National Geographic_History_May/June 2022

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Mad scientists are fun fictional characters—visionaries who

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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VOL. 8 NO. 2

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
30 Drinking With Dionysus Christians battled to control the Holy Land.

God of wine and theater, Dionysus brought holy ecstasy to his followers and 8 PROFILES
terrifying revenge to his foes. Associated with rebirth, he shaped religious
practices across the Mediterranean world until the dawn of Christianity. American-born Wong Kim Ark’s
battle for citizenship went all the
44 Florence’s Crowning Glory
way to the Supreme Court. His victory set a
Florentines had long dreamed of a huge dome for their cathedral when, in legal precedent that endures to this day.
1418, Filippo Brunelleschi said he could build one without scaffolding. His
rivals scoffed, but the great Duomo slowly rose into the Tuscan skies. 12 WORK OF ART

64 Majesty and Might of Palenque Albrecht Dürer’s 1513 engraving
“Knight, Death, and the Devil”
Palenque’s imposing temples and Great Palace proclaimed
the glory of the gods and the brilliance of this Maya city’s elevated printmaking to a fine art, and its
seventh-century ruler, Pakal the Great. creator to the role of Renaissance master.

80 Buddhist Beauty in Ajanta 14 ENIGMAS

Detailed reliefs, colorful murals, and sacred Scholars were stunned to find an
statues fill man-made caves carved from the Egyptian mummy wrapped in
stone cliffs of Ajanta, India, a repository of
centuries-old Buddhist masterpieces. the pages of an Etruscan book. How did the
linen make its way from Italy to Alexandria?
GOLDEN TREASURES. CHAIN RECOVERED FROM THE WRECK
OF THE 12TH-CENTURY CHINESE MERCHANT SHIP NANHAI NO. 1 92 DISCOVERIES

The raising of the 12th-century
merchant ship Nanhai No. 1 has

revealed clues to China’s economic
ambitions at sea in the Song era.

SANKAI/GETTY IMAGES 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,
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THEODORE A. SICKLEY, JANE SUNDERLAND, ROSEMARY WARDLEY

MANAGING DIRECTOR JOHN MACKETHAN

Advertising ROB BYRNES

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ROCCO RUGGIERI, JOHN SCHIAVONE, SUSAN SHAW,
MARK VIOLA, JANET ZAVREL

Production Services JAMES ANDERSON, JULIE IBINSON, KRISTIN SEMENIUK
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NEWS

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

Mediterranean L E B . UNDERWATER WEAPON

Sea Medieval Sword Surprises
DiverOff Israel’sShores
Acre Sea of
Galilee
Haifa

Atlit JOR. A well-preserved weapon lay for centuries on the seafloor near the
Carmel coast. Could it be connected to the crusaders?
ISRAEL

WEST
BANK

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

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 ATLIT FORTRESS (ALSO KNOWN AS PILGRIMS’ CASTLE) WAS BUILT
about 2.5 pounds (the final Even as the experts await more BY THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN THE EARLY 13TH CENTURY.
figure will be determined af- data, existing evidence sup-
ter the sword is cleaned). ports the sword’s crusader DUBY TAL/ALBATROSS/ALAMY
provenance, said Jacob (Koby)
Measuring three and a half Sharvit, director of the IAA’s crusader connection. Found objects that have been dated
feet long, the sword features Marine Archaeology Unit. 650 feet offshore at a depth of over a range of 4,000 years.
a distinctive pommel that 16 feet, the sword was likely “This latest find means this
strongly suggests European Such a sword was costly,re- dropped from a ship or sank in site was an anchorage for a
origin. Experts often use the quiring funding to possess and a wreck.This spot is two miles very long time,” he said.“The
characteristics of a sword’s training to use, which makes from Atlit Fortress, one of the whole spectrum of our history
handle to identify its origin a knight its most likely own- most important crusader is there, from the Late Bronze
(Muslim swords from the er. Some sword pommels are strongholds in the Holy Land. Age to the medieval period.”
crusader period feature a cap made of copper alloy, which Rich with history, the spot
rather than a pommel). Further allowed for decorative em- What most excites Sharvit, could hold a trove of artifacts
study may reveal this sword bellishment. This one, how- however, is the discovery site from many eras.
was almost certainly wielded ever, is iron, leading Sharvit to itself: a 1,000-square-foot
by a European soldier from the theorize that it belonged to a area that has already yielded —Braden Phillips
crusader period (a.d. 1099- common knight rather than a
1291),who traveled to the Holy noble one.
Land in a bid to wrest it from
Muslim control. Sharvit believes the discov-
ery site itself also supports a

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 7

PROFILES

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.

