Two-faced beauty

An aryballos (ἀρύβαλλος) was a small spherical or globular flask with a narrow neck used in Ancient Greece. It was designed to contain perfume or oil.

The shape of the aryballos originally came from the oinokhóē (οἰνοχόη), derived from oînos (οἶνος) 'wine' and khéō (χέω) 'I pour'. The first known aryballoi belonged to the Geometric period of the 9th century BCE and was a 'simple' globe-shaped wine jar.

By the Proto-Corinthian period of the following century, it had attained its definitive shape, going from spherical to ovoid to conical, and finally back to spherical. This definitive form has a wide, flat mouth, and a single small handle. Some later variations have bell-shaped mouths, a second handle, and/or a flat base. Potters also created inventive shapes for aryballoi.

A rather famous ancient aryballos (ca. 520-510 BC) offers a fascinating look into Greek ideas of beauty and cultural exchange. It features the faces of a Greek and an Ethiopian woman, inscribed with the word “ΚΑΛΟΣ” ('beauty').

The depiction of both women highlights the Greek fascination with distant lands like Ethiopia and shows an appreciation for diverse representations of beauty. This blending of cultures also reflects the interconnected Mediterranean world.

Beyond its artistic value, the flask also played a role in athletes’ bathing rituals, making it both a functional and symbolic part of daily Greek life. Aryballos often depicted in vase paintings being used by athletes during bathing. In these depictions, the vessel is at times attached by a strap to the athlete's wrist, or hung by a strap from a peg on the wall.

So, this aryballos is about beauty and certainly not about racism as Sarah F. Derbew so desperately tries to prove in her book 'Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity'.

The aryballos in the image is now on display in the Louvre (Paris, France).

Smyrna Cookies (or Easter Cookies)

These days, Koulourakia Smyrneika (or Smyrna cookies) are an essential component of Greek culinary tradition. In Greece they are referred to as Smyrna cookies because they only became only widely known after 1922, when refugees from Asia Minor brought with them the recipes of their homeland. In Smyrna they are called Easter cookies because they are traditionally associated with Easter. Sweet and fluffy breads, such as cakes, were virtually unknown in Greece. The same is true for sugar, a luxury item that was rarely used in Greek confectionery, and was only available to the privileged social classes. The most common sweeteners at the time were honey and grape molasses.

Sugar was a popular ingredient in cosmopolitan Smyrna. Recipes on how to make cakes, sponge cakes, meringues, and sweet breads also arrived from Europe together with sugar, allowing the women of Asia Minor to perfect recipes such as vasilopita (which in Smyrna was a sweet cake with dried fruits, nuts, and spices), tsoureki, and of course cookies and koulourakia.

One starts to appreciate the variety, finesse, and uniqueness of their sweets when one considers the abundance of spices they also had at their disposal, such as cardamom, vanilla, mahleb, mastic from the island of Chios (Χίος) and (once) from Kysos (Κύσος), and so many other 'strange' ingredients. Privileged and daring, the women of Smyrna created a baking tradition that was totally different from that of Greece.

These kinds of desserts were unknown to the Greeks. The Greek Vasilopita (Βασιλόπιτα), a New Year's cake, for instance, was traditionally a savoury filo pastry pie filled with meat, poultry, and/or vegetables. Similarly, Christopsomo (Χριστόψωμο), a Greek Christmas cake, was made without sugar or spices and instead sweetened with a small amount of honey or grape molasses 'to sweeten the new year'. Tsoureki (Τσουρέκι), a Greek Easter sweet bread, was unknown. In other words, people were unfamiliar with sweet, fluffy, baked goods, except in major cities. As soon as tsoureki, sponge cakes, cakes (some even with chocolate and cocoa), and fluffy koulourakia scented with butter and mastic were introduced, they were embraced, loved, and adopted immediately. The term smyrneika ('from Smyrna') was applied to every recipe the women of Smyrna brought with them, which is how these cookies got their name.

Smyrna cookies are made primarily with butter and aromatic spices, like vanilla, although orange zest or mastic are also used. Despite the numerous variations, they are all distinguished by their fluffy yet crispy texture, aroma, and finesse. The most common shapes are an elongated spiral (like a small boat), a snail, and a double snail, but they are frequently braided into a simple braid as well.

Bologna's leaning tower might collapse

The famous 48 metres high Garisenda Tower (that's the smaller tower on the left in the image) is one of two towers that dominate the skyline of the Italian city of Bologna. The other, the taller Asinelli Tower, is more than twice the height (97.2 metres) and also leans, though not so dramatically, and is usually open for tourists to climb.

[The Garisenda Tower is the (short) one on the left]

The structures were built between 1109 and 1119, though the height of the Garisenda Tower was reduced in the 14th Century because it had already begun to lean. The towers were mentioned several times by Dante in his Divina Commedia ('Divine Comedy'), published in 1320.

But time has not been kind to the Garisenda Tower. The tower now tilts at a four-degree angle, and monitoring has found shifts in the direction of the tilt.

