Lady Dai!

I may have written about this already, but I'm too tired to go back and check, so if I already have, you can skip this post.
Photos by Michelle.

On Mr. Don's and my last full day in New York, Mr. Don, Michelle, Isis and I trekked to the China Institute to see the special exhibit of artifacts excavated at Mawangdui. We weren't allowed to take photographs of any of the artifacts, which were exhibited in two climate controlled rooms on either side of the reception area.

The exhibit was not large, per se, but there were more than enough artifacts over which to ooh and ahh! Only tonight did I pull out the exhibition catalog and start to look through it. I didn't get very far and will save it for another weekend when I'm less tired.

You can find some of the artifacts online, Archaeology Magazine's article.

The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt

Mr. Don and I didn't have a chance to get to Chicago to see this exhibit at the Oriental Institute when he was here earlier this month (for our trip to New York to celebrate Goddesschess' 10th anniversary).

Perhaps we can zip down on the train for a day in August before we leave for Las Vegas (we'll be celebrating my birthday - hmmm, let's see, I think I'll be 39 again, in Las Vegas, where I celebrated it 10 years ago).

The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt
February 10 - December 6, 2009

See the Archaeological Institute's online article on Meresamun by Emily Teeter.

Antiquities Fraud Redux

A further take on a subject I posted about a few days ago. (Image from article: Forms to cast fake 2nd to 3rd century coins found in Trier, Germany. Chris 73/Wikipedia licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5)

EBay Changing the Face of Antiquities Trade
By Kat Piper, Epoch Times Staff
May 30, 2009

With the launch of online auction website eBay over a decade ago, archaeologists feared that antiquities trafficking would suddenly become much more accessible and lead to increased looting of ancient sites.

But in fact, eBay has inadvertently created a vast market for fake artifacts, according to Dr Charles “Chip” Stanish, UCLA professor of Anthropology and expert in Andean archaeology. Dr Stanish has followed items listed as antiquities on eBay for nine years. He has also worked with the US customs service and visited workshops in Peru and Bolivia that specialize in making reproductions of pottery.

Rather than investing energy in looting, “[Greek], Chinese, Bulgarian, Egyptian, Peruvian and Mexican workshops are now producing fakes at a frenetic pace,” writes Dr Stanish in the May/June issue of the journal Archaeology.

“People who used to make a few dollars selling a looted artifact to a middleman in their village can now produce their own ‘almost-as-good-as-old’ objects and go directly to a person in a nearby town who has an eBay account,” he said. “They will receive the same amount or even more than they could have received for actual antiquities.”

The proliferation of fakes has depressed the value of real artifacts, acting as a further disincentive to looting, said Dr Stanish. When he first started tracking eBay sales of South American antiquities, Dr Stanish estimated that the ratio of real to fake artifacts was 50:50. Five years later, 95 per cent were fakes. But the quality of the fakes has improved so much that Dr Stanish admits that he can’t always tell. He estimates that about 30 per cent of objects currently listed as “antiquities” are obvious fakes and only 5 per cent are genuine.

Modern forging techniques are so good nowadays it is “almost impossible” or prohibitively expensive to authenticate objects using current methods, said Dr Stanish. As long as there are people willing to buy the “genuine” Peruvian Moche pottery, currently being sold for as little as $US160 on eBay (a real pot is worth about $US16,000), the trade will continue to flourish, as will the quality of reproductions.

Looting, which is illegal, is the bane of archaeologists because looters rarely remove artifacts using appropriate scientific methods, or record where they came from, so make the objects harder to date and break their valuable link to the wider context of the site and cultural heritage.

Vero Man - Er - Woman

Archaeological dig to start in early June at site where Vero Man was found
By Elliott Jones
Originally published 10:26 p.m., May 30, 2009
Updated 10:26 p.m., May 30, 2009

VERO BEACH — Part of an answer to how many thousands of years Indians lived on the Treasure Coast can be found in grains of sand 15 feet underground behind the new Indian River County Administration building. In early June, scientists are to drill down to get sand samples for laboratory dating of the site where very ancient Indian bones, dubbed the Vero Man, were unearthed around 1915.

That’s part of a two-part initiative that is to include a scientific excavation of a portion of the site next year.

For now, “If you line up 20 scientists and go down the line and ask how old are the bones, a third will say they are 10,000 years old,” said Florida State University archaeologist Glen Doran. “A third will say 6,000 years old.

“I am among the others who shrug their shoulders and say no one knows for sure” about the age of the Vero Beach bones, he said. “I say let’s see what we can find out.”

Elsewhere on the Treasure Coast, the oldest other human remains are dated around 4,300 years ago in Martin County, said Stuart resident Lucille Rieley Right, president of the South East Florida Archaeological Society.

Early last century the digging of a large drainage canal on the north side of Vero Beach unearthed the human bones near remains of extinct species, including mammoths, that are assumed to have died out around 10,000 years ago.

The discovery attracted national scientific attention — because it defied conventional wisdom that people dated back only 6,000 years in the United States. For 20 years the one-acre site was one of the most famous archaeological locations in the nation because it was the first to suggest people had been in North America at the end of the age of the great land mammals.

That age included bear-sized sloths, camels and giant saber-tooth cats.
Scientific excavations elsewhere in Florida have since confirmed humans date back at least 12,000 years in the state and were killing mammoths, Doran said. Indians were in other parts of the United States even earlier, research shows.

But the antiquity of Vero Man — the bones turned out to be female — remained a question.

Some of the human skeletal remains are in the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, he said. However minerals saturated the bones for thousands of years making it virtually impossible to determine their age using high-tech methods, he said.

In October, a laboratory dating test of a mammoth bone from the site didn’t work.

Last summer Doran and others took 10 soil borings from the Vero Man site to help pinpoint where more excavation work should be done.

Now Doran and several other scientists are returning to the site around the first week of June to get new soil samples to subject to the newest dating method: measuring the radioactivity of sand grains.

Once quartz sand is buried, it progressively builds up radioactivity that can be measured to estimate how long ago it was on the surface. So Doran will be pulling up new soil borings encased in black plastic. Those will be tested in Canada by a scientist pioneering the dating method.

Ultimately, though, it will take an old-style excavation of the site to probe for more definitive proof: actual human remains with bones of extinct animals, he said.

Doran mailed a letter to the city of Vero Beach proposing such an excavation in 2010 in connection with the city’s plans to build a drainage cleanup system at the Vero Man site.

The Florida Department of State wants the excavation done — at an estimated cost of $80,000 to $100,000 — before construction begins on an $850,000 water cleanup system, said Assistant City Engineer Bill Messersmith. Messersmith isn’t ready to say how the scientific excavation work would be financed.

“I want to see both projects move forward: the excavation and the storm water project,” Messersmith said.

************************************************

Okay, what I want to know is how did man get all the way to Florida 12,000 years ago when he was just supposed to be starting to cross the Bering land bridge by foot or, perhaps, taking boats across the straits and island hopping from Sibera to Alaska???

It is this kind of archaeological evidence that keeps cropping up that causes me to have serious doubts about DNA analysis "conclusively" determining who arrived in North America, from where, and when. At this point in time, it looks pretty clear to me that - WE JUST DON'T KNOW - despite what some experts assert otherwise.

Follow-Up: The Stone Turtle

From Cincinnati.com

Expert: Turtle rock has tool marks
Last Updated: 6:22 pm Friday, May 29, 2009
(Image from earlier article)

Maybe there's something to the Morrow turtle rock after all.

A local archeologist dismissed Dirk Morgan's find as just an odd sandstone boulder probably shaped by nature.

But, Eric Law, a geologist and associate professor at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, said he's pretty confident someone carved the rock that resembles the head of a turtle.

How did he come to that conclusion after examining the figure for two hours Wednesday?

"The most significant (feature) is something I interpreted as tool marks...They are shown at a well-protected location and are not easily destroyed by weathering or erosion processes," Law said Friday.

Simply put, he looked far back into the mouth.
• In April, an archaeologist was skeptical.

Law's conclusion is exciting news for Morgan, who unearthed the rock in his yard near the Little Miami River in April.

"We now know what we have is an artifact without a doubt...a relic," he said.
Morgan, who runs a canoe livery, is convinced that the 220-pound rock was left behind by American Indians who once inhabited the area. But, Law can't say when the tool marks were made or by whom. That's for an archeologist to figure out, he said. His job, as a geologist and specialist in petrology - the branch of science that deals with the composition of rocks -- was to find evidence that the rock was altered by something other than nature.

Whatever the case, Morgan's find has sparked curiosity among professionals and amateurs who study rocks.

Law said he may present a paper on the turtle rock in October at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Portland, Oregon.

"This thing is just so damn big and obvious. You look at it and immediately it says 'animal head,'" said Alan Day, a retired engineering consultant in Cambridge, Ohio, who considers himself an amateur archeologist.

Day spends much of his retirement studying the many artifacts he's found on his hilltop property since 1987. He has featured information about Morgan's turtle rock on his Web site, http://www.daysknob.com/. Day said he has heard from people all over the United States and Europe who have found similar but smaller artifacts.

"The bottom line is that people thousands of years ago were constantly carving very simple images into rocks," Day said.

Busy Spring Day!

Whew! I'm tired!

I spent part of the morning tracking down some Montreal chess tournaments that might be interested in providing special Goddesschess prizes just for the chess femmes; then I headed out doors and cut the grass in the back yard (1.5 hour project).

Then I parked myself on the deck and looked through a decorating catalog and a decorating magazine while tossing almonds to the squirrels and peanuts to those black birds with the green-blue heads (I've no idea what kind of bird they are). When the electric grass shears were re-charged I trimmed the grass around the deck, the retaining wall around the big elm, the side walk back of the garage and the east fence line and around the plum trees in the lawn; then I did some weeding; then I cleaned out the birdbaths; then I camped out on the deck again and relaxed while listening to smooth jazz on the radio.

Later, I clipped a spring bouquet from the yard - purple leaves from the plum trees, pink bleeding heart, and pink honeysuckle (photo).

Later still, I decided to pull out the old hand saw and tackle some targeted branches on the "black berry" tree, to clean up the tree's lines and also hopefully let in some more sun into the rear portion of the gardens. If I keep this up, my arms will soon be tuned and toned...

Hope you enjoy the bouquet as much as I am!

Tomorrow it starts all over again...

A New Gimpy Squirrel

Last night I noticed a very small squirrel along the north fence line, with an obvious injury on his right leg, which he was dragging. I don't know if he got clipped by a car or tangled with a predator and escaped. The poor little guy was obviously spooked, and when he saw me peeking out at him from the patio door he gimped away into the underbrush that my neighbors have piled up on the other side of the fence. It's so thick and deep it would be pretty much inpenetrable to predators like a hawk or a cat.

I felt horrid seeing the little guy in that condition. I tossed some peanuts and almonds as close to the fence line as I could from the patio door without stepping out on to the deck or approaching the fence, hoping that the squirrel would come out later on when the coast was clear and eat.

This morning about 8:30 a.m. I noticed the little gimpy guy, so he survived the night. As far as I can tell, the injury on his right hind leg has scabbed over, but he's still dragging it. It may be broken, which does not bode well. He was having a very tough time climbing around the base the big tree that I can see outside my kitchen window. He was staying very close to the base of that tree where some of the bird seed lands every morning when I toss a cup-full of it off the end of the deck for the birds. Trying not to spook him, I took a handful of peanuts and a handful of almonds and tossed them, one by one, toward the base of the tree, being as quiet as I could and trying no to show myself from the patio door. I could see him but the deck is elevated above the area where he was but because of a railroad tie retaining wall behind part of the massive tree trunk, I do not think he could see me.

Later I noticed that he had managed to climb up to a limb high above the yard, out of harm's way. I do hope he got at least some of the nuts I tossed out. This is a picture of him up on that tree limb. It's not as clear as I'd wish, and although I had the close-up x 3 on, it didn't seem to work on the shot. Drat! You can barely make him out as a sort of lump near the intersection of the limb and the trunk. I think he was sleeping in the sun when I took this shot. I figure he's pretty exhausted.

I do hope he makes it. He's very small, smaller than the other "baby" squirrels in the yard who have grown a great deal over the last 4 weeks, so I don't think he's from a nest in one of the trees in my yard (two nests, both birthed about the same time), but he is familiar with my yard as a food source so he must come from somewhere nearby.

Update (11:50 a.m.): It's almost a couple hours later and he's not up on the limb any more. I don't know where he got off to, unless he's sharing the next with the bigger "babies" further up the tree. I have to go out now and cut the grass, I will check around the base of the tree and hope I do not find a small dead squirrel. If he is alive, I'll see if I can get a better picture of him.

Quebec Invitational 2009

IM Irina Krush is busy! Here is one of the events she will be playing in this summer:

Championnat Invitation du Québec 2009
19-27 June 2009
Le Championnat Invitation du Québec (CIQ) will have an international flavor this year with the participation of foreign players. An agreement between the organizer of the Montreal International Tournament 2009 (TIM), Mr. André Langlois, CIQ will allow to qualify the first four classification for the TIM to be held from 27 August to 7 September 2009. The idea is to increase competition and the CIQ Quebec allow players to achieve standards [norms] of IM and GM.
10 player round robin
Invited players Peng Xiaomin (GM, 2588) China; Mark Bluvshtein (GM, 2558) Canada; Anton Kovalyov (GM, 2556) Argentina-Canada; Bator Sambuev (GM, 2498) Russia-Canada; Thomas Roussel-Roozmon (MI, 2479) Canada; Irina Krush (MI, 2452) United States; Renier Castellanos (MI, 2446) Spain; Sylvain Barbeau (MF, 2357) Canada; François Léveillé (MF, 2261) Canada; + a player to be confirmed.

Dates: 19-27 June 2009: Round 1 to 9
Venue: Olympic Stadium, 4545 Pierre de Coubertin (RLQ), métro Pie IX.
The parties start at 17:30 every day.
The top four qualify for the 2009 TIM.

The best player in Quebec will receive the title of Champion of Quebec. To be considered Quebecois player, it must reside in Québec for at least a year depending on the start date of the tournament.

Southwest Chess Club: At Polish Fest!

Great News!

Southwest Chess Club has been invited back to Polish Fest to man a booth for a second year! That's good news for chess fans and for the Club, as volunteers at the booth give free lessons, play simuls and individual games, etc.

Polish Fest will be held at Maier Festival Park on Milwaukee's beautiful lake front June 19 - 21, 2009.

Thousands of Polish immigrants settled in Milwaukee during the 1800 - 1900's, and their traditions are alive and well in the region today. Polish Fest is a big event in Milwaukee and draws large crowds (not just people of Polish ancestry). This is a great opportunity for Southwest Chess Club to do community outreach and spread the word about a great club and a great game!

Rhiannon: Goddess of Horses

By Juliette Frette'
Women's Issues Examiner
Examiner.com

Ancient goddess spotlight: Rhiannon
May 22, 4:15 PM

The Welsh horse goddess of the Underworld, Rhiannon (pronounced ree-ah-nin) is also known as Rigatona or "Great Queen" in Welsh lore. An equine goddess-turned-magical queen, she is unique in the sense that she is exclusively a horse deity -- while other goddesses of antiquity typically have other identities and functions.

Accordingly, horse themes are very strong in Irish and Welsh mythology. As such, Rhiannon's Irish sister Macha, a transfunctional goddess spanning all possible functions of society as priestess, warrior, and nurturer, has also been represented as a horse.

Nevertheless, Rhiannon is one of a kind with the exception of one Gaulish equine goddess counterpart known as Epona -- a diety who has no other function than being the patroness of horses.

Rest of article.


Lyrics to Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon:

Rhiannon rings like a bell throu the night
And wouldnt you love to love her
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover
All your life you've never seen a woman
Taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win

She is like a cat in the dark
And then she is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark
And when the sky is starless
All your life you've never seen a woman
Taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win
Will you ever win

She rings like a bell throu the night
And wouldnt you love to love her
She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover
All your life you've never seen a woman
Taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win
Will you ever win

Wikipedia entry on Rhiannon.

See also Nemeton, the Sacred Grove: RhiannonA Cymric and Brythonic Goddess, also known as Rigantona: Great Queen, from which the image (above) was taken -- a representation of Rhiannon (or one of her birds, the "Birds of Rhiannon"), riding on the back of a horse. Many thanks to the artist who crafted it!

Remains of temple of Isis found

From ANSA.it
2009-05-28 18:38
Workmen find fragments digging inside Florence courthouse

(ANSA) - Florence, May 28 - Workmen inside Florence's courthouse have stumbled across a spiral column and hundreds of multicoloured fragments that experts believe may have belonged to a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Dating to the second century AD, the remains were discovered as the men dug a five by three metre hole, barely four metres deep, for a new water cistern for the courthouse's anti-incendiary system.

''These finds are of extraordinary importance,'' said Alessandro Palchetti, the archaeologist charged with overseeing the works in the courthouse by Florence's archaeology superintendency, who suspected something interesting might be uncovered because of the area's historic relevance.

Palchetti said the remains were ''comparable'' to others found over the last three centuries in the immediate area that have also been attributed to the temple of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of motherhood and fertility who was later adopted by the Greeks and Romans.

The location of the temple is unknown, Palchetti said, but it is believed to have been built just outside the Roman part of the city, near the current courthouse building.

...[rest of article unrelated to topic]

Antiquities Fraud Abounds on the Internet

Story from The Los Angeles Times

'Ancient' artifacts, cyber scams

Archaeologists and legitimate antiquities dealers warn that most EBay sellers are duping bargain-hunters looking to buy a piece of the past on the cheap.

By Mike Boehm
May 29, 2009

When Charles "Chip" Stanish, director of UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, craves a good laugh over human folly, he knows it's just a mouse-click away, on EBay's crowded bazaar of ancient artifacts.

A reddish clay pot in the shape of a man's head pops onto the computer screen in his office beneath the campus' Fowler Museum. Stanish notes its wide-eyed, gape-mouthed face and tries to stifle a laugh, but there's no helping himself. The tousle-haired anthropologist, who researches ancient commerce and communal life in the mountainous Lake Titicaca region of Peru, is slain again.

"Look at this stupid face with the stupid grin," he says. "The teeth are ridiculous. The eyes are goofy. . . . It's something you'd find at the Lima airport," selling for a few bucks. On EBay, the seller is advertising it as a mint-condition artifact of Peru's Nazca culture -- a depiction of a warrior, possibly 2,000 years old. It's yours for $499.99, satisfaction backed with a "lifetime guarantee," as long as that lifetime expires within the 14-day window for returns. Customers have given this seller a satisfaction rating of nearly 100%.

"Oh, I have such a good time," Stanish says. "Sometimes I put it on my TV, and my friends and I have some glasses of wine and crack up."

Rest of article.


Just for the heck of it, I did a quick search at ebay for antiquities and located this "bronze figure amulet/Ra genuine." It is said to be 5.7 cm in height. No representation is made as to the age of the piece.

Now darlings, I'm sure no expert, but after taking a look at this two times, I decided that if it is anything, it's an amulet of Sekhmet, the Goddess in the form of a lioness (an aspect of Goddess Hathor), and is not Ra, although there is a connection because Ra was Sekhmet's father (Sekhmet was one of the "Eyes of Ra"), if memory serves. About the first image above, it could be said it is at least questionable as to what god or goddess the amulet is meant to represent, given what I consider its poor condition; the second image shows a side profile of the amulet and indicates to me the distinctive profile of Sekhmet, along with the remains of her Sun crown enclosed by the Uraeus. For a comparison, check out the images at the Wikipedia entry on Sekhmet.

I suppose just because I think it's something other than Ra doesn't mean it's a fraud. I also point out the poor condition of this piece of bronze. I've only seen photos on the internet and in catalogs and books and also in person at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Musem of Art (fresh in my mind as we returned from New York on May 19th), so I'm no expert on what the condition of an "ancient" Egyptian bronze should be, since the only ones I've seen have been in generally good condition, considering that most of them came from inside tombs. Perhaps this bronze amulet was owned by a camel herder and had a really rough life, being caught in sand storms and such. Or perhaps it came out of a really bad mold and was then suitably "antiqued" to look like something that might be 2,000 or more years old. Only the Shadow knows...

For reasons that I believe will be clear to my readers, I'm not providing a link :)

Are You Kidding?

Faulty Chess History - Arrggghhhh!

Hola darlings!

I've had a very bad day. It was raining hard this morning when I left for the office. It was difficult enough to force myself out of a cozy warm bed at 6 a.m. while the rain was pounding on the roof. The half-mile walk to the bus stop at 7:20 a.m. resulted in me getting rather wet from the waist down from the blowing rain, and my shoes sprung leaks, so I went to work with wet socks. Oh YUCK!

It stopped raining shortly after I boarded the bus. Of course. It started raining again shortly before I had to get off the bus to hike the blocks to the office. Of course. There is extra walking now since the bus has been detoured by summertime street repairs. Of course course.

I was not in a very good mood when I got to the office. I had a pile of work still sitting from the day before (my first day back from nearly 3 weeks vacation), my hair looked like crap and I was hungry. I did get a very fat-filled breakfast sandwich from the cafeteria, which I scarfed down at my desk while going through my emails and prioritizing the work for the day. My hair - well, I won't even go there.

I am so glad to be home tonight. The rain finally stopped and the fog has blown away. I swear my grass and plants have sprung up inches since the rain started in earnest late last night. Yes, yes, as an amateur gardener I realize the importance of regular deep watering. And so I could rationalize my discomfort and mushy socks (still mushy when I got home, eeeuuuuuwww) for the greater good of my water-starved garden. So what if the rain arrived 24 hours later than first forecast, that caused me to postpone doing serious watering with the sprinkler in the back yard on Sunday, because my herbaceous friends were looking somewhat peaked. And I felt so guilty, like I was personally murdering each and every blade of grass...

Arrrgggghhhh. Anyway, I get home tonight, dispose of the stinking mushy socks, dry off, and settle down for a night of blogging since there is absolutely nothing decent on network television, and I'm too cheap to subscribe to cable or satellite.

But now I'm all p.o.'d again, darlings, and it is all because of THIS MAN!

I am not a member of Gamasutra, and I do not wish to become a member - I mean, come on - Gamasutra? Please - give me back my Kama Sutra! And no, that's not a World War II kamikaze game involving flying planes into battle cruisers.

No offense to Mr. Dinehart, and I mean that sincerely. It's not the easiest thing in the world to go back into the mists of time trying to tease out the true origins of the game we call chess. We started out as rank amateurs and ten years later we're still amateurs - although not so rank as we used to be :)) For the vast majority of people alive today, I'd say somewhere between 99.94% and 99.99% - how chess came to be is not a compelling question.

But for us at Goddesschess, it is. I'd say it has become almost an obsession (eek!) Suffice to say, after 10 years of continuous work, we believe we have accumulated sufficient evidence to say with confidence that "H.J.R. Murray got it wrong, baby!"

Okay - I don't hear the trumpet fanfare I want - drat! Which only goes to show you. To most people, this ain't an important issue! But to us, it is. And so I'd like to go on the record with what we think is a more correct statement of facts about the origins of chess. Without going into too much boring detail.

Before I get started, I'd like to state for the record that I thought Mr. Dinehart's blog post was great. I found it entertaining, charming, humorous and informative, all about a subject I could care less about - except for the history of chess part! Well done, Mr. Dinehart. Now, as to that:

So I set out to do research, and like most things in western culture, one need look east to find their roots. I started with Chess and then dug a little deeper. It lead me to Chaturaga, a game whose rules are mostly lost, but the pieces remain. This, the first serious war-game, came before Europe was even a dream.

There is evidence that points to at least three ancient games having their roots in divination, and warfare was not the primary motif or even a consideration at the beginning: in ancient Egypt, the games of Mehen (the serpent game) and Senet, and in ancient China, the game of Liubo (Image: liubo board, c. 400 BCE). In later times in ancient Egypt, Mehen ceased to be played for reasons that are unknown, although some have speculated that it was because playing a game on the back of a God (actually, a Goddess, but that's another story) was insulting. Senet and the much later game of Liubo could be played "straight" - that is - as a board game of chance - or as a game of divination. Two historians of whom I am aware have pointed to Liubo as a direct predecessor of chess: David Li and Joseph Needham. Thanks to the research of several historians and ethnographers, it is now generally accepted that the earliest board games probably had their roots in attempts to determine the future.

The Sanskrit word "Chaturanga", means "four parts", or "Army", which for the ancient Indians was compromised by 4 parts. It is a game of 6th century BCE Indian origins consisting of two small armies with unique units, on an 8 x 8 board.Chaturanga predates Chess, but only in the little evidence had in artifact, not by popular record. Most likely a Persian invention, Chaturanga beats Chess in record by only a number of years.

