1.
Sargon (chess)
–
Sargon is a line of chess-playing software for personal computers. The original SARGON was written by Dan and Kathleen Kathe Spracklen in a Z80-based computer called Wavemate Jupiter III using assembly language through TDL Macro Assembler, the name was originally written entirely in capitals because early computer operating systems such as CP/M did not support lowercase file names. SARGON was introduced at the 1978 West Coast Computer Faire where it won the first computer chess tournament held strictly for microcomputers and this success encouraged the authors to seek financial income by selling the program directly to customers. Since magnetic media were not widely available at the time, the placed a advert in Byte magazine selling for $15 photocopied listings that would work in any Z80-based microcomputer. Availability of the code allowed porting to other machines. For example, the March–April 1979 issue of Recreational Computing describes a project that converted Sargon to an 8080 program by using macros, later the Spracklens were contacted by Hayden Books and a book was published. Paul was not involved in further refinements to the TRS-80 version due to his reassignment to sea duty shortly after signing the deal with Hayden Software. In the early 1980s, SARGON CHESS was ported to other early microcomputers, including the Nascom, Exidy Sorcerer. A complete rewrite was necessary later for the Apple II port, both were published by Hayden Software. The Spracklens made significant improvements on the program and released Sargon II. In 1978 it tied for third at the ninth North American Computer Chess Championship despite being seeded ninth of 12 entries, Sargon finished only behind Belle and Chess 4.7, and defeated AWIT—running on a $5 million Amdahl mainframe—amazing the audience. That year they published a series of articles in BYTE on computer programming, stating we think it would be nice if not everyone had to reinvent the wheel. Sargon II was ported to a variety of personal computers popular in the early 1980s, the game engine featured multiple levels of lookahead to make it more accessible to beginning chess players. BYTE in 1980 estimated that Sargon II had a 1500 rating at the highest tournament-time difficulty level, Sargon 2.5, sold as a ROM module for the Chafitz Modular Game System, was identical to Sargon II but incorporated pondering. It received a 1641 rating at the Paul Masson tournament in June–July 1979, Sargon 3.0 finished in seventh place at the October 1979 North American Computer Chess Championship. The competition had improved, but 3.0 drew against Cray Blitz and easily defeated Mychess, in December,3.0 easily won the second microcomputer championship in London. In 1980, the Spracklens Reversi game finished in first place at a tournament at Northwestern University. Sargon III was a rewrite from scratch
Sargon (chess)
–
A screenshot from Sargon I for the Apple II
2.
List of Assyrian kings
–
The list of Assyrian kings is compiled from the Assyrian King List, which begins approximately 2500 BC and continues to the 8th century BC. It begins listing Kings of the Sumero-Akkadian city-state of Assur, Assyria is an ancient civilization in northern Mesopotamia. The Assyrian King List includes regnal lengths that appear to have based on now lost limmu lists. These regnal lengths mostly accord well with Hittite, Babylonian and ancient Egyptian king lists and with the archaeological record and it is somewhat fictional however, as some known kings are not found on the list and other listed kings are not independently verified. An incomplete list of 16 Assyrian kings was also preserved in the literature of Sextus Julius Africanus, other very fragmentary Assyrian king lists have come down to us written by the Greeks and Romans such as Ctesias of Cnidus and the Roman authors Castor of Rhodes and Cephalion. Unlike the cuneiform tablets, the Greek-language list is considered to contain minor historical truths. Some scholars argue further that they are either entire fabrications or fiction, there are three extant cuneiform tablet versions of the Assyrian King List, and two fragments. Scribes then copied the List and added to it over time, before Erishum I the list gives no regnal lengths are given for kings. The following kings are listed from the list of cuneiform tablets, damage to the tablets in all three extant King Lists before Enlil-nasir II prevents the calculation of approximate regnal dates from Erishum I to this point. Additionally, three kings attested elsewhere from this period are not included in the standard King List, the remainder of the King List then has an unbroken chain of regnal lengths from Enlil-nasir II on. Disparities between the different versions of the King List for the reigns of Ashur-nadin-apli and Ninurta-apal-Ekur contribute to the debate over the chronology of the ancient Near East. The dates up to Ninurta-apal-Ekur are subject to debate, as some of the regnal lengths vary over the different versions of the King List. The dates given below are based on Assyrian King Lists B and C and this timeframe is also subject to the overall debate about the chronology of the ancient Near East, the short chronology is used here. Dates from 1179 to 912 BC, although less secure than dates from 911 BC onwards, are not subject to the chronology debate, synchronisms between the limmu lists and absolute dates known from Babylonian chronology provide good absolute dates for the years between 911 BC and 649 BC. The dates for the end of the Assyrian period are uncertain due to the lack of limmu lists after 649 BC. Ctesias, as physician to Artaxerxes II, claimed to have access to the royal historical records. Ctesias list of Assyrian kings was included in his Persica, a work covering the history of Persia, how much of Ctesias king list is factual history is still debated. While most scholars agree large parts are fiction, it is agreed that there is historical truth based on the probability his list was rooted in transmitted oral tradition
List of Assyrian kings
–
Adad-nirari III (811–783 BC)
List of Assyrian kings
–
Neo-Assyrian Empire (824 & 671 BC)
List of Assyrian kings
–
Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727 BC)
List of Assyrian kings
–
Ashurbanipal (669–631 BC)
3.
Dur-Sharrukin
–
Dur-Sharrukin, present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq,15 km northeast of Mosul, the great city was entirely built in the decade preceding 706 BC. After the unexpected death of Sargon in battle, the capital was shifted 20 km south to Nineveh, Sargon II ruled from 722 to 705 BC. In 717, Sargon ordered the construction of a new palace-city at the confluence of the Tigris, the demands for timber and other materials and craftsmen, who came from as far as coastal Phoenicia, are documented in contemporary Assyrian letters. The debts of construction workers were nullified in order to attract a sufficient labour force, the land in the environs of the town was taken under cultivation, and olive groves were planted to increase Assyrias deficient oil-production. The great city was built in the decade preceding 706 BC. Sargon was killed during a battle in 705, after his unexpected death his son and successor Sennacherib abandoned the project, and relocated the capital with its administration to the city of Nineveh,20 km south. The city was never completed and it was abandoned a century later when the Assyrian empire fell. On 8 March 2015 the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant reportedly started the plunder and demolition of Dur-Sharrukin, the Iraqi Tourism and Antiquities Ministry launched the related investigation on the same day. The town was of rectangular layout and measured 1758.6 by 1635 metres, the enclosed area comprised 3 square kilometres, or 288 hectares. The length of the walls was 16280 Assyrian units, which according to Sargon himself corresponded to the value of his name. The city walls were massive and 157 towers protected its sides, seven gates entered the city from all directions. A walled terrace contained temples and the royal palace, the main temples were dedicated to the gods Nabu, Shamash and Sin, while Adad, Ningal and Ninurta had smaller shrines. A temple tower, ziqqurat, was also constructed, the palace was adorned with sculptures and wall reliefs, and the gates were flanked with winged-bull shedu statues weighing up to 40 tons. Sargon supposedly lost at least one of these winged bulls in the river, surviving correspondence mentions the moving of thousands of young fruit trees, quinces, almonds, apples and medlars. On the central canal of Sargons garden stood a pillared pleasure-pavilion which looked up to a great topographic creation and this Mound was planted with cedars and cypresses and was modelled after a foreign landscape, the Amanus mountains in north Syria, which had so amazed the Assyrian kings. In their flat palace-gardens they built a replica of what they had encountered, Dur-Sharrukin is roughly a square with a border marked by a city wall 24 meters thick with a stone foundation pierced by seven massive gates. A mound in the northeast section marks the location of the palace of Sargon II, at the time of its construction, the village on the site was named Maganuba
Dur-Sharrukin
–
A human-headed winged bull known as a
lamassu from Dur-Sharrukin. Neo-Assyrian Period, ca. 721–705 BCE
Dur-Sharrukin
–
Lamassu found during Botta's excavation, now in the
Louvre Museum.
Dur-Sharrukin
–
Plan of Dur-Sharrukin, 1867
Dur-Sharrukin
–
Plan of Palace of Sargon Khosrabad Reconstruction 1905
4.
