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Large collier composed of 8 lines of lines.
Carnillian, Steatite - Saqqara
Text: The Cairo Museum - Egypt
From Wiki
Bull in colourful glazed bricks.
This colorful striding lion of glazed brick with its mouth opened in a threatening roar, once decorated a side of the 'Processional Way' in ancient Babylon (the Biblical city of Babel). The 'Processional Way' led out of the city through a massive gate named for the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, Ishtar, whose symbol was the lion.
Each year, during the celebration of the great New Year Festival, the images of the city's deities were carried out through the Ishtar Gate and along the 'Processional Way' past some 120 lions and 575 dragons and bulls, in 13 rows, on the gate, such as this one to a special festival house north of the city. Not all of these reliefs were visible at the same time, however, for the level of the street was raised more than once; and originally even the lowest rows, which were irregularly laid, may have been treated as foundation deposits. The Iraq antiquities department reconstructed the thoroughfare at one of the higher levels.
The lion symbolizes power and the Babylonians believed that it was Ishtar that gave them their glory.
Robert Koldewey extensively excavated Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon beginning in 1899 and the Deutsche Orientgesellschaft. Among the tremendous complex of ruins was the great Ishtar Gate, beautifully decorated with a series of bulls and dragons in enameled, colored brick.
It was Nebuchadnezzar who said, "Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?"
The Erechtheion or Erechtheum is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece which was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon.
On the north side, there is another large porch with six Ionic columns, and on the south, the famous "Porch of the Maidens", with six draped female figures (caryatids) as supporting columns.
Construido en el siglo XII D.C. por los Mayas Itzaes en su capital, la ciudad prehispánica de Chichén Itzá, lugar conocido actualmente como península de Yucatán.
Fue edificado con el propósito de rendir culto al dios Maya Kukulkán (Serpiente Emplumada).
Babylon was renowned for its high, well-fortified walls and for the magnificence of its temples and palaces. Its famous Hanging Gardens, built by King Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife Amytas, were one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Amytas was a Medes and her home was in mountainous country, so the King reputedly had the Hanging Gardens built to allay her homesickness.
Nowadays, its ruins covers about 302 km lying on the east bank of Euphrates 90 km south of Baghdad and about 10 km north of Hilla. The most important of the standing monuments of Babylon today are the Summer and Winter Palaces of King Nebuchadnezzar II, the Ziggurat attached to it, the Street of Processions, the Lion of Babylon, and the famous Ishtar Gate.
In Akkadian times, around 2350 BC, Babylon was a small village, which in 5 or 6 centuries had grown in size and importance, mostly during the reign of the 3rd Dynasty, until it rose like a city meteor to deal the coup de grace to Sumerian authority in Mesopotamia under Amorite kings. Babylon itself became a major city-state, as the capital of the great Amorite soldier, the famous king, law-giver and social reformer King Hammurabi, with a code of common law, and a king with genuine concern for the well-being of his subjects - an unusual feature in those times.
From Panoramio
Atual
Os tijolos usados pelos judeus para edificações eram geralmente secos ao sol, havendo também tijolos cozidos ao fogo para os lugares úmidos e pantanosos, e também para ornamentação. A arte de fabricar tijolos já era conhecida no tempo da construção da torre de Babel (Gn 11.3). E os israelitas a aprenderam durante o tempo que foram obrigados a trabalhar para os egípcios (Êx 1.14). A pedra tinha de ir buscar-se a grande distância, mas o barro para o tijolo estava perto, e era abundante. Desta forma a fabricação de tijolos, os secos ao sol e os cozidos no forno, chegou a ser uma aperfeiçoada arte do Egito: e quando os governadores egípcios tiveram entre eles uma grande população de escravos estrangeiros, nada mais esperável do que obrigar esses indivíduos a fabricar tijolos. os sofrimentos dos hebreus nesse trabalho duro, segundo a narração do Êxodo, são inteiramente provados por meio de esculturas nos monumentos. Ali se vê representado muitas vezes o intendente das obras com a sua vara. Era costume empregar palha cortada, caniços, e quaisquer refugos fibrosos, para darem consistência ao lodo do Nilo usado na fabricação dos tijolos, que iam secar ao sol. Sabemos pelas palavras do Êxodo (5.18) que os egípcios tornaram mais