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In November 2007, Druyan was awarded the title of "Humanist Laureate" by the International Academy of Humanism. In October 2019, the Center for Inquiry West opened the Carl Sagan–Ann Druyan Theater in Los Angeles. Religious and philosophical views. In an interview with Joel Achenbach of "The Washington Post", Druyan said that her early interest in science stemmed from a fascination with Karl Marx. Achenbach commented that "She had, at the time, rather vaporous standards of evidence", a reference to her belief in the ancient astronauts of Erich von Däniken and the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky pertaining to the solar system. Concerning the death of her husband she stated: When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me—it still sometimes happens—and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don't ever expect to be reunited with Carl.
Personal life. Druyan and Sagan's working and resulting romantic relationship has been the subject of numerous treatments in popular culture, including the Radiolab episode "Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan's Ultimate Mix Tape", a segment of the Comedy Central program "Drunk History"s episode "Space", and the song "Sounds of Earth" by Jim Moray. The asteroid 4970 Druyan, which is in a companion orbit with asteroid 2709 Sagan named after Druyan's late husband, is named after Druyan. In 2015, it was announced that Warner Brothers was in development on a drama about Sagan and Druyan's relationship, to be produced by producer Lynda Obst and Druyan. In 2020, Sagan and Druyan's daughter Sasha Sagan released a book "For Small Creatures Such As We: Rituals for Finding Meaning in our Unlikely World", which discusses life with her parents and her father's death when she was fourteen years old. Druyan also gave Sasha a recurring role in "", where she played her own grandmother, including in the episode "Man of a Trillion Worlds", which featured the life of Carl Sagan.
Analcime Analcime (; ) or analcite is a white, gray, or colorless tectosilicate mineral. Analcime consists of hydrated sodium aluminium silicate in cubic crystalline form. Its chemical formula is NaAlSi2O6 · H2O. Minor amounts of potassium and calcium substitute for sodium. A silver-bearing synthetic variety also exists (Ag-analcite). Analcime is usually classified as a zeolite mineral, but structurally and chemically it is more similar to the feldspathoids. Analcime is not classified as an isometric crystal, as although the crystal structure appears to be isometric, it is usually off only by a fraction of an angle. However, there are truly isometric samples of the mineral, which makes its classification even more difficult. Due to the differences between the samples being too slight, there's no merit from having multiple species names, so as a result analcime is a common example for minerals occurring in multiple crystal systems and space groups. It was first described by French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu, who called it zéolithe dure, meaning hard zeolite. It was found in lava in Cyclops, Italy. The mineral is IMA approved, and had been grandfathered, meaning the name analcime is believed to refer to a valid species til this day.
Properties. Analcime crystals always look pseudocubic. Its common crystal forms include trapezohedron, truncated trapezohedron with cubic faces, and more rarely either as a truncated trapezohedron, or the crystals can take the shape of a truncated cube that is typical to bixbyites. The crystals can occur either individually, as interconnected, form groups on plates or even in druzy form. Crystal masses can also form veins sometimes. Individual crystals are euhedral, meaning they have well defined faces. When on a matrix, the mineral takes a granular habit, meaning the crystals become anhedral. The color of the mineral varies due to trace impurities. The mineral is weakly piezoelectric and pyroelectric, meaning it produces a weak electric charge when it's rubbed or heated, hence the name analcime. Other characteristics include the fact that the mineral can have a blueish white fluorescence when inspected under short UV light, and a creamy white-yellow one inspected under long UV light. It does not show any pleochroic or radioactive properties. Analyses regarding the mineral's symmetry vary in results, however the most prevalent one being tetragonal. The mineral usually has polysynthetic twins, which are only visible in thin sections when the specimen is inspected under polarized analyzed light. Analcime mainly consists of oxygen (50.87%), silicon (25.51%), aluminum (12.26%), sodium (10.44%) but otherwise has a negligible amount of hydrogen (0.92%) as well. The highest quality specimens take the form of a trapezohedron, and can reach up to 25 cm. These specimens are associated with serandite, aegyrine and natrolite, and can be found at Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. Of the pinkish-white specimens, the mineral takes the shape of well-formed cubes which can exceed 10 cm, originating from several sites in Val di Fassa, Trentino, Italy.
Formation and associated minerals. Analcime occurs as a primary mineral in analcime basalt and other alkaline igneous rocks. It also occurs as cavity and vesicle fillings associated with prehnite, calcite, and zeolites. Analcime forms in sedimentary rocks at temperatures below about , and so its presence indicates that the rock has experienced shallow diagenesis. Although it is common in igneous rocks (namely basalts and trachy-basalts), it is more rarely found in phonolites. Associations include zeolites, calcite and prehnite; however, it is also found in nepheline syenites and their pegmatites. It forms a series with pollucite. Locations. Well known locations for sourcing analcime include Croft Quarry in Leicestershire, UK; the Cyclopean Islands east off Sicily and near Trentino in northern Italy; Victoria in Australia; Kerguelen Island in the Indian Ocean; in the Lake Superior copper district of Michigan, Bergen Hill, New Jersey, Golden, Colorado, and at Searles Lake, California in the United States; and at Cape Blomidon, Nova Scotia and Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec in Canada; and in Iceland, and in Namibia. Siberian samples from Nidym and Toura provide us with white crystals of 18 cm. Samples of the Cyclopean Islands are known for their beautiful and clear crystals, just like the crystals of Kings Valley and Springfield in Oregon, which can reach up to 6 cm. Coleman, Alberta in Canada is known for producing beautiful red crystals.
Usage. Other than its aesthetic values, analcime currently presents no use. Crystallized specimens are sought after by collectors, and the mineral is hardly ever made into jewelry. The crystals made into jewelries are uncut and handcrafted. It has lacking use as a microporous material. This is due to the fact that analcime has a compact structure and thus it has a strong resistance to diffusion of both molecules and cations. Analcime-bearing tuffs are sometimes used as building materials.
Alexey Pajitnov Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (born April 16, 1955) is a Russian-American computer engineer and video game designer. He is best known for creating, designing, and developing "Tetris" in 1985 while working at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre under the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (now the Russian Academy of Sciences). After "Tetris" was released internationally in 1987, he released a sequel in 1989, entitled "Welltris". In 1991, he moved to the United States and later became a U.S. citizen. In 1996, Pajitnov founded The Tetris Company alongside Dutch video game designer Henk Rogers. Despite the game's high popularity, Pajitnov did not receive royalties from "Tetris" prior to this time; the Soviet Union had disintegrated by 1991. Early life. Pajitnov was born to Russian parents who were both writers. His father was an art critic and his mother was a journalist who wrote for both newspapers and a film magazine. It was through his parents that Pajitnov gained exposure to the arts, eventually developing a passion for cinema. He accompanied his mother to many film screenings, including the Moscow Film Festival. Pajitnov was also mathematically inclined, enjoying puzzles and problem solving.
In 1967, when he was 11 years old, Pajitnov's parents divorced. For several years, he lived with his mother in a one-bedroom apartment owned by the state. The two were eventually able to move into a private apartment at 49 Gertsen Street, when Pajitnov was 17. He later went on to study applied mathematics at the Moscow Aviation Institute. Career. In 1977, Pajitnov worked as a summer intern at the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Once he graduated in 1979, he accepted a job there working on speech recognition at the academy's Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre. When the Computing Centre received new equipment, its researchers would write a small program for it in order to test its computing capabilities. According to Pajitnov, this "became [his] excuse for making games". Computer games were fascinating to him because they offered a way to bridge the gap between logic and emotion, and Pajitnov held interests in both mathematics and puzzles, as well as the psychology of computing. Searching for inspiration, Pajitnov recalled his childhood memories of playing pentominoes, a game in which the user creates pictures using its shapes. Remembering the difficulty he had in putting the pieces back into their box, Pajitnov felt inspired to create a game based on that concept. Using an Electronika 60 in the Computing Centre, he began working on what would become the first version of "Tetris". Building the first prototype in two weeks, Pajitnov spent longer playtesting and adding to the game, completing it on June 6, 1985. This primitive version did not have levels or a scoring system, but Pajitnov knew he had a potentially great game, since he could not stop playing it at work.
The game attracted the interest of coworkers like fellow programmer Dmitri Pevlovsky, who helped Pajitnov connect with Vadim Gerasimov, a 16-year-old intern at the Soviet Academy. Pajitnov wanted to make a color version of "Tetris" for the IBM Personal Computer, and enlisted the intern to help. Gerasimov created the PC version in less than three weeks, and with contributions from Pevlovsky, spent an additional month adding new features like scorekeeping and sound effects. The game, first available in the Soviet Union, received international releases through Mirrorsoft and Spectrum Holobyte in 1988. Pajitnov created a sequel to "Tetris", entitled "Welltris", which has the same principle, but in a three-dimensional environment where the player sees the playing area from above. "Tetris" was licensed and managed by Soviet company ELORG, which had a monopoly on the import and export of computer hardware and software in the Soviet Union, and advertised with the slogan "From Russia with Love" (on NES: "From Russia with Fun!"). Because he was employed by the Soviet Academy of Sciences, Pajitnov did not receive royalties.
Pajitnov, together with Vladimir Pokhilko, moved to the United States following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and in 1996 founded The Tetris Company with Henk Rogers, which, in combination with the rights reverting to him in 1995 or 1996, finally allowed him to collect royalties from his game. He helped design the puzzles in the Super NES versions of "Yoshi's Cookie" and designed the game "Pandora's Box", which incorporates more traditional jigsaw-style puzzles. Pajitnov and Pokhilko founded the 3D software technology company AnimaTek, which developed the game / screensaver El-Fish. He was employed by Microsoft from October 1996 until 2005. While there, he worked on the "", MSN Mind Aerobics and MSN Games groups. Pajitnov's new, enhanced version of "Hexic", "Hexic HD", was included with every new Xbox 360 Premium package. In August 2005, WildSnake Software announced that Pajitnov would be collaborating with them to release a new line of puzzle games. Personal life. Pajitnov moved to the United States in 1991, was naturalized as a U.S. citizen and now lives in Clyde Hill, Washington. He has a wife, Nina, with whom he had two sons named Peter and Dmitri.
Political views. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Pajitnov issued a statement condemning the war and stating that he was "sure that Putin and his hateful regime will fall down and the normal peaceful way of living will be restored in Ukraine and, hopefully, in Russia". Awards and recognition. In 1996, GameSpot named him as the fourth most influential computer game developer of all time. In March 2007, he received the Game Developers Choice Awards First Penguin Award. The award was given for pioneering the casual games market. In June 2009, he received the honorary award at the LARA - Der Deutsche Games Award in Cologne, Germany. In 2012, IGN included Pajitnov on their list of 5 Memorable Video Game Industry One-Hit Wonders, calling him "the ultimate video game one-hit wonder." In 2015, Pajitnov won the Bizkaia Award at the Fun & Serious Game Festival. Pajitnov was portrayed by Russian actor Nikita Yefremov in the 2023 movie "Tetris", a dramatised retelling of the licensing bidding war for Tetris in the late 1980s.
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: , ;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later cited as the last of three "central figures" of the religion, along with Baháʼu'lláh and the Báb, and his writings and authenticated talks are regarded as sources of Baháʼí sacred literature. He was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family. At the age of eight, his father was imprisoned during a government crackdown on the Bábí Faith and the family's possessions were looted, leaving them in virtual poverty. His father was exiled from their native Iran, and the family established their residence in Baghdad in Iraq, where they stayed for ten years. They were later called by the Ottoman state to Istanbul before entering another period of confinement in Edirne and finally the prison-city of ʻAkká (Acre). ʻAbdu'l-Bahá remained a prisoner there until the Young Turk Revolution freed him in 1908 at the age of 64. He then made several journeys to the West to spread the Baháʼí message beyond its middle-eastern roots, but the onset of World War I left him largely confined to Haifa from 1914 to 1918. Following the war, the openly hostile Ottoman authorities were replaced by the British Mandate over Palestine, during which time he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his help in averting famine following the war.
In 1892, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith. His "Tablets of the Divine Plan" galvanized Baháʼís in North America to spread the Baháʼí teachings to new territories, and his Will and Testament laid the foundation for the current Baháʼí administrative order. Many of his writings, prayers and letters are extant, and his discourses with the Western Baháʼís emphasize the growth of the religion by the late 1890s. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's given name was ʻAbbás. Depending on context, he would have gone by either Mírzá ʻAbbás (Persian) or ʻAbbás Effendi (Turkish), both of which are equivalent to the English Sir ʻAbbás. During most of his time as head of the Bahá'í Faith, he used and preferred the title of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ("servant of Bahá", a reference to his father). He is commonly referred to in Baháʼí texts as "The Master". Early life.
