video_title
stringlengths 13
104
| Sentence
stringlengths 33
1.69k
|
|---|---|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
In ancient Greece, people did not use soap and water to wash. They used oil. We're seeing a sculpture called The Scraper, or the Epoximinos by Lysippos, which shows just that. This is an athlete whose body is now covered with perspiration and dust. What he's doing is he's washing himself, first by covering his body with oil, and then using a strigil to scrape all of the grime off with the oil. Lysippos was one of the most famous sculptors from the 4th century BCE, but of course we're not looking at the actual work by Lysippos of the Epoximinos. We're looking at an ancient Roman copy in marble of what was a Greek bronze original.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
This is an athlete whose body is now covered with perspiration and dust. What he's doing is he's washing himself, first by covering his body with oil, and then using a strigil to scrape all of the grime off with the oil. Lysippos was one of the most famous sculptors from the 4th century BCE, but of course we're not looking at the actual work by Lysippos of the Epoximinos. We're looking at an ancient Roman copy in marble of what was a Greek bronze original. But even though it's a copy, it can give us a tremendous amount of information. Lysippos is known for having changed the proportional canon that we associate with the high classical tradition in Greece. This is the 4th century, and what Lysippos has done is to elongate the body and to reduce the size of the head.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
We're looking at an ancient Roman copy in marble of what was a Greek bronze original. But even though it's a copy, it can give us a tremendous amount of information. Lysippos is known for having changed the proportional canon that we associate with the high classical tradition in Greece. This is the 4th century, and what Lysippos has done is to elongate the body and to reduce the size of the head. It's very obvious when you compare this with a 5th century sculpture from the classical period by Polykleitos, who was the sculptor who established that canon. In the Derivatives, if you look at Polykleitos' sculpture and you measure the size of the head, the length of the body is 7 heads tall. But Lysippos has added a full head's worth of length.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
This is the 4th century, and what Lysippos has done is to elongate the body and to reduce the size of the head. It's very obvious when you compare this with a 5th century sculpture from the classical period by Polykleitos, who was the sculptor who established that canon. In the Derivatives, if you look at Polykleitos' sculpture and you measure the size of the head, the length of the body is 7 heads tall. But Lysippos has added a full head's worth of length. So if you were to measure this, this is 8 head lengths tall. And because the head is smaller and the body is taller, it gives us a sense as we look up at this sculpture on a podium that the figure is even taller than he is. And Lysippos has done some other new things.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
But Lysippos has added a full head's worth of length. So if you were to measure this, this is 8 head lengths tall. And because the head is smaller and the body is taller, it gives us a sense as we look up at this sculpture on a podium that the figure is even taller than he is. And Lysippos has done some other new things. He's reached the figure's arm into space where the figure is scraping the oil from his body. And by doing that, he breaks out of the frontal orientation of classical sculpture and makes us want to move around the figure so we can see it from different directions. Well, that's right.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
And Lysippos has done some other new things. He's reached the figure's arm into space where the figure is scraping the oil from his body. And by doing that, he breaks out of the frontal orientation of classical sculpture and makes us want to move around the figure so we can see it from different directions. Well, that's right. There is perhaps a fairly ideal position to view the sculpture from his front left. But nevertheless, I can't see his chest, and so I do want to move around. Now, this was a bronze originally, so that tree trunk was not there in the original sculpture.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
Well, that's right. There is perhaps a fairly ideal position to view the sculpture from his front left. But nevertheless, I can't see his chest, and so I do want to move around. Now, this was a bronze originally, so that tree trunk was not there in the original sculpture. It wasn't necessary. Bronze has enough tensile strength, so you don't need that. And you can see that there's actually a fragment of a couple of bridges that were meant to first support the marble arms, which have broken and then been repaired.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
Now, this was a bronze originally, so that tree trunk was not there in the original sculpture. It wasn't necessary. Bronze has enough tensile strength, so you don't need that. And you can see that there's actually a fragment of a couple of bridges that were meant to first support the marble arms, which have broken and then been repaired. But nevertheless, even in the original bronze, I would have wanted to walk around this. No question. But even though Lysippos is introducing these very new innovations, again, this change of the proportion of the body, this breaking with the frontal plane of the sculpture, he's still very much embedded in the great Greek tradition of representing the nude athlete, this idealized human body.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
And you can see that there's actually a fragment of a couple of bridges that were meant to first support the marble arms, which have broken and then been repaired. But nevertheless, even in the original bronze, I would have wanted to walk around this. No question. But even though Lysippos is introducing these very new innovations, again, this change of the proportion of the body, this breaking with the frontal plane of the sculpture, he's still very much embedded in the great Greek tradition of representing the nude athlete, this idealized human body. And of course, Lysippos' figure stands in contrapposto, which was invented by the Greeks in the classical period. It's such a gorgeous example of contrapposto. And of the body as a whole, look at the musculature.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
But even though Lysippos is introducing these very new innovations, again, this change of the proportion of the body, this breaking with the frontal plane of the sculpture, he's still very much embedded in the great Greek tradition of representing the nude athlete, this idealized human body. And of course, Lysippos' figure stands in contrapposto, which was invented by the Greeks in the classical period. It's such a gorgeous example of contrapposto. And of the body as a whole, look at the musculature. We really feel the power of this athlete, even though it's presumably now after his exercises. Now, from sources, we hear that Lysippos was associated with Alexander the Great, the great military leader that conquered Greece and spread Greek ideas throughout the Mediterranean. And he's said to have sculpted Alexander.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
And of the body as a whole, look at the musculature. We really feel the power of this athlete, even though it's presumably now after his exercises. Now, from sources, we hear that Lysippos was associated with Alexander the Great, the great military leader that conquered Greece and spread Greek ideas throughout the Mediterranean. And he's said to have sculpted Alexander. Too bad none of those sculptures survive. We're seeing the sculpture in the Vatican because antiquities were treasured by Renaissance popes and subsequently. But of course, we're looking at a sculpture that is pagan, and pagan in its celebration of human achievement and human beauty, as opposed to the spiritual.
