Monday, January 30, 2012

THE FLAVIAN AMPHITHEATRE or THE ROMAN COLISEUM


Hello My Friend and Welcome.
 
HAVE A LITTLE FUN
Do you teach Sunday school or other religious education classes? If so, here’s a surefire way to have some fun and grab everyone’s attention.  First, pose a question along the lines of: “I’ll describe a scene and you tell me where it’s taking place. We have thousands of Jewish slaves laboring in the hot sun under cruel taskmasters. They’re lugging massive blocks of stone to build a monument that immortalizes their oppressor.”

Hands shoot up around the room. At least half the class has seen Cecile B DeMille’s The Ten Commandments and, though they didn’t know the answer to that one about Elijah and Elisha, they’ve got this one nailed. “It’s the Jews in Egypt,” they shout.

Now it’s time to spring the trap. “Wrong! This scene is taking place in Rome and those Jewish slaves are building the Flavian Amphitheater.” You’re met with blank stares. Since no one’s ever heard of the Flavian Amphitheater, you now call it by its more common name: The Roman Coliseum.

THE EMPEROR VESPASIAN
Titus Flavius Vespasianus, known as Vespasian, was the ninth Roman Emperor and founder of the short-lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 AD.  It encompassed the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96).  Vespasian was Governor of Syria when the great Jewish revolt began in 66. He led the forces against the Jews for three years before becoming Emperor. Heading to Rome, he left his son, Titus, in charge. Titus directed the siege and eventual destruction of Jerusalem. He returned to Rome triumphant with over 20,000 Jewish slaves who were put to work constructing the new Amphitheater that came to be known as the Coliseum. 

Vespasian began construction in 72 AD and the building was completed in 80 AD, a year after his death. The huge amphitheater was built on the site of what had been an artificial lake. The lake was part of the park Nero constructed after the great fire of Rome. It also included his Domus Aurea, or Golden House, and a statue of Nero as the Colossus. The proximity of this giant statue of Nero gave the Flavian Amphitheater its popular name. 


The building is immense, forming a 616 by 512 foot ellipse and rising to a height of more than 150 feet. The Coliseum accommodated up to 75,000 spectators who entered the building through no less than 80 entrances. The seating consisted of four levels. Just as in modern stadiums, the lowest section was reserved for the Emperor, his retinue and other prominent citizens. The upper levels accommodated the lower classes with special sections designated for men and for women. Below ground was a labyrinth of rooms and corridors with mechanical devices and cages containing wild animals. The cages could be hoisted, enabling the animals to suddenly appear in the middle of the arena. 

THE FIRST DOMED STADIUM
Predating our domed stadiums by nearly 2,000 years, the Coliseum was covered with an enormous awning known as the velarium. This not only protected the spectators from the sun, it focused light on the arena. It was supported by large poles attached along the top rim and anchored to the ground by large ropes. A team of 1,000 men was required to rig and extend the awning. 

A hundred days of games were held by Vespasian’s successor, Titus, to mark the inauguration of the building in AD 80. In the process, some 9,000 wild animals were slaughtered. The south side of the Coliseum collapsed during an earthquake in 847 leaving it as we see it today. Parts of the building, including its marble façade, were removed and re-used for the construction of other buildings in Rome, including the St. Peter's Basilica.

Next time we’ll continue our Foods of the First Century posts with a look at vegetables.

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings.
If you reached this post via a link, click the HOME tab above to see other posts and our archives.

 
Here's a video about the Roman Colisuem you may enjoy:





Friday, January 27, 2012

WADI SIKAIT - ROME'S EMERALD CITY

Dorothy and Her Friends Head Off to the Emerald City
Hello My Friend and Welcome.

 
Some of our favorite posts are those that range widely, connecting seemingly unrelated places and events in a memorable way. Hopefully, today’s qualifies. In a moment you’ll understand why we chose the image of Dorothy and her friends skipping along the Yellow Brick Road on their way to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard of Oz.


The Carolina Emperor
FINDING THE CAROLINA EMPEROR
But first, let’s examine the impetus for today’s post…a recent news article about an exceptional 65 carat emerald that was found near a cornfield in North Carolina. They’re calling it the Carolina Emperor. It compares in size and quality to one surrounded by diamonds in a brooch once owned by Catherine the Great that Christie's auction house in New York sold for $1.65 million. And to think that the man’s father used to charge people $3.00 a day to dig around and see what they could find. Bet he’s glad no one stumbled upon this whopper.
Roman Woman Wearing an Emerald Necklace

ROMAN WOMEN FAVORED SMARAGDI
Now it just so happens that among precious stones, emeralds ranked very high on the Roman’s popularity chart. Today, the world’s best quality emeralds are found in Columbia. Emeralds are also mined in Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and, of course, in North Carolina. A quick review of that list pretty much eliminates the Roman Empire. North and South America, Madagascar and Australia were unknown to the Romans. Rome’s power extended into the northern regions of Africa, but the nations mentioned in the list are all in the extreme south. Rome traded with modern India, but primarily for spices, not gemstones.

