History of the Ka'aba

The Ka'aba is a semi-cubic building made of granite that was originally built by Abraham and his son, Ishmael, as a place of worship for monotheistic religion, but eventually fell into the hands of pagans. The pagans devoted Mecca's holy site to their tribal gods and placed figures of them within the structure and used it for their religious ceremonies.

Around 630 C.E. Muhammad and his followers claimed the Ka'aba as a site for Islamic worship after several years of battling with the pagan population of Mecca. Muhammad had the idols expelled from within the holy site and destroyed. At this time some of Muhammad's most difficult opponents converted to Islam along with the rest of the population in the area as the religion began to grow rapidly.

Today the Ka'aba still serves as a central focus for Islamic worship. Muslims all over the world orient themselves in a position that faces the holy site when they recite prayers five times daily. This practice brings a sense of unity to the people of the religion along with the Hajj, which is a pilgrimage to Mecca that is made by all Muslims that are physically and financially able at least once in their lifetime. During the Hajj, the pilgrims circle counter-clockwise together around the Ka'aba seven times among several other rituals that take place. This tradition can be seen in this video.

A little about Islam

When most people hear Islam, a stereotype might pop into mind. Perhaps you see people who wear turbans, or clothing very different from ours. Some may revert to the attacks on 9/11 as Jamie talked about in her post. For me, I knew a stereotype popped into my head, but I realized that most of what I thought was actually ignorance, lack of knowledge on the subject.

Islam is very similar to Christianity. According to what we talked about in class, they have five articles of faith. 1.) belief in one god, or Allah. 2.) Believe in angels as bearers of Divine revelation. 3.) Belief in old and new testament
4.) belief in validity of previous prophets such as Moses, and Abraham. Finally, Islam believes in the coming of the final judgment day. Like Christianity, they also have a book by which they abide. Where Christians have the bible, Islamic people have the Qur'an which are revelations about what people are supposed to do at certain times. Muslims, people who adhere to the Islamic faith also believe Muhammad, the prophet of Allah, is the seal of God. In class, my professor explained this as such: where the other religions had failed God, the Islamic faith and followers would not, and Muhammad was thus the last prophet from God, because they would not fail.
In the Islamic faith, there are also five pillars. First, there is daily prayer, five times a day. Second, is fasting during Ramadan. Next, is charity (tithe) and last is a pilgrimage to Mecca or Haji.

As much as it is a religion, or a following, it is also a system of social organization. As stated earlier, the Qur'an is a book of revelations of what people should do in certain instances. Along with this, there is the Hadith, which are stories about the life of Muhammad. However, these alone cannot rule or lead a people alone, and so Sharia was created: which is a code of Islamic law. According to my notes, this extends ritual law to all aspects of human life. So, it is essentially how to apply teachings to everyday life.

Within Islam, there are to sects, or types is another way to put it. You may have heard of the Shia, and the Suni. These are basically two different followings of one religion. The split happened when Ali, Muhammad's son in law did not receive the honor of being the first caliph, or deputy after Muhammad's death. It instead went to Ali Bakr. The division begun here. Long story short, Ali was very angry he was not elected as the first caliph. He was later made the fourth caliph, however conflicts arose, and Ali and a vast majority of his followers were assassinated. Those who survived became the sect of the Shia, and follow Ali and the dynastic ideas. (A fancy way to say they believed in the rule of the dynasty, that the successor of an empire should be a son or close relative of the previous empire.
The other sect, the Suni (Which is the majority of the Islamic following) Follows Abu (the first caliph talked about earlier) and the idea that whoever is most capable to lead, should.

Islam in my mind is a different form of Christianity. I find the ideas of Islam, and it's pillars to make a lot of sense, and I have a greater understanding of the faith. I was very intrigued to find Islam is also a social structure, as well as a religion. I hope my post has given you a different idea of Islam, and perhaps changed a stereotype.

Islam Influences in the Western World

When most people of our generation think of Islam, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For me, the first memory of actually understanding what Islam was happened on September 11, 2001. It is a date that many can easily recall. It was a date where planes did not fly overhead. It was a date where many of us can recall exactly where we were when we heard the announcement either first on the radio (in my case) or watched the events unfold on television. It was an event that impacted our lives forever.

Being from the east side of Michigan, my dad works in Dearborn, MI. Outside of the Islamic Empire, it is said to be the area where there is the most gathering of Islamic people. On September 11, 2001, my dad was sent home from work out of his own protection. When that day happened, I did not quite understand the significance of how this all tied together. I was lucky enough, however, to be in tenth grade at the time. My history teacher thought that his students were old enough to understand what was happening in the world around us and he thought that we needed to understand how the Islamic Empire has effected the Western world throughout history. He took three weeks out of his normal lesson to teach us about the Quran. We covered the Five Pillars of Islam and he explained at length the concept of jihad.

Perhaps one of the most significant memories from that three week long lesson consists of learning about the Battle of Granada. How does a city from Spain tie into the Islamic Empire? First, it is important to understand the geography of the Islamic Empire. Here is a detailed map that highlights the Islamic Empire at its height. Spain was one of the many countries that fell to the Islamic Empire, as early as 750 CE. The Spanish Muslims, known as Moors, dominated the country. Their presence was known throughout the country. Moorish architecture is still found today. Here is an example of the Moorish arches that are famous in Spain. Here is yet another example of the Moorish architecture. This last was as far north as Toledo. It is evident that Spain was completely controlled by the Moorish empire.

However, not everyone in Spain wanted the country to continue to be run by the Moors. As early as 1035, the country of Spain is split into two independent halves: Castille and Aragon. This was the beginning of the religious split between Islam and Christianity in Spain. Here is a map that shows the different kingdoms of Spain. Castille took up the central part of Spain, whereas Aragon controlled the northeastern territory. Portugal was already its own independent country and the kingdom of Granada was in the southeastern section of Spain. By 1212, Christian armies were beginning to dominant Spain. This website informs that Christian forces were already pushing the Muslim influence into just the southern part of Spain, and they were slowly trying to force the Moors completely out of Spain. The religious turmoil continues to effect the citizens of Spain. In 1481-1482, a battle that would last for 10 years began. It was the decisive Battle of Granada and in 1491, the Christian empire in Spain finally forced the last of the Moors to leave Spanish borders, fully reclaiming Spain for Christendom.

So how is this an early encounter with Islam? One of the main reasons why Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain agreed to fund Christopher Columbus' attempt to find a northwest passage to the East Indies is because of this decisive victory. Islam was finally gone from the Iberian Peninsula. They saw it more as an opportunity to spread Christianity to the Western World. But without the Islamic influence, it is possible that America never would have been discovered. Or at least, it would have been conquered at a much later date than 1492. It is an early Islamic encounter for the future American people in the sense that the defeat of the Islamic reign gave motive to send out an explorer that would forever change the Western World.

Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople...

Literally every time I hear the word Constantinople, I can not help to sing to myself the lyrics from the famous They Must Be Giants Song, entitled Istanbul. (It is actually a song. I suggest YouTubing it if you haven't heard it.

Continuing on though, I will actually be discussing Constantinople and its influence by leader Constantine over the Christian Religion.

To start off with, as Jamie a few other of my peers have mentioned, Rome fell in about 476. It was about this time that the Byzantine empire was on the rise. (Constantinople was its central city). Constantinople's leader, Constantine, had previously been a Roman emperor, and had also converted over to Christianity. Due to his success as an emperor, he also managed to influence not only Constantinople's ideals towards Christianity, he also brought the ideas to the places he managed to conquer during his time. This can be noted in the Strayer Text (Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Vol 1: to 1500 by Robert W. Strayer, if you wanted to look it up)

Strayer says the emperor in Constantinople claimed to "Govern all creation as God's worldly representative" and that he was "peer of the Apostles" he also mentions how the peoples attempted to "imitate the awesome grandeur of what they thought was God's heavenly court". Because of the ornate decorations and churches Constantinople had erected, a Russian leader, Price Vladmir, sought Christianity out as a way to unify his people, while linking to other communities and people.

