Jesse
Jesse, or Yishai is a figure described in the Bible as the father of David, who became the king of the Israelites. His son David is sometimes called "Son of Jesse"; the role as both father of King David and ancestor of Christ has been used in various depictions in art, e.g. as the Tree of Jesse or in hymns like Behold, a Branch is growing. According to the Bible, Jesse was the grandson of Ruth and of Boaz, he lived in Bethlehem, in Judah, was of the Tribe of Judah, he was a farmer and owner of sheep. He was a prominent resident of the town of Bethlehem. Jesse is important in Judaism, he is important in Christianity, in part because he is in the Old Testament and mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. Rabbinic traditions name him as one of four ancient Israelites who died without sin, the other three being Benjamin and Amram; the Book of Samuel states that Jesse had eight sons, naming the first three as Eliab and Shammah, David as the youngest. The Book of Chronicles names seven sons of Jesse—Eliab, Shimea, Raddai and David—as well as two daughters and Abigail.
Among his grandchildren were the three sons of Zeruiah: Abishai and Asahel. One day the prophet Samuel came to Bethlehem sent by God. Ostensibly, his visit to Bethlehem was to offer a sacrifice to God, he used that excuse because he was afraid that King Saul might kill him if he suspected the true reason for his arrival in Bethlehem. Samuel offered a sacrifice with Jesse and went to his house, where he sanctified him and his family; the prophet asked Jesse to present his sons. When Samuel saw Eliab, Jesse's eldest son, he was impressed by his stature and convinced that he must be God's anointed king, however God said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him; the Lord does not look at the things man. Man look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." When Jesse presented his second son, God told Samuel, "The Lord has not chosen this one either." This happened again with his third son, Shammah his fourth, fifth and seventh sons. Samuel enquired of Jesse if he had any other sons.
Jesse told him. The prophet asked for him and when he came, God asked the prophet to anoint him as king over Israel; some time Saul, suffering from depression and melancholy, asked Jesse for his son David to play the harp for him, since he had heard that David played the harp beautifully. Jesse sent his son along with some gifts for the King; the King was so taken with David's harp playing that he asked Jesse to keep him in his court to play for him whenever he was depressed. On Jesse sent his son David with gifts to be given to his older brothers who were to fight in the war against the Philistines in Saul's army. Years David fled to the desert away from Saul, who sought to kill David in order for him to stay in power and not have his throne be taken away from him. David, worried about the safety of his parents, went to Mizpah in Moab, to ask permission from the King to allow his father Jesse and his mother to stay under the royal protection of the King, they stayed there. The name Jesse is referenced in the Old Testament, in particular the passages of Isaiah, Chapter 11, Verses 1–3: 1.
And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord, he shall not decide by what his ears hear. In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; these are two of the verses regarded by Christians as prophecy of the advent of Jesus, whom they consider to be the Christ and Messiah. These two prophesies are regarded by Bahá'ís as referring to Bahá'u'lláh, alleged to have arisen from "the stump of Jesse"; these prophesies are regarded in Latter-Day Saint Movement about the coming Root of Jesse, an ensign who holds special priesthood keys and a gathering of the Lord's people. The Tomb of Ruth and Jesse is an old stone structure on a hilltop in Hebron which today serves as a synagogue, it receives numerous visitors every year on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot when the Book of Ruth is read.
The 1537 book Yihus HaAvos V'Neviim describes the tomb as "a handsome building up on the mount, where Jesse, the King David's father is buried." It includes a drawing of the site, notes an "ancient Israelite burial ground" nearby and Crusader courtyard. Rabbi Moshe Basola wrote in his travel journal that the site houses a cave which connects to the Tomb of Machpela, an assertion postulated by many over the years; the site was refurbished in 2009. List of people named Jesse Nitzevet Tree of Jesse Directory "Jesse" at behindthename.com Jesse the Patriarch at the Christian Iconography web site
Astrology
Astrology is a pseudoscience that claims to divine information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects. Astrology has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BCE, has its roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, some—such as the Hindus and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from which it spread to Ancient Greece, the Arab world and Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astrology is associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial objects.
Throughout most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition and was common in academic circles in close relation with astronomy, alchemy and medicine. It was present in political circles and is mentioned in various works of literature, from Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer to William Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca. Following the end of the 19th century and the wide-scale adoption of the scientific method, astrology has been challenged on both theoretical and experimental grounds, has been shown to have no scientific validity or explanatory power. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing, common belief in it has declined. While polls have demonstrated that one quarter of American and Canadian people say they continue to believe that star and planet positions affect their lives, astrology is now recognized as a pseudoscience—a belief, incorrectly presented as scientific; the word astrology comes from the early Latin word astrologia, which derives from the Greek ἀστρολογία—from ἄστρον astron and -λογία -logia.