Due to a life largely marked by exile and imprisonment, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had limited opportunities for formal schooling. In his youth, it was customary for children of nobility, including ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, not to attend conventional schools. Instead, noblemen typically received a brief education at home, focusing on subjects such as scripture, rhetoric, calligraphy, and basic mathematics, with an emphasis on preparing for life within royal courts. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá spent only a short period at a traditional preparatory school at the age of seven for a single year. His mother and uncle took on the responsibility of his early education, but the primary source of his learning was his father. In 1890 Edward Granville Browne described ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, saying that "one more eloquent of speech, more ready of argument, more apt of illustration, more intimately acquainted with the sacred books of the Jews, the Christians, and the Muhammadans...could scarcely be found..." According to contemporary accounts ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was an eloquent and charming child. At the age of seven, he faced a severe health challenge when he contracted tuberculosis, and his prognosis suggested death. Though the illness abated, this marked the beginning of a lifelong struggle with recurrent bouts of various illnesses that would persist throughout his life.
One event that affected ʻAbdu'l-Bahá greatly during his childhood was the imprisonment of his father when ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was eight years old; this circumstance led to a considerable decline in the family's economic standing, subjecting him to poverty and exposing him to hostility from other children in the streets. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá accompanied his mother to visit Baháʼu'lláh who was then imprisoned in the infamous subterranean dungeon the Síyáh-Chál. He described how "I saw a dark, steep place. We entered a small, narrow doorway, and went down two steps, but beyond those one could see nothing. In the middle of the stairway, all of a sudden we heard His [Baháʼu'lláh's]…voice: 'Do not bring him in here', and so they took me back". Baghdad. Baháʼu'lláh was eventually released from prison but was ordered into exile, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then eight years old, joined his father on the journey to Baghdad in the winter (January to April) of 1853. During the journey ʻAbdu'l-Bahá suffered from frost-bite. After a year of difficulties, Baháʼu'lláh absented himself rather than continuing to face the conflict with Mirza Yahya and secluded himself in the mountains of Sulaymaniyah in April 1854, a month before ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's tenth birthday Due to mutual sorrow, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, his mother and sister becoming constant companions. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was particularly close to both, and his mother took an active role in his education and upbringing. During the two-year absence of his father ʻAbdu'l-Bahá took up the duty of managing the affairs of the family, before his age of maturity (14 in Middle-Eastern society) and was known to be occupied with reading and, at a time of hand-copied scriptures being the primary means of publishing, was also engaged in copying the writings of the Báb. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá also took an interest in the art of horseback riding, and as he grew, he became a renowned rider.
In 1856, news of an ascetic engaging in discourses with local Súfí leaders reached family and friends, raising hopes that it could be Bahá’u’lláh. Immediately, they went to search for Baháʼu'lláh, and in March, brought him back to Baghdad. On seeing his father, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá fell to his knees and wept loudly "Why did you leave us?", and his mother and sister did the same. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá soon became his father's secretary and shield. During the sojourn in the city ʻAbdu'l-Bahá grew from a boy into a young man. He was noted as a "remarkably fine looking youth", and remembered for his charity. Having passed the age of maturity, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was regularly seen in the mosques of Baghdad discussing religious topics and the scripture as a young man. Whilst in Baghdad, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá composed a commentary at the request of his father on the Muslim tradition of "I was a Hidden Treasure" for a Súfí leader named ʻAlí Shawkat Páshá. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was fifteen or sixteen at the time and ʻAlí Shawkat Páshá regarded the more than 11,000-word essay as a remarkable feat for someone of his age. In 1863, in what became known as the Garden of Ridván, his father Baháʼu'lláh announced to a few companions that he was the manifestation of God and He whom God shall make manifest whose coming had been foretold by the Báb. On day eight of the twelve days, it is reported that ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was the first person to whom Baháʼu'lláh revealed his claim.
Istanbul/Adrianople. In 1863, Baháʼu'lláh was summoned to Istanbul, and thus his family, including ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, then eighteen, accompanied him on his 110-day journey. The journey to Constantinople was another wearisome voyage, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá helped feed the exiles. It was here that his position became more prominent amongst the Baháʼís. This was further solidified by Baháʼu'lláh's tablet of the Branch in which he constantly exalts his son's virtues and station. Bahá’u’lláh and his family were soon exiled to Adrianople, and on this journey ʻAbdu'l-Bahá again suffered from frostbite. In Adrianople ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was regarded as the sole comforter of his family – in particular to his mother. At this point ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was known by the Baháʼís as "the Master", and by non-Baháʼís as ʻAbbás Effendi ("Effendi" signifies "Sir"). It was in Adrianople that Baháʼu'lláh referred to his son as "the Mystery of God". The title of "Mystery of God" symbolises, according to Baháʼís, that ʻAbdu'l-Bahá is not a manifestation of God but that in the "person of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized". Baháʼu'lláh gave his son many other titles such as "G͟husn-i-Aʻzam" (meaning "Mightiest Branch" or "Mightier Branch"), the "Branch of Holiness", "the Center of the Covenant" and the apple of his eye. Upon learning of yet another exile of Bahá’u’llah, this time to Palestine, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ("the Master") was devastated when hearing the news that he and his family were to be exiled separately from Baháʼu'lláh. It was, according to Baháʼís, through his intercession that the idea was reverted and the rest of the family were allowed to be exiled together.
ʻAkká. At the age of 24, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was clearly chief-steward to his father and an outstanding member of the Baháʼí community. In 1868 Baháʼu'lláh and his family were exiled to the penal colony of ʻAkká, Palestine where it was expected that the family would perish. Arrival in ʻAkká was distressing for the family and exiles when they were met by a hostile local population. When told that the women were to sit on the shoulders of the men to reach the shore, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá obtained chairs to carry the women to land. His sister and father fell dangerously ill. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was able to procure some anesthetic and nursed the sick. The Baháʼís were imprisoned under horrendous conditions in a cluster of cells covered in excrement and dirt. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá himself fell dangerously ill with dysentery, and a sympathetic soldier permitted a physician to attend to him. The population shunned them, the soldiers treated them badly, and the behaviour of Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahani (an Azali) aggravated matters. Morale declined further with the accidental death of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's youngest brother Mírzá Mihdí at the age of 22. The grieving ʻAbdu'l-Bahá kept a night-long vigil beside his brother's body.
Later in ʻAkká. Over time, he gradually assumed responsibility for the relationships between the small Baháʼí exile community and the outside world. It was through his interaction with the people of ʻAkká (Acre) that, they recognized the innocence of the Baháʼís, and thus the conditions of imprisonment were eased. Four months after the death of Mihdí the family moved from the prison to the House of ʻAbbúd. Gradually the respect of the local population for the Baháʼís increased, and in particular, for ʻAbdu'l-Bahá who soon became very popular in the penal colony. Myron Henry Phelps a wealthy New York lawyer described how "a crowd of human beings...Syrians, Arabs, Ethiopians, and many others", all waited to talk and receive ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. With the passage of time ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was able to rent alternative accommodations for the family, and eventually the family moved to the Mansion of Bahjí around 1879 when an epidemic caused its residents to flee. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá undertook a history of the Bábí religion through publication of A Traveller's Narrative (Makála-i-Shakhsí Sayyáh) in 1886, later translated and published in translation in 1891 through Cambridge University through the agency of Edward Granville Browne.
Marriage and family life. When ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was a young man, speculation was rife amongst the Baháʼís as to whom he would marry. Several young girls were seen as marriage prospects but ʻAbdu'l-Bahá seemed disinclined to marriage. On 8 March 1873, at the urging of his father, the twenty-eight-year-old ʻAbdu'l-Bahá married Fátimih Nahrí of Isfahán (1847–1938) a twenty-five-year-old from an upper-class family of the city. Her father was Mírzá Muḥammad ʻAlí Nahrí of Isfahan, an eminent Baháʼí with prominent connections. Fátimih was brought from Persia to ʻAkká after both Baháʼu'lláh and his wife Navváb expressed an interest that she marries ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. After a wearisome journey from Isfahán to Akka she finally arrived accompanied by her brother in 1872. The young couple were betrothed for about five months before the marriage itself commenced. In the meantime, Fátimih lived in the home of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's uncle Mírzá Músá. According to her later memoirs, Fátimih fell in love with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá on seeing him. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá himself had shown little inkling to marriage until meeting Fátimih; who was entitled Munírih by Baháʼu'lláh. Munírih is a title meaning "Luminous".
The marriage resulted in nine children. The first born was a son Mihdí Effendi who died aged about 3. He was followed by Ḍíyáʼíyyih K͟hánum, Fuʼádíyyih K͟hánum (who dies very young), Rúhangíz Khánum (d. 1893), Túbá Khánum, Husayn Effendi (d. 1887 aged 5), Túbá K͟hánum, Rúhá K͟hánum (mother of Munib Shahid), and Munnavar K͟hánum. The death of his children caused ʻAbdu'l-Bahá immense grief – in particular the death of his son Husayn Effendi came at a difficult time following the death of his mother and uncle. The surviving children (all daughters) were; Ḍíyáʼíyyih K͟hánum (mother of Shoghi Effendi) (d. 1951) Túbá K͟hánum (1880–1959) Rúḥá K͟hánum and Munavvar K͟hánum (d. 1971). Baháʼu'lláh wished that the Baháʼís follow the example of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and gradually move away from polygamy. The marriage of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to one woman and his choice to remain monogamous, from advice of his father and his own wish, legitimised the practice of monogamy to a people who hitherto had regarded polygamy as a righteous way of life.
Early years of his ministry. After Baháʼu'lláh died on 29 May 1892, the Book of the Covenant of Baháʼu'lláh (his will) named ʻAbdu'l-Bahá as Centre of the Covenant, successor and interpreter of Baháʼu'lláh's writings. Baháʼu'lláh designates his successor with the following verses: In Baháʼu'lláh's will, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's half-brother, Muhammad ʻAlí, was mentioned by name as being subordinate to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. Muhammad ʻAlí became jealous of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and set out to establish authority for himself as an alternative leader with the support of his brothers Badi’u'llah and Ḍíyáʼu'llah. He began correspondence with Baháʼís in Iran, initially in secret, casting doubts in others' minds about ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. While most Baháʼís followed ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, a handful followed Muhammad ʻAlí including such prominent Bahá’ís as Mirza Javad and Ibrahim George Kheiralla, an early Baháʼí missionary to America.
Religions in the past faced schism and doctrinal drift after the death of their prophet founders. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá however managed to preserve the unity and doctrinal integrity of the Baháʼí Faith, even in the face of serious threats from his half-brother’s opposition. His success is especially notable given that even in the midst of these attacks his leadership brought about considerable expansion of the Baháʼí community beyond its initial cultural and geographic roots. First Western pilgrims. By the end of 1898, Western pilgrims started traveling to Akka on pilgrimage to visit ʻAbdu'l-Bahá; this group of pilgrims, including Phoebe Hearst, was the first time that Baháʼís raised up in the West had met ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. The first group arrived in 1898 and throughout late 1898 to early 1899 Western Baháʼís sporadically visited ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. The group was relatively young containing mainly women from high American society in their 20s. The group of Westerners aroused suspicion for the authorities, and consequently ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's confinement was tightened. During the next decade ʻAbdu'l-Bahá would be in constant communication with Baháʼís around the world, encouraging them to teach the religion; the group included Susan Moody, Lua Getsinger, Laura Clifford Barney, Herbert Hopper and May Ellis Bolles in Paris (all Americans); Englishman Thomas Breakwell; and Frenchman . It was Laura Clifford Barney who, by asking questions of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá over many years and many visits to Haifa, compiled what later became the book Some Answered Questions.
Ministry, 1901–1912. During the final years of the 19th century, while ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was still officially a prisoner and confined to ʻAkka, he organized the transfer of the remains of the Báb from Iran to Palestine. He then organized the purchase of land on Mount Carmel that Baháʼu'lláh had instructed should be used to lay the remains of the Báb, and organized for the construction of the Shrine of the Báb. This process took another 10 years. With the increase of pilgrims visiting ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Muhammad ʻAlí conspired with the Ottoman authorities to re-introduce stricter terms on ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's imprisonment in August 1901. By 1902, however, due to the support of the Governor of ʻAkka, the situation was greatly eased; while pilgrims were able to once again visit ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, he was still confined to the city. In February 1903, two followers of Muhammad ʻAlí, including Badiʻu'llah and Siyyid ʻAliy-i-Afnan, broke with Muhammad ʻAli and wrote books and letters giving details of Muhammad ʻAli's plots and noting that what was circulating about ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was fabrication.
