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15838488
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall%20C.%20Berg%20Jr.
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Randall C. Berg Jr.
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Randall Challen Berg Jr. (January 17, 1949 – April 10, 2019) was an American attorney.
Biography
Berg was born to Randall Challen Berg and Margaret Baker Berg. He spent most of his childhood in Jacksonville, Florida, graduating from Robert E. Lee High School in 1967. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in English. He served three years in the U.S. Navy, stationed out of Treasure Island, California, achieving the rank of lieutenant junior grade. Berg attended George Mason University School of Law, graduating in 1978. He married his wife Carol in 1978 and then moved to Miami to start the Florida Justice Institute (FJI). He had a son, Randall Challen Berg III, who was born in 1987.
Berg was the executive director of the Florida Justice Institute, a public interest law firm in Miami which he established in 1978. He has conducted and been involved in numerous individual and class action lawsuits that strive to improve conditions in Florida's prison and jails. He was chairman of the Corrections Committee of The Florida Bar, and president of the ACLU of Florida. He served on Florida Governor Chiles' Transition Criminal Justice Task Force, and several legislative committees dealing with criminal justice and corrections issues. He has been an adjunct professor of law at the University of Miami School of Law, and directs the Volunteer Lawyers' Project for the U.S. District Court for Florida's Southern District. He worked to develop the United States' first Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA) program in Florida, and then assisted in establishing IOLTA programs nationwide and defending its constitutionality as the executive director of the National IOLTA Clearinghouse. IOLTA has created over $5 billion nationwide to primarily fund legal services for the poor
| 2.078125
| 0
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15838522
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky%20Spear
|
Sky Spear
|
The Sky Spear (天戟 Tien Chi) is a Taiwanese short-range ballistic missile (SRBM). Derived from the Sky Bow II (Tien Kung-2) surface-to-air missile, the Tien Chi has a two-stage booster that extends over the single-stage Tien Kung-2. The Sky Spear was developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) in Taiwan. As of early 2001, up to 50 Tien Chi missiles were deployed at two sites: Tungyin Island, and an unidentified second location. The Tungyin Island missiles are said to be housed in silos and protected by batteries of Tien Kung-2 SAMs.
Description
Information provided by CSIST to Jane's Missiles and Rockets, revealed that Tien Chi uses a submunition warhead and there is no unitary warhead for this missile. According to this report, Tien Chi was developed by CSIST following test firings of a Tien Kung 2 variant with a 120 km range and a 90 kg HE warhead. The report also credited Tien Chi missile with a range of 300 km and a 500 kg payload. This range is well beyond the reported 200 km maximum range of the Tien Kung II SAM system, but since Tien Chi is used in a tactical surface-to-surface missile role, it would fly a more efficient trajectory with no need for energy-consuming manoeuvres. Guidance is believed to be an integrated INS/GPS system.
History
It has been reported that Taiwan has deployed 15-50 missiles on Tungyin and Penghu.
Variants
According to the Taipei Times retired president of NCSIST Kung Chia-cheng claimed that two variants were developed, one with a range of 600km and the other with a 1000km+ range. Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian was reportedly very surprised by how large the missiles were when he went to inspect them.
General characteristics
Primary Function: Surface-to-surface missile
Warhead Weight 100 kg
| 2.203125
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15838584
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde%20Park%20Obelisk
|
Hyde Park Obelisk
|
The Hyde Park Obelisk is a heritage-listed obelisk that served as a sewer vent and is now a monument located in Hyde Park at the intersection of Elizabeth Street and Bathurst Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed and built by the NSW Department of Public Works. It is also known as The Obelisk and Obelisk Sewer Vent. It is also jokingly referred to as Thornton's Scent Bottle after mayor George Thornton. The obelisk is owned by Sydney Water, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 November 2002.
Completed in the Victorian Egyptian style, it was modelled on Cleopatra's Needle on the banks of London's River Thames. The overall structure is high, including the square sandstone base which is high. The vent at the top is a filigreed bronze pyramidion.
History
There are two types of sewer vents within the Sydney Water system: educt and induct. Induct vents draw air into a sewerage system to aerate the pipelines. Educt vents allow gases to escape when the gas is lighter than air. The shape of the cowling on the older types of vents were set to produce either eduction or induction whenever there is a natural breeze. This is an educt shaft, a simple masonry shaft modelled on Cleopatra's Needle (now situated on the Thames Embankment, London) and erected in 1857 during the period of George Thornton as Mayor of Sydney. Vents are for the safety of personnel as well as to prevent corrosion by chemical decay. The ventilation of sewers is a very important facet of continued operation of a sewerage system; poor ventilation can result in serious odour problems and breakdown in fabric.
| 2.4375
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15838584
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde%20Park%20Obelisk
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Hyde Park Obelisk
|
Initially, after the Obelisk, ventshafts were constructed using bricks, were ornate and fairly major features in the city landscape. This technology was replaced with smaller, steel tube vents, which were used at intervals of approximately every of sewer. The Oberlisk remains considerably intact apart from alterations to its base.
Further information
See inventories for the Main Northern Ocean Outfall Sewer, Lewisham Sewer Ventshaft, Marrickville Sewer Ventshaft, Glebe and Bellevue Hill Sewer Ventshafts for other details relating to sewer vents.
Heritage listing
The first planned sewerage system in the city of Sydney was completed in 1857. The Obelisk was the first major sewer vent constructed and the only ventshaft constructed entirely of sandstone. The Obelisk Vent was an ambitious achievement at the time of construction owing to its utilitarian purpose. It is historically significant as one of the oldest items of infrastructure in the early City sewerage system. It has landmark qualities, providing a fitting terminus to the eastern end of Bathurst Street.
It is also significant for its contribution to the streetscape of Elizabeth Street, its visual role in the axial vistas of Sydney, and as a significant object within Hyde Park.
Sewer Vent was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 November 2002 having satisfied the following criteria.
The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales.
The Obelisk was the first sewer ventshaft built to eliminate noxious gases from the sewer at levels that would not be detected by the residents of the city. The vent shaft was built to replace the street gratings that had been used to ventilate the sewer system.
The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
| 2.46875
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15838584
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde%20Park%20Obelisk
|
Hyde Park Obelisk
|
The Obelisk is a sandstone vent shaft which displays the classical architecture and technology of the late nineteenth century. It is a landmark feature within Hyde park and Sydney, which is visible as a major feature at the end of Bathurst Street.
The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.
It is significant in the development of the ventilation of the sewerage system of Sydney and has been identified by the National Trust Australia (NSW).
The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
The design and placement of the Obelisk was used to understand the behaviour of gases within the sewerage system and how to best design vents to help eliminate the gases safely. The vent shaft was also to relieve the gaseous pressure that built up within the sewer system.
The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
The Obelisk is unique in NSW. It is one of the oldest items of infrastructure in the early city sewerage system. It was the first vent shaft built to eliminate noxious gases from the city's sewer system.
The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.
The Obelisk Sewer Ventshaft is the only example of a sewer ventshaft constructed of sandstone within the Sydney Water system, but is representative of sewer ventilation methods.
Gallery
| 2.78125
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15838716
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Zion%20Dinur
|
Ben-Zion Dinur
|
Ben-Zion Dinur () (January 1884 – 8 July 1973) was a Ukrainian-born Israeli historian, educator, and politician. He held the position of professor of Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and represented Mapai in the first Knesset, serving as Minister of Education. Dinur was one of the founders of Yad Vashem and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences.
The Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History was named in his honor.
Biography
Ben-Zion Dinaburg (later Dinur) was born in Khorol in the Russian Empire (now Poltava Oblast, Ukraine). He received his education in Lithuanian yeshivot. He studied under Shimon Shkop in the Telz Yeshiva, and became interested in the Haskalah through Rosh Yeshiva Eliezer Gordon's polemics. In 1898 he moved to the Slabodka yeshiva and in 1900 he traveled to Vilnius and was certified a Rabbi. He then went to Lyubavichi to witness the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidic Judaism. Between 1902 and 1911 he was engaged in Zionist activism and teaching, which at some point resulted in a brief arrest. In 1910 he married Bilhah Feingold, a teacher who had worked with him in a girls' trade school in Poltava. In 1911, he left his wife and son for two years to attend Berlin University, where he studied under Michael Rostovtzeff and Eugen Täubler. He then spent two more years at the University of Bern, where he began his dissertation under Rostovzev, on the Jews in the Land of Israel under the Roman Empire. The break of World War I forced him to move to the University of Petrograd. However, due to the October Revolution, he did not receive his PhD. He was a lecturer at Odesa University from 1920 to 1921.
Pedagogic and academic career
In 1921, he immigrated to Palestine and from 1923 to 1948 served as a teacher and later as head of the Jewish Teachers' Training College, Jerusalem. In 1936, he was appointed lecturer in modern Jewish history at the Hebrew University and became professor in 1948 and professor emeritus in 1952.
| 2.28125
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15838716
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Zion%20Dinur
|
Ben-Zion Dinur
|
Dinur advocated for a global historical approach to Jewish history and authored "The History of Israel from Its Early Days to Our Times". He also compiled the monumental work "Israel in the Exile" (1961–1966, originally Yisrael ba-gola), encompassing the history of the Jewish people up to the era of the Black Death. His pioneering research focused on community life, encompassing family, marriage, household arrangements, Torah and wisdom, beliefs, scholarly perspectives, burial practices, and festivals. Additionally, Dinur delved into interrelations between Jews, non-Jews, anusim, meshumadim and proselytes. He supplemented his works with responsa, illustrations, photographs, manuscripts, and legal details. Moreover, Dinur explored various Jewish streams, internal disputes, persecutions, religious debates between Jews and Christians, and messianic movements.
As a historian he described Zionism in the diaspora as "a huge river into which flowed all the smaller streams and tributaries of the Jewish struggle down the ages", and tracing its origins to 1700, when history records a first wave of Polish Jews emigrating to Jerusalem. He believed "messianic ferment" played a crucial role in Jewish history, and introduced the idea of mered hagalut ("Revolt of the Diaspora").
His most notable historical works include "Israel in Its Land" and "Israel in Exile". He also authored two autobiographical books detailing his life against the backdrop of his era: "In a Sunken World" and "In Days of War and Revolution".
Political career and public office
He was elected to the first Knesset on the Mapai list and served as Minister of Education and Culture in the third to sixth governments (1951 to 1955), when he was responsible for the 1953 State Education Law, which put an end to the prevailing party "trend" education system.
From 1953 to 1959 he was president of Yad Vashem.
| 2.484375
| 0
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15838820
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%20John%20Ambulance%20%28New%20South%20Wales%29
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St John Ambulance (New South Wales)
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St John Ambulance New South Wales (St John NSW) is a charitable organisation dedicated to helping people in sickness, distress, suffering or danger. It provides first aid training and event and community health care services. It is part of an international organisation that consists of eight Priories that form the Order of St John. The organisation is sometimes incorrectly referred to "St John's Ambulance" or "St Johns Ambulance" (plural/possessive) instead of "St John Ambulance" (singular).
History of St John Ambulance
In the 19th century, the Order Of St John was revived in England, inspired by the Knights of St John's historical dedication to providing care and shelter for pilgrims and crusaders. This revival aimed to perpetuate these traditions.
In 1877, St John Ambulance was established to translate humanitarian ideals into action within the evolving industrial society. Focused on promoting first aid for the sick and wounded, the organisation relied on volunteer efforts. The initiative extended globally with the establishment of St John Ambulance Australia in 1883, fostering associations in each state and territory to broaden the reach of first aid assistance.
Activity streams
St John Ambulance NSW focuses on many different areas of healthcare, including
Event health services
Responders (First Aiders), First Responders, EMTs (Advanced Responders) and Health Care Professionals provide comprehensive medical services at events ranging from small community events (such as school fates and sports days, corporate events), to large public events such as Anzac Day services, Sydney Royal Easter Show, City2surf, Music Festivals, and New Year's Eve celebrations.
Previously known as First Aid Services (FAS), and Operations Branch (OB).
Training
St John Ambulance is one of the largest first aid training organisations in Australia. St John NSW delivers nationally recognised training through the Australian Qualifications Framework, through the registration of their parent organisation St John Ambulance Australia.
| 2.421875
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15838830
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anathem
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Anathem
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Anathem is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 2008. Major themes include the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the philosophical debate between Platonic realism and nominalism.
Plot summary
Anathem is set on the fictional planet of Arbre. Thousands of years before the events in the novel, the planet's intellectuals entered concents (monastic communities) to protect their activities from the collapse of society. The avout (intellectuals separated from Sæcular society) are banned from possessing or operating most advanced technology and are supervised by the Inquisition, which answers to the outside world. The avout are normally allowed to communicate with people outside the walls of the concent only once every year, decade, century, or millennium, depending on the particular vows they have taken.
The narrator and protagonist, Fraa Erasmas, is an avout at the Concent of Saunt Edhar. His teacher, Fraa Orolo, discovers that an alien spacecraft is orbiting Arbre – a fact that the world government (Sæcular Power) attempts to cover up. Erasmas becomes aware of Orolo's discovery after Orolo is banished (in a rite called Anathem) from the concent for using a video camera (a forbidden technology) to observe the ship. The presence of the alien ship soon becomes an open secret among many of the avout at Saunt Edhar. The alien ship eventually declares its presence by shining a laser upon several Millenarian Maths (the bastions of those avout who have taken a thousand-year vow of isolation). Shortly after that, the Sæcular Power summons many avout from Saunt Edhar, including Erasmas and a Millenarian named Fraa Jad.
| 2.28125
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15838830
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anathem
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Anathem
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Erasmas travels to Saunt Tredegarh where he attends the Convox dedicated to dealing with the military, political, and technical issues raised by the existence of the alien ship in Arbre's orbit. Research is conducted on the samples from Orithena, and the aliens are found to come from planets in four parallel and distinct cosmi: Urnud, Tro, Laterre and Fthos. The many-worlds interpretation is discussed by high-level avout at evening meals to which Erasmas performs the duties of a servant. It is hinted that Laterre is a futuristic Earth, which serves as a 'higher plane of existence' for Urnud and Tro, and Arbre is itself a 'higher plane' for Laterre and Fthos. Through observation and experiment, Erasmas and his companions determine that the conference has been infiltrated by the aliens and unmask a French-speaking Laterran linguist named Jules Verne Durand. He explains that the aliens are experiencing internal conflict between two factions. The currently ruling faction (the more militaristic 'lower worlds' Urnud and Tro, as well as some Laterrans) intends to attack and raid Arbre for its resources in order to repair their spaceship, while the opposing faction ('the higher world' Fthos and most Laterrans) favors open negotiation. Durand believes that an alliance could be formed between Arbre and the peaceful faction and offers to help the Arbrans.
| 2.109375
| 0
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15838830
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anathem
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Anathem
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Erasmas attends a diplomatic summit where a funeral ceremony is held for those lost on both sides and a peace process begins between the aliens and the Arbrans. On Arbre itself, the Sæcular Power and the avout have agreed to cooperate as equal powers. The Arbrans inaugurate a second "Reconstitution", revising many of the rules that had restricted the work and lifestyle of the avout. Erasmas and his friends begin to build a new concent, open to the outside world and dedicated to Saunt Orolo.
The "Discipline"
In the novel, avout follow a life path called the Discipline, sometimes referred to as Cartasian Discipline, after Saunt Cartas, the founder of the mathic world. It is a set of rules governing what is (and is not) allowed for avout to know and/or do, and was codified centuries before the time of the story in the Second New Revised Book of Discipline.
Chief among these is that the avout are separated, both mentally and literally, from the Sæculum, or outside world. There are different levels of separation. For example, within a concent, there are different terms of residency. There are 1-, 10-, 100-, and 1,000-year orders. Each of these celebrates "Apert", a festival opening the concent to the outside world and allowing the flow of information between them, on an interval determined by that number. For example, a 10-year order would celebrate Apert once every ten years, remaining isolated otherwise. Likewise, a 100-year order would only celebrate Apert every hundred years, and a 1,000-year order once every 1,000 years. It is an essential part of this that at any time an order celebrates Apert, all orders below it also celebrate Apert. For example, a Millenarian (1,000-year) order would celebrate in the year 3000. Because 3000 is also a multiple of 100, 10, and 1, Centenarian, Decenarian, and Unarian orders would also celebrate. Exceptions to this rule include "hierarchs" (those who administer the concent) who are required to confer with the Sæcular Power on decisions of weight.
| 2.171875
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15838830
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anathem
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Anathem
|
The main secondary aspect of the Discipline is that the avout are allowed to own only their "bolt, chord, and sphere". These objects are made with "newmatter" (matter made with a modified atomic structure to be more versatile), and can be made to alter their shape, texture and other physical properties without the use of tools or other outside technologies. The bolt is a length of newmatter fabric and is used as clothing; the chord is a newmatter rope used to secure the bolt; and the sphere is a newmatter balloon of adjustable size, shape and hardness, and serves as a multipurpose tool.
There are several restrictions governing, for example, the use of "sequencing" (genetic engineering), "syntactic devices" (computers), or other "praxis" (technology). Due to the restrictions, avout can only work on an entirely theoretical basis de jure.
Philosophical and scientific content and influences
Large portions of the book involve detailed discussions of mathematics, physics, and philosophy. Most of these discussions use fictional Arbran terminology, but treat ideas from actual science and philosophy. Stephenson acknowledges the work of author Julian Barbour as the source for much of this material.
A major theme of the novel is the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics based on a directed acyclic graph, which accounts for the various "worldtracks" and "narratives" explored by Fraa Orolo and manipulated by Fraa Jad. Another major theme is the recurring philosophical debate between characters espousing mathematical Platonic realism (called "Halikaarnians" in the novel and associated with Incanters) and characters espousing nominalism (called "Procians" in the novel and who are the Rhetors).
