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#alexandria 48 bc
ultranerdygirl · 7 months
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“Prince of Omens” AKA “The Omens of Egypt” is by @whiteleyfoster
“Alexandria 48 B.C.” is by @smudgeandfrank
“Dolphins + Ducks” is by @10yrsyart
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yearningaces · 1 month
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About those valentine's requests, how about:
A history nerd nerding out with their ancient dragon friend that hoards books and relics from the past.
The cave was silent. Carved out of the side of a mountain, with tunnels and caverns, hidden nooks and crannies, and a deep pit filled to the brim with the blue dragons treasure. And within that pit, lies the massive dark blue scaled dragon, lazily curled up, smoke slowly rising from their snout. The moment is peaceful- tranquil even. Absolute rela-"You have a first account story of the burning of the Alexandria library!!!" A human cried out, making the giant lizard grin brightly, watching his little companion dig through his treasures, producing the old papers, only held together by his own magic, ensuring the items in his keep are timelessly preserved.
"That I do. Written in the late year of 48 BC. The only copy as well."
Though his tone was collected, he quickly evolved to a more delighted and quick paced tone. "And you of course know how it was of course set ablaze by Julius Caesar during his civil war?"
"And that no one actually knows how many of the books are truly gone because so many did burn but there are those that were saved or recreated!" You chirp happily in response, clutching the old book to your chest as you look up at Earen from your spot among his coiled form.
The dark scales dragons grin only grew as he lowered his gigantic maw, nuzzling gingerly against the side of your head. "My little scholar." He cooed softly, a newfound determination in his eyes as his snout lowered to the pile of old writings, nosing aside some in search of a particular- "Ah. Here we are." And with that, he lifted a specific light leather bound book, depositing it before you as you set the one in your hands to the side to read later.
"what's this?" You question, lifting the surprisingly heavy book that has no name, no author, just old leather.
Earen perks up, waiting with baited breath for you to open this specific book, waiting for your reaction.
And so, you open the book.
"..." it's a book... You read the first few words.
"... THE DOMESTICATION OF LENTILS, VETCH, PISTACHIOS, AND FUCKING ALMONDS?!"
Earen roars in a booming delight at your excitement. "Humans! You have been the most fascinating aspects in history, and 11,000 BCE Greece is where things started happening! Of course other advancements were made, but I found a hand drawn depiction of this! I even had a scholar lable and bind the pages for me!"
And this was how the night went. One book after another, a conversation of excitement and the next book found.
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bidisastersanji · 4 months
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The Old Guard x One piece AU got my brain going brrr and i'm gonna make it your problem now. Center of the matter is I want Zoro and Sanji to meet kind of like Nicki and Joe did (discovering their immortality by fighting on opposite sides and killing each other over and over and then becoming eternal lovers) so I went and did some research for the entire Straw hat crew. Main thing is I wanted to link them to historical events that will give them the right motivations and backgrounds! so here we GOOO
Sanji and Zoro: Because Japan has an isolationist past, the only battle I could find that would work is the Cagayan battles of 1582 in Jakarta between Spanish-Philippine forces vs Japanese pirates (a.k.a Wokou, which are basically pirate ronin) Sanji would thus be a reluctant "Rodelero" sent to South East Asia by his noble family (jokes on them he loves being in the middle of the spice trade and he hates being part of a noble family funding the conquistadores) who one day finds himself fighting a mysterious Wokou samurai Zoro. They're partly isolated from their respective camps when they first kill each other, and again, and again, until they realise they should by all means be dead but they keep healing. After a couple decades of -against all odds- running into each other everywhere, they reluctantly decide to try and figure out what the heck's happened to them together- struggling to communicate at first, then learning each others' language over the following decade, then falling in love and becoming inseparable. This makes Zoro and Sanji both over 400 years old, and they are the same age. Zoro learns about so many sword techniques and Sanji about different cuisines/ leg-centric fighting styles during this time.
all the other straw hats and their historical periods under the cut!
Robin as an Egyptian scholar who died during the burning of the Library of Alexandria in 48 BC/ was killed for researching something forbidden during the declining years of the Roman Period (early 200s) and found out she was immortal this way, making her around 2 millennia old. She spends her time recording history and traveling the world and encountering new cultures. Her long time enemy is religious obscurantism, and the Catholic church spends a lot of resources trying to kill her. (they have conspiracy boards about this immortal witch in the Vatican)
Brook: so ancient he doesn't remember much, other that he came from Kerma culture (2500 BC), loved music, and that his entire village had died from an illness, but he came back. His memory isn't great but if there's one thing he's loved in his Millennia of existence is discovering and learning how to play all the instruments that he could find. He mostly hangs in Vienna nowadays as a music teacher.
Jinbei is a Samoan chieftain from around 1000 BC who one day died during a battle with a Fijian chieftain. When he came back from death he assumed Tagaloa chose him. He loves navigating, sailing, exploring and going on voyages with his people. In more recent times (post european contact) he was forced to ally with the US Navy to protect his people.
Nami: Irish lass from around 800 who's coastal, tiny village was about to be raided by Vikings from Sweden. She made a deal with their chieftain Arlong to go with them and map out the British isles for them to help their raids be more effective and targeted, in exchange for not killing people in her village, and that she would make back the plunder they did not get from this town for them. She started to join their raids to try and make this money, but she died in battle. She came back and they believed her to be some kind of Valkyrie or Einherjer brought back to midgard. She took over the raider's leadership- also Norsemen always had women handle money, which works great here. During her time as an immortal she travels, seeks treasure, double crosses people etc.
Usopp a young double agent/CIA spy from the Cold War who died on a mission. He tragically could not return to his love Kaya because he was afraid of putting her in danger by revealing he was alive to the spies that killed him. He relocates and starts anew constantly, his entire life a web of lies. He's a great marksman/sniper.
Chopper died young of the Bubonic plague in medieval Europe. He resuscitated, tragically his father is infected as well and he's unable to save him- motivating him to get to the bottom of this disease, he decides to become a doctor. Looking like a 15 year old for centuries doesn't make this task easy and he has to hide a lot.
Franky is an American veteran of WWI who was heavily disfigured first, and died later (which is why he's not fully healed and needs prosthetics). He's heavily anti-government from having been sent to fight in such a meaningless war that sacrificed young men like cannon fodder. He learned to fix himself up and make prosthetics and masks for veterans, got into making tech stuff
Luffy is a modern, 21st century 20 something year old from Brazil's favelas. He dies in a gun violence incident (maybe linked to a drug war/gang war where he's been trying to protect his neighbourhood) and comes back, experiencing visions of others like him. He's resolute to find them and make a crew, thinking that with all of them together, maybe they can help liberate the world from opressors and inequality
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iamdefinitelyreal · 25 days
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Hello! I'm an ace-spectrum person, and I'm pretty new to fandoms and I struggled finding SFW/Sex-averse friendly fics, so I thought I would give a few recommendations for those interested!
Lemme know if there's any interest in a Sherlock one or a Harry Potter one!
