- published: 31 Aug 2011
- views: 1005986
- author: lbawop
Vimeo results:
Youtube results:
More Videos
Loading...
Branches of Mathematics
Pure mathematics
Applied mathematics
- Dynamical systems and differential equations
- Mathematical physics
- Computing
- Information theory and signal processing
- Probability and statistics
- Game theory
- Operations research
Related Topics
- Electromagnetic Spectrum
- Linear Equations
- Applied Physics
- Nano Technology
- Engineering Sciences
- Mathematical Medicine
- Fluid dynamics
- Computational Mathematics
- Gamma Ray Optics
- Onfrared Optics
- Relative Velocity
- Iciam
- Intelligent Imaging Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
- Neuroscience Research
- Quantum Cosmology
- Brain Research
Open Collage in a new Window
Email the Collage
- Loading...
Loading suggestions ...
- Abacus
- Abbasid Caliphate
- Achaemenid Assyria
- Acheulean
- Adab (city)
- Adhesive
- Afghanistan
- Afterlife
- Aga of Kish
- Agriculture
- Akitu
- Akkad
- Akkadian Empire
- Akkadian language
- Akkadian literature
- Akkadians
- Akshak
- Al-Faw Peninsula
- Alabaster
- Alcove
- Alulim
- Amar-Suena
- Amorite language
- Amorites
- Analytic languages
- Anatolia
- Animal
- Anu
- Arab Federation
- Aramaic language
- Archery
- Archibald Sayce
- Arithmetic
- Armor
- Arrow (weapon)
- Art of Mesopotamia
- Assyria
- Assyrian people
- Assyriology
- Assyro-Babylonian
- Astrology
- Asuristan
- Aurochs
- Axe
- Babil Governorate
- Babylon
- Babylonia
- Babylonian numerals
- Bad-tibira
- Badakhshan
- Baghdad
- Bahrain
- Barley
- Basket
- Basra Governorate
- Beer
- Bilingualism
- Binder
- Bit (horse)
- Bitumen
- Book of Genesis
- Boot
- Borsippa
- Bow drill
- Brace (tool)
- Bronze
- Buttress
- Cabinet of Iraq
- Calcite
- Canal
- Carnelian
- Category Iraq
- Cavalry
- Cedar oil
- Cement
- Central Bank of Iraq
- Cereal
- Chalcolithic
- Chaldea
- Channel (geography)
- Chariot
- Chickpea
- Chisel
- Choga Mami
- Christianity in Iraq
- City states
- City wall
- City-state
- Civilization
- Classical antiquity
- Clay nail
- Clay tablet
- Code of Ur-Nammu
- Column
- Constitution of Iraq
- Copper
- Corvee
- Culture of Iraq
- Cuneiform
- Cuneiform (script)
- Cuneiform law
- Cylinder seal
- Dagger
- Date (fruit)
- Deity
- Demographics of Iraq
- Der (Sumer)
- Dhi Qar Governorate
- Dilbat
- Dilmun
- Districts of Iraq
- Division of labor
- Division of labour
- Diyala Governorate
- Dome
- Donkey
- Dudu of Akkad
- Dyke (construction)
- Dynasty of Isin
- Eannatum
- Early Bronze Age
- Eblaite language
- Economy of Iraq
- Education in Iraq
- Elam
- Elamite Empire
- Elamite language
- Elections in Iraq
- Emmer wheat
- EN (cuneiform)
- En-me-barage-si
- En-men-dur-ana
- En-shag-kush-ana
- Enheduanna
- Enki
- Enlil
- Enmebaragesi
- Enmerkar
- ENSI
- Entemena
- Epic of Gilgamesh
- Equids
- Eridu
- Eshnunna
- Etana
- Euphrates
- Existence
- Fire
- Foreign aid to Iraq
- Fowl
- Garlic
- Gazelle
- Geography of Iraq
- Geometry
- Gidim
- Gilgamesh
- Gilgamesh epic
- Girsu
- Goat
- God
- Gold
- Granary
- Great Ziggurat of Ur
- Gudea
- Gulf War
- Gutian language
- Gutian period
- Hadji Muhammed
- Halaf culture
- Hamazi
- Hammer
- Hammurabi
- Hamrin Mountains
- Harpoon
- Harrow (tool)
- Health in Iraq
- Helmet
- Hieroglyphs
- History of Iraq
- History of Sumer
- History of writing
- Hittite language
- Hoe (tool)
- Horse harness
- Hurrian language
- Ibbi-Sin
- Ibbi-Suen
- Inanna
- Indus script
- Infantry
- Innana
- Intensive farming
- Invasion of Kuwait
- Iran
- Iranian languages
- Iran–Iraq War
- Iraq
- Iraq Stock Exchange
- Iraq War
- Iraqi Air Force
- Iraqi Arabic
- Iraqi Armed Forces
- Iraqi Army
- Iraqi cuisine
- Iraqi diaspora
- Iraqi Dinar
- Iraqi insurgency
- Iraqi Kurdistan
- Iraqi Navy
- Iraqi people
- Iraqi Police
- Iraqi Turkmen
- Iron
- Irrigation
- Isin
- Islam in Iraq
- Islamic Golden Age
- Israel
- Ivory
- Jemdet Nasr period
- Jewelry
- Jewelry ring
- Jiahu symbols
- Kassites
- Ki (earth)
- Ki (goddess)
- Kingdom of Iraq
- Kish (Sumer)
- Kisurra
- Knife
- Kuara (Sumer)
- Kug-Bau
- Kurdish language
- Kutha
- Lagash
- Lake Habbaniyah
- Lake Hammar
- Lake Milh
- Lake Tharthar
- Lance
- Language family
- Language isolate
- Languages of Iraq
- Lapis lazuli
- Larsa
- Latin
- Law of Iraq
- Leather
- Lebanon
- Leek (vegetable)
- Lentil
- Leonard Woolley
- Lettuce
- Linguistics
- Literary language
- Liturgy
- LUGAL
- Lugal-Ane-mundu
- Lugal-zage-si
- Lugal-Zage-Si
- Lugalbanda
- Lunisolar calendar
- Luwian language
- Lyres
- Mamluk rule in Iraq
- Man-ishtishu
- Mandaeans
- Mandaeism
- Marad
- Mari, Syria
- Marsh Arabs
- Masonry
- Mattock
- Me (mythology)
- Medes
- Media of Iraq
- Mediterranean Sea
- Mesh-Ane-pada
- Mesilim
- Meskalamdug
- Mesopotamia
- Mesopotamian Marshes
- Metrology
- Middle Ages
- Middle Bronze Age
- Middle Persian
- Miller
- Minorities in Iraq
- Mitanni
- Mixed radix
- Mono-cropping
- Morpheme
- Mortar (masonry)
- Mouflon
- Mousterian
- Mozambique
- Mudbrick
- Mudhif
- Multiplication table
- Music of Iraq
- Music of Mesopotamia
- Mustard plant
- Nagar, Syria
- Nail (engineering)
- Naram-Sin of Akkad
- Nasiriyah
- Natufian culture
- Nave
- Neo-Assyrian Empire
- Neo-Sumerian
- Neolithic
- Nippur
- Nomadism
- Obsidian
- Oil reserves in Iraq
- Old Persian language
- Onager
- Onion
- Ottoman Iraq
- Ox
- Paint
- Pantheon (gods)
- Parthian Empire
- Parthian language
- Pergamonmuseum
- Persian Gulf
- Phalanx formation
- Pickaxe
- Pictogram
- Pig
- Pin
- Piora oscillation
- Plowing
- Podium
- Politics of Iraq
- Polyandry
- Portal Iraq
- Porter (carrying)
- Potter's wheel
- Pottery
- President of Iraq
- Professional
- Proto-writing
- Provinces of Iraq
- Puabi
- PubMed Identifier
- Puzer-Mama
- Quiver
- Radiocarbon dating
- Rake (tool)
- Reaper
- Religion
- Religion in Iraq
- Religious
- Republic of Iraq
- Reservoirs
- Roads in Iraq
- Sacrifice
- Saddam Hussein
- Samarra
- Samarra culture
- Samuel Noah Kramer
- Sandal (footwear)
- Sargon of Akkad
- Sargon the Great
- Sassanid Empire
- Saw
- Scabbard
- Seal (device)
- Sedentism
- Seleucid Empire
- Semitic
- Semitic peoples
- Sexagesimal
- Shaduf
- Shar-kali-sharri
- Shatt al-Arab
- Sheep
- Shield
- Shinar
- Short chronology
- Shu-Durul
- Shu-Suen
- Shulgi
- Shuruppak
- Siege
- Silt
- Silver
- Sippar
- Slave
- Soil salinity
- South Azeri language
- Spear
- Sport in Iraq
- Sprachbund
- Spring (season)
- Spring Equinox
- Stalk (botany)
- Standard of Ur
- Storehouse
- Substrate language
- Sumer
- Sumerian cuneiform
- Sumerian king list
- Sumerian language
- Sumerian literature
- Sumerian music
- Sumerian religion
- Sumerian renaissance
- Sumerian Renaissance
- Swastika
- Sword
- Syria
- Syrian Desert
- Talk Sumer
- Tashlultum
- Taurus Mountains
- Tell
- Tell Asmar
- Tell Brak
- Template Iraq topics
- Theocratic
- Third Dynasty of Ur
- Thorkild Jacobsen
- Threshing sled
- Threshing wagon
- Tigris
- Time-Life Books
- Tower of Babel
- Transport in Iraq
- Turkey
- Ubaid
- Ubaid period
- Umm Qasr
- Umma
- Universe
- Ur
- Ur III
- Ur III period
- Ur-Namma
- Ur-Nammu
- Ur-Nanshe
- Urartian language
- Urartu
- Uruk
- Uruk period
- Urukagina
- Utu
- Utu-hengal
- Vegetable
- Vehicles
- Vinča signs
- War chariot
- Wasit Governorate
- Waterskin
- Weaving
- Weir
- Wheat
- Wheel
- Wicker
- Wikipedia Link rot
- Winnowing
- Women
- Zabala (Sumer)
- Zagros Mountains
- Zarzian culture
- Ziggurat
-
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
i/æfˈɡænɨstæn/ (Persian/Pashto: افغانستان, Afġānistān), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming part of South Asia, Central Asia, and Greater Middle East, it is also considered to be part of a broader West Asia. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of 647,500 km2 (250,001 sq mi), making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and the east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.
Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation from as far back as 50,000 BC. Urban civilization may have begun in the area as early as 3,000 to 2,000 BC. Sitting at an important geostrategic location that connects the Middle East with Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the land has been home to various peoples through the ages and witnessed many military campaigns, notably by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and in modern era Western forces. The land also served as a source from which the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Timurids, Mughals and many others have risen to form major empires.
wn.com/Afghanistan -
Akkad
Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.1°N 44.1°E / 33.1; 44.1
The Akkadian Empire (Akkadian URUAkkad KI, Hittite KUR A.GA.DÈ.KI "land of Akkad"; Biblical Hebrew אַכַּד Akkad) was an empire centered in the city of Akkad (Sumerian: Agade) and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia.
During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).
The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of its founder Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC). Under Sargon and his successors, Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though there are earlier Sumerian claimants.[citation needed]
The precise archaeological site of the city of Akkad has not yet been found.[citation needed] The form Agade appears in Sumerian, for example in the Sumerian King List; the later Assyro-Babylonian form Akkadû ("of or belonging to Akkad") was likely derived from this. The etymology and meaning of Akkad (written a.ga.dèKI or URIKI) are unknown. Centuries later, the neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus mentioned in his archaeological records that Ishtar's worship in Agade was later superseded by that of the goddess Anunit, whose shrine was at Sippar—suggesting proximity of Sippar and Agade. Despite numerous searches, the city has never been found. One theory holds that Agade was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates, and was perhaps the oldest part of the city of Sippar. Another theory is that the ruins of Akkad are to be found beneath modern Baghdad. Reputedly it was destroyed by invading Gutians with the fall of the Akkadian Empire.
wn.com/Akkad -
Akkadian Empire
Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.1°N 44.1°E / 33.1; 44.1
The Akkadian Empire (Akkadian URUAkkad KI, Hittite KUR A.GA.DÈ.KI "land of Akkad"; Biblical Hebrew אַכַּד Akkad) was an empire centered in the city of Akkad (Sumerian: Agade) and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia.
During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).
The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of its founder Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC). Under Sargon and his successors, Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though there are earlier Sumerian claimants.[citation needed]
The precise archaeological site of the city of Akkad has not yet been found.[citation needed] The form Agade appears in Sumerian, for example in the Sumerian King List; the later Assyro-Babylonian form Akkadû ("of or belonging to Akkad") was likely derived from this. The etymology and meaning of Akkad (written a.ga.dèKI or URIKI) are unknown. Centuries later, the neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus mentioned in his archaeological records that Ishtar's worship in Agade was later superseded by that of the goddess Anunit, whose shrine was at Sippar—suggesting proximity of Sippar and Agade. Despite numerous searches, the city has never been found. One theory holds that Agade was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates, and was perhaps the oldest part of the city of Sippar. Another theory is that the ruins of Akkad are to be found beneath modern Baghdad. Reputedly it was destroyed by invading Gutians with the fall of the Akkadian Empire.
wn.com/Akkadian_Empire -
Akkadians
Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.1°N 44.1°E / 33.1; 44.1
The Akkadian Empire (Akkadian URUAkkad KI, Hittite KUR A.GA.DÈ.KI "land of Akkad"; Biblical Hebrew אַכַּד Akkad) was an empire centered in the city of Akkad (Sumerian: Agade) and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia.
During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).
The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of its founder Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC). Under Sargon and his successors, Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though there are earlier Sumerian claimants.[citation needed]
The precise archaeological site of the city of Akkad has not yet been found.[citation needed] The form Agade appears in Sumerian, for example in the Sumerian King List; the later Assyro-Babylonian form Akkadû ("of or belonging to Akkad") was likely derived from this. The etymology and meaning of Akkad (written a.ga.dèKI or URIKI) are unknown. Centuries later, the neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus mentioned in his archaeological records that Ishtar's worship in Agade was later superseded by that of the goddess Anunit, whose shrine was at Sippar—suggesting proximity of Sippar and Agade. Despite numerous searches, the city has never been found. One theory holds that Agade was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates, and was perhaps the oldest part of the city of Sippar. Another theory is that the ruins of Akkad are to be found beneath modern Baghdad. Reputedly it was destroyed by invading Gutians with the fall of the Akkadian Empire.
wn.com/Akkadians -
Anatolia
Coordinates: 39°N 32°E / 39°N 32°E / 39; 32
Anatolia (from Greek Ἀνατολή Anatolē — "east" or "(sun)rise"; also Asia Minor, from Greek: Μικρὰ Ἀσία Mikrá Asía "small Asia"; in modern Turkish: Anadolu) is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Iskenderun and the Black Sea, approximately corresponding to the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. However, since Anatolia is now often considered to be synonymous with Asian Turkey, its eastern and southeastern borders are widely taken to be the Turkish borders with the neighboring countries, which are Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria, in clockwise direction.
wn.com/Anatolia -
Babil Governorate
Babylon Province (Arabic: بابل Bābil) (or Babil Governorate) is a province in central Iraq. It has an area of 5,603 square kilometres (2,163 sq mi), with an estimated population of 1,385,783 people in 2003. The provincial capital is the city of Hillah, which lies opposite the ancient city of Babylon (بابل), on the Euphrates river.
The ancient city of Babylon in present-day Babylon Province was the capital of ancient Babylonia, situated on the Euphrates river south of Baghdad, Iraq.
The city was occupied from the 3rd millennium BC but became important early in the 2nd millennium under the kings of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The sixth king of this dynasty was Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) who made Babylon the capital of a vast empire and is best remembered for his code of laws.
The city achieved pre-eminence when Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC) extended the Babylonian Empire over most of Western Asia.
wn.com/Babil_Governorate -
Bad-tibira
Coordinates: 31°46′N 46°00′E / 31.767°N 46°E / 31.767; 46
Bad-tibira, "Wall of the Copper Worker(s)", or "Fortress of the Smiths", identified as modern Tell al-Madineh, between Ash Shatrah and Tell as-Senkereh (ancient Larsa) in southern Iraq, was an ancient Sumerian city, which appears among antediluvian cities in the Sumerian King List. Its Akkadian name was Dûr-gurgurri. It was also called Παντιβίβλος (Pantibiblos) by Greek authors such as Abydenus, Apollodorus of Athens and Berossus. This may reflect another version of the city's name, Patibira, "Canal of the Smiths".
According to the Sumerian King List, Bad-tibira was the second city to "exercise kingship" in Sumer before the flood, following Eridu. These kings were said to be En-men-lu-ana, En-men-gal-ana and Dumuzid the Shepherd.
The early Sumerian text Inanna's descent to the netherworld mentions the city's temple, E-mush-kalamma. In this tale, Inanna dissuades demons from the netherworld from taking Lulal, patron of Bad-tibira, who was living in squalor. They eventually take Dumuzid king of Uruk instead, who lived in palatial opulence. This Dumuzid is called "the Shepherd", but on the King List it is Dumuzid, the Fisherman who reigns in Uruk, some time after the flood, between Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh.
wn.com/Bad-tibira -
Baghdad
Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد, Baġdād, IPA: [bæɣˈdæːd]) is the capital of Republic of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Province. The population of Baghdad as of 2011 is approximately 7,216,040, making it the largest city in Iraq, the second largest city in the Arab World (after Cairo, Egypt), and the second largest city in Western Asia (after Tehran, Iran).
Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic World. This in addition to housing several key academic institutions (e.g. House of Wisdom) garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". Throughout the High Middle Ages, Baghdad was considered to be the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 1,200,000 people. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the British Mandate of Mesopotamia) in 1938, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arabic culture.
wn.com/Baghdad -
Bahrain
Bahrain (
pronunciation) (Arabic: البحرين, al-Baḥrayn) (Persian: بحرين, Baḥrain), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين, Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn), is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,234,571, including 666,172 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.
Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island, at 55 km (34 mi) long by 18 km (11 mi) wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway. The peninsula of Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The planned Qatar Bahrain Causeway will link Bahrain and Qatar and become the world's longest marine causeway.
Known for its oil and pearls, Bahrain is also home to many large structures, including the Bahrain World Trade Center and the Bahrain Financial Harbour, with a proposal in place to build the 1,022 m (3,353 ft) high Murjan Tower. The Qal'at al-Bahrain (the harbour and capital of the ancient land of Dilmun) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit.
wn.com/Bahrain -
Basra Governorate
Basra Province (Arabic: البصرة Al Baṣra) (or Basra Governorate) is a province in southern Iraq, bordering Kuwait to the south and Iran to the east. The provincial capital is the city of Basra. Other districts of Basra include Al-Qurnah, Az Zubayr, Al Mudaynah, Shatt Al Arab, Abu Al Khaseeb and Al Faw located on the Persian Gulf.
In 1920, after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the United Kingdom took over the former Ottoman vilayets of Basra, Baghdad and Mosul which had together formed the historical region of Irak Arabi or Irak Babeli, and called it the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. The mandate was succeeded by the Kingdom of Iraq in 1932.
wn.com/Basra_Governorate -
Der (Sumer)
Coordinates: 33°14′N 45°58′E / 33.233°N 45.967°E / 33.233; 45.967
Der (Sumerian: ALUDI-E-IR) was a Sumerian city-state at the site of modern Tell Aqar near al-Badra in Iraq's Wasit Governorate. It was east of the Tigris River on the border between Sumer and Elam. Its name was possibly Durum.
Der was occupied from the Early Dynastic period through Neo-Assyrian times. The local deity of the city was named Ishtaran, represented on Earth by his minister, the snake god Nirah. In the late 3rd millennium, during the reign of Sulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Der was mentioned twice. The Sulgi year name 11 was named "Year Ishtaran of Der was brought into his temple", and year 21 was named "Year Der was destroyed". In the second millennium, Rim-Sin I of Larsa reported destroying Der in his 20th year. Ammi-Ditana of Babylon also recorded destroying the city wall of Der in his 37th year, that he said had been built earlier by Damqi-ilishu of the Sealand Dynasty. In 720 BC the Assyrian king Sargon II moved against Elam, but the Assyrian host was defeated near Der by the combined army of king Humban-Nikash I of Elam and king Marduk-apla-iddina II of Babylon.
wn.com/Der_(Sumer) -
Dhi Qar Governorate
Dhi Qar Province (Arabic: ذي قار Dhī Qār) (or Dhi Qar Governorate) is a province in southern Iraq. The provincial capital is Nasiriyah. Prior to 1976 the province was known as Muntafiq Province. Dhi Qar was the heartland of the ancient Iraqi civilization of Sumer and the ruins of Ur, Eridu, Lagash, Larsa, Girsu, Umma, and Bad-tibira are located here.
Dhi Qar governorate includes the towns of al-Rifai, Qalat Sukkar, Ash Shatrah, al-Gharraf, Suq al-Shuyouk, Khamisiyah and al-Chibayish
In the mid 1990s the governor was Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, who later became police chief of the country, and in 1999, director of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.
An Nasiriyah witnessed some of the heaviest fighting and some of the stiffest resistance against invading U.S. forces in 2003.[citation needed]
wn.com/Dhi_Qar_Governorate -
Dilbat
Coordinates: 32°09′N 44°30′E / 32.15°N 44.5°E / 32.15; 44.5
Dilbat (modern Tell ed-Duleim or Tell al-Deylam, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian minor city located southeast from Babylon on the eastern bank of the Western Euphrates in modern day Al-Qādisiyyah, Iraq. The ziggurat E-ibe-Anu, dedicated to the goddess Urash, was located in the center of the city and was mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Dilbat was founded during the Sumerian Early Dynastic II period, around 2700 BC. It is known to have been occupied, at least, during the Akkadian, Old Babyonian, Kassite, Sasanian and Early Islamic periods. It was an early agricultural center cultivating einkorn wheat and producing reed products. It lay on the Arahtum canal.
The site of Tell al-Deylam consists or two mounds, a small western mound with 1st millennium BC and Early Islamic remains and a larger east mound, roughly 500 meters in circumference, with remains from the 1st to 3rd millennium BC. Dilbat was excavated briefly by Hormuzd Rassam, who recovered some cuneiform tablets at the site, mainly from the Neo-Babylonian period. The site was worked in 1989 by J. A. Armstrong of the Oriental Institute of Chicago. Though Dilbat itself has only been lightly excavated by archaeologists, numerous tablets from there have made their way to the antiquites market over the year as the result of unauthorized digging.
wn.com/Dilbat -
Diyala Governorate
Diyala Province (Arabic: ديالى Diyālā) (or Diyala Governorate) is a province in eastern Iraq.
Diyala Governorate extends to the northeast of Baghdad as far as the Iranian border. Its capital is Baqubah. It covers an area of 17,685 square kilometres (6,828 sq mi).
A large portion of the province is drained by the Diyala River, a major tributary of the Tigris. Because of its proximity to two major sources of water, Diyala's main industry is agriculture, primarily dates grown in large groves. The province also contains one of the largest olive groves in the Middle East. It is also recognized as the orange capital of the Middle East. The Hamrin Mountains pass through the governorate.
In 2003, it had an estimated population of some 1,224,000 people. Iraqi Arabs comprise about 82 percent of the governorate, Iraqi Kurds about 16 percent (predominantly in the Khanaquin and Kifri Districts), and Iraqi Turkmen about 2 percent. Around 75% of the population live in the major cities: Baqubah, Muqdadiyah and Khanaqin.
wn.com/Diyala_Governorate -
Elam
Elam was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq. The modern name Elam is a transcription from Biblical Hebrew, corresponding to the Sumerian elam(a), the Akkadian elamtu, and the Elamite haltamti. Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the ancient near east. In classical literature, Elam was more often referred to as Susiana, a name derived from its capital, Susa.
Situated just to the east of Mesopotamia, Elam was part of the early urbanization during the Chalcolithic period (Copper Age). The emergence of written records from around 3000 BC also parallels Mesopotamian history where writing was used slightly earlier. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in the Gutian Empire, especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. Elamite is generally treated as an isolate language.
wn.com/Elam -
Eridu
Coordinates: 30°48′57.02″N 45°59′45.85″E / 30.8158389°N 45.9960694°E / 30.8158389; 45.9960694
Eridu (Cuniform: NUN.KI 𒉣 𒆠; Sumerian: eriduki; Akkadian: irîtu) is an ancient Sumerian city in what is now Tell Abu Shahrain, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq. Eridu was considered the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia, and is one of the oldest cities in the world. Located 12 km southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities that grew about temples, almost in sight of one another. In Sumerian mythology, Eridu was originally the home of Enki, who was considered to have founded the city, later known by the Akkadians as Ea. His temple was called E-Abzu, as Enki was believed to live in Abzu ("Deep Ocean"), an aquifer from which all life was believed to stem.
Eridu, also transliterated as Eridug, could mean "mighty place" or "guidance place". In the Sumerian king list, Eridu is named as the city of the first kings. The kinglist continues:
In Eridu, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years. Alalngar ruled for 36000 years. 2 kings; they ruled for 64800 years. Then Eridu fell and the kingship was taken to Bad-tibira.
wn.com/Eridu -
Eshnunna
Coordinates: 33°45′N 44°45′E / 33.75°N 44.75°E / 33.75; 44.75 Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian city and city-state in central Mesopotamia. Although situated in the Diyala Valley north-east of Sumer proper, the city nonetheless belonged securely within the Sumerian cultural milieu.
The tutelary deity of the city was Tishpak (Tišpak).
Occupied from the Jemdet Nasr period about 3000 BCE, Eshnunna was a major city during the Early Dynastic period. Starting with the rise of the Akkadian Empire, Eshnunna oscillated between times of independence and domination by empires such as the Third Dynasty of Ur and Isin. Because of its control over lucrative trade routes, Eshnunna did function somewhat as a gateway between Mesopotamian and Elamite culture. The trade routes gave it access to many exotic sought-after goods such as horses from the north, copper, tin, and other metals and precious stones. In a grave, a pendant made of copal from Zanzibar was found.
wn.com/Eshnunna -
Geography of Iraq
The geography of Iraq is diverse and falls into four main regions: the desert (west of the Euphrates), Upper Mesopotamia (between the upper Tigris and Euphratesh rivers), the northern highlands of Iraqi Kurdistan, and Lower Mesopotamia, the alluvial plain extending from around Tikrit to the Persian Gulf.
The mountains in the northeast are an extension of the alpine system that runs eastward from the Balkans through southern Turkey, northern Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, eventually reaching the Himalayas. The desert is in the southwest and central provinces along the borders with Saudi Arabia and Jordan and geographically belongs with the Arabian Peninsula.
Iraq holds a special distinction in the history of geography: a clay tablet generally accepted as "the earliest known map" was unearthed in 1930 during the excavation of Ga-Sur at Nuzi Yorghan Tepe, near the towns of Harran and Kirkuk, 200 miles (322 km) north of the site of Babylon. The tablet, measuring 6.8 × 7.6 in (173 × 193 mm), is usually dated from the dynasty of Sargon of Akkad between 2500-2300 BC; an even earlier date for the tablet was promulgated by archeologist Leo Bagrow, placing it in the Agade Period (3800 BC).
wn.com/Geography_of_Iraq -
Girsu
Coordinates: 31°37′N 46°9′E / 31.617°N 46.15°E / 31.617; 46.15 Girsu (cuneiform:?; Sumerian:Ĝirsu; Akkadian:?) is modern Tell Telloh, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, and it was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Lagash. Because of the initial nasal velar ŋ, the transcription of Ĝirsu is usually spelled as Ngirsu (also: G̃irsu, Girsu, Jirsu) to avoid confusion.
Girsu was possibly inhabited in the Ubaid period (5300-4800 BC), but significant levels of activity began in the Early Dynastic period (2900-2335 BC). At the time of Gudea, during the Second Dynasty of Lagash, Girsu became the capital of the Lagash kingdom and continued to be its religious center after political power had shifted to city of Lagash. During the Ur III period, Girsu was a major administrative center for the empire. After the fall of Ur, Girsu declined in importance, but remained inhabited until approximately 200 BC.
Telloh was the first Sumerian site to be extensively excavated, at first under the French vice-consul at Basra, Ernest de Sarzec, from 1877 to 1900, followed by his successor Gaston Cros from 1903–1909. Excavations continued under Abbé Henri de Genouillac in 1929–1931 and under André Parrot in 1931–1933. It was at Girsu that the fragments of the Stele of the Vultures were found. The site has suffered from poor excavation standards and also from illegal excavations. About 50,000 cuneiform tablets have been recovered from the site.
wn.com/Girsu -
Iran
Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
Iran (i/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] (
listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.
wn.com/Iran -
Iraq
Iraq (/ɪˈræk/ or
i/ɪˈrɑːk/; Arabic: العراق al-‘Irāq); officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: 
جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūriyyat al-‘Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.
Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the southwest and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad is in the center-east of the country.
Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the center of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.
Historically, Iraq was the center of the Abbasid Arabic Islamic Empire. Iraq has been known to the west by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers) and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing, law and the wheel. At different periods in its history, Iraq was the center of the indigenous Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Abbasid empires. It was also part of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires, and under British control as a League of Nations mandate.
wn.com/Iraq -
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region (Kurdish: ههرێمی کوردستان, Herêmî Kurdistan; Arabic: إقليم كردستان العراق Iqlīm Kurdistān al-‘Irāq) is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr. The region is officially governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The establishment of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq dates back to the March 1970 autonomy agreement between the Kurdish opposition and the Iraqi government after years of heavy fighting. The Iran-Iraq war during the 1980s and the Anfal genocide campaign of the Iraqi army devastated the population and nature of Iraqi Kurdistan. Following the 1991 uprising of the Iraqi people against Saddam Hussein, many Kurds were forced to flee the country to become refugees in bordering regions of Iran and Turkey. A northern no-fly zone was established following the First Gulf War in 1991 to facilitate the return of Kurdish refugees. As Kurds continued to fight government troops, Iraqi forces finally left Kurdistan in October 1991, leaving the region to function de facto independently; however, neither of the two major Kurdish parties had at any time declared independence and Iraqi Kurdistan continues to view itself as an integral part of a united Iraq but one in which it administers its own affairs. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent political changes led to the ratification of a new Constitution of Iraq in 2005. The new Iraqi constitution defines Iraqi Kurdistan as a federal entity of Iraq, and establishes Arabic and Kurdish as Iraq's joint official languages.
wn.com/Iraqi_Kurdistan -
Isin
Coordinates: 31°56′N 45°17′E / 31.933°N 45.283°E / 31.933; 45.283
Isin (Sumerian: I3-si-inki) was an ancient city-state of lower Mesopotamia about 20 miles south of Nippur at the site of modern Ishan al-Bahriyat in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate.
The city lay on the Isinnitum Canal, part of a set of waterways that connected the cities of Mesopotamia. The patron deity of Isin was Nintinuga (Gula) goddess of healing, and a temple to her was built there. The Isin king Enlil-bani reported building a temple to Gula named E-ni-dub-bi, a temple for Sud named E-dim-gal-an-na, a temple E-ur-gi-ra to Ninisina, as well as a temple for the god Ninbgal.
The site of Isin was occupied at least as early as the Early Dynastic Period in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, and possibly as far back as the Ubaid period. While cuneiform tablets from that time were found, the first epigraphic reference to Isin was not until the Ur III period.
When the deteriorating Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur-III) finally collapsed at the hands of the Elamites at the end of the third millennium BC, a power vacuum was left that other city-states scrambled to fill. The last king of the Ur Dynasty, Ibbi-Sin, had not the resources nor the organized government needed to expel the Elamite invaders. One of his governmental officials, Ishbi-Erra, relocated from Ur to Isin, another city in the south of Mesopotamia, and established himself as a ruler there. One of Ishbi-Erra's year names reports his defeating Ibbi-Sin in battle.
wn.com/Isin -
Israel
Coordinates: 31°N 35°E / 31°N 35°E / 31; 35
Israel, officially the State of Israel ( /ˈɪzriːəl/ or /ˈɪzreɪəl/; Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Medīnat Yisrā'el, IPA: [me̞diˈnät jisʁäˈʔe̞l] ( listen); Arabic: دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل, Dawlat Isrāʼīl, IPA: [dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl]), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwest, and the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the south, and it contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel is defined as a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-majority state.
