Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones, & Einstein's Brain Read online

  One gruesome relic that has never been found is the head of the famous Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa. His head was severed from his corpse in Chihuahua in 1926, three years after his murder, and remains missing.

  At the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia are plaster casts of the torsos of the original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng, along with their preserved connected livers; and a tumor secretly removed from President Grover Cleveland’s jaw. At the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., is a wax model of the groin area of Two-Pistol Pete, John Baptist Dos Santos, who had two penises, four testicles, and three legs. On the subject of penises, let it be said that John Dillinger was buried with his penis. The widely circulated story of Dillinger’s penis existing separate from his body is spurious and probably originated as gossip because Dillinger’s brain was in fact removed during his autopsy. Another possibility comes from a photograph of Dillinger’s corpse in the morgue, taken from the side, where something is sticking up from under the sheet, perhaps a brace on the side of the table. Incidentally, Dillinger’s brain, which had been at Northwestern University, is now presumably lost.

  The Royal Society in London has an instrument that was traditionally believed to be a reflecting telescope constructed by the immortal Sir Isaac Newton. Now there is considerable doubt about this; it may be an old replica, and Newton’s optical telescope may have disappeared sometime in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century.

  Animals become artifacts too, when preserved in skins or mounted after death. Indeed, some famous horses or horses of famous people have been preserved for posterity. Included in this book is the story of Stonewall Jackson’s charger, Little Sorrel. Other eminent equestrian remains include Civil War general Philip Henry Sheridan’s Winchester (National Museum of American History), Little Bighorn captain Myles Keogh’s Comanche (Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence), Napoleon’s favorite charger, Vizir (Museum of the Army, Paris, on loan from the Louvre), the poisoned world racing champion thoroughbred of the 1930s, Phar Lap (Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia), and singing cowboy and television star Roy Rogers’s Trigger (Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum, Victorville, California). Also extant is the preserved head of Civil War general George Meade’s horse, Old Baldy (Civil War Library and Museum, Philadelphia).

  The bones of Robert E. Lee’s Traveller had long been on exhibit (Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia) but were disarticulated in the early 1960s and buried in May 1971 because they had gotten rather decrepit. Traveller’s hide was never preserved, but hair from his tail has been saved at the museum underneath Lee Chapel, Washington and Lee University. During the Civil War, people were known to pluck or cut off hairs from the manes and tails of famous animals for souvenirs.

  When I finished writing this book, it suddenly occurred to me that it was not just a collection of objects but a series of historical vignettes that illuminated the continuing drama of humankind—its events, beliefs, hopes, and deeds. From the shinbone of Major General Daniel Edgar Sickles to the diary of Anne Frank, from the Siloam Inscription to Voyager 1 and Voyager 2’s gold-plated record, these artifacts and their stories document the boundless spirit of humanity.

  Somewhere on this Earth—under the desert sands, deep in the ocean, or maybe even in somebody’s attic—lie artifacts just waiting to be discovered, with their cryptic yet revealing clues to the mysteries of humankind.

  Footnote

  *Some museums and institutions house casts or replicas of bones and artifacts, and these are not to be confused with the original objects or artifacts, whose locations are given at the end of each chapter of this book.

  THE BLACK STONE OF THE

  KA‘BAH

  DATE: Before the creation of humankind (by tradition).

  WHAT IT IS: The black stone is a revered object set in a corner wall of the Ka‘bah, a sanctuary Muslims believe to be the holiest place on Earth.

  WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE: The stone, having been sundered, is composed of several pieces and fragments, bound together by a silver ligature. It is semicircular and measures about 10 inches horizontally and 12 inches vertically.

  A mysterious object of unimaginable antiquity and possibly of extraterrestrial origin is revered today by Muslims around the world as being consummately holy, as coming from the Supreme Being, Allah, and as having been touched through the millennia by holy men from Abraham to Mohammed. This is Alhajar Al-Aswad, the Black Stone, and it is lodged in a wall of a sanctuary on grounds that are strictly forbidden to non-Muslims.

