Ancient Rome

Oracle of Death

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Chris Everheart
The Gate to Hell gave the Oracle at Delphi a run for her money.
The Plutonion: Phrygia's Gate to Hell (c.190 BCE) -digital reconstruction by Francesco D'Andria

The Plutonion, Phrygia’s Gate to Hell, on the right (c.190 BCE) -digital reconstruction by Francesco D’Andria

If you’re looking for a hot bath and visit to the edge of hell, you can plan a spa night at home topped off by this week’s episode of The Walking Dead or you can pack your household and make a pilgrimage to the Plutonion.

The ancient temple complex dedicated to Pluto, Greek god of the underworld, was built around a cave emitting fumes so toxic that small animals can barely pass by without dropping dead and prolonged exposure easily kills large animals and people – even today.

Roman and Greek commentators of the time referenced the strange site at Hierapolis (in modern Turkey). Hierapolis’ hot baths and temples attracted people from around the known world for healing and worship, making it one of the ancient Mediterranean’s most popular destinations. But the city was destroyed by repeated earthquakes in the first century CE and eventually shut down as a pagan sanctuary by Christian Rome in the sixth century.

Archaeologists searched for years to confirm the Plutonion’s existence. “We found the Plutonium [its Roman name] by reconstructing the route of a thermal spring,” Francesco D’Andria, leader of the archaeological team, told Discovery News.

Originally misidentified as Apollo (Delphi's patron god), this huge statue is now known be Pluto, god of the underworld.

Originally misidentified as Apollo (Delphi’s patron god), this huge statue is now known be Pluto, god of the underworld.

Like its famous sister, Delphi, the unique geology of the site provided its mystical power. Underground springs – hot springs, in the case of Hierapolis – running over rocks and minerals produced the intoxicating fumes, considered to be supplied by the gods. The temple was built to manage the gate to hell responsibly.

The Plutonion’s priests – the Eunuchs of Cybele – conducted animal sacrifices for spectators sitting on banks of steps above the low gate, which was constructed around the mouth of the deadly cave. Because they were able to enter and leave the cave safely while their sacrificial animals died, the priests were presumed to have special powers or the protection of their patron god Pluto.

Meanwhile, pilgrims who slept near the temple reported prophetic visions, not unlike those experienced by the Pythia at Delphi. But – beware! – approaching the Gate of Hell no doubt meant a speedy death for the average person.

Now, here’s the cheese on this Brain Burger.

3 things to do in Hierapolis when you’re dead (from exposure to the Gate of Hell):

  1. Stop by the famous shawarma cart for a gyro that’s to die for!
  2. Pick a fight with the biggest, baddest eunuch you can find – what’s the worst that could happen? You’re already dead!
  3. Take pictures – we all want to know if the doorstep of hell looks like our in-laws’ front stoop at Thanksgiving.
Chris Everheart is author of the YA thriller
THE LEAGUE OF DELPHI

Available Now
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A Coupl’a Leagues Under the Sea

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Chris Everheart

One empty ancient ship tells the story of an entire age.

A wrecked Roman merchant vessel uncovered in the French Riviera found empty by archaeologists. -The Guardian UK

The Guardian UK reported this week that an ancient Roman merchant ship was uncovered during the construction of a parking ramp on the French Riviera. The timbers of this 2nd - 3rd century CE ship are so well preserved that they still show tool marks from the builders. In one minor discovery, the brush of one of the shipwrights – possibly used for waterproofing the ship’s seams – was found inside the hull.

The vessel’s discovery casts a light on one of the most interesting locations of the ancient Mediterranean world. The modern city of Antibes, France is a popular Riviera destination with ancient roots at least 2,600 years deep. Formerly the Roman port of Antipolis, Antibes was originally colonized around 550BCE as part of Greek Massalia (modern Marseille, France) and much fought over by factions of the ancient world – civilized and barbarian – since that time.

The Antibes discovery harkens to its big sister shipwreck discovered and excavated in the 1970′s in the waters off Madrague de Giens, France. The Antibes wreck is completely empty, indicating that its cargo may have been removed immediately after its sinking – like large portions of the Madrague de Giens cargo - by specialized recovery divers in depths up to 60 feet. Imagine doing such a rare and hazardous occupation in ancient times!