Fics
Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach
By Nnm on AO3 (@mouseonamoose)
Rating: T
Chapters: 16/16
From the perspective of an OC, Post S1
TW: Mention of abuse, slightly graphic violence
Notes: Completely changed my brain chemistry. 100/10 everyone should read this.
Angel-Centered Therapy Through A Multicultural Lens: An Integrative Approach By Nnm on AO3 (@mouseonamoose)
Rating: G
Chapters: 16/18
From the perspective of an OC
TW: Mentions of abuse, mentions of miscarriage
Notes: Aziraphale's therapy sessions, a follow up from Demonology, and ohmygosh, so fucking good. So good!
Trivia Night: A Love Story
By MissUnderstoodLyrics on AO3 (@southernfriedamy)
Rating: E (all smut scenes are easily skippable if needed and not very long)
Chapters: 11/11
From the perspective of Crowley, Human AU
TW: Smut
Notes: One of the first fics I read! So adorable, I need a basil plant named Cat now.
Postcards From Paris
By ghostrat on AO3 (@mrghostrat)
Rating: G
Chapters: 3/3
From the perspective of Crowley, Human AU
TW: None (all fluff)
Notes: ohmylord so so so sweet!
how do we turn on the light? 
By @moonyinpisces AO3
Rating: M (All smut is non-graphic and skippable/skimable)
Chapters: 15/22
From the perspective of Aziraphale, Post S2
TW: Discussion of death, dystopian world, violence, physcological abuse, SH, s**c*d*l thoughts/idealations, smut
Notes: Insanely well written/thought out. I love every single piece of character development and plot developement in this, and the whole fic is just a #badassaziraphaletake
Love in the Time of Bugs
By ProdigalPragmatist on AO3 (@theprodigalpragmatist)
Rating: T
Chapters: 6/6
From the perspective of Crowley, Human AU
TW: Mention of abuse, chronic pain, implied smut
Notes: Very adorable. Strangers to lovers stories are my weakness, but this one is so sweet but still believable.
Comics
Fallen by @smudgeandfrank
On Tumblr
Unfinished, 18 parts and counting
Post Season 2, Angst
Oopsie Omens by @asleepyy
On Tumblr
Unfinished, 23 parts and counting
Reverse AU/Retelling
Alexandria 48 BC by @smudgeandfrank
On Tumblr/Wattpad
Finished
Angst
Pre-Season 1
The Omens of Egypt by @whiteleyfoster
On Tumblr/physical copy/AO3
Finished
Angst
NSFW or SFW version
Pre-Season 1
On Night in Bangor by @anotherwellkeptsecret
On Tumblr
On Pt. 84
NSFW or SFW version
Pre-Season 1
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copias-sewer-rat · 7 months
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Against the forces of Heaven and Hell, just us.
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PART 1|PART 2|
What does really mean to fall? As an angel that question wasn’t unfamiliar to you. Moreover, you have been questioning the heavenly gospel for a very long time. It all started when you met a human-loving demon and ever since then you had strayed from heaven’s path.
⸸tags: Good Omens AU, no serious tw (for now) but maybe sexual innuendos and foul language, around 4.5K words, Copia goes by he/they and the angel has no pronouns so it fits everyone who reads. Hope you enjoy this first chapter!
⸸ my masterlist ⸸
⸸ read it on Ao3 ⸸
I. ENJOY THE SILENCE
“Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus, another thing to fall.”
William Shakespeare - Measure for Measure
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18/8/2023
'There is something beautiful about demons. You might think it is ineffable, but I’ve had enough time to think, to know what is so special about them, let me tell you. Mainly, they get to experience all the pleasures that humans create for themselves without any sort of negative consequence. Exquisite food and refreshing beverages are those pleasures that we angels can indulge in but can never take too far. Demons can also enjoy the sin of the flesh without repercussion -not that I am interested, just curious…- Demons get all that, but we get to love and trust God, and that is more than enough. I have no doubt about God’s love, but humans portray the enjoyment of another one’s body in such a pure way it makes me a tad jealous.'
----
You put your diary down, not really sure how to continue something like that. You decide to focus on something else. The painting before you is mesmerizing. The Kiss, by Francesco Hayez, portrays the most tender embrace between a man and a woman. The image is still, but you swear that you can see the man gently caressing the face of his lover, and the woman trying to put her hands around the man’s neck. The painting was part of a temporary exhibition. It was brought from Milan to the Galeria degli Uffizi in Firenze-or Florence as English people say-. There is where you spend most of your time, contemplating your existence as an immortal and holy being.
Looking at the picture, you begin to reminisce about how your love and understanding of human art and knowledge, and as a result of humans themselves, had started in the first place. Your arrival to Earth had been long ago, exactly the day when the Great Library of Alexandria had burned down in 48 BC. The pain for all the knowledge lost was enough to make you come down from heaven, but it was too late. You had been interested in humans for a while. Curious about those creatures God had created so long ago in her image. However, your appreciation of humans was always done from the distance of your heavenly office.
The Library of Alexandria was an astonishing building, so enormous in size and in meaning. Formed by structures of white and grey stone with beautiful engravings, all of it surrounded by a luscious garden and the glorious city of Alexandria itself. It was the place the humans had erected to keep their precious knowledge for all eternity. So, when you saw the fire start, you had no choice but to come down. You had gone down to Earth without permission. The punishment would be severe but nothing compared to what you were feeling by seeing those flames. It was knowledge being destroyed without salvation, you had to do something, and maybe that thought alone made you a bit selfish. Despite that, not even a miracle could help restore so much without being too obvious.
Not everything was bad that day, however. There, between the clouds of smoke and the heat from the flames you had met your very first demon. For sure, it would have been a negative experience if it hadn’t been for him. They stood there, in the exact middle of the library, looking everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Their beauty was ethereal and androgynous, which felt a bit dangerous. Their hair, long, wavy and soft brown fell gracefully over their shoulders. Also, two locks of hair on the top of his hair were raised as if to give the impression that he had horns, bold choice. Lastly, he wore a black tunic, which was very fitting for a demon. The demonic look was completed by pointy ears and a couple of mismatched eyes, one white and one green and… freckles. They were very light but also distributed throughout the whole face and making it look like a map of the night sky. But that wasn’t all. It seemed that the demon had smeared some of the ash on his eyes, maybe as some kind of human disguise that you didn’t understand, or even to celebrate his demonic deed.
You were about to blame him for the fire until you noticed the look on his face. He seemed tired and in distress. A pain equal to yours for the loss of words, art and knowledge.
“I assume this wasn’t your doing? Judging by your expression…” The demon suddenly turned to you, a bit taken aback. He hadn’t noticed your presence until that very instant, and for sure they weren’t expecting an angel.
“N-no, i- it wasn’t. But it wasn’t a human act either.” - You did not know that demons stuttered…- He looked down and you could swear you could hear the cogs turning in his head.
“You then believe this despicable act to have been caused by another demon?” He shook his head. “Not exactly. If this had been planned or acted by my kind, I would have known.”