|
Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper).mp3
|
And he's said to have sculpted Alexander. Too bad none of those sculptures survive. We're seeing the sculpture in the Vatican because antiquities were treasured by Renaissance popes and subsequently. But of course, we're looking at a sculpture that is pagan, and pagan in its celebration of human achievement and human beauty, as opposed to the spiritual. But it is striking to see this sculpture in such a religious institution. And so many ancient Greek and Roman sculptures all around us here in the Vatican Museum. One last detail, which is the room in which the sculpture is displayed, apparently was a room that Leonardo da Vinci occupied briefly.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
♪♪♪ Standing in the middle of the imperial fora in Rome, that is the series of forums, of public spaces built by the emperors of Rome. This is distinct from the older Roman forum. The place we're actually standing is in the footprint of what was once the Basilica Ulpia, a major building that occupied a central position in Trajan's Forum. This was the largest of the imperial fora. This celebrated Trajan's great military victory, specifically his victory over the Dacians. Now Dacia corresponds roughly with present-day Romania. In fact, it's under Trajan that the Roman Empire reaches its greatest extent.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
This was the largest of the imperial fora. This celebrated Trajan's great military victory, specifically his victory over the Dacians. Now Dacia corresponds roughly with present-day Romania. In fact, it's under Trajan that the Roman Empire reaches its greatest extent. So he's a conquering hero in Rome, and this forum celebrates that. Let's retrace what it would have been like to walk into the Forum of Trajan. You would have walked under a large triumphal arch surmounted by six horses pulling a chariot with the emperor being crowned by victory.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
In fact, it's under Trajan that the Roman Empire reaches its greatest extent. So he's a conquering hero in Rome, and this forum celebrates that. Let's retrace what it would have been like to walk into the Forum of Trajan. You would have walked under a large triumphal arch surmounted by six horses pulling a chariot with the emperor being crowned by victory. In the center was a gilded equestrian sculpture of Trajan. And all along the forum were large sculptures of captured Dacian soldiers. So he's a conquering hero in Rome, and this forum celebrates that.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
You would have walked under a large triumphal arch surmounted by six horses pulling a chariot with the emperor being crowned by victory. In the center was a gilded equestrian sculpture of Trajan. And all along the forum were large sculptures of captured Dacian soldiers. So he's a conquering hero in Rome, and this forum celebrates that. As you walked into the forum, you would have seen just over the Basilica Ulpia an enormous heroic sculpture of the emperor on top of a column. But also gilded. So this is a richly colored space with different colored marbles being brought in from all parts of the Roman Empire.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
So he's a conquering hero in Rome, and this forum celebrates that. As you walked into the forum, you would have seen just over the Basilica Ulpia an enormous heroic sculpture of the emperor on top of a column. But also gilded. So this is a richly colored space with different colored marbles being brought in from all parts of the Roman Empire. And we should note that the enormous expense that was required to build this forum came from the conquest of Dacia. And that was made explicit. When you walked within the forum, you saw the booty that was taken in Dacia.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
So this is a richly colored space with different colored marbles being brought in from all parts of the Roman Empire. And we should note that the enormous expense that was required to build this forum came from the conquest of Dacia. And that was made explicit. When you walked within the forum, you saw the booty that was taken in Dacia. Sadly, the majority of the forum is gone. It's been sacked, it's been pillaged for its stone. What we see now are the ruins of medieval houses, scattered classical fragments.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
When you walked within the forum, you saw the booty that was taken in Dacia. Sadly, the majority of the forum is gone. It's been sacked, it's been pillaged for its stone. What we see now are the ruins of medieval houses, scattered classical fragments. But still standing proudly is the column of Trajan. Today as we look up at the column, we see it framed by two Baroque churches. And the column itself no longer has Trajan on top.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
What we see now are the ruins of medieval houses, scattered classical fragments. But still standing proudly is the column of Trajan. Today as we look up at the column, we see it framed by two Baroque churches. And the column itself no longer has Trajan on top. Instead, in the 16th century, a sculpture of Saint Peter was erected there. In a way, we're in the middle of pagan Rome, surrounded by Christian Rome. So the column is really made of three parts.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
And the column itself no longer has Trajan on top. Instead, in the 16th century, a sculpture of Saint Peter was erected there. In a way, we're in the middle of pagan Rome, surrounded by Christian Rome. So the column is really made of three parts. You have a base, you have the shaft, which has this wonderful ribbon of carving, and at the top, a capital, which forms the base for the sculpture. We know that Trajan's ashes were once inside the base. And the base is almost completely covered with carvings.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
So the column is really made of three parts. You have a base, you have the shaft, which has this wonderful ribbon of carving, and at the top, a capital, which forms the base for the sculpture. We know that Trajan's ashes were once inside the base. And the base is almost completely covered with carvings. You see these wonderful garlands hung from the corners, each with an eagle perched. And below that, Nikes, that is figures of victory, and most prominently, you see representations of arms and armor. This is booty that had been taken from the Dacians.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
And the base is almost completely covered with carvings. You see these wonderful garlands hung from the corners, each with an eagle perched. And below that, Nikes, that is figures of victory, and most prominently, you see representations of arms and armor. This is booty that had been taken from the Dacians. This is a symbol of Trajan's victory. And there are two winged victories, framing a large plaque with a deep, beautiful inscription, which has actually become very famous. Not so much for what it says, that this is erected in honor of Trajan by the Senate and the people of Rome, but for the quality of the lettering, the model for a typeface known as Trajan.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
This is booty that had been taken from the Dacians. This is a symbol of Trajan's victory. And there are two winged victories, framing a large plaque with a deep, beautiful inscription, which has actually become very famous. Not so much for what it says, that this is erected in honor of Trajan by the Senate and the people of Rome, but for the quality of the lettering, the model for a typeface known as Trajan. Above that, an enormous victory wreath that the column rises from. But the most famous part of the column is the relief sculpture that winds around it, telling us various stories of the two Dacian campaigns. The first war against the Dacians begins at the bottom.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
Not so much for what it says, that this is erected in honor of Trajan by the Senate and the people of Rome, but for the quality of the lettering, the model for a typeface known as Trajan. Above that, an enormous victory wreath that the column rises from. But the most famous part of the column is the relief sculpture that winds around it, telling us various stories of the two Dacian campaigns. The first war against the Dacians begins at the bottom. And what I find interesting is that we are not shown a triumphal victory. Instead, what we see across the entire column are images of the army marching, constructing garrisons, building bridges, the engineering and the day-to-day work that's required for a successful military adventure. Roughly 21% of the sculpture represents battle scenes.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