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15838830
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anathem
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Anathem
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Stephenson cites the work of Roger Penrose as a major influence on the novel. Specific ideas from Penrose's work include: the idea that the human mind operates in certain fundamental ways as a quantum computer, espoused in Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind; Platonic realism as a philosophical basis for works of fiction, as in stories from Penrose's The Road to Reality; and the theory of aperiodic tilings, which appear in the Teglon puzzle in the novel. Stephenson also cites as an influence the works of Kurt Gödel and Edmund Husserl, both of whom the character Durand mentions by name in the novel.
Much of the Geometers' technology seen in the novel reflects existing scientific concepts. The alien ship moves by means of nuclear pulse propulsion.
As an appendix to the novel, Stephenson includes three "Calca", discussions among the avout of purely philosophical or mathematical content. The first is a discussion of a cake-cutting procedure corresponding to the geometric problem of "doubling the square" presented in Plato's Meno. The second presents configuration spaces (called "Hemn spaces" in the novel) as a way of representing three-dimensional motion. The third discusses a "complex" Platonic realism, in which several realms of Platonic ideal forms (called the "Hylaean Theoric Worlds" in the novel) exist independently of the physical world (called the "Arbran Causal Domain" in the novel). The mathematical structure of a directed acyclic graph is used to describe the way in which the various realms can influence one other, and even the physical world can function as part of the realm of ideal forms for some worlds "downstream" in the graph.
| 2.234375
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15838906
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago%20Fire%20Juniors
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Chicago Fire Juniors
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The Chicago Fire Juniors are the youth club affiliate of the Chicago Fire professional soccer club with branches in Chicago, NW Indiana, West Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. Established in 2004 as the official youth soccer club of Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire, the Chicago Fire Juniors are the only professionally based youth soccer club in the United States. The technical director of the Juniors is Larry Sunderland, also the head coach of the Chicago Fire Premier PDL team.. For 2009, the Chicago Fire Juniors Boys teams are IL State Cup Champions at U15, U16 and U19. For 2019, The Chicago Fire U15 Juniors Boys teams won the YSSL National Soccer Title with an extraordinary 37–0 undefeated season. Led by team captains Francisco Ventro and Dylan Zadeh (both currently playing up in U17), the team will advance to the Global Championship in June 2020.
Overview
The Chicago Fire Juniors are part of the Chicago Fire Player Development Program and are an integral piece of the Player Development Pyramid. This "Pyramid" creates a progressive developmental structure providing players the opportunity to move from introductory play, competitive play and elite youth play into professional academy formats (Fire Academy U16, U18) and professional development programs (Super-20, PDL) – finally, onto the Fire MLS team. The Chicago Fire Juniors, in association with the Chicago Red Eleven of the women's W-League, replicate the Player Development Pyramid for females by providing young ladies the opportunity to play at the highest levels presently available in the United States.
| 2.171875
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15838906
|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago%20Fire%20Juniors
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Chicago Fire Juniors
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The Chicago Fire Juniors have demonstrated results in the top state leagues, regional leagues and national leagues (NISL Premiership, MRL, US Club, Super Y, USYS National League, USSF Academy), as well as overseas. The players are recognized on Olympic Developmental Program, Regional and National Teams. The teams participate in the most prestigious of tournaments including the Dallas Cup, Disney Soccer Showcase, Orange Classic, Raleigh Invite and Final Four Showcases. Many Chicago Fire Juniors alumni graduate to college soccer.
History
Established in 2004, the Juniors formed by the combination of two existing youth clubs in Wheaton to form their initial Chicago youth soccer flagship as a program of the Wheaton Illinois Park District. They then absorbed the Naperville Lightning, a successful club in Naperville.
Controversy
On December 30, 2011, after numerous attempts to resolve issues, Chicago Fire has terminated its affiliation with and sued the Chicago Fire Juniors "claiming it failed to pay more than $35,000 for use of team trademarks, violating a licensing agreement." Chicago Fire subsequently sent a cease and desist letter to Chicago Fire Juniors demanding it stop unauthorized use of Fire trademarks. According to the suit "the youth league didn’t amend its bylaws to specify that at least one board position be a designee of the Fire, and didn’t develop a plan to coordinate functions, operations and ownership as required in the agreement."
| 2.171875
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15838928
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege%20of%20Sardis%20%28547%20BC%29
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Siege of Sardis (547 BC)
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The siege of Sardis (547/546 BC) was the last decisive conflict after the Battle of Thymbra, which was fought between the forces of Croesus of Lydia and Cyrus the Great, when Cyrus followed Croesus to his city, laid siege to it for 14 days and captured it.
Background
The previous year Croesus, the king of Lydia, impelled by various considerations, invaded the kingdom of Cyrus the Great. Croesus hoped to quell the growing power of Achaemenid Persia, expand his own dominions and revenge the deposition of his brother-in-law Astyages. Also, Croesus thought himself certain of success since he was deluded by the ambiguous assurances of the apparently-reliable oracle of Apollo at Delphi.
Croesus crossed the Halys and met Cyrus at Pteria in Cappadocia, but after a drawn-out battle against superior forces in which neither side obtained the victory, Croesus resolved to fall back for the winter, summon new allies and renew the war with reinforcements the next spring. In the interim, he disbanded his army and returned to Sardis. He expected Cyrus to hang back after the sanguinary battle in Cappadocia, but the energetic Cyrus, as soon as he heard that Croesus's forces were dispersed, crossed the Halys and advanced with such speed that he had arrived at the Lydian capital, Sardis, before Croesus had any word of his approach.
Undaunted, Croesus mustered his available troops and met Cyrus at the Battle of Thymbra outside the walls. Cyrus was victorious and had contrived to deprive the Lydians of their last resource, their cavalry (in which they allegedly surpassed all other nations at the time) by frightening off their horses with the sight of his camels. The remnants of the Lydian army were driven within the city and promptly besieged.
Siege
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15838928
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege%20of%20Sardis%20%28547%20BC%29
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Siege of Sardis (547 BC)
|
Croesus was still confident in his chances because Sardis was a well-fortified city consecrated by ancient prophecies to never be captured. Additionally, he had sent for immediate aid from Sparta, the strongest state in Greece and his firm ally, and hoped to enlist the Egyptians, the Babylonians and others in his coalition against Persia as well. In fact, however, the Spartans were then occupied in a war with neighboring Argos, and neither they nor any other of Croesus's allies would assemble in time.
Cyrus had meanwhile stimulated his troops by the offer of large rewards to the first soldiers who should ascend the battlements, but repeated Persian attacks were repulsed with loss. According to Herodotus, the city ultimately fell by the agency of a Persian soldier, who climbed up a section of the walls that was neither adequately garrisoned nor protected by the ancient rites, which had dedicated the rest of the cities' defenses to impregnability. The steepness of the adjoining ground outside the walls was responsible for that piece of Lydian hubris. Hyroeades, the Persian soldier, saw a Lydian soldier climbing down the walls to retrieve a dropped helmet and tried to follow the example. The success of his ascent set the example to the rest of Cyrus's soldiers, and they swarmed over the exposed wall and promptly took the city.
Aftermath
Cyrus had issued orders for Croesus to be spared, and the latter was hauled a captive before his exulting foe. Cyrus' first intentions to burn Croesus alive on a pyre were soon diverted by the impulse of mercy for a fallen foe and, according to ancient versions, by divine intervention of Apollo, who caused a well-timed rainfall. Tradition represents the two kings as reconciled thereafter; Croesus succeeded in preventing the worst rigors of a sack by representing to his captor that it was Cyrus's, not Croesus's, property being plundered by the Persian soldiery.
| 2.640625
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15839194
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte%20Vecchio%2C%20Bassano
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Ponte Vecchio, Bassano
|
The (Old bridge) or (bridge of the Alpini, who rebuilt it in 1948) is the covered wooden designed by the architect Andrea Palladio in 1569. The bridge is located in Bassano del Grappa and was destroyed many times, the last time in World War II. The bridge spans the river Brenta.
The Brenta was an important means of communication in the 18th century from the mountains of Grappa to Venice.
History
The pre-existing bridge, existed from 1209 until 1569, was a wooden structure on pylons and covered by a roof and it constituted the fundamental road to guarantee the connection between Bassano and Vicenza.
In 1315, Bassano was involved in the war between Padua and Cangrande della Scala. When the latter occupied Marostica and Angarano, two towers were built to defend the bridge.
In 1402, the war between Gian Galeazzo and the Carraresi involved also Bassano: the lord of Milan tried to divert the Brenta to deprive Padua of its defences by building a bridge consisting of 94 stone arches equipped with wooden doors used as shutters. In the night between 6 and 7 August a flood overwhelmed the bridge, which was destroyed.
In 1511, French troops under General Jacques de La Palice set the bridge on fire to escape the Imperial army during the War of the League of Cambrai.
Project by Andrea Palladio
In October 1567, a vigorous flood of the river Brenta swept over the historic bridge. The architect Andrea Palladio was involved in the reconstruction from the months immediately following the collapse: he first designed a stone bridge completely different from the previous one, with three arches on the model of the ancient Roman bridges. However, the City Council rejected the project, requiring the architect not to deviate too much from the traditional structure.
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15839194
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte%20Vecchio%2C%20Bassano
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Ponte Vecchio, Bassano
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In the summer of 1569, Palladio then presented a second final project of a wooden bridge that practically recalled the previous structure, although radically renewed in terms of technical and structural solutions and of great visual impact. The only reference to an architectural language is the use of Tuscan columns as supports of the architrave that supports the two-pitched roof formed by a series of wooden trusses. The bridge has 5 bays about 13 meters long formed by large wooden beams with slanting breaker that are resting on the four intermediate pylons and on the two side shoulders. The 4 wooden pylons have a hydrodynamic shape compared to the current of the river and are formed by 8 poles about half a meter thick in the ground on the bed of the river and a series of poles at decreasing height that give an oblique profile to the intermediate pylons.
Demolitions and reconstructions
Confirming the technological efficiency of the Palladian structure, the bridge lasted for almost two hundred years, collapsing only because of the overwhelming flood of the Brenta on 19 August 1748. The bridge was rebuilt by Bartolomeo Ferracina faithfully following Palladio’s design.
In 1813, the bridge was then burnt down by Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais and later rebuilt in 1821 by Angelo Casarotti, with the same previous apparences.
During the First World War the famous bridge was crossed by Italian troops to face the defence of the territories of the plateau of the Seven Municipalities.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte%20Vecchio%2C%20Bassano
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Ponte Vecchio, Bassano
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The bridge was then razed to the ground for the third time on 17 February 1945: just after 7pm, when the curfew began, it was torn by a strong explosion. The sabotage action, which was part of a larger plan wanted by the Allies against the bridges of Pedemontana, was carried out by a group of 15 partisans all armed and cycling, two of which towed a cart each loaded with explosives. The attack unfortunately caused the death of a 50-year-old woman and a teenager. The commander of the group was Primo Visentin, a teacher of Loria (TV) who used the pseudonym of "Masaccio", as recalled by the plate still present today on the bridge. During a retaliation, the Nazis took three partisans from the prisons, Federico Alberti, Cesare Lunardi and Antonio Zavagnin, and shot them on the bridge with the usual sign bearing the words "I am a bandit". The bridge was rebuilt according to Palladio’s original design. It was inaugurated on 3 October 1948 with the presence of the Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi. It was rebuilt by Giulio Tessarolo & Figli di Rosà. Since many workers of this firm were veterans of war belonging to the Alpini Corps and wore the typical cap with a pen during the work, the legend arose that it was the Alpini who put it back together. The bridge was severely damaged for the last time by the exceptional flood of 4 November 1966, following which a systematic structural restoration was carried out. Two extraordinary interventions followed: the one of 1990–93 for static consolidation of the foundations and the supporting structures of the four styled, and the one of 2003–6, which was a complex of works of restoration and extraordinary maintenance to counter the inevitable deterioration of the protection products and the connection of the various elements of the bridge.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans%20Ehlers
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Hans Ehlers
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Hans Ehlers (15 July 1914 – 27 December 1944) was a German military aviator who served in the Luftwaffe during World War II. As a fighter ace, he was credited with 55—that is, 55 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—claimed in an unknown number of combat missions. He claimed eleven victories on the Eastern Front and 44 over the Western Allies, including 23 four-engine bombers.
Born in Hennstedt, Ehlers volunteered for service with the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War where he was assigned to the ground crew of Jagdgruppe 88 (J/88—88th Fighter Group). Following service in Spain, Ehlers was trained as a fighter pilot and posted to Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) He claimed his first aerial victory on 18 May 1940 during the Battle of France. He then fought in Battle of Britain and Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Due to an organizational change, his unit became part of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing) in early 1942 and was stationed on the Western Front and fighting in Defense of the Reich.
Ehlers was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 1. On 9 June 1944, Ehlers was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and was killed in action on 27 December 1944, when he was shot down near Bereborn during the Battle of the Bulge.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans%20Ehlers
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Hans Ehlers
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Early life and career
Ehlers was born on 15 July 1914 in a Hennstedt, at the time in the Province of Schleswig-Holstein of the German Empire. He volunteered for service with the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. There, Ehlers was a member of the groundstaff of 3. Staffel (3rd squadron) of Jagdgruppe 88 (J/88–88th Fighter Group), at the time under the command of Adolf Galland. For his service in Spain, he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Silver with Swords () on 14 April 1939. Following his return from Spain, Ehlers received flight training at the pilot school in Salzwedel starting on 1 August. On 18 September, he transferred to the Jagdfliegerschule 1, the fighter pilot school at Werneuchen before he was posted to the Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Merseburg, a supplementary training unit based at Merseburg, on 16 November.
World War II
World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 7 December 1939, Ehlers was posted to the 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing). At the time, the Staffel was based at Zerbst and commanded by Hauptmann Heinz Gärtner which was subordinated to I. Gruppe (1st group) headed by Hauptmann Günther Lützow. On 18 May 1940, during the Battle of France, Ehlers claimed his first aerial victories when he shot down a Royal Air Force (RAF) Supermarine Spitfire fighter and Hawker Hurricane fighter near Valenciennes. He in turn, was then shot down by RAF fighters on the same day and crash-landed his Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-1 south of Valenciennes and was initially listed as missing in action, rejoining his unit shortly later.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great%20Synagogue%20%28Sydney%29
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Great Synagogue (Sydney)
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The Great Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation located in a large heritage-listed synagogue at 187a Elizabeth Street in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
The congregation is the oldest in the Sydney Jewish community, and comprises around 550 families. There are services every day of the week with the exception of Sunday. The service is Orthodox and traditional, with a professional choir singing on Shabbat and Festival mornings and at some evening services.
The synagogue provides pastoral care, adult education, a conversion class, activities for children and families and is the location for important Jewish communal services and events. Its Chief Minister is traditionally regarded as a primary representative of Judaism to the wider community.
Situated opposite Hyde Park, the synagogue building extends to Castlereagh Street. It was designed by Thomas Rowe and constructed between 1874 and 1878, with the stonework done by Aaron Loveridge and stone carving by Thomas Wran. The synagogue was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 September 2004. The building is also listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate.
History
The Great Synagogue was built to unite two Jewish congregations in Sydney which worshipped at the time in synagogues in York Street and Macquarie Street. The York Street Synagogue had been designed in the Egyptian Revival style by James Hume and built in 1844. The first moves were made in 1864 towards obtaining a suitable site for a newer, larger synagogue.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great%20Synagogue%20%28Sydney%29
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Great Synagogue (Sydney)
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In 1871 a meeting was held at York Street to discuss buying land available in Elizabeth Street. It was suggested a meeting be held with the Macquarie Street Synagogue to unite in purchasing the land for a synagogue to serve the whole community. John Solomon, a builder, purchased the land at auction for in 1871 and held it until the congregation could raise sufficient funds. The proposal was for a synagogue and educational facilities. The money was to be raised by sale of land in Kent Street which had been granted for a Jewish school but never used. Further money was raised by the sale of the York and Macquarie Street properties. An appeal was also launched to fund the new building, accompanied by a photograph of the Central Synagogue in London (opening in 1870 and destroyed by bombing in 1941) which was intended to serve as the model for the Sydney building. Thomas Rowe, a Cornish architect based in Sydney, was selected in 1872 by means of a limited competition, the other competitors being George Allen Mansfield and Benjamin Backhouse; Rowe also acted as the construction manager for the new building. The design of the building also was partly based on the Princes Road Synagogue, Liverpool. The foundation stone was laid on the 26th of January 1875 by Saul Samuel, Postmaster General, the first Jewish minister of the Crown in the British Empire. A bazaar was held by the women of the congregation in Martin Place in December 1875 to raise extra funds.
The principal contractor for stonework was Aaron Loveridge, founder of the modern firm of Loveridge & Hudson. The contract drawings by Rowe, and signed by Loveridge, are held by Sydney's Mitchell Library. Other notable firms connected with the work were William Coleman (carpentry and joinery), Fletcher Brothers (decorative cast iron), Lewis and Steel (decorative plaster), Cornelius and Co of Philadelphia (gas fixtures), Minton Hollins & Co (tiles), P. N. Russell & Co (cast iron columns), and Lyon & Cottier (stained and etched glass).
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great%20Synagogue%20%28Sydney%29
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Great Synagogue (Sydney)
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The Great Synagogue consists of two main sections: the original synagogue (house of worship) with a ladies' gallery, at the Elizabeth Street end, and a five-storey addition at the Castlereagh Street end behind the facade of the original Beadle's residence. The Elizabeth Street frontage and towers are of Pyrmont stone, and the remainder of the early structure is brick with cast-iron columns and timber floors, and a slate roof. The Castlereagh Street façade is stone at ground floor level, with rendered brickwork above.
