Category Archives: the trident

Oldest Trident in the world

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 by Twilight Language
 
 
 
 

News from the southern portion of India tells of the startling find of an ancient trident and an idol depicting a sacred cow, originally from an Abirami Amman temple from the 1700s.

 
 
Nandhi/Nandi idol

The Times of India of August 3, 2014, shares the details:

A brass trident and a nandhi idol believed to be dating back to a few centuries were unearthed by the corporation workers in Dindigul when they were desilting the famous Kottaikulam in the foothills of the rockfort in the city on Saturday [August 1, 2014]. The rockfort, which was constructed in 1605 by the Nayak dynasty in Madurai assumes historical importance. In the 18th century it passed on to the Kingdom of Mysore. Tipu Sultan was crowned the king of Dindigul and he used the fort for the purpose of training his soldiers and also storing their weapons. The Kottaikulam tank at the foothills was dug by him to meet the drinking water needs of his forces. The fort is now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India and the tank has not been desilted for many decades.

Now, the Dindigul Corporation has taken up desilting work of this tank for the purpose of rain water harvesting. On Friday [July 31, 2014], workers struck something hard when they reached the depth of about 10 feet and unearthed a brass trident and a little later, the nandhi idol. The trident is said to be weighing about 12 kg and is six feet in height while the idol is two feet tall. Mayor V Marudharaj and corporation commissioner Rajan and other officials rushed to the spot on being informed and later the discovered items were handed over to the Dindigul West tahsildar. Last week the workers discovered an entrance to a secret passage on one side of the tank, which had been covered by silt. Sources said that a temple dedicated to goddess Abirami Amman had existed on top of the hill during ancient times and it was destroyed during Tipu Sultan’s period. “The idols from the temple seem to have been thrown into the tank after the destruction of the temple,” they added. [Source, read more, here.]

The goddess Abirami Amman.

Kottakulam is a panchayat town in Tirunelveli district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Kottakulam isaka Sumaitheernthapuram.

(The tridents and Nandi idols shown above are not the ones found but used here for illustrative purposes.)

 Three Cities, Mermaids, Navy Seals, and Jonah

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by Twilight Language

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine.
 

The breaking news Saturday, July 26, 2014, is that the United States is shutting down its embassy in Libya and evacuating its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under U.S. military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli as fighting intensified between rival militias, the State Department said.

To the shores of Tripoli

The lyrics are contained in the book Rhymes of the Rookies by W. E. Christian, published in 1917. The author of these poems was W.E. Christian. They are more commonly known today as being in the “Marines’ Hymn,” which is the official hymn of the United States Marine Corps.

The line “To the shores of Tripoli” refers to the First Barbary War (1801-1805), and specifically the Battle of Derna in 1805. The conflict involved war with the Barbary States (the Ottoman provinces of Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis). The run up to the war and the war involved many names you have heard before in this blog (e.g. Bainbridge, Decatur, and others). The return of the bodies of the precursors to today’s Navy SEALs has been an ongoing challenge in working with the governments of Tripoli.

The Tripoli Monument is the oldest military monument in the United States. It honors heroes of the First Barbary War: Master Commandant Richard Somers, Lieutenant James Caldwell, James Decatur (brother of Stephen Decatur), Henry Wadsworth, Joseph Israel, and John Dorsey. It was carved in Livorno, Italy in 1806 and brought to the United States on board the USS Constitution. From its original installation in the Washington Navy Yard in 1808 it was moved to the west terrace of the United States Capitol in 1831, and finally to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1860. (See additionally, “Remains of ‘First Navy Seals’ Lie in Tripoli,” Washington Post, May 29, 2011, and also, Richard Somers.)

Tripoli (Arabic: طرابلس ‎ Ṭarābulus) is the capital city and the largest city of Libya. As of 2011, the Tripoli metropolitan area (district area) had a population of 2.2 million people. The city is located in the northwestern part of Libya on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean and forming a bay.

Tripoli was founded in the 7th century BC by the Phoenicians, who named it Oea.

Tripoli is also known as Tripoli-of-the-West (Arabic: طرابلس الغرب‎ Ṭarābulus al-Gharb), to distinguish it from its older Phoenician sister city Tripoli, Lebanon known in Arabic as Ṭarābulus al-Sham (طرابلس الشام) meaning “Levantine Tripoli.” It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean (Arabic: عروسة البحر‎ ʼarūsat el-baḥr; lit: “bride of the sea”), describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means “Three Cities,” introduced in Western European languages through the Italian Tripoli. In Arabic: طرابلس‎ it is called Ṭarābulus, Libyan Arabic: Ṭrābləs, Berber: Trables, from Ancient Greek: Τρίπολις Trípolis).

