left scientists scrambling. The blasts, which lasted only a few seconds, might be early alert systems for star explosions called supernovae, which could start appearing any day. The first two blasts, called X-ray flashes, occurred on September 12 and 16. These were followed by a more powerful burst on September 24. The burst seems to be on the cusp between an X-ray flash and a full-fledged gamma ray burst, a discovery interesting in its own right. If these signals...

Recently Discovered Near-Earth Asteroid Makes Record-breaking Approach to Earth ^
	Posted by BenLurkin On General/Chat ^ 03/17/2004 10:05:44 PM PST · 15 replies · 144+ views NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office \| Wednesday, March 17, 2004 \| Steven R. Chesley A small near-Earth asteroid (NEA), discovered Monday night by the NASA-funded LINEAR asteroid survey, will make the closest approach to Earth ever recorded. There is no danger of a collision with the Earth during this encounter. The object, designated 2004 FH, is roughly 30 meters (100 feet) in diameter and will pass just 43,000 km (26,500 miles, or about 3.4 Earth diameters) above the Earth's surface on March 18th at 5:08 PM EST (2:08 PM PST, 22:08 UTC). (Close approach details here). On average, objects about the size of 2004 FH pass within this distance roughly once every two years,...
Modern History
Lucky Break: Study Finds Lewis and Clark Could Have Met Dire Weather ^
	Posted by shotokan On General/Chat ^ 09/30/2004 1:30:58 PM PDT · 18 replies · 128+ views ABC News \| Sept. 29, 2004 \| Lee Dye Sept. 29, 2004 ó If Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had set off on their historic expedition across what is now the northwestern United States a few years earlier, or a couple of years later, the dream of then-President Thomas Jefferson might have turned into a nightmare. The success of that venture contributed to the expansion of the West, based largely on glowing reports of lush, fertile regions where wildlife was abundant. But according to new research, Lewis and Clark were extraordinarily lucky. Unbeknownst to them, they had hit a narrow "window of opportunity" which created favorable images of the...
Epigraphy and Language

Phyrrus ^
	Posted by Jason Kauppinen On General/Chat ^ 09/26/2004 1:59:53 AM PDT · 6 replies · 117+ views Phyrrus of Epirus, Phyrric How does one pronounce Phyrrus and Phyrric is it PIE-rus, PYRE-rus, FEAR-rus...???
Origins and Prehistory
Human populations are tightly interwoven ^
	Posted by AZLiberty On General/Chat ^ 09/30/2004 11:17:34 AM PDT · 19 replies · 157+ views Nature \| September 29, 2004 \| Michael Hopkin The most recent common ancestor of all humanity lived just a few thousand years ago, according to a computer model of our family tree. Researchers have calculated that the mystery person, from whom everyone alive today is directly descended, probably lived around 1,500 BC in eastern Asia. Douglas Rohde of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and his colleagues devised the computer program to simulate the migration and breeding of humans across the world. By estimating how different groups intermingle, the researchers built up a picture of how tightly the world's ancestral lines are linked. The figure of 1,500...

Retracing the footprints of time ^
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat ^ 09/30/2004 7:56:25 AM PDT · 4 replies · 75+ views Alberta Report (via Web Archive) \| September 9, 1996 \| Steve Sandford In an otherwise unremarkable gravel bluff on the banks of the Bow River in Calgary, University of Alberta researchers Jiri Chlachula and Alan Bryan believe they have unearthed the remains of what could be the oldest human artifacts in North America, the pair announced this month. If substantiated, the discovery pushes back the known date of human settlement in North America by several thousand years. Other earth scientists are sceptical about the find's authenticity: U of A geomorphologist Rob Young describes it as "based only on pure speculation." ...Comments Prof. Young: "Any dude could have put that rock there."
The Olympics
Ancient Games were pagan entertainment package ^
	Posted by presidio9 On News/Activism ^ 07/23/2004 6:33:12 AM PDT · 11 replies · 690+ views Reuters \| Fri 23 July \| Paul Majendie From spectacular chariot races to bloody wrestling bouts, the Ancient Olympics offered the ultimate pagan entertainment package. Competitors had to swear an oath on a slice of boar's meat that they had not used magic to boost their performances. Runners making a false start were thrashed by the official whip bearer. Wrestlers could tear out their opponent's intestines -- but eye-gouging was banned. Prostitutes made a year's wages in five days at the Greek spectacular. Married women were forbidden to attend the GamesA where all athletes performed naked. That gave writer Tony Perrottet the perfect title for his entertaining look...

