Ravana’s Mechanical Flying Peacock

In this essay, Justin Henry, a 2017-18 CAORC NEH Senior Research Fellow, discusses the origins and implications of Ravana's flying machine, a popular figure in Sri Lankan versions of the Ramayana epic. All photos are courtesy of the author.

https://www.caorc.org/post/2019/06/10/ravanas-mechanical-flying-peacock

“Ravana was a great king of Sri Lanka 8000 years ago,” he went on earnestly. “And, you know, he had an airplane powered by a mercury vortex engine. We had such technology in those days.”

This was not the last that I would hear of Ravana’s flying machine and its “mercury vortex” propulsion . . .

"finding human voices in the clay"

A review of a new book on "Gilgamesh," by Michael Schmidt:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/10/14/how-to-read-gilgamesh

Books

October 14, 2019 Issue

How to Read “Gilgamesh”

The heart of the world’s oldest long poem is found in its gaps and mysteries.

By Joan Acocella