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hole up alone (sometimes in a garage? or maybe a remote castle?) to drive

human progress. It’s a romantic notion, but one that doesn’t really hold up

in real life. History’s innovators would be nowhere without their rivals.


Rivalries are behind some of the world’s biggest achievements. In the 19th

century Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla fought the current wars. Two

hundred years earlier, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz battled

over calculus. And two centuries before that, there was Filippo Brunelleschi

and Lorenzo Ghiberti, two men whose rivalry was part of the cauldron of
competition known as the Renaissance.



The two competed in 1418 to design the dome atop Florence’s Duomo,

but their first encounter took place nearly two decades earlier in a
contest to create a set of bronze doors for the Florence Baptistery (which

sits across from the Duomo). Ghiberti came out on top the first time,

and Brunelleschi won the rematch. Their rivalry set the tone for an era

that produced some of the world’s greatest artworks, architecture, and

competitions the world has ever seen.






Amy Briggs, Executive Editor










NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 1

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RUINS REVEALED
The Great Palace (left) and the
Temple of the Inscriptions (right)
stand surrounded by the Mexican
jungle at the Maya site of Palenque.







Features Departments


18 Egypt’s First Pharaoh 6 NEWS
King Narmer united the lands of the Nile some 5,000 years ago. A stone A sword found off Israel’s shores
palette carved as a symbol of his formidable new power sheds light on tells the tale of crusaders and
the beliefs and customs of ancient Egypt at the dawn of its civilization. castles at a time when Muslims and
Christians battled to control the Holy Land.

30 Drinking With Dionysus 8 PROFILES

God of wine and theater, Dionysus brought holy ecstasy to his followers and American-born Wong Kim Ark’s
terrifying revenge to his foes. Associated with rebirth, he shaped religious battle for citizenship went all the
practices across the Mediterranean world until the dawn of Christianity. way to the Supreme Court. His victory set a
legal precedent that endures to this day.
44 Florence’s Crowning Glory
12 WORK OF ART
Florentines had long dreamed of a huge dome for their cathedral when, in Albrecht Dürer’s 1513 engraving
1418, Filippo Brunelleschi said he could build one without scaffolding. His
rivals scoffed, but the great Duomo slowly rose into the Tuscan skies. “Knight, Death, and the Devil”
elevated printmaking to a fine art, and its
creator to the role of Renaissance master.
64 Majesty and Might of Palenque
14 ENIGMAS
Palenque’s imposing temples and Great Palace proclaimed
the glory of the gods and the brilliance of this Maya city’s Scholars were stunned to find an
seventh-century ruler, Pakal the Great. Egyptian mummy wrapped in
the pages of an Etruscan book. How did the
linen make its way from Italy to Alexandria?
80 Buddhist Beauty in Ajanta

Detailed reliefs, colorful murals, and sacred 92 DISCOVERIES
statues fill man-made caves carved from the The raising of the 12th-century
stone cliffs of Ajanta, India, a repository of merchant ship Nanhai No. 1 has
centuries-old Buddhist masterpieces. revealed clues to China’s economic
ambitions at sea in the Song era.
GOLDEN TREASURES. CHAIN RECOVERED FROM THE WRECK
OF THE 12TH-CENTURY CHINESE MERCHANT SHIP NANHAI NO. 1

EXECUTIVE EDITOR AMY E. BRIGGS

Deputy Editor JULIUS PURCELL
Editorial Consultants JOSEP MARIA CASALS (Managing Editor, Historia magazine),
IÑAKI DE LA FUENTE (Art Director, Historia magazine),
VICTOR LLORET BLACKBURN (Editorial consultant and contributor)
Design Editor FRANC VALL SOLER
Photography Editor MERITXELL CASANOVAS
Contributors
JEREMY BERLIN, TONI CABRE, MARC BRIAN DUCKETT, BRADEN PHILLIPS,
SEAN PHILPOTTS, SARAH PRESANT-COLLINS, STEPH SELICE,
SANKAI/GETTY IMAGES
THEODORE A. SICKLEY, JANE SUNDERLAND, ROSEMARY WARDLEY
MANAGING DIRECTOR JOHN MACKETHAN

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ENCRUSTED WITH MARINE LIFE,
THE ATLIT SWORD HAS BEEN
SCANNED TO REVEAL ITS SECRETS.
THE NEXT STEPS WILL INCLUDE
INTENSIVE CLEANING AND
PRESERVATION.
ARIEL SCHALIT/AP





UNDERWATER WEAPON

Mediterranean
LEB.
Sea Medieval Sword Surprises


Acre Sea of
Galilee
Haifa Diver Off Israel’s Shores
Atlit
ISRAEL A well-preserved weapon lay for centuries on the seafloor near the
JOR.
WEST Carmel coast. Could it be connected to the crusaders?
BANK
hifting sands in the Antiquities Authority (IAA) SWORDS USED
BY EUROPEAN
ISRAEL’S Carmel Mediterranean Sea enough so that they could CRUSADERS
coast is rich in sites unveiled a surprise for draw some conclusions. HAD POMMELS,
from the time of the S creational diver in About 10 similar swords AS SHOWN IN
a re
A CIRCA 1250
Crusades, including October 2021. Shlomi Katzin have been recovered from Is- ILLUSTRATION FROM
Atlit Fortress. The spotted a sword on the seabed rael’s Carmel coast, but this THE WESTMINSTER
PSALTER. BRITISH
ancient city of Acre LIBRARY, LONDON
was the crusaders’ near his hometown of Atlit, on most recent find appears to BRITISH LIBRARY/
principal port during northern Israel’s Carmel coast. be the best preserved. To the BRIDGEMAN
the kingdom of Jeru- Despite being encrusted in excitement of IAA archae-
salem, which lasted shells and other marine detri- ologists, an initial x-ray has
from 1099 until 1291. tus, the shape of the weapon revealed a completely intact

told experts from the Israel handle and iron blade. They


6 MAY/JUNE 2022

PILGRIMS’ PORT




ATLIT, near where the medieval sword was found in
2021, is one of very few natural coves along Israel’s
Carmel coast. According to Ezra Marcus, an archae-
ologist at the University of Haifa, Atlit likely offered
a safe haven for ships during winter storms. It would
have been used as a harbor by ancient Egyptian
boats as they headed north along trade routes in
the Bronze Age. During the Fifth Crusade in the early
1200s, the Knights Templar recognized Atlit’s stra-
tegic importance and built a fortress (below) facing
Atlit harbor. Muslim forces eventually expelled the
Crusaders from the Holy Land, but the Atlit Fortress,
also known as Pilgrims’ Castle, was never breached.
Instead, its Christian defenders abandoned the site
in 1291, and the Mamluks took it over.




















THE ATLIT SWORD ON THE SEABED,
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ITS DISCOVERER,
DIVER SHLOMI KATZIN
SHLOMI KATZIN








estimate the sword weighs Crusader Clues
about 2.5 pounds (the final Even as the experts await more
figure will be determined af- data, existing evidence sup-
ter the sword is cleaned). ports the sword’s crusader
Measuring three and a half provenance, said Jacob (Koby)
feet long, the sword features Sharvit, director of the IAA’s ATLIT FORTRESS (ALSO KNOWN AS PILGRIMS’ CASTLE) WAS BUILT
BY THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN THE EARLY 13TH CENTURY.
a distinctive pommel that Marine Archaeology Unit. DUBY TAL/ALBATROSS/ALAMY
strongly suggests European Such a sword was costly, re-
origin. Experts often use the quiring funding to possess and
characteristics of a sword’s training to use, which makes crusader connection. Found objects that have been dated
handle to identify its origin a knight its most likely own- 650 feet offshore at a depth of over a range of 4,000 years.
(Muslim swords from the er. Some sword pommels are 16 feet, the sword was likely “This latest find means this
crusader period feature a cap made of copper alloy, which dropped from a ship or sank in site was an anchorage for a
rather than a pommel). Further allowed for decorative em- a wreck. This spot is two miles very long time,” he said. “The
study may reveal this sword bellishment. This one, how- from Atlit Fortress, one of the whole spectrum of our history
was almost certainly wielded ever, is iron, leading Sharvit to most important crusader is there, from the Late Bronze
by a European soldier from the theorize that it belonged to a strongholds in the Holy Land. Age to the medieval period.”
crusader period (a.d. 1099- common knight rather than a What most excites Sharvit, Rich with history, the spot

1291), who traveled to the Holy noble one. however, is the discovery site could hold a trove of artifacts
Land in a bid to wrest it from Sharvit believes the discov- itself: a 1,000-square-foot from many eras.
Muslim control. ery site itself also supports a area that has already yielded —Braden Phillips


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 7

P R O F I L E S












Wong Kim Ark,




Face of U.S. Citizenship







Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Wong Kim Ark took his fight for his rights all the
way to the Supreme Court as nativist men tried to steal his birthright from him.




