NYC

This blog feels more and more public as time goes on. When I started it three years ago, it was so unhinhibited. I suppose I had less relationships, less people to impress. I don't know. Anyway, I feel I should blog about something, just to calm down before bed.

So I went to New York City with Ferron, and her friend Julie, and Julie's friend Ellen.

OK so NYC is pretty cool. We saw a lot and it was great. Central Park is neato. We saw Mary Poppins and Wicked on Broadway and it was great!

I spent hours reading about and looking at Mesopotamian cylinder seals at the Morgan Library. It was amazing. I can't even tell you. I can't even fucking tell you.

OK, I am going to rewind and build up to the cylinder seals. So there were three awesome things I saw: a pompeii exhibit, a display "celebrating 100 years" at the New York Public Library, a bunch of awesome medieval stuff at the Morgan Library, and a bunch of awesome ancient artifacts at the Morgan Library.

The pompeii exhibit was great and had a bunch of awesome artifacts. I wasn't feeling it though, which is unfortunate and my problem, because it was actually quite impressive. Armor, pots, dice, amphorae. I guess I just wasn't in the mood. I was, however, emotionally affected by the casts of dead people - their exact shapes preserved by the hardened ash before their bodies decomposed. Just, how crazy is that? It is like a photograph of that moment. That Roman, with that face, hair, body, died exactly like that. Three women collapsed on stairs. A man holding a woman. A mother, father, and baby sprawled out across their living room. A dozen bodies and a surgeon on a beach.

I am going to be more brief about the NYPL display. What intrigued me was the cuneiform tablets they had on display. I teared up a bit when I saw them. They were from about 3000 BCE I think. Then there was a bunch of manuscripts from the middle ages which was pretty cool.

At the Morgan I checked out their exhibit on medieval fashion. Perhaps the focus of the exhibit allowed me to be more intrigued than I was at the quite general NYPL display. Several manuscripts, from about the 13th to 17th centuries I think, were open to illustrations depicting people in clothes of the time. It showed how fashion changed over the years. They had a few mannequins sporting the clothes as well.

Next at the Morgan I was sure to check out the Stavelot Triptych. "A medieval reliquary and portable altar in gold and enamel intended to protect, honor, and display pieces of the true cross." There you have it. So, I guess it's remotely possible I got to see part of the true cross. Pretty cool at any rate.

OK, it's really time for bed, so I'd better get to the cylinder seals. They had dozens of the goddam things. Dating back to 3500 BCE Mesopotamia, these were cylinders of several different compositions with extremely intricate designs carved on them. These worked like wax stamp seals of today. Instead of wax, they would roll them over clay to display the full picture carved on the seal. They were like a brand name, or a signature, from what I understand. To make something official, to say "I, Kuwari the merchant, endorse what is written here." These things were just so... intricate! There was one that really stuck with me. Very different from the others, likely so because of a new Semite influence in the region. Damn, I can't find it on the internet. It was smooth, the shapes round. Oryxes jumping or something like that.

Also, more cuneiforms! Bigger cuneiforms! There were fragments of: The Epic of Etana, the Epic of Adapa, a ritual for the observance of eclipses... But, best of all, the first ever recording of the deluge, and the oldest known origin of Noah's Arc: the Epic of Atrahasis!

"Let it be roofed over fore and aft. The gear should be very strong, the pitch should be firm, and so give the boat strength. For I will make water here."*

Anyway, holy fuck it's bed time!
oh, and I'm going to major in history

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*I messed around with this translation. I found it on google, but could not find the "I will make water here" version that was at the Morgan Library. Definitely not a peer-reviewed, critically analysed decision.