The Lupercal

That was probably the date when Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th for the first time and now we have a theory on the location where Christmas was first celebrated on the “official day.” The place is Basilica of St. Anastasia and the basis for the theory is the discovery of a pagan shrine, the Lupercal, dedicated to the founders of Rome – Romulus and his brother Remus. The Basilica of St. Anastasia was built around 326 CE near the Lupercal shrine  and the location was chosen to link pagan practices to Christian celebrations.

According to Roman mythology, the brothers were abandoned by their parents and was bought up by a wolf. They were discovered by shepherd, Faustulus who raised them as his own children. In January of this year, archaeologists found the Lupercal believed to be the one where the brothers were bought up by the wolf, and in November, the first photos were released. This cave is located between one of the seven hills of Rome and the Basilica of Santa Anastasia.

In the early days of Christianity, the practice was to appropriate pagan practices and celebrations.  The Roman emperor Constantine presided over the First Council of Nicaea and it was there that Dec 25 was picked as the birth date of Yeshua. During those times, two important pagan festivals were celebrated – the first one starting on Dec. 17 honored Saturn, a major Roman deity of agriculture and harvest and the second one starting on Dec 25, celebrated the birth of Mithras, the Persian god of light. Constantine combined both and we now have Christmas.

See Also: Merry Christmas!

In 70 CE, the Roman general Titus Flavius placed a siege around Jerusalem by digging a trench and building additional walls. Anyone caught fleeing was crucified. During this siege many Jews hid in a drainage canal and escaped through the city’s southern gate. This drainage canal was discovered underneath the rubble of the Second Temple, under what was the main road during the time.

Now, right opposite the Second Temple, below the parking lot, archaeologists have found the remains of a palace which was destroyed in 70 CE. This palace, in high probability belonged to Queen Helena, a wealthy Babylonian aristocrat who converted to Judaism and moved to Jerusalem with her sons.

The find includes massive foundations, walls whose remains soar five meters high in some places, two-story-tall halls, a basement, ritual baths (mikvaot), remains of colored frescoes, and more.  The archaeologists say they can see, in the narrow openings discovered in the basement level, evidence of the drama that transpired in the structure prior to its destruction by the Romans. It appears that the inhabitants attempted to flee through the openings.  Attempts were also made to destroy the structure at the time.[Discovered: Large 2nd-Temple House Adjacent to Temple Mount ]

See: Pictures, Video

Karl
Marx, the father of communism, argued that contradictions within
capitalism would bring about its own end and it would be replaced by
communism. He also believed that capitalism would end through the
organized actions of the working class. We don’t know if Indian
Naxalites have read or believe in these fairy tales, but they have
taken it on themselves to murder people in the name of this ideology
and they believe that murdering feudal landlords is the way to
salvation. People of the Early
Middle Ages (500 – 1050 CE) would have disagreed
with this point of view.

During
the Early Middle Ages, the society was mostly agrarian and
feudalism was built on an economic foundation known as manorialism.
A lord controlled a manorial village and some lords controlled many.
In the village, there were peasants, blacksmiths, carpenters, and
priests and at the bottom of the food chain was the serf who
lived in a hut along with chickens and pigs. The hut was smoke filled
and when it rained the earth floor would turn into mud. The serfs
earned no respect and they were depicted as ugly, dirty and cowardly
creatures.

Manorialism and Feudalism expected a social order that was stable
and organic. People were expected to accept their social status and
perform the role as per their ranking in the social order. This
social order was not to be upset and people were not expected to
change their position in this social order. The clergy helped in this
aspect by maintaining that, “God himself willed that among men
some must be lords and some serfs.”

As Europe moved into
the High Middle Ages, there was a revival of urban economy and the
re-emergence of central authority. With the invention of the heavy
plough, the use of windmills for grinding cereals, and three-field system of managing  land, there was an agricultural
revolution. The rebirth of towns led to a commercial revolution and
the rise of an enterprising and dynamic middle class. The development
of towns gave new opportunities to the serfs and they escaped from
the manor seeking fortune and freedom. Some of them made a living
selling food and the others through trade.

The lords despised
people who made a living through trade because they thought trade and
manual labor were degrading. The clergy cursed them because they
thought that the pursuit of riches was shameful and was an obstacle
for salvation. They finally came up with a name for these dynamic
progressive people — bourgeoisie which means citizens of the
burg,
the walled town.

The feudal and manorial establishments were
not destroyed by revolts but by a change of the economic system. The
change of economic system was not from feudalism to classless
stateless clueless concepts of mass ownership, but into capitalism. 
It was not violence but economic opportunities and financial freedom
that changed the lives of the serfs.

Reference: Western Civilization Volume 1, Medieval Civilization In Western Europe

Tutankhamun, the Egyptian Pharoah was not famous during the 11 years he lived during the time of Egypt’s New Kingdom. (The previous two eras are creatively named Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom). He became famous about 3000 years after his death when Howard Carter discovered his intact tomb in 1922.  One unanswered question that still remains is the cause of his death.

