What ancient Greek statues really looked like. What ancient statues really looked like

Everyone has it national park Africa's face and savannah different regions looks special. If you come to the Serengeti or Masai Mara, you will see rivers teeming with crocodiles and vast plains with thick waist-high grass, where countless herds of ungulates will cross your path. If you come to Amboseli and Tsavo national parks, you will see sparse thickets of bushes and trees, among which hide monkeys, leopards, rhinoceroses, elephants and countless flocks of weaver birds. But at the entrance to Etosha National Park you will be greeted by... silence.

Entrance to Okaukuejo Camp in Etosha National Park.

You will immediately feel the uniqueness of these places. The grass here is less common, the trees and shrubs are noticeably lower, among them you will no longer find mighty baobabs and umbrella acacias with a wide crown. The voices of birds are not heard, animals are not visible. The spirit of poverty is in the air, and it comes from the soil. Local soils are extremely dry, dense, mixed with small stones. The entire territory of Etosha National Park resembles an abandoned construction site where rubble has been scattered by careless builders. The dust gives the local plants a uniform grayish tint, and the horizon is forever drowned in a thin whitish haze. Etosha means "Big White place" And this is actually true.

If you drive your car a little deeper into the territory, a huge wasteland will unfold before your eyes.

In prehistoric times it splashed here huge lake, and now it is a real desert with a horizon trembling from the heat, a complete absence of plants and at least some shade. A depressing, sad sight. What to do here? Who can be protected in such a territory? Is it worth going here at all? Costs. Because Etosha National Park is one of the richest in fauna and one of the most interesting for naturalists. At the time of its foundation (1907) it was the largest in the world, then due to political conflicts lost 75% of its territory, but even after that it remains one of the largest in Africa.

A herd of springbok in the dry desert.

In order to enjoy communication with local nature, you need to understand the spirit of this area. Etosha's ecosystems lie on the border of two natural areas- real savannahs and the Kalahari desert. Here lies the front line of an invisible war that living beings are waging against drought and heat. That is why there are no animals visible here. They simply hide from the heat and from predators, which are visible from afar among the low vegetation. The only way to be guaranteed to see local inhabitants is to find a watering hole.

The inhabitants of Etosha National Park in direct and figuratively words bow before water. Now it’s the Kongoni antelope’s turn to cling to the source.

The reservoirs in Etosha National Park are small lakes fed by groundwater. They don't dry out all year round and all animals know this. Every day, 114 species of mammals and 350 species of birds gather on the shore. Whom you won't see here! Elephants, buffaloes, wildebeests, oryxes, kudu, impalas, springboks, lions, giraffes, cheetahs, hyenas, zebras, leopards, crows, guinea fowl, eagles, rhinoceroses, bustards, jackals... They all come for the precious moisture. But there are too many animals to do this one at a time, so several species can be on the shore at the same time. This feature is the main charm of Etosha. Herds form picturesque clusters around the lakes. Tourists can only click the camera shutter and do not need to make any additional efforts. Also, animals different types are in contact with each other. Naturalists can witness small dramas: someone drove someone away, ate someone, scared someone. Better conditions You can't imagine a way to observe the behavior of animals!

Congregations of animals in Etosha National Park appear to have been painted by a painter, but this is a real photograph, not a staged one.

Over the more than hundred-year history of the park, its employees have achieved great success in nature conservation. The park boasts Africa's only steadily growing black rhino population, as well as the second largest elephant herd on the continent.

Is the white elephant a miracle of nature? No, it was just an animal lying around in the white dust of Etosha.

Here you can find rare black-faced impalas and tiny antelopes: dik-diks, klipspringers.

Black-faced impalas (Aepyceros melampus petersi) are a special subspecies that is under threat of extinction.

Another pearl in Etosha’s precious setting - “ Fairy forest" This is the name of the grove of the endangered moringa tree. In appearance this plant is very similar to baobab. Unfortunately, moringa fell to the taste of the elephants, which damaged most trees. Even so, the local population of these plants is considered one of the largest in Namibia.

Tiny klipspringers stick to rocky areas. Males and females of these antelopes always walk in pairs.

Of particular note is the little-visited eastern section of the park. There is a large salt lake here where flamingos and pelicans feed and nest. To observe these birds, it is better to choose the rainy season, while the rest of the park, on the contrary, is more convenient to visit during the dry months (from May to November). During the dry season, the absence of leaves on the trees makes it easier to observe the animals. Just don’t plan to visit different sites on the same day. The distances here are enormous (the area of Etosha National Park is more than 22,270 sq. km), and the speed limit on the roads is 40 km/h.