Shalmaneser V
–
Shalmaneser V was king of Assyria from 727 to 722 BC. He first appears as governor of Zimirra in Phoenicia in the reign of his father, Tiglath-Pileser III, evidence pertaining to his reign is scarce. On the death of Tiglath-Pileser, he succeeded to the throne of Assyria on the 25th day of Tebet 727 BC, and changed his original name of Ululayu to the Akkadian name he is known by. While it has suggested that he continued to use Ululayu for his throne name as king of Babylonia. The name Shalmaneser is used for him in the Bible, which attributes to him the final conquest of the kingdom of Samaria and the deportation of Israelites. According to 2 Kings, chapters 17-18, Shalmaneser accused Hoshea, King of Israel, of conspiring against him by sending messages to Pharaoh Osorkon IV of Egypt, and captured him. Indeed, the Egyptians attempted to gain a foothold in Israel, then held largely by Assyrias vassal kings, by stirring them to revolt against Assyria, after three years of siege he took the city of Samaria. The populations he deported to various lands of the empire, are known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, the populations he settled in Samaria instead form the origins of the Samaritans, according to a commentary in the Bible. Shalmaneser died in the year,722 BC, and it is possible that the population exchanges were done by his successor Sargon II. In the book of Tobit, chapter 1, the exiled Tobit is shown finding favor in Shalmanesers court, only to lose influence under Sennacherib
Shalmaneser V
–
Shalmaneser V from
Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (
Guillaume Rouillé, 1553)
5.
Sennacherib
–
Sennacherib was the king of Assyria from 705 BCE to 681 BCE. He is principally remembered for his campaigns against Babylon and Judah. He was assassinated in obscure circumstances in 681 BCE, apparently by his eldest son, the primary preoccupation of his reign was the so-called Babylonian problem, the refusal of the Babylonians to accept Assyrian rule, culminating in his destruction of the city in 689 BCE. Further campaigns were carried out in Syria in the mountains east of Assyria, against the kingdoms of Anatolia and his death was welcomed in Babylon as divine punishment for the destruction of that city. He was also a builder, it was under him that Assyrian art reached its peak. Assyria began as a Bronze Age city-state or small kingdom on the middle-Tigris, the empires rise aroused the fear and hatred of its neighbours, notably Babylon, Elam and Egypt, and the many smaller kingdoms of the region such as Judah. Any perceived weakness on the part of Assyria led inevitably to rebellion, solving the so-called Babylonian problem was Sennacheribs primary preoccupation. Sennacheribs grandfather Tiglath-pileser III had made himself king of Babylon, creating a monarchy in which the Babylonians retained a nominal independence. This arrangement was never accepted by local leaders, particularly an important tribal chief named Marduk-apla-iddina. Marduk-apla-iddina paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser, but when Tiglath-pilesers successor Shalmaneser V was overthrown by Sargon II he seized the opportunity to crown himself king of Babylon, the next thirty years saw a repeating pattern of Assyrian reconquest and renewed rebellion. His relations, instead, were military, and culminated in his complete destruction of Babylon in 689 BCE. He destroyed the temples and the images of the gods, except for that of Marduk, the creator-god and divine patron of Babylon and this caused consternation in Assyria itself, where Babylon and its gods were held in high esteem. Sennacherib attempted to justify his actions to his own countrymen through a campaign of religious propaganda, in Babylon itself, Sennachribs answer to the Babylonian problem sparked an intense hatred that would eventually lead to a war for independence and the destruction of Assyria. Sennacherib was probably not the son of Sargon II, but he was groomed for royal succession. Sargon died in battle, and ancient sources give three different years for Sennacheribs first reign-year—705 BCE,704 BCE, and 703 BCE—suggesting that the succession was not smooth, Sennacheribs first campaign began late in 703 BCE against Marduk-apla-iddina, who had once more taken the throne of Babylon. The rebellion was defeated, Marduk-apla-iddina fled, and Babylon was taken, a puppet king named Bel-ibni was placed on the throne and for the next two years Babylon was left in peace. In 701 BCE, Sennacherib turned from Babylonia to the part of the empire. Ekron called on Egypt for help but the Egyptians were defeated, Sennacherib then turned on Jerusalem, Hezekiahs capital
Sennacherib
–
Sennacherib during his Babylonian war, relief from his palace in
Nineveh
Sennacherib
–
Assyrian warriors armed with slings from the palace of Sennacherib, 7th century BCE
Sennacherib
–
View of ancient Nineveh, Description de L'Univers (
Alain Manesson Mallet, 1719).
Sennacherib
–
Limestone stele of king Sennacherib from Nineveh. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul Archeological Museums, Turkey
6.
Kalhu
–
It was a major Assyrian city between approximately 1350 BC and 610 BC. The city is located in a strategic position 10 kilometres north of the point that the river Tigris meets its tributary the Great Zab, the city covered an area of 360 hectares. The ruins of the city were found one kilometre of the modern-day Assyrian village of Noomanea in Nineveh Province. This is some 30 kilometres southeast of Mosul, archaeological excavations at the site began in 1845, and were conducted at intervals between then and 1879, and then from 1949 onwards. Many important pieces were discovered, with most being moved to museums in Iraq, archaeologists believe that the city was given the name Nimrud in modern times after the Biblical Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero. In 2015, the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant announced its intention to destroy the site because of its un-Islamic Assyrian nature, in March 2015, the Iraqi government reported that ISIL had used bulldozers to destroy excavated remains of the city. A video released in the month showed a lamassu statue in the city being attacked by a terrorist with a sledgehammer. Another video posted online by the group in April 2015 showed the site being destroyed by bulldozers, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser I built up Kalhu into a major city during the Middle Assyrian Empire. However, the ancient city of Assur remained the capital of Assyria, psychologist Julian Jaynes believe that the Biblical figure Nimrod was inspired by the deeds of the real king of Assyria Tukulti-Ninurta I, the son of Shalmaneser I, and a powerful conqueror. Others believe the name derived from the Assyrian god Ninurta, who had a cultic centre at Nimrud. The city gained fame when king Ashurnasirpal II of the Neo Assyrian Empire made it his capital at the expense of Assur. He built a palace and temples in the city that had fallen into a degree of disrepair during the Dark Ages of the mid 11th to mid 10th centuries BC. A grand opening ceremony with festivities and an opulent banquet in 879 BC is described in a stele discovered during archeological excavations. The city of king Ashurnasirpal II housed perhaps as many as 100,000 inhabitants, and contained botanic gardens and his son, Shalmaneser III, built the monument known as the Great Ziggurat, and an associated temple. However, in 706 BC Sargon II moved the capital of the empire to Dur Sharrukin, the Nineveh Province in which the ruins of Nimrud lie, is still the major center of Iraqs indigenous Assyrian population to this day. King Ashurnasirpal II, who reigned from 883 to 859 BC, thousands of men worked to build an 8-kilometre-long wall surrounding the city and a grand palace. Beasts of the mountains and of the seas, of limestone and alabaster I fashioned. The inscriptions also described great feasts he had to celebrate his conquests, however his victims were horrified by his conquests
Kalhu
–
A
lamassu at the North West Palace of
Ashurnasirpal II
Kalhu
–
"The Palaces at Nimrud Restored", 1853, imagined by the city's first excavator,
Austen Henry Layard and architectural historian
James Fergusson
Kalhu
–
A
lamassu at the
British Museum
Kalhu
–
A
stele in situ at Nimrud
7.
Anatolia
–
Anatolia, in geography known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea to the Armenian Highlands, thus, traditionally Anatolia is the territory that comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. The Turkification of Anatolia began under the Seljuk Empire in the late 11th century, however, various non-Turkic languages continue to be spoken by minorities in Anatolia today, including Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Arabic, Laz, Georgian, and Greek. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line running from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the Black Sea. This traditional geographical definition is used, for example, in the latest edition of Merriam-Websters Geographical Dictionary, under this definition, Anatolia is bounded to the east by the Armenian Highlands, and the Euphrates before that river bends to the southeast to enter Mesopotamia. To the southeast, it is bounded by the ranges that separate it from the Orontes valley in Syria, the first name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula was Ἀσία, presumably after the name of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. As the name of Asia came to be extended to areas east of the Mediterranean. The name Anatolia derives from the Greek ἀνατολή meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise”, the precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme was a theme covering the western, the modern Turkish form of Anatolia is Anadolu, which again derives from the Greek name Aνατολή. The Russian male name Anatoly and the French Anatole share the same linguistic origin, in English the name of Turkey for ancient Anatolia first appeared c. It is derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia, which was used by the Europeans to define the Seljuk controlled parts of Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to the Paleolithic, neolithic Anatolia has been proposed as the homeland of the Indo-European language family, although linguists tend to favour a later origin in the steppes north of the Black Sea. However, it is clear that the Anatolian languages, the oldest branch of Indo-European, have spoken in Anatolia since at least the 19th century BC. The earliest historical records of Anatolia stem from the southeast of the region and are from the Mesopotamian-based Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BC, scholars generally believe the earliest indigenous populations of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians. The region was famous for exporting raw materials, and areas of Hattian-, one of the numerous cuneiform records dated circa 20th century BC, found in Anatolia at the Assyrian colony of Kanesh, uses an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, the Hittite language, originating from Nesa, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BC, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the most widely accepted Kurgan theory on the Proto-Indo-European homeland, however, the Hittites adopted the cuneiform script, invented in Mesopotamia
Anatolia
–
The traditional definition of Anatolia within modern Turkey
Anatolia
–
The location of
Turkey (within the rectangle) in reference to the
European continent. Anatolia roughly corresponds to the
Asian part of Turkey, except the eastern parts historically known as the
Armenian Highlands
Anatolia
–
1907 map of Asia Minor, showing the local ancient kingdoms
Anatolia
–
Mural of
aurochs, a
deer, and humans in
Çatalhöyük, which is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date. It was registered as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.
