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The site of Palmyra is an oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, it contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world, Palmyra mixed Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences, it was listed UNESCO World Heritage in 1980
© Eric Lafforgue
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
© Eric Lafforgue
A Walking Tour of Chichén Itzá: Chichén Itzá, one of best known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, has a split personality. The site is located in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, about 90 miles from the coast. The south half of the site, called Old Chichén, was constructed beginning about 700 AD, by Puuc Maya emigres from the southern Yucatan. The Puuc built temples and palaces at Chichén Itzá including the Red House (Casa Colorada) and the Nunnery (Casa de las Monejas). The Toltec component of Chichén Itzá arrived from Tula about 950 AD and their influence can be seen in the the Osario (the High Priest's Grave), and the Eagle and Jaguar Platforms. Most interestingly, a cosmopolitan blending of the two created the Observatory (the Caracol) and the Temple of the Warriors.
The Castillo (or castle in Spanish) is the monument that people think of when they think of Chichén Itzá. It is mostly Toltec construction, and it probably dates to the period of the first combination of cultures in the 9th century AD at Chichén. El Castillo is centrally located on the south edge of the Great Plaza. The pyramid is 30 meters high and 55 meters on a side, and it was built with nine succeeding platforms with four staircases. The staircases have balustrades with carved feathered serpents, the open-jawed head at the foot and the rattle held high at the top. The last remodel of this monument included one of the fanciest jaguar thrones known from such sites, with red paint and jade insets for eyes and spots on the coat, and flaked chert fangs. The principal stairway and entrance is on the north side, and the central sanctuary is surrounded by a gallery with the main portico.
Information about the solar, Toltec, and Maya calendars is carefully built into el Castillo. Each stairway has exactly 91 steps, times four is 364 plus the top platform equals 365, the days in the solar calendar. The pyramid has 52 panels in the nine terraces; 52 is the number of years in the Toltec cycle. Each of the nine terraced steps are divided in two: 18 for the months in the yearly Maya calendar. Most impressively, though, is not the numbers game, but the fact that on the autumnal and vernal equinoxes, the sun shining on the platform edges forms shadows on the balustrades of the north face that look like a writhing rattle snake.
Archaeologist Edgar Lee Hewett described el Castillo as a design "of exceptionally high order, indicating great progress in architecture." That most zealous of Spanish friar zealots Bishop Landa reported that the structure was called Kukulcan, or 'feathered serpent' pyramid, as if we needed to be told twice.
The amazing equinoctial display at el Castillo (where the snake wriggles on the balustrades) was video-taped during Spring Equinox 2005 by Isabelle Hawkins and the Exploratorium. The videocast is in both Spanish and English versions, and the show lasts a good hour waiting for the clouds to part, but holy cow! is it worth watching.
Photo taken in February 1986 on Kodachrome 64 film with a Minolta SLR camera and Vivitar 70-150 zoom. Scanned 2005. Photo by: Jim Gateley. Text Copyright 2006: archaeology.about.com/mbiopage.htm used with permission. A list of references used for this project is available for further reading on Chichén Itzá.
"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wreath of her fornications." Revelation 14:8 [10]
Ever since the construction of the Tower of Babel as the beginning of Nimrod's Kingdom and his religion of Paganism which is a man-made, man-ruled religion for a man-devised salvation, spoken of in Genesis 10:8-10 and 11:1-19, the word "Babylon" has stood for confusion in the Bible and Hebrew language.[20] It refers particularly to confusion in religion. The true God of heaven made war against Babylon and its false god of self-elevation, and frustrated Satan's attempt to form a one-world religion and political system designed to destroy the truth about God and thereby destroying God's people on earth. To do this God simply confused man's languages and scatter them abroad in order to buy time to carry out his plan of salvation.
Satan almost succeeded in having his way in the days of Noah when men's hearts imagined only "evil continually" [100], but the flood destroyed them all. And as we have seen above, Satan was making great progress at Babel through Noah's great grandson Nimrod, but God again frustrated his plans. Still, Satan used the false religion of Babel which has come to be called Paganism to conduct a great spiritual war against God's people Israel throughout the Old Testament period and very nearly succeeded in having his way time after time. Particularly when Nebuchadnezzar, a later king of Babylon took Judah and Israel captive. But God has always preserved a "remnant" to Himself in every age - a few faithful people who would live by faith in His Word. As Jesus told Satan in the wilderness of temptation-
"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4
The source of man's weakness and failure is that man is inclined by his carnal nature to trust himself instead of God, to glorify self instead of God, and to follow his own way, which is actually Satan's way, instead of God's unselfish way. And so it is, the beast's doctrines do not glorify God, only itself. Any doctrine that makes God look bad, is a bad doctrine. All sins are acts of selfish disbelief in what God says. Without exception in any instance since man's creation Satan has always found it necessary to first separate man from belief in God's Word before he can separate man from God by acts of sin. Satan works to do this in two ways:
1. Withholding from man, if possible, what God has said in His Word, the Holy Bible, either by keeping people too busy to read it or by not allowing a copy of the Bible to come into their grasp.