From 1902 to 1904, even as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá directed the construction of the Shrine of the Báb, he initiated execution of two additional projects; the restoration of the House of the Báb in Shiraz, Iran and the construction of the first Baháʼí House of Worship in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá asked Aqa Mirza Aqa to coordinate the restoration of the house of the Báb to its state at the time of the Báb's declaration to Mulla Husayn in 1844; he also entrusted the work on the House of Worship to Vakil-u'd-Dawlih. In his role as head of the Bahá’í Faith, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would occasionally communicate with leaders of thought to offer commentary and guidance based on the Bahá’í teachings, and in defense of the Bahá’í community. During this period, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá communicated with a number of Young Turks, who sought to reform to the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, including Namık Kemal, Ziya Pasha and Midhat Pasha. He emphasized Baháʼís "seek freedom and love liberty, hope for equality, are well-wishers of humanity and ready to sacrifice their lives to unite humanity" but on a more broad approach than the Young Turks. Abdullah Cevdet, one of the founders of the Committee of Union and Progress who considered the Baháʼí Faith an intermediary step between Islam and the ultimate abandonment of religious belief, would go on trial for defense of Baháʼís in a periodical he founded.
‛Abdu'l-Bahá also had contact with military leaders, including such individuals as Bursalı Mehmet Tahir Bey and Hasan Bedreddin. The latter, who in an earlier period was involved in the overthrow of Sultan Abdülaziz in 1876, is commonly known as Bedri Paşa or Bedri Pasha and is referred to in Persian Baháʼí sources as Bedri Bey (Badri Beg). He probably came to know ‘Abdu’l-Baha around 1898 when he served in the Ottoman administration in Akká. Persian sources cite him was a Baháʼí and he who translated ‛Abdu'l-Baha's works into French. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá continued to communicate with him for several years when he was governor of Albania. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá also met Muhammad Abduh, one of the key figures of Islamic Modernism and the Salafi movement, in Beirut, at a time when the two men shared similar goals of religious reform. Rashid Rida asserts that during his visits to Beirut, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá would attend Abduh's study sessions. Regarding the meetings of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and Muhammad ʻAbduh, Shoghi Effendi asserts that "His several interviews with the well-known Shaykh Muhammad ʻAbdu served to enhance immensely the growing prestige of the community and spread abroad the fame of its most distinguished member."
Due to Muhammad ʻAli's accusations against him, a Commission of Inquiry interviewed ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1905, almost resulting in exile to Fezzan. In response, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote the sultan a letter protesting that his followers refrain from involvement in partisan politics and that his "tariqa" had guided many Americans to Islam. The next few years in ʻAkka were relatively free of pressures and pilgrims were able to come and visit ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. By 1909 the mausoleum of the Shrine of the Báb was completed. Journeys to the West. The 1908 Young Turks revolution liberated all political and religious prisoners in the Ottoman Empire, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was freed from imprisonment. His first action after his liberation was to visit the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh in Bahji. While ʻAbdu'l-Bahá continued to live in ʻAkka immediately following the revolution, he soon moved to live in Haifa near the Shrine of the Báb. In 1910, with the freedom to leave the country, he embarked on a three-year journey to Egypt, Europe, and North America, spreading the Baháʼí message.
From August to December 1911, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá visited cities in Europe, including London, Bristol, and Paris. The purpose of these trips was to support the Baháʼí communities in the west and to further spread his father's teachings. In the following year, he undertook a much more extensive journey to the United States and Canada to once again spread his father's teachings. He arrived in New York City on 11 April 1912, after declining an offer of passage on the RMS "Titanic", telling the Baháʼí believers, instead, to "Donate this to charity." He instead travelled on a slower craft, the RMS "Cedric", and cited preference of a longer sea journey as the reason. After hearing of the Titanic's sinking on 16 April he was quoted as saying "I was asked to sail upon the Titanic, but my heart did not prompt me to do so." While he spent most of his time in New York, he visited Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C.,Boston and Philadelphia. In August of the same year he started a more extensive journey to places including New Hampshire, the Green Acre school in Maine, and Montreal (his only visit to Canada). He then travelled west to Minneapolis, Minnesota; San Francisco; Stanford; and Los Angeles, California before returning east at the end of October. On 5 December 1912 he set sail back to Europe.
During his visit to North America he visited many missions, churches, and groups, as well as having scores of meetings in homes of Baháʼís, and offering innumerable personal meetings with hundreds of people. During his talks he proclaimed Baháʼí principles such as the unity of God, unity of the religions, oneness of humanity, equality of women and men, world peace and economic justice. He also insisted that all his meetings be open to all races. His visit and talks were the subject of hundreds of newspaper articles. In Boston newspaper reporters asked ʻAbdu'l-Bahá why he had come to America, and he stated that he had come to participate in conferences on peace and that just giving warning messages is not enough. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's visit to Montreal provided notable newspaper coverage; on the night of his arrival the editor of the "Montreal Daily Star" met with him and that newspaper along with "The Montreal Gazette", "Montreal Standard", and among others reported on ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's activities. The headlines in those papers included "Persian Teacher to Preach Peace", "Racialism Wrong, Says Eastern Sage, Strife and War Caused by Religious and National Prejudices", and "Apostle of Peace Meets Socialists, Abdul Baha's Novel Scheme for Distribution of Surplus Wealth." The "Montreal Standard", which was distributed across Canada, took so much interest that it republished the articles a week later; the Gazette published six articles and Montreal's largest French language newspaper published two articles about him. His 1912 visit to Montreal also inspired humourist Stephen Leacock to parody him in his bestselling 1914 book "Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich". In Chicago one newspaper headline included "His Holiness Visits Us, Not Pius X but A. Baha," and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's visit to California was reported in the "Palo Altan".
Back in Europe, he visited London, Edinburgh, Paris (where he stayed for two months), Stuttgart, Budapest, and Vienna. Finally, on 12 June 1913, he returned to Egypt, where he stayed for six months before returning to Haifa. On 23 February 1914, at the eve of World War I, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá hosted Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild banking family who was a leading advocate and financier of the Zionist movement, during one of his early trips to Palestine. Final years (1914–1921). During World War I (1914–1918) ʻAbdu'l-Bahá stayed in Palestine and was unable to travel. He carried on a limited correspondence, which included the "Tablets of the Divine Plan", a collection of fourteen letters addressed to the Baháʼís of North America, later described as one of three "charters" of the Baháʼí Faith. The letters assign a leadership role for the North American Baháʼís in spreading the religion around the planet. Haifa was under real threat of Allied bombardment, enough that ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and other Baháʼís temporarily retreated to the hills east of ʻAkka.
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was also under threats from Cemal Paşa, the Ottoman military chief who at one point expressed his desire to crucify him and destroy Baháʼí properties in Palestine. The swift Megiddo offensive of the British General Allenby swept away the Turkish forces in Palestine before harm was done to the Baháʼís, and the war was over less than two months later. Post-war period. The conclusion of World War I led to the openly hostile Ottoman authorities being replaced by the more friendly British Mandate, allowing for a renewal of correspondence, pilgrims, and development of the Baháʼí World Centre properties. It was during this revival of activity that the Baháʼí Faith saw an expansion and consolidation in places like Egypt, the Caucasus, Iran, Turkmenistan, North America and South Asia under the leadership of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. The end of the war brought about several political developments on which ʻAbdu'l-Bahá commented. The League of Nations formed in January 1920, representing the first instance of collective security through a worldwide organization. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had written in 1875 for the need to establish a "Union of the nations of the world", and he praised the attempt through the League of Nations as an important step towards the goal. He also said that it was "incapable of establishing Universal Peace" because it did not represent all nations and had only trivial power over its member states. Around the same time, the British Mandate supported the ongoing immigration of Jews to Palestine. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá mentioned the immigration as a fulfillment of prophecy, and encouraged the Zionists to develop the land and "elevate the country for all its inhabitants... They must not work to separate the Jews from the other Palestinians...If the Zionists will mingle with the other races and live in unity with them, they will succeed. If not, they will meet certain resistance."
The war also left the region in famine. In 1901, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá had purchased about 1704 acres of scrubland near the Jordan river and by 1907 many Baháʼís from Iran had begun sharecropping on the land. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá received between 20 and 33% of their harvest (or cash equivalent), which was shipped to Haifa. With the war still raging in 1917, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá received a large amount of wheat from the crops, and also bought other available wheat and shipped it back to Haifa. The wheat arrived just after the British captured Palestine, and as such was widely distributed to allay the famine. For this service in averting a famine in Northern Palestine he received the honour of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire at a ceremony held in his honor at the home of the British Governor on 27 April 1920. He was later visited by General Allenby, King Faisal (later King of Iraq), Herbert Samuel (High Commissioner for Palestine), and Ronald Storrs (Military Governor of Jerusalem). Death and funeral. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá died on Monday, 28 November 1921, sometime after 1:15 a.m. (27th of Rabi' al-awwal, 1340 AH).
Then Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill telegraphed the High Commissioner for Palestine, "convey to the Baháʼí Community, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, their sympathy and condolence." Similar messages came from Viscount Allenby, the Council of Ministers of Iraq, and others. On his funeral, which was held the next day, Esslemont notes: Among the talks delivered at the funeral, Shoghi Effendi records Stewart Symes (Governor of the Palestine North District) giving the following tribute: He was buried in the front room of the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel. His interment there is meant to be temporary, until his own mausoleum can be built in the vicinity of Riḍván Garden, known as the Shrine of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. Legacy. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá left a "Will and Testament" that was originally written between 1901 and 1908 and addressed to Shoghi Effendi, who at that time was only 4–11 years old. The will appoints Shoghi Effendi as the first in a line of Guardians of the religion, a hereditary executive role that may provide authoritative interpretations of scripture. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá directed all Baháʼís to turn to him and obey him, and assured him of divine protection and guidance. The will also provided a formal reiteration of his teachings, such as the instructions to teach, manifest spiritual qualities, associate with all people, and shun Covenant-breakers. Many obligations of the Universal House of Justice and the Hands of the Cause were also elaborated. Shoghi Effendi later described the document as one of three "charters" of the Baháʼí Faith.
The authenticity and provisions of the will were almost universally accepted by Baháʼís around the world, with the exception of Ruth White and a few other Americans who tried to protest Shoghi Effendi's leadership. In volumes of "The Baháʼí World" published in 1930 and 1933, Shoghi Effendi named nineteen Baháʼís as disciples of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and heralds of the Covenant, including Thornton Chase, , John Esslemont, Lua Getsinger, and Robert Turner. No other statements about them have been found in Shoghi Effendi's writings. During his lifetime there was some ambiguity among Baháʼís as to his station relative to Baháʼu'lláh, and later to Shoghi Effendi. Some American newspapers erroneously reported him to be a Baháʼí prophet or the return of Christ. Shoghi Effendi later formalized his legacy as the last of three "Central Figures" of the Baháʼí Faith and the "Perfect exemplar" of the teachings, also claiming that holding him on an equal status to Baháʼu'lláh or Jesus was heretical. Shoghi Effendi also wrote that during the anticipated Baháʼí dispensation of 1000 years there will be no equal to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá.
Appearance and personality. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was described as handsome, and bore striking resemblance to his mother. As an adult he reached medium height but he gave the impression of being taller. He had dark hair that flowed to his shoulders, grey coloured eyes, a fair complexion and an aquiline nose. In 1890, Orientalist Edward Granville Browne met him and wrote: After the death of Bahá’u’lláh, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá began to visibly age. By the late 1890s his hair had turned snow-white and deep lines set on his face. As a young man he was athletic and enjoyed archery, horseback riding and swimming. Even later in his life ʻAbdu'l-Bahá remained active going for long walks in Haifa and Acre. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was a major presence for the Bahá’ís during his lifetime, and he continues to influence the Bahá’í community today. Bahá’ís regard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the perfect example of the teachings of his father and therefore strive to emulate him. Anecdotes about him are frequently used to illustrate particular points about morality and interpersonal relations. He was remembered for his charisma, compassion, philanthropy and strength in the face of suffering. John Esslemont reflected that "[‘Abdu’l-Bahá] showed that it is still possible, amid the whirl and rush of modern life, amid the self-love and struggle for material prosperity that everywhere prevail, to live the life of entire devotion to God and to the service of one's fellows."
