1.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
2.
Latin language
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin language
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin language
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin language
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin language
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
3.
Greco-Roman world
–
Certainly, all men of note and accomplishment, whatever their ethnic extractions, spoke and wrote in Greek and/or Latin. The historian Josephus Flavius was Jewish but he wrote and spoke in Greek and was a Roman citizen. Occupying the periphery of this world were Roman Germany, Illyria and Pannonia, also included was Dacia, Nubia, Mauretania, Arabia Petraea, the Tauric Chersonesus. The above seems to ignore the major rivalry between the Greco-Romans, during their period of ascendancy, and the empire to the east. In the schools of art, philosophy and rhetoric, the foundations of education were transmitted throughout the lands of Greek, within its educated class spanning all of the Greco-Roman era, the testimony of literary borrowings and influences is overwhelming proof of a mantle of mutual knowledge. For example, several hundred papyrus volumes found in a Roman villa at Herculaneum are in Greek, from the lives of Cicero and Julius Caesar, it is known that Romans frequented the schools in Greece. The installation, both in Greek and Latin, of Augustuss monumental eulogy, the Res Gestae, is a proof of recognition for the dual vehicles of the common culture. Most educated Romans were likely bilingual in Greek and Latin, Greco-Roman architecture is architecture of the Roman world that followed the principles and style established in ancient Greece. The most representative building of that era was the temple, other prominent structures that represented the style included government buildings, like the Roman Senate, and cultural structures, like the Colosseum. The three primary styles of column design used in temples in classical Greece were Doric, Ionic, examples of Doric architecture are the Parthenon and the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, while the Erechtheum, which is located right next to the Parthenon is Ionic. Ionic Greco-Roman architecture tend to be more decorative than the formal Doric styles, by AD211, with Caracallas edict known as the Constitutio Antoniniana, all free inhabitants of the Empire became citizens. As a result, even after the Fall of Rome, the people of the empire that remained continued to call themselves Romans even though Greek became the language of the Empire. Rhomaioi is what they continued to call themselves through the Ottoman era, Classical Antiquity Classical mythology Legacy of the Roman Empire Greco-Roman mysteries Hellenistic Greece Magic in the Greco-Roman world List of Greco-Roman geographers Sir William Smith. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
Greco-Roman world
–
Temple of Olympian Zeus in
Athens, construction started by
Athenian tyrants in 6th century BC and completed by
Roman emperor Hadrian in 2nd century AD.
4.
Periplus
–
A periplus is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense the periplus was a type of log, the form of the periplus is at least as old as the earliest Greek historian, the Ionian Hecataeus of Miletus. The works of Herodotus and Thucydides contain passages that appear to have based on peripli. Periplus is the Latinization of the Greek word περίπλους, is a sailing-around, several examples of peripli that are known to scholars, The Periplus of Himilco the Navigator, parts which are preserved in Pliny the Elder and Avienus. The Periplus of Scylax of Caryanda who allegedly sailed down the Indus River and this voyage is mentioned by Herodotus, and his pleriplus is quoted by Hecataeus of Miletus, Aristotle, Strabo and Avienus. The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax, generally is thought to date to the fourth or third century BCE, the Pleriplus of Nearchus surveyed the area between the Indus and the Persian Gulf under orders from Alexander the Great. He was a source for Strabo and Arrian, among others, on the Red Sea by Agatharchides. Fragments preserved in Diodorus Siculus and Photius, the Periplus of Scymnus of Chios is dated to around 110 BCE. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea or Red Sea, was written by a Romanized Alexandrian in the first century CE and it provides a shoreline itinerary of the Red Sea, starting at the port of Berenice. Beyond the Red Sea, the manuscript describes the coast of India as far as the Ganges River and the east coast of Africa. The unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea claims that Hippalus, also according to the manuscript, the Horn of Africa was called, the Cape of Spices, and modern day Yemen was known as the Frankincense Country. The Periplus Ponti Euxini, a description of routes along the coasts of the Black Sea. Persian sailors had from very old times their own sailing guide books which were called Rahnāmag in Middle Persian, a Rahnameh listed the ports and coastal landmarks and distances along the shores. These lost but much-cited sailing directions go back at least until the 12th century, in some, the Indian Ocean was described as a hard sea to get out of and warned of the circumambient sea, whence all return was impossible. A periplus was also an ancient naval manoeuvre in which attacking triremes would outflank or encircle the defenders to attack them in the rear, list of Graeco-Roman geographers The dictionary definition of periplus at Wiktionary
Periplus
–
Beginning of the Arrian Periplous Euxeinou Pontou of Johann Froben and Nicolaus Episcopius, Basel 1533
5.
Roman commerce
–
The commerce of the Roman Empire was a major sector of the Roman economy during the early Republic and throughout most of the imperial period. Fashions and trends in historiography and in culture have tended to neglect the economic basis of the empire in favor of the lingua franca of Latin. The language and the legions were supported by trade while being at the time part of its backbone. Romans were businessmen and the longevity of their empire was due to their commercial trade, plebeians and freedmen held shop or manned stalls at markets, while vast quantities of slaves did most of the hard work. The slaves were also the subject of commercial transactions. Probably due to their proportion in society, and the reality of runaways, as well as. The intricate, complex, and extensive accounting of Roman trade was conducted with counting boards, the abacus, using Roman numerals, was ideally suited to the counting of Roman currency and tallying of Roman measures. The Romans knew two types of businessmen, the negotiatores and the mercatores, the negotiatores were in part bankers because they lent money on interest. They also bought and sold staples in bulk or did commerce in wholesale quantities of goods, in some instances the argentarii are considered as a subset of the negotiatores and in others as a group apart. The argentarii acted as agents in public or private auctions, kept deposits of money for individuals, cashed cheques and they kept strict books, or tabulae, which were considered as legal proof by the courts. The argentarii sometimes did the kind of work as the mensarii. The mercatores were usually plebeians or freedmen and they were present in all the open-air markets or covered shops, manning stalls or hawking goods by the side of the road. They were also present near Roman military camps during campaigns, where they sold food and clothing to the soldiers, there is some information on the economy of Roman Palestine from Jewish sources of around the 3rd century AD. Itinerant pedlars took spices and perfumes to the rural population and this suggests that the economic benefits of the Empire did reach, at least, the upper levels of the peasantry. The Forum Cuppedinis in ancient Rome was a market which offered general goods, at least four other large markets specialized in specific goods such as cattle, wine, fish and herbs and vegetables, but the Roman forum drew the bulk of the traffic. All new cities, like Timgad, were laid out according to a grid plan which facilitated transportation. The cities were connected by good roads, navigable rivers were extensively used and some canals were dug but neither leave such clear archaeology as roads and consequently they tend to be underestimated. Maintaining peace was a factor in the expansion of trade
Roman commerce
–
Roman 4-wheeled wagon
Roman commerce
–
River vessel carrying barrels, assumed to be wine
Roman commerce
–
A small coaster
6.
History of Roman Egypt
–
The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai Peninsula. Aegyptus was bordered by the provinces of Creta et Cyrenaica to the West, the province came to serve as a major producer of grain for the empire and had a highly developed urban economy. Aegyptus was by far the wealthiest Eastern Roman province, in Alexandria, its capital, it possessed the largest port, and the second largest city, of the Roman Empire. As a province, Egypt was ruled by a uniquely styled Augustal prefect, the prefect was a man of equestrian rank and was appointed by the Emperor. The second prefect, Aelius Gallus, made an expedition to conquer Arabia Petraea. The Red Sea coast of Aegyptus was not brought under Roman control until the reign of Claudius, the third prefect, Gaius Petronius, cleared the neglected canals for irrigation, stimulating a revival of agriculture. Petronius even led a campaign into present-day central Sudan against the Kingdom of Kush at Meroe, failing to acquire permanent gains, in 22 BC he razed the city of Napata to the ground and retreated to the north. From the reign of Nero onward, Aegyptus enjoyed an era of prosperity which lasted a century, under Trajan a Jewish revolt occurred, resulting in the suppression of the Jews of Alexandria and the loss of all their privileges, although they soon returned. Hadrian, who twice visited Aegyptus, founded Antinoöpolis in memory of his drowned lover Antinous, from his reign onward buildings in the Greco-Roman style were erected throughout the country. Under Antoninus Pius oppressive taxation led to a revolt in 139, of the native Egyptians and this Bucolic War, led by one Isidorus, caused great damage to the economy and marked the beginning of Egypts economic decline. Avidius Cassius, who led the Roman forces in the war, declared emperor in 175. On the approach of Marcus Aurelius, Cassius was deposed and killed, a similar revolt broke out in 193, when Pescennius Niger was proclaimed emperor on the death of Pertinax. The Emperor Septimius Severus gave a constitution to Alexandria and the capitals in 202. There was a series of revolts, both military and civilian, through the 3rd century, under Decius, in 250, the Christians again suffered from persecution, but their religion continued to spread. This warrior queen claimed that Egypt was a home of hers through a familial tie to Cleopatra VII. She was well educated and familiar with the culture of Egypt, its religion, two generals based in Aegyptus, Probus and Domitius Domitianus, led successful revolts and made themselves emperors. Diocletian captured Alexandria from Domitius in 298 and reorganised the whole province and his edict of 303 against the Christians began a new era of persecution. This was the last serious attempt to stem the growth of Christianity in Egypt
History of Roman Egypt
–
Northern Africa under Roman rule
History of Roman Egypt
–
Province of Aegyptus in 117 AD.
History of Roman Egypt
–
Bust of Roman Nobleman, ca. 30 B.C.E.– 50 C.E., 54.51,
Brooklyn Museum
History of Roman Egypt
–
Possible depiction of the province of Egypt from the Hadrianeum in Rome
7.
