1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Babylonian vocalization
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The Babylonian system is no longer in use, having been supplanted by the Tiberian vocalization system. The simple Babylonian vocalization system was created between the 6th and 7th centuries, while the system developed later. There is evidence that Babylonian Hebrew had emerged as a dialect by the end of the 9th century. Babylonian Hebrew reached its peak in the 8th to 9th centuries, under Muslim hegemony in the 10th century, the main academies disappeared and the Babylonian vocalization was replaced by the Tiberian vocalization. However, contemporary Yemenite Hebrew is thought to be the descendent of a variety of Babylonian Hebrew, the first example of the Babylonian vocalization to become known to modern scholars was a codex of the Prophets discovered in 1839 at Chufut-Kale. As in the Palestinian vocalization, only the most important vowels are indicated, two Babylonian systems developed, an earlier simple system, and a later complex system. The following vowel graphemes were used in the system, The simple system also has signs corresponding to Tiberian dagesh and rafe. The complex system may be subdivided into perfect and imperfect systems, the former, unlike the latter, has special signs for each kind of syllable and uses them consistently. It marks allophones of /a e i u/, consonant gemination, distinguishes vocalic and consonantal א and ה, a number of manuscripts with features indermediate between Tiberian and Babylonian also exist. Later Yemenite manuscripts, using simple and complex systems, show Yemenite features such as confusion between patah and shva and between tsere and holam. The Babylonian system uses cantillation similarly to the Tiberian system, the oldest manuscripts mark only disjunctive accents, do not write the accent over the stressed syllable, and do not mark mappiq, while later manuscripts do. Tiberian vocalization Palestinian vocalization Niqqud Yemenite Hebrew Jewish Encyclopedia, treats on subject of Babylonian punctuation, or vocalization Blau, phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew. A History of the Hebrew Language
3.
Judaism
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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
4.
Genizah
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A genizah is a storage area in a Jewish synagogue or cemetery designated for the temporary storage of worn-out Hebrew-language books and papers on religious topics prior to proper cemetery burial. The word genizah comes from the Hebrew triconsonantal root g-n-z, which means hiding, later, it became a noun for a place where one put things, and is perhaps best translated as archive or repository. Genizot are typically found in the attic or basement of a synagogue and they may also be located in cemeteries. The contents of genizot are periodically gathered solemnly and then buried in the cemetery or bet ḥayyim, synagogues in Jerusalem buried the contents of their genizot every seventh year, as well as during a year of drought, believing that this would bring rain. This custom is associated with the far older practice of burying a great or good man with a sefer which has become pasul, the tradition of paper-interment is known to have been practiced in Morocco, Algiers, Turkey, Yemen and Egypt. The Talmud directs that holy writings in other than the Hebrew language require genizah, in Tractate Pesachim 118b, bet genizah is a treasury. In Pesachim 56a, Hezekiah hides a medical work, in Shabbat 115a, the same thing occurs in Shabbat 13b in regard to the Book of Ezekiel, and in Pesachim 62 in regard to the Book of Genealogies. In addition to papers, articles connected with ritual, such as tzitzit, lulavim, according to folklore, these scraps were used to hide the famed Golem of Prague, whose body is claimed to lie in the genizah of the Old New Synagogue in Prague. By far, the best-known genizah, which is famous for both its size and spectacular contents, is the Cairo Geniza and these materials were important for reconstructing the religious, social and economic history of Jews, especially in the Middle Ages. For all practical purposes, the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered between the years 1946 and 1956, belonged to a genizah from the 2nd-century BCE. In 1927, a manuscript containing Nathan ben Abrahams 11th-century Mishnah commentary was discovered in the genizah of the Jewish community of Sanaa, Nathan had served as President of the Academy under the revised Palestinian geonate, shortly before its demise in the early 12th century CE. In 2011, the so-called Afghan Geniza, an 11th century collection of fragments in Hebrew, Aramaic, Judaeo-Arabic and Judeo-Persian, was found in Afghanistan. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Singer, Isidore. New York, Funk & Wagnalls Company
5.
Fustat
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Fustat, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule. It was built by the Muslim general Amr ibn al-As immediately after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD641, and featured the Mosque of Amr, the city reached its peak in the 12th century, with a population of approximately 200,000. It was the centre of power in Egypt, until it was ordered burnt in 1168 by its own vizier, Shawar. The area fell into disrepair for hundreds of years and was used as a rubbish dump, today, Fustat is part of Old Cairo, with few buildings remaining from its days as a capital. Many archaeological digs have revealed the wealth of buried material in the area, many ancient items recovered from the site are on display in Cairos Museum of Islamic Art. Fustat was the capital of Egypt for approximately 500 years, after the citys founding in 641, its authority was uninterrupted until 750, when the Abbasid dynasty staged a revolt against the Umayyads. This conflict was focused not in Egypt, but elsewhere in the Arab world, when the Abbasids gained power, they moved various capitals to more controllable areas. They had established the centre of their caliphate in Baghdad, moving the capital from its previous Umayyad location at Damascus, similar moves were made throughout the new dynasty. In Egypt, they moved the capital from Fustat slightly north to the Abbasid city of al-Askar, when the Tulunid dynasty took control in 868, the Egyptian capital moved briefly to another nearby northern city, Al-Qattai. This lasted only until 905, when Al-Qattai was destroyed and the capital was returned to Fustat, the city again lost its status as capital city when its own vizier, Shawar, ordered its burning in 1168. The capital of Egypt was ultimately moved to Cairo and his camp at that time was just north of the Roman fortress of Babylon. Amr declared the doves nest as a sign from God, the word Miṣr was an ancient Semitic root designating Egypt, but in Arabic also has the meaning of a large city or metropolis, so the name Miṣr al-Fusṭāṭ could mean Metropolis of the Tent. Fusṭāṭ Miṣr would mean The Pavilion of Egypt, egyptians to this day call Cairo Miṣr, or, colloquially, Maṣr, even though this is properly the name of the whole country of Egypt. The countrys first mosque, the Mosque of Amr, was built in 642 on the same site of the commanders tent. For thousands of years, the capital of Egypt was moved with different cultures through multiple locations up and down the Nile, such as Thebes and Memphis, depending on which dynasty was in power. After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt around 331 BC, the became the city named for him, Alexandria. This situation remained stable for nearly a thousand years, after the army of the Arabian Caliph Umar captured the region in the 7th century, shortly after the death of Muhammad, he wanted to establish a new capital. When Alexandria fell in September 641, Amr ibn al-As, the commander of the conquering army, the early population of the city was composed almost entirely of soldiers and their families, and the layout of the city was similar to that of a garrison
6.
Old Cairo
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Old Cairo is a part of Cairo, Egypt which pre-dates the Fatimid city of Cairo, founded in 969 CE. Old Cairo contains the remnants of those cities which were capitals before al-Qahira, such as Fustat, al-Askar and these are the location of the Mosque of Amr and the Mosque of ibn Tulun, though little else remains today. This area also encompasses Coptic Cairo and its old churches. Modern tourists visit such as the Coptic Museum, the Babylon Fortress, the Hanging Church and other Coptic churches, the Ben Ezra Synagogue. Fort Babylon is a Roman fortress around which many of the Egyptian Christians oldest churches were built. Count Gabriel Habib Sakakini Pasha, who had become a name in his time, built a palace. During the latter half of the 15th century, two major transformations took place in Cairo, the port of Bulaq, and a district called Azbakeya in the northwest section of the city. The perimeters of the city had been unchanged for the past 300 years according to the map done by the French expedition in 1798 AD, with the Baybars’s conquest of Cyprus in 1428, Bulaq became the major port of Cairo. By the end of the 15th century, Bulaq was even able to take over the role as the commercial port from Old Cairo
7.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
8.
