Secret HistoryS

It's written in the stars - Assyriologist solves archaeological mystery from 700 BC in Iraq

Trinity College Dublin
Fri, 03 May 2024 17:18 UTC

Ancient symbols on a 2,700-year-old temple which have baffled experts for over a century have been explained by Trinity Assyriologist Dr Martin Worthington.

The sequence of 'mystery symbols' were on view on temples at various locations in ancient city of Dūr-Šarrukīn, present day Khorsabad, Iraq, which was ruled by Sargon II, king of Assyria (721-704 BC).

The sequence of five symbols - a lion, eagle, bull, fig-tree and plough - were first made known to the modern world through drawings published by French excavators in the late nineteenth century. Since then, there has been a spate of ideas about what the symbols might mean.

They have been compared to Egyptian hieroglyphs, understood as reflections of imperial might, and suspected to represent the king's name - but how?

Dr Martin Worthington of Trinity's School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies has proposed a new solution in a paper published this month [April 26th] in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. He argues the Assyrian words for the five symbols (lion, eagle, bull, fig-tree and plough) contain, in the right sequence, the sounds that spell out the Assyrian form of the name 'Sargon' (šargīnu).

Sometimes, the same archaeological site uses only three of the symbols (lion, tree, plough), which Dr Worthington argues again write the name 'Sargon', following similar principles.

Odessa massacre 10 years on... Western media silence covers up NATO incrimination

Strategic Culture Foundation
Fri, 03 May 2024 00:00 UTC

Ten years ago this week, a shocking and brutal massacre was perpetrated by supporters of the NATO-backed Kiev regime in Odessa.

At least 42 men and women were murdered on May 2, 2014, when the Trade Unions House in the historic port city was set ablaze by a fascist mob.

Comment:
1) The massacre at the Odessa Trade Unions House on May 2, 2014 was an important turning point for future developments. It was a warning to citizens, especially in the countries that kept silent about this tragedy, as to how much their governments and media are ready to underwrite without even batting an eyelid. A cursory glance at the more than one hundred article on SOTT, that discuss, or just mention the event in passing, reveal undercurrents that are now manifest in the global situation.

2) The article claims the western media has been silent, and several articles relate to this situation.

3) Below is a mix of articles using various search strings applied to title, summary and text. First those that contain Odessa Trade Union (or Unions) House in the title, next those that mention these terms in the summary and last those that mention them in the main text. There is no system to the numbering, but it makes it easer to find and refer to them later, if needed.

Top Secret: In a 2018 letter, Netanyahu asks Qatar to fund Hamas

Nir (Shoko) Cohen
ynet
Sun, 05 May 2024 06:22 UTC

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the government of Qatar to continue the transfer of money to Gaza, in a secret letter sent to the Qatari leadership in 2018 and only seen by a handful of people since. In the letter, Netanyahu explained that the funding would reduce the motivation of terror groups there to carry out attacks, would prevent a humanitarian crisis and was vital for preserving regional stability.

There are two different time periods for Qatari funding of the Gaza Strip, which allowed Hamas to grow from an insignificant terror organization into a military empire with battalions, an underground network of tunnels and the fire power of a small army.

Between 2007 and 2014, Qatar provided Hamas with funds, away from any international oversight or review. From 2014 on, funding from Qatar was coordinated with the United States and Israel.

The 2014 war in Gaza was the turning point. The U.S., UN, Israel and Qatar decided soon after the war to set up a new system in which $30 million would be delivered to the coastal strip by Doha each month.

Some $10 million was to buy fuel from Israel, needed to operate Gaza's power station, $10 million to pay the salaries of government employees, and the final $10 million was to be given in $100 stipends to some 100,000 Gazan families in need.

That was the time when the notion that Hamas would back away from its intent to destroy Israel as long as it accumulates governing and economic assets took root in Israel.

Rare Roman dodecahedron found in England, purpose continues to baffle archaeologists

Samantha Tipper
The Conversation
Thu, 02 May 2024 13:52 UTC

Roman dodecahedra are something of an enigma: there is no known mention of these 12-sided, hollow objects in ancient Roman texts or images.

First discovered in the 18th century, around 130 dodecahedra have been found across the Roman Empire, although it is interesting that the majority have been found in northern Europe and Britain, and none have been found in Italy.

Dodecahedra are quite intricate, featuring a number of round holes, with knobs framing the holes. It would have taken a very skilled craftsman to make them. They are made out of a copper alloy and would have been quite expensive, due to the amount of time and metal that was used to create them, which adds to their intrigue.

