Please write for further details of any items of particular interest.

Web Page Postscript to April A Christian Viewpoint on the WebPage [see end of PEFile42 on this WebPage] was carried at this location in A Christian Viewpoint in the May Issue of The Prophetic Expositor.

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 609, March 26-April 1, 2003: - Receipt for girl reveals Roman slave secrets by David Derbyshire:
THE first evidence of Roman Britain's slave trade has been unearthed: a receipt for a young French girl bought for the equivalent price of a small sports car today. Faint scratchings on a wooden writing tablet show that a wealthy slave working for the imperial household bought a girl named Fortunata (Lucky), a member of a Celtic tribe living on the borders of Normandy and Brittany. The silver fir tablet had been preserved in wet London soil for 2,000 years. Although many Roman slaves were forced to work in mines or on farms, others had relatively high status. Those with a good education were given paid jobs helping to run estates and households for the wealthy. Many became rich enough to buy their own slaves - and their freedom by their 30s. The 5 1/2 in by 4 1/2 in tablet, found at a City building site, shows that Fortunata cost 600 dinarii, two years' salary for a Roman soldier. The deed, written around AD80, states that she was "warranted healthy and not liable to run away".
The girl was bought by Vegetus, an assistant slave owned by Montanus, who in turn was owned by the emperor. They were both officials in London. As a slave, Vegetus could not technically own property, but in practice Fortunata would have been regarded as one of his personal possessions, possibly a concubine. Francis Grew, of the Museum of London where the tablet is on display, said it was the first deed of sale for a slave found in Britain. "This is hugely important," he said. "This was a very special slave, bought in very special circumstances right inside the emperor's house. It is a bit like a certificate of employment for a modern royal butler." Despite their many technical advances, the Romans had not invented paper. In the southern empire, papyrus was used. In the north, where papyrus was not easily available, the Romans wrote on tablets, using a metal stylus to scratch words in black wax. Although the wax on this document had long since perished, faint scratches on the wood were enhanced and interpreted by scholars at Oxford University.

Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. 29 No. 2, March/April, 2003 carries a number of articles of interest. Chief among these is Horsing Around in Toronto, (pp.50-59) a report on the 2002 Annual Meeting by Hershel Shanks. The very well-illustrated report begins with a reference to Lord Allenby's forthcoming presence to chair the meeting on Megiddo. The report continues: "A magical name indeed. The legendary Edmund Allenby commanded Britain's Egyptian Expeditionary forces in World War I. On December 11, 1917, the last Turkish troops having fled, then-General Allenby made his official entry into Jerusalem by famously dismounting his horse and, out of respect for Jerusalem, walking on foot through the Jaffa Gate. The official proclamation of British victory was then read at the Citadel. But Allenby won his most significant triumph far to the north. In history's last great cavalry battle, Allenby defeated the Turks at the Megiddo Pass, using the same strategy Thutmose III used 3,500 years ago. Allenby's victory at Megiddo effectively ended Turkish resistance. Although he is best known in connection with Jerusalem, when he was rewarded with a title, he chose to become Viscount Allenby of Megiddo. He died in 1936, so I wondered what necromancy Finkelstein had up his sleeve. But Finkelstein was as good as his word. The archaeological session on Megiddo was chaired by none other than the third Viscount Allenby and a deputy speaker in the House of Lords (Britain's upper house of parliament). He is also honorary president of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. But it is as a horse aficionado that he most appropriately served as the session chairman, for the topic of debate was whether the supposed stables at Megiddo were really that - or storehouses or barracks or markets... ." [Brief: the article contains the famous photograph of General Allenby on foot entering Jerusalem and another photos of him, together with two photographs of his great-nephew, one on horseback, and the other taken while visiting the Megiddo excavation.]

Two other well-illustrated articles discuss whether the Philistines arrived in Canaan by land or by sea, and another is titled "Discovering Herod's Shrine to Augustus - Mystery Temple found at Omrit."

