Imagine, for one moment, that first shock of recognition when the creatures of the cave wall at Chauvet in the Gorges de L'Ardeche were exposed to artificial illumination and human consciousness for the first time in thousands of years.
The date is December 18, 1994. Here is Jean-Marie Chauvet, the archaeologist who discovered the caves, recalling the impact of those long-forgotten dream images: "Time was abolished, as if the tens of thousands of years that separated us from the producers of these paintings no longer existed. Deeply impressed, we were weighed down by the feeling that we were not alone; the artists' souls and spirits surrounded us. We thought we could feel their presence; we were disturbing them."
Until recently, radiocarbon dates suggested that Chauvet contained the oldest Paleolithic cave art yet discovered - dating back an astonishing 35,000 years. Many books have been published hailing Chauvet as "the birthplace of art". In a soon-to-be published paper, however, a French radiocarbon specialist argues that charcoal originally used for radiocarbon dating was contaminated by material from much earlier cave-bear bones. His research indicates a date in line with much other Paleolithic art in Europe , with most of the images dating from between 20,000 and 15,000BCE. Not that it takes anything away from Chauvet's breathtaking galleries. The sheer time depth embedded in its pigment remains a dizzying concept - a passage of lifetimes that sears the mind almost as sharply as the images themselves.
At Chauvet, veiled for much of the year in pitch darkness, images common to all European cave art - mammoths, reindeer, horses, cattle, as well as hand prints and hand silhouettes - float among rarer cave beasts: bears, lions, hyenas, an owl - its head turned 180 degrees. Elsewhere, there is a bear's skull on a stone "altar", and in the deepest part of the cave, in the so-called "Sorcerer's chamber", a half-man, half-bison figure leaps out of the rock, paired with an older depiction of a woman, the lower half of her body strongly accentuated.
We can never know what power these figures exerted on their makers; our closest resource is, perhaps, the power they retain over us. As the sculptor John Robinson found on the first of several descents into Chauvet as a representative of the Bradshaw Foundation, these prehistoric markings remain extraordinarily fresh. "I took out my binoculars and studied the Sorcerer," he wrote in his account of his first trip in 1999. "The lens intensified the light and made the figure leap into life. I was in the presence of a deity living on Earth. He radiated a ferocious pagan power."
Though most archaeologists balk at describing the cave art in such terms, the ideas of David Lewis-Williams come close to embracing them. Lewis-Williams is an expert on San Bushman culture and the professor emeritus of cognitive archaeology in Johannesburg , and argues that the art has its source in human neurology and shamanism. "Archaeologists talk about the evolution of intelligence," he says, "but the evolution of consciousness is even more important." And the recognition and making of two-dimensional images, he suggests, reflects that evolution.
He recalls a recent visit to the cave at Mas d'Azil in the Pyrenees: "squeezing and crawling through, and as you lie in the tunnel, right above you there are the engravings. What were these people up to?" he asks. "Why did they feel they had to crawl all these distances to make their images? I think the only answer is that they did it because that's where the images were. They were looking for them. They thought these images were deep underground."
Central to Lewis-Williams's thesis is the role of altered neurological states in the making and meaning of Paleolithic art. At Chauvet, as in many other locations, the bestiary is accompanied by many abstract lines and scorings - spots, lines, zigzags, grids, circles - the kind of visual interference Lewis-Williams associates with accounts of trance and altered states. These, in turn, gave way to images of animals - largely the same repertoire for many millennia - that were long held in the mind before they appeared, seemingly fully formed, on the cave wall. "You have people penetrating underground, going into the very entrails of the underworld, making pictures coming out of cracks, suggesting that the rock face is permeable." That rock face, he argues, acted as a membrane to a supernatural world that was held in the mind of shamanic figures.
They are compelling ideas, supported chiefly by Jean Clottes, the director of research at the cave since its discovery until 2004. Other specialists are sceptical: "It does happen in some ethnographic contexts," says Professor Colin Renfrew, widely regarded as one of the world's leading prehistorians, "but there really is no evidence for it in the Upper Paleolithic. He's built up a big theory from one personal approach. I am one of those who is sceptical of that approach. I don't think it helps."
While theories about its art and antiquity abound, visitors to Chauvet are rare. Other caves such as Pech Merle, discovered by two teenage boys in 1922, remain open to the public, but few will ever know the experience of descending the 30-foot drop to Chauvet's first chamber. For those of us stranded above ground, the film director and veteran of extreme environments, Werner Herzog, has been there for us with a 3D camera crew to evoke Chauvet's Paleolithic underworld of mystery and imagination.
His forthcoming film Cave of Forgotten Dreams promises a compelling 3D journey into the cave complex and an image tradition that, with minor modulations, would continue unchanged for many thousands of years, their potency for the makers evidently undimmed, their kinetic impact disarmingly fresh. "It is remarkable that there are centuries, indeed millennia, of use of the caves, and there's certainly a continuous knowledge of them," says Renfew. "Ten thousand years may separate what may be almost the same image. And that is an extraordinary thing. If you look 10,000 years back from our present time, things are rather different."
What were those meanings that persisted for so long? What was their purpose? Why were people compelled to journey up to a kilometre underground to make and to see? It is one of archaeology's great mysteries. It was once thought to be an example of sympathetic magic - rendering your hunting goal then going to get it. But as Renfrew points out, many of the animals are not those they actually hunted. And if they were the totems of a unifying religion, why is the art in such inaccessible places? "If it wasn't religion that drove them underground, what could it have been?" asks Lewis-Williams. "I can't think of any secular reason why people would travel over a kilometre underground to make these pictures.
Renfrew, however, points to a lack of evidence for distinct ritual or religious use and suggests a more practical, if not wholly secular purpose. "They're not places of assembly in the way that most religious meeting places are," he argues. "You don't have much evidence in any of the caves of rituals, or rituals of burial."
Instead, he cites John Pfeiffer's 1982 study, The Creative Explosion. "I think one of the best suggestions or explanations was that they were used in educating the young, maybe in initiation ceremonies, where one or two people would go at a time. Initiation," he continues, "is probably a better way of thinking rather than of profound religious ceremonies."
An initiation ceremony, of course, can be a terrifying, overwhelming experience, a challenge to self and senses, fulfilling both utilitarian and ritual purposes. Did Chauvet's Paleolithic visitors, at some point on their journey, extinguish their charcoal torches to experience the underworld beyond the senses? Did Herzog cut the lights, during filming, even if just for a few moments? 'The darkness there is absolutely total,' says Lewis-Williams of the unilluminated cave experience. "A couple of times I've sat in the dark, and after a few minutes, utter silence and utter, utter darkness. You get the disembodied feeling that you're almost floating in nothingness."
But to the darkness they brought light, colour, line and art. And though no musical instruments have been found at Chauvet, we do know that music was made in caves. There is evidence of stalactites being struck to make resonant gong-like sounds, and flutes hollowed from birds' wings, bone and ivory have been found embedded in cave floors. When one of them was reconstructed, it played the diatonic scale of Do Re Mi - the familiar sound of an old tune heard long ago.
And so our vast timescale evaporates in the sound of music, and the pigments of the Palaeolithic image maker. See their work, and you feel their presence, as if they were standing right next to us, the way Jean-Marie Chauvet felt on first encountering the images on the cave wall when he thought he could feel their presence, and that he had disturbed them.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Specs
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
more from Janine di Giovanni
Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: From Dh280,000
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
Top 10 in the F1 drivers' standings
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 202 points
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 188
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 169
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 117
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 116
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 67
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 56
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 45
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 35
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault 26
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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