Even ardent enemies of the Bahá’í Faith were on occasion taken by meeting him. Mírzá 'Abdu'l-Muḥammad Írání Mu'addibu's-Sulṭán, an Iranian, and Shaykh 'Alí Yúsuf, an Arab, were both newspaper editors in Egypt who had published harsh attacks on the Bahá’í Faith in their papers. They called on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when he was in Egypt and their attitude changed. Similarly, a Christian clergyman, Rev. J.T. Bixby, who was the author of a hostile article on the Bahá’í Faith in the United States, felt compelled to witness Abdu'l-Bahá's personal qualities. The effect of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on those who were already committed Bahá’ís was greater still. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was widely known for his encounters with the poor and dying. His generosity resulted in his own family complaining that they were left with nothing. He was sensitive to people’s feelings, and later expressed his wish to be a beloved figure of the Bahá’ís saying “I am your father...and you must be glad and rejoice, for I love you exceedingly.” According to historical accounts, he had a keen sense of humour and was relaxed and informal. He was open about personal tragedies such as the loss of his children and the sufferings he'd endured as a prisoner, further enhancing his popularity.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá directed the affairs of the Bahá’í community with care. He was inclined to allow a large range of personal interpretations of the Bahá’í teachings as long as these did not obviously contradict fundamental principles. He did, however, expel members of the religion he felt were challenging his leadership and deliberately causing disunity in the community. Outbreaks of persecution of the Bahá’ís affected him deeply. He wrote personally to the families of those who had been martyred. Works. The total estimated number of tablets that ʻAbdu'l-Bahá wrote are over 27,000 of which only a fraction have been translated into English. His works fall into two groups including first his direct writings and second his lectures and speeches as noted by others. The first group includes "The Secret of Divine Civilization" written before 1875, "A Traveller's Narrative" written around 1886, the Resāla-ye sīāsīya or "Sermon on the Art of Governance" written in 1893, the "Memorials of the Faithful", and a large number of tablets written to various people; including various Western intellectuals such as Auguste Forel which has been translated and published as the "Tablet to Auguste-Henri Forel". The "Secret of Divine Civilization" and the "Sermon on the Art of Governance" were widely circulated anonymously. The second group includes "Some Answered Questions", which is an English translation of a series of table talks with Laura Barney, and "Paris Talks", "ʻAbdu'l-Baha in London" and "Promulgation of Universal Peace" which are respectively addresses given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in Paris, London and the United States. The following is a list of some of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's many books, tablets, and talks:
Ambrose of Alexandria Ambrose of Alexandria (before 212 – c. 250) was a friend of the Christian theologian Origen. Life. Ambrose was attracted by Origen's fame as a teacher, and visited the Catechetical School of Alexandria in 212. At first a gnostic Valentinian and Marcionist, Ambrose, through Origen's teaching, eventually rejected this theology and became Origen's constant companion, and was ordained deacon. He plied Origen with questions, and urged him to write his Commentaries (treating him as "" in "Commentary on John" V,1) on the books of the Bible, and, as a wealthy nobleman and courtier, he provided his teacher with books for his studies and secretaries to lighten the labor of composition. He suffered during the persecution under the Roman emperor Maximinus Thrax in 235. He was later released and died a confessor. The last mention of Ambrose in the historical record is in Origen's "Contra Celsum," which the latter wrote at the solicitation of Ambrose. Origen often speaks of Ambrose affectionately as a man of education with excellent literary and scholarly tastes. All of Origen's works written after 218 are dedicated to Ambrose, including his "On Martyrdom", "Contra Celsum", "Commentary on St. John's Gospel", and "On Prayer". Ambrose's letters to Origen (praised by Jerome) are lost, although part of one exists. Veneration. Ambrose is venerated as a saint by some branches of Christianity. His feast day in the Catholic Church falls on 17 March.
Autonomous building An autonomous building is a hypothetical building designed to be operated independently from infrastructural support services such as the electric power grid, gas grid, municipal water systems, sewage treatment systems, storm drains, communication services, and in some cases, public roads. The literature mostly refers to housing, or the autonomous house. Advocates of autonomous building describe advantages that include reduced environmental impacts, increased security, and lower costs of ownership. Some cited advantages satisfy tenets of green building, not independence per se (see below). Off-grid buildings often rely very little on civil services and are therefore safer and more comfortable during civil disaster or military attacks. For example, off-grid buildings would not lose power or water if public supplies were compromised. History. 1970s. In the 1970s, groups of activists and engineers were inspired by the warnings of imminent resource depletion and starvation. In the United States, a group calling themselves the New Alchemists were famous for the depth of research effort placed in their projects. Using conventional construction techniques, they designed a series of "bioshelter" projects, the most famous of which was The Ark bioshelter community for Prince Edward Island. They published the plans for all of these, with detailed design calculations and blueprints. The Ark used wind-based water pumping and electricity and was self-contained in food production. It had living quarters for people, fish tanks raising tilapia for protein, a greenhouse watered with fish water, and a closed-loop sewage reclamation system that recycled human waste into sanitized fertilizer for the fish tanks.
Around 1975–1977, Australian architect and lecturer at University of Sydney School of Architecture, Col James, in collaboration with urban designer, architect, artist, and university tutor Nick Hollo, designed and built an autonomous house on university grounds, in collaboration with students. This taught self-build sustainability to hundreds of students. 1990s. The 1990s saw the development of Earthships, similar in intent to the Ark project, but organised as a for-profit venture, with construction details published in a series of three books by American architect Mike Reynolds. The building material is tires filled with earth. This makes a wall that has large amounts of thermal mass (see earth sheltering). Berms are placed on exposed surfaces to further increase the house's temperature stability. The water system starts with rain water, processed for drinking, then washing, then plant watering, then toilet flushing, and finally black water is recycled again for more plant watering. The cisterns are placed and used as thermal masses. Power, including electricity, heat and water heating, is from solar power.
Some 1990s architects such as William McDonough and Ken Yeang applied environmentally responsible building design to large commercial buildings, such as office buildings, making them largely self-sufficient in energy production. One major bank building (ING Group's Amsterdam headquarters) in the Netherlands was constructed to be autonomous and artistic as well. 2000s. In 2002, British architects Brenda and Robert Vale wrote:It is quite possible in all parts of Australia to construct a 'house with no bills', which would be comfortable without heating and cooling, which would make its own electricity, collect its own water and deal with its own waste...These houses can be built now, using off-the-shelf techniques. It is possible to build a "house with no bills" for the same price as a conventional house, but it would be (25%) smaller. Advantages. As an architect or engineer becomes more concerned with the disadvantages of transportation networks, and dependence on distant resources, their designs tend to include more autonomous elements. The historic path to autonomy was a concern for secure sources of heat, power, water and food. A nearly parallel path toward autonomy has been to start with a concern for environmental impacts, which cause disadvantages.
Autonomous buildings can increase security and reduce environmental impacts by using on-site resources (such as sunlight and rain) that would otherwise be wasted. Autonomy often dramatically reduces the costs and impacts of networks that serve the building, because autonomy short-circuits the multiplying inefficiencies of collecting and transporting resources. Other impacted resources, such as oil reserves and the retention of the local watershed, can often be cheaply conserved by thoughtful designs. Autonomous buildings are usually energy-efficient in operation, and therefore cost-efficient, for the obvious reason that smaller energy needs are easier to satisfy off-grid. But they may substitute energy production or other techniques to avoid diminishing returns in extreme conservation. An autonomous structure is not always environmentally friendly. The goal of independence from support systems is associated with, but not identical to, other goals of environmentally responsible green building. However, autonomous buildings also usually include some degree of sustainability through the use of renewable energy and other renewable resources, producing no more greenhouse gases than they consume, and other measures.
Disadvantages. First and fundamentally, independence is a matter of degree. For example, eliminating dependence on the electrical grid is relatively easy. In contrast, running an efficient, reliable food source can be a chore. Living within an autonomous shelter may also require sacrifices in lifestyle or social opportunities. Even the most comfortable and technologically advanced autonomous homes could require alterations of residents' behavior. Some may not welcome the extra chores. The Vails described some clients' experiences as inconvenient, irritating, isolating, or even as an unwanted full-time job. A well-designed building can reduce this issue, but usually at the expense of reduced autonomy. An autonomous house must be custom-built (or extensively retrofitted) to suit the climate and location. Passive solar techniques, alternative toilet and sewage systems, thermal massing designs, basement battery systems, efficient windowing, and the array of other design tactics require some degree of non-standard construction, added expense, ongoing experimentation and maintenance, and also have an effect on the psychology of the space.
Systems. Water. There are many methods of collecting and conserving water. Use reduction is cost-effective. Greywater systems reuse drained wash water to flush toilets or to water lawns and gardens. Greywater systems can halve the water use of most residential buildings; however, they require the purchase of a sump, greywater pressurization pump, and secondary plumbing. Some builders are installing waterless urinals and even composting toilets that eliminate water usage in sewage disposal. The classic solution with minimal life-style changes is using a well. Once drilled, a well-foot requires substantial power. However, advanced well-foots can reduce power usage by twofold or more from older models. Well water can be contaminated in some areas. The Sono arsenic filter eliminates unhealthy arsenic in well water. However drilling a well is an uncertain activity, with aquifers depleted in some areas. It can also be expensive. In regions with sufficient rainfall, it is often more economical to design a building to use rainwater harvesting, with supplementary water deliveries in a drought. Rain water makes excellent soft washwater, but needs antibacterial treatment. If used for drinking, mineral supplements or mineralization is necessary.
Most desert and temperate climates get at least of rain per year. This means that a typical one-story house with a greywater system can supply its year-round water needs from its roof alone. In the driest areas, it might require a cistern of . Many areas average of rain per week, and these can use a cistern as small as . In many areas, it is difficult to keep a roof clean enough for drinking. To reduce dirt and bad tastes, systems use a metal collecting-roof and a "roof cleaner" tank that diverts the first 40 liters. Cistern water is usually chlorinated, though reverse osmosis systems provide even better quality drinking water. In the classic Roman house ("Domus"), household water was provided from a cistern (the "impluvium"), which was a decorative feature of the atrium, the house's main public space. It was fed by downspout tiles from the inward-facing roof-opening (the "compluvium"). Often water lilies were grown in it to purify the water. Wealthy households often supplemented the rain with a small fountain fed from a city's cistern. The impluvium always had an overflow drain so it could not flood the house.
Modern cisterns are usually large plastic tanks. Gravity tanks on short towers are reliable, so pump repairs are less urgent. The least expensive bulk cistern is a fenced pond or pool at ground level. Reducing autonomy reduces the size and expense of cisterns. Many autonomous homes can reduce water use below per person per day, so that in a drought a month of water can be delivered inexpensively via truck. Self-delivery is often possible by installing fabric water tanks that fit the bed of a pick-up truck. It can be convenient to use the cistern as a heat sink or trap for a heat pump or air conditioning system; however this can make cold drinking water warm, and in drier years may decrease the efficiency of the HVAC system. Solar stills can efficiently produce drinking water from ditch water or cistern water, especially high-efficiency multiple effect humidification designs, which separate the evaporator(s) and condenser(s). New technologies, like reverse osmosis can create unlimited amounts of pure water from polluted water, ocean water, and even from humid air. Watermakers are available for yachts that convert seawater and electricity into potable water and brine. Atmospheric water generators extract moisture from dry desert air and filter it to pure water.
Sewage. Resource. Composting toilets use bacteria to decompose human feces into useful, odourless, sanitary compost. The process is sanitary because soil bacteria eat the human pathogens as well as most of the mass of the waste. Nevertheless, most health authorities forbid direct use of "humanure" for growing food. The risk is microbial and viral contamination, as well as heavy metal toxicity. In a dry composting toilet, the waste is evaporated or digested to gas (mostly carbon dioxide) and vented, so a toilet produces only a few pounds of compost every six months. To control the odor, modern toilets use a small fan to keep the toilet under negative pressure, and exhaust the gasses to a vent pipe. Some home sewage treatment systems use biological treatment, usually beds of plants and aquaria, that absorb nutrients and bacteria and convert greywater and sewage to clear water. This odor- and color-free reclaimed water can be used to flush toilets and water outside plants. When tested, it approaches standards for potable water. In climates that freeze, the plants and aquaria need to be kept in a small greenhouse space. Good systems need about as much care as a large aquarium.
Electric incinerating toilets turn excrement into a small amount of ash. They are cool to the touch, have no water and no pipes, and require an air vent in a wall. They are used in remote areas where use of septic tanks is limited, usually to reduce nutrient loads in lakes. NASA's bioreactor is an extremely advanced biological sewage system. It can turn sewage into air and water through microbial action. NASA plans to use it in the crewed Mars mission. Another method is NASA's urine-to-water distillation system. A big disadvantage of complex biological sewage treatment systems is that if the house is empty, the sewage system biota may starve to death. Waste. Sewage handling is essential for public health. Many diseases are transmitted by poorly functioning sewage systems. The standard system is a tiled leach field combined with a septic tank. The basic idea is to provide a small system with primary sewage treatment. Sludge settles to the bottom of the septic tank, is partially reduced by anaerobic digestion, and fluid is dispersed in the leach field. The leach field is usually under a yard growing grass. Septic tanks can operate entirely by gravity, and if well managed, are reasonably safe.
Septic tanks have to be pumped periodically by a vacuum truck to eliminate non reducing solids. Failure to pump a septic tank can cause overflow that damages the leach field, and contaminates ground water. Septic tanks may also require some lifestyle changes, such as not using garbage disposals, minimizing fluids flushed into the tank, and minimizing non-digestible solids flushed into the tank. For example, septic safe toilet paper is recommended. However, septic tanks remain popular because they permit standard plumbing fixtures, and require few or no lifestyle sacrifices. Composting or packaging toilets make it economical and sanitary to throw away sewage as part of the normal garbage collection service. They also reduce water use by half, and eliminate the difficulty and expense of septic tanks. However, they require the local landfill to use sanitary practices. Incinerator systems are quite practical. The ashes are biologically safe, and less than 1/10 the volume of the original waste, but like all incinerator waste, are usually classified as hazardous waste.
