The East - The Parnassian (Page 10)

Archaeology · The East · Art · Museums · Observations

One of the strongest aesthetic experiences of my life: the furnishings from the tomb of Tutankhamun

It is incredible that these objects were made in the 1300s BC and earlier. I can quite easily picture the golden couches in the form of lions and buffaloes, the busts of the celestial cow, the chests, the statues and the Nile barges sailing into the interior of my flat

Archaeology · The East · Science

Modern Afghan banknotes bear a reproduction of the Eucratides, the heaviest ancient gold coin ever discovered, minted under the Greek kings who ruled the region

Around the Dioscuri one can still read the inscription BAΣIΛEΩΣ MEΓAΛOY EYKRATIΔOY, that is, "of the Great King Eucratides", ruler of Bactria in 171–145 BC. The Greco-Bactrian king ruled territories that included present-day Afghanistan, in the Hellenistic kingdom that arose from the conquests of Alexander

Faith · The East · Museums · New York · Ethnography

Costume of a Dancing Skeleton

Tibetan culture, late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Metropolitan Museum

The East · Books · Observations

Time and Tide Wait for No Man

Time and tide wait for no man. A year has flown by like a snowflake falling into a river: white for a moment, and then gone for ever. Ryunosuke Akutagawa

The East · Books · Society · Humour

Benjamin Netanyahu Was Asked: "What Are You Reading at the Moment?"

- "Jews vs Rome" by Barry Strauss - Why did you choose this book? - Last time we lost, and I think we ought to win next time From the lives of reading people

The East · Books · Observations · Mores · Humour

There is an old, forgotten Russian word, kolbyag, used in Ancient Rus' to denote foreigners

There is an old, forgotten Russian word, kolbyag, used in Ancient Rus' to denote foreigners. Which foreigners exactly is not entirely clear: according to one version, the kolbyagi were predominantly of eastern origin. Such too are the foreigners named in the Russkaya Pravda "Varangians" (Western Europeans) and

Archaeology · The East · Museums

A child's chair more than 3,200 years old from the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings at West Thebes

Six chairs in all were found in the tomb. This one is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Its state of preservation is fairly good; inside the tomb it stood in the chamber usually called the Antechamber, beneath one of the ceremonial beds, the Lioness Bed, together with several

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A pauper in Istanbul: your friend after Malkoçoğlu Balı Bey, the man from her DMs, suddenly turned out to be a mere shawarma seller

The East · Art · Cinema · Observations · Ethnography

Miyazaki knows the folklore and art of his native Japan very well

Miyazaki knows the folklore and art of his native Japan very well. I am convinced that Utagawa Yoshiuji's graphic rendering of the legend Kamikiri no kidan, about a maidservant who went to the privy at night and was attacked by something utterly black that seemed to fall upon

The East · Art · Monarchies · Humour

Cyrus the Great Walked into Babylon as Though It Were His Own Home

Cyrus the Great walked into Babylon as though it were his own home. Quite literally: without a fight, by way of the river, past the guards. He conquered Babylon in 539 BC, exploiting the discontent of the population and diverting the course of the Euphrates so that his troops could

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Fabulous Beasts from the Manuscript of the "Book of the Marvels of Marco Polo"

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