Pasts Imperfect (1.9.24)
Mythology and Democracy, Syrian Archaeologists Band Together, Sanskrit Inscriptions, Fires Near the Getty Villa, and Much More
This week, ancient myth and Hispanic poetry expert Yoandy Cabrera Ortega discusses links between ancient democracy and mythology, and the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Then, the AHA condemns scholasticide in Gaza, a new article on lead and the “fall of Rome”, Ptolemaic-era golden tongues and dog breeds from Ancient Egypt, humans co-existing with mastodons and giant sloths in the Americas, Syrians and Sutton Hoo, a new 4th century CE Sanskrit inscription, a call to unite Syrian archaeologists in the wake of Assad’s downfall, wildfires rage near the Getty Villa, a classical conversation with Scorsese, new ancient world journals, and much more.
Freedom and Chaos: Trumpist Hordes, Greek Myth, and the Democratic Principle by Yoandy Cabrera Ortega
Democracy is a fragile creature. And maintaining the balance between allowing freedom and descending into chaos is difficult. The first Trump Administration demonstrated this reality while also revealing that the freedoms and strengths of democracy can easily be manipulated against the system that guarantees them. Take the democratic right to Freedom of Speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. It is not a liberty always used for social good. The civil right can be used as a way to defend discrimination or even the most humiliating lies. Thus the so-called 'permissiveness' of democratic principles can, in turn, allow a figure with no respect for truth or democracy to rise to power. And yet democracy’s openness challenges citizens to navigate contradictions, defend their opinions, and allow space for other perspectives and the possibility of being wrong.
American democracy and Greek myth—as contradictory, plural, and open structures—expose individuals to a wide range of human concerns, including justice, leadership, tyranny, and social rights and duties. I have a strong intuition that one of the reasons democracy emerged in Greece is rooted in the nature of mythology. Both of these complex systems of representation (the democratic and the mythological) are characterized by their diversity, constant transformation, and openness to change. They aim to ensure order while always assimilating other possible forms and versions. Each system is at once inclusive and contradictory, continuously questioning any leader, whether it be Agamemnon, Pericles, or even Zeus himself. Before democracy emerged as a form of government in Greece, all these characteristics were already present in the Greek mythology that underpinned and influenced Athenian religion. That’s why it doesn’t seem far-fetched to say that the emergence of the democratic system was preceded and, in part, influenced by the elastic nature of classical myth.
Democracy upholds, facilitates, and defends the plurality of myth, thought, and creation; in this lies both its greatness and its danger. The reason for the existence of a democratic government is to serve and make life easier for a citizen, even if that citizen is not a supporter or defender of those elected. It is easy, however, for democracy and the republic to become a dictatorship. Greek democracy and the Roman Republic are themselves examples of this failure. Many modern revolutions also bear the mistake of moving from the struggle for freedom to the establishment of an exclusive and, in some cases, totalitarian system. This is the case with Cuba, for example, a place that illustrates how the hijacking and unilateral management of national myths and fictions reflect the dictatorial nature of its government.
Myth is the primary resource for the themes, characters, and plots within Athenian tragedy. The literary genre often uses myth to present the failures within Athenian democracy: while Aeschylus supports the new system with the guidance of Athena in Eumenides, Euripides—who experiences the decline of the very system praised by Aeschylus—reflects in The Trojan Women on the level of cruelty to which Athens descended to maintain power, imposing its authority and control over the other Greek territories of the Delian League. Therefore, to avoid its collapse, where classical mythology can allow for anarchy, democracy is called to continuously review and safeguard the boundaries between freedom and chaos. This is precisely what the system of checks and balances seeks to achieve in American democracy.
Thanks to the plural, contradictory, elastic, but inclusive nature of Greek myth throughout the ages, Athena can contain multitudes. The goddess’ attitude as she advises Achilles in the first book of the Iliad—the pinnacle of epic oral development from the 15th to the 8th century BCE and a representation of aristocratic power—and that of Athena who concludes Aeschylus's Oresteia in the 5th century BCE, during the full development of democracy, can co-exist. This despite the fact that both texts belong to different eras and systems of government.
