To put it bluntly, I have some heavy projects (might be for me!?) for publishing here on my WordPress page. They are some topics from Carl Jung to translate, but as I mentioned before, I am involved in the happening in my birth country, Iran, and the uprising of young women and men.
When discussing my busy time, my friends think about work, which is normal. When everybody says: I am hard at work, they talk about their jobs. It is the standard form of life, but I do say that I am not normal! I could never ever do what I wished!! What I desired to do was not possible, and what I’ve done most of my life was to do something unwanted. In Iran, I was a journalist, but they closed down all the free press; I tried to be an actor and almost succeeded in making a career, but I was too rogue for their rules and finally had to escape. Here in Germany, I had to begin a new life, but in this new life, our stomachs must get full too; therefore, I took the first step from zero to earn money by driving taxis. You know, I would never believe that driving a cab could ever be a desired job, and I never became a taxi driver, though I did work for thirty years! I held out for that long because I was very popular, especially with the elderly dames.
Anyway, I have done what I could, and now, as I am retired, I feel it is another beginning for me to do and, indeed, do something I desire to do (apart from a weekday in which I must drive the taxi because my pension is lower than standard!), and it is writing; reading, learning and again writing.
Now as I am trying to do it, there are such lovely Persian people, mainly on Twitter, who are very engaged in helping each other to broadcast the news and find a way, or the best way, for the future of Iran. Yesterday, we spent about four hours discussing how philosophy can help a society like Iranians improve, from Socrates to Hannah Arendt. I was amazed at how much these young people do know.
I might utter my feelings that I have no plan to get back there at any time. However, I love their fights for their rights and am stunned by how they, despite of born under a totalitarian regime, have such desires for freedom. And those living out of Iran or who were born in Europe or America speak Persian and try to help. Honestly, when I left Iran, I felt like a beaten dog, disappointed and desperate. I did all I could for my country without any goals; therefore, I said farewell to them all. But now, I feel proud of them, these brave youths.
However, I thank all my friends in the West, USA, Europe and elsewhere for their patience with me in the cases of my absence or not being present often or for my sharing posts in the Persian language more than in English. You are all with me to carry on till this horrible Islamic regime falls off the ground.
Addendum: I’ll be in my wife’s custody for the next two weekends (actually one week, anyhow, definitely kidnapping), the Easter holidays are coming, and my wife, the teacher, is hot for the unknown again. I will try to give some signs of life! I wish you all lovely friends, a particular time till then.
This is a masterpiece of pectoral from the collection of Tutankhamun. It is a pectoral decorated in a complex way: the central part of the pectoral, which represents the king’s throne name (or prenomen), consists in the middle of a large lapis lazuli scarab. Below it is the hieroglyphic sign “neb”, which resembles a basket inlaid with blue glass; above this are the solar and lunar disks made of electrum.
Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun (1340-1331 B.C.) in November 1922. The pharaoh died at the age of 19; his mummy was in a solid gold coffin placed inside two wooden coffins drink. These three coffins were in a quartzite sarcophagus with a red granite lid. Around the sarcophagus, fit into each other, four chapels in gilded wood entirely occupied the room of the sarcophagus.
Winged Scarab Pectoral with the Throne Name of Tutankhamun. Photo: Kenneth Garrett Egypt-Museum
This beautiful winged scarab pectoral illustrates the throne name of King Tutankhamun, “Neb- Kheprew-re.” The central element is the scarab “Khepri” made of a fine piece of lapis lazuli and three strokes of the plural “sign in hieroglyphs” below it.
Winged Scarab Breastplate – gold, carnelian, turquoise, green feldspar, lapis lazuli, calcite – 18th Dynasty from the treasure room of Tutankhamun’s tomb discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings (K.V. 62) – Ref. : Carter 267-a – JE 61886 – GEM 159
After six years of intense and costly research, punctuated by enthusiasm, hope, fatigue and discouragement, perseverance finally triumphs in the Valley of the Kings! Howard Carter and his patron Lord Carnarvon finally discovered, in November 1922, the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun! Seven weeks will be necessary to empty the antechamber… On February 16, 1923, the seals affixed to the door leading to the funerary chamber were removed in the presence, in particular of Pierre Lacau, director general of the Service of Antiquities. The next day the official opening. Takes place On a particular day, and exceptional guests: the discoverers have invited twenty of them, selected with meticulous care. As impressed as they were dazzled, they discovered the large chapels of gilded wood which filled almost the entire room…
As they continue their incredible – and unforgettable – exploration, they see: “a low door, on the right, which gave access to another, smaller room. (…) This door had not been blocked nor sealed. A single glance is enough to make us understand that it was it which contained the true treasures of the tomb. (…) A tabernacle, entirely covered with gold and surmounted by a frieze of sacred cobras. Around it stood the four tutelary goddesses of the dead, their arms outstretched in protection, so natural and so alive in their pose, their faces expressing so much compassion and pity that one hardly dared to look at them. (Howard Carter in “The Fabulous Discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb”).
In front of this naos, placed on the ground and to the left, are five chests containing sumptuous finery. They had been deposited there, most often pell-mell, by the employees of the necropolis responsible for handing over what remained of the funerary treasure after the passage of the looters… “According to an estimate by Carter, at least sixty per cent of the most beautiful ‘unattached’ jewels had disappeared. Those that remained – more than two hundred, including twenty precious metal breastplate elements and five counterweights – however, not insignificantly widened, both in quality and quantity, the range of jewels known at the time,” says Nicholas Reeves in “Tutankhamun, life, death and discovery of a pharaoh”.