Aramaic language
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Aramaic is a language or group of languages belonging to the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic language family. More specifically, it is part of the Northwest Semitic group, the Aramaic alphabet was widely adopted for other languages and is ancestral to the Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic alphabets. During its approximately 3000 years of history, Aramaic has served variously as a language of administration of empires, therefore, there is not one singular, static Aramaic language, each time and place rather has had its own variation. The Aramaic languages are now considered endangered, Aram is used as a proper name of several people in the Torah including descendants of Shem, Nahor, and Jacob. Ancient Aram, bordering northern Israel and now called Syria, is considered the epicenter of Aramaic. The language is often considered to have originated within Assyria. Interestingly, the Christian New Testament, for which the constituent texts are written in Koine Greek. The Hellenized Jewish community of Alexandria instead translated Aramaic to the Syrian tongue, a related language, Mlahsô, has recently become extinct. Mandaeans living in the Khuzestan Province of Iran and scattered throughout Iraq and it is quite distinct from any other Aramaic variety. Central Neo-Aramaic consists of Turoyo and the recently extinct Mlahsô, very little remains of Western Aramaic. All these speakers of Modern Western Aramaic are fluent in Arabic, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic and Samaritan Aramaic are preserved in liturgical and literary usage. Each dialect of Aramaic has its own pronunciation, and it would not be feasible here to go into all these properties. Aramaic has a palette of 25 to 40 distinct phonemes. The open vowel is an open near-front unrounded vowel and it usually has a back counterpart, and a front counterpart. There is much correspondence between these vowels between dialects, there is some evidence that Middle Babylonian dialects did not distinguish between the short a and short e. In West Syriac dialects, and possibly Middle Galilean, the long a became the o sound, the open e and back a are often indicated in writing by the use of the letters א alaph or ה he. The close front vowel is the long i and it has a slightly more open counterpart, the long e, as in the final vowel of café. Both of these have shorter counterparts, which tend to be pronounced more open
9.
University of Cambridge
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The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, often regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Founded in 1209 and given royal status by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople, the two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge. Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 constituent colleges, Cambridge University Press, a department of the university, is the worlds oldest publishing house and the second-largest university press in the world. The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridges libraries hold a total of around 15 million books, eight million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library. In the year ended 31 July 2015, the university had an income of £1.64 billion. The central university and colleges have an endowment of around £5.89 billion. The university is linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster known as Silicon Fen. It is a member of associations and forms part of the golden triangle of leading English universities and Cambridge University Health Partners. As of 2017, Cambridge is ranked the fourth best university by three ranking tables and no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects. Cambridge is consistently ranked as the top university in the United Kingdom, the university has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors, and foreign Heads of State. Ninety-five Nobel laureates, fifteen British prime ministers and ten Fields medalists have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, faculty, by the late 12th century, the Cambridge region already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely. The University of Oxford went into suspension in protest, and most scholars moved to such as Paris, Reading. After the University of Oxford reformed several years later, enough remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of the new university. A bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom, the colleges at the University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself, the colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels, the hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, Cambridges first college, the most recently established college is Robinson, built in the late 1970s
10.
University of Manchester
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The University of Manchester is a red brick university, a product of the civic university movement of the late-19th century. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre on Oxford Road, in 2015/16, the university had 39,700 students and 10,400 staff, making it the second largest university in the UK, and the largest single-site university. The university had an income of £987.2 million in 2015–16 and it has the third largest endowment of any university in England, after the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. It is a member of the worldwide Universities Research Association, the Russell Group of British research universities, the University of Manchester is ranked 29th in the world by QS World University Rankings 2016. In the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Manchester was ranked 35th in the world, the Global Employability University Ranking conducted by THE places Manchester at 27th worldwide and 10th in Europe, ahead of academic powerhouses such as Cornell, UPenn and LSE. It is ranked joint 55th in the world and 8th in the UK in the 2016 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, Manchester came fifth in terms of research power and seventeenth for grade point average quality when including specialist institutions. More students try to gain entry than to any university in the country. According to the 2015 High Fliers Report, Manchester is the most targeted university by the largest number of leading graduate employers in the UK. The university owns and operates major cultural assets such as the Manchester Museum, Whitworth Art Gallery, John Rylands Library and Jodrell Bank Observatory and its Grade I listed Lovell Telescope. The University of Manchester has 25 Nobel laureates among its past and present students and staff, four Nobel laureates are currently among its staff – more than any other British university. The University of Manchester traces its roots to the formation of the Mechanics Institute in 1824, the English chemist John Dalton, together with Manchester businessmen and industrialists, established the Mechanics Institute to ensure that workers could learn the basic principles of science. John Owens, a merchant, left a bequest of £96,942 in 1846 to found a college to educate men on non-sectarian lines. He also campaigned and helped fund the chair, the first applied science department in the north of England. He left the college the equivalent of £10 million in his will in 1876, Beyer funded the total cost of construction of the Beyer building to house the biology and geology departments. His will also funded Engineering chairs and the Beyer Professor of Applied mathematics, the university has a rich German heritage. The Owens College Extension Movement based their plans after a tour of mainly German universities, Manchester mill owner, Thomas Ashton, chairman of the extension movement had studied at Heidelberg University. Sir Henry Roscoe also studied at Heidelberg under Robert Bunsen and they collaborated for many years on research projects, Roscoe promoted the German style of research led teaching that became the role model for the redbrick universities. Charles Beyer studied at Dresden Academy Polytechnic, there were many Germans on the staff, including Carl Schorlemmer, Britains first chair in organic chemistry, and Arthur Schuster, professor of Physics
11.
Solomon Schechter
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He was born in Focşani, Moldavia to Rabbi Yitzchok Hakohen, a shochet and member of Chabad hasidim. He was named after its founder, Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Schechter received his early education from his father who was a shochet. Reportedly, he learned to read Hebrew by age 3, and he went to a yeshiva in Piatra Neamţ at age 10 and at age thirteen studied with one of the major Talmudic scholars, Rabbi Joseph Saul Nathanson of Lemberg. In 1882, he was invited to Britain, to be tutor of rabbinics under Claude Montefiore in London, in 1890, after the death of Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy, he was appointed to the faculty at Cambridge University, serving as a lecturer in Talmudics and reader in Rabbinics. To this day, the students of the Cambridge University Jewish Society hold an annual Solomon Schechter Memorial Lecture, the find revolutionized the study of Medieval Judaism. Jacob Saphir was the first Jewish researcher to recognize the significance of the Cairo Geniza and he carefully selected for the Cambridge University Library a trove three times the size of any other collection, this is now part of the Taylor-Schechter Collection. The find was instrumental in Schechter resolving a dispute with David Margoliouth as to the likely Hebrew language origins of Sirach, charles Taylor took a great interest in Solomon Schechters work in Cairo, and the genizah fragments presented to the University of Cambridge are known as the Taylor-Schechter Collection. He was joint editor with Schechter of The Wisdom of Ben Sira,1899 and he published separately Cairo Genizah Palimpsests,1900. He became a Professor of Hebrew at University College London in 1899, Schechter served as the second President of the JTSA, from 1902 to 1915, during which time he founded the United Synagogue of America, later renamed as the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Judaism is opposed to any number of things and says distinctly thou shalt not and it permeates the whole of your life. It demands control over all of actions, and interferes even with your menu. It sanctifies the seasons, and regulates your history, both in the past and in the future, above all, it teaches that disobedience is the strength of sin. In a word, Judaism is absolutely incompatible with the abandonment of the Torah. Schechter, on the hand, believed in what he termed Catholic Israel. The basic idea being that Jewish law, Halacha, is formed and this concept of modifying the law based on national consensus is an untraditional viewpoint. Schechter was an advocate of Zionism. He was the chairman of the committee that edited the Jewish Publication Society of America Version of the Hebrew Bible, Schechters name is synonymous with the findings of the Cairo Geniza. He placed the JTSA on an institutional footing strong enough to endure for over a century and he became identified as the foremost personality of Conservative Judaism and is regarded as its founder. A network of Conservative Jewish day schools is named in his honor, as well as a camp in Olympia
12.
