Strength of Purpose: Filling in the Gaps in the Story of the Philistines

It's tough sometimes to shake preconceptions. Those of us brought up in the Christian tradition know well the story of the Philistines, for they were one of the chief antagonists to the rise of ancient Israel. In particular, they had a champion named Goliath who was bested by Israel's young David, in an encounter that still lends itself to comparisons today. Another story that survives to this day was of the Philistine champion Samson, whose legendary strength was undone by the fleecing of the hair off his head.

Goliath and Samson — two pillars of strength, as it were — and yet both were undone by guile — in Goliath's case by a well slung stone from tiny David and in Solomon's case a well thought out plan from the crafty Delilah.

But who were those ancient people? The Jewish and Christian traditions don't give much more detail than that on the Philistines, but they were certainly successful in surviving in the rough-and-tumble world of the ancient Mediterranean.

Gath, the city that archaeologists have unearthed recently, was one of several Philistine settlements that dotted the area after the people arrived from Greece about 1200 B.C. They built towns that turned into some major ports of the area, including one called Gaza.

Results of the dig include shards of jugs, ancient bones, and a large number of stones assembled as buildings and embankments — the latter a big clue that the city was fortified against an invading army. Indeed, the neighboring Arameans succeeded in razing the city in 830 B.C.

The Philistines lasted for a few centuries, until the Babylonian army under King Nebuchadnezzar wiped them off the map. However, as with the Babylonian Captivity, the famed king might have won a temporary victory, but today's diggers are unearthing evidence that paints an ever diverse picture of the Philistines, a picture that has much more than the one dimension mentioned in David's triumph and Samson's defeat.

Shuttle Is History; Exploration Should Not Be

The last of the space shuttle missions began today, and so an era ends.

The shuttle was a reusable space transport vehicle that captured the imagination of many, many people, chief among them proponents of space exploration and of scientific research.

Yes, the shuttle cost money — tons of it. Yes, people died, and that is always a tragedy. I can't imagine the terrible toll that has taken on the lives of the families left behind, especially when we appear to celebrate success but don't remember their sacrifices.

But also yes, shuttle astronauts ran thousands of experiments that gave us greater insight into how things work in our bodies, in our environment, in our atmosphere, and in our universe. And yes, shuttle astronauts launched (and, in one famous case, fixed) a parade of outer space exploration machines that are to this day rewriting our books of knowledge on what is in the sky we look at every night.

This kind of technology and discovery did not come cheap, but cost isn't always the most important factor. The more we seek to understand what is around us and in us, the more we will spend — be that time or money or both. Progress can be slow, and it can bound ahead in great leaps. Progress is always worth the time, effort, and money we spend.

The shuttle program has ended. The exploration of space should not.

Ring of Truth Reappears 40 Years Later

Oh, you have to appreciate this kind of happy ending.

More than 50 years later, a man will finally get his high school class ring back. Back in 1960, the man gave his Class of 1962 ring to his girlfriend as a token of affection. The two young people like each other — quite a lot, in fact — and so it was quite understandable that the young woman was mortified when, because of slippery fingers, she managed to drop the ring in the toilet mid-flush.

This unfortunate event occurred in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., where apparently the plumbing is quite good because the family's hastily called plumber spent a large amount of time ripping up the pipes without finding the ring. The woman apologized, the boyfriend accepted, and on they went, together. They eventually got married.

Fast forward to 2011 and a particularly bad storm in Roanoke Rapids, resulting in the collapse of a storm pipe. Wouldn't you know that the cleanup crew discovered the long-lost ring — intact if a bit dirty. The ring had become lodged in the sewer not far from where it entered the sewer system and had stayed there

The foreman of the crew that found the ring took it to a local jeweler, who returned the ring to its former shine and sheen. Then, it was on to finding the owner.

That proved to be the easy part because only 25 students graduated from the ring-owner's high school in 1962 and the school closed the very next year. A few phone calls later, the foreman was in touch with the ring's rightful owner, who is still married to the same woman.

No word from the couple on how they're going to look after the ring this time, but it's probably along the lines of a bookcase or trophy case or at least a drawer in a dresser far from the bathroom.

Fossil Hunter Sniffs Out an Archaeological First

The nose knows. Or someone knows about noses. Or something like that.

Anyway, scientists have announced that they have discovered a bone fragment that is about 13,000 years old in Florida, of all places. It's "of all places" because the bone fragment has etched on it an engraving of a trunked animal. That, together with the dating of the fragment, make this find the only known example of art that a proboscidean (the aforementioned trunked animal) found in North or South America. Europe, of course, has several examples of such nose-heavy art, but the Americas haven't been able to join the nose-knows club, until now.