Comment: They certainly are intriguing, although there is solid evidence showing ancient civilisations had knowledge and technologies, as well as trade networks, previously not thought possible:

According to Leonardo Da Vinci Botany:

For the ancient Greeks and Renaissance Neoplatonists, the Dodecahedron represented the entire universe, while the other Platonic polyhedra represented the four elements: earth (the cube), air (the octahedron), water (the icosahedron) and fire (the tetrahedron).

The design and location of the dodecahedra bring to mind the 5000-year-old stone balls of northern Europe, which also continue to baffle archaeologists:

Of which it is said:

The carved stone balls have been taken as evidence of knowledge of the five Platonic solids a millennium before Plato described them. Indeed, some of them exhibit the symmetries of Platonic solids, but the extent of this and how much it depends on mathematical understanding is disputed, as configurations resembling the solids can naturally arise when fitting equal-sized knobs with minimal gaps onto the surface of a sphere.^{[citation needed]} There does not appear to be much special attention given to the Platonic solid arrangements over less symmetrical arrangements of knobs over the balls, and some of the five solids do not appear.^[16]^[17]

Roman snail dye found in UK for first time, and it's beautiful

BBC
Fri, 03 May 2024 13:40 UTC

A rare dye made from snails for the robes of the Roman elite almost 2,000 years ago has been unearthed at a cricket club.

The chunk of Tyrian purple, roughly the size of a ping pong ball, was dug up at Carlisle Cricket Club as part of ongoing yearly excavations.

A Roman bathhouse was discovered at the site in 2017 and in the last three years 2,000 items including pottery, weapons, coins and semi-precious stones have been found.

Lead archaeologist Frank Giecco said the find was of "international significance" and the first time the precious pigment had been discovered in the UK.

Comment: See also:

And check out SOTT radio's:

Experts say that the Stone of Destiny was a doorstep

oguz kayra
Arkeonews Net
Thu, 02 May 2024 18:21 UTC

The Stone of Destiny's recorded links to Scottish royalty date back almost 1000 years, and its origins are shrouded in mystery, with legends linking it to biblical heroes and ancient Egyptian pharaohs. But now a new exhibition celebrating the Stone of Destiny has revealed it may originally have been a doorstep.

Stone of Destiny also known as the Stone of Scone, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone.

The new theory comes after the Stone underwent scientific analysis prior to being moved from Edinburgh Castle to its new permanent home at Perth Museum, which opened last month.

A recent analysis of the 335-pound stone found that wear on the top of the historic artifact appears to have been caused by footsteps prior to its being used as the crowning stone of Scotland's monarchs at Scone, near Perth, in medieval times.

Alexander III's coronation in 1249 is the first known instance of the Stone of Destiny being used for a crowning ceremony. The story goes that it was covered in gold silk cloth, which covered up its heavily worn surface. Once more the stepped-upon surface was hidden as Edward Longshanks had it integrated into his throne at Westminster after plundering it. In 1996, it was formally brought back to Scotland and put on display alongside other Scottish regalia in Edinburgh Castle's Crown Room.

Stone of Destiny left Scotland again last year for a very brief stint back inside Edward's throne for the coronation of Charles III. Analysis carried out in preparation for its transportation to Westminster Abbey for the Coronation determined that the Stone was quarried from the Scone area, suggesting it may originally have been used in a nearby church or possibly a Roman building.

7000-year-old settlement discovered in Serbia

Kiel University
Fri, 26 Apr 2024 22:55 UTC

A field campaign provides important new insights into the Late Neolithic period in Southeastern Europe.

© Fynn WilkesHere at the Vokány site (Hungary), the combination of standard methods, such as surface sampling and the latest geophysical technologies, provided the researchers from Kiel with important new insights into the Late Neolithic period in Southeastern Europe.

Together with cooperation partners from the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad (Serbia), the National Museum Zrenjanin and the National Museum Pančevo, a team from the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence has discovered a previously unknown Late Neolithic settlement near the Tamiš River in Northeast Serbia. "This discovery is of outstanding importance, as hardly any larger Late Neolithic settlements are known in the Serbian Banat region," says team leader Professor Dr Martin Furholt from the Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University.

Geophysics reveals a 13-hectare settlement structure

The newly discovered settlement is located near the modern village of Jarkovac in the province of Vojvodina. With the help of geophysical methods, the team was able to fully map its extent in March of this year. It covers an area of eleven to 13 hectares and is surrounded by four to six ditches.