Saudi Aramco World, Vol. 54 No. 2, March/April 2003 carried several fine articles. The lead one, illustrated courtesy of the British Library, examines "The Lost Portfolios of Robert Hay." It conveys a beautiful glimpse of his tomb paintings and views of ancient remains of structures in Egypt, completed before 1834. Other articles give information on Tarthuth, a possible source for alternative medicine, and the designs of Ceramics in Tunisia.

Globe & Mail, April 2, 2003: Cracks in the Masonry? -
"The Freemasons have never begged for members," writes Ellen Creager in the Detroit Free Press. "For 286 years, they have been forbidden to advertise or even solicit another man to join unless the man asks first. But now, with membership in the world's oldest fraternal organization drifting downward, the Masons are opening the Lodge doors wide and inviting men to join in one day - April 5. The secretive society even took out advertisements in 23 movie theatres around [Michigan]." Rules have been relaxed under the easy-join program. Instead of three months of study, new men can go through the three levels called degrees - apprentice, fellowcraft and master - in about eight hours. Those who stay past dinnertime can go on to become a Shriner or a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, both special branches of Masonry.

The Weekly Telegraph No. 610, April 2-8, 2003: -
1. Pilot's tribute to forgotten 'first flyer' -
A SMALL group of aviation enthusiasts were to gather in remote farmland in New Zealand's South Island on Monday, the centenary of what they claim was the world's first successful powered flight, eight months before the Wright brothers' more celebrated feat. Geoff Rodliffe, a British expatriate and former RAF aircraft engineer, was hoping to fly a replica of the aeroplane. The mainly elderly devotees are paying homage to the memory of Richard Pearse, a farmer who flew more than 150 yards at an altitude of 12ft on March 31, 1903, before his home-made aircraft dumped him in a gorse hedge, breaking his collarbone. Mr. Rodliffe has spent years researching Pearse's life and has published a book on it. No one disputes that the flight took place, but what is in contention is whether it could be classed as "controlled" since Pearse had not mastered steering or landing. But his supporters point out that his aircraft, unlike that flown by Wilbur and Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, was a monoplane with a front propeller and moveable wing panels, forerunners of the ailerons in modern aircraft. His flight is portrayed in Forgotten Silver, a film made in 1998 by the New Zealand director Peter Jackson. A replica of the aircraft is in the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland.

2. Bailiffs to be allowed to Break in -
LICENSED "enforcement agents" will be authorised to break into people's homes and seize property from debtors under new government plans. They will also be given powers of arrest. A White Paper from the Lord Chancellor's Department proposes improved methods of recovering civil debts and stricter controls on enforcement agents. Until now, under a case decided 400 years ago, an Englishman's home is "his castle and fortress".

Science, American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science, Vol. 300 No. 5617, 11 April, 2003 - pp.229-231 and also pp.315-318:
These are two illustrated articles which focus on carbon dating of archaeological sites in Palestine.

The first, "Dates Boost Conventional Wisdom About Solomon's Splendor", by Constance Holden, is a shorter over-view of the material contained in the more academically detailed "14C Dates from Tel Rehov: Iron-Age Chronology, Pharaohs, and Hebrew Kings" by Hendrik J. Bruins, Johannes van der Plicht, Amihai Mazar.

The shorter account explains that "Carbon-14 dates from Israel may help settle a scholarly debate that has raged over the past decade: whether David and his son Solomon, founders of the ancient kingdom of Israel, were the larger-than-life nation builders the Bible describes or largely mythical figures, as some recent historians have claimed. The new dates from Tel Rehov, a major Iron Age site in northern Israel, favor the traditional view that King Solomon was both real and powerful. 'The implications are enormous for recreating the history of ancient Israel,' says archaeologist Lawrence Stager of Harvard University.
Researchers led by Amihai Mazar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem based their conclusions on olive pits and charred grain from one of Tel Rehov's three 'destruction layers' - strata marking times when Rehov was ravaged before being rebuilt. The results, reported on page 315, place the layer between 940 and 900 B.C. Mazar and colleagues say the dates peg the devastation to a whirlwind plundering tour of Palestine by the Egyptian Pharoah Shoshenq, a well documented historical event that both Egyptian records and biblical writings date at about 925 B.C. The Bible adds another key detail: According to the books of I Kings and II Chronicles, the pharoah (whom the Israelites called Shishak) launched his invasion 5 years after Solomon's death. If Mazar and colleagues are right, the destruction layer at Rehov-along with contemporary layers that archaeologists have identified at other sites-gives a definitive glimpse of Solomon's realm. That information may make clear which of two radically different versions of Solomon fits the facts. The mainstream view, Stager says, holds that the great leader Solomon transformed the 'rather rustic' early 10th century B.C. Israel of his father David into a sophisticated kingdom, with architecture and material culture to match.