8.
Dynasty
–
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
Dynasty
–
Charles I of England and his son, the future
James II
9.
Tiglath-Pileser III
–
Tiglath-Pileser III was a prominent king of Assyria in the eighth century BCE who introduced advanced civil, military, and political systems into the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Tiglath-Pileser III seized the Assyrian throne during a war and killed the royal family. He made sweeping changes to the Assyrian government, considerably improving its efficiency, the Assyrian army, already the greatest fighting force in the world since the time of Ashur-uballit I, now became Assyrias first professional standing army. In the south west, Israel, Judah, Philistia, Samarra, Moab, Edom, in the west, the Greeks of Cyprus and Aram, and the Mediterranean City States of Phoenicia/Caanan were subjugated. To the east he subjugated Persia, Media, Gutium, Mannea, Cissia and Elam, Tiglath-Pileser III discouraged revolts against Assyrian rule with the use of forced deportations of thousands of people all over the empire. He is one of the most successful commanders in world history. Formerly the governor of Kalhu and a general, the usurper Pulu assumed his Assyrian throne-name from two more-legitimate predecessors and he described himself as a son of Adad-nirari III in his inscriptions, but the accuracy of this claim remains uncertain. He seized the throne in the midst of war on 13 Ayaru,745 BCE. A mutilated brick inscription states that he is the son of Adad-nirari, however and this is quite a discrepancy for the King list places Adad-nirari III four monarchs before Tiglath-pilesers reign and depicts Ashur-nirari as both his father and immediate predecessor upon the throne. The list goes on to relate that Shalmaneser III, and Ashur-dan III were brothers, Ashur-nirari is also said to be a son of Adad-nirari, implying brotherhood with Shalmaneser III, and Ashur-dan III. The Assyrian records contain very little information concerning Adad-nirari and nothing about Shalmaneser III or Ashur-dan III, more so it was in Babylon that he was referred to as Pulu and his son as Ululayu. Pulu and both his sons taking up Assyrian names is another suggestion that they were foreigners who had usurped the crown of Assyria at the revolt of Kalhu, Assyrian power in the Near East greatly increased as the result of Tiglath-Pilesers military reforms and of his campaigns of conquest. Upon ascending the throne, he claimed to have annexed Babylonia, from Dur-galzu, the cities bylonia up to the Uqnu river wer, and subsequently placed his eunuch over them as governor. He also defeated the Medes before making war on and conquering the Neo-Hittites and he took Arpad in 740 BCE after three years of siege, annexed it as a province, and subjected Hamath to tribute. Assyrian inscriptions record in 740 BCE, the year of his reign. He also subjugated Damascus, the Arabs under Queen Zabibe, Menahem of Israel and Samals king Azriyau, in 737 and 736 BCE he turned his attention again to Iran, conquering the Medes and Persians and occupying a large part of Iran. According to the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser many of the inhabitants were enslaved and deported to other parts of the Assyrian empire. At sieges, captives were slaughtered, and their bodies raised on stakes, in October 729 BCE, Tiglath-Pileser assumed total control of Babylon, capturing the Babylonian king Nabu-mukin-zeri and having himself crowned as King Pulu of Babylon
Tiglath-Pileser III
–
Tiglath-Pileser III:
stela from the walls of his palace (
British Museum,
London).
Tiglath-Pileser III
–
Tiglath-pileser III, an alabaster bas-relief from the king's central palace at Nimrud, Mesopotamia.
Tiglath-Pileser III
–
Tiglath-pileser III stands over an enemy, bas-relief from the Central Palace at Nimrud.
Tiglath-Pileser III
–
Tiglath-Pileser III besieging a town
10.
Akkadian language
–
Akkadian is an extinct East Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest attested Semitic language, it used the writing system, which was originally used to write the unrelated Ancient Sumerian. The language was named after the city of Akkad, a centre of Mesopotamian civilization during the Akkadian Empire. The mutual influence between Sumerian and Akkadian had led scholars to describe the languages as a sprachbund, Akkadian proper names were first attested in Sumerian texts from around the mid 3rd-millennium BC. From the second half of the third millennium BC, texts written in Akkadian begin to appear. By the second millennium BC, two variant forms of the language were in use in Assyria and Babylonia, known as Assyrian and Babylonian respectively, for centuries, Akkadian was the native language in Mesopotamian nations such as Assyria and Babylonia. However, it began to decline during the Neo-Assyrian Empire around the 8th century BC, by the Hellenistic period, the language was largely confined to scholars and priests working in temples in Assyria and Babylonia. The last known Akkadian cuneiform document dates from the 1st century AD, Akkadian belongs with the other Semitic languages in the Near Eastern branch of the Afroasiatic languages, a family native to East Africa, which then spread to West, Northwest and Northeast Africa. Within the Near Eastern Semitic languages, Akkadian forms an East Semitic subgroup and this novel word order is due to the influence of the Sumerian substratum, which has an SOV order. Additionally Akkadian is the only Semitic language to use the prepositions ina and ana, other Semitic languages like Arabic and Aramaic have the prepositions bi/bə and li/lə. The origin of the Akkadian spatial prepositions is unknown, in contrast to most other Semitic languages, Akkadian has only one non-sibilant fricative, ḫ. Akkadian lost both the glottal and pharyngeal fricatives, which are characteristic of the other Semitic languages, until the Old Babylonian period, the Akkadian sibilants were exclusively affricated. Old Akkadian is preserved on clay tablets dating back to c.2500 BC and it was written using cuneiform, a script adopted from the Sumerians using wedge-shaped symbols pressed in wet clay. As employed by Akkadian scribes, the cuneiform script could represent either Sumerian logograms, Sumerian syllables, Akkadian syllables. For this reason, the sign AN can on the one hand be a logogram for the word ilum, additionally, this sign was used as a determinative for divine names. Another peculiarity of Akkadian cuneiform is that many signs do not have a phonetic value. Certain signs, such as AḪ, do not distinguish between the different vowel qualities, nor is there any coordination in the other direction, the syllable -ša-, for example, is rendered by the sign ŠA, but also by the sign NĪĜ. Both of these are used for the same syllable in the same text
Akkadian language
–
An Akkadian inscription
Akkadian language
–
Cuneiform writing (Neoassyrian script) (1 = Logogram (LG) "mix"/syllabogram (SG) ḫi, 2 = LG "moat", 3 = SG aʾ, 4 = SG aḫ, eḫ, iḫ, uḫ, 5 = SG kam, 6 = SG im, 7 = SG bir)
Akkadian language
–
The
Deluge tablet of the
Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian.
Akkadian language
–
Geography
11.
Neo-Assyrian Empire
–
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an Iron Age Mesopotamian empire, in existence between 911 and 612 BC. The Assyrians perfected early techniques of imperial rule, many of which became standard in later empires, the Neo-Assyrian Empire succeeded the Old Assyrian Empire, and the Middle Assyrian Empire of the Late Bronze Age. During this period, Aramaic was also made a language of the empire. Upon the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC, the empire began to due to a brutal. In 616 BC, Cyaxares king of the Medes and Persians made alliances with Nabopolassar ruler of the Babylonians and Chaldeans, Assyria was originally an Akkadian kingdom which evolved in the 25th to 24th centuries BC. The urbanised Akkadian speaking nation of Assyria emerged in the mid 21st century BC, during the 20th century BC, it established colonies in Asia Minor, and under the 20th century BC King Ilushuma, Assyria conducted many successful raids against the states of the south. Ashur-uballit extended Assyrian control over the farming lands of Nineveh. Tiglath-Pileser controlled the caravan routes that crossed the fertile crescent from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. Much campaigning by Tiglath-Pileser and succeeding kings was directed against Aramaean pastoralist groups in Syria, by the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the Aramaean expansion had resulted in the loss of much Assyrian territory in Upper Mesopotamia. After the death of Tiglath-Pileser I in 1076 BC, Assyria was in decline for the next 150 years. The period from 1200 BC to 900 BC was an age for the entire Near East, North Africa, Caucasus, Mediterranean and Balkan regions, with great upheavals. Adad-nirari II and his successors campaigned on a basis for part of every year with an exceptionally well-organized army. He subjugated the areas previously under only nominal Assyrian vassalage, conquering and deporting Aramean and Hurrian populations in the north to far-off places. Adadinirari II then twice attacked and defeated Shamash-mudammiq of Babylonia, annexing an area of land north of the Diyala river. He made further gains over Babylonia under Nabu-shuma-ukin I later in his reign and he was succeeded by Tukulti-Ninurta II in 891 BC, who further consolidated Assyrias position and expanded northwards into Asia Minor and the Zagros Mountains during his short reign. The next king, Ashurnasirpal II, embarked on a vast program of expansion, during his rule, Assyria recovered much of the territory that it had lost around 1100 BC at the end of the Middle Assyrian period. Ashurnasirpal II also campaigned in the Zagros Mountains in modern Iran, repressing a revolt against Assyrian rule by the Lullubi, the Assyrians began boasting in their ruthlessness around this time. Ashurnasirpal II also moved his capital to the city of Kalhu, the palaces, temples and other buildings raised by him bear witness to a considerable development of wealth and art
Neo-Assyrian Empire
–
Map of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and its expansions.