Ancient Greeks' Olympics Didn't Start Out In The Nude ^
	Posted by harrycarey On News/Activism ^ 08/19/2004 8:16:49 AM PDT · 15 replies · 500+ views AP \| 8/19/04 Ancient Greeks' Olympics Didn't Start Out In The Nude POSTED: 8:23 am EDT August 19, 2004 UPDATED: 11:10 am EDT August 19, 2004 ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece -- The ancient Greeks may have been famous for competing in the nude. But they apparently didn't start out that way. Historian Lamros Lambracos says the earliest runners wore little skirts. In one race, he says, a runner lost his skirt and won the race. That ushered in the era of naked Olympics, he said. Lambracos, who has taught at New York University and the University of Athens, worked as a volunteer at the...

In ancient Greece, nudity was Olympic Games' great equalizer ^
	Posted by MikalM On News/Activism ^ 07/30/2004 6:18:16 PM PDT · 26 replies · 2,668+ views San Francisco Chronicle \| 7/30/04 \| Charles Burress Imagine Plato, a noted fan of ancient Greek athletics, providing color commentary for the upcoming Olympic Games: "Why in Zeus' name are they wearing clothes?" he might ask. The Olympics are returning to their original home in Greece next month but not to their original dress code. "This may be the most obvious and striking difference between today's athletes and the ancient Greeks," UC Berkeley archaeologist Stephen Miller says in "Ancient Greek Athletics," his new book on the ancient games. So embedded was competing in the nude that our word gymnasium comes from the Greek gymnos for "naked," Miller notes...
end of digest #11

Gods, Graves, Glyphs -- Weekly Digest #12
Ancient Egypt
Abydos Royal Enclosures
	Posted by SunkenCiv On Bloggers & Personal 10/04/2004 6:52:20 AM PDT · 1 reply · 74+ views Francesco Raffaele \| March, 4-7, 2003 \| Francesco Raffaele Another important discovery by David O'Connor was the fleet of 14 boats found out of the E side of the Shunet ez-Zebib (yet probably earlier in date than it). These were housed in mudbrick casing (white washed) and probably poles/ pennants were inserted in this casing; a boulder perhaps symbolized their anchors. The length of the structures varied from nearly 20 to 27m. In one of the boats seal impressions were found (no royal name, but Early First Dynasty in style) which haven't been published yet.

