1.
Pilgrim Fathers
–
The Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers were early European settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. The Pilgrims held Calvinist religious beliefs similar to the Puritans but, unlike many Puritans, the colony was established in 1620 and became the second successful English settlement in North America. While seeking religious freedom for their own group, the Pilgrims exhibited intolerance to other faiths, the Pilgrims story became a central theme of the history and culture of the United States. By this time, non-English European colonization of the Americas was also under way in New Netherland, New France, Essequibo, Colonial Brazil, Barbados, the Viceroyalty of Peru, and New Spain. This congregation held Separatist beliefs comparable to nonconforming movements led by Robert Browne, John Greenwood, William Brewster, a former diplomatic assistant to the Netherlands, was living in the Scrooby manor house, serving as postmaster for the village and bailiff to the Archbishop of York. He had been impressed by Clyftons services, and had begun participating in Separatist services led by John Smyth in Gainsborough. The Separatists had long been controversial, under the 1559 Act of Uniformity, it was illegal not to attend official Church of England services, with a fine of one shilling for each missed Sunday and holy day. The penalties for conducting unofficial services included imprisonment and larger fines, under the policy of this time, Barrowe and Greenwood were executed for sedition in 1593. During much of Brewsters tenure, the Archbishop was Matthew Hutton, but the Papistes are opposite and contrarie in very many substantiall pointes of religion, and cannot but wishe the Popes authoritie and popish religion to be established. Following the Conference in 1605, Clyfton was declared a nonconformist, Brewster invited Clyfton to live at his home. Upon Huttons death in 1606, Tobias Matthew was appointed as his replacement, disobedient clergy were replaced, and prominent Separatists were confronted, fined, and imprisoned. He is credited with driving out of the country, those who refused to attend Anglican services. At about the time, Brewster arranged for a congregation to meet privately at the Scrooby manor house. Services were held beginning in 1606, with Clyfton as pastor, John Robinson as teacher, shortly thereafter, Smyth and members of the Gainsborough group moved on to Amsterdam. Brewster is known to have been fined £20 in absentia for his non-compliance with the church and this followed his September 1607 resignation from the postmaster position, about the time that the congregation had decided to follow the Smyth party to Amsterdam. Scrooby member William Bradford of Austerfield kept a journal of the events that later was published as Of Plymouth Plantation. They lived in Leiden, Holland, a city of 100,000 inhabitants, the success of the congregation in Leiden was mixed. Leiden was an industrial center, and many members were well able to support themselves working at Leiden University or in the textile, printing
Pilgrim Fathers
–
"The Embarkation of the Pilgrims" (1857) by the American painter
Robert Walter Weir at the
Brooklyn Museum in
New York City
Pilgrim Fathers
–
Model of a typical
merchantman of the period, showing the cramped conditions that had to be endured.
Pilgrim Fathers
–
Landing of the Pilgrims by
Michele Felice Cornè, circa 1805. Displayed in the
White House
Pilgrim Fathers
–
Ministry of Jesus &
Apostolic Age
2.
Gheorghe Tattarescu
–
Gheorghe Tattarescu was a Moldavian, later Romanian painter and a pioneer of neoclassicism in his countrys modern painting. Tattarescu was born in Focşani in 1818 and he started out as an apprentice to his uncle Nicolae Teodorescu, a church painter. He went on to study at the Painting School from Buzău, the Orthodox Bishop of Buzău, Chesarie, helped him obtain a scholarship in Rome, where he was taught by professors from the Accademia di San Luca. While there, Tattarescu made copies paintings by Raphael, Bartolomé Estéban Murillo, Salvatore Rosa, tattarascu was a participant in the 1848 Revolution in Wallachia. After the revolution, he painted portraits of Romanian revolutionaries in exile such as Gheorghe Magheru, Ştefan Golescu, and, in 1851, Romantic nationalist ideals were the inspiration for his allegorical compositions with revolutionary and patriotic themes. In 1860, being commissioned to draw up a National Album of sights and historical monuments of the country, at the same time, showing his sympathy with various peasant uprisings, he painted The peasant at the Danube in 1875. He was also commissioned to decorate churches in a neoclassical manner. In 1865, he wrote Useful Principles and Studies on Proportions of the Human Body, the house he bought in 1855 and lived in for almost 40 years is now home to the Gheorghe Tattarescu Memorial Museum. It was opened 1951, and hosts several of his works of art. Click on an image to view it enlarged, metropolitan Cathedral, Iaşi Voinescu, Teodora, Gheorghe Tattarescu 1818-1894, Ed. Biography at artnet. com Biography at maroumanie. com Biography at ici. ro Biography at compendium. ro
Gheorghe Tattarescu
–
Self-portrait
Gheorghe Tattarescu
–
Portrait of
Nicolae Bălcescu (1851)
Gheorghe Tattarescu
–
February 11th, 1866 - The Modern Romania
Gheorghe Tattarescu
–
Michael the Brave and his troops
3.
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.
4.
Pilgrimage
–
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a persons beliefs and faith, a person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim. As a common experience, pilgrimage has been proposed as a Jungian archetype by Wallace Clift. The Holy Land acts as a point for the pilgrimages of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity. Baháulláh decreed pilgrimage to two places in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the House of Baháulláh in Baghdad, Iraq, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz, later, Abdul-Bahá designated the Shrine of Baháulláh at Bahji, Israel as a site of pilgrimage. Other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are, Savatthi, Pataliputta, Nalanda, Gaya, Vesali, Sankasia, Kapilavastu, Kosambi, Rajagaha, Varanasi, other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage include, India, Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta. Thailand, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Doi Suthep, tibet, Lhasa, Mount Kailash, Lake Nam-tso. Sri Lanka, Polonnaruwa, Temple of the Tooth, Anuradhapura, malaysia, Kek Lok Si, Cheng Hoon Teng, Maha Vihara Myanmar, Bagan, Sagaing Hill. The Four Sacred Mountains Japan, Shikoku Pilgrimage,88 Temple pilgrimage in the Shikoku island, Japan 100 Kannon, pilgrimage composed of the Saigoku, Bandō and Chichibu pilgrimages. Saigoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kansai region, Bandō33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kantō region. Chichibu 34 Kannon, pilgrimage in Saitama Prefecture, Chūgoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Chūgoku region. Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the birth, life, pilgrimages were, and are, also made to Rome and other sites associated with the apostles, saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A popular pilgrimage journey is along the Way of St. James to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, in Galicia, Spain, chaucers The Canterbury Tales recounts tales told by Christian pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral and the shrine of Thomas Becket. According to Karel Werners Popular Dictionary of Hinduism, most Hindu places of pilgrimage are associated with events from the lives of various gods. Almost any place can become a focus for pilgrimage, but in most cases they are sacred cities, rivers, lakes, Hindus are encouraged to undertake pilgrimages during their lifetime, though this practice is not considered absolutely mandatory. Most Hindus visit sites within their region or locale, Kumbh Mela, Kumbh Mela is one of the largest gatherings of humans in the world. The location is rotated among Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik, Char Dham, The four holy sites Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka, and Badrinath compose the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. Kanwar Pilgrimage, The Kanwar is Indias largest annual religious pilgrimage, as part of this phenomenon, millions of participants gather sacred water from the Ganga and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense as offerings in Śiva shrines
Pilgrimage
–
David Teniers the younger: Female Pilgrim
Pilgrimage
–
Ancient excavated Buddha-image at the Mahaparinirvana Temple,
Kushinagar
Pilgrimage
–
Tibetans on a pilgrimage to
Lhasa, doing full-body
prostrations, often for the entire length of the journey
Pilgrimage
–
Pilgrims
5.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
Christianity
–
An
Eastern Christian icon depicting
Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the
First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
Christianity
–
Various
depictions of Jesus
Christianity
–
Crucifixion, representing the death of
Jesus on the
Cross, painting by
Diego Velázquez, 17th century
6.
World (theology)
–
The world is the planet Earth and all life upon it, including human civilization. In a philosophical context, the world is the whole of the physical Universe, in a theological context, the world is the material or the profane sphere, as opposed to the celestial, spiritual, transcendent or sacred. The end of the world refers to scenarios of the end of human history. World history is understood as spanning the major geopolitical developments of about five millennia. World population is the sum of all human populations at any time, similarly, world economy is the sum of the economies of all societies or countries, terms like world championship, gross world product, world flags imply the sum or combination of all current-day sovereign states. The English word world comes from the Old English weorold, weorld, worold, a compound of wer man and eld age, which thus means roughly Age of Man. The Old English is a reflex of the Common Germanic *wira-alđiz, also reflected in Old Saxon werold, Old High German weralt, the corresponding word in Latin is mundus, literally clean, elegant, itself a loan translation of Greek cosmos orderly arrangement. Earth, on the hand, refers to the planet as a physical entity. World was also used to mean the material universe, or the cosmos, The worlde is an apte frame of heauen and earthe. The earth was often described as the center of the world, World can also be used attributively, to mean global, relating to the whole world, forming usages such as world community or world canonical texts. By extension, a world may refer to any planet or heavenly body, especially when it is thought of as inhabited, World, in its original sense, when qualified, can also refer to a particular domain of human experience. The world of work describes paid work and the pursuit of a career, in all its aspects, to distinguish it from home life. The fashion world describes the environment of the designers, fashion houses, historically, the New World vs. the Old World, referring to the parts of the world colonized in the wake of the age of discovery. Now mostly used in zoology and botany, as in New World monkey, in philosophy, the term world has several possible meanings. In some contexts, it refers to everything that makes up reality or the physical universe, in others, it can mean have a specific ontological sense. The question of what the world is has by no means been settled, in his Allegory of the Cave, Plato distinguishes between forms and ideas and imagines two distinct worlds, the sensible world and the intelligible world. In Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegels philosophy of history, the expression Weltgeschichte ist Weltgericht is used to assert the view that History is what judges men, their actions, science is born from the desire to transform the World in relation to Man, its final end is technical application. The World as Will and Representation is the work of Arthur Schopenhauer
World (theology)
–
"
The Blue Marble " photograph of Earth.
World (theology)
–
The Garden of Earthly Delights triptych by
Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1503) shows the "garden" of mundane pleasures flanked by
Paradise and
Hell. The exterior panel shows the world before the appearance of humanity, depicted as a
disc enclosed in a
sphere.
World (theology)
–
Yggdrasil, a modern attempt to reconstruct the Norse
world tree which connects the
heavens, the world, and the
underworld.
7.
Beatitude
–
The Beatitudes are eight blessings recounted in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Each is a proclamation, without narrative, cryptic, precise. Each one includes a topic that forms a major biblical theme, four of the blessings also appear in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings. The term beatitude comes from the Latin noun beātitūdō which means happiness, in the Vulgate, the book of Matthew titles this section Beatitudines, and Beatitudes was anglicized from that term. Each Beatitude consists of two phrases, the condition and the result, in almost every case the condition is from familiar Old Testament context, but Jesus teaches a new interpretation. Together, the Beatitudes present a new set of Christian ideals that focus on a spirit of love and humility different in orientation than the usual force and they echo the ideals of the teachings of Jesus on mercy, spirituality, and compassion. While opinions may vary as to exactly how many distinct statements into which the Beatitudes should be divided and these eight of Matthew follow a simple pattern, Jesus names a group of people normally thought to be unfortunate and pronounces them blessed. The nine Beatitudes in Matthew 5, 3–12 during the Sermon on the Mount, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled, Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. The other four have similar entries in Luke, but are followed almost immediately by four woes, the four Beatitudes in Luke 6, 20–22 are set within the Sermon on the Plain. Verse 20 introduces them by saying, and he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh, Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of mans sake. Luke 6,23 appears to parallel the text in Matthew 5, 11-12, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The four woes that follow in Luke 6, 24–26 Woe to you who are rich, Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn, Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets
Beatitude
–
James Tissot, The Beatitudes Sermon,
Brooklyn Museum, c. 1890
Beatitude
–
Plaque of the Eight beatitudes, St. Cajetan Church,
Lindavista, Mexico
Beatitude
–
The Eight Beatitudes. Folio from Walters manuscript W.171 (15th century)
Beatitude
–
Church of the Beatitudes, the traditional location for the
Sermon on the Mount
8.
Pilgrimages
–
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a persons beliefs and faith, a person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim. As a common experience, pilgrimage has been proposed as a Jungian archetype by Wallace Clift. The Holy Land acts as a point for the pilgrimages of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity. Baháulláh decreed pilgrimage to two places in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the House of Baháulláh in Baghdad, Iraq, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz, later, Abdul-Bahá designated the Shrine of Baháulláh at Bahji, Israel as a site of pilgrimage. Other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are, Savatthi, Pataliputta, Nalanda, Gaya, Vesali, Sankasia, Kapilavastu, Kosambi, Rajagaha, Varanasi, other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage include, India, Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta. Thailand, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Doi Suthep, tibet, Lhasa, Mount Kailash, Lake Nam-tso. Sri Lanka, Polonnaruwa, Temple of the Tooth, Anuradhapura, malaysia, Kek Lok Si, Cheng Hoon Teng, Maha Vihara Myanmar, Bagan, Sagaing Hill. The Four Sacred Mountains Japan, Shikoku Pilgrimage,88 Temple pilgrimage in the Shikoku island, Japan 100 Kannon, pilgrimage composed of the Saigoku, Bandō and Chichibu pilgrimages. Saigoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kansai region, Bandō33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kantō region. Chichibu 34 Kannon, pilgrimage in Saitama Prefecture, Chūgoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Chūgoku region. Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the birth, life, pilgrimages were, and are, also made to Rome and other sites associated with the apostles, saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A popular pilgrimage journey is along the Way of St. James to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, in Galicia, Spain, chaucers The Canterbury Tales recounts tales told by Christian pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral and the shrine of Thomas Becket. According to Karel Werners Popular Dictionary of Hinduism, most Hindu places of pilgrimage are associated with events from the lives of various gods. Almost any place can become a focus for pilgrimage, but in most cases they are sacred cities, rivers, lakes, Hindus are encouraged to undertake pilgrimages during their lifetime, though this practice is not considered absolutely mandatory. Most Hindus visit sites within their region or locale, Kumbh Mela, Kumbh Mela is one of the largest gatherings of humans in the world. The location is rotated among Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik, Char Dham, The four holy sites Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka, and Badrinath compose the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. Kanwar Pilgrimage, The Kanwar is Indias largest annual religious pilgrimage, as part of this phenomenon, millions of participants gather sacred water from the Ganga and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense as offerings in Śiva shrines
Pilgrimages
–
David Teniers the younger: Female Pilgrim
Pilgrimages
–
Ancient excavated Buddha-image at the Mahaparinirvana Temple,
Kushinagar
Pilgrimages
–
Tibetans on a pilgrimage to
Lhasa, doing full-body
prostrations, often for the entire length of the journey
Pilgrimages
–
Pilgrims
9.
