El ojo de Horus

Tomado de Terrae Antiquae

El ojo wedjat, udjat, udyat, ugiat, ojo de Horus, es uno de los amuletos más conocidos del antiguo Egipto y del mundo musulmán actual. Como talismán simboliza la salud, la prosperidad, la indestructibilidad del cuerpo y la capacidad de renacer. El wedjat, un ojo en parte humano y en parte de halcón, es el ojo de Horus, dios de los cielos, y viene a significar «la unidad o totalidad restablecida». Estos amuletos les servían no solo contra las enfermedades sino también contra traiciones, conjuros y maldiciones enviados por los enemigos y mal de ojo.

Era uno de los más poderosos amuletos, que protegía especialmente la incisión practicada en la momia para extraer sus órganos. Al ojo se le representó, desde hace miles de años, con un círculo con un punto en el centro, el mismo símbolo que representa al Sol y, por lo tanto, representa el poder de lo eterno, que no cambia con el tiempo. Por eso, este talismán ayuda a lograr una posición y estabilidad, otorgando fijeza de objetivos. Proporciona fuerza, coraje y sabiduría. Fue muy usado en collares para proteger de miradas envidiosas.

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The 'Stupid' Neanderthal Myth

Research by UK and American scientists has struck another blow to the theory that Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) became extinct because they were less intelligent than our ancestors (Homo sapiens). The research team has shown that early stone tool technologies developed by our species, Homo sapiens, were no more efficient than those used by Neanderthals.

The team from the University of Exeter, Southern Methodist University, Texas State University, and the Think Computer Corporation, spent three years flintknapping (producing stone tools). They recreated stone tools known as 'flakes,' which were wider tools originally used by both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, and 'blades,' a narrower stone tool later adopted by Homo sapiens. Archaeologists often use the development of stone blades and their assumed efficiency as proof of Homo sapiens' superior intellect. To test this, the team analysed the data to compare the number of tools produced, how much cutting-edge was created, the efficiency in consuming raw material and how long tools lasted.

Blades were first produced by Homo sapiens during their colonization of Europe from Africa approximately 40,000 years ago. This has traditionally been thought to be a dramatic technological advance, helping Homo sapiens out-compete, and eventually eradicate, their Stone Age cousins. Yet when the research team analysed their data there was no statistical difference between the efficiency of the two technologies. In fact, their findings showed that in some respects the flakes favoured by Neanderthals were more efficient than the blades adopted by Homo sapiens.


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Bodies found inside Tutankhamun's tomb may be his twin daughters

An anatomist has claimed that two mummified foetuses found buried with Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun may have been his twin daughters.
According to a report in the Times, the scientist in question is Professor Robert Connolly, an anatomist who is working with Egyptian authorities on Tutankhamun's tomb. Connolly's preliminary tests on the mummified remains of the two still-born babies indicate that Tutankhamun may have fathered them both.

"The two foetuses in the tomb of Tutankhamun could be twins, despite their very different size and thus fit better as a single pregnancy for his young wife (Ankhesenamun). This increases the likelihood of them being Tutankhamun's children," said Connolly, who first studied the remains of Tutankhamun in the Sixties.

"I studied one of the mummies, the larger one, back in 1979, determined the blood group data from this baby mummy and compared it with my 1969 blood grouping of Tutankhamun. The results confirmed that this larger foetus could indeed be the daughter of Tutankhamun," he added.

"Now we believe that they are twins and they were both his children," he further added.
According to Connolly, a physical anthropologist at the University of Liverpool, "It is a very exciting finding which will not only paint a more detailed picture of this famous young king's life and death, it will also tell us more about his lineage."

THE ALTAMIRA CAVE (SPAIN)

LOCATION:

Near Santillana del Mar, Cantabria, northern Spain. 30km west of Santander. Motorway A-67, exit Santillana del Mar, National highway 611 and Autonomic road 6316 to Santillana del Mar. Follow the signs to Altamira Museum.

The Altamira Cave consists of a series of rooms and passages shaped like an S. The main hall lies about 30m from the entrance and measures about 18 by 9m.

The world famous feature of this cave is found on the ceiling: coloured paintings, mainly from the beginning of the Magdalenian period, about 15.000 years ago. Most paintings show bisons, but there are also two wild boars, some horses, a hind, and some other figures in a simpler style. There are eight engraved anthropomorphic figures, various handprints, and hand outlines.

The surprising quality and exceptionally well preserved state of the paintings caused the specialists to doubt whether they were genuine. Their discoverer died before his find had been officially accepted as authentic. At the beginning of the century the scientific community accepted them as unadulterated, after several comparable remains from the stone age were discovered in this area. But Altamira is still the most exceptional evidence of the Magdalénian culture in southern Europe.

The habitation of the cave starts in the Aurignacian (Perigordian) period, to which the first figure-like symbols etched in the walls belong. It was used more intensely in the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods. Proof of the habitation are the abundant stone material and the organic remains dated with the C14-dating.

The drawings show bisons, horses, red deer and boar. The animal figures are large scale, e.g. the red deer is 2.20m long. It is surprising because the artists very painstakingly depicted its specific and sexual features. Basically, the pictures are dynamic and the movement of the animals comes to life through the thoughtful use of the reliefs and uneven surface of the walls, thus creating a breathtaking effect.

Another outstanding aspect is the variety in the texture of the furs and manes of the different species painted on the rock surface. It is created with a minimum of facilities and with the restrictions imposed by the use of only three shades of colour: ochre, red and black.
In the complex of painting in the cave, bisons in different positions are most common and carried out most expertly. Other drawings, described as anthropomorphous, show humans with animal heads as well as different signs, such as hands or comb- and step-like symbols difficult to explain.

Today access to the cave is extremly restricted. The carbon dioxide CO2 breathed out by visitors damages the old paintings. So the number of visitors is drastically limited in order to save these unique masterpieces of human prehistory. Weekly only 160 visitors are allowed to the cave, the tours are booked out for three years.

Like in Lascaux, an artificial copy of the cave exists, which is part of the nearby Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira. It was built by the spanish Architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg and is a complex containing a museum of prehistoric art, a research institute, a restoration laboratory and the original size reproduction of the central room of the cave which is 9*18 m big and contains dozends of images. The whole complex costed 25,5 Million EUR. It was inaugurated by Spains King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia on the 17-JUL-2001.

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