Ancient World Review

Roman Satire And Hipponax, The Original Troll

"Although there were earlier Latin writers instrumental in developing the genre of satire, the official founder of this Roman genre is Lucilius, of whom we have only fragments. Horace, Persius, and Juvenal followed, leaving us many complete satires about the life, vice, and moral decay they saw around them." Source: Thought Company.

From a discussion of Horace's satirical poetry. Closed-captions helpful.

According to Wikipedia, "the first Roman to discuss satire critically was Quintilian, who invented the term to describe the writings of Gaius Lucilius. The two most prominent and influential ancient Roman satirists are Horace and Juvenal, who wrote during the early days of the Roman Empire. Other important satirists in ancient Latin are Gaius Lucilius and Persius. Satire in their work is much wider than in the modern sense of the word, including fantastic and highly coloured humorous writing with little or no real mocking intent. When Horace criticized Augustus, he used veiled ironic terms. In contrast, Pliny reports that the 6th-century-BC poet Hipponax wrote satirae that were so cruel that the offended hanged themselves."

Hipponax: The Original Troll

Horace's satire was relatively gentle. Juvenal, of course, was much harsher and Hipponax sounds like the ancient prototype of the modern cyberbully who occasionally drives unstable teenagers to suicide. Most of his work, unfortunately, has been lost, but here's a line from one of his poems:

"What navel-snipper [midwife] wiped and washed you as you squirmed about, you crack-brained creature?"

An early feminist, Hipponax said that "There are two days when a woman is a pleasure: the day one marries her and the day one carries out her dead body."

If Hipponax was alive today he would probably be a very popular speaker on university campuses. Strangely enough, his brand of progressive poetry seems to have evolved out of an earlier religious tradition:

"Hipponax composed within the Iambus tradition which, in the work of Archilochus, a hundred years earlier, appears to have functioned as ritualized abuse and obscenity associated with the religious cults of Demeter and Dionysus but which, in Hipponax's day, seems rather to have had the purpose of entertainment. In both cases, the genre featured scornful abuse, a bitter tone and sexual permissiveness. Unlike Archilochus, however, he frequently refers to himself by name, emerging as a highly self-conscious figure, and his poetry is more narrow and insistently vulgar in scope: 'with Hipponax, we are in an unheroic, in fact, a very sordid world', amounting to 'a new conception of the poet's function.'" (Wikipedia)

Hipponax was pretty popular in his day, but the Christians who came along later didn't like him for some reason and even the pagan emperor Julian told his priests not to read his stuff. In modern terms, Hipponax's poetry created so much butt-hurt than it was banned long before social media ever existed. That's probably why so little of it has survived.

The Structure Of A Medieval Manuscript

"Most medieval manuscripts were written on specially treated animal skins, called parchment or vellum (paper did not become common in Europe until around 1450)." Source: The Getty Museum.

"... After the surface had been prepared, the parchment was ruled, usually with leadpoint or colored ink ... The scribe wrote with a quill pen made from the feather of a goose or swan. The end of the feather was cut to form the writing nib. A slit cut into the middle of the nib allowed the ink to flow smoothly to the tip of the pen. The appearance of the script—whether rounded or angular, dense or open—was partly dependent upon the shape and the angle of the nib."

"... Once the writing and illuminating had been completed, the parchment sheets were folded and nested into groups called gatherings. The gatherings were ordered in their proper sequence and sewn together onto cords or leather thongs that served as supports. Once the sewing was finished, the ends of the supports were laced through channels carved into the wooden boards that formed the front and back covers of the book. The binding was usually then covered in leather or a decorative fabric."

The Ancient Art Of Parchment Making

Note: The use of parchment apparently dates all the way back to the time of Herodotus (5th cent BC) when books were called "skins" in some parts of Greece. Papyrus was a lot more common, though. According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. rev., "[i]n the production of books parchment played only a minor role compared with papyrus, which remained the dominant writing material throughout Greek and Roman antiquity."

The Evolution Of The King James Bible

"The King James Bible is the most widely read work in English literature, a masterpiece of translation whose stately cadences and transcendent phrases have long been seen, even by secular readers, as having emerged from a kind of collective divine inspiration." Source: New York Times (2015).

"But now, in an unassuming notebook held in an archive at the University of Cambridge, an American scholar has found what he says is an important new clue to the earthly processes behind that masterpiece: the earliest known draft, and the only one definitively written in the hand of one of the roughly four dozen translators who worked on it."

Comment: This isn't exactly ancient or even late medieval history, but I love old books and this discovery provides an interesting insight into how the modern Bible evolved over the centuries. In this case, a 16th - 17th century scholar had to make decisions about how to translate and interpret older texts, a process that must have been repeated who knows how many times since the Bible first came into existence.

This translation process inevitably introduced errors into the "inerrant word of God." According to the Huffington Post, "[t]he mistakes stem from five flawed translation techniques: etymology, internal structure, cognates, old mistranslations, and misunderstood metaphor." The really interesting question is whether an original, accurate version of the Bible ever actually existed.

