Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
' unlucky theta ') is a symbol of death in Greek and Latin epigraphy. [1] Isidore of Seville notes the letter was appended after the name of a deceased soldier and finds of papyri containing military records have confirmed this use. [1] Additionally it can be seen in the Gladiator Mosaic. The term theta nigrum was coined by Theodor Mommsen. It ...
A quotation attributed to the ancient Roman author Ennius (though possibly spuriously) said of it: "oh, theta, a letter much unluckier than the others". [ 6 ] According to Porphyry of Tyros , the Egyptians used an X within a circle as a symbol of the soul; having a value of nine, it was used as a symbol for Ennead .
In Buddhism, the symbol of a wheel represents the perpetual cycle of death and rebirth that happens in samsara. [6] The symbol of a grave or tomb, especially one in a picturesque or unusual location, can be used to represent death, as in Nicolas Poussin's famous painting Et in Arcadia ego. Images of life in the afterlife are also symbols of death.
The dagger symbol originated from a variant of the obelus, originally depicted by a plain line − or a line with one or two dots ÷. [7] It represented an iron roasting spit, a dart, or the sharp end of a javelin , [ 8 ] symbolizing the skewering or cutting out of dubious matter.
Curse tablets are typically very thin sheets of lead with the text scratched on in tiny letters. They were then often rolled, folded, or pierced with nails, and the tablets were then usually placed beneath the ground: either buried in graves or tombs, thrown into wells or pools, sequestered in underground sanctuaries, or nailed to the walls of ...
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
The following is a list of the world's oldest surviving physical documents. Each entry is the most ancient of each language or civilization. For example, the Narmer Palette may be the most ancient from Egypt, but there are many other surviving written documents from Egypt later than the Narmer Palette but still more ancient than the Missal of Silos.
Roman Krznaric suggests memento mori is an important topic to bring back into our thoughts and belief system; "Philosophers have come up with lots of what I call 'death tasters' – thought experiments for seizing the day." These thought experiments are powerful to get us re-oriented back to death into current awareness and living with spontaneity.