n 1897 the 14th Amendment was bare- were vetoed by President Rutherford B.
His ly three decades old when it was put Hayes, who was trying to balance foreign
to the test, thanks to Wong Kim Ark. relations and domestic politics.
American Life Ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of The Panic of 1873 had shifted the fed-

t

I Civil War, this addition to the U.S. eral government’s balance to U.S. politics
h
e
Constitution defines U.S. citizenship in and strengthened the power of nativists
ca 1871-73
Section 1: “All persons born or naturalized in the West. They loudly blamed Chinese
Wong Kim Ark is in the United States, and subject to the laborers for widespread unemployment
born in San Francisco, jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the and wage cuts. Denis Kearney and his
California to Chinese
immigrants, Wong Si United States and of the State wherein Workingmen’s Party of California united
Ping and Wee Lee. they reside.” But anti-immigrant forces behind the slogan “The Chinese Must
challenged its straightforward language. Go!” Chinese communities came under

1882 Wong sued for his rights under the 14th serious threats of violence; 19 Chinese
Amendment, and his case would go all people were killed in a race massacre in
The Chinese Exclusion the way to the Supreme Court. Los Angeles in 1871. In San Francisco
Act passes, which limits
Chinese immigration for buildings were destroyed in Chinatown
10 years and restricts Nativist Fears and Chinese graves desecrated.
naturalization. Nativist attitudes were prevalent Anti-Chinese prejudice culminated in

throughout the United States in the the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act,
1890 19th century, and in the West they tar- which was signed into law by President

geted Chinese immigrants. California Chester Arthur in 1882. It denied natu-
Wong returns to China
with his parents. He passed a series of laws from the 1850s ralization to Chinese immigrants already
marries and conceives a through the 1870s discriminating against in the United States and denied entry of
child before returning to Chinese residents; at the federal level, new workers from China for 10 years.
the United States.
laws were introduced trying to exclude Under this law, Chinese people traveling
Chinese immigrants from entering the in or out of the United States had to carry
1895
country. Some even passed Congress but a certificate that identified their working
U.S. officials status—laborer, scholar, diplomat, or
challenge Wong’s merchant. In 1888 the Scott Act was
citizenship while passed, which barred reentry to the
detaining him for
months off the coast United States from China, even for
of California. He sues. long-term legal residents. In 1892 the
Geary Act followed, which renewed
1898 exclusion for 10 more years and be-
came permanent in 1902.
Finding for Wong,
the Supreme Court
declares birthright
citizenship the law of HATEFUL AGENDA. A BROADSIDE FOR THE
the land in the U.S. WORKINGMEN’S PARTY OF CALIFORNIA STOKES
PREJUDICE AGAINST CHINESE AMERICANS IN THE 1870S.
GRANGER/AGE FOTOSTOCK


8 MAY/JUNE 2022

CHINESE
EXCLUSION ACT





THE FIRST BIG WAVE of Chinese
immigration to the United States
occurred in the 1850s when
harsh financial conditions in
southern China sent thousands
of people, mostly men, to the
western United States. After the
Panic of 1873 caused white na-
tivists to blame Chinese Ameri-
cans for economic hardships, the
federal government passed the
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
The first piece of U.S. legislation
to limit immigration based on
nationality or race, it banned
Chinese labor immigration for 10
years. It was extended in 1892 in
the form of the Geary Act, which
regulated Chinese immigration
for decades. The exclusion acts
were finally repealed in 1943.


WONG KIM ARK, ID PHOTOGRAPH PRIOR TO
AN 1894 VOYAGE TO CHINA
TANGO IMAGES/ALAMY










Born in the U.S.A. Street in San Francisco, lived in the In the 1880s there were not many
Wong Kim Ark was born in San Fran- apartment above it, and started a family. native-born Chinese Americans in the
cisco, California, in either 1871 or 1873. Despite having lived in California United States. Some estimates place
His parents, Wong Si Ping and Wee Lee, for nearly two decades, Wong’s parents the figure as low as one percent of the
immigrated from China and settled in could not become U.S. citizens because total population. Wong was in a minori-
California as part of a large wave of im- of their foreign birth. Qualifications for ty, having been born and raised in San
migration from China to the American naturalized citizenship were established Francisco. Unlike his merchant father,
West in the mid-19th century. under the Naturalization Act of 1790, he worked as a cook. When his par-
Many of the first Chinese immigrants which said that an immigrant could ents decided to return to China in 1890,
worked in California’s gold mines, then only become a citizen if they were “a Wong traveled with them, stayed a few
on farms, and in factories. Chinese labor- free white person, who shall have re- months, but ultimately returned to the
ers were integral in building railroads in sided within the limits and under the United States.

the U.S. Like later immigrants, Wong Si jurisdiction of the United States for the During that brief first stay in China,
Ping and Wee Lee were entrepreneurs. term of two years . . . and making proof Wong married and conceived a child
They opened a store on Sacramento . . . that he is a person of good character.” with his bride. He returned to California


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 9

P R O F I L E S

















































CHINESE IMMIGRANTS to the
United States established
successful businesses, like
this butcher and grocery store,
photographed in the 1880s in San
Francisco, California.
UNDERWOOD ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES





before his son was born. Living in the earning potential as qualities to attract United States—a photograph of himself
United States while having family back prospective brides in China. and the affidavit of three white men that

in China was not uncommon for the he was “known to us” and had been born
time. Some scholars estimate that as No Reentry in the United States.
many 40 percent of Chinese American In November 1894 Wong returned to Wong sailed back to San Francisco
men were married to women who still Asia to visit his wife, young son, and aboard the Coptic in summer 1895 but
lived in Asia. Parents often negotiated parents. Because of the Chinese Exclu- was denied entry by John Wise, the cus-
these marriages, and Wong’s parents sion Act, he had to obtain the proper toms collector and self-described “zeal-
may have used their son’s age and his documentation to secure his return to the ous opponent of Chinese immigration.”
Despite having the proper legal
documentation, Wong was de-
tained offshore aboard steam-
PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP ships in San Francisco Bay for
five months.

THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT required that if Amer- Chinese Americans had
ican citizens of Chinese descent wanted to travel been fighting for decades to
outside the country, they first had to obtain certifica- protect their civil rights. In San
tions to reenter the United States. For all of his visits Francisco they had established
to China, Wong Kim Ark had first to obtain a signed an aid organization named the
affidavit stating that he was an American citizen. Chinese Consolidated Benevo-
lent Association but known as
1913 REENTRY DOCUMENTATION CERTIFICATE FEATURING A PHOTOGRAPH
OF A MIDDLE-AGED WONG KIM ARK the Six Companies. Their law-
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES yers took up Wong’s case and

filed a writ of habeas corpus,


10 MAY/JUNE 2022

ANGEL ISLAND




ELLIS ISLAND is a well-known part of
the history of American immigra-
tion, but Angel Island’s role is far less
familiar. Located off the coast of San
Francisco, California, Angel Island
served as the access point for immi-
grants on the West Coast. It began
operations in 1910, processing nearly
500,000 immigrants from 80 coun-
tries before it closed in 1940. Many
hailed from Asia: China, Japan, Ko-
rea, Vietnam, and the Pacific Islands.
Asian immigrants were detained on
Angel Island, isolated from family
and friends on the mainland while
they underwent medical exams
and long interrogations. Witnesses,
such as family members living in the
United States, could testify on their
behalf. On at least three occasions,
Wong Kim Ark served as witness for
his sons, who traveled from China to
visit their father.


THE IMMIGRATION STATION IS PART OF THE
CALIFORNIA STATE PARK ON ANGEL ISLAND TODAY.
LEE FOSTER/ALAMY





meaning that his rights as a citizen, made). In 1898 Justice Horace Gray wrote his family in China where his wife and
granted to him by jus soli (Latin for “right the 6-2 majority opinion, which found sons lived. The pair had three more sons

of the soil”), were being violated. Because “the American citizenship which Wong together—all conceived on return vis-
he was a natural-born citizen, provisions Kim Ark acquired by birth within the its by their father. Despite the court
of the Chinese Exclusion Act did not United States has not been lost or taken ruling in Wong’s favor, anti-Chinese
apply to him. Wong was released on away by anything happening since his discrimination persisted. Every time
bond while his case was heard. birth.” Gray pointed out that there were Wong visited China, he still had to fill
Backed by anti-Chinese forces in San exceptions to this rule for children of out so-called “departure papers” swear-
Francisco, U.S. Solicitor General Holmes “foreign sovereigns or their ministers, . . . ing to the fact that he was a U.S. citizen
Conrad decided to challenge the Six or of enemies within and during a hostile to be guaranteed readmission.
Companies and their defense of Wong. occupation . . . [or] of members of the Passing through Angel Island Immi-
Based on the principle of jus sanguinis Indian tribes owing direct allegiance to gration Station in San Francisco Bay,
(meaning “right of blood,”) Conrad’s case their several tribes.” In a direct refuta- Wong’s sons all joined their father in
argued that Wong’s parentage, not his tion of Conrad’s argument, the majority California at different times, and he
place of birth, determined his status; pointed out that many children of “En- served as a witness on their behalf. Only
therefore, he could not be a U.S. citizen glish, Scotch, Irish, German, or other the youngest, Wong Yook Jim, would
because his parents were Chinese and European parentage” would lose their make a life for himself in the United
that made Wong “also a Chinese person, U.S. citizenship if their parents’ status States, even after his father returned to
and subject of the emperor of China.” were the determining factor. China permanently in the 1930s at age
United States v. Wong Kim Ark made its 62. Wong Yook Jim found work across
way to the Supreme Court, where each American Family the country as a waiter, and during World

side was argued before eight justices (the After the Supreme Court’s decision War II, like many other U.S. citizens,
ninth, Justice McKenna, was not sit- Wong Kim Ark continued to live and served his country in the armed forces.
ting on the court when arguments were work in the United States but still visited —Amy Briggs


