The Bosnian Pyramid Phenomenon

By Robert M. Schoch
Boston University

Semir Osmanagic announced it to the press with fiery conviction: “The history of civilization has to be rewritten,” he said. “Bosnia will become a giant on the world archeological map” (quoted from a May 4, 2006 Reuters Report By Daria Sito-Sucic). On the outskirts of the Bosnian town of Visoko, half an hour drive northwest of Sarajevo, Osmanagic claimed there were two monstrous pyramids (dubbed the “Pyramid of the Sun” and the “Pyramid of the Moon”), and perhaps several smaller pyramids as well. Even the prestigious New York Times picked up the story: “Some See a Pyramid to Hone Bosnia’s Image. Others See a Big Hill.” (New York Times, May 15, 2006, page A8). At least four different websites were devoted to the “Bosnian Pyramids” (http://www.bosnianpyramids.org/ http://www.bosnianpyramid.com/ http://www.bosnian-pyramid.com/ and http://www.piramidasunca.ba/). The supposed pyramids formed the stuff of heated debate at other websites (most notably, perhaps, that of the Archaeological Institute of America, http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/osmanagic/update.html), chat-rooms, and blogs across the Internet.

Were they really man-made pyramids, perhaps dating back thousands of years? (Some advocates placed them as much as 12,000 or 14,000 years in the past.) Now covered with soil, trees, and other vegetation, Bosnian pyramid buffs argued that the “pyramids” needed to be excavated to reveal their glory and prove that Bosnia, of all places, was the virtual origin of, well not just pyramids, but perhaps even civilization. Tunnels reputedly associated with the pyramids were said to contain cryptic engravings that could just possibly be the oldest writing ever discovered. Detractors, on the other hand, saw the so-called pyramids as simply interesting, but perfectly and completely natural, geomorphologic features - - that is, they are just big hills. Some even argued that the whole notion of the Bosnian pyramids was not just a mistake or an ill-conceived notion, but a downright hoax designed to bring prestige, fame, power, and money to Bosnia, Visoko, and the head of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation, the Bosnian-American (he now resides in Houston much of the time where he maintains a business) Semir (“Sam”) Osmanagic (also spelled Osmanagich). Indeed, on May 12, 2006, National Geographic ran an article on their website titled “Pyramid in Bosnia -- Huge Hoax or Colossal Find?” (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/pyramid-bosnia-1.html). It did not help Osmanagic’s case, at least in the eyes of the traditional academic community, that he is an advocate of “alternative history” (see his website http://www.alternativnahistorija.com/), and of his numerous books (mostly published in Bosnian), the one widely available in English, titled The World of the Maya, almost seems purposefully written to provoke the ire of traditional archaeologists.

Having more than a casual interest in ancient pyramids (after all, I am the author of two books focusing on pyramids: Voyages of the Pyramid Builders, and Pyramid Quest), I wanted to see first-hand what all the pyramid fuss in Bosnia was about. If there really was a huge pyramid, larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt, in Bosnia, then I wanted the opportunity to study it. On the other hand, if there were no pyramids in Bosnia, that would be important to know too. But how to get to Bosnia? The answer turned out to be easy. My friend and professional colleague, Dr. Colette M. Dowell, simply contacted the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation and Semir Osmanagic. Initial contact was followed up with emails and phone calls, and quickly we received an invitation to visit Visoko and see the “pyramids” for ourselves. We made the trip to Bosnia during July and August 2006.

The afternoon we arrived in Bosnia, Osmanagic insisted on taking us straightaway to the so-called “Pyramid of the Sun.” I observed the excavated areas of huge stone blocks; blocks that I was told were most definitely not natural. Clearly, Osmanagic insisted, they were man-made concrete blocks that cannot be explained geologically, put into place with a sophisticated ancient technology that has now been lost. Amazingly, he explained, the “concrete” blocks proved to be harder and more durable than any modern concretes or cements. But he and I were apparently seeing different things, perhaps viewing an entirely different world. Where he saw concrete blocks and human intervention, I saw only perfectly natural sandstones and conglomerates that had broken into larger or smaller blocks due both to tectonic stresses and gravity slumping. For a week and a half this seemed to be the dominant theme: Osmanagic and others who worked with and for him insisting that this or that feature can never occur in nature, and thus must be artificial and human-made, versus me finding a perfectly reasonable geological explanation for each of the same features.

The geology around Visoko is incredibly rich, and I suggested to Osmanagic that, in lieu of “pyramids,” he might redefine his “Archaeological Park” as a “Geological-Archaeological Park” and focus more on the geology. Visocica Hill (the one dubbed “Pyramid of the Sun”) and Pljesevica Hill (“Pyramid of the Moon”) are composed of layers of sandstone, clay, mudstone, siltstone, and conglomerates apparently deposited in an ancient lake and river system during Miocene times (about 5.3 to 23 million years ago). The rocks have been tilted and bent due to tectonic stresses. The tectonic forces plastically deformed the clays and mudstones, but the sandstones and conglomerates broke into semi-regularly shaped pieces that Osmanagic and his team have excavated in numerous places, interpreting them as “pavements,” “terraces,” “concrete blocks,” “foundation stones,” and so forth. Interestingly, and tellingly, the sizes of the sandstone and conglomerate blocks found are a function of the thickness of the original rock layers. Thin sandstone layers, stressed tectonically, broke into small blocks while thick and durable conglomerate layers broke into massive blocks. This is exactly the pattern expected among natural rock formations. The sandstones also typically preserve various sedimentary and depositional features, such as ripple marks and the traces of ancient burrowing animals. These same rocks are also rich in paleontology. In some of the sandstone layers, and in many of the mudstone layers, I found large accumulations of fossil leaf debris and even some fairly complete Miocene fossil leaves. I believe that the real treasure of Visoko may be a huge fossil biota just waiting to be uncovered, not some imaginary pyramids.

While wondering the streets of Visoko, being offered all sorts of pyramid souvenirs, from tee shirts to copper plates bearing depictions of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun (stylistically rendered either as a stepped Mayan-style pyramid or, less frequently, as a smooth-sided Giza-style pyramid), I continued to hope against hope that I could find some “truth” underlying the “pyramid mania” that has gripped the region. One last possibility might be the evidence of the reputed tunnels found in the area that supposedly connect one pyramid to another. We had the opportunity to explore one tunnel that is currently open; to put it mildly, I was disappointed with what I saw. The tunnel had clearly been entered and modified in recent times, as evidenced by the graffiti found in places, the collapsed ceilings and walls, and the stories that the Yugoslavian army (Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the former Yugoslavia) had once used the tunnels for military purposes, and possibly purposefully destroyed parts of them. If this was an ancient tunnel, it was difficult to tell now. The much-touted “ancient inscriptions” seem not to be ancient at all. I was told by a reliable source that the inscriptions were not there when members of the “pyramid team” initially entered the tunnels less than two years ago. The “ancient inscriptions” had been added since, perhaps non-maliciously, or perhaps as a downright hoax.

So, no pyramids, but there are many fascinating and genuine archaeological wonders in Bosnia. On the summit of Visocica Hill, which overlooks Visoko, are the remains of a medieval fort built on top of Roman ruins, and there is also evidence of Neolithic occupation of the hill, dating back perhaps 5,000 years. While in Bosnia we also visited megalithic ruins attributed to the Illyrians (circa 4th century B.C.), a possible Paleolithic cave (unfortunately, we had neither the time nor equipment to enter it; I would love to return and explore it), and fascinating medieval cemetery monuments to the dead.

Despite my failure to validate the Bosnian pyramid dreams, Semir Osmanagic and all the members of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation were most gracious hosts. They spared no effort to make sure that I could view all aspects of the so-called pyramids, even arranging for me to take a short airplane ride to see them from the air. Bosnia is a beautiful country with amazing scenery and a rich history. The people are extremely friendly and hospitable, and Bosnia exhibits a wonderful mixture of Western (Austro-Hungarian) and Eastern (Turkish and Islamic) traditions. Even in the absence of pyramids, it is certainly a country worth visiting.

Stonehenges on both sides of the Atlantic

By Robert M. Schoch
Boston University


North of Boston, near North Salem, New Hampshire, is a labyrinth of megalithic stones that have been the object of wonder and a topic of heated argument for more than two centuries. Sprawling over a couple of dozen acres are found stone walls and various structures that at first glance look like building foundations, cellars, tunnels, and caves - - all composed of laid stone, sometimes still in natural shapes and sometimes roughly worked. The largest placed stone has been estimated at eleven tons. Parts of the complex have been given evocative names, for example, the “Oracle Chamber” and the “Sacrificial Table.” Large erected stones on the periphery of the complex are aligned with significant astronomical positions such as the sunrise and sunset on the equinox, mid-summer and mid-winter sunrises and sunsets, and apparently various lunar motions and stellar alignments, some of which appear to date to the second millennium B.C. This is the site variously known as “Mystery Hill,” “Mystery Hill Caves,” or since the 1980s as “America’s Stonehenge.”

What is “America’s Stonehenge”? Superficially it bears little similarity to the Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain of England. How old is America’s Stonehenge? Who built it and why? What was it originally like? These are all unanswered questions, but many answers have been proposed.

