Showing posts with label ancient. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ancient. Show all posts

Friday, June 6, 2014

Friday Art & History Feature - Amelia Edwards

Amelia Edwards 1890 in America (public domain)

This fascinating woman was born the same day as me and is truly inspirational to me.

Amelia Edwards was an English novelist, journalist, world traveler and Egyptologist.


Born on June 7th, 1831, to an Irish mother and a British solider father, she wrote her first poem at the tender age of 7, first story at 12. Over the years, she wrote many poems, stories and five full-length novels, the most famous been Barbara's History (1864).

Philæ from the South (1890) (from A Thousand Miles up the Nile) (Travelers in the Middle East Archive)

Using the proceeds from her writing, Amelia left London to travel. She traveled to Egypt int he winter of 1873 and became fascinated with the land, its culture and history. She spent some time there, and, on her return to England, wrote a beautiful description of her travels on the river Nile. The travel account was later published as A Thousand Miles up the Nile (1877). The travel memoir included Amelia's own drawings.

Great Rock-Cut Temple, Abou Simbel, Nubia (1890) (from A Thousand Miles up the Nile) (Travelers in the Middle East Archive)

 Amelia became a great advocate of research and preservation of ancient cultural monuments. "...Every day, more inscriptions are mutilated–more paintings and sculptures are defaced. ... When science leads the way, is it wonderful that ignorance should follow?" (A Thousand Miles Up the Nile, 1891 edition, pp. 353.) She was the co-founder of the Egypt Exploration Fund (first established in 1882), which survives to this day as the Egypt Exploration Society. The other co-founder was Reginald Stuart Pole. She also toured the United States and gave many lectures on the topic so close to her heart.

Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards by Percival Ball, marble, 1873 (National Portrait Gallery, London)
Amelia died in April of 1892 of influenza and was buried in St. Marie's Church in Bristol. She never married. Her entire collection of Egyptian antiquities was bequeathed to University College London, as well as money to found an Edwards Chair of Egyptology.

Amelia Edward's obelisk tombstone


Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Edwards, http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/edwards/edwards.html








Friday, July 5, 2013

Friday Art & History Feature - European Castles

I'm fascinated with ancient castles and palaces, and Western Europe is ripe with them. Here are some of my favorite castles (most of which I'm yet to visit).
France

Chateau de Chambord in Loire Valley


Chateau la Rochefoucauld

Chateau de Chenonceau in Loire Valley


Italy

Castello di Soave in Verona

Fenis Castle in Aosta Valley

 
Castel Sant'angelo in Rome, which I had the pleasure of seeing


Spain

Coca castle in Segovia

Alcazar Castle in Segovia

Castillo de Loarre

England

Bodiam Castle

Alnwick Castle

Herstmonceux Castle

Windsor Castle

Ireland

Burnratty Castle

Blarney Castle

Dublin Castle

Kilkenny Castle


This is just a very small sampling of the unbelievable number of beautiful castles located in Western Europe.

Do you like castles? Which ones are your favorite?

Friday, January 25, 2013

Friday Art & History Feature - the Myth of Romulus and Remus

Capitoline Wolf - depiction of the She-wolf with Romulus and Remus

Rome - the eternal city. The city where history is layered so thick, figuratively and literally, that to this day archaeologists are uncovering new ancient sites every time the city digs to expand the subway. When I was there a couple of years ago with my husband, we were directed towards a church that was built in the middle ages. Under that church, was an archaeological excavation of a church that was built in the early first century. Under that was an archaeological excavation of an ancient Roman villa of a family that lived in the 2nd Century B.C. And that is quintessential Rome.

The history of Rome fascinates me, and one cannot talk about the history of this great city without talking about the myth of its creation - the story of brothers Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of the city Rome.

Romulus and Remus were twin brothers, born to Rhea Silvia by either the god Mars or by the demi-god Hercules. Once born, the twin are abandoned but are saved through a series of miraculous supernatural occurrences. They are put into a basket and set in the river Tiber, but the river carries them to safety. Once out of the river, they are found and suckled by a she-wolf, until a shepherd finds them and raises them with his wife.

The discovery of Romulus and Remus by Paul Rubens


When the brothers become adults, they decide to found a new city, but argue about the location of where it should be. Romulus wants it on the Palantine Hill, while Remus wants it on the Aventine Hill. Eventually Remus is killed and Romulus names a new city that he founds after himself. He also creates the first legions and a senate.

