This story reminds me of the old practice found in Europe and the ancient Middle East of burying dogs in the foundations of buildings.
From physorg.com
Mummies of 15th century dogs discovered in Peru
November 10, 2010
Peruvian archaeologists have discovered six mummified dogs, all dating from the 15th century and apparently presented as religious offerings at a major pre-Columbian site just south of Lima.
The dogs "have hair and complete teeth," said Jesus Holguin, an archaeologist at the museum in Pachacamac, located some 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Lima.
Holguin told AFP Wednesday that experts were still trying to determine their breed.
The mummified remains of four children were also found at the site, archaeologists said.
The mummified dogs were found two weeks ago wrapped in cloth and buried in one of Pachacamac's adobe brick pyramids.
Archaeologists believe the animals were offerings related to a funeral, "although we do not know if this was related to an important personality of the Inca period," said archaeologist Isabel Cornejo.
The experts believe the dogs are neither Hairless Peruvian Dogs -- an ancient native breed -- nor sheepdogs found at gravesites of the Chiribaya culture, which flourished in southern Peru between the years 900 and 1350.
"Their strong teeth lead us to believe that they are domestic dogs that were used for hunting," added another expert, Enrique Angulo.
Researchers will x-ray the finds in an attempt to determine the breed of the animals and whether the dogs were slaughtered.
Pachacamac museum director Denise Pozzi-Escot said that the find will let researchers broaden their knowledge of ancient Peruvian canines.
The remains are well preserved due to the type of soil and the dry weather along the Peruvian coastline, where it rarely rains.
At its height, Pachacamac was the most important ceremonial center on Peru's central coast, where thousands of pilgrims flocked from afar bringing rich offerings. Human sacrifices took place at the site.
At least three different societies occupied Pachacamac for hundreds before the Incas took it over around 1400. The Incas in turn were defeated by Spanish conquistadors who arrived in 1532.
(c) 2010 AFP
Sunday, November 14, 2010
New Barbarians at the Gate
Story from the DeKalb County Times-Journal Online
Chinese mine in Afghanistan threatens ancient find
Posted: Thursday, November 11, 2010 3:17 pm
Heidi Vogt, The Associated Press
MES AYNAK, Afghanistan (AP) - It was another day on the rocky hillside, as archaeologists and laborers dug out statues of Buddha and excavated a sprawling 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery. A Chinese woman in slacks, carrying an umbrella against the Afghan sun, politely inquired about their progress.
She had more than a passing interest. The woman represents a Chinese company eager to develop the world's second-biggest unexploited copper mine, lying beneath the ruins.
The mine is the centerpiece of China's drive to invest in Afghanistan, a country trying to get its economy off the ground while still mired in war. Beijing's $3.5 billion stake in the mine - the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan by far - gets its foot in the door for future deals to exploit Afghanistan's largely untapped mineral wealth, including iron, gold, and cobalt. The Afghan government stands to reap a potential $1.2 billion a year in revenues from the mine, as well as the creation of much-needed jobs.
But Mes Aynak is caught between Afghanistan's hopes for the future and its history. Archaeologists are rushing to salvage what they can from a major 7th Century B.C. religious site along the famed Silk Road connecting Asia and the Middle East. The ruins, including the monastery and domed shrines known as "stupas," will likely be largely destroyed once work at the mine begins.
Hanging over the situation is the memory of the Buddhas of Bamiyan - statues towering up to 180 feet high in central Afghanistan that were dynamited to the ground in 2001 by the country's then-rulers, the Taliban, who considered them symbols of paganism.
No one wants to be blamed for similarly razing history at Mes Aynak, in the eastern province of Logar. The Chinese government-backed China Metallurgical Group Corp., or MCC, wanted to start building the mine by the end of 2011. But under an informal understanding with the Kabul government, it has has given archaeologists three years for a salvage excavation.
Archaeologists working on the site since May say that won't be enough time for full preservation.
"That site is so massive that it's easily a 10-year campaign of archaeology," said Laura Tedesco, an archaeologist brought in by the U.S. Embassy to work on sites in Afghanistan. Three years may be enough time just to document what's there, she said.
Philippe Marquis, a French archaeologist advising the Afghans, said the salvage effort is piecemeal and "minimal," held back by lack of funds and personnel.
Around 15 Afghan archaeologists, three French advisers and a few dozen laborers are working within the 2-sq. kilometer (0.77 sq.-mile) area - a far smaller team than the two dozen archaeologists and 100 laborers normally needed for a site of such size and richness.
"This is probably one of the most important points along the Silk Road," said Marquis. "What we have at this site, already in excavation, should be enough to fill the (Afghan) national museum."
The monastery complex has been dug out, revealing hallways and rooms decorated with frescoes and filled with clay and stone statues of standing and reclining Buddhas, some as high as 10 feet tall. An area that was once a courtyard is dotted with stupas standing four or five feet high.
More than 150 statues have been found so far, though many remain in place. Large ones are too heavy to be moved, and the team lacks the chemicals needed to keep small ones from disintegrating when extracted.
MCC appears to be pushing the archaeologists to finish ahead of schedule. In July, the archaeologists received a letter from the company asking that parts of the dig be wrapped up by August and the rest to be done by the end of 2010.
A copy of the letter - signed by MJAM, the acronym for the joint venture in charge of the mine, MCC-JCL Aynak Minerals Co. - was provided to The Associated Press by the head of the archaeological team. MCC and MJAM officials did not respond to requests for comment.
August has come and gone, and excavations at Mes Aynak continue. But the Afghan archaeologist overseeing the dig said he has no idea when MCC representatives might tell him his work is over. So he tries not to think about deadlines.
"We would like to work according to our principles. If we don't work according to the principles of archaeology, then we are no different from traffickers," Abdul Rauf Zakir said.
The team hopes to lift some of the larger statues and shrines out before winter sets in this month, but they still haven't procured the crane and other equipment needed.
Mes Aynak, 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Kabul, lies in a province that is still considered a major transit route for insurgents coming from Pakistan. In July, two U.S. sailors were kidnapped and killed in Logar. Around 1,500 Afghan police guard the mine site and the road.
Promised funding from foreign governments has yet to materialize. The Afghan government has alloted $2 million for the dig and is trying to find another $5-10 million, said Deputy Culture Minister Omar Sultan.
The United States has promised funding but hasn't yet figured out how much, said a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman, Mireille Zieseniss.
Mes Aynak's religious sites and copper deposits have been bound together for centuries - "mes" means "copper" in the local Dari language. Throughout the site's history, artisanal miners have dug up copper to adorn statues and shrines.
Afghan archaeologists have known since the 1960s about the importance of Mes Aynak, but almost nothing had been excavated. When the Chinese won the contract to exploit the mine in 2008, there was no discussion with Kabul about the ruins - only about money, security and building a railroad to transport the copper out of Logar's dusty hills.
But a small band of Afghan and French archaeologists raised a stir and put the antiquities on the agenda.
The mine could be a major boost for the Afghan economy. According to the Afghan Mining Ministry, it holds some 6 million tons of copper (5.52 million metric tons), worth tens of billions of dollars at today's prices. Developing the mine and related transport infrastructure will generate much needed jobs and economic activity.
Waheedullah Qaderi, a Mining Ministry official working on the antiquities issue, said MCC shares the government goal of protecting heritage while starting mining as soon as possible.
A good resolution is important for MCC "because it is their first-ever project in Afghanistan," Qaderi said. MCC is expected to make an offer for another lucrative mineral prize - the Hajigak iron mine in central Afghanistan, estimated to hold 1.9 billion tons (1.8 billion metric tonnes) of iron ore. Kabul opened bidding to develop the mine in late September and is expected to award the contract late this year or in early 2011.
Still, a diplomat briefed on internal meetings says MCC has pressured Kabul to stop archaeologists from looking for new places to dig beyond the 12 sites already found. The diplomat spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Marquis said MCC has been cooperative and has helped the archaeologists, hauling dirt away and asking what more needs to be done.
Zakir, the Afghan archaeologist, laughs. "Yes, they are very helpful. They want to help so that we can finish quickly. They want us gone."
Chinese mine in Afghanistan threatens ancient find
Posted: Thursday, November 11, 2010 3:17 pm
Heidi Vogt, The Associated Press
MES AYNAK, Afghanistan (AP) - It was another day on the rocky hillside, as archaeologists and laborers dug out statues of Buddha and excavated a sprawling 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery. A Chinese woman in slacks, carrying an umbrella against the Afghan sun, politely inquired about their progress.
She had more than a passing interest. The woman represents a Chinese company eager to develop the world's second-biggest unexploited copper mine, lying beneath the ruins.
