Jotunvillur Code

Mysterious Jotunvillur Code Unravelled

Crypto-anthropologist has discovered a Viking code which dates to the 12th or 13th century Scandinavia and remained frustratingly unsolved for several years. This was due to a miniature Rosetta stone which was a simple engraving on which two people had recorded their names in both coded as well as basic runic.

The mysterious Jotunvillur code has been unravelled by K Jonas Nordby from the University of Oslo after studying a 13th century stick wherein two men Sigurd and Lavrans had their name carved in both code and in standard runes. The jotunvillur code was found on only nine inscriptions from various parts of Scandinavia and had not been interpreted earlier.

Nordby who has been writing his doctorate on cryptography in runic inscriptions from the Viking Age and the Scandinavian Middle Ages has informed that the thing which helped him to solve was to see the two old Norse names, Sigurd and Lavrans and after each of them was a combination of runes which made no sense. He later realised that in jotunvillur, the rune sign is changed for the last sound in the rune’s name, for instance the `m’ rune, maor could be written as the rune for `r’.

Rune Sticks Excavated – Scandinavia

Nordby thought that with this system he had a solution and could read the text. But the code seemed to be very confusing since several runes end in the same sound and one had to decide which one to choose.

Nordby had mentioned that the sticks where the code had been written seems to be daily objects and hence one tends to find names often on them either since they are used to communicate that it was something they wanted to keep or sell or to practise writing or because they talked about people so names tend to occur regularly. Several rune sticks are excavated in Scandinavia and only a few have used codes and still less have used the jotunvillur code.

He mentioned that they were used to communicate like the SMSes of the Middle Ages; they were for recurrent messages which were valid for a particular moment, probably a message to a wife or a transaction.

Codes Used for Education

Nordby is of the belief that the codes especially jotunvillur could have been utilised for education. It seems to be clear that coded runes were not for keeping secrets or sensitive communications like during the Second World War or like present day secure communications.

Nordby states that they were used to know the alphabet or rune names and he presumes that the code could have been used in teaching, in learning to write and read runes. Swedish expert on runes from Uppsala University, Henrik Williams welcomed the discovery. He informed Science Nordic that it helped in understanding that there were more codes than they were aware of. Each runic inscription interpreted, raised their hope of being able to read more.

This was pure detective work and each new system enhanced their chances. Williams was in agreement that the codes could have had an educational use and were not just used for communication. William added to the Guardian that the `specific code of jotunvillur seemedto be entertaining than useful though it brings to the fore that playfulness exhibited by several rune carvers was also an important discovery’

Solving the Mystery of Rudyard Kipling’s Son

Rudyard Kipling – Britain’s Most Popular Writer

Rudyard Kipling had been Britain’s writer and the first Briton to win the Nobel Prize for Literature as well as the youngest winner. At the height of his career he was Britain’s most popular writer. Kipling was born in India in 1865 but was sent to live near Portsmouth.

 Andrew Lycett, Kipling biographer states that `he was brought out of the colour and excitement of India, which he clearly loved, to the drabness of South-sea and foster parents who treated him badly. Kipling, as an adult, travelled widely and it was on those bitter years in South-sea which had inspired his famous story – The Jungle Book.

The book was written in 1894 when Kipling was living in snowy Vermont and the tale became a remarkable success. Long before the WW1, the soldiers has fascinated Kipling and made his name with a collection of poetry, Barrack-Room Ballads. John, Kipling’s’ son was very keen to join the British war effort in 1915 and barred from joining the navy due to his weak eyesight, he was compelled to use his father’s influence in getting a commission in the infantry.

After an intervention from a friend of his father, Lord Roberts, Field Marshall, Jack managed to get a position with the Irish Guards.

John Wounded/Disappeared/Missing

On his 18th birthday on August 17, 1915, Jack arrived in France and only six weeks thereafter he was commanding a platoon at the Battle of Loos. Jack had recently been promoted to lieutenant and had been wounded though later had disappeared and was listed as missing by the end of the war three years thereafter.

Rudyard Kipling had written a poem, several weeks after his death about him which had begun with the line `have you news of my boy Jack?’For 80 years, the mystery of the missing body of John remained unsolved. Towards 1919, the body of an unidentified Irish Guard lieutenant had been located on the battlefield and had been buried in an anonymous grave at St. Mary’s Cemetery.

 Then in 1992, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission had announced that the grave had in fact been of Jack and had changed the inscription on the tombstone of an unknown soldier to read John Kipling.

New Evidence Found

However, critics instantly denied that it could be his, stating that the body had been discovered three miles away from where Jack had last been seen. But the researchers Graham Parker as well as Joanna Legg discovered some new evidence which indicated that the identification seems to be right and the body was indeed that of Jack which was buried in the cemetery.