“Are you insinuating this was a plan from my side? Preposterous! It is impossible. God would never allow something like this to happen!” The demon chuckled bitterly at your words.
“You haven’t been down here a lot, huh, angel?” He savoured that last word as if he hadn’t said it in a long time. It was your time to shake your head. “God and her archangels like to do things like these from time to time, or even allow them to happen, just to test humans and have some fun.” You could not believe your ears. You hadn’t read anything of the sort while in heaven.
“How do I know you are not lying to me? Why put that ash around your eyes if it is not to disguise yourself?” The demon rose an eyebrow at your accusation.
“Ash? What are you-?” He touched his eyes and looked at his long-nailed fingers. “Oh… I hadn’t even noticed. It was so anguishing here during the fire… I tried to save everything I could, but some of the scrolls broke on my hands. Maybe I smeared the ash on my eyes without noticing…” He looked defeated, but still gave you a toothy smile. His fangs were big and shiny. You felt your cheeks heat a bit… weird.
“Ahem. Well, if it is any consolation… I believe you, demon. But I do NOT believe that this was heaven’s doing.” The demonic creature tilted their head.
“Stay a bit longer on Earth, angel. Then you will see.” You were surprised at their suggestion. They probably could see it too because you heard a chuckle.
“Are you trying to tempt me?” The demon fully laughed at your question.
“Clearly not, angel. Do you find Earth tempting by any chance?”
“It is not like that. But obviously Earth is where temptations and sin become a reality, you could be planning something.” You scoffed. They smiled at your words and for the first time, you could truly see that their demonic nature.
“Then we are lucky that you seem to be such a… pure and incorruptible angel…” An awkward cough escaped your lips, but your eyes could not leave the demon’s mismatched ones. You thought to yourself that he didn’t know you, that you didn’t know what you are capable of yourself, and that scared you a bit. You decided to put up the front of the perfect angel and keep the conversation going.
“I should get back, there is a lot of paperwork waiting for me… after this… But even if I did accept to stay here… I wouldn’t trust anybody who is so rude that they don’t even introduce themselves in the first place.” The nameless demon snorted at your comment, made a deep but gentle reverence and looked back at you.
“The name’s Copia. What about you, angel?” You told them your name and they hummed. “Bel nome. It suits you.”
“What was that?”
“Mm? Oh! Italian. It is a language that some humans will start speaking in a few centuries, it is my favourite one, so I am learning it in advance.” That was endearing. He was interested in human culture as you were, even more, if that was possible.
“I think I will hang out on Earth for a bit, then… I will ask for a transfer, I know an angel in the heavenly administration that owes me a favour. Maybe I can investigate what’s going on, and learn a thing or two about humans.” Copia nodded.
“Angel, you won’t regret it, I assure you. Humans are the most delectable little creatures. I would also like to know the reason for the fire. Maybe we can even work together.” Suddenly the demon Copia was right beside you, nudging at your side.
“What a crazy idea! We belong to different sides. Neither of them would allow something like that!” To your words, Copia exhaled exaggeratedly.
“You would be surprised to know how little do hell and heaven actually care about what happens here.” You turned to look at him with a brow raised.
“That I cannot believe. Heaven cares a great deal about the humans, I have read about it.” Copia crossed his arms, as if about to lecture you.
“Antagonizing hell and caring for humans are two different things, angel. Heaven and hell only want to be on top, like greedy lovers who secretly hate one another but cannot stop fucking. It is a game of power, humans are only the pawns.” You blushed at his choice of words.
“What are you saying, demon?”
“I am saying that there are beings like you and me that love humans because they are deeply interesting and complex, but that is not the norm. I would like it to be though.” Me too, you thought. You also thought about the nature of the demon right in front of you. He was so different to those you had heard about up in heaven. You were told they were arrogant and selfish creatures, but Copia didn’t seem like either of those things.
“How do you know so much? Who are you?” To your question, Copia gave you a guttural laugh.
“That is a conversation for another time I am afraid, angel. After all, we just met. I cannot give away all my secrets on our first encounter.” You felt your cheeks heat again as the demon’s eyes glistened with an emotion that you didn’t couldn’t quite place yet.
You hadn’t noticed, but during your conversation with Copia there had been black clouds forming above you, and then something started to fall. You extended your hand and grabbed what seemed to be floating flakes.
“Do you know what is this, Copia?”
“Well, humans would call it snow. Which is very cold, previously-condensed water falling to the Earth. But this isn’t it. This is ash from the fire, a reminder of my failure.”
“You did not fail… you couldn’t have known.” You were surprised by your compassionate tone. You were having compassion for a demon.
“Thank you for the kind words, but I do not deserve them. I am a demon, remember?” It was like they just read your mind.
“It is taking me a bit to actually believe that, Copia. And snow sounds beautiful, I wish I could see the real deal.” You smiled at him.
“You will someday, angel. I am sure.” There was a somber aura to his tone, as if he wasn’t entirely sure about it but wanted to believe that it would happen nonetheless.
As the flakes continued to fall, both of you were starting to get covered in ash. The feeling on your skin was not an unwelcome one, it felt soft and gentle. You touched your arm, taking all the flakes that had fallen there and making a trail on your skin. Copia looked at you with an amused look. Then, you looked at your ash-coated fingers and thought of something. You turned so Copia could not look at your face. The ash was easy to manipulate, dark and velvety, and in an instant you had copied Copia’s ‘eye makeup’. With a twirl of your feet, you showed the demon your new look and he rose his eyebrows.
“How do I look?” You said adorably cupping your face.
“With all honesty, I don’t think it is too flattering on you, angioletto.” You smiled.
“I imagined so. You looked so cool, I wanted to give it a shot.”
“Cool, huh… I guess it adds to the demonic look.”
“It is more than that, I think. It accentuates your eyes, gives them depth and character.” You stepped closer, getting on your tiptoes, trying to prove the statement to yourself. Copia rose his eyebrows again. There was also a small tint of pink on his cheeks.
“I-in any case. I think is time for me to go.”
“Oh… then wait for just a second.” Very gently you took a carcass of a scroll that was at your feet, put your hand over it and miracled it back to its original state. It was a tiny miracle, nobody would notice. “We cannot do this with the whole library sadly, but not everything is lost, Copia. There is always hope, and we will find out why this happened.” You handed him the scroll, it seemed to be a poem, but you were not sure of what. Copia gave you a puzzled look. “Have this as a memento, as a reminder to keep loving humans, no matter what.”
Copia extended his hand and grabbed the scroll. You were sure that it was an accident but his fingers brushed yours, just for a second. You felt the heat of his skin, and even for a moment, it felt intoxicating. That is when it all began for you, since then you became obsessed with the human idea of connection and all its derivatives.
Copia took the scroll and hugged it tightly.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“That is perfectly fine, Copia.”
You smiled, said your goodbyes to them and left.
