12 of the World's Most Mysterious Monuments & Ruins. 12 of the World’s Most Mysterious Monuments & Ruins Article by Steph, filed under Abandoned Places in the Architecture category. Around the world, in places as diverse as Homestead, Florida and Yonaguni, Japan stand monuments and ruins whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows exactly why Stonehenge was built, how a set of manmade ruins came to be submerged deep in the ocean or who commissioned a giant carved granite set of post-apocalyptic instructions for rebuilding society on a remote hill in Georgia.
Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse (images via: Wired) On a barren knoll in northeastern Georgia stands one of the world’s most bizarre and mysterious monuments. But it wasn’t created during ancient times. Lake Michigan Stonehenge (image via: io9) A group of researchers using sonar to look for shipwrecks at the bottom of Lake Michigan got quite a surprise when they found what appears to be an ancient Stonehenge-like structure 40 feet beneath the surface of the water. The Tale of Genji. Peruvian tomb discovery deemed 'as important as Machu Picchu'
The discovery of nine ancient tombs in the Peruvian jungle is being called the most important find since Machu Picchu. The tombs belong to the Wari, a pre-Incan civilisation, and were unearthed in the highland province of Cuzco (pictured above). Experts expect to also unearth a city in the area, possibly that of the legendary lost city of riches, Paititi. "It opens a new chapter on archaeological research and forces us to re-write history," Juan Garcia from Peru's ministry of culture said.
"The discovery is one of the most important ever, and is comparable to Machu Picchu. " The site, known as Vilcabamba, was the Inca's last foothold of resistance against the Spanish before their nearly 400-year reign over the region came to an end in 1572AD. The find -- the first evidence of the Wari inhabiting Peru's jungles -- suggests the civilisation may have dominated other areas later taken over by the Incas, and indicates that the Incas will have inherited much of the Wari culture. Numbers in Proto-Languages.
TimeGlider. Medieval Demographics Made Easy. Japanese Folktales. Selected and edited by D. L. Ashliman © 1998-2008 Contents Return to D. The Two Frogs Once upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs, one of whom made his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, on the sea coast, while the other dwelt in a clear little stream which ran through the city of Kyoto. So one fine morning in the spring they both set out along the road that led from Kyoto to Osaka, one from one end and the other from the other. They looked at each other for a moment without speaking, and then fell into conversation, explaining the cause of their meeting so far from their homes. "What a pity we are not bigger," said the Osaka frog; "for then we could see both towns from here, and tell if it is worth our while going on.
" "Oh, that is easily managed," returned the Kyoto frog. This idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up and put his front paws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen also. "Dear me! " The Mirror of Matsuyama Source: F. "Buried! " Flood Stories | Thematic Essay. Stories about a great flood are found in the folklore of many cultures. The earliest written sources are inscribed in Sumerian on clay tablets and date to the late third millennium B.C. Mesopotamian versions of the flood story may have had their beginnings in the annual spring flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Alternatively, some scholars believe that a change in the ancient sea level in the Persian Gulf may have given rise to stories about a deluge.
The Sumerian King List, a literary composition existing in several different versions, traces kingship from its origins to contemporary dynasties that ruled in southern Mesopotamia between the twenty-first and nineteenth centuries B.C. Another Sumerian tale, "The Death of Bilgamesh" ("The Great Wild Bull Is Lying Down"), preserved in a copy dating to the Old Babylonian period, contains a section in which the gods review the life and career of the hero Bilgames (Gilgamesh in Akkadian). Uruk: The First City | Thematic Essay. The Mysterious Plain of Jars. Often referred to as “an Asian version of Stonehengeâ€, the Plain of Jars is one of the most enigmatic sights on Earth. Shrouded in mystery and myth, this ancient place has fascinated archeologists and scientists ever since its discovery.