Religion
–
Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures, and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain symbolic stories, which are said by followers to be true, that have the side purpose of explaining the origin of life. Traditionally, faith, in addition to reason, has considered a source of religious beliefs. There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, about 84% of the worlds population is affiliated with one of the five largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or forms of folk religion. With the onset of the modernisation of and the revolution in the western world. The religiously unaffiliated demographic include those who do not identify with any religion, atheists. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs, about 16% of the worlds population is religiously unaffiliated. The study of religion encompasses a variety of academic disciplines, including theology, comparative religion. Theories of religion offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion, Religion is derived from the Latin religiō, the ultimate origins of which are obscure. One possible interpretation traced to Cicero, connects lego read, i. e. re with lego in the sense of choose, go over again or consider carefully. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders, we hear of the religion of the Golden Fleece, of a knight of the religion of Avys. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religio was understood as a virtue of worship, never as doctrine, practice. In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations and it was in the 19th century that the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism first emerged. Max Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, what is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Some languages have words that can be translated as religion, but they may use them in a different way. For example, the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes translated as religion, throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. There is no equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities
Religion
–
Urarina shaman, Peru, 1988
Religion
Religion
–
The
Yazılıkaya sanctuary in
Turkey, with the twelve gods of the underworld
Religion
–
Confucianism,
Taoism, and
Buddhism are one, a painting in the litang style portraying three men laughing by a river stream, 12th century,
Song dynasty
10.
Ancient Egypt
–
Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently, Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. In the aftermath of Alexander the Greats death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter and this Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, the predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world and its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history, nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the climate of Northern Africa became increasingly hot and dry. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates, foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated. The largest of these cultures in upper Egypt was the Badari, which probably originated in the Western Desert, it was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools. The Badari was followed by the Amratian and Gerzeh cultures, which brought a number of technological improvements, as early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other objects from flakes. In Naqada II times, early evidence exists of contact with the Near East, particularly Canaan, establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis, and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile. They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the desert to the west. Royal Nubian burials at Qustul produced artifacts bearing the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the crown of Egypt. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian-Akkadian civilisation of Mesopotamia, the third-century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still used today
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Great Sphinx and the
pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
–
A typical Naqada II jar decorated with gazelles. (Predynastic Period)
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Narmer Palette depicts the unification of the Two Lands.
11.
Persia
–
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
–
Cave painting in Doushe cave,
Lorestan, Iran,
8th millennium BC
Persia
–
Flag
Persia
–
A depiction of the united
Medes and
Persians in
Apadana,
Persepolis
Persia
–
Ruins of the
Gate of All Nations,
Persepolis
12.
Mithraism
–
Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries, was a mystery religion centred around the god Mithras that was practised in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century. The mysteries were popular in the Roman military, worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals. Initiates called themselves syndexioi, those “united by the handshake” and they met in underground temples, called mithraea, which survive in large numbers. The cult appears to have had its centre in Rome, numerous archaeological finds, including meeting places, monuments and artifacts, have contributed to modern knowledge about Mithraism throughout the Roman Empire. The iconic scenes of Mithras show him being born from a rock, slaughtering a bull, about 420 sites have yielded materials related to the cult. Among the items found are about 1000 inscriptions,700 examples of the bull-killing scene and it has been estimated that there would have been at least 680 mithraea in Rome. No written narratives or theology from the religion survive, limited information can be derived from the inscriptions and brief or passing references in Greek, interpretation of the physical evidence remains problematic and contested. The Romans regarded the mysteries as having Persian or Zoroastrian sources, since the early 1970s the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities between Persian Mithra-worship and the Roman Mithraic mysteries. The term Mithraism is a modern convention, writers of the Roman era referred to it by phrases such as Mithraic mysteries, mysteries of Mithras or mysteries of the Persians. Modern sources sometimes refer to the Greco-Roman religion as Roman Mithraism or Western Mithraism to distinguish it from Persian worship of Mithra. The name Mithras is a form of Mithra, the name of an Old Persian god – a relationship understood by Mithraic scholars since the days of Franz Cumont. An early example of the Greek form of the name is in a 4th century BCE work by Xenophon, the Cyropaedia, the exact form of a Latin or classical Greek word varies due to the grammatical process of declension. There is archeological evidence that in Latin worshippers wrote the nominative form of the name as Mithras. Related deity-names in other languages include Sanskrit Mitra, the name of a god praised in the Rig Veda, in Sanskrit, mitra means friend or friendship. The form mi-it-ra-, found in a peace treaty between the Hittites and the kingdom of Mitanni, from about 1400 BCE. Iranian Mithra and Sanskrit Mitra are believed to come from an Indo-Iranian word mitra meaning contract / agreement / covenant, modern historians have different conceptions about whether these names refer to the same god or not. John R. Hinnells has written of Mitra / Mithra / Mithras as a deity worshipped in several different religions. On the other hand, David Ulansey considers the bull-slaying Mithras to be a new god who began to be worshipped in the 1st Century BCE, there have been many attempts to interpret this material
Mithraism
–
Double-faced Mithraic relief. Rome, 2nd to 3rd century AD (
Louvre Museum)
Mithraism
–
Mithras killing the bull. (
Louvre-Lens)
Mithraism
–
Rock-born Mithras and Mithraic artifacts. (Diocletian Baths Museum)
Mithraism
–
Bas-relief of the tauroctony of the Mithraic mysteries,
Metz, France.
13.
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
14.
China
–
China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
China
–
Yinxu, ruins of an ancient
palace dating from the
Shang Dynasty (14th century BCE)
China
–
Flag
China
–
Some of the thousands of life-size
Terracotta Warriors of the
Qin Dynasty, c. 210 BCE
China
–
The
Great Wall of China was built by several dynasties over two thousand years to protect the sedentary agricultural regions of the
Chinese interior from incursions by
nomadic pastoralists of the northern
steppes.
15.
Japan
–
Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
Japan
–
The
Golden Hall and
five-storey pagoda of
Hōryū-ji, among the oldest wooden buildings in the world,
National Treasures, and a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Japan
Japan
–
Samurai warriors face Mongols, during the
Mongol invasions of Japan. The
Kamikaze, two storms, are said to have saved Japan from Mongol fleets.
Japan
–
Samurai could
kill a commoner for the slightest insult and were widely feared by the Japanese population.
Edo period, 1798
16.
Ancient Greece
–
Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
Ancient Greece
–
The
Parthenon, a temple dedicated to
Athena, located on the
Acropolis in
Athens, is one of the most representative symbols of the culture and sophistication of the ancient Greeks.
Ancient Greece
–
Dipylon Vase of the late Geometric period, or the beginning of the Archaic period,
c. 750 BC.
Ancient Greece
–
Political geography of ancient Greece in the Archaic and Classical periods
17.
Ancient Rome
–
In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
Ancient Rome
–
Senātus Populus que Rōmānus
Ancient Rome
–
Roman Republic
Ancient Rome
–
According to legend,
Rome was founded in 753 BC by
Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf.
Ancient Rome
–
This bust from the
Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of
Lucius Junius Brutus.
18.
God
–
In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith. The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, divine simplicity, many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent and all loving. Furthermore, some religions attribute only a purely grammatical gender to God, incorporeity and corporeity of God are related to conceptions of transcendence and immanence of God, with positions of synthesis such as the immanent transcendence of Chinese theology. God has been conceived as personal or impersonal. In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, in pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism, God has also been conceived as the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable existent. Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God, there are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about Gods identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten, premised on being the one true Supreme Being and creator of the universe. In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, He Who Is, I Am that I Am, in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, in Islam, the name Allah is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a concept of God. In Chinese religion, God is conceived as the progenitor of the universe, intrinsic to it, other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Baháí Faith, Waheguru in Sikhism, and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism. The earliest written form of the Germanic word God comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus, the English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau-, in the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic God and gods in polytheism. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, in many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton. Allāh is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning The God, Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. Mazda, or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå and it is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means intelligence or wisdom. Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning placing ones mind, Waheguru is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God
God
–
"God the Father", a representation of the theistic version of God, by
Ludovico Mazzolino (1480 –
c. 1528)
God
–
Detail of
Sistine Chapel fresco Creation of the Sun and Moon by
Michelangelo (c. 1512), a well-known example of the depiction of
God the Father in Western art
God
–
Depiction of God in the Catholic Church, Latin America
God
–
St. Thomas Aquinas summarized
five arguments which he believed were proof for the existence of God
19.
Oracle
–
In classical antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination, the word oracle comes from the Latin verb ōrāre to speak and properly refers to the priest or priestess uttering the prediction. In extended use, oracle may also refer to the site of the oracle, Oracles were thought to be portals through which the gods spoke directly to people. In this sense they were different from seers who interpreted signs sent by the gods through bird signs, animal entrails, the most important oracles of Greek antiquity were Pythia, priestess to Apollo at Delphi, and the oracle of Dione and Zeus at Dodona in Epirus. Other temples of Apollo were located at Didyma on the coast of Asia Minor, at Corinth and Bassae in the Peloponnese, the Sibylline Oracles are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls, prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in frenzied states. Walter Burkert observes that Frenzied women from whose lips the god speaks are recorded in the Near East as in Mari in the second millennium BC, in Egypt the goddess Wadjet was depicted as a snake-headed woman or a woman with two snake-heads. Her oracle was in the temple in Per-Wadjet. The oracle of Wadjet may have been the source for the tradition which spread from Egypt to Greece. Evans linked Wadjet with the Minoan snake goddess, a chthonic deity, in Greece the old oracles were devoted to the Mother Goddess. At the oracle of Dodona she will be called Diōnē, who represents the earth-fertile soil, python, daughter of Gaia was the earth dragon of Delphi represented as a serpent and became the chthonic deity, enemy of Apollo, who slew her and possessed the oracle. The Pythia was the mouthpiece of the oracles of the god Apollo, the Pythia was not conceived to be infallible and in fact, according to Sourvinou-Inwood in What is Polis Religion. The ancient Greeks were aware of this and concluded the unknowability of the divine, in this way, the ‘revelations’ of the Oracles were not seen as ‘objective’ truth. Many wealthy individuals bypassed the hordes of people attempting a consultation by making additional animal sacrifices to please the oracle lest their request go unanswered, as a result, seers were the main source of everyday divination. It is from this institution that the English word, oracle, is derived, the Delphic Oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture. Distinctively, this female was essentially the highest authority both civilly and religiously in male-dominated ancient Greece and she responded to the questions of citizens, foreigners, kings, and philosophers on issues of political impact, war, duty, crime, laws—even personal issues. The semi-Hellenic countries around the Greek world, such as Lydia, Caria, Croesus, king of Lydia beginning in 560 B. C. tested the oracles of the world to discover which gave the most accurate prophecies. He sent out emissaries to seven sites who were all to ask the oracles on the day what the king was doing at that very moment. Croesus proclaimed the oracle at Delphi to be the most accurate, who reported that the king was making a lamb-and-tortoise stew
Oracle
–
Oracle bone of the
Shang Dynasty, ancient China
Oracle
–
Consulting the Oracle by
John William Waterhouse, showing eight priestesses in a temple of prophecy.
20.
Dodona
–
Dodona in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the second millennium BCE according to Herodotus. The earliest accounts in Homer describe Dodona as an oracle of Zeus, situated in a remote region away from the main Greek poleis, it was considered second only to the oracle of Delphi in prestige. Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have part of Hellas. The oracle was first under the control of the Thesprotians before it passed into the hands of the Molossians and it remained an important religious sanctuary until the rise of Christianity during the Late Roman era. During classical antiquity, according to accounts, priestesses and priests in the sacred grove interpreted the rustling of the oak leaves to determine the correct actions to be taken. According to a new interpretation, the sound originated from bronze objects hanging from oak branches and sounded with the wind blowing. According to Nicholas Hammond, Dodona was an devoted to a Mother Goddess who was joined. Although the earliest inscriptions at the date to c. Cult activity at Dodona was already established in some form during the Late Bronze Age, archaeologists also have found Illyrian dedications and objects that were received by the oracle during the 7th century BCE. Until 650 BCE, Dodona was a religious and oracular centre mainly for northern tribes, Zeus was worshipped at Dodona as Zeus Naios or Naos and as Zeus Bouleus. According to Plutarch, the worship of Jupiter at Dodona was set up by Deucalion and Pyrrha, the earliest mention of Dodona is in Homer, and only Zeus is mentioned in this account. In the Iliad, Achilles prays to High Zeus, Lord of Dodona, Pelasgian, living afar off, no buildings are mentioned, and the priests slept on the ground with unwashed feet. No priestesses are mentioned in Homer, the oracle also features in another passage involving Odysseus, giving a story of his visit to Dodona. Odysseuss words bespeak a familiarity with Dodona, a realization of its importance, the details of this story are as follows. Odysseus says to the swineherd Eumaeus that he was seen among the Thesprotians, Odysseus later repeats the same tale to Penelope, who may not yet have seen through his disguise. According to some scholars, Dodona was originally an oracle of the Mother Goddess attended by priestesses and she was identified at other sites as Rhea or Gaia. The oracle also was shared by Dione, by classical times, Dione was relegated to a minor role elsewhere in classical Greece, being made into an aspect of Zeuss more usual consort, Hera — but never at Dodona. Many dedicatory inscriptions recovered from the site mention both Dione and Zeus Naios, according to some archaeologists, not until the 4th century BCE, was a small stone temple to Dione added to the site
Dodona
–
View of the
bouleuterion in Dodona
Dodona
–
Panorama of the theatre of Dodona, the modern village
Dodoni and the snow-capped Mount
Tomaros are visible in the background
21.