I believe most chess historians are in general agreement that chaturanga was a game invented or evolved sometime during the sixth century CE, not the 6th century BCE. Some posit an earlier date for invention or evolution of the game, but to my recollection, not as far back as the 6th century BCE (except Goddesschess). Perhaps Mr. Dinehart made a typo.

The Sanskrit chaturanga literally means four ("chatur") and limbs (as in arms and legs) ("anga"). As such, it does not, per se, refer to anybody's army, Indian or otherwise. Chaturanga does, however, have a counterpart in the Pahlavi (middle Persian) word chatrang, which means the mandrake plant (it has the same meaning in modern Farsi). Sanskrit and Pahlavi, and their descendants, are all derived from an ancestral "mother tongue" - proto-Indo-European, placing the sub-continent of India firmly in the "west" linguistically. I can't locate it in my notes at the moment, but I believe the Pahlavi word for four is chatar, which is very close to the Sanskrit chatur four.

Chess is an Arab invention first mentioned by the court poet Bana, in a poem he wrote between "625 and 640 CE"[3].

I haven't studied Bana's quotes, and so I'll only say this: most chess historians are in agreement that chess is NOT an invention of the Arabs, but was adopted by them as the game shatranj (from Pahlavi chatrang) after the Persians were conquered in the mid-7th century CE.

Thanks to the trade routes of the ancient world Chess along with Chaturanga were both brought west to the likes of Africa, Spain, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire. The game evolved into chess and hung around for until 2400 years later when things got interesting.

There is a lot of evidence of trade and cultural exchanges from the far east (China) to ancient Rome and beyond, over an extended period of time during period of time well within the historical, along the Silk Road routes. There is a great deal of evidence of direct trade and cultural exchanges between ancient Persia and ancient China dating to the first ruler of the Tang Dynasty (c. 600's CE). Who knows how long such trade might have existed for which evidence no longer exists, or has yet to be discovered? For instance, there is suggestive evidence that the trade in tin between the Middle East and mines in Cornwall existed as far back as the Bronze Age. There is even evidence of some ancient Egyptian pre-dynastic maces showing up in graves in far northwestern China, dating back to approximately 3500 BCE.

What historians currently state is that the Arabs spread the game of chess they called shatranj as they conquered more and more lands, including modern-day Spain and Portugal. The Arab historians are quite honest in admitting that their game shatranj was taken from the Persian game chatrang. Murray wrote about how the game shatranj was carried into parts of India that were subsequently conquered by the Arabs and somehow morphed into a four-handed game where the pieces were moved depending on the throw of dice - also called chaturanga. Thus the confusion in trying to determine just what game was talked about in some written historical accounts. In any event, the four-handed dice-game called chaturanga was a far cry from the pure strategy game played by the Persians in the 6th century CE.

It is documented that "chess" was spread by the Moslems (Arabs) during their conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries CE, and it is also documented that the game was spread by Vikings and other traders, including the "Rus" during the 8th to 11th centuries CE.

Well, that's it, more or less in a nut-shell. There's much more - a veritable tapestry so rich in interconnecting threads that it is nearly inpenetrable. We at Goddesschess call it "The Weave." Like any good weavers, however, rather than being overwhelmed by the completed product, we start with a single thread and follow it as best we can to its origin. Pick a thread - any thread - and follow it to where it may lead. Please pay attention to all of those intersections with other threads along the way, and to where they may lead, too.

Okay, end of harangue! I'm hungry, it's well past my supper time!

Eight Year Old Girl Wins Indian State Championship

Story from Indiaexpress.com
Aakansha wins state under-9 chess c’ship
Express News Service
Posted: Thursday , May 28, 2009 at 0241 hrs IST

Pune:
Aakansha Hagawane of Pune won the Maharashtra State under-9 girls chess championship cum selection tournament held at Sangli from May 22 -26. She scored five points in five rounds and bagged the first prize of rupees 2,500 and a trophy.

Aakansha will represent Maharashtra in the national under-9 girls chess championship to be held in Chennai from June 15.

A fourth standard student of ADES school, Tilak Road, has also won the Pune district under 7 girls chess championship in 2007 and the Pune district under-9 girls chess championship in 2008.

She is also the winner of Pune district chess scholarship in the under 9 girls group. This scholarship by guardian minister Ajit Pawar.

Bobby Fischer Notebooks/Materials on Auction

Bonham's auction house has announced the auction of a lot containing several (all?) of Bobby Fischer's notebooks, chess magazines, and other materials that were claimed to have been forfeited by Fischer for failure to pay rental on a storage unit (I believe in California). See the link for information on what the lot contains.

Who is auctioning this material? My recollection is that when alive, Fischer vehemently denied that he failed to pay the rent due on the storage unit and claimed that the property was still legally his, although it seems he never followed up with bringing legal actions against the company owning the storage unit and/or those to whom, I presume, his property was subsequently sold.

Does whoever is offering the Fischer lot for auction have a legal right to do so, given Fischer's claims when he was alive? I wonder what the legal representatives of Fischer's daughter would have to say about this?

The auction in which the Fischer lot is to be offered is set for June 10, 2009 in New York. Chess collectors must be abuzz with this news!

Sale 17109 - Fine Books and Manuscripts, 10 Jun 2009 New York
Lot No: 3372
FISCHER, ROBERT JAMES “BOBBY.” 1943-2008.
BOBBY FISCHER’S CHESS LIBRARY, INCLUDING NOTEBOOKS PREPARED FOR THE 1972 WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP.


Even stranger - does this auction include materials that were originally offered for auction on e-bay back in 2005, according to this New York Times article:

Arts, Briefly; Bobby Fischer's Stuff At Auction on eBay
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAIN; COMPILED BY LAWRENCE VAN GELDER
Published: December 16, 2005
(Photo- not included in this archive)

Chess enthusiasts eager to own a bit of the game's history have a unique opportunity, at least for a few more days. Someone is selling several personal effects of Bobby Fischer, the former world champion, on eBay. Most of the collection (one example, above), according to the list on the site, consists of chess books and magazines, many of them foreign, some of them inscribed by Mr. Fischer with his name. Also included are an original manuscript for Mr. Fischer's ''My 60 Memorable Games''; 20 small handwritten notebooks detailing the openings played by some of his top competitors; and legal papers surrounding his attempt to copyright a chess move. In all, the seller says, the trove includes about 16 cardboard boxes full of material. The minimum bid is $15,000, and at least one has been received, from the Netherlands. The auction, which started last Friday, ends on Monday. The seller said the material was bought at a flea market six years ago and evidently came from a storage locker that Mr. Fischer rented in Pasadena, Calif. The contents were seized for nonpayment of rent. Mr. Fischer went into a tirade about it several years ago in a radio interview with a Philippines radio station, saying the seizure was illegal. DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN

*****************************************************

So, did the e-bay sale fall through? Or was the sale successful and the lot being offered by Bonham's is not the COMPLETE Bobby Fischer library?

2009 Chicago Open

Final Standings in the Open Event. Sargissian and Ehlvest split a combined prize pot of $12,000. The lone chess femme in the Open, WIM Alisa Melekhina, finished at 50%, with 3.5/7:

# Name Rtng Post St Tot
1 GM Gabriel Sargissian 2760 2768 ARM 5½/7
2 GM Jaan Ehlvest 2649 2703 NY 5½/7
3 GM Loek Van Wely 2730 2721 NED 5
4 GM Yury Shulman 2697 2694 IL 5
5 GM Varuzhan Akobian 2664 2667 CA 5
6 GM Giorgi Kacheishvili 2638 2660 NY 5
7 GM Alexander Shabalov 2620 2634 PA 5
8 IM Benjamin Finegold 2580 2582 MI 5
9 GM Tigran Petrosian 2698 2701 ARM 4½
10 GM Dashze Sharavdorj 2482 2493 CO 4½
11 FM Jake Kleiman 2373 2386 TN 4½
12 FM Carl B Boor 2306 2328 OH 4½
13 GM Darmen Sadvakasov 2618 2627 FR 4
14 IM Gergely Antal 2486 2494 HUN 4
15 IM Mackenzie Molner 2416 2433 NJ 4
16 FM Darwin Yang 2304 2344 TX 4
17 IM Joseph M Bradford 2476 2453 TX 3½
18 FM Florin Felecan 2409 2415 IL 3½
19 IM Angelo Young 2367 2366 IL 3½
20 GM Anatoly Y Lein 2359 2341 OH 3½
21 IM Oladapo O Adu 2344 2329 MD 3½
22 WIM Alisa Melekhina 2322 2323 PA 3½/7
23 FM Ali Morshedi 2294 2297 CA 3½
24 Seth Homa 2284 2294 MI 3½
25 Steven A Owen 2082 2116 TN 3½
26 GM Timur Gareev 2626 2627 TX 3
27 GM Eugene Perelshteyn 2599 2586 MA 3
28 IM Bryan G Smith 2550 2539 PA 3
29 GM Gildardo J Garcia 2483 2462 FL 3
30 Aung K Lwin 2313 2302 MA 3
31 Conrad Holt 2294 2296 KS 3
32 Robert O’Donnell 2153 2155 MI 3
33 Eric S Rosen 2133 2136 IL 3
34 GM Dmitry Gurevich 2557 2537 IL 2½
35 FM Michael Dougherty 2268 2252 ON 2½
36 Frankie Swindell II 1886 1893 IL 2½
37 GM Vladimir Georgiev 2585 2579 IL 2
38 GM Nikola Mitkov 2564 2557 IL 2
39 Brian Fiedler 2236 2227 ONT 2
40 Allen J Becker 2014 2013 WI 2 (Allen plays at Southwest Chess Club, my adopted chess club)
41 Luke Hellwig 2000 1995 AL 2
42 Jeremy M Madison 1922 1937 IA 2
43 Nolan Hendrickson 1882 1877 WI 2
44 Henry C Sobo 2019 1999 CT 1½
45 GM Zviad Izoria 2668 2653 GEO 1
46 Kenneth Odeh 1906 1904 CA 1
47 GM Mesgen Amanov 2394 2378 IL ½
48 Mark Jutovsky 1934 1933 IL ½
49 Matthew Pullin 2032 2023 IL 0
50 Rudy R Padilla 1593 1590 IL 0

10-Year Old Wins School Chess Championship

From the May 27-June 2, 2009 edition of Frost Illustrated (Fort Wayne, Indiana). (No exact date is given for the chamionship).

Fairfield Chess Championship
Montserrat Amieva (center), a 10- year-old fourth grader at Fairfield Elementary School, displays the trophy she recently won as the school’s chess champion. Pictured with her (from left) are Fairfield Chess Club coach Robert Wafford, Jeff Thomas, school interventionist, and Mary Marks, physical education instructor, who organized the after school club. In addition to winning the school chess championship title, Amieva was victorious in a recent demonstration match against last year’s champ who is now a middle student. Amieva is the daughter of Santos Amieva and Gabriela Ramos. (Photo by Michael F. Patterson)

New York: Some Street Scenes

One of the things I love about Manhattan is that, wherever, I turned, there was one fabulous building after another and one fabulous street scene after another. The juxtaposition of so many different types of architecture is a never-ending source of delight. Too, the city is filled with never-ending streams of people, taxis, private cars, delivery vans and trucks, buses, and lots of noise. The energy is contagious - but wearing. Columbus Circle is one of my favorite spots, for it's lovely, cooling fountains, lots of benches and places where people can sit, and the grand panorama that only a circle can provide in this grand city.

I took TONS of photos, thank goddess for digital cameras! Some didn't turn out, unfortunately, either because the image was blurred or I wasn't happy with how the subject of the photo was framed. Among the four of us (Michelle, Isis, dondelion and I), I downloaded 907 photographs from our memory cards the afternoon before dondelion and I left! I've been going through the downloaded images and deleting duplicates, not so good shots and rotating and cleaning up others (mostly lightening them).

Anyway, here are some shots I took the night dondelion and I arrived (May 12, 2009). We checked into the hotel and went out almost immediately! We walked and walked. I took these photos from Columbus Circle, which is just a couple of blocks up 7th Avenue from the Wellington, where we stayed. I'm very proud of these photos.

Unfortunately, none of the photos that I took of the golden statue that sits at one corner of Central Park turned out - and I deleted all of them. The photo included here was taken by dondelion at the same time I was busy snapping away in my failed attempts! He takes forever to take a photo, he still acts as if he's snapping on a film camera and therefore each photo is precious! He drives me crazy because he just won't TAKE THE PICTURE, TAKE THE PICTURE (Audrey Hepburn to Fred Astaire, "Funny Face"). He's lost countless great photos of the three Goddesschess goddesses, for instance, by dinking around. But he did good on this photo - far better than any of my blurred and off-centered attempts!

Updates, We've Got Updates!

Long overdue updates for the month of May, 2009 made at Chess Femme News (go to Goddesschess and click on the link for Chess Femme News in the left hand navigation bar). I'm now working on April.

Mr. Don has also put together a new Random Round-up now that he's back in the saddle in Montreal. RR can be found at Goddesschess in the right hand column. This week he presents an interesting mix. Teeth of the God, anyone? Q: What did the backgammon player say to the crocodile? A: My, what big teeth you have. Q: What did the crocodile say to the backgammon player? A: Crunch crunch, thanks for being lunch.

Okay - so I'm lame.

Southwest Chess Club: Upcoming Events

June action at the Southwest Chess Club (of Hales Corners):

Heatwave Action II: June 4
3-Round Swiss in Two Sections (G/30 Minutes and G/29 Minutes).
USCF Rated. EF: $5 members, $7 others. (½ Point Bye available for
only first round if requested prior to round) TD is Becker; ATD is
Grochowski.

Sizzling Summer Cook-off Swiss: June 11, 18 & 25
3-Round Swiss in Two Sections. (Open and Under 1600) Game/100
minutes. USCF Rated. EF: $5 members, $7 others. (One ½ Point Bye
Available for any round (except round four) if requested at least 2-days
prior to round). TD is Fogec; ATD is Grochowski.

The Club meets meets every Thursday night from 6:00 PM at the St. James Catholic Church in the lower level of the Parish Center building (immediately in front of the church). The address is 7219 South 27th Street in Franklin. The club opens at 6 PM, Tournament Games at 7 PM. Here is a map to the club. We are just south of Rawson on 27th, and close to I-94 in Franklin.

For further information, contact:

Allen Becker: (414) 423-0206 (cell 414-807-0269) Email Allen
Tom Fogec: (414) 425-6742 Email Tom
Robin Grochowski (414) 744-4872 Email Robin
Sheldon Gelbart (414) 529-5931 Email Sheldon

In Men's Clothes: Union Soldier Was a Woman

Story from National Public Radion

In Civil War, Woman Fought Like A Man For Freedom
by Linda Paul

May 24, 2009 · Albert D.J. Cashier was the shortest soldier in the 95th Illinois Infantry. In one of the few existing photographs of Cashier during the Civil War, you can faintly detect the outline of breasts under his uniform.

But that's if you're looking for it. And the military apparently was not. "They didn't conduct physical exams in those days, the way the military does now," says Rodney Davis, a retired professor of history at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. "What they were looking for was warm bodies."

Jennie Hodgers, masquerading as Cashier, marched thousands of miles during the war. She was at the Siege of Vicksburg and the surrender of Mobile. Her regiment took part in more than 40 skirmishes and battles.

"Albert Cashier seems to have been in [the war] from the beginning to the end," Davis says. "She stuck it out."

Davis' own great-grandfather was Cashier's commanding officer and one of several former comrades who rallied to Hodgers' defense when officials considered taking away her veteran's pension for identity fraud. To her fellow soldiers, Davis says, her status as a Union Army veteran trumped her identity as a woman.

"She demonstrated that she was as good as they were," Davis says. "She was as brave as they were, as effective a soldier. For her to be a woman was obviously worthy of remark, but it's not anything that seems to have made them turn away from her."

Why Live As A Man?
After her secret was discovered, Hodgers told different stories to different people about why she had chosen to live as a man. She reportedly told one newspaper that lots of people had enlisted under fake names, and she did, too. "The country needed men, and I wanted excitement," she said.

But to get another idea of why Hodgers may have subjected herself to the rigors of war, it helps to know a little about the U.S. job market in 1861.

"A private in the Union Army made $13 a month, which was easily double what a woman would make as a laundress or a seamstress or even a maid," says Deanne Blanton, co-author of They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War. Blanton has documented hundreds of cases of women who masqueraded as men during the war. She says many joined for both patriotic and economic reasons.

"But once they were in the pants and earning more money and spending their money," Blanton says, "they seemed to greatly enjoy the freedom that came with being perceived as a man."

At the time of the Civil War, women couldn't vote. They mostly depended on men to survive. In return, they were supposed to devote their time and talents entirely to husbands, children and their extended families. That was the Victorian ideal.

That ideal was mostly aimed at middle- and upper-class women. Blanton says they're not the ones who went off to war.

"The women who went to war," she says, "who disguised themselves as men and carried a gun, were overwhelmingly working-class women, immigrant women, poor women, urban women and yeoman farm girls."

Hodgers was an immigrant from Clogherhead, Ireland, who couldn't read or write. At the end of the war, she had to make some tough decisions about her identity.

If she continued as Albert Cashier, it was more likely she would find work, keep the friends she had made during the war and be part of a respected community of Civil War veterans.

"She can have a bank account. She can vote in elections -– and she did, by the way," Blanton says. "Or, if she goes back and puts on a dress and tells everyone that she's Jennie, she has just lost her entire life."

Hodgers decided to continue her life as a man. A few years after the war, Cashier made his way to Saunemin, Ill. He worked many jobs, including a stint as a farmhand and the town lamplighter. He ended up living in a little house that is now sitting in pieces in a desolate storage building.

Town Reluctantly Celebrates Veteran
Saunemin is a pretty sleepy place: just a grain elevator, a few other businesses and The Tap — the only restaurant and bar along the main strip.

Jim Schulz lives on a farm outside of Saunemin. He and his wife, Dina, have heard the talk around town. Dina says some residents believe that embracing the story of Jennie Hodgers will help bring tourists to town. "Other people, I think, frankly, would rather everybody not know we had a cross-dresser in Saunemin," she says.

"I wouldn't like to think that that's what puts us on the map," Jim Schulz says, "but maybe it is."

"The town was not especially proud of Cashier," says Cheryl O'Donnell, a church secretary and Cashier proponent. Since the 1960s, a handful of locals have been trying to save Cashier's house.

Over the years, the house has been moved at least eight times. For a while, it was next to the Saunemin fire station.

O'Donnell says the fire department used to joke about the house. "They said, 'We're gonna burn it for a practice drill,'" she says. "They thought that was funny."

The house was saved thanks to Betty Estes, the tourism director of a town just down the road. She began bringing busloads of people over to Saunemin to view Cashier's grave. The city board of Saunemin seemed to take notice, and now there are big plans to finally reconstruct the old house and put it close to the spot where Cashier used to live.

If things go according to plan, Hodgers' secret will soon be exposed to a larger audience. Visitors will be able to come to her grave site — and to her old house — to hear all about her remarkable and complicated life.

This piece was produced by Linda Paul with help from Jay Allison and the public radio Web site Transom.org.

Workshop on the Bamboo Annals

Stanford Report, May 20, 2009
Real or forgery? Scholars gather at Stanford to debate origin of ancient Chinese text
BY EMMANUEL ROMERO

Scholars from China, the United States and Canada will soon converge on Stanford's East Asia Library to dissect the mysteries surrounding an ancient Chinese text.

"Workshop on the Riddle of an Ancient Chinese Book Zhushu Jinian (the Bamboo Annals): Texts and Chronologies Therein," will bring together experts to carry on a debate that has raged since the late 1700s: Have scholars found a genuine copy of the millennia-old Bamboo Annals, or is it a more recent forgery, as evidenced by what some scholars believe to be anachronistic writing styles?

The workshop will be held May 23-24 and marks the first scholarly gathering to debate the Bamboo Annals.

"Many participants knew each other's articles and publications before, but they never met," said Dongfang Shao, director of the East Asia Library. "This is a good East and West scholarship exchange."

The Bamboo Annals is a historical chronicle of the history of ancient China, spanning ca. 2400 to 299 BCE, Shao and Professor Emeritus David S. Nivison write in their forthcoming book, The Bamboo Annals: A New Study and Translation. This history encompasses the era from the perhaps mythical Huang Di to the second king of Wei, in the "Warring States" era.

In the Western Jin Dynasty (CE 265-316), a peasant unearthed the book from a six-centuries-old king's tomb. The original book soon disappeared; however, a growing number of scholars claim that copies of it survived, and that the text we now have is authentic, said Nivison, who is co-organizing the workshop with Shao.

As a chronicle, the Bamboo Annals has been used in combination with other ancient Chinese texts to paint a picture of China's history, said Yiqun Zhou, a workshop participant and assistant professor of Eastern Asian Languages and Cultures. Scholars have used dates and events from the book to amend information from other texts.

The upcoming workshop focuses on a two-chapter sixteenth century text of the book. Participants hail from places such as the National Library of China and Montreal's McGill University.

According to the workshop agenda, scholars will examine the Bamboo Annals' chronology and content, and the transmission history that shaped the book into what it is today.

The workshop's participants come from various backgrounds and will create an interdisciplinary approach to the debate, Shao said. Participants will bring knowledge from history, archeology, and astronomy.

The workshop is partly driven by the principle that it is important to have scholars of varying disciplines working together rather than individually, Shao said.

The East Asia Library is located on the fourth floor of the Meyer Library at 560 Escondido Mall. The workshop, to be held May 23 and 24 from 9 am to 4 pm, is free and open to Stanford faculty, students, staff, and visiting scholars. Those wishing to attend must RSVP by 5 p.m. Friday, May 22.

Contact Qiu Qi (650-724-7761, qqiu@stanford.edu), or Dongfang Shao (650-724-1928, dfshao@stanford.edu).

Emmanuel Romero is an intern at the Stanford News Service.

- 30 -

Treasure Trove - With a Twist

Gardener digs up ancient fortune
May 22 2009 at 10:07AM

London -- A Herefordshire gardener keeps digging up valuable antiques from under her lawn, flower beds and vegetable patch.

Since moving into a 15th century farmhouse six years ago, Jan Long has dug up hundreds of valuables, said reports.

Her haul includes a diamond ring, solid gold Victorian watch, Edwardian chainmail bag, brooches, medals and coins - and even an ancient plough.

Long, 57, first hit a stash of hundreds of Victorian bottles at her home.Auctioneers Biddell and Webb, of Birmingham, say the diamond ring and watch alone could be worth several hundred pounds each.

But Long said: "The monetary value is not that important to me. It is more the tales which can be woven around each item that I find fascinating. For example, did a jilted lover throw away her engagement ring?" - ananova.com
This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on May 22, 2009

*********************************************************

Hmmmm, well, I'm inclined to think that a stash of valuables (family heirlooms perhaps?) was buried at some point during the past of this house, and whoever buried it was never able to come back and claim it. Without having a date on the plow (plough), I'd hardly say that was was reported as recovered is "ancient!"

Would descendants of the family who once owned the property have a possible claim to recover the recovered items???

Calatagan Pot Inscription Finally Translated?

(Image: Calatagan pot)

This is a fascinating story. The artifact in question is dated to between the 14th and 16th centuries (700 to 500 years ago) - not that old in terms of archaeology. But for years no one had any luck trying to render the inscription into a comprehensible message in modern language. How quickly the old languages seemingly passed into oblivion once Spanish took hold in the Philippines.

Inquirer Visayas
The mystery of the ancient inscription
By Rolando O. Borrinaga
First Posted 02:11:00 05/23/2009
Filed Under: history

AFTER 50 years of enigma, the text inscribed around the shoulder of the Calatagan Pot, the country’s oldest cultural artifact with pre-Hispanic writing, may have been deciphered as written in the old Bisayan language.
Diggers discovered the pot in an archeological site in Calatagan, Batangas, in 1958. They sold it for P6 to a certain Alfredo Evangelista.

Later, the Anthropological Foundation of the Philippines purchased the find and donated it in 1961 to the National Museum, where it is displayed to this day.

The pot, measuring 12 centimeters high and 20.2 cm at its widest and weighing 872 grams, is considered one of the Philippines’ most valuable cultural and anthropological artifacts. It has been dated back to the 14th and 16th centuries.

The inscription puzzle
Sometime in the early 1960s, the National Museum sought help from sculptor Guillermo Tolentino, the National Artist who produced the University of the Philippines (UP) Oblation, in deciphering the inscription on the pot. He was known for his fascination with the ancient Tagalog “baybayin” (alphabet).