In the mid-1990's, a handful of 'revisionist' scholars rocked the establishment with an audacious alternative: that biblical accounts of Solomonic splendor were mostly hype. According to archaeologist Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University, the temples, palaces, and political structures usually attributed to David and Solomon had nothing to do with those rulers at all (Science, 7 January 2000, p. 31). Finkelstein says his excavations of Megiddo, 40 kilometers west of Rehov, show that the so-called Solomonic palaces and gates there actually belonged to later, 9th century B.C. rulers known as the Omrides. In his alternative 'Low Chronology,' Solomon and his family were at best minor chieftains, not the great kings of biblical fame, and at worst myths. The status of 3000-year-old monarchs is a politically charged issue in modern Israel, says archaeologist William Dever of the University of Arizona in Tucson. 'In current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, people are increasingly invoking archaeology in support of their cause,' he explains. Some Israelis think that the very foundations of Zionism's claim to the land have been undermined' by the Low Chronology. For that and other reasons, he says, 'we've all been waiting for science to come to our aid with carbon-14 dates.' That's where Tel Rehov comes in. If Finkelstein is right, Dever says, the 10th century B.C. Shoshenq was 'laying waste to ephemeral ... settlements and not to the royal cities.' Instead, the Rehov of Mazar's grain and olives was a well-planned 10-hectare urban center whose material culture connects it with sites of Solomonic ruins. The carbon-14 date, Dever says, strongly bolsters the case for 'a historical Solomon and a real 'United Monarchy' in the 10th century.'

Stager says Mazar's study 'puts the nail in the coffin' of Finkelstein's theory..."
[Brief: final paragraphs complete the contentious interplay.]

In the same issue: Redhead's Relief: p. 245 -
[Brief: Scientists have found that red-heads, especially women red-heads have a recessive gene variant, Mc1r, which grants heightened resistance to pain.]

The Weekly Telegraph No. 611, April 9-15, 2003: -
1. Sermons on the net - OVERWORKED vicars struggling with their sermons have had their prayers answered by a new website offering homilies for all occasions, launched by a Church of England lay reader. Lastminutesermon.com describes itself as "a fast-response service designed to help busy Christian ministers and teachers with sound, ready-made sermons".

2. Homosexual in line for bishopric -
AN ANGLICAN clergyman who left his wife for a male lover emerged last week as the favourite to become the worldwide Church's first openly homosexual bishop. Canon Gene Robinson, 55, is in a shortlist of candidates to become the next bishop of the liberal American diocese of New Hampshire. The election of Canon Robinson - he is already second in command in the diocese - could be more divisive than liberal plans to sanction the blessing of homosexual "marriages".

3. Obituary: Daniel Patrick Moynihan -
Democrat who worked his way up from shoestring to become senator for New York. [Brief: Moynahan, who has died, age 76, was the archetype of the north-eastern, liberal Democrat, and also of the American ideal of self-improvement: his career comprised stints as a shoeshine boy, naval officer, scholar, US ambassador to both India and the United Nations and adviser to presidents from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush... . (4-columns, illustrated.)]

