Inuit/Viking Contact

Article from The Artic Sounder.com Inukpasuit, Inuit and Viking contact in ancient times RONALD BROWER February 12, 2009 at 10:44AM AKST There are many stories of ‘Qavlunaat,’ white-skinned strangers who were encountered in Inuit-occupied lands in times of old. Stories of contact between these foreign people and Inuit were passed down the generations and used mostly to scare children to behave “or the Qavlunaat will get them.” This sparked my curiosity to explore both sides of the encounters from written records and Inuit oral legends to see if some of these events can be correlated. One must recall that these legends were passed down orally in the Inupiaq language. Inuit myths and legends of contact with other people were passed from one generation to the next through story telling traditions. Many people have heard Pete Sovalik, a well-known Inupiaq story-teller tell this shortened version of a story relating to Qavlunaat and other races. Taimaniqpaa_ruk - In Times of Old – Qavlunaat were one of the children of an Inuk woman who refused to marry; a Ui_uaqtaq. Her name was Sedragina, also known as Sedna in other Inuit regions. In her youth she was just an ordinary person – A young Inuk girl (agnaiyaaq) who grew up disliking men because of abuse committed to her as a child. Having grown into a beautiful marriageable maiden, niviaq_siaq, men from many lands sought to marry her but she rebuked all men. One time she was courted by a rich shaman’s son to no avail. Angered by her reluctance, the rich shaman called upon other equally strong shamuses to punish her. Together they cast a great spell upon her father’s lead dog that was transformed into a handsome young man by night but by day, he was just an ordinary lead dog. Every evening he relentlessly pursued her for sexual favors until she was worn and tired for lack of sleep wherein she, in a weakened state, gave way to his wishes. In due time, she bore a litter of human and dog-like children having a variety of skin colors as many litters often do. These became the other races of man. As they grew, she decided to send her children away toward the East, for they became a menace to the surrounding communities because of their wild behavior. Her father had also decided to end her miserable existence - to be rid of her and the shame she brought to his house. In Inupiat legends her story is seen as the beginning of all other human races and of the sea animals. Hence modern Qavlunaat now know her as the Mother of the Sea, a Goddess deity, but in reality Inuit do not have gods. They believe that the visible world is pervaded by Anirniit, the powers, invisible forces or spirits that affect the lives of the living. The story teller weaves in a passage of time when the children of Sedragina would return to their kin the Inuit. Their return would mark a time of change for the Inuit but the story tellers would not say what kind of change was to follow. As hundreds of centuries passed, vague stories were heard of the return of these people now known as Qavlunaat but they slowly faded from legends passed down over the generations. During the time when we lived in our little village of Iviksuk, our great uncle Owen Kiiriq would also tell tales during the dark months of winter in our little dwelling. Recalling a time that Inuit encountered another kind of race who already lived in our lands. Kiiriq recalled that elders would call them Tunnit or Inukpasuit, the giants. They were treated as fearsome coastal dwellers and were considered enemies of Inuit. They spoke an Inuit language of an archaic type understandable to our ancestors. Kiiriq would continue his tale and describe how Inupasuit were viewed as unkempt and unclean by Inuit standards. They were considered a danger to Inuit because they at times waylaid and captured unwary hunters. Being smaller then them, our ancestors were considered a delectable prey. Once captured, they would be cooked and eaten with relish. Thus Inuit feared these giant beings and would attempt to wipe them out if they could. They were considered slow of thought but clever in their means of pursuit of game. Inuit were ever moving eastward and the Inupasuit soon fell into the lot of myths and legends in our great grandparents’ time. My research led me to Farley Mowat, author of Westviking, who includes descriptive appendices called “The Vanished Dorset”. Mowat provides a description by the Norse who encountered the Dorset (Tunnit) around A.D.1000 as being swarthy and ill looking with remarkable eyes. Mowat refers to another encounter of the Tuniit in the Floamanna Saga where the Viking Thorgisl Orrabeinsfostri shipwrecked in Baffin Island around 997. There, he and his men encountered a giant people, describing the Tunnit. The Tunnit had lived in the Arctic for a long period of time before contact with either Inuit or Vikings. They developed a culture based on seal hunting and wherever their sod houses are found they show a long period of occupancy as noted by their middens of mostly seal remains. As climate changed, seals moved further north following the sea ice. Mowat suggest that as seals shifted their range, so did the Tunnit following their primary food source. This may be why Erik the Red did not encounter Inuit or Tunnit when he explored the Greenland coast around 981. Inuit myths and legends have passed through generations of story tellers. Many have changed but a little over time. A number of Inuit legends are being studied by scholars to see if they can be historically correlated to evidence found in archeological sites in several locations. Look for an interesting conclusion of this exposition in part two. Ronald Brower is an Inupiaq language professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Wisconsin Scholastic Chess: 4th Annual All Girls Tournament

A reminder about this fantastic event put on by the Wisconsin Scholastic Chess Federation. $1,000 in scholarships will be awarded to this year's winners. Saturday February 28, 2009 Location: Divine Savior Holy Angels High School 4257 N 100th St, Milwaukee, WI 53222 (414) 462-3742 Format: Three Sections K – 3 5 Round Swiss G30 K – 6 5 Round Swiss G30 Open (k-12) 5 Round Swiss G30 WSCF K - 3 Three Team Trophies. Individual trophies to top 5 players. WSCF K – 6 Three Team Trophies. Individual trophies to top 5 players. WSCF K – 12 Open Three Team Trophies. Individual trophies to top 5 players. Medals to all participants. Scholarships: K – 3 $ 100 to Champion K – 6 $ 200 to Champion Open $ 400 to Champion, $200 to 2nd Place, $100 to 3rd Place Entry: Register on line at www.wisconsinscholasticchess.org before Thursday Feb 26th at 11: 00 pm. Payment only on day of tournament. $10 for advance registration on line. $15 on site On Site Registration: Registration is from 8:00 am to 8:45. Those arriving after 8:45 will be paired in round 2.

U.S. Amateur Team - North

List of teams (from vajachess.com) for the Open section (chess femmes highlighted - I may have missed some). I don't know how current the list is: 1) Chicago Industrial Chess League -- Avg. Rating 2177 Board 1: WFM Anastasia Antipova 2238 (FIDE +100) Board 2: Matthias Pfau 2223 (FIDE +100) Board 3: Fred Scott Allsbrook 2128 Board 4: Yuri Fridman 2109 Alternate: Robert D Morris 2020 2)Kistler's Team -- Avg. Rating 2036 Board 1: FM Dennis Monokroussos 2354 Board 2: Kevin D Fyr 2077 Board 3: Leslie C. Kistler 2027 Board 4: Mathew Leach 1641 3) Green Machine/ NN -- Avg. Rating 1891 Board 1: Kelly Borman 1956 Board 2: Josiah Stein 1936 Board 3: Luke Ludwig 1900 Board 4: Tim Bogenschutz 1772 4) University of Chicago A -- Avg. Rating 1885 Board 1: Jeremy Kane 2183 Board 2: Sam Devenport 1841 (FIDE) Board 3: Marcel Knudsen 1781 Board 4: Ngai Seng Kenny Yeng 1734 5) You've been ROYALLY FORKED -- Avg. Rating 1849 Board 1: Lawrence Cohen 2026 Board 2: Christopher Baumgartner 1801 Board 3: Jon Bonwell 1801 Board 4: Daneil Parmet 1769 Alternate: Bryan Villareal 1637 6) Mate in Four -- Avg. Rating 1837 Board 1: Allen Becker 2041 Board 2: James J Coons 1866 Board 3: Andrew Grochowski 1762 Board 4: Robin Grochowski 1677 Alternate: NONE 7) NN -- Avg. Rating 1788 - need to pay Board 1: Alexander Velikanov 2046 Board 2: Peter Velikanov 1905 Board 3: Nolan Hendrickson 1814 Board 4: Jordan Smith 1385 –paid 8) NN -- Avg. Rating 1637 Board 1: David Jin 1913 Board 2: Derek Sachs 1773 Board 3: Tiayne Zhang 1536 Board 4: Henry Vander Hill 1325 Alternate: NONE 9) NN-- Avg. Rating: 1598 Avg. Rating Board 1: John Veech 1852 Board 2: Andrew Gorectke 1582 Board 3: Troy Zimmermann 1508 Board 4: Thomas George Schneider 1448 10) NN -- Avg. Rating: 1503 Board 1: Hongkai Pan 1907 Board 2: Neil Thomas Strugnell 1676 Board 3: Suhas Kodali 1255 Board 4: Timothy Robert Broman 1172 11) Exchange-Down Technique Avg. Rating 1325 Board 1: Jason Juett 1943 Board 2: Jeremy Madison 1906 Board 3: Brandt Skilling 830 Board 4: Kimberly Hudson 620 12) University of Chicago B Avg. Rating 1173 Board 1: Mike Mei 1775 Board 2: Jason Cigan 1037 Board 3: Ken Yuan UNR Board 4: Allison Hegel 707 13) NN -- Avg. Rating Incomplete Team Board 1: NM Erik Santarius 2299 Board 2: Joseph P Richards 2097 Board 3: TBD Board 4: TBD

U.S. Amateur Team - North

Thanks to Allen Becker for the information on this great Wisconsin event: U.S. Amateur Team - North Feb. 13-15 or 14-15 Waukesha, Wisconsin Two sections: Open and Scholastic (Saturday only) 5SS, 30/90, SD/60 (rounds 1-2 for 2-day schedule G/60; scholastic section G/60 all four rounds). Milwaukee Marriott West, W231N1600 Corporate CT, Waukesha, WI 53186. Chess Rate of $85.99 is valid until Feb. 1st. Reserve early (262) 574-0888. OPEN: Open to 4 player teams with one optional alternate (individuals can enter and be assigned teammates). Team average (4 highest ratings--2008 Annual Rating list) must be under 2200. EF: $140 ($141 if 2-day schedule) postmarked by 2/5/09; $180 after or at door. Prizes: 4 clocks to top two teams, 4 clocks to top teams with average rating u1900, u1600, and u1300. Prizes to best team composed of juniors (high school and younger). Special prizes to top score on each board. Best game prize. Schedule: 3-day: Late Registration: 6-7pm on 02/13. Rounds: 7:30pm; 10:00am-4:00pm; 10:00am-4:00pm. 2-day: Late Registration: 9-10:30am on 02/14. Rounds: 11:00am-1:30pm-4:00pm; 10:00am-4:00pm. Saturday Night Special: dessert + blitz tournament with $$ prizes. SCHOLASTIC: Open to 4 player team with one optional alternate (all players must be High School age or younger; individuals can enter and be assigned teammates). Team average (4 highest ratings--2008 Annual Rating list) must be under 1200. EF: $120 postmarked by 2/5/09; $150 after or at door. Prizes: Prizes to top team overall, top three High School Teams, top three Middle School Teams, top three Elementary School Teams. Special prizes to top score on each board. Schedule: Late Registration: 8:30-9:30am on 02/14. Rounds: 10:15am-1:00pm-3:30pm-6pm. Saturday Night Special: dessert + blitz tournament with $$ prizes. Information/Help with Teams: ashish@vajachess.com, 414-234-1005 or abetaneli@wichessacademy.com. Make Checks Payable to and Send Entries to: VICA, 6822 North Crestwood Dr, Glendale, WI 53209. Please include captain’s email and phone number. 2008 results.

