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From today's featured articlePortraits of Odaenathus, the king of Palmyra from 260 to 267 CE, include sculptures, seal impressions, and mosaic pieces. As a client king for Rome, Odaenathus came to dominate the Roman East after defeating Shapur I of Persia in 260 and assuming the title King of Kings. Several limestone head portraits from Palmyra were identified by twentieth-century scholars as depicting Odaenathus, based on criteria such as the size and the presence of a wreath, but more recent research indicates that these pieces were probably funerary objects depicting private citizens. Two marble heads, both reflecting a high level of individuality, depicting Eastern royal attributes such as the tiara and diadem, are more likely to be portraits of the king. Also, two Palmyrene tesserae (example pictured) bear a probable depiction of the king, bearded and wearing a diadem and an earring. In addition, Odaenathus is likely the subject of two mosaic panels glorifying his victories. (Full article...)
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Ignace-Gaston Pardies (1636–1673) was a French Catholic priest and scientist. His celestial atlas, entitled Globi coelestis in tabulas planas redacti descriptio, comprising six charts of the sky, was first published in 1674. The atlas uses a gnomonic projection so that the plates make up a cube of the celestial sphere, and served as a model for William Rutter Dawes's 1844 star charts. This is the first plate from a 1693 edition of Pardies's atlas, centred on the north celestial pole and depicting part of the northern sky. Map credit: Ignace-Gaston Pardies
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