cathexis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Ron,
>
> Could a mere acolyte dare to critique this
> rapturous paean?
>
> First of all "immarcesible" ought to be
> "immarcescible".
> (If this is a typo, then please nevermind).
> Another problem
> is the word, "murex" - is that in the original? It
> ought to be
> the plural "murices", (see citation below). Maybe
> the grammer
> is technically correct but is he really suggesting
> this vast
> celestial cloak was won from one lousy mollusk ?
> Finally there
> is, "aguish": The way it's used it would suggest
> "shivering mists"
> perhaps ? A mist seems a rather insubstantial or
> tenuous thing
> to be shivering. Imagine you walk outside on a
> cold winter's morning;
> Your cold breath is visible as you exhale. Your
> hands might shiver but
> would your cold, foggy, breath shiver as well?
> Just seems out of place.
>
> Okay, I'll fall on my sword now,
>
> Cathexis
>
> Citation:
>
> [
dictionary.reference.com]
>
> –noun, plural mu·ri·ces
>
> Word Origin & History
>
> murex
>
> kind of shellfish which yields a purple dye, 1589,
> from L. murex (pl. murices ), probably cognate
> with Gk. myax "sea mussel," of unknown origin,
> perhaps related to mys "mouse" (see muscle and
> mussel ).
> Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas
> Harper
"murex" is used universally in the ancient literature as a collective noun - the Romans would been puzzled by "murices" and considered it an affectation since no such Latin plual exists - it is an anglicism - My reference for this is the excavation of ancient Mizpeh, (Tell-en-nasbeh) about 18 miles northeast of Jerusalem which was excavated following WWI using German aerial photos which clearly showed the wall - this dig was taken to bedrock and has subsequently been filled in to prevent souvenir hunting - I have had the privilege of working on this dig and studying its artifacts. It was one of Solomon's "fortified cities" (part of his military dictatorship), and
was the center for the manufacturing of Royal Purple dye (not to be confused with the sacred blue from the Halizon found in the Talmud) - the city was sacked by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar in the 6th century BC, but kept in business by the appointment of one Jaazaniah, whose signet (a small agate with a hole to allow it to be worn around the neck) with his name on it was found during the excavation and currently is on display in the Museum in Jerusalem (the only artifact found in Palestine with someone's name etched on it) - Curiously, the seal, meant to be pressed in wax on official documents (which abound in the correspondence discovered in Babylonia's vast official libraries - still in the process of translation) is cut as a reverse image - the basic principal of moveable type - a concept not expanded until 1454AD - nevertheless, innumerable documents attest to the orders for, manufacture of by this or that "House of Purple", shipping orders, manifests, invoices etc (the Babylonians were worse about "paper work" than we are) attest again and again to the usage as mentioned above - similarly - the documents of the Imperium (including one or two references in Suetonius) regarding purchase, sale, etc. are similarly numerous -