PRE-CLASSICAL WORLD

In the previous post we saw how agriculture, trade, metallurgy, stonemasonry and writing led to accelerated advancement towards urbanisation in the Fertile Crescent. The process also occurred in the Nile delta and by the Indus and Yellow rivers. However, the Fertile Crescent became the cradle of western civilisation, known as Mesopotamia, meaning between the rivers.
Cities first appeared here around 3500BC. The best known was Uruk in the south. Covering 250 acres with a 10,000 population, a 9 mile wall surrounded it and at its centre were a number of towers known as ziggurats.

GODS AND CULTURE

The home of the Sumerians, it was the centre of mythology turned into organised religion, with the sky god Anu heading a trinity with Enlil, god of storms and Ea, god of water. Inanna, daughter of Anu, was goddess of war and fertility. Her sister, Ereshkigal, was goddess of death, whom her sister visits but comes back to life.
This set the standard for most mythologies, a trinity of gods ruling the elements, with a female fertility goddess who often visits death, representing the death and rebirth of yearly agriculture.
Written in cuneiform on 12 clay tablets about 2000BC, into the story strides Gilgamesh, a half divine, half human king who battles with Enkidu to attain immortality.
He fails, realising that man must die, but do great work in life.
The Epic of Gilgamesh makes a king a god, allowing great authority, and giving a spiritual dimension to the need to obey your king and work. It was the first great political tract.

FROM SYMBOL TO EMPIRE

Writing and stonemasonry represented this purpose through the symbol, anchoring society into a common purpose, morality offering guidance. With such a myth to go alongside agriculture and technology, Uruk became the first city-state based on a social hierarchy of masters, priests and worker/warriors.
Agriculture now provided a surplus, leading to wealth in the ruling class. Trade exploded, disputes settled with conflict. Armies first appeared to protect the crop, but now the idea of standing armies and empire grew.
Uruk was the centre of this first empire, similarities in statuary during the period suggesting it traded as far as Iran, Asia Minor (Turkey) and into India.

EMPIRES COME AND GO

By 2350BC the Akkadians under their leader, Sargon, had infiltrated the south from northern Mesopotamia, conquering the Sumerians and creating an empire around the still undiscovered city of Agade in central Mesopotamia.
Sargon ruled for 56 years, his empire moving into Syria and eastern Asia, his dynasty lasting a further century before revolts led to a rebirth of the Sumerian empire based around Ur. A small, strongly bureaucratic empire, it lasted until about 2000BC, but eventually gave in to the pressure of migrations of Semitic-speaking peoples from the far north.
The Akkadians had been the first of the semitic language speakers to take power, and later migrants would include the future Arabic and Hebrew. But now came the Elamites and Amorites, capturing Ur and wiping out the Sumerians.
The Amorites went to on to establish a number of dynasties throughout Mesopotamia and Syria. These city- states jockeyed for power, but the Assyrians rose supreme in northern Mesopotamia around the city of Ashur, their king, Shamshi-Adad conquering the region in the 18th century BC.

BIRTH OF BABYLON

Facing pressure in the north from further migrations, Babylon rose in the south, under King Sumuabum in 1894BC. The great Babylonian king Hammurabi appears by 1750BC, at first a warrior, but guaranteeing Babylonian ascendancy for a millennium by use of administration. Stopping the Assyrians, the empire spread from the Persian Gulf taking rising cities such as Nineveh.
Central to Hammurabi’s rule was Hammurabi’s Law, found inscribed on a column in Susa in 1901, and codifying for the first time absolute rules for a high society, detailing not only criminal law but civic and family law, such as rules for wages and divorce. Representation of the people also appeared, with local notables having a say, but the laws propelled Babylon towards the modern with its importance on property. This was identified as the rock bed of society, and the trade it caused. Slavery was essential to such wealth creation, and waring had the additional advantage of providing more slaves, thus increasing wealth.

BABYLON’S ROCKY RIDE

The first Babylonian empire ended about 1595BC, Babylon sacked by the Hittites, migrating from Turkey, and bringing weaponry based on iron. This was more advanced than the Amorite Babylonians, allowing them to establish an empire that lasted until attacks by unknown Aegean sea raiders about 1200BC.
Into this chaos came the Aramaens, bringing their language, Aramaic, and the Elamites, who sacked Babylon in 1158BC. Babylon rallied and defeated the Elamites, Nebuchadnezzar I briefly reinvigorating the Babylonian Empire.
However, a dark age then settled upon the region, lasting until 900BC when Assyria became a growing influence, Shalmaneser III extending the empire from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf.
In 853BC armies from Damascus, Israel, Arabia and Egypt opposed him at the Battle of Qarqar, halting the expansion, but Sargon II moved the Assyrians into Syria and Palestine by 705BC.
Expansion had caused many revolts. Sennacherib, becoming king in 704BC, tried to keep the empire together, but the Chaldeans now exerted influence around Babylon. In 6O4BC, Nebuckadnazzer II became the Chaldean Babylonian king, defeating the Assyrians and bringing Syria into the empire. Going on to beat the Egyptians, Babylonians went on to control the Nile and Jerusalem.