Traditional methods of sewage handling include pit toilets, latrines, and outhouses. These can be safe, inexpensive and practical. They are still used in many regions. Storm drains. Drainage systems are a crucial compromise between human habitability and a secure, sustainable watershed. Paved areas and lawns or turf do not allow much precipitation to filter through the ground to recharge aquifers. They can cause flooding and damage in neighbourhoods, as the water flows over the surface towards a low point. Typically, elaborate, capital-intensive storm sewer networks are engineered to deal with stormwater. In some cities, such as the Victorian era London sewers or much of the old City of Toronto, the storm water system is combined with the sanitary sewer system. In the event of heavy precipitation, the load on the sewage treatment plant at the end of the pipe becomes too great to handle and raw sewage is dumped into holding tanks, and sometimes into surface water. Autonomous buildings can address precipitation in a number of ways. If a water-absorbing swale for each yard is combined with permeable concrete streets, storm drains can be omitted from the neighbourhood. This can save more than $800 per house (1970s) by eliminating storm drains. One way to use the savings is to purchase larger lots, which permits more amenities at the same cost. Permeable concrete is an established product in warm climates, and in development for freezing climates. In freezing climates, the elimination of storm drains can often still pay for enough land to construct swales (shallow water collecting ditches) or water impeding berms instead. This plan provides more land for homeowners and can offer more interesting topography for landscaping. Additionally, a green roof captures precipitation and uses the water to grow plants. It can be built into a new building or used to replace an existing roof.
Electricity. Since electricity is an expensive utility, the first step towards autonomy is to design a house and lifestyle to reduce demand. LED lights, laptop computers and gas-powered refrigerators save electricity, although gas-powered refrigerators are not very efficient. There are also superefficient electric refrigerators, such as those produced by the Sun Frost company, some of which use only about half as much electricity as a mass-market energy star-rated refrigerator. Using a solar roof, solar cells can provide electric power. Solar roofs can be more cost-effective than retrofitted solar power, because buildings need roofs anyway. Modern solar cells last about 40 years, which makes them a reasonable investment in some areas. At a sufficient angle, solar cells are cleaned by run-off rain water and therefore have almost no life-style impact. Many areas have long winter nights or dark cloudy days. In these climates, a solar installation might not pay for itself or large battery storage systems are necessary to achieve electric self-sufficiency. In stormy or windy climates, wind turbines can replace or significantly supplement solar power. The average autonomous house needs only one small wind turbine, 5 metres or less in diameter. On a 30-metre (100-foot) tower, this turbine can provide enough power to supplement solar power on cloudy days. Commercially available wind turbines use sealed, one-moving-part AC generators and passive, self-feathering blades for years of operation without service.
The main advantage of wind power is that larger wind turbines have a lower per-watt cost than solar cells, provided there is wind. Turbine location is critical: just as some locations lack sun for solar cells, many areas lack enough wind to make a turbine pay for itself. In the Great Plains of the United States, a 10-metre (33-foot) turbine can supply enough energy to heat and cool a well-built all-electric house. Economic use in other areas requires research, and possibly a site survey. Some sites have access to a stream with a change in elevation. These sites can use small hydropower systems to generate electricity. If the difference in elevation is above 30 metres (100 feet), and the stream runs in all seasons, this can provide continuous power with a small, inexpensive installation. Lower changes of elevation require larger installations or dams, and can be less efficient. Clogging at the turbine intake can be a practical problem. The usual solution is a small pool and waterfall (a penstock) to carry away floating debris. Another solution is to utilize a turbine that resists debris, such as a Gorlov helical turbine or Ossberger turbine.
During times of low demand, excess power can be stored in batteries for future use. However, batteries need to be replaced every few years. In many areas, battery expenses can be eliminated by attaching the building to the electric power grid and operating the power system with net metering. Utility permission is required, but such cooperative generation is legally mandated in some areas (for example, California). A grid-based building is less autonomous, but more economical and sustainable with fewer lifestyle sacrifices. In rural areas the grid's cost and impacts can be reduced by using single-wire earth return systems (for example, the MALT-system). In areas that lack access to the grid, battery size can be reduced with a generator to recharge the batteries during energy droughts such as extended fogs. Auxiliary generators are usually run from propane, natural gas, or sometimes diesel. An hour of charging usually provides a day of operation. Modern residential chargers permit the user to set the charging times, so the generator is quiet at night. Some generators automatically test themselves once per week.
Recent advances in passively stable magnetic bearings may someday permit inexpensive storage of power in a flywheel in a vacuum. Research groups like Canada's Ballard Power Systems are also working to develop a "regenerative fuel cell", a device that can generate hydrogen and oxygen when power is available, and combine these efficiently when power is needed. Earth batteries tap electric currents in the earth called telluric current. They can be installed anywhere in the ground. They provide only low voltages and current. They were used to power telegraphs in the 19th century. As appliance efficiencies increase, they may become practical. Microbial fuel cells and thermoelectric generators allow electricity to be generated from biomass. The plant can be dried, chopped and converted or burned as a whole, or it can be left alive so that waste saps from the plant can be converted by bacteria. Heating. Most autonomous buildings are designed to use insulation, thermal mass and passive solar heating and cooling. Examples of these are trombe walls and other technologies as skylights.
Passive solar heating can heat most buildings in even the mild and chilly climates. In colder climates, extra construction costs can be as little as 15% more than new, conventional buildings. In warm climates, those having less than two weeks of frosty nights per year, there is no cost impact. The basic requirement for passive solar heating is that the solar collectors must face the prevailing sunlight (south in the Northern Hemisphere, north in the Southern Hemisphere), and the building must incorporate thermal mass to keep it warm in the night. A recent, somewhat experimental solar heating system "Annualized geo solar heating" is practical even in regions that get little or no sunlight in winter. It uses the ground beneath a building for thermal mass. Precipitation can carry away the heat, so the ground is shielded with skirts of plastic insulation. The thermal mass of this system is sufficiently inexpensive and large that it can store enough summer heat to warm a building for the whole winter, and enough winter cold to cool the building in summer.
In annualized geo solar systems, the solar collector is often separate from (and hotter or colder than) the living space. The building may actually be constructed from insulation, for example, straw-bale construction. Some buildings have been aerodynamically designed so that convection via ducts and interior spaces eliminates any need for electric fans. A more modest "daily solar" design is practical. For example, for about a 15% premium in building costs, the Passivhaus building codes in Europe use high performance insulating windows, R-30 insulation, HRV ventilation, and a small thermal mass. With modest changes in the building's position, modern krypton- or argon-insulated windows permit normal-looking windows to provide passive solar heat without compromising insulation or structural strength. If a small heater is available for the coldest nights, a slab or basement cistern can inexpensively provide the required thermal mass. Passivhaus building codes, in particular, bring unusually good interior air quality, because the buildings change the air several times per hour, passing it through a heat exchanger to keep heat inside.
In all systems, a small supplementary heater increases personal security and reduces lifestyle impacts for a small reduction of autonomy. The two most popular heaters for ultra-high-efficiency houses are a small heat pump, which also provides air conditioning, or a central hydronic (radiator) air heater with water recirculating from the water heater. Passivhaus designs usually integrate the heater with the ventilation system. Earth sheltering and windbreaks can also reduce the absolute amount of heat needed by a building. Several feet below the earth, temperature ranges from in North Dakota to , in Southern Florida. Wind breaks reduce the amount of heat carried away from a building. Rounded, aerodynamic buildings also lose less heat. An increasing number of commercial buildings use a combined cycle with cogeneration to provide heating, often water heating, from the output of a natural gas reciprocating engine, gas turbine or stirling electric generator. Houses designed to cope with interruptions in civil services generally incorporate a wood stove, or heat and power from diesel fuel or bottled gas, regardless of their other heating mechanisms.
Electric heaters and electric stoves may provide pollution-free heat (depending on the power source), but use large amounts of electricity. If enough electricity is provided by solar panels, wind turbines, or other means, then electric heaters and stoves become a practical autonomous design. Water heating. Hot water heat recycling units recover heat from water drain lines. They increase a building's autonomy by decreasing the heat or fuel used to heat water. They are attractive because they have no lifestyle changes. Current practical, comfortable domestic water-heating systems combine a solar preheating system with a thermostatic gas-powered flow-through heater, so that the temperature of the water is consistent, and the amount is unlimited. This reduces life-style impacts at some cost in autonomy. Solar water heaters can save large amounts of fuel. Also, small changes in lifestyle, such as doing laundry, dishes and bathing on sunny days, can greatly increase their efficiency. Pure solar heaters are especially useful for laundries, swimming pools and external baths, because these can be scheduled for use on sunny days.
The basic trick in a solar water heating system is to use a well-insulated holding tank. Some systems are vacuum- insulated, acting something like large thermos bottles. The tank is filled with hot water on sunny days, and made available at all times. Unlike a conventional tank water heater, the tank is filled only when there is sunlight. Good storage makes a smaller, higher-technology collector feasible. Such collectors can use relatively exotic technologies, such as vacuum insulation, and reflective concentration of sunlight. Cogeneration systems produce hot water from waste heat. They usually get the heat from the exhaust of a generator or fuel cell. Heat recycling, cogeneration and solar pre-heating can save 50–75% of the gas otherwise used. Also, some combinations provide redundant reliability by having several sources of heat. Some authorities advocate replacing bottled gas or natural gas with biogas. However, this is usually impractical unless live-stock are on-site. The wastes of a single family are usually insufficient to produce enough methane for anything more than small amounts of cooking.
Cooling. Annualized geo solar buildings often have buried, sloped water-tight skirts of insulation that extend from the foundations, to prevent heat leakage between the earth used as thermal mass, and the surface. Less dramatic improvements are possible. Windows can be shaded in summer. Eaves can be overhung to provide the necessary shade. These also shade the walls of the house, reducing cooling costs. Another trick is to cool the building's thermal mass at night, perhaps with a whole-house fan and then cool the building from the thermal mass during the day. It helps to be able to route cold air from a sky-facing radiator (perhaps an air heating solar collector with an alternate purpose) or evaporative cooler directly through the thermal mass. On clear nights, even in tropical areas, sky-facing radiators can cool below freezing. If a circular building is aerodynamically smooth, and cooler than the ground, it can be passively cooled by the "dome effect." Many installations have reported that a reflective or light-colored dome induces a local vertical heat-driven vortex that sucks cooler overhead air downward into a dome if the dome is vented properly (a single overhead vent, and peripheral vents). Some people have reported a temperature differential as high as () between the inside of the dome and the outside. Buckminster Fuller discovered this effect with a simple house design adapted from a grain silo, and adapted his Dymaxion house and geodesic domes to use it.
Refrigerators and air conditioners operating from the waste heat of a diesel engine exhaust, heater flue or solar collector are entering use. These use the same principles as a gas refrigerator. Normally, the heat from a flue powers an "absorptive chiller". The cold water or brine from the chiller is used to cool air or a refrigerated space. Cogeneration is popular in new commercial buildings. In current cogeneration systems small gas turbines or stirling engines powered from natural gas produce electricity and their exhaust drives an absorptive chiller. A truck trailer refrigerator operating from the waste heat of a tractor's diesel exhaust was demonstrated by NRG Solutions, Inc. NRG developed a hydronic ammonia gas heat exchanger and vaporizer, the two essential new, not commercially available components of a waste heat driven refrigerator. A similar scheme (multiphase cooling) can be by a multistage evaporative cooler. The air is passed through a spray of salt solution to dehumidify it, then through a spray of water solution to cool it, then another salt solution to dehumidify it again. The brine has to be regenerated, and that can be done economically with a low-temperature solar still. Multiphase evaporative coolers can lower the air's temperature by 50 °F (28 °C), and still control humidity. If the brine regenerator uses high heat, it also partially sterilises to the air.
If enough electric power is available, cooling can be provided by conventional air conditioning using a heat pump. Food production. Food production has often been included in historic autonomous projects to provide security. Skilled, intensive gardening can support an adult from as little as 100 square meters of land per person, possibly requiring the use of organic farming and aeroponics. Some proven intensive, low-effort food-production systems include urban gardening (indoors and outdoors). Indoor cultivation may be set up using hydroponics, while outdoor cultivation may be done using permaculture, forest gardening, no-till farming, and do nothing farming. Greenhouses are also sometimes included. Sometimes they are also outfitted with irrigation systems or heat sink systems which can respectively irrigate the plants or help to store energy from the sun and redistribute it at night (when the greenhouses starts to cool down).
