As you might already know, Sean Connery has been passed away today and therefore, I have to drop some line for him or better for me, because I loved him, not because he was the only true James Bond, but for he had shown me the true way how one could be an actor, as I wanted once be, to be a wise one.
But, I don’t want to talk about the Bond or even one of his best role in this Movie; the name of the rose in which he had actually played his own life, as a wise Monk, and he did, in his hard-working up life had proved.
Though, I can just fall in in love again with him, when the young aspirant asked him if he ever felt in love in his life; he answered; sure; I love Sokrates, Aristoteles, Platon… oh my…
Anyway, I wanted to tell you about a Science-fiction movie in which he has played in; Zardoz. I don’t know how much you’d know about this movie, it is not so famous and surely not so elegant clothed as once like a Bond.
This movie is something special, I have seen it in Iran, of course with some censorship about some scenes. But I hat to watch this about nine times! I tell you, it is such a movie which you can saw and say it’s Hollywood, but you can saw it and want to see it again; it is almost a prophecy of the future as we’re running towards. In any case, every time when I was in the cinema to see this, there were peoples got up and out of the cinema. They just didn’t understand!
I believe that Sean Connery would never play any cheap films. He knew it and he did his best in all of them.
Zardoz is a 1974 Irish-American science fantasy film, and later a book, written, produced, and directed by John Boorman http://John Boorman and starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling, and featuring Sara Kestelman. The film was shot by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth on a budget of US$1.57 million. It depicts a post-apocalyptic world where barbarians worship a stone god called “Zardoz” that grants them death and eternal life. How familiar it is!
The fascinating had no limit; the music is the seventh symphony by Ludwig von Beethoven;
This masterwork by John Boorman is a real vision by an artist who looks in the future, it is not so easy, to aspect and expect the future as dark as it appears but the truth is unavoidable;
Watch this brilliant movie and say goodbye to Sean Connery and Hello to Zardoz!
the last Wednesday was the day of Cyrus the Great in Iran and as it was celebrated those days in the time of the Shah (Reza Pahlavi) it will be still celebrated, in spite of the Islamic prohibition of any acknowledgement on old Persians culture, even more since then.
I write about this anniversary not only because I’m a proud Persian (if there is something left now to be proud of!) but there is no doubt that Cyrus II the King was not a normal king like the most of kings in the history of mankind. He was Great for his deeds; on all the folks in his kingdom, with their different ancestry, religions, cultures or faith. He was a king with a heart for all people and a defender for human right. It might sound uncommon but it is true.
He’s been born about 600 BC and reigned from 559 – 530 BC, it doesn’t look very long but he had pointed a lot about human right in his time and from the Jewish point of view, he is famous for the liberation of the Jewish people under Babylonian force. Let’s have a look at in the Wikipedia:
Cyrus II of Persia commonly known as Cyrus the Great, and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire.
The Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier domination possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of this dynasty was Achaemenes (from Old Persian Haxāmaniš). (هخامنشی) Achaemenids are “descendants of Achaemenes” as Darius the Great, the ninth king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him and declares “for this reason we are called Achaemenids.” Achaemenes built the state Parsumash in the southwest of Iran and was succeeded by Teispes, who took the title “King of Anshan” after seizing Anshan city and enlarging his kingdom further to include Pars proper.[38] Ancient documents[39] mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I, who also succeeded his father as “king of Anshan.” Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes.[9]
In 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son, Cambyses I, who reigned until 559 BC. Cyrus II “the Great” was a son of Cambyses I, who had named his son after his father, Cyrus I. There are several inscriptions of Cyrus the Great and later kings that refer to Cambyses I as the “great king” and “king of Anshan.” Among these are some passages in the Cyrus cylinder where Cyrus calls himself “son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anshan.” Another inscription (from CM’s) mentions Cambyses I as “mighty king” and “an Achaemenian,” which according to the bulk of scholarly opinion was engraved under Darius and considered as a later forgery by Darius. However Cambyses II’s maternal grandfather Pharnaspes is named by historian Herodotus as “an Achaemenian” too. Xenophon‘s account in Cyropædia further names Cambyses’s wife as Mandane and mentions Cambyses as king of Iran (ancient Persia). These agree with Cyrus’s own inscriptions, as Anshan and Parsa were different names of the same land. These also agree with other non-Iranian accounts, except at one point from Herodotus stating that Cambyses was not a king but a “Persian of good family.” However, in some other passages, Herodotus’s account is wrong also on the name of the son of Chishpish, which he mentions as Cambyses but, according to modern scholars, should be Cyrus I. (Wikipedia )
It is surely known by many that there’s been found a Cycle which shows the history of law at the beginning of the Persian Kingdom but as we see everywhere and every time in our history, there is a typical rewrite and revision on the old text, as a fake, to sell them better! Therefore, I introduce this famous Cycle as it truly is and it is in any case, the first constitution of the human right.
