Ahasuerus is a name used several times in the Hebrew Bible, as well as related legends and Apocrypha. This name is applied in the Hebrew Scriptures to three rulers; the same name is applied uncertainly to a Babylonian official noted in the Book of Tobit. The original name was Old Persian Xšaya.āršan. This became Babylonian Aḥšiyaršu becoming Akšiwaršu, borrowed into Hebrew as אחשורוש ʼĂḥašəwērôš, thence into Latin as Ahasuerus, the form traditionally used in English Bibles; the Persian name was independently rendered in Ancient Greek as Ξέρξης Xérxēs. Many newer English translations and paraphrases of the Bible have used the name Xerxes. Ahasuerus is given as the name of the King of Persia in the Book of Esther. Numerous scholars have proposed theories as to. Most scholars identify him with Xerxes I of Persia, as did 19th-century Bible commentaries. Three factors, among others, contribute to this identification: It is agreed the Hebrew'Ahasuerus' descended from the Persian names for Xerxes I. Additionally, the form of the king's name written in Esther 10:1, ’aḥašērōš bears much more resemblance to the original old Persian Xšayārša than the standard Hebrew form which does not omit the word’s vavim.

Historian Herodotus records Xerxes I having penchants for women and wine, as well as mentioning the king ruled from India to Ethiopia in a magnificent palace in Shusan, all of which the Book of Esther corroborates. Herodotus mentions that Xerxes I sought comfort in his harem following his defeat at Salamis in the tenth month of his seventh year as king, strikingly similar to the date of Ahasuerus choosing beautiful women from his harem in the tenth month of his seventh year as king. Annals from the reign of Xerxes I mention an otherwise unattested official by the name of "Marduka", which some have proposed refers to Mordecai, as both are mentioned serving in the king's court. However, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Midrash of Esther Rabbah, I, 3 and the Josippon identify the king as Artaxerxes I, the historian Josephus relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks; the Ethiopic text calls him Arťeksis the Ethiopic equivalent of Artaxerxes. John of Ephesus and Bar-Hebraeus identified him as Artaxerxes II, a view supported by the 20th century scholar Jacob Hoschander.

Masudi recorded the Persian view of events which affirms the identification and al-Tabari placed the events during the time of Artaxerxes II despite being confused by the Hebrew name for the king. Esther Rabba and the Vulgate present "Ahasuerus" as a different name for the king to "Artaxerxes" rather than an equivalent in different languages, the Septuagint distinguished between the two names using a Greek transliteration of Ahasuerus for occurrences outside the Book of Esther. Indeed, an inscription from the time of Artaxerxes II records that he was known as Arshu understood to be a shortening of the Babylonian form Achshiyarshu derived from the Persian Khshayarsha; the Greek historians Ctesias and Deinon noted that Artaxerxes II was called Arsicas or Oarses similarly understood to be derived from Khshayarsha, the former as the shortened form together with the Persian suffix -ke applied to such shortened names. As is evident, the two names have different etymologies. In his Historia Scholastica Petrus Comestor identified Ahasuerus of Esther as the predecessor of a king called Artaxerxes, called Ochus i.e. Artaxerxes III thus identifying the former Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes II.

Comestor notes that Ochus had reconquered Egypt after the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther had lost it to pharaoh Amyrtaeus. Ahasuerus is given as the name of a King of Persia in the Book of Ezra. Modern commentators associate him with Xerxes I who reigned from 486 BC until 465 BC. Other identifications have been made for Cambyses II or with Bardiya who reigned for seven months between Cambyses II and Darius I. Ahasuerus is given as the name of the father of Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel. Josephus names Astyages as the father of Darius the Mede, the description of the latter as uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus by mediaeval Jewish commentators matches that of Cyaxares II, said to be the son of Astyages by Xenophon, thus this Ahasuerus is identified with Astyages. He is alternatively identified, together with the Ahasuerus of the Book of Tobit, as Cyaxares I, said to be the father of Astyages. Views differ on. One view is that the description of Ahasuerus as the "father" of Darius the Mede should be understood in the broader sense of "forebear" or "ancestor."

