Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa and on the east by the Levant. Although the sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is identified as a separate body of water. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was or desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years, the Messinian salinity crisis, before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago. It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, representing 0.7 % of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar-the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa- is only 14 km wide. In oceanography, it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere.
The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia, in the south by Africa, it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, on the southwestern coast of Turkey, is 4,000 km; the sea's average north-south length, from Croatia's southern shore to Libya, is 800 km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travellers of ancient times that allowed for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region; the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. The countries surrounding the Mediterranean in clockwise order are Spain, Monaco, Slovenia, Croatia and Herzegovina, Albania, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia have coastlines on the sea.
The Ancient Greeks called the Mediterranean ἡ θάλασσα or sometimes ἡ μεγάλη θάλασσα, ἡ ἡμέτερα θάλασσα, or ἡ θάλασσα ἡ καθ'ἡμᾶς. The Romans called it Mare Mare Internum and, starting with the Roman Empire, Mare Nostrum; the term Mare Mediterrāneum appears later: Solinus used it in the 3rd century, but the earliest extant witness to it is in the 6th century, in Isidore of Seville. It means'in the middle of land, inland' in Latin, a compound of medius, -āneus; the Latin word is a calque of Greek μεσόγειος, from μέσος and γήινος, from γῆ. The original meaning may have been'the sea in the middle of the earth', rather than'the sea enclosed by land'; the Carthaginians called it the "Syrian Sea". In ancient Syrian texts, Phoenician epics and in the Hebrew Bible, it was known as the "Great Sea" or as "The Sea". Another name was the "Sea of the Philistines", from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites. In Modern Hebrew, it is called HaYam HaTikhon'the Middle Sea'. In Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ'the Middle Sea'.
In Islamic and older Arabic literature, it was Baḥr al-Rūm'the Sea of the Romans' or'the Roman Sea'. At first, that name referred to only the Eastern Mediterranean, but it was extended to the whole Mediterranean. Other Arabic names were Baḥr al-šām'the Sea of Syria' and Baḥr al-Maghrib'the Sea of the West'. In Turkish, it is the Akdeniz'the White Sea'; the origin of the name is not clear, as it is not known in earlier Greek, Byzantine or Islamic sources. It may be to contrast with the Black Sea. In Persian, the name was translated as Baḥr-i Safīd, used in Ottoman Turkish, it is the origin of the colloquial Greek phrase Άσπρη Θάλασσα. Johann Knobloch claims that in Classical Antiquity, cultures in the Levant used colours to refer to the cardinal points: black referred to the north, yellow or blue to east, red to south, white to west; this would explain both the Turkish Akdeniz and the Arab nomenclature described above. Several ancient civilizations were located around the Mediterranean shores and were influenced by their proximity to the sea.
It provided routes for trade and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages. Due to the shared climate and access to the sea, c
Gaza City
Gaza referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of 515,556, making it the largest city in the State of Palestine. Inhabited since at least the 15th century BCE, Gaza has been dominated by several different peoples and empires throughout its history; the Philistines made it a part of their pentapolis after the Ancient Egyptians had ruled it for nearly 350 years. Under the Romans and the Byzantines, Gaza experienced relative peace and its port flourished. In 635 CE, it became the first city in Palestine to be conquered by the Rashidun army and developed into a center of Islamic law. However, by the time the Crusaders invaded the city in the late 11th century, it was in ruins. In centuries, Gaza experienced several hardships—from Mongol raids to floods and locusts, reducing it to a village by the 16th century, when it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. During the first half of Ottoman rule, the Ridwan dynasty controlled Gaza and under them the city went through an age of great commerce and peace.
The municipality of Gaza was established in 1893. Gaza fell to British forces during World War I; as a result of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Egypt administered the newly formed Gaza Strip territory and several improvements were undertaken in the city. Gaza was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967, but in 1993, the city was transferred to the Palestinian National Authority. In the months following the 2006 election, an armed conflict broke out between the Palestinian political factions of Fatah and Hamas, resulting in the latter taking power in Gaza. Egypt and Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip. Israel eased the blockade allowing consumer goods in June 2010, Egypt reopened the Rafah border crossing in 2011 to pedestrians; the primary economic activities of Gaza are agriculture. However, the blockade and recurring conflicts have put the economy under severe pressure; the majority of Gaza's inhabitants are Muslim, although there is a Christian minority. Gaza has a young population, with 75% under the age of 25.