Neo-Assyrian Empire
–
An Assyrian winged bull, or
lamassu, from Sargon's palace at
Dur-Sharrukin.
Neo-Assyrian Empire
–
Assyrian warship, a
bireme with pointed bow, 700 BC
12.
Sargon of Akkad
–
Sargon of Akkad was the first ruler of the Semitic-speaking Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC. He was the founder of the Sargonic or Old Akkadian dynasty, the Sumerian king list makes him the cup-bearer to king Ur-Zababa of Kish. His empire is thought to have included most of Mesopotamia, parts of the Levant, besides incursions into Hurrite and Elamite territory, ruling from his capital, Sargon appears as a legendary figure in Neo-Assyrian literature of the 8th to 7th centuries BC. Tablets with fragments of a Sargon Birth Legend were found in the Library of Ashurbanipal, the Akkadian name is normalized as either Šarru-ukīn or Šarru-kēn. The names cuneiform spelling is variously LUGAL-ú-kin, šar-ru-gen6, šar-ru-ki-in, šar-ru-um-ki-in, in Late Assyrian references, the name is mostly spelled as LUGAL-GI. NA or LUGAL-GIN, i. e. identical to the name of the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II. The spelling Sargon is derived from the mention of the name in the Hebrew Bible, as סַרְגוֹן. The first element in the name is šarru, the Akkadian for king, the second element derived from the root kūn to confirm, establish. A possible interpretation of the reading Šarru-ukīn is the king has established stability, such a name would however be unusual, other names in -ukīn always include both a subject and an object, as in Šamaš-šuma-ukīn Shamash has established an heir. There is some debate whether the name was an adopted regnal name or a birth name. The reading Šarru-kēn has been interpreted adjectivally, as the king is established, legitimate, the terms Pre-Sargonic and Post-Sargonic were used in Assyriology based on the chronologies of Nabonidus before the historical existence of Sargon of Akkad was confirmed. The form Šarru-ukīn was known from the Assyrian Sargon Legend discovered in 1867 in Ashurbanipals library at Nineveh, the first contemporary reference to Sargon was found on the cylinder seal of Ibni-sharru, a high-ranking official serving under Sargon. Ménant published a description of this seal in 1877, reading the name as Shegani-shar-lukh. In 1883, the British Museum acquired the mace-head of Shar-Gani-sharri and this Shar-Gani was identified with the Sargon of Agade of Assyrian legend. The identification of Shar-Gani-sharri with Sargon was recognised as mistaken in the 1910s, Shar-Gani-sharri is in fact Sargons great-grandson, the successor of Naram-Sin. It is not entirely clear whether the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II was directly named for Sargon of Akkad, primary sources pertaining to Sargon are very sparse, the main near-contemporary reference is that in the various versions of the Sumerian king list. Here, Sargon is mentioned as the son of a gardener, former cup-bearer of Ur-Zababa of Kish and he usurped the kingship from Lugal-zage-si of Uruk and took it to his own city of Akkad. Various copies of the king list give the duration of his reign as either 54,55 or 56 years, in absolute years, his reign would correspond to ca. 2340–2284 BC in the Middle Chronology and his successors until the Gutian conquest of Sumer are also known as the Sargonic Dynasty and their rule as the Sargonic Period of Mesopotamian history
Sargon of Akkad
–
Bronze head of an Akkadian ruler, probably Sargon,
Nineveh, c. 23rd – 22nd century BC. It might depict Sargon's grandson Naram-Sin
Sargon of Akkad
–
Map of the
Akkadian Empire (brown) and the directions in which military campaigns were conducted (yellow arrows)
Sargon of Akkad
–
Family tree of Sargon of Akkad
13.
Grand vizier
–
In the Ottoman Empire, the Grand Vizier was the prime minister of the Ottoman sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissible only by the sultan himself. His offices were located at the Sublime Porte, the term “vizier” was originally a denomination used by the Abbasid Dynasty in the 8th century AD. This position then came to the Ottomans in the early 14th century by way of the Seljuks of Anatolia, during the nascent phases of the Ottoman state, vizier was the only title used. The first of these Ottoman viziers who was titled Grand Vizier was Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder, the purpose in instituting the title Grand Vizier was to distinguish the holder of the Sultans seal from other viziers. The initially more frequently used title of vezir-i âzam was gradually replaced by sadrazam, throughout Ottoman history, the grand viziers have also been termed sadr-ı âlî, vekil-i mutlak, sâhib-i devlet, serdar-ı ekrem, serdar-ı azam and zât-ı âsafî. Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder reformed the role of the vizier in several ways, several before him held an equivalent but differently named office, he was the first who held the position of “Grand Vizier”, during the reign of Sultan Murad I. He was the first advisor with a military background – his forerunners had come from a more class of men. It is also significant that he was the first of a family that, at the time. Several of Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Elder’s kin went on to hold the office of Grand Vizier in the following his death. Çandarlı Halil Pasha the Younger, the grandson of Pasha the Elder, was highly influential in shaping the role of the Grand Vizier. During the reign of Mehmed II, the Younger opposed the siege of Constantinople, two days after the siege was won by Mehmed II, the Younger was executed for his opposition. After his death, the position of Grand Vizier was chosen nearly exclusively from the kul system, often and this was usually a political move, designed to appease powerful European factions to Ottoman supremacy. Grand Viziers gained immense political supremacy in the days of the Ottoman Empire. Power was centralized in the position of the Grand Vizier during the Köprülü era, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha was a powerful political figure during the reign of Mehmed IV, and was appointed to the office of Grand Vizier in 1656. He consolidated power within the position and sent the Sultan away from the city on hunting trips, next, he forcibly removed any officers suspected of corruption, those who did not leave were executed. He also conducted campaigns against Venice and the Hapsburgs, as well as quelling rebellions in Anatolia, on his deathbed five years later, he convinced Mehmed to appoint his son as the next Grand Vizier, thus securing his dynasty a position of supreme power in the Empire. It was during the Köprülü era that the Ottoman Empire reached its largest geographic expansion across Europe, Asia Minor, in Ottoman legal theory, the Sultan was supposed to conduct affairs of state exclusively via the Grand Vizier, but in reality this arrangement was often circumvented. He might, too, be inclined to take the advice of his mother
Grand vizier
–
The Grand Vizier giving an audience "under the dome"
Grand vizier
–
Koca Sinan Pasha
Grand vizier
–
Sadullah Khan Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Shah Jahan.
Grand vizier
–
Shuja-ud-Daula served as the leading Grand Vizier of the
Mughal Empire during the
Third Battle of Panipat, he was also the
Nawab of Awadh, and a loyal ally of
Shah Alam II.
14.
Marduk-apla-iddina II
–
Marduk-apla-iddina II was a Chaldean prince who usurped the Babylonian throne in 721 BC and reigned in 722 BC--710 BC, and 703 BC--702 BC. Marduk-apla iddina II was known as one of the kings who maintained Babylonian independence in the face of Assyrian military supremacy for more than a decade, Sargon of Assyria repressed the allies of Marduk-apla-iddina II in Elam, Aram and Israel and eventually drove him from Babylon. After the death of Sargon, Marduk-apla-iddina II briefly recaptured the throne from a native Babylonian nobleman and he returned from Elam and ignited rebellion in Babylonia. He was able to enter Babylon and be declared king again, nine months later he was defeated near Kish by the Assyrians, but managed to flee to Elam. He died in exile a couple of years later, merodach-baladan is mentioned as king of Babylon in the days of Hezekiah both in 2 Kings 20,12 and in Isaiah 39,1. In both passages he sends Hezekiah a letter of concern because of his illness, Kings of Babylon Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner, Ernst Weidner, Dietz Otto Edzard, Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie - Band 7. Walter de Gruyter 1990, ISBN3110104377, p.375
Marduk-apla-iddina II
–
Merodach-Baladan, King of Babylon,
enfeoffs (makes a legal agreement with) a vassal. From the original in the
Altes Museum, Berlin
15.