Around the beginning of the 3rd century AD, it became known as the Regio Tripolitana, meaning “region of the three cities,” namely Oea (i.e., modern Tripoli), Sabratha and Leptis Magna.

Tridents and Tripoli have been associated for centuries. The above Medal of Louis XV, notes the bombing of Tripoli by Duvivier, 1728 Paris. The reverse shows Nepture with his Trident, threatening Tripoli.
The British Naval General Service Medal, 1848, was given to veterans of the naval battles along the Barbary Coast during the French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars. The reserve shown is Britannia with a trident seated sideways on a seahorse.
Watery creatures and Tripoli go fin-in-fin, so to speak.

In 2011, a Libyan rebel poses on a sofa shaped like a mermaid, with the face of Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter Aisha at her home in Tripoli.

The name game in Libya even got involved in the civil war there.

The Battle of Tripoli (Arabic: معركة طرابلس‎ maʻarakat Ṭarābulis) – in August 2011 – was a military confrontation in Tripoli, Libya, between loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi, the longtime leader of Libya, and the National Transitional Council, which was attempting to overthrow Gaddafi and take control of the capital. The battle began on 20 August 2011, six months after the Libyan civil war started, with an uprising within the city; rebel forces outside the city planned an offensive to link up with elements within Tripoli, and eventually take control of the nation’s capital.

The rebels codenamed the assault “Operation Mermaid Dawn” (Arabic: عملية فجر عروسة البحر‎ ʻamaliyyat fajr ʻarūsat el-baḥr). As noted above, Tripoli’s nickname is “The Mermaid” (Arabic: عروسة البحر‎ ʻarūsat el-baḥr) (literally “bride of the sea”).

Mermaid! Dawn!

Libya has remained unstable for some time.

On the evening of September 11, 2012, Islamic militants attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya (560 miles East of Tripoli), killing four Americans in the attack: Ambassador Stevens, Information Officer Sean Smith, and two CIA operatives, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, both former Navy SEALs.

Official Seal of the Navy Seals, with trident.

Now comes the evacuating of Americans from Tripoli, on the heels of the crash of Air Algerie Flight 5017.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, on July 25, 2014, an Iraqi shrine that is purported to be the burial site of Jonah, who the Bible says was swallowed by a whale, has been blown up by Islamic State militants (ISIS). The tomb, a popular destination for religious pilgrims and tourists, was inside a Sunni mosque in Mosul called the Mosque of the Prophet Younis, which is Arabic for Jonah. It dates back to the eighth century BC. The story of Jonah, or Younis, who was said to have survived three days in the belly of a whale, appears in both the Bible and Quran.

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Death In Lightning Strike Off Venice Beach

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by Twilight Language

During these Neptunian times, is it Poseidon/Neptune showing his full wrath or Zeus/Jupiter giving some anger back in the direction of the watery god?

The god Nepture/Poseidon, with trident in hand, is out for a surf with his
sea goddess wife and/or consort Amphitrite/Salacia, seen with their son,
Triton, who usually also carries a trident. He is seen here instead with his
other favorite item, the twisted conch shell.

Poseidon is one of the twelve Olympian deities of the pantheon in Greek mythology. His main domain is the ocean, and he is called the “God of the Sea.” Additionally, he is referred to as “Earth-Shaker” due to his role in causing earthquakes, and has been called the “tamer of horses.” He is usually depicted as an older male with curly hair and beard.
The earliest attested occurrence of the name, written in Linear B, is Po-se-da-o or Po-se-da-wo-ne, which correspond to Poseidaōn and Poseidawonos in Mycenean Greek; in Homeric Greek it appears as Ποσειδάων (Poseidaōn); in Aeolic as Ποτειδάων (Poteidaōn); and in Doric as Ποτειδάν (Poteidan), Ποτειδάων (Poteidaōn), and Ποτειδᾶς (Poteidas). A common epithet of Poseidon is Γαιήοχος Gaiēochos, “Earth-shaker,” an epithet which is also identified in Linear B tablets. Another attested word E-ne-si-da-o-ne, recalls his later epithets Ennosidas and Ennosigaios indicating the chthonic nature of Poseidon.
The origins of the name “Poseidon” are unclear. One theory breaks it down into an element meaning “husband” or “lord” [Greek πόσις (posis), from PIE *pótis] and another element meaning “earth” [δᾶ (da), Doric for γῆ (gē)], producing something like lord or spouse of Da, i.e. of the earth; this would link him with Demeter, “Earth-mother.” …
Another theory interprets the second element as related to the word *δᾶϝον dâwon, “water”; this would make *Posei-dawōn into the master of waters. There is also the possibility that the word has Pre-Greek origin. Plato in his dialogue Cratylus gives two alternative etymologies: either the sea restrained Poseidon when walking as a foot-bond (ποσί-δεσμον), or he knew many things (πολλά εἰδότος or πολλά εἰδῶν). Source.