The first ebony and ivory chest with a gently domed lid will be referenced; Carter 267. Inside “laid” eighteen pieces of gold smithery – abused but of exceptional quality: they will be referenced “267a”. to “267n”.
This beetle-shaped pectoral, 10.5 cm wide and 9 cm high, will be the first to be extracted (267a). The chain that slid into the horizontal cylinder attached to the back, allowing it to be hung around the king’s neck, is unfortunately missing.
Winged Scarab Breastplate – gold, carnelian, turquoise, green feldspar, lapis lazuli, calcite – 18th Dynasty from the treasure room of Tutankhamun’s tomb discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings (K.V. 62) – Ref. : Carter 267-a – JE 61886 – GEM 159
It is distinguished “by a series of iconographic motifs endowed with a strong symbolic value, combined in a balanced and original composition, by the characteristic style of Tutankhamun’s jewellery. The lapis lazuli scarab, centre of the composition, is equipped with two large falcon wings, decorated using the technique of partitioning: the feathers of the bird are rendered by inlays of stones in pale colours, skilfully calibrated” (Silvia Enaudi, “The Wonders of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo”). The cloisonné technique here reaches a degree of excellence where gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, carnelian, and green feldspar explode in a shimmering polychromy that offers a strong contrast with the midnight blue of the beetle.
The scarab, a symbol of renewal and rebirth, is very present in Egyptian jewellery, especially in the young king’s adornments. This attribute of Khepri pushes here, between its legs with hooks encircled with gold, the glowing solar disk in carnelian circled with gold…
Winged Scarab Breastplate – gold, carnelian, turquoise, green feldspar, lapis lazuli, calcite – 18th Dynasty from the treasure room of Tutankhamun’s tomb discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings (K.V. 62) – Ref. : Carter 267-a – JE 61886 – GEM 159
To symbolism, the goldsmith has combined cryptography. It turns out to be “a clever way of writing the king’s coronation name, Nebkhéperourê (‘Re is the master of manifestations’). The syllable neb (which means, in this context, ‘master’) is written with a basket encrusted with green feldspar on this pectoral. The scarab in dark blue lapis lazuli and the three lines indicating the plural signify Kheperu (‘forms’ or ‘manifestations’). The syllable ‘Rê ‘ is represented by the solar disk in red carnelian”, which specifies Zahi Hawass.
Winged Scarab Breastplate – gold, carnelian, turquoise, green feldspar, lapis lazuli, calcite – 18th Dynasty from the treasure room of Tutankhamun’s tomb discovered in November 1922 by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings (K.V. 62) – Ref. : Carter 267-a – JE 61886 – GEM 159
This pectoral also worked using the “repoussé” technique on the reverse, after having been cleaned with hot water and ammonia by Alfred Lucas, left for the Cairo Museum. It was recorded there in the Entry Journal: JE 61886. Its reference at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, where it will soon be exhibited, is GEM 159.
T.G.H. James, “Howard Carter, The path to Tutankhamun”, TPP, 1992https://archive.org/stream/HowardCarterThePathToTutankhamunBySam/Howard+Carter+The+Path+to+Tutankhamun+By+Sam_djvu.txt
Toutankhamon et son temps, Petit Palais, Paris, 17 février-juillet 1967, Catalogue par Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, Ministère d’État Affaires Culturelles
Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, Vie et mort d’un pharaon, Hachette, 1963
Nicholas Reeves, Toutankhamon, vie, mort et découverte d’un pharaon, Editions Errance
I.E.S. Edwards, Tutankhamun : his tomb and its treasures, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977
Nowruz, which falls on the spring equinox to the minute every year, a 13-day celebration of the Persian New Year, will fall this spring too. But I am convinced that it will be in some other kind.
>>In every home, the haftseen table is decorated with seven items â since seven is considered a lucky number. Each item begins with the letter sin (s) in Persian, and each item is a symbol of spring and renewal.<< npr.org
Iran’s revolution enters 7th month as night rallies erupt in different cities. With all this, they celebrated the traditional Chaharshanbe Suri (the evening to the last Wednesday of the year. It is like the Easter celebration, with fire and fireworks welcoming spring, light and warmth.), which was also the other kind! In this condition, brave Iranian women and men do fight. They are even breaking their new year celebration or renouncing their traditional fiesta.
According to the latest reports, protesters in at least 282 cities throughout Iran’s 31 provinces have taken to the streets for 180 days, seeking to overthrow the mullahs’ regime. Regime security forces have killed over 750; at least 30,000 have been arrested via sources affiliated with the Iranian opposition PMOI/MEK.
For me, I am finished with any patriotism or any belongings to some territories, and I have had enough of all the searching for the roots; I am sure my root comes from somewhere else. But my memories and co-human feelings push me into this legendary and, simultaneously, the suffering period for Iranian people (especially women).
So then, let’s see how they will try to make this fiesta their own fiesta, continually fighting against the most brutal regime ever exists!
I would just wish for your presence, even through your thoughts, to help them win. Here I present a video, with heartfelt thanks to Walt Disney, this Mickey Mouse’s excellent explanation of this fiesta—also, the happy spring equinox.
I believe nothing is so crucial as raising our children with care and awareness. Of course, these loved ones need not only care but also have a deep desire for love and passion. I, myself, haven’t had an easy childhood. It was full of suffering and trauma; although challenging, love was strong among us.