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 11

W O R K O F A R T










A L B R E C H T D Ü R E R (1 5 1 3 )


Master Print: ‘Knight,





Death, and the Devil’







This 1513 engraving by Dürer, often read as an allegory of the Christian bravely
battling temptations on the path of life, is regarded as the pinnacle of printmaking.




aster of oil and watercol- Maximilian I, and the following year he astride a sickly horse and holding up an
or painting as well as ink began working on “Knight, Death, and the hourglass. The engraving depicts the chi-
drawing, German artist Devil” and the other two engravings in the valric and religious ideals of the Middle
Albrecht Dürer made his Meisterstiche series. According to Jeffrey Ages while accurately portraying human
M test impact in yet an- C. Smith, Kay Fortson Chair in European and animal bodies according to Italian
g
a
e
r
other medium: printmaking, which he Art, at the University of Texas, Austin, precepts that would become inseparable
elevated to a fine art through both wood- Dürer “relished the intellectual challenge” from Renaissance art.
cuts and copperplate engravings. In 1513 of the engravings, and devoted a year of Using a V-tipped gouging tool called
he made “Knight, Death, and the Devil,” his busy life to their execution. Dürer’s a burin, which he learned to use in his
the first of three intricate engravings that challenge, according to Smith, was to act goldsmith father’s workshop, Dürer cre-
became known as his Meisterstiche, or as “an artistic and intellectual bridge be- ated astonishing varieties of texture in the
master prints. tween the North and Italy.” knight’s armor and leather boot, the fur
In “Knight, Death, and the Devil,” Dürer of the dog, and the horse’s lustrous coat.
Italian Influences combines his German heritage with the For many art historians, the technical skill
Born in Nürnberg (in modern-day Italian focus on classical form, perspec- he demonstrated in this work has never
Germany) in 1471, Dürer was profound- tive, and proportion. The work depicts a been equaled.
ly influenced by his Italian Renaissance steadfast knight on horseback accompa- Dürer’s woodcut prints were popular

contemporaries, including Michelangelo, nied by his faithful dog. (The four bronze and could be mass-produced, yielding as
Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. horses of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice are many as 2,000 impressions. Engravings
After returning from a second trip to said to have been an inspiration.) The such as “Knight, Death, and the Devil,”
Italy in 1507, Dürer received a series of im- knight and his dog pass the perils of the meanwhile, were printed in 100 to 200
portant commissions. In 1512 he became world: a monstrous devil, and death— impressions, which made them more ex-
court painter to Holy Roman Emperor who is depicted as a grotesque figure pensive but still accessible. This popu-
larity made Dürer one of the first artists
to become a brand name; he even placed
a monogram, AD, on most of his work.
GENTLEMAN ARTIST In his lifetime, he produced a total of

100,000 to 200,000 impressions.
Although the Meisterstiche were
albrecht dürer painted 13 self-portraits
over the course of his life, the first when he not made as a cycle to be sold together,
was in his early teens. One of the most fa- “Knight, Death, and the Devil” is asso-
mous was painted in 1498 when he was 26 ciated with the two other master prints
(left). By depicting himself in rich attire and made in 1514: “Saint Jerome in His Study”
kidskin gloves, he announces that he is not and “Melencolia I.” They represent three
merely a craftsman but a great artist—a
role that merited the elevated status he ways of virtuous living: The knight is the
enjoyed on his visits to Italy. active life; St. Jerome, the spiritual life;
and Melencolia, the life of the rational
SELF-PORTRAIT, DÜRER, 1498. PRADO MUSEUM, MADRID
ALBUM intellect.
—Jesús F. Pascual


12 MAY/JUNE 2022

KNIGHT, DEATH, AND THE DEVIL
Considered one of the most technically
brilliant and expressive pieces of
printmaking, this copperplate engraving
was produced by the Nürnberg artist
Albrecht Dürer in 1513.
ALAMY/ACI

E N I G M A S








Message in





the Mummy’s





Wrappings






Mysterious markings written on an Egyptian mummy’s bandages were

confounding to the 19th-century scholars. It took decades to decipher

them and reveal the surprising identity of their authors—the Etruscans.




n 1868 the Museum of Za- the markings. The bandages environment to preserve the
greb in Croatia, then part were examined by the Aus- fragile textile. The mummy’s
of the Austro-Hungarian trian Egyptologist Jakob Krall, wrappings were not only the
Empire, acquired an Egyp- who was able to finally break first linen Etruscan text found
Itian mummy of a woman. the code: The letters were not intact but also the longest text
Her previous owner had re- Coptic, as some had speculat- ever found in Etruscan. It could
moved her wrappings but held ed, but Etruscan, the words of be a gold mine of information
on to them. She had been an a culture that had dominated on the culture.
ordinary person, not royalty pre-Roman Italy. Whoev- Krall’s identification of the
or of the priestly class. Her er had wrapped the mummy Linen Book of Zagreb (also ETRUSCAN LETTERS
wrappings, however, held a centuries before had used known by its Latin name, Liber form the Linen Book
of Zagreb, later torn
fascinating puzzle. There was strips torn from an Etruscan Linteus Zagrabiensis) raised
into strips to use as
writing on the linen strips, linen book. many questions about its con-
bandages to wrap an
but German Egyptologist The discovery was sensa- tents and when it was written. Egyptian mummy.
Heinrich Brugsch noted that tional. References to Etruscan Of equal interest was how an Archaeological Museum

they were not Egyptian hi- linen books can be found in Etruscan book came to wrap of Zagreb, Croatia
eroglyphics. It was a script many classical works, but sur- an Egyptian mummy. COURTESY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF
ZAGREB, PHOTOGRAPH BY IGOR KRAJCAR
unknown to him. viving specimens had been im-
Two decades later, in 1891, possible to find. The arid cli- Etruscan Enigmas
museum authorities agreed to mate of Egypt coupled with the The modern Italian region of
send the wrappings to Vienna desiccants used to dry out the Tuscany corresponds roughly
to see if they could translate mummy had created a perfect with the ancient Etruscan homeland of Etruria. Emerg-
ing in the eighth century b.c.,
Etruria traded with Greek col-
onists and developed a so-
phisticated culture of met-
LONG RECOVERY alworking, painting, and

carving. Trade brought
IN MARCH 2020 a magnitude 5.3 earthquake Etruria goods, Greek
severely damaged the Archaeological Museum gods, and the Euboean
of Zagreb, home to the Linen Book of Zagreb Greek alphabet. The
and many other Egyptian artifacts. Founded in Etruscans adapted it to cre-
1846, the museum is still recovering from the ate their own script, which
damage and has yet to reopen as of this writing. was written from right to left.

EGYPTIAN NOBLEWOMAN, AMARNA STYLE, CA 1353–1336 B.C. The Etruscan language is
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF ZAGREB TOM K PHOTO/AGE FOTOSTOCK
almost unique among Euro-
pean languages. Nearly all of


14 MAY/JUNE 2022

GRAVE GOODS



THE LINEN BOOK OF ZAGREB was wrapped around
the body of a woman who was between 30 and
40 years of age when she died. In addition to the
them (including English) are and “person.” The growth Etruscan text and the Egyptian Book of the Dead,
derived from Indo-European of republican Rome’s pow- her mummy was laid to rest with a necklace of
tongues that arrived in Eu- er, however, would consume colored beads, a flower headdress, and a mum-
rope thousands of years ago. Etruscan society, leaving just mified cat’s skull.
Etruscan, however, is an out- its artifacts, vivid tomb art,
EGYPTIAN WOMAN, FOURTH TO FIRST
lier: a rare case of a language and inscriptions that fewer CENTURIES B.C. ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
that predated and survived and fewer people could read. OF ZAGREB
ALAMY/ACI
the Indo-European influx. First-century Roman em-
Early Roman history is peror Claudius was a stu-
intertwined with that of dent of Etruscan, and one of
Etruscans, who served as the last people in classical
the city’s earliest kings. antiquity able to speak and
Etruscan words found their read it. Claudius even wrote a

way into Latin—phersu, the 20-volume history of the
Etruscan word for “mask,” is Etruscans, a work that has not
the root word for “persona” survived to the modern age.


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 15

E N I G M A S






SACRIFICES

AND LIBATIONS



THE EXPERTS translating the
Linen Book of Zagreb needed
profound knowledge of the
Etruscan calendar and gods.
The following examples are
taken from the first lines of the
book’s eighth column:

ƧXFWH FLŋ ŋDULŋ HVYLWD
YDFOWQDP

“On [August] 13, conduct the
consecration according to the
rite.”

FXOŋFYD VSHWUL HWQDP L F
HVYLWOH DPSQ HUL
“Keep/Guard the doors [open?]
then, for the consecration.”

