Ancient History Roundup
Podcasts, prosthetics, graffiti and more!
It is that time once more! Let us look at some of the latest news and updates from the world of ancient history.
New Podcast
Let us begin with an excellent new podcast that launched - rather notably - on the Ides of March (15th March), The podcast is one I mentioned in a previous post a while back, Ancient History 101 hosted by Alexandra Sills (who is also part of the editorial team for BadAncient.com). In each episode, Sills interviews an expert of the ancient world about a specific topic, person from history, event, or what have you. I was lucky enough to be invited on to talk about the Spartan Mirage (a major methodological problem whenever you are talking about the ancient Spartans) and about my favourite ancient Greek historian, Xenophon of Athens. We have also recorded a bonus episode about how I designed and wrote The Far Edges of the Known World.
Having seen the list of contributors, click here, I can tell you this is something you will definitely want to be following!
Ancient prosthetic jaw!
The first piece of news that really caught my eye came out of Siberia, where researchers have scanned the partially mummified skull of a Scythian woman and discovered that she had previously broken the right side of her jaw. This would have stopped her being able to speak or eat without considerable pain. More remarkable, they found that this women received medical aid: someone drilled two holes into her jaw and, using horse hair or animal tendons, held the right-sided joint together. This would have allowed her to continue using her jaw, but eating on the right side of her mouth would still have caused considerable pain.
Oldest metal drill
Researchers from the University of Newcastle, UK, have identified the earliest known metal drill from Egypt. Likely dating back some 5,300 years ago, the drill is made of a copper alloy and measures 2.5 inches long. It was originally presumed to be an awl or a punching tool, but more recent analysis has shown indications that it was used in conjunction with a bow to drill down into wood or stone. If this is correct, then the Egyptians had mastered accurate rotary drilling more than 2,000 years before the archaeological record reveals some of the best preserved drill sets.
Indian graffiti in Egyptian tombs
Ancient Indian graffiti has been found in several tombs from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Dating from the 1st-3rd century CE, several Indian people came to Egypt and left their mark at some of the most famous tombs in all of the ancient world. At least three different Indian languages have been identified, including Tamil which was spoken in the south of India. Egypt then, as now, was something of a tourist attraction during the Roman Imperial period. Some of these inscriptions identify the men as being sent as messengers and envoys from Kings in India, who clearly fancied a bit of sight seeing whilst they were there.
Even ancient Indian graffiti has a modern feel to it. Once of the writers, a man called Cikai Korran, wrote eight messages in five different tombs offering the equivilent of ‘Cikai was ‘ere’: “Cikai Korran came here and saw”.
If you want to read more about Indian contact with Egypt, read about Buddhism in Egypt here. Or if you are interested in the interaction between Indian and the ancient Mediterranean more broadly, read about this amazing artifact found in Pompeii.
In other news
There are a couple of news stories that have caught my eye but, to be honest, I have not yet decided what to make of them! So rather than write them up with some form of validation, I will just point you to them.
The first has been doing the rounds as it claims to be the earliest form of human writing, dating back 40,000 years ago. The researchers themselves do not make this claim, but the complex use of symbols to communicate information is still interesting (if not unique).
The second, I am always suspicious of stories like this one. Researchers claim to have found a way that ergot could have been made safe for consumption and used ritualistically during the Eleusinian Mysteries. It is based on the discovery of trace amounts of ergot alkaloids at an Eleusinian temple in Spain. The research shows that the fungus can be made safe to eat through a simple process, but does not show that the ergot present at the temple was actually safe. It is a hypothetical solution to a problem the researchers have made for themselves.
There is a tendency to try and rationalise belief in the ancient world, so halucinagenics offer a ‘rational’ explanation for beliefs we consider irrational. But, of course, the ancient world did not consider them irrational. So you would not have needed an external stimulus to believe you see or experience the divine around you.
This doesn’t make the researchers wrong, but it does make me suspicious as to what they have actually proven.