1.
Abraham
–
Abraham, originally Abram, is the first of the three patriarchs of Judaism. His story features in the texts of all the Abrahamic religions and Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity. The biblical narrative revolves around the themes of posterity and land, Abraham is called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land originally given to Canaan, but which God now promises to Abraham and his progeny. Various candidates are put forward who might inherit the land after Abraham, Abraham later marries Keturah and has six more sons, but on his death, when he is buried beside Sarah, it is Isaac who receives all Abrahams goods, while the other sons receive only gifts. Terah, the ninth in descent from Noah, was the father of three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran, Haran was the father of Lot, and died in his native city, Ur of the Chaldees. Abram married Sarah, who was barren, Terah, with Abram, Sarai, and Lot, then departed for Canaan, but settled in a place named Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the substance and souls that they had acquired, and traveled to Shechem in Canaan. There was a famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households. On the way Abram told his wife Sarai to say that she was his sister, however, God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with great plagues, for which he tried to find the reason. Upon discovering that Sarai was a woman, Pharaoh demanded that they and their household leave immediately. When they came back to the Bethel and Hai area, Abrams and this became a problem for the herdsmen who were assigned to each familys cattle. But Lot chose to go east to the plain of Jordan where the land was well watered everywhere as far as Zoar, Abram went south to Hebron and settled in the plain of Mamre, where he built another altar to worship God. During the rebellion of the Jordan River cities against Elam, Abrams nephew, the Elamite army came to collect the spoils of war, after having just defeated the king of Sodoms armies. Lot and his family, at the time, were settled on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Sodom which made them a visible target, one person who escaped capture came and told Abram what happened. Once Abram received this news, he immediately assembled 318 trained servants, Abrams force headed north in pursuit of the Elamite army, who were already worn down from the Battle of Siddim. When they caught up with them at Dan, Abram devised a plan by splitting his group into more than one unit. Not only were able to free the captives, Abrams unit chased and slaughtered the Elamite King Chedorlaomer at Hobah. They freed Lot, as well as his household and possessions, upon Abrams return, Sodoms king came out to meet with him in the Valley of Shaveh, the kings dale
Abraham
–
The bosom of Abraham - medieval illustration from the
Hortus deliciarum of
Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)
Abraham
–
A painting of Abraham's departure by
József Molnár.
Abraham
–
Abram's Counsel to Sarai (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by
James Tissot)
Abraham
–
Depiction of the separation of Abraham and Lot by
Wenceslaus Hollar.
2.
Prophets and messengers in Islam
–
Belief in Islamic prophets is one of the six articles of the Islamic faith, and specifically mentioned in the Quran. Muslims believe the first prophet was also the first human being, Many of the revelations delivered by the 48 prophets in Judaism and many prophets of Christianity are mentioned as such in the Quran but usually in altered form and with different names. For example, the Jewish Elisha is called Alyasa, Job is Ayyub, Jesus is Isa, the Torah given to Moses is called Tawrat, the Psalms given to David is the Zabur, the Gospel given to Jesus is Injil). Notwithstanding, none of the seven Jewish Prophetesses are mentioned in the Quran as prophets, each came to preach Islam at different times in history and some told of the coming of the final Islamic prophet and messenger of God, who would be named Ahmed commonly known as Muhammad. Each Islamic prophet directed a message to a different group of people, in Arabic and Hebrew, the term nabī means prophet. Forms of this noun occur 75 times in the Quran, the term nubuwwah occurs five times in the Quran. The terms rasūl and mursal denote messenger or apostle and occur more than 300 times, the term for a prophetic message, risālah, appears in the Quran in ten instances. The Syriac form of rasūl Allāh, s̲h̲eliḥeh d-allāhā, occurs frequently in the apocryphal Acts of St. Thomas, the corresponding verb for s̲h̲eliḥeh—s̲h̲alaḥ, occurs in connection with the prophets in the Hebrew Bible. The words prophet and messenger appear several times in the Old Testament, the following table shows these words in different languages, In the Hebrew Bible, the word navi occurs more commonly, and the Hebrew word malakh refers to Angels in Judaism. According to Judaism, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi were the last prophets, with them, the authentic period of Nevuah died, and nowadays only the Bath Kol exists. In the New Testament, however, the word becomes more frequent. Messenger may refer to Jesus, to his Apostles and to John the Baptist, but the last book of the Old Testament, the Book of Malachi, speaks of a messenger that Christian commentators interpret as a reference to the future prophet John the Baptist. In Muslim belief, every Islamic prophet preached Islam, the beliefs of charity, prayer, pilgrimage, worship of God and fasting are believed to have been taught by every prophet who has ever lived. The Quran itself calls Islam the religion of Abraham and refers to Jacob, the Quran speaks of the Islamic prophets as being the greatest human beings of all time. A prophet, in the Muslim sense of the term, is a person whom God specially chose to teach the faith of Islam, before man was created, God had specifically selected those men whom He would use as prophets. This does not, however, mean that every prophet began to prophesy from his birth, some were called to prophesy late in life, in Muhammads case at the age of 40. Others, such as John the Baptist, were called to prophesy while still at a young age, the Quran verse 4,69 lists various virtuous groups of human beings, among whom prophets occupy the highest rank. Verse 4,69 reads, All who obey Allah and the messenger are in the company of those on whom is the Grace of Allah—of the prophets, the sincere, the witnesses, and we have made the evil ones friends to those without faith
Prophets and messengers in Islam
3.
Islamic calligraphy
–
Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, based upon the alphabet in the lands sharing a common Islamic cultural heritage. It includes Arabic, Ottoman, and Persian calligraphy and it is known in Arabic as khatt Islami, meaning Islamic line, design, or construction. The development of Islamic calligraphy is strongly tied to the Quran, chapters, deep religious association with the Quran, as well as suspicion of figurative art as idolatrous has led calligraphy to become one of the major forms of artistic expression in Islamic cultures. As Islamic calligraphy is highly venerated, most works follow examples set by well established calligraphers, in antiquity, a pupil would copy a masters work repeatedly until their handwriting was similar. The most common style is divided into angular and cursive, each divided into several sub-styles. Some styles are often written using a metallic-tip pen, Islamic calligraphy is applied on a wide range of decorative mediums other than paper, such as tiles, vessels, carpets, and inscriptions. Before the advent of paper, papyrus and parchment were used for writing, the advent of paper revolutionized calligraphy. While monasteries in Europe treasured a few volumes, libraries in the Muslim world regularly contained hundreds. Coins were another support for calligraphy, beginning in 692, the Islamic caliphate reformed the coinage of the Near East by replacing visual depiction with words. This was especially true for dinars, or gold coins of high value, generally the coins were inscribed with quotes from the Quran. By the tenth century, the Persians, who had converted to Islam, so precious were calligraphic inscribed textiles that Crusaders brought them to Europe as prized possessions. A notable example is the Suaire de Saint-Josse, used to wrap the bones of St. Josse in the Abbey of St. Josse-sur-Mer near Caen in northwestern France, Kufic is the oldest form of the Arabic script. The style emphasizes rigid and angular strokes, which appears as a form of the old Nabataean script. The Archaic Kufi consisted of about 17 letters without diacritic dots or accents, afterwards, dots and accents were added to help readers with pronunciation, and the set of Arabic letters rose to 29. It is developed around the end of the 7th century in the areas of Kufa, Iraq, the style later developed into several varieties, including floral, foliated, plaited or interlaced, bordered, and squared kufi. There were no set rules of using the Kufic script, the common feature is the angular, linear shapes of the characters. Common varieties include square Kufic, a known as bannai. Contemporary calligraphy using this style is popular in modern decorations
Islamic calligraphy
–
Calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy
–
The phrase
Bismillah in an 18th-century Islamic calligraphy from the
Ottoman region.
Islamic calligraphy
–
9th century
Qur'an, an early kufic example from the
Abbasid period.
Islamic calligraphy
–
Bowl with
Kufic Calligraphy, 10th century.
Brooklyn Museum.
4.
Before Hijra
–
The Islamic, Muslim, or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries and it is also used by Muslims to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual period of fasting and the proper time for the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Islamic calendar employs the Hijri era whose epoch was retrospectively established as the Islamic New Year of AD622, during that year, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib and established the first Muslim community, an event commemorated as the Hijra. In the West, dates in this era are usually denoted AH in parallel with the Christian, in Muslim countries, it is also sometimes denoted as H from its Arabic form. In English, years prior to the Hijra are reckoned as BH, the current Islamic year is 1438 AH. In the Gregorian calendar,1438 AH runs from approximately 3 October 2016 to 21 September 2017, four of the twelve Hijri months are considered sacred, Rajab, and the three consecutive months of Dhū al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Ḥijjah and Muḥarram. As the lunar calendar lags behind the solar calendar by about ten days every gregorian year, the cycle repeats every 33 lunar years. Each month of the Islamic calendar commences on the birth of the new lunar cycle, traditionally this is based on actual observation of the crescent marking the end of the previous lunar cycle and hence the previous month, thereby beginning the new month. Consequently, each month can have 29 or 30 days depending on the visibility of the moon, astronomical positioning of the earth and weather conditions. However, certain sects and groups, most notably Dawoodi Bohra Muslims and Shia Ismaili Muslims, use a tabular Islamic calendar in which odd-numbered months have thirty days, in Arabic, the first day of the week corresponds with Sunday of the planetary week. The Islamic weekdays, like those in the Hebrew and Baháí calendars, the Christian liturgical day, kept in monasteries, begins with vespers, which is evening, in line with the other Abrahamic traditions. Christian and planetary weekdays begin at the following midnight, Muslims gather for worship at a mosque at noon on gathering day which corresponds with Friday. Thus gathering day is regarded as the weekly day of rest. A few others have adopted the Saturday-Sunday weekend while making Friday a working day with a midday break to allow time off for worship. Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars, at least some of these calendars followed the lunisolar system. For Central Arabia, especially Mecca, there is a lack of epigraphical evidence, both al-Biruni and al-Masudi suggest that the Ancient Arabs used the same month names as the Muslims, though they also record other month names used by the pre-Islamic Arabs. Nevertheless, the Islamic position equating Nisan with Dhū al-Ḥijja has prevailed, for a comparison between the Islamic and pre-Islamic months, see Islamic and Jahili months. The Islamic tradition is unanimous in stating that Arabs of Tihamah, Hejaz, the forbidden months were four months during which fighting is forbidden, listed as Rajab and the three months around the pilgrimage season, Dhu al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram
Before Hijra
–
Islamic Calendar stamp issued at King Khaled airport (10 Rajab 1428)
Before Hijra
–
Muhammad prohibiting Nasī’. Found in an illustrated copy of
Al-Bīrūnī 's
The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries (17th-century copy of an early 14th-century
Ilkhanid manuscript).
Before Hijra
–
Civil and Hijri establishment dates of a library in Old City, Jerusalem
5.
BCE
–
Common Era or Current Era is a year-numbering system for the Julian and Gregorian calendars that refers to the years since the start of this era, i. e. since AD1. The preceding era is referred to as before the Common or Current Era, the Current Era notation system can be used as a secular alternative to the Dionysian era system, which distinguishes eras as AD and BC. The two notation systems are equivalent, thus 2017 CE corresponds to AD2017 and 400 BCE corresponds to 400 BC. The year-numbering system for the Gregorian calendar is the most widespread civil calendar used in the world today. For decades, it has been the standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations. The expression has been traced back to Latin usage to 1615, as vulgaris aerae, the term Common Era can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish academics. He attempted to number years from a reference date, an event he referred to as the Incarnation of Jesus. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, numbering years in this manner became more widespread in Europe with its usage by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before what he supposed was the year of birth of Jesus, in 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius. The first use of the Latin term vulgaris aerae discovered so far was in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler, Kepler uses it again in a 1616 table of ephemerides, and again in 1617. A1635 English edition of that book has the title page in English – so far, a 1701 book edited by John LeClerc includes Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra,6. A1716 book in English by Dean Humphrey Prideaux says, before the beginning of the vulgar æra, a 1796 book uses the term vulgar era of the nativity. The first so-far-discovered usage of Christian Era is as the Latin phrase aerae christianae on the page of a 1584 theology book. In 1649, the Latin phrase æræ Christianæ appeared in the title of an English almanac, a 1652 ephemeris is the first instance so-far-found for English usage of Christian Era. The English phrase common Era appears at least as early as 1708, a 1759 history book uses common æra in a generic sense, to refer to the common era of the Jews. The first-so-far found usage of the phrase before the era is in a 1770 work that also uses common era and vulgar era as synonyms. The 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the terms vulgar era, the Catholic Encyclopedia in at least one article reports all three terms being commonly understood by the early 20th century. Thus, the era of the Jews, the common era of the Mahometans, common era of the world
BCE
–
Key concepts
6.