The Cyrus Cylinder revered by people all around the world as a symbol of tolerance and respect for different peoples, different cultures and different faiths, is one of the most famous surviving icons from the ancient world.
That’s just unfortunate that the truth mostly will be reformed and after that, it causes a lot of misfortune; as I believe if the Kings after Cyrus kept his promises to their kingdom, the Arabs or other invaders could never get their success.
It dates from the 6th century BC and was discovered in the ruins of Babylon in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in 1879
Cyrus Cylinder
This text is a long and unfortunately, somehow damaged but there is, thanks to the experts, a translation; Of course, we don’t want to deal with it here, I just share these some words and their worth. the rest, if you are interested, there is the link below. here I’d try to offer a summary of these whole:
I am Cyrus, king of the universe, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world, son of Cambyses, the great king, king of the city of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, king of the city of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, the great king, king of the city of Anshan. I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governours and subordinates look down on or insult them as long as I shall live. From now on, while Marduk lets me rule, I will impose my monarchy on no nation. Each is free to accept it, and if anyone of them rejects it, I shall never resolve on war to reign.
Thanks for your interest and have a peaceful time 🙏💖🙏
One of the amazing and extraordinary maintaining artefacts from the old Egypt is the Steles. They are great artworks and also telling stories about the events from those days.
They were and will remain magnificent. Here I want to present just two of them with a beautiful description by my adorable friend Marie Grillot, I am obliged as always.
Tatiaset stele – wooden panel covered with gesso and painted Third Intermediate Period – 825-712 BC From his tomb MMA 801 discovered in the Deir el-Bahari sector by the 1921-1922 mission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York directed by Herbert Eustis Winlock Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – admission number: 22.3.33 – photo by MET
This lovely stele from the second half of the XXIIth Dynasty is dedicated to the “mistress of the house Tatiaset”. Coming from a family of the Theban clergy – her father Saiah was “priest of the purification of Amun” – she was herself a singer of Amun… She married a scribe by the name of “Djed-Bastet”. The stele, 23.4 cm high, is, in fact, a panel of curved wood, covered with gesso and painted. The two sides, which have retained the vividness of their colours, are different and just as interesting.
In the centre of the front is Nut, the goddess of Sycamore. She is represented, standing, face on, in the middle of her tree. She wears a tripartite wig, a large green necklace as well as bracelets, armilas, and periscelids. Her red garment, which hugs her forms, is tied under her opulent bosom with a white belt, the two drops of which are of unequal length. In each hand, she holds a fine ewer whose trickles of water will purify the hands of the two deceased who are seated on either side. Their beautifully crafted armchairs rest on green mats.
On the left is Tatiaset. Her slender face, animated by large eyes surrounded by kohol, is framed by a long brown wig. An odoriferous cone is placed on his head. She is dressed in a long white linen dress and wears a large green collar. His right-hand collects the purifying water poured out by the goddess while the left is lifted, palm facing out, as a sign of worship.
On the right, her husband is represented in a similar position and gestures. He is dressed quite similarly but wears a short wig. His face is slender, his eye expressive, and his chin is adorned with a short goatee. The balance of the composition, whose dominant colours are white, red ocher and green, is perfect.
Tatiaset stele – wooden panel covered with gesso and painted Third Intermediate Period – 825-712 BC From his tomb MMA 801 discovered in the Deir el-Bahari sector by the 1921-1922 mission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York directed by Herbert Eustis Winlock Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – entry number: 22.3.33 – photo by MET
Marie-Astrid Calmettes analyzes this scene as: “an image taken from chapters 54-63 of the ‘Book to leave the day’ relating to the provision of breeze and water for the deceased in the afterlife”. Christian Leblanc, who was kind enough to read the hieroglyphic inscriptions, specifies: “On the right, it is the scribe of the house of the divine adorer of Amun, Djed-Bastet, son of Mery-en-Khonsou, justified”.
On the left, it is the “mistress of the house and singer of Amon named Tatiaset, justified”. This lady was the wife of Djed-Bastet. The father of Tatiaset, a certain Sa-Iâh (Saiâh = ie “the son of the moon”), “priest-ouab of Amun” (pure priest), is not represented but his name and his title are written behind the deceased”.