Solid historical records of America’s Stonehenge date back to the early nineteenth century when Jonathan Pattee lived on and at the site from 1826 to 1855. Pattee and his family used parts of the structure as foundations for buildings and as root cellars, and some people have suggested that Pattee and his five sons built the structures. But, based on one of the stones that is surrounded by a tree stump that began growing in 1769, at least part of the structure must date prior to Pattee’s time. In modern times a number of charcoal samples have been collected from the site, in more or less close approximation to the stone structures, and radiocarbon analyses have yielded dates from historical times to around 2,000 B.C.

Since Pattee’s time, the site has had a checkered history. It was used as a ready quarry (not unlike the Great Pyramid in Egypt during Muslim times), and the structures were dismantled and rock carried away to build local foundations, churches, and other buildings. It is estimated that perhaps 40% of the rock was removed during the nineteenth century.

In the 1890s a professor of architecture at Dartmouth College, Hugh Morrisson, argued that Native Americans who had no tradition of such stone building could not have erected the structures. In 1936/7 William B. Goodwin purchased the property, carried out various excavations and studies, and promoted the view that Culdee Monks from Ireland had circa 1000 A.D. crossed the Atlantic, settled in New Hampshire, and built the site. In the 1950s the area came under the control of Robert E. Stone who first leased and then purchased “Mystery Hill.” In 1958 Stone opened the site to the public, and he initiated a still-ongoing program of serious study, documentation, excavation, and restoration of the site.

Numerous researchers have become involved with, or offered interpretations of, America’s Stonehenge. Opinions range from the notion that it is, after all, simply colonial foundations and root cellars, to linking it to ancient European cultures, such as those that constructed megalithic buildings in Malta and Greece, to thinking in terms of a medieval influx of Europeans across the Atlantic (variations on the themes of Norse warriors or Irish Monks), to attributing the sighting stones constructions to ancient Native Americans. The late Barry Fell, in particular, popularized the concept that some of the stones found at America’s Stonehenge (and many found elsewhere as well) contain cryptic inscriptions written in various Celtic or Gaelic (Ogham), Iberian, and Phoenician scripts, giving clues as to potential builders, or at least visitors to, the site (see Fell’s book, America B.C.). Other researchers have countered that the so-called inscriptions are simply plow marks, root remains, or natural erosion features in the stone.

I am convinced that there was contact between the Old and New Worlds in pre-Columbian times, but I would not hang the case on America’s Stonehenge. I have had the opportunity to explore the site firsthand, and I do not know what to make of it. I tend to think it is not all of one piece - - that is, it may be a mixture of modern (eighteenth and nineteenth century) and ancient structures, but even among the ancient portions I could find no definitive evidence of non-Native American influence. In some ways America’s Stonehenge is a microcosm of the general arguments often encountered in archaeology where the hard evidence is just too sparse to come to a definitive conclusion. It may seem like a copout, but in the case of America’s Stonehenge I rather not judge until, and unless, some compelling evidence is discovered that can be used to firmly attribute and date it.

Turning to the “real” Stonehenge in England, which definitely is thousands of years old and astronomically aligned, new theories and developments continue to be proposed. Last year (2005) Timothy Darvill, professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University, and archaeologist Geoff Wainwright announced that they had found the exact quarry from which the bluestones of Stonehenge were taken over 4,000 years ago. Site of the quarry: Carn Menyn, a mountain in the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire, in southwest Wales. This meant, according to their interpretation, that huge monoliths had been quarried and moved some 240 miles to the site of Stonehenge, a truly incredible feat. But just this month (June 2006), geologists from the Open University using geochemical analyses, led by Professor Olwen Williams-Thorpe, have countered that the bluestones used to construct Stonehenge were not moved over two hundred miles by humans, but brought the distance by Ice Age glaciers and then utilized by ancient humans. Even if this proves to be the case, and as a geologist it certainly makes sense to me, it was still a truly monumental feat to carve the bluestones and erect them as the magnificent structure that we see today.

The Crowned Dragon of China and New Archaeological Finds in the Americas

By Robert M. Schoch
Boston University


The discovery of a new species of dinosaur was reported earlier this year (February 2006) from 160 million-year-old fossil beds of northwest China. The scientific name, Guanlong wucaii, meaning in Chinese “Crowned Dragon,” is apt since this relatively small bipedal dinosaur (it stood about three and a half feet tall, and had an overall length of about ten feet) carried on its head a large complex crest, perhaps brightly colored when the animal was alive, which may have been used in behavioral displays to either attract, or perhaps threaten, other members of its species. The Crowned Dragon was probably covered in simple feathers, as is known to have been the case for other members of its taxonomic group, not for flight but as protection and insulation. As a side note, the close connection between certain dinosaurs and birds is now generally recognized, and indeed if you eat a chicken or turkey, you are effectively eating a little dinosaur-form of animal.

But what makes the Crowned Dragon so exciting to some paleontologists, and members of the general public, is that it is apparently a primitive form of tyrannosaur, that group made famous in the popular eye by the fierce Tyrannosaurus rex who roamed western North America about 70 million years ago. Although hailed by some reporters as the ancestor of T. rex, the Crowned Dragon was much more likely a member of a primitive side branch of tyrannosaurs, sort of a distant cousin tens of millions of generations removed. Still, the Crowned Dragon is certainly related to North American T. rex, but it is found in China. What is going on? Back then the continents and oceans were in different positions, global climatic patterns were not the same as today, and dinosaurs were free to roam from one region of the world to another, regions that are now separated by oceans or mountain ranges.

Jump forward to modern times - - well, modern times from a geological perspective. The continents and oceans are positioned as we know them, and many a mainstream archaeologist has suggested, or simply assumed, that there was no connection between the classical Old World and the civilizations of the New World for the very simple reason that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans posed impenetrable barriers to contact and cross fertilization until Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1492. Over the years a number of scholars have questioned this dogma, including yours truly (in my book Voyages of the Pyramid Builders), yet old and entrenched ideas die slowly. But why am I bringing this topic up? I cannot help think about it as I review a few new archaeological discoveries from the Americas that have just been made public (May 2006).

A thirty-ton monolith (twenty-five feet wide, thirteen feet high, and sixteen inches thick), dated to circa 900 B.C., with enigmatic carvings on it, has been reported from the newly opened archaeological site of Tamtoc, about 550 miles northeast of Mexico City. So far the “Mexican Monolith” has been interpreted as possibly a lunar calendar, but it also contains symbols that have apparently never been seen in the Americas before. Some experts are suggesting that perhaps it is an Olmec carving, or at least related to the Olmecs. The Olmecs formed an early civilization that originated around 1100 B.C. further south in what are now the areas of Veracruz and Tabasco. But where did the Olmec people come from? This has long been a mystery. One distinct possibility, which I discuss in Voyages, is that the Olmec civilization arose at least in part due to an influx of ancient Shang Chinese who crossed the Pacific during the twelfth millennium B.C. Shang pictographs have been identified on Olmec artifacts, most notably by the researcher Michael Xu (Central Oklahoma University), and there is a distinct Chinese tradition of a large group of Shang heading east into the Pacific, never to return to China. Furthermore, the Olmec were pyramid builders, and so were the ancient Chinese, and I believe there are distinct similarities evident between the ancient Chinese pyramids (including some found in the region of Mongolia) and those of the Olmecs. We might also point out that, among Olmec carvings, often on a gigantic scale, are faces that many people view as strikingly African; perhaps the Olmec culture was the original melting pot of races and peoples in America. So where do I suggest that scholars might look as they work to understand the carvings of the newly discovered Mexican Monolith? Ancient China!

There have been other exciting finds reported from South America in recent weeks. From northern Brazil (in the state of Amapa) stories of an “Amazon Stonehenge” have made the news. Reported to consist of 127 granite monoliths, each about ten feet high, arranged in circles in an open field, the structure may date anywhere from about 500 years ago to 2,000 years old. Preliminary work on the site suggests that the stones were used for astronomical observations, indicating a sophisticated interest in the skies, and blocks aligned relative to the winter solstice have been identified.

Also aligned with the solstices is a temple and observatory complex newly discovered in the Peruvian Andes, in the Rio Chillon Valley north of Lima. The observatory itself sits atop a thirty-three-foot high pyramid. On the site are large clay sculptures of animals and a disk bearing a face, along with incised drawings and paintings. Hailed as the oldest astronomical observatory yet identified in the Americas, it dates back some 4,200 years based on radiocarbon dating of burnt materials found in what is interpreted as an offering pit of the temple. Some of the experts are surprised to see evidence of such sophistication and advanced knowledge at such an early period in South American history. However, I am not surprised. Contemporaneously, advanced civilizations were flourishing in Egypt and the Middle East, as well as in the Far East, so why not South America as well? We are all one species, and there may well have been cultural interchange, even if somewhat limited, across the oceans during that very early epoch. At the least, it is something to think about.

