Lamassu – the Iraqi date syrup can sculpture …

 

This magnificent sculpture stands outside our Towner Gallery … it was originally (in 2018) on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square …

Image courtesy Rob Harris
(link below)

Michael Rakowitz, the sculptor, is an Iraqi-American artist living and working in Chicago – he is known for his conceptual art shown in non-gallery contexts.

Back Leg of Lamassu sculpture

Rakowitz is known for his recycled projects … be they salvaged date syrup cans as here, or reconstructed artifacts looted from the Iraq Museum and excavation sites from diasporic ephemera, such as newspapers and grocery stores.

Close up of hoof and lower limb - showing
empty date syrup cans ... 

'Our statue' is made from 10,500 Iraqi date syrup cans sculpted around a metal frame – it is 4.3 metres (14 feet) in length.

Lamassu, a winged bull protective Assyrian deity, that stood at the entrance to the Nergal Gate of Nineveh from ca. 700 BC until February 2015, when ISIS destroyed it along with artefacts in the nearby Mosul Museum.

Lamassu, Neo-Assyrian Empire 
(c 721 - 705 BC)

Here we find Rakowitz reminding us about the disasters we are inflicting on the world through human, economic and ecological disasters caused by the Iraqi Wars (in this instance) and their aftermath …

… today we need to add at least two other wars in Ukraine and in Israeli/Gaza … let alone all other natural and unnatural disasters we are exposing the world and its occupants to …

As a reminder Iraqi dates were once considered the best in the world and formed the country's second largest export after oil.

Nineveh - city wall and gates
(NB Nergal Gate - top left)

The sculpture is entitled 'The Invisible Enemy should not exist (Lamassu of Nineveh)' – the carved cuneiform inscription was invisible to travellers as it was embedded into the wall of the Nergal Gate …

… here Rakowitz has it exposed … while it translates as “Sennercherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, had the wall of Nineveh built anew and raised as high as mountains”.

Lamma - protective winged deity,
Sumerian Isin-Larsa period
(2000 - 1800 BC)

There's rather more to Lamassu and its (her) history – to be found per the links below; also more about Michael Rakowitz.

Then of course one remembers the past twenty years of wars (War in Iraq from 2003 - 2011) and the further destruction that has been inflicted on world societies … be they human, economic and ecological – so much history to remember, to learn about …

Close up of the carved Cuneiform
inscription - sorry not easy to see

I know exceedingly little about life in the Middle East centuries ago to today … so these links can send you off down rabbit holes … and have and will send me down them again …

As our town welcomes the Turner Prize 2023 to the Towner Art Gallery – in celebration Eastbourne has come ALIVE with art, music, and performance events … these are spread across the town waiting to be explored and enjoyed.

Lamassu makes a huge statement – as well as a glorious gateway for all the Turner Prize entries hosted by the Towner Art Gallery – available until middle of April 2024.

The winner of the Prize is due to be announced next week on 5^th December … I guess I will revert – but I have to get my head round the entries – contemporary art is different: a learning curve!

Towner Eastbourne link - including photo by Rob Harris - showing the cuneiform inscription ... 

Green Art Gallery - showing details re the Trafalgar Square plinth ... 

Chicago Museum exhibits - "Lost Treasures of Iraq" ... lovely photos here ... 

Wikipedia - Lamassu ... 

Wikipedia - Nineveh ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Concrete Lemon …

 

Well it's not what I thought … I imagined that this would be a great subject for a We Are The World Blogfest post …

Detailed taxonomic illustration by
Kohler 1897

… but no … it is most definitely not concrete in the way we understand it today … the term arose in the early 1500s coming about from Latin (concretus) – having different meanings as the language English progressed – and those grammatical aspects are way beyond me … (I looked up concrete origin of word): the English Language is a dynamic one … always changing …

Right let's get back to lemons … and the Mr Coxwell … who perfected this concrete lemon substance …

An essay by Dr Trotter

Mr Coxwell was a chemist and druggist in Fleet Street, London and was a member of the Committee of Chemistry at the Society for the Promotion of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, and … as you know the inventor of concrete lemon.

Concrete as we know it – it was not - but it did have the appearance of smashed white sugar … perhaps I'll look at concrete dust differently now …

Henry Coxwell's description

However Mr Coxwell had created crystallised lemon juice for use at sea … to ease the disease of scurvy …

Scurvy had been recorded in Ancient Egypt over 3,500 years ago; Hippocrates, the Greek physician, described the symptoms of scurvy; the Chinese recognised it …

Eventually in the early years of the 2^nd millennium 'we' started to catch up - that fresh citrus particularly could ward off scurvy …

Produce could be part of the cargo – but would not last … so stop off points were found and then planted with fruit trees and vegetables to be available for maritime travellers …

Very early Cape Town, harbour and 
Table Mountain

… Jan van Riebeeck, acting for the Dutch East India Company, arrived in 1792 at what is now the Cape Town area to set up a victualing settlement to grow fruit trees and develop gardens for a permanent supply of fresh produce.

