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Beautiful life stories, Улица Неделина, Kyiv (2026)

29/01/2023

Anubis (/əˈnjuːbɪs/;[2] Ancient Greek: Ἄνουβις), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian (Coptic: ⲁⲛⲟⲩⲡ, romanized: Anoup) is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine head.

Like many ancient Egyptian deities, Anubis assumed different roles in various contexts. Depicted as a protector of graves as early as the First Dynasty (c. 3100 – c. 2890 BC), Anubis was also an embalmer. By the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC) he was replaced by Osiris in his role as lord of the underworld. One of his prominent roles was as a god who ushered souls into the afterlife. He attended the weighing scale during the "Weighing of the Heart", in which it was determined whether a soul would be allowed to enter the realm of the dead. Anubis is one of the most frequently depicted and mentioned gods in the Egyptian pantheon, however, no relevant myth involved him.[3]

Anubis was depicted in black, a color that symbolized regeneration, life, the soil of the Nile River, and the discoloration of the co**se after embalming. Anubis is associated with his brother Wepwawet, another Egyptian god portrayed with a dog's head or in canine form, but with grey or white fur. Historians assume that the two figures were eventually combined.[4] Anubis' female counterpart is Anput. His daughter is the serpent goddess Kebechet.

Name

Anubis receiving offerings, hieroglyph name in third column from left, 14th century BC; painted limestone; from Saqqara (Egypt)
"Anubis" is a Greek rendering of this god's Egyptian name.[5][6] Before the Greeks arrived in Egypt, around the 7th century BC, the god was known as Anpu or Inpu. The root of the name in ancient Egyptian language means "a royal child." Inpu has a root to "inp", which means "to decay." The god was also known as "First of the Westerners," "Lord of the Sacred Land," "He Who is Upon his Sacred Mountain," "Ruler of the Nine Bows," "The Dog who Swallows Millions," "Master of Secrets," "He Who is in the Place of Embalming," and "Foremost of the Divine Booth."[7] The positions that he had were also reflected in the titles he held such as "He Who Is upon His Mountain," "Lord of the Sacred Land," "Foremost of the Westerners," and "He Who Is in the Place of Embalming."[8] In the Old Kingdom (c. 2686 BC – c. 2181 BC), the standard way of writing his name in hieroglyphs was composed of the sound signs inpw followed by a jackal[a] over a ḥtp sign:
A new form with the jackal on a tall stand appeared in the late Old Kingdom and became common thereafter:
Anubis' name jnpw was possibly pronounced [a.ˈna.pʰa(w)], based on Coptic Anoup and the Akkadian transcription 𒀀𒈾𒉺⟨a-na-pa⟩ in the name "Reanapa" that appears in Amarna letter EA 315. However, this transcription may also be interpreted as rˁ-nfr, a name similar to that of Prince Ranefer of the Fourth Dynasty.

History

Anubis attending the mummy of the deceased.
In Egypt's Early Dynastic period (c. 3100 – c. 2686 BC), Anubis was portrayed in full animal form, with a "jackal" head and body.[13] A jackal god, probably Anubis, is depicted in stone inscriptions from the reigns of Hor-Aha, Djer, and other pharaohs of the First Dynasty.[14] Since Predynastic Egypt, when the dead were buried in shallow graves, jackals had been strongly associated with cemeteries because they were scavengers which uncovered human bodies and ate their flesh.[15] In the spirit of "fighting like with like," a jackal was chosen to protect the dead, because "a common problem (and cause of concern) must have been the digging up of bodies, shortly after burial, by jackals and other wild dogs which lived on the margins of the cultivation."[16]

In the Old Kingdom, Anubis was the most important god of the dead. He was replaced in that role by Osiris during the Middle Kingdom (2000–1700 BC).[17] In the Roman era, which started in 30 BC, tomb paintings depict him holding the hand of deceased persons to guide them to Osiris.[18]

The parentage of Anubis varied between myths, times and sources. In early mythology, he was portrayed as a son of Ra.[19] In the Coffin Texts, which were written in the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055 BC), Anubis is the son of either the cow goddess Hesat or the cat-headed Bastet.[20] Another tradition depicted him as the son of Ra and Nephthys.[19] The Greek Plutarch (c. 40–120 AD) reported a tradition that Anubis was the illegitimate son of Nephthys and Osiris, but that he was adopted by Osiris's wife Isis:[21]

For when Isis found out that Osiris loved her sister and had relations with her in mistaking her sister for herself, and when she saw a proof of it in the form of a garland of clover that he had left to Nephthys – she was looking for a baby, because Nephthys abandoned it at once after it had been born for fear of Seth; and when Isis found the baby helped by the dogs which with great difficulties lead her there, she raised him and he became her guard and ally by the name of Anubis.

