The Rise of the Sorcerers: Chapter Eighteen - THE EMPIRE OF DAEDALUS
Santorin, the Atlanteans, and the Crete of Minos. - Relations with Asia. - The kings of the sea and metals. - History of the orichalcum. - Sanitary facilities and urban planning. - The elegant ones of Knossos. - Linear A, Linear B and Phaistos disk. - The Fabulous Daedalus' inventions. - A Daedalus corporation? - Myth or reality of Talos, the robot. - Naphtha and the wound of Talos. - The scales to weigh souls. - Infuse humanity into human history.
"I have been addressing you since the time of the Bull, who has just finish. Through more than three thousand years, I send you a message; to you, who live in the conjunction of Pisces and Aquarius. In your At that time, you have done things that I started, and some of my technical achievements seem, next to yours, trivial and perhaps childish. However, I've done things that no one else had done before before me, and I have done wonders that no one was able to do before my advent. My son and I crossed the sky, where No one had been before us."
This is how Daedalus speaks to us, in an imaginary message with which the magnificent fiction book by Michael Ayron, painter and sculptor English...
Daedalus' empire had Crete at its center. It is very likely that be confused with the one who survived in the legend by the name of Atlantis.
We know nothing certain about Atlantis, and many authors attribute another location to it. Plato placed it to the east of the Pillars of Hercules, or, in other words, of the Strait of Gibraltar. And we started from this theory to look for its traces in the Atlantic. But, it seems, the sinkholes in this region are They produced very slowly, and date back more than 500,000 years.
Now, antiquity affirms that the disappearance of Atlantis It was abrupt. Solon heard of it during his stay in Egypt. The priests of Sais said that Atlantis was as vast as it was Lydia and Asia together. This is, no doubt, an exaggeration; on the other hand on the other hand, the civilized peoples of the shores of the Mediterranean they ignored the dimensions of Asia for a long time.
Plato speaks, in Critias, of a war that broke out, nine thousand years before between the rulers of Atlantis and those of the Aegean Sea. It must have been a kingdom much older than the Empire Cretan. But, as no hypothesis has been, until now, confirmed or refuted, we can formulate others.
For example, the Next: A people who, in the Neolithic period, lived on an island of the Atlantic, inculcated, before disappearing, the first the Cretans, the foundations of their civilization; And it is also permissible To imagine that a single catastrophe was the cause of the disappearance of the Atlantis (wherever it may be) and the destruction of the cities of Minoan Crete.
A terrible volcanic eruption could make one or more islands disappear, causing only the devastation of others. On the island of Thera (or Thira), present-day Santorín, it has been shown that a city, of which the Greek archaeologist Spiridon Marinitos discovered vestiges in 1961, It was destroyed, by the explosion of an underwater volcano, about 1,500 years before B. C. Which, according to the sage, would have been nothing more than an episode in the history of the earthquake, particularly agitated in this part of the world.
At the same time as Santorín, located at 120 kilometers from Crete and 200 from Athens, south of the Aegean Sea, others smaller islands in the same archipelago could suffer from the The consequences of the cataclysm, which, according to the Greek seismologist Ganalopoulos, began with seismic tremors, followed by a tsunami and two eruptions. All around the Mediterranean Remains of lava have been found corresponding to that century, and certain papyri speak of the darkening of the sun that is then produced in Egypt.
When, in 1902, the Montaña Pelada volcano erupted (in Martinique), and the towns of Saint-Pierre and the village of Morne Rouge were destroyed by lava, incandescent ashes, jets of boiling water and asphyxiating gases, the inhabitants of the island Guadalupe residents saw the sky darken in the middle of the day, Cause of the ash cloud.
And later on, they found themselves among the the rubble of Saint-Pierre, the corpses of families sitting on the table, of horsemen, of workmen at work, of the same This is how the skeletons of people were exhumed in Crete surprised in their daily activity.
Whatever the origin of the destruction of the cities Cretans, Ganalopoulos is absolutely convinced of his identity with the cities of the Atlanteans:
Whatever the origin of the destruction of the cities Cretans, Ganalopoulos is absolutely convinced of his identity with the cities of the Atlanteans:
"The Atlanteans and the Crete of Minos merge, from now on, in a single picture: a rich, powerful state, which is theoretically an ancient theocracy, under a priest-king, but which, in reality, It is a frivolous and intelligent upper bourgeoisie, a lover of the bizarre and sports shows, which he dresses up with subtle elegance, uses extremely beautiful ceramic objects and lives in the equality of the sexes, a very rare thing in antiquity; A Civilization decadent, fascinating, delicious, and damned..."
