Augure is an amazing movie that does not look like any other movie. Augure shows a life full of rituals, magical realism, love and violence in the collectivist society of Congo. And it succeeds to bring in the individual perspective and choices.
I read several reviews after seeing the movie Augure, directed by former rapper Baloji. Reviewers clearly struggle to comment on a movie that does not play by their – western – rules. * ‘the beautiful-looking vignettes sometimes don’t quite merge into one coherent story with one clear message’ (Filmtotaal) * ‘a ragged, open, unfinished character’ (Filmkrant) * ‘Baloji’s full-length debut floats gently around in a wonderful bath of magical realism, but we were not really overwhelmed by emotions’. (De Morgen)
I disagree with the reviewers and found Augure really something else. An innovative movie with a strong message: a major contribution to the world of movies. The suspense was quite heavy for me from the first minutes. I really did wonder what would follow and if I could hold it to the end of the movie. Augure starts with scenes that other movies end with. Luckily, I stayed.
The scenery and images are spectacular. As the reviewers did remark, colours, costumes, music, landscape, fairy tale, art and tradition, all of that is part of the story. A Belgian Congolese returns to his homeland to see if he can connect with his family and introduce his Belgian wife. ‘He told me it would be different’, she said, ‘but I did not understand how different’. Her strong point is that she looses grip from the very beginning of her arrival in Congo and lives with it. Her openness gives her connections.
Scenery in Congo is not just beautiful. There are many cruel aspects, violence, murder, rape and different kinds of exclusion: a more than average terrible phenomenon in a collectivist society. What the reviewers see as ‘ragged’ and not ‘coherent’, are the different perspectives of protagonists. They have to relate to the positive and negative aspects of that vibrant society and they do make their choices. Following their steps is very interesting. Sometimes these steps have many observers (the list of figurants in this movie is long). They are silently watching and give way to the individual path. It accentuates the meaning of individual expression within collectivism. The reviewer above who was not ‘really overwhelmed with emotions’ must have missed the possibility to relate to the protagonists’s soul.
After an intrusive and alienating start of the movie, seeing through the daily jungle of events becomes more and more clear. The viewer is left with the question how he himself lives now, and how he himself would live in the magical and hard reality of Congo. Go watch Augure if you dare to and if you feel ready to let go.
The Gravediggers of the Republic (islamo-leftism: the unpublished survey) is a rich and knowledgeable book. It offers a dive into history, explains theories and practice and gives sharp observations of the changing secular society: France in the first place but applicable to many countries. Sifaoui considers islamo-leftism as a threat to free societies. Step by step he accompanies the reader through the arguments why.
In the introduction, Sifaoui writes that he was educated and formed with the values of the left. Those values are the reason why he resists political islam because of its totalitarian character. Therefor he is shocked to see the liaison of the left with political islam: ‘(...) ceux qui sont suppose être de mon camp idéologique, de ma famille politique, les défenseurs réputés de l’humanisme, de l’antiracisme universaliste, des grandes valeurs, en somme de la Déclaration des droits de l’homme et enfin de la laïcité, deviennent les meilleurs alliés des islamistes. Une anomalie que je ne finis pas d’explorer.’ p. 24
The Gravediggers of the Republic has 3 chapters: the genesis of islamo-gauchisme, its foundations and its activists. Overall it is very interesting what Sifaoui has to tell but not always easy. Sifaoui uses very long sentences, so at the end of them you often have to go back to the beginning for interpretation. Cutting sentences in half would largely contribute to good readability. It is also a very French book. Context and most players are French. Often I thought, who is that then? Or I missed assumed knowledge about situations described. But I had to keep on reading as the book is so interesting.
Islam versus political islam Sifaoui differentiates islam from political islam. ‘Je dis bien l’islam politique et non pas l’islam – ni les musulmans – puisqu’une religion réduite à sa stricte vocation, confinée dans la sphère privé, respectueuse des lois et des règles communes ne peut représenter un problème.’ p. 276 See also this video-fragment. Sifaoui states that the left is only interested in political, extreme islam, not in islam. For example the left supports less muslim women who do not wear veils than muslim women fighting to wear the veil in education and public offices. ‘Les << défenseurs des musulmans >> ou les << défenseurs des Maghrébins >> ne les défendent pas lorsqu’ils sont policiers, journalistes, chômeurs, ingénieurs, femmes émancipées, laïques, mais principalement quand ils sont islamistes. (...) Parfois ils se transformant même en menaces à leurs yeux’.p.364
Historical perspective The Gravediggers of the Republic shows how intellectual discussions about islam were well possible in the 19th century when great Arab thinkers contributed to debates. Then Wahhabism (origins in Saudi-Arabia) introduced intolerance and dictatorship of political islam. Sifaoui describes the historical process als it evolved in the Arab world: reforms in the 19th century, opening up to modernism, then overruled by nationalism since 1920 until the ‘70’s, when political islam starts to grow. I ascertain this was similar in the Turkish world: the 19th century reform movement Tanzimat, the nationalist period that started with Atatürk from 1920, and upcoming political islam after the 3rd Military Coup in 1980.