Anubis Anubis (; ), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian (), is the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine head. Like many ancient Egyptian deities, Anubis assumed different roles in various contexts. Depicted as a protector of graves as early as the First Dynasty (), Anubis was also an embalmer. By the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC) he was replaced by Osiris in his role as lord of the underworld. One of his prominent roles was as a god who ushered souls into the afterlife. He attended the weighing scale during the "Weighing of the Heart", in which it was determined whether a soul would be allowed to enter the realm of the dead. Anubis is one of the most frequently depicted and mentioned gods in the Egyptian pantheon; however, few major myths involved him. Anubis was depicted in black, a color that symbolized regeneration, life, the soil of the Nile River, and the discoloration of the corpse after embalming. Anubis is associated with Wepwawet, another Egyptian god portrayed with a dog's head or in canine form, but with grey or white fur. Historians assume that the two figures were eventually combined. Anubis' female counterpart is Anput. His daughter is the serpent goddess Kebechet.
Name. "Anubis" is a Greek rendering of this god's Egyptian name. Before the Greeks arrived in Egypt, around the 7th century BC, the god was known as "Anpu" or "Inpu." The root of the name in ancient Egyptian language means "a royal child." "Inpu" has a root to "inp", which means "to decay." The god was also known as "First of the Westerners," "Lord of the Sacred Land," "He Who is Upon his Sacred Mountain," "Ruler of the Nine Bows," "The Dog who Swallows Millions," "Master of Secrets," "He Who is in the Place of Embalming," and "Foremost of the Divine Booth." The positions that he had were also reflected in the titles he held such as "He Who Is upon His Mountain," "Lord of the Sacred Land," "Foremost of the Westerners," and "He Who Is in the Place of Embalming." In the Old Kingdom (), the standard way of writing his name in hieroglyphs was composed of the sound signs inpw followed by a jackal over a "ḥtp" sign: i-n:p-w-C6 A new form with the jackal on a tall stand appeared in the late Old Kingdom and became common thereafter: i-n:p-w-E16
Anubis' name "jnpw" was possibly pronounced , based on Coptic "Anoup" and the Akkadian transcription () in the name <ri-a-na-pa> "Reanapa" that appears in Amarna letter EA 315. However, this transcription may also be interpreted as "rˁ-nfr", a name similar to that of Prince Ranefer of the Fourth Dynasty. History. In Egypt's Early Dynastic period (), Anubis was portrayed in full animal form, with a "jackal" head and body. A jackal god, probably Anubis, is depicted in stone inscriptions from the reigns of Hor-Aha, Djer, and other pharaohs of the First Dynasty. Since Predynastic Egypt, when the dead were buried in shallow graves, jackals had been strongly associated with cemeteries because they were scavengers which uncovered human bodies and ate their flesh. In the spirit of "fighting like with like," a jackal was chosen to protect the dead, because "a common problem (and cause of concern) must have been the digging up of bodies, shortly after burial, by jackals and other wild dogs which lived on the margins of the cultivation."
In the Old Kingdom, Anubis was the most important god of the dead. He was replaced in that role by Osiris during the Middle Kingdom (2000–1700 BC). In the Roman era, which started in 30 BC, tomb paintings depict him holding the hand of deceased persons to guide them to Osiris. The parentage of Anubis varied between myths, times and sources. In early mythology, he was portrayed as a son of Ra. In the Coffin Texts, which were written in the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055 BC), Anubis is the son of either the cow goddess Hesat or the cat-headed Bastet. Another tradition depicted him as the son of Ra and Nephthys. More commonly, however, he is recognized as the offspring of Osiris and Isis.In later periods, particularly during the Ptolemaic era, Anubis was sometimes described as the son of Isis and Serapis, a Hellenized form of Osiris designed to appeal to Egypt's growing Greek population. The Greek Plutarch (c. 40–120 AD) reported a tradition that Anubis was the illegitimate son of Nephthys and Osiris, but that he was adopted by Osiris's wife Isis:
George Hart sees this story as an "attempt to incorporate the independent deity Anubis into the Osirian pantheon." An Egyptian papyrus from the Roman period (30–380 AD) simply called Anubis the "son of Isis." In Nubia, Anubis was seen as the husband of his mother Nephthys. In the Ptolemaic period (350–30 BC), when Egypt became a Hellenistic kingdom ruled by Greek pharaohs, Anubis was merged with the Greek god Hermes, becoming Hermanubis. The two gods were considered similar because they both guided souls to the afterlife. The center of this cult was in "uten-ha"/"Sa-ka"/ Cynopolis, a place whose Greek name means "city of dogs." In Book XI of "The Golden Ass" by Apuleius, there is evidence that the worship of this god was continued in Rome through at least the 2nd century. Indeed, Hermanubis also appears in the alchemical and hermetical literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Although the Greeks and Romans typically scorned Egyptian animal-headed gods as bizarre and primitive (Anubis was mockingly called "Barker" by the Greeks), Anubis was sometimes associated with Sirius in the heavens and Cerberus and Hades in the underworld. In his dialogues, Plato often has Socrates utter oaths "by the dog" (Greek: "kai me ton kuna"), "by the dog of Egypt", and "by the dog, the god of the Egyptians", both for emphasis and to appeal to Anubis as an arbiter of truth in the underworld.
Roles. Embalmer. As "jmy-wt" (Imiut or the Imiut fetish) "He who is in the place of embalming", Anubis was associated with mummification. He was also called "ḫnty zḥ-nṯr" "He who presides over the god's booth", in which "booth" could refer either to the place where embalming was carried out or the pharaoh's burial chamber. In the Osiris myth, Anubis helped Isis to embalm Osiris. Indeed, when the Osiris myth emerged, it was said that after Osiris had been killed by Set, Osiris's organs were given to Anubis as a gift. With this connection, Anubis became the patron god of embalmers; during the rites of mummification, illustrations from the "Book of the Dead" often show a wolf-mask-wearing priest supporting the upright mummy. Protector of tombs. Anubis was a protector of graves and cemeteries. Several epithets attached to his name in Egyptian texts and inscriptions referred to that role. "Khenty-Amentiu", which means "foremost of the westerners" and was also the name of a different canine funerary god, alluded to his protecting function because the dead were usually buried on the west bank of the Nile. He took other names in connection with his funerary role, such as "tpy-ḏw.f" (Tepy-djuef) "He who is upon his mountain" (i.e. keeping guard over tombs from above) and "nb-t3-ḏsr" (Neb-ta-djeser) "Lord of the sacred land", which designates him as a god of the desert necropolis.
The Jumilhac papyrus recounts another tale where Anubis protected the body of Osiris from Set. Set attempted to attack the body of Osiris by transforming himself into a leopard. Anubis stopped and subdued Set, however, and he branded Set's skin with a hot iron rod. Anubis then flayed Set and wore his skin as a warning against evil-doers who would desecrate the tombs of the dead. Priests who attended to the dead wore leopard skin in order to commemorate Anubis' victory over Set. The legend of Anubis branding the hide of Set in leopard form was used to explain how the leopard got its spots. Most ancient tombs had prayers to Anubis carved on them. Guide of souls. By the late pharaonic era (664–332 BC), Anubis was often depicted as guiding individuals across the threshold from the world of the living to the afterlife. Though a similar role was sometimes performed by the cow-headed Hathor, Anubis was more commonly chosen to fulfill that function. Greek writers from the Roman period of Egyptian history designated that role as that of "psychopomp", a Greek term meaning "guide of souls" that they used to refer to their own god Hermes, who also played that role in Greek religion. Funerary art from that period represents Anubis guiding either men or women dressed in Greek clothes into the presence of Osiris, who by then had long replaced Anubis as ruler of the underworld.
Weigher of hearts. One of the roles of Anubis was as the "Guardian of the Scales." The critical scene depicting the weighing of the heart, in the "Book of the Dead", shows Anubis performing a measurement that determined whether the person was worthy of entering the realm of the dead (the underworld, known as "Duat"). By weighing the heart of a deceased person against "ma'at", who was often represented as an ostrich feather, Anubis dictated the fate of souls. Souls heavier than a feather would be devoured by Ammit, and souls lighter than a feather would ascend to a heavenly existence. Portrayal in art. Anubis was one of the most frequently represented deities in ancient Egyptian art. He is depicted in royal tombs as early as the First Dynasty. The god is typically treating a king's corpse, providing sovereign to mummification rituals and funerals, or standing with fellow gods at the Weighing of the Heart of the Soul in the Hall of Two Truths. One of his most popular representations is of him, with the body of a man and the head of a jackal with pointed ears, standing or kneeling, holding a gold scale while a heart of the soul is being weighed against Ma'at's white truth feather.
In the early dynastic period, he was depicted in animal form, as a black canine. Anubis's distinctive black color did not represent the animal, rather it had several symbolic meanings. It represented "the discolouration of the corpse after its treatment with natron and the smearing of the wrappings with a resinous substance during mummification." Being the color of the fertile silt of the River Nile, to Egyptians, black also symbolized fertility and the possibility of rebirth in the afterlife. In the Middle Kingdom, Anubis was often portrayed as a man with the head of a jackal. The African jackal was the species depicted and the template of numerous Ancient Egyptian deities, including Anubis. An extremely rare depiction of him in fully human form was found in a chapel of Ramesses II in Abydos. Anubis is often depicted wearing a ribbon and holding a "nḫ3ḫ3" "flail" in the crook of his arm. Another of Anubis's attributes was the "jmy-wt" or imiut fetish, named for his role in embalming. In funerary contexts, Anubis is shown either attending to a deceased person's mummy or sitting atop a tomb protecting it. New Kingdom tomb-seals also depict Anubis sitting atop the nine bows that symbolize his domination over the enemies of Egypt.
Worship. Although he does not appear in many myths, he was extremely popular with Egyptians and those of other cultures. The Greeks linked him to their god Hermes, the god who guided the dead to the afterlife. The pairing was later known as Hermanubis. Anubis was heavily worshipped because, despite modern beliefs, he gave the people hope. People marveled in the guarantee that their body would be respected at death, their soul would be protected and justly judged. Anubis had male priests who sported wood masks with the god's likeness when performing rituals. His cult center was at Cynopolis in Upper Egypt but memorials were built everywhere and he was universally revered in every part of the nation.
Arthur Jensen Arthur Robert Jensen (August 24, 1923 – October 22, 2012) was an American psychologist and writer. He was a professor of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen was known for his work in psychometrics and differential psychology, the study of how and why individuals differ behaviorally from one another. He was a major proponent of the hereditarian position in the nature and nurture debate, the position that genetics play a significant role in behavioral traits, such as intelligence and personality. He was the author of over 400 scientific papers published in refereed journals and sat on the editorial boards of the scientific journals "Intelligence" and "Personality and Individual Differences". Jensen was controversial, largely for his conclusions regarding the causes of race-based differences in IQ. Early life and education. Jensen was born August 24, 1923, in San Diego, California, the son of Linda Mary (née Schachtmayer) and Arthur Alfred Jensen, who operated and owned a lumber and building materials company. His paternal grandparents were Danish immigrants and his mother was of half-Polish Jewish and half-German descent.
As a child, Jensen was interested in herpetology and classical music, playing clarinet in the San Diego Symphony orchestra. Jensen received a B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1945 and went on to obtain his M.A. in psychology in 1952 from San Diego State College. He earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Columbia University in 1956 under the supervision of Percival Symonds on the thematic apperception test. From 1956 through 1958, he did postdoctoral research at the University of London, Institute of Psychiatry with Hans Eysenck. Upon returning to the United States, he became a researcher and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where he focused on individual differences in learning, especially the influences of culture, development, and genetics on intelligence and learning. He received tenure at Berkeley in 1962. He concentrated on the learning difficulties of culturally disadvantaged students. Jensen had a lifelong interest in classical music and was, early in his life, attracted by the idea of becoming a conductor himself. At 14, he conducted a band that won a nationwide contest held in San Francisco. Later, he conducted orchestras and attended a seminar given by Nikolai Sokoloff. Soon after graduating from Berkeley, he moved to New York, mainly to be near the conductor Arturo Toscanini. He was also deeply interested in the life and example of Gandhi, producing an unpublished book-length manuscript on his life. During Jensen's period in San Diego he spent time working as a social worker with the San Diego Department of Public Welfare.
IQ and academic achievement. Jensen's interest in learning differences directed him to the extensive testing of school children. The results led him to distinguish between two separate types of learning ability. "Level I", or associative learning, may be defined as retention of input and rote memorization of simple facts and skills. "Level II", or conceptual learning, is roughly equivalent to the ability to manipulate and transform inputs, that is, the ability to solve problems. Later, Jensen was an important advocate in the mainstream acceptance of the general factor of intelligence, a concept which was essentially synonymous with his "Level II" conceptual learning. The general factor, or "g", is an abstraction that stems from the observation that scores on all forms of cognitive tests correlate positively with one another. Jensen claimed, on the basis of his research, that general cognitive ability is essentially an inherited trait, determined predominantly by genetic factors rather than by environmental conditions. He also contended that while associative learning, or memorizing ability, is equally distributed among the races, conceptual learning, or synthesizing ability, occurs with significantly greater frequency in some races than in others.
