The Swash Channel Merman

Carved wooden figure from the Swash Channel Wreck, discovered in 1990 just outside the harbor of Poole, England and now being investigated by archaeologists. It has been tentatively identified as a Dutch East Indiaman that sank around 1630.

Andre Ermolaev, Iceland from the Air

Russian photographer Andre Ermolaev is fascinated by the patterns made by water flowing across Iceland's fields of volcanic ash and ice. Many more here.

Why Western Men Join ISIS

Michael Brendan Doughterty on why thousands of men from Europe have gone to fight for ISIS and other jihadist groups in the Middle East:

This shouldn't surprise us, and not because of the depredations of the French banlieues, vicious poverty in Western nations, or misspent youth in America. As long as Western liberalism has existed, it has been found charmless or contemptible by some men. Western liberalism asks men to be governed by laws made by mere men and their politicking. It demands of most men that they be mere citizens. It urges thrift, prudence, and industry. This is not for everyone.

Fascism and communism promise more to men dissatisfied with liberalism. First of all, power. To succeed in a revolution is to step over the grubby merit system in the old regime, on which you would have been last and least in line if you were counted at all. Revolutionary movements also offer visions of justice that are larger and deeper than some dirty court system. And the struggle in establishing them holds out prizes that are extremely rare for men of the West: glory, martyrdom, and heroism. Revolution beats a life of traffic tickets, creditors, bosses, and — if you're especially lucky — angst about real-estate.

I have a better idea for anyone who wonders about this: watch Fight Club. Violence, as it shows, can be a great antidote for purposeless boredom.

Whether a large subset of men drawn to conflict can really thrive in a peaceful bureaucratic society is, I submit, still an open question.

Who Trusts the Police?

One of Andrew Sullivan's readers wrote in about his recent experience on a jury:

A young Hispanic male from a nearby town known for its drug trade was targeted and arrested by a drug task force, although no drug charges were presented. He was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon (ramming the undercover cruiser behind him with his car), operating a motor vehicle to endanger (driving on the sidewalk to evade the ad hoc police blockade), leaving the scene of an accident, negligent operation (running stop signs) and failure to stop for police.

The very first question the defense lawyer asked was, “Where’s the video?” Of course there was none, and in the absence of actual evidence, video or otherwise, the six middle/upper-middle class white people that composed our jury took it on faith that four police officers would casually perjure themselves and voted not guilty on the assault and endangerment charges. At one point, one of the jury members asked “Why are there no witnesses?” I’m no friend of the police, but I felt I had to remind the group that technically the State presented four witnesses – the four police officers.

In the end, we voted to convict on the negligent operation and failure to stop charges, based on the defendant’s own account of the episode during his testimony. I couldn’t help but think that the police have a real, existential problem when the juror I expected to be most sympathetic to the police – the contractor who told the court he knew a few cops from the neighborhood – turned out to be the one most adamant that the officers’ testimony should be completely disregarded.

I recently heard a similar story from a colleague about a trial in Baltimore; he and his fellow jurors acquitted a young black man accused of being part of a drug gang, not so much because they doubted that he was in the gang as because they found the police account of what happened unbelievable.

Civil War Sketchbook

This week I was searching for a particular Civil War sketch of a place where I may do some archaeology and found myself sucked into the world of Civil War artists and their drawings. The American Civil War was fought in the newspaper age, and millions of readers north and south expected daily updates from the fighting. They also expected pictures. So the media magnates of the day obliged them, hiring dozens of draughtsmen to tour the battle fronts and produce the renderings of battle and camp that their readers demanded. (Edwin Forbes, Sergeant William Jackson of the 12th New York Volunteers on Picket Duty, January 27, 1863)

Some of these illustrators were drawn from the first rank of American artists: Winslow Homer, Alfred Waud, Edwin Forbes, Frank Schell. These works were eventually published as engravings, but those were usually made in great haste by men without the subtle eyes of these artists, and I much prefer the original drawings. Above, Winslow Homer, the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry Embarking for the Peninsula, 1862.

The usefulness of these works for military history is quite limited. The artists were not soldiers and often had only the vaguest idea what was happening in front of them, and for the details of uniforms and weaponry you are better off with photographs. But they are extremely useful sources for social history. As I have mentioned before, there are remarkably few surviving nineteenth-century photographs or drawings of ordinary houses and farms. America was full of houses like this one in Centreville, Virginia, sketched by Edwin Forbes because it happened to sit beside the road down which Pope's defeated army retreated from Manassas in 1862. Hardly any of these crude structures still stand, and if the fields where they sat have been plowed, there is next to no archaeological trace of them, either. Just about the only time anyone bothered to record these houses was when they happened to sit in the middle of a battlefield.