A fossil hunter found the bone fragment in Vero Beach, Fla., and found the artwork only while doing the cleaning. The fragment is just 3 inches long and 1.75 inches tall and is part of a bone of a large mammal — scientists think it was a mammoth or maybe a mastodon. (The longshot speculation would be on giant sloth, but none of the scientists were willing to enhance that speculation with enthusiastic support.)

You can read all about it in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Also involved in the preservation of this terribly important fragment will be the Museum Conservation Institute and the National Museum of Natural History. Oh, and the Smithsonian Institution.

With such historical heavyweights involved, you'd have to ask what it all means in the grander scheme of things. Is it a watershed moment? Probably not. Is it something that hasn't been before? Well, yes and no — yes in various caves in Europe but no in parts Western. So from that perspective, it is significant. It's all part of a greater picture of anthropology that continues to emerge, from likely and unlikely sources.

The Official Was the Cause of Gladiator's Death, Professor Claims

Blame the referee.

That's one academic's theory about an enigmatic epitaph that has stumped historians for nearly 100 years. The epitaph is on the tombstone of a Roman gladiator who died about 1.800 years ago in what is now Turkey.

The tombstone depicts what could be the final scene in the life of a Roman gladiator, Diodorus, who died after a fight with Demetrius, another gladiator. The tombstone shows one gladiator holding two swords while the other gladiator is on the ground, holding up one hand as if in submission.

It is that last word that is the key, according to a Canadian professor, who believes that he has solved the mystery. The inscription on the tombstone reads ""After breaking my opponent Demetrius I did not kill him immediately. Fate and the cunning treachery of the summa rudis killed me."

The summa rudis was the referee. The professor believes that the reference to the referee is a a suggestion that certain rules were not followed. In detail, a gladiator who has lost his sword can request submission; also, a gladiator who has fallen by accident can get up, pickup his sword, and keep on fighting.

The professor's theory is that the tombstone, which has been in the Brussels Musee du Cinquanternaire since the early 20th Century, depicts Diodorus holding two swords and Demetrius on the ground and that the referee allowed Demetrius to get back up, after he had fallen and Diodorus had grabbed his sword. The result was a reversal of fortune, as Demetrius then gained the upper hand and Diodorus paid with his life, either right then or later, as a result of the renewed struggle.

Even though the tombstone shows Diodorus in a strong position, holding both swords, the tombstone doesn't show the final part of the story, which would be quite the opposite of what is being depicted.

It's one man's theory, perhaps, and it's a bit convoluted. But if it can be corroborated, we can all rest easier, at least in gladiatorial terms, which is more than can be said for Diodorus.

Blackbeard Exhibit Now on Display

Leave it to Blackbeard to make off with his own treasure even as his flagship was no longer of any use.

The revered pirate, whom many people believe was a man named Edward Teach, lost his favorite ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, when it ran aground off the coast of North Carolina in the early 18th Century. But because the ship merely hit rocks, instead of sinking, the pirate captain and his crew had ample time to get away with whatever they could carry, which was probably jewels, gold, and other lightweight items — including the legendary guns, cutlass, and matches to light his hair on slow-burn fire.

The rest of it is now on display at the North Carolina Maritime Museum. Among the items to be shown are cannons, lead shots, bells, anchors, and much more, about 300 items in all. The curiosity factor alone will be enough to get many people in the doors of the museum, which plans to leave the items on permanent display.

One of the more prominent items on display will be the large anchor just plucked from the depths. Weighing 3,000 pounds and measuring 13 feet long and 16 feet wide, the anchor was a particular target of the salvage crew.

The display will no doubt benefit as well from the popularity of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, in which both Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge feature prominently.

'Modern' Disease Found in Ancient People

Something new is old again. Or something old is new again. It's the same story here, with here being a study out of Emory University reporting that some of the peoples of the ancient Nubian lands died of a disease still around today.

That disease is schistosomiasis, which travels through the skin after contact with worm-infested waters. In the 21st Century, more than 200 million people contract this dread disease, which results in a rash, fever and chills, coughs and achy muscles. And that's when it's treated. If you don't do a thing about it other than hope it goes away, you could suffer damage to your internal organs, specifically the bladder, intestines, liver, and lungs. Nasty stuff, that schistosomiasis.

The thing is, scientists have thought that it's mainly a "modern" disease, meaning that the ancient folks, who suffered from many other diseases that aren't around today because we've managed to make drugs that help prevent or eradicate them, had this kind of sickness bullet to dodge as well.

How do we know this? Well, the good scientists who contributed to that Emory University study did some well-informed tests on 200 mummies found in two populations in what is now Sudan, at two different time periods: 1,200 years ago and 1,500 years ago. The earlier population was settled along a river but depended on canal irrigation to help their food crops flourish. The later population was different again, depending on only the oft-flooding Nile for their waterborne crop nourishment. Turns out that in both cases, that water was also bearing along the pathogen that likely made their lives very unpleasant, if not shortened.

You can read the full study here.