When I became a father (it wasn’t planned), I was in the twilight of my chaotic unclear future and being the right father. I wasn’t prepared to take responsibility though I did my best to do so. At that time, I noticed how a child could be aware of its environment. My son liked me so much, even when he was crawling, even though I wasn’t always present. And as I had experienced the lacking of father, I tried to avoid him becoming such a vacuum. But it was amazing for me to see how he’d realize and somewhat understand my situation. Since then, I have been convinced that children are much more conscious than we imagine.
Dr Carl Jung quoted this:
The “child” is all that is abandoned and exposed and, at the same time, divinely powerful; the insignificant, dubious beginning and the triumphal end. The “eternal child” in (hu)man is an indescribable experience, an incongruity, a handicap, and a divine prerogative, an imponderable that determines the ultimate worth or worthlessness of a personality. (…) …” (Jung, CW n. 9i, The Archetype of the Child)
Now, as a grandpa, I see this in my grandchildren. For example, my wife and I keep trying to have our grandchildren, Mila and Ilias, alternately sleep with us. Once it was Ilias’ turn, it looked like it wasn’t his day because, in the beginning, when his father brought him to us, he wasn’t that enthusiastic. Anyway, I took him to the sitting room and brought different toys and playing stuff to play with. As I noticed his uneasiness, I tried to observe his behaviour. He was stunningly aware of this forced situation and knew no other solution existed. He began to play with me with cars and the railway carriage, but I noticed it very well with his sometimes aggressive reactions and how he tried to suppress his anger and dissatisfaction. I could expect it from a grownup but from a two-year-old child? It was exciting. I was more stunned as I asked him after his every outburst, “what is going on? Are you OK? He tried to calm himself, though I believe he didn’t know the reason why precisely.
To care about this phenomenon, we must be absolutely awakened and calm their soul with love and comfort. We need to know more about children and accept that they also have a certain consciousness. I’d call this “Instinct or Intuition. I am sure that they have it.
Carl Gustav Jung, Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, Gerhard Adler (1954). “The development of personality”
Dr Jung, in his book about Archetypes: a) The Archetype as a Past State, explains that;
There is no “reasonable” substitute for the archetype, any more than for the cerebellum or the kidneys. You can explore body organs anatomically, histologically and developmentally. The description of the archetypal phenomenology and a historical-comparative representation of the same corresponds to this. However, the meaning of bodily organs results solely from the teleological question. Hence the question arises: what is the biological purpose of the archetype? As physiology answers the question for the body, it is psychology’s concern to answer the same question for the archetype.
With statements such as that the child motif is a remnant of the memory of one’s own childhood and similar explanations, the question is only evaded. On the other hand, if we say – with a slight modification of this sentence – that the child motif is the image of certain things of our own childhood that we have forgotten, then we come closer to the truth. But since the archetype is always an image that belongs to the whole of humanity and not just to the individual, we might formulate it better: The child motif represents the preconscious childhood aspect of the collective soul.
And he adds as a footnote something essential:
It is perhaps not superfluous to note that lay prejudice is always inclined to equate the child motive with the concrete experience ‘child’ as if the real child were the causal premise for the existence of the child motive. In psychological reality, however, the empirical idea of ‘child’ is only a means of expression (and not even the only one!) for expressing a mental fact that cannot be defined more precisely. That is why the mythological conception of the child is expressly not a copy of the empirical “child” but a symbol that is clearly recognizable as such: it is a question of a divine, wonderful, precisely not human child, begotten, born, and raised under very unusual circumstances. Its deeds are as wonderful or monstrous as its nature or physical condition. It is solely because of these non-empirical properties that there is any need to speak of a ‘child motive’. Moreover, the mythological child is varied as a god, giant, thumbstall, etc., pointing to causality no less than rational or concretely human. The same applies to the archetypes of “father” and “mother”, which are also mythologically irrational symbols.
Eckhart Tolle (born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, , February 16, 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher. Honestly, I got to know him by his quotes which were permanently shared in the media.First, I noticed his first name made me making mistake with Meister Eckhart, until I found out that he changed that from Ulrich to Eckhart; according to his respect to the German philosopher and mystic, Meister Eckhart.
Although, he made an effort in a spiritual manner to find the way to the self. Here is a description of this point:
One night in 1977, at the age of 29, after having suffered from long periods of depression, Tolle says he experienced an “inner transformation”. That night he awakened from his sleep, suffering from feelings of depression that were “almost unbearable,” but then experienced a life-changing epiphany. Recounting the experience, he says,
I couldn’t live with myself any longer. And in this, a question arose without an answer: who is the ‘I’ that cannot live with the self? What is the self? I felt drawn into a void! I didn’t know at the time that what really happened was that the mind-made self, with its heaviness and problems, that lives between the unsatisfying past and the fearful future, collapsed. It dissolved. The following day I woke up, and everything was so peaceful. The peace was there because there was no self. Just a sense of presence or “beingness,” just observing and watching.
Tolle recalls walking in London the following day and finding that “everything was miraculous, deeply peaceful. Even the traffic.” The feeling continued, and he felt a strong underlying sense of peace in any situation. I can understand his feeling because I know Germans and Brits! To put it bluntly, When a German travelled to England, would find lots more!!
Anyway, here is his finding out about the “so-called” complaining. The Germans say; Meckerei (grumbling). And I think it can be beneficial.
