Germany's Aristocratic Mummies

This excellent article comes with a few nice pictures. The article concerns eighteenth century German Nobles who were mummified and scientific exploration of the mummies including of course a CT scan.

Dumpster Diving Paradise

A 4000 year old necklace made for a King was discovered in a peat bog in 1945 and still later yet in a dumpster in Ireland.

A gold lunula from Coggalbeg, Co. Roscommon

A Pictorial Tour in the Holy Land

Rev. Albert Augustus Isaacs, M.A.,
William Macintosh
London
1863

This curious little book is one of those wonderful little gems that has entered my collection via the thrift and I say wonderful gems as the book is well distributed with fantastic engravings from photographs taken by the author on his journey through the Holy land.

Reverend Isaacs starts the narrative of his journey of the Holy land on the 9th of November 1856 after having left Alexandria for Jaffa on board the steamer "the Cheliffe", a boat crowded with Mohammedans, Syrians, Jews and Christians amongst others. Among the aims of Reverend Isaacs is the obtainment of land for the establishment of an agricultural settlement for Jewish converts, this aim was accomplished satisfactorily and the Reverend and his party make for Jerusalem.

The author says "The rest of the plain country being traversed, we entered on the mountains of Judea. Here we were obliged to ride singly along the rough and rocky bridle paths." and goes on to say "Approaching Jerusalem, we passed Colonia, the ancient Emmaus, very pleasantly situated in a valley surrounded with vineyards, and some orange groves."

A vantage point has been chosen to view the city and of it Reverend Isaacs say's "ascending a gentle eminence, we looked down upon the Holy City." "We gazed for some moments in solemn silence on the scene before us. In the background was the Mount of Olives, In the foreground was the dome of the church of the Holy Sepulcher".

Reverend Isaacs goes on to say " I had been looking down on Jerusalem in her widow-hood and her desolation. I had seen the spot where once incense rose up before God, and the sacrifices were offered in his name, now occupied by the mosque and followers of the false prophet."

Reverend Isaacs goes on to describe the sites he sees in and around Jerusalem including the valley of Jehoshaphat and its tombs including high up in the valley those of Zechariah, James and Jehoshaphat and the Pillar of Absalom. Opposite this page is an excellent etching of the valley and its tombs.

Perhaps my favorite etching in the book is from a photograph taken by the author of men and women, covered in long white shawls in front of the wailing wall. The Reverend also finds here a Rabbi who is relating some foolish legend to some idlers.

From the wailing wall the author sees a doorway which he enters to find "a most remarkable stone sarcophagus, which had been taken from the tombs of the Kings.". "but at present it answers the ignoble office of a water trough." The Reverend becomes desirous to collect it saying "It would be a great acquisition to the British Museum; but however useless may be such a thing to the Turks, nothing would induce them to part with it.".

The author walks into another room occupied by three handsome Mohammedans after the author courteously greets the three men he spends time looking out the window at the view of the pilgrims in front of the Wailing wall. Only later would the author discover that he had entered into the Mohammedan court and the three men were its three judges.

Reverend Isaacs often refers to a visit of the Prince of Wales some years earlier but which Prince of Wales and which journey remains unknown, at least to me. The author is very concerned with taking photographs on his journey and has a servant carry his camera and it must be said the authors images indicate a man of much talent.

Our friend Reverend Isaacs is thankfully not preachy and the tour around Jerusalem include an exhaustive number of monuments, some real, others fantasy. Soon the author is off on the road to Bethlehem, the Jordan river and the Dead sea, the travels being pleasant while the horse traveling party camps out at night in the open air.

Along the road the authors party encounters thieves and sellers of Roman coins of which the first are avoided and the later acquired to add to Reverend Isaacs growing collection including specimens of bats, and sticks gathered from around the Jordan river of which the author baths in its shallows. Yet another beautiful etching from the authors photograph of his bathing spot on the Jordan river.

The party explore the country side including its villages and various valleys lined with tombs and ruins while the author speaks of the influence of various peoples on the Holy lands its monuments and in particular Jerusalem.

On New years day 1857 the party is back in Jerusalem but now they must leave for Beyrout via the Jaffa gate to catch their steamer. Along the road the Reverend arrives along the sea of Galilee on the Lords day which brings great inspiration to the party and a divine service is held on its shore in the morning and again in the evening.

At Tiberious the author asks to see the chief Rabbi and is soon in the presence of seven handsome men one of whom the Reverend considers to be the handsomest man he had ever seen. Reverend Isaacs is soon following the men back to their Synagogue and Rabbinical school where he is shown ancient manuscripts.

