1.
Nuraghe Losa
–
The nuraghe Losa is a complex prehistoric building in the shape of a tholos tomb. Its central structure has a triangular shape, on the west side, a turreted wall is linked to it. Website for Nuraghe Losa Tharros. info, Site Description Nuraghe Losa Twitter feed for Nuraghe Losa
Nuraghe Losa
–
Side view of Nuraghe Losa
2.
Su Nuraxi di Barumini
–
Su Nuraxi is a nuragic archaeological site in Barumini, Sardinia, Italy. It was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997 as Su Nuraxi di Barumini, Su Nuraxi simply means The Nuraghe in Campidanese, the southern variant of the Sardinian language. They are considered by scholars the most impressive expression of the Nuragic civilization and were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. The oldest part of the Nuraghe consists of a tower with three superposed chambers, was built in blocks of basalt between the seventeenth and thirteenth centuries BCE. Later, during the Late Bronze Age, four towers joined by a wall with an upper balcony were built around the central tower. During the Iron Age, the complex was surrounded by a wall with seven lobes. The real function of the nuraghe is still debated, the discoverer of Su Nuraxi, the archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu, confirmed the traditional interpretation of fortress-site. A village, intended to accommodate the population, was built around the Nuraghe in the Late Bronze Age. The village consisted of fifty huts, and was built on a circular plan with large boulders covered with dry stone walls and conical roofs made of wood. Though the huts were structured in a unit in more remote periods, there was a later. Of the huts found, the most significant appear to have reserved for meetings of the local leaders. These huts were larger and more complex in structure, and the hut reserved for the inhabitants meetings contained symbols of the deities worshiped by locals, other rooms have been identified as workshops, kitchens, and agricultural processing centres. During the sixth century BCE, the buildings were destroyed and subsequently restored by Carthage before being occupied by the Romans. The nuraghe and the village were connected to the system of other Nuraghes. The archaeological site was excavated between 1950 and 1957 under the direction of Giovanni Lilliu, a local expert. Excavations brought to light important remains in the form of tools, weapons, pottery, Giovanni Lilliu used a combination of structural phases and pottery typology to construct a general Nuragic sequence. There is another important nuragic site at nearby Casa Zapata, the important finds of which are on display at the sites museum. Dyson Stephen L. Rowland Robert J. Shepherds, sailors, & conquerors - Archeology, philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Museum of Archeology and Anthropology
Su Nuraxi di Barumini
–
Su Nuraxi in Barumini
Su Nuraxi di Barumini
–
Su Nuraxi in winter
Su Nuraxi di Barumini
–
The main tower and the inner courtyard
Su Nuraxi di Barumini
–
The Nuraghe and its countryside in summer
3.
Italian language
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
Italian language
–
Dante Alighieri (above) and
Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their
Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of
Italy in the
Late Middle Ages
Italian language
–
The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.
Italian language
Italian language
–
Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage
4.
Logudorese dialect
–
Logudorese Sardinian is a standardised variety of Sardinian, often considered the most conservative of all Romance languages. Its ISO 639-3 code is src, italian-speakers do not understand Sardinian, which is a separate language. Latin G and K before /i, e/ are not palatalized in it, compare Logudorese kentu with Italian cento /ˈtʃɛnto/, Spanish ciento /ˈθjento/, /ˈsjento/ and French cent /sɑ̃/. It is an area of roughly 150 ×100 km with some 500, 000–700,000 inhabitants, the languages origins have been investigated by Eduardo Blasco Ferrer and others. Logudorese is the northern macro-dialect of the Sardinian language, the southern macro-dialect being Campidanese, the two variants share a clear common origin and history, but have experienced somewhat different developments. Though the language is typically Romance, some words in it are not of Latin origin, one such is nura, found in nuraghe, the main form of pre-Roman building, hence the term for the pre-Roman era as the Nuragic Period. Various place names similarly have roots that defy analysis, Logudorese changed only very slowly from Vulgar Latin in comparison to other Romance lects, even though in terms of vocabulary it is not as close to its Latin ancestor as Italian. Campidanese, in contrast, has more features than Logudorese, particularly in its verb forms, such as the retention of the 3rd-person plural in -nt. Logudorese has multiple dialects, some confined to villages or valleys. Though such differences can be noticeable, the dialects are mutually intelligible, a large body of Sardinian poetry, songs and literature is composed in Logudorese
Logudorese dialect
–
Languages and dialects of Sardinia
5.
Campidanese dialect
–
Campidanese Sardinian is a standardised variety of the Sardinian language primarily spoken in the Province of Cagliari, Italy. Traditionally the name Campidano refers to the area located around the towns of Guspini. Campidanese and its variants of the dialect can be found across the entire Province of Cagliari, Campidanese also extends into parts of the Province of Nuoro, notably the Ogliastra area and in the southern half of the Province of Oristano, the capital included. However, it is at point that the language merges into Logudorese. In 2009, the administration of Cagliari approved the spelling, phonetics, morphology. There are six main but mutually intelligible subdialects of Campidanese, Arborense, Cagliaritano, Meridionale, Ogliastrino, Cagliaritano is the dialect of Campidanese spoken in the capital, Cagliari, however, it extends to most of the neighbouring towns and villages within a 15 km radius of Cagliari. Campidanese has some borrowed words from Aragonese, Catalan and Spanish, since the early 20th century, there has been an increase in lexical borrowing from Italian. That is particularly evident with technological words for which there is no Campidanese equivalent, however, many words that are from Italian have been changed phonetically so that they sound Sardinian. Italian loan words that end in an o are often substituted with a u, the strong Campidanese accent also changes the sound of the word. Campidanese is written using the Latin alphabet, like Italian, Campidanese does not use w and y. Campidanese also uses the digraphs gh, representing /g/, ch representing /k/ before e and i vowels, tz representing /ts/ and x, in phonetic syntax, final or intervocalic t is pronounced as a /d/ and s is pronounced as a /z̪/. In case there are consonants like s, t ornt at the end of the word, if preceded by a consonant, an i is inserted before the normally-initial s. The spelling rules were established by the Province of Cagliari with a deliberation in March 17,2010, po cantu Biddanoa -1987 Su trenu de Casteddu arribàt a mesudì. Ma de candu intràt in is furriàdas de Tacchu de Nurri e ancora no si biìat, s’intendìat su ciuff ciuff e su fragu de su fumu, màssima candu tiràt bentu estu. Sa primu a si biri fut sa macchina, candu s’incraràt in sa trincera de terra arrùbia e fut po lompi a su scàmbiu, mancai fessit cincu oras currendu e èssit passau Campidanu, Partiolla, Trexenta e Sarcidanu, non parìat fadiau. Passau su scàmbiu arrallentàt e si poniat a passu de ómini po intrai in stazioni, cun imponénzia, cun importànzia, cun totu is ogus de sa genti puntaus asuba, cumpraxu. Ma candu si firmàt, asutta de is matas de ùlimu prus artas de sa stazioni, e sa genti cumenzàt a si accostiai, su ùrtimu ciuff pariat unu suspiru, fut própiu fadiau
Campidanese dialect
–
Languages and dialects of Sardinia
6.
