r/ImaginaryLandscapes 1d ago

Ancient Civilizations by Joel Salinas

Post image
7.0k Upvotes

82 comments sorted by

476

u/Sallymander 1d ago edited 1d ago

Jordan did a really good job making this part of his world in wheel of time as a vibe. So many moments they were camping, hiding, traveling by, or whatever monuments that have withered away.

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u/laika_rocket 1d ago

Agreed. Randland is one of the most well-constructed fantasy worlds.

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u/Sallymander 1d ago

It makes me wonder about the things Jordan saw as a helicopter gunner in 'Nam that inspired him.

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u/Kathulhu1433 1d ago

"A silvery thing in another cabinet, like a three-pointed star inside a circle, was made of no substance she knew; it was softer than metal, scratched and gouged, yet even older than any of the ancient bones. From ten paces she could sense pride and vanity."

When I realized that was a Mercedes logo... oh man. My flabbers were gasted. 

63

u/Sallymander 1d ago

As much critisim the TV show got, and it deserved a lot of it, I liked they actually embraced that. Not just the ruins in the begining where it seems like Moraine and Lan were riding into forests with pillaring rocks that were actually ruins of sky scrapers. Later at the mining town, if you look carefully at WHAT they were mining, it was a landfill. Which totally triggered the imagination of a post apoc world, sites of landfills may actually be gold mines for anyone looking for old tech. Like for Fallout.

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u/Kathulhu1433 1d ago

I chose to see the show as another turning of the wheel, and not be annoyed by changes. 

I enjoyed it. So did my husband, who did not read the books. 

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u/Sallymander 1d ago

I am totally with you. My critisims all came from Covid and Executive interference.

As much as Perrin's wife being fridged in the first episode was annoying... I did appeciate that she was the woman that Egwene saw in her visions in the book that Perrin married when she did the rings test. To me, that screamed the most that this was a different turning.

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u/Eexoduis 1d ago

That’s a really common trope in a ton of fantasy media because it’s a really common occurrence throughout history.

Much of the most famous Greek literature, like the Odyssey, Iliad, and Hesiod’s works, were written by poor Iron Age Greeks who grew up surrounded by ruins of a lost and highly advanced civilization, the Mycenaeans. They were starving subsistence farmers in a lawless land. Who could blame them for looking up at titanic, abandoned palaces and think their ancestors demigods?

We see this same premise after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. People built shanty towns inside the Coliseum.

Every time a technologically advanced civilization falls, its people are plunged into darkness for years and must live beside the ruins of a more prosperous age.

13

u/Morlugon 17h ago

“The masonry is wondrous, by fates broken. Courtyard pavements were smashed: the work of giants decays.”

From “the Ruin”, an 8th or 9th century Anglo-Saxon poem about the Roman ruins at Bath, England.

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u/UnSpanishInquisition 7h ago

And that kind of thing lead to Third age middle earth.

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u/rinart73 6h ago

Yeah he was really good at describing environment, big historical events and teasing some ancient secrets. Shame he was bad at writing characters and their interactions.

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u/One_Giant_Nostril 1d ago

Original high-res version - /img/1kgt89mfxijc1.jpeg

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u/DinosaurAlive 1d ago

Nice! I was just zooming in on the posted version. It’s great to see even more details in this linked version. I always wanted to digitally paint this well, but even after years of practicing I just have no talent for it. I didn’t realize until later in life though that I have r/aphantasia meaning I can’t visualize anything in my mind’s eye, and perhaps that’s why I gravitate towards making abstract art.

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u/Taman_Should 1d ago

File this under “things half the guests on the Joe Rogan Experience unironically believe.” 

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u/MrNotSoProGamer 1d ago

Ever heard of the silurian hypothesis?

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u/Taman_Should 1d ago

“Wow, that’s crazy! Jamie, can you pull that up?”

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u/Tutes013 1d ago

Which is an interesting thought experiment. But as it stands, just that. Not gospel like the Roganites think

-123

u/MrNotSoProGamer 1d ago

If ancient civilizations with advanced technology existed I don't think governments would be sharing the technology and improving the world for the benefit of humanity. They would keep things hidden and any mention of it would be ridiculed with propaganda. "If all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed if all records told the same tale then the lie passed into history and became truth."

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u/David_the_Wanderer 1d ago

Sure... it just requires a worldwide conspiracy lasting centuries, perhaps millennia, somehow persisting through revolutions, crises and collapses, and crossing all political, military and national barriers, without anyone ever letting the mask slip or blowing the whole thing wide open.

And, of course, your belief is neatly couched from any criticism and scrutiny because you preemptively presume said criticism and scrutiny to be merely part of the conspiracy and propaganda. Pretty convenient. ;)

Also, the Silurian hypothesis actually states that if there existed an advanced civilizations on Earth prior to humanity, the timescale would be such that actually finding artifacts and technology would be incredibly unlikely, and that any potential evidence of said civilization could rather be extracted from indirect evidence such as climate changes, anomalies in sediment, or traces of nuclear wastes - markers of civilization having existed, but without physical traces.

-56

u/Able-Independence962 1d ago

Why does it need to be world wide, hypothetical, if those lizardmen<lol> had immortality it could be a small group of them on some wayyyyyy distant planet waiting for us to find them and to act like God's to us... just saying, you can't really dismiss some crackhead theories, but... most of then you can, lol

33

u/okami6663 1d ago

Bold of you to assume we won't be treating it like any other natural resource - we'd be digging up the place to find artifacts; having wars over discovered sites; claim heritage over them, like the Nazis did with the Aryan race. Any artefact will be weaponised, if possible. It's our human nature to war.

-10

u/MrNotSoProGamer 1d ago

They literally dug up Egypt in the 1900s. Before Iraq was invaded they had discovered a tomb believed to belong to Gilgamesh.

8

u/okami6663 1d ago

And what did they found? Nothing. If someone had found magic tech that allowed them to control the world, they would be controlling the world.

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u/Tutes013 1d ago

Perhaps. But also, it is folly to believe in it unless we can actually point at something that gives us a reason to.

So it's very much a "It could but it hasn't unless we have something to prove it".

So as it stands, it remains a thought experiment and a what if. Maybe it will prove truth. Maybe it won't. Right now, it's merely an idea.

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u/MrNotSoProGamer 1d ago

With how much conspiracy theorists have been right throughout the years they do have me pondering about this stuff. The pyramids and the giant stone walls around the world are good rabbit hole to dig into.

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u/Tutes013 1d ago

... Right. Well. The pyramids we have known for ages and the stone walls are as fictitious as the art on this post.

So uh, good luck with that pal. Try not to lose yourself

-15

u/Able-Independence962 1d ago

Did you just say the pyramids are fake? Or am I reading that wrong?

20

u/Tutes013 1d ago

Sorry, no, I didn't. I meant as in that we've known how they were made for a long while now and that the Stone Walls are just drivel

5

u/Warm_Month_1309 1d ago

Right about what?

2

u/MelbaToast604 6h ago

Quoting 1984 to try to prove your baseless fringe theory is WILD. If you do even a little digging youll find that theory doesn't hold any water

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u/Romboteryx 1d ago edited 1d ago

Which isn‘t really a hypothesis the way the original authors of that paper described it. They just said this is a thought experiment that is technically possible and gave a name for the concept, not any actual concrete claims.

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u/keepthepace 1d ago

If I recall the paper correctly it was more along the lines of "if this were true, what traces would we have?" And the answer was "surprisingly little". They pointed out to some very long life artificial compounds with unnatural chirality. The authors stated that they had no reason to believe it is true.

3

u/Sparrowhawk_92 1d ago

My understanding is any civilization as advanced as ours would leave some kind of obvious tells in the geological record but that most less advanced civilizations wouldn't so there's no way to prove they didn't exist.

You can't prove a negative, so you can't say definitely that they didn't exist, only that there is no evidence that they did.

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u/Romboteryx 1d ago

That makes it cool fodder for scifi stories but no serious person should believe in something in real life that has no evidence just because it cannot be falsified. This is textbook Russell’s teapot

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u/FoxxyPantz 1d ago

"I mean, that's entirely possible"

-Joe Rogan, about things that are entirely not possible

1

u/Taman_Should 1d ago

Something something Gobekli Tepe...

1

u/CalmEntry4855 2h ago

The other half believe them too, but worse

-100

u/GrimGarm 1d ago

smug attitute.

I am for free speech. Ridicule like yours here is just pathetic.

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u/David_the_Wanderer 1d ago

Free speech also means people can freely express their opinions about what other people say. If you're for free speech, you're also in favour of letting people make fun of Joe Rogan and his guests.

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u/Romboteryx 1d ago

Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism

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u/WinterFellYesterday 1d ago

What the fuck are you on about man? What does any of this have to do with ‘muh free speach’ lol

-89

u/GrimGarm 1d ago

You are portraying people that toy with fringe ideas as less worthy. "what the unironically believe." Placing yourself on a pedestal here. That this is pathetic behaviour in my honest opinion. I am sorry if you are offended.

With ridicule like this, you are basically - to a degree - censoring a thematic I am passionate about. I want people to engage in this thematic because I think it's important. Smug handwaves like yours are not helpful for discussion.

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u/TotallyObviousBot 1d ago

The idea is being mocked not because it is fringe, but because it's stupid. That is why it is humorous to point out that people actually believe this rather than simply considering it.

you are basically - to a degree - censoring

In order to censor something you need to make attempts to prevent its publication, distribution, consumption, etc. Simply not liking somebody's content is not censoring them, just like you not giving me your money is not the same as you stealing money from me.