The interior is decorated with moulded plaster, carved timber and stained glass, all embellished with abstract patterns to avoid representation of living forms. Surviving timber stairs at the Elizabeth Street end have strongly carved balustrades. Walls are painted with gold leaf highlights, and the furniture is mostly of polished timber and brass. Some original colour schemes survive, notably on the ceiling of the Elizabeth Street porch, while the midnight blue ceiling with gold leaf stars has been repainted to the original design several times. Timber floors are raked at both ground and gallery levels, and the centre section of the ground floor and Ark steps, like the porch, are tiled in tessellated and mosaic work. The basement contains a hall which has steel portal frames supporting the columns and floor above, and also contains the AM Rosenblum Museum and Rabbi Falk Library. The contemporary addition, constructed of reinforced concrete, contains offices, classrooms & meeting rooms, together with a lift & fire stairs, and has a top floor with an openable roof. The mid 20th century stained glass windows in the Castlereagh Street façade were designed by Louis Kahan (1905-2002) of Melbourne. The building contains examples of venerable sacred scrolls and religious artefacts, including a menorah (nine-branched candelabrum) made by Rabbi L. A. Falk.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae%20T%C4%83t%C4%83ranu
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Nicolae Tătăranu
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Nicolae Tătăranu (3 October 1890 – 13 May 1953) was a Romanian Major General during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Tătăranu was born in Măicănești, a village în Râmnicu Sărat County, now in Vrancea County. In 1908 he enrolled in the School for Infantry Officers in Bucharest, graduating in 1910 with the rank of second lieutenant. After Romania entered World War I on the side of the Allies in August 1916, Tătăranu fought with the 2nd Battalion Vânători de munte, first as lieutenant, and then as captain. Wounded in his leg during fighting at Izvoru in November 1916, he was evacuated to the Școala Centrală's hospital in Bucharest, where he was operated on by Doctor Marius Nasta. After the city was occupied by German troops, he escaped but was caught in Ploiești and sent to jail. In May 1917, while on a train en route to an internment camp in Germany, he escaped again, together with two other fellow soldiers, and after a trek, mostly through the mountains, the three managed to cross the front line and rejoin the Romanian Army.
Following the end of World War One, Tătăranu attended the Higher War School (1921–1923). He served as military attaché in Paris from 1928 to 1931 as well as in Brussels (1929–1931) and Madrid (1930–1931). In 1935 he was promoted to colonel and in 1939 to brigadier general. In 1940 he published his World War I memoirs.
During World War II, Tătăranu took part in Operation Barbarossa. On 30 August 1941, Tătăranu signed in Tighina the Agreement Concerning Security, Administration and Economic Exploitation of the Territories between the Transnistria and Buh–Dnieper Region with General Major Arthur Hauffe. In late October 1941 while serving as deputy commander of the Romanian 10th Infantry Division, troops under his command took part in the Odessa massacre.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth%20Brethren%20Christian%20Church
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Plymouth Brethren Christian Church
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Services on Sunday start with the Lord's Supper at 6 am and worship in small groups. At 10:30 the Bible Study meeting is held and other activities continue throughout the day. There are further meetings every night of the week. Two of their services are closed to those who are not members in good standing: the Lord's Supper and the monthly Care Meeting. However, they do hold 10 services a week, 9 of which are 'open'. Well-disposed members of the public are free to come to their gospel preachings and other meetings. In practice, most 'gospel preaching' has been done on street corners and although they do not seek to make converts, the desire is to spread the word of God and its benefits for mankind.
The addresses of senior Brethren men are recorded, transcribed by the Brethren publishing house in the UK and distributed to all members at a subsidized cost.
The Brethren encourage a traditional marriage and family life. Children live at the family home until they marry, and are required to marry within the fellowship. Physical contact between young men and women before marriage is not tolerated, and courting between couples is chaperoned. Men are expected to provide for their families while the women manage the household. A study of the Australian Brethren in May 2006 suggested that the number of divorced, single people in the Brethren is approximately 0.8% compared to 10.8% for the general population, although there have been a few separations without divorce.
The aged and sick are usually cared for by other member families (possibly unrelated), although private (non-Brethren) nursing homes are sometimes utilised for the elderly. Few people not born into the Brethren become members, and relatively few of those born into the group leave.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth%20Brethren%20Christian%20Church
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Plymouth Brethren Christian Church
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Women are somewhat subservient to men; they sit behind the men in meetings and their service is to select hymns, not to pray out loud or teach. They wear a scarf or ribbon in their hair to signify that the man is head of the woman. Brethren businesses are generally run by men, but some women do run their own businesses, are shareholders or directors in family companies or actively work in the family business. Girls attend school and can access tertiary education if they wish.
Brethren members can drink alcohol at home, but being visibly drunk is frowned on and smoking and gambling are forbidden.
Former members report a culture of heavy alcohol use but this is disputed by the Church.
History
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the PBCC broke away from the Anglican Church in 1830 with claims that the Anglicans were too "worldly". By the 1880s, some members had immmigrated to Manitoba, Canada since the 1880s.
The Plymouth Brethren were distinguished from the beginning by a refusal to accept ministers or priests, believing that all members were saints, although in practice, John Nelson Darby became increasingly dominant in the exclusive branch of the movement during his lifetime. It was not until James Taylor Senior became undisputed leader of the Raven faction in 1910 that a stricter hierarchy emerged by which discipline was imposed and the centre of power moved to New York where Taylor lived. He established a norm that someone in leadership should be in their own business, not an employee (although Raven had been a civil servant) and began to speak of certain brothers as 'Levites' or 'the Lord's servants' who were especially able to interpret biblical truths.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth%20Brethren%20Christian%20Church
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Plymouth Brethren Christian Church
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In America, James Taylor of New York was beginning to be seen as Raven's future successor as early as 1897, and when Raven died in 1905, books of his sermons began to be reprinted around the world. By the time another letter from Melbourne was received in 1920, resulting in the departure of 40 assemblies mainly in Australia, the London faction was also known as the 'Taylor' or 'Raven-Taylor' party.
By 1929, it was alleged that Taylor denied one of the main orthodoxies of Christianity, that Christ the Son was truly God before his incarnation. Taylor had pointed out that the title of the 'Son' was not used till after the incarnation, pointing to John 1 as the 'Word', not the 'Son', denying the 'eternal Sonship'. This was reflected in the issuing in 1932 of a new version of the Little Flock hymnbook, always a touchstone of Brethrenism. 40% of the hymns in the older version were omitted as "inconsistent with the truth".
When James Taylor Senior died in 1953, there were two candidates for the leadership: Taylor's youngest son, James Taylor Jr (1899–1970), and Gerald R Cowell (1898–1963) of Hornchurch, Essex, UK, who struggled for six years for supremacy.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth%20Brethren%20Christian%20Church
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Plymouth Brethren Christian Church
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At the Central Hall conference in 1959, a decisive confrontation took place between Cowell and Taylor Jr. The latter proposed that more radical, immediate separation from 'the world' was necessary, while the former took a more moderate line. Taylor Jr won and excommunicated Cowell less than a year after the Conference, judging him 'unfit for Christian fellowship'. During the next ten years, 'Mr Jim' delivered hundreds of new edicts, demanding strict obedience on how people dressed, how they conducted their business, and banning beards and young people from attending university. Members were forbidden to eat with others – even family members – who were not in the movement, and they were not allowed to join professional associations. A considerable number of individuals and assemblies left the Exclusives during the ministry of Taylor Sr and even more under the leadership of Taylor Jr, chiefly as a reaction to the increasingly restrictive directives of the latter. Some of these leavers joined with other groups of Brethren (including others who left after 1970) or other local churches.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth%20Brethren%20Christian%20Church
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Plymouth Brethren Christian Church
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Schools & Education
Brethren run private schools for their children between the ages of 8 and 18. Members are strongly discouraged from attending university because of the campus environment. However, many undertake tertiary studies through distance learning, completing diplomas or degrees, typically focusing on accountancy or business studies rather than the arts. In 2005 David Bell, the Chief Inspector of Schools in England, praised the Brethren schools for their standard of teaching and said in his report that "the quality of teaching, most of which is done by experienced practitioners, is generally good." Because of the lack of tertiary education, the teachers are not Brethren. Their schools do use computers and other modern technology and their use of Zoom and Self Directed Learning has enabled them to cope with the COVID-19 virus. Brethren schools have computer banks and students have restricted access to the internet. They now embrace a wide range of technology and most students are supplied with a laptop and all schools have equipment for video conferencing which is used extensively to offer a wide range of courses for even the smallest and most remote campuses. There are claims that school laptops are monitored by church members, and parents are sent summaries of their child’s internet use.
There are 38 Brethren private schools throughout Australia and 43 in the United Kingdom, 36 in the United States and Canada as well as others throughout the world.
Brethren schools qualify to receive Australian Federal government funding.
In 2007, the Victorian State Government provided $1.08 million in funding to the Glenvale Exclusive Brethren School, which has a dozen campuses in Victoria. This was a significant increase from $370,419 in 2002–03.
In the United States and Canada, private schools are operated by Stirling Education, Inc., which is closely affiliated with the PBCC.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyrian%20religion
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Illyrian religion
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Illyrian religion refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the Illyrian peoples, a group of tribes who spoke the Illyrian languages and inhabited part of the western Balkan Peninsula from at least the 8th century BC until the 7th century AD. The available written sources are very tenuous. They consist largely of personal and place names, and a few glosses from Classical sources.
Still insufficiently studied, the most numerous traces of religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. The Illyrian Sun-deity is figuratively represented on Iron Age plaques as the god of the sky and lightning, also associated with the fire altar where he throws lightning bolts. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on statues, monuments, and coins of the Roman period, and some interpreted by Ancient writers through comparative religion. To these can be added a larger body of inscriptions from the south-eastern Italian region of Apulia written in the Messapic language, which is generally considered to be related to Illyrian, although this has been debated as mostly speculative. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyrian%20religion
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Illyrian religion
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As pagans, Illyrians believed in supernatural powers and they attributed to the deities qualities that were reflected in everyday life, health and disease, natural abundance and natural disaster. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as mythological ancestors and protectors. The serpent was one of the most important animal totems. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region.
Certain aspects of the deities and beliefs of the Illyrians stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mythology. Alongside the Thracian and Dacian beliefs, it constitutes part of Paleo-Balkan mythologies. Albanians preserved traces of Illyrian religious symbolism, and ancient Illyrian religion is one of the underlying sources from which Albanian folk beliefs have drawn nourishment. One can also find several traces of Illyrian cults in the religious and superstitious beliefs among south Slavic peoples today.
Cults
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Illyrian religion
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Cults from the Neolithic tradition—especially those that were associated with the fertility of the earth and with agriculture in general—continued to be practised throughout the Bronze Age and at the beginning of the Iron Age in the Western Balkans. Those traditions included the cult of the Earth Mother, the cult of the sun, and the cult of the serpent. During the early Iron Age, the Illyrian art was geometric and non-representational, with the combination of concentric circles, rhomboids, triangles and broken lines. It was a severe type of art devoid of fantasy, intended for farmers and cattle breeders or warriors. The absence of figured ornament may reflect an apparent lack of anthropomorphic cults during the early Iron Age. The geometric art of the period, which reached its climax in the 8th century BC, seems to be the only common feature between the different Illyrian areas, as artistic ornaments found after the 6th century BC rather show an outside influence, mainly from archaic Greece and Etruscan Italy.
Archaeological evidence demonstrate the existence of two main cults based upon two roughly defined geographic criteria: the cult of the serpent appears to have occurred principally in the southern regions of Illyria, while the waterfowl and solar symbols predominated in the north. The serpent as the symbol of fertility, protector of the hearth and a chthonic animal, could also be connected with the cult of the sun.
Sun
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyrian%20religion
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Illyrian religion
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Many of the symbols found throughout Illyria were associated with the Sun, suggesting that the Sun worship was a cult common to Illyrian tribes. Early figurative evidence of the celestial cult in Illyria is provided by 6th century BCE plaques from Lake Shkodra, which belonged to the Illyrian tribal area of what was referred in historical sources to as the Labeatae in later times. Each of those plaques portray simultaneously sacred representations of the sky and the sun, and symbolism of lightning and fire, as well as the sacred tree and birds (eagles). In those plaques there is a mythological representation of the celestial deity: the Sun deity animated with a face and two wings, throwing lightning bolts into a fire altar, which in some plaques is held by two men (sometimes on two boats).
The solar deity was often depicted by Illyrians as an animal figure, the likes of the birds, serpents and horses, or represented geometrically as a spiral, a concentric circle or a swastika. The latter, moving clockwise (卍), portrayed the solar movement. Several bronze pendants widespread in the region have the shape of solar symbols such as a simple disk without rays, with four rays which form a cross, and with more rays. There are pendants that have more circles placed concentrically from the center to the periphery. Maximus of Tyre (2nd century AD) reported that the Paeonians worshipped the sun in the form of a small round disk fixed on the top of a pole. The sun-disk fixed on the top of a pole is also depicted in the coins of the Illyrian city of Damastion. Among the Liburnians and the Veneti, the sun-disk is depicted as a sun-boat borne across the firmament.
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Illyrian religion
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Waterfowl are among the most frequent solar symbols of the Illyrians, especially in the north. A great number of pendants with waterfowl shapes have been found in the Glasinac plateau, in the regions of the Japodes in Lika, in Liburnia and in the Illyrian regions of present-day Albania and North Macedonia. At Noricum were found two Illyrian temples with sacrificial altars associated with the sun-cult and erected on mountain peaks. Evidence of a widespread cult of the sun among Thracians suggests a common ancient Balkan religious practice. Archaeological findings have shown that Illyrians and Thracians practiced ritual sacrifices to the sun in round temples built in high places. Among Illyrians, the deer was an important sun symbol as it was considered a main sacrificial animal offered to the Sun.
Remnants of the cult of the sun have been preserved among the Albanians until the 20th century in agricultural and livestock cults, in craftsmanship, in calendar rituals, in the oral folk traditions and in art, and in some forms they still continue today (see Dielli). The solar deity was worshipped in the family life cycle, in the cult of hearth and fire, of water and the mountains; in oath swearing but also as a source of livelihood, of health and fertility, or simply as a useful protective object. A significant element of the sun-worship are the "fires of the year" (zjarret e vitit). Bonfires take place in Albania on the peaks of mountains, on hills and near homes, on Summer Day (beginning of March) or on June 24, sometimes in July, August or December 24. In the Albanian Songs of the Frontier Warriors, different events are influenced by the sun. The "Mountains of the Sun" (Bjeshkët e Diellit) are the places where the heroes (Kreshnikët) operate. The sun symbols are found in Albania in many decorative ornaments, and until the 20th century, the cult of the sun was displayed on tattoos practiced among Albanians (Albanian traditional tattooing) and Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Serpent
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyrian%20religion
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Illyrian religion
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The reliefs of the Thracian horseman spread from the eastern Balkans into Illyria during the Roman era, appearing in the typical image of a hunter on horseback, riding from left to right. The Thracian horseman was portrayed on both votive and funeral monuments. A less used type of monument depicting a Thracian horseman was the medallion, found also at Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Deities by region
The study in the field of Illyrian religion is in several cases insufficient for a description even at the level of basic attributes of individual deities. The Illyrian Sun-deity, which was the chief cult object of the Illyrians, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system, is figuratively represented on Iron Age plaques from Lake Shkodra as the god of the sky and lightning, also associated with the fire altar where he throws lightning bolts. The main source of information about the deities of the Illyrians are inscriptions from the Roman period; some deities are also named by Roman and Greek writers in equation with the classical pantheon which they were familiar with. Based on the available list of deities, there seems to be no single or prominent god shared by all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. On the other hand, some derivatives and epithets of gods were more widespread among the different tribes: a lot of Illyrian personal names are similar to the Dardanian deity Andinus, and certain Illyrian and Messapian goddesses (some of them borrowed from Greek) shared the title Ana or Anna, which is plausibly interpreted as "Mother".
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Illyrian religion
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The Illyrian names of the gods were not different in grammatical structures from the personal names reserved for humans. The onomastic evidence demonstrates a general division between several cultural provinces, which can sometimes overlap: the southern region of Illyria, the middle Pannonian and Dalmatian provinces, and the northwestern regions of Liburnia and Istria. Other Illyrian gods are more scarcely attested in Moesia Superior (present-day North Macedonia), and the pantheon may be extended to the Iapygian deities if one follows the generally accepted Illyro-Messapic theory that postulates an Illyrian migration towards southeastern Italy (present-day Apulia) during the early first millennium BC.
Illyris
The lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria (fifth or sixth century AD) mentioned a god named Dei-pátrous, worshiped in Tymphaea as the Sky Father (*Dyēus-Ph2tḗr) and a cognate of the Vedic Dyáuṣ Pitṛ́, Greek Zeus Patēr and Roman Jupiter. According to linguist Émile Benveniste, the region of Tymphaea was inhabited by an Illyrian population that may have influenced the Doric form copied by Hesychius as "Deipáturos" (Δειπάτυροϛ). The tribe of the Parthini worshiped Jupiter Parthinus as a chief deity, identified with the chief Roman god Jupiter. Hesychius recorded that the Illyrians believed in satyr-like creatures called Deuadai, which has been interpreted as a diminutive of the inherited Indo-European word for a "god" (*deywós). Philologist Hans Krahe argued that Satyros (Σάτυρος) may be of Illyrian origin.
