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Oct. 27th, 2004 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dream_labyrinthSoo, some problems solved.
M wrote an email. He waited at another library, and his cell phone batteries went dead so he couldn't call me and I couldn't call him. Nothing wrong with him. *phew*
Is it a sign of weakness that I open any email directed to me with "Bowie" in the subject line, even if I don't know the sender? Probably. But then, who would create a virus directed to Bowie fans only?
And I probably shouldn't write about this terrible weakness I have, or you'll all start sending me viruses in emails titled "Bowie".
It's interesting that I have not yet had much spam in my gmail account. With my other address, I sometimes have moe spam emails than normal ones. Make me love gmail even more.
And thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
scatteredlogic's tip, I got rid of three gmail invites so far. One of them has definitely resulted in somebody setting up a new account. Though I have heard there are people who will just get invites and keep them, with the intention of selling them or whatever. Seems strange to me, but then I am always surprised at what people will do to make money.
But now for some interesting stuff.
I seem to have started living much more intensively now. I stay up late chatting to people. And I get up rather early to do things I won't be able to do once I move away.
Today, I was really happy to live where I live. Because I live close to the town where the Sky Disc is on exhibit. (For those of you who haven't heard of that - though that's hard to believe - go here.) I had seen it right after it was brought back from the people who had stolen and tried to sell it, before it was restorated. It looks great now.
It had been set up next to the miniature gold boats from Denmark and on the other side of those was the Sun Chariot from Trundholm. To see that one in reality and not only in pictures was great.
In one room, they had a video about the Sun Disk. There had been some people who thought it could not have been made in our area. (For some reason, people seem to feel comfortable with the idea that their forefathers could not come up with an original idea by themselves. Best example Erich von Däniken, who believes that aliens taught us everything we know.) But: The bronze and gold used comes from Central Europe. And on the Disk, the gold lines that mark the horizons cover 82 degrees of the circle. And that is the distance the sun travels between the solstices - in Central Germany. So there.
In the same room they had models of Stonehenge and the sun "observatory"/temple (or whatever it was, we still don't really know) in Goseck. They had lightbulbs placed around those so you could see how the sunlight would fall through the archways into the circle.
Däniken believes the ship image on the Sun Disc means that the Bronze Age people saw a ship in the sky, the alien's ship. Though I am surprised that the aliens traveled in boats that look very much like Egyptian papyrus boats. He says it is rubbish to think our forefathers believed in a boat taking the sun through the Underworld at night. Though we definitely know that the Greeks believed in the sun traveling underneath the earth disc at night, and we are pretty sure the Egyptians did, too. (And IIRC the Aztecs believed something similar.)
So I'm not really sure whether he thinks people in this area were stupider or smarter than most other places in the world.
Whatever the meaning, the craftsmanship on the Disc is incredible (as on the Sun Chariot, by the way). They had students from the University of Art and Design in Halle try the technique, and had a film about that.
Basically, you cut lines into the bronze. Then the gold is hammered out really thinly and cut to the exact same size, to fit the lines on the bronze. Then the gold is placed along the lines, and the bronze from the rims of the lines is hammered over it, so that it covers the edges of the gold sheets. The stars on the Disc are only about a centimeter in diameter (half an inch, I think). It must have been very hard to do.
And to think that the people who found it had damaged the sun/full moon on the disc with their hammers... *grrr*
So, when first made, the Sun Disc had only the stars, the moon and the sun/full moon. The stars have been set as to not resemble any signs, apart from the Plejades. In those times (and probably still today), the first sight of the Plejades marked the beginning of farming, the last sighting the time for harvest.
Then later the "horizons" were added. To do this, two stars were removed and one other was moved a bit to the center of the Disc.
Still later, the boat was added.
And lastly, holes were punched into the edge of the Disc.
So the idea seems to be that the Disc was not intended for any sort of sun worshipping at first, but was changed later to fit into a new view of the world. One text said that the holes were meant to render the Disc useless.