Esther Reed Gets Four Years

I've posted about Esther Reed before. It's an incredible story. What I do not understand is why she is being sent to prison. The CIA should be hiring this woman! What money did she steal? Who did she rob? Who did she kill? She used other people's names, but in the end, who did she hurt? Anyone? I don't get it. Story at the Huffington Post Vicky Ward Contributing editor, Vanity Fair Esther Reed: How An Ordinary Girl Faked Her Way Into The Ivy League Today in a courtroom in South Carolina, Esther Elizabeth Reed's fantasies finally ended. The 30-year-old brunette, who has spent eight of the past ten years on the run, often entering Ivy League schools under adopted fake identities, and evading cops with an extraordinary web of deception, faces up to over four years in prison. For one man, Jon Campbell, a slight, sandy-haired tenacious investigator in the police department of the tiny town of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, it is the end of what became an obsessive case resembling the plot of Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks as the FBI detective Carl Hanratty always hotly in pursuit of his prey. Campbell was Reed's Hanratty. In summer 2006 Campbell had received a phone call from a police officer in New York. Campbell was informed that Brooke Henson, a beautiful young woman who had disappeared in peculiar circumstances from her family home in Travelers Rest in the early hours of July 4th 1999 when she was just twenty -- and had since become the town's only unsolved missing person -- had been found. She was, so Campbell was informed an honors student at the Ivy League school of Columbia on New York's upper West Side. New York police had gone to seek out the young woman on the Columbia campus after a New Yorker from whom she had been seeking part-time employment doing housework had googled her and seen she was listed as a missing person on the internet. Brooke Henson told police who interrogated her that she had no desire to be reunited with her family since she was a victim of domestic abuse. She wanted to be left alone to get on her with studies. She was very convincing. The New York police officer told Campbell that they intended to close Ms. Henson's file. Campbell replied that they could close the case if they liked but there was no way the woman they had found was the real Brooke Henson. "Take some DNA" he suggested. "The Brooke Henson I knew could never have got into Columbia" he said into the phone. The girl he knew was a high-school dropout, a party girl. Something in his voice made New York officer go the extra mile. The next day Campbell's phone rang again. Brooke Henson had failed to show for her DNA test. Campbell wasn't surprised. When, weeks later, New York cops forced entry into her apartment, they tripped over a pile of calling cards from New York officers. They had been dropped through the mailbox. They found no hair, no trace of anything that would have DNA. But they did find a video card, signed in Boston, MA bearing the name "Natalie Bowman." Once again they called Campbell and relayed their findings. Who was the young woman if it wasn't Brooke Henson? Officially this was his case. Campbell rolled up his sleeves and went to work. A 40-year-old graduate of Bob Jones university, he was more anxious than anyone to solve a mystery that had preyed on his mind and exasperated him for years. Back in 2001 he had been assigned the case and handed two boxes of "indecipherable" material. He had re-interviewed dozens of local people and taken DNA samples to try solve what had really happened to Brooke Henson and found himself thwarted at every turn. "Everyone in this town had a theory about what happened to Brooke," he said. "But none of them was right." Particularly exasperating for him were the prank calls. There was a medium who claimed to have seen her body beside "yellow rope" and then there was the inmate from a neighboring jurisdiction who got cops to drive him around in the pouring rain and dig. He was pretty sure Brooke Henson had been murdered and he thought he knew who had done it and even probably where. He had just never found a body -- much to his chagrin. So, he was intrigued by whoever this impostor was, pretending to be Brooke. Maybe she had information that could help him; maybe she had known the young woman. First he had to find out who she was. He began a lonely few months of phone calls and paper trails. He called Kim Finnergan head of security at Columbia. Finnergan was helpful at first but then stopped sending him documents once the school got "lawyered up." Thereafter they cited privacy laws. Campbell had to get a federal subpoena to force them to continue to help him. It was like pulling teeth. He learned there were two Natalie Bowmans. One was a dead end in that she is a bona fide medical graduate student at Columbia and a former graduate of Harvard. Another one showed up, before two years at Columbia, in Harvard's records. He saw she had been on the debate team there in 2002. From there she had apparently vanished. Harvard had no record of her graduating. Like Columbia, Harvard was not helpful. But Campbell learned that in both places her file was flagged as a victim of domestic abuse. It is possible both knew "Natalie Bowman" or "Brooke Henson" was not her real name. Campbell retraced the steps of Harvard debate team in 2002. Harvard had taken on West Point. A few more phone calls led him to Natalie Bowman's former boyfriends -- cadet officers who had been on West Point's debate team and who had since left to take senior military postings, including the supervising of others in Iraq. He called the parents of one young man, in Detroit. Finally he got the name he was looking for; the young man's parents believed the woman calling herself Natalie Bowman was really one, Esther Reed. They'd seen her driver's license which been issued in Seattle. Rest of story.

Hawass Couldn't Wait

Like a first grader who has to pee and hops from one foot to the other broadcasting his intentions, Zahi Hawass just couldn't wait, and foolishly opened the rare intact sarcophagus recently discovered in a Saqqara burial chamber (along with as many as 29 other mummies, including the mummy of a dog). I hope the ghost of that mummy haunts the jerk for the rest of his life! This is an act of gross malfeasance, done purely for the publicity. Opening such a rare prize in totally uncontrolled conditions! What a schmuck! The Egyptians should run the dude out of office and strip him of his fancy title and salary. And he calls himself a scientist, an egyptologist. Ha! (Image: photo credit (Mike Nelson/Pool/Reuters) The idiot Hawass poses in a corner of the burial chamger while the skull of the mummy is exposed to an uncontrolled environment. It would serve him right if that mummy disintegrates before they can get it to Cairo.) Egypt finds rare intact mummy near Saqqara pyramid By Cynthia Johnston Cynthia Johnston – Wed Feb 11, 9:48 am ET SAQQARA, Egypt (Reuters) – Egyptian archaeologists found a rare intact mummy dating to pharaonic times when they opened a sealed limestone sarcophagus on Wednesday in the shadow of the world's oldest standing step pyramid at Saqqara. The well-preserved mummy, which escaped plunder by thieves in ancient times, could contain scores of gold amulets in the folds of its linen wrappings, Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi Hawass said. "It is a typical mummy of the 26th dynasty...This mummy should contain amulets, golden amulets, to help the deceased go to the afterlife," Hawass told reporters after ascending from the mummy's burial chamber, accessible only by a rope pulley. "To find an intact mummy inside a limestone sarcophagus is not common. It's rare. It's very rare," he said. Archaeologists found the ancient mummy when they removed the lid of its sarcophagus deep in a burial chamber in the desert on the western side of Saqqara, about 20 km (12 miles) south of Cairo. Thirty other mummies were also found in the same room. The 26th dynasty ruled Egypt from about 664 to 525 BC, immediately before Persians occupied the area. Hawass said the mummy found in the sarcophagus, believed to be the original owner of the burial room, would undergo scans to determine if it did contain amulets. It is unusual to find intact burials in well-known necropolises such as Saqqara, which served the nearby city of Memphis, because thieves scoured the area in ancient times. MORE TOMBS COULD BE FOUND Hawass said the mummy's burial room, built via a shaft next to a much older burial chamber, was one of three tombs archaeologists had recently unearthed near Saqqara that were thought to be part of a much larger cemetery. "I always say that we have found 30 percent of the Egyptian monuments, and still 70 percent is buried underneath the ground," Hawass said. "We expect to discover more tombs. You have to wait. Every week (there) will be a tomb to be discovered in this area. This is the beginning of the cemetery," he said. The identity of the main mummy found in the tomb was not known, but Hawass said he would have been wealthy. The lid of his sarcophagus was cracked, but Hawass said it had been sealed with mortar in antiquity, preserving the mummy. "If a mummy is inside the limestone sarcophagus, it means this person is rich," he said. Of the roughly 30 mummies found inside the burial chamber alongside the limestone sarcophagus and its mummy, Hawass said some would have been poor and some wealthy. They may have been relatives of the original owner. Most of the additional mummies were found in niches in the walls of the burial room, about 11 meters (34 feet) below ground level, and they included four mummies buried with a dog. But the finds also included two anthropoid wood coffins with hieroglyphic inscriptions. Hawass found a 26th dynasty mummy in one of the wood coffins when he opened it on Wednesday after brushing away loose sand. The other wood coffin was deemed too fragile, and would be opened later after conservation efforts. (Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

