Vila Wolf's Dyslexic Folklorist Ranting

The Hagia Sophia is one the major sites that still remains from the Byzantine Empire.  During the Byzantine Empire it served as a Greek Orthodox Church and after the fall of Constantinople a mosque.  Now it is a museum in modern day Turkey attracting tourists, both religious and secular, from all over the world. 

Many have wanted to know what it would be like to be in this place during the Middle Ages, and well now you sort of can.  Scholars and scientist have been working for years now to re-create the acoustics of when the Hagia Sophia first functioned as a sacred site.  And you can hear it now:

~Hasmonean

Detail of a limestone lion attacking s bull from Palace H in Persepolis, attributed to the reign of king Artaxerxes III of Persia (358-338 BCE) and the first Pharaoh Egypt’s the 31st dynasty. Artaxerxes III ruled his vast Achaemenid Empire from Babylon. During his reign, the famous Palace of king Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon was expanded. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. 

Photo by Babylon Chronicle

"No! Absolutely not! Not a word of it is true! I did not have sex with her!"

1 & 2: Tablet, Yorghan Tepe, Stratum II.

This is one of my favorite artifacts from the museum, really just shows that even after these thousands of years, some things really do not change!

Courtesy & currently located at the Semitic Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

A full scale replica of an ancient Israelite home from the ‘Houses of Ancient Israel: Domestic, Royal, Divine’ exhibit.

Courtesy & currently located at the Semitic Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Statuette of a kneeling man, known as the Worshipper of Larsa. Dedicated by an inhabitant of Larsa to the god Amurru for the life of Hammurabi. Bronze and gold, early 2nd millenium BC.

According to the inscription, this votive statue was dedicated to the Sumerian god Martu (Akkadian Amurru), and would have likely been intended for the temple of that deity.

Translated, the inscription reads:

Such works were commissioned not only to curry favor with the king, but also to secure his protection and the prosperity of his kingdom.

Courtesy & currently located at the Louvre, France. Photo taken by Rama. ref: Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.

Statute of a seated man of Neo-Hittite or Aramaean origin that dates back to the mid 9th to mid 8th century BC. Both Hittites and Aramaeans were conquered by the Assyrian Empire around 740 BC. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.  

Photo by Babylon Chronicle

Assyrian cylinder seal, depicting two goats flanking a tree.

Painted terracotta figurine of a woman playing a hand-drum, dating to the eighth or seventh century B.C.E.  Music played an important role in religious observation in the ancient world, often fulfilling a ritual purpose.  Other times, it was simply celebratory!

This object can be visited in our permanent “Houses of Ancient Israel” exhibit at the Semitic Museum.