However, Tolentino’s output was set aside on scientific grounds. It was allegedly achieved through seance—he supposedly invoked the spirit of the ancient pot maker and asked him for the meaning of the inscription. According to Tolentino’s translation, the pot was an offering of a son or daughter to a dead mother.

Through the decades, other scholars had tried to decipher the inscription. Among them were Juan Francisco, Jean-Paul Potet, Antoon Postma, Harold Conklin and Johannes de Casparis, known experts in the field of paleography.

But no one was able to produce a transliteration, whether complete or partial.

Only Francisco (in 1973) and Potet (in 1983) had come up with more or less complete symbol equivalence. But they failed to determine the actual language.

Previous attempts at transcription faced three seemingly insurmountable problems:
-- Equivalents of many symbols are unknown.
--Language used is unknown, although the possibility of Tagalog or Mangyan had been proposed.
--Even if the symbols are successfully identified, it is difficult to determine the start and end of words, as well as the final consonants of certain words.

Recent attempts
Early this year, Prof. Ramon G. Guillermo of UP Diliman published results of his attempt in a paper titled “Ina Bisa Kata: An Experimental Decipherment of the Calatagan Pot Inscription,” which has been posted in the Internet.

He said he used paleography, cryptography and “brute force” to crack the code and decipher the symbols around the mouth of the pot. He approached his task by transcribing in clockwise direction starting from the character at the break of the circle of symbols, similar to what Francisco and Potet had done.

In March, Guillermo released the following translation of the text:

Sinikap sabihin ni ina /
Para sa iyo mahal kong anak /
Kumain ka sa aking dulang /
Dibdib ko ’tong mabango /
Doon ika’y mabasa /
Tulad ng bulaklak

His version carries a mother’s endearing message to her beloved child, the opposite of Tolentino’s interpretation.

But although the methods that Guillermo used were deemed scientific and technical enough in academic circles, and his output was declared “most definitive” in an Internet feature story, some sectors have lingering doubts about the final revelation. These doubts prodded me to contribute my effort to resolve the issue.

Rest of article.

Unique Bowl Recovered from Roman Era Burial

Story from the Guardian.co.uk
Unique Roman glass bowl found in east London grave
Maev Kennedy
The Guardian, Thursday 30 April 2009

It was only when the archaeologists lifted the bowl delicately from the grave and the light shone right through - before it disintegrated into a mass of brilliantly coloured fragments - that they realised they had something extraordinary: a glorious Roman glass bowl, probably made in Alexandria almost 2,000 years ago, whose travels ended in a pit in east London.

The find is unique in the western Roman empire. All glass was precious in the ancient world, but Jenny Hall, early London curator at the Museum of London, said the bowl would have been fabulously expensive when made by the millefiori - thousand flowers - technique. Tiny brilliantly coloured glass rods were fused together, then sliced across like Brighton rock and fused again to form the vessel. Older but much smaller bowls have been found, but nothing comparable to this soup plate-sized discovery, believed to date from the 3rd century AD. The Corning Museum of Glass in New York, the world's largest collection, has just a few fragments of a comparable bowl.

Liz Goodman, one of the most experienced conservators at the Museum of London, spent weeks cleaning the fragments and piecing them together with transparent adhesive which should last another century.
The bowl was kept wet as found, while she worked on it. On her last few days she gently allowed it to dry out - and watched sadly as the brilliant red and bright blue faded because the outer surface had corroded in the soil.

It was found towards the end of a three-month excavation of a site at Prescot Street in Aldgate, part of the great cemetery on the eastern outskirts of the Roman city, only a fraction of which has been excavated: the 3,000 square metre patch was one of the largest recent stretches uncovered. It was held fractured but upright and complete by the pressure of the sodden soil around it. The site was flattened in the Blitz and then spent decades as a surface car park, preserving the archaeology.

The bowl is believed to have been placed on a wooden box holding the cremated remains. Only the metal fittings of the box survived, surrounded by other pottery and glass vessels rare enough to be an exciting find even without the bowl.

"When we found it it was so unusual we really didn't know what we'd got - I thought first it might be the edge of a piece of enamelled metal," Guy Hunt, director of LP Archaeology, said. "It was only as we lifted it clear from the soil and the light shone right through it that we knew. Then it fell to pieces, which was a bit of a bad moment."

The bowl has been given to the Museum of London, and is on display at its Museum in Docklands branch.

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Is there a reason why the bowl cannot be kept wet somehow, so that the brilliant colors of the glass will once again shine through? Perhaps it is not technologically possible, and I suppose it would not be acceptable to coat the bowl with some kind of substance that would mimic the shine that water would give to the surface of the glass. Oy! I can just imagine the feelings of the person holding the bowl right after it came out of the ground, intact, and then disintegrated in front of his horrified eyes!

He Did It - She Hangs for It

Oh my!

Article from The New York Times
The Early Days of Toxicology: Poisonous Powder
By ELIZABETH SVOBODA
Published: May 11, 2009

Life seemed to be coasting along smoothly for Mary Blandy. The daughter of Francis Blandy, a well-known lawyer in Oxfordshire, England, Mary was all grown up by the mid-1740s and preparing to marry the love of her life, Capt. William Henry Cranstoun, who was descended from Scottish nobility. But the relationship hit a snag when Mary’s father discovered that Cranstoun had concealed his marriage to a Scottish woman named Anne Murray. Intent on securing the £10,000 dowry that Francis Blandy had advertised to any man who married Mary, Cranstoun decided to take matters into his own hands — or, more accurately, to entrust them to his lover.

“He sent Mary arsenic powder, which he said was a ‘love philter’ that would make her father more likely to like him as a suitor,” said Allan Jamieson, director of the Forensic Institute, based in Scotland. “She mixed this with her father’s food.” (It is unclear whether Mary realized at first that the substance was poison, but she later tried to hide evidence of her tampering.)
It wasn’t long before the “love philter” began to have the anticipated effect. The powder Mary stirred into her father’s tea and gruel every day made him so ill that he would stay up all night with vomiting and stomach pain. In August 1751, he died. Anthony Addington, the doctor who had treated Francis Blandy, suspected arsenic was the substance that had felled him and conducted a series of physical tests to prove his point. When he put a sample of the powder Mary had given her father into cold water, for instance, part of it remained on the water’s surface, but most of it stayed on the bottom undissolved — the same thing that happened with a known sample of arsenic. Additionally, when Addington tossed the powder onto a red-hot piece of iron, it did not burn, but sublimated, rising up in garlic-smelling white clouds just as arsenic did.

Addington argued at trial that these results proved Mary’s powder was, in fact, arsenic. “Nowadays, we would call this type of testing presumptive,” Dr. Jamieson said. “That is, the substance could be the material in question, but the tests are not definitive.” Nevertheless, the court agreed with Addington’s explanation — the first time any court had accepted toxicological evidence in an arsenic-poisoning case — and Mary was sentenced to death for her father’s murder and hanged on April 6, 1752. Cranstoun escaped before he could stand trial, but he died later that year.

A Woman's World

A series by The Washington Post:
The Struggle for Equality from Around the World

Here are just a few of the stories:

In Togo, a 10-Year-Old's Muted Cry: 'I Couldn't Take Any More'
As the Global Trade in Domestic Workers Surges, Millions of Young Girls Face Exploitation and Abuse
By Kevin Sullivan. Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 26, 2008; Page A01

'This Is the Destiny of Girls'
Across Much of South Asia, a Daughter's Life Is Circumscribed By Tradition and Poverty. But for Some, the Dreams Die Slower.
By Mary Jordan
Saturday, December 13, 2008; Page A01

Ancient Agriculture: The Migration of Millet

Here is an interesting article that says millet actually spread from ancient China to eastern Europe some 9,000 years ago.

China's millet spread to Europe 7,000 years ago
13:37, May 14, 2009
Millet was brought into Europe from China more than 7,000 years ago, archaeologists from the University of Cambridge in the UK stated in a thesis published by US journal "Science" on May 8.

The report, entitled "Origins of Agriculture in East Asia," was coauthored by Martin Jones, a professor of archaeology at the University of Cambridge and his Chinese student Liu Xinyi. The study said that charred millet seeds found in the Neolithic farming remains in Northeast China indicated that locals had planted millet as early as 8,000 years ago. Millet was gradually introduced to Europe during the next millennium. This research result shows that millet crops were first cultivated in China before being introduced to the West.

By People's Daily Online
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-05/14/content_252616.htm

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I think we still don't know a great deal about the rise of agriculture and/or how it spread. I do not think that we can discount China as a source for such things as the brewing of beers and the invention of wine. I believe that not enough attention has been paid to a very old trade coridor that linked parts of northwest China around the Tarim Basin to civilizations further west. Whisps of evidence exist that attest to a very old linkage, possibly as old as late-Naqada/Dynasty I Egypt.

Unfortunately, money is tighter than ever when it comes to archaeological explorations of areas other than certain popular hot spots and/or hot topics (like the so-called tomb of Cleopatra and Marc Antony, oh please). Sigh.

China's "First Emperor" Banned Buddhism

Article from China View :

China Exclusive: China's "first emperor" banned Buddhism, expert says
www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-11 19:00:38

XI'AN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The first emperor of a united China could go down in history not only for the Great Wall or the terra cotta army of guards and horses, but also for his attempt to crush Buddhism that had apparently become prevalent in his days, according to a researcher on Monday.

"China's first and most influential history book, the Historical Records, stated clearly that Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 BC-210 BC) strictly banned Buddhism and Buddhist temples," said Han Wei, a noted researcher with Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology.

According to the Historical Records, the ban went alongside the emperor's major military strategies including the deportation of the invading Huns, and applied far beyond the ancient capital Xianyang in today's Xi'an to cover the whole country.

Though the book, written between 104 B.C. to 91 B.C., provided no evidence of temples destroyed or monks exiled, Han said he believed the ban had been very effective.

"Buddhism never appeared again in historical documents until 2 B.C.," Han said.

Emperor Qin Shihuang's ban on Buddhism indicated the religion was already popular in China's interior regions in his reign, said Han, whose thesis on the subject was published Friday in Xi'an. Han recommended that textbooks be changed to reflect his discovery.

Historians generally believed Buddhism was introduced into China around 67 A.D. in Han Dynasty that succeeded Qin. But Han held it must have spread to China from today's Xinjiang Ugyur Autonomous Region and central Asian countries, along the ancient Silk Road, more than two centuries earlier.

Noted Silk Road archaeologist Wang Jianxin said Han's research finding, based on linguistic, historical as well as archeological studies, sounded "reasonable".

"Another scholar raised the same hypothesis in the early 1900s,but couldn't provide sufficient evidence." Wang said.

Han was one of the experts who helped locate and excavate a finger bone believed to belong to Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism.

The sarira, or Buddhist relic, had been kept in the underground sanctum of Famen Temple in the suburbs of Xi'an since 874 before it was taken out in 1987.

Editor: Chris

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"China's first and most influential history book, the Historical Records, stated clearly that Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 BC-210 BC) strictly banned Buddhism and Buddhist temples," said Han Wei, a noted researcher with Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology.

Er, well, guess that goes to show the extent of my lack of education about the spread of Buddhism into China. I thought it had long since spread into the entire area now known as China long before the "First Emperor" (of the so-called united China) took power. That Emperor Qin Shihuang thought the threat of Buddhism was so grave that he banned the practice of its tenets in his empire would seem to demonstrate that it was already well established in China by the time he seized control. Otherwise, why bother banning it?

Hatshepsut: The Uppity Woman

Way to go Judith! No - not chess icon GM Judit Polgar but archaeologist Judith Weingarten, who hosts the fantastic blog Zenobia: Empress of the East.

JW's website showed up in Explorator Edition 12.04 for this post on a giant but unfinished obelisk commissioned by the "uppity woman" Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Fantastic photos!

Mr. Don and I took these photos of Hatshepsut artifacts while visiting the Met and the Brooklyn Museum:

(1) Taken by dondelion at the Met, May 13, 2009 - a collection of Hatshepsut artifacts.

(2) Taken by Jan at the Brooklyn Museum, May 17, 2009. Photo (3) below is the identifying tag to the exhibit.

Originally the archaeologists hedged on the identity of this sculpture, but recent research has led experts to conclude that it is, indeed, an image of Hatshepsut and not her step-son Thutmose III.

U.S. Chess Federation Executive Board Election

I have received my June, 2009 edition of Chess Life magazine that contains the ballot for this year's Excutive Board election (it's contained on a white outer wrap that can be filled out, folded, taped and mailed to the auditing firm that will count the ballots).

Four (4) seats are up for election this year, and eleven (11) candidates are running for those seats. This is an important election; the new EB members may determine in which direction the USCF will go for the next four years (all seats in this election are elected for four year terms).

After some digging around at Chess Life Online, I was able to locate online archives of the 2009 magazines (link is to April, 2009). Unfortunately, I've had no success locating candidates' statements for April and May, despite what the June print edition of Chess Life says that such statements can be located in the April and May archives (for the web version) or go to "Downloadable Files" to download the .pdf versions of the print magazine. Couldn't find "Downloadable Files" either. Maybe I'm blind - I couldn't find them. Chess Life, can't you make this important information easier to locate and access online??

Since I subscribe to Chess Life magazine, I have the prior issues with the candidates' statements.

Anyway, I urge all members of USCF who can vote to do so, the sooner the better. According to my print ballot, all members of USCF who will be 16 years of age or older by June 30th may vote in this election. If you're not happy with the candidates on the list, you can write in your own candidates, as long as they are current USCF members and you supply the person's name and USCF ID number. You vote for a candidate (write-in or otherwise) by checking the box next to his or her name.

The four candidates who receive the most votes will win the seats on the EB.

Any ballot that has more than four boxes checked will be void - so be careful when you vote!

All ballots must be received by the auditing office (Taylor, Bilyeu & Company, in Crossville, Tennessee) NO LATER THAN 3PM TUESDAY JULY 21, 2009.

After a great deal of thought, I'm voting for Eric Hecht, Blas Lugo, Mikhail Korenman, and Ruth Haring. Just my two cents worth.

Chess Collectors International

CCI completes its Sixth Western Hemisphere meeting today: SIXTH WESTERN HEMISPHERE CCI MEETING Friday, May 22 to Sunday, May 24, 2009 PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

Susan Polgar has several photos from the CCI meeting at her blog.

Next up, a meeting in Germany: German Chess Collector's Meeting from June 19th to 21st, 2009 in Naumburg, Germany

More on the "Nefertiti Bust Is a Fraud"

Nefertiti Bust May Be 100 Years Old, Not 3,000: Martin Gayford
May 12, 2009 (Bloomberg News) (Gayford believes the bust may be a fake)

Egypt’s Rubbishes Claims that Nefertiti Bust is ‘Fake’
By Christopher Szabo
Published May 12, 2009 (DigitalJournal.com) (Cites the official Egyptian stance through Zahi Hawas, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, that the bust of Nefertiti is genuine)

Modern Take on Joan of Arc/The Hind of Hinds

From the front page of The New York Times earlier this evening, a modern "battle queen" leading men into war:

Civil Wars: The Fights That Do Not Want to End
(Image: TO WAR At the outbreak of the three-year Spanish Civil War in 1936, a woman led men through Madrid. Rolls Press/Popperfoto — Getty Images)

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My thought is that whenever wars were fiercely serious (that is, other than boys-will-be-boys raiding each other's cattle or stealing wives for exercise and amusement), women were intimately involved. From thus arose the myriad legends of the Amazons, for instance. When survival was on the line, women went to war beside their men or led men into war. We all have heard about Cleopatra, Zenobia, Bodiccea, Joan d'Arc and Elizabeth I.

Spain, with its unique historical blend of Christianity on the one hand, and several centuries under Islamic rule on the other hand, would have had several models to draw upon for women warriors. The Islamic tradition is the Battle Queen, the epitomy of which was the Hind of Hinds. The Christian tradition of warrior women in Spain reveals several strong females who either inherited their rulership upon the death of husbands, fathers, brothers; those who ruled as regents for minor sons; and those who, like Queen Isabella of Castile, inherited her own kingdom and ruled in her own right:

• Toda Asnarez of Navarre (d. 970), widow of Sancho Garces, King of Pamplona (d. 925)
• Ermessenda, countess of Barcelona (d. 1058), widow of Count Ramon Borrell (d. 1017)
• Reign of Urraca, queen of Leon-Castile (d. 1126)
• Reign of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon (1474-1504)(Their marriage joined the two kingdoms and, together, they drove the last of the Moorish forces from Spain)

(Information from Birth of the Chess Queen by Marilyn Yalom)

The Chess Queen in Spain: Hebrew Evidence

During the twelfth century, the chess queen would make her first definite appearance in Spain. Her reception on the board was largely determined by local custom and religious belief. The Muslim world was uninviting: chess figures continued to be represented abstractly, and the vizier did not give way to the queen. European Christianity, in contrast, both allowed and actively encouraged the representation of humans, animals, and the divine, including easily identifiable queens. Jews found themselves somewhere in the middle. On the one hand they, too, were prohibited from making "graven images," but they were less rigid on the matter than Muslims. And while the queen never gained admittance to Muslim chess, she made her way into the hands of Jewish players, as evidenced by three Hebrew texts of Spanish origin.

First, in a poem written by the Spanish rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra (1092 - 1167), we see the Arab-style game played without a queen. Ibn Ezra was a renowned mathematician, astronomer, scriptural exegete, and poet, greatly respected by Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. His "Verses on the Game of Chess" lovingly describe the moves of each piece, as summarized below.

The chariot (rook) moves across the board's whole length and breadth in a straight line. The horse (knight) moves three squares along a "crooked path" - two squares in a straight line and one at right angles. The elepahant (bishop) moves diagonally three squares at a time. The vizier, called paraz in Hebrew (ibn Ezra's equivalent for the Arabic firz), moves diagonally one square at a time. The king steps to any contiguous square. The foot soldier (pawn) advances in a straight line, but to take a piece, he moves diagonally. If he advances to the eighth row, then he can return in any direction (like a "queened" pawn today).(7)

Comparing the lowly foot soldier with his modern counterpart, one sees that he has not made any progress over the centuries. Similarly, the king, the rook, and the knight already had the moves they have today. But the ancestor of the bishop - the elephant - could move no more than three squres at a time, instead of the whole length of the board as he does in modern chess. The vizier, though, bears little resemblance to today's queen since he could move only to the adjacent diagonal square, except on his initial move when he could move three paces, including the square of departure.

A second Hebrew poem on chess that may also have been written by ibn Exzra, after he left his native Toledo, reveals the existence of the chess queen. Now the king has at his side the Shegal (Hebrew for "queen") instead of the vizier or general. Otherwise the pieces are the same.

The king and the Shegal at his side
And the elephants and horses next to them
And [you also have] two chariots
And [warriors] in front of them. ...
And the king [and likewise] the Shegal
And their steps [are not very different].(8)

Presumably, in the course of his lifetime and travels, which took him to many parts of Spain, Western Europe, and the Near East as far as Persia, Rabbi ibn Ezra played with both Muslim and European-styled chess pieces. What did he think when he first saw a chess queen? I like to imagine that, after his initial surprise, he welcomed her to the game. In spite of the misogyny that permeated medieval Judaism, there were enough powerful women in the Old Testament, including the judge and war leader Deborah, to warrant the rabbi's respect. "What! A woman on the chessboard? Well, why not!"

A third Spanish Hebrew text, attributed to Bonsenior ibn Yehia, possibly twelfth century, possibly later, lines up the chess pieces like mighty armies with "the king in his glory" and the queen [Shegal] at his right hand":

She sits at the top of the high places above the city. She is restless

and determined. She girds her loins with strength. Her feet stay

not in her house. She moves in every direction and into every
corner. Her evolutions are wonderful, her spirit untiring. How
comely are her footsteps as she moves diagonally, one step after
another, from square to square!

And the King, dressed in black robes, stands on the fourth
square, which is white. His queen stands on the square next to
him, which is black. He draws near to the pitch darkness; his eye
is upon her, for he has taken an Ethiopian woman [as his consort].
There is no difference between them as they come towards you.
They set out towards you along the same path, at the same pace
and by the same route. When the one dies, so does the other.(9)

This passage, recalling Proverbs 31 and the Song of Songs in the Bible, is an amazing tribute to the chess queen and to women in general, bringing together the Jewish wifely virtues of beauty and energy with a warrior's strength. And it presents the king and queen as loving equals, who cannot live without each other.

Notes:

(7) Keats, Chess in Jewish History, pp. 67-72. Professor Robert Alter of the University of California at Berkeley also provied help with this poen.

(8) Keats, Chess in Jewish History, p. 73.

(9) Ibid., pp. 77-78.

New York: Some Fav Photos

This photo was taken by Mr. Don at Battery Park on Friday May 15th - Michelle is holding her charcoal portrait taken earlier that day. From right to left: Isis, Michelle, me. Okay, Mr. Don, did you pose us on purpose in front of a phallic symbol?

I love how our outfits just happened to be color-coordinated that day (it wasn't planned!): Isis in black hat, blue top and black jeans; Michelle in black tankini top and grey jeans; me in a black/grey/blue floral print top and black jeans. When did Michelle get so tall?

Michelle snapped this obviously posed photo of me, Mr. Don and Isis at the base of the Statue of Liberty during our tour on Saturday May 16th. I wasn't really strangling Mr. Don. Notice how Mr. Don has his umbrella raised like Pharaoh with his war club in the classic ancient Egyptian pose. Isis, as always, looks beautiful and mysterious. Me, I just look manic. Oh well. Geez, I've got to buy some better-fitting jeans - fast! Hmmmm, was Mr. Don planning on beaning me with that war club, er, umbrella?

A few days later Mr. Don had the absolute gall to tell me oh by the way, the Scorpion Goddess of ancient Egypt used to be called The Strangler because of the way her victims died... Gee, thanks for telling me that, Love of My Life. My response was suitably muted, as you can imagine.

I love this photo of Isis and Michelle taken in Central Park on Sunday May 17th. The Albert ladies are lovely, as per usual. A great shot not only of the ladies, but also of mid-town Manhattan in the background, behind the "lake." Mr. Don and I headed toward Brooklyn that day - via subway (an adventure that I have yet to write about, ahem) - to visit the Brooklyn Museum, and Isis and Michelle toured the Museum of Natural History and then headed toward Central Park. We all got together much later that evening and had a festive late supper at Applejack Diner where I was served the largest half-roasted chicken I've ever seen in my life. It must have weighed five pounds!

Michelle was a good sport the morning of Monday May 18th, the last day in town for Mr. Don and I. The China Institute was holding a special exhibit of some of the artifacts uncovered from the excavations of the tombs of the Marquis of Dai, his wife (Lady Dai) and their son. She humoured us (the old folks) who oohed and aahed our way through the two small rooms of exhibits and then snapped this photo of me and Mr. Don on the way out the door. It was also Michelle who pointed out the two free catalogs available on the bookshelf next to the front desk - one on 17th century export porcelain and one on ancient basket-weaving techniques. Fascinating stuff to yours truly! Thanks for the tip-offs, M.

Unique Chess Set Rescued from Rubbish Heap

Story from the BBC Online
£5k hope for 'rubbish' chess set
Friday, 8 May 2009

A chess set thrown out as rubbish by one of north Wales's biggest landowners could fetch £5,000 for relatives of the butler who saved it from the bonfire.

The French carved ivory figures which once belonged to Lord Mostyn are due to be auctioned by Christie's in London.

They are being sold by the great grandchildren of James Baxter, who served the third Baron Mostyn at Mostyn Hall, Flintshire, in the late 1800s.

The auction house said chess sets from the era are "rarely" found complete.

Through Mostyn Estates Ltd, the Mostyn family own large areas of Llandudno, Conwy, and their connection with the resort and its development dates back 500 years.

The chess set, made in Dieppe in the late 18th to early 19th Century, is estimated to fetch between £3,000 to £5,000 when it is auctioned on Tuesday.

According to Christie's, James Baxter was the butler at Mostyn Hall around the 1880s-1890s.

During his time at Mostyn Hall, Lord Mostyn gave his butler a cardboard box and asked him to dispose of the contents.

On closer examination he discovered amongst the debris that the box contained a chess set and being particularly taken with the game, asked his employer if he might keep it.

Lord Mostyn agreed and so began the succession of this distinctive game set to its current owner James Baxter's great grandson, Christopher Baxter Jones, who is selling the heirloom with his brother Nicholas and sister Ann.

