1.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
2.
Afghanistan
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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
3.
Nowruz
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It has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in Western Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin and the Balkans. It marks the first day of the first month in the Iranian calendar, Nowruz is the day of the vernal equinox, and marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. It usually occurs on 21 March or the previous or following day, the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year, and families gather together to observe the rituals. Although having Iranian and religious Zoroastrian origins, Nowruz has been celebrated by people from diverse ethno-linguistic communities for thousands of years and it is a secular holiday for most celebrants that is enjoyed by people of several different faiths, but remains a holy day for Zoroastrians. The term Nowruz is a Persian compound word, consisting of the words now, now, which means new and descends from Proto-Indo-European *néṷos, is cognate with English new, German neu, Latin novus, Russian novyj and Sanskrit náva. Ruz, which day in Modern Persian, is descended from Proto-Iranian *raučah-. The original meaning of the word, however, was light and it is related to Armenian loys, English light, Latin lux, Sanskrit rúci and Slovenian luč. The Persian pronunciation differs in the dialects of the language. While the eastern dialects have preserved the diphthong nau, the western dialects usually pronounce it with the diphthong now, a variety of spelling variations for the word Nowruz exist in English-language usage. Random House provides the spelling Nowruz, merriam-Webster recognizes only the spelling Nauruz. Nowruz is partly rooted in the tradition of Iranian religions, such as Mitraism and Zoroastrianism, in Mitraism, festivals had a deep linkage with the suns light. The Iranian festivals such as Mehrgan, Tirgan, and the eve of Chelle ye Zemestan also had an origin in the Sun god, Zoroastrian practices were dominant for much of the history of ancient Iran. In Zoroastrianism, the seven most important Zoroastrian festivals are the six Gahambar festivals and Nowruz, between sunset on the day of the sixth Gahambar and sunrise of Nowruz, Hamaspathmaedaya was celebrated. This and the Gahambars are the only named in the surviving text of the Avesta. The 10th-century scholar Biruni, in his work Kitab al-Tafhim li Awail Sinaat al-Tanjim, besides the Iranian calendar, various festivals of Greeks, Jews, Arabs, Sabians, and other nations are mentioned in the book. In the section on the Iranian calendar, he mentions Nowruz, Sadeh, Tirgan, Mehrgan, according to him, It is the belief of the Iranians that Nowruz marks the first day when the universe started its motion. It has been suggested that the famous Persepolis complex, or at least the palace of Apadana and it was an important day during the time of the Achaemenids, where kings from different nations under the Achaemenid Empire used to bring gifts to the King of Kings of Iran. It was, therefore, an auspicious occasion for the ancient Iranian peoples
4.
Islamic Consultative Assembly
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The Islamic Consultative Assembly, also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majlis, is the national legislative body of Iran. The Parliament currently has 290 representatives, changed from the previous 272 seats since the 18 February 2000 election, the most recent election took place on 26 February 2016 and the new parliament was opened on 28 May 2016. Before the Islamic Revolution, Majlis was also the name of the house of the Iranian Legislature from 1906 to 1979. It was created by the Iran Constitution of 1906 and first convened on 7 October 1906, women were not allowed to vote or be elected to the Parliament until 1963, as part of reforms under the Shahs White Revolution. The twenty-first National Consultative Assembly, which included female representatives, opened on 6 October 1963, the last session of the Pre-Revolution Parliament was held on 7 February 1979. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Senate of Iran was abolished and was replaced by the Guardian Council thus the Iranian legislature remained bicameral. In the 1989 revision of the constitution, the National Consultative Assembly became the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Parliament of Iran has had six chairmen since the Iranian Revolution. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was the first chairman, from 1980 to 1989, then came Mehdi Karroubi, Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri, Mehdi Karroubi, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and Ali Larijani since 2008. The Islamic Consultative Assembly can legislate laws on all issues within the limits of the Constitution, the Assembly cannot, for instance, enact laws contrary to the canons and principles of the official religion of the country or to the Constitution. Government bills are presented to the Islamic Consultative Assembly after receiving the approval of the Council of Ministers, the Islamic Consultative Assembly has the right to investigate and examine all the affairs of the country. International treaties, protocols, contracts, and agreements must be approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, receiving and issuing national or international loans or grants by the government must be ratified by the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The President must obtain, for the Council of Ministers, after being formed and before all other business, all legislation passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly must be sent to the Guardian Council. The Guardian Council must review it within a maximum of ten days from its receipt with a view to ensuring its compatibility with the criteria of Islam, if it finds the legislation incompatible, it will return it to the Assembly for review. Otherwise the legislation will be deemed enforceable, currently, there are 290 members of Parliament, fourteen of whom represent non-Muslim religious minorities, and are popularly elected for four-year terms. About 8% of the Parliament are women, while the average is 13%. The Parliament can force the dismissal of cabinet ministers through no-confidence votes, although the executive proposes most new laws, individual deputies of the Parliament also may introduce legislation. Deputies also may propose amendments to bills being debated, the Parliament also drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties, and approves the national budget. All Peoples House of Iran candidates and all legislation from the assembly must be approved by the Guardian Council, candidates must pledge in writing that they are committed, in theory and in practice, to the Iranian constitution
5.
