1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
2.
Berlin
–
Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
Berlin
Berlin
Berlin
Berlin
3.
Art museum
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An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art. Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection, the term is used for both public galleries, which are non-profit or publicly owned museums that display selected collections of art. On the other hand, private galleries refers to the commercial enterprises for the sale of art, however, both types of gallery may host traveling exhibits or temporary exhibitions including art borrowed from elsewhere. In broad terms, in North American usage, the word gallery alone often implies a private gallery, the term contemporary art gallery refers usually to a privately owned for-profit commercial gallery. These galleries are found clustered together in large urban centers. Smaller cities are home to at least one gallery, but they may also be found in towns or villages. Contemporary art galleries are open to the general public without charge, however. They usually profit by taking a portion of art sales, from 25% to 50% is typical, there are also many non-profit or collective galleries. Some galleries in cities like Tokyo charge the artists a flat rate per day, curators often create group shows that say something about a certain theme, trend in art, or group of associated artists. Galleries sometimes choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to show regularly, a gallerys definition can also include the artist cooperative or artist-run space, which often operates as a space with a more democratic mission and selection process. A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges fees from artists in order to show their work, the shows are not legitimately curated and will frequently or usually include as many artists as possible. Most art professionals are able to identify them on an artists resume, University art museums and galleries constitute collections of art that are developed, owned, and maintained by all kinds of schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. This phenomenon exists in both the West and East, making it a global practice, although largely overlooked, there are over 700 university art museums in America alone. This number, in comparison to other kinds of art museums, throughout history, large and expensive works of art have generally been commissioned by religious institutions and monarchs and been displayed in temples, churches, and palaces. Although these collections of art were private, they were made available for viewing for a portion of the public. In classical times, religious institutions began to function as a form of art gallery. Wealthy Roman collectors of engraved gems and other precious objects often donated their collections to temples and it is unclear how easy it was in practice for the public to view these items. At the Palace of Versailles, entrance was restricted to wearing the proper apparel – the appropriate accessories could be hired from shops outside
Art museum
–
The Louvre in
Paris,
France, is one of the world's largest museums and
the most visited art museum in the world.
Art museum
–
The Gallery of
Cornelis van der Geest,
Willem van Haecht, 1628. A private picture gallery as an early precursor of the modern museum.
Art museum
–
University of Tartu Art Museum is the oldest museum in
Estonia.
Art museum
–
The art collection at the
Palace of Versailles in
France was periodically open for 'respectable' public viewing.
4.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
German language
–
Old Frisian (Alt-Friesisch)
German language
–
The widespread popularity of the
Bible translated into German by
Martin Luther helped establish modern German
German language
–
Examples of German language in
Namibian everyday life
German language
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German-language newspapers in the U.S. in 1922
5.
Museum Island
–
Museum Island is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, the site of the old city of Cölln. The Neues Museum finished in 1859 according to plans by Friedrich August Stüler, destroyed in World War II, it was rebuilt under the direction of David Chipperfield for the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and re-opened in 2009. It exhibits the sculpture collections and late Antique and Byzantine art, the Pergamon Museum, the final museum of the complex, constructed in 1930. It contains multiple reconstructed immense and historically significant buildings such as the Pergamon Altar, in 1999, the museum complex was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. A first exhibition hall was erected in 1797 at the suggestion of the archaeologist Aloys Hirt, in 1822, Schinkel designed the plans for the Altes Museum to house the royal Antikensammlung, the arrangement of the collection was overseen by Wilhelm von Humboldt. The island, originally an area, was dedicated to art. Further extended under succeeding Prussian kings, the collections of art. They are today maintained by the Berlin State Museums branch of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Museum Island further comprises the Lustgarten park and the Berlin Cathedral. Between the Bode and Pergamon Museums it is crossed by the Stadtbahn railway viaduct, the adjacent territory to the south is the site of the former Stadtschloss and the Palace of the Republic. These include the Priams Treasure, also called the gold of Troy, excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in 1873, then smuggled out of Turkey to Berlin and today kept at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Then, six months later, Peter-Klaus Schuster took over and set in motion a far more ambitious program intended to turn Museum Island into a Louvre on the Spree. The federal government pledged $20 million a year through 2010 for projects to enhance Berlins prestige and Unesco declaring the island a World Heritage Site. The contents of the museums were decided on as follows, The Pergamon, with the Greek altar that gives it its name, the Neues Museum presented archaeological objects as well as Egyptian and Etruscan sculptures, including the renowned bust of Queen Nefertiti. The Altes Museum, the oldest on the island, displayed Greek and Roman art objects on its first floor, the Bode Museums paintings went from Late Byzantine to 1800. And, as now, the Alte Nationalgalerie will cover the 19th century, the James Simon Gallery, a $94 million visitors’ center designed by the British architect David Chipperfield, is being built beside the Neues Museum. It will in turn be linked to the Neues, Altes, Pergamon, once the Museum Island Master Plan is completed, the so-called Archaeological Promenade will connect four of the five museums in the Museum Island. The Promenade will begin at the Old Museum in the south, lead through the New Museum, before World War II, these museums were connected by bridge passages above ground, they were destroyed due to the effects of the war. There have never been plans to them, instead, the central courts of individual museums will be lowered
Museum Island
–
The
Bode Museum at the northern end of the Museum Island.
Museum Island
–
Museum Island with Pergamon and Bode Museum, 1951
Museum Island
–
Altes Museum,
Lustgarten, and
Berlin Cathedral
Museum Island
–
Neues Museum
6.
Alfred Messel
–
Alfred Messel was one of the most well-known German architects at the turning point to the 20th century, creating a new style for buildings which bridged the transition from historicism to modernism. As an urban architect striving for excellence he was in many respects ahead of his time and his most well known works, the Wertheim department stores and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, reflect a new concept of self-confident metropolitan architecture. His architectural drawings and construction plans are preserved at the Architecture Museum of the Technical University of Berlin, Alfred Messel was the third son of the banker Simon Messel. The family owned a bank which was managed by Alfred’s brother Ludwig, first in Darmstadt and then, from the end of the 1870s. In his youth Alfred Messel began a friendship with Ludwig Hoffmann. In 1872 Messel graduated from the Ludwig-Georgs-Gymnasium in Darmstadt, after which he served in the military as a volunteer in the First Grand Ducal Hessian Royal Guard Infantry Regiment. In 1873 he attended the Kassel art academy together with his friend Ludwig Hoffmann, followed by studies at the Berlin Building Academy under Heinrich Strack. Over the next two years he traveled extensively through France, Spain, Italy and Great Britain and was a lecturer at the newly founded Technical University in Berlin-Charlottenburg, in 1886 he took a leave of absence from the civil service to work as a private architect. On February 1,1893 he married Elsa Altmann and in November of that year their first child, in February 1894 he was appointed professor at the Berlin School of Fine Arts and in the same year founded an architectural firm together with Martin Altgelt. In 1896 his son Ludwig Leonhard was born, in 1899 Messel converted from Judaism to Protestantism. On May 17 of that year he received the Order of the Red Eagle, 4th Class, also that year his youngest daughter Irene was born. In 1900 he terminated his collaboration with Martin Altgelt, starting in 1902 he suffered from heart disease, which caused him to spend long periods at a health resort in the following years. He was busy with the extension of the Wertheim store on Leipziger Platz 1903/06. In 1906 Messel became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin and in 1906 was awarded a doctorate from Darmstadt Technical University. Messel died on March 24,1909 and was buried in the Alter St. -Matthäus-Kirchhof in Berlin-Schöneberg, since he was of Jewish descent, city streets named after him were renamed during the Nazi era. Messel’s most famous work is the Wertheim Department store on Leipziger Platz, after passing through a vestibule two-storeys high, one entered a rectangular light well 22 meter high and 450 square meters in size. On the opposite wall a stairway led to the upper sales floors. The store did not survive World War II, in March 1943 it was damaged by three exploding bombs, and its final destruction was caused by a fire started by a phosphorus bomb
Alfred Messel
–
Alfred Messel c. 1900
Alfred Messel
–
Messel's Wertheim department store on Leipziger Platz in the 1920s.
Alfred Messel
–
The lofty central hall of the store
Alfred Messel
–
Entrance to the Pergamon Museum, Berlin
7.
Ludwig Hoffmann (architect)
–
Ludwig Ernst Emil Hoffmann was a German architect and was one of the most famous architects of Berlin. Ludwig Hoffmann was born in Darmstadt and educated at the Kunstakademie Kassel, in 1879, after passing the first state examination, Hoffmann began working for the government of Berlin as a construction foreman under Franz Heinrich Schwechten. His architectural career began in 1880 when he and Peter Dybwad, in 1895, the year it was completed, he returned to Berlin and that June married Marie Weisbach, a bankers daughter. In 1896, Hoffmann became Stadtbaurat—director of urban planning and construction—for Berlin and he served for 28 years until 1924 and is now regarded as the most important holder of the position. Under his leadership 111 facilities were built, including over 300 buildings and he designed the new administration building for the city of Berlin, now known as the Altes Stadthaus. He designed the Märkisches Museum, the museum of Berlin and the Mark Brandenburg, with Alfred Messel, he designed the built version of the Pergamon Museum on Museum Island. In addition he designed bridges, fountains, public baths, schools of every kind, orphanages, hospital complexes, cemeteries, private villas, in his memoirs, he describes the long history of work on the Märchenbrunnen for the Volkspark Friedrichshain, the first public park in Berlin. An archive of many of his designs is kept at the Architecture Museum of the Berlin Institute of Technology, in 1906 Ludwig Hoffmann was awarded the title of Privy Councillor and an honorary doctorate from the Technische Universität Darmstadt. In the same year he was elected to membership of the Prussian Academy of Arts, in 1917 he received a second honorary doctorate, from the Vienna University of Technology. Upon his retirement in 1924 he was awarded citizenship of Berlin. A primary school in Friedrichshain, a hospital in Pankow, a bridge in Moabit, hoffmanns work was long out of favor for its historicism, but is now recognized as an important part of the effort to accommodate Berlins rapid growth prior to World War I. As early as 1956, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe admitted he had been wronged, dehio, Georg, Bollé, Michael, Badstübner-Gröger, Sibylle, eds. Schäche, Wolfgang, ed. Lebenserinnerungen eines Architekten, bauwerke und Kunstdenkmäler von Berlin Beiheft. Reichhardt, Hans J. Schäche, Wolfgang, eds, Ludwig Hoffmann in Berlin, die Wiederentdeckung eines Architekten, eine Ausstellung des Landesarchivs Berlin,11. Das Reichsgerichtsgebäude in Leipzig—vom Entwurf zum ausgeführten Bau, in Schmidt-Recla, Adrian, Schumann, Eva, Theisen, Frank. Sachsen im Spiegel des Rechts, ius commune propriumque, viergutz, Volker, Das hätten wir in der Brüderstraße uns auch nicht träumen lassen. Anmerkungen zur Freundschaft von Ludwig Hoffmann und Alfred Messel, Berlin in Geschichte und Gegenwart, jahrbuch des Landesarchivs Berlin, p.83 Zajonz, Michael. Meister aller Klassen, Alleskönner, Eine Ausstellung ehrt Berlins bedeutendsten Stadtbaurat Ludwig Hoffmann zum 150
Ludwig Hoffmann (architect)
–
Altes Stadthaus in Berlin
Ludwig Hoffmann (architect)
–
Ludwig Hoffmann
Ludwig Hoffmann (architect)
–
Portraits of Hoffmann and Ernst Friedel by Evelyn Hartnick at the
Märkisches Museum
Ludwig Hoffmann (architect)
–
Sign on the Ludwig Hoffmann Bridge in
Moabit
8.