FHOL KXƧLŋ ]DƧUXPLŋ IOHUƵYD
QHƧXQVO ŋXFUL ƧH]HULF

“On September 24th, sacrificial
victims for Nethuns [Neptune]
are to be presented.”

TERRA-COTTA VESSEL, PERHAPS USED FOR POURING
OUT RITUAL LIBATIONS. ATTIC, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF TARQUINIA, ITALY
ALBUM/AKG-IMAGES/NIMATALLAH







Body of Evidence been able to study the ancient mummy had been purchased of the Egyptian Book of the
Before being torn into ban- language based on some in the 1840s in Alexandria by Dead was also used to wrap
dages, the Linen Book of Za- 10,000 short inscriptions, a Croatian man named Mihail the body. This Egyptian work
greb was a sheet about 11 feet but Krall’s identification of Baric. He kept the mummy in references a female figure,
long covered with 12 columns the linen book’s language in his Vienna home. After his named Nesi-Khons (“the
of text. The part recovered 1891 greatly increased the death, the mummy and its mistress of the house”),
from the bandages is thought amount of available text. wrappings were donated to whom scholars now believe
to correspond to about 1,330 At first, scholars believed the museum in Zagreb. to be the woman whose body
words— about 60 percent of the linen book was a funerary The Etruscan linen book was mummified. In the late
the original text. Prior to the work, which led to speculation was not the only text that 20th century, it was estab-
linen book’s discovery, that it was somehow linked to formed part of the mum- lished that she lived some-
Etruscan experts had only the body it once wrapped. The my’s wrappings. A papyrus time between the fourth and
the first centuries b.c. and
died in her 30s.
The book refers to Usil, the The linen book’s black ink

Etruscan sun god, equivalent was made from burnt ivory,

to the Greek god Helios. with titles and rubrics in red
written in cinnabar, a scarlet

ore used in pigments. The
Etruscan text was obscured
USIL, ETRUSCAN CARRIAGE DECORATION, FIFTH CENTURY B.C.
ERICH LESSING/ALBUM in many places by the balsam

ETRUSCAN ART, like this detail
from the sixth-century b.c. fresco
from the Etruscan Tomb of the
Augurs in Tarquinia, Italy, is a
major source of information about
this ancient culture.
SCALA, FLORENCE







used in the mummification text also references Usil, the onto a way of life that was theory, there is no special link
process, but in the 1930s, ad- Etruscan sun god, similar to soon to be swept away by the between the book itself and
vances in infrared photogra- Helios, the Greek solar god. expansion of Roman power. the beliefs of the dead wom-
phy allowed 90 more lines of Further study identified an. The mummifiers just used
the Etruscan to be deciphered, words and names that pin- A Ritual Annual what was around.
further clarifying what schol- point the place of its compo- Scholars still don’t know ex- Another theory takes a rad-
ars believed the book’s role sition. Etruscan experts be- actly how this Etruscan text ically different view, pointing
had been: a ritual calendar de- lieve the linen book was made ended up in Egypt. Several hy- to Etruscan statuary that de-
tailing rites enacted through- near the modern-day Italian potheses have been put for- picts linen books being placed
out the year. city of Perugia. While the ward. One is that the city of in tombs, much as Egyptians
The instructions in the linen itself has been dated to Alexandria, where the mum- placed the Book of the Dead
Etruscan book center on the fourth century b.c., tex- my was purchased in the 19th in theirs. If the dead woman
when certain gods should be tual clues place the writing to century, was a focus of inter- was of Etruscan ancestry, her
worshipped and what rites, much later. The inclusion of national trade between the relatives might have buried
such as a ritual libation or an- the month of January as the fourth and the first centu- her according to the customs
imal sacrifice, should be per- start of the ritual year is the ries b.c. In a cosmopolitan port of both her adoptive and an-
formed. Among the specific strongest indicator that the city, texts from other cultures cestral cultures, using both the
deities mentioned is Neth- text was written sometime would not have been a rarity; Egyptian Book of the Dead and

uns, an Etruscan water god, between 200 and 150 b.c. If her body was simply mummi- the Etruscan linen text.
a figure closely related to the this later dating of the text fied with the material available
Roman sea god, Neptune. The is correct, it opens a window at the time. According to this —Marina Escolano-Poveda


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 17

FOUNDER OF
A DYNASTY

The Narmer Palette, from
circa 3100 b.c., depicts the
king, who wears the red crown
of Lower Egypt. Egyptian
Museum, Cairo. Opposite: Also
dating to circa 3100 b.c., the
Narmer Macehead features
scenes from Narmer’s reign.
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
PALETTE: SCALA, FLORENCE
MACEHEAD: BRIDGEMAN/ACI





























































NARMER






















FIRST PHARAOH OF EGYPT

Five thousand years ago, a king of Upper

Egypt unified two separate lands into


what became the world’s first great
territorial state—Egypt. That king,


known today as Narmer, is celebrated as

its first pharaoh.





EDITORS OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

ive thousand years ago, there was no single na-

tion of Egypt—at least not as it exists today. There


were, and had been for thousands of years, two

F lands: Upper Egypt in the south and Lower Egypt

in the north. There are millennia-old inscriptions on ce-


ramics and depictions of leaders from each kingdom that

show two distinct entities with different sets of traditions.



Prior to unification, depictions of kings provides a window into the changes that took

showed different regalia. Rulers of Upper Egypt place during Narmer’s reign. It is a stone palette,
wore a tall white crown called a hedjet, while in similar to ones commissioned by various kings
Lower Egypt kings donned a short red crown of Upper Egypt at the end of the Predynastic Pe-
called a deshret. Around 3100 b.c., a king of Up- riod. Made from gray siltstone and sculpted with
per Egypt, known as Narmer, changed all that. images of gods, beasts, and kings, these tablets
By incorporating the lands west of the fertile, were used to grind and mix cosmetic pigments.

triangular Nile Delta region into his own king- Some were designed for practical use, while oth-
dom—which spanned the lush Nile Valley area ers were ceremonial, and others were deposited
in the south (roughly from what is Cairo today in temples as votive offerings.
to Lake Nas ser)—he created a united Egypt, the Narmer commissioned such a votive siltstone
world’s first great territorial state. palette. British archaeologists James Quibell
When the two lands united, it marked not and Frederick Green discovered it in the ruins
only the beginnings of a political state, but also of a temple in Hierakonpolis (Nekhen), south
the origins of a great cultural one. Beginning with of Luxor, in 1897-98. Now popularly known as
Narmer, Egypt began developing its own distinc- the Narmer Palette, the shield-shaped object

tive visual style, one that would echo through the dates to circa 3200-3000 b.c., and it appears
ages as the iconography and symbols embraced the ruler consecrated the palette to the temple
by Narmer and his successors took hold. These of the falcon-headed god Horus, symbol of cos-
symbols became tools used by pharaohs—from mic and political power. Unlike the mask of Tu-
Khufu to Hatshepsut to Ptolemy XII—to convey tankhamun, which has traveled the world, the
power, strength, and unity for millennia. Narmer Palette has never left Egypt. Today the
25-inch-tall artifact (which features some of
Kings and Crowns the world’s earliest hieroglyphics) can be seen

Works of art are remark- in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
able in their ability to pre- The Narmer Palette was made from a single
serve moments in time, as piece of siltstone and carved on both sides. Both
the events of the day make the front and back feature depictions of the king.
an impact on the people It is the earliest monumental representation of
who endured them. Rec- a pharaoh found to date. On one side, Narmer
ords from Narmer’s time wears a hedjet of Upper Egypt, grasps an enemy

are rare, but one object that by the hair, and raises a mace to strike. On the
survived through the ages other side, the ruler sports a deshret from Lower
Egypt as he surveys his fallen foes. It is the first
time that an Egyptian king is depicted wearing
THE DOUBLE CROWN OF EGYPT
PERCHES ON HORUS’S HEAD. ELECTRUM each crown on the same work of art.
OVER PLASTER, CA 1850–1700 B.C., LATE Egyptologists see the appearance of both
MIDDLE KINGDOM. METROPOLITAN
MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK crowns as evidence of Narmer’s creation of a uni-
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/ROGERS FUND
AND EDWARD S. HARKNESS GIFT, 1913 fied Egypt under his rule and as active promotion

M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a





BUTO
El Beda

L O W E R E G Y P T

Bubastis

MERIMDE

Giza Heliopolis Two

Saqqara MAADI Lands of
MEMPHIS EL OMARI


Lake Moeris Tarkhan Egypt
GERZEH
Haraga Meydum

circa 3600 b.c.
In what is now southern
Egypt, social and political
Nile River processes begin that lead to

the emergence of the first
state entities in the Nile Valley.



circa 3350 b.c.
Kingdoms in southern Egypt
are united into one land
known as Upper Egypt. A
capital city is established at
Abydos.



Matmar circa 3300 b.c.
Mostagedda Upper Egypt expands north,
EL BADARI
annexing territory and
Hemamieh incorporating it into its lands.
Its leaders begin to locate
their tombs at Abydos.
U P P E R
E G Y P T
Naga el-Deir
El Mahasna circa 3100 b.c.
Narmer completes the
ABYDOS unification process and
Wadi Gasus becomes the first pharaoh of
EL AMRA
Hu the new state, starting Egypt’s
NAQADA 1st dynasty.
(OMBOS)

Armant UPPER AND
LOWER LANDS
The kingdom of Egypt ran
from the delta in the north
El Kab to the level of the Nile’s
(Nekheb)
HIERAKONPOLIS First Cataract in the south.
(NEKHEN) Narmer, who ruled Upper
Egypt, conquered the delta,
Nile River leading to political unification

of Egypt.

