Ancient book of psalms found in Irish bog

[Doberman]

But trip out on this here:
========================================
The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.
========================================

Whole story here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14030255/

Ancient book of psalms found in Irish bog
Worker uncovers approximately 20-page book dated to the years 800-1000
The Associated Press


Updated: 2:56 p.m. PT July 25, 2006
DUBLIN, Ireland - Irish archaeologists Tuesday heralded the discovery of an ancient book of psalms by a construction worker who spotted something while driving the shovel of his backhoe into a bog.

The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.

"This is really a miracle find," said Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum of Ireland, which has the book stored in refrigeration and facing years of painstaking analysis before being put on public display.

"There's two sets of odds that make this discovery really way out. First of all, it's unlikely that something this fragile could survive buried in a bog at all, and then for it to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is incalculably more amazing."

He said an engineer was digging up bogland last week to create commercial potting soil somewhere in Ireland's midlands when, "just beyond the bucket of his bulldozer, he spotted something." Wallace would not specify where the book was found because a team of archaeologists is still exploring the site.

"The owner of the bog has had dealings with us in past and is very much in favor of archaeological discovery and reporting it," Wallace said.

Crucially, he said, the bog owner covered up the book with damp soil. Had it been left exposed overnight, he said, "it could have dried out and just vanished, blown away."

The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.

Wallace said several experts spent Tuesday analyzing only that page — the number of letters on each line, lines on each page, size of page — and the book's binding and cover, which he described as "leather velum, very thick wallet in appearance."

It could take months of study, he said, just to identify the safest way to pry open the pages without damaging or destroying them. He ruled out the use of X-rays to investigate without moving the pages.

Ireland already has several other holy books from the early medieval period, including the ornately illustrated Book of Kells, which has been on display at Trinity College in Dublin since the 19th century.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14030255/

 

[Doberman]

I read Psalm 83. and I swear it was just like a rerun of CNN Headline news. What do you think. Maybe a hoax. For a something to survive that long in those conditions. hmmm the book looks closed on the photo.

 

[Stealth]

I did a whole section on the Bog Bodies people for my "archaeology of death and dying" class and I had to go to the Bog bodies exhibit in Carnegie Museum.

Basically they still don't know how people were chosen to die in bogs, but they thing for the most part it was a ritualistic murder or sacrifice of people who did not conform to society. People who were too weak, adulterers, sluts, cowards, etc. Usually their heads were bashed, bones were broken, etc., and they were horribly tortured before dying.

During the time of the bog bodies, most people followed a pagan religion, and did not believe in Christianity. Roman scholars who went to visit Ireland during this time period were usually disgusted to see how people were killed during the bog ceremonies.

If this person died, with a Latin religious book, they were most likely not of Irish origin. They were probably one of the Roman scholars who went to view the society/convert people (such as Tacitus, the first priest/scholar to view the ceremonies). The person was probably killed for having the Bible and spreading the words.

The treatment of the body will tell archaeologists more of the cause behind the death.

Kind of ironic, considering the verse of the bible.

The fact that the book and body were preserved suggests that the person was killed during the spring or winter. If the body was in the bog during summer or autumn, it would not have been so well preserved. (The bog temperature produces acids which "tan" the body. The tannins turn the body to leather, thus preserving them).


This is interesting to me because nobody knew if these people were criminals or sacrifices or anything, but to actually have Christian items with the body can probably shed a lot of light on why people were thrown into the bogs.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

^^Great insight Stealth. I had zero knowledge of "Irish bogs" until now.

 

[Stealth]

^ Thanks man. I dunno how interested you are in them, but if you or anyone else wants any further readings, I have a few .pdfs that are worth reading. The cool thing about bog bodies is that archaeologists don't study anything besides their death, and are able to trace it backwards to figure things out about the culture of the society (deathways).

I also have writings on the "deathways" of the Berewan, the Ur (the oldest metropolitan society), the Moche and Inca, Conestogatown PA, the Maya, the Egyptians, the Italians, several Mexican tribes, etc.

 

[Stealth]

And they're not just Irish bogs. It was something that happened all over Northern Europe. It went from the UK as far as southern Germany and north to Holland. A lot of scholars think that ancient societies believed that throwing things into the water was like giving a gift to the Gods for blessings. Its the same reason why we still throw coins into wishing wells.

During colder weather, in deeper locations where rats and other animals can't devour the body, acid is produced which stops decay, and tannins are produced which preserve the body. (Studying the stomach contents also shows the time of year they died based on the seasonal grains in the stomach). Ireland had these conditions to produce bogs more readily than other countries, but there are still hundred of bog bodies turning up all over Europe.

The new exhibits have been giving it a lot of recent attention.

 

[JLMACN]

so when is the rapture again?


5000

 

[Doberman]

I did a whole section on the Bog Bodies people for my "archaeology of death and dying" class and I had to go to the Bog bodies exhibit in Carnegie Museum.

Basically they still don't know how people were chosen to die in bogs, but they thing for the most part it was a ritualistic murder or sacrifice of people who did not conform to society. People who were too weak, adulterers, sluts, cowards, etc. Usually their heads were bashed, bones were broken, etc., and they were horribly tortured before dying.

