Furies - the Erinyes

The Furies were the three goddesses of vengeance: Tisiphone (avenger of murder), Megaera (the jealous) and Alecto (constant anger). They were also called the Daughters of the Night, but were actually the daughters of Uranus and Gaea. Another name for them is the Erinyes. The Erinyes live in Erebus and are more ancient than any of the Olympians. Their task is to hear complaints brought by mortals against the insolence of the young to the aged, of children to parents, of hosts to guests, and of householders or city councils to suppliants—and to punish such crimes by hounding culprits relentlessly. The Erinyes are crones and often described as having snakes for hair, dog's heads, coal black bodies, bat's wings, and blood-shot eyes. Their victims die in torment.

A victim seeking justice could call down the curse of the Erinys upon the criminal. The Roman Furies were originally nothing but a personification of curses pronounced upon a guilty criminal.

Gold bracteate hoard found in Norway

Seven gold pendants were buried in the Norway clay, the precious jewellry most likely a sacrifice meant for the gods. Those same pendants, called bracteates, have now been recovered near the municipality of Råde in Østfold County. A metal detector enthusiast first uncovered four pieces in a plowed field, and archaeologists from the University of Oslo later found three more during a follow up excavation. Researchers date the hoard to the sixth century.

Researchers classify the Råde hoard as a mix of C type and D type bracteates, which helps date the burial to the sixth century. Items were connected to aristocratic communities within a Germanic elite in Scandinavia. The pendants likely acted as visible symbols of status and alliances. Only people with considerable wealth could afford to bury so much high purity gold in the ground and walk away from it.

Tree ring records and glacial data point to a sharp cooling after a series of volcanic eruptions in the years 536 and 540. A study links those eruptions to a veil of volcanic dust that dimmed sunlight, reduced plant growth and brought food insecurity and hungar. Norse stories tell of a legendary Fimbul winter, a long season of darkness and hunger.

Charon's obol

Charon's obol is a term for the coin placed in the mouth of the dead before burial.

Literary sources specify the coin as an obol, and explain it as a payment for Charon, the ferryman who conveyed souls across the river that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. Examples of these coins have been called "the most famous grave goods from antiquity."

Charon and Psyche (1883) An obol was originally a small silver coin, valued at one-sixth of a drachma. After the Greeks were absorbed into the Roman empire, obol was used to describe any low-value bronze coin.

The custom is primarily associated with the ancient Greeks and Romans, though it is also found in the ancient Near East. In Western Europe, a similar usage of coins in burials occurs in regions inhabited by Celts of the Gallo-Roman, Hispano-Roman and Romano-British cultures, and among the Germanic peoples. In Latin, Charon’s obol is sometimes called a viaticum, which in everyday usage means "provision for a journey" Greek and Roman literary sources from the 5th century BC through the 2nd century AD are consistent in attributing four characteristics to Charon’s obol: it is a single, low-denomination coin; it is placed in the mouth; the placement occurs at the time of death; and it represents a boat fare.

In Greek mythology, Charon is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. Those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were unburied, wandered the shores for one hundred years.

Charon is often depicted in the art of ancient Greece. He holds his ferryman's pole in his right hand and uses his left hand to receive the dead. A skull found in the cemetery of the ancient city of Lato is one of the most spectacular exhibits at the Agios Nikolaos museum in Crete. The skull of a crowned athlete with a gold wreath in the shape of a laurel branch still attached to it is perhaps one of the most impressive exhibits in Greece. The flesh disintegrated after 2,500 years, but the wreath stuck and remained on the skull. Inside the mouth, a silver coin was found. It is a payment to Charon, who in Greek mythology was the ferryman of Hades who carried the souls of the newly deceased to the underworld.

Treasures of Pompeii

The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town near modern Naples.

When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, Pompeii was burned and buried in ash, while nearby Herculaneum was destroyed by the pyroclastic flow. The area was buried under 4 to 6m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice from the eruption. Pompeii was lost for 1500 years until its rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150 years later in 1748. Discoveries continue to this day.

The objects that lay beneath the city have been well preserved for thousands of years.

Marble statue with traces of gold-plating from the Temple of Isis, Pompeii.

Helmet of a ‘Thracian’ (Thrax) gladiator. Bronze, from Pompeii.

Mosaic (detail) from Pompeii.

Apollo as an Archer

A gold bracelet bears an inscription. On its inside face are the words 'dominus ancillae suae'– from the master (dominus) to his slave-girl (ancilla).

The Zliten mosaic

The Zliten mosaic is a Roman floor mosaic from about the 2nd century AD, found in the town of Zliten in Libya, on the east coast of Leptis Magna.

It depicts gladiatorial contests, animal hunts, and scenes from everyday life.

The mosaic was discovered in 1913 and is now on display at The Archaeological Museum of Tripoli.

20 ancient wooden coffins uncovered in Egypt

Archaeologists uncovered at least 20 ancient wooden coffins in the southern city of Luxor in 2019.

Archaeologists found the coffins in the Asasif Necropolis. The necropolis is located in the ancient town of West Thebes and includes tombs dating back to the Middle, New Kingdom and Late Periods (1994 B.C. to 332 B.C.)

Researchers cracked open the spectacular wooden coffins and found perfectly preserved mummies. The find is being described as the most important in a century. The coffins are estimated to be 3,000 years old.

The coffins were found sealed and intact, featuring vibrant color inscriptions and well-preserved engravings, both inside and out. Inscriptions suggest the coffins were for children and priests.