ancient times
Who was the legendary Troyan from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”: A long way to the East and back to the West
The story that will be discussed on these pages began with a find of an unusual item on the territory of Ukraine. It was a figure of a person sitting cross-legged (we call this position “Turkish”) a person holding a snake in his right hand that stings him in the shoulder, in the left person holds a cross with blades widening towards the ends. Unfortunately, the first find, which became known to the author, suffered from a significant drawback; the figurine lacked a head.
An unusual find caused a lot of questions and the main one – who was depicted by an ancient master with such unusual symbols? An ornament resembling beads around a neck of a figure (possibly a hryvnia, a symbol of high status in society), crossed legs of a low-sitting figure, all evoked in memory a similar figure from the pantheon of gods of ancient Celts, Cernunnos (or Cernunns), (Horned).
An excellent image of this god is known on the chased bas-relief of a silver cauldron. Continue reading
Riddle of Alexander of Macedon: Why “the flight of Tsar Alexander” was popular in Russia and throughout the Christian world
A unique pectoral cross was found on the land of the former Drutsk faction, which emerged in the 11th century on the way “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. Crosses with the image of the Crucifixion from this period have come down to us a little, the image of the Crucifixion is much more common on encolpions, but this is not the main thing. Not for nothing, the cross from Drutsk was found on the way from the “Varangians to the Greeks”, some “Varangian”, Scandinavian features are present in the design of the cross, but this does not make it unique. Of particular interest is the image on the back of the cross.
The crucified Christ is depicted with closed eyes – it means already dead on the cross, but the head is straight. Above the cross nimbus is a depressed inscription ICXC. With the increase, the depressed points are visible not in the palms, but above the wrists, depicting nail heads. Continue reading
10 new discoveries that turned the ideas of ancient Egypt upside down
Ancient Egypt is full of secrets and therefore attracts scientists who are looking for clues to the secrets of civilization. And although the excavations in Egypt are carried out almost constantly, and at the same time using new scanning equipment, this ancient civilization constantly presents scientists with new surprises. New names of Egyptian kings, travels that changed history and even new discoveries in what seemed to be studied along and across the pyramids – quite recently many new discoveries were made, which will be discussed in this article.
1. Cemetery of the Priests of Thoth
Thanks to this unusual discovery, the year 2018 can be another “critical” year for Egyptologists. Not far from the town of El Minya, in the Nile Valley, a large necropolis was discovered. Continue reading
