List of plays performed in February 1596 by the Admiral’s Men
In the absence of anything else particularly 7th Februaryish my original thoughts were to add a few items of archaeological news while pointing readers at the revised February 7th post from last year on Selene, the Moon Goddess.
But as I read the Mosaic column in the London Archaeologist Magazine and came across notice of the completion of the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation project I remembered that I have long used information from the Archive which gives a list of plays Henslowe’s Admiral’s Men performed in February 1596 at the Rose, in Southwark.
Just look at the list above! Talk about hard working – imagine an actor in what was essentially a small repertory company remembering this many plays? Also at the new Globe the guides tell you the Shakespearian Playhouses were used in the Summer. No! This was deep winter 23 performances in an outdoor theatre! 14 different plays, if I count correctly! Exclamation Mark Exclamation Mark.
I’m sure I will return to this archive but, for the moment it is an immense bit of news in the Shakespeare industry. Henslowe’s records were stored in a locked trunk for 260 years. Now they have been digitised and made available. Also elements that had been separated from the original archive have been brought back so the greatest archive of information on the Shakespearean theatre is now unified and available.
‘Crack me this nut!’ was performed 16 times, sold by Alleyn, and no one knows what it was about. It might relate to the sense of our phrase ‘a tough nut to crack.’ Here for more.
A badly photocopied page of the archive.
Other news from Mosaic includes:
This year marks the 300th Anniversary of Christopher Wren’s Death who rebuilt 50 or so Churches and St Pauls Cathedral after the destruction of the Great Fire of London.
An early 7th Century burial of a girl aged 10 -11 has been excavated in Eastry in Kent. DNA shows she was 33% of West African ancestry and 67% Continental Northern European.
Selene
Full Moon by Natalie Tobart
I have just revised the February 7th Almanac entry on Selene the Moon Goddess which has a wonderful set of Full Moon pictures by a friend of mine called Natalie Tobart which you can see above or by reading about Selene below:
Roman Skeleton Museum of London in Docklands Exhibition 2018 photo K. Flude
I was puzzled to find a message, from reader of this blog Harriet Salisbury, voicing interest in coming on my ‘Decline and Fall of Roman London’ Walk in order to find out about Roman Dental problems.
Harriet is not only a brilliant editor, but also the author of a great book on the oral history of war time London, so I had to follow up this puzzling comment. And my recent post on my upcoming walk said:
Faced with plaque, civil war, invasion, mass immigration, industrial decline, reversion to barter; the authorities struggled against anarchy and descent into a Dark Age
Now there are many reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire but I have never yet heard anyone, apart from me, blame dental plaque. So, I then spent a couple of hours changing the q of plaque to the g of plague in various places where the deadly dental disease was referred to. Of course, Harriet might equally have wondered whether a rash of information panels had been a contributory cause?
As you will know I have an interest in the history of health and medicine. A cursory glance at any of the skeletons you find in museums will normally show that pre-modern skulls have much better teeth health than modern people. And the reason for this is, mostly, because they did not have sugar to rot their teeth. Instead of sugar-created cavities, their problem tended to be wearing teeth out by the roughness of the grain they used. But I investigated more and found that recent work in Herculaneum and Pompeii had investigated Roman teeth health in a scientific manner. This showed that the diet of even the poor was much better than most modern diets because it was essential the much lauded ‘Mediterranean Diet’ with olive oil, no added sugar, lots of vegetables,fruits and smaller amounts of meat. In short, Roman society had a system in which even the poor had balanced nutritional diets, and therefore good levels of natural immunity.
Pompeii also had a high level of fluoride in the water. The Romans seem to have brushed their teeth with a flayed stick and used abrasives made of ‘ground-up hooves, pumice, eggshells, seashells, and ashes‘. They used a mouth wash of human and animal urine, and disgusting as this may seem, the ammonia would have acted as a cleansing agent.
This picture from ebay shows you a flayed stick toothbrush – I include the seller information so you can buy some!
Ebay Ad for natural toothbrushes
Harriet’s book was based on a wonderful oral history collection at the Museum of London. Worth having in you are interested in London history, the Blitz and ordinary people’s lives. And also for any lover of ‘Call the Midwife’.
This is a screenshot of ‘The War on our Doorstep’ so the link won’t work, but World of Books or any other online book seller (including the ‘evil empire’ but best not to boost the income of such stupidly rich people?)
I have updated and reposted my January 4th post to include what to look out for in the night skies in January.
