ancient

The first telecommunications network in history arose in ancient Syria, 3,800 years before the internet

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Nowadays it is difficult to think of anything other than being able to communicate with anyone instantly, no matter how far away they are. As a millennial, I have lived in the era when sending messages continuously was not common: SMS was not free and forced you to economize on language. And of course, before there were telephone calls, the reception of which today causes fear among youth. We can go back in time to the telegraph or the imperial postal networks and even the discreet carrier pigeons, which have been helping humanity communicate from the ancient Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations. A recent post from the historian and professor of history at the University of Central Florida Tiffany Earley-Spadoni published within a volume on global perspectives of warscapes brings to the fore the first telecommunications network documented both textually and archaeologically 3,800 years ago: a system of beacons to launch an SOS. The discovery. A cuneiform chart excavated at Mari, eastern Syria, dating to 1800 BC is the oldest known historical evidence of signaling using fiery beacons. But we also know what he said: an official named Bannum writes to the king while traveling to the north of the region with concern after observing the successive lighting of bonfires near Terqa and requests reinforcements. That lighting was not accidental: it was a signal of imminent danger on the border, an early warning system for possible attacks on their cities. Early-Spadoni refers to this system as a “fortified regional network,” or FRN for short. A little context. This documentation is framed within the Syrian Middle Bronze Age, a territory of cities – states in constant conflict. Taking the city meant dealing a blow to the rival and keeping its wealth, hence the siege was the star attack. But conquering a territory was much easier than administering it. Thus, these states had great ambitions, but lacked the infrastructure to govern themselves from a distance. So to better defend themselves and control the territories they used two systems: large walls surrounding the cities and a network of forts, towers and guarded roads in rural areas. This second structure is the seed of the development of empires. Why is it important. Bannum’s letter is the oldest known historical testimony of the use of an intentionally designed telecommunications network with shared infrastructure, nodes, and protocol. Do not confuse with communication methods, since smoke or drums are prehistoric and undatable. But it is also key for civilizations insofar as it allowed us to go from “presumptive states” (which conquers territories it cannot govern) to develop real and lasting territorial empires: without this infrastructure of communication and control, the size of the empires would have been simply ungovernable. How it worked. With a physical structure made up of fortresses, forts, watchtowers and wall segments and with an operation protocol. It essentially served to control routes, resupply military personnel, transmit information and track movements in the territory. The physical hierarchy of its infrastructure was distributed along roads and river crossings spaced at regular intervals of about 20 kilometers to ensure visibility between nodes. The large fortresses were the main nodes with smaller forts between them, with watchtowers for signaling to reinforce points that were difficult to see and segments of walls in strategic areas. The system operated continuously: with smoke during the day, fire at night, and had permanent reserves of wood. Each signal was known by all the nodes, so that when a beacon, the signal traveled through the nodes until it reached the center in a relatively short time. Speed ​​was its great asset and its handicap was how limited it was: it could only transmit simple messages. The early “internet”. Comparing it with the current Internet is not just a rhetorical question: FRNs share with the Internet several of its principles, such as distributed nodes, redundancy to avoid failures, protocols agreed in advance and a topology to maximize connectivity between distant points. A before and after to build empires. This system did not disappear with Mari. For more than a thousand years, each new empire that emerged in the Near East encountered these networks, recognized them as a valuable structure, and implemented them to suit their needs. The Neo-Assyrian integrated them into walled cities and in parallel developed a horse relay system for more complex and confidential messages, impossible to transmit with the original infrastructure. The Urartian Empire made them the organizing principle of an entire empire. And the Persian Empire took the model to its maximum expression with the royal road that Herodotus describes in his Histories: forts at regular intervals, relay of messages and archaeologically confirmed fire beacons in Anatolia. Earley-Spadoni’s conclusion is that without these infrastructures, the largest empires of the ancient world would not have been able to manage themselves. In Xataka | From when a monstrous telecommunications tower and its more than 4,000 cables blocked the sun from the inhabitants of Stockholm In Xataka | In 1901, a Spanish man had one of the ideas of the century: invent the remote control before television Cover | حسن and Ezra Jeffrey-Comeau

Mexico wants to shield the ancient Mayan city of Toniná at all costs. So he has expropriated more than nine hectares