Condemned? ¿How And why?
Let's take a look at what we currently know about this culture. In many cases, aspects, we could describe it as prodigious.
Thalassocratic Crete dominated all neighboring regions. From the Neolithic era, there were continuous exchanges between the islands Cyclades and Asia. And it is likely that there were contacts between the Central and North Asia, particularly in the regions of the Caucasus and Turkestan.
However, as has also been shown that there were relations between these regions and Anatolia, all of which were through it they had a relationship with Crete.
The era of expansion of the Cretans had two phases. During the First, they trafficked in Greece, Melos, Syra, Cyprus, Delos, and Syria. and maintained permanent relations with Egypt. Its technicians, engineers and architects collaborated in the construction of the pyramids of Senusert II and Arnenemhet III.
At this time, his The fleet was already important. She would confer upon them the title of "kings of the world." sea." They also had a navy, the first force naval forces of the Northern Mediterranean, and undoubtedly reached Sicily and Spain. It is possible that they did not completely enslave the peoples. but that they should be content to lavish their techniques on them, while they were they perfected themselves with contact.
Their might allowed them to to improve their art and increase their well-being, by procuring the materials bonuses that they lacked. From the fourth millennium B.C., in Tell Obeld used copper, and Herzfeld tells us, in two works on Persia, from axes of this metal found at Susa.
Gold was widespread and even enjoyed. Herself in Asia and Africa, but also in Europe: its use it was, above all, widespread in Ireland.
Apart from the three metals mentioned, around the year 2400 BC From J. C. tin made its appearance. He came from Saxony and Bohemia, across the Adriatic; Sicily obtained it from Etruria, and the from Cornwall he travelled through Gaul and Iberia.
On the other hand, the use of iron was very late everywhere. To the less so than terrestrial iron. In Egypt, they are only beginning to exploit it around 1400 B.C. A block has been found, intact, in a pyramid from 1600 BC. In Palestine was not worked until about 1200.
This is due to the fact that many meteorites that fell no doubt during the in various regions of the globe, and which are mentioned by All the traditions (rains of fire) contained iron in a state of This made it unnecessary to extract the minerals.
In As late as the twelfth century A.D., Averroes refers to that excellent swords and sabres were made from the iron of a block fallen from the sky near Cordoba. And, according to legend, Attila, and much later Timur Lenk (Tamerlane), owed their victories to That their weapons had been forged from a metal sent by God.
Their fleet allowed the Cretans to move far away in search of tin. And they owned bronze workshops. On the other hand, bronze does not It was the only alloy used in protohistoric times. Empirically, copper was combined with other metalloids: arsenic, in Egypt; nickel in Germany; with zinc, in Saxony, for making brass. Brass has also been found in Kameiros, Rhodes Town. But those who made it should have He doubts this invention by chance, for, at this time, it does not appear in the nowhere in the same optimal proportions.
By adding a little more zinc or lead to the bronze, a Patina highly sought after in artistic crafts and statuary. In addition an alloy of gold and silver has been discovered in your, electro, which It was later used for the manufacture of coins. Now, we can We wonder if the ancients didn't sometimes confuse electro, an unusual brightness and hue, with the orichalcum.
Ancient authors often referred to this substance. Some believed that it was a pure, very rare metal. Others will They attributed a magical or divine origin. Plato praised the brilliance of fire that he gave to the objects and the walls that he covered.
One Aristotle's contemporary speaks of a white and shiny copper, called Copper Mountain. The Mosinoeci (who undoubtedly inhabited Asia Minor) obtained it, he says, by adding tin to copper, and also a special land, gathered on the shores of the Black Sea: calmia (where the word calamine comes from). Pliny also quotes This stone, as used for the manufacture of aurichalcum.
The Cretans owed to their remarkable technique not only the construction of of their admirable palaces, but also that they should offer comforts that the Western peoples lacked until the very beginning. nineteenth century of our era. Apartments arranged around a Central courtyard. Walls with double isothermal walls, clad interiorly of mosaics depicting scenes that illustrate to us about everyday life.
The Cretans owed to their remarkable technique not only the construction of of their admirable palaces, but also that they should offer comforts that the Western peoples lacked until the very beginning. nineteenth century of our era. Apartments arranged around a Central courtyard. Walls with double isothermal walls, clad interiorly of mosaics depicting scenes that illustrate to us about everyday life.
Tiled floors, which sometimes represent aquariums of such noisy water, because of the movement of aquatic plants, air bubbles, and nimble fish, which One does not dare to put one's foot down, for fear of falling or waking up from one's head. her dream to the Flordelisado prince whose statue reigns over this enchanted eternity. But our wonder turns to astonishment when we look at sanitary facilities.