Conquering the main discourse Sifaoui sees how political islam infiltrates democratic countries. Education is a very important sector for them because islamism is a long-term project and education an effective weapon. Also organisations fighting racism and other social or political associations are seen and used as partners. Three steps are central in the islamic-leftist discours: first victimisation of muslims, then diabolisation of France and the values of the secular French Republic, finally reversal of the values. Thus many terror attacks have been justified already by islamo-leftists. The left abandons its traditionally essential principles. such as secularism and the fight against anti-semitism and even considers them as bad now. So the left approaches the political islamist discours, but the reverse movement (islamists defending leftist themes like feminism) does not exist. Sifaoui explains the connection of the left with political islam from the fight against capitalism. For the left, a man who works hard to give a good life to his family, who enjoys liberties like emancipation that capitalism brings, who is no longer forced to go to church, synagogue or mosque, that free man is serving the wrong system. He is an individualist and an ally of capitalism, thus an enemy.
How resilient are France and the West? The Gravediggers of the Republic gives many examples for its assertions. The fight to have women wear a veil and antisemitism are main themes for political islam. The left joins the political islam here. They plead for the veil as a woman’s right. They turn the wish for liberation of the Palestinian People into a fight against Israel that also brings antisemitism. That is not new or recent. In France in 1982 the newspaper Libération published openly a readers’ letter appealing to ‘Arab brothers’ to make sure ‘no Jew would feel safe’. Also in Libération, the French socialist politician Jospin does not condemn terrorism in Algeria as he thinks the government has to be more democratic. Jospin indicates he cannot choose sides, a stand that shocks Sifaoui. Born and raised in Algeria, Sifaoui grew up with the extremist terror of GIA (see also this blog). He thinks the West and certainly the left is underestimating the power, deepness and violence of political islam. The West is not really equipped to fight it, but France is doing better than most countries on the institutional level. Is it really? I’m not convinced yet. I’d love to read a book from Sifaoui’s hand that is not merely focussing on France but studying different Western-European countries.
(Assumed) imperialism and colonialism as drivers As the left sees Arab countries through the glasses of imperialism, they refer actual developments like political islam to colonial history. They could not be more mistaken, Sifaoui says. Political islam goes back ages and is not an actual development. Its inspiration does not come from the outside (by imperialism and the like) but from the inside of muslim-majority societies. Sifaoui sees two streams of political islam: one is ideological (Muslim Brotherhood) and one is revolutionary and violent (Wahhabism/Salafism). Both have strong connections to the left. The left finds excuses for acts that they would not accept from other citizens. But they see muslims as victims of society, not as free humans who choose to kill the staff of Charlie and visitors in the Bataclan or decapitate Paty. So in the name of (left) egalitarism, unequal treatment is allowed and even a must.
Read it! There are so many historical facts in this book that it is difficult to summarize and present them here. With over 400 pages of knowledge and insights, the book is rich. Particularly original is chapter 16 about the ‘islamic left’(‘la gauche islamique’). Sifaoui has a fabulous knowledge of the Arab and islamic world, apart from his French insights. I recommend you read The Gravediggers of the Republic if you’re interested in islamo-leftism.
Finally, 2 fragments that were new and insightful to me:
1. Fragment explaining that political islam is less about faith or theology and more about fighting the system: ‘Pour comprendre l’adhésion d’un certain nombre de musulmans à l’islamisme, il faut garder présent à l’esprit un fait important (...). Ce ne sont ni la piété des prêcheurs islamistes, ni leurs envolées théologico-lyriques qui séduisent les musulmans, mais plutôt l‘expression de la contestaton après l’échec des expériences réformistes et nationalistes. En d’autres termes, l‘islamisme, et peut-être a fortiori depuis la mort du communisme, apparaît comme une alternative idéologique de remise en question de regimes autoritaires. En Occident, il y a une autre raison, car la repartition des richesses est plus équitable et les droits mieux garantis: on va vers l’islam politique car il offre une identité, il propose une aventure héroissante si le candidat entre dans des logiques djihadistes, et permet, ou donne, l’impression, de recouvrer une dignité, d’appartenir à un groupe qui – à tout le moins en apparence, c’est souvent une posture – ne fait pas du consumérisme et du matérialisme ses seules préoccupations.’ p. 202-203
2, About the difference of secularism (‘laïcité) in the US and France: ‘C’est méconnaître que la << separation >> outre-Atlantique visait, dès le départ, à protéger les Églises de l’emprise de l’État. En France, c’est l’inverse. En verité, deux modèles de laïcité s’opposent: une première laïcité, celle des Américains, considère, en effet, qu’elle protège les croyances contre l’État, la seconde, la << laïcité à la francaise >>, comme on l’appelle, empêche les religions d’interférer dans le fonctionnement de l’État.’ p. 326-327
Yasmina Khadra is the most famous Algerian author. He has a long list of books translated in 22 languages. In a very rich French language, he offers to his readers original insights about love, life, identity, colonialism, terrorism and fate. In my blog here, I present 2 books; especially Khalil was a book I could not lay down until finished. All the themes Yasmina Khadra offers are actual in the Netherlands as well as in Algeria and France. But the Netherlands have no authors who could or dared to touch these matters with the depth of experience and empathy of Yasmina Khadra. I highly recommend this author!