Archaeology and the Historical Jesus: Recent Developments

Craig A. Evans

A major driving force behind biblical archaeology in its early days were apologetics. In recent years these interests have been eclipsed by the new quest for context and meaning. By and large, this new quest has seen major advances on many fronts, especially where it concerns the historical Jesus.
In some cases discoveries touch directly on the story of Jesus as presented in the New Testament Gospels, such as in the 1961 discovery at Caesarea Maritima of the inscription that mentions Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea, and perhaps (much more doubtfully) in the 1990 discovery in the vicinity of Jerusalem of an ossuary, whose inscription may contain the name of Caiaphas the high priest. One also thinks of the 1986 discovery of the first-century (BCE or CE) Galilee boat, which has answered some important general questions about this occupation and perhaps one or two very specific questions relating to Jesus and his disciples.
These discoveries are of great interest, to be sure, but of much greater significance are discoveries relating to travel, commerce, economy, social activities, and religious loyalties of the people of first-century Palestine, especially as these things relate to the inhabitants of Galilee.
Here might be mentioned three important areas of archaeological findings in recent years that shed light on aspects of the life of Jesus and the world in which he was active: (1) the Jewishness of Galilee, (2) the existence of pre-70 synagogue buildings, and (3) Jewish burial traditions.

1. The Jewishness of Galilee
One of the most important questions for studying Jesus in his environment asks how Jewish Galilee was in the early first century. Several books in the last decade or so have appeared that address this question in one way or another. Books by Mark Chancey, Sean Freyne, Richard Horsley, Eric Meyers, Marianne Sawicki, and James Strange, among others, immediately come to mind.
The discovery of numerous Greek inscriptions (and a few Latin inscriptions as well), along with a network of roads (for example, linking Caesarea on the Mediterranean and Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee) and major Greco-Roman style buildings and city layouts, has led scholars to reassess the old, quaint notion of Galilee as a cultural and commercial backwater. The significance of the proximity of Sepphoris to Nazareth was immediately appreciated by scholars. It has become apparent that Jesus did not grow up place-bound, in a rustic, unsophisticated environment.
But in the excitement of assessing the implications of a Galilee now seen in a new light, in some circles there was a lack of recognition of just how Jewish much of Galilee was in the pre-70 period. Greco-Roman style urbanization and loyalty to the Torah were not mutually exclusive. The excavations of Sepphoris in the 1980s showed us how urban and wealthy the city of Sepphoris was, but the ongoing excavations of the 1990s and on into the twenty-first century have also shown us how Jewish the inhabitants of this city were in the time before 70.
The discovery of a number of miqvaoth (ritual immersion pools) and stone water pots (which resist ritual impurity; cf. John 2:6) points unmistakably to the Jewish presence. The absence of pork bones, pagan cultic buildings, and coin imprints and other icons offensive to Jewish sensibilities argue not only for a Jewish presence, but the near absence of a non-Jewish population. In short, the evidence thus far uncovered suggests that the people of Sepphoris were either Jewish or at least lived in a manner unobjectionable to Torah-observant Jews.
The upshot of these discoveries is that the intriguing hypothesis (advanced by John Dominic Crossan and a few scholars linked to the Jesus Seminar) that Jesus was influenced by Cynic philosophers resident in Sepphoris is greatly weakened. It is not altogether ruled out, but its plausibility is serious diminished. Moreover, recent excavations in Nazareth itself suggest that the assumption that Jesus and members of his family would in all probability (and perhaps of necessity) have worked in nearby Sepphoris is no longer so obvious. It appears that Nazareth had its own thriving economy—including building, if the evidence of the stone quarries tells us anything. The commercial and economic activities of Nazareth were more than adequate to keep the local residents fully occupied, with little need to seek out-of-town employment.
Ongoing excavations at other sites in Galilee, such as Cana, Capernaum, and Bethsaida lend additional support to the growing conviction that the Jewish population of Galilee embraced its historic faith and traditions. To be sure, Greek language and literature and Greco-Roman architecture were present in Galilee. But this presence co-existed with a people firmly committed to Jewish faith and practice. It is in this world that Jesus grew up and ministered.

2. Pre-70 Synagogue Buildings
The New Testament Gospels and book of Acts leave us with the impression that Jesus frequented Jewish synagogues and that these synagogues seem to have met in buildings designated for this purpose. There are more than fifty references to synagogues. Admittedly, some of these references could be simply to gatherings of Jewish people (which is what the Greek word synagoge actually means) and not necessarily to buildings themselves called synagogues. Howard Kee has argued this view in a series of studies. He suggests that the Gospel writers, especially the author of Luke-Acts, has anachronistically retrojected a post-70 reality into the earlier time of Jesus. Kee’s interpretation not only requires him to interpret the references to synagogue buildings in Josephus in the same manner (cf. J.W. 2.285-89; 7.44; Ant. 19.305) and ignore a clear reference in Philo (cf. Prob. 81-82), it also requires him to date the Theodotos Inscription (CIJ 1404), which thanks various persons for donating money for the building of the synagogue, to a time much later than the pre-70 period.
Archaeology offers this interpretation no support. Not only does the style of incising in the Theodotos Inscription suggest a Herodian date (probably early first century), but its discovery beneath the rubble of the 70-destruction of Jerusalem argues strongly for a pre-70 date. Moreover, the Berenike synagogue inscription from Cyrene of North Africa (SEG XVII 823) dates to the year 56 CE and Ehud Netzer has recently reported the discovery of a synagogue at Jericho, which was damaged by the earthquake of 31 BCE. Kee’s hypothesis has been convincingly rebutted by studies by Richard Oster and John Kloppenborg, who have reviewed the literary and archaeological evidence summarized above.
Even without the more problematic dating of the older, black basalt foundation beneath the ruins of the fourth-century synagogue at Capernaum and the synagogue ruins at Gamla, it seems clear from the archaeological evidence that synagogue buildings did indeed exist in the time of Jesus. Confident of this fact, we can study these early buildings for clarification of aspects of Jesus’ activity (such as seating arrangements, auxiliary rooms, furnishings, and the like). Moreover, this archaeological and inscriptional evidence lends import support to the historical accuracy of the portraits that the New Testament Gospels present.

3. Jewish Burial Traditions
Jewish burial traditions can potentially tell us much about the world of Jesus, and perhaps even clarify at one or two points his teaching and, even more significantly, clarify aspects of his death and burial. The discovery and analysis of hundreds of skeletons and skeletal remains have told us much about the health and longevity of the people. It gives us pause to discover that in a typical two or three generation burial crypt more than one half of the skeletons are of children. Indeed, in some cases two-thirds of the remains are of children. From data such as these, some historical anthropologists have speculated that as many as one fourth of the population in Jesus’ time was ill, injured, and in need of medical help on any given day. This grim possibility gives new meaning to the Gospels’ notice that crowds were attracted to Jesus, because he was known as a healer (e.g., Mark 3:10; 4:1; 5:27-28).
The Jewish practice of ossilegium, that is, the reburial of the bones of the deceased (see the books by E. M. Meyers and C. A. Evans), may explain Jesus’ cryptic remark to the would-be follower who requested that he first be allowed to “bury his father.” Jesus replies: “Let the dead bury their own dead” (Matt 8:22 = Luke 9:60). Byron McCane plausibly suggests that the man has requested delaying discipleship until he has reburied his father’s bones. Jesus has not urged the man to ignore his dying father. Rather, Jesus urges him to allow the dead (i.e., the dead relatives in the family crypt) to see to the final burial of the man’s dead father. Proclaiming the rule of God to the living takes precedence.
Jewish burial practices, including Jewish sensitivities regarding corpse impurity and the sacred duty to bury the dead, argue strongly against the novel theory proposed a decade ago that Jesus’ corpse may well have been unburied, either left hanging on the cross or perhaps was thrown in a ditch, exposed to animals as carrion. It has been pointed out that hundreds, if not thousands, of Jews who were crucified during war time or insurrection were left unburied. This is true, but Jesus was crucified during peace time. It is inconceivable that the bodies of Jesus and the other men would have been left unburied just outside the walls of Jerusalem, during Passover season. The grim discovery in an ossuary of the remains of Yehohanan, in whose right heel bone an iron spike was found, dated to the late 20s of the first century, is graphic evidence that Pontius Pilate permitted the crucified to be buried and sometime later the bones to be gathered and placed in an ossuary in the family crypt—all according to Jewish burial customs.
The remains of two or three other persons executed and then properly buried have also been found. In a tomb from Giv‘at ha-Mivtar in Jerusalem the skeleton of a woman who had been decapitated have been found. In another tomb in Jerusalem, on Mount Scopus, the skeleton of man who had been beheaded was found. Forensic study of these remains indicate that his head was taken off with two strokes or either a sword or axe. The significance of this evidence is that proper burial was permitted even in cases of capital punishment—which is exactly what the Gospels say with respect to Jesus.
Jewish burial practice may also shed light on the reasons why the women returned to Jesus’ tomb early Sunday morning. Evidently their motivation was to perfume Jesus’ body, so that the seven days of mourning could take place. Making note of which tomb contained Jesus’ body (for he was in a tomb reserved for criminals—not in his family’s tomb) they hoped eventually to gather the bones of Jesus and take them to his family’s place of burial. Accordingly, the women took special interest in the tomb. Finding the body removed would, therefore, have occasioned great consternation and not necessarily thoughts of resurrection. The appearances of Jesus, as well as the reality of the empty tomb, convinced his followers and he was indeed resurrected and was not simply a ghost or a vision.
Postscript: The recent hypothesis put forward by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino that the East Talpiot tomb south of Jerusalem, accidentally discovered and hastily excavated in 1980 by Yosef Gat and Amos Kloner, contained the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and various family members has been endorsed by no recognized archaeologist. The high quality tomb, complete with an impressive pointed gable and rosette over the entrance, which symbolize the Jewish temple, probably belonged to a wealthy, aristocratic Jerusalem family, with ties to the temple. Many of the claims and conclusions advanced by Jacobovici and Pellegrino are erroneous and in some cases highly misleading and deceptive.