Delphi
–
Delphi is famous as the ancient sanctuary that grew rich as the seat of the oracle that was consulted on important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. Moreover, it was considered as the navel of the world by the Greeks as represented by the Omphalos and it occupies an impressive site on the south-western slope of Mount Parnassus overlooking the coastal plain to the south and the valley of Phocis. It is now an archaeological site and the modern town is nearby. The site of Delphi is located in upper central Greece, on multiple plateaux/terraces along the slope of Mount Parnassus, and includes the Sanctuary of Apollo and this semicircular spur is known as Phaedriades, and overlooks the Pleistos Valley. In myths dating to the period of Ancient Greece, the site of Delphi was believed to be determined by Zeus when he sought to find the centre of his Grandmother Earth. He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities, and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi where the omphalos, Apollo was said to have slain Python, a drako a serpent or a dragon who lived there and protected the navel of the Earth. Python is claimed by some to be the name of the site in recognition of Python which Apollo defeated. The Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo recalled that the ancient name of this site had been Krisa, others relate that it was named Pytho and that Pythia, the priestess serving as the oracle, was chosen from their ranks by a group of priestesses who officiated at the temple. At the settlement site in Delphi, which was a settlement of the late 9th century. Pottery and bronze work as well as tripod dedications continue in a steady stream, the victors at Delphi were presented with a laurel crown which was ceremonially cut from a tree by a boy who re-enacted the slaying of the Python. Delphi was set apart from the other sites because it hosted the mousikos agon. These Pythian Games rank second among the four stephanitic games chronologically and these games, though, were different from the games at Olympia in that they were not of such vast importance to the city of Delphi as the games at Olympia were to the area surrounding Olympia. Delphi would have been a renowned city whether or not it hosted these games, it had other attractions that led to it being labeled the omphalos of the earth, in other words, in the inner hestia of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. The name Delphoi comes from the root as δελφύς delphys, womb. Apollo is connected with the site by his epithet Δελφίνιος Delphinios, the epithet is connected with dolphins in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, recounting the legend of how Apollo first came to Delphi in the shape of a dolphin, carrying Cretan priests on his back. The Homeric name of the oracle is Pytho, another legend held that Apollo walked to Delphi from the north and stopped at Tempe, a city in Thessaly, to pick laurel which he considered to be a sacred plant. In commemoration of this legend, the winners at the Pythian Games received a wreath of laurel picked in the Temple, Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the famous prehistoric oracle. Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger, additionally, according to Plutarchs essay on the meaning of the E at Delphi—the only literary source for the inscription—there was also inscribed at the temple a large letter E
Delphi
–
The theatre, seen from above
Delphi
–
Delphi.
Delphi
–
Delphi valley.
Delphi
–
The remaining columns of the Temple of Apollo
22.
Greece
–
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
Greece
–
Fresco displaying the Minoan ritual of "bull leaping", found in
Knossos,
Crete.
Greece
–
Flag
Greece
–
The
Lion Gate,
Mycenae
Greece
–
The
Parthenon on the
Acropolis of Athens is one of the best known symbols of
classical Greece.
23.
History of ancient Israel and Judah
–
Israel and Judah were related Iron Age kingdoms of the ancient Levant. The Kingdom of Israel emerged as an important local power by the 10th century BCE before falling to the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 722 BCE and this, the last nominally independent Judean kingdom, came to an end in 63 BCE with its conquest by Pompey of Rome. East of the plain and the Shephelah is a ridge, the hill country of Judah in the south, the hill country of Ephraim north of that, then Galilee. To the east again lie the valley occupied by the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and the wadi of the Arabah. Beyond the plateau is the Syrian desert, separating the Levant from Mesopotamia, to the southwest is Egypt, to the northeast Mesopotamia. The location and geographical characteristics of the narrow Levant made the area a battleground among the entities that surrounded it. Politically and culturally it was dominated by Egypt, each city under its own ruler, constantly at odds with its neighbours, and appealing to the Egyptians to adjudicate their differences. The Canaanite city-state system broke down at the end of the Late Bronze period, the name Israel first appears in the stele of the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah c.1209 BCE, Israel is laid waste and his seed is no more. In the Late Bronze Age there were no more than about 25 villages in the highlands, the villages were more numerous and larger in the north, and probably shared the highlands with pastoral nomads, who left no remains. Other Aramaean sites also demonstrate a contemporary absence of pig remains at that time, unlike earlier Canaanite, in The Bible Unearthed, Finkelstein and Silberman summarised recent studies. They described how, up until 1967, the Israelite heartland in the highlands of western Palestine was virtually an archaeological terra incognita, since then, intensive surveys have examined the traditional territories of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. These surveys have revealed the emergence of a new culture contrasting with the Philistine. This new culture is characterised by a lack of remains, by an abandonment of the Philistine/Canaanite custom of having highly decorated pottery. The Israelite ethnic identity had originated, not from the Exodus and a subsequent conquest and these surveys revolutionized the study of early Israel. There was no sign of violent invasion or even the infiltration of a clearly defined ethnic group, instead, it seemed to be a revolution in lifestyle. From then on, over a period of hundreds of years until after the return of the exiles from Babylon, after the period of Ezra there is no more biblical record of them. The Hebrew language, a dialect of Canaanite, became the language of the hill country, modern scholars therefore see Israel arising peacefully and internally from existing people in the highlands of Canaan. Unusually favourable climatic conditions in the first two centuries of Iron Age II brought about an expansion of population, settlements and trade throughout the region
History of ancient Israel and Judah
–
The Iron Age
kingdom of Israel (blue) and
kingdom of Judah (yellow), with their neighbors (tan) (8th century BCE)
History of ancient Israel and Judah
–
The Canaanite god Ba'al, 14th–12th century BCE (
Louvre museum, Paris)
History of ancient Israel and Judah
–
The
Merneptah stele. While alternative translations exist, the majority of
biblical archeologists translate a set of hieroglyphs as "Israel", representing the first instance of the name Israel in the historical record.
24.
Shiloh (Biblical city)
–
Shiloh was an ancient city in Samaria mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It has been identified with modern Khirbet Seilun, a tell or archaeological mound. It is located near modern Shilo, south of ancient Tirzah and 16 kilometres north of Beth El, Shiloh was the major Israelite worship centre before the first Temple was built in Jerusalem. The meaning of the word Shiloh is unclear, sometimes it is translated as a Messianic title that means He Whose It Is or as Pacific, Pacificator or Tranquility that refers to the Samaritan Pentateuch. Regardless, the name of Shiloh the town is derived from שלה, mentioned in the time of the Genesis, Book of Joshua and Judges, Shiloh is situated north of Bethel, east of the Bethel–Shechem highway, and south of Lebonah in the hill-country of Ephraim. Shiloh was identified unambiguously with Khirbet Seilun by American philologist E. Robinson in 1838, the location had been established long before by the Roman writer Eusebius, and by Nestorius ha-Parhi. Located in the west bank Long before the advent of the Israelites, Shiloh was a city with a religious shrine or sanctuary during Middle. When the Israelites arrived in the land, they set up there the ancient wilderness tent shrine, there Joshua and Eleazar divided the land among the tribes who had not yet received their allocation and dealt with the allocation of cities to the Levites. Subsequently, Shiloh became one of the leading religious shrines in ancient Israel, the Tent of Meeting is to be distinguished from the Dwelling Place often translated Tabernacle. The whole congregation of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up the tent of the congregation there, the tabernacle had been built under Moses direction from God to house the Ark of the Covenant, also built under Moses direction from God. According to Talmudic sources, the tent sanctuary remained at Shiloh for 369 years until the Ark of the Covenant was taken into the camp at Eben-Ezer. At some point during its stay at Shiloh, the portable tent seems to have been enclosed within a compound — a Greek temenos. It was at Shiloh that Eli and Samuel ministered and Shiloh was the site of a structure that had doors. At some point, the Tent of Meeting was moved to Gibeon, Shiloh was one of the main centers of Israelite worship during the pre-monarchic period, by virtue of the presence there of the Tent Shrine and Ark of the Covenant. The people made there for major feasts and sacrifices. According to I Samuel 1–3, the sanctuary at Shiloh was administered by the Aaronite high priest Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phineas. According to this account, the young Samuel was dedicated by his mother Hannah there, to be raised at the shrine by the high priest and it was under Eli and his sons that the Ark was lost to Israel in a battle with the Philistines at Aphek. The great biblical historian and archaeologist, W. F, albright, hypothesized that the Philistines also destroyed Shiloh at this time, but this conclusion is disputed
Shiloh (Biblical city)
–
Mishkan Shilo synagogue is a
replica of the Biblical Tabernacle
25.
Dan (biblical city)
–
Dan, is a city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, described as the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel, and belonging to the tribe of Dan. The city is identified with a tell located in northern Israel known as Tel Dan in Hebrew, the American naval officer William F. Lynch identified Tell el Kadi as the site of ancient Dan in 1849. Three years later Edward Robinson made the identification, and this identification is now securely accepted. The Hebrew Bible states that prior to its conquest by the tribe of Dan the site was known as Laish with variant spellings within the Books of Joshua, Judges, in Joshua 19,47 it is called Leshem or Lesem, which means jewel. Isaiah 10,30 has the alternative name Laishah in a number of translations, Tel Dan is a modern Israeli name for the site. Dan is situated in Israel, in the known as the Galilee Panhandle. To the west is the part of Mount Lebanon, to the east. Melting snow from the Hermon mountains provides the majority of the water of the Jordan River, the lush vegetation that results makes the area around Dan seem somewhat out of place in the otherwise arid region around it. According to the Book of Judges, prior to the Tribe of Dan occupying the land, the Egyptians cursed Laish in the Execration Tablets, later, Tuthmosis III conquered the town ra-wy-sa along others. Laish was allied with the Sidonians and this might indicate they were Phoenicians, who may or may not have been Canaanite. The alliance offered little practical benefit due to the remoteness of Laish from Sidon, the town was also isolated from the Assyrians and Aram by the Hermon mountains, the Septuagint mentions that the town was unable to have an alliance with the Aramaeans. The Bible describes the Tribe of Dan brutally defeating the people of Laish and burning the town to the ground, the excavators of Tel Dan uncovered a city gate made of mud bricks on top of megalithic basalt standing stones, estimated to have been built around 1750 BC. Its popular name is Abrahams Gate, due to the story that Abraham traveled to Dan to rescue his nephew Lot. Genesis 14,14, And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, the gate was restored in the late 2000s, and has become a popular tourist attraction. According to 2 Kings 10,29 and 2 Chronicles 13,8, within the remains of the city wall, close to the entrance of the outer gate, parts of the Tel Dan Stele were found. Dan suffered in the era of expansion by the Aramaeans, due to being the closest city to them in the kingdom of Israel, around this time, the Tel Dan stele was created by the Aramaeans, during one of the periods of their control of Dan. When the Assyrian empire expanded to the south, the kingdom of Israel initially became a state, but after rebelling, the Assyrians invaded. In 1992, in order to tidy up the site for presentation to visitors, a hitherto unknown earlier gateway to the city was uncovered
Dan (biblical city)
–
Tel Dan - Remains of the Iron Age (Israelite) Gate on the City's South Wall
Dan (biblical city)
–
Tel Dan - Excavation and reconstruction of the Eastern Bronze Age gate
26.
Bethel
–
Bethel was a border city described in the Hebrew Bible as being located between Benjamin and Ephraim and also a location named by Jacob. Under Israelite rule, Bethel first belonged to the Tribe of Benjamin, Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome describe Bethel in their time as a small village that lay 12 Roman miles north of Jerusalem, to the right or east of the road leading to Neapolis. Modern scholar Edward Robinson identified the village of Beitin in the West Bank with ancient Bethel in Biblical Researches in Palestine, ten years after the Six-Day War, the biblical name was applied to an Israeli settlement Beit El constructed adjacent to Beitin. In several countries—particularly in the US—the name has given to various locations. Bethel is mentioned several times in Genesis and it is first mentioned in Genesis 12 and 13, as a place near where Abram stayed and built an altar on his way to Egypt and on his return. It is said to be close to Hai and just to the west of it, another account, from Genesis 35 repeats the covenant with God and the naming of the place, and makes this the site of Jacobs own change of name to Israel. Both versions state that the name of the place was Luz. Bethel is mentioned again in the book of Joshua 7,2,8,9 as being close to Ai and on the west side of it, in this episode Joshua sent men from Jericho to capture Ai. At Joshua 16,1 it is said to be next to Luz, near Jericho. In the book of Judges 1,22 ff the descendants of Joseph capture the city of Bethel, at Joshua 4,5 the prophetess Deborah is said to dwell at Bethel under the palm-tree of Deborah. Bethel is said in Judges 4,5 to be in Mt Ephraim and they make a second visit after losing the battle. Bethel was evidently already an important religious centre at this time, so important in fact that the Ark of the Covenant was kept there, at Judges 21,19, Bethel is said to be south of Shiloh. At the next mention of the Ark, in 1 Samuel 4,3, it is said to be kept at Shiloh. In the book I Samuel 7,16, it is said that the prophet Samuel and it appears that there was a Philistine garrison there at that time. Bethel is mentioned again in I Samuel 13,2 and 2 Samuel 30,27 and this was apparently to make it unnecessary for the people of Israel to have to go to Jerusalem to worship in the temple there. It seems that this action provoked the hostility of the Judaeans, a story is told at 1 Kings 13,1 ff of how a man from Judah visited the shrine at Bethel and prophesied that it would eventually be destroyed by Josiah. At 2 Kings 2, 1ff the prophets Elijah and Elisha are said to have visited Bethel on a journey from Gilgal to Jericho shortly before Elijah was taken up to heaven without dying. Later, when Elisha returned alone to Bethel, he is said to have been taunted by some men as he climbed up to the shrine
Bethel
–
Bethel. From the book Holy Land photographed by Daniel B. Shepp. 1894
Bethel
–
Depiction of Jacob's dream at Bethel, by
José de Ribera.
27.
Jerusalem
–
Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
From upper left: Jerusalem skyline viewed from Givat ha'Arba,
Mamilla, the
Old City and the
Dome of the Rock, a
souq in the
Old City, the
Knesset, the
Western Wall, the
Tower of David and the
Ottoman Old City walls
Jerusalem
–
Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim)
Arabic: القُدس (al-Quds)
Aramaic: יְרוּשְׁלֶם (Yərushəlem)
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
Stepped Stone Structure in
Ophel /
City of David, the oldest part of Jerusalem
28.
