Dead Sea Scrolls Ancient Jewish manuscripts The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period. They were discovered over a period of 10 years, between 1946 and 1956, at the Qumran Caves near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. Dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE,[1] the Dead Sea Scrolls are considered to be a keystone in the history of archaeology with great historical, religious, and linguistic significance because they include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books later included in the biblical canons, along with extra-biblical and deuterocanonical manuscripts that preserve evidence of the diversity of religious thought in late Second Temple Judaism. Many thousands of written fragments have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. Owing to the poor condition of some of the scrolls, scholars have not identified all of their texts. Discovery Cave 1 Cave 2 Cave 3 Cave 5
Levant Region in the Eastern Mediterranean In 1581, England set up the Levant Company to trade with the Ottoman Empire.[3] The name Levant States was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and Lebanon after World War I.[3][2] This is probably the reason why the term Levant has come to be used more specifically to refer to modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus.[3] Some scholars mistakenly believed that it derives from the name of Lebanon.[3] Today the term is often used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. The Levant has been described as the "crossroads of Western Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Northeast Africa",[18] and in geological (tectonic) terms as the "northwest of the Arabian Plate".[19] The populations of the Levant[20][21] share not only the geographic position, but cuisine, some customs, and history. Etymology Geography and modern-day use of the term In archaeology: a definition Subregions History Demographics Groups Others
In the US, white supremacists have infiltrated police and military to get weapons training “Many people from my crew went on to be Chicago police officers, they went on to be prison guards,and they certainly took their ideology with them. A lot of people that I know ended up enlisting in the military to recruit [racists] and to get weapons and combat training.” Picciolini says he “frequently” gets requests for help from people in the military - or parents or friends - concerned by rhetoric within the ranks. “They are denying the Holocaust, their views are in line with white supremacists and white nationalists, and they are coming back from serving in the military angry,” he says. Picciolini’s experience is echoed by a 2015 FBI Counterterrorism Policy Guide that highlights its investigations into domestic terrorism. The FBI identified active links to officers who were employed by some of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States. “Most people thought extremists were what I used to be - Nazi skinheads and KKK and very visible,” Picciolini says.
Akkadian Empire Historical state in Mesopotamia Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.100°N 44.100°E / 33.100; 44.100 During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.[5] Akkadian, an East Semitic language,[6] gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).[7] The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests by its founder Sargon of Akkad.[8] Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam and Gutium. After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the people of Mesopotamia eventually coalesced into two major Akkadian-speaking nations: Assyria in the north, and, a few centuries later, Babylonia in the south. History of research[edit] Dating and periodization[edit] Sargon of Akkad[edit]
Babylon Babylon (Arabic: بابل, Bābil; Akkadian: Bābili(m);[1] Sumerian logogram: KÁ.DINGIR.RAKI;[1] Hebrew: בָּבֶל, Bāḇel;[1] Ancient Greek: Βαβυλών Babylṓn; Old Persian: 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 Bābiru) was originally a Semitic Akkadian city dating from the period of the Akkadian Empire circa. 2300 BC. Originally a minor administrative center, it only became an independent city-state in 1894 BC in the hands of a migrant Amorite dynasty not native to ancient Mesopotamia. The Babylonians were more often ruled by other foreign migrant dynasties throughout their history, such as by the Kassites, Arameans, Elamites and Chaldeans, as well as by their fellow Mesopotamians, the Assyrians. The remains of the city are found in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometres (53 mi) south of Baghdad. Available historical resources suggest that Babylon was at first a small town which had sprung up by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC (circa 2000 BC). Name History Classical dating Assyrian period
Anatolia Peninsula in Western Asia Anatolia,[a] also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Turkish Straits to the northwest, the Black Sea to the north, the Armenian Highlands to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean seas through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the Balkan peninsula of Southeast Europe. The eastern border of Anatolia has been held to be a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea, bounded by the Armenian Highlands to the east and Mesopotamia to the southeast. Geography[edit] Etymology[edit] The English-language name Anatolia derives from the Greek Ἀνατολή (Anatolḗ) meaning "the East" and designating (from a Greek point of view) eastern regions in general. Names[edit]
MI6 boss Sir John Scarlett still signs letters in green ink Sir John said that he keeps a special coloured pen in his desk for official correspondence and to inspire junior agents with the history of the service. MI6 bosses have been known colloquially as the "green ink brigade" since the days of Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the former Royal Navy officer who established the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6, to gather intelligence on the Germans before the First World War. A man who revelled in the secrecy and glamour of espionage, Sir George signed all his correspondence with his final initial in green pen – the writing implement of choice for conspiracy theorists and cranks. His successors in the role adopted the convention and in a rare interview the current incumbent Sir John revealed that it continues to this day. "That's a tradition that we have kept," he told BBC Radio 4's MI6: A Century in the Shadows. Sir John spent his career in MI6 before leaving in 2001 to head the Government's Joint Intelligence Committee.
Babylonia Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking Semitic nation state and cultural region based in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). It emerged as an independent state c. 1894 BC, with the city of Babylon as its capital. It was often involved in rivalry with its fellow Akkadian state of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia. The Babylonian state retained the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use (the language of its native populace), despite its Amorite founders and Kassite successors not being native Akkadians. The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad (2334- 2279 BC), dating back to the 23rd century BC. Periods[edit] Old Pre-Babylonian period[edit] The extent of the Babylonian Empire at the start and end of Hammurabi's reign The empire eventually disintegrated due to economic decline, climate change and civil war, followed by attacks by the Gutians from the Zagros Mountains. The Empire of Hammurabi
Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek γένεσις, meaning "origin"; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, Bərēšīṯ, "In [the] beginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament.[1] Structure[edit] Summary[edit] The Angel Hinders the Offering of Isaac (Rembrandt, 1635) God creates the world in six days. Later after the great flood, God divided the languages of the humans after they were deciding to live together and build a great towered city from atop of the heavens which displeased God. God instructs Abram (the future Abraham) to travel from his home in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) to the land of Canaan. Sarah is barren, and tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife. God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. Composition[edit] Abram's Journey from Ur to Canaan (József Molnár, 1850) Origins[edit] This leaves the question of when these works were created. Genre[edit] Themes[edit]