His In 1897 the 14th Amendment was bare- were vetoed by President Rutherford B.
American Life 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.
ca 1871-73 Ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of
the Civil War,this addition to the U.S. The Panic of 1873 had shifted the fed-
Wong Kim Ark is Constitution defines U.S. citizenship in eral government’s balance to U.S. politics
born in San Francisco, Section 1:“All persons born or naturalized and strengthened the power of nativists
California to Chinese in the United States, and subject to the in the West. They loudly blamed Chinese
immigrants, Wong Si jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the laborers for widespread unemployment
Ping and Wee Lee. United States and of the State wherein and wage cuts. Denis Kearney and his
they reside.”But anti-immigrant forces Workingmen’s Party of California united
1882 challenged its straightforward language. behind the slogan “The Chinese Must
Wong sued for his rights under the 14th Go!” Chinese communities came under
The Chinese Exclusion Amendment, and his case would go all serious threats of violence; 19 Chinese
Act passes, which limits the way to the Supreme Court. people were killed in a race massacre in
Chinese immigration for Los Angeles in 1871. In San Francisco
10 years and restricts Nativist Fears buildings were destroyed in Chinatown
naturalization. Nativist attitudes were prevalent and Chinese graves desecrated.
throughout the United States in the
1890 19th century, and in the West they tar- Anti-Chinese prejudice culminated in
geted Chinese immigrants. California the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act,
Wong returns to China passed a series of laws from the 1850s which was signed into law by President
with his parents. He through the 1870s discriminating against Chester Arthur in 1882. It denied natu-
marries and conceives a Chinese residents; at the federal level, ralization to Chinese immigrants already
child before returning to laws were introduced trying to exclude in the United States and denied entry of
the United States. Chinese immigrants from entering the new workers from China for 10 years.
country.Some even passed Congress but Under this law,Chinese people traveling
1895 in or out of the United States had to carry
a certificate that identified their working
U.S. officials
challenge Wong’s status—laborer, scholar, diplomat, or
citizenship while merchant. In 1888 the Scott Act was
detaining him for passed, which barred reentry to the
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 HATEFUL AGENDA. A BROADSIDE FOR THE
declares birthright WORKINGMEN’S PARTY OF CALIFORNIA STOKES
citizenship the law of PREJUDICE AGAINST CHINESE AMERICANS IN THE 1870S.
the land in the U.S.
GRANGER/AGE FOTOSTOCK
8 MAY/JUNE 2022

CHINESE
EXCLUSION ACT

THE FIRST BIG WAVE of Chinese
immigrationtotheUnitedStates
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-
cansforeconomichardships,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
Chineselaborimmigrationfor10
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. United States. Some estimates place
His parents,Wong Si Ping and Wee Lee, Despite having lived in California the figure as low as one percent of the
immigrated from China and settled in for nearly two decades, Wong’s parents total population.Wong was in a minori-
California as part of a large wave of im- could not become U.S. citizens because ty, having been born and raised in San
migration from China to the American of their foreign birth. Qualifications for Francisco. Unlike his merchant father,
West in the mid-19th century. naturalized citizenship were established he worked as a cook. When his par-
under the Naturalization Act of 1790, ents decided to return to China in 1890,
Many of the first Chinese immigrants which said that an immigrant could Wong traveled with them, stayed a few
worked in California’s gold mines, then only become a citizen if they were “a months, but ultimately returned to the
on farms, and in factories. Chinese labor- free white person, who shall have re- United States.
ers were integral in building railroads in sided within the limits and under the
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

PROFILES

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
men were married to women who still Asia to visit his wife, young son, and Wong sailed back to San Francisco
lived in Asia. Parents often negotiated parents. Because of the Chinese Exclu- aboard the Coptic in summer 1895 but
these marriages, and Wong’s parents sion Act, he had to obtain the proper was denied entry by John Wise,the cus-
may have used their son’s age and his documentation to secure his return to the toms collector and self-described“zeal-
ous opponent of Chinese immigration.”
PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
Despite having the proper legal
THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT required that if Amer- documentation,Wong was de-
ican citizens of Chinese descent wanted to travel tained offshore aboard steam-
outside the country, they first had to obtain certifica- ships in San Francisco Bay for
tions to reenter the United States. For all of his visits five months.
to China, Wong Kim Ark had first to obtain a signed
affidavit stating that he was an American citizen. Chinese Americans had
been fighting for decades to
1913 REENTRY DOCUMENTATION CERTIFICATE FEATURING A PHOTOGRAPH protect their civil rights.In San
OF A MIDDLE-AGED WONG KIM ARK Francisco they had established
an aid organization named the
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES Chinese Consolidated Benevo-
lent Association but known as
the Six Companies.Their law-
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
exceptions to this rule for children of out so-called“departure papers”swear-
Backed by anti-Chinese forces in San “foreign sovereigns or their ministers,... ing to the fact that he was a U.S. citizen
Francisco,U.S.Solicitor General Holmes or of enemies within and during a hostile to be guaranteed readmission.
Conrad decided to challenge the Six occupation . . . [or] of members of the
Companies and their defense of Wong. Indian tribes owing direct allegiance to Passing through Angel Island Immi-
Based on the principle of jus sanguinis their several tribes.” In a direct refuta- gration Station in San Francisco Bay,
(meaning“right of blood,”) Conrad’s case tion of Conrad’s argument, the majority Wong’s sons all joined their father in
argued that Wong’s parentage, not his pointed out that many children of“En- California at different times, and he
place of birth, determined his status; glish, Scotch, Irish, German, or other served as a witness on their behalf.Only
therefore, he could not be a U.S. citizen European parentage” would lose their the youngest, Wong Yook Jim, would
because his parents were Chinese and U.S. citizenship if their parents’ status make a life for himself in the United
that made Wong“also a Chinese person, were the determining factor. States, even after his father returned to
and subject of the emperor of China.” China permanently in the 1930s at age
American Family 62. Wong Yook Jim found work across
United States v. Wong Kim Arkmade its After the Supreme Court’s decision the country as a waiter, and during World
way to the Supreme Court, where each Wong Kim Ark continued to live and War II, like many other U.S. citizens,
side was argued before eight justices (the work in the United States but still visited served his country in the armed forces.
ninth, Justice McKenna, was not sit-
ting on the court when arguments were —Amy Briggs