BIRTH OF PERSIA

Babylon itself underwent a Renaissance. Massive rebuilding began, including the Hanging Gardens, making Babylon the largest city in the known world. The Temple of Marduk, a huge ziggurat, was built, thought to be the source of the Biblical Tower of Babel. However, Indo-European migrations began into the region from the Caucasus, settling in Iran.
Known as the Medes, their empire went on to stretch from the Caspian Sea to India. In the 6th century BC, Cyrus the Great formed the Achaemenid dynasty which expanded into the Fertile Crescent subjugating the Assyrians and ending the Babylonian Empire, capturing Babylon in 539BC.
By 533BC Cyrus had formed the Persian Empire, hammering on the doors of India and Asia Minor. Eventually from the west came the mighty ancient Greeks.
But before telling that story, the next post will look to another civilization, along the banks of the Nile.

© Anthony North, May 2007

Click Tony On for my current affairs blog.
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Click History of Man on Blogroll for previous history posts

THE FIRST STORIES

This is the first post in a new occasional series in which I attempt to narrate the story of the story. From its inception around the camp fire in prehistory, to the implications of storytelling in cyberspace, the series will cover the lot.
In doing so, I hope to show that storytelling is at the heart of what it is to be human. For as the series will show, the story is at the heart of our aspirations and meaning, and as such the story has been the central element of our history.

IN THE FLICKERING LIGHT

The story is at the heart of who we are as individuals, as societies, as cultures. Above all other areas of life our ability to tell stories divorces us from the animal kingdom. At the heart of the story is human imagination and the ability to think in the abstract, and it is this ability that allowed us to rise from the animal in the first place.
When did the story begin? From studies of primitive tribes today we can argue that the story began with bluster around the ancient camp fire. Someone would do something brave or ingenious and men of imagination would sit there, the flickering flames upon their face, and embellish the exploit.
The purpose of such stories was clear. In one sense, it entertained, drawing back the dark to deliver a fantasy that enriched life. One obvious upshot of such tales was that it would imbue others to follow the path of the hero, thus making the tribe more thrusting, ingenious and dynamic. But there would be other purposes involved in the story.

THE STORY OF MORALITY

One obvious purpose was the taboo. Man, the individual, has wants and desires. But in order for a society to exist, such desires must be suppressed. A society where everyone got what they wanted would be chaotic and incapable of advancement. Hence, a code of ethics must come into being. And there is no better form of moral expression than the story, where the transgressor gets his just desserts.
The obvious social reaction to such morality tales would be the rise of superstition. A story births an idea, and to transgress soon brings a general punishment. And you can guarantee that that punishment will be as the story advised. But in the inevitability of cause following an effect, the story takes on a life of its own. But what form of life is this thing called fiction?

TOWARDS THE SPIRITUAL

A superstitious society is a spiritual society, and as the story grew, so would the idea that it represents some supernatural world. After all, haven’t the heroes of the story taken on almost supernatural status? And it is in this dimension that the earliest stories went on to define, more than anything else, what society rose to become.
The first known religions were those related to animism. In its basic form, animism was the belief that parallel to the physical world was a supernatural world of spirit. Hence, everything that was physical – the tree, the river, the storm – had a spirit equivalent. The ability of the human mind to dream could have laid the basis for such a perceived phenomenon, but without a doubt it was the story that embellished and defined the idea. It was in the story that a reason for disaster was put down to a god, angered by human behaviour.

THE MEANING OF PLACE

This was the birth of religion proper. Centred around man’s relationship to nature, the story anchored human society into a moral code, based around place and environment. It was the beginning of culture, giving man and his society a meaning above mere survival.
And in defining culture, it was the story that propelled man into history, giving him the ingenuity and the reason to strive. And in gratitude, the storyteller was destined to become the shaman, or priest, building the bridge between the physical and the spirit.
In the next post I will advance this idea, narrating how the story evolved into the great mythologies of the Classical world.

© Anthony North, May 2007

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TONY ON STOP, DADDY, GANGS …

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ROSWELL THEME PARK

It had to happen. Roswell, home to the most famous UFO incident, wants to create a UFO theme park. City officials even say they will include a simulated alien abduction, as well as other space-related rides.
Roswell businesses have been cashing in on the supposed flying saucer crash site for decades, so the park is the obvious next step. Indeed, it has even gained government funding for initial planning.
We must hope that they do the job properly, and certainly don’t let the aliens conspire to make the alien abduction simulation so real that people really are abducted. Then again, if the city officials are the first to try it out, maybe not.

