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Mets fine Callaway, Vargas after run-in with reporter
By: ROB MAADDI, AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Mickey Callaway needed two news conferences to issue one apology.
After the New York Mets fined their manager and pitcher Jason Vargas for their expletive-filled confrontation with a reporter following a weekend loss, Callaway stopped short of saying he was sorry for the incident during his first meeting with the media on Monday.
Callaway cursed at Newsday beat reporter Tim Healey and Vargas had to be restrained from charging him in the cramped Wrigley Field clubhouse after a 5-3 loss on Sunday. There was no physical contact.
Two hours after Callaway initially met with a large group of media members and 70 minutes before first pitch in Philadelphia, Callaway clarified his remarks.
"In my meeting with Tim, I apologized for my reaction," Callaway said. "I regret it. I regret the distraction that it's caused to the team.... It's something I'm not proud of. I'm not proud of the distraction. I'm not proud of what I did to Tim. For that, I'm definitely sorry."
General manager Brodie Van Wagenen announced the fines but not disclose the amount. He said the team spoke to MLB and didn't expect any further discipline.
"We are committed to trying to create a healthy work environment for everybody," Van Wagenen said. "The altercation was disappointing. It was regrettable on many levels."
Vargas issued a statement but didn't answer questions.
"I think it's unfortunate for all parties, an unfortunate distraction," Vargas said.
Van Wagnenen said Callaway's status as manager remains unchanged. The Mets are 37-41.
"Frustrations were high and he understands from a leadership position that we can't lose control and he knows that's not something that should've happened," Van Wagnenen said. "My confidence remains the same in Mickey's ability to do his job."
Mets ace Jacob deGrom said players held a team meeting before the game and he spoke to reporters on behalf of the club.
"It was a tough loss. Sometimes tensions run high. We don't anticipate it happening again," deGrom said. "Our main focus from the meeting is to move forward from this and focus on the Phillies."
In a story published by Newsday on Sunday night, Healey said Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon called him "to apologize on behalf of the organization."
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Your Location: Home > Xi'an Attractions > Xiaopiyuan Mosque
Xiaopiyuan Mosque
Xiaopiyuan Mosque, Xi'an
Breif Introduction
Situated in the north of the Great Mosque in Huajue Lane, Xiaopiyuan Mosque is also called North Great Mosque. The Xiaopiyuan Mosque was one of the first Muslim houses of worship, built in the late of Tang Dynasty. The surviving stone tablets in Xian Xiaopiyuan Mosque show that Xiaopiyuan Mosque was also named Zhenjiao Mosque and Wanshou Mosque. Historical record shows that Xiaopiyuan Mosque was one of the four mosques in Xian in 1107. Xiaopiyuan Mosque is one of the earliest Islamic buildings in Xian. The mosque's architecture uses the Chinese palace and Islamic Arab design with four courtyards. The mosque has a courtyard with four entrances. The first entrance is to the women's mosque, exclusively for female worshipers. A female prayer room is arranged in the first courtyard. Imam's room is located in the second courtyard. Lecture rooms for teaching Quran is in the third courtyard. Climbing a few steps on the central axis, it is the platform of the prayer hall with stone archway, stone moon, stone bench, stone hill and other stone carvings.
Xiaopiyuan Mosque consists of the prayer hall and many other buildings. This mosque is divided into four entrance courtyards. The first entrance courtyard leads to the female mosque which is located in the opposite of the first courtyard. In the east of the first courtyard, there stands a large screen wall decorated with brick carvings and covered with green tiles.
The second entrance courtyard gets the way to reach the imam office and learning house. The third entrance of the courtyard is the way to the chanting rooms. There are three small wing-rooms on both the north and south sides of the third courtyard, which are all served as chanting rooms. Green meadow, flower nurseries, fish ponds are equipped in this courtyard.
And the last fourth entrance courtyard. It is to the moon platform, which display a group of exquisite stone carvings. There are stone carved moon, base, mountain, table, stele, chair and other stone carvings on the moon platform.