So how did that the Romans satisfy their desire for emeralds? Instead of a yellow brick road to Oz, let’s follow a sandy trail across the trackless desert wastes of Eastern Egypt to the ancient region of Wadi Sikait, Rome’s Emerald City, or Mons Smaragdus—Emerald Mountain. The first thing we see from the map is Wadi Sikait’s close proximity to the port city of Berenike. As we learned in a recent post on Foods of the First Century, Berenike was a major debarkation point for Indian spices coming into the Roman Empire, especially pepper. Jute bags of peppercorns along with emeralds traveled from this Red Sea port overland by camel caravan to the Nile, then by boat to Alexandria, and from there to Rome via merchant ship. If you missed the one on Spices & Herbs you can find HERE.


Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, addresses the legend, lore and gossip of emeralds, which the Romans called smaragdi. Referencing gems from the Eastern Desert, which he calls them Egyptian or Ethiopian stones, he says they were “so hard as to be unaffected by blows.” Romans valued emeralds above all gems except diamonds and pearls. Pliny also writes, “I have seen Lollia Paulina, who became the consort of Gaius (we know him as Caligula) covered with emeralds and pearls interlaced and shining over her head, hair, ears, neck and fingers, the sum total amounting to a value of 40,000,000 sesterces.” Quite an image, isn’t it? To put this into better perspective, recall that a soldier’s annual wage at that time was around 1,200 sesterces.

DO IT YOURSELF EMERALDS
Like anything of high value, unscrupulous merchants attempted to counterfeit emeralds. Pliny denounced the practice and told how, “There are treatises by authorities describing how, by means of dyestuffs, emeralds and other transparent colored gems are made from rock crystal… And there is no other trickery practiced against society with greater profit.” Some things apparently never change. It is standard practice today to oil emeralds to disguise their flaws.

 
LOST FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS
Wadi Sikait was the sole source of emeralds for the Romans. The area flourished, which explains why the Romans called the region Emerald Mountain. Unbelievably, the location of the site was eventually lost. In 1816, Mohammed Ali Pasha, the Ottoman Viceroy to Egypt, set out to find the fabled lost emerald mines of the Romans. He sent Fédéric into the desert to find them. It took him three years, but in 1817 Cailliaud re-discovered the mines.

In his journals Cailliaud spoke of finding a site that contained a beehive like structure consisting of “perhaps a thousand excavations” with long underground causeways interconnecting them to facilitate communication. They were built in such a way that camels could move through the passageways bringing the workmen provisions. He marveled at the labor it would have taken to construct such a complex.

Unable to explore the mines himself, he continued on and three-and-a-half miles from there discovered an abandoned town. The Bedouins of the area called the place Sekket (Sikait) Bendar El Kebyr. He found 500 houses hewn from the native stone and three temples cut into the sides of the mountains. He spoke of wandering the deserted dwellings and finding “various instruments, utensils…fired clay lamps.” He found fragments of vases “of beautiful form” made of both bisque and glass. Cailliaud discovered stone grinding mills still waiting for grain…an entire town “hitherto unknown to all voyagers, which had not been inhabited, perhaps, for 2,000 years and almost entirely standing.
In fact, the area had been abandoned only about 1,300 years. Roman mining ceased there somewhere around the year 500 …a date that coincides nicely with Edward Gibbons date of 476 for the Fall of The Roman Empire.

 
NO LONGER ECONOMICALLY FEASIBILE
Despite Cailliaud success in finding the ancient site, the mines were never re-opened. The heat and the terrain proved too severe and the stones then being mined in South America were superior to those available at Wadi Sikait. One reason for the lower quality could be that the best stones were already removed during Roman times. The Roman writer Strabo, when writing his Geography in the First Century, states that the Arabs dug ever deeper tunnels in their quest to extract emeralds.

One of Cailliaud's Drawings
Cailliaud made several pen and ink drawings of the temples he discovered. Based on current photos of the same buildings, there has either been a lot of destruction during the intervening years or, more likely, his depictions present a fanciful image of how the buildings appeared during Wadi Sikait’s heyday. Note the rather significant differences between current reality and his drawing of the temple façade in the photo below.


WADI SIKAIT AND PETRA
Seeing Wadi Sikait immediately brought Petra to my mind. Petra, the ancient city of rock, is in a much better state of preservation, but anyone familiar with this former capital of the Nabateans can’t help but be reminded of it when viewing Cailliaud’s drawings. Located in what is now the country of Jordan, Petra predates Wadi Sikait by six centuries. 