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Maybe not as well known as Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza or even the neighbor Palenquebut Toniná It is one of the great archaeological treasures of Mexico. The necropolis experienced its heyday between 600 and 900 AD and today it is preserved as one of the most fascinating complexes of the Mayan area and pre-Hispanic urbanism. In fact, it is crowned by a unique pyramidal structure in the region that is taller than the famous pyramid of the sun of Teotihuacan. Therefore, to guarantee its conservation, the Mexican Government has just made a radical decision: expropriate 9.2 hectares of the environment so that they become directly dependent on the National Institute of Anthropology (INAH). What has happened? That Mexico has just shown that it is willing to pull expropriation decree to protect your assets. And he has also done it in a practical way. The Executive led by Claudia Sheinbaum has announced that the National Institute of Anthropology and History has “taken possession” of a 9.22-h property in the vicinity of the Toniná site, in the state of Chiapas. The curious thing is how that land has been obtained, until recently in private hands. The transfer has been possible thanks to a decree that gave the green light to the sale in favor of the INAH. “The action arises from a cause of public utility, promoted in December 2025 by Culture,” clarify the authorities. Why have they done it? The Executive’s objective is twofold: to facilitate the conservation and research of the environment. In the words of INAH itself, the idea is to “guarantee the optimal conditions” of the site. “Toniná is an essential part of the living history of Chiapas and Mexico. This decree protects an asset of the nation and contributes to the exercise of cultural rights through access to knowledge and historical memory,” reasons Claudia Curiel de Icaza, Secretary of Culture. The leader insists that with the measure the State reinforces its capacity to “preserve heritage, ensure its management with technical criteria and sustain conservation, restoration and research tasks.” From now on, the INAH will expand its capacity to monitor, care for and study the ancient Mayan city. Why is it important? For several reasons. Beyond the legal formula used or its advantages to protect, conserve and study the site, the measure is interesting because Mexico wants to take advantage of it to promote Toniná. “In the archaeological zone, a comprehensive reactivation program will be implemented that will create a structured route for its eventual reopening,” keep it up the INAH. In fact, one of the objectives is to promote “responsible tourism.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. Is Toniná so important? Yes. And that is another reason why the recovery of the nine hectares has generated so much expectation. Located on the border between the Mayan highlands and the lowlands, the inhabitants of ancient Toniná left a fascinating acropolis, with overlapping platforms and a pyramidal structure that archaeologists considered “unique” in the Mayan world. In fact, it surpasses in height the famous Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacán, 65 meters. “The richness of this archaeological zone makes it comparable to other large sites in Chiapas, such as Palenque. Its heyday goes from the year 600 to 900, within the Classic period, and it was the last witness to the decline of the so-called Old Mayan Empire,” explains the INAH. The most famous governor in its history was Tzots Choj (‘Tiger-Bat’) and its greatest archaeological treasure is offered by its acropolis and central plaza. In it we find a staircase of 260 steps, the enormous pyramidal structure and a labyrinth of temples, palaces and roads. Experts have also located an altar for sacrifices and spaces to play ball. How long have we known her? The first to tell us about Toniná was Brother Jacinto Garridoin the 17th century, but the site has continued to fascinate experts since then. During the 19th century, expeditions continued and throughout the 20th century (especially between the 1970s and 1980s) excavations intensified. It was then when the studies and conservation work carried out by the INAH were launched, which has allowed its secrets to be discovered. Despite years of study, the archaeological institute trust in which there are still surprises: “Toniná still keeps many secrets that will have to be known.” Images | Wikipedia and SC (INAH) In Xataka | The Mayan Train has become a nightmare for Mexico: what seemed like a great plan has run into justice

The 2026 Minotaur Prize takes a turn towards dark fantasy in Ancient Egypt with ‘The Shadow of the Black Lotus’

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This year the Prize celebrates a very special edition: twenty years since what has ended up becoming the most important award for fantasy literature in the Spanish language began to be awarded. This year the winner has been Africa Vázquez, who proposes with his novelto ‘The Shadow of the Black Lotus’ a dark fantasy story set in pharaonic Egypt that will go on sale next March 25. 216 manuscripts have competed for this edition of the award, mostly from Spain, in search of the 6,000 euro prize of which the award consists. The Minotaur is an award of international scope and this year proposals have come from countries throughout Latin America, especially Argentina and Mexico. Even so, the winner África Vázquez is from Zaragoza. She is not new to literary awards: her first novel already won, when she was only 17 years old, the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Prize. Since then he has published more than thirty books between Spain and Latin America, and has won various literary awards, including the Kelvin 505 at the Celsius 232 festival. In this work he has opted for travel to the remote past, with the story of a embalmer embarked on revenge which will take her to places as inhospitable as Waset, City of a Hundred Gates and capital of the Ta-Mri, with the intention of infiltrating the court of Pharaoh Nekht-en-sen. In ‘The Shadow of the Black Lotus’ you will discover that the secrets hidden in the heart of the Nile will not only shake the foundations of an empire. The earth rots, plagues come, and the secret behind it all seems to lie beyond the land of the living, in the depths of the Underworld. We are facing an epic and dark mythological fantasy story in a reinvented Egypt, where a priestess of the goddess Isis will plot revenge of ancient proportions. A dazzling journey The jury, made up of Sabino Cabeza (winner of the previous year), Laura Díaz (literary popularizer and writer), Fernando Bonete (university professor, author and prescriber), Judit Bertran (cultural journalist and editor of El Periódico) and Francesc Gascó (doctor in Paleontology and cultural popularizer) have praised Vázquez’s book. According to the jury, it offers a “millennial Egypt So carefully detailed you can even smell the embalmers’ ointment and the perfume of the lotuses of the Nile” Vázquez stated upon receiving the award that “in my novel I have poured all the passion I have felt for Ancient Egypt since my parents, at the age of thirteen, gave me the immense gift of taking me and my older sister to discover the wonders of the Nile. Later, when I had turned twenty-seven, I returned to sail through those ancient waters to receive another gift that would change my destiny.” The author assures that “perhaps that is why in ‘The Shadow of the Black Lotus’, a novel in which death and darkness are so present, there continues to be a light and a life that refuses to go out.” In Xataka | Conan has become an archetype and has survived for decades thanks to an unusual strategy: refusing to evolve

Countries are trying to prevent the accumulation of wealth of technological millionaires. Ancient Rome tried it too