The mine is the centerpiece of China's drive to invest in Afghanistan, a country trying to get its economy off the ground while still mired in war. Beijing's $3.5 billion stake in the mine - the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan by far - gets its foot in the door for future deals to exploit Afghanistan's largely untapped mineral wealth, including iron, gold, and cobalt. The Afghan government stands to reap a potential $1.2 billion a year in revenues from the mine, as well as the creation of much-needed jobs.
But Mes Aynak is caught between Afghanistan's hopes for the future and its history. Archaeologists are rushing to salvage what they can from a major 7th Century B.C. religious site along the famed Silk Road connecting Asia and the Middle East. The ruins, including the monastery and domed shrines known as "stupas," will likely be largely destroyed once work at the mine begins.
Hanging over the situation is the memory of the Buddhas of Bamiyan - statues towering up to 180 feet high in central Afghanistan that were dynamited to the ground in 2001 by the country's then-rulers, the Taliban, who considered them symbols of paganism.
No one wants to be blamed for similarly razing history at Mes Aynak, in the eastern province of Logar. The Chinese government-backed China Metallurgical Group Corp., or MCC, wanted to start building the mine by the end of 2011. But under an informal understanding with the Kabul government, it has has given archaeologists three years for a salvage excavation.
Archaeologists working on the site since May say that won't be enough time for full preservation.
"That site is so massive that it's easily a 10-year campaign of archaeology," said Laura Tedesco, an archaeologist brought in by the U.S. Embassy to work on sites in Afghanistan. Three years may be enough time just to document what's there, she said.
Philippe Marquis, a French archaeologist advising the Afghans, said the salvage effort is piecemeal and "minimal," held back by lack of funds and personnel.
Around 15 Afghan archaeologists, three French advisers and a few dozen laborers are working within the 2-sq. kilometer (0.77 sq.-mile) area - a far smaller team than the two dozen archaeologists and 100 laborers normally needed for a site of such size and richness.
"This is probably one of the most important points along the Silk Road," said Marquis. "What we have at this site, already in excavation, should be enough to fill the (Afghan) national museum."
The monastery complex has been dug out, revealing hallways and rooms decorated with frescoes and filled with clay and stone statues of standing and reclining Buddhas, some as high as 10 feet tall. An area that was once a courtyard is dotted with stupas standing four or five feet high.
More than 150 statues have been found so far, though many remain in place. Large ones are too heavy to be moved, and the team lacks the chemicals needed to keep small ones from disintegrating when extracted.
MCC appears to be pushing the archaeologists to finish ahead of schedule. In July, the archaeologists received a letter from the company asking that parts of the dig be wrapped up by August and the rest to be done by the end of 2010.
A copy of the letter - signed by MJAM, the acronym for the joint venture in charge of the mine, MCC-JCL Aynak Minerals Co. - was provided to The Associated Press by the head of the archaeological team. MCC and MJAM officials did not respond to requests for comment.
August has come and gone, and excavations at Mes Aynak continue. But the Afghan archaeologist overseeing the dig said he has no idea when MCC representatives might tell him his work is over. So he tries not to think about deadlines.
"We would like to work according to our principles. If we don't work according to the principles of archaeology, then we are no different from traffickers," Abdul Rauf Zakir said.
The team hopes to lift some of the larger statues and shrines out before winter sets in this month, but they still haven't procured the crane and other equipment needed.
Mes Aynak, 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Kabul, lies in a province that is still considered a major transit route for insurgents coming from Pakistan. In July, two U.S. sailors were kidnapped and killed in Logar. Around 1,500 Afghan police guard the mine site and the road.
Promised funding from foreign governments has yet to materialize. The Afghan government has alloted $2 million for the dig and is trying to find another $5-10 million, said Deputy Culture Minister Omar Sultan.
The United States has promised funding but hasn't yet figured out how much, said a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman, Mireille Zieseniss.
Mes Aynak's religious sites and copper deposits have been bound together for centuries - "mes" means "copper" in the local Dari language. Throughout the site's history, artisanal miners have dug up copper to adorn statues and shrines.
Afghan archaeologists have known since the 1960s about the importance of Mes Aynak, but almost nothing had been excavated. When the Chinese won the contract to exploit the mine in 2008, there was no discussion with Kabul about the ruins - only about money, security and building a railroad to transport the copper out of Logar's dusty hills.
But a small band of Afghan and French archaeologists raised a stir and put the antiquities on the agenda.
The mine could be a major boost for the Afghan economy. According to the Afghan Mining Ministry, it holds some 6 million tons of copper (5.52 million metric tons), worth tens of billions of dollars at today's prices. Developing the mine and related transport infrastructure will generate much needed jobs and economic activity.
Waheedullah Qaderi, a Mining Ministry official working on the antiquities issue, said MCC shares the government goal of protecting heritage while starting mining as soon as possible.
A good resolution is important for MCC "because it is their first-ever project in Afghanistan," Qaderi said. MCC is expected to make an offer for another lucrative mineral prize - the Hajigak iron mine in central Afghanistan, estimated to hold 1.9 billion tons (1.8 billion metric tonnes) of iron ore. Kabul opened bidding to develop the mine in late September and is expected to award the contract late this year or in early 2011.
Still, a diplomat briefed on internal meetings says MCC has pressured Kabul to stop archaeologists from looking for new places to dig beyond the 12 sites already found. The diplomat spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Marquis said MCC has been cooperative and has helped the archaeologists, hauling dirt away and asking what more needs to be done.
Zakir, the Afghan archaeologist, laughs. "Yes, they are very helpful. They want to help so that we can finish quickly. They want us gone."
Ancient Egyptians Tracked the Big Dipper
 |
| Horus applying the 'peshenkepf'' to the deceased's mummy in the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony. |
From newkerala.com
2,400 yr-old star table reveals secrets of ancient Egyptian 'star-gazing'
London, Nov 11 : The Ancient Egyptians kept close tabs on the Big Dipper, monitoring changes in the constellation's orientation throughout the course of an entire year, a new research on a 2,400 year old star table has shown.
 |
| Faience ox-shaped Egyptian amulets, c. 500 BCE. |
If a person were to observe the constellation at the exact same time every night they would see it gradually move counter-clockwise each time they saw it.
Professor Sarah Symons, of McMaster University in Hamilton Canada, carried out the new research. The star table she analyzed is located inside the lid of a 2,400 year old granite sarcophagus, constructed in the shape of a bull, which is now in the Egyptian Museum, reports The Heritage Key.
The table is, "unique, though interesting, a very provocative astronomical object," she said.
Indeed the sarcophagus dates to the 30th dynasty, an important period in Egyptian history. It is the last point of time in antiquity where Egypt would be ruled by native born rulers.
Inside the sarcophagus there is an astronomical table, a section of which has rows that show the foreleg of an ox in a wide range of different positions. "It''s quite a jumble," Symons said.
This section, although confusing to read, includes notation for the three Egyptian seasons, Akhet, Peret and Shemu. Each season is broken down into four months. It also has symbols representing the beginning, middle and end of the night - although it isn''t known at what exact time these points would have been set.
"(Its) location throughout the course of the night, across the course of the year, was important for them to report."
Symons decided to focus on the orientation of the forelegs, re-drawing them as arrows. When she did this a pattern started to appear.
"In general the motion that it follows is the counter-clockwise motion that we would expect."
But there were problems. Over the course of a year the forelegs sometimes went the wrong way - as if the stars had stopped obeying the rules of astronomy. She believes that this was a scribal error, caused by someone writing down the information in the wrong format.
When the observations were first made they were written on papyrus and the months were probably organized into columns. On the other hand they were written in as rows on the sarcophagus.
"What happens to our table if we just keep all the months together?" And work with them as columns, she wondered. She found that the table had fewer errors and the information fell into place.
"Overall the motion is counter-clockwise throughout the year in general," she said.
The results were presented at an Egyptology symposium in Toronto.
--ANI
1st Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational
A norm event, being held November 12-14 and 20-21, 2010. WFM Tatev Abrahamyan, two-time winner of the Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award for her performances at U.S. Women's Chess Championships, is vying for an IM norm. Ankit Gupta sent me several photographs of R1 action. Thanks!
First round results:
Tatev Abrahamyan (1) - Konstantin Kavutskiy (0)
Ankit Gupta (0) - Zhanibek Amanov (1)
Enrico Sevillano (1/2) - Joel Banawa (1/2)
Timothy Taylor (0) - Roman Yankovsky (1)
Round 2 results:
Kretchetov - Amanov 1/2
Yankovsky - Sevillano 1/2
Banawa - Gupta 1/2
Kavutskiy - Taylor 1-0
Manukyan - Abrahamyan 1/2
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| IM Enrico Sevillano |
 |
| Konstantin Kavutskiy |
 |
| Roman Yanovsky |
 |
| WFM Tatev Abrahamyan |
First round results:
Tatev Abrahamyan (1) - Konstantin Kavutskiy (0)
Ankit Gupta (0) - Zhanibek Amanov (1)
Enrico Sevillano (1/2) - Joel Banawa (1/2)
Timothy Taylor (0) - Roman Yankovsky (1)
Round 2 results:
Kretchetov - Amanov 1/2
Yankovsky - Sevillano 1/2
Banawa - Gupta 1/2
Kavutskiy - Taylor 1-0
Manukyan - Abrahamyan 1/2
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Ilkley Moor Stone Carvings to be Preserved in 3D
Story from BBC News
Prehistoric Ilkley Moor carvings to be preserved in 3D
Monday, 8 November 2010
Prehistoric carvings on Ilkley Moor are to be preserved with help from the latest technology so future generations will be able to enjoy and study them.
Archaeologists hope to create digital 3D models of the carvings amid fears the originals could be eroded away.
Community archaeologist Gavin Edwards said this was an important development.
He said: "We have the opportunity to create three-dimensional models so they can be studied in the future as they exist in the landscape itself."
The carvings were made in what is known as the Mesolithic - or Middle Stone Age - era which started at the end of the last ice age in about 10,000 BC.
It is thought they were made by some of the first hunter-gatherers to reach what is now Ilkley Moor - an area which now has the highest concentration of Mesolithic sites in the world.
Human interaction
Gavin Edwards explained: "What we have is a dense concentration of evidence telling us about how the very first people who moved back into this area were exploiting the landscape and how they were surviving.
"They are part of the story of how human interaction with their surroundings started to change the very appearance of the landscape."
The Prehistoric Carved Rocks project has been launched by Pennine Prospects, an organisation dedicated to the regeneration of the South Pennines.
The project's aim is to ensure that even if the original carvings erode away due to the effects of the weather they will still available for study in centuries to come.
Gavin Edwards said it was all down to the latest technology that the project could be launched.
He said: "Up until now the only way we have been able to represent them is in two dimensions.
"But a new technique has become available to us whereby we can photograph them with digital images.
"Then, then there is a very complicated piece of software which can combine the images to produce a three-dimensional model of the actual carvings."
Volunteers are now being urged to come forward to join in the Prehistoric Carved Rocks project in Ilkley.
They will be given the chance to find out more about the project and register their interest.
Training sessions
In the coming months, training sessions covering surveying, recording and photographic techniques will take place.
It it is hoped volunteers will then be able to put all these skills into action on Ilkley Moor over the next three years.
Volunteer Eddie Nash said he thought it was well worth getting involved for a number of reasons.
He explained: "It is an interest I have. I find it fascinating looking back and trying to understand how our ancestors lived and developed and gave us what we have today.
"It is the usual situation where people do not understand and use what they have on their own doorstep.
"Once you start to make them aware of things, they are very surprised about what is to be found."
Prehistoric Ilkley Moor carvings to be preserved in 3D
Monday, 8 November 2010
Prehistoric carvings on Ilkley Moor are to be preserved with help from the latest technology so future generations will be able to enjoy and study them.
 |
| An Ilkley Moor rock carving. Mancala, anyone? |
Community archaeologist Gavin Edwards said this was an important development.
He said: "We have the opportunity to create three-dimensional models so they can be studied in the future as they exist in the landscape itself."
The carvings were made in what is known as the Mesolithic - or Middle Stone Age - era which started at the end of the last ice age in about 10,000 BC.
It is thought they were made by some of the first hunter-gatherers to reach what is now Ilkley Moor - an area which now has the highest concentration of Mesolithic sites in the world.
Human interaction
Gavin Edwards explained: "What we have is a dense concentration of evidence telling us about how the very first people who moved back into this area were exploiting the landscape and how they were surviving.
"They are part of the story of how human interaction with their surroundings started to change the very appearance of the landscape."
The Prehistoric Carved Rocks project has been launched by Pennine Prospects, an organisation dedicated to the regeneration of the South Pennines.
 |
| More carvings at Ilkley Moor |
Gavin Edwards said it was all down to the latest technology that the project could be launched.
He said: "Up until now the only way we have been able to represent them is in two dimensions.
"But a new technique has become available to us whereby we can photograph them with digital images.
"Then, then there is a very complicated piece of software which can combine the images to produce a three-dimensional model of the actual carvings."
Volunteers are now being urged to come forward to join in the Prehistoric Carved Rocks project in Ilkley.
They will be given the chance to find out more about the project and register their interest.
Training sessions
In the coming months, training sessions covering surveying, recording and photographic techniques will take place.
It it is hoped volunteers will then be able to put all these skills into action on Ilkley Moor over the next three years.
Volunteer Eddie Nash said he thought it was well worth getting involved for a number of reasons.
He explained: "It is an interest I have. I find it fascinating looking back and trying to understand how our ancestors lived and developed and gave us what we have today.
"It is the usual situation where people do not understand and use what they have on their own doorstep.
"Once you start to make them aware of things, they are very surprised about what is to be found."
Cohokia Mounds
A new article revisits Cohokia Mounds State Historic Park, a World Heritage site, located in southern Illinois at Collinsville (USA) a short distance across the mighty Mississippi from St. Louis, Missouri. At its height around 1200 CE, the city was populated by as many as 50,000 people (larger than London) and the great pyramid was 4 blocks square and 10 stories tall, including an expansive wooden temple on top dedicated to the Sun God - larger than the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt.
Cahokia Mounds and the remnants of a sprawling metropolis
November 12th, 2010 1:22 pm PT.
Brad Olsen, San Francisco Examiner Sacred Sites Travel Examiner
Cahokia Mounds and the remnants of a sprawling metropolis
November 12th, 2010 1:22 pm PT.
Brad Olsen, San Francisco Examiner Sacred Sites Travel Examiner
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| An artist's depiction of part of Cohokia Mounds. |
Pythagoras' Math More Than 1,000 Years Before He Was Born
From Art Daily:
Saturday November 13, 2010
Ancient Tablets Reveal Mathematical Achievements of Ancient Babylonian Culture
NEW YORK, NY.- An illuminating exhibition of thirteen ancient Babylonian tablets, along with supplemental documentary material, opens at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) on November 12, 2010. Before Pythagoras: The Culture of Old Babylonian Mathematics reveals the highly sophisticated mathematical practice and education that flourished in Babylonia—present-day Iraq—more than 1,000 years before the time of the Greek sages Thales and Pythagoras, with whom mathematics is traditionally said to have begun.
The tablets in the exhibition, at once beautiful and enlightening, date from the Old Babylonian Period (ca. 1900–1700 BCE). They have been assembled from three important collections: the Columbia Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University; the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; and the Yale Babylonian Collection, Yale University.
Before Pythagoras has been curated by Alexander Jones, ISAW Professor of the History of the Exact Sciences in Antiquity, and ISAW visiting scholar Christine Proust, historian of mathematics and ancient sciences at the Institut Méditerranéen de Recherches Avancées, in Marseille. The exhibition remains on view at ISAW through December 17, 2010.
Jennifer Chi, ISAW director for exhibitions and public programs, states, “It has long been widely recognized that many of the critical achievements of Western Civilization, including writing and the code of law that is the basis for our present-day legal system, developed in ancient Mesopotamia. However, the stunningly advanced state of mathematics in this region has largely been known only to scholars. By demonstrating the richness and sophistication of ancient Mesopotamian mathematics, Before Pythagoras adds an important dimension to the public knowledge of the history of historic cultures and attainments of present-day Iraq.”
Babylonian mathematics is known to the modern world through the work of scribes, primarily young men who, coming from wealthy families in which literacy and professional expertise were handed down through generations, were formally trained in reading and writing. Destined to work in such fields as accounting, building-project planning, and other professions in which mathematics is essential, the scribes learned and practiced mathematics by copying symbols and solving problems—some practical, others theoretical—such as those seen in the tablets in the exhibition.
Alexander Jones notes, “The evidence we have for Old Babylonian mathematics is amazing not only in its abundance, but also in its range, from basic arithmetic to really challenging problems and investigations. And since the documents are the actual manuscripts of the scribes, not copies selected and edited by later generations, we feel as if we were looking over their shoulders as they work; we can even see them getting confused and making mistakes. Recent research has made this human dimension very vivid, using archeological evidence to re-imagine the schools and the process of teaching and learning. Moreover, the contents of the tablets are still recognizable, as they continue to be taught in contemporary mathematics.”
