This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
Angkor Wat ("City Temple") is the largest religious building in the world.
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in 12th century as his state temple and capital city. It is the world's largest religious building.
The heart of the complex (the Heavenly Palace) is ringed by a moat 615 feet wide that symbolizes the primordial sea surrounding the inhabited Earth.
Angkor Wat has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.
The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "City Temple". Wat is the Khmer word for temple. Prior to this time the temple was known as Preah Pisnulok, after the posthumous title of its founder, Suryavarman II.
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References:
Angkor Wat. Wikipedia, public domain.
Showing posts with label 100 Wonders of the World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 100 Wonders of the World. Show all posts
Akashi Kaikyō Bridge - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge is the largest bridge in the world.
The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge, also known as the Pearl Bridge, has the longest central span of any suspension bridge, at 1,991 metres (6,532 ft). It is located in Japan and was completed in 1998. The bridge links the city of Kobe on the mainland of Honshū to Iwaya on Awaji Island by crossing the busy Akashi Strait. It carries part of the Honshū-Shikoku Highway.
Before the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge was built, ferries carried passengers across the Akashi Strait in Japan. This dangerous waterway often experiences severe storms, and in 1955, two ferries sank in the strait during a storm, killing 168 people. The ensuing shock and public outrage convinced the Japanese government to develop plans for a suspension bridge to cross the strait.
The Akashi Strait is an international waterway that necessitated the provision of a 1,500-metre (4,921 ft)-wide shipping lane.
The bridge was designed to withstand winds of 286 kilometres per hour (178 mph), earthquakes measuring to 8.5 on the Richter scale, and harsh sea currents. The region is tectonically extremely active, with smaller earthquakes occurring almost daily.
Each of the major steel cables is 3 feet thick, 13,000 feet long and is composed of 290 bundles of wire.
The bridge is used by approximately 23,000 cars/day.
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References:
Akashi Kaikyō Bridge. Wikipedia, public domain.
The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge is the largest bridge in the world.
The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge, also known as the Pearl Bridge, has the longest central span of any suspension bridge, at 1,991 metres (6,532 ft). It is located in Japan and was completed in 1998. The bridge links the city of Kobe on the mainland of Honshū to Iwaya on Awaji Island by crossing the busy Akashi Strait. It carries part of the Honshū-Shikoku Highway.
Before the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge was built, ferries carried passengers across the Akashi Strait in Japan. This dangerous waterway often experiences severe storms, and in 1955, two ferries sank in the strait during a storm, killing 168 people. The ensuing shock and public outrage convinced the Japanese government to develop plans for a suspension bridge to cross the strait.
The Akashi Strait is an international waterway that necessitated the provision of a 1,500-metre (4,921 ft)-wide shipping lane.
The bridge was designed to withstand winds of 286 kilometres per hour (178 mph), earthquakes measuring to 8.5 on the Richter scale, and harsh sea currents. The region is tectonically extremely active, with smaller earthquakes occurring almost daily.
Each of the major steel cables is 3 feet thick, 13,000 feet long and is composed of 290 bundles of wire.
The bridge is used by approximately 23,000 cars/day.
View Larger Map
References:
Akashi Kaikyō Bridge. Wikipedia, public domain.
The Suez Canal - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
The canal is 192 km (119 mi) long. It consists of the northern access channel of 19.5 km/12.1 mi, the canal itself of 162.25 km/100.82 mi and of the southern access channel of 8.5 km/5.3 mi.
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.The Suez Canal is a man-made sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
Opened in November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa. The northern terminus is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfik at the city of Suez.
The canal is 192 km (119 mi) long. It consists of the northern access channel of 19.5 km/12.1 mi, the canal itself of 162.25 km/100.82 mi and of the southern access channel of 8.5 km/5.3 mi.
It is single-lane and contains no locks; seawater flows freely through the canal. The canal is owned and maintained by Egypt.
