A stele (, historically ; Greek: ''stēlē''; plural: ''stēlēz''), also stela (plural stelae ), is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief (bas-relief, sunken-relief, high-relief, and so forth), or painted onto the slab. It can also be used as a territorial marker to delineate land ownership.

History and function

Stelae were also used as territorial markers, as the boundary stelae of Akhenaton at Amarna, or to commemorate military victories. They were widely used in the Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt, Ethiopia, and, most likely independently, in China and elsewhere in the Far East, and, more surely independently, by Mesoamerican civilisations, notably the Olmec and Maya. The huge number of stelae surviving from ancient Egypt and in Central America constitute one of the largest and most significant sources of information on those civilisations. An informative stele of Tiglath-Pileser III is preserved in the British Museum. Two stelae built into the walls of a church are major documents relating to the Etruscan language.

The erection of steles was popular in China and consisted of rectangular stone tablets usually inscribed with a funerary, commemorative, or edifying text. Although the earliest steles, inspired by Buddhists, date to the first half of the fifth century, this visual form did not come into general use until the last years of the fifth century, and this custom prevailed until the end of the sixth century. From then on the design of steles drifted away from pure Buddhist influence and became wordy displays of script mostly eulogistic or commemorative. They were placed in front of tombs to announce the name of the person buried there, often to provide details of the deceased’s life, or were provided to commemorate a particular incident or event and to give details of the purpose of the occasion.

Erecting steles at tombs or temples eventually became a widespread social and religious phenomenon. Emperors found it necessary to promulgate laws, regulating the use of funerary steles by the population. The Ming Dynasty laws, instituted in the 14th century by its founder the Hongwu Emperor, listed a number of stele types available as status symbols to various ranks of the nobility and officialdom: the top noblemen and mandarins were eligible for steles installed on top of a stone tortoise and crowned with hornless dragons, while the lower-level officials had to be satisfied with steles with plain rounded tops, standing on simple rectangular pedestals.

A number of such stone monuments have preserved the origin and history of China's minority religious communities. The 8th-century Christians of Xi'an left behind the Nestorian Stele, which survived adverse events of the later history by being buried underground for several centuries. Steles created by the Kaifeng Jews in 1489, 1512, and 1663, have survived the repeated flooding of the Yellow River that destroyed their synagogue several times, to tell us something about their world. China's Muslim have a number of steles of considerable antiquity as well, often containing both Chinese and Arabic text.

Thousands of steles, surplus to the original requirements, and no longer associated with the person they were erected for, have been assembled in Xi'an's "Stele Forest" Museum, becoming a popular tourist attraction. Elsewhere, many unwanted steles can also be found in selected places in Beijing, such as Dong Yue Miao, the Five Pagoda Temple, and the Bell Tower, again assembled to attract tourists and also as a means of solving the problem faced by local authorities of what to do with them. The long, wordy, and detailed inscriptions on these steles are almost impossible to read for most are lightly engraved on white marble in characters only an inch or so in size, thus being difficult to see since the slabs are often ten or more feet tall. Very seldom are the inscriptions memorable or of any interest.

Unfinished standing stones, set up without inscriptions from Libya in North Africa to Scotland were monuments of pre-literate Megalithic cultures in the Late Stone Age. The Pictish stones of Scotland, often intricately carved, date from between the 6th and 9th centuries.

An obelisk is a specialized kind of stele. The Insular high crosses of Ireland and Britain are ''specialized stelae''. Likewise, the Totem pole of North and South America is a type of stelae. Gravestones with inscribed epitaph are also kinds of stelae.

Most recently, in the ''Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe'' in Berlin, the architect Peter Eisenman created a field of some 2,700 blank stelae. The memorial is meant to be read not only as the field, but also as an erasure of data that refer to memory of the Holocaust.