Etosha National Park regulations allow visitors to enter and remain within the park during daylight hours. Driving on the roads at night is prohibited, but tourists can spend the night in any of three camps located in the center of the territory and near its borders. Each camp offers tourists a European level of comfort. They offer lodges, bars, restaurants, swimming pools, gas stations, shops, campsites, and barbecue areas. As a rule, visitors are offered excursion 3- and 6-day tours. They can also move around the area on own cars no guides. It should be taken into account that sometimes tire punctures occur due to sharp stones on the roads, so it is better to insure yourself in advance in case of an unexpected stop. Persons with weapons and pets are not allowed.

In order to take truly alien shots, it is not at all necessary to space trip. All you have to do is go to one of these amazingly beautiful salt marshes: landscapes await you here, looking at which it’s hard to believe that these points are on the map of ours and not some unknown planet.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

The largest and most famous salt marsh has an area of 10,582 square meters. km and more than half of the world's lithium reserves. Infinite white desert completely disorients the observer. From the relief there is only salt collected in pyramids, mini-hotels made of salt blocks and several islands, including Incahuasi of volcanic origin, with giant cacti up to 10 m high. During the rainy season, the salt marsh is covered with water, creating the effect of a mirror in which the Cumulus clouds. In November, flamingos come here to raise their chicks.

Salinas Grandes, Argentina

The second largest dry salt lake at the foot of the Sierras de Cordoba mountain range covers an area of 6000 square meters. km. Before mid-19th V. this place was called a desert - in summer the heat here is up to 45 degrees. If you prefer walking to driving, remember that it is safer to walk on intensely white surfaces. Good sunglasses and sun cream are a must!

Etosha Salt Flat, Namibia, part of Etosha National Park

Etosha means "Big White Space" in the Ovambo language. However, the endorheic lake in the north of Nabimia has this color only during the dry period, and then it is tinted greenish - by algae and halophyte grass growing on the cracked silt. The salt marsh is part of the national park, so at the junction of land and salt you can watch for wild animals, for example elephants.

El Djerid, Tunisia (Chott el Djerid)

In the absence of precipitation, Lake El Jerid almost completely dries up, and mirages appear under the influence of the heat. Its color can vary from classic white to purple and green. Along the edges of the saline depression, at the outlets of artesian waters, oases with groves of date palms have long existed. This place is also famous for the filming of Star Wars.

Makgadikgadi Pan, Botswana

Makgadikgadi is formed by several lakes - Soa, Ntwetwe and others, and it is they that are covered with a crust of salt in winter. In the sandy areas between them, grass and trees grow, and there are even large baobab trees.

Lake Salar de Arizaro, Argentina

The second largest Argentine salt marsh is located at the foot of the Andes. First of all, this place is interesting for the conical pyramid of Cono-le-Arita, 122 m high - it was once considered man-made, but then its volcanic origin was proven. However, archaeologists confirm that in the pre-Incan era, priests gathered at the top for ceremonies.

Devil's Golf Course, California, USA

Death Valley National Park is known for its arid climate. The bottom of one of the deserted lakes, Manly, was covered with bizarre formations of rock salt. About the unevenness of this surface, a 1934 guide to the park wrote: “Only the devil could play golf here.” This is how the name “devil’s golf course” came about.

Salar de Atacama, Chile

This salt marsh is never covered with a thin layer of water, but there are several lakes here. The Sekhar Lagoon boasts the same buoyancy properties as the Dead Sea. Chahar Lagoon is home to several species of birds. There are also a number of volcanoes in the Salar de Atacama region, including Lascar, the most active in the country.

Bonneville, Utah, USA (Bonneville Salt Flats)

Not far from Salt Lake City there is a wonderful natural attraction - a dry salt lake with sediment depths of up to 1.8 m. The surface of Lake Bonneville is so smooth that there is already more than a century Car and motorcycle races are held. Now there are two highways marked on which sports cars can reach speeds of more than 1000 km/h.

Deryacheye Nemek, Iran (Namak Lake)

A descendant of the ancient Paratethys Ocean, this salt lake has an area of 1800 square meters. km, but usually about 1 sq. km is covered with water. km. Only in the spring does it fill up from the surrounding rivers, turning the Kuh-e-Sardargan hill into an island. There is a relatively rich flora and fauna here, and fish are found at the mouths of the western tributaries.