Thus, these inscriptions offer us an important part of Tatiaset’s “biography”.
The other side is dominated by “the sign of the sky pet (pt) curved and originally painted in blue” while at the bottom there is a “horizontal band evoking the earth” specifies Marie-Astrid Calmettes who adds: ” As for the falcon with outstretched wings which appears in the upper part, it is not identified verbatim. The only thing which is certain is that it is about a god, a celestial and solar god “.
Tatiaset stele – wooden panel covered with gesso and painted Third Intermediate Period – 825-712 BC From his tomb MMA 801 discovered in the Deir el-Bahari sector by the 1921-1922 mission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York directed by Herbert Eustis Winlock Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – entry number: 22.3.33 – photo by MET
In a “divine” balance, the god holds between his talons the sign shen, symbol of eternity with which is associated an eye-oudjat. The colours of the plumage and those of the protective signs are in perfect harmony. Under the falcon’s tail are four hieroglyphic lines written in black on an ocher background; they are separated by green vertical bands.
The main scene brings together three “characters”.
On the right is Tatiaset, standing, wearing a light linen dress, the folds of which are materialized by orange lines. She has the same hairstyle as on the other side but adorned with a headband whose blue-green tones match her large necklace.
In her left hand, she holds a heart: this presence is as significant as it is symbolic. The heart-ib in ancient Egypt – was: “the most important organ for the individual. The seat of her thoughts, conscience and will, it was also the receptacle of her memory, the witness of all It is in this capacity that she appears in the judgment scenes of the deceased (psychostasis) where she is confronted with the Maat. If he were to be destroyed, the dead man would be unable to appear before the divine court, “Isabelle Franco tells us in her” Dictionary of Egyptian Mythology. “
Her right hand is in that of the black-headed, green-fleshed god Anubis. This one is also represented standing in the walking attitude. He is wearing a green strapless corset as well as a loincloth in brown tones, held in place by a darker belt. It is adorned with many jewels, a wide necklace, bracelets, vests, and Periscelid He guides the deceased to Rê-Horakhty.
Between the two gods is set a table of offerings where the victuals are topped with delicate lotus flowers. On either side of the table’s leg are lettuces.
The two hieroglyphic inscriptions on the left state: “An offering that the king gives to Anubis, master of the sacred land (ie necropolis)” – “An offering that the king gives to Re-Horakhty, who is the head of the gods” (or ” who presides over the gods “). While the text on the right, in two columns, indicates: “The Osiris, the mistress of the house, Tatiaset”. The inscription between Anubis and Tatiaset is a mention of the father of the deceased: “the priest-ouab of Amun, Saiâh”.
The scene aims for Tatiaset’s heart to be “justified” by the gods so that she can access eternity …
Tatiaset stele – wooden panel covered with gesso and painted Third Intermediate Period – 825-712 BC From his tomb MMA 801 discovered in the Deir el-Bahari sector by the 1921-1922 mission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York directed by Herbert Eustis Winlock Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – entry number: 22.3.33 – photo by MET Posted here by Winlock in MMA Bull. Pt. Ii, December 1922
This stele is one of four discoveries made by the 1921-1922 mission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York led by Herbert Eustis Winlock in the Deir el-Bahari area. In the tomb which will be referenced MMA 801: “Four painted wooden stelae of a family of priests and priestesses of Amun, who were also officials of the Vice-queen of Thebes, were lying near the door of the chapel” specifies the discoverer …
When the excavations were shared by the Egyptian Government, it was assigned to the MET, where it was registered under the entry number: 22.3.33.
All my thanks to Christian Leblanc for the hieroglyphic translations and to Marie-Astrid Calmettes, Khéops Institute of Egyptology, Paris, Université Libre de Bruxelles (CIERL), for the valuable information she kindly provided me with
I thought that it is time to have a look back at my memory and dare to write another capital; in the name of the first love.
It is surely not something new but it is always a brand new feeling for a young one which would never forget. I am not a romantic archetype as I have uttered now and then. But I had a dramatic childhood, therefore, became very sensitive and I had worked on it all through my life. Though, this trauma still remains.
At the beginning to recognize my feelings towards the opposite gender I fell in love with many girls; for example, I remember one of my cousins (I had a lot of them) whom I had played a lot of times with, once when I had been visiting at my uncle’s, wanted to play with her and run to her room, there I saw her sleeping; in a white gown with her long hair falling on her shoulders; I fell in love with her at once, though it didn’t last a long time and in the next day I had forgotten her! 😁😳
And there were many young actresses in the movies whom I fell in love with; I even fell in love with Brigitte Bardot though she was some older than me.