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The concentration of wealth in a few hands that we see today in technological billionaires is not a new phenomenon. More than two thousand years ago, the Ancient Rome faced exactly the same dilemma that worries today to governments around the world: a few rich people accumulated land and resources, while the majority of citizens became impoverished to the point of bordering on misery. A young politician named Tiberius Sempronius Graceither He thought he found a solution to redistribute the wealth accumulated by the Roman patricians: his idea cost him his life. In the middle of the second century BC, after destroying Carthage and Corinth, Rome had become the dominant power of the Mediterranean. However, this expansion it didn’t make everyone rich equally. For the humblest Roman peasants, it brought a devastating social crisis. The small landowners, who for centuries had cultivated their lands and served in the Roman legions, were displaced by large estates exploited with slave labor brought from the new conquered territories. The long military campaigns had prevented the soldiers peasants return in time to harvest their lands, which affected the economies of their families. Furthermore, upon their return they discovered that their lands had been expropriated by millionaire aristocrats from Rome. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchusgrandson of Scipio Africanus, the general that defeated to the Carthaginian Hannibaland heir to one of the most powerful families in Rome, was guaranteed a brilliant political future. However, in the year 133 BC, being elected tribune of the plebs, he decided to propose an agrarian reform with which he attempted to redistribute the enormous fortunes that Roman landowners had accumulated. Something similar to what is trying to make California and other countries all over the world. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus With this measure, Gracchus was directly confronting his own people since he himself came from a wealthy family. Its law established that no citizen could own more than 500 iugera (about 125 hectares) of public land, the so-called ager publicus. The plots that exceed that limit will be expropriated and handed over to landless peasants. A measure that, de facto, ended with the large estates in the hands of the richest romans. The objective of the measure was twofold: to restore economic solvency to the Roman people and to ensure that Rome had enough citizens with assets to nourish its legions, since only the owners They could serve as soldiers. Making friends among the richest According to the ancient sources of Plutarch, written between the years 96 AD and 117 AD, Tiberius did not seek to start a revolution against the rich, but to restore old republican laws that had fallen into disuse. To defend his reform, Tiberius gave speeches in front of the impoverished people of Rome. In one of his most famous, which was collected by Plutarchthe young tribune declared: “Their generals deceive them when, in battle, they encourage them to fight for the temples of their gods and for the tombs of their fathers. This is because, of a large number of Romans, not one has his own domestic altar or family tomb. They fight and die to feed the opulence and luxury of others, and, when they claim to be masters of the entire world, they do not even own a piece of land.” The Senate, dominated by large landowners, tried to block the reform by all means. They persuaded another tribune named Octavius ​​to veto the proposal, but Tiberius responded with a bold and unprecedented maneuver: he called for the assembly to remove Octavius ​​from office for acting against the interests of the people. The reform was finally approved and applied by distributing the large estates of the landowners among the Roman peasants. However, when Tiberius attempted to run for a second term as tribune, a practice then considered contrary to Roman tradition, the aristocracy decided he had gone too far. According to the historical documentationduring the elections in the Capitol, a group of senators led by the maximum pontiff Scipio Násica, a relative of Tiberius himself, burst in with a group of followers armed with clubs and with the legs of chairs torn from the Curia. In the sacred place, where swords were not allowed, They beat Tiberius to death and about 300 of his followers. His body was thrown into the Tiber River without allowing his family to bury him. Death of Tiberius Gracchus Ten years later, in 123 BC, Tiberius’ brother, Gaius Sempronius Gracchustook up the cause started by his brother with an even more ambitious program. Caius approved the Lex Frumentariawhich forced the State to distribute wheat among the plebs at prices below the market, laying the foundations of the food subsidy system that would last for centuries. He also proposed extending Roman citizenship to the Italic peoples who fought in Rome’s wars but did not enjoy its benefits. The Senate used populist tactics, warning that Italian foreigners would reduce aid to Roman citizens, and when Caius lost popular supportwas pursued to the Aventine Hill near Rome, where he ordered his faithful slave Philocrates to assassinate him. Nearly 3,000 of his supporters died with him. The legacy that survived violence Although the Senate murdered both brothers, it could not erase their legacy. The reforms that the Gracchi had proposed would finally be implemented decades later by order of Julius Caesar, who had a powerful army that protected him from suffering the same fate. The historians Plutarch and Appian left record of what happened with the Gracchus brothers centuries later, both agreed to portray Tiberius as a politician with solid ideas who looked to Rome’s past to find solutions to the problems suffered by his people. Paradoxically, although the story of the Gracchus brothers happened more than 2,000 years ago, we could find very similar references today with just a quick glance at the news. In Xataka | Mark Zuckerberg is going to change the California sun for Miami. You have 11 billion reasons to do it. Image | Wikimedia Commons (Lodovico Pogliaghi, Guillaume … Read more

We have found an ancient bone in Córdoba. Some believe it is part of Hannibal’s war elephants.