2. By inspiring disbelief or distrust in what they do know God says.
Is it any wonder that the apostle Paul cries out to Timothy as he foresees the fall of the church?[110]
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." 2.Timothy 4:2-5
Here we find good counsel for preachers and teachers of our own age. "Preach the Word!" The message of too many pulpits is based on politics, travel, or almost anything except the Word of God. Paul says, the time will come when people do not appreciate straight Bible truth, but will choose teachers to speak smooth words. To many people today, preaching sound doctrine amounts to doctrinal nit-picking. Believe me, the time Paul spoke about is our time today! This is not the time in history where we should hear smooth things; we need to be aroused by the cutting truth of the Word of God.
Some preachers expect their church goers never to read literature which challenges their teachings. God's Word says to compare what is preached with the Word and hold fast that which is found in its pages. We grow up either in Christ or sideways into false teachings. We are living in a time when Satan is busy sowing seeds in people's mind which leads to skepticism and infidelity. Error is taught so insidiously that faith of many is rapidly undermined. People come to church to have their faith built-up, but too often, instead it is undermined by the wind of all sorts of doctrines. Men and women have excellent gifts, great abilities, the best qualifications, but one sin, one defect, will proof to the character what the worm-eaten plank does to a ship - it leads to utter disaster and ruin.
Link: www.specialtyinterests.net/the_fall_of_babylon_scarlet_wo...
Highlights from the wonderful exhibition of Tutankhamun's Gold Treasures at Saatchi Gallery London UK 30 Nov 2019.
© Amberinsea Photography 2019
Samsung csc NX500 digital camera photograph of old 35mm print taken in 1986. Selfie, I used a timer.
Ancient Shiva statue carved out of stone inside a cave at Elephanta Caves ruins in Mumbai (Bombay) India at Gharapuri island.
Standing hippopotamus
Blue Faience
Middle Kingdom
Text: The Cairo Museum - Egypt
(Middle Kingdom c.2055 BC – c. 1650 BC)
Mumbai, India - March 1, 2020: Toy train waits for passengers to shuttle down the jetty to the ferries from Elephanta Caves Island
The site of Palmyra is an oasis in the Syrian desert, north-east of Damascus, it contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world, Palmyra mixed Graeco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences, it was listed UNESCO World Heritage in 1980
© Eric Lafforgue
Situati nell'antica città di Babilonia (letteralmente, Porta del Dio), vicino alla odierna Baghdad (Iraq), i giardini pensili di Babilonia furono costruiti intorno al 590 a.C. dal re Nabucodonosor II (anche se la tradizione attribuisce la loro costruzione alla regina assira Semiramide).
La leggenda vuole che la regina - raffigurata nel celebre quadro di Degas, Semiramide alla costruzione di Babilonia, e le cui gesta sono state descritte in numerose opere liriche - trovasse nei giardini rose fresche ogni giorno, pur nel clima arido che caratterizzava la città.
Va notato che nella cultura tradizionale della Mesopotamia, il significato della parola giardino somiglia a quello di paradiso. Alcuni storici, va detto, sono in disaccordo sull'esistenza reale o meno della città di Babilonia e dei suoi giardini.
La questione della localizzazione dei giardini è ancora oggi irrisolta e gli studi, ancora in corso, hanno lasciato emergere le più varie ipotesi, tra cui anche quella che Babilonia non ospitasse affatto una delle Sette Meraviglie del mondo antico, poiché le fonti antiche, pur concordando nella descrizione dei giardini, non ne forniscono alcuna localizzazione precisa all'interno della città.
What you see in this picture is the goddess Hathor's head which once sat on a sistrum, a kind of rattle instrument. A sistrum was used by Hathor priests and women of high birth in ancient Egypt, under the Hathor worship. The handle of a sistrum was often decorated with Hathor's head, and when the instrument was used, a bell sounded. The Hathor head displayed at the Mediterranean Museum is about 10 cm high in stone, and is from the 700-300's BC.