Chaldea
–
Chaldea or Chaldaea was a Semitic nation which existed between the late 10th or early 9th and mid-6th centuries BC, after which it and its people were absorbed and assimilated into Babylonia. It was located in the land of the far southeastern corner of Mesopotamia. The earliest waves consisted of Suteans and Arameans, followed a century or so later by the Kaldu and these migrations did not affect the powerful kingdom of Assyria in the northern half of Mesopotamia, which repelled these incursions. The short-lived 11th dynasty of the Kings of Babylon is conventionally known to historians as the Chaldean Dynasty, although the last rulers, Nabonidus and these nomad Chaldeans settled in the far southeastern portion of Babylonia, chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates. The names Chaldea and Chaldaea are latinizations of the Greek Khaldaía, the name appears in Hebrew in the Bible as Kaśdim and in Aramaic as Kaldo. At some point after the Chaldean tribes settled in the region it became called mat Kaldi land of Chaldeans by the native Mesopotamians. The expression mat Bit Yakin is also used, apparently synonymously, Bit Yakin was likely the chief or capital city of the land. The king of Chaldea was also called the king of Bit Yakin, just as the kings of Babylonia and Assyria were regularly styled simply king of Babylon or Assur, the capital city in each case. In the same way, what is now known as the Persian Gulf was sometimes called the Sea of Bit Yakin, the boundaries of the early lands settled by Chaldeans in the early 800s BC have not been identified with precision by historians. Chaldea generally referred to the low, marshy, alluvial land around the estuaries of the Tigris and Euphrates, the Old Testament book of the prophet Habakkuk describes the Chaldeans as a bitter and swift nation. The ancient Chaldeans seem to have migrated into Mesopotamia sometime between c, 940–860 BC, a century or so after other new Semitic arrivals, the Arameans and the Suteans, appeared in Babylonia, c.1100 BC. They first appear in record in the annals of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III during the 850s BC. This was a period of weakness in Babylonia, and its ineffectual native kings were unable to prevent new waves of foreign peoples from invading and settling in the land. The Chaldeans were rapidly and completely assimilated into the dominant Assyro-Babylonian culture, as was the case for the earlier Amorites, Kassites, the Chaldeans originally spoke a West Semitic language similar to but distinct from Aramaic. However, they adopted the Akkadian language of the Assyrians and Babylonians. During the Assyrian Empire, the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III introduced an Eastern Aramaic dialect as the lingua franca of his empire in the mid 8th century BC. One form of this once widespread language is used in Daniel and Ezra, but the use of the name Chaldee to describe it, first introduced by Jerome, is linguistically incorrect and a misnomer. In the Hebrew Bible, the prophet Abraham is stated to have come from Ur of the Chaldees
Chaldea
–
Geography
Chaldea
–
The countries around Chaldea
7.
Hebron
–
Hebron is a Palestinian city in Israel, located in the southern West Bank,30 km south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level, the city is divided into two sectors, H1, controlled by the Palestinian Authority and H2, roughly 20% of the city, administered by Israel. All security arrangements and travel permits for local residents are coordinated between the Palestinian Authority and Israel via military administration of the West Bank, the settlers are governed by their own municipal body, the Committee of the Jewish Community of Hebron. In Judaism it is considered the second-holiest city after Jerusalem, while Islam regards it as one of the four holy cities. Hebron is a hub of West Bank trade, responsible for roughly a third of the areas gross domestic product. It is locally known for its grapes, figs, limestone, pottery workshops and glassblowing factories. The old city of Hebron is characterized by narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed stone houses, the city is home to Hebron University and the Palestine Polytechnic University. Hebron is attached to cities of ad-Dhahiriya, Dura, Yatta, Hebron Governorate is the largest Palestinian governorate with its population of 600,364. The name Hebron traces back to two Semitic roots, which coalesce in the form ḥbr, having reflexes in Hebrew and Amorite and denoting a range of meanings from colleague, in the proper name Hebron, the original sense may have been alliance. The Arabic term derives from the Quranic epithet for Abraham, Khalil al-Rahman Beloved of the Merciful or Friend of God, Arabic Al-Khalil thus precisely translates the ancient Hebrew toponym Ḥebron, understood as ḥaber. Archaeological excavations reveal traces of strong fortifications dated to the Early Bronze Age, the city flourished in the 17th–18th centuries BCE before being destroyed by fire, and was resettled in the late Middle Bronze Age. This older Hebron was originally a Canaanite royal city, abrahamic legend associates the city with the Hittites. In Biblical lore they are represented as descendants of the Nephilim, in settling here, Abraham is described as making his first covenant, an alliance with two local Amorite clans who became his ba’alei brit or masters of the covenant. The Hebron of the Bible was centered on what is now known as Tel Rumeida, Later, the biblical narrative has King David reign from Hebron for some seven years. It is there that the elders of Israel come to him to make a covenant before Elohim and it was in Hebron again that Absalom has himself declared king and then raises a revolt against his father David. It became one of the centers of the Tribe of Judah and was classified as one of the six traditional Cities of Refuge. It remained administratively and politically dependent on Jerusalem for this period, Jews also appear to have lived there after the return from the Babylonian exile. During the Maccabean revolt, Hebron was burnt and plundered by Judah Maccabee who fought against the Edomites in 167 BCE, the city appears to have long resisted Hasmonean dominance, however, and indeed as late as the First Jewish–Roman War was still considered Idumean
Hebron
–
Downtown Hebron
Hebron
–
Samson removes gates of Gaza (left) and brings it to mount Hebron (right). Strassburg (1160–1170),
Württemberg State Museum in Stuttgart
Hebron
–
Hebron in 1839, after a drawing by
David Roberts
8.
West Bank
–
The West Bank shares boundaries to the west, north, and south with Israel, and to the east, across the Jordan River, with Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant section of the western Dead Sea shore, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has a land area of 5,640 km2 plus a water area of 220 km2, consisting of the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea. As of July 2015 it has an population of 2,785,366 Palestinians, and approximately 371,000 Israeli settlers. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law and this annexation was recognized only by Britain, Iraq and Pakistan. The term was chosen to differentiate the west bank of the River Jordan from the east bank of this river, the neo-Latin name Cisjordan or Cis-Jordan is the usual name for the territory in the Romance languages and Hungarian. The name West Bank, however, has become the standard usage for this entity in English. The analogous Transjordan has historically used to designate the region now roughly comprising the state of Jordan. From 1517 through 1917, the now known as the West Bank was under Ottoman rule as part of the provinces of Syria. At the 1920 San Remo conference, the victorious Allied powers allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine, the San Remo Resolution adopted on 25 April 1920 incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It and Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations were the basic documents upon which the British Mandate for Palestine was constructed. Faced with the determination of Emir Abdullah to unify Arab lands under the Hashemite banner, the West Bank area, was conquered by Jordan during the 1948 war with the new state of Israel. In 1947, it was designated as part of a proposed Arab state by the United Nations partition plan for Palestine. 1949 Armistice Agreements defined the boundary between Israel and Jordan. In 1950, Transjordan annexed the area west of the Jordan River, naming it West Bank or Cisjordan, Jordan ruled over the West Bank from 1948 until 1967. Jordans annexation was never recognized by the international community, with the exception of the United Kingdom. King Abdullah of Jordan had been crowned King of Jerusalem by the Coptic Bishop on 15 November 1948. and granted Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank, in June 1967, the West Bank and East Jerusalem were captured by Israel as a result of the Six-Day War. With the exception of East Jerusalem and the former Israeli-Jordanian no mans land, the Israeli settlements were, on the other hand, administered subsequently as Judea and Samaria Area directly by Israel. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority officially controls a geographically non-contiguous territory comprising approx, 11% of the West Bank which remains subject to Israeli incursions
West Bank
–
City of
Salfit, West Bank
West Bank
–
City of
Bethlehem, West Bank
West Bank
–
The Cave of the Patriarchs is one of the most famous holy sites in the region.
West Bank
–
City of
Jericho, West Bank
9.
Ash-Sham
–
The historic region of Syria is an area located east of the Mediterranean sea. The oldest attestation of the name Syria is from the 8th century BC in an inscription in Hieroglyphic Luwian and Phoenician. In this inscription the Luwian word Sura/i was translated to Phoenician ʔšr Assyria, for Herodotus in the 5th century BC, Syria extended as far north as the Halys river and as far south as Arabia and Egypt. For Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela, Syria covered the entire Fertile Crescent and this late definition is equivalent to the region known in Classical Arabic by the name ash-Shām الشام /ʔaʃ-ʃaːm/, which means the north. After World War I, the name Syria was applied to the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, the area was passed to French and British Mandates following World War I and divided into Greater Lebanon, various Syrian-mandate states, Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan. The Syrian-mandate states were unified as the State of Syria. Throughout this period, pan-Syrian nationalists advocated for the creation of a Greater Syria, the name Syria derives from the ancient Greek name for Syrians, Σύριοι Syrioi, which the Greeks applied without distinction to various Near Eastern peoples living under the rule of Assyria. Modern scholarship confirms the Greek word traces back to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, the classical Arabic pronunciation of Syria is Sūriyya. This name was not widely used among Muslims before about 1870, according to the Syrian Orthodox Church, Syrian used to mean Christian in early Christianity. In English, Syrian historically meant a Syrian Christian, following the declaration of Syria in 1936, the term Syrian became to designate citizens of that state regardless of ethnicity. The adjective Syriac has come into use since as a demonym to avoid the ambiguity of Syrian. To some opinions, the origin of the Hellenistic term Syria is bound in the etymology of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Syria in this wider sense could correspond to Greater Assyria and include all of the Levant and Mesopotamia. Currently, the Arabic term Suriyya refers to the state of Syria. The term etymologically means land of the hand, referring to the fact that for someone in the Hejaz facing east. Sham comes from the Arabic consonantal root shin-hamza-mim ش ء م, as seen in alternative Arabic spellings such as شأم, there is no connection with the name of Shem son of Noah, as is sometimes assumed. Herodotus uses Συρία to refer to the stretch of land from the Halys river, including Cappadocia in todays Turkey to the Mount Casius, which Herodotus says is located just south of Lake Serbonis. According to Herodotus various remarks in different locations, he describes Syria to include the stretch of Phoenician coastal line as well as cities such Cadytis. In Greek usage, Syria and Assyria were used almost interchangeably, various writers used the term to describe the entire Levant region during this period, the New Testament used the name in this sense on numerous occasions
Ash-Sham
–
An 1810 map of the Ottoman Empire in Asia, showing the region of
Ottoman Syria
10.
Cave of the Patriarchs
–
According to tradition that has been associated with the Holy Books Torah, Bible and Quran, the cave and adjoining field were purchased by Abraham as a burial plot. The site of the Cave of the Patriarchs is located beneath a Saladin-era mosque, the only Jewish matriarch missing is Rachel, who is believed to be buried at Rachels Tomb near Bethlehem. The Arabic name of the complex reflects the prominence given to Abraham, revered by Muslims as a Quranic prophet, outside biblical and Quranic sources there are a number of legends and traditions associated with the cave. In Acts 7,16 of the Christian Bible the cave of the Patriarchs is located in Shechem, according to the Book of Genesis 23, 1–20, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, died in Kiryat-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. Abraham the Hebrew was tending to business elsewhere when she died, at the age of 127 years, and he came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. After a while, he stood up and spoke to the sons of Heth and requested they give him a possession as a burying place, and then in verse 7 he again stood up to speak to them. Abraham then requested that Ephron the Hittite, the son of Zohar, give him the cave of Machpelah, in the end of his field, for as much money as it is worth. After Ephron confirmed that he would give the cave, in verse 11, Abraham further requested that he give him the field for money, Ephron agreed and named a price. The burial of Sarah is the first account of a burial in the Bible, the title deed to the cave was part of the property of Abraham that passed to his son Isaac in Genesis 25, 5–6. Isaac was 180 years old when he died, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. As noted above, Isaac was 60 when they were born, so they were 120 years old here, Jacob died later at the age of 147 years. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, the purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. In the final chapter of Genesis, Joseph had his physicians embalm his father, when Joseph died in the last verse, he was also embalmed. He was buried later in Shechem after the children of Israel came into the promised land. In Acts 7,16, Stephen claims that the cave of the Patriarchs is located in Shechem, herods building, with 6-foot-thick stone walls made from stones that were at least 3 feet tall and sometimes reach a length of 24 feet, did not have a roof. Archæologists are not certain where the entrance to the enclosure was located. Until the era of the Byzantine Empire, the interior of the enclosure remained exposed to the sky, under Byzantine rule, a simple basilica was constructed at the southeastern end and the enclosure was roofed everywhere except at the centre
Cave of the Patriarchs
–
Southern view
Cave of the Patriarchs
–
Tomb of Isaac, c. 1911
Cave of the Patriarchs
–
Muslims pray, in January 2014
Cave of the Patriarchs
–
Cave of the Patriarchs, 2010
11.