Construction by Suez Canal Company
In 1854 and 1856 Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Sa'id Pasha, the viceroy of Egypt, to create a company to construct a canal open to ships of all nations. The company was to operate the canal for 99 years from its opening.
The excavation took some 10 years using forced labour of Egyptian workers. Some sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any given period, that altogether more than 1.5 million people from various countries were employed and that thousands of laborers died on the project.
The British government had opposed the project of the canal from the outset to its completion. The British Empire was the major global naval force and officially condemned the forced work and sent armed bedouins to start a revolt among workers.
The canal opened to shipping on 17 November, 1869. The final cost was more than double the original estimate.
The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade. Combined with the American transcontinental railroad completed six months earlier, it allowed the entire world to be circled in record time.
It played an important role in increasing European colonisation of Africa. External debts forced Said Pasha's successor, Isma'il Pasha, to sell his country's share in the canal for £4,000,000 to the United Kingdom in 1875, but French shareholders still held the majority.
Capacity
Suezmax is a naval architecture term for the largest ships capable of transiting the Suez Canal fully loaded, and is almost exclusively used in reference to tankers. Improvements are planned to increase draft to 22 m (72 ft) by 2010, allowing passage of fully laden supertankers.
By 1955 approximately two-thirds of Europe's oil passed through the canal. About 7.5% of world sea trade is carried via the canal today. In 2008, a total of 21,415 vessels passed through the canal and the receipts from the canal totaled $5.381 billion - one of Egypt's most important source of capital. Average cost per-ship is roughly $250,000.00
References:
Suez Canal. Wikipedia.
Colonialism and the 'scramble for Africa' - CNN.com http://goo.gl/pRwJ
Serengeti National Park - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in Serengeti area, Tanzania. It is most famous for its annual migration of over one million and a half white bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 200,000 zebra.
The Maasai people had been grazing their livestock in the open plains which they knew as “endless plain” for over 200 years when the first European explorers visited the area. The name Serengeti is an approximation of the word used by the Maasai to describe the area.
German geographer and explorer Dr. Oscar Baumann entered the area in 1892. Baumann killed three rhinos during a stay in the Ngorongoro crater. The first Briton to enter the Serengeti, Stewart Edward White, recorded his explorations in the northern Serengeti in 1913. Stewart returned to the Serengeti in the 1920s, and camped in the area around Seronera for three months. During this time he and his companions shot 50 lions.
Because the hunting of lions made them so scarce, the British decided to make a partial Game Reserve of 800 acres (3.2 km2) in the area in 1921 and a full one in 1929. These actions became the basis for Serengeti National Park, which was established in 1951.
The Serengeti gained more fame after the initial work of Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael in the 1950s. Together they produced the book and film Serengeti Shall Not Die, widely recognized as one of the most important early pieces of nature conservation documentary.
As well as the migration of ungulates, the park is well known for its healthy stock of other resident wildlife, particularly the "Big Five", named for the five most prized trophies taken by hunters:
- Lion: the Serengeti is believed to hold the largest population of lions in Africa, due in part to the abundance of prey species
- Leopard: these reclusive predators are commonly seen in the Seronera region
- Elephant: the herds are recovering from population lows in the 1980s caused by poaching, and are largely located in the northern regions of the park
- Black Rhinoceros: mainly found around the kopjes in the centre of the park, very few individuals remain due to rampant poaching
- African Buffalo: still abundant, but numbers have been reduced due to disease
References:
Serengeti National Park. Wikipedia.
View Larger Map
Related:
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in Serengeti area, Tanzania. It is most famous for its annual migration of over one million and a half white bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 200,000 zebra.
The Maasai people had been grazing their livestock in the open plains which they knew as “endless plain” for over 200 years when the first European explorers visited the area. The name Serengeti is an approximation of the word used by the Maasai to describe the area.
German geographer and explorer Dr. Oscar Baumann entered the area in 1892. Baumann killed three rhinos during a stay in the Ngorongoro crater. The first Briton to enter the Serengeti, Stewart Edward White, recorded his explorations in the northern Serengeti in 1913. Stewart returned to the Serengeti in the 1920s, and camped in the area around Seronera for three months. During this time he and his companions shot 50 lions.
