Sumela Monastery, on The Cliffs of Trabzon, Turkey

Located in the Pontic Mountains of Turkey, Sumela is a 1600-year-old Greek Orthodox monastery, positioned on a steep cliff face, at an elevation of about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft).

The difficult-to-reach, elevated position of the monastery provided a strategic defensive position and an environment of isolation for spiritual contemplation.

Sumela Monastery, on the cliffs of Trabzon, Turkey

The exact founding date of the monastery is not known. But legend attributes the establishment of the monastery to 386 A.D. and two Athenian monks, Barnabas and Sophronius, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius I.

Over the centuries, several restorations and expansions of the monastery occurred, including significant work during the Byzantine era under Emperor Justinian.

The interior of Sumela Monastery features intricate frescoes, portraying scenes from the Bible, the life of Jesus, and the Virgin Mary, from the Byzantine period.

Sumela Monastery, on the cliffs of Trabzon, Turkey

After the conquest by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in 1461, the monastery was granted the sultan's protection and given rights and privileges that were renewed by following sultans.

After 1923, and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Sumela Monastery was abandoned following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey as set down in the Treaty of Lausanne.

The once-thriving religious monastery fell into disuse until restoration began in recent times. However, only 450 to 500 visitors are allowed inside the monastery.

During restoration (2015–2017), a secret tunnel was discovered which lead to what is believed to have been a temple or chapel for Christians.

Sumela Monastery, on the cliffs of Trabzon, Turkey

Located at Karadağ within the Pontic Mountains, in the Maçka district of Trabzon Province in modern Turkey.

The “Five Punishments” of Ancient China

Punishment called Yue was practiced in ancient China beginning in the Xia dynasty (2100 to 1600 B.C.) and was abolished by the Han dynasty in the second century B.C.

The “Five Punishments” (wuxing) system, referred to punishments in the ancient Chinese legal system.

Details first appeared in the 4th century B.C. Shangshu 尚書 (Exalted Writings; also known as Book of Documents), one of the foundational texts in Chinese history, recorded as mo (tattooing), bi (cutting off the nose), fei (cutting off the feet), gong (castration) and da bi (killing),

The Shang Dynasty, wu xing, the first ancient Chinese dynasty to leave historical records (1600-1046 BC), could kill a criminal by hai (mincing up into meat), fu (drying the criminal), fen (burning), pou xin (digging out the heart), ku (cutting open) and ti (scraping flesh off bones),

Ancient Chinese art shows many depictions of people whose foot, feet, or leg have been amputated.

In 2022, scientists in Beijing announced the discovery of an almost 3,000-year-old skeleton of a young woman whose foot had been amputated. The researchers said that the skeleton showed the practice of yue, with her foot amputated as punishment for a crime.

In 2024, anthropologists found the remains of two men near the Yellow River in central China’s Henan Province. The burial-style of the men indicates that they were low-level officials from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, between 2,300 and 2,500 years ago.

One foot and about one-fifth of a leg had been removed from each of the men probably as punishment for criminal activity.

The practice was abolished by Emperor Wen of the Han dynasty in 167 B.C.

Around the world, in many cultures and over time periods, corporal punishment, torture and death sentences, were once accepted as a legitimate judicial practice. In some places, theses practices are still legal.

World's Oldest-Known Boat

Believed to be one of the world's oldest-known boats, the Pesse Canoe, discovered in 1955 in the Netherlands, is carbon-dated to the early Mesolithic period between 8040 BC and 7510 BC.

The boat is a canoe carved from a single Scots pine log, measuring 2.98 (9 ft 9 in) centimeters long and 44 centimeters wide (17 in).

Marks are present in the cavity, probably made by flint or antler tools.

The Pesse canoe is believed to be one of the world's oldest-known boats. Carbon dating indicates that the boat was constructed during the early mesolithic period between 8040 BC and 7510 BC

Around 8000 BC, a Mesolithic tribe lived near Burgumer Mar (Friesland). Another tribe made the canoe.

At the end of the Mesolithic period, there was a transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture.

The oldest human (Neanderthal) traces in the Netherlands, believed to be about 70,000 years old, were found in higher soils near Maastricht.

The Pesse Canoe is now in the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands.

