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bookishkitten67 · 1 year

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As I reading "The Snake, The Crocodile and The Dog", another Amelia Peabody mystery, I feel I should point out that there are several people mentioned in the story who were very real and important in the field of archaeology.

Gaston Maspero (M. Maspero)- he was a leading Egyptologist, who specialised in Egyptian language. In November 1880 Maspero went to Egypt as head of an archeological mission sent there by the French government, which ultimately developed into the well-equipped Institut Français D'archéologie Orientale. Upon the death of Egyptologist Auguste Mariette in 1881, M. Maspero took on the role as director-general of excavations and of the antiquities of Egypt. In 1882, he discovered the tomb of Amenemhet I.

Emerson's "rival", Petrie, was actually a very important person in the field of Egyptology. Flinders Petrie was a British Egyptologist and Archaelogist, whose contributions greatly influenced both fields, and their establishment as scientific disciplines. Petrie is best known for creating a system of relative dating using pottery styles called "seration".

Also mentioned, briefly, was the "square-jawed, clean-shaven American named Reisner". They are referring to George Reisner. He was an Egyptologist and Archaeologist as well as the director of the Harvard-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston expedition. His work was extensive and he made contributions to the fields of Egyptology and Archaeology. He dedicated his life to bringing the beauty of Ancient Egypt to life. He kept meticulous records of every object found. His work still lives on throughout the world through his documentation, which has allowed the findings in Egypt to be disseminated throughout the world.

Also mentioned in the book, however briefly, is a chap named Lepsius: “Especially in view of the fact that Lepsius mentions seeing such tombs in 1843.”

Lepsius is Karl Richard Lepsius, a German Egyptologist whose many contributions helped establish the scientific field of Egyptology. Lepsius led the Prussian Expedition to Egypt and Nubia (Syria) between 1842-1845. The main outcome of this expedition was "Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien" (a collection of plans, maps, and drawings of Ancient Egyptian tomb and temple walls). This was Lepsius's greatest legacy. He had also been a Professor of Egyptology at Berlin University and a co-director of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.

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cheeseanonioncrisps · 3 months

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A murder mystery film set in a medieval village. After an outbreak of plague, the villagers make the decision to shut their borders so as to protect the disease from spreading (see the real life case of the village of Eyam). As the disease decimates the population, however, some bodies start showing up that very obviously were not killed by plague.

Since nobody has been in or out since the outbreak began, the killer has to be somebody in the local community.

The village constable (who is essentially just Some Guy, because being a medieval constable was a bit like getting jury duty, if jury duty gave you the power to arrest people) struggles to investigate the crime without exposing himself to the disease, and to maintain order as the plague-stricken villagers begin to turn on each other.

The killer strikes repeatedly, seemingly taking advantage of the empty streets and forced isolation to strike without witnesses. As with any other murder mystery, the audience is given exactly the same information to solve the crime as the detective.

Except, that is, whenever another character is killed, at which point we cut to the present day where said character's remains are being carefully examined by a team of modern archaeologists and historians who are also trying to figure out why so many of the people in this plague-pit died from blunt force trauma.

The archaeologists and historians, btw, are real experts who haven't been allowed to read the script. The filmmakers just give them a model of the victim's remains, along with some artefacts, and they have to treat it like a real case and give their real opinion on how they think this person died.

We then cut back to the past, where the constable is trying to do the same thing. Unlike the archaeologists, he doesn't have the advantage of modern tech and medical knowledge to examine the body, but he does have a more complete crime scene (since certain clues obviously wouldn't survive to be dug up in the modern day) and personal knowledge from having probably known the victim.

The audience then gets a more complete picture than either group, and an insight into both the strengths and limits of modern archaeology, explaining what we can and can't learn from studying a person's remains.

At the end of the film, after the killer is revealed and the main plot is resolved, we then get to see the archaeologists get shown the actual scenes where their 'victims' were killed, so they can see how well their conclusions match up with what 'really' happened.