Like Petra, Wadi Sikait, was a city in the desert. Also like Petra, its principal structures are carved out of the rock face with the interior of the buildings cut into the mountainside. This method of construction was undoubtedly used to combat the temperature extremes of a desert environment. 
SURVIVAL IN THE HARSH CLIMATE
Archaeological expeditions in the last fifteen years have found the remains of many of the mines around Mons Smaragdus. Still, the area elicits more questions than answers. Working conditions must have been, to say the least, brutal. Winter temperatures range into the 90’s, sometimes higher, and can drop into the 30’s at night.  Archaeologists also report that there were days when their thermometers didn’t go high enough to register the afternoon temperatures.

How the people survived day-to-day remains unclear. Researchers have found several ancient wells, but whether they produced sufficient water is impossible to say. There is some evidence that fruit and vegetables were grown on site, but wine, oil, meat (did it come on the hoof or dried and salted?) and fish would have to have been brought in. Other excavations have found evidence that transport animals, especially donkeys, were slaughtered for food. Was that part of an overall plan or does it indicate periods of scarcity?

Experts also do not know if emeralds were mined before control of Egypt passed into Roman hands in 30 BC. Study of potsherds, however, suggests that Wadi Sikait’s history dates back to the First Century…shortly after Egypt became a Roman Province.
Next time we’ll look at Rome’s Flavian Amphitheatre…more commonly called the Coliseum.
Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

VISITING THE CAVE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH

Exterior of the Cave Church or St Peter's Grotto
Hello My Friend and Welcome.

If you’re a frequent visitor, you’ve probably grown familiar with the cave-like image in our masthead. What you may not know is that the photo in the upper left of your screen is from the Cave Church, or St. Peter’s Grotto in Antioch (now Antakya). It is believed to have been dug out by St. Peter himself and used as a place of worship by the early Christian community in Antioch. This would make it the very first Christian Church ever built.

ANTIOCH: AN EARLY CENTER OF CHRISTIANITY
Antioch, of course, became the primary center of the early church after the Christians were dispersed from Jerusalem by persecution. Connected by the Orentes River to the Mediterranean port of Pieria Seleucia, it quickly became a major center of planning and organization the missionary efforts throughout Asia Minor and beyond. Luke, the Evangelist, was a native of Antioch and Peter, Paul, Barnabus and others used it as both a jumping off place and a safe haven to which they could return between journeys.

Inside: The Altar

The interior of the grotto is austere. Its few permanent items consist of a simple altar, a single statue, and a stone chair or seat. Deposits from years of seepage can be seen on the wall behind the altar. Some of the walls have the barely discernible remnants of ancient frescoes and the floor indicates traces of mosaics. Despite its simplicity, one can’t look at the photo of the interior without being awed by the holiness it exudes.

RESCUED BY THE CRUSADERS
The exterior stone façade of the church was built by Crusaders who identified the grotto during their rule of Antioch from 1098 to 1268. There is a tunnel in the back that leads into the mountain’s interior. It is believed to have been used as a place of hiding during times of persecution.
As we learned in last week’s post, Antioch has experienced many severe earthquakes over the centuries and the Turkish Government now restricts access to the Grotto Church because of seismic instability.

The Bapistry: A Natural Indentation Gathered Water from a Spring
A scene dealing with the development of the Cave Church by the new Christians appears in my novel, Disciple. For those who are interested, I’ve posted a short excerpt. Click HERE to read it.
The Side Exit Where Christians are Believed to Have Escaped
Next time, we will take a trip to Wadi Sikait, Rome’s Emerald City.

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings.
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Monday, January 23, 2012

THE ANTIOCH EARTHQUAKE THAT DESTROYED THE QUEEN OF THE EAST

Ruins of Ampitheatre in Antioch

Hello My Friend and Welcome.

Today we’re going to visit the ancient city of Antioch on the Orentes. In the First Century Roman world Antioch, with a population of more than half a million, was justifiably famous for its beauty, a leader in trade and culture as well as an important military outpost. Antioch rivaled Alexandria, the second city of the Roman Empire. Today, Rome, Italy has a population of 3.7 million and 4.1 million people call Alexandria, Egypt home.  Meanwhile Antakya, Turkey, once the seat of the Christian Church, has a population of only 140,000. Why? 

ANTIOCH’S HISTORY
Antioch on the Orontes, also known as Antioch of Syria, was situated on the eastern side of the Orontes River in the far southeastern corner of Asia Minor. When the city was founded in 300 BC by Seleucus I Nicator, he urged Jews to move there from Jerusalem. The city quickly developed a large Jewish population. As was his policy in all the cities he founded, Seleucus I granted these Jews equal rights of citizenship along with the Macedonians and the Greeks. Several ancient sources tell us that the Antiochene Jews, having a governor of their own and comprising a large percentage of the population, exerted as great an influence there as they did in Alexandria.  

Christianity came to Antioch following the persecution that resulted in Stephen’s death. The new faith was preached to and accepted by the Greeks of the city and it was there that the name Christian originated. The Church exhibited great enthusiasm and became the base of the missionary journeys of Paul, Barnabus, Silas and others.