Nothing is personal. Everyone behaves according to their level of consciousness. When you say, “this and that did this to me,” that doesn’t mean the other person addressed what he personally did to you. But some people take it all personally. For example, when you drive your car, someone stands before you and blocks your way. Why take it personally? The other person doesn’t even know you, but the ego interprets the situation and says, “he blocked my way, mine”, while the other person always drives like that. The ego likes to complain and say, “others did this and that to me”. And the more one complains about what others have done to one, the stronger becomes “my (they have done it)”, i.e. the ego. This mechanism is unconscious.
The reasons can be many, but the ego always interprets things as if others cannot please us – either they are doing something they shouldn’t, or they are not doing something they should, but always in relation to “me”. “. This is why the ego likes to complain about different things that others do. And the more it complains, the more we are right and others wrong. The world is full of people who give us cause for complaint. And life does this not to break your nerves but to make you more conscious. It’s not like an evil demon gathered these people around you to make you miserable.
Your expectations of others to behave in a certain way makes you unhappy. But you have to “catch” yourself complaining about others when you’re doing it to break out of this pattern. The ego will then feel that you haven’t fed it – and indeed it is – it will feel like it’s shrinking. “If I don’t complain,” the ego would say, “I get smaller and less,” because every time you complain, your ego inflates, and you feel yourself becoming “more.”
And the more emotional the complaint, the more you feel like you’re blowing up like a balloon. And often, anger can accompany the complaint. This is a great way to practice not complaining. At first, it will seem like something is missing, but then you will feel inner peace. Of course, many will now ask themselves, “should I let myself be used by others and do what they want with me?”. Of course not. If you need to say something to the other person, you will say it, but without complaining. Suppose you are waiting for a technician to come to your house to fix an error. You call him once; he tells you he will come at this or that time, and he doesn’t come. Then you can contact him and say “I was waiting for you, but you didn’t come, I’ll get someone else, thanks for listening to me”. Complaining to him doesn’t help him. You won’t make him more aware. And the only “benefit” you get from the complaint is that you strengthen your identification with your false self.
You can really be thankful for all these people who make you more aware. When you realize you are complaining, you can observe your mind, turn your attention inward, and consider whether those thoughts are helpful. That is, even if you’re not overtly complaining, see if your mind keeps complaining by thinking of the appropriate views. Because you can’t say it, you can feel it. When you spot such thoughts, ask yourself if they make you happier or more satisfied or if your life would be better and more accessible without them.
*The text is an excerpt from a taped speech by Eckhart Tolle. Source: Aytepignosi
We got to know and were heartfeltly amazed by such fabulous wall paintings by artisans of ancient Egypt. And naturally, these all motivated some painters, much later in the 19th century, like David Roberts, Jacob Jacobs, and many others, to try to copy these Masterworks. However, they did never reach close to the originals.
Egyptian tomb wall painting from Thebes, Luxor. Dated 11th Century BC
One of them was Robert Hay, not only a painter but also an Egyptologist. His works are fine and brisant.
And here is an attempt to step into the shoes of grandees.
(Whole drawing) Procession of figures with offerings; part of a wall painting from the tenth tomb at Gourna, Thebes. Made during an expedition to Egypt organised by Robert Hay between 1826 and 1838
Reproduction of a procession of offering bearers – part of a painted wall of a tomb in Gournah -, made during Robert Hay’s expedition to Egypt between 1826 and 1834
Robert Hay is a Scottish Egyptologist and collector to whom we owe an important and magnificent collection of drawings, plans and copies of hieroglyphic inscriptions. The 49 “volumes” he will bring back from his travels constitute a unique “sum” and an invaluable testimony to Egypt and its sites as they appeared at the beginning of the 19th century.
Robert_Hay_in_turkish_costume
Born on January 6, 1799, in Duns Castle in Berwickshire, Robert Hay first turned to a career in the navy, which also gave him the opportunity to visit Alexandria for the first time.
In 1819, when he was just 20 years old, he inherited – from his older brother – the Linplum estate. This legacy certainly leads him to reconsider his situation. So he decided to leave the navy, and in 1824, he left for the Middle East.
Strongly marked by the “drawings brought back from the land of the pharaohs by two architects”, it aims to survey the sites and ancient monuments of Egypt.
His thirst for learning, seeing, understanding, and interest in everything he discovers on the land of the pharaohs will never be denied. He will make many stays there, spread over ten years.
An excellent draftsman himself, he will be keen to surround himself with talented artists. During a stay in Rome, he hired Joseph Bonomi and offered him a modestly paid ‘commission’ as a sculptor and illustrator to accompany him on his Egyptian expedition. If Hay proves to be very demanding in the quality of the readings, wishing for maximum precision, Bonomi, ingenious and inventive, will be able to adapt and give the best of his talent, even when the working conditions prove to be complicated.
At Christmas 1824, they embarked for Nubia, where, for four months, they drew many sites. Then: “at the end of April, Hay and Bonomi leave Abu Simbel to continue the survey of various temples of Nubia before reaching Kalabsha (Beit al-Wali), where Bonomi works long hours, making numerous mouldings of the reliefs”.
After six weeks in Philae, they reached Thebes in October and found James Burton, a distant relative of Robert Hay, and settled in the Valley of the Kings.