4.Tories fear Britain will be EU's 'prisoner' -
A TOUGH secession clause in the new European constitution would make it illegal for Britain to leave the European Union without permission, writes Ambrose Evans-Prichard. Article 46 of the secret draft text, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, says the terms of departure for any country wanting to leave must be approved by two-thirds of member states. The draft was presented last week to the 105-strong Convention on the Future of Europe by the praesidium, headed by the former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. It is releasing Europe's first constitution piece by piece over the net few months. The text, subject to last-minute changes, would allow a minority bloc of states to impose conditions, offering no guarantee that a departing country could keep its trading rights or reclaim currency reserves held by the European Central bank. David Heathcoat-Amory, a Tory MP on the convention, called the text outrageous. "It is a prison clause, not a secession clause," he said. "We thought we could repeal the 1972 European Communities Act if the worst came to the worst, but this shows we are no longer talking about a voluntary union you can leave whenever you want. It is the final extinction of parliamentary sovereignty." The articles on justice and home affairs, released two weeks ago, call for an EU justice and interior ministry and an EU attorney-general with powers to prosecute "cross-border crime" in British courts. [Brief: The two-column article is accompanied by a four-column Comment opinion piece by the same writer.]
COMMENT: In 1965 the book The New Unhappy Lords by A. K. Chesterton exposed the then secret plan which is only now emerging to public view. Against great derision and opposition by politicians and much of the media, he warned of this duplicity.

Globe & Mail, April 12, 2003 - Making water appear out of thin air - New technology may solve the problem of quenching the thirst of people in the desert by William Illsey Atkinson -
[Brief: Noting the anxiety that some who live in desert regions have, concerning adequate water supply, a 5-column article outlines a possible solution.] The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is fast-tracking a series of research and development investigations led by Edward Knobbe of Sciperio, a company based in Stillwater, Okla. The "Water Project" in part involves new ways of extracting large quantities of drinkable water from ambient air, even the dry air found in deserts. Another part involves new methods of desalinating seawater. These methods are more energy- and cost-efficient than today's standard techniques... "Our extraction of airborne water involves manipulation of surface chemistry using nanotechnology," William Warren, president of Sciperio, said in an interview. To explore this approach, Sciperio has formed an alliance with two other U.S.-based firms, Nano-Pore Inc. and MesoSystems Technologies Corp. The consortium's approach relies on surfaces re-engineered by nanotechnology. These redesigned surfaces wick water vapour from the air, then hold the extracted water in place. The binding surfaces function somewhat like activated charcoal, a common element in gas-mask filters, Dr. Warren explained. They pull water from the air, just as activated charcoal locks up trace impurities. I can't give you details of how we do this but I can tell you that it works very efficiently," he said. How efficiently? "We anticipate that it will use far less energy than current water-extracting technologies. These tend to refrigerate water-attracting surfaces to free up drinkable water. Our technique operates at ambient temperatures and requires no refrigeration." According to Dr. Warren, "even in dry air a medium-sized meeting room contains several litres of pure water in the form of vapour." A nanotechnological distillation unit with free access to desert air could extract tens of litres of drinkable water an hour forever, he said... . A 40-year old desalinization technique pioneered at Canada's National Research Council in Ottawa, called reverse osmosis, uses a great deal of energy to pump water through a desalination apparatus. The new method exposes tanks of saltwater to permanent magnets spinning at high speed. The effect encourages unwanted ions (positively charged sodium ions and negatively charged chlorine ions) to migrate away through semi-permeable membranes, leaving behind drinkable water.

Globe & Mail, April 16, 2003 - Nice Vikings -
British children are being taught a sanitized version of European history, in which Napoleon is depicted as primarily a reformer and Vikings are portrayed as peace-loving traders, contends Dr. Yasemin Soysal of the European sociological association. "Children are not being given the full picture of their history," she said. For instance, in early editions of the textbook From Cave-men to Vikings, the Vikings are referred to "fierce raiders (who) began to attack our coasts." But in the 1994 edition, they are described as "Danes (who) besides being farmers, were much better at trading than Saxons. The Danes and Saxons settled down together and Saxon England became one rich and peaceful kingdom." Source: The London Observer

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 612, April 16-22, 2003 "In Brief": 3,000 Iron Age coins found -
THE British Museum unveiled the largest hoard of iron age gold and silver coins - more than 3,000 - found in the country. They were later declared as treasure trove. Mr. Ken Wallace, a retired teacher, found the coins in Market Harborough, Leics, in shallow pits. They are thought to have been offerings to pagan gods. Also dug up from the site was the first gilded silver Roman helmet found in Britain. Archaeologists said that it provided evidence that ancient Britons joined the Roman army before it invaded.