Since Jerry Bruckheimer and the CSI series were not present in 1922, investigators had to wait till 1968 when an X-ray revealed that he could have died of a blow to his head. It was suggested that he was murdered and as if coming right out of a soap opera it was also suggested that possible candidates included his wife and chariot driver.

We don’t have to wait till Tehelka conducts a sting operation on the dead chariot driver, for new studies show that it could have been a hunting accident.

“He was not murdered as many people thought. He had an accident when he was hunting in the desert. Falling from a chariot made this fracture in his left leg and this really is in my opinion how he died,” said Zahi Hawass, general secretary of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Until now, many historians had assumed that he was treated as a rather fragile child who was cosseted and protected from physical danger. However, Nadia Lokma of the Cairo Museum said that a recent analysis of the chariots found in the tombs of the pharaohs indicated that they were not merely ceremonial but show signs of wear and tear. Hundreds of arrows recovered from the tomb also show evidence of having been fired and recovered. “These chariots are hunting chariots, not war chariots. You can see from the wear on them that they were actually used in life,” Dr Lokma said. [Tutankhamun died in a hunting accident]

Excerpt from Egyptian antiquities By George Long (Published in 1832)

After the 2004 tsunami receded, a naval diving team assisted the Archaeological Survey of India in looking for some structures which were revealed in Mahabalipuram. They found some temple shaped structures covered with marine growth leading archaeologists to believe that it was the remains of the other six pagodas.

Under water archaeology in Dwaraka and the dating of the retrieved artifacts have revealed that the debris is related to the ruins of a city dated to 2280 BCE. Previous under water excavations revealed about 120 anchors. These anchors often had three holes of which the upper one was used for tying a rope and the other two holes for holding wooden flukes.

There seems to be evidence of a submerged city, similar to Dwaraka, near the island of Yonaguni Jima in Japan. Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist at the University of the Ryukyus in Japan, who has been diving there for more than fifteen years has found submerged stone structures which look like a monolithic stepped pyramid. (photos)

Similar to the story of the lost continent of Atlantis and Lemuria, there is an Asian tale of the lost continent of Mu. According to one concept, it was the survivors of Mu who found the Mayan civilization and some folks believe that the structures found near Yonaguni Jima is evidence of Mu.

Sceptics think that these pyramid like structures are natural formations, but Kimura says that he has found quarry marks and characters etched into the carved faces. He believes that the ruins are 5000 years old based on the date of  stalactites, which is around the same time as the ruins found in Dwaraka.

A similar under water city has now been found under the site of present day Alexandria, the city found by Alexander of Macedonia. The city, dated to around 1000 BCE, seems to be the remains of Rhakotis, a town mentioned in histories, but never found.

As evident from the archaeology at Dwaraka, Mahabalipuram, Yonaguni Jima and Alexandria, there is always some historical basis for certain “mythologies”. Any decent archaeologist would investigate the sites before jumping to conclusions, unless of course they report to Ambika Soni or T  R Baalu.

The time between the decline of Indus Valley Civilization and the birth of Buddha in India was a period of turmoil for the Hebrews. During this time, the wandering Hebrews returned to Canaan (a region approximating to present-day Israel and the West Bank and Gaza, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Lebanon and Syria) and joined other tribes that had not moved to Egypt.

The twelve tribes united under Saul. Saul’s successor was David (of David and Goliath fame) and it was David’s son, Solomon, who built the temple in Jerusalem honoring God. About 300 years later, by 586 BCE which is about 23 years before the birth of Buddha, Chaldeans or Neo-Babylonians conquered Judah and destroyed Solomon’s temple.

Some of the Jews who survived fled to Egypt and the others were exiled to Babylon. When Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BCE, he freed the Jews and encouraged them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. This freedom did not last long and by the time of the decline of the Mauryan empire in India, the Romans were in control of Jerusalem.

In 70 CE, the Roman general Titus Flavius placed a siege around Jerusalem by digging a trench and building additional walls. Anyone caught fleeing was crucified. During this siege many Jews hid in a drainage canal and escaped through the city’s southern gate. This drainage canal has been discovered underneath the rubble of the Second Temple, under what was the main road during the time.

The channel was buried beneath the rubble of the sacking, and the parts that have been exposed since it was discovered two weeks ago have been preserved intact.

The walls — ashlar stones one meter (3 feet) deep — reach a height of 3 meters (10 feet) in some places and are covered by heavy stone slabs that were the main road’s paving stones, Shukron said. Several manholes are visible, and portions of the original plastering remain, he said.

Pottery sherds, vessel fragments and coins from the end of the Second Temple period were discovered inside the channel, attesting to its age, Reich said.[Archeologists find ancient tunnel used by Jews to escape Roman conquest of Jerusalem]

On August 4, 70 CE, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and along with it, the Second Temple which was built by Cyrus.