Emergent theology in bed?

A clip from the comedy Peep Show that sounded familiar...

Museum 18

Egypt today.

Egyptian grave, with well preserved corpse, 3400BC:



The Museum houses the famous Papyrus of Ani, which records the Book of the Dead.

Workers in the Field of the Reeds (1450BC):


This shows the funeral and Opening of the Mouth ceremony at the tomb, which reanimates the body and send the person into the afterlife with all their faculties (1295-1186BC):


Book of the Dead chapter 125; judgment before Osiris, wherein a person must deny having broken a list of 42 commandments, and then have their heart weighed (1280BC):


A later illustration of chapter 110; agriculture in the afterlife (664BC):


Book of the Dead on linen, from a mummy shroud, 1500BC:


Model offering table and ritual vessels made from bronze, ensuring that the person could benefit from the offerings throughout the afterlife (2300BC):


Food offerings from a tomb; pomegranates, two loaves, a cake made with dates, and a duck with bread, which magically provide sustenance in the afterlife (1550-1070BC):

Museum 17

Cush today, which lay South of Egypt in Nubia, in what is now Sudan. Apparently, Cush was translated in the Septuagint as Ethiopia. Thus it was a Cushite whom Moses married (though some think that this reference to Cush refers to a different location, and the issue is evidently an important one for people who have a problem with "inter-racial" marriage).

Female sacrificial victim, 1750-1550BC:



Egyptian depiction of the dark skinned Nubians (cf. Jeremiah 13:23):


Praise God for bic razors:

Best commentator ever!

Not the English guy at the start, the guy from 1:28 on. This is an old video of a fight in a notorious town in Northern Ireland. Check out 5:34 and 6:34!

Museum 16

A couple of Egyptian gods I like.

Ram-headed deity, 1295BC:

Osiris, 1170BC:

Museum 15

More random stuff I like:

Is this the best sword ever, or the worst? I can't decide.



Tibetan human skull cup, which would be filled with blood (had to be blood, really -- you aren't going to sip orange juice from someone's cranium!):


Tibetan prayer wheel:


Christian arrogance:

How many porn stars are existentialist?

At least one, Sasha Grey:

Self-proclaimed, in any case. I wonder what she'd make of Bill & co?

I admire her. I only hope that she is as courageous inwardly as she is outwardly.

In order to swim [or do porn] you must take off all your clothes. In order to aspire to the truth you must undress in a far more inward sense, divest yourself of all your inward clothes, of thoughts, conceptions, selfishness. Only then are you sufficiently naked.

-- Soren Kierkegaard, Papers and Journals, 54 XI 2 A 227

Gideon Strauss on race & culture

Neo-Calvinist philosopher Gideon Strauss interviewed on television here and here.

Conviction, humility, responsibility.

Bon.

Museum 14

(I note that the latest episode of In Our Time is on the Library at Nineveh.)

Some interesting stone panels from Assyrian palaces today.

Soldiers cross a river using inflated skins while chariots are loaded on boats. The Assyrian SBS, I guess. 865-860BC:


A wheeled siege engine carrying archers, and armed with an internally operated lever that batters walls. 865-860BC:


The enemy attack the machine by torching it and catching the lever on a chain, but two Assyrians are keeping the device in place and water is being pumped from inside the machine onto the fire. How cool is that?


Some paint has survived. The Assyrians had some pretty nice footwear:


Thanks very much for the heads ... have a bracelet. A soldier presents the heads of the enemy during a campaign in Iraq and is rewarded. 640-620BC:

Study breaks

Another place I like to walk to is Covent Garden, which is a few minutes away from my residence, in the opposite direction to the British Museum. There is always a lot going on, and every day buskers play classical music in the market:



And today the Hare Krishnas were out and about:

Philosophy Comics

Here. (Images cropped from the preview).

Museum 13

Being some random stuff I like. Descriptions are in the pics:

Hair

Before:

Presently:

Still look like a psychopath, though. I don't photograph well. (I hope).

Museum 12

What are the odds that this guy is stoned?

Though the Assyrian lion is indeed pretty jaw-dropping.

Museum 11

More panels from the Black Obelisk: tribute bearers from Israel giving silver, gold, and tin. Apparently these are the earliest known images of Israelites.

Museum 10

Back to Assyria.

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, 827BC, Nimrud, showing various people bringing tribute, including King Jehu of Israel, on the second panel down:

The tribute of Jehu, son of Omri: I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king [and] spears.

Apparently "son of Omri" was the Assyrian way to refer to the Kingdom of Israel, and so it means "Jehu of the house of Israel".