The auction house said the "intricately carved" chess set was modelled to represent the French versus the Moors, showing "incredible attention to detail".

The kings are depicted carrying sceptres, the bishops in wide brimmed hats, the knights as cavalry men, and the rooks as turrets.

Sets carved to depict the battles between the French and their colonial possessions became a popular theme among the Dieppe carvers during the late 18th Century and 19th Century as the ivory carving industry thrived.

A spokesman for Christie's said: "Chess sets from this period are rarely complete, and most surviving examples date from circa 1820, making it no wonder that this striking chess set caught the curious eye of James Baxter some 60 years later.

"A curious eye which allows us to indulge in today what might have been lost forever."

**************************************

Whoa! According to Christie's website, the set ultimately sold for £10,625 on May 12, 2009, Lot 146, Sale 5923.

Artist Aldo Marsili's Custom Made Chess Sets on Exhibit

From Market Watch
press release
May 5, 2009, 8:00 a.m. EST
Galleria Florentia to Exhibit World-Renowned Artist Aldo Marsili's Custom Made Chess Sets in Boston
Exhibit Will Launch with Chess Tournament May 22

BOSTON, May 05, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Galleria Florentia, 79 Newbury Street, will exhibit the world-renowned artist Aldo Marsili's custom made chess collection from May 22 to June 27 and launches with Galleria Florentia Chess Tournament, sponsored in conjunction with the Boylston Chess Foundation and the International Chess Institute.

The exhibit will feature more than 50 hand-crafted chess sets made of gold, silver, bronze, wood, metal and plastic materials with marble, onyx, wood and leather chess boards and table tops. The 2009 Galleria Florentia Chess Tournament will be held May 22 at 10 a.m. Prize and contributions to the Warren-Prescott Foundation will total $5,000.

"We are thrilled to present Aldo Marsili's breathtaking and unique work of art at our gallery," said Pamela Yassini, president of Galleria Florentia.

"These magnificent and unique chess sets are true museum quality and we are confident that art collectors and especially chess enthusiasts will be captivated by this one of a kind exhibit in the area."

The chess collection, which will be utilized for the final tournament, features various designs including table tops chess sets and chess tables with stools. The assortment of styles consists of Roman, Medieval, Louis XIV, Napoleno and Robinhood. The sets to be used for the chess tournament are furnished by Galleria Florentia's exclusive artist Aldo Marsili.

Marsili's love of chess, the world's most popular game, and his desire for beautiful art led him to create exquisite hand-crafted chess sets where he quickly generated eager consumers. Marsili continues to create and specialize in the production of handmade chess pieces consisting of gold, silver and bronze hand painted, sculptured or handcarved collectibles and his company, Italfama Snc, is considered one of the most prestigious and appreciated chess manufacturers in the world.

The Boylston Chess Foundation, The International Chess Institute and Galleria Florentia attracted 64 national participants over a four week tournament held between March 28, and April 25, 2009. The following four qualifiers are the finalists for the 2009 Galleria Florentia Chess Tournament.

-- David Vigorito, Grand Master received international Master title in 2004. He has won NH, NV, MA State championships. BCC Champ 2007, co-champ 2008. He is a well known chess coach and author. David writes a regular column for New England's award winning Chess Horizons as well as several Internet publications and has authored three books.

-- Paul MacIntyre is a Fide Master (FM) and a former Boylston Chess Club President. He was Captain of the World Amateur Team and has won Boylston Chess Club championships on more than one occasion.

-- Charles Reardon has been playing chess for 20 years. He is a three-time Boylston Chess Club Champion achieved FIDE Master Title in 2008 and USCF Senior Master Title in 2009.

-- Denys Shmelov is a member of the Boston Blitz team for the U.S. League. He is a Senior Master and New England's rising star, defeating Marc Esserman to qualify for the Spot.

"The Boylston Chess Foundation is both thrilled and appreciative to have this opportunity to work with Galleria Florentia to bring this premier event to the local chess community. We look forward to a most successful tournament and hope this is the first of many endeavors together," said David Vigorito, president of The Boylston Chess Foundation.

"In these tough economical times it is inspiring to see the type of commitment to the community and charity that the Galleria Florentia exemplifies through their generous $2,500 donation to the Warren-Prescott Foundation and $2,500 sponsorship of the Chess Madness Tournament. On behalf of the International Chess Institute I extend my sincerest thanks and appreciation to the Galleria Florentia," said Kent Leung, president of International Chess Institute.

ABOUT GALLERIA FLORENTIA
Galleria Florentia is the premier source of original, museum quality art, handcrafted by respected European artisans, working with centuries-old traditions. Galleria Florentia offers this elegant collection of fine art to exclusive clientele, both individual and corporate, with personalized service, bringing a classical European ambiance to any space. The two-story gallery at 79 Newbury Street in Boston's Back Bay features Murano Glass, Furnishings, Paintings, exquisite Stone and Bronze sculptures, Tuscan Leather, and Capodimonte porcelain and is open from 11 a.m.- 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday or by appointment.

For more information, visit www.GalleriaFlorentia.com or call 617-585-9200.

ABOUT BOYLSTON CHESS FOUNDATION
Boylston Chess Foundation is the largest chess club in Boston and the third oldest chess organization in the United States.

For more information, visit www.BoylstonChessClub.org or call 617-629-3933.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL CHESS INSTITUTE
The International Chess Institute was founded to promulgate the pleasure and developmental benefits of chess to children throughout the World. The Institute promotes structured chess classes in curricular and after-school programs in elementary, middle, and high schools in public and private sectors.

For more information, visit www.InternationalChessInstitute.org.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Images of some of the works are available for publication. Please contact Pamela Yassini, Pamela@GalleriaFlorentia.com or 617-585-9222 for more information.

SOURCE: Galleria Florentia For Galleria Florentia
Lisza Gulyas, 303-888-8516
lisza@vuconcepts.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009

Chess, Art and Marcel Duchamp

From the St. Louis Examiner
Hypermodern dadist in the livery of a trebuchet, even
May 22, 7:56 PM

Imagine for a moment that the “Bachelors” or “Nine Malic Molds” of Marcel Duchamp’s Large Glass, represent the eight pawns material to a chess player, that they connote the eight files or eight paths which a pawn is compelled to take toward the eighth and final rank, or what is for the pawn its long sought place and moment of gratification, union, and transition. Imagine that the Ninth Malic Mold, the Stationmaster of Duchamp’s notes, represents Duchamp, the artist as guide and gatekeeper, the viewer as witness, the protagonist of Duchamp’s anonymous allegory, the metaphorical player of chess himself and the King which functions as his medium and stand in.
. . .

There can be little doubt that Duchamp’s work can be difficult and its references obscure, however, in anticipation of the potential need for a digestive aid, there is also a book available through the SLUMA website and the Saint Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, with essays by Duchamp scholars Francis M. Naumann and Bradley Bailey, and analysis of several of Duchamp’s more significant games provided by two-time Women’s Chess Champion (2002, 2004) and author Jennifer Shahade. The book entitled, Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess, and prepared for concurrence with the exhibit should, for those seeking full effect, be considered as integral to it. . . .

Rest of article.

WFM Richards takes Wheeler Chess Open

Story from jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, May 23, 2009

After a one-year hiatus to complete her university studies, seven-time national women's champion Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Deborah Richards marked her return to the Jamaican chess scene by winning the seventh staging of the Robert Wheeler Chess Open which took place at Jamaica College over the past weekend.

Richards took the Open title after securing a hard-fought draw against National Master Brandon Wilson in the final round to end on 4.5 points from six games.

Second place went to National Master Peter Myers, who also ended on 4.5 points, but was relegated to second place after two tiebreak systems were employed. Third went to National Master-elect Mikhail Solomon, who also ended on 4.5 points, but was relegated to third on tiebreak.

The Intermediate Section for players with a Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) rating below 1600, was won by Kingston College student Kamaal Warren, who scored five points from six games. Second place went to Alethia Edwards of Wolmer's Girls who ended on 4.5 points, while third went to Kadian McGlashan, who also ended on 4.5 points.

The Amateur Section for players with a JCF rating below 1200, was won by Janique Lee, who was perfect after winning all five of her matches.

A number of category prizes were awarded as follows: Best Expert - Mark Henry, Best in Class A - Melisha Smith, Best Class B - Shawn Wilkinson, Best Class C - Jonathan Pitterson, Best Class D - Twae-Jordan Rose and Best Class E - Justin Lowe.

Age group prizes were also awarded: Best U-10 - Sheanel Gardner, Best U-12 - Sheanel Gardner and Best U-14 - Jonathan Pitterson.

How One Museum Pitches for Funds

I seem to be on a museum news kick at the moment (see posts from earlier today).

This article made me go Whoa! I'm so naive! Here I thought that museums mostly acquired their art and artifacts from bequests by wealthy collectors and donations by equally wealth patrons. But at least in this case, it's all about Marketing, baby, marketing!

(Methinks Mr. Don would appreciate these graphics of African textiles, from the article. The first looks like an abstract Tree of Life pattern to me, but also has something of a Celtic cross pattern look to it; the second has checkerboard-like patterns that appear to harken back to extremely ancient motifs. What looks like a "magic square" (3x3) checkerboard motif, for instance, appears in one of the caves as Lascaux in France, dated to circa 17,000 BCE.)

From The New York Times: Art
My Dream Is for Sale; Buy It for Me
By JORI FINKEL
Published: May 8, 2009

LOS ANGELES - AS any gallery owner knows, art does not exactly sell itself. Even in a bullish economy the way a work is displayed and discussed can make all the difference between igniting a collector’s abiding interest and letting the ember go cold.

This is also true in the museum world, where curators must lobby for proposed acquisitions and exhibitions, both with museum directors who sign off on projects and trustees who sign the checks. And nowhere is the sales prowess of museum curators exhibited more theatrically than in the annual Collectors Committee weekend at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

While most curatorial sales pitches tend to take place in boardrooms behind closed doors, this event makes a rather public sport of it; this year one curator was spotted literally falling on his hands and knees before a trustee at a gala dinner, playfully yet seriously begging for acquisition funds.

The concept is simple: after curators argue for their proposed acquisitions, collectors, who have ponied up money to participate in the event, vote on what to buy with the pooled funds.

Rest of article.

Will the Rose Museum Go the Way of the Dinosaur?

Say it ain't so, Ma! Brandeis U is hard up for money? Are you kidding me?

From The New York Times:

Arts, Briefly
Criticism of Interim Report on Brandeis Art Museum
Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: May 4, 2009

In an interim report, the committee that is contemplating the future of Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum made no recommendation to keep the museum’s director, Michael Rush, whose contract expires in June, The Boston Globe reported.

The Future of the Rose Committee was formed in March after widespread condemnation of a decision by the university’s trustees in January to shut the museum with the goal of selling its art to raise money. In a six-page report, the committee offered praise for Brandeis administrators, but the head of the museum board was skeptical of the committee and its findings.

“It reminds me of something like a Stalinesque show committee,” Jonathan Lee, the chairman of the Rose’s board, told The Globe. “These are all hand-picked people by the administration. We didn’t get to pick who represents us.”

NO WOMEN ALLOWED

Gag. Here's a story with the usual crapola about no women allowed for the past 1,000 years because it is alleged by Orthodox Christian male monks that the presence of females, including female animals (except for cats, who are good "ratters") "slows" the male along the path to spiritual enlightenment. Geez, guys, after 1,000 years you still haven't learned how to keep it in your pants? Your mothers are saying shame SHAME on you and making the shame-on-you sign of the cross at you with their fingers.

Story at the independent.co.uk
After 1,000 years, women can see treasures of Mount Athos
By Thomas Inprocter in Paris
Wednesday, 6 May 2009

For the first time in almost 1,000 years, many of the legendary Byzantine treasures of Mount Athos in Greece are on view to women.

Almost 200 works of art from the male-only Orthodox enclave in northern Greece are on show at the Petit Palais in Paris until July. Most of the works have never previously left the peninsula, from which women – and even most female animals – have been banned since 1045.

The 20 monasteries of Mount Athos house one of the largest collections of Christian art in the world. Direct access to these treasures is notoriously difficult to obtain for men, and impossible for women.

But Paris has been granted the privilege of hosting this "world premiere", largely as a result of France's presidency of the EU last year. The Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dora Bakoyannis, described the exhibition as a "cultural event of the first order".

"The treasures exhibited here are a part of European culture," Ms Bakoyannis said. "A large number of these relics are going 'beyond the walls' of Mount Athos for public viewing for the first time by men and women."

Previously, only two very small exhibitions have been held of Mount Athos artefacts, both in Greece. The director of the Petit Palais, Gilles Chazal, said: "The monks of Mount Athos have been very enthusiastic in their support of this project." He added that the exhibition would be "hugely significant".

The original decree banning women, and female animals (except cats, which help control the rat population), from the enclave was issued by the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos in 1045. Under Greek law, a breach of the ban by a woman can still lead to a jail sentence. The ban on female animals is enforced as strictly as possible. The monks maintain that the presence of women slows their path towards spiritual enlightenment.

Particularly spectacular are the displays of imperial gifts which include "one of the most remarkable objects of metalwork of the Byzantine world": a chalice belonging to Manuel Cantacuzène (1349-1380), the son of Emperor Jean VI Cantacuzène, made from a single piece of jasper and most likely of Venetian origin.

The exhibition will remain at the Petit Palais until 5 July.

**********************************

I think this comment from the newspaper website says it all:

italori wrote:
Thursday, 7 May 2009 at 09:41 am (UTC)
-"The monks of Mount Athos have been very enthusiastic in their support of this project." - I am sure 100% that their "enthusiasm" depends on the money they are going to profit from this exhibition!!!-"the presence of women slows their path towards spiritual enlightenment"- ? Do I go to prison even if I take a BURKA with me?


Just an example of how 51% of today's world population continues to be treated by the minority. It doesn't make any difference what religion it is - the patriarchal poison spewing froth remains the same. Such fear and loathing by males of the feminine. How sad.

"The Lost Chalice" - a Review

Meow! The claws are out in Susan Mazur's review of "The Lost Chalice" by Bloomberg News Rome correspondent Vernon Silver. It’s about Silver’s quest to find the Euphronios Sarpedon cup, the “twin” of the Euphronios bowl the Metropolitan Museum of Art denied for 33 years (or so) came from Italy but returned to Italy in 2008.

I believe Mr. Don and I saw this piece when we visited the Met in September, 2005, but I wouldn't swear to it! We saw a lot of things during the two days we visited the Met, before either of us had digital cameras, so we have no photos to refresh our memories (unlike during our 2009 trip, when I downloaded 907 photos that all four of us took - not including whatever photos Isis and Michelle may have taken during their last day in New York, the day after Mr. Don and I came back to Milwaukee).

If you want to be vastly entertained and get a glimpse into the convoluted and competitive world of antiquities looting and smuggling, and the nature of the journalists who write about such things, please read the article. In my humble opinion, Oscar Muscarella is the only one briefly mentioned in the review who shines. Muscarella had a lot to say about the Jiroft (Iran) finds that originally surfaced in 2001.

Etymology: Pasquinade

This is a very entertaining article on the historical roots of "pasquinade." Until I read it, I didn't know the word and when I read the word I had no idea what it meant. Now I know - and I love the concept! Only goes to show, no matter how harsh censorship may be, people will always find a way to express what they think and feel.

From msnbc.com
Rome’s ‘talking statues’ to get sanitized
Restoration project, costing $93,600, expected to last until the end of 2010
By Rossella Lorenzi
updated 8:57 a.m. CT, Wed., May 6, 2009

Rome's most irreverent statues are going to be blocked off in special fencing in an attempt to sanitize the satirical voice of the Roman people.

Currently scattered around city's center, the sculptures have been lending a platform to the lower classes of Rome for more than 500 years.

In Renaissance Rome, when strict laws punished those who spoke against the powers that controlled the city, citizens began hanging caustic comments on the statues in the dark of the night. The tradition has continued to this day.

"These important symbols of Roman vox populi are now in terrible condition," said Viviana Di Capua, president of a resident's association for Rome's historic center.

Begun to celebrate Rome's recent 2,762 birthday, the 70,000-euro ($93,600) restoration project is expected to last until the end of 2010 and is sponsored by Di Capua's group. The aim is to restore the sculptures and prohibit further postings on their facades.

"We are going to restore four of Rome's six 'talking' statues. The sculptures will not be moved, and restoration yards will be built around them," Di Capua told Discovery News.

Standing in a small square just south of Piazza Navona, the so-called statue of Pasquino is among the most damaged sculptures, but it is also the hero of the "talking statue" tradition.

"It badly needs restoration. A car has almost destroyed its pedestal," Di Capua said.

Pasquino was unearthed in 1501 during excavations in Rome's Orsini Palace. Although not much of the original sculpture remained, this eroded relic of ancient Rome, which is believed to depict the Greek warrior Menelaus supporting the slain Patroclus, was much admired by the 17th century Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who apparently considered it one of the finest antique sculptures in Rome.

The humble statue was placed near Piazza Navona by Cardinal Carafa, who held a Latin poetry contest each year and used the statue to hang and display the poems for all to see and admire. Over the years, however, more than just poetry began appearing on the statue. The work became a platform for mocking notes from the public.

Eventually, the statue became known as "Pasquino," taking its name from a neighborhood tailor with a biting wit. The tailor's and others' satirical poems and other such postings eventually became known as "pasquinate" and, in modern English, "pasquinade" now means a satirical piece of writing posted in a public place.

Among Pasquino's earliest messages was "Quod non fecerunt Barbari fecerunt Barberini (What the Barbarians did not do, the Barberini did)."
The message was addressed to the Barberini Pope, Urban VIII, who was accused of plundering Rome's artistic heritage for his own grandiose projects.

By the mid-sixteenth century, the caustic messages on the statue carried such strong anti-papal tones that religious leaders suggested dropping the statue into the Tiber River.

But the trend of pasting messages on statues had already taken root.

Circulating like underground newspapers, the acerbic commentaries spread to other statues in Rome, including those depicting Marforio, Il Facchino ("the Porter"), the Abbot Luigi, Il Babuino ("the Baboon"), and Madame Lucrezia.

Today dozen of messages are attached to Pasquino, with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi often a target. Di Capua explains the point of the cleanup project is to protect Rome's art and not necessarily to silence Rome's satirical voices.

"We are going to remove all the satirical notes from the statues. Our goal is to make people respect Rome's huge artistic patrimony. As for the pasquinades, we are setting up a Web site where the Romans can freely make their feelings known," Di Capua said.

But the aim to keep the statues clear of postings may be overly ambitious. At the house of Juliet in Verona, a similar attempt, aimed at replacing scribbled love notes with text messages, failed miserably. People continue to plaster love notes to the house.

Frank Korn, professor of classical studies at Seton Hall University and the author of "Hidden Rome," told Discovery News the statue message posting "shows the wry wit of the Roman people."

"The Romans have long had a penchant for satire, especially when its target is the government, the church hierarchy, the papal court, and the aristocracy. Even now in the 21st century pasquinading remains an immemorial Roman sport," Korn said.

To Be or Not to Be Essene - That is the Question

An old debate brought back into the spotlight by Rachel Elior's comments as described in this article in the Jerusalem Post. Don't ever be fooled by a "scholarly" exterior. Scholars and archaeologists are the most passionate of beings!

May 7, 2009 10:26
A priestly library
By ABRAHAM RABINOVICH

Prof. Rachel Elior set scholarly nerves jangling on several continents last month when she not only denied that the Dead Sea Scrolls were authored by the ascetic Essene sect, as is widely believed, but suggested that the Essenes never existed.

"The whole story of the Essenes is imaginary," she said. "It's clear that the library at Qumran is a priestly library."

Elior makes a convincing case that many of the scrolls found at Qumran reflect in terminology and spirit the worldview of the "sons of Zadok," priests who seceded from Temple service in the Hasmonean period because the high priesthood had been usurped by non-Zadokites. (This "secessionist" group is distinct, she points out, from those members of the Sadducee (Zadokite) aristocracy who remained in Jerusalem and who were described by Josephus and in the New Testament.)

Elior is not the first scholar to argue against the Qumran-Essene connection. Half a century ago, Prof. Moshe Gottstein of Hebrew University rejected the idea and other scholars ascribed some of the scrolls to Zadokites. A decade ago, Prof. Norman Golb of the University of Chicago roiled the scholarly waters by asserting that Qumran had not housed Essenes and that the scrolls had not been written there. They had been brought to Qumran from the libraries of Jerusalem, he said, to be hidden in the surrounding caves as the Romans approached.

In a curious episode reflecting the passions that still surround the scrolls, Golb's son, Raphael, was detained by police in New York recently on suspicion of impersonating other scholars on the Internet in an attempt to influence the Essene debate in support of his father.

Two archeologists who excavated at Qumran for 10 years concluded that there was no Essene settlement there, contrary to the broad consensus that still prevails among other relevant archaeologists and scholars.

What provoked headlines in the international press was Elior's questioning of the very existence of the Essenes. "The Torah forbids celibacy except in rare cases," she said. "It's inconceivable that there are thousands of men living like that and that there is not a single Jewish source referring to such a group. The name Essene does not even appear in any Hebrew or Aramaic text."

The Essenes were first mentioned by the Jewish philosopher Philo who lived in Alexandria in the mid-first century CE. A few years later they were also mentioned by the Roman historian Pliny and then by the Jewish historian Josephus. "I believe that Philo was describing an ideal society he imagined," said Elior, "and that Pliny did likewise."

It is more difficult to dismiss testimony by Josephus, generally a reliable historian, who not only lived in the country, unlike Philo or Pliny, but claimed to have been educated by Essenes during his youth.

Elior supports the notion originally suggested by Prof. Steve Mason of Canada that Josephus, writing in Rome years after the destruction, may have promoted an Essene myth to depict the Jews to the Romans in a favorable light as idealists and spartan.

Elior will have difficulty persuading her colleagues on this point but it is a marginal issue, in fact a non-issue, in the broad sweep of her groundbreaking work describing the reshaping of the Jewish religion as it turned away from the dictates of angels and toward human reason.

Analyzing Herbs in Egyptian Medicine

An appropriate article, given the talk that dondelion and I attended at the Met on May 13th about ancient Egyptian medical practices! (Photo: Taken at the Met on May 13, 2009, this was one of the stops during the lecture on ancient Egyptian medicine. The green and yellow jars on the right are shaped after the poppy plant and would have held medicinal drafts using poppy).

Story at toledoblade.com
Article published May 04, 2009
Scientists use chemistry to identify herbs in Egyptian medicines
By TOM AVRILPHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

PHILADELPHIA - Ancient Egypt was renowned for its prowess in the field of medicine, so much so that sick people went there from abroad in search of herbal remedies.

Archaeologists know that the herbs were administered in a potent blend with wine. But the identity of many of those medicinal additives is a mystery - their names recorded in hieroglyphics that have resisted modern efforts at translation.

Now, two University of Pennsylvania scientists have begun to crack the puzzle with chemistry.

In research published in April, the pair reported some of the earliest evidence of just what those long-ago physicians were prescribing.

One Egyptian clay jar, estimated to be more than 5,000 years old, yielded flaky residue that suggests a veritable apothecary of possible ingredients: coriander, senna, germander, balm, and savory, among others. Samples scraped from the inside of a newer jar, just 1,500 years old, yielded compounds that likely came from rosemary.

The research, done in collaboration with a chemist from the U.S. Treasury Department, is more than a quest for history. Senior author Patrick McGovern, an "archaeochemist" at Penn's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, wants to know if the ancient herbalists came up with anything that really works.

Researchers at Penn's Abramson Cancer Center are similarly intrigued, and already are studying herbs identified in some of Mr. McGovern's previous experiments. A derivative of the wormwood plant, found in a 3,200-year-old fermented beverage from China, has shown some promise against tumor cells in preliminary lab studies.

"I think people should be open-minded" about ancient remedies, said Wafik S. El-Deiry, a Penn professor of medicine, genetics, and pharmacology, "because there may be hidden treasures."

The Egyptians and Chinese of old weren't trying to use their herbs against cancer, as far as Mr. McGovern knows. But some of their medicines are used today for the same purposes as long ago.

One such example is fennel, to combat indigestion, said Lise Manniche, an assistant professor of Egyptology at the University of Copenhagen. The Penn study found no evidence of fennel, but it is among those plants whose names have been translated from the ancient texts.

Ms. Manniche said the new evidence, published in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, represented an ideal marriage of chemistry and archaeology.

"It's absolutely fascinating that such a small amount [of residue] can give us so much information," said Ms. Manniche, who was not involved with the study.