Pergamon Altar
–
The structure is 35.64 metres wide and 33.4 metres deep, the front stairway alone is almost 20 metres wide. The base is decorated with a frieze in relief showing the battle between the Giants and the Olympian gods known as the Gigantomachy. There is a second, smaller and less well-preserved high relief frieze on the inner court walls which surround the fire altar on the upper level of the structure at the top of the stairs. In a set of scenes, it depicts events from the life of Telephus, legendary founder of the city of Pergamon and son of the hero Heracles and Auge. In 1878, the German engineer Carl Humann began official excavations on the acropolis of Pergamon, the excavation was undertaken in order to rescue the altar friezes and expose the foundation of the edifice. Later, other ancient structures on the acropolis were brought to light, upon negotiating with the Turkish government, it was agreed that all frieze fragments found at the time would become the property of the Berlin museums. In Berlin, Italian restorers reassembled the panels comprising the frieze from the thousands of fragments that had been recovered, in order to display the result and create a context for it, a new museum was erected in 1901 on Berlins Museum Island. Because this first Pergamon Museum proved to be inadequate and structurally unsound, it was demolished in 1909 and replaced with a much larger museum. This new museum is open to the public on the island. The exhibit is scheduled to reopen in late 2019 or early 2020, the Pergamene kingdom founded by Philetaerus at the beginning of the 3rd century BC was initially part of the Hellenistic Seleucid empire. Attalus I, successor and nephew of Eumenes I, was the first to achieve independence for the territory. This victory over the Galatians, a threat to the Pergamene kingdom, secured his power, with conquests in Asia Minor at the expense of the weakened Seleucids he could briefly increase the size of his kingdom. A Seleucid counteroffensive under Antiochos III reached the gates of Pergamon, since the Seleucids were becoming stronger in the east, Attalus turned his attention westward to Greece and was able to occupy almost all of Euboea. His son, Eumenes II, further limited the influence of the Galatians and ruled alongside his brother Attalus II, in 188 BC, Eumenes II was able to create the Treaty of Apamea as an ally of Rome, thus reducing the influence of the Seleucids in Asia Minor. The Attalids were thus an emerging power with the desire to demonstrate their importance to the world through the construction of imposing buildings. As is the case with most young dynasties, the Attalids sought to anchor their legitimacy with endowments, the imposing altar accordingly had also a political dimension. In the meantime, later datings relating the altar to archaeological findings, investigation of the altars construction and friezes has led to the conclusion that it was not conceived as a monument to a particular victory. The design of Pergamene victory monuments is known from the literature, the scanty remnants of the dedicatory inscription also seem to indicate that the altar was consecrated to the gods because of favors they had bestowed
Pergamon Altar
–
The western side of the Pergamon Altar as reconstructed in the
Pergamon Museum in
Berlin.
Pergamon Altar
–
Karl Humann's 1881 plan of the Pergamon acropolis
Pergamon Altar
–
Larger-than-life sculptured head presumably of
Attalus I, from early in the reign of
Eumenes II.
Pergamon Altar
–
Model of the 2nd century BC Pergamon acropolis in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, which includes the Roman additions. The altar is on a terrace near the center with its stairway facing left (west)
9.
Ishtar Gate
–
The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed in about 575 BCE by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the side of the city. It was excavated in the early 20th century and a reconstruction using original bricks is now shown in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. Dedicated to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the gate was constructed using glazed brick with alternating rows of bas-relief mušḫuššu and aurochs, symbolizing the gods Marduk, the roof and doors of the gate were of cedar, according to the dedication plaque. The gate was covered in lapis lazuli, a deep-blue semi-precious stone that was revered in antiquity due to its vibrancy and these blue glazed bricks would have given the façade a jewel-like shine. Through the gate ran the Processional Way, which was lined with walls showing about 120 lions, bulls, dragons and flowers on enameled yellow and black glazed bricks, the gate itself depicted only gods and goddesses. These included Ishtar, Adad and Marduk, during celebrations of the New Year, statues of the deities were paraded through the gate and down the Processional Way. The gate, being part of the Walls of Babylon, was considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World and it was replaced on that list by the Lighthouse of Alexandria from the third century BC. A reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate and Processional Way was built at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin out of material excavated by Robert Koldewey and it stands 14 m high and 30 m wide. The excavation ran from 1902 to 1914, and, during time,14 m of the foundation of the gate was uncovered. Claudius James Rich, British resident of Baghdad and a self-taught historian, acting as a scholar and collecting field data, he was determined to discover the wonders to the ancient world. C. J. Richs topographical records of the ruins in Babylon were the first ever published and it was reprinted in England no fewer than three times. C. J. Robert Koldewey, a successful German excavator, had previous work for the Royal Museum of Berlin, with his excavations at Surghul. Koldeweys part in Babylons excavation began in 1899, the method that the British were comfortable with was excavating tunnels and deep trenches, which was damaging the mud brick architecture of the foundation. Instead, it was suggested that the team focus on tablets. Despite the destructive nature of the used, the recording of data was immensely more thorough than in previous Mesopotamian excavations. Walter Andre, one of Koldeweys many assistants, was an architect and a draftsman and his contribution was documentation and reconstruction of Babylon. A small museum was built at the site and Andre was the museums first director, one of most complex and impressive architectural reconstructions in the history of archaeology, was the rebuilding of Babylons Ishtar gate and processional way in Berlin
Ishtar Gate
–
The
reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the
Pergamon Museum in
Berlin
Ishtar Gate
–
An
aurochs above a flower ribbon; missing tiles are replaced
Ishtar Gate
–
Pergamon Museum, Ishtar gate
Ishtar Gate
–
Photo of the remains from the 1930s of the excavation site in
Babylon
10.
Market Gate of Miletus
–
The Market Gate of Miletus is a large marble monument in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. It was built in Miletus in the 2nd century AD and destroyed in an earthquake in the 10th or 11th century, in the early 1900s, it was excavated, rebuilt, and placed on display in the museum. Only fragments had survived and reconstruction involved significant new material, a practice which generated criticism of the museum, the gate was damaged in World War II and underwent restoration in the 1950s. Further restoration work took place in the first decade of the 21st century, the gate is a large marble monument, about 30 meters wide,16 meters tall, and 5 meters deep. The two-story structure has three doorways and a number of projections and niches, at roof level and in between the floors are ornate friezes with bull and flower reliefs. The structures protruding pediments are supported by Corinthian and composite columns, the gate is not entirely original, as little of the base and lower floor survived the centuries, additional material includes brick, cement, and steel. The gate is affixed by iron girders to the wall behind it, while in Miletus, niches on the second story featured statues of emperors, some fighting against barbarians. The gate was built in the 2nd century AD, most likely during the reign of Emperor Hadrian about 120 to 130 AD. It replaced an existing Doric propylon and served as the entrance to the southern market, or agora, in Miletus. The gate underwent restoration in the 3rd century following damage from an earthquake, when Justinian strengthened the defenses of Miletus in 538, the gate was incorporated into the city walls. In the 10th or 11th century, an earthquake caused the gate to collapse, fragments of the structure were scavenged and used in surrounding buildings, but the majority subsided into the ground. German archaeologist Theodor Wiegand conducted a series of excavations in Miletus from 1899 through 1911, in 1903, the Market Gate of Miletus was excavated and from 1907 to 1908, fragments of the gate were transported to Berlin. From 1925 to 1929, the gate was reassembled in the recently expanded museum from over 750 tons of fragments, however, the fragments did not constitute the entirety of the gate, and fill material had to be used in the reconstruction. Reconstruction began by assembling the middle-floor entablature and placing the second story columns on top, a base and ground floor were then inserted below. Brick and cement reinforced with steel supplemented the few remains of the lower structure, original column fragments were bored out, leaving a thickness of 3 to 4 centimetres, and filled with steel and mortar. In the 1920s and 1930s, the museum was criticized for portraying its monuments as originals when they consisted significantly of non-original material, the gate suffered significant damage from aerial bombardment in World War II. The roof and skylight above the gate were destroyed along with a brick wall. The right wing collapsed and the structure was damaged by fire and shrapnel, after winter passed, a temporary roof was constructed to protect the gate from the elements
Market Gate of Miletus
–
Market Gate of Miletus
Market Gate of Miletus
–
The room which houses the gate, which is on the left
Market Gate of Miletus
–
The gate shortly after reassembly; the differently colored sections show the incompleteness of the original
Market Gate of Miletus
–
Scaffolding and protective cover in front of the gate
11.
Middle East
–
The Middle East is a transcontinental region centered on Western Asia and Egypt. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the noun is Middle-Easterner. The term has come into usage as a replacement of the term Near East beginning in the early 20th century. Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azeris constitute the largest ethnic groups in the region by population. Indigenous minorities of the Middle East include Jews, Assyrians and other Arameans, Baloch, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Lurs, Mandaeans, Samaritans, Shabaks, Tats, in the Middle East, there is also a Romani community. European ethnic groups form a diaspora in the region include Albanians, Bosniaks, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Franco-Levantines. Among other migrant populations are Bengalis as well as other Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Indonesians, Pakistanis, the history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the importance of the region being recognized for millennia. Most of the countries border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of crude oil. The term Middle East may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office, however, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to designate the area between Arabia and India. During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf. Mahan first used the term in his article The Persian Gulf and International Relations, published in September 1902 in the National Review, a British journal. The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need its Malta, as well as its Gibraltar, it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about Aden, India, mahans article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled The Middle Eastern Question, written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol. During this series, Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of Middle East to include regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India. After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term, in the late 1930s, the British established the Middle East Command, which was based in Cairo, for its military forces in the region. After that time, the term Middle East gained broader usage in Europe, the description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War, Near East was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while Middle East referred to Iran, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Turkestan. The first official use of the term Middle East by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, the Associated Press Stylebook says that Near East formerly referred to the farther west countries while Middle East referred to the eastern ones, but that now they are synonymous
Middle East
–
The
Temple Mount in
Jerusalem
Middle East
–
Map of the Middle East (green).
Middle East
–
The
Kaaba, located in
Mecca,
Saudi Arabia
Middle East
–
Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East. Here, Muslim men are
prostrating during prayer in a mosque.
12.
Bodemuseum
–
The Bode Museum is one of the group of museums on the Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. It was designed by architect Ernst von Ihne and completed in 1904, originally called the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum after Emperor Frederick III, the museum was renamed in honour of its first curator, Wilhelm von Bode, in 1956. Closed for repairs since 1997, the museum was reopened on October 18,2006 after a €156 million refurbishment. True to the ethos of its director, Wilhelm von Bode, who believed in mixing art collections, it is now the home for a collection of sculptures, Byzantine art. The sculpture collection shows art of the Christian Orient, sculptures from Byzantium and Ravenna, sculptures of the Middle Ages, the Italian Gothic, and the early Renaissance. Late German Gothic works are represented by Tilman Riemenschneider, the south German Renaissance. In the future selected works of the Gemäldegalerie will be integrated into the sculpture collection and this is reminiscent of William von Bodes concept of style rooms, in which sculptures, paintings, and crafts are viewed together, as was usual in upper middle-class private collections. The Münzkabinett is one of the worlds largest numismatic collections and its range spans from the beginning of minting in the 7th century BC in Asia Minor up to the present day. With approximately 500,000 items the collection is an archive for historical research. Writing in The Financial Times on the occasion on the reopening in 2006, Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum. Wilhelm von Bode, the manager of the Prussian Art Collections for the Berlin Museum, had spotted the bust in a London gallery. Shortly afterwards, The Times ran an article claiming that the bust was the work of Lucas, lucass son, Albert, then came forward and swore under oath that the story was correct and that he had helped his father to make it. Albert was able to explain how the layers of wax had been built up from old candle ends, he described how his father would stuff various debris, including newspapers. When the Berlin museum staff removed the base they found the debris, just as Albert had described it, despite this evidence, Bode continued to claim that his original attribution was correct. Various claims and counter-claims have been put forward about the bust, scientific examination has been inconclusive and unhelpful in dating the bust, although it is accepted as having at least some connection with Lucas. The bust remains on display in what is now the Bode Museum labelled England, on 27 March 2017, a solid gold coin called the Big Maple Leaf, issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007 as a commemorative piece, was stolen from the museum. The coin, at 53cm in diameter and 3cm in thickness, is made of 24-carat gold and is worth around €3.7 million. A ladder was found on the train tracks nearby, leading German police to speculate that the thief entered the building by breaking open a window in the back of the next to the railway tracks
Bodemuseum
–
The Bode Museum
Bodemuseum
–
The Bode Museum in 1904
Bodemuseum
–
At night
Bodemuseum
–
The entrance hall
13.
