Myrrh and Frankincense

Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy

Everybody knows what gold is. But what about the other two gifts presented to Jesus at his birth (Mt 2:11): myrrh and frankincense? Those are less well-known in the modern world. Both are scented tree resins that, in ancient times, served multiple purposes.

Frankincense is gathered from small thorny trees by scraping them and collecting the resin that leaks out. The resin is then dried and hardened into flat round cakes and sold all around the world. When burned, it produced a sweet, woody-smelling smoke. In ancient times, it was burned ceremoniously by most of the predominant religious cults, including Greek, Roman, Babylonian, Jewish (Ex 30:34-38), Buddhist, and other local communities. Additional uses included perfumes, massage oils, cosmetics, and medicine. Its myriad of uses resulted in it being as expensive as gold.

Myrrh is very similar. It too is collected from small thorny trees by scraping them and drying the outpouring of resin. At the time, it was more expensive than frankincense, so its use during religious ceremonies was limited. However, like frankincense, it was used for embalming, in perfume (SS 1:12-13), in cosmetics (Est 2:12), as a painkiller (Mk 15:23), and as a medicinal cure-all.

Myrrh and frankincense grew and were collected solely in southern Arabia and parts of eastern Africa. From there, it was traded all across the Roman empire.

Sources:
The Bible (New International Version)
"And Man Created God" - Selina O'Grady

Stoicism, Briefly

About halfway through the second chapter of And Man Created God, the author gave a nice little overview of the school of thought called Stoicism.

Stoicism is a mode of thinking that encourages rationalism, autonomy, and mastery of the self over emotion. The goal was to detach from emotion and see the nature of the world itself, logos. Every single person, no matter their station, is a part of this natural world and can find solace in their own minds.

The philosophy was mostly popular with the elite of the Roman world. According to the author, they liked Stoicism's idea that they could be their own master, even as their own power was stripped away by imperial powers.

On the other hand, commoners preferred the other religious cults of Rome and its surrounding regions. Their cults focused more on emotional concepts of "ecstasy, comfort and a sense of belonging." They were seen as the opposite of Stoicism's ideas. They were less about the self, and more about praising the popular god of the week, hoping for favor.

Sources:
"And Man Created God" - Selina O'Grady

Human-Time Speciation

Just a regular Culex pipiens mosquito.

We all know that random mutations and artificial selection is the mechanism that leads to that advent of new species. The problem is, it's so darn hard to observe in the wild because of how long it usually takes. This is a process that can take tens of thousands of years.

(Note: The definition of "species" I'm going with is a set of animals that can breed together and produce fertile offspring.)

However, it doesn't always have to take that long. Bill Nye wrote about a species that evolved over the course of what could be a human lifetime: a new form of mosquito.

This new species came into being as an isolated population of regular, ol' mosquitoes that made it into the London Underground. Of course, mosquitoes have lived on the British Isles for ages. But, scientists suspect that during the London Blitz of World War II, when citizens would seek refuge underground, mosquitoes followed them down and were capable of establishing a colony by breeding in the standing water that formed near the tracks.

With this steady supply of human blood and puddles for their eggs, these mosquitoes saw no reason to reemerge from underground. As a result, they stopped interbreeding with their above-ground counterparts.

Now, this is where the evolution takes place. Over time, the two groups began to change their habits. In the climate-controlled Tube, the underground mosquitoes dropped their ability to hibernate during the winter months. They reconfigured themselves to feed exclusively on mammals, mostly humans. Also, they gained the ability to breed in confined spaces, which the above-grounders can't do.

Physiologically, the two species are very similar. I guess only about fifty years isn't enough time to produce any really neat external changes in mosquitoes. However, over the course of those fifty years, the two have drifted genetically enough to the point where it's very hard for the two of them to mate successfully together.

Most of the time, the two groups cannot produce eggs at all. Sometimes, they'll produce eggs; but, that new generation is infertile (the mules of the mosquito world). While it's is probably open to interpretation, this seems close enough for me (a nobody on the internet) to declare them separate species.