Berenice (port)
–
Berenice or Berenice Troglodytica, also known as Baranis, is an ancient seaport of Egypt on the west coast of the Red Sea. It is situated about 825 km south of Suez and 260 km east of Aswan in Upper Egypt and it was founded in 275 BC by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who named it after his mother, Berenice I of Egypt. Troglodytica refers to the people of the region, the Troglodytai or cave dwellers. Although the name is attested by ancient writers, the more ancient Ptolemaic inscriptions read Trogodytai. It is possible that later copyists confused this name with the common term Troglodytai. Built at the head of a gulf, the Sinus Immundus, or Foul Bay, of Strabo, a lofty range of mountains runs along this side of the African coast, and separates Berenice from the Nile Valley. The emerald mines of Zabara and Saket are in its neighbourhood, the harbour is indifferent, but was improved by art. Berenice stood upon a rim of shore between the hills and the Red Sea. The harbor of Berenice was sheltered from the northeast wind by the island Ophiodes, Berenice was quite famous and prosperous in antiquity. The city is noted by most ancient geographers, including Strabo, Pliny the Elder, the road across the desert from Coptos was 258 Roman miles long, or eleven days journey. The road was provided with watering stations, the wells and halting places of the caravans are enumerated by Pliny, Belzoni found traces of several of these stations. From the 1st century BC until the 2nd century AD, Berenice was one of the points of trade between India, Arabia, and Upper Egypt. It was connected to Antinopolis on the River Nile in Lower Egypt by the Via Hadriana in 137, the trade from Berenice along the Red Sea coast is described in the 1st century AD travelogue Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written by a Greek merchant based in Alexandria. The Periplus indicates that on the right-hand coast next below Berenice is the country of the Berbers, in the 4th century Berenice again become an active port, but after the 6th century the port was abandoned. Under the Roman Empire, Berenice formed a district itself, with its peculiar prefect. In 1818, the ruins of Berenice were identified by Giovanni Battista Belzoni, since then, several excavations have been undertaken. The port is now filled up, has a sand-bar at its entrance. The temple is of sandstone and soft stone, in the Egyptian style
Berenice (port)
–
Satellite image of Berenice Troglodytica, on
Red Sea coast
Berenice (port)
–
A visite in «Berenice», Wellsted, 1838
8.
Red Sea
–
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait, to the north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez. The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion, the sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley. The Red Sea has an area of roughly 438,000 km2, is about 2250 km long and. It has a depth of 2211 m in the central median trench. However, there are also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life, the sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species, and 200 soft and hard corals. It is the worlds northernmost tropical sea, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Red Sea as follows, On the North. The Southern limits of the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, a line joining Husn Murad and Ras Siyyan. Red Sea is a translation of the Greek Erythra Thalassa, Latin Mare Rubrum, Arabic, البحر الأحمر. Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar, Somali Badda Cas and Tigrinya Qeyyiḥ bāḥrī, the name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured Trichodesmium erythraeum near the waters surface. A theory favored by modern scholars is that the name red is referring to the direction south. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to the cardinal directions, herodotus on one occasion uses Red Sea and Southern Sea interchangeably. Historically, it was known to western geographers as Mare Mecca. Some ancient geographers called the Red Sea the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia. C, in that version, the Yam Suph is translated as Erythra Thalassa. The Red Sea is one of four seas named in English after common color terms — the others being the Black Sea, the White Sea and the Yellow Sea. The direct rendition of the Greek Erythra thalassa in Latin as Mare Erythraeum refers to the part of the Indian Ocean. The earliest known exploration of the Red Sea was conducted by ancient Egyptians, one such expedition took place around 2500 BC, and another around 1500 BC. Both involved long voyages down the Red Sea, historically, scholars argued whether these trips were possible
Red Sea
–
Red Sea
Red Sea
–
Tihama on the Red Sea near Khaukha,
Yemen
Red Sea
–
Annotated view of the Nile and Red Sea, with a dust storm
Red Sea
–
Dust storm over the Red Sea
9.
Horn of Africa
–
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in Northeast Africa. It juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, the area is the easternmost projection of the African continent. The Horn of Africa denotes the region containing the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and it covers approximately 2,000,000 km2 and is inhabited by roughly 115 million people. Regional studies on the Horn of Africa are carried out, among others, shell middens 125,000 years old have been found in Eritrea, indicating the diet of early humans included seafood obtained by beachcombing. According to both genetic and fossil evidence, archaic Homo sapiens evolved to modern humans solely in Africa between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago. Evidence to support the theory that recent modern humans originated in East Africa is not conclusive, today at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, the Red Sea is about 12 miles wide, but 50,000 years ago it was much narrower and sea levels were 70 meters lower. Though the straits were never closed, there may have been islands in between which could be reached using simple rafts. It has been estimated that from a population of 2,000 to 5,000 individuals in Africa, according to linguists, the first Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations arrived in the region during the ensuing Neolithic era from the familys proposed urheimat in the Nile Valley, or the Near East. Other scholars propose that the Afro-Asiatic family developed in situ in the Horn, genetic analysis also indicates that, beginning in the pre-agricultural period, settlers from the Near East founded communities in Northeast Africa. These early settlements eventually gave rise to the Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations in the Horn, dʿmt was a kingdom located in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, which existed during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. With its capital at Yeha, the kingdom developed irrigation schemes, used plows, grew millet, the Kingdom of Aksum was an ancient state located in the highlands of present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea, which thrived between the 1st and 7th centuries CE. A major player in the commerce between the Roman Empire and Ancient India, Aksums rulers facilitated trade by minting their own currency. Under Ezana, the kingdom of Aksum became the first major empire to adopt Christianity, northern Somalia was an important link in the Horn, connecting the regions commerce with the rest of the ancient world. Somali sailors and merchants were the suppliers of frankincense, myrrh and spices. The Romans consequently began to refer to the region as Regio Aromatica, in the classical era, several flourishing Somali city-states such as Opone, Mosylon and Malao also competed with the Sabaeans, Parthians and Axumites for the rich Indo-Greco-Roman trade. The city of Mogadishu came to be known as the City of Islam, the Sultanate of Showa, established in 896, was one of the oldest local Muslim states. It was centered in the former Shewa province in central Ethiopia, the polity was succeeded by the Sultanate of Ifat around 1285. Ifat was governed from its capital at Zeila in northern Somalia and was the easternmost district of the former Shewa Sultanate, the Adal Sultanate was a medieval multi-ethnic Muslim state centered in the Horn region
Horn of Africa
–
Ancient trading centers in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula according to the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
Horn of Africa
–
Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
–
Ezana 's
obelisk at
Aksum, symbol of the
Aksumite civilization
Horn of Africa
–
Ruins of the
Sultanate of Adal in
Zeila
10.
Sindh
–
Sindh /sɪnd/ is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, in the southeast of the country. Historically home to the Sindhi people, it is locally known as the Mehran. It was formerly known as Sind until 1956, Sindh is the third largest province of Pakistan by area, and second largest province by population after Punjab. Sindh is bordered by Balochistan province to the west, and Punjab province to the north, Sindh also borders the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to the east, and Arabian Sea to the south. Sindhs climate is noted for hot summers and mild winters, the provincial capital of Sindh is Pakistans largest city and financial hub, Karachi. Sindh has Pakistans second largest economy with Karachi being its capital hosts the headquarters of several multinational banks. Sindh is home to a portion of Pakistans industrial sector. The remainder of Sindh has an agriculture based economy, and produces fruit, food consumer items, Sindh is also the centre of Pakistans pharmaceutical industry. Sindh is known for its culture which is strongly influenced by Sufism. Several important Sufi shrines are located throughout the province which attract millions of annual devotees, Sindh also has Pakistans highest percentage of Hindu residents. Karachi and other centres of Sindh have seen ethnic tensions between the native Sindhis and the Muhajirs boil over into violence on several occasions. Sindh is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites - the Historical Monuments at Makli, and the Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro, the word Sindh is derived from the Sanskrit language and is adapted from the Sanskrit term Sindhu which literally means river hence a reference to Indus River. Spelling of its name as Sind was discontinued in 1988 by an amendment passed in Sindh Assembly. The Greeks who conquered Sindh in 325 BC under the command of Alexander the Great rendered it as Indós, the ancient Iranians referred to everything east of the river Indus as hind from the word Sindh. When the British arrived in the 17th century in India, then ruled by the Maratha Empire, they applied the Greek version of the name Sindh to all of South Asia, calling it India. The name of Pakistan is actually an acronym in which the letter s is derived from the first letter in Sindh, Sindhs first known village settlements date as far back as 7000 BCE. Permanent settlements at Mehrgarh, currently in Balochistan, to the west expanded into Sindh and this culture blossomed over several millennia and gave rise to the Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BCE. The primitive village communities in Balochistan were still struggling against a difficult highland environment and this was one of the most developed urban civilizations of the ancient world
Sindh
–
The Priest King from
Mohenjo-daro, more than 4000 years old, in the
National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi
Sindh
–
Excavated ruins of
Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan.
Sindh
–
A manuscript written during the Abbasid Era.
Sindh
–
The Samma period is known for pioneering of Sindhi folklore and literature.
11.
India
–
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
India
–
Flag
India
–
The granite
tower of
Brihadeeswarar Temple in
Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by
Raja Raja Chola I.
India
–
Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 1590–1595
12.
Indian Ocean
–
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the worlds oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2. It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, the Indian Ocean is known as Ratnākara, the mine of gems in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar, in Hindi. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf, the oceans continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres in width. An exception is found off Australias western coast, where the width exceeds 1,000 kilometres. The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m and its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m deep, Sunda Trench has a depth of 7, 258–7,725 m. North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the basin is covered by pelagic sediments. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments, glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes. The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean, marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean include, The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April, from May until October south, in the Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are milder. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency, among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Jubba and Irrawaddy River. The oceans currents are controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise, during the winter monsoon, however, currents in the north are reversed. Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, north of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C, exceeding 28 °C to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly, surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and south-western Australia
Indian Ocean
–
The economically important
Silk Road (red) and spice
trade routes (blue) were blocked by the
Ottoman Empire in ca. 1453 with the fall of the
Byzantine Empire. This spurred exploration, and a new sea route around Africa was found, triggering the
Age of Discovery.
Indian Ocean
–
Extent of the Indian Ocean according to the
CIA World Factbook
Indian Ocean
–
British heavy cruisers
Dorsetshire and
Cornwall under Japanese air attack and heavily damaged on 5 April 1942
Indian Ocean
–
A
dhow off the coast of Kenya
13.
Persian Gulf
–
The Persian Gulf is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz, the Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The Persian Gulf was a battlefield of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War and it is the namesake of the 1991 Gulf War, the largely air- and land-based conflict that followed Iraqs invasion of Kuwait. The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, the body of water is historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf. Some Arab governments refer to it as the Arabian Gulf or The Gulf, the name Gulf of Iran is used by the International Hydrographic Organization. The Persian Gulf is geologically young, having been formed around 15,000 years ago. Its length is 989 kilometres, with Iran covering most of the northern coast, the Persian Gulf is about 56 km wide at its narrowest, in the Strait of Hormuz. The waters are very shallow, with a maximum depth of 90 metres. Various small islands lie within the Persian Gulf, some of which are the subject of territorial disputes between the states of the region. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Persian Gulfs southern limit as The Northwestern limit of Gulf of Oman and this limit is defined as A line joining Ràs Limah on the coast of Arabia and Ràs al Kuh on the coast of Iran. The Persian Gulf and its areas are the worlds largest single source of crude oil. Safaniya Oil Field, the worlds largest offshore oilfield, is located in the Persian Gulf, large gas finds have also been made, with Qatar and Iran sharing a giant field across the territorial median line. Using this gas, Qatar has built up a substantial liquefied natural gas, the oil-rich countries that have a coastline on the Persian Gulf are referred to as the Persian Gulf States. In 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire established the first ancient empire in Persis, consequently, in the Greek sources, the body of water that bordered this province came to be known as the Persian Gulf. In the travel account of Pythagoras, several chapters are related to description of his travels accompanied by the Achaemenid king Darius the Great, to Susa and Persepolis, and the area is described. This water channel separates the Iran Plateau from the Arabia Plate, has enjoyed an Iranian Identity since at least 2200 years ago. Before being given its present name, the Persian Gulf was called many different names, the classical Greek writers, like Herodotus, called it the Red Sea. In Babylonian texts, it was known as the sea above Akkad, the name of the gulf, historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf after the land of Persia, has been disputed by some Arab countries since the 1960s
Persian Gulf
–
Persian Gulf from space
Persian Gulf
–
A historical map of the Persian Gulf in
a Dubai museum with the word Persian removed
Persian Gulf
–
Picture depicting extent of early civilizations around the Persian Gulf, including Lackhmids, and Sassanids.
