Archaeology - The Parnassian (Page 37)

Archaeology · Faith · Mores · Ethnography

Dust from the grave of St Chad of Mercia as medicine according to Bede the Venerable

To cure an ailment, take a little water and mix it with plain... ...grave dust. Bede the Venerable writes of Saint Chad, Chad of Mercia, a bishop who lived in the seventh century and was canonised soon after his death, that dust from his grave was held to be miraculous

Archaeology · Humour

Roman cavalryman's bronze parade mask of the 1st-2nd century found in a Dutch riverbed

A bronze parade mask of a Roman cavalryman: a detachable (so as not to stew) part of the helmet, adding a special lustre to any procession or even a charge. Imagine how a rider with a golden face looks in motion, and under the rays of the sun at that?

Black-and-white photo of a relief: two bare-chested men in collars joined by a chain, with an armoured guard beside them.

NB! · Archaeology · The East · Museums · Society

Marble relief of 200 AD from Izmir showing shackled slaves and a guard

Roman slaves shackled in iron collars. The stripped and barefoot men are escorted by an armoured guard. In all likelihood, they are being led to the arena, where they will die. Marble relief, AD 200. Izmir, Turkey.

NB! · Archaeology · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Rome · Humour

Overdosing on fillers: when the Emperor Trajan cannot be told from the Emperor Vespasian

Overdosing on fillers: when the Emperor Trajan cannot be told from the Emperor Vespasian. The large marble so-called Bosham Head of AD 121 was found in West Sussex in 1800 and is on display at the Chichester District Museum.

A white banner with a red diagonal stripe and three golden embroidered bees, displayed under glass in a museum.

NB! · Archaeology · Monarchies · Heritage

Napoleon's flag on Elba with three golden bees and the find in Childeric's tomb

That famous flag of Napoleon on Elba, with its three golden bees. The bees may well have been the oldest symbol of the rulers of France. In 1653 an image of bees was discovered in the tomb of Childeric, father of Clovis I, founder of the Merovingian dynasty, who lived

Archaeology · Faith · Art · Humour

Anyone spending Valentine's Day alone will be under the patronage of the Lion-Headed Goddess, who is also standing alone at this party in the sanctuary of Thinissut, glass in hand, though wrapped in the hem of a sumptuous dress of feathers from some marve

Anyone spending Valentine's Day alone will be under the patronage of the Lion-Headed Goddess, who is also standing alone at this party in the sanctuary of Thinissut, glass in hand, though wrapped in the hem of a sumptuous dress of feathers from some marvellous bird, and is

A pair of gold sandals and gold finger stalls laid out in rows on a grey background, with a caption below.

NB! · Archaeology · Museums · New York · Humour

Gold sandals and finger stalls from the tomb of three foreign wives of Thutmose III

If one must stroll the afterlife in sandals, then with closed toes. Sandals and toe stalls of sheet gold, found in the tomb of the three foreign wives of Pharaoh Thutmose III: Menhet, Menwi and Merti. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

NB! · Archaeology · Art · Cinema · Madrid · Museums · Humour

And More on Amusing Coincidences

And more on amusing coincidences. Princess Leia and the stone Lady of Elche, 4th century BC, Archaeological Museum of Madrid

Archaeology · Museums · Observations

A bronze mask of Oceanus from a 2nd-century AD Roman fountain, from a villa rustica in the tiny German town of Treuchtlingen-Schambach

A bronze mask of Oceanus from a 2nd-century AD Roman fountain, from a villa rustica in the tiny German town of Treuchtlingen-Schambach. It is kept in the Archaeological State Collection in Munich. When I see such charming things from out-of-the-way places, I feel a little

Archaeology · Museums · Nature

Moss wig and centurion's helmet crest found at the Roman fort of Vindolanda

Excavations at Vindolanda, a Roman fort of the 1st to 5th centuries AD in Northumberland, south of Hadrian's Wall, have yielded a great many remarkable finds, such as the first known wooden toilet seat, or this witch's bonnet with its scraggly little beard. The photographs show

Archaeology · Art · Museums · Mores

The Getty Museum acquired a 6th century BC kouros that proved a probable forgery

Before the New Year, a gripping tale for you of the eighties, an ancient statue and the Getty collection. At the close of 1983 the art dealer Gianfranco Becchina approached the Getty Museum in California with an offer to sell it a superbly preserved marble statue of the 6th century

Archaeology · Faith · The East · Heritage

History of the Supposed House of Joseph and the Virgin from the 1st Century to the 2006 Study

Pictured: the house traditionally regarded as the home of Joseph and the Virgin Mary. Well, the monument does indeed date from the 1st century AD: one wall of the house survives in full, along with part of the floor and a doorway. The walls of the dwelling were hewn out