History Challenge & Journal

[STEVE G]

This, by the way, is from the "Book of the Civilised Man", written about 900 years ago.

I've just had a look at that and I like this one:

Do not hunt for fleas on your arms or bosom in front of the patron or in front of the servants in the hall.

[dtaai-maai]

Okay, who am I?

I was born in Eastern Europe, where my father took refuge after he was supplanted by the man who could not rule the waves.
I went with my father when his deeply religious uncle realised he was still alive and summoned him back to his home country.
I was the 'nearly' king of a recently united land - elected, but not crowned. Overtaken by events, I suppose.

[STEVE G]

Well, the man who couldn't rule the waves brings to mind Canute and after a quick reread of English history, the Father banished by him would then be Edward the Exile, the Uncle would be Edward the Confessor and the elected but uncrowned King would be Edgar the Ætheling who was rapidly overtaken by the Norman conquest.

[dtaai-maai]

Perfick!

[dtaai-maai]

portrait 1.jpg (2.5 KiB) Viewed 338 times

Sorry it's a bit small - technophobe alert. Who and when?

[sandman67]

Romano-Hellenic portrait from the Alexandrian period?

Then again could easily be Byzantine or Eastern Orthodox........

Chucking a guess out..... Cleopatra?

Second guess.....Hypatia of Alexandria

[dtaai-maai]

Romano-Hellenic portrait from the Alexandrian period?

Bastard! I feckin 'ate you!!
Her name's Isidore, apparently, nobody special. From a series of portraits on mummies discovered at Hawara by Flinders Petrie, the father of modern field archaeology. They are indeed from the Greco-Roman period, nearly 2,000 years ago and are the oldest portraits.

Well worth a look, the likeness is much more realistic than portraits painted in Europe more than a thousand years later.

Google Petrie Hawara

[Jimbob]

A quicky.
Which singular American president has an experience in common with PMs Churchill, Atlee,Eden,Mamillan.

[STEVE G]

They must all have met Eisenhower at one of the large conferences during WWII?

[dtaai-maai]

Is this something to do with depression?

[Jimbob]

Meeting Eden and Macmillan would have been depressing and Churchill suffered from depression, but no, not depression

[STEVE G]

Is it Harry S. Truman who, like all the listed British PM's, saw action in the First World War?

[Jimbob]

Yes Steve G, Harry, Harold, Winston, Clement and Anthony all served as officers on the western front. I think that gave them a different perspective on the generals and their advice compared to politicans without that battlefront exposure. (Thatcher and Blair eg,)
Eisenhower asked but was not posted to France.

[sandman67]

DM - you forget mate ancient history is my pet topic The style of the Alexandrian period is very distinct....its the first time that Egyptian portraits were "realistic" as opposed to stylised. The style carried on into the Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantium and from there to the Eastern Orthodox style. The Alexandrians seem to have adapted the Roman style you can see at Pompeii and made it even more lifelike, something the Romans only did with statuary and busts.

Flinders is one of my Egyptology explorer "heros" as well. As you rghtly point out he was one of the founders of modern field archaeology as opposed to tomb robbing and destroying contextual evidence.

Anyways:

Quickfire Question:

In the 235 years since 1776 how many years has the USA been at peace (ie not involved in any form of conflict?)

[richard]

SM

Zero?