Note that the name Yasmina Khadra is the pseudonym of Mohammed Moulessehoul, who worked in the Algerian army for 36 years. The pseudonym served him to avoid military censorship. Nevertheless he can talk about terrorism and colonialism as an expert who lived there where it happened. That makes his books so much more interesting than average.
Khalil (2018)
Khalil is an intriguing, exciting and oppressive book about a terrorist of Paris 2015. The book starts immediately in the action, with Belgian-Moroccan Khalil on his way to a suicide mission to blow himself up in a full metro close to Stade de France. The book is written in ‘I’ so that the reader feels an immediate connection with Khalil’s ideas and feelings. His mission in the Paris 2015 terrorist attacks is unsuccessful as his bomb belt does not explode. From there starts a crazy journey, out of Paris, out of France where everything is on the alert, back to Belgium and finally Molenbeek where Khalil lives.
In Molenbeek, all security forces are active at the highest level too. Khalil first has to survive, then finally connects again with his terrorist group to plan new attacks. Meanwhile his family and his best friend are step by step finding out that he got involved in terrorist activities. Apart from Khalil’s central story, many social issues pass in review, like the terrible treatment of Khalil’s sister in Morocco by a marabout and then an imam when her mother thinks someone gave the bad eye to her daughter.
There’s also a lot to enjoy for language lovers, like these sentences:
Son souffle résonnait contre mes tempes comme le chuintement d’une canalisation fissurée. (His breath echoed against my temples like the hiss of a cracked pipe. p. 73)
Je connaissais suffisamment Driss pour l’enterrer sans sépulture. (I knew Driss well enough to bury him unburied. p. 90)
Aucune étoile dans le ciel n’égalait le sourire de Zahra. Lorsqu’elle étirait les lèvres sur les côtés, des fossettes ornaient les pétales qui lui tenaient lieu de joues, et elle devenait tout un jardin à elle seule. (No star in the sky matched Zahra’s smile. When she stretched her lips to the sides, dimples adorned the petals that served as her cheeks, and sje became a garden unto herself. p.96)
Khalil was translated in English, not in Dutch. I did not tell the whole exciting story here, for the suspense to stay when you start reading this book yourself. Here Yasmina Khadra in a video about this book.
Ce que le jour doit à la nuit (What the day owes the night2008)
One of the best books about life in colonial, contested colonial and post-colonial times. Younes, presented as the I-person, comes from a very poor rural background. His parents lived misery in a region where violence, hardness and oppression formed the norm. Eventually Younes is educated by his uncle, a pharmacist in a city who gives him a very good and also medical education. His uncle’s wife is French and calls him Jonas. The contacts with his family that keeps living in poor and miserable conditions, are difficult, even painful.
In colonial Algerian cities, different groups coexist: French, Arabs, Jews. At school though, the ‘enfants étranges’ (foreign children) can form blocs that exclude Younes and other ‘Arabs’. But Younes ends up having different friends who all fall in love with the same woman, Emilie and it brings many complicated stories. While they live their daily life and problems, the colonial war starts to break out. As a pharmacist, Younes is forced to help the terrorists (or freedom fighters). During all of the book it stays unclear on what side Younes sees himself – he does not really choose or adhere to a side, it seems. He is just surviving in changing and confusing times where others put him in a group: > Tu es des nôtres mais tu mènes leur vie (you are ours but you live their life p.200)
I like to round off this blog with a valuable advice from the book! Often Younes is unhappy. He once heard a story of a mad man in the street, telling: ‘Le malheur est un cul-de-sac.Il mène droite dans le mur. Si tu veux t’en sortir, rebrousse chemin à reculons. De cette facon, tu croiras que c’est lui qui s’éloigne pendant que tu lui fais face.'(Misfortune is a dead end. He leads straight into the wall. If you want to get out of it, turn back backwards. That way, you’ll believe it’s him walking away while you are facing him’ p. 300-301).