Abrahamic religion
–
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the largest Abrahamic religions in terms of numbers of adherents. As of 2005, estimates classified 54% of the population as adherents of an Abrahamic religion, about 32% as adherents of other religions. Christianity claims 33% of the population, Islam has 21%, Judaism has 0. 2%. It has been suggested that the phrase, Abrahamic religion, may mean that all these religions come from one spiritual source. Christians refer to Abraham as a father in faith, there is an Islamic religious term, Millat Ibrahim, indicating that Islam sees itself as having practices tied to the traditions of Abraham. Jewish tradition claims descent from Abraham, and adherents follow his practices and it is the Islamic tradition that Muhammad, as an Arab, is descended from Abrahams son Ishmael. Jewish tradition also equates the descendants of Ishmael, Ishmaelites, with Arabs, as the descendants of Isaac by Jacob, who was also later known as Israel, are the Israelites. The Báb, regarded by Baháís as a predecessor to Baháulláh, was a Sayyid, or a descendant of Muhammad. Tradition also holds that Baháulláh is a descendant of Abraham through his third wife, while there is commonality among the religions, in large measure their shared ancestry is peripheral to their respective foundational beliefs and thus conceals crucial differences. For example, the common Christian beliefs of Incarnation, Trinity, there are key beliefs in both Islam and Judaism that are not shared by most of Christianity, and key beliefs of Islam, Christianity, and the Baháí Faith not shared by Judaism. Judaism regards itself as the religion of the descendants of Jacob and it has a strictly unitary view of God, and the central holy book for almost all branches is the Masoretic Text as elucidated in the Oral Torah. In the 19th century and 20th centuries Judaism developed a number of branches, of which the most significant are Orthodox, Conservative. Christianity began as a sect of Judaism in the Mediterranean Basin of the first century CE and evolved into a separate religion—Christianity—with distinctive beliefs, Jesus is the central figure of Christianity, considered by almost all denominations to be God the Son, one person of the Trinity. The Christian biblical canons are usually held to be the ultimate authority, over many centuries, Christianity divided into three main branches, dozens of significant denominations, and hundreds of smaller ones. Islam arose in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century CE with a unitary view of God. Muslims hold the Quran to be the authority, as revealed and elucidated through the teachings and practices of a central. The Islamic faith consider all prophets and messengers from Adam through the messenger to carry the same Islamic monotheistic principles. Soon after its founding Islam split into two branches, each of which now have a number of denominations
Abrahamic religion
–
An interpretation of the borders (in red) of the
Promised Land, based on God's promise to
Abraham.
Abrahamic religion
–
Clockwise from Top Left:
Christian cross, Islamic
star and crescent, Bahá'i
nine-pointed star, Jewish
Star of David
Abrahamic religion
–
The tomb of
Abraham, a
cenotaph above the
Cave of the Patriarchs traditionally considered to be the burial place of Abraham.
Abrahamic religion
–
A Bible handwritten in
Latin, on display in
Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. This Bible was transcribed in Belgium in 1407 for reading aloud in a monastery.
29.
Celtic Christianity
–
Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. Scholars now reject the notion, but note that there were certain traditions. These include a system for determining the dating of Easter, a style of monastic tonsure, a unique system of penance. Additionally, there were other practices that developed in parts of Britain or Ireland. The term therefore denotes regional practices among the churches and their associates. The term Celtic Church is deprecated by many historians as it implies a unified, others prefer the term Insular Christianity. As Patrick Wormald explained, One of the common misconceptions is that there was a Roman Church to which the Celtic was nationally opposed, in German, the term Iroschottisch is used, with Lutz von Padberg placing the same caveat about a supposed dichotomy between Irish-Scottish and Roman Christianity. Nonetheless, some distinctive traditions developed and spread to both Ireland and Great Britain, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries. Some elements may have introduced to Ireland by the Briton St. Patrick. The histories of the Irish, Welsh, Scots, Breton, Cornish, later interest in the subject has led to a series of Celtic Christian revival movements, which have shaped popular perceptions of the Celts and their religious practices. Celtic Christianity has been conceived of in different ways at different times, One particularly prominent feature ascribed to Celtic Christianity is that it is supposedly inherently distinct from – and generally opposed to – the Catholic Church. Others have been content to speak of Celtic Christianity as consisting of certain traditions, however, modern scholars have identified problems with all of these claims, and find the term Celtic Christianity problematic in and of itself. The idea of a Celtic Church is roundly rejected by modern scholars due to the lack of substantiating evidence, indeed, there were distinct Irish and British church traditions, each with their own practices, and there was significant local variation even within the individual Irish and British spheres. While there were some known to have been common to both the Irish and British churches, these were relatively few. Even these commonalities did not exist due to the Celticity of the regions, additionally, the Christians of Ireland and Britain were not anti-Roman, the authority of Rome and the papacy were venerated as strongly in Celtic areas as they were in any other region of Europe. Caitlin Corning further notes that the Irish and British were no more pro-women, pro-environment, Corning notes that scholars have identified three major strands of thought that have influenced the popular conceptions of Celtic Christianity. The first arose in the English Reformation, when the Church of England declared itself separate from papal authority, Protestant writers of this time popularised the idea of an indigenous British Christianity that opposed the foreign Roman church and was purer in thought. The English church, they claimed, was not forming a new institution, ideas of Celtic Christianity were further influenced by the Romantic movement of the 18th century, in particular Romantic notions of the noble savage and the intrinsic qualities of the Celtic race
Celtic Christianity
–
A
Celtic Cross in
Knock, Ireland.
Celtic Christianity
–
St
Columba at the gate of
King Bridei 's fortress
Celtic Christianity
–
St. Patrick
Celtic Christianity
–
The "Roman"
tonsure, in the shape of a crown, differing from the Irish tradition, which is unclear but involved shaving the hair from ear to ear in some fashion
30.
Asceticism
–
Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Asceticism is classified into two types, Asceticism has been historically observed in many religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism and Judaism. Mainstream Islam has lacked asceticism, except for its minority Sufi sect whose long tradition has included strict asceticism, the practitioners of these religions eschewed worldly pleasures and led an abstinent lifestyle, in the pursuit of redemption, salvation or spirituality. Asceticism is seen in the ancient theologies as a journey towards spiritual transformation, where the simple is sufficient, the bliss is within, the adjective ascetic derives from the ancient Greek term askēsis, which means training or exercise. The original usage did not refer to self-denial, but to the training required for athletic events. Its usage later extended to rigorous practices that are used in all religious traditions, in varying degrees to attain redemption. Asceticism has been classified into natural and unnatural forms of asceticism, natural asceticism is defined as a lifestyle where material aspects of life are reduced to utmost simplicity and minimum. This may include minimal, simple clothing, sleeping on floor or caves, natural asceticism, state Wimbush and Valantasis, does not include maiming the body or harsher austerities that make the body suffer. Self-discipline and abstinence in some form and degree are parts of religious practice within many religious, ascetic lifestyle is associated particularly with monks, nuns, fakirs in Abrahamic religions, and bhikkhus, munis, sannyasis, yogis in Indian religions. Christian authors of antiquity such as Origen, St. Jerome, St. Ignatius, John Chrysostom. Scriptural examples of asceticism could be found in the lives of John the Baptist, Jesus, the twelve apostles, the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed ascetic practices of the ancient Jewish sect of Essenes who took vows of abstinence to prepare for a holy war. An emphasis on a religious life was evident in both early Christian writings and practices. Other Christian practitioners of asceticism include individuals such as Simeon Stylites, Saint David of Wales, according to Richard Finn, much of early Christian asceticism has been traced to Judaism, but not to traditions within Greek asceticism. Some of the thoughts in Christianity nevertheless, Finn states, have roots in Greek moral thought. Virtuous living is not possible when an individual is craving bodily pleasures with desire, the deserts of the Middle East were at one time inhabited by thousands of Christian hermits including St. Anthony the Great, St. Mary of Egypt, and St. Simeon Stylites. In 963 CE, an association of monasteries called Lavra was formed on Mount Athos and this became the most important center of orthodox Christian ascetic groups in the centuries that followed. In the modern era, Mount Athos and Meteora have remained a significant center, sexual abstinence such as those of the Encratites sect of Christians was only one aspect of ascetic renunciation, and both natural and unnatural asceticism have been part of Christian asceticism. The natural ascetic practices have included simple living, begging, fasting and ethical practices such as humility, compassion, patience, such ascetic practices were linked to the Christian concepts of sin and redemption
Asceticism
–
Buddha practiced severe asceticism before his enlightenment and recommended a non-ascetic
middle way thereafter. In Christianity,
Francis of Assisi and his followers practiced extreme acts of asceticism.
Asceticism
Asceticism
–
The ascetics ask Rama for protection.
Asceticism
–
Acharya Vidyasagar,
Digambara Jain monk
31.
Divine Providence
–
In theology, divine providence, or just providence, is Gods intervention in the world. The term Divine Providence is also used as a title of God, miracles generally fall in the latter category. The word comes from Latin providentia foresight, prudence, from pro- ahead, the current use of the word has the sense of knowledge of the future or omniscience, understood as an attribute of God. In Acts 17 Paul says, t is he who gives to life and breath. In him we live and move and have our being, augustine of Hippo is perhaps most famously associated with the doctrine of Divine Providence in the Latin West. However, Christian teaching on providence in the high Middle Ages was most fully developed by Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica. The concept of providence as care exercised by God over the universe, his foresight, in it, he presents and solves, according to Catholic doctrine, the most difficult issues as related to providence. This term is an part of John Calvins theological framework known as Calvinism, which emphasizes the total depravity of man. Gods plan for the world and every soul that he has created is guided by his will, in this mode of thought, providence is related to predestination. This concept remains prominent among many Protestant denominations that identify with Calvinism, in Lutheran theology, divine providence refers to Gods preservation of creation, his cooperation with everything that happens, and his guiding of the universe. While God cooperates with both good and evil deeds, with the deeds he does so only inasmuch as they are deeds. God concurs with an effect, but he does not cooperate in the corruption of an act or the evil of its effect. Lutherans believe everything exists for the sake of the Christian Church, according to Martin Luther, divine providence began when God created the world with everything needed for human life, including both physical things and natural laws. Of the services others provide us through family, government, and work, he writes, we receive these blessings not from them, since God uses everyones useful tasks for good, people should look not down upon some useful vocations as being less worthy than others. Instead people should honor others, no matter how lowly, as being the means God uses to work in the world, Divine Providence is a book published by Emanuel Swedenborg in 1764 which describes his systematic theology regarding providence, free will, theodicy, and other related topics. Both meanings of providence are applicable in Swedenborgs theology, in that providence encompasses understanding, intent, Divine providence relative to man is foresight, and relative to the Lord is providence. Swedenborg proposes that one law of divine providence is that man should act from freedom according to reason, Divine providence is discussed throughout Rabbinic literature, and in particular by the classical Jewish philosophers. These writings maintain that divine providence means that God is directing every minute detail of creation and this analysis thus underpins much of Orthodox Judaisms world view, particularly as regards questions of interaction with the natural world
Divine Providence
–
Eye of Providence
32.
Abbey
–
An abbey is a complex of buildings used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. It provides a place for activities, work and housing of Christian monks. The concept of the abbey has developed over centuries from the early monastic ways of religious men and women where they would live isolated from the lay community about them. Religious life in an abbey may be monastic, an abbey may be the home of an enclosed religious order or may be open to visitors. The layout of the church and associated buildings of an abbey often follows a set plan determined by the religious order. Abbeys are often self-sufficient while using any abundance of produce or skill to provide care to the poor and needy, some abbeys offer accommodation to people who are seeking spiritual retreat. There are many famous abbeys across Europe, the earliest known Christian monasteries were groups of huts built near the residence of a famous ascetic or other holy person. Disciples wished to be close to their man or woman in order to study their doctrine or imitate their way of life. In the earliest times of Christian monasticism, ascetics would live in social isolation and they would subsist whilst donating any excess produce to the poor. However, increasing religious fervor about the ways and or persecution of them would drive them further away from their community. For instance, the cells and huts of anchorites have been found in the deserts of Egypt, in 312 AD, Anthony the Great retired to the Thebaid region of Egypt to escape the persecution of the Emperor Maximian. Anthony was the best known of the anchorites of his due to his degree of austerity, sanctity. The deeper he withdrew into the wilderness, the more numerous his disciples became and they refused to be separated from him and built their cells close to him. This became a first true monastic community, Anthony, according to Johann August Wilhelm Neander, inadvertently became the founder of a new mode of living in common, Coenobitism. At Tabennae on the Nile, in Upper Egypt, Saint Pachomius laid the foundations for the life by arranging everything in an organized manner. He built several monasteries, each with about 1,600 separate cells laid out in lines and these cells formed an encampment where the monks slept and performed some of their manual tasks. There were nearby large halls such as the church, refectory, kitchen, infirmary, an enclosure protecting all these buildings gave the settlement the appearance of a walled village. This layout, known as the laurae, became popular throughout Palestine, as well as the laurae, communities known as caenobia developed
Abbey
–
Sénanque Abbey,
Provence
Abbey
–
The
cloister of Sénanque Abbey
Abbey
–
Jumièges Abbey,
Normandy
Abbey
33.