These stop off points developed in places such as St Helena Island, along the St Lawrence River ... and other places as explorers opened up the world …

Communication and the spread of information was not easy in these early days … so it took until the 1920s before 'our world' understood scurvy … now in the 21^st century it is virtually eliminated though still occurs amongst malnourished people and there have been outbreaks in refugee camps ...

Back to Coxwell and his concrete lemon that particularly valuable commodity … developed in the late 1700s and early 1800s – at least it could be kept and stored easily in the cargo … as a veritable increase in trade spread around the globe.

Description of his reduced lemon juice
in the Bath Chronicle of 1799

The wonders of life through the ages ... 

On July 10^th 1784 … see Crell's Journal in the link … where he notes that 'there is a worm that cankers the bud of all improvement here' … the Naval Service took a while before this ingenious discovery would benefit its seamen.

This subject bemused me … to be found … c/o British Library and its archives … and I learnt quite a lot from reading it …

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Educational Book Journey (part 2) ...

After Vancouver ... came this book:

Stephen Bown's book on Vitus Bering ... 'Island of the Blue Foxes' I found via a review in the paper ... I was enticed as it looked as though it would introduce me to Russia, Siberia, and the Bering Strait ... named for Vitus Bering (1681 - 1741) ...

... I found it fascinating and informative, especially about Siberia, the eastern side of Russia, down into China and Asia: particularly geographically and settlement-wise ... and the Europeans' early search for the Northwest passage and Alaska ...

Moving right on to more Eastern Europe -

The next book I read, having had access to one of the book club's books, was Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice by Bill Browder;

Browder's Russian tax accountant, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in prison ... the Magnitsky Act, promoted by Browder, was passed into USA law in December 2012.

I found Red Notice a really informative read - disconcerting to say the least ... but I'd worked in this sort of life in my early days in London and Robert Maxwell features in the book - another fleeting personal connection ... his home was next to my school in Oxford.

Then I was able to read Disinformation: Former Spy Chief Reveals Secret Strategies for Undermining Freedom, Attacking Religion, and Promoting Terrorism ... how salutary: of the world we live in today ... (by a former three-star general in the Secret Police of Communist Romania, Ion Mihai Pacepa, and law professor Ronald J. Rychlak).  There's a companion film: Disinformation: The Secret Strategy to Destroy the West (which I haven't seen).

Some of the back blurb - the sentence by
R James Woolsey is worth noting

Upcoming in the fifth post ... Circling the Midnight Sun: Culture and Change in the Invisible Arctic by Canadian James Raffan.  This I was given by the lady who'd introduced me to the book club - she'd studied nursing at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington, Oxford - where I'd been at school ... we'd just about overlapped. 

Midnight Sun, Altafjord, Norway

Small world - she'd been up in the Yukon ... so I asked if she could bring me some information back - sadly my email to her was sent as she was on her way back ... but she lent me Raffan's book, and to change the subject,  inspired me to write the post about Salmon in the Yukon from some information she had given me.

The fifth post will be about the book 'Circling the Midnight Sun' - but otherwise here I have mentioned:

Island of the Blue Foxes by Stephen Bown

Red Notice by Bill Browder

Disinformation by a former three-star general in the Secret Police of Communist Romania, Ion Mihai Pacepa, and law professor Ronald J. Rychlak

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

We are the World Blogfest ... # 15 - Human Flow: Refugees on the Move ...

Human flow - is, at it suggests, a lot of people on 'a path' ... desperate to escape their country, to find hope in a welcoming land, to be able to live peacefully giving their family a better deal ...

Film poster

... through the dusty, hot trails across the desert, even in a rubber dinghy of doubtful origin setting out across the Mediterranean Sea - the horrors of life without papers, without security ... and in the film we all see the hopelessness and horror these refugees go through to give themselves a chance of a life ...

I went to see the documentary film Ai Weiwei (the Chinese contemporary artist and activist) has made titled "Human Flow".

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei's experience of being held in China, then getting his passport back and being able to travel - he went to Lesbos, Greece to see the refugees ... drawing on his own persecution ... and checking other refugee routes ... 

This eye opening experience led him to make the film.  He states, when the film was shown at La Biennale di Venezia, the following:

"Human Flow is a personal journey, an attempt to understand the conditions of humanity in our days.  The film is made with deep belief in the value of human rights. 

