Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Pacific Vortex: Goliath's corpse and more

pg 107

Diving on a suken ship...to swimming through the rotting bones of Goliath's corpse.
Goliath or Goliath of Gath (one of five city states of the Philistines) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament). Described as a giant Philistine warrior, he is famous for his combat with the young David, the future king of Israel. The battle between them is described in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and, more briefly, in the Qur'an.

The purpose of the original story was to show David's identity as the true king of Israel. Post-Classical Jewish traditions stressed Goliath's status as the representative of paganism, in contrast to David, the champion of the God of Israel. Christian tradition gave him a distinctively Christian twist, seeing in David's battle with Goliath the victory of God's King over the enemies of God's helpless people as a prefiguring of Jesus' victory over sin on the Cross and the Church's ongoing struggle against Satan.

The story
The account of the battle between David and Goliath is given in 1 Samuel, chapter 17. Saul and the Israelites are facing the Philistines at the Valley of Elah. Twice a day for 40 days, Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, comes out between the lines and challenges the Israelites to send out a champion of their own to decide the outcome in single combat. However, Saul and all the other Israelites are afraid of him. David is present, having brought food for his elder brothers. Saul has promised to reward any man who defeats Goliath, David accepts the challenge. Saul reluctantly agrees and offers his armor, which David declines, taking only his sling and five stones chosen in a brook.

David and Goliath confront each other, Goliath with his armor and shield, David with his staff and sling. “The Philistine cursed David by his gods,” but David replies: “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that God saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is God’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

David hurls a stone from his sling with all his might, and hits Goliath in the center of his forehead. The Philistine falls on his face to the ground, dead (In some versions, Goliaths head is cut off by David with Goliaths sword). The Philistines flee and are pursued by the Israelites “as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron.” David puts the armor of Goliath in his own tent and takes the head to Jerusalem, and Saul sends Abner to bring David to him. The king asks whose son he is, and David answers, ‘I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.’”

March carried a Nikonos underwater camera
Nikonos is the name of a series of 35 mm film cameras specifically designed for underwater photography launched by Nikon in 1963. The early Nikonos cameras were improvements of the Calypso camera, which was an original design by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Belgian engineer Jean de Wouters.

It was produced in France by La Spirotechnique (currently Aqua Lung) until the design was acquired by Nikon to become the Nikonos. The Nikonos system was immensely popular with both amateur and professional underwater photographers. Its compact design, ease of use, and excellent optical quality set the standard for several decades of underwater imaging. Nikon ceased development and manufacture of new Nikonos cameras in 2001, but the camera remains popular, and there is a large and active secondary market.

At least 40 parrotfish meandered past.

Parrotfishes are a group of fishes that traditionally had been considered a family (Scaridae), but now often are considered a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses.[1] They are found in relatively shallow tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, but with the largest species richness in the Indo-Pacific. The approximately 90 species are found in coral reefs, rocky coasts and seagrass beds, and play a significant role in bioerosion.

A brownish shark, about six feet long with white tips, swam above the men
There are a variety of whitetip sharks - not enough info to figure out which one Cussler is referencing here.

No comments:

Post a Comment