Water Clocks

Waterclocks, like sundials, may have been used as long ago as 4000 B.C. Through the centuries, water clocks became more sophisticated, with gears and revolutionary mechanisms. Water clocks would finally be replaced in the 18th century with pendulum clocks.
The oldest water clock documentation is on the tomb of a 16th century Egyptian court official, Amenemhet. He is portrayed as the inventor, though it is possible he only made improvements on an earlier model.
The earliest clocks were stone vessels with sloping sides that allowed water to drip at a nearly constant rate from a hole near the bottom. Marks inside the bowl measure the passing of time as the water level lowered in the vessel.
Clocks were used by priests, to time the correct “hour” for rites and sacrifices. The clocks were also possibly used during the day, especially by the wealthy.
The image is of two waterclocks from the Ancient Agora Museum in Athens. The top vessel is an original from the 5th c. B.C. The lower vessel is a reconstruction of a clay original.

The Dog Days of Summer

The Dog Days of Summer are the hottest, most sweltering days of the year. Depending on your location, they run for about a month between early July to the beginning of September in the northern hemisphere, and from January to March in the southern hemisphere.

The term "Dog Days" refers to the days when Sirius, the Dog Star, rises with the sun.

The ancient Egyptians associated Horus, the dog-headed god, with Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (The Greater Dog) and the brightest star in the night sky. During this time, Sirius rose at dawn during the most blistering part of summer. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans believed the bright Sirius, so close to the sun, added its radiation to the sun's, increasing the season's already fierce heat.

To the ancients, these sultry days, when rainfall is at its lowest and temperature its highest, was an evil time, causing suffering and disease in man and beast. Food spoiled, dogs went mad and all creatures languished in the stifling atmosphere.

Due to the precession of the equinoxes (the change in the earth's orientation to the night sky as our globe revolves around the galactic center), Sirius no longer rises at daybreak on the same dates as it did for the ancient Mediterranean civilizations. In the Roman era, the Dog Days ran from July 24 through August 24. Today, the Dog Days run from July 3 to August 11, according to The Old Farmers' Almanac, although many European cultures adhere to the original dates.

So, if you're awake before dawn during the peak of summer, take a look at the eastern sky. That bright star near the horizon is Sirius, heralding the Dog Days of Summer.

Thank you all,
Linda

The picture, from Wikipedia, is of Canis Major. Sirius marks the dog's nose.

History of Gold

When thinking about the progress of technology, we think of iron and copper-working, but gold was the first metal widely known and used. Gold became a part of every human culture, not only for its luster but also because of its malleability and its resistance to tarnish.
In Homer’s writings, he mentions gold as the glory of the immortals and a sign of wealth among ordinary humans.
The oldest extant gold treasure map was created around the time of Seti I (1320 B.C.) in Egypt. In the Turin Museum is a papyrus and fragments, the “Carte des mines d’or”. It pictures gold mines, miners’ quarters, and roads to the mines. Some believe it portrays the Wadi Fawakhir region where the El Sid mine is, but like many ancient drawings, the map is a bit elusive and vague.
The "Gold of Troy" treasure hoard, excavated in Turkey and dating to the era 2450 -2600 B.C., showed the range of gold-work from delicate jewelry to a gold gravy boat weighing a full troy pound. This was a time when gold was highly valued, but had not yet become money itself. Rather, it was owned by the powerful and well-connected, or made into objects of worship, or used to decorate sacred locations.
Incas referred to gold as “the tears of the sun”.
The search for gold has fed the imagination of poets and writers, and long after Jason and the Argonauts searched for the Fleece, the promise of wealth drew men West and helped develop a country. The appeal of gold has never dimmed, and now, more than ever, we are reminded that the value of gold may rise and fall through the centuries, but it will never, ever, be worth nothing.

Cleopatra V!I

The woman we think of when we think of Cleopatra is a georgeous vixen who played the role of UN from her bedroom. Err not exactly.

