If coal is the enemy of the human race, as the environmental blogger David Roberts has said, then mountaintop-removal mining is its doomsday device. This technique for getting at coal involves stripping entire mountains of vegetation and literally blasting their tops off. It produces tons of toxic sludge, disrupts biodiversity, and contaminates the water and air-all to supply us with one of the world's dirtiest forms of energy. The website iLoveMountains.org is providing people with the resources to fight mountaintop-removal mining in Appalachia. A collaboration among seven advocacy organizations from five Appalachian states (Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia), the site uses satellite photos and video to document the damage being done, shows how the energy we use is connected to mountaintop removal, and connects people with their lawmakers to lobby for change.
At 10 o’clock in the morning last month, Chef Daniel Garwood’s phone started ringing. Congratulations came through the other end of the line: he had just been named a James Beard Award Semifinalist for Emerging Chef for his work at ACRU in New York’s West Village, where he is Executive Chef. At just 30, Garwood moved to the U.S. under three years ago, having worked in high-end, award-winning kitchens around the world. ACRU’s inventive menu features Garwood’s influences from his native Australia as well as Korea, Scandinavia, Europe, and the U.S., all with a bent toward sustainability–it is, for example, one of the few places in the U.S. to use dairy cow meat, and a majority of menu ingredients are locally sourced.
Dishes at ACRULucia Bell-Epstein
Accolades like the Semifinalist designation from the James Beard Awards, among the most distinguished awards in the U.S. for culinary arts and media, are important to so many chefs. For Garwood it’s also important because of his dedication to mental health advocacy in the hospitality industry. “I thought if I move to the U.S. and I keep working hard, do get accolades and a bit of prestige, that maybe that could add to how I talk about mental health,” he said. “If you are respected and you do have prestige, I think it's quite easier to talk about these things, to hit a wider audience.”
As discussions about mental health expand across culture, the hospitality industry has become no exception, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s an industry known for its long, sometimes uncertain hours, physically taxing work, and constant pressure. Garwood knows it all well. “A lot of the jobs I've worked at, especially early in my career, were about 110 hours a week, or something like, 16-18 hour days, and you're just tired,” he says. Leaving a job like that, even for a short while, can sometimes prove just as difficult. Working those hours and then stopping makes some people feel unbalanced. “When you're in such a high, intense environment, and then you come off, a lot of these guys end up turning to alcohol, drugs, or anything, just to calm them down or stop them or keep going,” he says. He’s witnessed it first hand, having lost friends in the industry to suicide.
One of the ways Garwood sought to bring awareness to mental health with food was through his pop-up dinner series Oralis. First created in Seoul, South Korea in February 2021, it also became the bookOralis: A Conversation on Food and Mental Health later that year, both created with his wife Sooky An. Having seen suicides double in Seoul while working there, Garwood created the series in partnership with suicide prevention service and crisis support network LifeLine Korea.
ACRU Executive Chef Daniel GarwoodLucia Bell-Epstein
Each course of the meal was prepared to reflect a different aspect of mental health. For example, a Camouflage Tart snack (“Crisps made from incredible Korean herbs and spices: dangui, nuruk powder, leek ash, and anise hyssop (Korean mint) hiding away in the moss encasing an emulsion from fermented pea paste, pickles from last season, and mackerel from Jeju,” as chronicled in Oralis) opened the dinner, to discuss presenting a persona that’s the opposite of one’s true feelings and thereby causing oneself pain. A dish called “Enter the Void,” followed. Served in a vertical dish, it featured squid, hot sauce, clams, and scallop custard and represented the need to engage with people on a deeper level.
The pop-up was received, by Garwood’s own description, as controversial and intense, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to blend food and mental health in the future. The accolades, he says, may help. Now, at ACRU, he does it on a person-to-person level with his staff and hopes to re-engage with it on a menu in the future. With ACRU General Manager Ambrose Chiang, who is also Australian, Garwood hopes to bring what he calls an Australian-inspired family culture to the restaurant. “Even if you've got your neighbor, he's your mate; if something's gonna happen, you’re gonna take care of him, you’re gonna help him out because he's your mate,” he says. “We're all essentially mates here. I think that builds a really strong culture, because then you always want to help each other work together. There's no difference between front of house and back of house because they're your mate.”