The Byzantine empire was a diverse culture, pulling in parts from Roman and Greek culture, and had a few different religions in it. Ultimately, Constantine and the city of Constantinople played a large role in the spread of Christianity.

Constantine Unites Romans With Religion

Constantine served as the first Christian emperor of Rome during the 300s C.E. After his predecessor, Diocletian, brought back the old Roman gods in an attempt to restore Roman traditions, Constantine ended the persecution of Christians during his reign and encouraged the spread and unification of the religion throughout the empire.

This video from the History Channel's website explains that Constantine recognized that the Roman population was divided between several religions and races. He felt that he could bring unity to the empire by bringing all of the Christian groups together to work through the disputes that separated them from one another.

It was at the Council of Nicaea that Constantine gathered all of the Christian bishops in the Roman empire to unify Christians' views on issues such as the Trinity, Jesus' divinity, and the date of the Resurrection of Jesus. After much debate, the representatives from the different Christian groups agreed upon a universal doctrine that became known as the Nicene Creed, which laid out the core beliefs of Christianity.

While I can agree that a unification of the Roman Christian population would have been beneficial to the empire at this time and although I am not Christian, I am unsettled by the fact that these religious debates and discussions were led by an emperor rather than a religious leader within the Church.

Medico Della Peste (The Plague Doctor)

After a few days of debating a topic, my interest was finally piqued while watching an episode of "Ghost Adventures". Set in Italy, the show was investigating an island where plague victims were taken to die.
First, I was interested because of the basic topic, the plague, which was the topic I had chosen for my critical book review. Second, I have a love for Italy, and third, I was interested to know more about the masks they showcased on the TV show.

The masks were very creepy, and if you have ever seen a carnival festival (maybe depicted on T.V, or a video game) you might recognize it. This mask in particular resembled a bird. A typical face covering accented with a long beak.

Here is a good picture:
Click me!

Thought of by French physician Charles de Lorme in order to ward off the contagion, the mask originally had spectacles in order to protect the eyes, and the long beak was stuffed with aromatic herbs, in order to ward off the bad scents.

Parallel to this, in the book I read for my critical book review "The Black Death: A Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe", explains the use of herbs during the plague. It was believed that the bad air, or odor from the plague and dead unburied bodies would also hold the contagion, and breathing good smells would keep that away, so many families burned incense, and used herbs to help 'ward off' the plague.

In the picture posted above, you can also see a small picture of the outfit worn with the mask in the background. This is thought of as a primitive form of a hazardous material suit. Doctors wore a long leather or wax-like material overcoat, leather boots, and a shirt that covered their neck or a head covering in order to expose the least amount of skin possible. As well as gloves, the doctors also used a cane to push away victims who came to close to them, and a hat to show they were a doctor.

This website used for information, pointed out something I hadn't thought of. It is wondered how often these suits were actually worn, since it is known that many doctors fled the areas, or refused to help for fear of being infected themselves.

Today, you can buy these mask replicas in both traditional white style as used during times of the plague, or you can get something with more flair, painted for decoration or costuming; Although now, knowing the history behind the masks, I find them no longer festive, but creepy and macabre.

These are the links for information I used in my post

Wikipedia

The Plague Doctor

Picture of the Mask

East Vs. West - The First Reformation

Rome's mysterious sister lay in Constantinople.
For a very long time the two were one, the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Church, separated by political and geographic differences. Yet, over time, relations between the two bodies began to grow sour. Various minor disputes over church doctrine, administrative structure, even practices wedged themselves into a further divide. However, the biggest dividing factor was the fall of Rome in the West. With this decisive action perpetrated by "barbarians," "Rome" continued, yet in two different factions. The Goths took over, seeing themselves as continuing the Roman tradition, while at the same time, in the east, Byzantium continued the Roman Empire - in their thinking at least.

This is a link that gives a great overview of the Eastern Empire and the feelings held by it. From here we see the "last nail in the coffin" so to speak, as Justinian (the Eastern Emperor) had wanted to reclaim the West, as he saw himself as ruler over the entirety of Rome. However, soon the Vatican claimed the West. His subsequent military failures only proved to strengthen the Vatican's claim as these attempts drained the East of much needed resources and all but destroyed Italy; because of limited resources, and the barbarian nuisance, the East could not hold onto the West. After the death of Justinian, all hope of reconquering the West were lost and would remain so.

The Byzantines: An Often Overlooked Empire

Looking at the course of history, one can easily argue that the Roman Empire truly did fall in 476 BCE. From some of my previous posts, it is clear that many historians would say that the Roman Empire itself fell in 476 and that was the end of it. However, there are many more who would say that the Roman Empire continued to hang on to its last legs until 1453, when Constantinople finally was seized. But why would there be those distinct differences? Why would historians frequently disagree with the actual date? Should it not be clean cut when an empire as powerful as the Roman Empire fell?

Some of the main reasons for the differences in the date are simply because while the main Roman Empire did fall, some part of it still hung on. The idea of the actual Roman Empire did not last past 476. It merged into something new: The Byzantine Empire. Some historians would argue that it was still part of the Roman Empire, as Constantinople was the capital of the eastern half of the Empire. But when examining the Byzantine Empire, it is clear that there are many differences between the two cultures. For reference, here is a pretty detailed outline that expands from just before the fall of the western half of Rome, to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453.

This website gives a pretty detailed explanation of Byzantium, which later became the western capital of the Roman Empire. It identifies the fact that the Byzantine Empire was different than the Roman Empire, as it was more commercialized and a more urban center than the Roman Empire had been. One of the key phrases that stood out when reading this website is the fact that: "Not everyone understood or spoke Latin." Latin was the accepted language of the Roman Empire, whereas with the Byzantine Empire, Latin was not so widely spoken. Byzantium was a place that was filled with economic wealth and success. It was known throughout Europe and it was a trading center of the world, especially due to its geographical location. Here there is a map depicting where Constantinople existed. This is the same city that was once Byzantine and that essentially became Byzantine again after the decline of the Roman Empire.

I suppose the main question that I leave any readers with is this: would it be safe to consider the Byzantine Empire a different empire completely? There were many cultural, religious, economical and societal differences between the Byzantine Empire and the once proud Roman Empire that dominated the Byzantine capital for centuries. Did the Byzantine Empire continue to exist even after the power of Rome left its city walls?

Medicine Before Microbes

As I intend to pursue a career in the field of microbiology, I am always interested in what I learn in my bacterial physiology class on the subject of how and when microbes were discovered and how scientists at that time determined that the microbes that they found were causing disease. As fascinating as this may be to me, I realize that there was a time when none of what we think of today as common knowledge was known by even the most learned of scientists and physicians. So what was known and how was medicine practiced based on this knowledge?

Hippocrates of Cos (450-380BCE), the "father of Western medicine", is best known for his writings on the practice of medicine and ethics in the profession. His moral guidelines for physicians are still called upon today in the Hippocratic Oath that is recited by new medical professionals as a rite of passage. Although this practice is not done as frequently as it was back then, some medical schools still carry on the tradition and the Oath serves as an insight into the mentality of medical professionals from the time.

From other writings by Hippocrates we know that physicians at this time were unaware that microbes existed. They typically relied on their knowledge of the four humors of the body to diagnose and treat illness. They believed that the body's four humors were blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile and that an excess or lack of one or more of the humors caused disease.

Treatment during this time was completely dependent upon maintaining balance within the body. If a patient was too hot, for example, the cause was thought to be an excess of blood and the physician bled the person until their body temperature returned to what was considered to be normal. Treatments for other ailments by maintaining a balance of secretions were similar and dependent upon what humor they were connected with. To determine this, physicians relied on a diagram that looked much like the image below.

