The hidden treasures of Babylonian clay tablets

We all have heard of the huge amount of clay tablets that were found over the centuries in the Near East and more specifically in the area of ancient Babylon. While a great number of them are still resting in the vaults of museums all over the world and an unspecified number are still waiting to be excavated from known and unknown archaeological sites, we do have an impressive collection at hand to work with. Unfortunately, scholars capable of reading and/or deciphering the cuneiform tablets are limited meaning that significant texts from these tablets only surface occasionally, sometimes with very revealing results.

At present, we have a 3,700-year-old tablet from the collection of Columbia University proving that dear old Pythagoras was not the true inventor of his famous theorem. Pythagoras was born in Samos, probably around 570 BC, and lived till the age of 75 or even 80 years. His theorem has become common knowledge over the centuries and we may never have heard of this mathematician, scientist, and philosopher otherwise.

The tablet mentioned above, however, is proof that Pythagoras’ theorem existed already some 1,000 years earlier. Also, the same tablet contains a series of trigonometry tables which according to scientists are more accurate than our modern counterparties. Trigonometry as such is said to be invented by Hipparchus of Nicaea, an astronomer, geographer, and mathematician who lived probably from 190 to 120 BC. The abovementioned cuneiform, however, shows that the Babylonians were totally familiar with trigonometry more than one thousand years earlier. Besides, this tablet reveals a greater accuracy with clear advantages when compared to our modern trigonometry.

A team from the University of New South Wales in Sydney concluded after an in-depth study that this tablet is the world’s oldest and the only completely accurate trigonometric table. This little but important tool could effectively be used in surveying fields as well as in the building process of constructions like temples, palaces, and pyramids. It seems that even in our modern world, the tablet could have practical applications in computer graphics and education as well.

What eluded researchers till now was the true purpose of this tablet but today they established that the Babylonians used a novel kind of trigonometry based on ratios instead of angles and circles. Using the number 60 instead of our 10 (decimal) as the base for their calculations enabled the Babylonians to reach more accurate fractions and in the present case, the system proves to be an absolute genius.

Nothing new under the sun, one could say. I am often itching to see more of these cuneiform tablets be deciphered although they have already revealed some key moments in history (see also: The Cyrus cylinder and ancient Persia: a new beginning; Alexander the Great and the Magi; The troops of the King deserted him; and Two key Afterthoughts on Gaugamela).

Some thoughts about mudbrick city walls

Alexander did not go as far west as Khiva when he was in Central Asia but these city walls perfectly illustrate what construction using mudbricks means. In fact, they helped me to understanding how he was able to build the wall around Alexandria-Eschate in only twenty days.

There are many reports of Alexander besieging cities and taking down its walls but till now walls for me were straight vertical constructions made of rocks and stones piled up in such a way that they could withstand the forces of an enemy attack. Yet in Asia, stones were often not available and mudbricks widely replaced them as construction material as seen already in the palaces of Babylon, Susa and Persepolis, for instance. Yet I had no mental image of what a city wall made of mudbricks would look like and I could not even imagine how it truly served its purpose – that is, till I saw Khiva.

These huge walls shine in all their glory and are only interrupted by their entrance gates. The first such examples I see is the Tash Gate, which is flanked by two robust but slender towers crowned with a crenellated lookout post. This gate immediately blends in with the clean swept earthen city wall – as imposing as I have ever seen. The wall of Khiva forms a two-kilometers-long square and is ten meters high. The lower part is sloping upwards to the foot of the wall proper which is also slightly tilting inwards. At regular intervals half-round towers strengthen the fortification, one tower in two being thicker and sturdier than the other. I am told that this wall is between five and six meters thick. No picture can compete with the effect it has when standing at the foot of this towering defenses. It makes you wonder how on earth anyone could launch an assault and be successful in the process. Of course, this wall dates from the 17^th century but the foundations go back to the 10^th century, no doubt inspired by similar earlier constructions.

