Growth Rings

Archaeologist points to hidden monument in Jordan's Petra

11 JUNE 2016       ASSOCIATED PRESS       KARIN LAUB

AMMAN, JORDAN (AP) -- Satellite and drone images have led to a new discovery in the ancient city of Petra -- a massive man-made stone platform hidden under sand.

The platform might have been used for ceremonial purposes because it was fronted on one side by columns and a monumental staircase, said Christopher A. Tuttle, executive director of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.  Only excavations would be able to shed more light on its original use, but no digs are planned for now, he said. 

Petra is a sprawling archaeological site of tombs and monuments carved into rose-hued desert sandstone some 2,000 years ago by traders known as Nabataeans.  Petra's most famous building is the Treasury, where scenes from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" were filmed in the 1980s. 

Scientific exploration of Petra goes back some 200 years, and Tuttle worked at the site for close to a decade. 

The platform is located about 900 meters (3,000 feet) from the ancient city center, but away from paths used by tourists and away from major monuments, Tuttle said late Friday.  It is not clearly visible from the ground or nearby hills, and its outlines only emerged in satellite and drone images, he said. 

"It's this very large platform that many of us (archaeologists) have walked over for years, and probably didn't even realize we were walking on it," said the archaeologist, who collaborated with Sarah Parcak from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  Tuttle led four ground surveys while Parcak analyzed satellite data. 

The platform was constructed by leveling a natural plateau, according to the pair's findings, published last month in the Bulletin of American Schools of Oriental Research.  It measures about 56 meters (184 feet) by 49 meters (161 feet), or about the size of six professional basketball courts. 

A second, slightly smaller platform was built on the first and was paved with flagstones, some of them exposed by erosion, the reporter said.  The remnants of a small structure, including a doorstep, are visible on the smaller platform. 

The east side of the smaller platform was originally lined by a row of columns that was partially revealed by illegal excavations, the researchers wrote.  The columns "crowned a monumental stairway that spanned the entire width of the smaller platform," they wrote.  Some of the treads of the staircase were found further down a slope. 

Tuttle's team discovered surface pottery at the site, some of it going back to the Nabataeans' peak era of more than two Millennia ago, but some of it much newer. 

"It appears highly likely that the platform and structures were initially constructed to serve ceremonial purposes," the researchers wrote. 

Vast areas of Petra have not been uncovered, bu the platform appears unusual amount the city's monuments. 

Tuttle said there are no plans to lay bare the entire platform. 

"The moment you uncover something, it starts to disintegrate, and that's Petra's No. 1 problem," he said.  "The (sandstone) monuments are disintegrating ....from exposure to the wind, the rain, the sun.  So what we would do if we did go back there is targeted excavations." Read More

Daily craftsmanship / Blending old, new methods makes a lot of scents of Awaji Island

11 JUNE 2016       THE JAPAN NEWS       SAYURI NITANI

AWAJI-SHIMA, HYOGO (Yomiuri Shimbun) -- The aroma was sweet, but not too sweet.  It smelled fresh but also had depth.  The factory was full of the scent of the byakudan (sandalwood) tree, widely known as the smell of traditional Japanese incense sticks.

I visited Kunjudo, an incense stick maker based in Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture.  Awaji Island is known as one of Japan's largest incense stick production sites. 

On the island, there are about a dozen companies that produce and sell incense sticks independently, along with factories of other major incense manufacturers.  Ahead of the Bon season, annual production enters its peaks. 

The incense stick production process is simple.  Powdered tree bark and perfume materials are first mixed together, then hot water is added and the ingredients are kneaded.  The paste is then placed in a machine that shapes it into long, thin sticks.  Workers then cut these to size and dry them out. 

The most important factor is not how the sticks are made, but rather the type of perfume materials that are initially blended. 

Usually, these blended materials include parts of fragrant trees such as byakudan and jinko (agarwood), herbal medicine such as keihi (cinnamon) and choji (clove) and perfumes from animal sources such as jako (musk). 

Shozo Akashi, the managing director of Kunjudo, said:  "How incense is blended is a closely guarded secret of the manufacturers.  Even if incense sticks look similar, their aromas are delicately different depending on the makers. 

Awaji Island was once a prosperous fisheries site. Production of incense sticks spread widely there in the latter half of the Edo period (1603-1867). 

Akashi said, "I heard that to secure income in teh winter, when residents were often unable to go fishing due to strong winds, craftsmen [of incense sticks] were invited from Sakai (now in Osaka Prefecture)." Read More

A game of Ayameko (菖蒲香)being prepared,
part of the Japanese incense ceremony.