"A settlement of this size is spectacular. The geophysical data also gives us a clear idea of the structure of the site 7000 years ago," says ROOTS doctoral student and co-team leader Fynn Wilkes.

Parallel to the geophysical investigations, the German-Serbian research team also systematically surveyed the surfaces of the surrounding area for artefacts. This surface material indicates that the settlement represents a residential site of the Vinča culture, which is dated to between 5400 and 4400 BCE.

However, there are also strong influences from the regional Banat culture. "This is also remarkable, as only a few settlements with material from the Banat culture are known from what is now Serbia," explains Fynn Wilkes.

Cranky to the end: Ancient scroll claims Plato spent his last night listening to music, criticized slave-girl flautist's 'lack of rhythm'

The Daily Mail
Tue, 30 Apr 2024 16:20 UTC

Plato was known for his theories on politics, poetry and ethics.

One of history's most influential philosophers, Plato was known for his theories on politics, poetry, knowledge and ethics.

And, thanks to a newly discovered scroll buried by Mount Vesuvius, we now know that the ancient Greek thinker was sharp in his criticisms until the very end, spending his last moments blasting a slave-girl flautist's 'lack of rhythm'.

The centuries old passages detail Plato's final hours and reveal that the philosopher, who was suffering from a fever, had been listening to music and welcoming guests before he died at the age of 80 or 81 in around 348BC.

Comment:

Israel's complex relations with Iran

Thierry Meyssan
Voltaire Network
Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:59 UTC

While the mullahs' rhetoric is clearly anti-Israeli, relations between the two countries are far more complex than one might think. There are in fact two opposing groups in Iran, one intent on doing business by all means with the rest of the world, while the other aims to liberate peoples from colonization. The former has never stopped doing business with Israel, while the latter fights against it, just as it fights against the imperialism of the United Kingdom and the United States.

The conflict between Israel and Iran is distinct from that between the Arab population of Palestine and Jewish immigrants. Contrary to popular belief, the Persians have never been the enemy of the Jews. In fact, in ancient times, it was Cyrus the Great who enabled the Jews to escape from Babylon, where they had been held in slavery.

After the Second World War, when the United States seized the remnants of the British Empire, US President Dwight Eisenhower reorganized the Middle East. To dominate it, he appointed two regional powers to represent him: Iran and Israel. The two countries were both friends and rivals.

Comment: See also:

Flashback Israel-Saudi Arabia: Netanyahu promotes normalisation with new map erasing Palestine

MEE Staff
Middle East Eye
Fri, 22 Sep 2023 16:52 UTC

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Illustration shown by Israeli prime minister at UN includes occupied West Bank and Gaza as part of Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a new map erasing Palestine during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA) 78th session on Friday.

The illustration showed a "new Middle East" wherein the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip appeared to be part of Israel.

An earlier erroneous map shown by Netanyahu also included the Palestinian territories as part of Israel in 1948.

Comment: Is it not noteworthy that Netanyahu was campaigning for a redrawn Middle East without the Palestinians a couple of weeks before the conflict that reignited in early October of 2023?

For other articles that mention the idea of a Greater Israel - Eretz Yisrael (Wiki link), see the following articles. Even without going into details, the concept has a long history.

The Wiki for Greater Israel has

The same sentiment was recorded by Ben-Gurion on other occasions, such as at a meeting of the Jewish Agency executive in June 1938,^[5] as well as by Chaim Weizmann.^[4]^[6] Ben Gurion said:
We shall smash these frontiers which are being forced upon us, and not necessarily by war. I believe an agreement between us and the Arab State could be reached in a not too distant future."^[7]

The above quote from Ben Gurion has a reflection in the statements found in the article:

Netanyahu enthusiastically promoted the reshaping of the region based on establishing ties with Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia.

"There's no question: the Abraham Accords heralded the dawn of a new age of peace," he claimed. "I believe we're on the cusp of a more dramatic breakthrough: a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia."

At the moment events are not really working in favour of such a development, although the US and European allies support Israel.

Regarding MacRon, Zelensky, and the Others, things are simple. IT'S A PLAY. THEY'RE PLAYERS. THEY'RE PLAYING.

boli

What a lovely little boat. Where are the Somali pirates when you really need them?

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Shangri

Dr. Wayne Dyer articulated it so precisely when he said, “The concept of balance defines our Universe. The cosmos, our planet, the seasons, water,...

LindaMay

When Russia takes Kiev, they will all cry "we told you so" and keep on arguing for bigger military spending. I don't think that Russia is...

graeme15b

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