Babylon
–
Babylon was a major city of ancient Mesopotamia in the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city was built upon the Euphrates and divided in parts along its left and right banks. Babylon was originally a small Semitic Akkadian city dating from the period of the Akkadian Empire c.2300 BC, the town attained independence as part of a small city-state with the rise of the First Amorite Babylonian Dynasty in 1894 BC. Babylon grew and South Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia, the empire quickly dissolved after Hammurabis death and Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination. After being destroyed and then rebuilt by the Assyrians, Babylon became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 609 to 539 BC, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rule of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, and Sassanid empires. It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world from c.1770 to 1670 BC and it was perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000. Estimates for the extent of its area range from 890 to 900 hectares. The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometres south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud-brick buildings, the English Babylon comes from Greek Babylṓn, a transliteration of the Akkadian Babili. The Babylonian name in the early 2nd millennium BC had been Babilli or Babilla, by the 1st millennium BC, it had changed to Babili under the influence of the folk etymology which traced it to bāb-ili. The Gate of God or Gate of El being from the Aramaic Hebrew Bab for Gate and El for God and this being similar to the Hebrew word for confusion Balal. In the Bible, the name appears as Babel, interpreted in the Hebrew Scriptures Book of Genesis to mean confusion, the modern English verb, to babble, or to speak meaningless words, is popularly thought to derive from this name, but there is no direct connection. The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud-brick buildings and debris. The site at Babylon consists of a number of mounds covering an area of about 2 by 1 kilometer, oriented north to south, along the Euphrates to the west. Originally, the river roughly bisected the city, but the course of the river has since shifted so that most of the remains of the western part of the city are now inundated. Some portions of the city wall to the west of the river also remain, remains of the city include, Kasr—also called Palace or Castle, it is the location of the Neo-Babylonian ziggurat Etemenanki and lies in the center of the site. Amran Ibn Ali—the highest of the mounds at 25 meters, to the south and it is the site of Esagila, a temple of Marduk which also contained shrines to Ea and Nabu. Homera—a reddish colored mound on the west side, most of the Hellenistic remains are here
Babylon
–
A partial view of the ruins of Babylon from
Saddam Hussein 's Summer Palace
Babylon
–
Plan of Ruins of Babylon, 1905
Babylon
–
Babylon in 1932
Babylon
–
The
Queen of the Night relief. The figure could be an aspect of the goddess
Ishtar, Babylonian goddess of sex and love.
14.
Uruk
–
Uruk is the type site for the Uruk period. Uruk played a role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid 4th millennium BC. At its height c.2900 BC, Uruk probably had 50, 000–80,000 residents living in 6 km2 of walled area, the legendary king Gilgamesh, according to the chronology presented in the Sumerian king list, ruled Uruk in the 27th century BC. The site of Uruk was visited in 1849 by William Kennett Loftus who led the first excavations from 1850 to 1854, the Arabic name of Babylonia, al-ʿIrāq, is thought to be derived from the name Uruk, via Aramaic and possibly Middle Persian transmission. In myth and literature, Uruk was famous as the city of Gilgamesh. It is also believed Uruk is the biblical Erech, the city founded by Nimrod in Shinar. In addition to being one of the first cities, Uruk was the force of urbanization and state formation during the Uruk period. This period of 800 years saw a shift from small, agricultural villages to an urban center with a full-time bureaucracy, military. Although other settlements coexisted with Uruk, they were generally about 10 hectares while Uruk was significantly larger, the Uruk period culture exported by Sumerian traders and colonists had an effect on all surrounding peoples, who gradually evolved their own comparable, competing economies and cultures. Ultimately, Uruk could not maintain control over colonies such as Tell Brak by military force. Geographic factors underpin Uruks unprecedented growth, the city was located in the southern part of Mesopotamia, an ancient site of civilization, on the Euphrates river. Through the gradual and eventual domestication of native grains from the Zagros foothills and extensive irrigation techniques and this domestication of grain and its proximity to rivers enabled Uruks growth into the largest Sumerian settlement, in both population and area, with relative ease. Uruks agricultural surplus and large population base facilitated processes such as trade, specialization of crafts, evidence from excavations such as extensive pottery and the earliest known tablets of writing support these events. Excavation of Uruk is highly complex because older buildings were recycled into newer ones, the topmost layer most likely originated in the Jemdet Nasr period and is built on structures from earlier periods dating back to the Ubaid period. According to the Sumerian king list, Uruk was founded by the king Enmerkar, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh builds the city wall around Uruk and is king of the city. Uruk went through phases of growth, from the Early Uruk period to the Late Uruk period. The city was formed two smaller Ubaid settlements merged. The temple complexes at their cores became the Eanna District and the Anu District dedicated to Inanna and Anu, the Anu District was originally called Kullaba prior to merging with the Eanna District
Uruk
–
relief on the front of the Inanna temple of
Karaindash from Uruk.
Pergamon Museum.
Uruk
–
Uruk
cylinder seal, depicting
monstrous animals.
Uruk
–
Uruk in 2008
Uruk
–
cone mosaic courtyard
15.
Miletus
–
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria. Its ruins are located near the village of Balat in Aydın Province. Before the Persian invasion in the middle of the 6th century BC, Miletus greatest wealth and splendor was reached during the Hellenistic era and later Roman times. Evidence of first settlement at the site has been inaccessible by the rise of sea level. The first available evidence is of the Neolithic, in the early and middle Bronze age the settlement came under Minoan influence. Legend has it that an influx of Cretans occurred displacing the indigenous Leleges, the site was renamed Miletus after a place in Crete. The Late Bronze Age, 13th century BC, saw the arrival of Luwian language speakers from south central Anatolia calling themselves the Carians, later in that century other Greeks arrived. The city at that time rebelled against the Hittite Empire, after the fall of that empire the city was destroyed in the 12th century BC and starting about 1000 BC was resettled extensively by the Ionian Greeks. Legend offers an Ionian foundation event sponsored by a founder named Neleus from the Peloponnesus, the Greek Dark Ages were a time of Ionian settlement and consolidation in an alliance called the Ionian League. The Archaic Period of Greece began with a sudden and brilliant flash of art, Miletus is the birthplace of the Hagia Sophias architect Isidore of Miletus and Thales, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher in c.624 BC. The ruins appear on maps at 37°31. 8N 27°16. 7E, about 3 km north of Balat and 3 km east of Batıköy in Aydın Province. In antiquity the city possessed a harbour at the entry of a large bay. The harbour of Miletus was additionally protected by the small island of Lade. Over the centuries the gulf silted up with alluvium carried by the Meander River, there is a Great Harbour Monument where, according to the New Testament account, the apostle Paul stopped on his way back to Jerusalem by boat. He met the Ephesian Elders and then headed out to the beach to bid farewell, recorded in the book of Acts 20. During the Pleistocene epoch the Miletus region was submerged in the Aegean Sea and it subsequently emerged slowly, the sea reaching a low level of about 130 meters below present level at about 18,000 BP. The site of Miletus was part of the mainland, a gradual rise brought a level of about 1.75 meters below present at about 5500 BP, creating several karst block islands of limestone, the location of the first settlements at Miletus. At about 1500 BC the karst shifted due to small crustal movements, since then the sea has risen 1.75 m but the peninsula has been surrounded by sediment from the Maeander river and is now land-locked
Miletus
–
The
theater of Miletus
Miletus
–
The Ionic Stoa on the
Sacred Way
Miletus
–
The plan of Milet in the Classical period
Miletus
–
Illustration of Miletus
16.
Priene
–
It was formerly on the sea coast, built overlooking the ocean on steep slopes and terraces extending from sea level to a height of 380 metres above sea level at the top of the escarpment. Today, after centuries of changes in the landscape, it is an inland site. It is located at a distance west of the modern village Güllübahçe Turun in the Söke district of Aydın Province, Turkey Priene possessed a great deal of famous Hellenistic art. The citys original position on Mount Mycale has never actually been discovered, however, Priene never held a great deal of political importance due to the citys size, as it is believed around 4 to 5 thousand inhabitants occupied the region. The city visible on the slopes and escarpment of Mycale was constructed according to plan entirely within the 4th century BCE and it was not the original Priene, which had been a port city situated at the then mouth of the Maeander River. This location caused insuperable environmental difficulties for it due to aggradation of the riverbed. Typically the harbour would silt over and the find itself living in pest-ridden swamps. The sediments are deposited in the trough at the mouth of the river. Physical remains of the original Priene have not yet identified, because, it is supposed, they must be under many feet of sediment. Knowledge of the rate of progradation is the basis for estimating the location of the city. The Greek city was founded by a colony from the ancient Greek city of Thebes in the vicinity of ancient Aneon at about 1000 BCE, at about 700 BCE a series of earthquakes provided the opportunity for a move to within 8 kilometres of its 4th century BCE location. At about 500 BCE the city moved again to a few km away at the port of Naulochos. At about 350 BCE the Persian-empire satrap, Mausolus planned a magnificent new city on the slopes of Mycale, where it would be, it was hoped. Construction had begun when the Macedonians took the region from the Persian Empire, both he and Mausolus intended to make Priene a model city. The leading citizens were quick to follow suit, most of the buildings were constructed at private expense and are inscribed with the names of the donors. The ruins of the city are generally conceded to be the most spectacular surviving example of an entire ancient Greek city intact except for the ravages of time and it has been studied since at least the 18th century and still is. The city was constructed of marble from quarries on Mycale and wood for such items as roofs. The public area is laid out in a grid pattern up the steep slopes, the water distribution and sewer systems survive
Priene
–
The Temple of Athena, funded by
Alexander the Great, at the foot of an escarpment of
Mycale. The five columns were erected in 1965–66 from rubble and are 3 metres (9.8 ft) short of the calculated original column height.
Priene
–
Dedicatory inscription to Athena Polias from
Alexander the Great now in the British Museum (330-325 BC)
Priene
–
The Temple of Athena with the cliff side of the acropolis in the background.
Priene
–
Bouleuterion
17.
Ancient Egypt
–
Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently, Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. In the aftermath of Alexander the Greats death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter and this Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, the predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world and its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history, nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the climate of Northern Africa became increasingly hot and dry. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates, foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated. The largest of these cultures in upper Egypt was the Badari, which probably originated in the Western Desert, it was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools. The Badari was followed by the Amratian and Gerzeh cultures, which brought a number of technological improvements, as early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other objects from flakes. In Naqada II times, early evidence exists of contact with the Near East, particularly Canaan, establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis, and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile. They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the desert to the west. Royal Nubian burials at Qustul produced artifacts bearing the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the crown of Egypt. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian-Akkadian civilisation of Mesopotamia, the third-century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still used today
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Great Sphinx and the
pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
–
A typical Naqada II jar decorated with gazelles. (Predynastic Period)
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Narmer Palette depicts the unification of the Two Lands.
18.
Wilhelm von Bode
–
Wilhelm von Bode was a German art historian and curator. Born Arnold Wilhelm Bode in Calvörde, he was ennobled in 1913 and he was the creator and first curator of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, now called the Bode Museum in his honor, in 1904. Bode studied law at the Universities of Göttingen and Berlin, while practicing law in Braunschweig he systematically rearranged the ducal art collections, and visited a number of museums and private collections in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy. After studies in art history in Berlin and Vienna, he received his doctorate from the University of Leipzig in 1870 based on his dissertation Frans Hals und seine Schule. In 1872 he took a position as an assistant curator of sculpture in the museums in Berlin. He took over the Gemäldegalerie in 1890, and became director of what is now the Berlin State Museums in 1905. He was also in charge of rebuilding the museums of Strasbourg, bodes writings on a wide variety of topics in art history, particularly Italian Renaissance art, were widely influential, and remain key texts in the field. His autobiography, Mein Leben, was published posthumously in 1930, von Bode, the general manager of the Prussian Art Collections for the Berlin Museum, had spotted the bust in a London gallery and purchased it for a few pounds. Shortly afterwards, The Times ran an article claiming that the bust was the work of Lucas, lucass son, Albert, then came forward and swore under oath that the story was correct and that he had helped his father to make it. Albert was able to explain how the layers of wax had been built up from old candle ends, he described how his father would stuff various debris, including newspapers. When the Berlin museum staff removed the base they found the debris, just as Albert had described it, despite this evidence, Bode continued to claim that his original attribution was correct. Various claims and counter-claims have been put forward about the bust, scientific examination has been inconclusive and unhelpful in dating the bust, although it is accepted as having at least some connection with Lucas. The bust remains on display in what is now the Bode Museum labelled England, Leipzig Studien zur Geschichte der hollandischen Malerei, Braunschweig,1883 Geschichte der deutschen Plastik,1887 Rembrandt,8 volumes, with C. Hofstede de Groot, 1897–1905 Der Cicerone, Eine Anleitung zum Genuss der Kunstwerke Italiens von Jacob Burckhardt, 1900–1901 Kunst und Kunstgewerbe am Ende des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Die Meister der holländischen und vlämischen Malerschulen,1917, die italienischen Bronzestatuetten der Renaissance,1922. Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures and Bronzes in the Possession of Mr. Otto Beit, Introduction and Descriptions by Dr. Wilhelm Bode,1913. The Collection of Pictures of the Late Herr A. de Ridder in his Villa at Schönberg near Cronberg in the Taunus, Catalogued and Described by Wilhelm Bode, antique Rugs from the Near East, translated by R. M. Riefstahl,1922. Sandro Botticelli, translated by F. Renfield and F. L. Rudston Brown,1925, florentine sculptors of the Renaissance, translated by Jessie Haynes,1928
Wilhelm von Bode
–
Wilhelm von Bode c. 1920
Wilhelm von Bode
–
Bode Museum,
Museum Island, Berlin.