Der (Sumer)
–
Der was a Sumerian city-state at the site of modern Tell Aqar near al-Badra in Iraqs Wasit Governorate. It was east of the Tigris River on the border between Sumer and Elam, Der was occupied from the Early Dynastic period through Neo-Assyrian times. The local deity of the city was named Ishtaran, represented on Earth by his minister, in the late 3rd millennium, during the reign of Sulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Der was mentioned twice. The Sulgi year name 11 was named Year Ishtaran of Der was brought into his temple, rim-Sin I of Larsa reported destroying Der in his 20th year. Ammi-Ditana of Babylon also recorded destroying the city wall of Der in his 37th year, that he said had been built earlier by Damqi-ilishu of the Sealand Dynasty. In 720 BC the Assyrian king Sargon II moved against Elam, while it appears that no excavation has occurred at Der, several notable objects have been discovered nearby, including a kudurru which confirmed the name of the site. The site itself has been damaged by water over the centuries and was considered not worth excavating. Cities of the Ancient Near East P. Michalowski, Durum and Uruk during the Ur III Period, Mesopotamia,12, pp.83 –96,1977 Stela at British Museum mentioning Der
Der (Sumer)
–
Mesopotamia in
2nd millennium BC
16.
Carchemish
–
Carchemish, also spelled Karkemish, was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during its history the city was independent, but it was part of the Mitanni, Hittite. Today it is on the frontier between Turkey and Syria and it was the location of an important battle, about 605 BC, between the Babylonians and Egyptians, mentioned in the Bible. Carchemish is now a set of ruins, located on the West bank of Euphrates River, about 60 kilometres southeast of Gaziantep, Turkey. The site is crossed by the Baghdad Railway that now forms the Turco-Syrian border, a Turkish military base has been built on the Carchemish acropolis and Inner Town, and access to that part of the site is presently restricted. Most of the Outer Town lies in Syrian territory, Carchemish has always been well known to scholars because of several references to it in the Bible and in Egyptian and Assyrian texts. However, its location was identified only in 1876 by George Smith, the site was excavated by the British Museum, between 1878 and 1881 through Consul Patrick Henderson and between 1911 and 1914 under the direction of D. G. Hogarth. In 1911 on the field there were D. G. Hogarth himself, R. C. Thompson, and T. E. Lawrence, from 1912 to 1914 C. L. Woolley and T. E. Lawrence, while a last campaign took place in 1920 with C. L. Woolley and Philip Langstaffe Ord Guy. Excavations were interrupted in 1914 by World War I and then ended in 1920 with the Turkish War of Independence, with the completion of mine clearing operations on the Turkish portion of the site, archaeological work was resumed in September 2011. Excavations in the Inner and Outer Towns were carried out by a joint Turco-Italian team from the Universities of Bologna, Gaziantep and Istanbul under the direction of Prof. Dr. Nicolò Marchetti. The second season, from August to November 2012, brought new art findings and archaeological discoveries. In the Neo Assyrian period that courtyard was covered by a floor made of river pebbles forming squares alternating in black. Lawrences excavation house was completely excavated, the sixth season, from 2 May to 20 July 2016, saw a number of excavation areas opened also near the border, due to the added security represented by the construction of the wall. Thus, in 2016 a complete record was obtained also for peripheral areas. Among the finds, in addition to new sculpted artworks from the Iron Age, fragments of Imperial Hittite clay cuneiform tablets, conservation and presentation works have now been completed in view of the opening on 2 May 2017 of an archaeological park at the site. The field assessment of the Syrian part of the Outer Town documented that parts of the border town of Jerablus encroached upon the Outer Town. In February 2016, a prefabricated security wall has been completed by the Turkish Army to the south of the railway, the site has been occupied since the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, with cist tombs from ca.2400 BC
Carchemish
–
Map of Syria in the second millennium BC, showing the location of Carchemish, or "Karkemish."
Carchemish
–
T. E. Lawrence and
Leonard Woolley (right) in Carchemish, Spring 1913
Carchemish
–
Yariri (r.) and Kamani (l.), successive rulers of Carchemish
17.
Euphrates
–
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia, originating in eastern Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Ancient Greek form Euphrátēs was borrowed from Old Persian Ufrātu, the Elamite name is ultimately derived from the Sumerian Buranuna, possibly through the Akkadian name. In Akkadian the river was similarly called Purattu, which has been perpetuated in Semitic languages, the Elamite, Akkadian, and possibly Sumerian forms are suggested to be from an unrecorded substrate language. The earliest references to the Euphrates come from texts found in Shuruppak and pre-Sargonic Nippur in southern Iraq. In these texts, written in Sumerian, the Euphrates is called Buranuna, the name could also be written KIB. NUN. or dKIB. NUN, with the prefix d indicating that the river was a divinity. In Sumerian, the name of the city of Sippar in modern-day Iraq was also a written UD. KIB. NUN, the Euphrates is the longest river of Western Asia. It emerges from the confluence of the Kara Su or Western Euphrates, the same figures are given by Isaev and Mikhailova. The length of the Shatt al-Arab, which connects the Euphrates, both the Kara Su and the Murat Su rise northwest from Lake Van at elevations of 3,290 metres and 3,520 metres amsl, respectively. At the location of the Keban Dam, the two rivers, now combined into the Euphrates, have dropped to an elevation of 693 metres amsl, from Keban to the Syrian–Turkish border, the river drops another 368 metres over a distance of less than 600 kilometres. The Euphrates receives most of its water in the form of rainfall and melting snow, discharge in these two months accounts for 36 percent of the total annual discharge of the Euphrates, or even 60–70 percent according to one source, while low runoff occurs in summer and autumn. The discharge regime of the Euphrates has changed dramatically since the construction of the first dams in the 1970s, data on Euphrates discharge collected after 1990 show the impact of the construction of the numerous dams in the Euphrates and of the increased withdrawal of water for irrigation. Average discharge at Hīt after 1990 has dropped to 356 cubic metres per second, the seasonal variability has equally changed. The pre-1990 peak volume recorded at Hīt was 7,510 cubic metres per second, the minimum volume at Hīt remained relatively unchanged, rising from 55 cubic metres per second before 1990 to 58 cubic metres per second afterward. In Syria, three rivers add their water to the Euphrates, the Sajur, the Balikh and the Khabur and these rivers rise in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains along the Syro–Turkish border and add comparatively little water to the Euphrates. The Sajur is the smallest of these tributaries, emerging from two streams near Gaziantep and draining the plain around Manbij before emptying into the reservoir of the Tishrin Dam. The Balikh receives most of its water from a spring near Ayn al-Arus. In terms of length, drainage basin and discharge, the Khabur is the largest of these three and its main karstic springs are located around Ras al-Ayn, from where the Khabur flows southeast past Al-Hasakah, where the river turns south and drains into the Euphrates near Busayrah
Euphrates
–
The Euphrates near
Halabiye (
Syria); the site can be seen in the background on the left bank
Euphrates
–
View of the
Murat River
Euphrates
–
Ferry across the Euphrates River to
Kahta, Turkey
Euphrates
–
Crossing the Euphrates River
18.
Mannaeans
–
The Mannaeans /məˈniːənz/ were an ancient people who lived in the territory of present-day northwestern Iran south of lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. At that time they were neighbors of the empires of Assyria and Urartu, in the Bible the Mannaeans are called Minni. In the Jewish Encyclopedia, Minni is identified with Armenia, but it could refer to one of the provinces in ancient Armenia, Minni, Ararat and Ashkenaz. Their kingdom was situated east and south of the Lake Urmia, excavations that began in 1956 succeeded in uncovering the fortified city of Hasanlu, once thought to be a potential Mannaean site. More recently, the site of Qalaichi has been linked to the Mannaeans based on a stela with this found at the site. It was then annexed by the Medes in about 609 BC, According to the Encyclopædia Iranica, According to the Archaeological Institute of America,1964, In the Bible, the Mannaeans are called Minni. The Jewish Encyclopedia, identified Minni with Armenia, but it could refer to one of the provinces in ancient Armenia, Minni, Ararat, the Mannaean kingdom began to flourish around 850 BC. The Mannaeans were mainly a settled people, practicing irrigation and breeding cattle, the capital was another fortified city, Izirtu. By the 820s BC they had expanded to become the first large state to occupy this region since the Gutians, later followed by the unrelated Iranian peoples, the Medes and the Persians. By this time they had a prominent aristocracy as a ruling class, beginning around 800 BC, the region became contested ground between Urartu, who built several forts on the territory of Mannae, and Assyria. During open conflict between the two, ca, 750-730 BC, Mannae seized the opportunity to enlarge its holdings. The Mannaean kingdom reached the pinnacle of its power during the reign of Iranzu, in 716 BC, king Sargon II of Assyria moved against Mannae, where the ruler Aza, son of Iranzu, had been deposed by Ullusunu with the help of the Urartians. Sargon took Izirtu, and stationed troops in Parsua, the Assyrians thereafter used the area to breed, train and trade horses. According to one Assyrian inscription, the Cimmerians originally went forth from their homeland of Gamir or Uishdish on the shores of the Black Sea in the midst of Mannai around this time. The Cimmerians first appear in the annals in the year 714 BC, Urartu chose to submit to the Assyrians, and together the two defeated the Cimmerians and thus kept them out of the Fertile Crescent. At any rate, the Cimmerians had again rebelled against Sargon by 705, by 679 they had instead migrated to the east and west of Mannae. The Mannaeans are recorded as rebelling against Esarhaddon of Assyria in 676 BC, the king Ahsheri, who ruled until the 650s BC, continued to enlarge the territory of Mannae, although paying tribute to Assyria. However, Mannae suffered a defeat at the hands of the Assyrians around 660 BC
Mannaeans
19.
Urartu
–
Urartu, also known as Kingdom of Van, was an Iron Age kingdom centred on Lake Van in the Armenian Highlands. It corresponds to the biblical Kingdom of Ararat, the language appears in cuneiform inscriptions. It is argued on linguistic evidence that came in contact with Urartian at an early date. That a distinction should be made between the geographical and the entity was already pointed out by König. The landscape corresponds to the plateau between Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and the Caucasus Mountains, later known as the Armenian Highlands. The kingdom rose to power in the mid-ninth century BC, the heirs of Urartu are the Armenians and their successive kingdoms. The name Urartu comes from Assyrian sources, Shalmaneser I recorded a campaign in which he subdued the entire territory of Uruatri, the Shalmaneser text uses the name Urartu to refer to a geographical region, not a kingdom, and names eight lands contained within Urartu. Urartu is cognate with the Biblical Ararat, Akkadian Urashtu and Armenian Ayrarat, the Urartian toponym Biainili was adopted in the Old Armenian as Van, Վան. Hence the names Kingdom of Van or Vannic Kingdom, scholars such as Carl Ferdinand Friedrich Lehmann-Haupt believed that the people of Urartu called themselves Khaldini after the god Ḫaldi. Boris Piotrovsky wrote that the Urartians first appear in history in the 13th century BC as a league of tribes or countries which did not yet constitute a unitary state. In the Assyrian annals the term Uruatri as a name for this league was superseded during a period of years by the term land of Nairi. Scholars believe that Urartu is an Akkadian variation of Ararat of the Old Testament, indeed, Mount Ararat is located in ancient Urartian territory, approximately 120 kilometres north of its former capital. In addition to referring to the famous Biblical mountain, Ararat also appears as the name of a kingdom in Jeremiah 51,27, mentioned together with Minni, in the early sixth century BC, Urartu was replaced by the Armenian Orontid Dynasty. Shupria was part of the Urartu confederation, later, there is reference to a district in the area called Arme or Urme, which some scholars have linked to the name of Armenia. At its apogee, Urartu stretched from the borders of northern Mesopotamia to the southern Caucasus, including present-day Armenia, archaeological sites within its boundaries include Altintepe, Toprakkale, Patnos and Haykaberd. Urartu fortresses included Erebuni, Van Fortress, Argishtihinili, Anzaf, Haykaberd, schulz discovered and copied numerous cuneiform inscriptions, partly in Assyrian and partly in a hitherto unknown language. Schulz also re-discovered the Kelishin stele, bearing an Assyrian-Urartian bilingual inscription, a summary account of his initial discoveries was published in 1828. Schulz and four of his servants were murdered by Kurds in 1829 near Başkale and his notes were later recovered and published in Paris in 1840
Urartu
–
A Urartian
cauldron, from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations,
Ankara
Urartu
–
Urartu, 9th–6th centuries BC.
Urartu
–
Head of a Bull, Urartu, 8th century BC. This head was attached to the rim of an enormous cauldron similar to the one shown above.
Walters Art Museum collections.
Urartu
–
Fragment of a bronze
helmet from Argishti I's era. The "
tree of life ", popular among the ancient societies, is depicted. The helmet was discovered during the excavations of the fortress Of Teyshebaini on Karmir-Blur (Red Hill).
20.
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
21.
Urmia
–
Urmia (Azerbaijani, اورمو –اورمیه, Persian, ارومیه is the second largest city in the Iranian Azerbaijan and the capital of West Azerbaijan Province. Urmia is situated at an altitude of 1,330 m above sea level, Lake Urmia, one of the worlds largest salt lakes, lies to the east of the city and the mountainous Turkish border area lies to the west. Urmia is the 10th most populated city in Iran, at the 2012 census, its population was 667,499 with 197,749 households. The citys inhabitants are predominantly Iranian Turks who speak Azeri Turkish, as well as Irans official language, Persian. There are also minorities of Kurds, Assyrians, and Armenians, the city is the trading center for a fertile agricultural region where fruits and tobacco are grown. An important town by the 9th century, Urmia was seized by the Seljuk Turks, for centuries the city has had a diverse population which has at times included Muslims, Christians, Jews, Baháís and Sufis. The name Urmia originated in the Kingdom of Urartu, Urartian fortresses and artifacts found across Azerbaijan and into the Azerbaijan province of Iran denote a Urartian etymology. The citys Armenian population also complements the idea of a Urartian origin, richard Nelson Frye also suggested a Urartian origin for the name. Hence Urmia simply means Watertown — a befitting name for a city situated by a lake and surrounded by rivers, would be the cradle of water. This also suggests, that the Assyrians referred to the Urartian influence in Urmia as ancestors of the inhabitants of the Sumerian city state Ur, referenced Biblically as Ur of the Chaldees. Thus the root of Urmia is an Assyrian reference to the etymology of the Urartu/Ur Kingdoms and the Aramaic word Mia meaning water, burrow noted, referenced the city that is situated by a lake and surrounded by rivers. As of 1921, Urmia was also called, Urumia and Urmi, according to Vladimir Minorsky, there were villages in the Urmia plain as early as 2000 BC, with their civilization under the influence of the Kingdom of Van. The excavations of the ancient ruins near Urmia led to the discovery of utensils that date to the 20th century BC. When in 1622, during the reign of Safavid king Abbas I Qasem Sultan Afshar was appointed governor of Mosul and he moved to the western part of Azerbaijan, and became the founder of the Afshar community of Urmia. The city was the capital of the Urmia Khanate from 1747–1865, the first monarch of Irans Qajar dynasty, Agha Muhammad Khan, was crowned in Urmia in 1795. Due to the presence of substantial Christian minority at the end of the 19th century, another mission soon became operational in nearby Tabriz as well. During World War I the population was estimated at 30,000 by Dr. Caujole, during the 19th century, the region became the center of a short lived Assyrian renaissance with many books and newspapers being published in Syriac. Urmia was also the seat of a Chaldean diocese, at the beginning of the First World War tens of thousands of Assyrians and Armenians from the Ottoman Empire found refuge in Urmia
Urmia
–
Urmia اورمیه
Urmia
–
People of Urmia awaiting the Shah, 1911
Urmia
–
Urmia Fruit Market, 1911
Urmia
–
An aerial view of Urmia
22.
Medes
–
The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in an area known as Media and who spoke the Median language. This allowed new peoples to pass through and settle, in addition Elam, the dominant power in Iran, was suffering a period of severe weakness, as was Babylonia to the west. During the reign of Sinsharishkun the Assyrian empire, which had been in a state of constant civil war since 626 BC, subject peoples, such as the Medes, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, Scythians, Cimmerians, Lydians and Arameans quietly ceased to pay tribute to Assyria. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BC by Cyrus the Great. However, nowadays there is doubt whether a united Median empire ever existed. There is no evidence and the story of Herodotus is not supported by sources from the Neo-Assyrian Empire nor the Neo-Babylonian Empire. A few archaeological sites and textual sources provide a documentation of the history. Apart from a few names, the language of the Medes is unknown. The Medes had an Ancient Iranian Religion with a priesthood named as Magi, later during the reigns of the last Median kings, the reforms of Zoroaster spread into western Iran. Besides Ecbatana, the other existing in Media were Laodicea. The fourth city of Media was Apamea, near Ecbatana, whose location is now unknown. According to the Histories of Herodotus, there were six Median tribes, Thus Deioces collected the Medes into a nation, now these are the tribes of which they consist, the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi. The six Median tribes resided in Media proper, the triangular shaped area between Ecbatana, Rhagae and Aspadana, in modern Iran, that is the area between Tehran, Isfahan and Hamadan. Of the Median tribes, the Magi resided in Rhaga, modern Tehran and it was a type of sacred caste, which ministered to the spiritual needs of the Medes. The Paretaceni tribe resided in and around Aspadana, modern Isfahan, the Arizanti lived in and around Kashan, the Struchates and the Budii lived in villages in the Median triangle. The original source for different words used to call the Median people, their language, the meaning of this word is not precisely established. The Median people are mentioned by name in many ancient texts. According to the Histories of Herodotus, The Medes were called anciently by all people Aryans, but when Medea, such is the account which they themselves give
Medes
–
A map of the Median Empire; based on
Herodotus
Medes
–
The Apadana Palace in
Persepolis,
Iran, northern stairway (detail) – ancient
Achaemenid 5th-century BCE bas-relief shows a Mede soldier in traditional Mede costume (behind Persian archer)
Medes
–
Excavation from ancient Ecbatane, Hamadan, Iran
23.