Pahlavi dynasty
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The Pahlavi dynasty was the ruling house of Iran from 1925 until 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and abolished as a result of the Iranian Revolution. He was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, at the death of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi on 27 July 1980, his son Reza Pahlavi became the head of the Pahlavi royal family. His successor, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, announced in 1959 that both Persia and Iran were acceptable and could be used interchangeably, Rezā Shāh tried to avoid involvement with Britain and the Soviet Union. Though many of his development projects required foreign expertise, he avoided awarding contracts to British. This created problems for Iran after 1939, when Germany and Britain became enemies in World War II, Rezā Shāh proclaimed Iran as a neutral country, but Britain insisted that German engineers and technicians in Iran were spies with missions to sabotage British oil facilities in southwestern Iran. Britain demanded that Iran expel all German citizens, but Rezā Shāh refused, on 13 September 1943 the Allies reassured the Iranians that all foreign troops would leave by 2 March 1946. At the time, the Tudeh Party of Iran, a communist party that was influential and had parliamentary representation, was becoming increasingly militant. This promoted actions from the side of the government, including attempts of the Iranian armed forces to order in the Northern provinces. While the Tudeh headquarters in Tehran were occupied and the Isfahan branch crushed, thus, by November 1945 Azerbaijan had become an autonomous state helped by the Tudeh party. This puppet government of the Soviet Union only lasted until November 1946, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi replaced his father on the throne on 16 September 1941. In 1951, the Majlis named Mohammad Mossadegh as new minister by a vote of 79–12. Mossadegh was opposed by the Shah who feared a resulting oil embargo imposed by the West would leave Iran in economic ruin, the Shah fled Iran but returned when the United Kingdom and United States staged a coup against Mossadegh in August 1953. Mossadegh was then arrested by pro-Shah army forces, the Shahs government suppressed its opponents with the help of Irans security and intelligence secret police, SAVAK. Such opponents included members of the Communist Tudeh party, by the mid-1970s, relying on increased oil revenues, Mohammad Reza began a series of even more ambitious and bolder plans for the progress of his country and the march toward the White Revolution. But his socioeconomic advances increasingly irritated the clergy, the Pahlavi regime collapsed following widespread uprisings in 1978 and 1979. The Islamic Revolution dissolved the SAVAK and replaced it with the SAVAMA, Mohammad Reza fled the country, seeking medical treatment in Egypt, Mexico, the United States, and Panama, and finally resettled with his family in Egypt as a guest of Anwar Sadat. On his death, his son Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi succeeded him in absentia as heir apparent to the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Pahlavi and his wife live in the United States in Potomac, Maryland with three daughters. Under the Qajar dynasty the Persian character of Iran was not very explicit, the Pahlavi rule was instrumental in Irans nationalisation in line with Persian culture and language which, amongst other ways, was achieved through the official ban on the use of the Azeri language
6.
