May 2009 Archives
« April 2009 | Main | June 2009 »
May 30, 2009
A Boring Post On Mark Twain and Joan of Arc
It started as an observation about Mark Twain's view on torture. He was against it. And it quickly morphed into a discussion of the literary value of his Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. Most of those who addressed the...Read all of "A Boring Post On Mark Twain and Joan of Arc"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:34 PM
| Read more on Mark Twain |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 29, 2009
Are All Things Really Better In Koine?
Jim Davila provides an amusing video that claims "All things are better in Koine." But as I watched this video and listened to the song on which it is based, I couldn't help remembering these words of Nietzsche, It was...Read all of "Are All Things Really Better In Koine?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:53 AM
| Read more on Odds and Ends |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 28, 2009
Like Shamash?
The other day I wrote about the use X-Ray CT scanning technology to "unroll" the scrolls from Herculaneum. Somehow, I didn't post the second thought in my original draft. So here it is. Will these CT scanning researchers become like...
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:47 PM
| Read more on Akkadian |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 27, 2009
Never Give Weapons To People Who Are Crazier Than You
I came to this maxim while listening to the news out of Afghanistan, Pakistani, and North Korea. I don't know why it isn't written in our genes. Never Give Weapons To People Who Are Crazier Than You Are While I...Read all of "Never Give Weapons To People Who Are Crazier Than You"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:37 PM
| Read more on Current Events |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 26, 2009
Quotation Of The Day
Referring to Judge Sotomayor's now famous words that the Court of Appeals is "where policy is made," Sean Carroll offers the following observation at Cosmic Variance. In reality, of course, Sotomayor is simply telling the truth — a cardinal sin...Read all of "Quotation Of The Day"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:49 PM
| Read more on Current Events |
| Abnormal Comments (1)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 25, 2009
Dickless Or Just Impotent?
I normally don't use words like "dickless" here. In fact, I almost never voluntarily use such words at all. Such words do not fall within my abnormal interests. But Akkadian texts do. So I hope you won't mind if I...Read all of "Dickless Or Just Impotent?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:26 PM
| Read more on Akkadian |
| Abnormal Comments (6)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 24, 2009
Virtually Taking Apart and Physically Putting Together
Jim Davila directs us to an abnormally interesting article on efforts to use a X-Ray CT scanning system and some very neat software to virtually unroll the well baked scrolls from Herculaneum. As the researchers point out, if successful with...Read all of "Virtually Taking Apart and Physically Putting Together"
Posted by Duane Smith at 12:46 PM
| Read more on Akkadian |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 22, 2009
More on Rehydroxylation and Pottery Dating
But not from me as yet. Alun Salt has an abnormally interesting post cleverly called "Rehydroxylation Dating" over at Archaeoastronomy. Give it a read. Also, if you didn't see my update, the Wilson et al. paper, "Dating fired-clay ceramics using...Read all of "More on Rehydroxylation and Pottery Dating"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:32 PM
| Read more on Archaeology |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 21, 2009
Rehydroxylation, Pottery Dating And The Missing Paper
Yesterday there were multiple reports of what I thought just might be an abnormal interesting paper on pottery dating. The BBC's version said this, in part, Fired clay ceramics start to react chemically with atmospheric moisture as soon as it...Read all of "Rehydroxylation, Pottery Dating And The Missing Paper"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:34 AM
| Read more on Archaeology |
| Abnormal Comments (3)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 20, 2009
Four Stone Hearth 67 Is Up
The 67th edition of Four Stone Hearth is now up at Sorting Out Science and an abnormally interesting anthropology carnival it is. Drop by and enjoy. I must admit that this was my first visit to Sorting Out Science so...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth 67 Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:11 PM
| Read more on Paleoanthropology |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 19, 2009
An Inscribed Jar Handle and a Seal
There are in couple of interesting finds in the news today. Ha'aretz reported the first. The English tanslation of the origainal Ha'aretz Hebrew article is loaded with problems and I think even the Hebrew, which I cannot read with great...Read all of "An Inscribed Jar Handle and a Seal"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:16 PM
| Read more on Archaeology |
| Abnormal Comments (2)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 17, 2009
Amazing
James Henry Breasted, 1929, It is now exactly a century since the first man able to read Egyptian hieroglyphs began the effort to record the inscriptions still in situ in Egypt by means of modern hand copies. Breasted was referring...