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Prende, widely worshiped by Albanians as the goddess of dawn, love, beauty, fertility, and women protection, is considered to have been an Illyrian love-goddess. The name Perëndi found in Albanian to refer to "god, deity, sky" is considered by some scholars as a cognate of the Proto-Indo-European weather god *Perkwunos, deriving from the root *per- ("to strike"), and attached to the suffixes -en- and -di/dei, the Illyrian sky-god. This would make it a possible Illyrian thunder god. The fire was evidently deified as Enji, which has been interpreted as a cognate of the Vedic fire god Agni, descending from the root *Hxn̩gwnis, the Proto-Indo-European divinised fire. Enji, Prende and probably Perëndi are considered to have been worshiped by Illyrians until the spread of Christianity in the region, after which Enji was demoted to demonic status, but his name survived in the Albanian language to refer to Thursday (enjte). Prende was similarly inherited as a root for Friday (premte) and Saint Venera (Shënepremte), while Perëndi was retained as the name of God.
An Illyrian god named Medaurus is mentioned in a dedication from Lambaesis (Numidia) made by a Roman legatus native of the Illyrian city of Risinium (present-day Montenegro). The name is more scarcely attested on another inscription found in Risinium, engraved by the Peripolarchoi, the border guards of the city; and also in Santa Maria di Leuca, where Medaurus is the divine name given to a merchant ship. Portrayed as riding on horseback and carrying a lance, Medaurus was the protector deity of Risinium, with a monumental equestrian statue dominating the city from the acropolis. He was also possibly regarded as a war god among Illyrian soldiers fighting in the Roman legions along the limes, especially during the Marcomannic Wars (166–180 AD).
Dalmatia and Pannonia
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Dalmatia and Pannonia were ruled by the Roman Empire and grouped together within the province of Illyricum from the creation of the empire in 27 BC until the reign of Vespasian in 69–79 AD, during which they were separated into two different provinces. From the beginning of the reign of Septimius Severus in 193, Pannonians began to adopt Roman deities or put emphasis on local gods compatible with Roman cults. Sedatus, Epona, Mars Latobius, Jupiter Optimus Maximus Teutanus, and other non-Illyrian deities were thus introduced by Roman and Celtic foreigners in the region, and local religion is hardly traceable before the Severan period.
Cult of Silvanus
The cult of Silvanus, the Roman tutelary deity of the wild, woods and fields, was one of the most popular ritual traditions in Dalmatia and Pannonia during the Roman period. Silvanus was so familiar in the region that his name was often abbreviated on inscriptions. The way he was portrayed in Dalmatia differed from the rest of the Roman Empire, with various elements common only with Pannonia. Silvanus was depicted with attributes generally related to Pan, such as goat legs, horns, syrinx, pedum, grapes or other fruits, and he was escorted by a goat and female companions (Diana and the Nymphs). Several cognomina were attributed to Silvanus in particular, such as Domesticus when he was portrayed as a bearded countryman with his watch-dog, holding the knife of a wine-grower or gardener. Under the name Silvanus Messor, he was the protector of the harvest, while the epithet Silvestris, often paired with Diana and the Nymphs, depicted the hunter and the rural woodland identity.
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Some scholars have interpreted those peculiarities from the point of the view that Silvanus was an indigenous deity resembling Pan, but recognized by Classical writers as 'Silvanus' through the eyes of interpretatio romana. They generally link the representations of Silvanus with an erect phallus to pre-Roman fertility cults found earlier in the region, especially local ithyphallic depictions of the Iron Age. The cult of Silvanus was also more frequent in the towns of the Dalmatian heartlands such as Vrlika than in the coastal Graeco-Roman colonies like Narona. An opposing view regards the cult of Silvanus in Dalmatia and Pannonia as a tradition of Italian origin eventually adopted by Balkan populations living in Romanized areas during the second century AD. The association of Silvanus with the Phrygian deity Attis also appears in Dalmatia and further north in Aquileia (Italia).
The Silvanae, whose name is the feminine plural of Silvanus, were featured on many dedications across Pannonia. As most of them were found in the western Balkans rather than in Italy, they may have represented Illyrian nymphs. In the hot springs of Topusko (Pannonia Superior), sacrificial altars were dedicated to Thana and Vidasus, whose names invariably stand side by side as companions. Vidasus is identified with Silvanus, and his name may derive from the PIE root *widhu- ("tree, forest"), with a possible cognate in the Norse god Víðarr, who is said to live amid long grass and brushwood. Thana, compared with the Roman goddess Diana, was the deity of forestry and hunting. Scholars have argued that Thana survived as Zana of Albanian mythology, and that she can be traced today in the image of "mother Yana" within Serbian folklore.
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Cult of Liber
In Dalmatia, the Roman deity of wine, fertility and freedom Liber was worshipped with the attributes of Silvanus and those of Terminus, the protector god of boundaries. His cult was more widespread in the Balkan provinces than in Italy, with prominent centres of cult in Salona and Narona. On the islands of Brattia and Corcyra Nigra, Liber was venerated under the epithet Torcle(n)sis as a god of the wine press. Certainly due to a mixing of local traditions under Hellenistic influence, he was often associated with Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, fertility and religious ecstasy. In Tragurium was erected a statue of Liber-Dionysus-Bacchus, and a relief from Omiš depicts him as an effeminate Dionysus wearing vine branches and holding a thyrsus. Another relief from Livno portrays him with a thyrsus and serpent, or with a vase and a dog, a possible syncretism with the Greek god of medicine Asclepius. A feminine version named Libera was also discovered in inscriptions from Hvar, Bihać, Zenica, Zemun and Humac.
Other deities
Tadenus was a Dalmatian deity bearing the identity or epithet of Apollo in inscriptions found near the source of the Bosna river. His identity is not known and the name may be of Thracian origin. A local ruler named Ionios appears on inscriptions carved on Dalmatian coins. His mythic dimensions have been highlighted by scholars, and it seems likely that he received his name from a mythical predecessor. The Delmatae also had Armatus as a war god in Delminium. Two altars were dedicated to him under the name Armatus Augustus in Dalmatia, and while he was recorded under a Latin name, the deity was likely of native origin.
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Moesia Superior
The region of Moesia Superior showed a great variety of cultural beliefs, as it lay on the cultural frontier between the Latin West and the Greek East. The debated identity of tribes such as the Dardanians, interpreted as either Illyrian or Thracian, or the Paeonians, likewise dwelling between the Dardanians and Macedonians, rests upon the fact that they inhabited an Illyrian-Thracian contact zone where both cultures intertwined over a long period.
The Dardanian deity Andinus was worshipped in a region dominated by Thracian gods. The only trace left is a name carved on an altar dedicated by a beneficiarus ("a foreigner"). Variants like Andia or Andio were also common among the Dardanians, and a lot of Illyrian personal names are found under the forms Andes, Andueia or Andena. The Paeonians worshiped a god named Dualos, the equivalent of Dionysus. His name has been compared with Albanian dej ("drunk") and Gothic dwals ("a madman"), reinforcing the association of the Paeonian deity with wine and intoxication.
Apulia
Iapygian tribes (the Messapians, Daunians and Peucetians) all shared Messapic as a common language until the Roman conquest of Apulia from the late 4th century BC onwards. Messapic was probably related to the Illyrian languages spoken on the other side of the Adriatic Sea, as both ancient sources and modern scholars have described an Illyrian migration into Italy early in the first millennium BC. The pre-Roman religion of Iapygians appears as a substrate of indigenous elements mixed with Greek mythology. In fact, the Roman conquest probably accelerated the hellenisation of a region already influenced by contacts with Magna Grecia, a set of colonies Greeks had founded in southeastern Italy by the 8th century BC (Tarentum in particular), after first incursions centuries earlier during the Mycenaean period. Aphrodite and Athena were thus worshiped in Apulia as Aprodita and Athana, respectively.
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Indigenous Iapygian beliefs featured the curative powers of the waters at the herõon of the god Podalirius and the fulfilling of oracles for anyone who slept wrapped in the skin of a sacrificed ewe. Menzanas was a local Messapian deity whose name literally translates as "Lord of Horses". He was often worshipped under the epithet Juppiter Menzanas, and horses were sacrificed to him by being thrown alive into a fire. Originally formed as *mendyo-no-, the name Menzanas derives from the root *mendyo- ("foal"), attached to the PIE suffix -nos ("controller of, lord of"). The cult of Juppiter Menzanas, known at least since Verrius Flaccus (c. 55 BC–20 AD), is probably a native custom eventually influenced by neighbouring Italic peoples. In fact, the native sky-god of the Messapians, Zis (or Dis), was likewise worshipped under the aspect of Zis Menzanas. Attested by the early 6th century BC, Zis is not a loanword adapted from the Greek Zeus, but a parallel inheritance from the Proto-Indo-European sky-god *Dyēus (via an intermediate form *dyēs), and other cognates appear in Albanian Zojz, Vedic Dyáuṣ, Latin Jovis (*Djous) and Illyrian Dei(-pátrous). The Tarentine god Dís (Δίς) has probably been borrowed from their neighbouring Messapians.
The goddess Venas (< *wenos), also an inherited deity (cognate with Latin Venus or Old Indic vánas "desire"), is often invoked along with the sky-god Zis (kla(o)hi Zis Venas, "listen, Zis (and) Venas") and with an unknown god, Taotor (Θautour), probably related to the "tribe" or the "community" as his name stems from PIE *teutéha- ('people'). Lahona was the name of a Messapian deity worshipped as an epithet attached to Aphrodite: ana aprodita lahona. She was featured in votive inscriptions found in Ceglie Messapica, and the dedication has been translated either as "To the goddess Aphrodite Lahona", or as "Mother Aphrodite Lahona". The theonym Thana, attested on Messapian inscriptions, is also found on Dalmatian altars.
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The goddess Damatura (or Damatira) could be of Messapian origin rather than a borrowing from the Greek Demeter, with a form dā- ("earth", compare with ) attached to -matura ("mother") and akin to the Illyrian god Dei-pátrous (dei-, "sky", attached to -pátrous, "father"). This theory was supported by Pisani (1935) and Georgiev (1937), rejected by Kretschmer (1939), and more recently supported by Çabej, Demiraj (1997), and West (2007), although Beekes (2009) and De Simone (2017) rather see a borrowing from Greek. West further notes that "the formal parallelism between [Damatura and Deipaturos] may favour their having been a pair, but evidence of the liaison is lacking."
Sanctuaries
Perpetual fire
The perpetual fire at Nymphaion sanctuary was a place of worship in southern Illyria that was renowned throughout classical antiquity for its unique natural features. Placed around the lower Vjosë/Aoos river near ancient Apollonia, Byllis, and present-day Selenica, in Albania, the area was occupied by Illyrians since before archaic colonial times, and the site was likely already a place of worship because of its peculiar physical properties. According to ancient literary accounts the fire of the sanctuary never went out before an ancient war fought between Apollonia and the Illyrians. It probably passed to Apollonia at the time of the Apollonian victory towards Thronium (5th century B.C). Inscriptions from Apollonia and Byllis mention the sanctuary, and coins from the same towns depict the eternal fire, as well as nymphs surrounding it.
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In his description of the site Strabo (1st century BCE – 1st century CE) reports that a fire arises from a stone, and underneath it exists a source of warm water and asphalt. Pliny the Elder (1st century CE), in his description based on the accounts of historian Theopompus (4th century BCE), reports that even if the fire is located in the middle of a thick forest, it is very pleasant because it does not damage the greenery that surrounds it and the always lit crater of the nymphaion is located near a source of cold water. Pliny reports a public form of divination according to which the welfare of the Apolloniates was connected to the steadiness of the fire spring. He also gives the geographical position of the fire sanctuary: on the border of Apollonia, where the barbarians Amantini and Bylliones lived. Cassius Dio (2nd–3rd centuries CE) reports a description of the fire sanctuary including the practices related to the oracle provided by the great fire, giving a more detailed explanation of a private form of divination. Dio also expressed in other accounts his wonder at the greenness and moistness of the site in spite of the presence of its fire.
The fire sanctuary was associated with the cult of the nymphs. A relief found near Byllis shows the nymphs and a cloth wrapped around the fire of the nymphaion. A similar scene is also represented on a 1st-century BCE silver coin of Apollonia that depicts three nymphs dancing around the fire of the nymphaion. Of very ancient origin, the indigenous Illyrian cult of the nymphs influenced Apollonia. The continuation of the cult of the nymphs in the Roman imperial period in Apollonia is testified in a 2nd-century CE Greek inscription reporting Illyrian names. In addition to the natural home of the nymphs, the site was also considered a beautiful, lush spot attractive to satyrs.
Mythology
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Cosmology
The opinion according to which the Illyrians apparently did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices is incompatible with the discovery of a monument representing a round labyrinth that was dedicated to the "Dardanian Goddess" from Smira. This monument provides evidence for cosmogonic and cosmologic knowledges among the Dardani. The labyrinth was realized based on the concept of the trinity. There is used a numerological and geometric approach through a multidimensional holographic field, which illustrates the Dardanian perception of the cosmic order and the interconnection between the material world and the higher realm.
Legends
The absence of figured ornament during the early Iron Age may reflect an apparent lack of mythology among Illyrians in this period. The most deeply rooted mythological tradition among the populations of northwestern Balkans was the legend of Cadmus and Harmonia; other legends were those of Bato and of the Cadmeians. The myth of the heroic pair Cadmus and Harmonia was strictly connected to the Enchelei and the territory they inhabited: Boeotia and Illyria.
In Roman times Bato was one of the most notable Illyrian names, which perhaps was originally a nomen sacrum, and is outstandingly spread but condensed in Illyria, Thebes and Troas, with the presence of a temple dedicated to him at Argos, as recorded by Pausanias. In every region it is related to legends and religion, suggesting also an ancient cult. According to a legendary account reported by Polybius, cited by Stephanus of Byzantium, after Amphiaraus disappearance his carioteer Baton settled in Illyria, near the country of the Enchelei.
The meanings of compound personal names like Veskleves (lit. "good-fame", i.e. "possessing good fame") have been interpreted as an indicator of an oral epic tradition among the Illyrians.
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According to a tradition reported by Appian, the Illyrian king Epidamnos was the eponymous founder of the homonym city. His grandson Dyrrhachos, son of Epidamnos' daughter Melissa and Poseidon, founded a harbor that was called Dyrrhachion. According to this legend, when Dyrrhachus was attacked by his own brothers, the hero Heracles, who was promised part of the Illyrian land, came to his aid, but in the fight the hero killed by mistake Ionius, the son of his ally Dyrrhachos. During the funeral Heracles cast the body into the sea, thereafter named Ionian Sea. The genealogy of the foundation of Dyrrhachium includes among the founders Illyrian men (the Illyrian king Epidamnos and his grandson Dyrrachos), Greek men (the Corinthian Falio, descendant of Heracles), heroes (Heracles who was given part of the lands) and gods (Poseidon, as father of Dyrrachos). The emergence of a mixed tradition with apparently divergent aspects (Heracles as a "god" and a Greek king on the one hand, Epidamnos and his grandson Dyrrachos as Illyrians on the other hand) was probably determined by the perception of a profane action carried out by the colonists, which only a new heroic and divine tradition could have justified. Considering the Hellenization process to which the Illyrian local aristocracies adhered early, this tradition can be conceivably considered as constructed both by the colonists and by the Hellenized Taulantian population.
It has been argued that the legend of Aeneas was transmitted in Italy and Rome through Illyrian intermediacy. Similarly it can also be explained the unclear Latin form Ulixes of the name Odysseus.
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Totemism
Illyrian totemism is known almost exclusively from Illyrian tribal names, toponyms and anthroponyms, which were taken from the animal and plant world, reflecting a close relation of Illyrian peoples to nature. Such cases include: Enchelei, "people of the eel" (cf. Albanian: ngjalë, Ancient Greek: ἔγχελυς, Latin: anguilla); Taulanti, "people of the swallow" (cf. Albanian: tallandyshe, also reflected in the Greek translation χελῑδόν, khelīdṓn); Delmatai, "people of the sheep" (cf. Albanian: delmë); Dardani, "people of the pear" (cf. Albanian: dardhë); Peuketi, "people of the pine" (cf. Ancient Greek: πεύχη, peúkē, from PIE: *pewḱ-); Ulkinium, "city of the wolf" (cf. Albanian: ulk, from PIE: *wĺ̥kwos); Delminium, "city of the sheep" (the same root of Delmatai). Many tribes believed in the protection of certain animals and plants, feeling also an ancestry link with them. Totemism may translate the ancient social relationships and religious conceptions held by Illyrians and their predecessors, a set of traditions that was still alive during the Roman period.
Magic and superstition
As recorded by ancient Roman writers, Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye. Many examples of objects with the shape of phallus, hand, leg, and animal teeth are indicators of a belief in the protective and beneficial force of amulets.
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Thracian horseman
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The Thracian horseman (also "Thracian Rider" or "Thracian Heroes") is a recurring motif depicted in reliefs of the Hellenistic and Roman periods in the Balkans—mainly Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly and Moesia—roughly from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. Inscriptions found in Romania identify the horseman as Heros and Eros (Latin transcriptions of Ἥρως) and also Herron and Eron (Latin transcriptions of Ἥρων), apparently the word heroes used as a proper name. He is sometimes addressed in inscriptions merely as κύριος, δεσπότης or ἥρως.
The Thracian horseman is depicted as a hunter on horseback, riding from left to right. Between the horse's hooves is depicted either a hunting dog or a boar. In some instances, the dog is replaced by a lion. Its depiction is in the tradition of the funerary steles of Roman cavalrymen, with the addition of syncretistic elements from Hellenistic and Paleo-Balkanic religious or mythological tradition.
Name
The original Palaeo-Balkan word for 'horseman' has been reconstructed as *Me(n)zana-, with the root *me(n)za- 'horse'. It is based on evidence provided by:
Albanian: mëz or mâz 'foal', with the original meaning of 'horse' that underwent a later semantic shift 'horse' > 'foal' after the loan from Latin caballus into Albanian kalë 'horse'; the same root is also found in Albanian: mazrek 'horse breeder';
Messapic: menzanas, appearing as an epithet in Zis Menzanas, found in votive inscriptions, and in Iuppiter Menzanas, mentioned in a passage written by Festus in relation to a Messapian horse sacrifice;
Romanian: mânz;
Thracian: ΜΕΖΗΝΑ̣Ι mezēnai, found in the inscription of the Duvanli gold ring also bearing the image of a horseman.