Entance to the Temple of Aphrodite

Just as Ephesus gloried in the Temple of Artemis, Antioch was home to the main Temple of Aphrodite…the Aphrodisias. Interestingly enough, though typically associated with seduction and sexuality, the statue of Aphrodite was clothed in a heavy cloak that disguised her figure and a long veil covered her face. So much for the images of gauzy lingerie Aphrodite’s name conjures up.  

Remains of Church of St. Simeon

CHURCH OF ST. SIMEON
The city was also famous for the Church of St. Simeon, a native saint who lived in the Fifth Century. It consisted of four basilicas radiating from the sides of a central octagon. With over 16,000 square feet of floor space, it nearly equaled the more famous Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The church was only one part of a huge, walled complex that included a monastery, two lesser churches, and several large hostels.



The Tetrapylon, or Monumental Gate
Antioch was also known for the Tetrapylon, or monumental gate. The ancient Greeks placed great importance on the location and orientation of architecture. Thus the main axis of the city was aligned with the distant mountains and the Tetrapylon was at one end of this axis. The city also had a large theater/stadium and the Museion, a complex on the island between the arms of the Orentes River devoted to the arts.  

THE QUEEN OF THE EAST MEETS A DISASTROUS END
True many of Antioch’s architectural treasures now stand in ruins, but even in their current state their former grandeur is readily apparent. So why did Rome and Alexandria prosper while Antioch languished? The answer to that question can be found in a single event that occurred in the year 526. 

Late in May of that year, sometime between the 20th and the 29th, a major earthquake struck Antioch and the surrounding area. On the Modified Mercalli Scale, it is estimated to have registered VIII (Destructive) at Antioch, the epicenter, and VII (Very Strong) at Daphne and Seleucia Pieria. The port of Seleucia Pieria experienced an uplift of between two to three feet. The subsequent silting up of the harbor left it unusable. The raging fire which followed destroyed any buildings in Antioch that survived the earthquake. In all, approximately 250,000 people died. It still ranks as the 3rd most deadly earthquake of all time.   

Given the extent of the damage and the area’s known seismic instability, the decision was made to abandon the city rather than attempt to rebuild. What a sad end for Antioch, the Queen of the East. 

Next time we’ll be examining another Antioch landmark. Known as the Cave Church, its image graces the header on the Sowing the Seeds Blog. It is considered to be the oldest Christian Church in the world. 

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings. 

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Friday, January 13, 2012

FOODS of the FIRST CENTURY: FRUIT AND NUTS


Hello My Friend and Welcome.

This is our Second Post in our Series on Foods of the First Century. If you missed part 1, Spices and Herbs you can find it HERE. As before, we’ll start with a list from the Bible and add where necessary.

Apples (Song of Solomon 2:5) There’s nothing quite like starting out with a controversy, is there? While doing my research I came across an articles that stated, “…most experts agree that Biblical references to apples actually meant apricots.” Oh yeah? Now we just couldn’t fall in line on that one without a fight; so off we went on a hunt for the elusive appl-icot of the Bible.

Here are the facts: Remains of apples have been found in excavations at Jericho in the Jordan Valley in sites that are dated to 6,500 BC. (Are we wrong in believing 6,500 BC came a wee bit earlier than the 1st Century AD?) Dried apple slices were found on saucers in the tomb of Queen Pu-Abi in Ur at a site dated to 2,500 BC. Fast forward to 100 BC and the Roman poet Horace notes that Italy had nearly become one big fruit orchard and the perfect meal begins with eggs and ends with apples. In 50 BC, Cicero, author, statesman, and philosopher urges his Roman countrymen to save their apple seeds from dessert to develop new cultivars. And last, but not least, in 79 AD Pliny the Elder describes 20 varieties of apples in his Natural History. Case closed. The ancient Israelites had apples. Thus, they also had cider, cider vinegar, apple wine, apple sauce, dried apples, and apple peel tea, which Rivkah served in the first chapter of Disciple, Book Two of the Seeds of Christianity.

Apricots originated on the Russian-Chinese border about 3000 BC and were imported along with peach seed into Europe through the "Silk Road" that consisted of camel caravans traveling through the Mideast. Apricots were known in ancient Greece by at least 60 BC and were introduced into the Roman Empire. The fruit grows wild along roadsides in Turkey and Armenia today. It’s fair to say that, even though they didn’t merit a mention in the Bible, 1st Century Jews knew what an apricot was and they ate them fresh, dried or pounded and dried as sheets of fruit leather.

Almonds (Genesis 43:11; Numbers 17:8) In addition to being eaten out of hand, almonds were also used for their oil and were added to various sweetmeats — desserts and candies. Almond trees are commonly found in Galilee, the Golan, Carmel, Samaria and the Judean Hills.