While we may consider some of their medical practices to be crude or dangerous, I cannot help but wonder which of the treatments that we rely on today will be frowned upon in the future.

The Silk Road

I find it very intriguing how cultures manage to imprint upon each other, it happens constantly, even in the smallest ways. For example, having a camp counselor from England, who called lunch dinner and dinner tea, so, instead of having breakfast, lunch and dinner, we had 'Breakie' as she put it, dinner and tea. While that example is just a small one, the Silk Road is one of larger consequence.

The Silk Road brought trade goods and culture across the region of the ancient Eurasia. According to this website, The Silk Road began in China at Chang'an under the Han Dynasty and is divided into three routes when it reaches Dunhuang:(Northern, Central and Southern). These three routes reach as far as the ancient Roman empire.It carries goods, ideas, and culture over land and sea.

According to the notes I took in class, the Silk Road was developed in the second century B.C.E when land routes were opened by China.
Beginning in the Han capital, travelers would head west toward the Tamaclain desert. Due the inhospitable environment, the road split and skirted around it, reforming near Cashgar. Continuing west into Bactria and the Kushan empire, travelers could head south out of Kushan and into Toxcilia, going farther into India. Travelers could also go west in to present day Iran, where ports on the Caspian and Persian sea were accessible. Eventually, the route would end near Constantinople where Roman Trade routes took over. Keep in mind also, that these routes had many branches off of the main routes in order to reach other places.

Since China was the only maker of silk at the time, it was traded often for other goods. This is how the routes became known as the Silk Road. During that time, silk was an important resource and many cultures used it in death rituals or to show nobility.

Each trading area had it's own unique items to trade.
From India, travelers could get pepper, cotton textiles, coral, pearls and ivory.
From Asia, things such as horses, jade, cloves and nutmeg were available.
Romans offered goods like glass jewelry, art, olive oil, wine, textiles, perfume and things of that nature.

As stated earlier, Goods were not the only things traded; Ideas and culture were as well.
Ideas like Mahayana Buddhism, Christianity, military and fighting tactics, and Islam, as well as many political ideas and other ways of living were transported along these routes.

Today, we find ourselves living in a Melting Pot of cultures. We are constantly surrounded by things that, until we look deeper, are taken at face value. We never stop to think where these things may have originated.
The silk road was a major influence on many household items we have today; the clothing and spices we have originated across the world, and without the use of trade, these items never would have been discovered.

The Fall of a Once Great Empire

Every great empire has its beginning. Every great empire also must fall, at one point or another. For my critical book review for our history course, I read How Rome Fell: The Death of a Superpower, by Adrian Goldsworthy. In our current economic recession, I found this particular book to be quite fascinating and would highly recommend it to anyone. Rome is considered to be the greatest empire of all time as it certainly lasted the longest out of all the "modern" empires in ancient history. In our world today, America currently holds that record, but how long will we stand?

As Goldsworthy writes Roman history, he describes the events leading up to the initial fall of the Roman capital. He talks about the great leaders that Rome once had, including Marcus Aerulius and Caesar. There were many main reasons that he lists as to why Rome actually fell. Economic reasons, as we discussed in class, were some of the main reasons. The other was unstable rulers towards the end of the once great Roman empire. This website is a pretty good outline of the Roman emperors and when they ruled. In the beginning, there was some time between changes of emperors. But as the years continued and approached 476, the length between shifts in rulership condensed. Suddenly there are multiple emperors in a single year taking charge of the slowly dividing kingdom. It is no wonder that the Roman empire eventually fell.

So I pose this question to anyone who enjoys discussing politics. With the changing society that America is facing today, are we on our way downward, or is this just a moment of stagnation after half a century of fighting a world war? Is this our way of trying to bounce back to normalcy, or is America truly declining as a world superpower, as Rome had in 476?

The Silk Road

The Silk Road is a system routes that were used frequently for 2000 years for communication and trade among various states between China and Europe.

Named for the fact that silk was a major product being exported out of China into other parts of Eurasia, the Silk Road served as, not only a mode of transportations of goods, but also for sharing ideas between different cultures. As our Strayer text says, the spread of Buddhism is an excellent example of a cross-cultural connection.

Buddhism originated in India, then eventually spread by way of merchants and monks that would travel along the Silk Road and convert those that would listen to them and receive their message in cities along the way. After the religion became increasingly popular, monasteries were built along the routes in larger cities which then became multicultural hubs where learning and commerce flourished.

Not only did India share its culture and religion with surrounding regions via the Silk Road, but each culture injected its own unique ideas into Buddhism. Characteristics popular in Greek statues are seen in statues of the Buddha and many of the gods of cultures along the routes were eventually absorbed into the religion.

Cross Cultural Contact

It seems only fitting that eventually humans would get around to finding out there are others on the planet than just themselves. We are, after all, on a rather small planet. Thus, one is to conclude that this was going to happen soon or later. This only makes sense when one really takes into account the nature of the "beast," as it were. The Human Condition is indicative of many things, of which a curious nature is a part. However, with this contact comes both good and bad. The Good: we share different experiences, technologies, goods, trade, thoughts, ideals, and relationships. The Bad: war, disease, genocide, the lose of history and culture, and a whole host of human cruelty via misunderstandings and simple hubris.

This all aside, for the most part our connections, while they have brought massive amounts of pain and suffering, in the end serve to only bring us together as a human whole. Personal judgments notwithstanding, all of our historical contacts have yielded a wealth of information and economic growth - either good or bad, any variation is truly growth.

All of these things were, then, truly inevitable as the world is in essence a rather small place when in terms of its inhabitants. Thus, it was only a matter of time until the Silk Road and other trade routes emerged. It was only a matter of time before Universal Religions began to take root in lands that were not of their origin. It was only a matter of time before this natural occurrence of human convergence began its slow but consistent march to oneness in money, trade, commerce, and business.

What is your quest? An insight of the Crusades

As we began discussing the silk road and how trade routes connected cultures in our World History course, I was thinking of a different type of connection between societies. War has often caused cultures to collide and sometimes that collision is welcomed, while other times, it is not welcomed and disliked. One of the events that truly led to the spread of Christianity throughout medieval Europe is the Crusades, and this blog post will give just a bit of insight as to what the crusades actually were and why they were fought.

Here is a pretty useful map that depicts where each Crusade was fought and the path that they traveled as they ventured across Europe in 1095. The Crusades spread from the furthest northern point in the Holy Roman Empire down into Constantinople and finally reaching even Jerusalem, where control of the country was taken away from the Muslims and it was declared a Christian country. In the map linked above, each line represents a different Crusade and the wide-scaled path that they took. In a time where travel was difficult between nations, especially in this region, this was a feat in and of itself.

The Crusades were a group of "invasions" that were sponsored by none other than the Pope himself--Pope Urban II. At this time, the Christian empire was under threat by many Muslim countries of the area. The Pope was urged to send out defenses to free one of the Muslim capitals, Jerusalem, from Muslim control, as well as to free other areas and Christianize them. In all, there were four different Crusades.

According to this useful website, the first Crusade was a success. Jerusalem was captured! The third Crusade is probably one of the most famous ones.

There, "The third ended in 1192 in a compromise between English king Richard the Lion-Hearted of England and the Muslim leader Saladin, who granted access to Christians to the holy places."

Other Crusade events led to the destruction of the once famous capital of Constantinople. Perhaps the least discussed Crusade, however, is that of the Children's Crusade. During this particular Crusade, a boy by the name of Stephen of Cloyes, who was said to only have been twelve, thoroughly believed that Christ had chosen him to help spread the religion to the world. This website explains that Stephen's Crusade was not the only Children's Crusade that was started during this time, and that other countries were quick to follow in suite. However, this particular website describes a popular belief that while the children who followed Stephen and Stephen himself were unheard of once they departed from France, it is rumored that the children were captured by pirates and were later sold into slavery, marking the decline of the popularity of the Crusades.