At this point, I remember how Alexander built Alexandria-Eschate in about three weeks’ time according to Arrian. Staring at these walls in Khiva, I am once again in awe for Alexander who rammed and catapulted very similar walls during his years of campaigning.

The city of Khiva is certainly worth a visit although its remains fit in a time-frame far beyond antiquity. Legend has it that Khiva arose around a well that had been dug by Shem, son of Noah but the city started to flourish from the 8^th century onwards as an important stop on the Silk Road to China. Endless caravans of camels loaded with goods passed through these streets from morning till night and this is nicely illustrated on a lovely tiled wall which also mentions Bukhara and Samarkand as major stopovers.

One of the first landmarks along the main street is the grand Minaret of Kalta Minor, a short minaret of remarkable design and shape. It is a little fatso, 30 meters high and 15 meters in diameter at its base but it was meant to be 110 meters tall at the time of its construction in 1855. This minaret is clad with glazed bricks and majolica whose colors are a distant reminder of the walls of Susa’s palace although their design has been replaced by Islamic ones. It seems nobody ever made this link but standing here it is quite obvious how the very idea of glazed brick coatings survived 2,000 years and travelled this far east.

Each building in Khiva has its own rich history to tell: the Madrassa of Muhammad Amin Khan was the largest in Central Asia; the Mausoleum van Sayid Allauddin, a famous saint and Sufi was family of the Prophet Mohammed; the 44 meters high Islam Kodja Minaret covered with bands of glazed bricks, mostly blue and turquoise was the highest construction of Khiva. Another remarkable construction is the Mausoleum of Makhmud Pakhlavan with its glazed turquoise cupola, the only one in town. Even today this is a place of pilgrimage where people come to drink the water from the sacred well. The inside of the burial chamber is entirely covered with blue tiles and women still slide their banknotes under the door of the shrine. This is my first encounter with the typical wooden columns, shaped like elongated teardrops resting on a wooden base, all artfully carved. Amazingly, there are many more such examples around – the grandest collection being at the Djuma Mosque.

The Djuma Mosque or Friday Mosque is quite a peculiar construction without portals or cupolas, without galleries or gardens, but with a forest of columns. It is an impressive rectangular space of 55x46 meters filled with 215 wooden columns supporting a wooden ceiling – a concept that prevailed worldwide some ten centuries ago. This is truly a trip back in time! The oldest columns date from the 11^th-12^th century and combine designs from different periods, including geometrical and organic ornaments with Arabic writing. Some columns are resting on their appropriate decorated base but others are simply studded with a rough block of wood or even concrete. Some columns are shorter or have only partially survived in which cases they are supported by a taller base.  Looking more closely, you’ll see that many of them carry a date, 1316, 1510, 1788, and 1789, probably linked to their restoration. Capitals are almost nonexistent but some columns are crowned with a wooden chiselled circle while other tops are squeezed between two or four digressive blocks vaguely inspired by the bullheads from Persepolis’ columns.

These wooden columns are indeed a far reminder of Persian art since the ceilings of the palaces in Susa and Persepolis were supported by wooden columns that were plastered and painted as well. They rested on a stone base which often is still in situ and were crowned with bulls or lions supporting the very ceiling. Somewhere down the line of time, it seems logical that we end up with the present shape and carvings. Well, this is my own reflection on the matter as scholars claim that the motives in Khiva belong to the Khorezm art going back to 1200 BC but that does not explain the origin of the idea.

The Citadel, the Ashikh-bobo is worth a visit on its own for it offers a grand view of the entire city and in particular over the city walls which fully reveal their unique pattern. From this observation post the entire city lays at your feet with its many mosques, minarets and madrasas. The simple square clay houses of today’s citizens add to the impression that time has come to a standstill.