Craig A. Evans is Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, and author of Jesus and His Contemporaries (Brill, 1995) and Jesus and the Ossuaries (Baylor University Press, 2003). He is also a contributor to Jesus and Archaeology, ed. J. J. Charlesworth (Eerdmans, 2006).

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McCane, Byron R. “‘Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead’: Secondary Burial and Matt 8:21-22,” HTR 83 (1990) 31-43.
Meyers, Eric M., ed. Galilee through the Centuries: Confluence of Cultures (Duke Judaic Studies 1; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1999).
—. Jewish Ossuaries: Reburial and Rebirth (BibOr 24; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute Press, 1971).
Nagy, R. M., C. L. Meyers, E. M. Meyers, and Z. Weiss, eds. Sepphoris in Galilee: Crosscurrents of Culture (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1996).
Oster, Richard E. “Supposed Anachronism in Luke–Acts’ Use of synagoge: A Rejoinder to H. C. Kee,” NTS 39 (1993) 178-208.
Sawicki, Marianne. Crossing Galilee: Architectures of Contact in the Occupied Land of Jesus (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2000).
Strange, James F. Archaeology, the Rabbis and Early Christianity, with Eric M. Meyers (London: SCM Press, 1981).

Archaeological Evidence for First-century Synagogues in Ancient Judaea

Dr. James F. Strange PhD



In Israel there are ancient structures at Gamala, Capernaum (beneath the white limestone synagogue), Qiryat Sefer, Masada, Jericho, Modi'in, and Herodium. The archaeologists who unearthed these buildings have identified them as synagogues of the first century CE. These halls resemble later synagogues recognized as such from their Jewish art and from dedicatory inscriptions in Greek or Aramaic that actually identify the buildings as "synagogues."
But are the first century examples actually synagogues? After all, they do not seem to contain Jewish art, nor do they have inscriptions identifying them as such.
There are at least five reasons to identify these seven possible synagogues as the real thing:

1. These buildings organize innermost space in a similar manner, namely, it is rectangular and surrounded on three or four sides by rows of columns, then by ranges of benches on two, three, or four sides.

2. One must use the benches as steps to move from the top bench or landing to the floor. This calls to mind a saying of Jesus in Mark 12:39 and parallels that excoriates the Scribes for preferring the "first seats" in synagogues, presumably on the top rank.

3. Worshipers sitting or standing on the benches must look through a balustrade of columns to see what is going on centrally. This is echoed in the construction of the Diaspora synagogues at Priene in Greece and at Ostia in Italy.

4. The “Jewishness” of these structures is not given by art or inscriptions, but by their presence in a Jewish town or village, or even in a Jewish fortress.

5. Although parts of these buildings resemble structures in the Roman Empire, their total organization is novel. The closest analog is the ancient basilica, but the basilicas we know are far larger than most of these buildings. These buildings resemble one another more than anything else. The commonality between them also suggests strongly that their builders were seeing some structure or structures that gave them the extraordinary idea of arranging seating between the columns and the walls. I believe that "something else" to be the stoa on the temple Mount in Jerusalem.
That is, the space from wall to columns is in effect a porch or stoa. Two porches running parallel with a roof on top is a basilica, as is usually reconstructed on the south side of the Temple court in Jerusalem, following Josephus. The first century synagogues that we have found tend to model themselves after Israel's holiest shrine.These structures surely represent those mentioned by Josephus and by the New Testament authors and situated in the Holy Land in the first century CE

The Cave of John the Baptist

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science




John the Baptist was a fiery preacher for the Lord and would prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. Many came to listen to him and would be baptized by him. In Matthew 3 it speaks about how John was preparing the way for Jesus. John was letting people know that he was coming and that he was the messiah. Later John baptizes Jesus and when Jesus rose up out of the water the heavens split and the spirit of God came down upon Jesus like a dove. In Matthew 14:3-12 it talks about the beheading of John.

Two and a half years ago, Biblical Archaeology Review found what they believe to be the cave of John the Baptist. It all started when Reuven Kalifon, an immigrant from Cleveland who teaches Hebrew at the kibbutz, took some of his students spelunking back when it was still filled with mud and sediment. Kalifon asked Shimon Gibson, who was a friend of his, to take a better look at it. Gibson crawled into the hole and moved a few boulders near the walls to uncover a carving of a head. After seeing this, he organized a full-scale excavation.
During the next five years, the team of excavators cleared out layers of soil and the remnants of 250,000 broken jugs that were supposedly used in purification rituals. They also uncovered an oval shaped stone with a carved out indent in the shape of a right foot. Above the indent on the rock is another indent with a channel connecting the two. This is believed to be a foot baptismal where the oil goes into the indent above the foot and someone sticks their foot into the foot shaped indent while the oil runs over it. This could represent the time when Jesus washed the disciples feet before the passover meal. (John 13)

The cave is located on the communal farm of Kibbutz Tzuba. Kibbutz Tzuba is 2.5 miles away from Ein Kerem; the home village of John the Baptist. The cave was carved into the limestone hill that it resides in by the Israelites during the Iron Age, which was sometime between 800 B.C. and 500 B.C. The cave's dimensions are 72 feet long, 12 feet deep, and 12 feet wide.[1]
You can view pictures taken of the cave here.
Annotated Bibliography

"John the Baptist's Cave???." Biblical Archaeology Review 30.6 (2004): 18-19 - This article speaks about a cave found near Ain Karim; the hometown of John the Baptist. It describes some objects and inscriptions found in the cave along with describing the cave itself.
Shimon Gibson and James Tabor. "John the Baptist's Cave." Biblical Archaeology Review 31.3 (2005): 36-41,58 - This article is a follow up from the 2004 Nov/Dec article "John the Baptist's Cave???". It lets you make up your own mind by giving you the facts from both sides. It gives evidence to support the claim that it is the cave of John the Baptist, but it also gives evidence to reject that claim.

Cave linked to John the Baptist - This article talks about findings in the cave, how it was found, and what they believe it to be. In this article, they go a lot more in depth than any of the other articles. "Scholars Say John the Baptist Used This Cave For Immersions."New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Aug 17, 2004. pg. A.9 - Carvings on the walls and ceilings are believed to depict John's life. In the back of the cave there is a pool that was believed to be an immersion pool used to baptise new believers.

The Cult of Harry Potter: Fans Succumb to the Throes of Withdrawal as the Sixth Film is Pushed Back

Ashley Shaeffer

There are two types of people in this world: those who are obsessed with Harry Potter, and those who are not. The level of fanaticism that the series of books and movies inspire in the individuals that are receptive to them is so powerful that J.K. Rowling could effectively rule the world if she so chose. No religion, philosophy, or political ideology has come close to arousing a similar amount of enthusiasm (with the only exception being perhaps the cult of Star Wars).
If you’ve ever been to the opening screenings of any of the Harry Potter movies or attended the Midnight Magic Parties at Borders to obtain a copy of the book at the earliest possible hour, then you know what I’m talking about. Everywhere you look, there are circular spectacles, wizard hats, robes, and brooms. Fans form lines that snake outside the building and all the way around it as they eagerly chatter about esoteric trivia and the more intricate plot developments of the books. If you study the crowds carefully, you may even be able to pick out one or two individuals that are hyperventilating or foaming at the mouth.
Not to say that I judge this in the least. On the contrary, I’m right there alongside these obsessive maniacs in both body and spirit, donning a long blonde wig, my radish earrings, and a butterbeer cork necklace in my best portrayal of my favorite character, Luna Lovegood. As an infatuated veteran of this world, I can’t help but express my concern for the mental wellbeing of my fellow fans. J.K. Rowling has the entire world more addicted to Harry Potter than any drug lord has ever had his slums addicted to street drugs. Since 1998 up until 2005, at least one book or movie had been coming out each year. We got our fix, and we managed to make it for another year.
2006 was a difficult year for Harry Potter fanatics. While both 2005 and 2007 saw the release of both a book and a film, the two year stretch between these events was enough to stir fans into such a state of agitated and giddy frenzy that it appeared as though someone had performed a mass rictusempra charm in those final months. Although the simultaneous release of the fifth Harry Potter film and the final book in 2007 was about as cathartic as finally finding God, that does not necessarily mean that it will be any easier to go through another two-year dry spell.
Fans all over the world had their hearts set on the expected November 2008 release of the film “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and were more than a little crestfallen when it was announced that this would be pushed all the way back to July 2009. Warner Bros. has stated that the reason for this involved placing the movie in a slot that is ideal for family viewing and some nonsense about the writer’s strike affecting the readiness of other scripts. But I know what they’re really saying: “The $938,468,864 that ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ made at the box office was simply not enough for us greedy, corporate bastards. If we disregard the fans and push it back for the mere sake of money, we could easily break a billion dollars.”
It’s infuriating and unacceptable, and it instills in me the desire to swear off seeing the film in the theaters out of spite. But alas, I am weak and would be doing myself more harm than the world good. Luckily, J.K. Rowling will be throwing us a bone this December in the form of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.” Originally, the book was limited to seven handmade, written, and illustrated books created by the author herself. One version, the moonstone edition, was actually auctioned off for $3.98 million. However, Rowling announced that the book will become available to the general public on December 4, 2008. This may make the long wait until next July a bit more bearable.
Beyond the books and the movies, one thing remains that may cause fans to ooze with more anticipation than ever before: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This theme park will be located in Orlando, Florida as one of Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure and will allow visitors to experience Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade, and the Forbidden Forest. Who needs an explosive 3-D IMAX ending when you can experience the ultimate world of magic yourself? And for those of you who are dreading the ever-approaching end to the Potter series (the second half of the “Deathly Hallows” film is set for 2011), you can always indulge in your obsession after that by getting a job at the park as an actor. That’s my plan. I’ll be one of the bar wenches at the Three Broomsticks pouring shots of firewhiskey. See you there, and cheers to Harry Potter!