BTMU testing virtual currency, considering launch for customer use

10 JUNE 2016       JAPAN TIMES       

TOKYO, JAPAN (Kyodo) -- Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ is on the way to becoming Japan's first major bank to launch a virtual currency, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.

The cryptocurrency, dubbed "MUFG coin," is being used for internal bank transactions for the time being. 

However, the bank is considering releasing it for customers to use, the sources said, potentially enabling low-cost transactions such as money transfers worldwide. 

BTMU would become Japan's first major bank to launch a virtual currency for customers, but at least one other mega-bank in the region is working on such a project. 

Bloomberg News reported in January that the People's Bank of China has been researching the idea since 2014 and aims to roll out a product as soon as possible.  The PBOC did not specify how it would work in relation to the yuan. 

BTMU has begun trials of its virtual currency among its employees.  One yen is convertible to one MUFG coin and can be used with a smartphone app. 

If the currency goes into general use, it would allow users, for instance, to make international money transfers and then withdraw foreign currency at an airport, potentially reducing the heavy charges that regular ATM users face overseas. 

BTMU is considering developing an ATM that releases cash when a customer holds an app-carrying smartphone near it. 

The move comes as Japanese banks are trying to catch up with startups and financial institutions in Europe and the United States that have been promoting so-called fintech, or products and services that combine financial services with information technology.  One example of this is sending cash credits from a smartphone. Read More

'We have a boy!'

In May, AFP's deputy bureau chief in Rome Fanny Carrier spent a week aboard the Aquarius, one of a small armada of ships that are rescuing migrants all along the Libyan coast.  This is the third and final part of her series on the voyage.

10 JUNE 2016       AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE       FANNY CARRIER

ABOARD THE AQUARIUS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN (AFP) -- Again, I wake up with the sun.  Angelina the midwife has been up for a while -- a woman eight moths pregnant has had contractions during the night.  On deck, the mood has changed sharply. After some sleep, the migrants are much cheerier.  The children play, some couples snuggle.  Most have put their white rescue jumpsuits on top of their clothes.  Others have thrown out their clothes.. and have wrapped their blankets around their waists and the towels around their heads.

Some stare out to the sea, fascinated.  At one point, an island appears on the horizon.  Several of them ask me "Is that it?  Is that Italy?"  Geography is not my strong point, so I have no idea what to say.  Later, the captain will tell me its name... 

For us journalists, this long sail to Sardinia is a gift -- we have all the time to talk to the migrants.  Many of them want to talk, to tell their stories.  They speak of violence and misery, of close encounters to escape this misery and the months and sometimes years that they spent trying to make a living in Libya. 

... They assure me that they have only been witnesses to such violence.  Wth the MSF they are more forthcoming.  Erna, the Dutch doctor tells me once:  "It's one of those days when someone comes in for a cough and takes off their shirt and you see all the scars from the tortures they suffered and you realize they have broken bones, and they tell you these horrendous stories." 

"Do you have any idea what will happen to us now," one young woman asks me. 

Yes, I know exactly what's going to happen to her, but I'm not going to tell her.  Those who come from countries like Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan or Somalia should easily get asylum in Italy, even though in general it's not the country where they would like to stay.  Others are going to have a harder time of it.  Some will be asked to leave immediately. Some will wait for a year and a half or two for their papers before joining the ranks of migrants picking tomatoes or oranges for a meagerly wage.  On reporting trips in Sicily and Rome I have met migrants at various points of this journey and it's depressing to think that she is about to embark on it. 

In the late afternoon, I am finishing up my story for the day when Captain Alex runs onto the bridge, smiling and red from emotion.  "We have a boy!  I feel like I'm the father," he exults. 

A little while later, with the mother and the baby rested a bit, we are invited to take a photo of the parents and Destiny Alex, the baby's name chosen in honor of the captain, who is bridling with joy.  Then the father goes on deck to announce the news to the rest of the migrants.  A round of warm applause breaks out.  Even the Eritreans, Sudanese and Somalis, who sit at a distance and, speaking neither English nor French, need a bit of explaining as to what the commotion is all about, cheer the news. 

This time, the good news comes in pairs -- Erna comes running, saying that she has just received an email saying that Zega, the little boy evacuated by helicopter the previous day, seems to be out of danger.  Jens announces the news on the radio and it's like the Aquarius is washed over by a wave [of] relief and joy. Read More