----
The leader of your heavenly section was pissed, but ultimately they let you get off with only a warning. They didn’t even notice the miracle. It was then time to visit the administrative section of heaven that was in charge of assigning angels to Earth. It was a section that not many visited, most did not want to spend time there. For a second, you remembered your conversation with Copia. How he had told you that heaven and hell didn’t care at all. Maybe he was right. You reached your destination: the desk of the angel that owed you a favour.
You had helped them a while ago to get the post they currently held. The angel did not want to work much. They wanted to be in a section that did not receive many visits or paperwork. You suggested the Earth dispatch section, talked to the right people and the angel was transferred. You did not think at the time that little favour would help you in the future, but you were glad it did.
You told the angel that you wanted to be dispatched to Earth. They asked you for how long and you answered that indefinitely. They looked at you as if you were the weirdest being in existence. Maybe you were. After a lot of convincing, your wish came true.
The first day on Earth was difficult. You had been dispatched close to Alexandria and so you decided to look for any clues that would point towards the reason for the fire or even its culprit. Sadly, when you got to the destroyed remnants of the library, almost every salvageable piece of art or literature had been ransacked. You felt defeated, and it was only your first day on Earth. This is what you always wanted, a purpose linked to humans. You weren’t going to give up so easily.
It was difficult to navigate the library, or what stood of it. Pillars and debris making inaccessible some of its most important sections. After a couple of hours of investigation without any luck, you were properly ready to give up. Suddenly, something caught your eye, you don’t remember how, it was like an instinct of some sort, but then you saw a section that wasn’t there before. It was also destroyed in its majority and everything inside was burned to the ground, but there was a name on the entrance, the name of the section which you learned later, it translated to English as: ‘The Shared Archive’. You decided to give it a shot, to try and find anything of worth, and you did.
Inside a pile of ash, you found a scroll, it seemed intact enough, so you took it. You didn’t know what it said at first, but time later when you were able to translate it you were shocked by its content. The scroll said:
“Cain kills Abel - Heaven +1; Abel kills Cain - Hell +1”
----
You rise from your seat. It had been an hour since you had put your diary down. People were starting to look at you weirdly, but you don’t care. The gallery was about to close for the day so you took your leave. You had been reminiscing for far too long, and you were late. The streets of Florence were as always full of life, with locals enjoying the afternoon and tourists taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful sights that the city had to offer.
After a short walk, you reached your shop, an antiquary, full of paintings, statues, books and everything that could come to mind. The sign at the door said closed, but the door was unlocked… weird. You stepped inside, not very sure about what was going to happen and-
“You are late, angioletto…” Copia’s voice surged from the shadows, a white eye piercing through the darkness of your store and looking directly at you.
“Dear, you scared the living heaven out of me!” Copia chuckled.
“Good, you deserve it. We are late. I made the reservation for 9 pm. It is 9 pm and we are not there.” You put your hands on your knees and gave Copia a small apology bow.
“I am very sorry, dear. I lost track of the time.” You hear Copia’s steps slowly getting closer to you and then a gloved hand graces your shoulder.
“It is okie-dokie, I know you would. That is why I moved the reservation to 9.30 pm.” You rise very slowly with an annoyed look on your face.
“You scoundrel of a demon! You are incorrigible… You made me worry for nothing!” Copia laughs uncontrollably, wiping a tear that had formed in his green eye because of the laughter. You feel embarrassed and a bit angry at him, which is noticeable by the red on your ears.
“It is quite impressive that you made it here before the sunrise. Were you at the Galleria degli Uffici again?” You press your lips, feeling seen by the demon.
“Em… yes…” The words come out timidly. “There was a new exhibition, I had to see it. You know how I am…” Copia smiles fondly and his fangs shine with the light coming from the outside.
“I know, I know… once again angioletto, that is why I changed the reservation. However, if we don’t make haste my efforts would have been in vain.” You nod, leaving the diary on the entrance table and making your exit with Copia by your side.
----
The sun has set, and the lights of the streetlamps mix with that of the full moon, drenching the city of Florence in a dreamy atmosphere as if had been painted by Claude Monet himself. Thanks to the ethereal shine of the city, you can now observe Copia who walks silently right beside you. He is wearing black gloves with golden nails on the outside. A long black coat covering a black turtleneck and the crimson suit pants he always likes to wear. Very smart and expensive black Italian tailored shoes cover his feet. The look is complete as always by the accessories: a silver upside-down cross necklace adorning his chest, a metal earring on his pointy left ear with the symbol of that band he likes to help sometimes and a pair of round sunglasses hiding his mismatched gaze -you had told him a thousand times that it wasn’t necessary, that wearing sunglasses in the dark would attract more attention to him rather than the fact that he had a white eye and a green eye, he didn’t care, he likes the drama-.
His hair was still long, over his shoulders for your disappointment, but still long. He has taken some of it in a ponytail and the rest is set loose- except for the curls on the top that look like horns, those are always there-. He now also has a few white hairs which he has miracled for himself to make everyone think that time passes for us, I think he likes feeling like a silver fox. He has also been rocking the facial hair for a couple of years now, with sideburns and a pencil moustache to be exact. To top it all off, he always wears a bit of makeup, ever since he could after you had met him actually, a black upper lip and some black eyeliner and eye shadow. Some things stay the same however, you can still see the freckles that have always adorned his face. You love his freckles.
“Do I have something on my face?” Copia asks, you have been staring for too long. Bollocks.
“N-no, I was just wondering why you were wearing the sunglasses during the night again. Everyone is staring at you.” You try to excuse yourself.
“Oh, so you don’t like when everyone looks at me? Do you want me all to yourself, angel?” Your excuse bites you in the arse and now you are beet red, luckily there isn’t much light and Copia might not notice.
“On the contraire, my dear. You are too precious to keep to myself, that is why everyone is cheering your name when you help that little band of yours… They can’t get enough of you.” You frown at your own words, you just wanted to take the iron off the conversation, but you just ended up being crushed by an anvil of your own creation. Copia stayed silent at that, expression unreadable under the dark veil of the city.
Copia and you were nothing, just associates. You had been just that for centuries, always side by side. You helped humans, you enjoyed the pleasures of a human life, you spent your time right beside the other and also lived your own lives, but nothing had ever happened between the two of you. Not that it could ever happen, you are an angel and they are a demon, being together would be sacrilegious and most certainly it would make you fall. If you fell, there would be nothing left for you, all your heavenly purpose gone, just because you indulged in your carnal desires. Even if you did, maybe Copia didn’t feel the same towards you. You had heard all about his one-night stands and his participation in orgies from that insolent satanic Papal figure that Copia calls a friend. Nonetheless, there had been moments during your partnership when Copia’s behaviour had made you think that something else would be possible. Lingering touches, furtive looks and thoughtful gestures made you fall more and more. You weren’t falling, but you were falling. That scared you plenty, but it was harder trying to deal with Copia’s absence for weeks at a time helping the band which left for heart aching in pain. You decided to stop thinking about that.