A July 27, 2014 mid-afternoon lightning strike hit the water off Venice Beach, California, and killed a 20-year-old man. It instantly injured 15 or more others — one of them critically. The second victim, who is in critical condition, was a 55-year-old male who had been surfing.

The beachfront in Venice was hit by at least four direct lightning strikes about 2:20 p.m., said Stuart Seto of the National Weather Service.

Firefighters said a bolt of lightning hit the water and the electrical current then traveled, hitting swimmers and surfers in and out of the water near the 3500 block of Ocean Front Walk. The man who died was swimming in the water and disappeared under the waves after the lightning strike. He was pulled from the water 90 minutes later, given CPR and transported to Marina Del Rey Hospital in critical condition, according to ABC7.
The 15-minute thunderstorm struck as more than 20,000 people were visiting the southern portion of Venice Beach, sending beach-goers scrambling for cover and nearly six dozen rescue workers into action.
The Los Angeles City Fire Department sent 47 firefighters, eight ambulances and five fire engines to the 3800 block of Ocean Front Walk in Venice after receiving the first call for aid at 2:21 p.m., said fire spokeswoman Katherine Main. Firefighters set up a triage area on the south end of the parking lot from Venice Pier, reported the Los Angeles Times.The deceased young man has not been identified yet.

“It was all blue skies, except there were some dark clouds coming from the south,” Gabe Anderson, 28, said. “Then just one big crack of lightning — pretty unexpected.”

Venice and Venice Beach are often featured in motion pictures and television series. Some of the notable ones include:
1914: Kid Auto Races at Venice (Charlie Chaplin—first appearance of the “Little Tramp” character.)
1920: Number, Please? (Harold Lloyd)
1921: The High Sign (Buster Keaton)
1923: The Balloonatic (Buster Keaton)
1927: Sugar Daddies (Laurel and Hardy)
1928: The Circus (Charlie Chaplin)
1928: The Cameraman (Buster Keaton)
1958: Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)—Shot entirely in Venice except for one indoor scene, selected by Welles as a stand-in for a fictional run-down Mexican border town.
1961: Night Tide (Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, written and directed by Curtis Harrington)—Shot entirely in Venice and shows the deteriorated nature of the area in the 1950s.
1991: The Doors (Val Kilmer, directed by Oliver Stone)
1992: White Men Can’t Jump

 

The real-life scene in Venice Beach looked like a set from a movie.

For more on another Venice Beach incident, see Two Venices, Two Deaths.
Lightning from the same storm hit Catalina Island about 90 minutes earlier, injuring a 57-year-old man on a golf course in Avalon and igniting two brush fires.
A car caught on fire after lightning struck a home in Redondo Beach, also on Sunday, knocking wires down. The incident occurred in the 1600 block of Haynes Lane. Three to four homes were damaged. No one was injured.
(Check back for more on the name of the deceased man.)
 


More Trident Times

Coincidence? Synchromysticism strikes again? Tridents abound. And Neptune’s kingdom is involved again.

As I noted earlier today, a July 27, 2014 mid-afternoon lightning strike hit the water off Venice Beach, California, killing a 20-year-old man and injuring several people, one critically.

The identity of the man who died has been confirmed.

The parents of Notre Dame High School graduate Nick Fagnano confirmed Monday morning that their son was killed after lightning struck while he was in the water at Venice Beach. Fagnano, an only child, was a 2012 graduate of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks and had also attended Santa Barbara City College and Santa Monica City College. He had been living with his parents in downtown Los Angeles since December and was about to enter USC as a junior, where he was planning on studying urban development, his parents said. Los Angeles Daily News.

Publisher/author Adam Parfrey has written me to pass along a few syncs about this Venice/Venice Beach, California location.

“The Feral House logo is trident-shaped [seen below]. The most recent book we published under the Process Media imprint is about the strange and defunct amusement park on the Venice/Santa Monica border called Pacific Ocean Park,” writes Parfrey.