The first war against the Dacians begins at the bottom. And what I find interesting is that we are not shown a triumphal victory. Instead, what we see across the entire column are images of the army marching, constructing garrisons, building bridges, the engineering and the day-to-day work that's required for a successful military adventure. Roughly 21% of the sculpture represents battle scenes. So when you're thinking about a victory monument, you would think about scenes of military victory. But here we have that day-to-day work of the army. And of course, the army was in imperial Rome, along with the Senate, one of the great centers of power.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
Roughly 21% of the sculpture represents battle scenes. So when you're thinking about a victory monument, you would think about scenes of military victory. But here we have that day-to-day work of the army. And of course, the army was in imperial Rome, along with the Senate, one of the great centers of power. And it's a reminder that the Romans were unparalleled in terms of their engineering. And so we should mention Trajan's famous architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, who is often credited not only with the architecture that made these military campaigns successful, but also with being the architect of the forum itself. And the column.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
And of course, the army was in imperial Rome, along with the Senate, one of the great centers of power. And it's a reminder that the Romans were unparalleled in terms of their engineering. And so we should mention Trajan's famous architect, Apollodorus of Damascus, who is often credited not only with the architecture that made these military campaigns successful, but also with being the architect of the forum itself. And the column. Now, the area where the forum is located, it was actually a kind of saddle between the Capitoline Hill and the Quirinal. And Apollodorus of Damascus was tasked with removing an enormous amount of earth. The column, one of the inscriptions tells us, is precisely the height of the top of the saddle.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
And the column. Now, the area where the forum is located, it was actually a kind of saddle between the Capitoline Hill and the Quirinal. And Apollodorus of Damascus was tasked with removing an enormous amount of earth. The column, one of the inscriptions tells us, is precisely the height of the top of the saddle. That is, we can get a sense of how much earth was removed by looking up to the top. This is not a literal document. On the other hand, it does show us various moments of the campaigns.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
The column, one of the inscriptions tells us, is precisely the height of the top of the saddle. That is, we can get a sense of how much earth was removed by looking up to the top. This is not a literal document. On the other hand, it does show us various moments of the campaigns. But it's also filled with stock scenes that we would find in any imperial monument where the emperor is addressing his troops or the emperor is making sacrifices, the emperor is leading his troops. Using those types of scenes help to make the column readable. Recent analysis has revealed that the column was painted with the primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, but also with black.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
On the other hand, it does show us various moments of the campaigns. But it's also filled with stock scenes that we would find in any imperial monument where the emperor is addressing his troops or the emperor is making sacrifices, the emperor is leading his troops. Using those types of scenes help to make the column readable. Recent analysis has revealed that the column was painted with the primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, but also with black. But I have to say that even if this was painted, it would be a difficult story to follow, in large part because it turns around the column. But that's a reminder that this was originally surrounded by viewing platforms. There was a Greek library and a Latin library flanking it.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
Recent analysis has revealed that the column was painted with the primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, but also with black. But I have to say that even if this was painted, it would be a difficult story to follow, in large part because it turns around the column. But that's a reminder that this was originally surrounded by viewing platforms. There was a Greek library and a Latin library flanking it. And so you could stand almost halfway up. Some of the scenes are very moving. We see scenes of battle, we see scenes of wounded Roman soldiers who are being attended to.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
There was a Greek library and a Latin library flanking it. And so you could stand almost halfway up. Some of the scenes are very moving. We see scenes of battle, we see scenes of wounded Roman soldiers who are being attended to. And at the very top, very much the climax of the story that's unfolding, we see Decebalus, the general in charge of the Dacians, who commits suicide rather than be captured by the Romans. So let's have a closer look at one of the scenes toward the bottom of the column of the Roman army crossing the very wide Danube River. We've climbed up some stairs and are now standing about as close as you can get to the bottom few drums.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
We see scenes of battle, we see scenes of wounded Roman soldiers who are being attended to. And at the very top, very much the climax of the story that's unfolding, we see Decebalus, the general in charge of the Dacians, who commits suicide rather than be captured by the Romans. So let's have a closer look at one of the scenes toward the bottom of the column of the Roman army crossing the very wide Danube River. We've climbed up some stairs and are now standing about as close as you can get to the bottom few drums. And we can clearly see the large figure of the river god, Danube. Now, the Roman soldiers needed to cross the Danube River in order to reach Dacia. And what we see is a famous engineering feat where the Romans constructed a temporary pontoon bridge floating over the river.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
We've climbed up some stairs and are now standing about as close as you can get to the bottom few drums. And we can clearly see the large figure of the river god, Danube. Now, the Roman soldiers needed to cross the Danube River in order to reach Dacia. And what we see is a famous engineering feat where the Romans constructed a temporary pontoon bridge floating over the river. And we can see the soldiers crossing. You can see the waves in the water of the Danube River. You can see the boats that are used as the base of the bridge, and you can see the soldiers crossing it in a very orderly fashion.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
And what we see is a famous engineering feat where the Romans constructed a temporary pontoon bridge floating over the river. And we can see the soldiers crossing. You can see the waves in the water of the Danube River. You can see the boats that are used as the base of the bridge, and you can see the soldiers crossing it in a very orderly fashion. Each of those soldiers is carrying supplies. You can make out bags and perhaps some pots and pans, but that's replaced as you move to the right with soldiers carrying military standards. In some ways, this relief is so naturalistic.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
You can see the boats that are used as the base of the bridge, and you can see the soldiers crossing it in a very orderly fashion. Each of those soldiers is carrying supplies. You can make out bags and perhaps some pots and pans, but that's replaced as you move to the right with soldiers carrying military standards. In some ways, this relief is so naturalistic. The figures move and stand and interact so naturalistically as they build and listen to the emperor. But on the other hand, there are these shifts of scale so that the architecture is too small for the figures. And also, the emperor Trajan appears larger than his soldiers.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
In some ways, this relief is so naturalistic. The figures move and stand and interact so naturalistically as they build and listen to the emperor. But on the other hand, there are these shifts of scale so that the architecture is too small for the figures. And also, the emperor Trajan appears larger than his soldiers. So all of these things help us to read the narrative on the column of Trajan. Someday, I would like to be able to ascend to the top. There is a door, and inside is where the ashes of the emperor and his wife were located.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
And also, the emperor Trajan appears larger than his soldiers. So all of these things help us to read the narrative on the column of Trajan. Someday, I would like to be able to ascend to the top. There is a door, and inside is where the ashes of the emperor and his wife were located. But there's also a staircase. Each one of the drums that make up this column is hollow, stacked one atop another, but it allows you to go all the way up to the viewing platform, up to the feet of Saint Peter. We see at the bottom this war booty.