Mosaic depicting a Roman vessel similar to the one wrecked and discovered at Madrague de Giens, France.

The most astounding thing about wrecks like these is the implication of widespread trade all around the Mediterranean and beyond. At Madrague de Giens, for example, many artifacts could not even be traced to locations thought to be known by Greco-Roman cultures. So, the mysteries of the ancients just keep widening.

One thing’s for sure. If the French didn’t need more parking spaces, we might never have found the Antibes wreck. So, chalk one up for car lovers, archaeologists, and construction workers – the unlikely ultimate history detective team.

Now, here’s the cheese on this Brain Burger.

3 other unexpected things found just below the surface of the sea:

  1. The lost recipe for sea cucumber ranch dressing.
  2. A colony of actual Sea Monkeys – not just a disappointing school of tiny brine shrimp.
  3. The keys to my giant yacht. I swear I had them here somewhere … (patting my pockets)

Chris Everheart is author of the thriller

THE LEAGUE OF DELPHI

Available Now
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The Olive Computer Corporation

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Chris Everheart

How the Ancient Greeks invented the laptop computer over 2,000 years ago – and why.

The Antikythera Mechanism computer determined many astronomical events, plus the dates of the Olympic Games. -wired.com

There’s a lot of competition for the title of Inventor of the modern laptop computer. But one thing is confirmed – the Greeks had a computer small enough to hold on a person’s lap more than 2,000 years ago.

The Antikythera Mechanism, discovered in 1900 in a Greek ship wrecked in the first-century BCE, is a delicately designed and extremely precise astronomical computer.

The diagram of the internal working of the Antikythera Mechanism shows more than 30 tiny bronze gears.

Careful reconstructions of the device demonstrate that a knob on the side of the foot-high wooden frame turned more than 30 small bronze gears to adjust the circular displays on the front and back of the box. These displays showed several bits of information important to the ancient Greeks: zodiacal alignments; phases of the moon; yearly calendar; sun position; positions of the five known planets; eclipse cycles; even the schedule for the Olympic games.

The Mechanism was part of a trove of ceramics, glass work, marble and bronze statues, and other treasures being shipped across the Mediterranean to Greek colonies on the Italian peninsula.

While some Greek aristocrat or merchant stood on the shore waiting for his stuff to arrive, his ship was dashed against the jagged shore of the island of Antikythera and his treasure made a date with the twentieth century. His loss, our gain, and history (of the laptop at least) has been rewritten.

Now, here’s the cheese on this Brain Burger.

3 little-known ancient computer facts:

  1. Many ancient Greek computer users were addicted to the Angry Gods game app.
  2. Early computer sales tanked when consumers realized that “486” stood for the last year BCE the PC would be usable.
  3. Unfortunately, Greek civilization fell before delivery of the a-Pad - Antikythera’s much-anticipated handheld media device.

Chris Everheart is author of the thriller

THE LEAGUE OF DELPHI

Available Now
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Cover to Dusty Cover

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Chris Everheart

The secret ancient library behind the walls of the world’s oldest monastery.//

The fortress-like Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mt. Sinai houses the world’s oldest continually operating library. -SacredSites.com

Ever heard of the Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai? No? It’s also known as Saint Catherine’s Monastery. Nothing?

If you haven’t heard of it, that’s because this ancient monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai is so remote that until modern times only the most devout of seekers could get there via ten-day camel ride.

The monastery was built in the mid-6th century AD at what is considered to be the spot where Moses saw the burning bush. Known to have been occupied by Christians since at least as far back as the 4th century AD, the site, in fact, claims to host the original living bush that Moses witnessed.

Monk studying at Saint Catherine’s Monastery library – among the world’s most exclusive libraries. -beautiful-libraries.com

Just as amazing is that Saint Catherine’s also claims the worlds oldest continually operating library, stuffed with 5,000 early books, 3,500 manuscripts and 2,000 scrolls – a collection rivaled only by the Vatican. This is also one of the most exclusive libraries in the world. Only the monks of the monastery and select clergy and scholars are allowed in.

