Thanks! This helps me understand it.

It seems like the late Roman Republic was in a constant state of civil war for a long time up to Augustus becoming emperor. I find it surprising in that context the Republic didn't face more significant external opportunistic pressure or attacks, either from the Parthians, European tribes, or someone else. Why didn't they?

[removed]

are there any accurate Hollywood western movies?

[deleted]

Fair enough. I had always assumed they had been further along given how it has been described at times as a kind of “atomic race” with the Manhattan Project.

Germany, by its own estimates, wouldn't have had a nuke before 1947 at best, which is why the program was shelved; and if Germany doesn't invade the USSR by the start of 1942, there isn't a World War 2 at all, as Germany would start to run out of oil for its military machine, and thus, be in no position to win an offensive war.

Whatever such a conflict would look like, it would be a different beast than WW2, and the Germans still aren't getting a nuke first if Japan still attacks the US.

Hope I'll be still alive to say I'm from a future generation

If Germany had not invaded Poland and stuck with what they had on August 31st 1939, would they have been able to beat America to the atomic bomb, and therefore been in a stronger position to win what would eventually have been WWII?

I don’t know how far along their atomic research was at that point, nor America for that matter, but I do know the invasion of Poland and subsequent actions created an urgency in the Americans weapons programme.

I know it’s a “what if” but I’m talking specifically about where both programmes were on August 31st 1939.

The general attitude toward nudes in advertising in the 19th and early 20th century were not dissimilar to the attitude toward nudity in fine art.

Generally speaking, nude art that had some kind of historical or mythological background was fine, but nudes of contemporary women in contemporary settings were considered much more shocking and risqué. It's why Cabanel and Bouguereau's depictions of the Birth of Venus were both considered beautiful and respectable works of art, but Manet's Olympia caused a furor. Orientalist nudes, like of Odalisques in idealized harems, were also far more acceptable than those of contemporary European women.

Most nude ads I've seen from the 19th and early 20th century are tended to have ostensibly historical, mythological, or Orientalist subject matter, which is probably why they don't seem to have drawn much contemporary criticism.

I thought they had recently discovered how to make Roman concrete.

And there was a moat of mercury buried as well. So that's probably a bit dangerous.

Sorry, I mistook what you were asking.

I know the origin of ziggurat, I just meant the curious use of "tell" to refer to such hills, and its purported Arabic origin. After checking Wikipedia it actually seems to have made it to English directly from Arabic.

[deleted]

[removed]

[removed]

There have been landmarks carbon dated older than this by 2-3 fold that are believed to have been built by ancient civilizations. Some pre-date the ice age. Accepting this will wipe out everything that has been taught about ancient civilizations and discredit many professionals in the field.

It depends where one wants to dig. Excavations in some countries like Greece and Israel regularly take volunteers with no dig experience, whereas it’s very difficult to join a dig in Iraq even as an archaeologist. The AIA fieldwork opportunities page is a good place to start.

Local workers are usually hired for digging.

• The square is excavated from north to south using shovels, pickaxes, or hoes. Usually only a 5 or 10 cm layer is removed at a time, since you want to be able to quickly identify any changes in soil texture or material culture indicating that you’ve moved from one period of occupation into an earlier one.

• All of this dirt is shoveled into buckets (guffa in Arabic), and the buckets are loaded into wheelbarrows.

• Each of the buckets is dumped into the sifter and examined for bones, seals and seal impressions, beads, potsherds, and other small objects.

• The square is swept clean after completing a pass so that it can be photographed.

• Any architecture (stone or mudbrick) or statuary we come across is articulated. This is usually done with a trowel and a stiff brush.

Typically each square has one or two archaeologists and three or four workers. I like to get down and dirty and dig as much as possible too, but a lot of my time has to be spent doing paperwork (mapping the square, packaging and labeling artifacts we find, recording details about soil color and texture, etc.).

Additionally, a couple of local villagers are hired to cook meals and wash pottery.

That makes a lot of sense. I'm assuming that the word went from Arabic to Spanish, then to the new world where it was applied to ziggurat-hills?

when did 2500 BC become 'ancient civilisation' .... ? Egypt was flourishing by then, Mesopotamia also, Sumerian civilisation was far older, Indus too
Talk 11000 BC like Gobleki Tepi, THAT is an ancient civilisation .

> Yeah. It's was interesting to see the hype wave as someone whom known of Tesla and his work prior to it and knew that he wasn't well known.

Mentioned this above, but short version, I think Tesla got a huge notoriety bump in pop culture for a while, not because he's Tesla, but just because he was written as the "face" in one streak of the ever popular "things your teachers told you wrong, the hero was a heel" type stories (Edison)

>lost knowledge

Roman concrete. Greek fire.

realistically, I think a lot of "Tesla is so well known" (in the context of modern era, not his own time)

Is less about the popular interest in Tesla, and more about the popular fascination with "Hey, did you know Edison was actually a villain?!" articles.

Not because of any hate towards Edison specially, just the popularity of a "history got it wrong, and the hero is actually the villain" article

Nudity has a strange and odd history as to how societies have viewed it over history. But as what you're asking about is most likely the Edwardian influence on that era in Europe. With the death of Queen Victoria, the prudish Victorian era had come to a close and the more flamboyant and and open Edwardian era began. King Edward VII was a bovivant and loved the excesses of life. This translated into a freer society in terms of nudity and sex. Also this was a time of "accepted" medical practices and the "settled science" of the day were being questioned which lead to a growing interest in naturism, basically nudism in the woods, countryside, beach resorts, anywhere away from cities of smog, pollution and disease. The women on bicycles are probably advertising for a naturist resort where clothes were barred, people bathed regularly, focus was on a healthy diet and daily exercise for the time the person spent there, the naturism movement spawned magazines (one of which H&E which stands for Health & Efficiency was started in 1900 & continues today to be in publication) posters and short movies. Naturism was about reconnecting with nature by being naked outside but also about better health and over all quality of life, naturists often didn't smoke or consume alcohol which was more than unusual at that time. The opposition to this came from the United States where it was seen as pornographic and sinful and these posters, magazines and films were largely banned, people caught in possession, mailing them or buying them could be arrested and jailed.