The flexibility of myth also plays a fundamental role in the semiotic set of fictions and symbols often used to symbolize the “nation” or “fatherland.” While it is true that many of myths in literature and art prioritize the anarchic, the transgression, and the questioning of any control apparatus (whether within or outside of democracy), it cannot be denied that figures like Hercules, Athena, or Aeneas have traditionally been used to embody political order, even though their literary use is broader and more audacious. For example, the image of Hercules incorporated into the upper façade of the University of Salamanca in 16th-century Spain to glorify the king.
What was truly at stake on the other side of Athena's counsel at the conclusion of the Oresteia came into focus on January 6, 2021. The images and videos of the assault on the Capitol in Washington, D.C. brought many themes of democracy in Greek tragedy into visceral focus. As happens in Aeschylus's play, there was also a counting of votes in Washington that day, consolidating the functioning of the democratic system. But, unlike Aeschylus, the fans and extremists loyal to the outgoing president broke through the police barricade, smashed doors and windows, launched gas, and attacked the democratic system for several hours.
The scenes of violence, the injured, and the dead left by this incident provided a glimpse, albeit for a brief moment, of what it would be like to live in the United States on the other side of the democratic condition. Fortunately, the damages were manageable, and a few hours later, Congress was back in operation. The Aeschylean play in the style of American democracy was restored. That precarious line between freedom and chaos that democracy is obligated to safeguard is continuously reviewed and redrawn.
American democracy is anything but immutable. As Cuban journalist Ernesto Morales says, “Fortunately, this country [the U.S.] is not uniform in anything,” and that is its democratic greatness. But at the same time, this greatness carries dangers in the hands of an irresponsible president who incites his followers to storm the Capitol, which is considered the sacred space for the functioning of the democratic system. In more general terms, Roche Cárcel explains this dichotomy as follows: “Democracy, like any other human enterprise, cannot automatically guarantee permanent success, nor is it secured against itself, since its very action produces unexpected consequences.”
If the attack on the Capitol had not been contained and extinguished, the damage would have been greater, even irreversible. It could have crossed to the other side of the condition suspended on Athena's lips. Those of us who have suffered under totalitarian regimes in our countries of origin know what it is like to live on the other side of democratic conditions. Some of the violent Trumpist demonstrators allegedly had clear objectives to kidnap and attack specific politicians present in Congress during the certification ceremony of the elections held in November 2020. Like the Sword of Damocles hanging over democracy, in moments like that, one feels the echo of the words and warnings from the second American president, John Adams. In his letter to John Taylor in 1814, he remarked: “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
But what does this democratic suicide look like? An evocative visual metaphor hit me as an Idaho man storming the Capitol hung from the second-floor wall in the Senate chamber. With his foot in the east door, he almost brushed against the Latin phrase ‘annuit coeptis.’ The Latin maxim also appears on the Great Seal of the United States and the reverse of the U.S. dollar. It is often translated as “He has justified the enterprises I have undertaken” or “He has said yes to the enterprises we carry out.” This phrase is a version of part of verse 625 from Book IX of the Aeneid, the epic poem by Virgil.
The complete line says, ‘Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnue coeptis’ (“Almighty Jupiter, approve these bold enterprises!”). It is the beginning of a prayer from Ascanius (son of Aeneas and grandson of Aphrodite) asking for Jupiter's favor before shooting in the midst of a battle, in the territory that will one day become Rome and the beginning of the Roman legacy. By reusing Virgil’s word in the U.S. Senate, we move from the prayer for enterprises in Virgil to assuming them as granted in the American democratic chamber. Watching the Trumpist assailants hanging in the most essential democratic space in America undoubtedly exposes the imbalance, the sometimes blurred boundaries, and the crises to which democracy can sometimes be subjected. And yet, any of the rioters who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, including the one hanging in front of the “patriotism” relief, consider themselves “patriots.”