I had also kissing plays with my other cousins as we saw in the movies but, I should tell them another time.
In the time after my father’s death, mother tried in every way to get money, one of them was to rent the ground floor, and it’s occupied by a young family (a young man with his young wife and a newborn child) and there began my first sex affair!
She was crazy; the young beautiful girl liked and wanted me very much! Every little moment I could get to their apartment, she embraced and hugged me heartily, I was just a child those days and didn’t know anything about sex or maybe I did? There was something to attract me to see her, being near to her. Once I was again alone and run downstairs on the yard to look through their window, in which was looking through their sleeping room, and recognized them lying on their bed, and playing with their newborn baby; when she saw me called me in immediately, I get inside at once! She got me to the bed, let her husband enjoyed playing with the baby and hugged me to her almost naked body, kissed me tight and what else I can’t remember or was not aware of it.
You might think of child abuse but I don’t think so; she had never tried to make it secret with me. I think she was one of very seldom woman or a human who didn’t believe in any social morality or any forbidden zone for free feeling and free-living, I suppose her husband even knew it and accepted it because in this evening he was playing with his baby happily and even when he was very amused calling us to see what the baby already was doing, and we’re too busy to observe any of their action, wasn’t very important for him and he continued playing. Maybe it was because of me, being a child and not a serious rival! I’d never know, but once she got farther and on a hot summer day when we were all swimming in the pool in our yord, she, swimming towards me, and saying clearly laud “making love in the water”, hugged me and began to kiss me! There, mother cried out that it’s enough for us children and must get out of the water!! I think she wasn’t aware of what she was doing, she might be too honest of course, otherwise, she could do it hidden to me anything she wanted, if she minded something badly!? Mother was a free thinker, but unfortunately not so far, and threw them out of the house, and our affair has been ended so soon.
After that, mother thought it’s better to rent the upstairs because we could use the garden more easily, and she had rented it to a very normal family; but, they were often being visited by a young girl, a very beautiful one, and of course, I fell in love with her too! And Al didn’t want to ignore her as well; we weren’t therefore always a good playmate! For the first time, we became competitors!! She was a nutty girl I must add here and be enjoying a game to turn us both crazy at the beginning, but in the end, she was suddenly crazy after me. Shirin was her name and One evening, we were in the yard and I heard them discussing loudly on the balcony, and I looked up, saw her beautiful face, keep staring at her, she looked down at me, and she kept staring too, I can clearly see her on the balcony upstairs how she almost eats me with her beautiful eyes. She came down and told me that we should play; a hidden game. You know, one closes the eyes and the others try to hide somewhere. it was obvious there would happen something and it happened; I found her in a small room in the backyard and when I got her she was so agitated that she hurt herself on her arm. I was so sorry but she laughed and said: kiss it! I was shocked at a moment and in the next moment when I did want to kiss her arm, she withdrew it. What a dumb was I!
Anyway, after that, some weeks later they moved out and I had never heard of her anymore. I don’t know why but it was my first deeply falling love and I’ll never forget it, as I might say; No no, here’s looking at you kid, we have always Paris.
Oh yes, you must just remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh, The fundamental things apply As time goes by Never forget your first love. because it is one of the most important events in your whole life. Have a nice weekend dear friends. 🙏💖🙏
Hello dear friends, I don’t know if I have enough time till my leave to find all these wonderful and great genius women who are not actually hidden but that the society is so blind or rather dumb to disclose them to the poblic.
At least, I must be lucky to find out them. Here is another Brilliant one:
I don’t know if you know or have heard of this amazing woman. I didn’t; till Mike Ben, a FB friend of mine caught my attention on this fascinating Dame whom every man (including me) could fall in love with her. She’s not only a great painter but also a writer and poet.
Here, some dropping words about her life;
In her own words… Dorothea Tanning was born in 1910 in Galesburg, Illinois and attended Knox College in her hometown before studying painting in Chicago (haunting the Art Institute where she learned what painting was.) In 1941, now in New York, she met the art dealer, Julien Levy, and his surrealist friends, refugees from Nazi occupied France. Late in 1942 Max Ernst visited her studio, saw a painting, (Birthday), and stayed to play chess. They would have 34 years together, at first in Sedona, Arizona (a mere outpost at the time). Here she would continue to paint her enigmatic versions of life on the inside, looking out:The Guest Room, The Truth About Comets, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Interior with Sudden Joy, Insomnias, Palaestra, Tamerlane, Far From. By 1956 Max and Dorothea had chosen to live and work thenceforth in France. Though Paris was headquarters, they preferred the country quiet lure in Touraine and Provence. These years included, for Dorothea Tanning, an intense five- year adventure in soft sculpture: Cousins, Don Juan’s Breakfast, Fetish, Rainy Day Canapé, TragicTable, Verb, Xmas, Emma, Revelation or the End of the Month, Hôtel du Pavot Room 202.
