Roman jewelry found in ancient tomb near Kyoto

Contact was probably more prolific than modern "experts" claim.

I have yet to hear an explanation as to why days of the week are the same in the Japan and the West.

Sunday = Sun Monday = Moon Tuesday = Mars Wednesday = Mercury Thursday = Jupiter Friday = Venus Saturday = Saturn

In French the above correlation is more pronounced than in English.

I think it's cool that there was so much intermingling between ancient cultures. Shows modern countries that they aren't as unique and permanent as they think they are. As far as the similarities between the two calendars (e.g. days of the week), there are basically two theories. One is there is one source, and it spread. The other is that the same calendar sprung up independently in several places. Both are plausible. Considering ancient people thinking up names for recurring calendar events, they really didn't have much to go on except the heavens. Assuming people named the first day of the week after the most important thing in the sky, and the next day of the week after the next important thing in the sky, and so on, isn't so hard to swallow.

There was also quite a bit of Jesuit influence in China during the 1500 and 1600 hundreds, specifically in astronomy, so perhaps the two kind of overlapped eventually. Interesting stuff all around.

Another thing that always intrigued me, when it came to ancient Eastern and Western societies was the idea of dragons. A huge, dangerous reptile that caused all kinds of havoc. Was there a singular source of this common myth, or was it independently created?

It looks suspiciously like a Krispy Kreme donut.

Roman goods going through China and around South/Southeast Asia is really interesting. I wonder if any Roman ever set foot in Japan. Never been documented but perhaps....

Great interesting article and comment. Thankyou.

It looks like a doughnut. Are we sure we have the right picture here?

Speed, Don't know if a Roman ever made it to Japan, but an East Asian made it to Italy. His bones were found around 2009. His mitochondria DNA showed him to be East Asian. Also, a 5th century Buddhist statue from India was discovered in a Viking burial in Sweden. An interesting book is Silk Road:Warriors, Monks and Merchants by Luce Boulnois. Very good read about how things went back and forth along the Silk Road.

Humans have always traded and contacted one another. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if Ancient travelers from Rome were sent on expeditions to the end of the Earth (so to speak). Humans haven't evolved in any capacity so just when we think our idea of something is so special, you can be rest assured it's not.

I too came here because I thought it looked like a doughnut

Well, the tomb of Jesus is in Aomori.

Cool.

Flash -- this just in. Archeologists have found what appears to be an ancient Japanese transistor radio in a Roman catacomb.

Tests have revealed three glass beads discovered in the Fifth Century “Utsukushi” burial mound in Nagaoka, near Kyoto...

Nagaoka-kyo was the capital of Japan from 784 to 794 and merchants from China and Korea brought various Silk Road goods to Japan during Nara Period (710-794).

But the burial mound dates back to 5th century (Kofun period), so the owner of the Roman jewelry might be a Toraijin with aristocratic status; a Korean (Baekje,Goguryeo,Silla) or Chinese immigrant naturalized as Japanese.

They are one of the oldest multilayered glass products found in Japan, and very rare accessories that were believed to be made in the Roman Empire and sent to Japan,” said Tomomi Tamura, a researcher at the institute.

Japanese egoism. We don't know yet if the Roman Empire sent the beads to Japan. Most likely they traveled the Silk Route to China and then China traded the beads with Japan.

Show more professionalism, Japan. Keep your ego out of it.

I think it's cool that there was so much intermingling between ancient cultures. Shows modern countries that they aren't as unique and permanent as they think they are

I have often wondered about that. When you go to places like Okinawa, they have those statues of lions everywhere, yet, the lion is not native to this part of the world. How did they know what they looked like? I imagine that there was a lot more interaction going on back then, it may have taken a long time to get from point A to B, but it must have happened.

More interesting historical facts:

Coca found in ancient Egyptian mummies (Coca could only have come from South America).

American Indian arrowheads made from pieces of Chinese porcelain found on the West Coast.

infowarsjapan...he doesn't say the Roman Empire sent them to Japan, he says they were made in the Roman Empire. Who actually sent them is not known. Many western and middle eatern arficats have been brought into Japan by way of the Silk Road. There is a warehouse of goods in Nara near the great Buddah sculpture. It contains a bowl from Iran, then Persia.

Bet if they keep diggin a louis vitton bag will surface!

NeverSubmit "Contact was probably more prolific than modern "experts" claim."

It is fairly certain little has changed in thousands of years and your example of the calendar demonstrates how controlling "those who know best" are.

Of course the silk road. If silk was getting to Rome, there had to be goods traveling from Rome back through China and then onward. Nor only goods, ideas traveled the same way, including religious ideas.

Some believe that ideas that began in Buddhism may have travel by trade routes to the middle east and that some of those ideas may have eventual created a few different ideas of Christianity from Jewish ideas.

Last part, make that Buddhist ideas traveling west over trade routes. Mind is a bit tired this late at night.

If the Han Empire had ambassadors in Rome and Vice-Versa, is it reall all that much of a stretch to believe and realize that the Romans had trade in the Japanese Islands as well?