Levant
–
The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean. The term Levant entered English in the late 15th century from French and it derives from the Italian Levante, meaning rising, implying the rising of the sun in the east. As such, it is equivalent to the Arabic term Mashriq. Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine, in 1581, England set up the Levant Company to monopolize commerce with the Ottoman Empire. The name Levant States was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and this is probably the reason why the term Levant has come to be used synonymously with Syria-Palestine. Some scholars misunderstood the term thinking that it derives from the name of Lebanon, today the term is typically used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. It does not include Anatolia, the Caucasus Mountains, or any part of the Arabian Peninsula proper, the Sinai Peninsula is sometimes included. The Levant has been described as the crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and northeast Africa, the populations of the Levant share not only the geographic position, but cuisine, some customs, and a very long history. They are often referred to as Levantines, the term Levant, which appeared in English in 1497, originally meant the East in general or Mediterranean lands east of Italy. It is borrowed from the French levant rising, referring to the rising of the sun in the east, the phrase is ultimately from the Latin word levare, meaning lift, raise. Similar etymologies are found in Greek Ἀνατολή, in Germanic Morgenland, in Italian, in Hungarian Kelet, in Spanish and Catalan Levante and Llevant, most notably, Orient and its Latin source oriens meaning east, is literally rising, deriving from Latin orior rise. The notion of the Levant has undergone a process of historical evolution in usage, meaning. While the term Levantine originally referred to the European residents of the eastern Mediterranean region, it came to refer to regional native. The English Levant Company was founded in 1581 to trade with the Ottoman Empire, at this time, the Far East was known as the Upper Levant. In early 19th-century travel writing, the term sometimes incorporated certain Mediterranean provinces of the Ottoman empire, in 19th-century archaeology, it referred to overlapping cultures in this region during and after prehistoric times, intending to reference the place instead of any one culture. The French mandate of Syria and Lebanon was called the Levant states, today, Levant is the term typically used by archaeologists and historians with reference to the history of the region. Scholars have adopted the term Levant to identify the region due to it being a wider, yet relevant, archaeologists seeking a neutral orientation that is neither biblical nor national have used terms such as Levantine archaeology and archaeology of the Southern Levant. Two academic journals were launched, Journal of Levantine Studies, published by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and The Levantine Review
Levant
–
The
Levantine Sea, the eastern portion of the
Mediterranean.
Levant
–
Countries of the Levant in the broad, historic meaning (equivalent to the
eastern Mediterranean)
Levant
–
French medal commemorating the
war in
Cilicia, which was initially part of the
French mandate.
Levant
–
Satellite view of part of the Levant including
Cyprus,
Israel,
Jordan,
Lebanon,
Palestine, and southern
Syria.
12.
Hagar
–
Hagar is a biblical person in the Book of Genesis. She was an Egyptian handmaid of Sarai, who gave her to Abraham to bear a child, the product of the union was Abrahams firstborn, Ishmael, the progenitor of the Ishmaelites. According to Theodor Nöldeke, she is the personification of the nomadic Hagrites. The name Hagar originates from the Book of Genesis, and is alluded to in the Quran. She is considered Abrahams second wife in the Islamic faith and acknowledged in all Abrahamic religions, in mainstream Christianity, she is considered a concubine to Abraham. This is a summary of the account of Hagar from Genesis 16 and 21, Hagar was the Egyptian handmaiden of Sarai, Abrahams wife. Hagar became pregnant, and tension arose between the two women, Sarah complained to Abraham, and treated Hagar harshly, and Hagar ran away. Hagar fled into the desert on her way to Shur. Genesis 16,12 Then she was told to call her son Ishmael, afterward, Hagar referred to God as El Roi. She then returned to Abraham and soon gave birth to Ishmael, later, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, and the tension between the women returned. At a celebration after Isaac was weaned, Sarah found the teenage Ishmael mocking her son and she was so upset by it that she demanded that Abraham send Hagar and her son away. She declared that Ishmael would not share in Isaacs inheritance, Abraham was greatly distressed but God told Abraham to do as his wife commanded because Gods promise would be carried out through both Isaac and Ishmael. Early the next morning, Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael out together, Abraham gave Hagar bread and water then sent them into the wilderness of Beersheba. She and her son wandered aimlessly until their water was completely consumed, in a moment of despair, she burst into tears. God heard her and her son crying and came to rescue them, the angel opened Hagars eyes and she saw a well of water. He also told Hagar that God will make a nation of Ishmael. Hagar found her son a wife from Egypt and they settled in the Desert of Paran, according to the Bahai Faith, the Báb was a descendant of Abraham and Hagar, and that God made a promise to spread Abrahams seed. The Bahai Publishing House released a text on the wives and concubines of Abraham, in the New Testament, Paul the Apostle made Hagars experience an allegory of the difference between law and grace in his Epistle to the Galatians. Mount Sinai has been referred to as Agar, possibly named after Hagar, in Catholicism, Saint Augustine referred to Hagar as symbolizing an earthly city, or sinful condition of humanity, In the earthly city
Hagar
–
Hagar and the Angel in the Wilderness, by
Francesco Cozza
Hagar
–
Expulsion of Ishmael and His Mother, by
Gustave Doré
Hagar
–
Hagar in the Wilderness by
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
Hagar
–
The Banishment of Hagar by
Jan Mostaert, c. 1620-25,
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.
13.
Sarah
–
Sarah or Sara was the wife and also the half–sister of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. According to Genesis 17,15, God changed her name to Sarah as part of a covenant after Hagar bore Abraham his first son, the Hebrew name Sarah indicates a woman of high rank and is translated as princess or noblewoman. Sarah was the wife of Abraham, Sarah was approximately ten years younger than her husband. She was considered beautiful to the point that Abraham feared that when they were more powerful rulers she would be taken away. Twice he purposely identified her as being his sister so that he would be treated well for her sake, no reason is given why Sarah remained barren for a long period of time. She was originally called Sarai, which is translated my princess, later she was called Sarah, i. e. princess. Terah, with Abram, Sarai and Lot, departed for Canaan, but stopped in a place named Haran, following Gods command Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the wealth and persons that they had acquired, and traveled to Shechem in Canaan. Abram was 75 at this time, there was a severe famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households, travelled south to Egypt. When the Egyptians see you, they say, this is his wife. Then they will kill me but will let you live, say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you. When brought before Pharaoh, Sarai said that Abram was her brother, and it is possible that Sarai acquired her Egyptian handmaid Hagar during this stay. However, God afflicted Pharaohs household with great plagues, Pharaoh then realized that Sarai was Abrams wife and demanded that they leave Egypt immediately. After having lived in Canaan for ten years and still childless, Sarai suggested that Abram have a child with her Egyptian handmaid Hagar and this resulted in tension between Sarai and Hagar, and Sarai complained to her husband that the handmaid no longer respected her. At one point, Hagar fled from her mistress but returned after angels met her and she gave birth to Abrams son Ishmael when Abram was eighty-six years old. In Genesis 17 when Abram was ninety-nine years old, God declared his new name, Abraham – a father of many nations, God gave Sarai the new name Sarah, and blessed her. Abraham was given assurance that Sarah would have a son, not long afterwards, Abraham and Sarah were visited by three men. One of the visitors told Abraham that upon his next year. While at the tent entrance, Sarah overheard what was said, the visitor inquired of Abraham why Sarah laughed at the idea of bearing a child, for her age was as nothing to God
Sarah
–
Sarah (right) and
Abraham hosting three angels (a Children's Bible illustration)
Sarah
–
Abram’s Counsel to Sarai (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by
James Tissot)
Sarah
–
Sarai Is Taken to Pharaoh's Palace by
James Tissot.
Sarah
–
Banishment of Hagar, Etching. À Paris chez Fr. Fanet, Éditeur, Rue des Saints Pères n° 10. 18th century. Sarah is seen at the left, looking on.
14.
Keturah
–
Keturah was a concubine and wife of the Biblical patriarch Abraham. According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham married Keturah after the death of his first wife, Sarah, Abraham, one modern commentator on the Hebrew Bible has called Keturah the most ignored significant person in the Torah. Some Jewish scholars have believed Keturah to be the person as Abrahams concubine Hagar. Keturah is mentioned in two passages of the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Genesis, and also in the First Book of Chronicles, still, despite these mentions in various sources, the ancestry of Keturah is not known. Keturah is referred to in Genesis as another wife of Abraham, in First Chronicles, she is called Abrahams concubine. Eric Lyon theorizes that it is possible that Keturah was Abraham’s concubine in the beginning, the discussion of Genesis 25, 1–6 in the Genesis Rabbah includes statements by Rabbi Yehuda ha-Nasi arguing that Hagar returned to Abraham and was renamed Keturah. Her new name is said to refer to the pleasant aroma of incense—symbolic of her having turned from misdeeds committed during her time away from Abraham. Since Keturah is referred to in First Chronicles as Abrahams concubine, some concluded that this was why Keturah was identified with Hagar in the Midrash. The theory that Keturah was Hagar was also supported by the 11th-century scholar Rashi, Biblical scholar Richard Elliott Friedman dismisses the identification of Keturah with Hagar as an old rabbinic idea for which there is no basis. In the text, and also notes that the idea was rejected by traditional commentators such as Ibn Ezra, Ramban, the Book of Jubilees also supports the conclusion that Keturah and Hagar were two different people, by stating that Abraham waited until after Hagars death before marrying Keturah. Keturah bore Abraham six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Genesis and First Chronicles also list seven of her grandsons. Keturahs sons were said to have represented the Arab tribes who lived south, according to the African writer Olaudah Equiano, the 18th-century English theologian John Gill believed the African people were descended from Abraham via Keturah. According to the Baháí author John Able, Baháís consider their founder, Baháulláh, to have been descended doubly, from both Abraham and Sarah, and separately from Abraham and Keturah
Keturah
–
The wives and sons of Abraham depicted on the 1630 Venice
Haggadah. Keturah stands at far right with her six sons.
15.
Ishmael in Islam
–
Ishmael is the figure known in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as Abrahams son, born to Hagar. In Islam, Ishmael is regarded as a prophet and an ancestor to Muhammad and he also became associated with Mecca and the construction of the Kaaba, as well as equated with the term Arab by some. Stories of Ishmael are not only found in Jewish and Christian texts, such as the Bible and rabbinic Midrash and these sources include the Quran, Quranic commentary, hadith, historiographic collections like that of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, and Israiliyat. Ishmael was the first son of Abraham, whose mother was Hagar, the story of the birth of Ishmael is rarely assigned special significance in Islamic sources. There are many versions of the story, some of which include a prophecy about Ishmaels birth and his brethren would rule over all the lands. Ibn Kathir comments that this foretells of Muhammads leadership, Islamic tradition says Abraham was ordered by God to take Hagar and Ishmael to Mecca, and later Abraham returned to Mecca to build the Kaaba. In many of these accounts, the Sakina, or the angel Gabriel guides them to the location of the Kaaba, at which point Abraham builds it and afterwards, leaves the other two there. Generally, it is said that Hagar asks Abraham who he is entrusting herself and he answers that he is entrusting them to God, to which Hagar then makes a reply that shows her faith, stating that she believes God will guide them. Hagar and Ishmael then run out of water and Ishmael becomes extremely thirsty, Hagar is distressed and searches for water, running back and forth seven times between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. Hagar is later remembered by Muslims for this act during the Hajj, or pilgrimage, when she returns to Ishmael, she finds either him or an angel scratching the ground with their heel or finger, whereupon water begins flowing and Hagar collects some or dams it up. This spring or well is known as Zamzam, at some point, a passing tribe known as the Jurhum sees birds circling the water and investigates. They ask Hagar if they can settle there, which she allows, there are numerous versions of this story, each differing in various ways. The versions used in this summary, as well as others, most Muslims believe that Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Ishmael, though the Quran does not name the son. The multiple versions suggest that the dhabih was originally a story that had been circulating before being written as it is in the Quran. Each version is indeed a unique work of art, differing from another in various ways to present certain ideas, the general narrative pertaining to Ishmael in Islamic literature describes the sacrifice either as a test or as part of a vow. Some versions tell of the devil trying to stop Gods command from being obeyed by visiting Hagar, Ishmael, every time the devil says Abraham is going to sacrifice Ishmael, each person answers that if God commanded it, they should obey. Eventually, Abraham tells Ishmael about the order and Ishmael is willing to be sacrificed, as Abraham attempts to kill Ishmael, either the knife is turned over in his hand or copper appears on Ishmael to prevent the death and God tells Abraham that he has fulfilled the command. Unlike the Bible, there is no mention in the Quran of an animal replacing the boy, from that day onward, every Eid al-Adha once a year Muslims around the world slaughter an animal to commemorate Abrahams sacrifice and to remind themselves of self-abnegation in the way of Allah
Ishmael in Islam
–
Abraham sacrificing Ishmael in
Stories of the Prophets;
illuminated manuscript
Ishmael in Islam
–
Abraham sacrificing his son, Ishmael; Abraham cast into fire by Nimrod
16.
Ishmael
–
Ishmael is a figure in the Tanakh and the Quran and was Abrahams first son according to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Ishmael was born to Abrahams and Sarahs handmaiden Hagar, according to the Genesis account, he died at the age of 137. The Book of Genesis and Islamic traditions consider Ishmael to be the ancestor of the Ishmaelites, according to Muslim tradition, Ishmael the Patriarch and his mother Hagar are said to be buried next to the Kaaba in Mecca. Cognates of Hebrew Yishmael existed in various ancient Semitic cultures, including early Babylonian and Minæan and it is a theophoric name translated literally as God has hearkened, suggesting that a child so named was regarded as the fulfillment of a divine promise. This is the account of Ishmael from Genesis Chapters 16,17,21,25 In Genesis 16, the birth of Ishmael was planned by the Patriarch Abrahams first wife, who at that time was known as Sarai. She and her husband Abram sought a way to have children in order to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant that was established in Genesis 15. Sarai was 75 years old and had yet to bear Abraham a child, her idea was to offer her Egyptian handmaiden Hagar to Abraham, so that they could have a child by her. So Sarai, Abrahams wife, took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar, customs of that time dictated that, although Hagar was the birth mother, any child conceived would belong to Sarai and Abram. Genesis 16, 7-16 describes the naming of Ishmael, and Gods promise to Hagar concerning Ishmael and this occurred at the well of Beer-lahai-roi, located in the desert region between Abraham’s settlement and Shur. Hagar fled here after Sarai dealt harshly with her for showing contempt for her mistress following her having become pregnant, here, Hagar encountered an angel of God who said to her Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction and he shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen. The blessing that this father was promised was that Abrahams descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. However, the promise would be to a son of Sarai, yet God would make of this child a great nation, when Ishmael was born, Abraham was 86 years old. When he was 13 years old, Ishmael was circumcised at the time as all other males in Abrahams house becoming a part of the covenant in a mass circumcision. His father Abram, given the new name Abraham, was also at this time, at the age of 99, initiated into the covenant by having himself and the males of his entire household circumcised. At the time of the covenant, God informed Abraham that his wife Sarah would give birth to a son, which he was instructed to name Isaac. God also mentioned that He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyones hand will be against him, And he will live to the east of all his brothers. A year later, Ishmaels half-brother Isaac was born to Abraham by his first wife Sarah when she was 90 years old and this proposition was grievous in Abrahams sight because of his son and the bondwoman, Hagar
Ishmael
–
A depiction of Hagar, the Egyptian, and Ishmael in the desert by
François-Joseph Navez
Ishmael
–
The dismissal of Hagar, by
Pieter Pietersz Lastman
Ishmael
–
Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert, by
Grigory Ugryumov (c. 1785)
Ishmael
–
Abraham sacrificing his son, Ishmael; and Abraham cast into fire by Nimrod. A miniature in the 16th-century manuscript Zubdat Al-Tawarikh.