Rococo Style and The Ancien Régime

Art often reflects the cultural beliefs, values, and norms of the times.

Rococo developed during a time of economic prosperity when France dominated court culture across Europe and everyone in France was subject to the king of France. 

Rococo style reflects the aristocratic class of the Ancien Régime, and may have helped its downfall.

The Rococo style began in France in the 1730s, coming from the French word "rocaille'" which means rock or broken shell.

With its sensuous, theatrical curves and excessively ornamental style, Rococo was a rebellion against French Classicism, with its order, refinement and many rules.

Rococo style spurned rigidity and with its asymmetry and curving lines creating an illusion of motion, it was expressed in interior design, painting, sculpture, and music.

Desk for the Munich Residenz by Bernard II van Risamburgh (1737)

It was an art style that was playful and which, echoed the organic lines of nature and the transience of beauty.

Rococo avoided religious and political themes but changing social norms are reflected in The Swing (1767), a famous painting by Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806).

An elderly gentleman, pushing the swing, represents the old school of gallantry, while a young man, hidden in the shade of a bush, looks up the woman's skirt, as she raises her left leg.

 The Swing, 18th-century oil painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard in the Wallace Collection in London.

However, the style began to decline by the 1750s, and order and seriousness returned.

Criticized for its emphasis and association with decadent grandiosity and aristocratic customs, Rococo style fell out of fashion and by the 1760s, austere Neoclassicism, a less extravagant and more discreet style, dominated after various philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, called for a restoration of moral values in society.

 The Brühl Palaces a masterpiece of German Rococo. The Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces form a historical building complex in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Venus of Lespugue, 25, 000 Years Old

The Venus of Lespugue female statue dates back to the Gravettien, during the Upper Paleolithic, between 26,000 and 24,000 years ago.

The statue was discovered in 1922, by René de Saint Périer in the Rideaux cave, Lespugue (Haute-Garonne), in the foothills of the Pyrenees, during an excavation.

Approximately 6 inches (150 mm) tall, the statue is carved from tusk ivory and was damaged during the excavation.

The Venus of Lespugue, if the reconstruction is sound, appears to display exaggerated large, pendulous breasts.

According to textile expert Elizabeth Wayland Barber, the statue also displays the earliest representation found of spun thread, as the carving has a skirt hanging from below the hips, made of twisted fibers, frayed at the end.

The Venus of Lespugue female statue dates back to the Gravettien, during the Upper Paleolithic, between 26,000 and 24,000 years ago.

Location: The Venus of Lespugue resides in France, at the Musée de l'Homme.

930,000 Years Ago Humans Almost Went Extinct

Modern humans began spreading around the world around 130,000 years ago.

According to a team of geneticists from China, using genomic data from 3,154 diverse modern humans, the human population was reduced from about 100,000 to just 1,280 breeding individuals around 930, 000 years ago, during the early Pleistocene.

The study found that, around 98.7% of human ancestors were lost, 

This plunge in human population, which correlates with the sparse fossil record, also reshaped present-day human genetic diversity, driving the evolution of brain size.

Our ancestors survived with small numbers for an estimated 120,000 years, until climatic and other conditions improved for human habitation.

Scientists believe that extreme climatic cooling could have led to the population crash, by reducing available food and the ability to simply survive the cold.

Reference

Wangjie Hu et al. ,Genomic inference of a severe human bottleneck during the Early to Middle Pleistocene transition.Science, 381,979-984(2023).DOI:10.1126/science.abq7487

The Magnificient Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek, Lebanon

The Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek, Lebanon, is a magnificent Roman temple ruin dedicated to the god Bacchus, the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Dionysus.

The entrance to the Temple of Bacchus in the 1870s, United States Library of Congress

Constructed during the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius (c. 150 AD), the temple, which is renowned for its well-preserved Corinthian columns, is part of the larger Baalbek complex.

The Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek, Lebanon

These Corinthian columns are 19.5 meters (64 feet) and feature intricate friezes depicting scenes from Bacchus' life.

This temple, however, is actually the second largest of the three main temples at the site. 

The Temple of Jupiter, on the site, was the biggest temple dedicated to Jupiter in all the Roman Empire. The other temple at the site is the Temple of Venus.

The Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek, Lebanon

The Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek, Lebanon

Sadly, further archaeological investigations of this World Heritage site are hindered by civil unrest in the region.
   

The 2,100-year-old Lady Dai

Lady Dai, also known as Xin Zhui, died around 163 BCE and despite being over 2,000 years old, she was amazingly preserved when she was discovered in 1971 at the Mawangdui archaeological site in Changsha, China.

The tomb of Lady Dai reflected her status as the wife of Li Cang, the Marquis of Dai, during the Han Dynasty, with more than 1,000 artifacts and documents, buried with her.

1. A wax sculpture reconstruction of Xin Zhui. 2. The preserved body of Xin Zhui.

But the most amazing thing about Lady Dai was that her skin was still soft and moist, her limbs were still flexible, her hair was intact, and her internal organs were still in place.

This exceptional preservation is attributed to the burial methods used, which included sealing her coffin in airtight layers of charcoal and clay, which helped prevent decay.

 

An autopsy of her body revealed intact organs, blood clots, and evidence of a heart attack when she died at age 50. And that she had suffered from heart disease, high blood pressure, gallstones and diabetes.

Xin Zhui (Chinese: 辛追), also known as lady Dai, was the wife of the Marquess Li Cang (利蒼) (d. 186 BCE), chancellor for the imperial fiefdom of Changsha during the Han Dynasty. Her corpse was found in 1971 near the city of Changsha.

The silk clothing, lacquerware, musical instruments, earliest versions of Daoist texts and foods buried with Lady Dai, may have been intended to provide for her afterlife.

The airtight tomb was found 12 meters underground, enclosed in four layers of coffins, wrapped in silk, and immersed in an unknown mildly acidic liquid with magnesium, creating a sterile environment.

A European Art Work From 13,000 BCE

Cro-Magnons (European early modern humans) painted or engraved geometric designs, hand stencils, plants, animals, and strange human/animal hybrid creatures on walls deep inside caves.

The bison sculptures found in the Le Tuc d’Audoubert cave in Ariège, France, are estimated to be around 14,000 years old, dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period, specifically the Magdalenian culture.

Magdalenian bison clay sculptures at Tuc d'Audoubert, France, are estimated to be around 14,000 years old

These sculptures of two bison are remarkable for their detail and realism.

Discovered in 1912 by the three teenage sons of the French count Henri Begouën, the sculptures are well-preserved due to the cave’s stable environment.

Made from clay, the bison sculpture demonstrates the artistic ability of prehistoric humans.

There are hundreds of other artworks in these caves made by the Stone Age Magdalenian peoples, who hunted reindeer, horses, and other big game.

Le Tuc d'Audoubert Cave, along with Grotte d'Enlene, and Les Trois Freres, made up a single underground network in the foothills of the French Pyrenees, by the River Volp.

Art in the cave dates to between 13,500 and 11,500 BCE

The site is closed to the public.

Imagining Cro-Magnons (European early modern humans)

Chess Traces Back Almost 1,500 Years

The game of chess has a history that can be traced back almost 1,500 years to the Indus Valley Civilization and its earliest known predecessor, called chaturanga.

The Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation, located in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE.

Chaturanga, the Sanskrit name for four arms (divisions of the army), was a game of strategy and skill.

The game was based on the regional army of that time and was composed of infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots. Modern chess gradually developed from this game.

This game spread to Persia, where it was modified, becoming the game, Shatranj. And, it was introduced to Europe in the 10th century via Muslim Spain.

The game evolved roughly into its present form by about 1500 CE.

Known as Rapa Nui To its Earliest Inhabitants

Known as Rapa Nui to its earliest inhabitants, Easter Island was also named by the Dutch explorer, Jacob Roggeveen who was searching for Terra Australis (Southern Land) and Davis Land, but instead found Easter Island. He landed here on Easter Sunday 1722.

The large stone statues, (Moai), were carved by natives of the island. And, archaeological evidence suggests there were three distinct cultural phases: the early period (700-850 A.D.), the middle period (1050-1680) and the late period (post-1680).

So far, 887 monolithic stone statues have been inventoried, but there may be up to as many as 1,000 on the island.

