Travel Tuesday: Ancient Egyptian Shabtis

A variety of shabtis from the 19th and 20th dynasties (1292-1075 BC)

If you've spent much time in the Egyptology section of any good museum, you've probably seen a collection of little figurines that look like miniature mummies. These are called "shabtis", meaning "answerer". They were put in tombs in order to answer the call to work in the afterlife so that the deceased could relax. They'd come to life and do whatever labor the gods called on them to do.

Some shabtis got their own coffin and larger collections were put in decorated boxes like the one on the left.

Shabtis come in a variety of styles and quality and are made of wood, faience, wax, terracotta, or stone. Some tombs had hundreds of them, and they are one of the most common artifacts to find in museums. These are from the archaeological museum in Bologna, Italy.

I recently did a blog post over on Black Gate about shabtis in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo that goes into more detail about these remarkable artifacts. I've also done a post right here on a rare double shabti.

Black Gate Wins World Fantasy Award

Regular readers of this blog know that on Wednesdays I'm over at Black Gate blogging about travel and history. Black Gate started out as a fantasy fiction print magazine before migrating online, where it has become one of the leading blogs covering genre fiction. Doing what I do, I'm a bit of an oddball among the bloggers, but I'm made to feel welcome and I enjoy working on it.

Now Black Gate has been recognized for its contributions in the field by getting the World Fantasy Award at the latest World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Congratulations to my editor John O'Neill and all my fellow bloggers! You can read more about the award here.

Travel Tuesday: Little Details from Famous Sites

When I'm traveling, I like to get shots of the little details. Of course I get the big scenes too, but those little details are often just as interesting. Last week on the Black Gate blog I wrote about Lalibela, an amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site in Ethiopia. Back in the 12th century, the Ethiopians constructed eleven magnificent churches by cutting them out of the bedrock. That's right, they didn't build up, they dug down!

Lalibela is an impressive site, and in the post I linked to above I published some views of the exterior and interior of the churches. I also got some more intimate shots. The above photo shows the lock and bolt on one of the church doors. I like how the indirect sunlight brings out the texture of the wood. Below is a shot of some Ethiopian crosses for sale in a nearby shop. Lalibela is a major pilgrimage site for Ethiopian Christians and the distinct Ethiopian crosses are popular mementos for Ethiopians and foreigners alike. I like how the red background really brings out the brass of the crosses.

So the next time you're at the Eiffel Tower of the Pyramids, don't miss the little details!

Military History Photo Friday: Colonial Forts in Morocco

This shot shows the Casbah de la Cigogne, a 17th century Spanish fort protecting the harbor of Larache in Morocco. The coastline of Africa is studded with old colonial forts, many of which are falling into decay. This one is now a hangout for the local drug addicts. You can read more about the fort and the city it protected in a post about Larache I did for the Black Gate blog.

A view of the Casbah de la Cigogne from the seaside. Photo courtesy user Dans via Wikimedia Commons. When we were there the sun was right behind the fort so all I got was a silhouette. Timing is everything in photography!

Below is part of the 15th century Portuguese fortifications in Asilah, a notorious pirate haven on the Atlantic coast. For more on this cool spot, check out my Black Gate post on Asilah. I blog every Wednesday on Black Gate, usually on travel mixed in with the occasional book review or con report.

For more on colonial forts in Morocco and elsewhere, check out the excellent website Colonial Voyage. They have a good article on Portuguese forts in Morocco.

Military History Photo Friday: Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle, Palmyra, Syria

Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle, photo courtesy the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.

This imposing castle is called the Qalat ibn Maan and overlooks the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria. I visited way back in 1994 and just wrote about my experiences for Black Gate, reflecting on what's going to happen to the site now that ISIS has taken it over.

I have clear memories of this castle. As you can see from the top photo, there's a steep climb to get up there. I remember huffing and puffing in the desert sun to make it to the base of the wall, only to spot the other side, which you can see in the below photo. There was a road leading right up to it I could have walked on and saved myself the trouble!

As it was, I was stuck on a narrow ledge running around the base of the wall. As I inched my way around, a Syrian family strolling up the road gave me a friendly wave.

