Why does Mary have a boob ray and monkey slave in this Renaissance era cosmological diagram?

Related to the other post about medieval geography, I started Googling cosmological diagrams and came up with this one. This is cited as being from Robert Fludd's Utriusque Cosmi Historia, 1617. I recognize the crown of twelve stars as indicating that this woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus. I also recognize the general concept of the Great Chain of Being.

But what's going on with the other symbols in the image? Why does Mary have a boob ray zapping some portion of the Earth? And why does she have a chained up monkey (who is at the center and not the "Animalia" sphere)?

2 Answers 2017-10-27

Why did the Nazis start the Holocaust when they did?

As someone of partly Jewish ancestry I'm trying to understand their thinking behind starting the Holocaust while preparing/fighting a war. Why on earth would they waste all those resources on that when they could gone to better use helping the war effort? Why not postpone it until after winning? From most accounts it seems like the Germans had many of the best strategists of the day, but it just seems like they squandered it all. Were they that blinded by discrimination that they threw self-preservation out the window? They had to have known how much manpower and money they were wasting doing it.

2 Answers 2017-10-27

Did fish die during the Boston tea party?

Are there any historical reports of what happened to the fish?

2 Answers 2017-10-27

I am a sailor on a british trading ship in the golden age of piracy. I get attacked by pirate. What do I do?

2 Answers 2017-10-27

Why does England have a much much higher population than that of Scotland, Ireland and Wales?

1 Answers 2017-10-27

Friday Free-for-All | October 27, 2017

Previously

Today:

You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.

As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.

11 Answers 2017-10-27

How many serfs were there in the Russian empire, 1850s?

What percentage of the whole population was this? Cant seem to find a solid estimate. Wikipedia says about 23 million but my teacher thinks it is much higher than that.

1 Answers 2017-10-27

How did Saudi Arabias pre-1979 open moderate Islamic society change to the current extremist version of Islam in response to the Iranian revolution?

I was reading this article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/24/i-will-return-saudi-arabia-moderate-islam-crown-prince

and here are some things that I could not find any information or sources for:

In an interview with the Guardian, the powerful heir to the Saudi throne said the ultra-conservative state had been “not normal” for the past 30 years, blaming rigid doctrines that have governed society in a reaction to the Iranian revolution, which successive leaders “didn’t know how to deal with”.

“What happened in the last 30 years is not Saudi Arabia. What happened in the region in the last 30 years is not the Middle East. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, people wanted to copy this model in different countries, one of them is Saudi Arabia. We didn’t know how to deal with it. And the problem spread all over the world. Now is the time to get rid of it.”

"Earlier Prince Mohammed had said: “We are simply reverting to what we followed – a moderate Islam open to the world and all religions.”

I cant find anything anywhere that references the pre-1979 Saudi Arabia he is talking about. Can the historians on this sub give me a truthful interpretation and analysis of these claims?

All the material I can find suggests that Saudi Arabia was founded on the premises and doctrines of takfiri salafi wahhabism, an ideology that claims according to literal interpretations of scripture from the muslim Qoran that in the final chapters there is some text about how that which appears later in the Qoran supersedes that which comes earlier, and thus muslims must kill all the jews and christians, and the concept of takfir (which means to invoke the aspects of sin upon something) is what they use to justify the enslavement or forced conversion or execution of those who are not of the same exact islamic faith as them. they used this ideology just like ISIS to create saudi arabia, which is just the adding of the name saud (the royal family) to "al arabiah".

edit: elaborations

1 Answers 2017-10-27

What were the difference in the military physical qualifications during WW2 between the various powers?

I was considering the desperate need for manpower that many nations in WW2 ran into, and it made me wonder, what were the differences between physical standards in the different nation's armed forces? For instance, did the Soviet have lower standards for weight because their population might not have been as well fed? Moreover, how did the various nations qualifications change during the war? I know that by the end of the war, the Germans were throwing teenagers and middle aged men into the war, how about the other powers? After the German advance into Russia was repelled, were certain groups less likely to be called up?

1 Answers 2017-10-27

Why do some countries have “the” in front of their names? For example: “The Netherlands” or “The Philippines.”

Saying just “Netherlands” or “Philippines” is grammatically incorrect and sounds off. Is it like this in other languages as well?

2 Answers 2017-10-27

In the tv series "Vikings", the protagonist is partially converted to Christianity by a captive, how common was this?

1 Answers 2017-10-27

Why were French commandos used to end the Meccan siege of 1979

So I was recently reading about the surprising and absurd instance of 1979 when French commandos had to briefly convert to Islam to be allowed into the holy city of Mecca in order to relieve its siege by al ikhwan extremists on behalf of the Saudi government. My question is why did the Saudi government resort to this? Surely it would be a massive PR failure for the Saudis and the broader Arab and Islamic worlds, to be seen relying on a former imperialist western power to protect their cultural heritage? Furthermore, why the French? From my own knowledge before the Saudis Mecca was traditionally in the British and ottoman Spheres of influence. It has no historical connection to France and France has little military presence there.

