8 min listen
60 (HD): Comets & Antiquity, Halley's Comet, ISON, Apophis, and More
60 (HD): Comets & Antiquity, Halley's Comet, ISON, Apophis, and More
ratings:
Length:
13 minutes
Released:
Feb 17, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
It's a cosmic collision of contemporary and antiquity on the Ancient Art Podcast! The prophesied comet of the century, Comet ISON, may have bit the dust, but that's no reason to pile dirt on our exploration of comets of past and present in the world of art. In two rare examples of auspicious comets in antiquity, Augustus Caesar and Mithridates VI of Pontus exploit coinage as vehicle for propaganda. We discuss the cameo of Halley's Comet on the Bayeux Tapestry capturing the Battle of Hastings in AD 1066, then trace Halley's Comet's apparitions back to 87 BC, 164 BC, ... no wait, 240 BC. Holy smokes ... 466 BC!? Chinese observers take the cake with the Comet Atlas of Mawangdui. And does the ancient, sacred, and much-maligned symbol of the swastika owe its origin to ancient comets? Lastly, has the ancient Egyptian demon serpent of chaos, Apophis, set his sights on Earth with a firestorm from above in 2036? Transcript, Credits, Photo Gallery and more at http://ancientartpodcast.org/60. Connect at http://facebook.com/ancientartpodcast and http://twitter.com/lucaslivingston.
Released:
Feb 17, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
1 (HD): The Scarab in Ancient Egypt: Our inaugural episode examines the role of the scarab beetle in Ancient Egyptian religion and funerary art as both the Egyptian god Khepri and an iconographic motif of resurrection. We also touch on the possible roots of his religious association and... by Ancient Art Podcast, Ancient Worlds