Both clay jars came from Egyptian tombs. The 1,500-year-old vessel is owned by the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto; the one that dated back five millennia was excavated by German archaeologists from the tomb of ruler Scorpion I.

In both cases, the wine residue was scraped from the jars and simply sent to Mr. McGovern by mail.

The chemist can't say exactly which herbs were used in the wine. The analysis of the older jar revealed only that the residue contained certain "terpenoid compounds" - the presence of which could be explained by one or more herbs.

It is also unclear which diseases they might have been used for.

Egyptian physicians recorded diseases and their treatments in hieroglyphics on papyrus documents that have survived to this day. But with many of the remedies, modern scholars know only that they consisted of some sort of plant - signified by a picture of a leaf at the end of the name, Ms. Manniche said.

Mr. McGovern's co-authors were Penn research associate Gretchen Hall and Armen Mirzoian, a senior chemist at the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

Here is the link to the article at the PNAS website. For general information about ancient Egyptian medical practices, see Medicine in Ancient Egypt.

Athena

Here is a recent paper done by Michelle for one of her classes. She received a high grade for her effort. Kudos to Michelle! She gave us permission to post her paper here. No changes have been made.

Michelle Albert
English 231 / Section 801
Dr. Carabas

Research Paper: Athena

The Greeks warrior goddess is Athena and is known as Minerva to the Romans. She is the daughter of Zeus and she protector her favorite war heroes and city. Athena’s city, Athens, is where her biggest temple resides. Athena’s shrine is one of the most seen landmarks in the world and the temple still stands today. The goddess of war has appeared in many well known Greek writings; her most famous of all were Homer’s epics The Iliad and Odyssey. She fought in the war between the immortals and the giants. Athena has appeared in many other well known stories after her strong roles in Homer’s great epics. To the Greeks though Athena is the most well known and cherished goddesses of Greek literature.

To start at any beginning I will start with the birth of the Athena. Athena was known to have one of the most peculiar births for Greek immortals. The reason for this is Athena was born from Zeus himself; the only other god to be born in this way was Dionysus. There are some alterations of her birth but the stories always follow the original.

According to Apostolos N. Athanassakis in his translation of Hesiod’s Theogony, while Metis was pregnant with Athena Zeus ate her. Zeus did this because Metis was to give birth to a son that would rival Zeus (lines 886-900). According to Veronica Ions though, while Athena was inside of her father head he had a violent headache. Hephaestus came with an axe and split Zeus’s head open out sprang Athena fully armed (41). I believe this is how Athena is known as the goddess of wisdom, she gets her traits from Metis who was known to be intelligent; she also came from Zeus’s head. She may be associated with the owl because the owl is known to be a symbol of wisdom.

Some early history of Athena’s was found in the Minoan’s culture. She didn’t have the same name but they also had a warrior goddess that protected their people. To the Greeks Athena was always pictured as a goddess of war and a virgin.

According to Karl Kerenyi, some of Athena’s earliest worshippers were the Minoans that resided in Crete. They saw her as a serpent holding goddess and she has been seen in some ancient Minoan artwork. Athena has also been traced to the Mycenean times as an armed protector of their land. It wasn’t until she became a Greek goddess that Athena received her lance and shield (Kerenyi 7). Homer, a Greek poet, portrays her as a goddess of war and a protector of her favorite war heroes in his epics. In Theogony, Hesiod shows her as a great warrior: “Then from his head he himself bore grey-eyed Athena / weariless leader of armies / . . . / who stirs men to battle and is thrilled by the clash of arms” (Athanassakis lines 924-926).

Athens is named after their goddess Athena and there are a few stories surrounding how she became the goddess of Athens. There is a fable of mythical king of Athens that made Athena their main goddess to worship. It was during his reign that the contest between Athena and Poseidon occurred.

Marilena Carabatea explains that Kekrops is the mythical king of Athens who sprung from the soil of Attica. Kekropes is pictured in Athenian artwork as a creature from the waist up of a man and from the waist down of a snake (84). Carabetea continues to explain that some Athenians believe they are descendents of this mythical king. It was during the rule of Kekropes that it is said that Athena and Poseidon competed for the title of patron to the city of Athens (85).

According to Roy Willis, Athena and Poseidon were also fighting for the area of Attica around Athens. To decide who should win, Athena and Poseidon brought one gift each to the Athenians. The immortal that gave the best gift will be awarded to protect their city (Wills 136). Willis continues to explain that Poseidon created a spring when he hit his trident on a rock at the Acropolis. Athena touched the same spot and an olive tree appeared. Athenians found the olive as a great resource and made her the goddess of their city. The olive became a valued substance to the Athenians because its oil provides a function for cooking, perfume and creating light (Willis 36). According to Thomas B. Allen, the Athenians would pay their taxes in olive oil. They would also give olive oil to the gods in rituals; they use it as butter for their bread and make soap from it (52).

Athena was loved so much by the Athenians that they built her an elegant temple for her to be worshipped in. It took them many years to build it but the Parthenon is one of the most famous temples because of its architecture and artwork. The reason for the fabulous artwork was because a sculptor was hired for the job of an architect.

According to Lionel Casson, during the time of 450 to 429 B.C.E. Pericles acted as an advisor of Athens. Pericles hired a sculptor, Phidias, to oversee the construction of Athena’s Parthenon; the Parthenon means “The Virgin Athena” (54-56). “The sculptures remained intact until the sixth century A.D. when the Parthenon was converted to a Christian church” (Casson 55). Casson continues to explain that when the Parthenon was converted to Christian church is when most of its destruction occurred (Casson 64-65).

In Hesiod’s Theogony mortals were not created until Zeus’s reign. Zeus didn’t create the first mortals. He always hated the idea of them, so to spite Zeus Prometheus created the first mortals with the help of Athena.

According to Athanassakis translation of Theogony, after Prometheus tricked Zeus with a fake offering Zeus desired to do evils to mortal man. Zeus withheld the power of fire for mortal man; so they would be unable to cook their food and eventually starve. Prometheus stole fire from the gods in a fennel stock and gave it to the mortals so they could survive (Lines 536-567). “This stung the depths of Zeus’s mind . . . so straight away because of the stolen fire he contrived an evil for men” (Athanassiakis, Lines 567-570). Athanassiakis says that Zeus had mortal women created by Hephaestus and Athena as a burden for mortal men (lines 571-593).

According to Lee Hall though, Prometheus and Athena created the first mortal men. Prometheus wanted to create a civil type of beings so Prometheus went to Athena and asked her for her assistance (Hall 64-65). “Taking clay he found in Boetia, Prometheus modeled human figures . . . Then Athena breathed life into each of the first group of new beings . . . the first humans were exclusively male” (Hall 65). Hall explains that Zeus was unhappy with these flawed mortal men so he withheld fire from them so they would be unable to eat cooked food. Athena took Prometheus to Hephaestus’s workshop to steal the power of fire and bring it the mortals. Zeus found out what he had done and had Prometheus chained to a pillar and have his liver eaten by an eagle. After he sentenced Prometheus to his punishment Zeus created women (Hall 65-68).

Athena fought beside her father in the war between the gods and the giants called Gigantomachia. In this war Athena was able to show her talent as a warrior goddess. It took place on Olympia and the outcome of the war would determine who would rule the universe.

According to Hall, The immortals were only able to defeat the giants with the help of Heracles; because giants can only die by being killed by both a mortal hero and an immortal at the same time (Hall 54-61). Athena helped a great deal in the war by trapping a giant. According to Ions, Athena took Sicily and threw it on top of the giant Enceladus. Some native Sicilians believe that is what caused Mount Etna to erupt (Ions 80). A poem called Ceres and Proserpina in book five of Charles Martin’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses partly discusses a giant being trapped underneath Sicily. According to Martin, the muse, Calliope, sings of the war Gigantomachia and how the giant Typhoeus is trapped beneath the island: “Vigorous Sicily/ . . . /the island’s weight held Typhoeus firmly beneath it / Often exerting himself, he strives yet again to rise up / . . . while Mount Etna presses his head, as under it, raging Typhoeus coughs ashes and vomits up fire / Often he struggles, attempting to shake off the earth’s weight and roll its cities and mountains away from his body” (Ceres and Proserpina, Lines 512-521). According to Ions, it was during this battle that Athena killed the giant called Pallas; this may be how she gained the name Pallas Athena. Athena made her shield and her egis from the giant’s skin (Ions 81). This is one of the many kinds of stories of how she got her name Pallas Athena, a name she is called in Homer’s epics.

I found that Athena has connections with Medusa, a monstrous woman with hair of snakes and the sight of her eyes turns anyone into stone. Medusa was once a regular woman but angered Athena. As a punishment Athena turned Medusa into a monster.

According to Carabatea, Medusa was once a beautiful woman that lived in the far north. Medusa didn’t see sunlight that often and asked Athena if she could show it to her. Athena denied Medusa’s request and Medusa thought that Athena was jealous of her beauty and denied her (Carabatea 626). Carabatea explains that Athena became angry at that the insult and decided to punished her. Athena turned Medusa’s hair in to snakes and that her gaze would turn anyone into stone (Carabatea 626). The perfect revenge; a woman that was once desired is now a feared and dreaded monster that no one can look at.

Tiresias is the blind seer of Thebes that makes some appearances in ancient writings. He has appeared in The Iliad, The Divine Comedy, and his most well known appearance is in Oedipus the King. Tiresias is the symbol of Greek seers and the poem The Bath of Pallas tells how Tiresias became blind and a prophet.

According to Stanley Lombardo’s and Diana Rayor’s translation of Callimachus’s poem The Bath of Pallas, Athena and Khariklo, Tiresias’s mother, were bathing in The Horse Spring on the mountain of Helikon. Tiresias was hunting in the mountains and came down to the spring to get a drink of water. When he came to the stream he saw Athena bathing there naked. Athena became angry and took away Tiresias’s eyesight (Lombardo and Rayor, Lines 87- 102). Athena speaking to Khariklo: “It was not I that struck your son blind / Putting out young eyes is not sweet to Athena, but the laws of Kronos demand that whoever sees an immortal against the god’s will must pay for the sight and pay dearly (Lombardo and Rayor Lines 122-126). Lombardo and Rayor continue to explain that Athena gave Tiresias the gift of prophecy because she felt sorry for him and his mother (Lines 143-154).

After her appearances in The Iliad and The Odyssey she became one of the most used goddesses in Greek and Roman literature. From 700 B.C.E into 1300 A.D. Athena has appeared in many writings. She played a strong part in the war against Troy: In Lombardo’s translation of The Iliad, Athena watched over the hero Achilles and was responsible for most of the events in the epic. Athena was responsible for getting Odysseus home and helping him take his revenge against the suitors in Robert Fagles’s translation of The Odyssey. In Fagles’s translation of The Oresteia written by Aeschylus, She sided with Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, after he killed his mother and her lover for killing his father. Even in the early fourteenth century she has been traced to the Christian religion; after the Parthenon was converted to a Christian church. In Mark Musa’s translation of The Divine Comedy written by Dante Alighieri, Beatrice, the guide of Paradiso, wears a crown of olive leaves. Athena has a huge influence in many different types of writings stretching thousands of years. Athena is one of the greatest gods of ancient writings and will continue to play a part in writings to come.

Works Cited
Primary sources-
-Athanassakis, Apostolos N. Theogony, Works and Days, Sheild. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 1983.
-Fagles, Robert. The Odyssey. United States: Viking Penguin, 1996
--The Oresteia. United States: Viking Penguin, 1975
-Martin, Charles. Metamorphoses. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2004
-Musa, Mark. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana UP, 1971.

Secondary sources-
-Allen, Thomas B., et al. Greece and Rome: Builders of the World. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Book Society, 1968.
-Carabetea, Marilena. Greek Mythology. Athens: Adam, 1997
-Casson, Lionel. The Greek Conquerors. Chicago: Stonehenge, 1982
-Hall, Lee. Athena: A Biography. Canada: Addison-Wesley, 1997.
-Ions, Veronica. The History of Mythology. United Kingdom: Octopus, 1997
-Kerenyl, Karl. Athene: Virgin and Mother. Zurich, Switzerland: Spring, 1978
-Lombardo, Stanley and Rayor, Diana. Hymns, Epigrams, Selected Fragments. Boston: John Hopkins UP, 1988.
--Lombardo, Stanley. Iliad by Homer. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997.
-Willis, Roy. World Mythology: Greek Conquerors. Castel House, London: Duncan Bard, 1996.

2nd Dynasty Tomb Discovered at Lahun (Egypt)

Another catch-up story, this one appearing at Reuters news service:

(Image: Egyptian archaeologist Abdul Rahman Ayedi opens a coffin in a newly discovered tomb dating to the Second Pharaonic Dynasty, near El-Lahun Pyramid in Faiyum, 130 km (80 miles) southwest of Cairo, May 5, 2009, The tomb was found inside a necropolis consisting of dozens of other rock-cut tombs dating to the Middle (ca. 2061-1786 BC) and New (ca. 1569-1081 BC) Kingdoms and the 22nd Dynasty (ca. 931-725 BC).
REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Egypt finds 5,000-year-old tomb near Lahun pyramid
Tue May 5, 2009 11:26am EDT
By Cynthia Johnston

LAHUN, Egypt (Reuters) - Archaeologists have found a nearly 5,000-year-old tomb near Egypt's mud brick Lahun pyramid, in a sign that the site held religious significance a millennium before previously thought, the site head said Tuesday.

The find, down crumbling steps in sand covered desert rock, debunks a prior understanding by archaeologists that the site dates back only to 12th dynasty pharaoh Senusret II who ruled 4,000 years ago, archaeologist Abdul Rahman Al-Ayedi said.

"The existence of this tomb is very significant because now we know that Senusret II, the builder of the pyramid, is not the founder of this site," Ayedi told Reuters in an interview.

"It must have had religious significance in ancient Egypt, so that's why he chose it for his pyramid," he added.

Egypt, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, has made several significant discoveries this year including a rare intact mummy found in February in a sealed sarcophagus near the world's oldest standing step pyramid at Saqqara, near Cairo.

Ayedi said second dynasty tombs had never before been found at Lahun, site of Egypt's southernmost pyramid, or elsewhere around the nearby Fayoum oasis, 60 km (35 miles) south of Cairo.

Inside the tiny tomb, too small for a person to stand, a box-like wood coffin contains what is left of the remains of a 40 to 49-year-old man who was likely a significant figure in the ancient Egyptian government of the time, Ayedi said.

The body, buried in a bent position and wrapped in linens, was not well preserved because the tomb predates the era in which ancient Egyptians mummified their dead, Ayedi added.

"This was a very early example of a coffin ... The body was buried flexed. The lid of the coffin was vaulted and the side of the coffin has a representation of the facade of a palace or a house," he said.

LUCKY FIND
The find comes shortly after Ayedi's team last month announced it had unearthed a cache of mummies dating to a later period in brightly painted coffins in a necropolis at the site -- the first to be found in the shadow of the Lahun pyramid.

Ayedi said he had initially wanted to dig at little-known Lahun because he was not satisfied with the result of the first excavation there in the 19th century, saying it did not match the site's significance.

His team found the second dynasty tomb by chance this season while excavating the recently unearthed necropolis after Ayedi stumbled across a pottery shard in the sand that he recognized as dating back to an older era.

"I was just walking by and I found a (shard from a) pottery vessel like this one," Ayedi said as he held up a slender vessel inside the stone-cut tomb. "It was very characteristic."

"I was very optimistic to find something second dynasty," he added. "We started to investigate this area. Suddenly we found this stairway tomb."

Ayedi said the tomb's occupant was buried with his prized possessions, including an offering table, a headrest, two spears and a bed constructed of imported pine from Lebanon that could shed light on ancient Egyptian carpentry techniques.

Archaeologists found the main entrance to the Lahun pyramid last year, and later found storage jars and other objects inside before finding mummies in nearby tombs in recent months, Ayedi said.

Is the Nefertiti Bust a Fake?

(Image: Mrs. Borchardt, I presume?)

I'm catching up with stories now that I'm back home from New York. Still on vacation, don't go back to the office until the 26th, yippee!

This next story from the guardian.co.uk is, frankly, just so far out there - but the book will probably sell because the subject is controversial.

Is this Nefertiti – or a 100-year-old fake?
Kate Connolly in Berlin
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 7 May 2009 19.24 BST

Her elegant and chiselled features held proud and high on a swanlike neck, she has been smiling serenely for 3,400 years. At least that has long been the popular and scientific belief that draws half a million tourists to see her in Berlin every year.

But now doubt has been thrown on the authenticity of the painted limestone and plaster bust of the 18th dynasty Egyptian queen Nefertiti by two authors who claim she is a fake.

According to a Swiss art historian, the bust is less than 100 years old. Henri Stierlin has said the stunning work that will later this year be the showpiece of the city's reborn Neues Museum was created by an artist commissioned by Ludwig Borchardt, the German archaeologist credited with digging Nefertiti out of the sands of the ancient settlement of Amarna, 90 miles south of Cairo, in 1912.

In his book, Le Buste de Nefertiti – une Imposture de l'Egyptologie? (The Bust of Nefertiti – an Egyptology Fraud?), Stierlin has claimed that the bust was created to test ancient pigments. But after it was admired by a Prussian prince, Johann Georg, who was beguiled by Nefertiti's beauty, Borchardt, said Stierlin, "didn't have the nerve to make his guest look stupid" and pretended it was genuine.

Berlin author and historian Edrogan Ercivan has added his weight to the row with his book Missing Link in Archaeology, published last week, in which he has also called Nefertiti a fake, modelled by an artist on Borchardt's statuesque wife.

Public and political enthusiasm about the find at the time gave the artefact its "own dynamic" and led to Borchardt ensuring it was kept out of the public gaze until 1924, the authors have argued.

He kept it in his living room for the next 11 years before handing it over to a Berlin museum, since when it has been one of the city's main tourist attractions.

The statue was famously admired by Adolf Hitler, who referred to it as "a unique masterpiece, an ornament, a true treasure".

Recent radiological tests carried out on the statue by Berlin's Charite hospital supposedly proved that the bust is indeed more than 3,000 years old. The tests uncovered a hidden face carved into the statue's limestone core. But Stierlin has argued that while it is possible to carbon date the pigments, which appear to be ancient Egyptian, it is impossible to accurately date the bust because it is made of stone covered in plaster.

Other aspects of the find, which he has claimed support his theory, are the facts that the bust has no left eye, which the ancient Egyptians would have considered a sign of disrespect towards their much-loved queen, and that the first scientific reports on the discovery were not written up for 11 years.

Borchardt's diary entries remain the main written account of the find. He wrote: "Suddenly we had in our hands the most alive Egyptian artwork. You cannot describe it with words. You must see it."

But Dietrich Wildung, the director of Berlin's Egyptian Museum, where Nefertiti is currently housed, has fiercely dismissed the allegations as an attempt to exploit the bust's popularity. "A beautiful woman and a putative scandal," he said. "That always sells."

He said the claims could easily be dismissed because of the detailed computer tomography and material analyses that had been carried out on Nefertiti.

In October, the bust is due to be moved back into the Neues Museum, which has been reconstructed from its war-torn remains by British architect David Chipperfield, and where Nefertiti was last on display 70 years ago. She is to hold court over a long gallery in the north cupola, where she will be set on a specially constructed pedestal.

Over the decades Germany has rejected repeated requests from Egypt for her return.

Sun queen
The bust is said to portray the wife of the Sun King Akhenaten, with whom she is believed to have ruled Egypt between 1353 and 1336BC. It is thought to have been uncovered in the desert by the archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt in 1912. During the Nazi years, Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering planned to give it back to Egypt, but Adolf Hitler said the bust would have pride of place in a museum for Germania, the expanded Berlin that was due to be the capital of his Thousand Year Reich. Nefertiti means "beautiful woman has arrived".
***************************************************************************

Hmmm, can anyone explain to me why it would be necessary to create a bust out of rock covered with plaster and sculpt it to perfection just in order to test out a recipe for Egyptian pigments? Why not make it out of clay coated with plaster? Why add the crown? Indeed, why make a test model after the queen at all? Could not the pigments have been tested on a palette made out of plaster-covered stone?

Did Borchardt's wife, after whom it is alleged the bust modelled, really look so much like Nefertiti? We know what Nefertiti looked like from carvings and paintings on monuments that survived the purge after Akhenaten's death; I'm no expert but to my untrained eye the bust generally resembles those representations of Nefertiti, albeit rather idealized. We don't know what Borchardt's wife looked like - no photo accompanied the article so a reader cannot do a comparison. Her name isn't given in the article, so she cannot be easily tracked down, even supposing a photograph of Mrs. Borchardt exists from the time in question.

For more information about Queen Nefertiti, see Judith Weingarten's blog.

Botswana Chess

5/19/09 1:41 PM
Cuca BGI Motswana chess player win Cuca-BGI tournament
Luanda– The international Master from Botswana, Amom Simutowe, won on Sunday in Luanda, with 7,5 points, the trophy of the international Cuca BGI tournament, which was disputed from 10 to 17 May in the premises of the Angolan Chess Federation (FAX), in both sexes.

The winner was awarded the prize of USD 5000, the Angolan national Master Eduardo Pascoal occupied the second position with 6,5 points and received USD 4000, while António Sousa (Angola) ended in the third place with 6 points and got USD 3000.

In female category, the Motswana chess player Tsepiso Lopang won the competition with 6 points and she was awarded the prize of USD 2500, while the Angolan player Engrácia de Oliveira that occupied the second position received USD 2000.

The South African player Mbalehle Cindi, who occupied the third place with 5,5 points, got USD 1000.

A Different Take on the Pueblo Indians

This author has a different take on the "abandonment" of the great stone cliff pueblos of Southwest USA. He has a book available for purchase at lulu.com. Here is the information:

Climate Change Did Not Doom The Anasazi
Morrisville, NC: th May 20, 2009 Eric Skopec demonstrates that global warming did not destroy the Ancestral Puebloan civilization. Although some authors bolster their warnings with historical references, many misrepresent the archeological record. According to Dr. Skopec, "much of what popular authors say about the Ancestral Puebloans is incomplete, misleading, and just plain wrong.

(Media-Newswire.com) - Morrisville, NC: – May 20, 2009
Eric Skopec demonstrates that global warming did not destroy the Ancestral Puebloan civilization. Although some authors bolster their warnings with historical references, many misrepresent the archeological record. According to Dr. Skopec, “much of what popular authors say about the Ancestral Puebloans is incomplete, misleading, and just plain wrong. They get away with it because the general public knows little more than the myth that the Ancestral Puebloans mysteriously disappeared.”

In a compact book written for history buffs and vacationers, Dr. Skopec tackles two popular myths. First, he notes that the Ancestral Puebloans did not disappear. Their descendents are alive and well, and many welcome visitors to their villages and pueblos. Second, he argues that climate change had some effect on the Ancestral Puebloans but other factors were at least as important. The people had managed droughts much more severe than the early 12th century dry period and, Dr. Skopec adds, much of their land could have supported even larger populations. Their “abandonment” of Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly and other sites was an extension of their normal pattern of migration.

Dr. Skopec builds his case in the Ancestral Puebloan Primer written with his son, Christopher, and published by Lulu.Com. In eight readable chapters, the Skopecs explain who the Ancestral Puebloans were and trace their lineage to earlier Basketmaker and subsequent Pueblo peoples. They describe the origins of massive stone cities and well as survival strategies that allowed the people to prosper in the arid southwest. Important chapters summarize ways in which the Ancestral Puebloans defined communities as well as the stories told by pottery fragments, stone tools, and rock art. The final chapter explains why the Ancestral Puebloans abandoned the four corners region, how the move affected their society, and what the Spanish conquest did to newly established pueblos along the Rio Grande.The Ancestral Puebloan Primer is a conveniently sized book that fits in camera bags, back packs and purses. It is just over 75 pages long but conveys an extraordinary amount of information. To control size and price, the Skopecs adopted two innovative strategies. First, they summarize their research in a “Note on Sources” rather than endless strings of footnotes. Second, they have placed the Note along with Acknowledgements listing experts who assisted on a dedicated web page ( http://anasaziadventure.com/visitor_guides.html ) Together, these strategies result in an engaging volume at least 40% smaller than might be expected with a retail price under $10.Interested readers can order copies of The Ancestral Puebloan Primer and Dr. Skopec’s other writings at http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=775294
###
Eric Skopec is a retired professor now living in the Philippines. He has studied the Ancestral Puebloans for nearly 30 years and spent 2.5 years living and working at Ancestral Puebloan sites. He volunteered with the National Park Service and guided visitors at Pipe Spring National Monument, Aztec Ruins National Monument, and Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Online interviews can be arranged by emailing him at ewskopec@yahoo.com Christopher Skopec is a graphic artist, designer, and photographer living in San Diego, California. Other samples of his work can be seen at http://www.chrisskopec.com/

Lulu.com is the premier marketplace for digital content on the Internet, with over 300,000 recently published titles, and more than 4,000 new titles added each week, created by people in 80 different countries. Lulu is changing the world of publishing by enabling the creators of books, video, periodicals, multimedia and other content to publish their work themselves with complete editorial and copyright control. With Lulu offices in the US, Canada the UK and Europe, Lulu customers can reach the globe.