The Sun is at its lowest at midday; the sun rises and sets at its most southerly position in the whole year. If it continues, life will be extinguished as the world has no light and no heat.
But on this day the Sun begins its rebirth. From this day on, it begins to rise further north each day, the Sun at noon is higher, its sets further north each day. so the arc the rising and settings make is larger, the days are longer; the Sun is getting hotter too.
Symbolically, solstice is an ending as well as a beginning; a turning point and a promise by whatever Deity or non-deity you go by that the cycle of the world will continue. It will turn, the wheel will turn. Warmth and growth will return. Buds already growing in the earth. They will break out and bring new growth soon.
Culturally, its a time to have a party before the weather gets really cold, its a time to evaluate your past life and begin, like the sun, a new and hopefully better cycle.
Note. so if the Sun is at its shortest and weakest why is not the coldest time of the year? That is because the earth and, particularly, the oceans retain the heat of the Sun, and so it is generally colder in January and February. The coldest day varies and can be from November to March, but more often falls in January, then February, then December, more rarely in November and March.
The Solstice and the East Pediment of the Parthenon
British Museum Shop, reproductions of Hestia and Selene’s Horse from the Parthenon Marbles
At the Summer Solstice, I took a group to the British Museum and, a few days later, to Stonehenge, and managed to ‘integrate’ the two into a solstice narrative. At the BM, over years of trying to explain the sculptures, I have been building in my mind an interpretation of the Pediment that gives, I hope, an original insight into the possible intentions of the sculptors. I don’t know how ‘true’ it is, but I do think it gives an insight into metaphor and symbolism in great works of art. Bear in mind that there is a lot of uncertainty about some of the attributions, and, that the male and female virtues that I am talking about are traditional ones, not necessarily how we would express it in the modern world.
At the left of the above photography, you see the horses that take Helios chariot into the sky to bring up the sun to light the world every day. Most sun deities are male, and the Sun gives light and life to the world, without it this earth is an inert block of ice cold stone. The next statue is casually laying back and looking fit, relaxed and not looking as if he is in that position because of the impossible triangular Pediment space he inhabits. He is the epitome of male strength, usually identified with Hercules but other people have other ideas and a young Dionysus is another suggestion. Whoever he is he represents male beauty and strength. So this end of the pediment represents the Sun and male virtues. This is the East Pediment of the Parthenon which is orientated to the rising sun, a little north of east.
Next are Demeter, the goddess of fertility, the goddess of the earth. Placed here to remind us that the Sun needs the Earth to create life and sustenance. It reminds us that the universe is not male, the male only works in conjunction with the female. Demeter is cuddling her daughter Persephone, the Goddess of Hades. She reminds us that life is a cycle of death and life. Plants die, turn into soil and create the conditions for future life.
Next is Hebe, daughter of Zeus and Hera, wife of Heracles (Hercules). She is the cupbearer to the Gods and gives them the ambrosia that keeps them forever young. She is the Goddess of Immortality, a reminder that the universe is eternal.
Next to Hebe is a void where there was the central statue of the east pediment depicting the Birth of Athena (according to Pausanias who wrote a guide in the 2nd Century BC to the Temple). Athena was born from the head of her father Zeus- a virgin birth. Athena therefore is, in some ways, the greatest of the Olympians, as she has the virtues of her female sex and the virtues of her father’s masculinity (and, dear Gods, hopefully not the massive ‘Me Too’ vices of her father). She is therefore, wise, nurturing, just, intuitive, decisive, a leader; an ideal combination of male and female.
Zeus (sitting) Hephastus to right (looking back with Axe) Athena just visible above Zeus’s head
I posted about the quite extraordinary story of the Birth of Athene earlier in the year and said
‘So Zeus eats Athena’s mum, Metis, who is pregnant with her. Sometime later he has a cracking headache. Hephaestus, the disabled artificer God hits Zeus over the head to clear the headache. Zeus gives birth to a fully formed Athena from the split in his head.’
Hestia, Dione, Aphrodite, Horse of Selene’s chariot
To Athene’s left is Hestia (Vesta for the Romans). Her name means “hearth, fireplace, altar” and she is the goddess of the domestic sphere, of the comforts of home, of a warm fire enjoyed by a loving family.
The next set are two beautifully draped women languidly leaning on each other, and these are Dione, with her daughter Aphrodite – the Goddess of Love. Dione is the daughter of Gaia and Uranus daughter of earth and sky. So, here, counterpoised to Hercules, are epitomes of women. Women of power, creation and love.
