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Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History
<http://www.oculture.com/2007/09/ten_discoveries_that_rewrote_history.html>
| Category: History <http://www.oculture.com/category/history>,
Books
<http://www.oculture.com/category/books>
*|* |
Here are a few facts to know about the adventurous Patrick Hunt
<http://www.stanford.edu/dept/classics/home/community/faculty/Hunt.html>.
He's a Stanford archaeologist who has spent more than a decade trying to
unravel the mystery of how Hannibal, the great ancient military leader,
crossed the Alps in 218 BCE with 25,000 men and 37 elephants. (Listen on
iTunes to the course
<http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1374259372.01374259374>
he gave on this adventure, and get more info below). He has broken more
than 20 bones while doing fieldwork, fought off kidnappers, and twice
survived sunstroke-induced blindness. And now he has just published an
exciting new book called Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452288770/104-0846652-8708742?ie=UTF8&tag=openculture-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0452288770>.
It's published by Penguin/Plume and starts ****pping tomorrow. I asked
Patrick what makes these discoveries --- ranging from the *Rosetta
Stone* to the *Dead Sea Scrolls* to *Machu Picchu* --- so im****tant.
Below he gives us a brief glimpse into what makes each discovery
historically significant and fascinating. Read on, and check out his
captivating new book
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452288770/104-0846652-8708742?ie=UTF8&tag=openculture-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0452288770>
for the fuller picture.
*Patrick Hunt:* "First I should say that not every archaeologist would
agree that these are the ten most im****tant discoveries of all time. On
the other hand, the ten stories retold in this book are often regarded
as among the most exciting archaeological discoveries of the modern era
(since 1750). And no one would deny that these ten vital discoveries
have forever changed the world of archaeology, transforming how and what
we know about ancient history. Let me tell you a little about them.
*Rosetta Stone:* This exciting discovery in 1799 was the key to
deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs and unlocking the history of the
ancient world texts. It provides a window into the real history of Egypt
rather than an imaginary one; all other decipherings of ancient
languages since the Rosetta Stone's initial decoding in 1822 are based
on its precedents. (See photo here
<http://www.uh.edu/engines/rosettacasting.jpg>.)
*Troy: * Its discovery and excavation beginning in 1870 proved once and
for all that Troy was not just a myth based on Homer; Troy was a
historical site where real people lived and fought. Its earliest
excavator, the oft-maligned and often-unethical Heinrich Schliemann
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Schliemann>
has been mostly
credited --- right or wrong --- as being the "Father of Archaeology" and
his techniques became the foundation of archaeological research, however
greatly improved, afterward.
*
Nineveh and the Royal Assyrian Library: *This riveting find beginning in
1849 by Austen Henry Layard, a sleuth of antiquity, eventually unearthed
a whole lost library of cuneiform texts, including ones not only from
ancient Assyria but also from far older Sumer, Akkad, Babylon and other
great civilizations. This had a very significant impact on world
literature, introducing such seminal works as the Epic of Gilgamesh
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014044100X/104-0846652-8708742?ie=UTF8&tag=openculture-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=014044100X>.
*King Tut's Tomb:* The dramatic opening of this royal tomb in 1922 ---
sought for years by a determined Howard Carter --- was the first time in
millennia a pharaoh's tomb had actually been found intact; its treasure
gave the world a unique op****tunity to actually account for staggering
Egyptian royal wealth. [Dan's note: National Geographic has a nice web
site <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/egypt/>
on this archaeological
find.]
*Machu Picchu:* The remarkable high jungle mountain discovery in 1911 of
the remote Lost City of the Inca by Hiram Bingham
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Bingham_III>
made it possible for
the world to finally see an undisturbed Inca royal city mysteriously
abandoned on a mountaintop but neither conquered nor changed by the
colonial world. (See photo here
<http://www.andreweland.org/2004/6/5/photos/clouds-over-machu-picchu>.)
*
Pompeii:* Preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 and not dug out
for almost two millennia, Pompeii (probably accidentally found by a
farmer digging a well) is the single most im****tant Roman site in the
world; its artifacts offer the largest and fullest record of life in a
Roman city. Pompeii's misfortune is our great fortune. It preserves a
city with thousands of objects virtually unchanged. (See images here
<http://images.google.com/images?q=pompeii+photos&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi>.)
*
Dead Sea Scrolls:* Since 1947, when two Bedouin boys in the desert
stumbled upon the first cave at Qumran, these hidden desert texts have
revolutionized our perceptions of early Jewish and Christian religion;
their finding has pushed back our knowledge of biblical manuscripts by a
thousand years. This discovery and the off-and-on secrecy of the finds
reads like spy fiction but is real instead. (See photo here
<http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/_images/_timeline/19_01.jpg>.)
*Akrotiri on Thera:* Archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos had been laughed
at by his peers for his theories and was finally vindicated 30 years
later (circa 1967). Like Pompeii, ash from the volcanic eruption in 1620
BC preserved a whole Aegean city that might have been the source of the
Atlantis myths but was certainly a wealthy city with fabulous wall
paintings depicting Bronze Age life. It gives us for the first time a
whole new body of Minoan art and understanding of Mediterranean sea
trade. (Images here
<http://www.ou.edu/finearts/art/ahi4913/aegeanhtml/cyakr1.html>.)