  According to Islamic tradition, the stone came to Earth aeons ago from heaven, where numerous angels linked in a chain worshiped Allah by chanting and praying as they continually circled Al-baitul Ma‘moor, the House Meant for the Worship of Allah by Angels, built under the throne of Allah. Allah wanted humankind to have a similar shrine from which to worship him, and he gave Adam a bright and pure white stone to bring to Earth from Paradise to set in the Ka‘bah, the shrine he would build. The stone was called Alhajar Alsad, the Happiest Stone, because of all the stones in Paradise it alone had been chosen for the Ka‘bah.

  With Alhajar Alsad in his arms, Adam descended from Heaven to the island off India known today as Sri Lanka, and Allah guided him to Mecca, a site directly below his throne in heaven. Adam placed the stone in the ground and built the Ka‘bah for it to be mounted in.

  Sometime later, when the Deluge, or Great Flood, swept over Earth’s surface, the Ka‘bah was severely damaged and its holy stone was taken away by divine power to a safe place. It remained hidden from human eyes until Allah told Abraham, the father of all prophets after him, to rebuild the Ka‘bah. The angel Gabriel led Abraham to the site in Mecca where the Ka‘bah was to be erected; Abraham built the House of Allah, and Gabriel gave him the holy stone to place in it.

  The people of the land joined Abraham in revering the stone by touching and kissing it. They also sacrificed lambs and cows and other animals near the sacred house and put the blood of the animals on the stone. Over time the stone began to darken.

  As the centuries passed, the Ka‘bah was frequently damaged by natural calamities and rebuilt by whichever Arab tribe held it as property at that particular time. Eventually it became a place of worship for Arab tribes from all over the region.

  In the early seventh century a fire ravaged the Ka‘bah, and the people rebuilt it this time with higher walls and the door several feet off the ground so sentinels could better regulate those who entered the house. But the Arab tribes, who had erected the sacred house jointly, disagreed about who should have the right to install the Black Stone. They decided to let the first person who entered the courtyard be the judge, to render a decision on who would have the right.

  Muslims are seen making a tawaf (circuit) around the Ka'bah. It is recommended that when possible they kiss and touch the Black Stone.

  It happened that the first person to come from the outside was Mohammed. At this time Mohammed was not a prophet, but he did have a reputation of being a faithful, trustful young man. After hearing the problem, Mohammed wisely came up with a plan that would satisfy and honor all concerned. He placed a piece of cloth on the ground and set the Black Stone at the center. Then he asked each of the tribes to select a delegate to gather around the cloth. Together they lifted the cloth with the Black Stone off the ground and carried it to the Ka‘bah, where Mohammed himself set the stone in place.

  Around A.D. 610 the Islamic religion was formally regenerated when this same Mohammed, who had opposed his countrymen’s practice of worshiping idols, received a revelation from Allah and began preaching his word as revealed to him through Gabriel, the same angel who gave revelation to all the prophets and who guided Abraham and his son Ishmael in the reconstruction of the Ka‘bah.*

  Mohammed’s outspokenness against idolatry stirred the rancor of the disbelieving tribes of Mecca. This rancor gradually grew to the point where the Prophet’s life was in danger
, and in 622, on receipt of instruction from Allah, he migrated to Medina. His journey is called the Hegira, and the year 622 marks the start of the Muslim calendar.

  With the spread of Islam came the eruption of battles, but eventually the people of Mecca accepted the religion, believing that Mohammed was a prophet and the Koran, the Muslim sacred scriptures, the final revelations sent by Allah. The Ka‘bah became the Muslim sanctuary, and the stone idols that had been placed inside were discarded. The Black Stone was left untouched.

  The Ka'bah (Sacred House), with the Black Stone set in its southeast corner in a silver casing a few feet off the ground, surrounded by the faithful.

  After Mohammed died, his companions led the Muslim nation under the laws set forth by Allah as revealed to the prophet Mohammed. The caliph Omar, who originally opposed Mohammed, gave faith to the people that the Black Stone was not an idol, saying to it, “I know you are incapable of doing good or harm. Had I not seen the messenger of Allah kissing you, I would not have done so.”