Equinox
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An equinox is the moment in which the plane of Earths equator passes through the center of the Sun, which occurs twice each year, around 20 March and 23 September. On an equinox, day and night are of equal duration all over the planet. They are not exactly equal, however, due to the size of the sun. To avoid this ambiguity, the word equilux is sometimes used to mean a day in which the durations of light, see Length of equinoctial day and night for further discussion. The word is derived from the Latin aequinoctium, aequus and nox, the equinoxes are the only times when the solar terminator is perpendicular to the equator. As a result, the northern and southern hemispheres are equally illuminated, the word comes from Latin equi or equal and nox meaning night. In other words, the equinoxes are the times when the subsolar point is on the equator. The subsolar point crosses the equator moving northward at the March equinox, the equinoxes, along with solstices, are directly related to the seasons of the year. In the southern hemisphere, the equinox occurs in September. When Julius Caesar established the Julian calendar in 45 BC, he set 25 March as the date of the spring equinox. Because the Julian year is longer than the tropical year. By 1500 AD, it had drifted backwards to 11 March and this drift induced Pope Gregory XIII to create a modern Gregorian calendar. However, the leap year intervals in his calendar were not smooth and this causes the equinox to oscillate by about 53 hours around its mean position. This in turn raised the possibility that it could fall on 22 March, the astronomers chose the appropriate number of days to omit so that the equinox would swing from 19 to 21 March but never fall on the 22nd. Vernal equinox and Autumnal equinox, these names are direct derivatives of Latin. The equivalent common language English terms spring equinox and autumn equinox are even more ambiguous, March equinox and September equinox, names referring to the months of the year they occur, with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context. They are still not universal, however, as not all use a solar-based calendar where the equinoxes occur every year in the same month. Northward equinox and southward equinox, names referring to the apparent direction of motion of the Sun
7.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, known as Mohammad Reza Shah, was the Shah of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979. Mohammad Reza Shah took the title Shāhanshāh on 26 October 1967 and he was the second and last monarch of the House of Pahlavi of the Iranian monarchy. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi held several titles, including that of Āryāmehr. His dream of the Great Civilization in Iran led to an industrial and military expansion as well as economic. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi came to power during World War II after an Anglo-Soviet invasion forced the abdication of his father, various additional controversial policies were enacted, including the banning of the communist Tudeh Party, and a general suppression of political dissent by Irans intelligence agency, SAVAK. According to official statistics, Iran had as many as 2,200 political prisoners in 1978, by 1979, political unrest had transformed into a revolution which, on 17 January, forced him to leave Iran. Soon thereafter, the Iranian monarchy was abolished, and Iran was declared an Islamic republic led by Ruhollah Khomeini. Facing likely execution should he return to Iran, he died in exile in Egypt, whose President, due to his status as the last de facto Shah of Iran, he is often known as simply the Shah. Born in Tehran to Reza Pahlavi and his wife, Tadj ol-Molouk, Mohammad Reza was the eldest son of the first Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Shah. He was born with a sister, Ashraf Pahlavi. However, Shams, Mohammad Reza, Ashraf, Ali Reza, nevertheless, Reza Shah was always convinced that his sudden quirk of good fortune had commenced in 1919 with the birth of his son who was dubbed khoshghadam. Mohammad Reza described his father in his book Mission for My Country as one of the most frightening men he had ever known, depicting Reza Khan as a dominating man with a violent temper. Reza Khan often impressed on his son his belief that history was made by men such as himself. From women, and apparently from women alone that the future Shah received whatever psychological nourishment he was able to get as a child, traditionally, male children were considered more preferable than females, and as a boy, Mohammed Reza was often spoiled by his mother and sisters. Mohammed Reza was very close to his twin sister Ashraf as she noted, It was this twinship, no matter how I would reach out in the years to come-sometimes even desperately-to find an identity and a purpose of my own, I would remain inextricably tied to my brother. Always, the center of my existence was, and is, in 1973, Mohammad Reza told the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, A king who does not need to account to anyone for what he says and does is unavoidably doomed to loneliness. However, I am not entirely alone, because a force others cant perceive accompanies me, I have lived with God besides me since I was 5 years old. Since, that is, God sent me those visions, in his 1961 book Mission for My Country, Mohammad Reza wrote, From the time I was six or seven, I have felt that perhaps there is a supreme being, who is guiding me
8.