Statue of Hermanubis, c. 100–138 AD, from Rome[22]
George Hart sees this story as an "attempt to incorporate the independent deity Anubis into the Osirian pantheon."[20] An Egyptian papyrus from the Roman period (30–380 AD) simply called Anubis the "son of Isis."[20] In Nubia, Anubis was seen as the husband of his mother Nephthys.[1]

In the Ptolemaic period (350–30 BC), when Egypt became a Hellenistic kingdom ruled by Greek pharaohs, Anubis was merged with the Greek god Hermes, becoming Hermanubis.[23][24] The two gods were considered similar because they both guided souls to the afterlife.[25] The center of this cult was in uten-ha/Sa-ka/ Cynopolis, a place whose Greek name means "city of dogs." In Book XI of The Golden Ass by Apuleius, there is evidence that the worship of this god was continued in Rome through at least the 2nd century. Indeed, Hermanubis also appears in the alchemical and hermetical literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Although the Greeks and Romans typically scorned Egyptian animal-headed gods as bizarre and primitive (Anubis was mockingly called "Barker" by the Greeks), Anubis was sometimes associated with Sirius in the heavens and Cerberus and Hades in the underworld.[26] In his dialogues, Plato often has Socrates utter oaths "by the dog" (Greek: kai me ton kuna), "by the dog of Egypt", and "by the dog, the god of the Egyptians", both for emphasis and to appeal to Anubis as an arbiter of truth in the underworld.[27]

Roles
Embalmer
As jmy-wt (Imiut or the Imiut fe**sh) "He who is in the place of embalming", Anubis was associated with mummification. He was also called ḫnty zḥ-nṯr "He who presides over the god's booth", in which "booth" could refer either to the place where embalming was carried out or the pharaoh's burial chamber.[28][29]

In the Osiris myth, Anubis helped Isis to embalm Osiris.[17] Indeed, when the Osiris myth emerged, it was said that after Osiris had been killed by Set, Osiris's organs were given to Anubis as a gift. With this connection, Anubis became the patron god of embalmers; during the rites of mummification, illustrations from the Book of the Dead often show a wolf-mask-wearing priest supporting the upright mummy.

Protector of tombs

Opening of the mouth ceremony
Anubis was a protector of graves and cemeteries. Several epithets attached to his name in Egyptian texts and inscriptions referred to that role. Khenty-Amentiu, which means "foremost of the westerners" and was also the name of a different canine funerary god, alluded to his protecting function because the dead were usually buried on the west bank of the Nile.[30] He took other names in connection with his funerary role, such as tpy-ḏw.f (Tepy-djuef) "He who is upon his mountain" (i.e. keeping guard over tombs from above) and nb-t3-ḏsr (Neb-ta-djeser) "Lord of the sacred land", which designates him as a god of the desert necropolis.[28][29]

The Jumilhac papyrus recounts another tale where Anubis protected the body of Osiris from Set. Set attempted to attack the body of Osiris by transforming himself into a leopard. Anubis stopped and subdued Set, however, and he branded Set's skin with a hot iron rod. Anubis then flayed Set and wore his skin as a warning against evil-doers who would desecrate the tombs of the dead.[31] Priests who attended to the dead wore leopard skin in order to commemorate Anubis' victory over Set. The legend of Anubis branding the hide of Set in leopard form was used to explain how the leopard got its spots.[32]

Most ancient tombs had prayers to Anubis carved on them.[33]

Guide of souls
By the late pharaonic era (664–332 BC), Anubis was often depicted as guiding individuals across the threshold from the world of the living to the afterlife.[34] Though a similar role was sometimes performed by the cow-headed Hathor, Anubis was more commonly chosen to fulfill that function.[35] Greek writers from the Roman period of Egyptian history designated that role as that of "psychopomp", a Greek term meaning "guide of souls" that they used to refer to their own god Hermes, who also played that role in Greek religion.[25] Funerary art from that period represents Anubis guiding either men or women dressed in Greek clothes into the presence of Osiris, who by then had long replaced Anubis as ruler of the underworld.[36]