Place setting at ACRULucia Bell-Epstein
It’s important to Garwood to check in regularly with his staff, have conversations about goals and happiness. “I always ask them, pull them aside. Are you okay? Are you happy? It's totally fine not to be if someone says they're not. I’m gonna ask why. Just talk me through it. [I] try and keep it as casual as possible and not this really intense thing. As long as we keep doing that, that's something,” he says. He remembers the feeling of working in Denmark, where there’s a dedication to the concept of hygge, of feeling cozy and comfortable–it’s something he wants for his staff as well. “I think that's an important thing to translate here and into other workplaces…as long as people keep talking, I can get the information to see if they're okay, at least make sure they're all right.”
It’s also important to Garwood that the staff at ACRU have not just family meal together, but a communal experience. “A lot of restaurants will just set a buffet or set something like that. We kind of force a situation where we'll pull all the tables and everything together, and then we pull a lot of effort into making really nice meals, [nice] plates, and everything,” he says. They use the same dishes and cutlery the restaurant’s guests use. “Essentially, this is your home, this is our culture here. You want this to feel like you're at a mate’s place, or you have mates over at your place. I think it's really important to sit there, share and discuss and really relax.”
Garwood wants to show there’s another way hospitality can work and hopes other restaurants catch on. “I also pretty firmly believe in, just lead by example,” he says. “We'll just keep doing our thing here.”
ACRU General Manager Ambrose Chiang and Executive Chef Daniel GarwoodLucia Bell-Epstein
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Sometimes you need a movie to just chill and relax along with you.
Photo credit: A24/Studio Ghibli/Warner Bros. Pictures/Buena Vista Pictures/UGC Fox Distribution
There are days in which you need to just chill out after an aggravating day at work, hearing some stressful news, or just after a high-strung situation. You may want to just put on a movie to help take your mind off things, but something too high-octane, suspenseful, mysterious, or manic can be a little bit too much for your fried brain to handle. It may be time for a movie that can grab your attention but also lower your blood pressure. Maybe even relax you enough to get a welcomed nap afterward.
Here are some of the best movies to watch when you’re in the mood to just chill and enjoy or let wash over you.
Amélie
This 2001 French rom-com focuses on the main character creating very intricate schemes to bring more positivity and love to the people around her, ultimately ending in a happy ending for Amélie herself. It’s a great film to watch for the plot but also the striking yet not harsh color palette. Film critic Roger Ebert said that the film “takes so much confidence to dance on the tightrope of whimsy. Amélie takes those chances, and gets away with them.”
This Hayao Miyazaki anime classic is a great example of a chill hangout of a film. The plot focuses on two little girls adjusting to living in an old house by the forest, befriending the spirits around them, including the titular Totoro. While highly imaginative, the movie is a slow burn, not afraid to let the audience take in the ambience of the outdoors and enjoy the laughter of the child characters. The Guardian praises the film’s “simple hand-drawn design whose innocence only becomes more beguiling with repeated viewings, along with its bright, expansive, Gershwin-esque musical score.”
The first part of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the space opera isn’t without moments of tension and strife, however it is dominated by a soft faded color palette, slow hypnotic dialogue, and an enchanting score that brings quiet in your ears and body within the movie’s slow pace. The movie is 83% FRESH on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics and viewers alike praising its production design and score.
Did you know David Lynch made a G-rated Disney movie? The Straight Story follows an old man named Alan Straight who finds out that his estranged brother suffered a stroke. Since he cannot legally drive to visit his brother, Alan decides to make the 240-mile trek to his brother’s home on his riding lawnmower. The movie is meditative and quiet, a peaceful road trip that stops along the way for Alan to interact with the various strangers on his journey and enjoy the stars at night. The New York Times praised the film’s “wholesome radiance and soothing natural beauty.”