Hathor, like many other goddoms, was multifaceted and ambivalent. She could be benevolent and life-giving, but also wild, threatening and as ruthless as the blazing desert sun. Her benevolent sides could be manifested in her creatures like cow, or as a woman with a choir. She was the goddess of love, music and dance and those who wanted to cherish her did it through fragrant perfumes, incense, wine, music, dance and ecstasy.
She could also be conceived as a beautiful queen with a crown of cow horns and with the sun sheeting between the horns. The Hathor cult was mainly centered in the temple area of Dendera, on the west side of the north north of Thebes and the Hathor Temple in Dendera is one of the most well-preserved temples from ancient Egypt. Hathor was the divine mother of Pharaoh, and some of Pharaoh's many titles sounded "Son of Hathor". In the Hathor temples there were often herds of holy cows, whose milk was reserved for Pharaoh, as by drinking Hathor's divine milk had long life and great power.
Text: Medelhavsmuseet Stockholm (translated from Swedish to English by Andrea)
The close up shot for detail of sandstone carving and Apsara statue of ancient Banteay Srei temple. Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey is a 10th-century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia. Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today. The buildings themselves are miniature in scale, unusually so when measured by the standards of Angkorian construction. It is widely praised as a 'precious gem', or the 'jewel of Khmer art.'
A Walking Tour of Chichén Itzá: Chichén Itzá, one of best known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, has a split personality. The site is located in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, about 90 miles from the coast. The south half of the site, called Old Chichén, was constructed beginning about 700 AD, by Puuc Maya emigres from the southern Yucatan. The Puuc built temples and palaces at Chichén Itzá including the Red House (Casa Colorada) and the Nunnery (Casa de las Monejas). The Toltec component of Chichén Itzá arrived from Tula about 950 AD and their influence can be seen in the the Osario (the High Priest's Grave), and the Eagle and Jaguar Platforms. Most interestingly, a cosmopolitan blending of the two created the Observatory (the Caracol) and the Temple of the Warriors.
Beginning about 950 AD, a new style of architecture crept into the buildings at Chichén Itzá, no doubt along with the people and the culture: The Toltecs. The term 'Toltecs' means a lot of things to a lot of people, but in this feature we're talking about people from the town of Tula, in what is now Hidalgo state, Mexico, who began to expand their dynastic control into distant regions of Mesoamerica from the fall of Teotihuacan to the 12th century AD. While the exact relationship between the Itzas and the Toltecs from Tula is complex, it is certain that major changes in architecture and iconography took place at Chichén Itzá as a result of an influx of Toltec people. The result was probably a ruling class made up of Yucatec Maya, Toltecs, and Itzas; it is possible that some of the Maya were also at Tula.
Toltec style includes the presence of the feathered or plumed serpent, called Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatl, chacmools, the Tzompantli skull rack, and Toltec warriors. They are probably the impetus for the increase of emphasis on death culture at Chichén Itzá and elsewhere, including the frequency of human sacrifice and warfare. Architecturally, the elements of colonnades and columned halls with wall benches; pyramids are built of stacked platforms of decreasing size in the "tablud and tablero" style which developed at Teotihuacan. Tablud and tablero refers to the angled stair-step profile of the stacked platform pyramid, seen in the profile of El Castillo.
Photo taken in February 1986 on Kodachrome 64 film with a Minolta SLR camera and Vivitar 70-150 zoom. Scanned 2005. Photo by: Jim Gateley. Text Copyright 2006: archaeology.about.com/mbiopage.htm used with permission. A list of references used for this project is available for further reading on Chichén Itzá.
A Walking Tour of Chichén Itzá: Chichén Itzá, one of best known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, has a split personality. The site is located in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, about 90 miles from the coast. The south half of the site, called Old Chichén, was constructed beginning about 700 AD, by Puuc Maya emigres from the southern Yucatan. The Puuc built temples and palaces at Chichén Itzá including the Red House (Casa Colorada) and the Nunnery (Casa de las Monejas). The Toltec component of Chichén Itzá arrived from Tula about 950 AD and their influence can be seen in the the Osario (the High Priest's Grave), and the Eagle and Jaguar Platforms. Most interestingly, a cosmopolitan blending of the two created the Observatory (the Caracol) and the Temple of the Warriors.
