1.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as Al-Aqsa and Bayt al-Muqaddas, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem. Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey, Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the seventeenth month after the emigration, when God directed him to turn towards the Kaaba. The mosque was destroyed by an earthquake in 746 and rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur in 754. His successor al-Mahdi rebuilt it again in 780, another earthquake destroyed most of al-Aqsa in 1033, but two years later the Fatimid caliph Ali az-Zahir built another mosque which has stood to the present day. When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they used the mosque as a palace and the Dome of the Rock as a church, but its function as a mosque was restored after its recapture by Saladin in 1187. More renovations, repairs and additions were undertaken in the centuries by the Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans, the Supreme Muslim Council. Today, the Old City is under Israeli control, but the remains under the administration of the Jordanian/Palestinian-led Islamic Waqf. Al-Masjid al-Aqsa translates from Arabic into English as the farthest mosque, for centuries, al-Masjid al-Aqsa referred not only to the mosque, but to the entire sacred sanctuary, while al-Jami al-Aqsa referred to the specific site of the mosque. This changed during the period of Ottoman rule when the complex came to be known as al-Haram al-Sharif. The al-Aqsa Mosque is located on the Temple Mount, referred to by Muslims today as the Haram al-Sharif, at the time of the Second Temple, the present site of the mosque was occupied by the Royal Stoa, a basilica running the southern wall of the enclosure. The Royal Stoa was destroyed along with the Temple during the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE, however, remains identified as those of the Nea Church were uncovered in the south part of the Jewish Quarter in 1973. Analysis of the beams and panels removed from the mosque during renovations in the 1930s shows they are made from Cedar of Lebanon. Radiocarbon dating indicates a range of ages, some as old as 9th-century BCE. These included a mosaic like those used in Byzantine churches, the current construction of the al-Aqsa Mosque is dated to the early Umayyad period of rule in Palestine. However, Arculf visited Palestine during the reign of Muawiyah I and this latter claim is explicitly supported by the early Muslim scholar al-Muthahhar bin Tahir. According to several Muslim scholars, including Mujir ad-Din, al-Suyuti, and al-Muqaddasi, however, the entire Haram al-Sharif was meant to represent a mosque. The bridge would have spanned the street running just outside the wall of the Haram al-Sharif to give direct access to the mosque. Direct access from palace to mosque was a feature in the Umayyad period
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
Al-Aqsa Mosque Masjid al-Aqsa
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
The mosque along the southern wall of Haram al-Sharif
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
The doors of the Saladin Minbar, early 1900s. The
minbar was built on
Nur al-Din 's orders, but installed by Saladin
Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
The dome of the mosque in 1982. It was made of aluminum (and looked like silver), but replaced with its original lead plating in 1983
2.
Jerusalem
–
Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
From upper left: Jerusalem skyline viewed from Givat ha'Arba,
Mamilla, the
Old City and the
Dome of the Rock, a
souq in the
Old City, the
Knesset, the
Western Wall, the
Tower of David and the
Ottoman Old City walls
Jerusalem
–
Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim)
Arabic: القُدس (al-Quds)
Aramaic: יְרוּשְׁלֶם (Yərushəlem)
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
Stepped Stone Structure in
Ophel /
City of David, the oldest part of Jerusalem
3.
Geographic coordinate system
–
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
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
4.
List of religions and spiritual traditions
–
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, beliefs and world views that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes to moral values. While religion is hard to define, one model of religion, used in religious studies courses, was proposed by Clifford Geertz. A critique of Geertzs model by Talal Asad categorized religion as an anthropological category, many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws, or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos, according to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world. The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, Certain religions also have a sacred language often used in liturgical services. Religious beliefs have also used to explain parapsychological phenomena such as out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences and reincarnation. A group of monotheistic traditions sometimes grouped with one another for comparative purposes, oriental Orthodox Churches, Includes the Armenian Apostolic, Coptic, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, as well as a portion of the St. Thomas Christians in India. Greek Old Calendarists Russian Old Believers Bezpopovtsy Popovtsy Spiritual Christianity Doukhobor Molokan Certain Christian groups are difficult to classify as Eastern or Western, irenaeus wrote polemics against them from the standpoint of the then-unified Catholic Church. They are definitely of ancient Israelite origin, but their status as Jews is disputed, falasha or Beta Israel Noahidism Noahidism is a monotheistic ideology based on the Seven Laws of Noah, and on their traditional interpretations within Rabbinic Judaism. According to Jewish law, non-Jews are not obligated to convert to Judaism and they derive from African traditional religions, especially of West and Central Africa, showing similarities to the Yoruba religion in particular. co. uk section on major world religions
List of religions and spiritual traditions
–
Religious symbols in clock-wise order:
Judaism,
Christianity,
Islam,
Bahá'í Faith,
Hinduism,
Taoism,
Buddhism,
Sikhism,
Slavic neopaganism,
Celtic polytheism,
Heathenism (German paganism),
Semitic neopaganism,
Wicca,
Kemetism (Egyptian paganism),
Hellenism,
Italo-Roman neopaganism.
5.
Islam
–
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
Islam
–
The
Kaaba, in
Mecca,
Hejaz region, today's
Saudi Arabia, is the
center of Islam.
Muslims from all over the world gather there to
pray in unity.
Islam
–
The dome of the
Carol I Mosque in
Constanța,
Romania, topped by the
Islamic crescent
Islam
–
Medallion showing "
Allah " (
God) in
Hagia Sophia,
Istanbul,
Turkey.
Islam
–
An
angel presenting
Muhammad and his companions with a miniature city. In the
Topkapi Palace Library,
Istanbul.
6.
Architectural style
–
An architectural style is characterized by the features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. A style may include such elements as form, method of construction, building materials, styles therefore emerge from the history of a society. They are documented in the subject of architectural history, at any time several styles may be fashionable, and when a style changes it usually does so gradually, as architects learn and adapt to new ideas. Styles often spread to places, so that the style at its source continues to develop in new ways while other countries follow with their own twist. A style may also spread through colonialism, either by foreign colonies learning from their home country, one example is the Spanish missions in California, brought by Spanish priests in the late 18th century and built in a unique style. After a style has gone out of fashion, revivals and re-interpretations may occur, for instance, classicism has been revived many times and found new life as neoclassicism. Each time it is revived, it is different, the Spanish mission style was revived 100 years later as the Mission Revival, and that soon evolved into the Spanish Colonial Revival. Vernacular architecture works slightly differently and is listed separately and it is the native method of construction used by local people, usually using labour-intensive methods and local materials, and usually for small structures such as rural cottages. It varies from region to region even within a country, as western society has developed, vernacular styles have mostly become outmoded due to new technology and to national building standards. Paul Jacobsthal and Josef Strzygowski are among the art historians who followed Riegl in proposing grand schemes tracing the transmission of elements of styles across great ranges in time and this type of art history is also known as formalism, or the study of forms or shapes in art. Terms originated to describe architectural periods were often applied to other areas of the visual arts, and then more widely still to music, literature. In architecture stylistic change often follows, and is possible by. While many architectural styles explore harmonious ideals, Mannerism wants to take style a step further and explores the aesthetics of hyperbole, Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial qualities. Mannerism favours compositional tension and instability rather than balance and clarity, the definition of Mannerism, and the phases within it, continues to be the subject of debate among art historians. An example of mannerist architecture is the Villa Farnese at Caprarola. in the country side outside of Rome. The proliferation of engravers during the 16th century spread Mannerist styles more quickly than any previous styles, a center of Mannerist design was Antwerp during its 16th-century boom. Through Antwerp, Renaissance and Mannerist styles were introduced in England, Germany. During the Mannerist Renaissance period, architects experimented with using architectural forms to emphasize solid, the Renaissance ideal of harmony gave way to freer and more imaginative rhythms
Architectural style
–
The Architect's Dream by Thomas Cole (1840) shows a vision of buildings in the historical styles of the Western tradition, from Ancient Egypt through to Classical Revival
Architectural style
–
The rhyolitic
tuff portal of the "church house" at
Colditz Castle,
Saxony, designed by Andreas Walther II (1584), is an example of the exuberance of "Antwerp Mannerism".
Architectural style
–
Town Hall of
Zamość by
Bernardo Morando.
7.
Umayyad architecture
–
Umayyad architecture developed in the Umayyad Caliphate between 661 and 750, primarily in its heartlands of Syria and Palestine. The Umayyad caliphate was established in 661 after Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, was murdered in Kufa, muawiyah I, governor of Syria, became the first Umayyad caliph. The Umayyads made Damascus their capital, the Umayyads built new cities, often unfortified military camps that provided bases for further conquests. Wasit, Iraq was the most important of these, and included a square Friday mosque with a hypostyle roof, the empire was secular and tolerant of existing customs in the conquered lands, creating resentment among those looking for a more theocratic state. In 747 a revolution began in Khorasan, in the east, by 750 the Umayyads had been overthrown by the Abbasids, who moved the capital to Mesopotamia. A branch of the Umayyad dynasty continued to rule in Iberia until 1051, almost all monuments from the Umayyad period that have survived are in Syria and Palestine. The sanctuary of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is the oldest surviving Islamic building, the Umayyads adopted the construction techniques of the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. There was some innovation in decoration and in types of building, most buildings in Syria were of high quality ashlar masonry, using large tightly-joined blocks, sometimes with carving on the facade. Stone barrel vaults were used to roof small spans. Wooden roofs were used for spans, with the wood in Syria brought from the forests of Lebanon. These roofs usually had shallow pitches and rested on wooden trusses, wooden domes were constructed for Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, both in Jerusalem. Baked brick and mud brick were used in Mesopotamia, due to lack of stone, where brick was used in Syria, the work was in the finer Mesopotamian style rather than the more crude Byzantine style. The Umayyads used local workers and architects, some of their buildings cannot be distinguished from those of the previous regime. However, in many eastern and western elements were combined to give a distinctive new Islamic style. For example, the walls at Qasr Mshatta are built from cut stone in the Syrian manner, the horseshoe arch appears for the first time in Umayyad architecture, later to evolve to its most advanced form in al-Andalus. Umayyad architecture is distinguished by the extent and variety of decoration, including mosaics, wall painting, sculpture, the Umayyads are known for their desert palaces, some new and some adapted from earlier forts. The largest is Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, the palaces were symbolically defended by walls, towers and gates. In some cases the outside walls carried decorative friezes, the palaces would have a bath house, a mosque, and a main castle
Umayyad architecture
–
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem
Umayyad architecture
–
Part of the facade of the
Qasr Mshatta in Jordan, now held in the
Pergamon Museum, Berlin
Umayyad architecture
–
Mosaic in the audience room of the bath house of
Hisham's Palace, Palestine
Umayyad architecture
–
The
Dome of the Chain (Qubbet as-Silsilla) on the Temple Mount in Jersalem, much renovated version of structure first built in 691
8.
Abbasid architecture
–
Abbasid architecture developed in the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 945, primarily in its heartland of Mesopotamia. The Abbasids inherited Persian architectural traditions in Mesopotamia, and were influenced by Central Asian styles. They evolved distinctive styles of their own, particularly in decoration of their buildings, while the Abbasids lost control of large parts of their empire after 850, their architecture continued to be copied by successor states in Iran, Egypt and North Africa. In 750 the Abbasids seized power from the Umayyad rulers of the Arab empire, the Abbasid caliphs based in what is now Iraq ruled over Iran, Mesopotamia, Arabia and the lands of the eastern and southern Mediterranean. The period between 750 and 900 has been described as the Islamic Golden Age, where the Umayyads had typically reused pre-Islamic buildings in the cities they had conquered, by the Abbasid era many of these structures required replacement. The spread of Muslim beliefs had also brought changes in needs, the Abbasids had to erect mosques and palaces, as well as fortifications, houses, commercial buildings and even facilities for racing and polo matches. In 762 the caliph al-Mansur founded a new capital of Baghdad on the Tigris, in 836 the caliph al-Mutasim transferred the capital to Samarra. The Abbasids began to control over the outlying parts of the empire, with local dynasties gaining effective independence in Khorasan in eastern Iran, Egypt. The caliph al-Mutamid, by now the effective ruler only of Iraq, in 945 the Buyids, followers of Shia Islam, became effective rulers as amirs, while the Abbasid caliphs retained their nominal title. With Caliph al-Nasir the Abbasids once again gained control of Iraq, early Abbasid architecture was very similar to the architecture of the Sassanid Empire, as exemplified by the Palace of Ukhaidhir. It used the techniques, the same materials of mud brick, baked brick and rough stone blocks set in mortar. With the conquest of Central Asia, the influence of Soghdian architecture increased, in Samarra the stucco and wall paintings are similar to that of the palaces of Panjakent in what is now Tajikistan. Later, in the 12th and 13th centuries, architecture in the lands ruled by the Abbasids became dominated by Seljuk architecture, Abbasid cities were laid out on huge sites. The palaces and mosques of Samarra sprawled along the shores of the Tigris for 40 kilometres. To match the scale of the sites, monumental buildings were erected, such as the huge spiral minarets of the Abu Dulaf Mosque and the Great Mosque of Samarra, which had no counterparts elsewhere. The two-centered pointed arch and vault had appeared before the Abbasids took power, the first fully developed example of the four-centered pointed arch was at the Qasr al-Ashiq, built between 878 and 882. Three new types of decoration were developed in Samarra and rapidly became popular elsewhere. The first two styles may be seen as derivative from Late Antique or Umayyad decorative styles, but the third is entirely new, style C used molds to create repeating patterns of curved lines, notches, slits, and other elements
Abbasid architecture
–
Spiral minaret of the
Great Mosque of Samarra
Abbasid architecture
–
Fragments of stucco from Samarra, including paintings, carvings and abstract patterns
Abbasid architecture
–
Abbasid palace of Ukhaider near Karbala, Iraq
Abbasid architecture
–
Abbasid-period buildings being excavated in Jerusalem. Palestine was neglected by the Abbasids, and was mainly a society of peasant farmers.
