Month: July 2019

Grave of 2nd king of Hungary may have been found

Medieval

Archaeologists believe they have discovered the grave of Peter I Orseolo, the second king of Hungary, in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Pécs, southwest Hungary. No remains were found in the tomb, likely because they were deliberately moved centuries later.

The team of archaeologists from the Janus Pannonius Museum were hoping to determine the location of the first cathedral built at the site in the 11th century. They discovered a wall under the crypt that was part of the original structure. The empty grave was found near it. As only the founders of churches were buried in the crypt in 11th century Hungary, the location suggests it was the burial of one of the founders.

The remains were carefully exhumed, not disturbed by later construction of haphazardly ditched. That indicates the remains belonged to someone of note, that they were removed with care for transfer to a new location. There are only two viable candidates: King Peter or Blessed Maurus, the second Bishop of Pécs. Maurus, however, died around 1075, after the construction of the current church, so the grave is almost certainly Peter’s.

The Orseolos were an illustrious Venetian noble family descended from Orso Ipato, dux of Venice, ie, leader of the Byzantine Empire’s military forces in territories under its rule. But while Venice was technically part of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna, it chafed at Byzantine control during this period of iconoclastic conflict between empire and papacy. In a big middle finger to the emperor, Venice elected its first independent Doge, the Venetian dialect’s word for dux, in 726: Orso Ipato. He was a great military leader who built Venice’s navy into a formidable force and helped kick the Lombards of King Liutprand out of Ravenna in 737 which eased tensions with the empire for a bit. (The Lombards would retake Ravenna in 751 and end Byzantine rule for good).

The next doge was Orso’s son Teodato. Another three Orseolos would take the office in the late 10th and early 11th century (five if you count Giovanni who co-ruled with his father Pietro II and Domenico who ruled for one day in 1031). The family was powerful militarily, wealthy and enormously influential, so much so that other Venetian families sought to bring them down and successfully did so. After the last real doge of the family, Ottone Orseolo, was exiled in 1026, its dominance of city politics was over.

By then the Orseolos had established very elevated connections indeed, ones that reached far beyond the boundaries of the lagoon. Ottone was named after his godfather, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, and he married the sister of the Stephen I, first king of Hungary. When Stephen died in 1038, Ottone’s son Pietro succeeded his uncle as King of Hungary.

It would not be a placid transition. Stephen’s cousin Vazul had the stronger claim to the throne, but Stephen was not a fan and had him blinded and his sons exiled to smooth Pietro’s succession. Stephen, btw, would be canonized a saint less than 50 years after his death by Pope Gregory VII. Then, once Pietro was on the throne, he infuriated Hungary’s aristocracy by favoring Germans and Italians, both at court and in military alliances. He was also reputed to be a sexual predator who raped Hungarian noblewomen wherever he went.

Pietro was overthrown by Hungary’s lords in 1041. He did get his crown back, but he had to bend the knee to Holy Roman Emperor Henry III to get it. Henry invaded Hungary and slaughtered it back for Pietro. This second rule would be even shorter than the first, lasting from 1044 until 1046. This time it was a popular uprising by Hungarian non-Christians that overthrew him. Karma struck and he was blinded by supporters of Vazul’s son Andrew. Sources differ on when he died, then or a decade later, but whenever it happened, he was buried in St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral, the church he had had built on the site of a late Roman cemetery. Pietro’s original cathedral burned down in 1064. The one that stands today was built over its remains.

The archaeological excavation of the crypt unearthed remains of the late 4th century Roman cemetery. They suggest Christian practices had reached this area of Hungary much earlier than previously realized. 

The Diocese plans to make the archaeological remains a permanent part of the church instead of reburying them. That way visitors to the crypt will be able to see its ancient and medieval antecedents.

