"We could be heroes, just for one day ...."

Spelling quiz ....

How do you spell heroes?

United States military, as in closing down shop in Afghanistan ....

How do you spell dumb ass?

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., as in closing down shop in Afghanistan ....

The "birth" of modern archaeology ....

Found in Tomb V in Mycenae by German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1876, he named this gold sheet, death-mask the "Mask of Agamemnon," believing he had found the body of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, leader of the Achaeans in "The Iliad," Homer's epic poem of the Trojan War. Modern research indicates the mask dates to about 1600 BCE, pre-dating the period of the Trojan War by about 400 years. The mask is on display in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. 

And, perhaps most importantly in a personal sense, welcome to the first day of autumn 2021 -- may it be one of picture-perfect memories for you ....

The truth of Homer's "Iliad"

Since mentioning it in a post long/long ago (September 11, which probably is long/long ago to some people), I have been perusing Kurt Wilhelm Marek's book, "Gods, Graves and Scholars," which is to say an archaeological "masterpiece" from C. W. Ceram. Marek was a German journalist and writer and student of archaeology who used the pseudonym Ceram when publishing most of his books.

(Does anyone besides me think "perusing" is a weird word? I suppose it depends upon the context in which the word is used ....)

"Gods/Graves” covers Greek, Egyptian, Mesopotamian archaeology and that in other regions, as well, including the Americas. It also offers biographical material about several notable figures in the field.

Using Homer's books "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad" and the writings of other "ancients," a German millionaire merchant, Heinrich Schliemann, excavated Hisarlık, "Place of Fortresses," often spelled Hissarlik, in modern Turkey beginning in 1870. He believed it to be the Troy of Priam and Paris and Helen and Hector and Achilles and Odysseus. He found nine cities stacked one atop another and concluded the Trojan War Troy was either the second or third level city. Level VIIa, first suggested by Minnesota native, archaeologist Carl Blegen, is now considered the actual Troy of 1200 BCE.

As an aside, one of Blegen's younger brothers, Theodore, was a noted historian/author/teacher. His resume included being first managing editor of the Norwegian-American Historical Association, in which "our friend," Ole Edvart Rølvaag, was a central player as the first secretary and archivist, and being knighted into the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. Theodore's papers are housed at the Minnesota Historical Society and the University of Minnesota.

I am not sure at what age history and archaeology became one of my interests, but a sixth grade teacher turned them into near-obsessions through numerous field trips to Indian and early white settlement sites. The past and the present here are laden with the names of famous and near-famous individuals and events.

The intent of this post is not to elaborate on Ceram/ Marek or Schliemann or Troy, but, hopefully, to stir a bit of interest in archaeology and the study of "our" past, and for me to be a link in the love of history chain for which my sixth grade teacher was a remarkable envoy. There is a three-segment program produced by the BBC on YouTube entitled "Heinrich Schliemann and the discovery of Troy," for anyone who is curious to learn more.

For the literary-types among you, Ceram's "Gods, Graves and Scholars" is an exceptional place to taste the hors d'oeuvres of history. The book was first published in German in 1949, with an English translation appearing in 1951. An expanded edition was published in 1994, which is the copy I have and use. As must be expected, discoveries and technologies have progressed since then and might affect Ceram's work, which he readily warns about .... but, it still serves as an valuable archaeological primer and resource. Here are some of Ceram's own words:

"If we human beings want to feel humility, there is no need to look at the starred infinity above. It suffices to turn our gaze upon the world cultures that existed thousands of years before us, achieved greatness before us, and perished before us."

Some sort of anniversary today, right?

While cruising the unfathomable domain of "believe-it-or-not" -- commonly called the internet -- on an otherwise lackluster day, I sort of stumbled onto "Our Banner in the Sky," originally oil on paper by Frederick Edwin Church. Church painted this dramatic and symbolic colorful sunset in 1861 to reflect "divine" support for the Union during the American Civil War. Seems just as relevant today, would you not agree? Our fundamental problem seems to stem from a lack of consensus about good guys and bad guys and our inability to agree to disagree in a cultured manner. Church, by the way, was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters and, for a time, the most renowned American artist.

"Oh baby, I really gotta go now"

"Every time you dig up something from the past, you give more meaning to the present."

That sentence was spoken by Robert Taylor portraying archaeologist Mark Brandon in "Valley of the Kings," a 1954 adventure film written and directed by Robert Pirosh from a screenplay by Pirosh and Karl Tunberg, "suggested by historical data" in the book, "Gods, Graves and Scholars," by C. W. Ceram.

I watched the film a few days ago and, since my life is a series of "what ifs," pulled out my copy of “Gods/Graves” to try for an "imaginary glimpse" of what life would have been like for me had I followed my "once-upon-a-time" plan to degree in and to pursue a career in archaeology.

Ceram was German journalist and writer Kurt Wilhelm Marek, who published "Götter, Gräber und Gelehrte" in 1949. In translation, it became "Gods, Graves and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology," an account of the historical development of archaeology. Marek chose to use a pseudonym to mask his earlier work as a propagandist for the Third Reich. (Probably a good idea.)

The book covers Greek, Egyptian, Mesopotamian archaeology and  other regions, as well. It also provides short biographies of several notable figures in the field, including Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman and archaeological pioneer, who excavated Hisarlik, now presumed to be the site of Troy, along with Mycenae and Tiryns, and English Egyptologist Howard Carter, who found the intact tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings.

Ceram later published more books, including "Yestermorrow: Notes on Man's Progress." Never read it, so far, but the title has hold of my curiosity ....

Yestermorrow .... what a great word, I think .... from Wiktionary:

"Noun yestermorrow (plural yestermorrows) A day in the sequence of days from past to future, emphasizing the connection between past and future events .... a time outside of time .... a time that cannot be fit into the normal timeline, possibly due to relativistic effects."

Author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury, known primarily for science fiction and fantasy novels and short-stories, such as "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Martian Chronicles," also had a book titled "Yestermorrow." His was a series of essays, poetry and philosophical reflections, a few of which make stimulating reading, while others are pretty much a drag.

Back on point (whatever it might be .... your guess is as good as mine): I do keep up with what is happening in the field of archaeology to a degree, and recently have been feeling engulfed by the near-countless finds these days .... cemetery after cemetery in Great Britain; 400,000-year-old bone tools in Italy; hundreds of Bronze Age artifacts uncovered in France; thousands of previously unknown campsites and towns pinpointed in Europe and Africa through study of satellite photographs.

Well, you get my drift .....

My thought has been that at some point any shovelful of earth will reveal some manner of "archaeological treasures," most of them items not worthy of storage, much less of display.

I still think that, but I also think about the sentence: "Every time you dig up something from the past, you give more meaning to the present."

Could be, but are there such things as too much knowledge about the past, too many often trivial artifacts from eras stretching back even into prehistory?