STOP AND SEARCH

I knew it wouldn’t take them long. Blair and Reid have learnt their craft well. There are many great political philosophers, from Locke to Mill, but you can guarantee that this government for the people will always prefer Machiavelli …
… read more …

BRIGHT IDEA

A group of MEPs have come up with a simple idea to turn off 25 medium-sized power stations in Europe by introducing a wholesale ban, throughout the EU, on inefficient lightbulbs …
… read more …

HUMAN HIBERNATION

Researchers at Boston, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh are claiming the race is on to successfully hibernate a human being. An intravenous mix of salt and ice has been devised to quickly cool the body without causing damage.
So far it has only been done on pigs for a couple of hours, but they think it could work on humans, and stretch for months, allowing hibernation in space flight to move out of the realms of science fiction.
There are obvious problems – what to do with human waste for instance – but the work seems promising. And not just for space flight. I can see many medical applications. And there are more than a few of us who would love to hibernate until Bush and Blair are gone.

CALL IT WHAT IT IS

A gang is a gang. But no more. The UK Youth Justice Board has decreed a gang must be a ‘group,’ so as not to offend the dear little yobs. Further, a crime committed by them must now be ‘group’ related. I suppose that is so we can include the Women’s Institute …
… read more …

WHO’S THE DADDY

TV supernannies and other parenting experts are undermining parenting. So says sociologist Professor Frank Furedi of Kent University. And I can only agree. As a parent I have brought up children in my own way, which is quite often different from others …
… read more …

© Anthony North, May 2007

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While you’re here, why not have a look around? Check out the pages - you’ll also find sub-domains on the Blogroll. Beyond the Blog is the site that has everything.
Inde-Pol

IT DON’T ADD UP

Science can be looked at in many ways. But one way that isn’t really viable is to see it as a complete, total way of looking at life. To do so is to miss much of life. But another problem is that many of the disciplines used to validate science are not as exact as we may feel.
Typical is the use of mathematics to validate ideas in science. Mathematics is the use of logic to study numerical and spatial relationships. It is split into two main areas, applied and pure. But whereas applied seems to work, pure mathematics tends to deal purely in abstracts, and here lies the problem.

NUMBERS AIN’T REAL

Mathematics was used by most ancient civilizations, mainly with the help of an abacus. Pythagoras is credited with initiating mathematics in a western sense, through the ancient Greeks, but it was during the early days of Islam that the idea grew of using numbers for calculation. Hence, it arrived in Europe just at the right time to assist in the rise of science.
The problem of placing truth upon mathematics is highlighted with statistics. We all know of the notion of there being lies, damned lies and statistics. This is very true. Statistics can seem to say whatever the researcher wants them to say.
Such problems were tackled by philosopher Bertrand Russell. He was searching for a way to verify mathematics outside its discipline. He failed. All logical processes, including mathematics, have to begin with an axiom. And an axiom is a self-evident truth. This is belief. Logic, it seems, must begin with a belief, and there is no way of proving 2+2=4 outside math itself.

ABSTRACT DOESN’T MEAN TRUTH

The upshot of this impossibility to verify means that when mathematics is used to validate scientific theory, it is a con to say it is absolutely correct. Math can never be absolute. But it is a useful tool nonetheless because it echoes perfectly the mind of man.
We are intellectual, as opposed to instinctual, because we can think in the abstract. An abstract thought is a representational idea rather than a reality, and abstracts cannot be concrete or absolutely true. This is how we think. We are more the artist than the scientist. We observe, but our observations are clouded by our inner thoughts, our inner taboos, our inner feelings.
In this sense, science is alien to us. So for science to work, mathematics is perfect to make us believe than an abstract mind can be validated by an abstract calculation. But the reality is there is no fixed reality, as Einstein realized. Hence, when mathematics provides ‘evidence’ we can easily believe, the facts have been tampered with numerically.

DELUSIONAL SCIENCE

In a real sense, mathematics could give credence, in the mind of the scientist, to highlight hopes and dreams above reality. The scientist would counter this by saying the world he theorises is true. But there is no real way to validate this outside science. Which makes it impossible to independently verify.
Science is, and will always be, an essential part of the human experience. But at the end of the day, ‘experience’ is all it is. Useful, yes – but only when we realize its failings. And one of those failings is to think mathematics is true.

© Anthony North, May 2007

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PSYCHODRAMA

There is a problem with much of the paranormal in that we rely too much on classic interpretations. This is not to say that these interpretations may not be true, but that understanding can better be achieved by a radical overhaul of terms.
The poltergeist is a perfect example. We have a clear idea of what a poltergeist is. But could phenomena be more open to rational understanding by offering new concepts and names? Let’s consider the possibility.