I am so fascinated with libraries – especially old ones – that I made a monolithic, centuries-old library the central battleground of my thriller The League of Delphi. And the fact that this library is surrounded by a virtual fortress makes it ten times more fascinating and meaningful to the story.

After a millenium and a half of cloistered existence Saint Catherine’s is now bringing the collection to the world through the tools of the digital age but the library itself remains inaccessible to most outsiders.

Now, here’s the cheese on this Brain Burger.

3 books you might find in the world’s oldest library:

  1. Twilight: The Dawn of History
  2. The Genghis Khan Cookbook: Feeding a Band of Marauding Barbarians on a Budget
  3. Fifty Shades of Black: A Monk’s Wardrobe Confessions
Chris Everheart is author of the thriller
THE LEAGUE OF DELPHI

Available Now
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Categories: Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Secrets, archaeology, Hidden Archealogy, My Books, The Ancient World, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Secrets on the Side

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Chris Everheart

4 secret societies influence the world in today’s Burger Bite!

George Washington, 1st President of the United States, Freemason.

  1. Freemasons, whose secret society dates as far back as the 1300s, were instrumental in the founding of the United States. At least 10 signers of the Declaration of Independence (including Benjamin Franklin) and the first U.S. President George Washington were confirmed Freemasons.
  2. The Knights Templar, the first “military order” of the Catholic Church began as a security force protecting pilgrims to the Holy Land. Through secrecy and selection the Templars grew into a banking operation so powerful and wealthy that the church and the crown deemed them a threat, launching an extermination campaign against them on Friday, October 13th, 1307.
  3. The Bildeberg Group is a secret annual, invitation-only conference of Western politicians, bankers, and business leaders. The contents and conclusions of these meetings are secret, prompting widespread suspicion of conspiracies reaching into business, society and politics.

  4. The Commission, established by American mafiosi Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky in 1931.

    The American Mafia maintained ritual initiation, tightly controlled membership, and far-reaching criminal operations for decades in the 19th  and 20th centuries—all with vows of secrecy among its adherents.

Chris Everheart is author of the thriller
THE LEAGUE OF DELPHI
Available Now
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Dying to Keep a Secret

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Chris Everheart

The secret society is dead in the Information Age - isn’t it?

Skeleton and Ouroboros coded motif thought to symbolize aspects of the Illuminati.

Depending on whom you ask, the concept of the secret society has survived many an age – at least as far back as the Bronze Age. Some claim that even the Space Age depended on secret orders to transport and hide the identities of Nazi scientists who would pilot the US to nuclear dominance and the moon. Can a shadowy concept as primal as this actually die in the constantly brightening light of moveable type, telegraph, telephone, radio, television, Twitter, and even Wikileaks?

Whatever its future, the secret society has undeniably common elements stretching deep into the past:

  • Secrecy: There’s something they want to keep most people’s noses out of. This secret could be as innocent as a personal bonding ritual (boyish spit-shake) or as important as the common thread believed to preserve a civilization. Whatever the big secret is, on some level it’s worth keeping only between the members.
  • Exclusivity: Ever heard of “Dunbar’s Number” – the theory that a person can’t maintain close, personal relationships with more than 150 people? Someone gets left out of every social circle. The larger the society, usually the more rules they have for membership. Seems, historically, that the first class of people to be excluded is women (ref: “boyish spit shake” above), which automatically cuts out over half the population. The various membership profiles are refined from there to let “us” in and keep “them” out.
  • Tradition: What’s the use in having a secret if it connects you to nothing and no one? Most people are curious about what came before them. Having stories, rites and interests in common with people of history is a simple but deeply meaningful rallying point for members.
  • Ritual: Joseph Campbell described the stripping of one’s identity to become part of a larger whole as a fundamental stage of human experience. The sometimes complex and mythical rituals of secret societies bring the individual out of isolation and bind them to something bigger.
  • Mutual gain: Since we’re all here, we might as well do something! Personal advancement, financial gain, benevolent or nefarious effects on others’ lives, cultural influence, etc. are thought be achieved by secret societies through control of information and markets, consolidation of skills or talents, and focusing the influence of its members.

Freemasons performing initiation ritual.

