Nobody quite knows where the Hawaiian “shaka” (or “hang loose”) came from; it has many origin stories with varying moods. One of these is the mythic story of Hamana Kalili, an Indigenous Hawaiian who worked the sugar cane plantations. He had allegedly lost his three middle fingers in a work accident, leaving only his thumb and pinky. He was given a new job as a security guard, and whenever he waved, his hand looked quite similar to the “shaka” hand gesture we know today. Read full article here
Research
Researcher uses AI to make texts that are thousands of years old readable
The Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest work of world literature, has been brought back to life by LMU researchers in the Electronic Babylonian Literature project. Using their new Fragmentarium tool, they have discovered hundreds of manuscripts, including the most recent tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic which dates from 130 BC – thousands of years after the earliest known version. This shows how highly valued the Epic was, even at a late period. With the public release of the Fragmentarium, anyone can now explore the thousands of cuneiform fragments and explore the ancient Babylonian literature. Read full article here
Merv
March 12, 2023