WHAT A POLTERGEIST ISN’T

A poltergeist is classically understood as an infestation of a spirit throwing this and that about the place, causing a general paranormal nuisance of itself. Yet if we break down the phenomena in the poltergeist, we can see distinct and separate elements.
The two central elements are a level of communal consciousness that perceives paranormal activity in a specific location, such as mind/matter interaction and ‘spirit’ sightings; and the ‘possession’ of a person, or focus.
For this essay I want to reclassify the poltergeist as a concept I would call ‘psychodrama.’ This can best be understood as the coming together of mind with other minds, an environment, and culture.

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET

We can see such a concept as the occurrence of an ‘altered state’ contrary to what we consider to be normal reality. However, can such a thing as ‘normal reality’ exist? The philosopher, Kant, argued yes, it can, but it is above human experience, for we view the world through specific ‘mind filters’, which place our prejudices upon reality.
This argument is valid when we consider we input a mass of data, through the senses, of the ‘outside’ world, but the vast majority of this sense experience in not intuited by our conscious mind. Rather, we have ‘selective awareness’ of the world we inhabit, only perceiving what we consider important.
This is consistent with an argument in particle physics. Stated simply, a reality can only be said to exist if there is a consciousness capable of observing it. Hence, any reality must include the observer – the person – as a fundamental element of that reality.

PROBABILITY AND EXPERIENCE

Particle physics also holds that the state of the universe is probabilistic until such time as consciousness places a definite reality upon it. From this, we can argue that the state of that consciousness is also relevant to what is seen. Hence, a changing consciousness, as in an altered state, could justifiably change the nature of the world being observed.
This can be accommodated in our understanding of hallucination. For instance, a hallucination can be of the entire sense experience, involving hearing, smell and touch, as well as sight.
Bearing this in mind, it is valid to say that, if all the ‘equipment’ we have to sense the world can be subdued to an inner hallucination based on that world, then the world itself has seemed to change due to the consciousness of the observer. In other words, an ‘altered reality’ can be valid in intellect and personal experience.

HYSTERICALLY SPEAKING

This relates directly to a poltergeist as ‘psychodrama’ – on the personal level, at least. But a poltergeist can be a ‘communal’ experience, shared by all. Are there ‘mechanisms’ that can spread, say, a personal altered state to others?
Mass hysteria suggests this is possible. There are dozens of cases on record where a group of people has spontaneously collapsed, exhibiting identical symptoms. On a more mundane level, ‘communal’ laughing following a comedian’s joke is a form of mass hysteria.
What seems to happen in such incidences is that a ‘focal point’ has occurred, suppressing individuality among a group, and transferring personal action to a collective. In a real sense, individuality has transferred to the group.

IT’S A CULTURE THING

Psychoanalysis has an answer to this communal ability in concepts similar to transference. Here, a person’s beliefs, etc, can transfer to another, causing sympathetic action.
At the root of the phenomenon is suggestibility. A person, or a group, can be placed in such a situation that ideas or courses of action become more likely if prompted by a person or event, which acts as a ‘trigger.’
Culture can play an important part in this suggestibility. Culture is, at heart, a process whereby stories or ideas infiltrate a society’s psyche, thus suggesting how a person will think or act. Indeed, by this interpretation, culture can itself be seen as a process towards creating altered states.

HOW A POLTERGEIST WORKS

A poltergeist is, itself, a ‘cultural’ phenomenon. Through repetition of the story, we all have an inner understanding of how a poltergeist affects us and progresses. Hence, if a ‘focal point’ arises, culture has already imprinted itself on a group’s mind, suggesting that the cultural ‘story’ will automatically play out.
The ‘focal point’ is invariably a pubescent child, full of angst, maybe recently experiencing trauma. This child will go on to approach a form of insanity, playing the cultural game and becoming a ‘focus’ around whom phenomena will manifest. As the phenomena increases, we can see the displaying of classic mediumistic talents.
With the ‘director’ in place, the culture of the household will begin to be affected, and in no time at all, the ‘culture’ is producing group phenomena, bringing the environment into the production, and an altered reality is existent. A form of mass hysteria is now controlling a communal expression of the hallucination.

CAN WE PLACE LIMITS?

If such a culturally controlled mechanism can be seen to be behind the poltergeist, the obvious question is: can there be a limit to the minds infected by the production? Further, could we, as a society, have been part of various cultural ‘stories’ throughout history?
Various forms of phenomena have seemed to go in stages throughout history. From ancient gods riding is sky chariots, through Medieval demons, to Gothic vampires, spiritualism, and on to the UFO, culture and phenomena has seemed to go hand in hand. Indeed, the birth of many a religion can equally be seen as the onward march of cultural ‘stories’ affecting people and reality in a phenomenal way.
The concept of ‘psychodrama’ can arguably be seen at the centre of this process, defining the nature of phenomena, and often defining the process of history itself. Maybe it is a subject that has been ignored for too long.