Ce que le jour doit à la nuit was translated in English and Dutch (What the day owes the night / Wat de dag verschuldigd is aan de nacht). Here Yasmina Khadra in a video about this book
More French-Arab authors? You may also like Boualem Sansal, 3 of his books in my blog Why are people like this?
National Museum Serbia in Belgrad has a great archaeological collection and very beautiful presentation. Visitors get good insight in (pre)historic life in this region where rivers dominate the landscape and many different tribes shaped the local customs.
Do not go to the National Museum Serbia, people told me. Apparently, it is a prominent project of the actual president that many citizens of Belgrad hate. However, archaeological findings house in this ‘Narodni Muzej Srbije’ so I went there anyway and I did not regret. The enormous hall on the ground floor has a nice atmosphere and good overview over the ages, starting in the 9-7th millenium BCE with the extensive findings of Lepenski Vir – like the figurines on the photograph above. Mesolithic artists shaped sandstone boulders from the river into sculptures and altars.
The National Museum Serbia contains many other precious objects and they know how to show them as you can see here. It is a joy to walk and look around.
Fortunately, always great to see, they have ancient jewelry! I was particularly intrigues by the ‘wristband’, an ornament that people wore 1500-1000 years BCE. I’d loved to try it for myself. More in general, why are jewelry makers not more often inspired by ancient times and the often spectacular ideas of our ancestors? The silver jewelry shown here date from 500-400 BCE.
These are just a few impressions. I really recomment that you go and see for yourself as there is so much more than what I show. The National Museum Serbia houses in a former bank and they use that as an advantage by housing a numismatic collection in two former bank vaults. Here you see pictures of a coin of Emperor Valentinian 1 (364 BCE) – of the oldest Serbian coin (1230 AD) with Christ blessing King Radoslav – and of a beautiful Yugoslavian banknote (1931). If you like ancient coins, the numismatic collection alone is rich enough to pay a visit to.
The first floor has lots of medieval objects, many of them religious. The top floors have paintings – I spotted quite some Dutch ones among many international famous names. For this blog, I think the Serbian painter Uros Predic (1857 – 1953) is interesting to show with some very fine Realistic paintings: ‘An orphan at his mother’s grave'(1888) and ‘Fugitives from Herzegovina'(1889). I was deeply moved while watching them.
Villa del Casale in Sicily is a wonderful heritage from Roman times. It has a unique mosaic that proves women were exercising for different sports as well as men. What makes Villa del Casale a must-see in Sicily are the many mosaics still in place. The villa with numerous rooms, courts and halls contains more authentic mosaics on their original spots than museums can offer. My visit was amazing and breathtaking as there are not just many mosaics. They are also storytelling mosaics, full of action.
Historians have searched: who would have been rich enough in ancient times to build a place like this? So many rooms (see the villa-plan below) and litterally every floor had mosaics (remaining), wall paintings and marble (mostly lost). In his excellent book about the history of Sicily, Fik Meijer suggests that it could have been Maximinianus, co-emperor of Diocletianus in the 3rd century AD but there are also other theories.
Villa del Casale was well in use for at least 7 centuries and probably disappeared underground in the time of the Normans (12th century. Farmers re-discovered it in the 18th century. Restauration followed in the 20th century. And it is very much worth your visit.
Mosaic of Circus Maximus Not only the mosaic with the sportgirls is unique. In a spectacular corridor, you can see the Roman Circus Maximus projected, with horses running around the track, and other scenes that belong to this horse racing event. It is an incredible and very vivid mosaic, although a little bit difficult to see for the visitor. But even with some distance, it impresses well enough. At a certain point in your visit, you can look into this room also from the other side.
Mosaic Colosseum animals Very impressive is also the 100 (!) meter long corridor. This corridor is like a film that shows how Romans catch wild animals that must fight in the Colosseum, and how they transport them. This is storytelling mosaic in its best form, not to be found anywhere else in the world. A great variety of animals is put into ships towards Rome: from springbok, buffalo and ostrich to lion, tiger, rhino, elephant. The places depicted are Carthago, Alexandria, the Nile delta, India and the harbour of Ostia. Apparently animals had to be taken from far away to feed the hunger of the Colosseum public in Rome.
Where should I start to describe the rest of Villa del Casale? There are many more storytelling mosaics. A last one that I like both for the scene and for the way the mosaic was placed in a ‘semi-circular portico’ around a small courtyard that connects various rooms.
Mosaic about the art of fishing This mosaic shows are many boats, all of them with two fishermen using different methods to fish. It reveals in detail the secrets of fishing with a net, a creel, a trident and a fishing line with a hook. The sea is full with an immense variety of fish. Alongside of the sea you see beautiful maritime villas with different forms but all with long arcades that open out onto the sea. Most probably this is one of the ‘North-African’ mosaics present in Villa del Casale as it looks a lot like mosaics found in the Bardo Museum in Tunis.
Mosaic floors for servants Were you only a servant in the Villa del Casale? Well, even for you the floors would be covered with mosaics and the walls with frescos and marble. It might not be a storytelling mosaic but I would not mind to have that kind of floor in my room!
How to get there? Villa del Casale lies in the country-side, a few kilometers from Piazza Armerina about one hour drive from Catania. There is a public bus (Interbus) going from Taormina – Catania – Piazza Armerina. The total ride is about 3 hours (a lot shorter if you start from Catania of course). Tickets are rather cheap (return ticket 18 euros in 2023). Next to the busstop in Piazza Armerina is also the stop of the shuttle to Villa del Catale (2,50 return ticket in 2023, only 10 minutes drive). If you have time left between bus and shuttle, Piazza Armerina has a nice historic centre. Although a bit in neglect, it is worth some of your time.
Waarheen moet ik gaan is an outstanding book about the recent history of a Jewish family, written by John Dunkelgrün. It starts in the 2nd half of the 19th century and leads us through 2 World Wars, lots of joy of life and loads of antisemitism. It is an exciting book, showing the power of optimism and entrepreneurship, but also a story of loss and the reality of evil. Many familymembers described in this book did not survive the holocaust. Waarheen moet ik gaan makes very clear what happened; it can not answer the question why… Nevertheless, because of the special skills of the writer, Waarheen moet ik gaan grabs your attention in every chapter.
John Dunkelgrün follows his family lines from father’s and mother’s side. He is a master storyteller with a good sense of humor. Personally, I found especially the international aspect of this book very intriguing – it left me as a reader full of admiration about the way his family members were open to new cultures and experiences. Also it gives lots of indepth information about Jewish life in different countries. Three characteristics are always there: trade and entrepreneurship – being Jewish and a minority that is constantly met with prejudices – openness to others, whoever they are in background, wealth, etnicity and the like.
In the line of his father the adventure goes through Poland, Germany, Palestine, Belgium, the Netherlands. In the line of his mother, the story starts in Roumania, Russia, Hungaria and Austria passes via Hamburg to the United States, continues in the Netherlands, Persia and London. All these travellings are described in detail in the first two parts of the book; the author makes you look around and really see all those places.
Waarheen moet ik gaan is a very special chronicle of a family history in a turbulent century. Sometimes, the writer intervenes, explaining what he knows or what he could not find in his research. Rather then disturb the reader, it gives this book an extra dimension – the reader is aware that Waarheen moet ik gaan is not ‘just a book’ but that there is an author behind who wants to show some things and is willing to be accountable for what one reads.
Waarheen moet ik gaan is also the story of starting over and over again. The writers’ grandfather is unsafe in Poland and leaves a good business behind, to start another one in Germany. Some years later, he is unsafe again and moves with his family to the Netherlands, where he starts a new business again. But then, in WW2, he is unsafe again and this time he and his family have to run without a sure place to go. His other grandfather grows up in extreme poverty and runs away from home at the age of 13 or 14. What follows, looks like a story of a fairy tale. You will not be bored for a minute when reading this adventure, as an amazing, almost incredible story is told by a master storyteller.
In the 3rd part of the book, it is war time WW2. Slowly by slowly the situation deteriorates and both families have to run, almost too late. Borders have closed, administrations disencourage refugees especially the Jewish ones, many try to profit financially from the situation of refugees. This part of Waarheen moet ik gaan is deeply oppressive and dramatic. The loneliness in the continuous threat, the need to survive in an environment that is probably hostile… the family makes it into France but they do not know who can be trusted. Betrayal is everywhere, as well as greed. Eventually part of the family arrives in Switzerland where the writer is born.
I love this picture of the baby author!
Life is described in detail including life in camps full of hardship in France and Switzerland. The end of WW2 does not just mean to ‘start again’, it means also dealing with what happened during the holocaust in a context that is not welcoming or facilitating, on the contrary. The scars of the survivors are enormous and lasting. However, immediately there is life again, full of business and humorous anecdotes. So much energy and resilience.
Is there nothing that could be done better in this book? Well yeah, there are so many names that a register to explain who is who would help the reader. There is an existing register explaining many words, Jiddisch, Hebrew, German, Hungarian that I found very helpful. Waarheen moet ik gaan is in Dutch but deserves a much larger, international public.
Reconstruction of Gallic house (1st century BD – based on Oppidum Titelberg)
Musée National Luxembourg offers 5 floors of archaeology, presented in a beautiful way. The collection is rich and a visit feels like a discovery of old times. Also children can have a great time in this museum; there is plenty of space, interaction and objects presentations that can attract their full attention.
Skull of prehistoric rhinoceros
Musée National Luxembourg was built in the rocks: when you enter in the ground floor, there is a nationalistic presentation about Luxembourg: since when is it a country and how does it develop it’s own identity. Then you walk to floor -1 to find yourself in the first ages of our era. You can go down by stairs or slope (wheelchair accessible). and each floor you go back in time, to end on floor -5 with the oldest known history of Luxembourg. Here and there I lost my way through the logic of the route but that didn’t matter, it just added to the joy of the discovery.
Mosaic floor with the Muses, found in Gallo-Roman villa in Vichten
The mosaic floor that was found in Vichten is a striking beauty – in reality better than in the picture above (difficult to photograph because of the specific lights above the floor). It depicts the 9 Muses in an impressive way. The complete floor is ca. 6 x 10 meters! You can read in this (French) article how it was found and unearthed, an interesting story. Other pieces from that period that drew my attention are the altars with indigenous fertility godesses; they have fruit baskets on their lap and small animals or children on their side. They made me think of the altar findings at the coast in the Netherlands (see the blog: Meet Nehalennia!).
Indigenous fertility goddess, most probably a home altar
Apparently there was an exposition in the Henan Museum in Zhengzhou, China, under the title ‘Luxembourg: small country, rich history’. Indeed Luxembourg is small compared to China. In lots of vitrines, like here in the midst of special glasswork (left photo) and wonderful accessories from the 1st-4rd century AD (right photo), there were signs of objects gone to China. Very nice to see this special cultural exchange!
There is a lot more to tell about Musée National Luxembourg, I will limit it here to 2 more items – just go there yourself to see and live it all! 1, I did like this piece of glasswork from 40-50AD, found in graves ‘Hellange – Belsaker’:
2. Finally, real amazing, the facial reconstruction of ‘the man of Loschbour’ based on a skeleton that dates from about 6000 BC, called the Mesolithic Period – these are the oldest finding of humans on Luxembourg’s soil – Loschbour is a small stream in Heffingen – Müllerthal, in the east of Luxembourg. These kind of video’s next to the representation of original findings make the neutral past so much more alive and close to our own lives. Well done, Musée National Luxembourg!
A Celtic graveyard can be found at Bourdange, Nospelt, at walking distance from a gallo-roman villa complex. To be fair, there is not a lot to see at the former Celtic graveyard itself: all pieces that were found there in archaeological research – and there were many – are exhibited in the National Museum of History and Art in Luxembourg City. However, the 0,5 kilometer walk towards this Celtic graveyard is nice. Moreover, arriving on the spot after a small path through the woods gives a good look and feel of the place. The Celts were amazing in finding spots for mystic purposes. Please follow 2 minutes of my path to the Celtic graveyard in this happy video-recording July 2022.
The Celtic graveyard was used during a few centuries, from the 1st century BD till problably the 3rd century AD. Archaeologists suppose that this graveyard belonged to the inhabitants of the nearby gallo-roman villa complex. All the objects were dug up by volunteers who were able to reconstruct especially the 5 large tumulus: the last resting place of 4 men and 1 woman, all of them probably in powerful positions. Both the men and the woman received the same kind of attributes in their tumulus: lots of pottery, weaponry and horse equipment. Apart from that, there was a mirror for the woman and 2 special statues of mother figures. On the photograph of the information board at Bourdange, you can see these statues lying in spot 1 and spot 2, somehow in the middle of a number of objects.
Around the grave of the Celtic woman, many coins were found and also specific bones. Apparently people worshipped her after her death. From the date of the coins, we know that the worship lasted over 150 years! She must have been very important and maybe one day we will know more about her. In the picture below you can see the presentation of the grave gifts in the Museum: it was a rich treasure that was donated to her in her tumulus in the Celtic graveyard. The Museum also shows the gifts given to the men.
One thing puzzled me, apparently there is a museum in Nospelt where findings of the Celtic graveyard and the gallo-roman villa are exposed. I went to Nospelt and indeed there is a house-like building with a sign that it is a museum, but nothing shows when it is opened or how it can be visited. That is a pity because all on the site indicates that such a museum would have a story. Fortunately there is the Museum in Luxembourg. Maybe the future will also bring volunteers for the Nospelt Museum (or the marketing of it).
Anyway, the Celtic graveyard in combination with the gallo-roman villa will give you a very nice experience; worth the trip!