“The main attraction/icon there was King Neptune who had his own trident,” emails Adam Parfrey. “Here’s King Neptune ad from POP [above, at top].”
The timing seems more than coincidental to these events. Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles’ Space Age Nautical Pleasure Pier was published on July 22, 2014. It is authored by Christopher Merritt and Domenic Priore, with a foreword by Beach Boys member Brian Wilson.
Pacific Ocean Park has appeared as the televised popular cultural settings in the following:

The climactic scene in the final episode of the television series The Fugitive (“The Judgment, Part 2)” was shot at Pacific Ocean Park. Filmed on location just prior the park’s closure in the fall of 1967, the park’s “Mahi, Mahi” ride tower was the setting for the dramatic face off between Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) and the fictional one-armed man.

The episode of the Twilight Zone series titled “In Praise of Pip,” starring Jack Klugman and Billy Mumy, was also filmed there.

An episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was filmed in the park.

The park was the setting of an episode of the television series Route 66 (Season 2, Episode 29 “Between Hello and Goodbye”) which aired May 11, 1962. Martin Milner’s character Tod is shown working at King Neptune’s Courtyard, and guest star Susan Oliver is depicted riding the Ocean Skyway.

An episode of The Invaders, entitled “The Pit”, televised on ABC in January, 1967, has scenes shot at Pacific Ocean Park after the park had closed. Source.

I’ve been talking about the setting for the July 27, 2014 lightning strike being Venice Beach, California, where Nick Fagnano was killed. The lightning bolt reportedly hit the water at around 2:20 pm Pacific time. Fagnano’s body was found about 2:45 pm.

Now things getting really strange.

As shared by Todd Campbell, also earlier on Sunday afternoon, another man died on a Venice beach – but in Florida. He was killed when a plane fell on him from the sky.
About 2:45 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, July 27, 2014, a 1972 Piper Cherokee lost a wheel, damaged a wing and smashed its propeller shortly after making a distress call to Venice Municipal Airport. Caspersen Beach, where the plane crashed, is just south of the airport, at the southern tip of the island of Venice, Florida. It landed on a man and his daughter.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as 36-year-old Army Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, who was hit by the plane and died, and his daughter Oceana (please note her name), 9, who was injured. [Update: A 9-year-old girl who was walking on a Florida beach when she was hit by a small plane making an emergency landing has died, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday, July 29, 2014.]

Reportedly, Irizarry’s wife Rebecca was treated for cardiac arrest at Venice Regional Bayfront Health. The couple and their children were vacationing in Venice, Florida, for their 9th anniversary. Media accounts say they were from Georgia, but Irizarry’s Facebook page notes he is from and lives in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Irizarry was a diver, loved sharks, and served in the U.S. Army in Iraq.

Irizarry is a respelling of Basque Irizarri, a variant of the Basque surname Irizar meaning “ancient village,” from iri “village” + zar “old.”

This Facebook picture of Irizarry was posted during his vacation at Venice, Florida,
two days before he died.
Uninjured from the plane crash are 57-year-old Karl Kokomoor, the pilot, and his passenger David Theen, 60, both of Englewood, Florida.

NATO EXERCISE IN UKRAINE COINCIDED WITH MH-17 SHOOT-DOWN

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From the U.S. Army in Europe website:

Rapid Trident supports interoperability among Ukraine, the United States, NATO and Partnership for Peace member nations. The exercise helps prepare participants to operate successfully in a joint, multinational, integrated environment with host-nation support from civil and governmental agencies. Rapid Trident is a part of U.S. European Command’s Joint Training and Exercise Program, designed to enhance joint combined interoperability with allied and partner nations. The exercise also supports Ukraine’s Annual National Program to achieve interoperability with NATO and commitments made in the annual NATO-Ukraine work plan.

Rapid Trident included a full range of military exercises. In addition to U.S. troops in Germany and Italy, the exercise included units from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. Liberty Voice reported in March:

Twelve nations will send 1,300 troops to Lviv, a northwestern Ukrainian city near the Polish border. The exercise, called Rapid Trident, is the only military exercise the United States will participate in this year, according to U.S. Army spokesperson Col. Steven Warren, since the U.S. cancelled upcoming Atlas Vision bi-lateral U.S.-Russia military exercises in response to Russia’s actions in regard to Crimea. Atlas Vision had been scheduled to begin in the same month in the northeastern Russian city of Chelyabinsk.