January 15, 2021

How to Clean an Egyptian Temple Most times, ancient structures have been ravaged by the sands of time, their vibrancies and colours stripped away long after they are abandoned. But in the case of the temple of Esna, about a half hour south of Luxor, the sandstone vestibule has retained its color with remarkable success. According to an Egyptian-German team restoring the temple, that preservation is a product of soot and bird poop. The team has now cleaned the mess off, revealing the original colors of the temple’s paint job, as well as never-before-reported names of several Ancient Egyptian constellations.  READ MORE → Witch Kitsch and Dark History To German witches—hexen—the Harz highlands of northern Germany is home, a mountain range steeped in pagan lore. Here lies Quedlinburg, a dazzling medieval town whose descriptions often include the phrase “fairy tale.” True to the Grimms’ classic German fairy tales, this UNESCO World Heritage Site has a dark side. Like many German towns, Quedlinburg had its own early modern witch hunts. But they didn’t have nearly the impact as the propaganda that later sprang from them would, for Quedlinburg is also the birthplace of one of the most misinformed assertions about the early modern witch hunts. READ MORE → PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA 'The Babies' This exhibit is located across the street from the Palm Springs Art Museum in a large courtyard. Easy to overlook, these sculptures of babies appear to crawl through the dirt and along the walls of the sandpit. But instead of faces, these sculptures have barcodes—statements on societal dehumanization. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Heavenly Restaurants There are many obvious reasons to visit sacred spaces: to pray, to contemplate, to admire stunning feats of art and architecture. But at these 11 houses of worship, culinary treasures also await. You don’t have to be religious, but you do need to be respectful. Just bring an open mind and an empty stomach. SEE ALL → LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Brady Bunch Home Welcome to the “second most photographed house in the country.” This house, home to the iconic Brady Bunch, was chosen for the show because it resembled a house an architect (the profession of the show’s patriarch, Mike Brady) would call home. Visitors are welcome to take photos—from the sidewalk, that is. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES The Wild West’s Forgotten Trans History Despite a seeming absence from the historical record, people who did not conform to traditional gender norms were a part of daily life in the Old West, according to Peter Boag, a historian at Washington State University and the author of Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past. He was shocked at the size of this population, which he’d never before encountered in his time as a queer historian of the American West. Trans people have always existed all over the world. So how had they escaped notice in the annals of the Old West? READ MORE → MISKOLC, HUNGARY Diósgyőr Castle First built in the 13th century, the castle has a complicated history, as it was destroyed not long after construction during a Mongol invasion that left the structure in ruins. In 1364, after the attachment of a large estate to the castle, it became known as the finest castle in the country, boasting the largest great hall found in medieval Central Europe. But by the 16th century, the castle began to deteriorate, eventually lying in ruins for over 400 years until restoration efforts began in 1962. READ MORE →