So, were the Crusades successful? They did gain control over both Constantinople and Jerusalem at given times, and these were two powerful cities controlled by two powerful Muslim empires at different times in history. It is said that the Crusades were only fought to take control of Jerusalem, but why did they continue after it was won during the first Crusade? If Pope Urban II's goal was met at the end of the First Crusade, why were there three other Crusades, as well as other Children's Crusades that followed? It was a wide-scaled attempt to spread Christianity throughout Europe. Christianity remains one of the leading religions of the West in today's society. I do not think that this would have been possible were it not for the "success" of the Crusades, but I leave that question open to the readers of this post. Were the Crusades successful? If so, what did they accomplish? What was the main goal of fighting the Crusades? Was it as simple as just trying to conquer Jerusalem, or was there more to them than that?

Great Zimbabwe

After watching another time life video on lost civilizations in my history class, I have decided to look more into the ruins and history of the ancient city of Great Zimbabwe, located somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. This website says researchers though Great Zimbabwe to be built roughly 600-1000 years ago by local natives. Both this website and the video say it was thought for a very long period of time it was originally built by a "mysterious white race" - which was, as the movie pointed out, people who were hard pressed to believe Africans were capable of such things.

Great Zimbabwe is practically a fortress. With a radius of 100- 200 miles, (the website says its diameter is about the size of France), and it's made of stones with no cement. If my memory serves me correct, and I believe it does because this fact struck me as impressive, the outer walls alone were 16 feet thick and the website says about 10 meters high, with smaller structures and walls inside. The same website mentioned earlier also states:

"it is now generally accepted that the ruins of Great Zimbabwe reflect the Shona people, a Bantu speaking ethnic group, who reside in the region today."
Apparently the word Zimbabwe comes from the Shona people, and when translated means "houses of stone"

Just for an idea of how long the building might take, think about this. During the film, they touched on the rebuilding of the structure, and how it's done today like it was when it was first built. Large chunks of stone -(Again, if my memory is correct, I think they might have used granite, which is what one or two of the websites mentions as well)- are heated over a fire until extremely hot. Then, water is poured (with buckets, not with hoses or anything fancy) which causes the rock to crack. The smaller pieces ,or more manageable ones, are taken and hand chiseled down into large bricks, so the building of the structure took many, many generations.
In further reading of the website I posted in a link earlier, I read that the population of the civilization was estimated to be around 1,000, until the outer dwellings were taken into account, and was then re-estimated to be roughly 18,000 people.

In continuing my investigation and research, Wikipedia also stated that the complex was broken into three basic places:

"Hill Complex, the Valley Complex and the Great Enclosure. The Hill Complex was used as a temple, the Valley complex was for the citizens, and the Great Enclosure was used by the king."

Also, Wikipedia and both other sources touch on the trading of the civilization. Archeologists found shards of glass, and other artifacts from places like China, Persia and India, suggesting that our lost civilization was also a large trading community as well.
Wikipedia also says that:

"The site was not abandoned but rather the court of the king moved further north as his empire declined in order to gain more direct access to trade revenues. The Great Zimbabwe was left in the care of a local tribe."

I have yet to find this in any of my other sources, nor do I remember it being said during the film, so the truth of this statement can be debated.

Sadly, the ignorance of earlier treasure hunters has almost completely destroyed the ruins. In an attempt to prove the existence of the "mysterious white race", many layers of African artifacts were trashed in the attempt to reach the bottom layer which was assumed to hold proof that this "white race" had an early influence in Southern Africa (They found no such evidence).
Also, in a rabid thirst for gold, many treasure hunters tore apart the remains, destroying monuments erected for kings. It is thought the city had power which "derives from controlling the trade in gold." (Which would explain the destruction of the city in order to find gold, something I just put together).

From researching various websites, there seems to be very little exact information on the ruins and civilizations of Great Zimbabwe, but there is a basic idea which I outlined in my post. From the pictures (in the links below) you can see that it was once a majestic place.

Aerial shot of the ruins

Inside the ruins

Closer up aerial shot

In case you wanted to read for yourself here's the websites I used:

Geocites

History world

Wikipedia

The Long Count Calendar

As our Strayer text briefly mentions, the Mayans are well known for their detailed calendars and ability to use their complex mathematical knowledge to predict eclipses and cycles of the planets. As we approach 2012 there is more and more talk about the fact that the Mayan calendar, the Long Count Calendar, does not carry over into 2013. Most people joke about this being a prediction of apocalypse, but what does the end of the calendar really represent?

An article in USA Today states that the end of the calendar does not necessarily mean the end of the world, but rather an end of a calendar cycle. This was seen as more of a celebration by the Mayans, but the lack of knowledge about the intentions of the Long Count Calendar these days has led some to cash in on the hype surrounding December 21, 2012 by producing movies and survival guides for the occasion.

Astronomers and historians believe that the Mayans thought of the end of this calendar cycle as a new beginning and rebirth of civilization and that they had no intentions of implying that the world would end in 2012. It is an interesting argument either way, but in my opinion, we have nothing to worry about... hopefully.

Partially thanks to all of my history courses that I am taking this semester at Grand Valley, one of my favorite pass times is to play a video game called Civilization Revolution. It is a game where you, as the player, can choose which empire you wish to control. You have the opportunity to start at around 3,000 BCE and build an empire. There are multiple ways that you can win the game, but one of the neatest things about this particular game is that it actually uses concepts from the actual nations as they existed in history. One of those nations is the Zulu of Africa, which I knew very little about. After playing the game, and learning about sub-sahara Africa in class, I became interested in trying to understand just a little bit more about the culture.

Once I started to search around, I learned that "Zulu" is a fairly recent tribe by historical means, in the fact that they weren't considered Zulu (at least, as the warrior tribe that we know them as today) until around the 16th or 17th centuries. While this does not directly pertain to history before 1500, their origins are considered well before that time. According to this website,

The Zulus believe that they are descendents of a Congo chief whom during the 16th century migrated to the South.

After discovering this fact, I wanted to do some research to find more relevance to the earliest history of the Zulu people. As I did some searching around, I learned that the Zulu nation is formed because of several different Nguni nations that were forced together by the Shaka Zulu ruler. This website describes the fact that the Nguni peoples, like many other cultures of sub-sahara Africa, passed down their history orally. There is very little written record of ancient African history. What we can tell, however, is the fact that the Nguni people, around some 3,000 years ago, were one of the pastoral tribes that migrated from Egypt down into Africa herding a specific breed of cattle.

It is particularly interesting how this pastoral tribe became part of a larger society that, in years to come, would dominate the majority of the African culture and become known world wide as an infamous warrior tribe. It is interesting how the events in history can shape and change the way that the world works, as we are slowly coming to understand even in today's multicultural society of America.

America

since america wasn't covered in class I will talk about the aztecs. The aztecs were a tribe that lived in present day mexico; they were a very warlike people and as a result they conquered other tribes. The aztecs are known for their violent religion and violent conquest but that isn't all they were. The site of their capital city is now mexico city; the aztecs were a civilization.

the most important invention the aztecs made was the chinampa Tenochtitlan, the aztec capital, was centered ona lake so farmland was limited. the chinampas were giant reed mats covered with mud from the lake and dead plants to fertilize it. The aztec would grow their crops on these mats and even plant willow trees to prevent erosion. This gave them local farms that didnt require irrigation and were protected by the lake from any enemies.

The aztecs, like the maya, had their own calendar. actuall the aztecs had two caledars one caledar for time and the other for religious events. the time caledar was used to determine the best time to plant or harvest crops; the caledar had 365 days in a year with 18 months. Because the months were divided into twenty days there were five bad luck days when natural disasters were most likely to occur. The religion caledar used 260 days as a result of this the caledar days matched up every fifty two years.

the aztec were also great builders they built temples to their gods and they built a city in a lake. while they were a violent people it is unfair to focus only on that. more

The Question of Race in Regardes to History.

Truly I must be naive, for the color of skin is not something I see past its color. Racism, however, is a powerful force with which to be reckoned, to be sure. We can see this entity permeate several aspects of our life and history. Historical accounts of racism are many, yet what of those not accounted?

A question posed in class only two days ago caught my attention and I have been dwelling on it since: Why is such emphasis given to Egyptian culture yet not to sub-Saharan Africa?
This has three, closely linked answers.

First, racism plain and simple. Africa, we know, is the cradle of civilization, our birth place as a spaces. Yet as Africa was over taken via colonization the thought that blacks were mere sauvages was prevelant. There was a complete disregard for their own complex social structure, laws, spritirual beliefes, and so on. These developments were not new, rather a product of centures of cultivation. I truly do believe the hostile whites thought this way because the natives did not have the same things they themselves had, this this was the basis for their superiority complex (as well as their own religious zeal). The natives simply live from the land, natuarally, more as we all once did, and yet should.

Second, we see the Egytpian comparison. It is because Egypt was developed into an imperial-like state they were seen to be developed on the whole. They had a strong government, were more often prosperous, were a stong military power, and had more dealings with other states, powers, and languages and commerce. Thus, they were and are yet seen as beinig developed; perhaps seen as more European in a way. Let us not forget that Eurocentrisicm also plays a part in obscurinig sub-Saharan history. Thus Egypt is decidedly "more interesting," regardless of the long and rich (yet lost) history of their counterpart.

Finally, we coemt o the sad fact that, because of colonization, death, inter-tribal war, and a faulty oral tradition, the true history of sub-Saharan Africa is lost to time itself, Whatever was know is not lost int eh grasslands and dune sands, the rocky mountains and costal lines of Africa.

Maybe this too is another reason Egyptian facination is so strong: there is simply more we know about Egypt in comparison to sub-Saharan Africa.

300:fact or fiction?

It's true, better late than never, so here is my post, late, but here!

Okay, so most of us have at least heard of the movie 300, if not watched it. Intense, right?
But as awesome as it is, the movie wrongly depicts the battle of Thermopylae.

In the movie, the battle raged on for an intense three days, however in actuality the Greeks held off the opposing Persian army for seven days, three of which were the battle, which is what the movie basically revolved around. In the actual battle, as well as the movie, the Greeks are betrayed by Ephialtes, who helps the Persians route around the Greeks, which the Greeks then realize. Personally, i think this is where the idea of "300" comes in, and here's my theory why:
When the Greeks realize they are in fact out flanked by the Persians, Leonidas, the king of sparta and the leader of the army dismisses the majority of the army, except for 300 spartans (see?) , 700 Thesbians and 400 Thebians.

You might in fact be wondering (if you are completely unaware of the history),
"wait, i thought the battle was fought with only three hundred soldiers?" Nope. In it's entirety, there were roughly 7000 soldiers, and not all of them were spartans. The seven thousand were made up of men from sparta and allied city states.
So, the movie basically showcases the spartans, they are purposely portrayed as the best. Contrary to this, the persians are depicted as heathens, or evil monsterous beings with no valor, which is entirely untrue.
Also, in actuality, the Spartans believed in slavery, however in the movie, they constantly talk about how all men are free, and there was no evidence of slavery at all.

The movie does have it's accuracies, though. First, there was the betrayal mentioned earlier, which was a huge help to the Persians. Then, there was an excellent depiction of the Greek heroic code, and women, who were valued in the greek society and viewed almost as equals in society played a very large role in the movie, supporting the men they were associated with (husbands, lovers...you get the idea) and not being shown as objects.

Now that the comparison is out of the way, here's a little extra info on the battle:
The battle was actually a delayed response to the defeat of the first persian invasion of Greece. Xerxes, the leader of the Persians wasn't all too happy with this, and had bided his time building up a giant army and navy in order to conquer all of Greece. (his army was thought to number somewhere in the millions). The battle of thermopyale is debatably one of the most famous in Europe's history.

After the battle, the body of leonidas was recovered by the Persians, and Xerxes, being ridiculously angry, ordered Leonidas's head cut off and his body crucified (Ew, gruesome.) But this was quite uncommon for the Persians. Normally they regarded "valiant warriors" with honor and tribute.

Trick-Or-Treat

I meant to post this blog a couple of days ago, but I suppose better late than never...

My favorite holiday is coming up in a couple of weeks, so I thought I would look into the real origins of Halloween to see why it is that we feel the need to dress in costumes and eat ridiculous amounts of candy one day out of every year.

An article that I found on The History Channel website states that the concept of Halloween began 2,000 years ago. The Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st because October 31st was considered the end of summer and November was the beginning of winter. The cold temperatures and darkness that resulted from the days being shorter during this time of year led people to associate winter with death. They believed that on the last day of the year, the barriers separating the living and the dead were lifted so that ghosts could return to the Earth. The Celts wore costumes, burned crops, and made animal sacrifices to their gods on this day and it became a traditional celebration.

As Christianity spread in the 7th century, the pope declared November 1st All Saints' Day to diminish the negative connotations that went along with the coming of the New Year and October 31st eventually became All-hallow's Eve from the Middle English word for All Saints Day, Alholowmesse. The day continued to be one of celebration with costumes and parades much like the holiday that we know and love today.

you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring

I wasn't sure what to write about until I looked on our blog and read the post about the Mayan calander. I thought I would write about an event in europe that is indirectly connected to the region where the maya lived. this week I am writing about the spanish inquisition.
In the 1470's the catholics rulers of spain united under ferdinand and isabella. by 1492 they had conquered the last of the muslim kingdoms in spain. this unification of spain was also the reason columbus was sponsored by spain. After ferdinand ad isabella drove out the moors, they decided to make spain unified by religion as well as politics. the result was the exile of all jews and muslims who would not convert to catholicism.
the goal of the inqusitions was to eliminate heretics by forcing them to renounce their heresy or by burning them at the stake as an example. eventually the inqusitons of europe began to harass jews. in spain the jews and muslims had suposedly all left or converted, so in spain the job of the inqusition was to find heretics and those conversos (Converts) who still secretly practiced their old religion. through a wide variety of tourtures the inqusitors forced confessions out of their prisoners, many were executed by burning at the stake. The inqusiton was harsh and lasted over a decade with the support of the spanish monarchy, the ruthlessness of the inqusiton was a powerful tool for the rulers of spain over their subjects and solidified control over the conquered areas. the inquisition was so bloody in fact that the church actually tried to intervene. for more information click here and here

"All I ask of food is that it doesn't harm me."

Food.
It is the very center of any culture and our very existence as living creatures. Since the dawn of time we have been eating, yet what we have been eating has changed. Today we eat meat as a normal piece of our diet, almost as if it were the most important part. It is only recently, under my personal editing of my eating habits, that I have come to realize this.

For thousands of years the Human thing lived without eating meat as often or in such quantities as we do today. I site specifically the Paleolithic ear of our species existence. In turn, we can safety say that Humans are more that capable of surviving, comfortably, with minimal or no meat consumption. Originally, we subsisted on nuts, berries, wheat, and other greens. Meat, while not always a total rarity, was not what one would call a main course (as we would think of it).

This begs the question: what is the dies for which our bodies is designed? We are aware of our appendix and of its apparent uselessness as well as that of our wisdom teeth. Were these, at one point, needed to help process our semi-meatless diet?

Another question to be asked: would this ancient diet be more compatible with our bodies than what we currently eat?

Of course it would! Nuts, berries, herbs, legumes: these have not the preservatives nor the fact content of today's food. While the body does need a certain amount of protein this can be found in various other sources of foods, as we are sure those living in the Paleolithic era consumed.