The site of the gallo-roman villa at Bourdange (Nospelt, Luxembourg) is very interesting. Clearly there is a lot of care both for the findings of the gallo-roman (celtic-roman) villa and the information given to visitors. It is a pleasure to go and see around.
In the woods at the verge of Bourdange, Nospelt, lies a most interesting Celtic site. The road signs call it a ‘Roman villa’, locals call it ‘Miecher’. Anyway it dates from the period where Celts were adapting more and more to Roman laws and lifestyle (‘gallo-roman period’). What you see is a group of foundations, scattered around in field and forest, remnants from a large villa with many side-buildings. The foundations were dug up and made accessible so that you easily have an overview and a good impression of the extent of the wealth here in the first centuries AD. Also you can see the traces of wooden fences, made in the 3rd and 4rd century when German tribes attacked Roman sites.
Volunteers have run this project that the local pastor Kayser started in 1964. Pastor Kayser followed up on the local rumors that there was a lot to find in the forest. There were talks about a hidden treasure. Together with the locals, he started the first serious archaeological search, with success. What happened before when following up on local memories, happened here again: a real hidden treasure was found! Imagine to find a pot filled with 2772 ‘antonian’ coins! Alas it is not on the site of the gallo-roman villa in Bourdange but in the National Museum of History and Art in Luxembourg city. The treasure stood within a wall in one of the side building – maybe the administrator of the property? There is no side note on the owner or the meaning of this treasure so that is one of the secrets of history.
His initiative was the basis of a large archaeological movement in the region that is remarkable and that obtained government recognition and permission as per 1991. What an achievement! Every year, more than 10.000 volunteer hours are spent in ancient sites. They also do projects with young people to increase interest and love for archaeology. You can feel that when you visit. Not only were several people working there to clean the site and make it more perfect, also the proof of regular research activity is visible on several spots. The information boards are excellent – I could follow every step of the project and it is exciting. There is way to much information to mention here so go there yourself and take your time.
Most of the foundations at the gallo-roman villa of Bourdange were former houses or buildings, except for 2 structures: 1 is a small temple, I loved that: to have your own temple next to the house! This, of course, was only for the very rich. 2 is a former monument for the death, a small round tower. The fact that the monument was situated at the doorstep of the house, means that ancestors and death have been very present for the living.
When you visit the gallo-roman villa at Bourdange, it is just a short walk to go to the Celtic graves further into the woods. I went there and will tell more about them in the next blog.
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden is the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in the city of Leiden. I always thought that our country, the Netherlands, only had antiquities from foreign countries like Greece or Egypt, and that Dutch findings were rather recent. So I visited many archaeological museums especially in the Middle East (see below). How could I be so ignorant? Rijksmuseum van Oudheden has spectacular, really ancient findings from Dutch soil. Also I learned about local gods that I never heard about before. So nice!
The altars shown above are dedicated to the goddess Nehalennia. Many merchants who crossed the sea from the Netherlands to London from 150 – 250 AD erected an altar to thank her for a safe journey. People completely forgot about her until a temple and many altars were discovered in the dunes of Domburg in 1647 AD. Nehalennia is a goddess of fertility, often pictured with fruits and/or a dog, but also with (elements of) a ship. Her origin should be Germanic or Celtic. If you also never heard about her, that in itself makes it worth a visit to Rijksmuseum van Oudheden!
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden has a large collection with antiquities from many countries. It’s easy to spend many hours there! In this blog, I concentrate on the Dutch ones. Things I particularly liked:
Pottery from a settlement at the river Meuse in the south, dating from 5000BC.
The Ommerschans Sword and the Jutphaas Sword, unique pieces of bronze casting from 1500BC. The museum calls them ‘exceptional artefacts’. They were used as gifts in sacrifices. Center and northeast of the Netherlands (that didn’t exist as a country in that time yet).
Both men and women wore bronze neck rings. These date from the early iron age, 800-500BC. Found in the center of the country but most probably imported. Also used as offers. I particularly liked the twisted one.
This woodcarved figure was probably a ritual object. It was found in a well in Oss in the south and dates from 400BC. It is rare to find wooden antiquities. This one is in oak.
Spearhead, put in wooden shaft and then thrown to the enemy, apparently a real killer. Dating from 1-300BC, found in Alblasserdam, middle-west of the country. A masterpiece!
The golden helmet found by turf-cutters in the Peel (southeast), dating from 320AD. More precious objects were found but there is no info about context (owner, offering?). An absolute wow-piece!
