Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2025 i National Geographic History

“ROUSE YOURSELVES from your lethargy, your culpable indifference … There are fateful moments in history: do not let pass the auspicious time…Let not the end of the century slip away without a great popular peace movement springing up everywhere in favor of peace and the reduction of armaments…When you are in the majority, yours is the opinion which forms that of your governments… On this issue, your apathy is cowardice; your indifference, insanity; your opposition, laziness and ignorance. Wake up before it is too late.“ —From Dunant’s 1889 pamphlet “The Proposal by Tsar Nicholas II”…

NEW KINGDOM CA 1539–1075 B.C. Egyptian pharaohs annex Nubian lands and establish the cult of Amun at the mountain Jabal Barkal in present-day Sudan. THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD CA 1075–715 B.C. In this era, Egyptian power wanes, and distinct local Kushite kingdoms reestablish themselves in the region of Nubia. 25TH DYNASTY CA 750–663 B.C. The Kushites extend their rule over Egypt as the 25th dynasty. In 663 b.c. Assyrian king Ashurbanipal breaks the Nubians’ control of Egypt. MEROITIC PERIOD CA 590 B.C.–A.D. 350 In 590 b.c. the Nubian capital Napata is sacked by Egypt. The new Kushite capital at Meroë endures until the mid-fourth century a.d.…

THE TEMPLE OF AMUN-RE at Kawa, discovered in 1931 in present-day Sudan, contains stelae that celebrate Taharqa’s deeds as pharaoh of Egypt. One presents him as a warrior, “who sends forth his arrow that he may have power over chiefs, who tramples evil under foot in pursuit of his enemies, with belligerence in his strong arm, who slaughters hundreds of thousands, at the sight of whom every face is astonished.” Another relates how Taharqa brought about a miraculous flood through his petition to Amun-Re: “His Majesty had been praying for an inundation from his father Amun-Re, … in order to prevent famine… When the time for the rising of the Inundation came, it continued rising greatly each day and it passed many days rising at the rate of one cubit every…

3rd millennium B.C. The cult of a local fertility goddess spreads around the Middle East; depending on the region, she is called Inanna, Ishtar, or Astarte. ca 1200 B.C. The Mycenaean Greeks arrive in Cyprus and adopt a local fertility goddess whom they later call Aphrodite. 7th century B.C. The first hymns attributed to Homer are written; hymns 5, 6, and 10 are dedicated to Aphrodite. ca 500 B.C. A temple and altar dedicated to Aphrodite Ourania (“heavenly Aphrodite”) are built in the Athenian Agora. ca 350 B.C. The sculptor Praxiteles makes a statue of Aphrodite for the temple dedicated to her in the city of Cnidus, today in Turkey. 46 B.C. Julius Caesar, who claims Venus—the Roman version of Aphrodite—to be his ancestor, builds the Temple of Venus Genetrix.…

Sculptures, reliefs, and inscriptions allude to the success and parade that the triumphal arch was built to honor. Some elements focus on the spoils of war, while others depict the victor’s chariot or scenes of battle. The original decoration on the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum is shown in this 1829 illustration by Franz Heinrich Köler. TO THE EMPEROR CAESAR LUCIUS SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS SON OF MARCUS, … FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY, CONQUEROR OF THE PAR-THIANS IN ARABIA AND SYRIA, PONTIFF MAXIMUS, IN THE 11TH YEAR OF HIS RULE, CONSUL 3 TIMES, AND PROCONSUL, AND TO THE EMPEROR CAESAR MARCUS AURE-LIUS ANTONINUS AUGUSTUS PIUS FELIX [CARACALLA], IN THE SIXTH YEAR OF HIS RULE, CONSUL, AND PROCONSUL … BEST AND BRAVEST OF PRINCES, DISTINGUISHED FOR HAVING RESTORED THE REPUBLIC…