Quarry, Setting and Team Marks: The Carian Connection
	Posted by SunkenCiv On Bloggers & Personal 10/08/2004 3:20:42 PM PDT · 1 reply · 2+ views University of Leiden (Netherlands) \| 1998 \| (about) Sheldon Lee Gosline In this paper, the author proposes some specific attributions for signs deriving from the Carian or another West-Anatolian script found on in situ blocks from standing walls: quarry, block positioning, or team marks. The proposals are based on data from three distant yet related sites where such marks have been preserved, among which the Khnum temple terrace on Elephantine. In time, however, the quarry marks at Elephantine do not correspond with the other two sites. Therefore, the author proposes that the terrace was built several hundred years earlier than the Graeco-Roman Period to which the terrace is usually dated, or...
Rome and Italy
Emperor Aurelian (Lucius Domitius Aurelianus)
	Posted by SunkenCiv On Bloggers & Personal 10/08/2004 6:55:02 PM PDT · 2 replies · 38+ views Illustrated History of the Roman Empire \| circa 2000 \| various The Alemanni, Juthungi and Marcomanni invaded the empire in force, before even the Vandals had finished withdrawing. Once more northern Italy had to endure a force of barbarians descending upon it from the Alps... Aurelian rushed back to... Placentia. But the legions were no match for the barbarians this time and Aurelian suffered a severe defeat (AD 271)... If Aurelian had suffered a setback, he was still far from beaten. The barbarians now made one crucial mistake. In order to cover more ground - and so reap more plunder - they split up their huge army into several smaller forces....
PreColumbian, Clovis, PreClovis
Early (Ancient) Hair Sample Raises Questions
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 07/14/2004 8:21:37 PM PDT · 28 replies · 999+ views Indian Country \| 726-2000 Early hair sample raises questions Posted: July 26, 2000 - 12:00am EST WOODBURN, Ore. (AP) - Under a small Woodburn city park may lie the answer to who are the earliest Oregonians yet discovered. Scientists have found an ancient strand of hair in Woodburn's Front Street Park - a human hair that may have been left behind before modern American Indians settled in North America a few thousand years ago. The hair, found in a core sample during a June 1999 dig, could be one of the oldest found in the Western United States, said Alison Stenger, director of the...

The Skeleton in Armor
	Posted by SunkenCiv On Bloggers & Personal 10/08/2004 2:29:01 PM PDT · 3 replies · 47+ views Fall River Police Department / Fall River History \| 1883 \| History of Bristol County In the American Monthly Magazine for January, 1836, is a short article on the skeleton, then in the Fall River Athenaeum, portions of which we shall extract, not because the description is faultless, but because it is the account of one J. Stark who examined the remains for the purpose of describing them to the public. With Mr. Stark's speculations accompanying his description we have little concern. More facts and greater reflection would probably have led him to very different conclusions. He describes the skeleton as " the remains of a human body, armed with a breastplate, a species of...
Central Asia
Archeologists Unearth Remains of Genghis Khan's Palace on Mongolian Steppe
	Posted by Pharmboy On News/Activism 10/06/2004 6:04:21 AM PDT · 54 replies · 1,220+ views Associated Press \| Oct 6, 2004 \| Audrey McAvoy TOKYO (AP) - Archaeologists have unearthed the site of Genghis Khan's palace and believe the long-sought grave of the 13th century Mongolian warrior is somewhere nearby, the head of the excavation team said Wednesday. A Japanese and Mongolian research team found the complex on a grassy steppe 150 miles east of the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, said Shinpei Kato, professor emeritus at Tokyo's Kokugakuin University. Genghis Khan (c. 1162-1227) united warring tribes to become leader of the Mongols in 1206. After his death, his descendants expanded his empire until it stretched from China to Hungary. Genghis Khan built the...

Origins and Prehistory
Caveful of Clues About Early Humans: Interbreeding With Neanderthals Among Theories Being Explored
	Posted by SunkenCiv On Bloggers & Personal 10/05/2004 11:59:56 PM PDT · 12 replies · 142+ views Washington Post \| September 20, 2004 \| Fredric Heeren For the seven-member team, the hazards of reaching the site, accessible only by diving through frigid underwater passages, were worth it. Their finds may help answer some of the most hotly debated questions about early humans: Did they make love or war with Neanderthals? Were Neanderthals intellectually inferior to our human ancestors? ...The team included a Portuguese shipwreck diver and archaeologist, a French Neanderthal specialist, a Romanian cave biologist, and the three Romanian adventurers who discovered the human fossils while exploring submerged caves... [T]he ceiling lowered until they were forced, first, to swim on their backs and, finally, don...