9.
Ottoman architecture
–
Ottoman architecture is the architecture of the Ottoman Empire which emerged in Bursa and Edirne in 14th and 15th centuries. For almost 400 years Byzantine architectural artifacts such as the church of Hagia Sophia served as models for many of the Ottoman mosques, overall, Ottoman architecture has been described as Byzantine architecture synthesized with architectural traditions of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Ottomans achieved the highest level architecture in their lands hence or since, today, one finds remnants of Ottoman architecture in certain parts of its former territories under decay. With the establishment of the Ottoman Empire, the years 1300–1453 constitute the early or first Ottoman period and this period witnessed three types of mosques, tiered, single-domed and subline-angled mosques. The Hacı Özbek Mosque in İznik, the first important center of Ottoman art, is the first example of an Ottoman single-domed mosque, the domed architectural style evolved from Bursa and Edirne. The Holy Mosque in Bursa was the first Seljuk mosque to be converted into a domed one, among these are the Fatih Mosque, Mahmutpaşa Mosque, the tiled palace and Topkapı Palace. The Ottomans integrated mosques into the community and added soup kitchens, theological schools, hospitals, Turkish baths, during the classical period mosque plans changed to include inner and outer courtyards. The inner courtyard and the mosque were inseparable, the master architect of the classical period, Mimar Sinan, was born in 1489/1490 in Kayseri and died in Istanbul in the year 1588. Sinan started a new era in world architecture, creating 334 buildings in various cities, Mimar Sinans first important work was the Şehzade Mosque completed in 1548. His second significant work was the Süleymaniye Mosque and the surrounding complex, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne was built during the years 1568–74, when Sinan was in his prime as an architect. The Rüstempaşa, Mihriman Sultan, Ibrahimpasa Mosques and the Şehzade, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman, Roxelana, most classical period design used the Byzantine architecture of the neighboring Balkans as its base, and from there, ethnic elements were added creating a different architectural style. During the reign of Ahmed III and under the impetus of his grand vizier İbrahim Paşa, due to its relations with France, Ottoman architecture began to be influenced by the Baroque and Rococo styles that were popular in Europe. The Baroque style is noted as first being developed by Seljuk Turks, examples of the creation of this art form can be witnessed in Divriği hospital and mosque a UNESCO world heritage site, Sivas Çifteminare, Konya İnce Minare museum and many more. It is often called the Seljuk Baroque portal, from here it emerged again in Italy, and later grew in popularity among the Turks during the Ottoman era. Various visitors and envoys were sent to European cities, especially to Paris, to experience the contemporary European customs, the decorative elements of the European Baroque and Rococo influenced even the religious Ottoman architecture. On the other hand, Mellin, a French architect, was invited by a sister of Sultan Selim III to Istanbul and depicted the Bosphorus shores and the pleasure mansions placed next to the sea. During a thirty-year period known as the Tulip Period, all eyes were turned to the West, however, it was about this time when the construction on the Ishak Pasha Palace in Eastern Anatolia was going on. Beginning with this period, the class and the elites in the Ottoman Empire started to use the open
Ottoman architecture
–
Blue Mosque in Istanbul, a World Heritage Site and example of the classical style period of Ottoman architecture, showing Byzantine influence.
Ottoman architecture
–
Traditional Ottoman house in
Safranbolu
Ottoman architecture
–
Traditional Macedonian
Ottoman -style house in
Ohrid,
Macedonia
Ottoman architecture
–
Early
Ottoman period house in
Cumalıkızık
10.
Minaret
–
A minaret, from Arabic, منارة manāra, lit. lighthouse, also known as Goldaste, is a distinctive architectural structure akin to a tower and typically found adjacent to mosques. Generally a tall spire with a conical or onion-shaped crown, usually either free-standing or taller than associated support structure, the basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery. Styles vary regionally and by period, minarets provide a visual focal point and are traditionally used for the Muslim call to prayer. The purpose of minarets in traditional Eastern region architecture is to serve as a system for a building in very hot climates. That buildings of middle eastern origins have such outstanding features is architecturally intentional, however in modern times, with the invention of the modern air conditioners, the purpose of minarets has changed to traditional symbol. The minaret would be equipped with a speaker that would call people to prayers in Muslim countries. In addition to providing a visual cue to a Muslim community, the call to prayer is issued five times each day, dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. In most modern mosques, the adhān is called from the musallah via microphone to a system on the minaret. Around 80 years after Muhammads death, the first known minarets appeared, minarets have been described as the gate from heaven and earth, and as the Arabic language letter aleph. The massive minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia is the oldest standing minaret and its construction began during the first third of the 8th century and was completed in 836 CE. The imposing square-plan tower consists of three sections of decreasing size reaching 31.5 meters, considered as the prototype for minarets of the western Islamic world, it served as a model for many later minarets. The tallest minaret, at 210 metres is located at the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, the tallest brick minaret is Qutub Minar located in Delhi, India. In some of the oldest mosques, such as the Great Mosque of Damascus, the basic form of minarets consists of three parts, a base, shaft, and a gallery. For the base, the ground is excavated until a foundation is reached. Gravel and other supporting materials may be used as a foundation, minarets may be conical, square, cylindrical, or polygonal. Stairs circle the shaft in a fashion, providing necessary structural support to the highly elongated shaft. The gallery is a balcony that encircles the upper sections from which the muezzin may give the call to prayer, styles and architecture can vary widely according to region and time period. Here are a few styles and the localities from which they derive, Tunisia Quadrangular, turkish 1,2,4 or 6 minarets related to the size of the mosque
Minaret
–
The oldest standing minaret is in
Tunisia 's
Great Mosque of Kairouan.
Minaret
–
Minaret (malwiya) of the
Great Mosque of Samarra
Minaret
–
Square three-tiered minaret (the oldest in existence) of the
Mosque of Uqba (Great Mosque of
Kairouan),
Tunisia
11.
Temple Mount
–
The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram esh-Sharif, a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem, is one of the most important religious sites in the world. It has been venerated as a site for thousands of years by Judaism, Christianity. The present site is dominated by three monumental structures from the early Umayyad period, the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, Herodian walls and gates with additions dating back to the late Byzantine and early Islamic periods cut through the flanks of the Mount. Currently it can be reached through eleven gates, ten reserved for Muslims and one for non-Muslims, the Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism, which regards it as the place where Gods divine presence is manifested more than in any other place. According to the rabbinic sages whose debates produced the Talmud, it was here the world expanded into its present form. Several passages in the Hebrew Bible indicate that during the time when they were written, the Temple Mount was identified as Mount Zion. The Mount Zion mentioned in the parts of the Book of Isaiah, in the Book of Psalms. The name later migrated for a last time, this time to Jerusalems Western Hill, according to the Bible, both Jewish Temples stood at the Temple Mount, though archaeological evidence only exists for the Second Temple. However, the identification of Solomons Temple with the area of the Temple Mount is widespread, according to the Bible the site should function as the center of all national life—a governmental, judicial and religious center. During the Second Temple period it functioned also as an economic center, according to Jewish tradition and scripture, the First Temple was built by King Solomon the son of King David in 957 BCE and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The second was constructed under the auspices of Zerubbabel in 516 BCE, in the 2nd century, the site was used for a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus. It was redeveloped following the Arab conquest, Jewish tradition maintains it is here a Third and final Temple will also be built. The location is the holiest site in Judaism and is the place Jews turn towards during prayer and it was from the Holy of Holies that the High Priest communicated directly with God. The Temple was of importance in Jewish worship, in the Tanakh. In the New Testament it remains the site of events in the life of Jesus. It was to end, proof of a biblical prophecy fulfilled and of Christianitys victory over Judaism with the New Covenant. Among Sunni Muslims, the Mount is widely considered the third holiest site in Islam, revered as the Noble Sanctuary, the location of Muhammads journey to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven, the site is also associated with Jewish biblical prophets who are also venerated in Islam. Muslims preferred to the esplanade as the heart for the Muslim quarter since it had abandoned by Christians
Temple Mount
–
Aerial southern view of the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
–
Jerusalem
Temple Mount
–
The
Holyland Model of Jerusalem in the late
Second Temple period. The large flat expanse was a base for Herod's Temple, in the center. The view is from outside the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount.
Temple Mount
–
The
Trumpeting Place inscription, a stone (2.43x1 m) with
Hebrew inscription לבית התקיעה להב "To the Trumpeting Place" excavated by
Benjamin Mazar at the southern foot of the Temple Mount is believed to be a part of the Second Temple
12.
Old City (Jerusalem)
–
The Old City is a 0.9 square kilometers walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until 1860, when the Jewish neighborhood Mishkenot Shaananim was established, traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four uneven quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter, the Old Citys monumental defensive walls and city gates were built in the years 1535–1542 by the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The current population of the Old City resides mostly in the Muslim and Christian quarters. As of 2007 the total population was 36,965, the breakdown of religious groups in 2006 was 27,500 Muslims,5,681 Christians, not including the 790 Armenians, and 3,089 Jews. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Old City was captured by Jordan, today, the Israeli government controls the entire area, which it considers part of its national capital. However, the Jerusalem Law of 1980, which effectively annexed East Jerusalem to Israel, was declared null, East Jerusalem is now regarded by the international community as part of occupied Palestinian territory. In 2010, Jerusalems oldest fragment of writing was found outside the Old Citys walls, according to the Bible, before King Davids conquest of Jerusalem in the 11th century BCE the city was home to the Jebusites. The Bible describes the city as heavily fortified with a city wall. The city ruled by King David, known as Ir David, or the City of David, was southeast of the Old City walls, outside the Dung Gate. His son King Solomon extended the city walls and then, in about 440 BCE, during the Persian period, Nehemiah returned from Babylon, in 41–44 CE, Agrippa, king of Judea, built a new city wall known as the Third Wall. Muslims occupied Jerusalem in the 7th Century under the second caliph and he granted its inhabitants an assurance treaty. Sophronius believed that Umar, a warrior who led an austere life, was a fulfillment of this prophecy. In the account by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Eutychius, it is said that Umar paid a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and sat in its courtyard. Eutychius adds that Umar also wrote a decree which he handed to the Patriarch, in which he prohibited Muslims gathering in prayer at the site. In 1099, Jerusalem was captured by the Western Christian army of the First Crusade and it remained in their hands until recaptured by the Arab Muslims, led by Saladin and he summoned the Jews and permitted them to resettle in the city. In 1219, the walls of the city were razed by Muazzim Sultan of Damascus, in 1229, by treaty with Egypt, in 1239 he began to rebuild the walls, but they were demolished again by Daud, the emir of Kerak. In 1243, Jerusalem came again under the control of the Christians, the Kharezmian Tatars took the city in 1244 and Sultan Malik al-Muattam razed the walls, rendering it again defenseless and dealing a heavy blow to the citys status
Old City (Jerusalem)
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Old City (Jerusalem)
–
Suleiman I 1530
Old City (Jerusalem)
–
Arab market
Old City (Jerusalem)
–
Old City promenade in snow, 2008
13.
Umayyad Caliphate
–
The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelled Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca, Syria remained the Umayyads main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 and 62 million people, the Umayyad Caliphate was secular by nature. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims, Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that Abrahamic religious groups, should be allowed to practice their own religion, provided that they paid the jizya taxation. The welfare state of both the Muslim and the poor started by Umar ibn al Khattab had also continued, financed by the zakat tax levied only on Muslims. Muawiyas wife Maysum was also a Christian, the relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were stable in this time. Prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments, the employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious assimilation that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Muawiyas popularity and solidified Syria as his power base, the rivalries between the Arab tribes had caused unrest in the provinces outside Syria, most notably in the Second Muslim Civil War of AD 680–692 and the Berber Revolt of 740–743. During the Second Civil War, leadership of the Umayyad clan shifted from the Sufyanid branch of the family to the Marwanid branch. A branch of the family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba, according to tradition, the Umayyad family and Muhammad both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, and they originally came from the city of Mecca. Muhammad descended from Abd Manāf via his son Hashim, while the Umayyads descended from Abd Manaf via a different son, Abd-Shams, the two families are therefore considered to be different clans of the same tribe. However Muslim Shia historians suspect that Umayya was a son of Abd Shams so he was not a blood relative of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai. Umayya was later discarded from the noble family, Sunni historians disagree with this and view Shia claims as nothing more than outright polemics due to their hostility to the Umayyad family in general. While the Umayyads and the Hashimites may have had bitterness between the two clans before Muhammad, the rivalry turned into a case of tribal animosity after the Battle of Badr. The battle saw three top leaders of the Umayyad clan killed by Hashimites in a three-on-three melee and this fueled the opposition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the grandson of Umayya, to Muhammad and to Islam. Abu Sufyan sought to exterminate the adherents of the new religion by waging another battle with Muslims based in Medina only a year after the Battle of Badr and he did this to avenge the defeat at Badr. The Battle of Uhud is generally believed by scholars to be the first defeat for the Muslims, as they had incurred greater losses than the Meccans
Umayyad Caliphate
–
Umayyad Caliphate in 750
Umayyad Caliphate
–
Flag
Umayyad Caliphate
–
History of Afghanistan
14.