MAP: EOSGIS.COM






Elephantine





1st Cataract

Weapons of completing the metamorphosis—two lands

into one—begun by Narmer generations be-
a Pharaoh fore him.

It may seem counterintuitive, but the con-

HE SHIELD-SHAPED PALETTES that the late Predynastic kings cept of two lands did not disappear with this
of Upper Egypt had inscribed with images are a key source for 1st dynasty or any of the others that followed.
scholars of the period, but so too are limestone maceheads. Rather, the dual nature of the Egyptian kingdom
TThese also bore images symbolizing the ideology of power was emphasized, as duality was an important
and elites from the earliest days of the united Egypt. While palettes tenet of Egyptian culture, including the throne
were designed to serve practical purposes, maces were weapons. itself. Later 1st dynasty pharaohs would embrace
Narmer consecrated both the palette and mace that bear his name to the title “Ruler of the Two Lands,” and following
the Temple of Horus in Hierakonpolis (Nekhen). The city was a center pharaohs would continue to use the title through
of worship of the falcon god. While the Narmer Palette expresses royal
the ages.
dominion and duality, the macehead represents the jubilee celebra-
Keeping the identities of the two lands dis-
tion Heb-Sed, a great renewal of power
ceremony that took place after tinct from each other was a way of giving the
a pharaoh had reigned for 30 new political order a divine sanction. Central to
years. The rituals performed ancient Egyptian belief were two opposite and
at the Heb-Sed appear to necessary forces—ma’at (order) and isfet (chaos),
have been a reenactment of the static and dynamic forces that govern the
the unification of Egypt. The universe. Balance was desired, and order and
Narmer macehead depicts chaos must coexist in order for equilibrium to
for the first time a ceremony
be achieved.
that will become a part of
Egyptian kingship for millennia.
Power Poses
The palette also reveals the evolution of Egyp-
NARMER MACEHEAD, LIMESTONE,
HIERAKONPOLIS, EGYPT, CA 3100 B.C. tian visual style. Prior to Narmer, influences
ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD from outside Egypt made their way into works
BRIDGEMAN/ACI
of art. Some seem merely decorative, like the
rosette (an Elamite motif) used to identify the

king’s sandal bearer, who stands just to his left
on the front of the palette. On the reverse, two
of the feat. The pharaohs who followed would serpopards—mythical felines with long serpen-
build on Narmer’s use of royal iconography tine necks—form a circular compartment with
and change it. The crowns of the two lands their intertwined necks; these creatures are also
would eventually be combined into one, called found in ancient Elamite art.
a pschent (also referred to as a sekhmety). This Other Mesopotamian influences were

double crown visually united the lands upon the depiction of leaders as actual beasts—
the head that ruled them. fearsome creatures like lions, bulls, hawks,
The falcon-headed god or scorpions that destroy cities and crush
Horus is often depicted enemies. Narmer is clearly shown twice on
wearing a pschent; Pha- the palette in human form, and some scholars
raoh Den, who ruled believe he shows up twice as a beast-king; on
circa 2900 b.c., is cur- the front, he may be the falcon whose human
rently believed to be the arms perch above an enemy’s head, while on

first depicted wearing the reverse, in the lowest section of the chev-
the double crown, thus ron, he may be a bull charging through city walls
and trampling a helpless foe. This beast-king
iconography largely disappears after Narmer’s
ON THE ATTACK. WEARING
A BULL’S TAIL LIKE NARMER’S, reign, although some vestiges of it remained.
KING DEN SMITES AN ENEMY.
SANDAL TAG, CA 2985 B.C. Pharaohs might be shown in human form but
BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON wearing a bull’s tail (such as Den, the fourth
SCALA, FLORENCE/THE TRUSTEES
OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM pharaoh to rule after Narmer).


22 MAY/JUNE 2022

SMITER OF ENEMIES

Wearing the white crown
of Upper Egypt, the king is
shown on the Narmer Palette
seizing an enemy by the hair.
Behind the king waits his
sandal bearer. Two horned
female heads at the top rep-
resent the goddess Bat, later
associated with the great
goddess Hathor. Egyptian
Museum, Cairo
BPK/SCALA, FLORENCE


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 23

SETI I’S LARGE MORTUARY TEMPLE IN
ABYDOS INCLUDES A PASSAGE KNOWN AS
THE GALLERY OF THE ANCESTORS. ON ONE
WALL IS INSCRIBED A LIST OF 76 PHARAOHS’
NAMES (THE ABYDOS KING LIST), WITH
MENES LISTED FIRST.
KENNETH GARRETT









The smiting tableau on the front of the he was definitively the first pharaoh. Royal re-
Narmer Palette stood the test of time in Egyp- cords from Narmer’s era are scarce, and many of
tian art. The positioning of Narmer’s body— the existing ones are incomplete. While there
with one upraised hand holding a mace while are several “kings lists” that record the names of

the other clutches a helpless enemy—can be pharaohs and their successors, intact ones that
found in almost every era of pharaonic Egypt. extend all the way back to that Early Dynastic
On the walls of his temple at Abu Simbel, era are few.
Ramses II strikes down his enemies in Narmeric Two of the most important were found in
fashion, while more than a thousand years later, the 1980s by researchers from the German Ar-
Ptolemy XII is depicted on the Temple of Horus chaeological Institute in Cairo. They uncovered
at Edfu in the same exact pose. two cylinder seal impressions in the tomb of
the pharaoh Den. These seals—still the oldest
What’s in a Name? documented king lists to date—list rulers and

Narmer’s name is written on the palette on both successors of the 1st dynasty. One seal dates to
sides: a combination of the symbols for a catfish the middle of the 1st dynasty and names six rul-
(nar) and a chisel (mer) appear at the top. Early ers. The other seal dates closer to the end of the
Egyptologists, however, were not convinced that 1st dynasty and names eight leaders. Both lists
begin with Narmer.
THE FALCON GOD HORUS PERCHES ABOVE THE GLYPHS FOR NARMER’S Royal lists created millennia later, during the
NAME: THE CATFISH (NAR) AND CHISEL (MER). SEREKH ON A STONE JAR,
ABYDOS, CA 2900 B.C. PENN MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA New Kingdom, have created the confusion. One
ALAMY/ACI

24 MAY/JUNE 2022

MOMENT OF TRIUMPH

The reverse of the Narmer Pal-
ette features a large figure of the
king wearing the red crown of
Lower Egypt and inspecting the
beheaded bodies of his enemies.
Featured are two Mesopota-
mian-style serpopards with in-
tertwined necks. Beneath them,
a bull, perhaps Narmer in animal
form, charges the walls of a city.
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
SCALA, FLORENCE

Important


Identification unifier of Egypt. A third-century b.c. priest in


the temple at Heliopolis, Manetho, was an au-

UMBLE INVENTORY LABELS are extremely valuable tools thor of another trusted source that also lists
in gleaning information about Egypt’s most distant past. Menes as the first king.
Found in tombs of the elite, they were crafted from ivory, Egyptologists tried to reconcile the use of
H ebony, bone, or ceramics. Square-shaped, they typically these two names. Perhaps they were two dif-
measured about an inch across and featured a hole in one corner ferent people, one who unified Egypt and an-
so it could be attached to objects, such a jars of oil. Inscriptions en- other who ruled after him. Or Menes could have
graved on them refer to the events of a sovereign’s reign, which has been a composite figure, cobbled together from
allowed researchers to date them and the tombs in which they were the lives and deeds of other early kings. Eng-
found. Labels from eight of the 1st dynasty kings have been found, but lish Egyptologist Flinders Petrie came up with
even older specimens have been found. In 1988 German Egyptologist
the most widely accepted theory: Narmer and
Günter Dreyer discovered in the Abydos necropolis tomb U-j, the
resting place of a Pre- Menes were the same person. Narmer was the
dynastic ruler. Inside name of the first pharaoh of the 1st dynasty, and
the tomb were ivory Menes was an honorific title, meaning “he who
tags with simple endures.”
glyphs. These date
to between 3320 Life and Death
and 3150 b.c., mak- Exact details about Narmer’s life remain difficult
ing them the oldest to pin down. It is believed that he hailed from
known examples of
Hierakonpolis. He is credited with organizing
Egyptian writing.
his new unified kingdom into some 40 regions,
called nomes. He married, and his royal wife’s
name was Neithhotep, after a creator goddess,
INVENTORY LABEL. TOMB Neith. Narmer also built a temple dedicated to
FROM REIGN OF KING DJET,
ABYDOS, EGYPT, 1ST DYNASTY. the creator god Ptah at Memphis, another im-
EGYPTIAN MUSEUM, CAIRO portant ancient Egyptian city.
W. FORMAN/GTRES
Details of Narmer’s death are hazy; classical
historians, writing millennia after he died, at-

tributed it to being carried off by a hippopota-
mus. Some Egyptologists post that it could have
of the most complete is the Abydos King List, been a figure of speech and not a literal hippo,
engraved upon the wall of the mortuary temple but the cause of death remains an open question.
of Seti I (13th century b.c.). Engraved on the wall, Narmer chose to locate his tomb in the south and
Seti and his heir, Ramses (the future Ramses II), would be interred at what would become known
face rows of cartouches bearing the names of as the Abydos Royal Cemetery, where his ances-