Following the adoption of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption and implementation of the United Nations plan to partition Palestine, on 14 May 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, a state independent from the British Mandate for Palestine. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next day in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Portions of these territories, including east Jerusalem, have been annexed by Israel, but the border with the neighboring West Bank has not yet been permanently defined.[neutrality is disputed] Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, but efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have so far not resulted in peace.
wn.com/Israel -
Kish (Sumer)
Coordinates: 32°33′N 44°39′E / 32.55°N 44.65°E / 32.55; 44.65
Kish (Sumerian: Kiš; transliteration: Kiŝki; cuneiform: 𒆧𒆠;Akkadian: kiššatu) is modern Tell al-Uhaymir (Babil Governorate, Iraq), and was an ancient city of Sumer. Kish is located some 12 km east of Babylon, and 80 km south of Baghdad (Iraq).
Kish was occupied beginning in the Jemdet Nasr period (ca. 3100 BC), gaining prominence as one of the pre-eminent powers in the region during the early dynastic period.
The Sumerian king list states that it was the first city to have kings following the deluge, beginning with Jushur. Jushur's successor is called Kullassina-bel, but this is actually a sentence in Akkadian meaning "All of them were lord". Thus, some scholars have suggested that this may have been intended to signify the absence of a central authority in Kish for a time. The names of the next nine kings of Kish preceding Etana are all Akkadian words for animals, e.g. Zuqaqip "scorpion". The Semitic nature of these and other early names associated with Kish reveals that its population had a strong Semitic component from the dawn of recorded history.
wn.com/Kish_(Sumer) -
Kisurra
Kisurra (modern Tell Abu Hatab, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian city situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of Shuruppak. The cities name has been described as meaning the "place of spinning" and also as "boundary-ditch".[by whom?] Kisurra's main deity was Ninurta. Later, Ishara's main Mesopotamian cult centre was at Kisurra, although she is also thought to have been worshipped across a wide area amongst Syrians, Canaanites, and Hittites.
Kisurra was established ca. 2700 BC, during the Sumerian Early Dynastic II period. The southern end of the Isinnitum Canal was joined back into the Euphrates at Kisurra. The city lasted as a center for commerce and transport through the Akkadian and part of the Babylonian Empires, until cuneiform texts and excavation show a decline during the time of Hammurabi (c.1800 BCE).
German archaeologists, beginning with Robert Koldewey in 1902, have found many cuneiform tablets from Tell Abu Hatab.
Cities of the Ancient Near East
wn.com/Kisurra -
Kuara (Sumer)
Kuara (also known as Kisiga, Ku'ara, modern Tell al-Lahm site, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq) is an archaeological site located on the western bank of the mouth of the Euphrates, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of Ur. According to the Sumerian king list, Kuara was also the home of Dumuzid, the fisherman, legendary third king of Uruk . The city's patron deity was Meslamtaea (Nergal). In Sumerian mythology, Kuara was also considered the birthplace of the god Marduk (Asarluhi), Enki's son. The cults of Marduk and Ninehama were centered in Kuara.
Kuara was established ca. 2500 BC, during the Sumerian Early Dynastic II period. It was a seaport to the Persian Gulf, and traded with the port of Dilmun. In 709 BC, the Assyrian king Sargon II was trying to capture Marduk-apal-iddina II, who fled to Kuara, whereupon Sargon's army laid siege and destroyed the city. Alluvial soil carried by the Euphrates continually extended the land farther into the Persian Gulf; thus the modern site is far from the sea, even though it was a sea port 4500 years ago.
wn.com/Kuara_(Sumer) -
Kutha
Coordinates: 32°45′36.1″N 44°36′46.3″E / 32.760028°N 44.612861°E / 32.760028; 44.612861
Kutha, Cuthah, or Cutha (Sumerian: Gudua, modern Tell Ibrahim, Babil Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient city of Sumer on the right bank of the eastern branch of the Upper Euphrates, north of Nippur and around 25 miles northeast of Babylon. It should not be confused with the site Tell Ibrahim Awad in Egypt.
According to the Tanakh, Cuthah was one of the five Syrian and Mesopotamian cities from which Sargon II, King of Assyria, brought settlers to take the places of the exiled Israelites (2 Kings 17:24-30). II Kings relates that these settlers were attacked by lions, and interpreting this to mean that their worship was not acceptable to the deity of the land, they asked Sargon to send someone to teach them, which he did.
The result was a mixture of religions and peoples, the latter being known as "Cuthim" in Hebrew and as "Samaritans" to the Greeks.
Kutha is also the name of the capital of the Sumerian underworld, Irkalla
wn.com/Kutha -
Lagash
Coordinates: 31°24′41″N 46°24′26″E / 31.41139°N 46.40722°E / 31.41139; 46.40722
Lagash (Sumerian: Lagaški; cuneiform logogram: 𒉢𒁓𒆷𒆠, [NU11.BUR].LAKI or [ŠIR.BUR].LAKI, "storehouse;"Akkadian: Nakamtu; modern Tell al-Hiba, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq) is located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about 22 kilometres (14 mi) east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah. Lagash was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East. The ancient site of Surghul/Nina is around 6 miles (9.7 km) away. Nearby Girsu, about 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Al-Hiba, was the religious center of the Lagash state. Lagash's temple was E-Ninnu, dedicated to the god Ningirsu.
From inscriptions found at Girsu such as the Gudea cylinders, it appears that Lagash was an important Sumerian city in the late 3rd millennium BC. It was at that time ruled by independent kings, Ur-Nanshe (24th century BC) and his successors, who were engaged in contests with the Elamites on the east and the kings of "Kienĝir" and Kish on the north. Some of the earlier works from before the Akkadian conquest are also extremely interesting, in particular Eannatum's Stele of the Vultures and Entemena's great silver vase ornamented with Ningirsu's sacred animal Anzu: a lion-headed eagle with wings outspread, grasping a lion in each talon. With the Akkadian conquest Lagash lost its independence, its ruler or ensi becoming a vassal of Sargon of Akkad and his successors; but Lagash continued to be a city of much importance and above all, a centre of artistic development.
wn.com/Lagash -
Larsa
Coordinates: 31°17′9″N 45°51′13″E / 31.28583°N 45.85361°E / 31.28583; 45.85361
Larsa (Sumerian logogram: UD.UNUGKI, read Larsamki) was an important city of ancient Sumer, the center of the cult of the sun god Utu. It lies some 25 km southeast of Uruk in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate, near the east bank of the Shatt-en-Nil canal at the site of the modern settlement Tell as-Senkereh or Sankarah.
According to the Sumerian king list, "Larag" (Sumerian: LA-RA-AKKI) was one of the five cities to "exercise kingship" in the legendary antediluvian era. The historical "Larsa" was already in existence as early as the reign of Eannatum of Lagash, who annexed it to his empire.
The city became a political force during the Isin-Larsa period. After the Third Dynasty of Ur collapsed ca. 1940 BC, Ishbi-Erra, an official of Ibbi-Sin, the last king of the Ur III Dynasty, relocated to Isin and set up a government which purported to be the successor to the Ur III dynasty. From there, Ishbi-Erra recaptured Ur as well as the cities of Uruk and Lagash, which Larsa was subject to. Subsequent Isin rulers appointed governors to rule over Lagash; one such governor was an Amorite named Gungunum. He eventually broke with Isin and established an independent dynasty in Larsa. To legitimize his rule and deliver a blow to Isin, Gungunum captured the city of Ur. As the region of Larsa was the main center of trade via the Persian Gulf, Isin lost an enormously profitable trade route, as well as a city with much cultic significance.
wn.com/Larsa -
Lebanon
Lebanon (i/ˈlɛbənɒn/ or /ˈlɛbənən/; Arabic: لبنان Libnān or Lubnān, Lebanese Arabic: [lɪbˈneːn]), officially the Lebanese Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية اللبنانية al-Jumhūrīyah al-Libnānīyah, Lebanese Arabic: [elˈʒʊmhuːɾɪjje l.ˈlɪbneːnɪjje]), is a country in the East Mediterranean. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than 7,000 years—predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Phoenicians, a maritime culture that flourished for nearly 2,500 years (3000–539 BC). Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the five provinces that comprise modern Lebanon were mandated to France. The French expanded the borders of Mount Lebanon, which was mostly populated by Maronite Catholics and Druze, to include more Muslims. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, and established a unique political system, known as confessionalism, a power-sharing mechanism based on religious communities – Bechara El Khoury who became independent Lebanon's first President and Riad El-Solh, who became Lebanon's first prime minister, are considered the founders of the modern Republic of Lebanon and are national heroes for having led the country's independence. French troops withdrew from Lebanon in 1946.
wn.com/Lebanon -
Marad
Coordinates: 32°04′N 44°47′E / 32.067°N 44.783°E / 32.067; 44.783 (Marad)
Marad (Sumerian: Marda, modern Tell Wannat es-Sadum or Tell as-Sadoum, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern day Iraq and roughly 50 km southeast of Kish, on the Arahtu River.
The city's ziggurat E-igi-kalama was dedicated to Ninurta the god of earth and the plow, built by one of Naram-Sin's sons, as well as the tutelary deity Lugalmarada (also Lugal-Amarda). The city fell into the bounds of the Akkadian empire after the conquest of Sargon of Akkad.
Marad was established ca. 2700 BC, during the Sumerian Early Dynastic II period.
The site of Marad covers an area of less than 124 hectares (500 acres).
Marad was excavated by a team from Qādisiyyah University in 1990 led by Naal Hannoon, and in 2005 and 2007 led by Abbas Al-Hussainy. Publication of the last two seasons is in progress.
wn.com/Marad -
Mari, Syria
Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria. It is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th millennium BC, although it flourished with series of superimposed palaces that spans a thousand years, from 2900 BC until 1759 BC, when it was sacked by Hammurabi.
Mari was discovered in 1933, on the eastern flank of Syria, near the Iraqi border. A Bedouin tribe was digging through a mound for a gravestone that would be used for a recently deceased tribesman, when they came across a headless statue. After the news reached the French authorities currently in control of Syria, the report was investigated, and digging on the site was started on December 14, 1933 by archaeologists from the Louvre in Paris. Discoveries came quickly, with the temple of Ishtar being discovered in the next month. Mari was classified by the archaeologists as the "most westerly outpost of Sumerian culture".[citation needed] Since the beginning of excavations, over 25,000 clay tablets in Akkadian language written in cuneiform were discovered. Finds from the excavation are on display in the National Museum of Aleppo, the National Museum of Damascus, and the Deir ez-Zor Museum. In the latter, the southern façade of the "Court of the Palms" of Zimri-Lim's palace has been reconstructed, including the wall paintings.
wn.com/Mari,_Syria -
Medes
The Medes (/midz/) (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.
wn.com/Medes -
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Portuguese: Moçambique or República de Moçambique, pronounced: [ʁɛˈpublikɐ di musɐ̃ˈbiki]), is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest. The capital city is Maputo, formerly known as Lourenço Marques.
Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from farther north and west. Swahili, and later also Arab, commercial ports existed along the coasts until the arrival of Europeans. The area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonized by Portugal in 1505. Mozambique became independent in 1975, and became the People's Republic of Mozambique shortly thereafter. It was the scene of an intense civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992.
Mozambique is endowed with rich and extensive natural resources. The country's economy is based largely on agriculture, but with industry, mainly food and beverages, chemical manufacturing, aluminium and petroleum production, is growing fast. The country's tourism sector is also growing. South Africa is Mozambique's main trading partner and source of foreign direct investment. Portugal, Spain, and Belgium are also among the country's most important partners. Since 2001 Mozambique is one of the world's top ten for annual average GDP growth. However, Mozambique still has one of the lowest GDP per capita, one of the worst human development index and one of the highest inequality in the world, as well as having the world's lowest life expectancy.
wn.com/Mozambique -
Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah (Arabic: الناصرية; BGN: An Nāşirīyah; also spelled Nassiriya or Nasiriya) is a city in Iraq. It is on the Euphrates about 225 miles (370 km) southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. It is the capital of the province of Dhi Qar. According to the 1987 census the city had a population of 265,937 people; the estimated population in 2003 was 560,200.
The population of Nasiriyah is nearly exclusively[clarification needed]Shī‘a Muslims with small Mandaean and Sunni muslim communities, until 1951 the town was a home to a sizable Jewish community. After the failed uprising of 1991, many families were massacred by Saddam Hussein's forces whilst thousands fled from Iraq to other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Sweden.
Nasiriyah is the centre of a date-growing area, but many other agricultural products are produced here as well. The city's industries include boatbuilding, carpentry and silver working.
The old parts of the town are built mainly from sun-dried brick and this part of the town is still enclosed by a mud wall. The newer parts are dominated by standard Iraqi block buildings.
wn.com/Nasiriyah -
Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an empire in Mesopotamian history which began in 934 BC and ended in 605 BC. During this period, Assyria assumed a position as the most powerful nation on earth, successfully eclipsing Babylonia, Egypt, Urartu/Armenia and Elam for dominance of the Near East, Asia Minor, Caucasus, North Africa and east Mediterranean, though not until the reforms of Tiglath-Pileser III in the 8th century BC did it become a vast empire. Assyria was originally an Akkadian kingdom which evolved in the 25th to 24th Centuries BC. The earliest Assyrian kings such as Tudiya were relatively minor rulers, and after the founding of the Akkadian Empire, which lasted from 2334 BC to 2154 BC, these kings became subject to Sargon of Akkad, who united all the Akkadian and Sumerian speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under one rule.
wn.com/Neo-Assyrian_Empire -
Nippur
Coordinates: 32°7′37″N 45°13′51″E / 32.12694°N 45.23083°E / 32.12694; 45.23083
Nippur (Sumerian: Nibru, often logographically recorded as 𒂗𒆤𒆠, EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"Akkadian: Nibbur) was one of the most ancient of all the Sumerian cities.[citation needed] It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind," ruler of the cosmos subject to An alone. Nippur was located in modern Nuffar in Afak, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq.
Nippur never enjoyed political hegemony in its own right, but its control was crucial, as it was considered capable of conferring the overall "kingship" on monarchs from other city-states. It was distinctively a sacred city, important from the possession of the famous shrine of Enlil.
According to the Tummal Chronicle, Enmebaragesi, an early ruler of Kish, was the first to build up this temple. His influence over Nippur has also been detected archaeologically. The Chronicle lists successive early Sumerian rulers who kept up intermittent ceremonies at the temple: Aga of Kish, son of Enmebaragesi; Mesannepada of Ur; his son Meskiang-nunna; Gilgamesh of Uruk; his son Ur-Nungal; Nanni of Ur and his son Meskiang-nanna. It also indicates that the practice was revived in Neo-Sumerian times by Ur-Nammu of Ur, and continued until Ibbi-Sin appointed Enmegalana high priest in Uruk (ca. 1950 BC).
wn.com/Nippur -
Parthian Empire
The Parthian (pronounced /ˈpɑrθiən/) Empire (247 BC – 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid (/ˈɑrsəsɪd/) Empire (Modern Persian: اشکانیان Ashkāniān), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia. Its latter name comes from Arsaces I of Parthia who, as leader of the Parni tribe, founded it in the mid-3rd century BC when he conquered the Parthia region in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I of Parthia (r. c. 171–138 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now south-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, though it eventually saw a gradual revival of Iranian traditions. The Arsacid rulers were titled the "King of Kings", as a claim to be the heirs to the Achaemenid Empire; indeed, they accepted many local kings as vassals where the Achaemenids would have had centrally appointed, albeit largely autonomous, satraps. The court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the Achaemenid potentates. With the expansion of Arsacid power, the seat of central government shifted from Nisa, Turkmenistan to Ctesiphon along the Tigris (south of modern Baghdad, Iraq), although several other sites also served as capitals.
wn.com/Parthian_Empire -
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf is located in Western Asia between Iran (Persia) and the Arabian Peninsula. It is an extension of the Indian Ocean.
The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers. In 1991, the Persian Gulf again was the background for what was called the "Persian Gulf War" or the "Gulf War" when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was subsequently pushed back, despite the fact that this conflict was primarily a land conflict.
The Persian Gulf has many good fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, but its ecology has come under pressure from industrialization, and in particular, oil and petroleum spillages during wars in the region.
Historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf or simply The Gulf by most Arab states, although neither of the latter two terms are recognized internationally. The name Gulf of Iran (Persian Gulf) is used by the International Hydrographic Organization.
wn.com/Persian_Gulf -
Republic of Iraq
Iraq (/ɪˈræk/ ori/ɪˈrɑːk/; Arabic: العراق al-‘Irāq); officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūriyyat al-‘Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.
Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the southwest and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad is in the center-east of the country.
Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the center of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.
Historically, Iraq was the center of the Abbasid Arabic Islamic Empire. Iraq has been known to the west by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers) and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing, law and the wheel. At different periods in its history, Iraq was the center of the indigenous Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Abbasid empires. It was also part of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires, and under British control as a League of Nations mandate.
wn.com/Republic_of_Iraq -
Samarra
Sāmarrā (Arabic: سامَرّاء) is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, 125 kilometers (78 mi) north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700.
Medieval Islamic writers believed that the name “Samarra” is derived from the Arabic phrase “Sarra man ra’a” (Arabic: سر من رأى), which translates to “A joy for all who see”. Later when the city declined the name changed to “Sa'a man ra’a” (Arabic: ساء من رأى), which translates to “A sadness for all who see”. Eventually the two names merged to its current form Samarra' (Arabic: سامَرّاء).
In 2007, UNESCO named Samarra one of its World Heritage Sites.
The remains of ancient Samarra were first excavated between 1911 and 1914 by the German Archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld. Since 1946, the notebooks, letters, unpublished excavation reports and photographs have been in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Though the present archaeological site covered by mudbrick ruins is vast, the site of Samarra was only lightly occupied in ancient times, apart from the Chalcolithic Samarran Culture (ca 5500–4800 BC) identified at the rich site of Tell Sawwan, where evidence of irrigation—including flax— establishes the presence of a prosperous settled culture with a highly organized social structure. The culture is primarily known by its finely-made pottery decorated against dark-fired backgrounds with stylized figures of animals and birds and geometric designs. This widely-exported type of pottery, one of the first widespread, relatively uniform pottery styles in the Ancient Near East, was first recognized at Samarra. The Samarran Culture was the precursor to the Mesopotamian culture of the Ubaid period.
wn.com/Samarra -
Shatt al-Arab
Shatt al-Arab (Arabic: شط العرب, literally "Coast/Beach of the Arabs") or Arvand Rūd (Persian: اروندرود, "Arvand River"), is a river in Southwest Asia of some 200 km (120 mi) in length, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the border between Iraq and Iran down to the mouth of the river as it discharges into the Persian Gulf. It varies in width from about 232 metres (761 ft) at Basra to 800 metres (2,600 ft) at its mouth. It is thought that the waterway formed relatively recently in geologic time, with the Tigris and Euphrates originally emptying into the Persian Gulf via a channel further to the west.
The Karun river, a tributary which joins the waterway from the Iranian side, deposits large amounts of silt into the river; this necessitates continuous dredging to keep it navigable.
The area is judged to hold the largest date palm forest in the world. In the mid-1970s, the region included 17 to 18 million date palms, an estimated one-fifth of the world's 90 million palm trees. But by 2002, war, salt, and pests had wiped out more than 14 million of the palms, including around 9 million in Iraq and 5 million in Iran. Many of the remaining 3 to 4 million trees are in poor condition.
wn.com/Shatt_al-Arab -
Shuruppak
Coordinates: 31°46′38.51″N 45°30′35.14″E / 31.7773639°N 45.5097611°E / 31.7773639; 45.5097611 Shuruppak or Shuruppag (Sumerian: "The Healing Place") was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 35 miles south of Nippur on the banks of the Euphrates at the site of modern Tell Fara in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate.
Shuruppak was dedicated to Ninlil, also called Sud, the goddess of grain and the air.
Shuruppak became a grain storage and distribution city and had more silos than any other Sumerian city. The earliest excavated levels at Shuruppak date to the Jemdet Nasr period about 3000 BCE; it was abandoned shortly after 2000 BCE. Erich Schmidt found one Isin-Larsa cylinder seal and several pottery plaques which may date to early in the second millennium BC. Surface finds are predominantly Early Dynastic.
At the end of the Uruk period there was an archaeologically attested river flood in Shuruppak. Polychrome pottery from a destruction level below the flood deposit has been dated to the Jemdet Nasr period that immediately preceded the Early Dynastic I period.
wn.com/Shuruppak -
Sippar
Coordinates: 33°03′32″N 44°15′08″E / 33.058829°N 44.252153°E / 33.058829; 44.252153 (Sippar)
Sippar (Sumerian: Zimbir) was an ancient Near Eastern city on the east bank of the Euphrates river, located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah in Iraq's Babil Governorate, some 60 km north of Babylon and 30 km southeast of Baghdad.
Given that thousands of cuneiform tablets have been recovered at the site, relatively little is known about the history of Sippar. As was often the case in Mesopotamia, it was part of a pair of cities, separated by a river. Sippar was on the east side of the Euphrates, while its sister city, Sippar-Amnanum, was on the west.
While pottery finds indicate that the site of Sippar was in use as early as the Uruk period, substantial occupation occurred only in the Early Dynastic period of the 3rd millennium BC, the Old Babylonian period of the 2nd millennium BC, and the Neo-Babylonian time of the 1st millennium BC. Lesser levels of use continued into the time of the Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian Empires.
wn.com/Sippar -
Syria
Syria (/ˈsɪriə/ ( listen) SIRR-ee-ə; Arabic: سورية Sūriyya or سوريا Sūryā; Syriac: ܣܘܪܝܐ; Kurdish: Sûrî), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية al-Jumhūriyyah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūriyyah Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.
In English, the name Syria was formerly synonymous with the Levant, known in Arabic as Sham, while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. In the Islamic era, its capital city, Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate, and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi, 10% Christian, and 3% Druze. Combined, 87% of the Syrian population is Muslim, while the other 10% is Christian, which includes mainly Arab Christians but also Assyrians and Armenians. Major ethnic minorities in Syria include Kurds (9%), Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens and Circassians. The majority of the population is Arab (90%).
wn.com/Syria -
Tell Asmar
Coordinates: 33°45′N 44°45′E / 33.75°N 44.75°E / 33.75; 44.75 Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian city and city-state in central Mesopotamia. Although situated in the Diyala Valley north-east of Sumer proper, the city nonetheless belonged securely within the Sumerian cultural milieu.
The tutelary deity of the city was Tishpak (Tišpak).
Occupied from the Jemdet Nasr period about 3000 BCE, Eshnunna was a major city during the Early Dynastic period. Starting with the rise of the Akkadian Empire, Eshnunna oscillated between times of independence and domination by empires such as the Third Dynasty of Ur and Isin. Because of its control over lucrative trade routes, Eshnunna did function somewhat as a gateway between Mesopotamian and Elamite culture. The trade routes gave it access to many exotic sought-after goods such as horses from the north, copper, tin, and other metals and precious stones. In a grave, a pendant made of copal from Zanzibar was found.
wn.com/Tell_Asmar -
Tigris
The Tigris River (/ˈtaɪɡrɪs/; Arabic: دجله) is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.
The Tigris is 1,850 km long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km southeast of the city of Elazig and about 30 km from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for 400 km through Turkish territory before becoming the border between Syria and Turkey. This stretch of 44 km is the only part of the river that is located in Syria. The remaining 1,418 km are entirely within the Iraqi borders.
The Tigris unites with the Euphrates near Basra, and from this junction to the Persian Gulf the mass of moving water is known as the Shatt-al-Arab. According to Pliny and other ancient historians, the Euphrates originally had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris.
Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, stands on the banks of the Tigris. The port city of Basra straddles the Shatt al-Arab. In ancient times, many of the great cities of Mesopotamia stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the Sumerians. Notable Tigris-side cities included Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia, while the city of Lagash was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2400 BC.
wn.com/Tigris -
Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
wn.com/Turkey -
Umm Qasr
Umm Qasr (Arabic: أم قصر, also transliterated as : Um-qasir, Um-qasser), is a port city in southern Iraq. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf. It is separated from the border of Kuwait by a small inlet. A bridge across the waterway linked the port with Kuwait prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Umm Qasr was originally a small fishing town, but was used as a military port on several occasions before advancing trades and jobs by building a deep-water port on the coast. It was said to have been the site of Alexander the Great's landing in Mesopotamia in 325 BC. During the Second World War a temporary port was established there by the Allies to unload supplies to dispatch to the Soviet Union. It fell back into obscurity after the war, but the government of King Faisal II sought to establish a permanent port there in the 1950s.
After the Iraqi Revolution of 1958, a naval base was established at Umm Qasr. The port was subsequently founded in 1961 by the Iraqi ruler General Abdul-Karim Qassem. It was intended to serve as Iraq's only "deep water" port, reducing the country's dependence on the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway that marks the border with Iran. The port facilities were built by a consortium of companies from West Germany, Sweden and Lebanon, with a railway line connecting it to Basra and Baghdad. The port opened for business in July 1967.
wn.com/Umm_Qasr -
Umma
Coordinates: 31°38′N 45°52′E / 31.633°N 45.867°E / 31.633; 45.867
Umma (modern Tell Jokha, Dhi Qar Governorate in Iraq) was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site.
In the early Sumerian text Inanna's descent to the netherworld, Inanna dissuades demons from the netherworld from taking Shara, patron of Umma, who was living in squalor. They eventually take Dumuzid king of Uruk instead, who lived in palatial opulence.
Best known for its long frontier conflict with Lagash, the city reached its zenith ca. 2275 BC, under the rule of Lugal-Zage-Si, who also controlled Ur and Uruk. Under the Ur III dynasty, Umma became an important provincial center. Most of the over 30,000 cuneiform tablets recovered from the site are administrative and economic texts from that time. They permit an excellent insight into provincial affairs in Umma. The Umma calendar of Shulgi (ca. 21st century BC) is the immediate predecessor of the later Babylonian calendar, and indirectly of the post-exilic Hebrew calendar.
wn.com/Umma -
Ur
Coordinates: 30°57′45″N 46°06′11″E / 30.9625°N 46.10306°E / 30.9625; 46.10306 Ur (Sumerian: Urim;Sumerian Cuneiform: 𒋀𒀕𒆠 URIM2KI or 𒋀𒀊𒆠 URIM5KI;Akkadian: Uru) was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate. Once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, Ur is now well inland, south of the Euphrates on its right bank, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Nasiriyah.
The city's patron deity was Nanna, the Sumerian moon god, and the name of the city is in origin derived from the god's name, URIM2KI being the classical Sumerian spelling of LAK-32.UNUGKI, literally "the abode (UNUG) of Nanna (LAK-32)".
The site is marked by the ruins of the Ziggurat of Ur, which contained the shrine of Nanna, excavated in the 1930s. The temple was built in the 21st century BC (short chronology), during the reign of Ur-Nammu and was reconstructed in the 6th century BC by Nabonidus. The ruins cover an area of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) northwest to southeast by 800 metres (2,600 ft) northeast to southwest and rise up to about 20 metres (66 ft) above the present plain level.
wn.com/Ur -
Uruk
Coordinates: 31°19′20″N 45°38′10″E / 31.32222°N 45.63611°E / 31.32222; 45.63611 Uruk (Cuneiform: 𒌷𒀔,URU UNUG; Sumerian: Unug; Akkadian: Uruk; Aramaic: Erech; Hebrew: Erech; Greek: Ὀρχόη Orchoē, Ὠρύγεια Ōrugeia; Arabic: وركاء, Warkā') was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient dry former channel of the Euphrates River, some 30 km east of modern As-Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.
Uruk gave its name to the Uruk period, the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia spanning c. 4000 to 3100 BC, succeeded by the Jemdet Nasr period of Sumer proper. Uruk played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid 4th millennium BC. At its height c 2900 BC, Uruk probably had 50,000–80,000 residents living in 6 km2 of walled area; making it the largest city in the world at the time. The semi-mythical king Gilgamesh, according to the chronology presented in the Sumerian king list, ruled Uruk in the 27th century BC. The city lost its prime importance around 2000 BC, in the context of the struggle of Babylonia with Elam, but it remained inhabited throughout the Seleucid and Parthian periods until it was finally abandoned shortly before or after the Islamic conquest.
wn.com/Uruk -
Wasit Governorate
Wasit Province (Arabic: واسط Wāsit) (or Wasit Governorate) is a province in eastern Iraq. Its name comes from the Arabic word meaning "middle," as it lies along the Tigris about midway between Baghdad and Basra. Its major cities include the capital Al Kut, Al-Hai, and the city Wasit. Prior to 1976 it was known as Kut Province.
wn.com/Wasit_Governorate -
Zabala (Sumer)
Coordinates: 31°44′11″N 45°52′17″E / 31.73639°N 45.87139°E / 31.73639; 45.87139
Zabala (also Zabalam, modern Tell Ibzeikh, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq) was a city of ancient Sumer in what is now the Dhi Qar governorate in Iraq. Zabala was at the crossing of the ancient Iturungal and Ninagina canals. The cities deity was Inanna of Zabala.
The first mentions of Zabala are in seals from the Jemdet Nasr period including a list of early cites - Ur, Nippur, Larsa, Uruk, Kes, and Zabalam. The earliest historical record, a bowl inscription, indicates that Zabala was under the control of Lugalzagesi of Lagash. In the Sargonic Period, Shar-kali-sharri and Naram-Sin both reported building a temple to the goddess Inanna in Zabala and Rimush of Akkad reports Zabala as attempting to rebel against the control of the Akkadian Empire. After the fall of Akkad, Zabala came into the sphere of the city-state of Isin as reported by the year names of several rulers including Itar-pisa and Ur-Ninurta. The town was later subject to Abisare of Larsa, who's year name reported the building of the "Favorite of Inanna of Zabalam" canal. During the Ur III period, Zabala was controlled by the Ur governor in Umma which was the capital of Umma Province. Cuneiform texts state that Hammurabi built Zabala's temple Ezi-Kalam-ma to the goddess Innana. The temple of Inanna in Zabalam is the subject of hymn 26 in the temple hymns of Enheduanna.
wn.com/Zabala_(Sumer) -
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains (Arabic: جبال زغروس, Aramaic: ܛܘܪ ܙܪܓܣ, Kurdish: زنجیرهچیاکانی زاگرۆس, Lurish: کو یه لی زاگروس, Persian: رشته كوه زاگرس) are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km (932 mi), from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of Hormuz. The highest points in the Zagros Mountains are Zard Kuh-bakhtiari and Dena. The Hazaran massif in the Kerman province of Iran forms an eastern outlier of the range, the Jebal Barez reaching into Sistan.
The Zagros fold and thrust belt was formed by collision of two tectonic plates — the Eurasian and Arabian Plates. Recent GPS measurements in Iran have shown that this collision is still active and the resulting deformation is distributed non-uniformly in the country, mainly taken up in the major mountain belts like Alborz and Zagros. A relatively dense GPS network which covered the Zagros in the Iranian part also proves a high rate of deformation within the Zagros. The GPS results show that the current rate of shortening in SE Zagros is ~10 mm/yr and ~5mm/yr in the NW Zagros. The NS strike-slip Kazerun fault divides the Zagros into two distinct zones of deformation. The GPS results also show different shortening directions along the belt, i.e. normal shortening in the South-East and oblique shortening in the NW Zagros.
wn.com/Zagros_Mountains
-
Akkadians
Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.1°N 44.1°E / 33.1; 44.1
The Akkadian Empire (Akkadian URUAkkad KI, Hittite KUR A.GA.DÈ.KI "land of Akkad"; Biblical Hebrew אַכַּד Akkad) was an empire centered in the city of Akkad (Sumerian: Agade) and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia.
During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).
The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of its founder Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC). Under Sargon and his successors, Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam. Akkad is sometimes regarded as the first empire in history, though there are earlier Sumerian claimants.[citation needed]
The precise archaeological site of the city of Akkad has not yet been found.[citation needed] The form Agade appears in Sumerian, for example in the Sumerian King List; the later Assyro-Babylonian form Akkadû ("of or belonging to Akkad") was likely derived from this. The etymology and meaning of Akkad (written a.ga.dèKI or URIKI) are unknown. Centuries later, the neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus mentioned in his archaeological records that Ishtar's worship in Agade was later superseded by that of the goddess Anunit, whose shrine was at Sippar—suggesting proximity of Sippar and Agade. Despite numerous searches, the city has never been found. One theory holds that Agade was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates, and was perhaps the oldest part of the city of Sippar. Another theory is that the ruins of Akkad are to be found beneath modern Baghdad. Reputedly it was destroyed by invading Gutians with the fall of the Akkadian Empire.
wn.com/Akkadians -
Alulim
Alulim was the first king of Eridu, and the first king of Sumer, according to the Sumerian King List, presumably making him the first recorded king in the world. Enki, the god of Eridu, or his mortal son Adapa, are said to have brought civilization to Sumer at this point, or just shortly before.
