Breathtaking Roman sculpture of eagle devouring a serpent is plucked from the London earth.

[dipsydoodle]

Hidden since the Romans ruled Britain, this extraordinary sculpture was perfectly preserved for 1,900 years beneath a busy street.

The carvings on the 26in high eagle are so crisp that when archaeologists unearthed it last month they feared it was a much later copy rather than an original Roman relic.

But experts at the Museum of London Archaeology confirmed that the sculpture from a high-ranking official’s tomb dates from the 1st or 2nd century AD, and is one of only two statues of its type in the world. The other was found in Jordan in 1937.

Archaeologists also unearthed foundations of a mausoleum on the east London site and believe that the statue, dating from the first or second century AD and made from oolitic limestone from the Cotswolds, once adorned it.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2478904/Roman-sculpture-eagle-devouring-serpent-unearthed-London.html#ixzz2jDZG99Lk

[snooper2]

1. Not a very smart bird

Usually you would want to eat the head first LOL

[madokie]

5. I was going to say the same thing

most everything starts at the tail end when eating another animal but with snakes most start at the head.
I guess to show it as a snake they have to carve it this way otherwise it might be construed to be a long tongue.

I used to have a snake eating cat who seemed to love 'em. It would take it several hours to devour a 12 - 14 inch snake and then go back for more. Providing it had found a nest of them that is. The cat always seemed to win.

[Brother Buzz]

10. Birds almost universally swallow small fish head first

I'm told it's because of the scales. Snakes have scales, too.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. It's just picking it up - it's not eating it yet

It doesn't have it either by the head or tail. You can see more of the body between the eagle's legs.

[Berlum]

2. Viva Quetzacoatl! (Roman Style)

[UTUSN]

4. I guess Mexico/artists-symbol-designers were observers of nature (like the Romans)

And/or "new" countries adopt formulae that worked from the past for legitimizing themselves.



The distinctive gesture was instituted as a salute by Zog I of Albania. It was first widely used by Zog's personal police force and was later adopted by the Royal Albanian Army. Leo Freundlich, when confronted by the traditional Nazi greeting "Heil Hitler", would sarcastically respond with a "Heil Zogu" salute. The confusion which this created amongst German diplomats, who believed it to be a standard Albanian greeting, greatly amused him. In Latin America, especially in Mexico, a gesture similar to the Zogist salute is used by civilians to salute the national flag.

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[leftyohiolib]

8. their salute is a tad disturbing, looks very familiar

[Mariana]

13. Very familiar indeed.

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[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Close, but not exactly

That salute, used to be a tad to the side, 10 degrees or so, is used when taking oaths. They are called protesta, and are akin to the oaths taken by US officials to defend and protect the Constitution.

As a child of the holocaust you can imagine how many Jeevy heavies I got over it.

The photo of the President with his hand at an angle over the heart is the flag salute.

Fun fact, it is also used by troops when not wearing cover to salute superiors.

Oh and forgot that eagle eating the serpent symbolizes Quetzalcoatl marking the spot for founding Tenochtitlan, an eagle eating a serpent on cactus, it is pre-Hispanic myth. It is present in one of the few surviving codices.

A coincidence, yes.

[UTUSN]

11. As I said, observing nature. n/t

[Paladin]

3. Very impressive.

Hope it's on exhibition in or near London in the future, I'd love to see it close-up.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. On exhibition at the Museum of London for the next 6 months

I'm not sure what will happen to it after that.

[Paladin]

17. Thanks. (nt)

[joeybee12]

6. That's evry well-preserved...a great find...

KNR

[Ron Obvious]

7. I love stuff like this

I can stare at this sort of thing for hours and wonder about the sculpter, what his life was like, what his dreams, fears and ambitions were. Ancient history isn't as ancient as we think and sometimes we need a reminder.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

12. Roman version of Don't Tread on Me

[xchrom]

14. Du rec