Megalith
–
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. The word megalithic describes structures made of large stones without the use of mortar or concrete. For later periods, the monolith, with an overlapping meaning, is more likely to be used. The word megalith comes from the Ancient Greek μέγας and λίθος, megalith also denotes an item consisting of rock hewn in definite shapes for special purposes. It has been used to describe buildings built by people from parts of the world living in many different periods. A variety of stones are seen as megaliths, with the most widely known megaliths not being sepulchral. The construction of these took place mainly in the Neolithic and continued into the Chalcolithic. At a number of sites in eastern Turkey, large ceremonial complexes from the 9th millennium BC have been discovered and they belong to the incipient phases of agriculture and animal husbandry. Large circular structures involving carved megalithic orthostats are a feature, e. g. at Nevalı Çori. Although these structures are the most ancient megalithic structures known so far, at Göbekli Tepe, four stone circles have been excavated from an estimated 20. Some measure up to 30 metres across, as well as human figures, the stones carry a variety of carved reliefs depicting boars, foxes, lions, birds, snakes and scorpions. Dolmens and standing stones have been found in areas of the Middle East starting at the Turkish border in the north of Syria close to Aleppo. They can be encountered in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, the largest concentration can be found in southern Syria and along the Jordan Rift Valley, however they are being threatened with destruction. They date from the late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age, megaliths have also been found on Kharg Island and pirazmian in Iran, at Barda Balka in Iraq, and at Jaintapur in Bangladesh. A semicircular arrangement of megaliths was found in Israel at Atlit Yam and it is a very early example, dating from the 7th millennium BC. The most concentrated occurrence of dolmens in particular is in an area on both sides of the Jordan Rift Valley, with greater predominance on the eastern side. They occur first and foremost on the Golan Heights, the Hauran, and in Jordan, in Saudi Arabia, only very few dolmen have been identified so far in the Hejaz. They seem, however, to re-emerge in Yemen in small numbers, the standing stone has a very ancient tradition in the Middle East, dating back from Mesopotamian times
Megalith
–
Megalithic grave "
Harhoog " in
Keitum,
Sylt, Germany.
Megalith
–
Clooneen wedge tomb,
the Burren, Co. Clare, Ireland
Megalith
–
Stonehenge,
Wiltshire, United Kingdom, is one of the world's best known megalithic structures.
Megalith
–
Megalithic structure at
Atlit Yam, Israel
7.
Edifice
–
A building or edifice is a structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. To better understand the term building compare the list of nonbuilding structures, Buildings serve several needs of society – primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a division of the human habitat. Ever since the first cave paintings, buildings have become objects or canvasses of much artistic expression. In recent years, interest in planning and building practices has also become an intentional part of the design process of many new buildings. The word building is both a noun and a verb also an adverb, the structure itself and the act of making it. As a noun, a building is a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place, there was a building on the corner. In the broadest interpretation a fence or wall is a building, however, the word structure is used more broadly than building including natural and man-made formations and does not necessarily have walls. Structure is more likely to be used for a fence, as a verb, building is the act of construction. Structural height in technical usage is the height to the highest architectural detail on building from street-level, depending on how they are classified, spires and masts may or may not be included in this height. Spires and masts used as antennas are not generally included, the definition of a low-rise vs. a high-rise building is a matter of debate, but generally three storeys or less is considered low-rise. A report by Shinichi Fujimura of a shelter built 500000 years ago is doubtful since Fujimura was later found to have faked many of his findings. Supposed remains of huts found at the Terra Amata site in Nice purportedly dating from 200000 to 400000 years ago have also called into question. There is clear evidence of homebuilding from around 18000 BC, Buildings became common during the Neolithic. Single-family residential buildings are most often called houses or homes, residential buildings containing more than one dwelling unit are called a duplex, apartment building to differentiate them from individual houses. A condominium is an apartment that the occupant owns rather than rents, houses which were built as a single dwelling may later be divided into apartments or bedsitters, they may also be converted to another use e. g. an office or a shop. Building types may range from huts to multimillion-dollar high-rise apartment blocks able to house thousands of people, increasing settlement density in buildings is usually a response to high ground prices resulting from many people wanting to live close to work or similar attractors. Other common building materials are brick, concrete or combinations of either of these with stone, also if the residents are in need of special care such as a nursing home, orphanage or prison, or in group housing like barracks or dormitories
Edifice
–
The
Hôtel de Ville, building in
Paris,
France
Edifice
–
A
Shaolin Monastery building in
China
Edifice
–
A building and
skybridge in
Munich,
Germany
Edifice
–
The Rotunda in
Hellerup,
Denmark, a cylindric building made in steel frame and aluminum
8.
