"Daily" Ancient Nonsense - Roman Heavy Weapons

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[starkadder]

It's probably horribly out of date now but I first ran into Tollund Man in a book called The Bog People by a writer called P V Glob. Even better it was pronounced "Glerb".

One of those perfect names for a subject expert.

[Paul]

Groma.
An incredible bit of kit this....as accurate as a Theodolite/double pentagram...We (at UNI) tested my reconstructed one against a modern theodolite and both came up with the same results

Add a bit of maths...(and a Chorobates) and you can construct the colosseum with it.  

http://www.the-colosseum.net/architecture/ellipsis.htm
Chorobates

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Read about Groma just yesterday, a stunning device, indeed!

[Paul]

Read about Groma just yesterday, a stunning device, indeed!

The idea is incredibly simple...basically the 3/4/5 Pythagoras' theorem. It was simple to make one as well.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Animals Mummified by the Millions in Ancient Egypt

Millions of animals were ‬ritually slaughtered in ancient Egypt to foster a huge mummification industry that even drove some species extinct. ‬

As an exhibition ‬at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. shows, ‬almost no animals escaped the carnage.

Although ‬pets died of natural causes before their mummification, and sacred beasts were pampered by adoring priests, most‬ animals in ancient Egypt had miserable, short lives.

http://news.discovery.com/history/mummified-animals-egypt-120106.html

[Paul]

I find it amazing that the early archeologists had millions of mummified cats, dogs, crocodiles and even people burnt to produce potash fertilizer!!

This one found in peru!!!

[krieghund]

Very Lovecraftian. 

[Paul]

Looking more like  instruments of torture than  medical devices...ancient Roman Vaginal Speculums!!

[Prof.Witchheimer]

World's earliest known artificial eyeball in Shahr-e_Sukhteh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahr-e_Sukhteh

In December 2006, archaeologists discovered the world's earliest known artificial eyeball. It has a hemispherical form and a diameter of just over 2.5 cm (1 inch). It consists of very light material, probably bitumen paste. The surface of the artificial eye is covered with a thin layer of gold, engraved with a central circle (representing the iris) and gold lines patterned like sun rays. The female remains found with the artificial eye was 1.82 m tall (6 feet), much taller than ordinary women of her time. On both sides of the eye are drilled tiny holes, through which a golden thread could hold the eyeball in place. Since microscopic research has shown that the eye socket showed clear imprints of the golden thread, the eyeball must have been worn during her lifetime. The woman's skeleton has been dated to between 2900 and 2800 BCE.

[joroas]

Golden Eye? 

[Paul]

It looks like the model for a T-800!!

[Steve F]

A 6 foot tall woman with an artificial gold eye?  That's one to remember if I ever do ancient Mesopotamia.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Huge Gladiator School Found Buried in Austria

"Important" find boasts amphitheater, was nearly as big as two Walmarts.

Archaeologists working outside Vienna, Austria, have discovered the remains of a huge school for ancient Roman gladiators—a complex so extensive that it rivals the training grounds outside Rome's Colosseum.

The newly located facility includes features never before seen at a Roman gladiators' school, or ludus, such as traces of a wooden training dummy. And outside the gates, the researchers discovered what they call the first known gladiators' cemetery on the grounds of a ludus.

read more - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/110913-gladiator-school-austria-roman-ancient-walmarts-science/

[Paul]

A prostitutes "cell" in the  lupanar at Pompeii ( lupanar or lupanarium, from lupa, "she-wolf,")

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt

There were two kinds of dwarfs known in ancient Egypt, the African pygmies and the Egyptian dwarfs. The African pygmies had hereditary dwarfism. These pygmies originated in the equatorial forests of Central Africa. The Ancient Egyptians brought them to Egypt from their trade stations in Nubia. The first pygmy was brought from Punt in the time of King Asosi of the Fifth Dynasty. Another was brought by Herkhuf from the land of Iam in Upper Nubia for the child King Pepi the Second.

The role of the African pygmies was to perform a dance called "the dance for god" or to dance in the royal palace to rejoice the king's heart.

The Egyptian dwarfs had a deformity in their bodies. A big head, a normal trunk, and short arms and legs characterized these dwarfs. These dwarfs were frequently placed in charge of pet animals. The Egyptian dwarfs also engaged in jewelry making.

Since the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, they served as attendants to their masters. The most famous Egyptian dwarf was Seneb, who lived during the Fifth Dynasty. He was a high official with many social, religious, and honorary titles. He was married to a normal-sized woman and he was buried in a magnificent tomb, close to King Khufu's pyramid at the Giza necropolis.

http://www.eternalegypt.org/EternalEgyptWebsiteWeb/HomeServlet?ee_website_action_key=action.display.module&language_id=1&story_id=5&module_id=100

Bes, ancient Egyptian Dwarf God