1.
International Convention Center (Jerusalem)
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The International Convention Center, commonly known as Binyenei HaUma, is a concert hall and convention center in Givat Ram in Jerusalem, Israel. It is the largest convention center in the Middle East, Binyenei HaUma was first envisioned by Alexander Ezer and planned by architect Zeev Rechter who won the design competition in 1949. The complex was under construction from 1950 to 1963, though it began operations in 1956 with a meeting of the World Zionist Organization, rechters design was a solid structure faced in Jerusalem stone. Instead of a relief by artists Joseph Zaritsky and Yitzhak Danziger as originally planned. Its largest hall, the Menachem Ussishkin auditorium, seats 3,104, in all,12,000 square metres of exhibit space extend over two levels and ten display areas. Binyenei HaUma is the home of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the complex has hosted many international events, among them the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, Eurovision Song Contest 1999 and the Jerusalem International Book Fair. The trial of John Demjanjuk was held there, plans are being discussed to enlarge the ICC by 30,000 square meters, doubling of the parking space, adding three office towers, commercial space and a hotel. The Center figures as a setting in Robert J. Sawyers 1997 novel Frameshift. It serves as a post-World War II venue for a war crimes trial, International Convention Center official website Jewish Agency for Israel
2.
Jerusalem
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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
3.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
4.
Yardena Arazi
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Yardena Arazi is an Israeli singer and entertainer. Yardena Arazi was born on Kibbutz Kabri and grew up in Haifa, Arazi is the daughter of Jewish immigrants from France and Germany. She joined the Beit Rothschild group at 16 and became its lead vocalist and she did her military service in the Nahal entertainment troupe. Arazi is married to engineer Nathan Tomer, with whom she has a daughter, in the 1970s, Yardena Arazi was a member of the female vocal trio Chocolate, Menta, Mastik along with Leah Lupatin and Rutie Holzman. The group represented Israel in the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Emor Shalom, Arazi left the band in 1978. In 1979, the Israel Broadcasting Authority asked Arazi to co-host the Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem with news anchor Daniel Peer and her hosting received positive reviews across Europe and she participated in TV shows in the Netherlands and Belgium. Arazi was signed to a contract with record label Ariola Records. During this period she met Natan Tomer and decided to return to Israel and she kept performing around the world including Australia, Poland, Turkey, Los Angeles and Egypt. Arazi took part at the Israelis Eurovision domestic competition three times as a singer and as a co-host. In 1988, she was selected internally by IBA to sing the Israeli entry for Eurovision and during a special TV show in which she presented four news songs, eventually, she went to Dublin with the song Ben Adam, which came in seventh. Arazi has always been highly superstitious and consults an astrologer on all matters in her life, the astrologer told her the song performed 9th would win the competition in Dublin, Ireland. Israel had drawn 9th in the order, so Arazi agreed to represent Israel. However, when Cyprus withdrew from the contest, Israels position shifted to 8th, the 9th song did win the competition, with the Swiss triumphing from that position. In 1989 Arazi recorded the album Desert Fantasy than included 10 Hebrew versions of Arabic songs originally written and sung by Farid al-Atrash, Fairuz, Abdul Halim, Samira Said, the album was also released in the US and Japan and was hugely successful all around the middle east. Since 1997 Arazi has focused on her career as a TV host, for 9 years she co-hosted the channel 2 morning magazine Cafe Telad, and later on she hosted at Channel 1, Channel 2, GLZ radio station etc. At 2008 Arazi was named the most popular Israeli singer of all time at the 60th Independence Day celebration, list of Eurovision Song Contest presenters MySpace Homepage Biography
5.
Israel Broadcasting Authority
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Israel Broadcasting Authority is Israels state broadcasting network. It grew out of the radio station Kol Yisrael, which made its first broadcast as an independent station on March 14,1948, the name of the organisation operating Kol Yisrael was changed to Israel Broadcasting Service in 1951. The law creating the Israel Broadcasting Authority was passed by the Knesset on 6 June 1965, however, after some political pressure it may be delayed only for six months to April 30,2017. It operates two channels and eight radio stations. IBAs television stations are free of advertising, but programs are often sponsored by commercial entities. Full advertising on the radio is allowed, however, Israel Broadcasting Authority domestic programming and broadcasts were funded by levying television licence fees upon the owners of television sets until the end of 2015. Also all car owners in Israel pay a radio levy through their car ownership license. IBA broadcasting is covered by the code of ethics set out in the Nakdi Report, the IBA was admitted as a full active member of the European Broadcasting Union in 1957. The decision made by the EBU General Assembly had the effect that two founding broadcasters quit as active members. The IBA provides news programming in 14 foreign languages directed at audiences abroad or in Israel through its IBA News programming available on the internet, IBA does not use short wave for its radio overseas transmissions since the mid 2000s. In 2014, the Israeli cabinet approved reforms that will see the IBA closed, the replacement network will create three separate television channels, a Hebrew, Arabic, and childrens channel. As part of the reforms, the tax levied on all Israelis who own a television to support the IBA has been abolished by March 2015. Eventually the reform did not advance as planned and the target date has been extended to 2018. Eight new national radio stations will be created in place of the existing Kol Israel radio network, Channel 1 - The IBAs main channel. Part of the daytime schedule is made up of broadcasts from Israeli Educational TV. Channel 1 HD - The IBAs main channel, broadcast in HD, currently available only via Hot and YES Channel 33 - News and factual programming during the day, Arabic-language channel in the evening. Kol Yisrael is the name for IBAs radio networks, as well as for the international service. Reshet Bet, popular news, current events, and talk radio station, Reshet Gimmel, radio station devoted to promoting Israeli music
6.
Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Turkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 34 times from their debut in 1975 with the song Seninle Bir Dakika performed by Semiha Yankı, to their withdrawal in 2013. Turkey has always qualified for the final, except the 2011 Contest. Since their debut in the two years Turkey finished last, they scored nul points, before 1997, the countrys only top ten result was achieved by Klips ve Onlar, who placed ninth in 1986. Turkey achieved six top five results between 1997 and 2010, winning once in 2003 with the song Everyway That I Can by Sertab Erener, in 2004, the home entry in Istanbul, For Real by Athena, placed fourth. In 2007, Shake It Up Şekerim by Kenan Doğulu also finished fourth, in 2008, the band Mor ve Ötesi placed seventh. In 2009, Hadise achieved another impressive result for Turkey, finishing in fourth place, in 2010, the nu metal band maNga, achieved Turkeys second best result in the contest, finishing second. Since the introduction of the free language rule as well as televoting, in 1997, Turkey finished third with the song Dinle by Şebnem Paker, who sung all the song in Turkish. The country sent a song partially in English for the first time in 2000 and completely in English in 2003, since 2000, Turkey has had seven entries completely sung in English and four bilingual songs. TRT announced on 14 December 2012 that they would not attend the 2013 competition in Malmö, in September 2013, Turkeys state broadcaster stated a return is unlikely for the 2014 competition, citing the same reasons. Also there was no television broadcast on TRT in 2013 and 2014, test transmissions started on TRT1 on 31 January 1968. A full national television schedule, which at that time linked the areas in and around Ankara, Istanbul, TRT renewed its membership in the European Broadcasting Union starting on 26 August 1972 with Turkeys first Eurovision Network event, a football match, on 13 January 1973. Turkish national broadcaster televised the Eurovision Song Contest between 1973 and 2012 incessantly, even in the years that they werent participating, Turkey debuted to the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1975 Contest, which is the 20th edition of the Contest and held in Stockholm, Sweden. Greece did not participate in the 1975 Contest for unknown reasons according to the EBU, TRT organized a national final for select the first ever Turkish entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest. The final took place on 9 February 1975 in the studios of TRT, the winning song was picked by averaging the ranks from the professional jury and peoples jury as Seninle Bir Dakika by Semiha Yankı. At the close of voting the song had received only 3 points from Monaco, in 1976, Greek entry aroused controversy as it was about the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This time Turkey withdrew from the Contest to protest the political background of the entry of Greece, Panagia Mou, Turkey didnt take part in the Contest until 1978. The 1979 Contest was held in the Israeli capital, Jerusalem, Turkish entry selected as Seviyorum by Maria Rita Epik but Arab countries compelled the Turkish government to withdraw from the Contest because of Arabs state of war with the host country, Israel. So Turkey withdrew from the Contest for the time in 1979
7.
Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 39 times since making its debut in 1973. Israel is able to enter the contest as a Israel Broadcasting Authority member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union, Israel has won the contest three times. Israels first appearance at the contest in 1973 was successful, with Ilanit finishing fourth, Israel then achieved back to back victories in 1978 and 1979, with wins for Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, with the song A-Ba-Ni-Bi and Gali Atari and Milk and Honey, with Hallelujah. The countrys best results in the 1980s were the second-place finishes for Avi Toledano in 1982, former winner Izhar Cohen returned to place fifth in 1985. Duo Datz finished third in 1991, before Israel achieved its third victory in 1998, with Dana International, Eden then finished fifth in 1999. Israel has hosted the contest twice, in 1979 and 1999, in 1980, the IBA declined to host the contest for a second successive year for financial reasons. Instead the contest was held in The Hague, as the date set for the 1980 contest conflicted with Yom Hazikaron – Israeli Memorial Day – Israel did not participate. This is the time that the winning country did not compete the following year. As of 2014, Israel has the record for most participations in the contest without ever coming last, since the Introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In 2014, the failed to qualify for the fourth consecutive year. In 2015, Israel reached the final for the first time in five years, the only Israeli entrant to achieve a better result in the 21st century is Shiri Maimon in 2005, who gave the country its tenth top five result in the contest, finishing fourth. To date there have been three Israeli victories in the contest, Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta won in Paris in 1978 with the uptempo A-Ba-Ni-Bi. On home ground in Jerusalem the following year, Israel won again, unusually, Israel did not defend the title in 1980. The third victory came almost 20 years later in Birmingham in 1998, singer Dana International took top honours with the song Diva, setting off widespread celebrations in Israel. Israels earliest selections were picked by the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the first singer to represent the country in 1973 was Ilanit, who finished 4th. Criticism increased after she was sent again four years later, leading to a rule that the winner of the already established Hebrew Song, the Eurovision Song Contest winners of 1978 and 1979 were selected by this method. From 1981 the selection process was handled by the Kdam Eurovision with the exceptions of 1990,1998,1999,2000, 2002–2004, 2006–2007 and 2010 where the selections were again picked by the IBA. The winner of the 1980 Hebrew Song and Chorus Festival, a band called The Brothers & the Sisters with the song Pizmon Chozer, after winning the contest in 1978 and 1979, the IBA was financially and logistically unable to organise the event for the second consecutive year
8.
Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Malta has never won the contest, although it has twice finished second and twice finished third. Maltas two seconds and two thirds, make it the most successful country not to win the contest, in the last 10 contests, Malta has only once reached the top 10, when Gianluca Bezzina finished eighth in 2013. Together with France, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the only use of the Maltese language was three lines in the 2000 entry Desire, performed by Claudette Pace. The Maltese broadcasters of the show are the Public Broadcasting Services, all shows are transmitted live on TVM and Radio Malta. Also, along with Croatia and Sweden it was the country to never be relegated, under the previous rules of the contest. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition, back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, ^ Spain originally gave its 12 points to Israel and 10 to Norway. After the broadcast it was announced that Spanish broadcaster wrongly tallied the votes and Germany should have got the top mark -12 points - instead of being snubbed, the mistake was corrected and so Germany was placed 7th over Norway
9.
Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 27 times, debuting in 1961 and competing every year until its last appearance in 1992, with the exceptions of 1977–1980 and 1985. Yugoslavia won the 1989 contest and hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1990, ljiljana Petrović was Yugoslavias first entrant in the contest in 1961 and placed eighth. In 1962, Lola Novaković gave the country its first top five result and this would remain Yugoslavias only top five result until 1983, when Danijel finished fourth with the song Džuli. Novi Fosili also finished fourth in 1987 with Ja sam za ples, in 1989, the country achieved its only victory in the contest, when Riva won with the song Rock Me. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961, the first to compete in 1961 were Belgrade, Ljubljana and Zagreb, while the others joined in the following years. During its existence, SFR Yugoslavia was represented by a variety of artists from five of the eight Yugoslav federal units and these artists were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, with Macedonia, Vojvodina, and Kosovo never passing the national pre-selection. Croatia was the most successful constituent republic, as its performers won the national contest 13 out of the 26 times SFR Yugoslavia took part in the contest, from 1977 to 1980, and in 1985, Yugoslavia didnt participate in the contest. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia won the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 with the song Rock Me by the group Riva, following the rules of the contest, the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 took place in Zagreb, as the entry came from Croatia. On 28 March 1992, the countries that still constituted the fading and it included artists not only from Serbia and Montenegro, but also from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although the latter declared independence on 1 March of that year, among it candidates was Alma Čardžić. The winner of that pre-selection was Ljubim te pesmama performed by Extra Nena from Serbia, Yugoslavia was banned from participating in the Song Contest until 2004 due to UN sanctions during the Yugoslav Wars and the Croatian War of Independence. After the dissolution of SFR Yugoslavia its former constituent republics proclaimed independence, the once subnational public radio and TV stations changed to national but under new names, including, RTV Slovenia, HRT, RTS, MKRTV and so on. Since joining the EBU respectively, all of the countries have participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro. The following lists the 27 contestants that won the local competition, note that the selected entries of 1978–1980 and 1985 did not actually compete at the contest, as Yugoslavia did not participate during those years because of internal political reasons. Yugoslavia is one of the few countries that have sent all the songs in one of the official languages, despite this Yugoslavia have had organized national finale for 1978,1979,1980 as part of Opatija music festival. Opatija was not held in 1977, points to and from Yugoslavia eurovisioncovers. co. uk
10.
Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest
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The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is selected by a positional voting system. Each country awards two sets of 12,10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs, one from their professional jury, the current system has been in place since 2016. In 2003, Eircoms telephone polling system malfunction, irish broadcaster RTÉ did not receive the polling results from Eircom in time, and substituted votes by a panel of judges. Between 1997 and 2003, lines were opened to the public for five minutes after the performance. Between 2004 and 2006 the lines were opened for 10 minutes, in 2010 viewers were allowed to vote during the performances, but this was rescinded for the 2012 contest. The BBC contacted regional juries by telephone to choose the 1956 winners, and this method continued to be used until 1993. The following year saw the first satellite linkup to juries, to announce the votes, the contests presenters connect by satellite to each country in turn and inviting a spokesperson to read the countrys votes in French or English. The presenters originally repeated the votes in both languages, but since 2004 the votes have been translated due to time constraints, the scoreboard displays the number of points each country has received and, since 2008, a progress bar indicating the number of countries which have voted. Note The most-used voting system was last used for the 1969 contest and this system was used from 1957 to 1961 and from 1967 to 1969. Ten jurors in each country each cast one vote for their favourite song, in 1969 this resulted in a four-way tie for first place, with no tie-breaking procedure. A second round of voting in the event of a tie was introduced to this system the following year, from 1962 to 1966, a voting system similar to the current one was used. With the latter system, a country could choose to give points to two instead of three, in 1965, Belgium awarded the United Kingdom six points and Italy three. Although it was possible to one country nine points, this never occurred. The 1971,1972, and 1973 contests saw the jurors in vision for the first time, each country was represented by two jurors, one older than 25 and one younger, with at least ten years difference in their ages. Each juror gave a minimum of one point and a maximum of five points to each song, in 1974 the previous system of ten jurors was used, and the following year the current system was introduced. Spokespeople were next seen on screen in 1994 with a link to the venue. The 2004 contest had its first semifinal, with a change in voting. This resulted in Ukraines Ruslana finishing first, with a record 280 points, to date, non-qualifying countries are still allowed to vote in the final
11.
Hallelujah (Gali Atari and Milk & Honey song)
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Hallelujah was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Hebrew by Gali Atari and Milk & Honey for Israel. The group was formed for the purpose of performing in the contest when the original performers. This was the occasion on which the host country had won the Contest. Israel could neither host nor compete in the next Contest, which was scheduled for the day as Yom Hazikaron - Israels Memorial Day. The song is regarded as a classic of the Contest due in no part to the unique performance, in which Atari and her backing singers entered the stage one by one. It was also performed at the end of the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 by all the contestants as a tribute to the victims of the wars in the Balkans. It has also become something of a modern Jewish standard, recognized by many North Americans who might never even have heard of Eurovision and it was performed tenth on the night, following Germanys Dschinghis Khan with Dschinghis Khan and preceding Frances Anne-Marie David with Je suis lenfant soleil. At the close of voting, it had received 125 points, ironically, it was the Spanish jury that gifted the contest to Israel. The song was succeeded as Contest winner in 1980 by Johnny Logan singing Whats Another Year for Ireland, Israel did not enter the 1980 Contest, which would have been held in that country had they entered. Israel returned to the fold for the 1981 Contest, where song was succeeded as Israeli representative by Hakol Over Habibi with Halayla. The husband-and-wife singing duo of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme released the song in early 1979 on Warner Brothers Records, the song was a modest hit on the adult contemporary chart, and the couple also performed it on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. They also recorded a version which was released on Applause Records in 1982. In 1987, the Oshrats composition was covered by Marika Gombitová, Karel Gott and Josef Laufer, as a trio, the song was presented on November 1,1987, and with alternate lyrics by Zdeněk Borovec during the pre-filmed live show Abeceda, G+L created by Česká televize. Music of Israel Culture of Israel Graclík, Miroslav, Nekvapil, Marika Gombitová, An Unauthorized Lifestory of the Legend of Czechoslovak Pop Music. Prague, Czech Republic, XYZ. p.446, slovak Popular Music in the Years 1977–1989 – Marika Gombitová. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14, slovak Popular Music in the Years 1977–1989 – Modus. Lyrics of Hallelujah Lyrics of Hallelujah Eurovision 1979 performance video on YouTube Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme recording on YouTube
12.
Eurovision Song Contest 1978
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1978 was the 23rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 22 April 1978 in Paris, the contest was won by Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta who represented Israel with the song A-Ba-Ni-Bi. Although A-Ba-Ni-Bi is the title, French television mistakenly captioned on screen the song title as Ah-Bah-Nee-Bee. The presenters were Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone, and this was the first time more than one presenter hosted an edition of the Contest, twenty countries participated, a record at the time. The winning entry is a song sung in the Hebrew equivalent of Ubbi dubbi. This was Israels first Eurovision win, the win caused problems for several North African and Middle-Eastern nations that were televising the contest, even though they were not participating. Jordanian TV finished the show with a photo of a bunch of daffodils on screen, norway finished last for the fifth time, gaining the first nul points during the current voting system was implemented in 1975. The venue was built by French architect Guillaume Gillet, and was inaugurated in 1974, björn Skifs was unhappy with the rule that every country would have to perform in their native language. He planned to sing in English anyway, but changed his mind at the very last moment and he therefore sang the first few lines in gibberish before finding the words again. This pattern would repeat over the years, in 1979 Greece took part in the Contest with Sokrati in Jerusalem -. In 1980 both countries returned, with Autostop and Petr Oil respectively, despite Turkeys failure to recognize the Greek government in Cyprus, all three countries performed together when Cyprus debuted in 1981 and it continued until 2012. Denmark returned to the contest this year, for the first time since 1966, the Greek entry this year was a song called Charlie Chaplin, in reference to the comedian who died the previous year. In a curious twist, however, regular entrants Peter, Sue and they lost out at third place however. The song from Monaco also made reference to Charlie Chaplin, each performance had a conductor who maestro the orchestra. Several artists returned to the 1978 Contest, ireen Sheer had previously represented Luxembourg in 1974, and finished in equal fourth place. ^ Contains some words in French, ^ Contains some words in English. Each country had a jury who awarded 12,10,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 points for their top ten songs. Each national broadcaster sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language
13.
Eurovision Song Contest
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The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy since 1951. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956 and it is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia was invited back as a participant in the 2016 contest after their success in 2015, following their success again in 2016, Australia will compete again in 2017. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet via the Eurovision website, winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the winning artists career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion, all of whom launched successful careers after their wins. Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in 1992,1993,1994 and 1996. Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Jamala of Ukraine who won the 2016 contest in Stockholm, under the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is Alexander Rybak of Norway with 387 points in 2009. Satellite television did not exist, and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network, the name Eurovision was first used in relation to the EBUs network by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951. The first contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in more than one song per country was performed, since 1957. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland, the programme was first known as the Eurovision Grand Prix. This Grand Prix name was adopted by Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, the Grand Prix has since been dropped and replaced with Concours in French, but not in Danish or Norwegian. The Eurovision network is used to carry news and sports programmes internationally. However, in the minds of the public, the name Eurovision is most closely associated with the Song Contest, a country as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country, typically, but not always, that countrys national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, during this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries songs, nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared as the winner, the programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show
14.
Eurovision Song Contest 1980
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 19 April 1980 in The Hague. The presenter was Marlous Fluitsma, although each song was introduced by a presenter from the participating nation, in some cases, this was the same person providing the commentary. The contest was won by Johnny Logan, representing Ireland with a song called Whats Another Year, after Spain, the 2nd-place winner of 1979, and reportedly the UK, refused to host, the Netherlands finally agreed to host the show in a small-scale production. As with the recent 1977 and 1978 contests, there were no pre-filmed postcards between the songs, with a guest presenter from each nation introducing the entries, NOS spent just US$725,000 on the project. Morocco joined the Eurovision family for the first time, monaco withdrew, and would not return until the 2004 semi final. Australian-born Johnny Logan representing Ireland was the winner of this Eurovision with the song and this was Irelands second time winning the competition, having won in 1970 with All Kinds of Everything, which was also held on Dutch soil. They would finish in place again the following year, finally winning it in 1982. Germany would go on to second again in 1985 and 1987. United Kingdom returned to form by coming third, the Hague is the seat of government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the capital city of the province of South Holland. It is also the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The scoring system implemented in 1975 remained the same, each country had a jury who awarded 12,10,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 point for their top ten songs. However this year for the first time, countries were required to cast their votes in ascending order,1,2,3 etc and this change made for the added excitement of waiting for each country to award their highest 12 points at the end of each voting round. For each nations performance, the orchestra was conducted by the following, Notes a. ^ Although the song was completely in Norwegian, the Netherlands gained a strong lead early on, getting the maximum douze points from three of the first four voting countries. This was not to last, however, as Germany and eventually Ireland overtook them, below is a summary of all 12 points in the final, Each song was introduced by a presenter from the national country. Thelma Mansfield introduced the song in Irish, whereas the song was performed in English
15.
Gali Atari
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Avigail Gali Atari is an Israeli singer and actress. She is the sister of Yona Atari, a singer and actress, and the late Shosh Atari and her parents immigrated to Israel from Yemen. Her father died when she was four years old, and, after his death, Atari has won the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 which held in Jerusalem, Israel, with Milk and Honey. Atari is one of the most favorable singers in Israel, Atari was introduced to the Israeli musician David Kribushe when she was 15 years old. After an audition for him, he gave her a singing part in one of his songs “Half. In 1970, when she was 17 years old, she recorded two songs, the first song was in English, and it was called “Give Love Away”. The second song was a Hebrew song called “Im yesh lecha shemesh”, the song became a big hit in Israel, and Atari represented Israel at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan. Atari participated in the contest again in 1976, this time with the song The Same Old Game, during the 1970s, Atari’s career was progressing slowly. She recorded the song “sal eretz hachalom”, which did not get much attention, in 1978, Atari performed the song Nesich hachlomot, along with musicians Zvi Bums and Udi Spielman, at the Festival Hazemer Haivri - the Israeli qualification heat for the Eurovision Song Contest. She placed third at the festival and released an album by the same name as her third place song. Atari, undeterred by not winning the qualification heat for the Eurovision, entered again in 1979 and they won, and their song, “Hallelujah”, represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest Song Contest staged in Jerusalem on March 31. The song was voted the winner and was a success on the European charts, after their Eurovision Song Contest win, Atari kept performing with Milk and Honey. They recorded a few songs, many of which became great hits like “Galgal Anak”, which won the title Song of the year for 1980, “Shir Lashirim”, “Yachad”. In 1980, after a year of working together, Atari retired from Milk and Honey as a result of a lawsuit she filed against her manager, the trial dragged on for 14 years and concluded with a win for Atari, who was awarded 800,000 Shekels. In 1981 Atari, working with the producer Yeroslav Yahakivovitch, recorded an album titled Kach Oti Habayta. The album included hits including “Duet Preda” “Lo Yodaat”, and “Shelcha Ad Etmol”, in 1986 Atari released her fourth album Emtza September. The album quickly became her most successful selling over 30,000 copies. Atari’s success continued through the 80s as the singer released two albums, Tzaad Echad Lifnei Hanahar, which sold over 80,000 copies in 1988 and Bereshit
16.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
17.
Yugoslavia
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Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe during most of the 20th century. The Serbian royal House of Karađorđević became the Yugoslav royal dynasty, Yugoslavia gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The country was named after the South Slavic peoples and constituted their first union, following centuries in which the territories had been part of the Ottoman Empire, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929, it was invaded by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. In 1943, a Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was proclaimed by the Partisan resistance, in 1944, the king recognised it as the legitimate government, but in November 1945 the monarchy was abolished. Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946 and it acquired the territories of Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar from Italy. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled the country as president until his death in 1980, in 1963, the country was renamed again as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The constituent six socialist republics that made up the country were the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Serbia, and SR Slovenia. Serbia contained two Socialist Autonomous Provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, which after 1974 were largely equal to the members of the federation. After an economic and political crisis in the 1980s and the rise of nationalism, Yugoslavia broke up along its republics borders, at first into five countries, eventually, Serbia and Montenegro accepted the opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession. Serbia and Montenegro themselves broke up in 2006 and became independent states, the concept of Yugoslavia, as a single state for all South Slavic peoples, emerged in the late 17th century and gained prominence through the Illyrian Movement of the 19th century. The name was created by the combination of the Slavic words jug, Yugoslavia was the result of the Corfu Declaration, as a project of the Serbian Parliament in exile and the Serbian royal Karađorđević dynasty, who became the Yugoslav royal dynasty. The country was formed in 1918 immediately after World War I as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and it was commonly referred to at the time as the Versailles state. Later, the government renamed the country leading to the first official use of Yugoslavia in 1929, on 6 January 1929 King Alexander I suspended the constitution, banned national political parties, assumed executive power and renamed the country Yugoslavia. He hoped to curb separatist tendencies and mitigate nationalist passions and he imposed a new constitution and relinquished his dictatorship in 1931. None of these three regimes favored the policy pursued by Alexander I, Alexander attempted to create a centralised Yugoslavia. He decided to abolish Yugoslavias historic regions, and new internal boundaries were drawn for provinces or banovinas, the banovinas were named after rivers. Many politicians were jailed or kept under police surveillance, the effect of Alexanders dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs from the idea of unity. During his reign the flags of Yugoslav nations were banned, Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II and a regency council headed by his cousin, Prince Paul
18.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
19.
Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
20.
Iceland
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Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 332,529 and an area of 103,000 km2, the capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavík and the areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active, the interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence still keeps summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate. According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, emigrated to Iceland, the island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the Althing, one of the worlds oldest functioning legislative assemblies. Following a period of strife, Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century. The establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 united the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, Iceland thus followed Norways integration to that Union and came under Danish rule after Swedens secession from that union in 1523. In the wake of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, Icelands struggle for independence took form and culminated in independence in 1918, until the 20th century, Iceland relied largely on subsistence fishing and agriculture, and was among the poorest in Europe. Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid following World War II brought prosperity, in 1994, it became a part of the European Economic Area, which further diversified the economy into sectors such as finance, biotechnology, and manufacturing. Iceland has an economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD countries. It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. Iceland ranks high in economic, political and social stability and equality, in 2013, it was ranked as the 13th most-developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index. Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy, some bankers were jailed, and the economy has made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nations Scandinavian heritage, most Icelanders are descendants of Germanic and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is descended from Old Norse and is related to Faroese
21.
Judaean Mountains
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The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills, is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,026 metres, the Judean Mountains can be separated to a number of sub-regions, including the Mount Hebron ridge, the Jerusalem ridge and the Judean slopes. These mountains formed the heartland of the Kingdom of Judah, where the earliest Jewish settlements emerged, the range runs in a north south direction from Galilee to the Negev with an average height of 900 metres. The Judaean mountains encompass Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah, the range forms a natural division between the Shephelah coastal plains to the west and the Jordan Rift Valley to the east. The northern section, in the Ramallah area, is known as Samarian Hills. The Judaean Mountains were heavily forested in antiquity, the range is mostly composed of terra rossa soils over hard limestones. The Judaean Mountains are the expression of a series of monoclinic folds which trend north-northwest through Israel. The folding is the expression of the Syrian Arc belt of anticlinal folding that began in the Late Cretaceous Period in northeast Africa. The Syrian Arc extends east-northeast across the Sinai, turns north-northeast through Israel, the Israeli segment parallels the Dead Sea Transform which lies just to the east. In prehistoric times, animals no longer found in the Levant region were found here, including elephants, rhinoceri, giraffes, in ancient times the Judean mountains were the allotment of the Tribe of Judah and the heartland of the former Kingdom of Judah. An Israel Railways line runs from Beit Shemesh along the Brook of Sorek, media related to Judaean Mountains at Wikimedia Commons Pictures Judaean Mountains & Jerusalem Symbolism and Landscape, The Etzion Bloc in the Judaean Mountains, Yossi Katz and John C
22.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
23.
Dead Sea
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The Dead Sea, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 430.5 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is 304 m deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With 34. 2% salinity, it is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean and this salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 50 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide at its widest point and it lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years and it was one of the worlds first health resorts, and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics, the Dead Sea water has a density of 1.24 kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to floating. The Dead Sea is receding at an alarming rate, multiple canals and pipelines were proposed to reduce its recession, which had begun causing many problems. The Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance project, carried out by Jordan, will provide water to neighboring countries, the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin in 2018 and be completed in 2021. In Hebrew, the Dead Sea is Yām ha-Melaḥ, meaning sea of salt, the Bible uses this term alongside two others, the Sea of the Arabah, and the Eastern Sea. The designation Dead Sea never appears in the Bible, in prose sometimes the term Yām ha-Māvet is used, due to the scarcity of aquatic life there. In Arabic the Dead Sea is called al-Bahr al-Mayyit, or less commonly baḥrᵘ lūṭᵃ, another historic name in Arabic was the Sea of Zoʼar, after a nearby town in biblical times. The Greeks called it Lake Asphaltites, the Dead Sea is an endorheic lake located in the Jordan Rift Valley, a geographic feature formed by the Dead Sea Transform. This left lateral-moving transform fault lies along the plate boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It runs between the East Anatolian Fault zone in Turkey and the end of the Red Sea Rift offshore of the southern tip of Sinai. It is here that the Upper Jordan River/Sea of Galilee/Lower Jordan River water system comes to an end. The Jordan River is the major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools. The Mujib River, biblical Arnon, is one the larger sources of the Dead Sea other than the Jordan. The Wadi Mujib valley,420 m below the sea level in the southern of Jordan valley, is a biosphere reserve, other more substantial sources are Wadi Darajeh /Nahal Dragot, and Nahal Arugot
24.
Cuneiform script
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Cuneiform script, one of the earliest systems of writing, was invented by the Sumerians. It is distinguished by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus, the name cuneiform itself simply means wedge shaped. Emerging in Sumer in the fourth millennium BC, cuneiform writing began as a system of pictograms. In the third millennium, the pictorial representations became simplified and more abstract as the number of characters in use grew smaller, the system consists of a combination of logophonetic, consonantal alphabetic and syllabic signs. Cuneiform writing was replaced by the Phoenician alphabet during the Neo-Assyrian Empire. By the second century CE, the script had become extinct, between half a million and two million cuneiform tablets are estimated to have been excavated in modern times, of which only approximately 30,000 –100,000 have been read or published. Most of these have lain in these collections for a century without being translated, studied or published, the cuneiform writing system was in use for more than three millennia, through several stages of development, from the 34th century BC down to the second century CE. Ultimately, it was replaced by alphabetic writing in the course of the Roman era. It had to be deciphered as an unknown writing system in 19th-century Assyriology. Successful completion of its deciphering is dated to 1857, the cuneiform script was developed from pictographic proto-writing in the late 4th millennium BC. Mesopotamias proto-literate period spans roughly the 35th to 32nd centuries, the first documents unequivocally written in Sumerian date to the 31st century at Jemdet Nasr. Originally, pictographs were either drawn on clay tablets in vertical columns with a reed stylus or incised in stone. This early style lacked the characteristic shape of the strokes. Proper names continued to be written in purely logographic fashion. The earliest known Sumerian king whose name appears on contemporary cuneiform tablets is Enmebaragesi of Kish, from about 2900 BC, many pictographs began to lose their original function, and a given sign could have various meanings depending on context. The sign inventory was reduced from some 1,500 signs to some 600 signs, determinative signs were re-introduced to avoid ambiguity. Cuneiform writing proper thus arises from the more primitive system of pictographs at about that time, by adjusting the relative position of the tablet to the stylus, the writer could use a single tool to make a variety of impressions. Cuneiform tablets could be fired in kilns to provide a permanent record, many of the clay tablets found by archaeologists were preserved because they were fired when attacking armies burned the building in which they were kept
25.
Abrahamic religions
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Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the largest Abrahamic religions in terms of numbers of adherents. As of 2005, estimates classified 54% of the population as adherents of an Abrahamic religion, about 32% as adherents of other religions. Christianity claims 33% of the population, Islam has 21%, Judaism has 0. 2%. It has been suggested that the phrase, Abrahamic religion, may mean that all these religions come from one spiritual source. Christians refer to Abraham as a father in faith, there is an Islamic religious term, Millat Ibrahim, indicating that Islam sees itself as having practices tied to the traditions of Abraham. Jewish tradition claims descent from Abraham, and adherents follow his practices and it is the Islamic tradition that Muhammad, as an Arab, is descended from Abrahams son Ishmael. Jewish tradition also equates the descendants of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, with Arabs, as the descendants of Isaac by Jacob, who was also later known as Israel, are the Israelites. The Báb, regarded by Baháís as a predecessor to Baháulláh, was a Sayyid, or a descendant of Muhammad. Tradition also holds that Baháulláh is a descendant of Abraham through his third wife, while there is commonality among the religions, in large measure their shared ancestry is peripheral to their respective foundational beliefs and thus conceals crucial differences. For example, the common Christian beliefs of Incarnation, Trinity, there are key beliefs in both Islam and Judaism that are not shared by most of Christianity, and key beliefs of Islam, Christianity, and the Baháí Faith not shared by Judaism. Judaism regards itself as the religion of the descendants of Jacob and it has a strictly unitary view of God, and the central holy book for almost all branches is the Masoretic Text as elucidated in the Oral Torah. In the 19th century and 20th centuries Judaism developed a number of branches, of which the most significant are Orthodox, Conservative. Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in the Mediterranean Basin of the first century CE and evolved into a separate religion—Christianity—with distinctive beliefs, Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, considered by almost all denominations to be God the Son, one person of the Trinity. The Christian biblical canons are usually held to be the ultimate authority, over many centuries, Christianity divided into three main branches, dozens of significant denominations, and hundreds of smaller ones. Islam arose in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century CE with a unitary view of God. Muslims hold the Quran to be the authority, as revealed and elucidated through the teachings and practices of a central. The Islamic faith consider all prophets and messengers from Adam through the messenger to carry the same Islamic monotheistic principles. Soon after its founding Islam split into two branches, each of which now have a number of denominations
26.
Judaism
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Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
27.
Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
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Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
Turkey
Israel
Portugal - Thilo Krasmann
Italy - no national representative
Denmark - Allan Botschinsky
Ireland - Proinnsías Ó Duinn
Finland - Ossi Runne
Monaco - Gérard Salesse
Greece - Lefteris Halkiadakis
Switzerland - Rolf Zuckowski
Germany - Norbert Daum
Israel - Kobi Oshrat
France - Guy Mattéoni
Belgium - Francis Bay
Luxembourg - Hervé Roy
Netherlands - Harry van Hoof
Sweden - Lars Samuelson
Norway - Sigurd Jansen
United Kingdom - Ken Jones
Austria - Richard Österreicher
Spain - José Luis Navarro
Hong Kong (Non participating country) – Unknown
Iceland (Non participating country) – Unknown (RÚV)
Romania (Non participating country) – Unknown
Turkey (Non participating country) – Bülend Özveren and Başak Doğru (TRT)
Yugoslavia (Non participating country) – Oliver Mlakar (JRT)