© Anthony North, May 2007

Click Tony On for my current affairs blog.
While you’re here, why not have a look around? Check out the pages - you’ll also find sub-domains on the Blogroll. Beyond the Blog is the site that has everything.
For more speculative paranormal essays see Paranormal UFO Occult on Blogroll.

ARE CELEBRITIES MENTAL?

Some psychologists, such as Oliver James, believe celebrities who constantly push themselves into the public eye have a mental disorder due to a need for validation. Personal1y I couldn’t agree more, but I would go much further than this.
The philosopher Michel Foucault pointed out that society has always been a marriage between knowledge and power. What we take to be fact is really an intellectual control on who we think we are.

NORMAL AND ABNORMAL

Essential to this process is a requirement for the prevalent power structure to define what is normal and what is abnormal. And from the beginning of history his argument holds true.
For instance, in the Medieval world to be normal was to be a God-fearing Christian, and to excel in society was to become saintly. Any other form of living was demonic, or abnormal.
In Victorian Britain to be normal was to be moral, stiff-upper-¬lipped and hard working, and to excel in society was to become married to duty and exhibit supreme courage. Any other form of living was immoral, criminal or deviant.
In both these cases we can see a relativistic fiction, with normality based on an overall powerful ethic. And the problem with such societal fictions is that it imposes upon the person a requirement to be what he isn’t.

REPRESSION

Such a process requires the person to repress who he really is in order, not only to succeed, but to be seen as normal.
A classis example is today’s regime of political correctness, where everyone openly admits to be non-racist, non-sexist and non-homophobic. Yet if this was really the case there couldn’t possibly be the degree of racism, sexism and homophobia which continues to exist. A lot of people are lying, thus suppressing the true nature of who they are in order to cowardly save themselves from the tag of abnormality.

IT’S AN IMAGE THING

We can thus see that the principle form of normality in today’s world is based fundamentally on image; which again is how it has always been. But with the all-pervasive media we live with today, the process of image has become more omnipotent.
Hence, to be normal in the modern world is to reflect a politically correct image of a totally free society, and to be abnormal is to disagree, in any way, with a fictitious view of what society is.
Whereas to excel in such a world is to become an icon who waffles on about this or that without actually saying anything of value in case it offends.

PSYCHO PROBLEMS

Because our society imposes a requirement upon us to be who we are not, the repression of who we really are MUST leave us with inner frustrations. And because we cannot air these frustrations, the psychological turmoil which lies behind the image simply has to be a form of mental disorder. And if this is what it is like to be normal, consider what it must be like today to excel.
In a world where everything is image, then those who excel – i.e. the celebrity - must be those who perfect and thrust their image upon us through the media, and it is these people who James suggests may be mentally ill.
We can now, perhaps, begin to understand why. For in becoming a celebrity icon, they have to leave their true selves behind to a greater degree than others. They become, in effect, hollow reflections of the people they are thrust in front of, with their real personalities nowhere to be seen.

FLAWED CELEBRITY

Here we have an answer as to why celebrities continually thrust this image before us. Because it is not personality as such, they require validation for this fictitious persona they have created.
So in a deeply flawed way, they attempt to grasp a form of self-esteem which cannot possibly be gained. And it cannot he gained because esteem requires a self - something that a mere projection cannot be.
Thus we live in a psychologically induced cauldron of image with no substance, with celebrities soaking up their fame and reflecting back an equally inane image of ourselves. Yet if the image could be broken - if their real selves could be allowed through, replete with their ideosyncracies, then the psychological mess could be eased, with true personalities to study and to guide.
Of course, the truth of such personalities could well bring out the existence of the politically incorrect in us all, just as in Medieval and Victorian times we were not all saintly or stiff-upper-lipped. But would this be a bad thing?
Or rather, would it allow us to get to grips with our problems in a real way, instead of constructing false images which hide it?

© Anthony North, May 2007

Click Tony On for my current affairs blog.
While you’re here, why not have a look around? Check out the pages - you’ll also find sub-domains on the Blogroll. Beyond the Blog is the site that has everything.

TONY ON DNA, RUBBISH, SCIENCE …

THOUGHTS FROM A COMMON MAN
News and comment LATEST: Mirror on the Moon, Northern hemisphere gets rocked, rubbish recycling policy … plus, you can’t be flattered, totalitarian UK … and much more …
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APOCALYPSE ROCK

Scientists say a comet exploded over the Earth 13,000 years ago, setting fire to most of the Northern hemisphere. It is said to have wiped out the big mammals and caused a thousand years of climatic cooling, disrupting human development.
The more science looks at ‘near Earth objects’, the more they seem to realize how pulverized Earth has been, and, in geological time, still is. It makes you wonder how there was ever a ‘gap’ in the bombardment to allow our technological evolution.
Maybe the answer can be seen in chance. Somewhere, at some time, such a gap must appear. It is basic math. If I was a religious kind of person, you could almost say it is ordained. Now there’s a thought to keep you going until the next rock.