The city is administered by a 14-member municipal council. The name "Gaza" is first known from military records of Thutmose III of Egypt in the 15th century BCE. According to Shahin, the Ancient Egyptians called it "Ghazzat", the Muslims referred to it as "Ghazzat Hashem", in honor of Hashim, the great-grandfather of Muhammad, buried in the city, according to Islamic tradition. In Semitic languages, the meaning of the city name is "fierce, strong". Other proper Arabic transliterations for the Arabic name are Ġazzah. Accordingly, "Gaza" might be spelled "Gazza" in English. Although the "z" is double in Arabic, it was transliterated into Greek as a single zeta, the voiced velar or uvular fricative at the beginning was transliterated with a gamma; the Hebrew name of the city is Aza – the ayin at the beginning of the word represented a voiced velar fricative in Biblical Hebrew, but in Modern Hebrew, it is silent. Gaza's history of habitation dates back 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.
Located on the Mediterranean coastal route between North Africa and the Levant, for most of its history it served as a key entrepôt of the southern Palestine and an important stopover on the spice trade route traversing the Red Sea. Settlement in the region of Gaza dates back to Tell es-Sakan, an Ancient Egyptian fortress built in Canaanite territory to the south of present-day Gaza; the site went into decline throughout the Early Bronze Age II as its trade with Egypt decreased. Another urban center known as Tell al-Ajjul began to grow along the Wadi Ghazza riverbed. During the Middle Bronze Age, a revived Tell es-Sakan became the southernmost locality in Palestine, serving as a fort. In 1650 BCE, when the Canaanite Hyksos occupied Egypt, a second city developed on the ruins of the first Tell as-Sakan. However, it was abandoned at the end of the Bronze Age. Gaza served as Egypt's administrative capital in Canaan. During the reign of Tuthmosis III, the city became a stop on the Syrian-Egyptian caravan route and was mentioned in the Amarna letters as "Azzati".
Gaza remained under Egyptian control for 350 years until it was conquered by the Philistines in the 12th century BCE, becoming a part of their "pentapolis". According to the Book of Judges, Gaza was the place where Samson was imprisoned by the Philistines and met his death. After being ruled by the Israelites and the Egyptians, Gaza achieved relative independence and prosperity under the Persian Empire. Alexander the Great besieged Gaza, the last city to resist his conquest on his path to Egypt, for five months before capturing it 332 BCE. Alexander organized the city into a polis. Greek culture took root and Gaza earned a reputation as a flourishing center of Hellenic learning and philosophy. During the Third War of the Diadochi, Ptolemy I Soter defeated Demetrius I of Macedon in a battle near Gaza in 312 BCE. In 277 BCE, following Ptolemy II's successful campaign against the Nabataeans the Ptolemaic fortress of Gaza took control of the spice trade with Gerrha and Southern Arabian. Gaza experienced another siege in 96 BCE by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus who "utterly overthrew" the city, killing 500 senators who had fled into the temple of Apollo for safety.
Josephus notes that Gaza was resettled under the rule of Herod Antipas, who cultivated friendly relations with Gazans
Akkadian Empire
The Akkadian Empire was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia, centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region, which the Bible called Akkad. The empire united Sumerian speakers under one rule; the Akkadian Empire exercised influence across Mesopotamia, the Levant, Anatolia, sending military expeditions as far south as Dilmun and Magan in the Arabian Peninsula. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism. Akkadian, an East Semitic language replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC; the Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests by its founder Sargon of Akkad. Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam and Gutium. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though the meaning of this term is not precise, there are earlier Sumerian claimants.
After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the people of Mesopotamia coalesced into two major Akkadian-speaking nations: Assyria in the north, and, a few centuries Babylonia in the south. The Bible refers to Akkad in Genesis 10:10, which states that the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom was in the land of Akkad. Nimrod's historical identity is unknown, but some have compared him with the legendary Gilgamesh, founder of Uruk. Today, scholars have documented some 7,000 texts from the Akkadian period, written in both Sumerian and Akkadian. Many texts from the successor states of Assyria and Babylonia deal with the Akkadian Empire. Understanding of the Akkadian Empire continues to be hampered by the fact that its capital Akkad has not yet been located, despite numerous attempts. Precise dating of archaeological sites is hindered by the fact that there are no clear distinctions between artifact assemblages thought to stem from the preceding Early Dynastic period, those thought to be Akkadian. Material, thought to be Akkadian continues to be in use into the Ur III period.