A 2021 stop-motion mockumentary, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a cute day-in-the-life of a googly-eyed seashell living in a house with his grandmother and a recently divorced filmmaker that moved in. The movie is quiet and cute, with good laughs and touching emotion as Marcel’s internet popularity grows to a point that he can hopefully find the rest of his family.
People online have shared recommendations for songs that helped them ease anxiety.
Main photo (Photo credit: Canva), Steve Roach album cover (Fortuna Records/Timeroom Editions via Amazon), Enigma album cover (Virgin/Charisma via Amazon), The Cure album cover (Fiction/Capitol via Amazon), Radiohead album cover (TBD/XL via Amazon), Marconi Union (Just Music via Amazon)
If you experience anxiety, you know it doesn't always strike in convenient places—especially if you plan to soothe your symptoms through music. You might not have access to a slick pair of headphones or your perfectly curated vinyl collection. But some argue that, if you’re able to utilize sound therapeutically, the right track could help.
Strangers on the Internet have shared some of their favorite songs to help soften a panic attack. And though these are the opinions of regular people, not medical professionals—and should be approached with that disclaimer in mind—they're interesting nonetheless.
Enigma - "Return to Innocence"
There are various Reddit threads about this subject, with some tailored to specific genres and others wide open stylistically. One OP sought suggestions to help with their "constant panic attacks," as they find it helpful to "sync [their] breathing" to the music. (They were aiming to avoid songs that are "too upbeat," as those would worsen their attack.) The top response was a vote for Enigma’s 1993 new-age hit "Return to Innocence," which weaves R&B-pop hooks with airy synth pads, booming drums, and Amis chants.
"Enigma has a few good tunes for feeling calm," one user wrote. "'Return to Innocence' is one." Someone replied, "Yess!! Enigma is a great anxiety relief tool."
In a different thread, The Cure earned a nod for their 2024 epic "Alone"—that is, "if you want to reach into the depths." This atmospheric epic has a slow tempo and patient build, stretching out across seven minutes of icy, dream-sequence keyboards and mutilated bass.
Similarly slow but perhaps even more soothing, there’s Radiohead’s "Give Up the Ghost," a flurry of fragile guitars and looped vocal harmonies. It’s a highlight from the band’s 2011 LP, The King of Limbs, and, I’d argue, one of the most beautiful moments in their discography. (I'm a Radiohead fan, so I don't make that claim lightly.)
Another compelling choice is "Structures From Silence," a meditative 29-minute piece by English ambience architect Steve Roach. One user took that recommendation and responded with gratitude: "This night has been really difficult, I can’t sleep and am feeling restless, panicky, etc.," they wrote. "This song is making me feel so at peace, thank you. Makes me feel so little and insignificant in the best way possible, that my judgements don’t matter and nothing does. I feel so peaceful. Thank you."
One song that pops up repeatedly on these threads—and with good reason—is "Weightless," the drowsy 2011 instrumental by English ambient group Marconi Union. Commissioned by Radox Spa and created "under guidance of professional sound practitioner Lyz Cooper," the song was created specifically to relax listeners and lower their heart rates.
Turns out they were very, very effective: Market research firm Mindlab International conducted a study where participants completed difficult puzzles while having their brain activity monitored. Music was played during the experiment, and "Weightless" resulted in a 65% stress reduction. (It’s now widely described as "the world’s most relaxing song.")
Again, it’s crucial to remember that Reddit is not a doctor’s office. It’s worth consulting WebMD’s article about "Ways to Stop a Panic Attack," which includes suggestions like getting your breathing under control, keeping your mind in the present, and practicing "progressive relaxation."
A dad on Reddit shared an experience he had in a thread on r/daddit. What happened to him is something that has become a growing trend in recent years. He was showing a picture of his seven-month-old son to a person. She asked the question that many older fathers dread: “Are you his grandpa?”
Fellow older dads empathized with the father, as many of them were also asked that question at one point or another in their life in fatherhood. One would think that fatherhood itself would cause enough stress to induce a few premature gray hairs and wrinkles, but not enough to jump past a whole generation. Many of the older dads offered their takes on how to respond to the “Are you their grandpa?” query.
