Culture Making items tagged monasticism

Fourth century Bible goes digital

2012-02-08T14:29:34Z

Nate: “Here's to the culture-keepers at the monastery on Mt. Siani!”

a The Long Now Blog post by Tex Pasley, 6 July 2009

The Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest extant copy of the Bible, has been digitized by the Codex Sinaiticus Project, and can now be viewed online here. The manuscript contains the entire New Testament, and most of the Old Testament, all in Greek (the original language of the New Testament). The physical manuscript is divided unequally among four locations in Britain, Germany, Russia, and Egypt, so the online version marks the first time the Codex can be viewed in its entirety in 100 years, when the first part was taken from St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai.

The Rosetta Project Language Archive includes a Greek Septuagint translation of the first three chapters of Genesis. This landmark Greek translation holds great historical significance, since it was the preferred translation of most Early Christian writers, including Paul, and is the text quoted throughout the New Testament.

Shaolin monks rehearsing, photo by Wong Maye-E

2012-02-08T14:29:34Z

Nate: “Dancing inside the box! From last week's lovely Big Picture series, "Dance around the world."”

"Monks from the Shaolin Temple in China rehearse inside wooden boxes as part of a dance entitled "Sutra" choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui - part of the annual Singapore Arts Festival, Wednesday 20 May 2009" AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, The Big Picture, 19 June 2009

Monastic fantastic

2012-02-08T14:29:34Z

Nate: “You couldn't really be a rock band in the 1960s without matching outfits and, ideally, identical haircuts. The Monks, a German-based band made up of American ex-GIs, fulfilled both requirements and then some: their outfits were a pop take on the robes and rope-belts worn by Franciscan friars, and their heads were shaved in the traditional anti-fashion tonsure. Their music was a sparse, hard-driving, tamborine-infused proto-punk (dig the banjo in the second song they play in this clip) that was, in the way of amazing obscure bands, influential for cutting-edge like Radiohead, Nirvana, the Beastie Boys, and the Stooges. Whether or not their world-rejecting affectations were serious (apparently an outraged fan at a Hamburg concert tried to strangle Monks vocalist Gary Burger with his noose-necktie, presumably for blasphemy), more recent parallels between hardcore music and hardcore monasticism abound: in the late '90s re:generation quarterly covered the California Russian Orthodox Punk Zine "Death to the World"; more recently an Italian Capuchin monk has released two heavy metal albums.”

from "Punk rock starts here," Very Short List, 9 April 2009, with help from wikipedia

Hermit-sacristans of this information age

2012-02-08T14:29:34Z

Holy Monastery of Simonos Petra, Mt. Athos, Greece

2012-02-08T14:29:34Z

Nate: “A 13th-century Orthodox monastery at twilight. I like how, lit on its craggy outcrop, it signals both precariousness and home. I also like the orange plastic debris chute attached to the corner scaffolding.”

from "Holy Monastery of Simonos Petra (Simonopetra)," by Flickr user ConstantineD, 1 July 2008 :: via Intelligent Travel