Many of the more recent insights on the Akkadian Empire have come from excavations in the Upper Khabur area in modern northeastern Syria, to become a part of Assyria after the fall of Akkad. For example, excavations at Tell Mozan brought to light a sealing of Tar'am-Agade, a unknown daughter of Naram-Sin, married to an unidentified local endan; the excavators at nearby Tell Leilan have used the results from their investigations to argue that the Akkadian Empire came to an end due to a sudden drought, the so-called 4.2 kiloyear event. The impact of this climate event on Mesopotamia in general, on the Akkadian Empire in particular, continues to be hotly debated. Excavation at the modern site of Tell Brak has suggested that the Akkadians rebuilt a city on this site, for use as an administrative center; the city included two large buildings including a complex with temple, offices and large ovens. The Akkadian Period is dated to either: c. 2334 BC – c. 2154 BC, or c. 2270 BC – c. 2083 BC It was preceded by the Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia and succeeded by the Ur III Period, although both transitions are blurry.
For example: it is that the rise of Sargon of Akkad coincided with the late ED Period and that the final Akkadian kings ruled with the Gutian kings alongside rulers at the city-states of both: Uruk and Lagash. The Akkadian Period is contemporary with: EB IV, EB IVA and EJ IV, EB IIIB The relative order of Akkadian kings is clear; the absolute dates of their reigns are approximate. The Akkadian Empire takes its name from the region and the city of Akkad, both of which were localized in the general confluence area of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Although the city of Akkad has not yet been identified on the ground, it is known from various textual sources. Among these is at least one text predating the reign of Sargon. Together with the fact that the name Akkad is of non-Akkadian origin, this suggests that the city of Akkad may have been occupied in pre-Sargonic times. Sargon of Akkad conquered his empire; the earliest records in the Akkadian language date to the time of Sargon. Sargon was claimed to be the son of La'ibum or Itti-Bel, a humble gardener, a hierodule, or priestess to Ishtar or Inanna.
One legend related to Sargon in Assyrian times says that My mother was a changeling, my father I knew not. The brothers of my father loved the hills. My city is Azurpiranu, situated on the banks of the Euphrates. My changeling mother conceived, she set me with bitumen she sealed my lid. She cast me into the river; the river carried me to Akki, the drawer of water. Akki, the drawer of water, reared me. Akki the drawer of water, appointed me as his gardener. While I was gardener Ishtar granted me her love, for four and... years I exercised kingship. Claims made on behalf of Sargon were that his mother was an "entu" priestess; the claims might have been made to ensure
Ancient Canaanite religion
Canaanite religion refers to the group of ancient Semitic religions practiced by the Canaanites living in the ancient Levant from at least the early Bronze Age through the first centuries of the Common Era. Canaanite religion was polytheistic, in some cases monolatristic. A great number of deities in a four tier hierarchy headed by El and Asherah were worshiped by the followers of the Canaanite religion. Athirat, "walker of the sea", Mother Goddess, wife of El Athtart, better known by her Greek name Astarte, assists Anat in the Myth of Ba'al Asherah, queen consort of El, Yahweh, Amurru. Symbolized by Asherah pole, a common sight in ancient Canaan Attar, god of the morning star who tried to take the place of the dead Baal and failed. Male counterpart of Athtart. Baalah, properly Baʿalah, the wife or female counterpart of Baal Ba'al Hadad, storm god. Referred to as Baalshamin. Ba'al Hermon, titular local deity of Mount Hermon. Baal Hammon, god of fertility and renewer of all energies in the Phoenician colonies of the Western Mediterranean Dagon god of crop fertility and grain, father of Ba'al Hadad El called'Il or Elyon considered leader of the pantheon.