But when it was found, it had not been simply thrown away as you'd think would have happened if the religious idea behind it had been outdated, but it had been set up with the boat to the ground, and the horizons to the sides. Which might well have been the way it had been used. And also, the metal had some value, so if the philosophy or religion had changed, why didn't they just destroy the Disc and reuse it?
My personal idea was that the holes were used to tie the Disc to something to make handling easier.
And the whole find (it also contains two swords and some other things) looks a lot like other finds from the Bronze Age that are supposed to be sacrifices to the gods.
To me, it looks more as if the Disc had been buried, like you probably would a flag that is too frayed to use but still has meaning. One of the "horizons" must have come off in Bronze Age, so probably it could not be used anymore.
Though this doesn't explain why it is the only of its kind ever found. If it was common piece of religious service, there should be others in other places in Germany, or actually in whole Europe, as there were trading connections across the whole continent. And even if it was used in only one place, like Goseck for example, shouldn't they have gotten a new one once the Disc couldn't be used aynmore?
It will be really interesting to see what archaeologists will make of the Disc. It definitely has changed the way they view the Bronze Age Europeans.
Okay, enough of nerdiness now.
After we left the exhibit, my Mom took me to the Saale river, to a place where she used to go with us a lot when we were kids. There is a bridge to one of the islands. We used to call it the "Katzenbuckel-Brücke" (Katzenbuckel is, according to LEO "a cat's arched back"), because that's what it looks like. The island is really beautiful, too. It's small, and there are just trees and a path all around the island. You couldn't hear the town noise anymore, and it seemed like being in a whole different world.
Then we went for lunch in our favorite Chinese restaurant. Only my Mom and I like Chinese food in my family, so we go rarely and usually just the two of us.
It was really a lovely day so far.
I still don't know whether I will be able to live on the base once I start working next week. That is a very interesting feeling. Though I have to admit I am not all that worried about it. There isn't much I can do right now, and a little improvisation can be fun.
I have an earworm. Under Pressure. And I know who is to blame for that. *looks sternly at somebody who will know that I mean him* I'm not naming names here, but his name starts withcorrespondguy ;-)
M wrote an email. He waited at another library, and his cell phone batteries went dead so he couldn't call me and I couldn't call him. Nothing wrong with him. *phew*
Is it a sign of weakness that I open any email directed to me with "Bowie" in the subject line, even if I don't know the sender? Probably. But then, who would create a virus directed to Bowie fans only?
And I probably shouldn't write about this terrible weakness I have, or you'll all start sending me viruses in emails titled "Bowie".
It's interesting that I have not yet had much spam in my gmail account. With my other address, I sometimes have moe spam emails than normal ones. Make me love gmail even more.
And thanks to
scatteredlogic's tip, I got rid of three gmail invites so far. One of them has definitely resulted in somebody setting up a new account. Though I have heard there are people who will just get invites and keep them, with the intention of selling them or whatever. Seems strange to me, but then I am always surprised at what people will do to make money.But now for some interesting stuff.
I seem to have started living much more intensively now. I stay up late chatting to people. And I get up rather early to do things I won't be able to do once I move away.
Today, I was really happy to live where I live. Because I live close to the town where the Sky Disc is on exhibit. (For those of you who haven't heard of that - though that's hard to believe - go here.) I had seen it right after it was brought back from the people who had stolen and tried to sell it, before it was restorated. It looks great now.
It had been set up next to the miniature gold boats from Denmark and on the other side of those was the Sun Chariot from Trundholm. To see that one in reality and not only in pictures was great.
In one room, they had a video about the Sun Disk. There had been some people who thought it could not have been made in our area. (For some reason, people seem to feel comfortable with the idea that their forefathers could not come up with an original idea by themselves. Best example Erich von Däniken, who believes that aliens taught us everything we know.) But: The bronze and gold used comes from Central Europe. And on the Disk, the gold lines that mark the horizons cover 82 degrees of the circle. And that is the distance the sun travels between the solstices - in Central Germany. So there.