Address: Namibia, Ombika (state highway C38)
Telephone: +264 81 180 0016
Website: etoshanationalpark.co.za
Square: 22,270 sq. km
Date of foundation: March 22, 1907

The history of the opening of the Etosha Nature Reserve

The Ovambo people, who spoke the Khoisan language, were the first to populate the territory of this protected area. The name of the reserve is translated from their language as “big white space.” Later, intertribal warfare broke out over the lands around Lake Etosha, as a result of which the Ovambo people were driven out of this territory. When Europeans arrived here, it was used as agricultural land.

The official founding date of Etosha is 1907, and it was given the status of a national park only in 1958. Its creation helped save rare and endangered animal species, but buffalo and wild dogs became extinct here in the middle of the 20th century. The rangers of the Etosha Nature Reserve have to constantly fight against poachers and slaughterhouses, literally taking hundreds and thousands of large animals (plains zebras, mountain zebras, elephants) from them.

Nature in Etosha Nature Reserve

Throughout history, the boundaries of this reserve have changed more than once. According to the latest data, the area of the reserve is 22,275 square meters. km, of which approximately 5123 sq. km (23%) are in the Etosha salt marsh.

These lands are characterized by the climate of the Kalahari Desert and the arid part of Namibia. That is why mopane trees, various shrubs and thorns grow more in Etosha National Park.

Such sparse vegetation has become a habitat for many species of animals - the rare black rhinoceros, savannah elephant, African ostrich, giraffe and others. One of the most prominent representatives Etosha's fauna are southwest African lions. In total, the territory of this conservation zone is inhabited by:

14 species of mammals;
340 species of birds;
110 species of reptiles;
16 species of amphibians;
1 type of fish.

While in the Etosha Nature Reserve in Namibia, you can watch how zebras, elephants and antelopes come to the lake to drink, and at night lions and rhinoceroses flock here.

Tourism in Etosha Game Reserve

Travelers from all over the world come to this reserve to observe the local inhabitants and explore the local landscapes. Especially for them, tourist areas were created on the territory of Etosha National Park:

Halali Camp;
Okaukuejo Camp;
Onkoshi Camp;
Namutoni Camp.

Campsites Halali and Okaukuejo have bungalows and private rooms, while Namutoni also has apartments. A night in a double room with breakfast in any of the hotels in Etosha National Park costs approximately $131. In addition, the tourist area is equipped with a gas station and shops.

Before visiting the Etosha Nature Reserve in Namibia, you should remember that entry by car is only allowed from the eastern side. IN western part Only special tourist vehicles are allowed to enter the park. In this case, you need to submit a fee for each company member and car.

How to get to Etosha?

This national park located in the north of the country, 163 km from the border of Namibia with Angola and 430 km from. From the capital of Namibia, the Etosha Nature Reserve can only be reached by car. They are connected by the B1 and C38 roads. Following them from Windhoek, you can reach your destination in 4-5 hours. The C8 leads to the self-driving eastern part of Etosha National Park.

Since the Renaissance, the white surfaces of ancient statues have been a standard of beauty and a source of inspiration for artists. But archaeologists Ulrika Koch-Brinkman and Vincenz Brinkman destroyed the dreams of aesthetes.

Scientists have previously noticed that on some statues traces of painting were preserved in the folds of togas and robes. Vincenz and Ulrika made a bold assumption that the statues were painted. To prove this, scientists examined them using X-rays, infrared and ultraviolet radiation. The assumption was confirmed: modern technologies using microparticles they even helped restore the color of paints. And they turned out to be quite cheerful.

Actually, nature should be blamed for the fact that they came to us white: over the centuries, under the influence of rain and wind, the paint was worn off. The Brinkman couple decided to recreate the original appearance of the statues, for which they painted several as they originally looked during the Ancient Greece and Rome. An exhibition of reconstructed statues of the Brinkmans has been touring museums around the world since 2003.

Now the painted statues look tacky and ridiculous. But in ancient times, when color was a symbol of status and wealth, they bright colors emphasized the greatness of the rulers and the country. “People often think of it as kitsch,” says Vincenz. - And this is not surprising. But the point is rather that this is unusual for our modern eye. And then, a thousand years ago, when slaves and the poor wore clothes made of unbleached linen, merchants who did not belong to noble class, had no right to wear purple and blue, no matter how rich they were. Just imagine with what reverence they looked at the statues - for example, a lion with an indigo mane from Greek city Loutraki."

The “Sarcophagus of Alexander” was found during excavations of the necropolis of the Phoenician city of Sidon. Alexander the Great is depicted on it during the battle with the Persians. Tunic with long sleeves talks about his conquests and the fact that he is now an eastern ruler. And the headdress made of lion skin refers to Hercules and indicates the divine origin of Alexander.