The Sumerian King List has the following entry for Alulim:
"After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridug (Eridu). In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years."
In a chart of antediluvian generations in Babylonian and Biblical traditions, Professor William Wolfgang Hallo associates Alulim with the composite half-man, half-fish counselor or culture hero (Apkallu) Uanna-Adapa (Oannes), and suggests an equivalence between Alulim and Enosh in the Sethite Genealogy given in Genesis chapter 5. Hallo notes that Alulim's name means "Stag".
Shea poses historical Alulim (king of Eridu which may be biblical Eden) may be the same man as the biblical Adam.
Hess elaborates there are three different ways the Hebrew word "adam" is used in Genesis. "Adam" can just mean the generic term for mankind in general, a male in particular, or as a title; as is seen in ancient Near Eastern parallels where the lu-sign for ruler means "man". The Sumerian and the Hebrew Adam are similar in usage; Both can mean humans or humanity. As a general rule in the Hebrew, when Adam has a definite article, it means man or human; while Adam with no article is a personal name (Hamilton 1990, 159).
wn.com/Alulim -
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people, most commonly known as Assyrians and other later names, such as: Chaldeans, Syrians, Syriacs (see names of Syriac Christians), are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia. They are Eastern Aramaic speaking Semites who trace their ancestry back to the Sumero-Akkadian civilisation that emerged in Mesopotamia circa 4000- 3500 BC, and in particular to the northern region of the Akkadian lands, which would become known as Assyria by the 24th Century BC. The Assyrian nation existed as an independent state, and often a powerful empire, from the 24th century BC until the end of the 7th century BC.
Today that ancient territory is part of several nations; Assyria remained a Geo-political entity after its fall, and was ruled as an occupied province under the rule of various empires from the late 7th century BC until the mid 7th century AD when it was dissolved, and the Assyrian people have gradually become a minority in their homelands since that time. They are indigenous to, and have traditionally lived all over what is now Iraq, north east Syria, north west Iran, and Southeastern Turkey. They are predominantly Christian.
wn.com/Assyrian_people -
Chaldea
Chaldea or Chaldaea ( /kælˈdiːə/), from Greek Χαλδαία, Chaldaia; Akkadian māt Kaldu; Hebrew כשדים, Kaśdim;Aramaic: ܟܐܠܕܘ, Kaldo) was a marshy land located in modern-day southern Iraq which came to rule Babylon briefly. Tribes of settlers who arrived in the region from the 8th Century BC became known as the Chaldeans or the Chaldees. The Hebrew Bible uses the term כשדים (Kaśdim) and this is translated as Chaldaeans in the Septuagint.
The short-lived 11th dynasty of the Kings of Babylon (6th century BC) is conventionally known to historians as the Chaldean Dynasty, although only the first four rulers of this dynasty were known to be Chaldeans, and the last ruler was known not to be. Their kingdom in the southern portion of Babylonia lay chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates. Though the name came to be commonly used to refer to the whole of southern Mesopotamia, Chaldea proper was in fact the vast plain in the far south east formed by the deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris, extending to about four hundred miles along the course of these rivers, and about a hundred miles in average width.
wn.com/Chaldea -
Civilization
Civilization (or civilisation) is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally hierarchical and urbanized. In a classical context, people were called "civilized" to set them apart from barbarians, while in a modern-day context, "civilized peoples" have been contrasted with primitive peoples.
There is a tendency to use the term in a less strict way, to mean approximately the same thing as "culture" and therefore, the term can more broadly refer to any important and clearly defined human society.[citation needed] Still, even when used in this second sense, the word is often restricted to apply only to societies that have attained a particular level of advancement-especially the founding of cities.
The level of advancement of a civilization is often measured by its progress in agriculture, long-distance trade, occupational specialization, a special governing class and urbanism. Aside from these core elements, a civilization is often marked by any combination of a number of secondary elements, including a developed transportation system, writing, standardized measurement, currency, contractual and (tort-based) legal systems, characteristic art and architecture, mathematics, enhanced scientific understanding, metallurgy, political structures, and an astronomical understanding.
wn.com/Civilization -
Dilmun
Dilmun or Telmun is a land mentioned by Mesopotamian civilizations as a trade partner, a source of the metal copper, and an entrepôt of the Mesopotamia-to-Indus Valley Civilization trade route. Although the exact location of Dilmun is unclear, it might be associated with the islands of Bahrain, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and nearby Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf. It is also noted that Gilgamesh had to pass through Mount Mashu to reach Dilmun in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is usually identified with the whole of the parallel Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, with the narrow gap between these mountains constituting the tunnel.
Dilmun appears first in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to the end of fourth millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official; in addition there are lists of rations of wool issued to people connected with Dilmun.
One of the earliest inscriptions mentioning Dilmun is that of king Ur-Nanshe of Lagash found in a door-socket: "The ships of Dilmun brought him wood as tribute from foreign lands."
wn.com/Dilmun -
Dynasty of Isin
The Sumerian King List is an ancient manuscript originally recorded in the Sumerian language, listing kings of Sumer (ancient southern Iraq) from Sumerian and neighboring dynasties, their supposed reign lengths, and the locations of "official" kingship. Kingship was believed to have been handed down by the gods, and could be transferred from one city to another, reflecting perceived hegemony in the region. Throughout its Bronze Age existence, the document evolved into a political tool. Its final and single attested version, dating to the Middle Bronze Age, aimed to legitimize Isin's claims to hegemony when Isin was vying for dominance with Larsa and other neighboring city-states in southern Mesopotamia.
wn.com/Dynasty_of_Isin -
En-men-dur-ana
En-men-dur-ana (also Emmeduranki) of Sippar was an ancient Sumerian king, whose name appears in the Sumerian King List as the seventh and penultimate pre-dynastic king of Sumer (before ca. 2900 BC).
His name means "chief of the powers of Dur-an-ki", while "Dur-an-ki" in turn means "the meeting-place of heaven and earth" (literally "bond of above and below").
En-men-dur-ana's city Sippar was associated with the worship of the sun-god Utu, later called Shamash in the Semitic language. Sumerian and Babylonian literature attributed the founding of Sippar to Utu.
A myth written in a Semitic language tells of Emmeduranki, subsequently being taken to heaven by the gods Shamash and Adad, and taught the secrets of heaven and of earth. In particular, Enmedurank was taught arts of divination, such as how to inspect oil on water and how to discern messages in the liver of animals and several other divine secrets.
En-men-dur-ana was extremely significant to the Sumerians, as he was the ancestor from whom all priests of the sun God had to be able to trace descent.[citation needed]
wn.com/En-men-dur-ana -
Enheduanna
Enheduanna (Akkadian: 𒂗𒃶𒁺𒀭𒈾; 2285-2250 BCE), also transliterated as Enheduana, En-hedu-ana or EnHeduAnna ("en" means High Priestess, and "hedu" means adornment, so this name translates to "high priestess adornment of the god, An"), was an Akkadian princess as well as High Priestess of the Moon god Nanna (Sin) in the Sumerian city-state of Ur. She was the first known holder of the title "En Priestess", a role of great political importance that was often held by royal daughters. Enheduanna was an aunt of Akkadian king Narām-Sîn, and she was one of the earliest women in history whose name is known.
Regarded by literary and historical scholars as possibly the earliest known author and poet of either gender, Enheduanna served as the High Priestess during the third millennium BCE. She was appointed to the role by her father, King Sargon of Akkad. Her mother was Queen Tashlultum. Enheduanna has left behind a corpus of literary works definitively ascribed to her that include many personal devotions to the goddess Inanna and a collection of hymns known as the "Sumerian Temple Hymns" that are regarded as one of the first attempts at a systematic theology. In addition, scholars such as Hallo and Van Dijk suggest that certain texts that have not been ascribed to her may also be her works.
wn.com/Enheduanna -
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh ( /ˈɡɪl.ɡə.mɛʃ/; Akkadian cuneiform: 𒄑𒂆𒈦 [
𒂆
], Gilgameš, often given the epithet of the King, also known as Bilgames in the earliest Sumerian texts) was the fifth king of Uruk, modern day Iraq (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), placing his reign ca. 2500 BC. According to the Sumerian king list he reigned for 126 years. In the Tummal Inscription, Gilgamesh, and his son Urlugal, rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil, in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of Nippur. Gilgamesh is the central character in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the greatest surviving work of early Mesopotamian literature. In the epic his father was Lugalbanda and his mother was Ninsun (whom some call Rimat Ninsun), a goddess. In Mesopotamian mythology, Gilgamesh is a demigod of superhuman strength who built the city walls of Uruk to defend his people from external threats, and travelled to meet the sage Utnapishtim, who had survived the Great Deluge. He is usually described as two-thirds god and one third man.
wn.com/Gilgamesh -
Gudea
Gudea was a ruler (ensi) of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia who ruled ca. 2144 - 2124 BC. He probably did not come from the city, but had married Ninalla, daughter of the ruler Urbaba (2164 - 2144 BC) of Lagash, thus gaining entrance to the royal house of Lagash. He was succeeded by his son Ur-Ningirsu.
Inscriptions mention temples built by Gudea in Ur, Nippur, Adab, Uruk and Bad-Tibira[citation needed]. This indicates the growing influence of Gudea in Sumer. His predecessor Urbaba had already made his daughter Enanepada high priestess of Nanna at Ur, which indicates a great deal of political power as well. The 20 years of his reign are all known by name; the main military exploit seems to have occurred in his Year 6, called the "Year when Anshan was smitten with weapons".
Gudea chose the title of énsi (town-king or governor), not the more exalted lugal (Akkadian šarrum); though he did style himself "god of Lagash"{ct}. Gudea claimed to have conquered Elam and Anshan, but his inscriptions emphasize the building of irrigation channels and temples, and the creation of precious gifts to the gods. Materials for his buildings and statues were brought from all parts of western Asia: cedar wood from the Amanus mountains, quarried stones from Lebanon, copper from northern Arabia, gold and precious stones from the desert between Canaan and Egypt, diorite from Magan (Oman), and timber from Dilmun (Bahrain).
wn.com/Gudea -
Gutian period
The Gutian dynasty came to power in Mesopotamia around 2150 BC (short chronology), by destabilising Akkad, according to the Sumerian kinglist at the end of the reign of king Ur-Utu (or Lugal-melem) of Uruk. They reigned for perhaps around one century (copies of the kinglist vary between 25 and 124 years; 91 years is often quoted as probable). The dynasty was succeeded by the 3rd dynasty of Ur. The Gutian people (Guti) were native to Gutium, presumably in the central Zagros Mountains; almost nothing is known about their origins.
The Gutians practiced hit-and-run tactics, and would be long gone by the time regular troops could arrive to deal with the situation. Their raids crippled the economy of Sumer. Travel became unsafe, as did work in the fields, resulting in famine.
The Sumerian king list indicates that king Ur-Utu of Uruk was defeated by the barbarian Guti, perhaps around 2150 BC. The Guti swept down, defeated the demoralized Akkadian army, took Akkad, and destroyed it around 2115 BC. However, they did not supplant all of Akkad, as several independent city states remained alongside them, including Lagash, where a local dynasty still thrived and left numerous textual and archaeological remains.
wn.com/Gutian_period -
Hammurabi
Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c. 1750 BC) was the sixth king of Babylon (that is, of the First Babylonian Dynasty) from 1792 BC to 1750 BC middle chronology (1728 BC – 1686 BC short chronology). He became the first king of the Babylonian Empire following the abdication of his father, Sin-Muballit, extending Babylon's control over Mesopotamia by winning a series of wars against neighboring kingdoms. Although his empire controlled all of Mesopotamia at the time of his death, his successors were unable to maintain his empire.
Hammurabi is known for the set of laws called Hammurabi's Code, one of the first written codes of law in recorded history.[citation needed] These laws were inscribed on stone tablets (stelae) standing over eight feet tall (2.4 meters), of unknown provenance, found in Persia in 1901. Owing to his reputation in modern times as an ancient law-giver, Hammurabi's portrait is in many government buildings throughout the world.
wn.com/Hammurabi -
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages (also called Iranic languages) form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn are a subgroup of the Indo-European language family. The speakers of Iranian languages are known as Iranian peoples.
The Iranian languages are considered in three stages of Old (until 400 BCE), Middle (400 BCE – 900 CE), and New (since 900 CE). From the Old Iranian languages the better understood and recorded ones are Old Persian (a language of Achaemenid Iran) and Avestan (the language of Zarathushtra). Middle Iranian languages included Middle Persian (a language of Sassanid Iran) and Parthian (a language of Arsacid Iran). There are many Iranian languages, the largest amongst them are Persian, Pashto, Kurdish, and Balochi.
Today, there are an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of Iranian languages. The Ethnologue lists 87 Iranian languages.Persian has about 65 million native speakers, Pashto about 50 million, Kurdish about 18 million, Balochi about 7 million, and Lurish about 2.3 million.
wn.com/Iranian_languages -
Iraqi people
The Iraqi people (Arabic: العراقيون ʿIrāqīyūn, Kurdish: گهلی عیراق Îraqîyan, Aramaic: ܥܡܐ ܥܝܪܩܝܐ ʿIrāqāyā) or Mesopotamian people (Arabic: شعب بلاد ما بين النهرين) are the native inhabitants of the country of Iraq, (also known as Mesopotamia), and their related diaspora. From late Assyrian and Babylonian times until the early Islamic era, the Iraqi people spoke Aramaic but also witnessed a minority Arab presence.
Arabic had been a minority language in Iraq since the 8th century BC, it was spoken in Hatra in the 1st and 2nd centuries, and by Iraqi Christians in Al-Hirah from the 3rd century, and from the 8th century following the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia it became the common language of Iraqi Muslims, due to Arabic being the language of the Qur'an and the Caliphate. This change was facilitated by the fact that Arabic being a Semitic language, shared a close resemblance to Iraq's traditional languages of Akkadian and Aramaic. Some of Iraq's Christians and Mandaeans retained dialects of Aramaic, since it remained the liturgical language of their faiths. Kurdish-speaking Iraqis live in the mountainous Zagros region of northeast Iraq to the east of the upper Tigris. The Kurds and Arabs of Mesopotamia have interacted and intermarried for well over a millennium. Modern genetic studies indicate that Iraqi Arabs and Kurds are very closely related. Arabic and Kurdish are Iraq's national languages.
wn.com/Iraqi_people -
Iraqi Turkmen
The Iraqi Turkmens (also spelled Turcomans, Turkomens, and Iraqi Turkmans), Iraqi Turks, or Turks of Iraq (Turkish: Irak Türkmenleri/Irak Türkleri) are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq who are the ethnic kin of the Turks. They mainly reside in northern Iraq and share close cultural and linguistic ties with Turkey.
The Iraqi Turkmen are the descendants of various waves of Turkic migration to Mesopotamia dating from the 7th century until Ottoman rule. The first wave of migration dates back to the 7th century when some 1,000 Turkmen soldiers were recruited in the Muslim armies of Ubayd-Allah ibn Ziyad; however, most of today's descendants of these first migrants have been assimilated into the local Arab population. The second wave of migrants were the Turks of the Great Seljuq Empire; finally, the third wave, and largest number of Turkmen migrants into Iraq arose during the Ottoman Empire. With the conquest of Iraq by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1534, followed by Sultan Murad IV's capture of Baghdad in 1638, a large influx of Turks settled down in the region. Thus, most of today's Iraqi Turkmen are the descendants of the Ottoman soldiers, traders and civil servants who were brought into Iraq during the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
wn.com/Iraqi_Turkmen -
Kingdom of Iraq
The Kingdom of Iraq (Arabic: المملكة العراقية al-Mamlakah al-'Irāqiyyah) was officially declared as an independent state in 1932, granting full sovereign rights to Hashemites and ending the British Mandate regime.
Although the League of Nations mandate was awarded to Britain in 1920, the 1920 Iraqi revolt resulted in the scrapping of the original mandate plan in favor of British administered semi-independent kingdom, under the Hashemite allies of Britain. The kingdom of Iraq was granted full independence in 1932, following the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty (1930).
The kingdom ended in 1958, when the monarchy was over thrown in a military coup, led by Abd al-Karim Qasim.
Mandatory Mesopotamia was created under the League of Nations Class A mandate under Article 22 and entrusted to Britain, when the Ottoman Empire was divided in August 1920 by the Treaty of Sèvres, following World War I. This award was prepared on April 25, 1920, at the San Remo conference in Italy. France controlled the Mandates of Syria and Lebanon. Faisal ibn Husayn, who had been proclaimed King of Syria by a Syrian National Congress in Damascus in March 1920, was ejected by the French in July of the same year. Faisal was then granted the territory of Iraq, to rule it as a kingdom, with the British RAF retaining certain military control, though de facto, the territory remained under British Mandate until 1932.
wn.com/Kingdom_of_Iraq -
Kug-Bau
Kubaba (in the Weidner or Esagila Chronicle;Sumerian: Kug-Bau) is the only queen on the Sumerian King List, which states she reigned for 100 years – roughly in the Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2500-2330 BC) of Sumerian history. Most versions of the king list place her alone in her own dynasty, the 3rd Dynasty of Kish, following the defeat of Sharrumiter of Mari, but other versions combine her with the 4th dynasty, that followed the primacy of the king of Akshak. Before becoming monarch, the king list says she was a tavern-keeper.
The Weidner Chronicle is a propagandistic letter, attempting to predate the shrine of Marduk there to an early period, and purporting to show that each of the kings who had neglected its proper rites had lost the primacy of Sumer. It contains a brief account of rise of "the house of Kubaba" occurring in the reign of Puzur-Nirah of Akshak:
"In the reign of Puzur-Nirah, king of Akšak, the freshwater fishermen of Esagila were catching fish for the meal of the great lord Marduk; the officers of the king took away the fish. The fisherman was fishing when 7 (or 8) days had passed [...] in the house of Kubaba, the tavern-keeper [...] they brought to Esagila. At that time BROKEN[4] anew for Esagila [...] Kubaba gave bread to the fisherman and gave water, she made him offer the fish to Esagila. Marduk, the king, the prince of the Apsû, favored her and said: "Let it be so!" He entrusted to Kubaba, the tavern-keeper, sovereignty over the whole world." (lines 38-45)
wn.com/Kug-Bau -
Leonard Woolley
Sir Charles Leonard Woolley (17 April 1880 – 20 February 1960) was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia. He is considered to have been one of the first "modern" archaeologists, and was knighted in 1935 for his contributions to the discipline of archaeology.
Charles Leonard Woolley was the son of a clergyman, and was brother to Geoffrey Harold Woolley and George Cathcart Woolley. He was born at 13 Southwold Road, Upper Clapton, in the modern London Borough of Hackney and educated at St John's School, Leatherhead and New College, Oxford. He was interested in excavations from a young age.
In 1905, Woolley became assistant of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Volunteered by Arthur Evans to run the excavations on the Roman site at Corbridge for Francis Haverfield, Woolley began his excavation career there in 1906, later admitting in Spadework that "I had never studied archaeological methods even from books ... and I had not any idea how to make a survey or a ground-plan" (Woolley 1953:15). T. E. Lawrence worked with Woolley on the excavation of the Hittite city of Carchemish from 1912-14.
wn.com/Leonard_Woolley -
Man-ishtishu
Manishtushu was a king of the Akkadian Empire from 2276 to 2261 BC. His name is also spelled as Maništušu.
Manishtushu was the son of Sargon of Akkad and Queen Tashlultum, brother of En-hedu-ana and the father of Naram-Sin. He was preceded by his younger brother Rimush, was assassinated by his own court, and was succeeded by Naram-Sin.
wn.com/Man-ishtishu -
Mandaeans
Mandaeism or Mandaeanism (Modern Mandaic: Mandaʻiūtā (מנדעיותא); Arabic: مندائية Mandāʼīyah/Mandāʾiyyah; Persian: مندائیان Mandâ'iyân) is a gnostic religion[citation needed] (Aramaic manda means "knowledge", as does Greek gnosis) with a strongly dualistic worldview.
Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and especially John the Baptist, but reject Jesus of Nazareth and are hostile to Christianity. They are sometimes identified with mentions in the Quran of the Sabian religion, particularly in an Arabian context, but the Sabian religious community is extinct today.
According to most scholars, Mandaeans migrated from the Southern Levant to Mesopotamia in the first centuries CE and are certainly of pre-Arab and pre-Islamic origin. They are Semites and speak a dialect of Eastern Aramaic known as Mandaic. They may well be related to the "Nabateans of Iraq" who were pagan, Aramaic speaking indigenous pre-Arab and pre-Islamic inhabitants of southern Iraq.
wn.com/Mandaeans -
Mandaeism
Mandaeism or Mandaeanism (Modern Mandaic: Mandaʻiūtā (מנדעיותא); Arabic: مندائية Mandāʼīyah/Mandāʾiyyah; Persian: مندائیان Mandâ'iyân) is a gnostic religion[citation needed] (Aramaic manda means "knowledge", as does Greek gnosis) with a strongly dualistic worldview.
Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and especially John the Baptist, but reject Jesus of Nazareth and are hostile to Christianity. They are sometimes identified with mentions in the Quran of the Sabian religion, particularly in an Arabian context, but the Sabian religious community is extinct today.
According to most scholars, Mandaeans migrated from the Southern Levant to Mesopotamia in the first centuries CE and are certainly of pre-Arab and pre-Islamic origin. They are Semites and speak a dialect of Eastern Aramaic known as Mandaic. They may well be related to the "Nabateans of Iraq" who were pagan, Aramaic speaking indigenous pre-Arab and pre-Islamic inhabitants of southern Iraq.
wn.com/Mandaeism -
Marsh Arabs
The Marsh Arabs (Arabic: عرب الأهوار ʻArab al-Ahwār "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also known as the Maʻdān (Arabic: معدان), are inhabitants of the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands in the south and east of Iraq and along the Iranian border.
Comprising members of many different tribes and tribal confederations, such as the Āl Bū Muḥammad, Ferayghāt, Shaghanbah and Banī Lām, the Maʻdān had developed a unique culture centred around the marshes' natural resources. Many of the marshes' inhabitants were displaced when the wetlands were drained during and after the 1991 uprisings in Iraq.
Madan means "dweller in the plains (ʻadan)" and was used disparagingly by desert tribes to refer to those inhabiting the Iraqi river basins, and by those who farmed in the river basins to refer to the population of the marshes. There was a considerable historic prejudice against the Maʻdān, partly as they were considered to have Persian or other "mixed" origin and partly due to their practice of temporary marriage.
Some historians and archaeologists provide circumstantial evidence to posit that Iraq's Marsh Arabs share the strongest link to the ancient Sumerians.[citation needed] Although this is to do with their lifestyle and culture, more than any proven ethnic link, the Sumerians disappeared as a race circa 1800 BC, long before Arabs entered the region.
wn.com/Marsh_Arabs -
Medes
The Medes (/midz/) (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people who lived in Iran in an area known as Media and spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late second millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the first millennium BCE.
In the 7th century BCE a unified Median state was formed which together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Achaemenid Empire.
wn.com/Medes -
Mesilim
Mesilim or Mesalim (c. 2500 BC) was lugal (king) of the Sumerian city-state of Kish.
Though his name is missing from the Sumerian king list, Mesilim is among the earliest historical figures recorded in archaeological documents. He was a monarch in the 3rd Dynasty of Kish, reigning some time in the "Early Dynastic III" period (ca. 2500-2330 BC). Inscriptions from his reign state that he sponsored temple construction in both Adab and Lagash, where he apparently enjoyed some suzerainty.
Mesilim is best known for having acted as mediator in a conflict between Lugal-sha-engur, his ensi in Lagash, and the neighboring rival city state of Umma, regarding the rights to use an irrigation canal on the border between the two. After asking the opinion of the god Satarana, Mesilim established a new border between Lagash and Umma, and erected a pillar to mark it, on which he wrote his final decision. This solution was not to be permanent; a later king of Umma, Ush, destroyed the pillar in an act of defiance.
wn.com/Mesilim -
Meskalamdug
Meskalamdug ("hero of the good land") was an early ruler (ensi[citation needed]) of Ur who does not appear in the Sumerian king list.
His tomb, discovered by English archaeologist Sir Leonard Wooley in the Royal Cemetery of Ur in 1924, contained numerous gold artifacts including a golden helmet with an inscription of the king's name. His wife's name was queen Ninbanda. Meskalamdug was also mentioned on a seal in another tomb with the title lugal (king), however because his own tomb lacked attendants, Woolley assumed that he was not royal. The controversy remains though, because he is named on a bead inscription discovered in Mari by French archaeologist André Parrot ten years later, as the father of king Mesannepada of Ur, who appears in the king list and in many other inscriptions.
wn.com/Meskalamdug -
Naram-Sin of Akkad
Naram-Sin (also transcribed Narām-Sîn, Naram-Suen, Sin or Suen being the Akkadians' moon god equivalent to the Sumerian Nanna), reigned ca. 2254–2218 BCE, middle chronology, was the third successor and grandson of King Sargon of Akkad. Under Naram-Sin the Akkadian Empire reached its zenith. He was the first Mesopotamian king known to have claimed divinity for himself, and one of the first (following the earlier Lugal-Anne-Mundu) to be called "King of the Four Quarters".
Naram-Sin was born as a son of Manishtushu. He was thus a nephew of King Rimush and grandson of Sargon and Tashlultum. Naram-Sin's aunt was the High Priestess En-hedu-ana.
Naram-Sin traded with Meluhha (possibly corresponding to the Indus Valley civilization), and controlled a large portion of land along the Persian Gulf. He expanded his empire by defeating the King of Magan at the southern end of the Persian Gulf, and conquering the hill tribes to the north in the Taurus Mountains. His famous "Victory Stele" depicts his triumph over Satuni, chief of Lullubi in the Zagros Mountains. The king list gives the length of his reign as 56 years, and at least 20 of his year-names are known, referring to military actions against various places such as Uruk and Subartu. One unknown year was recorded as "the Year when Naram-Sin was victorious against Simurrum in Kirasheniwe, and took prisoner Baba the governor of Simurrum, and Dubul the ensi of Arame". Other year names refer to his construction work on temples in Akkad, Nippur, and Zabala. He also built administrative centers at Nagar and Nineveh.
wn.com/Naram-Sin_of_Akkad -
Puabi
Puabi (Akkadian: "Word of my father"), also called Shubad in Sumerian, was an important person in the Sumerian city of Ur, during the First Dynasty of Ur (ca. 2600 BCE). Commonly labeled as a "queen", her status is somewhat in dispute. Several cylinder seals in her tomb identify her by the title "nin" or "eresh", a Sumerian word which can denote a queen or a priestess. The fact that Puabi, herself a Semitic Akkadian, was an important figure among Sumerians, indicates a high degree of cultural exchange and influence between the ancient Sumerians and their Semitic neighbors.
British archaeologist Leonard Woolley discovered the tomb of Puabi, which was excavated by his team along with some 1800 other graves at the "Royal Cemetery of Ur" between 1922 and 1934. Puabi's tomb was clearly unique among the other excavations; not only because of the large amount of high quality and well-preserved grave goods, but also because her tomb had been untouched by looters through the millennia.
She was also buried with 52 attendants — retainers who are suspected to have poisoned themselves (or had been poisoned by others) to serve their mistress in the next world. The amount of grave goods that Woolley uncovered in Puabi's tomb was staggering: a magnificent, heavy, golden headdress made of golden leaves, rings, and plates; a superb lyre (see Lyres of Ur), complete with the golden and lapis-lazuli encrusted bearded bulls head; a profusion of gold tableware; golden, carnelian, and lapis lazuli cylindrical beads for extravagant necklaces and belts; a chariot adorned with lioness' heads in silver, and an abundance of silver, lapis lazuli, and golden rings and bracelets.
wn.com/Puabi -
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (Arabic: صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي Ṣaddām Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Maǧīd al-Tikrītī; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and later, the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and its regional organisation Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, which espoused ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup, later referred to as the 17 July Revolution, that brought the party to long-term power of Iraq.
As vice president under the ailing General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and at a time when many groups were considered capable of overthrowing the government, Saddam created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalized oil and other industries. The state-owned banks were put under his control, leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, and UN sanctions. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraq's economy to grow at a rapid pace. Positions of power in the country were filled with Sunnis, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population.
wn.com/Saddam_Hussein -
Samuel Noah Kramer
Samuel Noah Kramer (September 28, 1897 – November 26, 1990) was one of the world's leading Assyriologists and a world renowned expert in Sumerian history and Sumerian language.
Kramer was born on September 28, 1897 in Zhashkiv in the Russian Empire, the son of Benjamin and Yetta Kramer. In 1905 as a result of the anti-Semitic pogroms under Czar Nicholas II of Russia, his family emigrated to Philadelphia, where his father established a Hebrew school. After graduating from high school and obtaining a bachelor's degree, Kramer tried a variety of occupations, including teaching in his father's school, becoming a writer and becoming a business man.
Concerning the time when he began to approach the age of thirty, still without a career, he later stated in his autobiography, In the World of Sumer: "Finally it came to me that I might well go back to my beginnings and try to utilize the Hebrew learning on which I had spent so much of my youth, and relate it in some way to an academic future".
He enrolled at Dropsie College of Philadelphia for Hebrew and Cognate Learning, and became passionately interested in Egyptology. He then transferred to the Oriental Studies Department of the University of Pennsylvania, working with the "brilliant young Ephraim Avigdor Speiser, who was to become one of the world's leading figures in Near Eastern Studies". Speiser was trying to decipher cuneiform tablets of the Late Bronze Age dating from about 1300 BC; it was now that Kramer began his life-long work in understanding the cuneiform writing system.
wn.com/Samuel_Noah_Kramer -
Semitic
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical "Shem", Hebrew: שם, translated as "name", Arabic: ساميّ) was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. This family includes the ancient and modern forms of; Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, Ge'ez, Maltese, Canaanite/Phoenician, Amorite, Eblaite, Ugaritic, Sutean, Chaldean, Mandaic, Old Persian, Ahlamu, Amharic, Tigre and Tigrinya among others.
As language studies are interwoven with cultural studies, the term also came to describe the extended cultures and ethnicities, as well as the history of these varied peoples as associated by close geographic and linguistic distribution.
The term Semite means a member of any of various ancient and modern Semitic-speaking peoples originating in southwestern Asia, including; Akkadians (Assyrians and Babylonians), Eblaites, Ugarites, Canaanites, Phoenicians (including Carthaginians), Hebrews (Israelites, Judeans and Samaritans), Ahlamu, Arameans, Chaldeans, Amorites, Moabites, Edomites, Hyksos, Arabs, Nabateans, Maganites, Shebans, Sutu, Ubarites, Dilmunites, Maltese, Mandaeans, Sabians, Syriacs, Mhallami, Amalekites and Ethiopian Semites. It was proposed at first to refer to the languages related to Hebrew by Ludwig Schlözer, in Eichhorn's "Repertorium", vol. VIII (Leipzig, 1781), p. 161. Through Eichhorn the name then came into general usage (cf. his "Einleitung in das Alte Testament" (Leipzig, 1787), I, p. 45). In his "Geschichte der neuen Sprachenkunde", pt. I (Göttingen, 1807) it had already become a fixed technical term.
wn.com/Semitic -
Shar-kali-sharri
Shar-Kali-Sharri (Akk. = "King of all Kings") was a king of the Akkadian Empire.
According to the Sumerian king list, he was the son of Naram-sin and reigned for 25 (or 24) years - around 2100 BC. Names survive for some 18 of the years of his reign, and indicate successful campaigns against Gutium, Amurru, and Elam, among other places, as well as temple construction in Nippur and Babylon.
After Shar-kali-sharri's reign, there may have been a short period of crisis or struggle; the king list states:
After this, king Dudu ascended, who reigned for 21 years.
wn.com/Shar-kali-sharri -
Shu-Durul
Shu-turul (Shu-durul) was a king of Akkad from ca. 2233 to 2218 BC. He was preceded by his father Dudu. He was the last king of Akkad according to the Sumerian king list.
