All That Glitters Is Gold
Gold, the perennial safe investment, is also the trans-temporal, trans-cultural material of choice for ornamentation. Serviceably malleable and durable and temptingly rare, it has lent itself to the indulgences of the human imagination since at least as far back as the fourth millennium BCE, serving as currency, adornment and sculpture — as well as the inspiration for lots of mayhem.
So sought after and retentive of its value is gold, it is estimated that at least 85 percent of all the gold ever mined or recovered in the course of human history is still kicking around today, be it in the vault of a national government, on the ring finger of a hand or lining the visor of an astronaut's helmet.
The Yale University Art Gallery is currently presenting one small slice of that historical hoard in the aptly titled exhibition Old Javanese Gold The show presents a choice selection of objects fashioned from atomic number 79, drawn from this collection of over 200 pieces, and includes objects dating from the first century BCE to the 13th century. Sharing our own cultural predilections, the makers of these glittering artifacts thought gold was well suited for personal adornment. Consequently, the show ranges from personal jewelry to crowns to dagger handles to funerary accoutrements to a full-face burial mask. That mask, estimated to have been made between 500 and 200 BCE, is possibly the highlight of the show. Its rough, bluntly articulated planes and folds, mapping the outlines and volume of a long ago face, telegraphs a raw and emotionally under-mediated connection from viewer to maker. What was the imperative for that gilded visage? Was it representative of the wearer or indifferent to his or her individual features? Was it a common feature of the burial practices of the culture that produced it, or an honorific reserved for someone of power or religious privilege? Whatever its origins, it's a glimmering and unsettling work: half grimace, half whimsical indifference, with a mouth seemingly pitched into a smile, showing lines of incised teeth, and high arching eyebrows hatched into the brow, giving it an eerie, gleeful squint. Presented along with the full-face mask are a selection of delicate and beautiful gold funerary face coverings, hammered sheet-thin and carved, bent and incised to articulate the curves and lines of a face. Critical cultural changes can be read into the sweep of these objects. The fashioning of death masks and other funerary goldwork was an art whose end was ensured by the arrival to Java of Hinduism and Buddhism, religions that espoused cremation over burial, thus eliminating the need for any burial adornment.
Origins Of Lent - News
Serviceably malleable and durable and temptingly rare, it has lent itself to the indulgences of the human imagination since at least as far back as the fourth millennium BCE, serving as currency, adornment and sculpture — as well as the inspiration
What we must remember is that in its origins and in some ways in its deepest political meaning, the American Revolution was a tax revolt. From the earliest years of the Great Republic, many Americans -- not John Adams -- have indulged a certain pride,
Borscht, an old world beet soup long savored by Russian and Eastern European Jewish immigrants, lent its name to the Catskill region of upstate New York where generations of revelers summered at hotels such as the Concord and Grossinger's.
Clamorgan, whose origins were as murky as his morals, made a fortune in the fur trade and land speculation. Renowned for his charm, he won Spanish land grants totaling nearly 1 million acres in the upper Louisiana Territory.
Not a bad record for a humble little item, born more than 400 years ago. Historians trace the bagel's origins to Krakow, Poland. There, in 1610, it was created as a Jewish version of the bublic, a small, slender bread designed for Lent.
Contemplating Lent: Meanings and Origins : THEOLOGY21 | Renovating ...
My first experience with the Lent season occurred when I was 12 years old. I had been raised in non-denom churches and the only celebrations I was aware of were the ones that involved chocolate eggs and trees covered in tinsel. What any of that had to do with Jesus I had no clue, but I loved chocolate and presents so no explanation was ever necessary.
At the age of 12 a childhood friend of mine showed up for PE one afternoon at school with his forehead marked in soot. I, of course, not knowing that it was Ash Wednesday thought the addition sign on his head was rather odd. Upon asking him the reason for the dark ash strewn across his forehead he replied it was because he was Catholic. I, personally, didn’t happen to think that this was a very good excuse for not keeping oneself clean. My friend continued, at his best effort, trying to explain the concept of Lent for Easter, and after several tries to subdue my attempts to correct his mispronunciation of ‘lint’ he walked away rather flustered. I could only shake my head, feeling rather bad for him at the thought of me enjoying chocolate rabbits and Cadbury eggs Easter morning while all he got in his basket was 40 days of dryer fluff.
It would be another seven years before I actually celebrated Ash Wednesday, and almost another decade from there until I had someone in my life who actually practiced Lent regularly.
So as this is the Lenten season, and millions of Christians of one form or another are celebrating this season, it seems right to post about it. So for those readers, who like me, know nothing about Lent and are wondering if it is something that should be practiced or ignored, given credence to or left as archaic, let’s take a look at the holy church season.
So what’s Lint about? Oh, it’s Lent? Okay, what’s Lent about?
Most people seem to have some concept of what Lent is: your girlfriend gives up wearing makeup, or your boss gives up coffee and cigarettes, and by Easter you find yourself single and unemployed.
For 40 days, not counting Sundays, a believer will give up something which is either a vice or possibly a distraction from their faith, which begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter Sunday.
In the Church, the tradition of Lent goes back to an apostolic beginning; however, scholarship seems to indicate that this was probably not true. A letter from the early church father Iranaeus, in 190 CE, seems to indicate that there was yet to be a set practice of a Lenten season, or even a Lenten concept other than just a time of solemnness that should proceed Easter.
Origins Of Lent - Bookshelf
The rites of Christian initiation, their evolution and interpretation
Excursus Baptismal Preparation and the Origins of Lent In the previous two chapters we have seen that there had developed within the church of the fourth ...Preaching & Reading the Lectionary, A Three-Demensional Approach to the Liturgical Year
The first concerns the reading for Lent 1. During Years A and B, the focus on origins relates to the garden of Eden and the recreation of humanity after the ...Between memory and hope, readings on the liturgical year
Thomas Talley's essay, "The Origin of Lent at Alexandria," raises significant challenges to this assumption. Based in part on the earlier work of ...An ecofeminist perspective on Ash Wednesday and Lent
36 Maxwell Johnson, "From Three Weeks to Forty Days: Baptismal Preparation and the Origins of Lent," in Living Water, Sealing Spirit: Readings on Christian ...Celebrating the Church Year with Young Children
Origins and Spirit of Lent The origins of Lent are closely linked with the final preparation of candidates for baptism at the Paschal Vigil. ...Gold Information Directory
Lent - Catholic Encyclopedia
Provides origin of the word, custom, and the duration and nature of the holy fast.
Easter – Its Ancient Origins
What is the origin of Lent and sunrise services? How did rabbits, ... Such a Lent of forty days, in the spring of the year, is still observed by the ...
The Origins of Lent - Associated Content from Yahoo! ...
The origins of the Lenten observance and the meaning behind the fasting and prayer associated with Lent.
Lent - Call to Conversion - Frequently Asked Questions
Lent FAQs about ashes on Ash Wednesday, rules for fasting and abstinence, giving things up for Lent, Stations of the Cross, Catholic scrutinies, Catholic confession ...
The Origins of Lent
Lent is a special time of prayer, penance, sacrifice and good works ... again noting the apostolic origins of Lent. One can safely conclude that by the end of ...