Sources:
"Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation" – Bill Nye
"Culex pipiens in London Underground tunnels: differentiation between surface and subterranean populations" – Katharine Byrne and Richard A. Nichols (Heredity 82, 1999)

Deborah

In the time before Israel had a king (sometime between 1380 and 1050 BC), God brought forth a series of exceptional individuals, referred to as judges, to help steer the Israelites when they began to stray from their faith. One of these judges was Deborah. She was a prophetess and leader of a band of Israelites. She's interesting to me because she managed to bring together several tribes to fight and win against a more advanced Canaanite army.

So here's the situation: The Canaanites army consists of about 900 armoured chariot archers, basically the M1 Abrams of the day. They are led by a man named Sisera.

Meanwhile, the Israelites are a scattering of disparate tribal groups. Deborah managed to bring together enough groups for a 10,000-strong army of light infantry. This may sound like a large number, but they had little armour, and the chariot archers could easily out-maneuver and chew them up. That was probably the Canaanite plan, anyway. Deborah expected this and put together a strategy to counter it.

It went something like this. Her commander, Barak, would have one chunk of the army stationed on a mountaintop to lure out Sisera's force. Deborah's army would come from behind to pinch Sisera in a marshy riverbed, where his chariot archers would be mired.

Barak balked, and insisted that Deborah fight with his soldiers on the mountain. She agreed, but reminded him that in this situation, the victory would belong to her, a woman. No, really! The Bible quotes her saying, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." (Judges 4:9)

The battle played out as predicted, with an added bonus. A thunderstorm, ostensibly sent by God, caused flooding in the river valley, further impeding the Canaanite chariots. Deborah's forces fell upon them and crushed them.

As an aside, Sisera actually managed to escape from this battle. He tried to hide in the tent of a woman named Jael. After feeling safe and dozing off, Jael proceeded to drive a tent stake into his head with a hammer. That was probably for the best. Imagine what his life would be like if everyone found out he was defeated by a girl!

With the opposing army and its leader dead, Deborah led the Israelites to overthrow the Canaanite king. The peace afterwards lasted for about another forty years, before the Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Sources:
The Bible (New International Version)
"4000 Years of Uppity Women" - Vicki León
"Battles of the Bible" - Chaim Herzog, Mordechai Gichon

Mohammed's First Wife

Mother of Believers - Robert Hunt

As I'm reading this book about Mohammed, I'm reminded of just how awesome his first wife, Khadija, really was. Mohammed's first biographer described her as "determined, noble, and intelligent". Twice a widow and single-mother, Khadija nevertheless became a wealthy, independent merchant in the trading hub of Mecca.

Side note: Khadija's name is often followed by the acronym RA. This is short for the Arabic phrase Radiallhu Anhu, or "May God be pleased with him/her."

Their meeting was interesting. Mohammed was hired by her to manage some caravans. He seemingly did such a good job that he caught Khadija's attention. He was already well-known in the community for his honesty and trustworthiness, and it was for these reasons, in spite of his low status in society, that Khadija extended her hand to him.

Mohammed was 25-years-old when they married, but I'm having a hard time finding any definitive source of how old Khadija was when she married Mohammed. The book I'm reading now suggests she was in her late thirties when she married. Further research (i.e. Googling for about fifteen minutes) shows that the most commonly accepted age was 40 at marriage, but the idea that she was closer to 28 is gaining ground in some small circles.

The marriage was described as one of mutual respect and love. Despite living in a polygamous society, Mohammed never married another while Khadija lived. Of his many political marriages after her death, this marriage to Khadija was the only one for which this was true.

When Mohammed received his first revelation from God, he was extremely shaken. He crawled down from the mountain and went immediately to his wife, who wrapped him in her arms until he was calm. She believed his story immediately, reasoning that God would not allow any demon to tell such a lie to a good, honest person. Because of this, she is described as "the first Muslim."

They were married 25 years until Khadija passed away. Even later with his younger wives, Mohammed would still speak highly of his first wife.

Sources:
"Muhammad: A Prophet For Our Time" - Karen Armstrong
“Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansar
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