As one of those first mosques in Xi'an, Xiaopiyuan Mosque has gained its fame by its long history and has cultivated many successful religious scholars. There are many Muslims come to the mosque to attend the prayer service and recite chants every week.
Address: No. 83 North Guangji Street, Lianhu District, Xi'an
Time for Visit: 2 hours
How to get to Xiaopiyuan Mosque
Bus Route:
Take Bus No. 8, 230, 610, 222, 215
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Daniel Malins
Girard-Perregaux unveils new Chinese ambassador
INTERNATIONALNEWS on July 2, 2019
Actor Chen Xiao shares the brand's values according to CEO Patrick Pruniaux.
Raymond Weil to present award to Black Eyed Peas
NEWSUK on July 2, 2019
The Swiss brand will present the International Group Award to the famous pop group.
Avi-8 to launch new P-51 Mustang Automatic Limited Edition
NEW PRODUCTS on July 2, 2019
The original P-51 Mustang plane was built by North American Aviation and was a prominent fighter jet during World War 2.
JOB OF THE WEEK: Patek Philippe offers a very rare opportunity for an aspiring luxury retail management professional
LEAD STORYNEWSUK on June 13, 2019
They are currently recruiting to fill the a full-time vacancy in their Salon in New Bond Street, London.
New watch brand offers tourbillon timepieces for £1,700
NEW PRODUCTS on May 29, 2019
Astbury & Kent has designed a range of watches with a tourbillon movement sourced from the Far East.
Police hits the silver screen with new Men in Black film
NEWS on May 29, 2019
In the film the agents will be seen wearing special Police-style sunglasses.
Bonhill introduces Watch Upgrade® programme with EMWA in Mexico
INTERNATIONALNEWS on May 21, 2019
The two companies have reached an agreement to work together in the pre-owned market with the Watch Upgrade® programme.
PROFILE: Birmingham-inspired watch brand Thomas Ore
NEW PRODUCTS on April 30, 2019
The watches are inspired by both Birmingham’s industrial heritage and Thomas Ore’s clockmaking prowess.
Mondaine confirms sponsorship of WatchPro Awards for fourth consecutive year
WATCHPRO AWARDS on April 5, 2019
Synonymous with the Swiss railway clock, the brand has been a major part of every edition of the Awards since its inception.
BREAKING NEWS: Baselworld outlines its vision for the future
BASELWORLDLEAD STORY on March 26, 2019
Managing director Michel Loris-Melikoff spoke at a press conference about the changes he wants to implement from 2020 onwards.
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Cup KO blow for Watton
PUBLISHED: 18:10 08 October 2008 | UPDATED: 11:04 08 July 2010
Watton had the best of the first half but ultimately went out of the Norfolk Senior Cup at Holt 2-1 with something of a whimper.
Afterwards, dejected Watton boss Mike Derbyshire described his side's second-half performance as disappointing but did emphasise some positives.
He was delighted to see Liam Campbell back in a Watton shirt and was pleased with some of the attacking play.
He said: “I'm not usually one for excuses but it has to be said that injuries and absences have run us ragged in the early part of the season.
“Some postponements - leaving us without games for 14 days - have also affected our ability to find a level of consistency. But, for the most part, the players have reacted brilliantly. We have an excellent, if somewhat small, squad here and though we are stretched things will come right. I am totally confident of that.”
In the game against Holt, for the opening half-hour, Watton passed the ball around nicely going forward and created several good opportunities, despite having not been in action for two weeks. And there was a good pace about their attacking play too.
But they went to sleep in central midfield and at the back, and were punished twice.
Firstly, Holt's No 8 was given the freedom of the pitch to run across the edge of the Watton penalty area and drill home a low shot.
Then less than 10 minutes later the home side's No 10 was allowed to flick the ball on from a corner into the near post and a colleague headed home from no more than four yards out.
Earlier and in between, United had looked much the stronger of the two sides and had dominated possession. Bloomfield had gone close as had Walker and Nichols. But finding themselves 2-0 down clearly knocked the stuffing out of the players. To their credit, they responded and deservedly pulled a goal back through MoM Bloomfield's clever curling chip.