In summer 1859, fields in Italy’s Po Valley were littered with human remains, and the soil was puddled with blood. Swiss businessman Jean-Henri Dunant had embarked on a trip to northern Italy hoping to meet with officials of Napoleon III, emperor of France, to settle problems related to land that he owned in Algeria—but he witnessed the Battle of Solferino instead. The tragedy he experienced in Italy transformed Dunant into a humanitarian visionary and prompted him to co-found what would become the International Committee of the Red Cross. A lifelong pacifist, his conviction that warfare must be bound by internationally agreed rules led to the signing of the First Geneva Convention, which ushered in a new era in international law, imposing accountability on the actions of armed forces in combat…

Today, in the Western world, pajamas are all about comfort and coziness for sleeping or lounging. However, they originated in Asia, where they were worn as outerwear. At first, “pajama” (singular) designated only the pants part of what we now know as “pajamas” (plural). The term comes from the Persian pae-jamah, meaning leg garment. Some 3,000 years ago, the nomadic horsemen of western China started to wear loose pants tied at the waist rather than an undivided robe or tunic. The garment was later adopted by the Persians and became popular throughout Asia. In India, the pajama was combined with a kurta—a long, loosefitting, collarless shirt. The kurta pajama combination is still popular with both sexes as outerwear today. Europeans who traveled to India in the 17th and 18th centuries…

550,000 YEARS AGO Homo heidelber-gensis, considered the ancestor of the Neanderthal or the first Neanderthal, arrives in Europe. It’s a member of the Acheulean culture, characteristic of the Lower Paleolithic. 450,000–350,000 YEARS AGO The Mindel glaciation forces H. heidelbergensis to seek refuge on the Mediterranean coast and in the Near East, where genetically isolated groups continue to evolve. 350,000–300,000 YEARS AGO During the improvement in the climate following the glaciation, populations with Neanderthal traits recolonize the territories abandoned by their ancestors. 140,000–115,000 YEARS AGO The conditions of the Riss-Würm interglacial period favor the expansion of Neanderthals and their culture, the Mousterian, which characterizes the Middle Paleolithic period. 50,000–37,000 YEARS AGO Neanderthals and modern humans likely overlap in Eurasia. New research shows modern humans lived in France’s Rhône Valley 50,000 years…

DENISOVANS are a human group genetically differentiated from Neanderthals and H. sapiens. They were first identified in 2008 when ancient DNA was sequenced from a small bone from the hand of a female found in the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, Russia. In 2012 another bone in the cave, belonging to a different young Denisovan female, who the researchers named Denny, was found to be a hybrid. Denny’s father was a Denisovan with some Neanderthal DNA, and her mother was fully a Neanderthal whose origins were in the western populations of France and Spain. Neanderthals, therefore, mixed not only with H. sapiens but also other hominins they encountered along the way. This supports the view that Neanderthals did not die out, but were eventually assimilated into modern…

ANCIENT DNA EVIDENCE reveals that Neanderthals typically lived in small, often isolated groups, which led to high levels of inbreeding and the development of genetic pathologies. Some mobility occurred, particularly among women, who may have moved between groups to reduce the risk of inbreeding. This mix of isolation and occasional intergroup cooperation highlights a difference between Neanderthals and H. sapiens, the latter forming larger, more complex social networks. Injuries found on Neanderthal skeletons indicate that both men and women participated in physically demanding activities, likely related to hunting large animals. Young individuals were also well cared for, as shown by the example of Tina, a Neanderthal girl with Down syndrome, who lived on the Iberian Peninsula. She survived until age six, likely because of the care provided by her mother…

NUMEROUS INTRIGUINGLY SHAPED intersex figurines dating back 5,000 years, and presumably connected with fertility, have been found on the island of Cyprus. Arms outstretched, they have the body of a woman, and marked breasts and vulvas, but their heads and necks are clearly phalli. Some of these figurines are tiny, made of the pale green stone picrolite. Some are small enough to hold in the palm of the hand; others are pierced so that they can be worn around the neck. The object in the photograph is the “Lady of Lemba,” a 14-inchhigh limestone figure with wide hips and a pregnant belly. She is the incarnation of sex and procreation, the mixing and mingling of bodies. Statues and figurines like this one represent an increase in goddess cults in the…

circa A.D. 210 A Roman physician called Eutyches establishes his surgery in Ariminum (modern-day Rimini) in northern Italy. circa A.D. 250 A fire razes the part of the city where the Surgeon’s House is located. It is sealed under a layer of rubble. 1989-1997 Archaeologists uncover the Surgeon’s House, his instruments, and, most likely, name from inscriptions on the wall. 2007 The site is roofed over for visitors. Along with the city’s arch and bridge, it is one of Rimini’s great Roman monuments.…