In addition to Bonomi, Hay collaborated with half a dozen other artists, such as Owen Brown Carter, Frederic Catherwood, or even George Oskins, an antique dealer who, in particular, says: “The ‘Hay group’ most often stayed in the hypogeum of Ramses IV… The new occupants had stretched canvases at the monument’s entrance to protect themselves from the sun and installed their bedding in the corridors with a pleasant coolness.
A 360° panorama from the hills of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Egypt, illustrating landmarks in the surrounding area, such as the Ramesseum, the Colossi of Memnon, the Temple of Seti I and the Shrine of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna
The days were devoted to the surveys of the tombs. In parallel, Hay will conduct an in-depth study of the sarcophagi remaining in the Valley of the Kings. He will have many drawings executed.
But work also sometimes gave way to leisure. Thus, on Thursday evening: “artists and travellers passing through Thebes gathered in his house, or rather in his tomb… The beautiful paintings of the past were lit by torchlight, and the smell of mummies had been long chased away by the aroma of roasted meats.”
When Hay left the Valley of the Kings, he settled in a house in Gournah, a “small fortress” built-in 1820 by the consul Henry Salt, to house Athanasi in particular, which was located not far from the residence of the Egyptologist John Gardner Wilkinson. The relationship between Hay and the Egyptologist was special, as evidenced, in veiled terms, by this sentence: “Wilkinson and Hay had a lot in common. But they also had differences.”
In July 1826, considering he was paid too little, Bonomi decided to resign. He also wishes to strengthen his own reputation by producing designs and casts for himself. Hay is furious, but he finally quickly replaces him with Edward William Lane, nephew of the great painter Thomas Gainsborough.
In May 1828, Hay married in Malta Kalitza Psaraki, daughter of a Cretan magistrate whom he had previously rescued from the slave market in Alexandria. She will then accompany him on his various stays in the land of Egypt and will give him two sons.
In 1830, when Lane left his post for health reasons, Hay asked Bonomi to collaborate with him again, but this time with a much higher salary. “Bonomi hesitated at first, but Hay’s persuasion led him to finally agree to join the team by including one of his travelling companions, the artist A. Dupuy.”
Excerpts from “Illustrations of Cairo”
In the spring of 1834: “Robert Hay definitively leaves Egypt where he has spent nearly ten years recording the temples and tombs of the Nile Valley, not only with sketches and brief descriptions, as earlier travellers had done but in a much more complete way, with plans, architectural data, detailed copies of wall paintings and inscriptions”.
Robert Hay published, in 1840, “Illustrations of Cairo”. The work, which brought together his own lithographs and those of his brilliant “colleagues”, did not receive the expected reception, and the author faced a big financial loss.
Years later, on February 28, 1862, James Burton died in relative destitution, abandoned by his family and friends. Robert Hay will be his executor and pay the debts he left behind.
He won’t survive a long time. It was the following year, on November 4, 1863, to be precise, that he died in East Lothian, Scotland, at the age of 64.
Pencil drawing by Robert Hay in 1827 of Border Stele A, which shows Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their two eldest daughters making offerings
When he died, most of his collection of antiquities (529 pieces) was purchased by the British Museum “for £1000”. The rest of the objects inherited by his son Robert James Alexander Haye will be sold in London, in 1868, by the antique dealers Rollin and Feuardent to Mr Samuel A. Way. In June 1872, his son, C. Granville Way, donated it to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
As for the drawings, they remained for some time in the property of the Hay family, “but eventually they went to the British Library (then part of the British Museum), where they are now deposited in 49 portfolios”.
It remains for us to regret that the rich and interesting portfolios of Hay have not yet been published and to hope that they will be soon because, according to those who have had the immense good fortune to see them, it appears that “The Decorations of the Theban Tombs of Hay’s expedition are among the most delightful and the most precise. On the other hand, the panoramic views he drew provide reliable documentation of the small villages bordering the Nile nearly 200 years old. His artists’ evocative drawings of Islamic monuments, many no longer standing, show them in the 19th century.”
Devi Aditi is Parashakti or Shakti, the transcendent mother; She had three forms the Trishakti or Tridevi, Maa Mahasaraswati, Maa Mahalakshmi and Maa Mahakali, she’s the three gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Maa Saraswati is Brahmani. She’s her power of balance (Sattviki Shakti). Maa Lakshmi is Vaishnavi. She’s her power of activity (Rajasik Shakti). Maa Kali is Maheshwari. She’s her power of destruction (Tamsik Shakti)
I have here another deep dive (but short!) into the fascinating magic power of the symbols, especially Eastern ones for you! My mind is going to explode, though, but as we might “must” know, the wisdom came from the orient towards the west to teach the barbarians and the Huns! Here we can read what Dr Jung explained so precisely:
Westerners cannot slap Eastern spirituality on top of a western ego and expect enlightenment. ~Carl Jung. By Mr Purrington 🙏
Here is an analysis of a dream, along with the Mandala Symbols. In his book: Dream and Dream Interpretation.
Dream 21; (Mandalasymbolic) The large, transparent sphere contains many small spheres. A green plant grows out at the top. The sphere is a whole that encompasses all content; the life that the useless struggle has stopped becomes possible again. In Kundalini Yoga, the “green womb” is a designation for Ishvara (Shiva) emerging from his latent state.
Trimuti- “three forms” or “trinity” are the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation, preservation, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities. Typically, the designations are that of Brahma; the creator (A), Vishnu; the preserver (U), and Shiva; the destroyer (M). (OM)
Trimurti-image. The triangle symbolizes the coherence of the universe according to the peak of unity, the tortoise: Vishnu and the lotus, which grows up from the skull with the two flames: Shiva.