----
At 9.25 pm you both enter your favourite restaurant. A very typical Italian restaurant that served Copia’s rigatoni of choice and your favourite pizza. With time it had become your spot. It wasn’t just a restaurant anymore, it was a place to meet and share information, to celebrate, to release stress by eating or just to spend time with one another. The restaurant was quite humble and very aesthetically Italian, which for you was a plus. Many of the eating spots throughout the city had become tourist traps, so you were grateful to keep the little spot intact. You had to help a couple of times with some miracles to avoid bankruptcy, but nothing too serious, just for the benefit of the family that owned the restaurant.
Carlo, the older son of the owner, has already your table prepared with your water and Copia’s wine, you sit and make your usual order. Apart from that both of you stay silent for a while, the awkwardness from your previous conversation still lingering in the air.
“I have to tell you something…” Copia finally breaks the silence.
“What is it?” You ask, taking a sip of your water.
“Do you remember when I sent you a message a couple of weeks ago when I was on the European tour?”
“Yes, you mentioned that you had found something, but you said nothing else…”
“Well, that was because I wasn’t quite sure, but now I am. I have found something.” You open your mouth slightly, not knowing what to say. “I have found a scroll, angel. One that is legible.” Your mouth opens completely and your eyebrows rise in surprise.
“Are you sure? We have been tricked before.” Copia nods.
“I know, that is why I have checked with my contacts…” You huff.
“You know I don’t like your ‘contacts’.”
“Yes, well, we have no other way of telling if it is real.” You stay silent, looking at your water.
“Have you translated it already?” You look back up to Copia’s eyes, looking for an answer and the smiles.
“Yes, and it is a very important one…”
“What-” Instead of telling you, Copia hands you a piece of paper. On it, there is a picture of a scroll with a writing in old Latin and under it a translation written in pen:
“Judas betrays Jesus +1 hell; Judas stays with Jesus +1 heaven”
----------------------
Here is the very first part of the Good Omens/Ghost AU with our dear Copia as our personal Crowley (also I am back at using song titles for the chapters). I have a lot of plans for this AU (even little side stories and drawings) so get hyped! This doesn't mean that I have abandoned other projects, I just had an ADHD moment with this fic so I had to do it. Let me know what you think as always and thank you for all the support.
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zeldahime · 2 months
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Highway to Pail Day 7
[Day 1] [Prev] [Next] @do-it-with-style-events
February 7: Fire-fly
Crawly and Aziraphale hadn't said anything to each other yet. They both knew the other was there, of course. They kept running into the building, running out again with people, with papyrus, with irreplaceable treasures stored for safekeeping. They passed each other in the smokey hallways, eyes meeting, finding solidarity.
They would talk later, of course, and find out they both had orders explicitly telling them to stay out of this skirmish and go elsewhere, Aziraphale to Jerusalem and Crawly to Memphis. Alexandria, they were both told, was above their pay-grades and a Dominion and a Marquis, respectively, would temporarily be taking over their duties in the city.
But right now the library was burning, and the humans couldn't withstand the flames and the carbon monoxide, and so angel and demon charged once more unto the breach.
Neither of them dared invoke miracles, in case their bosses were watching. One of the humans Crawly rescued passed out in his arms, and he could only hope the one scholars gathered outside fretting knew how to treat smoke inhalation.* Many of the scrolls were badly damaged, and the last seemed unsalvageable to their untrained eyes.
It was the humans who stopped the fire. From the outside, it had appeared the whole building was engulfed in flames, but in fact only the north side and the roof had been. The human scholars had closed and sealed doors as they fled, confining the fire to the mathematical and astronomical collections and some of the lesser-used literature and commentaries. They ran a bucket brigade in the middle of a battlefield, collecting water from the very harbor that was being burned by Caesar's navy.
It was nearly an hour after sunset by the time the fire was extinguished, everyone exhausted and grimy and in dire need of something to drink. Aziraphale and Crawly walked away from the scholars and the scrolls in silence, their feet carrying them along. They didn't speak for a good long while, until in front of a small residential building Aziraphale said:
"Wait here, just a moment. I'll get us some wine."
Crawly did, and Aziraphale emerged with two amphorae and handed one over. They continued their silent walk, eventually turning their backs on the red-orange blaze in the harbor, taking sips from their wine until they happened into one of the gardens of the Mouseion.
Aziraphale, at first thinking the amber lights at his feet were flames, stamped at them instinctively; Crawly pulled him back. "Fireflies, angel," he whispered, "flies. It's safe."
Aziraphale shrank back, horrified. Crawly dragged him to the center of the garden and sat them both down.
They watched the fireflies together and drank for a long while.
*Aziraphale would find out later, and next time he saw Crawly inform him, that the scholar who had passed out got better and remembered only that he was saved from the flames by Erato herself, the Muse to whom he had dedicated his study. "His description of you was rather vivid," he would say, a blush decorating his cheeks, "and not at all something appropriate to repeat in public. You made quite the impression."
More than 2,000 years would pass before Aziraphale would repeat the description, nearly verbatim, to Crowley in private, and Crowley would agree. If Aziraphale had said these things at the time, Crowley-then-Crawly suspected he would have discorporated on the spot simply hearing them from the uptight and unfairly beautiful Aziraphale's lips, never mind that they were someone else's words, and doing that in public would have just been plain embarrassing.
Author's note:
The fire of the Library of Alexandria is one of those myths that just refuses to die and is designed to make me personally irritable. If Livy (well, Plutarch's citation of Livy, that part of his work has been lost) and Cassius Dio are correct in saying books burned during Caesar's attack on the Egyptian fleet in 48 BCE, it almost certainly wasn't the library proper but instead warehouses by the docks being used to store books. If any part of the library itself burned, it was back up and running and beautiful by the time Strabo was kicking around Alexandria around 20 BCE. That's 28 years, so plenty of time to rebuild of course, but hardly a complete loss of a wonder of the world, and Didymus Chalcenterus was writing commentaries pretty much the entire time, so he most likely had access to the Library during those years.
What actually killed the Library of Alexandria was centuries of rulers losing interest, cutting funds, not maintaining the building or collections properly, and crackdowns on intellectual freedom of the scholars who worked and studied there. It took until the 260s, but Rome did eventually kill the Library: not with fire, but with institutional decay. By the Palmyrene Invasion in 270-71, the other point at which people like to go "ooohhhh big fire at the Library of Alexandria!," the Library was basically an empty shell of a building.
It's not fires we have to be worried about in Libraryland (although like, do worry about fires, safety first). It's institutional decay. It's budget cuts. It's politicians who think that anyone who disagrees with them ought to be censored. If you love your library, don't worry about fires: worry about politics and whether your library is getting the institutional support it needs to be the best library it can be.
-gets off my soapbox-
All that said, it is a very sexy story and I do like the idea of Aziraphale and Crowley saving books together. So here we go.
Erato is the Muse of erotic poetry. Mr Smoke Inhalation thought Crawly was the sexiest being he'd ever seen and he was absolutely right (and also carbon monoxide poisoned). His lines about Crawly were raunchy as hell and absolutely engraved in Aziraphale's brain permanently the moment Aziraphale heard them.