Dates Ripening on the Tree

Dates (2 Samuel 6:19; 1 Chronicles 16:3) In a society that had no refined sugar, sweet, sugary fruits such as dates would have been prized. The date tree is a type of palm and its branches are blessed at the Feast of Succot. They were eaten fresh or dried and pressed into cakes for storage. In years past, I recall circular cakes of imported dates in the produce section around Christmas. In the crucifixion scene in my book, Witness, Rivkah offers the Centurion a cake of dates to allow her to approach the cross. The largest date tree plantation in Israel is located in the Bet Shean valley and numbers some 10,000 date trees.

 
Figs (Nehemiah 13:15; Jeremiah 24:1-3) You may recall Jesus calling Nathaniel, who was under the fig tree. (John 1:48) Figs were another sweet treat that would have been eaten fresh, used to make sweetmeats, and dried for storage.
Grapes (Leviticus 19:10; Deuteronomy 23:24) No dispute here. Grapes were widely cultivated. Crushed, their juice could be enjoyed fresh or allowed to ferment into wine. From the wine they produced wine vinegar. Fresh grape juice was also boiled into a thick, sweet syrup (debash, or grape honey). Grape leaves were used for cooking and added to pickles for crispness.


Melons  (Numbers 11:5; Isaiah 1:8) A fresh and juicy treat. In the Middle Eastern climate, they would have had a long season.
Olives  (Isaiah 17:6; Micah 6:15) Like grapes, olives were a prime staple. They could have been picked green and pickled for storage, or eaten ripe. They were also crushed for oil which they used for cooking, as a skin emollient, and in lamps for lighting. We also have a dedicated post to Olives, Olive Oil and Gethsemanes which you can see HERE.
 
Pine Nuts Pines are mentioned in Isaiah 44:14. Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus Pinus). About 20 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of great value as a human food.
On Jewish holidays, dumplings are served with soup, such as the gondi (chickpea dumplings) of Iranian Jews, or kubbeh, a family of dumplings brought to Israel by Middle Eastern Jews. Especially popular are kubbeh prepared from bulgur and stuffed with ground lamb and pine nuts, and the soft semolina kubbeh cooked in soup, which Jews of Kurdish or Iraqi heritage habitually enjoy as a Friday lunchtime meal. We’ll take that as proof that ancient Israel as well as the Romans enjoyed pine nuts.

Pistachio Nuts (Genesis 43:11) Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a present, a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds." The pistachio grows on the terebinth, one of the four oak trees indigenous to Israel. The word pistachio is derived from the Greek word for pure, pistikos, which generally translates as exceptional quality.
Pistachioes Ripening on the Tree
Plums are another food not mentioned in the Bible. As evidence, consider the following facts: First, Alexander the Great introduced plums to the Mediterranean regions. Secondly, in 65 B.C., Pompey the Great introduced the plum to the orchards of Rome. In 65-62 Pompey conquered Antiochus, King of Syria and captured Jerusalem, subjecting the Hasmonean Dynasty to Roman influence. Plums would have been enjoyed fresh, and dried (prunes).
Pomegranates (Numbers 20:5; Deuteronomy 8:8) Punica granatum is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree. The fruit consists of arils (seed casings) which must be separated from the peel and pulpy membranes. The entire seed is consumed raw, though the watery, tasty aril is the desired part. Grenadine syrup is thickened and sweetened pomegranate juice used in many Middle Eastern dishes. There is also a pomegranate soup. The juice is used to marinate or glaze meat or drunk straight. Boiled to a thick molasses it is mixed into yogurt or spread on bread. It is also mixed with peppers, nuts and garlic to make a spicy spread. The seeds are often used as a garnish in salads and desserts. The Romans made Laganum Fructus, Fruit Cake, using pomegranates. You can see the recipe HERE.

Raisins (Numbers 6:3; 2 Samuel 6:19) Raisins are, of course, dried grapes. Grapes that were not eaten fresh would have been dried into raisins which were, like dates, pressed into cakes for storage.

Sycanore Figs
Sycamore Fruit (Psalm 78:47; Amos 7:14) You may also recall the story of Zaccheus climbing a sycamore fig. (Luke 19:3) The tree we are talking about here is the Sycamore fig from Egypt, not to be confused with other trees called sycamore from northern Europe which are in the maple family. The sycamore fig tree (Ficus sycomorus sycomorus, and F. sycomorus gnaphalocarpa) belong to the fig family, which includes the common edible fig (Ficus carica), and the Banyan tree. The tree is evergreen, grows to 50 feet in height and 45 feet wide, and has large leaves that provide shade. The young fruit are nicked with a knife to encourage their ripening. The orange fruit grows in clusters, and has a distinctive, yet mild taste.
A FINAL NOTE
Modern Israel is a major producer of citrus fruits which are exported to Europe. This could lead one to believe that ancient Jews also had oranges, lemons and limes. Not so. The only citrus native to the Middle East is the citron. The citron is unlike the more common citrus species that are peeled to consume their pulpy, juicy segments; the citron's pulp is very dry, containing little juice. Moreover, the main content of a citron is the thick white rind, which adheres to the segments and cannot be separated from them easily.