Persian Gulf
–
Picture depicting the Achaemenid Persian empire in relation to the Persian Gulf.
14.
Berbera
–
Berbera is a city in the Woqooyi Galbeed province in the of Republic of Somaliland. In antiquity, Berbera was part of a chain of commercial port cities along the Somali seaboard and it later served as the capital of the British Somaliland protectorate from 1884 to 1941, when it was replaced by Hargeisa. In 1960, the British Somaliland protectorate gained independence as the State of Somaliland, located strategically on the oil route, the city has a deep seaport, which serves as the regions main commercial harbor. Berbera preserves the ancient name of the coast along the shore of the Gulf of Aden. The city was later mentioned by the Islamic traveller Ibn Said as well as Ibn Batutta in the thirteenth century. In 1546, the Ottoman Empire occupied the regions of Somalia including Berbera. It also made Zeila the regional capital due to the strategic location on the Red Sea. The major Somali clan of Isaaq in Somalia, caravans from Harar and the Hawd, lieutenant C. J. on the hill-side immediately over the spring. From which I infer that it was a place of considerable antiquity, burton, recognizing the importance of the port city wrote, It was not long before these words proved prescient. In 1874-75, the Egyptians obtained a firman from the Ottomans by which they secured claims over the city, at the same time, the Egyptians received British recognition of their nominal jurisdiction as far east as Cape Guardafui. In actuality, however, Egypt had little authority over the interior and their period of rule on the coast was brief, the British garrisoned the protectorate from Aden and administered it from their British India colony until 1898. British Somaliland was then administered by the Foreign Office until 1905, generally, the British did not have much interest in the resource-barren region. The stated purposes of the establishment of the protectorate were to secure a supply market, check the traffic in slaves, hence, the regions nickname of Adens butchers shop. Colonial administration during this period did not extend administrative infrastructure beyond the coast, in August 1940, during the East African Campaign, British Somaliland was briefly occupied by Italy after a large invasion force defeated British colonial troops at the Battle of Tug Argan. During this period, the British rounded up soldiers and governmental officials to evacuate them from the territory through Berbera, in total,7,000 people, including civilians, were evacuated. The Somalis serving in the Somaliland Camel Corps were given the choice of evacuation or disbandment, in March 1941, the British forces recaptured the protectorate during Operation Appearance after a six-month occupation. The first WW2 Australian POWs were taken here in 1940. In the post-independence period, Berbera was administered as the part of the Woqooyi Galbeed province of Somalia, a slow process of infrastructural reconstruction subsequently began in Berbera and other towns in the region
Berbera
–
Berbera Barbara بربرة
Berbera
–
Berbera at night (1896).
Berbera
–
A Ziegra mobile ice plant in Berbera.
15.
Sanskrit
–
Sanskrit is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a literary language and lingua franca of ancient and medieval South Asia. As a result of transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia and parts of Central Asia, as one of the oldest Indo-European languages for which substantial written documentation exists, Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The body of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical, the compositions of Sanskrit were orally transmitted for much of its early history by methods of memorization of exceptional complexity, rigor, and fidelity. Thereafter, variants and derivatives of the Brahmi script came to be used, Sanskrit is today one of the 22 languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, which mandates the Indian government to develop the language. It continues to be used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the form of hymns. The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as refined, elaborated, as a term for refined or elaborated speech, the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit in the Manusmṛti and the Mahabharata. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini, around the fourth century BCE. Sanskrit, as defined by Pāṇini, evolved out of the earlier Vedic form, the present form of Vedic Sanskrit can be traced back to as early as the second millennium BCE. Scholars often distinguish Vedic Sanskrit and Classical or Pāṇinian Sanskrit as separate dialects, although they are quite similar, they differ in a number of essential points of phonology, vocabulary, grammar and syntax. Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the Vedas, a collection of hymns, incantations and theological and religio-philosophical discussions in the Brahmanas. Modern linguists consider the metrical hymns of the Rigveda Samhita to be the earliest, for nearly 2000 years, Sanskrit was the language of a cultural order that exerted influence across South Asia, Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, and to a certain extent East Asia. A significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Sanskrit of Indian epic poetry—the Ramayana, the deviations from Pāṇini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or innovations, and not because they are pre-Paninian. Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ārṣa, meaning of the ṛṣis, in some contexts, there are also more prakritisms than in Classical Sanskrit proper. There were four principal dialects of classical Sanskrit, paścimottarī, madhyadeśī, pūrvi, the predecessors of the first three dialects are attested in Vedic Brāhmaṇas, of which the first one was regarded as the purest. In the 2001 Census of India,14,035 Indians reported Sanskrit to be their first language, in India, Sanskrit is among the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state of Uttarakhand in India has ruled Sanskrit as its official language. In October 2012 social activist Hemant Goswami filed a petition in the Punjab. More than 3,000 Sanskrit works have been composed since Indias independence in 1947, much of this work has been judged of high quality, in comparison to both classical Sanskrit literature and modern literature in other Indian languages
Sanskrit
–
Rigveda (
padapatha) manuscript in
Devanagari, early 19th century
Sanskrit
–
Devi Mahatmya palm-leaf manuscript in an early
Bhujimol script,
Bihar or
Nepal, 11th century
Sanskrit
–
A poem by the ancient Indian poet Vallana (ca. 900 – 1100 CE) on the side wall of a building at the Haagweg 14 in Leiden, Netherlands
Sanskrit
–
Kashmir Shaiva manuscript in the
Śāradā script (c. 17th century)
16.
Rhapta
–
Rhapta was a marketplace on the coast of Southeast Africa, which first rose to prominence in the 1st century CE. Its location has not yet been identified, although there are a number of plausible candidate sites. The ancient Periplus of the Erythraean Sea described Rhapta as the last marketplace of Azania, diogenes further describes this river as having its source near the Mountains of the Moon, near the swamp whence the Nile was said to also have its source. Rhapta is also mentioned by the 6th-century author Cosmas Indicopleustes, huntingford dismisses the first two as being too close to Zanzibar and Pemba islands. He observes that there is no river at Msasani, and thus concludes Kisuyu or the Rufiji delta are the most likely candidates, which goods were traded at Rhapta is disputed. The Periplus only states that it was a source of ivory, J. Innes Miller argues that Rhapta formed an important link in the trade route between what is now modern Indonesia and consumers in the Mediterranean region. Miller notes that ancient authorities state that cinnamon and cassia bark were harvested in Africa, Miller points to the well-documented cultural links between Indonesia and East Africa. He then posits that the use of monsoons began far earlier than previously thought, the Early Iron Age on Mafia island and its relationship with the mainland. The Graeco-Romans and Paanchea/Azania, sailing in the Erythraean Sea in Red Sea Trade, presented Sunday 6 October 2002 at the British Museum. Organised by The Society for Arabian Studies, the Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢, A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. See especially Section 15 on Zesan = Azania and notes, in, The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire. ISBN 0-19-814264-1 Ray, Himanshu Prabha, ed.1999, archaeology of Seafaring, The Indian Ocean in the Ancient Period. The Periplus of the Erythræan Sea, New York, Longmans, Green, and Co. Reprint, New Delhi, Oriental Books Reprint Corporation
Rhapta
–
Cinnamon sticks.
17.
Tanga, Tanzania
–
Tanga is both the name of the most northerly seaport city of Tanzania, and the surrounding Tanga Region. It is the Regional Headquarters of the region, with a population of 273,332 in 2012, Tanga is one of the largest cities in the country. It is a quiet city compared to, for example, Arusha or Moshi with a number of inhabitants. The city of Tanga sits on the Indian Ocean, near the border with Kenya, major exports from the port of Tanga include sisal, coffee, tea, and cotton. Tanga is also an important railroad terminus, connecting much of the northern Tanzanian interior with the sea, via the Tanzania Railways Corporations Link Line and Central Line, Tanga is linked to the African Great Lakes region and the Tanzanian economic capital of Dar es Salaam. The city is served by Tanga Airport, the harbour and surrounding is the centre of life in Tanga. It is stretched out several km² into the country and it has several markets in several neighborhoods. The earliest documentation about Tanga roots from the Portuguese, a trading post was established by the Portuguese as part of their East African coastal territory and controlled the region for over 200 years between 1500-1700. The Sultanate of Oman battled the Portuguese and gained control of the settlement by mid 1700 along with Mombasa, Pemba Island, the town continued to act as a Trading port for Ivory and Slaves under the sultans rule. Tanga continued to be a trading hub for slaves with the Arab world up until 1873 when the European powers abolished the slave trade. In the 19th Century growing interests by Europeans for the Scramble for Africa brought the Germans to Tanga, the Germans bought the coastal strip of mainland Tanzania from the Sultan of Zanzibar in 1891. This takeover designated Tanga into a township and was the first establishment in German East Africa, the town became the centre of German colonial administration before the establishment of Dar es Salaam in the early 20th century. Tanga was chosen in 1889 as a military post of German East Africa, the town saw rapid expansion and planned growth under the German occupation. A tram line was developed within the city to facilitate domestic transport, in 1896 the construction of the Usambara Railway began and was extended to Moshi by 1912. Roads, bridges and the railway facilitated industrial growth in the region and many buildings, the local economy was based mainly on the production of sisal, which had been brought to the colony several years earlier, and population in the area grew rapidly. As the coastal town closest to British East Africa, Tanga was on the front line at the outset of World War I, a British landing was thrown back on 4 November 1914 in the Battle of Tanga, and the town was not taken until 7 July 1916. After the War, Britain gained control of Tanganyika and continued to develop the town, in 1919 Tanga was the countries fourth largest city, however at independence it was the second largest city after Dar es Salaam. In the early stages of Independence the Port of Tanga continued to be a gateway for the export of Sisal from the region, however, following the adopting of the Ujamaa policy agriculture in the region collapsed and the city lost its value
Tanga, Tanzania
–
Aerial view
Tanga, Tanzania
–
A 1914 Postcard
Tanga, Tanzania
–
Tanga, Kaiserstraße (about 1910)
Tanga, Tanzania
–
A
roundabout in the city centre, 2003
18.