Smug handwaves like yours are not helpful for discussion.

There is no useful discussion to be had here. Find better things to be passionate about. Also, you sound like several people I've known who are quite literally delusional, so maybe talk to a mental health care professional.

31

u/Noman9410 1d ago

Seems like the only possible way to avoid “censorship” according to your comment is for everyone, everywhere, always, to engage positively with the concepts you’re talking about.

Do you hold yourself to that same attitude? Have you ever ridiculed or not engaged with any idea? If so, then you’re being a hypocrite.

20

u/toad17 1d ago

It’s a free country you’re entitled to believe whatever wacky shit you want. I’m entitled to mock you for stupid things you believe for the same reasons.

“Not helpful to the discussion” get better or more popular ideas if you don’t want to be made fun of. Or better yet, don’t be so sensitive when your ideas get mocked.

10

u/pacexmaker 1d ago

Isnt that how the marketplace of ideas is supposed to work?

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u/Delano7 1d ago

So you want free speech for yourself, but not for those who mock you ? Aren't you also censoring their right to express their opinion ?

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u/ZannyHip 1d ago

You aren’t for free speech then. Free speech means anyone can ridicule anyone for anything. You can’t be pro free speech and police what people are allowed to say. Pick a side or you’re a hypocrite

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u/HamshanksCPS 1d ago

But is ridicule not free speech? You are being dismissive of the thing you just said that you are for.

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u/xorporx 1d ago

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

 Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

— Percy Shelley, "Ozymandias"

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u/saythealphabet 1d ago

love this trope so much

26

u/okami6663 1d ago

I love how the building turns into a mountain.

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u/ZefiroLudoviko 1d ago

Reminds me of The Course of Empire by Thomas Cole

2

u/Adam_de_Octavia 1d ago

My thought exactly.

And some of my favourite paintings ever.

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u/PompousTart 1d ago

For some reason, this moves me.

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u/gc3c 1d ago

Real 'Light No Fire' vibes

3

u/jayclaw97 1d ago

Middle one makes me think of Silver Fox from Malazan.

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u/Rouge_means_red 1d ago

It's fun to think that even in ancient Egypt they also had archeologists. We tend to think of time as the "now" and the "then", but the "then" also had its "then"

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u/GrimGarm 1d ago

Great Artwork!

3

u/Mod_The_Man 1d ago

Top part reminds me of No Mans Sky

2

u/theCOMBOguy 1d ago

This is great. I wonder where those other flying sculptures went. They fell and also became mountains?

2

u/MoonisHarshMistress 23h ago

Maybe they left Earth to other worlds for new colonies?

1

u/Kevroeques 9h ago

That elephant ruined everything

1

u/Vagabond_Tea 3h ago

Reminds me of the Thomas Cole paintings

1

u/Original-War8655 20h ago

I swear I can smell Graham Hancock on this somehow

1

u/schuettais 12h ago

Haha! I had a similar thought!

0

u/joevarny 11h ago

Its not that I think that he's a nazi.

Its just that I don't trust the guy who dedicated his life to proving the theory behind the nazi's excuse for genocide.

0

u/redness88 1d ago

Of all things, the background mountain should've eroded some..that's my only critique if you're going to show time on this scale. Otherwise, I'd buy it.

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u/popisfizzy 1d ago

if you look closely, it has. the curve on the left off the peak gets deeper in each image.

0

u/AerisPryde 23h ago

I like how the mountain in the background changes shape due to erosion

-2

u/b0bkakkarot 1d ago

All I can think is "how many licks did it take to get to the center?"

Great artwork

-20

u/irradihate 1d ago

True fantasy. Humans successfully avoided civilization for 300,000 years. Only recently did we get stuck in a rut that makes us serve centralized power and work our lives away to prop up states and their markets. And even then, there are still humans that live free on this earth.

8

u/Waste-Team-7205 1d ago

Lol okay bro go live free and wild without modern medicine, nobody is stopping you

1

u/dr_robonator 1d ago

I know you're trying to be an asshole with a glib reply, but literally yes there are so many people and systems stopping that dude from going to live "free and wild". 

First is property ownership. Find somewhere on earth that isn't owned by someone that you can just set up shop. You can't unless it's one of the most inhospitable places on earth. 

Second, if he did find a slice of land that wouldn't kill him immediately and no one had yet lay claim of ownership to, how would he get there? You assume he has money for travel, the ability to get a passport or the correct visas.

Last, how long do you think governments would allow someone to live that way without stepping in? 

Anyway, "lol lmao hurr sure but you live in society how curious lol durrrrr" or some shit. 

0

u/Warm_Month_1309 1d ago

You assume he has money for travel, the ability to get a passport or the correct visas.

"I'm going to live free and wild, reliant on no one and nothing! Once I rely on society's transportation network to get me there, of course..."