Ashur (god)
–
He may have had a solar iconography. Aššur was a form of the city of Assur, which dates from the mid 3rd millennium BC and was the capital of the Old Assyrian kingdom. In the north, Ashur absorbed Enlils wife Ninlil and his sons Ninurta and Zababa—this process began around the 14th century BC, the intention seems to have been to put Ashur at the head of the Babylonian pantheon, where Anshar and his counterpart Kishar preceded even Enlil and Ninlil. The city of Ashur, named in honour of the deity, was inhabited until the 14th century, Ashur is still a common given and family name amongst Assyrians to this day. Some scholars have claimed that Ashur was represented as the disc that appears frequently in Assyrian iconography. Many Assyrian kings had names that included the name Ashur, including, above all, Ashur-uballit I, Ashurnasirpal, Esarhaddon, epithets include bêlu rabû great lord, ab ilâni father of gods, šadû rabû great mountain, and il aššurî god of Ashur. An Assyrian standard, which represented the world column, has the disc mounted on a bulls head with horns. The upper part of the disc is occupied by a warrior, whose head, part of his bow, the rippling water rays are V-shaped, and two bulls, treading river-like rays, occupy the divisions thus formed. There are also two lions and a mans—with gaping mouths, which may symbolize tempests, the destroying power of the sun, or the sources of the Tigris. Jastrow regards the winged disc as the purer and more symbol of Ashur as a solar deity. He calls it a sun disc with protruding rays, and says, ashurism Assyrian flag, contains an image of Ashur Faravahar Asura, Hindu demons Asura Ahura, Zoroastrian divinities
Ashur (god)
–
A Neo-Assyrian "
feather robed archer " figure, symbolizing Ashur. The right hand is extended similar to the
Faravahar figure, while the left hand holds a bow instead of a ring (9th- or 8th-century BC relief).
Ashur (god)
–
Wall relief depicting the God Ashur (Assur) from Nimrud.
24.
Louvre
–
The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property
Louvre
–
the Richelieu wing (2005)
Louvre
–
The only portion of the medieval Louvre still visible
Louvre
–
Antonio Canova 's
Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, donated in 1824.
Louvre
–
The
Venus de Milo was added to the Louvre's collection during the reign of
Louis XVIII.
25.
Bas-relief
–
Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise, to create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a surface of stone or wood is a lowering of the field. The technique involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a time-consuming exercise. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mâché the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting. There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the form from the field. There is also sunk relief, which was restricted to Ancient Egypt. However the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only used to discuss most work. Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms, works in the technique are described as in relief, and, especially in monumental sculpture, the work itself is a relief. Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and a variety of settings. Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects with figures and very active poses, such as battles. Most ancient architectural reliefs were painted, which helped to define forms in low relief. Rock reliefs are carved into solid rock in the open air. This type is found in cultures, in particular those of the Ancient Near East and Buddhist countries. A stele is a standing stone, many of these carry reliefs. The distinction between high and low relief is somewhat subjective, and the two are often combined in a single work. In particular, most later high reliefs contain sections in low relief, a low relief or bas-relief is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth, for example used on coins, on which all images are in low relief. Other versions distort depth much less and it is a technique which requires less work, and is therefore cheaper to produce, as less of the background needs to be removed in a carving, or less modelling is required
Bas-relief
–
A
Persian mid-relief (mezzo-rilievo) from the
Qajar era, located at
Tangeh Savashi in
Iran, which might also be described as two stages of low-relief.
Bas-relief
–
A face of the high-relief
Frieze of Parnassus round the base of the
Albert Memorial in London. Most of the heads and many feet are completely undercut, but the torsos are "engaged" with the surface behind.
Bas-relief
–
Lorenzo Ghiberti 's cast
gilt-bronze "Gates of Paradise" at the
Florence Baptistery in
Florence, Italy, combine high-relief main figures with backgrounds mostly in low relief.
Bas-relief
–
Bas-relief,
Banteay Srei,
Cambodia;
Ravana shaking Mount
Kailasa, the Abode of
Siva
26.
Cimmerians
–
The Cimmerians are an ancient people, first mentioned in the late 8th century BC in Assyrian records. Likely originating in the Pontic steppe and invading by means of the Caucasus, they probably assaulted Urartu and they were defeated by Assyrian forces under Sargon II in 705 and turned towards Anatolia, conquering Phrygia in 696/5. They reached the height of their power in 652 after taking Sardis, soon after 619, Alyattes of Lydia defeated them. There are no mentions of them in historical sources. The origin of the Cimmerians is unclear and they are mostly supposed to have been related to either Iranian or Thracian speaking groups which migrated under pressure of the Scythian expansion of the 9th to 8th century BC. This association is controversial, or at best conventional, and is not to be taken as a claim that specific artifacts are to be associated with the Cimmerians of the Greek or Assyrian record. The term Thraco-Cimmerian was first introduced by I, sir Henry Layards discoveries in the royal archives at Nineveh and Calah included Assyrian primary records of the Cimmerian invasion. These records appear to place the Cimmerian homeland, Gamir, south rather than north of the Black Sea, the first record of the Cimmerians appears in Assyrian annals in the year 714 BC. These describe how a people termed the Gimirri helped the forces of Sargon II to defeat the kingdom of Urartu and their original homeland, called Gamir or Uishdish, seems to have been located within the buffer state of Mannae. The later geographer Ptolemy placed the Cimmerian city of Gomara in this region, the Assyrians recorded the migrations of the Cimmerians, as the former peoples king Sargon II was killed in battle against them while driving them from Persia in 705 BC. The Cimmerians were subsequently recorded as having conquered Phrygia in 696–695 BC, in 679 BC, during the reign of Esarhaddon of Assyria, they attacked the Assyrian colonies Cilicia and Tabal under their new ruler Teushpa. Esarhaddon defeated them near Hubushna, and they also met defeat at the hands of his successor Ashurbanipal. A people named Kimmerior is described Homers Odyssey as living beyond the Oceanus, in a land of fog and darkness, at the edge of the world, according to Herodotus, the Cimmerians had been expelled from their homeland between the Tyras and Tanais rivers by the Scythians. Unreconciled to Scythian advances, to burial in their ancestral homeland. The Cimmerian commoners buried the bodies along the river Tyras and fled across the Caucasus, Herodotus also names a number of Cimmerian kings, including Tugdamme, and Sandakhshatra. In 654 BC or 652 BC – the exact date is unclear – the Cimmerians attacked the kingdom of Lydia, killing the Lydian king Gyges and causing great destruction to the Lydian capital of Sardis. They returned ten years later during the reign of Gyges son Ardys II, the Cimmerian occupation of Lydia was brief, however, possibly due to an outbreak of plague. They were beaten back by Alyattes II of Lydia and this defeat marked the effective end of Cimmerian power
Cimmerians
–
Cimmerian invasions of Colchis, Urartu and Assyria 715–713 BC
27.
Steppe
–
In South Africa they are referred to as Veld. The prairie is an example of a steppe, though it is not usually called such and it may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude. The term is used to denote the climate encountered in regions too dry to support a forest. The soil is typically of chernozem type, steppes are usually characterized by a semi-arid and continental climate. Extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to 45 °C and in winter, besides this huge difference between summer and winter, the differences between day and night are also very great. In the highlands of Mongolia,30 °C can be reached during the day with sub-zero °C readings at night, the mid-latitude steppes can be summarized by hot summers and cold winters, averaging 250–510 mm of precipitation per year. Precipitation level alone is not what defines a steppe climate, potential evapotranspiration must also be taken into account, the Eurasian Grass-Steppe of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands had a role in the spread of the horse, the wheel, and the Indo-European languages. The Indo-European expansion and diverse invasions of horse archer civilizations of the steppe eventually led to, the Pannonian Plain is another steppe region in eastern Europe, primarily Hungary. Another large steppe area is located in the central United States, western Canada, the shortgrass prairie steppe is the westernmost part of the Great Plains region. The Channeled Scablands in Southern British Columbia and Washington State is an example of a region in North America outside of the Great Plains. In South America, cold steppe can be found in Patagonia, relatively small steppe areas can be found in the interior of the South Island of New Zealand. In Asia, a subtropical steppe can be found in semi-arid lands that fringe the Thar Desert of the Indian subcontinent, in Australia, subtropical steppe can be found in a belt surrounding the most severe deserts of the continent and around the Musgrave Ranges. Ecology and Conservation of Steppe-land Birds by Manuel B. Morales, Santi Mañosa, Jordi Camprodón, international Symposium on Ecology and Conservation of steppe-land birds
Steppe
–
The
Eurasian Steppe Belt (in red on the map), a path of passage for cultures - a possible origin for the
Indo-European languages, the
domesticated horse, and the
wheel and
chariot.
