Renaissance Artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo - Surprisingly Modern This article is inspired by a post, Face Art, by @Sajib. He displays modern Face Art, which is a quite fascinating subject, but the idea is not entirely new. Some of the images in @Sajib's post are in Arcimboldo's style, although they are based on photos rather than paintings, and I'm pretty sure that the artist is influenced by Arcimboldo's work. https://read.cash/@Sajib/face-art-521869fb So, who was Giuseppe…
The Relationship Between Cats & Humans – Where did it Begin, and Why? It has been said that the cat was taken to Egypt from Persia about 2000 BC, or from Nubia. However, there is evidence against that. The cat we call “*domestic cat”* rather seems to have developed from wild species in Egypt and spread throughout the world from there. It is generally believed that the cat was domesticated in Egypt, and the time is usually estimated to about 2000 BC. But there is evidence…
The Sacred Crocodiles of Egypt I. Crocodiles in the Nile? Still in recent history, there were crocodiles in the entire Nile, even in canals and water retention. They also lived in a lake, "Lake Moeris" in Fayoum. Gradually, the crocodile was pushed back and its range has become increasingly smaller. During the 1950s, a kind of hunting tourism, where hunters from around the world came to Egypt to shoot crocodiles, heavily reduced their numbers. Moreover, when they built the…
The Crocodile, a Symbol of Egypt? *Generally, no one today sees the crocodile as a symbol of Egypt. But there was a time in history when it actually was so, at least in limited circles.* When Octavian (Caesar Augustus) of Rome defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra (VII) and Egypt was incorporated into the Roman Empire, he had a number of coins made to celebrate his victory. The coins show himself on the front and on the reverse a crocodile and the text AEGYPTO CAPTA (the…
OC-detector Not Reliable Right Now! A couple of days ago I published an article, "The Sacred Crocodiles of Egypt". I did not get any EXC badge on that, which was weird, since it was original content indeed. I emailed @Read.Cash. After a while I received this reply: *"Regarding EXC check - you triggered a weird bug. It has been fixed and your article has been marked EXC."* Today @Gwenie submitted an article to one of my communities. When I should open it, it was not there.…
The Treasure Of Lake Qaroun *What do you say about one of the world's largest treasures at the bottom of a lake in Egypt? Nobody knows if this treasure exists, but the legend about it is described in both the Bible and the Qur'an, and it is still alive among the locals.* Exodus 6:21 says *And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri”.* Numbers 16:1-2 states *"Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab,…
Prussian Blue & Aizuri-e: Blue Pictures ***Aizuri-e*** means “blue picture”. The term is used for Japanese woodblock prints entirely in blue or where blue is dominating. When there is another colour in an *aizuri-e* in addition to blue, it is often red, as in the picture by ***Hiroshige II*** below. In the beginning, prints relied on traditional Japanese pigments, such as vermilion, indigo, or red lead – but in the 18th and 19th centuries, synthetic pigments were gradually…
The Power Of Graduality There is a fundamental principle or method which most people are aware of in limited contexts, but still surprisingly unaware of in its generality. Its application in health matters is at the core of how to preserve and improve health and retard ageing, or to destroy it and die prematurely - yet I'm surprised again and again when I discover that people fail to realise this before it is explicitly explained to them. Yet everyone has applied this method…
Mar Girgis - St. George & the Dragon There is an old tradition of a combat between a dragon and a dragon slayer. Often the point is to save a virgin otherwise selected as a sacrifice to the dragon. I don't know why dragons developed such an appetite for virgins, real or symbolic, or exactly what is behind the theme, but it became almost archetypal. The most famous representation of this story is the one about *St. George.* St. George - Mar Girgis *St. George* is the…
Greedy Old Men, Dragons & Leaping Through the Dragon's Gate Some time ago I saw a Japanese film from 1957, ***Osaka Monogatari****,* *A story from Osaka*, directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura, after a story by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is set in Samurai age Japan, but the story is like a fairy tale, with a moral. It was about a poor man, Omiya, and his family becoming wealthy - and how Omiya's mind was corrupted by money. Indeed, he loved his wealth so much that he refused his wife the…
