Carl Barks
was fascinated by ancient myths and historic legends. This
interest was reflected in much of his artistic work. It is no secret that Barks found a
large portion of
his background material from The National
Geographic Magazine for which he was a life-time
subscriber since 1935 (in the later years the
publishers acknowledged this fact by writing 'valued subscriber
since 1935' on the invoices). But it is also
plausible that he conceived many ideas from the magazine's
excellent articles from all over the globe.
This page attempts to present you to some of the stories and paintings Barks
made based on his interest in ancient history and archaeology. It
is not meant to be a scientific lesson, but merely a brief walk through one side
of the ancient themes. The page has been built from an official, scientific list
presenting the so-called 10 Cradles of Civilization* that has formed our
world - but seen through Barks' eyes.
* The 10 cradles are named Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete, Subcontinent of India, China, Asia Minor, Palestine, Persia, Guatemala-Yucatan Peninsula, and Tropical Africa. For this page Tropical Africa has been replaced by Greece, though, and the cradles are presented in alphabetical order.
| ARABIA | ||||||
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In each of his many stories from what is now known as the Middle East Barks presented us to different aspects of the Arab way of living for history, religion, clothing, and much more. Below are a few examples taken exclusively from two adventure stories. In U$19 The Mines of King Solomon we are introduced to the Arabic language, and in U$37 Cave of Ali Baba we are presented to diverse popular occurrences mostly from the alleged Arabian history:
Barks often drew backgrounds in Arabic countries showing minarets, the slender towers used by Muslims as a prayer platform. He also managed to mention the name of the Muslims' God Allah. He did so in U$55 McDuck of Arabia. EXTRA: According to Barks himself, Scrooge has Middle Eastern roots: Scrooge McDuck was born in Scotland of penniless parents whose lineage can be traced back forty centuries to a Middle Eastern potentate called King Scroogeshah of Fatcatistan. The McDuck blood perhaps traveled to Scotland with the Vikings, who are known to have raided the shores of Asia Minor during the early centuries B.C. |
| ASIA MINOR | ||
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The ancient area of Asia Minor is mainly what today is known as Turkey. Barks never made a story from that location, but later on in life, when he began painting in oils and watercolours, he sketched a few famous people. None of the sketches were used in paintings, though.
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| CHINA | ||||||
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It is somewhat surprising that Barks never really made stories from the Chinese mainland. The nearest he came to it was, when Gyro Gearloose in U$18 'The Goldfinder' uses his new invention to 'look' right through the Earth only to get an image of a golden temple lion in China! Here are a few titbits that proves that Barks had not forgotten 'The Land in the Middle':
EXTRA: In several stories Barks paid
tribute to the Italian explorer Marco
Polo (1254-1324) who was the first European to travel vast areas of East
Asia, especially China. From there he brought back a large number of
materials and inventions unknown to the Western world. Barks did so in
passing in the following stories: |
| CRETE | |||
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The Cretian history and mythology are closely linked with those of Greece (and nowadays the island is an administrative part of the mainland), but in ancient times Crete was famous through the Minoan culture, that dominated the Mediterranean waters. Barks drew and sketched each of the two most famous phenomenons:
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| EGYPT | |||||||||
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One of the best known cradles of civilization stood in ancient Egypt, and it was the first Barks worked with in his stories. Here is a selection of panels from FC0029 The Mummy's Ring, most of which Barks took from The National Geographic Magazine:
EXTRA: See the story that never was HERE. |
| GREECE | ||||||
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Probably the most vividly remembered cradle in terms of culture and mythology. Countless are the authors, philosophers, Gods, and heroes that have populated this Mediterranean country, and its role in Western history cannot be overestimated. Here are a few of the persons that Barks paid tribute to in his work:
In his stories Barks would occasionally mention mythological characters. Here are some examples in alphabetical order: Achilles
(Warrior hero): USA33
Horsing Around with History |
| INDIA | |||||||||
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Barks' characters visited India (in cradle terms known as the Subcontinent of India) several times, and they got a fair understanding of its greatness. Here are some examples:
* Barks mentioned (but never drew) the Hindu Preserver God Vishnu on two occasions (U$20 City of Golden Roofs and U$24 The Twenty-four Carat Moon). Instead Barks drew this personal rendering of Gimmee, God of the Alms Takers, that is remindful of the God... |
| MESOPOTAMIA | ||||||
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Ancient Mesopotamia (also widely mentioned as Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria, and more) is mainly the area we know as Armenia, Iraq, and Syria today.
* The Mesopotamian language was one of the first Semitic languages, which also includes Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew. In U$37 Cave of Ali Baba Professor Dustdiver speaks in the Mesopotamian tongue (allegedly). The cuneiform letters were originally invented by the Babylonians. |
| PALESTINE | |||
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In ancient times Palestine was the center of Judaism and later on Christianity (both well known from the two bibles) and even later Islam. The region is also known as The Holy Land, and was during the medieval centuries the destination for several European crusades.
Barks would sometimes make written references to people and places in ancient Palestine. Here are some examples in alphabetical order: Delilah (Hebrew temptress): WDCS069 'Better
Biceps' |
| PERSIA | ||||||||||||
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Ancient Persia was mainly the area that is called Iran today. Barks was so fascinated by the old history and the modern excavations that he made a whole adventure story about the clash between the ages in FC0275 Ancient Persia. Here are a few relevant panels from the story:
Barks continued with his interest in the region in his later years when he took up painting:
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| YUCATÁN | ||||||||||||
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In cradle terms this area is named the Guatemala-Yucatán Peninsula. The most famous civilization in this region in ancient times was the Mayans, renowned for their colossal pyramids and their brilliant skills in areas such as mathematics and astronomy. Barks made an adventure story, U$44 Crown of the Mayas, featuring the ducks visiting one of the sites, and he started the story with a small historic prologue about the Mayan's ancient religion. The site is purely fictitious, but in the story Barks made references to Uxmal, the religious capital of the Mayans (the very name of Uxmal is a later invention; today we do not know what the ancient Mayans actually called their city). Here are a few examples from the story:
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http://www.cbarks.dk/THECRADLES.htm |
Date 2012-11-16 |