Steppe
–
Steppe in
Ukraine
Steppe
–
Steppe in
Kazakhstan
Steppe
–
Steppe in
Mongolia
28.
Hawraman
–
Hawrāmān or Ōrāmān or Avroman is a mountainous region located within the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah in western Iran and in north-eastern Iraq within Iraqs Kurdistan Region. In Iran, the region includes the cities of Paveh and Mariwan and in Iraq, Hawraman has many springs and rivers that most their water mainly flows into Sirwan River. Bil spring is one of these springs which has a discharge about 3000-4000 liters per second, the river which is made of Bil spring is the shortest river in the world with a total length of 15 meters. The earliest archaeological evidence shows that the region was inhabited by human since Middle Paleolithic Period and this evidence were discovered by archaeologists near Hajij village and include stone tools that made by Neanderthals or Early Modern Humans. Evidence for Late Paleolithic occupation discovered in a site in the Perdi Mala valley. The Inscription of Sargon II at Tang-i Var pass near the village of Tang-i Var, the Parchments of Awraman, a set of three documents from the Seleucid and Parthian eras, were found in the region in 1909. They were discovered in a cave on Kuh-e Salan Mountain, near the village of Shar Hawraman, ancient religions are also practiced throughout Hawraman and the region is home to the ancient holy places of the Yarsan faith. Some scholars believe that the name Hawraman or Huraman has strong connections to the ancient Zoroastrian faith and claim that the name may have originated from Ahuraman or Ahura Mazda. Ahura Mazda is the name of God in the ancient Indo-Iranian Avestan language and comes from the ancient Zoroastrian faith, many areas in the Hawraman region are believed to have been pilgrimage sites for Zoroastrians prior to the advent of Islam. The inhabitants of Hawraman are Kurdish people that speak Hewrami, part of the Gorani branch of the Kurdish language group, several Zazaki scholars regard Hawrami as one of the oldest dialects of the Goran–Zaza languages. According to a survey carried out by the Summer Institute of Linguistics in 1996, traditional clothing for women includes either a vest or long-sleeved jacket or long overcoat worn over a gown. An under dress and puffy pants is worn beneath the gown, traditionally women wore Kurdish hats ornamented with valued coloured stones, beads and gold pieces. Usually younger women and young girls wear brightly coloured dresses adorned with beads and sequins. Hawrami men generally wear a shirt, a vest with an open neck, a cotton sash 3–4 m long is folded in half lengthwise and wrapped tightly around the torso on waist. Men also wore traditional brown felt jackets with pointed shoulders called Kolabal, Hawraman is best known for its unique arrangement of towns and villages built along the mountain slopes of the region. Typical instances of local architecture are Khanghah, Hajij and Shemshir villages at Kermanshah province and Hawraman Takht, Palangan, Ruwar. Siya Cheman is a style of singing practiced by Hawrami people and it is performed without the use of any instruments, with the exception of the occasional use of a Kurdish hand-drum or Daff. Today, the Siya Cheman style is used mostly for storytelling, waters imprisoned in their tunnels Flow on, nor cease their windings round the hills, The roar and hiss of foam, the shrill song of the brook, Lullabies for grief in the solitude of night
Hawraman
–
A typical Kurdish village in Hawraman, Kurdistan Province 2015
Hawraman
–
A cave site near Hajij village, where archaeologists discovered stone tools dating back to more than 40 thousand years ago in 2015
Hawraman
–
A Hawrami child in Kurdish costume
Hawraman
–
Tawela Village in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, Iraq
29.
Lake Urmia
–
Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the portion of the Caspian Sea. At its full size, it was the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth with an area of approximately 5,200 km2,140 km length,55 km width. The lake has shrunk to 10% of its size due to damming of the rivers that flow into it. Urmia Lake, along with its once approximately 102 islands, are protected as a park by the Iranian Department of Environment. Currently, the lake is named after the capital city of Urmia. However, in the early 1930s, it was called Lake Rezaiyeh after Reza Shah Pahlavi, after the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s the lake was renamed Urmia. Its Old Persian name was Chichast, in medieval times it came to be known as Lake Kabuda, from the word for azure in Persian, or կապույտ in Armenian. Its Latin name was Lacus Matianus so it is referred to in texts as Lake Matianus or Lake Matiene. Locally, the lake is referred to in Persian as دریاچه ارومیه, Daryāche-ye Orūmiye, in Azerbaijani as Urmu gölü, ﺍﻭﺭﻣﻮ ﮔﺆﻟﻮ, the traditional Armenian name is Կապուտան ծով, Kaputan tsov, literally blue sea. One of the mentions of Urmia Lake is from the Assyrian records from 9th century BC. There, in the records of Shalmaneser III, two names are mentioned in the area of Urmia Lake, Parsuwash and Matai and it is not completely clear whether these referred to places or tribes or what their relationship was to the subsequent list of personal names and kings. But Matais were Medes and linguistically the name Parsuwash matches the Old Persian word pārsa, the lake was the center of the Mannaean Kingdom. A potential Mannaean settlement, represented by the mound of Hasanlu, was on the south side of the lake. Mannae was overrun by the people who were called Matiani or Matieni and it is not clear whether the lake took its name from the people or the people from the lake, but the country came to be called Matiene or Matiane, and gave the lake its Latin name. The main cations in the water include Na+, K+, Ca2+, Li+ and Mg2+, while Cl−, SO2−4. The Na+ and Cl− concentration is roughly four times the concentration of natural seawater, sodium ions are at slightly higher concentration in the south compared to the north of the lake, which could result from the shallower depth in the south, and a higher net evaporation rate. The lake is divided north and south, separated by a causeway in which a 1. 5-kilometre gap provides little exchange of water between the two parts
Lake Urmia
–
Lake Urmia from space in 1984
Lake Urmia
–
Urmia Lake, NW Iran, September 2015 from Emirates flight EK015
Lake Urmia
–
Bridge construction over Lake Urmia in 2005
30.
Caspian Sea
–
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the worlds largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It is in a basin located between Europe and Asia. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, the Caspian Sea lies to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia. In its northern part, the Caspian Depression lies 28 to 130 m below sea level, the sea bed in the southern part reaches as low as 1023 m below sea level, which is the second lowest natural depression on earth after Lake Baikal. The ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its saltiness, the sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 and a volume of 78,200 km3. It has a salinity of approximately 1. 2%, about a third of the salinity of most seawater, the word Caspian is derived from the name of the Caspi, an ancient people who lived to the southwest of the sea in Transcaucasia. Strabo wrote that to the country of the Albanians belongs also the territory called Caspiane, which was named after the Caspian tribe, as was also the sea, but the tribe has now disappeared. Moreover, the Caspian Gates, which is the name of a region in Irans Tehran province, the Iranian city of Qazvin shares the root of its name with that of the sea. In fact, the traditional Arabic name for the sea itself is Bahr al-Qazwin, in classical antiquity among Greeks and Persians it was called the Hyrcanian Ocean. In Persian antiquity, as well as in modern Iran, it is known as the دریای خزر, Daryā-e Khazar, ancient Arabic sources refer to it as Baḥr Gīlān meaning the Gilan Sea. Turkic languages refer to the lake as Khazar Sea, in Turkmen, the name is Hazar deňizi, in Azeri, it is Xəzər dənizi, and in modern Turkish, it is Hazar denizi. An exception is Kazakh, where it is called Каспий теңізі, old Russian sources call it the Khvalyn or Khvalis Sea after the name of Khwarezmia. In modern Russian, it is called Каспи́йское мо́ре, Kaspiyskoye more, the Caspian Sea, like the Black Sea, Namak Lake, and Lake Urmia, is a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea. It became landlocked about 5.5 million years ago due to tectonic uplift and a fall in sea level. Due to the current inflow of water, the Caspian Sea is a freshwater lake in its northern portions, and is most saline on the Iranian shore. Currently, the salinity of the Caspian is one third that of Earths oceans. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world, the coastlines of the Caspian are shared by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. The Caspian is divided into three distinct regions, the Northern, Middle, and Southern Caspian
Caspian Sea
–
The Caspian Sea as captured by the
MODIS on the orbiting
Terra satellite, June 2003
Caspian Sea
–
Caspian Sea near
Aktau,
Mangistau region,
Kazakhstan.
Caspian Sea
–
Illustration of two
Caspian tigers, extinct since the 1970s.
Caspian Sea
–
Iran's northern
Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests are maintained by moisture captured from the Caspian Sea by the
Alborz mountain range of
Gilan,
Iran.
_faces_a_high-ranking_official,_possibly_Sennacherib_his_son_and_crown_prince._710-705_BCE._From_Khorsabad,_Iraq._The_British_Museum,_London.jpg)
"Sargon". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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