Beginning about 950 AD, a new style of architecture crept into the buildings at Chichén Itzá, no doubt along with the people and the culture: The Toltecs. The term 'Toltecs' means a lot of things to a lot of people, but in this feature we're talking about people from the town of Tula, in what is now Hidalgo state, Mexico, who began to expand their dynastic control into distant regions of Mesoamerica from the fall of Teotihuacan to the 12th century AD. While the exact relationship between the Itzas and the Toltecs from Tula is complex, it is certain that major changes in architecture and iconography took place at Chichén Itzá as a result of an influx of Toltec people. The result was probably a ruling class made up of Yucatec Maya, Toltecs, and Itzas; it is possible that some of the Maya were also at Tula.
Toltec style includes the presence of the feathered or plumed serpent, called Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatl, chacmools, the Tzompantli skull rack, and Toltec warriors. They are probably the impetus for the increase of emphasis on death culture at Chichén Itzá and elsewhere, including the frequency of human sacrifice and warfare. Architecturally, the elements of colonnades and columned halls with wall benches; pyramids are built of stacked platforms of decreasing size in the "tablud and tablero" style which developed at Teotihuacan. Tablud and tablero refers to the angled stair-step profile of the stacked platform pyramid, seen in the profile of El Castillo.
Photo taken in February 1986 on Kodachrome 64 film with a Minolta SLR camera and Vivitar 70-150 zoom. Scanned 2005. Photo by: Jim Gateley. Text Copyright 2006: archaeology.about.com/mbiopage.htm used with permission. A list of references used for this project is available for further reading on Chichén Itzá.
Right Mastcam - High altitude cloud - Contrast enhanced
Source: mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw-images/?order=sol+desc,i...
Pieter Bruegel (1525-69), was the foremost member of a European movement that used the Tower of Babel regularly in their work.
Artwork: Isaiah's vision of the destruction of Babylon
Artist: DORÉ, Gustave
Date: 1865
Technique: Engraving
Notes: From "La Sainte Bible"
Subject: The Vision of the Fall of Babylon
The great havoc and destruction which it was foretold should be made by the Medes and Persians in Babylon here end in the final destruction of it. 1. It is allowed that Babylon was a noble city. It was the glory of kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency; it was that head of gold (#Dan. ii. 37, 38|); it was called the lady of kingdoms (#ch. xlvii. 5|), the praise of the whole earth (#Jer. li. 41|), like a pleasant roe (so the word signifies); but it shall be as a chased roe, #v. 14|. The Chaldeans gloried in the beauty and wealth of this their metropolis. 2. It is foretold that it should be wholly destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah; not so miraculously, nor so suddenly, but as effectually, though gradually; and the destruction should come upon them as that upon Sodom, when they were secure, eating and drinking, #Luke xvii. 28, 29|. Babylon was taken when Belshazzar was in his revels; and, though Cyrus and Darius did not demolish it, yet by degrees it wasted away and in process of time it went all to ruin. It is foretold here (#v. 20|) that it shall never be inhabited; in Adrian's time nothing remained but the wall. And whereas it is prophesied concerning Nineveh, that great city, that when it should be deserted and left desolate yet flocks should lie down in the midst of it, it is here said concerning Babylon that the Arabians, who were shepherds, should not make their folds there; the country about should be so barren that there would be no grazing there; no, not for sheep. Nay, it shall be the receptacle of wild beasts, that affect solitude; the houses of Babylon, where the sons and daughters of pleasure used to rendezvous, shall be full of doleful creatures, owls and satyrs, that are themselves frightened thither, as to a place proper for them, and by whom all others are frightened thence. Historians say that this was fulfilled in the letter. Benjamin Bar-Jona, in his Itinerary, speaking of Babel, has these words: "This is that Babel which was of old thirty miles in breadth; it is now laid waste. There are yet to be seen the ruins of a palace of Nebuchadnezzar, but the sons of men dare not enter in, for fear of serpents and scorpions, which possess the place." Let none be proud of their pompous palaces, for they know not but they may become worse than cottages; nor let any think that their houses shall endure for ever (#Ps. xlix. 11|), when perhaps nothing may remain but the ruins and reproaches of them. 3. It is intimated that this destruction should come shortly (#v. 22|): Her time is near to come. This prophecy of the destruction of Babylon was intended for the support and comfort of the people of God when they were captives there and grievously oppressed; and the accomplishment of the prophecy was nearly 200 years after the time when it was delivered; yet it followed soon after the time for which it was calculated. When the people of Israel were groaning under the heavy yoke of Babylonish tyranny, sitting down in tears by the rivers of Babylon and upbraided with the songs of Zion, when their insolent oppressors were most haughty and arrogant (#v. 11|), then let them know, for their comfort, that Babylon's time, her day to fall, is near to come, and the days of her prosperity shall not be prolonged, as they have been. When God begins with her he will make an end. Thus it is said of the destruction of the New-Testament Babylon, whereof the former was a type, In one hour has her judgment come. .
