O tannenbaum, o tannenbaum… We know this is Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree…and in fact the Christmas tree comes from early German Protestant celebrations of Christmas. But where did the Lutherans get this idea of decorating greenery in the middle of winter? The Vikings made green bows part of their celebration of mid-winter, perhaps…
Category: Antiquity
The Year was A Date Lost in Antiquity
It was a pagan holiday. Now, the first day of November is called All Soul’s Day. According to various religions, this is the day to pray for the dead. In the Roman Catholic Church tradition, those who have gone to Heaven are Saints. Those who still have a chance to get into Heaven, who have…
The Year was 1171 [maybe]
Until that year, when he was nine, Temujin had a wonderful life. He was the oldest son of the chief. Then his father was poisoned. Temujin, his mother and his little brothers were kicked out of the tribe. It was a desperate existence. To stay alive, they ate rats. No surprise, Temujin grew into an…
The Year was 453
Even 15 centuries later, this name, Attila the Hun, brings images of barbaric carnage. The word barbarian came from the word Greeks used to designate anyone who was not Greek. To the urbane Greeks, those people sounded like they were saying “bar bar” and thus became known as barbarophonos. Barbarophonos came to mean ‘bearded and…
The Year was 1300 BCE
Traders from the Mediterranean, returning home from the East with their treasures of spices, incense and silk, flocked to the city in the middle of the desert. Camels slaked their thirst at the gushing water troughs. Merchants slept safe from harm inside the complex. It was a brilliant plan, to carve this mysterious city out…