He went on to hit the underside of the bar only moments later - one of three occasions that Watton struck the woodwork in the first half.
For the first five minutes of the second half United were again dominant. Bloomfield was unlucky not to connect with Walker's fine cross which was turned away by a last-ditch header.
But there can be no doubt that Watton began, at this point, to lose their way badly. As a whole, the team seemed unable to repeat the good passing and movement of their early play.
Nichols, Walker and Astbury had good opportunities late on. By then Holt had a couple of chances of their own but in the end Watton simply could not find a way back into the cup tie although they might have had a penalty at the death for a hand-ball offence.
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Affect vs. Effect
How do I know when to use affect or effect?
By Jenna Kefauver | Published March 17, 2016
When I was in high school, and even in college, I always had a hard time remembering when to use affect or effect, so fear not if it happens to you too. There are actually some pretty useful tips for remembering when to use each of them.
When to Use Affect
Use this mnemonic device to remember when to use affect: Remember that affect is an action (verb). Both action and affect start with ‘a.
Example: The law change will affect thousands of people in the area.
The law change is creating an action; therefore, you would use affect.
When To Use Effect
Effect is a noun. It typically means result, or end result. Both start with an ‘e.’
Grammar Underground has a great way to remember when to use effect; just think of the term “side effects.” A side effect is a noun, and it is the end result of using a medication.
Example: The medication had side effects.
Effects, the noun, are the result of the action of taking the medication.
Example: People in three counties felt the effects of the storm.
People in three counties felt the results of the storm.
Are there any rule breakers?
This wouldn’t be the English language if it didn’t break its own rules. While effect is usually a noun, it can also be a verb meaning to “cause something to happen” or to “bring about.” But the University of Kansas recommends replacing “effect” with “implement” or “bring about” to reduce confusion.
Example: Change, “We wanted to effect change,” to, “We wanted to bring about change.”
Affect can also be a noun, although, like the verb form of effect, it is, thankfully, rare. Only those in the psychology field ever use this form to describe an emotion portrayed in a facial expression, e.g., “The boy had a flat affect.”
So as usual, the English language is very confusing, but now you have a few more grammar tricks up your sleeve.
Be sure to come back next week to learn more about sentence case vs. title case and check out last week’s post about starting a sentence with a conjunction. And as always, if you need help with content writing, give us a call at 888-521-3880.
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Creating the Community Connection in Your Holiday Content
Your Web Content Should Be a Call to Action
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yBaX |> PLAY
Games, Tech and more
About yBaX Play
Let’s talk about the shoddy Nintendo Switch ports.
by Joseph Reaidi
The Nintendo Switch is a console hoping to win back gamers. So far it is achieving that in sales, and game developers are attracted to the widely-hyped system too. Yet are we being too lenient in allowing developers to get away with less-than-satisfactory ports?
The system capabilities and power are often overlooked when it comes to the novelty feature of being a portable gaming system. As a handheld, the console is indeed “powerful”, yet it lacks the needed power in comparison to traditional home consoles. So when looking at poorly ported games to the Switch, is it rushed game development, or is it an incapable system to blame?
Resolution & Technicalities
Let’s take a look at the newly released game, NBA Playgrounds. The title takes on a NBA Jam approach of a fast paced ‘2 v 2’ basketball video game. It’s addictive and fun to play despite some apparent gameplay faults. Most importantly, it is perfect for multiplayer action.
NBA Playgrounds, a fun but flawed game.
The game had a cross-platform release, so it can be purchased today for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Due to the ideal multiplayer aspect of the game, players may desire to purchase the game on the Nintendo Switch with its two joy-cons allowing players to play on-the-go.
While the game is still worth purchasing – no matter what the platform – there is a looming problem with the game on the Switch.
Why does the Switch struggle to run this game?
In handheld mode, the game appears to play at a resolution lower than 720p. The same system that can play Breath of the Wild or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in a high-resolution, struggles to output an arcade inspired game.
The art style is pleasant, but it is in no way graphically demanding. A game like this should theoretically play in 720p easily, even on the Switch.
