The Succubus - Incubus

A succubus is a demon in female form, or supernatural entity in medieval folklore that appears in dreams and takes the form of a woman in order to seduce men, usually through sex.

A succubus may take a form of a beautiful young girl but closer inspection may reveal deformities of her body, such as bird-like claws or serpentine tails. The male counterpart to the succubus is the incubus. During the time when succubus lore was created, sexual activities that were not purposefully procreative were considered sin. The succubus may have been used by men to retain their faith.

In some stories a succubus collects semen from the men she seduces. The incubi or male demons then use the semen to impregnate human females.

Salacious tales of incubi and succubi have been told for centuries. Some traditions hold that repeated sexual activity with an incubus or succubus may result in the deterioration of health, mental state, or death. One of the earliest mentions of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, c. 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu. It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams.

Saffron

Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, is extracted from the flowers of the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus. It has been used for over 50,000 years. Saffron was a precious commodity treasured across ancient civilizations for medicine, dye, perfume, and ritual. It was cultivated and traded extensively.

The first known use by humans of wild crocuses was as pigment for cave paintings, about 50000 years ago in today’s Iraq. Ancient texts from Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia also describe the use of wild crocuses in medicine and dye. Ancient artworks and genetics point to Bronze Age Greece, in 1700 BCE or earlier, as the origin of saffron’s domestication. Domesticated saffron can only be propagated asexually with human help. The process was first described by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus in the fourth century BCE. Today, domesticated saffron is grown for use in cooking and perfumes and as a yellow dye. 16000 flowers, requiring up to 470 person-hours to collect, yield a single kilo, worth between $1300 and $10000.

Dense patches of crocus flowers on the fresco ‘The Saffron Gatherers’ from the island of Santorini (1600 BCE) suggest cultivation.

Around the globe today, all saffron crocuses are effectively clones dating back to saffron’s emergence in ancient times.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, called the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ to John of Patmos, at 6:1-8.

The chapter tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses. The four riders are often seen as symbolizing Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. The Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen set a divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment.

The rider of the second horse is taken to represent War. His horse is red. The color red, and the rider's possession of a great sword, suggests blood.

The first horseman is called Pestilence, and is associated with infectious disease and plague. "They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth." (Revelation 6:7-8). "When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him."  (Revelation 6:3-4)

Albrecht Dürer, Knight, Death and the Devil, 1513

The End Times will experience the 4 horsemen.

The third horseman rides a black horse and is understood to be Famine as the horseman carries a pair of balances or weighing scales, indicating the way that bread would have been weighed during a famine. "When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand." (Revelation 6:5-6)

The fourth and final horseman is named Death. Of all the riders, he is the only one to whom the text explicitly gives a name. Unlike the other three, he is not described carrying a weapon or other object, instead he is followed by Hades. Illustrations commonly depict him carrying a scythe. When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him.  The four horsemen portray four disastrous occurrences that will take place before the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Gold aureus of Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius, also known as Antoninus, was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was one of the Five Good Emperors. About A.D. 141 Antoninus Pius ordered the Roman frontier be pushed northward. A gold aureus alludes to his victory in Britain. The coin was struck circa 143 to 144 A.D., at the Rome Mint. The campaign was successful, establishing the 39-mile-long Antonine Wall some 99 miles north of Hadrian’s wall. The Senate acclaimed Antoninus as Imperator in A.D. 143 for the second time. This coin marks that event, with its depiction of winged Victory holding a trophy symbolizing military success. The aureus made $7,000.

Great Baddow Hoard

The Great Baddow Hoard was found in 2020 and consists of 933 gold staters which date to 60–20 B.C.E. That period saw Iron Age tribes in Britain like the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni starting to mint their own currency, after long importing Celtic coins from overseas. Most of the gold coins were struck in a region associated with the Catuvellauni, likely as tribute payment to the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar following his capture of Eastern Britain. The Museum of Chelmsford, Essex, acquired the Great Baddow Hoard for £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Quimbaya Gold

The Quimbaya civilization was a Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, noted for their gold work.

Most items are funeral offerings, found in sarcophagi made of hollow trunks.

Most of the gold is made in tumbaga alloy, with 30% copper. The Quimbaya reached their zenith during the 4th to 7th century CE.

The gold represented a sacred metal and the passport for the afterlife.

Around the 10th century the Quimbaya culture disappeared entirely for unknown reasons.

Ancient Roman altars found in Scotland to go on display

Two ancient Roman stone altars found near Edinburgh go on public display for the first time as part of a new exhibition at the National Museums of Scotland. The altars were used by soldiers worshipping the god Mithras almost 2,000 years ago in a temple at the northern frontier of the Roman empire. The discovery of the altars was made at Inveresk in East Lothian and dates to about 140 AD - when southern Scotland was reoccupied under Emperor Antoninus Pius.

The altars, which were excavated in 2010, are the only examples of their kind ever found in Scotland. Experts say the altars were once the centrepiece of the most northerly temple to the god Mithras in the Roman empire. Mithras was the focus of a secretive, male-only cult followed mainly by Roman soldiers. One altar shows the face of Sol, the sun god. It was designed so that light shone from behind, making the god's face and crown appear to glow in the darkness. It also includes carvings of the four seasons, shown as female figures, reflecting the passage of time.

Both altars were dedicated by a Roman centurion, probably named Gaius Cassius Flavianus, who was likely in charge of the fort at Inveresk. Around 140–142 AD, Emperor Antoninus Pius ordered the reoccupation of southern Scotland, reversing Hadrian's policy to push the Roman frontier north. Led by governor Quintus Lollius Urbicus, Roman legions built the turf-based Antonine Wall between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde.

Construction of the 37-mile (60 km) turf-and-timber fortification began around 142 AD, featured 16–20 forts and a wide ditch. The wall served as a new, shorter frontier though it was only occupied for about two decades before being abandoned.