In reference to Lions, there were types of "Lions" that actually roamed many parts of the world housands of years ago, even little Britain had them

It's Thermae Romae! I know he was visit Japan for studying onsen XD

@GW

The first Japanese to buy a LOUIS VUITTON bag was the actually guy who wrote the words to Kimi Ga Yo.

@keech2

thanks for the reference, sounds like an interesting read,

a number of years back they discovered a ship on the ocean floor that affirms that the romans were trading with india.

the most likely scenario of how these beads made it to japan is that they were brought from india or during the ceremonies marking the completion of the world's largest wooden statue of buddha at todaiji temple in nara, which was the height of buddhism's influence in asia, and contingents of dignitaries made the trip to japan from as far away as persia.

that occassion sort of put japan on the map in the civilized world, and the temple building itself is said to be the world's largest wooden structure today.

In reference to Lions, there were types of "Lions" that actually roamed many parts of the world housands of years ago, even little Britain had them

Yeah, big cats have covered almost every square inch of this planet. Even the current big cats covered a larger range than now. Especially when the worlds topography was different. Western Europe maybe not so much. India has Lion, Tigers, and Leopards but they also had cheetahs. Lions were all over mainland Asia. Not to mention these animals were also transported from around the world. They were typically less robust than their African counterparts with shorter mane. They were also not pack animals which is one reason why they didn't last.

It is more likely, Europe especially Rome imported animals to be slaughtered in the arena. They almost single handedly caused near extinctions. The end of the Roman empire was a blessing to the animal kingdom. Just like Western colonization of the new world.

Thursday = Jupiter

I always though Thursday was from "Thor", god of thunder. We live and learn!

a number of years back they discovered a ship on the ocean floor that affirms that the romans were trading with india.

They had to get their spices somewhere...

Cloves, along with cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper, were highly prized in Roman times, and Pliny the Elder once famously complained that "there is no year in which India does not drain the Roman Empire of fifty million sesterces"

I find it funny that history classes have taught us that ancient empires were insular - that somehow the Romans believed the end of the world at their borders and whatnot. Rubbish. Don't forget that trade existed for millennia. If direct trade didn't occur most likely it exchanged hands numerous times. The British learned porcelain making from the Chinese indirectly, by way of the Muslims, who controlled trade through the middle ages in much of the Mediterranean. So it would not be surprising if this found its way into the hands of a wealthy merchant or nobility after exchanging it for silk, or perhaps other wares.

"It found that the light yellow beads were made with natron, a chemical used to melt glass by craftsmen in the empire, which succeeded the Roman Republic in 27 BC and was ultimately ended by the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

The beads, which have a hole through the middle, were made with a multilayering technique—a relatively sophisticated method in which craftsmen piled up layers of glass, often sandwiching gold leaf in between."

Then only one question remains; how did the Japanese steal them when they clearly rack disciprine?

ubikwit, You're welcome. It is quite a good read. A couple other books that really struck me about the breadth of ancient trading were THe Lost History of Christianity, which explores the movement of Christianity to the East along the trading networks and An Edible History of Humanity. If you get an opportunity, check them out.

Thor's day is the equivalent to Juedi ( Jove's day or Jupiter's day ) - both are Thunder gods.

infowarsjapan...he doesn't say the Roman Empire sent them to Japan, he says they were made in the Roman Empire. Who actually sent them is not known

@Ossan, probably by FEDEX. If it fits, it ships. I am just joking!!

By the way, this discovery may change a world history. Very interesting. Please keep me informed on this.

At first glance at the picture I thought "what's a doughnut doing in the news?"

It's a petrified Lifesaver.

Another thing that always intrigued me, when it came to ancient Eastern and Western societies was the idea of dragons. A huge, dangerous reptile that caused all kinds of havoc. Was there a singular source of this common myth, or was it independently created?

The simple explanation for common legends of dragons and giants is that they were based on ancient peoples' interpretation of dinosaur & giant mammal fossils.

The Chinese and the Romans knew something of the other, but they were separated by both vast distances and two empires slap-bang in between. That the Romans made it to Vietnam in 166 AD, clearly meant that there was a fair bit of mutual interest, but the logistics of direct contact and trade weren't realistic. Like others have suggested, this jewelry probably found its way to Nara via the Chinese and their emissaries/traders and neither the Romans nor Japanese had any knowledge of the other.

That said, the Thermae Romae theory could have some merit!

Definitely looks like a doughnut covered with chocolate...yumi yumi! I want some cold milk and a doughnut, please...

Well according to ancient astronaut theories.... :P

For those wondering about the names of the days of the week in Japanese, Wikipedia appears to have the answer:

The Chinese transliteration of the planetary system was soon brought to Japan by the Japanese monk Kobo Daishi. Surviving diaries of the Japanese statesman Fujiwara Michinaga show the seven-day system in use in Heian Japan as early as 1007. In Japan, the seven-day system was kept in use for astrological purposes until its promotion to a full-fledged Western-style calendrical basis during the Meiji era.