During the time of the bog bodies, most people followed a pagan religion, and did not believe in Christianity. Roman scholars who went to visit Ireland during this time period were usually disgusted to see how people were killed during the bog ceremonies.

If this person died, with a Latin religious book, they were most likely not of Irish origin. They were probably one of the Roman scholars who went to view the society/convert people (such as Tacitus, the first priest/scholar to view the ceremonies). The person was probably killed for having the Bible and spreading the words.

The treatment of the body will tell archaeologists more of the cause behind the death.

Kind of ironic, considering the verse of the bible.

The fact that the book and body were preserved suggests that the person was killed during the spring or winter. If the body was in the bog during summer or autumn, it would not have been so well preserved. (The bog temperature produces acids which "tan" the body. The tannins turn the body to leather, thus preserving them).


This is interesting to me because nobody knew if these people were criminals or sacrifices or anything, but to actually have Christian items with the body can probably shed a lot of light on why people were thrown into the bogs.

I'd like to read those Egyptian and Mayan documents you got.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

so when is the rapture again?


5000

The rapture is coming in half an hour! There's no time to waste. Marge, grill a chicken. No, make sandwiches. And some Kettle Chips would be nice. Original, not barbecue!

 

[Doberman]

The rapture is coming in half an hour! There's no time to waste. Marge, grill a chicken. No, make sandwiches. And some Kettle Chips would be nice. Original, not barbecue!

You sir, are a fool for that one.....LMMFAO!

 

[I AM]

Stealth, can I take a look at those pdfs?

 

[Stealth]

@ Doberman and Sixxness - Let me know which articles you want, I have a few articles on each civilization in .pdf, but I'll have to download them off my school site and email them which might take a minute.

So just hit me up with a PM of whatever you want and I'll try to do it soon (I only have access to them for another couple weeks).

 

[Stealth]

I have:

Death Be Not Strange - Article on how archaeologists use deathways to find out about cultures
Ur of the Chaldees - Royal tombs of the Ur civilization 2600-2450 BC
Assembly of Death - Bog bodies
People of the Bogs - Bog bodies
Reading the Bones of La Florida - Using graves to show how Native Americans were affected after the arrival of Europeans
Sickness of Mummies - Looking at the diseases of the Chinchorro people in Chile using the mummified remains (Chinchorro were the first mummies, many differences/similiarities with Egyptians)
Disease and Death at Dickson's Mounds - Using the graves of prehistoric Native Americans to show that the agricultural revolution was bad for their health.
Violence Against Women - Raiding and Abduction of women in prehistoric Michigan.
Violence and Gender in Early Italy
Tracing the Migrants Trail - Using strontium isotopes to trace the migration of (i think) Europeans
Infant and Childhood mortality risks in archaeological populations
Infectuous Diseases in Ancient Populations -
Preindustrial Urban Lifestyle -
Ranked Societies - How we became unequal (Ascribed v Achieved Status)
Different Mortuary Treatment in Teotihuacan, Mexico - How different burial treatments reflected inequality
Body and Soul Among Maya (keeping ancestors remains in the house)
Mapuche Ceremonial Landscapes - Social recruitment and resource rights
Beyond Death - Chinchorro Mummification Techniques
Life and Death at Paloma - Mortuary Practices
Death as a Rite of Passage - the Moche burial theme
Rituals of Sacrifice - Moche at Huaca de la Luna
Manipulation of Human Remains in Moche Society - Delayed burials, grave reopenings, and secondary offerings of graves along the Peruvian coast
Temples of Doom - Aztec vs. Moche human sacrifice
Finding the tomb of a Mche priestess
Tales from a Peruvian Crypt - Moche
South America/Mexico - And integrated analysis of pre-hispanic burials
Social life of Andean Dead - Using the remains of dead leaders in the social realm, "living mummies"
History of the Incan Empire
Peru's Ice Maiden


@Doberman, I dont know if I still have the .pdfs for Egyptians, I'll have to look around.

 

[Doberman]

Assembly of Death - Bog bodies
People of the Bogs - Bog bodies
Infectuous Diseases in Ancient Populations
Preindustrial Urban Lifestyle

thanks....lol....I cleaned out my school server for over 1 GB of .pdfs
Take your pick

I will take this list down soon.

 

[Stealth]

^ What's ur email?

Didn't see that list. You a CS major?

 

[HERESY]

so when is the rapture again?


5000

The rapture will never happen

 

[JLMACN]

motherfucker!!!!!^^^^^^^^

2-0 had me packin and everything! They PM'd me and told me to bring desert...and now you just destroy all my plans with that simple sentence!!!

FUCK IM PISSED!

nah but on a real note....why wont the rapture happen?

 

[HERESY]

^^^ Jesus would have to come to earth TWICE for it to happen (thus making it THREE TIMES IN TOTAL that he came to earth), three THREE resurrections would have to happen, it goes against the words of Jesus himself (bearing your cross, enduring the great tribulation to the end), and it was concocted by Margaret Macdonald and Edward Irving.

 

[Doberman]

^ What's ur email?

Didn't see that list. You a CS major?

sheesh...I was CS major 91-92 , just dropped out of an ISS course. TOO EXPENSIVE....plus it was boring. Check your PM

 

[Stealth]

Check your Email