Open to Interpretation
#Corbeled
Game on...on the radio...Dodgers at Athletics...Tucker gets a lucky break...As outfielder blinded by the sun...Teoscar to third...top of second...rolled out to the beach to get yearly state park past...not that I'll use it much...just dont want to be deterred by summertime high fees...Muncie hit...run in...Dodgers 1-As 0...cats want dinner...Tucker, Little, and Tuxedo, I feed now on back porch...the rest, front porch...Ohtani up...two on...one out...it's a segue to go from the Corbeled Doorway at Uxma Governor's Palace, to that Mycenean Tomb, Agememnons?...K...Pages up...K...Dodgers 2-As 0...
✨️Mycenaean corbelled tombs, commonly known as tholos or beehive tombs, are monumental subterranean burial chambers. Typically built for royalty and the ruling class between 1500 and 1250 BCE, they feature a conical vault created by overlapping concentric circles of stone, sealed under earthen mounds. [1, 2, 3, 4]
These architectural marvels, which likely evolved from earlier Minoan circular tombs in Crete, served as elite family vaults and were periodically reopened for multiple interments over generations. [1, 2]Standard Design and Architecture
A classic Mycenaean tholos tomb consists of three primary elements: [1, 2]
• The Dromos: A long, open-air passage cut into the hillside that leads toward the entrance. [1, 2]The Stomion: A massive, rectangular doorway connecting the passage to the chamber, originally closed off with heavy stones and wooden doors. [1, 2]The Tholos: The main circular burial chamber defined by its soaring, corbelled dome. The corbelling technique involved stacking successively smaller rings of ashlar masonry to form a conical vault. [1]
To prevent the immense weight of the earthen mound from collapsing the entrance, builders utilized a structural relieving triangle above the massive lintel stones, which diverted pressure away from the doorway. [1]
Famous Examples
Around nine of these monumental tombs surround the citadel of Mycenae, showcasing a clear evolution in structural engineering: [1, 2]
• The Treasury of Atreus (c. 1250 BCE): The most famous beehive tomb, also known as the Tomb of Agamemnon. Its breathtaking corbelled dome was the widest and tallest in the world for over a thousand years, measuring 43 feet (13.5 m) in both diameter and height. [1, 2, 3]The Tomb of Clytemnestra (c. 13th Century BCE): A late, highly sophisticated tholos situated near the citadel's walls. [1, 2]The Cyclopean Tomb and Tomb of Aegisthus: Earlier, Group I examples that display comparatively simpler masonry and occasionally suffered from structural collapses. [1, 2, 3]
Other significant tholoi have been discovered across the Peloponnese and the Cyclades (such as on Naxos), highlighting the widespread cultural influence of the Mycenaean elite. [1, 2]
🎶As get a run...forget, did Egypt have corbeled doorways?
did Egypt have corbeled doorways?
Yes, ancient Egyptians utilized corbelling (or corbelled construction), although they primarily used the technique for roofing, ceilings, and vaults inside massive monuments rather than for standard doorways. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
How Corbelling Was Used
A corbel arch or vault is constructed by stacking horizontal courses of stone or brick, with each layer projecting slightly further inward than the one below it, until the gap at the top can be bridged by a single capstone. [1, 2]
• Pyramid Galleries & Chambers: The most famous examples of Egyptian corbelling can be found in the interior of the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, as well as the Grand Gallery inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. Builders used corbelled vaults to bridge wide spaces and evenly distribute the immense weight of the stone above them. [1, 2, 3, 4]Doorways & Structural Openings: While corbelling was used to support the weight over openings, actual doorways in Egyptian architecture were almost exclusively built using straight stone lintels (post-and-lintel construction). [1, 2]
"False Doors"
While they did not corbel their doorways open, the Egyptians are famous for creating "false doors". These were carved architectural elements designed to look like a standard recessed doorway. However, they were purely symbolic and served as a spiritual threshold for the soul (the ka) to move between the worlds of the living and the dead. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Would you like to know more about the corbelled ceiling in the Great Pyramid, or explore the spiritual significance of the false doors in Egyptian tombs?
🎶hard to forget the Grand Gallery in the Great Pyramid!...corbelling is a cleverness...and it's one of those sacred mysteries shared by the ancients...Dodgers 2-As 3...