  Mohammed’s companions inaugurated sweeping changes, which resulted in sectarian conflict and eventually an attack on Mecca. In an assault in 682 the House of Allah was again damaged, and the Black Stone was broken into pieces. After the invaders retreated, many of the local population fled, fearing Allah would punish them for permitting the sanctuary to be destroyed. But the caliph commenced reconstruction, and the townspeople joined him when they saw Allah did not punish him. Stones from around the countryside were used as the building materials. The ruler had the pieces of the Black Stone composed and bound with a silver ring and had this object implanted in a corner wall.

  Since the time of Mohammed, the Ka‘bah has been occasionally damaged but never completely destroyed. Muslims believe the sacred building is indestructible, protected along with the Koran exclusively and ultimately by Allah from annihilation on Earth. In the same year Mohammed was born, the king of Ethiopia and his soldiers came to attack the sacred house but were, tradition holds, completely destroyed by armies of yellow pigeon-like birds called ab aabeels that dropped stones on them by the order of Allah.

  Day and night throughout the year, Muslims perform a ritual at the Ka‘bah called a tawāf. Recalling the angels in heaven circling Al-baitul Ma‘moor, it is a ritual in which Muslims walk quickly around the Ka‘bah seven times and make their devotions. During the tawāf they kiss or touch the Black Stone (or point at it if the Ka‘bah is crowded and they cannot get close to it).

  Once a year Muslims from around the world make a pilgrimage to Masjid Al-Haraam, the largest and most sacred mosque in the world, in whose open middle the Ka‘bah is located. On specific days in the month of Zilhujja, the last month in the Arab calendar, they perform the rituals of the pilgrimage which include their tawāf around the Ka‘bah. A tawāf always begins at the Black Stone.

  The Black Stone is set about three feet from the ground into the exterior southeastern corner of the Ka‘bah, a stone building shaped like a huge cube. It is the centuries-old tradition of Muslims to touch and kiss the stone because this was the prophet Mohammed’s practice. Muslims claim the Prophet taught that if one kisses the stone with conviction from the heart and walks around the Ka‘bah praying to Allah, the stone will bear witness to one’s supplication on the Day of Judgment, when the stone will be given vision and the power to talk.

  The Black Stone is set in a hole, so those wishing to touch or kiss it must insert their hand or face. The stone, which feels smooth and soothing, also has a pleasant fragrance, which it is said to have emitted since the time of Abraham.

  In making a tawāf, at certain sections of the walls Muslims will make prayers according to the Islamic commandments. Opposite the Black Stone is the Maqam Ibrahim (Spot of Abraham) corner. As the pilgrims move from this corner to the Black Stone to complete a circuit, Allah is said to forgive, if he wishes, some of their sins.

  Several feet in front of the Black Stone is the Zamzam well, which has an unusual provenance. While Abraham was away from his second wife, Hagar, and their newborn son, Ishmael, to visit his wife Sarah at Mecca, Hagar needed water, and she ran up and down between two mountains, Safā and Marwah, in extreme thirst, until the angel Gabriel hit the ground with his wings and brought forth a flow of clear water from under the feet of Ishmael. There seemed to be no man-made source for this water since no drilling had been done in the ground. Water still comes from the Zamzam well today, and Muslims believe it shall continue until the Day of Judgment.

  The Ka‘bah interior itself is open only two or three times per year. On these occasions the king (or the king’s representative) and the Muslim heads of the diplomatic missions of other countries sweep and clean the inside of the Ka‘bah. It is considered an honor to be invited to the sanctuary for these events.

  Only Muslims are permitted to pray at the Ka‘bah. Few non-Muslim Westerners have ever set eyes upon it, but one who did was the English Orientalist Sir Richard Francis Burton; he dressed as a Muslim to conceal his identity and was able to enter Masjid Al-Haraam, the “sacred” mosque. In describing the emotional experience of Muslims who made their devotions at the Ka‘bah and pressed their hearts against the Black Stone, Burton wrote, “It was as if the poetical legends of the Arab spoke truth, and that the waving wings of angels, not the sweet breeze of morning, were agitating and swelling the black covering of the shrine . . . theirs was the high feeling of religious enthusiasm.”