Lazy or Impossible?
So why is handheld mode struggling to play at 720p? This isn’t the first port which struggled to display well with the Switch. Snake Pass, an obscure multi-platform puzzle game initially had the same issue with the Switch. So what does NBA Playgrounds and Snake Pass have in common?
Unreal Engine 4.
Snake Pass runs on Unreal Engine 4.
Both games are run under Unreal Engine 4. By default, the Nintendo Switch presets have handheld mode running at a lower resolution than 720p. A later update had fixed the resolution issue for Snake Pass, and this will presumably be the case with NBA Playgrounds too.
However it does seem unfair that Nintendo Switch users have to receive the sub-par version at first hand. While gamers don’t expect the graphics to match to PS4 and Xbox One visuals, an issue like this could have been resolved before release.
We need change
The Nintendo Switch is still in its early days. Developers are still becoming accustomed to the new hardware. The reason we haven’t seen issues like these in Mario Kart or Zelda is because Nintendo developers know more about the hardware strength and weaknesses.
That doesn’t mean that other developers should be let off so easily. NBA Playgrounds also has an obnoxiously loud rumble effect. The game lacks touch screen to navigate the menu. There’s so many features that were just ignored in the porting of this game.
If gamers are to purchase the Switch version of a game over another platform, developers need to put more care into their ports.
For more opinions, read more at yBaX-PLAY.com.
Posted in Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox OneTagged graphics, NBA Playgrounds, Ports, Switch
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The teenage angst in Life is Strange: Before the Storm is "hella" overbearing
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Joseph Reaidi
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Talking about the Environment and Living Conditions
Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way
路德维希马克西米利安慕尼黑大学
4.8（138 个评分） | 5.4K 名学生已注册
Discover the mighty kingdom of Assyria, which came to be the world’s first great empire three thousand years ago. From the 9th to the 7th centuries BC, during the imperial phase of Assyria’s long history, modern day northern Iraq was the central region of a state reaching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, and incorporating what is now Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, as well as half of Israel, and wide parts of south-eastern Turkey, and Western Iran. In its geographical extent, this state was unprecedentedly large, and the distinct geography of the Middle East, with deserts and high mountain ranges, posed challenges to communication and cohesion. What were the mechanisms that kept the Empire running? This course explores the methods the Assyrian government employed to ensure unity and maintain loyalty across vast distances, using traditional as well as innovative strategies. Some of these imperial techniques have marked parallels in the ways modern multi-national corporations are operating, others will strike you as profoundly alien. This course focusses on how the Assyrians organised their empire by analysing key aspects, namely: · The CEO – the king, a religious, political and military leader, who is charged to govern by his master, the god Assur; · Home Office – the royal palace in the central region and the royal court that form the administrative centre of the state; · The Regional Managers – the governors and client-rulers to whom local power is delegated; · Human Resources – the Empire’s people are its most precious assets, its consumers and its key product, as the goal of the imperial project was to create “Assyrians”; an approach with lasting repercussions that still reverberate in the Middle East today; and finally · The Fruits of Empire – it takes a lot of effort, so what are the rewards? When we explore these topics we will contextualise them with information about the lives led by ordinary Assyrian families. Taking this course will provide you with an overview of the political, social, religious, and military history of the world’s first superpower. It will give you insight into the geography and climatic conditions of the Middle East and contribute to your understanding of the opportunities and challenges of that region. It will present you with a vision of the Middle East at a time when its political and religious structures were very different from today.
Professor Radner, her staff, and the expert faculty that she had speak provided an amazing journey into a long gone government, society, and culture and made it seem alive.
A great course that I enjoyed ! It expanded my knowledge of Assyrian history and allowed me to develop a interest for ancient Assyrian history. I highly recommend it!
Introducing Ancient Assyria
Welcome to the Course4:07
Introduction to Ancient Assyria10:47
Talking about the Environment and Living Conditions19:14
Focus on Writing in Assyria16:13
Ask the Experts: Why Study the Assyrian Empire?10:42
Karen Radner
So Karen, when I think of ancient Iraq and
Iran, I picture solid sand.