From Gs to Gents

I don't have cable television so I'm out of the loop (way out) on most of the popular t.v. shows these days, but even if I had cable I probably wouldn't watch MTV. But today I came across mention of the show "From Gs to Gents" that a new season was starting. I didn't know what "Gs" meant but I know what "Gents" means so I figured it must be some kind of reality make-over show. I did a quick Google search and found the official website which includes the full first episode of the new season, where the 16 Gs are introduced. I learned that Gs are "ganstas" - oh please! If it's one thing I utterly despise, it's that ghetto crap talk complete with profanity that is so profuse, it becomes meaningless. I was intrigued by the premise though. If these guys were truly Gs, could they make the changes necessary to learn the way toward becoming a true gentleman? Are some of these guys "ganstas"? Some of them wouldn't scare Edward G. Robinson, but I suppose some of them are ganstas (believe me guys, that is not a compliment) and if I saw any one of them walking down the street toward me I'd probably think "trouble" along with a twinge of disgust at such a worthless specimen. Some of these fellows have had brushes with the law (on the wrong side), at least one has been to prison for armed robbery (ironically, one of the better spoken of the guys who seems he could get something on the ball), and several of these young "men" have children themselves. To a man, the ones who had children said they were doing this for their children, so that they might have better lives. Yeah, well, if your lives suck so much, dudes, why did you bring new life into the world when you are not equipped to care for it? Didn't think about keeping it in your pants, did you? I get sick of the BS, you know? I watched the show online during my lunch hour. Is there a way to skip the commercials? Probably not - it's not as if it's on a VCR where you can zap through the commercials. The commercials were truly awful, but I found the show interesting. Some of the fellows have very sad life stories, some of them were just silly-butt jerks, and a couple of them were so utterly clueless - they were the saddest of all. I felt sorry for them. They were truly pathetic. The most clueless of them all is "Riff-Raff" from Texas, who has colored wool (or something) woven into his awful hair (it looks as if cooties could jump out at any second and eat the camera), disfiguring tatoos all over, gold foil or whatever it is on several of his teeth (he was constantly picking at his teeth throughout the show), his eyebrows have hash-marks shaved into them. He talks trash and ghetto combined, wore absolutely awful clothes but I guess in his mode of life he is considered somewhat fashionable. His life consists of getting drunk and drunker on the weekends and then waiting through the rest of the week until the next weekend comes. I believe he is a drug dealer, but I could be wrong about that. If he was cleaned up, all the silly clothes removed and given a decent haircut, he would look like a young Woody Harrelson - until he opened up his mouth. Part of the process in show one was a one-on-one interview with the head of the Gentlemen's Club - I do not know who he is so I cannot tell you his name or what he is famous for. But he is famous, judging by the reaction of the Gs. They were equal parts envious and impressed with this man. During one of these interviews, the G said he knew that if he showed up at a job interview dressed as he was (with those silly saggy pants that show underwear and butt-crack, the backwards hat, the gold chains, the athletic shoes that cost hundreds of dollars and are useless for anything athletic) and he opened his mouth and out came ghetto, he would not get a job. Gee - ya think? That particular G showed something resembling introspection and the ability to relate his actions to something other than ghetto and gangs and a dead-end life. Poor Riff-Raff, on the other hand, said he was in school for 11 years and did not remember a thing. And when he said that, he didn't know whether to look proudly defiant, or just plain scared. If he was trying for proudly defiant, he failed miserably. He just looked plain scared. Very very sad. What I wonder is - do any Gs or wannabe Gs watch this show and, if they do, do they learn anything from it? One of the things that an education does is to teach a person that he/she does NOT have to make the same mistakes of those who went before. Do they get it? By the end of the show I had a few favorites and I will check from time to time to see if there are updates on the show about who makes it through, and who doesn't. The winner receives $100,000. It could be life-changing. But hopefully, just being on the show for several weeks will teach at least some of these fellows a few life lessons worth learning. It does matter how one dresses, walks and talks. And ghetto is a sure ticket to the wrong end of the street. I hope some of the guys get the message.

Deities of the Canine Kind

(Image: Traditional eastern depiction of a dog-headed St. Christopher: an icon from the Byzantine Museum, Athens).

Goddesses have been connected to ancient board games from the earliest times. For instance, the Shar-i Sokhtah game board, a twenty squares game board made of wood whose playing spaces are formed by the bodies of two intertwined serpents (c. 2400 BCE), reflects the serpent connection to several ancient goddesses; twenty squares game boards excavated at Ur and other places have certain squares marked with an eight-pointed square or "rosette" - a symbol of Inanna.

Dogs have also been companions of ancient goddesses since time immemorial, some as hunting companions but, more often, connected to a goddess' role as arbiter of birth/death/rebirth. Dogs and other canines (as well as birds - another story) were carion eaters, fulfilling a necessary role in the never-ending cycle of life. (Vultures also fulfilled this role in Upper Egypt, and were so revered in that culture that one of the protectoresses of Pharaoh was the Vulture Goddess Nekhbet, who formed part of the Double Crown along with Uadjet, the Serpent Goddess).

In several ancient board games the playing pieces were either fashioned after dogs or other canines (such as jackals), or were called "dogs." This may reflect ancient "hunt/race" iconography in the board games of which we have surviving examples (in earliest times dogs were trained as game hunters and personal body guards), or it may be a reflection of the canine companions of one or more unnamed goddesses who were so familiar to the players of those games and so intimately connected to those games that it was commonly accepted and everyone knew who the goddesses were, and there was no necessity for more overt references.

Here is some information about canine deities, reflecting the obvious importance of canines to early mankind - so important, they were deified.

From the ShukerNature blog Sunday, 8 February 2009
DEITIES OF THE CANINE KIND
ANUBIS - JACKAL-HEADED GOD OF ANCIENT EGYPT

Probably the most famous canine deity of all is Anubis - the jackal-headed son of Osiris, god of the underworld, and Nebthet, a funeral goddess. Sometimes represented as a coal-black, bushy-tailed jackal or pointed-eared dog in a crouched or lying down position, Anubis was worshipped in Egypt from c.2700 BC to the close of ancient Egyptian history in c.400 AD, and was venerated extensively at the necropolis in Memphis.

He originated as a god of putrefaction, but eventually emerged with a more specific (and less unappetising) role - as the mortuary god who presided over embalming. Indeed, Egyptian priests supervising official embalmers wore jackal-headed masks to signify the presence of Anubis during these preparations. Moreover, according to traditional Egyptian lore, Anubis invented funeral rites, presiding over the funeral and mummification of his own father, Osiris. [As far as I am aware, Osiris only fathered one son -- Horus.  Horus, was conceived by Isis after she was partially successful in reconstructing the body of Osiris from the 12 -- or 13 -- pieces scattered all around the land after he had been abducted, killed, cut up and scattered all over by his brother, Seth or Set.  Isis collected the pieces of the body of Osiris and put them all back together, but his penis was missing, and so she used a twig or branch from a tree to represent that part -- thus her ancient connection to being a bird (a kite or swift) was echoed in the ancient tradition.  She was able to partially ressurect Osiris from the dead by having intercourse with his "aroused" corpse, having sex with a part of a tree, essentially, and Horus, the Falcon-god, was conceived and born.  This myth probably represents the merging of separate religious traditions from one or more cities into what became the eventual Egyptian pantheon. The ancient Egyptians were very successful as glossing over inconsistencies in various regional religious traditions and myths, merging them all into a more or less harmonious whole.]

Once mummification of a dead person is complete, it is Anubis who leads the dead into the presence of his father, Osiris, in the underworld, to be judged by him. Anubis also weighs the dead person's heart, in the Hall of the Two Truths, to determine its ultimate fate.

Another, less familiar canine-headed deity of Egyptian mythology is Upuaut. Originally a warrior god, Upuaut is variously represented as a dog-headed, jackal-headed, or even wolf-headed man who leads the funeral cortege at the festivals of Osiris. He also steers the boat of the sun as it journeys through the dark realm of the night between dusk and dawn.

Interestingly, in the later glosses of traditional beliefs (particularly after the Greek Ptolemy dynasty was established), Isis is not directly associated with the canine deities of death.  In her earliest forms, however, the dogs of death walked closely next to her as she performed her various functions as Virgin, Mother, and Crone. 

HERMANUBIS AND THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF MYTH?

After the Greeks and Romans took over Egypt, the cult of Anubis became assimilated with that of the Greek messenger god, Hermes, and a new, combined deity was created - Hermanubis. Just like Anubis, Hermanubis was represented as a canine-headed man, but his functions changed. Instead of being strongly associated with funeral rituals and embalming, emphasis was placed upon his role as a guide, leading the souls of the dead through the underworld. Moreover, just like Hermes, Hermanubis came to be portrayed with winged sandals, and held a staff or caduceus, with two snakes entwined around it, in his hand. Nevertheless, as with the priests of Anubis, those of Hermanubis wore canine masks - a tradition leading scholar Hugh Trotti in 1990 to propose a most intriguing theory.

By the first century AD, worship of Hermanubis had spread beyond Rome-ruled Egypt, reaching Rome itself - where Germanic troops recruited into the Roman armies would have seen statues of this canine god, as well as his dog-headed priests. Such sights would no doubt have been remembered and spoken of by the Germanic people after the Roman Empire's fall - and Trotti has speculated that distorted accounts of these may ultimately have inspired legends of werewolves, i.e. humans who could transform themselves into wolves.

XOLOTL - A CANINE GOD OF THE AZTECS

Another notable canine deity is Xolotl, one of the principal gods of Aztec mythology in ancient Mexico, who created mankind by leading them up from the spirit world and bestowing upon them the gift of fire. [In other words and traditions, the Goddess of the Dead lead the deceased souls toward life and resurrected them by instilling the "fire" of the Holy Spirit into their "souls."] 

Due to his magical ability to assume any shape, Xolotl has been depicted in many forms, but is most commonly represented as an oddly-formed dog, with rear-running feet, and ears that can point backwards or forwards. Xolotl is the twin of the sky god Quetzalcoatl, and represents the evening star, Venus, hauling the sun downwards each evening into the gloomy vault of night. A deity with varied associations, he is also the god of twins (as a twin himself) and ball games, as well as a deity of the underworld, corresponding to the Pek or lightning dog of Maya mythology.

Today, Xolotl's name is still linked to dogs in zoological nomenclature, though only very indirectly - sharing it with the axolotl, a form of aquatic Mexican salamander, whose larval form is reminiscent of a dog and hence is sometimes referred to as a water-dog.

BHAIRAVA AND HIS CANINE STEED

In Hindu lore, Bhairava, a door guardian, is a fearsome canine deity. One of the forms assumed by the god Siva, he is often portrayed either as a huge black dog, or as a human riding a black dog. Terrifying to behold, Bhairava has many arms, three eyes, long matted hair, and sometimes has a serpent entwined around his body, with a collar of skulls around his neck.

Food sellers plying their ware outside Indian temples dedicated to Siva sell tiny dogs carved out of sugar, which can then be presented as an offering to Bhairava. In northern India, a canine deity was formerly worshipped by certain Dravidians. So too were dogs in Nepalese villages, during a special festival called Khicha Puja, in which a garland of flowers was deferentially placed around the neck of every dog in each village.

ST GUINEFORT - THE AMAZING STORY OF A CANINE CANONISATION

Down through the ages, many saints have been accredited with miraculous powers, or have led unusual lives, but one of the most remarkable histories on record must surely be that of St Guinefort, who may well be the only canonised greyhound!

It was in c.1250 AD when a Dominican priest called Stephen of Bourbon first learnt of the tomb of St Guinefort, located in a sacred grove within the remote Dombes region north of Lyons, France. [Note: I believe this is one of the areas of France that is a former "hot bed" of Goddess worship, later became a hot bed area for the worship of the Virgin Mary, her substitute upon the ascendence of so-called Christianity in the region.] Upon further enquiry, he was amazed to discover that this saint had actually been a greyhound, which had been wrongly blamed for the death of a local lord's infant. Only after it had been slain by the enraged lord was the discovery made that in reality the dog had been protecting the baby from a snake. [How ironic -- one symbol of death protecting the infant from another symbol of death according to "Christian" tradition.]