Many first-time fathers are much older than in previous generations.Photo credit: Canva
“A couple options here, get upset or relish embarrassing the person. I prefer the embarrassment route, say something like ‘I didn't think I looked that old today,’ or ‘Kids really aged me.’”
“Did you ask her to speak up? Maybe whip out the old ear horn.”
“Shoulda said ‘great grandson.’”
The original poster was 41 years old, which does seem to be older to have an infant child compared to usual norms. However, many men have become first-time fathers much later in life compared to previous generations. According to a Bowling Green State University study published in 2023, 11.8% of births in the United States involved at least one parent who was aged 40 or older. Why is that?
Well, it’s a multi-faceted issue. First, many Millennials went through two recessions throughout typical child-bearing years and couldn’t afford to purchase homes big enough for families or progress in their careers to do so either. According to The Guardian, many still cannot afford to have children either due to housing costs or working multiple jobs in which they don’t have the time to parent. A 2024 survey also found that more than 1 in 5 parents of children under 18 said they wouldn’t or couldn’t have another child due to the cost of raising one. A 2024 report from Bloomberg found that child care costs have surpassed the cost of rent for the average American family, too.
People are choosing to have no kids or fewer kids because they simply cannot afford them. The cost of childcare has gone up exponentially over the last 10 to 20 years. On average in the state of Massachusetts it’s about $20,000 a year per child. These rates are unsustainable for most families, which is why more and more people choosing not to have children. Affordable childcare would not only benefit families and children, but it would benefit our economy and society as a whole ##childcare##daycare##daycarelife##childcarecrisis##millennialmom##momsoftiktok##newparents##workingmom
Another reason why there are so many older first-time dads is because there is a growing number of older first-time moms. In 2022, an NBC News report found that the median age of the American mother was 30. This is because many women spent their 20s getting further in their education and careers, hoping to be in a better financial position before pursuing motherhood. Those goals along with a fluctuation in the economy that makes child-rearing more expensive than ever have forced them to put off motherhood until later in life, made accessible through fertility methods like IVF treatment.
So if you’re an older dad, you’re definitely part of a growing trend. However, some older dads might be wondering how to “keep up” with their kids since they’re not in their spry 20s and 30s anymore. While there may be limitations, there is no reason why you can’t experience and have a quality relationship with your child as they grow and you age.
In terms of general bonding, this is where age is just a number. Whether you are 20, 40, or 70, you can still bond with your child through reading to them, bathing them, feeding them, and just being there for general care. Take them on walks, watch television shows you both enjoy, and introduce them to your hobbies that are easier on the knees. As they grow older, you can still play catch and do other physical activities with them, but if it becomes too taxing still encourage them as their “cheerleader” from the sidelines at games rather than a “coach” at home.
Staying active now could help stay active as you and your child age.Photo credit: Canva
As a general rule many older parents agree that it’s important that they stay healthy in order to stay as energetic as they can and to live to see their kids grow old enough to give them grandchildren. This means being mindful of your diet, exercising regularly, and following your physician’s recommendations to the best of your ability. This way you can still keep up with your kids for a few extra years on the basketball court while also teaching them how to live a healthy lifestyle through your example. You can also chat with other older parents online or in person for advice on how to parent effectively at an older age.
So if you have some gray in your hair while boiling a bottle, don’t stress. You’re definitely not alone.
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Archivo:Jackie-shane.jpg - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but that talk don’t bother me,” Jackie Shane sang on her 1963 cover single “Sticks and Stones.” In some ways, the words would define aspects of Shane’s life as she became an early transgender R&B icon. By the time she had over a decade of music industry prowess under her belt, however, she mysteriously disappeared from the public eye in 1971.