Finally, we have the exhausted horse of Selene. Her chariot takes the moon into the sky, positioned opposite to Helios and the Sun. Selene is the Moon goddess, and the Moon is beautiful, powerful as it gives us the tides and fundamental to the life of humans as she presides over the menstrual cycle. Compared to the movements of the Sun which any fool can work out, and which are relentless (symbolising Justice) the movements of the Moon are mysterious to most of us. So Selene is beautiful, powerful, creative and the Goddess of Intuition.
So, if you put it all together the East Pediment of the Parthenon shows that the world is a union of the male and the female, balanced between the two with Zeus and Athene in the middle, with Athene holding the main part because she, in her person, represents both the male and the female.
Of course we know that the Athenian society was a patriarchal one with women mostly kept in the domestic sphere. But here, at least, women were given an equal billing in the organisation of the Cosmos.
Sculptures from the east pediment of the Parthenon
I must end by warning the reader that this is only my interpretation. I am not a scholar of Ancient Greece. I have come to my own conclusion based on spending a lot of time looking at the marbles, doing Solstice Virtual Tours, and mostly informed by the labels in the gallery, with of course, some reading including Mary Beard’s book entitled ‘Parthenon’ and the BM’s guide book. In particular, I have not incorporated into my ‘story’ the sculptures that were in the gaps that do not survive or only in fragments scattered throughout the Museum world. Mary Beard was cleverer than I, not reaching conclusions on the basis that we don’t know. But what we do know is that in the centre is Zeus and Athene and at the edges are the chariots of the Sun and the Moon. And so fitting to celebrate the Solstice.
This evening, 21 December 2022 I am doing my London Solstice Virtual Tour
‘advancing a new materialist approach, we identify a goldworking toolkit, linking gold, stone and copper objects within a chaîne opératoire,
Setting aside what ‘new materialism’ and ‘chaîne opératoire’ are for the moment. Briefly, their analysis of the objects found in the Bronze Age burial of two people evidence that the person(s) identified as a ‘shaman’ on the basis of clothing/jewellery was (as well?) a gold worker. What is amazing is that they were using Neolithic axes which would have been hundreds of years old to make gold sheets. There was also evidence interpreted as tattooing instruments. As Upton Lovell is 12 miles from Stonehenge it means this is big news in the archaeological world, making most of the newspapers.
The authors dig deeper into the meaning of ‘New materialism’:
‘This approach advances on traditional technological studies in two ways. First, whereas materials are usually approached as having fixed properties, new materialists argue that these properties emerge relationally; they change through time and in combination with other materials, people and places (cf. Barad Reference Barad2007; Bennett Reference Bennett2010). Second, ‘making’ is seen not as the simple imposition of the will of a maker on an inert material but, instead, materials play an active role in the process.’
To put it more simply objects have complicated histories and contexts. You might also like to look at the original article (link below) which is written in a very strange style which gives the objects agency ‘an active role in the process’. Below is the conclusions of the article.
‘Conclusions
Drawing on microwear, residue analysis and new materialist theory, we have reassessed the Upton Lovell G2a grave assemblage. The empirical techniques attend to the materials, which are reinvigorated by situating them within this emergent theoretical landscape. These approaches reveal how the grave goods disclose an intertwining set of processes. Never static, these objects changed and shifted, requiring modification, repair and reuse. They speak to a complex interweaving of bodies—human and non-human—and their varied histories. There is far more complexity here, in relations, histories, gestures and processes, than could ever be captured under the label ‘shaman’, ‘metalworker’ or ‘goldsmith’. Grave goods are more than representations of a person’s identity. They are more even than critical relations in the construction of identity (cf. Brück Reference Brück2019). What these grave goods stress, when attention is paid to their stories, is quite different. They speak of material journeys, the colour of stone and the texture of gold capturing relations that flow across landscapes. Collectively, as an assemblage, these stone tools reveal a process of goldworking. But this goldworking involves as much the working of stone, in the shaping and upkeep of tools, as it does of metal. Here, we emphasise the repetitive and iterative nature of our chaîne opératoire, each action calling into being further moments of renewal of the polished stone surfaces so essential to the qualities other materials elicited. This goldworking chaîne opératoire is multi-material; it is as much a process in stone working as it is in the working of metal. From this perspective, the similarities in processing and working gold and stone mean that the former emerges as far more like the latter than our modern taxonomies would suggest.’
