Some folks wonder why Christmas is on December 25^th given there is absolutely no clue in the bible, so here’s a handy passage from Professor Ron Hutton’s (( Wikipedia entry )) excellent book “The Stations of the Sun” quoting the Scriptor Syrus, a Christian writer in the late 300’s CE:

It was a custom of the pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnized on that day

Now 354 CE is the earliest calendar (that of Philocalus) which gives that date, but Prof. Hutton goes on to point out that the pagan festival that Syrus mentions was just 80 years old then, hardly an ancient practice. He says:

It had apparently been decreed only in 274 CE, by the emperor Aurelian, as a major holy day of a new and syncretic state cult with the sun as its official chief deity.

This in turn was built upon the older Syrian “Unconquered Sun” cult, which had its major festival in late summer. I suppose that last bit makes it almost appropriate for Australia. 🙂

Tuesday 31st July is the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele in which over half a million soldiers from both sides died.

The BBC is reporting that the last known British survivor of the trenches is revisiting the scene of the battle to pay his respects.

Harry Patch, 109, from Somerset, made the trip to Belgium to recall his part in the Battle of Passchendaele which claimed 250,000 British casualties. He also went to pay homage to the tens of thousands of German soldiers who lost their lives. […] During the fighting Mr Patch was badly wounded and three of his best friends were killed when a shell exploded just yards from where he was standing.

Half a million dead for 5 miles of ground in 99 days.

After reading the sleeve notes for “Lots of oil” on Yelp! by the Mrs Ackroyd Band I went looking for the letter of T.E. Lawrence to The Times in July 1920 that is mentioned. It appears an archive of his papers is available at http://telawrence.net/ with the texts of his out-of-copyright writings available and in that I found his letter to the editor, The Times, 22 July 1920. I also found a later editorial in the Sunday Times (22 August 1920) which has a rather topical quote:

The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Bagdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our imperial record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are to-day not far from a disaster.