Almost 50 years after that, in 2017, she reappeared with an anthology of her work named after another 1963 hit, Any Other Way–it was then nominated for a Grammy for Best Historical Album, an award that’s not given to an artist but to an album’s production team. At that point, she gave one of her first interviews in decades to the Associated Press, which in part explained her absence but also cemented her as an influential musical pioneer.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1940, Shane knew she was trans as a young child, and grew up with a supportive mother and community. Most of the ire she did experience came from growing up in the Jim Crow South, and she sought to skip town as soon as she could. This led her north eventually, but not before she got involved in Nashville’s mighty music scene as a session and touring drummer for the likes of R&B great Jackie Wilson. Not only that, AP reported, she had known the venerable Little Richard since childhood and met Jimi Hendrix while he was playing music in the city.
After Nashville, Shane eventually made her way to Toronto where she’d become a star and contribute to what became known as the “Toronto Sound,” which developed in the city’s fresh R&B scene. She had, according to NBC News, a successful career as a singer that reached one of many peaks with the success of the single “Any Other Way,” which rose to the second spot on Canada’s Pop charts. She also appeared on Nashville’s live music program “Night Train” in 1965. “Her enigmatic presentation, her undeniable talent, and the support of the music community allowed her to flourish in Toronto,” wrote AllMusic.com’s Timothy Monger. “No one in 1960s Canada had seen or heard anything like Shane.”
Wherever she went, Shane also appeared as herself–eyes darkened with liner into cat eyes, sequins, chic suits, and claimed to have brought some 20 trunks with her when she traveled. Many thought she was a lesbian, she said. As is often noted, this was a time when many people wouldn’t have known what “transgender” meant, as AP writes, and being a gender nonconforming person in the public eye was practically unheard of. Jackie was resolutely herself anyway.
Shortly after “Night Train,” The Ed Sullivan Show came calling, but to appear they said she’d have to dress as a man. “‘I said: ‘Please stuff it,’” she said, as The Guardian reported in 2019. “Ed Sullivan looks like something Dr Frankenstein had a hand in. He’s going to tell me what to do?”
And while Shane recorded at least enough music to eventually produce that 2017 anthology, she said recording was mostly not her biggest interest–she turned down offers from acclaimed studios like Motown and Atlantic, and even an offer to record with George Clinton–and many of her songs were recorded in front of a live audience, The Guardian shared. You can still listen to them on YouTube and Spotify.
By 1971, however, the pressure of making music started to get to Shane and felt her mother needed her. She left her beloved Toronto for Nashville, almost without a trace. Some even thought she had been murdered. She was found again, at least as far as the public eye was concerned, in 2014. Numero Group, known for their archival releases, sought Shane out, asking to re-release her work, and she eventually consented. The rest of the world would follow. Unfortunately, Shane wasn’t able to perform live again after the album’s release, the Guardian shared. She passed away in 2019, but her legacy lives on.
Not only does Shane regularly appear as the subject of numerous podcasts, articles, and short documentaries, she was also the subject of a 2024 documentary feature named after her most famous song, Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, which was co-produced by Elliot Page. It was an official selection for the Toronto International Film Festival and DOC NYC, and a winner of the Best Documentary at the OUTShine LGBTQ+ Film Festival, among other accolades. As of 2024, there’s also a historical marker in Nashville, designating the location of Shane’s musical beginnings. This is in addition to a preexisting plaque in Toronto as of 2023 at the site of Shane’s live album recording.
Jackie Shane was powerfully and unapologetically herself as a transgender woman in a time when doing so was rare and could even be dangerous. It’s because of people like her that we have an understanding of the longstanding role of transgender Americans throughout the country’s history and Canada’s history, a history that can’t and won’t be erased.
A recent study shows that people who daydream while they're awake tend to have better recall of their sleeping dreams. In the article, "Why Some People Remember Their Dreams (and Others Don’t)" on Studyfinds.org, the author shares that research conducted at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca reveals the three main factors that predict how strong dream recall will be: "A person’s general attitude toward dreaming, their tendency to let their mind wander during waking hours, and their typical sleep patterns."
Dreaming has always been an intriguing subject. Nearly every night, when most of us go to sleep, our minds just make us little movies and then push play. There are seemingly no editors. Why do we dream? How do we dream? Obviously, biochemically, we're cycling through REM/deep sleep, and neurons are firing. But how often do we think about the fact that our surroundings affect our dreams?