After dinner the author is lying on a divan where he soon falls asleep "I awoke. The lamp had burned out, and all was in darkness. The rain was coming down in torrents, and the wind howled,". In the morning the Reverend says "The tempest spent its force during the night, and when we rose, the morning light was tinging the eastern sky, and all was calm and serene."

Reverend Isaacs party continues on to Acre and Tyre where he gathers some pieces of "tessellated" pavement and a small tortoise he puts in a tin for its journey to England where the author informs us that it arrived alive. Finally on the 16th of January 1857 the Reverend boards a fine Turkish steamer for his Journey back to England.

A Pictorial Tour in the Holy Land was a fine read the author though a man of the cloth was never preachy but instead came across as a well educated traveller from the middle of the nineteenth century.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

So we have come to that time of year again where thousands gather to watch the rising sun at Stonehenge. This year it has been estimated the visitors for the event numbered twenty thousand.

Photograph by Andrew Dunn

Across the Sub-Arctics of Canada

James W. Tyrrell, C.E., D.L.S.
William Briggs
Toronto
Third Revised Edition
1908

In the years 1885, 1893 and 1900 J.B Tyrrell working on behalf of the Canadian Geological survey, and his brother, (the author) James W. Tyrrell conducted three expeditions of the Canadian sub-arctics lying north of the 59th parallel, including surveying as well as documenting the "savage" Eskimos of the region.

The expedition begins "One beautiful May morning" as the author and his brother make final preparations from Toronto to meet up with their team of rustic canoe-men and portagers. Among the team is a recommended man named John Flett who is well experienced and an Eskimo linguist.

Three more members of the team are brothers who are Iroquois experts from Caughnawaga these being Pierre, Louis, and Michel French. While at Fort McMurray two more strong fellows would join the expedition they were James Corrigal and Francois Maurice.

The author J.W. Tyrrell refers to three of the above men as "half breeds", the author than goes on to give explanation for why he has not hired Indians from Lake Athabasca because he considers them to be lazy in disposition. Boarding the train in Toronto begins the five day ride to Edmonton.

"We arrived early on the morning of the 22nd at the busy town of Calgary, pleasantly situated in the beautiful valley of the south branch of the Saskatchewan river, and just within view of the snow-clad peaks of the Rocky mountains." "On the evening of the same day, in the teeming rain, we reached Edmonton".

As the journey continues J.W. says " we reached the height of land between the two great valleys of the Saskatchewan and Athabasca rivers. Here, upon a grassy spot, we made our first camp." The author continues "our slumbers were somewhat broken by the fiendish yells of prairie wolves from the surrounding scrub, and the scarcely less diabolical screams of loons sporting on a pond close by. An effort was made to have the later removed, but any one who has ever tried to shoot loons at night will better understand". Soon the author and his brother come across a moose which they shoot multiple times before killing the poor creature.

I really like the sketches and photographs of the journey and the authors writing style is better than his shot but through only the first few chapters in the authors perception of his fellow man is clearly that of an education of the later Victorian era in which the author classifies people as either Gentleman, half breeds or savages.

Among the indigenous people a man by the Christian name of Moberly agrees to help the expedition find the way but unfortunately the guide is unreasonable and lags sulking behind the members of the expedition. After canoeing to Moberly's village they finally arrive where Moberly pulls a screaming fit and threatens to not lead the men unless they hand over to him a portion of their supplies, with this the men head on without their guide.

The early part of the expedition heads through thick sheets of rain, up hill portages climbing through dense forest and jagged rocks carrying thousands of pounds of supplies and over small lakes as the expedition turns into a fantastic journey and civilization slowly disappears. One of the last stops before heading into the wild of the sub-arctic is at Fort McMurray, a settlement containing five small log buildings and then a number of Indian villages containing Cree tepee's pass by.

As the people disappear the men are joined by huge swarms of mosquito's and black flies and unfortunately James Corrigal receives a gash to his knee but is thankfully still use full. The hardship and sheer brute struggle of the journey shows the men of the expedition to be worthy of the truly heroic challenge facing them.

Pierre turns out to be the strongest canoe man in the bunch with the ability to guide his canoe through the most rugged rapids. The nineteenth century photographs of the people and the journey are truly amazing, thankfully on just about every page they are found.

Soon the trees start to thin out and become more isolated and gnarled, the air becomes colder, the mosquito's go away and glaciers appear. The men now look across a barren rocky landscape covered in mosses and to their good fortune find miles of herds of caribou of which the men kill a couple dozen and spend the next three days cutting up and drying for the long journey they have before them.

Near the outlet of Markham lake the men make a discovery as J.W. explains "It is worthy of note that at this point some very old moss grown "tepee" poles and fragments of birch bark were found, indicating that in days gone by the spot had been visited by Indians". The author goes on to say "There was more than sentiment to us in the fact, for from the old rotten poles, few and small though they were, we built a fire that gave us not a little comfort and cheer."