In this time of uncertainty, we need more tolerance, compassion and trust for each other, since we are all one.  Otherwise, humanity will face an even bigger crisis."

Armenian woman and
children forced  in 1915, with
many others, to flee from
Anatolia to Syria ... where are
their descendants now,
I wonder

The film was released in 2017 ... for it he visited over 20 countries ... and I've put links below - so you can read more: which I hope you will do ... even if you don't get to see the film.

Also to read up more about Ai Weiwei - which I had not realised ...

That's my contribution to #We Are The World Blogfest for this month ... it is eye opening ...

We are the World - In Darkness, Be Light

We are made to think ...

Ai Weiwei - Wikipedia article 

Human Flow - links across to YouTube 2.25 mins introduction

The Guardian article ... revealing a deeply affecting empathy for those caught in a global crisis.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Celebration of Diaries - an Exhibition ...

I went to the Dear Diary Exhibition at King’s College, London in the Inigo Rooms of Somerset House … these will be jottings on various snippets of information I noted …

The Courtyard, Somerset House

Some of the work was copyright - so no photos … but I did note that people’s handwriting is difficult to behold – let alone read … especially through glass: nothing changes as time goes on!  (thank goodness for the typed or spoken word … spoken: perhaps not so much – dialects etc).

Exhibition Guide

I whizzed through, glanced at … picked out some salient points …  so please excuse this disjointed post …

The first ‘diary’ was the Almanac (c 1400 BC) … almanac in Arabic apparently means making a camel kneel: ‘al-munak’ … that’s what was written up …. ?!

There was a long hanging banner with some
of the works on display down the staircase

Almanacs … we bloggers and authors know and quite often refer to them … they record the calendar, weather, poems, sayings, astronomical and astrological information, other relevant aspects to the writer …



The word 'diary' comes from the Latin "diarium" (daily allowance), as too 'journal' - it is from the same root "diurnus" (of the day).

The first use of the word ‘diary’ occurred in 1581 … while Ben Jonson in 1605 coined the word to mean a daily record in his comedy ‘Volpone’.

Gentleman and Tradesman, Daily Pocket Journal
for the year 1754

Some diarists used code in their writings … Pepys - naval administrator and diarist - (1633 – 1703), Anne Lister – diarist, mountaineer and traveller (1791 – 1840), Charles Wesley – a leader in the Methodist movement (1707 – 1788) and Beatrix Potter –author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist (1866 – 1943) …

Anne Lister (aka "Gentleman Jack")

Anne Lister inherited from her landowning uncle … she wrote in 1803 ‘my library is my greatest pleasure … the Grecian history had pleased me much’.  She was known as “Gentleman Jack” … it is worth reading up about her …

Anne Frank School Photo
in 1940

Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901) kept a diary … Beatrice Webb (1858 – 1943) co-founder of the London School of Economics wrote a diary … and I can’t forget Anne Frank (1929 – 1945) who kept a diary …

But a film had been made in Germany in 1929 ‘Diary of a Lost Girl’ … it is a silent film … considered a classic … based on a controversial book first published in Germany in 1905.  I would like to read the book and see the film …

Diary of a Lost Girl - silent film:
original German poster

There are many items on display … in manuscript form … until that internet thing came upon us … then one of the first to embrace the new medium recording her thoughts for all to see was Carolyn L Burke …

… in 1995 she seems to have embraced the new technology and started sharing …

… the use of  ‘blog’ and ‘blogosphere’ first appeared as words in 1999 …

Western Mail Diary - cost 3 shillings

Carolyn observed that she was able to share her interests, she had an audience – a range of characters, ‘they’ became her therapist, her confidante, her intimate friend ….

… the momentum gathered and after several months alone by herself on the net … they started visiting … at the peak she had 100,000 hits and numerous followers … and critics ... 

I am sure she is still around … but she encourages others inwhat is apparently her last entry in 2007.

… the exhibition asks us to participate – I used pen and post-it note to add my tuppence to the board of experiences – yellow for online, blue for handwritten … guess mine = yellow!

So many can let others know what is happening in their world … refugees, a child’s view on a riot in Paris in 1968, a day in the life of a UNICEF worker in Yemen … and bloggers around the world …

… if you wish to participate – this is the site … I hope someof you will …

The art work appearing with Einsam's link ... 

