Vlad Tepes - "Dracula"

It seems that vampires has become an infatuation around the globe, but all of these stories originated from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Therefore, I have chosen to write about Vlad Tepes, whom many believe to be the man being Stoker’s book. One of my favorite books is The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova; yes, it is a fiction story, but it does hold some historical value. I found this great website that spoke about Vlad Tepes and the man behind Dracula. http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm

Vlad Tepes went by many names, including the famous Vlad Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. In 1410 a secret order was formed, the Order of the Dragon, to defend the Roman Empire from the Ottoman Turks. Vlad Tepes’ father joined this order and he then became known as Vlad Dracul, since “drac” in Romanian means dragon. Then Vlad Tepes became the “son of the dragon” or better known as Vlad Dracula.

Now, when Vlad Tepes became ruler he caused much bloodshed, during the years 1456-1462. Not only did he cause this bloodshed, but also he did so in the most cruel and unimaginable ways. As previously mentioned, Vlad the Impaler was another name for the famous Vlad Tepes. Impalement was Vlad Tepes’ most common way of slaughtering people. The sharpened stake would normally be forced through one’s “bottom” and out through the mouth, however he did create many alternatives. On the website, one of the most appalling descriptions was the following: “Infants were sometimes impaled on the stake forced through their mother’s chests.” Not only did Vlad Tepes slaughter adults, but also innocent infants and children. It goes on further to state “thousands were often impaled at a single time,” so in other words, many mass murders. To quote the site:

“The list of tortures employed by this cruel prince reads like an inventory of
hell’s tools: nails in heads, cutting off of limbs, blinding, strangulation,
burning, cutting off noses and ears, mutilation of sexual organs (especially in
the case of women), scalping, skinning, exposure to the elements or to wild
animals, and burning alive.”

It is no wonder why an author may create a character like Dracula after reading about Vlad Tepes, however, it is not 100% sure that Bram Stoker did so. Although there are many similarities between the character Dracula and Vlad Tepes, there also many ways to counteract these similarities. Thus, the mystery remains on whether Vlad Tepes is Dracula….

Works cited: http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm

Image from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vlad_tepes.jpg

Magnificent Machu Picchu

The ruins of great civilizations scatter the globe, yet as we marvel in their beauty, we must realize that the stories behind many ancient works are unknown. To this day, scientists and scholars alike are uncertain of many aspects surrounding the famous Machu Picchu site in Peru. Perched between two sacred mountain tops, the remains of Machu Picchu are magnificent and grand. One can only be left to wonder what the city must have been like during its prime.

Machu Picchu directly translates as ‘Old Mountain’ and was built around 1450 CE by the Incan leader Pachakuteq. The city is believed to have been built as a sanctuary for elite members of the Inca civilization to escape the chaos of nearby Cuzco. In fact, a road enters the south of Machu Picchu directly from the main city. For the select few who entered the city, its infrastructure was amazing. Grand buildings were made from granite in the top of the mountains. Blocks were laid together so tight that scholars proclaim not even a knife blade will fit between them. Close up pictures of the blocks that compile the buildings can be found here.

Machu Picchu is separated into two distinct sectors. The agricultural sector forms a ring around the center, urban sector which was separated by walls and ditches that may have once been a moat. Uneven slopes required terraces to be used in order to make farming possible. However, scholars do not believe the agricultural sector would have been productive enough to entirely sustain the urban center. The inner sector is filled with a network of buildings, plazas, and platforms, but at the heart of the city, temples and palaces were constructed and connected by narrow passages of steep stairways. There are many other distinct features to the layout of Machu Picchu, and this site does a very thorough job of explaining them. Gold covered buildings still stand today at the core of the urban center where lavish ceremonies may have taken place.

Only able to sustain around 500 people, Machu Picchu was small compared to other Incan cities, reinforcing the theory that it was built only for the privileged. Although, based on archeological evidence, scholars consider the inhabitants of the city to be from various places within the Inca Empire. It remains unclear what brought such a variety of people together. Perhaps leaders from every corner of the empire retreated to Machu Picchu at some point in time.