After a number of days on the lower Dubawnt river navigating ice flows and open water and down pouring rain the cold wet explorers come across at the second rapids signs of people as J.W. tells us "the first unmistakable signs of the recent habitations of Eskimos were discovered, They consist of rings of camp stones, an old bow, several broken arrows, a whip-stock and numerous broken or partly formed willow ribs of a "kyack," or canoe."

The following day down a little stream called the Chamberlain river on the edge of Grant lake the men of the expedition spot their first Eskimo as the author explains "Towards evening we sighted, upon the right bank" "the solitary lodge of an Eskimo. In front of the doorway stood a man gazing towards us, and behind and around him excited women and children were gathered. These were all placed inside the "topick" or lodge, and the door laced up securely. But the man remained outside."

The meeting was cordial with the Eskimos and upon leaving the authors steersman Louis commented that "They are not savage, but real descent people." On the evening of the 26th of august the expedition reached a magnificent body of water known as Aberdeen lake, the author says "a feeling of awe crept over us. We were undoubtedly the first white men who had ever viewed it, and in the knowledge of this fact there was inspiration."

On the page opposite is a photo of one of the men standing next to an Eskimo cairn. From here J.W. goes on to describe the daily life of the Eskimos including types of tools they use and type of animals they hunt also the author goes into their winter and summer homes and the amusements of the people.

The author tells of a ball game where the ball is made up of the bladder of a walrus, J.W. tells us that the game is without rules and says "Here a woman, carrying a child on her back, may be seen running at full speed after the ball, and the next moment lying at full length with her naked child floundering in the snow a few feet beyond her. A minute later the child is in its place, and the mother, nearly chocking with laughter, is seen elbowing her way after the ball again."

J.W. describes Eskimo marriages and the women which is basically the two parties agree they are a couple and go build their own igloo. Of the brides J.W. says " Eskimo brides are usually very young, and often very bonnie creatures. They lose much of their beauty, however, in early life, and at about forty mature into ugly old dames."

As the journey continues much of the men's time is spent hunting for food, as winter begins to approach the canoes become bogged down in the ice and the decision is made to abandon most of their supplies including the rock collection which had been gathered.

With the load lightened and the weather worsening the men make a last dash in their now lighter vessels down the west shore of the Hudson bay the canoes to journey further ends in the ice with no where to go except over the frozen shore.

The men of the expedition are hungry and weary while Michel French's feet have suffered frost bite, Pierre too is physically weak, this is true of the author and his brother while John Flett and Jim Corrigal are in the best condition and agree to go on without the others the remaining fifty or so miles to Fort Churchill to get help for the rest.

The return of John and Jim is only a couple days wait and with them provisions and help gets the expedition party to Fort Churchill where they can rest and recover for a couple weeks while Michel's feet are attended by the doctor there. At Fort Churchill the men gather supplies for the final leg of the journey but due to crippling leg problems both the author and his brother are left to ride bundled on sleds while Michel is left behind to recover.

As the expedition come to its end Pierre and Louis are both crippled from the snowshoes and must be dispatched by horse and sleigh the rest of the journey. The men of the expedition have traveled by canoe and hiking thirty two hundred miles in eight months to accomplish their goal.

The book ends with the author giving a rap up of the assets of Hudson bay including animals, vegetables and minerals. In the end J.W. Tyrrell expresses a great respect for his fellow man but especially for the Eskimo people, his earlier classification of savages and half breeds have been words and not backed by any dislike for his fellow man.To me the books last jewel is it's second appendix, Eskimo vocabulary of words and phrases.

Across the Sub-Arctics of Canada was one of the best most exciting books I have read in a long time though it may be difficult to find I do recommend this wonderful early Canadian adventure, truly heroic!

New Addendum to Petition to Save Mamilla Cemetery

The Simon Wiesenthal center is going forward with it's building of a museum of tolerance on top of a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem. The petition to save the twelfth century Mamilla cemetery has gone all the way to the United Nations.

Representatives of 15 of the oldest families in Jerusalem who have relatives buried in the cemetery presented their petition to the UN in Geneva. Opponents of the museum plan are upset by the thought of a museum of tolerance being built on the graves of generations of Palestinians.

This article says of the removal of a thousand burials is damaging the Muslim remains while excavators claim to be removing the skeletons with care.

Campaign to preserve Mamilla cemetery

Pagan Vessels

Discovery news has an article on the discovery of pagan earthen vessels from a 3500 year old temple in Israel. The archaeologists who found the hundreds of vessels in a cave believes that the cache may have been removed from the temple and hidden in the cave on an occasion when Egyptian forces may have invaded.