Certified sleep coach Sarah Anderson shares in the blog, The Most Common Dream in Every Country, "Morning Life was curious about which dreams were most common in different countries around the world. So, we analyzed Google search data to see which dream symbols every country is searching for. And then we looked at what the most common dreams might mean."
Have you dreamt of your teeth falling out?pxhere.com
In the US and UK (and many other countries), crumbling teeth were the most common dream people Googled. Anderson added, "Both countries share snake dreams at number two. However, among terrifying snakes and spiders, the US dreams of ex-partners at number three—while Brits dream of hair."
It should also be noted that if we're doing top ten lists, the charts showed that "while Americans dream of vacations, bears, and being chased, Brits have pregnancy, birth, and fire on their (subconscious) mind."
Not everyone has recurring nightmares. A few lucky residents of the world list much more positive common dreams in their number one spot. Bhutan, for example, has rainbows at the top of the list, while many in Ghana and Nigeria often report dreaming of sex.
In some places, like France and Japan, people might have more complicated dreams about their exes. (Who knows, this could also involve rainbows and sex.)
And the most common recurring dream according to the study is: snakes! Out of all the countries surveyed, 52 out of 147 had snakes at the top of their dream/nightmare lists. Anderson continued, "Snake dreams are particularly ‘popular’ across Eastern Europe and parts of Asia and Africa. The snake lends itself to symbolic interpretation, but in the case of some snake-inhabited localities, sometimes a snake is just a snake."
Personally, my most common recurring dream is this: I'm back in high school, and it's the day of the "big exam." I'm circling the hallways but can't remember where my class is. I CAN, however, remember that I completely forgot to study. I have this dream about once a month, and in it, I never do find that class.
For hundreds of years, historians and archaeologists believed that Mesopotamia (nearly 3800 BC) was the cradle of civilization. But in the past few years, this belief began to dwindle. In the 1960s, a Russian topographer was going through some aerial photographs of Ukraine when he noticed some unusual shadows materializing on the grounds of Kyiv city.
Curious, he magnified the photos and was flabbergasted, as many more concentric circles of these shadows emerged. Further examination revealed that the shadows were cast from unknown archaeological remains that lay buried in the soil. ScienceNews reports that when archaeologists studied these remains, they proposed that the first cities of humanity were built in Ukraine, not Mesopotamia (what is now Iraq). The secret hid in the Trypillia megasites, the forgotten city that mysteriously disappeared.
Previously, scientists believed that the world’s earliest cities like Uruk, Çatalhöyük, and Jericho, were located in Mesopotamia, or modern-day Iraq. But investigation of the Neolithic Cucuteni-Trypillia culture in present-day Ukraine revealed that some of the oldest cities dating back to around 4000 BC are situated here. Given the meticulous planning that the 6,000-year-old remnants of these settlements depicted, archaeologists deduced that these ancient people must have been brilliant urban town planners.
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During the initial discovery, Russian topographer Konstantin Shishkin had spotted evidence of almost 250 shadows looming over an area of 741 acres, reported ScienceNews. But at that time, he lacked advanced technology to carry on the investigation. It wasn’t until 1971 that these shadows were brought to light again. In 1971, some Ukrainian scientists examined the underground archaeological structures using geomagnetic technology that scans the underground realm to identify structures by tracking differences in Earth’s magnetic field at various spots.
In 2011, archaeologist Johannes Müller from the University of Kiel in Germany returned to the Trypillia site once again, and thoroughly examined the underground structures using geomagnetics and high-quality imaging technology. The structures spread out in concentric circles and streets are organized in grid-like patterns. These patterns were studied across three ancient cities: Maidanezke, Taljanki, and Nebelivka. “The architecture is reminiscent of Lego, it was a modular system,” Müller told the Swiss publication Neue Zürcher Zeitung. These low-density cities were referred to as “megasites,” according to ScienceNews.
Some of the houses dwelling in these cities were deliberately burned down. In Nebelivka, for example, people used wood to do ceremonial house burnings. “Burning a house down in this way created a spectacle that could be seen from many kilometers away,” archaeologist John Chapman of Durham University in England, told Science News.