Weigher of hearts

The "weighing of the heart," from the book of the dead of Hunefer. Anubis is portrayed as both guiding the deceased forward and manipulating the scales, under the scrutiny of the ibis-headed Thoth.
One of the roles of Anubis was as the "Guardian of the Scales."[37] The critical scene depicting the weighing of the heart, in the Book of the Dead, shows Anubis performing a measurement that determined whether the person was worthy of entering the realm of the dead (the underworld, known as Duat). By weighing the heart of a deceased person against Ma'at (or "truth"), who was often represented as an ostrich feather, Anubis dictated the fate of souls. Souls heavier than a feather would be devoured by Ammit, and souls lighter than a feather would ascend to a heavenly existence.[38][39]

Portrayal in art
Anubis was one of the most frequently represented deities in ancient Egyptian art.[3] He is depicted in royal tombs as early as the First Dynasty.[7] The god is typically treating a king's co**se, providing sovereign to mummification rituals and funerals, or standing with fellow gods at the Weighing of the Heart of the Soul in the Hall of Two Truths.[8] One of his most popular representations is of him, with the body of a man and the head of a jackal with pointed ears, standing or kneeling, holding a gold scale while a heart of the soul is being weighed against Ma'at's white truth feather.[7]

In the early dynastic period, he was depicted in animal form, as a black canine.[40] Anubis's distinctive black color did not represent the animal, rather it had several symbolic meanings.[41] It represented "the discolouration of the co**se after its treatment with natron and the smearing of the wrappings with a resinous substance during mummification."[41] Being the color of the fertile silt of the River Nile, to Egyptians, black also symbolized fertility and the possibility of rebirth in the afterlife.[42] In the Middle Kingdom, Anubis was often portrayed as a man with the head of a jackal.[43] An extremely rare depiction of him in fully human form was found in a chapel of Ramesses II in Abydos.[41][6]

Anubis is often depicted wearing a ribbon and holding a nḫ3ḫ3 "flail" in the crook of his arm.[43] Another of Anubis's attributes was the jmy-wt or imiut fe**sh, named for his role in embalming.[44] In funerary contexts, Anubis is shown either attending to a deceased person's mummy or sitting atop a tomb protecting it. New Kingdom tomb-seals also depict Anubis sitting atop the nine bows that symbolize his domination over the enemies of Egypt.

28/01/2023

Tornadoes are a primarily North American phenomenon. The U.S. has about four times as many tornadoes as all of Europe (excluding waterspouts and if you ever lived in Nebraska, you know why). North America stretches a long way North to South and there aren’t any major east-west mountain ranges that block the flow of air all the way from Canada to Mexico, so much larger fronts can form than in areas with more mountainous regions.

A map from FEMA, showing where tornados are most likely to strike
The Midwest has a lot of tornadoes — as you can see from the figure at right — because the Rockies block moisture and cause the atmospheric flow to buckle. That forms low-pressure, dry areas to the east of the mountains. The Gulf of Mexico provides lots of moisture, which makes ideal conditions for tornado formation. The U.S. averages about 1,200 tornadoes per year. Most happen between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., but they can occur at any time of the day.

How do Tornadoes Form?
Tornadoes form in boundary areas, like those between hot, dry air in the West and warm, moist air in the East. The Central Plains states experience strong storms this time of year. Those storms move East and, depending on their North/South extent, can cause storms and tornadoes throughout a wide swatch of the country.

The worst tornadoes are spawned by thunderstorms called supercells, which contain mesocyclones. ‘Meso’ means ‘mid’. A mesocyclone is a medium-sized rotating air mass and, in meteorological terms, that means from a mile to five miles across. Supercells also have very heavy rain, lots of lightening, strong winds and hail.

When it starts raining really hard, the rainfall drags air down with it toward the back of the supercell. The downdraft accelerates as it nears the ground, and drags the supercell’s mesocyclone down with it. If you see a cloud that shows any sign of rotation, that’s time to start being concerned. The mesocyclone approaches the ground, and a condensation funnel forms. The condensation in the storm is the same thing as steam forming water droplets on the lid of a pot of boiling water. The coolness of the downdraft condenses water from the air, and that forms the condensation funnel. The rear downdraft keeps moving downward, which creates a very strong wind capable of causing damage well away from the funnel cloud. A funnel is a rotating structure descending from the clouds, while a tornado is a funnel that has reached the ground. The funnel cloud can become a full-fledged tornado within minutes of the rear wind gust hitting the ground.