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 11

WORK OF ART

ALBRECHT DÜRER (1513)

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.

Master 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
greatest impact in yet an- C. Smith, Kay Fortson Chair in European and animal bodies according to Italian
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
he made “Knight, Death, and the Devil,” his busy life to their execution. Dürer’s Using a V-tipped gouging tool called
the first of three intricate engravings that challenge, according to Smith, was to act a burin, which he learned to use in his
became known as his Meisterstiche, or as“an artistic and intellectual bridge be- goldsmith father’s workshop, Dürer cre-
master prints. tween the North and Italy.” ated astonishing varieties of texture in the
knight’s armor and leather boot, the fur
Italian Influences In“Knight, Death, and the Devil,”Dürer of the dog, and the horse’s lustrous coat.
Born in Nürnberg (in modern-day combines his German heritage with the For many art historians, the technical skill
Germany) in 1471, Dürer was profound- Italian focus on classical form, perspec- he demonstrated in this work has never
ly influenced by his Italian Renaissance tive, and proportion. The work depicts a been equaled.
contemporaries,including Michelangelo, steadfast knight on horseback accompa-
Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. nied by his faithful dog. (The four bronze Dürer’s woodcut prints were popular
horses of St Mark’s Basilica in Venice are and could be mass-produced,yielding as
After returning from a second trip to said to have been an inspiration.) The many as 2,000 impressions. Engravings
Italy in 1507, Dürer received a series of im- knight and his dog pass the perils of the such as “Knight, Death, and the Devil,”
portant commissions. In 1512 he became world: a monstrous devil, and death— meanwhile, were printed in 100 to 200
court painter to Holy Roman Emperor who is depicted as a grotesque figure impressions,which made them more ex-
pensive but still accessible. This popu-
GENTLEMAN ARTIST larity made Dürer one of the first artists
to become a brand name; he even placed
albrecht dürer painted 13 self-portraits a monogram, AD, on most of his work.
over the course of his life, the first when he In his lifetime, he produced a total of
was in his early teens. One of the most fa- 100,000 to 200,000 impressions.
mous was painted in 1498 when he was 26
(left). By depicting himself in rich attire and Although the Meisterstiche were
kidskin gloves, he announces that he is not not made as a cycle to be sold together,
merely a craftsman but a great artist—a “Knight, Death, and the Devil” is asso-
role that merited the elevated status he ciated with the two other master prints
enjoyed on his visits to Italy. made in 1514:“Saint Jerome in His Study”
and“Melencolia I.”They represent three
SELF-PORTRAIT, DÜRER, 1498. PRADO MUSEUM, MADRID ways of virtuous living: The knight is the
active life; St. Jerome, the spiritual life;
ALBUM and Melencolia, the life of the rational
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

ENIGMAS

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.

In 1868 the Museum of Za- the markings. The bandages environment to preserve the ETRUSCAN LETTERS
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 form the Linen Book
Empire, acquired an Egyp- who was able to finally break first linen Etruscan text found of Zagreb, later torn
tian mummy of a woman. the code: The letters were not intact but also the longest text into strips to use as
Her previous owner had re- Coptic, as some had speculat- ever found in Etruscan. It could bandages to wrap an
moved her wrappings but held ed, but Etruscan, the words of be a gold mine of information Egyptian mummy.
on to them. She had been an a culture that had dominated on the culture. Archaeological Museum
ordinary person, not royalty pre-Roman Italy. Whoev- of Zagreb, Croatia
or of the priestly class. Her er had wrapped the mummy Krall’s identification of the
wrappings, however, held a centuries before had used Linen Book of Zagreb (also COURTESY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF
fascinating puzzle. There was strips torn from an Etruscan known by its Latin name,Liber ZAGREB, PHOTOGRAPH BY IGOR KRAJCAR
writing on the linen strips, linen book. Linteus Zagrabiensis) raised
but German Egyptologist many questions about its con- homeland of Etruria. Emerg-
Heinrich Brugsch noted that The discovery was sensa- tents and when it was written. ing in the eighth century b.c.,
they were not Egyptian hi- tional. References to Etruscan Of equal interest was how an Etruria traded with Greek col-
eroglyphics. It was a script linen books can be found in Etruscan book came to wrap onists and developed a so-
unknown to him. many classical works,but sur- an Egyptian mummy.
Two decades later, in 1891, viving specimens had been im- phisticated culture of met-
museum authorities agreed to possible to find. The arid cli- Etruscan Enigmas alworking, painting, and
send the wrappings to Vienna mate of Egypt coupled with the The modern Italian region of carving. Trade brought
to see if they could translate desiccants used to dry out the Tuscany corresponds roughly Etruria goods, Greek
mummy had created a perfect with the ancient Etruscan gods, and the Euboean
Greek alphabet. The
LONG RECOVERY Etruscans adapted it to cre-