*Olduvai Gorge:* Since the 1920's, the Leakey family doggedly persisted
searching in East Africa for the most ancient human origins; dramatic
unearthing of bones and tools in 1959 from Olduvai and other sites in
Great Rift Africa forever showed the world how long --- at least a
million years --- antecedents to human life have persisted, finally
providing proof of Darwinian evolution from earlier primate and hominid
finds.
*Tomb of 10,000 Warriors:* This staggering tomb from around 220-210 BC,
spreading over hundreds of acres, single-handedly awakened Western
interest in Chinese history and revitalized Chinese archaeology. The
opulence and grandeur of an emperor's tomb astonished the world.
Archeotourism in China has profited immensely from the accidental 1974
find of a pre-Han tomb where lies the authoritarian emperor who forcibly
united and rewrote Chinese culture in many ways that still survive today."
*Related Content:* Above, I mentioned that you can listen to Patrick
Hunt's Stanford course on Hannibal on iTunes
<http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1374259372.01374259374http:/deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1374259372.01374259374>.
The course is going to be rolled out in installments over the next
several weeks. Separately you can listen to a standalone lecture that he
gave on Hannibal shortly before the start of the course. (Listen on
iTunes here
<http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1304676554?i=1505709996>.)
This lecture gets referenced in the course at several points. Patrick's
work on Hannibal is sponsored by National Geographic Society.
* <http://feeds.feedburner.com/OpenCulture>
*
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<h1><a
href="http://www.oculture.com/2007/09/ten_discoveries_that_rewrote_history.html"
rel="bookmark"
title="Permanent Link to Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History">Ten
Discoveries That Rewrote History</a></h1>
<p>| Category: <a href="http://www.oculture.com/category/history"
title="View all posts in History" rel="category tag">History</a>, <a
href="http://www.oculture.com/category/books"
title="View all posts in Books" rel="category tag">Books</a>
<strong>|</strong>
| </p>
<!--
<h1 id="post-546"><a
href="http://www.oculture.com/2007/09/ten_discoveries_that_rewrote_history.html"
rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Ten Discoveries That Rewrote
History">Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History</a></h1>
<p class="author">Posted on <em>September 23rd, 2007</em>.</p>
-->
<p>Here are a few facts to know about the adventurous <a
href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/classics/home/community/faculty/Hunt.html">Patrick
Hunt</a>.
He’s a Stanford archaeologist who has spent more than a decade
trying
to unravel the mystery of how Hannibal, the great ancient military
leader, crossed the Alps in 218 BCE with 25,000 men and 37 elephants. (<a
href="http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1374259372.01374259374">Listen
on iTunes to the course</a>
he gave on this adventure, and get more info below). He has broken more
than 20 bones while doing fieldwork, fought off kidnappers, and twice
survived sunstroke-induced blindness. And now he has just published an
exciting new book called <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452288770/104-0846652-8708742?ie=UTF8&tag=openculture-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0452288770">Ten
Discoveries That Rewrote History</a>. It’s published by
Penguin/Plume
and starts ****pping tomorrow. I asked Patrick what makes these
discoveries <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Verdana;">—</span>
ranging from the <strong>Rosetta Stone</strong> to the <strong>Dead
Sea Scrolls</strong> to <strong>Machu Picchu</strong> <span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">—</span>
so im****tant. Below he gives us a brief glimpse into what makes each
discovery historically significant and fascinating. Read on, and <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452288770/104-0846652-8708742?ie=UTF8&tag=openculture-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0452288770">check
out his captivating new book</a> for the fuller picture.</p>
<p><strong>Patrick Hunt:</strong> “First I should say that not every
archaeologist would agree that these are the ten most im****tant
discoveries of all time. On the other hand, the ten stories retold in
this book are often regarded as among the most exciting archaeological
discoveries of the modern era (since 1750). And no one would deny that
these ten vital discoveries have forever changed the world of
archaeology, transforming how and what we know about ancient history.
Let me tell you a little about them.</p>
<p><strong>Rosetta Stone:</strong> This exciting discovery in 1799 was
the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs and unlocking the history
of the ancient world texts. It provides a window into the real history
of Egypt rather than an imaginary one; all other decipherings of
ancient languages since the Rosetta Stone’s initial decoding in 1822
are based on its precedents. (<a
href="http://www.uh.edu/engines/rosettacasting.jpg">See
photo
here</a>.)</p>
<p><strong>Troy: </strong> Its discovery and excavation beginning in
1870 proved once and for all that Troy was not just a myth based on
Homer; Troy was a historical site where real people lived and fought.