#film ideas #plotbunny #murder mystery #detective stories #period dramas #middle ages #history #archaeology

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sixteenseveredhands · 1 year

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The Petelia Tablet, Greek, c.300-200 BCE: this totenpass (a "passport for the dead") was meant to be buried in a human grave; it bears an inscription that tells the dead person exactly where to go and what to say after crossing into the Greek Underworld

Made from a sheet of gold foil, this tablet measures just 4.5cm (a little over 1.5 inches) in length, and although it was found inside a pendant case in Petelia, Italy, it's believed to have originated in ancient Greece. It was meant to aid the dead in their journey through the Underworld -- providing them with specific instructions, conferring special privileges, and granting them access to the most coveted realms within the afterlife.

The Petelia tablet, displayed with the pendant case in which it was discovered

The tablet itself dates back to about 300-200 BCE, while the pendant case/chain that accompanies it was likely made about 400 years later, during the Roman era. It's believed that the tablet was originally buried with the dead, and that an unknown individual later removed it from the burial site and stuffed it into the pendant case. Unfortunately, in order to make it fit, they simply rolled it up and then snipped off the tip of the tablet. The final lines of the inscription were destroyed in the process.

The inverse side of the Petelia tablet

These textual amulets/lamellae are often referred to as totenpässe ("passports for the dead"). They were used as roadmaps to help guide the dead through the Underworld, but they also served as indicators of the elite/divine status of certain individuals, ultimately providing them with the means to obtain an elevated position in the afterlife.

The Petelia tablet is incised with an inscription in ancient Greek, and the translated inscription reads:

You will find a spring on your left in Hades’ halls, and by it the cypress with its luminous sheen.

Do not go near this spring or drink its water. You will find another, cold water flowing from Memory’s lake; its guardians stand before it.

Say: "I am a child of Earth and starry Heaven, but descended from Heaven; you yourselves know this. I am parched with thirst and dying: quickly, give me the cool water flowing from Memory’s lake."

And they will give you water from the sacred spring, and then you will join the heroes at their rites.

This is [the ... of memory]: [on the point of death] ... write this ... the darkness folding [you] within it.

The final section was damaged when the tablet was shoved into the pendant case; sadly, that part of the inscription does not appear on any of the other totenpässe that are known to exist, so the meaning of those lines remains a mystery (no pun intended).

Lamellae that are inscribed with this motif are very rare. They're known as "Orphic lamellae" or simply "Orphic tablets." As the name suggests, these inscriptions are traditionally attributed to an Orphic-Bacchic mystery cult.

The inscriptions vary, but they generally contain similar references to a cypress tree, one spring that must be avoided, another spring known as the "Lake of Memory," the sensation of thirst, and a conversation with a guardian (or another entity within the Underworld, such as the goddess Persephone) in which the dead must present themselves as initiates or divine individuals in order to be granted permission to drink from the Lake of Memory. They are thereby able to obtain privileges that are reserved only for the elite.

Though the specifics of this reward are often vague, it may have been viewed as a way to gain access to the Elysian Fields (the ancient Greek version of paradise) or as a way to participate in sacred rites; some totenpässe suggest that it may have allowed the soul to break free from the eternal cycle of reincarnation. Regardless, the overall objective was likely the same: to obtain a special status and acquire privileges that were inaccessible to most of the souls in the Underworld.

Sources & More Info:

Altlas Obscura: The Ancient Greeks Created Golden Passports to Paradise

The Museum of Cycladic Art: The Bacchic-Orphic Underworld

Bryn Mawr College: Festivals in the Afterlife: a new reading of the Petelia tablet

The Getty Museum: Underworld (imagining the afterlife)

The British Museum: Petelia tablet (with pendant case; chain)

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adrianicsea · 4 months

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my bf bought me this old sticker as a christmas stocking stuffer and it has vexed me endlessly. aside from the fact that i haven’t put it on anything yet (it’s too good to use and i can’t decide what i want to put it on), the QR code links to a dead “this tag is no longer active” microsoft page, the URL on the front side only goes to a “getglue reloaded” facebook group, and any attempts to pull up the website on the mobile version of the wayback machine have failed. i NEED to know what secrets this sticker once contained

#little did oliver know that the mystery/internet archaeology aspect of this gift would entertain me just as much as its smug homoerotic aura

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ochipi · 7 months

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Us archaeologists: excavating skeletons

My senior: uh I’m so done with this

My fellow junior: I don’t want to continue

Me: sees absolutely no problem. “what’s going on?”