IN MARCH 2020 a magnitude 5.3 earthquake ate their own script, which
severely damaged the Archaeological Museum was written from right to left.
of Zagreb, home to the Linen Book of Zagreb
and many other Egyptian artifacts. Founded in The Etruscan language is
1846, the museum is still recovering from the almost unique among Euro-
damage and has yet to reopen as of this writing. pean languages. Nearly all of

EGYPTIAN NOBLEWOMAN, AMARNA STYLE, CA 1353–1336 B.C.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF ZAGREB TOM K PHOTO/AGE FOTOSTOCK

14 MAY/JUNE 2022

them (including English) are and “person.” The growth GRAVE GOODS
derived from Indo-European of republican Rome’s pow-
tongues that arrived in Eu- er, however, would consume THE LINEN BOOK OF ZAGREB was wrapped around
rope thousands of years ago. Etruscan society, leaving just the body of a woman who was between 30 and
Etruscan, however, is an out- its artifacts, vivid tomb art, 40 years of age when she died. In addition to the
lier: a rare case of a language and inscriptions that fewer Etruscan text and the Egyptian Book of the Dead,
that predated and survived and fewer people could read. her mummy was laid to rest with a necklace of
the Indo-European influx. colored beads, a flower headdress, and a mum-
First-century Roman em- mified cat’s skull.
Early Roman history is peror Claudius was a stu-
intertwined with that of dent of Etruscan, and one of EGYPTIAN WOMAN, FOURTH TO FIRST
Etruscans, who served as the last people in classical CENTURIES B.C. ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM
the city’s earliest kings. antiquity able to speak and OF ZAGREB
Etruscan words found their read it. Claudius even wrote a
way into Latin—phersu, the 20-volume history of the ALAMY/ACI
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

ENIGMAS

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 the museum in Zagreb. to be the woman whose body
words— about 60 percent of At first, scholars believed was mummified. In the late
the original text. Prior to the the linen book was a funerary The Etruscan linen book 20th century, it was estab-
linen book’s discovery, work,which led to speculation was not the only text that lished that she lived some-
Etruscan experts had only that it was somehow linked to formed part of the mum- time between the fourth and
the body it once wrapped.The my’s wrappings. A papyrus the first centuries b.c. and
died in her 30s.
The book refers to Usil, the
Etruscan sun god, equivalent The linen book’s black ink
to the Greek god Helios. was made from burnt ivory,
with titles and rubrics in red
USIL, ETRUSCAN CARRIAGE DECORATION, FIFTH CENTURY B.C. written in cinnabar, a scarlet
ore used in pigments. The
ERICH LESSING/ALBUM Etruscan text was obscured
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 an.The mummifiers just used
the Etruscan to be deciphered, Further study identified A Ritual Annual what was around.
further clarifying what schol- words and names that pin- Scholars still don’t know ex-
ars believed the book’s role point the place of its compo- actly how this Etruscan text Another theory takes a rad-
had been: a ritual calendar de- sition. Etruscan experts be- ended up in Egypt.Several hy- ically different view, pointing
tailing rites enacted through- lieve the linen book was made potheses have been put for- to Etruscan statuary that de-
out the year. near the modern-day Italian ward. One is that the city of picts linen books being placed
city of Perugia. While the Alexandria, where the mum- in tombs, much as Egyptians
The instructions in the linen itself has been dated to my was purchased in the 19th placed the Book of the Dead
Etruscan book center on the fourth century b.c., tex- century, was a focus of inter- in theirs. If the dead woman
when certain gods should be tual clues place the writing to national trade between the was of Etruscan ancestry, her
worshipped and what rites, much later. The inclusion of fourth and the first centu- relatives might have buried
such as a ritual libation or an- the month of January as the ries b.c. In a cosmopolitan port her according to the customs
imal sacrifice, should be per- start of the ritual year is the city, texts from other cultures of both her adoptive and an-
formed. Among the specific strongest indicator that the would not have been a rarity; cestral cultures, using both the
deities mentioned is Neth- text was written sometime her body was simply mummi- Egyptian Book of the Dead and
uns, an Etruscan water god, between 200 and 150 b.c. If fied with the material available the Etruscan linen text.
a figure closely related to the this later dating of the text at the time. According to this
Roman sea god, Neptune. The is correct, it opens a window —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