[LAUGH] Was it actually all desert or am I completely wrong about that?
>> Yes, you're wrong about that [LAUGH] I say.
>> [LAUGH] >> No,
there are certain parts of the Middle East that are desert, but
those are not the only physical features of the Middle East.
The south of Iraq is indeed, climatically speaking, desert.
But because we had these two large rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, moving
through the desert zone, irrigating that desert zone, they aren't actually desert.
Those are incredibly, intensively used agricultural regions,
extremely productive, and have been very, very productive
ever since the 4th millennium BC, so for the past 6,000 years.
The north of Iraq is an entirely different region.
The climate there is Mediterranean.
That means that there are pronounced seasons.
So cold winters with a lot of rain,
then a nice spring where everything grows, a hot dry summer,
and then autumn that sort of mediates the transition between the hot,
hot, hot summer and the very cold winter.
So that that Northern Iraqi climate is pretty
similar to what you'd have in Italy, in Greece, parts of Anatolia.
And it may be confusing [LAUGH] it's called Mediterranean when it's not
at the Mediterranean.
But it's of course part of a climatic region that starts at the eastern
Mediterranean, and then moves along the Taurus Mountains that separate Turkey and
Syria and Iraq from each other, and
then down the Zagros Mountains that form the barrier between Iraq and Iran.
The climate of Iran is largely shaped by the mountains.
It's basically a series of mountain chains with high plateaus,
some of them transitioned by very big rivers.
And that is very far really from sort of the typical
deserts that you would have in mind.
But there are some remote regions that however are not very important for
us when we are thinking about the Assyrian Empire.
For the Assyrian Empire, Syria is another important region.
And Syria does not really easily fall
[LAUGH] either into this desert climate nor
is it all Mediterranean in character.
A large part of Syria is steppe,
and the main problem is that those regions that are far away
from the Euphrates River cannot really be irrigated very easily.
But these regions still have a lot of promise
to human endeavours because you can use them for your herds.
You can graze your herds there.
And that's why [LAUGH] the idea of the desert has very
little to do really with the reality of living in the Assyrian Empire.
It is however, of course, reinforced a lot by films that are shot in Tunisia.
[LAUGH] But are supposed to take place either in Syria or in Iraq or in Iran.
And that's why very, very many people have that association.
>> I see, okay.
Well you have talked a little bit about this already.
But can you please expand a bit on this and
tell me a little bit more about the weather.
What was the weather like for your average everyday Assyrian?
[LAUGH] >> Again,
dependent entirely on where in the empire the person would be living.
So if you live in what is today the south of Iraq, so in this
region that is shaped basically by the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers,
in this intensely used agricultural zone,
you wouldn't really notice much variety of weather,
there wouldn't be any pronounced seasons.
And that's still the case of course [LAUGH] today.
Once in a while it might rain, but that would be like a freak incident
because on the whole, this is a very dry climate.
All the water that is available to people doesn't come down from heaven, but
comes down with the big rivers.
If you live in the north of Iraq which was the Assyrian heartland,
as we said that's Mediterranean climate.
So you would have very pronounced seasons.
And therefore, you would have rainy autumns, cold winters,
sometimes snow coming down even as far as modern-day Mosul.
And you would have lovely springs, flowers everywhere,
and very, very dry arid summers.
And if you live in the steppe, you would also have
seasons to a degree because the steppe is lovely and green in spring.
And that's when you would move in with sheep folks.
>> Yep, yeah, so it was sheep that were primarily herded on the steppes?
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
In many ways the climate shapes people's lifestyles a great deal.
>> Yes, yes.
All right, well, then let's talk about that a little bit.
Of course, climate would have had an enormous influence.
Can you talk about how it effected how people lived?
>> Well, first of all, one has to stress that while by and by,
the climatic conditions in the Middle East now and
3,000 years ago would not have been vastly different, yeah?
There are of course, differences, yeah?
There are always once in a while is a little ice age like in the 1600s.
And then temperatures are cooler, and
everything is basically more humid.