Rufiji River
–
The Rufiji River lies entirely within Tanzania. The river is formed by the confluence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers and it is approximately 600 kilometres long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the Indian Ocean at a point between Mafia Island called Mafia Channel. Its principal tributary is the Great Ruaha River and it is navigable for about 100 kilometres. The Rufiji is about 200 kilometres south of Dar es Salaam, the rivers delta contains the largest mangrove forest in eastern Africa. During the First World War, from October 1914 to July 1915 and these were the attempts, and later achievement, by the Royal Navy to neutralize and destroy the German cruiser Konigsberg. The catchment basin for the Rufiji River complex is 177,429 square kilometres, the Early Iron Age on Mafia island and its relationship with the mainland. Azania Vol. XXXIV1999, pp. 1–10, the Egypto-Graeco-Romans and Panchea/Azania, sailing in the Erythraean Sea. In, Society for Arabian Studies Monographs 2 Trade and Travel in the Red Sea Region, proceedings of Red Sea Project I held in the British Museum October 2002, pp. 93–104. Edited by Paul Lunde and Alexandra Porter, in, The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire. ISBN 0-19-814264-1 Ray, Himanshu Prabha, ed.1999, archaeology of Seafaring, The Indian Ocean in the Ancient Period. Map of the Rufiji River basin at Water Resources eAtlas
Rufiji River
–
Rufiji River in Selous
19.
Ganges River
–
The Ganges, also Ganga is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through the nations of India and Bangladesh. It is the third largest river in the world by discharge, the Ganges is the most sacred river to Hindus. It is also a lifeline to millions of Indians who live along its course and it is worshipped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. It has also important historically, with many former provincial or imperial capitals located on its banks. The Ganges was ranked as the fifth most polluted river of the world in 2007, pollution threatens not only humans, but also more than 140 fish species,90 amphibian species and the endangered Ganges river dolphin. The levels of fecal coliform from human waste in the waters of the river near Varanasi are more than 100 times the Indian governments official limit. The main stem of the Ganges begins at the confluence of the Bhagirathi, the Bhagirathi is considered to be the source in Hindu culture and mythology, although the Alaknanda is longer, and, therefore, hydrologically the source stream. The headwaters of the Alakananda are formed by snowmelt from such peaks as Nanda Devi, Trisul, although many small streams comprise the headwaters of the Ganges, the six longest and their five confluences are considered sacred. The six headstreams are the Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, Nandakini, Pindar, Mandakini, the five confluences, known as the Panch Prayag, are all along the Alaknanda. After flowing 250 km through its narrow Himalayan valley, the Ganges emerges from the mountains at Rishikesh, the Ganges follows an 800 km arching course passing through the cities of Kannauj, Farukhabad, and Kanpur. Along the way it is joined by the Ramganga, which contributes an annual flow of about 500 m3/s. The Ganges joins the Yamuna at the Triveni Sangam at Allahabad, at their confluence the Yamuna is larger than the Ganges, contributing about 2,950 m3/s, or about 58. 5% of the combined flow. Now flowing east, the river meets the Tamsa River, which flows north from the Kaimur Range, after the Tamsa the Gomti River joins, flowing south from the Himalayas. The Gomti contributes an annual flow of about 234 m3/s. Then the Ghaghara River, also flowing south from the Himalayas of Nepal, the Ghaghara, with its average annual flow of about 2,990 m3/s, is the largest tributary of the Ganges. After the Ghaghara confluence the Ganges is joined from the south by the Son River, the Gandaki River, then the Kosi River, join from the north flowing from Nepal, contributing about 1,654 m3/s and 2,166 m3/s, respectively. The Kosi is the third largest tributary of the Ganges, after the Ghaghara and Yamuna. Along the way between Allahabad and Malda, West Bengal, the Ganges passes the towns of Chunar, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Patna, Bhagalpur, Ballia, Buxar, Simaria, Sultanganj, and Saidpur
Ganges River
–
The Ganges in
Varanasi
Ganges River
–
Map of the combined drainage basins of the Ganges (orange), Brahmaputra (violet), and Meghna (green).
Ganges River
–
Bhagirathi River at
Gangotri.
Ganges River
–
Devprayag, confluence of Alaknanda (right) and Bhagirathi (left) rivers, beginning of the Ganges proper.
20.
Names of China
–
The names of China include the many contemporary and historical appellations given in various languages to the East Asian country known as Zhongguo in its native language. China, the name in English for the country, was derived from Portuguese in the 16th century and it is believed to be a borrowing from Middle Persian, and some have traced it further back to Sanskrit. It is also thought that the state of Qin that later formed the Qin dynasty is the ultimate source of the name. Chinese names for China, aside from Zhongguo, include Zhonghua, Huaxia, Han and Tang are common names given for the Chinese ethnicity. The Peoples Republic of China and Republic of China are the names for the two contemporary sovereign states currently claiming sovereignty over the traditional area of China. Mainland China is used to refer to areas under the jurisdiction by the PRC usually excluding Hong Kong, there are also names for China that are derived from the languages of other ethnic groups other than the Han, examples include Cathay from the Khitan language and Tabgach from Tuoba. Zhōngguó is the most common name for China in modern times. The first appearance of 中國 on an artifact was in the Western Zhou on a vessel known as He zun. It is formed by combining the characters zhōng meaning central or middle, in later periods, however, Zhongguo was not used in this sense. Dynastic names were used for the state in Imperial China and concepts of the state aside from the dynasty were little understood. Rather, the country was called by the name of the dynasty, such as Han dynasty, Tang dynasty, The Great Ming, The Great Qing, as the case might be. Until the 19th century when the system came to require a common legal language. There were different usages of the term Zhongguo in every period and it could refer to the capital of the emperor to distinguish it from the capitals of his vassals, as in Western Zhou. It could refer to the states of the Central Plain to distinguish them from states in outer regions, during the Han dynasty, three usages of Zhongguo were common. The Shi Jing explicitly defines Zhongguo as the capital, the Records of the Grand Historian uses the concept zhong to indicate the center of civilization, Eight famous mountains are there in Tianxia. The Records of the Three Kingdoms uses the concept of the states in Zhōnghuá, or the states in Zhōnghuá which is the center. It records the following exhortation, If we can lead the host of Wu and Yue to oppose Zhongguo, in this sense, the term Zhongguo is synonymous with Zhōnghuá and Huáxià, names for China that comes from the Xia dynasty. From the Qin to Ming dynasty literati discussed Zhongguo as both a place or territory and as a culture
Names of China
–
China (referring to today's
Guangdong), Mangi (inland of Xanton (
Shandong)), and Cataio (located inland of China and Chequan (
Zhejiang), and including the capital
Cambalu,
Xandu, and a
marble bridge) are all shown as separate regions on this 1570 map by
Abraham Ortelius
Names of China
–
"Middle Kingdom's Common Speech" (Medii Regni Communis Loquela, Zhongguo Guanhua, 中國官話), the frontispiece of an early Chinese grammar published by
Étienne Fourmont in 1742
Names of China
–
Barbuda 's 1584 map, also published by Ortelius, already applies the name China to the entire country. However, for another century many European maps continued to show Cathay as well, usually somewhere north of the
Great Wall
Names of China
–
A mid-15th century map based on Ptolemy's manuscript
Geography. Serica and Sina are marked as separate countries (top right and right respectively).
21.
Silk
–
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity, Silk is produced by several insects, but generally only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, Silk production also occurs in Hymenoptera, silverfish, mayflies, thrips, leafhoppers, beetles, lacewings, fleas, flies, and midges. Other types of arthropod produce silk, most notably various arachnids such as spiders, the word silk comes from Old English sioloc, from Greek σηρικός serikos, silken, ultimately from an Asian source. Several kinds of silk, which are produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm, have been known and used in China, South Asia. However, the scale of production was far smaller than for cultivated silks. Thus, the way to obtain silk suitable for spinning into textiles in areas where commercial silks are not cultivated was by tedious. Commercial silks originate from reared silkworm pupae, which are bred to produce a silk thread with no mineral on the surface. The pupae are killed by either dipping them in boiling water before the adult moths emerge or by piercing them with a needle. These factors all contribute to the ability of the cocoon to be unravelled as one continuous thread. Wild silks also tend to be difficult to dye than silk from the cultivated silkworm. Genetic modification of domesticated silkworms is used to facilitate the production of more types of silk. Silk fabric was first developed in ancient China, the earliest example of silk fabric is from 3630 BC, and it was used as wrapping for the body of a child from a Yangshao culture site in Qingtaicun at Xingyang, Henan. Legend gives credit for developing silk to a Chinese empress, Leizu, because of its texture and lustre, silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas accessible to Chinese merchants. Silk was in demand, and became a staple of pre-industrial international trade. In July 2007, archaeologists discovered intricately woven and dyed silk textiles in a tomb in Jiangxi province, Silk is described in a chapter on mulberry planting by Si Shengzhi of the Western Han
Silk
–
Four of the most important domesticated silk moths. Top to bottom:
Bombyx mori,
Hyalophora cecropia,
Antheraea pernyi,
Samia cynthia. From
Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (1885–1892)
Silk
–
Woven silk textile from tomb no 1. at
Mawangdui in
Changsha,
Hunan province,
China, from the
Western Han Dynasty, 2nd century BC
Silk
–
A painting depicting women inspecting silk, early 12th century, ink and color on silk, by
Emperor Huizong of Song.
Silk
–
Portrait of a silk merchant in Guangzhou,
Qing dynasty, from
Peabody Essex Museum
22.
Hippalus
–
Hippalus was a Greek navigator and merchant who probably lived in the 1st century BCE. He is sometimes conjectured to have been the captain of the Greek explorer Eudoxus of Cyzicus ship, pliny the Elder claimed that Hippalus discovered not the route but the monsoon wind also called Hippalus. The wind had already known in Hellenistic times and had before been used by Himyarite. To understand the importance of Hippalus discovery we have to know that before him Greek geographers thought that the Indian coast stretched from west to east, Hippalus was probably the first to recognize the north-south direction of Indias west coast. Only someone who has this insight will think crossing the Indian Ocean might be a way to south India than following the coastline. The use of Hippalus direct route greatly contributed to the prosperity of trade contacts between the Roman province of Aegyptus and India from the 1st century BCE onwards. From Red Sea ports like Berenice large ships crossed the Indian Ocean to the Tamil kingdoms of the Pandyas, Cholas and Cheras in present-day Kerala, in modern times a crater on the moon was named after the navigator. He is also a prominent character in L. Sprague de Camps novel about Eudoxus, federico De Romanis and André Tchernia, Crossings, Early Mediterranean Contacts with India
Hippalus
–
Hippalus is credited by the
Periplus of the Erythreaen Sea as the first to discover the passage from the
Red Sea to
India over the
Indian Ocean
23.