Max Ernst died on April 1, 1976 and Dorothea faced a solitary future. “Go home,” said the paint tubes, the canvases, the brushes. Returning to the United States in the late 1970s, and still painting, Tango Lives, Woman Artist, On Avalon, Door 84, Still in the Studio, Blue Mom, Dionysos S.O.S., she gave full rein to her long felt compulsion to write. Words, poetry. Written, read, heard. Would she join these voices even then? Her poems have since appeared in a number of literary reviews and magazines, such as The Yale Review, Poetry, The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Boston Review, The Southwest Review, Parnassus, and in Best Poems of 2002 and 2005. Her published works include two memoirs, Birthday and Between Lives, a collection of poems, A Table of Content, and a novel, Chasm.
At present Dorothea Tanning lives in New York City, breathes words, as well as air, and looks at her paintings with amazement. It is 2009.
About the artist: Dorothea Tanning died at her home in New York City on January 31, 2012. She was 101 years old, and had just published her second collection of poems, Coming to That (Graywolf Press, 2011).
Still later, when I was more in touch with the world, they told me, “You have a future.” I thought that over. Even if I believed them, what did my little future, whatever that was, have to do with the real thing, whatever that is? —from “Waiting”
Let’s enjoy her paintings with the beginning of her self-portrait; Birthday.
(Self Portrait) Birthday 1942 Oil on canvas 40 1/4 x 25 1/2 in.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. Purchased with funds contributed by C.K. Williams, II 1999-50-1 http://Artsy
That was in a room for rent.
It had a window and a bed,
it was enough for dreaming,
for stunning facts like being
at last, and undeniably
in NYC, enough to hold
enfolded as in a pregnancy,
those not-yet-painted works
to be. They, hanging fire,
slow to come—to come
out—being deep inside her,
oozing metamorphosis
in her warm dark, took
their time and promised.
Fast forward. Trapped in now,
she's not all that sure.
Compared to what entwined
her mind before the test,
before the raw achievement
pat, secure—oh, such bounty
to be lived, yet untasted,
undefined—all the rest...
Hi dear fellows. Let me first drop some lines as a prologue before begin to report our trip; As a novice in the matter of writing, I look always for gathering some idea for my weekend post. I am getting used to doing it (it seems to become a ritual for me). Therefore, I try to begin on Mondays because I need time! though it sometimes stuns me to see some friends who simply post a video-clip or share from the WEB a quote with a title; The Quote of the Day, and that was it! I can’t, I don’t know why but I can not do it so simply. Surely I use also the WEB but when I want to tell something, must be composed a part of my own thoughts too. Anyway, this time I was in Bonn and I couldn’t get ready to prepare something or even not a free mind to catch up with an idea. And when we came back home I was so rigid that I couldn’t fix the days till today I worked up and I had a feeling like a pupil who had not finished his homework and must appear in the school!! Now at least there was a trip and I can tell thereabout and share some pictures with you, I hope you’ll enjoy it.
A few days ago, my wife and I were in Bonn not only to visit the former capital city of Germany (BRD the west part) But surely to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Ludwig von Beethoven; one of the greatest ever in the classic music.
Taken by me; Aladin Fazel
The truth is that we wanted to travel to Berlin as we’d planed last year to get my interview with the US Embassy for getting a visa for me if you might remember it. It has been cancelled because of the Corona emerge and we have just thought to change this meeting to few-days travel in Berlin to meet also the ex from my wife! But Berlin became a Hot-spot, therefore, we made an immediate change to Bonn, also towards Beethoven, an unbelievable chance.
Me and the Master (soppy)!
I love him and his works; especially his once and for all Concerto Violon which He had composed only one (many other compositors have more than one Concerto Violon) but this is a remarkable one. And we had met the Rhein and her beauty, we had also an unexpected encounter with Beavers who walking cooly around.
The RheinThe Beaver among the others
And we took a look at his house or museum, we were not allowed to take any pictures, therefore, I had to steal one from the WEB! It’s his piano, so small but what the masterworks he’d created with it; even later when he was deaf.