Akkad was conquered and the capital was moved back to Uruk at the end of his reign.
wn.com/Shu-Durul -
Sumerian king list
The Sumerian King List is an ancient manuscript originally recorded in the Sumerian language, listing kings of Sumer (ancient southern Iraq) from Sumerian and neighboring dynasties, their supposed reign lengths, and the locations of "official" kingship. Kingship was believed to have been handed down by the gods, and could be transferred from one city to another, reflecting perceived hegemony in the region. Throughout its Bronze Age existence, the document evolved into a political tool. Its final and single attested version, dating to the Middle Bronze Age, aimed to legitimize Isin's claims to hegemony when Isin was vying for dominance with Larsa and other neighboring city-states in southern Mesopotamia.
wn.com/Sumerian_king_list -
Tashlultum
Tashlultum (late 24th-early 23rd centuries BCEfl. late 24th-early 23rd centuries BCE) was a queen of Akkad and wife of King Sargon of Akkad. She was the mother of his children Enheduanna, Rimush, Manishtushu, Shu-Enlil and Ilaba'is-takal. She was a grandmother of Naram-Sin of Akkad and great-grandmother of Shar-Kali-Sharri.
It is possible that her first husband was Lugalzagesi.
wn.com/Tashlultum -
Thorkild Jacobsen
Thorkild Jacobsen (7 June 1904 – 2 May 1993) was a renowned historian specializing in Assyriology and Sumerian literature. He was one of the foremost scholars on the ancient Near East.
Thorkild Peter Rudolph Jacobsen (Danish pronunciation: yahkobsen) received an M.A. from the University of Copenhagen and then came to the United States to study at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, where he received his PhD.
He became a Field Assyriologist for the Iraq Expedition of the The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago (1929-1937) and in 1946 became Director of the Oriental Institute. He served as Dean of the Humanities Division (1948-1951), as an Editor of the Assyrian Dictionary (1955-1959), and as Professor of Social Institutions (1946-1962).
In 1962, Jacobsen became a professor of Assyriology at Harvard University, where he remained until his retirement in 1974. Beyond being an expert translator, he was a brilliant interpreter whose insights led to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the institutions and normative references of Sumerian and Akkadian culture.
wn.com/Thorkild_Jacobsen -
Ur-Namma
Ur-Nammu (or Ur-Namma, Ur-Engur, Ur-Gur, ca. 2047-2030 BC short chronology) founded the Sumerian 3rd dynasty of Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, following several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian rule. His main achievement was state-building, and Ur-Nammu is chiefly remembered today for his legal code, the Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest known surviving example in the world.
Year-names are known for 17 of Ur-Nammu's 18 years, but their order is uncertain. One year-name of his reign records the devastation of Gutium, while two years seem to commemorate his legal reforms: "Year in which Ur-Nammu the king put in order the ways (of the people in the country) from below to above", and "Year Ur-Nammu made justice in the land".
Among his military exploits were the conquest of Lagash and the defeat of his former masters at Uruk. He was eventually recognized as a significant regional ruler (of Ur, Eridu, and Uruk) at a coronation in Nippur, and is believed to have constructed buildings at Nippur, Larsa, Kish, Adab, and Umma. He was known for restoring the roads and general order after the Gutian period.
wn.com/Ur-Namma -
Ur-Nammu
Ur-Nammu (or Ur-Namma, Ur-Engur, Ur-Gur, ca. 2047-2030 BC short chronology) founded the Sumerian 3rd dynasty of Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, following several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian rule. His main achievement was state-building, and Ur-Nammu is chiefly remembered today for his legal code, the Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest known surviving example in the world.
Year-names are known for 17 of Ur-Nammu's 18 years, but their order is uncertain. One year-name of his reign records the devastation of Gutium, while two years seem to commemorate his legal reforms: "Year in which Ur-Nammu the king put in order the ways (of the people in the country) from below to above", and "Year Ur-Nammu made justice in the land".
Among his military exploits were the conquest of Lagash and the defeat of his former masters at Uruk. He was eventually recognized as a significant regional ruler (of Ur, Eridu, and Uruk) at a coronation in Nippur, and is believed to have constructed buildings at Nippur, Larsa, Kish, Adab, and Umma. He was known for restoring the roads and general order after the Gutian period.
wn.com/Ur-Nammu
RELEASE
ALBUMS
- Allah Yamolana (Allah, Our Lord!)
- Amana (Oh Dear!)
- Kulli Da Kan Leh (All This, Why?)
- Mani Sihit (I Shouted)
- Ya Munyati! (My Wish!)
- Huboub Ashimal (North Wind)
- Salamat (High!)
- A Medley From Lebanon
- Habibi (My Darling)
- Lamma Bada (When He Showed Up)
- N'ayma
- B'ad (Away)
- Che Mali Wali (I'm Helpless)
- Hiyya
Send this Playlist by SMS
Email this Page
Sumerians and the Anunnaki. Presentation By Zecharia Sitchin (FULL)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 111:48
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
This is a Presentation by the late and Great Zecharia Sitchin about his over 70 years of reseach. Zecharia Sitchin (July 11, 1920 -- October 9, 2010) was an Azerbaijani-born American author of books promoting an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the Anunnaki, which he states was a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune called Nibiru. He believed this hypothetical planet of Nibiru to be in an elongated, elliptical orbit in the Earth's own Solar System, asserting that Sumerian mythology reflects this view. Sitchin's books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 26 languages www.sitchin.com http If you want to know some facts about the Anunnaki or facts about 2012 have a look at this site.. www.2012returnofnibiru.com
http://wn.com/Sumerians_and_the_Anunnaki_Presentation_By_Zecharia_Sitchin_FULL
This is a Presentation by the late and Great Zecharia Sitchin about his over 70 years of reseach. Zecharia Sitchin (July 11, 1920 -- October 9, 2010) was an Azerbaijani-born American author of books promoting an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the Anunnaki, which he states was a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune called Nibiru. He believed this hypothetical planet of Nibiru to be in an elongated, elliptical orbit in the Earth's own Solar System, asserting that Sumerian mythology reflects this view. Sitchin's books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 26 languages www.sitchin.com http If you want to know some facts about the Anunnaki or facts about 2012 have a look at this site.. www.2012returnofnibiru.com
Mesopotamia (Sumerians, first civilization on earth)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:35
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Mesopotamia_Sumerians,_first_civilization_on_earth
Enki Sumerian Tablet Translation Ch.1- 1 of 6
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:51
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
This is a video series, if you want to purchase "The Lost Book of Enki, by mr. Zecharia Sitchin" to anyone who is interested in this story, Thank You www.amazon.com etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk Heres the current translations were they stand. I just can't praise this video enough. Thank you for taking the time to create this video from the Lost Book of Enki. And I must congratulate you on your exquisite taste in music. Fernando Sor was a masterful composer and guitarist. The second song is, of course, Recuerdos De La Alhambra, composed by Francisco Tárrega. 5 stars Mon Am Thetablets were found in what's now modern day Iraq. Famous locations where a lot of tablets in ancient libraries were found: Sippar, Nippur and Nineveh. Sitchin used well over 800 Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian sources for this collection. He named this bundle of tablets he selected 'The Lost Book of Enki'. Soundtrack-Fernando-Sor,-op60no22
http://wn.com/Enki_Sumerian_Tablet_Translation_Ch1_1_of_6
This is a video series, if you want to purchase "The Lost Book of Enki, by mr. Zecharia Sitchin" to anyone who is interested in this story, Thank You www.amazon.com etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk Heres the current translations were they stand. I just can't praise this video enough. Thank you for taking the time to create this video from the Lost Book of Enki. And I must congratulate you on your exquisite taste in music. Fernando Sor was a masterful composer and guitarist. The second song is, of course, Recuerdos De La Alhambra, composed by Francisco Tárrega. 5 stars Mon Am Thetablets were found in what's now modern day Iraq. Famous locations where a lot of tablets in ancient libraries were found: Sippar, Nippur and Nineveh. Sitchin used well over 800 Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian sources for this collection. He named this bundle of tablets he selected 'The Lost Book of Enki'. Soundtrack-Fernando-Sor,-op60no22
- published: 22 Oct 2008
- views: 175251
- author: squibblejack
Ancient Sumerian Astronomy
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:25
- Updated: 28 Nov 2012
Ancient Sumerian Astronomy
http://wn.com/Ancient_Sumerian_Astronomy
Atlantis Code: Ancient links between Sumer and the Maya - Journey through lost civilizations
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 86:34
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
Presented by Edward Alexander of www.Maggador.com Just as we discover that the further we go into the substructure of atomic particles, the more dimensions there are and the less we seem to know, the same is true of ancient history. The more we learn of ancient people, and even the origins of the human race itself, the less it seems we know, and the more we fear to discover. Exploring the connection between Sumer and the Maya. A lecture by Jonathan Barlow Gee in 8 parts pre-Sumeria, Sumeria's God, Sumeria's Satan, pre-Maya, pre-Deluge, ancient pantheon, 2012, and Pacal Votan and the Arecibo message.
http://wn.com/Atlantis_Code_Ancient_links_between_Sumer_and_the_Maya_Journey_through_lost_civilizations
Presented by Edward Alexander of www.Maggador.com Just as we discover that the further we go into the substructure of atomic particles, the more dimensions there are and the less we seem to know, the same is true of ancient history. The more we learn of ancient people, and even the origins of the human race itself, the less it seems we know, and the more we fear to discover. Exploring the connection between Sumer and the Maya. A lecture by Jonathan Barlow Gee in 8 parts pre-Sumeria, Sumeria's God, Sumeria's Satan, pre-Maya, pre-Deluge, ancient pantheon, 2012, and Pacal Votan and the Arecibo message.
- published: 03 Sep 2012
- views: 13496
- author: pleiadiantalk
Sumer, The first Civilization from Wikipedia
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:36
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
Wikipedia
http://wn.com/Sumer,_The_first_Civilization_from_Wikipedia
Phenomenon zecharia sitchkin The Lost Archives annunaki sumerian gods Genesis Revisited .avi
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 46:14
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
documentary with zecharia sitchkin about nibiru,annunaki the sumerians and mankinds re-discovery of ancient knowledge already known by the sumerians and written on there tablets.
http://wn.com/Phenomenon_zecharia_sitchkin_The_Lost_Archives_annunaki_sumerian_gods_Genesis_Revisited_avi
documentary with zecharia sitchkin about nibiru,annunaki the sumerians and mankinds re-discovery of ancient knowledge already known by the sumerians and written on there tablets.
- published: 02 Dec 2011
- views: 125181
- author: The101enigma
The Great Flood - Sumerian Version
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:49
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
The 1st recorded version of the Great Flood found in Sumerian Cuneiform stone tablet.
http://wn.com/The_Great_Flood_Sumerian_Version
The 1st recorded version of the Great Flood found in Sumerian Cuneiform stone tablet.
- published: 08 Oct 2006
- views: 175464
- author: jason martell
Sumerian History, Mythology, Prophecy
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:21
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
Ancient sumerian cumeiform, the first known writing and civilization with agriculture, astronomy and mythology... Planet x Nibiru, Anunnaki, Prophecy www.planetxvideo.com
http://wn.com/Sumerian_History,_Mythology,_Prophecy
Ancient sumerian cumeiform, the first known writing and civilization with agriculture, astronomy and mythology... Planet x Nibiru, Anunnaki, Prophecy www.planetxvideo.com
- published: 17 Feb 2010
- views: 63462
- author: clixster
Sumerian Origin of Humans - edited (1)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:53
- Updated: 21 Nov 2012
Sumer (Akkadian: Šumeru; Sumerian: KI-EN-GIR, "Land of the Lords of Brightness", or "land of the Sumerian tongue" possibly Biblical Shinar), located in southern Mesopotamia, is one of the earliest known civilizations in the world. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (late 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC. The term "Sumerian" applies to all speakers of the Sumerian language. Sumer is widely considered to be the earliest settled society in the world to have manifested all of the features associated with civilization, with the development of writing, possibly as early as 5500 years ago.
http://wn.com/Sumerian_Origin_of_Humans_edited_1
Sumer (Akkadian: Šumeru; Sumerian: KI-EN-GIR, "Land of the Lords of Brightness", or "land of the Sumerian tongue" possibly Biblical Shinar), located in southern Mesopotamia, is one of the earliest known civilizations in the world. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (late 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC. The term "Sumerian" applies to all speakers of the Sumerian language. Sumer is widely considered to be the earliest settled society in the world to have manifested all of the features associated with civilization, with the development of writing, possibly as early as 5500 years ago.
- published: 18 Apr 2008
- views: 119544
- author: marcoyoga
Sumerians and the Anunnaki 1/5 Genesis revisited
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:49
- Updated: 30 Nov 2012
This information in these videos are taken from the ancient Sumerian cuneiform texts. These text are one the oldest writings on the face of the earth and have the tales of mankind. Furthermore if you study and look into the 7 tablets of Creation, the Enuma Elish, The Eros Epos, The epic of Gilgamesh;These stories depict what has been written in the bible but far older than the bible. The Stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Noah, The tower of Babel, Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah. Check out the Sumerian cuneiform texts after the video and start researching about this fantastic information that we are now able to to acknowledge.
http://wn.com/Sumerians_and_the_Anunnaki_1_5_Genesis_revisited
This information in these videos are taken from the ancient Sumerian cuneiform texts. These text are one the oldest writings on the face of the earth and have the tales of mankind. Furthermore if you study and look into the 7 tablets of Creation, the Enuma Elish, The Eros Epos, The epic of Gilgamesh;These stories depict what has been written in the bible but far older than the bible. The Stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Noah, The tower of Babel, Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah. Check out the Sumerian cuneiform texts after the video and start researching about this fantastic information that we are now able to to acknowledge.
- published: 24 Dec 2009
- views: 70787
- author: enki35
Gods of Sumer: Anunnaki of Planet X Nibiru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:41
- Updated: 04 Oct 2012
Gods of Sumeria: Anunnaki of Planet X Nibiru Sumerian history reveals ancient astronauts and genetic tempering with human DNA
http://wn.com/Gods_of_Sumer_Anunnaki_of_Planet_X_Nibiru
Gods of Sumeria: Anunnaki of Planet X Nibiru Sumerian history reveals ancient astronauts and genetic tempering with human DNA
- published: 16 May 2008
- views: 31780
- author: anunnaki101y
Aliens & possiblity (Sumerians/ Nibiru) Michio Kaku
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:53
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
Cut clips from previous videos on youtube (under 5 mins)Also look up the drake equation. Did this for GA Southern University project English 101.
http://wn.com/Aliens_possiblity_Sumerians_Nibiru_Michio_Kaku
Cut clips from previous videos on youtube (under 5 mins)Also look up the drake equation. Did this for GA Southern University project English 101.
- published: 09 Dec 2008
- views: 400253
- author: Dngle13erry
The Truth About Nibiru and Sumerian Cylinder Seals
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 33:10
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
In memory of the late Mr Zecharia Sitchin the Late Dr Robert Harrington and the Late Dr. Carl Sagan. Dr Carl Sagan once wrote about the Sumerian Cylinder Seals and I quote "The illustrations on the cylinder seals have for this reason generally defied attempts to understand them in detail. They refer to mythological material otherwise lost... In each, there is a clear representation of some celestial object--a central circle, or sphere, surrounded by other, generally smaller circles or spheres." End of Quote. Dr Harrington`s NASA Archives Research adsbit.harvard.edu Facts on Nibiru or Planet X xfacts.com Ancient Alien Artifacts - Xfacts.com www.youtube.com A Tribute to the late Zecharia Sitchen. offer tributes to Mr. Sitchin or to contact those handling his affairs, please email tributes@sitchin.com or send a letter to PO Box 577, New York, NY 10185. The Official Web Site of Zecharia Sitchin www.sitchin.com Zecharia Featured in The New York Times www.nytimes.com Richard Hoagland Enterprise Mission www.enterprisemission.com Historic Evidence : Robert Sepehr's research into the Earth's past geology helps to establish and demonstrate a 3600 year pattern of cataclysm on Earth. www.planetxvideo.net Noted Researchers : Researchers and Proponents www.planetxvideo.net Anunnaki/Nephalim : Who were the Anunnaki? www.planetxvideo.net Biblical Prophecy : Planet X in Biblical Prophecy www.youtube.com PX on YouTube www.planetxvideo.net Nancy Lieder www.planetxvideo.net Lloyd Pye www ...
http://wn.com/The_Truth_About_Nibiru_and_Sumerian_Cylinder_Seals
In memory of the late Mr Zecharia Sitchin the Late Dr Robert Harrington and the Late Dr. Carl Sagan. Dr Carl Sagan once wrote about the Sumerian Cylinder Seals and I quote "The illustrations on the cylinder seals have for this reason generally defied attempts to understand them in detail. They refer to mythological material otherwise lost... In each, there is a clear representation of some celestial object--a central circle, or sphere, surrounded by other, generally smaller circles or spheres." End of Quote. Dr Harrington`s NASA Archives Research adsbit.harvard.edu Facts on Nibiru or Planet X xfacts.com Ancient Alien Artifacts - Xfacts.com www.youtube.com A Tribute to the late Zecharia Sitchen. offer tributes to Mr. Sitchin or to contact those handling his affairs, please email tributes@sitchin.com or send a letter to PO Box 577, New York, NY 10185. The Official Web Site of Zecharia Sitchin www.sitchin.com Zecharia Featured in The New York Times www.nytimes.com Richard Hoagland Enterprise Mission www.enterprisemission.com Historic Evidence : Robert Sepehr's research into the Earth's past geology helps to establish and demonstrate a 3600 year pattern of cataclysm on Earth. www.planetxvideo.net Noted Researchers : Researchers and Proponents www.planetxvideo.net Anunnaki/Nephalim : Who were the Anunnaki? www.planetxvideo.net Biblical Prophecy : Planet X in Biblical Prophecy www.youtube.com PX on YouTube www.planetxvideo.net Nancy Lieder www.planetxvideo.net Lloyd Pye www ...
- published: 22 Nov 2011
- views: 9327
- author: sangstar1
Music of the Ancient World - Sumerian Music I
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:06
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Music_of_the_Ancient_World_Sumerian_Music_I
Sumerian Symbols and Nibiru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:31
- Updated: 30 Nov 2012
Sumerian Symbols and Nibiru
http://wn.com/Sumerian_Symbols_and_Nibiru
CD sumer dance 2011.wmv
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:08
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
música the time - black eyed peas. essa e outra músicas estão no cd summer dance 2011 especial de verão.
http://wn.com/CD_sumer_dance_2011wmv
música the time - black eyed peas. essa e outra músicas estão no cd summer dance 2011 especial de verão.
- published: 11 Mar 2011
- views: 35151
- author: Edsonmacena23
Sumer eletro rits 6 He
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:00
- Updated: 16 Nov 2012
Sumer eletro rits 6 He
http://wn.com/Sumer_eletro_rits_6_He
The Sumerian and Annunaki update1.2 english
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:46
- Updated: 16 Oct 2012
The Anunnaki (also transcribed as: Anunnaku, Ananaki) are a group of Sumerian and Akkadian deities related to, and in some cases overlapping with, the Annuna (the 'Fifty Great Gods') and the Igigi (minor gods). The name is variously written "da-nuna", "da-nuna-ke4-ne", or "da-nun-na", meaning something to the effect of 'those of royal blood'[1] or 'princely offspring'[2] or "heaven and earth" (Anu-na-ki) The Annunaki appear in the Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish. In the late version magnifying Marduk, after the creation of mankind, Marduk divides the Anunnaki and assigns them to their proper stations, three hundred in heaven, three hundred on the earth.[3] In gratitude, the Annunaki, the "Great Gods", built Esagila, the splendid: "They raised high the head of Esagila equaling Apsu. Having built a stage-tower as high as Apsu, they set up in it an abode for Marduk, Enlil, Ea." Then they built their own shrines. According to later Babylonian myth, the Anunnaki were the children of Anu and Ki, brother and sister gods, themselves the children of Anshar and Kishar (Skypivot and Earthpivot, the Celestial poles). Anshar and Kishar were the children of Lahm and Lahmu ("the muddy ones"), names given to the gatekeepers of the Abzu temple at Eridu, the site at which the creation was thought to have occurred. The head of the Anunnaki council was the Great Anu, (rather than being just a sky god, Anu in Sumerian actually means "sky"), of Uruk and the other members were his ...
http://wn.com/The_Sumerian_and_Annunaki_update12_english
The Anunnaki (also transcribed as: Anunnaku, Ananaki) are a group of Sumerian and Akkadian deities related to, and in some cases overlapping with, the Annuna (the 'Fifty Great Gods') and the Igigi (minor gods). The name is variously written "da-nuna", "da-nuna-ke4-ne", or "da-nun-na", meaning something to the effect of 'those of royal blood'[1] or 'princely offspring'[2] or "heaven and earth" (Anu-na-ki) The Annunaki appear in the Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish. In the late version magnifying Marduk, after the creation of mankind, Marduk divides the Anunnaki and assigns them to their proper stations, three hundred in heaven, three hundred on the earth.[3] In gratitude, the Annunaki, the "Great Gods", built Esagila, the splendid: "They raised high the head of Esagila equaling Apsu. Having built a stage-tower as high as Apsu, they set up in it an abode for Marduk, Enlil, Ea." Then they built their own shrines. According to later Babylonian myth, the Anunnaki were the children of Anu and Ki, brother and sister gods, themselves the children of Anshar and Kishar (Skypivot and Earthpivot, the Celestial poles). Anshar and Kishar were the children of Lahm and Lahmu ("the muddy ones"), names given to the gatekeepers of the Abzu temple at Eridu, the site at which the creation was thought to have occurred. The head of the Anunnaki council was the Great Anu, (rather than being just a sky god, Anu in Sumerian actually means "sky"), of Uruk and the other members were his ...
- published: 21 Jan 2010
- views: 10816
- author: Maximus8598095
David Icke - The Sumerian Alien Origin
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 18:36
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
David Icke 2011 - The Sumerian Alien Origin
http://wn.com/David_Icke_The_Sumerian_Alien_Origin
David Icke 2011 - The Sumerian Alien Origin
- published: 13 Jul 2011
- views: 127105
- author: 2Freedom4all
FATHERS of CIVILIZATION.. The Sumerian Melanites of Nibiru
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:30
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
FATHERS to CIVILIZATION.. ( IN UNDER 5-1/2 minutes) the Nubiruan/Sumerians, fathers to the Babylonians, Persians, mongols, romans kemetians etc.
http://wn.com/FATHERS_of_CIVILIZATION_The_Sumerian_Melanites_of_Nibiru
FATHERS to CIVILIZATION.. ( IN UNDER 5-1/2 minutes) the Nubiruan/Sumerians, fathers to the Babylonians, Persians, mongols, romans kemetians etc.
- published: 13 Feb 2008
- views: 145314
- author: TheMelaniteSociety
Sumer EletroHits 6 --- 01 This Time
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:18
- Updated: 11 Nov 2012
Sumer EletroHits 6 --- 01 This Time
http://wn.com/Sumer_EletroHits_6_--_01_This_Time
CoastToCoastAM - The Annunaki & Sumer Sumerians - Coast AM - Zecharia Sitchin *2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 154:20
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
Watch *NEW* Forensic Evidence Here!: www.youtube.com The Anunnaki (also transcribed as: Anunna, Anunnaku, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures (ie, Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian). The name is variously written "da-nuna", "da-nuna-ke4-ne", or "da-nun-na", meaning something to the effect of "those of royal blood"[1] or 'princely offspring'.[2] Their relation to the group of gods known as the Igigi is unclear — at times the names are used synonymously but in the Atra-Hasis flood myth the Igigi have to work for the Anunnaki, rebelling after 40 days and replaced by the creation of humans.[3] Jeremy Black and Anthony Green offer a slightly different perspective on the Igigi and the Anunnaki, writing that "lgigu or Igigi is a term introduced in the Old Babylonian Period as a name for the (ten) "great gods". While it sometimes kept that sense in later periods, from Middle Assyrian and Babylonian times on it is generally used to refer to the gods of heaven collectively, just as the term Anunnakku (Anuna) was later used to refer to the gods of the underworld. In the Epic of Creation, it is said that there are 300 lgigu of heaven."[4] The Anunnaki appear in the Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish.[5] In the late version magnifying Marduk, after the creation of mankind, Marduk divides the Anunnaki and assigns them to their proper stations, three hundred in heaven, three hundred on the earth. In gratitude, the Anunnaki ...
http://wn.com/CoastToCoastAM_The_Annunaki_Sumer_Sumerians_Coast_AM_Zecharia_Sitchin_*2012
Watch *NEW* Forensic Evidence Here!: www.youtube.com The Anunnaki (also transcribed as: Anunna, Anunnaku, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures (ie, Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian). The name is variously written "da-nuna", "da-nuna-ke4-ne", or "da-nun-na", meaning something to the effect of "those of royal blood"[1] or 'princely offspring'.[2] Their relation to the group of gods known as the Igigi is unclear — at times the names are used synonymously but in the Atra-Hasis flood myth the Igigi have to work for the Anunnaki, rebelling after 40 days and replaced by the creation of humans.[3] Jeremy Black and Anthony Green offer a slightly different perspective on the Igigi and the Anunnaki, writing that "lgigu or Igigi is a term introduced in the Old Babylonian Period as a name for the (ten) "great gods". While it sometimes kept that sense in later periods, from Middle Assyrian and Babylonian times on it is generally used to refer to the gods of heaven collectively, just as the term Anunnakku (Anuna) was later used to refer to the gods of the underworld. In the Epic of Creation, it is said that there are 300 lgigu of heaven."[4] The Anunnaki appear in the Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish.[5] In the late version magnifying Marduk, after the creation of mankind, Marduk divides the Anunnaki and assigns them to their proper stations, three hundred in heaven, three hundred on the earth. In gratitude, the Anunnaki ...
- published: 22 Aug 2012
- views: 27489
- author: Forensic Evidence
photo: AP / Carolyn Kaster
20 Dec 2012
Obama held a White House news conference on Wednesday to announce that Vice President Joe Biden will lead an interagency effort to craft new gun policies. The group is expected to offer its proposals in January. “We know this is a complex issue that stirs deeply held passions and political divides,” Obama said. “But the fact that this problem is complex can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing.” ... WAKE-UP CALL ... ....(size: 6.1Kb)
photo: AP / Charles Krupa
18 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Most people reason dramatically, not quantitatively." -Oliver Wendell Holmes. On the same day that a 20-year-old, described as brilliant but remote, walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and massacred 26 children and adults, the school where I teach went on "lock-down." Four students with a handgun were arrested ... That morning before school, he had posted on Twitter and Facebook....(size: 14.0Kb)
photo: Creative Commons / Joachim Huber
18 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. When a Stanford geneticist, Gerald Crabtree, published a provocative and controversial new view on evolutionary change, namely that humans are actually getting dumber, he should have also added that humans are still developing an extermination gene ... Paleontologist Tim Flannery would more than likely agree with Crabtree ... Strange strings of gravel also overlaid some bones ... (1) Kane, Alex ... 195....(size: 9.4Kb)
photo: AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
19 Dec 2012
WASHINGTON. US President Barack Obama backs a new bill to revive an assault weapons ban and other new gun laws, the White House said Tuesday, fleshing out his nascent response to a shocking school massacre. Obama also called an ardently pro-gun senator who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut and has begun meeting top cabinet officials to consider his options, his spokesman Jay Carney said ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)
photo: AP / Mohammad Hannon
19 Dec 2012
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she accepts the findings of an independent panel that faulted the State Department over the deadly September attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya. An inquiry into the attack on the US mission, which saw the US ambassador and three other US citizens killed, found that the State Department security arrangements there were "grossly inadequate" ... 390 Source. ... Share ... Jaws ... Anaheim....(size: 19.2Kb)
Business Journal
21 Dec 2012
Galen Moore Web Editor- Boston Business Journal Email . Twitter. Niche Inc., a New Bedford, Mass. company that makes cargo parachutes and other equipment for the U.S ... Niche laid off about 400 people in April, then rehired about 300 over the sumer to complete existing federal contracts, the New Bedford Standard-Times site SouthCoastToday reports ... The 360 face pink slips in February ... Related links.. New Bedford. Industries. ... ... ....(size: 11.6Kb)
The Times of India
17 Dec 2012
The Times of India
17 Dec 2012
KANPUR. The menace of stray cattle claimed the life of a senior citizen in the city here on Monday ... Kallu's abdomen was ripped open in the process and he was rendered unconscious. The victim's sons Sumer and Kanhaiyya reached the spot and rushed him to a nearby hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead-on-arrival ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
The Times of India
15 Dec 2012
INDORE ... General secretary of Congress also an alumnus of Daly College, Digvijay Singh, was the chief guest ... He also thanked his teachers at the occasion for the important role being played by them ... Principal of Daly College, Sumer Singh, praised the students for their achievement making a point to name all of them in a row as part of his speech ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)
LA Daily News
15 Dec 2012
By Brian Sumers Staff Writerdailybreeze.com. Posted. 12/14/2012 05.55.19 PM PST. Federal authorities displayed some of the numerous counterfeit items intercepted this week at a Los Angeles-area cargo processing facility as part of Operation Holiday Hoax, an international effort targeting the importation and distribution of counterfeit goods. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer). Photo Gallery....(size: 2.0Kb)
Deccan Herald
14 Dec 2012
True or false?. Take it from Anderson Cooper. Always wear shades ... It is essentially sunburn of the surface epithelium of the cornea, said Dr Anne Sumers of Ridgewood Ophthalmology in New Jersey ... Sumers said the condition is painful, but heals within a couple days with medication “and reassurance that permanent damage will not be done.” ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
Business Wire
12 Dec 2012
“We are delighted to have found professional office space in beautiful Bergen County, New Jersey, which positions us for growth and supports our mission of saving enterprise clients money on telecom and technology investments,” said Sumer Shankardass, CEO of Avotus ... Mayor Linda Schwager commented, “We are thrilled that Avotus has chosen Oakland for its US Headquarters ... The details for the new headquarters are below ... Avotus Corporation ....(size: 6.5Kb)
LA Daily News
11 Dec 2012
Deccan Herald
11 Dec 2012
The New York Times
10 Dec 2012
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR. Really?. Anahad O’Connor tackles health myths. THE FACTS. Take it from Anderson Cooper. Always wear shades. Last week, Mr ... What Mr ... Anne Sumers of Ridgewood Ophthalmology in New Jersey ... Dr. Sumers said the condition is painful, but heals within a couple days with medication “and reassurance that permanent damage will not be done.” ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
Houston Chronicle
10 Dec 2012
Winter Solstice and Christmas traditions, where did they come from?. Monday, December 10, 2012. Comments. .. E-mail. .. Print. Photo by Zechariah Judy. In America today, the mention of Christmas conjures many images for us all ... Christ’s birthday ... Since both were sister civilizations, with Sumer being the oldest, and the written accounts are found within each, it is hard to say which one started them ... The Christmas – Yule Tree ...
Sumer (from Akkadian Šumeru; Sumerian 𒆠𒂗𒂠 ki-en-ĝir15, approximately "land of the civilized lords" or "native land"[note 1])[1] was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Although the earliest historical records in the region do not go back much further than ca. 2900 BC, modern historians have asserted that Sumer was first settled between ca. 4500 and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic people who possibly did not speak the Sumerian language (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc. as evidence).[2] These conjectured, prehistoric people are now called "proto-Euphrateans" or " Ubaidians",[3] and are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia.[4][5][6][7] The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery.[3] However, some, such as Piotr Michalowski and Gerd Steiner, contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language.
Sumerian civilization took form in the Uruk period (4th millennium BC), continuing into the Jemdat Nasr and Early Dynastic periods. It was conquered by the Semitic-speaking kings of the Akkadian Empire around 2270 BC (short chronology). Native Sumerian rule re-emerged for about a century in the third dynasty of Ur (Sumerian Renaissance) of the 21st to 20th centuries BC. The cities of Sumer were the first civilization to practice intensive, year-round agriculture, by perhaps c. 5000 BC showing the use of core agricultural techniques, including large-scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and the use of a specialized labour force. The surplus of storable food created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place, instead of migrating after crops and grazing land. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labour force and division of labour. Sumer was also the site of early development of writing, progressing from a stage of proto-writing in the mid 4th millennium BC to writing proper in the third millennium (see Jemdet Nasr period).
