"Nubia was also called the Kingdom of Meroei.
Nubia, the hottest and most arid region of the world, has caused many civilizations to be totally dependent on the Nile for existence.
Historically Nubia has been a nucleus of diverse cultures. It has been the only occupied strip of land connecting the Mediterranean world with "tropical" Africa."
When I started the dig, I knew immediately that treasures awaited me. There was something about the smell of the earth, packed as hard as sandstone, Here a glint of gold, there a hint of shape, or was it a shadow.
For the next week, the trenches got deeper & more promising as we were cheered on by small but significant discoveries.
One, a result of the first glance of gold, had been carefully excavated, then even more meticulously extricated from it`s hold of stone.
It was a bag made of leather, from an unknown animal`s skin. It was tooled with intricate designs that looked like a sorceror`s mandala. The golden glimpse had been clasps & buckles.
I have not seen a similar piece as this since.
The tedious work, because of the fragility of the first find, became even more focused as I started to uncover facial features.
That the entombed artifacts, gave up their nature only as fast as they could be uncovered whole, did not asuage my optimism, so dig & brush & scrape I did.
The unbearable heat was forgotten, in the joy of removing, not one, but two of these beautiful cultural treasures.
At this point, I decided to get in my truck & head home for a break. I headed up the coast in Malibu, & went to Pizza Hut, for some takehome.
Tomorrow would be another day, on the remodel I had undertaken for a client whose home had been inundated with a mud flow, from Topanga Canyon. Now that the basemant was cleaned out, I was trying to figure out how to remove a 911 Porche from the position it was in, half in & half out of a wall near the two car garage. These are two masks I uncovered.
The leather bag I dug out, along with the masks in 1980, is still one of my favotite bags, & elicits curious remarks yet.
6 comments:
Morning Head.
Those masks are very nice and you really had me going for awhile. I thought you were on an archeological dig in Africa when you found them. I think the masks hung on the old wood does set them off.
Have a good weekend Head.
Good Morning FM,
I had myself going for a bit there, also.
To see more of the artifacts I dug up, go here.
Serenity & Jealousy
Hey Head.
I went to Serenity & Jealousy and I was wondering. From your Cromwell, Bowling Champion picture, how do you keep the women off of you. :)
FM,
I`m hard as steel & bronzed to boot.
That`s not too bad,
for a grizzled old coot.
I'm still chuckling as two old coots compare notes here, lol. Last year, for my birthday, one of Fernymoss' friends made me a t-shirt that simply says "Old Goat," but it's done in the logo style of Old Navy. I wear it proudly, hehe.
IVG,
That`s funny & it sounds like something my grandaughters would get for me.
At the same time the many different links to navy, goat boat & coots reminded me of the Exxon Valdez.
The captain yelled at his first mate, "I said,'A rum & coke on the rocks., not 'run the boat on the rocks, you old goat"
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