Because the hunting of lions made them so scarce, the British decided to make a partial Game Reserve of 800 acres (3.2 km2) in the area in 1921 and a full one in 1929. These actions became the basis for Serengeti National Park, which was established in 1951.
The Serengeti gained more fame after the initial work of Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael in the 1950s. Together they produced the book and film Serengeti Shall Not Die, widely recognized as one of the most important early pieces of nature conservation documentary.
As well as the migration of ungulates, the park is well known for its healthy stock of other resident wildlife, particularly the "Big Five", named for the five most prized trophies taken by hunters:
- Lion: the Serengeti is believed to hold the largest population of lions in Africa, due in part to the abundance of prey species
- Leopard: these reclusive predators are commonly seen in the Seronera region
- Elephant: the herds are recovering from population lows in the 1980s caused by poaching, and are largely located in the northern regions of the park
- Black Rhinoceros: mainly found around the kopjes in the centre of the park, very few individuals remain due to rampant poaching
- African Buffalo: still abundant, but numbers have been reduced due to disease
References:
Serengeti National Park. Wikipedia.
View Larger Map
Related:
Sahara - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
The Sahara (Arabic: aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi), it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean.
The name comes from the Arabic word for desert: "ṣaḥrā´".
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The Sahara divides the continent of Africa into North and Sub-Saharan Africa. The southern border of the Sahara is marked by a band of semiarid savanna called the Sahel; south of the Sahel lies the lusher Sudan and the Congo River Basin. Most of the Sahara consists of rocky hamada; ergs (large sand dunes) form only a minor part.
People lived on the edge of the desert thousands of years ago since the last ice age. The Sahara was then a much wetter place than it is today. Over 30,000 petroglyphs of river animals such as crocodiles survive. The modern Sahara, though, is not lush in vegetation, except in the Nile Valley, at a few oases, and in the northern highlands, where Mediterranean plants such as the olive tree are found to grow. The region has been this way since about 5000 years ago. Some 2.5 million people currently live in the Sahara.
By around 3400 BC, the monsoon retreated south to approximately where it is today, leading to the gradual desertification of the Sahara. The Sahara is now as dry as it was about 13,000 years ago.
References:
Sahara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara
Related:
The Sahara (Arabic: aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Greatest Desert") is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi), it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean.
The name comes from the Arabic word for desert: "ṣaḥrā´".
View Larger Map
The Sahara divides the continent of Africa into North and Sub-Saharan Africa. The southern border of the Sahara is marked by a band of semiarid savanna called the Sahel; south of the Sahel lies the lusher Sudan and the Congo River Basin. Most of the Sahara consists of rocky hamada; ergs (large sand dunes) form only a minor part.
People lived on the edge of the desert thousands of years ago since the last ice age. The Sahara was then a much wetter place than it is today. Over 30,000 petroglyphs of river animals such as crocodiles survive. The modern Sahara, though, is not lush in vegetation, except in the Nile Valley, at a few oases, and in the northern highlands, where Mediterranean plants such as the olive tree are found to grow. The region has been this way since about 5000 years ago. Some 2.5 million people currently live in the Sahara.
By around 3400 BC, the monsoon retreated south to approximately where it is today, leading to the gradual desertification of the Sahara. The Sahara is now as dry as it was about 13,000 years ago.
References:
Sahara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara
Related:
Ancient Nubian Pyramids of Meroe, Sudan - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
Meroë is the name of an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. This city was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush (Nubia) for several centuries.
The site of the city of Meroë is marked by more than 200 pyramids in three groups, of which many are in ruins. They are identified as Nubian pyramids because of their distinctive size and proportions.
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History
A famous episode in the early traditions of Meroë is the coming of Alexander the Great with his forces. According to the legend, confronted with the allegedly brilliant military formation of the army led by Queen Candace of Meroë from atop an elephant, he concluded it would be best to withdraw his forces. However, the whole story of Alexander and Candace's encounter appears to be fictional.