If we analyse this conclusion based on the literary idea of ‘Point of View‘ you will see that the POV of the piece above is just bonkers. There is the ‘we’ of the authors, and the ‘they’ of the objects. ‘They’ are speaking to ‘bodies – human and non-human’. ‘They’ even have the ability to ‘stress’ an issue once ‘attention is paid to their stories’ and to be ‘reinvigorated’.
But its a very interesting find and analysis and does remind us that things are much more complicated than we realise.
I have republished my post of the Chinese New Year which you can see here:
The Museum of London is reverting to its ‘original name’ the London Museum and moving to Smithfield. The problem is that they have decided to close the old Museum while they build the new one, which I think, sucks. To my mind a Museum’s job is to present its collection to the public: some of the objects are unique and need to be seen. To hide them all for four years because of convenience and cost savings is, I think, an abrogation of its duty. Of course, the Museum also runs the Museum of London in Docklands which is some compensation but all the same – four whole years!
So, today, it closes its doors. Then in the evening it hosts, what I imagine will be a ravening hoard of archaeologists and museum staff, for the greatest of all reunions. I’m very excited. I will be looking out for 2 wives, several ex-girlfriends and loads of old friends and colleagues many of whom I have not met for a very long time. I split up with Julie, my first wife, in our first few months as archaeologists at the Museum and a few years later met Poppy, the mother of our children, who worked as a Conservator at the Museum.
As I was a trade union representative while at the Museum, and co-edited the scurrilous archaeological ‘fanzine’ called ‘Radio Carbon’ I was, therefore, more often than most archaeologists to be found at the Museum. There I got to know quite a few of the Museum staff. So its going to be a blast. The original invitation was for a 2 hour event, which was then increased to 3 hours, and yesterday it was increased to 4 hours with live showing of England’s world cup game.
Radio Carbon (the author is to the left with finger up his nose)
Photos: Left: Kevin Flude in the Museum’s Library, One of my few claims to fame is that I introduced computers to the Museum of London (and the V&A)
Centre: Archaeologists at the GPO site (near St Pauls) the author in the front row with glasses surrounded by so many friends!
Right: Dig Party held at Trig Lane with home made fairground attractions and cocktails such as the Portaloo Flush (as I remember it vodka dyed blue with added raisins.) The author is in the foreground to the left. (photo Derek Gadd)
The original museum for London was called the Guildhall Museum, founded in 1826 and the repository for treasures found in the ‘City of London and suburbs’, and founded by the City Corporation. The foundation of the London County Council changed the balance of power in the metropolis and in 1912, the ‘suburbs’ struck out on their own and the London Museum was founded as a museum of the whole of London. It was encouraged by the Royal Family, particularly Queen Mary, and found a home in the Royal Palace of Kensington.
the London Museum (I think!)
In 1965 an Act of Parliament merged the two museums from which emerged the Museum of London which was purpose built, and it was to be funded one third each by the Government, the City and the Greater London Council. This was changed when Mrs Thatcher abolished the London Council and the funding was swapped to 50% City and 50% the Government.
The Museum of LondonThe Museum of London at night (photo K Flude)
In the interim before the new museum was built, the Guildhall Museum set up a temporary display at the Royal Exchange, and then moved into a building on the new Barbican High Walk. (thanks John Clark for information on the information on the merger.) The new museum was opened in December 1976, in a brand new building designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya. Instead of rooms with multiple exits, it was designed to allow only one route through – from the Prehistoric, through to the Romans, and then through a dark tunnel to the Dark Ages, and medieval, then downstairs down a ramp with a ceiling that echoed the Crystal Palace into Modern London. Its ethos was always to tell the story of London rather than highlight the ‘treasures’ and had people friendly, narrative driven displays of great clarity.
It will be much missed.
Roman Gallery, Museum of LondonRoman Gallery, Museum of London. Mosaic to the left was excavated with the help of the author.
Aftermath
The Great Reunion was very noisy with competing sound systems and was very jolly. So great to see so many old faces (and still recognise them!) and sorry to miss so many who could not, for one reason or another, attend.
In 2018 the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro suffered a devastating fire. The irreparable loss of its colonial period collection allowed the space for a new focus for the museum creating a display put together in cooperation with indigenous people.
This is a really interesting story because the scans for the replica were made in a guerilla intervention. The BM did not give permission for it, and the Oxford-based Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) undertook the scanning surreptitiously. Salon (see below) says ‘Roger Michel, the founder of the Institute and Alexy Karenowska, the Institute’s Director of Technology, used Lidar cameras to generate an accurate scan.’