WITH ITS TABLETOP mountains rising thousands of feet above jungles and savannas, Canaima National Park is a challenging terrain to penetrate. Fortunately, innovative tools such as remote sensing and VR technologies can virtually transport researchers into the landscape and lead to the discovery of new sites. Having identified sites in this way, the team then needed a helicopter to physically reach the isolated rock-shelters, which otherwise would have taken a round-trip journey of several weeks on foot. Once in the field, the team deployed drones to get a clearer understanding of the topography and how this remote landscape would have shaped the lives of hunter-artists.…

1859 Jean-Henri Dunant, age 31, is horrified by the suffering of soldiers that he witnesses after the Battle of Solferino. 1862 In his book A Memory of Solferino, Dunant proposes creating international groups of volunteers to care for those wounded in battle. 1863 Inspired by Dunant’s vision, 16 states agree in Geneva to set up international aid committees. The Red Cross will develop from this. 1864 Twelve states sign the First Geneva Convention, the basis for international law protecting the victims of conflict. 1901 Dunant receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Red Cross and the Geneva Convention. He dies nine years later.…

ONLY CATASTROPHIC EVENTS can trigger extinctions among healthy populations. These are usually mass extinction events, affecting a large number of taxa or species, and we are currently experiencing one of them: the so-called sixth extinction. In the entire history of life on our planet, this is the only extinction that has no natural causes; it is caused by the activity of humans and our ability to alter the natural environment. Some researchers think that we can include Neanderthals in an early phase of the sixth extinction, since their disappearance as a distinct species was partly because of the success of H. sapiens in gaining control of natural resources and space. Even if, as many archaeologists now believe, Neanderthals did not undergo full extinction but were instead assimilated into human populations,…

CLOTHED In the mid-fifth century b.c., the sculptor Calamis created the “Aphrodite Sosandra” (savior of men) to adorn the entrance of the Acropolis in Athens. The original, made of bronze, is today only known through marble copies made in the Roman period, such as the one pictured at left. She wears a loose-fitting, long mantle. Her head is draped, and her severe expression encapsulates the sublime beauty of the gods. Other representations of Aphrodite from this period emphasized her lavish dress, such as the replica displayed in the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias (far left). NAKED From the fourth century b.c., it was typical to depict Aphrodite as a naked woman drying herself after bathing. The first known example is “Aphrodite of Cnidus,” a statue made around 350 b.c. by…

190 B.C. Roman general Scipio Africanus erects a triumphal arch (now completely lost) on Rome’s Capitoline Hill to glorify his victory over Hannibal in Carthage. 1st century A.D. A rare example of a commemorative arch funded by a family, the Gavi Arch is built in Verona, by the prominent Gavi clan. A.D. 81 The Arch of Titus, honoring the emperor’s victories in Judaea, is erected on the Via Sacra, leading to the Roman Forum. 2nd–3rd century Two arches are built in what is now Libya; for Marcus Aurelius in Oea (Tripoli) and for Septimius Severus in Leptis Magna. A.D. 203–205 A triumphal arch is put up in the Roman Forum to celebrate the victories of Emperor Septimius Severus over the Parthians. A.D. 312–315 The Arch of Constantine is built next…

ONE-THIRD of the instruments found in the Surgeon’s House were intended for bone surgery. Others were used for operating on hernias, eyes, and tonsils. They range from hooks and scalpels to instruments for specialized interventions, such as cranial trepanations where part of the skull was removed. The latter instrument is of special interest to historians of medicine, as its design conforms with the written description of an object left by the medical writer Galen, who died in the early third century. None of the Rimini instruments were for gynecological use, strengthening the theory that the surgeon learned his trade on the battlefield.…