Tornadoes are powered by warm, moist air. The more air, the more energy the tornado has, and the tornado will keep growing as long as it has access to warm, moist air. Tornadoes with diameters of more than a mile have been reported. At some point, the cool rear downdraft will wrap around the tornado and prevent more warm air from reaching it. The vortex, deprived of energy, begins to weaken, the size decreases and the tornado can be dispersed by the straight-line winds from the storm. Don’t let the size of a tornado fool you. Even what appears to be a small tornado is capable of causing a lot of destruction due to conservation of angular momentum. When an ice skater is spinning, she spins more slowly when her arms are out, creating a larger effective diameter. When she pulls her arms in, she spins faster. A thin tornado can still feature very strong winds.

Once the original tornado is gone, it’s entirely possible for the cycle to repeat again, with a new mesocyclone descending. Tornadoes are good in that they have a limited lifespan (you won’t see three-day tornadoes, like you would a hurricane), but unlike hurricanes, we still don’t have the technology to predict where and when a tornado will pop up.

“Tornado outbreak” doesn’t have a specific scientific meaning – it mostly means a lot of tornadoes are spawned from a single storm. The worst outbreak on record was the “Super Outbreak” in April 1974. There were 148 tornadoes in 18 hours, with six being classed as F5 (the most destructive) and 24 classed as F4. About 315 people were killed in the U.S. and Canada and over 5000 people were injured. This history is one of the reasons that people are so concerned about tomorrow’s weather. The storm that is headed to Alabama passed through Texas earlier in the week and produced the largest tornado outbreak of 2010 to date – 32 tornadoes.

Tornadoes must have two fundamental ingredients: wind shear and some instability, like the aforementioned hot/cold and dry/wet condition along a front. Most of the time, you have some combination, like a little of one and a lot of the other. Meteorologists start getting worried when there is a lot of both. NOAA predictions are interesting to read, but you need a little background. There are multiple weather models because weather is fundamenteally difficult to predict. (Very much like the results of a Talladega race.) Meteorologists run several scenarios with the different models and try to figure out which one is most accurate for the particular situation. Our local meteorologist talks about ‘one model shows this and others show that, but I think the first one is right’. The closer the weather system gets to actually spawning a tornado, the more confidence we have that one or more of the models are accurate.

For every Jim Cantore you see standing out in the middle of a tornado or hurricane showing people how bad the conditions are and why no one should be outside, there are a hundred meterologists at federal agencies and TV stations poring over the output of their models, trying to figure out which model is most correct so that they can give the maximum amount of warning to the areas that are in danger. Even though we can’t pin down the location, if you are or are planning on being out at the track, take this seriously and be careful.

Some Myths Debunked
Opening windows does nothing. Yes, the pressure may drop outside, but it is almost impossible for the pressure differential to be so great as to cause the house to “explode”. There is actually evidence that opening windows is worse in terms of damage to the house. If it’s a really serious tornado, it is going to do some damage and it is not going to care whether your windows are open. (A tornado also can’t lift up your house and deposit it in Oz, but it gave me an idea for a funny story that involves Kevin Harvick as Dorothy and the media as the Munchkins.)
Highway overpasses are not safe places during a tornado. Steel-reinforced concrete is strong, but not stronger than a tornado. If the overpass is hit by a tornado, it can fall and anyone in the vicinity is in danger of being hit by debris. If you think about it, the area underneath an overpass basically funnels all the wind through that area, so you are in much more danger being under an overpass than you are in your house.
No geographical feature protects you from a tornado. They go over the river and through the woods, through cities, over hills, and basically wherever they care to go. Lying in a ditch is the best thing to do if you’re outside, but it is much better not to be outside.
Motorhomes and RVs do NOT cause tornadoes; however, you are much more likely to be injured by a tornado or high winds in a RV or motorhome than you are in a permanent structure.
The Vortex Theory can prevent tornadoes. It cannot.
What to Do
What you SHOULD DO, especially if you are out at the racetrack:

If you’re at home and planning on heading for the track, listen to the radio to make sure activities haven’t been delayed or cancelled because of the weather.
Have a weather radio with fresh batteries and spares. Listen to the weather, watch it on TV, and be aware that you may need to take action on short notice.
If you’re camping or RV’ing, have a flashlight and emergency kit that includes the basics, like bandages, antiseptic, etc.
Make an emergency plan for your group – identify two places to meet if something happens and you are separated. One place should be near your campsite or seats and another should be a little further away, to be used if there is damage to the first area. Cell phone lines often become overloaded during emergencies, so don’t count on being able to reach each other on the phone.
Don’t get stupid drunk. You may need to think quickly. Wait until after the storm warnings have expired to enjoy the special pleasures of Talladega.
If you hear sirens or radio/television reports that a storm is coming, get into a permanent structure if at all capable. My guess is that the safest place at Talladega if you’re out camping is in a ground-floor bathroom in a concrete structure. Like being on an airplane, identify two such structure because there are likely to be a lot of people with the same idea you have. If you can get underneath something heavy, like a sturdy table, a workbench, or anything else that would protect your head from falling debris, that’s even better.
Remember that NASCAR fans share a unique bond that makes us more like family than strangers, even if we’ve just met. If someone needs help, help them — even if they are wearing a xx t-shirt (where xx is your least favorite driver’s car number).
I do not envy the folks at Talladega trying to guess the best way to proceed. I was at Richmond two years ago when there was a hurricane. The race was cancelled the day before. It was beautiful in Richmond that Sunday, but there was a lot of damage on most of the routes leading to the racetrack.

25/01/2023

When you bite down on wintergreen-flavored LifeSavers candies in the dark, they glow. The production of light by some materials when under friction or pressure, a phenomenon called triboluminescence, has been known for centuries, mostly as a novelty. Now researchers have shown that rapidly unwinding a roll of Scotch tape inside a vacuum generates not only visible light but also enough x-rays to image a human finger. Led by physicist Seth Putterman at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the researchers are now developing what they hope will be a cheap, simple source of x-rays for clinical imaging.

Credit: Juan Escobar and Carlos Camara
According to the UCLA work, published in the journal Nature this week, unpeeling Scotch tape at a speed of three centimeters per second produces large numbers of x-rays. However, Carlos Camara, a postdoc in Putterman’s lab, says that there’s no need to worry about exposure while wrapping your holiday gifts: the high-energy radiation is only produced when the tape is peeled under vacuum conditions.

Below, you can watch Camara, Putterman, and UCLA postdoc Juan Escobar demonstrate the Scotch-tape imaging technique, capturing a picture of Escobar’s finger on a dental x-ray film. The images don’t have the same quality as clinical x-ray images: “They’re taken with Scotch tape, so there’s room for improvement,” says Camara.

The UCLA researchers used the Scotch tape to prove that triboluminescence can be harnessed for x-ray imaging. Their ultimate imaging device, Camara predicts, won’t use the adhesive. Having applied for several patents, the UCLA researchers are not yet ready to divulge just what triboluminescent material they’ll use. Perhaps Wint-O-Green mints?

25/01/2023

Sophie of Württemberg (Sophie Friederike Matilda; 17 June 1818 – 3 June 1877) was Queen of the Netherlands as the first wife of King William III.[1] Sophie separated from William in 1855 but continued to perform her duties as queen in public. She was known for her progressive and liberal views and corresponded with several famous intellectuals.

Biography
Sophie was born in Stuttgart; her parents were King William I of Württemberg and Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, the fourth eldest daughter of Tsar Paul I. Shortly after Sophie's birth, her mother died, and she was cared for by her aunt, Catharina of Württemberg. She was niece of tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I of Russia.

She had a close relationship with her father and her sister Marie, but not to her stepmother.[2] She was given a broad education by her father: after first being tutored in the common accomplishments by governesses customary for all upper-class girls of her time, she was additionally tutored by educated male tutors in history, geography and literature and acquainted with the works of Corneille, Racine, Kant and Hegel.[2] When she was sixteen, she and her sister were taken by their father on an educational trip to Italy,[2] which was otherwise customary for upper class males.

She was related to the Bonaparte family through her maternal aunt, and personally acquainted with both the future Napoleon III and Mathilde Bonaparte from her childhood, and corresponded with the latter her entire life.[2] Through her progressive father, Sophie came in contact with liberal ideas from her early youth and supported democracy rather than royal absolutism.[2]

Crown princess
Sophie married her maternal first cousin, the future Prince of Orange (later King William III), in Stuttgart on 18 June 1839 with the idea that she would in the end succeed in dominating him.[citation needed]

The marriage was arranged. Her father, while being a liberal progressive in other aspects, still favored dynastic marriages and wished for his daughters to marry monarchs. Prior to her marriage, King Otto of Greece and Duke William of Brunswick were possible suitors for Princess Sophie. The engagement with the first came to nothing because Princess Sophie's ambitious father had no confidence in the newly established Greek monarchy of Otto. Chance prevented a proposal by the second candidate because her father let it be known that Princess Sophie was already betrothed. Sophie herself had preferred to marry William of Brunswick, and she stated herself that her marriage to William of the Netherlands was a sacrifice she made to her father.[2]

