To Swallow a Camel

I'm wondering what the Torah, Talmud, Old Testament, New Testament, Qur'an and Sunnah say about the desert. My hypothesis: the image of desert is distinctive in the three above mentioned monotheistic religions.

Hits on 'desert' on The Internet: 211 (Torah), ? (Talmud), 302 (Bible), 19 (Qur'an) and 209 (Sunnah).

  

Hits on 'oasis': 0 (Torah), ? (Talmud), 0 (Bible), 0 (Qur'an) and 1 (Sunnah).

Hits on 'spring': 74 (Torah), ? (Talmud), 60 (Bible), 38 (Qur'an) and 52 (Sunnah).

Hits on 'camel': 55 (Torah), ? (Talmud), 12 (Bible), 18 (Qur'an) and 1,492 (Sunnah).

Well, this will take me some time to analyze ;)

Let's take a look first at the 12 hits on 'camel' in the Bible:

A camel is transport. It's saddle is a good hiding place. You must not eat them. She-camel? You can make clothes from its hair. Comparator in a metaphor. 

Treasure Virtually Unknown

King Tut. I guess every well educated (wo)man on Earth saw the gold mask and other treasures of pharaoh Tutankhamun #AncientEgypt on TV or in a book. His tomb in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, was discovered in 1922, by Howard Carter (1874-1939), after more than 10 seasons digging. To be more exact, the 1922 season was the last season Lord Carnarvon was willing to pay for. What luck, after so many years of fruitless searching! 

What most people don't know is that Tutankamun's tomb is not the only intact tomb found filled with precious treasures of ancient Egypt.

Ever heard of the treasures of Tanis? They are virtually unknown. In 1939-1940 Pierre Montet (1885-1966) found in Tanis (Egyptian 'Djanet'), near Cairo, the intact tombs of 3 pharaohs: Psusennes I, Amenemope and Sheshonk II. In his 11th season of digging! Containing their golden funeral masks, silver coffins (silver was back than considered more precious than gold), jewellery, lapis lazuli and other precious stones. In 1946 Montet also found the intact tomb of general Wendebauendjed who served under Psusennes I. 

Did you know that the Tanis treasures have been recycled through state-sanctioned tomb-robbing of the Valley of the Kings? Robbing!

A Hundred Years from Today

It feels sad. Partly it feels like snow that melts in the sun. It feels tidy but at the same time such a waste.

When I die all the books I read, things I thought, wisdom I gained, love I received and gave is gone. Forever gone!

A few digital blogs are left. Only a handful of handwritten words. And the rest? Forever lost in a digital cloud hidden behind not traceable accounts and passwords. 

And our kisses? Our love? Our dreams? They will survive as long as one of us lives. And when the two of us are both dead? Then they, will be forever gone, too.

Sarah Vaughan/ A hundred years from today #music

Don't save your kisses. Don't! Cling to me closer. Hmmmm ... more close. And say you'll be mine. Remember, sweety, we won't see it shine. A hundred years from today. 

Take a Walk

I am planning a trip to the Egyptian Desert #february2014. Curious how it is to sleep in the desert and watch stars at night. Looking for graffiti and archaeological remains. Sun. Sand. Rocks. Lack of water. Travel light and basic.

But first I will walk the Four Days Marches #Nijmegen #NL in July: 4 times 50 km. Get in shape again!

Next weekend I'll start training for the Four Day Marches. You know ... I love walking. 

Fantastig

You should learn Dutch! If it is not for me, do it for this song 'Fantastig Toch' from Eva de Roovere. I translated it for you in English :)

Eva sings in Belgian Dutch. The Dutch language spoken in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium.

Translation notes:

Note 1. 'Fantastig toch' is translated in 'Fantastique anyway'. In correct Dutch the sentence should read 'Fantastisch toch' and its translation 'Fantastic anyway'.

Note 2. 'Want jij is lastig' is translated in 'Cause you is difficult'. In correct Dutch the sentence should read 'Want jij bent lastig' and its translation 'Cause you are difficult'.

Note 3. 'Jouw kussen zacht' is translated in 'Your kisses soft'. I translated 'kussen' in 'kisses'. A 'pillow' is in Dutch a 'kussen' too. Both translations are possible for this song. I prefer the kisses ;)

As the River Reaches

Ladino. Not ladin. It's the Judaeo-Spanish language spoken by 95,000 (estimated) native speakers. In a way it's the (partly) frozen Jewish language the Jews took with them after they were expelled from Spain in 1492. 

I discovered this little treasure - in history connected to a lot of grief - only a few weeks ago via Yasmin Levy's CD 'Sentir'.

Listen to this lovely song 'Nos Llego el Final'. "We reached the end. As the river reaches the calm seas." 

Isn't it lovely?

But I'll

My kids complain about the lack of "free time" for themselves. Time for watching TV, behind computer, playing games. Time to play with their friends "outside" the house "somewhere" in the little village we live in. I did not tell them yet how life was when their grandpa was young. But I'll ;)

Last Sunday I interviewed - for a historical newsletter - an eighty-eight year old woman about her life. Between 1937 and 1944 she went to boarding school. Her days were stuffed with prayers, lessons and study. Never alone. Always nuns looking after them. Even the letters she wrote to her parents and her parents letters to her were screened!

I understand how it worked more than seventy years ago. At the same time it feels strange and so different from our time and age. Respect for priests, teachers and authorities in general disappeared. The hot tub, the scourge and the safe-haven of the doctrine of Christ has disappeared. Disappeared in my country. In my family. For my kids.

My kids aren't looking for Christ or God. They want "freedom". I didn't tell them yet that nothing comes for free. But I'll.

Needle

On the radio someone said "like a needle in a haystack". I want to share with you 3 minutes of my stream of consciousness while driving home Monday evening.

First minute. Needle in a haystack. Difficult to find? Manlike problem solving: set the haystack on fire. After the fire use a magnet or metal detector to pick up the needle.

30 secs later. Bashar Hafez al-Assad (1960- ?soon?) difficult to find in Syria? I am convinced that "they" know where he is but it's not the right time to kill him. First his army has to be defeated some more. Much more blood has to be to shed! If not, Assad's group will not be convinced that they "lost" the war. His regime can't be beaten by just killing Bashar. 

10 secs later. Are Assad and his wife Asma (1975-?soon?) still having a jolly good time sharing music? By now they must be afraid of their - and their 3 children's - asses. Do they realize that their fashionable life with kings and heads of state is forever gone?

Last minute. "They" follow Assad and their main targets with drones. Next to spies on the ground. I wonder if drones carry a transponder or another airborne collision avoidance system. If not, it's a matter of time before people get killed by "unknown flying objects". Better: for them unknown flying objects not sending identification signals.

Last 5 secs. Flying in a glider. Feeling like a king in the blue sky. Just enjoy flying ... and out of the blue you collide with a drone. Killed by a drone ... for heaven-sake.

And You Can't Buy Them With Money

And Died no Mar

A lovely poema from Vinicius de Moraes (1913-1980):

Source: here

And next to that - I could not have said it better - a quote from Vinicius' poem 'Procura-Se Um Amigo':

"(...) it's enough to be human, it's enough to have sentiment, it's enough to have heart. You have to know how to speak or be quiet, more than anything you have to know how to listen. You have to like poetry, dawn, a bird, the sun, the moon, the song of the winds and the music of the breeze. You must have love, a great love for somebody, or feel a void of not having that love. You must love your neighbor and respect the pain the passer-by carries with him. You must keep a secret without sacrificing."