Sub-Roman Britain
–
The term Post-Roman Britain is also used for the period, mainly in non-archaeological contexts. It is now often used to denote this period of history instead. Gradually the latter assumed more control, the Picts in northern Scotland were outside the applicable area. The period of sub-Roman Britain traditionally covers the history of the area subsequently became England from the end of Roman imperial rule in 410 to the arrival of Saint Augustine in 597. The date taken for the end of period is arbitrary in that the sub-Roman culture continued in the West of England. This period has attracted a deal of academic and popular debate. The term post-Roman Britain is also used for the period, mainly in non-archaeological contexts, Britain south of the Forth–Clyde line. The history of the area between Hadrians Wall and the Forth–Clyde line is unclear, North of the line lay an area inhabited by tribes about whom so little is known that we resort to calling them by a generic name, Picts. The period may also be considered as part of the early Middle Ages, popular works use a range of more dramatic names for the period, the Dark Ages, the Brythonic Age, the Age of Tyrants, or the Age of Arthur. There is very little extant written material available from this period, a lot of what is available deals with the first few decades of the 5th century only. The sources can usefully be classified into British and continental, two primary contemporary British sources exist, the Confessio of Saint Patrick and Gildas De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae. Patricks Confessio and his Letter to Coroticus reveal aspects of life in Britain and it is particularly useful in highlighting the state of Christianity at the time. Gildas is the nearest to a source of Sub-Roman history but there are problems in using it. The document represents British history as he and his audience understood it, though a few other documents of the period do exist, such as Gildas letters on monasticism, they are not directly relevant to British history. The historical section of De Excidio is short, and the material in it is selected with Gildas purpose in mind. There are no dates given, and some of the details, such as those regarding the Hadrians. There are more continental contemporary sources that mention Britain, though these are highly problematic, the most famous is the so-called Rescript of Honorius, in which the Western Emperor Honorius tells the British civitates to look to their own defence. The work of Procopius, another 6th century Byzantine writer, makes references to Britain
Sub-Roman Britain
–
Barbury Castle, 6th century hill fort, near
Swindon, in
South West England
Sub-Roman Britain
–
Roman coins findings clearly indicate the areas of biggest "romanization" and presence in Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain
34.
Islam
–
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
Islam
–
The
Kaaba, in
Mecca,
Hejaz region, today's
Saudi Arabia, is the
center of Islam.
Muslims from all over the world gather there to
pray in unity.
Islam
–
The dome of the
Carol I Mosque in
Constanța,
Romania, topped by the
Islamic crescent
Islam
–
Medallion showing "
Allah " (
God) in
Hagia Sophia,
Istanbul,
Turkey.
Islam
–
An
angel presenting
Muhammad and his companions with a miniature city. In the
Topkapi Palace Library,
Istanbul.
35.
Mecca
–
Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca
Mecca
–
Mecca seen from
Jabal al-Nour
Mecca
Mecca
–
1787
Ottoman Turkish map of the
Masjid al-Haram and related religious sites (Jabal al-Nour)
Mecca
–
Jabal al-Nour is where Muhammad is believed to have received the first revelation of
God through the
Archangel Gabriel.
36.
Saudi Arabia
–
Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
Saudi Arabia
–
Abdul Aziz
Ibn Saud, the first king of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
–
Flag
Saudi Arabia
–
Saudi Arabia political map
Saudi Arabia
–
Saudi Arabian administrative regions and roadways map.
37.
Holiest sites in Islam (Shia)
–
After Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem, Najaf and Karbala are the most revered by Shias. Masjid al-Haram, is a mosque in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It surrounds the Kaaba, the place which all Muslims turn towards each day in prayer, the current structure covers an area of 356,800 m2 including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to 820,000 worshippers during the Hajj period. During the Hajj period, the mosque is unable to contain the multitude of pilgrims, more than 2 million worshippers gather to pray during Eid prayers. The first of these spots is Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the second is Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. And when We assigned to Ibrahim the place of the House, saying, Do not associate with Me aught, and when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundations of the House, Our Lord. Accept from us, surely Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, located in Medina, the edifice was originally Muhammads house, he settled there after his Hijra to Medina, and later built a mosque on the grounds. He himself shared in the work of construction. The original mosque was a building, with no gender separation. The mosque also served as a community center, a court, there was a raised platform for the people who taught the Quran. The basic plan of the building has adopted in the building of other mosques throughout the world. The original mosque was built by the Muhammad and subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated the mosque, the most important feature of the site is the Green Dome over the center of the mosque, where the tomb of Muhammad is located. Constructed in 1817 CE and painted green in 1839, it is known as the Dome of the Prophet, quba Mosque found just outside Medina, Saudi Arabia, was the first Islamic mosque ever built. Its first stones were positioned by Muhammad on his emigration from the city of Mecca to Medina and was completed by his companions. Muhammad then waited for Ali to arrive before he entered the city of Medina. The silver domed al Aqsa Mosque sits, along with the Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is sacred because it was the first of the two Qiblas. Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the month after the emigration. Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported by the Buraq from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey, the mosque is also believed by many to be the area from where Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven
Holiest sites in Islam (Shia)
–
The Sacred Mosque in Mecca
Holiest sites in Islam (Shia)
–
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina
Holiest sites in Islam (Shia)
–
The mosque along the southern wall of The Noble Sanctuary
Holiest sites in Islam (Shia)
–
Exterior view of
Imam Ali Mosque
38.
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
39.
New Testament
–
The New Testament is the second major part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity, Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world and it reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Both extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are also incorporated into the various Christian liturgies, the New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music. In almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books, John A. T. Robinson, Dan Wallace, and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Others give a date of 80 AD, or at 96 AD. Over time, some disputed books, such as the Book of Revelation, other works earlier held to be Scripture, such as 1 Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Diatessaron, were excluded from the New Testament. However, the canon of the New Testament, at least since Late Antiquity, has been almost universally recognized within Christianity. The term new testament, or new covenant first occurs in Jeremiah 31,31, the same Greek phrase for new covenant is found elsewhere in the New Testament. Modern English, like Latin, distinguishes testament and covenant as alternative translations, John Wycliffes 1395 version is a translation of the Latin Vulgate and so follows different terms in Jeremiah and Hebrews, Lo. Days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel, for he reproving him saith, Lo. Days come, saith the Lord, when I shall establish a new testament on the house of Israel, use of the term New Testament to describe a collection of first and second-century Christian Greek Scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian. In Against Marcion, written circa 208 AD, he writes of the Divine Word, by the 4th century, the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius, a 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae and that which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old, but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The canon of the New Testament is the collection of books that most Christians regard as divinely inspired, several of these writings sought to extend, interpret, and apply apostolic teaching to meet the needs of Christians in a given locality. The book order is the same in the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, the Slavonic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions have different New Testament book orders. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, the word gospel derives from the Old English gōd-spell, meaning good news or glad tidings. The gospel was considered the good news of the coming Kingdom of Messiah, and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, Gospel is a calque of the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion
New Testament
–
Books of the New Testament
New Testament
–
Evangelist Mathäus und der Engel, by
Rembrandt.
New Testament
–
Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, 17th-century painting. Most scholars think Paul actually dictated his letters to a secretary.
New Testament
–
Papyrus Bodmer VIII, at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, showing 1 and 2 Peter.
40.
St. Peter
–
Saint Peter, also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simōn pronunciation, according to the New Testament, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, leaders of the early Christian Great Church. Hippolytus of Rome, a 3rd-century theologian, gave him the title of Apostle of the Apostles, according to Catholic teaching, Peter was ordained by Jesus in the Rock of My Church dialogue in Matthew 16,18. He is traditionally counted as the first Bishop of Rome and by Eastern Christian tradition also as the first Patriarch of Antioch. The ancient Christian churches all venerate Peter as a saint and as founder of the Church of Antioch. The New Testament indicates that Peter was the son of John and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee or Gaulanitis and his brother Andrew was also an apostle. According to New Testament accounts, Peter was one of twelve apostles chosen by Jesus from his first disciples, originally a fisherman, he played a leadership role and was with Jesus during events witnessed by only a few apostles, such as the Transfiguration. According to the gospels, Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, was part of Jesuss inner circle, thrice denied Jesus and wept bitterly once he realised his deed, according to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero Augustus Caesar. It is traditionally held that he was crucified upside down at his own request, Tradition holds that he was crucified at the site of the Clementine Chapel. His remains are said to be contained in the underground Confessio of St. Peters Basilica. According to Catholic doctrine, the direct successor to Saint Peter is the incumbent pope. Two general epistles in the New Testament are ascribed to Peter, the Gospel of Mark was traditionally thought to show the influence of Peters preaching and eyewitness memories. Peters original name was Shimon or Simeon and he was later given the name Peter, New Testament Greek Πέτρος derived from πέτρα, which means rock. In the Latin translation of the Bible this became Petrus, a form of the feminine petra. Another version of this name is Aramaic, , after his name in Hellenised Aramaic. The English, Dutch and German Peter, French Pierre, the Italian Pietro, the Spanish and Portuguese Pedro, the Syriac or Aramaic word for rock is kepa, which in Greek became Πέτρος, also meaning rock. He is also known as Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha, both Cephas and Kepha also mean rock. In the New Testament, he is among the first of the disciples called during Jesus ministry, Peter became the first listed apostle ordained by Jesus in the early church. Peter was a fisherman in Bethsaida and he was named Simon, son of Jonah or John
St. Peter
–
Saint Peter by
Peter Paul Rubens shows the saint holding the
Keys of Heaven and wearing the
pallium
St. Peter
–
Calling of Peter and Andrew,
Caravaggio
St. Peter
–
Ruins of ancient
Capernaum on north side of the
Sea of Galilee.
St. Peter
–
Apostle Peter striking the
High Priests ' servant
Malchus with a sword in the
Garden of Gethsemane.
41.
Holy Land
–
The Holy Land is an area roughly located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that also includes the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River. Traditionally, it is synonymous with both the biblical Land of Israel and historical Palestine, the term usually refers to a territory roughly corresponding to the modern State of Israel, the Palestinian territories, western Jordan, and parts of southern Lebanon and southwestern Syria. It is considered holy by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, many sites in the Holy Land have long been pilgrimage destinations for adherents of the Abrahamic religions, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Baháís. Pilgrims visit the Holy Land to touch and see physical manifestations of their faith, confirm their beliefs in the context with collective excitation. Jews do not commonly refer to the Land of Israel as Holy Land, the Tanakh explicitly refers to it as holy land in only one passage, in Zechariah 2,16. The holiness of the Land of Israel is generally implied in the Tanakh by the Land being given to the Israelites by God, that is, it is the promised land, an integral part of Gods covenant. In the Torah many mitzvot commanded to the Israelites can only be performed in the Land of Israel, for example, in the Land of Israel, no land shall be sold permanently. Shmita is only observed with respect to the land of Israel, according to Eliezer Schweid, The uniqueness of the Land of Israel is. geo-theological and not merely climatic. This is the land which faces the entrance of the spiritual world, Jerusalem, as the site of the Temple, is considered especially significant. Sacred burials are still undertaken for diaspora Jews who wish to lie buried in the soil of Israel. According to Jewish tradition, Jerusalem is Mount Moriah, the location of the binding of Isaac, the Hebrew Bible mentions the name Jerusalem 669 times, often because many mitzvot can only be performed within its environs. The name Zion, which refers to Jerusalem, but sometimes the Land of Israel. The Talmud mentions the religious duty of colonising Israel, so significant in Judaism is the act of purchasing land in Israel, the Talmud allows for the lifting of certain religious restrictions of Sabbath observance to further its acquisition and settlement. Rabbi Johanan said that one who walks a distance of 4 cubits in Israel may be confident of a share in the future world, a story says that when R. Eleazar b. Due to the Jewish population being concentrated in Israel, emigration was generally prevented, many Jews wanted Israel to be the place where they died. R. Anan said, To be buried in Israel is like being buried under the altar, the saying His land will absolve His people implies that burial in Israel will cause one to be absolved of all ones sins. Christian books, including editions of the Bible, often had maps of the Holy Land, for instance, the Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae of Heinrich Bünting, a German Protestant pastor, featured such a map. As a geographic term, the description Holy Land loosely encompasses modern-day Israel, in the Quran, the term الأرض المقدسة is mentioned at least seven times, once when Moses proclaims to the Children of Israel, O my people
Holy Land
–
A 1759 map entitled The Holy Land, or Palestine, showing not only the Ancient Kingdoms of Judah and Israel in which the 12 Tribes have been distinguished, but also their placement in different periods as indicated in the Holy Scriptures by Tobias Conrad
Lotter,
Geographer.
Augsburg,
Germany
Holy Land
–
The
Church of the Holy Sepulchre is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Christianity, as it is the purported site of Christ's resurrection.
Holy Land
–
Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem
42.
Christ
–
Jesus, also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who became the central figure of Christianity. Christians believe him to be the Son of God and the awaited Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry, preaching his message orally and often being referred to as rabbi. He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, and was crucified by the order of Pontius Pilate, Jesus debated fellow Jews on how to best follow God, performed healings, taught in parables and gathered followers. After his death, his followers believed he rose from the dead, and his birth is celebrated annually on December 25 as a holiday known as Christmas, his crucifixion is honored on Good Friday, and his resurrection is celebrated on Easter. The widely used calendar era AD, from the Latin anno Domini, most Christians believe Jesus enables humans to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, the great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of a Divine Trinity. A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, in Islam, Jesus is considered one of Gods important prophets and the Messiah. Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin but was not the Son of God, the Quran states that Jesus himself never claimed divinity. To most Muslims, Jesus was not crucified but was raised into Heaven by God. Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies, a typical Jew in Jesus time had only one name, sometimes supplemented with the fathers name or the individuals hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus neighbors in Nazareth refer to him as the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, the carpenters son, or Josephs son. In John, the disciple Philip refers to him as Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth, the name Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, a transliteration of the Greek Ἰησοῦς. The Greek form is a rendering of the Hebrew ישוע, a variant of the earlier name יהושע, the name Yeshua appears to have been in use in Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus. The 1st century works of historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote in Koine Greek, the etymology of Jesus name in the context of the New Testament is generally given as Yahweh is salvation. Since early Christianity, Christians have commonly referred to Jesus as Jesus Christ, the word Christ is derived from the Greek Χριστός, which is a translation of the Hebrew משיח, meaning the anointed and usually transliterated into English as Messiah. Christians designate Jesus as Christ because they believe he is the Messiah, whose arrival is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, in postbiblical usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of Jesus Christ—but originally it was a title. The term Christian has been in use since the 1st century, the four canonical gospels are the only substantial sources for the life and message of Jesus. Acts of the Apostles refers to the ministry of Jesus
Christ
–
The oldest known icon of
Christ Pantocrator –
Saint Catherine's Monastery. The
halo is a representation of the divine
Logos of Christ, and the two different facial expressions on either side emphasize Christ's
dual nature as both divine and human.
Christ
–
The Mocking of Christ by
Cavalier d'Arpino
Christ
–
First page of
Mark, by
Sargis Pitsak (14th century): " The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ".
Christ
–
The
Anointing of Jesus, c. 1450.
43.
