When you think of the era of the ancient Egyptians and Minoans, what do you suppose was going on to the north, in central Europe?

Today, a new exhibition opened at @MuseumHalle in Halle, Germany called 'The Realm of the Sky Disk: New Horizons'.
Alongside the @MuseumHalle exhibition, a book has been released (in German) called 'Reach for the Stars', that examines what was going on in what is now Germany, in the 2nd millennium BCE.
One thing that visitors will discover is that the people who lived in Central Europe more than three thousand years ago prized beautiful things - they had an eye for wonderful design.

Grave goods from princely burials at Leubingen and Dieskau are a testament to this.
It's way more than beautiful things though. Perhaps even more interesting is the complex astronomical knowledge the Bronze Age peoples of central Europe had.

Visitors to the exhibition will learn about the wooden henge at Pommelte, an observatory, and holy site.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of this exhibition is the discussion of the transmission of religious belief - a common sun worship that stretched from Egypt to Denmark.

Finds at the exhibition all speak of a common family of beliefs.
Of course, the heart of the @MuseumHalle exhibition is the Nebra Sky Disk and its accompanying hoard.

It will be on display there until January, at which point it will head to England, to the @BritishMuseum.
'Reach for the Stars' also features a wealth of new research on the Nebra Sky Disk, showing how it was manufactured and changed over time.
So @PrehiStorytellr just tweeted a thread giving her impressions of the exhibition - it's safe to say she is an expert!
If you are able to, I highly recommend a visit to the exhibition. I absolutely will be heading up there, and giving my impressions.

Here's everything you need to know, in English. landesmuseum-vorgeschichte.de/en/temporary-e…
It you are a confident German speaker, you can also purchase 'Reach for the Stars' here. amazon.de/dp/3549100272/…
I really hope you enjoy both the exhibition and the book. The book is astonishing, with some amazing revelations, and if it's any reflection on the exhibition, visitors are in for a treat!

Time for me to head back to Halle!

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More from @MikeStuchbery_

5 Jun
Stonehenge is, quite rightly, one of the world's great sacred sites, and a massive tourist magnet.

What if I told you, that Germany had its own 'Stonehenge' - and perhaps even more impressive and important?
Unlike Stonehenge, however, the 'Ringheiligtum Pommelte', or Pommelte Sacred Site, took uncovering. In fact, we didn't know about it until the 2000s, when earlier aerial photos were confirmed to show a series of wooden henges and ditches.

What we see today is a reconstruction.
What archaeologists uncovered was incredible - essentially, a 4,3000 year old 'cathedral' - a massive holy site that was used for a number of purposes, over hundreds of years, with evidence of continued ritual use.

The recreated site was opened to the public in 2015.
Read 14 tweets
26 May
I mentioned this yesterday, but I'd like to devote a bit more time to telling you a wonderful story.

It's about time and space.
Some time around 3,600 years ago, peoples of the Únětice culture in what is today central Germany created an artefact unlike anything seen before - a bronze and gold disk, 30cm across and weighing 2kg.

It depicted the sun, moon and the Pleaides constellation.
It is thought the artefact - the 'Himmelscheibe', or Sky Disk' - transmitted information as to when an extra month had to be added to the calendar - when the moon and Pleaides were visible.

This was the difference between plenty and famine to these agrarian peoples.
Read 16 tweets
6 Apr
Today in spectacularly morbid German history, I learned that on April 9th 1559, as the inhabitants of the Swabian town of Weil in Schönbuch celebrated, fires broke out around the town...
Much to the horror of the inhabitants of the town, as soon as one building was extinguished, more sprung up. It soon became apparent that someone was setting the fires that were razing the prosperous community...
111 houses were burned, as well as the town hall and church. There's no figures on casualties, but it's safe to say that there were a few. Reports say that for the next couple of days, bits of the priests records were found across the town, carried by the hot air of the fire...
Read 6 tweets
19 Mar
I have held my tongue about what happened to me, partly because I didn't want to jeopardize the work of others, partly because I wanted to get my life on track.

I will never understand why this Man has been allowed to intimidate others for years. thenational.scot/news/19174424.…
It's not just the violence of the initial 'visit', in which everyone in your neighbourhood is woken up by him & his thugs, it's the hate mail, visits from other people and a thousand acts of petty intimidation.

Police genuinely didn't give a damn, let him go on his way.
It's only through the support of groups ranging from @uaf to the @bylinetimes team, from individuals like @LouiseRawAuthor and grouos Ahmadi community that I was able to feel somewhat safe.

In the end, I ended up losing my job, my marriage and a burgeoning writing career.
Read 7 tweets
21 Feb
Bunch of catastrophically moronic Nazi fanboys added me to a *Facebook* chat where they share pics of their guns alongside threats of violence and the usual racist crap... /1
The kind of Facebook chat where you can see every single member of the group... and go to their profile. /2
Hate to break it to you lads, but the whole lot is there, and being saved. /3
Read 8 tweets
10 Feb
I got a little time this morning, so I thought I'd tell you about something amazing I discovered yesterday during some research.

In 1957, east of Schongau in Bavaria, at a place called Peiting, peat cutters found something they really weren't expecting... 1/
...a wooden box. When one of the cutters saw what was inside, the operation was stopped and the police were called.

They had found 'Rosalinde'. /2
'Rosalinde' would have stood around 152cm in life. She was between 15 - 30 at the time of her death and had eaten a porridge for her last meal. She was wearing a white dress, a headband, undergarments and magnificent boots. /3
Read 9 tweets

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