Cyrus the Great
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Cyrus II of Persia, commonly known as Cyrus the Great and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. From the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, under his successors, the empire eventually stretched at its maximum extent from parts of the Balkans and Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the Indus Valley in the east. His regal titles in full were The Great King, King of Persia, King of Anshan, King of Media, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, the reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire, either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought into subjection every nation without exception. Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he died in battle. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, Cyrus the Great respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered. This became a successful model for centralized administration and establishing a government working to the advantage. In fact, the administration of the empire through satraps and the principle of forming a government at Pasargadae were the works of Cyrus. Cyrus the Great is also recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics. Having originated from Persis, roughly corresponding to the modern Iranian province of Fars and this view has been criticized by some historians as a misunderstanding of the Cylinders generic nature as a traditional statement that new monarchs make at the beginning of their reign. The name Cyrus is a Latinized form derived from the Greek Κῦρος, Kỹros, the name and its meaning has been recorded in ancient inscriptions in different languages. This may also point to a relationship to the mythological first king of Persia, Jamshid. Karl Hoffmann has suggested a translation based on the meaning of an Indo-European-root to humiliate, in the Persian language and especially in Iran, Cyruss name is spelled as کوروش. In the Bible, he is known as Koresh, the Persian domination and kingdom in the Iranian plateau started by an extension of the Achaemenid dynasty, who expanded their earlier domination possibly from the 9th century BC onward. The eponymous founder of dynasty was Achaemenes. Achaemenids are descendants of Achaemenes as Darius the Great, the king of the dynasty, traces his genealogy to him. Ancient documents mention that Teispes had a son called Cyrus I, Cyrus I had a full brother whose name is recorded as Ariaramnes. In 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son, Cambyses I, Cyrus the Great was a son of Cambyses I, who named his son after his father, Cyrus I
9.
Islamic calendar
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The Islamic, Muslim, or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries and it is also used by Muslims to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual period of fasting and the proper time for the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Islamic calendar employs the Hijri era whose epoch was retrospectively established as the Islamic New Year of AD622, during that year, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib and established the first Muslim community, an event commemorated as the Hijra. In the West, dates in this era are usually denoted AH in parallel with the Christian, in Muslim countries, it is also sometimes denoted as H from its Arabic form. In English, years prior to the Hijra are reckoned as BH, the current Islamic year is 1438 AH. In the Gregorian calendar,1438 AH runs from approximately 3 October 2016 to 21 September 2017, four of the twelve Hijri months are considered sacred, Rajab, and the three consecutive months of Dhū al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Ḥijjah and Muḥarram. As the lunar calendar lags behind the solar calendar by about ten days every gregorian year, the cycle repeats every 33 lunar years. Each month of the Islamic calendar commences on the birth of the new lunar cycle, traditionally this is based on actual observation of the crescent marking the end of the previous lunar cycle and hence the previous month, thereby beginning the new month. Consequently, each month can have 29 or 30 days depending on the visibility of the moon, astronomical positioning of the earth and weather conditions. However, certain sects and groups, most notably Dawoodi Bohra Muslims and Shia Ismaili Muslims, use a tabular Islamic calendar in which odd-numbered months have thirty days, in Arabic, the first day of the week corresponds with Sunday of the planetary week. The Islamic weekdays, like those in the Hebrew and Baháí calendars, the Christian liturgical day, kept in monasteries, begins with vespers, which is evening, in line with the other Abrahamic traditions. Christian and planetary weekdays begin at the following midnight, Muslims gather for worship at a mosque at noon on gathering day which corresponds with Friday. Thus gathering day is regarded as the weekly day of rest. A few others have adopted the Saturday-Sunday weekend while making Friday a working day with a midday break to allow time off for worship. Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars, at least some of these calendars followed the lunisolar system. For Central Arabia, especially Mecca, there is a lack of epigraphical evidence, both al-Biruni and al-Masudi suggest that the Ancient Arabs used the same month names as the Muslims, though they also record other month names used by the pre-Islamic Arabs. Nevertheless, the Islamic position equating Nisan with Dhū al-Ḥijja has prevailed, for a comparison between the Islamic and pre-Islamic months, see Islamic and Jahili months. The Islamic tradition is unanimous in stating that Arabs of Tihamah, Hejaz, the forbidden months were four months during which fighting is forbidden, listed as Rajab and the three months around the pilgrimage season, Dhu al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram
10.
