from the Zoroastrian Vendidad 2: Yima and the Flood Overpopulation and expansion of the earth: V.2.8 When Yima had ruled for three hundred winters, then this earth became full of animals, small and large, and men, of dogs, birds, and red and blazing fires. They found no place to be(?), animals, small and large, and men. V.2.9 Then I informed Yima: O beautiful Yima [...]
Archive for the ‘Ancient Civilizations’ Category
Plato’s Myth of Atlantis, the End of the Minoan Civilization, and A Hard Look at Human Extinction
May 11, 2011
Lost Worlds: Atlantis . Secrets of the Dead: Sinking Atlantis http://video.pbs.org/video/1204753806 . Plato on Deforestation, Soil Abuse and Water Mismanagement “What now remains of the formerly rich land is like the skeleton of a sick man, with all the fat and soft earth having wasted away and only the bare framework remaining. Formerly, many of [...]
Blood and Flowers: The Aztecs
April 22, 2011
“Will I have to go like the flowers that perish? Will nothing remain of my name? Nothing of my fame here on earth? At least my flowers, at least my songs! Earth is the region of the fleeting moment. Is it also thus in the place where in some way one lives? Is there joy [...]
Self-Sacrifice and Sustainability: The Hero Twins of the Popol Vuh
April 16, 2011
“Then again they sacrificed themselves. One of them would die, surely throwing himself down in death. Then having been killed, he would immediately be revived. And the Xibalbans simply watched them while they did it. Now all of this was merely the groundwork for the defeat of the Xibalbans at their hands.” Chris Hedges: Throw Out The Money [...]
Learning From History: The Collapse of Complex Societies
April 15, 2011
Preamble: A Brief History of Complexity with David Christian [From TED.com:] Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in a riveting 18 minutes. This is “Big History”: an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of [...]
Daniel Hillel and the Natural History of The Bible
April 15, 2011
ABSTRACT: The Middle East encompasses five ecological domains: (1) the humid highlands and their intermontane valleys, where rainfed farming was begun and permanent settlements were first established; (2) the semi-arid steppes, where the lesser amount and instability of rainfall made rainfed farming marginal but still provided vegetative resources that could be utilized by semi-nomadic pastoralists; [...]