There some more, have a peaceful weekend 🙏💖
And yet, let’s have the great piece; with a woman as the soloist, what else.
Engraving depicting the exhibition on the tomb of Sethi I organized by Giovanni Battista Belzoni at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly in London in 1821
the magnificence of the magic land Egypt has no limit: here is another fascinated sight of (one of) the Tombs called; KV17 which has been found by Giovanni Battista Belzoni in the valley of the King. Belzoni, sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He was surely excited when he’d arrived into this Tomb but as nobody could read hydrography’s yet, he couldn’t know that that’s the Tomb of Sethi the great Pharaoh.
Tomb KV17, located in Egypt‘s Valley of the Kings and also known by the names “Belzoni’s tomb”, “the Tomb of Apis”, and “the Tomb of Psammis, son of Nechois”, is the tomb of PharaohSeti I of the Nineteenth Dynasty. It is one of the best decorated tombs in the valley, but now is almost always closed to the public due to damage. As per November 2017 holders of a 1200 EGP entry ticket or of a Luxor Pass can visit this tomb. It was first discovered by Giovanni Battista Belzoni[1] on 16 October 1817. When he first entered the tomb he found the wall paintings in excellent condition with the paint on the walls still looking fresh and some of the artists paints and brushes still on the floor.[2]
“I can call the day of this discovery one of the most fortunate of my life”: such are the words of Giovanni Battista Belzoni remembering this October 18, 1817… He has just discovered, in the Valley of the Kings, a tomb of incredible beauty. The key to reading the hieroglyphs having not yet deciphered, he cannot know that this is the eternal home of the great Pharaoh Sethi I. With reference to the “carcass of a bull embalmed with asphalt” which is found there, it will be called “tomb of the Apis” or even sometimes “tomb Belzoni”. It will then be attributed to the father of Ramses II and referenced KV 17 (King Valley).
Belzoni recounts the joy felt on entering: “the first of all men currently living on the globe, in one of the most beautiful and vast monuments of ancient Egypt, in a monument which had been lost to the world, and which was so well preserved that it looked like we had just finished it a little before our arrival “.
Different plans of the tomb of Sethi I discovered by Belzoni on October 18, 1817
As soon as he enters the tomb, he is captivated by what is offered to his eyes: “I judged, by the paintings on the ceiling and by the hieroglyphics in bas-relief that we could distinguish through the rubble that we were masters of the entrance to a magnificent tomb. “
The tomb sinks 137 m into the Theban mountain through 7 corridors and has 10 rooms! It is one of the most beautiful and “completely” decorated in the valley. It is also one of those where the quality of the paintings reaches the highest perfection. Belzoni notes: “As we went on, these paintings became more perfect. They were covered with a varnish whose shine produced a beautiful effect: the figures were painted on a white background.” Then, continuing his advance, he arrives in: “a small room, adorned like everything else with beautiful figures in bas-relief and painted. These paintings were all executed with such perfection that I thought I should call this room the room of beauties. . ” The sarcophagus room amazes him just as much.
He was so totally won over that the idea of making this incredible monument known to as many people as possible was born. He, therefore, decides to make a complete statement, with the objective of publishing the plates and drawings. Thus he appealed to Alessandro Ricci, doctor and designer who arrived in Egypt in 1817: “I had hired Signor Ricci, a young man from Italy, very skilled at drawing, and who, with a little practice, became perfect in his imitations of hieroglyphics. He was to begin the designs of the tomb upon his arrival in Thebes. “
This is how: “from February to March (1818), Ricci worked alone in the tomb to copy as many reliefs as possible”. On May 10, Belzoni found him in the Valley of the Kings. “He was amazed by the work carried out by this artist doctor, who was decidedly very talented: most of the large murals in the tomb of the Apis had already been copied and he was waiting for Giambattista and his shipment of beeswax to take the prints of all the bas-reliefs. Both camping in this hypogeum, they devoted the entire summer of 1818 to this exhausting task. “
The result was admirable, but it required a lot of skill and patience: “The most difficult thing was to take impressions of the figures without damaging the colours with which they were coated. Counting the figures of life-size, I found some in all. one hundred and eighty-two. As for the figures one to three feet high, I did not count them, but there could hardly have been less than eight hundred. There were in this tomb about two thousand figures Hieroglyphics, varying in size from one to six inches; I copied them all faithfully, with their colours. ” From this immense work will result in an impressive number of drawings and wax prints of the walls of the tomb …
After passing through Italy, Belzoni returned to London at the end of 1819: there he published, in 1820, two volumes of “Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations, in Egypt and Nubia; and of a Journey to the Cost of the Red Sea, in search of the Ancient Berenice; and another to the Oasis of Jupiter Amon “.
