Egyptian & Mayan-Aztec Calendars: Incredibly Sophisticated Earliest Works of Art
We are continuing our historical art overview (see for example, our "Mysterious Non-Egyptian Pyramids"), this time going all the way back to the beginning of the recorded history. Around 5,000 BC first calendars made their appearance, and set the standard by which we measure our months and days today.
Regardless of what you think about Mayan Calendar concerning 2012, you have to admit their representation of time flow was simply stunning:
This is the Aztec Calendar, on display at the Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Mexico City, Mexico: it's a huge basaltic monolith (it weighs 25 tons), Aztec called it Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl, but it is universally known as the Aztec Calendar or Sun Stone.
"The Mayans see time like a river. The Mayans also see changes in time as differences of tones, frequencies or even octaves, not just a hard measurement of something that never changes."
(images credit: Coppersmith Victor Bono, Olga Utlyakova)
Time Out of Time
One of our readers writes "I have a little replica, it's fantastic. Every year has a "no time" period - days "outside the calendar", to freely celebrate life." Well, actually, there are in total five "Nameless Days" (more info) at the end of every Mayan solar year - so called Wayeb' "Time Out of Time", a period for transition and preparation for the next year. Beside the obvious "free time" aspect, these days were considered sacred and quite mysterious "Days of Awe":
"During Wayeb, portals between the mortal realm and the Underworld dissolved. No boundaries prevented the ill-intending deities from causing disasters." For those interested, in 2012 the Wayeb period falls on March 28 - April 1 (source).
Ancient Egyptian Astronomical Calendar: Into the Wide Blue Yonder
The calendar system itself is one of the oldest, dated around 5,000 BC. This is also a truly spectacular presentation, full of pictoglyphs on paper made from the papyrus plant:
In case you're wondering what all these pictoglyphs mean, you can actually visit your local used bookstore and pick up a book "How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs".
Here is a bigger version, where you can really appreciate the complexity of artwork (this is a modern reproduction, which can be acquired on the streets of Cairo):
"It is known as the Dendera Zodiac and is a bas-relief from the ceiling of the portico of the chapel dedicated to Osiris in the Hathor temple at Dendera. The map of the stars on a plane projection, showing the 12 constellations of the zodiacal band forming 36 decans of ten days each, and the planets. These decans are groups of first-magnitude stars. These were used in the ancient Egyptian calendar, which was based on lunar cycles of around 30 days and on the heliacal rising of the star Sothis (Sirius)." - source.
The zodiacal "star chart" part was actually painted on the ceiling of Hathor temple in southern Egypt - and currently can be seen at Brooklyn Museum:
Ancient Indian (Aztec) Calendar - The original Codex Borbonicus c. 1507, before the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, 1518-1521 - more info:
(image credit: Collection of the Bibliotheque de l'Assemblee Nationale, Paris via)
Ancient Egyptian art has almost mesmerizing quality:
(top left: The Sun Stone fragment; right: Egyptian First Dynasty tablet; bottom right: Navigation by Sirius)
As you can see, the complexity and sophistication of this ancient atwork is simply astonishing. It is nowhere close, however, to what Mother Nature can create at the "spur of the moment" on any surface, like this ice crystals pattern on the parked car's roof:
Cooling fan! (and the power of words and good vocabulary)... won't work, the dictionary blocks the intake of the fan... and the vibrations and the exhaust gases from the internal combustion engine would lead to very ungly dirt in the computer... B.
"Dachy" means "roofs" in Polish. The car is advertising roofing services, probably has nothing to do with a "dacha" though I like the latter mental image better :)
The wheelchair with mountain bike wheels and a plastic chair is serious business! It's a low cost, heavy duty wheelchair for use in developing countries. It's a great initiative!!
I'm pretty sure the huge panel carried on the bike is held by the passenger (who does not particularly need to see), while the driver in front of it is able to drive...
The guy wearing flip-flops as headphones is actually a still from a spoof comedy series called "Nathan Barley" on C4 in England, early 2000's. Its actually showing how a certain type of person will follow just about any fashion if its 'cool'. One hell of a funny series
The picture under "Here is your RV, or rather 'dacha' (small villa):" has a Polish regestration plate and consequently advertises ROOFS as "Dachy" means exactly that in Polish.
My son bought me some kopi luwak from ThinkGeek for Father's Day last year. It is quite good coffee with very little aftertaste. Not worth the outrageous price tag, of course; it's mainly for the novelty of it.
I am living in Lombok, Indonesia which is one island west of Sumbawa, where a lot of Luwak is produced. The coffee is nice with little to no bitterness and costs about $20 per cup. I have no problems with its source - it has been roasted and is basically sterile even before it goes into the plunger. Most of the cost is a result of its rarity - the locals scour the forest floor looking for the droppings, which are particularly difficult to spot. Some enterprising individuals are beginning to farm Civets - whether or not this will have an effect on the price is to be decided. I don't order it simply because the coffee here is already great - Lombok Kopi or Bali Kopi are basically ground to a fine powder, making a rich instant coffee with full flavour. I suggest making your way at least as far as Bali.
The coffee drinks in the Japanese "vending machine" are actually on a convenience store shelf. The one on the left is a Starbucks iced espresso, the one on the right an iced green tea latte. Both are standard drinks on Starbucks menus in many countries around the world.
There actually are interesting coffee varieties in Japanese vending machines, but these ain't them. :)
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