Eshmun, god, or as Baalat Asclepius, goddess, of healing Horon, an underworld god. Bethoron in Israel, takes its name from Horon. Ishat, goddess of fire, she was slain by Anat. Kotharat, goddesses of marriage and pregnancy Kothar-wa-Khasis, the skilled god of craftsmanship Lotan, the twisting, seven-headed serpent ally of Yam Marqod, god of dance Melqart "king of the city", god of Tyre, the underworld and cycle of vegetation in Tyre Moloch, putative god of fire Mot or Mawat, god of death Nikkal-wa-Ib, goddess of orchards and fruit Qadeshtu, lit. "Holy One", putative goddess of love. A title of Asherah. Resheph, god of plague and of healing Shachar and Shalim, twin mountain gods of dawn and dusk, respectively. Shalim was linked to the netherworld via the evening star and associated with peace Shamayim, god of the heavens, paired with Eretz, the land or earth Shapash transliterated Shapshu, goddess of the sun; some authorities consider Shamash a goddess. Sydyk, the god of righteousness or justice, sometimes twinned with Misor, linked to the planet Jupiter Yam the god of the sea and the river called Judge Nahar Yarikh, god of the moon and husband of Nikkal Canaanites believed that following physical death, the npš departed from the body to the land of Mot.
Bodies were buried with grave goods, offerings of food and drink were made to the dead to ensure that they would not trouble the living. Dead relatives were sometimes asked for help. None of the inscribed tablets found in 1929 in the Canaanite city of Ugarit has revealed a cosmology. Any idea of one is reconstructed from the much Phoenician text by Philo of Byblos, after much Greek and Roman influence in the region. According to the pantheon, known in Ugarit as'ilhm or the children of El obtained by Philo of Byblos from Sanchuniathon of Berythus the creator was known as Elion, the father of the divinities, in the Greek sources he was married to Beruth; this marriage of the divinity with the city would seem to have Biblical parallels too with the stories of the link between Melqart and Tyre. From the union of El Elyon and his consort were born Uranus and Ge, Greek names for the "Heaven" and the "Earth". In Canaanite mythology there were twin mountains Targhizizi and Tharumagi which hold the firmament up above the earth-circling ocean, thereby bounding the earth.
W. F. Albright, for example, says that El Shaddai is a derivation of a Semitic stem that appears in the Akkadian shadû and shaddā`û or shaddû`a, one of the names of Amurru. Philo of Byblos states that Atlas was one of the Elohim, which would fit into the story of El Shaddai as "God of the Mountain." Harriet Lutzky has presented evidence that Shaddai was an attribute of a Semitic goddess, linking the epithet with Hebrew šad "breast" as "the one of the Breast". The idea of two mountains being associated here as the breasts of the Earth, fits into the Canaanite mythology quite well; the ideas of pairs of mountains seem to be quite common in Canaanite mythology. The late period of this cosmology makes it difficult to tell what influences may have informed Philo's writings. In the Baal Cycle, Ba'al Hadad is challenged by and defeats Yam, using two magical weapons made for him by Kothar-wa-Khasis. Afterward, with the help of Athirat and Anat, Ba'al persuades El to allow him a palace. El approves, the palace is built by Kothar-wa-Khasis.
After the palace is constructed, Ba'al gives forth a thunderous roar out of the palace window and challenges Mot. Mot enters through the window and swallows Ba'al. With no one to give rain, there is a terrible drought in Ba'al's absence; the other deities El and Anat, are distraught that Ba'al has been taken to the Underworld. Anat goes to the Underworld, attacks Mot with a knife, grinds him up into pieces, scatters
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, or Gaza, is a self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km border. Gaza and the West Bank are claimed by the State of Palestine; the territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory. Both fell under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006, it has been placed under an Israeli and U. S.-led international economic and political boycott from that time onwards. The territory is 41 kilometers long, from 6 to 12 kilometers wide, with a total area of 365 square kilometers. With around 1.85 million Palestinians on some 362 square kilometers, Gaza ranks as the 3rd most densely populated polity in the world. An extensive Israeli buffer zone within the Strip renders much land off-limits to Gaza's Palestinians.
Gaza has an annual population growth rate of 2.91%, the 13th highest in the world, is referred to as overcrowded. The population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020. By that time, Gaza may be rendered unliveable. Due to the Israeli and Egyptian border closures and the Israeli sea and air blockade, the population is not free to leave or enter the Gaza Strip, nor allowed to import or export goods. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. Despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the United Nations, international human rights organisations, the majority of governments and legal commentators consider the territory to be still occupied by Israel, supported by additional restrictions placed on Gaza by Egypt. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, six of Gaza's seven land crossings, it reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory.
Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, telecommunications, other utilities. The system of control imposed by Israel is described as an "indirect occupation"; some other legal scholars have disputed the idea. In addition, the extent of self-rule exercised in the Gaza Strip has led some to describe the territory as a de facto independent state; when Hamas won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, the opposing political party Fatah refused to join the proposed coalition, until a short-lived unity government agreement was brokered by Saudi Arabia. When this collapsed under joint Israeli and United States pressure, the Palestinian Authority instituted a non-Hamas government in the West Bank while Hamas formed a government on its own in Gaza. Further economic sanctions were imposed by the European Quartet against Hamas. A brief civil war between the two groups had broken out in Gaza when under a U. S.-backed plan, Fatah contested Hamas's administration. Hamas emerged the victor and expelled Fatah-allied officials and members of the PA's security apparatus from the Strip, has remained the sole governing power in Gaza since that date.
Gaza was part of the Ottoman Empire, before it was occupied by the United Kingdom and Israel, which in 1994 granted the Palestinian Authority in Gaza limited self-governance through the Oslo Accords. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people; the territory is still considered to be occupied by Israel by the United Nations, International human rights organisations, the majority of governments and legal commentators, despite the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza. Israel maintains direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza: it controls Gaza's air and maritime space, six of Gaza's seven land crossings, it reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military and maintains a no-go buffer zone within the Gaza territory. Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, telecommunications, other utilities; the Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, confirmed by the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949.
Article V of the Agreement declared. At first the Gaza Strip was administered by the All-Palestine Government, established by the Arab League in September 1948. All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, the Gaza Strip was directly administered by an Egyptian military governor. Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, the Palestinian Authority became the administrative body that governed Palestinian population centers while Israel maintained control of the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings with the exception of the land border with Egypt, controlled by Egypt. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan. In July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas became the elected government.
In 2007, Hamas expelled the rival party Fatah from Gaza. This broke the Unity Governmen
Satrap
Satraps were the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with considerable autonomy; the word "satrap" is often used metaphorically in modern literature to refer to world leaders or governors who are influenced by larger world superpowers or hegemonies and act as their surrogates. The word satrap is derived via Latin satrapes from Greek satrápēs, itself borrowed from an Old Iranian *xšaθra-pā/ă-. In Old Persian, the native language of the Achaemenids, it is recorded as xšaçapāvan; the Median form is reconstructed as *xšaθrapāwan-. It is cognate with Sanskrit kṣatrapa. In the Parthian and Middle Persian, it is recorded in the forms šasab, respectively. In modern Persian the descendant of xšaθrapāvan is shahrbān, but the components have undergone semantic shift so the word now means "town keeper". Although the first large-scale use of satrapies, or provinces, originates from the inception of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great, beginning at around 530 BCE, provincial organization originated during the Median era from at least 648 BCE.
Up to the time of the conquest of Media by Cyrus the Great, emperors ruled the lands they conquered through client kings and governors. The main difference was that in Persian culture the concept of kingship was indivisible from divinity: divine authority validated the divine right of kings; the twenty-six satraps established by Cyrus were never kings, but viceroys ruling in the king's name, although in political reality many took advantage of any opportunity to carve themselves an independent power base. Darius the Great gave the satrapies a definitive organization, increased their number to thirty-six, fixed their annual tribute; the satrap was in charge of the land that he owned as an administrator, found himself surrounded by an all-but-royal court. He was responsible for the safety of the roads, had to put down brigands and rebels, he was assisted by a council of Persians, to which provincials were admitted and, controlled by a royal secretary and emissaries of the king the "eye of the king", who made an annual inspection and exercised permanent control.
There were further checks on the power of each satrap: besides his secretarial scribe, his chief financial official and the general in charge of the regular army of his province and of the fortresses were independent of him and periodically ported directly to the shah, in person. The satrap was allowed to have troops in his own service; the great satrapies were divided into smaller districts, the governors of which were called satraps and called hyparchs. The distribution of the great satrapies was changed and two of them were given to the same man; as the provinces were the result of consecutive conquests, both primary and sub-satrapies were defined by former states and/or ethno-religious identity. One of the keys to the Achaemenid success was their open attitude to the culture and religion of the conquered people, so the Persian culture was the one most affected as the Great King endeavoured to meld elements from all his subjects into a new imperial style at his capital, Persepolis. Whenever central authority in the empire weakened, the satrap enjoyed practical independence as it became customary to appoint him as general-in-chief of the army district, contrary to the original rule.