In the time that we are interested in, so from let's say 900 to 600 BC,
this would have been comparatively speaking,
a cooler, more humid period, yeah?
>> Okay.
>> Compared to what happened before and what happened after, yeah?
But on the whole, what I just said goes also for that time, yeah?
However, there is the risk zone that we must mention.
So the Mediterranean climate zone,
as we said, we've got rains in autumn.
And that's of course very, very important for agriculture, if you farm, yeah?
>> Yes.
>> If you don't have the rain, you are in deep trouble, yeah?
So, it's very, very important to have enough rain.
And basically, you need about 200 millilitres of rain a year,
which isn't a great deal to reliably farm, yeah?
And the boundary between the 200 millilitres and
less than 200 millimetres shifts always.
It's different for every year, of course.
And one has to emphasise that one of the most important
cities in the Assyrian Empire is the city of Assur.
And that is nowadays outside of this region
that enjoys 200 millilitres of rainfall, yeah?
That was very, very certainly not the case in the early first millennium, for
example, yeah?
>> Right, yeah, so the weather pattern has really changed-
>> Yes, but-
>> Did you say dramatically or-
>> No, not at all dramatically.
>> But there is this risk zone.
>> Yeah. >> Which sort of affects large parts of
the Middle East.
That risk zone is called a risk zone because
this is where the 200 millilitres are either available or they're not.
And basically, if you've got too little rain for two, three,
four years, it makes agriculture very unprofitable.
So the Middle East, in the past and to a degree even today,
is shaped by the coexistence between people that farm,
that do agriculture, and what we call pastoralists.
People that keep herds of sheep, as we say, sheep and goat, yeah?
>> Right, okay. >> And these flocks would be able,
of course, to make the most of spring in the steppes, yeah?
When the steppe is green for a very short period in spring,
that's the time when you'd bring your animals out into the steppe.
And they would be able to eat, to feast even, yeah?
And so that's, in a way, how you are able to make the most of
the fact that you can't always be 100% sure that agriculture
will allow the whole population to flourish, yeah?
So you have a mixed risk strategy.
>> Right.
>> The Assyrian heartland in the North of Iraq would be predominantly
a farmer's world, one can say.
Northeastern Syria, that would be farming as much as possible,
but always heavily supplemented by income derived from the flocks, yeah?
And the people that would travel with these sheep and
these goats, you can't call them nomads.
Because they don't have a lifestyle that is only traveling,
traveling, traveling, yeah?
>> They are part of a community, but
they will leave this community for several months at a time.
>> In the spring season.
>> Yes. >> In order to travel with their sheep and
then they would come back.
So that's a seasonal pattern and
that's what we mean when we talk about a pastoralist lifestyle.
>> And the important thing is that this is not entirely separate from the farming
lifestyle, of course, yeah?
>> Yeah. >> So you'd have members of a town,
let's say, or a family even that would be farming the fields.
And others of that same community would leave the settlement
periodically in spring and go away with the sheep.
In autumn, the sheep would come back, of course, or even in late summer, and
would eat basically the stubble left on the field after those had been harvested.
>> So when would the slaughter happen?
>> Well, obviously, before the winter.
>> Yes. >> Yeah, you'd slaughter the male animals,
especially, before the winter comes.
Because you don't want to feed them with
fodder that you've stocked unless you absolutely must.
And basically, it means that most male animals would get slaughtered in autumn,
after they've been fattened up over the spring into summer.
And only the female animals would be left because they,
of course, they will get young ones in spring.
So we've got our farmers that basically lead a lifestyle that is
recognisable to any farmer today, living with the seasons,
bringing out to seed onto the fields in spring,
waiting for everything to grow over the summer, and harvesting in autumn.
Then having a sort of more restful winter and
then everything starts again in spring.
So the big, big, labour shortage is typically then in autumn, yeah?
>> Right, yes.
>> And then you also have the shepherds.
They had to have sort of complementary lifestyle, of course,
also very much living with the season, but invading, let's say,
those parts of the land that are not at all suitable for the farmer.