New York: Back Home

Whew! It's nearly midnight (Milwaukee time) and we've been up since 6 a.m. and going non-stop. Today was a travel day, and you know how that is!

Trip back from New York was on time and uneventful except for the fact that our boarding passes sent us to the wrong frigging gate! There I was sitting comfortably reading the New York Times at 11:10 a.m. telling Mr. Don he was nuts because he kept saying to me that our plane was boarding at Gate B1, not Gate B3 where we were sitting. I kept saying Mr. Don, our plane is not leaving until 11:35 from Gate 3, where we are sitting. Well, he was right, so fortunately we made the flight!

Got home, changed into shorts and tee shirts and bare feet because it's HOT here! The yard is overgrown - we will pull out the lawnmower tomorrow and cut the grass. We sat out on the deck the rest of the afternoon just decompressing and communing with nature, savoring the quietness of suburban Milwaukee after the non-stop hub-bub of New York City. We both took 2 hour naps later in the afternoon. Then we walked to the supermarket - a real supermarket, not what passes for one in Midtown Manhattan - to pick up much-needed groceries. Tomorrow night I'm going to make a tasty pot roast for Mr. Don. When we got back home I made a large supper for us - a late supper - using handy-dandy frozen stuff mostly, and some fresh ingredients. Meat lasagna, a relish dish, mixed veggies. Mr. Don filled his hollow leg and was a happy man. Then we looked at our website stats and did an analysis. Now Mr. Don is upstairs shooting zzzzz's at the ceiling and I'm about to call it a night, too.

Very sad - my squirrels did not come when I whistled. One of the first things I did after I fetched the mail and newspaper was run to the back of the house to open up the patio door to the deck and check the back yard. I refilled the birdbaths with fresh water, put out new food for the birds and whistled for the squirrels to come eat. A few squirrels did show up around 6 p.m. and they got the benefit of the almonds and peanuts I put out for them. I expect that once the word gets out on the Squirrel Hot Line, more will show up in the coming days. They have to get used to people being around here again, and food being available again.

Will try and blog more tomorrow about the New York trip - much left to write about and of course we have TONS of photos which will eventually end up somewhere, probably in an album linked to Goddesschess. For now, it's time for me to shoot some of my own zzzzz's at the ceiling! The photo above was taken by Michelle at Ellis Island on May 16th. It's me, Isis and Mr. Don in a candid shot after Mr. Don had just said something either extremely ridiculous or extremely funny (take your pick).

New York: Arches and Arches

Photos from all around the town:

(1) 05/17/09, by Jan, interior gallery shot, Brooklyn Museum



(2) 05/12/09, by Mr. Don, part of the Ansonia building

(3) 05/12/09, by Mr. Don, underground passage, Riverside neighborhood



(4) 05/16/09, by Mr. Don, Ellis Island

(5) 05/16/09, by Mr. Don, Ellis Island

(6) 05/16/09, by Jan, Ellis Island

New York: More Game Pieces

(1) At the Brooklyn Museum, 05/17/09, small ivory lion game piece (next to the larger carved stone lion that is not a game piece). The game wasn't identified but I have seen similar pieces identified as being part of the ancient Egyptian game of Mehen (also called the serpent game, named for the gameboard that takes the form of a coiled serpent).

(2) At the Brooklyn Museum, 05/17/09, fragment of Egyptian senet board and pieces

(3) At the Brooklyn Museum, 05/17/09, several Egyptian game pieces in the form of lion heads (on raised platform)

(4) At the Brooklyn Museum, 05/17/09, Egyptian 20-squares game and pieces. The tag identified this as a senet game, but senet has 30 squares. Sometimes Egyptian board games like this have a 20-squares game on one side and a senet game on the other. We don't know if that is the case with this board.

New York: In Search of Board Games

New York is the city of museums and Mr. Don and I spent our fair share of time snooping about hallowed halls of exhibits looking for evidence of ancient board games. Here are some photos of what we found.

(1) At the Met, 05/12/09, fragment of senet (30 squares) board with several game pieces: 12 spool type pieces on the left; 1 "pawn" type piece positioned over the top edge of the identifying card; four "cone" type pieces to the left, with one square die


(2) At the Met, 05/12/09, four Egyptian game pieces and two square dice (that's a reflection of me taking the photo). The two taller game pieces have carved faces.


(3) At the Met, 05/12/09, three Egyptian game pieces. The piece on the right was identified as a lion.

(4) At the Met, Islamic chess pieces

New York: Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Tour

The M1 bus ride down Fifth Avenue on Saturday went much more quickly than the one on Friday, the traffic being much less. But there were still lots of people out on the streets and from what I saw, the recession isn't a problem with shoppers in NYC!

(Photo: line to purchase tickets for Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour) Isis had reserved tickets for noon; unfortunately, we were still on the bus headed toward Battery Park at noon; fortunately, tickets would be held for us for the next boat trip out to the island. When we arrived at the park Isis was able to go right into the reserved tickets line and get our tickets for the next boat. That was a good thing, as the line to buy tickets was VERY long!

(Photo: On the boat - that's Michelle, Isis and me with my back to the camera) Between about 1 and 5:30 p.m. we were on the boat, on the island that houses the Statue of Liberty, on the boat, on Ellis Island, on the boat, back in Battery Park, and then back on the bus. Because of various events being held around the city, the M6 bus (which we caught to take us back up 6th Avenue to Midtown) was detoured to 8th Avenue. Earlier we had planned to go see "Angels and Demons" at a movie theatre on 8th Avenue and 42nd Street, so with the bus detour we decided to jump off at 42nd Street rather than going back to the hotel first and then coming back down to 42nd Street later in the evening to see the movie. First we stopped in the multiplex to get tickets for the show, and then we looked for a place to eat a leisurely supper. We settled on Appleby's just a few steps away.(Photo: One of my photos of the Statue of Liberty. I have to say, she certainly is very impressive close up!)

Soon it was time for the movie. The movie theatre we were in was very large and the seats were roomy and comfortable. The place was packed. Several screens in the multiplex were also showing "Angels and Demons" and I wondered if they were as packed as our theatre was! It didnt look like there were many empty seats.

I won't reveal the details of the movie. I enjoyed it, I thought it was very good. Mr. Don wasn't so thrilled with it as I was, but regardless, the movie is certainly filled with action from nearly the first moments and has some interesting twists and turns.

It was a REALLY long day. The streets were packed with people at 10:30 p.m. It was a madhouse on Broadway and on 7th Avenue, wall to wall people. Mr. Don and I detoured down to 6th Avenue and managed to walk the mile or so back to the hotel in about 30 minutes. Then it was time to download the photos from our digital cards. These are photos from Saturday.

New York: Wearing Ourselves Out!

Friday morning dawned sunny and warm, but not too warm. It was a beautiful day and Michelle and Isis were eager to do a boat tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We had a late start, just one of those things. We walked down to Fifth Avenue and 55th Street and were eventually successful in getting on the correct bus, going in the correct direction, to get to Battery Park. (Photo by dondelion: the 911 construction site. The place is buzzing with activity. I got to the end of the small plaza across the road from the construction site and I just could not go any further. I started crying. The drawings for the future buildings are beautiful. I am glad to see the space will soon be re-dedicated to the pursuit of the American way.)

There was lots to see along the long, winding route of the M1 bus that runs from the "top" of Fifth Avenue to the very bottom of Manhattan. We passed through Chelsea, Chinatown, Soho, Tribeca and other neighborhoods. Always there were crowds of people and never-ending store fronts filled with stores and goods not found anywhere else. So unique!

Eventually we arrived at the turn-around for the bus. We got off and headed toward what we thought was the correct spot (the Manhattan Ferry Terminal); that wasn't right, but we got directions and ended up at the correct pier in the correct spot, only to learn that we had missed the last boat trip out to the Statue of Liberty for the day - by perhaps 10 minutes. Arggggh!

But the day was lovely and Battery Park is beautiful, meticulously maintained. It was filled with people, all having a good time. (This lovely neoclassical building caught my eye in the heart of the financial district as we were walking back from Battery Park. It was the building housed the Chamber of Commerce for awhile at least, built in 1902).

Several freelance artists have small booths set up along the winding paths that lead away from the area where the boat passengers disembark. Isis cut a deal with one of them to do a charcoal portrait of Michelle. It took a little while, but less than half an hour, and in the meantime Mr. Don, Isis and I kicked back and relaxed. The portrait was a big success. Michelle looks so beautiful on it. It's hard to realize she's all grown up - it seems like yesterday she was an 8 year old! (Here are Michelle, me and Isis - the three Goddesschess Goddesses, in front of a big deep orange sculpture that looks like a number 1 die).


After we left the park area we explored a bit, marveling at the architecture and the mish-mash of buildings that create unending photo vignettes!

Friday night saw us dining at Applejack Diner once again, but it was dondelion, Michelle and me; Isis was tired and stayed resting at the hotel. It was a lovely night and we got in a few more photo ops.

The above are some photos we took on Friday.

New York Shopping: MacKenzie-Childs

Yesterday was an easy day as we awaited the arrrival of Isis and Michelle. Mr. Don had ambitious plans but I just wanted to have a big breakfast and go window shopping. So, we compromised. We had breakfast at Applejack's Diner and then walked out shopping. In the afternoon we walked over to the Asia Institute and spent several hours there, including time in the gift shop exploring lots of unique gifts.

After breakfast we headed toward 5th Avenue on West 57th Street so I could do a little window shopping. I was stopped in my tracks by a charming display in a shop window, and Mr. Don stopped with me, and then he was caught too, because the back wall of the store was covered in a black and white checkerboard pattern and the store was filled with black and white (and other colors) of plateware and accessories. It was a dazzling feast for the eyes. We went in. I was enchanted. We probably spent close to an hour exploring the various displays and wares. Mr. Don asked and was given permission to take a few photographs. As he always does, he got into conversations with staff members and customers alike while I floated about from object to object, examining and admiring.

We purchased some gifts and left with a catalog. The name of this enchanting place is MacKenzie-Childs, and I highly recommend it. The patterned beeswax candles are beautiful and well within my budget for gifts; likewise the body creams and scented soaps on the second floor that are gorgeously packaged and have the loveliest scents. I found a lamp to die for, entirely unique (it was not in the catalog). Unfortunately, it was beyond my price range, but one can dream...

The staff at MacKenzie-Childs were gracious and helpful. Our purchases were carefully placed in beautiful bags with the MacKenzie-Childs logo on the outside - see my photo of our packages - amid lots of black and cream checked tissue paper. When two of the gift bags were presented to Isis and Michelle later Thursday night, the bags elicited as much pleasure as the gifts they contained!

Please visit the MacKenzie-Childs website and explore their uniquely designed wares.

New "Venus" Figurine Discovered

Story from AP:

By PATRICK McGROARTY, Associated Press Writer Patrick Mcgroarty, Associated Press Writer – Wed May 13, 3:42 pm ET

BERLIN – A 35,000-year-old ivory carving of a busty woman found in a German cave was unveiled Wednesday by archaeologists who believe it is the oldest known sculpture of the human form. The carving found in six fragments in Germany's Hohle Fels cave depicts a woman with a swollen belly, wide-set thighs and large, protruding breasts.

"It's very sexually charged," said University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard, whose team discovered the figure in September.

Carbon dating suggests it was carved at least 35,000 years ago, according to the researchers' findings, which are being published Thursday in the scientific journal Nature.

"It's the oldest known piece of figurative sculpture in the world," said Jill Cook, a curator of Paleolithic and Mesolithic material at the British Museum in London.

Stones in Israel and Africa almost twice as old are believed to have been collected by ancient humans because they resembled people, but they were not carved independently.

The Hohle Fels cave discovery suggests the humans, who are believed to have come to Europe around 40,000 years ago, had the intelligence to create symbols and think abstractly in a way that matches the modern human, Conard said

"It's 100 percent certain that, by the time we get to 40,000 years ago in Swabia, we're dealing with people just like you and me," Conard told The Associated Press, referring to the southern German region where the sculpture was recovered along with other prehistoric artifacts.

Conard believes the 2.4-inch-tall (6-centimeter) figure may have been hung on the end of a string. The left arm is missing, but Conard said he hopes to find it by sifting through material from the cave.

The Hohle Fels sculpture is curvaceous and has neither feet nor a head, like some of the roughly 150 so-called Venus figurines found in a range from the Pyrenees mountains to southern Russia and dating back about 25,000-29,000 years.

But Cook warned against trying to draw any connections between the Venuses and the Hohle Fels figure, saying that would be like comparing Picasso to a classical sculptor — too much time had passed.

"I wonder whether at this point we're looking at figures which are unique within themselves and unique within the cultures that they're arising in," she said.

Archaeologist Paul Mellars, of the University of Cambridge, suggested a clearer continuum.
"We now have evidence of that sort of artistic tradition of Venus figurines going back 6,000 years earlier than anybody ever guessed," he said.

Neanderthals also lived in Europe around the time the sculpture was carved, and frequented the Hohle Fels cave. But Mellars said layered deposits left by both species over thousands of years prove the sculpture was crafted by humans.

"Nothing within a million miles of this has ever been found in a Neanderthal layer," Mellars said.

The archaeologists agreed the sculpture's age and features invite speculation about its purpose and the preoccupations of the culture that produced it.

Cook suggested it could be symbol of fertility, perhaps even portrayed in the act of giving birth.
Mellars suggested a more basic motivation for the carving: "These people were obsessed with sex."

Conard said the differing opinions reinforced the connection between the ancient artist and modern viewer.

"How we interpret it tells us just as much about ourselves as about people 40,000 years ago," he said.

************************************************************************

Hmmm, the experts know better, I guess... All I can say is that when I looked at this image of the "Venus" and the other two images I saw, I thought it depicts two people intertwined in an embrace. Perhaps it's just the way the object was photographed that makes it appear that way.

New York 3

Some photos from 5/13/09 at the Met

New York Adventures 2

Yesterday we spent the entire day at the Met. (The Great Hall at the Met, shot from the balcony overlooking the main entrance) There was a walking tour with lecture on ancient Egyptian medicine that dondelion and I wanted to do at 10:00 a.m. We arrived about 10 minutes before the start and were the first ones waiting in the gathering area for the group. Dr. David Minninberg of the staff was to give the presentation. There was an older gentleman standing in the same area and dondelion, who never listens to a word I say, asked him if this was the place to wait for the Egyptian tour, and the gentleman said yes, it was.

It seemed that we three were going to be the only ones on the tour. I had a sneaking suspicion that the older gentleman was, in fact, Dr. Minninberg, but I didn't mention this to Mr. Don, who would not have listened to me anyway. But, about 1 minute before the tour was to start, several other people showed up. In all, I'd say there were perhaps 10 of us. About 1 minute after 10, the older gentleman stepped forward and introduced himself - he was Dr. Minninberg - and he escorted us across the great hall into the Egyptian wing. The tour was underway.

It was a fascinating hour. The group being small, we were all able to ask questions and our guide was entertaining as well as informative. I learned quite a bit I did not know before about ancient Egyptians and their practice of medicine, both practi cal and what we would call magic, and it was fascinating. (The yellow and green vases are shaped like pommegranites and were used for a special elixir made out of the seeds) The time flew by. Afterward Don and I stayed behind and had a chance to ask Dr. Minninberg a few more questions, and spoke with him for about another 15 minutes. Then I pulled Mr. Don away (he could talk about Egypt 24/7) and steered him back toward the rest of the Egyptian Wing, where we happily spent time until about 2:30 when we ran outside for a quick lunch break (New York hot dogs from one of the street vendors) and were entertained by a very talented street singer.

We were back inside by 3 p.m., where we took in the exhibits of second floor balcony area that include Islamic art and artifacts from all along the Silk Road. Mr. Don took 115 photos yesterday - I don't remember how many I snapped. Mr. Don stayed on his feet longer than I did so he had more. I finally could not stand up another second more and I went back to the great hall, hoping to find a seat, while Mr. Don finished taking his photos. I was luck to snag a corner seat on one of the large high-backed benches, and was able to rest for about 15 minutes with my head back, eyes closed, ignoring the din around me, until Mr. Don reappeared at my side.

As usual, the walk back to the hotel did not seem as long as the walk to the museum that morning. It was only 4 miles round trip plus all the walking we did inside, but to me it felt like 40 miles! (Our feet - Mr. Don's are the long skinny ones, mine are the short fat ones) We got back to the hotel about 5:30 where we both promptly collapsed on the sofa; but I later ventured forth for food, located a grocery store and got some goodies, a drug store where I picked up a few items and stopped at McDonalds. We spent the rest of the evening watching t.v. I was too tired to do anything else. Goddess, that Big Mac sure tasted good! I haven't had one in a long time.

I noticed last night that I got sunburnt on the "v" of my neckline, and my face was definitely pink! So much for the supposed sunscreen protection in my face cream and makeup!

When we get back home I'll put up lots of the photos we took at Goddesschess.

New York! New York!

dondelion and I are here, and exhausted! We made it in one piece and Midwest Airlines got us here about 20 minutes early - amazing! (Here's our sitting room at the hotel)

The shuttle ride from the airport to the hotel was as hair-raising as I remember from our 2005 visit, with maybe even more potholes. We arrived at the hotel about 2:30 p.m. and after settling into our suite we headed in search of the Applejack Diner (a major hang-out for us during out 05 stay and I knew it was only a couple of blocks away). Ach, totally turned around, I could not navigate us to Broadway. dondelion was getting cranky because he was hungry, so he asked some rather suspicious looking guys for directions while I wanted to ask someone at a nearby bus stop - turns out we were half a block away, LOL! Once we got to Broadway I was able to steer us to the restaurant where we ate and then headed out walking, first this way, then that, snapping photos along the way.

(A view from our hotel room) dondelion thinks that we can "save money" by using our suite's kitchenette. We have a mini-fridge, a sink, a coffee maker and a microwave. Frankly, I'm skeptical, but I'm willing to try to have at least some meals here rather than eating out. Walking back from the Hudson River from the areas of West 73rd and Riverside Drive (a whole different world from the bustle of midtown Mahanttan) we spotted a grocers and went in. We bought a few things, but no coffee fixings. As we got closer to the hotel I spied another grocer and a deli on the corner of 57th practically across from the hotel. I was willing to go there and check it out, but we wanted to get the groceries back to the hotel first. After that was done we both sat down to rest a bit; I turned on the t.v. and got out this netbook. After some putzing around I couldn't figure out how the wireless internet connection worked so I called the desk - I needed a password and login. In the meantime, dondelion had stretched out on the sofa and he's now shooting zzzzs at the ceiling. That's okay, I'm going to settle in and watch the grand finale of The Biggest Loser. I'm too tired to go out exploring Manhattan nlght life!

Spring in the Backyard

Mr. Don has been busy with chores around the house since he arrived. He has chopped and dug out dead shrubs, hauled away the mound of gravel and sand the mysterious creature dug out from underneath my driveway at the very front of the house, pruned shrubs, cut down trees, dug out dandelions and thistles, tried to repair my hose reel (he got rather wet this afternoon when it didn't work - and bad me, I laughed and laughed and fetched him some towels to dry off); he attacked mounds of ferocious man-eating ants with ant control granuals, raked, cleaned off the deck, and cleaned out the garage. Then he cut the grass in the backyard (I did cut the grass out front). He also broke down and baled lots of cardboard boxes piled up in the garage and helped me haul the recyclables and trash out to the curb for tomorrow's pick-up.

As a result, the garage is looking much cleaner and the front, side and backyards are looking much prettier.

The first photo is a shot from the front fence (south side of the house) toward the back yard. I wanted to show the beautiful blossoms on the Newport plums and some of the back yard. I got more than I bargained for! Notice the robin in the foreground (just above the front fence pickets). That robin is VERY territorial. He was following Mr. Don around while he cut the grass. At one point when I was out on the deck Mr. Don called to me and pointed and mouthed "look" - so I looked where he pointed and there was the robin, trying to stare down the lawnmower. LOL! About ten minutes later the robin was still hanging around out back as I set up the blue glass birdbath in the smaller flower garden (you can see it in the second photo), and he continued to fly around, cheep-cheeping as we worked outside.

The second photo is a sneak shot of Mr. Don hard at work cutting the grass. Then he turned around and saw me and made faces at the camera. Unfortunately, instead of snapping the photos I hit the on/off button by mistake and the camera shut down. That's what I get. Drat!

Southwest Chess Club: Rumbling Rook Round Robin

My adopted chess club is holding another cool tournament this Thursday, darlings. Come one, come all! Here are the details from Robin Grochowski:

Hello Chess Players: This Thursday, May 14, 2009 (and the next two Thursdays after that), the Southwest Chess Club presents for you the “Rumbling Rook Round-Robin” (see below for details). We plan to start promptly at 7:00 p.m.. Registration is 6:20-6:55 p.m.

Since this is a quad (round-robin) it is important that players be present for all three rounds. Also, seeing as this is a quad, chess players will in all likelihood be playing others close to them in rating!

Note that since this is a quad (round-robin), there are no byes available. The May Supplement will be used for ratings.

If you plan to play but anticipate being a few minutes late the first evening, please e-mail myself (rjg@quarles.com) or Allen (allenbecker@wi.rr.com) so we can include you in the quads, or call me (414-744-4872 or 414-861-2745) prior to 5:30 p.m. on May 13, so I can include you in the quads. Hope to see everybody on Thursday. Please remember the SWCC is temporarily located at St. James Catholic Church.

Rumbling Rook Round-Robin: May 14, 21, & 28
3-Round “Round-Robin” (a “Quad”). Four chess players to a Quad. Game/90 minutes. USCF Rated. EF: $5. TD is Grochowski; ATD is Becker.

"Titanic" Stars Aid Last Living Titanic Survivor

I thought this was a really cool story:

Leo & Kate Help Last Titanic Survivor
Access Hollywood - May 10, 2009 4:57 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is getting a hand from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

The "Titanic" stars, along with director James Cameron, have contributed to a $30,000 fund for Millvina Dean, 98, Access Hollywood has confirmed.

The Irish Independent was the first to report the news.

The stars came forward after an appeal by photographer Don Mullan in the Sunday edition of the paper. Mullan had asked the stars and director of 1997 blockbuster to help Millvina, who has struggled with her nursing home bills.

Millvina was the ill-fated ship's youngest passenger - only nine weeks old upon being carried unto the Titanic from Southampton, England - and is now its last remaining survivor.

The photographer had been selling a limited edition shot, entitled "Still Surviving," of Millvina's hands signing an autograph in order to raise funds for her, and decided to reach out to the "Titanic" stars to pitch in. The photo is part of a new exhibition of his called "A Thousand Reasons for Living."

"I figured that if the edition sold out, it would secure Millvina for a full year. My plan, however, was to double the impact and thereby secure her for two years. I decided, therefore, at the opening of the exhibition, to publicly challenge James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, 20th Century Fox and Celine to match me dollar for dollar,'' Don told the Independent.

He is still waiting on a response from Celine, who won an Oscar for the film's theme song, "My Heart Will Go On," and the film's studio, 20th Century Fox.

Mumbai Mayor's Cup

This was a good tournament for Humpy - she finished in second place with 9/11. Final standings after R11:

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 GM Areshchenko Alexander UKR 2657 9,0 86,5 72,0 68,75
2 GM Koneru Humpy IND 2612 9,0 85,0 69,5 68,00
45 WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman IND 2303 7,5 73,0 60,0 46,75
60 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2307 7,0 75,0 62,5 46,25
68 IM Harika Dronavalli IND 2474 7,0 71,0 58,5 44,00
72 WGM Ramaswamy Aarthie IND 2191 7,0 69,0 56,5 40,00
74 WIM Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe IND 2177 7,0 68,5 56,0 39,00
84 WIM Dhar-Barua Saheli IND 2154 6,5 74,5 60,5 40,50
87 WIM Padmini Rout IND 2238 6,5 72,5 59,0 39,75
93 WCM Gagare Shalmali IND 2117 6,5 71,0 59,0 38,50
95 WFM Pon Nkrithika IND 2180 6,5 71,0 58,5 38,25
108 WFM Swati Mohota IND 2096 6,5 68,0 56,5 37,25
115 WIM Meera Sai IND 2155 6,5 67,0 55,5 36,75
119 WIM Priya P IND 2186 6,5 66,5 53,0 36,00
146 WIM Gokhale Anupama IND 2119 6,0 68,5 55,5 35,50
150 Preethi R IND 2154 6,0 67,0 53,5 31,25
154 WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty IND 2182 6,0 66,0 53,5 33,25

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Tie Break2: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Tie Break3: Sonneborn-Berger Tie-Break (with modified points, analogous to Buchholz Tie-Break)


Chess-Tournament-Results-Server © 2006-2009 Dipl. Ing. Heinz Herzog, masthead, Chess-Results CMS-Version 02.05.2009 14:15

My apologies to any chess femmes I may have omitted.