Sardinia
–
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
Sardinia
–
Cala Goloritzé,
Baunei
Sardinia
–
Sardinia Sardegna (
Italian) Sardìnnia (
Sardinian) Sardenya (
Catalan)
Sardinia
–
View of
Gennargentu, the highest massif of Sardinia
Sardinia
–
Lake Omodeo, the largest reservoir in Italy
9.
Nuragic civilization
–
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
Nuragic civilization
–
Su Nuraxi of
Barumini, included in the
UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites since 1997
Nuragic civilization
–
Nuraghe Ruju in
Province of Sassari
Nuragic civilization
–
Domus de janas in
Lotzorai
Nuragic civilization
–
Pranu Mutteddu’s Necropolis (
Goni)
10.
Macomer
–
Macomer is a town and comune of Sardinia in the province of Nuoro. The district, especially the Campeda, is suited for grazing and horse and cattle breeding. Macomer, known to the Greek geographer Ptolemy as Macopsissa, has been inhabited since antiquity, in 1478 was the scene of the historical battle between the Sardinians and the Aragonese, which ended the independence of Sardinia. In 1767, under the Kingdom of Sardinia, it became the capital of the Marquisate of Marghine, the Marquisate included the nearby villages of Birori, Bolotana, Borore, Bortigali, Dualchi, Lei, Mulargia, Noragugume and Silanus. In 1949, a statue called The Venus of Macomer was discovered in a located in Marras area. The artifact depicts a Goddess Mother dating back to the Palaeolithic period and it is about 14 centimetres high and was built with local basalt. It is currently kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari, nowadays, Macomer is a destination for tourists who want to admire the beautiful landscape around the city. The region is richer in the towers known as nuraghi than any other part of Sardinia. The old parish church of San Pantaleone has three Roman mile-stones in front of it, belonging to the Roman high-road from Carales to Turris Libisonis, a modern road now follows the ancient one. Recently an ethnographic museum called Le Arti Antiche has been opened, where it is possible to see tools traditionally used for agriculture and livestock, folk costumes, and photographs. The Monte di SantAntonio has a historical and naturalistic importance
Macomer
–
Panorama of Macomer
Macomer
–
The archaeological site of Tamuli is one of the attractions of Macomer.
Macomer
–
Panorama di Macomer
11.
Oxford English Dictionary
–
The Oxford English Dictionary is a descriptive dictionary of the English language, published by the Oxford University Press. The second edition came to 21,728 pages in 20 volumes, in 1895, the title The Oxford English Dictionary was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, and in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in ten bound volumes. In 1933, the title The Oxford English Dictionary fully replaced the name in all occurrences in its reprinting as twelve volumes with a one-volume supplement. More supplements came over the years until 1989, when the edition was published. Since 2000, an edition of the dictionary has been underway. The first electronic version of the dictionary was available in 1988. The online version has been available since 2000, and as of April 2014 was receiving two million hits per month. The third edition of the dictionary will probably appear in electronic form, Nigel Portwood, chief executive of Oxford University Press. As a historical dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary explains words by showing their development rather than merely their present-day usages, therefore, it shows definitions in the order that the sense of the word began being used, including word meanings which are no longer used. The format of the OEDs entries has influenced numerous other historical lexicography projects and this influenced later volumes of this and other lexicographical works. As of 30 November 2005, the Oxford English Dictionary contained approximately 301,100 main entries, the dictionarys latest, complete print edition was printed in 20 volumes, comprising 291,500 entries in 21,730 pages. The longest entry in the OED2 was for the verb set, as entries began to be revised for the OED3 in sequence starting from M, the longest entry became make in 2000, then put in 2007, then run in 2011. Despite its impressive size, the OED is neither the worlds largest nor the earliest exhaustive dictionary of a language, the Dutch dictionary Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal is the worlds largest dictionary, has similar aims to the OED and took twice as long to complete. Another earlier large dictionary is the Grimm brothers dictionary of the German language, begun in 1838, the official dictionary of Spanish is the Diccionario de la lengua española, and its first edition was published in 1780. The Kangxi dictionary of Chinese was published in 1716, trench suggested that a new, truly comprehensive dictionary was needed. On 7 January 1858, the Society formally adopted the idea of a new dictionary. Volunteer readers would be assigned particular books, copying passages illustrating word usage onto quotation slips, later the same year, the Society agreed to the project in principle, with the title A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. He withdrew and Herbert Coleridge became the first editor, on 12 May 1860, Coleridges dictionary plan was published and research was started
Oxford English Dictionary
–
Seven of the twenty volumes of the printed version of the second edition of the OED
Oxford English Dictionary
–
Frederick Furnivall, 1825–1910
Oxford English Dictionary
–
James Murray in the Scriptorium at Banbury Road
Oxford English Dictionary
–
The 78 Banbury Road,
Oxford, house, erstwhile residence of
James Murray, Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary
12.
Old Italian
–
By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
Old Italian
–
Dante Alighieri (above) and
Petrarch (below) were influential in establishing their
Tuscan dialect as the most prominent literary language in all of
Italy in the
Late Middle Ages
Old Italian
–
The geographic distribution of the Italian language in the world: large Italian-speaking communities are shown in green; light blue indicates areas where the Italian language was used officially during the Italian colonial period.
Old Italian
Old Italian
–
Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of the Italian language from the Tuscan dialect, as a literary medium, codifying the language for standard modern usage
13.
