Aloes-wood, also known as eagle-wood and agila-wood, IS the inner portion of the trunk of Aquilaria ovata and Aquilaria Agallochum, forest trees belonging to the order Aquilariaceae, found in tropical Asia, and yielding a fragrant resinous substance, which, as well as the wood, is burned for its perfume. Another tree, the Aloexylon Agallochum of the order Leguminosae, also produces aloes-wood. This wood is supposed to be the lign-aloes of the Bible. Research Aloes-wood
The Alvis Silver Eagle was an elegant British two-seater luxury touring automobile produced in the early 1930's in several models: sports, coupe, drophead coupe, and saloon. The SilverEagle was the most prolific and popular of the early cars made by Alvis, with over 1300 being built before production of the SilverEagle model ended in 1936. The SilverEagle was powered by a two-litre six-cylinder engine providing a top speed of about 80 mph. Research Alvis Silver Eagle
In antiquity an ampulla was a vessel bellying out like a jug, that contained unguents for the bath. The term was also used for a vessel for drinking at table. The ampulla has also been employed for ceremonial purposes, such as holding the oil or chrism used in various churchrites and for anointing monarchs at their coronation. The ampulla of the English sovereigns now in use is an eagle, weighing about 10 oz, of the purest chased gold, which passed through various hands to the Black Prince. Research Ampulla
Bondage is a family of sexual activities, generally involving the tying or strapping up of one partner or the other. Popular forms include Japaneserope bondage, involving extensive binding with rope. Often, though not necessarily, bondage is associated with sado-masochism, slave and master games or pony girlgames. Typical variations range from tying a partner's hands behind their back or handcuffing them in the manner of a police arrest, through to tying a partner spread-eagle on their back to a table, or standing against a wall. Tight fitting clothes, such as corsets are another popular form of self-administered bondage, particularly for women. Research Bondage
Breaking on the wheel was a form of torturous execution employed for criminals until the 18th century in Europe. The victim was laid on his back, spread-eagle, and fastened to the spokes. The executioner then smashed each limb in turn with a sledge-hammer or iron bar before finally delivering the death blow to the stomach. Earlier forms of breaking on the wheel during the Middle Ages involved the victim being tied to a large wheel like a cylinder, which was then rolled down a hill or over iron spikes. Research Breaking on the Wheel
The double-headed eagle is a familiar symbol which originates from the German eagle which is depicted looking right, and the Russian eagle which is depicted looking left. When Charlemagne was made Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire he joined the two symbolic eagles together to form a double-headed eagle looking simultaneously both east and west. Research Double-Headed Eagle
Hieroglyphics (so called from the Greek hieros, sacred, and glypho, I engrave), is a term originally applied to the inscriptions sculptured on buildings in Egypt, in the belief that the writing was confined to sacred subjects, and legible only to the priests. The term has also been applied to picture-writing in general, such as that of the Mexicans and the still ruder pictures of the North American Indians.
Three different modes of writing were used by the ancient Egyptians, the Hieroglyphic, the Hieratic, and the Demotic. Pure hieroglyphic writing is the earliest, and consists of figures of material objects from every sphere of nature and art, with certain mathematical and arbitrary symbols. Next was developed the hieratic or priestly writing, the form in which most Egyptian literature is written, and in which the symbols almost cease to be recognizable as figures of objects. Hieratic writings of the third millennium BC are extant. In the demotic or enchorial writing, derived directly from the hieratic, the symbols are still more obscured. The demotic was first used in the 9th century BC, and was chiefly employed in social and commercial intercourse.
Down to the end of the 18th century scholars failed to find a clue to the hieroglyphic writings. In 1799, however, Bouchard, a French captain of engineers, discovered at Rosetta the celebrated stone which afforded European scholars a key to the language and writing of the ancient Egyptians. It contained a trilingual inscription in hieroglyphics, demotic characters, and Greek, which turned out
to be a decree of the priests in honour of Ptolemy V, issued in 195 BC. The last paragraph of the Greek inscription stated that two translations, one in the sacred and the other in the popular Egyptian language, would be found adjacent to it.
The discovery of an alphabet was the first task. The demotic part of the inscription was first examined by De Sacy and Akerblad, and the signification of a number of the symbols ascertained. The hieroglyphic part was next carefully examined and compared with the demotic and Greek. At last after much study Champollion and Dr. Thomas Young, independently of each other, discovered the method of reading the characters in 1822, and thus provided a clue to the decipherment of the ancient Egyptian writing.
Hieroglyphic characters are either ideographic, i.e. using well-known objects as symbols of conceptions, or phonetic, i.e. representing words by symbols standing for their sounds. The phonetic signs are again divided into alphabetical signs and syllabic signs. Many of the ideographic characters are simple enough; thus the figure of a man, a woman, a calf, indicate simply those objects. Others, however, are less simple, and convey their meaning figuratively or symbolically.
Water was expressed by three zigzag lines, one above the other, to represent waves or ripples of running water, milk by a milk-jar, oil by an oil-jar, fishing by a pelicanseizing a fish, i.e. fishing; seeing and sight by an eye; and so on.
The nature of the phonetic hieroglyphs, which represent simply sounds are more diffuclt to explain. Characters represent sounds, thus a picture of a knee represents a K sound. A lioncouchant represents the L sound. A reed represents the E sound The reed is doubled to represents the diphthong 'ai'. A noose represents the O sound. A mat represents the P sound. An eagle represents the A sound. The hand represents the T sound. A semicircle is found at the end of feminine proper names, and is the Coptic feminine article T.
The researches of Champollion satisfied him of the existence of homophones, or characters having the same phonetic value and which might be interchanged in writing proper names. The mouth, represents the R sound. The egg is found at the end of proper names of women, and is a feminine affix. The hook represents the S sound Vowels were only regarded by the Egyptians as they were needed to avoid ambiguous writing.
There are groups of hieroglyphs of which one element is an ideographic sign, to which a phonetic complement is added to indicate the pronunciation of the ideographic sign. The words of a text could be written in hieroglyphs in three ways: 1. By phonetic hieroglyphs, 2. By ideographic hieroglyphs; and 3, by a combination of both. According to Ebers, in the perfected system of hieroglyphics the symbols for sounds and syllables are to be regarded as the foundation of the writing, while symbols for ideas are interspersed with them, partly to render the meaning more intelligible, and partly for ornamental purposes, or with a view to keep up the mystic character of the hieroglyphics. Research Hieroglyphics
A lectern is a reading stand, used in churches for reading the lections or lessons from, and for supporting the massive service books from which the antiphones were sung, and also used in libraries. They were generally portable, of wood or brass, the commonest form being that of an eagle with outspread wings upon which the book was rested. Research Lectern
The Order Of The Starry Cross was an Austrian order instituted in 1668 by the dowager empress Eleanor, widow of Ferdinand III, in memory of the recovery of a fragment of the true cross from a fire in the palace. The Order Of The Starry Cross was conferred upon Roman Catholic ladies of royal or noble birth devoted to good works. The badge was a black double-headed eagle bearing a red-cross on a silver oval within a blue border, above the eagle being a scroll inscribed 'Salus et gloria'. A black rosette was worn for a ribbon. Research Order Of The Starry Cross
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
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