Bronze Age warrior tombs found in Sidon

Ancient

Archaeologists have discovered the graves of Canaanite warriors from the 19th century B.C. in Sidon, Lebanon. The tombs were unearthed by a team of British Museum researchers who have been excavating the Frères archaeological site for 21 years and have discovered 171 ancient burials over the decades. The two found this season are particularly well-preserved.

The graves contained the skeletal remains of two adult males. The goods interred with them — bronze daggers and belts — identify the men as members of the warrior elite. The feet of sheep or goats were buried by the men’s feet so the animals would accompany them to the afterlife.

[The head of the British Museum’s delegation Claude] Doumet-Serhal said the daggers were not used for fighting, but were significant because they showed the warriors belonged to the society’s elite: “The Canaanites did not bury in such a way unless the dead belonged to the aristocratic and elite class of the Canaanite society.”

DNA taken previously from other Canaanites graves at Frères compared to the DNA of 100 Lebanese showed 95 percent were of Canaanite descent, Doumet-Serhal said, adding, “We were never divided. We were all Canaanites, then we were Phoenicians, then the Romans came, then the Byzantines, then the Arabs.”

This year’s dig season ends next week. The bronze artifacts found in the graves will be conserved and stored for future display in Sidon’s archaeological museum which has been under construction since 2014. The city’s 6,000 years of occupation and rich archaeological record has not been well represented until now. Almost all of the important artifacts unearthed in Sidon are in the National Museum in Beirut. The new museum will finally do the city’s history justice as a combination museum and archaeological park, with the city’s 6,000 years of archaeology visible under the ground floor and objects exhibited on the first floor.

“The belt and the daggers excavated will be placed in this Sidon museum next to all the pieces and artifacts discovered in this site over the course of 21 years,” Doumet-Serhal said.

Triple Hecate confiscated from smugglers

Ancient, Looting

Police have recovered a striking Roman-era marble statue during a smuggling bust in Turkey’s southwestern Denizli province. Two vehicles were being followed as part of a police investigation into antiquities smuggling. Anti-smuggling and anti-organized crime police units pulled the cars over, searched them and the statue was discovered inside one. Four individuals were detained on suspicion of violations of the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage Law.

The reports in the press are meager with little in the way of detail. The sculpture is sketchily described as three-headed statue of a beautiful woman with torches and wings, but I don’t think that’s accurate. For one thing, each head has its own body, albeit squared at the side. You can tell from the Doric chiton they each wear that it’s three individual figures, not a single three-headed lady. The central female figure holds a torch in each hand, the side figures hold torches in one hand. The reliefs on the back described as “wings” just look like their second arms to me. They’re very roughly hewn with the draping lines indicating the short sleeves and Playmobil style gripper hands, so I can see why someone might consider them winglike.

This is a triple Hecate. Hecate was a protective deity, guardian of gates and crossroads, often depicted holding double torches and as a threesome, handy when you’re keeping watch over all lines of approach. Pausanias, in his 2nd century travelogue Description of Greece, claims that the 5th century B.C. sculptor Alcamenes was the first to create a triple statue of Hecate. If so, he started a trend that would outlast ancient Greece and Rome and still be going strong in artistic motifs by the likes of William Blake.

The worship of Hecate was widespread in Thrace and Anatolia. It may have even originated there and spread to Greece later. Hecate was a particular favorite of the ancient city of Byzantium who would become in its later Roman incarnation the capital of one empire, then the capital of another and is today the city of Istanbul.

Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, flush from a number of military successes, turned his attention to the Hellespont in 340 B.C., and besieged the city of Perinthus on the Sea of Marmara west of Byzantium. Perinthus, perched on a high slope with strong walls and stone houses jammed close together to act as a secondary barrier once the walls were breached, defended by the allied forces of Athens and constantly resupplied by Byzantium, proved too tough a nut for Philip to crack.