Heinrich Heine
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Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was a German poet, journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his lyric poetry. Heines later verse and prose are distinguished by their satirical wit and he is considered part of the Young Germany movement. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned by German authorities, Heine spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris. Heine was born at Düsseldorf in what was then the Duchy of Berg and he was called Harry in childhood but became known as Heinrich after his conversion to Lutheranism in 1825. Heines father, Samson Heine, was a textile merchant and his mother Peira, née van Geldern, was the daughter of a physician. Heinrich was the eldest of four children, Heine was also a third cousin once removed of philosopher and economist Karl Marx, also born to a German Jewish family in the Rhineland, with whom he became a frequent correspondent in later life. Düsseldorf was then a town with a population of around 16,000. The French Revolution and subsequent Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars involving Germany complicated Düsseldorfs political history during Heines childhood and it had been the capital of the Duchy of Jülich-Berg, but was under French occupation at the time of his birth. It then went to the Elector of Bavaria before being ceded to Napoleon in 1806 and it was first ruled by Joachim Murat, then by Napoleon himself. Upon Napoleons downfall in 1815 it became part of Prussia, thus Heines formative years were spent under French influence. The adult Heine would always be devoted to the French for introduction of the Napoleonic Code and he glossed over the negative aspects of French rule in Berg, heavy taxation, conscription, and economic depression brought about by the Continental Blockade. Heines parents were not particularly devout, as a young child they sent him to a Jewish school where he learned a smattering of Hebrew, but thereafter he attended Catholic schools. Here he learned French, which would be his second language - although he spoke it with a German accent. He also acquired a love for Rhineland folklore. In 1814 Heine went to a school in Düsseldorf where he learned to read English. The most successful member of the Heine family was his uncle Salomon Heine, in 1816 Heine moved to Hamburg to become an apprentice at Heckscher & Co, his uncles bank, but displayed little aptitude for business. He learned to hate Hamburg with its ethos, but it would become one of the poles of his life alongside Paris
13.
Jacob Saphir
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Jacob Saphir was a Meshulach and traveler of Romanian Jewish descent, born in Ashmyany, government of Wilna. While still a boy, he went to Ottoman Palestine with his parents, who settled at Safed, in 1848, he was commissioned by the Jewish community of the latter city to travel through the southern countries to collect alms for the poor of Jerusalem. In 1854 he undertook a tour to collect funds for the construction of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, which led him in 1859 to Yemen, British India, Egypt. Saphir published also Iggeret Teman, a work on the appearance in Yemen of the pseudo-Messiah Judah ben Shalom, Saphir died in Jerusalem in 1886. Sapir also did a lot of research and writings on Yanover, Palestinian, fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, pp. 557–558, idem, in Ha-Karmel, vi, Wilna,1866, Geiger, Abraham, in Jüd. Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jacob Saphir written by Isidore Singer & Schulim Ochser, new York, Funk & Wagnalls Company
14.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
15.
Agnes and Margaret Smith
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Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson, nées Agnes and Margaret Smith, were Semitic scholars. The twins were brought up by their father John, a solicitor and they were educated in private schools in Birkenhead and London, interspersed with travels in Europe guided by their father. After Johns death, they settled in London and joined the Presbyterian church in Clapham Road, in 1870, Agnes wrote Eastern Pilgrims, an account of their experiences in Egypt and Palestine. In 1883, Agnes and Margaret, by then also quite fluent in Greek, travelled to Athens, beginning a lifelong affectionate relationship with Greek Orthodoxy, whose monks occupied Saint Catherines Monastery at Sinai. Samuel had also trained as a clergyman, each marriage was soon ended with the death of the husband. Margarets marriage only lasted slightly over three years and she is buried with her husband in Dean Cemetery in western Edinburgh. By 1890, the sisters settled in Cambridge, Agnes began to study Syriac and improve their Arabic, which Agnes had begun to learn in 1883. The palimpsest was found to have contained a Syriac Lives of the Saints by John the Recluse. During the expedition, Agnes and Margaret also catalogued the monasterys extensive collection of Syriac, janet Soskices account of the expedition describes it as slightly disjointed, and recounts it as subject to increasing mutual suspicion and resentment. They collected about 1700 manuscript fragments, now known as the Lewis-Gibson collection, the sisters continued to travel and write until the First World War, and were instrumental in other discoveries, including that by Solomon Schechter of an early Hebrew manuscript of Ecclesiasticus. Though the University of Cambridge never honoured them with degrees, they received honorary degrees from the universities of Halle, Heidelberg, Dublin, at Cambridge, they attended St Columbas Church. They were generous hostesses at their home, Castlebrae, which became the centre of a lively intellectual, the sisters used their inheritance to endow Westminster College in Cambridge. They also helped the establishment of the Presbyterian chaplaincy to the University of Oxford, London, C J Clay and Sons Catalogue of the Arabic mss. in the Convent of Saint Catharine on Mount Sinai. London, C J Clay and Sons The Palestinian Syriac Lectionary of the Gospels Codicology Alexander, Caroline, Two of a Kind Review of Soskice in The New York Times Cornick, binfield From Cambridge To Sinai United Reformed Church. ISBN 978-0-85346-251-4 Jefferson, Rebecca J. W. London, Headline Book Publishing, United Reformed Church A Gift Box ISBN 0-85346-222-4
16.
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
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The Jewish Theological Seminary is located in New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, JTS operates five schools, Albert A. It also operates a number of research and training institutes, Rabbi Zecharias Frankel was a leading figure in mid-19th Century German Jewry. Known both for his traditionalist views and the esteem he held for scientific study of Judaism, Frankel was at first considered a figure associated with the nascent Reform movement. He withdrew from the assembly, held in Frankfurt am Main in 1845, in 1854 he became the director of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau. Rabbi Bernard Drachman, a key Frankel student and one of the founders of the American JTS, was himself Orthodox, others disagree, citing the published viewpoint of Frankel. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah, Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that Jewish law was not static, about this time in North America, the Reform movement was growing at a rapid pace, alarming the traditional Orthodox. Sabato Morais, rabbi of Philadelphias Mikveh Israel, championed the reaction to American Reform, at one time Morais had been a voice for moderation and bridge-building within the Reformers. He had opposed the radical changes, but was open to moderate changes that would not break with significant traditional. One of the tools his group used was the creation of a new school in New York City. The Jewish Theological Seminary Association was founded with Morais as its President in 1886 as an Orthodox institution to combat the hegemony of the Reform movement, the school was hosted by Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes Congregation Shearith Israel, a sister synagogue to Mikveh Israel. Morais and Mendes were soon joined by Alexander Kohut and Bernard Drachman and they shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankels seminary. The first graduate to be ordained was Morris Mandel who went to lead Adas Israel congregation, Morais served as the president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America until his death in 1897. After Moraiss death, Mendes led the school, but the position of the association became precarious. In October 1901, a new organization was projected entitled the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and this arrangement was carried into effect April 14,1902. The new organization was endowed with a fund of over $500,000, the reorganized seminary was opened on Sept.15,1902, in the old building of the Theological Seminary Association at 736 Lexington Avenue. A search was executed for a new president, Solomon Schechter was recruited from Great Britain. His religious approach seemed compatible with JTSs, and he assumed the presidency, in a series of papers he articulated an ideology for the nascent movement of Conservative Judaism
17.