It is difficult to say with precision when the idea came to him to make an exhibition but, in one of his works, Brian M. Fagan specifies that, shortly after his return, an article of “Times” specified that: “Belzoni would exhibit his ‘magnificent tomb’ in Thebes as soon as he found the appropriate room “. With his wife Sarah – the companion of his many ‘expeditions’ and adventures – they opt for the “Egyptian Hall of Piccadilly”. Built-in 1812, it displays a facade of “Egyptianizing” architecture which combines pediments, columns, bas-reliefs and statues. With a lot of “publicity”, the exhibition opened its doors on May 1, 1821. Belzoni took care to ensure the presence of numerous personalities. He also “attracted” them, from the day before, by the “unwrapping” of a mummy …
Facade of the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London, venue where the Belzoni exhibition on the tomb of Sethi I was held in 1821
The magic of Egypt is sweeping over London. “Two life-size models of the two most beautiful pieces in the tomb of Seti I dominated the exhibition, the pillared room and another showing five human figures. Here the visitor could see all the splendour of a royal tomb. Magnificent figures of Osiris, Seti I, Horus, Anubis and other gods stood on the walls of the halls, with vivid descriptions of the terrible underworld of the dead. Belzoni also reproduced Abu Simbel in the form of the model. A cross-section of the pyramid of Khafre has revealed the mysteries of one of the greatest monuments of the Nile. Lion-headed statues of the goddess Sekhmet, mummies, papyrus … “Success will be immediate with, in particular:” thousand nine hundred entries, the first day, at the price of half a crown! ” and the exhibition will remain for more than a year.
At first, “Paris” will ask to take plaster copies: “on the wax impressions of Belzoni and coloured with the precision of the beautiful paintings of Alessandro Ricci”. Then, in 1822, the exhibition moved to the French capital, 29 boulevard des Italiens, at the “Bains Chinois”. In this establishment built by Samson Nicolas Lenoir in 1787 (it will be destroyed in 1853, shortly after its acquisition by Richard Wallace), it will be wonderfully enhanced and even “embellished by the happiest illumination”.
A story, as incredible as it is marvellous, relates that: “on September 27, 1822, at the very hour when Champollion addressed his famous ‘Letter to M. Dacier’, relating to the deciphering of hieroglyphs, was passing on the Seine, on a large barge, the facsimile of the tomb of Seti I. Like the English, the French will be amazed by the reproductions of the hypogeum. “
Gustave Lefèvre recalls: “In 1822, the explorer Belzoni, originally from Padua, exhibited, at the Boulevard des Italiens, http://29 boulevard des Italiens life-size reproductions of the main rooms of the tomb of Sethi I, which he had discovered in 1817: all of Parisian society flocked to this extraordinary exhibition. ” Champollion himself: “will go and copy texts”.
With his book translated into French and published in 1821: “which tells of his work in Egypt and Nubia, Belzoni awakens the attention of curious minds: without knowing it, he helps Champollion to obtain the necessary credits for his trip to Egypt”. (Jean Vercoutter, “In search of forgotten Egypt”).
The exhibition will then move to Saint Petersburg.
Portrait of Giovanni Battista Belzoni published by his wife Sarah in 1824
As for Belzoni: “he had decided to leave Europe in order to go in search of the sources of Niger in West Africa”. But on December 3, 1823, while on the road to Timbuktu, he was swept away by dysentery. He was only 45 at the time.
Sarah, now widowed, will remain in London for a while. She will live on the sale of lithographs and: “when the exhibitions had definitively closed their doors, all their content was the subject of passionate auctions; we went so far as to pay four hundred and ninety pounds for reproductions of the falls plus some additional drawings “.
Thanks to Belzoni and Sethi, Egyptomania continued, indeed, to conquer hearts!
I just can’t stop thinking admirably about this woman. She, with her infinite courage, had fought for her idea till to the end, alone.
Her unlimited view on ethnicities, religions or creeds is stunning me; she had a wider look at the problem of the human judgement than her fellow colleagues. As we might know this point of view is lacking in our society, either those days or now. And it causes a big problem in many countries on Earth.
But honestly, to reach such a point of view looks like idealistic, a dream! Although, she had done it and was so fearless to talk about it.