Hoping to choke off Perinthus’ support and take advantage of the absence of many of Byzantium’s troops, weapons and war machines, Philip peeled off half his army from the siege of Perinthus and hit Byzantium. His strategem failed. Neither city fell and Philip was forced to make a truce with them and their allies. Plutarch attributes Philip’s loss to skill of the Athenian general Phocion. Diodorus Siculus chalks it up to Philip giving up when a bunch of other Greek cities sent reinforcements to break his sieges.

The account of 6th century chronicler Hesychius of Miletus, on the other hand, posits a less terrestrial explanation for Philip’s defeat. It was a dark and stormy night. The moonless sky was a perfect setting for a sneak attack by Macedon’s troops. All of a sudden, a bright light illuminated the heavens and the city’s dogs barked loudly. Byzantium’s defenders awoke and fended off Philip’s soldiers, defeating the Macedonian decisively. The great light was the work of Hecate protecting her most devoted adherents with the aid of the animal most sacred to her, the dog. The dramatic end of the siege was commemorated with a great statue overlooking the Bosphorus of Hecate Lampadephoros, the lamp-carrier.

Triple Hecates have been found throughout the Roman Empire, and Turkey, which has a solid claim to the origin of the cult, is certainly no exception. There’s a beautiful example in the Archaeological Museum in Antalya 140 miles southeast of Denizli. It’s very similar to the one recovered by the police, only the recent discovery lacks its handsome proportion and attention to detail. It’s the budget option, basically.

The confiscated statue is now in the hands of archaeologists at the regional museum who will study it further.

Operation Night Watch begins today

Modern(ish), Museums, Renaissance

Operation Night Watch, the Rijksmuseum’s ambitious research and conservation project of Rembrandt’s massive masterpiece begins today, July 8th, in full public view. The monumental oil painting will remain in place instead of being moved to a lab. An ultra-transparent glass chamber has been erected around it to allow conservators and the complex technology they’ll be using to work in controlled condition even as visitors get a clear view of the action.

Never before has such a wide-ranging and thorough investigation been made of the condition of The Night Watch. The latest and most advanced research techniques will be used, ranging from digital imaging and scientific and technical research, to computer science and artificial intelligence. The research will lead to a better understanding of the painting’s original appearance and current state, and provide insight into the many changes that The Night Watch has undergone over the course of the last four centuries. The outcome of the research will be a treatment plan that will form the basis for the restoration of the painting.

Imaging techniques, including macro X-ray fluorescence scanning (macro-XRF) and infrared reflectance imaging spectroscopy (RIS), will help determine its current condition, and macro X-ray fluorescence scans will analyze the chemical make-up of the paint literally millimeter by millimeter. Each scan takes 24 hours and the team will have to do 56 of them to cover the whole work. The data will allow researchers to create an insanely detailed map of the pigments used in every layer, revealing any changes in composition and shedding new light on Rembrandt’s painting process.  

The high-resolution photography will be absolutely unprecedented. There will be 12,500 photographs taken ranging in resolution from 180 to 5 micrometres. No painting this size has ever been photographed as so high a resolution. Researchers (and the rest of us peering over their shoulders) will be able to study details invisible to the naked eye. 

The Night Watch will be removed from its frame for the initial research phase and placed on a bespoke easel. It will keep the work stable while experts study the entire canvas using two platform lifts to access every part of the masterpiece. 

For those of us who can’t attend in person, the Rijksmuseum website will offer video of the work in progress. There will also be special events on social media for the public around the world to learn more about the project. Those kick off today with an Instagram Live chat with Katrien Keune, head of Science at the Rijksmuseum. It starts at 5PM (11AM EST). If you have any questions about the research into the Night Watch and the conservation, pop over to Instagram and ask it.

You can see the extremely cool glass-walled enclosure built and the painting mounted in this time-lapse video:

Original Apollo 11 moon landing film for sale

Modern(ish)

The only surviving, first-generation film of the Apollo 11 moon landing is being sold at auction on July 20th, the 50th anniversary of that one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. This isn’t the iconic but grainy-as-hell footage that was broadcast live on television. This is what was shown on the screen at Mission Control in Houston and it is complete.