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
–
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan was the 5th Umayyad caliph. He was born in Medina, Hejaz, Abd al-Malik was a well-educated man, the 14th-century Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun stated that Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan is one of the greatest Arab and Muslim Caliphs. He followed in the footsteps of Umar ibn al-Khattab, the Commander of the Believers, the Byzantines were led by Leontios at the Battle of Sebastopolis in 692 in Asia Minor and were decisively defeated by al-Malik after the defection of a large contingent of Slavs. The Islamic currency was made the only currency of exchange in the Muslim world. Also, many reforms happened in his time relating to agriculture, al-Malik extended and consolidated Muslim rule, made Arabic the state language and organised a regular postal service. Abd al-Malik spent most of his life in Medina with his father. There, he developed relationships with the religious circles of the city. He studied Islamic jurisprudence under Umm Darda as Sughra in Damascus, at 16, he was given limited responsibilities by Muawiya II. In 683, he and his father were out of Medina by local rebels. On the way to Damascus, he crossed paths with the Syrian army and he was responsible for the giving of useful advice and information that helped to end that problem. His father was appointed to be caliph in 684 but only created a feud between the northern and southern Arab tribes. Before his ascent to power, he was found in the Mosque praying or reading the Quran to the extent that he was known as the Dove of the Mosque. However, shortly after receiving the news that he was to succeed the caliphate, he closed the Quran and said Farewell, since it is now a question of government of the Muslims, I have no need for the din of Allah or the Quran. Abd al-Malik became caliph after the death of his father Marwan I in 685, within a few years, he dispatched armies on a campaign to reassert Umayyad control over the Islamic empire. He first defeated the governor of Basra, Musab ibn al-Zubayr, in Iraq, he was facing three distinct groups that were fighting amongst themselves and against Umayyad control. Al-Zubayr was the more dangerous of the three, as he had been named caliph in Mecca and other provinces were getting behind him, Abd al-Malik bided his time for three years while they weakened themselves. During this hiatus, al-Zubayrs brother, Musab, defeated the Shia in 687 and he was initially unsuccessful in 689, as he needed to return to Damascus to help quell a rebellion. Again, in 690, he met with failure, only after the northern tribes had finally capitulated in 691 did success start
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
–
Possibly Abd al-Malik depicted on a coin
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
–
Gold Dinar of
Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan minted at
Damascus,
Syria in
AH 75 (= 697/98
CE) having weight of almost 4.25 grams.
15.
Second Temple
–
The Second Temple was the Jewish Holy Temple which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period, between 516 BCE and 70 CE. Jewish eschatology includes a belief that the Second Temple will be replaced by a future Third Temple, the accession of Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire in 559 BCE made the re-establishment of the city of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple possible. According to the Bible, when the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem following a decree from Cyrus the Great, the events take place in the second half of the 5th century BCE. Listed together with the Book of Ezra as Ezra-Nehemiah, it represents the chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible. The original core of the book, the memoir, may have been combined with the core of the Book of Ezra around 400 BCE. Further editing probably continued into the Hellenistic era, the book tells how Nehemiah, at the court of the king in Susa, is informed that Jerusalem is without walls and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as governor of the province Yehud Medinata, there he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israels enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the law of Moses. After 12 years in Jerusalem, he returns to Susa but subsequently revisits Jerusalem and he finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Jewish wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law. A wide interest was felt in this movement, although it was regarded with mixed feelings by the spectators. The Samaritans made proposals for co-operation in the work, Zerubbabel and the elders, however, declined all such cooperation, feeling that the Jews must build the Temple without help. Immediately evil reports were spread regarding the Jews, according to Ezra 4,5, the Samaritans sought to frustrate their purpose and sent messengers to Ecbatana and Susa, with the result that the work was suspended. Seven years later, Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple, on his death, the false Smerdis, an impostor, occupied the throne for some seven or eight months, and then Darius became king. It was ready for consecration in the spring of 516 BCE, the Book of Haggai includes a prediction that the glory of the second temple would be greater than that of the first. Some of the artifacts from the Temple of Solomon are not mentioned in the sources after its destruction in 597 BCE. In the Second Temple, the Kodesh Hakodashim was separated by curtains rather than a wall as in the First Temple. Still, as in the Tabernacle, the Second Temple included, The Menorah for the Hekhal The Table of Showbread The golden altar of incense, with golden censers. According to the Mishnah, the Foundation Stone stood where the Ark used to be, the Second Temple also included many of the original vessels of gold that had been taken by the Babylonians but restored by Cyrus the Great. According to the Babylonian Talmud, however, the Temple lacked the Shekinah, the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, and the Ruach HaKodesh, judea became at that moment part of the Seleucid empire of Syria
Second Temple
–
Model of Herod's Temple (a renovation of the Second Temple) in the
Israel Museum, created in 1966 as part of the
Holyland Model of Jerusalem. The model was inspired by the writings of
Josephus.
Second Temple
–
This picture shows the temple as imagined in 1966 in the
Holyland Model of Jerusalem.
Second Temple
–
James Tissot - Reconstruction of Jerusalem and the Temple of Herod -
Brooklyn Museum
Second Temple
–
2A model of the Southern wall and Royal Colonnade
16.
Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)
–
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War. The siege ended with the sacking of the city and the destruction of its Second Temple, the destruction of both the first and second temples is still mourned annually as the Jewish fast Tisha BAv. The Arch of Titus, celebrating the Roman sack of Jerusalem, at one point they destroyed the food stocks in the city, a drastic measure thought to have been undertaken perhaps in order to enlist a merciful Gods intervention on behalf of the besieged Jews. Titus began his siege a few days before Passover, surrounding the city, the thrust of the siege began in the west at the Third Wall, north of the Jaffa Gate. By May, this was breached and the Second Wall also was taken shortly afterwards, leaving the defenders in possession of the Temple and the upper and lower city. The Jewish defenders were split into factions, John of Gischalas group murdered another faction leader, Eleazar ben Simon, the enmities between John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora were papered over only when the Roman siege engineers began to erect ramparts. Titus then had a built to girdle the city in order to starve out the population more effectively. Titus was almost captured during this attack, but escaped. Overlooking the Temple compound, the fortress provided a point from which to attack the Temple itself. Battering rams made little progress, but the fighting itself eventually set the walls on fire, destroying the Temple was not among Titus goals, possibly due in large part to the massive expansions done by Herod the Great mere decades earlier. Titus had wanted to seize it and transform it into a dedicated to the Roman Emperor. The fire spread quickly and was out of control. The Temple was captured and destroyed on 9/10 Tisha BAv, at the end of August, Josephus described the scene, As the legions charged in, neither persuasion nor threat could check their impetuosity, passion alone was in command. Crowded together around the many were trampled by their friends, many fell among the still hot and smoking ruins of the colonnades. As they neared the Sanctuary they pretended not even to hear Caesars commands, the partisans were no longer in a position to help, everywhere was slaughter and flight. Most of the victims were citizens, weak and unarmed, butchered wherever they were caught. Round the Altar the heaps of corpses grew higher and higher, while down the Sanctuary steps poured a river of blood, josephuss account absolves Titus of any culpability for the destruction of the Temple, but this may merely reflect his desire to curry favor with the Flavian dynasty. The Roman legions quickly crushed the remaining Jewish resistance, some of the remaining Jews escaped through hidden underground tunnels, while others made a final stand in the Upper City
Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)
–
Catapulta, by
Edward Poynter (1868).
Siege engines such as this were employed by the
Roman army during the siege.
Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)
–
Progress of the Roman army during the siege.
Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)
–
The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by
David Roberts (1850).
Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)
–
Stones from the Western Wall of the
Temple Mount (Jerusalem) thrown onto the street by Roman soldiers on the Ninth of Av, 70
17.
Islamic architecture
–
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day. What today is known as Islamic architecture was influenced by Persian, Roman, Byzantine, further east, it was also influenced by Chinese and Indian architecture as Islam spread to Southeast Asia. The principal Islamic architectural types are, the Mosque, the Tomb, the Palace, from these four types, the vocabulary of Islamic architecture is derived and used for other buildings such as public baths, fountains and domestic architecture. Symbolic views of scholars on Islamic architecture have consistently been criticized by historians for lacking historical evidence. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is one of the most important buildings in all of Islamic architecture and it is patterned after the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Byzantine Christian artists were employed to create its elaborate mosaics against a golden background. The great epigraphic vine frieze was adapted from the pre-Islamic Syrian style, the Dome of the Rock featured interior vaulted spaces, a circular dome, and the use of stylized repeating decorative arabesque patterns. Desert palaces in Jordan and Syria served the caliphs as living quarters, reception halls, and baths, the horseshoe arch became a popular feature in Islamic structures. After the Moorish invasion of Spain in 711 AD the form was taken by the Umayyads who accentuated the curvature of the horseshoe. The Great Mosque of Damascus, built on the site of the basilica of John the Baptist after the Islamic invasion of Damascus, certain modifications were implemented, including expanding the structure along the transversal axis which better fit with the Islamic style of prayer. The Abbasid dynasty witnessed the movement of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, the shift to Baghdad influenced politics, culture, and art. The Great Mosque of Samarra, once the largest in the world, was built for the new capital, other major mosques built in the Abbasid Dynasty include the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Abu Dalaf in Iraq, the great mosque in Tunis. Abbasid architecture in Iraq as exemplified in the Fortress of Al-Ukhaidir demonstrated the despotic, the Great Mosque of Kairouan is considered the ancestor of all the mosques in the western Islamic world. Its original marble columns and sculptures were of Roman workmanship brought in from Carthage and it is one of the best preserved and most significant examples of early great mosques, founded in 670 AD and dating in its present form largely from the Aghlabid period. The Great Mosque of Kairouan is constituted of a square minaret, a large courtyard surrounded by porticos. The Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq, completed in 847 AD, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul also influenced Islamic architecture. When the Ottomans captured the city from the Byzantines, they converted the basilica to a mosque, the Hagia Sophia also served as a model for many Ottoman mosques such as the Shehzade Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque. Domes are a structural feature of Islamic architecture. Domes remain in use, being a significant feature of many mosques, the distinctive pointed domes of Islamic architecture, also originating with the Byzantines and Persians, have remained a distinguishing feature of mosques into the 21st century
Islamic architecture
–
The interior side view of the main dome of
Selimiye Mosque in
Edirne, Turkey.
Islamic architecture
–
The large Hypostyle prayer hall in the
Great Mosque of Kairouan, dating in its present form from the 9th century, in Kairouan,
Tunisia.
Islamic architecture
–
The
Great Mosque of Touba,
Senegal.
Islamic architecture
–
The
Great Mosque of Xi'an in
Xi'an,
China.
18.
Bethlehem
–
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city located in the central West Bank, Palestine, about 10 km south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000 people and it is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. The earliest known mention of the city was in the Amarna correspondence of 1350–1330 BCE during its habitation by the Canaanites. The Hebrew Bible, which says that the city of Bethlehem was built up as a city by Rehoboam, identifies it as the city David was from. The New Testament identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus, the church was badly damaged by the Samaritans, who sacked it during a revolt in 529, but was rebuilt a century later by Emperor Justinian I. Bethlehem became part of Jund Filastin following the Muslim conquest in 637, Muslim rule continued in Bethlehem until its conquest in 1099 by a crusading army, who replaced the towns Greek Orthodox clergy with a Latin one. In the mid-13th century, the Mamluks demolished the citys walls, control of Bethlehem passed from the Ottomans to the British at the end of World War I. Bethlehem came under Jordanian rule during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Since the 1995 Oslo Accords, Bethlehem has been administered by the Palestinian Authority, Bethlehem now has a Muslim majority, but is still home to a significant Palestinian Christian community. Bethlehems chief economic sector is tourism, which peaks during the Christmas season when Christians make pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem has over 30 hotels and 300 handicraft workshops. Rachels Tomb, an important Jewish holy site, is located at the entrance of Bethlehem. The earliest reference to Bethlehem appears in the Amarna correspondence, let the king hear the words of your servant Abdi-Heba, and send archers to restore the imperial lands of the king. It is thought that the similarity of name to its modern forms indicates that this was a settlement of Canaanites who shared a Semitic cultural. Lachmo was the Chaldean god of fertility, worshipped by the Canaanites as Lachama, some time in the 3rd millennium BCE, they erected a temple to worship the god on the hill now known as the Hill of the Nativity. The town was known as Beit Lachama, meaning House of Lachama, the Philistines later established a garrison there. The archaeologists were able to identify at least 30 tombs, the Bible also calls it Beth-Lehem Judah, and the New Testament describes it as the City of David. It is first mentioned in the Tanakh and the Bible as the place where the matriarch Rachel died and was buried by the wayside, Rachels Tomb, the traditional grave site, stands at the entrance to Bethlehem. According to the Book of Ruth, the valley to the east is where Ruth of Moab gleaned the fields and it was the home of Jesse, father of King David of Israel, and the site of Davids anointment by the prophet Samuel
Bethlehem
–
Bethlehem overlook
Bethlehem
–
According to the
New Testament,
Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem
–
1698 sketch by
Cornelis de Bruijn
Bethlehem
–
A painting of Bethlehem by
Vasily Polenov, 1882
19.
Muhammad
–
Muhammad is the prophet of Islam. From a secular historical perspective he was a religious, political, from an Islamic perspective, he was Gods Messenger sent to confirm the essential teachings of monotheism preached previously by Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is viewed as the prophet of God in all branches of Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings, practices, born approximately 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, Muhammad was orphaned at an early age, he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad gained few early followers, and met hostility from some Meccan tribes, to escape persecution, Muhammad sent some followers to Abyssinia before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina in the year 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, in Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina. In December 629, after eight years of intermittent conflict with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts, the attack went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed. In 632, a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, he fell ill, before his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. The revelations, which Muhammad reported receiving until his death, form the verses of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the Word of God and around which the religion is based. Besides the Quran, Muhammads teachings and practices, found in the Hadith and sira literature, are upheld by Muslims. The name Muhammad means praiseworthy and appears four times in the Quran, Muhammad is sometimes addressed by designations deriving from his state at the time of the address, thus he is referred to as the enwrapped in Quran 73,1 and the shrouded in Quran 74,1. In Sura Al-Ahzab 33,40 God singles out Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets, the Quran also refers to Muhammad as Aḥmad more praiseworthy. The name Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, begins with the kunya Abū, the Quran is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe it represents the words of God revealed by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad, the Quran, however, provides minimal assistance for Muhammads chronological biography, most Quranic verses do not provide significant historical context. An important source may be found in the works by writers of the 2nd. These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad, which additional information about Muhammads life. The earliest surviving written sira is Ibn Ishaqs Life of Gods Messenger written c.767 CE, although the work was lost, this sira was used verbatim at great length by Ibn Hisham and Al-Tabari. Another early history source is the history of Muhammads campaigns by al-Waqidi, many scholars accept the earliest biographies as accurate, though their accuracy is unascertainable
Muhammad
–
Calligraphic representation of Muhammad's name
Muhammad
–
A folio from an early
Quran, written in
Kufic script (
Abbasid period, 8th–9th century)
Muhammad
–
Arabian peninsula, Byzantine and Sassanid-Persian empires in c.600 CE, on the eve of rise of Islam.