1 Answers 2017-10-27

What is the current academic consensus on Gildas' account of the Anglo-Saxon migration? Specifically Gildas' narrative of a Germanic foederati/mercenary rebellion.

Although I realize the Anglo-Saxon migration is a much debated/controversial topic, I was just wondering if there is any consensus on this particular aspect of Gildas' account.

1 Answers 2017-10-27

I mostly know the "Magic Bullet" theory of the JFK assassination from the Seinfeld parody. What is the conspiracy theorists' claim, and why is it wrong?

I know that the general claim is "the path of the bullet that hit Kennedy is physically impossible, so there must have been a second gunman" and I know that the consensus is that this claim is wrong, but that's just about all I know.

3 Answers 2017-10-27

Did ancient Egypt have any major technological/scientific advancements?

I was thinking that ancient Egypt was a ‘thing’ for like 3000 years and was wondering whether they had any major scientific or technological advancements because our civilisation has been for around that long and we’ve done loads of stuff

Sorry for the really bad wording lol

1 Answers 2017-10-27

Before WW2 how popular was Nazism around the world?

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1 Answers 2017-10-27

Is it true that income inequality in Ancient Rome was less than in the modern United States?

I have seen this claim on many sites like Huffington Post and ThinkProgress.

1 Answers 2017-10-27

What does askhistorians think of 1491 and 1493 by Charles Mann?

1 Answers 2017-10-27

Why are English translations of ancient Egyptian texts usually rendered in an excessively formal and archaic style while Greek and Roman translations sound perfectly natural? Did the Egyptians really write or speak like that?

This is also to some extent true with the Hebrew Bible, even in the most up-to-date modern translations.

An example from the Kadesh inscriptions translated by Alan Gardiner in 1960:

Then did My Majesty desist in life and dominion, being like Mont at his moment when his attack has succeeded. Then My Majesty caused to be brought to me all the leaders of my infantry and my chariotry and all my high officers collected in one place, to cause them to hear the matter concerning which he had written. Then My Majesty caused them to hear these words which the wretched Chief of Khatti had written to me. Thereupon they said with one voice 'Exceeding good is peace, O Sovereign our Lord. There is no blame in reconciliation when thou makest it, for who shall withstand thee on the day of thy wrath?'

From the Book of the Dead translated by E. A. Wallis Budge in 1899:

Homage to thee, O Ra, when thou risest as Tem-Heru-khuti. Thou art adored by me when thy beauties are before mine eyes, and when when thy radiance falleth upon my body. Thou goest forth to thy setting in the Sektet boat with fair winds, and thy heart is glad; the heart of the Matet boat rejoiceth. Thou stridest over the heavens in peace, and all thy foes are cast down; the never resting stars sing hymns of praise unto thee, and the stars which rest, and the stars which never fail glorify thee as thou sinkest to rest in the horizon of Manu, O thou who art beautiful at morn and at eve, O thou lord who livest and art established, O my lord!

Also what was the reason for the excessively long and weird royal titulary like this:

Majesty of the Residence of Re-Harakhti The-Strong-Bull-beloved-of-Truth, sovereign who protects his army, mighty on account of his strong arm, a wall for his soldiers on the day of fighting, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Usima-re-setpenre, the Son of Re, lion lord of the strong arm Ramses-miamun, given life eternally.

1 Answers 2017-10-27

Based on the r/news front page post, wealth is more centralized toward the rich than it has been since the gilded age. How did the US decentralize wealth during the 1930s and 1940s?

1 Answers 2017-10-27

How accurate is Osprey's Men-at-Arms series?

Are they worth buying? Is the historical info reliable? How accurate are the illustrations?

1 Answers 2017-10-27

Was Douglas MacArthur awarded the Medal of Honor for his escape from the Philippines?

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1 Answers 2017-10-27

How is a historians job

So are historians a self employed job who go and discover new things about history and write books about it or do they sign up with like a company and they fly them out to an area to discover and learn about undiscovered history. Sorry if I sound dumb asking this but I really want to know because I have been having it on my mind to be one but I am not really sure how it works.

2 Answers 2017-10-27

What is the origin of "greek" sororities & fraternities?

There has been a similiar question three years ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1s39fg/why_do_fraternities_and_sororities_use_the_greek/?st=j99bndqr&sh=0319d8ba but with no statisfying answer.

I'm just wondering, what are the origins of the greek community?

1 Answers 2017-10-27

During the mid 20th century, how was the Muslim brotherhood different from the Ba'ath Party?

2 Answers 2017-10-27

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