Jensen's most controversial work, published in February 1969 in the "Harvard Educational Review", was titled "How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement?" It concluded, among other things, that Head Start programs designed to boost African-American IQ scores had failed, and that this was likely never to be remedied, largely because, in Jensen's estimation, 80% of the variance in IQ in the population studied was the result of genetic factors and the remainder was due to environmental influences. The paper immediately prompted weeks of violent protest on the Berkley campus, with additional protests occurring throughout the 1970s. The work became one of the most cited papers in the history of psychological testing and intelligence research, although a large number of citations consisted of rebuttals of Jensen's work, or references to it as an example of a controversial paper. Jensen was among the most frequent contributors to the German journal "Neue Anthropologie", a publication founded by the neo-Nazi Jürgen Rieger, and served alongside Rieger on this journal's editorial board.
In 1994 he was one of 52 signatories on "Mainstream Science on Intelligence," an essay written by Linda Gottfredson and published in "The Wall Street Journal", which declared the consensus of the signing scholars on the meaning and significance of IQ following the publication of the book "The Bell Curve". Jensen received $1.1 million from the Pioneer Fund, an organization frequently described as racist and white supremacist in nature. The fund contributed a total of $3.5 million to researchers cited in The Bell Curve's most controversial chapter "that suggests some races are naturally smarter than others" with Jensen's works being cited twenty-three times in the book's bibliography. Death. He died on October 22, 2012, at his home in Kelseyville, California, at age 89. Assessment. According to David Lubinski of Vanderbilt University, the "extent to which [Jensen's] work was either admired or reviled by many distinguished scientists is unparalleled." After Jensen's death, James Flynn of the University of Otago, a prominent advocate of the environmental position, told "The New York Times" that Jensen was without racial bias and had not initially foreseen that his research would be used to argue for racial supremacy and that his career was "emblematic of the extent to which American scholarship is inhibited by political orthodoxy", though he noted that Jensen shifted towards genetic explanations later in life.
Support. After psychologist Paul E. Meehl was honored by the APA in 1998, he wrote in the journal "Psychological Reports" that Jensen's "contributions, in both quality and quantity, certainly excelled mine" and that he was "embarrassed" that APA had not also honored Jensen, which Meeh claimed was due to political correctness. Psychologist Sandra Scarr wrote in the journal "Intelligence" in 1998 that Jensen possessed an "uncompromising personal integrity" and set the standard for "honest psychological science". She described his critics as "politically driven liars, who distort scientific facts in a misguided and condescending effort to protect an impossible myth about human equality". Steven J. Haggbloom, writing for "Review of General Psychology" in 2002, rated Jensen as one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century, based on six different metrics chosen by Haggbloom. In 1980 Jensen published a book in defense of the tests used to measure mental abilities, titled "Bias in Mental Testing". Reviewing this book, psychologist Kenneth Kaye endorsed Jensen's distinction between bias and discrimination, saying that he found many of Jensen's opponents to be more politically biased than Jensen was.
Criticism. Melvin Konner of Emory University, wrote: Lisa Suzuki and Joshua Aronson of New York University wrote that Jensen had largely ignored evidence which failed to support his position that IQ test score gaps represent genetic racial differences. Paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould criticized Jensen's work in his 1981 book "The Mismeasure of Man". Gould writes that Jensen misapplies the concept of "heritability", which is defined as a measure of the variation of a trait due to inheritance "within" a population (Gould 1981: 127; 156–157). According to Gould, Jensen uses heritability to measure differences "between" populations. Gould also disagrees with Jensen's belief that IQ tests measure a real variable, "g", or "the general factor common to a large number of cognitive abilities" which can be measured along a unilinear scale. This is a claim most closely identified with Charles Spearman. According to Gould, Jensen misunderstood the research of L. L. Thurstone to ultimately support this claim; Gould, however, argues that Thurstone's factor analysis of intelligence revealed "g" to be an illusion (1981: 159; 13-314). Gould criticizes Jensen's sources including his use of Catharine Cox's 1926 "Genetic Studies of Genius", which examines historiometrically the IQs of historic intellectuals after their deaths (Gould 1981: 153–154).
Books. "Bias in Mental Testing". "Bias in Mental Testing" (1980) is a book examining the question of test bias in commonly used standardized tests. The book runs almost 800 pages and has been called "exhaustive" by three researchers who reviewed the field 19 years after the book's publication. It reviewed in detail the available evidence about test bias across major US racial/ethnic groups. Jensen concluded that "the currently most widely used standardized tests of mental ability -- IQ, scholastic aptitude, and achievement tests -- are, by and large, not biased against any of the native-born English-speaking minority groups on which the amount of research evidence is sufficient for an objective determination of bias, if the tests were in fact biased. For most nonverbal standardized tests, this generalization is not limited to English-speaking minorities." (p. ix). Jensen also published a summary of the book the same year which was a target article in the journal "Behavioral and Brain Sciences" to which 27 commentaries were printed along with the author's reply.
"Straight Talk about Mental Tests". "Straight Talk about Mental Tests" (1981) is a book written about psychometrics for the general public. John B. Carroll reviewed it favorably in 1982, saying it was a useful summary of the issues, as did Paul Cline writing for the "British Journal of Psychiatry". In 2016, Richard J. Haier called it "a clear examination of all issues surrounding mental testing". "The g Factor". "" (1998) is a book on the general intelligence factor ("g"). The book deals with the intellectual history of g and various models of how to conceptualize intelligence, and with the biological correlates of g, its heritability, and its practical predictive power. "Clocking the Mind". "Clocking the Mind: Mental Chronometry and Individual Differences" (2006) deals with mental chronometry (MC), and covers the speed with which the brain processes information and different ways this is measured. Jensen argues mental chronometry represents a true natural science of mental ability, which is in contrast to IQ, which merely represents an interval (ranking) scale and thus possesses no true ratio scale properties.
Joseph Glicksohn wrote in a 2007 review for "Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology" that "The book should be perused with care in order to ensure the further profitable use of [reaction time] in both experimental and differential lines of research." Douglas Detterman reviewed it in 2008 for "Intelligence", writing that "the book would make a good introduction to the field of the measurement of individual differences in cognitive tasks for beginning graduate students." Eric-Jan Wagenmakers and Han van der Mass, also writing for "Intelligence" in 2018, faulted the book for omitting the work by mathematical psychologists, advocating standardization of chronometric methods (which the authors consider problematic because it can hide method variance), and because it does not discuss topics such as the mutualism model of the "g-"factor and the Flynn effect. They describe the book's breadth as useful, despite its simplistic approach. Jensen was on the editorial board of "Intelligence" when these reviews were published. Awards. In 2003, Jensen was awarded the Kistler Prize for original contributions to the understanding of the connection between the human genome and human society. In 2006, the International Society for Intelligence Research awarded Jensen its Lifetime Achievement Award.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specifically "Curculio", "Pseudolus", "Miles Gloriosus", and "Mostellaria", the musical tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, cases of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from a line often used by vaudeville comedians to begin a story: "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater". The musical's original 1962 Broadway run won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Author (Musical). "A Funny Thing" has enjoyed several Broadway and West End revivals and was made into a successful film starring the original lead of the stage musical, Zero Mostel.
Productions. Original Broadway. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" opened on Broadway on May 8, 1962, at the Alvin Theatre, and then transferred to the Mark Hellinger Theatre and the Majestic Theatre, where the show closed on August 29, 1964, after 964 performances and 8 previews. The show's creators sought Phil Silvers for the lead role of Pseudolus, but he turned them down, allegedly because he would have to perform onstage without his glasses, and his vision was so poor that he feared tripping into the orchestra pit. He is also quoted as turning down the role for being "Sgt. Bilko in a toga". (Silvers eventually played the role – wearing his glasses – in a 1972 revival. In the film, he played Marcus Lycus.) Milton Berle also passed on the role. Eventually, Zero Mostel was cast. During out-of-town tryouts the show attracted little business and did not play well. Jerome Robbins, to whom the show had originally been offered but who turned it down, was called in to give advice and make changes. In the interim, Joshua Logan was invited to direct, but according to Sondheim was rejected "because he wanted too much male nudity." It was then offered to veteran director George Abbott, who found it to be difficult to handle alone. The biggest change Robbins made was adding a new opening number to replace "Love Is in the Air" and introduce the show as a bawdy, wild comedy. Stephen Sondheim wrote the song "Comedy Tonight" for this new opening. From that point on, the show was a success.
It was directed by George Abbott and produced by Hal Prince, with choreography by Jack Cole and uncredited staging and choreography by Robbins. The scenic and costume design was by Tony Walton. The wardrobe is on display at the Costume World Broadway Collection in Pompano Beach, Florida. The lighting design was by Jean Rosenthal. Along with Mostel, the musical featured a cast of seasoned performers, including Jack Gilford (Mostel's friend and fellow blacklist member), David Burns, John Carradine, Ruth Kobart, and Raymond Walburn. The young lovers were played by Brian Davies and Preshy Marker. Karen Black, originally cast as the ingenue, was replaced out of town. The show won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor (Mostel), Best Supporting Actor (Burns), Best Book, and Best Director. The score, Sondheim's first Broadway production for which he wrote both music and lyrics, did not earn a nomination. London. The show was presented twice in London's West End. The 1963 production and its 1986 revival were staged at the Strand Theatre and the Piccadilly Theatre respectively, and starred Frankie Howerd as Pseudolus and Leon Greene as Miles Gloriosus in both. In the 1963 production, Kenneth Connor appeared as Hysterium, 'Monsewer' Eddie Gray as Senex and Jon Pertwee as Marcus Lycus. In the 1986 revival, Patrick Cargill was Senex with Ronnie Stevens as Hysterium and Derek Royle as Erronius.
In 2004 there was a limited-run revival at the Royal National Theatre, starring Desmond Barrit as Pseudolus, Philip Quast as Miles Gloriosus, Hamish McColl as Hysterium and Isla Blair as Domina (who had previously played Philia in the 1963 production). This production was nominated for the 2005 Olivier Award, Outstanding Musical Production. Motion picture adaptation. Both Mostel and Gilford re-created their Broadway roles for the 1966 musical film directed by Richard Lester. Leon Greene reprised his West End role (Miles Gloriosus), while Phil Silvers portrayed Lycus, Michael Crawford portrayed Hero, and Michael Hordern played Senex. Buster Keaton made his final film appearance in the role of Erronius. Broadway revivals. A revival opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April 4, 1972, and closed on August 12, 1972, after 156 performances. Directed by co-author Burt Shevelove the cast starred Phil Silvers as Pseudolus (later replaced by Tom Poston), Lew Parker as Senex, Carl Ballantine as Lycus and Reginald Owen as Erronius. Larry Blyden, who played Hysterium, the role created by Jack Gilford, also co-produced. "Pretty Little Picture" and "That'll Show Him" were dropped from the show, and were replaced with "Echo Song" (sung by Hero and Philia), and "Farewell" (added for Nancy Walker as Domina, as she and Senex depart for the country). "Echo Song" and "Farewell" had been added to a production staged in Los Angeles the previous year and were composed by Sondheim. They had to close soon after Phil Silvers suffered a stroke. The show won two Tony Awards, Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Silvers, and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Blyden.
The musical was revived again with great success in 1996, opening at the St. James Theatre on April 18, 1996, and closing on January 4, 1998, after 715 performances. The cast starred Nathan Lane as Pseudolus (replaced by Whoopi Goldberg and later by David Alan Grier), Mark Linn-Baker as Hysterium, Ernie Sabella as Lycus, Jim Stanek as Hero, Lewis J. Stadlen as Senex, and Cris Groenendaal as Miles Gloriosus. The production was directed by Jerry Zaks, with choreography by Rob Marshall. Lane won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor and the Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Actor in a Musical; the production was nominated for the 1996 Tony Award and Drama Desk Award, Revival of a Musical. Every actor who has opened in the role of Pseudolus on Broadway (Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, and Nathan Lane) has won a Best Leading Actor Tony Award for his performance. In addition, Jason Alexander, who performed as Pseudolus in one scene in "Jerome Robbins' Broadway", also won a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. Other productions.
The original Australian production with American actor Jack Collins as Pseudolus opened at the Theatre Royal in Sydney in July 1964, and toured other Australian cities through 1965. A production was directed by Stephen R. Buss at Boise State University in 1995, starring James B. Fisk, Randy Davison, Karen Wennstrom and Daniel Taylor. In 1998, Jon English starred as Pseudolus in Essgee Entertainment's production that opened New Year's Day at the State Theatre, Melbourne and toured Australia and New Zealand, closing September 1999. The Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts produced a limited-run revival of the musical from January 11 to 27, 2008. The production was directed by Randal K. West, with Justin Hill as musical director and Adam Cates as choreographer. The cast featured Richard Kind as Pseudolus, Joel Blum as Senex, Stephen DeRosa as Marcus Lycus, Sean McCall as Hysterium, and Steve Wilson as Miles Gloriosus. It also featured Diana Upton-Hill, Ryan Gaffney, Stephen Mark Crisp, Jack Kloppenborg, and Margret Clair.