So that is why I often consult these renderings. But I find that they summon up the Civil War world for me in a powerful way. The feeling I get from them  is completely different from that I get from photographs (Edward Mullen, Crow's Nest Signal Station along the James River, 1862)

Nineteenth-century photography was too slow to cope with scenes like this famous moment from Gettysburg. (Alfred Waud, Attack of the Louisiana Tigers on a Battery of the 11th Corps, July 2, 1863, Detail)

Arthur Waud, Burying the Dead after the Battle of Fair Oaks, June, 1862, and detail.

Edward Mullen, Execution of a Deserter.

Edwin Forbes, Retreat of General Pope's Army, 1862.

Celebrating Brutality

Dave Weigel passes along this charming photograph, which has been making the rounds of conservative Facebook groups. It brings to the fore the basic mindset that underlies so much of what humans do wrong, our habit of dividing the world into US and THEM, making THEM into enemies and then wanting not just to defeat but to humiliate those enemies. Lost here is any notion that the people of Ferguson are our fellow citizens, our fellow human beings.

Then again maybe it just means that some people prefer fighting to hugging, especially when they feel assulted.

In opposition to this sort of thing I suggest the following, from our most eloquent President:

Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?

--Abraham Lincoln

Goldfinches

Mr. and Mrs. Goldfinch on the sunflowers this afternoon. We often have six of these in the yard at once, but they are very skittish birds and it is hard to get close to them, so my pictures usually look like this. Today there was also a monarch butterfly flitting back and forth across this bed, and I kept trying to take a picture that would show the birds and the butterfly, but never got the right shot.

Pope Francis on Stopping Aggression in Iraq

Pope Francis responds to a question about the fighting in Iraq:

Q. You know that recently the U.S. forces have started bombing the terrorists in Iraq, to prevent a genocide, to protect minorities, including Catholics who are under your guidance. My question is this: do you approve the American bombing?

A. Thanks for such a clear question. In these cases where there is an unjust aggression, I can only say this: it is licit to stop the unjust aggressor. I underline the verb: stop. I do not say bomb, make war, I say stop by some means. With what means can they be stopped? These have to be evaluated. To stop the unjust aggressor is licit.

But we must also have memory. How many times under this excuse of stopping an unjust aggressor the powers [that intervened] have taken control of peoples, and have made a true war of conquest.

One nation alone cannot judge how to stop an unjust aggressor. After the Second World War there was the idea of the United Nations. It is there that this should be discussed. Is there an unjust aggressor? It would seem there is. How do we stop him? Only that, nothing more.

Secondly, you mentioned the minorities. Thanks for that word because they talk to me about the Christians, the poor Christians. It’s true, they suffer. The martyrs, there are many martyrs. But here there are men and women, religious minorities, not all of them Christian, and they are all equal before God.

To stop the unjust aggressor is a right that humanity has, but it is also a right that the aggressor has to be stopped so that he does not do evil.

This is pretty much a restatement of contemporary Catholic doctrine on war: it can be justified in some circumstances, but only when all other measures have failed. What I especially like about this statement is the Pope's concern that even when aggression by wicked people needs to be stopped, this presents grave dangers for those who propose to do the stopping, including spiritual dangers. Many modern people who are dubious about most wars still have the sense that a really "good" war, one fought for just reasons against a wicked enemy, is an opportunity to something great, to really justify our existence and feel that we matter. Modern Catholic doctrine denies this.

I wonder how many soldiers could really absorb this doctrine -- that war is always wrong, and enjoying even a necessary war against evil is a mortal sin -- and still fight effectively. Is macho delight in slaughter and victory an essential thing for effective armies, or could there really be armies of very reluctant but still victorious soldiers? Or is the Pope imagining that soldiers will probably get carried away in the heat of battle but then repent of their sins later?

Not to pick on the Pope; I think people like ISIS present a conundrum for everyone who believes in peace and suspects that love of violence is the root of all evil. How do we defeat them without becoming them?

The Tale of the Fragrant Concubine, or, History Wars in Kashgar

In Kashgar, western China, Andrew Jacobs stumbled across an old story that still has great resonance for both Chinese and Uighurs. The Chinese version of the story goes like this:

Although accounts vary as to some details, the basic story amongst Han Chinese recounts the discovery by the Qianlong Emperor of an Uyghur girl named Iparhan, granddaughter of Apak Khoja, a local leader in the oasis city of Kashgar. Even more remarkable than her beauty was the scent her body naturally produced; captivated, the Emperor sought her as an Imperial Consort for his harem. She was given as a gift to the Emperor and carefully escorted all the way to Beijing, washing every day along the road in camel's milk to preserve her mysterious fragrance.

