summer haiku = haiku d’été = rampant lions – lions accroupis

rampant lions
under the sign of Ra
devouring us!



lions accroupis
sous le signe de Ra
nous dévorant !

Richard Vallance

I don’t think I have ever seen anything as pitiable as this sketch by a girl of a tiger crying in a zoo

I don’t think I have ever seen anything as pitiable as this sketch by a girl of a tiger crying in a zoo:

She says she hated going to the zoo after she saw the poor tiger pacing back and forth in its cage. And I am sure she saw tears in its eyes. It is just disgusting and utterly shocking how we as so-called adults are doing everything in our power (and we have far too much of that) to destroy every other living soul on our planet. The feed accompanying this astonishing sketch warns us that “Sometimes children are wiser than adults.” Not only wiser, but clearly far more in tune with our planet.

The child is father of the man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

(William Wordsworth, “My Heart Leaps Up”)

As for myself I cannot stand zoos, and I believe they should all be banned forever. Here are a few sickening examples why:

Just who do we think we are? The most intelligent species on planet earth? What a laugh!

BUT

Wild life parks with plenty of space for animals to roam in are another story altogether. At least the animals have plenty of room to roam around in. Thank God for small blessings.

Examples are:

Le Parc Oméga, Montebello, Québec, Canada (CLICK photo for lots of lovely pics!):

 

San Diego Zoo Safari Park

From time to time, I shall be posting more environmentally sensitive topics here on LBK&M, in spite of the fact that they have nothing to do with Linear A, B or C.

 

Rita Roberts’ elegant translation of Knossos tablet KN 1548 Ok 02

Rita Roberts’ elegant translation of Knossos tablet KN 1548 Ok 02.

Once again, Rita Roberts has finessed a translation of an intact military tablet from Knossos. It is significant that Rita mentions that the hilt is directly riveted, whether to ivory overlaid on terebinth, or to the terebinth itself. Although the tablet does not explicitly mention rivets, it is obvious that this was the method the highly skilled Mycenaean sword craftsmen used to attached the blade to the hilt.

The following figures clearly illustrate the marked accuracy of her translation.





Notice in particular the blue stones inlaid in the ivory on the second and third swords in figure 2, and especially in the second. If these stones are lapis lazuli, as I strongly suspect they are, then it follows almost as night follows day that the second sword in particular could only have been reserved for the wanax — transliterated from the Greek into Latin letters for those of you who cannot read Greek — (called wanaka in Linear B), the King of Mycenae, since lapis lazuli was worth a fortune in those days. The second sword could also have been his, though it may also have been the property of the second leader in the Mycenaean hierarchy, the lawaketa, or lawagetas (likewise transliterated into Latin letters) or the leader of the host, in other words the commander-in-chief, the general. I would bet my top dollars on this presumption. I wonder whether Rita would too.  

Bravo,  Rita.