|
Column of Trajan.mp3
|
There is a door, and inside is where the ashes of the emperor and his wife were located. But there's also a staircase. Each one of the drums that make up this column is hollow, stacked one atop another, but it allows you to go all the way up to the viewing platform, up to the feet of Saint Peter. We see at the bottom this war booty. On top of that, these symbols of victory, the hard work of the army to ensure these victories, originally at the very top, Trajan himself. And I think it's worth noting that the Romans who would have seen this would not have been, for the most part, the people who would have had access to the military victories against the Dacians. So this is bringing that story here back to the capital.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
In every one of their lives, in every different generation, they can acquire different meanings, so their meaning can become richer as time goes on. One of the most extraordinary objects in that regard is the so-called Cyrus Cylinder. It's about two and a half thousand years old. It's a small barrel-shaped piece of clay covered with cuneiform inscriptions, discovered in 1879 by a British Museum expedition to Babylon, now in modern Iraq. But to understand the Cyrus Cylinder, we need to start with the world from which it came, a world in which Iran, Persia, reigned supreme. Our story begins 550 years before Christ, with Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire. After uniting the Persian and Median tribes, Cyrus came into conflict with King Croesus of Lydia in what's now modern-day Turkey.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
It's a small barrel-shaped piece of clay covered with cuneiform inscriptions, discovered in 1879 by a British Museum expedition to Babylon, now in modern Iraq. But to understand the Cyrus Cylinder, we need to start with the world from which it came, a world in which Iran, Persia, reigned supreme. Our story begins 550 years before Christ, with Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire. After uniting the Persian and Median tribes, Cyrus came into conflict with King Croesus of Lydia in what's now modern-day Turkey. He defeated Croesus in battle. Cyrus then clashed with the powerful Babylonian Empire to the west. In 539 BC, he besieged their capital, Babylon.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
After uniting the Persian and Median tribes, Cyrus came into conflict with King Croesus of Lydia in what's now modern-day Turkey. He defeated Croesus in battle. Cyrus then clashed with the powerful Babylonian Empire to the west. In 539 BC, he besieged their capital, Babylon. It fell with barely a fight. Persia under Cyrus became a superpower of the ancient world. Cyrus' conquest of Babylon had been predicted, and was described in the Old Testament by the Jewish prophet Daniel.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
In 539 BC, he besieged their capital, Babylon. It fell with barely a fight. Persia under Cyrus became a superpower of the ancient world. Cyrus' conquest of Babylon had been predicted, and was described in the Old Testament by the Jewish prophet Daniel. That very night, the Babylonian regent Belshazzar had held a feast. He feasted using the sacred gold vessels from the temple in Jerusalem. And then suddenly, miraculously, there was a hand writing on the wall, and the writing said, you have been weighed in the balance, you've been found wanting, and your kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Cyrus' conquest of Babylon had been predicted, and was described in the Old Testament by the Jewish prophet Daniel. That very night, the Babylonian regent Belshazzar had held a feast. He feasted using the sacred gold vessels from the temple in Jerusalem. And then suddenly, miraculously, there was a hand writing on the wall, and the writing said, you have been weighed in the balance, you've been found wanting, and your kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians. So from this we have the expression, the writing is on the wall, and we have Rembrandt's great painting, Belshazzar's Feast. Within hours, the great empire of Babylon was no more. Cyrus justified his invasion to the Babylonian people, in a proclamation written on clay tablets such as this one, which are likely to have been widely distributed.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
And then suddenly, miraculously, there was a hand writing on the wall, and the writing said, you have been weighed in the balance, you've been found wanting, and your kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians. So from this we have the expression, the writing is on the wall, and we have Rembrandt's great painting, Belshazzar's Feast. Within hours, the great empire of Babylon was no more. Cyrus justified his invasion to the Babylonian people, in a proclamation written on clay tablets such as this one, which are likely to have been widely distributed. Surviving fragments, along with the Cyrus cylinder, carry identical wording. Because the Cyrus cylinder was meant for a Babylonian audience, it was written in the Babylonian language, which is a Semitic tongue related to the modern languages of Hebrew and Arabic and Aramaic. The writing system which Cyrus's officials used was the traditional cuneiform script, which had been invented in ancient Iraq well before 3000 BC.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Cyrus justified his invasion to the Babylonian people, in a proclamation written on clay tablets such as this one, which are likely to have been widely distributed. Surviving fragments, along with the Cyrus cylinder, carry identical wording. Because the Cyrus cylinder was meant for a Babylonian audience, it was written in the Babylonian language, which is a Semitic tongue related to the modern languages of Hebrew and Arabic and Aramaic. The writing system which Cyrus's officials used was the traditional cuneiform script, which had been invented in ancient Iraq well before 3000 BC. It is written by pressing a stylus, something a bit like a chopstick, into the surface of the clay which is nearly dry, and the signs which convey the sound of the language consist of different arrangements of these strokes. They're written one by one, and the reader has to join them up, and the sound emerges from the clay. This is the line that says, I am Qurash, Shah Kishati, king of the world, the great king, king of Babylon, and so it goes on.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
The writing system which Cyrus's officials used was the traditional cuneiform script, which had been invented in ancient Iraq well before 3000 BC. It is written by pressing a stylus, something a bit like a chopstick, into the surface of the clay which is nearly dry, and the signs which convey the sound of the language consist of different arrangements of these strokes. They're written one by one, and the reader has to join them up, and the sound emerges from the clay. This is the line that says, I am Qurash, Shah Kishati, king of the world, the great king, king of Babylon, and so it goes on. So we're going to write Qurash. So the first sign, Ku, has a big vertical, two small horizontals, one bigger horizontal, a little vertical, and another horizontal, like a box. This is Ku.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
This is the line that says, I am Qurash, Shah Kishati, king of the world, the great king, king of Babylon, and so it goes on. So we're going to write Qurash. So the first sign, Ku, has a big vertical, two small horizontals, one bigger horizontal, a little vertical, and another horizontal, like a box. This is Ku. Then Ra, we have three strong horizontals to begin, one big one next to it, and then one little vertical wedge, and one bigger vertical wedge. Ku, Ra. Now we do Ash, which is three long horizontals, and then a vertical in the middle.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
This is Ku. Then Ra, we have three strong horizontals to begin, one big one next to it, and then one little vertical wedge, and one bigger vertical wedge. Ku, Ra. Now we do Ash, which is three long horizontals, and then a vertical in the middle. So we can read this, Ku, Ra, Ash, the name of Cyrus. The early lines on the cylinder extol Cyrus's virtues and his reasons for invading Babylon. But it's lines 30 to 35 that set Cyrus up as a great leader in the modern liberal sense.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Now we do Ash, which is three long horizontals, and then a vertical in the middle. So we can read this, Ku, Ra, Ash, the name of Cyrus. The early lines on the cylinder extol Cyrus's virtues and his reasons for invading Babylon. But it's lines 30 to 35 that set Cyrus up as a great leader in the modern liberal sense. One of Cyrus's first acts after his conquest was to release those who'd been made captive by the Babylonians. This was a mark of his style of rule, and it's this very event that's recorded on the cylinder. So this was a key moment in the history of the Jewish people.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
