Cross and Croesus

[bjorn-are.davidsen@s.hk.telenor.no]

Unluuurking I just have to congratulate you, Don, on the treasure of Croesus!

The story was very amusing and impressive! From the enigmatic opening with 
Magica (What had really been going on at the money bin?) through the 
whole unravelling of the Croesus treasure, it just worked perfectly with me! I 
love tales based on historical facts, and especially regarding that part of the 
world!

As usual  I dug your many well researched details! The cross on exhibition in 
Hagia Sophia (one of my favorite buildings!) is very much a Byzantinian cross, 
6th century I would think. It reminds me a bit of the the gift Emperor Justin II 
presented to the pope and is still to be found in the Vatican Museum

Some mild comments: There are in fact remains of the great  temple of 
Artemis at Ephesus, even if pitifull small. A bit of one pillar is visible on the site, 
at least it was when I was there in 1988 (and there should have been remains 
in the 50's!). Or perhaps what one may see today is due to what happened in 
your tale? And by the way, the ancient city of Ephesus is a very lovely sight. 
Lots of buidings to see, not very long from the temple. And there are going on 
rather heavy reconstructions of buildings (e.g. the library) in the city! 
Construction machines everywhere.

And after my mild criticisms on your Constantinoplan cityscapes in "Guardians 
of the lost Library" more than a year ago I have to say that this is indeed an 
improvement! Now the buildings have the appropriate "roundness"! Someone (Josef 
Brodsky?) once said that loooking at Istanbul from afar is like seeing a nest of frogs in 
the weeds. He meant it negatively, to me it is a lovely sight. 

If there is one place in Istanbul to find pillars from the temple of Artemis I would have 
suggested the large underground "Cisterns of the thousand columns" situated just by 
Hagia Sophia. When I was there I noticed several pillars obviously lifted from pagan 
temples, as the Byzantinans to create their magnificent city had to get building materials 
from all over their world. There are all kinds of pillars upside down (do deglorify the old 
gods and godesses?), Medusa heads and whatever.

A possible inconsistency from previous discussions on the wealth of $crooge is that in 
this tale it all seems to depend on what's in his bin. Haven't you argued earlier that that is 
just a part of his wealth,containing "only" the money he personally has earned and of 
which he knows the story of every single coin? Or is there something I have 
misunderstood?

However, this is hair splitting! Keep on with more tales from that area! Let $crooge find 
the lost treasures of the Byzantinian emperors (e.g. what really happened to their 
tombs/burial treasures) after the sack of 1204! Let him go for Timurlanes treasure of 
Samarkand a bit farther east! And to Bagdhad which were leveled to the ground by the 
Mongolians in 1256 or something. A lot of interesting treasures may have been hidden! 
And we must not forget the whole story of the Silk Road!  And perhaps the greatest 
treasure of them all: The tomb of Alexander the Great! Go get it, $crooge! 

And go write it, Don!

Bjorn Are