Its earliest excavator, the oft-maligned and often-unethical <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Schliemann">Heinrich
Schliemann</a> has been mostly credited <span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">— </span>right or
wrong <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">—</span>
as being the “Father of Archaeology” and his techniques became
the
foundation of archaeological research, however greatly improved,
afterward.<br>
<strong><br>
Nineveh and the Royal Assyrian Library: </strong>This
riveting find beginning in 1849 by Austen Henry Layard, a sleuth of
antiquity, eventually unearthed a whole lost library of cuneiform
texts, including ones not only from ancient Assyria but also from far
older Sumer, Akkad, Babylon and other great civilizations. This had a
very significant impact on world literature, introducing such seminal
works as the <em class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag"></span></em><span
class="moz-txt-slash"><a
href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014044100X/104-0846652-8708742?ie=UTF8&tag=openculture-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=014044100X">Epic
of Gilgamesh</a></span><em class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">.</span></em></p>
<p><em class="moz-txt-slash"><span
class="moz-txt-tag"></span></em><strong>King
Tut’s Tomb:</strong> The dramatic opening of this royal tomb in 1922
<span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">—</span> sought for
years by a determined Howard Carter <span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">—</span>
was the first time in millennia a pharaoh’s tomb had actually been
found intact; its treasure gave the world a unique op****tunity to
actually account for staggering Egyptian royal wealth. [Dan’s note:
<a
href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/egypt/">National
Geographic
has a nice web site</a> on this archaeological find.]</p>
<p><strong>Machu Picchu:</strong> The remarkable high jungle mountain
discovery in 1911 of the remote Lost City of the Inca by <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Bingham_III">Hiram
Bingham</a>
made it possible for the world to finally see an undisturbed Inca royal
city mysteriously abandoned on a mountaintop but neither conquered nor
changed by the colonial world. (<a
href="http://www.andreweland.org/2004/6/5/photos/clouds-over-machu-picchu">See
photo here</a>.)<br>
<strong><br>
Pompeii:</strong> Preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius in
AD 79 and not dug out for almost two millennia, Pompeii (probably
accidentally found by a farmer digging a well) is the single most
im****tant Roman site in the world; its artifacts offer the largest and
fullest record of life in a Roman city. Pompeii’s misfortune is our
great fortune. It preserves a city with thousands of objects virtually
unchanged. (<a
href="http://images.google.com/images?q=pompeii+photos&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi">See
images here</a>.)<br>
<strong><br>
Dead Sea Scrolls:</strong> Since 1947, when two Bedouin
boys in the desert stumbled upon the first cave at Qumran, these hidden
desert texts have revolutionized our perceptions of early Jewish and
Christian religion; their finding has pushed back our knowledge of
biblical manuscripts by a thousand years. This discovery and the
off-and-on secrecy of the finds reads like spy fiction but is real
instead. (<a
href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/_images/_timeline/19_01.jpg">See
photo here</a>.)</p>
<p><strong>Akrotiri on Thera:</strong> Archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos
had been laughed at by his peers for his theories and was finally
vindicated 30 years later (circa 1967). Like Pompeii, ash from the
volcanic eruption in 1620 BC preserved a whole Aegean city that might
have been the source of the Atlantis myths but was certainly a wealthy
city with fabulous wall paintings depicting Bronze Age life. It gives
us for the first time a whole new body of Minoan art and understanding
of Mediterranean sea trade. (<a
href="http://www.ou.edu/finearts/art/ahi4913/aegeanhtml/cyakr1.html">Images
here</a>.)</p>
<p><strong>Olduvai Gorge:</strong> Since the 1920’s, the Leakey
family
doggedly persisted searching in East Africa for the most ancient human
origins; dramatic unearthing of bones and tools in 1959 from Olduvai
and other sites in Great Rift Africa forever showed the world how long
<span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana;">—</span> at least a
million years <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family:
Verdana;">—</span>
antecedents to human life have persisted, finally providing proof of
Darwinian evolution from earlier primate and hominid finds.</p>
<p><strong>Tomb of 10,000 Warriors:</strong> This staggering tomb from
around 220-210 BC, spreading over hundreds of acres, single-handedly
awakened Western interest in Chinese history and revitalized Chinese
archaeology. The opulence and grandeur of an emperor’s tomb
astonished
the world. Archeotourism in China has profited immensely from the
accidental 1974 find of a pre-Han tomb where lies the authoritarian
emperor who forcibly united and rewrote Chinese culture in many ways
that still survive today.”</p>
<p><strong>Related Content:</strong> Above, I mentioned that you can
listen to <a
href="http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1374259372.01374259374http:/deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1374259372.01374259374">Patrick
Hunt’s Stanford course on Hannibal on iTunes</a>.
The course is going to be rolled out in installments over the next
several weeks. Separately you can listen to a standalone lecture that
he gave on Hannibal shortly before the start of the course. (<a
href="http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/itunes.stanford.edu.1304676554?i=1505709996">Listen
on iTunes here</a>.)
This lecture gets referenced in the course at several points.
Patrick’s
work on Hannibal is sponsored by National Geographic Society.</p>
<strong><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/OpenCulture"
rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img
src="cid:part1.07070107.00060000@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"
style="border: 0pt none ; vertical-align: top;"></a> </strong>
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