Friday Fishwrap
Today is the sixth Friday of Easter, June 30. There are 209 Shopping days until Christmas. 179 if you keep holy the Sabbath.
Welcome to Friday Fishwrap™, your weekly email filled with this week’s efforts from the staff of The Global Exclaimer.
🗺️ This Week in Ancient History
Events worth remembering, even if not currently trending.
🌍 Africa: Reign of Akhenaten Begins (c. June 1, 1353 BC)
Around June 1, 1353 BC, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV assumed the Egyptian throne and soon changed his name to Akhenaten, launching a radical monotheistic revolution focused on the sun disk Aten. His reign disrupted traditional polytheism and centralized religious power; a theological experiment centuries ahead of its time.
🌏 Asia: Death of Confucius (c. 479 BC)
Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher and teacher, is believed to have died around this time in 479 BC. His ethical teachings on filial piety, virtue, and societal harmony would shape East Asian thought for over two millennia, profoundly influencing China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
🌎 South America: Chavín de Huántar Flourishes (c. 500 BC)
By this period, the ceremonial center of Chavín de Huántar in modern-day Peru was thriving as a religious and cultural hub. The Chavín civilization’s art, architecture, and religious iconography would echo through later Andean cultures, including the Inca.
🌏 Oceania: Early Lapita Pottery Peaks (c. 1000–500 BC)
In this era, the Lapita people—ancestors of Polynesians—were mastering oceanic navigation and crafting intricately patterned pottery across Melanesia and into western Polynesia. Their cultural expansion laid the groundwork for the settlement of the Pacific.
🌍 Europe: Founding of Massalia (c. 600 BC)
Around this week in 600 BC, Greek settlers from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, France). This coastal city became a major trading hub, linking Mediterranean Greece with inland Gaul, and fostering early cross-cultural exchanges.
🌎 North America: Cahokia’s Mound 72 Constructed (c. 1000 AD)
Around this period, the Mississippian culture built Mound 72 at Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis. Excavations reveal it was a site of elite burial and ritual sacrifice—evidence of a complex, hierarchical society long before European contact.
⚙️ Invention Spotlight: The Archimedes Screw (c. 3rd century BC, Hellenistic Egypt)
Developed during Archimedes’ time in Alexandria, the Archimedean screw allowed water to be raised efficiently from lower to higher elevations. It revolutionized irrigation and water management, especially in arid regions, and versions of it are still in use today in agriculture, sewage treatment, and even snow blowers. A fine example of applied geometry serving civilization.
Come again to The Screaming Monkey’s Head and listen in on another tale.