Astrologia passed into meaning'star-divination' with astronomia used for the scientific term. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, the Indians and Maya developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. In the West, astrology most consists of a system of horoscopes purporting to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict future events in their life based on the positions of the sun and other celestial objects at the time of their birth; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems. Astrology has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BCE, with roots in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. A form of astrology was practised in the first dynasty of Mesopotamia. Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa, is one of earliest known Hindu texts on astrology; the text is dated between 1400 BCE to final centuries BCE by various scholars according to astronomical and linguistic evidences.
Chinese astrology was elaborated in the Zhou dynasty. Hellenistic astrology after 332 BCE mixed Babylonian astrology with Egyptian Decanic astrology in Alexandria, creating horoscopic astrology. Alexander the Great's conquest of Asia allowed astrology to spread to Ancient Rome. In Rome, astrology was associated with'Chaldean wisdom'. After the conquest of Alexandria in the 7th century, astrology was taken up by Islamic scholars, Hellenistic texts were translated into Arabic and Persian. In the 12th century, Arabic texts were translated into Latin. Major astronomers including Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Galileo practised as court astrologers. Astrological references appear in literature in the works of poets such as Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer, of playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Throughout most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition, it was accepted in political and academic contexts, was connected with other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy and medicine.
At the end of the 17th century, new scientific concepts in astronomy and physics called astrology into question. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing, common belief in astrology has declined. Astrology, in its broadest sense, is the search for meaning in the sky. Early evidence for humans making conscious attempts to measure and predict seasonal changes by reference to astronomical cycles, appears as markings on bones and cave walls, which show that lunar cycles were being noted as early as 25,000 years ago; this was a first step towards recording the Moon's influence upon tides and rivers, towards organising a communal calendar. Farmers addressed agricultural needs with increasing knowledge of the constellations that appear in the different seasons—and used the rising of particular star-groups to herald annual floods or seasonal activities. By the 3rd millennium BCE, civilisations had sophisticated awareness of celestial cycles, may have oriented temples in alignment with heliacal risings of the stars.
Scattered evidence suggests that the oldest known astrological references are copies of texts made in the ancient world. The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa is thought to be compiled in Babylon around 1700 BCE. A scroll documenting an early use of electional astrology is doubtfully ascribed to the reign of the Sumerian ruler Gud
The Exodus
The Exodus is the founding myth of the Israelites. Spread over the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, it tells of the enslavement that befell the children of Israel in Egypt, their liberation through the hand of Yahweh and the revelations at Sinai, their wanderings in the wilderness up to borders of Canaan, the land their God has given them, its message is that Israel was delivered from slavery by Yahweh and therefore belongs to him through the Mosaic covenant, the terms of which are that Yahweh will protect his chosen people for all time, so long as they will keep his laws and worship only him. The narrative and its laws remain central to Judaism, recounted daily in Jewish prayers and celebrated in festivals such as Passover, as well as serving as an inspiration and model for non-Jewish groups from early Protestants fleeing persecution in Europe to African-Americans striving for freedom and civil rights. Scholars are broadly agreed that the Exodus story was composed in the 5th century BCE.
The traditions behind it can be traced in the writings of the 8th-century BCE prophets, but it has no historical basis. Instead, archaeology suggests a native Canaanite origin for ancient Israel; the story of the Exodus is told in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, the last four of the five books of the Torah. It begins with the Israelites in slavery, their prophet Moses leads them out of Egypt and through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh reveals himself to his people and establishes the Mosaic covenant: they are to keep his torah, in return he will give them the land of Canaan. The Israelites accept the covenant and receive their laws, with Yahweh now present in their midst, journey on from Sinai, towards the promised land, but when told that the land is filled with giants they refuse to go on, Yahweh condemns them to remain in the desert until the generation that left Egypt passes away. After thirty-eight years at the oasis of Kadesh Barnea the next generation travel on to the borders of Canaan, where Moses addresses them for the final time, reviewing their travels and giving them further laws.
