Although the great monuments built by past civilizations are often the subject of wonder and admiration, no less wondrous are the feats achieved by our Palaeolithic ancestors living around the world tens of thousands of years ago. One example of these achievements is the literal invention of art, the precise origins of which have long mystified and intrigued researchers. Why … Read More
Eurocentrism, Ancient History, and Ancient Egypt
“….the line of ill-intentioned Egyptologists, equipped with a ferocious erudition, have committed their well known crime against science by becoming guilty of a deliberate falsification of the history of humanity. Supported by the governing powers of all the Western countries , this ideology, based on a moral and intellectual swindle, easily won out over the true scientific current developed by … Read More
Explaining the Ipuwer Papyrus
There is an enigmatic Egyptian document called the Ipuwer Papyrus which is believed to have been created sometime in the nineteenth dynasty. It contains a text known as Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage, which itself contains potential evidence for the ten plagues of the Exodus. Beyond simply referencing vague misfortunes, the author of Admonitions relays specific kinds of events that … Read More
Andy Kaufman, Experience Design, and Caring About Your Audience
Andy Kaufman was an American entertainment marvel most active in the 1970s and 1980s. He is famous for his quirky sitcom characters, his on-stage gags involving co-conspirators from the audience, for wrestling a number of women as well as Jerry “The King” Lawler (pictured), and for dying of cancer at a very young age. Aside from his work that has … Read More
Optimism, vision, and the death of a Disney dream
You might not have heard of Peter Thiel, but he’s kind of a big deal in Silicon Valley. He co-founded PayPal with Elon Musk, was an early investor in Facebook, and currently manages an impressive investment portfolio that includes companies like SpaceX, Airbnb, Spotify, Asana, and Oculus. In short, Peter Thiel knows what it takes to start a business from scratch and grow … Read More
The drink of immortality: mulled wine, witches, sacraments, mushrooms, and archaeochemistry
Many people have enjoyed a glass of mulled wine at some point or another. The addition of different ingredients to heated wine in order to change its taste profile is a longstanding tradition that stretches back to the second century, according to the Wikipedia page on mulled wine. However, a study of different ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean plant traditions reveals … Read More