pesado o trabalho dos hebreus, recusando-lhes o fornecimento da necessária palha cortada. Deste modo foram eles compelidos a procurar nos campos e em várias herdades a palha para os tijolos. Pode-se imaginar quão grande apoquentação era a sua, visto como tinham de apresentar o mesmo número de tijolos que fabricavam antes. Esses tijolos tinham mais ou menos o dobro do tamanho daqueles que atualmente se usam. Em cada tijolo, dos empregados nos edifícios públicos, estava gravado o nome do rei, e algumas vezes o nome das casas para as quais eram destinados. A Babilônia, semelhantemente ao Egito, era um país sem pedras, Foi muito provavelmente ali que se exerceu, em primeiro lugar, a arte de fabricar tijolos - e as ruínas de numerosos edifícios, que têm sido examinadas, atestam a inteligência e o gosto dos tijoleiros babilônicos. A maioria dos tijolos encontrados têm o nome do rei Nabucodonosor. A muitos deles pode mais apropriadamente dar-se o nome de ladrilhos (Ez 4.1), pois que eram decorados e esmaltados. As ruínas de Nínive têm, também, proporcionado aos estudiosos muitos ladrilhos de esmalte belo. os fornos de cozer o tijolo eram usados no Egito, mas os tijolos eram menores do que os secados ao sol, variando estes últimos entre 25 a 30 centímetros de comprimento, 15 a 23 de largura, e 7,5 a 18 de espessura. Jeremias menciona um destes fornos (Jr 43.9) do Egito, e pelas palavras de 2 Sm 12.31 se vê que também os havia na Palestina no tempo de Davi. E isaías (65.3) se queixa de que o povo edifique altares de tijolo em vez de empregar a pedra tosca, como pedia a lei (Êx 20.25).
Egypt doesn’t have the monopoly on pyramids. The Sudan has many of them, and discovers new ones regularly. The most beautiful and impressive pyramids form the Meroe necropolis. After a few hours on a brand new road (the same trip required two days on trails last year), we arrive at an unimaginably beautiful site: an alignment of small pyramids in the desert, bathed in the hot red sun on orange sand. No busses on the car park, no tourist shops. It’s almost like being the French explorer Fréderic Caillaud, who discovered the site in 1821! We understand immediately why UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage Site in 2011.
The pyramids were built between 4BC and 3AD. The site contains over two hundred of them, whereas Egypt has only a hundred in total! Forty kings and queens are buried here.
We notice immediately that the summits of all the pyramids have been blown off with dynamite. This is the work of the Italian explorer Giuseppe Ferlini, who in 1834 came and pillaged the site, taking away priceless treasures.
© Eric Lafforgue
The Ishtar Gate (Berlim) Recriado nas suas dimensões originais remontando meticulosamente os inúmeros pedaços de tijolos partidos achadas nas escavações.
The gate into Babylon and the royal processional way was decorated with hybrid creatures. They may have influenced Daniel's description of the evil empire beasts.
Pergamum , ancient city of NW Asia Minor, in Mysia (modern Turkey), in the fertile valley of the Caicus. It became important c.300 BC, after the breakup of the Macedonian empire, when a Greek family (the Attalids) established a brilliant center of Hellenistic civilization. The kingdom achieved major importance under Attalus I (d. 197 BC), Eumenes II (d. 160 or 159), and Attalus II (d. 138). These kings followed a pro-Roman policy through fear of the imperialism of Philip V of Macedon and of Antiochus III of Syria. The independence of Pergamum ended dramatically when Attalus III (d.133) bequeathed the kingdom to the Roman people. The chief glory of Pergamum was its sculpture, at two periods. The first Pergamene school (c.250-200) celebrated the decisive victory (c.230) of Attalus I over the Galatians; the Dying Gaul is an example of the realism of the art. The later period (200-150) produced a frieze for a great altar of Zeus, glorifying especially the defeat (190) of Antiochus III of Syria at Magnesia . Pergamum was the birthplace of Galen . The cultured Pergamene rulers also built up a library second only to the one at Alexandria. One of the library's specialties was the use of parchment , which takes its name from the city. Eventually the library was given by Antony to Cleopatra. Under Rome, Pergamum was reconstituted as the province of Asia, and Ephesus rapidly eclipsed Pergamum as the chief city of Asia Minor. Pergamum accepted Christianity early; it was one of the Seven Churches of Asia (Rev.1.11; 2.12). Various forms of the name are Pergamus, Pergamon, and Pergamos. The modern town of Bergama, Izmir prov., is on the site of ancient Pergamum.
Bibliography: See R. B. McShane, Foreign Policy of the Attalids of Pergamum (1964).
A statue of Rames II still stands at the entrance of Luxor Temple. The temple is in Luxor now, but was part of ancient Thebes in Egypt.