University of Manchester Library
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The University of Manchester Library is The University of Manchesters library and information service. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the University with its entrance on Burlington Street, in 1851 the library of Owens College was established at Cobden House on Quay Street, Manchester. This later became the Manchester University Library in 1904, in July 1972 this library merged with the John Rylands Library to become the John Rylands University Library of Manchester. On 1 October 2004 the library of the Victoria University of Manchester merged with the Joule Library of UMIST forming the John Rylands University Library. The Joule Library was the successor of the library of the Manchester Mechanics Institute which later became the library of the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology. One of the Institutes first actions was to establish a library, with a full-time librarian, the library changed its name in the summer of 2012 to become The University of Manchester Library. The library is one of only five National Research Libraries - an award of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and it is a member of the North West Academic Libraries consortium and of Research Libraries UK consortium. RLUK was formerly the Consortium of University Research Libraries of which the library was a member in the 1980s. The library provides its members with a range of services and materials, a range of services is provided for members of the public and schools. Until 1965 it was known as the Arts Library, the Christie Building contained the librarys scientific section and the medical library was in a separate building until 1981. An extension to the north designed by architects Dane, Scherrer & Hicks opened in 1981, notable collections housed in the main library are the Guardian Archives, the Manchester Collection of local medical history, maps and plans, and the Christian Brethren Archive. For many years the library housed the offices of the Manchester Medical Society which had accommodation in the University since 1874. Between summer 2009 and January 2010 part of the floor of the main library was refurbished. Owens College was founded in 1851 and the library began with donations from James Heywood. The first large addition to stock was the library of James Prince Lee, bishop of Manchester,7,000 volumes in 1869, the collection contained theology, church history and fine art. Over the following 30 years, many additions were made such as the libraries of E. A. Freeman. In 1904 the Owens College Library became the Manchester University Library when the merged with the Victoria University of Manchester which had been so named in 1903. The library had three locations in its years, Cobdens House on Quay Street, the John Owens Building between 1873 and 1898 and the Christie Building from autumn 1898
18.
Bodleian Library
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The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 12 million items, it is the second largest library in Britain after the British Library, known to Oxford scholars as Bodley or the Bod, it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms. They do, however, participate in OLIS, the Bodleian Libraries online union catalogue, much of the librarys archives were digitized and put online for public access in 2015. Since the 19th century a number of stores have been built. Before being granted access to the library, new readers are required to agree to a formal declaration and this declaration was traditionally an oral oath, but is now usually made by signing a letter to a similar effect. Ceremonies in which readers recite the declaration are still performed for those who wish to take them, external readers are still required to recite the declaration orally prior to admission. The Bodleian Admissions Office has amassed a collection of translations of the declaration allowing those who are not native English speakers to recite it in their first language. Whilst the Bodleian Library, in its current incarnation, has a history dating back to 1602. The first purpose-built library known to have existed in Oxford was founded in the century under the will of Thomas Cobham. This small collection of chained books was situated above the side of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin on the High Street. A suitable room was built above the Divinity School. This room continues to be known as Duke Humfreys Library, after 1488, the university stopped spending money on the librarys upkeep and acquisitions, and manuscripts began to go unreturned to the library. The late sixteenth century saw the library go through a period of decline, the furniture was sold. During the reign of Edward VI, there was a purge of superstitious manuscripts, six of the Oxford University dons were tasked with helping Bodley in refitting the library in March 1658. Duke Humfrey’s Library was refitted, and Bodley donated a number of his own books to furnish it, the library was formally re-opened on 8 November 1602 under the name “Bodleian Library”. There were around two thousand books in the library at this time, with an ornate Benefactors Register displayed prominently, in 1605, Francis Bacon gave the library a copy of The Advancement of Learning and described the Bodleian as an Ark to save learning from deluge. At this time, there were few books written in English held in the library, Thomas James suggested that Bodley should ask the Stationers Company to provide a copy of all books printed to the Bodleian. In 1610, Bodley made an agreement with the Stationers Company in London to put a copy of every book registered with them in the library, the Bodleian collection grew so fast that the building was expanded between 1610–1612, and again in 1634–1637
19.
University of Oxford
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The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, after disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two ancient universities are frequently referred to as Oxbridge. The university is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges, All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Being a city university, it not have a main campus, instead, its buildings. Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the worlds oldest and most prestigious scholarships, the university operates the worlds oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system in Britain. Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates,27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, the University of Oxford has no known foundation date. Teaching at Oxford existed in form as early as 1096. It grew quickly in 1167 when English students returned from the University of Paris, the historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188 and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland, arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, the university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from the violence to Cambridge, the students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two nations, representing the North and the South. In later centuries, geographical origins continued to many students affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. At about the time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham, who in 1249 endowed University College, thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses. In 1333–34, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire was blocked by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III. Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London, thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, the new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of the period were William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of Greek language studies, and John Colet, the noted biblical scholar. With the English Reformation and the breaking of communion with the Roman Catholic Church, recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, as a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxfords reputation declined in the Age of Enlightenment, enrolments fell and teaching was neglected
20.
Westminster College, Cambridge
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Westminster College in Cambridge is a theological college of the United Reformed Church, formerly the Presbyterian Church of England. Its principal purpose is training for the ordination of ministers, but is used more widely for training within the denomination. The college was founded in London in 1844 with a home in the Exeter Hall before moving to permanent premises in Queens Square. Following an appeal for funds from the wider Presbyterian congregation, the college commissioned a new building designed by Henry Hare and built between 1897–1899. In 1967 the college began to amalgamate with Cheshunt College, Cambridge, presaging the union of the Congregational, D. Davies, known for his work on Paul and his Jewish background. Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson were noted for their study of one of the earliest versions of the Old Gospels in Syriac Sinaiticus discovered in the monastery Saint Catherines Monastery. The sisters found the manuscripts in the market of Cairo. It was sold in 2010 to the Green Collection and they edited also many other important manuscripts in Syriac and Arabic. In 1897 Lewis and Gibson also found and purchased some fragments of parchment of the Cairo Genizah whilst travelling in the Middle East. With the support of Solomon Schechter they made more trips to the Middle East. Schechter identified the fragments as forming part of the Hebrew Wisdom of Sirach, the Cairo Genizah collection was put up for sale by Westminster College for £1. This is the first time the two libraries have collaborated for such a fundraising effort, the money was used by Westminster College to help finance a £7 million refurbishment of the College in 2013-2014. In concentrating on studies for training clergy, the college is in some ways closer to the original conception of the main university colleges when they were founded. Currently, Westminster has connected with it around 50 students, some in training for ministry in the United Reformed Church, traditionally, most students have studied for four years, which includes an internship year working in a local church. However, the College now trains many students part-time and via distance learning, most students still work, nonetheless, either for a BA or MA degree or a BTh or BA/Tripos degree. Official website Cambridge Theological Federation website
21.
Oxbridge
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Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Although both universities were founded more than eight centuries ago, the term Oxbridge is relatively recent, in William Thackerays novel Pendennis, published in 1849, the main character attends the fictional Boniface College, Oxbridge. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this is the first recorded instance of the word, virginia Woolf used it, citing Thackeray, in her 1929 essay A Room of Ones Own. By 1957 the term was used in the Times Educational Supplement, when expanded, the universities are almost always referred to as Oxford and Cambridge, the order in which they were founded. Both were founded more than 800 years ago, and continued as Englands only universities until the 19th century, between them they have educated a large number of Britains most prominent scientists, writers and politicians, as well as noted figures in many other fields. Each has a collegiate structure, whereby the University is a co-operative of its constituent colleges. Both universities have many buildings of great beauty and antiquity, and are sited on level terrain ideal for cycling and they are the top-scoring institutions in cross-subject UK university rankings, so they are targeted by ambitious pupils, parents and schools. Entrance is extremely competitive and some schools promote themselves based on their achievement of Oxbridge offers, combined, the two universities award over one-sixth of all English full-time research doctorates. Oxford and Cambridge have common approaches to undergraduate admissions, until the mid-1980s, entry was typically by sitting special entrance exams. Camford was also used in the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Creeping Man, other words have been derived from the term Oxbridge, though none has achieved widespread recognition. The term Loxbridge is sometimes seen, and was adopted as the name of the Ancient History conference now known as AMPAH
22.