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What the hell is the bone of an elephant that lived more than 2,000 years ago doing in a Córdoba site surrounded by ammunition for catapults and arrows like those used in the scorpions? The question arises, but it is what a team of researchers who have just signed have been guessing for years. a fascinating article in one of the most reputable archaeological magazines in the world. In it they slip that this mysterious proboscis bone unearthed by pure chance in Andalusia could be neither more nor less than the first test direct from the war elephants employed by the Carthaginian general Aníbal Barca. What is this bone? A question similar to that must have been asked. towards 2019 archaeologists who, during a emergency excavation to expand the Provincial Hospital of Córdoba, they found a peculiar bone fragment. The piece was not larger than a baseball (measures between 15 and 8 cm), preserved its porosity and peeked out from under what looked like a ruined adobe wall from the 3rd century BC, which probably facilitated its preservation. That archaeologists unearth a bone during a tasting (even a millennia old one) has little to offer. In this case, however, the fragment held several surprises. The first, its age: 2,250 years. The second (and this is where things get interesting) is its origin: the bone is neither more nor less than the carpal bone of an elephant, something like part of the ‘wrist’ of a proboscide that for some mysterious reason ended up in the Iberian Peninsula. “He has enormous interest.” The discovery was so exciting, opening up such promising scenarios, that in 2023 it already generated interest outside the academic circuit. In September of that year Rafael Martínez, professor of Prehistory at the University of Córdoba recognized to The Country the expectation around the bone. “It is of enormous interest given the practical absence of remains of elephants from a pre-Roman context in Europe, excluding ivory objects that were subject to trade and import,” he said enthusiastically. “In any case, this discreet bone can be interpreted as proof of the presence of these animals in the area of ​​current Córdoba between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC” By then the professor went one step further and ventured a fascinating hypothesis: “It could belong to the period of the Public Wars. It could be the first elephant discovered by Hannibal’s troops, but it cannot be certain.” There were still many questions on the table. For example, its chronology: it was estimated that the animal died between the end of the IV and I BC, a long period that left several possibilities open. Did the bone belong to a Punic elephant or was it more correct to frame it in times of Julius Caesar? Hunting for answers. The bone may be small, but scientists have not had an easy time analyzing it. To begin with, it has been difficult to specify its species. After a detailed examination they concluded that it must be a large specimen, larger than female Asian elephants. Specifically, they think of a Loxodonta pharaoensis (the Carthaginian elephant) an African subspecies extinct in Roman times. Maybe the name doesn’t tell you much, but they are animals. used by Hannibal for his passage through the Alps. The other great unknown. Once the species was clarified (more or less), another unknown remained: its antiquity. The bone was a challenge because it did not contain enough collagen and had not fossilized. That did not prevent a study from ending up revealing that the fragment dates from between end of the 4th and beginning of the 3rd BC Live Science It even goes further and precise that the extract in which the fragment was found (part of a fortified Iberian town known as oppida) can be dated approximately 2,250 years ago, at the beginning of the 3rd BC It is a key fact because it takes us back to a time before the founding of the Roman Cordoba and the turbulent times of Second Punic War (218-201 BC), when Carthage and Rome struggled to dominate the Mediterranean world. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Are there more clues? Yes. And they are just as interesting. Not only was the bone found at the site, protected by a demolished adobe wall. Archaeologists also discovered more than a dozen of bolaños, small projectiles that were used with catapults, and part of what appears to be a spear. They are clues that help complete the story and help to better understand the site, such as recognize researchers in Journal of Archaeological Science Reports. “The level of destruction fits well within an emerging pattern of events associated with the Second Punic War, some of which are attested in literary sources and some of which are not, spanning both siege warfare and open battlefield contexts,” they explain in statements to Phys. Why is it important? Because of the implications it has. In your article Martínez and the rest of his colleagues recall that the discovery seems “intimately linked to the events of the Second Punic War in Hispania” and slips a key idea: “This may represent the first known anatomical element of an elephant used by the Punic troops in this war in Europe.” If they are correct, we would be looking at a first-class find: the bone of one of the elephants of Hannibal’s troops in the Second Punic War. Is it so relevant? “It could be a historical milestone. There is no direct archaeological evidence of the use of these animals,” clarify Martinez to Live Science. The march led by Hannibal through Western Europe in his attack on Rome and the use of elephants as “war machines” during the Punic Wars it is a very popular episode, but direct and palpable evidence is not abundant. The episode of passage through the Alps We know it thanks to historians like Polybius or Titus Livy, but the strongest archaeological evidence today is traces. That … Read more

If the question is how to keep an empire together, the ancient Wari were clear: with psychedelic beer