Lac
–
Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated species is Kerria lacca. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch, thousands of lac insects colonize the branches of the host trees and secrete the resinous pigment. The coated branches of the host trees are cut and harvested as sticklac, the harvested sticklac is crushed and sieved to remove impurities. The sieved material is then washed to remove insect parts. The resulting product is known as seedlac, the prefix seed refers to its pellet shape. Seedlac which still contains 3–5% impurities is processed into shellac by heat treatment or solvent extraction, the leading producer of lac is Jharkhand, followed by the Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra states of India. Lac production is found in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, parts of China. The word lac is derived from the Sanskrit word lākshā, which represents the number 100,000 and it was used for both the lac insect and the scarlet resinous secretion it produces. This resin has been used as finish, skin cosmetic and dye for wool and silk in ancient India. Lac resin was once imported in quantity into Europe from India along with Eastern woods. Kerria lacca can be cultivated on either cultivated or wild host trees. 5–6 kg for ber, the bugs life cycles can produce two sticklac yields per year, though it may be better to rest for six months to let the host tree recover. Lac is harvested by cutting the branches that hold sticklac. If dye is being produced, the insects are kept in the sticklac because the dye comes from the insects rather than their resin. They may be killed by exposure to the sun, on the other hand, if seedlac or shellac is being produced, most insects can escape because less coloured pale lac is generally more desired. The use of lac dye goes back to ancient times and it was used in ancient India and neighbouring areas as wood finish, skin cosmetic and dye for wool and silk. In China it is a dye for leather goods. Lac for dye has been replaced by the emergence of synthetic dyes, though it remains in use, and some juices, carbonated drinks, wine, jam, sauce. Lac is used in medicine as a hepatoprotective and anti-obesity drug
Lac
–
Lac tubes created by Kerria Lacca
Lac
Lac
–
Pongam or Honge (
Millettia pinnata) is a native of India and grows in profusion, generally planted as avenue trees by the forest department. It's renowned for its shade and is well known in traditional uses for its medicinal properties. It is also grown as a host plant for lac insects. The tree is also one of the food plants for Common Cerulean (
Jamides celeno).
24.
University Library Heidelberg
–
The University Library Heidelberg is the central library of the University of Heidelberg. It constitutes together with the 83 decentralized libraries of the faculties and institutes the University Library System, the University Library holds special collections in literature concerning the Palatinate and Baden, egyptology, archeology, the history of art, and South Asia. It holds about 3.2 million books,10,732 scientific periodicals and it holds 6,600 manuscripts,1,800 incunabula,110,500 autographs, and a collection of old maps, paintings, and photographs. The libraries of the faculties and institutes hold another 3.5 million printed books, in 2005,34,500 active users of the University Library accessed 1.4 million books a year. The conventional book supply is complemented by numerous electronic services, such as 3,000 commercial scientific journals that can be accessed via e-journal, additional foundations of the library were laid through donations from bishops, chancellors, and early professors. Louis III willed his large and valuable collection to the university, otto Henry, Elector Palatine, combined the universitys libraries in the 16th century, thus creating the Bibliotheca Palatina. In the 17th century, the greatest part of the Bibliotheca Palatina was donated to the Vatican in Rome as a loot of the Thirty Years War. Several manuscripts from the 10th to 18th century from the libraries of the secularized monasteries Salem, from 1901 to 1905, a richly ornamented four-wing red sandstone building was constructed for the library across from the Church of St. Peter. It was designed by Josef Durm, who adapted the Renaissance style of Heidelberg Castle, the building was expanded several times, lately by enlarged basements under the courtyard of the neighboring New University. The frontage is punctuated with windows for the sake of natural illumination. The University Librarys stocks exceeded one million in 1934, since 1978, the science branch of the University Library serves the institutes of natural sciences and medicine on the New Campus
University Library Heidelberg
–
The main building of the University Library, built in 1905
University Library Heidelberg
–
The historical reading room fell victim to a 'modernization' in 1954
University Library Heidelberg
–
Main building staircase
University Library Heidelberg
–
Main building roof
25.
Periplus Ponti Euxini
–
The Periplus of the Euxine Sea is a periplus or guidebook detailing the destinations visitors encounter when traveling about the shore of the Black Sea. It was written by Arrian of Nicomedia from AD 130-131 and it is in the form of a letter, from Arrian to the Emperor Hadrian in Rome, who was particularly attached to geographical research and had visited in person a large portion of his extensive dominions. Thus, while Arrian gives much information upon the south and east side of the Euxine, in going round the north shore his intervals become greater, scylacis caryandensis periplus, Rudolf Heinrich Klausen, Berolini, impensis G. Reimeri,1831, pp. 133-167. Geographi graeci minores, Karl Otfried Müller, Paris, editoribus Firmin-Didot et sociis,1882, text in Greek with French translation
Periplus Ponti Euxini
–
Greek colonies of the Euxine Sea from 8th to 3rd century BCE.
26.
Prague
–
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
Prague
–
Montage of Prague, clockwise from top: Panorama of
Prague Castle and
Charles Bridge,
Dancing House,
Star Villa,
Old Town Square,
Wenceslas Square,
Wallenstein Palace, Royal Garden at Prague Castle,
St. Vitus Cathedral and
Municipal House.
Prague
–
The mythological princess
Libuše prophesies the glory of Prague.
Prague
–
The
Prague astronomical clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working.
Prague
–
A view of one of the bridge towers of the Charles Bridge
27.
Hieronymus Froben
–
Hieronymus Froben was a famous pioneering printer in Basel and the eldest son of Johann Froben. He was educated at the University of Basel and traveled widely in Europe and he, his father and his brother-in-law Nicolaus Episcopius were noted for their working friendship with Erasmus and for making Basel an important center of Renaissance printing. Their editions include the first Latin edition of Georgius Agricolas De Re Metallica in 1556, through his own sons, Ambrosius and Aurelius, the family continued their printing concern through the end of the next century
Hieronymus Froben
–
Title page from a 1538 edition of
Hippocrates with the Froben publishing house
logo
28.
Heidelberg
–
Heidelberg is a college town situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. At the 2015 census, its population was 156,257, located about 78 km south of Frankfurt, Heidelberg is the fifth-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Heidelberg is part of the densely populated Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, founded in 1386, Heidelberg University is Germanys oldest and one of Europes most reputable universities. A scientific hub in Germany, the city of Heidelberg is home to internationally renowned research facilities adjacent to its university. Heidelberg is in the Rhine Rift Valley, on the bank of the lower part of the Neckar in a steep valley in the Odenwald. It is bordered by the Königsstuhl and the Gaisberg mountains, the Neckar here flows in an east-west direction. On the right bank of the river, the Heiligenberg mountain rises to a height of 445 meters, the Neckar flows into the Rhine approximately 22 kilometres north-west in Mannheim. Villages incorporated during the 20th century stretch from the Neckar Valley along the Bergstraße, Heidelberg is on European walking route E1. Alongside the Philosophenweg on the side of the Old Town. There is a population of African rose-ringed parakeets, and a wild population of Siberian swan geese. Heidelberg is an authority within the Regierungsbezirk Karlsruhe. The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis rural district surrounds it and has its seat in the town, Heidelberg is a part of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, often referred to as the Rhein-Neckar Triangle. The Rhein-Neckar Triangle became a European metropolitan area in 2005, Heidelberg consists of 15 districts distributed in six sectors of the town. The new district will have approximately 5, 000–6,000 residents, Heidelberg has an oceanic climate, defined by the protected valley between the Pfälzerwald and the Odenwald. Year-round, the temperatures are determined by maritime air masses coming from the west. In contrast to the nearby Upper Rhine Plain, Heidelbergs position in the leads to more frequent easterly winds than average. The hillsides of the Odenwald favour clouding and precipitation, the warmest month is July, the coldest is January. Temperatures often rise beyond 30 °C in midsummer, according to the German Meteorological Service, Heidelberg was the warmest place in Germany in 2009
Heidelberg
–
Heidelberg, with
Heidelberg Castle on the hill and the Old Bridge over river
Neckar
Heidelberg
–
Heidelberg with suburbs
Heidelberg
–
The Altstadt from the Castle
Heidelberg
–
The River Neckar at night
29.
Thirty Years War
–
The Thirty Years War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion, in the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today. The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose uniformity on his domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had granted in the Peace of Augsburg. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor and his policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic. They ousted the Habsburgs and elected Frederick V, Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as their monarch, Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered by this, led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor. The Empire soon crushed this rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain. After the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union, Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs. Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds, the war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. The Thirty Years War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, the war altered the previous political order of European powers. Lutherans living in a prince-bishopric could continue to practice their faith, Lutherans could keep the territory they had taken from the Catholic Church since the Peace of Passau in 1552. Those prince-bishops who had converted to Lutheranism were required to give up their territories and this added a third major faith to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were parties. The Dutch revolted against Spanish domination during the 1560s, leading to a war of independence that led to a truce only in 1609. This dynastic concern overtook religious ones and led to Catholic Frances participation on the otherwise Protestant side of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway were interested in gaining control over northern German states bordering the Baltic Sea
Thirty Years War
–
Les Grandes Misères de la guerre (The Great Miseries of War) by
Jacques Callot, 1632
Thirty Years War
–
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and
King of Bohemia. He urged the
Council of Trent to approve
Communion in Both kinds for German and Bohemian Catholics.
Thirty Years War
–
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and
King of Bohemia.
Thirty Years War
–
The
Spanish Fury at
Maastricht in 1579.
30.
Napoleon
–
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
Napoleon
–
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, by
Jacques-Louis David, 1812
Napoleon
–
Imperial coat of arms
Napoleon
–
Napoleon's father
Carlo Buonaparte was
Corsica 's representative to the court of
Louis XVI of France.
Napoleon
–
Napoleon Bonaparte, aged 23, Lieutenant-Colonel of a battalion of Corsican
Republican volunteers
31.
Wilfred Harvey Schoff
–
Wilfred Harvey Schoff was an early twentieth century American antiquarian and classical scholar. Schoff was responsible for translating a number of important ancient texts, among these works was the 1st century CE Greco-Roman Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, as well as the Carthaginian Periplus of Hanno. Besides writing, Schoff also served as Secretary of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, the Periplus of Hanno, A Voyage of Discovery Down the West African Coast, by a Carthaginian Admiral of the Fifth Century B. C. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean, by a Merchant of the First century Schoff, Wilfred H. The descendants of Jacob Schoff who came to Boston in 1752 and settled in Ashburnham in 1757, with an account of the German immigration into colonial New England Schoff, the eastern iron trade of the Roman empire. The ship Tyre, a symbol of the fate of conquerors as prophesied by Isaiah, Ezekiel and John and fulfilled at Nineveh, Babylon and Rome, a study in the commerce of the Bible
Wilfred Harvey Schoff
–
Map showing commercial settlements described in the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and the
Periplus of Hanno.