Iconography
Images of the Thracian Horseman appear in Thrace and in Lower Moesia, but also in Upper Moesia among Thracian populations and Thracian soldiers. According to Vladimir Toporov (1990), a initial number of iconographies number 1,500, found in modern Bulgaria and in Yugoslavia.
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Interpretation
The horseman was a common Palaeo-Balkan hero.
The motif depicted on reliefs most likely represents a composite figure, a Thracian heroes possibly based on Rhesus, the Thracian king mentioned in the Iliad, to which Scythian, Hellenistic and possibly other elements had been added.
Late Roman syncretism
The Cult of the Thracian horseman was especially important in Philippi, where the Heros had the epithets of Hero Auloneites, soter ('saviour') and epekoos 'answerer of prayers'. Funerary stelae depicting the horseman belong to the middle or lower classes (while the upper classes preferred the depiction of banquet scenes).
Under the Roman Emperor Gordian III the god on horseback appears on coins minted at Tlos, in neighboring Lycia, and at Istrus, in the province of Lower Moesia, between Thrace and the Danube.
In the Roman era, the "Thracian horseman" iconography is further syncretised. The rider is now sometimes shown as approaching a tree entwined by a serpent, or as approaching a goddess. These motifs are partly of Greco-Roman and partly of possible Scythian origin. The motif of a horseman with his right arm raised advancing towards a seated female figure is related to Scythian iconographic tradition. It is frequently found in Bulgaria, associated with Asclepius and Hygeia.
Stelai dedicated to the Thracian Heros Archegetas have been found at Selymbria.
Inscriptions from Bulgaria give the names Salenos and Pyrmerula/Pirmerula.
Epithets
Apart from syncretism with other deities (such as Asclepios, Apollo, Sabatius), the figure of the Thracian Horseman was also found with several epithets: Karabasmos, Keilade(i)nos, Manimazos, Aularchenos, Aulosadenos, Pyrmeroulas. One in particular was found in Avren, dating from the III century CE, with a designation that seems to refer to horsemanship: Outaspios, and variations Betespios, Ephippios and Ouetespios.
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Bulgarian linguist Vladimir I. Georgiev proposed the following interpretations to its epithets:
Ouetespios (Betespios) - related to Albanian vetë 'own, self' and Avestan aspa- 'horse', meaning 'der selbst Pferd ist'.
Outaspios - corresponds to Greek epihippios 'on a horse'.
Manimazos - related to Latin mani 'good' and Romanian mînz; meaning 'the good horse'.
Karabasmos - related to Old Bulgarian gora 'mountain' and Greek phasma 'phantom'; meaning 'mountain-phantom' ("Berg-geist", in German).
Bulgarian linguist interpreted the following theonyms:
Руrumērulаs (Variations: Руrmērulаs, Руrymērulаs, Pirmerulas) - linked to Greek pyrós 'maize, corn'; and PIE stem *mer 'great'.
Related imagery
Twin horsemen
Related to the Dioscuri motif is the so-called "Danubian Horsemen" motif of two horsemen flanking a standing goddess. These "Danubian horsemen" are thus called due to their reliefs being found in the Roman province of Danube. However, some reliefs have also been found in Roman Dacia - which gives the alternate name for the motif: "Dacian Horseman". Scholarship locates its diffusion across Moesia, Dacia, Pannonia and Danube, and, to a lesser degree, in Dalmatia and Thracia.
The motif of a standing goddess flanked by two horsemen, identified as Artemis flanked by the Dioscuri, and a tree entwined by a serpent flanked by the Dioscuri on horseback was transformed into a motif of a single horseman approaching the goddess or the tree.
Madara Rider
The Madara Rider is an early medieval large rock relief carved on the Madara Plateau east of Shumen, in northeastern Bulgaria. The monument is dated in the c. 7th/8th century, during the reign of Bulgar Khan Tervel. In 1979 became enlisted on the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The relief incorporates elements of the autochthonous Thracian cult.
Legacy
The motif of the Thracian horseman was continued in Christianised form in the equestrian iconography of both Saint George and Saint Demetrius.
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Santé engagé () is a genre of Mauritian music which consists of singing and rapping protest songs. It is a way to protest against political/social oppression and repression through music. The genre mixes traditional Mauritian sega with Indian, Chinese and Western influences.
History
Context
The 1960s and 1970s ("les années de braise") have been a very bustling period in the history of Mauritius. It has been a period of high interracial tension leading to more than 300 deaths due to interracial affrays. It has also been an indecisive period with regard to the cultural heirloom of the island with a deep reconsidering of the multicultural image.
Independence of Mauritius
Mauritius attained independence from Great Britain in 1968 without real exhilaration. A profound division prevailed between, on one side, the members of the independent movement and, on the other side, the anti-independentists. The island is faced with a vertiginously high level of unemployment and people still had in mind the recent interracial tensions peaking in 1964 and 1968.
Under the pretext of security and law and order, the newly formed government of Mauritius took highly repressive measures against opponents who intended to put forward ideas adverse to those of the governing regime.
Even though independence was declared in 1968, British colonial presence and dominance remained clearly visible throughout the 1970s.
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Evolution of Santé engazé
Even though many people today consider sante angaze as a revolved musical style, the latter still exists and much appreciated. Santé engazé has simply evolved. The militantly oriented protests of its origins have gradually evolved and broaden to other subjects, not specially related to politics. The core of its philosophy however remains the same: raise people's consciousness through music. Sante angaze is today less related to the musical style than the lyrics of songs. In other words, what we call a sante angaze today is a song with a committed lyrics, passing a committed message, whatever the musical style. That's why today it is better to talk of lamizik angaze (committed music) rather than sante angaze.
The new generation
The evolution and influence of sante angaze can clearly be noticed within the new generation of artists in Mauritius. The music of Mauritius has diversified through years but the impact of santé engazé is visible insofar as the new generation of artists, whatever their musical style (sega music, seggae, reggae, ragga, dancehall, etc.), try to use music to transmit a specific message. Their inspirations remain wide-ranging: poverty, injustice, social wrongdoings, war, cultural unity, etc. These artists are the sons and heirs of santé engazé. However, the vast majority of them deny to be politically oriented preferring to remain neutral and denouncing through music.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimera%20%28singer%29
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Kimera (singer)
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Kim Hong Hee (born January 10, 1954), known as Kimera, is a South Korean-born singer. She developed the style of operatic pop, or popera performing and recording medleys of operatic arias set to a mid-1980s form of disco beat, singing in the soprano register.
Life and career
The third of five children, Kimera has loved singing ever since she can remember. From the age of twelve, she began singing in church choirs, as well as in the Korean National Metropolitan Choir. While attending university, she found she really enjoyed singing pop music as well. However, her father strongly disapproved of pop, which he felt was unsuitable, so she put her love for this genre aside, and eventually stopped singing completely.
Kimera focused on her studies and graduated with a B.A. in French Literature from Sungshin Women's University in Seoul. She then left her native Korea to pursue a post-graduate degree in France, where she studied for an M.A., also in French literature, at the Sorbonne in Paris. While in Paris, her love for singing was reawakened, so she decided to enroll in the École Normale de Musique de Paris to learn operatic technique. After arduous vocal studies, she received in 1984 a Diplôme Supérieur d'Art Lyrique.
Unbeknownst to her parents, Kimera wanted to marry her love of modern music with her love for opera. This culminated in her deciding, in 1984, to set aside her promising career as an opera diva, to create the controversial classic-pop fusion recording, The Lost Opera, with the London Symphony Orchestra. The album promptly entered the British music charts and went on to gather momentum in France, Spain, South Africa, and other countries across the globe.
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Kimera (singer)
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In 1987, a personal tragedy occurred when her five-year-old daughter, Mélodie Nakachian, was kidnapped on November 9, and held for ransom for 11 days. Although her daughter was eventually recovered unharmed by the Spanish Grupo Especial de Operaciones, Kimera became reluctant to live a life of celebrity, as she blamed her public lifestyle for the unfortunate incident. As a result, she reduced public performances but continued to practice and record in her home studio at Estepona in the Costa del Sol region.
Stardom and controversy
Kimera, with her five-octave range and novel approach to operatic singing, has intrigued and fascinated many. Millions have embraced her unique opera-pop fusion embodied in various albums starting with The Lost Opera, which sold more than 10 million copies, followed by Opera Express and seven additional albums.
Her music style was that of pop opera, similar to pop symphony yet with more techno and High N-R-G beats. Her debut album was released in 1985, titled, The Lost Opera. Her second album, Opera Express and same-titled single were released in 1986. Both singles were edited 'radio friendly' versions from the continuous medleys found on aforementioned parent albums. Her music career stage was in Europe, mostly in France and Spain, but she also enjoyed tremendous success in South Africa with her debut single, The Lost Opera, reaching number 1 on the South African Springbok Charts in June 1985, and charting for 19 weeks.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B4tes%20de%20Gascogne
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Côtes de Gascogne
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Côtes de Gascogne is a wine-growing district in Gascony producing principally white wine. It is mainly located in the département of the Gers in the former Midi-Pyrénées region (now part of the Occitanie region), and it belongs to the wine region South West France. The designation Côtes de Gascogne is used for a Vin de Pays ("country wine") produced in the Armagnac area. The decree of 13 September 1968 created the difference between a Vin de Pays and simpler table wine, the so-called Vin de table. The designation Côtes de Gascogne obliges the producers to respect the stricter rules and production standards, which were adopted with the decree of 25 January 1982.
Association of producers
The Association of Producers of the Vins de Pays Côtes de Gascogne was founded on 15 March 1979. It protects the interests of the members, determines the production standards and ensures respect of these rules. The association counts on this moment approximately 1,400 wine farmers. Of them, 1,300 are members of cooperative cellars, the so-called caves coopératives.
The most famous producers are Château de Tariquet, Domaine de Joÿ, Plaimont, Uby...
There are also 150 independently working wine farmers, who produce their wines themselves.
Production
With a permitted production quantity of 830,000 hectoliters per year, the Gers is France's largest producer of white Vin de Pays, with a production potential of more than 100 million bottles per year, of which 75% are for export.
In the Gers, the production volumes are more or less as follows: 91% white wine, 8% red and 1% rosé wine. This is very atypical for the southwest of France, because in neighbouring departments mainly red wine is produced.
Rules for wine
There are red, rosé and white wine. Wines are produced only from the defined area.
The types of grapes for red and rosé wine are Abouriou, Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Duras, Fer, Négrette, Portugias bleu, Malbec and Tannat.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max%20Trautz
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Max Trautz
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Max Trautz (19 March 1880 – 19 August 1960) was a German chemist. He was very productive with over 190 scientific publications especially in the field of chemical kinetics. He was the first to investigate the activation energy of molecules by connecting Max Planck's new results concerning light with observations in chemistry.
He is also known as the founder of collision theory together with the British scientist William Lewis. While Trautz published his work in 1916, Lewis published it in 1918. However, they were unaware of each other's work due to World War I.
Publications
Trautz, Max. Der Temperaturkoeffizient der spezifischen Wärme von Gasen, 1913
Trautz, Max. Die Theorie der chemischen Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit und ein neues Grenzgesetz für ideale Gase, 1915
Trautz, Max. Messungen der spezifischen Wärme von Co 2, Cl 2 und So 2, 1916
Trautz, Max. Das Gesetz der Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit und der Gleichgewichte in Gasen. Bestätigung der Additivität von Cv-3/2R. Neue Bestimmung der Integrationskonstanten und der Moleküldurchmesser, Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie, Volume 96, Issue 1, Pages 1 – 28, 1916
Trautz, Max. Die Theorie der Gasreaktionen und der Molarwärmen und die Abweichungen von der Additivität der inneren Atomenergie, 1917
Trautz, Max. Praktische Einführung in die Allgemeine Chemie, 1917
Trautz, Max. Der Verlauf der chemischen Vorgänge im Dunkeln und im Licht, 1917.
Trautz, Max. Die Einwirkung von Stickoxyd auf Chlor
Trautz, Max. Die langsame Verbrennung des Jodwasserstoffgases
Trautz, Max. Die Reibung, Wärmeleitung und Diffusion in Gasmischungen
Trautz, Max. Lehrbuch der Chemie
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PixelJunk%20Eden
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PixelJunk Eden
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PixelJunk Eden is a video game developed and published by Q-Games for the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows. The third game in the PixelJunk series, it was released on the PlayStation Store on July 31, 2008 worldwide by Sony Computer Entertainment. A demo of the game was released on July 25, 2008. The game features the work of Baiyon, an independent artist from Kyoto who was invited by the studio founder Dylan Cuthbert to design the graphics and soundtrack.
Gameplay
The player controls a "Grimp" (derived from the actions "grip" and "jump"), a small creature that maneuvers itself by jumping from and attaching itself to plant-like structures. The Grimp also has the abilities to swing itself from a silk-like tether for a short amount of time and spin while jumping. Using these abilities, the objective of the Grimp is to collect several objects called "Spectra" that are found in the game's stages (or "gardens"). Usually located high above the player's starting point, spectra must be reached by activating seeds, which will grow out into structures the Grimp can attach itself to. At first dormant, seeds can be activated by collecting pollen and jumping into them. Pollen is obtained by having the Grimp hit enemies with its body or the silk it is swinging from, and then jumping or swinging through the particles as they float to the ground. The player can attempt to jump and swing through multiple enemies without landing on the ground or a plant, each one creating a chain and increasing the amount of pollen generated. Later stages feature enemies that are more aggressive to the Grimp and attempt to knock it off the plant it is on or cut its silk, slowing down the player's progress to higher levels.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory%20of%20Southeast%20Europe
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Prehistory of Southeast Europe
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The earliest evidence of human occupation discovered in the region, in Kozarnika cave (Bulgaria), date from at least 1.5 million years ago.
There is evidence of human presence in the Southeastern Europe from the Lower Paleolithic onwards, but the number of sites is limited. According to Douglass W. Bailey:
The Palaeolithic period, literally the “Old Stone Age”, is an ancient cultural level of human development characterized by the use of unpolished chipped stone tools. The transition from Middle to Upper Palaeolithic is directly related to the development of behavioural modernity by hominids around 40,000 years BP. To denote the great significance and degree of change, this dramatic shift from Middle to Upper Palaeolithic is sometimes called the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution.
In the late Pleistocene, various components of the transition–material culture and environmental features (climate, flora, and fauna) indicate continual change, differing from contemporary points in other parts of Europe. The aforementioned aspects leave some doubt that the term Upper Palaeolithic Revolution is appropriate to the Balkans.
In general, continual evolutionary changes are the first crucial characteristic of the transition to the Upper Palaeolithic in the region. The notion of the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution that has been developed for core European regions is not applicable to the region. What is the reason? This particularly significant moment and its origins are defined and enlightened by other characteristics of the transition to upper Old Stone Age. The environment, climate, flora and fauna corroborate the implications.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory%20of%20Southeast%20Europe
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Prehistory of Southeast Europe
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During the last interglacial period and the most recent glaciation of the Pleistocene (from 131,000 till 12,000 BP), Europe was very different from the regional glaciation. The glaciations did not affect southeastern Europe to the extent that they did in the northern and central regions. The evidence of forest and steppe indicate the influence was not so drastic; some species of flora and fauna survived only in this part of Europe. The region today still abounds in species endemic only to this part of Europe.
The notion of gradual transition (or evolution) best defines southeastern Europe from about 50,000 BP. In this sense, the material culture and natural environment of the region of the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene were distinct from other parts of Europe. Douglass W. Bailey writes in Balkan Prehistory: Exclusion, Incorporation and Identity: “Less dramatic changes to climate, flora and fauna resulted in less dramatic adaptive, or reactive, developments in material culture.”
Thus, in speaking about southeastern Europe, many classic conceptions and systematizations of human development during the Palaeolithic (and then by implication the Mesolithic) should not be considered correct in all cases. In this regard, the absence of Upper Palaeolithic cave art in the region does not seem to be surprising. Civilisations develop new and distinctive characteristics as they respond to new challenges in their environment.
Upper Palaeolithic
(50,000 – 20,000 BP)
In 2002, some of the oldest modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens) remains in Europe were discovered in the "Cave With Bones" (Peștera cu Oase), near Anina, Romania. Nicknamed "John of Anina" (Ion din Anina), the remains (the lower jaw) are approximately 37,800 years old.
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Prehistory of Southeast Europe
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These are some of Europe's oldest remains of Homo sapiens, so they are likely to represent the first such people to have entered the continent. According to some researchers, the particular interest of the discovery resides in the fact that it presents a mixture of archaic, early modern human and Neanderthal morphological features, indicating considerable Neanderthal/modern human admixture, which in turn suggests that, upon their arrival in Europe, modern humans met and interbred with Neanderthals. Recent reanalysis of some of these fossils has challenged the view that these remains represent evidence of interbreeding. A second expedition by Erik Trinkaus and Ricardo Rodrigo, discovered further fragments (for example, a skull dated ~36,000, nicknamed "Vasile").
Two human fossil remains found in the Muierii (Peştera Muierilor) and the Cioclovina caves in Romania have been radiocarbon dated using the technique of the accelerator mass spectrometry to the age of ~ 30,000 years BP (see Human fossil bones from the Muierii Cave and the Cioclovina Cave, Romania).
The first skull, scapula and tibia remains were found in 1952 in Baia de Fier, in the Muierii Cave, Gorj County in the Oltenia province, by Constantin Nicolaescu-Plopşor.
