The Assyrian Elegy: One of the Saddest Texts From Ancient Mesopotamia

Ancient Mesopotamia, Antiquity

Two weeks ago I talked about the impressive scale and epicness of some of the ancient texts that have come down to us. But not every old document contains an Illiad, an Epic of Gilgamesh, or a Mahābhārata. And that is honestly a relief, as our understanding of human life in the distant past would suffer if we had only these kinds of texts at our disposal.1 Luckily we do possess writings from those days that deal with smaller affairs. And these texts can have just as much of an impact on the modern reader as any epic. An especially poignant example is the subject of today: the Assyrian Elegy.2 In this text, a deceased woman tells the story of her death and laments her existence in the hereafter. It is a beautiful composition which, though it was written in a time long since passed, still evokes all too familiar emotions with its musings on love, mortality, and the indifference of fate.

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The Multifaceted Appreciation of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War

Ancient Greece, Antiquity, Thucydides

It is impossible to read ancient sources without a sense of awe. And especially the literary efforts of the past. Whether one finds oneself on the battlefield of Troy, treks along with Gilgamesh in search of immortality, or watches with astonishment the rise and fall of mighty dynasties in the Mahābhārata, one cannot but be convinced that it is the sheer quality of these works which preserved them throughout the ages and made it possible to become the affordable paperback editions that we can buy at the local airport.1 However, as you might have gleaned from the tone of that last sentence, the reasons that we admire those ancient texts today, manifold as they are, often have not much to do with the reasons that they used to be appreciated.2 Seldom has this been more obvious than with Thucydides’ famous account of the Peloponnesian War. Some of the modern uses of his text might even have baffled many of those reading it in centuries past!

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My Favorite Songs of 2023

Music

Music is amazing. It can move a person, make them happy or angry, and inspire them to do great things – both the good and the bad variety – while existing as mere sound waves.1 And this should not be surprising, as those sound waves are the work of artists who, in every phase of the creative process, use their experience, their imagination, and other inspirations to fashion this art. They write the lyrics and the music, contemplate the most fitting arrangements, and play, sing and mix the tracks that will eventually reach our ears. And sometimes, sometimes they manage to create songs that are instant classics. As is the case, at least in my opinion, with these ten songs from 2023.

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My Favorite Albums of 2023

Music

It is often argued that there should not be quarrels in matters of taste.1 But this is, in my opinion, too negative of a way to talk about taste. Because being confronted with different tastes – whether one quarrels about them or not – can open vista’s on beautiful, important, and tasteful things that one up until that moment had never considered but which subsequently bring a lot of joy, happiness or poignancy in one’s life.2 And this is the spirit in which I compiled this list; so the reader can enjoy new music which would otherwise never have crossed their path! As it is a rather cumbersome task to keep up with all the music that is released. And I would have never managed to do this myself if it weren’t for the efforts of the editors at the unsurpassed music website Allmusic.com.3 Their monthly recommendations were my guide in determining which music I wanted to try out, and I can recommend this section to everyone. Finally a side note pertaining to this list: These are the best albums out of the one’s that I have managed to hear in the last twelve months, and it is entirely possible that I did miss a lot of beautiful music.

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The Lost Children of Archeology

Archeology, Prehistory

As with young parents who postponed to find a babysitter for Saturday night, children have long remained a background issue for many of the archeologists that study humankind in the Ice Age. 1 Both the parents and the archeologists obviously have their reasons, understandable as well as less understandable. But as befits a blog on the humanities, and with apologies to any young parents out there, today we are going to focus on the archeologists. Why did children up until recently constitute a rather minor concern for these scholars? And could our knowledge of the distant past profit from centering the younger humans more? Those questions – and more! – will be answered below. These answers are mostly sourced from a great book on the subject, Growing Up in the Ice Age: Fossil and Archaeological Evidence of the Lived Lives of Plio-Pleistocene Children by paleolithic archeologist April Nowell, which I cannot recommend enough for those whose interest is piqued.2

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