Stricken with guilt and remorse for his rash action, the lord erected a tomb, in which the dog's bones were placed. Soon, stories began to emerge of miracles occurring at the site of this tomb, featuring the inexplicable restoration to good health of sick children brought here by their parents, and the dog duly became known as St Guinefort.

Stephen of Bourbon, however, was horrified by what he deemed to be this unholy, sacrilegious activity, and swiftly instigated the destruction of the tomb and its grove. Yet the cult of St Guinefort survived in secret long after Stephen of Bourbon's own demise, with a chapel dedicated to the slightly re-named Saint-Guy le Fort existing in the 17th Century on the site of the original tomb, and with the greyhound saint's name restored to its original form by the 1800s.

Even today, St Guinefort's story is well known in the Dombes region, and researchers have revealed possible links between this history and the famous Welsh legend of Gelert - another noble dog that died a martyr. They do say that every dog has its day - but in St Guinefort's case, it has lasted several centuries!
Posted by CFZ: Cryptozoology Online at 12:41

I'm going to be visiting this blog now that I've discovered it! It's creator is Dr. Karl Shuker, a cryptozoologist and author.

It was in a comment at ShukerNature that I read about a dog-headed image of St. Christopher and did a quick Google search to come up with the image above (different than the image mentioned in the comment)! Never knew that - or about the dog-saint, St. Guinefort! What an amazing world we live in! Of course, St. Guinefort the dog was in France - that bastion of goddess worship - Black Madonnas and Marian cathedrals thick across the breadth and height of the country. The dog-saint was buried in a sacred grove (code for ancient goddess worship; I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were also local legends about a sacred spring in or quite near the sacred grove in ancient times). This Guinefort legend, it's absolutely fascinating.

Important Conference on Indus Civilization

Reappraisal of the Indus /Vedic Civilization Tuesday, 02.10.2009, 03:41am (GMT-7) Â LOS ANGELES: An international conference on the Sindhu-Sarasvati Valley Civilization will be held on Feb 21 and 22 at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles. Prominent scholars particularly archaeologists, linguists, anthropologists, historians, religious specialists and geneticists will discus the nature of the interrelation between the Indus or Sindhu and the Sarasvati or Vedic culture(s) from about 3000 BC to 1000 BC. They will attempt to bridge the chronological, linguistic and racial gap between the material and literary cultures of the Indus and Vedic. A few fundamental questions raised are: Who were the people of Ancient India Civilizations? Were they Vedic Aryan or Indo- Aryan, Indo- Iranian or Dravidians? Has archaeological evidence confirmed the existence of common features of Vedic and Indus culture(s)? Is there an indigenous continuity of the culture in India and Pakistan or did the people come from outside the subcontinent? How does the scientific evidence of the drying of the River Sarasvati play a role in the interpretation of the history and chronology of the civilization. How is the genetic evidence corroborated with archaeological evidences especially regarding the antiquity of the Indian gene? Prominent scholars who examine the issues include Jonathan Mark Kenoyer (University of Wisconsin), Carl C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, Dr. B.B. Lal (Archaeological Survey of India), R.S. Bisht (Archaeological Survey of India), Louis Flam (City University of NY), S.R.Rao (Archaeological Survey of India, National Institute of Oceanography), Edwin Bryant (Rutgers University) Shiva Bajpai (CSUN) , Vijendra Kumar Kashyap (India's National Institute of Biologicals), Subhash Kak (Oklahama State University), Ashok Aklujkar (University of British Columbia) , Jim G. Shaffer (Case Western Reserve University, Dennis Frenez (University of Bologna) and Nicholas Kazanas (Omilos Meleton Cultural Institute, Athens). The interpretations by scholars in the conference will be rooted in scholarship and presented with clarity and brevity for the sake of the educated public. They will touch upon areas of consensus and contentions with a temporarily conclusive interdisciplinary understanding upon the topics: Indus and Sarasvati: ecology and culture, Indus and Aryan: Race and Language, The Indus Script/Language, Population: Migration and Settlement, Sociopolitical Organizations and DNA and Astronomical evidences. The conference enhances our historical understanding of the period in the Sindhu-Sarasvati area. The overlapping evidences and ambiguities will be confronted by scholars who examine their inter-relationships, and arrive at a consensus. It will be of significant intellectual and educational interest to all students and scholars of science, humanities and social sciences, and more importantly, the educated public.

Aztec Resistance Fighters (?)

Love the headline, but further study is needed. Mexico mass grave may be Aztec resistance fighters By MARK STEVENSON – 2 hours ago MEXICO CITY (AP) — Archaeologists digging in a ruined pyramid in downtown Mexico City said Tuesday they found a mass grave that may hold the skeletal remains of the Aztec holdouts who fought conquistador Hernan Cortes. The unusual burial holds the carefully arrayed skeletons of at least 49 adult Indians who were buried in the remains of a pyramid razed by the Spaniards during the 1521 conquest of the Aztec capital. The pyramid complex, in the city's Tlatelolco square, was the site of the last Indian resistance to the Spaniards during the monthslong battle for the city. Archaeologist Salvador Guilliem, the leader of the excavation for Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, said the Indians might have been killed during Cortes' war or during one of the uprisings that continued after the conquest. Guilliem said many burials have been found at the site with the remains of Indians who died during epidemics that swept the Aztec capital in the years after the conquest and killed off much of the Indian population. But those burials were mostly hurried, haphazard affairs in which remains were jumbled together in pits regardless of age or gender. The burial reported Tuesday is different. The dead had many of the characteristics of warriors: All were young men, most were tall and several showed broken bones that had mended. The men also were carefully buried Christian-style, lying on their backs with arms crossed over their chests, though many appear to have been wrapped up in large maguey cactus leaves, rather than placed in European coffins. The mass grave contained evidence of an Aztec-like ritual in which offerings such as incense and animals were set alight in an incense burner, but Spanish elements including buttons and a bit of glass also were present. Susan Gillespie, an archaeologist at the University of Florida, said the grave was unusual, both because it was unlikely the Spanish would have bothered with such careful burial of Aztec warriors, and because the Indians themselves would have been more likely to cremate any honored dead. But Gillespie, who was not involved in the excavation, also noted that little is known about the period immediately following the fall of the city, when Cortes razed most pyramids and temples, then abandoned the largely destroyed metropolis. He lived on the city's outskirts before returning to rebuild a Spanish-style city on the ruins. It may have been in that interim period after Cortes left that the Aztecs returned to bury their dead, Guilliem said. Gillespie agreed the burials could be those of disease victims or rebellious Indians from later years, rather than warriors who fell in the 1521 battle, and said more research was needed, such as a skeletal analysis to show cause of death. Another possibility, she said, was that the men could have been held by the Spanish for some time and killed later. That was the fate that befell the leader of the Aztec resistance, emperor Cuauhtemoc.

New Scanning Technology Yields Fab Results

Story from the Telegraph.co.uk Images of 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy revealed by scanner Spectacular images from within the unopened casket of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy have been revealed using a hi-tech hospital scanner. Last Updated: 11:48PM GMT 08 Feb 2009 The elaborately decorated coffin contains the wrapped remains of Meresamun, a woman believed to have been a singer-priestess at a temple in Thebes in 800 BC. Experts do not want to disturb the casket, which has remained sealed since Meresamun was laid to rest almost 1,000 years before the birth of Christ. But now cutting edge X-ray technology has allowed scientists to peer through the coffin and obtain astonishing 3D images of the mummy, still wrapped in her linen bandages. A state-of-the-art computed tomography CT scanner was used to peel away the layers and reveal Meresamun's skeleton. The mummy's remaining internal organs can be seen, as well as what appear to be stones placed in her eye sockets. Egyptologist Dr Emily Teeter, from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute Museum, where a new exhibition featuring the mummy and CT images opens tomorrow, said: "It is so exciting to be able to see this. The mummy is still in the coffin. It is like having X-ray eyes to see the relationship between the coffin, the wrappings and amount of linen used." Meresamun's identity is unclear. Her name, shown in an inscription on the casket, means "She Lives for Amun" (an Egyptian god). According to the inscription she served as a "Singer in the Interior of the Temple of Amun", one of a number of priestess-musicians who performed during rituals dedicated to the god. Meresamun was one of the higher ranking "interior" singers, some of whom served members of the Egyptian ruling family. The scans suggest she was about five foot five inches tall and aged in her late 20s or early 30s when she died. She was an attractive woman with wide-set eyes, a symmetrical face, prominent cheekbones and a long neck. The cause of Meresamun's death is unknown, and all the more mysterious since she appears to have been in exceptionally good health. The state of her bones shows she enjoyed a nutritious diet and active lifestyle. Although she bore no signs of dental disease, her teeth were worn down by the grit in Egyptian bread, which was made from stone-ground flour. Early analysis suggests she had not given birth to any children. The sealed casket was bought in Egypt in 1920 by James Henry Breasted, founder of the Oriental Institute. The coffin, made from cartonnage - a type of papier mache composed of layers of fabric, glue and plaster - is colourfully painted with pictures of gods and symbols and hieroglyphics relating to life after death. Earlier attempts to carry out scans of the casket in 1989 and 1991 produced disappointing fuzzy images. The new images were obtained using a Philips Brilliance iCT scanner, one of the most advanced available. The machine scanned 100 cross-section slices of the mummy per second, generating 30 billion individual measurements and producing 1,000 times more raw data than was collected in 1991. US radiologist Professor Michael Vannier, who led the scanner team, said: "The iCT scanner allows us to perform detailed analysis of very complex anatomy within seconds. "The pictures of the mummy are breathtaking, we could see subtle things - wear patterns on the teeth, a clear view of the embalming incision, precise indications of her age - that were not apparent before."

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Also see a full story on the scan at Archaeology Magazine online. dondelion and I were pleased to attend a lecture by Dr. Emily Teeter at the Milwaukee Public Museum - 2004 or 2005, forget exactly when, in conjunction with the mega-hit exhibit "The Quest for Immortality." We were both impressed with her lecture and her obvious depth of knowledge, but she was very approachable.