19.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
World War I
–
Clockwise from the top: The aftermath of shelling during the
Battle of the Somme,
Mark V tanks cross the
Hindenburg Line,
HMS Irresistible sinks after hitting a
mine in the
Dardanelles, a British
Vickers machine gun crew wears
gas masks during the Battle of the Somme,
Albatros D.III fighters of
Jagdstaffel 11
World War I
–
Sarajevo citizens reading a poster with the proclamation of the
Austrian annexation in 1908.
World War I
–
This picture is usually associated with the arrest of
Gavrilo Princip, although some believe it depicts Ferdinand Behr, a bystander.
World War I
–
Serbian Army
Blériot XI "Oluj", 1915.
20.
Battle of Berlin (air)
–
The Battle of Berlin was the British bombing campaign on Berlin from November 1943 to March 1944. Not limited solely to Berlin, the campaign targeted other German cities as well, the campaign was launched by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, AOC of RAF Bomber Command in November 1943. Harris believed this could be the blow that broke German resistance and it will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft. It will cost Germany the war, by this time he could deploy over 800 long-range bombers on any given night, equipped with new and more sophisticated navigational devices such as H2S radar. Between November 1943 and March 1944, Bomber Command made 16 massed attacks on Berlin, the USAAF, having recently suffered heavy losses in its attacks on Schweinfurt from which it was still recovering, was unable to participate. It is generally accepted that the Battle of Berlin was a failure for the Royal Air Force as it was not the blow that Harris had predicted. In response to attacks on German cities, the Luftwaffe began Operation Steinbock —a series of attacks on London, the Germans suffered heavy losses, but they persisted until May 1944. Over every mission during Steinbock, attacking formations suffered a higher percentage than the RAF sustained over Germany. Although primarily a British operation, Australian and Canadian bomber squadrons took part in the battle. The first raid of the battle occurred on the night of 18/19 November 1943, Berlin was the main target and was attacked by 440 Avro Lancaster heavy bombers and four de Havilland Mosquitos. The city was under cloud and the damage was not severe, the second major raid was on the night of 22/23 November. This was the most effective raid on Berlin by the RAF of the war, causing damage to the residential areas west of the centre, Tiergarten and Charlottenburg, Schöneberg. Because of the dry conditions, several firestorms ignited. Both the Protestant Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, now serving as a war memorial, on 17 December, extensive damage was done to the Berlin railway system. By this time the effect of the bombing campaign had made more than a quarter of Berlins total living accommodation unusable. There was another raid on 28–29 January 1944, when Berlins western and southern districts were hit in the most concentrated attack of this period. On 15–16 February, important war industries were hit, including the large Siemensstadt area in the west, with the centre and this was the largest raid by the RAF on Berlin. Despite the devastation caused, these raids failed to achieve their objectives
Battle of Berlin (air)
–
The ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Battle of Berlin (air)
–
The ruins of St. Hedwig's Cathedral, 1946
21.
World War II
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
World War II
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Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
World War II
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The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
World War II
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Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
World War II
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Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
22.
Red Army
–
The Workers and Peasants Red Army was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and after 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution, the Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. The Red Army is credited as being the land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II. During operations on the Eastern Front, it fought 75%–80% of the German land forces deployed in the war, inflicting the vast majority of all German losses and ultimately capturing the German capital. In September 1917, Vladimir Lenin wrote, There is only one way to prevent the restoration of the police, at the time, the Imperial Russian Army had started to collapse. The Tsarist general Nikolay Dukhonin estimated that there had been 2 million deserters,1.8 million dead,5 million wounded and 2 million prisoners and he estimated the remaining troops as numbering 10 million. Therefore, the Council of Peoples Commissars decided to form the Red Army on 28 January 1918 and they envisioned a body formed from the class-conscious and best elements of the working classes. All citizens of the Russian republic aged 18 or older were eligible, in the event of an entire unit wanting to join the Red Army, a collective guarantee and the affirmative vote of all its members would be necessary. Because the Red Army was composed mainly of peasants, the families of those who served were guaranteed rations, some peasants who remained at home yearned to join the Army, men, along with some women, flooded the recruitment centres. If they were turned away they would collect scrap metal and prepare care-packages, in some cases the money they earned would go towards tanks for the Army. Nikolai Krylenko was the supreme commander-in-chief, with Aleksandr Myasnikyan as deputy, Nikolai Podvoisky became the commissar for war, Pavel Dybenko, commissar for the fleet. Proshyan, Samoisky, Steinberg were also specified as peoples commissars as well as Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich from the Bureau of Commissars, at a joint meeting of Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, held on 22 February 1918, Krylenko remarked, We have no army. The Red Guard units are brushed aside like flies and we have no power to stay the enemy, only an immediate signing of the peace treaty will save us from destruction. This provoked the insurrection of General Alexey Maximovich Kaledins Volunteer Army in the River Don region, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk aggravated Russian internal politics. The situation encouraged direct Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, a series of engagements resulted, involving, amongst others, the Czechoslovak Legion, the Polish 5th Rifle Division, and the pro-Bolshevik Red Latvian Riflemen. The Whites defeated the Red Army on each front, Leon Trotsky reformed and counterattacked, the Red Army repelled Admiral Kolchaks army in June, and the armies of General Denikin and General Yudenich in October. By mid-November the White armies were all almost completely exhausted, in January 1920, Budennys First Cavalry Army entered Rostov-on-Don. 1919 to 1923 At the wars start, the Red Army consisted of 299 infantry regiments, Civil war intensified after Lenin dissolved the Russian Constituent Assembly and the Soviet government signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, removing Russia from the Great War
Red Army
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Red Guards unit of the Vulkan factory
Red Army
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Soviet Armed Forces
Red Army
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Vladimir Lenin,
Klim Voroshilov,
Leon Trotsky and soldiers,
Petrograd, 1921
Red Army
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Soviet tanks in the
Battle of Khalkhin Gol, August 1939
23.
East Germany
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East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic, was an Eastern Bloc state during the Cold War period. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it, as a result, the German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. East Germany, which lies culturally in Central Germany, was a state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, Soviet forces, however, remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party, though other parties participated in its alliance organisation. The economy was centrally planned, and increasingly state-owned, prices of basic goods and services were set by central government planners, rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay war reparations to the USSR. Nonetheless it did not match the growth of West Germany. Emigration to the West was a significant problem—as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, the government fortified its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people attempting to flee were killed by guards or booby traps. In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the following year open elections were held, and international negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified on 3 October 1990, internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin known as East Berlin which was also administered as the states de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by the Western nations were sealed off from the rest of the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989, the official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik, usually abbreviated to DDR. West Germans, the media and statesmen purposely avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone, Sowjetische Besatzungszone. The centre of power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow. Over time, however, the abbreviation DDR was also used colloquially by West Germans. However, this use was not always consistent, for example, before World War II, Ostdeutschland was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe, as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt
East Germany
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GDR leaders: President
Wilhelm Pieck and Prime Minister
Otto Grotewohl, 1949
East Germany
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Flag (1959–1990)
East Germany
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SED First Secretary,
Walter Ulbricht, 1950
East Germany
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Head of State:
Erich Honecker (1971–89)
24.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
Russia
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Kievan Rus' in the 11th century
Russia
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Flag
Russia
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The
Baptism of Kievans, by
Klavdy Lebedev
Russia
–
Sergius of Radonezh blessing
Dmitry Donskoy in
Trinity Sergius Lavra, before the
Battle of Kulikovo, depicted in a painting by
Ernst Lissner
25.
Pushkin Museum
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The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Svyatoslav Richters December nights has been held in the Pushkin museum since 1981. The museums current name is misleading, in that it has no direct associations with the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The facility was founded by professor Ivan Tsvetaev, Tsvetaev persuaded the millionaire and philanthropist Yuriy Nechaev-Maltsov and the fashionable architect Roman Klein of the urgent need to give Moscow a fine arts museum. The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts building was designed by Roman Klein and Vladimir Shukhov, construction work began in 1898 and continued till 1912. Ivan Rerberg headed structural engineering effort on the site for 12 years. In 2008, President Dmitri A. Medvedev announced plans for a $177 million restoration, in 2014, Russian architect Yuri Grigoryan, and his firm Project Meganom, were chosen to take over the project. Tsvetaevs dream was realised in May 1912, when the museum opened its doors to the public, the museum was originally named after Alexander III, although the government provided only 200,000 rubles toward its construction, in comparison with over 2 million from Nechaev-Maltsev. Its first exhibits were copies of ancient statuary, thought indispensable for the education of art students, the only genuinely ancient items - Moscow Mathematical Papyrus and Story of Wenamun - had been contributed by Vladimir Golenishchev three years earlier. After the Russian capital was moved to Moscow in 1918, the Soviet government decided to transfer thousands of works from St Petersburgs Hermitage Museum to the new capital, the entire collection of Western art from the Museum Roumjantsev was added too. These paintings formed a nucleus of the Pushkin museums collections of Western art, but the most important paintings were added later from the State Museum of New Western Art. These comprised Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artwork, including top works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Dufrénoy, Derain, among them, Van Goghs La Vigne Rouge, apparently the only painting sold during the artists lifetime. In 1937, Pushkins name was appended to the museum, because the Soviet Union marked the centenary of the death that year. After World War II the evacuated Dresden Gallery had been stored in Moscow for 10 years, the Pushkin Museum has a numismatic collection which is unpublished. It includes archaeological material from Central Asia, such as a hoard of Kushano-Sasanian coins acquired in 2002 William Craft Brumfield
Pushkin Museum
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Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.
Pushkin Museum
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André Derain, 1905, Le séchage des voiles (The Drying Sails), oil on canvas, 82 x 101 cm. Exhibited at the 1905
Salon d'Automne
Pushkin Museum
–
Eberswalde Hoard
Pushkin Museum
–
Priam's Treasure
26.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
Moscow
–
Left to right, top to bottom:
Moscow State University,
Spasskaya Clocktower,
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour;
Bolshoi Theatre,
Moscow International Business Center;
Red Square
Moscow
–
Tatar raid upon Moscow
Moscow
–
Map of Moscow, 1784
Moscow
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Red Square, painting by
Fedor Alekseev, 1801
27.
Hermitage Museum
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The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1754 by Catherine the Great and has open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of only a small part is on permanent display. The collections occupy a complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya, the museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a state property. Since July 1992, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky, of the six buildings in the main museum complex, five, namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage and Hermitage Theatre, are open to the public. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists more than the fee paid by citizens of Russia. However, entrance is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors, the museum is closed on Mondays. The entrance for visitors is located in the Winter Palace. A hermitage is the dwelling of a hermit or recluse, the word derives from Old French hermit, ermit hermit, recluse, from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, literally people who live alone, which is in turn derived from ἐρημός, desert. Originally, the building housing the collection was the Small Hermitage. Today, the Hermitage Museum encompasses many buildings on the Palace Embankment, apart from the Small Hermitage, the museum now also includes the Old Hermitage, the New Hermitage, the Hermitage Theatre, and the Winter Palace, the former main residence of the Russian tsars. In recent years, the Hermitage has expanded to the General Staff Building on the Palace Square facing the Winter Palace, the Western European Art collection includes European paintings, sculpture, and applied art from the 13th to the 20th centuries. It is displayed, in about 120 rooms, on the first, drawings and prints are displayed in temporary exhibitions. Since 1940, the Egyptian collection, dating back to 1852 and it serves as a passage to the exhibition of Classical Antiquities. A modest collection of the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia, including a number of Assyrian reliefs from Babylon, Dur-Sharrukin, the collection of Classical Antiquities occupies most of the ground floor of the Old and New Hermitage buildings. Its floor is made of a marble mosaic imitating ancient tradition, while the stucco walls
Hermitage Museum
–
Winter Palace
Hermitage Museum
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The Hermitage Museum complex. From left to right: Hermitage Theatre – Old Hermitage – Small Hermitage – Winter Palace (the "New Hermitage" is situated behind the Old Hermitage).