Notable individual stelae

Axumite Stele

Stele of Naram-Sin

Code of Hammurabi

Gwanggaeto Stele

Kul Tigin memorial stele inscribed in Chinese and Turkic

Nestorian Stele

Ukrainian stone stela

Lemnos stela

Lapis Niger

For Israel/Egypt:

*Merneptah Stele

*Mesha Stele

For Egypt:

*Rosetta Stone

*Boundary Stelae of Akhenaten

*Palermo stone

*The Stele of Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu

For Sub-Saharan Africa:

*Axumite Stele

*Gao-Saney

In the Western Hemisphere:

*Peru: Raimondi Stela

*Mexico: Stela C at Tres Zapotes

*Mexico: Izapa Stela 5

*Mexico: La Mojarra Stela 1

*Guatemala: Stele 14 from Piedras Negras

*Honduras: Stele H from Copan

Vietnam: the Doctorate stelae at the Temple of Literature

Gallery

File:Stele-from-Phillipi.jpg|Stele from Philippi Archeology Museum

See also

Hilarri or Basque steles

Inscription

Kurgan stelae

Monumental inscription

Runestone

Stećci

Stele Forest, in Xi'an, China

Stele of the Vultures

Totem pole

Bibliography

John Boardman ed., ''The Cambridge Ancient History'', Part 1, 2nd Edition, (ISBN 9780521224963 | ISBN 0521224969)

Christopher A. Pool, ''Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica'', Cambridge University Press, 2007 (ISBN 9780521783125)

Karen E. Till, ''The New Berlin: Memory, Politics, Place'', University of Minnesota Press, 2005

Footnotes and references

External links

Funerary Stela

Category:Archaeological artefacts Category:Egyptian artefact types Category:Stones Category:Types of inscriptions Category:Greek loanwords

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name	Jessie J
alt	f
background	solo_singer
birth name	Jessica Ellen Cornish
alias	Jessie J
birth date	March 27, 1988
birth place	Chadwell Heath, London, England
genre	R&B;, pop, hip hop, soul
years active	2006–present
label	Lava, Universal Republic, Island, Gut
website
notable instruments	}}

Jessica Ellen Cornish (born on 27 March 1988), better known by her stage name Jessie J, is an English singer-songwriter, currently signed to Island Records. She began her career as a songwriter for artists including Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus. Her debut single, "Do It Like a Dude", was released in November 2010 and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Charts. Follow-up single "Price Tag" reached number one in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and New Zealand, and reached the top 10 in nineteen other countries. Her debut album, ''Who You Are'', was released in February 2011 and charted at number two on the UK Albums Chart. In February 2011 Jessie J won a BRIT Award, Critics' Choice. It was revealed in October 2011 that Jessie J will be a coach and a mentor on the television show, ''The Voice UK''.

Early life

Jessie J was born Jessica Ellen Cornish in Chadwell Heath, London and was educated at Mayfield High School in the London Borough of Redbridge. She attended Colin's Performing Arts School and as an eleven year old was cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End production of ''Whistle Down the Wind''. Jessie has two sisters, who are five and seven years older than her, who were both head girls at school.

Unlike her academic sisters, Cornish has stated she was "never really that good at anything". She said, "At school they were like 'oh, you're a Cornish girl' and they kind of expected me to be the same as my sisters. Give me something to draw or an outfit to pick for someone, or hair, make-up, acting, write a song, I'm fine with it, but anything to do with sums – it was never my thing." She also said she never based her intelligence on her exam results. She also said she was always good at singing and it was her "thing".

At the age of 16 she began studying at the BRIT School and at 17 she joined a girl group named "Soul Deep". She graduated in the class of 2006 along with singers Adele and Leona Lewis. At 18 she suffered a stroke.

Music career

2006–2009: Career beginnings

Jessie J was signed to Gut Records, recording an album for the label, but the company went bankrupt before any material was released. She then found success as a songwriter, gaining a Sony ATV publishing contract. She was also the support act for Cyndi Lauper during Lauper's UK dates of her 2008 Bring Ya To The Brink tour (Lauper invited J to join her on stage for the performances of Girls Just Want To Have Fun). Jessie has also written lyrics for artists such as Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus, including "Party in the U.S.A.".

Jessie J was also part of a girl band, called 'Soul Deep', for two years, however she left due to thoughts that "it wasn't going anywhere". Despite people thinking that her first notoriety was through YouTube, Jessie was signed for four years before her first video was posted.

Jessie first came to the attention of Lava Records when her publisher at Sony/ATV, Rich Christina, sent Lava president Jason Flom a link to her MySpace page, which the record executive loved. After seeing an impressive U.S. showcase, Lava was, along with several other labels, keen to sign the artist but progress was hampered by her management's insistence on, what Flom called, a "crazy deal", and their refusal to let Jessie speak to any labels directly. Despite this, Senior Director of A&R; at Lava, Harinder Rana, made surreptitious efforts to meet Jessie on her own in winter of 2008. Later in the year a change in management to Sarah Stennett and Nadia Khan of Crown Music allowed record deal negotiations to take place. Jessie eventually signed with Lava as part of a joint venture with Universal Republic.

