well for one, christian persecution at the beginning is something of a myth - there were some persecutions, but they were isolated events.
there's this idea that the romans just hungrily wanted all the christians dead because they were christians. however, christians at the time WANTED to be martyred - it was preached by bishops as a noble thing, it was played up in christian literature, and whenever christians were arrested they did everything they could to not co-operate so they'd be executed. (for more info, read Candida Moss' "The Myth Of Persecution", and Catherine Nixey's "The Darkening Age")
if the romans were so giddy to execute, and the christians happy to be nixed, there would be no christianity today. there woulda been no christianity by the time of constantine, to be sure.
if you want to talk about a religion that's been persecuted and survived, try judaism. compared to that culture, christianity is a wimpy crybaby.
Turns out nothing has changed.
Almost all Christian martyrdom stories from early Christianity are false. Read all about it in this book book by Candida Moss.
Anyone who has read Mansons autobiography would know he's into some very odd stuff sexually and morally. He is smart, quick witted, (at least he was before the drugs), and not a good person, but he makes it clear he is fully aware of this and should be no ones role model. Definitely worth the read.
https://www.amazon.com/Long-Hard-Road-Out-Hell/dp/0060987464
Check out some books on alchemy. There are a lot of beautiful books with alchemical art. They aren't full of demons, but you may find them interesting.
Example:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/3836549360/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_FJCFBNE5NC8WTTV724FT
This is an excellent translation with full-color plates: https://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Book-Dead-Integrated-Full-Color/dp/1452144389/ref=sr\_1\_1?dchild=1&keywords=book+of+the+dead&qid=1627075690&sr=8-1
you could check out the Codex Seraphinianus it's a modern day invention
The most recent translations aren't going to be free and available online. I'd suggest going to your library or ordering a copy via Amazon. This is an excellent version, but there are less expensive, earlier editions available as well.
I have the translation by Raymond Faulkner — the old British Museum version, but there's a new one at a very good price:
It's built into their mythology. They believe if they're being "predicted", then it MUST be the truth. It's an old concept. Here's a good book that goes into the history of it.
Limited quantities when printed + sought after art book = high prices
The local library in my area had a copy in 2014 though and I was able to check it out. It's a really interesting book to look through. Not sure I'd want to buy a copy for myself though.
Edit: TIL it was reprinted in 2013. It was released for the first time in 1981
Thanks for posting that! I recognize a lot of those illustrations from this book called "Alchemy & Mysticism" by Alexander Roob. Have you ever seen that one? It's a really amazing collection of artworks. I wish it were a little larger, but it's a great resources nonetheless, and it was really affordable. The hardcover sells on amazon for less than $20. Well worth a purchase if you into such things!
You can get a great copy on Amazon. I have this exact copy. https://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Book-Dead-Integrated-Full-Color/dp/1452144389/ref=sr_1_2?crid=ZJKGG79TMZRB&dchild=1&keywords=the+book+of+the+dead+egyptian&qid=1601058837&sprefix=the+book+of+the+dead%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-2
Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature is a must-have for anyone interested in the culture. It's a collection of English translations of texts from all the periods of Egyptian history, and while reading later summaries, commentaries, and analyses is fine, all good scholarship includes primary sources. Short of learning to read hieroglyphics, this is the next best thing.
The original publication was in three volumes (Vol. I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms, Vol II: The New Kingdom, and Vol. III: The Late Period), but it looks like the latest edition has them all in one volume.
Raymond Faulkner and Ogden Goelet's <em>The Egyptian Book of the Dead</em> is another great addition to a library. It's an English translation of the Papyrus of Ani with full-color reproductions of the papyrus.
These appear to be based on outdated translations (Farangi, in particular, is using Budge. Who was good in his day, but now effectively useless for Egyptologists).
Based on the revised edition of The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Faulkner and Goelet, Jr), the translation is closer to "my name has not reached the offices of those who control slaves" (p. 129). In this case, the deceased has not become embroiled in any dispute or issue relating to property, specifically captive labourers.
It wasn't in early Christianity. However, people went around trying to martyr themselves and the church quickly realized that having dead congregants isn't exactly good for the collection plate. That's how the whole "sin" over suicide came about.
In the book, Myth of Christian Persecution, the NT scholar talks about this. Like one early group of Christians beat on some Roman official's door and demanded to be crucified. And while ancient Rome was a violent time and place, there were limits even then. He basically LOL'ed and told them to go home, you're drunk.
There apparently a marauding band of Christians roaming about and attacking travelers hoping to get killed in the process. I can't recall why that was other than they thought it was something Jesus would do.
The author talked about a woman who jumped into a fire that was lit for someone else because they thought they were martyring themselves for Jesus.
Fact of matter is the so-called persecution of Christians was far and few in-between except for a couple notable accts. Most Christians lived normal lives, even taking Roman office at times. As long as they were good citizens, Rome could've cared less. Most of the stories you hear are largely fictional.