32.
Greeks
–
The Greeks or Hellenes are an ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Turkey, Sicily, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world, many of these regions coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th century and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of ancient Greek colonization. The cultural centers of the Greeks have included Athens, Thessalonica, Alexandria, Smyrna, most ethnic Greeks live nowadays within the borders of the modern Greek state and Cyprus. The Greek genocide and population exchange between Greece and Turkey nearly ended the three millennia-old Greek presence in Asia Minor, other longstanding Greek populations can be found from southern Italy to the Caucasus and southern Russia and Ukraine and in the Greek diaspora communities in a number of other countries. Today, most Greeks are officially registered as members of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Greeks speak the Greek language, which forms its own unique branch within the Indo-European family of languages, the Hellenic. They are part of a group of ethnicities, described by Anthony D. Smith as an archetypal diaspora people. Both migrations occur at incisive periods, the Mycenaean at the transition to the Late Bronze Age, the Mycenaeans quickly penetrated the Aegean Sea and, by the 15th century BC, had reached Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus and the shores of Asia Minor. Around 1200 BC, the Dorians, another Greek-speaking people, followed from Epirus, the Dorian invasion was followed by a poorly attested period of migrations, appropriately called the Greek Dark Ages, but by 800 BC the landscape of Archaic and Classical Greece was discernible. The Greeks of classical antiquity idealized their Mycenaean ancestors and the Mycenaean period as an era of heroes, closeness of the gods. The Homeric Epics were especially and generally accepted as part of the Greek past, as part of the Mycenaean heritage that survived, the names of the gods and goddesses of Mycenaean Greece became major figures of the Olympian Pantheon of later antiquity. The ethnogenesis of the Greek nation is linked to the development of Pan-Hellenism in the 8th century BC, the works of Homer and Hesiod were written in the 8th century BC, becoming the basis of the national religion, ethos, history and mythology. The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi was established in this period, the classical period of Greek civilization covers a time spanning from the early 5th century BC to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC. It is so named because it set the standards by which Greek civilization would be judged in later eras, the Peloponnesian War, the large scale civil war between the two most powerful Greek city-states Athens and Sparta and their allies, left both greatly weakened. Many Greeks settled in Hellenistic cities like Alexandria, Antioch and Seleucia, two thousand years later, there are still communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, like the Kalash, who claim to be descended from Greek settlers. The Hellenistic civilization was the period of Greek civilization, the beginnings of which are usually placed at Alexanders death. This Hellenistic age, so called because it saw the partial Hellenization of many non-Greek cultures and this age saw the Greeks move towards larger cities and a reduction in the importance of the city-state. These larger cities were parts of the still larger Kingdoms of the Diadochi, Greeks, however, remained aware of their past, chiefly through the study of the works of Homer and the classical authors. An important factor in maintaining Greek identity was contact with barbarian peoples and this led to a strong desire among Greeks to organize the transmission of the Hellenic paideia to the next generation
Greeks
–
Hoplites fighting. Detail from an Attic black-figure
hydria, ca. 560 BC–550 BC.
Louvre,
Paris.
Greeks
–
A reconstruction of the 3rd millennium BC "Proto-Greek area", according to Bulgarian linguist
Vladimir Georgiev.
Greeks
–
Bust of
Cleopatra VII.
Altes Museum,
Berlin.
Greeks
–
Statues of
Saints Cyril and Methodius, missionaries of
Christianity among the
Slavic peoples, on the
Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc,
Czech Republic.
33.
Egypt
–
Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
Egypt
–
The
Giza Necropolis is the oldest of the
ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.
Egypt
–
Flag
Egypt
–
The Greek Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar,
Caesarion at the
Temple of Dendera.
Egypt
–
The 1803
Cedid Atlas, showing
Ottoman Egypt.
34.
Latin
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
35.
Wadi Hammamat
–
Wadi Hammamat is a dry river bed in Egypts Eastern Desert, about halfway between Al-Qusayr and Qena. It was a mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancient times. Hammamat became the route from Thebes to the Red Sea and then to the Silk Road that led to Asia, or to Arabia. This 200 km journey was the most direct route from the Nile to the Red Sea, the Hammamat route ran from Qift, located just north of Luxor, to Al-Qusayr on the coast of the Red Sea. Qift was an important center for administration, religion, and commerce, the cities at both ends of the route were established by the First Dynasty, although evidence of predynastic occupation also has been found along the route. In Ancient Egypt Hammamat was a major quarrying area for the Nile Valley, quarrying expeditions to the Eastern Desert are recorded from the second millennia BCE, where the wadi has exposed Precambrian rocks of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. These include Basalts, schists, bekhen-stone and gold-containing quartz, pharaoh Seti I is recorded as having the first well dug to provide water in the wadi, and Senusret I sent mining expeditions there. The site is described in the ancient geological map, the Turin Papyrus Map. Today Hammamat is famous mostly for its ancient Egyptian graffiti, as well as that in ancient times it was a quarry that lay on the Silk Road to Asia, and is a common destination for modern tourists. The Romans built a series of eight watering stages, one of which, the Qasr el Banat, the Pogues wrote a song about it, titled Girl From The Wadi Hammamat. The Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri
Wadi Hammamat
–
Qift, ancient Coptos, was the beginning of the route that led to Quseir on the coast of the Red Sea
36.
Coptos
–
Qift is a small town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt about 43 km north of Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile. In ancient Egypt, Qift, known then as Gebtu, was an important center for administration, religion, from Qift and Qus, trading expeditions heading for the Red Sea and many mining expeditions into the Eastern Desert left the Nile Valley. Gebtu was at the starting-point of the two great routes leading to the coast of the Red Sea, the one toward the port Tââou. Gebtu was the most important religious center in the area and its principal male deity was Min, a sky-god whose symbol was a thunderbolt. He became a fertility deity, and also was regarded as the male deity of the desert region to the east. His cult rose to prominence in the Middle Kingdom, at that time, he became associated with Horus as the deity, Min-Horus. Later, he was fused with Amen in the deity Min-Amen-ka-Mut-ef, Gebtu, once politically important, especially under the eleventh dynasty, was overshadowed by Thebes. It recuperated its prominence under the Antonines, it was the camp of Legio III Cyrenaica. It rebelled, but soon was captured in 292 by Diocletian after a siege and almost destroyed. In the 6th century, Qift was renamed Justinianopolis, like other cities. Under the Muslim caliphs and the sultans, Qift remained one of the cities of Upper Egypt. In the 13th century, there still were numerous monasteries around the city, Qift was ruined in the 16th century by the Ottomans. Qift was the focus of an American archaeological project from 1987 to 1992, the undecorated northern temple of Min and Isis dates to the Ptolemaic period. Earlier structures on the date back to the Middle Kingdom. The temple was rebuilt during the Ptolemaic Period, the later work has been attributed to an official named Sennuu-shepsi on behalf of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. This northern temple has some additions by Ptolemy IV Philopator ruling from 221-205 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II of Egypt and was the pharaoh of the Ptolemaic Egypt. More additions were added by Julio-Claudian emperors of Rome, Caligula, the second pylon still carries the dedication text of Nero, and the cartouche of Caligula appears on the north end of this structure
Coptos
–
Min-Amen-ka-Mut-ef, Gebtu male fertility deity - Louvre
Coptos
–
Isis nursing her infant son - Louvre
37.
Alexandria
–
Alexandria is the second largest city and a major economic centre in Egypt, extending about 32 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country. Its low elevation on the Nile delta makes it vulnerable to rising sea levels. Alexandria is Egypts largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypts imports and exports and it is an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. Alexandria is also an important tourist destination, Alexandria was founded around a small Ancient Egyptian town c.331 BC by Alexander the Great. Alexandria was the second most powerful city of the ancient world after Rome, Alexandria is believed to have been founded by Alexander the Great in April 331 BC as Ἀλεξάνδρεια. Alexanders chief architect for the project was Dinocrates, Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile valley. The city and its museum attracted many of the greatest scholars, including Greeks, Jews, the city was later plundered and lost its significance. Just east of Alexandria, there was in ancient times marshland, as early as the 7th century BC, there existed important port cities of Canopus and Heracleion. The latter was rediscovered under water. An Egyptian city, Rhakotis, already existed on the shore also and it continued to exist as the Egyptian quarter of the city. A few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt and never returned to his city, after Alexanders departure, his viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion. Although Cleomenes was mainly in charge of overseeing Alexandrias continuous development, the Heptastadion, inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the center of the new commerce between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and and it became Egypts main Greek city, with Greek people from diverse backgrounds. Alexandria was not only a center of Hellenism, but was home to the largest urban Jewish community in the world. The Septuagint, a Greek version of the Tanakh, was produced there, in AD115, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Kitos War, which gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it. On 21 July 365, Alexandria was devastated by a tsunami, the Islamic prophet, Muhammads first interaction with the people of Egypt occurred in 628, during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha. He sent Hatib bin Abi Baltaeh with a letter to the king of Egypt and Alexandria called Muqawqis In the letter Muhammad said, I invite you to accept Islam, Allah the sublime, shall reward you doubly. But if you refuse to do so, you bear the burden of the transgression of all the Copts
Alexandria
–
Alexandria Ἀλεξάνδρεια
Alexandria
Alexandria
–
Residential neighborhood in Alexandria
Alexandria
–
Fishing in Alexandria
38.
Berenice Troglodytica
–
Berenice or Berenice Troglodytica, also known as Baranis, is an ancient seaport of Egypt on the west coast of the Red Sea. It is situated about 825 km south of Suez and 260 km east of Aswan in Upper Egypt and it was founded in 275 BC by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who named it after his mother, Berenice I of Egypt. Troglodytica refers to the people of the region, the Troglodytai or cave dwellers. Although the name is attested by ancient writers, the more ancient Ptolemaic inscriptions read Trogodytai. It is possible that later copyists confused this name with the common term Troglodytai. Built at the head of a gulf, the Sinus Immundus, or Foul Bay, of Strabo, a lofty range of mountains runs along this side of the African coast, and separates Berenice from the Nile Valley. The emerald mines of Zabara and Saket are in its neighbourhood, the harbour is indifferent, but was improved by art. Berenice stood upon a rim of shore between the hills and the Red Sea. The harbor of Berenice was sheltered from the northeast wind by the island Ophiodes, Berenice was quite famous and prosperous in antiquity. The city is noted by most ancient geographers, including Strabo, Pliny the Elder, the road across the desert from Coptos was 258 Roman miles long, or eleven days journey. The road was provided with watering stations, the wells and halting places of the caravans are enumerated by Pliny, Belzoni found traces of several of these stations. From the 1st century BC until the 2nd century AD, Berenice was one of the points of trade between India, Arabia, and Upper Egypt. It was connected to Antinopolis on the River Nile in Lower Egypt by the Via Hadriana in 137, the trade from Berenice along the Red Sea coast is described in the 1st century AD travelogue Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written by a Greek merchant based in Alexandria. The Periplus indicates that on the right-hand coast next below Berenice is the country of the Berbers, in the 4th century Berenice again become an active port, but after the 6th century the port was abandoned. Under the Roman Empire, Berenice formed a district itself, with its peculiar prefect. In 1818, the ruins of Berenice were identified by Giovanni Battista Belzoni, since then, several excavations have been undertaken. The port is now filled up, has a sand-bar at its entrance. The temple is of sandstone and soft stone, in the Egyptian style
Berenice Troglodytica
–
Satellite image of Berenice Troglodytica, on
Red Sea coast
Berenice Troglodytica
–
A visite in «Berenice», Wellsted, 1838
39.