And then we've got the south of Iraq which is a totally different environment that is
largely unaffected by natural seasons.
But people still live with the same seasons as the farmers and
the pastoralists.
Because otherwise, it wouldn't make a lot of sense.
>> This is part of one integrated world.
But one thing, of course, defines that world, and that is when the rivers flood.
>> Right. >> And
the rivers flood when the rain comes.
So the rain comes in winter, and
especially then when the snow in the mountains melts.
>> Yes. >> And
that means that the south of Iraq is irrigated in spring,
at the same time, when the farmers in the north of Iraq have done actual rain, yeah?
And that's why, this is an integrated system that largely operates alongside
our normal, our western pattern of seasons,
spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
And one has to point out that in Egypt, for example,
where we also have this big river that basically irrigates a desert landscape,
the seasonal pattern is completely different.
Because the flood happens at another time.
The flood happens in late summer, autumn,
when the monsoon rains bring water to the areas where the Nile has its springs.
>> Yes. >> So that's a totally different
[CROSSTALK].
>> I can see how that's quite different.
Okay, I'm fascinated by a couple of things that you've mentioned so far.
So I'm really interested in this idea of the risk zone.
And I'm also interested in the fact that,
despite the fact that sort of climatically and geographically,
these areas were so different, they were still unified in certain ways.
So, I'm going to ask you how would you say... did the weather affect the way people think?
And how was that the same and how was that different in these different regions?
>> Yeah, well, these very different environments are all connected,
let's say by these two big rivers, Euphrates and Tigris.
And that's why people feel that they live in an integrated world because the rivers
are the most important communication routes, of course.
And as we said, they do live in this yearly pattern, that despite these
different regions having very different lifestyles, still bring them together.
So that's quite important.
So on the whole, the weather shapes everyone's
world even when the weather is largely absent.
>> [LAUGH] >> As is the case in the south of Iraq.
And the weather in the risk zone is much more important,
of course, than in the south of Iraq.
In the south of Iraq, even if the rains
aren't as good as they should be in autumn, you will have your flood, yeah?
Because the flood is so powerful that what you have to do as a farmer when
the flood comes is to protect your fields against the water.
So you build dams, you have sluices, and so on and so forth.
Water management, artificial irrigation, is as much about keeping the water away.
>> From where you don't want it as it is about bringing
the water to you where you want it to be, yeah?
So even a bad year for the farmers up north would be
an okay year, a perfectly normal year, for the people in the south.
Up in the north however,
if it rained just a little bit too little would be a huge problem.
And there was really not a lot you could do apart from mitigating against that risk
in the first place, which they have been doing ever since the Neolithic Revolution,
when people started in the one hand to farm and
on the other hand to breed animals.
So that's a very clever strategy, yeah?
So you basically know that there will be bad years.
And that's why you basically store food and why have a mixed economy.
In the south, you largely have a sort of monoculture that is very, very dependent
on certain crops, although they also, of course, breed animals.
In the north, this fickleness of the weather
leads to the prominence of the weather god, yeah, or the storm god.
>> [LAUGH] >> As he's also called.
That deity is quite important everywhere in the Middle East.
But sort of takes on different guises, yeah?
In this risk zone, the weather god tends to be the most important deity.
It's often seen as the storm god rather than a generic weather god.
And is a very fickle deity, yeah, causing thunderstorms,
being able to sort of make the desert bloom,
but on the other hand, also causing earthquakes and god knows what.
In the south, that same deity, under the same name,
Adad is the name that the Assyrian have for the deity,
is seen in a quite different guise, as a sort of bureaucrat, almost.
He's the great canal master, so he is the one who
takes care of the heavenly dams and sluices, yeah?
Irrigating and
preventing the water from reaching the regions where you don't want them.
And so the weather in the north and in what's today's Syria and
Northern Iraq is seen as something that can be benevolent,
but can also be very, very damaging, can be even catastrophic.
[LAUGH] Okay, well,
I feel like this is an excellent time where we can stop.
And this is a very nice
opening to our next segment which will be about temples and religious life.
>> [LAUGH]
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