After making a fool of myself, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the castle and mounting one of the towers for a sweeping view of the oasis, the ancient site, and the surrounding desert. The castle was built around 1230 to protect this important caravan stop between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. Nowadays Palmyria is still strategically important. It was the scene of fierce fighting over the last few years between government forces and rebels, and just a couple of weeks ago ISIS swept in from the east and took it over. Reports indicate the castle has been battered by RPG, artillery, and small arms fire.

It's still standing, though, and now bears scars from another tumultuous era of the history of the Middle East.

Another view of the castle, courtesy Jerzy Strzelecki via Wikimedia Commons.

Military History Photo Friday: Armor at the Wallace Collection, London

This open helmet is called a barbute and dates to 15th century Italy. It would have been worn by a regular infantryman of the upper rank. I've also seen period paintings showing nobility wearing them. The more elegant helmet below is called a bascinet. It's from northern Italy from around 1380-1410. As you can see, it doesn't offer any flat surfaces for a weapon to get a direct hit on. This would have been for a more wealthy warrior. The mail aventail protects the neck and shoulders, but of course there would have been plate armor for those areas too.

Both of these helmets are from the Wallace Collection in London. For more arms and armor from the Wallace Collection, check out my post over at Black Gate.

Photos copyright Sean McLachlan.

Military History Photo Friday: Hitler Youth Prisoners of War

Near the end of the Second World War, seventy years ago, the Third Reich had a serious manpower shortage. Most of the men of fighting age had been killed, wounded, or captured. Older men were conscripted to fill the ranks, and the boys of the Hitler Youth were also called to fight the Allies.

Some of these kids weren't even in their teens. Allied soldiers felt terrible shooting at them, but also had to admit that the young troops often fought very well, having been brainwashed by their upbringing and being too young to fear death. The Allies tried to capture these kids when they could, and there are numerous photographs showing just how young some of them were.

One of the worst things the Third Reich did was to corrupt children with the Nazi ideology. For the Black Gate blog, I recently reviewed a German film from the era titled Hitlerjunge Quex, about a famous member of the Hitler Youth. Originally intended as fascist propaganda, it has strangely morphed in its meaning for modern viewers to have an anti-fascist message.

Wild West Photo Friday: Real Outlaws in Western Movies

This dusty gunman is Al Jennings, a lawyer from Oklahoma who became a bandit in the 1890s. He had a brief career of robbing banks and stores before getting injured in a shootout with the law and sent to prison. When he got out, he went back to being a lawyer and even ran for governor of Oklahoma!

When his political career didn't pan out, he decided to make movies where he played himself. Westerns had become a popular genre in the early silent films and he wasn't the only real-life bandit to sully the silver screen. You can read more in my post for Black Gate about Wild West Outlaws in Silent Film.

This image is a still from the film The Lady of the Dugout (1918) and is in the public domain.

Travel Tuesday: Exploring Ancient Hatra

This charming sculpture of a nursing baby camel probably doesn't exist anymore. It's from Hatra, an ancient city in Iraq that's probably the oldest city founded by Arabs, dating to the 3rd century BC. Unfortunately, it's in the area controlled by ISIS and they recently trashed this ancient site. I write more about it over at Black Gate in the article, Ancient Hatra: Another Victim of ISIS. Like with the Assyrian sites of Nimrud and Nineveh, these are archaeological wonders I was lucky enough to see when I was in Iraq back in 2012, before the nightmare of ISIS was unleashed on the world.

Travel Tuesday: Visiting Nimrud before it was Destroyed

As regular readers of this blog know, I visited Iraq in 2012. One of the places I got to see was Nimrud, an ancient Assyrian capital. I wrote about it recently for Black Gate in the article Memories of Mosul before ISIS.

Actually, I was writing an obituary. ISIS has recently trashed Nimrud and another important Assyrian site called Nineveh. They destroyed all the statues, including this winged bull at the Nimrud palace gate. They also continued their practice of digging up artifact to sell on the international black market. They only destroy the big showy stuff for the cameras, the rest they sell so they can buy weapons. I'll be writing a post for Black Gate about Hatra tomorrow, another ancient site they destroyed.

Military History Photo Friday: Indian Troops in World War One

This week's photo shows Indian troops on the march somewhere in France during World War One. India was still a British colony at the time and contributed 1.5 million men to the war effort. They fought in every theater of the war. The Indian troops weren't the only colonial troops. Every colonial power drew upon their overseas possessions for the war effort. I've written about this more at length, and with some cool photos, over at Black Gate.


Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.