Posted on 12/20/2007 8:04:47 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Julia Shvicky of Kibbutz Barkai and Janet Daws, visiting from England, found some bones that had washed up on the shore during a stroll by the beach... At first, the sisters did not know they had found human bones. They took them to the kibbutz nurse who told them the bones were part of a human spinal cord and hip. They immediately handed their find over to the police who briefly quizzed them and sent the human remains to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir for examination. Though test results are not yet in, police and the Israeli Antiquities Authorities (IAA) estimate the findings date back to Roman times. The city of Caesarea has a long and varied history. It was originally built by King Herod in the first century B.C.E., who constructed an artificial harbor, markets, baths and a grand palace. A large hippodrome where chariot races and other events were held was later added. The city, which reached its peak during the Byzantine period, nearly vanished during the early Arab era... Human remains have often been found at the site by visitors. IAA's northern district head, Kamil Sari, said that bones are usually washed up after strong rains. About eight months ago, IAA officials reburied a skull that was found exposed in a nearby area. Pottery fragments dating from the Roman period were found beside it.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
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Oy, Nigel! We got floaters!
;’) Due to subsidence of the coastline, big chunks of the ancient city are now underwater. Herod’s little building project was a major engineering challenge, but produced a usable port, something in short supply along there.
"Where were you on the night of March 1st 66A.D.?
Sounds like the city of New Orleans.
LOL. It’s interesting to me that this happens once in a while. I excerpted out the part about how they think there’s a cemetery offshore. Could be submerged catacombs or tombs...
There seem to be very few Roman bones.
Pompeii and Herc had some from the volcanic explosion.
Apparently, the Romans cremated their dead.
Is this correct ?
Cremation was pretty popular among the Romans. There’s actually a sort of shrine built on the spot where Julius Caesar — perhaps the first populist politician — was cremated, and it still gets covered in flowers. Hadrian’s tomb is a big thing, but AFAIK it held nothing but cremations. Burial was not unheard of; along the Appian Way near Rome there are tombs, just as there were on the roads leading out of Etruscan cities and towns. But most of those tombs too held cremations, and a good many (it sez here, I double checked my blather) were from the Christian era of the late empire.
I should also point out that, according to Lionel Casson (”Travel in the Ancient World”, it’s well worth reading) pork was a popular meat in Roman times, but unscrupulous vendors found that, when the Games were rollin’, they could get human flesh much cheaper and fresher, and human flesh is pretty much indistinguishable from pork. Drool, drool.
Undertaker: Yea. Now there’s three things we can do with your mum. We can bury her, burn her, or dump her.
Man: Dump her?
Undertaker: Dump her in the Thames.
Man: What?
Undertaker: Oh, did you like her?
Man: Yes!
Undertaker: Oh well, we won’t dump her, then. Well, what do you think: burn her, or bury her?
Man: Um, well, um, which would you recommend?
Undertaker: Well they’re both nasty. If we burn her, she gets stuffed in the flames, crackle, crackle, crackle, which is a bit of a shock if she’s not quite dead. But quick. And then you get a box of ashes, which you can pretend are hers.
Man: Oh.
Undertaker: Or, if you don’t wanna fry her, you can bury her. And then she’ll get eaten up by maggots and weevils, nibble, nibble, nibble, which isn’t so hot if, as I said, she’s not quite dead.
Man: I see. Um. Well, I.. I’m not very sure. She’s definitely dead.
Undertaker: Where is she?
Man: In this sack.
Undertaker: Let’s ‘ave a look.
Umm, she looks quite young.
Man: Yes, she was.
Undertaker: (over his shoulder) FRED!
Fred (Eric Idle): (offstage) Yeah?
Undertaker: I THINK WE’VE GOT AN EATER!
Fred: I’ll get the oven on!
Man: Um, er...excuse me, um, are you... are you suggesting we should eat my mother?
(pause)
Undertaker: Yeah. Not raw, not raw. We cook her. She’d be delicious with a few french fries, a bit of stuffing. Delicious! (smacks his lips)
Man: What!?
(pause)
Man: Actually, I do feel a bit peckish - No! NO, I can’t!
Undertaker: Look, we’ll eat your mum. Then, if you feel a bit guilty about it afterwards, we can dig a grave and you can throw up into it.
Monte Python meets the Donner Party?
...and for dessert, lady fingers. /rimshot
The darker outlines in the water, as evidenced by breaking waves, are outlines of areas which were likely above water or very shallow at some time in the past. It would not take much to envision this as a place where cargo vessels could be readily unloaded and would be somewhat protected from storms.
Soon, I hope.
Oh come on. That's not nice.
It is getting a bit late to wish him a long, enjoyable retirement, however.
True, but I’m not all that nice. ;’)
Roman engineering was very impressive, or I should say, *is*, since a lot of stuff has survived. :’) A lot of cargo moved in the Mediterranean during the Roman era; the grain haulers probably made up a lot of the tonnage, and grew so large and numerous as Rome’s population soared that Ostia had to be upgraded to handle it. All those obelisks in Rome were hauled on very large vessels, all the way from Egypt. I’d guess that the movement of grain from there showed the feasibility. Large, one-piece columns were quarried in Egypt for the construction of a temple during the reign of Caligula — each column about 200 tons. There’s at least one obelisk which runs about 300 tons. Had the Romans tried to move them by land, they’d still be dragging it around the Black Sea about now. ;’)
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