Bethlehem
–
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city located in the central West Bank, Palestine, about 10 km south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000 people and it is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. The earliest known mention of the city was in the Amarna correspondence of 1350–1330 BCE during its habitation by the Canaanites. The Hebrew Bible, which says that the city of Bethlehem was built up as a city by Rehoboam, identifies it as the city David was from. The New Testament identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus, the church was badly damaged by the Samaritans, who sacked it during a revolt in 529, but was rebuilt a century later by Emperor Justinian I. Bethlehem became part of Jund Filastin following the Muslim conquest in 637, Muslim rule continued in Bethlehem until its conquest in 1099 by a crusading army, who replaced the towns Greek Orthodox clergy with a Latin one. In the mid-13th century, the Mamluks demolished the citys walls, control of Bethlehem passed from the Ottomans to the British at the end of World War I. Bethlehem came under Jordanian rule during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Since the 1995 Oslo Accords, Bethlehem has been administered by the Palestinian Authority, Bethlehem now has a Muslim majority, but is still home to a significant Palestinian Christian community. Bethlehems chief economic sector is tourism, which peaks during the Christmas season when Christians make pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem has over 30 hotels and 300 handicraft workshops. Rachels Tomb, an important Jewish holy site, is located at the entrance of Bethlehem. The earliest reference to Bethlehem appears in the Amarna correspondence, let the king hear the words of your servant Abdi-Heba, and send archers to restore the imperial lands of the king. It is thought that the similarity of name to its modern forms indicates that this was a settlement of Canaanites who shared a Semitic cultural. Lachmo was the Chaldean god of fertility, worshipped by the Canaanites as Lachama, some time in the 3rd millennium BCE, they erected a temple to worship the god on the hill now known as the Hill of the Nativity. The town was known as Beit Lachama, meaning House of Lachama, the Philistines later established a garrison there. The archaeologists were able to identify at least 30 tombs, the Bible also calls it Beth-Lehem Judah, and the New Testament describes it as the City of David. It is first mentioned in the Tanakh and the Bible as the place where the matriarch Rachel died and was buried by the wayside, Rachels Tomb, the traditional grave site, stands at the entrance to Bethlehem. According to the Book of Ruth, the valley to the east is where Ruth of Moab gleaned the fields and it was the home of Jesse, father of King David of Israel, and the site of Davids anointment by the prophet Samuel
Bethlehem
–
Bethlehem overlook
Bethlehem
–
According to the
New Testament,
Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem
–
1698 sketch by
Cornelis de Bruijn
Bethlehem
–
A painting of Bethlehem by
Vasily Polenov, 1882
44.
Sea of Galilee
–
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias, is a large freshwater lake in Israel. It is approximately 53 km in circumference, about 21 km long and its area is 166.7 km2 at its fullest, and its maximum depth is approximately 43 m. At levels between 215 metres and 209 metres below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth, the lake is fed partly by underground springs although its main source is the Jordan River which flows through it from north to south. The Sea of Galilee is situated in northeast Israel, between the Golan Heights and the Galilee region, in the Jordan Rift Valley, the caused by the separation of the African and Arabian Plates. Consequently, the area is subject to earthquakes, and in the past and this is evident by the abundant basalt and other igneous rocks that define the geology of the Galilee. The lake has been called by different names throughout its history, with changing fate of the towns, the lakes name also changed. This name was found in the scripts of Ugarit, in the Aqhat Epic. Kinneret was listed among the cities in Joshua 19,35. A persistent, though likely erroneous popular etymology of the name presumes that the name Kinneret may originate from the Hebrew word kinnor, the scholarly consensus though is that the origin of the name lies with the important Bronze and Iron Age city of Kinneret, excavated at Tell el-Oreimeh. However, there is no evidence that the city of Kinneret itself was not named after the body of water rather than vice versa, or for the origin of the towns name. Sea of Ginosar The Babylonian Talmud, as well as Flavius Josephus mention the sea by the name Sea of Ginosar after the fertile plain of Ginosar that lies on its western side. Ginosar is yet another name derived from Kinneret, Sea of Tiberias is also the name mentioned in Roman texts and in the Jerusalem Talmud, and was adopted into Arabic as Buhairet Tabariyya, Lake Tiberias. This is the name employed by the medieval Persian and Arab scholars Al-Baladhuri, Al-Tabari, in 1989 remains of a hunter-gatherer site were found under the water at the southern end. Remains of mud huts were found which are the oldest known buildings in the world, the Sea of Galilee lies on the ancient Via Maris, which linked Egypt with the northern empires. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, and Romans founded flourishing towns and settlements on the lake including Hippos. The first-century historian Flavius Josephus was so impressed by the area that he wrote, Josephus also reported a thriving fishing industry at this time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake. Archaeologists discovered one such boat, nicknamed the Jesus Boat, in 1986, much of the ministry of Jesus occurred on the shores of Lake Galilee. In those days, there was a ribbon development of settlements and villages around the lake and plenty of trade
Sea of Galilee
–
The town of
Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
–
Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
–
Christ Appears on the Shore of Lake Tiberias (Apparition du Christ sur les bords du lac de Tibériade) - James Tissot (Brooklyn Museum)
Sea of Galilee
–
Jesus and the
miraculous catch of fish, in the Sea of Galilee, by
Raphael
45.
Lourdes
–
Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in south-western France, prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château fort de Lourdes, a fortified castle that rises up from a rocky escarpment at its centre. In 1858 Lourdes rose to prominence in France and abroad due to the Marian apparitions seen by the peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous, shortly thereafter the city with the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes became one of the worlds most important sites of pilgrimage and religious tourism. Today Lourdes hosts around six million visitors every year from all corners of the world, as of 2011, of French cities only Paris had more hotel capacity. According to believers, the Virgin Mary appeared to Marie-Bernadette Soubirous on a total of eighteen occasions at Lourdes, Lourdes has become a major place of Roman Catholic pilgrimage and of miraculous healings. The 150th Jubilee of the first apparition took place on 11 February 2008 with an outdoor Mass attended by approximately 45,000 pilgrims. Today Lourdes has a population of around 15,000, but it is able to take in some 5,000,000 pilgrims, with about 270 hotels, Lourdes has the second greatest number of hotels per square kilometre in France after Paris. Some of the deluxe hotels like Grand Hotel Moderne, Hotel Grand de la Grotte, Hotel St. Etienne, Hotel Majestic, although the Lady did not tell Bernadette her name when asked at first, she told her to return to the grotto. On subsequent visits, the Lady revealed herself to be the Immaculate Conception, Bernadette, having only a rudimentary knowledge of the Catholic faith, did not understand what this meant but she reported it to her parish priest, Father Peyremale. He, though initially very skeptical of Bernadettes claims, became convinced when he heard this because he knew the girl had no knowledge of the doctrine. The Lady also told Bernadette to dig in the ground at a certain spot, almost immediately cures were reported from drinking the water. And yet the water has shown through repeated testing to not have any special curative properties. Today thousand of gallons of water gush from the source of the spring, countless miracle cures have been documented there, from the healing of nervous disorders and cancers to cases of paralysis and even of blindness. The estimate that about 4000 cures have been obtained at Lourdes within the first fifty years of the pilgrimage is undoubtedly considerably less than the actual number, during the Apparitions, Bernadette Soubirous prayed the Rosary. Pope John Paul II wrote, The Rosary of the Virgin Mary is a prayer with great significance, Lourdes is located in southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains near the prime meridian. The Grand Jer is accessible via the railway of the Pic du Jer. The Béout was once accessible by car, although this has fallen into disrepair. A pavilion is still visible on the summit, the Gave then branches off to the west towards the Béarn, running past the banks of the Grotto and on downstream to Pau and then Biarritz
Lourdes
–
Lourdes with the
Rosary Basilica
Lourdes
–
Statue of
Our Lady of Lourdes in the Grotto
Lourdes
–
Mosaic in the Rosary Basilica
Lourdes
–
Fort in Lourdes
46.
Santiago de Compostela
–
Santiago de Compostela, commonly known as Santiago, is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the cathedral, as destination of the Way of St. James. In 1985 the citys Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Santiago is the local Galician evolution of Vulgar Latin Sanctus Iacobus Saint James. Other etymologies derive the name from Latin compositum, local Vulgar Latin Composita Tella, meaning ground, or simply from Latin compositella. Other sites in Galicia share this toponym, akin to Compostilla in the province of León, the cathedral borders the main plaza of the old and well-preserved city. Legend has it that the remains of the apostle James were brought to Galicia for burial, in 813, according to medieval legend, the light of a bright star guided a shepherd who was watching his flock at night to the burial site in Santiago de Compostela. The shepherd quickly reported his discovery to the bishop of Iria, the bishop declared that the remains were those of the apostle James and immediately notified King Alfonso II in Oviedo. To honour St. James, the cathedral was built on the spot where his remains were said to have been found, along the western side of the Praza do Obradoiro is the elegant 18th century Pazo de Raxoi, now the city hall. The Obradoiro façade of the cathedral, the best known, is depicted on the Spanish euro coins of 1 cent,2 cents, Santiago is the site of the University of Santiago de Compostela, established in the early 16th century. The main campus can be seen best from an alcove in the municipal park in the centre of the city. Within the old town there are many narrow winding streets full of historic buildings, the new town all around it has less character though some of the older parts of the new town have some big flats in them. Santiago de Compostela has a substantial nightlife, both in the new town and the old town, a mix of middle-aged residents and younger students maintain a lively presence until the early hours of the morning. Santiago gives its name to one of the four orders of Spain, Santiago, Calatrava, Alcántara. One of the most important economic centres in Galicia, Santiago is the seat for organisations like Association for Equal, under the Köppen climate classification, Santiago de Compostela has a temperate oceanic climate, with mild to warm and somewhat dry summers and mild, wet winters. The prevailing winds from the Atlantic and the surrounding mountains combine to give Santiago some of Spain’s highest rainfall, about 1,545 millimetres annually. The climate is mild, frosts are common only in December, January and February, with an average of just 8 days per year, while snow is rare, temperatures over 30 °C are exceptional. The population of the city in 2012 was 95,671 inhabitants, in 2010 there were 4,111 foreigners living in the city, representing 4. 3% of the total population. The main nationalities are Brazilians, Portuguese and Colombians, by language, according to 2008 data, 21% of the population always speak in Galician, 15% always speak in Spanish and the rest use both interchangeably
Santiago de Compostela
–
Santiago's Old Town is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
–
In Compostela it rarely snows more than once or twice a year
Santiago de Compostela
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
47.
Canterbury
–
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, a journey of pilgrims to Beckets shrine served as the frame for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th century classic The Canterbury Tales. Canterbury is a popular tourist destination, consistently one of the cities in the United Kingdom. The city has been occupied since Paleolithic times and served as the capital of the Celtic Cantiaci, modern additions include the Marlowe Theatre and the St Lawrence Ground, home of the Kent County Cricket Club. Canterbury remains, however, a city in terms of geographical size and population. In Sub-Roman Britain, it was known in Old Welsh as Cair Ceint, occupied by the Jutes, it became known in Old English as Cantwareburh, which developed into its present name. The Canterbury area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, lower Paleolithic axes, and Neolithic and Bronze Age pots have been found in the area. Canterbury was first recorded as the settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Cantiaci. In the 1st century AD, the Romans captured the settlement, the Romans rebuilt the city, with new streets in a grid pattern, a theatre, a temple, a forum, and public baths. In the late 3rd century, to defend against attack from barbarians, the Romans built an earth bank around the city and a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres. Over the next 100 years, an Anglo-Saxon community formed within the city walls, as Jutish refugees arrived, in 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert its King Æthelberht to Christianity. After the conversion, Canterbury, being a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for his see in Kent. Augustine thus became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, the towns new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in pottery, textiles, and leather. By 630, gold coins were being struck at the Canterbury mint, in 672, the Synod of Hertford gave the see of Canterbury authority over the entire English Church. In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during Danish raids, in 978, Archbishop Dunstan refounded the abbey built by Augustine, and named it St Augustines Abbey. A second wave of Danish attacks began in 991, and in 1011 the cathedral was burnt, remembering the destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not resist William the Conquerors invasion in 1066. William immediately ordered a wooden motte-and-bailey castle to be built by the Roman city wall, in the early 12th century, the castle was rebuilt with stone. After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe and this pilgrimage provided the framework for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th-century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales
Canterbury
–
Canterbury lies on the
Great Stour river
Canterbury
–
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury
–
St. Augustine's Abbey, which forms part of the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site, was where Christianity was brought to England.
Canterbury
–
St. Augustine's Abbey gateway
48.
Kiev Pechersk Lavra
–
Since its foundation as the cave monastery in 1051 the Lavra has been a preeminent center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. Together with the Saint Sophia Cathedral, it is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the monastery complex is considered a separate national historic-cultural preserve, the national status to which was granted on 13 March 1996. The Lavra is not only located in part of the city. While being an attraction, the monastery is currently active. It was named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine on 21 August 2007, based on voting by experts, the word lavra is used to describe high-ranking male monasteries for monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Therefore, the name of the monastery is also translated as Kiev Cave Monastery and he chose a cave at the Berestov Mount that overlooked the Dnieper River and a community of disciples soon grew. Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev ceded the whole mount to the Antonite monks who founded a monastery built by architects from Constantinople. 1051-1062 Antoniy 1062-1063 Varlaam 1063-1074 Theodosius 1074-1077 Stefan I Bolharyn 1077-1088 Nikon the Great 1088-1103 Ioann In 1096 Cumans led by khan Boniak attacked Kiev and the Cave Monastery. 1108-1112 Theoktistos, became a bishop of Chernihiv 1132-1141 Pimen the Singer In 1159 the monastery received stauropegic status, anne, and the Church of the Life-Giving Spring. The Lavra also contains many other constructions, including, the St. Nicholas Monastery, the Kiev Theological Academy and Seminary, the Great Lavra Belltower is one of the most notable features of the Kiev skyline and among the main attractions of the Lavra. 96.5 meters in height, it was the tallest free-standing belltower at the time of its construction in 1731–1745 and it is a Classical style construction and consists of tiers, surmounted by a gilded dome. The Gate Church of the Trinity is located atop the Holy Gates, according to a legend, this church was founded by the Chernihiv Prince Sviatoslav II. It was built atop an ancient stone church which used to stand in its place, after the fire of 1718 the church was rebuilt, its revered facades and interior walls enriched with ornate stucco work made by master craftsman V. Stefaovych. In the 18th century a new gilded pear-shaped dome was built, the facade and exterior walls were decorated with stucco-moulded plant ornaments, in the early 20th century the fronts and the walls flanking the entrance were painted by icon painters under the guidance of V. Sonin. The interior of the Gate Trinity Church with murals by the early 18th century painter Alimpy Galik is of artistic value. The All Saints Church erected in 1696–1698 is a specimen of Ukrainian baroque architecture. Characteristic of the facades are rich architectural embellishments. In 1905 students of the Lavra art school painted the walls of the church
Kiev Pechersk Lavra
–
Riverside view of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra
Kiev Pechersk Lavra
–
The reconstructed Cathedral of the Dormition, as seen in 2005.
