Category: At The Seams
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Mars
The planet Mars, also known as the Red Planet, is named after the Roman god of war. The association between Mars and war goes back to the Babylonian civilization, in which the planet was known as Nergal, the deity of death, fire, and destruction. Anthropologists disagree upon whether warfare was common throughout human history, but…
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The Moon
While the global calendar in use for official activities is the solar calendar, which keeps track of the Sun’s position relative to the stars, many parts of the world also maintain another calendar, which keeps track of the Moon’s phases. The moon makes a complete orbit around the earth in 28 days, but it takes…
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Mercury
Across cultures since ancient times, mercury has been a substance of fascination and immense utility. Being liquid and shiny, it was commonly known as quicksilver and was associated with the fastest planet, which was named after the Roman god Mercury. In Greek mythology, Mercury is equivalent to the god Hermes, who was the “soul guide,”…
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Tiepolo’s Olympus
The Venetian Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is considered one of the greatest painters of 18th-century Europe, the first master of the Grand Manner, and among the most original artists of his time. His art unites ancient history, myths, and legends into masterpieces of imagination and theatrical interpretation, standing as an exemplification of “pictorial intelligence”, which explores…
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Diamond
As the hardest substance on earth, diamond has come to embody resilience and toughness. The name diamond derives from “adámas,” the ancient Greek word to mean unbreakable. The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote that “the hardness of adámas is indescribable, and so too that property whereby it conquers fire and never becomes heated. Hence…
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Rose Quartz
My grandma spent her career as a pharmacist. When we think of a pharmacist, we visualize someone managing a pharmacy at the back of a supermarket, dispensing prescripted medicines to patients. Among career-minded folks, it’s seen as a boring, but stable job, with a stable income. But that’s not how it was for my grandma. …
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Jade
The Tang Dynasty, which ruled China until the 10th century, marked a high point in Chinese civilization, entering China into a golden age of cosmopolitan culture, new technologies, and a flourishing economy. Their territory reached far and wide, with the southern border reaching past An Nam territory, now Việt Nam. Under the Tang, An Nam…
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Amber
“And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.” – Ezekiel 1:4 Traded between the continents as early as 12,500…
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The Cat
Ever since the Stone Age the cat has adopted man for companionship. In an excavated grave in Shillourokambos, Cyprus were found skeletons of a cat next to a child’s, dated 9500 years ago. That Cyprus has remained separated from the mainland since its formation suggests humans brought cats along with them to the island. Unlike…
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The Jungle Book
“Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back — For the strength of the Pack…
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