But it's lines 30 to 35 that set Cyrus up as a great leader in the modern liberal sense. One of Cyrus's first acts after his conquest was to release those who'd been made captive by the Babylonians. This was a mark of his style of rule, and it's this very event that's recorded on the cylinder. So this was a key moment in the history of the Jewish people. They'd spent many years weeping by the rivers of Babylon, and now finally they were allowed to return to Jerusalem and then to rebuild the temple. The return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, the permission from Cyrus to rebuild the second temple, reshaped Judaism. And the notion of return is central to Jewish life and mythology.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
So this was a key moment in the history of the Jewish people. They'd spent many years weeping by the rivers of Babylon, and now finally they were allowed to return to Jerusalem and then to rebuild the temple. The return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, the permission from Cyrus to rebuild the second temple, reshaped Judaism. And the notion of return is central to Jewish life and mythology. No lesser person than David Ben-Gurion wrote, Cyrus displayed a spirit of charity towards his adversaries, a unique tolerance towards all religions. He, Cyrus, played a decisive role in the first return to Zion. Although Cyrus's empire was eventually broken up, the idea of Cyrus himself remained.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
And the notion of return is central to Jewish life and mythology. No lesser person than David Ben-Gurion wrote, Cyrus displayed a spirit of charity towards his adversaries, a unique tolerance towards all religions. He, Cyrus, played a decisive role in the first return to Zion. Although Cyrus's empire was eventually broken up, the idea of Cyrus himself remained. Cyrus as the model ruler. The principal source for that view of Cyrus came from the Greek historian Xenophon. His book, Cyropaedia, was really about how to run an empire with Cyrus as the model.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Although Cyrus's empire was eventually broken up, the idea of Cyrus himself remained. Cyrus as the model ruler. The principal source for that view of Cyrus came from the Greek historian Xenophon. His book, Cyropaedia, was really about how to run an empire with Cyrus as the model. It was very popular all through the Renaissance, and particularly with the founding fathers of America. And we know that Jefferson had two, possibly three copies of Xenophon's Life of Cyrus and referred to it regularly. So there's a very direct link between the Cyrus Cylinder and the making of the United States.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
His book, Cyropaedia, was really about how to run an empire with Cyrus as the model. It was very popular all through the Renaissance, and particularly with the founding fathers of America. And we know that Jefferson had two, possibly three copies of Xenophon's Life of Cyrus and referred to it regularly. So there's a very direct link between the Cyrus Cylinder and the making of the United States. The Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great, reached its peak under the later King Darius, extending from Libya in the central Mediterranean to the Indus Valley in modern-day Pakistan. It is the beginning of the idea of the Middle East, an idea that we still live with today. And when we use the word the Near East, the Middle East, we're talking about exactly the area that was the Persian Empire.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
So there's a very direct link between the Cyrus Cylinder and the making of the United States. The Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great, reached its peak under the later King Darius, extending from Libya in the central Mediterranean to the Indus Valley in modern-day Pakistan. It is the beginning of the idea of the Middle East, an idea that we still live with today. And when we use the word the Near East, the Middle East, we're talking about exactly the area that was the Persian Empire. The frieze behind me is a cast of the frieze in the royal palace at Persepolis, the Persian capital, and it shows the different peoples of the empire bringing their different tributes. It's a perfect emblem of the variety of the empire. Every people brings their own kind of tribute.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
And when we use the word the Near East, the Middle East, we're talking about exactly the area that was the Persian Empire. The frieze behind me is a cast of the frieze in the royal palace at Persepolis, the Persian capital, and it shows the different peoples of the empire bringing their different tributes. It's a perfect emblem of the variety of the empire. Every people brings their own kind of tribute. The Persian Empire, unlike others, didn't try to crush people into one way of being or doing. It allowed a great diversity of habits and patterns, language and faith to live together. It became the great model of how to run an empire of dizzying diversity.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Every people brings their own kind of tribute. The Persian Empire, unlike others, didn't try to crush people into one way of being or doing. It allowed a great diversity of habits and patterns, language and faith to live together. It became the great model of how to run an empire of dizzying diversity. Because it was such a vast area, new practices and techniques had to be introduced to administer this vast space. The exhibition has tried to highlight some of these, all as the introduction of old Persian cuneiform. There are technological introductions, wonderful new forms of jewellery and gold and silver bowls.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
It became the great model of how to run an empire of dizzying diversity. Because it was such a vast area, new practices and techniques had to be introduced to administer this vast space. The exhibition has tried to highlight some of these, all as the introduction of old Persian cuneiform. There are technological introductions, wonderful new forms of jewellery and gold and silver bowls. We find aramaic becoming widely used at this time. And we've got the introduction on a large scale of coinage. The king of Lydia is Croesus, who rules a very prosperous nation.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
There are technological introductions, wonderful new forms of jewellery and gold and silver bowls. We find aramaic becoming widely used at this time. And we've got the introduction on a large scale of coinage. The king of Lydia is Croesus, who rules a very prosperous nation. And Osiris sees Lydian coinage in silver and in gold, and he adopts that coinage and produces Croesus, as we call these coins. These coins show a lion attacking a bull, and it is until the time of Darius in 522 that this coinage is continued. Darius introduces a completely new monetary coinage, the gold Darik, named after him, and the silver Siglos, which derives from the Hebrew word for silver shekel.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
The king of Lydia is Croesus, who rules a very prosperous nation. And Osiris sees Lydian coinage in silver and in gold, and he adopts that coinage and produces Croesus, as we call these coins. These coins show a lion attacking a bull, and it is until the time of Darius in 522 that this coinage is continued. Darius introduces a completely new monetary coinage, the gold Darik, named after him, and the silver Siglos, which derives from the Hebrew word for silver shekel. He describes himself as a competent archer, as a competent horseman, as a competent spearman. So this imagery of the archer on his coins is something definitely that the Persians like to be portrayed as. This armlet is actually one of a pair.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Darius introduces a completely new monetary coinage, the gold Darik, named after him, and the silver Siglos, which derives from the Hebrew word for silver shekel. He describes himself as a competent archer, as a competent horseman, as a competent spearman. So this imagery of the archer on his coins is something definitely that the Persians like to be portrayed as. This armlet is actually one of a pair. It's from the Oxus treasure. The griffin terminals possibly show the Zoroastrian verugna bird. The surface is covered with lots of little cavities for inlaying with semi-precious stone, glass or coloured paste, characteristic of the Achaemenid period.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
This armlet is actually one of a pair. It's from the Oxus treasure. The griffin terminals possibly show the Zoroastrian verugna bird. The surface is covered with lots of little cavities for inlaying with semi-precious stone, glass or coloured paste, characteristic of the Achaemenid period. Armlets were particularly precious diplomatic gifts at this time. They're shown being brought by four of the different delegations on the Apadana reliefs at Persepolis. Amongst the objects of the Oxus treasure, there are some fascinating votive objects in the form of gold plaques.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
