Tag: history

After ISIS

the middle east will be messed up for decades.

The Islamic State could eventually lose control of Raqqa, but it is expected to regroup in remote areas, such as Al Bukamal and Al Qaim, along the Syria-Iraq border. The movement may be disrupted, but US officials concede that it will be almost impossible to totally dismantle it. An end to Syria’s wider 6-year war—in any way that both stabilizes one of the most important geostrategic countries in the Middle East and favors US interests—also seems increasingly remote. And the quest for a caliphate goes on. “Al Qaeda might lay claim to it for a moment, and the Islamic State may lay claim to it, but there’s always been this dream of recapturing and bringing back the caliphate. Who’s going to tap into that next?”

40 ka art tools

Different powders were good for different uses. “Fine, clayish sorted ochre powder is more suitable for cosmetic or symbolic activities such as body painting, whereas mixed grain size ochre would be more adapted to utilitarian activities such as hafting,” write Rosso and colleagues. This was a workshop devoted to producing ochres that could be used in adhesives and in paints or dyes. Humanity’s earliest experiments with symbolism can be traced back to the twin births of art and engineering. 10Ks of years ago, our tool-obsessed brains allowed us to convert iron-rich rocks into beautiful adornments—and better hammers, too.

Meridian Reconciliation

A cooperation to make sure Easter is celebrated at the liturgically correct date.

Bologna’s Basilica of San Petronio is not the only example of a meridian line, although it was considered to be the most accurate. Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome has a beautifully realized and particularly grandiose example cutting through its nave; Saint-Sulpice in Paris hosts its own, as does Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence; a church tightly nestled in the packed streets of Fossombrone, Italy, bears a meridian line; the heavily worn remains of a line are still visible in the cloisters of England’s Durham Cathedral; and the duomos of Milan and Palermo also contain their own meridian lines. To determine exactly when the equinox would be, in the future—and, thus, when Easter should properly be celebrated—a more subtle and astronomically precise tool of measurement was required. A meridian line. The Catholic Church supported astronomy for more than 600 years, from medieval times to the Enlightenment. This sponsorship continues into the 21st century

Human Pigments

see also, human skin used for book bindings.

Eugene Delacroix’s most famous painting, “Liberty Leading the People,” hangs in a revered spot in Paris’ Louvre Museum. Inspired by the 1830 Paris Uprising, it has been held up as an embodiment of the French national ethos, and most recently as a justification for the country’s controversial burkini ban.

But “Liberty Leading the People” may also have been literally painted with people.

From at least the 16th century until as late as the early 1900s, a pigment made from mummified human remains appeared on the palettes of European artists, including Delacroix. Painters prized “mummy brown” for its rich, transparent shade. As a result, an unknown number of ancient Egyptians are spending their afterlife on art canvases, unwittingly admired in museum galleries around the world.