Cleopatra was the daughter of her mother and uncle, incestous marriage was common then as it was believed royal blood was to be untainted. She co ruled with her father Ptolomy III, but her throne was challenged by others who sought power in Egypt. She married her brother Ptolomy XIV, while her older brother (Ptolomy XIII) usurped her throne. Rome was becoming an ever increasing threat as its power grew. Julius Ceasar became so popular he was voted to become sole ruler of the empire.

The Egyptian army was no match for the Romans, and Cleopatra decided to make an alliance.
She arranged to have a huge carpet delivered to the 54-year-old Caesar. When he unrolled it, he found the 22-year-old former queen wrapped inside. She asked for Caesar's help against her brother. Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers, and Cleopatra got what she wanted from him. The Roman general led his army to capture and kill the people who removed her from power. Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile while trying to flee.

Julius Caesar was very popular with the Roman people. They named him dictator. Cleopatra was not popular with the Romans, however. She had called herself the "new Isis" and she didn't worship the Roman gods.
The senators of Rome were threatened Julius Caesar's popularity and power. Caesar used his power to make many changes in Rome, often without approval from the Senate. A year after his election as dictator, the Roman people elected Caesar "dictator for life." The Roman senators were outraged. On March 15, 44 B.C., Caesar was met by a mob of sixty senators who stabbed him to death.

Cleopatra left Rome with her son in fear of their own lives and they returned to Egypt. There she murdered her husband (and brother) Ptolemy XIV and named her four-year-old son as the new king. She thought that she was once again in control of Egypt.
After Caesar's murder, Rome was in turmoil (confusion, chaos, civil war). Several armies competed for control. The two greatest generals were Mark Antony and Octavian. Octavian was the adopted son of Julius Caesar, but Mark Antony led a larger army.
When Antony asked Cleopatra to meet with him, Cleopatra decided that she had another opportunity to return to power both in Egypt, and in Rome. She had made one ruler of Rome fall in love with her. Could she conquer another Roman leader's heart? She agreed to meet with Mark Anthony in 42 B.C. and her royal ship was prepared to take her to him.

A legend says that Cleopatra dressed herself as Venus, the Roman goddess of love. She filled her ship with so many rose petals that the Romans knew of her fragrance before they could see her ship. The boat was sailed by her maids, who were dressed as sea nymphs (fairies in Roman mythology). She reclined under a gold canopy, fanned by boys in Cupid costumes.
At their first meeting, Antony was immediately love-struck with the Egyptian queen. Forgetting his responsibilities, he accompanied Cleopatra to the Egyptian city of Alexandria and spent the winter with her there.

Mark Anthony and Cleopatra became lovers.The Roman people were disgusted by the way Antony had treated Octavia, his Roman wife. They were also angry to hear that Cleopatra and Antony were calling themselves gods, new Egyptian gods! Worst of all, in 34 B.C. Antony gave away large chunks of the Roman Empire as gifts to Cleopatra and her children. He made one of his children with Cleopatra the king of Armenia, another the queen of Cyrenaica and Crete, and the third the king of Syria. Caesarion, her child with Julius Caesar, was proclaimed the "King of Kings," and Cleopatra was the "Queen of Kings."
Angered by all of this, Octavian convinced the Roman Senate to declare war on Egypt. Cleopatra and Mark Anthony had gone too far!

Ceasar's assasins Brutus and Cassius were bested by Mark Anthony and Ocativan. In the settlement followng Mark Anthony took the eastern section of the roman empire and Octavion the westmark divided his lands between Cleopatra and kids, this gave Ocatavian a chance to run a propaganda campaign against them.

In 32 BC, Rome declared war on Egypt. In 33BC Octavian bested Mark Anthony in a battle at sea, Cleopatra's ships departed and Anthony comited suicide when all was lost, some say, he mistakenly thought Cleopatra wsa dead. Cleopatra followed suit days later preferring death to the humiliation of a Roman triumph. Cleopatra's son by Ceasar was named pharoh, but Octavioan had him captured and executed. After thriving thousands of years, Egypt became a province of the eastern roman empire.

Cleopatra was the last great leader in Egypt before it fell to the Roman Empire. Her beauty, in the words of one of her contemporaries, was in her charm, wit and sweetness of voice. She was however, highly intelligent and charismatic. The Cleopatra of legend.