17.
Isaac in Islam
–
The biblical patriarch Isaac is recognized as a patriarch, prophet and messenger of God by all Muslims. In Islam, he is known as Isḥāq, as in Judaism and Christianity, Islam maintains that Isaac was the son of the patriarch and prophet Abraham from his wife Sarah. Isaac is mentioned in fifteen passages of the Quran, Isaac is mentioned fifteen times by name in the Quran, often with his father and his son, Yaʿqūb. The Quran states that Abraham received good tidings of Isaac, a prophet, of the righteous, in the Quran, it later narrates that Abraham also praised God for giving him Ishmael and Isaac in his old age. His tomb and that of his wife Rebekah is considered to be in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, alongside Isaacs cenotaph are the cenotaphs of some of the other Quranic/Biblical patriarchs and their wives, Abraham and Sarah and Jacob and Leah. Biblical narratives and the Quran Legends and the Quran Muhammad in Islam Prophets of Islam Stories of The Prophets C. H. Becker, Islamstudien, i,47 ZDMG, xxxii,359, ii Encyclopedia of Islam, W. M. Watt, Ishak Stories of the Prophets, Kisai, Ibn Kathir, The Story of Isaac and Jacob
Isaac in Islam
–
Cenotaph of Ishaq
Isaac in Islam
Isaac in Islam
–
Main article:
Isaac
18.
Isaac
–
Isaac (/ˈaɪzək/ was the son of Abraham and Sarah and father of Jacob, his name means he laughs, reflecting Sarahs response when told that she will have a child. He was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites, the one whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not move out of Canaan. He died when he was 180 years old, the longest-lived of the three, the anglicized name Isaac is a transliteration of the Hebrew term Yiṣḥāq which literally means He laughs/will laugh. Ugaritic texts dating from the 13th century BCE refer to the benevolent smile of the Canaanite deity El, Genesis, however, ascribes the laughter to Isaacs parents, Abraham and Sarah, rather than El. According to the narrative, Abraham fell on his face. He laughed because Sarah was past the age of childbearing, both she and Abraham were advanced in age, later, when Sarah overheard three messengers of the Lord renew the promise, she laughed inwardly for the same reason. Sarah denied laughing when God questioned Abraham about it and it was prophesied to the patriarch Abraham that he would have a son and that his name should be Isaac. When Abraham became one hundred years old, this son was born to him by his first wife Sarah, though this was Abrahams second son it was Sarahs first and only child. On the eighth day from his birth, Isaac was circumcised, as was necessary for all males of Abrahams household, in order to be in compliance with Yahwehs covenant. After Isaac had been weaned, Sarah saw Ishmael mocking, and urged her husband to cast out Hagar the bondservant and her son, Abraham was hesitant, but at Gods order he listened to his wifes request. At some point in Isaacs youth, his father Abraham brought him to Mount Moriah, at Gods command, Abraham was to build a sacrificial altar and sacrifice his son Isaac upon it. After he had bound his son to the altar and drawn his knife to kill him, rather, he was directed to sacrifice instead a nearby ram that was stuck in thickets. This event served as a test of Abrahams faith in God, when Isaac was 40, Abraham sent Eliezer, his steward, into Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac, from his nephew Bethuels family. Eliezer chose the Aramean Rebekah for Isaac, after many years of marriage to Isaac, Rebekah had still not given birth to a child and was believed to be barren. Isaac prayed for her and she conceived, Rebekah gave birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when his two sons were born, Isaac favored Esau, and Rebekah favored Jacob. Isaac is unique among the patriarchs for remaining faithful to his wife, at the age of 75, Isaac moved to Beer-lahai-roi after his father died. When the land experienced famine, he removed to the Philistine land of Gerar where his father once lived and this land was still under the control of King Abimelech as it was in the days of Abraham
Isaac
–
Isaac digging for the wells, imagined in a
Bible illustration (c. 1900)
Isaac
–
The Akedah, mosaic on the floor of
Beit Alfa Synagogue
Isaac
–
The birth of Esau and Jacob, as painted by
Benjamin West
Isaac
–
Isaac blessing his son, as painted by
Giotto di Bondone
19.
Terah
–
Terah is also a place, Terah Terah or Térach is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis, son of Nahor, son of Serug and father of the Patriarch Abraham, all descendants of Shems son Arpachshad. Terah is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament, most of what is told about Terah is recorded in Genesis 11, 26–28. Terahs father was Nahor, son of Serug, descendants of Shem and they and many of their ancestors were polytheistic. Regarding his children, Terah had three sons, Abram, Haran, and Nahor II and his daughter Sarai, by a second wife, was also his daughter-in-law, wife of Abram. The entire family, including grandchildren, lived in Ur of the Chaldees, one of his grandchildren was Lot, whose father, Haran, had died before the family left Ur. Terahs son Abram had an encounter with God, who directed him to take the family, leave Ur. Terah coordinated the journey, intending to go to new land, but stopped in the city of Haran along the way. Genesis 11,26 states that Terah lived 70 years, and he begat Abram, Nachor, rashi comments on the subsequent elaboration on the story of Abraham that Abraham was the gem of the chronology of Genesis 11 which the Torah wanted to focus on. In the Jewish tradition, Genesis teaches that Terah was 70 years old when he begat Abram, the Talmud says that Abraham was 52 years old at year 2000 AM, which means that he was born in the year 1948 AM. Rashi explains this based on Abram being born when Terah was 70, seder Olam Rabbah holds that Abram was the eldest, but the Talmud leaves the above question open. According to rabbinical tradition Terah was a wicked, idolatrous priest who manufactured idols, Abram, in opposition to his father’s idol shop, smashed his father’s idols and chased customers away. Terah then brought his son before Nimrod, who threw him into a fiery furnace. The Zohar says that when God saved Abram from the furnace, Terah repented, kahana said that God assured Abram that his father Terah had a portion in the World to Come. Rabbi Hiyya relates this account in Genesis Rabba, Terah left Abram to mind the store while he departed, a woman came with a plateful of flour and asked Abram to offer it to the idols. Abram then took a stick, broke the idols, and put the stick in the largest idol’s hand, when Terah returned, he demanded that Abram explain what hed done. Abram told his father that the idols fought among themselves and the largest broke the others with the stick. “Why do you make sport of me. ”Terah cried, “Do they have any knowledge. ”Abram replied and it is shrouded in mystery to Jewish scholars as to why Terah began the journey and as to why the journey ended prematurely. In Jewish tradition Abram left Haran before Terah died as an expression that he would not be remiss in the Mitzvah, of honoring a parent, by leaving his aging father behind
Terah
–
Illustration of Terah in
Latin from "
Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum "
20.
Arabic language
–
Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
Arabic language
–
The Galland Manuscript of
One Thousand and One Nights, 14th century
Arabic language
–
al-ʿArabiyyah in written Arabic (
Naskh script)
Arabic language
–
Bilingual traffic sign in
Qatar.
Arabic language
–
Examples of how the Arabic root and form system works.
21.
Hebrew Bible
–
They are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic. The term does not comment upon the naming, numbering or ordering of books, the term Hebrew Bible is an attempt to provide specificity with respect to contents but avoid allusion to any particular interpretative tradition or theological school of thought. Hebrew Bible refers to the Jewish biblical canon, in its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the Masoretic Text. Many biblical studies scholars advocate use of the term Hebrew Bible as a substitute to terms with religious connotations. Hebrew Bible Old Testament without prescribing the use of either, however, he accepts that there is no reason why non-Christians should feel obliged to refer to these books as the Old Testament, apart from custom of use. Modern Christian formulations of this tension include Supersessionism, Covenant Theology, New Covenant Theology, Dispensationalism, in terms of canon, Christian usage of Old Testament does not refer to a universally agreed upon set of books but, rather, varies depending on denomination. The Hebrew Bible includes small portions in Aramaic, written and printed in Aramaic square-script, the books that constitute the Hebrew Bible developed over roughly a millennium. The oldest texts seem to come from the 11th or 10th centuries BCE and they are edited works, being collections of various sources intricately and carefully woven together. Since the 19th century, most biblical scholars have agreed that the Pentateuch consists of four sources which have been woven together and these four sources are J, D, E and P sources. They were combined to form the Pentateuch sometime in the 6th century BCE and this theory is now known as the documentary hypothesis, and has been the dominant theory for the past two hundred years. The Deuteronomist credited with the Pentateuchs book of Deuteronomy is also said to be the source of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, several editions, all titled Biblia Hebraica, have been produced by various German publishers since 1906. Between 1906 and 1955, Rudolf Kittel published nine editions of it,1966, the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft published the renamed Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in six editions until 1997. Since 2004 the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft has published the Biblia Hebraica Quinta, other projects include, Hebrew University Bible Project Hebrew Bible, A Critical Edition Biblical canon Books of the Bible Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible Torah Brueggemann, Walter. An introduction to the Old Testament, the canon and Christian imagination, the People of Ancient Israel, an introduction to Old Testament Literature, History, and Thought, Harper and Row,1974. Sinai and Zion, An Entry into the Jewish Bible, archived from the original on 14 March 2012. The Ancient Near East, Volume I, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. An abridgement of Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Noth, how the Bible Became a Book. The Old Testament, A Literary History, hebrew-English Tanakh, the Jewish Bible Complete, fully vocalized, contilated, Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, together with the classic English translation by the Jewish Publication Society
Hebrew Bible
–
Page from an 11th-century
Aramaic Targum manuscript of the Hebrew Bible.
22.
God in Islam
–
In Islamic theology, God is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer and judge of everything in existence. Islam emphasizes that God is strictly singular, unique, inherently One, also all-merciful, the Surat 112 Al-Ikhlāş says, He is God, One. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent, in Islam, there are 99 known names of God, each of which evoke a distinct attribute of God. All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive god, among the 99 names of God, the most familiar and frequent of these names are the Compassionate and the Merciful. Creation and ordering of the universe is seen as an act of mercy for which all creatures sing Gods attributes. Allah is the Arabic word referring to God in Abrahamic religions and it is distinguished from ilāh, the Arabic word meaning deity, which could refer to any of the gods worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia. God is described and referred to in the Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the Quran refers to the attributes of God as most beautiful names. According to Gerhard Böwering, They are traditionally enumerated as 99 in number to which is added as the highest Name, there are numerous conventional phrases and expressions invoking God. Islams most fundamental concept is a strict monotheism called tawhid, affirming that God is one, the basic creed of Islam, the Shahada, involves لا إله إلا الله, or, I testify there is no god other than God. Muslims reject the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus, according to Vincent J. Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession. The deification or worship of anyone or anything other than God is the biggest sin in Islam, the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of Tawhid. God is the creator of the universe and all the creatures in it, praise is to Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, made the angels messengers having wings, two or three or four. He increases in creation what He wills, indeed, Allah is over all things competent. And it is We Who have constructed the heavens with might and verily and we created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, so blessed be Allah, the Best of creators. Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a person and from Him He created his wife. And verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord, the most commonly used names in the primary sources are Al-Rahman, meaning Most Compassionate and Al-Rahim, meaning Most Merciful. God is said to love forgiving, with a hadith stating God would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked repentance
God in Islam
–
Allah Jalla Jalālah in
Arabic calligraphy
23.
Judaism
–
Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
Judaism
–
Judaica (clockwise from top):
Shabbat candlesticks,
handwashing cup,
Chumash and
Tanakh,
Torah pointer,
shofar and
etrog box
Judaism
–
Silver case containing a handwritten
Torah (
Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris)
Judaism
–
Glass platter inscribed with the Hebrew word zokhreinu – remember us
Judaism
–
A 19th-century silver
Macedonian Hanukkah menorah
24.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
Christianity
–
An
Eastern Christian icon depicting
Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the
First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
Christianity
–
Various
depictions of Jesus
Christianity
–
Crucifixion, representing the death of
Jesus on the
Cross, painting by
Diego Velázquez, 17th century
25.
Muslim
–
A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco
Muslim
–
Afghan Muslims praying inside
Gardens of Babur in
Kabul,
Afghanistan.