Rome's capture of Egypt led to border clashes and expansion by both Meroë and Rome. The kingdom of Meroe began to fade as a power by the first or second century AD, sapped by the war with Roman Egypt and the decline of its traditional industries.
Civilization
Meroë was the base of a flourishing kingdom whose wealth was due to a strong iron industry, as well as an international trade involving India and China. So much metalworking went in Meroë through the work of bloomeries and possibly blast furnaces that it was even called "the Birmingham of Africa" because of its vast production and trade of iron to the rest of Africa and international trade partners. The Egyptian import water-moving wheel the sakia was used to move water along with irrigation to increase crop production.
At the time, iron was one of the most important metals worldwide, and Meroitic metalworkers were among the best in the world. Meroë also exported textiles and jewelry. Their textiles were based on cotton and working on this product reached its highest achievement in Nubia around 400 BC. Furthermore, Nubia was very rich in gold. Trade in "exotic" animals from farther south in Africa was another feature of their economy. It is possible that the Egyptian word for gold, nub, was the source of name of Nubia.
By the third century BC a new indigenous alphabet, the Meroitic, consisting of 23, replaced Egyptian script. The Meroitic script is analphabetic script originally derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs, used to write the Meroitic language of the Kingdom of Meroë/Kush. It was developed sometime during the Napatan Period (about 700 - 300 BC), and first appears in the 2nd century BC.
Modern archaeology in Sudan has been difficult because of the on-going civil war.
Nubian pyramids
The area of the Nile valley known as Nubia that lies within present day Sudan was home to three Kushite kingdoms during antiquity: the first with its capital at Kerma (2600–1520 BC), the second centered on Napata (1000–300 BC) and, finally, the kingdom of Meroë (300 BC–AD 300).
Kerma was Nubia's first centralized state with its own indigenous forms of architecture and burial customs. The last two kingdoms, Napata and Meroe, were heavily influenced culturally, economically, politically, and militarily by the powerful pharaonic Egyptian empire to the north. The Kushite kingdoms in turn competed strongly with Egypt, to the extent that during the late period of Ancient Egyptian history, the rulers of Napata conquered and unified Egypt herself, ruling as the pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The Napatan domination of Egypt was relatively brief.
Approximately 220 pyramids were eventually constructed at three sites in Nubia over a period of a few hundred years to serve as tombs for the kings and queens of Napata and Meroë. Fourteen pyramids were constructed for their queens, several of whom were renowned warrior queens. This can be compared to approximately 120 pyramids that were constructed in Ancient Egypt over a period of 3000 years.
The most extensive Nubian pyramid site is at Meroë, which is located between the fifth and sixth cataracts of the Nile, approximately one hundred kilometres north of Khartoum. During the Meroitic period, over forty queens and kings were buried there.
The physical proportions of Nubian pyramids differ markedly from the Egyptian edifices that influenced them: they are built of stepped courses of horizontally positioned stone blocks and range from approximately six to thirty metres in height, but rise from fairly small foundation footprints that rarely exceed eight metres in width, resulting in tall, narrow structures inclined at approximately seventy degrees.
By comparison, Egyptian pyramids of similar height generally had foundation footprints that were at least five times larger and were inclined at angles of between forty and fifty degrees.
References:
Meroë. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meroë
Meroitic script (alphabet). From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meroitic_alphabet
Nubian pyramids. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubian_pyramids
Meroë is the name of an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. This city was the capital of the Kingdom of Kush (Nubia) for several centuries.
The site of the city of Meroë is marked by more than 200 pyramids in three groups, of which many are in ruins. They are identified as Nubian pyramids because of their distinctive size and proportions.
View Larger Map
History
A famous episode in the early traditions of Meroë is the coming of Alexander the Great with his forces. According to the legend, confronted with the allegedly brilliant military formation of the army led by Queen Candace of Meroë from atop an elephant, he concluded it would be best to withdraw his forces. However, the whole story of Alexander and Candace's encounter appears to be fictional.