The surface is covered with lots of little cavities for inlaying with semi-precious stone, glass or coloured paste, characteristic of the Achaemenid period. Armlets were particularly precious diplomatic gifts at this time. They're shown being brought by four of the different delegations on the Apadana reliefs at Persepolis. Amongst the objects of the Oxus treasure, there are some fascinating votive objects in the form of gold plaques. These figures wear a soft cap, perhaps made of felt. They had a chin guard. This could be pulled up to cover the mouth.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Amongst the objects of the Oxus treasure, there are some fascinating votive objects in the form of gold plaques. These figures wear a soft cap, perhaps made of felt. They had a chin guard. This could be pulled up to cover the mouth. When they were engaged in a religious act or ritual act in front of the fire, they had to protect the fire, which is a holy element and must not be polluted. They hold consecrated wooden sticks, the balsam. We think the Achaemenids were Zoroastrians.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
This could be pulled up to cover the mouth. When they were engaged in a religious act or ritual act in front of the fire, they had to protect the fire, which is a holy element and must not be polluted. They hold consecrated wooden sticks, the balsam. We think the Achaemenids were Zoroastrians. It's an ancient religion which gets its name from the prophet Zarathustra or Zoroaster in Greek. At a time when a number of gods were worshipped, Zarathustra came and said, no, the creator of all is Ahura Mazda. This is the official seal of the later King Darius, who put the empire on a secure administrative and financial footing.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
We think the Achaemenids were Zoroastrians. It's an ancient religion which gets its name from the prophet Zarathustra or Zoroaster in Greek. At a time when a number of gods were worshipped, Zarathustra came and said, no, the creator of all is Ahura Mazda. This is the official seal of the later King Darius, who put the empire on a secure administrative and financial footing. King Darius hunts a lion. Above him is a winged figure with the head of a human being, thought to be the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda. The wording declares, I am Darius, the great king.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
This is the official seal of the later King Darius, who put the empire on a secure administrative and financial footing. King Darius hunts a lion. Above him is a winged figure with the head of a human being, thought to be the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda. The wording declares, I am Darius, the great king. It's in three languages, Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. These monumental official languages, which sometimes also include Egyptian hieroglyphs, are another sign of the multicultural nature of the empire. Almost everything that we know about the Persian empire actually comes from Greek sources, so it was written by their enemies.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
The wording declares, I am Darius, the great king. It's in three languages, Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. These monumental official languages, which sometimes also include Egyptian hieroglyphs, are another sign of the multicultural nature of the empire. Almost everything that we know about the Persian empire actually comes from Greek sources, so it was written by their enemies. So it's a bit like knowing the story of 20th century America entirely through Soviet sources. And that's why this cylinder is so important. This is the Persians speaking as the Persians addressing the world.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Almost everything that we know about the Persian empire actually comes from Greek sources, so it was written by their enemies. So it's a bit like knowing the story of 20th century America entirely through Soviet sources. And that's why this cylinder is so important. This is the Persians speaking as the Persians addressing the world. It's a message direct from Cyrus. When the Cyrus cylinder was excavated in 1879, it brings Cyrus and indeed the cylinder into a totally different kind of debate, not about government but about the reliability of scripture. The middle of the 19th century was of course a moment when the authenticity and the authority of scripture was being challenged.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
This is the Persians speaking as the Persians addressing the world. It's a message direct from Cyrus. When the Cyrus cylinder was excavated in 1879, it brings Cyrus and indeed the cylinder into a totally different kind of debate, not about government but about the reliability of scripture. The middle of the 19th century was of course a moment when the authenticity and the authority of scripture was being challenged. Darwin is writing about evolution, the discoveries of geology are making people wonder whether you can rely on scripture. The cylinder tells us that Cyrus is governed, led by the god of Babylon, Marduk. The Hebrew Bible tells us that it was the Lord God of Israel who governs Cyrus, who conducts him through the whole military campaign.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
The middle of the 19th century was of course a moment when the authenticity and the authority of scripture was being challenged. Darwin is writing about evolution, the discoveries of geology are making people wonder whether you can rely on scripture. The cylinder tells us that Cyrus is governed, led by the god of Babylon, Marduk. The Hebrew Bible tells us that it was the Lord God of Israel who governs Cyrus, who conducts him through the whole military campaign. And so what we have in the Cyrus cylinder put beside the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Chronicles, the Book of Ezra, are two different priestly interpretations of the same military campaign. It suggested that the Hebrew scriptures must be part of a much bigger Middle Eastern religious tradition. But the life the Cyrus cylinder could breathe into contemporary affairs was only just beginning.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
The Hebrew Bible tells us that it was the Lord God of Israel who governs Cyrus, who conducts him through the whole military campaign. And so what we have in the Cyrus cylinder put beside the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Chronicles, the Book of Ezra, are two different priestly interpretations of the same military campaign. It suggested that the Hebrew scriptures must be part of a much bigger Middle Eastern religious tradition. But the life the Cyrus cylinder could breathe into contemporary affairs was only just beginning. In 1971, for the 2500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy, the Shah of Iran held lavish celebrations in the ancient capital Persepolis, and in Pasargadae, the site of Cyrus' mausoleum. The Cyrus cylinder was the official symbol of the celebrations. Once again it took on a new story, the invention by the Shah of a return to Iranian history to put him at the centre of a great tradition.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
But the life the Cyrus cylinder could breathe into contemporary affairs was only just beginning. In 1971, for the 2500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy, the Shah of Iran held lavish celebrations in the ancient capital Persepolis, and in Pasargadae, the site of Cyrus' mausoleum. The Cyrus cylinder was the official symbol of the celebrations. Once again it took on a new story, the invention by the Shah of a return to Iranian history to put him at the centre of a great tradition. Coins were minted portraying the Shah and the cylinder. The Cyrus cylinder is guarantor of the Shah. But soon the Shah was gone, and revolutionary Iranians wanted an Islamic history.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
Once again it took on a new story, the invention by the Shah of a return to Iranian history to put him at the centre of a great tradition. Coins were minted portraying the Shah and the cylinder. The Cyrus cylinder is guarantor of the Shah. But soon the Shah was gone, and revolutionary Iranians wanted an Islamic history. Since the Iran-Iraq war, it's become a symbol of unity for all Iranians, to remember when two and a half thousand years ago they fought Iraq and won. It's worth reflecting on a moment when a Persian released the Jews, enabling them to go back to Jerusalem. When the Cyrus cylinder went to Tehran for exhibition in 2010, it was seen by about half a million people.
|
A new beginning for the Middle East The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia.mp3
|
But soon the Shah was gone, and revolutionary Iranians wanted an Islamic history. Since the Iran-Iraq war, it's become a symbol of unity for all Iranians, to remember when two and a half thousand years ago they fought Iraq and won. It's worth reflecting on a moment when a Persian released the Jews, enabling them to go back to Jerusalem. When the Cyrus cylinder went to Tehran for exhibition in 2010, it was seen by about half a million people. Muslims, Christians, Zoroastrians, Jews, everybody. And it became the focus of a very particular debate about what Iran is today. What are the histories that will shape Iran now and in the future?