Hermitage Museum
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Egyptian Hall
Hermitage Museum
–
The Pavilion Hall
28.
Saint Petersburg
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Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a then called Ingermanland. A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences, University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
Saint Petersburg
–
Top left to bottom right:
Peter and Paul Fortress on
Zayachy Island,
Smolny Cathedral,
Moyka river with the
General Staff Building,
Trinity Cathedral,
Bronze Horseman on
Senate Square, and the
Winter Palace.
Saint Petersburg
–
The
Bronze Horseman, monument to Peter the Great
Saint Petersburg
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Palace Square backed by the General Staff arch and building, as the main square of the Russian Empire it was the setting of many events of historic significance
Saint Petersburg
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Map of Saint Petersburg, 1903
29.
Aleppo
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Aleppo is a city in Syria, serving as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100, Aleppo was the largest Syrian city before the Syrian Civil War, however, now Aleppo is likely the second-largest city in Syria after the capital Damascus. Aleppo is an ancient city, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia. For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and it was also one of the largest cities in the Levant before the advent of the Syrian Civil War. The citys significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, when the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo ceded its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, in the 1940s, it lost its main access to the sea, Antakya and İskenderun, also to Turkey. Finally, the isolation of Syria in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation and this decline may have helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage. It won the title of the Islamic Capital of Culture 2006, during the Battle of Aleppo the city suffered massive destruction, and has been the worst-hit city in the Syrian Civil War. In December 2016, the Syrian government achieved full control of Aleppo following a successful offensive, modern-day English-speakers commonly refer to the city as Aleppo. It was known in antiquity as Khalpe, Khalibon, and to the Greeks, during the Crusades, and again during the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon of 1923–1946, the name Alep was used. Aleppo represents the Italianised version of this, the original ancient name, Halab, has survived as the current Arabic name of the city. Some have proposed that halab means iron or copper in Amorite languages, the modern-day Arabic nickname of the city, ash-Shahbaa, which means the white-colored, also allegedly derives from the famous white marble of Aleppo. From the 11th century it was common usage to apply the term Aram-Zobah to the area of Aleppo. Aleppo has scarcely been touched by archaeologists, since the city occupies its ancient site. The site has been occupied from around 5000 BC, as shown by excavations in Tallet Alsauda, Aleppo appears in historical records as an important city much earlier than Damascus. The first record of Aleppo comes from the third millennium BC, some historians, such as Wayne Horowitz, identify Aleppo with the capital of an independent kingdom closely related to Ebla, known as Armi, although this identification is contested. The main temple of the storm god Hadad was located on the hill in the center of the city. In the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Empire period, Aleppos name appears in its form as Ḥalab for the first time
Aleppo
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Ancient City of Aleppo Aleppo Citadel • The entrance to
al-Madina Souq Great Mosque of Aleppo •
Baron Hotel Saint Elias Cathedral •
Queiq River Panorama of Aleppo at night
Aleppo
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Queiq River
Aleppo
–
Ancient Aleppo
30.
Mshatta Facade
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It is part of the permanent exhibition of the Pergamon Museum of Islamic Art dedicated to Islamic art from the 8th to the 19th centuries. This was only a small section of the full length of the facade, surrounding the main entrance, most of the wall was undecorated. The facade belonged to the Qasr Mshatta or Mshatta palace, which was excavated about 30 km south of the contemporary Jordanian capital of Amman and it is thought to have served as a winter residence and storage halls during the Umayyad period. The building of the palace dates to the era of the caliph Al-Walid II. After Al Walid was murdered, it was incomplete and later ruined in an earthquake. The sections of the wall remaining in situ are much plainer. Unusually for an Umayyad building, the structures are built from burnt bricks resting on a foundation layer of finely dressed stone. The name of the place, Mshatta, is a used by the modern Bedouins in the area. The remains of the palace were excavated and discovered in 1840, the facade was a gift from the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II to Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. A large part of it was brought to the then Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Berlin in 1903 and it was reconstructed as a 33 metres long,5 metres high facade, with two towers, and parts of a central gateway. In 1932 it was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum and it was seriously damaged during the Second World War and the bombardment of Berlin. It has been suggested that this is because the side was the outside wall of the mosque. ISL I, Berlin,1996 The Date and Meaning of Mshatta
Mshatta Facade
–
Mshatta Facade
Mshatta Facade
–
detail
31.
Epic of Gilgamesh
–
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh, king of Uruk and these independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic. The first surviving version of this epic, known as the Old Babylonian version, dates to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit. Only a few tablets of it have survived, the later Standard version dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru. Approximately two thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered, some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. The first half of the story discusses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, after an initial fight, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become close friends. Together, they journey to the Cedar Mountain and defeat Humbaba, later they kill the Bull of Heaven, which the goddess Ishtar sends to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. As a punishment for actions, the gods sentence Enkidu to death. In the second half of the epic, distress about Enkidus death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and he eventually learns that Life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share, however, because of his great building projects, his account of Siduris advice, and what the immortal man Utnapishtim told him about the Great Flood, Gilgameshs fame survived his death. His story has been translated into many languages, and in recent years has featured in works of popular fiction, distinct sources exist from over a 2000-year timeframe. The earliest Sumerian poems are now considered to be distinct stories. They date from as early as the Third Dynasty of Ur, the Old Babylonian tablets, are the earliest surviving tablets for a single Epic of Gilgamesh narrative. The older Old Babylonian tablets and later Akkadian version are important sources for modern translations, although several revised versions based on new discoveries have been published, the epic remains incomplete. Analysis of the Old Babylonian text has been used to reconstruct possible earlier forms of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The most recent Akkadian version, also referred to as the standard version, the Epic of Gilgamesh was discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in 1853. The central character of Gilgamesh was initially reintroduced to the world as Izdubar, the first modern translation was published in the early 1870s by George Smith. Smith then made further discoveries of texts on his later expeditions, the most definitive modern translation is a two-volume critical work by Andrew George, published by Oxford University Press in 2003
Epic of Gilgamesh
–
The
Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in
Akkadian
Epic of Gilgamesh
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Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh
32.
Bode Museum
–
The Bode Museum is one of the group of museums on the Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. It was designed by architect Ernst von Ihne and completed in 1904, originally called the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum after Emperor Frederick III, the museum was renamed in honour of its first curator, Wilhelm von Bode, in 1956. Closed for repairs since 1997, the museum was reopened on October 18,2006 after a €156 million refurbishment. True to the ethos of its director, Wilhelm von Bode, who believed in mixing art collections, it is now the home for a collection of sculptures, Byzantine art. The sculpture collection shows art of the Christian Orient, sculptures from Byzantium and Ravenna, sculptures of the Middle Ages, the Italian Gothic, and the early Renaissance. Late German Gothic works are represented by Tilman Riemenschneider, the south German Renaissance. In the future selected works of the Gemäldegalerie will be integrated into the sculpture collection and this is reminiscent of William von Bodes concept of style rooms, in which sculptures, paintings, and crafts are viewed together, as was usual in upper middle-class private collections. The Münzkabinett is one of the worlds largest numismatic collections and its range spans from the beginning of minting in the 7th century BC in Asia Minor up to the present day. With approximately 500,000 items the collection is an archive for historical research. Writing in The Financial Times on the occasion on the reopening in 2006, Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum. Wilhelm von Bode, the manager of the Prussian Art Collections for the Berlin Museum, had spotted the bust in a London gallery. Shortly afterwards, The Times ran an article claiming that the bust was the work of Lucas, lucass son, Albert, then came forward and swore under oath that the story was correct and that he had helped his father to make it. Albert was able to explain how the layers of wax had been built up from old candle ends, he described how his father would stuff various debris, including newspapers. When the Berlin museum staff removed the base they found the debris, just as Albert had described it, despite this evidence, Bode continued to claim that his original attribution was correct. Various claims and counter-claims have been put forward about the bust, scientific examination has been inconclusive and unhelpful in dating the bust, although it is accepted as having at least some connection with Lucas. The bust remains on display in what is now the Bode Museum labelled England, on 27 March 2017, a solid gold coin called the Big Maple Leaf, issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 2007 as a commemorative piece, was stolen from the museum. The coin, at 53cm in diameter and 3cm in thickness, is made of 24-carat gold and is worth around €3.7 million. A ladder was found on the train tracks nearby, leading German police to speculate that the thief entered the building by breaking open a window in the back of the next to the railway tracks
Bode Museum
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The Bode Museum
Bode Museum
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The Bode Museum in 1904
Bode Museum
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At night
Bode Museum
–
The entrance hall
33.
Prince-elector
–
The prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the Prince-Electors had the privilege of electing the King of the Romans, Charles V was the last to be a crowned Emperor, his successors were elected Emperors directly by the electoral college, each being titled Elected Emperor of the Romans. In practice, all but one Emperor from 1440 onwards came from the Austrian House of Habsburg, the dignity of Elector carried great prestige and was considered to be second only to that of King or Emperor. The Electors had exclusive privileges that were not shared with the princes of the Empire. The heir apparent to a secular prince-elector was known as an electoral prince, the German practice of electing monarchs began when ancient Germanic tribes formed ad hoc coalitions and elected the leaders thereof. Elections were irregularly held by the Franks, whose successor states include France, the French monarchy eventually became hereditary, but the Holy Roman Emperors remained elective, at least in theory, although the Habsburgs provided most of the later monarchs. While all free men originally exercised the right to vote in such elections, in the election of Lothar II in 1125, a small number of eminent nobles chose the monarch and then submitted him to the remaining magnates for their approbation. Soon, the right to choose the monarch was settled on a group of princes. The college of electors was mentioned in 1152 and again in 1198, a letter of Pope Urban IV suggests that by immemorial custom, seven princes had the right to elect the King and future Emperor. The seven have been mentioned as the vote-casters in the election of 1257 that resulted in two kings becoming elected, the Count Palatine of the Rhine held most of the former Duchy of Franconia after the last Duke died in 1039. The Margrave of Brandenburg became an Elector when the Duchy of Swabia was dissolved after the last Duke of Swabia was beheaded in 1268, Saxony, even with diminished territory, retained its eminent position. The Palatinate and Bavaria were originally held by the same individual, meanwhile, the King of Bohemia, who held the ancient imperial office of Arch-Cupbearer, asserted his right to participate in elections. Sometimes he was challenged on the grounds that his kingdom was not German, though usually he was recognized, instead of Bavaria which after all was just a younger line of Wittelsbachs. The Declaration of Rhense issued in 1338 had the effect that election by the majority of the electors automatically conferred the title and rule over the empire. The Golden Bull of 1356 finally resolved the disputes among the electors, in 1621, the Elector Palatine, Frederick V, came under the imperial ban after participating in the Bohemian Revolt. The Elector Palatines seat was conferred on the Duke of Bavaria, originally, the Duke held the electorate personally, but it was later made hereditary along with the duchy. When the Thirty Years War concluded with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, since the Elector of Bavaria retained his seat, the number of electors increased to eight, the two Wittelsbach lines now sufficiently estranged so as not to pose a combined potential threat. In 1685, the composition of the College of Electors was disrupted when a Catholic branch of the Wittelsbach family inherited the Palatinate
Prince-elector
–
Illustration of electors in deliberation (left to right: Archbishop of Cologne, Archbishop of Mainz, Archbishop of Trier, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Brandenburg and King of Bohemia).
Prince-elector
–
Coat-of-arms representing the seven original electors with the figure of
Germania
Prince-elector
–
The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster by Gerard Terborch, 1648.
34.