Egypt’s past pharaohs. On this list, however, the tors and his descendants would also be buried.
first king listed is Menes, not Narmer. Narmer’s tomb is small, comprising two un-
The Turin Papyrus is another king list from derground chambers that follow a Predynas-
the same era as Seti I. Rather than being en- tic tradition of funerary architecture—a style
graved in stone, it is cursive hieratic script that would end with him. Both Narmer’s widow
written on papyrus and is one of the most and his son (Hor-Aha) would be buried in larger
accurate and complete king lists, covering tombs. The pharaohs who followed would be
the 1st through the 19th dynasties. It, too, buried in increasingly monumental structures—

names the first king as Menes and not Narmer. a tradition that reached its pinnacle in the gran-
Writing centuries later, classical authors, such as diose pyramids erected by the pharaohs of the
the fifth-century b.c. Greek historian Herodo- Old Kingdom.
tus, wrote of Menes rather than Narmer as the
Learn more


BOOK
STONE LION, HIERAKONPOLIS, EGYPT (BELIEVED TO BE WHERE
NARMER GREW UP), CA 2250 B.C. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD The Story of Egypt:
The Civilization That Changed the World
WERNER FORMAN/ACI Joann Fletcher, Pegasus Books, 2016.

ROYAL TOMBS OF ABYDOS
Beginning with Narmer, the pharaohs of
Egypt’s first two dynasties were buried in
the ancestral necropolis of Umm el Qaab, in
Abydos. These empty chambers once held
the remains of Khasekhemwy, last king of
the 2nd dynasty.
KENNETH GARRETT

SACRED 1 HUNTERS PALETTE


Discovered in Armana, this mudstone palette,
STONES also known as the Lion Hunting Palette, dates
to around 3200 b.c. The central circular
compartment was for grinding cosmetics; the
surrounding decoration depicts a vibrant hunting
Starting around 4400 b.c., scene, complete with armed men in pursuit of
many animals—including two lions, a gazelle, an
Egyptians made stone
ostrich, a jackal, and a hare.
palettes designed to grind

and mix cosmetic pigments.

Around 3400-3100 b.c., 2 BULL PALETTE
Both sides of the Bull Palette are decorated, but
palettes—which were
only fragments of this graywacke palette survive.
decorated with images It dates to roughly 3200-3000 b.c., a Predynastic
related to the monarchy and era known as the Naqada III period. A bull

embossed on one or both trampling a human figure has been interpreted by
scholars as a symbol of royal victory.
sides— began to be used as

votive objects.
3 TWO DOG PALETTE
ALL PHOTOS: ALBUM
As in the Narmer Palette, one side of this siltstone
piece shows two serpopards, long-necked feline

creatures whose sinuous bodies encircle the
area where cosmetics would have been ground.
Discovered in Hierakonpolis, it dates to between
3300 and 3100 b.c. Only one figure of a dog has
survived; its head can be seen arching over the
upper left corner.




1

HUNTERS PALETTE, BROKEN
INTO PIECES. ALL BUT ONE ARE
IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, IN
LONDON; THE OTHER IS IN THE
LOUVRE, PARIS.

2 3

BULL PALETTE. BENEATH TWO DOG PALETTE. DOGS
A RAMPAGING BULL IS A AND LIONS ARE FEATURED
LION ENCLOSED IN A CIRCLE, ALONGSIDE LONG-NECKED
SYMBOLIZING A FORTIFIED BEASTS CALLED SERPOPARDS.
CITY. CA 3200-3000 B.C. CA 3300-3100 B.C. ASHMOLEAN
LOUVRE, PARIS MUSEUM, OXFORD

SHAPE-SHIFTER
A youthful Dionysus is
crowned with grapes
in a first-century a.d.
marble statue. Naples
Archaeological
Museum
Opposite: The god is
depicted as an older
man on a sixth-
century b.c. plate.
British Museum
ACI/ALAMY; OPPOSITE: ACI

T H E W I L D G R ECO - R O M A N G O D

DIONYSUS












Lord of wine and intoxication,

the “twice-born” deity inspired

dramatic myths, theater

festivals, and mysterious cults

all over the ancient world.



DAVID HERNÁNDEZ DE LA FUENTE

DEATH AT ionysus was so much more than In that sense, Dionysus, a genial but wild and
FIRST SIGHT just the master of the vine; he was dangerously ravishing intermediary, represents
Pregnant with also charged with fertility, fruitful- one of the enduring mysteries and paradoxes
Dionysus, Semele ness, theater, ecstasy, and abandon. of life.
perishes after DWhether called Dionysus (his Dionysus’ association with wine embodies
demanding to see
Zeus in all his glory. Greek name) or Bacchus (his Roman one), he is this paradox. Wine is a delicious beverage with
Oil painting by Luca perhaps the strangest of the gods in the vast clas- medicinal properties, but it also intoxicates. It
Ferrari, 17th century. sical pantheons. Though his pagan-like cults and brings liberation and ecstasy, yet, like any ini-
Castelvecchio mysteries may seem to have existed outside the tiatory experience, it also introduced the risks
Museum, Verona
usual Greco-Roman religious and philosophi- of losing hold of identity and control.
SCALA, FLORENCE
cal spheres, archaeological evidence in the 20th
century proved that he was a fully realized god. Births and Deaths

The son of an immortal god and a mortal prin- Many of the myths centered on Dionysus come
cess, Dionysus’ role forged a crucial link between from different sources. One of the most popular,
humanity and the divine, serving as a force of the Bibliotheca, is a first- or second-century a.d.
cyclical, unbridled nature who drew men and compendium of myths that draws on earlier
women out of themselves through intoxication. sources, such as the Homeric Hymns from the







GOD OF


WINE AND 13th century b.c. ca 7th-6th century b.c.

Three of the Homeric Hymns
The name Dionysus
THEATER appears on clay tablets are dedicated to Dionysus,
in Pylos, Greece,
who is described as “ivy-
written in Mycenaean crowned” and the “god of
Linear B script. abundant clusters.”



THE INFANT DIONYSUS AND HERMES. FOURTH-CENTURY B.C. STATUE BY PRAXITELES FROM THE TEMPLE OF HERA AT OLYMPIA
ALBUM/DEA PICTURE LIBRARY

TEENAGED DREAM
In this oil painting from 1595,
Caravaggio depicted Bacchus
(the Roman name for Dionysus)
as a callow adolescent, his head
crowned with grape leaves and a
glass of wine in hand.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
SCALA, FLORENCE
























































































ca 6th century b.c. ca 405 b.c. ca 4th century b.c. ca 2nd century b.c.
Athens begins holding an The Athenian playwright Located on the south slope of Called Bacchanalia, Roman
annual spring festival, the Euripides’ greatest tragedy, the Acropolis, the Theater of festivals in honor of Bacchus
Great Dionysia, celebrating The Bacchae, premieres at the Dionysus is transformed into (Dionysus’ Roman name)
theater and dedicated to Great Dionysia and wins first an amphitheater that could become so popular the
the god of wine. prize at the festival. seat as many as 17,000. Senate tries to curtail them.

DIONYSUS (CENTER) IS
FLANKED BY APOLLO, GOD
OF ARCHERY ( LEFT), AND
APHRODITE, GODDESS OF
LOVE (RIGHT FOREGROUND).
FRESCO FROM POMPEII. not an unprecedented one in Greek mythol-
NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL ogy: Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare,
MUSEUM, NAPLES
DAGLI ORTI/AURIMAGES was born similarly, emerging fully formed from
Zeus’s head. Dionysus thus became known as
the “twice-born god.”

After his extraordinary (re)birth, Zeus en-
trusts the infant Dionysus to the messenger god,
Hermes. The baby is shielded from Hera and
cared for and raised by nymphs. Hera’s jealous
rage does not end with Semele’s death. She aims
to punish Semele’s son, too, and decides to drive
Dionysus mad. Stricken, the young god wan-
ders aimlessly through the lands east of Greece,
winding up first in Phrygia, a kingdom in the

west-central part of Anatolia (modern Turkey).
There, the mother goddess Cybele—whose own
cult was associated with, and apparently resem-
bled, Dionysus’ retinue—purifies him, perhaps
recognizing a kindred spirit.


