Whithorn Woman

Whithorn Priory in Galloway is found in the very south west of Scotland.  A church is attested by the great Bede in 731 AD to have been found here in 700 AD.  It is rumoured than Ninian founded a church here around the year 400.  A Roman coin engraved with Emperor Constans (337-350 AD) was found near the altar, indicating something was in place at the time.  

The locals like to refer to Whithorn as the 'Cradle of Christianity' in Scotland, and possibly in the Britain we know today, and they may not be far wrong.

Several 'Digs' have uncovered Bishop Walter, who died in 1235, his ring and crozier defining him.  Research indicates the Bishop was 'portly,' and had a diet rich in fish.  This was not what the locals ate, even though the sea is close by.  Another clergyman of the time lies nearby.  The second man may not be a clergyman, yet he is interred close to the altar.  He had a cleft Jaw, which would make reading Mass difficult, yet this is where he is buried.  

The picture above is is the face of a woman who was buried amongst the Lay people (the lower orders) in what was later to become the 'Glebe Field.'  The Glebe Field was used to sustain the minister of a church.  This woman is believed to have lived in the 1300s.  This is in the days of Robert the Bruce, and life was often full of war.  She is in her early  20s, and when she died she was buried on a bed of shells, for reasons unknown.  The sea lies just down the road and conjecture as to the reason for the shells could go on for ever.  Nothing else is known of her.  Clearly not rich, she is just a woman of her time who died early.

I have noticed quite a few of these reconstructed faces appearing over the past few years.  Allowing for the difficulties in reconstructing an actual perfect likeness I find these fascinating.  While they cannot perfectly reveal the actual person, their habits, dress, attitudes and the like often remain unknown or guesswork, they do show an insight into life in the past.  It makes our forefathers real, no longer just a name on a rich mans tomb, or a mass of bodies buried in a local graveyard and soon forgotten.  The past becomes real, and if you are descended from this area it is always possible this may been one of your relatives.  If I remember correctly, a man in Cheddar Grove was through DNA research, found to contain the same DNA as a skeleton dating back into prehistory found in the area.  

One thing soon becomes clear, people today, mobile phones, cars, technological adept, are no different from those who have gone before.  What has been will be again, as it were.  Wherever such reconstructions are found they always turn out to be human, just like you and I, and therefore carry all the same sin nature we carry.  Humans never change, and these reconstructions prove this.

Ruaridh's Blog is full of info on Whithorn 

    

The City of Abraham by Edward Platt

                                               Waterstones

 

At last, I have finished a book!  

Through no fault of my own books are piling up on the 'To Read' shelf.  I do not know where they have come from!  Some of them have been lying about for years it appears.  Others have bookmarks in them from long ago so they will have to be restatred, from the beginning I suspect, at some time in the future.  

However, I have finished this one.

Hebron is a very contested city in Israel held territory, taken during one of the wars.  To Jews it is the city in which David first ruled as King over the southern part of the land, then called Judah.  David reigned there after the fall of Saul and seven years later he became king over all of Israel both the northern kingdom, later called 'Israel,' and Judah.  The united kingdom settled and happy under King David, a time of joy and certainty under his rule.  This became divided after his sone Solomon died, the wealthy kingdom soon split into two once again.  

Hebron is important to Jews and Muslims as Abraham himself was buried in the cave nearby where a huge building now stands over the place considered to be the cave in which he was buried. Abraham as you know not only had Issac as a son, his grandson Jacob became the name from which Israel is known throughout the Old Testament, he also had Ishmael via Hagar and he is seen as the father of the Arabs. No Muslims in those far off days as you know.   

Today many Jewish settlers have moved in and built their Settlements over many parts of the city, including the highest point considered to be the centre of old Hebron, a city dating back eons into the past.

The writer, the typical English middle class trendy, goes to Hebron with the intention to avoid taking sides, as if!  Folk like him already have a leaning towards the Arabs however little they know or understand the middle east.  There again, reading the book it becomes very easy to take sides with the Arabs, the Settlers, protected by Border Guards, Soldiers and Police, do not make themselves attractive, and as I found myself in Israel eons ago, Israeli Jews are not that welcoming to tourists even though they depend on their money.  

The land some say is divided between Jews and Arabs, it is however divided much more than that.  The Israeli population are themselves divided into many factions, many on the right, many on the left, also there are religious Jews divided into similar factions. Add to that the division between those that came from Spain with those arriving from Russia, and then there are holocaust survivors, or indeed those who feel shame at avoiding capture.  

Likewise the Arabs have divisions, Fatah and Hamas, tribal divisions, those in Hebron from those in the North, all making the simple choice of who to support difficult.  All however, are trapped in a war zone featuring occasional outbursts of serious violence and constant daily stone throwing from one side or another, and always the others fault!  

Simple people claim there is a simple answer to the division in the land, reading this book I found a constant depression returning as there is no obvious answer to the mix.  Everybody has a claim, everybody is right, and everybody goes back deep into History for their claim.

Palestinians claim to have been there since time began, I am sure some DNA tests would reveal many indeed have history going back thousands of years.  However, so many have moved through this very small space, many remaining when the invaders moved on, it would reveal also a mixture of middle east heritage from many sides.  I wonder if such a test has been conducted?  Maybe the results were to inflamable to reveal?

The Hebrews certainly possessed the land from the time of Joshua, around 1200 BC possibly, until driven out by the Romansd after the war of 70 AD and the revolt of 135 AD?  Some Jews might well have remained though most were exiled.  

For well over a hundred years possession has belonged to the Jews, they clearly are in control, and yet it is possible for Jew and Arab to live together quite happily, there is a desire for this amongst many in Hebron and elsewhere.  However, on both sides others disagree, and all are armed.

The settlers are another thing altogether.  I had the idea settlers were mostly American Jews who considered themselves John Wayne fighting the Indians, and in Hebron this can be seen amomg many there.  The settlers do not come across as open-minded, considerate or lovable.  Indeed, their violent and aggressive behaviour would easily temp us to join with the Palestinians locals in throwing stones.  When one video was revealed though Israel TV indicating settlers behaviour in Hebron many Israeli's turned against them.  It also shocked the settlers to realise they did not represent all Jewish people.  

I naturally wanted to know more about the ancient Historical sites, however, the settlers have erected their homes above the main 'dig,' the part of Hebron David walked and many have ruled from.  There will be no 'digs' for many years.  

The Tomb of Abraham also turns out to be somewhat disappointing.  Although illegal to dig down underneath some have in the past gone down through tunnels and found ancient caves with bones and fragments, but sadly no proper modern archaeology can be conducted.  It will be obvious that with all the passing armies since Abraham was buried some 4000 years ago these caves, if indeed these are the correct places, will have been ransacked many times by the curious seeking riches.  So, another Historical site turns out to be not what it might be after all.  

I am just glad Hebron is Hebron, and this may well be the place David ruled but no work to prove this can occur these days.

The author attempts to talk to all people in the city, Arabs, Jews, even an occasional settler, and we see the human cost of what they call the 'occupation.'  We find soldiers, young, badly trained conscripts, bored, frightened by both sides, confused and angry, all hoping to go somewhere better than this.  The Police limited by the army, the army limited by settlers, the courts decisions often ignored, and the rule of law changing according to someones whim.

And yet we see people on both sides happy to trade with one another, to use the markets, even to meet and discuss on occasions.  As always the majority just wish to get on with their lives and ignore the troubles around them.  It must be remembered that many Jews and Christians lived reasonably happy lives for generations amongst the Arabs, rare was the conflict.  So we must question why, since the end of the 19th century, has such a situation arisen?  Jews were found across the middle east, now none are found in Iraq, and others flee to Israel or the US!  

I think it would help if the author, Edward Platt, knew and understood the biblical  background better.  Another ignorant of Christianity, he quotes from the Authorised Version of the Bible (he calls it the KJV) even though venacular bibles have been around for 70 years, indicating his desire to put the bible down rather than learn from it, and his knowledge of Islam is similarly short.  Clearly he has made an effort to read what a Sunday School could have taught him but this however, has not opened his understanding of the people, the background nor the future of this land, which is a serious failing in this book.  

The book being published in 2012 is slightly out of date, nevertheless it gives an insight into the people of the land today, some idea of the Historical background, and, for me, a depressing knowledge that no easy answer can be found.  The book however, is worth a read, just to get one man's insight into the people living in this mix.  

God remains in control of this land, however, it is clear the people living there have not sought, or if they have sought, have not found his answer, to the situation.  If the Good Lord has indeed put the Hebrews back in his land we cannot remove them.  But are these his Hebrews?  Are they living his way?  Jesus is their Messiah and until they know him they will not find his answer for the land.  Until his Spirit moves there life will continue like this.  However, God is there, and when we see Hebrews turn to his Messiah Jesus en masse we will know that soon his Son will return.

 

Rubble Trouble

It didn't take long to sort that lot out.  Just the flooring to go and judging by the noise at teatime I suspect that has been more or less lifted also.  In theory the archeological people are now meant to go over the ground in the hope of finding something interesting.  However this part of town has been farmland until the 1800's as far as is known so while there is hope I doubt much will be found in this ground.  If I see them searching I will make sure the museum gets whatever is recovered, not however if it is just stones!  
People here do find things in their gardens.  Iron Age, Roman, Saxon settlements were here and much has gone on since then so it is inevitable things turn up often.  Most once inhabited areas today are either built over or were farmland for about four thousand years, not much hope of the recover of things in those conditions, but the town is always eager to find something!  One day that gold coin hoard will arrive, one day.

What has arrived are new neighbours!  here I am, feeling weary and suffering from something and two young lads, gay boys it appears, are moving in next door.  I am not pleased!  The last thing this building requires is young folks, their noise and disgusting habits.  We old folks prefer our own.  It is at times like this I remember the noise from next door, downstairs, upstairs, round the back and over there, that was London life.  How silent life has been this last year or two with the considerate neighbours, especially the ones in that flat who were never there, that's considerate!  However when people move in I wish to move to that house on an island that is cut off from the mainland by two tides a day.  I suspect that would suit me although no doubt some Essex man would still attempt to land there to annoy me, are shotguns allowed?  The occasional hassles with folks in the past always makes me nervous of newcomers.  For years most of us have got on quite well and new folks always cause problems, sometimes unintentionally and occasionally deliberately.  The good Lord tells me to love them, that is treat them with consideration but I was not in that mood when they appeared today.  Ah well, it will all work for good in the end.  I'm just glad my life is so good at the moment and this disturbs me a wee bit.  It will be OK but we wait on the Lord as we piously say and hope he hears and does things our way and not his, something he is want to do!
Young folks, bah!  

Work tomorrow and the even younger folks are supposedly playing Harry Potters 'Quiddich' (?) game.  That is the game they play in the sky so how the lass is going to work that one out with thirty kids in the hall and not kill someone I await to see.  I will wait at a distance which equals the entire length of the building!   
So far there have been nothing but happy faces from kids and mums and dads, whacking one another with sticks while flying may of course change this...
Then home to growl at the folks next door, eat and fall into my bed until Tuesday.

Sir John de Stricheley

This story interested me the other day, an archaeological reconstruction of a face from a skull discovered at Stirling Castle in 1997.  Nine skeletons were discovered under the stones of what once was a royal chapel in the castle once long lost through many reconstructions over the years. A team from the University of Dundee (yes it does have a proper University) led by forensic anthropologist Professor Sue Black have put a face to one of the dead. This turned out to be a man with the body of a professional rugby player, in his mid twenties and one who had suffered serious injuries in previous battles. Unusually documentary materials survive from the time of his death and evidence from his bones indicate he was from the south of England, that explains the thuggish looks I suppose. Putting these together it is now believed, but I suppose can never be conclusively proved, to be Sir John de Stricheley, a knight who was killed there in 1341. At that time the English dominated the castle and the peace loving Scots were requesting, through peaceable means, the Sassenachs to go back from where they came from. During one of these negotiations it is likely this invader managed to catch one of the Scots arrows, peacefully offered as an incentive to depart, with part of his body and, as you do, perished from the earth.  As Mark Twain out it, "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying that I approved of it." 


If this is indeed he, then it is clear that coming from a 'noble' background he would naturally be involved with the fighting way of life. Politicians today back-stab while smiling, in the 14th century one whipped out a sword or club and took ones opponents head off. It saved all that bother with voting papers I suppose. You had to be tough to get to the top, and Kings no less than knights fought in ferocious battles. Indeed it was said of the 'Black Douglas' that when he arrived in Spain to fight in the Crusades (not all Crusaders went to the Middle East, many fought the Moors in Spain) others remarked on his handsome features! They were all battle scarred veterans of many conflicts, often with each other, while he had managed to keep his good looks. Well I suppose he was only fighting Englishmen anyway.  


Among the dead were the remains of a female, unnamed, who had had her face smashed in with a heavy club. The mind boggles at the fighting and how this incident occurred. The idea of gentle women is often put forward by pushy feminists, however human nature shows them often in the roughest places, and a castle under siege is extremely rough! Unless she had an extremely high rank it is unlikely she will have been mentioned in any document and will probably forever remain nameless. One day all the relevant details of the skeletons will be known although the chances of linking them to a name appears slight.. 


Another interesting point is that the forensic anthropologist is a woman. have you noticed just how many woman get involved in such study. Thinking back to my NHS days I realise now just how many females worked in the path lab, some I was told were 'brilliant!' The person in charge was a female (she said!) although any similarities to the creature who fought crime in a puerile TV drama ends when you consider she spent more time sitting beside us gossiping, when she appeared, and then ran off elsewhere! Women do appear to find science, and this type in particular, fascinating.