Dante
–
Durante degli Alighieri, simply called Dante, was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. In the late Middle Ages, the majority of poetry was written in Latin. In De vulgari eloquentia, however, Dante defended use of the vernacular in literature, as a result, Dante played an instrumental role in establishing the national language of Italy. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, Dante has been called the Father of the Italian language and one of the greatest poets of world literature. In Italy, Dante is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta and il Poeta, he, Petrarch, Dante was born in Florence, Republic of Florence, present-day Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in the Divine Comedy, in 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately May 11 and June 11. Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans, but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei, born no earlier than about 1100. Dantes father, Alaghiero or Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the middle of the 13th century. Dantes family had loyalties to the Guelphs, an alliance that supported the Papacy and which was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines. The poets mother was Bella, likely a member of the Abati family and she died when Dante was not yet ten years old, and Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. When Dante was 12, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati, contracting marriages at this early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. But by this time Dante had fallen in love with another, Beatrice Portinari, years after his marriage to Gemma he claims to have met Beatrice again, he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems. The exact date of his marriage is not known, the certain information is that, before his exile in 1301. Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino and this victory brought about a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take any part in life, one had to enroll in one of the citys many commercial or artisan guilds, so Dante entered the Physicians. In the following years, his name is recorded as speaking or voting in the various councils of the republic. A substantial portion of minutes from meetings in the years 1298–1300 was lost, however
Dante
–
Profile portrait of Dante, by
Sandro Botticelli
Dante
–
Portrait of Dante, from a fresco in the Palazzo dei Giudici, Florence
Dante
–
Dante in Verona, by Antonio Cotti
Dante
–
Statue of Dante at the
Uffizi, Florence
14.
La Divina Commedia
–
The Divine Comedy is a long narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c.1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work in Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature, the poems imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written and it is divided into three parts, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. On the surface, the poem describes Dantes travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven, but at a level, it represents, allegorically. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy, consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called the Summa in verse. The work was simply titled Comedìa and the word Divina was added by Giovanni Boccaccio. The first printed edition to add the word divina to the title was that of the Venetian humanist Lodovico Dolce, the Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into three canticas – Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso – each consisting of 33 cantos. An initial canto, serving as an introduction to the poem and generally considered to be part of the first cantica, the number three is prominent in the work, represented in part by the number of canticas and their lengths. Additionally, the scheme used, terza rima, is hendecasyllabic, with the lines composing tercets according to the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc. Written in the first person, the tells of Dantes journey through the three realms of the dead, lasting from the night before Good Friday to the Wednesday after Easter in the spring of 1300. The Roman poet Virgil guides him through Hell and Purgatory, Beatrice, Dantes ideal woman, within each group of 9,7 elements correspond to a specific moral scheme, subdivided into three subcategories, while 2 others of greater particularity are added to total nine. For example, the seven sins of the Catholic Church that are cleansed in Purgatory are joined by special realms for the Late repentant. The core seven sins within Purgatory correspond to a scheme of love perverted, subdivided into three groups corresponding to excessive love, deficient love, and malicious love. In central Italys political struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines, Dante was part of the Guelphs, who in general favored the Papacy over the Holy Roman Emperor, florences Guelphs split into factions around 1300, the White Guelphs and the Black Guelphs. The last word in each of the three canticas is stelle, the poem begins on the night before Good Friday in the year 1300, halfway along our lifes path. Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a low place where the sun is silent, Dante is at last rescued by Virgil, the circles number 9, with the addition of Satan completing the structure of 9 +1 =10. Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the land in the Southern Hemisphere
La Divina Commedia
–
Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in
Michelino 's fresco
La Divina Commedia
–
Detail of a manuscript in Milan's Biblioteca Trivulziana (MS 1080), written in 1337 by Francesco di ser Nardo da Barberino, showing the beginning of Dante's Comedy.
La Divina Commedia
–
Gustave Doré 's engravings illustrated the Divine Comedy (1861–1868); here
Charon comes to ferry souls across the river
Acheron to Hell.
La Divina Commedia
–
Dante gazes at Mount Purgatory in an allegorical portrait by
Agnolo Bronzino, painted c. 1530
15.
Paleo-Sardinian language
–
By the third century, Latin had become the language of Sardinia, and the old language survive mainly in toponyms, which appear to preserve grammatical suffixes, and in a few names of plants. The swiss linguist Johannes Hubschmid, one of the most renowned experts of the substratum elements, there is toponymic evidence suggesting that the Paleo-Sardinian language may have had connection to the reconstructed Proto-Basque and to the pre-Indo-European Iberian language of Spain. Eduardo Blasco Ferrer concluded that it developed in the island in the Neolithic as a result of prehistoric migration coming from the Iberian peninsula, the author in his analysis of the Paleo-Sardinian language find only few traces of Indo-European influences, possibly introduced in the Late Chalcolithic through Liguria. Similarity between Paleo-Sardinian and Ancient Ligurian were also noted by Emidio De Felice, bertoldi & Terracini propose that the common suffix -ara was a plural marker, and indicated a connection to Iberian or to the Paleo-Sicilian languages. Terracini claims a connection for the suffix -ànarV, -ànnarV, -énnarV, -ònnarV. A suffix -ini also seems to be characteristic, as in the place name Barùmini, a suffix or suffixes -arr-, -err-, -orr-, -urr- have been claimed to correspond to Numidia, to Iberia, to the south of Italy and Gascony, and to Basque. The non-Latin suffixes -ài, -éi, -òi, -ùi survive in place names based on Latin roots. Bertoldi sees an Anatolian connection in the endings -ài, -asài, a suffix -aiko is also common in Iberia and may have a Celtic origin. The tribal suffix -itani, -etani, as in the Sulcitani, has also identified as Paleo-Sardinian. The linguist M. Pittau argues that the Paleo-Sardinian language and the Etruscan language were closely linked, according to Alberto Areddu the Sherden were of Illyrian origin, on the basis of some lexical elements, unanimously acknowledged as belonging to the indigenous substrate. Areddu asserts that in ancient Sardinia, especially in the most interior area, there are in fact some correspondences, both formal and semantic, with the few testimonies of Illyrian languages, and above all with their linguistical continuer, Albanian. àlase holly = Alb. halë thorn, lisp, corn beard, pine needle, black pine, halëz thorn, ear Sard. lothiu muddy, urtzulei = Alb. urth, hurdh ivy Sard. amadrina doe, hind = Alb. drenje, drenushe doe Sard. élimu rancor, resentment = Alb. helm displeasure, poison Sard. tzìrima, tzérrima rancor, insult, çirrma ‘shrill threats, insults Sard. càstia net to collect straw = Alb. kashtë straw, chaff Sard. thùrgalu creek, stream = Alb. Zeppara = Alb. thep-a top, peak Sard, the three modern dialects of Gallurese, Logudorese, and Campidanese might reflect that multilingual substratum. Other minor Paleosardinian peoples of possible Indo-European stock were the Lucuidonenses of the north of the island, paleosardo, Le radici linguistiche della Sardegna neolitica. Johannes Hubschmid, Sardische Studien, Bern Massimo Pittau, La lingua sardiana o dei Protosardi, Cagliari Giulio Paulis, I nomi di luogo in Sardegna, Sassari Ugas, heinz Jürgen Wolf, Toponomastica Barbaricina, Nuoro
Paleo-Sardinian language
Paleo-Sardinian language
–
Paleo-Sardinian
16.