There were three issues according to Ms Legg; firstly the reference seems to propose that the body had been found three miles away from where John had been fighting which has now been shown as a clerical error. Secondly the other lieutenant had gone missing at the same time and it was informed that the second officer had been taken away to a hospital at the time of the battle and was buried some distance from the battle scene.

Another issue was concerning John’s rank wherein on recovering the body, there were stars of a first lieutenant and Kipling was officially a second lieutenant. Ms Legg was of the belief that this was owing to an error in communication and John in fact had been promoted in June.

La Isabela and the Silver Ore

La Isabela Discovered by Columbus

La Isabela had been discovered by Columbus when he had returned to Spain with stories of the fortune that they were going to locate there if they had little more time, money and people.La Isabela is the name of the first European town which was established in the Americas and had been established during Columbus’s second expedition to the American continents where the town was named for Queen Isabela of Spain.Her first expedition had lasted from 1492-1493.

Columbus had returned to Spain after his expedition of discovering America and had taken gold from the inhabitants of Hispaniola. The gold had convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabela to fund a second and a large expedition. In early 1494, Columbus together with 1,500 crew, had returned to Hispaniola and had established the colony. The motive of the expedition was mainly to find and exploit deposits of precious metals. Archaeological indication at La Isabela of silver extractions seemed to show that the expedition had found and tested deposits of silver bearing lead ore in the Caribbean.

Site Excavated in Late 1980 & Early 1990

The site at Isabela had been excavated widely in late 1980s and early 1990s. The town’s buildingscomprised of a citadel built for Columbus to live in, together with a fortified storehouse or alhondiga, to store their material goods, some stone building for different purposes accompanied with a European style plaza. Silver-ore processing station was towards the north of the storehouse and there were 58 triangular graphite-tempered assaying crucibles together with 1 kg of liquid mercury which had been brought from powdered ore by amalgamation, for the extraction of gold.

The mercury is said to have been excavated from the ruins of the alhondiga which was a fortified structured raised for storage as well as protection of royal property. According to a new research, the silver bearing ore which had been discovered by Columbus’s second expedition had not been mined in the Americas.

As per Alyson Thibodeau who had analysed the ore, states that the ore which the researchers had excavated from the settlement, La Isabela had come from Spain.David J. Killick, had informed that `what had appeared to be the earliest evidence of European finds of precious metals in the New World turned out not to be that at all and was a different story.

Columbus Failed Settlement- Not found in Historical Documents

The researchers presumed that the explorers had brought the Spanish ore to La Isabela to utilise it for comparison when examining the new ores they had expected to find. The researchers’ state that towards 1497, the remaining settlers of La Isabela on finding no gold or silver, became desperate to recover something of the value from the futile settlement and were reduced in extracting silver from the galena that they had brought from Spain.

According to a geosciences graduate student at The University of Arizona in Tucson, Thibodeau, `this part of the story of Columbus’s failed settlement is one which is not found in the historical documents and it would never have been figured out without using the techniques of physical sciences to the archaeological artifacts.

A UA associate professor of anthropology, Tguvideay Killick together with his colleagues would be publishing the article `The Strange Case of the Earliest Silver Extraction by European Colonist in the New World’ in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the weeks of February 19.

Who Shot JFK and RFK

Assassination of President John F. Kennedy – Shocking Incidents of 20th Century

The killing of the U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 seems to be one of the most shocking incidents of the 20th century. Thereafter, the murder of his brother Robert F. Kennedy which was on June 5, 1968 gave rise to added scheme notions. In both the cases, it was considered that a sole gunman had been accused and the death of both remained to be unsolved.

Many have been speculating whether a second gunman was present on the grassy knoll along the motorcade route which JFK had undertaken. Queries have been raised on how a gunman with a small mail-order rifle could attempt to aim the President while his car was on the move and that too from such a distance.

According to a blue ribbon panel which was controlled by Earl Warren, Supreme Court Chief Justice, have arrived at the conclusion that Oswald seemed to be the only assassin, though a Gallup survey six decades thereafter observed that 60% of the Americans disapproved the conclusion. Regarding John F. Kennedy, a witness informed CNN in 2012, that she had heard two guns firing during the shooting in Los Angeles, which the authorities had changed her account of the crime.

Murder Arranged By the Same Group

It is said that the murder of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy had been arranged by the same group. Both had identical objective in mind of not getting involved in the Vietnam War and had to pay for it with their lives. JFK made efforts of avoiding the Vietnam War since he envisaged it as a military predicament which would have utilised American resources, waste American lives as well as eventually hurt his legacy as a president who administered a losing battle.