Muslim
–
Famous
Muslim converts from various fields.
26.
Quran
–
The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature, the Quran is divided into chapters, which are then divided into verses. The word Quran occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names, according to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammads death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and these codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthmans codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with minor differences in meaning. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical scriptures and it summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance and it sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law, during prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz, some Muslims read Quranic ayah with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers, in order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir. The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself and it is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qaraʼa, meaning he read or he recited. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to reading or lesson. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammads lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the act of reciting, as reflected in an early Quranic passage, It is for Us to collect it, in other verses, the word refers to an individual passage recited. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example, So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it, the word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel. The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran, each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb, āyah, and sūrah, the latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with an article, the word is referred to as the revelation
Quran
–
Manuscript of the Quran.
Brooklyn Museum.
Quran
–
Quran
Quran
–
11th-century North African Quran in the
British Museum.
Quran
–
Quran − in
Mashhad, Iran − written by
Ali.
27.
Eid al-Adha
–
Eid al-Adha, also called the Sacrifice Feast, is the second of two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide each year, and considered the holier of the two. It honors the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, as an act of submission to Gods command, before he sacrificed his son God intervened by sending his angel Jibrail, who then put a sheep in his sons place. In the Islamic lunar calendar, Eid al-Adha falls on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, in the international calendar, the dates vary from year to year drifting approximately 11 days earlier each year. Eid al-Adha is the latter of the two Eid holidays, the former being Eid al-Fitr, the word Eid appears once in Al-Maida, the fifth sura of the Quran, with the meaning solemn festival. Like Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha begins with a prayer of two followed by a sermon. Eid al-Adha celebrations start after the descent of the Hujjaj, the performing the Hajj, from Mount Arafat. Eid sacrifice may take place until sunset on the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the days of Eid have been singled out in the Hadith as days of remembrance and considered the holiest days in the Islamic Calendar. Another Arabic word for sacrifice is Qurbani The Semitic root Q-R-B means to be close to someone/something, other words from the root include qarov, close, the senses of root meaning to offer suggest that the act of offering brings one closer to the receiver of the offering. The same stem is found in Hebrew and for example in the Akkadian language noun aqribtu act of offering, Eid al-Kabir, an Arabic term meaning the Greater Eid, is used in Yemen, Syria, and North Africa. The term was borrowed directly into French as Aïd el-Kebir, translations of Big Eid or Greater Eid are used in Pashto, Kashmiri, Urdu and Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. Albanian, however, uses Bajram i vogël or the Lesser Eid as a reference to Eid al-Adha. This term is borrowed into other Indian languages, such as Tamil Bakr Īd Peru Nāl. Some names refer to the fact that the holiday occurs after the culmination of the annual Hajj, such names are used in Malaysian and Indonesian (Hari Raya Haji Hajj celebration day, Lebaran Haji, Lebaran Kaji. When this was not yet an official feast in the Philippines, when it became a legal holiday in 2009, it became officially known as Eid al-Adha. Some also reference it with local names like Kapistahan ng Pagsasakripisyo in Tagalog. Eid al-Adha has had other names outside the Muslim world, in Spanish it is known as Fiesta del Cordero or Fiesta del Borrego. According to Islamic tradition, the valley of Mecca was a dry, rocky, God instructed Abraham to bring Hagar, his Arabian wife, and Ishmael to Arabia from the land of Canaan. As Abraham was preparing for his journey back to Canaan, Hagar asked him
Eid al-Adha
–
Eid al-Adha celebrations start at the same time as the annual
Hajj in
Mecca.
Eid al-Adha
–
Blessings for Eid Al-Adha.
Eid al-Adha
–
Eid prayer during
Eid al-Fitr at
Taipei Grand Mosque,
Taiwan
Eid al-Adha
–
Prayers in
Comilla, Bangladesh can be seen attending
Khutbah as part of the Eid al-Adha prayers on 7 November 2011.
28.
Mecca
–
Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca
Mecca
–
Mecca seen from
Jabal al-Nour
Mecca
Mecca
–
1787
Ottoman Turkish map of the
Masjid al-Haram and related religious sites (Jabal al-Nour)
Mecca
–
Jabal al-Nour is where Muhammad is believed to have received the first revelation of
God through the
Archangel Gabriel.
29.
Arabian Peninsula
–
The Arabian Peninsula, simplified Arabia is a peninsula of Western Asia situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian plate. From a geological perspective, it is considered a subcontinent of Asia and it is the largest peninsula in the world, at 3,237,500 km2. The Arabian Peninsula consists of the countries Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Middle East and the Arab world due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Before the modern era, it was divided into four regions, Hejaz, Najd, Southern Arabia. Hejaz and Najd make up most of Saudi Arabia, Southern Arabia consists of Yemen and some parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman. Eastern Arabia consists of the coastal strip of the Persian Gulf. The most prominent feature of the peninsula is desert, but in the southwest there are mountain ranges, harrat ash Shaam is a large volcanic field that extends from the northwestern Arabian Peninsula into Jordan and southern Syria. The peninsulas constituent countries are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the island nation of Bahrain lies off the east coast of the peninsula. Six countries form the Gulf Cooperation Council, however, this is a disputed term. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the part of the peninsula. The majority of the population of the live in Saudi Arabia. The peninsula contains the worlds largest reserves of oil, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, a peninsula in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home of the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera. Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, though historically lightly populated, political Arabia is noted for a high population growth rate - as the result of both very strong inflows of migrant labor as well as sustained high birth rates. The population tends to be young and heavily skewed gender ratio dominated by males. In many states, the number of South Asians exceeds that of the local citizenry, the four smallest states, which have their entire coastlines on the Persian Gulf, exhibit the worlds most extreme population growth, roughly tripling every 20 years. In 2014, the population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936. Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in Arabia Haplogroup J is the most abundant component in the Arabian peninsula and its two main subclades, show opposite latitudinal gradients in the Middle East
Arabian Peninsula
–
A map of the Arabian peninsula made in 1720 by the German publisher
Christoph Weigel
Arabian Peninsula
–
Arabia
Arabian Peninsula
–
Africa, Arabian subcontinent (Asia), and Eurasia
Arabian Peninsula
–
A caravan crossing the
ad-Dahna Desert in central Saudi Arabia
30.
Adnanite
–
According to Arab genealogical tradition, the Adnanites are Arabized Arabs, descended from Adnan, distinguished from the pure Qahtanite Arabs of southern Arabia. Arab genealogical tradition holds that the Adnanites are Arabized Arabs, descended from Adnan, the Adnanites became Arabized when they migrated to the Arabian Peninsula, whereas the Qahtanites of Southern Arabia are pure Arabs. According to modern historians, the distinction between Adnanites and Qahtanites lacks evidence and may have developed out of the later faction-fighting during the Umayyad period
Adnanite
–
A family tree depicting branches of the Adnanites.
31.
Paganism
–
Paganism is a term that derives from Latin word pagan, which means nonparticipant, one excluded from a more distinguished, professional group. The term was used in the 4th century, by early Christian community, the term competed with polytheism already in use in Judaism, by Philo in the 1st century. Pagans and paganism was a pejorative for the same polytheistic group, Paganism has broadly connoted religion of the peasantry, and for much of its history a derogatory term. Alternate terms in Christian texts for the group was hellene. In and after the Middle Ages, paganism was a pejorative that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, there has been much scholarly debate as to the origin of the term paganism, especially since no one before the 20th century self-identified as a pagan. In the 19th century, paganism was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, while most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans. It is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised, the notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition, as such, throughout history it was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan is from Late Latin paganus, revived during the Renaissance and it is related to pangere and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag-. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church, elsewhere, Hellene or gentile remained the word for pagan, and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. However, this idea has multiple problems, first, the words usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centered on cities, the concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity. Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet acquired the meanings used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon, Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, in it, he contrasted the fallen city of Man to the city of God of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence, the invaders were not of the city or rural
Paganism
–
The
Venus of Arles, depicting the goddess
Venus holding the apple of
Hesperides.
Paganism
–
Reconstruction of the
Parthenon, on the
Acropolis of Athens,
Greece.
Paganism
–
Some
megaliths are believed to have religious significance.
Paganism
–
Children standing with The Lady of Cornwall in a neopagan ceremony in England.
32.
Canaan
–
Canaan was a Semitic-speaking region in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC. The name Canaan occurs commonly in the Hebrew Bible, in particular, the references in Genesis 10 and Numbers 34 define the Land of Canaan as extending from Lebanon southward to the Brook of Egypt and eastward to the Jordan River Valley. References to Canaan in the Bible are usually backward-looking, referring to a region that had something else. The term Canaanites serves as an ethnic catch-all term covering various indigenous populations—both settled, the Amarna Letters and other cuneiform documents use Kinaḫḫu, while other sources of the Egyptian New Kingdom mention numerous military campaigns conducted in Ka-na-na. Canaan had significant geopolitical importance in the Late Bronze Age Amarna period as the area where the spheres of interest of the Egyptian, Hittite, Mitanni and Assyrian Empires converged. Much of the knowledge about Canaan stems from archaeological excavation in this area at sites such as Tel Hazor, Tel Megiddo. The English term Canaan comes from the Hebrew כנען, via Greek Χαναάν Khanaan and it appears as KUR ki-na-ah-na in the Amarna letters, and knʿn is found on coins from Phoenicia in the last half of the 1st millennium. It first occurs in Greek in the writings of Hecataeus as Khna, scholars connect the name Canaan with knʿn, Kanaan, the general Northwest Semitic name for this region. An early explanation derives the term from the Semitic root knʿ to be low, humble, purple cloth became a renowned Canaanite export commodity which is mentioned in Exodus. The dyes may have named after their place of origin. The purple cloth of Tyre in Phoenicia was well known far, however, according to Robert Drews, Speisers proposal has generally been abandoned. The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit is considered quintessentially Canaanite archaeologically, Jonathan Tubb states that the term ga-na-na may provide a third millennium reference to Canaanite while at the same time stating that the first certain reference is in the 18th century BC. See Ebla-Biblical controversy for further details, Mari letters A letter from Mutu-bisir to Shamshi-Adad I of the Old Assyrian Empire has been translated, It is in Rahisum that the brigands and the Canaanites are situated. It was found in 1973 in the ruins of Mari, an Assyrian outpost at that time in Syria, additional unpublished references to Kinahnum in the Mari letters refer to the same episode. Alalakh texts A reference to Ammiya being in the land of Canaan is found on the Statue of Idrimi from Alalakh in modern Syria. After a popular uprising against his rule, Idrimi was forced into exile with his mothers relatives to seek refuge in the land of Canaan, the other references in the Alalakh texts are, AT154 AT181, A list of Apiru people with their origins. All are towns, except for Canaan AT188, A list of Muskenu people with their origins, the letters are written in the official and diplomatic East Semitic Akkadian language of Assyria and Babylonia, though Canaanitish words and idioms are also in evidence. May the king ask Yanhamu about these matters, may the king ask his commissioner, who is familiar with Canaan EA151, Letter from Abimilku to the Pharaoh, The king, my lord wrote to me, write to me what you have heard from Canaan
Canaan
–
A 1692 depiction of Canaan, by Philip Lea
Canaan
–
Map of the Near East by
Robert de Vaugondy (1762), indicating Canaan as limited to the
Holy Land, to the exclusion of Lebanon and Syria
Canaan
–
Map of Canaan, with the border defined by Numbers 34:1–12 shown in red.
Canaan
–
Amarna tablet EA 9
33.
Pilgrimage
–
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a persons beliefs and faith, a person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim. As a common experience, pilgrimage has been proposed as a Jungian archetype by Wallace Clift. The Holy Land acts as a point for the pilgrimages of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity. Baháulláh decreed pilgrimage to two places in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the House of Baháulláh in Baghdad, Iraq, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz, later, Abdul-Bahá designated the Shrine of Baháulláh at Bahji, Israel as a site of pilgrimage. Other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are, Savatthi, Pataliputta, Nalanda, Gaya, Vesali, Sankasia, Kapilavastu, Kosambi, Rajagaha, Varanasi, other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage include, India, Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta. Thailand, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Doi Suthep, tibet, Lhasa, Mount Kailash, Lake Nam-tso. Sri Lanka, Polonnaruwa, Temple of the Tooth, Anuradhapura, malaysia, Kek Lok Si, Cheng Hoon Teng, Maha Vihara Myanmar, Bagan, Sagaing Hill. The Four Sacred Mountains Japan, Shikoku Pilgrimage,88 Temple pilgrimage in the Shikoku island, Japan 100 Kannon, pilgrimage composed of the Saigoku, Bandō and Chichibu pilgrimages. Saigoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kansai region, Bandō33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kantō region. Chichibu 34 Kannon, pilgrimage in Saitama Prefecture, Chūgoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Chūgoku region. Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the birth, life, pilgrimages were, and are, also made to Rome and other sites associated with the apostles, saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A popular pilgrimage journey is along the Way of St. James to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, in Galicia, Spain, chaucers The Canterbury Tales recounts tales told by Christian pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral and the shrine of Thomas Becket. According to Karel Werners Popular Dictionary of Hinduism, most Hindu places of pilgrimage are associated with events from the lives of various gods. Almost any place can become a focus for pilgrimage, but in most cases they are sacred cities, rivers, lakes, Hindus are encouraged to undertake pilgrimages during their lifetime, though this practice is not considered absolutely mandatory. Most Hindus visit sites within their region or locale, Kumbh Mela, Kumbh Mela is one of the largest gatherings of humans in the world. The location is rotated among Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik, Char Dham, The four holy sites Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka, and Badrinath compose the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. Kanwar Pilgrimage, The Kanwar is Indias largest annual religious pilgrimage, as part of this phenomenon, millions of participants gather sacred water from the Ganga and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense as offerings in Śiva shrines
Pilgrimage
–
David Teniers the younger: Female Pilgrim
Pilgrimage
–
Ancient excavated Buddha-image at the Mahaparinirvana Temple,
Kushinagar
Pilgrimage
–
Tibetans on a pilgrimage to
Lhasa, doing full-body
prostrations, often for the entire length of the journey
Pilgrimage
–
Pilgrims
34.