CAN’T FLATTER YOU, I’M AFRAID

Civility, it seems, is dying. Men will not flatter the opposite sex for fear of causing offence. Women will not accept flattery for they are increasingly likely to suspect the motives behind it …
… read more …

DNA AND POLICING

Over 100,000 children who have committed no crime are now on the UK DNA Database. Let’s get this clear. A database for crime detection is now filing away the innocent, just in case they commit one …
… read more …

STUPENDOUS SCIENCE

Scientists in New York claim they can boost mental performance by using magnets to promote growth of new neurons in the brain. It’s only been done on mice so far, but they hope it may have an effect on Alzheimer’s sufferers.
Meanwhile astronomer Roger Angel of Arizona has proposed a huge liquid mirror telescope on the Moon. He claims it will allow us to ‘see’ the first stars, right back at the beginning of the universe.
On a more practical level, Nanocomp, a US company, has unveiled a lightweight armour stronger than steel. It is made from carbon nanotubes and is the latest wonder from controversial nano technology research.
Marvellous. But I’ve still got a cold.

WHAT RUBBISH

Why am I constantly having to talk a load of rubbish? Why are UK councils so insistent on penalizing people for throwing away packaging, etc, that is forced on them by business? Why is the onus on recycling placed on average people when business is not forced to change its ridiculous use of packaging …
… read more …

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Freedom of information? Don’t make me laugh. I never believed an act guaranteeing freedom of information would work in the UK. British politics has always been secretive. But we had a healthy protest system to give them a reality check if they did wrong …
… read more …

© Anthony North, May 2007

Click Tony On for more current affairs.
While you’re here, why not have a look around? Check out the pages - you’ll also find sub-domains on the Blogroll. Beyond the Blog is the site that has everything.
Inde-Pol

HISTORY OF MAN - PRE-HISTORY

Two million years ago our ancestors lived on the African savannas. A small, frail species it is doubtful he hunted, having a stable diet of seeds and berries, and a little meat scavenged from the remains of food killed by larger carnivores. This lifestyle required cunning, and it was most likely this trait that led to our ascendancy.
His hands were becoming increasingly dexterous and, walking erect, he used stone, bone and wood to dig, cut and pulverise. Interestingly, no weapons have been found from this period - only tools, fashioned by chipping one stone with another, leading to the chipped hand-axe a million years ago as his migrations began.

HUNTER/GATHERER

In these harsh climates he would shelter in caves, yet sites at Terra Amata in France and Kostenki in Russia show temporary shelters made of Brushwood or mammoth bones. The Chou-k’ou-tien cave in northern China shows definite use of fire from about 500,000BC. Evidence of weapons for hunting appears about 200,000BC, yet by 35,000BC modern man in Europe was using engineered tools and weapons such as knives, spearheads and harpoons of bone, fishhooks and even musical instruments such as flutes. Spiritual life was also present, evidenced by cave art and rudimentary statuary.
Up to l0,000BC, when the last ice age ended, man was nomadic, following the herds for food. Females gathered and males scrounged and hunted. But as the Agricultural Revolution began, man slowly left his hunter/gatherer existence. As the glaciers retreated they left behind good farming stock and arable land. This was arguably helped by the hunting to extinction of the great herds, forcing them to change their habits.

BIRTH OF AGRICULTURE

By 8,000BC static village communities appear, enabled by the harnessing of wild plant species such as wheat, rice and maize to sustained, organised growth in fields. Combined with the domestication of cattle, sheep and pigs, the farmer came into being, producing wool, milk and meat, further advancing by adapting livestock to beasts of burden. Spiritual life seems to have become endemic to this process, deities representing natural elements such as wind, and taking on seasonal aspects. The movement of the sun-god told them when to plant and harvest, mingling with early science to build wood and then stone henges.
This gave power to priesthood through knowledge, and as transportation improved, villages grouped together forming large scale communities with a dual leadership of priest and chief.

URBANISATION

In the Fertile Crescent of the eastern Mediterranean additional problems had to be faced. Farming began in the foothills, but with few trees, stone building began. This required a greater engineering and administrative skill, with more advanced villages appearing about 7000BC, creating the first known towns.
Two of these were Jericho in the Jordan Valley and Catal Huyuk in Turkey. Jericho housed 2,000 people by 7000BC. It had a circular stone tower in its centre with a stone wall and ditch for defence.
Stone bowls and clay ovens were used, and several shrines have been found. Catal Huyuk was larger. With tighter packed houses, it had less defences and homes were entered through the roof. Jewellery, mirrors, frescos and woven materials have been found here in abundance, suggesting it was the centre of a long distance trading network.