And apparently fireflies live just about everywhere except 1) Antarctica, 2) England, and 3) the US Southwest/West Coast/Mountain West. I'd been lead to believe they were only in the American Southeast and had originally planned to write one of the Ineffables going down to Georgia (as made famous by the Dave Matthews CHARLIE DANIELS Band, thank you @/killingmenotatallsoftly) and seeing fireflies for the first time but had to scrap it after an extremely cursory Google.
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songbird-of-eden · 8 months
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Good Omens Alexandria 48 BC
EPISODE SIX RELEASED!
Dang! It has been a hot minute! Need some fluffy angel and demon interactions after the Good Omens S2 finale?
The Good Omens comic dubs are back!
Part 1 of 2 of the epilogue of Alexandria 48BC by the wonderful and talented @smudgeandfrank
youtube
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wolfythewitch · 2 years
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Depending on how old, did Techno ever step foot in the Library of Alexandria
guys pls the burning of the library was in like 48 bc tommy wasn't alive till like 1820 ADSFDGFH
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ineffableclassics · 2 days
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Aziraphale loved books. He loved them like birds loved the sky, like cats loved to sleep, and like Hobbits loved food. His love was not limited to any one genre—he tore through history, fiction, poetry, and philosophy texts alike. He prided himself on having read all of the major works of literature for all the centuries he had been stationed on Earth, and was not about to stop now.
The time was 48 BC (though no one would refer to it in such a manner until well after the C in BC came about), the place was northern Egypt, and Aziraphale had found the love of his life. The Royal Library of Alexandria was the most beautiful thing the angel had ever seen, bar none.
Words: 19,843
Status: Complete
Rating: Teen And Up
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orthodoxydaily · 9 months
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Saints&Reading: Tuesday, June 27, 2023
june 27_june14
THE HOLY PROPHET ELISHA/ELISEI ( 9 th.c. BC)
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The Holy Prophet Elisha lived in the ninth century before the Birth of Christ and was a native of the village of Abelmaum, near Jordan. By the command of the Lord, he was called to prophetic service by the Holy Prophet Elias (July 20).
When it became time for the Prophet Elias to be taken up to Heaven, he said to Elisha, “Ask what shall I do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha boldly asked for a double portion of the grace of God: “Let there be a double portion of your spirit upon me.” The Prophet Elias said, “You have asked a hard thing; if you see me when I am taken from you, then so shall it be for you; but if you do not see me, it will not be so” (4 [2] Kings 2: 10). As they went along the way talking, there appeared a fiery chariot and horses and separated them both. Elisha cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” (4 Kings 2: 12). Picking up the mantle of his teacher, which fell from the sky, Elisha received the power and prophetic gift of Elias. He spent over 65 years in predictive service under six Israelite kings (from Ahab to Joash). While Elisha lived, he did not tremble before any prince, and no word could overcome him (Sirach 48: 13 [“Sirach” is called “Ecclesiasticus” in Catholic Bibles ]).
The holy prophet worked numerous miracles. He divided the waters of the Jordan, having struck it with the mantle of the Prophet Elias; he made the waters of a Jericho spring fit for drinking; he saved the armies of the kings of Israel and Judah that stood in an arid wilderness by bringing forth abundant water by his prayer; he delivered a poor widow from death by starvation through a miraculous increase of oil in a vessel. This Shunamite woman showing hospitality to the prophet was gladdened by the birth of a son through his prayer, and when the child died, he was raised back to life by the prophet. The Syrian military-commander Namaan was healed from leprosy, but the prophet’s servant Gehazi was afflicted since he disobeyed the prophet and took money from Namaan.
Elisha predicted to the Israelite king Joash the victory over his enemies, and by the power of his prayer, he worked many other miracles (4 Kings 3-13). The holy Prophet Elisha died in old age at Samaria. “In his life, he worked miracles, and at death his works were marvellous” (Sir. 48: 15). A year after his death, a corpse was thrown into the prophet’s grave. As soon as the dead man touched Elisha’s bones, he came to life and stood up (4 Kings 13: 20-21). The Prophet Elisha and his teacher, the Prophet Elias, left no books behind them since their prophetic preaching was oral. Jesus, son of Sirach, praised both great prophets (Sir. 48:1-15).
John of Damascus composed a canon in honor of the Prophet Elisha, and at Constantinople, a church was built in his honor.
Julian the Apostate (361-363) gave orders to burn the relics of the Prophet Elisha, Abdia (Obadiah), and John the Forerunner. Still, the holy relics were preserved by believers, and part of them was transferred to Alexandria.
In the twentieth century, the humble priest Nicholas Planas had a great veneration for the Prophet Elisha and was worthy of seeing him in visions.
SAINT METHODIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE (847)
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Saint Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople, was born in Sicily into a rich family. Having a vocation to serve God, he went to a monastery on the island of Chios while still in his youth and renovated it with his means. During the reign of the iconoclast Leo the Armenian (813-820), Methodius held the high position of “apokrisiaros” (“advocate for Church matters”) under the holy Patriarch Nikēphóros (June 2). He was dispatched by the patriarch to Rome on a mission to the papacy, and he remained there. During this period, Leo the Armenian removed Nikēphóros from the patriarchal throne and put on it the iconoclast Theodotus of Melissinea, given the nickname “Kassiter” (“Tinman”) (815-822). After the death of Leo the Armenian, Saint Methodius returned, and in the dignity of a presbyter, he struggled incessantly against the Iconoclast heresy.
The emperor Michael the Stammerer (820-829) was first noted for his benevolence, and he set free many imprisoned by his predecessor for their veneration of icons, but after a while, he renewed the persecution against Orthodoxy. Saint Methodius was locked up in prison in Akrita. After the death of Michael the Stammerer, the ruler was Theophilus (829-842), also an iconoclast. More refined a man than his father, he set free Saint Methodius, who likewise was a man of learning, superbly skilled in matters not only ecclesial but also civil. Having received his freedom, Saint Methodius renewed the struggle with the heretics, and for a while, the emperor tolerated this.
But after defeat in a war with the Arabs, Theophilus vented his anger against Methodius, saying that God had punished him because he had let an “icon-worshipper” come close to him. Methodius objected, saying that the Lord was angry with him for the insults upon His holy icons. They gave the saint over to torture, and struck him much about the face, from which his jaw was broken. Ugly scars remained on his face. Methodius was sent off to the island of Antigonos and locked up with two robbers in a deep cave. In this dark prison where the light of day did not penetrate, Methodius languished for 7 years until the death of the emperor Theophilus.
During this time, the holy Confessors Theodore and Theophanes the Branded (December 27), who had also been sent to prison, sent Methodius greetings in verse, and the prisoner replied with greetings in verse.
After the death of Theophilus, his son Michael III (842-867) began to rule, but not being of mature age, the Byzantine Empire was actually ruled by his mother, Empress Theodora, a venerater of icons.