Wanderings and Wine

Cured of his madness, Dionysus continues
to travel, and he is not alone. In many of the
tales surrounding him, he is accompanied by
FRIEND seventh to sixth centuries b.c. as well as earlier an entourage who worship Dionysus in a state
AND MENTOR Greek plays and poems. These texts supply a of drunken revelry, holding lavish festal orgia
A loyal friend, tutor, and standard story of Dionysus’ birth: Like many (rites) in his honor. Among them are nymphs
servant to Dionysus, of Zeus’s children, Dionysus was not the son of called maenads—also known as the Bacchae, or
Silenus was nearly
always present in the Zeus’s wife and queen, Hera, but the product of bacchantes, who form the crux of his traveling
deity’s entourage. His an extramarital affair. In the Bibliotheca, Zeus retinue (the thiasus).
likeness appears on both falls in love with a mortal princess Semele, and Pan, the hirsute fertility god associated
sides of this kantharos the two conceive a child. When Hera discovers with shepherds, often took part, along with
(below). 540 b.c. the relationship, her jealousy satyrs and sileni—wild creatures that were
Louvre, Paris
drives her to try to destroy part man, part beast. The thiasus comprised
H. LEWANDOWSKI/RMN-GRAND PALAIS
Semele and her unborn son. animals such as big cats (leopards, tigers, lynx)
Disguised as a mortal, and snakes as well. The group brings the gift of

Hera plants a seed of doubt wine wherever it goes.
in the young woman’s mind Dionysus’ odyssey takes him from Greece
that her lover isn’t a god and across Turkey and into Asia. Some modern
then gives her a way to obtain scholars theorize that ancient Greeks believed
proof. Semele follows Hera’s plan that anywhere grapevines could be found and
and has Zeus swear an unbreakable wine was cultivated, Dionysus had once visit-
oath to grant her any wish; then she ed. When Dionysus reaches India, on a chariot
asks Zeus to appear before her in all his pulled by panthers, he conquers the land with

divine glory. Because of his oath, Zeus can- wine and dance rather than weapons and war.
not refuse and reveals his divinity, a sight that Dionysus encounters different peoples and
mortals cannot withstand. Semele burns to not all welcome him. Those who reject his
ashes. teachings are swiftly and brutally punished.
Zeus manages to save their unborn son and In Thrace (parts of modern Bulgaria, Greece,
sews him into his own leg. When gestation is and Turkey), he encounters King Lycurgus,
complete, Dionysus bursts forth from Zeus’s who refuses to recognize his status as a god

thigh. This graphic and gruesome episode is and imprisons his followers. To demonstrate


34 MAY/JUNE 2022

HEROIC HOMECOMING
Dionysus returns to Greece from India. He is
represented here as a child holding bunches
of grapes. Around him, maenads, satyrs, and
the drunk Silenus venerate this god who has
given humanity the precious gift of wine.
Oil painting by Pietro da Cortona, ca 1625.
Capitoline Museums, Rome
SCALA, FLORENCE

PARTY PEOPLE. IN AN
ATTIC RED-FIGURE KRATER
FROM 370 B.C., DIONYSUS
IS SHOWN MOUNTED ON A
LEOPARD, PRESIDING OVER
A PROCESSION OF FAITHFUL
MAENADS AND SATYRS.
LOUVRE, PARIS
H. LEWANDOWSKI/RMN-GRAND PALAIS






FOOTLOOSE his power, Dionysus drives the king insane. of what is now Italy, Dionysus responds by hav-
AND FANCY FEET Lycurgus kills his own son after mistaking him ing grapevines sprout all over the ship. Realizing
Maenads like this for a grapevine. Recovering his senses, the king they were in the presence of a god, the terrified
one (below) danced is horrified, but Dionysus is not satisfied. He pirates threw themselves into the sea. Rather
frenetically as part of
Dionysus’ entourage. demands that the king be put to death or no than let them drown, Dionysus transformed the
Roman copy of a fruit will grow in the kingdom. On hearing that, sailors into dolphins.
Greek original, first the king’s people seize Lycurgus and feed him
century a.d. to man-eating horses to appease the god. Performance and Mysteries

ERICH LESSING/ALBUM
A similar incident occurs in The- Worship of Dionysus was not uniform in the
bes, the native city of Dionysus’ classic world. Some of it was public and or-
mother, the princess Semele. The ganized, while other rituals were mysterious
story is the basis of Euripides’ dra- and carried out in secret. Many Greeks showed

matic masterpiece of the late fifth their reverence for Dionysus through festivals;
century b.c., The Bacchae. The god’s in Rome, where he was called Bacchus, these be-
cousin King Pentheus opposes the came the Bacchanalia—wild rituals celebrated
Dionysian cult and provokes the at night in forests and mountains. The maenads
god’s anger. Pentheus spies on a would enter a delirious state of ecstasy, then—
group of Theban women practic- inspired by the personification of Dionysus in
ing their bacchanalian rites on a the form of a priest—dance wildly before setting
mountainside. The frenzied wom- out on a hunt.

en—which included Pentheus’s In Hellenic culture, Dionysus embodied a
own mother, Agave—mistake him symbol of communal cohesion and reconcilia-
for a wild animal, and tear him apart tion, closely connected with the theater. Every
with their bare hands in their in- March, the city of Athens would hold a festival
toxication. known as the Great Dionysia (also called the City
Dionysus was not always cruel. Dionysia). Dating as early as the sixth centu-
When a band of Tyrrhenian pirates ry b.c., this dramatic festival lasted as many as six

kidnapped the god off the west coast days. On the first day, a procession would open


36 MAY/JUNE 2022

ALL THE WORLD’S
A STAGE

Located at the foot of the
Acropolis in Athens, the
Theater of Dionysus was first
erected between the sixth
and fifth centuries b.c. After
subsequent renovations, it
was enlarged to seat as many
as 17,000 spectators.
MEL MANSER/FOTOTECA 9X12

DELIRIUM OF


THE BACCHAE





he chorus of Euripides’ tragedy The Bacchae,
written around 405 b.c., evokes the Diony-
sian mystery rites:
T
“Blessed is he who, being fortunate and knowing the rites
of the gods, keeps his life pure and has his soul initiated
into the Bacchic revels, dancing in inspired frenzy over
the mountains with holy purifications, and who, reve-
ring the mysteries of great mother Kybele, bran dish ing
the thyrsos, garlanded with ivy, serves Dionysus.”


Euripides describes the ecstasy that Dionysus
unleashes among his retinue:


“Go, Bacchae, go, Bacchae . . . sing of Dionysus, be-
neath the heavy beat of drums, celebrating in de-
light the god of delight with Phrygian shouts and
cries, when the sweet-sounding sacred pipe sounds
a sacred play ful tune suited to the wanderers, to the
TWO THEATRICAL MASKS—ONE TRAGIC, ONE mountain, to the mountain!” And the Bacchante, re-
COMIC—ADORN THIS MARBLE RELIEF FROM THE joicing like a foal with its grazing mother, rouses her
SECOND CENTURY A.D. BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON
BRITISH MUSEUM/SCALA, FLORENCE swift foot in a gamboling dance.







FLIPPER FLOP the festival as a statue of Dionysus was borne ly from Egypt) and Mithras (originally from
The legend of Dionysus to his theater. After the day’s performances, Iran)—Dionysus was a disruptive deity, enter-

turning Tyrrhenian a bull would be sacrificed and a feast held. ing civilization and throwing out the estab-
pirates into dolphins is
depicted on a kylix, a In the days that followed, ancient Greece’s lished order. When he arrived, liberation and
shallow drinking cup, playwrights would present their works—trag- transgression had their turn.
from 530 b.c. (below). edies, comedies, and satyric drama—and com-
State Collection of pete for top honors. (According to tradition, Outsider or Olympian?
Antiquities, Munich tragedy was originally related to songs from the At first glance these mysteries, and the orgias-
SCALA, FLORENCE
Dionysian feast of the tragos, goat, and oidos, tic rites that surrounded Dionysus, seem to run
song). Actors who gave the best performances counter to the harmonious and ordered view of
would also be awarded prizes. Those taking first classical Greek religion. For this reason, many
place would be given wreaths of ivy, in a nod to scholars, especially of the German tradition,

the patron god of wine. for a long time did not believe that Dionysus
Dionysus was also worshipped through a could be truly Hellenic. They considered him
series of secret rituals known today as to be a foreign god, perhaps Thracian or Phry-
the Dionysian Mysteries. These are gian, and discounted the possibility that the
thought to have evolved from an un- myths around his death and resurrection could
known cult that spread throughout be Greek. Positivist scholars of the 19th cen-
the Mediterranean region along- tury argued that Dionysus was an imported
side the dissemination of wine rather than a Greek god, and that the maenads

(though it’s possible that mead existed only in myth and literature.
was the original sacrament). These preconceptions changed over the
As the patron of the Diony- course of the 20th century. In 1953, thanks to
sian Mysteries—secret rites the decipherment of Linear B script—the writ-
to which only initiates were ad- ing system used by the Mycenaean civilization,
mitted, such as those performed which predates the Greek alphabet by several
in honor of Demeter, goddess of ag- centuries—researchers learned that Dionysus

riculture, and later, of Isis (original- was indeed known in Greece as far back as the


38 MAY/JUNE 2022

GRUESOME FINISH

The graphic death of the mythical King
Pentheus of Thebes is depicted in this
fresco from the House of the Vettii in
Pompeii. In The Bacchae, Euripides recounts
how Pentheus was dismembered by a group
of maenads—including his own mother,
Agave—while the women were in the throes
of an ecstatic Dionysian frenzy.
SCALA, FLORENCE

IN THE TEMPLE OF BACCHUS. IN THIS DETAIL FROM AN
1881 OIL PAINTING BY GIOVANNI MUZZIOLI, A MAENAD
DANCES IN FRONT OF A SLUMPED AND DRUNKEN MAN.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, ROME
DEA/ALBUM popularity has spanned different time periods
and guises; he is depicted as both a beautifully
effeminate, long-haired youth and a corpulent,
bearded mature man. The Greek Dionysus and
the Roman Bacchus are functionally the same

god, but there are a few key differences. Diony-
sus—a noble, youthful figure in myth and clas-
sical literature—is usually listed alongside the
12 Olympian gods. Bacchus, on the other hand, is
often seen as a portly older man who, according
to the Roman poet Ovid, could be vengeful, us-
ing his staff as both a magic wand and a weapon
against those who dared oppose his cult and its
ideals of freedom.