  From descriptions of its substance and color, modern Western scientists have agreed that the Black Stone probably did not originate on this planet. But they surmise that rather than having been brought down by Adam from a celestial paradise, it is most likely a fragment of a meteor that fell to Earth uncounted aeons ago.

  LOCATION: Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

  Footnote

  *Islam, which means “peaceful, willing, and total submission to the will of Allah,” teaches that Mohammed was the last prophet sent to humankind. The prophets of Islam who came before him, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, are the very same people who appear in the Judeo-Christian traditions, but Islam continued the chain of prophecy where these other religions left off.

  LUCY THE HOMINID

  DATE: Circa 3.2 million B.C.

  WHAT IT IS: The skeletal remains of an Australopithecus afarensis, one of the earliest known humanlike ancestors and forerunners of the human race. Lucy was a transitional creature between ape and human.

  WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE: Dozens of bones and fragments exist, comprising almost half of a complete skeleton. The skeleton reveals that Lucy was about 3½ feet tall.

  Lucy is one of the most extraordinary finds in paleoanthropological history, perched in the pantheon of hominid discoveries with those from Neanderthal, Java, Mauer, Zhoukoudian, and Taung. Her discovery is all the more remarkable in light of the auspicious circumstances that attended it. Serendipity always plays a major role in the laborious endeavor of finding fossils, but the finding of Lucy was so unlikely as to verge on the miraculous. Lucy was reposing in an area where fossils, once exposed to the surface, erode or are destroyed completely unless found within a few years. If a young American paleoanthropologist hadn’t been there to meet her, Lucy might have disappeared into oblivion and humankind’s further understanding of its origins delayed for an unknown period.

  At least five million years ago, a dramatic change was taking place in the area we now know as Africa: an apelike species of creatures was evolving into our human ancestors. This species roamed certain areas of the land, through lush, verdant forests, across meandering streams teeming with aquatic organisms, past ferociously active volcanoes, large predatory beasts, and deadly quicksand bogs. The climate was warm and favorable to an astonishing variety of animal and plant life. The hominids—the term for the human race including its distant progenitors—lived on the forest ground before moving out to the savannas, expansive open grasslands where the environment was equally perilous. They had small brains and V-shaped jaws with no chins and resembled a
pes except in one extremely significant respect. Rather than perambulating on four limbs, they walked erect on two feet. Being bipedal freed their hands, enabling them to carry out simple functions that would grow more complex as future species developed.

  The unearthing in the mid-1970s of this predecessor of humankind had the amazing effect of compelling scientists to revise their conception of the evolution of the human race.

  Since the first great hominid discovery in the mid-nineteenth century, the quest for humankind’s origin has been a spirited endeavor in which paleoanthropologists seek out and piece together fossil finds, postulate new species and genus names and evolutionary chains, debate these, and continually reformulate their ideas. Mammal and reptile fossils from eras far deeper in time than those of hominids have been found, but it is the hominid pieces that have been the greatest anthropological treasures.

  Exotic names have been attached to the disinterred remains, reflecting the sites where they have been found. In 1856 the first discovery of a Neanderthal (Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany) in the Neander Valley of Germany revealed a primitive human who lived fifty thousand to one hundred thousand years ago. The discovery of the Neanderthal, with its low sloping forehead, heavy eyebrow ridges, and large jaw, jarred those who doubted human roots extended so far back in time. A younger ancestor was found next, Cro-Magnon (Musée de l’Homme, Paris), in the Dordogne region of France, estimated to be less than thirty thousand years old. This was an example of Homo sapiens, or a modern human. These individuals painted pictures on the walls of caves, hunted animals for food, and even dabbled in religion. They were tall and had modern faces and large brains.