Valentine's Day per Barbara Walker

I've been dipping back into Barbara Walker's "A Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets" tonight (see earlier post on Twin Peaks). I will also post her information under "Mountain" but it's 6 pages long - too much for me to type tonight. But I thought since Valentine's Day is this Saturday, and the significant day Friday the 13th this coming Friday, that I would see if she had anything to say about Valentine's Day. She did. Valentine, Saint The original Valentine's Day in the ides of February was Rome's Lupercalia, a festival of sexual license. young men chose partners for erotic games by drawing "billets" - small papers - with women's names on them. Christians denounced these prototyical valentines as "heathens' lewd customs."(1) Churchmen tried to substitute saints' names (!) and short sermons on the billets(!!), but people soon reverted to the old love-notes.(2) February was sacred to Juno Februata, Goddess of the "fever" (febris) of love. The church replaced her with a mythical martyr, St. Valentine, who was endowed with several contradictory biographies. One of them made him a handsome Roman youth, executed at the very moment when his sweetheart received his billet of love.(3) St. Valentine became a patron of lovers perforce, because the festival remained dedicated ot lovers despite all official efforts to change it. Even in its Christianized form, the valentinian festival involved secret sex worship, called "a rite of spiritual marriage with angels in a nuptial chamber."(4) Ordinary human beings engaged before witnesses in an act of sexual intercourse described as the marriage of Sophia and the Redeemer. A spoken formula said, in part, "Let the seed of light descend into they bridal chamber, receive the bridegroom...open thine arms to embrace him. Behold, grace has descended upon thee."(5) (A form of the hieros gamos?) During the Middle Ages, St. Valentine was much invoked in love charms and potions, since he was a sketchily Christianized version of such love-gods as Eros, Cupid, Kama, Priapus, or Pan.

Twin Peaks

Not the cult-classic television show, but twin mountains. They show up in many cultures around the globe, sometimes compared to a mother's breasts. Here is what Barbara Walker has to say about them in "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets." Mashu "Twin Peaks," the holy mountain of Akkadian myth into which the sun god daily sank; corresponding to the bosom of Hathor, Ma-Nu, into which the Egyptian sun sank prior to his rebirth each dawn.(1) This twin-peaked mountain-mother may be related to the Celtic death goddess Macha, slayer of heroes; or even to the twin-peaked mountain Macchu Picchu, "Hitching Post of the Sun," in distant Peru.(2) Notes: (1) Epic of Gilgamesh, 123. (2) Larousse, 443. Wow - I never knew that about Macchu Picchu being a twin mountain. Mashu, Ma-Nu, Maccha, Macchu. Hmmmm...

Michigan Underwater "Stonehenge" Back In the News

Origins of underwater stones a mystery Last update: 12:09 p.m. EST Feb. 9, 2009 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Feb 9, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- An archaeologist says it remains a mystery how a circle of stones initially arrived at the floor of Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay. Underwater archeologist Mark Holley said while he first discovered the underwater stones in 2007, no one has been able to prove whether the rocks were placed there by nature or by mankind, the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday. "The first thing I said when I came out of the water was, 'Oh no, I wish we wouldn't have found this,'" Holley said of his discovery. "This is going to invite so much controversy that this is where we're going to be for the next 20 years." In fact, several state officials and members of native tribes have expressed interest in the stone formation since it was discovered. Holley is hoping to put the growing mystery to rest this summer when he and a Northwestern Michigan College student perform laser scans of the underwater image. The Tribune said the scans will allow the researchers to make a computer model of the site, which is currently protected as a potential Native American site. www.upi.com

Big Headlines Today: 30 Mummies Discovered In Egypt

(Some headlines seem to indicate 20 mummies). This was all over the news today: Egyptian Archaeologists Find 30 Mummies In Saqqara Posted on: Monday, 9 February 2009, 13:10 CST The Egyptian government released a statement on Monday saying archaeologists there have found about 30 mummies and at least one unopened sarcophagus in a burial chamber about 4,300 years old. The chamber was uncovered in the desert on the western side of the Step Pyramid of Saqqara, one of the earliest large stone structures in the world, dating from about 2,650 BC. Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, said the tomb was located at the bottom of a 36-foot deep shaft where twenty-two mummies were found in niches along the tomb's walls alone. Hawass' assistant Abdel Hakim Karar said eight sarcophagi were also found in the tomb, although only one has been opened, so far. The recently discovered mummies appear to range in age. Hawass said one dates from about 640 BC, while the unopened sarcophagus, which is made of limestone and sealed with plaster, is probably much older. "We think it is Old Kingdom, maybe Fifth Dynasty," Karar told Reuters. The Fifth Dynasty ruled Egypt from about 2,494 BC to 2,345 BC. He said many of the mummies were poorly preserved and archeologists have yet to find out their identities or how they ended up there. Karar also said it was unusual for mummies of this late period to be stored in rocky niches. One opened sarcophagus showed the name Badi N Huri engraved into it, but the wooden coffin did not bear a title for the mummy. "This one might have been an important figure, but I can't tell because there was no title," Karar said. Archaeologists have excavated tombs in Saqqara for over 150 years, uncovering a necropolis of pyramids and tombs dating mostly from the Old Kingdom. Hawass said the "storeroom for mummies" dates back to 640 B.C. during the 26th Dynasty, which was Egypt's last independent kingdom before it was overthrown by a succession of foreign conquerors beginning with the Persians. However, the tomb was discovered at an even older site in Saqqara that dates back to the 4,300-year-old 6th Dynasty. He added that it was unusual to find intact burials in well-known necropolises such as Saqqara, because grave robbers got to most of the area in ancient times. Only around 30 percent of Egypt's monuments have been uncovered, with the rest still under the sand, Hawass said.

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So many questions - and no answers! It seems that the original carved tomb dates back to the Old Kingdom's 5th Dynasty, but contained mummies (how many, uncertain at this point) that date to the 26th Dynasty, and possibly the original occupant of the 5th Dynasty tomb in an unopened sarcophogus. I know that other "storerooms for mummies" have been discovered in Egypt. I don't recall a lot about them - it seems that in times of danger, or in tombs that had been previously ravaged by grave robbers, the often overwhelmed priests periodically gathered mummies and re-interred them. I do not know what rituals, if any, accompanied such reinterrments, but I do know the priesthood was fighting a losing battle. And yet, they continued to battle to preserve the ancient, sacredness of the mummies right up until the time they were finally disbanded by force of sword of Christianity in the early 400s CE. Just a few hundred years later - long enough for the language of the hieroglyphics to be lost - the country was overswept by the Islamists and has been in their control ever since. I can envision that during this time of danger (the imminent Persian invasion) the priests gathered what mummies they could and put them into a tomb (more likely, several tombs) they thought might be preserved safely, and did their best to cover up their tracks. At least in the case of this tomb uncovered at Saqqara, they were successful, as it was swalled up by the desert sands for the next 2600 years.

2009 Romanian Women's Chess Championship

Information from TWIC. Final Standings: ch-ROM w Eforie Nord (ROM), 31 i - 8 ii 2009 Leading Final Round 9 Standings: Rank Name FED Rtg Pts BH. 1 Peptan Corina-Isabela WGM ROU 2401 7½ 39½ 2 Baciu Anca-Otilia WFM ROU 2165 7 38 3 Paulet Iozefina WIM ROU 2315 7 37½ 4 Padurariu Ioana-Smaranda WIM ROU 2199 6½ 40½ 5 Vasile Teodora ROU 1963 6½ 36 6 Gheorghe Corina WIM ROU 2228 6 36 7 Sandu Mihaela WGM ROU 2285 5½ 38 8 Foisor Mihaela-Veronica WFM ROU 2099 5½ 37½ 9 Marin Irina-Luiza WIM ROU 2163 5½ 37 10 Anusca Madalina-Maria ROU 1996 5½ 34½ 11 Chirita Andra-Marina WFM ROU 2031 5½ 32½ 12 Dragomirescu Angela WIM ROU 2220 5 39½ 13 Adoamnei Roxana ROU 1992 5 35½ 14 Ilie Maria-Ruxandra ROU 1884 5 33½ 15 Berintan Teodora ROU 1886 5 31½ 16 Visanescu Daria-Ioana WFM ROU 1870 5 31½ 17 Gelip Ioana ROU 1760 5 30½ 18 Morea Georgiana-Steluta ROU 1774 5 30 39 players

2009 Moscow Open - Update

Hola darlings! Well, this really sucks. The final standings for Groups A and B have been updated, but not for the Chess Femmes' Group, C! So, here are the top ten final standings from the B group contest I noted yesterday, where two chess femmes were playing on top boards! 1 83 Poghosyan Suren 2218 ARM 8,5 2099 8 52,5 2 59 Gevorgyan David 2252 ARM U18 8 2188 7 59,5 3 46 Vdovin Sergei 2263 RUS U18 8 2174 7 54 4 51 WIM Tarasova Viktoriya 2257 RUS 8 2118 7 48,5 5 57 Petrov Artur 2253 RUS U18 7,5 2186 6 54 6 26 Babikov Ivan 2284 RUS 7,5 2186 6 52,5 7 85 Likhoman Mikhail 2217 RUS 7 2210 6 49 8 100 Erofeev Alexey 2195 RUS 7 2191 6 45 9 6 Kutuzov Denis 2298 RUS 7 2188 6 55,5 10 38 WGM Kursova Maria 2268 RUS 7 2174 6 56,5 Here is what the official website said about the winner of Group C (the chess femmes): Natalya Pogonona leaded [sic] in the female tournament “C”. She defeated Marina Romanko and got 8 points among 9 and went one point ahead the opponent. Each of 5 players got 7 points: GMs Batuyang Mongontuul (Mongolia), Gu Xiaobing (China), Svetlana Matveeva, and also IM Tatyana Molchanova and FIDE Master Valentina Gunina (all three from Russia). According to the additional indexes Tatyana Molchanova won silver and Svetlana Matveeva – bronze.

More Egypt Pictures from Carmen

Images from Karnak (Carmen's Christmas, 2008 trip)

Squirrel v. Bird Feeder: 1-0

Story from the Rochester, NY Democrat and Chronicle Squirrels always conquer bird feeders February 7, 2009 I'm not alone. I will lose, but I'll have company in defeat.As you may recall, my column two weeks ago reported on my installation of a Squirrel-be-Gone bird feeder in our yard. I suggested that I was becoming obsessed, not with birds, but with preventing squirrels from cracking the feeder's defenses and getting all the seed for themselves. When I wrote, the bird feeder had resisted the squirrels for three days. I declared a victory. Veteran bird/squirrel watchers took my boast for what it was, a rookie's bravado. Carol and John Wessely of Perinton e-mailed a picture of a happy squirrel inside their squirrel-proof feeder. Robert Lauterbach of Rochester sent two pictures of squirrels eating food intended for birds. "You won't beat them, you know," e-mailed Dave Marcellus of Webster. "Good luck, but don't be too optimistic.""They will figure out the feeder," wrote Chuck Canham of Penfield. "You ain't seen nothing yet," wrote Jerry Ernsthausen of Spencerport. Down but not out, most of the members of this ad-hoc support group encouraged me to join them in a quest for the perfect (anti-squirrel) bird-feeder. Along those lines, Marilyn and Lee Eriksson of Perinton lubricated the feeder's pole with WD-40, making it slippery for the squirrels. Other thwarters, including Canham, have tried to improve the anti-squirrel devices in their feeders, using glue and better screws to hold things down. But it would seem that all of these efforts only buy time. Yes, the squirrel may be stymied by the slippery pole, but then it somehow flies through the air, lands on the feeder and dines. Why this persistence? Why do squirrels constantly try to break into bird feeders even when they can more easily nibble on the seed that gets scattered below the feeder as the birds eat? "It gives them a little challenge," Douglas Bassett, an environmental educator at Letchworth State Park explained when I gave him a call. "It's the grass-is-always-greener psychology that's just part of being a squirrel." Bassett is on the side of the squirrels and the side of the birds. So, too, is Dan Knaak of Greece."I look out my backyard window and I see squirrels and birds eating together in harmony. Squirrels don't attack the bird feeder because I leave enough food below," Knaak wrote in response to my bird (squirrel) feeder column. "Learn more about nature. .... Give squirrels a break." Knaak's squirrels would seem to be well-trained. Ours do feast on the seed in the snow below the feeder. But, at least once a day, a squirrel climbs out on the branch from which the feeder hangs and makes an assault. So far, the feeder has held, the squirrel's weight pulling down feeder's outer shell and closing the portals to the bird seed inside. But I'm worried. "I ain't seen nothing yet," I think, bracing for the inevitable. Spring will come. Don't despair. Bassett says that bird activity and other indicators in the park suggest that this long winter will end. Trust him. He's been right before.

Oldest Library in U.S. Scheduled to Close

Oh no. Story from Philly.com Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2009 Darby library faces the ax/ Oldest in U.S., it's in $ pinch By WILLIAM BENDER Philadelphia Daily News AS THE NUTTER administration prepares to ask a court for approval to shutter 11 Philadelphia libraries as part of a cost-cutting plan, a national treasure just outside the city limits is on the verge of collapse. Delaware County's Darby Free Library, which was founded in 1743 and is believed to be the oldest continuously operating public library in America, will be forced to close its doors at year's end if somebody doesn't write a fat check, the Daily News has learned. "We're on the chopping block," said Susan Borders, director of the library at 10th and Main streets, near the Southwest Philly border. "We thought we may have had four years left, but after going over our finances, we only have this year." Founded by 29 Quaker townsmen, the library received its first shipment of 45 volumes from London in November 1743, with the assistance of botanist John Bartram. "It's older than our country," said Raymond Trent, a longtime bibliographic assistant at the University of Pennsylvania Law School who has donated books, DVDs and other reference materials to Darby's library. "I appreciate the phone call, but to receive news like this is devastating," Trent told a reporter yesterday. He was preparing to donate another shipment of books, including Michelle Obama's biography. "Since I grew up in Darby, it was my way of giving back to the community," Trent said. "This comes as really bad news to my ears, because I have poured my heart and soul into trying to make Darby library one of the best libraries around." Michael Race, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which funds local libraries, said that the Darby Free Library is the state's longest-operating public library. He said that his department is unaware of any library in the United States that predates it. "It would be a tragedy if they have to close it," said Lindy Wardell, president of the Darby Borough Historical and Preservation Society. Some books from its original collection - including John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained and Sir Walter Raleigh's The History of the World - are still displayed in the two-story brick building, built by Charles Bonsall in 1872 at a cost of $8,895.54. Others are at the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731 as a subscription library. While the historical significance of Darby's library - located in a rough-and-tumble town that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad - cannot be overstated, there is also a practical reason to keep it open, supporters say. It provides high-speed Internet access to the borough of 10,000 residents, some of whom can't afford a computer, and a safe haven for schoolchildren to do research and homework, said Jan Haigis, who sits on the Darby Library Company board. "It keeps them off occasionally mean streets," Haigis said. "They pour in here every day with their papers and homework," said Shelly McNear, 48, a former Philadelphia teacher who visits the library several times a week with her 11-year-old daughter. McNear said that having a library in the neighborhood encourages her daughter and other kids to read. The library also runs programs for children and adults. "It's easier for us to make it a family thing," said McNear, who was checking her e-mail yesterday at a computer in the library and hadn't heard of the dire financial situation. The library has more than 10,000 books, but it also serves as a local access point to the 1.5 million books at the 27 other libraries in the Delaware County Library System, because books can be shipped from one building to another. The Darby Free Library had survived on private contributions and an old endowment. In the 1990s, voters approved a dedicated real-estate tax for the library that typically generates between $18,000 and $20,000 a year, Borders said. It also receives about $28,000 a year from the state, but that money is contingent on adequate local funding. Borders said that the library had been using interest from its endowment to close the funding gap, but in recent years it has been dipping into the endowment itself - withdrawing about $20,000 a year - to cover operating expenses and capital improvements. This year, expenses are projected at $85,353, which will create a $27,653 shortfall. "If it does not get support now, it will not survive," Borders wrote in a summary to the Darby Library Company board at last week's meeting, when the possible closure was announced. It is unlikely that the borough could bail out the library. The national economic downturn has forced it to implement a hiring freeze for the year and to cap spending on part-time police officers, among other cost-saving measures. "Maybe a fundraiser or, like the fire company does, send a letter to everybody's house asking for a donation," said Borough Council President Janice Davis. "That's what I thought would be a good thing. It would be worth a try. We have to keep it open." But the level of state funding that libraries will receive in the next fiscal year is uncertain, Race said. In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter is asking Commonwealth Court to overrule last month's Common Pleas Court ruling that blocked him from closing 11 branches. Library patrons and three Council members managed to halt the closures with a lawsuit, but Nutter says that they are necessary to balance the city budget. The Darby library was once the subject of a question on the TV game show "Jeopardy," Borders said. Now its existence is in jeopardy. Trent said that Darby must find a way to keep its library open. Or someone with deep pockets, who understands its value, needs to step up to the plate. "I just hope," he said, "that Darby library is able to hang in there." Staff writer Chris Brennan contributed to this report. Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to the Darby Library Company, P.O. Box 164, Darby, PA 19023.

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Valentine's Day

From the Spectrum.com I have to admit, I've never heard of ANY of these versions about the origins of Valentine's Day. It's probably just another one of those thunk-up things by Hallmark greeting cards or one of its antecedents. Origins of Valentine's are varied BY SARAH CLARK • Mother Load • February 8, 2009 Being a student, I find myself fascinated with the origins of just about everything, and holidays are no exception. Unlike certain people in my life who would ban the Easter bunny because of its origins as a pagan fertility symbol, I'm not on my quest to do away with holiday traditions whose origins I find personally objectionable. I just want the information so I can feel smarter than your average Valentine. Looking into the origins of holidays is not unlike cleaning out your fridge. The more you dig, the less sure you are of what you've actually discovered. There are several versions of the Valentine story. I'll let you decide which you prefer. Version 1: Early Europeans believed Feb. 14 was the day all birds began to choose their mates. The belief has its origins in Chaucer, who wrote that Europeans believed this. Europeans, embarrassed they didn't already know they believed this, began believing it and pretending they had always believed it. This led to mass expressions of love as a distraction from the fact that nobody actually knew what they really believed. Version 2: The Pagans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia every February to honor the Roman God Lupercus and thank him for saving their flocks from wolves. Girls' names were drawn from a box by the boys in attendance and the couples were considered partners for a year. The Christians renamed this celebration Valentine's Day and encouraged the pagans to draw the names of saints instead. The pagans weren't having it, probably because dead saints weren't very good kissers. Version 3: Emperor Claudius, annoyed the men of his empire were less than willing leave their wives and fiancés to fight in his wars, placed a moratorium on marriages and declared all engagements canceled. Saint Valentine secretly performed marriages and was thrown into prison, where he died. It's unknown whether any children of those secret marriages were named Valentine in his honor, because, well, they were secret. Version 4: St. Valentine was imprisoned by Claudius for helping Christians. While in prison, he cured a jailer's daughter of her blindness and/or fell in love with her and wrote her letters signed, "From your Valentine." Claudius didn't like the idea of his prisoners performing miracles and/or writing love notes and had Valentine clubbed and/or beheaded on Feb. 14, 269 A.D. It's unclear whether or not this Valentine is the same as the one in the previous version because they're both dead and can't be reached for comment. Version 5: St. Valentine, upon being rejected by his mistress, cut out his own heart and sent it to her, still beating, as a token of his love. According to some scholars, we give heart-shaped boxes of chocolate and send heart shaped cards in the mail in remembrance of his passion and suffering. I would add mental illness, but I'm sure there's another holiday set aside for that - it's called Black Friday. Whichever version you choose, it's obvious the holiday is steeped in tradition and rich with history. When you look into the eyes of your love this Saturday, remember wolves, wars, disembodied heads and bloody, beating hearts sent through the mail. If you're now too disgusted to give that heart-shaped box of chocolates to your sweetheart, do feel free to send it to me.

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I have lots of vivid memories about Valentine's Days of my ancient past. As a gradeschool kid, the anticipation of shopping for really special Valentine's cards at the Woolworth's Five and Dime, and how eagerly everyone counted how many Valentines they got - and (most important), how many they got from boys! In junior high (I believe now it's called Middle School and includes 6th graders but excludes 9th graders) it was all about getting those blechy heart-shaped boxes of even blechier chocolates, filled with caramels hard enough to break your teeth on. The gaudier the box, the better! In high school (grades 9-12), it was all about getting a piece of jewelry from that special someone, usually a charm, or a faux-gold and "diamond" heart on an equally faux gold chain; and if you were particularly lucky, you got a going steady ring or, if you were really unlucky, you got a "friendship" ring out of a Cracker Jack box, which meant he just wasn't that into you after all... One rule that no one ever broke back in those days - girls NEVAH bought a boy ANYTHING! Ahhhh, those were the days. I have no idea what kids do these days, if anything, for Valentine's Day. Maybe it hasn't changed at all, except the bling has gotten better and girls now call boys or text them on their cell phones. My goddess! I would have DIED before ever picking up a phone and calling a boy! No wonder the American male has become so feminized. It's not even left up to them any longer which girls they will pick and choose. Instead, they're picked over and chosen like too ripe grapes at the supermarket. Yechhy!

2009 Moscow Open

January 31 - February 8, 2009. Wow! USA's GM Alexander Onischuk won the "A" Group at the Moscow Open. Good for him. His prize was 500,000 rubles, or $13,803.42. The all-women "C" Group action has completed too, won by WGM Natalija Pogonina (RUS 2467) with a whopping 8/9. She won 150,000 rubles, or $4,141.02. The final standings table has not yet been updated; here are the results after the final Round (9): Round IX Bo. Name Pts Res. Pts Name 1 WGM Pogonina Natalija 7 1 - 0 6Ѕ WGM Romanko Marina 2 WGM Matveeva Svetlana 6Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 6Ѕ WFM Gunina Valentina 3 WGM Mongontuul Bathuyag 6 1 - 0 6 WGM Ushenina Anna 4 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 6 Ѕ - Ѕ 6 WGM Demina Julia 5 WGM Kovalevskaya Ekaterina 6 0 - 1 6 WGM Gu Xiaobing 6 WFM Girya Olga 6 0 - 1 6 WIM Molchanova Tatjana 7 WGM Manakova Maria 6 Ѕ - Ѕ 5Ѕ WGM Shen Yang 8 WGM Muzychuk Anna 5Ѕ 1 - 0 5Ѕ WGM Borisova Elizaveta 9 WFM Repina Varvara 5Ѕ 0 - 1 5Ѕ WGM Muzychuk Mariya 10 WFM Bodnaruk Anastasia 5Ѕ 0 - 1 5Ѕ WIM Akatova Ekaterina 11 WGM Grabuzova Tatiana 5Ѕ 1 - 0 5Ѕ Drozdova Dina 12 WIM Bulmaga Irina 5Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 5Ѕ Petrukhina Irina 13 WFM Paikidze Nazi 5Ѕ 0 - 1 5Ѕ WFM Tomilova Elena 14 WGM Shadrina Tatiana 5 1 - 0 5Ѕ WIM Ambartsumova Karina 15 WGM Zhukova Natalia 5 1 - 0 5 WIM Ivkina Olga 16 WFM Severiukhina Zoja 5 1 - 0 5 WIM Shumilina Alexandra 17 Pustovoitova Daria 5 0 - 1 5 Lelekova Olga 18 WFM Suslova Alena 5 0 - 1 5 Savina Anastasia 19 WIM Strutinskaya Galina N 5 1 - 0 5 WFM Kineva Ekaterina 20 WFM Fominykh Maria 5 Ѕ - Ѕ 5 Abylkassymova Raushan 21 Sysoykina Lidia 5 0 - 1 5 WIM Iljushina Olga 22 WGM Gaponenko Inna 4Ѕ 1 - 0 4Ѕ Uljianova Nadezhda 23 WIM Vasilkova Svetlana 4Ѕ 1 - 0 4Ѕ Rjanova Valery 24 WIM Charochkina Daria 4Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 4Ѕ Semenova Elena 25 WIM Ubiennykh Ekaterina 4Ѕ 1 - 0 4Ѕ Chernyshova Natalia 26 WFM Bogumil Tatiana 4Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 4Ѕ WFM Della-Rossa Anastasia 27 WFM Samigullina Diana 4Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 4Ѕ WFM Butuc Maria 28 Sukhareva Evgeniya 4Ѕ 1 - 0 4Ѕ WFM Eryshkanova Anastasiya 29 WFM Derbentseva Irina 4Ѕ 1 - 0 4Ѕ WIM Krasenkova Ilena 30 WFM Fakhretdinova Margarita 4Ѕ 1 - 0 4Ѕ Tereshechkina Maya 31 WFM Kharmunova Nadejda 4Ѕ 1 - 0 4Ѕ Koroteeva Ksenia 32 Maksimova Alisa 4Ѕ 0 - 1 4Ѕ WFM Yakovich Yuliya 33 WIM Solovjova Valentina 4 Ѕ - Ѕ 4 WFM Gvanceladze Anna 34 WFM Malinicheva L 4 Ѕ - Ѕ 4 WIM Aketaeva Dana 35 WGM Fatalibekova Elena 4 0 - 1 4 Maslova Elena 36 WFM Matveeva Olga 4 1 - 0 4 Goryachkina Aleksandra 37 Bezgodova Svetlana 4 0 - 1 4 Fastova Tatiana 38 Grigoryeva Olga A 4 1 - 0 4 WFM Kostrikina Anna 39 Dogodkina Julia 4 0 - 1 4 WFM Airapetian Tatevik 40 Blokhina Elvira 4 0 - 1 4 WFM Kushka Alena 41 WFM Baraeva Irina 4 1 - 0 4 WFM Rassokhina Ekaterina 42 Pischurina Ekaterina 4 Ѕ - Ѕ 4 WFM Bezgodova Maria 43 WFM Kalmykova Anastasia 4 Ѕ - Ѕ 4 Anu Bayar 44 WFM Styazhkina Anna 4 1 - 0 4 Sukhareva Valentina 45 Severina Maria 4 1 - 0 4 Yakupova Aysyla 46 WFM Karpova Lyudmila 3Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 4 Kurmaeva Nailia 47 Sorokina Nadejda 3Ѕ 0 - 1 3Ѕ WIM Chasovnikova Eugenia 48 WFM Larina Marija 3Ѕ 0 - 1 3Ѕ WCM Saduakassova Dinara 49 Semenova Anastasia 3Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 3Ѕ WFM Khropova Larisa 50 WFM Baraeva Marina 3Ѕ 1 - 0 3Ѕ Abdumalik Zhansaya 51 Budueva Kristina 3Ѕ 1 - 0 3Ѕ Grabovets Nadezhda 52 Chernichenko Olga 3Ѕ 1 - 0 3Ѕ Khobotova Olesia 53 Kazennova Daria 3Ѕ 0 - 1 3Ѕ Golban Ludmila 54 Gavrjuchenkova Angelina 3Ѕ 1 - 0 3Ѕ Kaurova Anna 55 Yashchenko Olena 3Ѕ 0 - 1 3 WFM Beliaeva Natalia 56 Shangarayeva Daiana 3 1 - 0 3 Frolova Ekaterina 57 Khabalonova Tamara 3 0 - 1 3 Chukhlantseva Anna 58 Lezhepekova Veronika 3 1 - 0 3 Kisteneva Liza 59 Nagornaya Polina 3 1 - 0 3 Shikunova Oksana 60 Forova Tatiana 3 0 - 1 3 Polyanskaya Natalia 61 Niks Yana 3 0 - 1 3 Romanenko Ksenija 62 Vasiukova Ekaterina 3 1 - 0 3 Butneva Larisa 63 Bylinkina Anna 2Ѕ 0 - 1 2Ѕ Dolgova Tamara 64 Paramzina Anastasya 2Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 2Ѕ Lisachenko Natalia 65 Braun Elina 2Ѕ 1 - 0 2Ѕ Chadaeva Tatiana 66 Urbanaites Elvira 2Ѕ 1 - 0 2Ѕ Karimova Karina 67 Mukhina Marina 2Ѕ + - - 2Ѕ Churusova Ekaterina 68 Skakun Valentina 2 1 - 0 2Ѕ Ulyanovskaya Tamara 69 Badzhieva Giliana 2 1 - 0 2 Kaydanovich Marina 70 Martynenko Anastasia 2 Ѕ - Ѕ 2 Pylaeva Ekaterina 71 Artemenko Rimma 1Ѕ Ѕ - Ѕ 1Ѕ Cherniavskaya Klara 72 Vanchikova Dulma 1Ѕ 0 - 1 1Ѕ Vasiukova Renata D 73 Yakimova Taisia V 1Ѕ 0 - 1 1Ѕ Shmyreva Tatiana While the chess femmes were battling it out in the "C" Group, check out this action from the "B" Group - two chess femmes were playing in the final round on Board 1 and Board 4: Bo. Name Pts Res. Pts Name 1 Poghosyan Suren 7Ѕ 1 - 0 7 WGM Kursova Maria 2 Babikov Ivan 7 Ѕ - Ѕ 7 Petrov Artur 3 Eliseev Urii 7 0 - 1 7 Vdovin Sergei 4 Nikologorsky Matfei 7 0 - 1 7 WIM Tarasova Viktoriya

The Magic of Color in Ancient Egypt

From the Discovery Channel: 'Green Magic' Protected Egyptian Child Mummies Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Image: Raffaella Bianucci Protection for the Afterlife A bright green stone found inside a fossilized leather bag buried with an Egyptian toddler. The green stone likely had great magical significance for the ancient Egyptians. Discovery News Video Feb. 5, 2009 -- A rare mummified child from the early period of Egyptian history was discovered buried with a bright green amulet stone once believed to hold magical powers, according to a new study. The finds help to explain why hieroglyphics and historical texts record that Egyptian children wore green eye makeup. It also adds to the growing body of evidence that ancient Egyptians thought color itself held sacred energy that could help or hurt individuals. Lead author Raffaella Bianucci explained that the first Egyptian colored amulets occurred as early as the predynastic Badarian period, from 4500 to 3800 B.C. The recently analyzed child mummy, containing the remains of a 15- to 18-month-old toddler, dates to 4,700 years ago. "Even in limited forms and materials, these earliest amulets give a good indication of the dangerous forces that the early Egyptians felt were present in their world and needed to be harnessed by magical means," said Bianucci, a scientist in the Department of Animal and Human Biology at Via Accademia Albertina in Turin, Italy. She and her colleagues first examined the child's remains, which were wrapped in linen bandages. Immunological evidence determined that the youngster died from an acute malarial infection. The researchers then turned their attention to a fossilized leather bag tied with linen twine, which was wrapped in the bandages with the mummy. Two stones were found within the bag. The researchers focused on a bright green one, found poking through the fossilized leather. Powerful X-rays, as well as scanning electron microscope analysis, revealed that the stone was chrysocolla, or hydrated copper silica, according to the paper that will be published in the March issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science. To this day, chrysocolla is valued as an ornamental stone that, in its bluer forms, is sometimes confused with turquoise. Bianucci said malachite was a more common green mineral in early Egypt, since chrysocolla ores were limited to very few in the Sinai and the Eastern Egyptian Desert. Chrysocolla may have been special for children, as archaeologists previously unearthed a small figure of a child made of the green material in another grave. "In ancient Egypt, color was an integral part of the substance and being of everything in life," she said, explaining that green -- the color of new vegetation and growing crops, including the treasured papyrus plant -- was linked to health and "flourishing." Chapter 30 of the Book of the Dead, an ancient Egyptian funerary text, instructs that a scarab beetle amulet be made of green minerals and placed at the heart of mummies. Bianucci continued that, based on such records, red was the color of life and victory, white suggested omnipotence and purity, black was a symbol of death and the night, blue symbolized life and rebirth and yellow was thought to be eternal and indestructible, like the sun and gold. In terms of the child mummy's green amulet, she said, "We can hypothesize that (the parents) wished their child to be protected from unwanted influence and to be healthy in its afterlife." Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, told Discovery News that "the study was very well executed" and "is just what we need to shed light on the cultural practices and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians." "The fact that the child was buried with a chrysocolla bead is very interesting as it is rare to have such an identification," Ikram added. "Clearly this was an amulet that was interred with the child in an effort to ensure its safety in the afterworld -- a pity it did not protect the infant in this one."