Indo-European languages
–
The Indo-European languages are a language family of several hundred related languages and dialects. There are about 445 living Indo-European languages, according to the estimate by Ethnologue, the most widely spoken Indo-European languages by native speakers are Spanish, English, Hindustani, Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, and Punjabi, each with over 100 million speakers. Today, 46% of the population speaks an Indo-European language as a first language. The Indo-European family includes most of the languages of Europe, and parts of Western, Central. It was also predominant in ancient Anatolia, the ancient Tarim Basin and most of Central Asia until the medieval Turkic migrations, all Indo-European languages are descendants of a single prehistoric language, reconstructed as Proto-Indo-European, spoken sometime in the Neolithic era. Several disputed proposals link Indo-European to other language families. In the 16th century, European visitors to the Indian subcontinent began to notice similarities among Indo-Aryan, Iranian, in 1583, English Jesuit missionary Thomas Stephens in Goa wrote a letter to his brother in which he noted similarities between Indian languages and Greek and Latin. Another account to mention the ancient language Sanskrit came from Filippo Sassetti, a merchant born in Florence in 1540, writing in 1585, he noted some word similarities between Sanskrit and Italian. However, neither Stephens nor Sassettis observations led to further scholarly inquiry and he included in his hypothesis Dutch, Albanian, Greek, Latin, Persian, and German, later adding Slavic, Celtic, and Baltic languages. However, Van Boxhorns suggestions did not become known and did not stimulate further research. Ottoman Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi visited Vienna in 1665–1666 as part of a diplomatic mission, gaston Coeurdoux and others made observations of the same type. Coeurdoux made a comparison of Sanskrit, Latin and Greek conjugations in the late 1760s to suggest a relationship among them. Thomas Young first used the term Indo-European in 1813, deriving from the extremes of the language family. A synonym is Indo-Germanic, specifying the familys southeasternmost and northwesternmost branches, a number of other synonymous terms have also been used. Franz Bopps Comparative Grammar appeared between 1833 and 1852 and marks the beginning of Indo-European studies as an academic discipline, the classical phase of Indo-European comparative linguistics leads from this work to August Schleichers 1861 Compendium and up to Karl Brugmanns Grundriss, published in the 1880s. Brugmanns neogrammarian reevaluation of the field and Ferdinand de Saussures development of the theory may be considered the beginning of modern Indo-European studies. This led to the laryngeal theory, a major step forward in Indo-European linguistics. Isolated terms in Luwian/Hittite mentioned in Semitic Old Assyrian texts from the 20th and 19th centuries BC, Hittite texts from about 1650 BC, Armenian, writing known from the beginning of the 5th century AD
Indo-European languages
–
Franz Bopp, pioneer in the field of comparative linguistic studies.
Indo-European languages
17.
Latin
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
18.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
19.
Alluvial
–
Alluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or sediments, which has been eroded, reshaped by water in some form, and redeposited in a non-marine setting. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand, when this loose alluvial material is deposited or cemented into a lithological unit, or lithified, it is called an alluvial deposit. The term alluvium is not typically used in situations where the formation of the sediment can clearly be attributed to another process that is well described. This includes, lake sediments, river sediments, or glacially-derived sediments, sediments that are formed or deposited in a perennial stream or river are typically not referred to as alluvial. Most alluvium is very young, and is often referred to as cover because these sediments obscure the underlying bedrock. Most sedimentary material that fills a basin that is not lithified is typically lumped together as alluvial, alluvium of Pliocene age occurs, for example, in parts of Idaho. Alluvium of late Miocene age occurs, for example, in the valley of the San Joaquin River, alluvium can contain valuable ores such as gold and platinum and a wide variety of gemstones. Such a concentration of ores is termed a placer deposit
Alluvial
–
Section of alluvium at the Blue Ribbon Mine in
Alaska
Alluvial
–
Alluvium deposits in the Gamtoos Valley in
South Africa
Alluvial
–
An
alluvial plain in
Red Rock Canyon State Park (California)
Alluvial
–
Alluvial river deposits in the
Amazon Basin, near Autazes, AM,
Brazil. The seasonal deposits are extremely fertile, and crucial to
subsistence farming in the Amazon Basin along the river banks.
20.