Five 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
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 Nasser)—he created a united Egypt, the
world’s first great territorial state. Narmer commissioned such a votive siltstone
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
in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Works of art are remark-
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
THE DOUBLE CROWN OF EGYPT time that an Egyptian king is depicted wearing
PERCHES ON HORUS’S HEAD. ELECTRUM each crown on the same work of art.
OVER PLASTER, CA 1850–1700 B.C., LATE
MIDDLE KINGDOM. METROPOLITAN Egyptologists see the appearance of both
MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK crowns as evidence of Narmer’s creation of a uni-
fied Egypt under his rule and as active promotion
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/ROGERS FUND
AND EDWARD S. HARKNESS GIFT, 1913

Mediterranean Sea

BUTO El Beda

LOWER EGYPT

Bubastis

MERIMDE Two
Lands of
Giza Heliopolis Egypt
MAADI
Saqqara circa 3600 b.c.
EL OMARI
MEMPHIS In what is now southern
Egypt, social and political
Lake Moeris Tarkhan processes begin that lead to
the emergence of the first
Haraga GERZEH state entities in the Nile Valley.
Meydum
circa 3350 b.c.
Nile River
Kingdoms in southern Egypt
Matmar are united into one land
Mostagedda EL BADARI known as Upper Egypt. A
capital city is established at
Hemamieh Abydos.

Naga el-Deir UPPER circa 3300 b.c.
El Mahasna EGYPT
Upper Egypt expands north,
ABYDOS Wadi Gasus annexing territory and
NAQADA incorporating it into its lands.
EL AMRA Hu (OMBOS) Its leaders begin to locate
their tombs at Abydos.
Armant
circa 3100 b.c.
El Kab
(Nekheb) Narmer completes the
unification process and
HIERAKONPOLIS becomes the first pharaoh of
(NEKHEN) the new state, starting Egypt’s
1st dynasty.
Nile River
UPPER AND
LOWER LANDS
The kingdom of Egypt ran
from the delta in the north
to the level of the Nile’s
First Cataract in the south.
Narmer, who ruled Upper
Egypt, conquered the delta,
leading to political unification
of Egypt.

MAP: EOSGIS.COM

Elephantine

1st Cataract

Weapons of completing the metamorphosis—two lands
a Pharaoh into one—begun by Narmer generations be-
fore him.
THE SHIELD-SHAPED PALETTES that the late Predynastic kings
of Upper Egypt had inscribed with images are a key source for It may seem counterintuitive, but the con-
scholars of the period, but so too are limestone maceheads. cept of two lands did not disappear with this
These also bore images symbolizing the ideology of power 1st dynasty or any of the others that followed.
and elites from the earliest days of the united Egypt. While palettes Rather,the dual nature of the Egyptian kingdom
were designed to serve practical purposes, maces were weapons. was emphasized, as duality was an important
Narmer consecrated both the palette and mace that bear his name to tenet of Egyptian culture, including the throne
the Temple of Horus in Hierakonpolis (Nekhen). The city was a center itself.Later 1st dynasty pharaohs would embrace
of worship of the falcon god. While the Narmer Palette expresses royal the title“Ruler of the Two Lands,”and following
dominion and duality, the macehead represents the jubilee celebra- pharaohs would continue to use the title through
tion Heb-Sed, a great renewal of power the ages.
ceremony that took place after
a pharaoh had reigned for 30 Keeping the identities of the two lands dis-
years. The rituals performed tinct from each other was a way of giving the
at the Heb-Sed appear to new political order a divine sanction. Central to
have been a reenactment of ancient Egyptian belief were two opposite and
the unification of Egypt. The necessary forces—ma’at (order) and isfet (chaos),
Narmer macehead depicts the static and dynamic forces that govern the
for the first time a ceremony universe. Balance was desired, and order and
that will become a part of chaos must coexist in order for equilibrium to
Egyptian kingship for millennia. be achieved.

NARMER MACEHEAD, LIMESTONE, Power Poses
HIERAKONPOLIS, EGYPT, CA 3100 B.C.
ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD The palette also reveals the evolution of Egyp-
tian visual style. Prior to Narmer, influences
BRIDGEMAN/ACI from outside Egypt made their way into works
of art. Some seem merely decorative, like the
of the feat. The pharaohs who followed would rosette (an Elamite motif) used to identify the
build on Narmer’s use of royal iconography king’s sandal bearer, who stands just to his left
and change it. The crowns of the two lands on the front of the palette. On the reverse, two
would eventually be combined into one, called serpopards—mythical felines with long serpen-
a pschent (also referred to as a sekhmety). This tine necks—form a circular compartment with
double crown visually united the lands upon their intertwined necks; these creatures are also
found in ancient Elamite art.
the head that ruled them.
The falcon-headed god Other Mesopotamian influences were
Horus is often depicted the depiction of leaders as actual beasts—
wearing a pschent; Pha- fearsome creatures like lions, bulls, hawks,
raoh Den, who ruled or scorpions that destroy cities and crush
enemies. Narmer is clearly shown twice on
circa 2900 b.c., is cur- the palette in human form, and some scholars
rently believed to be the believe he shows up twice as a beast-king; on
first depicted wearing the front, he may be the falcon whose human
the double crown, thus arms perch above an enemy’s head, while on
the reverse, in the lowest section of the chev-
ON THE ATTACK. WEARING ron,he may be a bull charging through city walls
A BULL’S TAIL LIKE NARMER’S, and trampling a helpless foe. This beast-king
KING DEN SMITES AN ENEMY. iconography largely disappears after Narmer’s
SANDAL TAG, CA 2985 B.C. reign, although some vestiges of it remained.
BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON Pharaohs might be shown in human form but
wearing a bull’s tail (such as Den, the fourth
SCALA, FLORENCE/THE TRUSTEES pharaoh to rule after Narmer).
OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