Them: one individual buried on his stomach with his hands between his knees somehow. The other has 7 legs stacked on top of each other. Anatomically correct. But why/how/what did you do to get 7 anatomically correct legs on top each other without other… stuff

Medieval people… for real…

#archaeology #history #indiana jones #archaeology meme #archaeology problems #field archaeologist #field archaeology #physical anthropology #osteology #archaeological mysteries

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shitacademicswrite · 14 days

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Say your bedroom / apartment / house / workplace were suddenly perfectly preserved for future generations, a la Pompeii, King Tut's Tomb, or the Motel of the Mysteries. What would future archaeologists (from a different culture) draw from this discovery? (Wrong answers not required, but very welcome.)

#archaeology #history #what if #motel of the mysteries

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thesilicontribesman · 16 days

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Prehistoric Petrospheres, Perth Museum, Perth and Kinross, Scotland

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ancientorigins · 3 days

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Nearly three decades ago, a team of archaeologists were carrying out an expedition inside a large cave system on Mount Owen in New Zealand when they stumbled across a frightening and unusual object.

#ancient #discovery #archaeology #mount owen claw #ancient origins #expedition #mysterious #scary #cave story

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triflesandparsnips · 8 months

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And finally, I have started a new experiment for a new Stede Bonnet extravagance that is too fucking extra for goddamn words.

BEHOLD MY MYSTERIOUS PROGRESS PHOTOS

Figure 1. A strange, poorly measured powder (because I had neither teaspoons nor fucking drams at my disposal)

Figure 2. Oh no.

Figure 3. Oh no.

(It isn't powdered orrisroot and yet I am sure it is somehow to blame.)

Tomorrow I must return to it and see what time, and my own Terrible Choices, has wrought.

#live from the workshop # MYSTERY PROJECT TIME #funky little alchemist with funky little interests # trifles the amateur history enthusiast #experimental archaeology #history #stede bonnet's theoretical self care extravagances

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ennuyeuxbabe · 3 months

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can't believe people just live their day to day lives without thinking about the eleusinian mysteries??? like??? not even once????

#not even kore?#KORE?#persephone #mystery cult #eleusinian mysteries #cult #tagamemnon #queueusque tandem abutere catilina patientia nostra #demeter #ancient greece #greek mythology #greek gods #history #queue are made by history #archaeology

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paulpingminho · 1 month

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#fresco #red #Villa of Mysteries #Pompeii #Kelsey Museum of Archaeology #Ann Arbor #Michigan

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bookishkitten67 · 1 year

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Continuing my way through the series. This is my next read.

#Elizabeth Peters #Barbara Mertz #archaeology mysteries #egyptian themed mysteries #amelia peabody #Radcliffe Emerson #Amelia Peabody mysteries #reading amelia

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behindthesemasks · 1 month

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It's time to get some answers...

Mel and Klaus stood arguing about her safety while they waited for Ambrose and Nic to make an entrance. He wanted her back in the suite at the hotel, she wanted to get to the hospital or help at the dig site. Melania was tired of being treated like a china doll by everyone around her. While he understood that, he couldn’t get her to understand what that drive had just felt like to him; knowing that if the asshole in the passenger seat of that SUV had been a better shot, she could have been hurt or killed. It had felt like being on that plane when the bullet had gone through Grant and hit her during the extraction in Peru.

Finally, tired of arguing with him and getting nowhere, she had agreed to go back to the hotel, but not for the reasons he would have wanted. She didn’t tell him, but she planned on getting every drop of information from Andreas she could. His final disposition she’d leave to Klaus and Eric, but she was going to make that man hurt…a lot. Being shot at while going on archaeological expeditions was something she was seriously becoming tired of. Ever since she’d landed in Peru last year, she felt like she’d had a gun pointed at her every damn day. Whether it was because they were keeping her safe, or because they were considering taking her out…it mattered little to her at this point.

