Who is He?

For all of you New Moon lovers, I am just getting back from the movie and wouldn't say I am thoroughly impressed, but I am most definitely a very happy girl... and now after this wonderful introduction here is my blog post:

From personal experiences I have been drawn to ask the question, "Who is God?" and I am never slightly amazed when I realize that my imagination cannot grasp something as great as the answer to this question. God has been defined in an extremely large amount of ways, but everyone seems to trust in their beliefs and live for him, no matter who they think he is. For this post I have decided to look at a PBS document where they explain just how Islam, the empire of faith, believed in their God and just how they lived for him.

It is said that the Muslims thought of God as something completley unique in which nothing, or any person, could compare itself to. The reason that the Koran constantly switches pronouns throughout its story is to help people understand that they cannot create a physical image of him. This brings the people to talk of, and understand that, God is not a physical thing or an image of human self.

In contrast to many other religions, the basic practice of Islam is simplicity itself. The believer worships God directly without the intercession of priests or clergy or saints. The believer's duties are summed up in five simple rules.

These simple rules are referred to as the Five Pillars of Islam. These Pillars are Belief, Worship, Fasting, Almsgiving, and Pilgrimage. If you would like to read more on these interesting ways of life you can scroll on down to Katie Lett's post. In this post you will find a well thought out definition to each of the Pillars and some very intriguing thoughts about how they can apply to daily life.

If you have been introduced to the gospels you can compare them to the length of the Koran. There are a total of 114 chapters in the Koran, all of different length, and the opening chapter is called Fatiha. In this chapter you will find a "Beautiful, short, prayer," in which serves as a prayer in many situations.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Praise belongs to God, Lord of all Being
the All-merciful, the All-compassionate
the Master of the Day of Doom
Thee only we serve; to Thee alone we pray for succor
Guide us in the straight path
the path of those whom Thou hast blessed,
not of those against whom Thou art wrathful
nor of those who are astray.

The Koran is believed to only be understood when read in the majestic Arabic language in which it was revealed. This has come to mean that all believers should feel the necessity to learn the language in order to completely comprehend the scriptures. The purity of the Arabic language has kept true, in most part, because the primacy of Arabic is the language of God's revelation.



In a section entitled, People of the Book, you come to understand that Muslims accept the teachings of both the Jewish Torah and the Christian Gospels. They believe in these teaching because they have trust in the fact that God had previously revealed Himself to the Jews and Christians.

http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/faithgod.html

With this historic adventure into the lives of their God I have realized that I know absolutley nothing about living for my own God. This story describes Islam that is filled with people who live, completley and whole heartedly, for the God that they truthfully believe in. They do not understand him as a physical figure, but instead they use his story and ideologies on life to fulfill their very own lives. It is with my sincerest hopes that one never thinks they are done growing, learning, and changing, because with this blog post I have learned more about myself than I have about Islam.

Another pair of shoes

The Islamic faith is made up of five pillars. These five pillars must be followed in order to be a strong, living part of the Islamic community. I'm not Islamic, but I would like to examine and imagine what my life would be like if I was Islamic. Here is what my day would look like if I was to try to be a believer of the Islamic faith.

I would take the following 5 Pillars and apply them to a day in my life:

1) Testimony of Faith

2) Prayer

3) Giving Zagat (support of the needy)

4) Fasting the month of Ramadan

5) Pilgrimage to Makkah

First I would wake up at dawn and pray to Allah. I would thank him for all that he had blessed me with, and I would say, " La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah." This means, "There is no God, but God (Allah), and Muhammad is the messenger of God." After this I would go about my normal morning activities. I would shower, brush my teeth and prepare a breakfast for myself. While enjoying a healthy breakfast I would pray to Allah and ask for his guidance for me during my day. I would then travel to work, my day would go on as usual, but at lunch I would again pray to Allah. In the mid-afternoon, I would again pray to Allah. It doesn't matter what I am doing, I will stop it and pray and resume what I was doing when I'm done praying.

On my way home from work I will stop by a local charity and give money to support their cause. As an Islam, I understand the importance of giving to the needy. Once I arrive home, I will prepare dinner, pray to Allah (as it is no sunset) and start preparing my voyace to Makkah. I plan on going to Makka next year during the 12th month of the Islamic calendar. As an Islam, it is my obligation to make a trip to Makkah at least once in my lifetime (if it is possible for me to do so). I eat a lot during dinner because I know that soon I will be fasting along with my fellow Islam followers during the month of Ramadan. During this time I will need to abstain from filling my life with food, drink and sexual activity.