Another view notes that on the Behistun Inscription, "Cyaxares" is a family name, thus considers the description as literal, viewing Astyages as an intermediate ruler wrongly placed in the family line in the Greek sources. In some versions of the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, Ahasuerus is given as the name of an associate of Nebuchadnezzar, who together with him, destroyed Nineveh just before Tobit's death. A traditional Catholic view is that he is id

Nirnayam is a 1991 Telugu action drama film directed by Priyadarshan in his Telugu debut, produced by D. Kishore on Jayabheri Art Productions banner, presented by M. Murali Mohan, starring Akkineni Nagarjuna, Amala Akkineni in the lead roles and music composed by Ilaiyaraaja; the movie was dubbed in Hindi languages as Sambavam and Girafthari respectively. This film is a remake of Priyadarshan's own 1989 Malayalam film, starring Mohanlal, inspired from the 1987 film, Stakeout; the songs of the film were all chart-busters. A sincere cop named. Shivram is a close friend and associate to Vamsi; the cops are sent by the Police Commissioner to track down a vicious and dangerous criminal named Raghuram. Vamsi performs surveillance on Raghuram's daughter Geetha by getting into her opposite building's flat in a residential complex to gather details and whereabouts of her criminal father. Geeta lives with her aunt Jolly; when Vamsi, in the guise of a telephone department inspector, pursues Geetha and falls in love with her, she reciprocates his love interest but refuses after she gets to know the truth that he is a cop and is about to drag her father to prison.

Vamsi gets hold of Raghuram through Geetha and finds out that he is an innocent victim. The real criminal, deceives Raghuram and plans a crime operation; the misunderstanding between Geetha and Vamsi gets cleared up, Vamsi banishes Prahlad. Art: Thota Tharani Choreography: Sundaram Master, Puliyur Saroja Stills: K. Satyanarayana Fights: Thyagarajan Co-Director: R. R. Shinde Dialogues: Ganesh Patro Editing: N. Gopalakrishnan Cinematography: S. Kumar Music: Ilaiyaraaja Presenter: Murali Mohan Producer: D. Kishore Story - Screenplay - Direction: Priyadarshan Music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. All the songs are chart-busters. Music released on ECHO Audio Company. Nirnayam on IMDb

The Dive Lectures are a series of public lectures that have been hosted at the Royal Geographical Society in London every year since 2005 as part of an ongoing programme of events by the Society and the London Diving Chamber to promote exploration and adventure sports. Featuring keynote presentations by well-known figures in diving, exploration and environmentalism, the lectures have developed into a well-attended social and professional forum for the British scuba industry as well as a popular fund-raising occasion for diving-related charities; the first Dive Lecture was inaugurated in March 2002 under the auspices of the London Diving Chamber which provides NHS-funded recompression to divers with Decompression Sickness together with other Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy treatments from its recompression chamber at The Hospital of St John & St Elizabeth in St. John's Wood, London. Sometimes held annually, sometimes biannually, the lectures are free to attend but act as fund-raising occasions for diving-related charities such as The Scuba Trust, an organisation helping divers with disabilities.

In 2005, the lectures took up their now regular venue at the RGS. They were held in the Map Room of Lowther Lodge, subsequent events have been held in the 500-seat auditorium, The Ondaatje Theatre. From its inception in 2002, the London Diving Chamber Annual Dive Lectures has attracted well-known figures from the diving world and celebrities interested in diving to speak to its audience. In its earliest years, the event was introduced by Lloyd Grossman and Mariella Frostrup, speakers included Paul Toomer, Phil Docking and Bob Cole. Since 2007 speakers have included

Cole Swindell is the debut studio album by American country music artist Cole Swindell. It was released on February 2014 via Warner Bros.. Records; the album includes the number one single "Chillin' It". Lead single "Chillin' It" was produced by Jody Stevens, the son of songwriter and producer Jeff Stevens, one-half of the duo Fast Ryde. Stevens performed all instruments on that track. Luke Bryan's guitarist Michael Carter produced the rest of the album; the eponymously titled Cole Swindell album received positive reception from music critics. At USA Today, Brian Mansfield rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying that the album contains an "unhurried confidence." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five, writing that the release "goes down easy if it sometimes seems like an overblown demo tape", which "winds up pleasant enough." At Newsday, Glenn Gamboa graded the album a B, stating that the album set him up for "country stardom." Matt Bjorke of Roughstock rated the album four out of five stars, saying that the release is "easily likeable" because he has an "easy-going charm" about himself.

At Digital Journal, Markos Papadatos rated the album a perfect five stars, affirming that "The songs on here are polished and infectious." Kimberly Owens of Got Country Online rated the album a perfect five stars, stating that "Cole Swindell is pure talent, whether it be with his songwriting, or his vocals." Cole Swindell debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart with 63,000 copies sold in its first week. With 42,000 of its sales were digital downloads, putting it at number one in the Top Digital Albums chart. On March 13, 2016, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over a million units; as of November 2016, the album has sold 510,400 copies in the United States. Pat Buchanan – electric guitar, slide guitar Michael Carter – electric guitar, background vocals Howard Duck – Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizer Josh Matheny – lap steel guitar Shane Minor – background vocals James Mitchell – electric guitar Greg Morrow – drums, loop programming John Palmieri – background vocals Billy Panda – acoustic guitar Jody Stevens – banjo, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, loop programming, drum programming, slide guitar, synthesizer Cole Swindell – lead vocals Russell Terrell – background vocals Mike Wolofsky – bass guitar

Hisham ibn Isma'il al-Makhzumi was an eighth century official for the Umayyad Caliphate, the maternal grandfather of the caliph Hisham ibn'Abd al-Malik. He served as the governor of Medina from 701 to 706. Hisham was a member of the Banu Makhzum, a clan of the Arab tribe of Quraysh, being a great-grandson of al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, he himself gained prominence when his daughter A'isha married the fifth Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, in 691 he became a grandfather to the future caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, named after him at A'isha's insistence. In 701 Hisham was appointed as governor of Medina by his son-in-law. During his time in that position he dismissed Nawfal ibn Musahiq al-Amiri from the head of the judiciary and appointed Amr ibn Khalid al-Zuraqi in his stead, led the people of the city in rendering the oath of allegiance to Abd al-Malik's sons al-Walid and Sulayman; when the faqih Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab refused to give the oath, Hisham ordered him to be beaten and imprisoned, subjected him to a mock execution by having him marched to a mountain pass where individuals would be killed and crucified.

He led the pilgrimages of 703 and 704, those of 702/3 and 705 as well. Following the death of Abd al-Malik in 705, Hisham was confirmed as governor by his successor al-Walid I; the new caliph disliked Hisham, in early 706 he dismissed him in favor of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. Al-Walid instructed Umar to display Hisham in front of the people of Medina, as a form of humiliation for his conduct during his governorship, but Hisham was spared from further harm after both Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab and the Alid Ali ibn al-Husayn ordered their followers to refrain from acts of retaliation against him. Two of Hisham's sons and Muhammad served as governors of Medina for Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, but fell out of favor during the reign of Hisham's successor al-Walid ibn Yazid and were tortured to death by Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi in 743. A third son, participated in the failed rebellion of Sulayman ibn Hisham in 744 and was executed by the caliph Marwan ibn Muhammad. Hinds, M.. "Makhzum". In Bosworth, C. E.. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VI: Mahk–Mid.

Leiden: E. J. Brill. Pp. 137–140. ISBN 90-04-08112-7. Ibn Hazm, Abu Muhammad ibn'Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Sa'id al-Andalusi. Harun,'Abd al-Salam Muhammad. Jamharat Ansab al-'Arab. Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif. Khalifah ibn Khayyat. Al-'Umari, Akram Diya'. Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat, 3rd ed. Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah. Al-Mas'udi, Ali ibn al-Husain. Les Prairies D'Or, Tome Neuvième. Ed. and Trans. Charles Barbier de Meynard and Abel Pavet de Courteille. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale. McMillan, M. E.. The Meaning of Mecca: The Politics of Pilgrimage in Early Islam. London: Saqi. ISBN 978-0-86356-437-6. Munt, Harry; the Holy City of Medina: Sacred Space in Early Islamic Arabia. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-04213-1. Al-Ya'qubi, Ahmad ibn Abu Ya'qub. Houtsma, M. Th.. Historiae, Vol. 2. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Yarshater, Ehsan, ed.. The History of al-Ṭabarī. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-7249-1

Oligodactyly is the presence of fewer than five fingers or toes on a hand or foot. It is quite incorrectly called hypodactyly, but the Greek prefixes hypo- and hyper- are used for continuous scales; this as opposed to countable scales, where oligo - and poly - should be used. Oligodactyly is therefore the opposite of polydactyly. Rare, this medical condition has a genetic or familial cause. Oligodactyly is sometimes a sign or symptom of several syndromes including Poland syndrome and Weyer Ulnar Ray Syndrome, it is a type of dysmelia. Ectrodactyly is an extreme instance of oligodactyly, involving the absence of one or more central digits of the hand or foot and is known as split hand/split foot malformation; the hands and feet of people with ectrodactyly are described as "claw-like" and may include only the thumb and one finger with similar abnormalities of the feet. People with oligodactyly have full use of the remaining digits and adapt well to their condition, they are not hindered in their daily activities, if at all.

Those with the most extreme forms are known to engage in tasks that require fine control, such as writing and bootmaking as well as working as a cab driver. The Northern People of Zimbabwe have a high frequency of oligodactyly. NIH website page on Oligodactyly