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As the tide starts to come in you can see the change in habitat now that the tidegate is removed.
You are free to use this image with the following photo credit: Roy W. Lowe / USFWS
Amina was working in Lush the perfume/comstic/girlie shop dressed as a dragon for he Chinese new year celebrations. I initially picked out one of her shop mates who was giving out leaflets but he suggested that the others in the shop were better face painted. 23 year old Amina lives in Stratford and is aiming to be a singer/songwriter, who is into indie - alternative music and she has written a song called soundcloud (I think I can't quite read my scribblings) and can be seen/heard at her FB www.facebook.com/maykaymusic.
This picture is #84 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100strangers.com/
AS mentioned in an earlier image, Del is a mainstay of the Capital Blues Club and can be relied on to turn up with a group of top quality local musicians.
Event photographed with Pentax K1/K3 cameras with Pentax DFA 24-70 and Sigma 70-200 lenses
As calls to rebuild the economy with better jobs reverberate across the country, Walmart workers and their supporters today announced the largest mobilization since Black Friday, set for Thursday, September 5.
The announcement comes as Walmart has failed to meet a Labor Day deadline to reinstate illegally fired and disciplined workers, publicly commit to improve jobs and end the company’s aggressive violations of workers’ rights. Thousands of workers and their supporters plan to protest on Thursday in over a dozen cities across the country.
“Walmart, we cannot wait any longer for you to do the right thing for American workers. Our jobs should not be at risk when we speak out about improvements that would help our families and Walmart customers,” said a Cindy Murray a Walmart worker who was recently arrested for protesting at Walmart’s Washington, DC offices. (LINK) Murray has worked at Walmart for 13 years. “Walmart employees like me are not making enough to support our families even though we work at the country’s largest company.”
Among the 15 cities nationwide participating in this protest, Hyattsville, Md. where hundreds of Walmart workers and supporters joined outside of the Walmart store in the Capital Plaza shopping center today to call on the company to reinstate illegally fired and disciplined workers, improve jobs and end the company’s aggressive violations of their rights.
Refusing to leave intersection of Annapolis Road and 65th Avenue without a meaningful response from Walmart, three workers and three community allies, were arrested.
#walmartstrikers
As the name suggests, this species, which is from Victoria, is strongly fragrant. Once common on the Western plains of Melbourne, it is now considered endangered due to habitat loss.
theinspirationroom.com/daily/2011/beached-as-in-christchu...
The famous "Beached As" whale is back to help promote the efforts of the NZ Red Cross donation appeal for families affected by the earthquake.
Tale As Old As Time-Beauty And The Beast Figurine
Jim Shore continues his Carved by Heart series paying homage to Beauty and the Beast. All six of the beloved characters are represented in this log hewn sculpture. As a special bonus the magical rose sits front and center.
7.75" H x 7" W x 6.5" L
Stone Resin
Unique variations should be expected; hand painted
Release Date: June 2012
Product image #4
Ensaio fotográfico de casamento realizado pelo fotógrafo de casamentos Fabio Moro, na catedral de São Pedro de Alcântara, em Petrópolis. O casal fez as fotos no dia de seu casamento, a catedral de Petrópolis, na região serrana, foi escolhida por causa dos belos vitrais coloridos e a arquitetura clássica. A cidade Imperial é uma ótima escolha para casamentos lindos e para fotos de casamento elegantes. A noiva usou vestido de noiva branco com decote em v, sem mangas e buquê de rosas vermelhas. O penteado da noiva foi simples, ela usou cabelo solto com coroa, boa escolha para casamento diurno. O noivo usou traje clássico, casaca e colete com gravata prata, sem flor na lapela. www.fabiomorofotografia.com.br
James Getty as President Abraham Lincoln during the 2009 Gettysburg Remembrance Day parade in Gettysburg, PA.
Each year thousands of Civil War reenactors come to Gettysburg on the anniversary weekend of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to retrace the route President Lincoln took to give one of the greatest speeches ever given by a US President.
Please email me at mike@virtualcivilwar.com if you can help me identify any of the participants (or unit(s) in this photograph so I can give them proper credit.
To see my photos of the 2003, 2007 & 2008 Remembrance Day Parades, please visit: www.mikelynaugh.com/Remembrance/index.htm
This image was created with FractalWorks, a high performance fractal renderer for Macintosh computers. You can purchase FractalWorks in the Mac App Store
As seen from Mushroom Rock State Park
Mushroom Rock State Park is an area of geological interest located in eastern Ellsworth County where a number of rock formations resemble the shape of toadstools. The site acted as a navigational landmark for migratory routes passing through the region during the 19th century.
Even though this statue of a king is uninscribed, its distinctive features identify it without any doubt as a portrait of Amenemhat III. The heavy brows, prominent cheekbones, hollow cheeks, jutting lower jaw, and tightly bunched muscles at the corners of the mouth make a strikingly realistic impression. Not realistic, however, are the king’s supersized ears. Instead, they symbolize the ruler’s willingness to hear the prayers of his people. If this image had been carved in relief, the king’s hands would have been uplifted in worship. Here, however, to prevent the breakage of projecting limbs, the ruler’s hands are pressed flat against the front his kilt, a portion of which is looped over his belt.
Egypt, Middle Kingdom (2040–1648 BCE), Dynasty 12, reign of Amenemhat III (1860–1814 BCE)
granodiorite
Overall: 51.2 x 19.8 x 18.4 cm (20 3/16 x 7 13/16 x 7 1/4 in.)
Did you know...
The first pyramid Amenemhat III attempted to build, the so-called Black Pyramid, had major construction flaws and had to be abandoned when it started to collapse.
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
As is made very clear on the tender frames, 140C231 a former Chemin de fer de l'État, and subsequently Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF) engine was built by North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow in 1916.
The engine is preserved by AJECTA who organised a steam special to Troyes from Gare de l'Est in Paris running via Melun, Montereau and Flamboin. The engine was taking water at Flamboin-Gouaix when I took this shot.
As an eastbound UP freight passes Hood River, old #18 stands guard in the Mount Hood Railway yard. As much as I love to see GE's newest products on UP's steel highway, it will never come close to the level of class the 2-8-0 consolidation has. Steam is, and always will be, the king of the steel road.
As nice as some photos turn out, so ugly others can turn out. This photo really doesn't do justice to beauty of the reef.
As the G8 meets in Heiligendamm from the 6th until the 8th of June, protestors gather in Rostock and cities around, organizing demonstrations.
[Taken in Hinter Bollhagen (Germany) - 08Jun07]
See all the photos of the G8 protests in this set : 3-8Jun07 - G8 Protests [Event]
See a selection of the best photos of the G8 protests in this set : 3-8Jun07 - G8 Protests [Event] (Best Of)
As Xavier Rudd likes to sing “Follow the Sun”. Google it, you will love the sweet sounds.
www.brucelevick.com/beach-run/
#Beach, #Bengkulu, #Indonesia, #Mysumatra, #Photography, #Sumatra, #Sunset, #Travel
Weizberg Church
The Roman Catholic Weizberg Church is located on a hill in the east of the town of Weiz in Styria. The high altar is dedicated to "Our Lady of Sorrows " .
Architectural History (other pictures are clickable at the end of page!)
Weizberg Church, seen from Oberfladnitz
Weizberg church, high above the city
When the first church on the hill Weizberg was erected is unclear. One suspects the middle of the 11th Century. It is a three-nave Romanesque basilica with a two-storey east tower. It was mid-14th Century (1357 ?) extended by the construction of a choir .
Since there were as windows only hatches under the roof, it was very dark in the church, what was often complained. Various attempts to improve the light conditions in the church by modifications failed and so the dean and archpriest Dr. Franz Leopold Riedlegger (1726-1755) decided to erect a new church. But he died before.
His successor, Dr. Paul Hieronymus Schmutz, thus figures as the builder of the new church. Work began in 1757. The shell construction, built by architect Joseph Hueber, was finished after something more then a year, on 8 December 1758 the picture of grace (a Pietà by the Master of Neustift in the first quarter of the 15th century ) was brought to the new church and the first service has been celebrated.
For the interior design of the one-naved late-Baroque building initially lacked the money. Not until 1769, the sculptor Veit Koniger and the painter Joseph Adam Ritter von Mölk which were also employed in the Tabor Church, could begin their work. On 22 July 1776 consecrated Bishop Joseph Philipp Graf Spaur von Seckau the church.
221 days needed native of Vienna Court painter (Hofmaler) Joseph Adam Knight von Mölk and his colleagues in 1771 for his frescoes. Theme of the five ceiling paintings are the five major Marian feasts of the liturgical year .
From Veit Koniger stems the magnificent high altar, on which the earlier mentioned Pietà is placed.
The 1775 completed pulpit stems from sculptor Jacob Peyer. Of him are also the two side altars. They are dedicated to Saints Anne and Joseph. The large altar pictures are the work of Knight of Mölk .
In a fire in 1792 the church roof and the roofs of the 44 meter high towers were damaged.
Already in the 12th Century, the church on the "Mountain of Heaven" was a popular pilgrimage church. The pilgrimages found, however, during the Reformation a temporary end. Only in the middle of the 17th Century the number of pilgrims increased again. During the reign of Emperor Joseph II, the number of pilgrims fell and never recovered until the present .
Looking into the sanctuary
The organ of the Weizberg church was built in 2001 by the company Mathis Orgelbau (organ building) and it has 31 stops on three manuals and pedal.
Memorial
In May 2011, next to the Weizberg church a memorial was erected to commemorate the systematic murder of the Roma and Sinti during the time of National Socialism. It was designed by artist Walter Kratner of Graz and shows a broken wheel axle of a freight car, which is understood as a symbol of deportation and genocide. Behind there is an orange-colored plate with the words "Porajmos". In early July of the same year by unknown part of a wheel axle of the memorial was overturned. The act was heavily criticized by Kratner and reported to the police.
Weizbergkirche
Die römisch-katholische Weizbergkirche liegt auf einer Anhöhe im Osten der Stadt Weiz in der Steiermark. Der Hochaltar ist der „Schmerzhaften Muttergottes“ geweiht.
Baugeschichte
Weizbergkirche, hoch über der Stadt
Wann die erste Kirche auf dem Weizberg errichtet wurde, ist unklar. Man vermutet die Mitte des 11. Jahrhunderts. Es handelte sich dabei um eine dreischiffige romanische Basilika mit einem zweigeschossigen Ostturm. Sie wurde Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts (1357?) durch den Zubau eines Chores erweitert.
Da es als Fenster nur Luken unter dem Dach gab, war es in der Kirche sehr dunkel, worüber oft geklagt wurde. Verschiedene Versuche, durch Umbauten die Lichtverhältnisse in der Kirche zu verbessern, scheiterten und so entschloss sich der Dechant und Erzpriester Doktor Franz Leopold Riedlegger (1726–1755), eine neue Kirche errichten zu lassen. Er starb aber vorher.
Sein Nachfolger Doktor Paul Hieronymus Schmutz scheint daher als Bauherr der neuen Kirche auf. 1757 begannen die Arbeiten. Der Rohbau, errichtet unter Baumeister Joseph Hueber, war nach etwas mehr als einem Jahr fertig, am 8. Dezember 1758 brachte man das Gnadenbild (eine Pietà vom Meister von Neustift aus dem ersten Viertel des 15. Jahrhunderts) in die neue Kirche und feierte den ersten Gottesdienst.
Für die Innengestaltung des einschiffigen, spätbarocken Baus fehlte zunächst das Geld. Erst 1769 konnten der Bildhauer Veit Königer und der Maler Joseph Adam Ritter von Mölk, die auch in der Taborkirche beschäftigt waren, diese Arbeiten beginnen. Am 22. Juli 1776 konsekrierte der Bischof Joseph Philipp Graf Spaur von Seckau die Kirche.
221 Tage brauchte der aus Wien stammende Hofmaler Joseph Adam Ritter von Mölk mit seinen Mitarbeitern im Jahr 1771 für seine Fresken. Thema der fünf Deckengemälde sind die fünf großen Marienfeste des Kirchenjahres.
Von Veit Königer stammt der prächtige Hochaltar, auf dem die schon vorher erwähnte Pietà aufgestellt ist.
Die 1775 fertiggestellte Kanzel stammt von dem Bildhauer Jakob Peyer. Von ihm sind auch die beiden Seitenaltäre. Sie sind der Heiligen Anna und dem Heiligen Josef geweiht. Die großen Altarbilder stammen von Ritter von Mölk.
Bei einem Brand im Jahr 1792 wurden das Kirchendach und die Dächer der 44 Meter hohen Türme beschädigt.
Schon im 12. Jahrhundert war die Kirche auf dem „Himmelberg“ eine beliebte Wallfahrtskirche. Die Wallfahrten fanden allerdings während der Reformationszeit ein vorübergehendes Ende. Erst in der Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts vermehrte sich die Zahl der Wallfahrer wieder. Während der Regierungszeit von Kaiser Joseph II. sank die Zahl der Pilger wieder und erholte sich bis in die Gegenwart nicht mehr.
Blick in den Altarraum
Die Orgel der Weizbergkirche wurde 2001 durch die Firma Mathis Orgelbau errichtet und verfügt über 31 Register auf drei Manualen und Pedal.
Mahnmal
Im Mai 2011 wurde neben der Weizbergkirche ein Mahnmal errichtet um der systematischen Ermordung der Roma und Sinti in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus zu gedenken. Es wurde vom Grazer Künstler Walter Kratner gestaltet und zeigt eine zerbrochene Radachse eines Güterwaggons, die als Sinnbild für Deportation und Genozid zu verstehen ist. Dahinter befindet sich eine orangefarbene Tafel mit dem Schriftzug „Porajmos“. Anfang Juli desselben Jahres wurde von Unbekannten ein Teil einer Radachse des Mahnmals umgeworfen. Die Tat wurde von Kratner heftig kritisiert und polizeilich angezeigt.
Waiting for the start of Stage 20 (Annecy to Annecy-Semnoz) of Le Tour de France 2013
Saint-Jorioz July 20th, 2013
As part of the Ladder to Leadership program sponsored by Flushing Bank, over 70 female Uniondale High School students were invited to an etiquette breakfast at Hofstra given by Protocol Etiquette and Civility Expert Linda J. Williams. During this workshop, students, along with Hofstra student leadership mentors, learned proper techniques to use while dining and in the business setting. Some of the many lessons included place settings, proper table manners, introducing yourself, posture and poise and telephone etiquette. All Ladder to Leadership members were also given a copy of the book “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg which focuses on encouraging women to believe in themselves and never give up the pursuit of their ambitions.
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the dromedary, or one-humped camel (C. dromedarius), which inhabits the Middle East and the Horn of Africa; and the bactrian, or two-humped camel (C. bactrianus), which inhabits Central Asia. Both species have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods such as felted pouches, and are working animals with tasks ranging from human transport to bearing loads.
The term "camel" is derived via Latin and Greek (camelus and κάμηλος kamēlos respectively) from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl.
"Camel" is also used more broadly to describe any of the six camel-like mammals in the family Camelidae: the two true camels and the four New World camelids: the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña of South America.
BIOLOGY
The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years. A full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m at the shoulder and 2.15 m at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h. Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg.
The male dromedary camel has in its throat an organ called a dulla, a large, inflatable sac he extrudes from his mouth when in rut to assert dominance and attract females. It resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind. The male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session. Camelids are the only ungulates to mate in a sitting position.
ECOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTIONS
Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was once commonly believed. The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue: concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes the insulating effect fat would have if distributed over the rest of their bodies, helping camels survive in hot climates. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.
Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water. Unlike other mammals, their red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a 600 kg camel can drink 200 L of water in three minutes.
Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C at dawn and steadily increases to 40 °C by sunset, before they cool off at night again. Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain. Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49 °C Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight to sweating, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance.
When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water. Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.
The camels' thick coats insulate them from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating. During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn. The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to 70 °C. Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.
Camels' mouths have a thick leathery lining, allowing them to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with nostrils that can close, form a barrier against sand. If sand gets lodged in their eyes, they can dislodge it using their transparent third eyelid. The camels' gait and widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.
The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel feces are so dry that they do not require drying when the Bedouins use them to fuel fires.
Camels' immune system differs from those of other mammals. Normally, the Y-shaped antibody molecules consist of two heavy (or long) chains along the length of the Y, and two light (or short) chains at each tip of the Y. Camels, in addition to these, also have antibodies made of only two heavy chains, a trait that makes them smaller and more durable. These "heavy-chain-only" antibodies, discovered in 1993, are thought to have developed 50 million years ago, after camelids split from ruminants and pigs.
GENETICS
The karyotypes of different camelid species have been studied earlier by many groups, but no agreement on chromosome nomenclature of camelids has been reached. A 2007 study flow sorted camel chromosomes, building on the fact that camels have 37 pairs of chromosomes (2n=74), and found that the karyotime consisted of one metacentric, three submetacentric, and 32 acrocentric autosomes. The Y is a small metacentric chromosome, while the X is a large metacentric chromosome.The hybrid camel, a hybrid between Bactrian and dromedary camels, has one hump, though it has an indentation 4–12 cm deep that divides the front from the back. The hybrid is 2.15 m at the shoulder and 2.32 m tall at the hump. It weighs an average of 650 kg and can carry around 400 to 450 kg, which is more than either the dromedary or Bactrian can. According to molecular data, the New World and Old World camelids diverged 11 million years ago. In spite of this, these species can still hybridize and produce fertile offspring. The cama is a camel–llama hybrid bred by scientists who wanted to see how closely related the parent species were. Scientists collected semen from a camel via an artificial vagina and inseminated a llama after stimulating ovulation with gonadotrophin injections. The cama has ears halfway between the length of camel and llama ears, no hump, longer legs than the llama, and partially cloven hooves. According to cama breeder Lulu Skidmore, cama have "the fleece of the llamas" and "the strength and patience of the camel". Like the mule, camas are sterile, despite both parents having the same number of chromosomes.
EVOLUTION
The earliest known camel, called Protylopus, lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago (during the Eocene). It was about the size of a rabbit and lived in the open woodlands of what is now South Dakota. By 35 million years ago, the Poebrotherium was the size of a goat and had many more traits similar to camels and llamas. The hoofed Stenomylus, which walked on the tips of its toes, also existed around this time, and the long-necked Aepycamelus evolved in the Miocene.
The direct ancestor of all modern camels, Procamelus, existed in the upper Miocone and lower Pliocene. Around 3–5 million years ago, the North American Camelidae spread to South America via the Isthmus of Panama, where they gave rise to guanacos and related animals, and to Asia via the Bering land bridge. Surprising finds of fossil Paracamelus on Ellesmere Island beginning in 2006 in the high Canadian Arctic indicate the dromedary is descended from a larger, boreal browser whose hump may have evolved as an adaptation in a cold climate. This creature is estimated to have stood around nine feet tall.
The last camel native to North America was Camelops hesternus, which vanished along with horses, short-faced bears, mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths, sabertooth cats, and many other megafauna, coinciding with the migration of humans from Asia.
DOMESTICATION
Most camels surviving today are domesticated. Along with many other megafauna in North America, the original wild camels were wiped out during the spread of Native Americans from Asia into North America, 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. The only wild camels left are the Bactrian camels of the Gobi Desert.
Like the horse, before their extinction in their native land, camels spread across the Bering land bridge, moving the opposite direction from the Asian immigration to America, to survive in the Old World and eventually be domesticated and spread globally by humans.
Dromedaries may have first been domesticated by humans in Somalia and southern Arabia, around 3,000 BC, the Bactrian in central Asia around 2,500 BC, as at Shar-i Sokhta (also known as the Burnt City), Iran.
Discussions concerning camel domestication in Mesopotamia are often related to mentions of camels in the Hebrew Bible. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J for instance mentions that "In accord with patriarchal traditions, cylinder seals from Middle Bronze Age Mesopotamia showed riders seated upon camels."
Martin Heide's 2010 work on the domestication of the camel tentatively concludes that the bactrian camel was domesticated by at least the middle of the third millennium somewhere east of the Zagros Mountains, then moving into Mesopotamia, and suggests that mentions of camels "in the patriarchal narratives may refer, at least in some places, to the Bactrian camel." while noting that the camel is not mentioned in relationship to Canaan.
Recent excavations in the Timna Valley by Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef discovered what may be the earliest domestic camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This garnered considerable media coverage as it was described as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time.
The existence of camels in Mesopotamia but not in Israel is not a new idea. According to an article in Time Magazine, the historian Richard Bulliet wrote in his 1975 book "The Camel and the Wheel" that "the occasional mention of camels in patriarchal narratives does not mean that the domestic camels were common in the Holy Land at that period." The archaeologist William F. Albright writing even earlier saw camels in the Bible as an anachronism. The official report by Sapir-Hen and Ben-Joseph notes that "The introduction of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) as a pack animal to the southern Levant signifies a crucial juncture in the history of the region; it substantially facilitated trade across the vast deserts of Arabia, promoting both economic and social change (e.g., Kohler 1984; Borowski 1998: 112-116; Jasmin 2005). This, together with the depiction of camels in the Patriarchal narrative, has generated extensive discussion regarding the date of the earliest domestic camel in the southern Levant (and beyond) (e.g., Albright 1949: 207; Epstein 1971: 558-584; Bulliet 1975; Zarins 1989; Köhler-Rollefson 1993; Uerpmann and Uerpmann 2002; Jasmin 2005; 2006; Heide 2010; Rosen and Saidel 2010; Grigson 2012). Most scholars today agree that the dromedary was exploited as a pack animal sometime in the early Iron Age (not before the 12th century BCE)" and concludes that "Current data from copper smelting sites of the Aravah Valley enable us to pinpoint the introduction of domestic camels to the southern Levant more precisely based on stratigraphic contexts associated with an extensive suite of radiocarbon dates. The data indicate that this event occurred not earlier than the last third of the 10th century BCE and most probably during this time. The coincidence of this event with a major reorganization of the copper industry of the region - attributed to the results of the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I - raises the possibility that the two were connected, and that camels were introduced as part of the efforts to improve efficiency by facilitating trade."
MILITARY USES
By at least 1200 BC, the first camel saddles had appeared, and Bactrian camels could be ridden. The first saddle was positioned to the back of the camel, and control of the Bactrian camel was exercised by means of a stick. However, between 500–100 BC, Bactrian camels attained military use. New saddles, which were inflexible and bent, were put over the humps and divided the rider's weight over the animal. In the seventh century BC, the military Arabian saddle appeared, which improved the saddle design again slightly.
Camel cavalries have been used in wars throughout Africa, the Middle East, and into modern-day Border Security Force of India (though as of July 2012, the BSF has planned the replacement of camels with ATVs). The first use of camel cavalries was in the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. Armies have also used camels as freight animals instead of horses and mules.
In the East Roman Empire, the Romans used auxiliary forces known as dromedarii, whom they recruited in desert provinces. The camels were used mostly in combat because of their ability to scare off horses at close ranges (horses are afraid of the camels' scent), a quality famously employed by the Achaemenid Persians when fighting Lydia in the Battle of Thymbra.
19th and 20th CENTURIES
The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, which was stationed in California in the late 19th century. One may still see stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they nowadays serve as the Benicia Historical Museum. Though the experimental use of camels was seen as a success (John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in 1858, recommended that funds be allocated towards obtaining a thousand more camels), the outbreak of the American Civil War saw the end of the Camel Corps: Texas became part of the Confederacy, and most of the camels were left to wander away into the desert.
France created a méhariste camel corps in 1912 as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara in order to exercise greater control over the camel-riding Tuareg and Arab insurgents, as previous efforts to defeat them on foot had failed. The camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule over Algeria in 1962.
In 1916, the British created the Imperial Camel Corps. It was originally used to fight the Senussi, but was later used in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Imperial Camel Corps comprised infantrymen mounted on camels for movement across desert, though they dismounted at battle sites and fought on foot. After July 1918, the Corps began to become run down, receiving no new reinforcements, and was formally disbanded in 1919.
In World War I, the British Army also created the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, which consisted of a group of Egyptian camel drivers and their camels. The Corps supported British war operations in Sinai, Palestine, and Syria by transporting supplies to the troops.
The Somaliland Camel Corps was created by colonial authorities in British Somaliland in 1912; it was disbanded in 1944.
Bactrian camels were used by Romanian forces during World War II in the Caucasian region.
The Bikaner Camel Corps of British India fought alongside the British Indian Army in World Wars I and II.
The Tropas Nómadas (Nomad Troops) were an auxiliary regiment of Sahrawi tribesmen serving in the colonial army in Spanish Sahara (today Western Sahara). Operational from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975, the Tropas Nómadas were equipped with small arms and led by Spanish officers. The unit guarded outposts and sometimes conducted patrols on camelback.
FOOD USES
DAIRY
Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal in and of itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month. Camel milk is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and immunoglobulins; compared to cow's milk, it is lower in fat and lactose, and higher in potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Bedouins believe the curative powers of camel milk are enhanced if the camel's diet consists of certain desert plants. Camel milk can readily be made into a drinkable yogurt, as well as butter or cheese, though the yields for cheese tend to be low.
Camel milk cannot be made into butter by the traditional churning method. It can be made if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added. Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds. Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet. The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant. The sale of camel cheese is limited owing to the small output of the few dairies producing camel cheese and the absence of camel cheese in local (West African) markets. Cheese imports from countries that traditionally breed camels are difficult to obtain due to restrictions on dairy imports from these regions.
Additionally, camel milk has been made into ice cream in a Netherlands camel farm.
MEAT
A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh 300–400 kg, while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to 650 kg. The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between 250 and 350 kg. The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy. The hump contains "white and sickly fat", which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel. Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough, although camel meat becomes more tender the more it is cooked. The Abu Dhabi Officers' Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste. In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat. In Syria and Egypt, there are specialist camel butchers.
Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish at banquets in ancient Persia, usually roasted whole. The ancient Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel's heel.[31] Camel meat is still eaten in certain regions, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history. Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals. Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.
A 2005 report issued jointly by the Saudi Ministry of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details cases of human bubonic plague resulting from the ingestion of raw camel liver.
RELIGION
ISLAM
Camel meat is halal for Muslims. However, according to some Islamic schools of thought, a state of impurity is brought on by the consumption of it. Consequently, these schools hold that Muslims must perform wudhu (ablution) before the next time they pray after eating camel meat.
Also, some Islamic schools of thought consider it haraam for a Muslim to perform salat in places where camels lie, as it is said to be a dwelling place of shaytan.
According to Suni ahadith collected by Bukhari and Muslim, Muhammad ordered a certain group of people to drink camel milk and urine as a medicine. However, according to Abū Ḥanīfa, the drinking of camel urine, while not forbidden (ḥaram), is disliked (makrūh) in Islam.
Camel urine is sold as traditional medicine in shops in Saudi Arabia. The Sunni scholar Muhammad Al-Munajjid's IslamQA.info recommends camel urine as beneficial to curing certain diseases and to human health and cited Ahadith and scientific studies as justification. King Abdulaziz University researcher Dr. Faten Abdel-Rajman Khorshid has claimed that cancer and other diseases could be treated with camel urine as recommended by the Prophet. The United Arab Emirates "Arab Science and Technology Foundation" reported that cancer could be treated with camel urine. Camel urine was also prescribed as a treatment by Zaghloul El-Naggar, a religious scholar. Camel urine is the only urine which is permitted to be drunk according to the Hanbali madhhab of Sunni Islam. The World Health Organization said that camel urine consumption may be a factor in the spread of the MERS virus in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Times writer Ahmad al-Sayyed wrote that various afflictions are dealt with camel urine by people. Dandruff, scalp ailments, hair, sores, and wounds were recommended to be treated with camel urine by Ibn Sina. Arab American University Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology Bashar Saad (PhD) along with Omar Said (PhD) wrote that medicinal use of camel urine is approved of and promoted by Islam since it was recommended by the prophet. A test on mice found that cytotoxic effects similar to cyclophosphamide were induced on bone marrow by camel urine. Besides for consumption as a medicinal drink, camel urine is believed to help treat hair. Bites from insects were warded off with camel urine, which also served as a shampoo. Camel urine is also used to help treat asthma, infections, treat hair, sores, hair growth and boost libido.
Several Sunni Ahadith mention drinking camel urine. Some Shia criticized Wahhabis for camel urine treatment. Shia scholars also recommend the medicinal use of camel urine. Shia Hadith on Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq reported that shortness of breath (asthma) was treated with camel urine. Shia Marja Ayatollah Sistani said that for medicinal purposes only, sheep, cow, and camel urine can be drunk.
JUDAISM
According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher. Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cud, they do not possess cloven hooves:
Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.
— Leviticus 11:4
DISTRIBUTION ANDNUMBERS
There are around 14 million camels alive as of 2010, with 90% being dromedaries. Dromedaries alive today are domesticated animals (mostly living in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Maghreb, Middle East and South Asia). The Horn region alone has the largest concentration of camels in the world, where the dromedaries constitute an important part of local nomadic life. They provide nomadic people in Somalia (which has the largest camel herd in the world) and Ethiopia with milk, food, and transportation.
The Bactrian camel is, as of 2010, reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, most of which are domesticated. The only truly wild Bactrian camels, of which there are less than one thousand, are thought to inhabit the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia.
The largest population of feral camels is in Australia. There are around 700,000 feral dromedary camels in central parts of Australia, descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This population is growing about 8% per year. Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.
A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwest United States after having been imported in the 1800s as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and imported to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.
WIKIPEDIA
Heritage Weekend can be frustrating in that most of the activities take place on Saturday, the same day as Ride and Stride, meaning sometimes many interesting places can't be visited as I am chasing the lost cause of a long locked church.
But in recent years, the weekend has become very much that, and in some cases spreads over two weekends and some weekdays too.
St Mildred was listed as being open on Sunday, so we were at the church door a minute past ten, just as well as a service was due to start at eleven, and although when I arrived just the vicar was there, soon a small army of wardens and volunteers had arrived and were getting buy, meaning I would have got in their way, and they in my shots.
But, I work quick and already had many of the shots I wanted.
I had been here before, many years ago, maybe seven, and I did an OK job, but about 30 shots taken, nowhere enough to record this large and sprawling city centre church.
So, here we are:
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The Church of Saint Mildred is an Anglo-Saxon stone church in Canterbury probably dating from the 11th century. It has been a Grade I listed building since 1949.[1] It is located in the St. Mildred's quarter of the historic city centre. This is the only surviving pre-Norman church within the former city walls.[2]
It is unknown when the church was originally built, but two of the walls of the nave are Anglo-Saxon, i.e. are preserved from before 1066. It is believed that the chancel is Anglo-Saxon as well. The relics of Saint Mildred, who died in 768, were transferred from Canterbury Cathedral to St Augustine's Abbey in the middle of the 11th century, and it is likely that the church was built at that time.[1]
St Mildred's Church has a five-bay nave and a two-bay chancel. Most of the nave and the chapels date from between the 13th century and 1512. It was extensively restored in 1861.[1]
The church belonged to St Augustine's Abbey until the abbey was abolished during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538, and since then it has belonged to the Crown.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_Mildred,_Canterbury
St Mildred was the daughter of Ermenburga, grand daughter of King Ethelbert of Kent and consecrated Abbess of the Convent of Minster in Thanet by St Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury in AD694. Mildred supported the poor and is usually depicted holding a deer (the symbol of Minster) or a church and three geese. She died c.732, and her tomb became a place of pilgrimage. Her relics were acquired by St Augustine's Abbey in 1033, but Archbishop Lanfranc later also claimed them for St Gregory's Priory in the mid 11th century. The church was founded around 1033, but virtually destroyed by fire in 1246. A tower and new roof were added in the 1300s, North aisle and Nave windows in 1400s and SE chapel in 1500s. The tower was demolished and bells sold in 1832, the whole church restored in 1861 and again in 1920s. This has left a hall church with a five bay nave, two bay chancel, North aisle, SE chapel and North porch. Izaak Walton, author of The Compleat Angler who fished for trout in the Stour, married here in 1626.
www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/stmildred/4590809557
There are, within the walls of this city, twelve parish churches now remaining, and there were five more, which have been long since demolished; and there are three churches now situated in the suburbs of it, and there has been one demolished—Of those now remaining, there were only two, viz. St. Martin's without, and St. Alphage's within the walls, which were not of the patronage of some religious house or abbey, in or in the near neighbourhood of the city, and these two were in the patronage of the archbishop. (fn. 1)
It may be thought strange, that the number of churches in this city has decreased so much, and that so many of them have been united to others, and yet together, even at this time, make but a very moderate income to the incumbents; this has been supposed, in general, to have been occasioned by the great failure of their former profits, which they enjoyed before the reformation, of private masses, obits, processions, consessions, or the like; all which then fell to the ground, and lessened the income of most of them to a very small pittance. However, as will be seen hereafter, some of these churches were become desecrated and in ruins, and others were united long before the above time; which seems to have been owing, in great measure, to many of them having been built by the bounty of well disposed persons, in hopes of a future support and endowment, which failing, and the repairs and support of the fabric lying too heavy on the parishioners, they suffered them to run to ruin; and there being no susficient maintenance for the priests, they became desecrated, or were united to some other neighbouring churches. Indeed it appears plain, that poverty was the sole cause of their decay; for in their most flourishing state, the benefice of each of these churches was so low and poor, that they were for that very reason excused in all taxations, being of less value than the stipends of poor vicars, which had been advanced above five marcs a year. (fn. 2)
The decrease of the value of church benefices was equally felt in other cities and towns, as well as this, which occasioned an act of parliament to be passed at Oxford, in the 17th of king Charles II. for uniting churches in cities and towns corporate; in conformity to which, in 1681, a petition was made to the archbishop, under the names and seals of the major part of the mayor and aldermen, and justices of the peace, of this city, who being informed of the archbishop's intentions of uniting the parish churches of it, according to the above act, they did thereby give their free consent, that those within the city should be united, viz.
ST. PAUL'S and ST. MARTIN'S,
ST. MARY BREDMAN'S and ST. ANDREW'S,
HOLY CROSS WESTGATE, and ST. PETER'S,
ST. ALPHAGE'S and ST. MARY'S NORTHGATE,
leaving all things necessary to the perfecting of this union, according to the tenor of the above act; which instrument was dated March 6th, that year, and signed by Jacob Wraight, mayor, and P. Barrett, recorder, &c. To this was added a petition of the dean and chapter of Canterbury to the archbishop, as being perpetual patrons of the parish churches of St. George, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Paul, St. Mary Bredman, and St. Peter, within the city and liberties, for the uniting of those churches with each other and with others adjoining, in manner as above-mentioned in the former petition, which was given under their common seal, dated March 13th the same year. Upon the receipt of these, the archbishop issued his decree, reciting the two petitions for uniting the several above-mentioned churches, the particulars of which will be found under the description of each of them; which decree was dated at Lambeth, on March 24, 1681. To which the inhabitants of each parish signed their consents, by their several instruments, dated December 19th, 20th, and 21st, the same year. After which, by a decree of the archbishop's in 1684, with the consent of the mayor, aldermen and justices of the peace of this city, and of the king, under his great seal as patron, he united the church of All Saints with St. Mary de Castro, already united to it, to the parish church of St. Mildred; further particulars of which will be found under the latter parish. It should seem the decree of the archbishop in 1681, for the uniting of the churches of Holy Cross Westgate, and St. Peter did not have its full effect, for on April 6, 1692, there were two petitions, one from the mayor and eight others, and another from the dean and chapter to the archbishop, similar to the former ones, for this purpose; and the archbishop's decree, dated at Lambeth, the 13th of that month, united these churches; and with the same particulars in every thing else as the former decree in 1681.
T. MILDRED'S church is situated at the southwest extremity of the city, near the Old Castle and the river Stour, in the church-yard belonging to it. This church is a large handsome building, of three isles and three chancels, with a square tower steeple on the north side, in which are five bells. This church and a great part of the city, was, according to Stow, burnt in the year 1246, anno 30 Henry III. but as it should seem not entirely so, for at the west end of the south isle there is a very fair Roman arch, remaining over the window, and by all appearance the work of those times. (fn. 122)
¶This church is a rectory, the patronage of which was part of the possessions of the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, with whom it continued till the dissolution of that monastery, in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. when it came into the hands of the crown, where it has continued ever since, the king being the present patron of it.
The church of St. Mildered is valued in the antient taxation at eight marcs per annum.
This rectory, with that of the antient desecrated church of St. Mary de Castro, or of the Castle, is valued in the king's books, at 17l. 17s. 11d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 15s. 9½d. (fn. 123) In 1588 it was valued at fifty pounds. Communicants three hundred and sixty. In 1640 it was valued at seventy pounds.— Communicants one hundred.
Archbishop Sancrost, by his decree, dated Sept. 29, 1684, united the rectory of All Saints, in this city, with St. Mary de Castro, of the king's patronage likewife, to this of St. Mildred, (fn. 124) in which state it continues at this time. It is now about the clear annual value of eight pounds. (fn. 125)
The neighbouring church of St. John, becoming desolated after the reformation, tacitly devolved to this church of St. Mildred, and it has ever since been esteemed as part of this parish.
I had a lot of fun dressing Midge as mermaid and pose her. I really like her in the mermaid costume. <3
As well as living in the Sonoran Desert these white crowned beauties are also wintering with us in Michigan.
Painshill (also referred to as "Pains Hill" in some 19th-century texts[1]), near Cobham, Surrey, England, is one of the finest remaining examples of an 18th-century English landscape park. It was designed and created between 1738 and 1773 by Charles Hamilton. The original house built in the park by Hamilton has since been demolished.
Painshill is owned by Elmbridge Borough Council and managed by the Painshill Trust. Painshill, which is open to the public (with entry charge), is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[2] In 1998 Painshill was awarded the Europa Nostra Medal for the "Exemplary restoration from a state of extreme neglect, of a most important 18th-century landscape park and its extraordinary buildings."[3][4] In May 2006, Painshill was awarded full collection status for its John Bartram Heritage Collection, by the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG).[5]
History
Charles Hamilton was born in 1704 in Dublin, the 9th son and 14th child of James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn. He was educated at Westminster School and Oxford, and went on two Grand Tours, one in 1725 and a further one in 1732.
In 1738 Hamilton began to acquire land at Painshill and, over the years, built up a holding of more than 200 acres (81 ha). His creation was among the earliest to reflect the changing fashion in garden design prompted by the Landscape Movement, which started in England in about 1730. Hamilton used what today are called organic gardening and organic lawn management techniques.[6] It represented the move away from geometric formality in garden design to a new naturalistic formula. Many of the trees and shrubs planted by Hamilton were sent to him from Philadelphia by the naturalist John Bartram. The garden was open to respectable visitors, who were shown round by the head gardener for a tip, and was visited by many well-known figures including two visits by William Gilpin, pioneer of the Picturesque, Thomas Jefferson with John Adams, and Prince Franz of Anhalt-Dessau separately, on special tours of gardens,[7] and the important landscape garden author Thomas Whately. Then as now, there was a particular route round the park recommended, designed to bring the visitor upon the successive views with best effect. Views from Painshill were painted on some pieces of the Frog Service commissioned by Catherine the Great of Russia from Wedgwood.[8]
Hamilton eventually ran out of money and sold the estate in 1773 to Benjamin Bond Hopkins,[9] who held the estate until his death in 1794.[10] In 1778 Hopkins commissioned architect Richard Jupp to rebuild Painshill House in a different place within the park. The house was later extended in the 19th century by architect Decimus Burton and is now a grade II* listed building.[11]
Henry Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton (7 August 1743 – 25 April 1821) bought Painshill in 1807 from William Moffat. Luttrell lived at Painshill having fled from the ancestral Luttrellstown Castle near Clonsilla outside Dublin, where his role in crushing the Irish Rebellion in 1798 made it unsafe to stay. (His ancestor Colonel Henry Luttrell had been assassinated in Dublin in 1717 for betraying the Irish to King William III of England.) After his death in 1821, Luttrell's wife Jane lived at Painshill until her death in 1831 when it was sold it to Sir William Cooper, High sheriff of Surrey.
Sir William Cooper and his wife, later his widow, lived there until 1863, and installed Joseph Bramah's suspension bridge and water wheel, and planted an arboretum designed by John Claudius Loudon. In 1873, the English poet, literary and social critic, Matthew Arnold, rented Pains Hill Cottage from Mr. Charles J. Leaf and lived there until his death in 1888.[12] In 1904 Charles Combe of Cobham Park purchased and lived in Painshill Park, his son having moved into Cobham Park.
Until World War II Painshill Park was held by a succession of private owners. In 1948 the estate was split up and sold in separate lots for commercial uses. The Park's features fell into decay.
By 1980 the local authority, Elmbridge Borough Council, had bought 158 acres (64 ha) of Hamilton's original estate and the work of restoring the landscape garden and its many features could start. In the following year, the Painshill Park Trust was founded as a registered charity with the remit "to restore Painshill as nearly as possible to Charles Hamilton's Original Concept of a Landscaped Garden for the benefit of the public."[13] There is a wealth of 18th-century images of the main features of Painshill to help the process.
The restoration of this Grade I continued, in 2013 work was completed on the restoration of the Crystal Grotto, further restoration work in the park is dependent on the availability of funding. The park now borders the A3 road, which allows easy access....Wikipedia