Rewilding Europe – and Lions

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Last week I mention the non-profit organization dedicated to reestablishing wild areas in Europe with the species that were driven out or in decline. These species are not only herbivores either but also Lynx and wolves.

One species that is not part of the project but is in serious decline is lions. Once one of the most widespread, now only 600 Asiatic lions remain in a wildlife preserve in India and 23,000 African lions in central Africa.

Like the bull in Bronze Age Crete and the horse for the steppe tribes, the lion was a symbol of power, spirituality, kingship, divinity, and even safety and peace. (The lion-headed goddess Sekhmet represents both war and healing.) India, Mesopotamia and even Mycenae Greece honored the lion with statuary and ritual. Delos, Greece has a sanctuary to a point where Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis. To reach it, a supplicant had to pass through the Terrace of the Lions – sixteen snarling lion statues.

So what happened to this magnificent creature? Humans. To prove themselves, kings and others hunted the lions. In Ancient Rome, so many lions were killed in the arenas that they eventually became hard to find, partly from overhunting and partly because the Romans began to lose territory.

This will be my last post of 2023. My best wishes to everyone for a delightful holiday season and a warm and peaceful New Year.

Currently Reading

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With this busy season, I Only managed one book this week. I thought I was finishing the Bucket List mysteries: Number four is Murder in the Tattoo Parlor.

I thought I was finishing this series, only to reach the end and a To Be Continued.

In this outing, our older, but still intrepid detectives become involved in a murder in a tattoo parlor. What are they doing there? Well, Joy, who is engaged to a local sheriff, wants to get his name tattooed on her shoulder. When Charlotte, Francine and Joy arrive at the tattoo parlor, they discover the artist dead. Joy leaves, not wishing anyone to know she was there, but Charlotte and Francine are filmed leaving.

Charlotte’s accident on her motorcycle and Francine’s new job lead to a solution – and the unveiling of several big secrets. Lots of fun. I look forward to the next installment.

The bull in bull dancing

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In my Ancient Crete series, I describe a sport in which young people run at a bull, grab the horns, and flip over the back. Martis, my protagonist, wants to become a bull leaper in the first book – In the Shadow of the Bull.

In the second in the series, On the Horns of Death, Martis is a full fledged bull leaper.

Below is my imagined picture of what bull leaping might look like.

The bulls used in this sport/ritual were not the domesticated cattle we are now familiar with. Instead, a type of cattle now extinct called aurochs are thought to be ones used.

The aurochs were holdovers from the Ice Age and were much larger than domesticated bulls. From historical reports and excavated skeletons, we know the auroch bulls stood about six feet. They had long slender legs for walking long distances. For the purpose of bull leaping, they had long, thick curved horns.

What happened to the aurochs? We know they were still in existence during the Roman era; they were used as battle beasts in the arenas. The aurochs actually survived until the 1600s, but the numbers were much diminished. Over hunting and loss of range as humans expanded into their habitat. The date given for their extinction is 1627 when a poacher killed the last one on a reserve in Poland.

An effort to rewild Europe has attempted to bring back the Aurochs, among other extinct animals. DNA strands from some ancient cattle strains were combined. The result is called Heck’s cattle and gradually they have been introduced into Europe. Spain just announced a reintroduction in October, 2023.

Currently Reading – and Current Events

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If you are a writer, especially an unpublished one, add the following program to your calendar. The panel will be discussing our differing paths to publication. This is not to be missed.

Maven of Mayhem Program

My Path to Publication

Mally Becker, Jacqueline Boulden, Chris Keefer, Robert Knightly, Eleanor Kuhns, AmyPatricia Meade, and Lida Sideris.
Join us for an inside look at the many paths to publication.

Register Here for Zoom link: https://upperhudsonsinc.com/event/mavens-roundtable-my-road-to-publication/

Business meeting for members only at 10:30 am Eastern.

Program (free and open to the public) begins at 11:15 am Eastern.
Bethlehem Library, 451 Delaware Ave, Delmar, NY 12054

And now for Currently Reading

I read two more Bucket List mysteries this past week. These are very light and, although not Holiday themed, perfect for this busy season. The skinny dipping Grandmas are mixed up in murder once again

In Murder under the Covered Bridge, the ladies are planning a racy calendar. As Francine and her husband, suitably costumed in Victorian clothing, are acting out the illicit relationship between Francine’s ancestor and coachman, gunshots pepper the covered bridge. When the shooting stops, Jonathan goes out to investigate and discovered a severely wounded man who turns out to be Francine’s cousin William. Why did he crash the photo shoot and what secrets does he hold? A series of misadventures, including a fire and a seance, abound as the ladies stumble their way to the solution.

In Murder at the Male Revue, a male strippers troupe offers the chance for one of the ladies to cross off another item on her bucket list. But at the first performance, Camille is found stabbed to death. The first suspect – her nephew Eric who is the owner of the Male Revue. But as our intrepid women investigate, they discover their neighbors had many secrets and some the murderer was willing to kill for.

Atlantis – and Minoan Crete

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I would guess just about everyone has heard of Atlantis. Plato was the first to write about this great naval empire that fell out of favor with the deities and was destroyed. (Plato was writing about hubris and criticizing Crete for opposing Plato’s native Athens.) Since Plato’s time, Atlantis has been used as a springboard for all kinds of fantastic suggestions.

Did you know that there may be a connection between Atlantis and Minoan Crete?

During the Bronze Age, Crete was THE Naval power, to the point that Ramses II in Egypt asked for help fighting the pirates attacking his country. Plato gives dimensions for Atlantis which are a factor of 10 for Crete. Plato also describes a highly sophisticated society – probably the first to have hot and cold running water and indoor toilets. He talks about a palace and a shrine to Poseidon. We know Poteidon was worshipped as a God in Crete and also that bulls, sacred to this God, were worshipped with many rituals including bull leaping.

One of the issues with this theory is the location of Atlantis, supposedly placed beyond the pillars of Hercules in the Atlantic Ocean. Some ancient historians have theorized that, before the sixth century BC, the “Pillars of Hercules” may have applied to mountains on either side of the Gulf of Laconia. The mountains stood at either side of the southernmost gulf in Greece, that opens onto the Mediterranean Sea. This would have placed Atlantis in the Mediterranean, lending credence to many details in Plato’s discussion.

For me, the most compelling argument for believing Minoan Crete was the seed of the Atlantis myth is the destruction. In Plato’s telling, earthquakes and floods swept over Atlantis and the island sank into the sea. Crete did not sink. But the volcano at Santorini/Thera erupted in approximately 1450 B.C.E., ripping out the center of the island and leaving an enormous caldera. Crete was nearby and would have been affected by earthquakes, tsunamis and ash. A nearby city, Akrotiri, was completely covered and is being excavated from the hardened ash now. The ash reached Turkey. This volcano, by the way, is still active and has built up an island of hardened lava. An island, by the way, you can travel to and walk on. Vulcanologists expect it to erupt again someday.

The explosion did not destroy Crete. Evidence of rebuilding has been found in and around Knossos. However, it severely weakened the Minoans and evidence of the Mycenaeans show up in the archaeological record right about then. Many believe that the Mycenaeans took the opportunity to conquer a rich and powerful, but severely damaged, neighbor.

Currently Reading

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This week I read two cozies. The first, Disco Dead by Marcia Talley, is one of my favorite series.

So far, this one is my favorite.

Hannah is asked by a group of retired cops to help solve a cold case involving what they think is a serial killer. Using her skills on Ancestry.com and other family tracking websites, Hannah dives in. Her familiarity with the Navy is also a plus, thanks to husband Paul, and Hannah provides the critical piece to finding the man who has raped and killed young women for decades. Excellent.

I discovered to my dismay that I read these out of order and missed a few so I will have to go back and pick them up.

I began a new series this week with Murder on the Bucket List.

A group of senior citizens, all with sixty items on their bucket lists, are planning to go skinny dipping – one of the items. But their plans are disrupted when one of the ladies smells something funny. A quick investigation reveals a dead body in the gardening shed.

The investigation quickly centers on the husband of one of the ladies and two local celebrities – car racers. Laugh out loud scenes sprinkle the mystery. Lots of fun.

What did they speak in Bronze Age Crete?

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I received wonderful news: both In the Shadow of the Bull and On the Horns of Death have been picked up by a publisher in Greece and translated. So excited!

This got me thinking about the language in Ancient Crete. What did they speak? Greek? It is hard to know since we, of course, have no examples of the spoken language. We do have sample of what there was of the written language, however.

There are several examples of ancient writings but the only one that has been deciphered is Linear B. That was finally deciphered in 1952 and was used primarily for administrative texts. Tablets have been found in Knossos, Kydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae. When the Mycenaean civilization collapsed, this style of writing disappeared.

Linear A, which some believe was a precursor of Linear B, (others posit they were used simultaneously), Cypro-Minoan and Cretan hieroglyphics remain undeciphered.

Linear B is believed to be a early form of Greek. Knowing how English spoken in the age of Chaucer sounded, I would guess a Greek speaker now would not be able to understand this early form.

Currently Reading

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In my quest to read the entire Marcia Talley series, I finished Done Gone this week.

Hannah and her husband are alarmed when their neighbors disappear, with dinner still on the counter, and the cat unfed. Then Hannah receives a phone call from Trish. She sounds scared but promises to tell Hannah everything and arranges to meet in the parking lot of the local mall. As Trish is explaining. a gunshot shatters the window and hits Trish in the head.

She is brought to the hospital, still alive but barely. Hannah, using the few clues Trish has given her, begins to investigate. Georgina’s new man (her husband died in a previous book) assists. Another excellent read.

I also read Murder in Williamstown by Kerry Greenwood, the new Phryne Fisher mystery.

I am a long time fan of these mysteries but I had mixed feelings about this one.

Phryne’s adopted daughters, as part of a school program, volunteer at the local institute for the blind. Jane, who is good with numbers, is asked to look at the accounts. When she does, she finds a pattern of embezzlement. Phryne becomes involved. This case takes up a significant part of the first half.

On a date in Williamstown, Phryne finds an opium pipe. Lin, her long time lover, advises her to let this alone. Then a Westerner who loves all things Chinese, is murdered and a group of men prevent Phryne from pursuing him. The Lin’s wife asks Phryne to search for her missing sister. This was by far the most interesting mystery in the book.

Finally, Phryne is dealing with a stalker.

The focus was diffuse and the more interesting mystery involving drug smuggling and the missing girl did not, in my opinion, receive the attention it deserved. So, a mixed review from me.

Currently Reading

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This past week I read the most recent book in a series I love: the Sebastian St. Cyr series. Who cries for the lost.


When hostilities flare up in Europe with Napoleon’s escape from Elba, Sebastian frets at being kept home. He is convalescing from a wound that occurred in the previous title. A headless, handless body is pulled from the Thames and the evidence leads to Alexi Sauvage, Paul Gibson’s lover. Fearing that Gibson will be pulled into the accusations against Alexi, Sebastian begins looking into Sedgwick’s life. Sebastian quickly discovered that there are many who would have wanted the cruel and faithless man dead, including his wife, his mistress, the governess he seduced and many others.

Another excellent mystery. I did not see the twist at the end.

The second title, although completely different, was equally as good. Murder at the Jubilee Rally by Terry Shames is the latest in the Samuel Craddock series.

A motorcycle rally has come to town, upsetting the locals with the possibility of mayhem. Sure enough, a body is found behind the stage. The body turns out to be that of a local convenience store owner. Who would have wanted to murder a pillar of the community?

At the same time Samuel is investigating, he is hosting (and dealing with) defiant and rambunctious teenager who tests his patience to the utmost.

Another delightful mystery.

Gods and Goddesses of Bronze Age Crete

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From the preponderance of female figures on seals and in frescoes, archaeologists believe Crete worshipped a Supreme Goddess, probably a fertility Goddess from Neolithic times. (Similar to Astarte.)There is some dispute whether the statuary depicting women with snakes in their hands are representations of the Goddess or Priestesses engaged in a ritual.

note the tiered skirt, the short-sleeved jacket and the tight belt around the waist.

Besides the Supreme Goddess, there was a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. Poseidon, the God of the Oceans and Earthquakes, is one. (He was adopted by the mainland Greeks with almost no change.) Dionysus is another God, a very old one. A vegetation God, he is the God of wine as well as the Master of Animals. Unlike the Gods and Goddess of Classical Greece, Dionysus is not immortal. He is born each spring, grows to manhood throughout the year, and dies in winter.

One particularly interesting feature of Dionysus is his birth, in a cave and nourished by nanny goats. Sound familiar? The Cretan Zeus, a relative latecomer to the pantheon, is ascribed the same birth story. In Classical times, the same tale is told of Zeus’ birth, (although with a myth about the Titans surrounding it.) Zeus, of course, was elevated to the major God for the Classical Greeks.

The Goddesses are more complicated. Were they individuals or aspects of the Supreme Goddesses? Maybe a mix of the two? Aphrodite is connected to the Bronze Age and her name is pre-Greek. Artemis was a virgin, and the hunt was sacred to her, just as the Classical Greeks believed. Hera was another important Goddess. Shrines to her have been found in Crete. She was responsible for childbirth, a task she shared with Artemis. In the Classical Greek pantheon, she was reduced from being an important Goddess in her own right to Zeus’s jealous wife.

Britomartis meaning Sweet Virgin or Sweet Maiden, was worshipped by the fishermen. Her other name is Diktynna for the nets the fishermen used. I took her name and used the second half, Martis as the name of the protagonist in In the Shadow of the Bull and the sequels.

What about the Minotaur? Was the bull-headed man a God?We know that bulls were very very important in Ancient Crete. The statuary and frescos of bull leapers and the many representations of bulls is proof of that. But, was the Minotaur sacred? I choose to believe that the Minotaur was a creation of the Mainland Greeks, representing something they did not understand – rituals involving masked priests.

As excavations and study of this amazing culture continues, I’m sure we discover more about their religion.