Upon her arrival to the imperial palace, the Fragrant Concubine, was gifted with a garden and a luxurious room of her own as a sign of the Emperor's devotion. Homesick and distraught, she remained disconsolate as the Emperor made ever-increasing efforts to recreate her distant village, building her a mosque, miniature oasis, and bazaar outside her windows in an effort to bring her happiness. Finally she relented and came to love him when he sent messengers to Kashgar to return with an jujube tree bearing golden fruit, and the Fragrant Concubine became the emperor's cherished consort until her death. An enduring symbol of national unity and reconciliation, her body was brought back to her home of Kashgar, where she is now entombed, in a procession of 120 bearers in a journey that took over three years.

The portrait above, painted by Giuseppe Castiglione in 1760, is said by some Chinese scholars to be Iparhan, although others deny that the Rong Consort (her title) was the Uighur woman of the story.

The Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1796).

But the Uighurs also know this story, and their version goes like this:

Stolen from her husband, a Uyghur leader who had resisted the army of the Qing, and spirited away to Beijing, Iparhan armed herself with daggers up her sleeves, on guard against the hated advances of the Emperor. Some accounts suggest that in addition to maintaining her purity Iparhan planned to kill the Emperor in revenge for his conquest of her homeland in Xinjiang. The Emperor, besotted, could not resist the allure of her beauty, but in the end his mother the Empress Dowager had her murdered by loyal palace eunuchs.

This seems unlikely to me, since all accounts agree that Iparhan lived in Beijing for more than 20 years, presumably long enough for the emperor's fatal attraction (if such it was) to have worn a little thin. But thus is it told.

In the background to this love/revenge story was the aggressive military policy of the Qianlong Emperor, who attacked all of his neighbors at one time or another and extended his direct rule far into the desert west. That's him in the garb of a Manchu general above, quite a different sort of self-presentation from the usual Chinese imperial portrait. The position of a Uighur princess in all of this might indeed have been full of political intrigue and dynastic complications.

All of this is still relevant in China's desert borderlands, where Uighurs struggle over whether to assimilate more thoroughly into booming China or fight for greater independence. Busloads of Chinese tourists regularly arrive at the Muslim shrine where some people say Iparhan is buried; above, guides dressed as the Fragrant Concubine and other characters pose for photographs. Andrew Jacobs:

“The love between her and the Qianlong emperor was so strong, after she died, he sent 120 men to escort her body back here for burial,” one guide explained, eliciting nods and knowing smiles from the crowd. “It was a journey that took three years.”

But with the group out of earshot, a local resident offered up a starkly different version, describing Iparhan as a tragic figure, little more than a sex slave who was murdered by the emperor’s mother after she repeatedly rejected Qianlong’s advances.

“The story that most Chinese know is completely made up,” said the man, an ethnic Uighur, who asked that his name be withheld for fear of angering the authorities. “The truth is she isn’t even buried here.”

In the six decades since coming to power, China’s Communist Party has devoted enormous resources to composing historical narratives that seek to legitimize its rule and obfuscate its failures. . . . When it comes to China’s ethnic minorities, the party-run history machine is especially single-minded in its effort to promote story lines that portray Uighurs, Mongolians, Tibetans and other groups as contented members of an extended family whose traditional homelands have long been part of the Chinese nation.

And thus does a folktale about imperial infatuation become a symbol of modern ethnic strife.

What Will Come of the Ferguson Protests?

Dave Weigel has an interesting column in which he asks what the protesters in Ferguson want, and what might come of the whole thing.

As to what the protesters want, the simplest answer is that they want the arrest of police officer Darren Wilson. Comparing Ferguson to the Trayvon Martin case,  Weigel says:

The idea that a kid could be shot and the shooter could walk away without a charge -- that was the outrage. Benjamin Crump, who represented Martin's family, is representing Brown's family with the same public argument. "What else do they need to arrest the killer of my child?" he asked at a press conference yesterday, quoting Brown's mother.

Beyond that, what? Weigel highlights two possible avenues of change:

Turn out the vote. The day after Mike Brown was shot, Mother Jones ran the numbers and noticed that Ferguson, a mostly-black city, was almost entirely run by white politicians. Only three of 53 police officers were black. More than 92 percent of the police searches that happened in Ferguson happened to black people. ThinkProgress's Ian Millhiser asks whether the timing of the city's elections -- April, not November -- guarantees a whiter electorate and a less representative local government. . . .