Kiev Pechersk Lavra
–
Up-close view of the
Great Lavra Belltower with its four tiers in 2005.
Kiev Pechersk Lavra
–
The
Near Caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Sketch by the Dutch artist Abraham van Westerveldt made in 1651.
49.
Rewalsar Lake
–
Rewalsar Lake, or Tso Pema Lotus Lake, is a mid-altitude lake located on a mountain spur in Mandi district,22.5 km south-west from Mandi. Its elevation is about 1,360 m above sea level, the lake is shaped like a square with the shoreline of about 735 m. It is held as a spot for Hindus, Sikhs. With water, woodland and high hills, it presents a variety of natural beauty, there are three Buddhist monasteries at Riwalsar. The lake also has three Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva and to the sage Lomas, another holy lake, Kunt Bhyog which is about 1,750 m above sea level lies above Rewalsar. It is associated with the escape of Pandavas from the palace of wax—an episode from the epic Mahabharata. It was from here that the great Indian teacher and Tantric Padmasambhava left for Tibet, known to the Tibetans as Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Master, it was under Padmasambhavas influence that Mahayana Buddhism spread over Tibet. There are islands of floating reed on Rewalsar lake and the spirit of Padmasambhava is said to reside in them. It is here that the sage Lomas did penance in devotion to Lord Shiva, and the Sikh guru Gobind Singh, the Sisu fair held in late February/early march, and the festival of Baisakhi are important events at Rewalsar. Mandarava and Padmasambhava were energetically drawn to one another, legend has it that the great teacher Padmasambhava used his enormous power to take flight to Tibet from Rewalsar. In Rewalsar, his spirit is said to reside in the island of floating reed that drifts over the water. Rewalsar, India, a village located beside the lake Emerson, gazetteer of the Mandi State 1920. Himachal Pradesh – The Abode of 5 spiritual lakes Singh, Sarina, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department himachaltourism. nic. in Rewalsar Lake Rewalsar Lake Picture Himachal Pradesh – The Abode of 5 spiritual lakes
Rewalsar Lake
–
Rewalsar Lake
Rewalsar Lake
–
123 feet (37.5 m) high statue of
Padmasambhava in mist at Rewalsar Lake.
Rewalsar Lake
–
Shrine to
Mandarava in cave above Lake Rewalsar.
Rewalsar Lake
–
Tibetan pilgrim, Rewalsar Lake
50.
Himachal Pradesh
–
Himachal Pradesh is a state of India located in Northern India. It is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab and Chandigarh on the west, Haryana on the south-west, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east. The name was coined from Sanskrit him snow and achal mountain, by Acharya Diwakar Datt Sharma, Himachal Pradesh is famous for its natural beauty, hill stations, and temples. Himachal Pradesh has been ranked fifteenth in the list of the highest per capita incomes of Indian states, many perennial rivers flow in the state, and numerous hydroelectric projects set up. Himachal produces surplus hydroelectricity and sells it to states such as Delhi, Punjab. Hydroelectric power projects, tourism, and agriculture form important parts of the states economy, the state has several valleys, and more than 90% of the population living in rural areas. Practically all houses have a toilet and 100% hygiene has been achieved in the state, the villages have good connectivity with roads, public health centres, and now with high-speed broadband. Shimla district has maximum urban population of 25%, according to a 2005 Transparency International survey, Himachal Pradesh was ranked the second-least corrupt state in the country, after Kerala. The history of the area that now constitutes Himachal Pradesh dates to the Indus valley civilisation that flourished between 2250 and 1750 BCE, tribes such as the Koili, Hali, Dagi, Dhaugri, Dasa, Khasa, Kinnar, and Kirat inhabited the region from the prehistoric era. During the Vedic period, several small republics known as Janapada existed which were conquered by the Gupta Empire. After a brief period of supremacy by King Harshavardhana, the region was divided into several local powers headed by chieftains and these kingdoms enjoyed a large degree of independence and were invaded by Delhi Sultanate a number of times. Mahmud Ghaznavi conquered Kangra at the beginning of the 10th century, timur and Sikander Lodi also marched through the lower hills of the state and captured a number of forts and fought many battles. Several hill states acknowledged Mughal suzerainty and paid tribute to the Mughals. The Gurkha people, a tribe, came to power in Nepal in the year 1768. They consolidated their power and began to expand their territory. Gradually, the Gorkhas annexed Sirmour and Shimla, under the leadership of Amar Singh Thapa, the Gurkha laid siege to Kangra. They managed to defeat Sansar Chand Katoch, the ruler of Kangra, however, the Gurkha could not capture Kangra fort which came under Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in 1809. After the defeat, the Gurkha began to expand towards the south of the state, however, Raja Ram Singh, Raja of Siba State, captured the fort of Siba from the remnants of Lahore Darbar in Samvat 1846, during the First Anglo-Sikh War
Himachal Pradesh
–
Sansar Chand (c. 1765–1823)
Himachal Pradesh
–
Location of Himachal Pradesh (marked in red) in
India
Himachal Pradesh
–
Rock Cut Temple, Masroor
Himachal Pradesh
–
The
Dhauladhar Range viewed from
Kangra
51.
Buddhism
–
Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
Buddhism
–
Standing Buddha statue at the
Tokyo National Museum. One of the earliest known representations of the
Buddha, 1st–2nd century CE.
Buddhism
–
The Dharmachakra
Buddhism
–
Relic depicting Gautama leaving home. The Great Departure, c.1–2nd century. (
Musée Guimet)
Buddhism
–
Ascetic
Gautama with his five companions, who later comprised the first
Sangha. (Painting in
Laotian temple)
52.
Buddha
–
Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region and he later taught throughout other regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala. Gautama is the figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as a teacher who attained full Buddhahood. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death, various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the facts of the Buddhas life. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddhas lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism. Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought, thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time. The times of Gautamas birth and death are uncertain, most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet accepted by all historians. It was either a republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, no written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, another one of his edicts mentions the titles of several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon and they are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different and these include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, a poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE, the Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE
Buddha
–
A statue of the Buddha from
Sarnath, 4th century CE
Buddha
–
Buddha by
Otgonbayar Ershuu
Buddha
–
Māyā miraculously giving birth to Siddhārtha.
Sanskrit,
palm-leaf manuscript.
Nālandā,
Bihar, India.
Pāla period
Buddha
–
Maya dream of the Birth of Gautama Siddharta
53.
Lumbini
–
Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in 563 BCE, Gautama, who achieved Enlightenment some time around 528 BCE, became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. Lumbini is one of many magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of Gautama Buddha, Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi Temple and several others which are still under construction. Many monuments, monasteries and a museum, the Lumbini International Research Institute, are also within the holy site, also there is the Puskarini, or Holy Pond, where the Buddhas mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he had his first bath. At other sites near Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, born, then achieved ultimate Enlightenment, Lumbini was made a World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1997. In the Buddhas time, Lumbini was situated in east of Kapilavastu and it was there, that the Buddha was born. A pillar discovered in 1896 is believed to mark the spot of Ashokas visit to Lumbini, the site was not known as Lumbini before the pillar was discovered. According to an inscription on the pillar, it was placed there by the then in charge of the park to commemorate Ashokas visit. The park was known as Rummindei,2 mi north of Bhagavanpura. The Sutta Nipáta states that the Buddha was born in a village of the Sákyans in the Lumbineyya Janapada, the Buddha stayed in Lumbinívana during his visit to Devadaha and there preached the Devadaha Sutta. In 1896, Nepalese archaeologists discovered a stone pillar at Lumbini. Führer postulated that the pillar was placed at the site by Ashoka circa 245 BCE, records made by the Chinese pilgrim Faxian in the early fifth century CE were also used in the process of identifying this religiously acclaimed site. The layout of the Ashokan shrine closely follows that of the timber structure. Lumbini is 4.8 km in length and 1.6 km in width, the holy site of Lumbini is bordered by a large monastic zone in which only monasteries can be built, no shops, hotels or restaurants. It is separated into an eastern and western zone, the eastern having the Theravadin monasteries. From early morning to evening, pilgrims from various countries perform chanting. The venture was a China-UN joint project, a broader Lumbini Development National Director Committee under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal was formed on 17 October 2011. The six-member committee included Communist Party of Nepal leader Mangal Siddhi Manandhar, Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, Forest Minister Mohammad Wakil Musalman, nipponzan Myohoji decided to build a Peace Pagoda in the park in 2001, which is visited by many different cultures and religions every day
Lumbini
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UNESCO World Heritage Site
Lumbini
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Lumbini
Lumbini
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Location of Lumbini, Nepal
Lumbini
–
Eternal Peace Flame
54.
Nepal
–
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises,13 sub-metropolises,246 municipal councils and 481 village and it has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between, Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the worlds ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and largest city. It is a nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, in the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet, the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala, the Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valleys traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture, by the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, the country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. Nepal is a nation, ranking 144th on the Human Development Index in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic and it also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022
Nepal
–
Lumbini, listed as the birthplace of
Gautama Buddha by the
UNESCO World Heritage Convention
Nepal
–
Flag
Nepal
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Former royal palace at
Basantapur, Kathmandu
Nepal
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Hindu temples in
Patan, capital of one of the three medieval
Newar kingdoms
55.
Bodh Gaya
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Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, in 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bodh Gaya is the most holy place for the followers of the Buddhist faith all over the world, situated by the bank of river Neranjana the place was then known as Uruwela. King Ashoka was the first to build a temple here, traditionally, Buddha was born in 563 BC in what is now Nepal on the following auspicious Baisakhi purnima. As Siddhartha, he renounced his family at the age of 29 in 534 BC, after practicing self-mortification for six years at Urubela in Gaya, he gave up that practice because it did not give him Vimukthi. Then he discovered Noble Eight-fold path without help from anyone and practiced it, Enlightenment is a state of being completely free from lust, hatred and delusion. By gaining enlightenment, you enter Nibbana, in which the stage is Parinibbana. At this place, the Buddha was abandoned by the five men who had been his companions of earlier austerities, all they saw was an ordinary man, they mocked his well-nourished appearance. Here comes the mendicant Gautama, they said, who has turned away from asceticism and he is certainly not worth our respect. When they reminded him of his vows, the Buddha replied. In the exhaustion and mental stupor to which they lead, one can no longer understand the things of life. I have given up extremes of luxury or asceticism. I have discovered the Middle Way and this is the path which is neither easy nor hard. Hearing this, the five became the Buddhas first disciples in Deer Park. The disciples of Gautama Siddhartha began to visit the place during the moon in the month of Vaisakh. Over time, the became known as Bodh Gaya, the day of enlightenment as Buddha Purnima. The history of Bodh Gaya is documented by inscriptions and pilgrimage accounts
Bodh Gaya
–
Great Buddha Statue
Bodh Gaya
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Mahabodhi temple
Bodh Gaya
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Buddhist Man Meditating in Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gaya
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Bodh Gaya before restoration.
56.
Kushinagar
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Kushinagar, Kusinagar or Kusinara is a town and a nagar Panchayat in the Kushinagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh located around NH-28, and is 52 km east of Gorakhpur city. It is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha attained Parinirvana after his death, outside India, it is an International Buddhist Pilgrimage Centre. The followers of Buddhism, especially from Asian countries, wish to visit this place at least once in their lifetime. According to one theory, Kushwati was capital of Kosala Kingdom and according to Ramayana it was built by King Kush, son of Rama, while according to Buddhist tradition Kushawati was named prior to the king Kush. The naming of Kushwati is believed to be due to abundance of Kush grass found in this region, as of 2011 India census, Kushinagar had a population of 22,214, with 3462 households. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%, Kushinagar has an average literacy rate of 78. 43%, higher than the national average of 74%, male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 72%. In Kushinagar, 11% of the population is under 10 years of age, Schedule Caste constitutes 5. 03% while Schedule Tribe were 2. 39% of total population in Kushinagar Nagar Panchayat. The present Kushinagar is identified with Kushawati and Kushinara, Kushinara was the capital of Mallas which was one of the sixteen mahajanpads of the 6th Century B. C. Since then, it remained a part of the erstwhile empires of Maurya, Shunga, Kushana, Gupta. In medieval period, Kushinagar had passed under the suzerainty of Kultury Kings, Kushinara continued to be a living city till the 12th Century A. D. and was thereafter lost into oblivion. Padrauna is believed to be ruled over by a Rajput adventurer, Carlleyle who exposed the main stupa and also discovered a 6.10 meters long statue of reclining Buddha in 1876. Excavations continued in the twentieth century under J. Ph. Vogel. He conducted archaeological campaigns in 1904-5, 1905-6 and 1906-7, uncovering a wealth of Buddhist materials, chandra Swami, a Burmese Monk, came to India in 1903 and made Mahaparinirvana Temple into a living shrine. After independence, Kushinagar remained the part of district Deoria, on 13 May 1994, it came into being as a new district of Uttar Pradesh. In 1896, Waddell suggested that the site of the death, however, according to Maha-parinirvana Sutta, the Buddha made his journey to Kushinagar, died there and wherein he was cremated. Modern scholarship, based on evidence, believes that the Buddha died in Kushinagar. Ashoka built a stupa and pilgrimage site to mark Buddhas parinirvana in Kushinagara, the Hindu kings of Gupta dynasty period helped greatly enlarge the Nirvana stupa and Kushinagar site, building a temple with reclining Buddha. This site was abandoned by Buddhist monks around 1200 CE, who fled to escape the invading Muslim army, the British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham rediscovered Kushinagara in late 19th-century and his colleague A. C. L. Carlleyle unearthed the 1,500 year old Buddha image
Kushinagar
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Buddha's cremation stupa, Kushinagar.