Astrological sign
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In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30° sectors of the ecliptic, starting at the vernal equinox, also known as the First Point of Aries. The order of the signs is Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius. The concept of the zodiac originated in Babylonian astrology, and was influenced by Hellenistic culture. According to astrology, celestial phenomena relate to human activity on the principle of as above, so below, beyond the celestial bodies, other astrological points that are dependent on geographical location and time are also referenced within this ecliptic coordinate system. Various approaches to measuring and dividing the sky are currently used by differing systems of astrology, although the tradition of the Zodiacs names, Western astrology measures from Equinox and Solstice points, while Jyotiṣa or Vedic astrology measures along the equatorial plane. In Western and Indian astrology, the emphasis is on space, in Chinese astrology, by contrast, the emphasis is on time, with the zodiac operating on cycles of years, months, and hours of the day. A common feature of all three traditions however, is the significance of the Ascendant — the zodiac sign that is rising on the horizon at the moment of a persons birth. While Western astrology is essentially a product of Greco-Roman culture, some of its basic concepts originated in Babylonia. Isolated references to signs in Sumerian sources are insufficient to speak of a Sumerian zodiac. Specifically, the division of the ecliptic in twelve equal sectors is a Babylonian conceptual construction, by the 4th century BC, Babylonians astronomy and their system of celestial omens were influencing the Greek culture and, by the late 2nd century BC, Egyptian astrology was also mixing in. Association of the signs with Empedocles four classical elements was another important development in the characterization of the twelve signs. The following table enumerates the twelve divisions of celestial longitude, with the Latin names and the English translation. The longitude intervals, being a division, are closed for the first endpoint and open for the second — for instance, 30° of longitude is the first point of Taurus. Association of calendar dates with astrological signs only makes sense when referring to Sun sign astrology, Empedocles, a fifth-century BC Greek philosopher, identified Fire, Earth, Air, and Water as elements. Different mixtures of these produced the different natures of things. Empedocles said that those who were born with equal proportions of the four elements are more intelligent and have the most exact perceptions. The four astrological elements are considered as a direct equivalent to Hippocrates personality types. A modern approach looks at elements as the substance of experience
11.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
12.
March equinox
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In the Northern Hemisphere the March equinox is known as the vernal equinox, and in the Southern Hemisphere as the autumnal equinox. On the Gregorian calendar the Northward equinox can occur as early as 19 March or as late as 21 March. For a common year the computed time slippage is about 5 hours 49 minutes later than the previous year, and for a leap year about 18 hours 11 minutes earlier than the previous year. Balancing the increases of the years against the losses of the leap years keeps the calendar date of the March equinox from drifting more than one day from 20 March each year. The March equinox may be taken to mark the beginning of spring and the end of winter in the Northern Hemisphere but marks the beginning of autumn, in astronomy, the March equinox is the zero point of sidereal time and, consequently, right ascension. It also serves as a reference for calendars and celebrations in many human cultures, the March equinox is one point in time commonly used to determine the length of the tropical year. The mean tropical year is the average of all the tropical years measured from every point along the Earths orbit. The following table shows the small variations in timing over a period of time. The point where the Sun crosses the equator northwards is called the First Point of Aries. However, due to the precession of the equinoxes, this point is no longer in the constellation Aries, by the year 2600 it will be in Aquarius. The Earths axis causes the First Point of Aries to travel westwards across the sky at a rate of one degree every 72 years. It passed by a corner of Cetus at 0°10′ distance in the year 1489. In its apparent motion on the day of an equinox, the Suns disk crosses the Earths horizon directly to the east at dawn—rising, the March equinox, like all equinoxes, is characterized by having an almost exactly equal amount of daylight and night across most latitudes on Earth. Due to refraction of light rays in the Earths atmosphere the Sun will be visible above the horizon even when its disc is completely below the limb of the Earth and these conditions produce differentials of actual durations of light and darkness at various locations on Earth during an equinox. This is most notable at the extreme latitudes, where the Sun may be seen to travel sideways considerably during the dawn. The Persian calendar begins each year at the equinox, observationally determined at Tehran. The Indian national calendar starts the year on the day next to the equinox on 22 March with a 30-day month. The Julian calendar reform lengthened seven months and replaced the intercalary month with a day to be added every four years to February
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