✨️ancient sacred mysteries corbelled architecture
Corbelled architecture, also known as the "false arch," is a masonry technique where each horizontal layer of stone or brick projects slightly inward until the gap is bridged at the top. Ancient cultures utilized this method to create sacred spaces, symbolizing portals between the earthly and the divine. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Iconic Examples of Sacred Corbelled Structures
• The Treasury of Atreus (Greece): A monumental Mycenaean tholos tomb built around 1250 BCE. Its towering, beehive-like corbelled dome is one of the largest unreinforced domes in the world, evoking a powerful, womb-like sacred space. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]The Sacred Well of Santa Cristina (Sardinia): Constructed by the ancient Nuragic civilization around 1200–1000 BCE. This subterranean, stone-stepped structure terminates in a perfect, corbelled dome, used for water, lunar, and astronomical rituals. [1, 2]Maya Corbelled Vaults (Mexico & Central America): The ancient Maya heavily relied on corbelled vaults to create narrow, tapered "false arches" and high, triangular roof structures. Examples in ceremonial complexes like Uxmal or Palenque represented sacred mountains or pathways to the rain god Chaac. [1, 2, 3]Newgrange (Ireland): A Neolithic passage tomb built around 3200 BCE. Its corbelled roof has kept its inner chamber perfectly dry for over 5,000 years, brilliantly engineered to illuminate the passage with a beam of sunlight only during the winter solstice. [1, 2]Tel Shimron (Israel): Excavators discovered an incredibly preserved, 3,800-year-old Canaanite mudbrick corbelled vault on a sacred acropolis. This early passage represents Mesopotamian architectural influence in the Levant. [1, 2]
🎶Tel Shimron...?...a pause...bbk...bk...outdoor cats fed...
✨️🧐Tel Shimron
The site was mainly oriented toward the Northern Levant, dominated by the kingdoms of Yamhad and Qatna in Syria. There are also influences from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt in the south. The site may be mentioned as "š-mw-ʕ-nw" in the Egyptian Execration Texts.[17]
In 2017, a cylinder seal dating to the 17th century BCE was discovered at Tel Shimron. Made of hematite in the Old Syrian Classic style, it measures 1.5 cm in length and 8.5 cm in width with a 2.5 mm diameter hole. The seal depicts a sphinx and lion fighting over a human and stag, with two vultures, a sun and crescent shape depicted over the fight. In addition, a hare and a bull's head are pictured to either side. The depictions draw on influences from Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Northern Syria, showing the international nature of the site in the 17th century.[15
wiki
🎶thought is Shimron is an Egyptian Fortress Town...thought I have, is Jerusalem was too...Ohtani fc...Dodgers 3-As 3
✨️thought is Shimron is an Egyptian Fortress Town...thought I have, is Jerusalem was too...
You are spot on in your historical and archaeological intuition! Both ancient Shimron and Jerusalem were indeed deeply tied to the Egyptian Empire during the Late Bronze Age. [1, 2]
Shimron (Tel Shimron)
• Egyptian Ties: Located in the strategic Jezreel Valley, Shimron was a major Canaanite city-state. It is frequently mentioned in Egyptian texts, including the older Execration Texts and the famous 14th-century BCE Amarna Letters. [1, 2, 3, 4]Fortress & Vassal Status: In the Amarna correspondence, the king of Shimron is recorded corresponding directly with the Pharaoh. It functioned as an important administrative and vassal stronghold for Egypt along the major overland trade routes connecting Mesopotamia to Egypt. [1, 2]
Jerusalem
• Egyptian Ties: Long before King David made it the capital of Israel, Jerusalem was a powerful Canaanite-Jebusite stronghold.Fortress & Vassal Status: During the Late Bronze Age, it was also a vassal state of Egypt. The ruler of Jerusalem, Abdi-Heba, wrote multiple Amarna letters to the Egyptian Pharaoh frantically begging for Egyptian troops to protect his city and defend his region from groups known as the Habiru. [1, 2, 3, 4]
🎶Dodgers 5-As 3...bottom of fourth...