Rome's capture of Egypt led to border clashes and expansion by both Meroë and Rome. The kingdom of Meroe began to fade as a power by the first or second century AD, sapped by the war with Roman Egypt and the decline of its traditional industries.
Civilization
Meroë was the base of a flourishing kingdom whose wealth was due to a strong iron industry, as well as an international trade involving India and China. So much metalworking went in Meroë through the work of bloomeries and possibly blast furnaces that it was even called "the Birmingham of Africa" because of its vast production and trade of iron to the rest of Africa and international trade partners. The Egyptian import water-moving wheel the sakia was used to move water along with irrigation to increase crop production.
At the time, iron was one of the most important metals worldwide, and Meroitic metalworkers were among the best in the world. Meroë also exported textiles and jewelry. Their textiles were based on cotton and working on this product reached its highest achievement in Nubia around 400 BC. Furthermore, Nubia was very rich in gold. Trade in "exotic" animals from farther south in Africa was another feature of their economy. It is possible that the Egyptian word for gold, nub, was the source of name of Nubia.
By the third century BC a new indigenous alphabet, the Meroitic, consisting of 23, replaced Egyptian script. The Meroitic script is analphabetic script originally derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs, used to write the Meroitic language of the Kingdom of Meroë/Kush. It was developed sometime during the Napatan Period (about 700 - 300 BC), and first appears in the 2nd century BC.
Modern archaeology in Sudan has been difficult because of the on-going civil war.
Nubian pyramids
The area of the Nile valley known as Nubia that lies within present day Sudan was home to three Kushite kingdoms during antiquity: the first with its capital at Kerma (2600–1520 BC), the second centered on Napata (1000–300 BC) and, finally, the kingdom of Meroë (300 BC–AD 300).
Kerma was Nubia's first centralized state with its own indigenous forms of architecture and burial customs. The last two kingdoms, Napata and Meroe, were heavily influenced culturally, economically, politically, and militarily by the powerful pharaonic Egyptian empire to the north. The Kushite kingdoms in turn competed strongly with Egypt, to the extent that during the late period of Ancient Egyptian history, the rulers of Napata conquered and unified Egypt herself, ruling as the pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. The Napatan domination of Egypt was relatively brief.
Approximately 220 pyramids were eventually constructed at three sites in Nubia over a period of a few hundred years to serve as tombs for the kings and queens of Napata and Meroë. Fourteen pyramids were constructed for their queens, several of whom were renowned warrior queens. This can be compared to approximately 120 pyramids that were constructed in Ancient Egypt over a period of 3000 years.
The most extensive Nubian pyramid site is at Meroë, which is located between the fifth and sixth cataracts of the Nile, approximately one hundred kilometres north of Khartoum. During the Meroitic period, over forty queens and kings were buried there.
The physical proportions of Nubian pyramids differ markedly from the Egyptian edifices that influenced them: they are built of stepped courses of horizontally positioned stone blocks and range from approximately six to thirty metres in height, but rise from fairly small foundation footprints that rarely exceed eight metres in width, resulting in tall, narrow structures inclined at approximately seventy degrees.
By comparison, Egyptian pyramids of similar height generally had foundation footprints that were at least five times larger and were inclined at angles of between forty and fifty degrees.
References:
Meroë. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meroë
Meroitic script (alphabet). From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meroitic_alphabet
Nubian pyramids. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubian_pyramids
Pyramids of Giza - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
The Giza Necropolis stands on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments includes the 3 pyramids known as the Great Pyramids, along with the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx.
It is located some 8 km (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km (15 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre.
One of the monuments, the Great Pyramid of Giza, is the only remaining monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Great Pyramids consist of:
- the Great Pyramid of Giza (known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu)
- the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred meters to the south-west
- the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred meters further south-west
Cheops was the father of Kafre who was the father of Menkaure.
