Passage of Time

This week I have had no time to look at the history of anything as I’ve been too busy walking through the history of Egypt.  Please enjoy these images in lieu of any words.

Pyramids of Giza (from Author's Collection. Copyright 2019)

Pyramids of Giza (Author's Collection. Copyright 2019)

Pyramids of Giza (Author's Collection. Copyright 2019)

Saqqara Pyramid: the oldest building in the world (Author's Collection.  Copyright 2019)

Necropolis of Saqqara (Author's Collection. Copyright 2019)

Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara (Author's Collection. Copyright 2019)

Hieroglyphs inside Pyramid of Unas (Author's Collection. Copyright 2019)

Genetic Encoding, Part Two of Two

  In fact, in Egyptian history it is rare to find changes that were instigated by the masses.  External factors were almost always coming to bear on the people of this great country and those factors were typically “top down” changes.  

Cario in the morning
(Author's Collection, copyright 2019)

Adjusting to these changes was for them to deal with as leaders are rarely concerned with (and quite often unaware) of the daily difficulties that are enacted when they flippantly decide to do something.  Self-righteous Pharaohs, impetuous rulers, colonial oversight and exploitation by empires are but some of the ancient examples of difficulties that the average Egyptian had to contend with but the recent past isn’t any better.

Fast Food in Cairo's Market
(Author's Collection, copyright 2019)

    Recent political turmoil has built upon decades of questionable national level decisions which have created a poor educational system and created mass poverty (average annual income is 6,700USD).  A by-product of this situation is growing sectarian violence and increasing economic instability- the uneducated can’t be expected to make informed decisions or develop insightful philosophical points of view.  

Streets of Imbabah
(Author's Collection, copyright 2019)

In response, the Egyptian Government recently de-valued their currency (Egyptian Pound) and made severe cuts to public subsidisation/aide programs.  This was all in an effort to qualify for a large loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which the Egyptian Government hopes will stimulate the economy before the more impoverished segment of society is crushed.  Does Egypt (or the world) really need another lane in the Suez Canal?

  

  

Egyptian Museum Entrance
(Author's Collection, copyright 2019)

Through all of this, as they have for millennia, Egyptians continue to adjust and compensate for the external factors pressing on their efforts for a better tomorrow.  Without considering all these historical factors, Egyptians live their lives and try to adapt to the radically changing socio-political and economic landscape; doing the best they can before the next change is forced upon them without their consent.  As though adaptation and adjustment have been imprinted in their genetic code.

    

Genetic Encoding. Part one of two

    250,000 BC is the earliest date of human activity in the area we now call Egypt and by 3,100 BC, legend tells us a Pharaoh by the name of Narmer had united the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the first cataract (present day Aswan).  For the inhabitants of this region, they have changed and adapted so many times that they are unaware of their innate ability to compensate for the inconsistencies of others.  

    

Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Egyptian Museum (Author's collection copyright 2019)

    During our 247,000 year interval between the above dates Africa became victim of climate change and the rich savannahs became arid, forcing the nomads living there to migrate closer to the Nile River.  Rains further south ensured that the Nile flooded annually - like clockwork - and when those floodwaters tapered off the soil of the surrounding countryside was enriched by silt and soils from all over eastern Africa.  This presented the opportunity to farm and Egyptians don’t hesitate to capitalise on something good.  Sadly, one must take the good with the bad in life and social order came along with farming and Pharaoh placed himself at the top- as all leaders do - and the farmers at the bottom.  Pharaoh himself is credited with establishing social order but the claim is buttressed by archaeological evidence from 3000 BC (circa).

    

Pyramids of Giza(Author's Collection, copyright 2019)

This simple restructuring forced many changes on the population of ancient Egypt but nature did too and the flood period provided a natural respite for farmers which Pharaoh most likely capitalised on by using them as unskilled labour supporting his engineers and architects in building his elaborate infrastructure.  What a summer job, building those magnificent pyramids and monuments, even if you are just hauling baskets full of rubble.  The chaos caused through the ensuing years by multiple changes to the physical location of the Egyptian capital, not to mention adjustments and refinements to the state religions must have had a disorienting effect on the populace but they kept working, trying to make a better tomorrow for them and their families.