The site was first closed in October 2023 after sensors picked up the changes in the Garisenda's tilt and inspections revealed deterioration in the materials that make up its base.

Authorities have begun constructing a 5 meters high barrier around the 12th Century Garisenda Tower to contain debris in the event that it falls.

It said that as well as containing debris, the barrier would protect surrounding buildings and people in the event of a collapse. Metal rockfall nets will also be installed around the tower. Construction of the barrier will be completed early in 2024, while the tower and the plaza beneath it are expected to remain closed for a number of years while restoration work is carried out.

Calcata: Where's the Holy Prepuce?

Precariously nestled on the edge of a cliff, the medieval village of Calcata in Italy is not your typical picturesque Italian town. It is a small, picturesque village located in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of Italy, some 50 kilometres north of Rome. It is known for its interesting architecture, stunning views of the surrounding countryside, and a rather unusual historical claim to fame: the relic of the Holy Prepuce, or the foreskin of Jesus Christ. Prepuce is a Latin word from prae- ('fore-') and pūtos ('penis').

The story of Calcata’s claim to the Holy Prepuce can be traced back to the Middle Ages. According to local legend, the relic was brought to Calcata in the 16th century by a soldier who participated in the Crusades. The soldier claimed to have acquired the relic from a monk in the Holy Land. Another legend, somewhat less heroic, claims that in AD1527, a soldier in the German army was helpful in looting the Sanctum sanctorum (the Temple of Jerusalem). Not much of a provenance, I agree.

The Holy Prepuce was then placed in the Church of San Pietro in Calcata, making the town a destination for pilgrims. The Holy Prepuce was considered a rare and significant relic in the Catholic Church. However, its authenticity was a subject of controversy and skepticism, and many other churches also claimed to possess the Holy Prepuce. The relic was essentially forbidden from being worshipped by a papal decree issued in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII, and eventually faded into obscurity.

In defiance of the papal decree, Calcata continued to stage an annual procession on the Day of the Holy Circumcision to honour the relic. In 1983, however, parish priest Dario Magnoni had to announce: "This year, the holy relic will not be exposed to the devotion of the faithful. It has vanished. Sacrilegious thieves have taken it from my home."

He had reportedly kept the sacred relic in a shoebox in the back of a wardrobe. Conveniently citing the Vatican's decree of excommunication, Magnoni refused to further discuss the event, as does the Vatican.

As a result, theories of the crime vary from theft for lucrative resale to an effort by the Vatican to quietly put an end to the practice it had attempted to end by excommunication years ago. Its current location is a mystery.

Nowadays, Calcata is home to a thriving artistic community.

Venetian Ceruse

Venetian ceruse was a 16th-century cosmetic product used as a skin whitener.

[Queen Elizabeth I in her later years]

Not surprisingly, the Romans had already invented a similar product, which they called bianca ('white'). It predates ceruse by several centuries. Both bianca and ceruse were lead pigments. The pigment led an uneventful life for centuries. However, the Venetians found a new market it: a cosmetic. They launched an even more potent version with the highest content of ceruse in 1521.

The recipe for basic ceruse is white lead powder and vinegar heated together in a furnace for three to four days. In Venice, glassmaker's furnaces served a dual purpose: producing glass and ceruse. The Venetian version had the highest concentration of the whitest lead powder. The resulting concoction was then mixed with the ashes of burned green figs and made smooth with a little distilled vinegar. The finished paste was opaque. When spread on the face, it made a satin finish that covered unevenesses of your facial skin, such as smallpox marks, scars or other skin problems. Women never wiped it off, but added layer upon layer.

Over time, a woman's face took on a grey cast. The skin dried out, wrinkled, and aged prematurely. The skin changed colour from yellow, green to purple. Teeth and gums started to rot, followed by bad breath, hair loss, acute abdominal pain, chronic kidney disease, muscle paralysis, mental confusion, uncontrollable convulsions, and eventually death by lead poisoning.

Everyone knew (or should have known) the dangers: people were warned of its evils by physicians, and the church said that women were punishing their vanity with the product. Pliny the Elder (AD24-79) already called bianca a deadly poison.

So, why on earth would you want to have a ghostly white skin that would eventually kill you? The usage of Venetian ceruse in the pursuit of a fair complexion was largely driven by its associations with high status and wealth. This was because everyone who performed outdoor work under direct sunlight often had a tanned skin, whereas individuals in higher positions within society had the luxury of staying indoors and would not be 'tainted' by direct sunlight.

Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) was always depicted with a fair white skin. It was the result of Venetian ceruse, and it emphasised her nobility and high status.

Upon her death, a post-mortem was performed. Elizabeth’s make-up was said to be more than two centimeters thick.

Tutankhamun's Meteoric Iron Dagger

In 1922, a team led by archeologist Howard Carter (1874-1939) finally discovered the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun, who ruled during the end of the 18th dynasty. The tomb revealed more than 5,000 exquisite items, that ranged from the solid gold coffin (with his body covered with the famous golden funerary mask) to fresh linen underwear (even in the afterlife you needed a change of underwear).