That question still hasn't been answered. "For centuries, Bible scholars examined two ancient texts to elucidate the original language of the Bible [Old Testament]: the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint," according to Bible History Daily. One of these, the Septuagint, is itself a translation (into Greek) of the Old Testament. Other manuscripts are used as well. As for the New Testament, it consists of an anthology of old texts thought to date back to the 1st or 2nd centuries AD and perhaps later. These manuscripts are probably copies themselves.

Next video shows the oldest known surviving copy of the Christian Bible, the Greek Codex Sinaiticus, which dates back to the 4th century AD.

Considering all the claims that are made about the Bible's literal truth, its actual history is mind-boggling. There was no "original Bible" as such since it was assembled from dozens of existing manuscripts, and who knows where they came from or how many times they had been copied. Politicized church conferences decided which manuscripts to include and which to leave out. Translators made errors in translating the works of other translators, and copyists made errors and deliberate changes when they copied the texts of the translators.

Another thing: If you go looking for the original version of the Bible, you have to decide which Bible you're talking about. There are literally hundreds of different English versions and translations in use today, and there are a lot of differences between modern Bibles and various medieval versions. The search for the "authentic" Bible is futile, though. It will only lead you into a morass of ancient Biblical manuscripts and paleography. Good luck trying to figure out if the 10th commandment prohibits taking, not coveting, or if the pregnant woman in Isaiah 7:14 was actually a virgin.

Related: What kind of text is the King James Bible? (Bart Ehrman)

The Trinity Is Pagan

Comment: I don't believe in God myself, so the nature of the god I don't believe in has always been more or less irrelevant. Now that I think about it, though, this three-faced Christian deity seems to be completely pagan.

The Christian god has three aspects or personalities, just like the pagan gods had different manifestations. Take Zeus, for instance. Zeus Olympios was the king of the gods, Zeus Georgos the god of crops and harvests in Athens, Zeus Tallaios a solar deity worshiped in Crete, and so on.

Another example of a polymorphous deity would be the Hindu god Brahma, usually pictured as having four faces signifying different aspects of his underlying nature. (Image: Probably Nurpur, Punjab Hills, Northern India [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.)

As it turns out, the Christian god we're all so familiar with has deeper pagan roots than I would have thought.

The concept of the Trinity as such isn't found in the Bible, apparently, but there are references to "the Father, Son and Holy Ghost." The idea of a three-in-one god was basically invented by the church, which borrowed heavily from pagan philosophy when it came up with the doctrine. According to Wikipedia, "[t]he doctrine of the trinity . . . is not a product of the earliest Christian period, and we do not find it carefully expressed before the end of the second century."

The Trinity doctrine was influenced by Greek metaphysical philosophy and created a split in the early church:

"Such metaphysical thinking was common among the intelligentsia of the Greek world and carried over into the thinking of the Roman world of the New Testament period and succeeding centuries." Source: United Church of God. The so-called "true" church "resisted such infiltration" and "... [t]wo distinct threads of Christianity split and developed separately—one true to the plain and simple teachings of the Bible and the other increasingly compromised with pagan thought and practices adopted from the Greco-Roman world."

Apparently the doctrine of the Trinity wasn't formally accepted until the fourth century when Christianity became the official state religion of what was left of the Roman empire:

"Nontrinitarianism (or antitrinitarianism) refers to Christian belief systems that reject the doctrine of the Trinity as found in the Nicene Creed as not having a scriptural origin. Nontrinitarian views differ widely on the nature of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Various nontrinitarian views, such as Adoptionism, Monarchianism, and Arianism existed prior to the formal definition of the Trinity doctrine in AD 325, 360, and 431, at the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus, respectively. Following the final victory of orthodoxy at Constantinople in 381, Arianism was driven from the Empire, retaining a foothold amongst the Teutonic tribes. When the Franks converted to Catholicism in 496, however, it gradually faded out. Nontrinitarianism was later renewed in the Gnosticism of the Cathars in the 11th through 13th centuries, in the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, and in some groups arising during the Second Great Awakening of the 19th century." (Wikipedia)

It's ironic that some of the so-called heretical Christian movements, at least in this one aspect, were more scripturally "pure" than the official church.

Vaguely related: Duterte calls trinity doctrine "silly."

The Mysterious Ancient Monoliths Of Asuka Nara

"Asuka (飛鳥) was the Imperial capital of Japan during the Asuka period (538 – 710 AD), which takes its name from this place. It is located in the present-day village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture." (Wikipedia)

Ancient shrines, tombs, temples (some still in use) and other buildings can be found in Asuka. Archaeologists "continue to uncover relics from these ruins. Recent discoveries in the area include Wado coins, believed to be some of the oldest coins in Japan, and paintings in the Kitora [next video] and Takamatsuzuka Kofun, or tombs.