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Archaeologists have found a key to better understand the Waria pre-Inca civilization that flourished among the 6th and 11th centuries AD and expanded throughout much of what is now Peru and areas of Argentina and Chile. The most curious thing is that the findings do not tell us about its architecture, military practices, social structure or economy, but about something apparently much simpler but crucial for the prosperity of the empire: the love of its bosses for psychedelic beer. Psychedelic beer? Exact. The concept is not new. We know that thousands of years ago The Egyptians already made cocktails with wine and hallucinogens (among other ingredients) and the hobby of the cultures pre-Inca cultures by psychoactive plants or the use of psychotropic substances in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican societies. The curious thing about the Wari is not so much what drugs they used but who did it and (above all) why. Its use would not be limited to priests in rituals, but would be used for political purposes. “We see this type of hallucinogen use as a different context than previous civilizations, which seem to have jealously reserved the use of hallucinogens for a select few, or the late Inca Empire that emphasized mass consumption of beer but did not use psychotropic substances such as vilca,” explains Professor Matthew Biwerwho in 2022 already published with other colleagues a study on the subject based on excavations in Quilcapampa (Peru). What did they consume? A mixture of chicha and vilca. To be more precise, an alcoholic drink made from the berries of the plant. Schinus molle and a psychedelic called Anadenanthera colubrina. Archaeologists are aware for a long time that the consumption of this last substance (vilca) dates back to at least 4,000 years ago, especially through pipes or inhaled such as monkfish. This is suggested by remains located in the Inca Cave, an Argentine site. In the Wari site of Quilcapampa, however, archaeologists have found vilca seeds near remains of chicha made with Schinus mollewhich leads them to think that the Wari not only consumed it with the help of pipes, but that they mixed it with chicha to drink it in psychedelic cocktails. Why is it important? Among other things, these concoctions served Wari leaders to show their power. By offering the mixture to their guests they were not only showing off their hospitality, they were also offering a luxury that was not available to everyone. Archaeologists located remains of vilca in Quilcampampa, but in reality the plant grows at hundreds of kilometers from there, in Ayacucho and Cusco. “The Wari added vilca to chicha to impress guests at their feasts, who could not repeat the experience. This created a relationship of debt between the Wari and their guests, probably from the surrounding region,” pointed out Professor Matthew Biwer years ago, when he published his first research. Was it useful for something else? Yes. And that’s what’s really interesting about a new study Posted by Jacob Keer and Justin Jennings in Magazine of American Archeologywhere they focus on another function of the psychedelic concoction based on chicha and vilca. According to their analysis, the cocktail helped the Wari leaders to consolidate their power. As? Organizing communal celebrations in which drinks were offered, fraternization feasts that were held in almost closed patios. “Except for a small patch of sky, they were isolated from the rest of the world in a high-walled interior space,” they relate researchers in your article. “This was the place where they spent hours together, drinking, eating, talking and praying. The hours that the participants spent together must have represented an unforgettable collective experience that forged strong bonds between those who attended.” What was it for? To strengthen ties. These feasts served Wari leaders to force alliances and consolidate their power. And not only because of the staging. Researchers have studied the effects that the psychedelic concoction may have had on attendees, increasing their empathy, facilitating the creation of long-term bonds and smoothing out rough edges in an expanding empire. “Although archaeologists are paying increasing attention to the role of psychedelics in past societies, they devote little time to their long-term psychological effects. One of these effects is neuroplasticity, which can lead to long-lasting prosocial feelings,” the study points outwhich highlights that the “glow” after consuming vilca (an effect that lasted for days) could help unify communities, “playing a fundamental role in the Wari government.” The combination of vilca and beer would in fact help to partially reduce the psychedelic effects, but prolong them over time. Do you all agree? The researchers suggest that people who consumed the psychedelic cocktail showed “greater openness and empathy”, an advantageous attitude in an empire in which “people who had been strangers or even enemies” coexisted. However, not everyone sees it equally clearly. Live Science recently interviewed to several experts, outside the study, who do not hide their skepticism. Among other reasons because they do not see enough evidence that the Wari mixed vilca and beer. It is true that remains were found nearby and there was no trace of pipes or any other indication that the vilca was consumed in the traditional way, but they are missing overwhelming evidence, such as ceramic fragments that preserve both compounds. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | The Incas did not need writing to forge an empire. And we are closer to solving the key object in your organization

Canopo’s decree is one of the greatest mysteries to solve the ancient Egypt. And finally we have a key track to understand it

