Some posts I enjoyed this week:
Statue of Kybele found in Turkey near the Black Sea in the dig at Kurul Castle. It’s Roman, 2,100 years old. I’m not sure why they have decided this is Kybele not some other Roman goddess. Her incarnations in earlier civilizations in Turkey are quite different, with multiple breasts emphasizing her role in fertility, a bursting chest-ful of them. Kind of disturbing, if you ask me. Her earlier name was Kubaba. For a long time, I was sorting out whether Kubaba would be the primary goddess for my novel Hand of Fire or Kamrusepa. They are both mother goddesses. For lots of complicated reasons that I’ve kind of forgotten, including dating, I chose Kamrusepa. No Roman ever made a statue of her, but I still like her early iconography better than Kubaba’s, a beautiful woman with a tall hat standing on a stag (as many Hittite gods do). The Romans seem to have chickened out with Kybele when they adopted her and brought her West. This image is quite demure. Might even have influenced early images of Mary, although I haven’t got a scrap of evidence for that. Might be some if we looked, though J Divine Moms through the Ages. Maybe I’ll write that book someday. I’m probably too irreverent for that project. Click here for Hurriyet Daily “2,100-year-old goddess Kybele sculpture unearthed in Turkey’s Black Sea”
A burnt and highly damaged scroll from En-Gedi, Israel has been virtually unrolled and the text restored. The scroll with text from Leviticus came from the Torah ark of a 1,500-year-old synagogue. Being able to read a scroll without opening is a very fine technological trick that will make us able to “read” many scrolls from a variety of finds. I’m wondering if there were any textual variations from the standard text and what those might show about the transmission of Biblical texts. Some Pompeian scrolls have been getting a similar treatment. Click here for Archaeology News Network “The scroll from En-Gedi: A High Tech Recovery Mission”
North wall of the Acropolis in Athens is going to get some repairs—keeping things from collapsing is the agreed upon goal. There’s another portion of wall that is more controversial because the “fix” would uncover some 5th century BC fortifications but at the expense of destroying some of the medieval walls. Ruining one layer to see another that lies below isn’t a new problem in archaeology. How does one weigh such things? Click here for Archaeology News Network “Restoration of north wall of Athens Acropolis to Begin”
One of my grammatical pet peeves, posed by a pet. Funny cartoon. Click here for Mystery Fanfare Cartoon of the Day Grammar