Kushinagar
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Golden Statue of Buddha in Wat Thai Kushinara Temple.
Kushinagar
–
The Parinirvana Temple with the
Parinirvana Stupa, Kushinagar
57.
Temple of the Tooth
–
Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the temple, bhikkhus of the two chapters of Malwatte and Asgiriya conduct daily worship in the inner chamber of the temple. Rituals are performed three times daily, at dawn, at noon and in the evenings, on Wednesdays there is a symbolic bathing of the relic with an herbal preparation made from scented water and fragrant flowers called Nanumura Mangallaya. This holy water is believed to contain healing powers and is distributed among those present, the temple sustained damage from bombings by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1998 but was fully restored each time. They landed in the island in Lankapattana during the reign of Sirimeghavanna of Anuradhapura, the king enshrined it Meghagiri Vihara in Anuradhapura. Safeguard of the relic was a responsibility of the monarch, therefore over the years the custodianship of relic became to symbolize the right to rule, during the era of the Kingdom of Gampola, the relic was housed in Niyamgampaya Vihara. During the reign of Dharmapala of Kotte, the relic was hidden in Delgamuwa Vihara, Ratnapura. It was brought to Kandy by Hiripitiye Diyawadana Rala and Devanagala Rathnalankara Thera, king Vimaladharmasuriya I built a two-storey building to deposit the tooth relic and the building is now gone. In 1603 when the Portuguese invaded Kandy, it was carried to Meda Mahanuwara in Dumbara and it was recovered in the time of Rajasinha II and it has been reported that he reinstate the original building or has built a new temple. The present day temple of the tooth was built by Vira Narendra Sinha, the octagonal Patthirippuwa and moat was added during the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. Famous Kandyan architect Devandra Mulacharin is credited with building the Patthirippuwa, originally it was used by the kings for recreational activities and later it was offered to the tooth relic. The brick wall runs along the moat and Bogambara lake is known as water waves wall. Holes in this wall are built to light oil lamps. The main entrance gate which lies over the moat is called Mahawahalkada, at the foot of Mahawahalkada steps there is a Sandakada pahana which is carved in Kandyan architectural style. Mahawahalkada was totally destroyed in a 1998 bomb blast and rebuilt afterwards along with sandakada pahana other stone carvings, elephants are depicted in stone on the either sides of the entrance. A Makara Torana and two stones are placed on top of the staircase
Temple of the Tooth
–
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, a
World Heritage Site in
Kandy
Temple of the Tooth
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Front view of The Temple of the Tooth, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Temple of the Tooth
–
Patthirippua At Sri Dalada Maligawa Kandy Sri Lanka
Temple of the Tooth
–
Wall painting at
Kelaniya Temple of Princess Hemamali and her husband, Prince Dantha which she carried Gautama Buddha's tooth relic hidden in her hair to Sri Lanka. - Painting by
Solias Mendis
58.
Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
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Avukana Buddha statue, a 12 metres (39 ft) standing Buddha statue belongs to the reign of
Dhatusena of Anuradhapura, 5th century
Sri Lanka
–
Flag
Sri Lanka
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Ptolemy's world map of Ceylon, first century CE, in a 1535 publication.
Sri Lanka
–
The
Sigiriya rock fortress
59.
Hindu
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Hindu refers to any person who regards themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. It has historically used as a geographical, cultural, or religious identifier for people indigenous to South Asia. The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time, by the 16th century, the term began to refer to residents of India who were not Turks or Muslims. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within the Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear, competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it developed post-8th century CE after the Islamic invasion and medieval Hindu-Muslim wars. A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and regional languages. The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma, the Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term Hindu in religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for Mughals, scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. Hindoo is a spelling variant, whose use today may be considered derogatory. At more than 1.03 billion, Hindus are the third largest group after Christians. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million, live in India, according to Indias 2011 census. After India, the next 9 countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Myanmar. These together accounted for 99% of the worlds Hindu population, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means a large body of water, covering river, ocean. It was used as the name of the Indus river and also referred to its tributaries, the Punjab region, called Sapta Sindhava in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta. The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions the province of Hidush, the people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian in the 8th century text Chachnama. The term Hindu in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term, the Arabic equivalent Al-Hind likewise referred to the country of India. Among the earliest known records of Hindu with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese text Record of the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang, Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose connotation overflows in the religious according to Arvind Sharma. The Hindu community occurs as the amorphous Other of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that Hindu retained its geographical reference initially, Indian, indigenous, local, virtually native. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves, the poet Vidyapatis poem Kirtilata contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks in a city and concludes The Hindus and the Turks live close together, Each makes fun of the others religion
Hindu
–
A Hindu wedding ritual in India.
Hindu
–
Hindu culture in Bali,
Indonesia. The Krishna-Arjuna sculpture inspired by the
Bhagavad Gita in
Denpasar (top), and Hindu dancers in traditional dress.
Hindu
Hindu
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Hindus at
Har Ki Pauri,
Haridwar near river
Ganges in
Uttarakhand state of India.
60.
Badrinath
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Badrinath is a holy town and a nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the most important of the four sites in Indias Char Dham pilgrimage, badri refers to a berry that was said to grow abundantly in the area, and nath means Lord of. Badri is also the Sanskrit name for the Indian Jujube tree, some scriptural references refer to Jujube trees being abundant in Badrinath. Badrinath was reëstablished as a pilgrimage site by Adi Shankara in the 7th century. In earlier days, pilgrims used to walk hundreds of miles to visit Badrinath temple, the temple has been repeatedly destroyed by earthquakes and avalanches. As late as the First World War, the town consisted only of the 20-odd huts used by the temples staff, but the site drew thousands each year and up to 50,000 on its duodecennial festivals. In recent years its popularity has increased still more, with an estimated 600,000 pilgrims visiting during the 2006 season, the temple in Badrinath is also a sacred pilgrimage site for Vaishnavites. Badrinath is also gateway to several mountaineering expeditions headed to mountains like Nilkantha, the Badrinath temple is the main attraction in the town. According to legend Shankar discovered a stone image of Lord Badrinarayan made of Saligram stone in the Alaknanda River. He originally enshrined it in a cave near the Tapt Kund hot springs, in the sixteenth century, the King of Garhwal moved the murti to the present temple. The temple is approximately 50 ft tall with a cupola on top. The facade is built of stone, with arched windows, a broad stairway leads up to a tall arched gateway, which is the main entrance. The architecture resembles a Buddhist vihara, with the brightly painted facade also more typical of Buddhist temples, just inside is the mandapa, a large pillared hall that leads to the garbha grha, or main shrine area. The walls and pillars of the mandapa are covered with intricate carvings, the Badrinath area is referred to as Badari or Badarikaashram in Hindu scriptures. It is a sacred to Vishnu, particularly in Vishnus dual form of Nara-Narayana. Therefore, the mighty Ganga was split into two channels, with Alaknanda one of them. The mountains around Badrinath are mentioned in the Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were said to have expired one by one, the Pandavas passed through Badrinath and the town of Mana,4 km north of Badrinath, on their way to Svarga. There is also a cave in Mana where Vyasa, according to legend, the area around Badrinath was celebrated in Padma Purana as abounding in spiritual treasures
Badrinath
–
Badrinath Valley, along the Alaknanda River
Badrinath
–
Badrinath is one of the most popular and religious holy towns of the Hindus located at Chamoli district of Uttarkhand in India.
Badrinath
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Badrinath temple in night after closing ceremony.
Badrinath
–
Neelkanth Parbat from Badrinath
61.
Ganges
–
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
–
The Ganges in
Varanasi
Ganges
–
Map of the combined drainage basins of the Ganges (orange), Brahmaputra (violet), and Meghna (green).
Ganges
–
Bhagirathi River at
Gangotri.
Ganges
–
Devprayag, confluence of Alaknanda (right) and Bhagirathi (left) rivers, beginning of the Ganges proper.
62.
Yamuna
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It is the longest river in India which does not directly flow to the sea. Most importantly it creates the highly fertile alluvial, Yamuna-Ganges Doab region between itself and the Ganges in the Indo-Gangetic plain, nearly 57 million people depend on the Yamuna waters. With an annual flow of about 10,000 cubic billion metres and usage of 4,400 cbm, just like the Ganges, the Yamuna too is highly venerated in Hinduism and worshipped as goddess Yamuna, throughout its course. One official describes the river as a drain with biochemical oxygen demand values ranging from 14 to 28 mg/l. Yamunotri temple, a dedicated to the goddess, Yamuna is one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism. Also standing close to the temple, on its 13-kilometre trek route, that follows the bank of the river, lies the Markendeya Tirtha. Large terraces formed over a period of time can be seen in the lower course of the river. Kalanag is the highest point of the entire Yamuna basin, other tributaries in the region are the Giri, Rishi Ganga, Kunta, Hanuman Ganga and Bata tributaries, which drain the Upper Catchment Area of the vast Yamuna basin. Thereafter the river descends on to the plains of Doon Valley, the Yamuna also creates natural state borders between the Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states, and further down between the state of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The plain itself supports one-third of Indias population through its farming, here pilgrims travel by boats to platforms erected mid stream to offer prayers. During the Kumbh Mela, held every 12 years, the ghats around the Sangam are venue of large congregation of people, the cities of Baghpat, Delhi, Noida, Mathura, Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Kalpi, Hamirpur, Allahabad lie on its banks. At Etawah, it meets it another important tributary, Chambal, followed by a host of tributaries further down, including, Sindh, the Betwa, and Ken. Tons River, Yamunas largest tributary, rises in the 20,720 ft high Bandarpoonch mountain and it meets Yamuna below Kalsi near Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Sasur Khaderi River, known as Sasur Khaderi is a tributary in Fatehpur district, the name Yamuna seems to be derived from the Sanskrit word yama, meaning twin, and it may have been applied to the river because it runs parallel to the Ganges. The Yamuna is mentioned at many places in the Rig Veda, 1700–1100 BC, and also in the later Atharvaveda, and the Brahmanas including Aitareya Brahmana and Shatapatha Brahmana. In Rig Veda, the story of the Yamuna describes her love for her twin, Yama, who in turn asks her to find a suitable match for herself. It is also said that lord shiva was the reason for the colour of the Yamuna river. After the death of Sati Devi, lord shiva couldnt tolerate the sadness around him, and At last when he went to Yamuna river, it became so black as it absorbed all his sorrow
Yamuna
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Taj Mahal in
Agra on the banks of Yamuna
Yamuna
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Map
Yamuna
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Banderpoonch peak, the source of Yamuna, as seen from
Mussoorie
Yamuna
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The
Yamunotri temple on the river, dedicated to Goddess Yamuna.
63.
Himalaya
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The Himalayas, or Himalaya, form a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayan range has the Earths highest peaks, including the highest, the Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 metres in elevation. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia – Aconcagua, in the Andes – is 6,961 metres tall. The Himalayas are spread across five countries, Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, the Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate and its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river. Its eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the bend of the Tsangpo river. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east, the name of the range derives from the Sanskrit Himā-laya, from himá and ā-laya. They are now known as the Himalaya Mountains, usually shortened to the Himalayas, formerly, they were described in the singular as the Himalaya. This was also previously transcribed Himmaleh, as in Emily Dickinsons poetry and Henry David Thoreaus essays. The mountains are known as the Himālaya in Nepali and Hindi, the Himalaya or The Land of Snow in Tibetan, the Hamaleh Mountain Range in Urdu, the flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice, the amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant. The extremes of high altitude combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms, the unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations, the oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some species, especially rhododendron, apple. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet, the Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock
Himalaya
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The north face of
Mount Everest seen from the path to the base camp in
Tibet Autonomous Region,
China
Himalaya
Himalaya
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Panoramic view of Langtang Range in
Nepal
Himalaya
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Indus River
64.
Batu Caves
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Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and cave temples in Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu, which flows past the hill and it is the tenth limestone hill from Ampang. Batu Caves is also the name of a nearby village, the cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, and is dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the point of Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia. Batu Caves in short also referred as 10th Caves or Hill for Lord Muruga as there are six important holy shrines in India, the three others in Malaysia are Kallumalai Temple in Ipoh, Tanneermalai Temple in Penang and Sannasimalai Temple in Malacca. It is also near Selayang where a famous and large market in Klang Valley located. The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old, some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people. As early as 1860, Chinese settlers began excavating guano for fertilising their vegetable patches, however, they became famous only after the limestone hills were recorded by colonial authorities including Daly and Syers as well as American Naturalist, William Hornaday in 1878. Batu Caves was promoted as a place of worship by K. Thamboosamy Pillai and he was inspired by the vel-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Murugan within the caves. In 1890, Pillai, who founded the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur. Since 1892, the Thaipusam festival in the Tamil month of Thai has been celebrated there, wooden steps up to the Temple Cave were built in 1920 and have since been replaced by 272 concrete steps. Of the various temples that comprise the site, the largest and best known is the Temple Cave. Rising almost 100 m above the ground, the Batu Caves temple complex consists of three main caves and a few smaller ones, the biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a very high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. To reach it, visitors must climb a flight of 272 steps. At the base of the hill are two more temples, Art Gallery Cave and Museum Cave, both of which are full of Hindu statues and paintings. This complex was renovated and opened as the Cave Villa in 2008, many of the shrines relate the story of Lord Murugans victory over the demon Soorapadman. An audio tour is available to visitors, the Ramayana Cave is situated to the extreme left as one faces the sheer wall of the hill. On the way to the Ramayana Cave, there is a 15 m tall statue of Hanuman, the consecration ceremony of the temple was held in November 2001
Batu Caves
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Entrance to Batu Caves with the Murugan statue
Batu Caves
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Entrance Shrine at Batu Caves
Batu Caves
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Standing at 42.7 m (140 ft) high, the world's tallest statue of
Murugan, a
Hindu deity, is located outside Batu Caves, near the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The statue, which cost approximately 24 million
rupees, is made of 1550 cubic metres of
concrete, 250 tonnes of
steel bars and 300 litres of gold paint brought in from neighbouring
Thailand.
Batu Caves
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Macaque at Batu Caves