A perfect system drainage. Air conditioning by means of a central heating that becomes a continuous source in summer of fresh air. Canals for the supply of water. Devices hydraulic lifts, which worked by inertia. Subtle Lighting of rooms and underground chambers.
The systems of public roads and roads are no less perfect. The The buildings are separated from each other by alleys. Besides There are workshops, warehouses and shrines. The Paths are tiled or have concrete floors. Its width It's barely five feet high, but its gravel infrastructure agglomerate, one meter thick, is supported, on both sides, on raised sidewalks, intended for pedestrians and companions of the convoys.
Some roadways have two parallel lanes that, In the event of a storm, they were to serve as evacuation channels. In other roads, these lanes were also, perhaps, used for the Dry transport of vessels from one port to another.
From the beginning of the second millennium B.C., the Cretans founded cities, such as Akrotiri, on all the islands of Santorin and perhaps, even, in mainland Greece. In your own country, they built, according to Homer, a hundred. During the first phase, the The urban area was located on the eastern coast of the island. After Knossos and Phaistos were erected almost in the centre; the first, by North, and the second, to the South.
Around 1750, a change took place, the nature of which we do not know. A revolution, an invasion or, perhaps, a natural phenomenon: earthquake or tidal wave. A little later, new palaces are built, not not only in Knossos and Phaistos, but also in Hagia, Triad, and Tilisos. There seems to have been some rivalry between these cities. All of them succumbed in the middle of the 15th century, except for Knossos, which lasted even fifty years before the final collapse.
The elegant women of Knossos launched the fashions in which they were inspired the wealthy women of the neighboring islands or the cities of Asia Minor, and the Egyptians. First, they wore very long skirts and Ruffles; then, wide and smooth. Their bodices were adorned with Medici-style collars, and were very low-cut at the front, leaving bare breasts.
The men wore their busts naked, and Sometimes, they were covered with a simple ornate jockstrap or a A skirt reminiscent of that of the evzones. Their coquetry was centered In the headdress: flat turbans or tiaras. As for the hats They might have rivalled, in variety and extravagance, with those of the Parisians of the Belle Époque.
Otherwise, it looks like that women enjoyed great freedom. We can't go on here on all aspects of social life. In addition, we can only to guess them through the pictorial samples, because, until now, only A small part of the Cretan script has been deciphered.
Language comprises several written forms, one of which, the Linear B, appears to have been deciphered, although the Ventris are still being discussed. Linear B indicates that the The destruction of Knossos occurred approximately 1,500 years earlier This is shocking to archaeologists, but it seems to confirmed by geovolcanic tests. Before Writing Linear B, there was Linear A. Before Linear A, no one knows what that there was. Is it the lost writing...? No one has yet deciphered the famous disc of Phaistos, an object that probably dates from the the very beginning of the age of Minos.
This disc was found in the palace of Phaistos in Crete, with objects from the middle period of Minos and with a tablet with indecipherable inscriptions in Linear A script. In As for the disc itself, it is made of clay and contains ideograms and representations of objects. If it is contemporary with the objects, it would have to date from the seventeenth century B.C. But it's possible that is older.
Perhaps the excavations at Thera will provide us with some valuable material. I am a student. It is also possible that the Phaistos disc is not a message, but a set of characters meant to be cut out and used separately.
Whether it has been possible to reconstitute a large number of elements of life and of the history of the Cretans, there are essential points that They stay in 1st shade. The bad, when we consider the myths and legends, is that we do not possess data about the birth of these, it is that is, about the events that provoked them.
Not really It's just very likely that all myths involve facts based on reality, but have not been based on reality. already provided a great deal of information, which inspired the research by explorers such as Schlieman, who rediscovered the Troy, or of scholars such as Victor Bérard, who he reconstituted the Odyssey.
Among the themes that remain obscure and full of enigmas, lending itself to numerous interpretations, the story of Daedalus is one of the most puzzling. Haldane, in making the portrait of Daedalus attributes to him a surprising range of inventions: adhesives, condoms, artificial insemination. Also He created, according to him, a machine for boring tunnels, a reverberator, a flying machine, and even a robot.
These creations, if we accept them as such, would be, according to the myth, those of a demigod. An implausible, prodigious demigod even more implausible than Hercules himself, whose twelve and whose adventures reveal more strength and cunning than technical imagination.