The Chung Ying Theatre Company in Hong Kong staged a Cantonese version of the musical at Kwai Tsing Theatre, to celebrate the company's 30th anniversary. It was directed by Chung King Fai and Ko Tin Lung and ran from March 14 to 21, 2009. The Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada production ran from June 11 to November 7, 2009, with Des McAnuff directing and Wayne Cilento as choreographer. Bruce Dow originally performed the role of Pseudolus, but was forced to withdraw from the entire 2009 season due to an injury, and the role was then performed by Seán Cullen as of September 5, 2009. Stephen Ouimette played Hysterium. Mirvish Productions presented the earlier Stratford production at the Canon Theatre, Toronto, in December 2010 through January 2011. Bruce Dow and Sean Cullen were alternates in the lead role. In October 2012 the play opened at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, Australia, with Geoffrey Rush as Pseudolus, Magda Szubanski as Domina and Shane Bourne as Senex. "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" was produced at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey from November 14, 2015, to December 13, 2015, with an all-male cast (Paul Castree, Eddie Cooper, Kevin Isola, David Josefsberg, Max Kumangai, Graham Rowat, Manny Stark, Bobby Conte Thornton, David Turner, Michael Urie, Tom Deckman, and Christopher Fitzgerald).
In March 2024, the musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum premiered at Teatro Claro Mais in São Paulo, marking the first official Brazilian production of this Broadway classic. Starring Miguel Falabella as Pseudolus, the show features a prominent cast, including Edgar Bustamante, Ivan Parente, Giovanna Zotti, Carlos Capeletti, Mauricio Xavier, Lucas Colombo, and Luci Salutes. Plot. In ancient Rome, some neighbors live in three adjacent houses. In the center is the house of Senex, who lives there with wife Domina, son Hero, and several slaves, including head slave Hysterium and the musical's main character Pseudolus. A slave belonging to Hero, Pseudolus wishes to buy, win, or steal his freedom. One of the neighboring houses is owned by Marcus Lycus, who is a buyer and seller of beautiful women; the other belongs to the ancient Erronius, who is abroad searching for his long-lost children (stolen in infancy by pirates).
Unexpectedly, Senex returns home early from his trip, and knocks three times on his own door. Philia comes out of the house, and, thinking that Senex is the captain, offers herself up to him. Surprised but game, Senex instructs Philia to wait in the house for him, and she does. Hysterium arrives and nervously tells Senex that Philia is the new maid that he has hired. Pseudolus returns, having procured the mare's sweat; seeing that Senex has returned and grasping the need to keep him out of the way, Pseudolus discreetly sprinkles some of the horse-sweat onto him, then suggests that the road trip has left Senex in dire need of a bath. Taking the bait, Senex instructs Hysterium to draw him a bath in the long-empty house of Erronius. But while this is happening, Erronius returns home, finally having given up the search for his long-lost children. Hysterium, desperate to keep him out of the house where his master is bathing, tells the old man that his house has become haunted – a story seemingly confirmed by the sound of Senex singing in his bath. Erronius immediately determines to have a soothsayer come and banish the spirit from his house, and Pseudolus obligingly poses as one, telling Erronius that, in order to banish the spirit, he must travel seven times around the seven hills of Rome (thus keeping the old man occupied and out of the way for quite a while).
When Miles Gloriosus arrives to claim his courtesan-bride, Pseudolus hides Philia on the roof of Senex's house; told that she has "escaped", Lycus is terrified to face the captain's wrath. Pseudolus offers to impersonate Lycus and talk his way out of the mess but, his ingenuity flagging, he ends up merely telling the captain that Philia has disappeared, and that he, "Lycus", will search for her. Displeased and suspicious, Miles insists that his soldiers accompany Pseudolus, but the wily slave loses them in Rome's winding streets. Complicating matters further, Domina returns from her trip early, suspicious that her husband Senex is "up to something low." She disguises herself in virginal white robes and a veil (much like Philia's) to try to catch Senex being unfaithful. Pseudolus convinces Hysterium to help him by dressing in drag and pretending to be Philia, "dead" from the plague. Unfortunately, it turns out that Miles Gloriosus has just returned from Crete, where there is of course no actual plague. With the ruse thus revealed, the main characters run for their lives, resulting in a madcap chase across the stage with both Miles and Senex pursuing all three "Philia"s (Domina, Hysterium, and the actual Philia – all wearing identical white robes and veils). Meanwhile, the courtesans from the house of Marcus Lycus, who had been recruited as mourners at "Philia"'s ersatz funeral, have escaped, and Lycus sends his eunuchs out to bring them all back, adding to the general pandemonium.
Finally, the captain's troops are able to round everyone up. His plot thoroughly unraveled, Pseudolus appears to be in deep trouble – but Erronius, completing his third circuit of the Roman hills, shows up fortuitously to discover that Miles Gloriosus and Philia are wearing matching rings which mark them as his long-lost children. Philia's betrothal to the captain is nullified by the unexpected revelation that he is her brother, and, as the daughter of a free-born citizen, she is freed from Marcus Lycus. Philia weds Hero with Erronius' blessing; Pseudolus gets his freedom and the lovely courtesan Gymnasia; Gloriosus receives twin courtesans to replace Philia; and Erronius is reunited with his children. A happy ending prevails for all – except for poor Senex, stuck with his shrewish wife Domina. Songs. Act I Act II Cut songs: Notes: "Pretty Little Picture" is frequently dropped from productions, and one verse of "I'm Calm" is also often trimmed. A song for Domina entitled "Farewell" was added for the 1972 revival as she and Senex depart for the country. "Echo Song" was reinstated in the same revival. References. Notes Bibliography
Aleuts Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska and the Russian administrative division of Kamchatka Krai. This group is also known as the Unangax̂ in Unangam Tunuu, the Aleut language. There are 13 federally recognized Aleut tribes in the Aleut Region of Alaska. In 2000, Aleuts in Russia were recognized by government decree as a small-numbered Indigenous people. Etymology. In the Aleut language, they are known by the endonyms Unangan (eastern dialect) and Unangas (western dialect); both terms mean "people". The Russian term "Aleut" was a general term used for both the native population of the Aleutian Islands and their neighbors to the east in the Kodiak Archipelago, who were also referred to as "Pacific Eskimos" or Sugpiat/Alutiit. Language. Aleut people speak Unangam Tunuu, the Aleut language, as well as English and Russian in the United States and Russia respectively. An estimated 150 people in the United States and five people in Russia speak Aleut. The language belongs to the Eskaleut language family and includes three dialects: Eastern Aleut, spoken on the Eastern Aleutian, Shumagin, Fox and Pribilof Islands; Atkan, spoken on Atka and Bering islands; and the now extinct Attuan dialect.
The Pribilof Islands has the highest number of active speakers of Unangam Tunuu. Most native elders speak Aleut, but it is rare for common people to speak the language fluently. Beginning in 1829, Aleut was written in the Cyrillic script. From 1870, the language has been written in the Latin script. An Aleut dictionary and grammar have been published, and portions of the Bible were translated into Aleut. Tribes. Aleut (Unangan) dialects and tribes: Population and distribution. Aleuts historically lived throughout the Aleutian Islands, the Shumagin Islands, and the far western part of the Alaska Peninsula, with an estimated population of around 25,000 prior to European contact. In the 1820s, the Russian-American Company administered a large portion of the North Pacific during a Russian-led expansion of the fur trade. They resettled many Aleut families to the Commander Islands (within the Aleutsky District of the Kamchatka Krai in Russia) and to the Pribilof Islands (in Alaska). These continue to have majority-Aleut communities.
According to the 2000 census, 11,941 people identified as being Aleut, while 17,000 identified as having partial Aleut ancestry. Prior to sustained European contact, approximately 25,000 Aleut lived in the archipelago. The Encyclopædia Britannica Online states that more than 15,000 people have Aleut ancestry in the early 21st century. Aleuts suffered high fatalities in the 19th and early 20th centuries from Eurasian infectious diseases to which they had no immunity. In addition, the population suffered as their customary lifestyles were disrupted. Russian traders, and later Europeans, married Aleut women and had families with them. History. After contact with Russia. After the arrival of Russian Orthodox missionaries in the late 18th century, many Aleuts became Christian. Of the numerous Russian Orthodox congregations in Alaska, most are majority Alaska Native or Native Alaskan in ethnicity. One of the earliest Christian martyrs in North America was Saint Peter the Aleut. Russian traders "took Aleut women and children hostage" to force Aleut men to hunt foxes and sea otters so the Russians could have their pelts, and often additionally enslaved Aleut men.
Recorded uprising against the Russians. In the 18th century, Russia "promyshlenniki" traders established settlements on the islands. There was high demand for the furs that the Aleuts provided from hunting. In May 1784, local Aleuts revolted on Amchitka against the Russian traders. (The Russians had a small trading post there.) According to the Aleuts, in an account recorded by Japanese castaways and published in 2004, otters were decreasing year by year. The Russians paid the Aleuts less and less in goods in return for the furs they made. The Japanese learned that the Aleuts felt the situation was at crisis. The leading Aleuts negotiated with the Russians, saying they had failed to deliver enough supplies in return for furs. Nezimov, leader of the Russians, ordered two of his men, Stephanov ( ) and Kazhimov ( ) to kill his mistress Oniishin ( ), who was the Aleut chief's daughter, because he doubted that Oniishin had tried to dissuade her father and other leaders from pushing for more goods. After the four leaders had been killed, the Aleuts began to move from Amchitka to neighboring islands. Nezimov, leader of the Russian group, was jailed after the whole incident was reported to Russian officials. (According to , written by Katsuragawa Hoshū after interviewing Daikokuya Kōdayū.)
Aleut genocide against the Nicoleño Tribe in California. According to Russian American Company (RAC) records which were translated and published in the "Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology", a 200-ton otter hunting ship named "Il’mena" with a mixed-nationality crew, including a majority Aleut contingent, was involved in conflict resulting in a massacre of the indigenous natives of San Nicolas Island. In 1814, to obtain more of the commercially valuable otter pelts, a Russian company brought a party of conscripted Aleut hunters to the coastal island of San Nicolas, near the Alta California-Baja California border. The locally resident Nicoleño nation sought a payment from the Aleut hunters for the large number of otters being killed in the area. Disagreement arose, turning violent; an Aleut was killed, and in retaliation Aleuts killed a number of Nicoleño (the exact amount is unknown). In 1835, the remaining Nicoleños were removed from the island, except for one woman and possibly her child, who were left behind. In 1853 that woman, later christened Juana Maria, was found and taken to Santa Barbara. She may have been the last living Nicoleñan, as what happened to the others after they were brought to the mainland is unknown (Juana Maria, "the Lone Woman of San Nicolas").
Internment during World War II. In June 1942, during World War II, Japanese forces occupied Kiska and Attu Islands in the western Aleutians. They later transported captive Attu Islanders to Hokkaido, where they were held as prisoners of war in harsh conditions. Fearing a Japanese attack on other Aleutian Islands and mainland Alaska, the U.S. government evacuated hundreds more Aleuts from the western chain and the Pribilofs, placing them in internment camps in southeast Alaska, where many died of measles, influenza and other infectious diseases which spread quickly in the overcrowded dormitories. In total, about 75 died in American internment and 22died while prisoners of the Japanese. The Aleut Restitution Act of 1988 was an attempt by Congress to compensate the survivors. On June 17, 2017, the U.S. Government formally apologized for the internment of the Unangan people and their treatment in the camps. The World War II campaign by the United States to retake Attu and Kiska was a significant component of the operations in the American and Pacific theaters.
Population's decline. Before their way of life was changed by major influences from the outside world, approximately 25,000 Aleuts were located on the archipelago. Foreign diseases, harsh treatment and disruption of aboriginal society soon reduced the population to less than one-tenth this number. The 1910 Census count showed 1,491 Aleuts. In the 2000 Census, 11,941 people identified as being Aleut; nearly 17,000 said Aleuts were among their ancestors. Culture. Housing. Aleuts constructed partially underground houses called "barabara". According to Lillie McGarvey, a 20th-century Aleut leader, "s" keep "occupants dry from the frequent rains, warm at all times, and snugly sheltered from the high winds common to the area". Aleuts traditionally built houses by digging an oblong square pit in the ground, usually or smaller. The pit was then covered by a roof framed with driftwood, thatched with grass, and then covered with earth for insulation. Inside trenches were dug along the sides, with mats placed on top to keep them clean. The bedrooms were at the back of the lodge, opposite the entrance. Several families would stay in one house, with their own designated areas. Rather than fireplaces or bonfires in the middle, lanterns were hung in the house.

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