<===== Makkah Pilgrimage

As a Christian, there are some sacrifices that must be made, but not as many as that of an Islam. I give them a lot of credit for all of their time, money and dedication that is put toward their faith. I don't know if I could honestly go through all of the above that I planned to do in a day. I think I might try to, though. I challenge you to try on the shoes of someone else. We so often get stuck in our own day to day journey and overlook the journey of others around us. So, this week, take a day to live the life of someone else...and maybe then you can have some compassion and understanding.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you this Thanksgiving!!!! Enjoy the time with your family and friends!!!! Don't forget....to try on someone else's shoes.

What really happened at the council of Nicea?

In class, we talked about the council in Nicea, and how Constantine ruled on matters that were causing controversy in the Christian church and it got me thinking what exactly were those matters that Constantine had to decide on. One thing that they decided on was the trinity, and for those of you who have no idea what that is, which is saying that the God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit are three leader who are equal and they are one Godhead. The most heated issue was the "Who is Christ?" question, people had a hard time understanding who he was and what he was. Constantine made the 300 bishops who attended the council create a doctrine that was later called the Nicene Creed. This creed was adopted by the Church and enforced by the Emperor (Constantine). This creed is similar the Apostle's Creed which is widely used in churches today. It is important to note that the bishops did not invent the doctrine but affirmed the teaching of the Apostles in the Bible. To see some sited passages they used visit this site: http://www.gotquestions.org/council-of-Nicea.html The council came at a time when Constantine's empire was beginning to crumble and he knew that he needed his people to unite and not be fighting against each other but rather uniting against a common enemy.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/nicene.html

All Because of a Sign

Since I missed class on Monday I had to hear about our lecture on Western Christendom and Byzantium through a few friends. While making this blog post I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to discuss, but when I came upon a certain article, Byzantium: The Lost Christendom,I was intrigued. Here I will briefly analyze the information in the article in a hope to entertain and intrigue some other young mind.

It is said that a great event occurred on the farthest west corners of Asia that influenced Christianity everywhere for centuries to follow. This event was centered in Byzantium and begins with the Roman Emperor Contstantine. A church historian, Eusebius, says that Constantine recieved a vision from heaven before a major battle. This vision included the symbol "XP" which, in Greek, are the first two letters of the word Christ.



He claims to have heard the words, "In this sign, conquer." When Constantine won his battle he credited the sign of God with his victory. Until this moment many emperors persecuted the idea of Christianity, while others attempted to tolerate it. Now that this sign was considered "victory-bringing" the emblem of Christ the Savior became a worldwide symbol for Christendom.

Now that Constantine won his battle he set out search for a capital. It is said that he was a genious for choosing an ancient town in Byzantium, "Because this was an easy-to-defend base located as far east as one could go in the Roman Empire, and as far west as Asia could take him." After himself, he named the town Constantinople.



It is decided that if he would have chosen a great city in the Roman Empire, such as Alexandria in Egypt, the Byzantine Empire would have ceast to exist after the seventh century. This would have been largely due to the fact that the Arab Muslim armies were unstoppable and as they killed off the Persian Empire to the east, the town of Constantinople would have been right with it.



http://directionstoorthodoxy.org/n/byzantium_the_lost_christendom.html

I hope that you feel as fascinated as I do right now. Before this article, and my dear friend Katie, I have never given much thought about Constantine. It honestly astonishes me that the entire world can be changed because of one man claiming to see a sign from God.

Have a wonderful weekend and take a little time to think about how you have become the person you are today, because apparantly I have been influenced by a man that I knew very little about.

I am a "C"

Have you ever chanted the words to the song, "I am a 'C'?" I grew up in a christian home, went to a Lutheran grade school and high school and can recall singing this song a million times. If you haven't heard it before, it goes a little something like this: "I am a "C"...I am a "C.H." I am a C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N. (DOT THE "I"), and I have C.H.R.I.S.T. in my H.E.A.R.T. and I will L.I.V.E. E.T.E.R.N.A.L.L.Y." If you would like to give this catchy tune a listen you can just follow this link and be dazzled: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrNM-B_gg4A

During the time of the Byzantine Empire, Christianity was on the rise. I'm sure a lot of Christians in that time were singing their own version of "I am a C." Christianity was an exciting new lifestyle and belief system. As Professor mentioned in class, Christianity was just another hat that people wore. They often cast off other hats that made up their personality and reputation, but the hat of Christianity was worn by many, and for longer durations of time. Christianity was beginning to "catch" on. More and more control was being shifted from the government over to the Christian churches. The Christian church had quite an impact on the Roman way of life.

When it comes to the history of Christianity, one period in history sticks out as the most important stepping stone to the spread of Christianity. This stepping stone is known as the "Christendom" which started out as a society of Jewish Christians. This fellowship of believers then split off into two phases: the apostolic period (when the first apostles started organizing the christian church), and the post-apostolic period (which is when the Christian churches started being governed by bishops that had been placed into power).