Cambridge University Library
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Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge in England. It is also the biggest of 114 libraries within the University. The Library is a scholarly resource for both the members of the University of Cambridge and for external researchers. Cambridge University Library comprises the main University Library and its affiliated libraries, as at August 2015, twenty-one affiliated libraries were associated with the main University Library, which is often referred to within the University as the University Library or just the UL. Through legal deposit, purchase and donation it receives around 100,000 items every year, the main University Library holds approximately 8 million items. Its original location was the Universitys Old Schools near Senate House until it outgrew the space there, the current acting librarian is Professor Christopher Young. As early as the century, Cambridge University owned a collection of manuscripts. These would have kept in chests along with other valuables. A common library can be traced to the beginning of the 15th century, the earliest catalogue is dated ca. 1424, at which there were 122 volumes in the library. The second earliest surviving catalogue was drawn up in 1473, from the 16th century onwards it received generous donations or bequests of books and growth was considerably increased once the privilege of legal deposit had been granted. The current main University Library building was constructed between 1931 and 1934 under architect Giles Gilbert Scott, who designed the neighbouring Clare Memorial Court. The site had been used by the First Eastern General Hospital, built at the outbreak of the First World War on the 8 acres joint cricket field of Kings and Clare Colleges. The hospital had 1,700 beds at its height and treated some 70,000 casualties between 1914 and 1919, the library is a Grade II listed building. Inside are a number of 17th- and 18th century bookcases including the ones designed for the old University Library by James Essex in 1731-4, the building bears a marked resemblance to Scotts industrial architecture, including Bankside Power Station. The library tower stands 157 feet tall,6 feet shorter than the top of St Johns College Chapel and 10 feet taller than the peak of Kings College Chapel. Supposedly, in opening the building, Neville Chamberlain referred to it as this magnificent erection, contrary to popular belief, pornographic material is not stored in the tower. The library has been extended several times, the main building houses the Japanese and Chinese collections in the Aoi Pavilion, an extension donated by Tadao Aoi and opened in 1998. The library is building a new facility in Ely
23.
Hebrew alphabet
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Historically, there have been two separate abjad scripts to write Hebrew. In the remainder of this article, the term Hebrew alphabet refers to the Jewish square script unless otherwise indicated, the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. It does not have case, but five letters have different forms used at the end of a word. Hebrew is written right to left. Originally, the alphabet was an abjad consisting only of consonants, as with other abjads, such as the Arabic alphabet, scribes later devised means of indicating vowel sounds by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In both biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, the letters א ה ו י are also used as matres lectionis to represent vowels. There is a trend in modern Modern Hebrew toward the use of matres lectionis to indicate vowels that have traditionally gone unwritten, the paleo-Hebrew alphabet was used in the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The Samaritans, who remained in the Land of Israel, continued to use the paleo-Hebrew alphabet, after the fall of the Persian Empire in 330 BCE, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Assyrian form. The square Hebrew alphabet was adapted and used for writing languages of the Jewish diaspora – such as Karaim, the Judeo-Arabic languages, Judaeo-Spanish. In the traditional form, the Hebrew alphabet is an abjad consisting only of consonants and it has 22 letters, five of which use different forms at the end of a word. Also, a system of points to indicate vowels, called niqqud, was developed. In modern forms of the alphabet, as in the case of Yiddish and to some extent Modern Hebrew, today, the trend is toward full spelling with the weak letters acting as true vowels. When used to write Yiddish, vowels are indicated, using letters, either with or without niqqud-diacritics, except for Hebrew words. To preserve the proper vowel sounds, scholars developed several different sets of vocalization, one of these, the Tiberian system, eventually prevailed. Aaron ben Moses ben Asher, and his family for generations, are credited for refining and maintaining the system. These points are used only for special purposes, such as Biblical books intended for study. The Tiberian system also includes a set of marks, called trope. These are shown below the normal form in the following table, although Hebrew is read and written from right to left, the following table shows the letters in order from left to right
24.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
25.
Arabic
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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
26.
Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
27.
Christianity
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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
28.
Shelomo Dov Goitein
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Shelomo Dov Goitein was a German-Jewish ethnographer, historian and Arabist known for his research on Jewish life in the Islamic Middle Ages, and particularly on the Cairo Geniza. Shelomo Dov Goitein was born in the town of Burgkunstadt in Upper Franconia, Germany, his father, the name Goitein points probably to Kojetín in Moravia as the city of origin of the family. He was brought up with both secular and Talmudic education, in 1914 his father died and the family moved to Frankfurt am Main, where he finished high school and university. During 1918–23 he studied Arabic and Islam at the University of Frankfurt under the guidance of the famous scholar Josef Horovitz and he left the university with a dissertation on prayer in Islam. In the year 1923, Goitein fulfilled his dream and immigrated together with Gershom Scholem sailing to Palestine. He lived four years in Haifa until he was invited to lecture at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Jerusalem, he married Theresa Gottlieb, a eurhythmics teacher who composed songs and plays for children. They had three children, Ayala, Ofra, and Elon, in 1957 he moved to the United States where he felt more able to remain focused on his studies. He settled in Philadelphia and worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, in 1918–23, Goitein attended the universities of Frankfurt and Berlin and studied Islamic history under Josef Horovitz. His Ph. D. thesis was on prayer in Islam and he also pursued Jewish studies, and was a leader in the Zionist Youth Movement. In 1923 he immigrated to Palestine, where he taught Bible, in 1927 he wrote a play called Pulcellina about the blood libel killings in Blois in 1171. In 1928, he was appointed professor of Islamic History and Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and he was founder of the School of Asian and African studies and of the Israel Oriental Society. In 1928, he began his research of the language, culture, in 1949, he did research in Aden, questioning the Jews who gathered there from all parts of Yemen before being flown to Israel. In 1938-1948, he served as an education officer in Mandatory Palestine, responsible for Jewish and Arab Schools. From 1948, Goitein began his lifes work on the Cairo Geniza documents, an especially rich geniza with a large volume of correspondence was discovered in Old Cairo containing thousands of documents dating from the 9th to the 13th centuries. Since Jews began every letter or document with the words With the help of God, the documents included many letters from Jewish traders en route from Tunisia and Egypt to Yemen and ultimately to India. The papers were written in Judeo-Arabic characters. Although the documents were written by Jews, they reflect the surrounding Moslem and Christian environments not only in countries bordering the Mediterranean and this has thrown new light on the whole study of the Middle Ages. Goitein was awarded degrees from many universities
29.
Maimonides
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In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician. Born in Cordova, Almoravid Empire on Passover Eve,1135 or 1138, he worked as a rabbi, physician and he died in Egypt on December 12,1204, whence his body was taken to the lower Galilee and buried in Tiberias. Nonetheless, he was acknowledged as among the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law and he is sometimes known as ha Nesher ha Gadol in recognition of his outstanding status as a bona fide exponent of the Oral Torah. Aside from being revered by Jewish historians, Maimonides also figures prominently in the history of Islamic. Influenced by Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and his contemporary Averroes, he in his turn influenced other prominent Arab and Muslim philosophers and he became a prominent philosopher and polymath in both the Jewish and Islamic worlds. His full Hebrew name is Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, whose acronym forms Rambam and his full Arabic name is Abū ʿImrān Mūsā bin Maimūn bin ʿUbaidallāh al-Qurtabī or Mūsā bin Maymūn for short. In Latin, the Hebrew ben becomes the Greek−style suffix -ides to form Moses Maimonides, Maimonides was born in Córdoba during what some scholars consider to be the end of the golden age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula, after the first centuries of the Moorish rule. At an early age, he developed an interest in sciences and he read those Greek philosophers accessible in Arabic translations, and was deeply immersed in the sciences and learning of Islamic culture. Maimonides was not known as a supporter of mysticism, although a strong type of mysticism has been discerned in his philosophy. He expressed disapproval of poetry, the best of which he declared to be false and this sage, who was revered for his personality as well as for his writings, led a busy life, and wrote many of his works while travelling or in temporary accommodation. Maimonides studied Torah under his father Maimon, who had in turn studied under Rabbi Joseph ibn Migash, a Berber dynasty, the Almohads, conquered Córdoba in 1148, and abolished dhimmi status in some of their territories. The loss of protected status threatened the Jewish and Christian communities with conversion to Islam, death. The historical records of abuses against Jews in the immediate post-1148 period are subject to different interpretations, Maimonidess family, along with most other Jews, chose exile. Some say, though, that it is likely that Maimonides feigned a conversion to Islam before escaping and this forced conversion was ruled legally invalid under Islamic law when brought up by a rival in Egypt. For the next ten years, Maimonides moved about in southern Spain, during this time, he composed his acclaimed commentary on the Mishnah in the years 1166–1168. Following this sojourn in Morocco, together with two sons, he sojourned in the Holy Land, before settling in Fustat, Egypt around 1168, while in Cairo, he studied in a yeshiva attached to a small synagogue. In the Holy Land, he prayed at the Temple Mount and he wrote that this day of visiting the Temple Mount was a day of holiness for him and his descendants
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Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon
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Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon was the son of Maimonides who succeeded his father as Nagid of the Egyptian Jewish community. Avraham was born in Fostat, Egypt - his father, Maimonides, was years old then. The boy was modest, highly refined and unusually good natured, he was noted for his brilliant intellect. When his father died in 1204 at the age of sixty-nine, thus, he succeeded Rambam as Nagid, as well as in the office of court physician, at the age of only eighteen. Rabbi Avraham greatly honored the memory of his father, and defended his writings, due to his influence, a large Egyptian Karaite community returned to the fold of Rabbinic Judaism. Avraham Maimunis best known work is his Milhamoth ha-Shem, in which he answers the critics of his fathers philosophical doctrines expressed in the Guide for the Perplexed and his principal work is originally composed in Judeo-Arabic and entitled כתאב כפיא אלעאבדין Kitāb Kifāyah al-Ābidīn. From the extant surviving portion it is conjectured that Maimunis treatise was three times as long as his fathers Guide for the Perplexed, in the book, Maimuni evinces a great appreciation of and affinity for Sufism. Followers of his continued to foster a Jewish-Sufi form of pietism for at least a century. He also wrote a work on Halakha, combined with philosophy and ethics, as well as a book of Questions & Responsa and his Discourse on the Sayings of the Rabbis - discussing aggadah - is often quoted. He also authored various medical works, rabbi Abraham Maimon Ha-Nagid, Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue site Discourse on the Sayings of the Rabbis - Translation in wikisource Hebrew-Arabic Commentary on parts of Genesis and Exodus
31.
Palestine (region)
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Palestine is a geographic region in Western Asia between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is sometimes considered to include adjoining territories, the name was used by Ancient Greek writers, and was later used for the Roman province Syria Palaestina, the Byzantine Palaestina Prima, and the Islamic provincial district of Jund Filastin. The region comprises most of the claimed for the biblical regions known as the Land of Israel. Historically, it has known as the southern portion of wider regional designations such as Canaan, Syria, ash-Sham. The boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, today, the region comprises the State of Israel and the Palestinian territories in which the State of Palestine was declared. Modern archaeology has identified 12 ancient inscriptions from Egyptian and Assyrian records recording likely cognates of Hebrew Pelesheth, the term Peleset is found in five inscriptions referring to a neighboring people or land starting from c.1150 BCE during the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt. Neither the Egyptian nor the Assyrian sources provided clear regional boundaries for the term, approximately a century later, Aristotle used a similar definition for the region in Meteorology, in which he included the Dead Sea. The term is accepted to be a translation of the Biblical name Peleshet. The term is used in the Septuagint, who used a transliteration Land of Phylistieim different from the contemporary Greek place name Palaistínē. Following the Muslim conquest, place names that were in use by the Byzantine administration generally continued to be used in Arabic, Modern archaeologists and historians of the region refer to their field of study as Levantine archaeology. The region was among the earliest in the world to see human habitation, agricultural communities, during the Bronze Age, independent Canaanite city-states were established, and were influenced by the surrounding civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, and Syria. Between 1550–1400 BCE, the Canaanite cities became vassals to the Egyptian New Kingdom who held power until the 1178 BCE Battle of Djahy during the wider Bronze Age collapse. The region became part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from c.740 BCE, in 539 BCE, the Babylonian empire was replaced by the Achaemenid Empire. In the 330s BCE, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered the region and it ultimately fell to the Seleucid Empire between 219–200 BCE. In 116 BCE, a Seleucid civil war resulted in the independence of certain regions including the Hasmonean principality in the Judaean Mountains, from 110 BCE, the Hasmoneans extended their authority over much of Palestine, creating a Judaean–Samaritan–Idumaean–Ituraean–Galilean alliance. The Judaean control over the region resulted in it also becoming known as Judaea. Between 73–63 BCE, the Roman Republic extended its influence into the region in the Third Mithridatic War, conquering Judea in 63 BCE, and splitting the former Hasmonean Kingdom into five districts. The three-year Ministry of Jesus, culminating in his crucifixion, is estimated to have occurred from 28–30 CE, in 70 CE, Titus sacked Jerusalem, resulting in the dispersal of the citys Jews and Christians to Yavne and Pella
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Lebanon
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Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanons location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2, it is the smallest recognized country on the entire mainland Asian continent, the earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, in the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion, however, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church, the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region eventually was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918, following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon. The French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, which was populated by Maronites and Druze. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie since 1973, despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce. At the end of the war, there were efforts to revive the economy. In spite of troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning white, occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L, the name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן. The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 and its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943
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Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
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Damascus
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Damascus is the capital and likely the largest city of Syria, following the decline in population of Aleppo due to the ongoing battle for the city. It is commonly known in Syria as ash-Sham and nicknamed as the City of Jasmine, in addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious centre of the Levant. The city has an population of 1,711,000 as of 2009. Located in south-western Syria, Damascus is the centre of a metropolitan area of 2.6 million people. The Barada River flows through Damascus, first settled in the second millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad, Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the government and all of the government ministries. The name of Damascus first appeared in the geographical list of Thutmose III as T-m-ś-q in the 15th century BC, the etymology of the ancient name T-m-ś-q is uncertain, but it is suspected to be pre-Semitic. It is attested as Dimašqa in Akkadian, T-ms-ḳw in Egyptian, Dammaśq in Old Aramaic, the Akkadian spelling is found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BC. Later Aramaic spellings of the name include a intrusive resh, perhaps influenced by the root dr. Thus, the English and Latin name of the city is Damascus which was imported from originated from the Qumranic Darmeśeq, and Darmsûq in Syriac, meaning a well-watered land. In Arabic, the city is called Dimašqu š-Šāmi, although this is shortened to either Dimašq or aš-Šām by the citizens of Damascus, of Syria and other Arab neighbours. Aš-Šām is an Arabic term for Levant and for Syria, the latter, the Anti-Lebanon mountains mark the border between Syria and Lebanon. The range has peaks of over 10,000 ft. and blocks precipitation from the Mediterranean sea, however, in ancient times this was mitigated by the Barada River, which originates from mountain streams fed by melting snow. Damascus is surrounded by the Ghouta, irrigated farmland where many vegetables, cereals, maps of Roman Syria indicate that the Barada river emptied into a lake of some size east of Damascus. Today it is called Bahira Atayba, the hesitant lake, because in years of severe drought it does not even exist, the modern city has an area of 105 km2, out of which 77 km2 is urban, while Jabal Qasioun occupies the rest. The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the city walls, to the south-east, north and north-east it is surrounded by suburban areas whose history stretches back to the Middle Ages, Midan in the south-west, Sarouja and Imara in the north and north-west. These neighbourhoods originally arose on roads leading out of the city and these new neighbourhoods were initially settled by Kurdish soldiery and Muslim refugees from the European regions of the Ottoman Empire which had fallen under Christian rule
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Aleppo
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Aleppo is a city in Syria, serving as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100, Aleppo was the largest Syrian city before the Syrian Civil War, however, now Aleppo is likely the second-largest city in Syria after the capital Damascus. Aleppo is an ancient city, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and it was also one of the largest cities in the Levant before the advent of the Syrian Civil War. The citys significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, when the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo ceded its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, in the 1940s, it lost its main access to the sea, Antakya and İskenderun, also to Turkey. Finally, the isolation of Syria in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation and this decline may have helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage. It won the title of the Islamic Capital of Culture 2006, during the Battle of Aleppo the city suffered massive destruction, and has been the worst-hit city in the Syrian Civil War. In December 2016, the Syrian government achieved full control of Aleppo following a successful offensive, modern-day English-speakers commonly refer to the city as Aleppo. It was known in antiquity as Khalpe, Khalibon, and to the Greeks, during the Crusades, and again during the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon of 1923–1946, the name Alep was used. Aleppo represents the Italianised version of this, the original ancient name, Halab, has survived as the current Arabic name of the city. Some have proposed that halab means iron or copper in Amorite languages, the modern-day Arabic nickname of the city, ash-Shahbaa, which means the white-colored, also allegedly derives from the famous white marble of Aleppo. From the 11th century it was common usage to apply the term Aram-Zobah to the area of Aleppo. Aleppo has scarcely been touched by archaeologists, since the city occupies its ancient site. The site has been occupied from around 5000 BC, as shown by excavations in Tallet Alsauda, Aleppo appears in historical records as an important city much earlier than Damascus. The first record of Aleppo comes from the third millennium BC, some historians, such as Wayne Horowitz, identify Aleppo with the capital of an independent kingdom closely related to Ebla, known as Armi, although this identification is contested. The main temple of the storm god Hadad was located on the hill in the center of the city. In the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Empire period, Aleppos name appears in its form as Ḥalab for the first time
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Tunisia
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Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa, covering 165,000 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent and it is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisias population was estimated to be just under 11 million in 2014, Tunisias name is derived from its capital city, Tunis, which is located on Tunisias northeast coast. Geographically, Tunisia contains the end of the Atlas Mountains. Much of the rest of the land is fertile soil. Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic and it is considered to be the only full democracy in the Arab World. It has a human development index. In addition, Tunisia is also a state of the United Nations. Close relations with Europe – in particular with France and with Italy – have been forged through economic cooperation, privatisation, in ancient times, Tunisia was primarily inhabited by Berbers. Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century BC, these immigrants founded Carthage, a major mercantile power and a military rival of the Roman Republic, Carthage was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC. The Romans, who would occupy Tunisia for most of the eight hundred years, introduced Christianity. After several attempts starting in 647, the Arabs conquered the whole of Tunisia by 697, the Ottomans held sway for over three hundred years. The French colonization of Tunisia occurred in 1881, Tunisia gained independence with Habib Bourguiba and declared the Tunisian Republic in 1957. In 2011, the Tunisian Revolution resulted in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the country voted for parliament again on 26 October 2014, and for President on 23 November 2014. The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis, an urban hub. The present form of the name, with its Latinate suffix -ia, the French derivative Tunisie was adopted in some European languages with slight modifications, introducing a distinctive name to designate the country. Other languages remained untouched, such as the Russian Туни́с and Spanish Túnez, in this case, the same name is used for both country and city, as with the Arabic تونس, and only by context can one tell the difference. The name Tunis can be attributed to different origins and it is generally associated with the Berber root ⵜⵏⵙ, transcribed tns, which means to lay down or encampment
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Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
38.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
39.
Samarkand
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Samarkand, alternatively Samarqand or Samarcand, is a city in modern-day Uzbekistan and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia. Prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, at times Samarkand was one of the greatest cities of Central Asia, by the time of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, it was the capital of the Sogdian satrapy. The city was taken by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, the city was ruled by a succession of Iranian, Persian, and Turkic peoples until the Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered Samarkand in 1220. Today, Samarkand is the capital of Samarqand Region, and Uzbekistans second largest city, the city is noted for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century it became the capital of the empire of Timur and is the site of his mausoleum, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the citys most notable landmarks. The Registan was the ancient center of the city, the city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts, embroidery, gold embroidery, silk weaving, engraving on copper, ceramics, carving, and painting on wood. In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures, the name probably originates in the Sogdian words asmara, stone, rock and kand, fort, town. Along with Bukhara, Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia, archeological excavations held within the city limits as well as suburban areas unearthed evidence of human activity as early as 40,000 years old, in the late Paleolithic era. A group of Mesolithic era archeological sites were discovered at Sazagon-1, Zamichatosh, the Syob and Dargom canals, supplying the city and its suburbs with water, appeared around the 7th to 5th centuries BC. There is no evidence when Samarkand was founded. Researchers of the Institute of Archeology of Samarkand argue for the existence of the city between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Samarkand has been one of the main centres of Sogdian civilization from its early days. By the time of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia it had become the capital of the Sogdian satrapy, Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand in 329 BC. The city was known as Maracanda by the Greeks, written sources offer small clues as to the subsequent system of government. They tell of an Orepius who became ruler not from ancestors, while Samarkand suffered significant damage during Alexanders initial conquest, the city recovered rapidly and under the new Hellenic influence flourished. There were also major new construction techniques, oblong bricks were replaced with square ones and superior methods of masonry, Alexanders conquests introduced into Central Asia classical Greek culture, at least for a time the Greek models were followed closely by the local artisans. After the Kushan era the city declined, it did not really revive until the 5th century, Samarkand was conquered by the Sassanians around 260 AD. Under Sassanian rule, the became an essential site for Manichaeism. After the Hephtalites conquered Samarkand, they controlled it until the Göktürks, in an alliance with the Sassanid Persians, the Turks ruled over Samarkand until they were defeated by the Sassanids during the Göktürk–Persian Wars
40.
Seville
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Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir, the inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Its Old Town, with an area of 4 square kilometres, the Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe, Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. It later became known as Ishbiliya after the Muslim conquest in 712, in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Spal is the oldest known name for Seville and it appears to have originated during the Phoenician colonisation of the Tartessian culture in south-western Iberia and, according to Manuel Pellicer Catalán, meant lowland in the Phoenician language. During Roman rule, the name was Latinised as Hispalis, nO8DO is the official motto of Seville. It is popularly believed to be a rebus signifying the Spanish No me ha dejado, meaning It has not abandoned me, the eight in the middle represents a madeja, or skein of wool. The emblem is present on the flag and features on city property such as manhole covers. Seville is approximately 2,200 years old, the passage of the various civilisations instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical centre. The city was known from Roman times as Hispalis, important archaeological remains also exist in the nearby towns of Santiponce and Carmona. The walls surrounding the city were built during the rule of Julius Caesar. Following Roman rule, there were successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals, the Suebi, Seville was taken by the Moors, Muslims from North of Africa, during the conquest of Hispalis in 712. It was the capital for the kings of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Moorish urban influences continued and are present in contemporary Seville, for instance in the custom of decorating with herbaje and small fountains the courtyards of the houses. However, most buildings of the Moorish aesthetic actually belong to the Mudéjar style of Islamic art, developed under Christian rule and inspired by the Arabic style. Original Moorish buildings are the Patio del Yeso in the Alcázar, the city walls, in 1247, the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon began the conquest of Andalusia. The decisive action took place in May 1248 when Ramon Bonifaz sailed up the Guadalquivir, the city surrendered on 23 November 1248. The citys development continued after the Castilian conquest in 1248, Public buildings constructed including churches, many of which were built in the Mudéjar style, and the Seville Cathedral, built during the 15th century with Gothic architecture
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Morocco
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Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco
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Aden
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Aden is a port city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea, some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people, Adens ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of a dormant volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. This harbour, Front Bay, was first used by the ancient Kingdom of Awsan between the 5th and 7th centuries BC, the modern harbour is on the other side of the peninsula. Aden gives its name to the Gulf of Aden, Aden consists of a number of distinct sub-centres, Crater, the original port city, Maalla, the modern port, Tawahi, known as Steamer Point in the colonial period, and the resorts of Gold Mohur. Aden encloses the eastern side of a vast, natural harbour that comprises the modern port, the volcanic peninsula of Little Aden forms a near-mirror image, enclosing the harbour and port on the western side. Little Aden became the site of the oil refinery and tanker port, both were established and operated by British Petroleum until they were turned over to Yemeni government ownership and control in 1978. From March to July 2015, the Battle of Aden raged between Houthis and loyalists to President Hadi, water, food, and medical supplies ran short in the city. On 14 July, the Saudi Army launched an offensive to retake Aden for Hadis government, within three days the Houthis had been removed from the city. A local legend in Yemen states that Aden may be as old as human history itself, some also believe that Cain and Abel are buried somewhere in the city. The ports convenient position on the sea route between India and Europe has made Aden desirable to rulers who sought to possess it at times throughout history. The same work describes Aden as a village by the shore, there is no mention of fortification at this stage, Aden was more an island than a peninsula as the isthmus was not then so developed as it is today. Although the pre-Islamic Himyar civilization was capable of building large structures, fortifications at Mareb and other places in Yemen and the Hadhramaut make it clear that both the Himyar and the Sabean cultures were well capable of it. Thus, watch towers, since destroyed, are possible, however, the Arab historians Ibn al Mojawir and Abu Makhramah attribute the first fortification of Aden to Beni Zureea. Abu Makhramah has also included a biography of Muhammad Azim Sultan Qamarbandi Naqsh in his work. The aim seems to have been twofold, to hostile forces out and to maintain revenue by controlling the movement of goods. In its original form, some of work was relatively feeble. After 1175 AD, rebuilding in a solid form began. According to Muqaddasi, Persians formed the majority of Adens population in the 10th century, the envoys boarded three treasure ships and set sail from Sumatra to the port of Aden
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Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
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Narbonne
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Narbonne is a commune in southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies 849 km from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture, once a prosperous port, and a major city in Roman times, it is now located about 15 km from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is marginally the largest commune in Aude, although the prefecture is the slightly smaller commune of Carcassonne, Narbonne is linked to the nearby Canal du Midi and the Aude River by the Canal de la Robine, which runs through the centre of town. The towns original name is very ancient, the earliest known record of its original name is by the Greek Hecataeus of Miletus in the fifth century BC. In ancient inscriptions the name is rendered in Latin and sometimes translated into Iberian as Nedhena. Narbonne was established in Gaul by the Romans in 118 BC, as Colonia Narbo Martius and it was located on the Via Domitia, the first Roman road in Gaul, built at the time of the foundation of the colony, and connecting Italy to Spain. In addition, it was crossed by the Aude River, surviving members of Julius Caesars Legio X Equestris were given lands in the area that today is called Narbonne. Politically, Narbonne gained importance as a competitor to Massalia, Julius Caesar settled veterans from his 10th Legion there and attempted to develop its port while Marseille was supporting Pompey. Among the amenities of Narbonne, its rosemary-flower honey was famous among Romans, later, the province of Transalpine Gaul was renamed Gallia Narbonensis after the city, which became its capital. Seat of an administration, the city enjoyed economic and architectural expansion. At that point, the city is thought to have had 30, 000–50,000 inhabitants, according to Hydatius, in 462 the city was handed over to the Visigoths by a local military leader in exchange for support, as a result Roman rule ended in the city. It was subsequently the capital of the Visigothic province of Septimania, for 40 years, from 719, Narbonne was part of the Umayyad Empire with a strong Gothic presence. The Carolingian Pepin the Short conquered Narbonne from the Muslims in 759 after which it part of the Carolingian Viscounty of Narbonne. He invited, according to Christian sources, prominent Jews from the Caliphate of Bagdad to settle in Narbonne, in the 12th century, the court of Ermengarde of Narbonne presided over one of the cultural centers where the spirit of courtly love was developed. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Narbonne was home to an important Jewish exegetical school, Jews had settled in Narbonne from about the 5th century, with a community that had risen to approximately 2000 in the 12th century. At this time, Narbonne was frequently mentioned in Talmudic works in connection with its scholars, one source, Abraham ibn Daud of Toledo, gives them an importance similar to the exilarchs of Babylon. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the community went through a series of ups, Narbonne itself fell into a slow decline in the 14th century, for a variety of reasons. One was due to a change in the course of the Aude River, the Aude river had a long history of overflowing its banks
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Marseille
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Marseille, also known as Marseilles in English, is a city in France. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Massalia, Marseille was the most important trading centre in the region, Marseille is now Frances largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture, together with Košice, Slovakia and it hosted the European Football Championship in 2016, and will be the European Capital of Sport in 2017. The city is home to campuses of Aix-Marseille University and part of one of the largest metropolitan conurbations in France. Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the centre of the third largest metropolitan area in France after Paris, further east still are the Sainte-Baume, the city of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the artists colony of lEstaque, further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre, the citys main thoroughfare stretches eastward from the Old Port to the Réformés quarter. Two large forts flank the entrance to the Old Port—Fort Saint-Nicolas on the south side and Fort Saint-Jean on the north. Further out in the Bay of Marseille is the Frioul archipelago which comprises four islands, one of which, If, is the location of Château dIf, the main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at rue St Ferréol and the Centre Bourse. To the south east of central Marseille in the 6th arrondissement are the Prefecture and the fountain of Place Castellane. To the south west are the hills of the 7th arrondissement, the railway station—Gare de Marseille Saint-Charles—is north of the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement, it is linked by the Boulevard dAthènes to the Canebière. Marseille has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid winters and warm to hot, december, January, and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of around 12 °C during the day and 4 °C at night. Marseille is officially the sunniest major city in France with over 2,900 hours of sunshine while the average sunshine in France is around 1,950 hours, less frequent is the Sirocco, a hot, sand-bearing wind, coming from the Sahara Desert. Snowfalls are infrequent, over 50% of years do not experience a single snowfall, Massalia, whose name was probably adapted from an existing language related to Ligurian, was the first Greek settlement in France. It was established within modern Marseille around 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. The connection between Massalia and the Phoceans is mentioned in Thucydidess Peloponnesian War, he notes that the Phocaean project was opposed by the Carthaginians, the founding of Massalia has also been recorded as a legend. Protis was invited inland to a banquet held by the chief of the local Ligurian tribe for suitors seeking the hand of his daughter Gyptis in marriage, at the end of the banquet, Gyptis presented the ceremonial cup of wine to Protis, indicating her unequivocal choice
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Genoa
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Genoa is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015,594,733 people lived within the administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Genoa, over 1.5 million people live in the wider metropolitan area stretching along the Italian Riviera. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba due to its glorious past, part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006. The citys rich history in notably its art, music. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Niccolò Paganini, Giuseppe Mazzini, Genoa, which forms the southern corner of the Milan-Turin-Genoa industrial triangle of north-west Italy, is one of the countrys major economic centres. The city has hosted massive shipyards and steelworks since the 19th century, the Bank of Saint George, founded in 1407, is among the oldest in the world and has played an important role in the citys prosperity since the middle of the 15th century. Today a number of leading Italian companies are based in the city, including Fincantieri, Selex ES, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS, Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone, Piaggio Aerospace, the Genoa area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC. In ancient times this area was frequented and inhabited by Ligures, Phoenicians, Phocaeans, Greeks, and Etruscans. The city cemetery, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, testifies to the occupation of the site by the Greeks, but the fine harbour probably saw use much earlier, perhaps by the Etruscans. In the 5th century BC was founded the first oppidum at the foot of the today called the Castle Hill which now is inside the medieval old town. The ancient Ligurian city was known as Stalia, so referred to by Artemidorus Ephesius and Pomponius Mela, Ligurian Stalia was overshadowed by the powerful Marseille and Vada Sabatia, near modern Savona. Stalia had an alliance with Rome through a foedus aequum in the course of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginians accordingly destroyed it in 209 BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the Carthaginian Wars ended in 146 BC. it received municipal rights, the original castrum thenceforth expanded towards the current areas of Santa Maria di Castello and the San Lorenzo promontory. Trades included skins, wood, and honey, goods were shipped to the mainland, up to major cities like Tortona and Piacenza. Among the archeological remains from the Roman period, an amphitheatre was also found, another theory traces the name to the Etruscan word Kainua which means New City and still another from the Latin word ianua, related to the name of the God Janus, meaning door or passage. The latter is in reference to its position at the centre of the Ligurian coastal arch. The Latin name, oppidum Genua, is recorded by Pliny the Elder as part of the Augustean Regio IX Liguria, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogoths occupied Genoa