The Exodus ends with the death of Moses on Mount Nebo and his burial by Yahweh, while the Israelites prepare for the conquest of the land. The climax of the Exodus is the covenant between God and Israel mediated by Moses at Sinai: Yahweh will protect Israel as his chosen people for all time, Israel will keep Yahweh's laws and worship only him; the covenant is described in stages: at Exodus 24:3–8 the Israelites agree to abide by the "book of the covenant" that Moses has just read to them. The laws are set out in a number of codes: Ethical Decalogue, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Scholars are broadly agreed that the publication of the Torah took place in the mid-Persian period, echoing a traditional Jewish view which gives Ezra, the leader of the Jewish community on its return from Babylon, a pivotal role in its promulgation; the first trace of the traditions behind it appears in the northern prophets Amos and Hosea, both active in the 8th century BCE in northern Israel, but their southern contemporaries Isaiah and Micah show no knowledge of an exodus.
The story may, have originated a few centuries earlier the 9th or 10th BCE, there are signs that it took different forms in Israel, in the Transjordan region, in the southern Kingdom of Judah before being unified in the Persian era. Many theories have been advanced to explain the composition of the Torah, but two have been influential; the first of these, Persian Imperial authorisation, advanced by Peter Frei in 1985, holds that the Persian authorities required the Jews of Jerusalem to present a single body of law as the price of local autonomy. Frei's theory was demolished at an interdisciplinary symposium held in 2000, but the relationship between the Persian authorities and Jerusalem remains a crucial question; the second theory, associated with Joel P. Weinberg and called the "Citizen-Temple Community", proposes that the Exodus story was composed to serve the needs of a post-exilic Jewish community organised around the Temple, which acted in effect as a bank for those who belonged to it.
The Torah served as an "identity card" defining who belonged to this community, thus reinforcing Israel's unity through its new institutions. The Exodus is at the centre of Jewish identity, it is remembered daily in Jewish prayers and celebrated each year at the feasts of Pesach and Shavuot, the two being known as "the time of our freedom" and "the time our Torah was given". The two are linked, with Pesach announcing that the freedom it introduces is only realised with the giving of the law. A third Jewish festival, the Festival of Booths, commemorates how the Israelites lived in booths following the exodus from their previous homes in Egypt; the Exodus roots Jewish religion in history, in contrast to pagan religions which are oriented towards nature. The festivals now associated with the exodus (Passove
Astrolabe
An astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer used by astronomers and navigators to measure the altitude above the horizon of a celestial body, day or night. It can be used to identify stars or planets, to determine local latitude given local time, to survey, or to triangulate, it was used in classical antiquity, the Islamic Golden Age, the European Middle Ages and the Age of Discovery for all these purposes. The astrolabe's importance not only comes from the early development of astronomy, but is effective for determining latitude on land or calm seas. Although it is less reliable on the heaving deck of a ship in rough seas, the mariner's astrolabe was developed to solve that problem. OED gives the translation "star-taker" for the English word astrolabe and traces it through medieval Latin to the Greek word astrolabos, from astron "star" and lambanein "to take". In the medieval Islamic world the Arabic word "al-Asturlāb" was given various etymologies. In Arabic texts, the word is translated as "ākhdhu al-Nujuum", a direct translation of the Greek word.
Al-Biruni quotes and criticizes medieval scientist Hamzah al-Isfahani who stated: "asturlab is an arabization of this Persian phrase". In medieval Islamic sources, there is a folk etymology of the word as "lines of lab", where "Lab" refers to a certain son of Idris; this etymology is mentioned by a 10th-century scientist rejected by al-Khwarizmi. An early astrolabe was invented in the Hellenistic civilization by Apollonius of Perga between 220 and 150 BC attributed to Hipparchus; the astrolabe was a marriage of the planisphere and dioptra an analog calculator capable of working out several different kinds of problems in astronomy. Theon of Alexandria wrote a detailed treatise on the astrolabe, Lewis argues that Ptolemy used an astrolabe to make the astronomical observations recorded in the Tetrabiblos; the invention of the plane astrolabe is sometimes wrongly attributed to Theon's daughter Hypatia, but it is, in fact, known to have been in use at least 500 years before Hypatia was born. The misattribution comes from a misinterpretation of a statement in a letter written by Hypatia's pupil Synesius, which mentions that Hypatia had taught him how to construct a plane astrolabe, but does not state anything about her having invented it herself.