New Evidence for Multiregional Origins
	Posted by sarcasm On News/Activism 09/05/2001 5:05:20 PM PDT · 30 replies · 167+ views Anthropology \| Alec Christensen Part 1: The debate Over recent years, there has been a loud debate within palaeoanthropology over the origins of anatomically modern humans, or AMH. Opinions have polarized into two camps: Multiregional Evolution, or MRE, and Out-of-Africa, or OOA. The former group of anthropologists, including Milford Wolpoff and Loring Brace, argue that ever since members of the genus Homo first spread out of Africa, probably before 1 million years ago (mya), we have all been members of one species. The many different populations of humans were all subject to natural selection, and gradually evolved along similar lines. These different populations may ...

Our Species Mated With Other Human Species, Study Says
	Posted by ValerieUSA On News/Activism 03/06/2002 7:38:41 PM PST · 252 replies · 1,239+ views National Geographic \| March 6, 2002 \| Hillary Mayell A new piece of evidenceóone sure to prove controversialóhas been flung into the human origins debate. A study published March 7 in Nature presents genetic evidence that humans left Africa in at least three waves of migration. It suggests that modern humans (Homo sapiens) interbred with archaic humans (Homo erectus and Neandertals) who had migrated earlier from Africa, rather than displacing them. Ancient Origins In the human origins debate, which has been highly charged for at least 15 years, there is a consensus among scientists that Homo erectus, the precursor to modern humans, originated in Africa and expanded to Eurasia ...
Ten Lost Tribes
Abraham's Chromosomes?
	Posted by yonif On News/Activism 10/03/2004 6:45:44 PM PDT · 49 replies · 1,466+ views AISH \| Sept. 2004 \| Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman According to the written and oral traditions of the three major religions of the Western world, Abraham was a real person who lived in the Middle East nearly 4,000 years ago. According to each respective tradition, he was the first of the Fathers of the Jewish people, fathered the Arab nations and Islam, and laid the conceptual basis for Christianity. Tradition relates that he may have influenced early Eastern religion, as well.Abraham is the first to be called a Hebrew - Ivri -- one who passes over from one side to the other. He received this title because he actually...

British Israelism - an expose
	Posted by Destro On Religion 08/16/2004 11:42:28 PM PDT · 109 replies · 798+ views David M. Williams' Theological Essays \| David M. Williams British Israelism - an expose OVERVIEW Anglo-Israelism (also known as British Israelism) is the unscriptural theory that Britain and the United States constitutes the 10 lost tribes of Israel who were carried away as captives by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. It is held by the advocates of this view that the Kingdom of Israel (consisting of ten tribes after their separation from the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the days of Rehoboam - I Kings 12:21) never returned to Israel after Assyrian captivity as did Judah and Benjamin after their 70 years' captivity in Babylon. The ten...

Eclipse Brings Claim Of Medieval African Observatory
	Posted by blam On News/Activism 12/04/2002 5:22:25 AM PST · 16 replies · 79+ views New Scientist \| 12-4-2002 \| Stuart Clark Eclipse brings claim of medieval African observatory 12:53 04 December 02 NewScientist.com news service Great Zimbabwe is a controversial site thought to have been a royal residence (Image: Corbis) Viewers of the total solar eclipse in Southern Africa early on Wednesday have also had their eyes opened by second startling event - newly released evidence that a medieval African site was an astronomical observatory. Starting just before 0600 GMT, the shadow of the Moon took 30 minutes to cross Africa from west to east, before heading over the Indian Ocean to make landfall in western Australia around 0900 GMT. In...

India's 'lost Jews' wait in hope
	Posted by missyme On News/Activism 08/19/2004 7:11:00 PM PDT · 597 replies · 3,442+ views BBC News \| August 18th, 2003 \| Geeta Pandey A team of senior Israeli rabbis is due to rule soon on whether thousands of Indians who say they are members of one of the lost tribes of Israel can settle there. Only 5,000 of the Benei Menashes have converted to Judaism Shlomo Amar recently led a delegation of rabbis to the north-eastern Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram where members of the Benei Menashe tribe live and practise Judaism. At the Beith-el Synagogue in the Manipur capital, Imphal, nine men wearing knitted skull caps read silently from the Old Testament. Four others stand on a wooden platform in the...