No one knows how long the secret society has existed. Some modern secret societies trace their histories back to remote and mythical beginnings (the Freemasons and King Solomon’s architect Hiram Abiff). The priesthoods of ancient Egypt were certainly secret societies, so why not even older civilizations, like the Mesopotamians, the Druids, or whoever built Göbekli Tepe 12,000 years ago?

Secret societies even lived through the Nuclear Age intact. But can they persist into the Information Age like the sneaky cockroach beating Atomic Armageddon? Maybe. The real question is: if they do survive, will we even know about them?

 

Now, here’s the cheese on this Brain Burger.

3 secrets that secret societies don’t mind you knowing:

  1. The first secret society was the Loyal Order of the Water Buffalos, whose high-profile members included Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.
  2. Secret handshakes arose from the need of stoic men to express complex emotions in visually ridiculous ways.
  3. The first freemason started the club to extract dues from other masons who constantly mooched mead at happy hour and never paid for a round.
Chris Everheart is author of the thriller
THE LEAGUE OF DELPHI
Available Now
Categories: Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, archaeology, My Books, The Ancient World, Uncategorized, Writing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ancient Future Shock

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Chris Everheart

The modern truth behind the ancient power of the Oracle at Delphi.

“Sanity, itself, thus hinges on man’s ability to predict his immediate, personal future on the basis of information fed him by the environment.” -Alvin Toffler, Future Shock

The Pythia delivers oracles from the Adyton deep inside the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

Statistician, market researcher, trend analyst, political wonk. These modern occupations were all summed up in one ancient role – the Oracle. For over 1,000 years a woman called the Pythia at Delphi, Greece influenced the Western world with a wisp of vapor and a whisper of mystery – and not without merit.

The many oracles of the ancient world  have long been considered myths or just clever ruses to separate  superstitious people from their money. But in recent years, archaeologists and geologists have discovered features at Delphi that may explain the unique behavior of the Pythia, the Delphic Oracle’s top ranking, and its dominance over an entire culture.

Map of the fault lines beneath the Delphi site.

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi, it turns out, stands on two converging fault lines where water from the sacred Castalian spring may have mixed with natural substances in the layers of limestone beneath, producing anesthetic gases like ethylene in ancient times. Exposing herself to the vapors, the Pythia would experience a semi-conscious, trance-like state where she was given to alarming convulsions and nonsensical babbling.

The strain and danger of the job prompted the sisterhood of the Pythia to implement painstaking rituals of fasting and preparation before performing their duty only on the seventh day of the month.

This leisurely schedule had two valuable benefits for the institution of the Oracle: 1) it limited the supply and increased the value/demand/price of prophecies; and 2) it gave the priests time to gather intelligence from the visiting supplicants while they waited at Delphi for the ceremonial day. It’s been suggested that the Delphic priests’ extensive knowledge of politics, finance, society and current events was the true source of the “interpreted” oracles.

Achilles consulting Pythia – Sheila Terry/Science Photo Library

Whatever its source, the Oracle at Delphi was universally accepted as the fount of wisdom for Greek-influenced culture around the known world. Everyone from commoners to kings sought prophecies from the lips of the Pythia, her golden age bookmarked by centuries of service from 1400BCE well into the Roman era.

After a steady loss of influence – possibly due to the closing of the vapor-producing fault – several barbarian invasions, and looting by occupying states, the oracle was at last silenced in the 4th Century CE by Roman emperor Theodosius I, who had it demolished and left to ruins. The site was covered by successive landslides from Mount Parnassus then built over by a small village until it was rediscovered by French archaeologists in the late-1800′s.

While the Pythia no longer speaks from the Temple of Apollo, the amazing grandeur of the Delphi site still speaks of a time when magic and mystery ruled the world and the future – from the decisions of kings to the concerns of the common people.

Now, here’s the cheese on this Brain Burger.

3 non-scientific non-facts about the Oracle at Delphi:

  1. John Lennon wrote “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” about the Pythia.
  2. Site of Greek-a-palooza -436 BCE. T-shirts are still available.
  3. The Oracle charged a Quarter-Dracma via a coin slot in the Temple of Apollo’s door.

Chris Everheart is author of the YA thriller

THE LEAGUE OF DELPHI

Available Now
Related articles
Categories: Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Secrets, archaeology, Hidden Archealogy, My Books, The Ancient World, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

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