A Couple of My Squirrels

After a long day out (visiting Mother Newton, then shopping, shopping and more shopping for walking shoes for the soon to be here New York trip), dondelion and I settled down on the deck, in the sun and out of the brisk (very brisk) northeast wind blowing cold air off Lake Michigan, and enjoyed a pleasant hour as the sun slowly went down and I whistled for my squirrels to come eat. Here is a photo I took capturing two of them -- they are very shy of the camera!

2009 U.S. Chess Championship

After Round 3:

First - no surprise - there are no qualifiers left for going 9-0 in wins for the $64,000 Fischer prize. Whoever put up the money for this prize must have first consulted the most knowledgeable bookies in Vegas, baby :)

Second - IM Irina Krush (W) defeated the venerable GM Boris Gulko (B).

Third - IM Anna Zatonskih's game with GM Gregory Kaidanov has been postponed due to Zatonskih's illness.

Don't have the current standings yet - the official website has not been updated for Round 3 results. Here are the results by match, excluding Zatonskih/Kaidanov, to be played later:

1. GM Yury Shulman (2) 2697 ½-½ GM Gata Kamsky (2) 2798
2. GM Hikaru Nakamura (1½) 2757 1-0 IM Robert Hess (2) 2545
3. GM Alexander Onischuk (1½) 2736 ½-½ GM Jaan Ehlvest (1½) 2649
4. GM Joel Benjamin (1½) 2650 0-1 GM Joshua Friedel (1½) 2568
5. GM Julio Becerra (1) 2672 1-0 Tyler Hughes (1) 2293
6. GM Varuzhan Akobian (1) 2664 1-0 IM Ray Robson (1) 2542
7. IM Samuel Shankland (1) 2464 ½-½ GM Melikset Khachiyan (1) 2632
8. IM Michael Brooks (1) 2419 ½-½ IM Enrico Sevillano (1) 2549
9. GM Ildar Ibragimov (½) 2628 ½-½ GM Larry Christiansen (½) 2681
10. GM Gregory Kaidanov (½) 2662 PPD IM Anna Zatonskih (½) 2503
11. IM Irina Krush (½) 2496 1-0 GM Boris Gulko (0) 2631
12. Charles Lawton (0) 2350 0-1 GM Alexander Shabalov (0) 2620

Cretan Bird Goddess

From the March/April 2009 edition of Biblical Archaeology Review

Worldwide (p. 72)
Crete
With lavish painted ornamentation and a dramatic pose, this female figurine commands attention. The bird perched atop her head announces her divine status, as birds such as doves and pigeons were symbols of a goddess throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. Found at the center of a small communal shrine at Knossos, on the island of Crete, this 8.5-inch, clay figurine from the 14th century B.C. represents a Minoan goddess. According to scholar Giorgos Rethemiotakis, the goddess’s oversized arms and accentuated eyes “vividly bring to life the message and content of the prayer, the immediate visual and mental contact of the goddess with the praying faithful.”

Minoan religion centered around goddess worship; there also is evidence of a powerful female priesthood. Since the language of the Minoans has never been deciphered, mot of what we know of the civilization comes from Greek and other neighboring cultures.

"At Sixes and Sevens"

[Moses cartoon from BAR] Mr. Don pointed out these intriguing letters in Biblical Archaeology issues for January/February, 2009 and May/June, 2009 -- I have yet to read either magazine! He found both of them in my stack of reading material piled on the kitchen counter:

January/February 2009 (p. 68) Queries & Comments
AT SIXES AND SEVENS
I'm the mad linguist who wrote a caption to the hilarious cartoon showing Moses with the two tables numbered in roman numbers (see Strata, p. 22 of this issue for winning entries). It cracked me up. Here's Moses fresh from speaking with the Almighty in the form of the Burning Bush and jotting down the most important document for all humankind - and in stone, no less - but he's gone and put Roman numerals on his rocks, of all the silly things. of course the romans hadn't even been thought of yet, much less started writing numerals.

Let me explain why I was so keen on those numbers. I had just been doing research on number words around the Mediterranean in the Bronze Age. It seems rather astonishing that the words for "six" and "seven" are so similar, not only in Semitic languages (like Hebrew, Akkadian and Assyrian) but also in Indo-European languages (like Latin, Greek, Hittie and Luwian). This is especially strange because none of the other number words are anything alike. Even etruscan, which isn't related to anything else, seems to share those two words.

Just think about it: Six and seven in Hebrew are shisha and shiva; Akkadian, shishshu and sebe; Assyrian, shishshu and siba; Latin, sex and septum; Greek, hex and hepta; Sanskrit, shash and sapta. Even in Etruscan seven is semph, and six is either sa or huth (I vote for sa).

Very odd, isn't it? I think this is no coincidence. I think somebody borrowed from somebody. I believe it was because all those Sea Peoples, like the Phillistines, were wandering around at the end of the Bronze Age (c. 1200 B.C.).

Diana Gainer
Via e-mail

Ed: Does anyone out there have a better explanation?

May/June 2009 (p. 10-11) Queries & Comments
"AT SIXES AND SEVENS"

Egyptian Sixes and Sevens
In the January/February issue Diana Gainer finds that six and seven are represented by similar words in many languages (Q&C, "At Sixes and Sevens").

I also noticed this someyears ago. My primary field of interest is Egyptology. In ancient Egyptian, six is ses and seven is sefekh.

There are many other words that sound similar in many ancient languages, such as words for "Mother." It's mysterious, but that's how I like it.

Bonnie Long
Phoenix, Arizona

Hungarian Sixes and Sevens
Diana Gainer comments on the similarity of the names of the numberals six and seven in several languages, including English, Latin and Greek, among many others. I may add to this list my native Hungarian in which six is written hat and seven is written he't. This is probably a coincidence though, as Hungarian is not even an Indo-European language, but rather belongs to the Finno-Ugric group that includes Finnish and Estonian besides Hungarian. I don't speak either of the last two, but perhaps a reader who does could confirm (or deny) that in those also the six-seven similarity persists.

Andrew Lenard
Blomington, Indiana

Spanish Sixes and Sevens
Diana Gainer surmises that since there was such similarity in the numbers six and seven for such diverse peoples that there must have been an interaction at some point. I fully agree. One might add seis and siete, Spanish six and seven and the Italian and Portuguese equivalents to her list. This may be but one of quiete a number of similarites between civilizations that popped up all over the globe at roughly the same time several thousand years ago.

Dale Carter
Fellsmere, Florida

************************************************************************

dondelion and I discussed this earlier this morning. I'll let him speak for himself (if and when he gets around to posting here). In the meantime, I was curious about the origins of the phrase "at sixes and sevens," so I did a little quick research and found some interesting information:

From The Phrase Finder:
Meaning
A state of total confusion and disorder, or of disagreement between parties.
Origin
The derivation of this phrase is rather difficult to trace, not least because it has changed in both form and meaning over the nine centuries or so that it has been in use. The phrase was originally to set on six and seven and is thought to have derived in the 14th century from the game of dice. The meaning then was to carelessly risk one's entire fortune. The earliest citation in print is Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, 1374:

"Lat nat this wrechched wo thyn herte gnawe, But manly set the world on sexe and seuene."


The dice game from which the phrase "set on six and seven" is thought to have originated is hazard (an old dice game), which itself has an interesting derivation:

...hazard first came into the language to refer to the dice game (via the Old French hasard and the Spanish azar from the Arabic az-zahr “luck, chance”, based on an Arabic or Turkish word for dice), and only later took on the meaning of danger or risk, or as a verb, to venture something, because the dice game was so risky to bet on. The modern game called craps is a simplified form of hazard. (World Wide Words)

None of this, of course, answers the intriguing question as to why "six and seven" show similarities in so many languages belonging to entirely different language families!

Blast from the Past: Egyptian Hieroglyphics Translated 1,000 before Champollion

Hieroglyphics Cracked 1,000 Years Earlier Than Thought
ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2004) — Western scholars were not the first to decipher the ancient language of the pharaohs, according to a new book that will be published later this year by a UCL researcher.

Dr Okasha El Daly of UCL’s Institute of Archaeology will reveal that Arabic scholars not only took a keen interest in ancient Egypt but also correctly interpreted hieroglyphics in the ninth century AD – almost 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.

It has long been thought that Jean-Francois Champollion was the first person to crack hieroglyphics in 1822 using newly discovered Egyptian antiquities such as the Rosetta stone. But fresh analysis of manuscripts tucked away in long forgotten collections scattered across the globe prove that Arabic scholars got there first.

Dr Okasha El Daly, of UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, explains:
“For two and a half centuries the study of Egyptology has been dominated by a Euro-centric view, which has virtually ignored over a thousand years of Arabic scholarship and enquiry encouraged by Islam.

“Prior to Napoleonic times little was known in the West about the ancient civilisation of Egypt except what had been recorded in the Bible. It was assumed that the world of the pharaohs had long since been forgotten by Egyptians, who were thought to have been incorporated into the expanding Islamic world by the seventh century.

“But this overhasty conclusion ignores the vast contribution of medieval Arabic scholars and others between the seventh and 16th centuries. In reality a huge corpus of medieval writing by both scholars and ordinary people exists that dates from long before the earliest European Renaissance. Analysis reveals that not only did Moslems have a deep interest in the study of Ancient Egypt, they could also correctly decipher hieroglyphic script.”

Following the Roman invasion of Egypt in 30 BC the use of hieroglyphics began to die out with the last known writing in the fifth century AD.

While Western medieval commentators believed that hieroglyphics were symbols each representing a single concept Dr El Daly has shown that Arab scholars grasped the fundamental principle that hieroglyphics could represent sounds as well as ideas.

Using his unique expertise in both Egyptology and medieval Arabic writers, Dr El Daly began a seven year investigation of Arabic writing on ancient Egypt.

“The manuscripts were scattered worldwide in private as well as public collections and were mostly not catalogued. Even when they were, they were often wrongly classified so I had to go through each one individually - it is not like researching in modern books with an index which you can check for relevant information,” says Dr El Daly.

“A specialist in only Arabic or Islamic studies reading these manuscripts would fail to grasp their significance to Egyptology. Conversely Egyptologists think that Arabs and Moslems had nothing useful to say about ancient Egypt, so there wasn’t any need to look at manuscripts that were mainly the domain of scholars within the disciplines of Arabic/Oriental studies.”

The breakthrough in Dr El Daly’s research came from analysis of the work of Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Wahshiyah, a ninth century alchemist. Ibn Wahshiyah’s work on ancient writing systems showed that he was able to correctly decipher many hieroglyphic signs. Being an alchemist not a linguist, his primary interest was to identify the phonetic value and meaning of hieroglyphic signs with the aim of accessing the ancient Egyptian scientific knowledge inscribed in hieroglyphs.

“By comparing Ibn Wahshiyah’s conclusions with those in current books on Egyptian Language, I was able to assess his accuracy in understanding hieroglyphic signs,” says Dr El Daly.

“In particular I looked at the Egyptian Grammar of Sir Alan Gardiner which has a sign list at the end, it revealed that Ibn Wahshiyah understood perfectly well the nature of Egyptian hieroglyphs.”

Dr El Daly added: “Western culture misinterprets Islam because we think teaching before the Quran is shunned, which isn’t the case. They valued history and assumed that Egypt was a land of science and wisdom and as such they wanted to learn their language to have access to such vast knowledge.

“Critically they did not, unlike the West, write history to fit with the religious ideas of the time, which makes their accounts more reliable. They were also keen on the universality of human history based on the unity of the origin of human beings and the diversity of their appearance and languages. Furthermore, there are likely to be many hidden manuscripts dotted round the world that could make a significant contribution to our understanding of the ancient world.

Dr Okasha El Daly is based in UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, one of the world’s largest collections of artefacts covering thousands of years of ancient Egyptian prehistory and history. On Wednesday 6 October UCL launches the biggest university fundraising campaign, Advancing London’s Global University - the Campaign for UCL, which will seek to raise £300 million over the coming decade, including £25 million to build a purpose built museum, the Panopticon, that will house UCL’s collections of Egyptology, art and rare books in an environment that preserves them for all to see.

The Panopticon, which means ‘all-visible’ in Greek, will be unlike any other museum in the UK because the entire collection will be on display and publicly accessible. Other highlights will include works by Durer, Rembrandt, Turner and Constable; an unrivalled collection of John Flaxman’s drawings and sculpture; the first edition of Milton’s Paradise Lost and the George Orwell archives.

Adapted from materials provided by University College London.

World's Oldest Manufactured Beads Older Than Thought

World’s Oldest Manufactured Beads Are Older Than Previously Thought
(Image: Dating from 82 000 years ago, these beads are thought to be the oldest in the world. (Credit: Copyright Marian Vanhaeren & Francesco d'Errico / CNRS 2007)

ScienceDaily (May 7, 2009) — A team of archaeologists has uncovered some of the world’s earliest shell ornaments in a limestone cave in Eastern Morocco. The researchers have found 47 examples of Nassarius marine shells, most of them perforated and including examples covered in red ochre, at the Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt.

The fingernail-size shells, already known from 82,000-year-old Aterian deposits in the cave, have now been found in even earlier layers. While the team is still awaiting exact dates for these layers, they believe this discovery makes them arguably the earliest shell ornaments in prehistory.

The shells are currently at the centre of a debate concerning the origins of modern behaviour in early humans. Many archaeologists regard the shell bead ornaments as proof that anatomically modern humans had developed a sophisticated symbolic material culture. Up until now, Blombos cave in South Africa has been leading the ‘bead race’ with 41 Nassarius shell beads that can confidently be dated to 72,000 years ago.

Aside from this latest discovery unearthing an even greater number of beads, the research team says the most striking aspect of the Taforalt discoveries is that identical shell types should appear in two such geographically distant regions. As well as Blombos, there are now at least four other Aterian sites in Morocco with Nassarius shell beads. The newest evidence, in a paper by the authors to be published in the next few weeks in the Journal of Quaternary Science Reviews, shows that the Aterian in Morocco dates back to at least 110,000 years ago.

Research team leader, Professor Nick Barton, from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, said: ‘These new finds are exciting because they show that bead manufacturing probably arose independently in different cultures and confirms a long suspected pattern that humans with modern symbolic behaviour were present from a very early stage at both ends of the continent, probably as early as 110,000 years ago.’

Also leading the research team Dr Abdeljalil Bouzouggar, from the Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine in Morocco, said: ‘The archaeological and chronological contexts of the Taforalt discoveries suggest a much longer tradition of bead-making than previously suspected, making them perhaps the earliest such ornaments in the world.’

Rest of article.

Earlier related:

Discovery Of The Oldest Adornments In The World
ScienceDaily (June 18, 2007)

Earliest Known 'Bling' Revealed
ScienceDaily (June 24, 2006)

2009 U.S. Chess Championship

How'd the chess femmes (Krush and Zatonskih) do?

14. IM Krush, Irina (20).......... NY 2496 D11 A12 0.5
22. IM Zatonskih, Anna (19)....... NY 2503 L5 A18 0.0

Round 1 pairings:
7. IM Anna Zatonskih (0) 2503 0-1 GM Varuzhan Akobian (0) 2664
8. GM Gregory Kaidanov (0) 2662 ½-½ IM Irina Krush (0) 2496

Round 2 pairings:
7. GM Joel Benjamin (½) 2650 - IM Irina Krush (½) 2496
10. IM Anna Zatonskih (0) 2503 - GM Ildar Ibragimov (0) 2628

Blast from the Past: New World Ancient Writing

I found a newspaper clipping from 2006 with this article when I was cleaning off the top of my microwave that died Tuesday night (the new one was delivered yesterday morning). These images provided by the journal Science show the Cascajal block from Veracruz, Mexico, and a drawing of the block at right. The stone block inscribed with patterned images is believed to be the oldest example of writing in the New World.

dondelion tracked down the article for me earlier today - it's still online (amazing!)

Stone reveals ancient writing system
2,900-year-old text represents oldest known New World inscription
By Andrew Bridges
updated 1:12 p.m. CT, Thurs., Sept . 14, 2006

WASHINGTON - It’s more than idle doodling, and the meaning is unclear. But there’s one thing researchers are sure of: The insect, ear of corn, inverted fish and other symbols inscribed on an ancient stone slab is the earliest known writing in the Western Hemisphere.

The arrangement and pattern of the symbols suggest the ancient Olmec civilization was using written language roughly three centuries earlier than previously proposed.

“We are dealing with the first, clear evidence of writing in the New World,” said Stephen Houston, a Brown University anthropologist. Houston and his U.S. and Mexican colleagues detail the tablet’s discovery and analysis in a study appearing this week in the journal Science.

The patterns covering the face of the rectangular block also represent a previously unknown ancient writing system — a rare find in archaeology.

The text covers the block’s face, which is almost exactly the dimensions of a standard legal pad. However, at 5 inches (12 centimeters) thick and tipping the scales at 26 pounds (12 kilograms), the tablet is decidedly more hefty.

The face is smooth and slightly concave, which suggests it may have been worn down in antiquity as it was inscribed and erased multiple times, Houston said.

Discovered years ago
Villagers in the Mexican state of Veracruz discovered the tablet sometime before 1999, while quarrying an ancient Olmec mound for road-building material. News of the discovery slowly trickled out, and the study’s authors traveled to the site earlier this year to examine and photograph the block.

Based on other materials, including pottery sherds, believed found with the slab, team concluded it is roughly 2,900 years old. Isolated signs similar to those inscribed on the block also appear on even older figurines found elsewhere in Mexico.

In 2002, other experts claimed an Olmec cylindrical seal and chips from a stone plaque contained the oldest examples of writing in the Americas. Some have disputed their interpretation of those symbols, which date to roughly 650 B.C.

“This is centuries before anything we’ve had. People have debated whether the Olmecs had any writing. This clears it up. This nails it for me,” David Stuart, a University of Texas at Austin expert in Mesoamerican writing, said of the new find. Stuart was not connected with the discovery, but reviewed the study for Science.

Was it a dead-end script?
The block contains 28 distinct glyphs or symbols, some of which are repeated three and four times. The writing system doesn’t appear to be linked to any known later scripts, and may represent a dead end, according to the study.

Other experts unconnected to the study agreed with Houston and his colleagues that the horizontally arranged inscription shows patterns that are the hallmarks of true writing, including syntax and language-specific word order.

“That’s full-blown, legitimate text — written symbols taking the place of spoken words,” said William Saturno, a University of New Hampshire anthropologist and expert in Mesoamerican writing.

The Olmecs flourished between about 1200 B.C. and 400 B.C., before other great Central American civilizations like the Maya and Aztec. They are best known for the massive heads they carved from stone. The village where the block was found is close to a site called San Lorenzo, believed to be the center of the Olmec world.

“To me, this find really does bring us back to this idea that at least writing and a lot of the things we associate with Mesoamerican culture really did have their origin in this region,” Stuart said.

The small size of the block and the faintness of the inscription imply the text wasn’t a public document, but instead was meant for intimate reading, Houston said. Some suggested it may have had a ritual use.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Scorpion Goddess

For Carlos:

The scorpion appears in ancient Egyptian iconography (as the Goddess Serkert, for instance), and in the carved game boards discovered in Jiroft, Iran in 2001, and here in Mayan iconography.

dondelion says the symbolism is universal. Mother Scorpion, who dwells at the end of the Milky Way and is many breasted, reminds me of the ancient Ephesian Artemis who was many-breasted. Rhea was said to have pressed her breast and her milk formed the stars of the Milky Way.

Mayor's Cup - Mumbai

A 415 player event. Round 9 is in the books - how's GM Koneru Humpy doing?

She's doing great! Currently in second place. Humpy was in 5th place with 6.5 after Round 8. A Round 9 victory over IM Suvrajit Saha (2380), a game she should have won, and did, moved her up in the standings as the remaining five of the top six boards all drew their games. Things are really tight at the top - here are the leaders, all within a point of each other:

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 GM Areshchenko Alexander UKR 2657 8,0 57,5 45,5 50,00
2 GM Koneru Humpy IND 2612 7,5 58,0 45,0 47,25
3 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J IND 2482 7,5 56,5 44,5 44,75
4 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij UKR 2680 7,5 56,5 44,0 45,75
5 GM Panchanathan Magesh Chandran IND 2462 7,5 51,0 42,0 42,00
6 GM Deviatkin Andrei RUS 2566 7,0 56,0 44,5 41,75
7 GM Timoshenko Georgy UKR 2550 7,0 55,5 44,0 41,50
8 GM Belov Vladimir RUS 2623 7,0 54,0 42,0 41,50
9 GM Iuldachev Saidali UZB 2497 7,0 52,0 41,0 38,75
10 Thakur Akash IND 2308 7,0 51,5 41,0 38,00
11 IM Himanshu Sharma IND 2403 7,0 51,5 40,5 38,25
12 GM Safin Shukhrat UZB 2485 7,0 51,0 39,5 38,25
13 GM Zinchenko Yaroslav UKR 2531 7,0 51,0 39,5 37,75
14 IM Saptarshi Roy IND 2396 7,0 50,5 39,0 37,75
15 GM Kostenko Petr KAZ 2490 7,0 50,0 40,0 37,00
16 IM Prakash G B IND 2404 7,0 49,5 39,0 38,00
17 IM Kamble Vikramaditya IND 2351 7,0 48,5 37,0 36,50

Humpy will have her work cut out for her in Round 10, when she plays the black pieces against the No. 1 seed in the tournament and currently in 4th place: GM Evgenij Miroshnischenko (UKR 2680).

Good luck Humpy!

Here are the current standings of some of the other chess femmes playing. I did not have time to check all of the names on the FIDE ratings list to confirm the player's sex (I am sorry, I cannot usually tell by the names alone) and I stopped after I got to player 154!

40 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2307 6,5 46,5 36,0 32,75
50 WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman IND 2303 6,0 50,5 39,5 31,50
62 WIM Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe IND 2177 6,0 47,5 37,5 28,75
63 WGM Ramaswamy Aarthie IND 2191 6,0 47,0 36,0 28,00
65 WFM Swati Mohota IND 2096 6,0 46,5 36,0 28,75
80 WIM Dhar-Barua Saheli IND 2154 5,5 52,0 40,0 29,25
83 IM Harika Dronavalli IND 2474 5,5 50,5 39,0 30,25
87 WCM Gagare Shalmali IND 2117 5,5 49,0 39,0 26,75
119 WIM Priya P IND 2186 5,5 41,5 31,5 22,00
128 WIM Padmini Rout IND 2238 5,0 48,5 38,5 23,50
130 WIM Meera Sai IND 2155 5,0 48,0 38,5 23,75
135 WIM Gokhale Anupama IND 2119 5,0 46,5 36,0 23,75
143 Preethi R IND 2154 5,0 45,5 34,5 20,25
153 WIM Kiran Manisha Mohanty IND 2182 5,0 43,0 32,5 21,75

Very unusual to see IM Harika Dronavalli off the pace of the top chess femmes. I hope nothing is wrong.

Tletl, and Mathematics and the Number of the Goddess and - OH MY

Hmmm, on top of everything else that has happened today, some new men have appeared in my life.

I am harried and have too much to do in a short period of time. dondelion (Mr. Don) will be arriving in two days. I have SO much to do, including getting my hands on a new microwave so I can actually cook something other than in the oven or stove-top on my old faithful stove (thank Goddess THAT still works but - come to think of it, the stove is as old as the microwave was. It too could die at any time. EEK!)

So these new men have appeared, some sending me emails with mathematical formulae, one posting here under a topic I posted months ago. What is a chess femme to do?

Well, I will do my best, that is what I will do. But tonight I need to do online shopping for an emergency delivery microwave.

And so, Carlos, I am going to add your website to my list of websites to be visited, because I believe you certainly have the magic of the Goddess. I do not know what to make of you, Carlos. You are rather overwhelming.

