Future Archaeologist!

Hey Everyone! Happy Tuesday!

I wanted to add some extra days into my blog, the goal is to try and post once a day. Tuesdays will focus on traditions of all types from various cultures! I want to start by discussing one of my own, that happens to be one of my favorite traditions ever. It traces back for hundreds of years in my family.

My family is Polish, though nobody who is still alive today in my family was born in Poland. My great grandmother, Bertha Janeczek was born in Poland, she passed away at the age of 90 in 2011. She was kind, and warm and always made me happy even as a little kid. She was one of my favorite people growing up, I feel blessed to have gotten to know her for 11 years.

(an image of Krakow, Poland.)

One of the traditions we keep, in order to maintain our Polish heritage is to have a pierogi feast for big holidays. Being a Catholic family, we celebrate Christmas and Easter and take both holidays very seriously. Every Christmas Eve and Good Friday, we all gather together- aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents, grandchildren- and feast on pierogis. While dining, we listen to my grandfather tell stories of holidays past, a lot of which include my great grandparents. We feast on potato, sauerkraut, cheese, and shamefully pizza pierogis with a side of beets and cucumber salad. Being a lover of flowers, and gardening I typically prefer our Easter weekend festivities. We all gather and eat our Polish feast on Friday night, then Saturday morning my grandmother, mother and I travel to our church to get our Bapka and Kielbasa blessed for our Easter Morning feast. Then on Easter, it’s church and family parties.

I wanted to dig deeper into my Polish heritage this year, I guess it’s the developing historian in me. My mom and I made our own pierogis from scratch, it was a long and exhausting process but more than worth it in the end. The origin of the pierogi is unknown, some think it came from China during one of Marco Polo’s expedition. Others believe it came from Russia. Although unknown in origin, the Pierogi has become a popular food in Eastern Europe and is a huge part of the culture.

What are your traditions?

Stay traditional and curious!

Happy Monday!

Today, I wanted to dig deeper into a civilization I have been absolutely enthralled with since sixth grade. Many of you may have heard of it, sadly they seldom appear in classrooms other than a small blurb in a textbook. I get it, in a world history class there is so much to cover that some events and figures are left behind. I reluctantly will admit that I did not learn about Genghis Khan until ninth and tenth grade, when I took Honors and  AP World History.

The Minoans were a bronze age civilization that lived on the island of Crete, in the Aegean sea. They are iconic for their beautiful frescoes and dramatic legends of the Minotaur.

(my favorite frescoes of all times. I love the turquoises color scheme) 

The Minoans had it all. beautiful art, a beautiful palace, legends that are still being told today. The infamous Minotaur and maze myth still captivate history learners and the media today. What remains in question is how did this amazing civilization of people come to an end?

The site was first excavated by Sir Arthur Evans in 1899 unearthed the Palace of Knossos which introduced us to the pre-classical civilization of Crete.

(the palace of Knossus as it is today)

Many believe that the civilization was destroyed by a destructive volcano. Geologists have concluded that at some point in the Bronze Age, there was a volcano that erupted and caused mass damage. The biggest question that may never be solved is if the civilization was already destroyed before the volcanic eruption or if the disaster was what destroyed it. In a later period, the Mycenaean who were heavily influenced by the Minoans took over Crete and eventually developed a form of writing called Linear B. Were the Minoans forced to assimilate to the Mycenaean culture? I believe that at some point the volcano did erupt, but by that point the Minoan culture was long gone and taken over.

I’m hoping that in the fall, I will be leading a research project on the Minoans and their influence on the Egyptians in terms of art. I have a few more weeks until I will find out if my project has been approved. I want to look at this civilization in all facets- a geological, archaeological, historical, scientific, artistic way. Should the project not be chosen, I will pursue my own independent work anyway and keep you all informed!

(The island of Crete today. Breathtakingly beautiful)

Stay mysterious and curious!

AAh! I am so sorry for my absence! The past month has been a lot to take in, and a I have not found a lot of time to blog. My deepest apologies.

I wanted to continue my serial on The Book of the Dead. This is going to be a learning experience for me as well, as I will be learning the information as I present it. I know a bit about it but I still have a lot to learn.

This week, we will discuss the very basics of Ancient Egyptian religion. As many know, Egyptians had a polytheistic belief and gods had different meanings. The most important god in regards to the Book of the Dead is Anubis.

Anubis was the god of mummification and the afterlife, additionally acting as the patron god of souls and the helpless. It was believed that he attended the “weighing of the heart” which determined whether or not a soul could enter the world of the dead.