The tablets in Before Pythagoras, inscribed in cuneiform script, cover the full spectrum of mathematical activity, from arithmetical tables copied by scribes-in-training to sophisticated work on topics that today would be classified as number theory and algebra. In so doing, they illuminate three major themes: arithmetic exploiting a notation of numbers based entirely on two basic symbols; the scribal schools of Nippur, which was the most prestigious center of scribal education; and advanced mathematical training.
Many of the problems solved by scribes at the advanced level of training were in fact much more difficult than any they would have to deal with in their careers, and their solutions depended on principles that, before the rediscovery of the Babylonian tablets, were believed to have been discovered by the Greeks of the sixth century BCE and later. One of the tablets, for example, is an extremely unusual diagram showing a square with its two diagonals and three numbers that demonstrate that what we call the Pythagorean Theorem existed 1,000 years before Pythagoras lived. The content of other tablets ranges from mathematical tables for training, to practical calculations for professionals, to abstract algebraic problems.
The meaning of these and other tablets from the Old Babylonian Period were first elucidated by mathematician and historian of science Otto Neugebauer (1899–1990), who spent some two decades, beginning in the 1920s, transcribing and interpreting tablets that had come to light in ancient Mesopotamia since the nineteenth century. It is his pioneering research, as well as the work of his associates, rivals, and successors, that revealed to modern scholars the period’s rich culture of mathematics. Before Pythagoras includes a selection of manuscripts and correspondence, on loan from the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, New Jersey), that offers a glimpse of Neugebauer’s methods and his central role in this “heroic age” of scientific discovery.
In order to enable visitors to appreciate the cuneiform tablets more fully, ISAW has developed an extended exhibition pamphlet that will guide viewers in reading cuneiform numbers. The exhibition features a content-rich website.
Saturday November 13, 2010
Ancient Tablets Reveal Mathematical Achievements of Ancient Babylonian Culture
 |
| Tablet Plimpton 322, a table of Pythagorean triangles a(2) + b(2) = c(2) 1,000 years before the Theorem existed |
The tablets in the exhibition, at once beautiful and enlightening, date from the Old Babylonian Period (ca. 1900–1700 BCE). They have been assembled from three important collections: the Columbia Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University; the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; and the Yale Babylonian Collection, Yale University.
Before Pythagoras has been curated by Alexander Jones, ISAW Professor of the History of the Exact Sciences in Antiquity, and ISAW visiting scholar Christine Proust, historian of mathematics and ancient sciences at the Institut Méditerranéen de Recherches Avancées, in Marseille. The exhibition remains on view at ISAW through December 17, 2010.
Jennifer Chi, ISAW director for exhibitions and public programs, states, “It has long been widely recognized that many of the critical achievements of Western Civilization, including writing and the code of law that is the basis for our present-day legal system, developed in ancient Mesopotamia. However, the stunningly advanced state of mathematics in this region has largely been known only to scholars. By demonstrating the richness and sophistication of ancient Mesopotamian mathematics, Before Pythagoras adds an important dimension to the public knowledge of the history of historic cultures and attainments of present-day Iraq.”
Babylonian mathematics is known to the modern world through the work of scribes, primarily young men who, coming from wealthy families in which literacy and professional expertise were handed down through generations, were formally trained in reading and writing. Destined to work in such fields as accounting, building-project planning, and other professions in which mathematics is essential, the scribes learned and practiced mathematics by copying symbols and solving problems—some practical, others theoretical—such as those seen in the tablets in the exhibition.
Alexander Jones notes, “The evidence we have for Old Babylonian mathematics is amazing not only in its abundance, but also in its range, from basic arithmetic to really challenging problems and investigations. And since the documents are the actual manuscripts of the scribes, not copies selected and edited by later generations, we feel as if we were looking over their shoulders as they work; we can even see them getting confused and making mistakes. Recent research has made this human dimension very vivid, using archeological evidence to re-imagine the schools and the process of teaching and learning. Moreover, the contents of the tablets are still recognizable, as they continue to be taught in contemporary mathematics.”
The tablets in Before Pythagoras, inscribed in cuneiform script, cover the full spectrum of mathematical activity, from arithmetical tables copied by scribes-in-training to sophisticated work on topics that today would be classified as number theory and algebra. In so doing, they illuminate three major themes: arithmetic exploiting a notation of numbers based entirely on two basic symbols; the scribal schools of Nippur, which was the most prestigious center of scribal education; and advanced mathematical training.
Many of the problems solved by scribes at the advanced level of training were in fact much more difficult than any they would have to deal with in their careers, and their solutions depended on principles that, before the rediscovery of the Babylonian tablets, were believed to have been discovered by the Greeks of the sixth century BCE and later. One of the tablets, for example, is an extremely unusual diagram showing a square with its two diagonals and three numbers that demonstrate that what we call the Pythagorean Theorem existed 1,000 years before Pythagoras lived. The content of other tablets ranges from mathematical tables for training, to practical calculations for professionals, to abstract algebraic problems.
The meaning of these and other tablets from the Old Babylonian Period were first elucidated by mathematician and historian of science Otto Neugebauer (1899–1990), who spent some two decades, beginning in the 1920s, transcribing and interpreting tablets that had come to light in ancient Mesopotamia since the nineteenth century. It is his pioneering research, as well as the work of his associates, rivals, and successors, that revealed to modern scholars the period’s rich culture of mathematics. Before Pythagoras includes a selection of manuscripts and correspondence, on loan from the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, New Jersey), that offers a glimpse of Neugebauer’s methods and his central role in this “heroic age” of scientific discovery.
In order to enable visitors to appreciate the cuneiform tablets more fully, ISAW has developed an extended exhibition pamphlet that will guide viewers in reading cuneiform numbers. The exhibition features a content-rich website.
Karpov-Hou Match
Former World Chess Champion GM Anatoly Karpov won the match (November 6 - 11, 2010, Sanya, Hainan, China) against a Chinese chess star GM Hou Yifan: 3.5/2.5. The following information is courtesy of Susan Polgar's chess blog:
Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619 3½
Hou Yifan g CHN 2591 2½
Day 1 (6 November 2010): Game 1 Hou Yifan g CHN 2591 0-1 Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619
Day 2 (7 November 2010): Game 2 Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619 ½-½ Hou Yifan g CHN 2591
Day 3 (8 November 2010): Game 3 Hou Yifan g CHN 2591 ½-½ Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619
Day 4 (9 November 2010): Rest Day
Day 5 (10 November 2010): Game 4 Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619 ½-½ Hou Yifan g CHN 2591
Day 6 (11 November 2010): 2 Rapid games
Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619 ½-½ Hou Yifan g CHN 2591
Hou Yifan g CHN 2591 ½-½ Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619
Source: http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews
Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619 3½
Hou Yifan g CHN 2591 2½
Day 1 (6 November 2010): Game 1 Hou Yifan g CHN 2591 0-1 Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619
Day 2 (7 November 2010): Game 2 Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619 ½-½ Hou Yifan g CHN 2591
Day 3 (8 November 2010): Game 3 Hou Yifan g CHN 2591 ½-½ Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619
Day 4 (9 November 2010): Rest Day
Day 5 (10 November 2010): Game 4 Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619 ½-½ Hou Yifan g CHN 2591
Day 6 (11 November 2010): 2 Rapid games
Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619 ½-½ Hou Yifan g CHN 2591
Hou Yifan g CHN 2591 ½-½ Anatoly Karpov g RUS 2619
Source: http://blog.sina.com.cn/chessnews
9 Queens Action!
Sorry for the short notice - check out these great events, including one TOMORROW, EEK!
9 Queens Website
Contact Jean Hoffman with any questions. Hoping for a great turn-out for all these fab events!
WIZARD CHESS
Wizards and muggles alike are welcome to join 9 Queens and Mrs. Tiggy Winkle's Toys for an afternoon of wizard chess, pick-up games and fun on Sunday, November 14 from 3-5 pm at Mrs. Tiggy Winkle's Toy Store (located at 4811 Grant Road in Crossroads Festival, Tucson, Arizona). Come as your favorite Harry Potter character or chess piece for a costume contest at 4 pm. Puzzles and prizes will be awarded throughout the day to anyone who can solve the same chess puzzle Harry, Hermione, and Ron faced in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. In addition there will be butterbeer to drink, lightning bolt tattoos, a Bertie Bots Bean tasting table, and raffles for all kinds of magical artifacts!9 QUEENS ACADEMY
Hey ladies- Join 9 Queens and Bookmans for free chess lessons on November 21, 2010 from 2-4 pm at the Bookmans Low Lounge in the Sahuaro Girl Scout Resource Center. Women and girls of all ages are encouraged to attend. Beginners welcome! Location: 4300 E. Broadway Blvd.,Tucson, Arizona (SE corner of Broadway and Columbus). TURKEY DAY LIBRARY CHESS TOURNAMENT
This Thanksgiving weekend put down the turkey and join 9 Queens and the Pima County Public Library for a free chess tournament on Saturday, November 27 at the Bear Canyon Public Library (8959 E. Tanque Verde Road, Tucson, Arizona). Check-in will begin at 10 am and there will be 3 rounds held throughout the day. Free lunch will be provided to all participants. For more information email Jean Hoffman.9 Queens Website
Contact Jean Hoffman with any questions. Hoping for a great turn-out for all these fab events!