Who Watches the Watchmen?: Reexamining the Myth of the Superhero with Alan Moore's Watchmen

In 1938 two Jewish kids from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster combined elements of Jewish and Greek mythology with elements in pop culture to create Superman, the world’s first superhero. They sold the idea to National Periodicals (now DC Comics) who decided to run the character as the cover feature in the premiere issue of their new publication, Action Comics. The character proved popular, Superman would be given his own title and in his wake dozens of superheroes would follow. Some were cheap imitations of Superman and quickly forgotten, others were unique and developed staying power of their own. Today, seventy years later, names like Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Spiderman, and the Flash are practically household words. Even people who have never picked up a comic book are at least aware of who they are. Besides the comics that gave them birth, superheroes have appeared in movies, television shows, video games and even as commercial spokesmen (the Man of Steel himself even appeared in a Visa ad along side longtime fan, comedian Jerry Seinfeld). For good or ill, the superhero has found a place amongst our mythic landscape. The question is, in a world such as ours, a world on the brink of annihilation, plagued by terrorists, cynical, corrupt, and drowning in pollution, do we still need superheroes? The answer to that question would come in 1986 when writer Alan Moore decided the time was right to finally shake up the perception that comic books were a juvenile medium. While several publishers of underground “comix” had attempted to do so in the 1960s, most of those publishers were defunct by the early seventies, and by the 1980s only a few big names from the underground (such as Robert Crumb) were even still active. Already a well regarded writer in Britain for his groundbreaking work with Marvel UK, 2000 AD, and Warrior, Alan Moore had been writing for Superman publisher DC Comics for three years when he hit on the idea of deconstructing the superhero. He’d begun his run with DC in 1983 shaking up such minor magical characters as Swamp Thing, the Spectre, Dead Man, the Phantom Stranger, and the Demon. He’d even written some of the most highly acclaimed superhero stories of the decade including the last Superman story before John Byrne’s revamp of the character and the now (in)famous Batman graphic novel The Killing Joke but the idea brewing in his head in 1986 would take superheroes in a whole new direction. As Moore put it, his intention was to create, “a superhero Moby Dick; something that had that sort of weight, that sort of density”. His idea was to place familiar “old fashioned” superheroes in a completely new realm. He initially looked towards the defunct MLJ Comics line of superheroes for inspiration. As originally conceived, the story would have involved Private Strong, a minor creation of comics great Jack Kirby investigating the death of the patriotic superhero the Shield. DC Comics Editor Dick Giordano, who had previously worked for Charlton Comics, suggested using the Charlton superheroes that had recently been acquired by DC; however those heroes were being integrated into DC continuity, so Moore along with his creative partner on the project, artist Dave Gibbons decided to create their own characters loosely inspired by Charlton, MLJ, and DC heroes. The comic that would eventually emerge was Watchmen, a twelve issue limited series published by DC Comics between 1986 and 1987. Watchmen would go on to be reprinted as a trade paperback and popularize the graphic novel format, win a Hugo Award, and be listed on Time Magazine’s 2005 list of “100 best English language novels” published since Time Magazine’s founding in 1923. Alan Moore begins Watchmen with the murder of Edward Blake, a middle aged government agent who was also active from the 1940s through the 1960s as the cigar chomping, violent superhero known as the Comedian. Rorschach, a paranoid masked vigilante investigates the crime and discovers an ominous plot that endangers all former superheroes and may eventually cost the lives of millions of people. The Comedian has tumbled onto a plot by former superhero Ozymandias to create a false crisis to force the world to unite against a common threat and through that create a utopia. The quest for the truth about Ozymandias’s plan leads to the superheroes Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II coming out of retirement and joining forces with Rorschach and the godlike Dr. Manhattan. Set primarily in 1985, in an alternate version of the United States where superheroes are real, Richard Nixon is still president of the United States, and the world is on the brink of nuclear disaster, Watchmen tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes as they deal with the murder of one of their own. Unlike other superhero comics, Watchmen treats its characters like realistic people, focusing on their weaknesses and failings rather than their strengths. In fact with a few exceptions none of the superheroes depicted in Watchmen even has super-powers, they are instead ordinary human beings driven by some deeply rooted, hidden compulsion to dress in costumes and fight crime. In 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman. A short time later, superheroes seemed to spill right off the comic book page into the real world with the appearance of Hooded Justice, the world’s first costumed adventurer. Shortly thereafter a kind of fad is born and Hooded Justice is joined by a variety of costumed vigilantes including Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Captain Metropolis, Mothman, Dollar Bill, Silhouette and the Comedian. Together these vigilantes form the Minutemen with the intent of coordinating crime fighting efforts. For a brief golden age beginning in 1939, the Minutemen manage to do just that, however, time, circumstances, and human foibles take their toll and by 1949 the group is no more. The downfall of these costumed heroes is blamed on several factors including the increased cynicism of the post war world, the advancing age of the heroes, and even the lack of proper villains. Perhaps the greatest blow to costumed adventurers comes from the appearance of Jon Osterman, better known as Dr. Manhattan. Jon Osterman was a nuclear scientist at a government test facility in New Mexico in the 1950s. After a bizarre accident, he was transformed into a creature of pure energy and later introduced to the world as a government sanctioned superhero known as Dr. Manhattan after the project that created the atomic bomb. Dr. Manhattan not only ushered in a new era of superheroes, he also completely transformed the world. As a hero he was touted as a deterrent to aggression by the Soviet Union and was used as a weapon during the Vietnam War, in Watchmen’s alternate history it is implied that his actions helped the US win the war. As a scientist he managed to develop a variety of practical applications for nuclear physics including advanced batteries for electric vehicles. As a man Dr. Manhattan is as troubled as any of the other characters. Nothing in his life has been his own decision. His father pushed him to study science. The government told him what projects to pursue and after his accident decided he should be a superhero. He lives on a military base and his life is closely monitored and tightly regimented. As he grows more powerful, he also grows more detached from humanity as shown by a variety of failed relationships and his penchant for not wearing clothes unless forced to do so by circumstances such as appearing on television or attending social events. Eventually, he grows so distant from humanity he departs for the stars becoming a god-like being intent on creating life on another world. Other super-heroes introduced into the Watchmen universe in the fifties and sixties include Nite Owl II, a man obsessed with birds and flight who has taken up the mantle of the previous Nite Owl; Silk Spectre II a young woman pushed into costumed adventuring by her mother, the original Silk Spectre; the Egyptian themed Ozymandias, a intellectual elitist and utilitarian who is depicted as willing to cause the death of millions in order to save billions more; Rorschach, a vigilante who hides his face behind a mask made of a material designed by Dr. Manhattan which shifts through a wide variety of ink blot style designs from the Rorschach Test; and the Comedian who began his career with the Minutemen as a teenager and sees the world as a vast practical joke. Individually and as a team known as the Crime Busters, these new heroes set out to pick up where the Minutemen left off. They soon come into the same problem, when all the costumed villains are either dead, in prison, retired, or working behind the scenes as ordinary mobsters, who really needs costumed heroes? After all is it really feasible to go after drug dealers and muggers with a hovercraft the shape of an owl’s head and other hi-tech gadgetry? The superheroes’ efforts are further hampered by a public increasingly dissatisfied with violent vigilante justice and police who see the superheroes as a nuisance and hindrance rather than an aid. With public pressure mounting, the government passes federal legislation banning costumed vigilantes not sanctioned by the government and with the exception of Ozymandias who has become a celebrity, the Comedian who has become a government agent, Rorschach who recognizes no authority other than his own, and Dr. Manhattan who is more or less owned by the government, the superheroes go into retirement. The audience sees the story from several perspectives. Alan Moore switches between omniscient narration to first person accounts by various characters most notably the paranoid vigilante Rorschach, the godlike Dr. Manhattan who can see the past, present, and future all at once as a continuous narrative, and even Rorschach’s prison psychologist who never truly understands the superhero mind. The story also makes extensive use of flashbacks, frequently cutting between events in 1985 and those in the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s that inform the present story. Moore also frequently makes use of a newsstand owner’s running commentary on events unfolding in the story as kind of Greek chorus reflecting the view of the ordinary man on the street and the storyline of the comic within a comic, Tales of the Black Freighter as kind of parallel to the events of the main story. The story is further supplemented by various fictional primary documents appended to the end of each chapter except the finale. These documents such as the autobiography of Nite Owl I and an explanation of the science of Dr. Manhattan’s powers are presented as works published within the Watchmen’s universe and serve as insights into characters, their motivations, and their world. The story opens with and is often told through excerpts from Rorschach’s journal. His mind is an unpleasant place to be. Besides the sadistic, nihilistic, and amoral Comedian, Rorschach is perhaps the least sympathetic of the superheroes. He is paranoid, a believer in moral absolutes, a follower of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy, a reactionary, and an ultra-nationalist. In his world, good and evil are clearly defined and evil must be punished as harshly as possible. Unlike a hero such as Batman, Rorschach will kill and does so quite often throughout the series. His hard right philosophical stance and violent approach has alienated him from society morally, ethically, philosophically and even physically – a running joke in the series is the comments by other characters about how much he stinks. Much of the early portion of the story is narrated from his point of view, from his journals. Sifting through his paranoia and philosophy is a strain but as unappealing as it is, it does provide interesting insight into the mind of the superhero – especially when he refers to his mask as his real face. Later, when he is arrested for the one crime he didn’t commit, Rorschach refuses to answer to Walter Kovacs, his real name. In fact he separates his life into three major periods: there’s the period when as a boy he was the subject of abuse by his mother, a prostitute; there’s his young adulthood when Kovacs first put on his mask and sometimes pretended to be Rorschach; and finally there’s the period after he took particularly gruesome revenge on a child killer and he became Rorschach who sometimes pretended to be Kovacs. There is a certain power in masks. They are nearly as old as humanity itself and are found in every culture in the world. Masks give their wearer anonymity and allow him or her to become something other than themselves – from sacred healers in the case of the False Face Society of the Iroquois nation to the gods and heroes depicted on the Greek stage; when worn by the costumed superhero they unleash the hero’s alternate personality, the tormented Walter Kovacs becomes the vengeful Rorschach, the timid ornithologist Dan Dreiberg becomes the Batman-esque Nite Owl II. It can be argued that the mask represents the superhero’s true self. Dan Dreiberg for instance feels morally and physically impotent without his mask and costume but feels in control and sexually virile while wearing it. Appropriately, while investigating the death of Eddie Blake, Rorshach refers to the plot to kill masks, not the plot to kill superheroes or costumed adventurers. Curiously, there is no real villain in Watchmen, only people doing the best they can in a bad situation – even Ozymandias carries out his sinister plan because he believes in the “greater good”. For all intents and purposes it is Alan Moore himself who functions as the story’s antagonist, the shadow as Car Jung would say. By using his story to deconstruct the superheroes and show us their faults, he shows why we still need superheroes why they are still relevant to us. The superhero like every other mythic figure reflects our ideals and our flaws. He is a framework from which we can hang our anxieties and fears our dreams and hopes. By putting on the mask and costume the superhero becomes something greater than himself, he or she summons great courage, fights for what’s right, punishes what is wrong. By reading stories we see that we too posses a well of strength deep within, it only takes the right motivation to tap into it. It’s not necessary to put on a mask and cape to fight crime but there are crises in the world that need our attention. They may seem overwhelming, but when many of us tap into that hidden well of strength and work together, problems such as hunger, global warming, terrorism and war can be addressed.