So, whether you're a Christian or not, I believe you could recognize that without the spread of Christianity during the Byzantine Empire, there might not be Christians in this world today. Without trade, cultural revolution and communication, ideas would not be able to spread across the waters. Imagine living your life completely in a box, knowing nothing but what you've seen and having no chance to learn or see what others do. Imagine your life without religions. Imagine your life without change. Imagine.

* When I think of "Imagine" I can't help but think of John Lennon....enjoy this link...I think you know where I'm getting at =) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okd3hLlvvLw

Thanks for reading! Have an awesome week and be sure to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!!!!!!!!

Roman influence on Christianity

As we discussed this week Christianity went from a minority religion to a major religion in Rome. The person that helped with this huge shift from repressing Christian to accepting them was Constantine. His adoption of the religion started the acceptance of the religion and it continue to gain popularity when he started to give Christians benefits such as tax breaks. Until Constantine Christianity was seen as a cult. It also gained popularity because people could chose to be Christians, they were not forced to. Christianity started to become a powerful part of society in Rome. This religion however was so foreign to the Romans because they were used to having many gods for many different thing and Christianity believes in one god who is all powerful. The buildings that were built to be churches ended holding government meeting during time when church was not being held. Also Christianity started to form itself around the Roman government model. The early churches modeled their leadership positions after the Roman government. There is many other ways that Christianity became "Romanized" it is even said that Christian holidays such as Easter and Christmas were changed so that they correlated with popular Roman festivals of the day. Many of these details (i.e. when to celebrate Christmas and Easter.) were debated out at the Council of Nicaea in which Constantine sat as the debate settler. He would let two parties argue their points and then would decide which one he felt was right.




http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/sbrandt/nicea.htm

Gautama Siddhartha and Buddhism

It may not be the fastest growing religion in the world, but Buddhism sure is interesting. We learned about Buddhism last week briefly and about it's founder, Gautama Siddhartha, the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and the difference between Buddhism and Hinduism. Always been intrigued about religion, I decided to find out what else I could about the origin of thereligion that had originated roughly 2,500 years ago.

Gautama Siddhartha, also known as Buddha Shakyamuni, was born to King Shuddhodana and Queen Mayadevi in Lumbini, which is now a region in Nepal. Mayadevi dreamed that an elephant had entered her womb, a sign that her soon-too-be baby would become a strong and powerful being. It is said that Shuddhodana invited a seer to make predictions about his son and the seer predicted that their son would become a "Buddha, and that his beneficial influence will pervade the thousand million worlds like the rays of the sun".

The Prince grew up to be quite intelligent. It is recorded that he learned 64 languages and didn't have to study but did so to please his family and others. He also became quite a sportsman and quite compassionate for his people, whom he acknowledged many as ill, elderely and suffering. He realized that he had to leave the palace, since only a completely enlightened buddha has the ability to help all those suffering, who is everyone. In his late twenties, he told his parents his idea.










His parents didn't want him to leave however and did all that they could to stop him, including surrounding him with beautiful women, dancers and musicians as means to entice him. They failed however and the Prince did manage to escape. Afterin traveling six miles, Gautama Buddha "cut off his hair hrew it into the sky, where it was caught by the gods of the Land of the Thirty-three Heavens".
The Prince meditated in India for six years and with this determination he entered the space-like concentration on the Dharmakaya where he focused all his energy on the ultimate nature of all phenomena. He did this until he achieved complete full enlightenment. Devaputra Mara, leader of all demons tried distracing the Prince with images of beautiful women as well as illusions of demons firing arrows, rolling boulders and other scenes of violence. Devaputra Mara failed howver and Siddhartha continued his meditation until he "removed the final veils of ignorance from his mind and in the next moment became a Buddha, a fully enlightened being".

Later on, Siddhartha taught the First Wheel of Dharma, which includes the Four Noble Truths as well as the Second Wheel, which is about the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, and the Third Wheel, which is the Sutra Discriminating the Intention.

Much of Buddhism includes training your mind and not letting other conditions or situations control your state of mind. It's also important to note that "Buddha" means "awakened one" and "Dharma" means protection.

Learning more about this religion truly made me look at situations differently. By redefining the way we look at situations can help us control our mind and learn from these "opportunites", instead of "problems" or "hardships". I definitely see a nowaday phrase that captures this message: Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference".

After finding out about the origin of Buddhism, the teachings of the Buddha, and the principles of this ancient religion, I can't help but feel excited. Heck, I would even say enlightened. And I hope you do too!