Contents |
Origin of name[link]
The term "Sumerian" is the common name given to the ancient non-Semitic inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia, Sumer, by the Semitic Akkadians. The Sumerians referred to themselves as ùĝ saĝ gíg-ga (cuneiform: 𒌦 𒊕 𒈪 𒂵), phonetically uŋ saŋ giga, literally meaning "the black-headed people".[8] The Akkadian word Shumer may represent the geographical name in dialect, but the phonological development leading to the Akkadian term šumerû is uncertain.[1][9] Biblical Shinar, Egyptian Sngr and Hittite Šanhar(a) could be western variants of Shumer.[9]
City-states[link]
Further information: Cities of the Ancient Near East and Geography of Mesopotamia
.svg)
By the late 4th millennium BC, Sumer was divided into about a dozen independent city-states, which were divided by canals and boundary stones. Each was centered on a temple dedicated to the particular patron god or goddess of the city and ruled over by a priestly governor (ensi) or by a king (lugal) who was intimately tied to the city's religious rites.
|
The five "first" cities said to have exercised pre-dynastic kingship:
Other principal cities:
(1location uncertain) |
Minor cities (from south to north):
(2an outlying city in northern Mesopotamia) |
Apart from Mari, which lies full 330 km (205 mi) northwest of Agade, but which is credited in the king list as having “exercised kingship” in the Early Dynastic II period, and Nagar, an outpost, these cities are all in the Euphrates-Tigris alluvial plain, south of Baghdad in what are now the Bābil, Diyala, Wāsit, Dhi Qar, Basra, Al-Muthannā and Al-Qādisiyyah governorates of Iraq.
History[link]
Main article: History of Sumer
The Sumerian city states rose to power during the prehistorical Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumerian written history reaches back to the 27th century BC and before, but the historical record remains obscure until the Early Dynastic III period, ca. the 23rd century BC, when a now deciphered syllabary writing system was developed, which has allowed archaeologists to read contemporary records and inscriptions. Classical Sumer ends with the rise of the Akkadian Empire in the 23rd century BC. Following the Gutian period, there is a brief "Sumerian renaissance" in the 21st century BC, cut short in the 20th century BC by Semitic Amorite invasions. The Amorite "dynasty of Isin" persisted until ca. 1700 BC, when Mesopotamia was united under Babylonian rule. The Sumerians were eventually absorbed into the Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population.
- Ubaid period: 5300 – 4100 BC (Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic)
- Uruk period: 4100 – 2900 BC (Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age I)
- Uruk XIV-V: 4100 – 3300 BC
- Uruk IV period: 3300 – 3000 BC
- Jemdet Nasr period (Uruk III): 3000 – 2900 BC
- Early Dynastic period (Early Bronze Age II-IV)
- Early Dynastic I period: 2900–2800 BC
- Early Dynastic II period: 2800–2600 BC (Gilgamesh)
- Early Dynastic IIIa period: 2600–2500 BC
- Early Dynastic IIIb period: ca. 2500–2334 BC
- Akkadian Empire period: ca. 2334–2218 BC (Sargon)
- Gutian period: ca. 2218–2047 BC (Early Bronze Age IV)
- Ur III period: ca. 2047–1940 BC
Ubaid period[link]
Main article: Ubaid period
The Ubaid period is marked by a distinctive style of fine quality painted pottery which spread throughout Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. During this time, the first settlement in southern Mesopotamia was established at Eridu, ca. 5300 BC, by farmers who brought with them the Hadji Muhammed culture, which first pioneered irrigation agriculture. It appears this culture was derived from the Samarran culture from northern Mesopotamia. It is not known whether or not these were the actual Sumerians who are identified with the later Uruk culture. Eridu remained an important religious center when it was gradually surpassed in size by the nearby city of Uruk. The story of the passing of the "me" (gifts of civilisation) to Innana, Goddess of Uruk and of Love and War, by Enki, God of Wisdom and chief God of Eridu, may reflect this shift in hegemony.[11] It appears that this early culture was an amalgam of three distinct cultural influences: peasant farmers, living in wattle and daub or clay brick houses and practicing irrigation agriculture, hunter-fishermen living in woven reed houses and living on floating islands in the marshes (Proto-Sumerians), and Proto-Akkadian nomadic pastoralists, living in black tents.[12]
Uruk period[link]
Main article: Uruk period
The archaeological transition from the Ubaid period to the Uruk period is marked by a gradual shift from painted pottery domestically produced on a slow wheel to a great variety of unpainted pottery mass-produced by specialists on fast wheels.
By the time of the Uruk period (ca. 4100–2900 BC calibrated), the volume of trade goods transported along the canals and rivers of southern Mesopotamia facilitated the rise of many large, stratified, temple-centered cities (with populations of over 10,000 people) where centralized administrations employed specialized workers. It is fairly certain that it was during the Uruk period that Sumerian cities began to make use of slave labor captured from the hill country, and there is ample evidence for captured slaves as workers in the earliest texts. Artifacts, and even colonies of this Uruk civilization have been found over a wide area—from the Taurus Mountains in Turkey, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and as far east as Central Iran.[13]
The Uruk period civilization, exported by Sumerian traders and colonists (like that found at Tell Brak), had an effect on all surrounding peoples, who gradually evolved their own comparable, competing economies and cultures. The cities of Sumer could not maintain remote, long-distance colonies by military force.[13]
Sumerian cities during the Uruk period were probably theocratic and were most likely headed by a priest-king (ensi), assisted by a council of elders, including both men and women.[14] It is quite possible that the later Sumerian pantheon was modeled upon this political structure. There was little evidence of institutionalized violence or professional soldiers during the Uruk period, and towns were generally unwalled. During this period Uruk became the most urbanised city in the world, surpassing for the first time 50,000 inhabitants.
| Notable Sumerians | |
|---|---|
| Pre-dynastic kings: | Alulim • Dumuzid, the Shepherd • En-men-dur-ana |
| 1st Dynasty of Kish: | Etana • En-me-barage-si • Aga of Kish |
| 1st Dynasty of Uruk: | Enmerkar • Lugalbanda • Gilgamesh |
| 1st Dynasty of Ur: | Meskalamdug • Mesh-Ane-pada • Puabi • Mesilim of Kish |
| 2nd Dynasty of Uruk: | En-shag-kush-ana |
| 1st Dynasty of Lagash: | Ur-Nanshe • Eannatum • Entemena • Urukagina |
| Dynasty of Adab: | Lugal-Ane-mundu |
| 3rd Dynasty of Kish: | Kug-Bau |
| 3rd Dynasty of Uruk: | Lugal-zage-si |
| Dynasty of Akkad: | Sargon • Tashlultum • En-hedu-ana • Man-ishtishu • Naram-Sin of Akkad • Shar-kali-sharri • Dudu of Akkad • Shu-Durul |
| 2nd Dynasty of Lagash: | Puzer-Mama • Gudea |
| 5th Dynasty of Uruk: | Utu-hengal |
| 3rd dynasty of Ur: | Ur-Namma • Shulgi • Amar-Suena • Shu-Suen • Ibbi-Suen |
The ancient Sumerian king list includes the early dynasties of several prominent cities from this period. The first set of names on the list is of kings said to have reigned before a major flood occurred. These early names may be fictional, and include some legendary and mythological figures, such as Alulim and Dumizid.[15]
The end of the Uruk period coincided with the Piora oscillation, a dry period from c. 3200–2900 BC that marked the end of a long wetter, warmer climate period from about 9,000 to 5,000 years ago, called the Holocene climatic optimum.[16]
Early Dynastic Period[link]
The Dynastic period begins ca. 2900 BC and includes such legendary figures as Enmerkar and Gilgamesh—who are supposed to have reigned shortly before the historic record opens ca. 2700 BC, when the now deciphered syllabic writing started to develop from the early pictograms. The center of Sumerian culture remained in southern Mesopotamia, even though rulers soon began expanding into neighboring areas, and neighboring Semitic groups adopted much of Sumerian culture for their own.
The earliest Dynastic king on the Sumerian king list whose name is known from any other legendary source is Etana, 13th king of the first Dynasty of Kish. The earliest king authenticated through archaeological evidence is Enmebaragesi of Kish (ca. 26th century BC), whose name is also mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic—leading to the suggestion that Gilgamesh himself might have been a historical king of Uruk. As the Epic of Gilgamesh shows, this period was associated with increased violence. Cities became walled, and increased in size as undefended villages in southern Mesopotamia disappeared. (Gilgamesh is credited with having built the walls of Uruk).
1st Dynasty of Lagash[link]
 |
This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability. |
Main article: Lagash
ca. 2500–2270 BC
The dynasty of Lagash, though omitted from the king list, is well attested through several important monuments and many archaeological finds.
Although short-lived, one of the first empires known to history was that of Eannatum of Lagash, who annexed practically all of Sumer, including Kish, Uruk, Ur, and Larsa, and reduced to tribute the city-state of Umma, arch-rival of Lagash. In addition, his realm extended to parts of Elam and along the Persian Gulf. He seems to have used terror as a matter of policy—his Stele of the Vultures has been found, showing violent treatment of enemies. His empire collapsed shortly after his death. He is notable for the policy of having deliberately introduced the use of "terror" as a weapon against his enemies.
Later, Lugal-Zage-Si, the priest-king of Umma, overthrew the primacy of the Lagash dynasty in the area, then conquered Uruk, making it his capital, and claimed an empire extending from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. He was the last ethnically Sumerian king before the arrival of the Semitic king, Sargon of Akkad.
Akkadian Empire[link]
Main article: Akkadian Empire
ca. 2270–2083 BC (short chronology)
The Semitic Akkadian language is first attested in proper names of the kings of Kish ca. 2800 BC,[17] preserved in later king lists. There are texts written entirely in Old Akkadian dating from ca. 2500 BC. Use of Old Akkadian was at its peak during the rule of Sargon the Great (ca. 2270–2215 BC), but even then most administrative tablets continued to be written in Sumerian, the language used by the scribes. Gelb and Westenholz differentiate three stages of Old Akkadian: that of the pre-Sargonic era, that of the Akkadian empire, and that of the "Neo-Sumerian Renaissance" that followed it. Speakers of Akkadian and Sumerian coexisted for about one thousand years, until ca. 1800 BC, when Sumerian ceased to be spoken. Thorkild Jacobsen has argued that there is little break in historical continuity between the pre- and post-Sargon periods, and that too much emphasis has been placed on the perception of a "Semitic vs. Sumerian" conflict.[18] However, it is certain that Akkadian was also briefly imposed on neighboring parts of Elam that were previously conquered by Sargon.
Gutian period[link]
Main article: Gutian dynasty of Sumer
ca. 2083–2050 BC (short chronology)
2nd Dynasty of Lagash[link]
Main article: Lagash
ca. 2093–2046 BC (short chronology)
Following the downfall of the Akkadian Empire at the hands of Gutians, another native Sumerian ruler, Gudea of Lagash, rose to local prominence and continued the practices of the Sargonid kings' claims to divinity. Like the previous Lagash dynasty, Gudea and his descendents also promoted artistic development and left a large number of archaeological artifacts. After the fall of their empire, the Akkadians themselves essentially coalesced into two states; Babylon in the south and Assyria in the north of Mesopotamia.
Sumerian Renaissance[link]
Main article: Sumerian renaissance
ca. 2047–1940 BC (short chronology)
Later, the 3rd dynasty of Ur under Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, whose power extended as far as northern Mesopotamia, was the last great "Sumerian renaissance", but already the region was becoming more Semitic than Sumerian, with the rise in power of the Akkadian speaking Semites and the influx of waves of Semitic Martu (Amorites) who were later to found the Babylonian Empire. The Sumerian language, however, remained a sacerdotal language taught in schools in Babylon and Assyria, in the same way that Latin was used in the Medieval period, for as long as cuneiform was utilised.
Decline[link]
This period is generally taken to coincide with a major shift in population from southern Mesopotamia toward the north. Ecologically, the agricultural productivity of the Sumerian lands was being compromised as a result of rising salinity. Soil salinity in this region had been long recognized as a major problem. Poorly drained irrigated soils, in an arid climate with high levels of evaporation, led to the buildup of dissolved salts in the soil, eventually reducing agricultural yields severely. During the Akkadian and Ur III phases, there was a shift from the cultivation of wheat to the more salt-tolerant barley, but this was insufficient, and during the period from 2100 BC to 1700 BC, it is estimated that the population in this area declined by nearly three fifths.[19] This greatly weakened the balance of power within the region, weakening the areas where Sumerian was spoken, and comparatively strengthening those where Akkadian was the major language. Henceforth Sumerian would remain only a literary and liturgical language, similar to the position occupied by Latin in medieval Europe.
Following an Elamite invasion and sack of Ur during the rule of Ibbi-Sin (ca. 1940 BC), Sumer came under Amorite rule (taken to introduce the Middle Bronze Age). The independent Amorite states of the 20th to 18th centuries are summarized as the "Dynasty of Isin" in the Sumerian king list, ending with the rise of Babylonia under Hammurabi ca. 1700 BC.
During the third millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.[20] The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence.[20] This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium as a sprachbund.[20]
Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate),[21] but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia (Babylonia and Assyria) until the 1st century AD.[22]
Population[link]
The Sumerians were a non-Semitic people, and spoke a language isolate; a number of linguists believed they could detect a substrate language beneath Sumerian, names of some of Sumer's major cities are not Sumerian, revealing influences of earlier inhabitants.[23] However, the archaeological record shows clear uninterrupted cultural continuity from the time of the Early Ubaid period (5300 – 4700 BC C-14) settlements in southern Mesopotamia. The Sumerian people who settled here farmed the lands in this region that were made fertile by silt deposited by the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers.
It is speculated by some archaeologists that Sumerian speakers were farmers who moved down from the north, after perfecting irrigation agriculture there [note there is no consensus among scholars on the origins of the Sumerians]. The Ubaid pottery of southern Mesopotamia has been connected via Choga Mami Transitional ware to the pottery of the Samarra period culture (c. 5700 – 4900 BC C-14) in the north, who were the first to practice a primitive form of irrigation agriculture along the middle Tigris River and its tributaries. The connection is most clearly seen at Tell Awayli (Oueilli, Oueili) near Larsa, excavated by the French in the 1980s, where 8 levels yielded pre-Ubaid pottery resembling Samarran ware. Farming peoples spread down into southern Mesopotamia because they had developed a temple-centered social organization for mobilizing labor and technology for water control, enabling them to survive and prosper in a difficult environment.[citation needed]
Others have suggested a continuity of Sumerians, from the indigenous hunter-fisherfolk traditions, associated with the Arabian bifacial assemblages found on the Arabian litorial. The Sumerians themselves claimed kinship with the people of Dilmun, associated with Bahrein in the Persian Gulf. Juris Yarins has suggested that they may have been the people living in the region of the Persian Gulf before it flooded at the end of the Ice Age.[citation needed]
Culture[link]
Social and family life[link]
In the early Sumerian period (i.e. Uruk), the primitive pictograms suggest[24] that
- "Pottery was very plentiful, and the forms of the vases, bowls and dishes were manifold; there were special jars for honey, butter, oil and wine, which was probably made from dates, and one form of vase had a spout protruding from its side. Some of the vases had pointed feet, and stood on stands with crossed legs ; others were flat-bottomed, and were set on square or rectangular frames of wood. The oil-jars - and probably others also - were sealed with clay, precisely as in early Egypt. Vases and dishes of stone were made in imitation of those of clay, and baskets were woven of reeds or formed of leather."
- "A feathered head-dress was worn on the head. Beds, stools and chairs were used, with carved legs resembling those of an ox. There were fire-places and fire-altars, and apparently chimneys also."
- "Knives, drills, wedges and an instrument which looks like a saw were all known, while spears, bows, arrows and daggers (but not swords) were employed in war."
- "Tablets were used for writing purposes, and copper, gold and silver were worked by the smith. Daggers with metal blades and wooden handles were worn, and copper was hammered into plates, while necklaces or collars were made of gold."
- "Time was reckoned in lunar months."
There is considerable evidence that the Sumerians loved music, which seems to have been an important part of religious and civic life in Sumer. Lyres were popular in Sumer.[citation needed]
Inscriptions describing the reforms of king Urukagina of Lagash (ca. 2300 BC) say that he abolished the former custom of polyandry in his country, by which a woman who took multiple husbands was stoned with rocks upon which her crime had been written.[25]
Though women were protected by late Sumerian law and were able to achieve a higher status in Sumer than in other contemporary civilizations, the culture was male-dominated. The Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest such codification yet discovered, dating to the Ur-III "Sumerian Renaissance", reveals a glimpse at societal structure in late Sumerian law. Beneath the lu-gal ("great man" or king), all members of society belonged to one of two basic strata: The "lu" or free person, and the slave (male, arad; female geme). The son of a lu was called a dumu-nita until he married. A woman (munus) went from being a daughter (dumu-mi), to a wife (dam), then if she outlived her husband, a widow (numasu) who could remarry.
Language and writing[link]
Main articles: Sumerian language and Cuneiform
The most important archaeological discoveries in Sumer are a large number of tablets written in cuneiform. Sumerian writing is the oldest example of writing on earth. Although pictures - that is, hieroglyphs were first used, symbols were later made to represent syllables. Triangular or wedge-shaped reeds were used to write on moist clay. A large body of hundreds of thousands of texts in the Sumerian language have survived, such as personal or business letters, receipts, lexical lists, laws, hymns, prayers, stories, daily records, and even libraries full of clay tablets. Monumental inscriptions and texts on different objects like statues or bricks are also very common. Many texts survive in multiple copies because they were repeatedly transcribed by scribes-in-training. Sumerian continued to be the language of religion and law in Mesopotamia long after Semitic speakers had become the ruling race. The Sumerian language is generally regarded as a language isolate in linguistics because it belongs to no known language family; Akkadian, by contrast belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages. There have been many failed attempts to connect Sumerian to other language groups. It is an agglutinative language; in other words, morphemes ("units of meaning") are added together to create words, unlike analytic languages where morphemes are purely added together to create sentences.
Understanding Sumerian texts today can be problematic even for experts.[citation needed] Most difficult are the earliest texts, which in many cases do not give the full grammatical structure of the language.
During the third millennium BC, they developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.[20] The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence.[20] This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium as a sprachbund.[20]
Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC,[21] but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Babylonia and Assyria until the 1st century AD.
Religion[link]
Main article: Sumerian religion
There was no organized set of gods; each city-state had its own patrons, temples, and priest-kings. The Sumerians were probably the first to write down their beliefs, which were the inspiration for much of later Mesopotamian mythology, religion, and astrology.
The Sumerians worshipped:[citation needed]
- Anu as the full time god, equivalent to "heaven" - indeed, the word "an" in Sumerian means "sky" and his consort Ki, means "Earth".
- Enki in the south at the temple in Eridu. Enki was the god of beneficence, ruler of the freshwater depths beneath the earth, a healer and friend to humanity who in Sumerian myth was thought to have given humans the arts and sciences, the industries and manners of civilization; the first law-book was considered his creation,
- Enlil, lord of the ghost-land, in the north at the temple of Nippur. His gifts to mankind were said to be the spells and incantations that the spirits of good or evil were compelled to obey,
- Inanna, the deification of Venus, the morning (eastern) and evening (western) star, at the temple (shared with An) at Uruk.
- The sun-god Utu at Ur,
- The moon god Nanna at Sippar.
These deities were probably the original matrix;[citation needed] there were hundreds of minor deities. The Sumerian gods thus had associations with different cities, and their religious importance often waxed and waned with those cities' political power. The gods were said to have created human beings from clay for the purpose of serving them. If the temples/gods ruled each city it was for their mutual survival and benefit—the temples organized the mass labor projects needed for irrigation agriculture. Citizens had a labor duty to the temple which they were allowed to avoid by a payment of silver only towards the end of the third millennium. The temple-centered farming communities of Sumer had a social stability that enabled them to survive for four millennia.
Sumerians believed that the universe consisted of a flat disk enclosed by a tin dome. The Sumerian afterlife involved a descent into a gloomy netherworld to spend eternity in a wretched existence as a Gidim (ghost).[26]
Ziggurats (Sumerian temples) consisted of a forecourt, with a central pond for purification.[citation needed] The temple itself had a central nave with aisles along either side. Flanking the aisles would be rooms for the priests. At one end would stand the podium and a mudbrick table for animal and vegetable sacrifices. Granaries and storehouses were usually located near the temples. After a time the Sumerians began to place the temples on top of multi-layered square constructions built as a series of rising terraces, giving rise to the Ziggurat style.[citation needed]
Agriculture and hunting[link]
By 5000 BC the Sumerians had developed core agricultural techniques including large-scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and the use of a specialized labour force, particularly along the waterway now known as the Shatt al-Arab, from its Persian Gulf delta to the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates.[citation needed] The surplus of storable food created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and grazing land. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and division of labor. This organization led to the development of writing (ca. 3500 BC).
The Sumerians adopted an agricultural mode of life. In the early Sumerian period (i.e. Uruk), the primitive pictograms suggest that "The sheep, goat, ox and probably ass had been domesticated, the ox being used for draught, and woollen clothing as well as rugs were made from the wool or hair of the two first. ... By the side of the house was an enclosed garden planted with trees and other plants ; wheat and probably other cereals were sown in the fields, and the shaduf was already employed for the purpose of irrigation. Plants were also grown in pots or vases."[24]
The Sumerians practiced the same irrigation techniques as those used in Egypt.[27] American anthropologist Robert McCormick Adams says that irrigation development was associated with urbanization,[28] and that 89% of the population lived in the cities.[29]
They grew barley, chickpeas, lentils, wheat, dates, onions, garlic, lettuce, leeks and mustard. They also raised cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. They used oxen as their primary beasts of burden and donkeys or equids as their primary transport animal. Sumerians caught many fish and hunted fowl and gazelle.[30]
Sumerian agriculture depended heavily on irrigation. The irrigation was accomplished by the use of shadufs, canals, channels, dykes, weirs, and reservoirs. The frequent violent floods of the Tigris, and less so, of the Euphrates, meant that canals required frequent repair and continual removal of silt, and survey markers and boundary stones continually replaced. The government required individuals to work on the canals in a corvee, although the rich were able to exempt themselves.
After the flood season and after the Spring Equinox and the Akitu or New Year Festival, using the canals, farmers would flood their fields and then drain the water. Next they let oxen stomp the ground and kill weeds. They then dragged the fields with pickaxes. After drying, they plowed, harrowed, and raked the ground three times, and pulverized it with a mattock, before planting seed. Unfortunately the high evaporation rate resulted in a gradual increase in the salinity of the fields. By the Ur III period, farmers had switched from wheat to the more salt-tolerant barley as their principal crop.
Sumerians harvested during the spring in three-person teams consisting of a reaper, a binder, and a sheaf handler.[31] The farmers would use threshing wagons to separate the cereal heads from the stalks and then use threshing sleds to disengage the grain. They then winnowed the grain/chaff mixture.
Architecture[link]
The Tigris-Euphrates plain lacked minerals and trees. Sumerian structures were made of plano-convex mudbrick, not fixed with mortar or cement. Mud-brick buildings eventually deteriorate, so they were periodically destroyed, leveled, and rebuilt on the same spot. This constant rebuilding gradually raised the level of cities, which thus came to be elevated above the surrounding plain. The resultant hills, known as tells, are found throughout the ancient Near East.
According to Archibald Sayce, the primitive pictograms of the early Sumerian (i.e. Uruk) era suggest that "Stone was scarce, but was already cut into blocks and seals. Brick was the ordinary building material, and with it cities, forts, temples and houses were constructed. The city was provided with towers and stood on an artificial platform; the house also had a tower-like appearance. It was provided with a door which turned on a hinge, and could be opened with a sort of key ; the city gate was on a larger scale, and seems to have been double. The foundation stones - or rather bricks - of a house were consecrated by certain objects that were deposited under them."[24]
The most impressive and famous of Sumerian buildings are the ziggurats, large layered platforms which supported temples. Some scholars[who?] have theorized that these structures might have been the basis of the Tower of Babel described in Genesis. Sumerian cylinder seals also depict houses built from reeds not unlike those built by the Marsh Arabs of Southern Iraq until as recently as 400 AD. The Sumerians also developed the arch, which enabled them to develop a strong type of roof called a dome. They built this by constructing several arches. Sumerian temples and palaces made use of more advanced materials and techniques,[citation needed] such as buttresses, recesses, half columns, and clay nails.
Mathematics[link]
Main article: Babylonian mathematics
The Sumerians developed a complex system of metrology c. 4000 BC. This metrology advanced resulting in the creation of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra. From 2600 BC onwards, the Sumerians wrote multiplication tables on clay tablets and dealt with geometrical exercises and division problems. The earliest traces of the Babylonian numerals also date back to this period.[32] The period 2700–2300 BC saw the first appearance of the abacus, and a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their sexagesimal number system.[33] The Sumerians were the first to use a place value numeral system. There is also anecdotal evidence the Sumerians may have used a type of slide rule in astronomical calculations. They were the first to find the area of a triangle and the volume of a cube.[34]
Economy and trade[link]
Discoveries of obsidian from far-away locations in Anatolia and lapis lazuli from Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan, beads from Dilmun (modern Bahrain), and several seals inscribed with the Indus Valley script suggest a remarkably wide-ranging network of ancient trade centered around the Persian Gulf.
The Epic of Gilgamesh refers to trade with FAR lands for goods such as wood that were scarce in Mesopotamia. In particular, cedar from Lebanon was prized. The finding of resin in the tomb of Queen Puabi at Ur, was traded from as far away as Mozambique.
The Sumerians used slaves, although they were not a major part of the economy. Slave women worked as weavers, pressers, millers, and porters.
Sumerian potters decorated pots with cedar oil paints. The potters used a bow drill to produce the fire needed for baking the pottery. Sumerian masons and jewelers knew and made use of alabaster (calcite), ivory, iron, gold, silver, carnelian, and lapis lazuli.[35]
Military[link]
|
This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability. |
Early chariots on the Standard of Ur, ca. 2600 BC.
The almost constant wars among the Sumerian city-states for 2000 years helped to develop the military technology and techniques of Sumer to a high level. The first war recorded was between Lagash and Umma in ca. 2525 BC on a stele called the Stele of Vultures.[citation needed] It shows the king of Lagash leading a Sumerian army consisting mostly of infantry. The infantrymen carried spears, wore copper helmets and carried leather or wicker shields. The spearmen are shown arranged in what resembles the phalanx formation, which requires training and discipline; this implies that the Sumerians may have made use of professional soldiers.
The Sumerian military used carts harnessed to onagers. These early chariots functioned less effectively in combat than did later designs, and some have suggested that these chariots served primarily as transports, though the crew carried battle-axes and lances. The Sumerian chariot comprised a four or two-wheeled device manned by a crew of two and harnessed to four onagers. The cart was composed of a woven basket and the wheels had a solid three-piece design.
Sumerian cities were surrounded by defensive walls. The Sumerians engaged in siege warfare between their cities, but the mudbrick walls were able to deter some foes.
Technology[link]
Examples of Sumerian technology include: the wheel, cuneiform, arithmetic and geometry, irrigation systems, Sumerian boats, lunisolar calendar, bronze, leather, saws, chisels, hammers, braces, bits, nails, pins, rings, hoes, axes, knives, lancepoints, arrowheads, swords, glue, daggers, waterskins, bags, harnesses, armor, quivers, war chariots, scabbards, boots, sandals, harpoons, and beer. The Sumerians had three main types of boats:[citation needed]
- clinker-built sailboats stitched together with hair, featuring bitumen waterproofing
- skin boats constructed from animal skins and reeds
- wooden-oared ships, sometimes pulled upstream by people and animals walking along the nearby banks
Legacy[link]
Evidence of wheeled vehicles appeared in the mid 4th millennium BC, near-simultaneously in Mesopotamia, the Northern Caucasus (Maykop culture) and Central Europe. The wheel initially took the form of the potter's wheel. The new concept quickly led to wheeled vehicles and mill wheels. The Sumerians' cuneiform writing system is the oldest which has been deciphered (the status of older inscriptions such as the Vinča signs and the even older Jiahu symbols is controversial). The Sumerians were among the first astronomers, mapping the stars into sets of constellations, many of which survived in the zodiac and were also recognized by the ancient Greeks.[36] They were also aware of the five planets that are visible to the naked eye.[37]
They invented and developed arithmetic by using several different number systems including a mixed radix system with an alternating base 10 and base 6. This sexagesimal system became the standard number system in Sumer and Babylonia. They may have invented military formations and introduced the basic divisions between infantry, cavalry, and archers. They developed the first known codified legal and administrative systems, complete with courts, jails, and government records. The first true city states arose in Sumer, roughly contemporaneously with similar entities in what is now Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Several centuries after the invention of cuneiform, the use of writing expanded beyond debt/payment certificates and inventory lists to be applied for the first time, about 2600 BC, to messages and mail delivery, history, legend, mathematics, astronomical records, and other pursuits. Conjointly with the spread of writing, the first formal schools were established, usually under the auspices of a city-state's primary temple.
Finally, the Sumerians ushered in the age of intensive agriculture and irrigation. Emmer wheat, barley, sheep (starting as mouflon), and cattle (starting as aurochs) were foremost among the species cultivated and raised for the first time on a grand scale.
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ ĝir15 means "native, local", in some contexts is "noble"(ĝir NATIVE (7x: Old Babylonian) from The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary). Literally, "land of the native (local, noble) lords". Stiebing (1994) has "Land of the Lords of Brightness" (William Stiebing, Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture). Postgate (1994) takes en as substituting eme "language", translating "land of the Sumerian tongue" (John Nicholas Postgate (1994). Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History. Routledge (UK). . Postgate believes it likely that eme, 'tongue', became en, 'lord', through consonantal assimilation.)
Citations[link]
- ^ a b "Sumerian Questions and Answers". Sumerian.org. http://www.sumerian.org/sumerfaq.htm#s37. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
- ^ Bertman, Stephen (2003). Handbook to life in ancient Mesopotamia. Facts on File. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-8160-4346-0. http://books.google.com/?id=3bX3HYm5YMAC&pg=PA143&dq=Sumer+first+settled+language#v=onepage&q=Sumer%20first%20settled%20language&f=false.
- ^ a b "Sumer (ancient region, Iraq)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/573176/Sumer. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
- ^ Kleniewski, Nancy; Thomas, Alexander R (2010-03-26). Cities, Change, and Conflict: A Political Economy of Urban Life. ISBN 978-0-495-81222-7. http://books.google.com/?id=dWuQ70MtnIQC&pg=PA51&dq=samarra+culture#v=snippet&q=%22As%20the%20Samarra%20culture%20spread%20south%2C%20it%20evolved%20into%20the%20Ubaid%20culture%22&f=false.
- ^ Maisels, Charles Keith (1993). The Near East: Archaeology in the "Cradle of Civilization". ISBN 978-0-415-04742-5. http://books.google.com/?id=tupSM5y9yEkC&pg=PA139&dq=samarra+culture#v=onepage&q=%22cultural%20descendants%20of%20the%20originating%20Samarran%20culture%22&f=false.
- ^ Maisels, Charles Keith (2001). Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China. ISBN 978-0-415-10976-5. http://books.google.com/?id=i7_hcCxJd9AC&pg=PA147&dq=ubaid+samarra#v=snippet&q=%22Ubaid%200%20is%20thus%20clearly%20derived%20from%20the%20earliest%20culture%20to%20move%20into%20lower%20mesopotamia%2C%20the%20Samarra%22&f=false.
- ^ Shaw, Ian; Jameson, Robert (2002). A dictionary of archaeology. ISBN 978-0-631-23583-5. http://books.google.com/?id=zmvNogJO2ZgC&pg=PA505&dq=samarra+culture#v=onepage&q=%22similar%20to%20those%20of%20the%20ubaid%20period%22&f=false.
- ^ W. Hallo, W. Simpson (1971). The Ancient Near East. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. p. 28.
- ^ a b K. van der Toorn, P. W. van der Horst (Jan 1990). "Nimrod before and after the Bible". The Harvard Theological Review 83 (1): 1–29.
- ^ Stanley A. Freed, Research Pitfalls as a Result of the Restoration of Museum Specimens, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 376, The Research Potential of Anthropological Museum Collections pages 229–245, December 1981.
- ^ Wolkstein, Dianna and Kramer, Samuel Noah "Innana: Queen of Heaven and Earth".