The Globe & Mail, April 18, 2003: Obituary -
J. Paul Getty Jr. 1932-2003. [Brief: Billionaire embraced Britain. (5-columns, illustrated.)]

The Globe & Mail, April 19, 2003:
1. Fighting Over the Spoils: A section devoted to the missing Iraqi museum artifacts. Should purchasers be stopped?

2. Wiesenthal: The hunt is over: Simon Wiesenthal is retiring.

The Sunday (Toronto) Sun, April 20, 2003: A fine Mess-opotamia by Liz Braun
is a well-written 5-column illustrated article which treats of the looting of the Iraqi Museum, and conveys some details of the historic values of a number of missing items.

Time (Canadian Edn.) April 21, 2003 p.6: Iraq's Debt Bomb by Adam Zagorin -
Allied troops are still searching for Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, but the Iraqi debt bomb may be getting set to explode. Before the war, Bush Administration officials frequently insisted that the reconstruction of Iraq would be paid for by the country's oil revenues. But between debts, money owed on signed contracts and reparations from the first Gulf war, Baghdad owes $200 billion to $300 billion. That means the country is in much tougher shape than international financial basket cases like Argentina. And its oil sales, subject to U.N. approval, amount to only about $15 billion annually. So getting Iraq back on its feet financially will necessitate the largest debt rescheduling in history. The U.S. is already trying to persuade France, Russia and Germany, along with moderate Arab states, which hold most of Iraq's debt, to ease the country's titanic foreign financial obligations. Hard-line Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has called for reduction or elimination of Iraqi debt, and over the weekend the U.S. put that demand to the Group of Seven finance ministers meeting in Washington. But will Europeans and moderate Arabs want to help out, considering that they objected to the U.S.-led war? And if they do agree, what will they want in return? In exchange for debt relief, France, Germany, Russia and others are very likely to ask for contracts to rebuild the country and sell Iraqi oil, as well as a voice in economic policy," points out Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International and a former State Department official in the Carter Administration. So far, the billions of dollars in contracts to rebuild Iraq are going to U.S. companies. And at least initially, U.S. officials are planning to make all decisions about Iraq's economy, with help from local advisers. If that doesn't change, debt relief may be a hard sell with the Europeans - and U.S. taxpayers will end up paying the price.

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 613, April 23-29, 2003: Obituary -
Princess Tenagneworq, aged 91, Was the last surviving child of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

The Globe & Mail, April 23, 2003: Obituary: Arthur Davis, 1914-2003 - Man from Medicine Hat changed face of Africa.
[Brief: He taught agriculture in University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (later university of Zimbabwe). He sought to lift standards for all races to the level of the best British Universities.]

The Globe & Mail, April 24, 2003:
1. Iranian actress punished for kissing young man -
The Iranian actress, Gowhar Kheirandish was given a suspended sentence of 74 lases for kissing a young actor on the cheek at a public festival. If the offence is repeated, she will receive the lashes.
[Also in The Weekly Telegraph No. 614, April 30-May 6, 2003.]

2. Obituary: James Critchfield 1917-2003 -
CIA officer recruited Nazi war criminals to work for the U.S. through contacts with the Gehlen Organization.

Time (Canadian Edn.) April 28, 2003 pp.24-27: Lost to the Ages, Could the U.S. have stopped the looting of Iraq's priceless antiquities? The answer is not that simple
a well-illustrated article by Michael D. Lemonick conveys the situation in splendid colour and text. Missing world-famous articles are given excellent display, contrasted with the looted rooms of the Iraq Museum and the burned Library.

Science, American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science, Vol. 300 No. 5618, 18 April, 2003 - News - Archaeology - pp. 402-403
article is headed "Ten Millennia of Culture Pilfered Amid Baghdad Chaos." The illustrated article deplores the depredations caused when the unguarded Iraqi Museum was ransacked, and outlines some efforts being made to save the remnants of the institution's artifacts collections.