Klaus was relieved that she agreed to go back, even if he didn’t trust that his thoughts and feelings on the matter had any bearing on her decision. He could tell there was something more going on behind those crystal blue eyes of hers, but if she was out of the line of fire, he could at least focus on taking out the threat to her and their friends. When it was all said and done, he knew there would be a reckoning to be had over this, and the incident in the hallway at the hotel. That didn’t bother him; the possibility of her being hurt bothered him. He could take her anger. Seeing her in a coma in a bed again, that he wasn’t sure he could take. Twice in less than six months was too much for him.

When they showed up in the Quonset hut, looking frustrated and ready to commit great violence, Nic and Ambrose agreed with Klaus about Mel going back to the hotel. They hadn’t found anything of use in the SUV. Whoever was funding this was good, very good. Ambrose already had calls out to people who technically didn’t exist. The word was being spread that there was a price, a high one, on the head of whoever thought to try and take out the heir to the Meyers fortune. There was to be no expense spared in finding out who did it. Ambrose was calling in favors in spades, and he knew that in the end he would get what he wanted.

Tossing his keys to Case, Ambrose told him to get her back to the hotel. After seeing the man’s driving, Ambrose was sure that he could keep her safe and in one piece if there was another incident. He considered sending Gabe back with them as well, but decided to keep him with the team for the moment. With Cam and Erik back at the hotel in addition to Case, that should be enough. With the warning going across the wires, anyone attempting to harm his granddaughter did truly have a death wish that every man in that building would gladly grant. From the look on Klaus’s face and the missing rear window of the SUV they had been in, he had no doubt that retribution was going to be swift and brutal from him.

Following Case and Mel out to the SUV that was parked alongside the one that they had arrived in, Klaus hated that she was going back without him but also wanted to go hunting for those responsible for what just happened and wanted her safe. He was pissed, beyond pissed. Cupping her face in his hands, he gave her a look that spoke volumes about the warring emotions that were inside him. Her hands rested on his hips before she went to her toes to kiss him.

“Go get ‘em killer. I’ll be fine.” Her voice was low and sexy, her lips brushing over his. There was something more in her eyes though, something feral and lethal. Damn if it didn’t turn him on. She was going to be the death of him someday, but damn he’d die a happy man.

He looked over to Case as she got in the vehicle and nodded. Shutting her door, he headed back into the building and the waiting team. His strides were long and purposeful; it was clear from his gate that this was a man on a mission. He was going to find out who put her in danger, and eliminate them with great malice. Maybe he’d even let the others help.

“Dez, get to the hospital. That SUV had run flat tires. They had expected to take fire, they were on a mission. Alexander and Sasha aren’t safe and Cade isn’t enough backup in this situation. I don’t want Mel leaving that hotel and the only way to keep her there is to get Alexander back there. As soon as it’s dark, get him back to the hotel and keep his ass there.” Nic was talking when Klaus walked back in. He nodded over to him as he joined the others.

“Klaus, Gabe, Donovan…you’re with us. Grandfather just got intel. We’ve got a visit to make to a mansion just outside of town that’s being rented by a mysterious Australian. Seems there have been some rumors of the resident being a relics dealer. Seeing as how we have one archaeologist down and another as a target, I think we’ve found who we’re looking for.” Nic smirked as he looked at his men. Damn he had a good team; he trusted every damn one of them.

Both groups headed out to the two remaining SUV’s. Ambrose had gotten the keys from Case for the one that was missing the back window. Klaus took up position in the back of it as the other males got in the front. Then they followed Case and Dez back to the main road towards town. Just outside of the city, they turned off on another road, heading in the general direction of the manor. They weren’t going to just roll up to the front door, they might have before someone tried to take out four of them. Too late for being polite now.

When they were within a quarter mile, and on a road that didn’t lead directly to the house, Ambrose pulled the SUV off of the road onto a turn in that was rather overgrown. Pulling past the tree line so that the rear of the vehicle was at least partly hidden, everyone slipped out as quietly as they could. Doors were left slightly ajar and the tailgate was left up. Silence was the name of the game now. The sun was up and that meant that they would stay low and in the trees as much as possible.