Thanks!

http://www.aboutbuddha.org/english/index.htm/

http://ericm954.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/391px-siddhartha_gautama_meditating.png?w=274&h=419

http://www.indianetzone.com/photos_gallery/6/Buddha-mara_14671.jpg

The Other Pyramids

The main pyramids that we are most familiar, we associate with Egypt, and they are the three great Pyramids of Giza. But scattered throughout the area controlled by Egyptian kings lie hundreds of other lesser pyramids and ziggurats. But they were not the only ones to fully embrace their style of pyramids and incorporate them as tombs. Far to the south, controlling the regions of the lower Nile the Nubian Kings built hundreds of other lesser pyramids.

These Nubian pharaohs of Egypt’s 25^th dynasty, themselves took the Egyptian style of building and created hundreds of burial complexes first in Nuri and later in Meroe. These fields are riddled with small pyramids containing Kings and queens alike.

But even more how similar these monuments looked to there brothers in Upper Egypt at Giza.

As well as the scope found, specifically in Meroe

The difference though was more interesting. The Nubians would build them on a much smaller scale, more similar to today’s mausoleums; a less expensive and less time consuming but know less important and no lacking in meaning. They had a sharper angle giving them a more pronounced point. Also these were built more for markers then actual chambers with the tombs more in front and below the pyramids then in them. But they were also built with large temple like entrances devoted to a specific god or goddess to pray for the dead ruler.

Interestingly, the remains of horses were also found. They were buried upright and amazingly enough were missing their heads. They were draped and covered in long strings of beads and shells and plum ornamentals. They were supposed to be chariot pullers bringing the dead to the afterlife. I find it incredibly interesting that they would bury the horse’s upright but more so, why were the heads not buried with the animals following the sacrificial decapitation?

Nubian Pyramids

Was That Really Egypt?

The post directly beneath mine, written by Katie Lett, describes to you a wonderful view on the life of early Egyptians. After reading her exciting, yet informational, post I have decided to delve into some interesting facts about ancient Egypt.

"There is but little room for doubt that Egypt led the way in the creation of the earliest known group of civilizations which arose on both sides of the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia in the fourth millennium B.C. "

- James H. Breasted

1.) There are many objects that we use daily, such as makeup, deodorant, and toothpaste, that have been invented or used by the Egyptions.

2.) Among the first people to create writing, ink, and paper, were the Egyptions.

3.) "Ancient Egyptians were the first holistic health practitioners. They treated the whole person, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Remedies ranged from herbal and magic medicine to surgery."



4.) They performed circumsicions and pregnancy tests in Egypt.

5.) Their practice of mummification made them excel in anatomy.



6.) Some Egyption inventions include, the 365 days in a year, and the 24-hour day.

7.) The first known labor strike was organized by Egyptions.

8.) One of the earliest known wine cellars was discovered in Egypt.

http://www.all-about-egypt.com/interesting-facts-about-ancient-egypt.html

It is amazing that we have accumulated so much around us, but very rarely do we know where it truly came from. Hopefully this small insight in Egypt's exciting history has compelled you to look at the world a little differently, I know I have.

Recently Unemployed? Not the case in Egypt before 1500.

In Ancient Egyptian history, there were 8 major jobs that the people withheld proudly. Ancient Egyptians were beginning to value working together to form a common community. The following jobs made up the Ancient Egyptian society:

1) The Scribes.
Many of the scribes also served, not only as government employees, but also as teachers. There was considerable amounts of money available to some scribes, and the job was highly revered.

2) The Priests/Priestesses and Astrologers.
Their job was to look after the temple and also to conduct religious ceremonies. The Astrologers, on the other hand, had important duty helping decide where to build the temples and tombs.

3) The Servants.
They worked as chefs and household cleaners in the homes of the wealthy. Some slaves were also used for this purpose.

4) Engineers and Architects.
These people were very influential in the building advancement of Ancient Egypt. They paved the way for urbanization.

5) The Builders and Artists.
Builders were employed by the Kings and also some builders were slave power. They received orders from the Kings and followed them directly. The artists' jobs were to beautify Egypt. They were set in place for sculpture and decoration of the tombs and temples in Egypt.

6) The Soldiers.
Well known soldiers were the foot soldiers as well as the charioteers. Commands in the army provided and opportunity for ordinary people to rise and be a part of the armed forces.

7) The Entertainers.
The entertainers performed acts, such as, acrobat and dancing performances. They were often summoned by the wealthy Egyptians for entertainment. Some dancers also had jobs related to dancing at religious festivals.

8) Manual Laborers, Fisherman, and Farmers.
The farmers often had jobs working in the fields of the nobles, in the cultivation of soil or the rearing of cattle. This category also encompasses the jobs of, weavers, metal workers, potters, carpenters, upholsterers, tailors, shoe makers, glass blowers and embalmers.