The times there were issues were for mostly the same reasons Christians have issues today. They don't think the law applies to them because rElIgIoUs FrEeDuMs!!!! So some were in fact executed not because they were being sought out and hunted down but rather they simply refused to pay proper dues to Rome. That said, there were plenty of Christians were able to circumvent the laws and keep their heads attached. I highly recommend you check the book out.
It gives basic structure and is less "dry" than some of the academic anatomy books. (I love my anatomy books, don't mistake—I think my favorite was this one: https://smile.amazon.com/Atlas-Anatomy-Artist-Stephen-Rogers/dp/0195030958/ )
Loomis was a game-changer for me, though. It's been considered a classic for so long for a reason. There are a lot of newer anatomy books and I don't have them all, and I'm sure many of them are excellent. I think Loomis is a welcome addition to any artists' library and for me, was essential.
This book about the artwork of Atari is awesome and talks about this - how the artwork was designed to fill in the gaps between the game's graphics and our imagination.
The Papyrus of Ani, one of the most famous copies of the Book of the Dead is a good start.
https://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Book-Dead-Integrated-Full-Color/dp/1452144389/
The deceased travels through the underworld, through a hall filled with gates and rooms, through a judgment hall, across the sky, and into the western lands.
No, Christians haven't been "historically persecuted". That is a myth. Have there been times that's the case? Certainly. But this idea that Christians have spent centuries scurrying about in the shadows, afraid to reveal their faith is just plain, made-up BS. Might want to read up on it.
If anything, Christians have historically been the persecutors throughout the yrs. Burning down pagan temples and murdering it's adherents. How'd they used Jewish villages to warm-up before heading into the Crusades. Kidnapping children to raise as Christian is a favorite of there which they still do to this day. Just look at their history just in the US. They fight like mad for the right to torture gay children in gulags throughout and outside the US. They try to force non-Christian children to pray to their god in public schools. They're well known to persecute atheists and other non-Christians as well. One pastor was convicted on domestic terrorism when trying to recruit a militia to burn down a Muslim community. Bragged that if it came to it, he'd hack them down w/ a machete. Atheists like Nicole Smalkowski and Jessica Alhquist received rape and death threats from the "loving" Christian community. Hemant Metha had the local chapter of the hate group Focus On the Family tried to get him fired from his high school teaching position.
So do yourself a favor and drop this nonsense. It's dishonest and disingenuous.
>Do we know if it is a historical fact that early Christians were persecuted?
>Catholic Churches are literally being burned down as we speak. It takes some serious mental gymnastics to claim otherwise.
I said you're not suffering mass persecution. Didn't say none. Even so, the idea that there's some world-wide hunt where Christians are scurrying around in the shadows of the 4 corners of the earth is just plain laughable. Might want to read up on how a lot of the persecution legends came about and the real reason why suicide is considered a sin today even though it wasn't so in ancient times.
Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Featuring Integrated Text and Full-Color Images https://www.amazon.com/dp/1452144389/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6TFNN8SX39CEDA3MW7ZW
Unfortunately, I did buy this off Amazon 3 years ago, but it is an absolutely beautiful book with vivid pictures of the plates in great color.
For a general introduction (with many beautiful colour illustrations from many different works) I'd highly recommend Taschen's Alchemy & Mysticism
I would recommend finding a copy of Alchemy & Mysticism it's full of sequences and are similar to this one. With some pretty cool explanations as well.
Go to 10:58 in this YouTube video. The text the video maker is working with is the Papyrus of Ani, possibly the beautiful color edition of the complete papyrus from Ogden Goelet Jr., and Raymond O. Faulkner. The video creator has cleaned up the hieroglyphs for the horizontal row across the top of the video and used the more traditional look, but the strip down the side is definitely the Papyrus of Ani.
The following is a great edition with all the plates. It is a large book but larger is better because it makes it easier to read the text.
My only criticism is it does not include a transliteration and Faulkner's translation is idealized.
Nah, that's pretty much made up. No one can say that this didn't ever happen, but it's part of the Christian-persecution myth whose truthfulness was ably debunked in this book, written by theology prof. Candida Moss, an expert on early Christianity. Recommended.
The only textbook my instructors ever had me purchase for my illustration degree was Imaginative Realism by James Gurney (the Dinotopia guy). Lots of good stuff in there, practical stuff that will be great for art in general, not just fantasy stuff. It's an older book, so you should be able to pick it up pretty cheap. Here it is on Amazon.
Thank you for your kind words! I am so glad we found each other!
This is from "Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae" by A. Kircher, 1665. You can find this particular page of that book on page 86 of Alchemy and Mysticism, where the authors note that the nine planets and their nine spheres were being associated with the nine muses, with Apollo as the prime mover overseeing this celestial concert.