Edify photos on Flickr

Solar Park South-03a by Azuero Arquitectura

TERCER PUESTO CONCURSO INTERNACIONAL

DE IDEAS "SOLAR PARK SOUTH".

CALABRIA, ITALIA.

THIRD PLACE WINNERS ARCHITECTURE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION " SOLAR PARK SOUTH "

CALABRIA, ITALY

www.newitalianblood.com/solarparksouth/

www.a57.org/articulos/actualidad/tercer-puesto-solar-park....

Group / Equipo:

Daniel Azuero

Tomas Jaramillo

Andres Gutierrez

Juan Jaramillo

CONCEPTO DE PROYECTO

Entre todas las energías renovables, la más eficiente y única con capacidad de regenerarse infinitamente sin producir ningún daño ambiental es la educación. Es un suministro inagotable de conocimiento que se extiende de persona a persona cubriendo enormes extensiones generando un progreso social, ambiental y económico masivo. Por esto el Parque Solar debería ser un foco mundial en el desarrollo de la Educación Verde.

Por esto se busca construir un parque en el que la participación ciudadana y la naturaleza sean los principales materiales de construcción. Es así como se propone que la carretera A3 Salerno entre Scilla y Bagnara Calabra se transforme en una centro de investigación y educación verde. El Parque Solar es un lugar que anima a los habitantes a jugar un rol clave en su construcción; tienen la posibilidad de transformarlo, creando un espacio público de intervención que pertenece a cada individuo y que crece en relación a la apropiación que estos hagan sobre él.

SEMBRANDO EDUCACION VERDE.Esta es la actitud que mejor describe al Parque Solar y la intervención establece tres objetivos principales para lograrlo. Primero, se buscar establecer una conexión entre Scilla y Bagnara Calabra como un circuito de transporte que simultáneamente conformará una reserva natural.En segundo lugar se busca potenciar el progreso en base a la educación cívica y la implementación de vegetación nativa y su reproducción como principales estrategias de diseño. Finalmente se utiliza esta vieja carretera como un detonador para el desarrollo en una extensión mucho mayor, en temas de energías renovables, nuevos sistemas de movilidad y desarrollo económico, entre otros.

PROJECT CONCEPT

Among all known renewable energies the most efficient and the only one of its kind capable of regenerating infinitely producing “zero environmental harm” is EDUCATION. This type of energy is an inexhaustible supply of knowledge that spreads from person to person covering vast extensions of area resulting in massive social, environmental and economical progress. This is why SOLAR PARK SOUTH should be a worldwide focal point in the development of GREEN EDUCATION.By this we mean, to edify a park where civic participation and nature are the main construction materials, as we promote that the A3 Salerno Highway between Scilla and Bagnara Calabra section transform into a Seeding Green Education Research Center. SOLAR PARK SOUTH is a place that encourages inhabitants to play a part in the construction as they have the possibility to transform it, creating an intervention Public space that belongs to everyone as it grows in relation to the appropriation of the individuals who act on it.

SEEDING GREEN EDUCATION is the attitude which best describes SOLAR PARK SOUTH, for that reason this intervention establishes three main goals to accomplish this purpose. First of all, to set up a connection between Scilla and Bagnara Calabra throughout a multi-mobility circuit that simultaneously will conform and protect what is established as natural reserve.Secondly to enhance progress in a very big extension of territory within simple overpowering approaches as civic education and the implementation of native vegetation reproduction as the main design strategy. Finally utilize this old highway as a detonator for the development of a larger extension of territory combining conflicting topics as renewable energy technologies, new mobility systems and economic development, all at once.

Waterloo Masonic Temple Ontario Canada (42) by antefixus21

1

Masonic Mosaic Pavement and Masonic Altar - facing East.

The hanging letter 'G'.

The masonic letter G

Source: Masonic Vibes

by Paul Foster Case

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. St. John 1:1

All in all that is all there is to the letter G. But I have found that if you make things to simple people tend to take them as unimportant.

I have not been able to determine when the letter G was introduced into Speculative Masonry as a symbol.

The letter G is not derived from the Operative Masons of the Middle Ages, and formed no part of the architectural decoration of old cathedrals.

LetterG.jpeg

Whether it entered the symbolism under the influence of those Rosicrucian’s and Qabalists who joined the Order during the last half of the 17th century, or whether it was introduced at some time subsequent to 1717, when the first Grand Lodge was established at the Apple-tree Tavern in London, is impossible to tell.

The letter G is the initial of Geometry. This makes it a symbolic summary of the entire Masonic system. The heart of Freemasonry is a doctrine founded on the science of geometry. In the old Masonic Constitutions it is specifically stated that Masonry and Geometry are one and the same.

It is no secret that the letter G is a symbol for the Deity. It so happens that God is the English name of the Grand Architect of the Universe. The fact that G is the first letter of God is not the only connection between the symbol and the Deity.

Its Greek equivalent is the initial of Gaia, the earth Mother, eldest born of Chases, whose name is the root of the noun geometria, geometry.

Gimel, the Hebrew correspondence to G, is the initial of gadol, majesty, and of gebur, strong, words used to designate the Deity throughout the Hebrew sacred writings. Gimel itself is regarded by the wise men of Israel as being the alphabetical sign of the sacred wisdom which is founded on the science of geometry.

So basically we are back to St. John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

When I was raised to a Master Mason, I was told to learn the following lesions:

The Pot Of Incense Symbolizes man, the pot being the physical body, the Incense being the mind of man, and when they are lit, the heat given off being the spirit of man as given to him by God.

The Beehive Symbolizes unity of purpose, with just one leader, for life and just one goal, the betterment of the hive.

The Anchor And Ark The Anchor is an emblem of Jesus Christ who gave his life to ensure us a safe harbor to find rest in. The Ark is an emblem of God, that divine ark that carries us through a lifetime of trials and tribulations, and finally to our Heavenly home.

The 47th Problem of Euclid Is commonly excepted to represent the physical body, the psyche, and the spiritual, and this figure being the complete man. Let us just suppose the 47th problem of Euclid represented the life spirit, the human spirit, and the divine spirit. The life spirit being Friendship, the human spirit being Morality, and the divine spirit being Brotherly Love. This figure could represent the perfect man.

The Hour Glass Is an emblem of human life. Like the hour glass, when the first grain of sand falls it is a fact that the last grain of sand will fall too. When man is born it is a fact that he will also die. The difference being that man has control over how he lives his life and the sand only falls down.

The Sword Reminds us that we should be ever watchful and guarded in our thoughts, words, and actions, because all of these will be recorded in the Great Book of Life, that all men are judged by when" they die.

The Scythe Is used as an emblem of Death but it is in reality an emblem of transition from one life to another. Because as this mortal life comes to an end it brings with it the beginning of a spiritual life.

When I went through York Rite Masonry, it was explained to me the meaning of all these lesions.

When I went through my reception into Scottish Rite Masonry, even more lesions were taught and explained to me.

When I was admitted to the Thirty-Third Degree, came the Surprise of my life. No more lesions, no more explanations, I was only told to remember a few simple facts and to do one thing, which changed my whole outlook on life.

1. Any man who fails, in his duties to God, fails mankind and himself.

2. While you live, you should work to secure for all people their rights and voice in its government.

3. You must labor to enlighten and teach mankind.

4. To teach the people their power and their rights.

5. To let the enemies of mankind be your enemies.

6. Come to no terms with them, but complete surrender of their ways.

7. That even though I been exalted to the Thirty-Third Degree, I would still be among my equals in every Blue Lodge and that all “worthy” Master Masons are my Brothers.

Now the one thing that changed my life was, I was informed that it was not enough to just know or just understand the lessons of Masonry, I had to live the lessons of Masonry.

Believing this I feel that I will be “A life time Apprentice” my whole life. When the time comes to return this physical body back to the ground from wince it came.

The sprit that lived in this body will be returned to God as a “Fellow Craft” and then at the feet of God the labors of my sprit will be judged by God.

Then and only then, if God finds the work of my sprit as “true work, good work”, will my sprit be raised from a dead level to a living perpendicular on the angle of a square by God.

In this belief, I will live my life as “A life time Apprentice”, always trying to subdue my passions and learning to improve myself.

Masonic Mosaic Pavement and Star.

The lodge room: www.flickr.com/photos/21728045@N08/8101810367/in/set-7215...

www.masonicforum.ro/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=73&amp....

The Mosaic Pavement

by GABRIEL VASILE OLTEAN

Expert Inspector of NGLR for Western Region; Past Worshipful Master, ZAMOLXIS Lodge, No. 182, Deva

"The interior decoration of a masonic lodge comprises ornaments, accessories and insignia. The ornaments are: the mosaic on the floor - respresenting spirt and matter, the shining star and the laced edge, which remind us always the first of the presence of God and the second of the protective wall" - cites Charles W Leadbeater from the ritual of mixed masonry in his work "Freemasonry - Rites and Initiations."

In the center of the Temple, on the ground, there is a rectangular floor, with black and white tiles, called the mosaic pavement (theoretically, cubes seen perspectivally), where a relgaion obtains between the sides, either 2:1 (the long square) or 1.618.../1 (the golden number), thus coming up with a surface proportional to the total area of the Lodge. Thus we see that practically the moasica, placed in the center of the Lodge is a microcosmic representation of the whole of creation and is by itself a sacred central area - whence the interdiction to ever step on the mosaic when the work of the Lodge is underway. The pavement symbolizes the indisociable operative complementarity of the two cosmic principles: the initiate must know how no longer let himself be dominated by the confrontation between positive and negative forces, to know (it is indispensable) how to use it, to master it so as to work constructively.

In Ancient Egypt, the mosaic was never stepped on except by a candidate and the masters of ceremony, and only at precise moments (by the Past Worshipful Master for the fulfilment of his tasks, by the First Expert when he took the light of the sacred fire, or by the sexton when he spread frankincense on the altar of the Temple. An extremely important aspect of the mosaic pavement is that, being placed in the middle of the Temple, framed by the three colonettes (which represent the Worshipful Master, the Senior and Junior Wardens), must be avoided by walking in a square, in a symbolic sense. The current of energy cross the floor, some along the length, some along the width, in lines that remind of the warp of a canvas.

Upon opening the work, the Trestle Board is depicted on this pavement, which varies with the first three degrees. The mosaic pavement signifies different things according to the traditional mode of work in the lodge, or the masonic rite employed.

The French Rite specifies that the pavement adorned the threshold of the geat porch of the Temple and showed that this is one of the ornaments of the Lodge, being the emblem of the intimate union among masons. Here it was explained to the Apprentice that he "could not stand on the mosaic pavement to contemplate the interior of the edifice". This started above from the seventh step, as we can well conclude by an attentive research of the Trestle Boards of the first two degrees.

The Rectified Scottish Rite speaks too little of this pavement, noting that "the mosaic pavement adorns the threshold of the great veranda of the Temple. It covers the entry to the subterranean part of the Temple between the two columns, to a crypt that held holy idols and especially the pledge of the alliance between the chosen people and the Creator: the Royal Ark (Ark of the Covenant).

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite does not describe in any way this ornament. As to the decoration of the Lodge, it is said however "the floor of the lodge is the pavement in alternative black and white squares. When it is thus decorated, a pavement is achieved wit the shape of a long square, placed in the center of the Lodge, decorated on the model of the latter".

The York Rite affirms that "the mosaic pavement represents the floor of the Temple of Solomon", having the added laced edge. It is obvious enough that it is about a symbolic contribution in what regards the floor of the Lodge, because in the Bible the floor of the Temple isn't described as an series of black and white squares: "and the floor of the Temple was made from cypress planks" (3 Kings 6:15).

Whereas in the Emulation Rite (the Anglo-Saxon Rites are more precise in their descriptions) specifies that "the mosaic pavement may rightly be considered the wondrous tiling of a freemason Lodge due to its diversity and regularity. Thus the diversity of beings and objects in the world surfaces, as well the ensouled ones as those that are not". In the complementary course of the Rite of Emulation (in the fifth part) it is specified: "our lodge is adorned with mosaic pavement to mark the uncertainty of all terrestrial vanities... as we step on this mosaic, our thought must return to the original idea that we imitate and act as honorable men and masons". Mosaic pavement is presented as an image of faith, harmony, understanding..

Outside the definitions offered by different masonic rites, the mosaic pavement may be approached under many aspect, two of which seem edifying to us:

• The floor of the Lodge,

• The route of squares for the tracing of planes,

When we approach the mosaic pavement as floor of the Lodge, we are forced to distinguish between the pavement of operative and speculative Lodges.

In the first case, we specify that Lodges were usually annexes to the construction site, attached to the construction on the Southern side of the Work (to receive more light and to have the wall of the edifice for protection. It is extremely clear and evident that in this case no floor was imposed (nor would any be functional). The tiling that constitutes the mosaic is fragile in contradiction with the dimensions (weight) of the tools of freemasons (sledgehammers were very heavy). If we are talking about a surface for permanent cutting and polishing of rock, we can easily imagine that the floor of such a place was permanently covered by fragments, remains, abrasive dust. Not in the last place, we must note the fact that mosaic was principally fixed in especially prepared mortar in which designs were first marked that etched the image or drawing that was the purpose of the mosaic.

In the other approach, that of the speculative Lodges, a symbolic rug laid in squares may be laid on the floor, or it may be build from alternating black and white tiles, the decision being that of the Lodge. The notionc of mosaic pavement cannot be discussed before the appearance of Grand Lodges.

As a route of squares - as network of right angles - to trace planes is another mode of approach specific to operative lodges, which must distinguish:

A directory route of the edifice that must be understood after we describe the Medieval constructin site at the beginning of the work: on a leveled and cleared surface (treated with charcoal), a scheme of the main lines of the edifice was traced with the help of a rope covered in chalk. There

are documents to this effect that attest the describe practice, which reminds of certain answers from the masonic catechism. To the question: "how do you serve your Master?", there is the answer: "with charcoal, chalk and clay".

A technical assistance set of squares would be another variant of this approach. An amenably arranged surface, spread in regular squares through lines traced for inumerable uses, the first and most important being that of assembly table. It also served to establish easily a series of angles, in an approximate way that was sufficient for a mason (taking four divisions on a line, and on the perpendicular seven at one extremity, a reasaonbly 60° angle is obtained). In fact, we can imagine the banal math copybook paper that has helped us trace with more facility (and more precision) the geometrical shapes that tortured (or didn't) us in the geometry problems in elementary school.

The black and white, chessboard-like pavement is thus the mosaic pavement. In what pertains to the term "mosaic", there are two different opinions, one refering to Moses and one to the technique of decoration. Each school has its pros and cons, more or less logical and valid.

"The canvas of ours lives is a mixed thread, the good together with the bad" wrote Shakespeare. Anything is characterized by a combination of good and bad, light and shadow, joy and sadness, positive and negative, yin and yang. What is good for me may be bad for you, pleasure is generated by pain, etc.

Following the thread of the current Paper, we may say with certainty that the mosaic is not mart of the elements of Judaic architecture and that the mosaic pavement is a contribution of modern speculative Masonry, operative lodges never having been squared this way. It is obvious that the current exposition is not and does not wish to be an exhaustive work. It is a somewhat complex approach of an important symbol in the decoration of the masonic Temple and it wishes in fact to the a paper addressing an open question:

- The mosaic pavement is the floor of the Lodge (as the rituals consider it) or is it the space limited by the three pillars Power, Wisdom, and Beauty?

A good thought accompanied by the triple brotherly accolade!

Copyright Forum Masonic

The blazing star pattern used, is usually that of the

"pentalpha", or five pointed star with intermediate flames. This

star is primarily the symbol of divine providence and can be found

in our mosaic pavement. The five points should remind us also of

other masonic "fives". The five orders of arch itecture, the five

points of fellowship, the five senses and the five who must be

present in order for a Lodge to be held. The star is also said to

represent the Morning Star which is yet another symbol of rebirth

which is so significant to each of us.

I should point out that there is a six pointed star or hexalpha

which is also known as the "Glory". This six pointed star is the

Seal of Solomon and also the Star of David. This star is also

represented on the carpet at times and there is distinct confusion

in the texts over which star is THE star to use. The primary

symbolic meaning of the six pointed star is the universe as an

entity.

more than a song by Allen Warren

4 5

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

(Colossians 3:16)

Reading this account of the Chinese church, got me recalling the experience i had with fellow brethen from mainland China, who had given up so much to servce the Lord in southern thailand.

And on the account of singing..i beg to differ. Their singing was more edifying than whatever the modern church could create with its hundred thousand dollar equipment.

www.flickr.com/photos/j316/8070480374/in/photostream/

Rabat - Chellah by Ruggero Poggianella

Please note that the fact that "This photo is public" doesn't mean it's public domain or a free stock image.

Please, do not use my photos without my written permission.

Défense d'utilisation de cette image sans ma permission.

Chella (anticamente Sala Colonia in latino, oggi in arabo شالة‎) è un sito archeologico a nord di Rabat, in Marocco. Il sito è la prova della più antica presenza umana nel delta del fiume Bou Regreg, lungo le cui rive Fenici e Cartaginesi stanziarono diverse basi. A circa 3 km dal centro, il complesso si trova al di fuori delle mura della città e occupa il sito della romana Sala, su una bassa collina coperta di vegetazione, rifugio delle cicogne nella stagione riproduttiva. Gli scavi hanno rivelato la presenza di un importante agglomerato e infatti Chella conserva le vestigia di una città romana, con i resti del Decumano Massimo, di un foro presso il quale si riconoscono le tracce della Curia, di una fontana monumentale e di un arco di trionfo. Il sito rimase poi in stato di abbandono per diversi secoli, fino a che i Merinidi lo scelsero per edificarvi la loro necropoli. Circondata da una cinta di mura fortificate, ad essa si accede attraverso una porta monumentale, riccamente decorata e aperta ad arco acuto, ai cui lati sono poste due massicce torri merlate semi-ottagonali. Nella parte superiore del portale è presente un’iscrizione in caratteri cufici, dalla quale si apprende che la costruzione dello stesso fu intrapresa dal sultano Abu Said (1310-31) e terminata nel 1339 sotto il regno di Abu el-Hassan, il più grande sultano della sua dinastia. All’interno della necropoli si trovano alcune tombe di marabout e, presso una sorgente trasformata in fontana per abluzioni, la necropoli reale con la tomba di Abu el-Hassan, la cui stele, finemente decorata, è sovrastata da una tettoia a muqarnas. Nelle vicinanze sono presenti la moschea di Abu Yussef Yacub con un minareto decorato con maioliche policrome ora in rovina e una zaouia con un oratorio. Nella terrazza ai piedi del complesso si estende un incantevole giardino alimentato dalle acque della vicina sorgente Ayn Mdafa, che serpeggia nell’incavo della valletta.

Le Chellah, ou Chella (en arabe : شالة), est le site d'une nécropole mérinide située sur l'emplacement d'une cité romaine, à Rabat, au Maroc. Depuis 2005, ce site accueille chaque année le festival Jazz au Chellah. Le site du Chellah fut sans doute la plus ancienne agglomération humaine à l'embouchure du Bou Regreg. Les Phéniciens et les Carthaginois, qui ont fondé plusieurs comptoirs au Maroc, ont probablement habité les bords du Bouregreg. Le Chellah conserve, en revanche, les vestiges d'une ville romaine. Les fouilles ont révélé la présence d'une agglomération d'une certaine importance ; celle de la ville citée sous les noms de Sala, par Ptolémée, et de Sala Colonia, dans l'itinéraire d'Antonin. Les restes du Decumanus Maximus, ou voie principale, ont été dégagés ainsi que ceux d'un forum, d'une fontaine monumentale, d'un arc de triomphe, d'une basilique chrétienne, etc. La voie principale de Sala a été suivie par des sondages exécutés en direction du port antique sur le Bouregreg, port aujourd'hui ensablé. Ainsi, la ville romaine dépassait l'enceinte mérinide en direction du fleuve. Les Banou Ifren s'emparèrent de la ville2 au XIe siècle, et elle fut une de leurs métropoles jusqu'à ce que qu'elle passe sous le pouvoir des Almoravides. Le Chellah était abandonné depuis plusieurs siècles quand les Mérinides choisirent son site pour y édifier leur nécropole. Comme l'indique l'inscription en écriture coufique, qui surmonte la porte d'entrée, les travaux ont été achevés en 1339, sous le règne d'Abû al-Hasan `Alî. L'occupation du site a été progressive, et les aménagements successifs ont abouti à la réalisation d'une somptueuse nécropole. Protégée par une enceinte importante à laquelle on accède par une porte monumentale, la nécropole mérinide contient notamment une salle d'ablutions, une zaouïa avec un oratoire, un minaret paré de zellige et plusieurs salles funéraires, telle celle d'Aboul Hassan dont la stèle, finement décorée, repose sous un auvent à mouqanas. Plus tard, Abû `Inân Fâris, son fils, affecta, pour l'entretenir, les revenus d'un bain mérinide de Rabat, le hammâm Ej-Jdîd. La porte de la nécropole est une porte majestueuse et guerrière. Puissante, elle est flanquée de deux bastions semi-octogonaux avec des encorbellements surmontés de merlons pointus. Cette porte de forteresse ouvre sur une petite oasis, un havre de paix d'une dizaine d'hectares où la tranquillité des lieux est interrompue de temps à autre par le claquement de bec des cigognes. Paysage clos et enchanteur, jardin à l'atmosphère magique où le sanctuaire du fondateur est au creux d'un vallon dans lequel serpente la source d'Aïn Mdafa.

Chellah, (Arabic: شالة‎) or Sala Colonia is a necropolis and complex of ancient Roman Mauretania Tingitana and medieval ruins at the outskirts of Rabat, Morocco. First spot of Salé, this latter was completed towards the north of the river. It is the most ancient human settlement on the mouth of the Bou Regreg River. The Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, who founded several colonies in Morocco, probably inhabited the banks of the Bou Regreg. Chellah is the site of the ruins of the Roman town known as Sala Colonia, referred to as Sala by Ptolemy. Excavations show an important port city with ruined Roman architectural elements including a decumanus maximus or principal Roman way, a forum and a triumphal arch. One of the two main Roman roads in Morocco reached the Atlantic through Iulia Constantia Zilil (Asilah), Lixus (Larache) and Sala Colonia. Another may have been built toward south, from Sala Colonia to modern Casablanca, then called Anfa. The Romans had two main naval ouposts on the Atlantic: Sala near modern Rabat and Mogador in north of Agadir. Roman expeditions sailed from there to find the Canary islands. The site was abandoned in 1154 in favour of nearby Salé. The Almohad dynasty used the ghost town as a necropolis. In the mid-14th century, a Merinid sultan, Abu l-Hasan, built monuments and the main gate, dated to 1339. These later Merinid additions included a mosque, a zawiya, and royal tombs, including that of Abu l-Hasan. Many structures in Chellah/Sala Colonia were damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The site has been converted to a garden and tourist venue.

India - Gujarat - Bhuj - Museum - Stele - 1d by Manfred Sommer

A stele (plural steles or stelai, from Greek: στήλη, stēlē) or stela (plural stelas or stelæ, from Latin) is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected as a monument, very often for funerary or commemorative purposes. Stelae may be used for government notices or as territorial markers to mark borders or delineate land ownership. They very often have texts and may have decoration. This ornamentation may be inscribed, carved in relief (bas, high, etc.), or painted onto the slab. Traditional Western gravestones are technically stelae, but are very rarely described by the term. Equally stelae-like forms in non-Western cultures may be called by other terms, and "stela" is most consistently used for objects from Europe, the ancient Near East and Egypt, China, and Pre-Columbian America.

HISTORY

Steles have also been used to publish laws and decrees, to record a ruler's exploits and honors, to mark sacred territories or mortgaged properties, as territorial markers, as the boundary steles of Akhenaton at Amarna, or to commemorate military victories. They were widely used in the Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt, Somalia, Eritrea, 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 steles, including inscriptions, surviving from ancient Egypt and in Central America constitute one of the largest and most significant sources of information on those civilisations, in particular Maya stelae. The most famous example of an inscribed stela leading to increased understanding is the Rosetta Stone, which led to the breakthrough allowing Egyptian hieroglyphs to be read. An informative stele of Tiglath-Pileser III is preserved in the British Museum. Two steles built into the walls of a church are major documents relating to the Etruscan language.

Unfinished standing stones (menhirs), 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 steles. Totem poles of North and South America that are made out of stone are also a specialized type of stele. Gravestones, typically with inscribed name and often with inscribed epitaph, are among the most common types of stele seen in Western culture.

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 steles. 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.

CHINA

Steles (Chinese: bēi 碑) have been the major medium of stone inscription in China since the Tang dynasty. Chinese steles are generally rectangular stone tablets upon which Chinese characters are carved intaglio with a funerary, commemorative, or edifying text. They can commemorate talented writers and officials, inscribe poems, portraits, or maps, and frequently contain the calligraphy of famous historical figures.

Chinese steles from before the Tang dynasty are rare: there are a handful from before the Qin dynasty, roughly a dozen from the Western Han, 160 from the Eastern Han, and several hundred from the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern, and Sui dynasties. During the Han dynasty, tomb inscriptions (墓誌, mùzhì) containing biographical information on deceased people began to be written on stone tablets rather than wooden ones.

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.

Steles are found at nearly every significant mountain and historical site in China. The First Emperor made five tours of his domain in the 3rd century BC and had Li Si make seven stone inscriptions commemorating and praising his work, of which fragments of two survive. One of the most famous mountain steles is the 13 m high stele at Mount Tai with the personal calligraphy of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang commemorating his imperial sacrifices there in 725.

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 or to, have been assembled in Xi'an's Stele Forest Museum, which is 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.

There are more than 100,000 surviving stone inscriptions in China. However, only approximately 30,000 have been transcribed or had rubbings made, and fewer than those 30,000 have been formally studied.

EGYPT

Many steles have been used since the First Dynasty of Egypt. These vertical slabs of stone depict tombstones, religious usage, and boundaries.

HORN OF AFRICA

The Horn of Africa contains many stelae. In the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Axumites erected a number of large stelae, which served a religious purpose in pre-Christian times. One of these granite columns is the largest such structure in the world, standing at 90 feet.

Additionally, Tiya is one of nine megalithic pillar sites in the central Gurage Zone of Ethiopia. As of 1997, 118 stele were reported in the area. Along with the stelae in the Hadiya Zone, the structures are identified by local residents as Yegragn Dingay or "Gran's stone", in reference to Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (Ahmad "Gurey" or "Gran"), ruler of the Adal Sultanate.

The stelae at Tiya and other areas in central Ethiopia are similar to those on the route between Djibouti City and Loyada in Djibouti. In the latter area, there are a number of anthropomorphic and phallic stelae, which are associated with graves of rectangular shape flanked by vertical slabs. The Djibouti-Loyada stelae are of uncertain age, and some of them are adorned with a T-shaped symbol.

Near the ancient northwestern town of Amud in Somalia, whenever an old site had the prefix Aw in its name (such as the ruins of Aw Bare and Aw Bube), it denoted the final resting place of a local saint. Surveys by A.T. Curle in 1934 on several of these important ruined cities recovered various artefacts, such as pottery and coins, which point to a medieval period of activity at the tail end of the Adal Sultanate's reign. Among these settlements, Aw Barkhadle is surrounded by a number of ancient stelae. Burial sites near Burao likewise feature old stelae.

GREECE

Greek funerary markers, especially in Attica, had a long and evolutionary history in Athens. From public and extravagant processional funerals to different types of pottery used to store ashes after cremation, visibility has always been a large part of Ancient Greek funerary markers in Athens. Regarding stelai (Greek plural of stele), in the period of the Archaic style in Ancient Athens (600 BCE) stele often showed certain archetypes of figures, such as the male athlete. Generally their figures were singular, though there are instances of two or more figures from this time period. Moving into the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, Greek stelai declined and then rose in popularity again in Athens and evolved to show scenes with multiple figures, often of a family unit or a household scene. One such notable example is the Stele of Hegeso. Typically grave stelai are made of marble and carved in relief, and like most Ancient Greek sculpture they were vibrantly painted. For more examples of stelai, the Getty Museum's published Catalog of Greek Funerary Sculpture is a valuable resource.

WIKIPEDIA

St Mary of Charity, Faversham, Kent by Jelltex

I have been to St Mary of Charity before. But that was many years ago.

Back then, I took three shots inside. I took 300 today.

St Mary is a huge church with a Victorian tower with the most amazing spire, which makes it visible from just about all over the town.

Faversham is best know as being home to Shepherd Neame brewery, it claims to the England's oldest surviving brewer.

The town sits on the edge of the Swale, with a large expanse of marshes and creeks between the town and open water.

We parked on wide Abbey Street, and while Jools went shopping, I walked along side the old brewery buildings to the church, with the tower and spire straight ahead along a street of terraced houses.

The church was open, though I got shouted at for not closing the glass door properly. This was from the group of people partaking in the weekly coffee morning.

The looked at me as I went round the large church, snapping details and marvelling at the single painted pillar.

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An extraordinary building comprising a medieval chancel and transepts, eighteenth-century nave and nineteenth-century tower and spire. Despite heavy-handed restorations of the nineteenth century - by Sir George Gilbert Scott and Ewan Christian in 1873 - which have resulted in loss of character, there is much to see. The fourteenth-century transepts are aisled - a most unusual feature in an ordinary parish church. The medieval authorities probably decided to invest in a lavish building to counteract the pulling power of the famous abbey which stood to the east. One of the pillars of the north transept has a series of contemporary small paintings of biblical scenes. You are advised to take a pair of binoculars to see them to advantage. The stalls in the chancel have misericords with a good selection of carved armrests, and there is also a crypt and an unforgettable east window of 1911.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Faversham+1

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THE PARISH AND TOWN OF FAVERSHAM.

CALLED, according to Lambarde, in Saxon, Fafresham, and Fafresfeld, in the record of Domesday, Favershant, and in some few others, Fefresham.

THE PARISH lies adjoining to the high London road southward at the 47th mile-stone, and extends to the creek on the opposite side of the town, the houses on the south side of which reach to within two hundred yards of the road, whence there is a good view into it.

The parish includes the north side of the London road from the above mile-stone westward, almost as far as the summit of Judde-hill, and the liberties of the town extend as far of this space westward as the rivulet in Ospringe street. Thus this parish intervenes, and entirely separates that part of Ospringe parish, at the northern boundary of it, in which are the storekeeper's house of the royal mills, and part of the offices and gardens belonging to it, and some of the mills themselves, and in the town likewise, Ospringe parish again intervening, there is a small part of West-street which is within that parish. At the east end of Ospringe-street, though within Faversham parish, and the liberties of the town, close to the high London road, there is a handsome new-built house, erected not many years since by Mr.Bonnick Lypyeatt, who resided in it till his death in 1789. He left two daughters his coheirs, one of whom married Mr.C.Brooke, of London, and the other Captain Gosselin, of the Life-guards. It is now occupied by John Mayor, esq.

¶The rest, or northern part of the parish lies very low, and adjoins the marshes, of which there is a very large tract. The country here is a fine extended level, the fields of a considerable size, and mostly unincumbered with trees or hedgerows, the lands being perhaps as fertile and as highly cultivated as any within this county, being part of that fruitful value extending almost from Sittingborne to Boughton Blean, so often taken notice of before. The grounds adjoining the upper parts of the town are mostly hop plantations, of a rich and kindly growth, but several of them have lately given place to those of fruit. About twenty years ago the cultivation of madder was introduced here, and many induced by the prospect of great gains, made plantations of it at a very considerable expence, and a mill was erected for the purpose of grinding the roots, but from various disappointments, and unforeseen disadvantages, the undertakers of it were deterred from prosecuting the growth of it, and I believe they have for some time entirely discontinued it.

At the south-east extremity of this parish, as well as in other particular parts of this county, there are several chalk-pits, the most noted of these being called Hegdale pit, of a great depth, which though narrow at the top, yet more inward are very capacious, having, as it were, distinct rooms, supported by pillars of chalk. Several opinions have been formed concerning the intent and use of them, some that they were formed by the digging of chalk, for the building of the abbey, as well as afterwards from time to time, for the manuring of the neighbouring lands; others that the English Saxons might dig them, for the same uses that the Germans did, from whom they were descended, who made use of them, according to Tacitus, as a refuge in winter, as a repository for their corn, and as a place of security, for themselves, their families, and their property, from the searches of their enemies. (fn. 1)

Near the west end of the bridge, opposite the storekeeper's house of the royal powder-mills, there is a strong chalybeate spring, which on trial has been proved to be nearly equal to those of Tunbridge Wells. (fn. 2)

In the year 1774, a most remarkable fish, called mola salviani, orthe sun-fish, was caught on Faversham Flats, which weighed about nineteen pounds and a half, and was about two feet diameter. It is a fish very rarely seen in our narrow seas. (fn. 3)

THE TOWN ITSELF, and so much of the parish as is within the bounds of the corporation, is subject to the liberties of it, and of the cinque ports, and is exempt from the jurisdiction of the hundred of Faversham; but the rest of the parish, together with the rectory, is within the liberties of that hundred, which has been always esteemed as appurtenant to the manor of Faversham.

Although from the several discoveries which have been made of Roman antiquities in this neighbourhood, it is plain, that it could not be unknown to that nation, during their stay in this island, yet there is no mention made of this place by any writer during that period; and it seems, even in the time of the Saxons, to have been a place of but little consequence, notwithstanding it was then a part of the royal demesnes, as appears by a charter of Cenulph, king of Mercia, anno 812, wherein it is stiled the king's little town of Fefresham; and in one of Athelwolf, king of the West Saxons and of Kent, anno 839, where it is said to be made, only, in villa de Faverisham. However, it was of note sufficient, perhaps as being the king's estate, even in the time of king Alfred, at the first division of this county into those smaller districts, to give name to the hundred in which it is situated. Lambarde, Camden, and Leland say, that king Athelstan held a parliament, or meeting of his wife menat Faversham, about the year 903, (no doubt for 930) in which several laws were enacted. (fn. 8)

FAVERSHAM continued part of the antient demesnes of the crown of this realm at the time of the taking of the general survey of Domesday, in which it is entered, under the general title of Terra Regis, that is, the king's antient demesne, as follows:

In the lath of Wivarlet, in Favreshant hundred, king William holds Favreshant. It was taxed at seven sulings. The arable land is seventeen carucates. In demesne there are two. There are thirty villeins, with forty borderers, having twenty-four carucates. There are five servants, and one mill of twenty shillings, and two acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of one hundred hogs, and of the pasture of the wood thirty-one shillings and two pence. A market of four pounds, and two salt-pits of three shillings and two-pence, and in the city of Canterbury, there are three houses of twenty-pence belonging to this manor. In the whole value, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, it was worth sixty pounds all but five shillings, and afterwards sixty pounds, and now it is worth four times twenty pounds.

¶The manor of Faversham, with the hundred appurtenant to it, remained part of the possessions of the crown till about the beginning of king Stephen's reign, when it was granted to William de Ipre, a foreigner, whom, for his faithful services against the empress Maud, the king, in his 7th year, created Earl of Kent; but within a few years afterwards, resolving to found an abbey here, he, with his queen Matilda, about the year 1147, exchanged the manor of Lillechirch, and other premises, for this manor and hundred, where they, at the latter end of that year, or the beginning of the year after, founded an abbey at a small distance from the town of Faversham, on the north-east side of it, for the space where Court, or Ab bey-street now stands was then unbuilt, and this was therefore, in the reign of Edward III. distinguished by the name of the New Town, as the rest of it, built before, was by that of the Old Town, and they appointed Clarembald, the prior of Bermondsey, to be abbot of this new foundation, which was dedicated to St. Saviour, and for their support, the king granted to him and the monks of it, twelve of whom had been removed with Clarembald for this purpose from Bermondsey, which priory was of the order of Clugni, the manor of Faversham, with its appurtenances, and other premises, in perpetual alms, with many liberties, as may be further seen in the charter itself. (fn. 9)

HE TOWN OF FAVERSHAM is within the limits of the cinque ports, being esteemed as a limb or member of the town of Dover, one of those ports. Of what antiquity these ports and antient towns are, when enfranchised, or at what times their members were annexed to them, has not been as yet, with any certainty, discovered; and, therefore, they are held to enjoy all their earliest liberties and privileges, as time out of mind, and by prescription.

It is, however certain, that at the time of king Edward the Consessor, the five ports were enfranchised with divers liberties, privileges, and customs, peculiar to themselves; for the better conducting of which they had the establishment of one grand court, called the court of Shipway, from its being almost always held at a place of that name near Hyth; in which the general business relating to the whole community was transacted before the warden, as principal and chief over them. Nevertheless, though they acted here jointly, like a county palatine as to the government, for the desence of the liberty of the whole, yet every particular corporation in each town acted severally and distinctly, according to its own privileges, charters, and customs within their own particular limits, without any controul or interference from this court, or the rest of the community. (fn. 20)

The five ports, as being from their situation most exposed to the depredations of enemies, were first incorporated for their own mutual defence, and were afterwards endowed with great privileges, for the public desence of the nation, and the king's service. The force they were enjoined to raise and keep in residence for this purpose was fifty-seven ships, properly furnished and accoutred for a certain number of days, to be ready at the king's summons, at their own charge, and if the state of affairs required their assistance any longer, they were paid by the crown. But because the expence was in after times found to be too burthensome for these five ports, several other towns were added as members to them, that they might bear a part of the charge, for which they were recompenced with a participation of their privileges and immunities. All which were confirmed to them by Magna Charta, by the name of the barons of the five ports, and again by one general charter by king Edward I. which, by inspeximus, has received confirmation, and sometimes additions, from most of the succeeding kings and queens of this realm.

¶FAVERSHAM, stiled both a town and a port at different times in antient records, isa corporation by prescription. In the oldest charter now remaining, which is that of the 36th year of king Henry III. wherein the members of it are stiled, according to the usual language of those times, barons, that is freemen, there is contained a confirmation of all their former antient rights and privileges. In the 42d year of the above reign, which is as far as can be traced by evidence, the jurisdiction of this town was then in a mayor or alderman, and twelve jurats. In a charter of Edward I. the barons of it are acknowledged to have done good services to him and his predecessors, kings of England; and in the 21st year of that reign, there is an entry of the mayor and jurats assembling in their hallmote, or portmote-court, as it is elsewhere called, together with the lord abbot's steward, and there sealing a fine with the town's seal, of a messuage and garden in Faversham, according to the use and custom of the court, by which it is evident, that this court was of some antiquity at that time. (fn. 21)

Faversham is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Ospringe.

The church, which stands close to the east side of the town, was dedicated to the assumption of our lady of Faversham. It is built in the form of a cross, of flints, with quoins of ashler stone. It had, until 1755, when it was taken down, a large square castellated tower in the middle of it, and there remains now another low tower at the north side of the west front, upon which is erected a frame of timber, covered with shingles. So long ago as king Henry the VIIth.'s reign, there seems to have been no steeple to this church, for in 1464, Edward Thomasson, of this town, gave sixty pounds towards the edifying of a new one to it; (fn. 31) and of later time, James Lawson, esq. a wealthy inhabitant of this town, who died in 1794, gave by his will 1000l. for the same purpose, with this sum, together with 500l. given by the corporation, and the remainder payable by a rate, a steeple, seventy-three feet high above the tower, with pinnacles at each corner of it, on the plan of St. Dunstan's in the East, has been erected, and is now nearly compleated, at the expence of 2500l.

Behind the tower, within the outer walls, is a strong timbered room, formerly called the tresory, in which, before the reformation, were carefully deposited the goods and ornaments of the church; over it was the chamber for the sextons. On the south side of the west front is a room, formerly open to the church, in which was taught reading and writing; under it is a neat chapel, with stone arches, supported by three pillars in the middle. Over the south porch there is another stone room, the window of which is grated with strong iron bars.

Mr. Henry Hatch, whose extensive charity to this town has already been mentioned, by will in 1533, gave a sum of money, at the discretion of the mayor, and his brethren, in making a new jewel-house for this church.

In 1440 there were placed in it five new bells, and in 1459 a sixth was added; these remained till 1749, when they were cast into a new peal of eight.

The church seems to have been built in the latter end of the reign of Edward I. or the beginning of the reign of Edward II. by a silver penny of one of those kings being found under the basis of one of the piers, which supported the middle tower. In the east window of the great chancel, were some time since remaining two shields of arms, viz. Gules, two lions passant-guardant, or a label of five points, azure; and Argent, a lion rampant, sable, within a bordure of the second, bezante.

In the year 1754, the body of the church, as well as the roof of it, on a survey, being deemed in a dangerous state, a faculty was obtained to pull it down, which was accordingly done, under the plan and directions of Mr. George Dance, of London, architect, at the expence of 2300l. besides which, 400l. was afterwards expended in an organ, and 100l. more in other ornaments, and ninety pounds in improving the great chancel, which through age was become very unsightly; so that the whole of it is now made equal to, if not the most elegant and spacious, of any parish church in this county, and is extensive and spacious enough to afford convenient room for all the parishioners of it.

¶When this church was new built, and the body and isles new paved, the grave-stones, many of which were antient, with brasses on them, were removed from the places where they lay, to other open and consipicuous parts of it. Among the monuments were those for Henry Hatche, merchant adventurer, 1533; Thomas Mendfield, 1614, John Fagg, esq. 1508, and one for Thomas Southouse, esq. 1558, who wrote the Monas tion Favershamiense. Both monuments and epitaphs are by far too numerous to insert in this place, they may be found at large in Weever's Funeral Monuments, in Lewis's Appendix to his History of Faversham Abbey, and in Harris's History of Kent. Besides which there is in the Appendix to Jacob's History of Faversham, a chronological list of such persons as have been known to have been buried in it.

This church measures from east to west, including the chancel, one hundred and sixty feet, the width of the body sixty five feet; the length of the isles from north to south one hundred and twenty-four feet, and their width forty-six feet.

Before the reformation, besides the high altar in the great chancel, there were two chapels, one dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and the other to St. Thomas, and there were several altars in the isles and chancels.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp318-371