4.1 MET: Random Thoughts

I bought a statuette of Anubis which is the jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. With its characteristic extending right arm, the statuette made packaging difficult. After a few trials, it occurred to me: I could mummify it. With layers of paper wrapping, the deity, in this reversal of roles, was ready to go (Aswan, Egypt).



After Anubis safely arrived in the US, I, by the power vested in me by the great State of California, brought the god of the dead back to life.



Many archaeologists might have overlooked the true reason for the fall of Masada: King Herod might have liked the stairs, but the Zealots forgot to destroy them before the Romans came (Masada, Israel).



I exclaimed: “Ecce Auto” (Ecce Homo, Jerusalem).



Me’raj (ascension) might have needed some extra help: a ladder, a doorway and a skylight (Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem).



I went to Hell on 3:15PM on February 24th, 2008, and stayed there for about 12 minutes, and left. It was really peaceful and quiet. The Jewish Hell in the Old Testament is called gehinnom (גהינום) which was also mentioned in the New Testament and the Qur’an (where it’s called Jahannam, جهنم). Gehinnom, or Gei Hinnom, is a valley south of the Zion Gate stretching from Mount Zion to Kidron Valley (Jerusalem, Israel).



Prior to visiting Hell, I went to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the Last Judgment is held. Hell is a pleasant 10 minute walk from here (Jerusalem, Israel).



People always slur that Jews are cheap. Over the years, I found that groundless and offensive. Unfortunately, I did stumble upon a piece of historical evidence to partially substantiate the aspersion. The tomb of the great Oskar Schindler is so depressingly unremarkable it took me 20 minutes to finally find it among other beautifully ornamented mausolea of rich Jews and Arabs (Jerusalem, Israel).



The famous Roman toilets are actually surprisingly comfortable. It’s not big enough to cover the entire posterior, but it definitely allows sufficient and efficient mass transfer (Ephesus, Turkey).



It’s okay to take a business trip, but when the trip lasts over 10 years, do expect some drastic changes at home. The great King Agamemnon, after sacking Troy, was murdered here in the palace by his wife Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus (Mycenae, Greece).



When you own the world, you don’t need God. Alexander the Great asked for Oracle’s blessing, but the priestess asked him to come back the next day. The young king of Macedon pulled the priestess by the hair and dragged her all the way out of the temple until she uttered, “You are unbeatable”, to which Alexander replied: “You damned right” (Temple of Apollo, Delphi, Greece).



A famous Chinese idiom goes: 温饱思淫欲, which means after one can eat well and stay warm, he will be thinking of carnal desire. The old oriental saying is actually materialized in the red light district of Amsterdam, conveniently located next to Chinatown.