POEMS IN POSTHUMAN AKKADIAN
Episode 18
Livestream from Todessa
Camera: Tman
Cast: Totleb & Co.
Editor: Todito
Soundmix: Todonsky Junior
Directed by: T.L.
POEMS IN POSTHUMAN AKKADIAN
written by General Totleben
© Ivan Stanev, executor testamentarius
Read the full text of the poem TIGERS EYE h e r e (p.184 – 207)
Topics
Ice Age, Proto-Elamite, Tiger, Tigris, Third Eye
Tigereye
also spelled Tiger’s-eye, semiprecious quartz gem displaying chatoyancy, a vertical luminescent band like that of a cat’s eye. Veins of parallel, blue asbestos (crocidolite) fibres are first altered to iron oxides and then replaced by silica. The gem has a rich yellow to yellow-brown or brown colour and, when polished, a fine golden lustre.
Tiger’s Roar
Humans can hear frequencies from 20 hertz to 20,000 hertz, but whales, elephants, rhinos, and tigers can produce sounds below 20 hertz. This low-pitched sound, called “infrasound,” can travel long distances permeating buildings, cutting through dense forests, and even passing through mountains. The lower the frequency, the farther the distance the sound can travel. Scientists believe that infrasound is the missing link in studying tiger communication.
Bioacousticians found that tigers can create sounds at about 18 hertz and when tigers roar they can create frequencies significantly below this. “When a tiger roars-the sound will rattle and paralyze you…”
TIGRIS RIVER
Sum. Idigna, Akk. (I)Diq/gla(t) (Nashef, 1982, pp. 302-3), Elam. Diglat (Vallat, 1993, p. 329), Old Pers. Tigrā- (Kent, Old Persian, p. 186), Gk. Tigris/Tigrios, Lat. Tigris, Aram. Diglat, Mid. Pers. Diglit or Arvand (Markwart, 1930, p. 64; Eilers, 1954, p. 313, n. 23), Arabic Dejla (Eilers, 1977, p. 316), Arm. Dglat/Dklat (Hübschmann, 1904, p. 421). The Tigris is a major river arising in the Taurus mountains of eastern Turkey, fed mainly by snow melt, which flows about 2,032 km through eastern Turkey and Iraq to the Persian Gulf (for the conflicting Syriac, Armenian, Arabic and 19th-century European sources on its precise point of origin, see Markwart, 1930, pp. 57-60).
The folk etymology of Old Pers. Tigrā plays on tigra- “pointed,” Av. tigri- “arrow,” so called because of the river’s speed (Kiepert, p. 134; Hübschmann, 1904, p. 421; Eilers, 1954, p. 313, n. 23; 1982, p. 31; Schmitt, p. 12; AirWb., col. 652), a characteristic noted by Strabo (Geography 11.14.8: “whence the name Tigris, since the Median name for arrow is tigris”) and relayed by Josephus (1.39, tr. p. 15), who wrote, “Tigris is called Diglath, by that is indicated the swiftness with narrowness.”
PINEAL GLAND
also called conarium, epiphysis cerebri, pineal organ,or pineal body, endocrine gland found in vertebrates that is the source of melatonin, a hormone derived from tryptophan that plays a central role in the regulation of circadian rhythm (the roughly 24-hour cycle of biological activities associated with natural periods of light and darkness).
The human pineal gland is located behind the third cerebral ventricle in the midline (between the two cerebral hemispheres) of the brain.
The pineal gland has long been an enigmatic structure. Even in the early 21st century, when sophisticated molecular techniques were available for biological study, fundamental features of the gland—including the extent of the effects of its principal hormone, melatonin—remained incompletely understood.
The pineal gland develops from the roof of the diencephalon, a section of the brain, and is located behind the third cerebral ventricle in the brain midline (between the two cerebral hemispheres). Its name is derived from its shape, which is similar to that of a pinecone (Latin pinea).
The pineal gland has a rich supply of adrenergic nerves (neurons sensitive to the adrenal hormone epinephrine) that greatly influence its function. Microscopically, the gland is composed of pinealocytes (rather typical endocrine cells except for extensions that mingle with those of adjacent cells) and supporting cells that are similar to the astrocytes of the brain. In adults, small deposits of calcium often make the pineal body visible on X-rays. (The pineal gland eventually becomes more or less calcified in most people.)
In some lower vertebrates the gland has a well-developed eyelike structure. In others, though not organized as an eye, it functions as a light receptor.
Both melatonin and its precursor, serotonin, which are derived chemically from the alkaloid substance tryptamine, are synthesized in the pineal gland. Along with other brain sites, the pineal gland may also produce neurosteroids. Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a hallucinogenic compound present in the Amazonian botanical drink ayahuasca (made from Banisteriopsis caapi, a South American jungle vine), is chemically similar to melatonin and serotonin and is considered to be a trace substance in human blood and urine. Although alleged to be produced by the pineal gland, DMT has not been consistently detected in human pineal microdialysates (purified pineal extracts), and proof of its regulated biosynthesis in the mammalian pineal gland is lacking. Thus, though the conclusion by 17th-century French philosopher René Descartesthat the pineal gland is the seat of the soul has endured as a historical curiosity, there is no evidence to support the notion that secretions from the pineal have a major role in cognition.
In some species pineal cells are photosensitive. In humans and higher mammals a “photoendocrine system”—made up of the retina, the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, and noradrenergic sympathetic fibres (neurons responsive to the neurotransmitter norepinephrine) terminating in the pineal—provides light and circadian information that regulates pineal melatonin secretion.
THIRD EYE
the third eye (also called the mind’s eye or inner eye) is a mystical concept of a speculative invisible eye, usually depicted as located on the forehead, which provides perception beyond ordinary sight…
EVIL EYE
glance believed to have the ability to cause injury or death to those on whom it falls; pregnant women, children, and animals are thought to be particularly susceptible. Belief in the evil eye is ancient and ubiquitous; it occurred in ancient Greece and Rome, in Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions, and in indigenous, peasant, and other folk societies, and it has persisted throughout the world into modern times. Those most often accused of casting the evil eye include strangers, malformed individuals, childless women, and old women.
Languages / scripts used: English, French, German, Russian, Ancient Greek, Latin, Spanish, Sumerian/Akkadian, Proto-Elamite
Acknowledgements
Ustvolskaya – Symphony No 1 (Gergiev), THE ATHOS OF THE NORTH – The Monastic Choir of the Valaam Monastery, Dahl, Britannica, The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary Project, freesound.org