[Click here to see all the pictures of Khiva]

Bridge of Amphipolis used by Alexander

Amphipolis lies on the Strymon River, which Alexander crossed in 334 BC when he set out from Pella towards Asia. When history books mention a river crossing, I automatically picture the army wading through the water unless a bridge of some kind is specifically mentioned. This is not the case at Amphipolis as far as I know so it comes as a surprise to learn that the remains of an ancient bridge were found there in 1977.

Successive repairs and maintenance works of the bridge have been documented during the Roman and Byzantine occupation and the last of such a report dates from the Ottoman period around 1620. A Byzantine extension of the bridge and the construction of a dam survived amazingly till 1929-1932 when works were carried out to shift the bed of the Strymon River. This means that it existed in one form or another for nearly two thousand five hundred years!

[Picture from Ancient History]

The remains we can witness today are mainly petrified wooden piles that supported the bridge on the south bank but there are also some stone masonry and marble blocks around the south abutment of the bridge that led to one of the city gates. The piles are between 1.5 and 2 meter high with a diameter varying between 70 and 290 mm. A timber deck composed of horizontal beams -  the longest one measures 4.5 meters - covered the bridge that was 13-meters wide and 275 meters long.

History mentions this bridge for the first time during the Peloponnesian War in 422 BC when Amphipolis played a key role in controlling the access to the gold and silver mines in the hinterland, as well as to the oak forests used in shipbuilding. On the other hand, carbon dating has revealed that the first bridge was constructed at some time between 600 and 550 BC.

More details about the bridge and its historical background can be found in this article by Spyros Kamilalis that was published in Ancient History.

More traces leading to the origins of winemaking

After discussing the origins of Greek wines (see: Greek wine, not so Greek after all), connoisseurs are now concentrating on the origin of Italian wine. After all, the Mediterranean is a relatively small pond crossed by countless trade routes from early times onwards.

[Picture from The Drinks Business]

Until now, it was generally believed that the production of wine in Italy went back to the Bronze Age (1300-1100 BC) but the recent discovery of ancient pottery indicates that the process was known as early as 4000 BC, i.e. the Copper Age.

A team of archaeologists working at Monte Kronio in Agrigento on the southwest coast of Sicily found remains of wineries, seeds and ancient storage jars. After analyzing the residue inside the jars, they discovered traces of tartaric acid that occur naturally in the winemaking process. This led them to conclude that wine was produced here more than 6000 years ago.

The analysis of the residue is generally impossible because the ancient pottery has to be excavated intact which was the case here. The next step will be to determine whether the wine was red or white – while I automatically assumed (erroneously?) that ancient wine always was red.

An earlier find near Philippi in Greece (see: News about Greek (Macedonian) wine), dated the earliest winemaking to 4200 BC. This once again proves – if proof needed – that trading around the Mediterranean Sea was extremely dense and lively.

About the Death of Alexander the Great

Alexander's death is shrouded in mystery. From antiquity until today, scores of historians, admirers, archaeologists, authors, and philosophers have written about it, and each and everyone has developed his own theory and his own point of view.

It is useless to retell the story – or the many versions of the story – as I certainly cannot add anything sensible to that. Like everybody else, I have, however, my own thoughts and own reflections on the matter.

Alexander's death most certainly was first recorded in his Royal Diaries, but is the account that reached us truly reflecting what was written down at that time, or has the original report been manipulated to suit his courtiers and successors? That is hard to tell, certainly 2,500 years onwards.

We have a very detailed, day-by-day account of Alexander's whereabouts and health during the last days of his life. I find this rather strange as it sounds more like a justification than an actual report of the events. Alexander's life has been in the balance before, but not so many details were reported or at least have not survived. The first time the troops feared for the king's life was at Tarsus after he plunged into the cold waters of the Cydnus River and the remedy of his doctor Philip was being questioned by Parmenion, in those days his trusted general. We have no day-to-day account of Alexander's condition at that time, although it must have been quite critical nonetheless, as it kept him pinned down for several weeks.