THE BIRTH OF TRADE

The lifeblood of such towns was the closeness of running water - rivers - for agriculture. But the size of the supply limited growth. Hence, by 5000BC Catal Huyuk was abandoned, people moving down from the foothills to the plains, especially between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present Iraq. Known as Mesopotamia, seasonal floods led to great mythologies and immense engineering skills, combining irrigation for the fields with ways of diverting flood waters.
Although securing water for agriculture, these advanced communities lacked essential raw materials, so trading on a large scale began with smaller communities. This increased their wealth, and urbanisation began proper.
By 4000BC copper ore was mined in places like Timna in Israel, leading to metallurgy, producing ornaments, tools and weaponry of superior quality. This was the prime factor of advancement, soon entering the Bronze Age with the mixing of copper and tin, and, by 1500BC, the Iron Age.

COMPLEXITY

Trade and increasing social complexity required better forms of communication. Hence, by 3000BC writing was well established. Memory was no longer enough for recording trade or myth.
Scratches and knots were used as recording methods as early as 6000BC, but now hieroglyphics appeared. This led to cuneiform, a series of geometric shapes forming representative language on clay tablets, scribed by split reeds. Used by the Sumerians by 2500BC, structure was formed with an early alphabet. By 600BC the ancient Greeks had turned this into an alphabet we can understand today.
As these advances were on-going, the veil of pre-history was slowly being drawn back, and in its wake came an explosion of human experience. In the next post I will narrate this story – that of the Pre-Classical world, with its religions, politics, and inevitable war.

© Anthony North, May 2007

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ARK OF THE COVENANT

No ancient relic causes so much controversy as the Ark of the Covenant. The subject of Spielberg’s ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, featuring the intrepid Indiana Jones, the film does not exaggerate the passions the mystery of its location and power entails.
Believed to have been constructed from acacia wood by Moses on Mount Sinai about 1250BC, the wooden chest is overlain with solid gold on both the inside and outside. 3ft 9in long and 2ft 3in wide and high, it has a lid of solid gold with a pair of cherubim. Gold rings attached to the Ark’s sides allow poles to pass through to be carried.

WHY AN ARK?

Built according to Divine instructions, the Ark carried the two tablets upon which God scribed the Ten Commandments. Symbolic of the covenant God made between Himself and the people of Israel, it was said to be the focus of God’s presence.
Carried by Levites, members of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, it always went ahead of the Israelites as they wandered through the desert, even going ahead of their armies as they waged war.
When camped, the Ark was placed at the centre of a temporary sanctuary known as the Tabernacle. This centre became known as the Holy of Holies. Once the Promised Land was conquered and the Temple constructed at Jerusalem, the Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies of the temple.
In this respect we can see the Ark as the central symbol of faith. Some mystical Jews have even drawn an analogy of the Ark, with its two tablets inside, with the brain and its two cerebral hemispheres. The Ark remained the centre of their religion until after the Exile to Babylon in the 6th century BC.

OBJECT OF MYSTERY

Today there are two central mysteries concerning the Ark of the Covenant - namely, where is it, and what strange powers did it have? The former enigma comes from its remarkable history.
According to the Old Testament, some time around 1000BC the Ark was captured by the Philistines. For reasons we will narrate later, they eventually let it go, sending it away strapped to a cart pulled by two cows.
Reclaimed by the Israelites, they took it to Kiriath¬ Jearim, with King David eventually taking it to Jerusalem. Here, in 955BC, King Solomon placed it in the Holy of Holies of the first Temple.
At one stage one tradition speaks of it being stolen by Menelik, son of Solomon and Sheba and taken to Axum in Ethiopia. Another tradition speaks of it being taken by the prophet Jeremiah to an unknown cave prior to the Babylonian destruction of the Temple in 587BC.
What exactly happened is not known - it could have been simply destroyed - but the Ark was never seen again.

WHERE IS IT?

There are several theories concerning the location of the Ark. In 1952 a scroll known as the Copper Scroll was found near the caves at Qumran where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The scroll purportedly contains a list of sacred items that used to reside in Herod the Great’s second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.
Among the listed items, it is thought, is the Ark. This discovery eventually fascinated American archaeologist Vendyl Jones. As director of the Institute for Judaic Christian Rsearch in Texas, Jones, who claims to be the real Indiana Jones, led an expedition to the area in March 1992. Claiming to have unearthed incense from the Temple, in May the Israeli Antiquities Authority suddenly stopped the excavation without explanation.
Could the Ark be buried near Qumran? Graham Hancock thinks not. According to him, the Ark remained in the Temple at Jerusalem until about 650BC.