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
fashion, while more than a thousand years later, Two of the most important were found in
Ptolemy XII is depicted on the Temple of Horus the 1980s by researchers from the German Ar-
at Edfu in the same exact pose. chaeological Institute in Cairo. They uncovered
two cylinder seal impressions in the tomb of
What’s in a Name? the pharaoh Den. These seals—still the oldest
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
NAME: THE CATFISH (NAR) AND CHISEL (MER). SEREKH ON A STONE JAR, Royal lists created millennia later, during the
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 unifier of Egypt. A third-century b.c. priest in
Identification the temple at Heliopolis, Manetho, was an au-
thor of another trusted source that also lists
H UMBLE INVENTORY LABELS are extremely valuable tools Menes as the first king.
in gleaning information about Egypt’s most distant past.
Found in tombs of the elite, they were crafted from ivory, Egyptologists tried to reconcile the use of
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 Menes were the same person. Narmer was the
resting place of a Pre- name of the first pharaoh of the 1st dynasty,and
dynastic ruler. Inside Menes was an honorific title, meaning“he who
the tomb were ivory endures.”
tags with simple
glyphs. These date Life and Death
to between 3320
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
INVENTORY LABEL. TOMB name was Neithhotep, after a creator goddess,
FROM REIGN OF KING DJET, Neith. Narmer also built a temple dedicated to
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-
of the most complete is the Abydos King List, tributed it to being carried off by a hippopota-
engraved upon the wall of the mortuary temple mus.Some Egyptologists post that it could have
of Seti I (13th century b.c.).Engraved on the wall, been a figure of speech and not a literal hippo,
Seti and his heir, Ramses (the future Ramses II), but the cause of death remains an open question.
face rows of cartouches bearing the names of Narmer chose to locate his tomb in the south and
Egypt’s past pharaohs.On this list,however,the would be interred at what would become known
first king listed is Menes, not Narmer. as the Abydos Royal Cemetery,where his ances-
tors and his descendants would also be buried.
The Turin Papyrus is another king list from
the same era as Seti I.Rather than being en- Narmer’s tomb is small, comprising two un-
graved in stone, it is cursive hieratic script derground chambers that follow a Predynas-
written on papyrus and is one of the most tic tradition of funerary architecture—a style
accurate and complete king lists, covering that would end with him.Both Narmer’s widow
the 1st through the 19th dynasties. It, too, and his son (Hor-Aha) would be buried in larger
names the first king as Menes and not Narmer. tombs. The pharaohs who followed would be
Writing centuries later, classical authors, such as buried in increasingly monumental structures—
the fifth-century b.c. Greek historian Herodo- a tradition that reached its pinnacle in the gran-
tus, wrote of Menes rather than Narmer as the diose pyramids erected by the pharaohs of the
Old Kingdom.

Learn more

STONE LION, HIERAKONPOLIS, EGYPT (BELIEVED TO BE WHERE BOOK
NARMER GREW UP), CA 2250 B.C. ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM, OXFORD
The Story of Egypt:
WERNER FORMAN/ACI The Civilization That Changed the World
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
STONES
Discovered in Armana, this mudstone palette,
Starting around 4400 b.c., also known as the Lion Hunting Palette, dates
Egyptians made stone to around 3200 b.c. The central circular
palettes designed to grind compartment was for grinding cosmetics; the
and mix cosmetic pigments. surrounding decoration depicts a vibrant hunting
Around 3400-3100 b.c., scene, complete with armed men in pursuit of
palettes—which were many animals—including two lions, a gazelle, an
decorated with images ostrich, a jackal, and a hare.
related to the monarchy and
embossed on one or both 2 BULL PALETTE
sides— began to be used as
votive objects. Both sides of the Bull Palette are decorated, but
only fragments of this graywacke palette survive.
ALL PHOTOS: ALBUM It dates to roughly 3200-3000 b.c., a Predynastic
era known as the Naqada III period. A bull
1 trampling a human figure has been interpreted by
scholars as a symbol of royal victory.
HUNTERS PALETTE, BROKEN
INTO PIECES. ALL BUT ONE ARE 3 TWO DOG PALETTE
IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, IN
LONDON; THE OTHER IS IN THE As in the Narmer Palette, one side of this siltstone
LOUVRE, PARIS. 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.