Muhammad
–
Miniature from
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani 's
Jami al-Tawarikh, c. 1315, illustrating the story of Muhammad's role in re-setting the
Black Stone in 605. (
Ilkhanate period)
20.
Foundation Stone
–
The rite of laying a cornerstone is an important cultural component of eastern architecture and metaphorically in sacred architecture generally. Some cornerstones include time capsules from, or engravings commemorating, the time a building was built. Often, the ceremony involved the placing of offerings of grain, wine and these were symbolic of the produce and the people of the land and the means of their subsistence. This in turn derived from the practice in more ancient times of making an animal or human sacrifice that was laid in the foundations. The object of the sacrifice is to give strength and stability to the building and it is believed that the man will die within the year. Not long ago there were still shadow-traders whose business it was to provide architects with the necessary for securing their walls. In these cases the measure of the shadow is looked on as equivalent to the shadow itself, and to bury it is to bury the life or soul of the man, who, deprived of it, must die. Ancient Japan legends talk about Hitobashira, in which maidens were buried alive at the base or near some constructions as a prayer to ensure the buildings against disasters or enemy attacks and this person is usually asked to place their hand on the stone or otherwise signify its laying. Often still, and certainly until the 1970s, most ceremonies involved the use of a manufactured and engraved trowel that had a formal use in laying mortar under the stone. Similarly, a hammer was often used to ceremonially tap the stone into place. Freemasons sometimes perform the public cornerstone laying ceremony for notable buildings and this ceremony was described by The Cork Examiner of 13 January 1865 as follows. After this, Bishop Gregg spread cement over the stone with a specially made for the occasion by John Hawkesworth, a silversmith. He then gave the stone three knocks with a mallet and declared the stone to be duly and truly laid, the Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Munster poured offerings of corn, oil and wine over the stone after Bishop Gregg had declared it to be duly and truly laid. The Provincial Grand Chaplain of the Masonic Order in Munster then read out the prayer, May the Great Architect of the universe enable us as successfully to carry out. The choir and congregation sang the Hundredth Psalm. In Freemasonry, which grew from the practice of stonemasons, the initiate is placed in the north-east corner of the Lodge as a foundation stone. This is intended to signify the unity of the North associated with darkness, a cornerstone will sometimes be referred to as a foundation-stone, and is symbolic of Christ, whom the Apostle Paul referred to as the head of the corner and is the Chief Cornerstone of the Church. Many of the ancient churches will place relics of the saints, especially martyrs
Foundation Stone
–
A cornerstone with bronze relief images
Foundation Stone
Foundation Stone
–
The 1925 cornerstone ceremony of the
Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center
Foundation Stone
–
Ceremonial masonry stone of the
Los Angeles Central Library building, laid in 1925
21.
Binding of Isaac
–
The Binding of Isaac, also known as The Binding and the Akedah or Aqedah, is a story from the Hebrew Bible found in Genesis 22. In the biblical narrative, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah, Abraham begins to comply, Abraham then sees a ram and sacrifices it instead. This episode has been the focus of a deal of commentary in traditional Jewish, Christian. According to the Hebrew Bible, God commands Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, after Isaac is bound to an altar, a messenger from God stops Abraham at the last minute, saying now I know you fear God. Abraham looks up and sees a ram and sacrifices it instead of Isaac, the passage states that the event occurred at the mount of the LORD in the land of Moriah. The location believed to be the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the majority of Jewish religious commentators argue that God was testing Abraham to see if he would actually kill his own son, as a test of his loyalty. However, a number of Jewish Biblical commentators from the medieval era, the early rabbinic midrash Genesis Rabbah imagines God as saying I never considered telling Abraham to slaughter Isaac. Rabbi Yona Ibn Janach wrote that God demanded only a symbolic sacrifice, rabbi Yosef Ibn Caspi wrote that Abrahams imagination led him astray, making him believe that he had been commanded to sacrifice his son. Ibn Caspi writes How could God command such a revolting thing, hertz interprets the Akedah as demonstrating to the Jews that human sacrifice is abhorrent. However, the actions and words of angels are generally understood to derive directly from Gods will, according to this view, Abraham failed to show compassion for his son, so God punished him by ostensibly failing to show compassion for Abrahams son. This is a flawed theory, since the Bible says that God agreed with Sarah. In The Binding of Isaac, Religious Murders & Kabbalah, Lippman Bodoff argues that Abraham never intended to sacrifice his son. Rabbi Ari Kahn elaborates this view as follows, Isaacs death was never a possibility — not as far as Abraham was concerned and this is precisely how the sages of the Talmud understood the Akeida. Citing the Prophet Jeremiah’s exhortation against child sacrifice, they state unequivocally that such behavior never crossed God’s mind, though readers of this parashah throughout the generations have been disturbed, even horrified, by the Akeida, there was no miscommunication between God and Abraham. The thought of actually killing Isaac never crossed their minds, others suggest that Abrahams apparent complicity with the sacrifice was actually his way of testing God. Abraham had previously argued with God to save lives in Sodom, by silently complying with Gods instructions to kill Isaac, Abraham was putting pressure on God to act in a moral way to preserve life. More evidence that Abraham thought that he would not actually sacrifice Isaac comes from Genesis 22,5, the boy and I will go up there, we will worship and we will return to you. By saying we, he meant that both he and Isaac would return, thus, he did not believe that Isaac would be sacrificed in the end
Binding of Isaac
–
The Sacrifice of Isaac by
Caravaggio, in the
Baroque tenebrist manner
Binding of Isaac
–
God commands Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice,
Domenichino
Binding of Isaac
–
Abraham and Isaac (oil on canvas),
Rembrandt, 1634
Binding of Isaac
–
Mosaic on the floor of
Beit Alfa Synagogue depicting the Akedah
22.
Western Wall
–
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is an ancient limestone wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is a small segment of a far longer ancient retaining wall. The Western Wall is considered due to its connection to the Temple Mount. Because of the status quo policy, the Wall is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray, though it is not the holiest site in the Jewish faith, which lies behind it. The original, natural and irregular-shaped Temple Mount was gradually extended to allow for an ever-larger Temple compound to be built at its top, on top of this box-like structure Herod built a vast paved esplanade which surrounded the Temple. Of the four retaining walls, the one is considered to be closest to the former Temple. The term Wailing Wall is not used by Jews and increasingly many others who consider it derogatory, in a broader sense, Western Wall can refer to the entire 488 metre-long retaining wall on the western side of the Temple Mount. The wall has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries, from the mid-19th century onwards, attempts to purchase rights to the wall and its immediate area were made by various Jews, but none was successful. During this period outbreaks of violence at the foot of the wall became commonplace, after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War the Eastern portion of Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan. This period ended on June 10,1967, when Israel gained control of the following the Six-Day War. Three days after establishing control over the Western Wall site the Moroccan Quarter was bulldozed by Israeli authorities to create space for what is now the Western Wall plaza. The earliest Jewish use of the Hebrew term ha-kotel ha-maaravi, the Western Wall, the name Wailing Wall, and descriptions such as wailing place, appeared regularly in English literature during the 19th century. The name Mur des Lamentations was used in French and Klagemauer in German and this term itself was a translation of the Arabic el-Mabka, or Place of Weeping, the traditional Arabic term for the wall. This description stemmed from the Jewish practice of coming to the site to mourn, at some time in the 19th century, the Arabs began referring to the wall as the al-Buraq Wall. This was based on the tradition that inside the wall was the place where Muhammad tethered his miraculous winged steed, al-Buraq. The tradition on which this is based only states that the Prophet, or the angel Jibrail, tethered the steed at the gate of the mosque, meaning, at the gate of the Temple Mount. Israeli archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov concluded that the Muslim association with Western Wall began in the nineteenth century in response to renewed Jewish identification with the site. The Western Wall commonly refers to a 187-foot exposed section of ancient wall situated on the flank of the Temple Mount
Western Wall
–
Western Wall
Western Wall
–
Aerial view of the Temple Mount, with Western Wall at left center.
Western Wall
–
Panorama of the Western Wall with the
Dome of the Rock (left) and
al-Aqsa mosque (right) in the background
Western Wall
–
The Western Wall and Dome of the Rock
23.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
–
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, a few steps away from the Muristan. The tomb is enclosed by the 18th-century shrine, called the Aedicule, within the church proper are the last four Stations of the Via Dolorosa, representing the final episodes of Jesus Passion. The main denominations sharing property over parts of the church are the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic, and to a lesser degree the Egyptian Copts, Syriacs and Ethiopians. According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD built a dedicated to the goddess Venus in order to bury the cave in which Jesus had been buried. The first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, ordered in about 325/326 that the temple be replaced by a church, during the building of the Church, Constantines mother, Helena, is believed to have rediscovered the tomb. Socrates Scholasticus, in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a description of the discovery. The remains are enveloped by a marble sheath placed some 500 years before to protect the ledge from Ottoman attacks. However, there are several thick window wells extending through the marble sheath and they appear to reveal an underlying limestone rock, which may be part of the original living rock of the tomb. The church was starting in 325/326, and was consecrated on 13 September 335. From pilgrim reports it seems that the housing the tomb of Jesus was freestanding at first. Each year, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the anniversary of the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection on 13 September and this building was damaged by fire in May of 614 when the Sassanid Empire, under Khosrau II, invaded Jerusalem and captured the True Cross. In 630, the Emperor Heraclius restored it and rebuilt the church after recapturing the city, after Jerusalem came under Arab rule, it remained a Christian church, with the early Muslim rulers protecting the citys Christian sites. A story reports that the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab visited the church and stopped to pray on the balcony and he feared that future generations would misinterpret this gesture, taking it as a pretext to turn the church into a mosque. Eutychius added that Umar wrote a decree prohibiting Muslims from praying at this location, the building suffered severe damage due to an earthquake in 746. Early in the century, another earthquake damaged the dome of the Anastasis. The damage was repaired in 810 by Patriarch Thomas, in the year 841, the church suffered a fire. In 935, the Orthodox Christians prevented the construction of a Muslim mosque adjacent the Church, in 938, a new fire damaged the inside of the basilica and came close to the rotunda. In 966, due to a defeat of Muslim armies in the region of Syria, the doors and roof were burnt, and the Patriarch John VII was murdered
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
–
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
–
Directly above the
Catholicon, a view of the
Christ Pantocrator in the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
–
Golgotha altar
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
–
View of Holy Sepulchre courtyard
24.
Aelia Capitolina
–
Aelia Capitolina was a Roman colony, built under the emperor Hadrian on the site of Jerusalem, which was in ruins since the siege of 70 AD, leading in part to the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136 AD. Aelia Capitolina remained the name of Jerusalem until 638 AD when the Arabs conquered the city. Jerusalem, once heavily rebuilt by Herod, was still in ruins following the siege of the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 AD. Josephus – a contemporary historian and apologist for Judaism who was born in Jerusalem, was so thoroughly razed to the ground by those that demolished it to its foundations, that nothing was left that could ever persuade visitors that it had once been a place of habitation. When the Roman Emperor Hadrian vowed to rebuild Jerusalem from the wreckage in 130 AD, the Jews awaited with hope, but then after Hadrian visited Jerusalem, he was told that rebuilding the Second Temple would encourage sedition. He then decided to rebuild the city as a Roman colony which would be inhabited by his legionaries, hadrians new plans included temples to the major regional deities, and certain Roman gods, in particular Jupiter Capitolinus. The Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt, which took the Romans three years to suppress, enraged Hadrian, and he determined to erase Judaism from the province. Circumcision was forbidden, Iudaea province was renamed Syria Palaestina and Jews expelled from the city, indeed, following the Bar Kokhba revolt, Emperor Hadrian combined Iudaea Province with neighboring provinces under the new name of Syria Palaestina, dispensing with the name of Judea. The city was renamed Aelia Capitolina, and rebuilt it in the style of a typical Roman town, Jews were prohibited from entering the city on pain of death, except for one day each year, during the holiday of Tisha BAv. Taken together, these measures essentially secularized the city, burial remains from the Byzantine period are exclusively Christian, suggesting that the population of Jerusalem in Byzantine times probably consisted only of Christians. Within the span of a few decades, the city shifted from Byzantine to Persian rule, in the Siege of Jerusalem of 614 AD, after 21 days of relentless siege warfare, Jerusalem was captured. The conquered city would remain in Sassanid hands for some fifteen years until the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius reconquered it in 629, Byzantine Jerusalem was conquered by the Arab armies of Umar ibn al-Khattab in 638 AD. Among Muslims of Islams earliest era it was referred to as Madinat bayt al-Maqdis which was restricted to the Temple Mount, the rest of the city was called Iliya, reflecting the Roman name given the city following the destruction of 70 CE, Aelia Capitolina. Eusebius evidence for continuation of a church at Aelia Capitolina is confirmed by the Bordeaux Pilgrim, the city was without walls, protected by a light garrison of the Tenth Legion, during the Late Roman Period. The detachment at Jerusalem, which apparently encamped all over the western hill, was responsible for preventing Jews from returning to the city. Roman enforcement of this continued through the 4th century. The urban plan of Aelia Capitolina was that of a typical Roman town wherein main thoroughfares crisscrossed the urban grid lengthwise and widthwise, the urban grid was based on the usual central north-south road and central east-west route. Tetrapylones were constructed at the junctions between the main roads
Aelia Capitolina
–
Jerusalem
Aelia Capitolina
–
Jerusalem in the Roman empire under
Hadrian showing the location of the Roman legions
Aelia Capitolina
–
1455 painting of the Holy Land. Jerusalem is viewed from the west; the
Dome of the Rock still retains its octagonal shape, to the right stands Al-Aqsa, shown as a church.
Aelia Capitolina
–
The
Madaba Map depiction of 6th-century
Jerusalem has the
Cardo Maximus, the town’s main street, beginning at the northern gate, today's
Damascus Gate, and traversing the city in a straight line from north to south to "Nea Church"
25.
Holyland Model of Jerusalem
–
The Holyland Model of Jerusalem is a 1,50 scale-model of the city of Jerusalem in the late Second Temple Period. The model was moved from its location at the Holyland Hotel in Bayit VeGan, Jerusalem. The model was designed by Israeli historian and geographer Michael Avi-Yonah based on the writings of Flavius Josephus, the model includes a replica of the Herodian Temple. From 1974, Yoram Tsafrir superintended the Holyland Model of Jerusalem, in 2006, the model was relocated to the southern edge of the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden at the Israel Museum. In preparation for the move, the model was sawn into 1,000 pieces, the Holyland Hotel spent $3.5 million on the move. Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period Replicas of the Jewish Temple Israeli museum website
Holyland Model of Jerusalem
–
Scale model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period, Israel Museum
26.
Temple of Solomon
–
Because of the religious sensitivities involved, and the politically volatile situation in Jerusalem, only limited archaeological surveys of the Temple Mount have been conducted. No archaeological excavations have been allowed on the Temple Mount during modern times, therefore, there are very few pieces of archaeological evidence for the existence of Solomons Temple. The only source of information on the First Temple is the Hebrew Bible, according to the biblical sources, the temple was constructed under Solomon, during the united monarchy of Israel and Judah. The Bible describes a Hiram I of Tyre who furnished architects, workmen and he also co-operated with Solomon in mounting an expedition on the Red Sea. 1 Kings 6,1 puts the date of the beginning of building the temple in the year of Solomons reign over Israel. The conventional dates of Solomons reign are circa 970 to 931 BCE and this puts the date of its construction in the mid-10th century BCE. Some scholars have speculated that a Jebusite sanctuary may have occupied the site. 1 Kings 9,10 says that it took Solomon 20 years altogether to build the Temple, the Temple itself finished being built after 7 years. During the united monarchy the Temple was dedicated to Yahweh, the God of Israel, according to the Hebrew Bible, the Temple was plundered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire king Nebuchadnezzar II when the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem during the brief reign of Jehoiachin c. A decade later, Nebuchadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem and after 30 months finally breached the city walls in 587 BCE, subsequently burning the Temple, according to Jewish tradition, the Temple was destroyed on Tisha BAv, the 9th day of Av. The Temple of Solomon is considered to be according to Phoenician design. The detailed descriptions provided in the Tanakh are the sources for reconstructions of its appearance, technical details are lacking, since the scribes who wrote the books were not architects or engineers. Nevertheless, the descriptions have inspired modern replicas of the temple, the usual explanation for the discrepancy between its height and the 30-cubit height of the temple is that its floor was elevated, like the cella of other ancient temples. It was floored and wainscotted with cedar of Lebanon, and its walls, there was a two-leaved door between it and the Holy Place overlaid with gold, also a veil of tekhelet, purple, and crimson and fine linen. It had no windows and was considered the dwelling-place of the name of God, kodesh haKodashim was prepared to receive and house the Ark, and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark, containing the original tablets of the Ten Commandments, was placed therein. When the priests emerged from the place after placing the Ark there. The Hekhal, or Holy Place, is called the greater house and the temple, the word also means palace, was of the same width and height as the Holy of Holies. Its walls were lined with cedar, on which were carved figures of cherubim, palm-trees, and open flowers, chains of gold further marked it off from the Holy of Holies
Temple of Solomon
–
In an artistic representation, King Solomon
dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem (painting by
James Tissot or follower, c. 1896–1902)
Temple of Solomon
–
Plan of Solomon's Temple, published 1905
27.
Herod the Great
–
Herod, also known as Herod the Great and Herod I, was a Roman client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. Vital details of his life are recorded in the works of the 1st century CE Roman–Jewish historian Josephus, Herod also appears in the Christian Gospel of Matthew as the ruler of Judea who orders the Massacre of the Innocents at the time of the birth of Jesus. Despite his successes, including singlehandedly forging a new aristocracy from practically nothing and his reign polarizes opinion amongst scholars and historians, some viewing his legacy as evidence of success, or a reminder of his tyrannical rule. It is generally accepted that Herod was born around 73 BCE in Idumea, however, some authors think that he was born in about 72/71 BCE. He was the son of Antipater the Idumaean, a high-ranked official under ethnarch Hyrcanus II, and Cypros. Herods father was by descent an Edomite whose ancestors had converted to Judaism, Herod was raised as a Jew. A loyal supporter of Hyrcanus II, Antipater appointed his son governor of Galilee in 47 BCE and his elder brother, Phasael, was appointed governor of Jerusalem. Herod enjoyed the backing of Rome, but his brutality was condemned by the Sanhedrin, in 41 BCE, Herod and his brother Phasael, were named as tetrarchs by the Roman leader Mark Antony. They were placed in this role to support Hyrcanus II, later, Antigonus, Hyrcanus nephew, took the throne from his uncle with the help of the Parthians. Herod fled to Rome to plead with the Romans to restore Hyrcanus II to power, the Romans had a special interest in Judea because their general Pompey the Great had conquered Jerusalem in 63 BCE, thus placing the region in the Roman sphere of influence. In Rome, Herod was unexpectedly appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate, Josephus puts this in the year of the consulship of Calvinus and Pollio, but Appian places it in 39 BCE. Herod went back to Judea to win his kingdom from Antigonus, toward the end of the campaign against Antigonus, Herod married the granddaughter of Hyrcanus II, Mariamne, who was also a niece of Antigonus. Herod did this in an attempt to secure his claim to the throne, however, Herod already had a wife, Doris, and a young son, Antipater, and chose therefore to banish Doris and her child. After three years of conflict, Herod and the Romans finally captured Jerusalem and Herod sent Antigonus for execution to Marc Antony, Herod took the role as sole ruler of Judea and the title of basileus for himself, ushering in the Herodian Dynasty and ending the Hasmonean Dynasty. Josephus reports this as being in the year of the consulship of Agrippa and Gallus, but also says that it was exactly 27 years after Jerusalem fell to Pompey, cassius Dio also reports that in 37 BCE the Romans accomplished nothing worthy of note in the area. According to Josephus, Herod ruled for 37 years,34 of them after capturing Jerusalem, as Herods family were converts to Judaism, his religious commitment was questioned by some elements of Jewish society. Herod later executed several members of his own family, including his wife Mariamne I, Herods rule marked a new beginning in the history of Judea. Judea had been ruled autonomously by the Hasmonean kings from 140 BCE until 63 BCE, the Hasmoneans retained their titles, but became clients of Rome after the conquest by Pompey in 63 BCE
Herod the Great
–
Herod
Herod the Great
–
Copper coin of Herod, bearing the legend "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΗΡΩΔΟΥ" ("
Basileōs Hērōdou") on the obverse
Herod the Great
–
Model of Herod's Temple
Herod the Great
–
Bronze coin of Herod the Great, minted at
Samaria.
28.
Bar Kokhba revolt
–
The Bar Kokhba revolt was a rebellion of the Jews of the Roman province of Judea, led by Simon bar Kokhba, against the Roman Empire. Fought circa 132–136 CE, it was the last of three major Jewish–Roman wars, so it is known as The Third Jewish–Roman War or The Third Jewish Revolt. Some historians also refer to it as the Second Revolt of Judea, not counting the Kitos War, the revolt erupted as a result of ongoing religious and political tensions in Judea following on the failure of the First Revolt in 66−70 CE. The Church Fathers and rabbinic literature emphasize governor of Judaea Rufus role in provoking the revolt, in 132, a revolt led by Bar Kokhba quickly spread from Modiin across the country, cutting off the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. Roman Governor Rufus then unsuccessfully engaged the early phase of the uprising, Rufus is last recorded in 132, the first year of the rebellion, whether he died or was replaced is uncertain, but Gargilius Antiques is recorded as the Roman Prefect of Judea during the conflict. Initial rebel victories over the Romans established an independent state of Israel over parts of Judea for over two years, as Bar Kokhba took the title of Nasi. Simon bar Kokhba, the commander of the revolt, was regarded by many Jews as the Messiah, who would restore their national independence. This setback, however, caused Roman Emperor Hadrian to assemble a large scale Roman force from across the Empire, the Roman army was made of six full legions with auxiliaries and elements from up to six additional legions, which finally managed to crush the revolt. The Bar Kokhba revolt resulted in the depopulation of Judean communities. According to Cassius Dio,580,000 Jews perished in the war and many died of hunger. In addition, many Judean war captives were sold into slavery, the Jewish communities of Judea were devastated to an extent which some scholars describe as a genocide. Roman casualties were also considered heavy - XXII Deiotariana was disbanded after serious losses, in addition, some historians argue that Legio IX Hispanas disbandment in the mid-2nd century could also have been a result of this war. In an attempt to erase any memory of Judea or Ancient Israel, Emperor Hadrian wiped the name off the map, the Bar Kokhba revolt greatly influenced the course of Jewish history and the philosophy of the Jewish religion. Despite easing the persecution of Jews following Hadrians death in 138 CE, Jewish messianism was abstracted and spiritualized, and rabbinical political thought became deeply cautious and conservative. The Talmud, for instance, refers to Bar Kokhba as Ben-Kusiba and it was also among the key events to differentiate Christianity as a religion distinct from Judaism. Although Jewish Christians regarded Jesus as the Messiah and did not support Bar Kokhba, after the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 CE, the Roman authorities took measures to suppress the rebellious province of Judea. Instead of a procurator, they installed a praetor as a governor and stationed an entire legion, tensions continued to build up in the wake of the Kitos War, the second large-scale Jewish insurrection in the Eastern Mediterranean, the final stages of which saw fighting in Judea. Historians have suggested reasons for the sparking of the Bar Kokhba revolt, long-term
Bar Kokhba revolt
–
An entrance into an excavated cave used by Bar Kokhba's rebels
Bar Kokhba revolt
–
The first coin issued at the mint of
Aelia Capitolina about 130/132 CE. Reverse: COL[ONIA] AEL[IA] CAPIT[OLINA] COND[ITA] ('The founding of Colonia Aelia Capitolina').
Bar Kokhba revolt
–
Bar Kokhba's tetradrachm.
Obverse: the
Jewish Temple facade with the rising star.
Reverse: A
lulav, the text reads: "to the freedom of Jerusalem"
Bar Kokhba revolt
–
Roman Inscription found near Battir mentioning the 5th and 11th Roman Legions
29.
Byzantine Empire
–
It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
Byzantine Empire
–
Tremissis with the image of
Justinian the Great (r. 527–565) (see
Byzantine insignia)
Byzantine Empire
–
Byzantine
lamellar armour klivanium (Κλιβάνιον) - a predecessor of Ottoman krug
mirror armour
Byzantine Empire
–
The Baptism of Constantine painted by
Raphael 's pupils (1520–1524,
fresco, Vatican City,
Apostolic Palace);
Eusebius of Caesarea records that (as
was common among converts of early Christianity) Constantine delayed receiving
baptism until shortly before his death
Byzantine Empire
–
Restored section of the Theodosian Walls.
30.
Christian pilgrimage
–
Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative and to sites associated with later saints or miracles. The first pilgrimages were made to sites connected with the ministry of Jesus, the Itinerarium Burdigalense, the oldest surviving Christian itinerarium, was written by the anonymous Pilgrim of Bordeaux recounting the stages of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the years 333 and 334. Pilgrimage was encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome and established by Helena, pilgrimages also began to be made to Rome and other sites associated with the Apostles, Saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been apparitions of the Virgin Mary. The Seljuk Turks now systematically disrupted Christian pilgrimage routes, which one of the major factors triggering the crusades later in the 11th century. Under the Ottoman Empire travel in Palestine was once again restricted, Rome has been a major Christian pilgrimage site since the middle ages. Pilgrimages to Rome can involve visits to a number of sites. The stairs were, reputedly, brought to Rome by St. Helena in the 4th Century, for centuries, the Scala Santa has attracted Christian pilgrims who wished to honour the Passion of Jesus. Traditionally, pilgrims in Rome visit the seven churches in 24 hours. This custom, mandatory for each pilgrim in the Middle Ages, was codified in the 16th century by Saint Philip Neri. The seven churches are the four major Basilicas, while the three are San Lorenzo fuori le mura, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme and San Sebastiano fuori le mura. At some point between 818 and 842, during the reign of Alfonso II of Asturias, bishop Theodemar of Iria claimed to have some remains which were attributed to Saint James the Greater. Around the place of the discovery a new settlement and centre of pilgrimage emerged, which was known to the author Usuard in 865, santiago would become in the course of the following century a main Catholic shrine second only to Rome and Jerusalem. In the 12th century, under the impulse of bishop Diego Gelmírez, Compostela became an archbishopric, attracting a large, marian apparitions are also responsible for tens of millions of Christian pilgrimages worldwide. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, in Cova da Iria, Fátima, Portugal, Latin America has a number of pilgrimage sites, which have been studied by anthropologists, historians, and scholars of religion. In Mesoamerica, some pre-date the arrival of Europeans and were transformed to Christian pilgrimage sites. One such is the Hill of Tepeyac with the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe outside Mexico City, HCPT – The Pilgrimage Trust List of Christian pilgrimage sites List of pilgrimage churches Brown, Peter. The Cult of the Saints, Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity, crumrine, N. Ross and E. Alan Morinis. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture, Anthropological Perspectives, database of Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Netherlands Galilean Destinations for Christians Herbermann, Charles, ed
Christian pilgrimage
–
The
Way of St. James (el Camino de Santiago), is the pilgrimage to the
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela where legend has it that the remains of the apostle,
Saint James the Great. The route was declared the first
European Cultural Route by the
Council of Europe in October 1987; it was also named one of
UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 1993.
Christian pilgrimage
–
Revelations
31.
Julian the Apostate
–
Julian, also known as Julian the Apostate, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. A member of the Constantinian dynasty, Julian became Caesar over the provinces by order of Constantius II in 355 and in this role campaigned successfully against the Alamanni. Most notable was his victory over the Alamanni in 357 at the Battle of Argentoratum. In 360 in Lutetia he was proclaimed Augustus by his soldiers, before the two could face each other in battle, however, Constantius died, after naming Julian as his rightful successor. In 363, Julian embarked on an campaign against the Sassanid Empire. Though initially successful, Julian was mortally wounded in battle and died shortly thereafter, Julian was a man of unusually complex character, he was the military commander, the theosophist, the social reformer, and the man of letters. He was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and it was his desire to bring the Empire back to its ancient Roman values in order to, as he saw it, save it from dissolution. He purged the state bureaucracy and attempted to revive traditional Roman religious practices at the expense of Christianity. His anti-Christian sentiment and promotion of Neoplatonic paganism caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate by the church and he was the last emperor of the Constantinian dynasty, the empires first Christian dynasty. Both of his parents were Christians and his paternal grandparents were Western Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and his second wife, Flavia Maximiana Theodora. His maternal grandfather was Julius Julianus, praetorian prefect of the East under emperor Licinius from 315 to 324, the name of Julians maternal grandmother is unknown. Constantius II, Constans I, and Constantine II were proclaimed joint emperors, Julian and Gallus were excluded from public life, were strictly guarded in their youth, and given a Christian education. They were likely saved by their youth and at the urging of the Empress Eusebia, if Julians later writings are to be believed, Constantius would later be tormented with guilt at the massacre of 337. After Eusebius died in 342, both Julian and Gallus were exiled to the estate of Macellum in Cappadocia. Here Julian met the Christian bishop George of Cappadocia, who lent him books from the classical tradition, at the age of 18, the exile was lifted and he dwelt briefly in Constantinople and Nicomedia. He became a lector, an office in the Christian church. Julian studied Neoplatonism in Asia Minor in 351, at first under Aedesius, the philosopher and he was summoned to Constantius court in Mediolanum in 354 and kept there for a year, in the summer and fall of 355, he was permitted to study in Athens. While there, Julian became acquainted with two men who became both bishops and saints, Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great
Julian the Apostate
–
Portrait of Emperor Julian on a bronze coin from
Antioch minted in 360–363
Julian the Apostate
–
19th century depiction of Julian being proclaimed Emperor in Paris at the
Thermes de Cluny, standing on a shield in the
Frankish manner, in February 360.
Julian the Apostate
–
The Church of the Holy Apostles, where Julian brought Constantius II to be buried.
Julian the Apostate
–
Illustration from The Fall of Princes by
John Lydgate (which is a translation of De Casibus Virorum Illustribus by
Giovanni Boccaccio) depicting "the skyn of Julyan". There is no evidence that Julian's corpse was skinned and displayed, and it is likely that the illustrator simply confused the fate of Julian's body with that of Emperor
Valerian.
32.
Al-Walid I
–
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik or Al-Walid I was an Umayyad Caliph who ruled from 705 until his death in 715. His reign saw the greatest expansion of the Caliphate, as successful campaigns were undertaken in Transoxiana in Central Asia, Sind, Hispania in far western Europe and he was born to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and his wife who was from the central Arabian region of Najd. Al-Walid was born in 668 and died in 715, Walid continued the expansion of the Islamic empire that was sparked by his father and was an effective ruler. His father Abd al-Malik had taken the oath of allegiance for Walid during his lifetime, as such the succession of Walid was not contested. His reign was marked by a number of conquests in both the east and west with historians considering his reign as the apex of Islamic power, Walid was married to his first cousin Umm Banin bint Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan. Walid was succeeded by his brother Sulayman and was buried in Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus and his grave is still present to this date. Walid continued his fathers policies of expanding Islamic power through conquests, in 711, Muslim armies crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and began to conquer the Iberian Peninsula using North African Berber troops. By 716, the Visigoths of Iberia had been defeated and Iberia was under Muslim control, in the east, Islamic armies made it as far as the Indus River in 712. Under Walid, the Caliphate stretched from the Iberian Peninsula to India, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf continued to play a crucial role in the organization and selection of military commanders in the East, serving as effectively the viceroy there. Walid paid great attention to the development and expansion of a well-organized military and he built the strongest navy of the Umayyad era which was a key element in Caliphates expansion into Iberia. Like his father, Walid continued to allow Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf free rein, musa ibn Nusayr and his retainer Tariq ibn Ziyad conquered Al-Andalus, whilst Mohammad Bin Qasim Conquered Sindh. Hajjaj was responsible for picking the generals who led the eastern campaigns. Others, such as Walids brother Maslamah, advanced against the Byzantines, muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari describes how Qutayba ibn Muslim, Khurasans governor, led forces extending the Caliphate to the east. Qutayba conquered Samarkand, advanced into Farghana and sent envoys to China, al-Tabari records how Hajjaj tortured Yazid ibn al-Muhallab. Yazid escaped and made his way to Walids brother Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik who granted him refuge, Hajjaj pressed Walid about this and Walid commanded Sulayman to send him Yazid in chains. Sulayman had his own son approach Walid chained to Yazid and spoke in favour of Yazids safety, Walid accepted this and told Hajjaj to desist. Walid began the first major building projects of Islam, the history of Islamic architecture can be said to have begun in earnest with Walid. Around 701, al-Walid ordered the building of Al-Aqsa Mosque, opposite his fathers Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, Walid repaired and refurbished Masjid al Nabawi in Medina
Al-Walid I
–
Coins of Al-Walid I, found in
Sistan
Al-Walid I
–
Khirbat ul Minya
Al-Walid I
–
Umayyad Mosque built by Walid
33.
Muawiyah I
–
Muawiyah I established the Umayyad Dynasty of the caliphate, and was the second caliph from the Umayyad clan, the first being Uthman ibn Affan. During the first and second caliphates of Abu Bakr and Umar, to stop the Byzantine harassment from the sea, Muawiyah developed a navy in the Levant and used it to confront the Byzantine Empire in the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara. The Caliphate conquered several territories including Cyzicus which were used as naval bases. Muawiyah bin Abi-Sufyan was born in Mecca to Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the Quraysh controlled the city of Mecca and the Banu Abd-Shams were among the most influential of its citizens. The meaning of Muawiyah in Arabic is strength of the arms and his father Abu-Sufyan struggled against Islam until Muhammads army entered Mecca in 630. Muawiyah, Muhammad and Ali shared the same grandfather, ‘Abd Manaf bin Qusay, who had four sons, Hashim, Muttalib, Nawfal. Hashim was the grandfather of Ali and Muhammad. Umayyah bin Abdu Shams was the grandfather of Muawiyah. Muawiyah and remaining members of his family were opponents of the Muslims before the ascendancy of Muhammad, in 630, Muhammad and his followers entered Mecca, and most of the Meccans, including the Abd-Shams clan, formally submitted to Muhammad and accepted Islam. Muawiyah, along with his father Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, became Muslims at the conquest of Mecca, although Muawiyah had been a crypto-Muslim since the 628 Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. Ibn Kathir wrote in his book Al-Bidāya wa-n-nihāya, In terms of his appearance, he was fair and tall, bald with a white head and he was mild-tempered, dignified, dominant and noble amongst the people, generous, just and astute. Muawiyah worked as a scribe for Muhammad, according to al-Baladhuri, Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, relating from his father, Aisha said I went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who was in a room with Umm Habiba on her day. Muawiya knocked on the door and he gave him permission to enter and he had a pen behind his ear which he had not used. The Prophet said, What is this on your ear and he said, A pen which I have made ready for Allah and His Messenger. May Allah repay you well on behalf of your Prophet, during the time of Abu Bakr, Muawiyah used to serve under his brother Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan. Muawiyah was one of the first to be sent into Syria, in May 636, Emperor Heraclius launched a major expedition against the Muslims, but his army was defeated decisively at the Battle of Yarmouk in August 636. In the battle, Muawiyahs brother Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan served under Khalid ibn al-Walid and Abu Ubaydah and was in command of one of the wings, Muawiyahs mother Hind also took part in the battle. Amr ibn al-As was sent to take on the Byzantine Army in Egypt, with limited resources his marriage to Maysum was politically motivated, as she was the daughter of the chief of the Kalb tribe, that was a large Jacobite Christian Arab tribe in Syria
Muawiyah I
–
Umayyad Mosque, established in 715 AD under Caliph Al-Walid, a later successor of Muawiyah.
Muawiyah I
–
Domains of the
Rashidun empire under the first
four caliphs. The "divided phase" relates to the
Rashidun Caliphate of
Ali during the
First Fitna.
Muawiyah I
–
The
Mosque of Uqba, in Tunisia.
34.
Heraclius
–
Heraclius was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 610 to 641. He was responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Roman Empires official language and his rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas. Heracliuss reign was marked by military campaigns. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers, Heraclius immediately took charge of the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628. Soon after, he initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military, Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. The Persian king Khosrau II was overthrown and executed by his son Kavadh II and this way peaceful relations were restored to the two deeply strained empires. Heraclius soon experienced a new event, the Muslim conquests, emerging from the Arabian Peninsula, the Muslims quickly conquered the Sassanid empire. In 634 the Muslims marched into Roman Syria, defeating Heracliuss brother Theodore, within a short period of time, the Arabs conquered Mesopotamia, Armenia and Egypt. Heraclius entered diplomatic relations with the Croats and Serbs in the Balkans and he tried to repair the schism in the Christian church in regard to the Monophysites, by promoting a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism. The Church of the East was also involved in the process, eventually, however, this project of unity was rejected by all sides of the dispute. Heraclius was the eldest son of Heraclius the Elder and Epiphania, of an Armenian family from Cappadocia, beyond that, there is little specific information known about his ancestry. His father was a key general during Emperor Maurices war with Bahrām Chobin, usurper of the Sassanid Empire, after the war, Maurice appointed Heraclius the Elder to the position of Exarch of Africa. In 608, Heraclius the Elder renounced his loyalty to the Emperor Phocas, the rebels issued coins showing both Heraclii dressed as consuls, though neither of them explicitly claimed the imperial title at this time. Heracliuss younger cousin Nicetas launched an invasion of Egypt, by 609, he had defeated Phocass general Bonosus. Meanwhile, the younger Heraclius sailed eastward with another force via Sicily, when he reached the capital, the Excubitors, an elite Imperial Guard unit led by Phocass son-in-law Priscus, deserted to Heraclius, and he entered the city without serious resistance. When Heraclius captured Phocas, he asked him Is this how you have ruled, Phocass reply—And will you rule better. —so enraged Heraclius that he beheaded Phocas on the spot. He later had the genitalia removed from the body because Phocas had raped the wife of Photius, a powerful politician in the city. On October 5,610, Heraclius was crowned for a time, this time in the Chapel of St. Stephen within the Great Palace, at the same time he married Fabia
Heraclius
–
Tremissis of Emperor Heraclius.
Heraclius
–
Gold
solidus of Heraclius and his father in consular robes, struck during their revolt against Phocas
Heraclius
–
The assassination of Khosrau II, in a
Mughal manuscript of ca. 1535,
Persian poems are from
Ferdowsi 's
Shahnameh
Heraclius
–
Cherub and Heraclius receiving the submission of Khosrau II; plaque from a cross (
Champlevé enamel over gilt copper, 1160–1170,
Paris,
Louvre).
35.
Frederick Catherwood
–
Frederick Catherwood was an English artist, architect and explorer, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization. He explored Mesoamerica in the mid 19th century with writer John Lloyd Stephens, in 1837, Catherwood was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary member. Thus, they must have made by the native people of the area. Catherwood made visits to Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Palestine and with Joseph Bonomi the Younger made drawings, during a six-week period in 1833, Catherwood was probably the first Westerner to make a detailed survey of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Catherwood developed a reputation as a topographical artist. He perfected a technique which used the camera lucida and supplied the drawings for the panoramas of Jerusalem. In 1836 he met travel writer John Lloyd Stephens in London and they read the account of the ruins of Copán published by Juan Galindo, and decided to try to visit Central America themselves and produce a more detailed and better illustrated account. The expedition came together in 1839 and continued through the year, visiting and documenting dozens of ruins. Stephens and Catherwood are credited for the rediscovery of the Maya civilization, the expedition resulted in the book Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, published in 1841, with text by Stephens and engravings based on the drawings of Catherwood. Stephens and Catherwood returned to Yucatan to make further explorations, resulting in Incidents of Travel in Yucatan in 1843, the following year Catherwood published Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, with 25 colour lithographs from watercolours he made at various ruins. This folio was published in May 1844 simultaneously in London and New York in an edition of 300, some 282 copies are known to survive, mostly held in private collections or libraries. In 1854, Frederick Catherwood was a passenger aboard the steamship Arctic, on 27 September in conditions of poor visibility, the Arctic collided with the French steamer Vesta, and sank with much loss of life, including Catherwood. The Lost Cities of the Mayas, the Life, Art, fox, Stephen R. Transatlantic, Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel, and the Great Atlantic Steamships. Cities of Stone, Stephens & Catherwood in Yucatan, 1839-1842, the Ancient Sun Kingdoms of the Americas, Aztec, Maya, Inca. Von Hagen, Victor W. F. Catherwood, Architect-Explorer of Two Worlds
Frederick Catherwood
–
The figure depicted in this lithograph is presumed to be a representation of Catherwood himself.
Frederick Catherwood
–
Main temple at
Tulum, by Catherwood, from Views of Ancient Monuments.
Frederick Catherwood
–
Lithograph of Stela D.
Copan (1844), from Views of Ancient Monuments.
36.
Shelomo Dov Goitein
–
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
Shelomo Dov Goitein
–
Goitein, ca 1978.
37.
Hebrew University
–
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israels second oldest university established in 1918,30 years before the State of Israel. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot, the worlds largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J. Safra Givat Ram campus. The university has 5 affiliated teaching hospitals including the Hadassah Medical Center,7 faculties, more than 100 research centers, a third of all the doctoral candidates in Israel are studying in the Hebrew University. The first Board of Governors included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber, four of Israels prime ministers are alumni of the Hebrew University. In the last decade, eight researchers and alumni of the University received the Nobel Prize, one was awarded the Fields Medal, one of the visions of the Zionist movement was the establishment of a Jewish university in the Land of Israel. Founding a university was proposed as far back as 1884 in the Kattowitz conference of the Hovevei Zion society, the cornerstone for the university was laid on July 24,1918. The Universitys first Chancellor was Judah Magnes, by 1947, the University had become a large research and teaching institution. Plans for a school were approved in May 1949, and in November 1949. In 1952, it was announced that the institute founded by the University in 1940 would become a full-fledged faculty. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, attacks were carried out against convoys moving between the Israeli-controlled section of Jerusalem and the University. The leader of the Arab forces in Jerusalem, Abdul Kader Husseini, after the Hadassah medical convoy massacre, in which 79 Jews, including doctors and nurses, were slaughtered, the Mount Scopus campus was cut off from Jerusalem. British soldier Jack Churchill coordinated the evacuation of 700 Jewish doctors, when the Jordan government denied Israeli access to Mount Scopus, a new campus was built at Givat Ram in western Jerusalem and completed in 1958. In the interim, classes were held in 40 different buildings around the city, the Terra Santa building in Rehavia, rented from the Franciscan Custodians of the Latin Holy Places, was also used for this purpose. A few years later, together with the Hadassah Medical Organization, by the beginning of 1967, the students numbered 12,500, spread among the two campuses in Jerusalem and the agricultural faculty in Rehovot. After the unification of Jerusalem, following the Six-Day War of June 1967, the University was able to return to Mount Scopus, in 1981 the construction work was completed, and Mount Scopus again became the main campus of the University. On July 31,2002, a member of a terrorist cell detonated a bomb during lunch hour at the Universitys Frank Sinatra cafeteria when it was crowded with staff and students. Nine people — five Israelis, three Americans, and one dual French-American citizen — were murdered and more than 70 wounded, World leaders, including Kofi Annan, President Bush, and the President of the European Union issued statements of condemnation. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Rothberg International School, the Rothberg International School features secular studies and Jewish/Israeli studies
Hebrew University
–
Establishment of the Hebrew University and laying of the cornerstone, 1918
Hebrew University
–
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University
–
National Library of Israel, Givat Ram, established 1892
Hebrew University
–
the building of
Academy of the Hebrew Language in Givat Ram campus, established 1890
38.
Drum (architecture)
–
A tholobate or drum, in architecture, is the upright part of a building on which a dome is raised. It is generally in the shape of a cylinder or a polygonal prism, other examples of churches of this type are St Pauls Cathedral in London, and the churches of the Les Invalides, the Val-de-Grâce, and the Sorbonne in Paris. Tambour This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
Drum (architecture)
–
Tholobate atop
Kingston City Hall in
Canada
Drum (architecture)
–
Tholobate on
Harichavank Monastery in
Armenia
39.
Dome of the Chain
–
Dome of the Chain is a free-standing dome located adjacently east of the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem. One of the oldest structures on the Haram ash-Sharif, it is not a mosque or shrine, the Umayyad design of the building has largely remained unaltered by later restorations. In addition to being a house, the dome was used as a treasury for the local Muslim community. In 1187, the building was returned to Muslim use after Saladin captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders, in 1199–1200, the ceiling and pavings were renewed by the ruling Ayyubids. The Christians re-used the place in 1240–1244, before it reverted to Muslim use, the structure was renovated by the Mamluk sultan Baybars. The latters renovations likely involved the refacing of the mihrab with marble, in 1561, under the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the tiles of the mihrab were glazed and later in 1760, more tile work was done. The last major restoration undertaken at the Dome of the Chain was commissioned by the Islamic waqf of Jerusalem in 1975-76, the Dome of the Chain owes its name to an ancient legend during King Solomons rule. If two men approached it to solve a point of litigation, only the honest and upright man could take hold of it, the unjust man saw it move out of his reach. The building in Islamic tradition is the spot where Judgment Day will occur in the end of days, notably, the mihrab in the al-Aqsa Mosque is located exactly in the middle of the qibla wall of the Temple Mount on north-south axis with the Dome of the Chain. The building consists of a structure with two concentric open arcades, that is, with no lateral walls closing it in. The dome, resting on a drum, is made of timber and is supported by six columns which together create the inner arcade. The second, outer row of eleven columns creates an eleven-sided outer arcade, the qibla wall contains the mihrab or prayer niche and is flanked by two smaller columns. There are a total of seventeen columns in the structure, excluding the mihrab and it is known from historical sources that initially there used to be twenty columns, indicating a radical rebuilding phase, probably in the 13th century. The Dome of the Chain has a diameter of 14 meters, making it the third largest building on the Haram after the al-Aqsa Mosque, according to a number of early Arab historians, the Dome of the Chain was used as a model for the Dome of the Rock. Like the latter, the Dome of the Chain consists of two polygons, with columns bound together by arcades and wooden beams. The Dome of the Rock is three times the size of the Dome of the Chain and the plan and height are relatively proportional. The lack of a wall is an additional issue. The original purpose of the Dome of the Chain is so far unknown
Dome of the Chain
–
The Dome of the Chain served as the model for the construction of the
Dome of the Rock.
Dome of the Chain
–
View of the inner dome, 1919
Dome of the Chain
–
The Dome of the Chain's
mihrab
Dome of the Chain
–
Mosque
40.
Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
–
Abū ʿAlī Manṣūr, better known by his regnal title al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh, was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili imam. Histories of al-Hakim can prove controversial, as views of his life. Born in 985 CE, Abu Ali Mansur was the first Fatimid ruler to have born in Egypt. Al-Ḥākim had blue eyes flecked with reddish gold, Al-Ḥākim was born on Thursday,3 Rābi‘u l-Awwal in 985. His father, Caliph Abū Mansūr al-‘Azīz bil-Lāh, had two consorts, one was an umm al-walad who is only known by the title as-Sayyidah al-‘Azīziyyah or al-‘Azīzah. She was a Melkite Christian whose two brothers were appointed patriarchs of the Melkite Church by Caliph al-‘Azīz, different sources say either one of her brothers or her father was sent by al-‘Azīz as an ambassador to Sicily. Al-‘Azīzah is considered to be the mother of Sitt al-Mulk, one of the most famous women in Islamic history, some, such as the Crusader chronicler William of Tyre, claimed that al-‘Azīzah was also the mother of Caliph al-Ḥākim, though most historians dismiss this. The sage wrote the entire Quran in the surface of a bowl. When al-Ḥākim recovered, she demanded the release of the sage in gratitude and her request was granted and the sage and his associates were freed from prison. Druze sources claim that al-Ḥākims mother was the daughter of ‘Abdu l-Lāh, one of al-Mu‘īzz li Dīn al-Lāhs sons, historians such as Delia Cortese are critical of this claim, t is more likely that this woman was in fact a wife of al-Hakim, rather than his mother. In 996, al-Ḥākims father Caliph al-‘Azīz began a trip to visit Syria, the Caliph fell ill at the beginning of the trip at Bilbeis and lay in sickbed for several days. He suffered from stone with pains in the bowels, when he felt that his end was nearing he charged Qadi Muhammad ibn an-Nu‘man and General Abū Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Ammar to take care of al-Ḥākim, who was then only eleven. He then spoke to his son, Al-Ḥākim later recalled the event, I found him with nothing on his body but rags and bandages. I kissed him, and he pressed me to his bosom, exclaiming, How I grieve for thee, beloved of my heart and he then said, Go, my master, and play, for I am well. I obeyed and began to amuse myself with such as are usual with boys. Barjawan then hastened to me, and seeing me on the top of a tree, exclaimed, Come down, my boy, may God protect you. When I descended he placed on my head the turban adorned with jewels, kissed the ground before me and he then led me out in that attire and showed me to all the people, who kissed the ground before me and saluted me with the title of Khalif. On the following day, he and his new court proceeded from Bilbays to Cairo, behind the camel bearing his fathers body and they arrived shortly before evening prayer and his father was buried the next evening next to the tomb of his predecessor al-Mu‘īzz
Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
–
A portrait of the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim
Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah
–
Al-Ḥākim Mosque
41.
Crusades
–
The First Crusade arose after a call to arms in a 1095 sermon by Pope Urban II. Urban urged military support for the Byzantine Empire and its Emperor, Alexios I, the response to Urbans preaching by people of many different classes across Western Europe established the precedent for later Crusades. Volunteers became Crusaders by taking a vow and receiving plenary indulgences from the church. Some were hoping for apotheosis at Jerusalem, or forgiveness from God for all their sins, others participated to satisfy feudal obligations, gain glory and honour, or find opportunities for economic and political gain. Many modern Historians have polarised opinions of the Crusaders behaviour under Papal sanction, to some it was incongruous with the stated aims and implied moral authority of the papacy and the Crusades, to the extent that on occasions that the Pope excommunicated Crusaders. Crusaders often pillaged as they travelled, while their leaders retained control of captured territory rather than returning it to the Byzantines. During the Peoples Crusade thousands of Jews were murdered in what is now called the Rhineland massacres, Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade rendering the reunification of Christendom impossible. These tales consequently galvanised medieval romance, philosophy and literature, but the Crusades also reinforced the connection between Western Christendom, feudalism, and militarism. Crusade is not a term, instead the terms iter for journey or peregrinatio for pilgrimage were used. Not until the word crucesignatus for one who was signed with the cross was adopted at the close of the century was specific terminology developed. The Middle English equivalents were derived from old French, croiserie in the 13th–15th centuries, croisade appeared in English c1575, and continued to be the leading form till c1760. By convention historians adopt the term for the Christian holy wars from 1095, the Crusades in the Holy Land are traditionally counted as nine distinct campaigns, numbered from the First Crusade of 1095–99 to the Ninth Crusade of 1271/2. Usage of the term Crusade may differ depending on the author, pluralists use the term Crusade of any campaign explicitly sanctioned by the reigning Pope. This reflects the view of the Roman Catholic Church that every military campaign given Papal sanction is equally valid as a Crusade, regardless of its cause, justification, generalists see Crusades as any and all holy wars connected with the Latin Church and fought in defence of their faith. Popularists limit the Crusades to only those that were characterised by popular groundswells of religious fervour – that is, only the First Crusade, Medieval Muslim historiographers such as Ali ibn al-Athir refer to the Crusades as the Frankish Wars. The term used in modern Arabic, ḥamalāt ṣalībiyya حملات صليبية, campaigns of the cross, is a loan translation of the term Crusade as used in Western historiography. The Islamic prophet Muhammad founded Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, the resulting unified polity in the seventh and eighth centuries led to a rapid expansion of Arab power. This influence stretched from the northwest Indian subcontinent, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, southern Italy, tolerance, trade, and political relationships between the Arabs and the Christian states of Europe waxed and waned
Crusades
–
Madrid Skylitzes illuminated manuscript depicting Byzantine Greeks punishing ninth-century
Cretan Saracens
Crusades
–
Map of the
Eastern Mediterranean in 1135, showing crusader-held and neighbouring territories
Crusades
–
Fifteenth-century illustrated French translation of
Boccaccio 's
De Casibus Virorum Illustrium, showing
Seljuk emperor
Alp Arslan ritually humiliating
Romanos IV in 1071 after Manzikert; Alp Arslan allowed Romanos to return to
Constantinople, where he was killed by the Byzantines.
Crusades
–
Illumination from the Livre des Passages d'Outre-mer (c. 1490) of Urban II at the Council of Clermont (from the
Bibliothèque Nationale)
42.
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
–
The Siege of Jerusalem took place from June 7 to July 15,1099, during the First Crusade. The climax of the First Crusade, the siege saw the Crusaders seize Jerusalem from the Fatimid Caliphate. After the successful siege of Antioch in June 1098, the Crusaders remained in the area for the rest of the year, the papal legate Adhemar of Le Puy had died, and Bohemond of Taranto had claimed Antioch for himself. Baldwin of Boulogne remained in Edessa, captured earlier in 1098, there was dissent among the princes over what to do next, Raymond of Toulouse, frustrated, left Antioch to capture the fortress at Maarrat al-Numan in the Siege of Maarat. By the end of the year the minor knights and infantry were threatening to march to Jerusalem without them. Eventually, on January 13,1099 Raymond began the south, down the coast of the Mediterranean, followed by Robert of Normandy and Bohemonds nephew Tancred. On their way the Crusaders besieged Arqa but failed to capture it, therefore, he expelled all of Jerusalems Christian inhabitants. Further march towards Jerusalem met no resistance, on 7 June, the crusaders reached Jerusalem, which had been recaptured from the Seljuqs by the Fatimids only the year before. Many Crusaders wept upon seeing the city they had journeyed so long to reach. As with Antioch the crusaders put the city to a siege, in which the crusaders themselves probably suffered more than the citizens of the city, due to the lack of food and water around Jerusalem. The city was well-prepared for the siege, and the Fatimid governor Iftikhar ad-Daula had expelled most of the Christians, of the estimated 5,000 knights who took part in the Princes Crusade, only about 1,500 remained, along with another 12,000 healthy foot-soldiers. Early in the siege, some low-class knights claimed to have been visited by Adhemar, the papal regate for the crusade and they claimed that this was a Battle of Jericho situation, and that he instructed them to march around the city walls barefoot. They did so for a few days, singing holy chants, after which, Peter the Hermit held religious sermons in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the Mount of Olives, sending the crusading knights lost into religious zeal. It was at time that they were ready for a siege. A direct assault on the walls on June 13 was a failure, without water or food, both men and animals were quickly dying of thirst and starvation and the crusaders knew time was not on their side. Coincidentally, soon after the first assault, two Genoese galleys sailed into the port at Jaffa, the crusaders also began to gather wood from Samaria in order to build siege engines. They were still short on food and water, and by the end of June there was news that a Fatimid army was marching north from Egypt, the prime need of the crusaders was for ladders and siege towers to scale the walls of Jerusalem. The Egyptian Fatimid garrison had cleared the area of trees
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
–
Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders (19th-century artist impression)
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
–
Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (1099)
–
Siege and Capture of Jerusalem, 1099 (13th century miniature)
43.
Knights Templar
–
The order was founded in 1119 and active from about 1129 to 1312. The order, which was among the wealthiest and most powerful, became a favoured charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and they were prominent in Christian finance. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades, the Templars were closely tied to the Crusades, when the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded. Rumours about the Templars secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France – deeply in debt to the order – took advantage of the situation to control over them. In 1307, he had many of the members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions. Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip, the abrupt reduction in power of a significant group in European society gave rise to speculation, legend, and legacy through the ages. The re-use of their name for later organizations has kept the name Templar alive to the modern day, after Europeans in the First Crusade recovered Jerusalem in 1099, many Christians made pilgrimages to various sacred sites in the Holy Land. Although the city of Jerusalem was under relatively secure Christian control, in 1119, the French knight Hugues de Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Warmund, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and proposed creating a monastic order for the protection of these pilgrims. The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what was believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. The Crusaders therefore referred to the Al-Aqsa Mosque as Solomons Temple, and from this location the new order took the name of Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon, or Templar knights. The order, with about nine knights including Godfrey de Saint-Omer and André de Montbard, had few financial resources and their emblem was of two knights riding on a single horse, emphasising the orders poverty. The impoverished status of the Templars did not last long, another major benefit came in 1139, when Pope Innocent IIs papal bull Omne Datum Optimum exempted the order from obedience to local laws. This ruling meant that the Templars could pass freely through all borders, were not required to pay any taxes, with its clear mission and ample resources, the order grew rapidly. One of their most famous victories was in 1177 during the Battle of Montgisard, although the primary mission of the order was military, relatively few members were combatants. The others acted in support positions to assist the knights and to manage the financial infrastructure, the Templar Order, though its members were sworn to individual poverty, was given control of wealth beyond direct donations. A nobleman who was interested in participating in the Crusades might place all his assets under Templar management while he was away, based on this mix of donations and business dealing, the Templars established financial networks across the whole of Christendom. The Order of the Knights Templar arguably qualifies as the worlds first multinational corporation, in the mid-12th century, the tide began to turn in the Crusades. The Muslim world had become united under effective leaders such as Saladin, and dissension arose amongst Christian factions in, and concerning
Knights Templar
–
A
Seal of the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
–
The first headquarters of the Knights Templar, on the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it the
Temple of Solomon and from this location derived their name of Templar.
Knights Templar
–
Battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1187, the turning point in the Crusades
Knights Templar
–
Convent of Christ Castle in Tomar,
Portugal. Built in 1160 as a stronghold for the Knights Templar, it became the headquarters of the renamed
Order of Christ. In 1983, it was named a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
44.
Knights Templar Seal
–
There was also a smaller, single-sided seal, which showed the Dome of the Rock, only. Different seals were used by provincial masters of the order, according to a papal bull issued by Innocent IV in 1251, it was customary for successive provincial masters to use the same seal. MINISTRI TEMPLI1 ARAGON7 CATALON, the reverse of Bertrand de Blancaforts seal, Master of the Temple 1168 in Staatsarchiv Amberg The reverse of Grand Master William de Chartres seal from 1214 also depicts the Dome of the Rock. In heraldry, a Lamb of God is a lamb passant proper, with a halo or charged with a cross gules, and the dexter forelimb reflexed over a cross staff from which a pennon of St. George is flotant. The seals of the Masters of the Temple in England, of Aimery de St Maur,1200, Robert of Sandford,1241, Richard of Hastings, 1160–85, and William de la More,1304, showed the agnus Dei. SIGILLVM TEMPLI The obverse of a used by William de la More, master,1304. The seal is called commune sigillum capituli, the seal symbolic of their vow of poverty, showing two knights riding on one horse appears only to have been used by the order in France, there is no example of its use in England. Some of the seals of the English Templars were a semi-typical Pascal lamb bearing sometimes, not the flag of St George, but the Beauseant, other seals, Durham Cathedral Muniments, Medieval Seal G&B reference number,3388 Knights of the Temple 1304 Description, Round. The Templar Seal showing two knights on one horse, there are many interpretations of the symbolism of this seal. Contemporary legend held that the symbol represented the poverty of the order. Still, the Rule of the Order from the outset permitted three horses and no more for each knight, as well as no Templars sharing the same horse, several masters adopted this seal from the beginning of the order until at least 1298. It is known to have been in use since 1167, the Rule forbids two riders on the same beast. This is the earliest known seal for the Grand Master of the Temple forty years after the Order was formed, use of this symbol continued under subsequent Grand Masters for as long as the Order survived, however the seal went through more than one incarnation. The Reynaut de Vichiers, who was Master of the Temple from 1255-1259 depict same images, the seals of the Grand Masters have textual differences, Blancheforts seal, SIGILLUM MILITUM obverse, CHRISTI DE TEMPLO reverse. While Vichiers motto is written in Latin, the word Christ begins with Greek letters rather than the Latin CHR, the XP symbol arose early in Christianity and entered popular usage after the legendary pre-battle vision of Chi Rho and Christian conversion of the 4th century Roman Emperor Constantine. From the time of Constantine, XP was a significant symbol of Christianity, Early military associations make Chi Rho an apt symbol for the Templars. On de Vichiers seal, Chi Rho is visible on the shields of the knights, the Double-Headed Eagle is more commonly associated with the highest rank earned by a Scottish Rite Mason. Bertram von Esbeck, Master of the Temple in Germany,1296 depicts an eagle with two six-pointed stars, legend, SIGILLUM MILICIE TEMPLI IN DERTOSA Aragon, Alfambra,1248
Knights Templar Seal
–
Seal of Robert of Sandford, the Master of the Temple in 1241 in the British Library
Knights Templar Seal
–
A Knights Templar seal
Knights Templar Seal
–
L'Agnus Dei, seal used by Roncelin de Foz. Second part of the 13th century. Departmental Archives of Marseilles -
Bouches du Rhône.
Knights Templar Seal
–
Fra Arnaude de Banyuls seal; Aragon; Gardeny; Yellow wax, round, 27 mm. in diameter, depicting a cross, with stars in two angles and shields with crosses in the other two. Legend: S. AR..........GARDENNI.
45.
Everard des Barres
–
Everard des Barres was the third Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1147 to 1151. As Preceptor of the Templars in France from 1143, he was one of the highest dignitaries of the Order when Robert de Craon died in 1147. He was chosen to succeed Robert, and as soon as he was elected, he accompanied Louis VII of France on the Second Crusade and he later saved Louis during a battle with the Seljuk Turks in Pisidia. According to the chronicler Odo of Deuil, Everard was extremely pious and he seems to have had a strong influence on Louis. After the failure of the crusade at the Siege of Damascus in 1148, Louis returned to France, followed by Everard, everards Templars stayed behind and helped defend Jerusalem against a Turkish raid in 1149. Back in France, Everard abdicated officially in 1151 and became a monk at Clairvaux and he was succeeded by Bernard de Tremelay and died in 1174
Everard des Barres
–
Armoiries of Everard des Barres
46.
Renaud de Vichiers
–
Renaud de Vichiers was the 19th Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1250 to 1256. He joined the Knights Templar and was appointed Preceptor of Saint-Jean-dAcre in 1240 and Master of France from 1242 to 1249. He was a supporter and comrade-in-arms of Louis IX of France and he shortly quarrelled with Louis, though, over a diplomatic mission of Hugues de Jouy, the Templar Marshal, to Damascus. In 1252 Hugues was banished from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, in 1252 Renaud de Vichiers retired to a monastery where he stayed until his death on 20 January 1256
Renaud de Vichiers
–
Seal of Regnaud de Vichy
Renaud de Vichiers
–
Coat of arms of Renaud de Vichiers
47.
Saladin
–
An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, known as Saladin, was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant, at the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen and other parts of North Africa. When Saladins uncle Shirkuh died in 1169, al-Adid appointed Saladin vizier, in the following years, he led forays against the Crusaders in Palestine, commissioned the successful conquest of Yemen, and staved off pro-Fatimid rebellions in Upper Egypt. Not long after Nur ad-Dins death in 1174, Saladin launched his conquest of Syria, by mid-1175, Saladin had conquered Hama and Homs, inviting the animosity of his former Zengid lords, who had been the official rulers of Syria. Soon after, he defeated the Zengid army at the Battle of the Horns of Hama and was proclaimed the Sultan of Egypt. Saladin made further conquests in northern Syria and Jazira, escaping two attempts on his life by the Assassins, before returning to Egypt in 1177 to address issues there. By 1182, Saladin completed the conquest of Muslim Syria after capturing Aleppo, although the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem continued to exist until the late 13th century, its defeat at Hattin marked a turning point in its conflict with the Muslim powers of the region. Saladin died in Damascus in 1193, having given away much of his wealth to his subjects. He is buried in an adjacent to the Umayyad Mosque. Saladin has become a prominent figure in Muslim, Arab, Turkish and Kurdish culture, Saladin was born in Tikrit in modern-day Iraq. His personal name was Yusuf, Salah ad-Din is a laqab and his family was of Kurdish ancestry, and had originated from the city of Dvin in medieval Armenia. The Rawadid tribe he hailed from had been assimilated into the Arabic-speaking world by this time. Ayyub provided ferries for the army and gave refuge in Tikrit. According to Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, Saladin was born on the night his family left Tikrit. In 1139, Ayyub and his moved to Mosul, where Imad ad-Din Zengi acknowledged his debt. After the death of Zengi in 1146, his son, Nur ad-Din, became the regent of Aleppo, Saladin, who now lived in Damascus, was reported to have a particular fondness for the city, but information on his early childhood is scarce. About education, Saladin wrote children are brought up in the way in which their elders were brought up, several sources claim that during his studies he was more interested in religion than joining the military. Another factor which may have affected his interest in religion was that, during the First Crusade, in addition to Islam, Saladin had a knowledge of the genealogies, biographies, and histories of the Arabs, as well as the bloodlines of Arabian horses
Saladin
–
Artistic representation of Saladin
Saladin
–
Equestrian
statue of Saladin in the Citadel, Damascus, Syria
Saladin
–
Saladin as depicted on a
dirham coin, ca. 1190
Saladin
–
19th-century depiction of a victorious Saladin, by
Gustave Doré.
48.
Crescent
–
A crescent shape is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter, or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. It is used as the symbol for the Moon. It was also the emblem of Diana-Artemis, and hence represented virginity, in Roman Catholic Marian veneration, it is associated with the Virgin Mary. From its use as roof finial in Ottoman era mosques, it has become associated with Islam. The crescent symbol is used to represent the Moon, not necessarily in a particular lunar phase. When used to represent a waxing or waning lunar phase, crescent or increscent refers to the waxing first quarter, the crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in astrology, and by extension of Silver in alchemy. The astrological use of the symbol is attested in early Greek papyri containing horoscopes, in the 2nd-century Bianchinis planisphere, the personification of the Moon is shown with a crescent attached to her headdress. Its ancient association with Ishtar/Astarte and Diana is preserved in the Moon representing the female principle, as such, it belongs to the class of figures known as lune in planar geometry. The tapering towards the points of intersection of the two arcs are known as the horns of the crescent, the word crescent is derived etymologically from the present participle of the Latin verb crescere to grow, technically denoting the waxing moon. Unicode encodes a crescent at U+263D and a decrescent at U+263E, the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block provides variants with faces, FIRST QUARTER MOON WITH FACE at U+1F31B and LAST QUARTER MOON WITH FACE at U+1F31C. The crescent shape is used to represent the Moon, and the Moon deity Nanna/Sin from an early time, visible in Akkadian cylinder seals as early as 2300 BC. The crescent was used in the iconography of the Ancient Near East and was used transplanted by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC as far as Carthage in modern Tunisia. The crescent and star also appears on coins of South Arabia. The combination of star and crescent also arises in the Ancient Near East, representing the Moon and Ishtar and it was inherited both in Sassanian and Hellenistic iconography. In the iconography of the Hellenistic period, the crescent became the symbol of Artemis-Diana, numerous depictions show Artemis-Diana wearing the crescent Moon as part of her headdress. The related symbol of the star and crescent was the emblem of the Mithradates dynasty in the Kingdom of Pontus and was used as the emblem of Byzantium. The crescent remained in use as an emblem in Sassanid Persia, in the Crusades it came to be associated with the Orient and was widely used in Crusader seals and coins. It was used as a charge by the later 13th century
Crescent
–
The Hindu god
Shiva is depicted with the decrescent moon over his head in his locks.
Crescent
–
An example of an artistic crescent — in this case a large circle with a smaller one removed.
Crescent
–
Taq-e Bostan, from the era of
Sassanid Empire of Persia (pre-Islamic era). Note the crescent above the arch.
Crescent
–
Coin of the Sassanid king
Kavadh II. Star and crescent can be found on most of Sassanian coins.
-Jerusalem-Temple_Mount-Dome_of_the_Rock_(SE_exposure).jpg)
