Floating at a distance of 36 million miles (58 million kilometers) from the sun, this image helps show just how mindboggling big the sun really is.

Science in a Golden Age

https://gfycat.com/equallimpbasil-nature-quin

Hardcore History 64 – Supernova in the East III

Although it looks like a mask, this is actually a two-faced head, the back side has the exact the same face as the front. It depicts a half-man half-god, believed to be an intermediary between heaven and earth. The round socket on top is meant to hold a feather crown, while the square socket below is meant for a wooden pole.

How the head was used is uncertain. It may have been a totem, or the top of a shaman’s staff, or a standard (it was found with a large stash of bronze weapons).

After it was excavated in 1927, the archaeologists assembled the dress slightly different than how it’s shown today. The dress’ design was corrected over time thanks to archaeologist George Reisner’s meticulous documentations and excavations.

Here’s how the burial chamber and the sarcophagus it was found in looks like. Notice it’s not decorated, just like the vast majority of burial chambers of the time including the Great Pyramid.

A short article was written about the dress (p.15+16).

The dress is the earliest surviving example of a garment with the…Read more

This impressive ring is decorated with chased geometric patterns on the hoop and a reclining ram on top. Lotus blossom ornaments in relief adorn the sides and indicate Egyptian influence. Rings like this would most likely have been worn by high-ranking officials or priests.

Source

The will of Naunakhte lays out her wishes on the inheritance of her eight children.

The will first states the date of its declaration and the names of witnesses who were present when it was transcribed.

The will then states which children would receive Naunakhte’a property and which children got nothing. She disinherited three children and bestowed her property on the remaining five. Her son, Kenhikhopshef, received a special reward of a bronze washing bowl. Naunakhte specifically stated that the disinherited children were still eligible to receive property from their father, Khaemnun. (Wiki)

A bust of Minerva (Greek: Athena) has been set into the bezel of this hollow gold ring.

She wears a snake-edged aegis and a Corinthian helmet in her role as warrior goddess. Similar in function to an amulet, a ring with a portrait of a divinity brought the wearer under the deity’s protection.

Minerva, who was very popular as a motif on such rings, was often a protectress of heroes such as Herakles or Theseus. She was also connected with skilled crafts and healing. Although the stone of this cameo is chalcedony, it looks very like emerald, a stone particularly prized by the Romans.

The extremely high relief carving of…Read more

Gessoed boards were used for writing notes or school exercises. Like the slate writing tablets of yesteryear, they could be used repeatedly, with old texts being whitewashed to provide a “clean slate” for another. This board still bears traces of earlier writing (at left). The main text is a wordy model letter that the student copied—and surely also was expected to memorize. His many spelling mistakes have been corrected in red ink by the teacher.

The Hildesheim Treasure was found in 1868 on the Galgenberg (gallow mountain) near Hildesheim, central Germany.

Prussian soldiers discovered it during excavations on the shooting range located there.

Little is known about its origins, but some believe it might have originated from the legions of Varus.

During the late twelfth and then the thirteenth dynasty, late in the Middle Kingdom, people from western Asia established themselves among the Egyptian inhabitants of the eastern Nile Delta, especially at a place later called Avaris (now Tell el-Dab’a). A multicultural mix was thus established that culminated during Dynasty 15 in the rule of a line of kings now known as the Hyksos (from the Egyptian phrase “rulers of foreign lands”) who resided at Avaris but dominated a good part of northern and middle Egypt, while the south remained under the indigenous Dynasty 17 of Thebes.

The…Read more

This hairnet, with its combination of delicate filigree, carefully hammered decorative bust, and spool-shaped beads, is a superb example of the Hellenistic goldsmith’s skill. The medallion represents the head of a maenad, one of the female followers of the god Dionysos, wearing spiral earrings, a wreath of vine leaves and grapes, and a panther skin.

The flask – delicately carved from the rare stone material anhydrite – has the form of a pair of trussed ducklings placed back-to-back.

Their necks arch far from the bodies and the joints of their legs make four little knuckles for the vessel to stad on. The birds’ eyes are inlaid with copper.

Trussed duck were a common offering to the dead. It is, therefore, possible that this vessel, although originally without doubt containing a cosmetic substance, was made for the tomb and not to be used in daily life.

Vessels of this material were formerly thought to be of Middle Kingdom date. More recent studies have shown that they should b…Read more

One of the most important items from the Cheapside Hoard is this large Colombian emerald pocket watch, circa 1600. Watches first appeared in England around 1540, and Colombian emeralds reached Europe by the late 1500s.

Taking advantage of the crystal’s hexagonal shape, the maker removed a slice for the cover, cut out a central section for the movement, and used that gem material to embellish the metalwork. Green enamel decorates various parts of the watch.

The artistry and meticulous engineering indicate this timepiece was intended for nobility. – Courtesy of the Museum of London; photos by Robert Weldon/GIA.

In the Neolithic period the flintworkers achieved very high technical standards. The magnificent dagger from Hindsgavl with its blade less than 1 cm thick is the finest example of the flintworkers’ outstanding skills at the end of the Stone Age.

It was found around 1876 on the island Fænø in the Little Belt. The dagger type is called a ‘fishtail dagger’ because of the fishtail-formed hilt. Pressure-flaked daggers mark the beginning of the end of the Stone Age, and are the reason why the period from 2400-18…Read more

Like most Silla crowns, this one is made in the iconic “tree branches” style of early Korean art. It is adorned with many curved jade beads (gogok), a symbol of prestige that’s commonly found in both Korea and Japan.

Barbarians

Zero Hour: Disaster at Chernobyl

Excavated on Jaina Island, Campeche, Mexico – estimated to be from ca. 600-900 AD.

Found on Sothebys, its price tag is currently going for in between 180,000 — 220,000 euro ($247,487 – $302,485)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSz-jcM-w0I