There is no doubt that Ancient History brought about a lot of change and innovation. The previously mentioned jobs are just a few examples of how Egypt changed into an urbanized culture. They paved the way for many states and cultures to go after them in history.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!!!!!!

Trading along the Silk Road

As many of us know the Silk Road stretched from China to Persia and that many products were traded along this route. From China products such as silk and spices came into the rest of the world, Central Asia contributed horses, and the Romans offered wool, linens, oils, and wine to the rest of the world. However, what spread the most throughout this land was the religion of Buddhism. This religion originated in the northern parts of India, and was able to spread because of the travel of missionaries along the Silk Road. This religion became a comfort for the Chinese when their civilization was in chaos at the end of the 2nd century. The introduction of Buddhism changed much more of than the spiritual culture of the Chinese people. It changed their diets, knowledge of the outside world, and their economic practices. The Silk Road allowed the Chinese to be connected with the rest of the civilized world for the first time in history. This connection lasted through the Tang dynasty in China with a small time where the trade route went by the wayside. The Tang dynasty also expanded the amount of trade along the Silk Road. Also when a sea trade route was discovered in the 15th century the land route became less important due to the fact that ships could carry raw materials and more of them in a safer manner than caravans could across the desert. Overall the Silk Road was a very important tool in the history of the world in the fact that it connected a civilization to the rest of the world and spread many ideas and products across Europe and Asia.

Trans-Saharan Trade

Many of us can remember the movie on Africa that we watched last week. Throughout the telling of how some cities were created and the involvment of the Europeans the narrator told us a lot about their form of trade. We were introduced to their innerworkings of trading cattle between the wealthy and the working, but we were also introduced to a cross-cultural trade of gold. With this post I decided to examine just how the African's were able to trade their gold and what they would recieve in return.

With this examination I quickly found out that the Trans-Saharan Trade would give me many answers to most of my questions.

It is said that the Trans-Saharan trade did not begin until the eighth century AD. This cultural and commerical exchange between Western Africa and the Mediterranean world occurred in many different parts of Africa. Here are two...

Libyan tribe of Garamantes

The people of this tribe would travel in horse-pulled chariots through the desert. Their tracks were leading to the Niger Bend and a theory was created that they carried West African gold and ivory to the markets of Carthage and Rome.

Umayyid caliphate

In this vast area Northern Africa became a part of the Islamic world. It was a solid market that used gold as the main monetary system. This means that gold was a precious metal to the people of the Islamic world.

http://www.smi.uib.no/paj/Masonen.html

After reading about some of the wonderful ways of the African people I hope you are intrigued to learn more. As always, it was a pleasure, but now I am off to pass out candy to the adorable tricker-treater's.

Happy Halloween!

Determination: The Zhang Qian Story

When I think of determination I think of someone who, even after great turmoil and challenge, has found the strength and will power to prevail. When I tried thinking of someone who encompassed the quality of being determined, I instantly thought of Zhang Qian and his diplomatic journey. He was a Chinese explorer during the 2nd Century and under the rule of the Han dynasty.
During his time as an explorer, he was sent by the emperor of the Han dynasty to go on a Diplomatic mission to the western side of China. He eagerly accepted this honorable mission. His mission was cut short upon being taken as a hostage. After many years of being held hostage, he managed to escape and continued his journey, and traveled throughout northern India.
In 125 B.C. he was able to return to the emperor with great, unexpected news. Throughout his travels, after being held captive in India, he was able to reveal much needed trade information to the emperor. He revealed that goods were being traded throughout previously unknown lands and peoples. His discovery aided in the Chinese trade revolution through use of the Silk Road.
His determination to press on despite the fact of being held captive, led to the advance in trade. No one really knew at that time the impact that trade would inevitably have on China and consequently the entire world.
Thanks Zhang Qian...your efforts are definitely appreciated and applauded!

What has happened to the Silk Roads?

We learned much about the Silk Roads this past week, with lecture in class as well as from the Ch. 8 from the Strayer text. Yet, I noticed that much was not discussed with whats happening now to this ancient cross-cultural contact.

When colonies were growing in interest, the silk roads were once again becoming interesting in the late 19th century to early 20th. Many imperialist countries such as Great Britain, Russia and Japan joined to compete for this area. This was known as the Great Game. A variety of people came to participate. Such as diplomats, soldiers, scientists, achaeologists, adventureres and others came to play the game. All of these kinds of people wanted to know what treasures lied in this thousands years-old network of trading and communication.