From ancient times, the citron was used mainly for medical purposes. Citron juice with honey was considered an effective antidote to poison. The fragrant zest of its outer peel, flavedo, could be used for flavoring or cosmetics. For instance, in Disciple Channah uses citron scented water as a final rinse when washing her hair.

Diced and colored citron is that strange stuff you find in fruit cakes. The whole citron is used as an integral part of the celebration of the Jewish Feast of Sukkoth. Check out our post on Judaisms Feasts and Festivals HERE.

Next time we’ll look at vegetables.

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings.

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

METALS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD — COPPER


Hello My Friend and Welcome.

In our first post on metallurgy we looked at the discovery and uses of gold, the king of metals. If you missed it, you can find it HERE. By the way, we’ve decided to present the metals in their order of usage by ancient populations.

Today we move onto copper which represented a giant leap for ancient man. Whereas gold was freely strewn about the creeks and riverbeds waiting for man to pick it up, copper exists only as an ore. The Copper Age became a practical reality when men mastered not only the ability to identify copper ore in its natural state, but also the understanding of how to smelt and work the metal into usable items.
 

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE COPPER AGE
Copper is one of the rare metals that’s found in nearly pure concentrations in nature. This is most likely where the ancients began. Gold casting was known by that time and it’s easy to imagine people of that era gathering chunks of copper into a pot and treating it pretty much as they did gold. When they achieved essentially the same result, they were off and running. Copper metallurgy is well-documented in the Middle East and into Egypt as early as 4,000 BC.

COPPER IN THE BIBLE
The Israelites mined copper and used it extensively. The Bible refers to the importance of copper: “Men know how to mine silver and refine gold, to dig iron from the earth and melt copper from stone.” (Job. 28:1-2) Leaving Solomon and skipping ahead about ten centuries, we find the famous Copper Scroll. Found at Qumran in 1952, it is arguably the most intriguing use of copper in ancient Israel. Unlike the other Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written on animal skins or papyrus, the Copper Scroll is engraved on thin copper sheets. Clearly, this was done because of the importance of the information it contained. The Copper Scroll contains a list of 64 underground hiding places throughout the land of Israel.
These deposits are identified as containing gold, silver, aromatics, and precious manuscripts. They are believed to be treasures from the Temple at Jerusalem that were smuggled out of Jerusalem during the Roman barricade and hidden away for safekeeping. To date, none of these treasures has been found. While this sounds like a Hollywood adventure film, the idea should not be dismissed out of hand.

An Ancient Copper Bowl with Embossed Animals

WORKING COPPER IN ANCIENT TIMES
In the earliest of times, copper items were made by cutting, curving and hammering with a stone mallet on a stone anvil. These ancient metalworkers made an important discovery. Metal hardens under prolonged hammering, but can be brought back to its initial ductility by heating with no change in shape. Many ancient objects were manufactured through alternate cycles of hammering and cooking, with a final hammering to obtain the necessary hardness.

The simplest way to make a copper bowl consisted og placing a thin copper disc on a wooden block hollowed out to fit the profile of the required object. This method dates back to the pre-dynastic periods of Babylonia and Egypt. A second technique was known as raising. A copper disc the same diameter as the finished pot, was laid over the horn of an anvil and hammered into the desired shape.

Though copper knives have been found, the metal’s softness made it at best marginally useful. Ancient man also made copper arrowheads and copper spear points. But the best use of copper was for utilitarian household items such as bowls, pots, cups and similar objects. Being metal, if it was dropped, it might dent, but it would not shatter like a fired clay pot.

Ancient Copper Coin

OTHER USES
There were other popular uses of copper beside weapons and pots. Another giant step for mankind occurred when commerce moved from barter to a currency based system. The very earliest “coins” were simple lumps or disks of metal. Romans in the 6th through the 3rd centuries BC used copper lumps as money. At first, just the copper itself was valued, but eventually the concept of a uniform coinage supplanted it. Ancient copper coins have been found all over the world. The use of copper in coinage was widespread in ancient times and continues to this day.

Modern Copper Coinage

Copper was also widely used to make jewelry of all types. Ancient artwork depicts women wearing copper bracelets, rings, necklaces, and earrings. Highly polished copper was also used as a somewhat inefficient mirror. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” (1Cor. 13.12)

MAKING THE GOOD EVEN BETTER
Two advances in metalworking enhanced the decorative use of copper, enameling and the verdigris finish. Enameling is done by applying fine glass powder to a metal and then heating it in a kiln to a temperature sufficient to melt the glass. We know that glass was widely used in the ancient world. The first attempts at enameling probably consisted of dripping molten glass onto a piece of copper. When the results proved unsatisfactory, some genius decided to grind the glass and re-melt it in order to fuse it to the copper substrate.