- ^ Leick, Gwendolyn (2001), "Mespotamia: the Invention of the City" (Allen Lane)
- ^ a b Algaze, Guillermo (2005) "The Uruk World System: The Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization", (Second Edition, University of Chicago Press)
- ^ Jacobsen, Thorkild (Ed) (1939),"The Sumerian King List" (Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago; Assyriological Studies, No. 11.)
- ^ Jacobsen, Thorkild (1939) "Sumerian King List" (Univ of Chicago)
- ^ Lamb, Hubert H. (1995). Climate, History, and the Modern World. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12735-1
- ^ Roux, Georges "Ancient Iraq" (Penguin Harmondsworth)
- ^ Toward the Image of Tammuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and Culture by T. Jacobsen
- ^ Thompson, William R.; Hay, ID (2004). "Complexity, Diminishing Marginal Returns and Serial Mesopotamian Fragmentation" (PDF). Journal of World Systems Research 28 (12): 1187–98. DOI:10.1007/s00268-004-7605-z. PMID 15517490. http://jwsr.ucr.edu/archive/vol10/number3/pdf/jwsr-v10n3-thompson.pdf.
- ^ a b c d e f Deutscher, Guy (2007). Syntactic Change in Akkadian: The Evolution of Sentential Complementation. Oxford University Press US. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-19-953222-3. http://books.google.com/?id=XFwUxmCdG94C.
- ^ a b Woods C. 2006 “Bilingualism, Scribal Learning, and the Death of Sumerian”. In S.L. Sanders (ed) Margins of Writing, Origins of Culture: 91-120 Chicago
- ^ Campbell, Lyle; Mauricio J. Mixco (2007). A glossary of historical linguistics. Edinburgh University Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-7486-2379-2.
- ^ Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat (30 September 1998). Daily life in ancient Mesopotamia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-313-29497-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=lbmXsaTGNKUC&pg=PA13. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- ^ a b c Sayce, Rev. A. H. (1908). The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions" (2nd revised ed.). London, Brighton, New York: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. pp. 98-100. http://www.archive.org/stream/archaeologyofcun00sayc/archaeologyofcun00sayc_djvu.txt.
- ^ Gender and the Journal: Diaries and Academic Discourse p. 62 by Cinthia Gannett, 1992
- ^ "Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia". Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=pr8-i1iFnIQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
- ^ Mackenzie, Donald Alexander (1927). Footprints of Early Man. Blackie & Son Limited.
- ^ Adams, R. McC. (1981). Heartland of Cities. University of Chicago Press.
- ^ http://cniss.wustl.edu/workshoppapers/gatpres2a.pdf[dead link]
- ^ Tannahill, Reay (1968). The fine art of food. Folio Society. [page needed]
- ^ By the sweat of thy brow: Work in the Western world, Melvin Kranzberg, Joseph Gies, Putnam, 1975
- ^ Duncan J. Melville (2003). Third Millennium Chronology, Third Millennium Mathematics. St. Lawrence University.
- ^ Ifrah 2001:11
- ^ Anderson, Marlow; Wilson, Robin J. (October 14, 2004). "Sherlock Holmes in Babylon: and other tales of mathematical history". Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=BKRE5AjRM3AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sherlock+holmes+in+babylon&sig=ACfU3U2XZtiWSoTgchQhcKHQD95X3F-35Q#PPA7,M1. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
- ^ Diplomacy by design: Luxury arts and an "international style" in the ancient Near East, 1400-1200 BCE, Marian H. Feldman, University of Chicago Press, 2006, pp. 120-121
- ^ Gary Thompson. "History of Constellation and Star Names". Members.optusnet.com.au. http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gtosiris/page11-4.html. Retrieved 2012-03-29. [unreliable source]
- ^ "Sumerian Questions and Answers". Sumerian.org. http://www.sumerian.org/sumerfaq.htm#s39. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
Further reading[link]
-
- Ascalone, Enrico. 2007. Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians (Dictionaries of Civilizations; 1). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-25266-7 (paperback).
- Bottéro, Jean, André Finet, Bertrand Lafont, and George Roux. 2001. Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Edingurgh: Edinburgh University Press, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Crawford, Harriet E. W. 2004. Sumer and the Sumerians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Leick, Gwendolyn. 2002. Mesopotamia: Invention of the City. London and New York: Penguin.
- Lloyd, Seton. 1978. The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: From the Old Stone Age to the Persian Conquest. London: Thames and Hudson.
- Nemet-Nejat, Karen Rhea. 1998. Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. London and Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
- Kramer, Samuel Noah (1963). The Sumerians: Their History, Culture and Character. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-45238-7.
- Kramer, Samuel Noah. Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium BC.
- Kramer, Samuel Noah. The Sumerians : Their History, Culture, and Character.
- Roux, Georges. 1992. Ancient Iraq, 560 pages. London: Penguin (earlier printings may have different pagination: 1966, 480 pages, Pelican; 1964, 431 pages, London: Allen and Urwin).
- Schomp, Virginia. Ancient Mesopotamia: The Sumerians, Babylonians, And Assyrians.
- Sumer: Cities of Eden (Timelife Lost Civilizations). Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1993 (hardcover, ISBN 0-8094-9887-1).
- Woolley, C. Leonard. 1929. The Sumerians. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
External links[link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sumer |
- Ancient Sumer History --- The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium
- Iraq’s Ancient Past — Penn Museum
- Geography
- Map of The Fertile Crescent
- The History Files Ancient Mesopotamia
- Language
- Sumerian Language Page, perhaps the oldest Sumerian website on the web (it dates back to 1996), features compiled lexicon, detailed FAQ, extensive links, and so on.
- ETCSL: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature has complete translations of more than 400 Sumerian literary texts.
- PSD: The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary, while still in its initial stages, can be searched on-line, from August 2004.
- CDLI: Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative a large corpus of Sumerian texts in transliteration, largely from the Early Dynastic and Ur III periods, accessible with images.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
http://wn.com/Sumer
Related pages:
http://de.wn.com/Sumer
http://es.wn.com/Sumeria
http://ru.wn.com/Шумер
http://cs.wn.com/Sumer
http://pt.wn.com/Suméria
http://pl.wn.com/Sumer
http://hi.wn.com/सुमेर
http://it.wn.com/Sumeri
http://id.wn.com/Sumeria
http://nl.wn.com/Sumer
http://fr.wn.com/Sumer
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
"Twelfth planet" redirects here. For other uses, see Twelfth planet (disambiguation).
"Nibiru (hypothetical planet)" redirects here. For the "Nibiru" of the 2012 phenomenon, see Nibiru cataclysm.
| Zecharia Sitchin | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | July 11, 1920 Baku, Azerbaijan SSR |
| Died | October 9, 2010( 2010-10-09) (aged 90) New York, New York |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics, University of London |
| Known for | Ancient astronauts |
| Website | |
| http://www.sitchin.com/ | |
Zecharia Sitchin (July 11, 1920 – October 9, 2010[1]) was an Azerbaijani-born American author of books proposing an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the Anunnaki, which he states was a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune called Nibiru. He believed this hypothetical planet of Nibiru to be in an elongated, elliptical orbit in the Earth's own Solar System, asserting that Sumerian mythology reflects this view. Sitchin's books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 25 languages.
Sitchin's ideas were rejected by scientists and academics, who dismiss his work as pseudoscience and pseudohistory. Sitchin's work has been criticized for flawed methodology and mistranslations of ancient texts as well as for incorrect astronomical and scientific claims.[2]
Contents |
Early life[link]
Sitchin was born in the then Azerbaijan SSR of the Soviet Union, but was raised in Palestine. He received a degree in economics from the University of London, and was an editor and journalist in Israel, before moving to New York in 1952. While working as an executive for a shipping company, he taught himself Sumerian cuneiform and visited several archaeological sites.[3][4]
Ideas and works[link]
 |
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010) |
Similarly to earlier authors such as Immanuel Velikovsky and Erich von Däniken, Sitchin advocated hypotheses in which extraterrestrial events supposedly played a significant role in ancient human history.
According to Sitchin's interpretation of Mesopotamian iconography and symbology, outlined in his 1976 book The 12th Planet and its sequels, there is an undiscovered planet beyond Neptune that follows a long, elliptical orbit, reaching the inner solar system roughly every 3,600 years. This planet is called Nibiru (although Jupiter was the planet associated with the god Marduk in Babylonian cosmology).[5] According to Sitchin, Nibiru (whose name was replaced with MARDUK in original legends by the Babylonian ruler of the same name in an attempt to co-opt the creation for himself, leading to some confusion among readers) collided catastrophically with Tiamat (a goddess in the Babylonian creation myth the Enûma Eliš), which he considers to be another planet once located between Mars and Jupiter. This collision supposedly formed the planet Earth, the asteroid belt, and the comets. Sitchin states that when struck by one of planet Nibiru's moons, Tiamat split in two, and then on a second pass Nibiru itself struck the broken fragments and one half of Tiamat became the asteroid belt. The second half, struck again by one of Nibiru's moons, was pushed into a new orbit and became today's planet Earth.
According to Sitchin, Nibiru (called "the twelfth planet" because, Sitchin claimed, the Sumerians' gods-given conception of the Solar System counted all eight planets, plus Pluto, the Sun and the Moon) was the home of a technologically advanced human-like extraterrestrial race called the Anunnaki in Sumerian myth, who Sitchin states are called the Nephilim in Genesis. He wrote that they evolved after Nibiru entered the solar system and first arrived on Earth probably 450,000 years ago, looking for minerals, especially gold, which they found and mined in Africa. Sitchin states that these "gods" were the rank-and-file workers of the colonial expedition to Earth from planet Nibiru.
Sitchin wrote that Enki suggested that to relieve the Anunnaki, who had mutinied over their dissatisfaction with their working conditions, that primitive workers (Homo sapiens) be created by genetic engineering as slaves to replace them in the gold mines by crossing extraterrestrial genes with those of Homo erectus.[6][7] According to Sitchin, ancient inscriptions report that the human civilization in Sumer, Mesopotamia, was set up under the guidance of these "gods", and human kingship was inaugurated to provide intermediaries between mankind and the Anunnaki (creating the "divine right of kings" doctrine). Sitchin believes that fallout from nuclear weapons, used during a war between factions of the extraterrestrials, is the "evil wind" described in the Lament for Ur that destroyed Ur around 2000 BC. Sitchin states the exact year is 2024 BC.[8] Sitchin says that his research coincides with many biblical texts, and that biblical texts come originally from Sumerian writings.
Popularity[link]
Since the release of his first book The 12th Planet in 1976, now in its 45th printing, Zecharia Sitchin has written seven other books as part of his Earth Chronicles series, as well as six other companion books, all of which are still in print as of 2010[update]. Sitchin's books have sold millions of copies worldwide and been published in more than 25 languages, as well as in braille.[9] New York Times reporter Corey Kilgannon noted that despite academic dismissal of his work, Sitchin has "a devoted following of readers".[3]
Critic Michael Heiser called Sitchin "arguably the most important proponent of the ancient astronaut hypothesis over the last several decades".[10] Sitchin was a frequent guest on the Coast to Coast AM radio show, which in 2010 presented Sitchin with a life-time achievement award.[11] Gods of the New Millennium author Alan F. Alford admits he initially became "infatuated" with Sitchin's hypotheses but later became a critic of Sitchin's interpretations of myth.[12]
According to some writers, Sitchin's ideas along with those of Erich von Däniken may have influenced the beliefs of the religious sect of Raëlism,[13][14] and writer Mark Pilkington sees the mythology of Japan's Pana Wave religious group as rooted in Sitchins The 12th Planet and its sequels.[15]
The 1994 movie Stargate, directed by Roland Emmerich, and the 2009 video game The Conduit drew some conceptual inspiration from Sitchin's ideas,[16][17] while screenwriter Roberto Orci says the villains of the film Cowboys and Aliens were inspired by Sitchin's conceptualization of the Anunnaki as gold-mining aliens.[18]
Criticisms[link]
Criticism of Sitchin's work falls primarily into three categories: translations and interpretations of ancient texts; astronomical and scientific observations; and literalism of myth.
Translations and interpretations[link]
When Sitchin wrote his books, only specialists could read the Sumerian language. However, sources such as the 2006 book Sumerian Lexicon[19] have made the language more accessible to non-experts. Ancient language scholar Michael S. Heiser[20] states he has found many inaccuracies in Sitchin's translations and challenges interested parties to use this book to check their validity.[15][21] Prof. Ronald H. Fritze,[22] author of the book Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions,[22] mentions the example of Sitchin's claim that the Sumerian sign Din-Gir means "pure ones of the blazing rockets", adding that "Sitchin's assignment of meanings to ancient words is tendentious and frequently strained."[23] Fritze also commented on Sitchin's methodology, writing that "When critics have checked Sitchin's references, they have found that he frequently quotes out of context or truncates his quotes in a way that distorts evidence in order to prove his contentions. Evidence is presented selectively and contradictory evidence is ignored."[23]
Sitchin bases his arguments on his personal interpretations of pre-Nubian and Sumerian texts, and the seal VA 243. Sitchin wrote that these ancient civilizations knew of a twelfth planet, when in fact they only knew five.[24] Hundreds of Sumerian astronomical seals and calendars have been decoded and recorded, and the total count of planets on each seal has been five. Seal VA 243 has 12 dots that Sitchin identifies as planets. When translated, seal VA 243 reads "You're his Servant" which is now thought to be a message from a nobleman to a servant. According to semitologist Michael S. Heiser, the so-called sun on Seal VA 243 is not the Sumerian symbol for the sun but is a star, and the dots are also stars.[24][25] The symbol on seal VA 243 has no resemblance to the hundreds of documented Sumerian sun symbols.
In a 1979 review of The Twelfth Planet, Roger W. Wescott,[26] Prof. of Anthropology and Linguistics at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, noted Sitchin's amateurishness with respect to the primacy of the Sumerian language:
Sitchin's linguistics seems at least as amateurish as his anthropology, biology, and astronomy. On p. 370, for example, he maintains that "all the ancient languages . . . including early Chinese . . . stemmed from one primeval source -- Sumerian". Sumerian, of course, is the virtual archetype of what linguistic taxonomists call a language-isolate, meaning a language that does not fall into any of the well-known language-families or exhibit clear cognation with any known language. Even if Sitchin is referring to written rather than to spoken language, it is unlikely that his contention can be persuasively defended, since Sumerian ideograms were preceded by the Azilian and Tartarian signaries of Europe as well as by a variety of script-like notational systems between the Nile and Indus rivers.[27]
Astronomical and scientific observations[link]
Sitchin's "planetary collision" view does superficially resemble a theory by modern astronomers—the giant impact theory of the Moon's formation about 4.5 billion years ago by a body impacting with the newly-formed Earth. However, Sitchin's proposed series of rogue planetary collisions differ in both details and timing. As with Immanuel Velikovsky's earlier Worlds in Collision thesis, Sitchin states that he has found evidence of ancient human knowledge of rogue celestial motions in a variety of mythological accounts. In Velikovsky's case, these interplanetary collisions were supposed to have taken place within the span of human existence, whereas for Sitchin these occurred during the early stages of planetary formation, but entered the mythological account passed down via the alien race which purportedly evolved on Nibiru after these encounters.
While Sitchin's scenario for the creation of the Solar System is hard to reconcile with the Earth's current small orbital eccentricity of only 0.0167, Sitchin's supporters maintain that it would explain much of Earth's peculiar early geography due to cleaving from the celestial collision, i.e., solid continents on one side and a giant ocean on the other.[citation needed]
According to former Immanuel Velikovsky assistant turned prolific critic,[28] C. Leroy Ellenberger,[28] "[Sitchin states that] from an equal start, the Nefilim evolved on Nibiru 45 million years ahead of comparable development on Earth with its decidedly more favorable environment. Such an outcome is unlikely, to say the least, since Nibiru would spend over 99% of its time beyond Pluto. Sitchin's explanation that heat from radioactive decay and a thick atmosphere keep Nibiru warm is absurd and does not address the problem of darkness in deep space. Also unexplained is how the Nefilim, who evolved long after Nibiru arrived, knew what happened when Nibiru first entered the solar system."[29]
The scenario outlined by Sitchin, with Nibiru returning to the inner solar system regularly every 3,600 years,
. . . implies an orbit with a semi-major axis of 235 astronomical units, extending from the asteroid belt to twelve times farther beyond the sun than Pluto. Elementary perturbation theory indicates that, under the most favorable circumstances of avoiding close encounters with other planets, no body with such an eccentric orbit would keep the same period for two consecutive passages. Within twelve orbits the object would be either ejected or converted to a short period object. Thus, the failed search for a trans-Plutonian planet by T.C. Van Flandern, of the U.S. Naval Observatory, which Sitchin uses to bolster his thesis, is no support at all.[29]
Sitchin in “the case of Adam’s alien genes”[30] states that 223 unique genes found by the Human Genome Sequencing Consortium are without the required predecessors on the genomic evolutionary tree. Later researchers have argued that the conclusion from the Human Genome Sequencing Consortium cannot be drawn due to a lack of a comprehensive gene database for comparison. An analysis by Salzberg identified 40 potential genes laterally transferred into the genome from prokaryotic organisms. Salzberg also argues that gene loss combined with sample size effects and evolutionary rate variation provide an alternative, more biologically plausible explanation.[31]
Literalism of myth[link]
Peter James, co-author of the controversial book Centuries of Darkness,[32] has criticized Sitchin both for ignoring the world outside of Mesopotamia and more specifically for misunderstanding Babylonian literature:
He uses the Epic of Creation Enuma Elish as the foundation for his cosmogony, identifying the young god Marduk, who overthrows the older regime of gods and creates the Earth, as the unknown "Twelfth Planet". In order to do as he interprets the Babylonian theogony as a factual account of the birth of the other "eleven" planets. The Babylonian names for the planets are established beyond a shadow of a doubt—Ishtar was the deity of Venus, Nergal of Mars, and Marduk of Jupiter—and confirmed by hundreds of astronomical/astrological tables and treatises on clay tablets and papyri from the Hellenistic period. Sitchin merrily ignores all this and assigns unwarranted planetary identities to the gods mentioned in the theogony. For example, Apsu, attested as god of the primeval waters, becomes, of all things, the Sun! Ea, as it suits Sitchin, is sometimes planet Neptune and sometimes a spaceman. And the identity of Ishtar as the planet Venus, a central feature of Mesopotamian religion, is nowhere mentioned in the book—instead Sitchin arbitrarily assigns to Venus another deity from Enuma Elish, and reserves Ishtar for a role as a female astronaut.[33]
William Irwin Thompson comments on what he calls Sitchin's 'literalism':
What Sitchin sees is what he needs for his hypothesis. So figure 15 on page 40 is radiation therapy, and figure 71 on page 136 is a god inside a rocket-shaped chamber. If these are gods, why are they stuck with our cheap B movie technology of rockets, microphones, space-suits, and radiation therapy? If they are gods, then why can't they have some really divine technology such as intradimensional worm-hole travel, antigravity, starlight propulsion, or black hole bounce rematerializations? Sitchin has constructed what appears to be a convincing argument, but when he gets close to single images on ancient tablets, he falls back into the literalism of "Here is an image of the gods in rockets." Suddenly, ancient Sumer is made to look like the movie set for Destination Moon. Erich Von Däniken's potboiler Chariots of the Gods has the same problem. The plain of Nazca in Peru is turned into a World War II landing strip. The gods can cross galactic distances, but by the time they get to Peru, their spaceships are imagined as World War II prop jobs that need an enormous landing strip. This literalization of the imagination doesn't make any sense, but every time it doesn't, you hear Sitchin say "There can be no doubt, but..."[34]
Bibliography[link]
Earth Chronicles volumes[link]
- The 12th Planet, New York: Stein and Day, 1976
- The Stairway to Heaven, 1980, Avon Books (Bear & Company, 1992, ISBN 0-939680-89-0; Harper, 2007, ISBN 0-06-137920-4)
- The Wars of Gods and Men, 1985, Avon Books (Bear & Company, 1992, ISBN 0-939680-90-4)
- The Lost Realms, Avon Books, 1990, ISBN 0-380-75890-3
- When Time Began, 1993, (Harper, 2007, ISBN 0-06-137928-X, ISBN 978-0-06-137928-4)
- The Cosmic Code, Avon Books, 1998, ISBN 0-380-80157-4
- The End of Days: Armageddon and Prophecies of the Return, William Morrow, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-123823-9
Companion volumes[link]
- Genesis Revisited: Is Modern Science Catching Up With Ancient Knowledge?, (Avon Books, 1990, ISBN 0-380-76159-9)
- Divine Encounters: A Guide to Visions, Angels and Other Emissaries, Avon Books, 1995, ISBN 0-380-78076-3)
- The Lost Book of Enki: Memoirs and Prophecies of an Extraterrestrial god, Bear & Company, 2001, ISBN 1-59143-037-2
- The Earth Chronicles Expeditions, Bear & Company, 2004, ISBN 978-1-59143-076-6
- Journeys to the Mythical Past, Bear and Company, 2007 ISBN 978-1-59143-080-3
- The Earth Chronicles Handbook, Bear & Company, 2009, ISBN 978-1-59143-101-5
- There Were Giants Upon the Earth: Gods, Demigods, and Human Ancestry: The Evidence of Alien DNA, (Bear & Company), 2010, ISBN 978-1-59143-121-3
DVDs[link]
- Are We Alone in the Universe? (based on Genesis Revisited), documentary, 1978 (2003 DVD release)[35]
- An Evening with Zecharia Sitchin, lecture and slide presentation, 1997
- A Talk From The Heart!, lecture and slide presentation, 2006
- Signs of the Return, lecture and slide presentation, 2009
- 2012 - The End of Days?, lecture and slide presentation, 2010
- Zecharia at 90 - Farewell Address, lecture, 2010
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ "The Official Web Site of Zecharia Sitchin". Sitchin.com. http://www.sitchin.com/. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ Carroll, Robert T (1994-2009). "The Skeptic's Dictionary". Zecharia Sitchin and The Earth Chronicles. John Wiley & Sons. http://www.skepdic.com/sitchin.html. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
- ^ a b Kilgannon, Corey (January 8, 2010). "Origin of the Species, From an Alien View". New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/nyregion/10alone.html. Retrieved 29 October 2010. "Mr. Sitchin has been called silly before — by scientists, historians and archaeologists who dismiss his hypotheses as pseudoscience and fault their underpinnings — his translations of ancient texts and his understanding of physics."
- ^ Phil Plait (2003). "X DOESN'T MARK THE SPOT IS THERE A PLANET X THAT WILL CAUSE GLOBAL CATASTROPHE NEXT MAY?". Globe and Mail. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/232461161.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+05%2C+2002&author=Phil+Plait%2C+Globe+Correspondent&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=X+DOESN%27T+MARK+THE+SPOT+IS+THERE+A+PLANET+X+THAT+WILL+CAUSE+GLOBAL+CATASTROPHE+NEXT+MAY%3F&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
- ^ Jastrow, Jr., Morris (1911). Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria, G.P. Putnam's Sons: New York and London. pp. 217-219.
- ^ Sitchin, Zecharia (latest edition 2007). The Wars of Gods and Men: Book III of the Earth Chronicles. Harper. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-0-06-137927-7.
- ^ Sitchin, Zecharia (1990). Genesis Revisited. Avon. pp. 157–182, chapter "The Adam: A Slave Made to Order. ISBN 978-0-380-76159-3.
- ^ "Evil Wind web page". Sitchin.com. 2001-04-27. http://www.sitchin.com/evilwind.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "Zecharia Sitchin Biography". Parkstpress.com. 2008-11-09. http://www.parkstpress.com/community/company-blogs/1-latest/373-sitchin-bio. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ Dirk Vander Ploeg, Wainfleet, Ontario, Canada. Telephone 905 834-2177, fax 905 312-9312 e-mail publisher@ufodigest.com. "Zecharia Sitchin: Why You Can Safely Ignore Him". Ufodigest.com. http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0909/ignore-him.php. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ Coast to Coast AM - George Noory Presents Zecharia Sitchin with Award, retrieved 15 April 2010
- ^ "Alan Alford website". Eridu.co.uk. http://www.eridu.co.uk/Author/human_origins/ancient_astronauts.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ Genta, Giancarlo (2007). Lonely Minds in the Universe: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Springer. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-387-33925-2.
- ^ Colavito, Jason (2005). The cult of alien gods: H.P. Lovecraft and extraterrestrial pop culture. Prometheus. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-59102-352-4.
- ^ a b Zechariah Sitchin, Mark Pilkington, Fortean Times, August 2003.
- ^ "The Conduit's Storyline". IGN. http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/963/963610p2.html. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
- ^ Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, 2003, Stargate, Ultimate Edition, MGM DVD
- ^ Chitwood, Scott (2010-11-29). "Cowboys & Aliens Set Visit". Superhero Hype!. http://www.superherohype.com/features/articles/110995-cowboys-a-aliens-set-visit. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
- ^ Halloran, John A. (2006). Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language. The David Brown Book Company. ISBN 0-9786429-0-2.
- ^ "http://www.logos.com/academic/bio/heiser"
- ^ "http://www.sitchiniswrong.com/anunnaki/anunnaki.htm"
- ^ a b "http://www.corndancer.com/fritze/fritzebio.html"
- ^ a b Fritze, Ronald H,. (2009). Invented knowledge: false history, fake science and pseudo-religions. Reaktion Books. p214. ISBN 978-1-86189-430-4
- ^ a b "The Myth of a 12th Planet in Sumero-Mesopotamian Astronomy: A Study of Cylinder Seal VA 243 by Dr. Michael S. Heiser". Michaelsheiser.com. http://www.michaelsheiser.com/va_243%20page.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "The Myth of a 12th Planet" (PDF). http://www.michaelsheiser.com/VA243seal.pdf. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "Roger W. Wescott - The Velikovsky Encyclopedia". Velikovsky.info. http://www.velikovsky.info/Roger_W._Wescott. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ Wescott, Roger W. 1979. Kronos Vol. IV, No. 4, pp. 90-92.
- ^ a b "http://www.velikovsky.info/C._Leroy_Ellenberger"
- ^ a b Ellenberger, C. Leroy 1981. Marduk Unmasked. Frontiers of Science, May–June, pp. 3-4.
- ^ "the case of Adam's alien genes". Sitchin.com. http://www.sitchin.com/adam.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ Salzberg, Steven L. , Owen White, et al. “Microbial Genes in the Human Genome: Lateral Transfer or Gene Loss?”. Science 292.5523 (2001): 1903 – 3.
- ^ "http://www.centuries.co.uk/"
- ^ James, Peter SIS Workshop no. 7, vol. 2, no. 2 (Nov. 1979), reprinted from Fortean Times no. 27 (Nov. 1978).
- ^ Thompson, William Irwin Coming into being: artifacts and texts in the evolution of consciousness pp.75-76 [1]
- ^ Are We Alone in the Universe? at the Internet Movie Database
External links[link]
 |
Wikiversity has learning materials about Zecharia Sitchin |
- Official Website
- Kilgannon, Corey. "Origin of Species, From an Alien View", The New York Times, January 10, 2010. p. MB4.
- Zecharia Sitchin Audio Tribute on Coast to Coast AM
Criticisms[link]
- Ian Lawton's Mesopotamia Papers
- An Astronomer's View of the Akkadian Seal by Tom van Flandern
- SitchinIsWrong.com: A Polemical Website against the Theories of Zechariah Sitchin
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sitchin, Zecharia |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | American Author |
| Date of birth | July 11, 1920 |
| Place of birth | Baku |
| Date of death | October 9, 2010 |
| Place of death | New York, New York |
http://wn.com/Zecharia_Sitchin
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
http://cs.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
http://id.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
http://es.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
http://ru.wn.com/Ситчин, Захария
http://nl.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
http://pt.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
http://pl.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
http://fr.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
http://de.wn.com/Zecharia Sitchin
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zecharia_Sitchin
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: The article lacks structure and needs more background information (as well as sources).. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (December 2011) |
 |
This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (December 2011) |
|
|
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011) |
There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.
In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.[1]
The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".
The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).
Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.
As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.
Contents |
Rulers[link]
- Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
- Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
- Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
- Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
- Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
- Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
- Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
- Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
- Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
- Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
- Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
- Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
- Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
- Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
- Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
- Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
- Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
- Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
- Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
- Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
- Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
- Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
- Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
- Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
- Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
- Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
- Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
- Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
- Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse[3]
- Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
- Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
- Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
- Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
- Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
- Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea[4][5]
- Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
- Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
- Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
- Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
- Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
- Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
- Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
- Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
- Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
- John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
- John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
- Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
- Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
- Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
- Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
- Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
- Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
- Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
- Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
- Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
- Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
- Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
- Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
- Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
- Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
- Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
- Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
- Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
- K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
- Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
- Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
- Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
- Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
- Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
- Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
- Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.[6][7][8]
- Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
- Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
- Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
- Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
- Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
- Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
- Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
- Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
- Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
- Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
- Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king[9]
- Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
- Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
- Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
- Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
- Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
- Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
- Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
- Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
- Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
- Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
- Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
- Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
- Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
- Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
- Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
- Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
- Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
- William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
- William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
- Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
- Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China
Religious figures[link]
- Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
- Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
- Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
- Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
- Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
- Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
- Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
- Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
- Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
- Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
- Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
- Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
- Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
- Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
- Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
- Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
- William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites
Other[link]
- Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
- Emmy the Great, folk singer
- Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
- Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia
See also[link]
- Epithet
- List of monarchs by nickname
- List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
- James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
- Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"
Notes[link]
- ^ In a clay cylinder (online). The expression was used in a propagandistic context: the conqueror wants to show he is a normal Babylonian ruler. The first Persian ruler to use the title in an Iranian context was Darius I of Persia (Darius the Great), in the Behistun Inscription (online).
- ^ Plautus, Mostellaria 775.
- ^ History, Instituto Geografico De Agostini S.p.A., p. 479
- ^ World and Its Peoples:Korea. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. September 2008. p. 887. ISBN 0-7614-7631-8.
- ^ Alison Behnke (2004). North Korea in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 70. ISBN 0-8225-1908-9. http://books.google.com/?id=ovWvhyLc6hAC&pg=RA1-PA70&dq=%22Gwanggaeto+the+Great%22.
- ^ Sarkar, Benoy Kumar (December 1919). "An English History of India". Political Science Quarterly 34 (4): 644–653. DOI:10.2307/2142032. JSTOR 2142032. ""The finances of the state were not more centralized under Louis XIV than under Rajaraja the Great.""
- ^ "Heaven sent: Michael Wood explores the art of the Chola dynasty". Royal Academy, UK. http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ra-magazine/winter2006/features/heven-sent,47,RAMA.html. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ "The Chola Dynasty: Accession of Rajaraja, the Great". Sify.com. http://sify.com/itihaas/fullstory.php?id=13219885. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ Christoph Bluth; Gareth Schott (2007). Korea. Polity. p. 10. ISBN 0-7456-3356-0.
http://wn.com/List_of_people_known_as_The_Great
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Великий (прозвище)
http://id.wn.com/Daftar tokoh dengan gelar yang Agung
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_known_as_The_Great
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Michio Kaku 加来 道雄 |
|
|---|---|
| File:MichioKaku commons.jpg | |
| Born | (1947-01-24) January 24, 1947 (age 65) San Jose, California, United States |
| Residence | New York City, New York, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Theoretical physics |
| Institutions | City University of New York New York University Institute for Advanced Study |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (S.B., 1968) University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D., 1972) |
| Doctoral advisor | Stanley Mandelstam |
| Known for | String field theory, popular science |
 |
This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana. |
Michio Kaku (加来 道雄, Kaku Michio?, born January 24, 1947) is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, a co-founder of string field theory,[1] a futurist, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science. He has written several books about physics and related topics; he has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film; and he writes extensive online blogs and articles. He has written two New York Times best sellers, Physics of the Impossible (2008) and Physics of the Future (2011). He has hosted several TV specials for BBC-TV, the Discovery Channel, and the Science Channel.
Contents |
Early life and education[link]
Kaku was born in San Jose, California to Japanese immigrant parents. His grandfather came to the United States to take part in the clean-up operation after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake[citation needed]. His father was born in California but was educated in Japan and spoke little English. Both his parents were put in the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, where they met and where his two brothers were born.
At Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, Kaku assembled an atom smasher in his parents' garage for a science fair project.[2] At the National Science Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he attracted the attention of physicist Edward Teller, who took Kaku as a protégé, awarding him the Hertz Engineering Scholarship. Kaku graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1968 and was first in his physics class. He attended the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and received a Ph.D. in 1972, and in 1972 he held a lectureship at Princeton University.
During the Vietnam War, Kaku completed his U.S. Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and his advanced individual training at Fort Lewis, Washington.[3] However, the Vietnam War ended before he was deployed as an infantryman.