Now, please do not read this as "my case for vegetarianism," because it is not. At all. I do eat meat, however, I have cut back and modified on my intake. Call it a combination of personal taste meets experimentation. I think it can be said that we are hard pressed to think of a "fat caveman" or "obese paleolithic humanoid" (whichever you prefer): the point still stands. Between daily activity (while not always harsh) and eating habits, our genetic ancestors were not as obese as today's posterity.

While not saying "there were on to something," at least not consciously, they certainly benefited from the results to an extent. Perhaps if there were a shift back to this diet, or something more like it, the Human condition of health would see something of an advancement.





Boulding, Elise. 2007. Women and the Agricultural Revolution. In Worlds of History, A Comparative Reader, 3ed. 16-20. Boston, MA. Bedford/ St. Martin's.

Strayer, Robert W. 2009. First Farmers, The Revolution of Agriculture. In A Brief Global History. 35-53. Boston, MA. Bedford/ St. Martin's.

Here, he says he's not dead...Yes he is...I'm not!

Upon checking my e-mail this morning at yahoo, one of the first pages that appeared on the news section of the main site was this one, which does its best to inform the general public about the possible destruction of the world in 2012 based off the infamous Mayan calendar. As someone who has also earned a Spanish minor at Grand Valley State University, I have had the privilege of studying the Mayan culture before the hype about this possible doomsday event rose in its popularity. Also, as part of an early world history course at Grand Valley State, one of the main topics of discussion is learning about the early successful civilizations of the world. I decided to do some in-depth research in regards to the Mayan civilization, and also look into why so many people today are highly concerned about 2012.

According to this historical website, "The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Mayan history starts in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., Mayan history rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, El Salvador, and northern Belize."


In other words, the Maya civilization existed roughly along the times of the famous classical Roman empire and during the height of Han Dynasty China, two civilizations that my classmates and I are currently studying as part of our world history course at Grand Valley State University. This particular site, as well, lays out a fairly detailed map explaining where the Mayan civilization existed within the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. So now, we have the when, the what, and the where describing the Mayan civilization. But what about why? Why 2012? What is the big deal? Or how? How does the Mayan calendar predict this special date?

Perhaps the most important ruin discovery of the Mayan civilization is that of Chichen Itza. It is a pyramid design, but there is far more to it than just that. Chichen Itza represents part of the epic Mayan calendar. At this site, one can learn about the importance of the equinoxes for the Mayan civilization. The site describes that on both the spring and the autumnal equinox, the light from the sun will hit the stairs descending from the pyramid at directly the right point. It is rumored that the shadows cast by the pyramid itself will cause a serpent's image to be shown on those stairs, descending to the earth from the top of the pyramid. December 21, 2012, happens to be the fall equinox when this epic image appears--and it is also the very end of the current Mayan calendar. In other words, Chichen Itza is the embodiment of the prediction of the Mayan calendar.


The Mayan Calendar, as it currently stands, is scheduled to run out of dates December 21, 2012. Does this mean the end of the world, however? Remember that the Mayan civilization began around 2000 BCE, and reached its height shortly after the common era began. As someone who has been lucky enough to visit the Mayan ruin of Chichen Itza, I am not so easily convinced. However, using the information I have researched in this post, I will let you decide. Given the information here, is it enough to convince anyone that the world will ultimately reach its destruction in 2012?

The Black Death

I am currently enrolled in another history class at the university called "History of Medicine and Health". The past two weeks or so we have been talking about the plague that destroyed approximately half of the European and Central Asian populations and is today known as the Black Death. I have taken an interest in the subject and have chosen a book on which to write my critical book review called "The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350". My interest lies mostly in the transmission and symptoms of the disease, but I just read the chapter about religious mentalities during this time and was surprised to learn how different religions viewed the plague.

In doing more research I found a page dealing with how the Black Death was received by the Islamic world during the mid-14th century outbreak that also touches on the response from the Christian world.

Christians viewed the disease as a punishment from God for, not only the sins that they had committed, but also for original sin, or the sin that one is born into. The Muslims could agree to the fact that the plague was a punishment, but only for those who had a lack of faith. They recognized that good people were also being affected by the disease. To explain this they determined that the plague was a gift from God to those who were faithful so that they could die as martyrs. Both religions believed that the plague was sent to each individual that was infected directly from God. They did not understand for some time that human contact played a huge role in the circulation of the disease.

As we know today, the plague did not choose its victims based on a person's character or beliefs. Today we understand the concepts of germs and disease transmission, but my challenge to you is this: try to imagine a world in which we could not understand. How much larger of an epidemic would swine flu be right now if we did not even know how it was transferred from person to person?

Stop saying the word!!!

The thing that interests me the most in world history is the rise of empires, which we will go over in class soon. Empires play a hugely important role in world history, mainly because of their size and multicultural populations. The mixing of different ideas and cultures in these empires caused many great technological breakthroughs.

The earliest example I can think of is the Persian empire. The Reilly textbook mentions the royal road from Susa into Anatolia. This allowed for faster communication and greater control over the empire. The unofficial motto of the royal messengers of Persia was also adopted by the US postal service. The Persians also acquired coinage when they conquered the Lydians in Anatolia; coins soon spread throughout the empire along with the standard weights and measures of the empire which was a huge economic advantage over barter systems.

The Roman empire was an even greater innovator than Persia. The size of the Empire required a way to move quickly from place to place. the result of this was the extensive construction of paved roads across Europe. These roads had ditches on either side for water to run off and were so well built that they remained in use for centuries after the fall of Rome. They were also great architects, the best example of this is their extensive use of the arch. The arch made possible the construction of the great aqueducts that brought water to Roman cities and made it possible for Romans to have running water and fountains. like the roads these aqueducts outlasted the people that built them; some aqueducts still stand and bring water to European cities. Arches also can be seen in their monuments and the Colosseum. The Romans also invented concrete which enabled them to build great domes like the one in the Pantheon. Even after the fall of Rome Europeans were influenced by the memory of Rome. Great leaders like Charlemagne and Barbarossa tried to build a holy roman empire with limited success. to learn more click here

One more empire came after Rome that played an important role in Europe's history. The Islamic empire controlled everything from Spain to India. The Caliphs in Baghdad established great houses of wisdom for scholars of all faiths and ethnicity's, the best of the best came to Baghdad. The combined Knowledge of three continents lead to great breakthroughs in science and even finance. The Islamic empire was the first to use checks, a check written in Spain could be cashed in India through the Empire's advanced banking system. Arab doctors were the first to use quarantines for infectious diseases and the city of Cordoba in Spain had streetlights while the rest of the continent was in the dark ages. But more important to Europe was the fact that the Islamic Empire had preserved the classic writings of Plato Aristotle and other Philosophers; these writings would eventually return to Europe and spark the renaissance.

The crusades against this empire also changed Europe. the final reconquest of Spain by Cristian soldiers exposed Europe to Islamic architecture which influenced the Gothic cathedrals of Europe. in the holy land crusaders were exposed to soap, silk, spices and other eastern luxuries which led to trade with the far east and eventually the age of exploration. If you want to learn more abut this empire I recommend the documentary "the Golden age of Islam" which covers everything from Muhammad to the Ottomans, I watched it in my MES class.

Greek Gods and the story of Medusa

I realized about a week ago as I sat on the couch watching the history channel, that I love Greek history. (I figured this out while history channel ran a Greek Mythology day.. And if you're interested in this stuff too, I was excited to learn History Channel has a series called Clash of the Gods, it's on Mondays at 10 PM, which is where I heard Medusa's story).
As many are already aware, the Ancient Greeks held respect and fear for more than one god. They believed there were multiple gods for the Heaven, Earth and sea. The gods who were part of each category were thought to live in different places: i.e, the gods who govern the heavens were thought to dwell on Mt. Olympus, in Thessaly. Gods of the earth and sea -(they are typically both thought as of the Earth)- were, as it says on history.com

"thought to dwell on or under the earth, and were closely associated with the heroes and the dead."

The gods were believed to have control over forces of nature and the world, but with restraint. Even the gods had a higher being: Ananke, who was in charge of the gods.
Indeed, the ancient Greeks had an almost ridiculous amount of gods. A few of the more well known ones are listed below:

"At the head of the divine hierarchy was Zeus, the spiritual father of gods and men. His wife was Hera, queen of heaven and guardian of the sanctity of marriage...Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom and war, preeminent as a civic goddess; Apollo, deity of light, poetry, and music, and his sister Artemis, goddess of wildlife and, later, of the moon; Ares, god of war, and his consort, Aphrodite, goddess of love; Hermes, the divine messenger, later, god of science and invention"

Among the lesser deities (however, still well known), were Poseidon, ruler of the seas; the worship of whom was often accompanied by worship of his wife, Amphitrite. Also, Hades, ruler of the underworld and his wife, Persephone.
Aside from these, there are still many gods who played very specific roles in the Ancient Greek culture, alongside both the higher and lower gods.

The Ancient Greeks were most certainly dependent on the mercy of their gods, who they believed controlled all forces of nature. The relation between the mortals and their gods was cordial, but divine wrath was used when necessary. With relation to that idea, the show I happily stumbled upon the other day was the misconception of Medusa, which I find terribly interesting.

Before Medusa was what we picture in our minds today, she was actually a priestess of Athena, and she was beautiful. The typical cliche that all men want her and all women want to be her. Being the priestess, she was bound by her role to her purity.
But one alone refused to let this be: Poseidon. Inside of Athena's temple, Medusa was raped, which was a sacrilegious act given Medusa's role, and where it happened. Because she was no longer a virgin, she was no longer allowed to be a priestess and was devastated. And, since Athena's temple was desecrated, she was angered. However, the twist of the story is Athena does not punish Poseidon, but Medusa, because as the explanation goes, as a powerful male god, his actions should have been expected. Medusa is cursed by Athena without warning, and thus begins the transformation of what we accept as Medusa today; she is a gorgon, named for an ancient Greek word meaning terrible, it is mythical monster with scaly skin, large staring eyes and can turn people into stone with a single gaze. Tragically, she went from being a beautiful woman to one impossible to look at. Their gods were as merciful as they were complicated, this much is clear.

If you liked my post, you can check out where my information came from: Read more!

Also, you can watch the Clash of the Gods episodes online, here: Watch them!

“Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!”

The topic for my blog this week comes from "The Barbarian West" by J.M. Wallace-Hadril (I highly recommend it). It is a wonderfully funny book about the various barbarian tribes and their immigration to and replication of the Roman people after their fall. Wallace-Hadril speaks of the Lombards, the Franks, the Germans, Goths, Visigoths, Anglo-Saxons, and how each group is effected by immigration as well as the rising political and spiritual power of the Church. Well, I was reading a selection on Gaul and the Franks, of which Charlemagne took up most of the chapter. It was deep into the selection when I came across a small reference to a Byzantine Empress, Irene, and that she alone came to power. This caught my attention. An Empress? A woman taking over an full power of an entire empire? In a time where women were low on the totem pole, this struck me not as odd, but something worth looking into, something about which to know more. I seemed to already have a sense of respect for this woman. How was it a woman could rule in a rough time, a time of men? This is what I needed to know. Thus began my historical journey into the bizarre life and time of Irene of Athens.

It was upon the death of her husband, Leo IV in 780 CE of Byzantine, that Irene of Athens became “regent’ of the eastern Roman Empire for her ten year old son, Constantine VI – who became official Emperor. Soon after, however, Irene’s ambition overcame her and she began calling herself, in the Greek, “emperor” instead of “empress.” Immediately she began work on the restoration of Icon veneration, a well-known Orthodox practice, not altogether practiced in the western empire or entirely by the papacy. However, it was due to Pope Hadrian I that this was “reaffirmed” as “proper veneration.” This was seen as a helping hand in uniting both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, though only for a short time. Hadrian’s successor, Pope Leo III did not recognize the legitimacy of Irene’s rule in Constantinople. It was then on Christmas day 800 Leo crowned Charlemagne, the King of Franks and Gaul, as Imperator Augustus. This only reinforced the rift between the two opposing forces, however Irene is said to have negotiated a wedding between her son and a daughter of the, now, Roman Emperor. This failed due to reluctance on the part of her son. Irene, persistent and zealous, then negotiated a marriage contract between her and Charlemagne himself thus uniting the two empires not only politically, but spiritually as well. This was not to be, however, as a plot by the underlings of the brother of Irene’s dead husband only served to ruin the attempted match.

Irene went on ruling the Byzantine Empire, much to the dismay of her son. She did not give up her power when Constantine reached the legal age to assume power. The two were said to have clashed many times over this and multiple issues of state.

Michael Psellus, an 11th Century historian and philosopher, depicts it as “…hit and hit back in turn, and now Irene exercised absolute power, now Constantine took possession of the palace alone, again the mother, again the son, until their conflict resulted in a disaster for both.” This sums up their power “sharing” arrangement accurately. After some time, Constantine made a move against his mother, which failed due to an earthquake. Not unaware, Irene took action then, forcing the entire army to take an oath of loyalty to her and her alone, ignoring the legitimacy of her son. Not taking this well, the army itself rose up and calling for Constantine as their only ruler. In taking the power he was being given, son imprisoned mother, but did not depose her, rather confining her to one of her various palaces for a two-year stint. It was then in 792 Constantine recalled his mother and restored her title of Empress, though it was made clear that he was Emperor.

Yet, Constantine proved to be only so much, as he never led the Byzantine army to any kind of greatness. The army called for Caesar Nicephorus (Constantine’s uncle) to come out of retirement and become Emperor. Once again producing disastrous results, Irene advised her son to take action against him, which he did and only half succeeded. While he did achieve mutilation of his uncle and some followers thereof, this, in turn, resulted in a “full-scale revolt.” While this uprising was subdued, the Emperor was now on thin ice, being seen as weak to rely on his mother.

Some years past but the bitter taste of Irene still lingered in the mouths of many. On October 31st, 802, Irene was deposed as Empress, the seat of power usurped by her Finance Minister, Nicephorus with the help of courtiers, members of the army, and even relatives of Irene alike. Perhaps taking pity on her, Nicephorus did not kill her, rather exiled her to the island of Lesbos. It was here she was reduced to subsistence living by way of weaving. She promptly died at the end of that year.

Though during her rule she is said to have been something of a philanthropist. She set money aside for the construction for hostiles for the young, homes and hospices for the old and sick, even final resting places for those who could not afford to be buried. She was also praised by many for her re-institution of icon veneration, something that still lives on today.

Pie Jesu Domine Dona Eis Requiem

As an English major, learning about how we came to speak English as our primary language has always been a fascinating topic to me. During the course of my studies at Grand Valley, I chose to take English 362: History of the English Language. It was a fun and exciting course that covered mostly Old English history up until around the time of Shakespearean language, near the turn of the 17th century. As this course in particular involves World History up to 1500, however, I will discuss the early shift from Celtic languages to Old English in this blog post!

The dates are not entirely clear during this time in history as we do not have a lot of written text to inform us when things actually happened. But around 500-600 AD, there was a huge shift from speaking Latin or Celtic languages (such as Gaelic). In England during this time, the majority of the people spoke some kind of Celtic language. Gaelic was a primary language (much like English is today), though there are several different kinds of Gaelic languages. One can think of these different kinds as different dialects of Gaelic, such as we have different dialects of English today. With the Gaelic language, there's only 18 letters compared to the 26 that we currently have: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U. The main dialects of Gaelic consist of Scottish and Irish Gaelic, which are very different in pronunciation. It's also important to note that Scottish Gaelic is not the same as the Scots language, which is more widely spoken in Scotland today (and descendant from Old English, as well). A good source, if you are interested in searching for more information on Gaelic or early language, is this book, written by David Crystal (a famous linguist).