Cajun Chess Presents Late November Chess in Memphis, Tennessee
Presenting TWO Tournaments . . . ONE Weekend . . .
$2,000 TURKEY BOWL OPEN
(a 2-Day Event - Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 20-21, 2010)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
SCHOLASTIC (K-12) TEAM AND
INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT
(a 1-Day Event - Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010)
at the
University Center of the University of Memphis
Memphis, TN 38111
"OPEN" TOURNAMENT
2-Day Event
(a USCF-rated tournament)
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20-21, 2010
1st round at 9 a.m. on Saturday!
FORMAT
5SS, G/120
(Rounds 1 and 2, G/75)
ROUND TIMES
Saturday (Nov. 20): 9 - 12 - 3
Sunday (Nov. 21): 9:30 - 2:30
SECTIONS & PRIZES
OPEN: $600-400-200
(Top U1800 Player: $100)
U1600/Unr: $400-200-100
(Top U1000 Player: $100)
BYES (1/2-point)
Available for any round. Limit one bye per player. Must commit before Round 2.
"SHELBY COUNTY BOUNTY"
Defeat the top ranked player (OPEN Section only) and win free entry to our next tournament!
ENTRY FEE
$40 if received by midnight Wednesday Nov. 17th; $50 thereafter and at site.
$30 for Juniors* (under 19 years old AND playing in the U1600 section) by midnight Wednesday, Nov. 17th; $35 thereafter and at site.
NOTE: Jr. Entry Fees count for 75% and Re-Entries count for 50% of a full-paid entry.
RE-ENTRY FEE
Re-entry fee is $20 and you may re-enter up to Round 3.
ADVANCED REGISTRATION
(Major credit cards accepted: Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express)
ON-LINE:
You may register with a credit card on-line at
http://www.cajunchess.com/tourns/tournament5.shtml
then click on Secure On-line Entry.
BY PHONE:
You may register with a credit card by phone (504) 208-9596 or (504) 905-2971.
BY MAIL:
If you wish to mail in your entry with a check (or with your credit card information), please be sure to include player's name, full address, phone, email, contact number, USCF I.D. number and section, and mail to:
Cajun Chess
7230 Chadbourne Drive
New Orleans, LA 70126
ON-SITE REGISTRATION
You may register on-site between 8:15 - 8:45 a.m. the first day of the tournament (Saturday, Nov. 20th). The first round will start at 9:00 a.m.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SCHOLASTIC TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT
1-Day Event
(Rated and Unrated Sections Available)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2010
First round at 1 p.m. on Sunday!
FORMAT
4SS, G/30
(4 games will be played and each opponent has 30 minutes to complete his game)
SECTIONS
USCF-rated Sections for Individuals and Teams:
(USCF membership required and may be purchased on site)
K-2 K-6 K-12
Non-rated Section for Individuals only:
(No membership required for this section)
K-12 Reserve*
NOTE: Reserve section is for individuals only (no teams) and is not rated; therefore, USCF membership is not required.
Each section must have at least 5 players or section will be combined. NO ELIMINATION . . . everyone will play all four rounds!
TEAM INFO
A team will consist of a minimum of two or more players from the same school or home school district. However, the top THREE scores will count for final team standings, so it would be to your advantage to find a third team member (no "maximum" limit of number of players on a team). Team and individual games are played simultaneously.
ON-SITE REGISTRATION AND ROUND TIMES
On-site registration will be held on Sunday (Nov. 21) from 12:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. First round will begin at promptly at 1 p.m. Other rounds will immediately follow.
PRIZES
Trophies awarded to the top 3 individual winners in each section (in both rated and non-rated sections) and to the top 2 teams in each rated section; commemorative medal to all non-trophy winners.
SPECIAL AWARD to the school with the most participants in the tournament!
BYES (1/2-point)
Available for any Round. Limit one bye per player (must commit before Round 2).
TIEBREAKS
USCF-recommended computer tiebreaks will decide trophy and medal placements for all winners in scholastic sections.
ENTRY FEE
Entry fee is $15 per player if received by midnight, Wednesday, November 17th; $20 per player thereafter and at site.
ADVANCED REGISTRATION
(Major credit cards accepted: Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express)
ON-LINE:
You may register with a credit card on-line at
http://www.cajunchess.com/tourns/tournament6.shtml
then on Secure On-line Entry.
BY PHONE:
You may register with a credit card by phone (504) 208-9596 or (504) 905-2971.
BY MAIL:
If you wish to mail in your entry with a check (or with your credit card information), please be sure to include player's name, full address, phone, email, contact number, grade, USCF I.D. number (if playing in a rated section) and section, and mail to:
Cajun Chess
7230 Chadbourne Drive
New Orleans, LA 70126
MISCELLANEOUS
Please bring boards, sets & clocks, if possible--none will be provided - Chess Vendor (Cajun Chess) will be on site. Lunch and snacks will also be available for purchase on site.
Tournament rules (i.e., touch-move rule) will be enforced for all sections.
INFORMATION
For additional information, please call (504) 208-9596 or (504) 905-2971, or email cajunchess@yahoo.com
WE'LL SEE YOU THERE ! ! !
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Biblical Archaeology: 'Secret Mark" Not a Fraud
Expert Handwriting Analysis Concludes “Secret Mark” Not a Forgery
Recent expert handwriting analysis has concluded that the document known as “Secret Mark” and found by Morton Smith over 50 years ago is indeed not a forgery!
PRLog (Press Release) – Nov 11, 2010 – Expert handwriting analysis has concluded that Morton Smith did not forge the document known as “Secret Mark.” More than fifty years ago in a Judean desert monastery, Columbia University professor Morton Smith discovered a previously unknown letter from Clement of Alexandria, a second-century church father, which contained passages of a lost “secret” gospel of Mark. A debate over the authenticity of this document continues to this day.
A number of scholars have concluded that Smith forged the document known as the Clement letter, or “Secret Mark.” In a four-part treatment in the November/December 2009 issue, including contributions by eminent New Testament scholars, Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) concluded that Smith, now dead, was innocent. BAR also engaged a handwriting expert to compare the handwriting in which the Clement letter was written with Greek handwriting known to be Smith’s.
Greek handwriting expert Venetia Anastasopoulou returned a 36-page report, stating that there was significant disagreement between Smith’s handwriting and the handwriting of the Clement letter, thus Smith could not have forged it. Professor Peter Jeffery of the University of Notre Dame and Princeton University responded to the forgery debate and to Anastasopoulou’s report, looking for clarification on several items.
Ms. Anastasopoulou has now provided a secondary analysis of the document stating that, not only does it lack evidence that Morton Smith forged it, the document does not appear to be a forgery at all. She concludes that Secret Mark “is written in a natural and spontaneous way and in my opinion does not have such indications so as to make us think of a suspicious writing.”
The full BAR coverage of the Secret Mark controversy, including the English translation of the text, Venetia Anastasopoulou’s full handwriting report, Peter Jeffery’s response and Anastasopoulou’s follow-up, can be read for free in the Scholar’s Study section of the Biblical Archaeology Society’s Web site at http://www.bib-arch.org/scholars-study/secret-mark.asp.
The Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS) was founded in 1974 as a nonprofit, nondenominational, educational organization dedicated to the dissemination of information about archaeology in the Bible lands.
Recent expert handwriting analysis has concluded that the document known as “Secret Mark” and found by Morton Smith over 50 years ago is indeed not a forgery!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Nov 11, 2010 – Expert handwriting analysis has concluded that Morton Smith did not forge the document known as “Secret Mark.” More than fifty years ago in a Judean desert monastery, Columbia University professor Morton Smith discovered a previously unknown letter from Clement of Alexandria, a second-century church father, which contained passages of a lost “secret” gospel of Mark. A debate over the authenticity of this document continues to this day.