"When his office became hereditary, the threat to the central authority could not be ignored". Rebellions of satraps became frequent from the middle of the 5th century BCE. Darius I struggled with widespread rebellions in the satrapies, under Artaxerxes II the greater parts of Asia Minor and Syria were in open rebellion; the last great rebellions were put down by Artaxerxes III. The satrapic administration and title were retained—even for Greco-Macedonian incumbents—by Alexander the Great, who conquered the Achaemenid Empire, by his successors, the Diadochi who carved it up in the Seleucid Empire, where the satrap was designated as strategos, they would be replaced by conquering empires the Parthians. In the Parthian Empire, the king's power rested on the support of noble families who ruled large estates, supplied soldiers and tribute to the king. City-states within the empire enjoyed a degree of self-government, paid tribute to the king. Administration of the Sassanid Empire was more centralized than that of the Parthian Empire.
Shahrabs ruled both the city and the surroundi
Yarkon River
The Yarkon River Yarqon River Arabic: نهر العوجا, translit. Nahr al-Auja), is a river in central Israel; the source of the Yarkon is at Tel Afek, north of Petah Tikva. It flows west through Gush Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park into the Mediterranean Sea, its Arabic name, al-Auja, means "the meandering". The Yarkon is the largest coastal river in Israel, at 27.5 km in length. The Yarkon formed the southern border of the vilayet of Beirut during the late Ottoman period; the Arabic name of the river, al-Auja, is shared with Wadi Auja, another small stream that flows into the Jordan Valley north of Jericho. During World War I this coincidence led to the term of "the line of the two Aujas" referring to a strategic line connecting the two river valleys and taken by the expeditionary forces of General Allenby during his early 1918 advance against the Ottoman army; the mouth of the river was conquered during the late-1917 Battle of Jaffa. In the Mandatory period, the British government granted to Pinhas Rutenberg's Jaffa Electric Company exclusive rights to generate and sell electricity in the District of Jaffa.
These rights were delivered through the “Auja Concession”, formally signed on September 12, 1921. The Concession had authorized the company to generate electricity by means of hydroelectric turbines that would exploit the water power of the Yarkon River to supply electricity to the administrative District of Jaffa; the district comprised Jaffa, the oldest and at the time still most important town in the area, the fast growing town of Tel Aviv north of it, other smaller locations. Yet the plan to generate electricity by hydroelectric means never materialized, instead the company designed and built a powerhouse that produced electricity by means of diesel-fueled engines; the river became polluted after the 1950s, many blaming this on the construction of the Reading Power Station, situated near its mouth. When the river's headwaters were diverted to the Negev via the National Water Carrier for irrigation purposes, the state of the Yarkon declined; as sewage replaced the flow of fresh water, habitats were destroyed and flora and fauna disappeared.
This was exacerbated by continuous discharges of industrial effluents and municipal sewage into the rivers, which allowed algae to multiply. On July 14, 1997, the infamous Maccabiah bridge collapse led to the death of four athletes, three of which died due to infections caused by exposure to the polluted river water. Subsequent and ongoing cleanup projects, some government-run, some benefitting from financial aid from Jewish donors from Australia, some with regional character supported by the NGO FoEME, helped improve the quality of the water. In 1988, the Yarkon River Authority was established to revitalize the river and make sections of it suitable for sailing, fishing and other recreation. Water quality improved after the construction of modern sewage treatment plants in Hod Hasharon and Ramat Hasharon; the river was dredged to restore its original depth and natural flow. River banks were raised and reinforced and bicycling paths were built, picnic and fishing areas were developed with the help of contributions from the Australian Jewish community via the Jewish National Fund.
On July 14, 1997, four members of the Australian delegation to the Maccabiah Games were killed and 60 injured as a result of the collapse of a temporary pedestrian bridge over the Yarkon. The deaths were traced to a fungal infection caused by aspiration of the polluted water. Ayalon River, turned artificially into a tributary of the YarkonEran Eldar, ‘The Yarkon is always green’: the ecological problems of the Yarkon River, Israel affairs, Volume 24, 2018 - Issue 5 Yarkon River Authority Yarkon River Authority Nahr Abī Fuṭrus, Brill: Online Reference Works
Egypt
Israel
Gaza Strip
