NB! · The East · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Observations
The Emperor of China enthroned. The Louvre Abu Dhabi has a similar tapestry with a Chinese figure in a boat. In some palace or other you will surely find a continuation of the story: in Europe, the adventures of the ruler of the Celestial Empire were all the fashion
Archaeology · Faith · The East · Books · Observations
Vayera, the Torah portion read this week, is one of my favourites. Besides Abraham's circumcision and the news of Sarah's pregnancy, it tells how Abraham pleads for mercy for Sodom, yet the angels save from the city's inhabitants only the family of Abraham'
NB! · The East · Art · Books
Look at these reflections in the well! Simply mesmerising ❤️ Illustrations to a thirteenth-century Arabic poem, made in India
NB! · Faith · The East · Books · Observations · Humour
A 45-metre demon from an Urdu-language book about an island where terrifying voices can be heard, where King Solomon shut away the vanquished unclean spirits. This demon, apparently, licked its victims to death. I am perfectly willing to believe it and have no wish to meet him
NB! · The East · Art · Cinema · Humour
What the Iron Throne really looks like. China, nineteenth century
NB! · Archaeology · The East · Nature
In 1860 a burial of 180,000 mummified cats was found in Egypt, many of the mummies with bronze masks. Egyptian animal cemeteries also sometimes yield mummified dogs, monkeys and birds
NB! · Archaeology · The East · Art · Museums · Observations · Humour
King Idrimi of Alalakh has been extremely tense for 3,500 years, as though disturbed at an inconvenient moment. And his face seems to say more than the autobiographical text inscribed across his robe
NB! · The East · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Humour
An ivory suite presented by Louis XVI to Tipu Sultan, ruler of the Indian state of Mysore, is on display in the Salar Jung Museum, India's largest art museum. A question: why carry sand to the beach?
The East · Books · Nature · Ethnography
From the Middle Ages onwards, European literature mentions a mythical plant-animal known as the Baranets, sometimes called the Boranets or Boramets. It is also known as the Tartar lamb or the Scythian lamb. The first mentions of the Baranets appear in the notes of medieval travellers; in time the
Aristocracy · Architecture · The East · Observations · Humour
The Tbilisi house of the Mukhranbatoni on Loris-Melikov Street, renamed Gudiashvili Street, is now partly residential. It was built to the commission of Prince Ivan Bagration-Mukhransky in the style of the French Renaissance, to a design by Kornely Tatishchev, a celebrated architect of his day. When I visited
Aristocracy · Architecture · The East · Observations
I once told of the house of the Princes Bagration-Mukhransky in Tbilisi, which stood not far from the aristocratic club, also owned by the Mukhranbatoni, on Golovinsky Prospect, now Rustaveli Avenue. I have long been meaning to tell one story that connects me with this building
The East · London · Mores · Nature
In 1764 cheetahs were brought to England from India; they miraculously survived the long voyage and became part of the collection of foreign curiosities of George Pigot, the former Governor of Madras, who had returned to the island. On the way to London the predators stopped as guests of the