In the background: the radiant Brahma sun – the whole thing corresponds to the alchemical >opus<, where the tortoise symbolizes the >Massa Confusa<, the skull the >vas< of transformation, the flower the >self< or wholeness. (After an Indian depiction.)
C.G. Jung, Psychology of Alchemy. Do well everyone
I am still involved with these Iranian Space-Seminars on Twitter. Most of them are very interesting, listening to the people trying to form the political future of Iran. There are fascinating discussions by courageous Iranian people these days, and I always try to listen to them, though I must confess that I am not the youngest anymore to preserve to the end! One of them was about religion, women and human rights. Honestly, I was too tired to participate, but it lingered in my head and motivated me to write an article on this topic: religion in general and women in uniqueness. Although, there was more to this, which brought me new ideas:
Some days ago, I watched a documentary about Cat Steven’s changing beliefs; it made me more enthusiastic about writing referring to this phenomenon. Of course, I knew many years ago, since those days, that this genius musician had lost his way and mind to himself and gone crazy! And when I heard it, I was so upset about his decision that I didn’t follow it anymore.
I tried to keep him like I got to know him as Cat Stevens, an excellent songwriter. Although the question is, why does it happen at all? Why a musician like him, who had a good successful life in a free society, suddenly must fall into such an abyss!? Is it the fault of far too many opportunities in a free and prosperous world, or is it his early fame? Is too much freedom dangerous? I can’t say. I also, though rarely, met women who converted their Christian beliefs to Islam. I must say I was shocked whenever I heard it or met one.
You might answer that it is not all good in the west. I agree, though. I was born in a country with many limitations: political and religious narrowness and separations between gender. Therefore, when I came to the west, I thought I would meet more open and free-minded people. Of course, my thoughts were almost correct, but almost! I got to know women who married Muslim men, have been converted to Islam and wear hijab! Even in discos, they come without their husbands to enjoy music, which Islam forbids. And every day, as I see the brave women in Iran freeing their hair from this oppression, the women in a free political environment return to Middle Ages! Isn’t it a paradox?
It may make it clear what Dr Jung uttered to explain humans’ way of being:
Yes, I am convinced that it is an utterly wrong way. It is a reactionary decision, as Iranians say, “throw oneself from a hole in a well”! But why must it happen? We may accept that man is in the grip of confusion, whether bound or free. The case of Cat Stevens shows us: he was famous and happy as he sang this song;
He was, without a doubt, looking for himself and the famous happiness! Might his losing path be because he had no chance in love? The song; “Lady D’Arbanville” tolls his pain and frustration with life.
As Stevens was nearing the end of his recovery, he attended a party that boasted a gathering of musicians in London, including Jimmy Page, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton and others. Among the party-goers was Patti D’Arbanville, a US teenager pursuing a modelling career and later gaining prominence as an actress. The two began dating. D’Arbanville stayed with him whenever she was in London but often found her career taking her to Paris and New York City. After over a year together, Stevens was ready to invest in a more serious relationship than was his young, ambitious girlfriend. On a foray to New York, she heard his song about her on the airwaves. Her reaction was one of sadness. She said,
I just have to be by myself for a while to do what I want to do. It’s good to be alone sometimes. Look, Steven [Stevens’ given name] wrote that song when I left for New York. I left for a month; it wasn’t the end of the world, was it? But he wrote this whole song about ‘Lady D’Arbanville, why do you sleep so still.’ It’s about me dead. So while I was in New York, for him, it was like I was lying in a coffin… he wrote that because he missed me because he was down… It’s a sad song.
D’Arbanville continues,
I cried when I heard it because that’s when I knew it was over for good.
My brother Al and I loved and adored him and his songs. He was one of our idols in the music world. Even we were excited when he, on his search, found the way to the Buddha and began to get help in the zen philosophy. Still, his sudden backward turn from progressiveness to primitiveness (I believe that Islam is a primitive religious ideal) not only shocked us, but it was also very disappointing. He left the world of music and art and began to find happiness in the sadness. And it was not enough: in the early 80s, when the book by Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses, was published, Khomeini made his “Fatwa” (Islamic rule) to condemn Rushdie to death. The free world was horrified, but what has Stevens, who meanwhile called himself Yusuf Islam, done? In an interview, or better to say in a TV discussion with Salvatore Adamo, he uttered his opinion to Adamo’s question of what he’d think by this “Fatwa” he said it was a correct verdict! How deep could one fall?! Long story short, he is back now in his previous life as if nothing had happened. The difference is only he has a long white bird… Ridiculous!
However, the riddle remains about how strange it is the human to understand this explosive point of the meeting between the soul and the body and endure the pressure to find the balance.
We can now hear one of his latest songs when he was still decent in his head! He confesses that this song is about himself and his way in lost. He was right those days, this sad cat!
The title image: Original Portrait Painting by Cor Lap _ Conceptual Art on Canvas _ Me and my cat
As I believe the one we have been given as a gift from the Soul, the Whole, the Almighty, is a part of her soul: the art, to use it and to take the profits of unlimited imagination.
Here, I share a beautiful explanation by Kahlil Gibran on this divine treasure. From the book; The Wanderer. 🙏💖
Once there came to the court of the Prince of Birkasha, a dancer with her musicians. And she was admitted to the court, and she danced before the prince to the music of the lute and the flute and the zither.