Her breakthrough was her participation in the trial of Adolf Eichmann, the organizer of the jews death-transport to the Gas-Chamber, who was captured so refined by Mossad (the Israeli secret service) in 1960 in Argentina and transported to Israel for the trial. She had been invited by a famous Magazine to make a report on this Process. But what she wrote in her announcement was not what the peoples expected for; it was a superhuman report as I might call. She had not, as the others did, observed this occurrence superficially (as the motto; everything runs perfectly).
“After Germany’s defeat in 1945, Eichmann was captured by US forces, but escaped from a detention camp and moved around Germany to avoid re-capture. He ended up in a small village in Lower Saxony, where he lived until 1950, when he moved to Argentina using false papers he obtained with help from an organisation directed by Catholic bishop Alois Hudal. Information collected by the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, confirmed his location in 1960. A team of Mossad and Shin Bet agents captured Eichmann and brought him to Israel to stand trial on 15 criminal charges, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the Jewish people. During the trial, he did not deny the Holocaust or his role in organising it, but claimed that he was simply following orders in a totalitarianFührerprinzip system. He was found guilty on all of the charges, and was executed by hanging on 1 June 1962.[c] The trial was widely followed in the media and was later the subject of several books, including Hannah Arendt‘s Eichmann in Jerusalem, in which Arendt coined the phrase “the banality of evil” to describe Eichmann.[6]” From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Eichmann
She had looked at this man; Eichmann, psychologically and understood something which the others never wanted to understand; the main purpose of engendering such a creature.
She said in the opposite of others, that this man was not a monster but a very simply naive man who did his orders from above; the real monster is the ideology behind him. That is that, what makes monsters from the normal simple people. It was, of course, a hammer on the heads of all conservatives in every group. I believe her wholeheartedly; if we take a deeper look at all these monsters in history, for example, the Nazi regime one by one; we can find a lot of ideots there. Hitler himself in his ideas, may be a mad but genius one. But the rests were ill-minded poor creatures who wanted only to keep and cast their power.
Here is the final act of a movie which I watched some days ago, a well-made production by Margarethe von Trotta. A fascinated speech by a fascinated woman.
The definition of the crime of the Nazi is not only the crime against Jews, it is the crime against humanity. Induiality means to be somebody.
Is it still I that burns there all alone? Unrecognizable? memories denied? O life, o life: being outside. And I in flames—no one is left—unknown. —Rainer Maria Rilke, Komm Du (1926), trans. by Walter Kaufmann (1975)
And after all these she became alone; here she tells about the loneliness;
Just as terror, even in its pre-total, merely tyrannical form ruins all relationships between men, so the self-compulsion of ideological thinking ruins all relationships with reality. The preparation has succeeded when people have lost contact with their fellow men* as well as the reality around them; for together with these contacts, men lose the capacity of both experience and thought. The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.
Hannah Arendt by Fred Stein, 1944 (Photograph courtesy of the Fred Stein Archive)
Let’s say happy birthday to this great musician, thinker, human; John Lennon. He’d be eighty years old if a mad and ill-minded man didn’t kill him forty years ago. As I can remember, Al and I were listening to the Beatles, we have been grown up with them I’d say, it wasn’t usual in Iran in those days (60s). After their separation, we kept buying every single which the fab-four had alone produced, but I should say that between John and Paul, we were more inclined to John than Paul. As I believe (and I might not be alone) their separation had shown that the Paul was more the body and John was the soul of Lennon&Macartney. I mean even in their way of compositions.
That’s for sure that their songs were not the same as they made music together; and when we nevertheless bought all of their LPs, I felt Paul’s working as a businessman to sell his songs but John was trying to make music!
Anyway, I think that he (John) can celebrate his birthday because he is and remains alive; in his songs in which we listen to every time. Happy Birthday John. 💖💖🙏💖💖
“Imagine” (from “Imagine: John Lennon” soundtrack)
Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today… Aha-ah…
Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion, too Imagine all the people Living life in peace… You…
You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world… You…
You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will live as one
It’d be a short post (because my lovely granddaughter Mila will come soon?) I have watched this movie yesterday, though I have recorded some weeks ago and it was so wonderful that I wanted to share it with you, might be interested to see it.
I was fascinated by this movie, not only because of the amazing atmosphere at the end of the 19th century’s but also to see these crazy and unpredictable genius whom I saw them all in my life in my family!
Let’s meet the genius again in a very sensitive version 😊have a wonderful weekend 🙏💖
Cyrus the Great with a 
lampmagician 
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