Surveying different belief systems in the an-
cient world, it is easy to spot Dionysus’ influence
in other traditions. The term “Osiris-Dionysus”
is used by some historians of religion to refer to a
group of gods worshipped around the Mediter-
ranean in the centuries prior to the emergence

of Christianity. These gods shared a number
of characteristics, including being male, having
divine fathers and mortal virgin mothers, and
being reborn as gods.
DIVINE MOTHER 13th century b.c. Ancient Mycenaean tablets The Egyptian god Osiris, for instance, was
The Greco-Roman found in the palace of Pylos, in the Peloponnese equated with Dionysus by the Greek historian
mother of the gods, region of southern Greece, mention his name Herodotus during the fifth century b.c. By late
known as Cybele
from about the fifth and prove that Dionysus was not a god adopted antiquity, some gnostic and Neoplatonist phi-
century b.c. onward, from abroad, but a profoundly Greek divinity. losophers had expanded the syncretic equation
welcomed and cured Evidence of the maenads’ existence has been to include Aion, Adonis, and other gods of the
Dionysus of madness. found as well, in Greek inscriptions from vari- mystery religions. Scholars also note links be-
Metropolitan ous time periods. Apparently there really were tween the life-giving wine of the Dionysian cult
Museum, New York
groups of women who would reach such a state and the centrality of wine in the Christian Eu-
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM/SCALA, FLORENCE
of delirium, under the influence of Dionysus’ charist, as well as parallels between the Greek
priestly incarnation, that they were prepared god and Christ himself. The sixth-century b.c.
to rip apart live animals and eat their raw flesh. classical cult known as Orphism centered on the

belief that Dionysus was torn to pieces and then
Divine Influence resurrected. Twentieth-century thinkers such
Dionysus was thus a fully Greek god, whose as James Frazer saw Dionysus and Christ in the
context of an eastern Mediterranean tradition
of dying-and-rising gods, whose sacrifice and
resurrection redeemed their people.
Clearly Dionysus continues to cast a long
shadow. Given the prevalence and power of wine

and early ecstasy, it is no mystery why.

HISTORIAN DAVID HERNÁNDEZ DE LA FUENTE IS A SPECIALIST
IN CLASSICAL HISTORY, AND ITS LEGACY IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE.



Learn more



The Library of Greek Mythology
Apollodorus (translator Robin Hard), Oxford World’s Classics, 1998.

40 MAY/JUNE 2022

DRAMATIC TRIBUTE
Pergamon, an ancient city in Asia Minor
that is now a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, built a massive theater with a capacity
for 10,000 spectators. The seating is
set into the hillside and faces a temple
dedicated to Dionysus, god of the theater.
J. LANGE/GETTY IMAGES

SLEEPING BEAUTY






A Roman sarcophagus from the third century a.d. depicts Dionysus

discovering the sleeping mortal princess Ariadne. The pair fell in 8
8
love, married, and had children, including Oenopian (the personifi-
cation of wine), Staphylus (associated with grapes), and Thoas.




















5
5

3
3

4
4








6
6






























his magnificent composition depicts a well-known 5 Centaurs appear as well, including 6 a mother holding
episode from classical mythology. After helping her little son in her arms. The episode is a fitting scene

the Athenian prince Theseus kill the monstrous for a sarcophagus like this one, from the third centu-
Minotaur, Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, flees ry a.d.: There is a parallel between a deceased person’s
with him. Theseus cruelly abandons her on the island hope for salvation after death and the immortality that
of Naxos, and she is devastated by his abandonment. Dionysus grants Ariadne. Near the top of the facade is
1 Ariadne falls asleep and is discovered by 2 Dionysus, 7 a human figure whose features are unfinished. It
who arrives on Naxos accompanied by his retinue. He may have meant to be the deceased, whose features
immediately falls in love with her, and they marry. The may also have supplied the likeness for the unfinished
decoration of the sarcophagus shows a 3 band of satyrs Ariadne. Likewise, 8 a central blank space at the top
playing instruments and 4 maenads dancing wildly. was possibly intended for an inscription.
PHOTOS: H. LEWANDOWSKI/RMN-GRAND PALAIS

7
7































2
2






















1
1

















ODDS AND ENDS

The lavish decoration on the sarcophagus,
which was discovered in 1805 near

Bordeaux, France, continues past the
ornate facade to the ends of the tomb. The
horned god Pan can be seen playing his
flute (left) at one end, while a satyr is seen
tending to a child and goat on the other

(right). The sarcophagus dates to around
a.d. 220-240 and is housed today in the
Louvre, Paris.

CROWNING GLORY
The great dome that tops the
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore,
in Florence, Italy, rises majestically
above the city. To this day, at 180 feet
in diameter, it is still the largest brick-
and-mortar dome in the world.
SUSANNE KREMER/FOTOTECA 9X12

ORIGINAL SUPERDOME

THE DUOMO








OF FLORENCE














Symbolizing the power and prosperity of the Tuscan capital, the


Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore astonished the world with its

colossal dome, engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.





MANUEL SAGA

he Florence Cathedral is, without
doubt, one of the great feats of Re-
naissance engineering. The cathe-
dral is dedicated to Santa Maria del

TFiore (St. Mary of the Flower), a ref-
erence to the lily, Florence’s emblem. Its iconic
and ingenious dome, which architect Filippo
Brunelleschi completed in 1436, brought to frui-
tion a project that had begun 140 years earlier.
It was sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cam-
bio who came up with the initial plans for a new
cathedral in Florence in 1296, to be built over the
existing Cathedral of Santa Reparata, alongside

the ancient octagonal baptistery. He worked in
the Italian Gothic style, incorporating elements
of late Gothic and emerging Renaissance de-
sign. But when he died in 1310, work on the ca-
thedral came to a halt. Then, in the 1330s, the
Opera del Duomo, the institution in charge of

the building works, was taken over by the wool
guild, the dominant group in Florentine politics,
who put up the funds to continue building the
great cathedral. A string of eminent architects
filled the role of capomaestro (master builder) in
the years to come. The master painter Giotto
was appointed to the role in 1334, and began the
construction of the freestanding bell tower that
now bears his name.

The first great wave of the Black Death hit
Florence in 1348, killing between 45 and 75 per-
cent of the population. Construction on the
cathedral, overseen in that dark period by the





























ALINARI ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES





FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI, RELIEF PORTRAIT. EARLY 1500S, CATHEDRAL OF
SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE, FLORENCE, ITALY
SCALA, FLORENCE


46 MAY/JUNE 2022

JEWELS OF FLORENCE
Rising high above the city
of Florence, the cathedral’s
magnificent dome soars to a
height of 374 feet.
ALINARI ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

capomaestro Francesco Talenti, stalled once
again. By 1355 only the side walls and part of the
main facade of the project were anywhere near
completion. Talenti extended the main nave,

increasing the length of the church to 500 feet,
and completed Giotto’s 280-foot-tall bell tower.


The Persian Model
In 1359 or 1360 Giovanni di Lapo Ghini succeed-
ed Talenti as capomaestro. He faced the chal-
lenge of designing a dome that could cover the
huge transept. Another Italian architect, Neri di
Fioravante, came up with a proposal that would

avoid external structures such as buttresses: us-
ing rings of stone and wood hidden within the
dome’s shell. These “chains” would function like
iron rings on a barrel, preventing the structure
from splitting apart.
Fioravante’s proposal, without Gothic

additions, was pitched against the more con-
servative design proposed by Giovanni di Lapo.
In 1367 the Opera del Duomo opted for Fiora-
vante’s idea, but with a caveat: The pillars of the
transept would be enlarged, and the dome would
increase in diameter to 180 feet. Fioravante rose
to the challenge by suggesting a dome with a
double shell: a robust inner layer on which a
second, lighter skin would rest as protection

against the elements. It was the first time that
this type of design, originating in Persia and
popular in Islamic architecture, had been ap-
plied in Europe. Fioravante proposed an octago-
nal dome with eight stone ribs that that would
crown the cathedral.
Fioravante created a maquette, or scale model,

of his design, which was put on display inside
the unfinished cathedral. It became an object of
faith that the plan could and would be put into
practice. Every year, the Opera del Duomo and
its architects swore an oath on the maquette and
on the Bible, reaffirming their commitment to
complete the dome as specified. No one could
doubt their fervent support of Fioravante’s






Fioravante suggested a dome

with a double shell: a robust

inner layer on which a second,

lighter skin would rest.



48 MAY/JUNE 2022