Interview “Strange Things Are Happening” vol. 1, no. 2 Interview blather.net October, 2000

Two Sides of Judas and the Gnostic Gospels

Robert M. Schoch
Boston University


Judas Iscariot, for some the archetypal villain, the man who betrayed Jesus for a pecuniary reward, has been all over the news since the National Geographic Society recently (April 2006) aired a documentary on the newly released “Gospel of Judas.” This third to fourth century manuscript, written on papyrus and found in a cave in Upper Egypt in the 1970s, is a Coptic translation of a text that was known to Christians of the second century A.D. Until now, however, modern scholars did not have an actual copy. Various persons, perhaps out to make a buck (not unlike the traditional Judas?) have hailed the contents as revolutionary, with the potential to turn Christian beliefs up side down, et cetera, et cetera.

The Gospel of Judas portrays this disciple not as a traitor, but as possibly the most beloved and trusted disciple, a man who was only carrying out his master’s orders, even to the point of arranging the arrest of Jesus (as he was ordered to do by Jesus himself) so that the apocalyptic kingdom of God could be ushered in. Well, how does this really differ from the traditional Judas? If, as Christians seem to believe (not being a member of the sect, I cannot speak firsthand on this issue), Jesus had to be sacrificed in accordance with the scriptures to save humanity, then there had to be a Judas, active or passive, either following orders consciously or simply caught in the drama and impelled by God’s will rather than his own, to accomplish the feat. Likewise, there had to be soldiers to take Jesus away, a Pilate to condemn him, and so on - - a cast of thousands to accomplish the divine will. None of these persons, including Judas, really had any choice in their roles perhaps. Is it not better to believe that at least Judas was conscious of his acts and thus undertook them knowingly, and unselfishly (unselfish, in that he did not want to see his rabbi, Jesus, suffer; but Judas knew it was a necessary part of the drama)?

This line of thinking can lead inexorably to the ultimate Christian heresy, that Judas was the real Christ and Jesus of Nazareth was just a pretender and a pawn of the Infinite Wisdom. In modern times, the great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges has touched upon this idea in a short fictional piece (translated into English as “Three Versions of Judas,” and published in the collection entitled Labyrinths [New York: New Directions, 1964]). Think about it: The man (or god manifested as a man) that really suffered in terms of ignominy and, some believe, descent and everlasting hereafter in hell for his betrayal, is Judas, and it is this suffering that was the ultimate sacrifice to redeem sinful humankind. Jesus of Nazareth, in contrast, preached and gained a following, gathered power and fame, has been revered and worshipped for two thousand years by a loyal following, and all because he suffered for half a dozen hours on a cross and then appeared in a form that might have been a telepathic hallucination to a handful of followers (see The Easter Enigma by Michael C. Perry [London: Faber, 1959]). Some people would say that sounds like a pretty good tradeoff. Whose sacrifice was greater, that of Judas or that of Jesus? So who is the true redeemer, the true Christ?

Such thoughts invert tradition, and in the first centuries of the common era there was a sect of Christianity that held many ideas such as these that were suppressed by the future mainstream Christians (mainstream simply because they won the battle of ideas that would dominate later centuries). This grouping of so-called heretical ideas is now often referred to by the collective name of Gnosticism. Gnosis refers to “knowledge,” and in this context knowledge of the secret mysteries and understanding of the divine. The Gospel of Judas can therefore be viewed by some people as just one more Gnostic writing that may be interesting in terms of the light it sheds on beliefs held by certain sects during the second through fourth centuries A.D., but is not really too important, and certainly nothing to overturn standard Christian doctrine.

Indeed, besides the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, there are literally dozens of other gospels known from the first two or three centuries following the death of Jesus. Besides the Gospel of Judas, there is the Gospel of Thomas (sometimes referred to as the “fifth gospel,” see for instance Marcello Craveri, The Life of Jesus [New York: Grove Press, 1967]), the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel of the Egyptians, the Gospel of Truth, the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Mary (Mary Magdalene), and many others, including such related texts as the Apocryphon [Secret Book] of John and the Sophia of Jesus Christ. Of course, as is the case with the four synoptic gospels, these various texts (including that of Judas) were almost certainly not written by the persons whose names they carry. In fact, all were almost surely written generations after the events and sayings they reputedly report.

To truly understand Christianity, one must look at the canonical writings of the New Testament in the context of other early Christian writings. Such texts have been known to varying degrees since ancient times, but were greatly augmented by the 1945 discovery in Upper Egypt of the Nag Hammadi library of Gnostic codices dating to the early centuries A.D., including copies of the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip. The recently uncovered Gospel of Judas comes from the same general area and is clearly related to the texts of Nag Hammadi. When it comes right down to it, there is nothing necessarily special about the texts that made it into the New Testament, except that they were the ones picked by those early church fathers who gave rise to what is now considered the orthodox Christian view of Jesus and his followers. If a Gnostic sect had survived and reached the status of orthodoxy, the world might now be discussing with amazement the discovery of some ancient text portraying St. Judas Iscariot, head of the pantheon of Christianity, as a villain and traitor extraordinaire.

The Awesome World of Harry Turtledove

Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. He is probably the best-known and most popular author of the genre of alternate history.

Turtledove was born in Los Angeles, California. After dropping out during his freshman year at Caltech, he attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977. His dissertation was entitled The Immediate Successors of Justinian: A Study of the Persian Problem and of Continuity and Change in Internal Secular Affairs in the Later Roman Empire During the Reigns of Justin II and Tiberius II Constantine (AD 565–582).

In 1979, Turtledove published his first two novels, Wereblood and Werenight, under the pseudonym "Eric G. Iverson." Turtledove later explained that his editor at Belmont Tower did not think people would believe the author's real name was "Turtledove" and came up with something more Nordic. [1] He continued to use the "Iverson" name until 1985, when he published his "Herbig-Haro" and "And So to Bed" under his real name. Another early pseudonym was "Mark Gordian." Turtledove has recently begun publishing historical novels under the pseudonym "H.N. Turteltaub" (Turteltaube means turtle dove in German). He published three books as Dan Chernenko (the Scepter of Mercy series).

Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Turtledove worked as a technical writer for the Los Angeles County Office of Education. In 1991, he left the LACOE and turned to writing full time. From 1986 to 1987, he served as the Treasurer for the Science Fiction Writers of America.
He has written several works in collaboration, including The Two Georges with Richard Dreyfuss, Death in Vesunna with his first wife Elaine O'Byrne, Household Gods with Judith Tarr, and others with Susan Shwartz, S.M. Stirling and Kevin R. Sandes.
He is married to mystery and SF writer Laura Frankos. His brother-in-law is fantasy author Steven Frankos. Turtledove won the Homer Award for Short Story in 1990 for "Designated Hitter," the John Esten Cooke Award for Southern Fiction in 1993 for The Guns of the South, the Hugo Award for Novella in 1994 for "Down in the Bottomlands." "Must and Shall" was nominated for the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novelette, the 1996 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and received an honorable mention for the 1995 Sidewise Award for Alternate History. The Two Georges also received an honorable mention for the 1995 Sidewise Award for Alternate History. The Worldwar series received a Sidewise Award for Alternate History Honorable Mention in 1996. In 1998, the novel How Few Remain won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. He won his second Sidewise Award in 2003 for the novel Ruled Britannia.

Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History".[4][5] Within that genre he is known both for creating original alternate history scenarios such as survival of the Byzantine Empire or an alien invasion in the middle of the Second World War and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by many others, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream.[6]

Green Corn and the Frog in the Sun: Indigenous American Thanksgivings

Stephanie Zonis

Modern-day Americans are familiar with the federal holiday of Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday in November. By comparison with indigenous American nations, however, modern-day Americans are stingy with their gratitude. Tribes living throughout the area that would become the US conducted multiple ceremonies of thanksgiving during the year, based on the local agricultural and harvest cycles of plant and animal foods. Because few tribes had written languages and many were decimated by the arrival of European settlers, it can be difficult to find information about the religions and religious practices of some nations. Complicating this matter is the fact that each nation had different names for the Creator and varying spirits and myths. Yet there is some understanding of ceremonies and celebrations practiced by larger, more numerous peoples.

According to anthropologist Bea Medicine, traditional staples of indigenous American peoples included wild game, berries, roots, teas, and local vegetables. Depending upon where the tribe was located, waterfowl, fish, fruits other than berries, and nuts might form part of their food, too. Some peoples migrated seasonally within their region, depending upon what food was available at a given time of year. Far to the north, in the area that would become Alaska, the growing season was very short, so the diet consisted primarily of meat. Among coastal peoples in those regions, fish and sea mammals were crucial food sources, as well. In the temperate climate that covers most of the US, however, plant foods provided much of the diet.

Of all the crops cultivated or eaten by indigenous American peoples, the three most important and revered were beans, squash, and maize (sometimes called Indian corn and related to today’s sweet corn). Michael Johnson, author of Tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, notes that, among the nations of this alliance, the trio is called “The Three Sisters, our life supporters.” Claude Belanger, an instructor at Marianopolis College in Montreal, relates an Algonkian (also called “Algonquian,” and categorizing any of a number of indigenous peoples scattered over a vast geographic area who spoke related languages) legend regarding the creation both of indigenous Americans and crops sacred to them. A manito, or primal man-being, formed a young man. But the young man grew tired of being alone, so the manito brought him a sister for a companion. The two lived together happily for some time. One night, the young man had his first dream. On awakening, he told his sister that it had been revealed to him that five young man-beings would visit their lodge that very night. The young man continued that his sister was forbidden to pay any attention to, or speak to, any of the first four, but that she should welcome the fifth young man when he sought entrance to the lodge. The sister acted as her brother’s dream dictated. She did not acknowledge or speak to the first four young men who came to the lodge, all of whom died of shame and embarrassment as a result. But the four underwent a transformation, so that the first became Tobacco (“Sama”), the second Squash (“Wapekone”), the third Melon (“Eshketamok”) and the fourth Bean (“Kojees”). The fifth young man, Maize (“Mandamin”) was welcomed by the sister; he entered the lodge and became her husband. Mandamin buried his four companions, and from their graves emerged enough of these vital foods to supply them for the year, as well as tobacco sufficient for them to make offerings to the manito. The sister and Mandamin became the parents of the indigenous American race.

Most tribes that practiced agriculture had at least three ceremonies during their regional growing season. These included a planting ceremony and a harvest festival. During these celebrations, the Creator or other spirits would be thanked for all manner of crops. But maize was the only crop I found for which a specific festival of thanksgiving was named, and this ritual (based on green maize) seems as universal as it was specific. Green maize, incidentally, is usually characterized as the first young, tender maize of the season, so this was really a “first fruits” ceremony. Thomas E. Mails, writing in The Cherokee People, maintains that the annual giving of thanks during the Green Corn (Ceremony) “was the most solemn tribal function,” and that “only those who had properly prepared themselves by prayer, fasting, and purification were allowed to take part in the ceremony.” The web source www.dcpages.com indicates that this ceremony had a “wide geographic distribution.” It was complex, intricate, and time-consuming, requiring days to perform. Of course, the details of the ceremony differed between peoples. The most charming legend I’ve seen associated with this rite deals with the eating of the new corn, which was allowed only when the lengthy ceremonies had finally concluded. Those consuming the new corn had to take great care not to blow on it to cool it. If they did so, a windstorm would surely arise and beat down the corn left standing in the field to mature!

Other “first fruits” rituals, sometimes called “firstling rites,” were commonly practiced. www.britannica.com states that peoples living in the northwestern US were careful to carry out an annual firstling rite for salmon. The first salmon of the year to be caught would be sliced in a particular way. Small slices would be distributed among the tribe to eat, and the carcass would be returned to the water with prayers and thanks. This ceremony ensured a bountiful salmon harvest for the year. The Okanagan, Lilloet, and Ntalkapamux nations conducted firstling rites for berries, according to the same source. And the Iroquois had a similar ritual for the ripening of any and all “first fruits,” called the Strawberry Festival.

In Johnson’s Tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, other thanksgiving rituals found among the peoples of the alliance were a Maple Festival in March, in which the maple spirits were thanked after the collection of sap, and an early spring “Sun Shooting” Festival. The latter was a rite in which gratitude was offered to the sun, but it also involved the symbolic casting out of a frog from this celestial body, as the frog delayed the coming of spring. The website of the Echota Cherokee Wolf Clan discusses the Bouncing Bush Festival (also called the Exalting Bush Festival), said to be an expression of “unrestrained joy.” During the associated ceremonies, the Great Spirit and lesser helper spirits received thanks as the source of all blessings.

In the far north, one of the major thanksgiving festivals of the Central Alaskan Yup’ik was called the “Inviting-In Festival” (also known as “Kelek” or “Itruka’ar”). According to www.lakotaarchives.com, these Yup’ik (there were others) lived in what is now mainland, southwestern Alaska. Along with other indigenous peoples, they believed that learning correct behavior was important, as incorrect behavior would upset the critical balance between the visible world of humans and the invisible, spirit-filled world. The Yup’ik Inviting-In Festival was a form of thanksgiving in which spirits were invited in to share the food of the people. In another ritual, the bladders of all seals caught during the year would be saved for the Bladder Festival (“Nakaciuq”). The seal bladders were inflated, decorated, and hung in the men’s lodge. People (probably only the men, as the bladders were hung in the men’s lodge) danced and sang before the bladders, which were also offered food. The seals’ souls, contained in the bladders, would hear the tribe and acknowledge the offerings by bestowing upon their hunters many more seals in the future. Surely this can be construed as an additional rite of thanksgiving.

Peoples dependent on agriculture and wild game for their existence have held harvest festivals for centuries, and indigenous Americans were no exception. Societies from the Atlantic seaboard to the Aleutian Islands gathered to express their unity as a group and their appreciation of the harvest. The Creator, spirits, and even heroes of folklore or legend would all be acknowledged. All rituals depended in part upon prayers, singing, and dancing; the prayers might be expressed through song or dance, in fact. Music, storytelling, and even games could also be held as sacred traditions. Fasting or purification might be involved prior to the rite, but harvest ceremonies invariably ended in a communal feast. Because indigenous peoples marked calendar months according to the full moon, September’s full moon is referred to in some areas as the Harvest Moon. The Hunters’ Moon was the name frequently bestowed on October’s full moon, obviously in accordance with the “harvest” of wild game, perhaps the last opportunity to catch significantly large game in any numbers before the winter season set in.

Despite any differences in their varying religious beliefs and practices, the indigenous societies shared at least one all-important conviction: only if the Creator and lesser spirits were honored and appreciated as they should be, would good fortune for the people result. Harvests would be bountiful and game plentiful; neither sickness nor discord would visit the tribe; enemies would stay distant. For these first Americans, who often had to struggle just to survive, giving thanks was a way of life.