Chess, The Musical

Chess is back in the news (it seems that hardly a day goes by when it is not in the news!): Make a Quick Move to 'Chess' I put together an article about the convoluted and rocky history of this enduring show for Goddesschess in 2007 that you may enjoy.

"The Eight" and "The Fire" Now Audiobooks

A review of Katherine Neville's "The Eight" and "The Fire" audiobooks: From Boston.com On Audio

Neverlands made real February 8, 2009 We all have a stack of audiobooks (and books) collected over the years that taunt us from the shelves, knowing we don't have time for them. Turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the new audiobooks vying for attention, I decided to adhere to at least one New Year's resolution and clear my shelves of some titles. Thankfully, "The Eight" was worth the wait. Originally published in 1988, 25 years before "The Da Vinci Code," it has the same conspiratorial vibe. A chess set made for Charlemagne is at the heart of two stories, centuries apart but intertwined. Chess becomes an allegory for the dangerous game played among characters as one young woman hunts for the missing chess pieces in 1972, while in 1790 a nun finds herself crossing paths with Napoleon and the conspirators of the French Revolution as she tries to hide and protect those same pieces. They had been buried for hundreds of years in a French abbey and, if united with the board, supply a magic formula that could help a player attain world domination, thanks to everything from alchemy and numerology to the supposed mystical powers of the Freemasons. Even if that sounds like a lot of hokum, Katherine Neville pulls it off, blithely rewriting history and making it sound realistic. The audiobook is read with great elan by Susan Denaker, who manages a cast of men and women of varied nationalities and centuries. The sequel, sadly, is less enjoyable. It took Neville 20 years to come out with "The Fire," also read with great enthusiasm and talent by Denaker. However, the story is overwritten, overthought, and consequently not as interesting. The daughter of the protagonist in "The Eight" is now chasing the same chess pieces, but Neville spends less time on each character, cramming in more detail but not allowing us to get to know any one character until about halfway through. 'The Fire" is so bloated that you may actually be better off with the abridgement. ____________________________________________________________________ Confession: I have yet to finish "The Fire." I'm presently on page 334 and the story seems to have run out of steam for me. Months have passed since I so eagerly started the book and power-read my way through the first 300 pages or so. I will finish it, though. I want to know what happens - I have projected an ending, I'll see if I'm correct :)

Susan Polgar's Texas Column

Here is this week's SP column from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Polgar: Changing Times of Chess; youth rules; teens win pretigious tournaments

Ten Years of Goddesschess

On May 6, 2009, Goddesschess will have officially been online for ten years! To celebrate, dondelion, Isis, Michelle and I will rendevouz in New York City for a full week of fun, celebration and education. I don't know about the others, but this time around I intend to visit as many museums as I can that I didn't get to see during our 2005 visit (5 days), we're going to take in a play on Broadway (Isis is arranging the particulars), and I will drag dondelion along on various extremely touristy things, such as going to the top of the Empire State Building, taking a boat out to the Statue of Liberty, and a shopping expedition on Fifth Avenue (he is very patient with me :)). I also want to visit the main branch of the New York Public Library - on 42nd Street (?) -- I have a whole list of research projects that may be gotten out of the way quickly if NYPL has the periodicals and magazines I need to see and copy. I must start digging around online to see what they have in their catalog... To think, when all of this started back in December, 1998, Michelle was just a little girl (she was born in 1990). Now she is a beautiful young woman in college, and she really has her act together. I am feeling suddenly sentimental... Since I have belatedly discovered the joys of printing photographs on my HP printer, I have been going through reams of photos, printing out some of my favorites (mostly of Michelle, Isis and me, dondelion as photographer). I have been hanging some of the photos on the staircase wall - the space is rapidly filling and I'm running out of a hodge-podge of old frames! It sure is a trip down memory lane. I think look much better now than I did in 2005 (better hair, better body, better wardrobe); I must make sure that dondelion takes several flattering photographs, LOL! I will be off work from May 7th through May 25th (Memorial Day) - almost the entire month! Can't wait!

Susan Polgar to Give Simul

Story from the Peoria (Arizona) Times Saturday, February 7, 2009 Chess Grandmaster presides over Peoria tournament Chess Grandmaster Susan Polgar will play 64 opponents simultaneously the evening of Friday, Feb. 13, to kick off a weekend of chess at Sunrise Mountain High School in Peoria. On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 14-15, the Susan Polgar National Chess Championship for Boys and the Susan Polgar National Open Championship for Girls will be held at the same location. The weekend events will include prizes, trophies, teaching events and eligible high school players competing for college scholarships. “This is a great event for Peoria and is part of Peoria's commitment to youth education and chess,” said City Manager Carl Swenson. “We are excited to have Ms. Polgar as our guest.” Born in Hungary but now living in New York [actually, in Lubbock, Texas, but SP maintains her chess school in NY], Polgar is one of the strongest female players ever, having been Women's World Chess Champion from 1996 until 1999. In 1986, she made history by being the first female player to qualify to compete in the Men's World Chess Championship. In her Peoria exhibition, Polgar will take on the 64 opponents simultaneously at 7:15 p.m. Feb. 13. Anybody can be one of her challengers. Be one of the first to register and pay a $30 fee the night of the event. Registration will continue until the start of play or until all the spots are filled. Earlier in the day, Polgar will speak at a luncheon in the Development and Community Services Building (First floor, Point of View Room) on the Peoria Municipal Campus. The two championship tournaments will run through Saturday and Sunday, culminating with an awards ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The deadline to register online is 7 p.m. Feb. 13; phone registrations will be taken until 10 p.m. at 602-482-4867. For more information, visit www.susanpolgar.com and www.chessemporium.com/tourney.php.

Nuns Died Rendering Aid During Plague Outbreak

The headline of this article is misleading - of course not all nuns were wiped out due to the Plague! Story from MSNBC.com Renaissance nuns wiped out by plague Study: Religious orders in France lost lives providing medical care for poor By Jennifer Viegas updated 11:11 a.m. CT, Fri., Feb. 6, 2009 Nuns and priests sacrificed their own lives to provide medical care for the poor in Renaissance France, according to a new study that implicates exposure to contagious plague victims in the deaths of several religious order members. The study is among the first to find that plague, a deadly bacterial disease also known as "the Black Death," can be quickly and accurately identified in ancient human remains. Several recently identified women who died after caring for plague victims were all Benedictine nuns from the Sainte-Croix Abbey's chapter house near Poitiers, France. "The Abbess [Mother Superior] of Sainte-Croix was known to be an extremely generous person who spent all of her life looking after the poor," lead author Raffaella Bianucci told Discovery News. Bianucci, an anthropologist in the Department of Animal and Human Biology at the University of Turin, added that the woman was the Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau, the fourth daughter of Prince William I of Orange. When the countess became a Roman Catholic nun, she sold most of her valuables to pay for food and medical care for the region's poor, many of whom caught the plague from soldiers fighting in the Thirty Years War. "There is evidence of food distribution to the people, and it seems that laymen had free access to the convent's infirmary," Bianucci said. Historical accounts suggest that nuns caring for the plague victims succumbed to the disease sometime between 1628 and 1632. At that time, General Vicar Jean Filleau ordered the remaining nuns to leave the cloister and retreat to a seaside residence. With funding from Compagnia di San Paolo, Bianucci and her team analyzed skeletons of Saint-Croix Abbey nuns whose corpses were found resting on layers of the disinfectant calcium oxide, or lime. The researchers applied an "RDT dipstick test" to the bones and teeth. Similar to a home pregnancy test, the "dipstick" changes color if it detects the presence of markers for Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague. The nuns tested positive for the deadly infection, according to the study, which will be published in the March issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science. The scientists also performed the test on priests buried near the altar of Saint-Nicolas' Church in La Chaize-le-Vicomte, in central France. The priests also tested positive. Although historical records are less clear about the priests' contact with local plague victims, Bianucci said the men must have been around "the parishioners, as their ministry required, and certainly assisted people who were dying," such as by administering last rights. "It will be most interesting to see it (the plague dipstick test) applied to a wide array of tissues of varying ages in the future," said Arthur Aufderheide, director of the Paleobiology Laboratory at the University of Minnesota's Medical School, Duluth Campus.

2009 Gibraltar - Final Standings

After Round 10, for the Chess Femmes (16, out of 195 players): Rank Name Score Fed. Rating TPR W-We 8 GM Dzagnidze, Nana 7.0 GEO 2518 2675 +2.21 10 GM Stefanova, Antoaneta 7.0 BUL 2557 2612 +0.79 11 GM Cramling, Pia 7.0 SWE 2548 2511 -0.23 27 IM Krush, Irina 6.5 USA 2457 2496 +0.69 31 IM Zatonskih, Anna 6.5 USA 2462 2463 +0.20 32 IM Cmilyte, Viktorija 6.5 LTU 2497 2458 -0.24 44 IM Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan 6.0 SCO 2500 2449 -0.47 50 GM Socko, Monika 6.0 POL 2449 2362 -0.91 51 IM Sachdev, Tania 6.0 IND 2435 2343 -1.03 58 IM Houska, Jovanka 5.5 ENG 2392 2430 +0.53 63 WGM Calzetta, Monica 5.5 ESP 2371 2350 -0.16 95 IM Klinova, Masha 5.0 ISR 2328 2219 -1.29 136 WIM Tsifanskaya, Ludmila A 4.0 ISR 2149 2059 -1.34 153 Carlsen, Ellen Oen 3.5 NOR 1888 2007 +1.25 156 Haug, Marianne Wold 3.5 NOR 1935 1988 +0.57 178 Chidi, Lovinia Sylvia 2.5 GER 0 1819 1819 Considering the odds, the chess femmes performed fabulously! TWO placed in the top 10, with GM Pia Cramling right up there at #11. Our USA chess femmes, Krush and Zatonskih, neck and neck again (just like the were at the 2008 U.S. Women's Chess Championship), had very credible performances. BTW, the event was won by Russian GM Peter Svidler with 8.0. Here is the final rankings table. Won't it be grand to see the upcoming showdown of Krush and Zatonskih in the 2009 U.S. Women's Chess Championship - can't wait! Assuming they play...