Beehive tomb
–
A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb, is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by the superposition of successively smaller rings of mudbricks or, more often, stones. The resulting structure resembles a beehive, hence the traditional English name, tholoi were used for burial in several cultures in the Mediterranean and West Asia, but in some cases they were used for different purposes such as homes, ritual, and even fortification. Although Max Mallowan used the name for the circular houses belonging to the Neolithic culture of Tell Halaf. In Greece, the vaulted tholoi are a monumental Late Bronze Age development, in concept, they are similar to the much more numerous Mycenaean chamber tombs which seem to have emerged at about the same time. Both have chamber, doorway stomion and entrance passage dromos but tholoi are largely built while chamber tombs are rock-cut, a few early examples of tholoi have been found in Messenia in the SW Peloponnese Greece, and recently near Troezen in the NE Peloponnese. These tholoi are built on ground and then enclosed by a mound of earth. A pair of tumuli at Marathon, Greece indicate how a built rectangular central chamber was extended with an entrance passage, after about 1500 BCE, beehive tombs became more widespread and are found in every part of the Mycenaean heartland. In contrast, however, to the early examples these are almost always cut into the slope of a hillside so that only the third of the vaulted chamber was above ground level. This masonry was then concealed with a small mound of earth. The tombs usually contain more than one burial, in places in the tomb either on the floor, in pits and cists or on stone-built or rock-cut benches. After a burial, the entrance to the tomb was filled in with soil, the chamber is always built in masonry, even in the earliest examples, as is the stomion or entrance-way. The dromos in early examples was usually just cut from the bedrock, in later examples such as the Treasury of Atreus and Tomb of Clytemnestra, all three parts were constructed of fine ashlar masonry. The chambers were built as corbelled vaults, with layers of stone placed closer together as the vault tapers toward the top of the tomb, the entrances provided an opportunity for conspicuous demonstration of wealth. That of the Treasury of Atreus, for example, was decorated with columns of red, the larger tombs contained amongst the richest finds to have come from the Late Bronze Age of Mainland Greece, despite the tombs having been pillaged both in antiquity and more recently. Although the Vapheio tholos, south of Sparta, had been robbed and these contained, among other valuable items, the two gold “Vapheio cups” decorated with scenes of bull taming which are among the best known of Mycenaean treasures. Circular structures were built in the Near East, including the examples known as tholoi found in the Neolithic Halaf culture of Iraq, Syria. They were probably used as houses and as storage structures, but ritual use may also have occurred. Other, later examples are found in Cyprus, where they were used as homes, there is no clear connection between these domestic, circular buildings and later tholos tombs
Beehive tomb
–
Cross section of
Treasury of Atreus, a beehive tomb
Beehive tomb
–
Dromos entrance to the Treasury of Atreus
Beehive tomb
–
The Lion Tholos Tomb at
Mycenae. Of note are the ashlar stomion (of conglomerate) and dromos while the chamber itself remains made of smaller stones, placing the tomb in Wace's second group
Beehive tomb
–
tholos of the
Nuraghe Arrubiu
21.
Ashlar
–
Ashlar is finely dressed masonry, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared or the masonry built of such stone. It is the finest stone masonry unit, generally cuboid, mentioned by Vitruvius as opus isodomum, one such decorative treatment consists of small grooves achieved by the application of a metal comb. Generally used only on softer stone ashlar, this decoration is known as masons drag, ashlar is in contrast to rubble masonry, which employs irregularly shaped stones, although sometimes minimally worked or selected for similar size, or both. Ashlar is related but distinct from other stone masonry that is finely dressed but not quadrilateral, such as curvilinear masonry, ashlar may be coursed, which involves lengthy horizontal courses of stone blocks laid in parallel, and therefore with continuous horizontal joints. Ashlar may also be random, which involves stone blocks laid with deliberately discontinuous courses, in either case, it generally uses a joining material such as mortar to bind the blocks together, although dry ashlar construction, metal ties, and other methods of assembly have been used. The dry ashlar of Inca architecture in Cusco and Machu Picchu is particularly fine, the word is attested in Middle English and derives from Old French aisselier, from Latin axilla, diminutive of axis, plank. Ashlar blocks have been used in the construction of buildings as an alternative to brick or other materials. In classical architecture, ashlar wall surfaces were contrasted with rustication. The term is used to describe the dressed stone work of prehistoric Greece and Crete. For example, the tombs of Bronze Age Mycenae use ashlar masonry in the construction of the so-called beehive dome. This dome consists of finely cut ashlar blocks that decrease in size and these domes are not true domes, but are constructed using the corbel arch. Ashlar masonry was also used in the construction of palace facades on Crete. These constructions date to the MM III-LM Ib period, ca, in modern European masonry the blocks are generally about 35 centimetres in height. When shorter than 30 centimetres, they are called small ashlar. In some Masonic groupings, which such societies term jurisdictions, ashlars are used as a metaphor for how ones personal development relates to the tenets of their lodge. Ablaq Dimension stone Opus quadratum Rustication Stone cladding Stone veneer
Ashlar
–
Inca Empire Inca wall at
Machu Picchu, constructed in
dry ashlar masonry laid in parallel
courses
Ashlar
22.
Corbel arch
–
A corbel vault uses this technique to support the superstructure of a buildings roof. For a corbeled vault covering the technique is extended in three dimensions along the lengths of two opposing walls, unlike true arches, not all of the structures tensile stresses caused by the weight of the superstructure are transformed into compressive stresses. The Newgrange passage tomb has a corbel arch supporting the roof of the main chamber. Egyptian pyramids from around the time of Sneferu used corbel vaults in some of their chambers and these include the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid. Corbel arches and vaults are found in places around the ancient Mediterranean. In particular, corbelled burial vaults constructed below the floor are found in Ebla in Syria, and in Tel Hazor, nuraghe constructions in ancient Sardinia, dating back to 1900 BC, use similar corbel techniques. The use of Beehive tombs on the Iberian peninsula and elsewhere around the Mediterranean, the Hittites in ancient Anatolia were also building corbelled vaults. The earliest ones date to the 16th century BC, some similarities are found between the Hittite and Mycenaean construction techniques. Yet the Hittite corbelled vaults are earlier by about 300 years, the ruins of ancient Mycenae feature many corbel arches and vaults, the Treasury of Atreus being a prominent example. Dating to the Greek Bronze Age, it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence, the well-preserved hellenistic Eleutherna Bridge on Crete has an unusually large span of nearly 4 m. Corbeled arches are a feature of certain pre-Columbian Mesoamerican constructions and historical/regional architectural styles. By the beginning of the Classic era corbeled vaults are a feature of building construction in the central Petén Basin region of the central Maya lowlands. Before the true arch was introduced by the Mughals, the arches in Indian buildings were trabeated or corbelled, the tomb of Sultan Ghari is an example of a corbelled arch from 1231 AD, located in New Delhi, India. The candi or temples of Indonesia which are constructed between 8th to 15th century, are made use of corbel arch technique to create an opening for gate or inner chamber of the temple. The notable example of corbel arch in Indonesian classic temple architecture is the arches of Borobudur, the interlocking andesite stone blocks creating the corbel arch, is notable for its T formed lock on the center top of the corbel arch. All the temples in Angkor made use of the corbel arch, Beehive house Beehive tomb Catenary arch Corbelling Parabolic arch Coe, Michael D. An illustrated glossary of the terms used masonry construction
Corbel arch
–
Comparison of a corbel arch (right) and a generic "true" stone
arch (left).