In the same room they had models of Stonehenge and the sun "observatory"/temple (or whatever it was, we still don't really know) in Goseck. They had lightbulbs placed around those so you could see how the sunlight would fall through the archways into the circle.
Däniken believes the ship image on the Sun Disc means that the Bronze Age people saw a ship in the sky, the alien's ship. Though I am surprised that the aliens traveled in boats that look very much like Egyptian papyrus boats. He says it is rubbish to think our forefathers believed in a boat taking the sun through the Underworld at night. Though we definitely know that the Greeks believed in the sun traveling underneath the earth disc at night, and we are pretty sure the Egyptians did, too. (And IIRC the Aztecs believed something similar.)
So I'm not really sure whether he thinks people in this area were stupider or smarter than most other places in the world.
Whatever the meaning, the craftsmanship on the Disc is incredible (as on the Sun Chariot, by the way). They had students from the University of Art and Design in Halle try the technique, and had a film about that.
Basically, you cut lines into the bronze. Then the gold is hammered out really thinly and cut to the exact same size, to fit the lines on the bronze. Then the gold is placed along the lines, and the bronze from the rims of the lines is hammered over it, so that it covers the edges of the gold sheets. The stars on the Disc are only about a centimeter in diameter (half an inch, I think). It must have been very hard to do.
And to think that the people who found it had damaged the sun/full moon on the disc with their hammers... *grrr*
So, when first made, the Sun Disc had only the stars, the moon and the sun/full moon. The stars have been set as to not resemble any signs, apart from the Plejades. In those times (and probably still today), the first sight of the Plejades marked the beginning of farming, the last sighting the time for harvest.
Then later the "horizons" were added. To do this, two stars were removed and one other was moved a bit to the center of the Disc.
Still later, the boat was added.
And lastly, holes were punched into the edge of the Disc.
So the idea seems to be that the Disc was not intended for any sort of sun worshipping at first, but was changed later to fit into a new view of the world. One text said that the holes were meant to render the Disc useless.
But when it was found, it had not been simply thrown away as you'd think would have happened if the religious idea behind it had been outdated, but it had been set up with the boat to the ground, and the horizons to the sides. Which might well have been the way it had been used. And also, the metal had some value, so if the philosophy or religion had changed, why didn't they just destroy the Disc and reuse it?
My personal idea was that the holes were used to tie the Disc to something to make handling easier.
And the whole find (it also contains two swords and some other things) looks a lot like other finds from the Bronze Age that are supposed to be sacrifices to the gods.
To me, it looks more as if the Disc had been buried, like you probably would a flag that is too frayed to use but still has meaning. One of the "horizons" must have come off in Bronze Age, so probably it could not be used anymore.
Though this doesn't explain why it is the only of its kind ever found. If it was common piece of religious service, there should be others in other places in Germany, or actually in whole Europe, as there were trading connections across the whole continent. And even if it was used in only one place, like Goseck for example, shouldn't they have gotten a new one once the Disc couldn't be used aynmore?
It will be really interesting to see what archaeologists will make of the Disc. It definitely has changed the way they view the Bronze Age Europeans.
Okay, enough of nerdiness now.
After we left the exhibit, my Mom took me to the Saale river, to a place where she used to go with us a lot when we were kids. There is a bridge to one of the islands. We used to call it the "Katzenbuckel-Brücke" (Katzenbuckel is, according to LEO "a cat's arched back"), because that's what it looks like. The island is really beautiful, too. It's small, and there are just trees and a path all around the island. You couldn't hear the town noise anymore, and it seemed like being in a whole different world.
Then we went for lunch in our favorite Chinese restaurant. Only my Mom and I like Chinese food in my family, so we go rarely and usually just the two of us.
It was really a lovely day so far.
I still don't know whether I will be able to live on the base once I start working next week. That is a very interesting feeling. Though I have to admit I am not all that worried about it. There isn't much I can do right now, and a little improvisation can be fun.
I have an earworm. Under Pressure. And I know who is to blame for that. *looks sternly at somebody who will know that I mean him* I'm not naming names here, but his name starts with
correspondguy ;-)