Albert Von Le Coq was one of these adventurers. This archaeologist found and carved out precious cave paintings in Bezeklik and Kharakhojo and was able to find ancient manuscripts. Von Le Coq claimed he was "saving" these articfacts from vandalism, although it appeared he was robbing the caves. It did not matter. The bombings in World War II destroyed much of his collection.

Another achaeologist from Xinjiang, a Uyghur nationalist, participated in number of excavations in this area. Finding out that the Chinese government however, held top positions in the government and economy, joined an underground movement which was after more autonomy from the Chinese government as well as nationalism. He became a part of a number of demonstrations, including the Tiananmen protest movement in 1989. He has hope however, due to the continuing reliance on oil found in this area including many of the "stan" countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan) as well as Mongolia, that these factors could provide the Uyghur with the upper hand in the economy and will increase trade.

It's important to know what the Silk Roads offered between 500-1500, yet is it even more important to know the affects these connections have now? The culture of the Silk Roads offer so much to the present: Political history, ancient art, geography, economic institutions, religion and so much more. Learning from this ancient past will benefit us plenty. The fact that the Silk Roads are still in existence today and still provide to humankind is a wonderful and interesting concept.

Thanks for reading! :)

http://www.aasianst.org/EAA/silkroad.htm

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmZdyReX0t-bwJwqGw-WhvGqVYrlf-eJGQsrP4oZM2H89-JNo_jgaoNCv_t23ZsWohYWrAkIoGfYWs_FdriTJVGFX-YYPqwFkHTh0_pjqW3wt0njsBlKVWfBVZe0W7kxa6r7Jpu0GSMOw/s320/turfanlecoqlg.jpg

Riviera Maya

Riviera Maya, Mexico may be home to many resorts and tourist site but many years ago it was home to a civilization that was highly advanced. Their civilization spread across much of southern Mexico, and other parts of Latin America. The earliest Mayans were known for their religion, they had many gods for different things. They had over 160 different gods and goddesses and most were associated with nature. Mayans often gave human sacrifices to their gods. The Mayans also worshipped time and were believed to have 5 great cycles.

"Jaguars represented the first world cycle that destructed the earth, the second cycle caused by air, the third by fire, and the fourth by a great flood. The fifth cycle, in which we are currently living in, is destined to end man’s reign in the world by a catastrophic earthquake. The Maya believed this present cycle began August 13, 3114 B.C. and would end December 22, 2012. This would complete the end of another solar cycle of almost 5,200 years which, together with the other four great cycles, total 26,000 years, a duration that approximates the known 25,920-year cycle of the precession of the equinoxes." (http://www.rivieramaya.ws/mayanhistory/)

Most people know the Mayans for the building and pyramids that still stand today. I was lucky enough to visit these ruins on a trip I took with my family in 2007. We visit the city of Tulum which is right on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. I learned a lot of information on that day long trip there.


At the small place where the two stones on the left meet is where the Mayans could tell it was spring time. The sun would set right in between those two stones and they would know that spring had arrived.


This is the top of the highest building where religious rituals would be preformed.


This is a photo of the center of the city.



this is another building at the edge of the city's center. In this same direction was where a road stretched through the rain forest to connect the Mayan people to one another for trading.


This is where the boys would go to school to learn about traditions and religious practices.

Do you Bantu?

Jambo!!!!!!!! (which means hello in Swahili, a language in the Bantu family.)

Bantu was the universally accepted language spoke among inhabitants in the Sub Saharan Africa region before 1500. The language belong to the Niger-Congo family. There are about 513 languages that make up the large Bantu grouping. Presently, Bantu is spoken east and south of the present day country of Nigeria. The term "Bantu" actually means: People.

When it comes to the actual language structure, they tend to use a lot of affixes. An affix is a bound morpheme which adds lexical or syntactic information to a root or a stem. (SIL international.) http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnAffixGrammar.htm
Their words are also typically made up of open syllables. These open syllable words often follow the pattern of CV, which is a consonant-vowel. The words are set up mostly with the following letter and sound patterns, CV, VCV, CVCV and VCVCV. By looking at these patterns, you may notice that all of the words end in vowels, that's because closed vowels, CVC, are not allowed or a part of their language structure.

Reduplication is a common trend found in the Bantu languages. For example, the word for "strike" is piga, so when they want to say "strike repeatedly", they simply say "pigapiga."

There are several common Bantu languages:
1) Swahili 2) Kongo 3) Pedi 4) Tswana 5) Rundi 6) Ngumba 7) Basaa 8) Duala, just to name a few, there are actually 48 which are spoken throughout 22 countries.

Some words that we use today came from the Bantu languages before the 1500's. They are as follows, bongo, jumbo, gumbo, Jenga (what a fun game!), marimba, rumba, safari, simba (mufasa's baby boy), and mambo (number 5...anyone, anyone?).