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

THE WILD GRECO-ROMAN GOD

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 Dionysus 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 Whether called Dionysus (his
demanding to see Greek name) or Bacchus (his Roman one), he is Dionysus’association with wine embodies
Zeus in all his glory. perhaps the strangest of the gods in the vast clas- this paradox. Wine is a delicious beverage with
Oil painting by Luca sical pantheons. Though his pagan-like cults and medicinal properties, but it also intoxicates. It
Ferrari, 17th century. mysteries may seem to have existed outside the brings liberation and ecstasy, yet, like any ini-
Castelvecchio usual Greco-Roman religious and philosophi- tiatory experience, it also introduced the risks
Museum, Verona cal spheres, archaeological evidence in the 20th of losing hold of identity and control.
century proved that he was a fully realized god.
SCALA, FLORENCE The son of an immortal god and a mortal prin- Births and Deaths
cess,Dionysus’role forged a crucial link between
humanity and the divine, serving as a force of Many of the myths centered on Dionysus come
cyclical, unbridled nature who drew men and from different sources.One of the most popular,
women out of themselves through intoxication. the Bibliotheca, is a first- or second-centurya.d.
compendium of myths that draws on earlier
sources, such as the Homeric Hymns from the

GOD OF 13th century b.c. ca 7th-6th century b.c.
WINE AND
THEATER The name Dionysus Three of the Homeric Hymns
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 not an unprecedented one in Greek mythol-
FLANKED BY APOLLO, GOD ogy: Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare,
OF ARCHERY ( LEFT), AND was born similarly, emerging fully formed from
APHRODITE, GODDESS OF Zeus’s head. Dionysus thus became known as
LOVE (RIGHT FOREGROUND). the“twice-born god.”
FRESCO FROM POMPEII.
NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL After his extraordinary (re)birth, Zeus en-
MUSEUM, NAPLES trusts the infant Dionysus to the messenger god,
Hermes. The baby is shielded from Hera and
DAGLI ORTI/AURIMAGES 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.

FRIEND seventh to sixth centuries b.c. as well as earlier Wanderings and Wine
AND MENTOR Greek plays and poems. These texts supply a
A loyal friend, tutor, and standard story of Dionysus’ birth: Like many Cured of his madness, Dionysus continues
servant to Dionysus, of Zeus’s children, Dionysus was not the son of to travel, and he is not alone. In many of the
Silenus was nearly Zeus’s wife and queen, Hera, but the product of tales surrounding him, he is accompanied by
always present in the an extramarital affair. In the Bibliotheca, Zeus an entourage who worship Dionysus in a state
deity’s entourage. His falls in love with a mortal princess Semele, and of drunken revelry, holding lavish festal orgia
likeness appears on both the two conceive a child. When Hera discovers (rites) in his honor. Among them are nymphs
sides of this kantharos called maenads—also known as the Bacchae,or
(below). 540 b.c. the relationship, her jealousy bacchantes, who form the crux of his traveling
Louvre, Paris drives her to try to destroy retinue (the thiasus).
Semele and her unborn son.
H. LEWANDOWSKI/RMN-GRAND PALAIS Pan, the hirsute fertility god associated
Disguised as a mortal, with shepherds, often took part, along with
Hera plants a seed of doubt satyrs and sileni—wild creatures that were
in the young woman’s mind part man, part beast. The thiasus comprised
that her lover isn’t a god and animals such as big cats (leopards, tigers, lynx)
then gives her a way to obtain and snakes as well. The group brings the gift of
proof.Semele follows Hera’s plan wine wherever it goes.
and has Zeus swear an unbreakable
oath to grant her any wish; then she Dionysus’ odyssey takes him from Greece
asks Zeus to appear before her in all his across Turkey and into Asia. Some modern
divine glory. Because of his oath, Zeus can- scholars theorize that ancient Greeks believed
not refuse and reveals his divinity,a sight that that anywhere grapevines could be found and
mortals cannot withstand. Semele burns to wine was cultivated, Dionysus had once visit-
ashes. ed. When Dionysus reaches India, on a chariot
Zeus manages to save their unborn son and pulled by panthers, he conquers the land with
sews him into his own leg. When gestation is wine and dance rather than weapons and war.
complete, Dionysus bursts forth from Zeus’s
thigh. This graphic and gruesome episode is Dionysus encounters different peoples and
not all welcome him. Those who reject his
teachings are swiftly and brutally punished.
In Thrace (parts of modern Bulgaria, Greece,
and Turkey), he encounters King Lycurgus,
who refuses to recognize his status as a god
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 demands that the king be put to death or no than let them drown,Dionysus transformed the
Dionysus’ entourage. fruit will grow in the kingdom. On hearing that, sailors into dolphins.
Roman copy of a the king’s people seize Lycurgus and feed him
Greek original, first to man-eating horses to appease the god. Performance and Mysteries
century a.d.
A similar incident occurs in The- Worship of Dionysus was not uniform in the
ERICH LESSING/ALBUM 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
own mother, Agave—mistake him In Hellenic culture, Dionysus embodied a
for a wild animal,and tear him apart symbol of communal cohesion and reconcilia-
with their bare hands in their in- tion, closely connected with the theater. Every
toxication. March, the city of Athens would hold a festival
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