|
Conserving Old Master Drawings A Balancing Act.mp3
|
A fundamental role of a museum is to care for its collection and preserve it for future generations. European drawings from the 1300s to the late 1800s, or old master drawings, are particularly vulnerable. They're on paper and hundreds of years old. Conserving an old master drawing is a balancing act. All drawings have their own set of condition issues that need to be assessed individually. Here, a Getty conservator carefully examines a 500-year-old German drawing. She first removes the drawing from its mount or support.
|
Conserving Old Master Drawings A Balancing Act.mp3
|
Conserving an old master drawing is a balancing act. All drawings have their own set of condition issues that need to be assessed individually. Here, a Getty conservator carefully examines a 500-year-old German drawing. She first removes the drawing from its mount or support. She inspects the drawing, lit from below. This makes it easier to see the marks left by the wires of the paper mold, stains, a watermark, a tear, with a darkened area that shows where it had been previously repaired, and at the corner, the shadow of a piece of paper that had been used to attach the drawing to a mount. Next, she examines the drawing under ultraviolet light.
|
Conserving Old Master Drawings A Balancing Act.mp3
|
She first removes the drawing from its mount or support. She inspects the drawing, lit from below. This makes it easier to see the marks left by the wires of the paper mold, stains, a watermark, a tear, with a darkened area that shows where it had been previously repaired, and at the corner, the shadow of a piece of paper that had been used to attach the drawing to a mount. Next, she examines the drawing under ultraviolet light. The brown spots are called foxing. These are marks left by mold. Finally, she studies the drawing under a microscope.
|
Conserving Old Master Drawings A Balancing Act.mp3
|
Next, she examines the drawing under ultraviolet light. The brown spots are called foxing. These are marks left by mold. Finally, she studies the drawing under a microscope. Now the conservator tests the solubility of the ink to ensure it won't bleed during treatment. She places the drawing on a vacuum table, a device that extracts the liquids used in the treatment out of the paper. She uses a small brush to apply an ammoniated water solution to reduce the brown foxing.
|
Conserving Old Master Drawings A Balancing Act.mp3
|
Finally, she studies the drawing under a microscope. Now the conservator tests the solubility of the ink to ensure it won't bleed during treatment. She places the drawing on a vacuum table, a device that extracts the liquids used in the treatment out of the paper. She uses a small brush to apply an ammoniated water solution to reduce the brown foxing. This solution subtly releases the color of the foxing, which distracts from the appearance of the drawing. She carefully alternates the application of ammoniated water with that of ethanol in order to reduce tied lines, irregular lines or blemishes left behind as the ammoniated water solution dries. Wearing magnifying lenses, she examines tears and prepares them for mending and reinforcement.
|
Conserving Old Master Drawings A Balancing Act.mp3
|
She uses a small brush to apply an ammoniated water solution to reduce the brown foxing. This solution subtly releases the color of the foxing, which distracts from the appearance of the drawing. She carefully alternates the application of ammoniated water with that of ethanol in order to reduce tied lines, irregular lines or blemishes left behind as the ammoniated water solution dries. Wearing magnifying lenses, she examines tears and prepares them for mending and reinforcement. She takes a piece of Japanese tissue and carefully applies wheat starch paste to mend the tear. Japanese paper has very strong fibers, is chemically neutral, and can easily be identified and removed. She allows the paste to set by putting the drawing between blotters and weighing it down with glass blocks and weights.
|
Conserving Old Master Drawings A Balancing Act.mp3
|
Wearing magnifying lenses, she examines tears and prepares them for mending and reinforcement. She takes a piece of Japanese tissue and carefully applies wheat starch paste to mend the tear. Japanese paper has very strong fibers, is chemically neutral, and can easily be identified and removed. She allows the paste to set by putting the drawing between blotters and weighing it down with glass blocks and weights. To complete the conservation treatment, the entire drawing is humidified and then placed under weights with blotters to remove the moisture and flatten it. This process extends over a two-week period and the blotters are repeatedly replaced to facilitate drying. The goal of conservation isn't to make a drawing look new again.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
We're in the Cloisters, part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, looking at a rare manuscript. This is the Prato Haggadah. It dates to about 1300, and what's especially fascinating about it is that it was never finished and that gives us a lens onto the process of medieval bookmaking. This is a Haggadah which is used on the Jewish holiday of Passover. Every year, Jews around the world commemorate the ancient Israelites' exodus from Egypt, their journey from slavery to freedom, at a ritual meal called a Seder. And at that meal, this book is used to guide the family through the story and through the blessings. Illuminated Haggadot began to be produced in the 14th century.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
This is a Haggadah which is used on the Jewish holiday of Passover. Every year, Jews around the world commemorate the ancient Israelites' exodus from Egypt, their journey from slavery to freedom, at a ritual meal called a Seder. And at that meal, this book is used to guide the family through the story and through the blessings. Illuminated Haggadot began to be produced in the 14th century. And this particular version is among the highest quality. The artist who laid down the initial lines that would eventually be painted and gilded had extraordinary skill. If we flip through the pages of this manuscript, we see pages at varying levels of completion.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
Illuminated Haggadot began to be produced in the 14th century. And this particular version is among the highest quality. The artist who laid down the initial lines that would eventually be painted and gilded had extraordinary skill. If we flip through the pages of this manuscript, we see pages at varying levels of completion. The folio that we're looking at only has a preparatory drawing, so this is the very first stage. Others are nearly complete, while others are somewhere in between. We're so lucky that today the curators have opened this book to one of the last pages which depicts the flood of Noah.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
If we flip through the pages of this manuscript, we see pages at varying levels of completion. The folio that we're looking at only has a preparatory drawing, so this is the very first stage. Others are nearly complete, while others are somewhere in between. We're so lucky that today the curators have opened this book to one of the last pages which depicts the flood of Noah. But here there is no gilding. There is no color that has been added. What we see only is the ink of the original artist.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