CHURCH OF ST MARY

At this time Judea was ruled by a pagan king called Manasseh. Fearing he would destroy the Ark, the priests clandestinely removed it to a new temple in Elephantine in Egypt. In 410BC this temple was destroyed.
Rescued, Hancock claims the Ark was taken to Lake Tana in Ethiopia, and in 350AD to Axum. Being placed in a specially constructed Church of St Mary of Zion, except for minor removals during medieval times, it has remained there ever since.
To this day the church is guarded by a single monk known as the guardian of the Ark, spending his entire lifetime protecting the relic and allowing no one inside.
Whether the real Ark is really in the church, no one knows, but certainly a replica of the Ark exists here, and is carried in procession once a year during the feast of Timkat. However, apart from the mystery of its location, just as intriguing are powers that are said to be invested in the Ark.

REMARKABLE POWERS

The Old Testament speaks clearly of the Divine power of the Ark. When captured by the Philistines, they quickly got rid of it when they came down with a terrifying plague which caused cancerous tumours.
At Jericho the Ark was marched around the walls, and it is said to have been its power that caused the walls to fall down. Others who inadvertently touched it were instantly killed, and only a chosen few could manage to carry it on its poles, well over a hundred yards ahead of the people. Moses himself is said to have had a face that shined, and usually wore a cowl, after building the Ark.
Due to such powers, many theories have been offered as to what the Ark really was. Some even believe it was actually a small nuclear reactor, hence the cancerous boils, Moses’s ‘radiation effects’ and its seemingly miraculous power.

POWERS EXPLAINED?

Of course, easy answers can be placed on the powers of the Ark. It is well accepted that the walls of Jericho fell due to earthquake activity. Similarly, belief in its power was all that was needed for the Philistines to imagine disaster, possibly even causing some form of hysterically induced poltergeist activity.
As for the dangers of boils from being too close to the Ark, suggestion can easily cause illness in such a superstitious culture. Curses are known to happen in many primitive societies, based on the absolute belief that a curse can work.
But all this is irrelevant to the real power of the Ark. Thought of as the throne for the earthly power of an invisible God, it represented the very centre of faith to the people who birthed the idea of monotheism.
In this, sense, whether real or imagined, the Ark remains an icon of world-changing proportions. And there is no greater power than this.

© Anthony North, May 2007

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TONY ON HOODIE, PIRATE, BROWN …

THOUGHTS FROM A COMMON MAN
News and comment LATEST: Shipwreck found off coast – ten mile lump of concrete soon will be. Plus: What to do with Hoodies, and is a walk in the country mad? And much more …
READ THE ULTIMATE MAGAZINE POST … from a real voice of Britain and the world.

THERE BE GOLD

Seventeen tons of 17th century gold and silver coins have been found on a shipwreck off the Cornish coast. Using a mini-sub, treasure hunt company Odyssey Marine Exploration have codenamed the wreck the Black Swan.
Said to be worth £250 million, it could be just the tip of the iceberg, with a possible treasure trove waiting on the seabed. And if the publicity surrounding the find inspires others, then there are said to be dozens of similar wrecks off the UK coast.
At the centre of world trade and piracy, England’s coasts are teeming with buried gold, of which the finders can usually keep up to 90%. If any more are found, I can see New Labour changing THAT rule. After all, who said piracy was dead?

DOOMED DEMOCRACY?

So that’s it. Gordon Brownski WILL be the New Pretender. After steamrollering any opposition, he will take over as Prime Minister in June. No vote from the party. No vote from the electorate. It is a sad day for democracy …
… read more …

BARRIER TO CLIMATE CHANGE

So the UK government has decided how to save the planet. Details of the new white paper are clear. Eight new nuke stations and a 10 mile concrete barrage across the Severn Estuary to capture tidal power …
… read more …

A WALK IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

Walking in the countryside is recommended as a treatment for mental illness. A study by Essex University for the charity, Mind, has shown that it lessens depression more than a walk in a shopping centre. And we pay experts to tell us THAT.
Some people have been walking in the countryside in Nepal, heading for a temple close to Katmandu where an idol of the god, Bhimeshwor, has been sweating again. The last time was in 2001, a while before members of the Royal Family were shot dead. The people of Nepal are awaiting another tragedy.
A reporter has recently had a tragedy when she had the magnet she had implanted in her finger removed. Had it not broken up in her finger, she would still be using it to enhance her sixth sense. Now she is back to five, like the rest of us.
Oh, and walking in the countryside is recommended as a treatment for mental illness …

FAILED IRAQ

Think tank Chatham House has warned that Iraq is on the brink of collapse and it can be no longer assumed it will survive as a state. Gosh! Aren’t they clever chaps? Only four years behind commonsense …
… read more …

DON’T HUG A HOODIE

David Cameron has said he believes in punishing teenage yobs. This is not back-tracking on his ‘hug a hoodie’ declaration last year for he never said it. Rather, he was intimating that we try to understand them, but punish all the same …
… read more …

© Anthony North, May 2007

Click Tony On for my current affairs blog.
While you’re here, why not have a look around? Check out the pages - you’ll also find sub-domains on the Blogroll. Beyond the Blog is the site that has everything.
Inde-Pol