The remnants of graves and burned houses also made scientists wonder about what kind of funerary practices and death rituals these ancient Trypillia people used to have. “Individual graves are something with which the group of burying people represents their role to others. This reflection of social structures does not exist here,” Müller stated. However, “If there are no graves marked in an archaeologist-friendly way, that does not mean that a cult of the dead did not exist.”
Now, the next challenge for archaeologists is to dig out some information about how these Trypillia cities were formed and how they disappeared mysteriously. Their study isn’t finished yet, and they will scour more details about these ancient civilizations that have seemingly collapsed Mesopotamia’s centuries-old title of being the most ancient city.
This article originally appeared last year.
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Underwater ruins of ancient temple building. (Representative cover image: Getty Images
Off the western coast of Italy, the Gulf of Pozzuoli in the Tyrrhenian Sea is an underwater museum of ancient ruins, submerged baths, and even remnants of a forgotten city. Its stunning emerald waters, where Roman emperors once bathed, are now home to dolphins and schools of sperm whales gliding through the historic depths. In 2023, archaeologists diving into these waters stumbled upon what appeared to be the remains of a 2,000-year-old Nabataean temple—a site with architectural echoes featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, according to Live Science. Their findings were officially published in Antiquity in September 2024.
This remarkable discovery came through a collaboration between Italy's Ministry of Culture and the University of Campania as part of the “Between Land and Sea” project. This initiative aims to uncover the rich archaeological heritage hidden along the Phlegraean coast, a region marked by ongoing volcanic activity and geological shifts. These underwater ruins offer an extraordinary window into ancient Rome's daily life, commerce, and culture, preserving layers of history within the tranquil yet tectonically active Gulf of Pozzuoli.
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During the Augustan era (31 B.C. – 14 A.D.), this region was one of the most important ports on the Mediterranean trade network. The bustling district boasted a rich urban landscape dotted with warehouses where merchants stored grains. This temple, however, was filled with concrete and broken pottery soon after it was constructed, probably due to foreign traders leaving the area.
"For me, this was one of the most unexpected discoveries," the study's lead author Michele Stefanile, told Live Science. The temple was discovered through aerial photogrammetry conducted in the region in 2022. Inside the temple, the researchers found two rooms bordered by walls of “opus reticulatum,” an ancient Roman construction consisting of small blocks of volcanic tuff arranged in a net-like pattern.
In one room, two altars of white marble leaned against a wall with several rectangular recesses, that once housed “anepigraphic betyls,” sacred stones that Nabataeans used for worship. Each room also revealed a marble slab featuring the Latin inscription "Dusari sacrum," meaning "consecrated to Dushara," the main god in the ancient Nabataean religion. "It seems that we have a building dedicated to the Nabataean gods, but with Roman architecture and Latin inscription," Stefanile said.
According to the study authors, “The existence of a Nabataean sanctuary within the port area confirms that there was a community from that region participating in the commercial activities of Puteoli.” Between the fourth to second centuries B.C., the Nabataean Kingdom was in its golden age, where prosperous merchants traded in luxury goods such as incense, gold, ivory, and perfumes.
Nabataea experienced its decline in 106 CE when Emperor Trajan created the province of Arabia Petraea, affecting the independence of Nabataeans with his conquest. In the early 2nd century BC, this temple was clogged with concrete powder and was considered forgotten, until these archaeologists dug it up. The presence of amphorae discovered in the submerged temple is evidence of this. This event not only marked the decline of the Nabataean kingdom but also brought down its formerly flourishing trade network.
Dishes at ACRULucia Bell-Epstein
ACRU Executive Chef Daniel GarwoodLucia Bell-Epstein
Place setting at ACRULucia Bell-Epstein
ACRU General Manager Ambrose Chiang and Executive Chef Daniel GarwoodLucia Bell-Epstein
Zomasleep.com
Have you dreamt of your teeth falling out?
Zomasleep.com
Not sunshine and lollipops, but close!
Breakups are another common dream (or nightmare) for many.
Birds of a feather dream together?
Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer
