Maresha

Tel Maresha (Hebrew: תל מראשה‎), also Marissa (ماريسا the Arabized form), is an antiquity site in Israel's southern lowlands. The tel was first excavated by the British archaeologists Bliss and Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund. The majority of the artifacts are to be found today in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums.

This site is now protected as part of Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

History

Iron Age to Hellenistic Period

Maresha was one of the cities of Judah during the time of the First Temple and is mentioned among the conquests of the ancient Israelites in the Book of Joshua and later in the Books of Chronicles as one of King Rehoboam's fortifications. According to the Madaba Map, Maresha was the place "whence came Micah the Prophet." In the 6th century BCE, as result of Zedekiah's rebellion against the Babylonian kingdom and its king Nebuchadnezzar II, the latter occupied the Judean kingdom and sent many of its inhabitants into exile. This marked the end of Maresha as a Judahite city.

Vin Diesel

Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), better known by his stage name Vin Diesel, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his portrayals of Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious film series and Richard B. Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick trilogy. He also was a producer on sequels in both franchises.

Diesel has also starred in films such as xXx (2002) and Find Me Guilty (2006). His voice acting work includes The Iron Giant (1999), the video game spin-offs from The Chronicles of Riddick franchise, and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). He wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a short film titled Multi-Facial and the feature-length drama film Strays. He is the founder of the production companies One Race Films, Racetrack Records, and Tigon Studios.

Early life

Diesel was born in Alameda County, California, along with his twin brother, Paul. His mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair) Vincent, is an astrologer. Diesel has stated that he is "of ambiguous ethnicity". His mother's background includes English, German, and Scottish. He has never met his biological father, and has stated that "all I know from my mother is that I have connections to many different cultures". Diesel has self-identified as "definitely a person of colour", and has stated that his parents' relationship would have been illegal in some parts of the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws. He was raised in New York City by his Caucasian mother and African-American stepfather, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theater manager.

Elijah Wood

Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor, film producer and DJ. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II (1989). Landing a succession of larger roles, he was critically acclaimed as a child actor by age 9, being nominated for several Young Artist Awards. As a child, he starred in the films Radio Flyer (1992), The Good Son (1993), North (1994), and Flipper (1996).

He began to take on teenage roles in the films The Ice Storm (1997), Deep Impact and The Faculty (both 1998). He is best known for his high-profile leading role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003). Since then, he has chosen varied roles in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Sin City, Green Street, Everything Is Illuminated (all 2005), and Bobby (2006).

Wood also provided the voices of the main character in the award-winning animated musical films Happy Feet (2006) and Happy Feet Two (2011), as well as the eponymous lead in the Tim Burton-produced action/science fiction film 9 (2009). In 2005, he started his own record label, Simian Records. He did the voice acting for Spyro in the Legend of Spyro trilogy. In 2012, he began voicing Beck in the animated series Tron: Uprising, Sigma in the tenth season of the Rooster Teeth series, Red vs. Blue, and Wirt in the Cartoon Network miniseries Over the Garden Wall (2014). From 2011 to 2014, Wood played the role of Ryan Newman in FX's cult dark comedy, Wilfred.

Justin Bieber

Justin Drew Bieber (/ˈbiːbər/; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Bieber released his debut EP, My World, in late 2009. It was certified platinum in the U.S. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut record chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber released his first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, in 2010. It debuted at or near number one in several countries and was certified triple platinum in the U.S. It was preceded by his most successful single to date, "Baby".

Following his debut album, he had his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, released the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes -- and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. He released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, when it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber released his third studio album, Believe, in 2012. His fourth studio album Purpose was released in November 2015. His U.S. album and singles sales total 44.7 million.