It is doubtful that we will ever fully understand the purpose and history of Machu Picchu, but archeologists continue to excavate the site in hope of further discovery.

Sources:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/ancient/machu-picchu.html http://www.machupicchu.perucultural.org.pe/ingles/index.htm

The fall of The Temple of Jerusalem

As I finished my book for our book review this week, and began to write my paper I felt it appropriate to blog about it as well.

The Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago, but still remains a cultural memory, and a site that is still powerful and contested. The temple was built and rebuilt, and worshiped by many. The Temple of Jerusalem has become the world most's powerful symbol of the search for a lost ideal.

The First Temple:

The first Temple was built in 10th century BC by King Solomon, actually purchased by King David. There are no physical remains of the first temple today, only descriptive, construction details were found in detail in 2 Chronicles 3. If built today the average cost would be $450 million dollars. This first temple was stripped of its wealth by later kings of Judah as they tried to buy off foreign enemies and it was finally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylonia, in the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, last king of Judah, 586 BC.

The Second Temple:


The Second Temple's construction was begun under the law of Cyrus, in 538 BC. The temple began to be known as the Temple of Zerubbabel. The Temple underwent the mayhem of the Maccabean wars. During the wars the temple was damaged by Antiochus Epiphanes. King Herod took great pleasure in rebuilding the temple with great magnificence. After 46 years of re-building the temple was still not finished when it was againdestroyed by the Romans during the Jewish War in 70 AD and completely dismantled. All that now remains is the Western Wall which is a retaining wall of the platform on which the temple was built.

Sources:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14499a.htm
The Temple of Jerusalem by Simon Goldhill

The Mystery of Magic in Ancient Civilizations

In class we discussed the various religions (or cultural ideas like Confucianism) in ancient China, India, and Greece. However, these discussions made me curious about another phenomenon that became an enormous part of ancient culture. Magic influenced the daily lives and rituals of people in ancient civilizations and is still present today. Where did the word “magic” come from? How was it utilized in ancient cultures? How did it connect with the religions of these societies? What rituals did it involve? I found an interesting website that addresses these questions. Magic and religion coexisted with little tension in the ancient civilizations through ideas like astrology, rituals, and material items.

Thoth, the Egyptian god of magic

The word “magic” originated in the Asyro-Babylonian civilizations. The highest priests, called Magi (from a tribe name), practiced a “religion” later called magic. They worshiped fire and claimed to control it and nature's lightning.

In Asyro-Babylonian civilizations, ideas like astrology and use of magic by gods made magic relevant in religion. Astrology became extremely important to religion. For example, the Assyrians made the Zodiac, 12 signs, that predicted one’s fortune based on star alignment. Also, every being, including gods, used magic. The main god, Marduk (sun god) practices magic and so related to Asallunhi, the god of Magic. The magical philosopher Zarathustra became the prophet of Ahura Mazda (literally “Sage god”), and Ahriman (evil) also existed. Zarathustra’s book of verses, "Awesta", gained him reputation as a magician. They called him "the father of magic."

In Egypt, religion and magic also coincided through the use of rituals and dreams. Dawn became the most important time to use magic rituals (along with dancing and singing) and potions, and one had to be spiritually clean. Individuals mainly used magic to heal, not curse, although some curses existed. (For example, one drew a picture of one’s enemy on a pot and then broke the pot). Through the magic ritual “words of power”, individuals controlled gods. These “words of power” meant that one knew the “true name” of the god, and, controlled him or her by calling them this name. Finally, unlike other civilizations at this time, the Egyptians focused on the interpretation of dreams, which they considered messages from the gods.

Egyptians used amulets, in the form of gods, animals, or royal symbols, as material items associated with magic. A source of power, amulets protected their wearer. Individuals wore them daily for luck, good health, wealth, and safety. They used amulets as physical cures for diseases as well. In burials, priests, the main magicians at this time, placed amulets and “sacred stones” around the body to give it good fortune in the next life.