Another life-threatening experience was during his attack on the Malian town in India when Alexander was hit by a poisonous arrow while scaling the city wall. The soldiers had been slow to follow their king, exposing him to the full force of the enemy's attack. Alexander had to be carried away, and for three days, he fought between life and death. At the cost of enormous superhuman efforts, he eventually showed himself to his troops and even hoisted his battered body on the back of a horse to prove to them he was still alive. No day-to-day account of his eating and drinking pattern has been recorded, and none of the worries and treatments by his doctor have been documented. All we know is that he floated down the Indus in full view of his men. He needed much rest to help the healing process, but the march to the mouth of the Indus went on as planned.

So, why this detailed list of activities in Babylon? If Alexander had been straightforwardly sick, there was no need to document his eating, drinking, or sleeping pattern during the days preceding his death.

The question that arises more often than not is, was Alexander poisoned? Attempts to take his life had occurred before. The first one mentioned in our sources is Philotas' attempt to at least cover up the plot to kill Alexander in 330 BC. In Central Asia, the king survived the Pages' conspiracy said to be planned by Callisthenes. There may have been more attempts to take his life that are not necessarily recorded, and the next occasion may have arisen here in Babylon.

If Alexander was indeed poisoned, which I doubt, then Hephaistion would have died of poisoning also. Had his dear friend still been alive, the murderer(s) would have had less chance and could expect the full wrath of Hephaistion? He was not only Alexander's most intimate and dearest friend but also the second-in-command, the only one ever to be promoted to the title Chiliarch and, as such, the obvious person to replace and take over from Alexander. Many people must have envied his privileged position.

With Hephaistion no longer in the way, the main question is, however, who would or could benefit from eliminating the king? It is not only about killing Alexander but also about providing a good and approved replacement. So, who would be eligible? Not Ptolemy since he withdrew soon enough to his beloved Egypt and didn't interfere much in succession. Not Nearchus, who was happy to keep his admiralship of the navy. Not Peucestas, who made an effort to learn the Persian language and must have been quite happy in his role as satrap. Not Seleucos, who had married the daughter of Spitamenes – the only marriage that survived the big Susa wedding. Not Eumenes, who faithfully served King Philip and Alexander as secretary and archivist for years. Not Craterus, who was halfway to Macedonia with strict orders to replace Antipater. According to some sources, Antipater has been named as a possible beneficiary as he sent his son Cassander to Babylon in his place carrying a very potent poison. If so, the poison was not very potent since it took Alexander almost ten days to die. Besides, Antipater did not hold Cassander in high esteem, for he did not allow him to recline with his guests during the Symposia but had to sit like a little boy on a chair at the end of his father's couch. When Antipater died, Polyperchon was appointed as his successor and not his own flesh and blood. That tells enough. Perdiccas may be a suspect as he helped Roxane poison Alexander's Persian wives after the king's death, but that may be simply because he was still a Macedonian in heart and soul. Besides, in my honest opinion, I think he was far too loyal to Alexander to harm him in any way.

Cassander, however, may have acted on his own, seizing the opportunity of being delegated to Babylon. Not impossible. Although he had shared the early years at Mieza with Alexander and his Companions, he stayed behind when Alexander went east, probably as persona non grata. He must have resented this denial. Fueled by his father's attitude, he developed a deep grudge against Alexander and his clique. Life at the Babylonian court was totally alien to Cassander. He cannot have operated without inside help, possibly that of his younger brother Iollas, one of the king's Pages. All this is based on speculations, although eight years later, Olympias accuses Cassander of murdering her son – perhaps not entirely unfounded.

At the time of Alexander's death, all Alexander's Bodyguards and other powerful men like Aristonous, Leonnatus, Lysimachos, Meleager, Pytho, Stasanor, Asander, Olcias, Philip the physician, and Peithon were present in Babylon. Still, none of them really stood out to replace Alexander. If we follow Pseudo-Callisthenes, only Ptolemy, Perdiccas, Peucestas, Lysimachos, Asander, and Olcias are beyond suspicion. Whatever the plan, either it was ill-conceived or whoever was supposed to gain from it was facing unexpected opposition from the other contenders. After all, the Succession War lasted almost forty years, and even the rising star of Antigonus Monophthalmus only made waves many years later.