A number of scholars have concluded that Smith forged the document known as the Clement letter, or “Secret Mark.” In a four-part treatment in the November/December 2009 issue, including contributions by eminent New Testament scholars, Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) concluded that Smith, now dead, was innocent. BAR also engaged a handwriting expert to compare the handwriting in which the Clement letter was written with Greek handwriting known to be Smith’s.
Greek handwriting expert Venetia Anastasopoulou returned a 36-page report, stating that there was significant disagreement between Smith’s handwriting and the handwriting of the Clement letter, thus Smith could not have forged it. Professor Peter Jeffery of the University of Notre Dame and Princeton University responded to the forgery debate and to Anastasopoulou’s report, looking for clarification on several items.
Ms. Anastasopoulou has now provided a secondary analysis of the document stating that, not only does it lack evidence that Morton Smith forged it, the document does not appear to be a forgery at all. She concludes that Secret Mark “is written in a natural and spontaneous way and in my opinion does not have such indications so as to make us think of a suspicious writing.”
The full BAR coverage of the Secret Mark controversy, including the English translation of the text, Venetia Anastasopoulou’s full handwriting report, Peter Jeffery’s response and Anastasopoulou’s follow-up, can be read for free in the Scholar’s Study section of the Biblical Archaeology Society’s Web site at http://www.bib-arch.org/scholars-study/secret-mark.asp.
# # #
The Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS) was founded in 1974 as a nonprofit, nondenominational, educational organization dedicated to the dissemination of information about archaeology in the Bible lands.
--- end ---
"Double" Temple to Venus and Roma Reopen in Rome
Ancient Rome's biggest temple reopens
By Ella Ide (AFP) – 11 hours ago
November 11, 2010
ROME — The biggest temple of ancient Rome reopened to the public on Thursday after nearly 30 years amid heavy criticism of Italy's management of its artistic heritage after the collapse of a house in Pompeii.
"We're restoring to Rome one of the most important symbols of the power and greatness of the Roman Empire," Claudia Del Monte, the architect in charge of repairing the Temple of Venus and Roma, told AFP at the opening.
Designed by the Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, the shrine occupies a large area in the Roman Forum -- one of Italy's most popular tourist sites.
The temple, measuring 106 metres by 48 metres (348 feet by 156 feet), once had dozens of columns flanking an enormous nave and a coffered vaulted ceiling.
Only 16 of the original white marble columns are left standing.
The temple site was used as a car park until the 1980s and has been undergoing intermittent restoration work since then.
Erected on the remnants of Emperor Nero's villa, the temple had two main chambers arranged back to back, each containing a giant statue -- one of Venus, the goddess of love, and the other of Roma, the goddess of Rome.
The cult of Venus played an important role in many Roman religious festivals and myths and Julius Caesar claimed the goddess as an ancestor.
Roma faced west to look out over the Forum, while Venus looked out over the Colosseum, with majestic staircases leading down to the ancient arena.
Historians say the orientation of the two statues represented the unity between Rome's past and present, between the Orient and the West.
"We've worked meticulously to restore every single stone of the temple that remains, cleaning away the smog and filth caused by years of urban misuse," said Del Monte, who began working at the site in the early 1980s.
"When we began restoring the stucco we found traces of gold leaf that would have adorned the apses above the statues. Though the sculptures have long been lost, we've done our best to return the temple to its former glory," she said.
Also visible to the public are the detailed carvings on the apses and some of the restored patterned floor, as well as parts of the temple preserved inside a Catholic church built over part of the site.
Del Monte said that elements of the restoration -- such as pinning together parts of the apse that were cracking -- would not have been necessary had the ancient site been better cared for.
"Italians need to be aware of their patrimony and stop abusing it," she said.
Italy is currently gripped by a tense debate over the future of heritage and cultural sites, as the sector faces severe funding cuts and critics blame the government for failing to protect historic monuments from ruin.
Hundreds of museums, libraries and historic parks are set to close across Italian cities on Friday in protest against the cuts -- a debate that has become inflamed after the House of Gladiators collapsed in Pompeii last week.
"This monument should be the envy of the world, but it was completely abandoned and left in the most degraded state," Francesco Maria Giro, Italy's junior culture minister, said at the temple opening.
The collapse of the ancient Roman house in Pompeii has provoked outrage and calls for Culture Minister Sandro Bondi to resign.
"Unfortunately these are very fragile archaeological areas, they're extremely old, in a chronically bad state in parts, so there is always risk problems will crop up," Giro said.
"The area that collapsed recently had been identified as an area at risk, but not an emergency," he said.
"The problem is not the collapse in itself, it's the degradation. We all need to examine our consciences," he added.
Though closed to the public until now, the temple has been used since John Paul II's papacy as a platform for Good Friday ceremonies when the pope leads pilgrims in meditations on the Stations of the Cross.
Tickets to the temple will cost 12 euros (16 dollars), granting access to the temple itself, as well as the Forum, the Palatine and the Colosseum.
Construction of the temple began in 121 AD, and it was officially inaugurated by Hadrian in 135.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved
By Ella Ide (AFP) – 11 hours ago
November 11, 2010
"We're restoring to Rome one of the most important symbols of the power and greatness of the Roman Empire," Claudia Del Monte, the architect in charge of repairing the Temple of Venus and Roma, told AFP at the opening.
Designed by the Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, the shrine occupies a large area in the Roman Forum -- one of Italy's most popular tourist sites.
The temple, measuring 106 metres by 48 metres (348 feet by 156 feet), once had dozens of columns flanking an enormous nave and a coffered vaulted ceiling.
Only 16 of the original white marble columns are left standing.
The temple site was used as a car park until the 1980s and has been undergoing intermittent restoration work since then.
Erected on the remnants of Emperor Nero's villa, the temple had two main chambers arranged back to back, each containing a giant statue -- one of Venus, the goddess of love, and the other of Roma, the goddess of Rome.
The cult of Venus played an important role in many Roman religious festivals and myths and Julius Caesar claimed the goddess as an ancestor.
Roma faced west to look out over the Forum, while Venus looked out over the Colosseum, with majestic staircases leading down to the ancient arena.
Historians say the orientation of the two statues represented the unity between Rome's past and present, between the Orient and the West.
"We've worked meticulously to restore every single stone of the temple that remains, cleaning away the smog and filth caused by years of urban misuse," said Del Monte, who began working at the site in the early 1980s.
"When we began restoring the stucco we found traces of gold leaf that would have adorned the apses above the statues. Though the sculptures have long been lost, we've done our best to return the temple to its former glory," she said.
Also visible to the public are the detailed carvings on the apses and some of the restored patterned floor, as well as parts of the temple preserved inside a Catholic church built over part of the site.
Del Monte said that elements of the restoration -- such as pinning together parts of the apse that were cracking -- would not have been necessary had the ancient site been better cared for.
"Italians need to be aware of their patrimony and stop abusing it," she said.
Italy is currently gripped by a tense debate over the future of heritage and cultural sites, as the sector faces severe funding cuts and critics blame the government for failing to protect historic monuments from ruin.
Hundreds of museums, libraries and historic parks are set to close across Italian cities on Friday in protest against the cuts -- a debate that has become inflamed after the House of Gladiators collapsed in Pompeii last week.
"This monument should be the envy of the world, but it was completely abandoned and left in the most degraded state," Francesco Maria Giro, Italy's junior culture minister, said at the temple opening.
The collapse of the ancient Roman house in Pompeii has provoked outrage and calls for Culture Minister Sandro Bondi to resign.
"Unfortunately these are very fragile archaeological areas, they're extremely old, in a chronically bad state in parts, so there is always risk problems will crop up," Giro said.
"The area that collapsed recently had been identified as an area at risk, but not an emergency," he said.
"The problem is not the collapse in itself, it's the degradation. We all need to examine our consciences," he added.
Though closed to the public until now, the temple has been used since John Paul II's papacy as a platform for Good Friday ceremonies when the pope leads pilgrims in meditations on the Stations of the Cross.
Tickets to the temple will cost 12 euros (16 dollars), granting access to the temple itself, as well as the Forum, the Palatine and the Colosseum.
Construction of the temple began in 121 AD, and it was officially inaugurated by Hadrian in 135.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved
Girls at Ave Maria Convent in Negombo, Sri Lanka, Take Home Chess Medals
Well done! Here is the article. Unfortunately, it does not include the photograph alluded to in the article but it does list the players, their teachers, coaches, etc.
From the dailymirror.com.lk
Ave Maria Convent adjudged chess champions
Thursday, 11 November 2010 12:19
Ave Maria Convent Negombo were adjudged champions in the Western Province Flame Chess Championship 2010 held recently. The under 10 category they won a gold, 12 a bronze and 14 a silver at this event.