A group of men observe the giant statues on Easter Island, Polynesia. December 1922. Photograph by J. P. Ault.

Each sculpture required a couple hundred men to move it to other parts of the island and some of the largest which weighed 82 tons, were placed upright upon stone platforms facing the ocean.

The large stone statues, (moai), were carved by natives of Easter Island

It has been discovered, that the Easter Island statues are not only monumental stone heads: they have bodies buried beneath the earth.

One of the Easter Island Moai statues that was carved but never erected shows how the states were carved. It would have stood 72ft tall (the tallest standing is 33ft high) and weighing more than 2 Boeing 737's.

One of the Easter Island Moai statues that was carved but never erected,

Interestingly, a drug called Rapamycin, (also known by its generic name, Sirolimus) was isolated from a bacterial species, Streptomyces hygroscopicus, found on the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in 1972. The target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a protein kinase that controls cell growth, proliferation, and survival

Easter Island (Rapa Nui), a small island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, is a special territory of Chile.

Roman Crocodile Armour

This imposing armour is made from the skin of Nile crocodiles. It comprises a helmet and a cuirass (body armour) and the skin has been radio-carbon dated to the 3rd century AD.

 Roman Crocodile Skin of Armour. 3rd century AD from Manfalut, Egypt.British Museum, London.

It is thought that the Romans adopted this style of armour during their conquests in Egypt and other regions where crocodiles were prevalent and seen as divine.

Scholars believe the armour was used for ceremonial occasions, rather than in combat.

 Roman Crocodile Skin of Armour. 3rd century AD from Manfalut, Egypt.British Museum, London.

The armour was presented to the British Museum in 1846 by a Mrs Andrews, who was in a group of European travellers to Manfalut, Egypt, where there were grottoes containing the mummified remains of humans and animals, including many crocodiles.

The cold, dry environment of the grotto preserved the suit well, but the British Museum's Department of Conservation had to instigate a thorough restoration job.

The British Museum

The Four Tombs of Naqsh-e Rostam

The tomb of Darius the Great (Darius I) is one of the four tombs from the Achaemenid dynasty (c.550–330 BC) at the historical site of Naqsh-e Rostam, located about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) northwest of Persepolis in Iran.

The four large tombs are the final resting place of four Achaemenid kings, notably King Darius the Great and his son, Xerxes. They are cut high into the cliff face and adorned with intricate reliefs depicting ceremonial scenes.

One of the four tombs from the Achaemenid dynasty (c. 550–330 BC), at the historical site of Naqsh-e Rostam

The oldest rock relief at Naqsh-e Rostam is from the Elam culture. Bahram II, the Sasanian king destroyed the relief and carved another on it. But small sections of the Elamite relief are still preserved.

The Achaemenid Persian empire, based in modern-day Iran, was the largest of the ancient world, before the conquests of Alexander of Macedon, extending from Anatolia and Egypt across western Asia to northern India and Central Asia.

One of the four tombs from the Achaemenid dynasty (c. 550–330 BC), at the historical site of Naqsh-e Rostam,

Only the tomb of Darius I is identified by the inscription and a rock relief, which shows Darius standing on a platform raising his hands in worship of Ahura Mazda (highest God of Zoroastrianism). 

The entrance to each tomb is at the centre of each cross, opening onto a small chamber, where the king lay in a sarcophagus.

Below the Achaemenid tombs, are rock reliefs with figures of Sassanian kings, some meeting gods, others in combat. One depicts the Sassanian king Shapur I on horseback, with the Roman Emperor Valerian bowing in submission.

Sassanid relief of The Investiture of Narseh (293-303 AD), Naqsh-e Rostam, Iran

The upper part shows Bahram II forcing a Roman soldier from his horse and the lower  shows him battling with a mounted Roman, Naqsh-e Rostam, Iran

Relief of Great King Shapur I with Roman Emperors Valerian and Philip Arabs, Naqsh-e Rostam, Rock Tombs of the Great Kings, Naqsh-e Rostam, Iran

The Naqsh-e Rostam necropolis is a reiminder of the once-powerful Persian Achaemenid Empire before it was defeated by Alexander the Great.

Naqsh-e Rostam is an ancient archeological site and necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis, in Fars Province, Iran.