"The Ishibutai Kofun is also located in Asuka. On March 12, 2004, the discovery of the remains of a residence's main building adjacent to the kofun was announced. It is likely that the residence belonged to Soga no Umako [551? - 626 AD], who is believed to have been entombed in the kofun."

Japan's Mysterious Keyhole Tombs

"The Mozu Tombs ... are a group of megalithic tombs [kofun] in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Originally consisting of more than 100 tombs, only less than 50% of the key-hole, round and rectangular tombs remain." (Wikipedia)

^"The Daisenryo Kofun ..., the largest kofun in Japan, are believed to have been constructed over a period of 20 years in the mid 5th century during the Kofun Period. While it cannot be accurately confirmed, it is commonly accepted that the tomb was built for the late Emperor Nintoku."

"In the Japanese archipelago, there are tumuli (kofuns), which are mounds of earth and stones erected over graves of the ruling class. More than 20,000 were built as monuments between the later part of the 3rd century and the 6th century. It was the peak period of building such mounds. They represent a cultural tradition which is an expression of 'forms, and design of the kofun' of the sociopolitical hierarchical order and the link that was prevalent during that period between regions. This period is termed as the Kofun Period. The most prominent imperial mausolea in this cluster of tumulus are those of emperor Nintoku and emperor Richu." (Wikipedia)

Related: Mozu-Furuichi Kofun (UNESCO). Overview of Japan's tumulus culture of the Kofun Period.

Ancient Egyptian Temple Reveals Previously Unknown Constellations

Video from 2018.

"The restoration of a soot-filled ancient Egyptian temple [the Temple of Esna] has revealed the previously unknown names of ancient Egyptian constellations, according to experts in Germany and Egypt." Source: Live Science.

"The restoration has also uncovered the gorgeous original colors the ancient Egyptians painted the 2,000-year-old temple."

Video from 2020.

Bodies Of Man & Slave Discovered In Pompeii Suburb

"During the current excavations at Civita Giuliana, around 700 metres northwest of Pompeii, in the area of the large suburban villa where, in 2017 - thanks to a joint operation with the Carabinieri and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Torre Annunziata aimed at stopping the illegal trafficking carried out by grave robbers - the servile part of the villa had been discovered along with the stable containing the remains of three harnessed horses, two skeletons of individuals caught in the fury of the eruption have been found." Source: Archaeology News Network.

"...The bodies were found in a side room of the cryptoporticus, in the form of a passageway below the villa which led to the upper floor."

Archaeologists uncover the bodies in the Civita Giuliana.

Did The Ancient Egyptians Use The Shadow Stick Compass To Orient The Pyramids?

The shadow stick compass is sometimes referred to as the "Indian Circle."

"The pyramids of Egypt are some of the most impressive ancient monuments, and several are oriented with high precision. Egyptologist Flinders Petrie carried out the first high-precision survey of the Giza pyramids in the 19th century. He found that each of the four edges of the pyramids’ bases point towards a cardinal direction to within a quarter of a degree." Source: Archaeology News Network (2018).

"But how did the Egyptians know that? Just recently, Glen Dash, an engineer who studies the Giza pyramids, proposed a theory. He draws upon the ancient method of the 'Indian circle', which only requires a shadow casting stick and string to construct an east-west direction. He outlined how this method could have been used for the pyramids based on its simplicity alone."

Note: The quote above is from a longer article on ancient astronomy which points out that Dash's shadow-stick theory is mostly speculation.

Also see: What is the Indian Circle Method?

Comment: The shadow-stick or Indian-circle method is about as primitive as it gets. If the ancient Egyptians used it to align the pyramids, they were operating at a very basic level of technology. They may have used some other technique, of course, but this is the kind of tool you'd expect engineers to employ in the third millennium BC.

The Ancient Aliens crowd, however, argue the exact opposite (next video). According to them, the pyramids encode all sorts of advanced information, proving that the Egyptians were not only extremely sophisticated but probably used alien technology to build these structures, assuming they weren't aliens themselves. I particularly like the idea that the north coordinate of the Great Pyramid exactly matches the speed of light traveling through space in meters per second. If this is true it's an improbable coincidence, to say the least. (I seem to be wandering off topic here, but never mind that.)

I don't believe that the ancient Egyptians were aliens or that they used alien technology to build the pyramids, but there's no doubt that ancient horrors lie buried under the Great Sphinx of Giza. In his article Imprisoned With The Pharoahs, aka Under the Pyramids, the journalist H.P. Lovecraft described an encounter that Harry Houdini, the famous magician, had with "an army of half-man, half-animal mummies, led by the ancient Egyptian pharaohs Khephren and Nitokris" who were making offerings to a "hippopotamus-sized, five-headed, tentacled beast" in a cavern deep under the Sphinx back in 1910. Most people dismiss this story as fiction, but I know for a fact that it actually happened. I have documentary proof but it would be worth my life to publish it in an open forum.