We're so lucky that today the curators have opened this book to one of the last pages which depicts the flood of Noah. But here there is no gilding. There is no color that has been added. What we see only is the ink of the original artist. The book itself is quite small, and then the drawing is even smaller. We see a double-ruled frame and then a double scene. We see the ark of Noah, but it doesn't look like a boat.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
What we see only is the ink of the original artist. The book itself is quite small, and then the drawing is even smaller. We see a double-ruled frame and then a double scene. We see the ark of Noah, but it doesn't look like a boat. This ark actually looks like medieval caskets. We see the lock. We see the individual panels of this casket and the nails.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
We see the ark of Noah, but it doesn't look like a boat. This ark actually looks like medieval caskets. We see the lock. We see the individual panels of this casket and the nails. This kind of casket would have been used to hold jewelry or other precious objects. But here it doesn't hold gold and gems. It holds the pairs of animals as well as Noah and his family, each neatly compartmentalized.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
We see the individual panels of this casket and the nails. This kind of casket would have been used to hold jewelry or other precious objects. But here it doesn't hold gold and gems. It holds the pairs of animals as well as Noah and his family, each neatly compartmentalized. That order is in contrast to the chaos below. We see the buildings that have been toppled over by the deluge, by the flood. We see towers that have been toppled, and all of this is under the waves.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
It holds the pairs of animals as well as Noah and his family, each neatly compartmentalized. That order is in contrast to the chaos below. We see the buildings that have been toppled over by the deluge, by the flood. We see towers that have been toppled, and all of this is under the waves. And then there's one more element in the upper left corner. We see the dove that has returned to the ark with an olive branch, alerting Noah that the flood is over. God's promise to Noah to begin anew.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
We see towers that have been toppled, and all of this is under the waves. And then there's one more element in the upper left corner. We see the dove that has returned to the ark with an olive branch, alerting Noah that the flood is over. God's promise to Noah to begin anew. There's a second bird just to the left of the dove. This is the raven that Noah had sent out first, but a bird that did not return to the ark and is seen here still eating its prey. Unfortunately, we don't know anything about the history of this manuscript prior to the early 20th century.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
God's promise to Noah to begin anew. There's a second bird just to the left of the dove. This is the raven that Noah had sent out first, but a bird that did not return to the ark and is seen here still eating its prey. Unfortunately, we don't know anything about the history of this manuscript prior to the early 20th century. This Haggadah does not have a caliphan or a signature page, so we don't know the name of the scribe or the patron. It is very similar to other Haggadot produced around the early 14th century in Spain. Produced for the Sephardic Jewish communities, it was customary to include images from the Bible.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
Unfortunately, we don't know anything about the history of this manuscript prior to the early 20th century. This Haggadah does not have a caliphan or a signature page, so we don't know the name of the scribe or the patron. It is very similar to other Haggadot produced around the early 14th century in Spain. Produced for the Sephardic Jewish communities, it was customary to include images from the Bible. Stories from the creation to the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt would have served as a preface for the story to come in the Haggadah. We're looking at a very precious object, one that was not only costly in terms of its materials, but extremely labor intensive. And it would have taken a number of calves in order to produce this.
|
A rare Passover treasure, The Prato Haggadah.mp3
|
Produced for the Sephardic Jewish communities, it was customary to include images from the Bible. Stories from the creation to the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt would have served as a preface for the story to come in the Haggadah. We're looking at a very precious object, one that was not only costly in terms of its materials, but extremely labor intensive. And it would have taken a number of calves in order to produce this. In a Hebrew manuscript, the scribe would have been responsible for laying out the text and the images because they would have been familiar with the Hebrew text itself. And so there's an opportunity then to create a relationship between what is being depicted and what is actually being stated in the text. Because this manuscript is not complete, it is actually a revelation to us in the modern era.
|
Living with gods the 40,000-year-old Lion Man.mp3
|
Yn ystod y 4,000 o ddynion, mae 85% o'r bobl y byd yn cael ei ystyried fel ymgeisydd. Yn ystod y gydolion, ac ar draws y byd, ni ddim yn gwybod am sefydliad sydd ddim yn cael ymgeisydd. Mae'n deimlo ei fod yn ffynediad naturol, un o'n meddwlwyr hyfrydol, a'n cyfathrebu â bydau a bydau ymhellach. Fel bobl cyffredin, gwnaethom ni fynd yn ôl 100,000 o flynyddoedd, ac yn siŵr, rydyn ni'n cydnabod, mewn record archeologol, o Africa a o'r de Cymru, a'r de Australasia, pethau gwahanol iawn sy'n dangos y ffynedau dynol hwnnw yn dechrau cyfathrebu meddyliau. Yr unigrwydd oedd y cyd, sy'n dangos i ni'n glir, yw ein bod ni'n cyfathrebu â peth sy'n digwydd yn y byd, yw'r ffigur o'r Lion Man. Y Lion Man yw'n cael ei wneud o ffyrdd o ffyrdd. Dyma'r unigrwydd fwyaf o dynol yn y cyfnod o'r amser cyfnodol.
|
Living with gods the 40,000-year-old Lion Man.mp3
|
Fel bobl cyffredin, gwnaethom ni fynd yn ôl 100,000 o flynyddoedd, ac yn siŵr, rydyn ni'n cydnabod, mewn record archeologol, o Africa a o'r de Cymru, a'r de Australasia, pethau gwahanol iawn sy'n dangos y ffynedau dynol hwnnw yn dechrau cyfathrebu meddyliau. Yr unigrwydd oedd y cyd, sy'n dangos i ni'n glir, yw ein bod ni'n cyfathrebu â peth sy'n digwydd yn y byd, yw'r ffigur o'r Lion Man. Y Lion Man yw'n cael ei wneud o ffyrdd o ffyrdd. Dyma'r unigrwydd fwyaf o dynol yn y cyfnod o'r amser cyfnodol. Yr unigrwydd fwyaf o dynol yn y cyfnod o'r amser cyfnodol oedd y Lion Cave. Mwy fwy na dynion Africanaidd, heb maen, yw'r unigrwydd fwyaf o dynol. Yr hyn y mae'r sgolptwr sy'n gwneud y Lion Man wedi ei wneud yw cyfathrebu'r mamff, y lion a'r dyn.
|
Living with gods the 40,000-year-old Lion Man.mp3
|
Dyma'r unigrwydd fwyaf o dynol yn y cyfnod o'r amser cyfnodol. Yr unigrwydd fwyaf o dynol yn y cyfnod o'r amser cyfnodol oedd y Lion Cave. Mwy fwy na dynion Africanaidd, heb maen, yw'r unigrwydd fwyaf o dynol. Yr hyn y mae'r sgolptwr sy'n gwneud y Lion Man wedi ei wneud yw cyfathrebu'r mamff, y lion a'r dyn. Felly mae gennym dynion dynol a'r gwaith, y gwyrdd yn y lle cywir i dynol. Ac yna, wrth fynd i'r bod, rydyn ni'n dod i'r sgolion mwyaf a chyffredinol, a'r cyllid, y cyllid o'r lion, a wnaed yn ystod y gwirioneddol, y gallwn ei weld ei bod yn edrych, y gallwn ei wynebu. Mae'r ffurf bach o'i gynnydd yn y ffurf a'r gynnydd yn cael ei gynnal yn ystod y gynnydd i'r cynnydd i'w gynnal yn ystod y cynnydd i'w gynnydd i'w gynnydd i'w gwneud.
|
End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
No dataset card yet
- Downloads last month
- 3