Brandenburg
–
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federated states of Germany. It lies in the northeast of the country covering an area of 29,478 square kilometers and has 2.48 million inhabitants, the capital and largest city is Potsdam. Brandenburg surrounds but does not include the capital and city-state Berlin forming a metropolitan area. Brandenburg is one of the states that was re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former East Germany. Governed by the Hohenzollern dynasty from 1415, it contained the future German capital Berlin, after 1618 the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia were combined to form Brandenburg-Prussia, which was ruled by the same branch of the House of Hohenzollern. In 1701 the state was elevated as the Kingdom of Prussia, Brandenburg is situated in territory known in antiquity as Magna Germania, which reached to the Vistula river. By the 7th century, Slavic peoples are believed to have settled in the Brandenburg area, the Slavs expanded from the east, possibly driven from their homelands in present-day Ukraine and perhaps Belarus by the invasions of the Huns and Avars. They relied heavily on river transport, the two principal Slavic groups in the present-day area of Brandenburg were the Hevelli in the west and the Sprevane in the east. Beginning in the early 10th century, Henry the Fowler and his successors conquered territory up to the Oder River, Slavic settlements such as Brenna, Budusin, and Chośebuz came under imperial control through the installation of margraves. Their main function was to defend and protect the eastern marches, in 948 Emperor Otto I established margraves to exert imperial control over the pagan Slavs west of the Oder River. Otto founded the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg, the Northern March was founded as a northeastern border territory of the Holy Roman Empire. However, an uprising of Wends drove imperial forces from the territory of present-day Brandenburg in 983. The region returned to the control of Slavic leaders, the Roman Catholic Church brought bishoprics which, with their walled towns, afforded protection from attacks for the townspeople. With the monks and bishops, the history of the town of Brandenburg an der Havel, in 1134, in the wake of a German crusade against the Wends, the German magnate, Albert the Bear, was granted the Northern March by the Emperor Lothar III. He formally inherited the town of Brandenburg and the lands of the Hevelli from their last Wendish ruler, Pribislav, after crushing a force of Sprevane who occupied the town of Brandenburg in the 1150s, Albert proclaimed himself ruler of the new Margraviate of Brandenburg. Albert, and his descendants the Ascanians, then made progress in conquering, colonizing, Christianizing. Within this region, Slavic and German residents intermarried, during the 13th century, the Ascanians began acquiring territory east of the Oder, later known as the Neumark. In 1320, the Brandenburg Ascanian line came to an end, under the Luxembourgs, the Margrave of Brandenburg gained the status of a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire
Brandenburg
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Demerthin Castle in Gumtow
Brandenburg
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Flag
Brandenburg
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Eisenhardt Castle in
Bad Belzig
Brandenburg
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Oranienburg Palace
35.
Altes Museum
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The Altes Museum is a museum building on Museum Island in Berlin, Germany. Since restoration work in 2010-11, it houses the Antikensammlung of the Berlin State Museums, the museum building was built between 1823 and 1830 by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the neoclassical style to house the Prussian royal familys art collection. The historic, protected building counts among the most distinguished in neoclassicism and is a point of Schinkels career. Until 1845, it was called the Königliches Museum, along with the other museums and historic buildings on Museum Island, the Altes Museum was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. In the early century, Germanys bourgeoisie had become increasingly self-aware. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia was a proponent of this humboldtian ideal for education. The crown prince even sent Schinkel a pencil sketch of a large hall adorned with a classical portico, Schinkels plans incorporated the Königliches Museum into an ensemble of buildings, which surround the Berliner Lustgarten. The Stadtschloss in the south was a symbol of power, the Zeughaus in the west represented military might. The museum to the north of the garden, which was to provide for the education of the people, stood as a symbol for science and art—and not least for their torchbearer, the self-aware bourgeoisie. Schinkel had developed plans for the Königliches Museum as early as 1822/23, construction was completed in 1828 and the museum was inaugurated on 3 August 1830. In 1841, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV announced in a royal decree, in 1845, the Königliches Museum was renamed the Altes Museum, the name it holds to this day. The royally appointed commission, which was responsible for the conception of the museum and this precluded the incorporation of ethnography, prehistory and the excavated treasures of the Near East, instead, these artifacts were primarily housed in Schloss Monbijou. With the completion of the Neues Museum by Friedrich August Stüler in 1855 and this was followed by the Nationalgalerie by Johann Heinrich Strack, the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum by Ernst von Ihne after plans by Stüler, and the Pergamonmuseum by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann. Thus Museum Island evolved into the institution it is today, during National Socialism, the Altes Museum was used as the backdrop for propaganda, both in the museum itself and upon the parade grounds of the redesigned Lustgarten. Following Schinkels designs, the murals of the rotunda were restored in 1982, however, neither the ornate ceilings of the ground floor exhibition rooms nor the pairs of columns under the girders were reconstructed. The Altes Museum was originally constructed to house all of the collections of fine arts. However, since 1904, the museum has housed the Antikensammlung, since 1998, the Collection of Classical Antiquities has displayed its Greek collection, including the treasury, on the ground floor of the Altes Museum. Special exhibitions are displayed on the floor of the museum
Altes Museum
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Altes Museum, Berlin, 2012
Altes Museum
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Altes Museum, ca. 1830
Altes Museum
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Historical photograph of the Altes Museum, before 1854
Altes Museum
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Altes Museum, 1950
36.
Olympia, Greece
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Olympia, a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times. The Olympic Games were held four years throughout Classical antiquity. The sanctuary, known as the Altis, consists of an arrangement of various buildings. Enclosed within the temenos are the Temple of Hera, the Temple of Zeus, the Pelopion, and the area of the altar, to the north of the sanctuary can be found the Prytaneion and the Philippeion, as well as the array of treasuries representing the various city-states. The Metroon lies to the south of these treasuries, with the Echo Stoa to the east, the hippodrome and later stadium were located east of the Echo Stoa. To the south of the sanctuary is the South Stoa and the Bouleuterion, whereas the Palaestra, the workshop of Pheidias, the Gymnasion, very close to the Temple of Zeus which housed this statue, the studio of Pheidias was excavated in the 1950s. Evidence found there, such as tools, corroborates this opinion. The ancient ruins sit north of the Alpheios River and south of Mount Kronos, the Kladeos, a tributary of the Alpheios, flows around the area. Building of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II,13, Pheidias workshop and paleochristian basilica,25. For a history of the Olympic Games, see Olympic Games or Ancient Olympic Games, remains of food and burnt offerings dating back to the 10th century BC give evidence of a long history of religious activity at the site. No buildings have survived from this earliest period of use, the first Olympic festival was organized on the site by the authorities of Elis in the 8th century BC – with tradition dating the first games at 776 BC. Major changes were made to the site around 700 BC, including levelling land, Elis power diminished and the sanctuary fell into the hands of the Pisatans in 676 BC. The Pisatans organized the games until the late 7th century BC, the earliest evidence of building activity on the site dates from around 600 BC. At this time the Skiloudians, allies of the Pistans, built the Temple of Hera, the Treasuries and the Pelopion were built during the course of the 6th century BC. The secular structures and athletic arenas were also under construction during this period including the Bouleuterion, the first stadium was constructed around 560 BC, it consisted of just a simple track. The stadium was remodelled around 500 BC with sloping sides for spectators, over the course of the 6th century BC a range of sports were added to the Olympic festival. In 580 BC, Elis, in alliance with Sparta, occupied Pisa, the classical period, between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, was the golden age of the site at Olympia. A wide range of new religious and secular buildings and structures were constructed, the Temple of Zeus was built in the middle of the 5th century BC
Olympia, Greece
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Ancient Olympia Αρχαία Ολυμπία
Olympia, Greece
–
Ruins of the
Temple of Hera
Olympia, Greece
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Silver
Tetradrachm from Olympia, 360 BC. Obverse: Head of
Zeus wearing
laurel wreath. Reverse: Head of the
nymph Olympia wearing
sphendone. OΛYMΠIA to right.
Olympia, Greece
–
Ruins of the
Philippeion
37.
Samos Island
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It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. In ancient times Samos was a rich and powerful city-state, particularly known for its vineyards. It is home to Pythagoreion and the Heraion of Samos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes the Eupalinian aqueduct, Samian wine was well known in antiquity, and is still produced on the island. The island was governed by the semi-autonomous Principality of Samos under Ottoman suzerainty from 1835 until it joined Greece in 1912, the area of the island is 477.395 km2, and it is 43 km long and 13 km wide. It is separated from Anatolia by the approximately 1-mile-wide Mycale Strait, while largely mountainous, Samos has several relatively large and fertile plains. A great portion of the island is covered with vineyards, from which wine is made. The most important plains except the capital, Vathy, in the northeast, are that of Karlovasi, in the northwest, Pythagoreio, in the southeast, the islands population is 33,814, which is the 9th most populous of the Greek islands. The Samian climate is typically Mediterranean, with rainy winters. Samos relief is dominated by two mountains, Ampelos and Kerkis. The Ampelos massif is the larger of the two and occupies the center of the island, rising to 1,095 metres. Mt. Kerkis, though smaller in area is the taller of the two and its summit is the islands highest point, at 1,434 metres, the mountains are a continuation of the Mycale range on the Anatolian mainland. According to Strabo, the name Samos is from Phoenician meaning rise by the shore, Samos is home to many surprising species including the golden jackal, stone marten, wild boar, flamingos and monk seal. Samos is one of the sunniest places in Europe with almost 3300 hours of sunshine annually or 74% of the time and its climate is mild and wet in winter and dry in summer. In classical antiquity the island was a center of Ionian culture and luxury, renowned for its Samian wines and its most famous building was the Ionic order archaic Temple of goddess Hera—the Heraion. Concerning the earliest history of Samos, literary tradition is singularly defective, at the time of the great migrations it received an Ionian population which traced its origin to Epidaurus in Argolis, Samos became one of the twelve members of the Ionian League. By the 7th century BC it had one of the leading commercial centers of Greece. They helped to open up trade with the population lived around the Black Sea as well as with Egypt, Cyrene, Corinth. This caused them to become rivals with Miletus
Samos Island
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Vathy, capital of Samos
Samos Island
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Psalida Beach. At the distant background Mount Kerketeas.
Samos Island
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Kouros of Samos, the largest surviving Kouros in Greece (Archaeological Museum of Samos).
Samos Island
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Inside the
Eupalinian aqueduct.
38.
Pergamon
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Pergamon /ˈpɜːrɡəmən/ or /ˈpɜːrɡəmɒn/ or Pergamum /ˈpɜːrɡəməm/ was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located 26 kilometres from the coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus. Many remains of its monuments can still be seen and especially the outstanding masterpiece of the Pergamon Altar. It became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period under the Attalid dynasty in 281–133 BC, Pergamon is cited in the Book of Revelation as one of the seven churches of Asia. Xenophon provides the earliest surviving mention of Pergamon. Captured by Xenophon in 399 BC and immediately recaptured by the Persians, in 261 BC he bequeathed his possessions to his nephew Eumenes I, who increased them greatly, leaving as heir his cousin Attalus I. The Attalids became some of the most loyal supporters of Rome in the Hellenistic world, for their support against the Seleucids, the Attalids were rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in Asia Minor. As a consequence of its rise to power, the city expanded greatly, until 188 BC, it had not grown significantly since its founding by Philetaerus, and covered c.21 hectares. After this year, a new city wall was constructed,4 kilometres long and enclosing an area of approximately 90 hectares. The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity, many documents survive showing how the Attalids supported the growth of towns by sending in skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their domains to maintain nominal independence and they sent gifts to Greek cultural sites like Delphi, Delos, and Athens. They remodeled the Acropolis of Pergamon after the Acropolis in Athens, when Attalus III died without an heir in 133 BC, he bequeathed the whole of Pergamon to Rome in order to prevent a civil war. Not everyone in Pergamon accepted Romes rule, aristonicus, who claimed to be Attalus brother as well as the son of Eumenes II, an earlier king, led a revolt among the lower classes with the help of Blossius. The revolt was put down in 129 BC, and Pergamon was divided among Rome, Pontus, Pergamon was briefly the capital of the Roman province of Asia, before the capital was transferred to Ephesus. After a slow decline, the city was favoured by several imperial initiatives under Hadrian, in addition, at the city limits the shrine to Asclepius was expanded into a lavish spa. This sanctuary grew in fame and was considered one of the most famous therapeutic, galen, after Hippocrates the most famous physician of antiquity, was born at Pergamon and received his early training at the Asclepeion. Pergamon reached the height of its greatness under Roman Imperial rule and was home to about 200,000 inhabitants, the city was an early seat of Christianity and was granted a bishopric by the 2nd century. The city suffered badly during the century and was badly damaged by an earthquake in 262 and was sacked by the Goths shortly after
Pergamon
–
The reconstructed
Temple of
Trajan at Pergamon
Pergamon
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The
Kingdom of Pergamon (colored olive), shown at its greatest extent in 188 BC
Pergamon
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Theatre of Pergamon
Pergamon
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The Great Altar of Pergamon, on display in the
Pergamonmuseum in
Berlin, Germany
39.