Suppose Alexander had indeed been killed with poison without involving his Bodyguards and his other faithful generals (I cannot imagine they were not). Why don't we hear anything about an investigation to find the culprit? This was certainly the case when Philotas' plot was discovered and after the Pages conspiracy. These were, of course, led or instigated by Alexander. Still, in his absence, the army certainly expected that much from their commanders, and there was no way anyone could avoid the Macedonian legal machine.

Another possible cause of Alexander's death could be his excessive drinking which would immediately make any investigation superfluous. The heavy drinking is at least what the Royal Diaries, in all their elaborate details, want us to believe. However, some twenty-five years after the facts, Aristobulus casually remarks that Alexander sat for hours over his wine for conversation. The drinking theory, however, has been widely developed in the Alexander Romance. On one such occasion, Alexander is spending a drinking night with twenty other guests, toasting to their health in turn with unmixed wine creating the ideal circumstances for the poisoning theory. But as we know, the Alexander Romance must be taken with a large pinch of salt, maybe a shovel full.

Less often highlighted but genuine are the prophecies made by the Chaldean diviners who advised Alexander not to enter Babylon. Their warning was recorded on cuneiform tablets and predicted Alexander's death in these words "When in the month Ajaru, during the evening watch, the moon eclipses, the king will die. The sons of the king will vie for the throne of their father, but will not sit on it" (see: Alexander the Great and the Magi). Alexander is not mentioned by name, just as "king." We no longer believe in prophecies in our modern world, but maybe we should. After all, facts and figures do not explain everything.

Alexander dying of exhaustion and the consequences of his near-fatal wound in India is not a heroic way to end his life that evolved between myths and reality from the beginning. But why did he not name his successors if he was suffering from his chest wound? Was he hoping and waiting for Roxane to give birth to a boy? His Persian wife, Stateira, is also said to be pregnant, meaning that it was not beyond reason for Alexander to want to live long enough to see his heir(s). Another possibility is that he was in denial and did not take his declining health seriously, which is very much unlike Alexander. His succession, I think, was a problem even for him. He was surrounded by capable men and generals, but none had the vision of his greater world. The only one who ever shared that insight with him was Hephaistion, and he was dead.

When Alexander gave his signet ring on his deathbed to "the strongest," he may have meant just that: the man who would be strong enough to keep his empire together, but they had to work it out for themselves. A poor legacy, one may say, but under the circumstances, this was the best he could do, for even had he indeed named Perdiccas, as some sources pretend, he probably lacked the capabilities and vision to pursue Alexander's goals? Well, time has given us the answer, and Alexander was right one last time.

Another “Alexander” to be added to the collection

I thought that by now I knew all the statues representing Alexander the Great, either those made in antiquity or those created at later dates by inspired artists. Well, not so.

When I recently visited the Louvre-Lens Museum in Northern France, I was in for a most exciting discovery: an Alexander I did not know! He was placed strategically in the center of the large exhibition hall appropriately called Galerie du Temps which is in fact a unique journey through the history of time. Only a select number of artifacts are on display here and they are rotated every five years. To use the words of the Louvre-Lens:

All civilizations and working techniques will be represented along the 120 m gallery, from the birth of writing around 3500 BC until the middle of the 19th century, taking in the entire chronological and geographical scope of the collections of the Louvre museum. The Galerie du Temps will be divided into 3 major periods: 70 artworks for Antiquity, 45 artworks for the Middle Ages and 90 artworks for the modern period.

There definitely is something here to everyone’s taste either in statues, or in reliefs, vases, statuettes, terracotta and faience, frescoes and paintings. But for me, Alexander is simply unbeatable!

