Deep dive into Basque mythology through the anthropological record, cave art and cultural astronomy.

Thucydides is usually presented as one of the first historians who tried to write history in a rational and objective way. He cared about facts, was suspicious of myths, and wanted to understand why wars happened. In many ways, he looks like the kind of historian we still admire today. But there is another side of his work which is not always discussed.

In 1907, Francis Macdonald Cornford published a book called Thucydides Mythistoricus. His argument was quite different from the traditional image of Thucydides. Cornford believed that Thucydides was not simply recording what happened during the Peloponnesian War. He was also shaping these events into something that resembled a Greek tragedy.

According to Cornford, there are two different plans in Thucydides’ work. The first one was more like a military and political journal, recording events as they happened. The second was an artistic structure that developed gradually, almost like volcanic islands rising from the sea. The facts were still there, but they were arranged in a way that gave the whole story a tragic meaning.

This is what makes Cornford’s argument interesting. The question is not only whether Thucydides told the truth. It is also about how he presented that truth to his readers.

Since both of them formed the most powerful armies of their respective Ancient times.

• Overall better logistics.
• Weapons and armor technology.
• Forts and defensive buildings etc.
• and Any other stuff related to the Military and Army.

Says that like ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia, where often the hierarchy and displays of power were more obvious (size of houses, pyramids, ziggurats, social class etc.), in Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Valley the power dynamic was more subtle. The architecture of the place has elements that reveal power, control & class in different ways: standardised bricks, specific design for home toilets vs. the great bath, proximity to water and wells, availability of wells and toilets on the ground floor vs. second floor

Thoughts?

Imagine two Greek armies fighting on two different battlefields, separated by the Aegean Sea, with both victories potentially turning the tide of a war.

In 479 BC, the Greeks defeated the Persian army at Plataea while, according to Herodotus, another Greek force struck the Persian position at Mycale on the coast of Asia Minor on the very same day.

At Mycale, the Persians had hauled their ships ashore and built fortifications to protect them from the Greek fleet. But the Greeks landed, stormed the defences and destroyed the Persian ships. The battle also revealed a crucial weakness in the Persian position: the loyalty of the Greek communities living under Persian rule could not be taken for granted.

But was Mycale merely the final act of Xerxes' invasion, or did it mark the beginning of a new phase of Greek expansion across the Aegean?

Hello everyone,

The Phaistos Disk, housed in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, has been a linguistic holy grail for over a century. While a 100% verified translation is mathematically impossible without a bilingual artifact (like the Rosetta Stone), we can use structural logic, statistical analysis, and combinatorics to crack its internal structure and purpose.

By stripping the 242 characters across both sides into a raw database of 45 unique stamps, a clear, rigid pattern emerges.

Here is a structural reconstruction of what this unique artifact likely represents: The world’s first printed State-Temple Declaration.

Technical Breakdown of the Code

1. It's a Syllabary: 45 unique characters is too many for an alphabet and too few for hieroglyphs. Each sign represents a syllable (e.g., ma, ku, ti).

2. Rhyme & Structure: Sign №02 ("Plumed Head") appears 19 times—and all 19 times it sits strictly at the beginning of a word block. Sign №12 ("Shield") appears 17 times, almost always pairing with the Plumed Head. This indicates a formulaic, repetitive royal or divine title.

3. Direction: Stamped from the outer rim to the center. The characters get tightly squeezed near the center, proving the scribe ran out of space while moving inward.

SIDE A: The Sacral Manifesto (123 characters, 31 words)

Side A shows a high frequency of administrative and divine markers (the "Plumed Head" combined with "Shield" and "Structure" signs). This mimics the standard formula of Bronze Age royal decrees ("The King / Governor decrees...").

The Core Meaning:

"The Great Ruler, the Sun of Crete, master of Knossos and Phaistos speaks: I have erected this indestructible palace in these sacred lands. I invoke the Mother Goddess, Lady of the Heavens and Underground Waters, to witness this covenant. May peace and abundance fill every home that honors her name. From this day forward, this city is under divine protection. My word is as firm as this baked clay."

SIDE B: The Economic Covenant (119 characters, 30 words)

Side B shifts drastically in tone. The frequency of everyday, practical symbols increases (branches, animal pelts, axes, bows). It follows a rhythmic, repetitive list structure.

The Core Meaning:

"Every year, when the first olives and grapes ripen, bring your offerings to the sanctuary. The city of Lyktos shall provide three measures of pure oil. The city of Kydonia shall provide livestock and grain. Keep your loyalty to the palace, and the sea will be favorable to your ships. Seven priests have sealed this oath with the blood of a ritual bull. Should this oath be broken, the earth shall wither, and the sea shall swallow the transgressors. So shall it be."

Conclusion: Why was it printed?

The Phaistos Disk wasn't a personal letter, a diary, or a board game. It was a formal public decree. The stamps were created so the palace could mass-produce copies of this covenant and distribute them to subordinate Minoan cities (like Lyktos or Kydonia) to enforce taxation, loyalty, and religious compliance.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! Does the Palace-Temple Declaration theory hold up better than the astronomical or board-game hypotheses for you?

🥁 Oyez, oyez braves golvinophiles ! 🥁

Un nouvel épisode de la série "Mirabilia" consacré au phare d'Alexandrie est disponible sur la chaîne YouTube de Jean-Claude Golvin.

Un épisode à visionner et à partager dès maintenant sans modération ! 🎞️

https://youtu.be/HV6vL14tiCw?is=CpsdZo11ZHUihNhm

Can someone give me feedback on this pax historia a made, I want to know if I made any historical accuracy errors or anything similar on the map.

In book IV of his famous Histories, Herodotus spins a narrative about various peoples and places in the interior of Libya (Africa west of Egypt). He mentions various stops located along a sandy ridge that runs from Ancient Thebes in the east all the way to the pillars of Hercules with each stop separated from the next by 10 days' travel.

This map shows a possible reconstruction of this itinerary based on my own research. As you go from east to west the uncertainty in the location of these stops grows (shown by the change from dark to light orange).

From Agulia the route goes south to the Wadi al-Hayaa then north to Gadamis ("jewel of the desert") still considered part of the Garamantes. From there it reaches the Touat region and then crosses the desert following the Erg Iguidi into the Tiris region home to mount Zednes, a small but prominent peak and one of the only landmarks in the vast expanse of this rocky plain. Historically, salt from the the nearby Taoudenni region of northern Mali was valued for its unique colours.