In 1941 another skull was found at the Cioclovina Cave near Commune Bosorod, Hunedoara County, in Transylvania. The anthropologist, Francisc Rainer, and the geologist, Ion Th. Simionescu, published a study of this skull.
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Prehistory of Southeast Europe
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There is lithic evidence of the Iron Gates mesolithic culture, which is notable for its early urbanization, at Lepenski Vir. Iron Gates mesolithic sites are found in modern Serbia, south-west Romania and Montenegro. At Ostrovul Banului, the Cuina Turcului rock shelter in the Danube gorges and in the nearby caves of Climente, there are finds that people of that time made relatively advanced bone and lithic tools (i.e. end-scrapers, blade lets, and flakes).
The single site with materials related to the Mesolithic era in Bulgaria is Pobíti Kámǎni. There has been no other lithic evidence of this period found in Bulgaria. There is a 4,000-year gap between the latest Upper Palaeolithic material (13,600 BP at Témnata Dupka) and the earliest Neolithic evidence presented at Gǎlǎbnik (the beginning of the 7th millennium BC).
At Odmut in Montenegro there is evidence of human activity in the Mesolithic period. The research on the period has been supplemented with Greek Mesolithic finds, well represented by sites such as Frachthi Cave. Other sites are Theopetra Cave and Sesklo in Thessaly that represent the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic as well as the early Neolithic period. Yet southern and coastal sites in Greece, which contained materials from the Mesolithic, are less known.
Activities began to be concentrated around individual sites where people displayed personal and group identities using various decorations: wearing ornaments and painting their bodies with ochre and hematite. As regards personal identity D. Bailey writes, “Flint-cutting tools as well as time and effort needed to produce such tools testify to the expressions of identity and more flexible combinations of materials, which began to be used in the late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic.”
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Prehistory of Southeast Europe
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The aforementioned allows us to speculate whether or not there was a period which could be described as Mesolithic in Southeastern Europe, rather than an extended Upper Palaeolithic. On the other hand, lack of research in a number of regions, and the fact that many of the sites were close to seashores (It is evident that the current sea level is 100 m higher, and a number of sites were covered by water.) means that the Mesolithic Southeastern Europe could be referred to as the Epipalaeolithic Southeastern Europe, which might describe better its gradual changes and poorly defined development.
The relative climatic stability in Southeastern Europe, compared to northern and western Europe, enabled continuous settlement in Southeastern Europe. Southeastern Europe therefore may have effectively functioned as an ice-age refuge from which much of Europe, especially eastern Europe, was re-populated.
Neolithic
Southeastern Europe was the site of major Neolithic cultures, including Butmir, Vinča, Varna, Karanovo, Hamangia and Sesklo.
The Vinča culture was an early culture of Southeastern Europe (between the 6th and the 3rd millennium BC), stretching around the course of the Danube in Serbia, Croatia, northern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Republic of North Macedonia, although traces of it can be found all around the Southeastern Europe, parts of Central Europe and in Asia Minor.
The Varna Necropolis, Bulgaria, is a burial site in the western industrial zone of Varna (approximately 4 km from the city centre), internationally considered one of the key archaeological sites in world prehistory. The oldest gold treasure in the world, dating from 4,600 BC to 4,200 BC, was discovered at the site. The gold piece dating from 4,500 BC, recently founded in Durankulak, near Varna is another important example.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory%20of%20Southeast%20Europe
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Prehistory of Southeast Europe
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After the period that followed the arrival of the Dorians, known as the Greek Dark Ages or Submycenaean Period, the classical Greek culture began to develop in Southeastern Europe, the Aegean islands and the western Asia Minor Greek colonies starting around the 9–8th century (the Geometric Period) and peaking with the 5th century BC Athens democracy. The Greeks were the first to establish a system of trade routes in Southeastern Europe and, in order to facilitate trade with the natives between 700 BC and 300 BC, they founded several colonies on the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) coast, Asia Minor, Dalmatia etc.
Other notable groups of peoples and tribes of Southeast Europe organised themselves in large tribal unions such as the Thracian Odrysian kingdom in the east of Southeastern Europe in the 5th century BC. By the 6th century BC the first written sources dealing with the territory north of the Danube appear in Greek sources. By this time the Getae (and later the Daci) had branched out from the Thracian-speaking populations.
The Illyrian kingdom in the west of Southeastern Europe from the early 4th century was organised by the Illyrian tribes situated in the area corresponding to today's Montenegro and Albania. The name Illyrii was originally used to refer to a people occupying an area centered on Lake Skadar, situated between Albania and Montenegro (see List of ancient tribes in Illyria). The term Illyria was subsequently used by the Greeks and Romans as a generic name to refer to different peoples within a well defined but much greater area.
Other tribal unions existed in Dacia at least as early as the beginning of the 2nd century BC under King Oroles. In the beginning of 1st century BC under Burebista's rule, Dacia expanded its territory from Central Europe to the Southern Europe.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinemoa%20%281914%20film%29
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Hinemoa (1914 film)
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Hinemoa was an early silent film produced in New Zealand in 1914 which is presumed to be lost now. It was claimed to be the first feature film produced in New Zealand, although it should not be confused with a film of the same name shot by French director Gaston Méliès a year earlier. It was billed as "The first big dramatic work filmed and acted in the land of the Moa".
Plot
The film tells the Māori legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai. No prints are known to have survived.
Production
The £50 budget was funded by Edward Anderson, of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce
The film was shot on location around Rotorua in only 8 days. All the cast members were drawn from the Reverend F.A. Bennett's Māori choir.
Legacy
The film opened at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland during the first week of World War I, and performed well. It then toured the country and was later exhibited overseas.
The promotional image of Hinemoa featured on the 40c stamp of the New Zealand Post 1996 "Centenary of New Zealand Cinema" stamp issue.
The New Zealand Film Archive lists in its holdings tape of an undated radio interview with George Tarr and Hera Tawhai Rodgers about the making of the film. (Rodgers was 76 at the time of the interview, so it was probably in the 1960s)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrid%20Svendsdatter
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Estrid Svendsdatter
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Estrid Svendsdatter of Denmark (Estrith, Astrith: 990/997 – 1057/1073), was a Danish princess and titular queen, a Russian princess and, possibly, duchess of Normandy by marriage. She was the daughter of Sweyn Forkbeard and perhaps Gunhild of Wenden and half-sister of Cnut the Great. By Ulf Jarl, she was the mother of the later King Sweyn II Estridson and Beorn Estrithson. The dynasty that ruled Denmark in 1047–1412 was named after her. Though never a ruler or wife of a king, she was known in Denmark as queen during her son's reign.
According to other researchers Estrid was the daughter of Sweyn Forkbeard and Sigrid the Haughty, herself the daughter of Skagul Toste, making Olof Skötkonung, the son of Sigrid the Haughty and Eric the Victorious, Estrid's half-brother while Canute the Great, Harald and Świętosława her other half-siblings, as children of Sweyn Forkbeard and the Polish princess Gunhild, daughter of Mieszko I of Poland.
Biography
Estrid was born around 990 or around 997. In 1014, her father died.
She was reportedly married briefly to an unnamed Russian Prince (perhaps Vsevolod, Prince of Vladimir-Volynsk, son of Grand Prince Vladimir I the Great), who died following the Rus' war after the death of the Grand Prince in 1015.
After her brother's elevation to the throne of England, he made an agreement with Richard II of Normandy that Estrid was to marry Richard's son Robert. It is not known whether this marriage ever took place. Ralph Glaber in his Historiarum libri quinque reported that an unnamed sister of Cnut married Robert, but Adam of Bremen reports a marriage of Estrid (calling her Margaret) to Richard II, indicating that after he went to Jerusalem she married Ulf, yet although Richard never went to Jerusalem, Robert did. Norman sources do not mention such a marriage for either duke, and historians disagree whether it was a short-lived marriage, a betrothal, or a result of confusion.
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Estrid Svendsdatter
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Her brother Cnut then arranged a marriage for her with Ulf Jarl. In 1026, Ulf was killed by the order of Cnut. It is possible that the murder took place with her consent. She did not lose her brother's trust, and was granted large lands by him. She gave her son an education by the church, made donations to the church and is believed to have founded the first church made of stone in Denmark (Roskilde Cathedral). She supported her son's struggle to gain dominance over Denmark.
In 1047, her son became king in Denmark due to his mother's descent, and is hence known by the matronymic Sven Estridssen ('son of Estrid'). Estrid herself was granted the honorary title of Queen (not Queen mother), the very same variation of the title normally reserved for the consort of the king, and became known as "Queen Estrid", despite the fact that she was not a monarch nor the spouse of one. The idea that Estrid's son Sweyn Estrithson was offered the crown as the Confessor's successor is dismissed. Ulf's sister was Gytha married to Earl Godwin, and put her family firmly in the Anglo-Scandinavian camp.
The date of her death is unknown, but it can be no earlier than 1057 or later than 1073, as it is known that Bishop William of Roskilde officiated at her funeral, and he was in office between 1057 and 1073.
Aftermath
Estrid was widely believed to have been buried in the northeastern pier of the Roskilde Cathedral, but a DNA test in 2003 dispelled the myth as the remains belonged to a woman much too young to be Estrid. The new theory is that the sign on the pier refers to Margareta Hasbjörnsdatter, who was also known as Estrid and who married Harald III Hen, the son of Sweyn Estridsen.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pristina
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Pristina
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Pristina or Prishtina ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.
In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of the classical era is represented by the settlement of Ulpiana. After the Roman Empire was divided into a western and an eastern half, the area remained within the Byzantine Empire between the 5th and 9th centuries. In the middle of the 9th century, it was ceded to the First Bulgarian Empire, before falling again under Byzantine occupation in the early 11th century and then in the late 11th century to the Second Bulgarian Empire. The growing Kingdom of Serbia annexed the area in the 13th century and it remained under the Serbian Empire in the 14th century up to the start of the Ottoman era (1389–1455). The next centuries would be characterized by Ottoman rule. During this period, Pristina developed from a village to a major urban center of the region. Following the end of the First Balkan War in 1914, it became a part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbia. In 1948, it was chosen as the capital of the province SAP Kosovo under the statehood of Yugoslavia. Furthermore, Pristina would continue to serve as the capital of Kosovo after its 2008 independence from Serbia.
Pristina seems to have been a small village before the late 15th century. It is first recorded in 1342 as a village during the reign of Stefan Dušan, and about a century later in 1455 at the beginning of the Ottoman era it had a small population of 300 households. In the following century, Pristina became an important mining and trading center due to its strategic position near the rich mining town of Novo Brdo. The city was known for its trade fairs and items, such as goatskin and goat hair as well as gunpowder.
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Pristina
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Pristina is the capital and the economic, financial, political and trade center of Kosovo, due to its location in the center of the country. It is the seat of power of the Government of Kosovo, the residences for work of the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo, and the Parliament of Kosovo. Pristina is also the most important transportation junction of Kosovo for air, rail, and roads. Pristina International Airport is the largest airport of the country and among the largest in the region. A range of expressways and motorways, such as the R 6 and R 7, radiate out the city and connect it to Albania and North Macedonia. Pristina will host the 2030 Mediterranean Games.
Etymology
The origin of the name of the city is unknown. Eric P. Hamp connected the word with an Indo-European derivative *pṛ-tu- (ford) + *stein (cognate to English stone) which in Proto-Albanian, spoken in the region before the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan (1st–2nd century CE) produced Pristina. Thus the name in the pre-Slavic migrations era would mean in the local Albanian variety "ford-stone" (compare Stanford).
Prišt in Serbian means "boil" and this may be a reference to the seething waters of the nearby river Gračanka. Marko Snoj proposes the derivation from a Slavic form *Prišьčь, a possessive adjective from the personal name *Prišьkъ, and the derivational suffix -ina 'belonging to X and his kin'. The name is most likely a patronymic of the personal name *Prišь. According to Aleksandar Loma, Snoj's etymology would presuppose a rare and relatively late word formation process. According to Loma, the name of the city could be derived from the Proto-Slavic dialectal word *pryščina, meaning "spring (of water)".
The inhabitants of this city, which most of them are Albanians, call themselves Prishtinali in the local Gheg Albanian.
History
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Early development
The area of Pristina has been inhabited since the Neolithic era by Early European Farmers after 7,000 BCE in the Balkans: Starčevo followed by its successors Vinča, Baden and lastly Bubanj-Hum. The earliest recognized references were discovered in Gračanica, Matiçan and Ulpiana.
By the early Iron Age, the distinctly Dardanian local variant of the Illyrian Glasinac-Mati culture appears in Kosovo with a particular spread in hilltop settlements. In the area of Pristina, a hilltop settlement appears since the 8th century BCE at an elevation of 685 metres near the village Teneshdoll, around 16 kilometres north of the Pristina city center. Pottery finds suggests that the area may have been in use since the Bronze Age. The settlement seems to have maintained long-distance trade contacts as the finding of a skyphos vessel from Aegean Greece suggests.
During the 4th century BC, the Kingdom of Dardania was established in the region.
Ulpiana was an important Roman city on the Balkan Peninsula and in the 2nd century BC it was declared a municipium. In the middle of the 9th century, it was ceded to the First Bulgarian Empire.
11th to 16th centuries
In the early 11th century, Pristina fell under Byzantine Empire rule and the area was included into a theme (province) called Bulgaria. Between the late 11th and middle of the 13th century it was ceded several times to the Second Bulgarian Empire.
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During the Austro-Turkish War in the late 17th century, citizens of Pristina under the leadership of the Catholic Albanian priest Pjetër Bogdani pledged loyalty to the Austrian army and supplied troops. He contributed a force of 6,000 Albanian soldiers to the Austrian army which had arrived in Pristina. According to Noel Malcolm, the city in the 17th century was inhabited by a majority population of 15,000 Muslims, probably Albanian but very possibly including some Slavs. Sources from the 17th century mention the town as "situated in Albania". Austrian military archives from the years of 1689-90 mention "5,000 Muslim Albanians in Prishtina who had risen against the Turks". Gjergj Bogdani, a nephew of Pjeter Bogdani, wrote later: 'My uncle, being found already dead and buried, was dug up from his grave and put out as food for the dogs in the middle of Prishtina'.
During the 18th century, the history of the city is less documented, though recent data show a regular life unfolding in the city after the Great Turkish War. While in the first few decades the city was rebuilding its infrastructure, in the second part of the century it is better known for the governing of the local feudal family, the Gjinollis.
In May 1901, Albanians pillaged and partially burned Pristina.
However, The Kingdom of Serbia opposed the plan for a Greater Albania, preferring a partition of the European territory of the Ottoman Empire among the four Balkan allies. On 22 October 1912, Serb forces took Pristina. However, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the first Balkan War, occupied Kosovo in 1915 and took Pristina under Bulgarian occupation.
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Pristina
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During the Massacres of Albanians in the Balkan Wars, Pristina suffered many atrocities; the Serbian army entered Pristina on 22 October. Albanian and Turkish households were looted and destroyed, and women and children were killed. A Danish journalist based in Skopje reported that the Serbian campaign in Pristina "had taken on the character of a horrific massacring of the Albanian population". An estimated 5,000 people in Pristina were murdered in the early days of the Serbian occupation. The events have been interpreted as an early attempt to change the region's demographics. Serbian settlers were brought into the city, and Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić bought of land. Pristinans who wore a plis were targeted by the Serbian army; those who wore the Turkish fez were safe, and the price of a fez rose steeply.
In late October 1918, the 11th French colonial division took over Pristina and returned Pristina back to what then became the 'First Yugoslavia' on 1 December 1918. In September 1920, the decree of the colonization of the new southern lands' facilitated the takeover by Serb colonists of large Ottoman estates in Pristina and land seized from Albanians. From 1929 to 1941, Pristina was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
On 17 April 1941, Yugoslavia surrendered unconditionally to axis forces. On 29 June, Benito Mussolini proclaimed a greater Albania, with most of Kosovo under Italian occupation united with Albania. There ensued mass killings of Serbs, in particular colonists, and an exodus of tens of thousands of Serbs. After the capitulation of Italy, Nazi Germany took control of the city. In May 1944, 281 local Jews were arrested by units of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian), which was made up mostly of Muslim Albanians. The Jews were later deported to Germany, where many were killed.
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This ended a long period when the institution had been run as an outpost of Belgrade University and gave a major boost to Albanian-language education and culture in Kosovo. The Albanians were also allowed to use the Albanian flag.
Kosovo War
Following the reduction of Kosovo's autonomy by former Serbian President Slobodan Milošević in 1989, a harshly repressive regime was imposed throughout Kosovo by the Yugoslav government with Albanians largely being purged from state industries and institutions. The LDK's role meant, that when the Kosovo Liberation Army began to attack Serbian and Yugoslav forces from 1996 onwards, Pristina remained largely calm until the outbreak of the Kosovo War in March 1999. Pristina was spared large scale destruction compared to towns like Gjakova or Peja that suffered heavily at the hands of Serbian forces. For their strategic importance, however, a number of military targets were hit in Pristina during NATO's aerial campaign, including the post office, police headquarters and army barracks, today's Adem Jashari garrison on the road to Kosovo Polje.
Widespread violence broke out in Pristina. Serbian and Yugoslav forces shelled several districts and, in conjunction with paramilitaries, conducted large-scale expulsions of ethnic Albanians accompanied by widespread looting and destruction of Albanian properties. Many of those expelled were directed onto trains apparently brought to Pristina's main station for the express purpose of deporting them to the border of the Republic of Macedonia, where they were forced into exile.