She danced the dance of flames and the dance of swords and spears; she danced the dance of stars and the dance of space. And then she danced the dance of flowers in the wind.
After this, she stood before the throne of the prince and bowed her body before him. And the prince bade her come nearer, and he said unto her, “Beautiful woman, daughter of grace and delight, whence comes your art? And how is it that you command all the elements in your rhythms and your rhymes?”
And the dancer bowed again before the prince, and she answered, “Mighty and gracious Majesty, I know not the answer to your questionings. Only this I know: The philosopher’s soul dwells in his head, the poet’s soul is in the heart; the singer’s soul lingers about his throat, but the soul of the dancer abides in all her body.”
I know I have posted some articles about Sennedjem before (here, here and here), but I believe it is worth returning to this artist of divine Gods and Goddesses again.
One of the most glorious and revealing galleries in Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs is the one that holds a single object. It is the outer coffin of the ancient Egyptian artisan Sennedjem, who lived in Deir el-Medina (in Egyptian, Set Maat or “Place of Truth”) during the reigns of Ramses II and his father, Seti I. He was part of an elite group of skilled craftspeople and artists who lived in this walled village on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes and worked primarily in the tombs in the nearby Valley of the Kings. Sennedjem held the title of “servant in place of Truth,” indicating that he was one of the teams responsible for constructing and decorating the royal tombs. Sennedjem’s own tomb was on a hill overlooking the workers’ settlement. A small pyramid sits on top of the entrance to an offering chapel. Below that lies Sennedjem’s decorated burial chamber. The painted reliefs from the walls and ceiling of that chamber are reproduced in the exhibition and surround Sennedjem’s coffin, as they did when the intact tomb was discovered in 1886. These are some of the most famous scenes from Egyptian tombs, showing his progress from death into the afterlife. famsf.org
It is undoubtedly a treasure for us humans that there were such artisans to show and let us know the divine life of Gods and Goddesses and the peoples in those days. And all in all, we could say that this kind of art is inspired by Gods and Goddesses and can be stated as divine work, and here with this gorgeous coffin for him, we recognize the respect given to this artist.
Sennedjem was, under the reigns of Sethi I and Ramses II (XIXth dynasty), one of the “servants” of the “Place of Truth”. Cabinetmaker or more probably mason, he lived, with his family, in one of the stone houses covered with a roof of palm leaves of “Set Maât her imenty Ouaset”. Founded at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty during the reign of Thutmose III, this royal institution was dedicated to the artisans who worked on the excavation and decoration of the eternal abodes of the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, and even necropolises more distant. “The fact that we often refer to them as ‘workers’ sometimes tends to substantiate the misconception that the community of the village of Deir el-Medina was at the lowest rung of Egyptian society. In fact, these men were craftsmen, for the most part highly qualified and distinguished for their know-how,” specifies Pierre Grandet in “The artists of Pharaoh, Deir el-Medineh and the Valley of the Kings”). Protected by high walls, the members of the community also had places of worship and, on the slopes of the Theban mountain, a necropolis in which to dig their eternal home. It was there that, at the very beginning of the reign of Ramesses II, Sennedjem was buried, and until the end of the time, ramesside other members of his family…
“Set Maât her imenty Ouaset” – the “Place of Truth west of Thebes” of antiquity is known today as the craftsmen’s village of Deir el-Medina
Their tomb was rediscovered in January 1886 by “gournawis”. In “Hidden Treasures of Egypt”, Zahi Hawass recounts the following circumstances: Only days of excavations, Salam and three of his friends made a spectacular discovery: at the bottom of a still unexplored burial shaft, they found a wooden door whose ancient seals were intact. Salam immediately informed Maspero, who happened to be in Luxor for its annual inspection visit”. In his correspondence to his wife Louise on February 3, the Director of Antiquities told this story: “The vault is approximately 5 m long by three wide. It is vaulted, with a shallow burial and painted with vivid colours; unfortunately, the paintings and texts are only excerpts from the Book of the Dead. It was filled to the top with coffins and objects: eight adult mummies, two child mummies, a family of these priests of the cemetery about whom I spoke to you in the letters I wrote from Turin in 1880 (?) The mummies are superb, of a beautiful red varnish with elegant representations, but they are only the least interesting part of the discovery. You know that the mummies were carried to the tomb on sledges, held by men or drawn by oxen. Our tomb contains two of these complete sledges: first the floor, with the rings intended to pass the sticks, when one wanted to carry, then the movable panels of the catafalque in which one locked the coffin, then the lid in cornice… and c This is how we will exhibit everything at the Boulaq museum. Alongside this, the complete furniture: eight large canopic boxes, around forty small funerary statuette boxes, around a hundred charming limestone figurines, around twenty painted earthenware vases, a new bed different in shape from the first two,… In addition, a beautiful armchair with a canvas bottom imitating the tapestry; two stools with canvas bottoms imitating red leather, a folding chair, bouquets of flowers, a cubit, an ostracon containing a very curious historical novel, although very short”…
Mandated by Gaston Maspero, Eduard Toda “accompanies” the artefacts from the tomb of Sennedjem, on the boat bound for the Boulaq Museum (1886) Toda Fund Library Víctor Balaguer Museum (Vilanova)
Sennedjem’s body lay in a magnificent stuccoed and painted wooden mummified coffin. His mummy “was protected by a wooden board covering his body and his funerary mask and representing him dressed as he was alive” (Hanane Gaber, “At work, we recognize the pharaoh’s craftsman”).