Verdigris, copper with a greenish tarnish was extremely popular throughout both the ancient Greeks and Roman world. Originally the copper was deliberately tarnished so that it could be scrapped off and used as a colorant. The green color in eye shadow came from copper oxide or Malachite, copper carbonate. Pottery glazes also relied upon powdered copper oxide. For a turquoise they added wood ash, for a green they mixed in powdered lead.

As modern as they sound, items such as wall plaques, sundials, and other outdoor decorations with a verdigris finish were favored in the ancient garden…perhaps because of its green color. This tarnish effect can be achieved by long term exposure to sea spray, which produces a copper-chloride patina. The same effect can be produced faster by suspending the item within a covered pot above boiling vinegar. Vinegar, readily available in the ancient world, is a dilute form of acetic acid. This process yields a verdigris patina of copper-acetate.

In modern times, the verdigris finish is most commonly produced with spray paint.

Next time we’ll return to our series on Foods of the First Century and look at Fruits and Nuts.

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings.

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Monday, January 9, 2012

LATRUNCULI — AN ANCIENT GAME


Hello My Friend and Welcome.

Way back in October we began a series of posts on Games of the Ancient world when we examined the game of Hounds and Jackals. Things got shunted aside to make way for the Christmas posts, but we’ll be back on track throughout January and the first half of February when we’ll pause to do an in-depth study of Lent and Easter. By the way, if you missed the Hounds and Jackals post, you can start at the beginning by going HERE.

A GAME OF BRIGANDS
Today, we’ll look at another popular Roman game, Ludus latrunculorum, more commonly called simply Latrunculi...the game of brigands. It was a game of military tactics and strategy, favored by the thinking man. Its name derives from the Latin word latrunculus: mercenary or highwayman. It’s aptly named since the play involved military-like strategy, feints, attacks and capture of the opponent’s men.

A Relief of Latrunculi Players and Onlookers
 In case you’re wondering, our interest in these games grew while doing research for my book, Disciple. There’s a scene that takes place in Antioch, in which Rivkah and Shemu’el encounter his old friend, Atticus. Atticus is now Primus Medicus… supervisor of the medical staff serving the four Legions stationed in Antioch. Needless to say, he is a man of power and wealth. Atticus invites his old friend and family to come to his home for dinner. The chapter in question deals with his home, dining customs of that era, and mentions the children playing Hounds & Jackals and Latrunculi after dinner. It also contains back story on Atticus and his wife, Marcelina, as well as their subsequent conversion to Christianity. If you’re interested, you can read it HERE.

NOW BACK TO LATRUCNCULI
An Ancient Gameboard Found in a Dig
In its earliest version, Latrunculi was played with small stones. This made the game very portable and an obvious favorite of the soldiers. Working with whatever might be at hand, players could scratch the grid into a board, table, rock, or even etch it in the dirt. Give each player a handful of pebbles and they were off and running.

Over time, the game has been described alternately as having either one type of playing piece or two. Archeological finds in Italy and Britain suggest that at least in the later Empire, Latrunculi had two playing pieces. All the pieces except one were flat, smooth stones or discs, representing the footmen or pawns. the Dux, a piece that today we might call the King, was made as a four-sided piece to differentiate it from the rest of the men.

By the way, dux (plural: duces) is Latin for leader…from the verb ducere, to lead. The word eventually found its way into Italian. We all remember Benito Mussolini being referred to as Il Duce…the Leader.


GREEK ORIGINS
Latrunculi is clearly a variant of the earlier Greek game known as Petteia, which means pebbles. Plato tells us that Petteia originally came from Egypt. In the pictures from Greek amphorae we see Ajax and Achilles playing Petteia. These vases predated Roman boards.

In the Onomasticon, a book by the Greek writer Pollux, he describes Petteia as follows:

“The game, played with many pieces, is a board with spaces disposed among lines. The board is called the city and each piece is called a dog; the pieces are of two colors, and the art of the game consists in taking a piece of one color by enclosing it between two of the other color.”

That Latrunculi is a precursor to chess is pretty much a given. When chess came to Germany, the terms for Chess and Check (which had originated in Persian) entered the German language as Schach. But Schach was already a native German word for robbery. As a result, ludus latrunculorum was often used as a medieval Latin name for chess.

A Stone Board with Divots for Playing Pieces
PLAYING BY THE RULES
So, suppose you’re now itching to play a round or two of Latrunculi? That might be a little difficult since no one knows the exact rules. Several people have, however, developed a presumed set of rules.

What follows is known as Kowalski’s Conjectural Rules:

A)   The board has eight ranks and twelve files. Each player has twelve men plus a dux. One side is black, the other white. In the starting array the men fill the first rank and the dux stands on the second, on the square just to the right of the center line (from each player's point of view). On a board of ten squares by eleven, the dux starts in the center of the back row, flanked by five men on each side. Black moves first.

B)    Each piece may move any unobstructed distance along a rank or file similar to the rook in chess.