Jehu was appointed by a student of Elisha, and was commanded to destroy the house of Ahab. He is probably best known for having the infamous Jezebel killed, and for destroying Baal worship through a deceptive lure. Read about him in 2 Kings 9-10.

However, [Jehu] did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. The LORD said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit. In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.

According to wikipedia:

[Jehu] was hard pressed by the predations of Hazael, king of the Arameans, who is said to have defeated his army "throughout all of the territories of Israel" beyond the Jordan river, in the lands of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh (10:32f). This would explain why Jehu is offering tribute to Shalmaneser III on his Black Obelisk (where his name appears as mIa-ú-a mar mHu-um-ri-i or "Jehu son of Omri"); Jehu was encouraging the enemy of the Arameans into being his friend.

This is a stela (bit faded) of the man himself, Shalmaneser III:

Museum 9

Persia today. Here is a news clip about a previous Persian exhibition, and here is a program about Persepolis.

Cyrus Cylinder (text here), 539-530BC, Babylon. It describes how Cyrus took Babylon with the help of the Babylonian god Marduk ... not the Hebrew god Yahweh:


Cyrus Cylinder:

And then at the command of Marduk, the great lord, I resettled all the gods of Sumer and Akkad whom Nabonidus had brought into Babylon to the anger of the lord of the gods in their shrines, the places which they enjoy.

Ezra chapter 1:

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

Seems that Cyrus was quite the politician.

Part of the Oxus treasure, including gold armlets:

Friendship

Read about these two brave girls in the Daily Mail.


It makes me think of my roommates on the ward. One older man in particular helped me a lot, through advice and reassurance; he had been in and out of hospital since he was a teenager, and had developed a great sense of humor about it. Until the nurse asked him if he wanted another dose of a very painful treatment, which involved an injection into the stomach. Then my experienced friend and mentor began to whimper like a child, and plead with the nurse to decide on his behalf. I had to leave the room out of horror. But eventually he must have decided, for I heard the swish of curtains and the yelps of pain.

God bless him.

Museum 8

Some Babylonian stuff today:

Map of the world, 700-500BC:


The Epic of Gilgamesh, 7th century BC; the Flood and Creation:


The birth of Sargon, describing how he was found in a floating basket as a baby, and the legend of Etana:

Museum 7

The Taylor Prism, Nineveh, 691BC.

According to this site:

It contains 487 lines of closely written cuniform text & was inscribed in the eponymy of Bel-murranni, prefect of Karkemish, c. 691 BCE.

The text records eight expeditions of Sennacherib.

1. The defeat of Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, & the sack of the city.
2. The conquest of Ellipi & subjugation of the Medes.
3. An invasion of Judah & siege of Jerusalem.
4. A second campaign against Merodach-baladan, who was deposed in favour of Sennacherib's son Assur-nadin-shum.
5. A campaign in the countries to the north-west of Assyria.
6. An expedition to the Persian Gulf & the defeat of the Elamites.
7. A final expedition to Elam & the conquest of the allied Babylonians & Elamites.

It records the Assyrian destruction of 46 cities of Judah and the deportation of 200,150 people. Here are the Biblical accounts, and the Prism text.

Museum 6

Old Babylonian magic spells, omens and liver omens, hymns, and a proverb, 1900-1600BC:



Babylonian story of the flood in the Epic of Atrahasis, 1635BC (bottom right), and a mathematics text with problems and solutions relating to volume (top):

D. N. Freedman (1922 - 2008)

I note from the Biblical Archaeology site that David N. Freedman died on April 8th.

At university I took a module on the Old Testament, and became especially interested in the decalogue: Freedman's work was therefore very interesting to me. Go have a look.

Museum 5

These are all from Ur, a city in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Ur was occupied since 5000BC, and may be the Ur of the Chaldees where Abraham is thought to have come from.

Figurines, 5500-4000BC:


Sumerian female, 2800BC:


Drinking tube for beer, 2600:


Gold dagger (electrotype), 2600-2500BC:


The following all date from 2600-2400BC. There is some uncertainty about Abraham's dates, but the earliest estimates are roughy 2100BC, so the following all pre-date him by at least a few centuries.