Sennedjem’s body lay in a magnificent stuccoed and painted wooden mummified coffin. His mummy “was protected by a wooden board covering his body and his funerary mask and representing him dressed as he was alive” (Hanane Gaber, “At work, we recognize the pharaoh’s craftsman”). cercueil de sennedjem
The whole was placed in an imposing “sarcophagus” of polychrome and varnished stuccoed wood. 2.60 m long, 0.98 m wide and 1.25 m high, it takes the form of a naos, adorned with a coved cornice, topped with “a domed roof rounded at the ‘front, whose gentle slope joins the cornice at the rear’.
It is entirely covered with hieroglyphic scenes or inscriptions. In “The Tomb of Sennedjem at Deir-El-Medina TT.1”, Martha Sara Saujaume specifies: “Its decoration corresponds to the type of drawings of the 19th Dynasty, in particular for the yellow colour of the background of the vignettes and for the decoration with vignettes corresponding to the Book of the Dead, in very bright colours such as blue and red, as well as texts from the same Book of the Beyond arranged in vertical columns… The decoration on the sides is divided into two registers. Lower comprises columns of text with chapters from the Book of the Dead. In the upper register, we find the Four Sons of Horus and vignettes from the Book of the Dead”…
Top of the lid of the external coffin of Sennedjem Varnished and painted stuccoed wood – 19th Dynasty – the reign of Ramses II from his tomb – TT 1 – at Deir el-Medina discovered by Salam-Abou-Douy de Gournah and by the Service des Antiquités in January-February 1886 registered in the Diary of Entries of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo – JE 27303
Represented standing, two by two and turning their backs, the four protective goddesses watch over Sennedjem: at the head are Selkis and Neith, at the feet Isis and Nephthys, each with one arm along the body, the other slightly spread in protective sign. Moving, charming, they are wearing a three-part black wig with a light headband. The hieroglyphic sign is placed on the top of their skull, which allows their identification. They are dressed in tight dresses held by straps, and their neck is adorned with a lovely necklace with multiple rows…
Martha Sara Saujaume notes the presence of “family” representations, such as: “the deceased and his wife Iineferti seated on chairs. She hugs her husband by the shoulders while they play Senet before a table of offerings. This same scene is found inside the access door to the funeral chamber of the deceased. To the right of this scene, we see the ba of the deceased, Sennedjem and Iineferti, on a white chapel. In front of him, the deceased is kneeling in adoration before the two lions holding the Horizon on their shoulders….”
Detail of the door to the tomb of Sennedjem – stuccoed and painted wood – 19th Dynasty – the reign of Ramses II from his tomb – TT 1 – at Deir el-Medina – discovered by Salam-Abou-Douy de Gournah and by the Antiquities Service in January-February 1886 registered in the Journal of Entries of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo – JE 27303 – on display since April 2021 at the Nmec (National Museum of Egyptian Civilization) in Fustat
At the time of the burial, to facilitate the hauling of it towards the vault, the sarcophagus was deposited on a sledge: “On the skids of the sledge of the funerary tank of Sennedjem, wheels which left their mark there, had been adapted to facilitate the transport of the heavy and cumbersome piece of furniture. This type of funerary tank with a sledge base only seems to appear in the 18th Dynasty and to disappear with the end of the New Kingdom” (Ruth Anthelme, Christian Leblanc, “Ramses the Great”).
Map of Sennedjem’s tomb at Deir el-Medina published in “Tomb No. 1 of SEN-NEDJEM (1959), Bruyère, Bernard (1879-1971), MIFAO 88 from 1959
This external coffin has been registered in the Cairo Museum Entry Journal JE 27301. It will be presented at the “Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs” exhibition to be held from April 7 to September 6, 2023, at La Grande Halle de la Villette, in a scenography featuring the most beautiful scenes from the funerary vault… Let us remember that, for Bernard Bruyère, the tomb of Sennedjem (TT 1 – TT = Theban tomb): “is not only one of the most beautiful and best preserved in Thebes; but it is, moreover, a perfect, complete and typical example of a large family tomb comprising the four regular components, the courtyard and the chapels accessible to the living, the well and the vault reserved for the dead”…
Sennedjem and his wife Iyneferti are represented on the walls of their tomb – TT 1 – Deir el-Medineh discovered by Salam-Abou-Douy de Gournah and by the Service des Antiquités in January-February 1886
It is interesting to specify that Khonsou, son of Sennedjem, rested in an almost identical external coffin (JE 27302) which was at the “Ramses the Great” exhibition, organized by Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, from May 15 to October 15, 1976, at Grand Palace in Paris.
Padro Josep, “Bulletin of the French Society of Egyptology” – 1988, n°113, pp. 32-45
Elisabeth David, Gaston Maspero, Letters from Egypt, Correspondence with Louise Maspero, Seuil, 2003
Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, Ramses the Great, National Galleries of the Grand Palais (1976)
Hanane Gaber, Laure Bazin Rizzo, Frédéric Servajean, At work, we know the craftsman… of Pharaoh! – A century of French research in Deir el-Medina (1917-2017), 2018, SilvanaEditorial
Pharaoh’s artists, Deir el Medineh and the Valley of the Kings, Louvre, 2002
Zahi Hawass, Hidden Treasures of Egypt Nicholas Reeves, the great discoveries of ancient Egypt, Éditions du Rocher, 2001
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