Magnesia (regional unit)
–
Magnesia, deriving from the tribe name Magnetes, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Thessaly and its capital is the city of Volos. About 70% of the population of Magnesia live in the Greater Volos area, which is the second-largest city in Thessaly, according to the most recent census, the population stands at 190,010. The regional unit hosts 2,000,000 tourists annually, Magnesia is represented in the Greek Parliament by five seats. Its main agricultural products are wheat, cotton, tomatoes, grapes, olives, apples, a prominent geographic feature of Magnesia is the Pagasetic Gulf, a bay of the Aegean Sea. The Pelion mountain range closes off the Gulf on the east and south side, the highest peak of the wooded Pelion is Pourianos Stavros or Xeforti. On the south edge of Magnesia peninsula Tisaio mountain is found, mt. Maurovouni is the northeasternmost mountain of the regional unit and extends to the neighboring regional unit of Larissa. The southwest border of Magnesia is formed by the Othrys, with its highest peak Gerakovouni, the interior of Magnesia has two plains. The plains southwest of the Pagasetic Gulf arecalled Almyros plains, while the plains northwest of the Gulf are called the Volos-Velestino plain, the hydrological network of Magnesia is not particularly rich and is characterized by the absence of big rivers. The waters coming from Pelion shape the rivers Anavros, Platanorema, in the North section of Magnesia, Lake Karla was formerly found. Lake Karla was drained in 1962, but attempts have been made for its partial restoration, on the bight of Sourpi, next to Amaliapolis a coastal wetland is located, with various species of migratory birds. This wetland together with the forest of Kouri - an infrequent lowland of Oak tree forest close to Almyros - is included in the list of the regions of the European Network Natura 2000. The average temperature is 17 degrees Celsius and the rainfall about 540 millimetres per year. Heat waves and intense cold periods are rare, during the summer the temperature rises up to about 37 to 38 °C in August. The climate varies in different parts of the prefecture, close to the Pagasetic Gulf conditions are humid, in Nea Ionia it is dry and in Velestino. In winter there is significant snowfall in the mountains and often freezing temperatures, the regional unit Magnesia is subdivided into 5 municipalities. These are, Almyros Rigas Feraios South Pelion Volos Zagora-Mouresi Magnesia was created as a prefecture, in addition to the territory of the present regional unit of Magnesia, the Magnesia Prefecture included the Northern Sporades group of islands. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the prefecture was split into the Magnesia, at the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below
Magnesia (regional unit)
–
Pagasetic Gulf
Magnesia (regional unit)
–
Municipalities of Magnesia and the Sporades
Magnesia (regional unit)
–
Pelion
Magnesia (regional unit)
–
Volos
40.
Cyprus
–
Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean and the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, north of Egypt, the earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC, Cyprus was placed under British administration based on Cyprus Convention in 1878 and formally annexed by Britain in 1914. While Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population, the partition of Cyprus and creation of a Turkish state in the north became a policy of Turkish Cypriot leaders, following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. On 15 July 1974, a coup détat was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta in an attempt at enosis and these events and the resulting political situation are matters of a continuing dispute. The Cyprus Republic has de jure sovereignty over the island of Cyprus, as well as its territorial sea and exclusive economic area, another nearly 4% of the islands area is covered by the UN buffer zone. The international community considers the part of the island as territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. The occupation is viewed as illegal under law, amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the European Union. Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean, on 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone. The earliest attested reference to Cyprus is the 15th century BC Mycenaean Greek
Cyprus
–
A copper mine on Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper.
Cyprus
–
Flag
Cyprus
–
Archeologic site of Choirokoitia with early remains of human habitation during Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction)
Cyprus
–
Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates,
Kourion
41.
Didyma
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Didyma was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia. It contained a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion, in Greek didyma means twin, but the Greeks who sought a twin at Didyma ignored the Carian origin of the name. Next to Delphi, Didyma was the most renowned oracle of the Hellenic world and its establishment preceded literacy and even the Hellenic colonization of Ionia. Mythic genealogies of the origins of the Branchidae line of priests, designed to capture the origins of Didyma as a Hellenic tradition, date to the Hellenistic period. The ruins of Didyma are located a distance to the northwest of modern Didim in Aydin Province, Turkey. Didyma was the largest and most significant sanctuary on the territory of the classical city Miletus. To approach it, visitors would follow the Sacred Way to Didyma, along this route were ritual waystations, and statues of male and female members of the Branchidae family, as well as animal figures. Some of these statues, dating to the 6th century BC, are now in the British Museum, also, as Wilamowitz suggested, there may be a connection to Cybele Dindymene, the Cybele of Mount Dindymon. Excavations by German archaeologists have uncovered a major sanctuary dedicated to Artemis, the 6th century Didymaion, dedicated to Apollo, enclosed a smaller temple that was its predecessor, which archaeologists have identified. Its treasury was enriched by gifts from Croesus, Apollo was worshipped in nearby Miletus under the name Delphinius. At Didyma, he was worshipped as Didymeus and his other names in the area were Philesios, and Carinus. Until its destruction by the Persians in 494 BC, Didymas sanctuary was administered by the family of the Branchidae, who claimed descent from an eponymous Branchos, the priestess, seated above the sacred spring, gave utterances that were interpreted by the Branchidae. Both Herodotus and Pausanias dated the origins of the oracle at Didyma before the Ionian colonization of this coast, though the sanctuaries of Delphi and Ephesus were swiftly rebuilt, Didyma remained a ruin until the first steps of restoration were undertaken in 334 BC. After his capture of Miletus in 334 BC, Alexander the Great reconsecrated the oracle and placed its administration in the hands of the city, where the priest in charge was annually elected. Vitruvius recorded a tradition that the architects were Paeonius of Ephesus, whom Vitruvius credited with the rebuilding of the Temple of Artemis there, the peripteral temple was surrounded by a double file of Ionic columns. With a pronaos of three rows of four columns, the approaching visitor passed through a regularized grove formed of columns. The door usually leading to a cella was replaced by a wall with a large upper opening through which one could glimpse the upper part of the naiskos in the inner court. This was the location of an ancient spring, the naiskos—which was itself a small temple, containing in its own small cella the bronze image of the god—and a grove of laurels
Didyma
–
The ruins of the
Temple of
Apollo at Didyma
Didyma
–
Bust of a marble
kouros from the Sacred Way at Didyma, now in the
British Museum, 550 BC
Didyma
–
A stone-carved
Medusa head
Didyma
–
A
frieze on the base of a column
42.
East Berlin
–
East Berlin existed between 1949 and 1990 and consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors became West Berlin, strongly associated with West Germany, from 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. In East German official usage, it widespread in the 1970s to refer to the Western part of the city as Westberlin. In May 1945, the Soviet Union installed a city government for the city that was called Magistrate of Greater Berlin. After the war, the Allied Forces initially administrated the city together within the Allied Kommandatura, however, in 1948 the Soviet representative left the Kommandatura and the common administration broke apart during the following months. In the Soviet sector, a city government was established. When the German Democratic Republic was formed in 1949, it immediately claimed East Berlin as its capital - a claim that was recognized by all Communist countries, nevertheless, its representatives to the Peoples Chamber were not directly elected and did not have full voting rights until 1981. In June 1948, all railways and roads leading to West Berlin were blocked, however, more than one-thousand East Germans were escaping to West Berlin each day by 1960. In August 1961, the East German Government tried to stop that from happening by building the Berlin Wall and it was very dangerous for illegal migrants to cross because of the presence of armed guards that were trained to shoot people in such cases. East Germany was a socialist republic, but there was not complete economic equality, privileges such as prestigious apartments and good schooling were given to members of the ruling party and their family. Eventually, Christian churches were allowed to operate without restraint after years of harassment by authorities, in the 1970s wages of East Berliners rose and working hours fell. The United States Command Berlin, for example, published detailed instructions for U. S. military, in fact, the three Western commandants regularly protested against the presence of the East German National Peoples Army in East Berlin, particularly on the occasion of military parades. Nevertheless, the three Western Allies eventually established embassies in East Berlin in the 1970s, although they never recognized it as the capital of East Germany, treaties instead used terms such as seat of government. On 3 October 1990, West and East Germany and West and East Berlin were reunited, after reunification, the East German economy suffered significantly. Many East German factories were shut due to inability to comply with West German pollution and safety standards. Because of this, an amount of West German economic aid was poured into East Germany to revitalize it. This stimulus was part-funded through a 7. 5% tax on income, despite the large sums of economic aid poured into East Berlin, there still remain obvious differences between the former East and West Berlin. East Berlin has a visual style, this is partly due to the greater survival of prewar façades and streetscapes
East Berlin
–
Marx-Engels-Platz and the
Palast der Republik in East Berlin in the summer of 1989. The
Fernsehturm (TV Tower) is visible in the background
East Berlin
–
Flag
East Berlin
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Easter Sunday 1988 Fernsehturm and Palast der Republik
East Berlin
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Karl Marx Allee apartments
43.
West Berlin
–
West Berlin was an enclave which comprised the western part of the city of Berlin during the Cold War. It was formally controlled by the Western Allies and formed a de facto part of West Germany, and was entirely surrounded by the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners as an island of freedom. A wealthy city, West Berlin was noted for its liberal and cosmopolitan character. With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin had the biggest population of any city in Cold War Germany and it was 100 miles east of the Inner German border and only accessible by land from West Germany by narrow rail and highway corridors. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945 and was de facto part of West Germany and it had a special and unique legal status because its administration was formally conducted by the Western Allies. East Berlin, de jure occupied and administered by the Soviet Union, was the de facto capital of East Germany, the Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically divided West Berlin from its East German surroundings until it fell in 1989. The Potsdam Agreement established the framework for the occupation of Germany in the wake of World War II. The territory of Germany, as it existed in 1937, would be reduced by most of Eastern Germany thus creating the former territories of Germany. The remaining territory would be divided into four zones, each administered by one of the allied countries, according to the agreement, the occupation of Berlin would end only as a result of a quadripartite agreement. The Western Allies were guaranteed three air corridors to their sectors of Berlin, and the Soviets also informally allowed road, at first, this arrangement was intended to be only a temporary administrative structure, with all parties declaring that Germany and Berlin would soon be reunited. However, as the relations between the allies and the Soviet Union soured and the Cold War began, the joint administration of Germany. Soon, Soviet-occupied Berlin and western-occupied Berlin had separate city administrations, in 1948, the Soviets tried to force the Western Allies out of Berlin by imposing a land blockade on the western sectors—the Berlin Blockade. The West responded by using its air corridors for supplying their part of the city with food, in May 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade, and West Berlin as a separate city with its own jurisdiction was maintained. Following the Berlin Blockade, normal contacts between East and West Berlin resumed, however, in cases this proved only temporary. In 1952, the East German government began sealing its borders, as a direct result the electrical grids were separated and phone lines were cut. However, the culmination of the schism did not occur until 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall. From the legal theory followed by the Western Allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with the declaration of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic
West Berlin
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West Berlin, as of 1978
West Berlin
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Flag
West Berlin
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In 1969 U.S. military vehicles pass through the residential district of
Zehlendorf, a routine reminder that West Berlin was still legally occupied by the Western Allies of World War II
West Berlin
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President
John F. Kennedy addressing from
Rathaus Schöneberg the people of West Berlin on Rudolf-Wilde-Platz (today's John-F.-Kennedy-Platz), 26 June 1963.
44.