Cleopatra - The Serpent of the Nile? **Cleopatra VII Philopator** Technically, the last Pharaoh of Egypt and last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty was ***Ptolemy Caesarion***. But he was a mere child, in practice the last ruler of Pharaonic Egypt was his mother, Cleopatra VII Philopator, commonly known only as ***Cleopatra*** [Greek: Κλεοπάτρα]. She first co-reigned with her father, Ptolemy XII, after his death with her brother (and husband) Ptolemy XIII, and after him with…
The Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt *This is a continuation of "****Cleopatra - The Serpent of the Nile?****"* https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/cleopatra-the-serpent-of-the-nile-4ed7b679 The Ptolemaic Dynasty Cleopatra belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 305-30 BC. It started with Ptolemy Soter, one of Alexander the Great's diadochi, one of the generals who shared the empire of Alexander after his death. Ptolemy first was satrap in Egypt, but proclaimed himself…
Egyptian Mummies & Mummification I. The Original Mummy What is a mummy, what is mummification? In general terms it is the preservation of a dead body. It can be done by, for example, freezing or drying. The Egyptian method was based on drying with the help of natron. It consists of sodium carbonate, which dried the body by drawing out water; sodium bicarbonate, which created an alkaline environment unsuitable for decomposing bacteria and fungi; and further of sodium chloride…
Names in the Ptolemaic Dynasty, Their Meaning & How to Write Them in Original and in English This post is a brief explanatory supplement to my articles about Cleopatra and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. *"****Cleopatra -the Serpent of the Nile?****"* https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/cleopatra-the-serpent-of-the-nile-4ed7b679 *"****The Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt****"* https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/the-ptolemaic-dynasty-in-egypt-15504763 *"****The Crocodile, a Symbol of Egypt?****"*…
Make a Distinction Between Quotes & Proverbs, and Attribute Properly! I see many posts here showing quotes and discussing quotes, yet it is not always a matter of quotes and they are not always properly attributed. A ***quote*** is something said or written by an usually identified individual. It should always be attributed to that individual. If the individual is not known, it should be attributed to “anonymous” or “unknown”. ***Proverbs*** and ***sayings*** are traditional…
Proverbs - Some Favourites When I wrote the article preceding this, "Make a Distinction Between Quotes & Proverbs, and Attribute Properly!", it was because I saw so many unattributed quotes. The point with that article was to encourage correct attribution. I included one proverb and a couple of quotes, only as an illustration. However, some readers appreciated the examples and asked me to provide more proverbs. So, I will present some of my favourite proverbs here. In a…
Some Favourite Quotes Following my article *"****Proverbs - Some Favourites****"*, I will this time focus on quotes. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/proverbs-some-favourites-011ede10 What is Quoting? If we discuss writing, you are quoting when you use a phrase or a piece of someone else's writing in you own text. A quote is normally placed between quotation marks (") and should always be properly attributed. I have previously promised to present some - in my opinion - good…
Locomotion - Why Some Animals Seem to Have a Knee Bowing Backwards *This article is inspired by a post, "**Fun Facts | Animals 1**", by @Gwenie and its last image, of a flamingo, whose legs are discussed. What looks as a knee pointing backwards is in reality the ankle.* https://read.cash/@Gwenie/fun-facts-animals-1-e0dff994 Locomotion Mammals walk in three different ways; they use either **digitigrade**, **plantigrade**, or **ungulate (unguligrade)** locomotion. To make it…
Iron & Cancer Iron supplementation is common, recently its use even increased. Often a physician routinely prescribes it for tiredness and various unclear symptoms where an identifiable disease cannot be found. This is madness. Iron is very dangerous; even a little too much can do a lot of harm over time, even cause death. We need iron, it is part of the haemoglobin molecule which is crucial for our blood's ability to transport oxygen to the cells. But the security margin…
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