Georgia, The Reason Travel Was Invented? (Part two of two)

View from Meteo Station on Mt. Kazbeg (Author's collection, Copyright 2014)

     

    Not too long after that - but long enough for the Greeks to forget their first alphabet- there was another interest in Georgia.  A generation before the Trojan War (1205BC) this interest was on behalf of the Greeks in their search for the Golden Fleece.  Colchis is on the eastern end of the Black Sea in modern day Georgia.
      There is much speculation over the exact location of the Colchian capitol but most agree it was either Kutaisi, Poti or Vani - each located along the Rioni River.  At any rate, the examples of gold smithing skills on display in Tbilisi's Georgian National Museum from that period are amazing and there is historical evidence that western Georgian gold mining techniques included using a sheepskin to pan the rivers.  Remember that this gold washed out of the Greater Caucasus Mountains - where Mt Kazbeg lies.
    In mythology, Jason and his intrepid crew of heroes that history has dubbed the Argonauts after their vessel, the Argo, made this daunting voyage to Georgia and we can place this story along a realistic timeline because Peleus was an Argonaut and the father of Achilles, who died at Troy.  So, despite all the adventures along the way (and back), Jason's real goal was to procure the golden fleece and procure it he did - as well as a wife, Medea, the daughter of the Colchian king, Aietes, who is the only reason they lived to depart Colchis.  

    

Archaeological excavation in Vani, Georgia (Author's collection, Copyright 2014)

    Further credence is lent to the interaction with Georgian society by a Greek Tragedy Play, "Medea", in which the couples stormy divorce is chronicled: Medea kills her three children by Jason, as well as Jason's new Fiancee, Glauke, prior to escaping in a flying chariot.  The credence is lent by the world renowned spite and fury embodied by Georgian women when scorned.
    These small details are the qualifiers that are overlooked in history.  The facts that, despite seeming to be trivial, are proof that a myth is actually history.  It is these qualifiers that we must turn a jaundiced eye upon in order to sift through the sands of time that obscure the past from our view.

Georgia, The Reason Travel Was Invented? (part one of two)

    A Georgian myth claims that Georgia was the land that God reserved for himself because of its natural beauty and abundant productivity.  Mankind seems to agree with this statement as he has been traveling there since the dawn of time and perhaps this region is the very reason for the concept of travel itself.  Historical vignettes may supply us with proof.

Dmanisi, Georgia (Authors collection, copyright 2014)

    As early as 1.8 million years ago, Georgia was attracting visitors.  A group of Hominids that we call Homo Erectus were the first human species to migrate out of Africa.  Since 2005, five skulls have been discovered near the Georgian town of Dimanisi - all within a 9.2 square metre area (~100 feet squared).  Because these skulls differ greatly, it is theorised that they represent a cross section of the species, in general, and are forcing scientists to re-evaluate the existing theories.  The most recent skull has a brain cavity about half the size of modern humans and a large face; if these were fragments, they would be categorised as different species.  The difficulty for scientists is that they were found together, a long way from Africa and within a 9.2 square metre area.  Scientists are now theorising that this species was more diverse than previously thought and the findings in Dimanisi may lead to grouping all homo fossils dated 1.8 to 1.5 million years old into a new, Homo Erectus family.

View from near Amirani’s(Prometheus’) prison on Mt. Kazbeg (Author's collection, Copyright 2014

More recently, on the summit of Mt. Kazbegi (5,054m), Amirani - we call him Prometheus - was imprisoned for giving fir to humans.  An added punishment was that an eagle would peck out his liver all day and over night, it would grow back.  The question is, Why in Georgia?  Was that because it was close to God's home?  Where better to keep an eye on a recalcitrant child than your backyard?

    It seems that before the dawn of time, before we were even ourselves, we were attracted to the bounty that is Georgia; the land that God reserved for himself and hasn't strayed too far from since.