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Grand unified books thread

Started by Syt, March 16, 2009, 01:52:42 AM

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Savonarola

Kesh Temple Hymn

Another of the oldest pieces of known literature this originates from the Mesopotamian city-state of Kesh around 2600 BC.  It's a hymn of praise for the temple of Kesh.  The text is obscure, but it seems to be spoken by the chief god Enlil.  Different aspects of the temple are praised throughout the eight versus.  Each ends with the line:

Will anyone else bring forth something as great as Kesh? Will any other mother ever give birth to someone as great as its hero Acgi? Who has ever seen anyone as great as its lady Nintud?

Nintud is a Sumerian mother-goddess and was probably the tutelary goddess of Kesh.  The work ends with the paradoxical lines:

Draw near, man, to the city, to the city -- but do not draw near! Draw near, man, to the house Kesh, to the city -- but do not draw near! Draw near, man, to its hero Acgi -- but do not draw near! Draw near, man, to its lady Nintud -- but do not draw near! Praise be to well-built Kec, O Acgi! Praise be to cherished Kesh and Nintud!
In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace—and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock

The Brain

Is Ke$ha a direct descendant of the high priestess of Kesh?
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Josephus

Reading Mark Helprin's latest, Shadow and Light or something like that.

Awesome
Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

Barrister

Stephen Harper's hockey history book comes out today. :shifty:
Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

Razgovory

Young Stalin.  I bought it for a penny!
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

Josephus

Quote from: Razgovory on November 05, 2013, 04:01:01 PM
Young Stalin.  I bought it for a penny!

It's worth every penny....well, just the one in your case.
Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

Berkut

Not strictly reading of course, but I've been listening to Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" podcasts, and specifically his latest:

http://ec.libsyn.com/p/5/e/f/5efbf5156133b619/dchha50_Blueprint_for_Armageddon_I.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d01c08430d0cd5afcfd&c_id=6343172

Blueprint for Armageddon I

If you have even a passing, casual interest in history and WW1, this is something you should listen to. If you are a serious student of WW1 history, there won't be anything really new here, but he has a great style, and pulls together a lot in a very approachable manner. I would almost compare him to Ambrose, except a lot smarter, a lot less overtly RahRahAmerica. But it is that very easy to follow, approachable way of talking about history while at the same time being extremely engaging an interesting.

I cannot recommend this enough.
"If you think this has a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention."

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Queequeg

Anyone else read The Iron Kingdom?
Quote from: PDH on April 25, 2009, 05:58:55 PM
"Dysthymia?  Did they get some student from the University of Chicago with a hard-on for ancient Bactrian cities to name this?  I feel cheated."

Sheilbh

Yes. I enjoyed it a lot. Garbon, not so much.
Let's bomb Russia!

The Minsky Moment

Quote from: Queequeg on November 06, 2013, 10:52:09 AM
Anyone else read The Iron Kingdom?

Does a good job if you want a survey of political history across the whole period in a single volume.  It is a pretty conventional "great men" kind of focus but put in an international context with a focus on high politics and institutional-administrative developments.  Short on cultural and economic history.
The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.
--Joan Robinson

Queequeg

I'm liking it. The future Frederick the Great just watched his boyfriend get decapitated.
Quote from: PDH on April 25, 2009, 05:58:55 PM
"Dysthymia?  Did they get some student from the University of Chicago with a hard-on for ancient Bactrian cities to name this?  I feel cheated."

Ideologue

I'm starting The Shape of Things to Come.  Will it have as much righteous air war as the movie?  We'll find out.
Kinemalogue
Current reviews: The 'Burbs (9/10); Gremlins 2: The New Batch (9/10); John Wick: Chapter 2 (9/10); A Cure For Wellness (4/10)

Ideologue

QuoteThere remains no way now of becoming passively wealthy. Gambling was ruthlessly eradicated under the Air Dictatorship and has never returned.

I came.
Kinemalogue
Current reviews: The 'Burbs (9/10); Gremlins 2: The New Batch (9/10); John Wick: Chapter 2 (9/10); A Cure For Wellness (4/10)

The Brain

How is running a casino being passive?
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Queequeg

Anyone know any great non-Schama books on the Dutch Republic? Looking for politics, religion, economics, science and military innovatioms more than culture. Also good books on Calvinism and associated Protestant movements more generally?
Quote from: PDH on April 25, 2009, 05:58:55 PM
"Dysthymia?  Did they get some student from the University of Chicago with a hard-on for ancient Bactrian cities to name this?  I feel cheated."