The chess champions Ave Maria Convent pose for a photo First row from left under 8 Rosheli Askey, (Silver), under 7 Sandali Fernando (Merit), Prasadani Fernando (Teacher-in-charge-chess), Rev. St. Francine Muthugala (Principal-Ave Maria Convent, Negombo), Asari Peramunugama (Chess coach), Ameesha Fernando (Under 7 Merit), Crishni Fernando (Merit under 8) Second row from left Shwedi Perera (Merit under 12), Nishara Appuhamy (Merit- under 14), Rebeca Fernando (Merit- under 10), Reshita (Gold -under 12), Relinka Nonis (Gold-under 10), Nihary Dalpadado (Bronze -under 10), Roshana Fernando (Merit- under 9), Ishara Fernando (Bronze- under 12). Third row from left Aruni Katunayake (Merit under- 14), Rukshani Askey (merit -under 14), Hansani Muthmala (Merit under 12), Ruhasha Dasanayake (Bronze- under 14), Rabeesha Dasanayake (Merit -under 14), Roshadi Perera (Silver- under 14).
(Text and photo by W.Hubert Fernado-Negombo Corr. )
From the dailymirror.com.lk
Ave Maria Convent adjudged chess champions
Thursday, 11 November 2010 12:19
Ave Maria Convent Negombo were adjudged champions in the Western Province Flame Chess Championship 2010 held recently. The under 10 category they won a gold, 12 a bronze and 14 a silver at this event.
The chess champions Ave Maria Convent pose for a photo First row from left under 8 Rosheli Askey, (Silver), under 7 Sandali Fernando (Merit), Prasadani Fernando (Teacher-in-charge-chess), Rev. St. Francine Muthugala (Principal-Ave Maria Convent, Negombo), Asari Peramunugama (Chess coach), Ameesha Fernando (Under 7 Merit), Crishni Fernando (Merit under 8) Second row from left Shwedi Perera (Merit under 12), Nishara Appuhamy (Merit- under 14), Rebeca Fernando (Merit- under 10), Reshita (Gold -under 12), Relinka Nonis (Gold-under 10), Nihary Dalpadado (Bronze -under 10), Roshana Fernando (Merit- under 9), Ishara Fernando (Bronze- under 12). Third row from left Aruni Katunayake (Merit under- 14), Rukshani Askey (merit -under 14), Hansani Muthmala (Merit under 12), Ruhasha Dasanayake (Bronze- under 14), Rabeesha Dasanayake (Merit -under 14), Roshadi Perera (Silver- under 14).
(Text and photo by W.Hubert Fernado-Negombo Corr. )
Rare Souvenir Chess Piece to be Auctioned Off
Times are tough, perhaps even for wealthy chess collectors, or so it seems... I just saw this story about an upcoming Christie's auction at Art Daily:
Legendary Souvenir Chess Piece from 1897 to be Offered at Christie's South Kensington
LONDON.- Christie’s announced the sale of The Property of a Private Collector of Chess Sets and Game Boards, to be included in the Interiors sale at Christie’s South Kensington saleroom on 7 December 2010. The chess collection is to be sold by one of the founding members of Chess Collectors International, established in 1984, in Florida, USA. A leading highlight from the collection is a very rare souvenir chess piece. Thought to be one of only a few surviving examples, this gilt-bronze piece by Carlo and Arthur Giuliano was made to commemorate the historical chess match played between The House of Commons in London and The House of Representatives in Washington D.C, by cable in 1897 (estimate: £4,000-6,000). Lasting two days, the match resulted in a draw, with each winning 2 ½ games each, and a souvenir chess piece is believed to have been presented to each player as a memento for having taken part.
Arranged by John Henniker Heaton, a British Conservative MP, and U.S. Representative Richmond Pearson of North Carolina, this is believed to have been the only match played between the two governments of the UK and US. The matches were arranged as a fun pastime, but the players took them very seriously, with the Representatives documented as having received professional coaching beforehand. Cable matches were arranged soon after cable transmissions became available, the only drawback being the high cost for transmitting the messages.
The game of chess is documented to have been introduced to the ‘smoke-room’ at the House of Commons in the late 1880s, and was allegedly a very popular pastime for members. Several articles published at the time refer to a chess club, a petition for better chess boards and tables in the House, as well as lamenting the loss of the best chess players, due to members losing their seats during elections.
A number of the sets and boards on offer in the Collection featured in the famed exhibition catalogue “Schachpartie Durch Zeiten und Welten”, by Hans and Barbara Holländer. The catalogue documented the largest and most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to chess sets and related items ever staged, which was to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Hamburger Schachklub – the oldest and largest chess club in Germany, established in 1830. For chess collectors around the world, the chance to acquire items which appeared in this book is a very rare and special opportunity, and one not to be missed.
Legendary Souvenir Chess Piece from 1897 to be Offered at Christie's South Kensington
 |
| A leading highlight from the collection is a very rare souvenir chess piece. Estimate: £4,000-6,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010. |
Arranged by John Henniker Heaton, a British Conservative MP, and U.S. Representative Richmond Pearson of North Carolina, this is believed to have been the only match played between the two governments of the UK and US. The matches were arranged as a fun pastime, but the players took them very seriously, with the Representatives documented as having received professional coaching beforehand. Cable matches were arranged soon after cable transmissions became available, the only drawback being the high cost for transmitting the messages.
The game of chess is documented to have been introduced to the ‘smoke-room’ at the House of Commons in the late 1880s, and was allegedly a very popular pastime for members. Several articles published at the time refer to a chess club, a petition for better chess boards and tables in the House, as well as lamenting the loss of the best chess players, due to members losing their seats during elections.
A number of the sets and boards on offer in the Collection featured in the famed exhibition catalogue “Schachpartie Durch Zeiten und Welten”, by Hans and Barbara Holländer. The catalogue documented the largest and most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to chess sets and related items ever staged, which was to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Hamburger Schachklub – the oldest and largest chess club in Germany, established in 1830. For chess collectors around the world, the chance to acquire items which appeared in this book is a very rare and special opportunity, and one not to be missed.
Will Chess Be Deleted from 2014 Asian Games?
Well this sucks!
From taiwannews.com.tw
Chess, dance might get cut from 2014 Asian Games
2010-11-11 07:03 PM
South Korean organizers of the next Asian Games in Incheon have proposed cutting sports such as cricket and dance from the 2014 program.
The Olympic Council of Asia has decided to cap the number of sports at future Asian Games at 35 _ 28 from the Olympic program and seven more that reflect the region's culture.
The Guangzhou Games starting Friday includes 42 sports.
The OCA on Thursday said Incheon organizers submitted a list that includes the non-Olympic sports of baseball, bowling, kabaddi, sepak takraw, softball, squash and wushu.
Existing sports missing from that list include cricket, cue sports, dance sport, dragon boat racing, roller sports and chess.
The OCA will decide the 2014 sports program on the weekend.
From taiwannews.com.tw
Chess, dance might get cut from 2014 Asian Games
2010-11-11 07:03 PM
South Korean organizers of the next Asian Games in Incheon have proposed cutting sports such as cricket and dance from the 2014 program.
The Olympic Council of Asia has decided to cap the number of sports at future Asian Games at 35 _ 28 from the Olympic program and seven more that reflect the region's culture.
The Guangzhou Games starting Friday includes 42 sports.
The OCA on Thursday said Incheon organizers submitted a list that includes the non-Olympic sports of baseball, bowling, kabaddi, sepak takraw, softball, squash and wushu.
Existing sports missing from that list include cricket, cue sports, dance sport, dragon boat racing, roller sports and chess.
The OCA will decide the 2014 sports program on the weekend.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
It would have been nice, certainly polite and definitely good business practice, to have been asked by the people who put together this year's Women's World Chess Championship for GODDESSCHESS' permission to use OUR logo (in use at the Goddesschess website for the past ten years) to promote their official website. Oh well, darlings. What goes around, comes around, as the old saying goes. Remember where you saw it first. Online since May, 1999, and counting... Check the wayback machine for verification.
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| Goddesschess logo, copyrighted |
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| Logo for 2010 Women's World Chess Championship |
Women's World Chess Championship 2010
Susan Polgar's chess news site and blog has a list of the R1 pairings. This is a knock-out style tournament where the lowest rated players are matched against the respective highest rated players in R1, and at the end 32 players will be left standing to go into R2. The greatest ratings discrepancies will be at the higest boards; players at the middle and lower boards will have the greatest ratings parity. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk is the current Women's World Chess Champion and automatically holds Board 1.