The Walking Dead

Michael Gordon

For those outside of comic’s culture or just criminally unaware, The Walking Dead is a horror comic focusing on one man’s survival in a post-apocalyptic zombie infested world. Rick is a police officer who wakes up in a hospital to find the world overrun by the undead (think 28 Days Later in the American Southeast). The book chronicles his journey to find his family and survive.
Robert Kirkman, the book’s author, draws his inspiration from George A. Romero zombie movies. Throughout his run on the series, Kirkman has maintained a consistent schedule and shocked readers by shaking up the status quo (no characters are safe). The art chores are deftly handled by Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn. Adlard replaced artist Tony Moore in Issue #7 and gave the book a grittier and more realistic tone. For the purposes of this review I’ll be focusing on issues 52 and 53 as Kirkman has introduced a new story arc.
Previously, Rick had banded together with other survivors inside of an abandoned prison. The prison was overrun and now Rick finds himself alone with his son. Issue 52 opens with Rick teaching his son Carl how to drive. Kirkman is at his best when he focuses on interpersonal relationships and this issue features some great moments between father and son. When Rick teases Carl about having to use the bathroom, the tension breaks and reader’s witness a great father/son moment. However, the threat never really disappears as the reader can see zombies milling in the panel’s background. The transition keeps the reader on the edge of his/her seat.
The writing is complimented by the art team of Adlard and Rathburn. Kirkman often leaves panels dialogue free, allowing the art to speak for itself. There is no better example of this than a single panel showing Michonne’s face (another survivor Rick and Carl run into) after she agrees to take first watch over the car for the night. Her expression is a mix of disappointment (Rick is severely doubting his judgment and leadership), and uneasiness (Micchone is often pictured alone and separated from the other characters). By leaving the panel blank, Kirkman allows readers to engage in the story and form their own opinions.
Adlard also forgoes the stereotype of drawing insanely proportioned characters. Rick and the rest of the characters are exactly what you would expect people to look like in a zombie apocalypse; tired, anxious and scared. In addition, Adlard allows characters’ personalities to speak through their expressions. For instance, Glen is good-natured and optimistic (smiling and always active in panels), and Dale is forgiving and tenacious (hobbling around on one leg after an amputation and friendly to Rick after a recent breach in their friendship).
Overall, The Walking Dead, despite some overwrought drama, is a fantastic read. The book’s change in direction can serve as a jumping on point for new readers and encourage lapsed readers to pick the book back up.

WARHAMMER REVIEW

Michael Gordon

Warhammer Online is an MMORPG developed by Mythic Studios and Electronic Arts using the Games Workshop table-top game as the setting. Players choose either the armies of Order (Empire Humans, High Elves and Dwarfs) or the armies of Destruction (Chaos Humans, Dark Elves, and Greenskins) and engage in Realm vs. Realm (RVR) combat. This combat encompasses all activity in game, giving Victory Points to the faction that has made the greatest gains in PVP (player vs. player) and PVE (player vs. environment). The army with the most points moves deeper into the other faction’s territory, eventually besieging the opposing faction’s capital city.
Warhammer has made innovative strides in the PVE game, most notably with the implementation of the Public Quest (PQ) system. PQs trigger automatically when a player enters a predetermined area and bypasses the tedium of searching for a group by automatically grouping the player with other players in the zone. In addition, small tweaks to the questing system make the leveling experience less of a grind. For instance, gathering quests have been simplified so that every enemy drops a quest item (a common annoyance in MMOs) and the map includes a quest helper that guides players to the proper quest completion locations.
The improvements continue in the PVP game by allowing characters to access Scenarios (instanced PVP areas) through their UI. Once inside, players are temporarily leveled up to the mean level of all the players in the instance, equalizing the playing field for lower level characters. Another addition that Warhammer brings to the MMO space is the unique PVP PVE endgame. When one side has conquered enough contested land and reached the predetermined amount of Victory Points, the opposing faction’s capital city opens as an instanced raid. The raid features its own unique quests, raid bosses, and end-game loot. The game noticeably improves on the typical MMO model, delivering a polished product to subscribers.
However, Warhammer falls prey to problems that all MMOs are familiar with, namely an enormous faction imbalance. The imbalance increases the queue times to enter Scenarios and leaves one faction at a disadvantage. EA and Mythic responded to the problem by offering experience rewards to players choosing the underrepresented side on imbalanced servers.
Another issue that plagues all MMOs is player retention. Getting new players to spend $40 on the boxed copy of your game is important but the main revenue generator is the monthly subscription fee. The secret of retaining an active player population is one that’s beguiled other franchises (Age of Conan and Tabula Rasa to name only two) and only time will tell if Warhammer has staying power.
Overall this game warrants a try from players who find themselves bored with their current MMO. However, with Wrath of the Lich King (the second WOW expansion) coming out in November as well as many anticipated console releases (Fallout 3 and Fable 2 are at the top of my list), EA is going to be pressed to hold onto its subscribers.

Resurrecting the Dead (October, 2007)

By Robert M. Schoch
Boston University


Halloween will soon be upon us and lately I have found my thoughts preoccupied with the dead. According to one tradition, although the authenticity of such musings is often questionable as many “traditions” were not formulated explicitly until the 18th century and sometimes based on less than accurate historical data, Halloween combines elements of the Celtic / Irish Gaelic holiday Samhain (variously pronounced “Sow-in,” “Sow-en,” or “Sa-ven”) which celebrated the transition between the warm season and cold, summer to winter, and the Roman Catholic “All Saints’ Day” (“All Hallows’ Day”). Samhain occurred on October 31st according to our calendar, and All Hallows’ Day on or around November 1st (some place it on November 2nd). In other words, All Hallows’ Eve (the night before All Hallows’ Day) was concurrent with Samhain, and thus we derive our Halloween.

Summer, for many societies, is associated with the living and winter with the dead, as part of the annual cycle of life, death, and rebirth (resurrection). During Samhain (Halloween) the distinction between the living and dead, the earthly world and the spirit world, the carnate and the discarnate, became blurred. Spirtiual entities, be they the once living (such as deceased relatives), deamons, or demi-gods, mixed with humans in the flesh. The dead could be resurrected, at least in a sense, if only temporarily. Spirits might possess humans. Offerings to propriate the spirits were made, and seers would find it a propitious time to divine the future in terms of the onset of the cold, harsh months to follow. Clairvoyance among the perceptive could be enhanced during this period.

Parallels to some of the concepts and practices associated with Halloween of the Western tradition can be found elsewhere in the world. In modern times children may dress up as mummies - - and as ancient Egyptian mummies in particular. Even though Egyptian mummies are not directly associated with the ancient customs that led to our Halloween, the Egyptian beliefs surronding mummies are relevant to understanding ancient ideas in general.

The ancient Egyptians did not simply believe that a human had a soul, but rather developed very elaborate concepts of soul-components, still poorly understood by modern researchers. Possibly there were seven to ten different soul components, but the most important were the khat, ka, and ba. The khat was the physical body.

The ba has been interpreted as the “soul” or the “psychic force” of the individual, and was often represented in art as a bird. At death, it apparently was believed to leave the body (khat) and the ka, and entered the higher realms. What degree of individuality it retained is debatable. In different versions of Egyptian theology, the ba may be subjected to judgment for its deeds on earth before it is determined where it will spend eternity, or the ba may reenter the material world through another physical body (that is, a form of reincarnation).

The ka was a non-corporeal replica of the individual body, sometimes considered the life force of the body, which lived or remained, according to one version of Egyptian belief, as long as the physical body remained, thus the need for mummification. When the body finally disintegrated and disappeared, so did the ka. The ka was believed to occupy the tomb in the vicinity of the body, and it was for the sustenance and entertainment of the ka that food and goods were provided in the tomb, and scenes were painted on the walls. If the ka was not properly provided for, there was a belief that it would apparently last long enough to leave the tomb and haunt neglectful relatives and friends, bringing on their heads disease and misfortune. The idea of the revenge of the mummy, terrorizing innocent people, is not actually that far removed from ancient Egyptian ideas. This can be viewed as a temporary, if unsettling, resurrection of the dead.

But when I ponder resurrecting the dead, I am often thinking in a more academic sense. How do we reconstruct - - resurrect - - the peoples of cultures distant in time and space from the dry bones, scattered archaeological remains, and piecemeal myths and traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation? A fortuitous find, a lucky break, can suddenly open a whole new vista before our eyes. Just such a serendipitous find was reported in the September 15th, 2006, issue of the journal Science. A group of researchers, headed by Ma. del Carmen Rodríguez Martínez of the Centro del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Veracruz, Mexico, reported finding the “Oldest Writing in the New World.” A serpentine block was recovered from quarry operations in Cascajal, Veracruz, which lies in the heartland of the ancient Olmec civilization. Based on associated artifacts, they date the 14-inch by 8-inch block to about 900 BCE. On its face are 62 signs, pictographs, hieroglyphs, or elements, some of which are repeated up to four times; there are 28 different distinct elements.

Some of these signs may represent such things as an insect, maize (corn), a fish, eyes, an animal skin, and a mollusk bivalve. These elements are arranged in rough lines and apparently form a text. Whether the symbols are alphabetical or not is unclear. What seems to be clear is that this is an example of an ancient, formerly unknown, script. It has the potential to shed new light on the enigmatic Olmec culture, as well as the origins of writing and civilization in the New World, especially if more texts can be found and translations attempted. Of course, the Cascajal block may be an isolated artifact, perhaps the creation of a lone individual, and perhaps it has no precursors nor successors, but that seems unlikely, especially as it appears that some of the symbols on the block share similarities to previously known Olmec iconographic themes. Possibly, if there are more lucky finds, in the future we will be discussing Olmec literature and ideas, thoughts, preoccupations, and aspirations. In many ways, this would be a genuine resurrection of the dead.