Sir Flinders Petrie, Egyptologist
An Archic Sonnet
To know what man was, ere he wrote his name,
Inscribed the laws and precepts on the rock,
And sacrificed the best lamb of the flock,
We dig the mound, and wander o’er the plain.
To learn the mysteries of the past, we fain
Would search for hidden slabs, and keep in stock
The Relics we so love. Oh, to unlock
The door, and gain an entrance to the same! Continue reading An Archic Sonnet
Making sense of Al Jazeera’s strange coverage of “Ardi”
by Salman Hameed, Irtiqa, A Science & Religion Blog, October 13, 2009
About two weeks ago, Science included a series of papers about our 4.4 million year old ancestor Ardipithicus or “Ardi”. It is a fascinating find that has justifiably garnered attention worldwide. You can read the details in Science (there is also a nice short video there) and an excellent description on The Loom.
However, Al Jazeera gave an interesting spin to the same story. Lina Malkawi translates the story on her blog and points out the bizarre coverage by the Arabic version of Al Jazeera, where the headline reads: Ardi refutes Darwin’s theory (the screen shots on the right are from Lina’s blog). And one goes, huh?! Did Al Jazeera any thing about Ardi? Hey – if not the original Science article, at least read the summary of the findings (they could have at least watched the short video that explains the findings). Continue reading Ardi, We hardly knew yah
Archeological sites in Bani Hushaish suffer from vandalism
by Mansur Ali al-Muntasir, Yemen Observer, February 3, 2009
The Bani Hushaish district in the Sana’a governorate is 30 km east of the capital, and contains several important archeological sites.
Yemen has a great wealth of ancient archeological sites many of which date as far back as the pre-Islamic era and many more site which are still waiting to be discovered and documented. There is a fear though amongst the Yemen’s archeological establishment that without adequate protection and preservation much of Yemen’s historical record could be lost to natural and human damage. This article seeks to highlight the richness of Yemen’s archeological heritage and the need to preserve and document such heritage for future generations.
The most important of the discovered archeological sites is in Shibam al-Ghras, where several mummies were found. The district contains several other neglected sites, which have not yet been identified by archeological authorities. This is disturbing; as these sites have been damaged as a result of official negligence, and a lack of public awareness about their value and importance to Yemeni heritage. Continue reading Bani Hushaysh Archaeology
Digging up the Saudi past: Some would rather not
by Donna Abu-nasr, AP, August 30th, 2009
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Much of the world knows Petra, the ancient ruin in modern-day Jordan that is celebrated in poetry as “the rose-red city, ‘half as old as time,’†and which provided the climactic backdrop for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.â€
But far fewer know Madain Saleh, a similarly spectacular treasure built by the same civilization, the Nabateans.
That’s because it’s in Saudi Arabia, where conservatives are deeply hostile to pagan, Jewish and Christian sites that predate the founding of Islam in the 7th century.
But now, in a quiet but notable change of course, the kingdom has opened up an archaeology boom by allowing Saudi and foreign archaeologists to explore cities and trade routes long lost in the desert.
The sensitivities run deep. Archaeologists are cautioned not to talk about pre-Islamic finds outside scholarly literature. Few ancient treasures are on display, and no Christian or Jewish relics. A 4th or 5th century church in eastern Saudi Arabia has been fenced off ever since its accidental discovery 20 years ago and its exact whereabouts kept secret. Continue reading Saudiana Jones vs the “Days of Ignorance”
This illustration from a Persian treatise on chess, possibly dating from the 14th century, is notable for its expressive faces that hint at the “different kinds of pleasantry and jests†Mas‘udi recorded as customary among players at that time in Baghdad.
[The latest issue of Saudi Aramco World has an interesting article on the history of chess in the Middle East. Here is an excerpt.]
The Game of Kings
by Stewart Gordon
Arab writers on chess acknowledge that the game spread west from Persia, probably soon after the Islamic conquest in the mid-seventh century. The Arabic term for the game was and is shatranj, a standard linguistic shift from the Persian chatrang, and all the names of the chess pieces (with the exception of the horse) are Arabic versions of their Persian names. As it spread, however, the game did not always find itself welcome. The Eastern Church at Constantinople condemned chess as a form a gambling in 680, and al-Hakim, the Fatimid ruler of Egypt, banned it in 1005 and ordered all chess sets burned. Continue reading The Game of Kings
Figure 1: Google Earth map of the southern edge of the fortress area, with north to the top of the picture
[Note: This is the second in a series on a visit to the fortress castle known as Qa‘lat Salah-al-Din, near Lattakiya Syria. For the first, click here.]
Before continuing with my recollections of a tour of the castle fortress of Robert of Saone and Salah al-Din, it might be useful to take an aerial view. Thanks to Google Earth, you can get a bird’s eye view of the fortress, indicated in the above photo (Figure 1) only partially, but available with functions here.
In the Google Earth image above, the formal entrance today is through the tower in the bottom center of the picture, with the mosque and madrasa to the north. The mosque and madrasa were reconstructed with support by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in 2000. This involved a careful rebuilding of the minaret, which had partially collapsed (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Reconstructed Ayyubid minaret
The following information comes from a website devoted to the preservation and digitalization of the many Arabic manuscripts archived in Mali. The main website is http://www.timbuktufoundation.org.
The Timbuktu manuscripts are a symbolic representation of the impact of the early schools and universities (XII-XVIth century) that existed in West Africa (Timbuktu-Gao-Djenné-Kano). However, the manuscripts that remain in Timbuktu are only part of the intellectual heritage of the region because other manuscripts can be found throughout West Africa.
Today, this entire African intellectual legacy is on the verge of being lost. The brittle condition of the manuscripts i.e. pages disintegrate easily like ashes. The termites, insects, weather, piracy of the manuscripts, and the selling of these treasures to tourists for food money pose a serious threat to the future of the manuscripts of Timbuktu. Continue reading Timbukto and Manuscripts too
Figure 1: Looking northeast at the western town and central fortification of Qal‘at Salah al-Din
On my recent visit to Lattakiya, Syria, I was given a guided tour of a most extraordinary castle/fortress with visible Crusader and Mamluk ruins. This is the crusader castle named for Robert of Saone, who was given control of it by Roger, Prince of Antioch in 1119 CE. Located almost 30 km from Lattakiya, it was obviously a strategic asset for the Crusaders. But it appears Robert of Saone chose a bad architect for his expansion of the existing fortress. Instead of building up the Byzantine fortress at the high point, he built along the walls, so there was not a second site of defense once the walls were breached. He also failed to consider the range of mangolins, which Salah al-Din used effectively from the nearby ravines to breach the castle walls.
It is no wonder why this impressive location also appealed to defenders from the Phoenician period on. It is recorded that Alexander the Great conquered it, but only with the divine help of Hercules’ club, in 334 BCE. In the 10th century CE the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimisces gained control and built up the walls, which were expanded by the crusaders. The crusaders did not even last a century, despite the seemingly impregnable aspect of the castle. The walls were breached by the armies of Salah ed-Din in July 1188. In 1957 the official name of the remains was fixed by the Syrian government as the castle (qal‘a) of Salah al-Din, proving once again that to the victor go the spoils and history’s nod. Continue reading The Fortress of Saone and Salah al-Din, 1