Official website: http://wwcc2010.tsf.org.tr/
| BOARD | PLAYER 1 | PLAYER 2 |
| 32 | Turova, Irina | Khukhashvili, Sopiko |
| 31 | Rajlich, Iweta | Houska, Jovanka |
| 30 | Zhukova, Natalia | Romanko, Marina |
| 29 | Dembo, Yelena | Munguntuul, Batkhuyag |
| 28 | Skripchenko, Almira | Foisor, Cristina-Adela |
| 27 | Ushenina, Anna | Huang, Qian |
| 26 | Shen, Yang | Ovod, Evgenija |
| 25 | Muzychuk, Mariya | Cori T., Deysi |
| 24 | Danielian, Elina | Shadrina, Tatiana |
| 23 | Pogonina, Natalija | Kovanova, Baira |
| 22 | Hoang Thanh Trang | Ding, Yixin |
| 21 | Paehtz, Elisabeth | Zawadzka, Jolanta |
| 20 | Zhao, Xue | Fierro Baquero, Martha |
| 19 | Zhu, Chen | Muminova, Nafisa |
| 18 | Zatonskih, Anna | Lomineishvili, Maia |
| 17 | Mkrtchian, Lilit | Zhang, Xiaowen |
| 16 | Ruan, Lufei | Baginskaite, Camilla |
| 15 | Sebag, Marie | Vasilevich, Irina |
| 14 | Socko, Monika | Soumya, Swaminathan |
| 13 | Chiburdanidze, Maia | Meenakshi Subbaraman |
| 12 | Cmilyte, Viktorija | Demina, Julia |
| 11 | Lahno, Kateryna | Ozturk, Kubra |
| 10 | Ju, Wenjun | Caoili, Arianne |
| 9 | Harika, Dronavalli | Nadig, Kruttika |
| 8 | Cramling, Pia | Yildiz, Betul Cemre |
| 7 | Muzychuk, Anna | Zuriel, Marisa |
| 6 | Stefanova, Antoaneta | Aliaga Fernandez, Ingrid |
| 5 | Dzagnidze, Nana | Kagramanov, Dina |
| 4 | Kosintseva, Tatiana | Mona, Khaled |
| 3 | Hou, Yifan | Heredia Serrano, Carla |
| 2 | Koneru, Humpy | Greeff, Melissa |
| 1 | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | Mezioud, Amina |
Official website: http://wwcc2010.tsf.org.tr/
Crazy...
I'm crazy for trying, and crazy for crying...
Patsy Kline
You may be right, I may be crazy...
Billy Joel
But we're never gonna survive unless, we get a little crazy.. crazy..
No we're never gonna to survive unless we are a little... crazy..
But we're never gonna survive unless, we get a little crazy.. crazy..
No we're never gonna to survive unless, we are a little.. crazy..
Seal
Crazy
Gnarles Barkley (love the name :))
I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space
And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
probably
And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice
Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
Ha ha ha bless your soul
You really think you're in control
Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me
My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done
Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably
Uh, uh
Patsy Kline
You may be right, I may be crazy...
Billy Joel
But we're never gonna survive unless, we get a little crazy.. crazy..
No we're never gonna to survive unless we are a little... crazy..
But we're never gonna survive unless, we get a little crazy.. crazy..
No we're never gonna to survive unless, we are a little.. crazy..
Seal
Gnarles Barkley (love the name :))
I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space
And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
probably
And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice
Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
Ha ha ha bless your soul
You really think you're in control
Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me
My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done
Maybe I'm crazy
Maybe you're crazy
Maybe we're crazy
Probably
Uh, uh
Another Medal for Marie Antoinette San Diego
After gold medal win, Pinay bags silver in ASEAN Olympiad
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 11/09/2010 10:20 AM | Updated as of 11/09/2010 10:20 AM
MANILA, Philippines – RP whiz kid Marie Antoinette San Diego bagged the silver medal in the individual girls rapid competition of the ASEAN Primary School Sports Olympiad 2010 (APSSO) Chess Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.
San Diego, who is playing under the banner of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) headed by President/ Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., finished second behind eventual champion and gold medal winner Nguyen Thanh Thuy Tien of Vietnam after the tie-break points were.
In the final round, San Diego was held to a draw against Nur Najiha Bt.Azman Hisham of Malaysia while Thanh Thuy Tien outclassed Angela Natasya R. of Indonesia 1.
Thanh Thuy Tien and San Diego both tallied 3.5 points each while Najiha Bt.Azman Hisham of Malaysia took the bronze with a superior quotient in the huge group of 3 pointers.
Last weekend, San Diego gave the Philippines its first gold medal in the individual girls standard competition after she bested fellow 4 pointer Thanh Thuy Tien in the tie-break points.
San Diego’s gold and silver medal finishes are big boosts for the RP Youth team after the boys team spearheaded by Daryl Unix Samantila, Stephen Rome Pangilinan and Raul “Rhal” Sol Cruz had a hard time winning a medal.
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 11/09/2010 10:20 AM | Updated as of 11/09/2010 10:20 AM
MANILA, Philippines – RP whiz kid Marie Antoinette San Diego bagged the silver medal in the individual girls rapid competition of the ASEAN Primary School Sports Olympiad 2010 (APSSO) Chess Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.
San Diego, who is playing under the banner of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) headed by President/ Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., finished second behind eventual champion and gold medal winner Nguyen Thanh Thuy Tien of Vietnam after the tie-break points were.
In the final round, San Diego was held to a draw against Nur Najiha Bt.Azman Hisham of Malaysia while Thanh Thuy Tien outclassed Angela Natasya R. of Indonesia 1.
Thanh Thuy Tien and San Diego both tallied 3.5 points each while Najiha Bt.Azman Hisham of Malaysia took the bronze with a superior quotient in the huge group of 3 pointers.
Last weekend, San Diego gave the Philippines its first gold medal in the individual girls standard competition after she bested fellow 4 pointer Thanh Thuy Tien in the tie-break points.
San Diego’s gold and silver medal finishes are big boosts for the RP Youth team after the boys team spearheaded by Daryl Unix Samantila, Stephen Rome Pangilinan and Raul “Rhal” Sol Cruz had a hard time winning a medal.
Additional Pay-Off?
An interesting little news article cropped up today, from themoscowtimes.com:
Ilyumzhinov Brother Hired
10 November 2010
Vyacheslav Ilyumzhinov, the elder brother of former Kalmykia leader Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has been appointed first deputy prime minister of the republic.
The decision was made by Kalmykia’s new leader, Alexei Orlov, and announced on his web site Monday. Orlov offered a government post to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in October, but the former leader, who had ruled the republic from 1993 to last month and also heads the World Chess Federation, declined. [Yes, Kirsan gets to turn down Orlov's offer and thereby save face, while keeping a well-paying position in the family...]
Vyacheslav Ilyumzhinov worked as his brother’s aide on ideology in the 1990s, was deputy governor of the Nenets autonomous district in the early 2000s, and has headed the board of directors of a company called SAR since 2006, RIA-Novosti reported.
(MT)
Is this an additional pay-off for Kirsan agreeing to step down from the governorship of Kalmykia in exchange for the Russians guaranteeing his re-election to head FIDE? No doubt there is a wide range of opinions on the subject :) In any event, the Man Who Talks To Aliens continues to run the world chess federation, which has a French name (Fédération Internationale des Échecs). Two strikes already... No wonder the best chessplayer in the world, Magnus Carlsen, decided to opt out of the FIDE championship cycle. Har!
Ilyumzhinov Brother Hired
10 November 2010
Vyacheslav Ilyumzhinov, the elder brother of former Kalmykia leader Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, has been appointed first deputy prime minister of the republic.
The decision was made by Kalmykia’s new leader, Alexei Orlov, and announced on his web site Monday. Orlov offered a government post to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in October, but the former leader, who had ruled the republic from 1993 to last month and also heads the World Chess Federation, declined. [Yes, Kirsan gets to turn down Orlov's offer and thereby save face, while keeping a well-paying position in the family...]
Vyacheslav Ilyumzhinov worked as his brother’s aide on ideology in the 1990s, was deputy governor of the Nenets autonomous district in the early 2000s, and has headed the board of directors of a company called SAR since 2006, RIA-Novosti reported.
(MT)
Is this an additional pay-off for Kirsan agreeing to step down from the governorship of Kalmykia in exchange for the Russians guaranteeing his re-election to head FIDE? No doubt there is a wide range of opinions on the subject :) In any event, the Man Who Talks To Aliens continues to run the world chess federation, which has a French name (Fédération Internationale des Échecs). Two strikes already... No wonder the best chessplayer in the world, Magnus Carlsen, decided to opt out of the FIDE championship cycle. Har!
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