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Pristina
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The majority Albanian population fled Pristina in large numbers to escape Serb policy and paramilitary units. The first NATO troops to enter the city in early June 1999 were Norwegian special forces from FSK Forsvarets Spesialkommando and soldiers from the British Special Air Service 22 S.A.S, although to NATO's diplomatic embarrassment Russian troops arrived first at the airport. Apartments were occupied illegally and the Roma quarters behind the city park was torched. Several strategic targets in Pristina were attacked by NATO during the war, but serious physical damage appears to have largely been restricted to a few specific neighborhoods shelled by Yugoslav security forces. At the end of the war the Serbs became victims of violence committed by Kosovo Albanian extremists. On numerous occasions Serbs were killed by mobs of Kosovo Albanian extremists for merely speaking Serbian in public or being identified as a Serb. Violence reached its pinnacle in 2004 when Kosovo Albanian extremists were moving from apartment block to apartment block attacking and ransacking the residences of remaining Serbs. A majority of the city's 45,000 Serb inhabitants fled from Kosovo and today only several dozen remain in the city.
21st century
Pristina International Airport's new terminal opened for operations in October 2013, which was built in response to a growing demand for air travel in Kosovo. In November of the same year, the R7 motorway as part of the Albania-Kosovo motorway, linking Pristina and the Albanian city of Durrës on the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast, was completed. Another extensive development for the city has been the completion of the R6 motorway in 2019, connecting Pristina to North Macedonia's capital, Skopje.
Geography
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Pristina is situated on an alluvial plain in the regions of Llap and Kosovo across the Gollak Hills in central and eastern Kosovo. Bodies of water in Pristina municipality include Badovc and Batllava lakes as well as the Llapi, Prishtevka, and Vellusha rivers. The park of Germia lies in the east of Pristina and extends in the north of the villages of Llukar and Kolovica to the south at Badovc.
Pristina is one of the urban areas with the most severe water shortages in Kosovo. Its population have to cope with daily water curbs due to the lack of rain and snowfall, which has left Pristina's water supplies in a dreadful condition. The water supply comes from the two main reservoirs of Batllava Lake and Lake Badovc. However, there are many problems with the water supply that comes from these two reservoirs which supply 92% of Pristina's population. As such, the authorities have increased their efforts to remedy the situation and to make sure that such crises do not hit the city again.
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification, Pristina falls under the periphery of the oceanic climate (Cfb) zone with an average annual temperature of . The warmest month in Pristina is August with an average temperature rising to , while the coldest month is January with an average temperature falling to . Pristina has a moderate climate with an average of 2909.69 hours of sunshine annually. July is the sunniest month of the year with an average of about 11.5 hours of sunshine a day and by contrast, the average hours of sunshine are less than 4.5 hours per day in January.
Demography
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As per the 2024 census conducted by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS), Pristina is home to 227,466 residents, making it the most populous city and municipality in Kosovo. With a population density of 434 people per square kilometer, Pristina is the third most densely populated municipality of Kosovo. The population of Pristina grew by 14.2% between 2011 and 2024, which shows the rapid rate of urbanization in both the city and Kosovo as a whole.
Ethnicity
In terms of ethnicity, Albanians comprise 98% of Prishtina's residents. The remaining 2% is made up of various minority groups, ranked as follows: 0.94% Turks, 0.34% Serbs, 0.22% Romani, 0.19% Ashkali, and 0.16% Bosniaks.
The Albanians of Prishtina are Ghegs, an ethnic subgroup of Albanians, and they speak Gheg Albanian, a distinct dialect of the Albanian language.
Religion
In 2024, Prishtina's religious composition was 91.46% Muslim, 1.02% Roman Catholic, 0.36% Orthodox, 0.14% other religions, 1.82% irreligious, and 4.19% preferred not to answer. Kosovo is a secular state with no state religion. The freedom of belief, conscience and religion is explicitly guaranteed in the Constitution of Kosovo. Islam is the most widely practiced religion among the people of Pristina, but the city has centers of worship for a multitude of faiths for its population.
Politics
Pristina is the capital city of Kosovo and plays an instrumental role in shaping the political and economic life of the country. It is the location of the Parliament of Kosovo headquartered at the Mother Teresa Square and the official residence and workplace of the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo. Pristina is also home to Kosovo's Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and Appeal Court as well as the Basic Court of Pristina.
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Pristina is a municipality governed by a mayor–council system with the mayor of Pristina and the members of the Pristina municipal council responsible for the administration of Pristina municipality. The municipality is encompassed in Pristina district and consists of 43 adjacent settlements with Pristina as its seat. The mayor of Pristina is elected by the people to act as the chief executive officer of Pristina municipality. The Pristina municipal council is the legislative arm of the municipality and is also a democratically elected institution, comprising 51 councilors since the latest municipal election.
Economy
Pristina constitutes the heart of the economy of Kosovo and of vital importance to the country's stability. The tertiary sector is the most important for the economy of the city and employs more than 75% of workforce of Pristina. 20% of the working population makes up the secondary sector followed by the primary sector with only 5%.
Pristina is the primary tourist destination in Kosovo as well as the main air gateway to the country. It is known as a university center of students from neighboring countries as Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. In 2012, tourism in Pristina attracted around 100,000 foreign visitors. which represents 74.2%. Most foreign tourists come from Albania, Turkey, Germany, United States, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, with the number of visitors from elsewhere growing every year.
The city has a large number of luxury hotels, modern restaurants, bars, pubs and very large nightclubs. Coffee bars are a representative icon of Pristina and they can be found almost everywhere. The largest hotels of the city are the Swiss Diamond and the Grand Hotel Prishtina situated in the heart of the city. Other major hotels present in Pristina include the Emerald Hotel, Sirius Hotel and Hotel Garden.
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There are many foreign cultural institutions in Pristina, including the Albanian Albanological Institute, the French Alliance Française, the British Council,
and the German Goethe-Institut and Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The Information Office of the Council of Europe was also established in Pristina.
Of 426 protected historical monuments in Kosovo, 21 are in Pristina. A large number of these monuments date back to the Byzantine and Ottoman periods.
Starting in 1945, the Yugoslav authorities began constructing a modern Pristina with the idea of "destroy the old, build the new". This modernization led to major changes in the structure of the buildings, their function and their surrounding environment.
However, numerous types of monuments have been preserved, including four mosques, a restored orthodox church, an Ottoman bath, a public fountain, a clock tower, several traditional houses as well as European-influenced architecture buildings such as the Kosovo Museum. These symbolize the historical and cultural character of Pristina as it was developed throughout centuries in the spirit of conquering empires (Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian).
The Hivzi Sylejmani Library was founded in 1945 and it is one of the largest libraries regarding the number of books in its inventory which is nearly 100.000. All of those books are in service for the library's registered readers.
The Mbretëresha e Dardanisë (Queen of Dardania) or Hyjnesha ne Fron (The Goddess on the Throne) is an artifact that was found during some excavations in 1955 in the area of Ulpiana, a suburb of Pristina. It dates back to 3500 BC in the Neolithic Era and it is made of clay. In Pristina there is also "Hamami i Qytetit" (The City Bath) and the house of Emin Gjika which has been transformed to the Ethnographic Museum. Pristina also has its municipal archive which was established in the 1950s and holds all the records of the city, municipality and the region.
Media
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When highlighting the music creativity and its starts in Kosovo and the relation between it and the music creativity in Albania even though they have had their development in different circumstances, it is proved that they share some characteristics in a very natural way. This fact shows that they belong to one "Cultural Tree".
Some of few international music artists of Albanian heritage that were born or their families were from Pristina are Rita Ora, Dua Lipa and Era Istrefi.
Theater
The city of Pristina hosts only three active theatres such as the National Theater, Oda and Dodona Theatre placed in center of Pristina. They offers live performances every week. The National Theatre is placed in the middle downtown of the city, near the main government building and was founded in 1946. ODA Theatre is situated in the Youth Center Building and Dodona Theatre is found in Vellusha district, which is near Ibrahim Rugova Square.
The National Theater of Kosovo is the highest-ranked theater institution in the country and has the largest number of productions. The theater is the only public theater in Kosovo and therefore it is financed by Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. This theater has produced more than 400 premieres which have been watched by more than 3 million spectators.
Festivals
The Sunny Hill Festival takes place in Pristina annually and it is the largest festival in Kosovo. It attracts over 100,000 music enthusiasts globally. The festival features renowned performers of contemporary times and notable figures on music charts, such as Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, J Balvin, Calvin Harris, Martin Garrix, Afrojack, Hardwell, Stormzy, Skepta, AJ Tracey, Action Bronson, Gashi, and numerous other regional and international artists and performers.
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The Prishtina International Film Festival screens prominent international cinema productions in the Balkan region and beyond, and draws attention to the Kosovar film industry. It was created after the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence. After its independence in 2008, Kosovo looked for ways to promote its cultural and artistic image.
One of major festivals include the Chopin Piano Fest Pristina that was established for the first time on the occasion of the 200th birth anniversary of Frédéric Chopin in 2010 by the Kosovo Chopin Association. The festival is becoming a traditional piano festival held in spring every year. It is considered to be a national treasure. In its 5 years of formation it has offered interpretations by both world-famous pianists such as Peter Donohoe, Janina Fialkowska, Kosovo-Albanian musicians of international renown like Ardita Statovci, Alberta Troni and local talents. The Festival strives to promote the art of interpretation, the proper value of music and the technicalities that accompany it. The Festival has served as inspiration for the formation of other music festivals like Remusica and Kamerfest.
The DAM Festival Pristina is one of the most prominent cultural events taking place in the capital. It is an annual music festival which gathers young and talented national and international musicians from all over the world. This festival works on enriching the Kosovar cultural scene with the collision of the traditional and the contemporary. The festival was founded by musician Dardan Selimaj.
Sports
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Pristina is the center of sport in Kosovo, where activity is organized across amateur and professional levels, sport organizations and clubs, regulated by the Kosovo Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. Sport is organized in units called Municipal Leagues. There are seven Municipal Leagues in Pristina. The Football Municipal consists of 18 clubs, the Basketball Municipal 5 clubs, the Handball Municipal 2 clubs, Table Tennis and Chess 6 clubs each, the Karate Municipal 15 and the Tennis Municipal 2 clubs.
Football is the most popular sport in the city. It is represented by FC Prishtina, which plays their home games in the Fadil Vokrri Stadium. Basketball has been also one of the most popular sports in Pristina and is represented by KB Prishtina. It is the most successful basketball club in Kosovo and is part of the Balkan League. Joining it in the Superleague is another team from Pristina, RTV 21.
Streetball is a traditionally organized sport and cultural event at the Germia Park since 2000. Apart from indoor basketball success, Che Bar team has been crowned the champion of the national championship in 2013. This victory coincided with Streetball Kosovo's acceptance in FIBA. Handball is also very popular. Pristina's representatives are recognized internationally and play international matches.
In September 2023, Pristina was named host city for the 2030 Mediterranean Games.
Transport
Pristina constitutes the economic and financial heart of Kosovo, in part due to its high population, modern infrastructure and geographical location in the center of the country. Following the independence of Kosovo, the city has undergone significant improvements and developments vastly modernizing and expanding the economy, infrastructure and most notably transportation by air, rail and road.
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Semaphore railway line
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Semaphore railway line was a railway line in the Australian state of South Australia located in the north-west of Adelaide servicing the suburbs of Semaphore and Exeter. It had two stations: Semaphore and Exeter. The line opened in 1878 and closed in 1978.
History
The Semaphore line was extended from Port Adelaide by South Australian Railways on 7 January 1878 with no intermediate stations. It was to serve both the new overseas shipping jetty at Semaphore, and for defence logistics along Military Road (in support of nearby Fort Largs and Fort Glanville). It remained the main line until the Outer Harbor line was extended north from a junction created at Glanville in 1908.
In 1917 when the Semaphore to Rosewater and Albert Park tram line was opened there was an unresolved dispute over the tramline crossing the railway line near Exeter station. The Railway Commissioner disallowed trams to cross over the railway line. Trams continued to operate with one isolated tram service between the crossing and Largs, with passengers having to walk across the railway line to use the remaining tramline. After a short period of time, the Municipal Tramways Trust continued full service along the line regardless of not having the rail commissioner's consent. In response to this rail workers threatened to cut the tramline off by dumping a load of sleepers on the tramway tracks. An agreement was eventually made to allow trams to cross the line on the condition that a signal cabin be installed and a signal man was to cut off power to trams when a train approached preventing trams from proceeding over the railway tracks. This system nearly caused a disaster when a tram happened to be using the crossing when power was cut off. The tram was nearly stranded on the railway line and an accident was barely avoided. The switches for cutting of power was then removed and replaced by a system of traffic lights.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football%20Queensland%20Darling%20Downs
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Football Queensland Darling Downs
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Football Queensland Darling Downs is a Football Queensland administrative zone encompassing the Darling Downs region and parts of South West Queensland. The zone administers major regional areas including Toowoomba, Dalby, Roma, Charleville, St George, Goondiwindi and Stanthorpe. The premier men's soccer competition is the Football Queensland Premier League 3 − Darling Downs and the premier women's soccer competition is the Football Queensland Women's Premier League 3 − Darling Downs. Football Queensland Darling Downs also has a numerous variety of lower divisions for both men and women, as well as academy and junior competitions to develop soccer and fitness within the region.
The administrative zone traces its history to the Toowoomba British Football Association formed early in the 20th century with games played as early as 1906. The earliest mention of a regional association zone was in 1912 when the secretary of the association sought permission to erect post and mark out a field within Albert Park. The region has since been represented by of a variety of administrative councils representing sections of the contemporary zone. In 2021 as part of Football Queensland Future of Football 2020+ reforms, the region's councils were collated and renamed Football Queensland Darling Downs.
Governance
The earliest reference to a governing body is to the Toowoomba British Football Association in 1912. Presumably this association was affiliated with the Queensland governing body.
In 2021 Football Queensland Darling Downs was created as an office and under the control of Football Queensland. Before 2021 local administration and decision-making was decentralised to regional associations including Football Toowoomba, Football Chinchilla, Football Stanthorpe and the South Burnett Soccer Federation.
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William Giles (colonial manager)
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William Giles (27 December 1791 – 11 May 1862), occasionally referred to as William Giles, sen. to distinguish him from his eldest son, was the third colonial manager of the South Australian Company, and a South Australian politician, prominent in the founding of the state of South Australia.
Early life
Giles was born on 27 December 1791 in Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire, England, and was educated at Kimbolton School in nearby Cambridgeshire.
Travel to South Australia
The new British Province of South Australia was established on 19 February 1836 on the ratification of the South Australia Act 1842. Giles, a close friend of one of the founders of the South Australian Company, George Fife Angas, left England for South Australia on the ship Hartley sixteen months later, in June 1837. He was accompanied by his new (and pregnant) second wife, Emily Elizabeth (née McGeorge) (c. 1814 – 5 August 1876) and their 1-year-old daughter Emily jnr, together with all nine children from his earlier marriage to Sarah (née Roper). Emily gave birth to her second child, George Hartley Giles during the voyage.
The Hartley was a three-masted vessel measuring 27 x 7 x 5.6 metres built at Sunderland in England in 1836. Her owner and captain was Thomas Fewson. On 16 October 1837 the Hartley arrived at Kingscote, Kangaroo Island where the Company's first settlement was founded. Once in South Australia, William and Emily had a further ten children. By November 1837, the European population of the new province had reached approximately 2,500. The pre-settlement indigenous population of South Australia is estimated to have been approximately 15,000.
Business life
Shortly after arrival on Kangaroo Island in 1837, Giles, T. H. Beare, and Henry Mildred imported a flock of Merino ewes from Van Diemens Land, some of the first brought into the colony, though stock losses on the unusually long trip aboard the Cygnet were considerable.
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Nuclearelectrica
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In the 4 steam generators, the heat in the primary circuit is taken over by the light water from the secondary circuit, by turning it into saturated steam. It expands in the turbine formed from a medium pressure body and 3 low pressure bodies, producing the mechanical energy required to actuate the electric generator.
On exiting the turbine, by extracting the residual heat with the help of cooling water taken from the Danube, the steam is condensed. The circuit is resumed by repumping the condensate in order to supply the steam generators.
In 2019, the two units of CNE Cernavodă produced 11,280,166 MWh. Unit 1 recorded a capacity factor of 93.86% and Unit 2 - 89.16%.
With a capacity factor of 91.6% since it became operational, Romania, with two operating nuclear units, is 1st in the world.
Pitești Nuclear Fuel Plant
The Nuclear Fuel Plant is located near Mioveni, approximately from Pitești.
CANDU fuel is easier to produce than that of many other reactor types as the improved neutron economy of the heavy water moderator allows the use of natural uranium without enrichment. Unlike uranium enrichment plants, a CANDU fuel plant does not produce depleted uranium as waste.
The production of CANDU nuclear fuel started in 1980, by starting up the pilot station as a fuel section within the Nuclear Research Institute (ICN) of Pitești. The Nuclear Fuel Plant was separated as a distinct entity in 1992.
In 1994, the Nuclear Fuel Plant (FCN) was authorized by AECL and Zircatec Precision Industries Inc. (Canada) as a manufacturer of CANDU 6 nuclear fuel.
In 2004–2006, with low investments, FCN Pitești doubled its production capacity in order to ensure the necessary fuel for operating two units at CNE Cernavodă.
In 2007, FCN obtained the TUV EN ISO 14001:2004 certificate for the environment management system.
Annually, FCN Pitești manufactures approximately 10,800 nuclear fuel bundles.
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Nuclearelectrica
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Following the termination of the previous round of negotiations, Romania and US have initialized the Intergovernmental Agreement for cooperation to develop the civil nuclear sector in Romania in October 2020, including Cernavodă NPP Unit 3 and 4 Project. Based on official governmental statements, the Project is to be developed under a Euro-Atlantic consortium, including US, Canada and France support. This important project will double Romania's nuclear capacity in order to meet increasing power demand, enhance security of supply and reach climate change targets. The Project is contemplated by the all scenarios of "Romania’s Energy Strategy until 2030, with the perspective of 2050", as well as in the "National Integrated Plan in the field of Energy and Climate Change (PNIESC) 2021-2030". Unit 3 has to be operational by 2030, and Unit 4 soon after 2030.