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:35 AM
| Read more on Humor |
| Abnormal Comments (3)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 16, 2009
A Long Time Passing
A while ago, I wrote a post on an Ugaritic tablet containing a prescription for the treatment of horse constipation and ischuria and its relationship to a similar prescription in 16th century CE Greek and Latin documents. As I said...Read all of "A Long Time Passing"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:16 PM
| Read more on Akkadian |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 15, 2009
On Dining At The Twains'
Due in part to his success as an author and humorist and in part to his success in marriage, Mark Twain lived most of his life as an affluent New Englander. The Hartford Courant has a nice little piece on...Read all of "On Dining At The Twains' "
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:41 PM
| Read more on Mark Twain |
| Abnormal Comments (1)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 14, 2009
Are You A Weirdo Public Intellectual?
Yesterday, PZ Myers gave a commencement address at the USC Keck School of Medicine. He called on the graduates to be public intellectuals. Here's how he defined the role, A public intellectual is the modern equivalent of the court jester...
Read all of "Are You A Weirdo Public Intellectual?"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:44 PM
| Read more on Odds and Ends |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 13, 2009
The Good And The Bad Of It
Brian Leiter at Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog points to a published comment by ethicist Jeff McMahan, We no longer devote our lives to developing comprehensive philosophical or ethical systems. We are individually narrower and more specialized, which enables us...Read all of "The Good And The Bad Of It"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:55 PM
| Read more on Odds and Ends |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 12, 2009
No Rest For The Retired
My very own copy of Yoram Cohen's The Scribes and Scholars of the City of Emar in the Late Bronze Age just arrived. Now I suppose I need to read it. The Scribes and Scholars of the City of Emar...Read all of "No Rest For The Retired"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:10 PM
| Read more on Scribal Schools |
| Abnormal Comments (2)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 11, 2009
Careful: Chinese Women's Writing Is Just A Click From Ancient Mesopotamia
For reasons uninteresting, I was browsing the Wikipedia article on Mesopotamia when I found something abnormally interesting. Nusku, a god the currently holds my attention, was perhaps listed among several other ancient Mesopotamian gods. So I took the link to...Read all of "Careful: Chinese Women's Writing Is Just A Click From Ancient Mesopotamia"
Posted by Duane Smith at 11:36 AM
| Read more on Humor |
| Abnormal Comments (2)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 9, 2009
A Sign Of The Times
I don't often post on my professional life, past or present. It really isn't one of my abnormal interests and, for all practical matters, I'm completely retired at this point. But I received an update email from a professional networking...Read all of "A Sign Of The Times"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:23 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
May 8, 2009
Journals and Abbreviations
I ran across a couple things that I didn't know about and, therefore, I naturally assume others don't know about either. First, many of the papers and notes published in Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires are available online, free, at...Read all of "Journals and Abbreviations"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:27 AM
| Read more on Odds and Ends |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 7, 2009
Divining A Prayer
The amazing complexity of the cuneiform system used to write Akkadian texts often provides unforeseen rewards to the reader. The ancients were well aware of the richest of the system with its many ways to write what on the surface...Read all of "Divining A Prayer"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:16 AM
| Read more on Akkadian |
| Abnormal Comments (2)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 6, 2009
2000 Year Old Hebrew Scroll
Two looters apparently tried to sell a Hebrew document dated "Year 4 to the destruction of Israel." According to the article, that would be either 74 CE or 138 CE. I would guess the lat(t)er. Here is a little of...Read all of "2000 Year Old Hebrew Scroll"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:47 PM
| Read more on Hebrew Bible |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
Four Stone Hearth Is Up
Four Stone Hearth is up on Martin Rundkvist's Aardvarchaeology. Despite a dearth of submissions, Martin has done a great job at bringing the last couple of weeks of anthropology posts together. He even links to one of my posts. But...Read all of "Four Stone Hearth Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:45 AM
| Read more on Paleoanthropology |
| Abnormal Comments (0)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |
May 4, 2009
Entitlements
Next time you hear someone talking about entitlements, remember this paragraph from a September 22, 2008 letter Edward M. Liddy sent to a select group of AIG employees. I fully recognize the devastating loss of personal wealth you've suffered, and...Posted by Duane Smith at 12:33 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
May 2, 2009
Hebrew Origins: No New Light From A Recent Article
One of the perennial problems with which I from time to time wrestle is the origin of the Hebrew language and those folks that spoke it. The nature of the dialect continuum out of which ancient Hebrew arose and in...Read all of "Hebrew Origins: No New Light From A Recent Article"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:27 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
May 1, 2009
Biblical Studies Carnival 41 Is Up
Biblical Studies Carnival 41 is up at Exploring Our Matrix. James McGrath has done an exceptional job of bringing last month's academically oriented posts together. His carnival brings on the clowns and it has a rather long, fun, parade. There's...Read all of "Biblical Studies Carnival 41 Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 7:11 AM
| Read more on Hebrew Bible |
| Abnormal Comments (2)
| TrackBack (0)
| Abnormal Archive Link |