Robert Kennedy was still recovering from the assassination of hisbrother, where the Vietnam War seemed to be the main issue that had stirred the accomplices. As RFK pursued the Democratic nomination for the 1968 presidency, it needs to be noted that the most of his supporters seemed to be in early mid 20s that included the demographics of the people who were strongly against the Vietnam War. Hence RFK had an intention of retreating fromthe forces of Vietnam for governmental reasons. He was determined in ending the Vietnam War.

RFK – A Threat of Reopening the Case of JFK’s Murder

Robert F. Kennedy was considered as a threat of being capable of reopening the case of his brother’s murder. This caused apprehension to Allan Dulles, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George Bush and David Rockefeller if the situation of reopening the murder case ever took place. RFK had to be prevented, with regards to his pursuit for the Presidency.Robert F. Kennedy who had been murdered 42 years back in the midst of his campaign for the U.S. presidency had been dominated by the death of his brother, President John F. Kennedy.

The authorised justification on the tragic death of Robert F. Kennedy, apparently shot down by a sole gunman as in the case of his brother, had received less attention. An expert in the scientific study of assassinations, Professor James H. Fetzer, had provided a sketch of how we are aware of what had occurred to them and why, where the murder of RFK had been put in section with the intention of preventing a reinvestigation into the death of his brother.

Oldest and Longest Ancient Leather Manuscript Found In Egypt

Egyptian Leather Manuscript – Oldest & Longest

Ancient manuscript especially ancient leather manuscripts are rarely found and when the oldest and the longest one is found, it could hold the archaeologists in amazement. An Egyptian leather manuscript had surfaced in September 2015 and after over 70 years of being stored and forgotten in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the manuscripts seemed to be re-discovered by Wael Sherbiny, a Belgian based Egyptologist.

The roll manuscripts which was more than 4,000 years old measures around 2.5 meters long, dating back to the late Old Kingdom to the early Middle Kingdom. It was filled with texts as well as colourful drawings of the finest quality. Sherbiny had informed Discovery News that `taking into account that it was written on both sides, there was more than 5 meters of texts and drawings, making it the longest leather roll from ancient Egypt.

Sherbiny specializes in the ancient Egyptian religious texts, being the first Egyptian to obtain his PhD in Egyptology in 2008 from the Leuven University in Belgium and is preparing the full publication of the amazing leather roll. He had announced his discovery in Florence at the recent International Congress of Egyptologists.

Manuscript in Cairo Museum Shelves & Forgotten

Nothing much is known of the origin of the manuscript. As per Sherbiny, the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology in Cairo had purchased the manuscript from a local antiquities dealer who had then donated the same to the museum a few years prior to the outbreak of World War II.

Sherbiny is of the belief that the manuscript had been probably forgotten since all those who dealt with it after its first discovery had died during the Second World War or shortly thereafter. The oldest Egyptian leather manuscript had been found in the shelves of the Egyptian museum in Cairo and remained forgotten.

Mostly a portable religious manuscript, it seems to be more than 4,000 year-old roll comprising of depictions of divine as well as supernatural beings, which tends to predate the famous drawings that are found in the Book of the Dead manuscripts together with the so-called Netherworld Books from the New Kingdom onwards and religious incantations Formulated in the first person singular it tends to thrive there.

Leather Precious Writing Material – Ancient Egypt

According to Sherbiny, they were likely recited by a priest. It is said that the priest carried leather rolls for reference at the time of reciting sacred text during the religious rituals. Only six other portable manuscripts seem to have survived from ancient Egypt and could probably share a close date with the Cairo leather roll, all of which were of papyri. Sherbiny informs that `leather seemed to be a very precious writing material in ancient Egypt and was the principal writing medium to record holy text together with great historic events.

Moreover it was also more practical than papyrus owing to its flexibility as well as durability. Leather rolls of such prestigious nature were kept in libraries and archives of temple and were also utilised as master copies from which inexpensive copies were reproduced on papyrus.

Though papyri were preserved by the dry climate of Egypt, leather objects seemed to perish quickly. The Cairo roll seemed to be no exception and part of it was broken into very small pieces. Sherbiny had put them all together in one piece like a jigsaw puzzle.

Becoming a Successful Trucking Owner-Operator

Important Criteria of Trucking Owner-Operator 

Maintenance of good physical as well as mental health is very essential when it comes to being a trucking owner-operator and handling the vehicle in the midst of heavy flow of traffic. Presence of mind and alertness is the main criteria in handling the vehicle when faced with traffic congestion and in making your way out from this chaos in a skilful manner. In these types of situation, a lot of effort both physically as well as mentally is essential to navigate out of it and if things are not handled in an efficient manner it could take a toll on the mind as well as the body. Trucking could be much more than just sitting and navigating the vehicle. It takes a lot of effort in efficiently functioning on a long haul in heavy traffic scenario. Some of these main conditions could be of great help in hauling loads:

While at the wheels, it is essential to keep your focus on the road and any unexpected vehicles which you may come across. Distractions while driving could be one of the situations which could land you in serious trouble. Getting engaged with the phone or the computer while out on the road is a great safety hazard which could lead to an accident and may even end in serious situation like the inability to drive anymore or worse. Having your focus while driving, could be of great help in averting several untoward incidents which tends to spring up any point of time. A good truck owner operator will always have his attention on the road since everything depends on his skill and focus in the midst of a heavy traffic flow.

Consumption of healthy food puts in the essential calories needed for a healthy body which in turn helps in the functioning of daily living and in the maintenance of good health. When one meets up with the hunger pangs, very often it is appeased with any type of food while on the road with several fast food outlets which is not what the body needs. A generous amount of vegetables that are not greasy could help without the tension of adding bulk later on to your weight which would in future tend to make your task very uncomfortable. Having fresh produced food handy for snacks while on the run could be advantageous as well as provide the natural ingredients for a healthy body. Proper sleep also helps in giving adequate rest after a tiresome day of work.

The Philip Experiment

 

Philip Experiment – Develop Fictional Character

The experiment had been directed by a mathematician, A.R.G. Owen and supervised by Dr Joel Whitton, a psychologist. The test group comprised of Iris Owen, the wife of A.R.G. Owen and former chairperson of MENSA in Canada, Margaret Sparrows, industrial designer, Andy H. his wife Lorne, heating engineer Al Peacock, accountant Bernice M, bookkeeper Dorothy O’Donnel together with sociology student Sidney K.

All the eight participants were members of the Toronto society for Psychical Research and none of them were psychical gifted. Their aim was to develop a fictional character through determined methodology and thereafter attempt to communicate with it through séance. The group at first contrived the fictitiousidentity, physical appearance and personal history of a character.

The character thus created and agreed was called `Philip Aylesford’ referred as Philip at the time of the test and his fictional history partly coincided with the real events and places though with numerous contradictions and faults. Born in 1624 in England, he had an early military career and was knighted by the age of sixteen. He was involved in the English Civil War and developed personal friendship with Charles II, while working for him as a secret agent.

No Apparition/Unexplained Phenomena Documented

Philip though married to Dorothea was very unhappy and later on fell in love with a gypsy girl who happened to be accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. In 1654 out of depression, Philip had committed suicide at the age of thirty. The group at first were seated around a table with séances yielding no contact or communication and no phenomenon.

Owen changed the test conditions by reducing the lights and changing the environments to mimic of a more out-dated séance and the participants being aware of a presence, unexplained echoes, table vibrations, breezes and rapping sounds which seemed to match the responses to questions connected to Philip’s life. At one point of time, the table seemed to tilt on a single leg.

 Inspite of these claims, no apparition or unexplained phenomena had been documented. The Owen group started conducting sittings in September 1972 wherein they meditated, visualized and discussed the life of Philip, in details.

Psychokinesis

After several months with no communication, the group then attempted table tilting through psychokinesis – PK and this activity was popular during Spiritualism séances involved people sitting around a table, with their fingertips lightly on the surface.

The table tilting practice had been recommended by Kenneth J. Barcheldor, the British psychologist who had speculated that some of the group members would be scepticism regarding their venture. He was of the belief that séance setting probably would have created a communication with Philip which was the expectations of the sitters.

One session was also held in the presence of a live audience of fifty people and was videotaped to be shown on television. In other sessions, sounds were heard in different areas of the room with the blinking of lights on and off. Besides this the rising and movement of a table had also been recorded on film in 1974.

Philip is considered to have a special connection with Iris Owen and some members assumed that they heard whispers in response to queries though effort to record them on tape was unconvincing.

Kensington Runestone

Kensington Runestone – Subject of Discussion/Controversy

Since the discovery of the Kensington Runestone in 1898, by a Swedish farmed, Olof Ohman while clearing the land for his farm near Kensington, Minnesota, it has been the subject of discussion and controversy. Owing to integral disbelief and the fact that Olof was a Swedish, several of them thought that the stone could be a forgery and this controversy prevailed for more than 100 years.

However the controversy is over and there is now physical evidence that the runestone is authentic and has a large role in American history. Being discovered in the largely rural township of Solem Douglas County, Minnesota, it has been named after the nearest settlement, Kensington.

The inscription implies to be a record which is left behind by Scandinavian explorers during the 14th century. There has also been a drawn out argument on the authenticity of the stone though the intellectual consensus classified it as a 19th century joke as it was examined first in 1910, while some critics charging the alleged discoverer Ohman to have invented the inscription. However, there is a local community which tend to remain convinced of the authenticity of the stone.

Runic Form Changes from One Generation to Another

Though several rural people were illiterate in regular writing and reading, knowledge of runes was well-known and the runic form seemed to change from one generation to another. It is revealed that some of the runes on the Kensington Stone were of 18th or 19th century variety that was utilised in Dalecarlia, the province of the mother of Ohman. Ohman acknowledged knowing rune and had also been seen carving runes on sticks in his early years in Minnesota.

The Kensington Runestone is about 31 inches high, 16 inches wide, six inches thick, weighing about 202 pounds. Towards the face and one side, one will find characters known as `runes’ which is a kind of writing used in the Middle Age by the inhabitants of north western Europe only like the Danes, Norwegians and Gotland Islanders.

Till now most of the information that is available to the archaeologist has been collected from the information that is recovered at the place of the site and in recent years it has been revealed that a majority of the ancient architectural, geoglyphic and monolithic structures that were built around the world tend to have something in common.

Intriguing/Successful Mystery

The unity is that the structures were associated in a manner which the study of their linier alignment unveils a much bigger story and expands hugely the data available to the archaeologist together with the related disciplines.

 The Kensington Stone is an intriguing as well as a successful mystery and after over one hundred years of discovering it, the inscription still tends to be a subject of debate. One of its most interesting debate is that its ‘errors’ is the cause from purposeful encryption.

 Though cryptographic runes are known from Scandinavia, they tend to adhere to consistent criteria that the American examples are not. It is an amazing example of the early Nordic-American folk culture, though it is not a milestone in American archaeology.

The Eye of Horus

Eye of Horus – Ancient Egyptian Symbol

The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royalty, health and sovereignty. It was a representation of the goddess wadjet, protector of Lower Egypt. The Wadjet or Ujat means `Whole One’ and is a powerful symbol of protection in ancient Egypt.

 The symbol was often used in jewellery of gold, silver, wood, porcelain, lapis and carnelian for the purpose of safety and health of the bearer. It also provided wisdom and prosperity. It was also known as the Eye of Ra, a powerful destructive force which was connected with the fierce heat of the sun that was described as the `Daughter of Ra’.

 The `eye was incarnate as the goddess Wadjet and linked with various other gods and goddesses. After the union of the two kingdoms she was the patron of Egypt and the eye was the symbol of royal power.

The eye of Horus symbol also tends to represent G-d within everything and the triangle surrounding the eye of Horus seems to be the symbol of creation. Inside the triangle, the composition of the eye of Horus represents the cosmic unity which cannot be grasped by the six senses though it exists in nature.

Right Eye – Sun/Left Eye - Moon

The image of the eye had been taken from the image of a falcon’s eye which was the symbol of Horus, the god of Sky as well as the rich fertile black land. According to mythology it is related that his right eye was the Sun and his left eye was the Moon which navigated the sky when he flew across it in the image of a falcon.

As per myth, his left eye had become pale moon when his nemesis the god Seth, had scratched his eye during one of their battles. He was restored and healed by Thoth, the god of knowledge and magic and hence the eye then became a symbol of protection, healing and magic.

It was at this point of time that the name Wadjet meaning `whole or healthy’ was given. In the myth it is stated that it is Horus left eye that had been torn out and relates the waxing and waning of the moon when the moon appeared to have been torn out of the sky before it was restored once every lunar month.

Healing & Protective Power

Various depictions of the restoration of the eye in Greco-Roam temples are available. Thoth has been assisted with fourteen goods inclusive of the gods of the Ennead of Hermopolis or thirty male deities.Each of the gods was represented by one of the fifteen days leading to the full moon and the waning moon and the restored eye was emblematic of the re-establishment of the order from chaos, associating it with the idea of Ma’at.

In one of the myth it is said that Horus had gifted the eye to Osiris in order to help him rule the netherworld wherein Osiris had eaten the eye and was restored back to life. Due to this, it became a symbol of life and resurrection.The eye of Horus is said to have healing and protective power and was used as a protective amulet.

 Moreover it was also utilised as a system of measurement, especially in measuring the ingredients in medicines and pigments. The symbol is said to be divided into six sections, representing the shattering of the eye of Horus into six pieces where each piece was linked with one of the six senses and a certain fraction.