2010–present: ''Who You Are''

Jessie J began recording her debut studio album in 2006 and it was completed on 19 January 2011. She revealed that "Big White Room" would be on the album and was written from an experience she had when she was 11 years old, although she wrote the song at age 17, in hospital, where a ward mate, a little boy, died. Jessie J says the album's title track, "Who You Are", is one of her proudest creations, she said the song is a "positive role model for young people" and "I always say that I'm half-artist, half-therapist"

In late 2010 Jessie J released her first single, "Do It Like a Dude" which was co-written with George Astasio, Tj Normandin, Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, Kyle Abrahams and Peter Ighile. Originally, she wrote the song with Rihanna in mind because "Rude Boy" was released at the time, partly inspiring the song. She then sent the song to her label, Island Records, before sending it to Rihanna's management. Island insisted the song become Jessie J's first single. She wishes to perform the song with Rihanna at one point. The single gained positive reception from critics. The single charted at number two on the UK Singles Charts. Her follow-up single "Price Tag" was released in late January 2011. This was written by Jessie J, Lukasz Gottwald, Claude Kelly, and Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. and charted at number one in the top of the charts. "Price Tag" was released in the United States on 1 February 2011 and peaked at 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Price Tag" also charted at number-one in New Zealand and Ireland and is the most successful online video J has released. As of October 2011, the video has generated over 148 million views on Youtube and Vevo, making it the 22nd most viewed music video of all time. Her first American television appearance was as the musical guest on the 12 March 2011 episode of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live''.

On 25 February 2011 her debut album, ''Who You Are'', was released. The album first entered the charts on 6 March 2011 where it charted on the UK Album Charts at number two. The album charted into the top ten in a number of countries and number 11 in the United States.After the release she went on to release a third single from the album, "Nobody's Perfect". MTV reported that the single is, so far, only confirmed for release in the United Kingdom. The album's fourth single was "Who's Laughing Now". "Domino" was her second US single. The Dr. Luke-produced track was sent to mainstream radio on 6 September 2011. With the success of ''Who You Are'' in North America, Jessie was chosen to tour as the opening act for American pop artist Katy Perry's ''California Dreams Tour'' in 2011 but after she was unable to fully recover from her injuries during rehearsals she was forced to pull out under the doctor's orders.

Jessie J served as the house artist at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, performing several of her original songs along with covers around commercial breaks.

In early 2011 she suffered a panic attack on stage after she was forced to perform in the dark. "I did a gig recently and had a panic attack on stage," she told ''NOW''. "The night was called 'Black Out' and I had to perform in the dark. I asked them to turn on the lights and they didn't. I was onstage in pitch black and, because I couldn't see anything, I started to panic. It was awful." James Morrison's third studio album, ''The Awakening'' features a collaboration with Jessie J called "Up", the song was released as a single on 4 December 2011. On 4 October Jessie announced that she will be one of four coaches for new BBC program, ''The Voice UK''.Jessie J re-released "Who You Are" on 9 November 2011, featuring the regular tracks plus "Domino" and two new songs. "Domino" became her second top 30 hit in the U.S., following the success of "Price Tag". The song also peaked at number 1 in January 2012 in the UK, before it was even officially released there.

Personal life

On 12 June 2011 at the Capital Radio Summertime Ball, Jessie ruptured several tendons in her foot during rehearsals, and performed her set the following day while sitting on a gilded throne. For her appearance at Glastonbury Festival 2011 on 25 June 2011, she performed on the throne again, claiming her physician had told her not to perform with her broken foot which would take six weeks to heal. Jessie J was scheduled to play at several festivals throughout the summer, however it was reported on 1 July 2011 that she would not be able to attend T in the Park, T4 On The Beach, Wembley:Orange, iTunes Festival, Lovebox and Oxegen due to the injuries to her foot. Jessie J personally tweeted before surgery; "Keep making nervous jokes with the doctor and he keeps looking at me blankly. Which is making me laugh even more. It's getting serious. I just took my nose stud out." Tweeting after the surgery, she wrote: "Can't keep tweeting. Still very dizzy and being sick. But I'm OK, I got through it." Her record label released an official statement on 30 June 2011 that under strict orders from her doctor, she will not be able to perform for a number of weeks so she can heal and recuperate properly. She returned to the concert circuit in late August, including sets at the V Festival and The Big Chill. For the 2011 VMA's she was still in a cast and using the throne to keep off of it.