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Egyptologists and especially those scholars dedicated to the study of hieroglyphs and The Ptolemaic dynasty They are in luck. And rightly. A team of archaeologists has located in the site of Tell el-Faran´inin the city of The Husseiniya (Sharqia), an unparalleled treasure in the last century and a half. Not because of the materials with which it is manufactured or its lavishness. No. The key is what he says, how he says it and above all what he does not say. What experts have found is neither more nor less than a famous stone trail Canopo decree. Of course, a very special. What is Canopo’s decree? A Egyptian decree promulgated by the king Ptolemy III Evergetes on a deck of 238 AC, in full Ptolomeics dynasty. The document was written after the high priests met in the city of Canopusto the east of Alexandria, to honor the monarch, his wife Berenice and the little daughter of both, who died by those same dates. It may sound boring, but the decree has been fascinating the Egyptologists. The text exalts the figure of the monarchs (“The benevolent gods”), their donations, campaigns and veneration in the temples. Also of more practical issues, such as the decision to lower taxes those years in which crops did not receive enough water from the Nile, or the creation of a new priestly range and a religious holiday. Another of the ads that it collects is the deification of the deceased daughter of Ptolemy III Evergetes and Berenice, which was called as her mother. Does it say anything else? Yes. Among other issues, the introduction of a new system of leap years which would add an extra day every four years to adjust it to religious rituals. Ptolemy III wanted that additional day to commemorate him and his wife, but the idea He didn’t finish curdling. Today it reminds us how advanced Egyptian astronomy was and how it advanced to Julian calendarintroduced by Julio César in the 46 AC replacing the Roman. Beyond what he says, the decree is valuable for how he says it. The document makes it clear that its content should be expressed in stelae that mixed three different writing systems: Egyptian hieroglyphs, The demotic and The Greek Koiné. The copies should also be distributed among the main temples for the edict to reach every corner of the kingdom. When in the nineteenth century the archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius He discovered one of those specimens in Tanis, he found a valuable help to decipher the hieroglyphs. So or even more than Rosetta stone. How is the new wake? Of sandstone, 127.5 centimeters high and 83 wide, with a thickness of 48. Its upper part is rounded and, in addition to the registration of the central section, distributed over 30 hieroglyph lines carved in relief, the stone shows some interesting decorations. The design is crowned by a large winged solar disk flanked by two royal cobras that show the white and red crowns of Egypt, symbol of the union of the two lands. In the center, an inscription stands out in which “Di-Ank” can be read, a message that could be translated as “the one that gives life.” Why does the finding matter? Because the copies of Canopo decree do not abound. Or at least we have not found them. As remember The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, the wake found in Tell el-Faran´in will join the other six known and unearthed versions inKom el-hisn, Tanis either Tell enough. Some are complete. Another are just fragments. “This discovery is considered the most significant of its kind in more than 150 years, since since then no new and complete version of the decree has been found,” Underline. Does it differ in something? Yes. And that is one of the reasons why the wake recovered in Tell el-Faran´in has generated so much interest. Although the decree of Ptolemy III made it clear that it should be captured in stelae that combined the three writing systems (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek), the specimen we just found shows only one. This was confirmed by Mohamed Ismail Khaled, of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, who Clarify that the wake is written “entirely in hieroglyphs”, which differentiates it from other previous trilingual versions. What is it for? Beyond the obvious historical, archaeological and patrimonial value of the finding, Tell el-Faran´in wake has a key utility. From the outset, it has served the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, Sherif Fathy, to breastfeed for the “continuous achievements” of the archaeological missions of the country and the “support” of the government to the excavation campaigns, something that feels especially good in full controversy by the Tourist megaproject of the Sinai. Political issues apart, scholars are relying on squeezing the content of the wake. The authorities expect them to help them expand their knowledge about the real and religious documents of the Ptolemaic era and “enrich” the understanding of that historical period. If something has aroused interest, it is, however, that the stone includes a single writing system, which seems an exception to the norm that includes the decree. “Open new horizons for our understanding of the language and provides additional information about Ptolemaic decrees, as well as about real and religious ceremonial systems,” Add the government. Images | Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt government and Wikipedia In Xataka | A 2,000 -year -old cup has revealed an unexpected facet of the Egyptians: psychedelic cocktails

If the question is “how ancient Rome smelled” the answer is “yes”

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Smelling a colony, a room or a plate of food causes our mind to jump and travel over time. It is something tremendously powerful And that has led to investigate ways to smell video games, The cinema either to the Internet. These systems existed And, although it would be the definitive immersive experience, None finished curdlingPerhaps the problem is that we don’t want to sniff certain things. And, definitely, something we would not want to experience is the smell of ancient Rome. It smelled strong. Thomas Derrick, a doctor at Macquarie University in Australia, believes that ancient Rome would have been extremely smelly for Anyone of today. In statements a RNZthe researcher specialized in people’s daily lives during that historical period in Rome believes that “it probably smelled quite bad.” Ok, but … to what extent? “You would smell human waste mixed with smoke resulting from the burning of firewood, animal droppings and other things rotting and decomposing.” And the sewers? The problem is that there was not a single source of those bad smells, being the result of a stinky combination not particularly pleasant. Rome had a sewer system (the ‘Maximum sewer‘It is an example), but not some sewers like the ones we can imagine to carry the waste of the latrines to a black well or something like that, but something more similar to a river drain to evacuate the stagnant water of the public areas. Derrick says in an article to The conversation that “we can assume, with enough security, that the owners did not have latrines connected to the sewers in the big cities, perhaps by fear of the entrance of rodents or the bad odors.” In addition, they did not have valves such as those that currently prevent things from the sewer, so the gases that originated from the waste, such as methane, could enter the houses. And considering that lamps with a flame were used, The danger of explosion was there. Nothing was wasted. Most likely, the most humble had a nearby black well. And, in addition to the feces, it must be taken into account that the garbage could also be thrown into the same place … or directly to the street, as was the case with urine, thrown from the windows of the buildings of several floors. Apart from human waste, there were work animals that were used regularly in cities that They did their things in the streetsas well as decomposition corpses of both these animals and people. And what is garbage for the vast majority, for others it is a “treasure.” There were professionals who collected stool to use them as fertilizers, but urine could also be used to wash clothes. That urine is still rich in ammonia, so could be used to disinfect. Patches for poop. If the streets were up of excrement (and what are not excrements, another question that arises is how they could walk through them without ending up to the stool knees. The answer they found was the placement of large stones in the streets to dodge both the mud and the waste. Pompeya is one of the places where you can see these “stones to cross”, a cobblestone that also allowed a simpler step for animals that were used to load or for tasks such as moving the large stone mills that were used in the bakeries. Again, more animals … and more waste. Humanity. Derrick says that this nausebound smell of the big Roman cities was not only due to the feces of each other. “Roman settlements would have strongly smelled of body sweat,” he says. Also demystify that Image of Roman public bathsaffirming that they were not as hygienic as we can think if we visited the ruins of some of them. And yes, although they were places where you could carry out hygienic activities, especially were meeting points in which it defined and ate, pulling the remains to the ground. In addition, although the Romans knew the soap, they preferred to scratch the skin with a bronze curved tool called strígile and use perfumed olive oil for personal hygiene. And the mixture of oil and dead skin was thrown (again) to the ground or water. And since water and oil are not mixed, when the water disappeared, only that greasy mejunje remained. The author comments that the bathrooms, “were surely quite dirty places.” That tool would be strígile There were always classes. The elites could have more refined customs and even use perfumes that, yes, existed in ancient Rome. To elaborate them, they mixed animal and plant fats and they were impregnated with aromas such as roses, cinnamon, lilies, incense or saffron. They could bring spices to India thanks to the vast Commercial networks of the Empireand if these perfumes were applied in the human body, they mixed with body smell to work for something … different. Where they were used with more olfactory success it was in the statues, since they sought to enhance that aroma of the gods and goddesses with perfumes that exalted the cult of deities. What is clear is that what for us would be something nauseabundo, for the ancient Romans was everyday, the smell of the home. Do you remember the Maximum sewer? That class difference was also there: while the popular classes had blind wells, some Domus rich did have direct connection with the sewerage system. And now I can’t stop imagining how to smell some lentils reminds me of winter afternoons when I was little … and how for a Roman legionary away from home, smelling a swamp could make him think “as at home, nowhere.” Images | Pinterest (Peter Connolly), Featuredpics In Xataka | While modern concrete cracks within a few decades, the Pantheon of Agrippa has been standing for 2,000 years: myths and realities of Roman concrete

