Going to Patmos, a good 60 or so miles off the Turkish coast, depending on where you catch the ferry, is not a journey for those who get easily seasick. The ferries going bouncing along, and depending on how heavy the chop is, you may really be slamming up and down the waves. But is it worth the trip? Well yes…. and no? If you are wanting to see some ancient archaeological site, then Patmos is not for you. You... Read more
With the sarcophagi on the first floor there is also a model of a famous mausoleum from Smyrna. If you are wondering, yes, there are some Christian artifacts in this museum, in particular some icons. There are also interesting smaller objects too. There is even some metal work, this time of the god Demeter…. There is a nice description of a day in the life of someone who lived in Smyrna in the Roman period. In short, this new museum... Read more
As I have mentioned, the murals in this museum are just excellent. First here’s one of a library. Nearby Pergamon had the very best library in the ancient world, except for the one in Alexandria. Or consider this one of a medical practice. Again, Pergamon had a famous Asklepion and the equally famous doctor Galen was from there… Or here’s a woman called Sophilos—a painter…. Notice the mistake in the poster telling us she is a he…. Here’s a nice... Read more
Smyrna did not lack for entertainment, by which I mean plays, but also Olympic style games, to which the Romans added gladiatorial combat, or bloodsport. In an honor and shame culture, while entertainment was important and mostly for the leisure class (i.e. mostly the rich who had time for it), honor was also established by honorific inscriptions, which kept these guys in work…. But the rich also wanted glass objects, and decorative perfume vials too. Read more
Well friends, this movie is a true spectacle, all 2 hours and 24 minutes of it. The stunts are spectacular (and Tom does his own), the scenery in Rome and Venice and the Austrian Alps are spectacular, and the acting is actually quite good. Now the story line— well it has some twists and turns, but overall, there is a through line one can follow, and of course this is only half the story. More next summer I assume. I... Read more
On the first floor of the new museum there is a considerable display of massive sarcophagi, which are truly works of art. Here we have an illustration of the artisans who made such things. Of course they didn’t just do burial boxes they did steles to honor the dead, and statues to honor the gods as well… They were busy carving marble! This is a headless statue of many breasted Artemis (or alternatively those things are eggs or bull’s testicles—... Read more
Izmir previously has had several smaller museums, whose exhibits have now been enfolded into one much larger and nicer museum, and I had the privilege of seeing it before it was properly open to the public with Pinar, one of Tutku’s new guides. And it is very impressive. Yes there are still some signs that need to be finished, but most things are nicely in place already. This building you see above was once a tobacco factory, and our guide... Read more
John Grisham is nothing if not prolific. And with 47 NY times bestselling novels he’s got an audience that spans the globe. He mostly sticks to the advice to ‘write what you know’, and that is certainly true of these three short stories which are excellent, especially the title story which is classic Grisham. This collection came out in April of this year and at 417 pages, one wonders if the man has time to do anything but write good... Read more
One of the interesting contrasts one can note is between the rough hewn construction of the tombs themselves, and the high art craftsmanship of what is in the tombs. Here is a peek at the tomb construction…. Of course the construction of such tombs involved slave labor, contrasted to the artisan work done by free persons…. Here is some of the remarkable ivory work that was part of an ivory couch for the queen…. The queen was wrapped in... Read more
Grave steles, or monuments to the dead are interesting, not least because these were honor and shame cultures, and people didn’t want their ancestors to be forgotten, or lose honor. There are several such steles at Philip’s tomb complex and we will consider them here. It’s one thing to stand in wonder at the display of Philip’s gold battle gear….. But even the most heroic, most victorious of human beings eventually die, one way or another. And neither they nor... Read more
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