Corbel arch
–
Basic principle of corbeled arch design.
Corbel arch
–
Royal Palace of Ugarit Entrance
Corbel arch
–
The "Treasury of Atreus".
23.
Nuraghe Arrubiu
–
The Nuraghe Arrubiu is one of the largest of the nuraghi in Sardinia. It is located in Orroli, in province of South Sardinia and its name means red Nuraghe in the Sardinian language, which derives from the basalt stones of which is built. The structure was built during the fifteenth century BC, the tower originally reached a height of between 25 and 30 metres, making it one of the tallest structure in Bronze Age Europe. The main structure, which is made up of five towers, is protected by two walls, making a total of 21 towers. The area covered by the complex is ca.3000 square metres, talaiot Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Nuoro, Il Sarcidano, Orroli, Nuraghe Arrubiu su www. museoarcheologiconuoro. beniculturali. it. URL consultato il 16 dicembre 2014
Nuraghe Arrubiu
–
Nuraghe Arrubiu
24.
Nuraghe La Prisciona
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The Nuraghe La Prisgiona is a nuragic archaeological site, located in the Capichera valley in the municipality of Arzachena Costa Smeralda in the north of Sardinia. It consists of a nuraghe and a village comprising around 90-100 buildings, findings from this site are in many cases unique in Sardinia, particularly with regard to decoration and use. Due to the extent and number of buildings the site is considered unique in North-East Sardinia. There is also evidence for occupation during Roman and medieval times. The Giants grave Coddu Vecchiu is located nearby, the nuraghe presides over an area of several square kilometers, with its prominent role confirmed by the size and the complexity of the architectural structure itself. The nuraghe is a complex nuraghe, of tholos typology, rather unusual in Gallura, the monument has a central tower and 2 side towers, forming a bastion. The keep has an entrance defined by a lintel of 3.20 m length. The central chamber has a dome, which is more than 6 meters high. Also within the bastion is a well, which is over 7 meters deep, at the bottom of the well many ceramic artefacts were uncovered. Among them are many pitchers of the typology, finely decorated and with traces of ancient repairs. The pitchers were not meant to hold liquids, but are clearly destined for other purposes. This unusual find prompts questions as to why these vessels were abandoned at the bottom of the well, the “meeting hut”, a peculiar round building, is located just a few meters from the well, which perhaps is not coincidental. The ring shaped bench with 16 seats in the hut may have been used by leaders or other people of rank. The importance and the exclusivity of the place is further confirmed by the discovery of a vase of unusual form, the village spreads around the Nuraghe and consists of around 90-100 huts. During the excavation of the first 15 huts, archaeologists immediately noticed their organization in small blocks among which intersect a series of paved lanes. While the greater portion of the village is yet to be excavated, the chronology data of the settlement shows occupation between the 14th century and the 9th century B. C. There is also evidence of Roman imperial age activity, as well as medieval activity, early 1900s, The site was brought to general attention by local school master Michele Ruzzittu. He also observed a large stone heap area which suggested the presence of ancient dwellings,1959, The first scientific investigation was conducted by veteran archaeologist Ercole Contu
Nuraghe La Prisciona
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The
Nuraghe La Prisciona,
Sardinia
Nuraghe La Prisciona
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list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient
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Nuraghe La Prisciona
25.
Arzachena
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Arzachena is a town and comune in the province of Olbia Tempio, northern Sardinia, Italy. Arzachena lies half way between the original Costa Smeralda resort and Porto Rafael, both founded in the late 1950s, after Olbia and Tempio Pausania, it is the third largest commune in Gallura by inhabitants. The frazione of Porto Cervo is the resort area of Costa Smeralda for summer tourism. Nearby there are archaeological sites from the Nuragic period, including those from a local sub-culture known as Arzachena culture. Located in an area inhabited by the Arzachena culture, the town has obscure origins. The region was known by the Romans as Turibulum, after a rock which is today the symbol of the town. The oldest mention is from a 1421 document, when king Alfonso IV of Aragon gave it as a fief to one Ramboldo de Cobaria
Arzachena
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Arzachena Alzachena
Arzachena
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The Albucciu
nuraghe near Arzachena.
26.
Bitti
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Bitti is a comune in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 140 kilometres north of Cagliari and about 20 kilometres north of Nuoro. Bitti borders the municipalities, Alà dei Sardi, Buddusò, Lodè, Lula, Nule, Onanì, Orune, Osidda. The commune takes its name from the Sardinian bitta, already existing in Roman times, it is mentioned in 1170 as Bitthe. Bitti was a capital of the Giudicato of Gallura and. It was later included in the marquisate of Orani
Bitti
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Bitti
Bitti
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View of Bitti.
27.