That quarter mile seemed to take forever to cross. If whoever was in the house was responsible for the attack on Sasha, and the price on Alexander, they didn’t want to give them warning that hell was about to come down on them. They were as silent as possible, making sure to stay undetected and hidden the whole time. Once they reached the tree line, they were no more than 50 yards from the main house. There were no guards that could be seen, but there were people inside. While the windows did reflect some of the surroundings, shadows moving inside could be seen.

Each of the men took up observation positions to try and determine how many were inside and their locations. They would wait till the cover of darkness to move in any closer. There could be no more than two or three hours of daylight remaining. Klaus and Donovan had shotguns, Ambrose and Nic were brandishing pistols, and Gabe had an AR. They were ready for whatever lay inside that house.

As dusk was beginning to set, Klaus’s phone buzzed. Pulling it out, he looked down at the number and sighed as he swiped to answer it. “Yeah?” His eyes closed tightly, then he responded curtly, “not now,” before hanging up. Turning his phone off, he stored it in one of the pockets on his pants before returning his attention to the house.

No one asked who it was or what they had wanted. For him to answer it right now meant it was Mel or one of the other men on the team. His response told them this wasn’t a good time to start a conversation on it either. But they all did pull out their phones and turn them off. Last thing they needed was a distraction when they were raiding the house.

Soon darkness had fallen. The men emerged from the tree line and headed towards the house. Hand signals guided the entry to the house, 3 through the back and two through the front. As Klaus, Donovan, and Nic headed around back, they were careful to avoid being seen through the large windows that each room on the bottom floor seemed to have. While they had seen people inside the house earlier, no one was seen in any of the rooms now. They could only hope that this meant that they hadn’t been spotted.

At the back door they paused and listened. Seconds ticked by slowly till they heard the distinctive whistle that meant it was time for entry. Klaus and Donovan brought boots to door at the same time to break the lock and swing it open. Klaus took point with Nic bringing up the rear.

There were no sounds on the first floor when the teams made entry, but the sounds of the scraping of chairs could be heard upstairs. Neither group delayed in heading up, where they were met with two armed bodyguards that were quickly dispatched. The other men in the room looked surprised at first, and then fearful when Ambrose’s tall frame rounded the corner to enter the room they were in.

“So gentlemen, you’ve decided it was a wise thing to take out a hit on members of an expedition team on a archaeological dig that I’m financing. You’d better have a damn good reason that you just put my granddaughter in jeopardy because I don’t take kindly to her being shot at.”

This is where the stammering started, first from one then another of the men. All seemed to be claiming that they had no idea that Ambrose was financing the dig nor that Mel was one of the archaeologists on site. If it hadn’t been abundantly clear they had found out who was behind the attack on Sasha and the hit on Alexander, Klaus might have found their stammering amusing. As things were, he found it irritating and annoying.

“Boys, restrain our hosts. I think they’ve forgotten what it means to do their homework before starting a job. A refresher on exactly what happens to anyone who crosses me might be in order as well.” Ambrose smirked as the color began to drain from the faces of the men who were facing him.

Four hours later the men emerged from the house. A little blood splatter here and there, but only the two bodyguards had ended up dead. Now they needed to get back to the SUV and to the hotel. Hopefully all the rest of the team would now be there with information from Andreas.

As they got to the SUV, everyone started pulling out phones and turning them on. Most likely there would be texts or calls with updates to at least Ambrose and Nic. Klaus knew he needed to return the call he’d gotten to, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to do that with everyone in the vehicle able to hear him.

“Shit! How the fuck do I have over 100 missed calls.” Nic growled as he started to flip through his call log.

“I’ve got 50,” Klaus replied, not really wanting to look through his log.

“What, did I get the jackpot with only 3?” Gabe joked as he tried to figure out who was calling him from the 228 area code.

“FUCK!” All heads turned to look at Ambrose. In the dim light of his cell phone, pure anger showed on his face. He hit a number on his phone and the soft sound of ringing could be heard in the stillness as no one else moved. “What is so god damned important?” His voice left no room for misunderstanding that he was pissed. “What do you mean she’s missing?”

Klaus’s heart dropped through the floor and Gabe almost dropped his phone.

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