NB! · Archaeology · Science · Ethnography · Humour
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Ethnography
NB! · Art · Ethnography · Humour
Everything Is Splendid in This Nineteenth-Century Image of the Inca Mythical Princess Mama Ocllo
Everything is splendid in this nineteenth-century image of the Inca mythical princess Mama Ocllo. The hunchbacked dwarf and the severed head alike, but what especially catches the eye is the black double-headed eagle, the ancient symbol of so many civilisations
Archaeology · Heritage · Ethnography
Destruction of Stonehenge by medieval farmers and vandals and the ban on entry since 1977
Even before the ban of 1977 nobody was forbidden to walk inside Stonehenge, but the fact that thousands of people laid hands on the megaliths caused considerable erosion. Nowadays, on ordinary days, the megalithic complex cannot be entered, but on the day of the summer solstice thousands of people gather
Faith · Observations · Ethnography
How oracles received answers from the gods and how the Delphic Oracle worked
Oracle means an answer. Oracles foretold the future, while priests and soothsayers watched the course of the ceremonies and sacrifices, paying attention to the appearance and strength of the sacrificial fire and to the shape and colour of the entrails of the victim: from these it could be told whether
In the Press · The East · Mores · Ethnography
Vessels of Grief in Ancient Rome and Tear Bottles in the Victorian Era
In Ancient Rome, the tears of hired mourners were collected in vessels of grief, and the filled vessels were carried to the tomb as a kind of tribute to the deceased. The Victorian era, too, had its fashion for gathering tears: grieving women used special tear bottles, small flasks that
Mores · Ethnography
Folk beliefs about eggshells and the fear of water among evil spirits
There is a superstition that eggshells must never be kept, because witches can use them to sail out to sea. The shells must be burnt. Bear this in mind the next time you make scrambled eggs. There is, in fact, another widespread belief connecting unclean spirits with water. Evil entities
NB! · Palaeontology · Nature · Ethnography
The shells of the bivalve mollusc Gryphaea are known as devil's toenails, and it is the toenails that are meant; in antiquity these valves were a common amulet and were used as a remedy for the joints
NB! · Pop Culture · Nature · Ethnography
The root of the mandrake really does resemble a human body, which may be why it was credited with magical properties (think of Harry Potter); there are also mentions that it helps against female infertility
NB! · Moscow · Museums · Ethnography · Humour
Bird-shaped carnival sleigh from the collection of the Historical Museum
A carnival sleigh from the State Historical Museum. Style!
NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography
Saint Wilgefortis, the bearded virgin crucified by her father after refusing to marry a prince
This is not Jesus in a dress, but a Catholic saint: the bearded virgin Wilgefortis. She prayed that her father might not marry her off to a prince she did not love, and a beard grew upon her face; her father, in a fury, had her crucified
NB! · Faith · The East · Nature · Ethnography
It is said that the restless souls of the samurai wander the seabed in the form of heikegani crabs, whose shells bear the imprinted faces of warriors
Archaeology · Observations · Heritage · Ethnography
Excavation of the Ukok Princess in 1983 and the dispute over reburial of the mummy
Why do I say alas? Because one truly wishes that the touching devotion of the people of Altai to their native mummies might be rewarded. The Ukok Princess was excavated in 1983, and her body was remarkably well preserved for its age of 2,500 years. All thanks to the