The race to discover the secrets under Jerusalem

March 27, 2023
by RJ Hamster

WILL TREASURES SURVIVE
ISRAEL’S TROUBLES?

Monday, March 27, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we learn how a 5-day workweek came to be, go underground to uncover Biblical secrets, find a rare ‘blonde’ penguin … and examine if melatonin is safe. Just in: Mexico is hit with rare sanctions.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SIMON NORFOLK

Jerusalem is a city atop cities. It’s alive up top—new garages planned, people living in crammed-together homes—just above where archaeologists and their crews are uncovering secrets below.

A narrow ridge conceals a breathtaking subterranean labyrinth of natural caves, Canaanite water channels, Judaean tunnels, and Roman quarries. In a developing city central to three faiths, there’s a sense of urgency to find its treasures before further construction, or before a snapping of constant Israeli-Palestinian strains—or a worsening of suddenly severe intra-Israeli tensions. What have archaeologists found? What are they trying to get to?

Read the full story here.

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Under Jerusalem: Fans enjoy a concert in Zedekiah’s Cave, a quarry that for millennia provided limestone for buildings above. Legends say Judaean King Zedekiah escaped through the cave in the sixth century B.C. and that King Solomon may have used its stone to build the first Jewish Temple. At top, a quarry below the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, near the hill where Jesus was crucified. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

MICROGRAPH BY ALFRED PASIEKA, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

What’s in melatonin—and is it giving you nightmares? (Pictured above, a micrograph captures crystals of the naturally occurring hormone, which millions of American adults take as a sleep supplement.)

Related: Why does sleep rule our lives?

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This exercise phenomenon began in a P.O.W. camp

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How climate change affects your mental health

This is the face of a 7,000-year-old woman

Mexico failed to protect its wildlife and got hit with rare sanctions. Here’s why.

Some people love to exercise. It might be their microbiome.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY BETTMANN, GETTY IMAGES

How the workweek was shaped: Why five days? 40 hours? Why not four days? It’s hard to imagine, but when Henry Ford established a five-day workweek for his company in 1922, he was lambasted by business as bowing to slackers, Nat Geo reports. The move took a while to spread. (Above, New York sanitation workers circling City Hall in 1952 to demand a five-day week—instead of six.)

A 4-DAY WORKWEEK?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH BY EVGENIA ARBUGAEVA

From subtle hues come vibrant colors: The variations in birdwing chrysalides—the final stage of metamorphosis from which a winged adult butterfly emerges—mimic the vegetation surrounding the pupating caterpillars. These specimens, photographed by Nat Geo Explorer Evgenia Arbugaeva, are native to Cambodia. See our story on the hidden world of the butterfly trade.

SEE THE BUTTERFLIES

LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF MAURITZEN

Not like the others: This cute little creature is unlike the rest— “washed out” or “like it was bleached” if you ask Nat Geo Explorer P. Dee Boersma.

And it’s only the second one these genetically mutated penguins photographer Jeff Mauritzen has ever seen—and he’s seen millions.

OK TO BE DIFFERENT

Today’s soundtrack: Good Intentions Paving Company, Joanna Newsom

Today’s newsletter was curated and edited by Jen Tse, Hannah Farrow, and David Beard. Have an idea or link to a story you think is right down our alley? Let us know at david.beard@natgeo.com. Happy trails!

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Bad Actors – Antifa Infiltrates Patriots!

We’re making news in London:

RJ Hamster

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The race to discover the secrets under Jerusalem

The race to discover the secrets under Jerusalem

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