Nuclear safety
At CNE Cernavodă nuclear safety is priority 1. There were no incidents or events that would affect nuclear safety at CNE Cernavoda.
Nuclear security as a field is a set of technical and organizational measures designed to:
- Ensure the operation of nuclear installations under safety conditions;
- To prevent and limit their damage;
- To ensure the protection of the personnel, the population and the environment against radiation or radioactive contamination
The nuclear security philosophy of CANDU 6 nuclear power stations is based on these considerations. This philosophy is based on three fundamental principles, namely:
1. The in-depth protection principle, which consists of reaching a high level of technical performance and nuclear security, by raising multiple physical barriers against releases of radioactivity in the environment (the nuclear fuel matrix; the fuel element sheath; the under-pressure chamber of the primary circuit: the envelope system; the exclusion area).
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2. The ALARA principle, whose objectives must ensure the protection of the operating personnel, the population and the environment, by setting and maintaining adequate protection against radiological risks.
3. The grouping and separating principle. The grouping the systems with security functions into two groups was approved within the project of the power plant in order to ensure the protection of CNE against common-cause events which would cause large destructions in the nuclear power station, at the same time.
Environmental protection
The environment monitoring programs aim to control emissions and verify the compliance with the limits and requirements imposed by the regulation and control authorities, both radiologically and conventionally (non-radiologically).
The Nuclear Power Plant has implemented, starting with the commissioning of Unit 1, an environmental radioactivity monitoring program, based on the requirements of the national legislation and internationally validated practices in the nuclear industry. In compliance with international practices, the plant built and fitted its own Environmental Radioactivity Control Laboratory and established a network of sampling points or positioning continuous monitoring stations, in different locations within a radius of 30 km around the plant.
CNE Cernavodă daily analyzes the following sample types: air (particles under the form of aerosols, iodine, water vapors), soil, sediment, atmospheric deposits, food samples (milk, fish, pork, beef and chicken, vegetables, fruits, eggs, cereals) surface water, drinking water, groundwater, rainwater, infiltration water from the Cernavodă area, and publishes the results at the information centers and information panels in the city.
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Measurements of the external gamma dose are also carried out. A network of 62 monitoring points with thermal-luminescent dosimeters for the measurement of the gamma dose has been established around the power plant and across an area with a radius of 30 km. Gamma spectrometry analyzes, global beta analyzes and specific assays for the detection of tritium and C-14 are carried out through liquid scintillation spectrometry. Food samples for the analysis are procured from local producers or from the agri-food market in Cernavoda, Seimeni, Medgidia, Satu Nou. The results of the environment's radiological monitoring are compared with the results of the pre-operational environmental monitoring program carried out in the period 1984 – 1996. Up to now no changes in the radioactivity of the environment in the area of Cernavodă city have been detected, in relation to the period prior to the commissioning of the nuclear unit.
Refurbishment of Unit 1 of Cernavodă NPP
Any nuclear unit has a limited lifetime, set by the project. For units with CANDU technology, the lifetime designed is 210.000 hours of operation at rated power, which, at a capacity factor of 80%, translates into an economic operational use lifecycle of approximately 30 years. The main components and structures that are limiting the lifetime are fuel channels, feeders and the envelope of the nuclear reactor.
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Battle of Opis
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The Battle of Opis was the last major military engagement between the Achaemenid Empire and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which took place in September 539 BC, during the Persian invasion of Mesopotamia. At the time, Babylonia was the last major power in Western Asia that was not yet under Persian control. The battle was fought in or near the strategic riverside city of Opis, located north of the capital city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq, and resulted in a decisive victory for Persia. Shortly afterwards, the Babylonian city of Sippar surrendered to Persian forces, who then supposedly entered Babylon without facing any further resistance. The Persian king Cyrus the Great was subsequently proclaimed as the king of Babylonia and its subject territories, thus ending its independence and incorporating the entirety of the fallen Neo-Babylonian Empire into the greater Achaemenid Empire.
Location
The battle took place in and around Opis, an ancient city situated on the Tigris River and located about north of Baghdad in modern-day Iraq. The city is thought to have been a preferred point to cross the Tigris; the classical Greek philosopher Xenophon describes a bridge at this point. The timing of the Persian invasion may have been determined by the ebb of the Mesopotamian rivers, which are at their lowest levels—and therefore easier to cross—in early autumn.
Opis was a place of considerable strategic importance; apart from the river crossing, it was at one end of the Median Wall, a fortified defensive barrier north of the ancient city of Babylon that had been built several decades earlier by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. Control of Opis would have enabled the Persians to break through the Median Wall and open the road to the Babylonian capital.
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Battle of Opis
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Sources
The main contemporary source of information on Cyrus's Mesopotamian campaign of 539 BC is the Nabonidus Chronicle, one of a series of clay tablets collectively known as the Babylonian Chronicles that record the history of ancient Babylonia. Some additional detail is provided by one of the few documents to have survived from Cyrus's lifetime, the Cyrus Cylinder. Further information on Cyrus's campaign is provided by the later ancient Greek writers Herodotus and Xenophon, though neither mention the battle at Opis and their accounts of the campaign differ considerably from the Persian and Babylonian sources. Most scholars prefer to use the Nabonidus Chronicle as the main source on the battle, as it is a contemporaneous source.
Although much of the Nabonidus Chronicle is fragmentary, the section relating to the last year of Nabonidus's reign – 539 BC – is mostly intact. It provides very little information about Cyrus's activities in the years immediately preceding the battle. The chronicler focuses on events of immediate relevance to Babylonia and its rulers, only occasionally records events outside Babylonia and does not provide much detail other than a bare outline of key incidents. There is almost no information for the period 547–539. Most of the chronicle's text for this period is illegible, making it impossible to assess the significance of the few words that can be read.
Background
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At the time of the Battle of Opis, Persia was the leading power in the Near East. Its power had grown enormously under its king, Cyrus II, who had conquered a huge swathe of territory to create an empire that covered an area corresponding to the modern countries of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. The only remaining significant unconquered power in the Near East was the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which controlled Mesopotamia and subject kingdoms such as Syria, Judea, Phoenicia and parts of Arabia. It had been closely linked with Cyrus's enemies elsewhere. The empire was previously an ally of Croesus of Lydia, whose kingdom was overrun by the Persians a few years prior to the invasion of Babylonia.
By the time of the battle, Babylonia was in an unpromising geopolitical situation; the Persian empire bordered it to the north, east and west. It had also been suffering severe economic problems exacerbated by plague and famine, and its king Nabonidus was said to be unpopular among many of his subjects for his unconventional religious policies. According to Mary Joan Winn Leith, "Cyrus's success is credited to military acumen, to judicious bribery, and to an energetic publicity campaign waged throughout Babylonia, which portrayed him as a lenient and religiously tolerant overlord." On the other hand, Max Mallowan notes: "Religious toleration was a remarkable feature of Persian rule and there is no question that Cyrus himself was a liberal-minded promoter of this humane and intelligent policy," and such a publicity campaign was in effect a means of permitting his reputation to precede his military campaign. Cyrus was said to have persuaded a Babylonian provincial governor named Gobryas (and a supposed Gadates) to defect to his side. Gutium, the territory governed by Gobryas, was a frontier region of considerable size and strategic importance, which Cyrus was said to have used as the starting point for his invasion.
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The Nabonidus Chronicle records that prior to the battle, Nabonidus had ordered cult statues from outlying Babylonian cities to be brought into the capital, suggesting that the conflict had begun possibly in the winter of 540 BC. In a fragmentary section of the chronicle which is presumed to cover 540/39 BC, there is a possible reference to fighting, a mention of Ishtar and Uruk, and a possible reference to Persia. The Battle of Opis was thus probably only the final stage in an ongoing series of clashes between the two empires.
Battle
The Nabonidus Chronicle records that the battle took place in the month of Tashritu (27 September–27 October) "at Opis on the [bank of the] Tigris". Very little is known about the events of the battle; the chronicle does not provide any details of the battle's course, the disposition of the forces on either side or the casualties inflicted. The Persian army under Cyrus fought "the army of Akkad" (meaning the Babylonians in general, not the city of that name). The identity of the Babylonian commander is not recorded in the chronicle. Some assume that Belshazzar, the son of Nabonidus, was in command as his fate is unclear. Beaulieu considers it was Nabonidus at Opis, owing to his flight after the defeat of the "army of Akkad", which was under his command, as opposed to the "ummani matitan" (foreigners/mercenaries) with Belshazzar.
The outcome of the battle was clearly a Babylonian defeat, possibly a rout, as the defeated Babylonian army is not mentioned again in the chronicle. Following the battle the Persian forces "took plunder" from the defeated Babylonians. Most translations of the Chronicle also refer to a "massacre" of "the people of Akkad", though translators disagree on which side was responsible and who was killed – the population of Opis or the retreating Babylonian army.
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In Pierre Briant's view, "This victory was followed by an immense haul of booty and the massacre of those who attempted to resist." Andrew Robert Burn comments: "Indeed on one reading of the text, Akkad broke out into open revolt, and Nabonidus' last military achievement was slaughter of rebels." Maria Brosius interprets the massacre as a punitive action, "mak[ing] an example of a city trying to resist the Persian army". Cuyler Young comments on the Chronicle accounts: "This reference in the Chronicle suggests that the Persians captured intact the main camp of Nabonidus' army and that, as is so often the case, the real killing of the engagement came after the Babylonians had fallen prey to fear and panic and had retreated from the field." Amélie Kuhrt comments that the references to a massacre and looting suggest that the battle was "probably a hard-won victory". W. G. Lambert argues a contrarian view that there was no massacre or slaughter at all.
The battle is not mentioned in the inscription on the Cyrus Cylinder, which portrays Cyrus as liberating Babylon peacefully and with the consent of its people. However, the battle demonstrates that the existing Babylonian regime actively resisted Cyrus's invasion of Mesopotamia.
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Ancient Greek accounts of Cyrus's campaign and the fall of Babylon differ significantly from the cuneiform accounts preserved in the Nabonidus Chronicle and the Cyrus Cylinder, suggesting that the Greeks were drawing on—or perhaps inventing—different traditions about the conquest of Babylonia. The two ancient Greek sources for the campaign, Herodotus and Xenophon, present broadly similar versions of events. According to Herodotus, Cyrus marched to Babylon along the side of the Diyala river (past Opis, though the battle is not mentioned), where the Persians fought a battle with the Babylonians near the capital. Cyrus subsequently laid siege to Babylon, ordering his troops to dig a canal to drain off part of the Euphrates to enable his troops to penetrate the city through weak points in its defences. Xenophon provides a similar but more elaborate account, claiming that Cyrus dug a huge trench around the city to divert the Euphrates and make the river bed passable for the Persian army. Herodotus, Xenophon and the Biblical Book of Daniel all assert that the Babylonians were taken by surprise while celebrating a festival.
Berossus presents an account that is different again, asserting that Cyrus defeated Nabonidus, who "fled with certain others and shut himself up in Borsippa. Meanwhile Cyrus occupied Babylon and ordered to destroy the exterior walls of the city, because the city seemed very formidable to him and difficult to capture. Afterward Cyrus marched to Borsippa, in order to organize the siege against Nabonidus. But Nabonidus did not await the end of the siege, and surrendered."
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These accounts, written long after the Persian conquest, contradict many aspects of the contemporary cuneiform evidence, which does not mention any sieges, engineering works or battles near Babylon. The cuneiform descriptions of a peaceful surrender of Babylon are corroborated by archaeological evidence from the city, as no evidence of conflagrations or destruction have been found in the layers corresponding to the fall of the city to the Persians. Scholars are in general agreement that Herodotus's account is an invention, while Kuhrt comments that Xenophon's account in his Cyropedia is "virtually impossible to use ... as a strictly historical source" due to its literary form, as a moral treatise on Cyrus in the form of an historical novella. Paul-Alain Beaulieu suggests that the Greek accounts may constitute an aggregate of various folk tales and legends which came to be associated with the fall of Babylon." David George Hogarth and Samuel Rolles Driver comment on what they saw as Herodotus's unreliability:
According to the Behistun Inscription, Babylon revolted twice against Darius, and was recaptured on the second occasion by his general Gobryas. Herodotus only mentions the first revolt of Babylon in which Zopyrus captured the city for Darius, and omits this second revolt.
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Historiography
The Babylonian defeat at Opis and the apparently unopposed Persian entry into Babylon ended the independence of Babylonia (although there were a number of unsuccessful revolts against later Persian rulers). That the Babylonian collapse was swift and apparently total is confirmed by the ancient accounts of Cyrus's campaign in Mesopotamia and corroborating evidence such as cuneiform inscriptions dating to shortly after the Persian conquest. A number of explanations have been advanced for the rapid collapse of the Babylonian state. The Cyrus Cylinder and the roughly contemporary Verse Account of Nabonidus attribute Nabonidus's failure to the desire of the god Marduk to punish a regime that had opposed his will. The strongly anti-Nabonidus tone of these documents, which accused the former king of behaving capriciously and neglecting the worship of the gods, suggests that their authors – the Babylonian priestly elite – were alienated from Nabonidus and may have welcomed a Persian takeover. It is, however, unclear how widely the Persians were supported within Babylonia, as accounts of the invasion and Nabonidus's rule are coloured by Cyrus's subsequent propaganda.
Other writers have advanced a number of additional or alternative explanations for the Babylonian defeat. M. A. Dandamaev suggests variously that the regime suffered from a lack of allies; a lack of support among the general population; opposition from subject peoples such as the Jews, who may have seen the invading Persians as liberators; and the inability of the Babylonian forces to resist numerically superior and better equipped opponents.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine%20St%20John
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Madeleine St John
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Madeleine St John (12 November 194118 June 2006) was an Australian writer, the first Australian woman to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction (in 1997 for her novel The Essence of the Thing).
Biography
St John was born in 1941 in Castlecrag, a suburb of Sydney, and schooled at Queenwood School for Girls, Mosman. She was born to Edward St John, a Queen's Counsel, the son of a Church of England clergyman. Her French mother, Sylvette (Cargher), died by suicide when St John was 12. Her maternal grandparents were Romanian Jews.
She went the University of Sydney to study arts where she was a contemporary of Bruce Beresford, John Bell, Clive James, Germaine Greer, Arthur Dignam, Robert Hughes and Richard Walsh, whom her father defended in the first Oz obscenity trial in 1964.
She married Christopher Tillam, a filmmaker, with whom she moved to San Francisco to live while he studied film. The marriage ended after St John went to live in England during 1968, where she remained. She took a series of jobs in bookshops and offices. Eventually she stuck with a part-time job for two days a week at an antique shop in Kensington. During the following eight years she attempted to write a biography of Helena Blavatsky but was dissatisfied and destroyed the manuscript.
In the early 1990s she decided to write novels. Her first, The Women in Black was published in 1993.
Not used to the success her writing brought, she remained a very private person, almost reclusive in style if not in actuality. She died aged 64 at St Mary's Hospital, London, of emphysema and was cremated at Kensal Green Cemetery.
A biography Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John, written by Helen Trinca, was published by Text Publishing in 2013.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genko%20Forest%20Belt
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Genko Forest Belt
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Genko's Forest Belt () is a system of historic forest belts in Russia's Ulyanovsk Oblast. Planted over a century ago, it is now considered a "natural monument", and is legally protected as one of the protected areas of Ulyanovsk Oblast.
History
In 1886-1903, watershed protection forest belt planting was carried out in this area. The project was initiated by the well-known Russian forester, Nestor Karlovich Genko (1839-1904). The windbreak forest strips planted under his plan are still considered both to be beneficial for the local agriculture and to be of interest for researchers.
Current state
The plantings are in a good condition, and naturally regenerate. In some areas, they are already composed of the second generation of trees. The most common tree species occurring in the forest strips are: oak, maple, pine, birch, linden, elm.
The forest strips' total area is .
Construction work, agricultural activity, felling of trees (except for removal of dead trees, etc. for the forest maintenance purposes) are prohibited in the forest strip.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President%20Jackson-class%20attack%20transport
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President Jackson-class attack transport
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The President Jackson-class attack transport was a class of seven US Navy attack transport that saw service in World War II.
Like all attack transports, the purpose of the President Jackson class was to transport troops and their equipment to hostile shores, and once there to execute amphibious invasions. To perform this task, attack transports were equipped with a substantial number of integral landing craft, and an abundance of antiaircraft weaponry to protect themselves and their vulnerable cargo of troops from air attack in the battle zone.
Background
The President Jackson class was based on the Maritime Commission's ubitiquous Type C3 hull - specifically on either the C3-A, C3-P or C3-P&C types. This hull design had been finalized in the late 1930s as a type suitable for both merchant cargo service and also for naval auxiliary service in the event of war.
Seven ships intended for commercial service with American President Lines were laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Newport News, Virginia between October 1939 and December 1940. The Maritime Commission acquired them all for military service before they were completed, but only five were initially handed to the Navy and designated President Jackson-class transports with "AP" hull numbers.. These five vessels were all later converted into attack transports and correspondingly reclassified with "APA" hull numbers.
The remaining two ships, and , were not transferred to the Navy until mid-1943. Unlike the other ships they were not assigned APA numbers, but instead kept their original AP classification. However, they appear to have been fitted out as attack transports nevertheless and assigned to similar duties. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships does not classify these latter two vessels as President Jackson class, but since both ships were originally sister ships of the other five and served in the same wartime role, the DANFS omission may be an error and the ships are listed as President Jacksons here.
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