✨️shimron corbelled arch
+11The Tel Shimron Corbelled Arch is a 3,800-year-old Canaanite mudbrick vault in northern Israel. Discovered in 2023, it is the oldest known corbelled arch in the southern Levant and a rare architectural link between early Mesopotamian engineering and later structural techniques. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key Details & Significance
• What it is: A "false arch" constructed by stacking thousands of unfired mudbricks, where each layer steps slightly further inward until they meet to form a pointed ceiling. [1, 2, 3, 4]The Structure: The arch is the entrance of a narrow corridor and stairway that plunges deep underground beneath a massive royal acropolis tower. [1, 2, 3]Origin & Dating: It dates back to roughly 1800 to 1750 B.C.E. (the Middle Bronze Age). It is considered an evolutionary ancestor to the radial mudbrick arches later found at Tel Dan. [1, 2, 3]Why it Survived: Only 1–2 generations after it was built, ancient Canaanites deliberately backfilled the entire corridor and stairway with sediment. This intentional sealing is a mystery, but it is the reason the unfired mudbricks remain perfectly preserved. [1, 2, 3]Cultic Significance: At the entrance to the passageway, excavators discovered a "Nahariya Bowl" (an intact 7-cup offering vessel), which suggests the subterranean passageway and arch had a sacred, ritualistic, or cultic purpose.
The differences include:
• The Nahariya Bowl: This is an archaeological term for ancient ceramic or stone offering vessels—often shaped with seven distinct cups or spouts. They were created by the Canaanites during the Middle Bronze Age (roughly 3,800 to 4,000 years ago) and were used in localized, pre-Israelite cultic rituals or to make offerings to deities. [1, 2, 3, 4]The Menorah: This is a seven-branched (or nine-branched for Hanukkah) candelabra used in Judaism. They are iconic ritual objects explicitly associated with the Temple in Jerusalem and Jewish tradition. [1, 2, 3]
Because both are seven-spouted or seven-cupped artifacts found in Israel, they are sometimes confused. However, the Canaanite Nahariya bowl is a prehistoric offering dish, while the Menorah is a Jewish candelabra. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Did you read about the Nahariya bowl discovered during the recent excavations at Tel Shimron, or are you researching ancient Canaanite ritual practices? Let me know if you'd like to explore more about that site!
, Later Stone Age
, c. 8500–4500 BC). They believe that the alabaster shell-shaped lamps dug up in Sumerian
sites dating to 2600 BC were imitations of real shell-lamps that had been used for a long time (Early Bronze Age
, Canaanite
/Bronze I–IV
, c. 3300–2000 BC).
The "Mei Foo" Lamp
To penetrate the remote inland markets via the Yangtze, Standard Oil of New York created an incredibly successful, mass-produced glass and tin lantern. [1]
• The Name: It was known in China as the Mei Foo Lamp. "Mei Foo" is the Chinese name for Standard Oil, translating literally to "beautiful confidence". [1]The Strategy: The lamps were sold to locals for just 10 cents or bundled free with the very first tin of kerosene purchased. [1]Cultural Impact: Because kerosene burned cleanly and was far more affordable than traditional Chinese tea oil, it quickly replaced traditional lighting. The oil and the lamp became deeply embedded in Chinese rural life, inspiring references in literature such as Pearl Buck's famous work The Good Earth (often remembered for the motif of "oil for the lamps of China"). [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The Yangtze Patrol and Trade
The Yangtze River was the primary artery of this aggressive commercial expansion. [1]
• Gunboat Diplomacy: British, French, and American warships (forming groups like the U.S. Navy's Yangtze Patrol) operated on the river to protect foreign merchant vessels and kerosene transports from pirates and regional warlords during the late Qing Dynasty and Republican eras. [1, 2]Logistics: Standard Oil and its British competitors built massive storage tanks, refineries, and distribution networks in major river ports like Wuhan and Chongqing, relying heavily on river steamers and sampans to carry the lamps and fuel into the deep interior.
Kerosene Lamps Today
In modern rural China, electricity has universally replaced the need for kerosene, and you won't find old "Mei Foo" lamps on the river anymore. However, vintage kerosene lanterns—including both authentic antiques and decorative, imported replicas—are actively bought and sold on global marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace or JustAnswer as highly sought-after collectibles. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
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