Astrolabes continued in use in the Greek-speaking world throughout the Byzantine period. About 550 AD, Christian philosopher John Philoponus wrote a treatise on the astrolabe in Greek, the earliest extant treatise on the instrument. Mesopotamian bishop Severus Sebokht wrote a treatise on the astrolabe in the Syriac language in the mid-7th century. Sebokht refers to the astrolabe as being made of brass in the introduction of his treatise, indicating that metal astrolabes were known in the Christian East well before they were developed in the Islamic world or in the Latin West. Astrolabes were further developed in the medieval Islamic world, where Muslim astronomers introduced angular scales to the design, adding circles indicating azimuths on the horizon, it was used throughout the Muslim world, chiefly as an aid to navigation and as a way of finding the Qibla, the direction of Mecca. Eighth-century mathematician Muhammad al-Fazari is the first person credited with building the astrolabe in the Islamic world.
The mathematical background was established by Muslim astronomer Albatenius in his treatise Kitab az-Zij, translated into Latin by Plato Tiburtinus. The earliest surviving astrolabe is dated AH 315. In the Islamic world, astrolabes were used to find the times of sunrise and the rising of fixed stars, to help schedule morning prayers. In the 10th century, al-Sufi first described over 1,000 different uses of an astrolabe, in areas as diverse as astronomy, navigation, timekeeping, Salat, etc; the spherical astrolabe was a variation of both the astrolabe and the armillary sphere, invented during the Middle Ages by astronomers and inventors in the Islamic world. The earliest description of the spherical astrolabe dates back to Al-Nayrizi. In the 12th century, Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī invented the linear astrolabe, sometimes called the "staff of al-Tusi", "a simple wooden rod with graduated markings but without sights, it was furnished with a plumb line and a double chord for making angular measurements and bore a perforated pointer".
The geared mechanical astrolabe was invented by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235. Herman Contractus, the abbot of Reichman Abbey, examined the use of the astrolabe in Mensura Astrolai during the 11th century. Peter of Maricourt wrote a treatise on the construction and use of a universal astrolabe in the last half of the 13th century entitled Nova compositio astrolabii particularis. Universal astrolabes can be found at the History of Science Museum in Oxford. English author Geoffrey Chaucer compiled A Treatise on the Astrolabe for his son based on a work by Messahalla or Ibn al-Saffar; the same source was translated by others. The first printed book on the astrolabe was Composition and Use of Astrolabe by Christian of Prachatice using Messahalla, but original. In 1370, the first Indian treatise on the astrolabe was written by the Jain astronomer Mahendra Suri. A simplified astrolabe, known as a balesilha, was used by sailors to get an accurate reading of latitude while out to sea; the use of
Caravanserai
A caravanserai was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa and Southeast Europe, most notably the Silk Road. Caravanserais were a common feature not only along the Silk Road, but along the Achaemenid Empire's Royal Road, a 2,500-kilometre-long ancient highway that stretched from Sardis to Susa according to Herodotus: "Now the true account of the road in question is the following: Royal stations exist along its whole length, excellent caravanserais. Other significant urban caravanserais were built along the Grand Trunk Road in the Indian subcontinent in the region of Mughal Delhi; the word is rendered as caravansary, caravansaray and caravansara. The Persian word کاروانسرای kārvānsarāy is a compound word combining kārvān "caravan" with sarāy "palace", "building with enclosed courts", to which the Persian suffix -yi is added. Here "caravan" means a group of traders, pilgrims or other travellers, engaged in long distance travel.
The word serai is sometimes used with the implication of caravanserai. A number of place-names based on the word sarai have grown up: Mughal Serai, Sarai Alamgir and the Delhi Sarai Rohilla railway station for example, a great many other places are based on the original meaning of "palace"; the Persian caravanserai was built as a large road station, outside of towns. An inn built inside a town was known in Persian as a khan. In the Middle-East the term "khan" covers both meanings, of roadside inn as well as of inner-town inn. In Turkish the word is rendered as han; the same word was used in Bosnian. The Greek pandocheion, lit.: "welcoming all", thus meaning'inn', led to funduq in Arabic, pundak in Hebrew, fundaco in Venice, fondaco in Genoa and alhóndiga in Spanish. Al-Muqaddasi the Arab geographer wrote in 985 CE about the hostelries, or wayfarers' inns, in the Province of Palestine, a province at that time listed under the topography of Syria, saying: "Taxes are not heavy in Syria, with the exception of those levied on the Caravanserais.
The reference here being to the imposts and duties charged by government officials on the importation of goods and merchandise, the importers of which and their beasts of burden stopping to take rest in these places. Guards were stationed at every gate to ensure that taxes for these goods be paid in full, while the revenues therefrom accruing to the Fatimid kingdom of Egypt. Most a caravanserai was a building with a square or rectangular walled exterior, with a single portal wide enough to permit large or laden beasts such as camels to enter; the courtyard was always open to the sky, the inside walls of the enclosure were outfitted with a number of identical animal stalls, niches or chambers to accommodate merchants and their servants and merchandise. Caravanserais provided water for human and animal consumption and ritual purification such as wudu and ghusl. Sometimes they had elaborate baths, they kept fodder for animals and had shops for travellers where they could acquire new supplies. In addition, some shops bought goods from the travelling merchants.
Multani Caravanserai, established in the 14th century in Azerbaijan and now houses a restaurant, was constructed in a square shape. It has ancient style with balconies around the courtyard. Caravan city Islamic architecture Shaki Caravanserai, a historical monument in the Shaki Khanate, Azerbaijan Architecture of Azerbaijan Turkish architecture Persian architecture Persian gardens and bagh List of caravanserais List of caravanserais in Azerbaijan List of Seljuk hans and kervansarays in Turkey List of streets and gates in Grand Bazaar, Istanbul Branning, Katharine. 2018. Turkishhan.org, The Seljuk Han in Anatolia. New York, USA. Cytryn-Silverman, Katia. 2010. The Road Inns in Bilad al-Sham. BAR, Oxford. ISBN 9781407306711 Encyclopædia Iranica, p. 798-802 Erdmann, Erdmann, Hanna. 1961. Das anatolische Karavansaray des 13. Jahrhunderts, 3 vols. Berlin: Mann, 1976, ISBN 3-7861-2241-5 Hillenbrand, Robert. 1994. Islamic Architecture: Form and meaning. NY: Columbia University Press.. Kiani, Mohammad Yusef. 1976.
Caravansaries in Khorasan Road. Reprinted from: Traditions Architecturales en Iran, Tehran, No. 2 & 3, 1976. Schutyser, Tom. 2012. Caravanserai: Traces, Dialogue in the Middle East. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, ISBN 978-88-7439-604-7 Yavuz, Aysil Tükel. 1997. The Concepts that Shape Anatolian Seljuq Caravansara. In: Gülru Necipoglu. 1997. Muqarnas XIV: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 80-95. Shah Abbasi Caravanserai, Tishineh Caravansara Pictures Consideratcaravanserai.net and photos on research on caravanserais and travel journeys in Middle East and Central Asia. Caravanserais in Turkey The Seljuk Han in Anatolia
Cheshvan
Marcheshvan, sometimes shortened to Cheshvan, is the second month of the civil year, the eighth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. In a regular year, Marcheshvan has 29 days, but because of the Rosh Hashanah postponement rules, in some years, an additional day is added to Marcheshvan to make the year a "full" year. Marcheshvan is an autumn month. Compared to its Akkadian etymon waraḫsamnu, the name Marḥešvan displays the same lenition of ungeminated מ /m/ to ו /v/ found in other month names. Uniquely to this name the initial ו has changed to מ, giving the overall effect of a metathesis. In the modern form, with the connection to the roots "moon, month" w-r-ḥ and "eight" š-m-n no longer apparent, the first two letters מַר have been re-interpreted as the Hebrew word for bitter, alluding to the fact that the month has no holidays or fasts; the Ethiopian Jewish community celebrates Sigd on the 29th day of Marcheshvan, as recognized by the Israeli Knesset in July 2008. The Hebrew Bible, before the Babylonian Exile, refers to the month as Bul.
In Sidon, the reference to Bul is made on the Sarcophaugus of Eshmunazar II dated to the early 5th century BC. 7 Marcheshvan – V'tein Tal u-Matar, a prayer, is added to the Shemoneh Esrei prayers in Israel. If no rain has fallen by the 17th of the month, special prayers are added for rain Bahab – According to most minhagim, on the first Sabbath of Cheshvan, a prayer is recited on behalf of all those who are going to fast on Bahab. Bahab, or in Hebrew בהב, stands for 2, 5, 2, i.e. Monday and another Monday. On the Monday and second Monday after the Sabbath, the minhag is to fast and/or to recite penitential prayers called Selichot. According to Minhag Ashkenaz, the second Monday of Bahab is the Monday before Rosh Chodesh Kislev, the Thursday is the Thursday preceding that, the first Monday is the Monday preceding that, the Sabbath in which the prayer is recited is the Sabbath preceding that. Bahab is observed at the beginning of Iyar. 11 Marcheshvan – Methuselah dies at age 969 11 Marcheshvan – Death of Rachel while giving birth to Benjamin 12 Marcheshvan – Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). . Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the