C)    A man is captured if the enemy places a piece adjacent to it on each side, forming an orthogonal (perpendicular) line.  I read this to mean that you have one man beside your opponent’s man and the other either immediately above or below the man being captured. Thus, they form a right angle…from the Greek orthos, meaning straight, and gonia, meaning angle.

D)   If a piece is moved voluntarily between two enemy pieces, it is not captured, but the player so moving should point out the fact to avoid later disputes.

E)    A man in a corner is captured if the opponent places his men on the two squares adjacent to the corner.

F)    Repeated sequences of moves are not allowed. If the same position occurs three times, the player must vary his attack.

G)   The dux cannot be captured. It is immobilized if blocked on all four sides. A player who immobilizes the enemy's dux wins the game, even if some of the obstruction is by the dux's own men.

H)   Play continues until one player cannot move, and thus loses. This sounds a lot like the rule of checkmate, where a King cannot move into check in a chess match.
 
So there you have it. There were, of course, many other Roman games. Some involved pitting a bull against a bear. Others pitted man against man, or man against beast. The latter is the best remembered since during various persecutions that man happened to be a Christian. We’ll continue visiting other table Games of the Ancient World in future posts.

Next time, we’ll resume our posts on Metals of the Ancient World with a look at Copper.

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings.

If you reached this post via a link, click the HOME tab above to see other posts and our archives.

Friday, January 6, 2012

THE MESSIAH'S MANSION - A REPLICA OF THE ISRAELITE'S TABERNACLE

The Tabernacle of the Israelites that they Built in the Desert
Hello My Friend and Welcome.

Recently my wife and I visited a traveling exhibit known as the Messiah’s Mansion. The exhibit is a full-size reconstruction of the original Tabernacle that the Jews constructed. The Model is built to the description of the plans given by God to Moses after he led the Israelites out of Egypt. The Messiah’s Mansion exhibit is a project of the Oklahoma Academy in Harrah, Oklahoma and, like the Jews wandering in the desert, it travels across the United States.

By the way, the development and construction of the Tabernacle is carefully documented in the Bible. It begins in Exodus 35 and continues through to the end of the Book. Because the Jews lived a nomadic lifestyle, their Tabernacle consisted of a series of tents that could be broken down, transported, and then set up again at the next location. Not unlike the taking down and setting up process the students do at each stop.
The Tabernacle Enclosed by TentCloth
A docent leads each tour group through a series of five stops, or stations. At each stop Nathan, our student guide, explained the area we were seeing and its role in the ancient sanctuary. Particular items that played a pivotal part in the ancient Israelite services are identified and discussed.
FIRST STOP
This first stop prepares the visitor by presenting an overview of the general layout and purpose of the ancient Tabernacle.
The Outer Courtyard - The Place of Scarifice

SECOND STOP
Next, the tour moves to the outer courtyard, the place of sacrifice. Here they have a replica of the Altar of Sacrifice and the Laver.

In the interest of time, they dealt with only one sacrifice, the Sin Offering, and one offering, a lamb. In reality a number of offerings and sacrifices are enumerated in Leviticus. Depending upon the occasion and their financial status, a person could bring a bull or calf, a lamb, a goat, pigeons (doves), honey, or meal. There were Sin Offerings, Peace Offerings, Trespass Offerings, Burnt Offerings, Meal Offerings, and Thank Offerings with particular specifications and requirements for each.

Inside the Holy Place Open only to Priests
THIRD STOP
The third stop takes the visitor into the Holy Place, the inner court that could only be entered by the Levite priests. It contained three items. The Table of Showbread, called Shewbread in the King James Version. The Showbread (haPānīm‎, literally Bread of the Presence), refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present along with wine on a dedicated table, within the Temple in Jerusalem. The bread was changed each Shabbat. And, prefiguring the Eucharist, priests entered the Holy Place and consumed the bread and wine before replacing it with fresh loaves. On the Pilgrim feasts the bread was brought before the people and they were told to “look upon their God.” The Holy Place an Altar of Incense and the Golden Candlesticks.
The Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies
STATION FOUR
The final stopping point is the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of the sanctuary where the Ark of the Covenant was kept along with Aaron's staff and the Ten Commandments. No one but the High Priest could enter this area, and he could enter only on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Close-up of the Relics in the Ark
STATION FIVE
The tour concludes with a Question & Answer session and closing statements.

To me, the most interesting part was to see how closely both the First (Solomon’s) and the Second (Herod’s) Temple adhered to the structural layout of this first Tabernacle built in the desert by Moses.

I feel it necessary to mention that the Messiah’s Mansion is an outreach of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. The last thing I want to do is get into a doctrinal discussion of who believes what and whether they’re right or wrong. I did not go to criticize or scrutinize anyone’s beliefs. I went to see a display of the ancient Tabernacle used by the early Israelites and was pleased with what I saw.

For anyone interested in obtaining more information about this display of the Messiah’s Mansion and a current tour schedule can visit their homepage at http://www.messiahsmansion.com/.

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings.