1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Ozieri culture
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The Ozieri culture was a prehistoric pre-Nuragic culture that occupied Sardinia from c.3200 to 2800 BC. The Ozieri existed contemporaneously with the Arzachena culture, sharing some similarities, and its influence also extended to nearby Corsica. }The settlements consisted of small stone huts, with a circular wall supporting a wooden frame with a ceiling of boughs. One, near Sestu, consisted of 60 huts. }Another, near Mogoro, included 267 huts, perhaps also erected on poles driven into the ground, with pavements composed of limestone slabs, basalt cobbles or clay. }The finding of unique tools and objects in individual huts, and early evidence of metal-working, suggests the Ozieri culture was organized and specialized. }The villages had no walls. Some tombs, of more monumental appearance, belonged perhaps to chiefs, the Ozieri burial practices differ from what is found in the region of Gallura, where the dead were interred in Megalithic circles. The Ozieri produced finely made pottery with complex patterns, incisions. Archaeological excavations held in 1914 and 1949 found fine worked vases with geometrical motifs carved in the clay, the oldest ones were still rather crude, while the more recent examples were more refined and slender. Such ceramics were a novelty for prehistoric Sardinia, since up to that point they had considered typical of the Cyclades. The development of the Ozieri culture, therefore, probably stemmed from contacts with other eastern Mediterranean civilizations, the Ozieri culture appears to have been much involved in the obsidian trade, due to rich deposits on the island, which may have led to increased trading contact. Female statuettes similar to those of the Ozieri culture have also found in Malta. Bull horns were recovered from tombs and elsewhere, indicating the sacred bull was also an important concept. }
3.
Abealzu-Filigosa culture
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The Abealzu-Filigosa culture was a Copper Age culture of Sardinia. It takes its name from the locality of Abealzu, near Osilo, the populations of this culture lived mainly in the Sassarese area and other parts of central-southern Sardinia. They still used obsidian to produce tools and weapons but copper objects, lead and silver were also smelted. Their economy was focused on pastoralism and agriculture, pre-Nuragic Sardinia SardegnaCultura. it - Eneolitico medio
4.
Neolithic
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It ended when metal tools became widespread. The Neolithic is a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops, the beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant about 10, 200–8800 BC. It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufian period was between 12,000 and 10,200 BC, and the so-called proto-Neolithic is now included in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic between 10,200 and 8800 BC. By 10, 200–8800 BC, farming communities arose in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. Early Neolithic farming was limited to a range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat, millet and spelt, and the keeping of dogs, sheep. By about 6900–6400 BC, it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order, the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture, unlike the Paleolithic, when more than one human species existed, only one human species reached the Neolithic. The term Neolithic derives from the Greek νέος néos, new and λίθος líthos, stone, the term was invented by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. In the Middle East, cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC, early development occurred in the Levant and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square yards, the Neolithic 1 period began roughly 10,000 years ago in the Levant. A temple area in southeastern Turkey at Göbekli Tepe dated around 9500 BC may be regarded as the beginning of the period. This site was developed by nomadic tribes, evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres, contain limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, Stone tools were used by perhaps as many as hundreds of people to create the pillars, which might have supported roofs. Other early PPNA sites dating to around 9500–9000 BC have been found in Jericho, Israel, Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, the start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Tahunian and Heavy Neolithic periods to some degree. The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true farming, in the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain was ground into flour, emmer wheat was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated
5.
Sardinia
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Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and an autonomous region of Italy. It is located in the Western Mediterranean, just south of the French island of Corsica, the regions official name is Regione Autonoma della Sardegna / Regione Autònoma de Sardigna, and its capital and largest city is Cagliari. It is divided into four provinces and a metropolitan city and its indigenous language and the other minority languages spoken by the Sardinians enjoy equal dignity with Italian under regional law. The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *srd-, later romanised as sardus and it makes its first appearance on the Nora Stone, where the word Šrdn testifies to the names existence when the Phoenician merchants first arrived. According to Timaeus, one of Platos dialogues, Sardinia and its people as well might have named after Sardò. There has also been speculation that identifies the ancient Nuragic Sards with the Sherden, in Classical antiquity, Sardinia was called Ichnusa, Σανδάλιον Sandal, Sardinia and Sardó. Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 24,100 square kilometres and it is situated between 38°51 and 41°18 latitude north and 8°8 and 9°50 east longitude. To the west of Sardinia is the Sea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea, to Sardinias east is the Tyrrhenian Sea, the nearest land masses are the island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia, the Balearic Islands, and Provence. The Tyrrhenian Sea portion of the Mediterranean Sea is directly to the east of Sardinia between the Sardinian east coast and the west coast of the Italian mainland peninsula, the Strait of Bonifacio is directly north of Sardinia and separates Sardinia from the French island of Corsica. The island has an ancient geoformation and, unlike Sicily and mainland Italy, is not earthquake-prone and its rocks date in fact from the Palaeozoic Era. Due to long erosion processes, the highlands, formed of granite, schist, trachyte, basalt, sandstone and dolomite limestone. The highest peak is Punta La Marmora, part of the Gennargentu Ranges in the centre of the island. The islands ranges and plateaux are separated by wide valleys and flatlands. Sardinia has few rivers, the largest being the Tirso,151 km long, which flows into the Sea of Sardinia, the Coghinas. There are 54 artificial lakes and dams that supply water and electricity, the main ones are Lake Omodeo and Lake Coghinas. The only natural lake is Lago di Baratz. A number of large, shallow, salt-water lagoons and pools are located along the 1,850 km of the coastline, the climate of the island is variable from area to area, due to several factors including the extension in latitude and the elevation. During the year there is a concentration of rainfall in the winter and autumn, some heavy showers in the spring
6.
Sassari
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Sassari is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 222,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains a collection of art. As Sardinias second most populated city, and the fifth largest municipality in Italy, it has an amount of cultural, touristic. The citys economy relies on tourism and services, however also partially on research, construction, pharmaceuticals. Sassari is located in north-western Sardinia, at 225 metres above sea level, the area rises up on a wide karstic plateau that slopes gently down towards the Gulf of Asinara and the Nurra plain. The abundance of water, with about 400 springs and artesian wells, has made for development of horticulture over the centuries. According to a survey by Weatherwise, Sassari is the city with the fourth best climate in the world. Although Sassari was founded in the early Middle Ages, the area has been inhabited since the Neolithic age, and throughout ancient history, by the Nuragics. In the locality of Fiume Santo is also found a site where an Oreopithecus bambolii. The origin of the city remains uncertain and it developed from the merger of a number of separate villages, such as San Pietro di Silki, San Giacomo di Taniga, and San Giovanni di Bosove. The oldest mention of the village is in an 1131 document in the archive of the Monastery of St. Peter in Silki where is cited a guy named Jordi de Sassaro, Sassari was sacked by the Genoese in 1166. Immigration continued until, in the early 13th century, it was the most populous city in the Giudicato of Torres, after the assassination of Michele Zanche, the latters last ruler in 1275, Sassari became subject to the Republic of Pisa with a semi-independent status. Its statutes of 1316 are remarkable for the leniency of the penalties imposed when compared with the laws of the Middle Ages. From 1323 the Republic of Sassari decided to side with the King of Aragon, in whose hands it remained for much of the following centuries, further attempts made by Genoa to conquer the city failed. In 1391 it was conquered by Brancaleone Doria and Marianus V of Arborea, of the independent Sardinian Giudicato of Arborea, of which it became the last capital. However, in 1420 the city was sold along with the territory for 100,000 florins to the Crown of Aragon, replaced by Spain after 1479 on the joining of the Aragonese. During the period of Aragonese and then Spanish domination the city was known as Sàsser in Catalan language, the Jesuits founded the first Sardinian university in Sassari in 1562. In the same year the first printing press was introduced and the ideals of Renaissance humanism became more widely known, several artists of the Mannerist and Flemish schools practiced their art in the city
7.
Porto Torres
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Porto Torres is a comune and city in northern Sardinia, in the Province of Sassari. It is situated on the north-west coast about 25 kilometres east of the Gorditanian promontory, Porto Torres territory is situate on north-west part of Sardinian Coast, inside the gulf called Gulf of Asinara. The extension of municipality is almost 10200 hectare and is suddivided in two parts with almost the same portion of land, one part is the part where is situated the city, the industry and the romanic ruins, the latter is Asinara island with the smaller Isola Piana. This part of territory is from 1997 a national park, in ancient times, Turris Libyssonis was one of the most considerable cities in Sardinia. It was probably of purely Roman origin, founded apparently by Julius Caesar, pliny described it as a colony, the only on the island in his time, suggesting that there was previously no town on the spot, but merely a fort or castellum. It is noticed also by Ptolemy and in the Itineraries, the ancient remains still existing prove that it must have been a considerable town under the Roman Empire. According from the inscriptions on ancient milestones, the road through the island ran directly from Caralis to Turris. Indeed, two roads, which diverged at Othoca connected Caralis to Turris, the more important keeping inland and it was also an episcopal see during the early part of the Middle Ages. The ancient city continued to be inhabited till the 11th century, when the part of the population migrated to Sassari, about 15 kilometres inland. It was partly under Genoese hands before, in the early 15th century, after the Spanish rule it was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Torres was separated from the comune of Sassari in 1842, at the time the area which had been built around the basilica of San Gavino joined the fishermens community near the port to form the new Porto Torres. The 11th-century, three-naved Basilica of San Gavino, which was using only precious hardstones like marble, porphyry. Instead of the western facade and eastern apse, the cathedral sports two apses. The crypt holds several Roman sarcophagi, neolithic necropolis of Su Crucifissu Mannu and Li Lioni. Nuraghe of la Camusina, Li Pedriazzi, Margone and Minciaredda, remains of the Roman bridge, the largest in Sardinia with its arches and a span of 160 to 170 metres on the Rio Mannu Palazzo Re Barbaro Catacombs of Tanca Borgona and piazzale Amsicora. Aragonese Towers of the port and of Abbacurrente, the port is connected by ferries with Genoa, Marseille, Toulon, Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Propriano, Expressway SS131/E25 to Sassari and Cagliari, and a national road to Santa Teresa Gallura. A railway operated by Trenitalia connects the town with Sassari, chemical industries support the modern economy of Porto Torres. Fiume Santo, a 1,040 MW power station owned by E. ON, is 5 to 10 kilometres west from the port and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. Turris Libyssonis
8.
Altar
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An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes, and by extension the Holy table of post-reformation Anglican churches. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches, today they are used particularly in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, as well as in Neopaganism and Ceremonial Magic. Judaism used such a structure until the destruction of the Second Temple, many historical faiths also made use of them, including Greek and Norse religion. Altars in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth or unwrought stone, altars were generally erected in conspicuous places. The first altar recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah, altars were erected by Abraham, by Isaac, by Jacob, and by Moses. In Catholic and Orthodox Christian theology, the Eucharist is a re-presentation, hence, the table upon which the Eucharist is consecrated is called an altar. The altar plays a role in the celebration of the Eucharist, which takes place at the altar on which the bread. The altar is often on a higher elevation than the rest of the church, in Reformed and Anabaptist churches, a table, often called a Communion table, serves an analogous function. In some colloquial usage, the altar is used to denote the altar rail also. The main altar was also referred to as the high altar, in the earliest days of the Church, the Eucharist appears to have been celebrated on portable altars set up for the purpose. Some historians hold that, during the persecutions, the Eucharist was celebrated among the tombs in the Catacombs of Rome, other historians dispute this, but it is thought to be the origin of the tradition of placing relics beneath the altar. Although in the days of the Jerusalem Temple the High Priest indeed faced east when sacrificing on Yom Kippur, the ministers, celebrated the Eucharist facing east, towards the entrance. Some hold that for the part of the celebration the congregation faced the same way. After the sixth century the contrary orientation prevailed, with the entrance to the west and the altar at the east end. Then the ministers and congregation all faced east during the whole celebration, most rubrics, even in books of the seventeenth century and later, such as the Pontificale Romanum, continued to envisage the altar as free-standing. The rite of the Dedication of the Church continued to presume that the officiating Bishop could circle the altar during the consecration of the church and its altar. Despite this, with the increase in the size and importance of the reredos, most altars were built against the wall or barely separated from it. This diversity was recognized in the rubrics of the Roman Missal from the 1604 typical edition of Pope Clement VIII to the 1962 edition of Pope John XXIII, Si altare sit ad orientem, versus populum
9.
Antonio Segni
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Antonio Segni was an Italian politician who was the 34th Prime Minister of Italy, and the fourth President of the Italian Republic from 1962 to 1964. Adhering to the centrist Christian Democratic party, he was the first Sardinian ever to become Prime Minister of Italy, the son of a Sardinian landowning family, born in Sassari, Sardinia, he studied to become a lawyer with a degree in agricultural and commercial law. Segni joined the Italian Peoples Party – the predecessor of the Christian Democratic Party – in 1919, in 1924 he was a member of the party’s national council, until all political organizations were dissolved by Benito Mussolini two years later in 1926. For the next 17 years Segni taught Agrarian Law for at the Universities of Pavia, Perugia, in 1943 Segni was one of the organizers of the new Christian Democratic Party in Sardinia. He held ministerial positions in many Christian Democrat governments from 1944 onward, time Magazine once quoted a friend, He is like the Colosseum, he looks like a ruin but hell be around for a long time. In 1946, he was elected to the Constituent Assembly after World War II, Segni made his reputation as Minister of Agriculture under Alcide de Gasperi. He favoured land reform legislation and ordered the expropriation of most of his own estate in Sardinia and he became known as a white Bolshevik for his introduction of agrarian reform. He became Prime Minister in 1955, succeeding Mario Scelba, during Segni’s government the treaties instituting the European Economic Community were signed on 25 March 1957, and Italy co-founded the community. In March 1959, he became Prime Minister again, succeeding Amintore Fanfani, in social policy, various reforms in social welfare were carried out. A law of 21 March 1959 extended insurance against occupational diseases to agricultural workers, a law of 17 May 1959 introduced a special additional indemnity for retired civil servants, a monthly supplement, indexed to the cost of living. A law of 4 July 1959 extended pension insurance to artisans, Segni was elected President of the Italian Republic on 6 May 1962. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while working at the presidential palace on 7 August 1964. At the time he was 73 years old and the first prognosis was not positive and he only partially recovered, and he retired from office on 6 December 1964. In the interim, the President of the Senate Cesare Merzagora served as acting president, politically, Segni was a moderate conservative opposed to opening to the centre-left enabling coalition governments between the Italian Socialist Party and the Christian Democrats. Segni was later accused of having tried to instigate a coup détat along with General Giovanni De Lorenzo during his presidency to frustrate the opening to the left, Segni was also a professor of law at University of Sassari. Straightforward, witty and courteous, Segni was more at ease in the classroom or the law court than in the rooms of Italian politics. He died on 1 December 1972, in Rome, the frail, often ailing Segni, was affectionately called malato di ferro—the invalid with the iron constitution. Segnis son, Mariotto Segni, is also a prominent Italian politician
10.
Temple
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A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. It is typically used for such buildings belonging to all faiths where a specific term such as church. These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism among religions with many modern followers, the form and function of temples is thus very variable, though they are often considered by believers to be in some sense the house of one or more deities. Typically offerings of some sort are made to the deity, and other rituals enacted, the degree to which the whole population of believers can access the building varies significantly, often parts or even the whole main building can only be accessed by the clergy. Temples typically have a building and a larger precinct, which may contain many other buildings. The word comes from Ancient Rome, where a templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest and it has the same root as the word template, a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also became associated with the places of a god or gods. Hindu temples are large and magnificent with a rich history, there is evidence of use of sacred ground as far back as the Bronze Age and later the Indus Valley Civilization. Hindu temples have been built in countries around the world, including Cambodia, Nepal, Mauritius, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Great Britain. They include the structures called stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions, Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace, a Jain temple is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Some famous Jain temples are Shikharji, Palitana Jain Temples, Ranakpur Jain Temple, Shravan Belgola, Dilwara Temples, Jain temples are built with various architectural designs. Jain temples in North India are completely different from the Jain temples in South India, additionally, a Manastambha is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples. The temple of Mesopotamia derived from the cult of gods and deities in the Mesopotamian religion and it spanned several civilizations, from Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the deities to reside on earth, indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means mansion of a god. A gods presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and these rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion, and thus it was the purpose of a temple as well. Ancient Egyptian temples were also of significance to Egyptian society
11.
Step pyramid
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A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout history, in locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and made of layers of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged separately from one another, ziggurats were huge religious monuments built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. There are 32 ziggurats known at, and near, Mesopotamia, twenty-eight of them are in Iraq, and four of them are in Iran. Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites and Assyrians as monuments to local religions, the earliest ziggurats probably date from the latter part of the Early Dynastic Period of Sumer. Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance, kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven, with a shrine or temple at the summit, access to the shrine was provided by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. It was also called Hill of Heaven or Mountain of the gods, the earliest Egyptian pyramids were step pyramids. During the Third Dynasty of Egypt, the architect Imhotep designed Egypts first step pyramid as a tomb for the pharaoh and this structure, the Pyramid of Djoser, was composed of a series of six successively smaller mastabas, one on top of another. Later pharaohs, including Sekhemkhet and Khaba, built structures, known as the Buried Pyramid. In the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, the Egyptians began to build true pyramids with smooth sides, the earliest of these pyramids, located at Meidum, began as a step pyramid built for Sneferu. Sneferu later made other pyramids, the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid at Dahshur, with this innovation, the age of Egyptian stepped pyramids came to an end. One of the structures of Igboland was the Nsude Pyramids, at the Nigerian town of Nsude. Ten pyramidal structures were built of clay/mud, the first base section was 60 ft. in circumference and 3 ft. in height. The next stack was 45 ft. in circumference, circular stacks continued, till it reached the top. The structures were temples for the god Ala/Uto, who was believed to reside at the top, a stick was placed at the top to represent the gods residence
12.
Cardinal direction
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The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials, N, E, S, W. East and west are at angles to north and south, with east being in the clockwise direction of rotation from north. Intermediate points between the four cardinal directions form the points of the compass, the intermediate directions are northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest. To keep to a bearing is not, in general, the same as going in a straight direction along a great circle, conversely, one can keep to a great circle and the bearing may change. Thus the bearing of a path crossing the North Pole changes abruptly at the Pole from North to South. When traveling East or West, it is only on the Equator that one can keep East or West, anywhere else, maintaining latitude requires a change in direction, requires steering. However, this change in direction becomes increasingly negligible as one moves to lower latitudes, the Earth has a magnetic field which is approximately aligned with its axis of rotation. A magnetic compass is a device uses this field to determine the cardinal directions. Magnetic compasses are used, but only moderately accurate. The position of the Sun in the sky can be used for orientation if the time of day is known. In the morning the Sun rises roughly in the east and tracks upwards, in the evening it sets in the west, again roughly and only due west exactly on the equinoxes. This method does not work well when closer to the equator since, in the northern hemisphere. Conversely, at low latitudes in the hemisphere the sun may be to the south of the observer in summer. If they move clockwise, the sun will be in the south at midday, because of the Earths axial tilt, no matter what the location of the viewer, there are only two days each year when the sun rises precisely due east. On all other days, depending on the time of year, for all locations the sun is seen to rise north of east from the Northward equinox to the Southward equinox, and rise south of east from the Southward equinox to the Northward equinox. There is a method by which an analog watch can be used to locate north and south. The Sun appears to move in the sky over a 24-hour period while the hand of a 12-hour clock face takes twelve hours to complete one rotation. In the northern hemisphere, if the watch is rotated so that the hand points toward the Sun
13.
Mesopotamia
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In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires. The Sumerians and Akkadians dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of history to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD226, eastern part of it fell to the Sassanid Persians, division of Mesopotamia between Roman and Sassanid Empires lasted until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire and Muslim conquest of the Levant from Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. The regional toponym Mesopotamia comes from the ancient Greek root words μέσος middle and ποταμός river and it is used throughout the Greek Septuagint to translate the Hebrew equivalent Naharaim. In the Anabasis, Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria, the Aramaic term biritum/birit narim corresponded to a similar geographical concept. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the part of the Zagros Mountains are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia. A further distinction is made between Northern or Upper Mesopotamia and Southern or Lower Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jazira, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad, Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf and includes Kuwait and parts of western Iran. In modern academic usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation and it is usually used to designate the area until the Muslim conquests, with names like Syria, Jazirah, and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date. It has been argued that these later euphemisms are Eurocentric terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments, Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the Armenian Highlands. Both rivers are fed by tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000 square kilometres region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, in the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf. In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times, periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and these trends have continued to the present day in Iraq
14.
Ziggurat
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A ziggurat was a massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia and the western Iranian plateau. It had the form of a step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near Baghdad, Ziggurats were built by the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians for local religions. Each ziggurat was part of a complex which included other buildings. The precursors of the ziggurat were raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period during the fourth millennium BCE, the earliest ziggurats began as a platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside, each step was slightly smaller than the step below it. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance, kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks. The number of floors ranged from two to seven, according to archaeologist Harriet Crawford, It is usually assumed that the ziggurats supported a shrine, though the only evidence for this comes from Herodotus, and physical evidence is nonexistent. It has also suggested by a number of scholars that this shrine was the scene of the sacred marriage. Herodotus describes the furnishing of the shrine on top of the ziggurat at Babylon, the god Marduk was also said to come and sleep in his shrine. The likelihood of such a shrine ever being found is sadly remote, erosion has usually reduced the surviving ziggurats to a fraction of their original height, but textual evidence may yet provide more facts about the purpose of these shrines. Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a ramp from base to summit. The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods and each city had its own patron god, only priests were permitted on the ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very powerful members of Sumerian society, one of the best-preserved ziggurats is Chogha Zanbil in western Iran. The Sialk ziggurat, in Kashan, Iran, is the oldest known ziggurat, Ziggurat designs ranged from simple bases upon which a temple sat, to marvels of mathematics and construction which spanned several terraced stories and were topped with a temple. An example of a simple ziggurat is the White Temple of Uruk, the ziggurat itself is the base on which the White Temple is set. Its purpose is to get the temple closer to the heavens, the Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth
15.
Chalcolithic
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The Copper Age was originally defined as a transition between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. The archaeological site of Belovode on the Rudnik mountain in Serbia contains the worlds oldest securely dated evidence of copper smelting from 5000 BCE, the multiple names result from multiple recognitions of the period. Originally, the term Bronze Age meant that either copper or bronze was being used as the hard substance for the manufacture of tools. In 1881, John Evans, recognizing that the use of copper often preceded the use of bronze and he did not include the transitional period in the tripartite system of Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age but placed it at the beginning outside of it. He did not, however, present it as a fourth age, in 1884, Gaetano Chierici, perhaps following the lead of Evans, renamed it in Italian as the Eneo-litica, or Bronze-stone transition. The phrase was never intended to mean that the period was the one in which both bronze and stone were used. The Copper Age features the use of copper, excluding bronze, moreover, litica simply names the Stone Age as the point from which the transition began and is not another -lithic age. Subsequently, British scholars used either Evanss Copper Age or the term Eneolithic, around 1900, many writers began to substitute Chalcolithic for Eneolithic, to avoid the false segmentation. It was then that the misunderstanding began among those who did not know Italian, the -lithic was seen as a new -lithic age, a part of the Stone Age in which copper was used, which may appear paradoxical. Today Copper Age, Eneolithic and Chalcolithic are used synonymously to mean Evanss original definition of Copper Age, there was an independent invention of copper and bronze smelting first by Andean civilizations in South America extended later by sea commerce to the Mesoamerican civilization in West Mexico. The literature of European archaeology, in general, avoids the use of Chalcolithic, the Copper Age in the Middle East and the Caucasus began in the late 5th millennium BCE and lasted for about a millennium before it gave rise to the Early Bronze Age. The transition from the European Copper Age to Bronze Age Europe occurs about the same time, an archaeological site in Serbia contains the oldest securely dated evidence of coppermaking from 7,500 years ago. In Serbia, an axe was found at Prokuplje, which indicates that humans were using metals in Europe by 7,500 years ago. Knowledge of the use of copper was far more widespread than the metal itself, the European Battle Axe culture used stone axes modeled on copper axes, even with imitation mold marks carved in the stone. Ötzi the Iceman, who was found in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, examples of Chalcolithic cultures in Europe include Vila Nova de São Pedro and Los Millares on the Iberian Peninsula. Pottery of the Beaker people has found at both sites, dating to several centuries after copper-working began there. The Beaker culture appears to have copper and bronze technologies in Europe. The term Chalcolithic is not generally used by British prehistorians, who disagree whether it applies in the British context, in Bhirrana, the earliest Indus civilization site, copper bangles and arrowheads were found
16.
Animal sacrifice
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Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of an animal to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Such forms of sacrifice are practised within many religions around the world, all or only part of a sacrificial animal may be offered, especially in the context of ritual slaughter. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until Late Antiquity, the Minoan settlement of Phaistos in ancient Crete reveals basins for animal sacrifice dating to the period 2000 to 1700 BC. The most common usages are animal sacrifice, zevah shelamim and olah, a qorban was an animal sacrifice, such as a bull, sheep, goat, deer or a dove that underwent shechita. Sacrifices could also consist grain, meal, wine, or incense, the Hebrew Bible says that Yahweh commanded the Israelites to offer offerings and sacrifices on various altars. The sacrifices were only to be offered by the hands of the Kohanim, before building the Temple in Jerusalem, when the Israelites were in the desert, sacrifices were offered only in the Tabernacle. After building Solomons Temple, sacrifices were allowed only there, after the Temple was destroyed, sacrifices was resumed when the Second Temple was built until it was also destroyed in 70 CE. After the destruction of the Second Temple sacrifices were prohibited because there was no longer a Temple, offering of sacrifices was briefly reinstated during the Jewish–Roman wars of the second century CE and was continued in certain communities thereafter. The Samaritans, a group related to the Jews, practice animal sacrifice in accordance with the Law of Moses. References to animal sacrifice appear in the New Testament, such as the parents of Jesus sacrificing two doves and the Apostle Paul performing a Nazirite vow even after the death of Christ. Christ is referred to by his apostles as the Lamb of God, some villages in Greece sacrifice animals to Orthodox saints in a practice known as kourbania. Sacrifice of a lamb, or less commonly a rooster, is a practice in Armenian Church. This tradition, called matagh, is believed to stem from pre-Christian pagan rituals, Animal sacrifice was instituted in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a minor Latter Day Saint faction founded by James J. Strang in 1844. Strangs Book of the Law of the Lord deals with the topic of animal sacrifice in chapters 7 and 40, given the prohibition on sacrifices for sin contained in III Nephi 9, 19-20, Strang did not require sin offerings. Rather, he focused on sacrifice as an element of religious celebrations, especially the commemoration of his own coronation as king over his church, which occurred on July 8,1850. The head of house, from the king to his lowest subject, was to offer a heifer, or a lamb. Every man a clean beast, or a clean fowl, according to his household, while the killing of sacrifices was a prerogative of Strangite priests, female priests were specifically barred from participating in this aspect of the priestly office. Firstfruits offerings were also demanded of all Strangite agricultural harvests, Animal sacrifices are no longer practiced by the Strangite organization, though belief in their correctness is still required
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Ritual
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A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and performed according to set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community, Rituals are characterized but not defined by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, and performance. Rituals are a feature of all human societies. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying hello may be termed rituals, the field of ritual studies has seen a number of conflicting definitions of the term. One given by Kyriakidis is that a ritual is an outsiders or etic category for a set activity that, to the outsider, seems irrational, non-contiguous, or illogical. The term can be used also by the insider or emic performer as an acknowledgement that this activity can be seen as such by the uninitiated onlooker, the English word ritual derives from the Latin ritualis, that which pertains to rite. In Roman juridical and religious usage, ritus was the way of doing something, or correct performance. The word ritual is first recorded in English in 1570, there are hardly any limits to the kind of actions that may be incorporated into a ritual. Catherine Bell argues that rituals can be characterized by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, Ritual utilizes a limited and rigidly organized set of expressions which anthropologists call a restricted code. Maurice Bloch argues that ritual obliges participants to use this formal oratorical style, which is limited in intonation, syntax, vocabulary, loudness, in adopting this style, ritual leaders speech becomes more style than content. Because this formal speech limits what can be said, it induces acceptance, compliance, Bloch argues that this form of ritual communication makes rebellion impossible and revolution the only feasible alternative. Ritual tends to support forms of social hierarchy and authority. Rituals appeal to tradition and are concerned to repeat historical precedents accurately. Traditionalism varies from formalism in that the ritual may not be yet still makes an appeal to historical. An example is the American Thanksgiving dinner, which may not be formal, thus, the appeal to history is important rather than accurate historical transmission. Catherine Bell states that ritual is also invariant, implying careful choreography and this is less an appeal to traditionalism than a striving for timeless repetition. The key to invariance is bodily discipline, as in prayer and meditation meant to mold dispositions. This bodily discipline is frequently performed in unison, by groups, Rituals tend to be governed by rules, a feature somewhat like formalism
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Nuragic civilization
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The Nuragic civilization, born and developed in Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, lasted from the Bronze Age to the 2nd century AD. The civilizations name derives from its most characteristic monument, the nuraghe, today some 7,000 nuraghes dot the Sardinian landscape. No written records of civilization have been discovered. The only written information that we have comes from literature of the Greeks and Romans. In the Stone Age the island was inhabited by people who had arrived there in the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages from several parts of Europe, the most ancient settlements have been discovered both in central Sardinia and Anglona. Later several cultures developed on the island, such as the Ozieri culture, the economy was based on agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and trading with the mainland. With the diffusion of metallurgy, silver and copper objects and weapons also appeared on the island, according to some scholars, the similarity between this structure and those found in Mesopotamia are due to cultural influxes coming from the Eastern Mediterranean. The altar of Monte dAccoddi fell out of use starting from c.2000 BC, when the Beaker culture, the beakers appeared in Sardinia from two different geographical areas, firstly from Spain and southern France and then from Central Europe, through the Italian Peninsula. The Bonnanaro culture was the last evolution of the Beaker culture in Sardinia and these two cultures shared common features in the material culture such as pottery with axe-shaped handles. These influences may have spread to Sardinia via Corsica, where they absorbed new architectural techniques that were widespread on the island. New peoples coming from the mainland arrived on the island at time, bringing with them new cults, new technologies and new ways of life. The widespread diffusion of bronze brought numerous improvements to the used in agriculture, hunting. From this period dates the construction of the so-called proto-nuraghe, a structure that marks the first phase of the Nuragic Age. There has long been controversy among scholars, in ancient times, Greek historians and geographers tried to solve the mystery of the nuraghe and their builders. They described the presence of fabulous edifices, called daidaleia, from the name of Daedalus, perhaps for protection reasons, new towers were added to the original ones, connected by walls provided with slits forming a complex nuraghe. It has been suggested some of the current Sardinian villages trace their origin directly from Nuragic ones. The usually cited tin sources and trade in ancient times are those in the Iberian Peninsula or from Cornwall, the late Bronze Age saw a vast migration of the so-called Sea Peoples, described in ancient Egyptian sources. They destroyed Mycenaean and Hittite sites and also attacked Egypt, according to Giovanni Ugas the Sherden, one of the most important tribes of the sea peoples, are to be identified with the Nuragic Sardinians
19.
Dolmen
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A dolmen is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more vertical megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone, although there are also more complex variants. Most date from the early Neolithic, Dolmens were typically covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. In many instances, that covering has weathered away, leaving only the skeleton of the burial mound intact. It remains unclear when, why, and by whom the earliest dolmens were made, the oldest known dolmens are in Western Europe, where they were set in place around 7,000 years ago. Archaeologists still do not know who erected these dolmens, which makes it difficult to know why they did it and they are generally all regarded as tombs or burial chambers, despite the absence of clear evidence for this. Human remains, sometimes accompanied by artefacts, have found in or close to the dolmens which could be scientifically dated using radiocarbon dating. However, it has been impossible to prove that these date from the time when the stones were originally set in place. The word dolmen has a confused history, the word entered archaeology when Théophile Corret de la Tour dAuvergne used it to describe megalithic tombs in his Origines gauloises using the spelling dolmin. The name was derived from a Breton language term meaning stone table but doubt has been cast on this. Nonetheless it has now replaced cromlech as the usual English term in archaeology, granja is used in Portugal, Galicia, and Spain. The rarer forms anta and ganda also appear, in the Basque Country, they are attributed to the jentilak, a race of giants. The etymology of the German, Hünenbett, Hünengrab and Dutch, of other Celtic languages, Welsh, cromlech was borrowed into English and quoit is commonly used in English in Cornwall. Great dolmen Passage grave Polygonal dolmen Rectangular, enlarged or extended dolmen Simple dolmen Korean dolmens exhibit a distinct from the Atlantic European dolmen. The largest concentration of dolmens in the world is found on the Korean Peninsula, with an estimated 35,000 dolmens, Korea alone accounts for nearly 40% of the world’s total. Three specific UNESCO World Heritage sites at Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa by themselves account for over 1,000 dolmens, the Korean word for dolmen is goindol supported stone. Serious studies of the Korean megalithic monuments were not undertaken until relatively recently, after 1945, new research is being conducted by Korean scholars. In 1981 a curator of National Museum of Korea, Gongil Ji, the boundary between them falls at the Bukhan River although examples of both types are found on either side. Korean dolmens can also be divided into three types, the table type, the go-table type and the unsupported capstone type
20.
Menhir
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A menhir, standing stone, orthostat, lith or masseba/matseva is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found solely as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones and their size can vary considerably, but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top. Menhirs are widely distributed across Europe, Africa and Asia, however, they are most numerous in Western Europe, in particular in Ireland, Great Britain and Brittany. There are about 50,000 megaliths in these areas, while there are 1,200 menhirs in northwest France alone, standing stones are usually difficult to date, but pottery, and/or pottery shards found underneath some in Atlantic Europe connects them with the Beaker people. They were constructed during different periods across pre-history as part of a larger megalithic culture that flourished in Europe. Some menhirs have been erected next to buildings that often have an early or current religious significance, one example is the South Zeal Menhir in Devon, which formed the basis for a 12th-century monastery built by lay monks. The monastery later became the Oxenham Arms hotel, at South Zeal, where menhirs appear in groups, often in a circular, oval, henge or horseshoe formation, they are sometimes called megalithic monuments. These are sites of ancient religious ceremonies, sometimes containing burial chambers, the exact function of menhirs has provoked more debate than practically any other issue in European pre-history. Until the nineteenth century, antiquarians did not have knowledge of prehistory. The developments of radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology have done much to knowledge in this area. The word menhir was adopted from French by 19th-century archaeologists and it is a combination of two words of the Breton language, maen and hir. In modern Welsh, they are described as maen hir, or long stone, in modern Breton, the word peulvan is used, with peul meaning stake or post and van which is a soft mutation of the word maen which means stone. Almost nothing is known of the organization or religious beliefs of the people who erected the menhirs. There is not even any trace of these language, however we do know that they buried their dead and had the skills to grow cereal, farm and make pottery, stone tools. Until recently, menhirs were associated with the Beaker people, who inhabited Europe during the European late Neolithic and early Bronze Age — later third millennium BC, ca.2800 –1800 BC. However, recent research into the age of megaliths in Brittany strongly suggests a far older origin, many menhirs are engraved with megalithic art. This often turned them into anthropomorphic stelae, although images of such as stone axes, ploughs, shepherd crooks. With the exception of the axe, none of these motifs are definite
21.
Strada statale 131 Charles Felix
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The Strada statale 131, is the major road in Sardinia, Italy. It is a freeway that connects the towns of Porto Torres and Cagliari via Sassari, Macomer, at 229 km, it is considered the “spinal cord” of Sardinia. It is a part of the E25 European route, building works begun in the 19th century, under the Kingdom of Charles Felix of Sardinia, the road followed the route of the ancient Roman road Turris Lybissonis-Caralis. Strada statale 131 Diramazione Centrale Nuorese
22.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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