'See Angkor Wat and Die' is the true! I visited here and see the beautiful sunrise with dramatic sky and the silhouette of Angkor Wat. This was one of the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.
Electrical wires emerge from a hole and snake around the ground among the ruins of the ancient Persian city of Persepolis.
Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BCE). Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. The earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BCE.
Photo taken on July 29, 2007.
Mysterious rock. This rock structure very much resembles to human skull. Either it was formed due to weathering or ancient civilization has carved it out for their holy rituals. It is on the top of the hill near Ranchi city.
The reconstructed Treasury of Athens, built to commemorate their victory at the Battle of Marathon.
Delphi, formerly also called Pytho, is the ancient sanctuary that grew rich as the seat of Pythia, the oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The ancient Greeks considered the centre of the world to be in Delphi, marked by the stone monument known as the omphalos (navel).
The Morgan Bible (The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, Ms M. 638) is a medieval picture bible of 44 folios. This book was probably created under the direction of Louis IX of France in the mid-1240s. Originally it probably contained only paintings, organized in a consistent visual rhythm from page to page. Within 150 years, the book acquired marginal inscriptions in Latin. Cardinal Bernard Maciejowski, Bishop of Cracow, had the book given as a gift to Abbas I (Shah of Persia) in 1608. Abbas ordered inscriptions in Persian to be added. Later, perhaps in the eighteenth century, incriptions were added in Judeo-Persian. Thus the book consists of beautiful paintings of events from Hebrew scripture, set in the scenery and customs of thirteenth-century France, depicted from a Christian perspective, and surrounded by text in three scripts and five languages (Latin, Persian, Arabic, Judeo-Persian, and Hebrew).
The Morgan Bible is a masterpiece of Gothic art. It testifies impressively to how persons make sense of words and images. Historical recreationists, such as members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, find in it valuable evidence about medieval clothing, weapons, and armor.
The Morgan Bible is also called the "Morgan Bible of Louis IX", the "Book of Kings", the "Crusader Bible", and the "Maciejowski Bible".
The Temple of Artemis literally had its ups and downs over the centuries. It was erected around 600 BC and burned down in about 550 AD. It was then rebuilt into a bigger and more magnificent version.
The Temple of Artemis was destroyed again in 336 BC, this time by an arsonist named Herostratus who wanted to immortalize his name (2300 years later it appears he succeeded).
The temple was again rebuilt, even bigger and better than before. Except for its lumber-supported roof covered with glazed terra cotta tiles, the new Temple of Artemis was made almost exclusively of marble (a first in its day). Inside, the temple was richly decorated with sculptures and other artworks created by leading artists. It more or less survived intact until the invading Goths severely damaged it in 262 AD.
Sadly, the Temple of Artemis was never rebuilt again. What remained slowly disintegrated with the help of earthquakes. By the 5th Century AD, most of the marble had been salvaged for local building needs.
When I explored the Temple of Artemis site 15 centuries later, all that remained was one reconstructed column (of uncertain origin) and a marshy field strewn with large chunks of marble (that may or may not have belonged to the Temple of Artemis).
Mission day 96 from Perseverance & the left and Right MastcamZ
Explore here with full zoom and pan: viewer.gigamacro.com/view/9sh7G1UmfqTQ6HcM?x1=5980.01&...
Source images can be found here (Sol 96) :
Ruins of the majestic Gate of All Nations, also known as the Gate of Xerxes, 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.
The construction of the Gate of All Nations was ordered by the Achaemenid king Xerxes I (486-465 BC), the successor of the founder of Persepolis, Darius I the Great.
© All rights reserved. You may not use this photo in website, blog or any other media without my explicit permission.
This low-resolution view of the floor of Mars’ Jezero Crater and a portion of two wheels of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover was captured by the color imager aboard the agency’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. The image was taken on April 3, 2021, while the solar-powered rotorcraft was still beneath the rover after being deployed. A few higher-resolution images are expected to be acquired by this imager during each of Ingenuity’s test flights.
The vertical interior image of the Great Buddha Statue (Phra Sri Sakyamuni) inside the main chapel of Wat Suthat Thep Wararam Temple.This temple is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand. It is a royal temple of the first grade, one of ten such temples in Bangkok (23 in Thailand).This main chapel (in the photo) has beautiful mural painting and contains the great Buddha image Phra Sri Sakyamuni which have been moved from Sukhothai province.This is one of the most beautiful temple in Thailand. Don't miss it.