The Lost Tribes -- Where Are They Today?
	Posted by yonif On News/Activism 09/04/2004 9:19:56 PM PDT · 105 replies · 1,699+ views OHR \| 28 August 2004 \| Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman Regarding your question as to where the Lost Tribes were exiled, we saw in the previous installment that according to our sources they were exiled south to Ethiopia, and East through Syria, Iraq, Iran, and as far as India. [This should not be confused with those Jews who settled these lands much later, after the Exile in Roman times]. In addition, while discussing whether the Tribes will be re-united with the Jewish people in the future (which will be brought in detail in the next installment), Tiferet Israel (Sanhedrin 10:3) mentions that there are remnants of the Tribes living in...

The Ten Lost Tribes: The Case for Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Pakistan
	Posted by xzins On News/Activism 09/24/2001 8:53:22 AM PDT · 89 replies · 1,006+ views Moshiach.com \| current \| moshiach.com What follows is initial evidence that links some people groups in Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Israel. It is thought provoking. HOWEVER, IN POSTING THIS, LET ME ENCOURAGE THE INTERESTED TO GO TO THE WEBSITE AND READ "OVERVIEW" IN WHICH THE CASE AGAINST THE TEN LOST TRIBES IS PRESENTED. Also, note that the "people of the book" as Mohammed called them (Christians or Jews), who converted to Islam, were considered by him to be totally Moslem and totally acceptable. The two sections below deal with Afghanistan and Kashmir. The Ten Lost Tribes: Afghanistan The Bible mentions the city of Medes as one ...

What the Bible Says About Persia and Persians
	Posted by freedom44 On General/Chat 02/28/2004 4:16:41 PM PST · 13 replies · 64+ views Farsinet \| 2/28/04 \| Farsinet "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of The Lord spoken by Jeremiah, The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "The Lord, The God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a Temple [see Temples] for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you - may his God be with him, and let him...
The Middle Ages
The Kadakkarapally Boat: An Ancient Sailing Barge in India
	Posted by SunkenCiv On Bloggers & Personal 10/09/2004 1:35:55 AM PDT · 1 reply Institute of Nautical Archaeology \| 2003 \| Ralph K. Pedersen Two maststeps, one amidships, and one double-socketed in the bow, indicate that this was a sailing barge. Its hull is divided into sections by bulkheads that either served to separate cargo or to stablize it. The bulkheads were not watertight.

The Real History of the Crusades
	Posted by dennisw On News/Activism 11/22/2003 4:23:29 PM PST · 60 replies · 221+ views crisismagazine \| April 1, 2002 \| Thomas F. Madden The Real History of the Crusades By Thomas F. Madden With the possible exception of Umberto Eco, medieval scholars are not used to getting much media attention. We tend to be a quiet lot (except during the annual bacchanalia we call the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan, of all places), poring over musty chronicles and writing dull yet meticulous studies that few will read. Imagine, then, my surprise when within days of the September 11 attacks, the Middle Ages suddenly became relevant. As a Crusade historian, I found the tranquil solitude of the ivory tower shattered by...
Catastrophism and Astronomy
When the Days Were Shorter
	Posted by SunkenCiv On General/Chat 10/04/2004 10:31:59 AM PDT · 10 replies · 116+ views Alaska Science Forum (Article #742) \| November 11, 1985 \| Larry Gedney Present-day nautilus shells almost invariably show thirty daily growth lines (give or take a couple) between the major partitions, or septa, in their shells. Paleontologists find fewer and fewer growth lines between septa in progressively older fossils. 420 million years ago, when the moon circled the earth once every nine days, the very first nautiloids show only nine growth lines between septa. The moon was closer to the earth and revolved about it faster, and the earth itself was rotating faster on its axis than it is now. The day had only twenty-one hours, and the moon loomed enormous in...
end of digest #12 20041009