The Greeks and Romans used magical ritually and with material goods. Influence of surrounding cultures, such as the Greeks and Eturians (later brought into Roman society), affected Rome’s religions and magical ideas. From the Eturians, the Romans learned to tell the future based on sacrificial animals’ liver. They experienced miracles through the magician Apollonius. Another magician, Apuleius, taught them to divide magic between “good magic” and “bad magic".

Therefore, one can easily see that religion and magic lived side-by-side in ancient civilizations. Priests, important religious leaders, practiced magic. The use of ideas like astrology, rituals, such as “words of power", and material items like the amulet, proved that magic and religion connected in ancient civilizations.

The Legacy of the Silk Road

I grew up in a small rural town in west central Indiana where my history classes always focused on world history from a western perspective. Although we knew vaguely of the histories of China and India, we never studied the relationship between empires of the east and west before the time of Columbus. I am currently reading a book about Genghis Khan for my critical book review. This legendary leader conquered much of the Eurasian landmass during the thirteenth century CE, established the Mongol Empire, and controlled trading between East and West. Last week, while reading about the Roman and Han empires, I discovered that more than a thousand years before the rise of the Mongol Empire, these two ancient empires were already using the same trade routes to exchange goods across the continent.
The German geographer, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, coined the term “silk road” in nineteenth century to describe the multitude of trade routes across central Asia that linked China to the Mediterranean world. The Silk Road was the precursor to modern international trade, but merchants rarely, if ever, traveled the full length of the route. Pastoral people of the central Asian steppes facilitated trade between agrarian societies. It was the Silk Road that spread goods, ideas, diseases, and people across the Eurasian landmass. Silk was only one of many goods that moved between different civilizations such as the Roman Empire and Han Empire in China, but, due to its luxurious texture and brilliant coloring, it became the iconic item that symbolized the trade route. The Silk Road is a modern term, and to the westerner it carries with it a sense of mystery, romance, and adventure that modern western people associate with the Orient. Other things that traveled the Silk Road included carpets, metals, ceramics, fur, livestock, art, and religion, as well as people with their genes, immunities and diseases. Trade was facilitated when rulers of nations promoted and protected traders traveling within their territories, and, although empires rose and fell across Eurasia, trade continued. While learning about the Silk Road and exploring the internet, I came across some interesting websites that contained history about the Silk Road or how the legacy of the silk road is playing out in today’s cultures.

The Caves of Dunhuang:
Dunhaung was a city along the Silk Road in western china where in the early 1900’s, archaeologists discovered a Buddhist cave library containing over 40,000 manuscripts, paintings, and other artifacts relating to the cultures and peoples along the silk road. In what sounds like an Indiana Jones movie, the caves had been sealed in the first millennium and then rediscovered in the 1900’s. The New York Times has an interesting slid show featuring pictures of the caves and artifacts that archaeologists discovered.

International Dunhuang Project:
After archaeologists discovered the caves, the various items were distributed throughout the world. Because of political turmoil during the 20th century, it was nearly impossible to gain access to these items. The international Dunhuang project catalogues and conserves the artifacts and is a joint effort among British, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Germans to help preserve the legacy of the Silk Road. This website gives access to artifacts and allows one to view and learn about the discoveries made at the Dunhuang Caves.

The Silk Road Project:
The legacy of cross cultural exchange between nations on the silk road helped to inspire the famous cellist Yo Yo Ma to foster the exchange of musical traditions between artists and audiences from acround the globe. His focus is on linking education and music. The Silk Road Ensemble presents music for modern listeners from the countries along the ancient silk road.

The Silk Road Foundation:
This website has in depth information about all aspects of the silk road including cultural influences, articles, archaeological finds, maps, and many other resources pertaining to the history of the trade routes across Eurasia.

Other References:
Christian, David . "Silk Roads or Steppe Roads? The Silk Roads in World History." Journal of World History 11.1 (2000): 1-25. Web. JSTOR. Zumber Library, Grand Valley State University. 14 Oct. 2009.