The Queen's Lyre:


Harp:


Royal Game of Ur:


The Standard of Ur and the so-called "Ram in a Thicket":

Museum 4

Uruk, in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq, was at a time perhaps the largest settlement the world. These cult items date from 3300-3000BC:


Civilisation at last! A record of beer from Mesopotamia, 3100-3000BC:


Temple pegs and figurines, 2500-2400BC:


Items including a metal hoof, a gold hook, and artificial flowers, from the Temple of Ninhursag, near Ur ca. 2500BC:

Museum 3

Lime plaster statues from Ain Ghazal, a village in Jordan, 7200BC:


Plastered skull, from Jericho, 7000-6000BC. In this period Jericho was a walled city with around 2000 people. As was common in the region, skulls were sometimes removed from dead bodies and the face reconstructed in plaster; these were then buried separately from the body.


Idrimi, king of Alalakh, Syria, 16th century BC. Read the inscription here.


These are nice:


Figurines from Lachish, 9th-7th century BC. These purportedly show that the Judeans continued to respect traditional Caananite deities, such as Astarte.


Phoenician ivories taken by Assyrians, from Nimrud, 9th-8th century BC:


Ivory back-rest from Nimrud, 8th century BC, possible part of a couch:


Phoenician style ivories from Samaria, 8th century BC. The museum description says it is reasonable to associate them with the Biblical tradition cited here (Ahab's ivory house).


The Lachish letters, 6th century BC, during the end of the Southern kingdom. These are field reports from the period when the Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzer, invaded Zedekiah's Judah and beseiged Jerusalem. Read more about them here and here.

Seerveld and Paisley

I've never met Seerveld, but from what little I have read by him, and especially due to the respect I have for others who are influenced by him, I have a lot of time for him, so to speak. But I found this interview dissapointingly tepid and utterly uninspiring. For example:

Comment: How would you explain what you do to an interested nine-year-old child?

Calvin Seerveld: I read books to find out what has been happening in the world God made. Many books tell stories and show pictures or have music. I like those books best because they help me see and hear and think about new things of which I was not aware.

Comment: What first drew you to this work?

CS: When I read books and studied what was written, I did not notice the passing of time. Somebody told me that if there was an activity you enjoyed so much you could do it without being aware of time passing, that would be good work for a person to do during his or her lifetime, especially if you could earn a living that way. So I became a teacher.

This comes from a philosopher, a Christian, a neo-Calvinist?

Seerveld reads books to find out what has been happening in the world? (Glossed with "God made", for no good reason I can think of). Putting aside the issue of reading books to find out about the world, what if, perchance, the nine year old would like to know to what end this knowledge is for? And he became a teacher because he enjoyed it so much that he didn't notice time passing? Really? It's a nice clever thing to say, but seriously?!!! Perhaps he thinks that he enjoys it for some deeper reason, but if so he's not telling.

Now consider Ian Paisley, who had a big influence on me as a child. It is unfair to directly compare the Comment interview with the following speech (which is a little oddly "remixed", for sure), for they are different things, and I of course do not agree with everything said by the good Doctor, but perhaps, at the very least, these will give you a glimpse as to where I'm coming from:





Doesn't anyone go into a profession -- or simply do what they do -- because they have vision, with ideals and goals for which they take full responsibility, and -- for Christians -- with the hope that it conforms to God's revealed will, and will be pleasing before Him?

Museum 2

Brass plaques from the palace of the Oba (king) of the Edo peoples in Benin, Nigeria (16th century):



The chair is by the Chokwe people of Angola (19th century) and the stool is from Cameroon (20th century):


Door panels and lintel by the Yoruba people of Nigeria (ca. 1910-4):


Hentakoi, a carved figure commissioned by a doctor-priest to fight off evil spirits (Bay of Bengal, India, 19th century):

A classic

Museum: 1

Since I visit the British Museum every day, I should start blogging about some of the exhibits, to try and educate myself. (The museum has so much that it is overwhelming).

This is a little video of the Great Court. The noise, and atmosphere, is awesome.

Go in the door on the left:


and the first thing you'll see is the Rosetta Stone in the Egyptian section. Walk on, and you get to the Greeks. Recognise these chaps?


Beside them, we have Hesiod and Homer, along with the The Apotheosis of Homer:


Apotheosis means deificiation. The bottom of the piece shows a ceremony involving an alter and bull, and Homer along with Mythos, History, Poetry, Tragedy, Comedy, the child Nature, and Virtue, Memory, Faith, and Wisdom. Homer is seated, with two kneeling figures beside him representing the Iliad and the Odyssey. He is crowned by Time and the Inhabited World, in recognition of the universal quality of the poems. Above are the muses, and there is a doorway between the mortal and immortal realms; this leads to the staircase to heaven, where the parents of the muses, Mnemosyne and Zeus, reign.

Viddy this!