[Photo Credits] Thousands of giant stone jars scattered around the Xieng Khouang plain, in Laos form one of the most bizarre archeological collections in history. Although it has been determined they are over 2000 years old, no one has yet been able to determine who built them and for what purpose. Made of sedimentary rock, like sandstone or granite, and calcified coral, the jars weigh up to 13 tons and are between 1 and 3 meters high. [Photo Credits] More than 400 sites have been discovered around the Plain of Jars, but only three of them have been opened to the public. [Photo Credits] But if you ask the locals, they’ll tell you of an old race of giants who once lived in these lands. Medieval Macabre Gallery One. Click on detail from image or use link for full version. 1. The fight of the City of Satan (Babylon) against the City of God (Syon). From Aurelius Augustinaus' De Trinitate. De Civitate Dei, printed by Johann Amerbach, Basle, 1489. 2. The demon Belial appearing with his entourage of four lesser demons before King Solomon. 6. 11. 16. 21. 26.
Gallery One | Gallery Two | Gallery Three | Gallery Four | Gallery FiveThe Hans Holbein Alphabet of Death | The Hans Holbein Dance of Death Medieval Macabre © 2000 James L. And don't forget to visit:A Feast For The Eyes | Tales of the Middle AgesMedieval Woodcuts Clipart Collection Please visit The Gode Cookery BookshopThis site hosted by Visual Presence. 10 Most Fascinating Castles and Palaces. The Potala Palace: Tibet's greatest monumental structure Perched upon Marpo Ri hill, 130 meters above the Lhasa valley, the Potala Palace rises a further 170 meters and is the greatest monumental structure in all of Tibet. In 637 Emperor Songtsen Gampo decided to build this palace on a hill, and the structure stood until the seventeenth century, when it was incorporated into the foundations of the greater buildings still standing today. Construction of the present palace began in 1645 during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama and by 1648 the Potrang Karpo, or White Palace, was completed.
The Potrang Marpo, or Red Palace, was added between 1690 and 1694; its construction required the labors of more than 7000 workers and 1500 artists and craftsman. Mont Saint-Michel: a Medieval Castle on a Small Island Mont St Michel France is situated on a quasi-island on the Normandy coast, near Brittany, which at high tide is almost entirely separated from the mainland. Russian domed city would hold 100,000 people. A Russian company has unveiled plans to build a gigantic domed city in an abandoned diamond mine in Siberia. The city, named Eco-city 2020, would be constructed inside the Mir diamond mine, the second largest excavated hole on the planet. It's a quarter-mile wide at the top and over 1,700 feet deep, which is so big that air flowing into the hole can actually suck helicopters out of the sky. If the project gets going, the mine would be completely covered over with a glass dome to protect the city from the weather in Siberia (which is apparently lousy almost all the time), and solar cells embedded in the dome would provide power for the entire structure.
Eco-city would be constructed of multiple levels, with a huge central core. So, what's the likelihood of Eco-city actually being constructed? AB ELIS, via io9. Ancient World. Hanging Temple China via reddit.com. Comparative mythology. Various myths Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.[1] Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development of religions and cultures, to propose common origins for myths from different cultures, and to support various psychological theories. Comparativists versus particularists[edit] The anthropologist C. Comparative approaches to mythology held great popularity among eighteenth- and nineteenth-century scholars. Joseph Campbell in his many writings on what should constitute a total science of mythology describes the difference in the two approaches: "For, as a broad view of the field [of mythology] immediately shows, in every well-established culture realm to which a new system of thought and civilization comes, it is received creatively, not inertly.
Linguistic[edit] Structural[edit] Ancient underwater cities being found that are 10,000 years old. Lost city 'could rewrite history' By BBC News Online's Tom Housden The remains of what has been described as a huge lost city may force historians and archaeologists to radically reconsider their view of ancient human history. Marine scientists say archaeological remains discovered 36 meters (120 feet) underwater in the Gulf of Cambay off the western coast of India could be over 9,000 years old. The vast city - which is five miles long and two miles wide - is believed to predate the oldest known remains in the subcontinent by more than 5,000 years. The site was discovered by chance last year by oceanographers from India's National Institute of Ocean Technology conducting a survey of pollution.
Using sidescan sonar - which sends a beam of sound waves down to the bottom of the ocean they identified huge geometrical structures at a depth of 120ft. Lost civilization The city is believed to be even older than the ancient Harappan civilization, which dates back around 4,000 years. Continued...