From around this 500-600 AD timeline to 1066, both Gaelic dialects and Old-English were spoken throughout the land. As there wasn't primarily a strong consistency with the written word, there weren't consistent spellings or even pronunciation of words in the earliest languages spoken in England. But in 1066, a very important event occurred that fully shifted the language from mostly Gaelic to what we now call Old English: The Norman Conquest of the British Isles. However, it's not as simple to say that in 1066, Old English became the native language and Gaelic was completely wiped out of existence. During this time, what was to become known as Old English also adopted many of the stylistic influences from Gaelic; this is part of the reason why the English language survives today. It can easily adopt other languages into its own. There are Germanic as well as Latin influences within Old English. The Latin influences, however, are particular to the language of the Church, as during this time, Latin was the language spoken in Church and Latin was the language that Church documents were written in.

As previously mentioned, we don't have many written documents from this particular time period. We do, however, have one very famous epic poem in literature that is still widely read and taught in English courses today. It's the poem of Beowulf. The author is unknown, though it is believed to have been written by a monk during this time as monks were the few people who were literate at this time in history. here is a link to the original Old English version of Beowulf. I highly encourage anyone who has a fascination with languages to at least look at this link. It is read just as modern poetry would be read: from left to right, even across the break in the lines of poetry. That was just the style of poetry from this era in history. Thanks to my course in English language history, I can read perhaps one word in every five on that page as we were taught Old English grammar as part of that course.

Hopefully this post was informational to many of you. I give you bonus points if you can translate the title of this post from Latin into English!

Every time I try to talk to someone it's "sorry this" and "forgive me that" and "I'm not worthy"...

Hello all!
I'm Cameron Pierson, I am 20 years old, and I am a Junior at Grand Valley State University. I hail from Holland (MI, not the country) and actually do like Tulips. I am a French major and German minor, though with an interest in History as well. I'm something of an Euro-centrist, I'll be honest. Specifically my historical interests lie in the monastic history of France and Cold War East Germany, as well as the political history of both Rome and the Vatican (do not get me started on the Reformation!). However, recently I have found an emerging interest in ancient history.

I'm hoping to eventually go overseas and either translate or teach English. There are also vague plans of one day obtaining a degree in history.
I am currently employed at the Language Resource Center at Grand Valley and love it as well as a move theatre in Holland, of which my love does not extend as far.
As for an goals I might have in partaking in this blogging experiment, I do hope to learn Chicago style formatting as well as how to write as a true academic.

Let me also share the sentiment in that I hope that we, The Bloggers Who Say "Ni," can work in as many Monty Python references as possible, as to make reading our thoughts and findins even more enjoyable.

That being said: "Ni!"

what do you do with witches ?

My name is Joe McKinnon, I'm a sophmore here at Grand Valley. My major is history and I'm thinking about a spanish minor. I intend to teach secondary education history. I'm 19 I was born and raised outside of Dorr MI (Nobody else has heard of it either) its about a half hour from campus and I commute from their. At the moment I am unemployed but over the summer I make money doing farm work.

I expect to get from this blog better writing skills and some interesting discussion topics, as I am a history geek. and a better understanding of world history since I mainly know American history. And yes you should watch monty python all the way through or you will never pass through this wood alive! Ni! Ni!

She turned me into a newt! ....Well I got better...

Hello Everyone!

My name is Andrea Traver, and I am currently in my second year at Grand Valley. I'm 19 and was born and raised in Farmington Hills, which is about forty five minutes to an hour NW of Detroit, Michigan.
I am the youngest of three, and the only girl. Upon completing my time here at Grand Valley, roughly in two and a half years (2012, hopefully!), I will have gained a B.A degree in Group Social Studies with a concentration in education, and an influence in history. I also hope to complete a minor in Spanish and to obtain my ESL (English as a Second Language) certification. After which, I plan on traveling to Africa to teach, and then coming home to obtain my masters and another job in the states.

As of right now, I am employed by Grand Valley as a Reading Tutor at Stocking Elementary, where I spend much of my time enjoying the company of first through third graders, and the occasional time at recess with whomever chooses to walk around with me. This is my second year at Stocking, and I absolutely love it.
Unlike my other two team members, I have not been part of the GVSU marching band, however, I was part of my high school marching band as a member of the Flag Corps. Among many other things, I enjoy playing music (piano and guitar) and singing, along with reading, watching movies, medieval history and working on cars.

From this blog, I hope to obtain a greater skill for organization, and to gain more knowledge of history topics. Agreeing with Jamie, I also hope we can work in Monty Python references, as his work is hilarious and ridiculous.
I'm excited to see where this blog goes, and what kind of interesting things we can dig up!

If she weighs the same as a duck, she's made of wood!

Good afternoon, bloggers!

My name is Chelsea and I am currently in my fourth year at Grand Valley. My plan is to take 5 years altogether and graduate with majors in Spanish and Biomedical Science, an emphasis in Microbiology, and a minor in Chemistry. As for how I intend to spend the rest of my days after I've left the university, I suppose I haven't quite figured that out yet, but I have some time still. It's likely that I will apply to graduate school to get a masters degree in Microbiology then work in a laboratory and play with microbes all day!

Like Jamie, I was a member of the Laker Marching Band, but only for two years. I'm currently in a new co-ed a cappella group on campus called GV GrooVe and also a musical collective called Babel Phish Collective, which is not affiliated with Grand Valley. It's basically a group of rappers, singers, and musicians that collaborate on different projects and put out solo and group albums. We recently did a concert at Western Michigan University where we were the opening act for Sugarcult!

I hope that this blog helps me improve my writing skills in addition to being a different way of learning the material rather than solely trying to retain what I've read from the text. I feel that I should watch Monty Python all the way through at least once if I'm going to call myself a true member of The Bloggers Who Say "Ni!" Hopefully I will come out of this semester knowing a few more Monty Python references.

Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?

Hello, fellow bloggers who say, "ni!"

My name is Jamie Belisle and I am in my sixth and final year studying at Grand Valley. I'm 23 years old and I'm originally from Brighton, MI. I graduated from Hartland High School, class of 2004. Brighton is located about 15 minutes outside of Ann Arbor, MI. I have one younger sister who is just entering her freshman year at the University of Michigan. When I finally graduate from Grand Valley this upcoming April 2010, I will have earned a few degrees! My major is English with a secondary education emphasis. I will also have two teachable minors: Spanish and History. My third minor is not yet teachable, but as I eventually hope to teach ESL students, the applied linguistics minor should come in handy. I have already completed my student assisting semester and am anxiously awaiting to complete my student teaching semester this winter.

I currently work at the Standale Meijer at the customer service desk and have been there for just over a year now. I've worked for Meijer all together now for just over six years. As for other jobs, I count four years as a proud member of the Laker Marching Band as one of them! It was a great run; I was able to go with the football team down to Alabama two years in a row along with a trip to Missouri in the 2007 semi-final football game. Some of my many interests include learning and speaking languages, playing music, following division II college football, watching thunderstorms, following weather patterns, Scotland, medieval history, writing, watching anime and reading as many books as I can. This is by no means a complete list of my interests--it's just a few to get you started! As one of my main interests consists of medieval history, I'll probably be including a lot of information in regards to that topic--along with linguistical history!

Hopefully this blog will be a creative outlet for us to discuss history. Of course, I hope it will also be laden with Monty Python references throughout--because there's no better way to share history than through one of the best historical comedies out there! If we do decide to take on "roles" of the Knights of the Round Table, then as your admin for this blog you could count me as Arthur, King of the Britons! I think it will aid a bit of flair to our blog, don't you?

I'm excited to learn more about all of you and hopefully this will be a fun experience for all of us!