M.J. Rose

Something to stare at in awe for a while…

From cairoscene.com,

9 of the Rarest Photos Ever Taken of Ancient Egypt

The photographs, which are part of a rare card collection titled “Égyptie, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie”, are valued at over $20,000 by Antiquarian Auctions…

See them all here.

Pretty much the best news ever…

From Smithsonian.com,

Ancient Egyptian Stories Will Be Published in English for the First Time

Translated from hieroglyphics on monuments, tombs and papyri, the book will present tales few outside of academia have read

By Jason Daley

“While people may view inscriptions in Greek or Latin as pretty, they still recognize their merit as text. Indeed, writings from ancient Greece and Rome are revered and considered classics of Western literature. Egyptian hieroglyphics, however, are often seen as mere decoration. Sometimes, the characters are literally used as wallpaper.

One reason is that schoolchildren and classicists alike have read Greek and Latin widely for centuries. But hieroglyphics and the stories they tell have remained accessible only to a handful of trained scholars. That’s one reason Penguin Classics has published Writings from Ancient Egypt in Great Britain (it will be available in the US in January), the first literary English translation of some of the texts that cover thousands of square feet of monuments and tomb walls.

Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson, a fellow of Clare College at Cambridge University, tells Dalya Alberge at The Guardian that the ancient Egyptian writing is just as compelling and layered as those written by the Romans. “What will surprise people are the insights behind the well-known facade of ancient Egypt, behind the image that everyone has of the pharaohs, Tutankhamun’s mask and the pyramids,” Wilkinson says…”

Read more here.

Myth or memory?

From Atlas Obscura,

…The legendary sword in the stone from the lore of King Arthur does exist. But it’s not in Avalon. It’s in Italy — on display in the Montesiepi Chapel in Tuscany.

The Sword in the Stone at Montesiepi Chapel

The real sword in the stone is found not in England, but in an Italian chapel.

“Galgano Guidotti was born in 1148 near Chiusdino. After spending his youth as a wealthy knight, in 1180 Giudotti decided to follow the words of Jesus and retired as a hermit near his hometown. He began to experience visions of the Archangel Michael, leading him to God and the twelve apostles on the hill of Monte Siepi. In one vision, Michael told Giudotti to renounce all of his earthly possessions. He responded that this would be as difficult as splitting a stone, and to prove his point, thrust his sword into a rock. To his surprise, the sword went through the impenetrable surface as though it was water. Shortly after, an errant horse led Giudotti to the very hilltop that had appeared in his visions, where he was moved to plant a cross. Not having any wood handy, he plunged his sword into a rock, just as he had in the vision, where it was embedded for all time. One year later Giudotti died, and in 1185 Pope Lucius the 3rd declared him a saint, and the Montesiepi Chapel was built up around it.

While the sword was considered a fake for years, recent studies examined the sword and the hands, and the dating results as well as metal and style of the sword all are consistent with the late 1100s – early 1200s. This may mean that the story of Excalibur in the stone originated with Guidotti in Italy….”

For the rest, click here.