Himyarite Kingdom
–
The Ḥimyarite Kingdom or Ḥimyar, historically referred to as the Homerite Kingdom by the Greeks and the Romans, was a kingdom in ancient Yemen. Established in 110 BCE, it took as its capital the ancient city of Zafar, the kingdom conquered neighbouring Saba in c.25 BCE, Qataban in c.200 CE, and Haḍramaut c.300 CE. Its political fortunes relative to Saba changed frequently until it conquered the Sabaean Kingdom around 280. Himyar then endured until it fell to invaders from the Kingdom of Aksum in 525. The Ḥimyarite Kingdom was the dominant polity in Arabia until 525 and its economy was based on agriculture, and foreign trade centered on the export of frankincense and myrrh. For many years, the kingdom was also the major intermediary linking East Africa and this trade largely consisted of exporting ivory from Africa to be sold in the Roman Empire. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the empire of Himyar and its ruler Charibael. During this period, the Kingdom of Ḥimyar conquered the kingdoms of Saba and Qataban and took Raydan/Zafar for its capital instead of Marib, therefore, zafars ruins still lie on Mudawwar Mountain near the town of Yarim. During this period, they began to decline and fall, thanks to the three above-mentioned factors, families of Qaḥṭān were disunited and scattered about all over Arabia. This date marks the end of an era in which numerous inscriptions record the names and deeds of kings, from the 380s, temples were abandoned and dedications to the old gods ceased, replaced by references to Rahmanan, the Lord of Heaven or Lord of Heaven and Earth. One of the first Jewish kings, Tuba Abu Kariba Asad, is believed to have converted following an expedition into northern Arabia in an effort to eliminate Byzantine influence. The Byzantine emperors had long eyed the Arabian Peninsula and sought to control the spice trade. The Byzantines hoped to establish a protectorate by converting the inhabitants to Christianity, some progress had been made in northern Arabia but with little success in Ḥimyar. Abu-Karibas forces reached Yathrib and, meeting no resistance, they passed through the city, Abu-Kariba soon received news that the people of Yathrib had killed his son. He turned back in order to wreak vengeance on the city, after cutting down the palm trees from which the inhabitants derived their main income, he laid siege to the city. The Jews of Yathrib fought side by side with their pagan neighbors, during the siege Abu-Kariba fell severely ill. Two Jewish scholars in Yathrib, Kaab and Asad by name, called on the king in his camp, while attending the king, they pleaded with him to lift the siege and make peace. The sages appeal is said to have persuaded Abu-Kariba, he called off his attack, at his insistence, the two Jewish scholars accompanied the Ḥimyarite king back to his capital, where he demanded that all his people convert to Judaism
Himyarite Kingdom
–
Ḥimyarite Kingdom (red) in the 3rd century CE.
Himyarite Kingdom
–
The "Homerite Kingdom" is described in the southern tip of the
Arabian peninsula in the 1st century
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Himyarite Kingdom
–
Bronze statue of Dhamar Ali Yahbur. "King of Saba, dhu raydan, Hadrmawt and Yamant" (Himyarite Kingdom) late 3rd-early 4th century CE.
Himyarite Kingdom
–
Emir Mubarak ibn Saleh al-Duwaily Al-Awlaki {{{1}}}
40.
Sabaeans
–
The Sabaeans or Sabeans were an ancient people speaking an Old South Arabian language who lived in what is today Yemen, in the south west of the Arabian Peninsula. The kingdom of Saba has been identified with the land of Sheba. The view that the kingdom of Sheba was the ancient Semitic civilization of Saba in Southern Arabia is controversial. The Kingdom fell after a long but sporadic civil war between several Yemenite dynasties claiming kingship, resulting in the rise of the late Himyarite Kingdom. Sabaeans are mentioned in the books of Job, Joel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah, and in ayat 2,62,5,69. The origin of the Sabaean Kingdom is uncertain, the Sabaean kingdom was finally conquered by the Ḥimyarites in the late 3rd century and at that time the capital was Marib. It was located along the strip of desert called Sayhad by medieval Arab geographers, the Sabaean people were South Arabian people. The Sabaeans, like the other Yemenite kingdoms of the period, were involved in the extremely lucrative spice trade, especially frankincense. They left behind inscriptions in the monumental Musnad alphabet, as well as numerous documents in the cursive Zabūr script. The Book of Job mentions the Sabaens for slaying his livestock, each of these temples had a characteristic geometric shape, a characteristic color, and an image made of one of the seven metals. They had two sects, star and idol worshippers, and the doctrine was similar to one that come from Hermes Trismegistus. The Sabaeans were mentioned in the Quran twice as قوم سبأ, the Quran mentions the kingdom of the Saba in the 34th Chapter. The Quranic narrative, from sura 27, has Suleiman getting reports from the Hoopoe bird about the kingdom of Saba, Suleiman sends a letter inviting her to submit fully to the One God, Allah, Lord of the Worlds according to the Islamic text. The Queen of Saba is unsure how to respond and asks her advisors for counsel and they reply by reminding her that they are of great toughness in a reference to their willingness to go to war should she choose to. She replies that she fears if they were to lose, Suleiman may behave as any other king would, entering a country, despoiling it and she decides to meet with Suleiman in order to find out more. Suleiman receives her response to him and asks if anyone can bring him her throne before she arrives. A jinn under the control of Suleiman proposed that he will bring it before Suleiman rises from his seat, One who had knowledge of the Book proposed to bring him the throne of Bilqis in the twinkling of an eye and accomplished that immediately. The queen arrives at his court, is shown her throne and asked and she replied, as though it were it
Sabaeans
–
Sabaeans (khaki) in the 3rd century AD.
41.
Himyarite
–
The Ḥimyarite Kingdom or Ḥimyar, historically referred to as the Homerite Kingdom by the Greeks and the Romans, was a kingdom in ancient Yemen. Established in 110 BCE, it took as its capital the ancient city of Zafar, the kingdom conquered neighbouring Saba in c.25 BCE, Qataban in c.200 CE, and Haḍramaut c.300 CE. Its political fortunes relative to Saba changed frequently until it conquered the Sabaean Kingdom around 280. Himyar then endured until it fell to invaders from the Kingdom of Aksum in 525. The Ḥimyarite Kingdom was the dominant polity in Arabia until 525 and its economy was based on agriculture, and foreign trade centered on the export of frankincense and myrrh. For many years, the kingdom was also the major intermediary linking East Africa and this trade largely consisted of exporting ivory from Africa to be sold in the Roman Empire. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the empire of Himyar and its ruler Charibael. During this period, the Kingdom of Ḥimyar conquered the kingdoms of Saba and Qataban and took Raydan/Zafar for its capital instead of Marib, therefore, zafars ruins still lie on Mudawwar Mountain near the town of Yarim. During this period, they began to decline and fall, thanks to the three above-mentioned factors, families of Qaḥṭān were disunited and scattered about all over Arabia. This date marks the end of an era in which numerous inscriptions record the names and deeds of kings, from the 380s, temples were abandoned and dedications to the old gods ceased, replaced by references to Rahmanan, the Lord of Heaven or Lord of Heaven and Earth. One of the first Jewish kings, Tuba Abu Kariba Asad, is believed to have converted following an expedition into northern Arabia in an effort to eliminate Byzantine influence. The Byzantine emperors had long eyed the Arabian Peninsula and sought to control the spice trade. The Byzantines hoped to establish a protectorate by converting the inhabitants to Christianity, some progress had been made in northern Arabia but with little success in Ḥimyar. Abu-Karibas forces reached Yathrib and, meeting no resistance, they passed through the city, Abu-Kariba soon received news that the people of Yathrib had killed his son. He turned back in order to wreak vengeance on the city, after cutting down the palm trees from which the inhabitants derived their main income, he laid siege to the city. The Jews of Yathrib fought side by side with their pagan neighbors, during the siege Abu-Kariba fell severely ill. Two Jewish scholars in Yathrib, Kaab and Asad by name, called on the king in his camp, while attending the king, they pleaded with him to lift the siege and make peace. The sages appeal is said to have persuaded Abu-Kariba, he called off his attack, at his insistence, the two Jewish scholars accompanied the Ḥimyarite king back to his capital, where he demanded that all his people convert to Judaism
Himyarite
–
Ḥimyarite Kingdom (red) in the 3rd century CE.
Himyarite
–
The "Homerite Kingdom" is described in the southern tip of the
Arabian peninsula in the 1st century
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Himyarite
–
Bronze statue of Dhamar Ali Yahbur. "King of Saba, dhu raydan, Hadrmawt and Yamant" (Himyarite Kingdom) late 3rd-early 4th century CE.
Himyarite
–
Emir Mubarak ibn Saleh al-Duwaily Al-Awlaki {{{1}}}
42.
Arabian Peninsula
–
The Arabian Peninsula, simplified Arabia is a peninsula of Western Asia situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian plate. From a geological perspective, it is considered a subcontinent of Asia and it is the largest peninsula in the world, at 3,237,500 km2. The Arabian Peninsula consists of the countries Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula plays a critical geopolitical role in the Middle East and the Arab world due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Before the modern era, it was divided into four regions, Hejaz, Najd, Southern Arabia. Hejaz and Najd make up most of Saudi Arabia, Southern Arabia consists of Yemen and some parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman. Eastern Arabia consists of the coastal strip of the Persian Gulf. The most prominent feature of the peninsula is desert, but in the southwest there are mountain ranges, harrat ash Shaam is a large volcanic field that extends from the northwestern Arabian Peninsula into Jordan and southern Syria. The peninsulas constituent countries are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the island nation of Bahrain lies off the east coast of the peninsula. Six countries form the Gulf Cooperation Council, however, this is a disputed term. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia covers the part of the peninsula. The majority of the population of the live in Saudi Arabia. The peninsula contains the worlds largest reserves of oil, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are economically the wealthiest in the region. Qatar, a peninsula in the Persian Gulf on the larger peninsula, is home of the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera. Kuwait, on the border with Iraq, is an important country strategically, though historically lightly populated, political Arabia is noted for a high population growth rate - as the result of both very strong inflows of migrant labor as well as sustained high birth rates. The population tends to be young and heavily skewed gender ratio dominated by males. In many states, the number of South Asians exceeds that of the local citizenry, the four smallest states, which have their entire coastlines on the Persian Gulf, exhibit the worlds most extreme population growth, roughly tripling every 20 years. In 2014, the population of the Arabian Peninsula was 77,983,936. Listed here are the human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups in Arabia Haplogroup J is the most abundant component in the Arabian peninsula and its two main subclades, show opposite latitudinal gradients in the Middle East
Arabian Peninsula
–
A map of the Arabian peninsula made in 1720 by the German publisher
Christoph Weigel
Arabian Peninsula
–
Arabia
Arabian Peninsula
–
Africa, Arabian subcontinent (Asia), and Eurasia
Arabian Peninsula
–
A caravan crossing the
ad-Dahna Desert in central Saudi Arabia
43.