(Anubis at the Weighing of the heart)

According to legend, Anubis was the father of the art of embalming. It was believed that he first performed an embalming on Osiris. Originally, according to Egyptian texts his name is actually “Anpu” or “Inpu”, Anubis was a Greek version of the name. Wild jackals often appeared in Ancient cemeteries which led Egyptians to believing Anubis was watching over them. During a mummification priests who were working on a burial would wear an Anubis mask as a way for him to watch them over as they worked. He is one of the most commonly appearing gods in Egyptian texts.

The thing about the Book of the Dead is that there is no one single defined book that explains all the rules of gods and afterlife/burial procedures. Most of what we have are from scriptures taken from the walls of temples, tombs and coffins. Ancient Egyptian mythology and religion, however is incomparable to any of the other religions of the Ancient world.

Today, I want to discuss something as a prelude to what the next few weeks posts will be on. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead was used as a guide for the spirits of the dead to navigate their way to the afterlife. In this, there are sacred scriptures, that help the dead lead the way. The book was used from the beginning of the old kingdom (2575 bc) until 50bc. It typically was placed inside the funerary chambers after ones passing, and like other ancient texts was written on papyrus.

So I know, I kinda did lie. I was supposed to resume on Wednesday but I didn’t. I PROMISE that I will be better with the blogging. I am currrently working on reading the Ancient Egyptian book of the dead for some juicy sacred Sunday posts. But for now, enjoy a fun film Friday!

So I have to give some credit to this movie for my passion. I know a lot of you might criticize this because it’s not realistic and all that jazz but honestly, this movie is what got me into Egyptology. “The Mummy” starring Brendan Frazier. It’s a very fun movie about a group of archaeologists, explorers and researchers who travel to a lost ancient city and awake an evil spirit. I love the back story of the main villain.

He was in love with the Pharoah’s mistress, who was not to be touched by any other. When caught with her, him and his lady teamed up to kill the pharaoh but with all his guards it was too late Ans the lady had to sacrifice herself. The main villain had the power to bring people back to life. He was a priest. He attempted to bring his love back to life but was followed by the Pharoah’s guards and punished by being buried alive with a bunch of scarabs. He is brought back 3,000 years later when a group of explorers uncovers his tomb.

I have just been getting really interested in Egyptology. I mean I loved it when I was a kid... like a lot. My first childhood crush was the character “Tutenstein” from the Discovery Kids show. I am not even joking. Recently, my love for Egyptology has rekindled and I have been researching and reading books like nobody’s business.

I think the first thing that got my love rekindled was watching this show on Hulu. One week during field school, I got very sick with heat exhaustion. As a way of entertaining myself when all I could do is sit inside, I began binging the six episode special “Lost Treasures of Egypt” which was produced by National Geographic. The show was very well done, highlighting some important Egyptian figures and events that have happened. My personal favorites were the first episode, about King Tut and the third which was about Cleopatra.

In Ancient Egypt, women were regarded very differently than they are today. Women were in some cases given the honor of having the power to lead as Pharoah. In some cases, women lead as Pharoah in the case that their husband died and their son was too young to lead. 

Merneith was a leader in the first dynasty (3000-2890 B.C.) who was believed to have been the first female Egyptian ruler. Not much is known about her rule due to the lack of records and how early her dynasty was. 

Pictured above is a the funerary stela of Merneith. 

Merneith was known by some as the “blood queen” due to the burial practices that they practiced during her time known as sacrificial burial. This involved the murders of over 200 people including family members, close friends, and servants who were believed to have been needed to help guide the spirit in the afterlife. These rituals were discontinued soon after the end of her rule. It is unknown how she died. Her name is listed in her son’s tomb, she is the only female on the list and was followed with the title “King’s Mother” on the seal. 

Hey folks! 

I hope your Sunday was nice, peaceful and relaxing. Mine was for sure, I spent the day going through some old things to clean out my room. It is nice and interesting to see things you haven’t touched in years. Almost like a private excavation of your bedroom! 

For the first mystery Monday, I want to focus on The Lost Colony of Roanoke. I know... I lied, I said it would be an ancient mystery and this is not one. But this really, in my opinion, is one of the greatest mysteries in American history. 

The year was 1585, the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh discovered Roanoke on a voyage to the new world. He and his team were so fascinated by Roanoke and drawn to the beauties of the island that they got permission to begin a colony there and take several men, women and children to live there for better and new opportunities. Roanoke was the first English settlement in the New World, 115 colonists led by John White who was an artist inhabited this land.

Above is one of the watercolors White painted of the indigenous peoples of the land. Among them was a Chief known as Wingina who was beheaded by Irishman Edward Nugent. There was known to be conflict on Roanoke between the settlers and the indigenous people. A lot of hostility came about due to the murder of Wingina. 

John White, after leaving the colonists off went back to England. He was unable to get back to Roanoke due to military conflicts in England until three years after he had originally left the colonists. Elizabeth I was also very hard to reason with in terms of the travel which prevented Walter Raleigh from returning. 