Islamic art
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Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the 7th century onward by people who lived within the territory that was inhabited by or ruled by culturally Islamic populations. The huge field of Islamic architecture is the subject of an article, leaving fields as varied as calligraphy, painting, glass, pottery. Islamic art is not at all restricted to art, but includes all the art of the rich. It frequently includes secular elements and elements that are frowned upon, if not forbidden, figurative painting may cover religious scenes, but normally in essentially secular contexts such as the walls of palaces or illuminated books of poetry. There are repeating elements in Islamic art, such as the use of floral or vegetal designs in a repetition known as the arabesque. The arabesque in Islamic art is used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible. Mistakes in repetitions may be introduced as a show of humility by artists who believe only God can produce perfection. Human portrayals can be found in all eras of Islamic art, above all in the private form of miniatures. Human representation for the purpose of worship is considered idolatry and is forbidden in some interpretations of Islamic law. There are also depictions of Muhammad, Islams chief prophet. Small decorative figures of animals and humans, especially if they are hunting the animals, are found on pieces in many media from many periods. Other inscriptions include verses of poetry, and inscriptions recording ownership or donation, Islamic calligraphy in the form of painting or sculptures are sometimes referred to as quranic art. Large inscriptions made from tiles, sometimes with the letters raised in relief, complex carved calligraphy also decorates buildings. For most of the Islamic period the majority of coins only showed lettering, the tughra or monogram of an Ottoman sultan was used extensively on official documents, with very elaborate decoration for important ones. Other single sheets of calligraphy, designed for albums, might contain short poems, Quranic verses, or other texts. The main languages, all using Arabic script, are Arabic, always used for Quranic verses, Persian in the Persianate world, especially for poetry, calligraphers usually had a higher status than other artists. The tradition of the Persian miniature has been dominant since about the 13th century, strongly influencing the Ottoman miniature of Turkey, portraits of rulers developed in the 16th century, and later in Persia, then becoming very popular. Mughal portraits, normally in profile, are very finely drawn in a realist style, while the best Ottoman ones are vigorously stylized, album miniatures typically featured picnic scenes, portraits of individuals or animals, or idealized youthful beauties of either sex
Islamic art
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Detail of
arabesque decoration at the
Alhambra in Spain
Islamic art
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The Ardabil Carpet, probably the finest surviving
Persian carpet,
Tabriz, mid-16th century
Islamic art
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Part of a 15th-century ceramic panel from
Samarkand with
arabesque background
Islamic art
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Scene from the
Khamsa of Nizami, Persian, 1539–43
45.
Mshatta facade
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It is part of the permanent exhibition of the Pergamon Museum of Islamic Art dedicated to Islamic art from the 8th to the 19th centuries. This was only a small section of the full length of the facade, surrounding the main entrance, most of the wall was undecorated. The facade belonged to the Qasr Mshatta or Mshatta palace, which was excavated about 30 km south of the contemporary Jordanian capital of Amman and it is thought to have served as a winter residence and storage halls during the Umayyad period. The building of the palace dates to the era of the caliph Al-Walid II. After Al Walid was murdered, it was incomplete and later ruined in an earthquake. The sections of the wall remaining in situ are much plainer. Unusually for an Umayyad building, the structures are built from burnt bricks resting on a foundation layer of finely dressed stone. The name of the place, Mshatta, is a used by the modern Bedouins in the area. The remains of the palace were excavated and discovered in 1840, the facade was a gift from the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II to Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. A large part of it was brought to the then Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Berlin in 1903 and it was reconstructed as a 33 metres long,5 metres high facade, with two towers, and parts of a central gateway. In 1932 it was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum and it was seriously damaged during the Second World War and the bombardment of Berlin. It has been suggested that this is because the side was the outside wall of the mosque. ISL I, Berlin,1996 The Date and Meaning of Mshatta
Mshatta facade
–
Mshatta Facade
Mshatta facade
–
detail
46.
Wilhelm II of Germany
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Wilhelm II or William II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was the eldest grandchild of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and his leading generals, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, dictated policy during the First World War with little regard for the civilian government. An ineffective war-time leader, he lost the support of the army, abdicated in November 1918, and fled to exile in the Netherlands. Wilhelm was born on 27 January 1859 at the Crown Princes Palace, Berlin to Prince Frederick William of Prussia and his wife, Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Britains Queen Victoria. At the time of his birth, his great-uncle Frederick William IV was king of Prussia, a traumatic breech birth left him with a withered left arm due to Erbs palsy, which he tried with some success to conceal. His left arm was about 6 inches shorter than his right arm, historians have suggested that this disability affected his emotional development. In 1863, Wilhelm was taken to England to be present at the wedding of his Uncle Bertie, William attended the ceremony in a Highland costume, complete with a small toy dirk. During the ceremony the four-year-old became restless and his eighteen-year-old uncle Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, charged with keeping an eye on him, told him to be quiet, but Wilhelm drew his dirk and threatened Alfred. When Alfred attempted to subdue him by force, Wilhelm bit him on the leg and his grandmother, Queen Victoria, missed seeing the fracas, to her Wilhelm remained a clever, dear, good little child, the great favourite of my beloved Vicky. His mother, Vicky, was obsessed with his damaged arm and she blamed herself for the childs handicap and insisted that he become a good rider. The thought that he, as heir to the throne, should not be able to ride was intolerable to her, riding lessons began when Wilhelm was eight and were a matter of endurance for Wilhelm. Over and over, the prince was set on his horse. He fell off time after time but despite his tears was set on its back again, after weeks of this he finally got it right and was able to maintain his balance. Wilhelm, from six years of age, was tutored and heavily influenced by the 39-year-old teacher Georg Hinzpeter, Hinzpeter, he later wrote, was really a good fellow. Whether he was the tutor for me, I dare not decide. The torments inflicted on me, in this riding, must be attributed to my mother. As a teenager he was educated at Kassel at the Friedrichsgymnasium, in January 1877, Wilhelm finished high school and on his eighteenth birthday received as a present from his grandmother, Queen Victoria, the Order of the Garter. After Kassel he spent four terms at the University of Bonn, studying law and he became a member of the exclusive Corps Borussia Bonn
Wilhelm II of Germany
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Kaiser Wilhelm II, c. 1914
Wilhelm II of Germany
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Wilhelm with his father, in Highland dress, in 1862
Wilhelm II of Germany
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In this photo of Wilhelm, his right hand is holding his left hand, which was affected by
Erb's palsy.
Wilhelm II of Germany
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Wilhelm II, German Emperor
47.
Edmund de Unger
–
Edmund Robert Anthony de Unger was a Hungarian-born property developer and art collector. In London he built up the Keir Collection, one of the greatest post-war collections of Islamic art, the arrangement for the museum to curate the collection came to an end in July 2012. The collection is now hosted by the Dallas Museum of Art as of May 2014 for a 15-year renewable loan, edmund de Unger was born in Budapest into a family linked with the art world. His father was a collector of carpets and another relative was the architect who designed the Hungarian National Museum. After going to London in 1934 to learn English, he studied economics at Kiel Institute for the World Economy, law at the University of Budapest and history at Hertford College, Oxford. Returning to Hungary before the outbreak of World War II, in 1945 he married Eva Spicht, after the war he restored and ran the Astoria Hotel in Budapest, until it was requisitioned by the communist regime in 1948. In 1949 de Unger, following a series of arrests in Hungary, moved permanently to England, after further training, he entered the legal profession as a barrister. He later worked as Crown Counsel in Ghana for the Colonial Office, the period in West Africa permitted visits to Egypt, where he developed an interest in Coptic and Islamic art. In 1965, following the death of his first wife Eva in 1959, he married Elizabeth Allen, the ever-increasing Keir Collection was moved in the late 1960s to his house in Ham, Surrey. Widely knowledgeable on the area in which he collected, de Unger founded the Islamic Art Circle in 1964 and my love of Islamic art began with carpets. I first became aware of them at the age of six and my father was a rather solitary person and, seeing my interest, he must have been pleased. He took me to museums, and by the age of nine I was quite a good companion to him in the salesrooms. After the war and my departure from my homeland I was once able to continue the collecting of what my fellow Oxford undergraduates had called moth-eaten rags. Slowly, not only the floors but also the walls of my home became covered with new acquisitions. The majority of carpets that form the core of the Keir Collection remain in the 18th century Manor House on Ham Street in Richmond, London, which was de Ungers home up to his death in 2011. A small but representative portion of classical oriental carpets from Persia, Turkey and his passion for collecting carpets soon led de Unger to diversify into fine textiles, starting in 1961 with the acquisition of Persian embroidery in Paris. He started collecting decorative silk, velvet and brocade fabrics, with elaborate designs resembling those in the carpets, there provenance included the Persian, Ottoman and Mughal empires, with Safavid silks forming the nucleus of his collection. It incorporates parts of the older textile collections of Joseph V. McMullan, with Werner Abegg as mentor de Unger moved on to mediaeval and Renaissance woven cloth from Europe, particularly Italy and Spain, and in number these items dominate the collection
Edmund de Unger
–
Edmund de Unger
Edmund de Unger
–
The 18th century Manor House in
Ham, Surrey that became the home to the Keir Collection
Edmund de Unger
Edmund de Unger
48.
Ham, Surrey
–
Ham is a suburban district in south-west London which has meadows adjoining the River Thames where the Thames Path National Trail also runs. Most of Ham is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and, chiefly, within the ward of Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside, Ham is centred 9.25 miles south-west of the centre of London. Together with Petersham, Ham lies east of the bend in the river almost surrounding it on three sides,1 mile south of Richmond and 2 miles north of Kingston upon Thames. Its elevation mostly ranges between 6m and 12m OD but reaches 20m in the foothill side-streets leading to Richmond Park, apart from semi-rural Petersham, Richmond Park and the town of Kingston, the neighbouring land is on the opposite side of the river, Teddington and Twickenham. Ham is bounded on the west, along the bank of the River Thames, part of this former pasture land was used for gravel extraction. The last remnant of these gravel pits now forms an artificial lake, in this area is the Thames Young Mariners 10 acres site, operated as a water activity centre by Surrey County Council. The area along the riverside is preserved as a public amenity, mostly on low-lying river terrace, Ham today is bounded to the east by Richmond Park, where the land rises at the escarpment of the Richmond and Kingston hills. Small streams that drain this higher ground flow into a watercourse that flows south-north along the foot of the hill, known as Latchmere Stream to the south, Ham lies within the London Basin and its London clay bedrock. The low-lying flood plains to the west consist of fluvial gravels, sands, the name derives from the Old English word Hamme meaning place in the bend of a river. The Thames Valley has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic period and finds of Palaeolithic flints near to White Lodge and these have not been excavated, so it is impossible to date them precisely, but barrows are known to span the period from 3500BC to 900BC. Many of these artifacts are part of the Edwards Collection and housed in the Museum of Richmond, other finds from Ham are held at the Museum of London including an early Bronze Age collared urn, also from the Edwards Collection. The first early Saxon settlement found in the Greater London area was a Pit-house, or Grubenhaus, along with pottery finds dated to the 5th century AD, this suggests the area was amongst the first colonised by Saxon settlers. Historically, Ham covered a larger area, the boundaries shown in the tithe map of 1843 are believed to have changed little, if at all, for centuries. The earliest known record of Ham as a separate village dates from the 12th century when Hamma was included in the royal demesne as a member of Kingston. 4d. in 1168 towards the marriage of Matilda, the eldest daughter of Henry II, the related history of the Earls of Dysart dominated the development of Ham and Petersham for the following four centuries. In return for this, a deed was struck which has protected most of the remaining common land, Ham Common. The enclosed land, whilst lost to agriculture, remained within Hams administrative boundaries, the whole area was referred to as Ham cum Hatch, or Ham with Hatch, until late Victorian times. Hesba Stretton, the Evangelical childrens writer, retired to Ivycroft, Ham Common in 1892, since 1965 Ham has been mostly in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Ham, Surrey
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Ham House in 2007
Ham, Surrey
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Housing by Ham Parade
Ham, Surrey
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Tollemache Almshouses, Ham Street, erected in memory of
Algernon Gray Tollemache in 1892 by his wife
Ham, Surrey
–
Thames Young Mariners dock and lock
49.
Victory stele of Esarhaddon
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The Victory stele of Esarhaddon is a dolerite stele commemorating the return of Esarhaddon after his armys 2nd battle and victory over Pharaoh Taharqa in northern ancient Egypt in 671 BC. It was discovered in 1888 in Zincirli Höyük by Felix von Luschan and it is now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The prior battle of 674 BC was won by Taharqa after confronting Esarhaddon after his initial foray into the Levant, the second battle of 671 BC saw Taharqa retreat with his army to Memphis, Memphis was taken with Taharqa then fleeing to Kush. The root of Kush I tore up out of Egypt, the stele shows Esarhaddon standing on the left in an honorific pose. He is holding a club in his left hand, together with a rope ending in a ring that passes through the lips of the two conquered kings kneeling before him. His right hand is addressing the gods, cuneiform script covers the entire medium bas relief scene. The identity of the supplicant before him has been matter of debate. He may be the king of Tyre Baal I, mentioned in Esarhaddons Treaty with Baal of Tyre, or the king of Sidon Abdi-Milkutti. The kneeling figure between the two is prince Ushankhuru with a rope tied around his neck, others deem it to be Pharaoh Taharqa himself, title Ausgrabungen in Sendschirli -1, Orient-komitee, Berlin, Publisher, W. Spemann
Victory stele of Esarhaddon
–
The Victory Stele in its current location.
Victory stele of Esarhaddon
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Close-up of prince Ushankhuru
.jpg)