To HHH and friends who have been sending me emails with esoteric formulae of numerological and gematric significance - I will post some of your information here in due course.

You have caught me at a really bad time! So please, be patient. (Not that I will have much to add to the discussions you seem to be intent on generating, since I do not understand most of what you are saying!)

My vacation starts on May 7th when Mr. Don arrives, and I won't REALLY be back "here" until May 26th. It is true I now have my new Acer netbook toy, but my intention is to use that primarily to post photographs and notes from our New York trip. My time with Mr. Don comes first and foremost. And when I go back to work on May 26th, my office is going to be pure CHAOS! That may take some time to get things back under control.

Carlos, you are being provocative. Cut bones - Yes. As you are no doubt well aware, the earliest gaming pieces were made out of animal bones - knuckle bones were the fore-runners of modern dice. During the long cold winters in caves during the Ice Age, people spent their time carving exquisite ivory figurines of women, birds, animals, and goddesses who were bird-women.

Ivory - Yes. The oldest ivory game pieces of which I am aware were carved by ancient Egyptians, in about 3500 BCE. They predate Narmer.

Chess going all the way back to the Ice Age? Even I have not dared go ack in time that far! I have said chess is as old as Noah and the Ark, and the place we should be looking for it's origins is in the mountains of Ararat. In the Caucasus Mountains, near Lake Van.

Now I really have to shop online for a new microwave. It MUST be delivered Thursday morning.

Tonight Out in the Garden

Hola darlings!

Tonight when I got home from the office it was really nice out. The sun was starting to set and my deck faces west, so I get that last blast of sun and warmth this time of year, which is really welcome after the horrid winter and cold cold spring we've had!

So I unload my stuff - more about that later on - and pour myself a really BIG glass of cheap wine, grab a hand-full of in-the-shell-almonds for the squirrels, and head to the deck. I settle in and start reading the last quarter of an Amanda Quick novel. I just LOVE Amanda Quick.

I toss out the almonds, whistle for my squirrels, who came running, and I settle down to read the rest of the novel.

About 10 minutes later, I notice the Crazy Squirrel at the end of the yard. I don't even know if I can begin to describe Crazy Squirrel. I don't know if it is a he or a she. This is the second year that Crazy Squirrel has lived in or close to my yard. He or she is just - crazy. At first I thought Crazy Squirrel had the same disease that Mr. Tipsy Squirrel had. Sadly, since the last time I wrote about Mr. Tipsy Squirrel, I have not seen him, so I think he has died. But the last time I saw him, he was stuffing himself full of almonds and lots of other in-the-shell mixed nuts and he was happy. I could tell.

Back to Crazy Squirrel. Crazy Squirrel hops and jerks and jumps and runs; Crazy Squirrel startles at nothing to cause alarm in the other squirrels, and runs a hundred miles a hour straight up a tree trunk, and then turns sommersaults like a Pong Ball in the upper limbs until he finally climbs back down and disappears to - I don't know where.

Tonight Crazy Squirrel was bouncing around the yard as usual, and suddenly makes a bee-line for my 18-year old daffodil bunch. Actually, it started out as a house-warming gift 19 years ago from my sister-in-law Heidi. One day in fall, after I'd been here a couple of months (moved here in August, 1990, when construction was completed), Heidi came over to help me paint my upstairs bathroom (the same one I am now attempting, unsuccessfully thus far, to re-paint), and when we took a break she dashed out to her car and then dashed out the "grove" of then really small trees at the bottom of my backyard, and said she had a surprise for me. That day, Heidi planted at least 50 bulbs in that wasteland area that then constituted the grove. The next spring, only five things came up: a single daffodil, two tulips, and two grape hyacinth. The bunnies promptly attacked the tulips and hyacinth. They stopped appearing more than 10 years ago. But every spring since 1991, my first spring here, the daffodils have appeared without fail, each year the clump getting a little bit thicker.

Seeing Crazy Squirrel ATTACK my clump of daffodils was totally shocking! He did it for at least five minutes. Flinging himself over and over into the midst of the clump and rubbing down into it! Running around and around underneath the outer-most edge of the greenery, and then casting himself once again into the middle of the clump. On his back, like a doggy rubs his back in the spring-time grass, that is what Crazy Squirrel was doing in my clump of daffodils!

When he finished, my poor clump of daffodils was pretty much flattened to the ground. DAMN!

But I didn't have the heart to get up and yell, stomping toward Crazy Squirrel, to chase him away. I mean, after all, he IS crazy! So, I drank my wine and finished the novel.

When I had finished the novel, I came inside and uncovered my latest purchase and newest toy. A total extravagance that I should not have bought, but I bought it anyway. Well, darlings, it was on sale :)

I've got myself one of those tiny netbooks to take to New York! The one I settled on is an Acer and I have totally fallen in love with it. It looks like the daughter of my much larger Toshiba laptop color-wise, a gold sparkle-filled blue (no idea what the color is called). After I unwrapped it I tried the keyboard out - it's small. Really small - the screen is only 8.9 inches wide! But I managed to type "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country" relatively rapidly and didn't make too many errors.

I'm so happy.

And I'm so bummed. I put a microwave dinner into my faithful old Carousel II that I purchased in 1986 and set it for the requisite number of minutes. When I went downstairs a few minutes ago to retrieve my supper from the microwave, I discovered, much to my horror, that it has died. Totally deadsville. I tried it in a number of different electrical outlets, just in case I blew a circuit breaker (although all of the lights are working just fine in the kitchen). Nothing. Well, it survived nearly 23 years. It would have been 23 in August, 2009.

Alas, poor Carousel II, I knew thee well. Tomorrow morning I will reverently carry you out to the curbside and lay thee gently down, where I hope you will be retrieved by an enterprising junkman. You died just in time to miss this morning's garbage pick-up, so you must be destined for greater things than the City Dump.

Now I have to buy a new microwave. In a BIG hurry! Mr. Don will be here in less than 2 days, expecting to be fed! EEK!

Southwest Chess Club: Warm-Up Blend-O-Matic

Wooo wooo! My adopted chess club, Southwest Chess Club, is holding a tournament this Thursday night. Be there - be 64 square! (Okay, maybe that's lame. Be there just to show me that despite my being lame, you won't hold it against me). Here's the information:

Hello Chess Players,

This Thursday, May 7, 2009 we are holding a Blitz Tournament. That means a time control of Game in 5 minutes. The event is the Warm-Up Blend-O-Matic. Sign up by 6:50 PM on Thursday night, so we can start promptly at 7 PM. This will be a round robin tournament with one or more sections, depending on entries. Cash prizes awarded based on entries. These games will not affect your regular USCF rating. They will only impact your Quick Rating. Robin Grochowski will be the Chief Tournament Director and I will be the Assistant Tournament Director. Details follow below.

Tom Fogec
414-425-6742


Warm-Up Blend-O-Matic: May 7
10-Round (Round-Robin) in One or more Sections (depending on
number of players). Game/5 minutes. USCF Quick-Rated. EF: $5
members, $7 others. TD is Grochowski; ATD is Fogec.

Whoa! Was Seth Right After All?

Those of you who have read Jane Roberts know who "Seth" is - and Seth's mantra - WE MAKE OUR OWN REALITY. Basically, by what we think. Yes, that sounds rather trite these days, doesn't it. But I first read it some 20 years ago (maybe even longer) in a book I think was called "The Nature of Personal Reality," and it's stuck with me ever since.

Here is some evidence that suggests Jane Roberts and Seth are correct.

From Newsweek.online
MIND MATTERS
Wray Herbert
Just Say No to Aging?
A provocative new book from a Harvard psychologist suggests that changing how we think about our age and health can have dramatic physical benefits.
Apr 14, 2009 Updated: 10:28 a.m. ET Apr 14, 2009

Imagine that you could rewind the clock 20 years. It's 1989. Madonna is topping the pop charts, and TV sets are tuned to "Cheers" and "Murphy Brown." Widespread Internet use is just a pipe dream, and Sugar Ray Leonard and Joe Montana are on recent covers of Sports Illustrated.

But most important, you're 20 years younger. How do you feel? Well, if you're at all like the subjects in a provocative experiment by Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer, you actually feel as if your body clock has been turned back two decades. Langer did a study like this with a group of elderly men some years ago, retrofitting an isolated old New England hotel so that every visible sign said it was 20 years earlier. The men—in their late 70s and early 80s—were told not to reminisce about the past, but to actually act as if they had traveled back in time. The idea was to see if changing the men's mindset about their own age might lead to actual changes in health and fitness.

Langer's findings were stunning: After just one week, the men in the experimental group (compared with controls of the same age) had more joint flexibility, increased dexterity and less arthritis in their hands. Their mental acuity had risen measurably, and they had improved gait and posture. Outsiders who were shown the men's photographs judged them to be significantly younger than the controls. In other words, the aging process had in some measure been reversed.

Rest of article.

Herbert writes the blog We're Only Human at www.psychologicalscience.org/onlyhuman.

**********************************************************************

Wray's "review" of Counterclockwise by Ellen Langer does not give ISBN, publisher or cost! Interesting.

So, here it is:
Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility
Written by Ellen J. Langer

Category: Psychology & Psychiatry - Applied Psychology; Health & Fitness
Format: eBook, 224 pages
On Sale: May 19, 2009
Price: $25.00
ISBN: 978-0-345-51480-6 (0-345-51480-7)
Also available as a hardcover.

Zahi Hawass Strikes Again!

But this time, it's a great marketing idea for archaeology :)

Now darlings, bear with me, because I have no idea how to embed the code needed to post a You Tube video here (much to my dismay), so I'm just going to give you the url link (I hope). I have to say, it's a good one, and I'm no fan of Zahi Hawass.

Found this at The Daily Grail:

Restoring the Step Pyramid
May 4, 2009

Here's a new video on the restoration of the Step Pyramid of Djoser (and uncovering of his massive granite sarcophagus), featuring - of course - Dr Zahi Hawass. Djoser's pyramid is one of the earliest examples of monumental work on a truly massive scale, predating the Giza pyramids by a couple of centuries.

Bahrain Scholastic Chess News

From the Gulf Daily News (Bahrain) online:

Wafa'a and Mansoor claim chess crowns
Posted on » Monday, May 04, 2009

WAFA'A Fakhro of Al Noor International School claimed the secondary girls title while Mansoor Bukhalaf of Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa School came on top in the secondary boys section in the first Chess Championship at the Talented Students Care Centre Gym.

Seventy-four students, representing 36 government and private schools of all grades, took part in the day-long tournament which was organised for the first time by the Education Ministry.

Sanabis School students Sara Al Afoo and her younger sister Zaynab, daughters of international chess arbiter Shaker Al Afoo, came on top in the intermediate and primary girls categories respectively.

In the boys sections, Khalil Bukhalaf won the boys intermediate competition while Ahmed Essam Al Qazzaz of Busaiteen School claimed first place in the primary section contest.

The prize-distribution ceremony was attended by Education Minister Dr Majid bin Ali Al Nuaimi who honoured the winners in each category.

2009 U.S. Chess Championships

It's coming up fast - Round 1 is on Friday May 8. Tickets are free to members of the Chess and Scholastic Center of St. Louis; tickets cost $12 to non-members, with reduced price for full-time students. Information page.

My interest in this event is primarily because of the two chess femmes playing: IM Irina Krush and IM Anna Zatonskih, current U.S. Women's chess champion. People may recall the hoo-haa last year during the Armageddon play-off between Krush and Zatonskih that resulted in Zatonskih's winning the U.S. Women's title. I believe a lot of people are hoping to see a lot of drama, maybe even a cat fight between the two women. I'd be very surprised if that turns out to be the case, but I expect at least some members of the U.S.C.F. Executive Board are rubbing their hands in glee over what they anticipate will be a banner event for the first time since America's Foundation for Chess dropped its lucrative sponsorship of the open and women's championships in 2006. Viewership online is bound to be up. Me, I'm interested because other than GM Susan Polgar, who is inactive and therefore not on the list, these two women are the highest rated female players in the United States, excluding GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who plays for the Russian Federation but now, I believe, resides in Florida.

Marilyn French Has Died

Just saw this at The New York Times:

Marilyn French, Novelist and Champion of Feminism, Dies at 79
By A. G. SULZBERGER and HERBERT MITGANG
Published: May 3, 2009
Marilyn French, a writer and feminist activist whose debut novel, “The Women’s Room,” propelled her into a leading role in the modern feminist movement, died on Saturday in Manhattan. She was 79 and lived in Manhattan.

The cause was heart failure, said her son, Robert.

With steely views about the treatment of woman and a gift for expressing them on the printed page, Ms. French transformed herself from an academic who quietly bristled at the expectations of married women in the post-World War II era to a leading, if controversial, opinionmaker on gender issues who decried the patriarchal society she saw around her. “My goal in life is to change the entire social and economic structure of Western civilization, to make it a feminist world,” she once declared.

Her first and best-known novel, “The Women’s Room,” released in 1977, traces a submissive housewife’s journey of self-discovery following her divorce in the 1950s, describing the lives of Mira Ward and her friends in graduate school at Harvard as they grow into independent women. The book was partly informed by her own experience of leaving an unhappy marriage and helping her daughter deal with the aftermath of being raped. Women all over the world seized on the book, which sold more than 20 million copies and was translated into 20 languages.

Gloria Steinem, a close friend, compared the impact of the book on the discussion surrounding women’s rights to the one that Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” had had on racial equality 25 years earlier.

“It was about the lives of women who were supposed to live the lives of their husbands, supposed to marry an identity rather than become one themselves, to live secondary lives,” Ms. Steinem said in an interview Sunday. “It expressed the experience of a huge number of women and let them know that they were not alone and not crazy.”

Ms. French continued publishing novels as well as books of essays and literary criticism with the common theme of male subjugation of women, whether the arena was Shakespeare or modern history. “Men’s need to dominate women may be based in their own sense of marginality or emptiness; we do not know its root, and men are making no effort to discover it,” she wrote in “The War Against Women” (1992).

Critics accused her work of being anti-male, frequently citing a female character in “The Women’s Room” who declares, after her daughter has been raped: “All men are rapists, and that’s all they are. They rape us with their eyes, their laws, and their codes.”

In 1992 Ms. French, a longtime smoker, was given a diagnosis of esophageal cancer and told she had just months to live. She chronicled her winning battle against the disease, which included a 10-day coma, in “Season in Hell: A Memoir” (1998).

“I cannot say I am happy I was sick,” she wrote. “But I am happy that sickness, if it had to happen, brought me to where I am now. It is a better place than I have been before.”

Nevertheless, the disease and its treatment took such a sharp physical toll that, friends said, for a while afterward she questioned whether she should have survived. “She was in pain for 15 years but she was extremely brave,” said Carol Jenkins, a friend who runs the Women’s Media Center, an advocacy group in New York. “She fought through it, she wrote through it and carried on her life. The printed word was a source of life for her.”

In the years since her supposed death sentence, Ms. French continued to publish prolifically; she has a novel scheduled for release this fall and was working on a memoir at the time of her death. Her most significant work since her illness was the four-volume “From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women,” published by Feminist Press and built around the premise that prevailing histories had denied women their past, present and future.

Despite carefully chronicling a long history of oppression, the last volume ends on an optimistic note, said Florence Howe, who recently retired as director of the publishing house. “For the first time women have history,” she said of Ms. French’s work. “The world changed and she helped change it.”

In recent years Ms. French struggled to get published, partly because of the gains in women’s rights she had helped bring about. “It was a source of embitterment to her and outrage to me,” said Robin Morgan, a writer, feminist activist and close friend.

Marilyn French was born on Nov. 21, 1929, in Brooklyn, the daughter of E. Charles Edwards, an engineer, and Isabel Hazz Edwards, a department-store clerk. She studied philosophy and English literature at Hofstra College in Hempstead, on Long Island, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1951 and a master’s in 1964. She was an English instructor at Hofstra from 1964 to 1968, then earned a doctorate from Harvard. She was an assistant professor of English at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., from 1972 to 1976.

She married Robert M. French Jr., a lawyer, in 1950. They divorced in 1967.

Ms. French is survived by her son, Robert, of East Brunswick, N.J., and a daughter, Jamie French, of Cambridge, Mass.

While Ms. French was pleased by significant gains made by women in the three decades since her landmark novel, she was also just as quick to point out lingering deficiencies in gender equality, friends recalled.

“She had,” Ms. Steinem said, “higher standards and higher hopes.”

Added to the Recommended Reading List

"The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype," by Erich Neumann (translated by Ralph Manheim) [Note: this is a soft-cover edition, ISBN 0-691-01780-8) and contains a separate section entirely devoted to photographs, 185 pages long, in addition to the illustrations and photographs integrated into the text. This is a great resource.]

"The Language of the Goddess," with foreword by Joseph Campbell, by Marija Gimbutas [Note: packed with illustrations and photographs on nearly every page.]

"Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times," by Elizabeth Wayland Barber -- I haven't got my hands on this one yet, I'm buying it from Alibris.com today :) Wayland Barber wrote the fabulous book "The Mummies of Urumchi," also on the Recommended Reading List.

The War Against Women

How well I remember reading Marilyn French's novel The Women's Room. It had an enormous impact on my life in ways I'm still measuring, more than 30 years later. The one phrase in the book that has stayed with me all these years is "shit and string beans." Any woman who has read The Women's Room will know exactly what that means - and why it resonated then and continues to resonate today.

Today girls are told that if they get the same education as men, they will earn the same money as men; that they are as good as men; that they can do anything a man can do, barring certain physical limitations. The fact remains that even with an identical four-year college degree, a woman earns 89 cents to a man's dollar. That's better than when I started college in 1975, when it was 74 cents to a dollar. But it's not equal. Why not?

Ah, that's the rub.

So - now I've got yet more to pile on to my list of books to read, for today I discovered that Marilyn French has written a series on the history (perhaps I should use herstory) of women. They sound absolutely fascinating. Here's the book review I came across at The New York Review of Books.

Volume 56, Number 7 · April 30, 2009
The War Against Women
By Hilary Mantel
From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women, Volume I: Origins
by Marilyn French, with a foreword by Margaret Atwood
Feminist Press, 352 pp., $19.95 (paper)

From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women, Volume II: The Masculine Mystique
by Marilyn French, with a foreword by Margaret Atwood
Feminist Press, 477 pp., $19.95 (paper)

From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women, Volume III: Infernos and Paradises, the Triumph of Capitalism in the 19th Century
by Marilyn French, with a foreword by Margaret Atwood
Feminist Press, 385 pp., $19.95 (paper)

From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women, Volume IV: Revolutions and the Struggles for Justice in the 20th Century
by Marilyn French, with a foreword by Margaret Atwood
Feminist Press, 608 pp., $19.95 (paper)

Who Should Own the Rosetta Stone?

A case is made for keeping looted artifacts in the museums where they are:

A museum director fights back
The best place for 'looted' artifacts? Right where they are
Robert Fulford, National Post
April 18,
2009

Ideology, politics and bone-headed provincialism come together comfortably when they make war on the world's great museums.

The issue is cultural property. Countries believing that colonialists stole their spiritual heritage are uniting in a send-back-our-stuff campaign. They envision populations and art objects moving in opposite directions: While citizens try to emigrate to Europe and North America for better lives, art objects should travel the other way, delivering national identity and self-esteem through ancient artifacts.

Greece yearns for the return of the Elgin Marbles, owned by the British Museum since they were taken from the Parthenon in 1803. Peru wants Yale University to return thousands of Inca artifacts discovered by the Yale historian who uncovered the lost mountainside town of Machu Picchu in 1911.

Turkey, China, Cambodia, Guatemala -- they all pine, if you believe their political leaders, for fragments of their distant past that are held abroad and must be brought "home" where they "belong."

And then there's Egypt. The government has its eye on the Rosetta Stone, a fragment of rock that opened up ancient Egyptian culture. It was carved for a temple in 196 BC but later abandoned and used as building material. French soldiers accidentally discovered it in 1799 while rebuilding a fort in the city of Rosetta during Napoleon's brief reign over Egypt. When the British moved in, they shipped it to the Brit-ish Museum.

The text inscribed on the stone, itself a document of craven colonialism, announces an agreement between Egyptian priests and Ptolemy V, the Macedonian ruler of Egypt, praising the generosity of Ptolemy and promising to demonstrate loyalty by erecting statues of him in the holiest places.

It's utterly boring but it's trilingually boring, in ancient Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic (the everyday language of contracts). In 1822 a French Egyptologist cracked the hieroglyphics code and thereby learned to translate ancient Egyptian.

Who now deserves to own such a wondrous object? The state of Macedonia, or maybe the Macedonian part of Greece? Unfortunately, populations have shifted so much in two millennia that neither can demonstrate historical continuity with 196 BC. Nor can Egypt. No one pretends that 2009 Egyptians are the same people who pledged fealty to that alien king. Modern France has a case, for guessing the text's importance in 1799 and decoding it just 23 years later. But on fifth thought, perhaps the Rosetta Stone should remain in the British Museum, where it's been well treated for two centuries.

That's more or less the argument behind Whose Culture? The Promise of Museums and the Debate Over Antiquities (Princeton University Press), by James Cuno, director of the Art Institute of Chicago, and nine fellow professionals. Cuno, the author of another book on the same subject last year, has emerged as the champion of museums who want to keep their holdings -- and not a moment too soon.

Rest of article.

Numbers Magic

Within a couple days of each other I received email with information on the number sequence 4-3-2 (the number of the Goddess) and 3-4-5, used by the ancient Egyptians to create true right angles when staking out foundations for buildings, and sometimes this sequence was reflected in tomb paintings and carvings. (Image from Budge, Ch. IV, The Book of the Dead).

Here is the information on 4-3-2 provided by RHHannaHH (in two separate emails):

4 x 3 x 2 = 24
24 x 6 x 6 = 864 Circle of Time (432 x 2 )
360 degrees x 60 min x 60 sec = 1296 Circle of Space
432 x 3
432 x 6 - Equinoctial progression (2592)
432 / 4 - 108 /Pi =343774677 WMS CI

360 / 2 Pi = 5729578 R
R / 3/5 = 343774677

(Second email):

.432 / 11111111 ( square ONE) = 3888 / 36 - 108 / Pi = 3/5 R (WMSCI)

[I have no idea what WMSCI stands for]

(Image: Offering table from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutmosis III, "The Quest for Immortality" exhibit. The top, left side, shows 4x3 circular shallow carved depressions; the center shows a 3x3 enclosed square of depressions; the right shows 5x3 depressions).

A link to this website was provided by АНДРЕЙ ТКАЧЕНКО. As you'll see, it's in Russian, but it does offer a neat little gadget that translates the site into other languages. The translation into English leaves much to be desired, but it gave me a general idea of what the creator of the website is talking about (not that I understood most of it!) The graphics alone are worth a visit - they are really cool!

"Neanderthal" DNA Sequenced?

An interesting article - about how closely related so-called Neanderthal man was to so-called modern humans.

Quote:

Paleogeneticist Svante Pääbo and his team from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, may soon provide the answers [to how closely related so-called "modern" man is to so-called "Neanderthal"] as they have undertaken the massive task of sequencing the Neanderthal genome. This is a daunting project, not just because of its scale, and the fact the DNA is old and decayed, but also because the material is contaminated by DNA from microbes and modern humans handling the specimens.

Despite these problems, Pääbo is confident he now has a draft DNA sequence derived entirely from 38,000 year-old bone fragments from two female Neanderthals found in Croatia. So far, comparison of three billion human and Neanderthal DNA bases has thrown up a mere 1,000 to 2,000 changes, compared with 50,000 between humans and chimps. [Chimps are supposedly the closest living relative to modern man.] Already, scientists are pretty sure Neanderthals and humans did not interbreed [some believe there is evidence to the contrary], and they ultimately hope to find out how intelligent Neanderthals were, and why they became extinct.

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I am keenly interested in how any scientist can possibly tell how intelligent a Neanderthal human being could possibly have been, given that as far as we known, the race became extinct some 30,000 years ago.

What criteria would be used to impute intelligence (or lack thereof) to an extinct race? Would a scientist, perhaps, base his or her conclusions upon the estimated brain size of the extinct Neanderthal person? I believe there were some scientists who said, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, that black Africans, and their descendants scattered about the world because of slavery, were less than fully human and certainly not as intelligent as "white" based upon brain size.

1,000 to 2,000 difference in over 3 billion DNA bases examined. We convict criminals on much less differential in DNA than that.

Hales Corners Chess Challenge IX: More Photos!

Hola darlings!

I'm takin