Mysteries of the past
“With her voice, like an instrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to another,” Greek biographer Plutarch gushed about Cleopatra, noting that the Egyptian queen spoke no less than 9 languages. Even though Cleopatra was born in Egypt, she was about as Egyptian as Elizabeth Taylor. Her Macedonian Greek family, the Ptolemies, ruled over Egypt for centuries, but Cleopatra was the first and only Ptolemy to bother to learn the language of the 7 million people who called her their queen. A gesture of respect and a great political move: she was able to communicate directly with her troops.
Sadly, no writings by Cleopatra have survived, but she did play an interesting role in our understanding of hieroglyphics, once considered ‘the language of the gods’. Said to be created by Seshat, the leopard skin-wearing goddess of wisdom and writing, the meaning of the sacred symbols had been lost to us until the discovery of the Rosetta stone in 1799.
After trying to decode its secrets for 20 years, a breakthrough took place when scientists realized the name ‘Cleopatra’ was written not in symbolic but phonetic hieroglyphics. Now that the Queen of Letters had handed us a golden key, we could start unraveling the mysteries of the past.
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Building bridges
From the Erasmus Bridge and the Mercedes-Benz Museum to Qatar’s metro network; Ben van Berkel’s iconic landmarks bring people together in rapturous beauty, again and again. I talked with the Dutch architect and educator about sensuality, ‘healthy’ buildings and the remarkable parallels between our designs.
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More than a feeling
Don’t ignore your emotions; they are much more powerful than you can imagine. By linking the magical world of emotions with hard science, Dutch scientist Pierre Capel, professor emeritus in experimental immunology, shows us the consequences of our feelings and the power of our minds. The message: we can do much more than we think. “Meditate. It’s the single best thing you can do for your health.”
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Marlies Says
Keto curious?
The fact that I feel bikini-confident all year round is, of course, a nice bonus. But for me, the biggest payoff of following the keto diet is the way it optimizes my health and gives me tons of energy.
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Marlies Says
Super (skin) food
‘If you can’t eat it, why put it on your skin?’. I pretty much live by this beauty adage. After all, with your skin being one of your body’s largest organs, anything – and I mean anything! – you put onto your skin will end up in your bloodstream.
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