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One of the most incisive criticisms of the enemies of the Bible refers to a very small passage, of only two verses, in 2 Kings 2:23-24, in which apparently
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Genealogy of the English Kings, Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings, England, East Anglia, c. 1300–07, London, British Library, Royal 14 B. vi © British Library Board From: 11 November 2011 > 13 March 2012 Royal Manuscripts: the Genius of Illumination British Library 96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB www.bl.uk For more events, see blog.eyemagazine.com/?page_id=158
The story of Licoricia of Winchester illustrates just how much wealth and influence a Jewish woman could accumulate.
Scientists have discovered extinct strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons - proving for the first time that the killer disease plagued humanity for at least 1400 years. A 1200-year-old smallpox-infected Viking skeleton found in Oland, Sweden [Credit: The Swedish National Heritage Board] Smallpox spread from person to person via infectious droplets, killed around a third of sufferers and left another third permanently scarred or blind. Around 300 million people died from it in the 20th century alone before it was officially eradicated in 1980 through a global vaccination effort - the first human disease to be wiped out. Now an international team of scientists have sequenced the genomes of newly discovered strains of the virus after it was extracted from the teeth of Viking skeletons from sites across northern Europe. Professor Eske Willerslev, of St John's College, University of Cambridge, and director of The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, University of Copenhagen, led the study. He said: "We discovered new strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons and found their genetic structure is different to the modern smallpox virus eradicated in the 20th century. We already knew Vikings were moving around Europe and beyond, and we now know they had smallpox. People travelling around the world quickly spread Covid-19 and it is likely Vikings spread smallpox. Just back then, they travelled by ship rather than by plane. The 1400-year-old genetic information extracted from these skeletons is hugely significant because it teaches us about the evolutionary history of the variola virus that caused smallpox." Smallpox was eradicated throughout most of Europe and the United States by the beginning of the 20th century but remained endemic throughout Africa, Asia, and South America. The World Health Organisation launched an eradication programme in 1967 that included contact tracing and mass communication campaigns - all public health techniques that countries have been using to control today's coronavirus pandemic. But it was the global roll out of a vaccine that ultimately enabled scientists to stop smallpox in its tracks. Historians believe smallpox may have existed since 10,000 BC but until now there was no scientific proof that the virus was present before the 17th century. It is not known how it first infected humans but, like Covid-19, it is believed to have come from animals. Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford, were part of the study [Credit: Thames Valley Archaeological Services] Professor Martin Sikora, one of the senior authors leading the study, from the Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, said: "The timeline of the emergence of smallpox has always been unclear but by sequencing the earliest-known strain of the killer virus, we have proved for the first time that smallpox existed during the Viking Age. "While we don't know for sure if these strains of smallpox were fatal and caused the death of the Vikings we sampled, they certainly died with smallpox in their bloodstream for us to be able to detect it up to 1400 years later. It is also highly probable there were epidemics earlier than our findings that scientists have yet to discover DNA evidence of." The team of researchers found smallpox - caused by the variola virus - in 11 Viking-era burial sites in Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the UK. They also found it in multiple human remains from Oland, an island off the east coast of Sweden with a long history of trade. The team were able to reconstruct near-complete variola virus genomes for four of the samples. Dr Lasse Vinner, one of the first authors and a virologist from The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, said: "Understanding the genetic structure of this virus will potentially help virologists understand the evolution of this and other viruses and add to the bank of knowledge that helps scientists fight emerging viral diseases. "The early version of smallpox was genetically closer in the pox family tree to animal poxviruses such as camelpox and taterapox, from gerbils. It does not exactly resemble modern smallpox which show that virus evolved. We don't know how the disease manifested itself in the Viking Age - it may have been different from those of the virulent modern strain which killed and disfigured hundreds of millions." Dr Terry Jones, one of the senior authors leading the study, a computational biologist based at the Institute of Virology at Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin and the Centre for Pathogen Evolution at the University of Cambridge, said: "There are many mysteries around poxviruses. To find smallpox so genetically different in Vikings is truly remarkable. No one expected that these smallpox strains existed. It has long been believed that smallpox was in Western and Southern Europe regularly by 600 AD, around the beginning of our samples. Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford, were part of the study [Credit: Thames Valley Archaeological Services] "We have proved that smallpox was also widespread in Northern Europe. Returning crusaders or other later events have been thought to have first brought smallpox to Europe, but such theories cannot be correct. While written accounts of disease are often ambiguous, our findings push the date of the confirmed existence of smallpox back by a thousand years." Dr Barbara Muhlemann, one of the first authors and a computational biologist, took part in the research during her PhD at the Centre for Pathogen Evolution at the University of Cambridge, and is now also based at the Institute of Virology at Charite, said: "The ancient strains of smallpox have a very different pattern of active and inactive genes compared to the modern virus. There are multiple ways viruses may diverge and mutate into milder or more dangerous strains. This is a significant insight into the steps the variola virus took in the course of its evolution." Dr Jones added: "Knowledge from the past can protect us in the present. When an animal or plant goes extinct, it isn't coming back. But mutations can re-occur or revert and viruses can mutate or spill over from the animal reservoir so there will always be another zoonosis." Zoonosis refers to an infectious disease outbreak caused by a pathogen jumping from a non-human animal to a human. The research is part of a long-term project sequencing 5000 ancient human genomes and their associated pathogens made possible thanks to a scientific collaboration between The Lundbeck Foundation, The Wellcome Trust, The Nordic Foundation, and Illumina Inc. Professor Willerslev concluded: "Smallpox was eradicated but another strain could spill over from the animal reservoir tomorrow. What we know in 2020 about viruses and pathogens that affect humans today, is just a small snapshot of what has plagued humans historically." The findings have been published in Science. Source: St John's College, University of Cambridge [July 23, 2020] Labels Archaeology, Europe, Genetics, UK, Western Europe TANN you might also like Newer Post Older Post
Written by Victoria Williams. There is no one exact way to launch a new career, makeover an already existing one or establish yourself as a mover and a shaker around town. However, your professional success and the pace at which you climb the corporate ladder are measured more by who…
“Category kings,” defined as market-share leaders in particular business sectors, often wind up creating the majority of the market value relative to their competition. This advantage is particularly pronounced in tech: According to some research, over 70 percent of the value created in tech markets is generated by the category’s king (think Amazon in retail, Facebook in social media).
Missing YouTuber Desmond Amofah, known as “Etika”, has been found dead in a New York river after an eight-minute video he posted sparked grave fears for his wellbeing. The 29-year-old was found by police overnight a week after he went missing. The New York Police Department confirmed Mr Amofah’s body was discovered in the East River after responding to a public call about a deceased person floating in the water near South Street Seaport. Mr Amofah was reported missing on the night of June 19, some 36 hours after his troubling video message was shared online. Authorities said the investigation was ongoing, and his cause of death was not confirmed. Mr Amofah first sparked fears among his fans after posting a video titled “I’m sorry” on his YouTube channel TR1Iceman that expressed suicidal thoughts. “I shouldn’t have pushed so many people away. Now, I’ve got nobody,” Mr Amofah said in the video. “I’m sorry to those of you who I betrayed. I’m sorry for leaving such a stained legacy.” In the video, he also warned against the dangers of social media while going into detail about his struggle with mental health. “It can give you an image of what you want your life to be and get blown completely out of proportion,” he said. “It consumed me.” YouTube has since taken down the eight-minute clip, which was likely removed for violating the platform’s suicide policy. The policy bans “content that promotes self-harm”. The YouTube Creators official account tweeted they were mourning the loss of Etika, “a beloved member of our gaming creator community”. “All of us at YouTube are sending our condolences to his loved ones and fans,” it said. Many in the YouTube community, including some of his 137,000 subscribers, are calling for YouTube to reinstate his final video. Others posted tributes to Mr Amofah, including beauty YouTuber James Charles. “My heart is so heavy hearing this news. I hope that the community finally realises that creators are human beings with real, valid feelings,” he wrote on Twitter. If you or someone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au. In an emergency, call triple-0
Fecund has been flourishing in the English language and describing fructuous things since the 15th century. It ultimately made its way into the English lexicon through the Latin adjective fecundus,
The Medieval Manuscripts Section at the British Library is a partner in a new project, ‘Insular Manuscripts AD 650-850: Networks of Knowledge’, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The project will establish an international research network to advance understanding of knowledge exchange and cultural networks in early medieval Europe through analysis...
“The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered! Haile Selassie Ist, Elect of God King of Kings of Ethiopia.” Atse Haile Selassie would be the last to receive this ancient title.The use of this formula dates to the dynasty’s Solomonic origins, all monarchs being required to trace their lineage back to Menelik I, who […]
Academics from Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Aberdeen have uncovered evidence for a series of monumental temple complexes of the Iron Age, as well as residences of early kings of Ulster from the medieval period, at Navan Fort. Navan Fort is located outside Armagh city [Credit: Queen's University] The research was conducted in the form of a survey, led by Dr Patrick Gleeson, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen’s and his team of colleagues from the University of Aberdeen and German Archaeological Institute, Frankfurt. The survey will be published in the Oxford Journey of Archaeology. The results are the initial work of an on-going programme that add rich discoveries to the iconic site of Navan Fort. The sighting evidences a vast temple complex and ceremonial centre of prehistoric Europe, as well as the first evidence of continued medieval activity during the period when Navan Fort was associated with the kingship of Ulster. It is one of Ireland’s so-called royal sites, a group of five ceremonial centres of prehistoric origin, documented in the medieval period as the capitals of the five fifths that divided Ireland. 3D Lidar image of Navan Fort and surroundings [Credit: Phil Barrett/Twitter] The work is part of the Comparative Kingship project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, and is being supported by Historic Environment Division of the Department of Communities Northern Ireland who own the site as a monument in State Care. Talking about the survey, Dr Gleeson said: “Excavation in the 1960s uncovered one of the most spectacular series of buildings of any region of prehistoric Europe, including a series of figure-of-8 buildings of the Early Iron Age and a 40m timber-ringed structure constructed c.95 BC. Upon the latter’s construction, it was immediately filled with stones and burnt to the ground in order to create a massive mound that now dominates the site. 3D Lidar image of Navan Fort [Credit: Queen's University] “Our discoveries add significant additional data, hinting that the buildings uncovered in the 1960s were not domestic structures lived in by kings, but a series of massive temples, some of the largest and most complex ritual arena of any region of later prehistoric and pre-Roman Northern Europe.” Dr John O’Keeffe, Principal Inspector of Historic Monuments in the Department for Communities, said: “We were pleased to facilitate the survey work at Navan Fort, which is owned by the Department for Communities and is one of 190 State Care Monuments in Northern Ireland managed by the Department for Communities. The work has shone new light on the monument, and will inform further research as we explore what Navan Fort meant to our forebears and how they used the site, for years to come. It provides additional insights that inform visits to this enigmatic monument and landscape today.” Plan showing possible structures on Navan Fort [Credit: Comparative Kingship Project/ Queen's University] In addition to identifying the residences of early medieval kings of Ulster, activity at Navan Fort is contemporary with the foundation of Armagh by St Patrick only 1km to the east and some of the buildings uncovered are likely to be the identifiable with the house built by Niall OG Ua Neill for all the poets of Ireland in 1387. Evidence for the continuity of activity at Navan after the coming of Christianity and foundation of Armagh, the primatial see of the Church in Ireland, is particularly significant. Navan Fort is one of Ireland’s most ancient landscapes because it is the seat of legendary kings, like Chonchobhar and mac Nessa, and provides the backdrop to the exploits of warriors like Cu Chulainn, Conal Cernach and others in the great epic saga Tain Bo Cuailainge, or the Cattle Raid of Colley. Source: Queen's University Belfast [July 16, 2020] Labels Archaeology, Europe, Ireland, UK, Western Europe TANN you might also like Newer Post Older Post
Your children can learn so much about medieval history by reading living books! Your students will love this list of books to read about the middle ages.
Remember that funny illustration on pictures we didn't used to take before digital cameras? Well here's a new one that's dedicated to our wonderful world of social media. Introducing: Vintage Social Networking. Enjoy :) Tweet
After many years of the long, convoluted and tragic English civil strife called The Wars of the Roses, the House of Lancaster had finally prevailed. Henry Tudor, the Welsh prince with Lancaster blo…
The authority of the Organization has been mocked, as individual member-states have proceeded, in violation of its commands, to pursue their own aims and ends. The troubles which continue to plague us virtually all arise among member states of the Organization, but the Organization remains impotent to enforce acceptable solutions. As the maker and enforcer […]
Empress Zewditu – the only female Monarch of Ethiopia to be crowned in her own right as Nigiste Negestat (Queen of Kings) since ancient times. She was the daughter of Emperor Menelik II. and was known to be very religious, conservative and suspicious about european influence in Ethiopia. In this picture which was taken in […]
As a Black man and an African historian, I have found that one of the most inspiring aspects in the annals of humankind is the