There is a song, which I rather like: “Ephemera – Dear Diary” by Einsam: to be found here … Einsam means lonely …

Lots of alternatives for diary keeping today … video, taped, via an app, online blogging or vlogging … and of course pen and paper …

Facsimile page of Anne Frank's diary
on show in Berlin

However I’m happy with doing what I do – I’d hate for my life to be out there for everyone to read … so boring, so illegible!, these posts at least keep me amused and a few of you – for whom I am mighty grateful …

Other links:  The Diary of a Lost Girl - the book

The Exhibition: "Dear Diary - celebrates diaries and their digital descendants" ... 

Cover of the first edition: 1892

Over the centuries (millennia) diaries have offered unique accounts of given times, in a medium selected by the diarist … no other kind of document offers such a wealth of information about daily life, and the ups and downs of human existence.

Apart from exploring what motivates diarists, noting the ways in which paper diaries have been joined by phones and tablets as our means of keeping track of daily life … 

Stranger than fiction probably ... especially the historical details and facts that make up our understanding of earlier lives.

An Addendum - Mike from A Bit About Britain mentioned the Mass Observation Project conducted by Sussex University ... it looks fascinating: so here are two links ...

The Mass Observation Archive - gives an overview ... 80 years of social observation ...

The MOA is archived at the University's new facility in The Keep

I'm going out to the Keep sometime soon ... so now will ask about this collection ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Ferroequinology … a new trading route …

Trains … ferroequinology the study of those rolling stock wagons or in old parlance ‘iron horses’ … raised its head in two ways … the incredible new silk route across China, Russia, Europe which now has a terminus in east London, at the Barking depot, Essex.

Stephenson's Rocket

The Trans-Siberian railway forms a key component of the Silk Road Economic Belt with its incredible coverage:

• 70% of the world’s population

• 75% of its energy resources

• 70% of the Gross Domestic Product in the world

Then there are these inland harbours … but methinks this post will be about the ferroequinology aspect and one inland port that of Duisburg, Germany.

An example of an earlier 'old' silk route

I was staggered to read that a Chinese cargo train which had set out from Yiwu, famous as a commodities centre, south-west of Shanghai, arrived in London 16 - 18 days later, in about half the usual ship consignment time, and at half the estimated airfreight cost.

The average container ship can hold up to 19,224 twenty-foot containers on a large cargo vessel … but this train with 200 containers cannot match up, yet saves time, tends not to have delays, and costs less.   34 of the wagons, with 68 containers, were destined for London.

Spanish Tapas - ham, chorizo, wine, cheeses,
olive oil dip ... 

The wagons from different countries will not go back empty … from Madrid will go hams, chorizo, olive oil, cheeses, wine and from Germany and Belgium beer … Poland has speciality foods too …

Container Ship sparkling in the sun in a
shipping lane in the English Channel

Ships will still be used for larger and heavier goods – so the high seas will still be traversed.  ‘Our’ train brought in socks, garments, bags and suitcases, or similar items – return products will be of local origin … 

There seem to be various routes being tested … this train travelled 7,500 miles, through seven countries, had to unload and re-load where the varying rail gauges on Russian lines didn’t match. 

Some basic facts provided by This Is Money

Different rail gauges used across the world:
the blue is the standard gauge

The UK’s containers were unloaded in Duisburg, before being transferred for the last leg under the Channel and into Barking, East London.  Duisburg has reinvented itself as an inland container port … the world’s largest inland harbour … see link to Railway Gazette

This is an American train - but they are
experimenting with trains 3.5 miles long?!

… and provides the specially approved cargo container wagons,  for the last part of the rail trip via the Channel Tunnel … so we can get our consignment of household products into the UK.

Sculpture of a ferro equine:
c/o Thoro Edge Equine

A silk, or sock, route reinvented … I certainly hadn’t thought we would be importing goods via a rail network – we are an island after all – or so I believed! …

Extraordinary world we live in … there are 39 routes linking 16 Chinese cities to 12 European ones, including Hamburg and Madrid, as well as London.

J M W Turner's 1844 painting:
"Rain, Steam and Speed"

Ferroequinology is a winner … just the thought of this journey bemuses me … what would JMW Turner, the artist with his “Rain, Steam and Speed – the Great Western Railway”(1844), have thought of it … and it was only 8 years ago that container ships were being moth-balled in deep water ports due to the global economic crisis …

This print shows the Rainhill Trials of 1829

Here’s to the new silk route … and these silk routes will be spun and spun … which could lead to a number of global shortages … if most of our commodities are off to China … as we recently had with chocolate … it is an interesting world at the moment.

A ferroequinologist's delight ... trains from here to China!

Please see my earlier post on the Get Up and Push Railroad - where the term ferroequinology came to light ... 

The return trip back to China ... set off 10 April 2017 ... see here: Freight train begins first journey from UK to China - it'll be there in about 2 weeks ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher 

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories