Weekly Roundup of History, Archaeology and Writing Wisdom Jan 16-22

For those of you who attended last week’s AZ Historical Novel Society, you now know a lot about getting those short stories, personal essays and poetry published in journals. If you missed this talk or want more of some seriously expert coaching on how to build that writerly platform of published pieces, Windy Lynn Harris tells me she still has some spots in her February class, so go to her website and jump in. Click here for Windy Lynn Harris’s website. For a detailed write up of the talk click here for Kristen McQuinn’s website. (She was our hostess–and also our highly accurate scribe, it turns out.)

Here are some posts I enjoyed this week. I’m putting this up early because I’m off to San Diego to teach at the San Diego State University Writers’ Conference and I’ll be busy!

Eating in style on the Silk Road with the Phoenicians in 8^th Century BC. Laura Kelley brings us all the details of a magnificent platter with lions, archers, stallions and ducks, spearmen and a snake. I enjoyed her knowledgeable “unpacking” of this museum piece. Alas, we do not know what food would have been served on it. So let your imaginations go and describe it laid out with whatever delicacies you want. Click here for “Phoenician Dining on the Silk Road” on Laura Kelley’s Silk Road Gourmet

A cartoon showing what might be a good way to go if you keep your sense of humor. In any case, my tbr pile may finish me off even if I don’t climb a ladder like this cat. Click here for “Intellectual Curiosity” cartoon on Janet Rudolph’s Mystery Fanfare. 

Greek mythology loved King Midas, giving him both a golden touch and, in another tale, donkey ears. But the real King Midas and his father before him, kings of Phrygia in what is now Turkey circa 750-700 BCE, are actually even more fascinating than the myths. The Penn Museum has put together a great exhibit with artifacts from several Turkish museums as well as the Penn’s extensive collection. The archaeological site of Gordian excavated by Penn is pretty amazing and the underground tomb of Midas’s father, Gordios, is one of the coolest places we visited in Turkey (even if it’s much later than my period). It isn’t hard to imagine how the myths arose when you see the material culture left behind. Has anyone else been to Gordion? Remember when you first heard the myth of Midas turning his daughter to gold? What impression did it leave with you? Click here for Archaeology News Network’s write up of “The Golden Age of Midas” at the Penn Museum, Philadelphia