The Viking Hoard of Wieringen, north-west of the country, 850AD. 1,6 kilo of silver, most probably from a Danish owner. It was buried in spring. So maybe the owner was hiding it when he left and he never came back…
The Musée d’Histoire et d’Archéologie in Orléans houses the great bronze treasure of Neuvy-en-Sullias – 33 art pieces from the gallic and gallo-roman period in the begin of our era. There is much more to see in this museum but the bronze treasure alone is already worth your visit.
Top pieces in the Musée d’Histoire et d’Archéologie in Orléans are the horse (54 kilos without the bronze pedestal) and the wild boar (125 cm long). You better bring a chair to sit in front of them for a while and admire this art that is unique in Europe. Let the refined craft work and the beauty sink in…
The bronze artefacts were found 1861 in Neuvy-en-Sullias in a hidden place next to the Loire river – most probably an offer to celtic gods like Rudiobus. Recent studies reveal that they were partly restaured at that time and not always in the right way.
Probably the top of this wild boar was placed on the wrong animal and must have belonged to the other wild boar. The rings on the pedestal of the horse, that probably served to carry the horse around in religious ceremonies, might not be the right ones but the other 4 ones in the showcase…
Amazing is also the series of small figurines: with gestures and movement and mostly nude. They do not look like roman art and their signification is unknown. One assumption is that they represent the naked dancing that came with gallic carnaval.
A guide in the Musée d’Histoire et d’Archéologie in Orléans was very enthusiastic about the treasure himself and most willing to show all the details. He also gave me the website address of JF Bradu who made scientific studies about the artefacts and published his findings. It made my visit even more interesting.
There is some more to see, first of all the Hôtel Cabu that houses the Musée d’Histoire et d’Archéologie in Orléans: built in 1548 in renaissance style.
Some objects in other parts of the museum I liked:
The intriguing statue of Saint Denis, the first bishop of France who was sent by pope Clemens to convert the Gauls and was decapitated by the Romans in 205. The story tells that he made it all the way from Montmartre to Saint Denis while carrying his decapitated head in his hands.
Nice plagues – very different in style and theme.
The drawing of a wild animal that wreaked havoc around Orléans, with a poem-like text next to it. An intriguing story, what kind of animal was that? When you stand there you can feel the fear people had for the cruelty of nature.
The Loire had tremendous inundations in the past. Signs in the city remind people to that: nothing new in nowadays high waters, showing that we are not yet on the level of the old days. In 1846 Alexandre Joseph Caboche saved paintress Mlle Schmitt from the flood and she painted his portrait with the cross of the Légion d’Honneur that he received.
Portrait of Wilhelmine and Henriette van Loon, by A.j. Dubois-Drahonet 1826
Museum Van Loon is a special canal house in Amsterdam built in 1672 and owned by the Van Loon family since 1884. The visit is a mixed experience of beauty, amazing details and an overdose of portraits. Did people actually live here, is a question coming up when walking around.
Many rooms are beautiful in Museum Van Loon. This photograph is the Blue Saloon on the ground floor. The woman with the red dress is Thora van Loon-Egidius who worked for Queen Wilhelmina. The museum shows more royal connections of the Van Loon family during the ages.
More recently, President Obama had dinner in the dining room of Museum van Loon when he visited Amsterdam. These kind of high profile contacts are clearly very important for the Van Loon family, but they do not communicate why. This leaves the visitor with the impression that it is about ‘belonging’, being part of societal circles as a value in itself.
Intriguing is the fact that the insignia of Van Loon has 2 black heads in it and they do not know where that came from. Ancestor Willem van Loon was one of the co-founders of the VOC in 1602. The black heads were added later to the original 15ht century insignia of the three crosses (‘mill irons’) and suggest a link with slavery and colonialism.
But a fundamental explanation has not been found yet. Museum Van Loon is open about the family’s connections with slavery in the 18th and 19th century and had a big project on the subject – keeping the details for an online visit here: https://www.museumvanloon.nl/programma/archief/120.
When I entered the sleeping room – the Sheep Room – I felt cosiness and private life for the first time. Much of the canal house is beautiful but impersonal. The Sheep Room is different; a place where humans live and enjoy themselves – maybe also because of the bookshelves and the fact that chaos is more dominant than order there.
Some particular highlights I like to show you here:
The Red Saloon, an amazing room full of portraits.
The most recent portraits of women in the family – they chose a different style, very nice.
The kitchen – just adorable
The garden, at the ‘back side’ of the canal house.
The char-à-bancs from the begin of the 20th century that was used for pleasure drives. Imagine that you sit in there or maybe even drive it yourself over the romantic canals of Amsterdam!
The stairwell that has its own particular charm.
All in all, I am not sure what to think of Museum Van Loon and that is maybe why I recommend a visit; it is intriguing, an elitist impression in an egalitarian city, a place where human touch has a challenge to break through the stiff upperlip while all seem to mean well.