The empress tried to extirpate the Iconoclast heresy and gave orders to free the confessors imprisoned for icon veneration. The heretic Annios occupying the patriarchal throne was banished, and Saint Methodius was chosen. At Constantinople was convened a local Council with Saint Methodius presiding (842). The Council restored icon veneration and established an annual celebration of the triumph of Orthodoxy. The “Synodikon of Orthodoxy” compiled by Saint Methodius is read on the First Sunday of Great Lent.
Attempting to undermine the authority of Saint Methodius and his flock's love and esteem for him, the heretics slandered him as having transgressed chastity. The slander was exposed as such, and the saint's enemies were put to shame. The final years of the saint passed peacefully; he toiled much, wisely guided the Church and his flock, renovated temples ruined by the heretics, gathered up the relics of saints scattered about by the heretics, and transferred the relics of Patriarch Nikēphóros from the place of his imprisonment back to Constantinople. Saint Methodius died in the year 846. He was spiritually close to Ioannikos (4 November), who foretold that he would become patriarch at the time of his death. Besides the “Synodikon of Orthodoxy,” the holy hierarch also compiled a rule for those converted to the Faith, three rites of marriage, and several pastoral sermons and church hymns.
Source: Orthodox Church in America_OCA
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ROMANS 10:11-11:2
11 The Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." 14 How shall they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "LORD, who has believed our report?" 17 So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 18, But I say, have they yet to hear? Yes indeed:"Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world." 19 But I say, did Israel not know? First, Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation." 20 But Isaiah boldly says:"I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me." 21 But to Israel, he says: "All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people."
1 I say, then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
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worstpunk · 8 months
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Just read Alexandria 48 BC by @smudgeandfrank , its definitely worth the 15 dollars! What a steal for 88 pages of quality comic, delicious angst and gorgeous art!! Its just what I needed after season 2 😭😭 10/10 would recommend!
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eli-kittim · 1 year
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🔥 Was the Septuagint Destroyed When the Library of Alexandria Was Burnt Down in 48 BC❓🔥
By Author Eli Kittim 🎓
The Argument
Some people (typically Jewish apologists) claim that the Septuagint doesn’t exist because it was destroyed when the Library of Alexandria was burnt down in 48 BC.
This conclusion, however, is both textually misleading & historically erroneous.
First
The Alexandrian Library and its collection were not entirely destroyed. We have evidence that there was only partial damage and that many of its works survived. According to Wiki:
The Library, or part of its collection, was
accidentally burned by Julius Caesar during
his civil war in 48 BC, but it is unclear how
much was actually destroyed and it seems
to have either survived or been rebuilt
shortly thereafter; the geographer Strabo
mentions having visited the Mouseion in
around 20 BC and the prodigious scholarly
output of Didymus Chalcenterus in
Alexandria from this period indicates that
he had access to at least some of the
Library's resources.
Second
The Septuagint had already been written and disseminated among the diaspora since the 3rd century BC, and so many of its extant copies were not housed in the Library of Alexandria per se.
Third
Textual Criticism confirms that the New Testament authors used the Septuagint predominantly and quoted extensively from it. If the Septuagint didn’t exist, where did the New Testament authors copy from? And how do you explain the fact that the New Testament and the Septuagint often have identical wording in their agreements?
Fourth
The Dead Sea Scrolls also demonstrate that the Septuagint was far more accurate than the 10th-century-AD Masoretic text. See, for example, the textual controversy surrounding Deuteronomy 32:8. Both the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint have “sons of God.” The Masoretic text is demonstrably inaccurate because it has “sons of Israel,” a later redaction. Israel didn’t even exist at that time!
Fifth
Emanuel Tov, a leading authority on the Septuagint who has explained the various textual families (or text-types) of the Old Testament, never once mentioned that we lost the Septuagint, or that it was destroyed, or that it was no longer in circulation. On the contrary, he claims that it continued to be in use during the Christian period and that it is much more older than the 10th-century-AD Masoretic text, which the Jews call the “Hebrew Bible.”
Sixth
If the Septuagint was completely destroyed, as some have erroneously suggested, from where were the later revisionists and translators copying from? We have historical evidence that they were, in fact, copying from the Septuagint itself. Wiki writes:
Theodotion … was a Hellenistic Jewish
scholar, … who in c. 150 CE translated the
Hebrew Bible into Greek. … Whether he was
revising the Septuagint, or was working
from Hebrew manuscripts that represented
a parallel tradition that has not survived, is
debated.
So there’s evidence to suggest that the Theodotion version is a possible *revision* of the Septuagint. This demonstrates that the Septuagint existed in the second century AD! Otherwise, where was Theodotion copying from if the Septuagint didn’t exist?
Seventh
The great work of Origen, Hexapla, compiled sometime before 240 AD, is further proof that the Septuagint was still in use in the 3rd century AD! Wikipedia notes the following:
Hexapla … is the term for a critical edition
of the Hebrew Bible in six versions, four of
them translated into Greek, preserved only
in fragments. It was an immense and
complex word-for-word comparison of the
original Hebrew Scriptures with the Greek
Septuagint translation and with other Greek
translations.
Encyclopedia Britannica adds:
In his Hexapla (“Sixfold”), he [Origen]
presented in parallel vertical columns the
Hebrew text, the same in Greek letters, and
the versions of Aquila, Symmachus, the
Septuagint, and Theodotion, in that order.
Eighth
Besides Origen’s Hexapla, we also have extant copies of the Septuagint. According to wiki:
Relatively-complete manuscripts of the
Septuagint postdate the Hexaplar
recension, and include the fourth-century-
CE Codex Vaticanus and the fifth-century
Codex Alexandrinus. These are the oldest-
surviving nearly-complete manuscripts of
the Old Testament in any language; the
oldest extant complete Hebrew texts date
to about 600 years later, from the first half
of the 10th century.
Ninth
There’s also historical and literary evidence that the Greek Septuagint was in wide use during the Christian period and beyond. Wiki says:
Greek scriptures were in wide use during
the Second Temple period, because few
people could read Hebrew at that time. The
text of the Greek Old Testament is quoted
more often than the original Hebrew Bible
text in the Greek New Testament
(particularly the Pauline epistles) by the
Apostolic Fathers, and later by the Greek
Church Fathers.
Tenth
Today, Biblical scholarship has a *critical edition* of the Septuagint. If it was destroyed in 48 BC, where did the critical edition come from? The Göttingen Septuaginta (editio maior) presents *a fully critical text* and should silence the skeptics and critics who try to mislead the public. They deliberately mislead the public by trying to discredit the far more reliable and much older Septuagint in order to get people to accept the much later Hebrew Masoretic text from the Middle Ages❗️
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volterran-wine · 2 years
Note
I have to ask the hard question : which one of you *dared* to burn the library of Alexandria ? I'm part of the people that believes you did it to help keep the Secret... well... secret. But ! That was *the* library !!
𝐀𝐫𝐨: The reports of my involvement with the destruction of the library have been greatly exaggerated. It did in fact fall into disrepair over the course of time, 800 years to be exact. But we did make sure that texts mentioning the supernatural were destroyed.
𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐮𝐬: I may or may not have been present when it burned for the first time in 48 BC, but the entire collection was not lost. Me and Athenodora brought some of the existing collection with us home as a present for Aro.
𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚: Husband, we did in fact make sure some of the scrolls that mentioned vampires conveniently burned.
𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐮𝐬: I never said we did not 'help' establish the mystery around our species love, the truth is that we didn't destroy the entire thing. Only some of it.
𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬: A little after Corin came to us I was also traveling in the area, I too took some scrolls and dumped others in the ocean.
𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚: You would be surprised by what sorts of treasure we have hidden in the archives.
𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐱: Any time a mission brought us close to Alexandria we had strict instructions to bring some of it back, and ruin other parts of the collection. It was not difficult to slip in and out for the political climate was quite strained at the time.
𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧: Me, father and Aro did in fact take a trip there in the year 542 AD not long after we had established our seat as ruling coven. By then it was already in rough shape and we brought back what we could.
𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚: And then we went on another trip to 'borrow' some more of the scrolls when we went to war with the Egyptians around 621 AD, I believe by 640 AD the library saw its downfall.
𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐜: When me and Jane came around the library was pretty much in ruins and all the texts were gone, father was really down about that.
— 𝐴𝑟𝑜, 𝐶𝑎𝑖𝑢𝑠, 𝐴𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑟𝑎, 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑠, 𝑆𝑢𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎, 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑥, 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛, 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑎 & 𝐴𝑙𝑒𝑐
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pinktinselmonstrosity · 11 months
Note
asking u abt the library of alexandria joining the war on procrastination on the side of procrastination
hehe thank you i just got back from a walk and i was looking for another way to procrastinate
TL;DR: everything you think you know about the library of Alexandria is wrong. The two main ideas about the library in popular culture are that it was an unparalleled depository of knowledge and that this knowledge was destroyed by a fire started by Julius Caesar in 48 BC; however neither of these ideas are substantially supported by literary or material evidence and are most likely completely false.
(putting the rest under the cut)
Let's address these myths one by one. The easiest to debunk is that of the Caesarian destruction. The earliest account of the destruction of the library by Caesar is in Plutarch's Life of Caesar, written in the 2nd century AD. Earlier accounts of the Battle of Alexandria, including that written by Caesar himself, do not mention the destruction of the library, only that ships in the harbour were burned. The account given by the generally anti-Caesar Lucan in Pharsalia would surely have mentioned the destruction of the library, but only describes the burning of ships and grain stores by the harbour. There are also numerous accounts from after 48 BC attesting to Alexandria as a centre of knowledge; for example, in 80 AD the emperor Domitian sent scholars to Alexandria to replace manuscripts which had been destroyed in a fire in Rome, and Tertullian attested in the 2nd century AD that the books collected by Ptolemy I were still on display in the city in his own time. Clearly there was still a substantial library in Alexandria after 48 BC, and therefore it cannot have been destroyed so dramatically by Caesar.
Archaeological evidence only attests to a serious fire in the city in the late 3rd century AD, which is incidentally when Ammianus Marcellinus claimed the library had been destroyed by the emperor Aurelian. Other accounts claim that the library was destroyed in religious protests in 391, or even as late as the 7th century AD by Muslim invaders. It is far more likely, however, that the library was never 'destroyed' in one fell swoop, but rather fell into decline due to imperial neglect. One scholar has even estimated that if the original scrolls collected by Ptolemy I in the fourth century BC were never copied onto new papyrus (and there are no accounts of this practice, despite a rich corpus of Alexandrine scholarship) they would have decayed irreparably by 48 BC anyway; the climate in Alexandria is unsuitable for the preservation of papyrus, and alternatives were difficult and expensive to produce. While it is likely they acquired new copies of these texts, the idea of one great library surviving from its foundation by Ptolemy I in the fourth century to its destruction in 48 BC is unfounded.
Secondly, the idea that the library of Alexandria contained unparalleled amounts of knowledge is equally difficult to verify. Ancient and medieval estimates of the library's contents range from 40,000 to 700,000 books. These books would have been stored in scrolls, which could contain around 10,000 words each. Based on the number of extant Greek texts and those which don't survive but are attested to, it has been estimated that the maximum number of scrolls contained in the library was....... 10,000 scrolls (that's scrolls, not books - the number of books would be lower). Additionally, any structure which could store as many books as the sources attest to would surely leave some archaeological mark, but as of yet none has been found, even with recent advances in marine archaeology.
The idea of the 'dark ages' has often been pointed to as proof of the significance of the contents of the library of Alexandria; however, modern scholarship contests that such a decline in knowledge ever took place, and even if the library had been destroyed in 48 BC libraries persisted in Rome, Athens, Pergamon, and Constantinople for centuries after 48 BC which would have preserved the same knowledge. The scholarship techniques developed in Alexandria (such as the creation of definitive editions of earlier texts, the standardization of grammar, the writing of commentaries and the invention of glossaries) which were arguably the library's most significant contributions also persisted despite whatever happened to the library.
"But Pinkie!" I hear you cry, "how can historians have got it so wrong?" The truth is, the myth of the library is a powerful one, and it's easy to fall prey to. Many scholars ignore contradictions between the texts they use as evidence, or even blame medieval transcription errors or mistranslations for accounts they disagree with. Although it's true that in ancient history (or indeed, history more generally) there is never one authoritative source that you can trust to tell you the whole truth, the degree of nuance with which scholars usually approach ancient sources is often forgotten in studies of the library. Personally, while I find these misinterpretations annoying when I come across them on my dash, I can understand that they're not actively harmful; the idea of the 'destruction of the library of Alexandria' has taken on a life of its own outside the bounds of historical fact which is significant in its own right. I still won't reblog those posts though :)
For more on this see Bagnall (2002) 'Alexandria: Library of Dreams' and Hatzimichali (2013) 'Ashes to ashes? The library of Alexandria after 48 BC'
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ihopesocomic · 2 years
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If you could travel to any point in time, where/when would you go and why?
48 BC Alexandria, Egypt to save the library. - Cat
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roleplay-today · 5 months
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Literacy: semi literate, literate to Novella (replies vary on motivation and what I’m given with.)
Fandom: Good omens
Pair: MxM, CxC
Character(s): Aziraphale, Crowley
Ship(s): AziraCrow, Aziraphale x Crowley
Triggers: no weird stuff. No scat, water sports, vore, feet fetishes. None of that. (I’m ok with smut but I’m a bottom)
Rules: no Oneliners, No being Op or Helpless, don’t spam me I have a life I can’t always respond-
Genres: romance, angst, hurt and comfort.
Plot ideas: I have a lot! But my most recent is I want to roleplay as Aziraphale in Alexandria 48 BC. Aka this beautiful comic (multiple parts) https://youtu.be/qc80YQo3AuM?si=JLzeJ5HyiO9kWek9
Where: Discord, Tumblr
Other: I’m autistic and have adhd.
If you are interested like this post or comment- I’ll dm youuuuu
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