The theme is carried forward in the next issue of the same Journal: Science, Vol. 300 No.5619, 25 April, 2003 - News - Archaeology - pp. 559-561 - "Picking up the Pieces of Iraqi Antiquities."

In this same issue, Random Samples - p.577 carries a short illustrated article of interest: Architectural Bacteria
"Researchers have identified a strain of bacterium that may help preserve valuable stonework - such as Spain's 9th century Al-Hambra palace. Minerals such as limestone, dolostone, and marble are highly susceptible to weathering and pollution because of their porosity. Scientists in recent years have tried using carbonate-producing bacteria to coat delicate stonework with a tough layer of calcium carbonate. But they have hit a problem: The newly deposited mineral clogs stone pores preventing the escape of moisture which accelerates decay. Now a team led by mineralogist Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro of the University of Granada reports promising results from tests of an abundant soil bacterium, Myxococcus xanthus, on samples of limestone widely used in Spanish historical buildings. The bacterium produces carbonate crystals that create a cement that binds to existing calcite grains, lining pores without plugging them. The newly deposited calcite matches the orientation of the existing crystals, and organic molecules that harden calcite make it even tougher than the original rock... ."

Jane's Intelligence Digest - 25 April, 2003, under the heading "Iraq's Shias on the march"
leads off with these paragraphs: "The fall of Saddam Hussein's secular regime has opened the way for a high-profile revival of activity among the long oppressed Shia majority in Iraq. Washington is still hoping it will be able to coax the genie back into the bottle, but JID's regional analyst cautions that the situation may already be slipping out of US control, with serious implications for the entire Middle East. With 'regime change' in Baghdad top of the agenda in the White House and Department of Defense, warnings that the ousting of Saddam might unleash forces beyond the control even of the Pentagon have not been well received in Washington. However there has been little surprise in the Department of State as thousands of Iraqi Shias demonstrate against the foreign presence in their country. As the situation threatens to become more volatile by the day, a single false step by the interim administration Washington is beginning to install might lead to a security crisis, further anarchy and perhaps even civil war between the various local rival factions currently vying for power... ."

The Globe & Mail, April 26, 2003: Religion - The first Jewish Christian - The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story and Meaning of the First Archeological Link to Jesus & His family by Hershel Shanks and Ben Witherington III. Harper SanFrancisco, 226 pages, $38.95. Reviewed by Wayne A. Holst.

The Globe & Mail, April 28, 2003: Heston quits as NRA head with shotgun in his hands - Weak from Alzheimer's the actor turned gun-rights activist still shows off the defiance that won him allies, enemies.

The Globe & Mail, April 29, 2003:
1. Super-black - Britain's National Physical Laboratory has formulated a super-black coating that is up to 25 times blacker than traditional paint, reports Chemical business Newsbase. "The material absorbs nearly 99.7 per cent of light, making it the darkest and least reflective surface ever formulated."

2. Tips from Iraqis lead to return of artifacts. [COMMENT: It remains to be seen how many actually show up.]

The Globe & Mail, April 30, 2003: Canada's U.S. flags -
The U.S. flag is required to follow a 10-to-19 height-to-length ratio, according to a 1912 ruling by President William Taft. But hardly any do, notes Whitney Smith of Winchester, Mass., founder of the flag Research Center (and said-to-be coiner of the term "vexillology," or the study of flags). "You'll find manufacturers are going to make what(ever) they want," which is usually a ratio of either 2-to-3, 3-to-5, or 5-to-8, he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The exception, he added, are Stars and Stripes flags made in Canada, where all flags are made in the elongated 1-to-2 ratio. In other words, the commercially available American flags that most closely resemble the "real" thing are all made in Canada.

Erratum: In the April issue, the poem segment (Part 20) of Adam to Adam Two, [Not carried on the WebPage] Verse10 and line 4 lost the meter by adding the superfluous word "former", which should be struck from that line to sustain the cadence of the poem! We will correct it when the projected illustrated book is eventually published!

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