City-state
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A city-state is a sovereign state that consists of a city and its dependent territories. A great deal of consensus exists that the term applies to Singapore, Monaco. A number of small states share similar characteristics, and therefore are sometimes also cited as modern city-states. Occasionally, other states with high population densities, such as San Marino, are also cited. Several non-sovereign cities enjoy a degree of autonomy, and are sometimes considered city-states. Hong Kong and Macau, along with independent members of the United Arab Emirates, most notably Dubai, scholars have classed the Viking colonial cities in medieval Ireland, most importantly Dublin, as city-states. In Cyprus, the Phoenician settlement of Kition was a city-state that existed from around 800 BC until the end of the 4th century BC. The success of regional units coexisting as autonomous actors in loose geographical and cultural unity, as in Italy and Greece. However, such small political entities often survived only for short periods because they lacked the resources to defend themselves against incursions by larger states, thus they inevitably gave way to larger organisations of society, including the empire and the nation-state. In the history of Mainland Southeast Asia, aristocratic groups, Buddhist leaders, the system existed until the 19th century when colonization by European powers, and Thailands resulted in the adoption of the modern concept of statehood. In the Holy Roman Empire the Free Imperial Cities enjoyed a considerable autonomy, some, like the three Hanseatic cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, pooled their economic relations with foreign powers and were able to wield considerable diplomatic clout. Under Habsburg rule the city of Fiume had the status of a Corpus separatum, a later city-state, though lacking sovereignty, was West Berlin, being a state legally not belonging to any other state, but ruled by the Western Allies. They allowed – notwithstanding their overlordship as occupant powers – its internal organisation as one state simultaneously being a city, though West Berlin maintained close ties to the West German Federal Republic of Germany, it was legally never part of it. But the idea of leaving the United States proved too radical even in the turmoil of 1861 and was poorly received, the war, and especially conscription, was nevertheless often unpopular in the city, sparking the deadly New York Draft Riots. The neighboring City of Brooklyn, in contrast, was staunchly Unionist, the Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and nearly 200 towns in the surrounding areas. It was created on 15 November 1920 under the terms of Article 100 of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles after the end of World War I. Its territory of 28 km2 comprised the city of Fiume and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to Italy, the Shanghai International Settlement was an international zone with its own legal system, postal service, and currency. The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors
City-state
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Monaco, an example of a city-state.
City-state
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The
Republic of Ragusa, a maritime city-state, was based in the
walled city of
Dubrovnik.
City-state
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Overview of Singapore's financial district
28.
Declination
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In astronomy, declination is one of the two angles that locate a point on the celestial sphere in the equatorial coordinate system, the other being hour angle. Declinations angle is measured north or south of the celestial equator, the root of the word declination means a bending away or a bending down. It comes from the root as the words incline and recline. Declination in astronomy is comparable to geographic latitude, projected onto the celestial sphere, points north of the celestial equator have positive declinations, while those south have negative declinations. Any units of measure can be used for declination, but it is customarily measured in the degrees, minutes. Declinations with magnitudes greater than 90° do not occur, because the poles are the northernmost and southernmost points of the celestial sphere, the Earths axis rotates slowly westward about the poles of the ecliptic, completing one circuit in about 26,000 years. This effect, known as precession, causes the coordinates of stationary celestial objects to change continuously, therefore, equatorial coordinates are inherently relative to the year of their observation, and astronomers specify them with reference to a particular year, known as an epoch. Coordinates from different epochs must be rotated to match each other. The currently used standard epoch is J2000.0, which is January 1,2000 at 12,00 TT, the prefix J indicates that it is a Julian epoch. Prior to J2000.0, astronomers used the successive Besselian Epochs B1875.0, B1900.0, the declinations of Solar System objects change very rapidly compared to those of stars, due to orbital motion and close proximity. This similarly occurs in the Southern Hemisphere for objects with less than −90° − φ. An extreme example is the star which has a declination near to +90°. Circumpolar stars never dip below the horizon, conversely, there are other stars that never rise above the horizon, as seen from any given point on the Earths surface. Generally, if a star whose declination is δ is circumpolar for some observer, then a star whose declination is −δ never rises above the horizon, as seen by the same observer. Likewise, if a star is circumpolar for an observer at latitude φ, neglecting atmospheric refraction, declination is always 0° at east and west points of the horizon. At the north point, it is 90° − |φ|, and at the south point, from the poles, declination is uniform around the entire horizon, approximately 0°. Non-circumpolar stars are visible only during certain days or seasons of the year, the Suns declination varies with the seasons. As seen from arctic or antarctic latitudes, the Sun is circumpolar near the summer solstice, leading to the phenomenon of it being above the horizon at midnight
Declination
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Right ascension (blue) and declination (green) as seen from outside the
celestial sphere.
29.
Azimuth
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An azimuth is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system. An example is the position of a star in the sky, the star is the point of interest, the reference plane is the horizon or the surface of the sea, and the reference vector points north. The azimuth is the angle between the vector and the perpendicular projection of the star down onto the horizon. Azimuth is usually measured in degrees, the concept is used in navigation, astronomy, engineering, mapping, mining and artillery. In land navigation, azimuth is usually denoted alpha, α, azimuth has also been more generally defined as a horizontal angle measured clockwise from any fixed reference plane or easily established base direction line. Today, the plane for an azimuth is typically true north, measured as a 0° azimuth. Moving clockwise on a 360 degree circle, east has azimuth 90°, south 180°, there are exceptions, some navigation systems use south as the reference vector. Any direction can be the vector, as long as it is clearly defined. Quite commonly, azimuths or compass bearings are stated in a system in which either north or south can be the zero, the reference direction, stated first, is always north or south, and the turning direction, stated last, is east or west. The directions are chosen so that the angle, stated between them, is positive, between zero and 90 degrees. If the bearing happens to be exactly in the direction of one of the cardinal points and this is the reason why the X and Y axis in the above formula are swapped. If the azimuth becomes negative, one can always add 360°, the formula in radians would be slightly easier, α = atan2 Caveat, Most computer libraries reverse the order of the atan2 parameters. We are standing at latitude φ1, longitude zero, we want to find the azimuth from our viewpoint to Point 2 at latitude φ2, longitude L. The difference is usually small, if Point 2 is not more than 100 km away. Various websites will calculate geodetic azimuth, e. g. GeoScience Australia site, formulas for calculating geodetic azimuth are linked in the distance article. Normal-section azimuth is simpler to calculate, Bomford says Cunninghams formula is exact for any distance, replace φ2 with declination and longitude difference with hour angle, and change the sign. There is a variety of azimuthal map projections. They all have the property that directions from a point are preserved
Azimuth
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A standard Brunton Geo
compass, used commonly by geologists and surveyors to measure azimuth
Azimuth
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The azimuth is the angle formed between a reference direction (North) and a line from the observer to a point of interest projected on the same plane as the reference direction orthogonal to the zenith
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