The Emerald Buddha is the most sacred object in Thailand. It is the nation’s palladium, meaning that keeping it safe also protects Thailand. The Kings of Thailand traditionally swear oaths of loyalty before it. Politicians caught in scandals swear their innocence to the Emerald Buddha to rehabilitate their public images. Legends say the Emerald Buddha was created in what is now the Bihar state of India in 43 BCE by a sage named Nagasena, with the help of the Hindu... Read more
The King and I, the classic musical by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, premiered on Broadway in March 1951. It was a sensation and one of Rogers’s and Hammerstein’s most successful collaborations. The original cast included Yul Brynner as King Mongkut of Siam and Gertrude Lawrence as Anna Leonowens, the widowed British governess who was hired to be a teacher to the King’s several children. Since then the musical has been revived on Broadway four times, most recently in 2015. You... Read more
Buddhism in Egypt? Nearly two millennia ago? Maybe. A statue of the Buddha dating to between 90 and 140 CE was recently discovered in Berenike, an ancient city on the western coast of the Red Sea in Egypt. It is the first ancient Buddha found west of Afghanistan. The 28-inch-tall (71 centimeters) statue is of a standing Buddha and was carved from Mediterranean marble. The statue somehow arrived in Berenike while Egypt was controlled by the Roman Empire. To recap: ... Read more
What are the origins of dragons? It isn’t clear when and where dragons first appeared in the world, or even if there was a “first appearance.” Creatures with some of the attributes of dragons are found in the earliest folktales and legends of many cultures around the world. It’s commonly speculated that such creatures were inspired by dinosaur fossils. Anthropologist David E. Jones, in his book An Instinct for Dragons (Routledge, 2002), argues that humans are “hardwired” to believe in... Read more
Saint George is the patron saint of England, and he is famous for slaying a dragon. That much I knew. So I thought that in light of this week’s coronation of King Charles III, it would be fun to dig into the life of Saint George. But here’s the truth about Saint George: he probably existed only in legends. Even so, in spite of his likely being fictional, Saint George was canonized in the year 494 by Pope Gelasius. His... Read more
King Charles’s coronation on May 6 will be a really fancy Anglican Church service, and it will be held in a seriously historic church. According to the Abbey website, there have been 38 coronations in Westminster Abbey, and 39 monarchs crowned. The difference in number came about because William III and Mary II reigned jointly and were crowned together in 1689. King Charles III will be the 40th monarch crowned at Westminster. Most sources say the first royal coronation in... Read more
Agnosticism is a word coined in 1869 by the English biologist T. H. Huxley. And it may not mean what you think it means. In popular English usage, agnosticism is a kind of theistic fence sitting; the agnostic is one who doesn’t take a position on whether God exists or not. But the meaning of agnosticism that Huxley intended is, to me, much more interesting. The word was coined from the Greek agnōstos, which means “unknown” or “unknowable.” The meaning... Read more
Even geniuses can have rough patches. One of Michelangelo’s major works, a huge bronze statue of Pope Julius II, was destroyed only three years after it was completed. And then the bronze was melted down and made into a cannon nicknamed “Julius.” The statue was commissioned by Pope Julius II shortly before Michelangelo began work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The story behind the creation of the statue tells us a lot about the contentious relationship between the artist and... Read more
The Texas Senate has passed a bill that mandates posting the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the state. To become law, the bill still needs to be passed by the Texas House and signed by the governor, and I don’t know if that will happen. But I do know we’ve been down this road before. A similar Kentucky statute mandating that the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court 43... Read more
Michelangelo’s frescos on the Sistine Chapel ceiling represent the peak of the High Renaissance. Even if you know little else about Renaissance art, you’ve seen at least one of those frescos, The Creation of Adam, many times. The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-1484), who had the walls gorgeously illustrated with biblical scenes by a team of the greatest artists of the day. Sixtus IV was also famous for nepotism. Several of his nephews were named... Read more
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