TWO THEATRICAL MASKS—ONE TRAGIC, ONE DELIRIUM OF
COMIC—ADORN THIS MARBLE RELIEF FROM THE THE BACCHAE
SECOND CENTURY A.D. BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON
The chorus of Euripides’ tragedy The Bacchae,
BRITISH MUSEUM/SCALA, FLORENCE written around 405 b.c., evokes the Diony-
sian mystery rites:

“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, brandishing
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 playful tune suited to the wanderers, to the
mountain, to the mountain!” And the Bacchante, re-
joicing like a foal with its grazing mother, rouses her
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 lished order. When he arrived, liberation and
depicted on a kylix, a In the days that followed, ancient Greece’s transgression had their turn.
shallow drinking cup, playwrights would present their works—trag-
from 530 b.c. (below). edies, comedies, and satyric drama—and com- Outsider or Olympian?
State Collection of pete for top honors. (According to tradition,
Antiquities, Munich tragedy was originally related to songs from the At first glance these mysteries, and the orgias-
Dionysian feast of the tragos, goat, and oidos, tic rites that surrounded Dionysus, seem to run
SCALA, FLORENCE 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
could be truly Hellenic. They considered him
Dionysus was also worshipped through a to be a foreign god, perhaps Thracian or Phry-
series of secret rituals known today as gian, and discounted the possibility that the
the Dionysian Mysteries. These are myths around his death and resurrection could
thought to have evolved from an un- be Greek. Positivist scholars of the 19th cen-
known cult that spread throughout tury argued that Dionysus was an imported
the Mediterranean region along- rather than a Greek god, and that the maenads
side the dissemination of wine existed only in myth and literature.
(though it’s possible that mead
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 popularity has spanned different time periods
1881 OIL PAINTING BY GIOVANNI MUZZIOLI, A MAENAD and guises; he is depicted as both a beautifully
DANCES IN FRONT OF A SLUMPED AND DRUNKEN MAN. effeminate, long-haired youth and a corpulent,
NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, ROME bearded mature man. The Greek Dionysus and
the Roman Bacchus are functionally the same
DEA/ALBUM god, but there are a few key differences. Diony-
sus—a noble, youthful figure in myth and clas-
DIVINE MOTHER 13th century b.c. Ancient Mycenaean tablets sical literature—is usually listed alongside the
The Greco-Roman found in the palace of Pylos, in the Peloponnese 12 Olympian gods. Bacchus, on the other hand, is
mother of the gods, region of southern Greece, mention his name often seen as a portly older man who, according
known as Cybele and prove that Dionysus was not a god adopted to the Roman poet Ovid, could be vengeful, us-
from about the fifth from abroad, but a profoundly Greek divinity. ing his staff as both a magic wand and a weapon
century b.c. onward, against those who dared oppose his cult and its
welcomed and cured Evidence of the maenads’existence has been ideals of freedom.
Dionysus of madness. found as well, in Greek inscriptions from vari-
Metropolitan ous time periods. Apparently there really were Surveying different belief systems in the an-
Museum, New York groups of women who would reach such a state cient world,it is easy to spot Dionysus’influence
of delirium, under the influence of Dionysus’ in other traditions.The term“Osiris-Dionysus”
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM/SCALA, FLORENCE priestly incarnation, that they were prepared is used by some historians of religion to refer to a
to rip apart live animals and eat their raw flesh. group of gods worshipped around the Mediter-
ranean in the centuries prior to the emergence
Divine Influence of Christianity. These gods shared a number
of characteristics, including being male, having
Dionysus was thus a fully Greek god, whose divine fathers and mortal virgin mothers, and
being reborn as gods.

The Egyptian god Osiris, for instance, was
equated with Dionysus by the Greek historian
Herodotus during the fifth century b.c. By late
antiquity, some gnostic and Neoplatonist phi-
losophers had expanded the syncretic equation
to include Aion, Adonis, and other gods of the
mystery religions. Scholars also note links be-
tween the life-giving wine of the Dionysian cult
and the centrality of wine in the Christian Eu-
charist, as well as parallels between the Greek
god and Christ himself. The sixth-century b.c.
classical cult known as Orphism centered on the
belief that Dionysus was torn to pieces and then
resurrected. Twentieth-century thinkers such
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 BEAUT Y 8

A Roman sarcophagus from the third century a.d. depicts Dionysus
discovering the sleeping mortal princess Ariadne. The pair fell in
love, married, and had children, including Oenopian (the personifi-
cation of wine), Staphylus (associated with grapes), and Thoas.

3 5
4 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

2

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

The Florence Cathedral is, without ALINARI ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES
doubt, one of the great feats of Re-
naissance engineering. The cathe-
dral is dedicated to Santa Maria del
Fiore (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

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