The lot consists of three 10.5-inch metal reels of videotape recorded at at Mission Control, Manned Spaceflight Center, Houston, Texas. The tapes run 45:04, 49:00, and 50:15 minutes, encompassing the entire lunar landing process including nine minutes at the beginning of the first tape when Mission Control was waiting for the Westinghouse TV camera mounted on the Lunar Landing Module’s (LM) Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly to be deployed on the lunar surface. Once the camera had captured the Neil Armstrong’s first steps, he and Aldrin recovered it from the MESA and mounted it on a tripod for the wider shots. 

This primary witness to mankind’s greatest technological achievement was inadvertently rescued by an engineering student from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, from the destruction visited upon the slow-scan videotapes of the historic first moon walk and preserved ever since. Viewed only three times since June 1976 (perhaps the only times since they were first recorded late in the evening on 20 July 1969 at NASA’s Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas), these three reels of 2-inch Quadruplex videotape justify a statement made during the mission by Capsule Communicator Charlie Duke to Apollo Command Module Pilot Michael Collins. Duke had told Collins, who was aboard Columbia in lunar orbit, that he was just about the only person in the world without television coverage of his crewmates’ planting of the United States flag on the moon. In response, Collins asked, “How is the quality of the TV?” “Oh,” replied the CAPCOM, “it’s beautiful, Mike, it really is.”

If these videotapes do not quite transport viewers to the lunar surface with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, they certainly put you in front of the big screen monitor at Mission Control on the evening of 20 July 1969, with images clearer and with better contrast than those that the more than half-billion-person television audience saw on their home sets. Home viewers watched video that had been transmitted over a 1,600-mile relay of microwave transmission towers to the major television networks in New York City, with each transfer causing a bit of deterioration to the picture quality. In contrast, Mission Control saw the same video that is on these 2-inch quad videotapes: moving pictures sent directly to Houston from closed circuit TV transmissions from the lunar surface beamed to 64-meter-diameter radio telescopes at the Parkes and Honeysuckle Creek Observatories in New South Wales and Canberra, Australia, respectively, and NASA’s own similar-sized antenna in Goldstone, California.

It’s mind-boggling to think that such a historic treasure trove survived entirely by happenstance instead of being hoarded and lovingly conserved, but that’s what happened. When Gary George was an intern at the NASA Johnson Space Center in 1976, he went to a government surplus auction at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston. For the prodigious sum of $217.77, he purchased a lot of 1,150 reels of magnetic tape once owned by NASA.

Some of the tapes were a reel-to-reel kind then used by television stations. Since it was expensive and re-recordable, George planned to sell them to local stations. He did sell some of them. The smaller format tapes most got tossed. It was his father who suggested he keep the videotapes with the Apollo 11 label, and thank the stars above Gary George listened to Dad. 

And so the tapes lay fallow but safe until 2008 when George learned that NASA was trying to find the original videotapes of the Apollo 11 moon landing. He contacted NASA but they weren’t able to sort out how even to view the tapes to see what was on them. He did his own research and found a video archivist capable of playing the tapes. In October of 2008, the video was viewed for the first time, possibly ever, and they were pristine. They were played again that December in order to be digitized. They were played one more time by Sotheby’s experts in preparation for the auction.

Meanwhile, NASA gave up on trying to locate the original videotapes of the SSTV high-resolution recordings they had so inexplicably taped over. Instead, they had CBS Television’s footage restored and upconverted in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 EVA. Now they have the chance to right this wrong, but it’ll cost them. The pre-sale estimate for the tapes $1,000,000 – 2,000,000.

By the way, that entire auction is a space nerd’s paradise. Be sure to browse the catalogue if you’re into that sort of thing. I’ll take the command module pin from Apollo 9, all of the rocket, satellite contractor and advertising models, and at least one of the prototype space suits. Oh, and the Mars globe too.