Letter with Cflr1flr2l

Did you know that I talk to my chicken while feeding them? It feels for me that they completely ignore my talking. Three weeks ago one of our four hens died. It feels for me that they completely ignore her death.

C⚘🎕l:

Pretty down to Earth those Ancient Egyptians. 'Gold' for them was a picture of a 'necklace of gold and pearl'. When they want to talk about 'electrum' or 'silver' they add a 'was sceptre' or 'mace'. 'Bronze', 'copper' and 'metal' are not clear to me. 'Iron' was literally 'iron from the sky' or 'metal of heaven'. Read: coming from a fallen meteorite of iron.

The 'Sinai' peninsula was 'country of turquoise'. Turquoise is a blue-to-green stone (better: mineral). Lapis lazuli is a deep blue stone (better: rock). Both of these blue stones were used in the death mask of Tutankamen.

Did you know that for the Ancient Egyptians ... 

• silver was more precious than gold?
• gold was a divine and indestructible metal associated with the sun? 
• gold had no economic importance and was only used for it's limited Royal and religious use?

I repeat. Gold had for the Ancient Egyptians no economic importance. It was only important for their religion. Gold as divine, indestructible and (color of) sun. With their eyes we are supposed to "see" sun and not a huge pile of money.

Sources: wikipedia gold; lookup English-to-Hieroglyphs; C. Nichols, 'Egyptian Hieroglypic to English Dictionary' (2008); iron from the sky; comparison between Egyptian and Roman gold.

P.S. I wrote on value of silver before in blogpost 'Treasure Virtually Unknown' (April 2013).

Less Than Thousand

Less than 1,000 people have been able to read and translate, since Champollion deciphered them in 1822, Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. One of them translated a representative set of Ancient Egyptian texts into English: Toby Wilkinson, 'Writings from ancient Egypt' (2016).

It's a lovely book. With an introduction to every individual text and informative footnotes. For me this is a perfect guide into the world and thoughts of the Ancient Egyptians. Antidote against Ancient Greece and Rome! The world of the Ancient Egyptians is so different. The world of Others. At the same time their words of 4,000 to 4,500 years ago feel sometimes so close.

Check out:

• 'Cycle of Hymns to Senusret III', page 96-100. Reminds me of Katie Melua's song, 'If you were a sailboat'. He is ... one in a million, a dyke, a cool room, a rampart, a refuge, a shelter, a shade, a warm corner and a mountain that hinders the storm when the sky rages.
• 'The Great Hymn to the Orb', page 101-106. For the first time in history polytheism changed into: there is only one Orb and one Orb only. The source for the jewish JWH and christian God.
• 'Chapter 125 The Declaration of Innocence', from 'The Book of Dead', page 165-174. For me this is the fertile ground that inspired the jews and christians to their Ten Commandments.
• 'Harpist Song from the Tomb of King Intef', page 223-227. Rare. For me the greatest jewel of this book. More than 3,300 years old. "Follow your heart as long a you live! (...) Do as your heart commands while you're upon earth! (...) Look, no one is allowed to take his possessions with him. Look, no one who departs returns!"
• 'The Teaching of Ani', page 300-311. 25th maxim: "Make a garden and enclose a plot, in addition to your fields. Set out trees in it to shelter your house. Fill your hand with all the flowers that your eye can see."

New for me. The two obelisks of Hatsepsut were wrought in electrum (page 194). Electrum!

In continuation to blogpost 'Happiness as 'Open of Heart. All senses sharp. Stripped of Unsavory.' (November 2011). I've to check out the hieroglyphs behind 'happy' and 'happiness' on page 39, 226 (twice), 261, 267 and 302. And 'joyfull' on page 51.

The hieroglyphs of 'iron' are 'miracle of heaven' (read 'meteorite'). This makes me curious for the hieroglyphs of silver, gold, electrum, copper and bronze. And of lapis lazuli. And of the Sinaï. And Maat and Isfet.

Flexible Light

Travel light! Yes, I travel light but as light as a scout. I don't believe in travel light as in having "nothing" in your rugsack. Travel light is for me above a light mind that is open for the world around and in him/ her.

When I walk I've the following items in my rugsack:

- Pocket knife

- Spare laces for my walking shoes

- Rope 3 meter 

- Sunglasses

- Cap

- Sun tan lotion

- Toiletpaper in a plastic bag

- Poncho

- Telephone with cord

- Powerbank for telephone 

- Wallet

- Water

- Sandwiches and fruit

- Map

These items, together with the clothes I wear (always 3 or 4 layers of clothes), give me maximum flexibility. I can sleep in my poncho. I can walk 50 kilometers a day. Protected against rain, sun, wind and snow. Everything with and on me to survive "everything" literally and figuratively.

I have in me all the dreams of the world.

P.S. I wrote on this before in blogpost 'All Dreams of World'  (december 2015).

No Pictures

In a couple of weeks I'll join an Agnes Obel concert. Together with my oldest daughter and one of her best friends. I am very fond of this song: Familiar. I don't know why.

Yesterday I made a 21 kilometer walk. Alone. T. didn't have any wanderlust. Lovely walk. It's spring in my country. The sun was very warm. I didn't make any pictures. These days I am experimenting with "no pictures". To experience if I look better, more concentrated when I don't make frozen pictures. To be offline visually. To live in the now. To breath in and out without society's kiss on my forehead by showing (off) where I've been.