Felipe II wanted to build an XXL channel from Madrid to Lisbon. Now the city has recovered it inspired by ancient Egypt

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When the workers are excavated in a city with the solera and patrimonial wealth of Madrid the ground can become a box of surprises. The team in charge of the expansion of Metro Line 11, which during its excavations at the future Madrid Rio station recently proved it. He found himself With a wall of the Real Canal del Manzanares, the Gran river path dreamed by Felipe II. The structure has value, that was clear from the beginning, but it was so delicate and was in such a complicated area that a doubt arose: how to rescue it? Simple: ‘Looking’ to Ancient Egypt. Underground Award. If Spanish architects know something, it is that when you hurt a shovel in a city and excavas enough it is not strange that archaeological remains begin to emerge. It has happened in the works of Expansion of line 11 of the Madrid Metro. A few months ago The operators who are responsible for horating the ground for the future underground network and the Madrid Rio station found more than rocks: they located remains of the Real Canal del Manzanares. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Curious yes, surprising no. The finding is interesting and will help us know better The old channeling who aspired to connect Madrid and Lisbon with barges, but did not catch off experts. “It has been no surprise to meet this section of the channel here,” I commented In spring a The country Archaeologist Esther Andreu. It is not the first finding in the environment and experts have been in charge of keeping tables and examining the area with laser scanners. What is the real channel? Maybe The craziest dream From Felipe II, that one day, back in the 16th century, he wondered why he could not have Madrid his own port with the Atlantic. Sounds macarronic, but what the monarch had in mind was to imitate the model of locks and channels he had seen In Flanders and create a river route that connected Madrid with Aranjuez and then continue through the Tagus to Lisbon … and America. The project, huge, required a 600 km navigable route capable of saving 650 m slope, as Pedro Gargantilla requires in ABC. With honey on the lips. The project advanced and In 1584 Felipe II himself came to travel from Madrid to Aranjuez to verify in situ the progress of the company. However, neither its real effort, nor that of the engineer behind the project, Juan Bautista AntonelliNor the implication of the monarchs that followed Felipe II on the throne (especially Carlos III) served to make the structure reach the size with which the Austria dreamed. Stayed in a channel of 22 kilometers of extension (far from the initial objective), 14 meters wide and three of draft, with ten locks, header, jetty and houses for workers. Against the project they played several factors, in addition to their considerable technical complexity. The first varapalo was the death of Antonelli in 1588, which happened complications with financing, the distancing Politician with Portugal and, already advanced time, in the 19th century, the growing competition of the railroad, which caused the infrastructure Stay in disuse. That did not prevent the Royal Channel from remembered as an emblematic project whose remains, as Metro has verified, continue to rest under the feet of Madrid. What to do with the remains? The million dollar question. The wall has a heritage and historical value, that is clear, so it would not be unreasonable to do the same as in other stations and expose the vestiges in Madrid Río itself. But one thing is to remove and handle wood remains, small stones or metal parts and a very different manipulate a structure of several tons. How to move it? How to get it out of its original site without destroying it? The questions are brought because, like Andreu explains in ABCin the unearthed section the Royal Channel was about nine meters wide and 1.5 deep. “It was not very deep, it passed parallel to the Manzanares channel. The water flowed because it was built at the same water table of the river,” he recalls. Before the Brete of having to move that huge structure without deteriorating it, those responsible for the project made a curious decision: ‘look’ to ancient Egypt. “A very complicated order”. The company perhaps scared other archaeologists, but not Miguel Ángel López Marcoswith extensive experience in the recovery of the colossi of Amenophis III in Luxor and that it has already been involved in the ‘rescue’ of other pieces of the Madrid heritage, such as The last vestiges from the San Gil barracks. That callus and previous knowledge have helped him to face the Real Canal project, a task that admits, it was not simple. “The commission was very complicated by the situation of the wall embedded in the tunnel and the characteristics of the fragile and mechanical resistance,” account. Metal cage and steel rollers. How did he solve it? The first conclusion reached by López Marcos is that “the extraction should be in block.” “Disassembly would cause the disintegration of the wall, which does not have the necessary consistency,” Clarify The expert before pointing out that conventional engineering lacks resources to “guarantee” the conservation of that kind of structures. It is nothing new. The same challenge has already been found in Egypt, where he can often resort to heavy machinery that facilitates the task. To solve it López Marcos and his companions had to pull ingenuity. The team designed a protective cage, a shield that allowed it to dig under the structure and dispose of a base with steel bars. Everything firm enough to endure a 14 tons structure. Hydraulic beams and cats allowed them to advance the operation and descend the remains of the wall at a sufficient height to move it to a crane truck. To facilitate the movement of the cage with the stones the team also handled steel rollers. Objective: … Read more