Academic career[link]
Kaku became a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton,[4] and New York University.[5] He currently holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York.[6]
Kaku has had over 70 articles published in physics journals such as Physical Review, covering topics such as superstring theory, supergravity, supersymmetry, and hadronic physics.[7] In 1974, along with Prof. Keiji Kikkawa of Osaka University, he authored the first papers describing string theory in a field form.[8][9]
Kaku is the author of several textbooks on string theory and quantum field theory.
Popular science[link]
Kaku is most widely known as a popularizer of science.[10] He has written books and appeared on many television programs as well as film. He also hosts a weekly radio program.
Books[link]
Kaku is the author of various popular science books.
- Hyperspace (1994)
- Beyond Einstein (with Jennifer Thompson) (1995)
- Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century[11] (1998)
- Einstein's Cosmos (2004)
- Parallel Worlds (2004)
- Physics of the Impossible (2008)
- Physics of the Future (2011)
Hyperspace was a best-seller and was voted one of the best science books of the year by both The New York Times[10] and The Washington Post. Parallel Worlds was a finalist for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in the UK.[12]
Radio[link]
Kaku is the host of the weekly, one-hour radio program Explorations, produced by the Pacifica Foundation's WBAI in New York. "Explorations" is syndicated to community and independent radio stations and makes previous broadcasts available on the program's website. Kaku defines the show as dealing with the general topics of science, war, peace, and the environment.
In April 2006, Kaku began broadcasting Science Fantastic on 90 commercial radio stations, the only nationally syndicated science program on commercial radio in the United States. It is syndicated by Talk Radio Network and now reaches 130 radio stations and America's Talk on XM. The program is formatted as a live listener call-in show, focusing on "futurology," which he defines as the future of science.[citation needed] Featured guests include Nobel laureates and top researchers on the topics of string theory, time travel, black holes, gene therapy, aging, space travel, artificial intelligence, and SETI. When Kaku is busy filming for television, Science Fantastic goes on hiatus, sometimes for several months. Kaku is also a frequent guest on many programs, where he is outspoken in all areas and issues he considers of importance, such as the program Coast to Coast AM, where on 30 November 2007, he reaffirmed his belief that there is a 100% probability of extraterrestrial life in the universe.[13]
Kaku has appeared on The Opie and Anthony Show a number of times, discussing popular fiction such as Back to The Future, Lost, and the theories behind time-travel that these and other fictional entertainment focus on.
Television and film[link]
Kaku has appeared in many forms of media and on many programs and networks, including Good Morning America, The Screen Savers, Larry King Live, 60 Minutes, Nightline, 20/20, Naked Science, CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Al Jazeera English, Fox News Channel, The History Channel, Conan, The Science Channel, The Discovery Channel, TLC, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Colbert Report, The Art Bell Show and its successor, Coast To Coast AM, BBC World News America, The Opie & Anthony Show, The Covino & Rich Show, Head Rush, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Real Time with Bill Maher.
- We Are the Guinea Pigs (1980)
- Borders (1989)
- Synthetic Pleasures (1995)
- Einstein Revealed (1996)
- Future Fantastic (1996)
- Stephen Hawking's Universe (1997)
- Bioperfection: Building a New Human Race (1998)
- Exodus Earth (1999)
- Me & Isaac Newton (1999)
- Space: The Final Junkyard (1999)
- Big Questions (2001)
- Parallel Universes (2001)
- Horizon: "Time travel" (2003)
- Robo sapiens (2003)
- Brilliant Minds: Secret Of The Cosmos (2003)
- Nova: "The Elegant Universe" (2003)
- Hawking (2004)
- The Screen Savers (2004)
- Unscrewed with Martin Sargent (2004)
- Alien Planet (2005)
- ABC News "UFOs: Seeing Is Believing" (2005)
- HARDtalk Extra (2005)
- Last Days on Earth (2005)
- Obsessed & Scientific (2005)
- Horizon: "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony" (2005)
- Prophets of Science Fiction (2006)
- Time (2006)
- 2057 (2007)
- The Universe (2007)
- Futurecar (2007)
- Attack of the Show! (2007)
- Visions of the Future (2008)
- Horizon: "The President's Guide to Science" (2008)
- Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe (2008)
- Horizon: "Who's Afraid of a Big Black Hole" (2009–2010)
- Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible (2009–2010)
- Horizon: "What Happened Before the Big Bang?" (2010)
- GameTrailers TV With Geoff Keighley: "The Science of Games" (2010)
- How the Universe Works (2010)
- Seeing Black Holes (2010)
- Through the Wormhole (2011)
- Horizon: "What Happened Before the Big Bang?" (2011)
In 1999, Kaku was one of the scientists profiled in the feature-length film Me and Isaac Newton, directed by Michael Apted. It played theatrically in the United States, was later broadcast on national TV, and won several film awards.[citation needed]
In 2005, Kaku appeared in the short documentary Obsessed & Scientific. The film is about the possibility of time travel and the people who dream about it. It screened at the Montreal World Film Festival and a feature film expansion is in development talks. Kaku also appeared in the ABC documentary UFOs: Seeing Is Believing, in which he suggested that while he believes it is extremely unlikely that extraterrestrials have ever actually visited Earth, we must keep our minds open to the possible existence of civilizations a million years ahead of us in technology, where entirely new avenues of physics open up. He also discussed the future of interstellar exploration and alien life in the Discovery Channel special Alien Planet as one of the multiple speakers who co-hosted the show, and Einstein's Theory of Relativity on The History Channel.
In February 2006, Kaku appeared as presenter in the BBC-TV four-part documentary Time which seeks to explore the mysterious nature of time. Part one of the series concerns personal time, and how we perceive and measure the passing of time. The second in the series deals with cheating time, exploring possibilities of extending the lifespan of organisms. The geological time covered in part three explores the ages of the earth and the sun. Part four covers the topics of cosmological time, the beginning of time and the events that occurred at the instant of the big bang.
On January 28, 2007, Kaku hosted the Discovery Channel series 2057. This three-hour program discussed how medicine, the city, and energy could change over the next 50 years.
In 2008, Kaku hosted the three-hour BBC-TV documentary Visions of the Future, on the future of computers, medicine, and quantum physics, and he appeared in several episodes of the History Channel's Universe series.
On December 1, 2009, he began hosting a 12-episode weekly TV series for the Science Channel at 10 pm, called Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible, based on his best-selling book. Each 30-minute episode discusses the scientific basis behind imaginative schemes, such as time travel, parallel universes, warp drive, star ships, light sabers, force fields, teleportation, invisibility, death stars, and even superpowers and flying saucers. Each episode includes interviews with the world's top scientists working on prototypes of these technologies, interviews with science fiction fans, clips from science fiction movies, and special effects and computer graphics. Although these inventions are impossible today, the series discusses when these technologies might become feasible in the future.[14]
In 2010, he began to appear in a series on the website Gametrailers.com called Science of Games, discussing the scientific aspects of various popular video games such as Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Kaku is popular in mainstream media because of his knowledge and his accessible approach to presenting complex subjects in science. While his technical writings are confined to theoretical physics, his public speaking and media appearances cover a broad range of topics, from the Kardashev scale to more esoteric subjects such as wormholes and time travel. In January 2007, Kaku visited Oman. While there, he talked at length to select members of that country's decision makers. In an interview with local media, Dr Kaku elaborated on his vision of mankind's future. Kaku considers climate change and terrorism as serious threats in man's evolution from a Type 0 civilization to Type 1.[15]
He is pictured in Symphony of Science's newest song (as of September 6, 2011), 'The Quantum World.'
On October 11, 2010, Michio Kaku appeared in the BBC program "What Happened Before the Big Bang" (along with Laura Mersini-Houghton, Andrei Linde, Roger Penrose, Lee Smolin, Neil Turok, and other notable cosmologists and physicists), where he propounded his theory of the universe created out of nothing.[16]
Social policy advocacy[link]
Kaku has publicly stated his concerns over matters including the anthropogenic cause of global warming, nuclear armament, nuclear power and the general misuse of science.[17] He was critical of the Cassini–Huygens space probe because of the 72 pounds (33 kg) of plutonium contained in the craft for use by its radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Conscious of the possibility of casualties if the probe's fuel were dispersed into the environment during a malfunction and crash as the probe was making a 'sling-shot' maneuver around earth, Kaku publicly criticized NASA's risk assessment.[18] He has also spoken on the dangers of space junk and called for more and better monitoring. Kaku is generally a vigorous supporter of the exploration of outer space, believing that the ultimate destiny of the human race may lie in extrasolar planets; but he is critical of some of the cost-ineffective missions and methods of NASA.
Kaku credits his anti-nuclear war position to programs he heard on the Pacifica Radio network, during his student years in California. It was during this period that he made the decision to turn away from a career developing the next generation of nuclear weapons in association with Edward Teller and focused on research, teaching, writing and media.[citation needed] Kaku joined with others such as Helen Caldicott, Jonathan Schell, Peace Action and was instrumental in building a global anti-nuclear weapons movement that arose in the 1980s, during the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
Kaku was a board member of Peace Action and on the board of radio station WBAI-FM in New York City where he originated his long running program, Explorations, that focused on the issues of science, war, peace and the environment.
His remark from an interview in support of SETI, "We could be in the middle of an intergalactic conversation...and we wouldn't even know.", is used in the third Symphony of Science installment "Our Place in the Cosmos".
Personal life[link]
Kaku is married to Shizue Kaku and has two daughters.[19]
Bibliography[link]
- Kaku, Michio; Trainer, Jennifer, eds. (1982). Nuclear Power: Both Sides. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-01631-5.
- Kaku, Michio; Daniel Axelrod (1987). To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-321-7.
- Kaku, Michio (1993). Quantum Field Theory: A Modern Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507652-4.
- Kaku, Michio (1994). Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-286189-1.
- Kaku, Michio; Jennifer Trainer Thompson (1995). Beyond Einstein: Superstrings and the Quest for the Final Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-286196-4.
- Kaku, Michio (1999). Introduction to Superstrings and M-Theory. New York: Springer. ISBN 0-387-98589-1.
- Kaku, Michio (1999). Strings, Conformal Fields, and M-Theory. New York: Springer. ISBN 0-387-98892-0.
- Kaku, Michio (1999). Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st century and Beyond. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-288018-7.
- Kaku, Michio (2004). Einstein's Cosmos: How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84755-4.
- Kaku, Michio (2004). Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 0-7139-9728-1.
- Kaku, Michio (2008). "M-Theory: The Mother of All Superstrings" in Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory. New York: Scriblerus. ISBN 978-0-9802114-0-5.
- Kaku, Michio (2008). Physics of the Impossible. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-52069-0.
- Kaku, Michio (2011). Physics of the Future: How Science will Shape Human Destiny and our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. New York: Doubleday. LCCN 2010026569.
References[link]
- ^ About Michio Kaku
- ^ Kaku, Michio. "Physics of the Impossible". pp 11. Doubleday. http://books.google.com/books?id=ube-MQcFFZQC&pg=PR11&lpg=PR11&dq#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ Kaku, Michio (1994). Hyperspace: a scientific odyssey through parallel universes, time warps, and the tenth dimension. Oxford University Press US. pp. 146. ISBN 0-19-508514-0. http://books.google.com/?id=_HBtAHuG6dwC&pg=PA164&dq=%22michio+kaku%22+%22fort+benning%22#v=onepage&q=.
- ^ "Previous People". Institute for Advanced Study. http://www.sns.ias.edu/previous?group=physics.
- ^ Hua, Long; Michio Kaku (1994). "Non-polynomial closed string field theory". Thesis (Ph.D.) New York University: 107 p.. http://aleph.library.nyu.edu/F/FPCJXNMBBKHEUMTJ8C6HUB6JHPLVVQQF1ACVTACEPTM9P18S2N-00900?func=direct&doc_number=003142571&format=999.
- ^ "Physics Department". The City College of New York. http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/science/profiles/Kaku-Profile.cfm.
- ^ "List of research papers in American Physical Society Journals". http://publish.aps.org/search/query?&offset=0&q%5Bclauses%5D%5B%5D%5Bvalue%5D=kaku+michio&q%5Bclauses%5D%5B%5D%5Boperator%5D=AND&q%5Bclauses%5D%5B%5D%5Bfield%5D=author&q%5Bper_page%5D=25.
- ^ Kaku, Michio; Michio Kaku and K. Kikkawa (15). "Field theory of relativistic strings. I. Trees". Physical Review D 10 (4): 1110–1133. Bibcode 1974PhRvD..10.1110K. DOI:10.1103/PhysRevD.10.1110. http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v10/i4/p1110_1.
- ^ Kaku, Michio; Michio Kaku and K. Kikkawa (1974). "Field theory of relativistic strings. II. Loops and Pomerons". Phys. Rev. D. 1110 10 (6): 1823–1843. Bibcode 1974PhRvD..10.1823K. DOI:10.1103/PhysRevD.10.1823. http://prd.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v10/i6/p1823_1.
- ^ a b "Notable books of 1994". The New York Times. December 4, 1994. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E7DA1630F937A35751C1A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=22. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
- ^ "Amazon.com: Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century (9780385484992): Michio Kaku: Books". amazon.com. 2011 [last update]. http://www.amazon.com/Visions-Science-Will-Revolutionize-Century/dp/0385484992. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
- ^ Kaku, Michio. "Samuel Johnson Prize for Non Fiction 2005 – Longlist". Parallel Worlds. BBC. http://www.thesamueljohnsonprize.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=81.
- ^ Michio Kaku (30 November 2007) (Audio). Universe, Energy & SETI. with Art Bell. Coast to Coast AM. http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2007/11/30.html. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ SCI-FI SCIENCE: Physics of the Impossible.
- ^ "The Upside Down World of Dr. Michio Kaku". BusinessToday Oman (Apex Press and Publishing). February 2007. http://www.apexstuff.com/bt/200702/cover.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ "www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vdkmj". http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vdkmj.
- ^ Kaku, Michio (Summer 1992). "Nuclear Threats and the New World Order". CovertAction Quarterly 41 (2). http://www.ratical.org/radiation/inetSeries/NthrtsNnwo.html. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ Kaku, Michio (5 October 1997). A Scientific Critique of the Accident Risks from the Cassini Space Mission. Animated Software Company. http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/mk9708so.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- ^ Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. Michio Kaku. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011
External links[link]
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michio Kaku |
This audio file was created from a revision of the "Michio Kaku" article dated 2007-07-08, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)
- Official website
- Michio Kaku on Twitter
- Getting Physical: Dr. Michio Kaku Explains Einstein's Genius
- Russia Takes Aim at Asteroids, op-ed on asteroid defense, Wall St. Journal, Jan. 5, 2010
- The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe interview
- Michio Kaku at the Internet Movie Database
- Michio Kaku on National Public Radio
- About Michio Kaku
- Video: Michio Kaku discusses Physics of the Future on March 23, 2011, on Forum Network.
- In Depth interview with Kaku, October 3, 2010
|
||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Kaku, Michio |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | American theoretical physicist |
| Date of birth | 1947-01-24 |
| Place of birth | San Jose, California, United States |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Michio_Kaku
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Michio Kaku
http://cs.wn.com/Michio Kaku
http://id.wn.com/Michio Kaku
http://es.wn.com/Michio Kaku
http://ru.wn.com/Каку, Митио
http://nl.wn.com/Michio Kaku
http://pt.wn.com/Michio Kaku
http://pl.wn.com/Michio Kaku
http://fr.wn.com/Michio Kaku
http://de.wn.com/Michio Kaku
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michio_Kaku
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| David Icke | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Icke in 2008 |
|
| Born | David Vaughan Icke (1952-04-29) 29 April 1952 (age 60) Leicester, England |
| Residence | Ryde, Isle of Wight |
| Occupation | Writer and speaker |
| Years active | Since 1990 |
| Known for | Football, television sports, books on global politics |
| Political party | Formerly the Green Party |
| Website | |
| www.davidicke.com Icke's YouTube channel. |
|
David Vaughan Icke (pronounced /aɪk/, or IKE, born 29 April 1952) is an English writer and public speaker, best known for his views on what he calls "who and what is really controlling the world." Describing himself as the most controversial speaker in the world, he is the author of 19 books and has attracted a global following that cuts across the political spectrum. His 533-page The Biggest Secret (1999) has been called "the Rosetta Stone for conspiracy junkies."[1]
Icke was a well-known BBC television sports presenter and spokesman for the Green Party, when in 1990 a psychic told him he was a healer who had been placed on Earth for a purpose, and that the spirit world was going to pass messages to him so he could educate others. In March 1991 he held a press conference to announce that he was a "Son of the Godhead" – a phrase he said later the media had misunderstood – and the following month told the BBC's Terry Wogan show that the world would soon be devastated by tidal waves and earthquakes. He said the show changed his life, turning him from a respected household name into someone who was laughed at whenever he appeared in public.[2]
He continued nevertheless to develop his ideas, and in four books published over seven years—The Robots' Rebellion (1994), And the Truth Shall Set You Free (1995), The Biggest Secret (1999), and Children of the Matrix (2001)—set out a moral and political worldview that combined New-Age spiritualism with a passionate denunciation of totalitarian trends in the modern world. At the heart of his theories lies the idea that a secret group of reptilian humanoids called the Babylonian Brotherhood controls humanity, and that many prominent figures are reptilian, including George W. Bush, Queen Elizabeth II, Kris Kristofferson, and Boxcar Willie.[3]
Michael Barkun has described Icke's position as "New Age conspiracism," writing that he is the most fluent of the conspiracist genre. Richard Kahn and Tyson Lewis argue that the reptilian hypothesis may simply be Swiftian satire, a way of giving ordinary people a narrative with which to question what they see around them.[4]
Contents |
Personal life and career[link]
Early life and education[link]
Icke was born in Leicester General Hospital to Beric Vaughan Icke and Barbara J. Icke, née Cooke, who were married in Leicester in 1951. Icke was the middle child; there was a brother seven years older, and another seven years younger. Beric had wanted to be a doctor, but his family had no money, so he joined the Royal Air Force instead. He was awarded a British Empire Medal for gallantry in May 1943 after helping to save the crew of an aircraft that had crashed into the Chipping Warden air base in Oxfordshire. Along with a Squadron Leader, he ran into the burning aircraft, without protective clothing, and saved the life of a crew member who was trapped inside.[5]
After the war, Beric got a job in the Gents clock factory, and the family lived in a slum terraced house on Lead Street, near Wharf Street in the centre of Leicester. When Icke was three, they moved to a housing estate known as the Goodwood, one of the 1950s council estates the post-war Labour government built. "To say we were skint," he wrote in 1993, "is like saying it is a little chilly at the North Pole." He remembers having to hide under a window or chair when the council man came to collect the rent—after knocking, the rent man would walk round the house peering through the windows to see whether anyone was at home. His mother never explained that it was about the rent; she just told him to hide, and Icke writes that he still gets a fright whenever he hears a knock on the door.[6]
He was always a loner, spending hours playing with toy steam trains, and preferring to cross the street rather than speak to anyone. He attended Whitehall Infant School, then Whitehall Junior School, where he spent most of his time feeling nervous and shy, often to the point of almost fainting during the morning assembly and having to leave before he passed out. The family doctor suggested a referral to a child psychologist, but his father put his foot down.[7]
Football and first marriage[link]
| 200px Icke (right) in goal in the early 1970s, probably for Hereford United |
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1967–1971 | Coventry City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1971–1973 | Hereford United[8] | 37 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
He made no effort at school and failed at practically everything, but when he was nine, he was chosen for the junior school's football team. It was the first time he had succeeded at anything, and he came to see football as his way out of poverty. He played in goal, which he writes suited the loner in him and gave him a sense of living on the edge between hero and villain.[7]
After failing his 11-plus exam in 1963, he was sent to the city's Crown Hills Secondary Modern, rather than the local grammar school, where he was given a trial for the Leicester Boys Under-Fourteen team. He decided to leave school at 15 after being talent-spotted by Coventry City, who signed him up in 1967 as their youth team's goalkeeper. He also played for Oxford United's reserve team and Northampton Town, on loan from Coventry. Rheumatoid arthritis in his left knee, which later spread to the right knee, ankles, elbows, wrists, and hands, stopped him from making a career out of football. Despite often being in agony during training, he managed to play part-time for Hereford United – including in the first team when they were in the Fourth Division of the English Football League, and when they were promoted to Division Three – before the pain in his joints forced him to retire in 1973 at the age of 21.[9]
He met his first wife, Linda Atherton, in May 1971 at a dance at the Chesford Grange Hotel near Leamington Spa; she was working as a van driver for a garage in Leamington. Shortly after they met, Icke had another one of the huge rows he had started having with his father—always a domineering man, his father was upset that Icke's arthritis was interfering with his football career—so he packed his bags and left home. He moved into a tiny bedsit and worked in a local travel agency during the day, travelling to Hereford twice a week in the evenings to play football. He and Linda were married on September 30 that year, four months after they'd met. A daughter was born in March 1975, followed by a son in December 1981, and another son in November 1992. Though the couple divorced in 2001, they remain good friends; she runs his publishing arm, David Icke Books, as well as producing some of his DVDs.[10]
Sports presenter[link]
The loss of his position with Hereford meant that he and his wife had to sell their home, and for several weeks they lived apart, each moving in with their parents, but he found a job in 1973 as a reporter with the weekly Leicester Advertiser, through a contact who was a sports editor at the Daily Mail. He moved on to the Leicester News Agency, and through them did some programmes for BBC Radio Leicester, then worked his way up through the Loughborough Monitor, the Leicester Mercury, and BRMB Radio in Birmingham.[11]
File:David Icke, top right, with the BBC Breakfast Time team, 1983.jpg
Icke (top right) with the BBC's first Breakfast Time team. Clockwise from top left: Francis Wilson, Debbie Rix, David Icke, Nick Ross, Selina Scott, Frank Bough.
He worked for two months in Saudi Arabia in 1975, helping them run their national football team; it was intended to be a longer-term position, but he missed his wife and new daughter so much that he decided not to return after his first holiday back to the UK. He got his job back at BRMB, then applied successfully to work for Midlands Today at the BBC's Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham, and in 1981 moved on to become a sports presenter for the BBC's national programme, Newsnight. The following year he achieved his ambition when offered a job co-hosting Grandstand, at the time the BBC's flagship national sports programme.[12]
He moved in 1982 to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, somewhere he had always wanted to live. He appeared on the first edition of British television's first national breakfast show, the BBC's Breakfast Time, on 17 January 1983, presenting the sports news for them until 1985. He also published his first book that year, It's a tough game, son!, about how to break into football.[13]
He continued to work for BBC Sport until 1990, often on Grandstand and snooker programmes, and also at the 1988 Summer Olympics, but despite his professional success – he was by then a household name – a career in television began to lose its appeal for him. He wrote in Tales from the Time Loop (2003) that he was beginning to find television workers insincere, shallow, and vicious, with rare exceptions.[14] His contract with the BBC was terminated in August 1990 thanks to a political row, when he refused to pay his Community Charge, a controversial local tax introduced that year in England by Margaret Thatcher. He did end up paying it, but his announcement that he was willing to go to jail rather than pay prompted the BBC, by charter an impartial public-service broadcaster, to distance itself from him.[15]
Green Party, meeting with psychic healer[link]
Icke had begun to flirt with fringe medicine and New Age philosophies during the 1980s, in an effort to find relief from his arthritis, and this encouraged his interest in Green politics.[16] He wrote his second book in 1989, It Doesn't Have To Be Like This, an outline of his views on the environment, and became involved with the Green Party from 1988 to 1991, rising to become one of their four Principal Speakers, a position the party had created in lieu of a leader. The Observer called him "the Greens' Tony Blair."[17] He was regularly seen at high-profile events. He was invited in 1989 to debate animal rights during a televised debate at the Royal Institute of Great Britain, alongside Tom Regan, Mary Warnock, and Germaine Greer, and in September 1990 his name appeared on advertisements for a children's charity along with Audrey Hepburn, Woody Allen, and other celebrities.[18]
He wrote that 1989 was a time of considerable personal despair for him, and it was during this period that he began to feel a presence around him.[19] In March 1990 he had a sudden feeling while standing in newsagent's that a magnetic force was pulling his feet to the ground, and said he heard a voice tell him to look at a particular section of books. One of the books there was by Betty Shine, a psychic healer in Brighton. He decided to visit her to ask for help with his arthritis.[20]
.jpg)
Shine told him during their third meeting that she had a message for him from Wang Yee Lee, a being who she said looked like a Chinese mandarin and had Socrates standing next to him.[21] The message was that Icke had been sent to heal the Earth. He would become famous, but would face opposition. The spirit world was going to pass ideas to him, which he would speak about to others, sometimes not understanding the words himself. She said he would write five books in three years; that in 20 years there would be a different kind of flying machine, where we could go wherever we wanted and time would have no meaning; and there would be earthquakes in unusual places, because the inner earth was being destabilized by having oil taken from the seabed.[22]
As part of the process of making sense of this, he decided in February 1991 to visit the pre-Inca Sillustani burial ground near Puno, Peru, and while there felt drawn to a large mound of earth, at the top of which lay a circle of waist-high stones. As he stood in the circle, he again felt his feet pulled to the earth as if by a magnet, and an urge to outstretch his arms. His feet started vibrating, and his head felt as though a drill was passing through it. Two thoughts entered his mind: that people will be talking about this in 100 years, and then, "it will be over when you feel the rain." He said his body started shaking as though plugged into an electrical socket and new ideas began to pour into him. Then it started raining, and the experience ended as suddenly as it had begun. He described it later as the "kundalini"—a term from Indian yoga describing a libidinal force that lies coiled at the base of the spine—exploding up through his spine, activating his brain and his chakras, or energy centres, triggering a higher level of consciousness.[23]
He returned to England and began to write a book about the experience, Truth Vibrations, which was published in May that year. At a Green Party conference in Wolverhampton on 20 March 1991, before the book appeared, he resigned from the party, telling them he was about to be at the centre of "tremendous and increasing controversy," and winning a standing ovation from them after the announcement.[24]
Turquoise period[link]
What followed was what Icke calls his "turquoise period." He writes that he had been channelling for some time, and had received a message through automatic writing that he was a "Son of the Godhead," interpreting "Godhead" as the "Infinite Mind."[25] He now began to wear only turquoise, which he saw as a conduit for positive energy. He had met Deborah Shaw, an English psychic living in Calgary, Alberta, in August 1990, and after he returned from Peru, they began a relationship, which led to the birth of a daughter in December 1991. At one point, Shaw moved in with him and his wife. Shaw changed her name to Mari Shawsun, while Icke's wife became known as Michaela, which she said was an aspect of the Archangel Michael. They became known in the press as the "turquoise triangle."[17]
In March 1991, a week after he resigned from the Green Party – and shortly after his father died – the three of them held a press conference to announce that Icke was a son of the Godhead. He said the world would end in 1997, preceded by a number of disasters, including a severe hurricane around the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans, eruptions in Cuba, disruption in China, a hurricane in Derry, and an earthquake on the Isle of Arran. Los Angeles would become an island, New Zealand would disappear, and the cliffs of Kent would be under water by Christmas. He told reporters the information was being given to them by voices and automatic writing.[26]
He wrote in 1993 that he had felt out of control during the press conference. He heard his voice predict the end of the world, and was appalled. "I was speaking the words, but all the time I could hear the voice of the brakes in the background saying, 'David, what the hell are you saying?'" His predictions were splashed all over the next day's front pages, to his great dismay.[27]
Terry Wogan interview[link]
The headlines attracted an invitation to appear on the BBC's prime-time Terry Wogan show, Wogan, on 29 April 1991. When asked if he was claiming to be the son of God, he did not disagree, and amid laughter from the studio audience, he repeated that Britain would soon be devastated by tidal waves and earthquakes.[28] He also talked about politics and the environment:
File:David Icke on Wogan 1991.JPG
Icke is greeted by Terry Wogan on 29 April 1991.[29]
When you survey the world today ... when a child dies in this world of preventable disease every two seconds, when the economic system of this world must destroy the Earth simply for that system to survive; when you see all the wars, and when you see all the pain, and when you see all the suffering, is it a force of love and wisdom and tolerance that is in control of this planet?[30]
The interview proved devastating for him. The BBC was criticized for allowing it to go ahead, Des Christy in The Guardian calling it a "media crucifixion."[31] Wogan interviewed Icke again in 2006, acknowledging that his comments during the first interview had been "a bit sharp."[28] Icke disappeared from public life for a time, unable to walk down the street without people mocking him. His children were followed to school by journalists and ridiculed by schoolmates, and his wife would open the back door to get the washing in only to find a camera crew filming her.[32] He told Jon Ronson in 2001:
One of my very greatest fears as a child was being ridiculed in public. And there it was coming true. As a television presenter, I'd been respected. People come up to you in the street and shake your hand and talk to you in a respectful way. And suddenly, overnight, this was transformed into "Icke's a nutter." I couldn't walk down any street in Britain without being laughed at. It was a nightmare. My children were devastated because their dad was a figure of ridicule.[29]
Writing and lecturing[link]
Icke said the interview had been the making of him in the end, that the laughter had set him free. He wrote that every bridge back to his past was ablaze, giving him the courage to develop his ideas without caring what anyone thought of him.[33] He continued to write, turning himself into a prolific and popular author and speaker, and in 1995 set up his own publisher, Bridge of Love Publications, later called David Icke Books.[34] He met his second wife, Pamela Leigh Richards, in Jamaica in 1997. He and Linda divorced in 2001, though they remain the best of friends, and she is involved in the management of his publishing business. He and Pamela married in 2001 and separated in 2008.[35]
Lewis and Kahn write that Icke has produced a consolidation of all conspiracy theories into one project with unlimited explanatory power, his work cutting across class lines and political divisions.[36] By 2006 he had lectured in 25 countries, his lectures were attracting audiences of several thousand, his books had been translated into eight languages, and his website was getting 600,000 hits a week. The Biggest Secret went through six reprintings between 1999 and 2006, and Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Center Disaster (2002) became a top-five seller in South Africa.[34]
He has become known in particular for his lengthy lectures, sometimes speaking for up to eight hours, then selling DVDs of the talks produced by his ex-wife, Linda Atherton. In February 2008 he was invited to address the Oxford Union, the University of Oxford's debating society. His book tour for Human Race Get Off Your Knees: The Lion Sleeps No More (2010) encompassed lectures in Australia, Croatia, the Netherlands, and the United States, and ends in October 2012 with a talk at London's Wembley Arena, tickets ranging from ₤35 to ₤55. During the tour, he received a standing ovation in November 2011 in New York after an eight-hour lecture to a 2,000-strong crowd at the Nokia Theater in Times Square.[37]