Jessie J confirmed on 2 August 2011 that she would be shaving her hair off for charity in 2012. Speaking via her official Twitter account she said: “It’s hair, It will grow back. Even if it takes 2 years, if it saves lives it’s worth it. Even if its 1 life that’s something.”

Jessie J is openly bisexual and stated in an interview on the "In Demand" radio show on March 3, 2011, "I've never denied it. Whoopie doo guys, yes, I've dated girls and I've dated boys – get over it."

Music and voice

Although she was first identified as a soul singer, she primarily records songs of contemporary R&B; and pop music with hip-hop influences.

Music critic Matthew Perpetua of Pitchfork Media compared Jessie J to her peers Adele and Amy Winehouse, but admitted she was missing something: "Whereas Adele and Winehouse also have powerhouse voices, they fit into clear aesthetic niches and invest their songs with depth and humanity. Jessie J doesn't have even a fraction of their restraint." Perpetua added: "Her idea of showcasing her gift is to shoot for a blaring melisma on "Mamma Knows Best" that makes Christina Aguilera seem as subtle as Joni Mitchell by comparison." Ailbhe Malone of the music magazine NME also recognized Cornish's "undeniably potent voice". However, she pointed out the possible "identity crisis" that might have been caused by Jessie's songwriter past: "This is an album of singles for other artists. There’s Rihanna Jessie (‘Do It...’), Perry Jessie (‘Abracadabra’), Pixie Jessie (‘Mamma Knows Best’), Ellie Jessie ('Big White Room')."

Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian shared her positive opinion about the singer, saying that "if any singer has the potential to be the British Katy Perry or Pink, with the accompanying millions of sales, it's her". Sullivan also complimented Cornish's attitude: "[Her songs] are delivered with a confidence that money can't buy." Entertainment Weekly's music critic Adam Markovitz said of Jessie: "The 23-year-old Brit has all the tools, from a monster voice to an ear for hooks — she co-wrote Miley Cyrus' Party in the U.S.A. — and a manic persona that's equal parts Katy Perry, Kristin Chenoweth, and Alice Cooper.

Discography

''Who You Are'' (2011)

Filmography

+Television	Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2012	''The Voice UK''	Herself

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:Bisexual musicians Category:Electronica musicians Category:English female singers Category:English mezzo-sopranos Category:English pop singers Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English-language singers Category:LGBT musicians from the United Kingdom Category:LGBT people from the United Kingdom Category:People educated at the BRIT School Category:Singers from London Category:Stroke survivors Category:The Voice judges Category:People from Chadwell Heath

af:Jessie J bg:Джеси Джей ca:Jessie J cs:Jessie J da:Jessie J de:Jessie J es:Jessie J fa:جسی جی fr:Jessie J fy:Jessie J ko:제시 제이 hr:Jessie J id:Jessie J it:Jessie J he:ג'סי ג'יי lv:Jessie J lt:Jessie J hu:Jessie J mk:Џеси Џеј nl:Jessie J ja:ジェシー・J no:Jessie J pl:Jessie J pt:Jessie J ro:Jessie J ru:Джесси Джей sk:Jessie J fi:Jessie J sv:Jessie J th:เจสซี เจ tr:Jessie J vi:Jessie J zh:Jessie J

Alexandru Arşinel (born 4 May 1939, in Dolhasca, Suceava County) is a Romanian comedian and actor of Aromanian origin.

He studied at IATC (1962).

Filmography

''Ana şi "hoţul"'' (1981);

''Ca-n filme'' (1983);

''Colierul de turcoaze'' (1985);

''În fiecare zi mi-e dor de tine'' (1987);

''Flăcăul cu o singură bretea'' (1990);

''Miss Litoral'' (1990);

''A doua cădere a Constantinopolului'' (1993);

''Paradisul în direct'' (1994);

''Rǎzboiul Sexelor'' (2007–2008).

References

External links

http://www.cronicaromana.ro/alexandru-arsinel-satisfactia-unei-cariere-de-succes-imi-hraneste-sperantele-de-viitor.html

Category:Aromanians Category:1939 births Category:Romanian comedians Category:Living people

ro:Alexandru Arșinel