What do we know about Daedalus? Son of the god Ares, he was born in Athens. He practiced, simultaneously, mechanics, architecture and culture, constantly innovating in each of these fields. Had a nephew and disciple, named Talos. Envious of his ability, he threw from the top of the Acropolis; Afterwards, he banished himself to Crete. Legend, or he himself, later gave that name to a gigantic robot of his invention.
The Godshad divided the Earth. Atlantis (later Crete, according to us) corresponded to Poseidon (Neptune). At this stage, we The multiple roles played by bulls in the myth clash. A God (Zeus, according to some historians) takes the form of this animal to kidnap young Europa, which he swam to Crete and by which he has three sons: Minos, Sarpedon and Radamante. Minos, who has become king of the island, marries Pasiphae.
And this is she falls in love with a bull, like her mother-in-law Europa. At this moment, Daedalus he is already working at the Court of Minos. As a sculptor, he sculpts a Wood beef. Then empty the statue. Pasifae is introduced in and in this way, he can satisfy his passion. Denouement: The Son That which is born of this love has the body of a man and the head of a bull. It's him Minotaur. To hide that bastard son from the eyes of the people embarrassing him, Minos asks Daedalus to build the Labyrinth.
The bull will continue to play a preponderant role in the myths Cretans, and then the Greeks. Minos dies for not having sacrificed the bull that Poseidon caused to rise out of the sea. The Seventh Hercules' work, which is performed in Crete, consists of taming a Wild bull. Prometheus Will Be Chained For Pranking Him Jupiter, feeding him the fat and bones of a bull's bull to eat. sacrifice.
We will also find the bull again in Egypt and in the India. But what does Daedalus, sculptor, mechanic, engineer, researcher? The myth can be interpreted in terms of the Depth psychology. We can also imagine Daedalus practicing genetics experiments; Looking for a way to produce hybrid beings with the animal-god; Performing Tests of insemination.
The popular muse will soon embroider a fabulous tale based on those facts. But, looking at it another way, who is it? Daedalus? Just as there was, not a sovereign named Minos, but a whole lineage of kings who bore this name, why can't you imagine a corporation of Daedalus, several generations of Daedalus, belonging to a brotherhood of researchers and technicians, whose work has a magical aspect to the uninitiated?
The Argonauts, after having effectually aided Jason in the conquest of the Golden Fleece, they want to stop in Crete, on the way back. He is prevented from doing so by the intervention of a gigantic robot, Talos, which takes care of the protection of the island. Walk it three times a day: Discover the boats and throws rocks at them.
But he has a weak point: his ankle. If you suffer A wound in the ankle, the lifeblood escapes through it. ¿Be Is the liquid in the reservoir? Would the machine run on gasoline? invented the Daedalus? The ancients knew naphtha. Read in Theophrastus that some peoples burned stones that they detached steam.
This steamer, carried by pipelines, gave movement to the certain machines. The fire lit by the "rinagos" Zoroastrians, and doubtless, before them, the priests of other Pyromanian religions, on the Iranian plateau and in the vicinity of Mosul, came from the ignition of natural gases that erupted from the earth. On the shores of the Persian Gulf, from the most of ancient times, the "mumyja", a kind of solidified bitumen, endowed with therapeutic and dynamic virtuids. The term "naphtha"> not it is included in the texts describing the Talos robot.
We can imagine other energy sources,. We can also dream of a machine that It detects the proximity of ships and bombards them without ever failing marksmanship. Medea, protector of the Argonauts, wounds Talos in the the ankle. The machine breaks down. Medea is the saboteur spy of defense installations.
As for the myth of Icarus, it is, if we follow the same line, a A story based on a technical attempt. Naturally, we can imagine that the Cretans and their Daedalus received rudiments from science and technology from visitors from abroad, such as Akpallus.
We can also, without taking so much risk, regard the Cretans as repositories of previous and developed civilizations and that the deposit was entrusted to the society of the Daedalus. In the frescoes of Knossos we find depictions of a "scale for weighing souls," and, in palaces and workshops, remains of enigmatic apparatus. Do the Daedalus or their neighbors, Playing sorcerer's apprentices, they tried to capture the energy and blew up their world so strangely out of ambition Got?
These questions are not absurd. Perhaps it would be more absurd, and lazy, not to formulate them, for fear of believing in permanence of an ingenious intelligence in history still plagued by abysses Unexplored.
When the lost scriptures have been deciphered; When we have interrogated the myths, in a spirit that is neither paternalistic nor proud, but open to the possibilities of previous successes of the creative intelligence, with a spirit permeable to the idea of The circulation of time (the passage of our present into the past, as there is a presence of the past in the present), we will have infused, At last, true humanity to human history.