But among these artifacts was an enigmatig iron blade in a stunning ornamental golden sheath. Howard Carter described the dagger as having a finely manufactured blade made from a homogeneous metal, while the handle is made of fine gold and is decorated with cloisonné and granulation work, ending with a pommel of rock crystal. On one side of the golden sheath is a floral lily motif, while on the other is a pattern of feathers terminating with a jackal’s head.

Examples in Egypt of contemporary smelting during the 18th Dynasty to produce iron are very rare, and likely just produced low-quality iron to be forged into precious objects. As the other blades found in the tomb are relatively crude, many scholars have suggested that the ornamental dagger was imported to Egypt, perhaps as a royal gift from a neighbouring territory or kingdom.

The so-called Amarna letters, diplomatic documents, that date from the 14th century BC mention royal gifts made of iron given to the pharaohs of Egypt from before Tutankhamun’s reign. Interestingly, one of these documents notes that Tushratta, King of the Mitanni (now identified as the Medes), sent iron objects to Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun’s grandfather. Among the lists are iron blades.

Since the 1960’s, researchers suggested the nickel content in the blade was indicative of meteoric origin. The results from a more recent study in 2016, derived from an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer analysis, indicated that the blade’s composition is mainly iron (Fe), 10.8% nickel (Ni) and 0.58% cobalt (Co)[1].

This study compared the blade's composition to 11 meteorites of well-known compositions and 11 certified steel reference materials, concluding that the blade composition and homogeneity, closely correlates with a meteorite composition.

This conclusion was further supported by a study published in 2022, which conducted a non-destructive two-dimensional chemical analysis, and suggests that the source meteorite of the blade is octahedrite, one of the most common structural classes of iron meteorites[2].

Ancient Egyptians attributed great value to meteoritic iron for the production of precious objects. Moreover, the high manufacturing quality of Tutankhamun's dagger blade, in comparison with other simple-shaped meteoritic iron artifacts, suggests a significant mastery of ironworking in Tutankhamun's time.

[1] Comelli et al: The Meteoritic Origin of Tutankhamun’s Iron Dagger Blade in Meteoritics and Planetary Science – 2016.
[2] Matsui, et al: The manufacture and origin of the Tutankhamen meteoritic iron dagger in Meteoritics and Planetary Science – 2022. See here.

The Death of Lord Carnarvon (1866-1923)

Just five months after Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamen, his benefactor, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, fifth Earl of Carnarvon, died. He was just 57. His rather unexpected death within weeks of the tomb's official opening, coupled with the fertile imagination of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, lead to speculations of a curse.

At the time, the cause of the Earl's death was reported as 'pneumonia supervening on [facial] erysipelas'. In normal modern medical terminology, this means 'a streptococcal infection of the skin and underlying soft tissue'.

Pneumonia was thought to be only one of various complications, arising from the progressively invasive infection, that eventually resulted in multiorgan failure.

But Lord Carnarvon wasn't a particularly healthy man. Left a semi-invalid by a near fatal car accident in 1903, he was prone to frequent and severe lung infections. The general belief at the time was that one acute attack of bronchitis could have been the end of him.

In such a debilitated state, Lord Carnarvon's immune system was easily overwhelmed by erysipelas. On March 19, 1923, he suffered a mosquito bite on his cheek which became infected by a razor cut. He was diagnosed with 'erysipelas and streptococcic blood poisoning'.

After much suffering, Lord Carnarvon died in the early morning of April 5. He suffered from a high fever, severe pain, pneumonia in both lungs, and eventually heart and respiratory failure.

Recently, however, feeble-minded documentary makers have tried to link Lord Carnarvon's death to exposure to Aspergillus, which is a group of fungi that produce a mycotoxin when allowed to germinate on certain food products.

[Aspergillus under a microscope]

 

For Carnarvon to have been exposed to the mycotoxin, he would have had to have entered the tomb. The Times of London reported that he did so on the day of its official opening on February 17, 1923 - a few weeks before he became sick.

However, Howard Carter noted in his diary that Carnarvon first entered the tomb already on November 26, 1922.

During his first ingress into the tomb, Carter described an escape of hot air after he broke through the second sealed door and, in one instance, Carnarvon is described as having crawled along the tomb's floor.

Exposure to mycotoxins can cause a form of pneumonia to which immunocompromised individuals are particularly susceptible, and the contact Lord Carnarvon would have had with the toxic mold, by crawling along the floor and inhaling the hot air, certainly would have proved fatal for a semi-invalid extremely vulnerable to lung infections. But there is no mention in Carter's diary of Lord Carnarvon being ill until March of 1923, four whole months after his initial entry (as well as successive entries) into the tomb.

Furthermore, of the 44 Westerners present at the time, just 25 actually entered the tomb. Lord Carnarvon was the only one to become ill or died soon after its opening.

That Carnarvon's death had anything to do with Tutankhamen's tomb (or curse) is, therefore, highly unlikely.