When John White returned to the island, none of the colonists were to be found. It is rumored all that was found was a carving in a tree that stated “CRO”. To this day, it is unknown what happened the the settlers. 

I was fortunate enough to visit Roanoke island this past summer, and it was one of my favorite historic trips. Seeing what the island looked like was amazing, it really is a bigger island than you would think. I also realized how much erosion had occurred and how far back the original coast line is. It makes me think that maybe archaeologists need to be focusing more on marine work and the original coastline. Anyways, here are some of my photos I would definitely recommend visiting this lovely island.  

The coast of the Roanoke sound! 

 Today, a play commemorating the history of the island is shown over the summer called “The Lost Colony”. 

Another photo of the sound! 

Photos from my hike through Roanoke island! 

Hello friends! 

Today, I am honoring one of my very favorite stories in the Holy Bible. As sad as this time was for people of my faith, there is something fascinating about it to me that has always intrigued me. It’s the story of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. 

Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion by those who doubted He was the son of God. They believed He was a liar and was threatening them. After Jesus had been sentanced, he had to walk through the town of Jerusalem with his cross till he made it to the area where people at the time were crucified, known as Golgotha or Calvary and was right outside the walls of Jerusalem. The trail he took through town is now known as Via Dolorosa, which is Latin for “way of grief”. As Jesus was struggling through town, Veronica felt sorry for Jesus, and offered Him her veil so He can wipe His forehead off which was covered in sweat and blood. Jesus accepted her kind offer, wiped His forehead and returned the veil. To much surprise, Jesus’ face was impressed on the veil after He wiped it. The veil became known as the Veil of Veronica.  

Hello fellow fans of archaeology! 

Today, I want to feature a film I actually had just watched yesterday! This film was called “The Prince of Egypt” from Dreamworks. Yes, it was a cartoon made for kids! 

My former roommate who I went to field school with told me all about it. She talked about how great the animation was and convinced me to eventually watch the film for myself. 

The story went off the story of Moses in the book of Exodus. Moses, a Hebrew baby who was to be killed was released into a basket on the Nile River by his mother to save his life. The baby eventually ended up in the hands of the Egyptian Queen and Pharaoh. As Moses grew into an adult, he learned he was born Hebrew and the story of what the Pharaoh had done to his people. He fights Ramses, his “brother” who was now the Pharaoh as an adult until he is able to bring his people out of Egypt and to safety.  

I am so sorry for my absence! I know it has been a while since I last posted! I am looking to give my blog some structure so that it is easier to follow! 

Look out for new special post days; 

1. Mystery Mondays 

Mondays I will feature an ancient mystery-discuss it and share photos from some of the adventures I have been lucky enough to have. 

2. Woman Crush Wednesday 

 Every Wednesday, I will feature a powerful woman in history (most likely Egyptian history.. oops) 

3. Film Fridays 

Starting tomorrow I will begin to feature a film that I have watched and enjoyed that features either archaeology or Egyptology. Disclaimer: this can include television shows as well.  

4. Sacred Sundays 

I will feature an ancient God or religious figure, or religious story every week as well! 

Today, I had a very long day at the lab. Lots of lectures and artifact washing- keep in mind that I am one of the quickest washers on my staff so I finish all my work super early- not sure if that’s good or bad. 

Anyways, by lunch, I needed a pick-me-up cup of coffee. I decided to go to Dunkin Donuts in town to save some money. I decided to experiment a little with service and see if they would fill up my reusable cup and give me a discount for using my own cup. 

Unfortunately, there was no discount included but I did feel a lot better using my own cup. I did not have to carry around a cheap plastic cup that I would have used for the total of ten minutes and then throw it away to cause centuries of ecological damage. 

The worst part is that the area I am currently based in has these strict recycling regulations and does not recycle cups like that. 

At the end of the day, I felt like I was doing a good thing and surely will be bringing my reusable cup again to get coffee. 

Hello, welcome back to my lovely blog! 

Lately, I have been very into Aladdin and Middle Eastern history. I have legit watched the remake of Aladdin three times and the original two in the past week... I also have begun reading One Thousand and One Nights (aka Arabian Nights). When I become that invested in an academic topic, I like to do something with the passion and make it useful. 

I decided that I am going to intensify my work on Arabian Archaeology into a paper and possibly a few videos. I am working on creating an archaeology YouTube channel that invites viewers into this magnificent field. 

I am still in the research phase of my topic; which I am thinking will last a while due to the time I am currently investing into Field School and my Chesapeake Native research-more on that later. 

Anyway, I was a huge fan of this article I read the other day by one of my FAVORITE magazines National Geographic (no joke, it would be a dream come true to work for them). I wanted to share it with y’all! 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/05/aladdin-origins-arabian-nights/