Handmaiden
–
A handmaiden, handmaid or maidservant is a personal maid or female servant, or someone whose primary role is to serve or assist. The term is not commonly used nowadays, the terms maid or domestic worker being more commonly used, in each of these cases, the mistress gave their handmaid to their husbands to wife, to bear his seed. The use in the Torah of the prefix to, as in gave to wife, the text repeats that these people remain handmaids of their mistress though they are also the mistresss husbands concubine. The Handmaids Tale The Handmaids Tale The Handmaiden, a 2016 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook
Handmaiden
–
The Pharaoh's Handmaidens by
John Collier
35.
Lot in Islam
–
Lut ibn Haran, known as Lot in the Old Testament, is a prophet of God in the Quran. He also appears in the Bible, but the stories of Lot are not entirely accepted within Islam. According to Islamic tradition, Lot lived in Ur and was the son of Haran and he migrated with Abraham to Canaan. He was bestowed as a prophet to the cities of Sodom and he was commanded by God to go to the land of Sodom and Gomorrah to preach to his people on monotheism and to stop them from their lustful and violent acts. According to both the Quran and the Hebrew Bible, Lots messages were ignored by the inhabitants and Sodom and their sites cannot be exactly located, but it may be supposed that they were somewhere in the plain east of the Dead Sea or underneath its current limits. Lots story is presented as an Islamic view against rape. Lots people are the people to whom he is sent on a mission and he was not one of their own brethren, as was Salih or Shuaib. But he looked upon his people as his brethren, the Quran says that Lot is a prophet, and holds that all prophets were examples of moral and spiritual rectitude, so the report of Lots drunkenness and incest is considered to be false. The narrative of Lot occupies a large space in the Quran. Most of these passages place the narrative of Lot in a line of successive prophets including Nuh, Hud, Salih, in the past, scholars have stated that these particular prophets represent the early cycle of prophecy as described in the Quran. Scholars interpret the listing of the five prophets to be chronological, Lot is also mentioned alongside Ismael, Elisha and Jonah as men whom God favored above the nations. According to the Quran, Lot was a prophet and a nephew of Abraham, the Quran also draws upon Lots wife as an example for the unbelievers as she was married to a righteous man but cheated him by not believing in his message and was thus condemned to Hell. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities which Lot was sent to with Gods message. Their avarice led to inhospitality and robbery, which in turn led to the humiliation of strangers by mistreatment, the Quran remarks they moved blindly in the frenzy of approaching death. Lot was powerless to protect the boys, but they revealed to him that they were indeed angels sent by God to punish the people for their transgressions. Keeping his faith in God, Lot left his home and the cities during the night with his family and others who believed in him, and only his wife stayed behind. When morning came, God turned the cities upside down, and rained down on them stones hard as baked clay, putting an end to the lives of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once, Lots story is traditionally used to demonstrate Islams disapproval of rape and homosexuality. Lots struggle with his tribe is seen as concerning the question of homosexuality in general or more specifically male-to-male anal penetration and these interpretations have sometimes widened to condemn homosexuality as a whole, including psychological and social dispositions
Lot in Islam
–
Lut fleeing the city with his wife and daughters
36.
Lot (biblical person)
–
Lot was a patriarch in the biblical Book of Genesis chapters 11–14 and 19. Lot and his father Haran were born and raised in Ur of the Chaldees in the region of Sumeria on the Euphrates River of lower Mesopotamia, Haran died in that land before his father Terah. Genesis 11, 26-32 gives the generations of Terah, Lots grandfather, among the family members that Lot travelled with was his uncle Abram, one of the three patriarchs of Israel. En route to Canaan, the family stopped in the Paddan Aram region and they settled at the site called Haran where Lots grandfather, Terah, lived the rest of his days. He was 205 years old when he died, Genesis 12 reveals Abrams obedience to the LORD at the age of 75, in continuing his journey to the land of promise. Though Abrams father, Terah, stayed behind, his nephew Lot went with him, there is no mention of Lot having a wife yet. They went southwestward into the land of Canaan, to the place of Sichem, later they travelled south to the hills between Bethel and Hai, before journeying further toward the south of Canaan. After dwelling in the land of Canaan for a little while, there was a famine, after having dwelt in Egypt for some time, they acquired vast amounts of wealth and livestock, and returned to the Bethel area. Genesis 13 helps and discusses Abram and Lots return to Canaan after the famine had passed and they traveled back through the Negev to the hills of Bethel. With their sizeable numbers of livestock and always on the move, the conflicts between herdsmen had become so troublesome that Abram recommended to Lot that they should part ways, lest there be conflict amongst brethren. Abram then headed south to Hebron, staying within the land of Canaan, Lot had encamped on the green Jordan plain among the cities of the plain and initially pitched his tent toward Sodom. The following year the four armies with Chedorlaomer returned and at the Battle of the Vale of Siddim, Chedorlaomer spoiled the cities and took captives as he departed, including Lot, who by then dwelt in Sodom. He divided his forces and attacked at night more than one direction. The pursuit continued and the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and the kings was completed at Hobah north of Damascus. Abram brought back his brother Lot and all the people and their goods, twenty four years after Abram and Lot began their sojourning, the LORD changed Abrams name to Abraham, and gave him the covenant of circumcision. Not long afterward, the LORD appeared to Abraham, for three men came to visit and have a meal with him, and after two left to go to Sodom, Abraham stood yet before the LORD. Abraham boldly pleaded on behalf of the people of Sodom, where Lot dwelt and he continued inquiring, reducing the number to forty five, forty, thirty, twenty, and finally if there were ten righteous in the city, it would be spared. After supper that night before bedtime, the men of the city, young and old and his response infuriated the men of Sodom who accused him of being judgmental and they threatened to do worse to him than they would have done to the men
Lot (biblical person)
–
Lot and his daughters flee from
Sodom, his wife turned to salt behind them, and the burning cities,
Albrecht Dürer
Lot (biblical person)
–
Depiction of the separation of Abraham and Lot by
Wenceslaus Hollar.
Lot (biblical person)
–
Mount Sodom,
Israel, showing the so-called "
Lot's Wife " pillar composed, like the rest of the mountain, of
halite.
Lot (biblical person)
–
William Blake's Lot and His Daughters currently held at the
Huntington Library, and created circa 1800.
37.
Noah in Islam
–
Nûḥ ibn Lamech ibn Methuselah, known as Noah in the Old Testament, is recognized in Islam as a prophet and apostle of God. He is an important figure in Islamic tradition, as he is counted amongst the earliest prophets sent by God to mankind. According to Islam, Noahs mission was to save a world, plunged in depravity. God charged Noah with the duty of preaching to his people to make them abandon idolatry and to only the One Creator and to live good. Noahs preaching and prophet-hood spanned 950 years according to Quran, references to Noah are scattered throughout the Quran, and there is even an entire sura carrying his name, Noah. Little is known of Noahs personal history before his call to prophecy. However, the Quran records him to have been the son of Lamech and grandson of Methuselah, one of the patriarchs from the Generations of Adam. Noah was neither the leader of the tribe nor a very rich man but, even before being called to prophecy, he worshiped God faithfully and was, in the words of the Quran, a devotee most grateful. According to Islam, he was a prophet, sent to mankind of that region. He conveyed the message for over 950 years, for Muslims, Noah was married to a woman whose name is not mentioned in the Quran. Some Islamic historians such as Al-Tabari have suggested that the name of Noahs wife was Umzrah bint Barakil, most Muslims simply call her by her biblical name Naamah. Islamic scholars agree that Noah had four sons whose names were Ham, Shem, Yam, according to the Quran, one of Noahs sons was a disbeliever who refused to come aboard the Ark, instead preferring to climb a mountain, where he drowned. It is agreed among most Islamic scholars that Yam was the one who drowned, the other three remained believers. The Quran states that Noahs wife was not a believer with him so she did not join him, neither did one of Noahs sons, also the Quran indicates a great calamity, enough to have destroyed Noahs people, but to have saved him and his generations to come. Islamic literature recounts that in the Generations of Adam, many men and women continued to follow Adams original teachings, worshiping ALLAH alone, among Adams descendants there were many brave and pious men, greatly loved and revered by their respective communities. Exegesis goes on to narrate that, upon the death of elders, people felt enormous grief. Then, gradually, through the generations many forgot what such statues were for and began to worship them, in order to guide the people God appointed Noah with the duty of being the next prophet to humanity. According to islamic belief, Noah began preaching to his people both verbally and by example and he would praise God consistently and he urged his people to do the same, warning his tribe of the punishment they would face if they did not mend their ignorant ways
Noah in Islam
–
Miniature from Hafiz-i Abru’s Majma al-tawarikh. “Noah’s Ark” Iran (Afghanistan), Herat; Timur’s son Shah Rukh (1405-1447) ordered the historian
Hafiz-i Abru to write a continuation of
Rashid al-Din’s famous history of the world,
Jami al-tawarikh. Like the
Il-Khanids, the
Timurids were concerned with legitimizing their right to rule, and Hafiz-i Abru’s “A Collection of Histories” covers a period that included the time of
Shah Rukh himself.
Noah in Islam
–
The name Noah written in
Islamic calligraphy followed by
Peace be upon him.
Noah in Islam
–
An Islamic depiction of Noah in a 16th-century
Mughal miniature.
Noah in Islam
–
Noah's ark and the deluge from Zubdat-al Tawarikh
38.
Shem
–
Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. Genesis 10,21 refers to ages of Shem and his brother Japheth. The verse is translated in the KJV as Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. However, the New American Standard Bible gives, Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. Genesis 11,10 records that Shem was 100 years old at the birth of Arphaxad, two years after the flood, and that he lived for another 500 years after this, making his age at death 600 years. The children of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram, Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrews and Arabs, was one of the descendants of Arphaxad. Islamic literature describes Shem as one of the sons of Noah. Some sources even identify Shem as a prophet in his own right, in one Muslim legend, Shem was one of the people whom God made Jesus resurrect as a sign to the Children of Israel. According to some Jewish traditions, Shem is believed to have been Melchizedek, King of Salem whom Abraham is recorded to have met after the battle of the four kings. Shem is mentioned in Genesis 5,32,6,10,7,13,9,18,23, 26-27,10,11,10, some have reconstructed more complete genealogies based on this information as follows, Shem. Also Sem Literal meanings are named or renown, the sons of Shem were, Elam eternity - Asshur a step or strong - Arphaxad - Chaldeans, Hebrews Ziezi - son of Shem and a grandson of Noah. His name is mentioned in the excerpt Ziezi ex quo vulgares meaning Ziezi, of whom the Bulgars, according to Luke 3,36 Jesus is a descendant of Shem. Early Islamic historians like Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham always included Shems name in the genealogy of Muhammad, the following family tree contains information from the Hebrew Bible, without data from any other sources. According to Luke 3, a figure named Cainan is the son of Arpachshad. Finnegans Wake Wives aboard the Ark Herbermann, Charles, ed. Sem
Shem
–
Shem, son of Noah
Shem
–
Shem,
Ham and
Japheth by
James Tissot 1904.
Shem
–
Geographic identifications of
Flavius Josephus, c. 100 AD;
Japheth 's sons shown in red,
Ham 's sons in blue, Shem's sons in green.
39.
Sodom and Gomorrah
–
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and in the deuterocanonical books, as well as in the Quran and the hadith. According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim and these five cities, also known as the cities of the plain, were situated on the Jordan River plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The plain, which corresponds to the area just north of the modern-day Dead Sea, was compared to the garden of Eden as being well-watered and green, suitable for grazing livestock. Divine judgment by God was then passed upon Sodom and Gomorrah, neighboring Zoar was the only city to be spared. In Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, Sodom and Gomorrah have been used as metaphors for vice and homosexuality viewed as a deviation. The story has given rise to words in several languages. These include the English word sodomy, used in laws to describe sexual crimes against nature, namely anal or oral sex. Some Islamic societies incorporate punishments associated with Sodom and Gomorrah into sharia, the etymology of both names is uncertain. The exact original meanings of the names are also uncertain, of the five cities of the plain, only Bela, modern Zoara, is securely identified, and remained a settlement long after the biblical period. The ancient Greek historiographer Strabo states that locals living near Moasada say that there were once thirteen inhabited cities in that region of which Sodom was the metropolis. Strabo identifies a limestone and salt hill at the western tip of the Dead Sea. However, Sayce later mentions that the more closely resembles the doom of Sennacheribs host. The names si-da-mu and ì-ma-ar were identified as representing Sodom and Gomorrah, today, the scholarly consensus is that Ebla has no bearing on. If the cities existed, they might have been destroyed as the result of a natural disaster. One theory says that the Dead Sea was devastated by an earthquake between 2100 and 1900 BCE, which could have unleashed showers of steaming tar. It is possible that the towns were destroyed by an earthquake in the region, especially if the towns lay along a major fault, However, there is a lack of contemporary accounts of seismic activity within the necessary timeframe to corroborate this theory. Other possibilities also include Numeira, al-Safi, Feifa, and Khanazir, all sites were near the Dead Sea, with evidence of burning and traces of sulfur. However, according to Schaub, who dug at Bab edh-Dhra, Numeira was destroyed at a different time period from Bab edh-Dhra, Archaeological remains excavated from Bab edh-Dhra are currently displayed in Karak Archaeological Museum, Amman Citadel Museum, and the British Museum
Sodom and Gomorrah
–
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
John Martin, 1852
Sodom and Gomorrah
–
Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed in the background of
Lucas van Leyden 's 1520 painting Lot and his Daughters
Sodom and Gomorrah
–
Painting from
William Francis Lynch book The Narrative of the United States Expedition of the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. Published in 1849
40.
Ancient Iraq
–
In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires. The Sumerians and Akkadians dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of history to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD226, eastern part of it fell to the Sassanid Persians, division of Mesopotamia between Roman and Sassanid Empires lasted until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire and Muslim conquest of the Levant from Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. The regional toponym Mesopotamia comes from the ancient Greek root words μέσος middle and ποταμός river and it is used throughout the Greek Septuagint to translate the Hebrew equivalent Naharaim. In the Anabasis, Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria, the Aramaic term biritum/birit narim corresponded to a similar geographical concept. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the part of the Zagros Mountains are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia. A further distinction is made between Northern or Upper Mesopotamia and Southern or Lower Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jazira, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad, Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf and includes Kuwait and parts of western Iran. In modern academic usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation and it is usually used to designate the area until the Muslim conquests, with names like Syria, Jazirah, and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date. It has been argued that these later euphemisms are Eurocentric terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments, Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the Armenian Highlands. Both rivers are fed by tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000 square kilometres region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, in the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf. In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times, periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and these trends have continued to the present day in Iraq
Ancient Iraq
–
Known world of the Mesopotamian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures from documentary sources
Ancient Iraq
–
Map showing the extent of Mesopotamia
Ancient Iraq
–
One of 18
Statues of Gudea, a ruler around 2090 BC
Ancient Iraq
–
One of the
Nimrud ivories shows a lion eating a man. Neo-Assyrian period, 9th to 7th centuries BC.
41.
Ur
–
Ur was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in south Iraqs Dhi Qar Governorate. The city dates from the Ubaid period circa 3800 BC, and is recorded in history as a City State from the 26th century BC. The site is marked by the restored ruins of the Ziggurat of Ur. The temple was built in the 21st century BC, during the reign of Ur-Nammu and was reconstructed in the 6th century BC by Nabonidus, the Assyrian born last king of Babylon. The ruins cover an area of 1,200 metres northwest to southeast by 800 metres northeast to southwest, archaeologists have discovered the evidence of an early occupation at Ur during the Ubaid period. These early levels were sealed off with a deposit of soil that was interpreted by excavators of the 1920s as evidence for the Great Flood of the Book of Genesis. The further occupation of Ur only becomes clear during its emergence in the third millennium BC, the third millennium BC is generally described as the Early Bronze Age of Mesopotamia, which ends approximately after the demise of the Third Dynasty of Ur in the 21st century BC. There are two sources which inform scholars about the importance of Ur during the Early Bronze Age. The first is a body of cuneiform documents, mostly from the empire of the so-called Third Dynasty of Ur. This was the most centralized bureaucratic state the world had yet known, concerning the earlier centuries, the Sumerian King List provides a tentative political history of ancient Sumer. The second source of information is archaeological work in modern Iraq, although the early centuries are still poorly understood, the archaeological discoveries have shown unequivocally that Ur was a major urban center on the Mesopotamian plain. Especially the discovery of the Royal Tombs have confirmed its splendour and this wealth, unparalleled up to then, is a testimony of Urs economic importance during the Early Bronze Age. Archaeological research of the region has contributed greatly to our understanding of the landscape. Imports to Ur came from parts of the world. The imported objects include precious metals such as gold and silver and we know that Ur was the most important port on the Persian Gulf, which extended much further inland than it does today. All the wealth came to Mesopotamia by sea had to pass through Ur. So far evidence for the earliest periods of the Early Bronze Age in Mesopotamia is very limited, Mesh-Ane-pada is the first king mentioned in the Sumerian King List, and appears to have lived in the 26th century BC. That Ur was an important urban centre already then seems to be indicated by a type of cylinder seal called the City Seals and these seals contain a set of proto-cuneiform signs which appear to be writings or symbols of the name of city-states in ancient Sumer
Ur
–
The ruins of Ur, with the
Ziggurat of Ur visible in the background
Ur
–
Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC, with Ur (south) to
Nineveh in the north.
Ur
–
The
Standard of Ur mosaic is made of red limestone, bitumen,
lapis lazuli, and shell, depicts peacetime, from the royal tombs of Ur.
42.
Iraq
–
The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
Iraq
–
Cylinder Seal, Old Babylonian Period, c.1800 BCE,
hematite. The king makes an animal offering to
Shamash. This seal was probably made in a workshop at
Sippar.
Iraq
–
Flag
Iraq
–
Victory stele of
Naram-Sin of Akkad
Iraq
–
Bill of sale of a male slave and a building in
Shuruppak, Sumerian tablet, circa 2600 BCE
43.
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
–
The religious development of Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian culture in general was not particularly influenced by the movements of the various peoples into and throughout the area. Rather, Mesopotamian religion was a consistent and coherent tradition which adapted to the needs of its adherents over millenia of development. The earliest undercurrents of Mesopotamian religious thought date to the 4th millennium BCE, in the 3rd millennium BCE objects of worship were personified and became an expansive cast of divinities with particular functions. Mesopotamian religion finally declined with the spread of Iranian religions during the Achaemenid Empire, as with most dead religions, many aspects of the common practices and intricacies of the doctrine have been lost and forgotten over time. Mesopotamian religion is thought to have been an influence on subsequent religions throughout the world, including Canaanite, Aramean, Mesopotamian religion has the oldest body of recorded literature of any religious tradition. Other artifacts can also be useful when reconstructing Mesopotamian religion, as is common with most ancient civilizations, the objects made of the most durable and precious materials, and thus more likely to survive, were associated with religious beliefs and practices. It has also inspired various contemporary Neo-pagan groups, in the fourth millennium BCE, the first evidence for what is recognisably Mesopotamian religion can be seen with the invention in Mesopotamia of writing circa 3500 BCE. The people of Mesopotamia originally consisted of two groups, Akkadian speakers and the people of Sumer, who spoke a language isolate and these peoples were members of various city-states and small kingdoms. The Sumerians left the first records, although it is not known if they migrated into the area in prehistory or whether they were its original inhabitants and they resided in southern Mesopotamia, which was known as Sumer, and had considerable influence on the Akkadian speakers and their culture. Akkadian names first appear in the lists of these states circa 2800 BCE. They created the first city-states such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Isin, Kish, Umma, Eridu, Adab, Akshak, Sippar, Nippur and Larsa, each of them ruled by an ensí. The Akkadian Empire endured for two centuries before collapsing due to decline, internal strife and attacks from the north east by the Gutian people. Following a brief Sumerian revival with the Third Dynasty of Ur, Assyria asserted itself in the north circa 2100 BCE in the Old Assyrian Empire and southern Mesopotamia fragmented into a number of kingdoms, the largest being Isin, Larsa and Eshnunna. In 1894 BCE the initially minor city-state of Babylon was founded in the south by invading West Semitic-speaking Amorites and it was rarely ruled by native dynasties throughout its history. Some time after this period, the Sumerians disappeared, becoming absorbed into the Akkadian-speaking population. Assyrian kings are attested from the late 25th century BCE and dominated northern Mesopotamia and parts of Anatolia, the Amorite dynasty was deposed in 1595 BCE after attacks from mountain-dwelling people known as the Kassites from the Zagros Mountains, who went on to rule Babylon for over 500 years. Assyria defeated the Hittites and Mitanni, and its growing power forced the New Kingdom of Egypt to withdraw from the Near East, the Middle Assyrian Empire at its height stretched from the Caucasus to modern Bahrain and from Cyprus to western Iran. During the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Mesopotamian Aramaic became the lingua franca of the empire, the last written records in Akkadian were astrological texts dating from 78 CE discovered in Assyria
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
–
The god
Marduk and his dragon Mušḫuššu
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
–
Overview map of ancient Mesopotamia.
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
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Representation of the Goddess
Ishtar, winged and wearing a version of the horned cap of divinity. Detail of the so-called "Ishtar vase", early 2nd millennium BCE (
Louvre AO 17000)
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
–
Geography
44.
Ziggurat of Ur
–
The Ziggurat of Ur is a Neo-Sumerian ziggurat in what was the city of Ur near Nasiriyah, in present-day Dhi Qar Province, Iraq. The structure was built during the Early Bronze Age, but had crumbled to ruins by the 6th century BCE of the Neo-Babylonian period when it was restored by King Nabonidus and its remains were excavated in the 1920s and 1930s by Sir Leonard Woolley. Under Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, they were encased by a reconstruction of the façade. The ziggurat of Ur is the best-preserved of those known from Iran and Iraq and it is one of three well preserved structures of the Neo-Sumerian city of Ur, along with the Royal Mausolea and the Palace of Ur-Nammu. The ziggurat was built by King Ur-Nammu who dedicated the great ziggurat of Ur in honour of Nanna/Sîn, the massive step pyramid measured 64 m in length,45 m in width and over 30 m in height. The height is speculative, as only the foundations of the Sumerian ziggurat have survived, the ziggurat was a piece in a temple complex that served as an administrative center for the city, and which was a shrine of the moon god Nanna, the patron deity of Ur. The construction of the ziggurat was finished in the 21st century BCE by King Shulgi, during his 48-year reign, the city of Ur grew to be the capital of a state controlling much of Mesopotamia. Many ziggurats were made by stacking mud-bricks up and using mud to seal them together, the remains of the ziggurat were first discovered by William Kennett Loftus in 1850. The first excavations at the site were conducted by John George Taylor in the 1850s, after World War I, preliminary excavations were performed by Reginald Campbell Thompson and Henry Hall. The site was excavated in the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley by appointment of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. The remains of the ziggurat consist of a solid mass of mud brick faced with burnt bricks set in bitumen. The lowest layer corresponds to the construction of Ur-Nammu, while the two upper layers are part of the Neo-Babylonian restorations. The façade of the lowest level and the staircase were rebuilt under the orders of Saddam Hussein. The ziggurat was damaged in the First Gulf War in 1991 by small arms fire, four bomb craters can be seen nearby and the walls of the ziggurat are marred by over 400 bullet holes. As of 2008, the site is under the supervision of curator Dief Mohssein Naiif al-Gizzy
Ziggurat of Ur
–
Reconstructed facade of the ziggurat. The actual remains of the Neo-Babylonian structure can be seen
Ziggurat of Ur
–
Reconstruction of Ur-Nammu's ziggurat, based on the 1939 reconstruction by Woolley (vol. V, fig. 1.4)
45.
Monotheism
–
Monotheism has been defined as the belief in the existence of only one god that created the world, is all-powerful and interferes in the world. Another, more broad definition of monotheism, is the belief in one god, a distinction may be made between exclusive monotheism, and both inclusive monotheism and pluriform monotheism which, while recognising various distinct gods, postulate some underlying unity. There are also monotheistic parody religions, such as Pastafarianism, the word monotheism comes from the Greek μόνος meaning single and θεός meaning god. The English term was first used by Henry More, according to Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition, monotheism was the original religion of humanity. Scholars of religion largely abandoned that view in the 19th century in favour of a progression from animism via polytheism to monotheism. Austrian anthropologist Wilhelm Schmidt had postulated an Urmonotheismus, original or primitive monotheism in the 1910s and it was objected that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam had grown up in opposition to polytheism as had Greek philosophical monotheism. Some writers believe that the concept of monotheism sees a gradual development out of notions of henotheism and monolatrism, quasi-monotheistic claims of the existence of a universal deity date to the Late Bronze Age, with Akhenatens Great Hymn to the Aten. A possible inclination towards monotheism emerged during the Vedic period in Iron-Age South Asia, the Rigveda exhibits notions of monism of the Brahman, in particular, in the comparatively late tenth book, dated to the early Iron Age, e. g. in the Nasadiya sukta. While all adherents of the Abrahamic religions consider themselves to be monotheists, Judaism does not consider Christianity to be monotheistic, Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. God in Judaism is strictly monotheistic, a one, indivisible. The Babylonian Talmud references other, foreign gods as non-existent entities to whom humans mistakenly ascribe reality, One of the best-known statements of Rabbinical Judaism on monotheism is the Second of Maimonides 13 Principles of faith, God, the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of a pair, nor one like a species, nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, rather, God is a unity unlike any other possible unity. Judaism and Islam reject the Christian idea of monotheism, Judaism uses the term shituf to refer to the worship of God in a manner which Judaism does not deem to be monotheistic. During the 8th century BCE, the worship of YHWH in Israel was in competition with other cults. Some scholars hypothesize that Judaism was originally a form of monolatrism or henotheism, in this hypothesis both the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah had YHWH as their state god, while also acknowledging the existence of other gods. Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah, and is the title of a prayer that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Observant Jews consider the Shema to be the most important part of the service in Judaism. It is traditional for Jews to say the Shema as their last words, despite at least one earlier local synod rejecting the claim of Arius, this Christological issue was to be one of the items addressed at the First Council of Nicaea
Monotheism
–
Bahá'í House of Worship,
Langenhain, Germany
Monotheism
Monotheism
–
Krishna displays his
Vishvarupa (universal form) to
Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
Monotheism
–
A Sikh temple, known as Nanaksar
Gurudwara, in
Alberta, Canada.
46.
Stoning
–
Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until they die. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject and this is in contrast to the case of a judicial executioner. Slower than other forms of execution, stoning within the context of contemporary Western culture is considered a form of execution by torture, in some countries, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, stoning has been declared illegal by the state, but is practiced extrajudicially. In several others, people have been sentenced to death by stoning, in modern times, allegations of stoning are politically sensitive, the government of Iran, for example, describes allegations of stoning as political propaganda. The Jewish Torah serves as a religious reference for Judaism. Stoning is the method of execution mentioned most frequently in the Torah. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die, because he sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God. The inclusion of the children in the punishment was troubling to later Jewish commentators, the Talmud describes four methods of execution, stoning, pouring molten lead down the throat of the condemned person, beheading, and strangulation. The Mishna gives the following list of persons who should be stoned, prior to early Christianity, particularly in the Mishnah, doubts were growing in Jewish society about the effectiveness of capital punishment in general in acting as a useful deterrent. Subsequently its use was dissuaded by the central legislators, the Mishnah states, A Sanhedrin that puts a man to death once in seven years is called destructive. Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah says that this extends to a Sanhedrin that puts a man to death once in seventy years. Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Tarfon say, Had we been in the Sanhedrin none would ever have put to death. Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel says, they would have multiplied shedders of blood in Israel, in the following centuries the leading Jewish sages imposed so many restrictions on the implementation of capital punishment as to make it de facto illegal. The restrictions were to prevent execution of the innocent, and included many conditions for a testimony to be admissible that were difficult to fulfill. Philosopher Moses Maimonides wrote, It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death and he was concerned that the law guard its public perception, to preserve its majesty and retain the peoples respect. He saw errors of commission as much more threatening to the integrity of law than errors of omission, in rabbinic law, capital punishment may only be inflicted by the verdict of a regularly constituted court of twenty-three qualified members. The culprit must be a person of age and of sound mind. On the day the verdict is pronounced, the convict is led forth to execution, a sentence is not attended by confiscation of the convicts goods, the persons possessions descend to their legal heirs
Stoning
–
Saint Stephen, first martyr of Christianity, painted in 1506 by
Marx Reichlich (1460-1520) (Pinakothek of
Munich)
Stoning
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An
Aztec adulterer being stoned to death;
Florentine Codex
Stoning
–
The Punishment of Korah and the Stoning of Moses and Aaron (1480–1482), by
Sandro Botticelli,
Sistine Chapel,
Rome.
Stoning
–
Stoning of the Devil, 2006
Hajj
47.
Death by burning
–
Deliberately causing death through the effects of combustion, or effects of exposure to extreme heat, has a long history as a form of painful capital punishment. The best known type of executions of death by burning is when the condemned is bound to a wooden stake. For example, pouring substances such as molten metal onto a person, as well as enclosing persons within, or attaching them to, immersion in a heated liquid as a form of execution is considered distinct from death by burning, and classified as death by boiling. For burnings at the stake, if the fire was large, if the fire was small, however, the condemned would burn for some time until death from hypovolemia, heatstroke and/or simply the thermal decomposition of vital body parts. The 18th century BC law code promulgated by Babylonian king Hammurabi specifies several crimes in which death by burning was thought appropriate. Looters of houses on fire could be cast into the flames, furthermore, a man who began committing incest with his mother after the death of his father could be ordered by courts to be burned alive. In Ancient Egypt, several incidents of burning alive perceived rebels are attested, for example, Senusret I is said to have rounded up the rebels in campaign, and burnt them as human torches. Under the civil war flaring under Takelot II more than a years later, the Crown Prince Osorkon showed no mercy. On the statute books, at least, women committing adultery might be burned to death, jon Manchip White, however, did not think capital judicial punishments were often carried out, pointing to the fact that the pharaoh had to personally ratify each verdict. Then he was placed on a bed of thorns and burnt alive, whoever sees a veiled prostitute shall seize her. And bring her to the palace entrance and they shall pour hot pitch over her head. For the Neo-Assyrians, mass executions seem to have not only designed to instill terror and to enforce obedience. In Genesis 38, Judah orders Tamar—the widow of his son, tamar saves herself by proving that Judah is himself the father of her child. In the Book of Jubilees, the story is basically told, with some intriguing differences. In Genesis, Judah is exercising his power at a distance, whereas he. One pulled it one way, one the other until he opened his mouth, thereupon one ignites the wick and throws it in his mouth, and it descends to his bowels and sears his bowels. That is, the dies from being fed molten lead. The Mishnah is, however, a fairly late collections of laws, from about the 3rd century AD, and scholars believe it replaced the actual punishment of burning in the old biblical texts
Death by burning
–
The "
baptism by fire" of
Old Believer leader
Avvakum in 1682
Death by burning
–
Tanit with a lion's head
Death by burning
–
The burning of the
Cathar heretics
Death by burning
–
Burning of the
Knights Templar, 1314
48.
Catapult
–
A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during warfare, in modern times the term can apply to devices ranging from a simple hand-held implement to a mechanism for launching aircraft from a ship. The word catapult comes from the Latin catapulta, which in turn comes from the Greek Ancient Greek, καταπέλτης, itself from κατά, downwards + πάλλω, to toss, Catapults were invented by the ancient Greeks. The catapult and crossbow in Greece are closely intertwined, primitive catapults were essentially “the product of relatively straightforward attempts to increase the range and penetrating power of missiles by strengthening the bow which propelled them”. The historian Diodorus Siculus, described the invention of a mechanical arrow-firing catapult by a Greek task force in 399 BC, the weapon was soon after employed against Motya, a key Carthaginian stronghold in Sicily. Diodorus is assumed to have drawn his description from the highly rated history of Philistus, a detailed description of the gastraphetes, or the “belly-bow”, along with a watercolor drawing, is found in Herons technical treatise Belopoeica. Zopyrus has been equated with a Pythagorean of that name who seems to have flourished in the late 5th century BC. He probably designed his bow-machines on the occasion of the sieges of Cumae, the bows of these machines already featured a winched pull back system and could apparently throw two missiles at once. Philo of Byzantium provides probably the most detailed account on the establishment of a theory of belopoietics circa 200 BC. The central principle to this theory was that parts of a catapult. This kind of innovation is indicative of the rate at which geometry. An extant inscription from the Athenian arsenal, dated between 338 and 326 BC, lists a number of stored catapults with shooting bolts of varying size and this move to torsion springs was likely spurred by the engineers of Philip II of Macedonia. Another Athenian inventory from 330 to 329 BC includes catapult bolts with heads, as the use of catapults became more commonplace, so did the training required to operate them. Many Greek children were instructed in catapult usage, as evidenced by “a 3rd Century B. C. inscription from the island of Ceos in the Cyclades catapult shooting competitions for the young”, arrow firing machines in action are reported from Philip IIs siege of Perinth in 340 BC. At the same time, Greek fortifications began to feature high towers with shuttered windows in the top, projectiles included both arrows and stones that were sometimes lit on fire. Onomarchus of Phocis first used catapults on the battlefield against Philip II of Macedon, philips son, Alexander the Great, was the next commander in recorded history to make such use of catapults on the battlefield as well as to use them during sieges. The Romans started to use catapults as arms for their wars against Syracuse, Macedon, Sparta, the Roman machine known as an arcuballista was similar to a large crossbow. Later the Romans used ballista catapults on their warships, ajatshatru is recorded in Jaina texts as having used a catapult in his campaign against the Licchavis
Catapult
–
Ancient mechanical artillery: Catapults (standing), the chain drive of
Polybolos (bottom center),
Gastraphetes (on wall)
Catapult
–
Engraving illustrating a Roman catapult design, 1581
Catapult
–
Roman 'catapult-nest' in the
Trajan's Dacian Wars
Catapult
–
Replica of a
Petraria Arcatinus
49.
Jibril
–
Gabriel, in the Abrahamic religions, is an angel who typically serves as Gods messenger. Gabriel is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, in the Old Testament, he appears to the prophet Daniel, explaining Daniels visions. In the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively. In the Book of Daniel, he is referred to as the man Gabriel, while in the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel is not called an archangel in the Bible, but is so called in Intertestamental period sources like the Book of Enoch. In the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches, the archangels Michael, Raphael, in Islam, Gabriel is considered an archangel whom God is believed to have sent with revelation to various prophets, including Muhammad. The 96th chapter of the Quran, The Clot, is believed by Muslims to have been the first chapter revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad, in the LDS Faith, The Angel Gabriel was The Prophet Noah, and Michael the Archangel was the Prophet Adam in their Mortal Ministries. Jewish rabbis interpreted the man in linen as Gabriel in the Book of Daniel, in the Book of Daniel, Gabriel is responsible for interpreting Daniels visions. Gabriels main function in Daniel is that of revealer, a role he continues in later literature, in the Book of Ezekiel, Gabriel is understood to be the angel that was sent to destroy Jerusalem. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Gabriel takes the form of a man, shimon ben Lakish concluded that the angelic names of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel came out of the Babylonian exile. In Kabbalah, Gabriel is identified with the sephirot of Yesod, Gabriel also has a prominent role as one of Gods archangels in the Kabbalah literature. There, Gabriel is portrayed as working in concert with Michael as part of Gods court, Gabriel is not to be prayed to because only God can answer prayers and sends Gabriel as his agent. According to Jewish mythology, in the Garden of Eden there is a tree of life or the tree of souls that blossoms and produces new souls, which fall into the Guf, Gabriel reaches into the treasury and takes out the first soul that comes into his hand. Then Lailah, the Angel of Conception, watches over the embryo until it is born, the intertestamental period produced a wealth of literature, much of it having an apocalyptic orientation. The names and ranks of angels and devils were greatly expanded, and each had particular duties and status before God. In 1 Enoch 9, 1–3, Gabriel, along with Michael, Uriel and Suriel, saw much blood being shed upon the earth and heard the souls of men cry, Bring our cause before the Most High. —1 Enoch 10,9 Gabriel is the fifth of the five angels who watch, Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents. And these are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits, the angel Gabriel is mentioned in Daniel 8, 16-26 and 9, 20-27. Gabriel, one who looked like a man, interprets Daniels visions, Gabriel speaks to Daniel while he is in a deep sleep, and Daniel is tired and sick for days after being with Gabriel
Jibril
–
12th-century depiction,
Georgian National Museum
Jibril
–
Archangel Gabriel. A fresco from the
Tsalenjikha Cathedral by Cyrus Emanuel Eugenicus. 14th century
Jibril
–
Gabriel on the southern deacons' door of the
iconostasis in the
Cathedral of Hajdúdorog, Hungary.
Jibril
–
Icon of Gabriel,
Byzantine, ca. 1387–1395 (
Tretyakov Gallery)
50.
Tower of Babel
–
The Tower of Babel is a Near Eastern etiological myth that is recorded in the Jewish Tanakhs first book, it is meant to explain the origin of different languages. According to the story, a united humanity of the following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating eastward. The Great Ziggurat of Babylon was 91 metres in height, Alexander the Great ordered it demolished circa 331 BCE in preparation for a reconstruction that his death forestalled. A Sumerian story with similar elements is told in Enmerkar. The story of the city of Babel is recorded in Genesis 11, everyone on earth spoke the same language. As people migrated east, they settled in the land of Shinar, People there sought to make bricks and build a city and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for themselves, so that they not be scattered over the world. God came down to look at the city and tower, and remarked that as one people with one language, nothing that they sought would be out of their reach. God went down and confounded their speech, so that they could not understand each other, and scattered them over the face of the earth, thus the city was called Babel. As it appears in the King James version of the Bible,1. Now the whole world had one language, as people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 2. They said to other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly. ”They used brick instead of stone. 3 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens, let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. ”4 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 5 And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do, now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 6 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. ”7 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 8 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, the phrase Tower of Babel does not appear in the Bible, it is always the city and the tower or just the city. The original derivation of the name Babel is uncertain, but it may come from bab-ilum, according to the Bible, the city received the name Babel from the Hebrew word balal, meaning to jumble or to confuse. The story of the Tower of Babel explains the confusion of tongues, the storys theme of competition between God and humans appears elsewhere in Genesis, in the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The 1st-century Jewish interpretation found in Flavius Josephus explains the construction of the tower as an act of defiance against God ordered by the arrogant tyrant Nimrod. There have, however, been some challenges to this classical interpretation, with emphasis placed on the explicit motive of cultural
Tower of Babel
–
The Tower of Babel by
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)
Tower of Babel
–
German Late Medieval (c. 1370s) depiction of the construction of the tower.
Tower of Babel
–
Hanging Gardens of Babylon (19th century), depicts the Tower of Babel in the background.
Tower of Babel
–
Tower of Babel, by
Lucas van Valckenborch, 1594,
Louvre Museum
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