According to the label, this bust dates from 130 AD and is presumably a copy from an original by nobody less than Lysippos, Alexander’s favorite sculptor. I gladly agree with this theory as Alexander’s face reminds me of the Azara Hermes (at the Louvre in Paris), also by Lysippos. Both works show Alexander at a mature age, his face worn by the many years of campaigning and weathered by his thousands of miles-long marches. Unfortunately, there is no information where this bust was found. It may be one of those pieces from early collections when antiquities were taken home as trophies.

Whatever the case may be, this Alexander was absolutely worth the whole trip!

The surprises of underwater archaeology

With the growing popularity of underwater archaeology, more and more is being known about the heavy traffic of ships crossing the Mediterranean. This is a unique way to accumulate details about the ships, their itineraries, their construction, their size and their cargo.

[Map from the site of Fourni]

One of the hottest spots in recent years is the Fourni Archipelago, roughly situated between Samos and Patmos off the west coast of Turkey. The small islands and islets are scattered along the old maritime routes running from the Black Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean, to Cyprus and eventually to Egypt.

So far, The Fourni Underwater Survey has found as many as 53 shipwrecks ranging from antiquity to the Middle-Ages and even from post-Medieval times making it one of the largest concentrations of ancient shipwrecks in the world.

The first results were acquired in 2015 when 22 shipwrecks were identified, followed by another 23 in 2016 and eight more during this year’s diving season. It is great to hear that the Survey works closely together with local fishermen and sponge divers who know their fishing grounds and diving waters well. During the first two seasons, the archaeologists concentrated mainly on surveying the 17 square miles of wreckage but this year they are focusing on documenting the finds. So far, they found a great number of anchors made from stone, lead and iron which range from the Archaic Period to Byzantine times. This year, the most important find was a cargo of amphorae from the Classical Period on their way from Chios; another one is the shipwreck of a Roman ship that came from the Iberian Peninsula.

[Divers raise a Roman North African amphora for further study and conservation. 

Picture from RPM Nautical Foundation]

With the help of the latest technologies, the Survey team was able to select specific artifacts and recover them for conservation and scientific analysis. They aim to make their substantial data available to researchers and the public alike.

Another diving season is planned for 2018 and in the end, they may consider the excavation and recovery of a select choice of shipwrecks. Hopefully a local museum can be created on the main island to shelter all these new treasures.

Acoustics in ancient Greek theaters

This information is by now more than ten years old (see: Phys.org April 4, 2007) but the subject of acoustics remains one of the main elements contributing to the success of any antique theater.

I always find ancient theaters very exciting whenever I walk through their remains or sit on one of their tiers – they have so much to tell!

According to the abovementioned study, the first “perfect” acoustics were reached most probably by accident in Epidaurus in the 4^th century BC. Over the following centuries, the architects tried to reproduce this unique effect but never managed to do so. As it turns out, it is not so much the result of the slope of the theater or its orientation but the seats themselves that determine the right acoustics.

The theater of Epidaurus has an absolutely unprecedented and never equalled effect of blocking the low-frequency background noise of the public but does instead comfortably reflect the high-frequency voices of the performers against the seats back to the audience. In this way, the actor’s voices are clearly registered all the way to the last tiers of seats in the theater.

Acoustic experts experimented with ultrasonic waves and numerical simulations leading them to conclude that the great acoustics of Epidaurus are due to the limestone used for its seats. Since other theaters used other stones and even wood, this effect was never reproduced.

As all great discoveries happen by accident, this was certainly the case for the acoustical effects in the theater of Epidaurus. Isn’t it amazing that in times when amplifiers and loudspeakers did not exist, people were able to obtain the same result simply by using the right stone for the seats in their theater?

P.S. According to more "technical" studies, it seems that the above conclusions are not as black and white as they appear at first sight. Here are the conclusions drawn by researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands):