besetztes nachkriegsösterreich

Much like post-war Germany, Austria was—after a column of Soviet forces crossed into the Burgenland in April of that year and established a provisional government with support of Joseph Stalin though absent any consultation from the Western powers—from this day in 1945 when it was decided at the London Conference that it shall be jointly occupied (rather than being split into constituent nations) by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the US through 1955—see previously here and here, see also. By 9 July, the Allies had negotiated the details and decided on the borders of their zones and sectors, Vienna being shared amongst all with its historic centre being governed by a different power each month on a rotational basis.

ερμαφρόδιτος

Though the term is outdated and can be confusing and offensive if applied to an intersex individual, it had never occurred to us question where the construction hermaphrodite came from. It is rooted in Greek mythology as illustrated uncharitably anachronistically in this 1460 woodblock tableau from Guillaume Vrelant of the encounter between the naiad Salmacis and the youth Hermaphroditus, the son of the Olympian gods Hermes and Aphrodite, a portmanteau of the parental names. Sexual predation and objectification of course abounds in the classical but Salmacis is uniquely the only female perpetrator—subject of course to double-standards, being roundly shamed for it, the cougar nymph encountering, a popular theme for early Renaissance paintings as well, the fifteen-year-old bathing in the pristine pond (sacred to her and where she was wont to gaze at her reflection like Narcissus) and lusting after him grabbed him tightly, praying to the heavens that they never be parted as Hermaphroditus struggled to get away. For reasons not explained—especially given the teen-ager’s high birth—Salmacis’ wish was granted and their bodies were fused into one. Further unaccounted for was Hermaphroditus’ request to his parents that anyone else bathing in the pool would also be transformed, unclear whether their son was capable of thinking just as himself any longer or whether he thought this new nature to be a curse or a blessing.

*batteries not included

Though the US government’s recently frank but frustratingly inconclusive report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon leaves a lot of unanswered questions and room for scepticism, IKEA, as evinced by their new assembly instruction manual redesigns, are embracing this expanded market opportunity and expressing their belief in aliens. More at Print Magazine at the link above.

phaistos disc

Discovered on this day in 1908 by archaeologist Luigi Pernier whilst excavating the eponymous Minoan palace on Crete, the purpose and provenance of this Bronze Age artefact remain a matter of mystery and dispute among scholars. Comprising forty-five distinct glyphs, some two-hundred forty impressed signs on the obverse and reverse of the circular tablet, the script defies attempts at deciphering. Typographically significant, the characters (ideograms) are not inscribed—whatever they may signify—and rather are stamped from seals into a clay medium, subsequently fired at high temperatures and represent a sort of movable type with reusable letters. By frequency, the highest count for the representational glyphs are the plumed head 𐇑 , the bell-shaped Helmet 𐇖 and the Shield 𐇛 Whilst other corroborating artefacts have emerged, there is not enough context to properly decode this syllabary.

poena cullei

Via Strange Company’s Weekend Link Dump, we learn all about a Roman punishment meant to fit the crime codified by the lex Pompeia, emperor and the aristocracy of course being the worst offenders, that the punishment of the sack was meted out to those found guilty of the murder of a close relative who is one’s elder, a parricide, but not a fratricide, mariticide or uxoricide, involving stuffing the guilty party into a bag sewn shut with a rambunctious menagerie, usually consisting of a dog (for whom the Romans felt little fidelity), snake, monkey and a chicken and tossed into a river. Eventually expanded to include the intent, attempt, Seneca noted that by the time of the reign of the Claudian dynasty one saw “more sacks than crosses,” crucifixion of course being a preferred method of execution. More on capital crime and punishment and our fortunate distancing from it at the links above.

zwischestopp: oberwaldbehrungen

After an running some errands on an overcast day, I decided to take a quick detour and make the time to stop and investigate a village that I often pass but always seemed too rushed or liminally close to visit, just a few kilometres away dominated by a church on a hill above a jumble of Fachwerk houses. 

Among the oldest settlements in the Besengau landscape of the northern reaches of the Rhön (the placename referring to the practise of crafting brooms, Besen, out of birch twigs which outside of harvest season was the area’s primary economy activity) Oberwaldbehrungen has its first document in 795, I learned it was formerly the last village in this region to have no street names (see also). 

Once under the auspices of the bishopric of Würzburg, it was given as a fiefdom to the lords of Tann, an exclave, in 1480—joining neighbouring Urspringen in 1670 as part of the Henneberg holdings, finally being restored to the Kingdom of Bavaria under the provisions of the Congress of Vienna in 1814. I took the long way up to the Dorfkirche on the hill but discovered a quite nice path—despite the weather—through the woods leading back down to the village.

fast car

Though released earlier in April as the leading single from her eponymous debut studio album, it was Tracy Chapman’s performance (previously) for Nelson Mandela’s Seventieth Birthday Tribute at Wembley Stadium on this day in 1988 that propelled the singer and song to international recognition. The folk rock narrative relates the story of the working poor struggling to escape generational poverty and the persistence of optimism.

equidistance

Due to calendar conventions, in common years 2 July marks the midpoint with one hundred eighty-two days having passed of the current year and one- hundred eighty two days to go until the next year and will fall on the same day of the week as New Year’s. Depending on one’s location—in the northern or southern hemisphere and whether one employs daylight saving time or not plus whether it’s a leap year—the exact point of transition falls at high noon.