Someone wants to convert an ancient communist fort in the middle of the Adriatic into a resort for millionaires: the Trump family

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In the heart of the Mediterranean, a Albanian island that was closed to the world for decades by its military past, is about to transform into one of the destinations more exclusive on the planet. The Trump family, through Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, has bought Sazan, a small island of just over 5.7 square kilometers in front of the coast of Albania and its intention is to turn it into A luxury shelter Only suitable for millionaires. The operation, valued at more than one billion euros, has caught international attention not only for the magnitude of the investment, but for the symbolism that An ancient communist fort become the new whim of 1% richer of the world population. A past of bunkers and communist paranoia In 2021, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner ran into Sazan during a yacht holiday for the Gulf of Vallea, just 30 kilometers from the city of Vlora in Albania. As the millionaire counted in the podcast De Lex Fridman, both were fascinated by the island’s sunrises and for their intact landscape covered with ferns, lavender, broom and laurel. That is why the couple decided to bet strongly on this corner Virgen del Mediterraneo. Shortly after, they closed the purchase of those 567 hectares uninhabited for just over one billion euros. However, Sazan was not always the uninhabited paradise that is today. Such and as they counted in The Guardianduring The communist regime of Inver Hoxha, that governed Albania Between 1944 and 1985, the island was a Strategic military enclave isolated from the continent and inhabited by about 150 military families. The Albanian ruler lived obsessed with the idea of ​​an imperialist invasion of its territory, so it ordered to pierce the entrails of the island with about 16 kilometers of tunnels and build around 3,600 concrete bunkers, which still splashed the landscape as scars of that time. The military and their families lived virtually incommunicado, surrounded by fortifications and underground supplies and always vigilant views waiting for some enemy submarine to emerge with bad intentions. The island It was used For the Italian Finanza Guard in the 1990s to combat drug trafficking and people, and it was not until December 2024 when he officially left be a military base. The importance of being called Trump The Trump family project would not have been possible without the determined support of the Tirana government. According to Posted by La Prensa Albansa, Prime Minister Edi Rama has publicly defended the initiative as a strategic opportunity for the country. “We cannot allow ourselves not to take advantage of a gift. Albania needs luxury tourism as the desert needs water,” Rama said, underlining the importance of attracting international investments and positioning Albania as high -level tourist destination. The Government has granted Affinity Partners, managed by Donald Trump’s son -in luxury shelter Reserved for Millionaires. This status implies tax advantages, support in public infrastructure and an accelerated processing of permits and regulations. The project provides for the creation of about 1,000 direct jobs, a relevant figure for the local economy in which, According to data of the ‘World Tourism Barometer‘From 2024, Albania earns greater importance as a holiday destination. As They point from Bloomberg, it is not strange that the Trump family has obtained green light for this project right now that the patriarch of the clan occupies the oval office of the White House. Luxury, exclusivity and environmental controversy The project ‘Sazan Island Touristic Resort‘promises to transform the island into a private paradise, with Villas embedded in the cliffsfive -star hotels backed by the prestigious chain Aman, and a coast reserved only for the activities of the most exclusive guests. The design is designed to attract a clientele willing to pay fortunes for privacy and personalized services. According to the Plans presentedin the first phase only 45 of the 567 hectares will be urbanized, maintaining the rest of the island and its hiking trails as a protected environment. The first project designs show a constructed villas complex respecting the steep orography of the island, and integrating them into the environment so that the landscape and local flora are altered as little as possible. However, since it is a protected natural enclave, the project is not exempt from controversy. Environmental groups have raised the voice Against the transformation of Sazanarguing that “the island is a natural enclave that must be preserved” and warning of the ecological impact that the massive arrival of yachts and tourists of high purchasing power will have. “This area is in the Karaburun-Sazan Maritime Park. This means that beaches and waters within a radius of the coast are protected. What consequences will great public works, the construction of docks, yacht traffic and wastewater discharge in this place? ” Olsi NikaMarina Biologist and director of the NGO Ecoalbania to The Guardian. In addition, before the Ishulli I Trumpëve (Trump Island), as the locals already call it, can open its doors, it will be necessary The invasion would arrive aboard huge supereyates and armed with huge bundles of tickets in the pockets. In Xataka | Albania wants to found a new independent microstate in its capital: a Muslim Vatican that allows alcohol Image | Genesis Studio

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