He stood for parliament in the UK in July 2008 as "Big Brother—The Big Picture" in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, coming 12th with 110 votes and losing his deposit. He explained that he stood because, "if we don't face this now we are going to have some serious explaining to do when we are asked by our children and grandchildren what we were doing when the global fascist state was installed. 'I was watching EastEnders, dear' will not be good enough."[38]
Key ideas[link]
Icke combines metaphysical discussion about the nature of the universe and consciousness with conspiracy theories about public figures being satanic paedophiles, and how apparently random events are attempts to control humanity. He argued in The Biggest Secret that human beings originated in a breeding program run by a race of reptilians called Anunnaki from the Draco constellation, and that what we call reality is just a holographic experience; the only reality is the realm of the Absolute. He believes in a collective consciousness that has intentionality; in reincarnation; in other possible worlds that exist alongside ours on other frequencies; and in acquired characteristics, arguing that our experiences change our DNA by downloading new information and overwriting the software. We are also able to attract experiences to ourselves by means of good and bad thoughts.[39]
Global Elite[link]
Further information: New World Order (conspiracy theory)
Icke argues that humanity was created by a network of secret societies run by an ancient race of interbreeding bloodlines from the Middle and Near East, originally extraterrestrial. Icke calls them the "Babylonian Brotherhood." The Brotherhood is mostly male. Their children are raised from an early age to understand the mission; those who fail to understand it are pushed aside. The spread of the reptilian bloodline encompasses what Norman Simms calls the odd and ill-matched, extending to 43 American presidents, three British and two Canadian prime ministers, various Sumerian kings and Egyptian pharaohs, and a smattering of celebrities such as Bob Hope. Key Brotherhood bloodlines are the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds, various European royal and aristocratic families, the establishment families of the Eastern United States, and the British House of Windsor—Icke identified the Queen Mother in 2001 as "seriously reptilian."[40]
The Illuminati, Round Table, Council on Foreign Relations, Chatham House, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group, the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations, are all Brotherhood created and controlled, as are the media, military, CIA, Mossad, science, religion, and the Internet, with witting or unwitting support from the London School of Economics.[41] At the apex of the Brotherhood stands the "Global Elite," identified throughout history as the Illuminati, and at the top of the Global Elite stand the "Prison Wardens." The goal of the Brotherhood—their "Great Work of Ages"—is world domination and a micro-chipped population.[40]
Reptoid hypothesis[link]
Icke introduced the reptoid hypothesis in The Biggest Secret (1999), which identified the Brotherhood as descendents of reptilians from the constellation Draco, who walk on two legs and appear human, and who live in tunnels and caverns inside the earth. He argues that the reptilians are the race of gods known as the Anunnaki in the Babylonian creation myth, Enûma Eliš.[42] According to Barkun, Icke's idea of "inner-earth reptilians" is not new, though he has done more than most to expand it.[43]
Lewis and Kahn write that Icke has taken his "ancient astronaut" narrative from the Israeli-American writer, Zecharia Sitchin, who argued—for example in Divine Encounters (1995)—that the Anunnaki had come to Earth for its precious metals. Icke argues that they came specifically for "monoatomic gold," a mineral he says can increase the carrying capacity of the nervous system ten thousandfold. After ingesting it, the reptilians can process vast amounts of information, speed up trans-dimensional travel, and shapeshift from reptilian to human form.[45] They use human fear, guilt, and aggression as energy. "Thus we have the encouragement of wars," he wrote in 1999, "human genocide, the mass slaughter of animals, sexual perversions which create highly charged negative energy, and black magic ritual and sacrifice which takes place on a scale that will stagger those who have not studied the subject."[46] Lewis and Kahn argue that Icke is using allegory to depict the alien, and alienating, nature of global capitalism.[47]
Icke writes that the Anunnaki have crossbred with human beings, the breeding lines chosen for political reasons, arguing that they are the Watchers, the fallen angels, or "Grigori," who mated with human women in the Biblical apocrypha. Their first reptilian-human hybrid, possibly Adam, was created 200,000–300,000 years ago. There was a second breeding program 30,000 years ago, and a third 7,000 years ago. It is the half-bloods of the third breeding program who today control the world, more Anunnaki than human, he writes. They have a powerful, hypnotic stare, the origin of the phrase to "give someone the evil eye," and their hybrid DNA allows them to shapeshift when they consume human blood.[48]
In Children of the Matrix (2001), he added that the Anunnaki bred with another extraterrestrial race called the "Nordics," who had blond hair and blue eyes, to produce a race of human slave masters, the Aryans. The Aryans retain many reptilian traits, including cold-blooded attitudes, a desire for top-down control, and an obsession with ritual, lending them a tendency toward fascism, rationalism, and racism. Lewis and Kahn write that, with the Nordic hypothesis, Icke is mirroring standard claims by the far right that the Aryan bloodline has ruled the Earth throughout history.[49]
Dimensions[link]
The reptilians not only come from another planet, but are also from another dimension, the lower level of the fourth dimension, the one nearest the physical world. Icke writes that the universe consists of an infinite number of frequencies or dimensions that share the same space, just like television and radio frequencies. Some people can tune their consciousness to other wavelengths, which is what psychic power consists of, and it is from one of these other dimensions that the Anunnaki are controlling this world—though just as fourth-dimensional reptilians control us, they are controlled, in turn, by a fifth dimension. The lower level of the fourth dimension is what others call the "lower astral dimension." Icke argued that it is where demons live, the entities Satanists summon during their rituals. They are, in fact, summoning the reptilians.[50] Barkun argues that the introduction of different dimensions allows Icke to skip awkward questions about which part of the universe the reptilians come from, and how they got here.[51]
Problem-reaction-solution[link]
In Tales From The Time Loop (2003), Icke argues that most organized religions, especially Judaism, Christianity and Islam, are Illuminati creations designed to divide and conquer the human race through endless conflicts, as are racial, ethnic, and sexual divisions. He cites the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 as examples of events organized by the Global Elite.[52] The incidents allow the Elite to respond in whatever way they intended to act in the first place, a concept Icke calls "order out of chaos," or "problem-reaction-solution". He writes that there are few, if any, public events that are not engineered, or at least used, by the Brotherhood:[17]
You want to introduce something you know the people won't like. ... So you first create a PROBLEM, a rising crime rate, more violence, a terrorist bomb ... You make sure someone else is blamed for this problem ... So you create a "patsy," as they call them in America, a Timothy McVeigh or a Lee Harvey Oswald. ... This brings us to stage two, the REACTION from the people—"This can't go on; what are THEY going to do about it?" ... This allows THEM to then openly offer the SOLUTION to the problems they have created ..."[53]
Red Dresses[link]
In Infinite Love is the Only Truth (2005), Icke introduces the idea of "reptilian software." He says that there are three kinds of people. The highest level of the Brotherhood are the "Red Dresses." These are "software people," elsewhere called "reptilian software," or "constructs of mind." They lack consciousness and free will, and their human bodies are holographic veils.[54]
A second group, the so-called "sheeple"—the vast majority of humanity—have what Icke calls "back seat consciousness." They are conscious, but they do whatever they are told and are the main source of energy for the Brotherhood. They include the "repeaters," the people in positions of influence who simply repeat what other people have told them. Doctors repeat what they are told in medical school and by drug companies, teachers repeat what they learned at teacher training college, and journalists are the greatest repeaters of all. The third group, by far the smallest, are those who see through the illusion; they are people like Neo from the film, The Matrix. They are usually dubbed dangerous or mad. The "Red Dress" genetic lines keep obsessively interbreeding to make sure their bloodlines are not weakened by the second or third levels of consciousness, because consciousness can rewrite the software.[54]
Moon Matrix[link]
The Moon Matrix is introduced in Human Race Get Off Your Knees: The Lion Sleeps No More (2010), in which he writes that the Earth and the collective human mind are manipulated from the Moon, a spacecraft and inter-dimensional, inter-density portal controlled by the reptilians. The Moon Matrix is a broadcast from that spacecraft to the "human body-computer," specifically to the left hemisphere of the brain, which gives us our sense of reality. He writes: "We are living in a dreamworld within a dreamworld—a Matrix within the virtual-reality universe—and it is being broadcast from the Moon." Unless people force themselves to become fully conscious, their minds are the Moon's mind, an idea further explored in his Remember Who You Are: Remember 'Where' You Are and Where You 'Come' From (2012).[55]
Reception[link]
Protests[link]
In The Robots' Rebellion (1994), Icke introduced the idea that the Global Elite's plan for world domination was laid out in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a hoax published in Russia in 1903, which supposedly presented a plan by the Jewish people to take over the world.[56] According to Mark Honigsbaum, Icke refers to it 25 times in the Robot's Rebellion, calling it the "Illuminati protocols."[57]
The Protocols portrays the Jewish people as "cackling villains from a Saturday matinee," as Jon Ronson put it in his documentary about Icke, David Icke, the Lizards and the Jews (2001).[56] It was published in English in 1920 by The Dearborn Independent, Henry Ford's newspaper, becoming mixed up with conspiracy theories about anti-Christian Illuminati, international financiers, and the Rothschilds, a Jewish banking dynasty. After it was exposed that year as a hoax by The Times of London, Michael Barkun writes that it disappeared from mainstream discourse until interest in it was renewed by the American far right in the 1950s.[56] Barkun argues that Icke's reference to it is the first of a number of instances of him moving dangerously close to antisemitism.[59]
Icke's use of the Protocols was greeted with dismay by the Green Party's executive. They had allowed him to address the party's annual conference in 1992, despite the controversy over his Wogan interview, but in September 1994 decided to deny him a platform.[60] Icke wrote to The Guardian protesting against the decision, denying that The Robots' Rebellion was antisemitic, and rejecting racism, sexism and prejudice of any kind, but in the same letter insisted that whoever wrote the Protocols "knew the game plan" for the 20th century.[61] Barkun argues that Icke was trying to have it both ways, offended by the allegation of antisemitism while "hinting at the dark activities of Jewish elites."[62]
Alick Bartholomew of Gateway, Icke's former publisher, said that an early draft of And the Truth Shall Set You Free (1995) contained material questioning the Holocaust, and that Icke was dropped because of it.[57] Sam Taylor wrote in The Observer in 1997 that, having read the material, he did not believe it was antisemitic, but argued that Icke was "tapping into a seriously paranoid, aggressive strain in U.S. society."[63] Louis Theroux cautioned in 2001 that it might not only be unfair to Icke to allege that he is associating Jews with the Global Elite, but it also lends a seriousness to ideas that would otherwise not deserve it.[64] Icke said it was "friggin' nonsense" that his reptiles represented Jews. "There is a tribe of people interbreeding," he told Jon Ronson in 2001, "which do not, do not, relate to any Earth race ... This is not a Jewish plot. This is not a plot on the world by Jewish people".[65]
Icke was briefly detained by immigration officials when he entered Canada in 2000, after his name was added to a watch list because of complaints from the Canadian Jewish Congress.[66] His books were removed from Indigo Books, a Canadian chain, and several stops on his speaking tour were cancelled, as was a lecture in October 2000 at Blackheath Concert Halls in London, for the same reason.[67] Human rights lawyer Richard Warman, working at the time for the Canadian Green Party, took credit for much of this in Jon Ronson's documentary about Icke, which catalogued some of the cancelled appearances.[68]
Academic views[link]
.jpg)
Michael Barkun sees Icke as a professional conspiracy theorist of the Alex Jones variety, and the most fluent of the genre.[69] He calls Icke's work "improvisational millennialism," with an end-of-history scenario involving a final battle between good and evil. Because everything is connected in the conspiracist world view, Barkun writes, every source can be mined for links. The greater the stigma attached to an idea, the more attractive it becomes, and the vehemence with which the mainstream rejects an idea is almost a measure of its validity. For Icke, the widespread ridiculing of the lizard theory is a guarantee that there's something to it, Barkun argues.[51]
According to Barkun, Icke has actively tried to cultivate the far right. In 1996, he spoke to a conference in Reno, Nevada, alongside opponents of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act—which mandates background checks on people who buy guns in the United States—including Kirk Lyons, a white nationalist lawyer who has represented the Ku Klux Klan.[51]
Barkun argues that the relationship between Icke, the militias, and the Christian Patriots is complex because of the New Age baggage Icke brings with him, and he stresses that Icke is not actually a member of any of these groups, but he has nevertheless absorbed the world view of the radical right virtually intact. "There is no fuller explication of its beliefs about ruling elites than Icke's," he writes. Icke regards Christian patriots as the only Americans who understand the truth about the New World Order, but he also told a Christian patriot group: "I don't know which I dislike more, the world controlled by the Brotherhood, or the one you want to replace it with."[51]
Tyson Lewis and Richard Kahn see Icke differently, more as a spiritual philosopher, arguing that it's not clear he believes in the reptilians himself. They write that there is an almost obsessive-compulsive element to his writing, which includes anything he can find to support a narrative that connects ancient Sumer to modern America, in a way that "defies the laws of academic gravity," and which they say offers unlimited explanatory power. They argue that the lizards may be allegorical, a Swiftian satire intended to alert people to the emergence of a global fascist state. In Children of the Matrix, Icke writes that, if the reptilians did not exist, we would have to invent them. "In fact," he says, "we probably have. They are other levels of ourselves putting ourselves in our face."[70]
Lewis and Kahn make use of Douglas Kellner's distinction in Media Spectacle (1995) between a reactionary clinical paranoia—a mindset dissociated from reality—and a progressive, critical paranoia that confronts power. They argue that Icke displays elements of both, writing that what they call his "postmodern metanarrative" may be a way of giving ordinary people a narrative structure within which to question what they see around them.[71]
Works[link]
- Books
|
|
- Video
|
|
See also[link]
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: David Icke |
Notes[link]
- ^ For the quote about who is really controlling the world, and for "most controversial speaker," see "David Icke Biography 1", Davidicke.com, accessed June 8, 2011 (archived).
- For the rest, see Barkun 2003, p. 98ff, 103.
- For the Rosetta Stone comparison, see Lewis and Kahn 2010, p. 75; for his following, see Lewis and Kahn 2005 (courtesy link, p. 3).
- ^ For the encounter with the psychic, see Barkun 2003, p. 103.
- For his appearance on the Terry Wogan show, see Ronson, Jon. "David Icke, the Lizards, and the Jews", Channel 4 Television, UK, 2001, begins 5:50 mins.
- For "Son of the Godhead," see In the Light of Experience, pp. 190–194.
- Also see Wogan's introduction to "David Icke on Wogan", BBC, 1991 and 2006; see 2:24 mins for Icke describing how the interview changed his life.
- That it changed his life, also see "David Icke: Was He Right?", Channel Five, UK, 12 December 2006, from 02:20 mins, accessed 12 December 2010.
- For another 1991 interview in which he says he is a son of the Godhead, see Britton, Fern. Interview with David Icke, 1/3, BBC's Coast to Coast People, from 6 mins, accessed 1 June 2011.
- ^ For mention of those four books, and "New Age conspiracism," see Barkun 2003, p. 103.
- For the ideas and names, see Ronson, Jon. Beset by lizards, The Guardian, March 17, 2001.
- For the names, also see Offley 2000a.
- ^ Barkun 2003, pp. 71–72, 98ff; for "New Age conspiracism," see p. 163.
- Lewis and Kahn 2010, p. 73ff; for the Swift analogy, p. 83.
- Also see Lewis and Kahn 2005, (courtesy link, pp. 12–15).
- ^ For his background and brothers, see In the Light of Experience, p. 28.
- For his father's medal, see "1479714 Leading Aircraftman Beric Vaughan Icke, Royal Air Force", RAF website, taken from the London Gazette, May 14, 1943. The citation reads:
"One night in March, 1943, an aircraft crashed on a Royal Air Force Station and immediately burst into flames. Squadron Leader Moore (the duty medical officer) saw the accident and, accompanied by Leading Aircraftman Icke, a medical orderly, proceeded to the scene. Squadron Leader Moore directed the removal of the rear gunner, who was dazed and sitting amongst the burning wreckage, to a place of safety. The aircraft was now enveloped in flames and ammunition was exploding. Nevertheless, despite the intense heat and the danger from exploding oxygen bottles this officer and airman entered the burning wreckage in an attempt to rescue another member of the crew who was pinned down. Without any protective clothing they lifted aside the burning wreckage and, with great difficulty, succeeded in extricating the injured man. Squadron Leader Moore rendered first aid to the rescued man. Squadron Leader Moore sustained burns to his chest and hands in carrying out the operation. This officer and airman both displayed courage and devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the Royal Air Force.
"Acting Squadron Leader Frederick Thomas Moore, B.S., F.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. (23417), Reserve of Air Force Officers was awarded the MBE for his part in this action."
- For his father's medal, see "1479714 Leading Aircraftman Beric Vaughan Icke, Royal Air Force", RAF website, taken from the London Gazette, May 14, 1943. The citation reads:
- ^ In the Light of Experience, pp. 29, 33.
- Also see Tales from the Time Loop, pp. 2–3.
- ^ a b In the Light of Experience, pp. 36, 38.
- Also see Tales from the Time Loop, pp. 2–3.
- ^ David Icke Coventry City
- ^ In the Light of Experience, pp. 44, 46, 54, 58, 60–70.
- ^ In the Light of Experience, pp. 61–66, 82, 96.
- ^ In the Light of Experience, pp. 72, 75-83.
- ^ In the Light of Experience, pp. 83–95.
- ^ David Icke filmography, British Film Institute, accessed 14 November 2009.
- ^ Tales from the Time Loop p. 4.
- ^ "Protester David Icke finally pays community charge," The Guardian, 14 November 1990.
- For the BBC not renewing the contract in August 1990, see Kennedy, Maev. "Icke resigns Green Speaker and parliamentary roles," The Guardian, 20 March 1991.
- ^ Grossman 1991.
- ^ a b c Taylor 1997.
- For the daughter, see In the Light of Experience, pp. 221–223.
- ^ For the animal rights debate, see Icke, David. "Does the Animal Kingdom need a Bill of Rights?", Royal Institute of Great Britain, 1989, accessed 12 December 2010.
- For the ads, see Weekend Guardian, 22–23 September 1990.
- ^ Days of Decision, p. 19.
- ^ "The 10 worst decisions in the history of sport, The Observer, 12 January 2003.
- ^ In the Light of Experience, pp. 146–149.
- ^ "David Icke Biography 1" (archived).
- For the five books in three years, earthquakes, and flying machine, see "David Icke Biography 2", davidicke.com, accessed 12 December 2010 (archived).
- ^ Tales from the Time Loop, pp. 12–13, 16.
- Also see Barkun 2003, p. 103.
- ^ Kennedy, Maev. "Icke resigns Green Speaker and parliamentary roles," The Guardian, 20 March 1991.
- ^ For "Son of the Godhead," see In the Light of Experience, p. 190, and for the "Infinite Mind," see p. 208.
- ^ Ezard, John. "'Son and daughter of God' predict apocalypse is nigh," The Guardian, 28 March 1991.
- For the death of his father, see In the Light of Experience, p. 188. For the press conference, see p. 193.
- ^ In the Light of Experience, p. 193.
- ^ a b "David Icke on Wogan", BBC, 1991 and 2006, courtesy of YouTube.
- ^ a b Ronson 2001, part 1, part 2.
- ^ David Icke on Wogan, 29 April 1991, in "Still crazy after all these years", at 4 mins, 11 secs, accessed 30 March 2011.
- ^ Christy, Des. "Crucifixion, courtesy of the BBC," The Guardian, May 6, 1991.
- ^ "David Icke: Was He Right?", Channel Five, 12 December 2006; courtesy of Google Video, from 02:20 mins, accessed 12 December 2010.
- ^ Tales from the Time Loop, pp. 14, 17.
- Also see David Icke: Was He Right?, Channel Five, UK, YouTube, December 12, 2006.
- ^ a b For the details of his lecture tours, website numbers, countries lectured in, see "David Icke: Was He Right?", Channel Five, UK, 12 December 2006.
- For the reprintings and South Africa reference, see Lewis and Kahn 2010, p. 75; also see Lewis and Kahn 2005, (courtesy link, pp. 3–5).
- ^ Clarke, Natalie. "Divorced from reality", The Daily Mail, 7 January 2012.
- ^ Lewis and Kahn 2010, p. 75.
- ^ For Oxford Union, see Evans, Paul. "Interview: David Icke", The New Statesman, 3 March 2008.
- Icke, David. Live at the Oxford Union, February 2008.
- Also see Marre, Oliver. "Pendennis", The Observer, 20 January 2008.
- For the book tour and New York, see Leonard, Tom. "The second coming of David Icke", The Daily Mail, 28 November 2011.
- ^ "David Icke stood for the None (No Party)", VoteWise, accessed 12 December 2010.
- Naughton, Philippe. "Reptilians beware - David Icke is back!", The Times, 27 June 2008.
- ^ For law of attraction/magnetic energy and satanic involvement, see for example Children of the Matrix, p. 291ff, and The Biggest Secret, pp. 30–40.
- For other possible worlds/frequencies, see The Biggest Secret, pp. 26–27.
- For changing DNA, see Infinite Love is the Only Truth, pp. 78–84, 148.
- ^ a b Barkun 2003, p. 104.
- For the "odd and ill-matched," see Simms 2002, p. 33.
- For the names, see Ronson, Jon. Beset by lizards, The Guardian, March 17, 2001; Offley 2000a, and Icke, March 2000 (archived.
- For the ideas, see:
-
- The Biggest Secret, pp. 1–2.
- And the Truth Shall Set You Free, p. 8.
- Children of the Matrix, pp. 19, 79, 251, 368.
- ^ Children of the Matrix, p. 339.
- Lewis and Kahn 2005, (courtesy link, p. 11).
- For the London School of Economics, see Human Race Get off Your Knees, for example pp. 134, 646; and Kay 2011, p. 180.
- ^ The Biggest Secret, pp. 19–25.
- ^ Barkun 2003, p. 106.
- ^ Barkun 2003, p. 105.
- ^ Lewis and Kahn 2010, p. 81.
- ^ The Biggest Secret, pp. 30–38, 40.
- Icke, David. "Mono-Atomic Gold", Bibliotecapleyades.net, accessed December 12, 2010.
- Lewis and Kahn 2005, (courtesy link, pp. 8–9).
- ^ Lewis and Kahn 2010, p. 82.
- ^ The Biggest Secret, pp. 40-45.
- ^ Children of the Matrix, pp. 19, 79, 251.
- ^ The Biggest Secret, pp. 26–27.
- ^ a b c d Barkun 2003, pp. 106–108.
- ^ Kay 2011, pp. 72, 179–180.
- For Icke's views, see Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Center Disaster, 2002, e.g. pp. 154, 205.
- ^ Icke, David. "Problem-reaction-solution", News for the Soul, accessed December 12, 2010.
- ^ a b Infinite Love is the Only Truth, pp. 78–84, 148.
- Also see David Icke: Was He Right?, Channel Five, UK, YouTube, 12 December 2006.
- ^ Human Race Get Off Your Knees, 2010, pp. 618, 627, 632.
- ^ a b c Barkun 2003, pp. 49–50.
- Ronson, March 17, 2001.
- The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was written around 1897, probably under the direction of the Russian secret police in Paris, and purports to be transcripts of 24 addresses given to a group of Jewish elders. See Protocols of the Elders of Zion, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the museum's timeline.
It was exposed as a hoax in 1920 by The Times of London, which wrote that it was a work of plagiarism derived from two sources: The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu (1864) by a French satirist, Maurice Joly, which had nothing to do with Jews; and Biarritz (1868), an antisemitic novel by a German writer, Hermann Goedsche. See Barkun 2003, pp. 48–50.
- For more background, see Kay, Jonathan. "The enduring influence of The Protocols of Zion", The National Post, May 10, 2011.
- ^ a b Honigsbaum 1995.
- ^ Ronson, Jon. "David Icke, the Lizards, and the Jews", Channel 4 Television, UK, 2001, 06:12 mins.
- ^ Barkun 2003, p. 104.
- For more on this, see Simms 2002, p. 33ff.
- ^ "Greens bar Icke", The Independent, 12 September 1994.
- Chaudhary, Vivek. "Greens see red at 'Son of God's anti-Semitism'," The Guardian, September 12, 1994.
- Goodwin, Stephen. "Icke factor could thwart Greens' serious message", The Independent, 29 September 1994.
- ^ Icke, David. "Down but speaking out among the Greens," letter to the editor, The Guardian, 14 September 1994.
- ^ Barkun 2003, p. 144.
- Icke writes: "I strongly believe that a small Jewish clique which has contempt for the mass of Jewish people worked with non-Jews to create the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the Second World War. This Jewish/non-Jewish Elite used the First World War to secure the Balfour Declaration and the principle of the Jewish State of Israel in Palestine (for which, given the genetic history of most Jewish people, there is absolutely no justification on historical grounds or any other). They then dominated the Versailles Peace Conference and created the circumstances which made the Second World War inevitable. They financed Hitler to power in 1933 and made the funds available for his rearmament. See And the Truth Shall Set You Free, pp. 120–121, cited in Offley 2000a.
- ^ Taylor, Sam. "So I was in this bar with the son of God...," The Observer, 20 April 1997.
- See "Master races", chapter seven, And the Truth Shall Set You Free.
- ^ Theroux 2001.
- ^ Ronson, Jon. "David Icke, the Lizards, and the Jews", Channel 4 Television, UK, 2001, from 4:26 mins.
- ^ Ronson, 17 March 2001.
- During a debate in 1999 about whether to allow him to speak at the University of Toronto, law professor Ed Morgan wrote to Robert Prichard, the university's president, describing Icke's work as "precisely the type of vilifying material with which the Supreme Court was concerned in its decision regarding the Criminal Code of Canada ban. The publications praise classic antisemitic tracts, and are replete with references to a secret society carrying on a global conspiracy led by a manipulating Jewish clique"; see Jabbari 1999.
- Also see Kraft 1999.
- ^ Cowley, Jason. "The Icke Files", The Independent on Sunday, 1 October 2000.
- ^ Ronson, Jon. "David Icke, the Lizards, and the Jews", Channel 4 Television, UK, 2001. Warman appears at 0:21 mins.
- Also see Gillis 2008, pp. 4–5.
- Children of the Matrix, p. 412.
- ^ a b For comparison with Alex Jones, and for the view that Icke is the most fluent of the genre, see Barkun 2003, p. 98ff, 163.
- For "professional conspiracy theorist," see Barkun 2011, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Children of the Matrix, pp. 423–424.
- Lewis and Kahn 2005, (courtesy link, pp. 12–14).
- Lewis and Kahn 2010, p. 75.
- ^ Lewis and Kahn 2010, p. 88ff.
References[link]
-
-
- Books
- Barkun, Michael. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California, 2003.
- Barkun, Michael. Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11. The University of North Carolina Press, 2011.
- Kay, Jonathan. Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground. HarperCollins, 2011.
- Lewis, Tyson E., and Kahn, Richard. "The Tail Behind the Tale: Toward a Reptoid History," Education Out of Bounds: Reimagining Cultural Studies for a Posthuman Age. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
-
- Video
- Channel 5 Television. David Icke: Was He Right?, December 12, 2006.
- Ronson, Jon. "David Icke, the Lizards, and the Jews", Channel 4 Television, UK, 6 May 2001.
- Wogan, Terry. David Icke interviewed by Terry Wogan, BBC, April 1991 and again in 2006.
-
- Papers
- Lewis, Tyson and Kahn, Richard. "The Reptoid Hypothesis: Utopian and Dystopian Representational Motifs in David Icke's Alien Conspiracy Theory", Utopian Studies, Vol. 16, 2005, accessed 13 April 2012 (courtesy link).
- Simms, Norman. "Anti-Semitism: A Psychopathological Disease" in Piven, Jerry S.; Boyd, Chris; and Lawton, Henry W. (eds). Judaism and Genocide: Psychological Undercurrents of History, Volume 4. Writers Club Press, 2002.
-
- News and other articles
- Chaudhary, Vivek. "Greens see red at 'Son of God's anti-Semitism'," The Guardian, 12 September 1994.
- Christy, Des. "Crucifixion, courtesy of the BBC," The Guardian, 6 May 1991.
- Clarke, Natalie. "Divorced from reality", The Daily Mail, 7 January 2012.
- Cowley, Jason. "The Icke Files", The Independent on Sunday, 1 October 2000.
- Evans, Paul. Interview: David Icke, New Statesman, 3 March 2008.
- Ezard, John. "'Son and daughter of God' predict apocalypse is nigh," The Guardian, 28 March 1991.
- Gillis, Charlie. "Righteous Crusader or Civil Rights Menace?", Macleans, 9 April 2008.
- Goodwin, Stephen. "Icke factor could thwart Greens' serious message", The Independent, 29 September 1994.
- Greenslade, Nick. "The ten worst sportsmen in politics", The Observer, 5 September 2004.
- Grossman, Wendy. "Green Party Cofounder Icke Goes New Age", Skeptical Inquirer, 1 January 1991.
- Honigsbaum, Mark. "The Dark Side of David Icke", London Evening Standard, May 26, 1995.
- Jabbari, Dorsa. "U of T provides accused anti-Semite with mike", Varsity News, 12 October 1999.
- Leonard, Tom. "The second coming of David Icke", The Daily Mail, 28 November 2011.
- Kennedy, Maev. "Icke resigns Green Speaker and parliamentary roles," The Guardian, 20 March 1991.
- Kraft, Frances. "New Age speaker set to talk in Toronto", The Canadian Jewish News, 7 October 1999.
- Marre, Oliver. "Pendennis", The Observer, 20 January 2008.
- Mitchell, Ben. "This much I know", interview with David Icke, The Observer, 22 January 2006.
- Naughton, Philippe. "Reptilians beware - David Icke is back!", The Times, 27 June 2008.
- Offley, Will (2000a). "Selected Quotes Of David Icke", Political Research Associates, February 23, 2000.
- Offley, Will (2000b). "David Icke And The Politics Of Madness: Where The New Age Meets The Third Reich", Political Research Associates, 29 February 2000.
- Ronson, Jon. "Beset by lizards, part 1", part 2, extracts from Ronson's book, Them: Adventures with Extremists, The Guardian, 17 March 2011.
- Taylor, Sam. "So I was in this bar with the son of God ...," The Observer, 20 April 1997.
- Theroux, Louis. "Stranger than fiction: Are 12ft lizards running the world?", The Guardian, 7 April 2001.
- Whitney, Nicole (undated). "Interview with David Icke", News for the Soul, 2004, accessed 12 December 2010.
- The Guardian. "Protester David Icke finally pays community charge," 14 November 1990.
- The Independent. "Greens bar Icke", 12 September 1994.
- The Observer. "The 10 worst decisions in the history of sport, 12 January 2003.
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Protocols of the Elders of Zion, accessed 12 December 2010.
-
- Icke's books and other material
- Icke, David. It's a tough game, son!. Piccolo Books, 1983.
- Icke, David. "Does the Animal Kingdom need a Bill of Rights?", Royal Institute of Great Britain, 1989, YouTube, accessed 12 December 2010.
- Icke, David. In the Light of Experience, Warner Books, 1993.
- Icke, David. Days of Decision. Jon Carpenter Publishing, 1993.
- Icke, David. "Down but speaking out among the Greens," letters to the editor, The Guardian, 14 September 1994.
- Icke, David. And the Truth Shall Set You Free. David Icke Books, 1995.
- Icke, David. The Biggest Secret: The Book that Will Change the World. David Icke Books, 1999.
- Icke, David. Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Center Disaster, Bridge of Love Publications, 2002.
- Icke, David. Tales from the Time Loop. David Icke Books, 2003.
- Icke, David. Infinite Love is the Only Truth. Bridge of Love Publications, 2005.
- Icke, David. The David Icke Guide to the Global Conspiracy. David Icke Books, 2007.
- Icke, David. Human Race Get Off Your Knees: The Lion Sleeps No More. David Icke Books, 2010.
- Icke, David (undated). "Problem-reaction-solution", News for the Soul, accessed 12 December 2010.
- Icke, David (undated). David Icke part 1, part 2, Davidicke.com, accessed 12 December 2010.
- Icke, David (undated). "Was Hitler a Rothschild?", DavidIcke.com, accessed 12 December 2010.
-
Further reading[link]
- DavidIcke.com.
- Banyan, Will. "The Big Picture" A review of Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Center Disaster (pdf), Paranoia Magazine, October 2003.
- Kay, Jonathan. "When paranoia goes intergalactic", The National Post, 12 May 2011.
- Shermer, Michael. "Illuminati, The New World Order & Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists (PCTs)", The Skeptic's Dictionary, 2006.
- Shermer, Michael. Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. Mjf Books, 1997.
- Audio/video
- Britton, Fern. Interview with David Icke, 1/3, 2/3, 3/3, BBC's Coast to Coast People, 1991.
- Icke, David. Presenting snooker, BBC, 1980s.
- Icke, David. "Does the Animal Kingdom need a Bill of Rights?", Royal Institute of Great Britain, Arena, BBC 2, 1989.
- Icke, David. "Live at the Oxford Union", February 2008.
- Icke, David. "Still crazy after all these years", from The Lion Sleeps No More DVD, 2010.
- Kent, Arthur. "Secret Societies", interview with David Icke, History Channel, 2001.
- Maher, Bill. Interview with David Icke, Religulous, 2008.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Icke, David |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | British conspiracy theorist |
| Date of birth | 29 April 1952 |
| Place of birth | Leicester, England |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/David_Icke
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Айк, Дэвид
http://nl.wn.com/David Icke
http://pt.wn.com/David Icke
http://de.wn.com/David Icke
http://fr.wn.com/David Icke
http://it.wn.com/David Icke
http://pl.wn.com/David Icke
http://es.wn.com/David Icke
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Icke
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
More Videos
Wiki Summary
Sumer (from Akkadian Šumeru; Sumerian 𒆠𒂗𒂠 ki-en-ĝir15, approximately "land of the civilized lords" or "native land") was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Although the earliest historical records in the region do not go back much further than ca. 2900 BC, modern historians have asserted that Sumer was first settled between ca. 4500 and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic people who possibly did not speak the Sumerian language (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc. as evidence). These conjectured, prehistoric people are now called "proto-Euphrateans" or " Ubaidians", and are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia. The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. However, some, such as Piotr Michalowski and Gerd Steiner, contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language.