Ħaġar Qim & Mnajdra Temples. The megalithic temples of are the best preserved and most evocative of Malta's prehistoric sites, with an unparalleled location atop sea cliffs. Permanent tentlike canopies have been erected over the temples to protect them from the elements. It has been claimed that the southern temple is full of significant solar alignments. At Ħaġar Qim at sunrise during the summer solstice, a sunbeam enters a circular opening in the back of the right-hand apse in the left rear chamber.
Ħaġar Qim is the first temple you reach after the visitors' centre. The facade, with its trilithon entrance (two upright stones with a third across the top as a lintel), has been restored, and gives an idea of what it may once have looked like. The temples were originally roofed over, probably with corbelled stone vaults, but these have long since collapsed.
The temple consists of a series of interconnected, oval chambers with no uniform arrangement, and differs from other Maltese temples in lacking a regular trefoil plan. In the first chamber on the left is a little altar post decorated with plant motifs, and in the second there are a couple of pedestal altars.
Egyptian Museum, Turin (Italy)
Ramesses II (reigned 1279-1213 BC) is the most famous of the Pharaohs, and there is no doubt that he intended this to be so. He constructed many large monuments, covering the land from the Delta to Nubia with buildings in a way no king before him had done, including the archeological complex of Abu Simbel, and the Mortuary temple known as the Ramesseum.
In astronomical terms, he is the Jupiter of the Pharaonic system, and for once the superlative is appropriate, since the giant planet shines brilliantly at a distance, but on close inspection turns out to be a ball of gas.
Ramesses II, or at least the version of him which he chose to feature in his inscriptions, is the hieroglyphic equivalent of hot air.
He gained also a multimedia afterlife: his mummy is flown from Cairo to Paris to be exhibited and re-autopsied.
Yul Brynner captured the essence of his personality in the 1956 film "The Ten Commandments", and in popular imagination Ramesses II has become the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
The history behind this is much debated, but it is safe to say that the character of Ramesses fits the picture of the overweening ruler who refuses "divine demands".
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©Roberto Bertero, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
Walking Stick or Cane Cholla (Source: www.nps.gov/band/historyculture/native-plant-use.htm )
People often mistake the yellowish-green fruit of this plant with the plant's flower bud. However, if you ever saw the cactus in bloom with its bright pink flowers the difference would be obvious. Historically cholla was considered a famine food, eaten only when food was especially scarce. However, during prehistoric times it is likely cholla was a food staple. The fruit could be eaten raw or dried for use during the winter. The stalks could be eaten once the thorns were removed. Cholla buds are rich in calcium. Amazingly, a two tablespoon serving contains only a few calories but as much calcium as a glass of milk. Milk was not available to Ancestral Pueblo people beyond infancy.
Image From Panoramio
In 1985, Saddam Hussein started rebuilding the city on top of the old ruins, investing in both restoration and new construction, to the dismay of archaeologists, with his name inscribed on many of the bricks, in imitation of Nebuchadnezzar. One frequent inscription reads: "This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq". This recalls the ziggurat at Ur, where each individual brick was stamped with "Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, who built the temple of Nanna". These bricks became sought after as collectors' items after the downfall of Hussein, and the ruins are no longer being restored to their original state. He also installed a huge portrait of himself and Nebuchadnezzar at the entrance to the ruins, and shored up Processional Way, a large boulevard of ancient stones, and the Lion of Babylon, a black rock sculpture about 2,600 years old.
When the Gulf War ended, Saddam wanted to build a modern palace, also over some old ruins; it was made in the pyramidal style of a Sumerian ziggurat. He named it Saddam Hill. In 2003, he was ready to begin the construction of a cable car line over Babylon when the invasion began and halted the project.
Interestingly enough, an article published in April 2006 states that UN officials and Iraqi leaders have big plans for restoring Babylon, making it a gem of a new Iraq as a cultural center complete with shopping malls, hotels, and maybe even a theme park. "One day millions of people will visit Babylon."
Temple of Diana at Ephesus measured 300 by 150 feet, with columns 60 feet high. This great temple dedicated to the goddess Diana was begun about 555 B.C. by Croesus, king of Lydia. Avandal burned down the original temple in 356 B . C., but it was rebuilt by Alexander the Great.
1100 d.C.: Uma tropa de Cruzados para em uma pequena aldeia barrenta na Ásia Menor. O líder dá uma olhada. Confuso, desmonta. Este lugar não é o que ele esperava. Ele leu nos textos antigos que este era um porto de mar grande com muitos navios ancorados em sua baía. Não era. O mar está quase a três milhas. A aldeia está localizada em um pântano. Não há nenhum navio. O líder aborda um homem perto.
" Senhor, é este a cidade de Efesus "?
" Foi chamada assim há algum tempo. Agora é Ayasalouk ".
" Bem, onde é a sua baía ? Onde os navios comerciantes estão? E onde está o magnifico templo grego que nós ouvimos falar? "
Agora é a vez do homem se confundir. " Templo? Que templo, Senhor? Nós não temos nenhum templo aqui..."
E assim 800 anos depois de sua destruição, o magnífico Templo de Artemis em Efesus, uma das Sete Maravilhas do Mundo Antigo, foi completamente esquecido pelas pessoas da cidade. O mesmo Templo que era sinal de orgulho pelos seus habitantes.
E não há nenhuma dúvida que o Templo era realmente magnífico. " Eu vi as paredes e Jardins Suspensos da Babilônia, " escreveu Philon de Byzantium, " a estátua de Zeus olímpico, o Colosso de Rhodes, o trabalho poderoso das Pirâmides altas e a tumba de Mausoléu. Mas quando eu vi o templo em Efesus que sobe às nuvens, todas estas outras maravilhas foram postas na sombra ".
Então, o que aconteceu a este templo? E o que aconteceu para a cidade ? O que fez Efesus passar de um movimentado porto de comércio para um pântano?
Os Vários Templos a Artemis (ou Diana)
O primeiro santuário para a Deusa Artemis foi construído provavelmente em torno de 800 a.C. em uma faixa pantanosa perto do rio em Efesus. A Deusa Artemis de Efesus, às vezes chamada de Diana, não é a mesma Artemis cultuada na Grécia. A Artemis grega é a deusa da caça. A Artemis de Efesus era uma deusa de fertilidade e foi pintada freqüentemente com peitos múltiplos, símbolos de fertilidade.
Aquele templo mais antigo tinha uma pedra sagrada, provavelmente um meteorito que tinha caído de Júpiter ". O santuário foi destruído e foi reconstruído várias vezes durante uns cem anos. Em 600 a.C., a cidade de Efesus tinha se tornado um porto principal de comércio e um arquiteto nomeado Chersiphron foi designado para construir um novo templo, só que maior. Ele o projetou com altas colunas de pedra. Preocupado que as carroças que fossem carregar as colunas atolassem, Chersiphron pôs as colunas nos lados rolou-as até o local onde elas seriam erguidas.
Este templo não durou muito. Em 550 a.C. o Rei Croesus de Lydia conquistou Efesus e as outras cidades gregas de Ásia Menor. Durante a luta, o templo foi destruído. Croesus se provou um vencedor cortês, contribuindo generosamente à contrução de um novo templo.
Este estava próximo do último dos grandes templos de Artemis em Efesus. Acredita-se que o arquiteto é um homem chamado Theodoro. O templo de Theodoro tinha 300 pés de comprimento e 150 pés de lado, com uma área quatro vezes maior que a do templo anterior.. Mais de cem colunas de pedra apoiavam o telhado volumoso. O novo templo era o orgulho de Efesus até as 356 a.C. quando uma tragédia, chamada Herostratus, surpreendeu.
Herostratus de Efesus, um jovem que não media esforços para ter seu nome escrito na história. E ele conseguiu isso, queimando o templo, e levando-o ao chão.Os cidadãos de Efesus ficaram tão apavorados com esse ato que eles decretaram que quem falasse em Herostratus seria executado.
Logo após esta ação horrível, um templo novo foi "encomendado". O escolhido foi Scopas de Paros, um dos escultores mais famosos da época. Efesus era neste momento uma das maiores cidades na Ásia Menor e nenhuma despesa foi poupada na nova construção. De acordo com Piny um antigo historiador romano, o templo era um " monumento maravilhoso do esplendor grego, e que é digna da nossa admiração."
O templo foi construído no mesmo lugar pantanoso, como antes.
Acredita-se que a contrução foi a primeira a ser completamente construída com mármore e uma das suas características mais incomuns eral 36 colunas, cujas porções mais baixas foram esculpidas com figuras de alto-alívio. O templo também alojou muitas obras de arte, incluindo quatro estátuas de bronze de mulheres Amazonas.
O comprimento do novo templo era de 425 pés e a largura era de 225 pés. 127 colunas de 60 pés de altura sustentavam o talhado. Em comparação com o Pathernon, cujas ruínas estão em Acrópolis em Atenas, tinha apenas 230 pés de comprimento, 100 pés de largura e tinha 58 colunas.
De acordo com Piny, a construção levou 120 anos, entretanto alguns peritos suspeitam pode ter levado só a metade do tempo. Nós sabemos que quando o Alexandre o Grande chegou em Efesus em 333 a.C., o templo ainda estava em obras. Ele se ofereceu financiar a conclusão do templo se a cidade o creditasse como o construtor. Os vereadores não quiseram o nome de Alexandre esculpido no templo, mas não quiseram lhe contar isso. Eles deram a resposta diplomática : " Não está certo que um deus construa um templo para outro" e Alexandre não levou a sua idéia adiante .
Rampas térreas foram empregadas para levar as vigas de pedra pesadas para cima das colunas. Este método parecia funcionar bem até que uma das maiores vigas fosse colocada em cima da porta. Foi abaixo, torta e o arquiteto não achou nenhum modo para conseguir desentortá-la. Ele estava preocupado até que ele teve um sonho na qual a Deusa apareceu lhe dizendo que ele não deveria se preocupar, pois Ela tinha movido a pedra para a posição formal. Na manhã seguinte, o arquiteto achou que o sonho foi verdade. Durante a noite, o povoado tinha colocado a viga no seu devido lugar.
A cidade continuou prosperando durante uns cem anos era o destino de muitos peregrinos que iam ver o templo. Um comércio de souvenirs se espalhou ao redor do santuário. Eles vendiam miniaturas de Artemis, talvez semelhante a estátua dela do templo. Foi um desses empresários, Demetrius, que deu a St. Paul momentos desagradáveis em sua visita a cidade, 57 d.C.
St. Paul veio para a cidade para converter pessoas para a então nova religião, o Cristianismo. Ele obteve tanto sucesso que Demétrius ficou com medo que as pessoas esquecessem de Artemis e ele fosse perder o seu sustento. Ele chamou outros comerciantes e deu um ganhar convertido para a religião nova de então de Cristianismo. Ele teve tanto êxito que Demetrius temeu que as pessoas virariam longe de Artemis e ele perderia o sustento dele. Ele chamou outros do comércio e fez um discurso agressivo : "Grande é Artemis de Efesus !". Então eles agarraram dois companheiros de St. Paul e uma multidão seguiu. Finalmente a cidade foi em silêncio, os homens de St. Paul liberados e Paul voltou para Macedonia.
Foi o Cristianismo de Paul que ganhou no fim. Na época em que o grande Templo de Artemis foi destruído durante uma invasão gótica em 262 D.C., a cidade e a religião de Artemis estavam em declínio. Quando o Imperador romano Constantine reconstruiu muito de Efesus , depois de um século, ele se recusou recontruir o templo. Ele tinha se tornado um cristão e tinha pouco interesse em templos pagãos.
Apesar dos esforços de Constantine, Efesus caiu em relação a sua importância como uma das capitais do comércio. A baía onde navios ancoravam desapareceu, e o lodo do rio tomou conta dela. No fim, a cidade ficou a milhas do mar, e muitos dos habiyantes deixaram o pantano para viver em colinas vizinhas. Os que permaneceram usaram as ruínas do templo para realizar contruições. Muitas das finas esculturas foram moidas e viraram pó, para fazer gesso.
Em 1863 o Museu Britânico enviou John Turtle Wood, arquiteto, para procurar o templo. Wood encontrou muitos obstáculos. A região estava infestada de bandidos. Trabalhadores eram escassos. O orçamento dele era muito pequeno. A maior dificuldade era descobrir onde estava o templo. Ele procurou o templo durante seis anos. Cada ano o Museu britânico ameaçava cortar os fundos a menos que ele achasse algo significante, e ele sempre os convencia a arcar por mais um ano.
Wood continuou voltando ao local todo ano apesar do sofrimento. Durante a primeira estação ele foi lançado de um cavalo e quebrou a clavícula. Dois anos depois ele foi apunhalado no coração numa tentativa de assassinato do Cônsul Britânico em Smyrna.
Finalmente em 1869, 20 pés ao fundo de uma cova, a tripulação dele bateu na base do grande templo. Wood escavou e removeu 132,000 jardas cúbicas de pântano para deixar um buraco de 300 pés de largura. Foram achados os restos de algumas esculturas e foram transportados o para Museu Britânico onde eles podem ser vistos até hoje.
Em 1904, uma outra expedição do Museu Britânico, sob a liderança de D.G. Hograth continuou a escavação. Hograth achou evidências de cinco templos no local, construídos um em cima do outro.
Hoje o local do templo é um campo pantanoso. Uma única coluna está erguida para lembrar aos turistas que uma vez, esteve naquele lugar uma das maravilhas do mundo antigo.
There's about 70 bell-shaped stupas around the top layers of the temple.
Borobudur is a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist monument in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.
Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following the fourteenth century decline of Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam.
Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the then British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations.
The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage; once a year Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited tourist attraction.
Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur
Greek geographer Strabo - "It consists of vaulted terraces raised one above another, and resting upon cube-shaped pillars. These are hollow and filled with earth to allow trees of the largest size to be planted. The pillars, the vaults, and terraces are constructed of baked brick and asphalt."
"The ascent to the highest story is by stairs, and at their side are water engines, by means of which persons, appointed expressly for the purpose, are continually employed in raising water from the Euphrates into the garden."
Strabo and Philo of Byzantium give the following records.
"The Garden is quadrangular, and each side is four plethra long. It consists of arched vaults which are located on checkered cube-like foundations... The ascent of the uppermost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway..."
"The Hanging Garden has plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass is supported on stone columns... Streams of water emerging from elevated sources flow down sloping channels... These waters irrigate the whole garden saturating the roots of plants and keeping the whole area moist. Hence the grass is permanently green and the leaves of trees grow firmly attached to supple branches... This is a work of art of royal luxury and its most striking feature is that the labor of cultivation is suspended above the heads of the spectators".
So here in this desert land with virtually no rainfall, a lush mountain garden was built, using a ‘chain pump’ bucket brigade method of raising water from the level of the Euphrates River to over 300 feet into the air. Here the water would flow down channels thru these terraces, lines with bitumen for water proofing; the plants along the terraces were watered and fertilized by the silted waters of the Euphrates.
Strange as it may sound, the Babylonian records of Nebuchadnezzar or any of his descendants are silent on the Hanging Garden. It is only recorded in the histories of the later writers and chroniclers. According to these stories, Amyitis, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, was the daughter of the king of the Medes. Here was a dynastic wedding, but the daughter of the Median king was homesick for her home in the green and verdant foliage of the rugged mountainous terrain of the land Media now in northern Iran.
Somewhere in the 43 years of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule, which began in 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar began to build an artificial mountain with terraces of gardens, trees and beautiful foliage. Here the marvel of this wonder of the ancient world rose over the walls of the mighty city of Babylon. These garden, also called the Garden of Semiriramis, who lived about 810 BCE. There are some legends that the Hanging Gardens were actually built by Queen Semiriramis, but the firmer archeological evidence suggests that her memory is invoked in this grand structure. The building itself was built over masonry arches with multilayer of terraces and gardens. Beneath the garden luxurious apartments were constructed.
Tower of Babel
Babylon was one of a number of cities built by a succession of peoples that lived on the plain starting around 5,500 years ago. There developed a tradition in each city of building a temple in the shape of a stepped pyramid. These temples, or ziggurats, most likely honored a particular god. The people of Mesopotamia believed in many gods and often a city might have several ziggurats. Over time Babylon became the most influential city on the plain and its ziggurat, honoring the god Marduk, was built, destroyed and rebuilt until it was the tallest tower.
The Tower of Babel (Heb.Bãbhel, from Assyro-Babylonian bãb-ili, "gate of God"), was, according to the Old Testament (see Gen. 11:1-9), a tower erected on the plain of Shinar in Babylonia by descendants of Noah. Nimrod's name is from the verb "let us revolt." He is said to be a mighty hunter (gibbor tsayidh) in the sight of the Lord, but the language has a dark meaning. He becomes a tyrant or despot leading an organized rebellion against the rule of Yahweh. He hunts not animals, but rather the souls of men. The builders intended the tower to reach to heaven; their presumption, however, angered Jehovah, who interrupted construction by causing among them a previously unknown confusion of languages. He then scattered these people, speaking different languages, over the face of the earth.
The story possibly was inspired by the fall of the famous temple-tower of Etemenanki, later restored by King Nabopolassar (r. 626-605 BC) and his son Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia. The Genesis account appears to play on the Babylonian word bã b-ili ("gate of God") and on the Hebrew words Bã bhel ("Babylon") and bã lãl ("to confuse"). The English words babel and babble are derived from the story.
The ruins of an immense Babylonian ziggurat, or stepped pyramid, have been found near this fabled location and the romantic notion is that these remains are all that is left of the Tower Of Babel. Archaeologists examining the remains of the city of Babylon have found what appears to be the foundation of the tower: a square of earthen embankments some 300 feet on each side. The tower's most splendid incarnation was probably under King Nebuchadnezzar II who lived from 605-562 BC. The King rebuilt the tower to stand 295 feet high. According to an inscription made by the King the tower was constructed of "baked brick enameled in brilliant blue." The terraces of the tower may have also been planted with flowers and trees.
Constructing ziggurats on the Mesopotamian plain was not easy. The area lacks the stone deposits the Egyptians used effectively for their timeless monuments. The wood available is mostly palm, not the best for construction, so the people used what they had in abundance: mud and straw. The bulk of the towers were constructed of crude bricks made by mixing chopped straw with clay and pouring the results into molds. After the bricks were allowed to bake in the sun they were joined in construction by using bitumen, a slimy material imported from the Iranian plateau.
External view of the tomb of Artaxerxes II, inside Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, destroyed and sacked by Alexander the Great from Macedonia, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated 60 km northeast of the city of Shiraz in in Fars Province, Iran.
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Leptis Magna was a prominent city of the Roman Empire, its ruins are located in Khoms, east of Tripoli, on the coast where the Wadi Lebda meets the sea, the site is one of the most spectacular Roman ruins in the Mediterranean and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on April 3, 2011 in Khoms, Libya
© Eric Lafforgue
One of North Africa's best-preserved ancient Roman cities, Sufetula is awash with temples, monumental arches and bath complexes that speak of an ancient civilisation that knew how to live.
Archaeological site of Sbeïtla , ancient Sufetula. Sbeïtla is renowned for its three temples dedicated to the gods of the Capitoline Triad: Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. In addition, the place has a theater, a bath complex, churches, a triumphal arch and forts from the Byzantine era.
The surrounding countryside proved ideal for olive growing, and Sufetula quickly waxed wealthy, building its finest temples in the 2nd century, when the town – like all of Roman Tunisia – was at the height of its prosperity. Fortuitously, its olive groves ensured that Sufetula continued to prosper long after other Roman towns slipped into decline, helping it to become an important Christian centre in the 4th century.
The Byzantines made Sufetula their regional capital, transforming it into a military stronghold from where they could tackle the area’s rebellious local tribes. It was here in AD 647 that Prefect Gregory declared himself independent of Constantinople. However, his moment of glory lasted only a few months before he was killed by the Arabs, who simultaneously destroyed much of Sufetula.
Fragment of a limestone column, carved in sunk relief with a depiction of Queen Nefertiti.
Tell el-Amarna. Given by Flinders Petrie and H.Martyn Kennard.
Text: THE ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM - OXFORD
土耳其－Antalya省－Kekova岛巡游－沉没之城
Remains of an ancient city, submerged after land subsidence caused by an earthquake about 2000 years ago, on Kekova Island, on turquoise colored Mediterranean sea, along the beautiful coastline of Lycia, in Antalya province, Central Anatolia region of Turkey.
© All rights reserved. You may not use this photo in website, blog or any other media without my explicit permission.
In the fall of 1994 a team of archaeological scuba divers entered the waters off of Alexandria, Egypt. Working beneath the surface they searched the bottom of the sea for artifacts. Large underwater blocks of stone were marked with floating masts so that an Electronic Distance Measurement station on shore could obtain their exact positions. Global positioning satellites were used to further fix the locations. The information was then fed into computers to create a detailed database of the sea floor.
Ironically, these scientists were using some of the most high-tech devices available at the end of the 20th century to try and discover the ruins of one of the most advanced technological achievements of the 3rd century, B.C.: The Pharos. It was the great lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The story of the Pharos starts with the founding of the city of Alexandria by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.. Alexander started at least 17 cities named Alexandria at different locations in his vast domain. Most of them disappeared, but Alexandria in Egypt thrived for centuries and continues even today.
Alexander the Great choose the location of his new city carefully. Instead of building it on the Nile delta, he selected a site some twenty miles to the west, so that the silt and mud carried by the river would not block the city harbor. South of the city was the marshy Lake Mareotis. After a canal was constructed between the lake and the Nile, the city had two harbors: one for Nile River traffic, and the other for Mediterranean Sea trade. Both harbors would remain deep and clear.
Alexander died soon after in 323 B.C. and the city was completed by Ptolemy Soter the new ruler of Egypt. Under Ptolemy the city became rich and prosperous. However, it needed both a symbol and a mechanism to guide the many trade ships into the busy harbor. Ptolemy authorized the building of the Pharos in 290 B.C., and when it was completed some twenty years later, it was the first lighthouse in the world and the tallest building in existence, with the exception of the Great Pyramid.
The lighthouse's designer was Sostrates of Knidos. Proud of his work, Sostrates, desired to have his name carved into the foundation. Ptolemy II, the son who ruled Egypt after his father, refused this request wanting his own name to be the only one on the building. A clever man, Sostrates had the inscription:
SOSTRATES SON OF DEXIPHANES OF KNIDOS ON BEHALF OF ALL MARINERS TO THE SAVIOR GODS
chiseled into the foundation, then covered it with plaster. Into the plaster was chiseled Ptolemy's name. As the years went by the plaster aged and chipped away revealing Sostrates' declaration.
The lighthouse was built on the island of Pharos and soon the building itself acquired the name. The connection of the name with the function became so strong that the word "Pharos" became the root of the word "lighthouse" in the French, Italian, Spanish and Romanian languages.
There are two detailed descriptions made of the lighthouse in the 10th century A.D. by Moorish travelers Idrisi and Yusuf Ibn al-Shaikh. According to their accounts, the building was 300 cubits high. Because the cubit measurement varied from place to place, this could mean that the Pharos stood anywhere from 450 to 600 feet in height, although the lower figure is more likely.
The design was unlike the slim single column of most modern lighthouses (left), but more like the structure of an early twentieth century skyscraper. There were three stages, each built on top of the lower. The building was constructed of marble blocks with lead mortar. The lowest level was probably more that 200 feet in height and 100 feet square, shaped like a massive box. Inside this section was a large spiral ramp that allowed materials to be pulled to the top in horse-drawn carts.
On top of this section was an eight-sided tower. On top of the tower was a cylinder that extended up to an open cupola where the fire that provided the light burned. On the roof of the cupola was a large statue of Poseidon. The lower portion of the building contained hundreds of storage rooms.
The interior of the upper two sections had a shaft with a dumbwaiter that was used to transport fuel up to the fire. Staircases allowed visitors and the keepers to climb to the beacon chamber. There, according to reports, a large curved mirror, perhaps made of polished metal, was used to project the fire's light into a beam. It was said ships could detect the light from the tower at night or the smoke from the fire during the day up to one-hundred miles away.
There are stories that this mirror could be used as a weapon to concentrate the sun and set enemy ships ablaze as they approached. Another tale says that it was possible to use the mirror to magnify the image of the city of Constantinople from far across the sea to observe what was going on there. Both of these stories seem implausible, though.
The lighthouse was apparently a tourist attraction. Food was sold to visitors at the observation platform at the top of the first level. A smaller balcony provided a view from the top of the eight-sided tower for those that wanted to make the additional climb. The view from there must have been impressive as it was probably 300 feet above the sea. There were few places in the ancient world where a person could ascend a man-made tower to get such a perspective.
How then did the world's first lighthouse wind up on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea? Most accounts indicate that it, like many other ancient buildings, was the victim of earthquakes. It stood for 1,500 years but was damaged by tremors in 365 and 1303 A.D. Reports indicate the final collapse came in 1326.
There is also an unlikely tale that part of the lighthouse was demolished through trickery. In 850 A.D. the Emperor of Constantinople, a rival port, devised a clever plot to get rid of the Pharos. He spread rumors that buried under the lighthouse was a fabulous treasure. When the Caliph at Cairo who controlled Alexandria heard these rumors, he ordered that the tower be pulled down to get at the treasure. It was only after the great mirror had been destroyed and the top two portions of the tower removed that the Caliph realized he'd been deceived. He tried to rebuild the tower, but couldn't, so he turned it into a mosque instead.
As colorful as this story is there does not seem to be much truth in it. Visitors in 1115 A.D. reported the Pharos intact and still operating as a lighthouse.
Did the divers actually find the remains of Pharos in the bottom of the harbor? Some of the larger blocks of stone found certainly seem to have come from a large building. Statues were located that may have stood at the base of the Pharos. Interestingly enough, much of the material found seems to be from earlier eras than the lighthouse. Scientists speculate that they may have been recycled in the construction of the Pharos from even older buildings.
There are plans to turn this site into an archaeological park with a lighthouse museum. In a few years visitors maybe able to rent snorkle gear and wet suits and dive in the bay among the remains of the great Pharos lighthouse.
El Jem, the third largest Roman amphitheatre in the world, after Rome's Coloseum and the one in Naples. This is also a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The amphitheatre was built around 238 AD in Thysdrus, located in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis in present-day El Djem, Tunisia. It is one of the best preserved Roman stone ruins in the world, and is unique in Africa. As other amphitheatres in the Roman Empire, it was built for spectator events with an estimated capacity is 35,000.
Set on a turquoise curve of prime coastal real estate, the Unesco-listed Punic settlement of Kerkouane is the world’s best-preserved example of a Carthaginian city. Abandoned during the First Punic War, the town was never reoccupied by the invading Romans, so its chequer-board network of streets, houses and workshops remains as it was around 250 BC. Kerkouane's houses are best known for their pink-red baths where residents soaked in private, a major difference to the opulent Roman public baths found elsewhere around Tunisia.