At his first speech in Ferguson, Al Sharpton condemned the city's low voter turnout. The Center for Constitutional Rights is offering voter registration near the scene where Mike Brown died. I learned this via Charlie Spiering, who reports that Missouri RNC executive director Matt Wills condemned the voter registration as "not only disgusting but completely inappropriate."

That seems like a fantastic reason to do it.

And, on the national level, de-militarization of the police:

The transfer of military ordnance to police departments, a sleeper story for the better part of a decade, has become a national scandal. . . .

Libertarians and liberals in Congress are already talking about de-militarizing the police; Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson has a bill ready to go. There might be space, too, for an investigation along the lines of the Kerner Commission, which could pull the cops out from behind their masks and anonymous threats to reporters.

We can only hope.  And write our representatives.

The Golden Princess of Scythia

Two years ago archaeologists in Kazakhstan uncovered a spectacular Scythian burial they dubbed the Golden Woman. The tomb dates to around 450 BCE. The archaeologists have now published their findings, along with reconstructions by a person Kazakh news accounts call "famous restorer Krym Altynbekov."

The tomb under excavation. Two female servants were buried along with the princess.

Close-up of the restored hat, and the golden sheep on top.

Collar and earring. The excavators think the designs on the plaques are sun symbols, and they think the whole ensemble suggests Zoroastrianism. This is liable to be very controversial, since most German and American archaeologists see no clear evidence of Zoroastrianism among the Scythians.

Golden beads.

A unique comb found in the tomb, showing two warriors in a chariot fighting a man on foot. Many more pictures here.

For comparison, here is reconstruction of another famous Scythian burial, the Golden Man, dug up in 1969. More proof of my theory that to understand the distant past you have to imagine everyone in silly hats.

Why Does the World Exist?

Physicist Steven Weinberg answered the question like this:

For me … it’s part of a larger question, which is ‘Why are things the way they are?’ That’s what we scientists try to find out, in terms of deep laws. We don’t yet have what I call a final theory. When we do, it might shed some light on the question of why there is anything at all. The laws of nature might dictate that there has to be something. For example, those laws might not allow for empty space as a stable state. But that wouldn’t take away the wonder. You’d still have to ask, ‘Why are the laws that way, rather than some other way?’ I think we’re permanently doomed to that sense of mystery. And I don’t think belief in God helps. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it. If by ‘God’ you have something definite in mind – a being that is loving, or jealous or whatever – then you’re faced with the question of why God’s that way and not another way. And if you don’t have anything very definite in mind when you talk about ‘God’ being behind the existence of the universe, then why even use the word? So I think religion doesn’t help. It’s part of the human tragedy: we’re faced with a mystery we can’t understand.

Perseus and the Gorgons

A ladle showing Perseus chasing the winged gorgons, c. 510 to 500 BCE, attributed to the Theseus Painter. From the Getty.

Suicide by Age

I have to say that this is not the graph I would have anticipated. I suppose this proves there is such a thing as a midlife crisis.

The Chrysler Building: the Most Beautiful Skyscraper

I love the Chrysler Building, one of the great masterpieces of the Art Deco style. It was designed by William Van Alen, and construction began in May, 1929. It was the tallest building in the world for about a year. It has been outclassed in height but not, I think, in beauty.

The Chrysler Building began as a collaboration between architect William Van Alen and builder William H. Reynolds. Van Alen's first design was radical and ambitious, with a decorative 'diamond' crown, three-story showroom windows, and a 12 story section of glass corners, lightening the look of the building. Reynolds thought all this expensive and impractical, so he backed out. The plan appealed, though, to car maker Walter P. Chrysler. Chrysler worked with Van Alen to refine the design and to make it taller -- Chrysler wanted his headquarters to be the tallest building in the world. As built the structure is 1,046 feet (319 m) tall.

The lovely detailing on the crown is one of Van Alen's best touches, intended to evoke the metallic gleam of Chrysler's cars.

The famous gargoyles were copied from Chrysler hood ornaments.

The entrance.

The lobby is a wonderful symphony of red marble and art deco styling. Architects usually got help from other designers for these ornate spaces, but I can't find out who helped Van Alen with this.

One of the murals by Edward Trumbull, which show the building under construction.

The wonderful elevator doors. Every time I look at a casual act of beauty like this one this I want to ask, why aren't all elevator doors like this? Who decided that plain gray elevator doors were good enough?

 Interior details. Even the lights in the elevators are small masterpieces.

Post box. I was asking my elder daughter why we don't build things like this any more, and she said, "Because we live in a brutalist dystopian future." How sad that we do. But at least we still have these wonderful buildings from when people cared enough to make beautiful things.