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Bantu+language

There is no doubt that a universal language shaped Sub Saharan Africa and gave the people an ability to communicate with each other and learn. Being able to share ideas also gave the people of the Sub Saharan region an opportunity to grow and advance through a cultural revolution.

Until next time, thanks for reading!!

http://bama.ua.edu/~golar001/The%20History%20of%20Bantu%20Languages.pdf

Queen of Sheba v Prester John

The movie on Wednesday introduced us to the Africa's great ruin, Great Zimbabwe. You can learn a great amount of information through the previous post on our blog, but I am going to introduce you to some of the Europeans ideas on the religion that occupied the land. Their thoughts included the idea that the area might be the capital of the Queen of Sheba or possibly the Christian King, Prester John. Africa and its cities are not completely understood and the ideas of whom, when, and where it began are not positively correct, but we will now take a look at these two different religious figures and you can decide which one you believe to be correct.

http://theculturedtraveler.com/Heritage/Archives/Zimbabwe.htm

Queen of Sheba


http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/view.pl?id=104085

She is a woman of royalty and also a biblical figure who was born in the 10th century B.C. She was born in Sheba which is today's Yeoman, or Ethiopia. She is now known in the Bible as the wealthy queen who tested King Soloman. It is believed that after her experience with the King, she traveled back to Sheba and bore a child to King Soloman, Menelik I, which is, according to the Ethiopian tradition, the beginning of the Ethiopian royal dynasty.

This story is a remarkable one, in which the Queen was invited to a banquet that King Soloman was deliberately giving her extremely spicy foods to induce her thirst. At the end of the night she made the King promise that he would not take her by force and, in turn, he made her promise that she would not steal anything from his home. When she awoke in the middle of the night with a need to quench her thirst she took from a jar of water, not understanding that this would be considered stealing. With this honest mistake King Soloman and the Queen of Sheba spent the night together.

The tradition that the Biblical Queen of Sheba was a ruler of Ethiopia who visited King Solomon in Jerusalem, in ancient Israel, is supported by the first century C.E. Roman (of Jewish origin) historian Flavius Josephus, who identified Solomon’s visitor as a "Queen of Egypt and Ethiopia".

http://www.answers.com/topic/queen-of-sheba#Possible_Egyptian_derivation

Prester John


http://www.home.earthlink.net/.../soldiers/scenario8.html

His name was given to him as a mythical medieval Christian priest-king of a large empire in Central Asia and Ethiopia.

It was during the Fifth Crusade that information on Ethiopia was being gathered by the Crusaders. It was then that the Christian sovereigns of Ethiopia, who were constantly found fighting to defend their religion, became known in Europe. It was Jourdain Catalani who described "the sovereign of Christian Ethiopia as Prester John". After this conclusion was made and more data was found, Prester John's kingdom was believed to be located in Africa and his legend became much more fascinating while his popularity grew.

Prester John was believed to have the power of cutting off the flow of the Nile towards Egypt (an ancient Ethiopian tradition). Again, it was said that, in Prester John's country, children were baptized with fire and not with water.

http://www.dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/prester_john.html


Now that you have a little bit of information about how the Europeans may have formed their opinions on certain areas of Africa, you can form your own.

Alexander The Great

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) is known to be one of the most famous conquerors at all time. Yet he did so much when he was so young. Born to King Phillip of Macedonia and Queen Olympia, Alexander was tutored by none other than Aristotle. Taught with other children, Alexander met his long time best friend, Hephastion. When King Phillip left Macdonia to fight rebels however, Alexander was left in charge of Macedonia, being only 16 years old. I can hardly imagine ruling one of the most (if not the most) powerful country in euro-asia, only being 16 years old. Seems pretty intense to me.

Alexander and his father never got along quite well. When Phillip divorced Olympia, Alexander left. He was allowed to come back, but he did not until Phillip was murdered (some expected Olympia was behind the assassination). Upon the death of Phillip, Alexander became King, at only 20 years of age. It's hard to imagine someone to become King who might just be getting into their college years. He had previous experience though, temporary ruling when he was 16, so that was definitely an advantage. But it also had its disadvantages: Greek cities, such as Athens and Thebes, who were content on serving Phillip, were not as comfortable being under the command of a 20 year old boy. 

Alexander continued to rule over the area, conquering Egypt, where the citizens voluntarily made him Pharoah as well as India, where he met one of his greatest battles where his horse died. Gretly upset, Alexanxder named a city after his horse, Bucephalus. He evntually died, a most mysterious death, with new theories how he gotten ill coming out periodically. He was 33 when he died, without naming a successor which eventually caused the ending of the Macedonian empire.