After the wedding, Sophie and William settled in the Paleis aan het Plein in The Hague. Sophie came to have a good relationship to her father-in-law, William II of the Netherlands, as well as to her uncle-in-law Prince Frederick of the Netherlands.[2] King William's mother, whom he completely relied on, was totally against the marriage to a daughter of the sister she loathed and treated her daughter-in-law and niece with disdain. She and her mother-in-law Anna were never to be on good terms: Anna was also her maternal aunt, but she had never been on good terms with her sister, Sophie's mother, and she had opposed the marriage between Sophie and her son.[2]

The marriage between Sophie and William was arranged and never a happy one. Their relationship was not improved by the birth of their children, whose upbringing was a constant cause for conflict between their parents.[2] William was constantly unfaithful.[2] Sophie did not wish to live with him and devoted herself on cultivating her own intellectual interests and the private study of various subjects.[2] A divorce was contemplated early on, but was continually postponed because it was not seen as suitable for a king and queen.

Queen

The Queen riding a horse
In March 1849, king William II suddenly died. William III and Sophie became king and queen of the Netherlands on 12 May 1849 and settled in the Noordeinde Palace.

The relationship between Sophie and William was not improved, and they continued to be in a state of constant conflict. Their son Maurice died in 1850 after both parents had hired a different physician since they could not agree on how his illness should be treated.[2] When Sophie was pregnant with their third son Alexander (1851–1884), William had their eldest son sent to boarding school despite Sophie's opposition.[2]

Intellectually, Queen Sophie was superior to her husband. She, on the other hand, did not fit his sensual character. While he loved contemporary painting, music and theatre, she had a specific interest in history and science. William III had several extramarital relations. She let it be publicly known that she found him inferior and unsuitable to be king, and that she would do better as a regent for her son.

The discussions of divorce continued after they became king and queen. Both Sophie and William mutually wished to have a divorce, but a divorce was seen as an impossible scandal because of their position.[2] By the mediation of Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, a formal separation without divorce was finalized in 1855, and it was decided that the couple was to remain formally married in public, but allowed to live separate lives in practice.[2] William was to be given full right to decide about the upbringing of their eldest son, while Sophie was given full custody of their youngest, Alexander.[2] Sophie was to fulfill her representational duties as queen in public, but allowed to live her private life as she wished.[2]

From 1855 the couple lived separately during the summer season, he at Het Loo Palace and she at Huis ten Bosch Palace. She also spent time in Stuttgart, with her own family. She engaged in a big correspondence with various friends and intellectuals, as well as making trips and meeting them in person, among them Ernest Renan, Julius von Mohl, Leopold von Ranke and John Lothrop Motley, many of whom expressed admiration for her intellect.[2] She regularly visited her father, who remained her advisor and confidant until his death, after which he was succeeded by her friend George Villiers, Lord Clarendon (1800-1870), with whom she corresponded.[2] She also enjoyed regular trips to France to visit Napoleon III and empress Eugénie. During the Crimean war she sided against her Russian relatives with her friends Clarendon and Napoleon III.[2] Aside from her interests in culture and science she was also interested in spiritism, and invited the medium Daniel Home to Noordeinde Palace in 1858 to hold seance.[2] She participated in the public debate and published an article in the famous R***e des Deux Mondes, in which she argued that the royal houses must keep up with the times.[2]

Queen Sophie circa 1860
Queen Sophie corresponded with several European scholars and maintained warm ties with Emperor Napoleon III and Queen Victoria. She protected and stimulated the arts, supported several charities, including animal protection and construction of public parks. As queen she attended the industrial exhibitions from the 1860s and engaged in the education of the mentally challenged.[2] She also supported the Society for the Protection of Animals by becoming its protector upon its foundation in 1867.[2] Sophie also supported the women's movement when it first formed in the Netherlands, and became the protector of the first women's organization in 1871: Arbeid Adelt.[2]

Sophie was an unusual queen with her left leaning political opinions and scientific interests, and her non-dogmatic views on religion, her support for a progressive development and her disdain for etiquette gave her the soubriquet "la reine rouge" ('The Red Queen').[2]

Sophie died at Huis ten Bosch Palace in the Hague. She was buried in her wedding dress, because, in her own view, her life had ended on the day she married.

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