While the city grows fast, most of its population are unmarried men who are refugees. To keep populating the city, Romulus arranges the abduction of Sabine women from a neighboring land. Even though war follows, Sabines and Romans eventually unite and Romans become the dominant people in the area.

The Rape of the Sabine Women by Nicolas Poussin

 It is not clear what happens to Romulus following these events.

Modern historians are not proponents of the idea that Rome was named after Romulus, but the myth is nevertheless still a subject of fascination and study, especially as the source of ancient Roman ideologies, values and morality.

What is fascinating to me is that the she-wolf from this story became a symbol of Rome (and you know how I love everything that has to do with wolves :)) She is a symbol of fertility and strength.

Rome


Friday, April 13, 2012

Friday Art & History Feature - Artemis

Artemis by Kagaya
Artemis has always been one of my favorite goddesses of the Greek pantheon.  Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon is Diana.

Artemis was the patron goddess of wild animals, hunt, virginity and young girls. Interestingly, she was also the goddess of childbirth and women's healer. Her sacred animal is deer, and her sacred plant is the cypress tree. She has long been associated with the moon, and is often depicted with a half-moon on her forehead, even as she's depicted as a huntress with a bow. She's always surrounded by her faithful dogs.

The Versailles Artemis
Artemis was born, along with her twin brother Apollo, to the main god of the Green pantheon, Zeus, and to Leto. In one account of the birth, Artemis is born before Apollo and the assists her mother as a mid-wife to deliver her twin brother. Thus, she becomes the patroness of mid-wives and childbirth.

Diana by Boucher
 Artemis herself chooses to guard her virginity and surrounds herself with virgin companions. There are a number of accounts in which certain gods and men try to win Artemis over or, failing to do so, try to capture and rape her. In all of the accounts, the assailants are punished by her and are either killed or turned into other beings. Among these are the stories involving Actaeon, Adonis and Orion.

Artemis by Titian
 During the Trojan War, Artemis is said to have taken the side of the Trojans.

The worship of Artemis was strong across all of Greece, especially in Sparta and on the island of Delos, which is considered to be the place where she was born.

Artemis of Ephesus
 She was also worshiped in Ephesus, Turkey. Her ancient temple in that area became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Unfortunately, today almost nothing remains of the temple but it is still a place to visit on the tours of Ephesus. It is possible that as the Artemis of Ephesus, she had a lover and was a mother.

Artemis by Vasilis Zikos
Moon Goddess by Josephine Wall


Friday, October 21, 2011

Friday Art and History Feature - Kiev (my birthplace)

Center of Kiev
I haven’t been back to the city of my birth in twenty years and from everything I have read and heard about it, it has changed quiet a lot. However, what’s constant is that Kiev, where I lived for the first 13 years of my life, is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.


Kiev has been the capital of Ukraine since 1934, but it’s history goes back to 480 AD. The legend of the creation of the city tells of two brothers, Schek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid (translated as “swan”). What is known for a fact is that Slavs have inhabited the area of and around kiev since 6th century.

Monument to brothers Schek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid - legendary founders of Kiev
Kiev became the capital of the “old Russia” or the “Kievan Rus’” in the 9th century and remained so until at least the 12th century. It was destroyed by the invading Mongols in 1240 and had to be completely rebuilt. Throughout the next centuries, Kiev was controlled at various times by Tatars, Lithuanians and others. In the 19th century, Ukraine was losing its autonomy and eventually went through a Russification, leading to its eventual inclusion into the Soviet Union in 1917, with Kiev becoming its capital in 1934.

Andreevkiy spusk in Kiev
Today, Kiev is a mix of old and new, more than ever. When I left in 1999 to come to America, it was right after the Soviet Union broke apart and Ukraine was seeking independence. When looking at the pictures of Kiev today, you can see a McDonalds and ad for an Ipad next to a stunning ancient church, and old cobblestone streets run parallel to busy new highways.


There are so many churches in the city, you can encounter one no matter which way you turn. Some of those have survived through the centuries, others have been rebuilt in the past years because so many were destroyed after the Soviet revolution on 1917. Kiev is also still one of the greenest most beautiful cities in Europe (and in the world) today.


Kiev in bloom
 In the spring, it is covered with lilac bushes and the chestnut trees in bloom. In fact, the bloom of a chestnut tree became the unofficial symbol of the city.


I would love to visit Kiev sometime soon and see how it changed. I would also love to show my husband where I grew up. Kiev has a beauty and spirit about it that appeals strongly to me as a writer.

Chestnuts blooming

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