Alexander has always piqued my interest since he accomplished so much, much of it at quite a young age. If he hadn't died at such an early age, who knows what he might have accomplished that could have perhaps prevented the collapse of the Macedonian empire. His story is somewhat a sad one; not getting along with his father, not achieving fatherhood himself and having so much potential, yet having it taken by death. But in his short life, he left a legacy that is globally known, which reminds us to do as much as we can with the time that is given to us. If we do this, we might just get to be the next Great. 

Thanks for reading!

Information obtained through: http://faq.macedonia.org/history/alexander.the.great.html

The Life of a Buddha

There are times in life that we all wish we could make the world stop spinning, change our course of action, and live an entirely new life. While sitting in class yesterday we discussed a few different ideas of how people should live their lives. One prince, Siddhartha Gautama, did in fact completley turn his life around and when he was finished becoming the person he sought out to be, he attempted to help others change their own.

Siddhartha Gautama was born into royalty and just a few days after birth his entire world was decided by one holy man. This man proposed two different paths that Siddhartha's life could take him. The first one being a great military conqueror and the second being a great spiritual leader. His father quickly decided on the first option and placed him in a palace where he would live a life of luxury and never experience the "real" world.

When the Prince became old enough to realize that there was a life outside of beauty and riches, he left to experience what was beyond the walls that confined him. What he found amongst his very own city was old age, sickness, and death. These realizations of the world that he had been taken from created an unsettling emotion inside of him.

He cut his hair, changed his clothes, and began a quest of enlightenment soon after he realized the life of the rich was not for him. Along his journey he first attempted the polar opposite of his earlier life, physical discipline and pain. He quickly realized that there must be a place in the middle of these two extremes.

As he settled into meditation underneath what is now known as the Bodhi Tree, his mind fought battles with the demon of destruction. He refused to let his guards down and in the end became one with the land. After his defeat of the demon he realized that he had found englightenment and became a Buddha.

After this change, he was reluctant to teach the people around him what he now knew. This was because he was positive that they would not understand his method nor would they comprehend what he was truly trying to teach them. When compassion overcame him he preached his first sermon, which focused on the four noble truths:

1. The truth of suffering (dukkha)
2. The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)
3. The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)
4. The truth of that path that frees us from suffering (magga)

http://buddhism.about.com/od/thefournobletruths/a/fournobletruths.htm

After this sermon, Siddhartha Gautama became an inspiring teacher with hundreds of followers eager to become enlightened themselves. Before his death at age eighty his final words to his followers were:

"Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All component things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation."

http://buddhism.about.com/od/lifeofthebuddha/a/buddhalife.htm

The prince, Siddhartha Gautama, was just one of many men to provide the people with their ideas on how life should be lived. Even though each idea had several different aspects, they were all extremely important to the people of that time. Their ideas were not kept to themselves or to the royalty, but instead brought out to the people, with teachers and sermon's, to help them come together and to become better as a whole.

Qin Dynasty 221-206 B.C.

In the beginning of the year 221 the Qin Dynasty had begun their rule with the first self-proclaimed Emperor; this began the trend of having Emperors for rulers in Classical Chinese Dynasties. The Qin made numerous changes in hopes to better unify China this included implementing a legalistic form of government. It was divided into 36 commanderies, and later split up into countries. The nobility no longer held all of the power within the age of the Qin Dynasty, it was rather the state who held the absolute power within this time. Just like a behaviorist idea when it comes to education, the Legalist form of government encompassed the ideas of rewards and punishment to keep order. The nobility no longer inhabited their homes, but were moved to the capital. During the Qin Dynasty, there were groups of five to ten families formed, who carried a group responsibility for the wrongdoing of any one member within their groups.
Once the Qin Dynasty was well established, there became a need for a consistent way to communicate with each other, this began the age of standardized writing and language in China. During this time, a currency was produced. It was a small copper coin with a small square cut out of the center of it. They came up with the idea to standardize cart and axel size for all of the carts. They did this so that when the carts were traveling on the roads they would not have trouble traveling through ruts made earlier by a different size cart wheel. This showed great innovation. They feared invasion and in order to protect themselves they built, The Great Wall in the northern part of China. Roads and irrigation canals were constructed throughout China, this helped travel and preservation of land. There was a huge palace built for Shi Huangdi, their not-so-popular leader. He lost the popularity of his people after he had uprooted the nobility and stripped them of all their power and honor. After his death, they built a Terra Cotta army at his burial site. The army was made up of 6,000 army men that were placed there to protect the tomb.
Like most dynasties, the Qin came to an end shortly after the death of their first Emperor in 210. Shi Huangdi's son took over the dynasty after his death, but was quickly overthrown and this began the Han dynasty.

Thanks for reading!