harder than granite
5 valuable pieces of art that were found quite by accident
When by chance (or not quite) people find a picture of a famous artist, a manuscript or diaries of a famous writer, then this event is covered by all the world’s media. After all, a find can cost millions of dollars. It often happened that valuable artifacts were found in private collections, in hiding places and even in storage rooms. But in this review, “a dozen” of valuable finds, which were made in the most unexpected places.
1. Nazi treasure in a tiny apartment
In 2012, police discovered a collection of more than 1,300 works of art in a small apartment in Munich. Most of the work was considered destroyed during the Nazi rule in Germany. The collection belonged to an art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, who during the Second World War used his position as an intermediary in the sale of works of art abroad to hide and sell a huge number of paintings. Continue reading
History of the calendar
Before the discovery of America and the beginning of its conquest by the Europeans, the territory of present-day Mexico, Guatemala and some other countries were occupied by the Aztec empire, which created a very original calendar. The year consisted of 18 months, 20 days each, and the “remaining” 5 days were considered “unlucky”. This calendar was carved on a huge stone. It had the shape of a circle, with a diameter of about 4 meters. Every day it was marked with its own symbol.
History of the calendar
Creation of a modern standard calendar
Now there are many different calendar systems created by different nations and priests of different religions. Some of them are still limited. Continue reading
Obelisk of the city of Aswan
Granite quarries, located along the banks of the Nile in the city of Aswan (Aswan), supplied some of the highest quality stones for the construction of temples, sculptures and monuments in ancient Egypt. The famous Cleopatra’s Needle monument, now in London, and several objects in the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Giza were built from stones mined in Aswan.
In the northern region of the Aswan stone quarries lies on the side of the unfinished obelisk. It was believed that this is the highest and largest obelisk ever created in ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, the obelisk was never completed. Continue reading