Augustus
–
Augustus was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia and his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesars will as his adopted son and heir, then known as Octavianus. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar, following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvate was eventually torn apart by the ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, in reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and it took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis, the resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, expanding into Germania, beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. Augustus died in AD14 at the age of 75 and he probably died from natural causes, although there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son Tiberius, Augustus was known by many names throughout his life, At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father. Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, upon his adoption, he took Caesars name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards. He quickly dropped Octavianus from his name, and his contemporaries referred to him as Caesar during this period, historians. In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and it is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference to him from 27 BC until his death in AD14. While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome and he was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his fathers victory at Thurii over a band of slaves. Due to the nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his fathers home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his fathers equestrian family briefly in his memoirs and his paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War
Augustus
–
The statue known as the
Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century
Augustus
–
The Death of Caesar, by
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1867). On 15 March 44 BC, Octavius's adoptive father Julius Caesar was assassinated by a conspiracy led by
Marcus Junius Brutus and
Gaius Cassius Longinus.
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore.
Augustus
–
A statue of Augustus as a younger Octavian, dated ca. 30 BC
Augustus
–
Bust of Augustus in
Musei Capitolini, Rome
44.
Rome
–
Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
45.
Hadramaut
–
Hadhramaut, Hadhramout, Hadramawt or Ḥaḍramūt is a region on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. The name is retained in Hadhramaut Governorate of the Republic of Yemen. The people of Hadhramaut are called Hadhrami and speak Hadhrami Arabic, the origin of the name Ḥaḍramawt is not exactly known, and there are numerous competing hypotheses about its meaning. The most common etymology is that the regions name means death has come, from حضر /ḥaḍara/ and موت /mawt/. One explanation is that this is a nickname of Amar ibn Qaḥṭān, Ḥaḍramawt is also identified with Biblical Hazarmawet. There, it is the name of a son of Joktan, according to various Bible dictionaries, the name Hazarmaveth means court of death, reflecting a meaning similar to the Arabic folk etymologies. Scholarly theories of the origin are somewhat more varied. In a Nova interview, he described Ubar as a kind of fortress/administration center set up to protect the supply from raiding Bedouin tribes. Surrounding the site, as far as six miles away, were smaller villages, an interesting parallel to this are the fortified water holes in the Eastern Desert of Egypt from Roman times. Though it accurately describes the configuration of settlements in the Pre-Islamic Wadi Ḥaḍramawt, already in the Pre-Islamic period, variations of the name are attested as early as the middle of the First Millennium BC. The names ḥḍrmt and ḥḍrmwt are found in texts of the Old South Arabian languages, in either form, the word itself can be a toponym, a tribal name, or the name of the kingdom of Ḥaḍramawt. In the late Fourth or early Third Century BC, Theophrastus gives the name Άδρραμύτα, as Southern Arabia is the homeland of the South Semitic language subfamily, a Semitic origin for the name is highly likely. Kamal Salibi proposed an etymology for the name which argues that the diphthong aw in the name is an incorrect vocalization. He proposes, then, that the means the green place. The undefined northern edge of Hadhramaut slopes down to the desert Empty Quarter, in a wider sense, Hadhramaut includes the territory of Mahra to the east all the way to the contemporary border with Oman. This encompasses the current governorates of Hadramaut and Mahra in their entirety as well as parts of the Shabwah Governorate, the Hadhramis live in densely built towns centered on traditional watering stations along the wadis. Hadhramis harvest crops of wheat and millet, tend date palm and coconut groves, on the plateau, Bedouins tend sheep and goats. In Hyderabad and Aurangabad, the community is known as Chaush, in Gujarat, the Surrati people reign from Hadhramaut
Hadramaut
–
Kingdom of Hadhramaut (violet) in the 3rd century CE during the Sabaean - Himyarite war, it was eventually annexed by the
Himyarite Kingdom
Hadramaut
–
The Arabian peninsula in 1914.
Hadramaut
–
Region close to
Seiyun in the Hadhramaut Valley
Hadramaut
–
An ancient sculpture of a
griffin, from the royal palace at
Shabwa, the capital city of Hadhramaut
46.
Barygaza
–
Bharuch, formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the headquarters of Bharuch District and is a municipality of about 370,000 inhabitants. Being one of the biggest industrial areas including Ankleshwar GIDC, it is at times referred as the capital of India. The city of Bharuch and its surroundings have been settled since times of antiquity and it was a ship building centre and sea port in the pre-compass coastal trading routes to points West, perhaps as far back as the days of the Pharaohs. The route made use of the regular and predictable monsoon winds or galleys, many goods from the Far East were shipped there during the annual monsoon winds, making it a terminus for several key land-sea trade routes. Bharuch was known to the Greeks, the various Persian Empires, in the Roman Republic and Empire, in the 3rd century, Bharuch port was mentioned as Barugaza. Arab traders entered Gujarat via Bharuch to do business, the British and the Dutch noted Bharuch’s importance and established their business centres here. At the end of the 17th century, it was plundered twice, afterwards, a proverb was composed about it, “Bhangyu Bhangyu Toye Bharuch”. As a trading depot, the limitations of coastal shipping made it a regular terminus via several mixed trade routes of the fabled spice, during the British Raj it was officially known as Broach. Bharuch has been the home to the Gujarati Bhargav Brahmin community for ages, the community traces its lineage to Maharshi Bhrigu rishi and Bhagwan Parshuram who is considered to be incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Bhargav community still administers a large amount of public trusts in the city, however the present day Bhargav Brahmins have migrated to Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and other countries like the USA, UK & Australia. The city has textile mills, chemical plants, long staple cotton, dairy products, Gujarats biggest liquid cargo terminal is situated there. It also houses many companies, such as Videocon, BASF, Reliance, Safari Construction Equipments Pvt. Ltd. Bharuch is a shopping centre known for its salty peanuts. Because of the colour of its soil, Bharuch is sometimes referred to as Kanam Pradesh. According to the Skanda Purana, the sage Bhrigu came to Bharuch sitting on a tortoise, the tortoise is known as Kachchha in Sanskrit. Hence the place was named Bhrigukachchha, another theory states that the city derived its name from Bhr̥igukachchha, the residence of the great saint Bhrigu Rishi. The city then known as Bharukachch, which was later abridged to Bharuch
Barygaza
–
Swaminarayan temple at NH-8 Zadeshwar, Bharuch
Barygaza
–
Sage Bhrigu's ashram is located on the
Narmada banks.
Barygaza
–
King Nahapana (119 AD – 124 AD) of Kshatraya era
Barygaza
–
Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi
47.
Scythia
–
The Ancient Greeks gave the name Scythia to all the lands north-east of Europe and the northern coast of the Black Sea. The Scythians – the Greeks name for this nomadic people – inhabited Scythia from at least the 11th century BC to the 2nd century AD. Its location and extent varied over time but usually extended farther to the west than is indicated on the map opposite, Scythia was a loose state that originated as early as 8th century BC. Little is known of them and their rulers, the most detailed western description is by Herodotus, though it is uncertain he ever went to Scythia. He says the Scythians own name for themselves was Scoloti, the Scythians became increasingly settled and wealthy on their western frontier with Greco-Roman civilization. It is possible that the dynasty ruled in Scythia during most of its history. The name of Koloksai, a founder of a royal dynasty, is mentioned by Alcman in the 7th century BC. Prototi and Madis, Scythian kings in the Near Eastern period of their history, Herodotus lists five generations of a royal clan that probably reigned at the end of the 7th to 6th centuries BC, prince Anacharsis, Saulius, Idanthyrsus, Gnurus, Lycus, and Spargapithes. After being defeated and driven from the Near East, in the first half of the 6th century BCE, in the second half of that century, Scythians succeeded in dominating the agricultural tribes of the forest-steppe and placed them under tribute. As a result, their state was reconstructed with the appearance of the Second Scythian Kingdom which reached its zenith in the 4th century BC, aggressive external policy intensified exploitation of dependent populations and progressed the stratification among the nomadic rulers. Trading with Greeks also stimulated sedentarization processes, accordingly, the trade became a stimulus for capture of slaves as war spoils in numerous wars. The Scythian state reached its greatest extent in the 4th century BC during the reign of Ateas, isocrates believed that Scythians, and also Thracians and Persians, are the most able to power, and are the peoples with the greatest might. In the 4th century BC, under king Ateas, the structure of the state was eliminated. The later sources do not mention three basileuses any more, strabo tells that Ateas ruled over the majority of the North Pontic barbarians. Written sources tell that expansion of the Scythian state before the 4th century BC was mainly to the west, in this respect Ateas continued the policy of his predecessors in the 5th century BC. During western expansion, Ateas fought the Triballi, an area of Thrace was subjugated and levied with severe duties. During the 90 year life of Ateas, the Scythians settled firmly in Thrace, at the same time, both the nomadic and agricultural Scythian populations increased along the Dniester river. A war with the Bosporian Kingdom increased Scythian pressure on the Greek cities along the North Pontic littoral, materials from the site near Kamianka-Dniprovska, purportedly the capital of the Ateas’ state, show that metallurgists were free members of the society, even if burdened with imposed obligations
Scythia
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Scythia et Serica, 18th century map.
Scythia
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Approximate extent of Scythia within the area of distribution of
Eastern Iranian languages (shown in orange) in the 1st century BC. [
citation needed]
Scythia
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Scythian king
Skilurus, relief from
Scythian Neapolis, Crimea, 2nd century BC
48.
Persia
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
Persia
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Cave painting in Doushe cave,
Lorestan, Iran,
8th millennium BC
Persia
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Flag
Persia
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A depiction of the united
Medes and
Persians in
Apadana,
Persepolis
Persia
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Ruins of the
Gate of All Nations,
Persepolis