I’ve heard it said that the robot created an absolutely faithful replica.
‘The sculptures are accurate to a fraction of a millimetre.’
Photo from Salon: The Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter (see below) mage credits: Roger Michel watches as the head is carved, Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA)
So, critics of the BM can then say ‘Why not return the original if you have faithful replicas?’
Well, yes but it is still a replica (albeit made of the same Pentelic Marble as the original) and museums are testament to the power of the original. I can see a great reproduction of the Mona Lisa anytime, but it didn’t stop me going to the Louvre to stand with the hordes to see the original. Further, the robot produced sculpture was then finished off with extensive work by a team of humans.
The issue has never been about the quality of a possible copy to replace the returned originals. It is about who owns the originals.
However, this is still a coup of propaganda that has created one more chip in the defensive wall the BM has put up around the issue.
Zeus (sitting) Hephastus to right (looking back with Axe) Athena just visible above Zeus’s head
I didn’t know the full story of the birth of Athena until I went to the Feminine Power exhibition at the British museum.
So Zeus eats Athena’s mum, Metis, who is pregnant with her. Sometime later he has a cracking headache. Hephaestus, the disabled artificer God hits Zeus over the head to clear the headache.
Zeus gives birth to a fully formed Athena from the split in his head.
The point, I think, is that Athena being partially a clone of Zeus had both male and female virtues and is thereby the most powerful Deity.
And even the most elite families are deeply f***** up.
Copies of the Parthenon available in BM shop! Photo: KFlude
AKA the Elgin Marbles. All my life it seems as if we haven’t been talking to Greece about sending them home. Recently, there was a strong dismissal of any such hope. But today, I read that the British Museum is open to discussion. Statements from the Deputy Jonathan Williams and even the Chairman, ex Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, have expressed optimism that there is a ‘deal to be done’.
Reading between the lines, the position appears to be based on the ‘fact’ that we own them legally, and that, by discussion of mutual loan arrangements, some, if not all, of the stones, can go home on loan, in exchange for other loans from Greece coming to the UK.
Nearly, all ‘restitution’ cases are settled by the realisation that there are mutual benefits to be had for the return of items. The Horniman is leading the way with its announcement to return 72 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.
The statement from Nigeria suggests that mutual loans are a part of the deal here too.
Abba Tijani, director-general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), said: “We very much welcome this decision by the trustees of the Horniman Museum & Gardens. Following the endorsement by the Charity Commission, we look forward to a productive discussion on loan agreements and collaborations between the NCMM and the Horniman.”
The Society of Antiquities newsletter ( Salon: Issue 494) reports on a restitution deal of one of the major collections of Benin bronzes back to Nigeria.
The Bronzes, which are actually Brasses, are from the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Benin which was looted by the British during the Benin Expedition of 1897 as part of British subjection of Nigeria.
Wikipedia reports that ‘Two hundred pieces were taken to the British Museum in London, while the rest found their way to other European museums. A large number are held by the British Museum[ with other notable collections in Germany and the United States.’
The Smithsonian has recently made a similar arrangement to restore their brasses to Nigeria, and UK collection The Great North Museum: Hancock, has followed suit joining Jesus College, Cambridge and the University of Aberdeen. (The Art Newspaper)The British Museum has refused and is indeed prevented from so doing by an Act of Parliament.
An interesting sidelight on the collection is that the wealth of the Benin Kingdom benefited from income from the slave trade.
This is what The Society of Antiquities newsletter ( Salon: Issue 494) says:
Two Benin Bronzes Returned
Last week, Germany signed a restitution agreement with Nigeria. The agreement covers 1,100 artefacts currently held by the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, Berlin’s Humboldt Forum, the Cologne Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Hamburg’s Museum of World Cultures and the State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony. The agreement immediately puts these objects into Nigerian ownership; the affected Museums will then negotiate directly with the Nigerian Government whether they return to Nigeria, or remain in Germany under custodial agreements.
Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Culture Minister, described the agreement as ‘the single largest known repatriation of artefacts in the world’. It was marked by the return of two Benin Bronzes – an eighteenth century 35kg head of an oba and a 16th-century relief depicting an oba accompanied by guards or companions. German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said ‘It was wrong to take the bronzes and it was wrong to keep them. This is the beginning to right the wrongs.’
Image credits: The returned Benin Bronzes, Martin Franken
The Society of Antiquities newsletter ( Salon: Issue 494)
negotiate directly with the Nigerian Government whether they return to Nigeria, or remain in Germany under custodial agreements.