Interesting Article

I found this article and thought it was interesting to share, not because of the "treasure found" but because of the history lesson embedded in the article. I know we were talking (albeit briefly) in 1101 about the roots of English, and this has a little information about that.

Largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure found in UK

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press Writer – 15 mins ago

LONDON – An amateur treasure hunter prowling English farmland with a metal detector stumbled upon the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever found, a massive seventh-century hoard of gold and silver sword decorations, crosses and other items, British archaeologists said Thursday.

One expert said the treasure found by 55-year-old Terry Herbert would revolutionize understanding of the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people who ruled England from the fifth century until the Norman conquest in 1066. Another said the find would rank among Britain's best-known historic treasures.

"This is just a fantastic find completely out of the blue," Roger Bland, who managed the cache's excavation, told The Associated Press. "It will make us rethink the Dark Ages."

The Anglo-Saxons, a group of Germanic tribes, gradually invaded England by sea starting in the fifth century in the wake of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Originally, they came from what is now the coastal region of northwest Germany.

Their artisans made striking objects out of gold and enamel and created poetry including "Beowulf," an anonymous epic poem about a warrior who does battle with monsters and a dragon.

Archaeologist Kevin Leahy, who catalogued the find, said the stash appeared to be war loot and included dozens of pommel caps — decorative elements attached to the knobs of sword handles. He noted that "Beowulf" contains a reference to warriors stripping the pommels of their enemies' weapons as mementoes.

But much other Anglo-Saxon literature and artwork has been lost through warfare, looting, upheavals and the passage of time, leaving scanty evidence for scholars of the period.

Bland said the hoard was unearthed in what was once Mercia, one of five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and is thought to date to 675-725 AD.

The hoard consists of at least 650 items of gold and 530 silver objects weighing more than 2.2 pounds (1 kilo), along with some copper alloy, garnets and glass.

A total of 1,345 items have been examined by experts and 56 lumps of earth were found to contain metal artifacts detected by an X-ray machine, meaning the total will likely rise to about 1,500.

Most of the objects are ornaments for weapons and other military artifacts, some inlaid with precious stones.

"I think wealth of this kind must have belonged to a king but we cannot say that for absolute certain," Bland said.

Leslie Webster, the former curator of Anglo-Saxon archaeology at the British Museum, said the amount of gold uncovered — about 11 pounds (5 kilograms) — suggested that early medieval England was a far wealthier place than previously believed.

She also said the crosses and other religious artifacts mixed in with the mainly military items, might shed new light on the relationship between Christianity and warfare among the Anglo-Saxons.

Herbert, from the western English town of Burntwood, found the gold on a friend's farm on July 5 and spent the next five days scouring the field for the rest of the hoard, recovering the first items before professional archaeologists took over the excavation.

"Imagine you're at home and somebody keeps putting money through your letterbox, that was what it was like," Herbert said. "I was going to bed and in my sleep I was seeing gold items."

The hoard was officially declared treasure by a coroner, which means it will now be valued by a committee of experts and offered up for sale to a museum. Proceeds would be split 50-50 between Herbert and his farmer friend, who has not been identified. The find's exact location is being kept secret to deter looters.

Bland said he could not give a precise figure for the worth of the hoard, but he said the treasure hunter could be in line for a "seven-figure sum."

Herbert said the experience had been "more fun than winning the lottery," adding that one expert likened his discovery to finding Tutankhamen's tomb.

"I just flushed all over when he said that. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up," Herbert said.

The treasure is in storage at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Some of the items are due to go on display starting Friday.

One of the most intriguing objects in hoard is a small strip of gold inscribed with a warlike Latin quotation from the Old Testament, which translates as: "Rise up, O Lord, and may thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate thee be driven from thy face."

The strip may have been fastened to a shield or a sword belt.

Bland said archaeologists were still baffled by the function of many of the pieces.

"There's lots of mystery in it," he said.

___

Associated Press Writer David McHugh in London contributed to this report.

Extra Credit! Extra Credit! Read All About It!

Here's an extra credit opportunity. Tomorrow is Constitution Day and we're celebrating the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the US Constitution. As such, there will be a presentation tomorrow, Thursday, Sept 17 at South Campus, titled THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CONSTITUTION DAY. If you attend and write a brief summary of the presentation and what you thought about it, I will give you extra credit! Check your Blackboard email for more specific information, such as time and place.

This week's topic - ALL CLASSES

Last Friday, we remembered the events of September 11, 2001. It was a moment in our recent history that most of us remember vividly. So, as Alan Jackson's song says, "where were you when the world stopped turning?" Narrate in at least a paragraph what you were doing the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Where were you? What went through your mind at that moment? We don't need to get into inflammatory remarks as the aftermath took shape and we got shreds of information. What I want to know is, at that precise moment when the events took place, where were you?

At the time, I was working at the FIU Police Department as a secretary. When we heard the news, I can't remember how we heard, just that suddenly we all knew something big was happening, we crowded around a small, battery-operated television set and watched in disbelief. Both towers had already been hit, but none of us imagined that those towers would crumble. When they did, we probably sat with our mouths gaping, tears in our eyes, and images of people jumping from the windows ingrained in our minds. Somewhere in between, we got news about the Pentagon and the plane that crashed in an open field in Pennsylvania. The rest of that day remains a jumble of chaos and memories as most of us left early to go home, just in case.

Losing more family

Death is a curious thing. We tend to want to hate it, crush it, spit on it and turn it away; we don't like it, especially when it takes someone we love or it hurts those we love. Many of you know I lost my father. It was on Valentine's day last year, forever marking that (for some, overrated) holiday. It was hard, and it lead me to write the book I'm writing. He was the first of his siblings to die. He was the fourth of six. The eldest is eighty-two or eighty-three.

This morning, on my way in, I received a call that my father's brother, the second oldest, had passed away in the early morning hours in Colombia. He died a year and almost 7 months after my father, leaving the rest to wonder who's next, a sentiment that my aunt expressed to me when I spoke with her this afternoon. Two down, four to go. What a sad concept for those of us left behind to comprehend. My uncle leaves behind a wife of over fifty years and eight adult children; the youngest is four months younger than I am. One of them, the youngest girl, just had her second son a week ago. Some are born while others die. It's the cycle of life.

So today was a sad day for me. It brought back the flurry of emotions and the weight and darkness that came when my father died. It cemented my mortality and that of those I love even more.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Last night, my husband and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I had been dying to see it since it came out, but circumstances prevented our being able to see it upon release. We finally got the chance yesterday. Now, I have read the last two books of the Harry Potter series, and I have to admit that reading the book actually made the movie somewhat disappointing. It was still spectacular, and I sat at the edge of my seat waiting for scenes I knew would come with the same anticipation as if I were watching it for the first time (which, technically I was - I was watching the Hollywood portrayal for the first time). But the book was better. When I got home, I immediately took the book out and reread the ending because of course, the movie omitted many scenes from the book and changed other details.

Overall, the movie was good though. We laughed, we cringed, I turned my head away from some wicked scenes (like when the girl gets cursed with the necklace! It seriously made me think Exorcist!). It had all the elements of suspense, drama, romance, and comedy you could want in a movie; it's just that the book had more. I want to re-read the last book for the 3rd time and I wonder what the directors will choose to keep and omit from that one. The wait for the last movies will be excruciating, that's for sure.