Nationalist extremism is often more dictatorial than democratic. The allegorical statues of Freedom dressed as Athena, which crown the Capitol in Washington and stand inside the building, serve as reminders to keep freedom from descending into chaos. All democratic guarantees are fragile, conditional, and always on the verge of being lost. They depend on the continuous balance of the tragic and the possible. Examining Greek myth and understanding its connections to justice and balance in today's society helps sustain the amazing yet delicate creature we call democracy.
A version of this essay appeared in the critical journal Deinós and has been partially reprinted with permission of the editor-in-chief. Please access the fuller version here.
Global Antiquity and Public Humanities
At the American Historical Association (AHA) meeting in NYC last weekend, a strong majority of members voted (428-88) for a resolution condemning scholasticide in Gaza. You can read the entire resolution here, although it still needs AHA Council approval. Within it, they note:
Therefore, be it resolved that the AHA, which supports the right of all peoples to freely teach and learn about their past, condemns the Israeli violence in Gaza that undermines that right; Be it further resolved that the AHA calls for a permanent ceasefire to halt the scholasticide documented above; Finally, be it resolved that the AHA form a committee to assist in rebuilding Gaza’s educational infrastructure.
In the digital pages of Hyperallergic, ancient historian and numismatics expert Irene Soto Marín spoke to Isa Farfan about the search for Cleopatra’s tomb near Alexandria and the discovery of a new coin hoard. But Prof. Soto Marín also pointed PI to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities’ press release regarding “The discovery of a group of golden tongues and nails of mummies inside tombs from the Ptolemaic period” in the archaeological area of Al-Bahnasa (near Oxyrhynchus).
In the Guardian, they cover the new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), wherein researchers discuss the lead pollution within ice cores from 500 BCE to 600 CE. They concluded that there was a “2- to 3-point drop in IQ” following lead increases from 15 BCE to 180 CE. However, in a characteristically thoughtful blog post by lead-ing ancient historian Neville Morley, there are a lot of reasons to hesitate before fully adopting this research and using it to support notions of the “fall” of the Roman Empire. As Morley notes, “IQ is defined in terms of a normal distribution of ‘intelligence’ across a population with 100 as the mean,” and thus “is completely meaningless unless it’s compared with something else, whether that is “Romans were stupider than they might otherwise have been”, or “Romans of the Principate were stupider than Romans of the Republic.” Science!
Ending 2024 with a bang! I saw this headline and immediately felt regret that I couldn’t share it with y’all until 2025: Painting resembling Marge Simpson found in 3,000-year-old tomb. You may know that the ancient Egyptians went crazy painting their sarcophagi, but how could they have predicted The Simpsons? Found by archaeologists in Minya, Egypt, the sarcophagus belonged to Tadi Ist, daughter of the High Priest of Djehouti in Ashmunein. Click away, and may you be the judge.
Yes, there are good people in the world, and Yemeni engineer Harbia Al-Himiary is here to prove it. She’s a project officer working to restore dozens of historic buildings in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital, and across the country. One of her big initiatives is training women and girls in traditional carpentry to help with restoration projects. "My advice to any girl is to choose the field she likes, because as long as she loves that field, she will definitely succeed in it,” she says. So true.
We’re going real ancient now, but I promise you it’s worth it. Christina Larson of the Associated Press reports from São Paulo (Brazil) that, in the Americas, humans coexisted with giant sloths and mastodons for millennia! Contrary to the main existing theory, which is called “Pleistocene overkill,” humans didn’t exactly arrive and slaughter every megafauna in sight. (New social media handle unlocked.) And, while coexisting with those big guys, they used their bones to make pretty jewelry. Nice!
Uh oh, early human cannibalism. Researchers, led by a team at the University of Oxford, analyzed bone fragments from the Bronze Age site of Charterhouse Warren, England. They found that human skeletons, which had been thrown down a 15-meter-deep shaft, were evidence of “violent othering” — also known as blunt force trauma, butchering, and consumption.
Cannibalism may have been a way to ‘other’ the deceased. By eating their flesh and mixing the bones in with faunal remains, the killers were likening their enemies to animals, thereby dehumanising them.
In Kashmir, a new 4th century CE Sanskrit inscription has been found
, according to The Times of India. The epigraphy director of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), K Muniratnam Reddy, says it reads: “"Pushpasingha, for the merit of his guru (name partially lost), installed a Mahesvaralinga.” It is written in Brahmi script.
Vegans, rejoice! An ancient fungus is the dark-horse superstar of non-dairy cheese production. Formo, a German company, has been developing koji, a fungus that has lent its umami properties to soy sauce and miso for centuries. Speaking for myself, an individual cursed with lactose intolerance: finally, something that doesn’t feel like rubber and taste like raw fat.
Friend of the newsletter, bioarchaeologist and journalist Kristina Killgrove, has a new article out in LiveScience about a newly unrolled early Christian silver amulet. Excavated from a late antique cemetery in Germany, the tiny scroll was meant to prevent an early Christian man from falling ill.
And what better way to ring in the new year than to behold the legacy of Egyptian dogs? Baladi — the Arabic word for “local” — are street pups whose reputations are slowly being reformed. Oh my god, they’re so cute. Happy New Year, readers.
In the English Historical Review, medievalist Helen Gittos has a great article on “Sutton Hoo and Syria.” To answer the enduring question of why the famous ship burial (displayed at the British Museum but found in Suffolk) had items made in the eastern Mediterranean, Gittos proposes that “they were acquired by men who were recruited into the Byzantine army in 575 to serve on the eastern front against the Sasanians.”
Finally, the horrific wildfires sweeping sweeping through California have taken the lives of five people and burned around 1100 structures so far. Although it began to burn vegetation near the Getty Villa in Malibu on Tuesday night, the museum spokesperson for the Getty noted the museum itself “remains safe and intact.” Regardless, our hearts go out to all affected by this disaster.
New Antiquity Journal Issues (by yaleclassicslib.bsky.social)
Arethusa Vol. 57, No. 3 (2024) Visions of Egypt in Imperial Latin Literature
Hesperia Vol. 93, No. 4 (2024)
Scrinium Vol. 20, No. 1 (2024)
Classica Cracoviensia Vol. 27 (2024) #openaccess
The Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures Vol. 51, No.1 (2025)
The Classical Journal Vol. 120, No. 2 (2024-25)
Novum Testamentum Vol. 67, No. 1 (2025) NB : Tom de Bruin “Excision as Exorcism: Some Possible Demonic Roots for Jesus’s Sayings in Mark 9:43–48”
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes Vol. 87 (2024)
Journal of African Archaeology Vol. 22, Nos. 1-2 (2024)
Erga-Logoi. Vol. 12, No. 2 (2024) #openaccess
Archiv für Religionsgeschichte Vol. 26 (2024) NB Michael Hölscher “Haptic Storytelling: Body Markings and Destroyed Bodies in the Book of Revelation through the Lens of Amulets and Curse Tablets”
Vigiliae Christianae Vol. 79, No. 1 (2025)
Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission Vol. 103 2022 (2024)
Journal of Social Archaeology Vol. 25, No. 1 (2025) NB Joel Santos “Archaeology of loneliness”
Anais de Filosofia Clássica Vol. 17 No. 34 (2023) #openaccess Filosofias Clássicas Não-Ocidentais I
Augustinian Studies Vol. 55, No. 2 (2024)
Apeiron Vol. 57, No. 4 (2024) NB Elizabeth Asmis “The Social Contract in Epicureanism”
Elenchos Vol. 45, No. 2 (2024)
Peitho Examina Antiqua Vol. 15 (2024) #openaccess
Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete Vol.70, No. 2 (2024)
KOINON: The International Journal of Classical Numismatic Studies Vol. 7 (2024)
Scrineum Vol. 21 (2024) #openaccess
The Ukrainian Numismatic Annual Vol. 8 (2024)
Byzantinische Zeitschrift Vol. 117, No. 4 (2024) Bibliographische Notizen und Mitteilungen
Millennium Vol. 21 (2024)
Reti Medievali Rivista Vol. 25, No. 2 (2024) #openaccess
Palaeohispanica Vol. 24 (2024) #openaccess
Aegyptiaca Vol. 8 (2024) #openaccess Do Ancient Egyptians Dream of Electric Sheep?: The Reception of Ancient Egypt in Science Fiction
Ash-sharq: Bulletin of the Ancient Near East Vol. 8 No. 2 (2024) Animal Symbolism and Representations in Western Asia
Kaskal N.S. Vol. 1 (2024) #openaccess
Revista del Instituto de Historia Antigua Oriental Vol. 25 (2024) #openaccess Egiptología iberoamericana (segunda parte)
Archaeological Reports Vol. 70 (2024)
Studia Orientalia Electronica Vol. 12 No. 1 (2024) #openaccess
Archaeology of Western Anatolia Vol. 1, No. 1 (2025) New Journal
DABIR Vol. 11, Nos. 1-2 (2024)
Philological Encounters Vol. 9, No. 3-4 (2024) Philology and Archaeology
Skenè Vol. 10 No. 2 (2024) #openaccess Memory and Performance. Classical Reception in Early Modern Festivals
Journal of Greek Archaeology Vol. 9 (2024)
Revista del Instituto de Historia Antigua Oriental Vol. 25 (2024) #openaccess Egiptología iberoamericana (segunda parte)
I quaderni del m.æ.s. - Journal of Mediæ Ætatis Sodalicium Vol. 22 (2024) #openaccess
Études et Travaux Vol. 27 (2024) #openaccess
The Journal of Hellenic Studies Vol. 144 (2024)
Arheologia=Археологія No. 4 (2024) #openaccess
Byzantion Nea Hellás Vol. 43 (2024) #openaccess
Vulgata in Dialogue Vol. 8 (2024) #openaccess
Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica Vol. 30, No. 2 (2024) #openaccess Ideologies and Encounters of Ideas at the Crossroads of the Ancient World
Annual of the British School at Athens Vol. 119 (2024)
Advances in Ancient, Biblical, and Near Eastern Research (AABNER) Vol. 4 No. 2 (2024) #openaccess Hope
Cambridge Archaeological Journal Vol. 34 , No. 1 (2024)
Aristonothos Vol. 20 (2024) #openaccess
Anuari de Filologia. Antiqua et Mediaeualia Vol. 14 (2024) #openaccess
Indo-Iranian Journal Vol. 67, No. 4 (2024)
Pharos Vol. 25 (2021-2023)
Argos No. 51 (2024) #openaccess
Early Science and Medicine Vol. 29, No. 5-6 (2024) Climate in the Middle Ages
Kentron Vol. 39 (2025) #openaccess Violences de masse et violences extrêmes en contexte de guerre dans l’Antiquité (suite et fin)
Pecia Vol. 26 (2024)
Aramaic Studies Vol. 22, No. 2 (2024)
PhDAI. Reports of the Young Research Network Vol. 3 (2024) #openaccess
Troianalexandrina Vol. 22 (2022)
Ancient Society Vol. 54 (2024)
Journal of Early Christian Studies Vol. 32, No. 4, (2024) NB Jae Hee Han “Mani and the Myth of the Perpetual Foreigner”
Judaïsme Ancien = Ancient Judaism Vol. 11 (2024) NB Stéphanie Anthonioz “The Cherub(im) in the Hebrew Bible: Mediation and Representation”
Classical Philology Vol. 120, No. 1 (2024)
Chiron Vol. 54 (2024) #openaccess
Historia Vol. 74, No. 1 (2025)
Papers of the British School at Rome Vol. 92 (2024)
Syllogos - Herodotus Journal Vol. 3 (2024) #openaccess
Astarté. Estudios de Oriente Próximo y el Mediterráneo Vol. 7 (2024) #openaccess La hagiografía en época tardoantigua y medieval
Methodos. Savoirs et texte Vol. 24 (2024) #openaccess Digital Humanities in the Web 3.0 Era
American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 129, No. 1 (2025)
Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae Vol. 75. No. 2 (2024)
Speculum Vol. 100, No. 1 (2025) Centennial Issue: Medieval Studies and Its Institutions
History of Humanities Vol. 9, No. 2 (2024) Classics in the History of the African Humanities
Peuce Vol. 22 (2024) #openaccess
Patristica et Mediævalia Vol. 45 No. 2 (2024) #openaccess
Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists Vol. 32 (2024) #openaccess
Acta Classica Vol. 67 (2024) #openaccess
Cuadernos de Filología Clásica. Estudios Latinos Vol. 44 No. 2 (2024) #openaccess
Journal of Late Antiquity Vol. 17, No. 2 (2024) NB James Robert Burns “The Bandit, the Holy Man, and the Slave in the Early Medieval West”
Digital Medievalist Vol. 17 (2024) #openaccess Digital Approaches to Medieval Sigillography
Dialogues d'histoire ancienne Vol. 50, No. 2 (2024)
Invitation to Attend the First Syrian Archaeologists Forum from Adnan Almohamad
We are pleased to invite you to attend the second session of the First Syrian Archaeologists Forum, titled: “Syrian Archaeologists: From Challenges to Aspirations in the Context of a New State”
Objectives of the Forum:
Discussing the challenges facing the archaeological sector and the role of archaeologists in the reconstruction process.
Highlighting the importance of union work in supporting archaeologists and the archaeological sector.
Exploring governance mechanisms for institutions, organizations, and community initiatives, including structuring processes and the development of financial and administrative policies.
Keynote Speakers:
Ayman Nabou: Archaeologist and Director of the Idlib Antiquities Center.
Adnan Al-Mohammad: Academic and researcher specializing in Syrian archaeology, Birkbeck College, University of London.
Mohammad Mazhar Sharbaji: Consulting engineer and governance expert.
Details of the Event:
Date: Thursday, January 2, 2025
Time: 8:00 PM Damascus Time – 5:00 PM GMT
Venue: Zoom platform at the following link. Meeting ID: 898 7410 9029
event language: Arabic
We look forward to your participation and valuable contributions.
Events, Lectures, and Workshops
On Thursday, January 16, 2025, 5–6 pm ET, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting an in-person conversation between Mary Beard and Martin Scorsese on “Picturing Ancient Rome.” There is a waitlist for the event, but we did just want to point out that it is pretty amazing to have this type of public outreach between academics and filmmakers within the museum space. More of this, please.
On Sunday, January 26, 2025, at 3 PM PST, the American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California chapter, and the UC Berkeley Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures invite you to attend a lecture by Peter Moore Johnson on “Aethiopia Abroad: The Role of Kush in a Network of Cultural Exchange in the Greater Mediterranean.” This is a virtual lecture. To register, please click on or go to this Zoom link
On Thursday, January 30th, 2025, Carl Walsh and Lylaah Bhalerao will lead an ISAW Workshop on “Understanding Spain in the Islamic World through ‘Madinat al-Zahra: The Radiant Capital of Islamic Spain.’” As they note, “This virtual workshop invites teachers to learn more about the place of the Iberian Peninsula in the Islamic world through the ISAW exhibition Madinat al-Zahra: The Radiant Capital of Islamic Spain.” Registration is required and can be attained here.
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