The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex, facing east. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre.
Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids.
The most active phase of construction here was in the 23rd century BC. It was popularised in Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the only one of the ancient Wonders still in existence.
At the time of their construction and for many years after, the Pyramids of Giza were the tallest structures on the planet. Khufu's pyramid originally rose 479 feet but has been reduced to 449 feet with the loss of its limestone casing. Khafre's Pyramid had stood 471 feet at its completion while Menkaure's Pyramid stands at a modest 218 feet. In 1300 AD the Great Pyramid was surpassed as the tallest structure in the world by England's Lincoln Cathedral but to this day remains the most massive structure on Earth.
Due largely to 19th-century images, the Pyramids of Giza are generally thought of by foreigners as lying in a remote, desert location, even though they are located in what is now part of the most populous city in Africa. In fact, urban development reaches right up to the perimeter of the antiquities site.
Researchers have long been impressed with the precision with which the pyramids of this complex were created. The base of the Great Pyramid forms a nearly perfect square, with only a 19-cm (about 7.50-in) difference between its longest and shortest side.
Researchers estimate that 2.3 million blocks were used to build the Great Pyramid, with an average weight of about 2.5 metric tons per block.
When Greek historian Herodotus visited Giza in 450 BC he was told by Egyptian priests that "the Great Pyramid had taken 400,000 men 20 years to build, working in three-month shifts 100,000 men at a time." Evidence from the tombs indicates that a workforce of 10,000 labourers working in three month shifts took around 30 years to build a pyramid. Most of the workers appear to have been from poor families. Farms supplied the labourers with 21 cattle and 23 sheep daily.
View Larger Map
References:
Giza Necropolis. Wikipedia.
Related:
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.The Giza Necropolis stands on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments includes the 3 pyramids known as the Great Pyramids, along with the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx.
It is located some 8 km (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km (15 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre.
One of the monuments, the Great Pyramid of Giza, is the only remaining monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Great Pyramids consist of:
- the Great Pyramid of Giza (known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu)
- the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred meters to the south-west
- the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred meters further south-west
Cheops was the father of Kafre who was the father of Menkaure.
The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex, facing east. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre.
Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids.
The most active phase of construction here was in the 23rd century BC. It was popularised in Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the only one of the ancient Wonders still in existence.
At the time of their construction and for many years after, the Pyramids of Giza were the tallest structures on the planet. Khufu's pyramid originally rose 479 feet but has been reduced to 449 feet with the loss of its limestone casing. Khafre's Pyramid had stood 471 feet at its completion while Menkaure's Pyramid stands at a modest 218 feet. In 1300 AD the Great Pyramid was surpassed as the tallest structure in the world by England's Lincoln Cathedral but to this day remains the most massive structure on Earth.
Due largely to 19th-century images, the Pyramids of Giza are generally thought of by foreigners as lying in a remote, desert location, even though they are located in what is now part of the most populous city in Africa. In fact, urban development reaches right up to the perimeter of the antiquities site.
Researchers have long been impressed with the precision with which the pyramids of this complex were created. The base of the Great Pyramid forms a nearly perfect square, with only a 19-cm (about 7.50-in) difference between its longest and shortest side.
Researchers estimate that 2.3 million blocks were used to build the Great Pyramid, with an average weight of about 2.5 metric tons per block.
When Greek historian Herodotus visited Giza in 450 BC he was told by Egyptian priests that "the Great Pyramid had taken 400,000 men 20 years to build, working in three-month shifts 100,000 men at a time." Evidence from the tombs indicates that a workforce of 10,000 labourers working in three month shifts took around 30 years to build a pyramid. Most of the workers appear to have been from poor families. Farms supplied the labourers with 21 cattle and 23 sheep daily.
View Larger Map
References:
Giza Necropolis. Wikipedia.
Related:
Marrakech - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
Marrakech or Marrakesh, known as the "Red City", is an important and former imperial city in Morocco.
Like many North African cities, the city of Marrakech comprises both an old fortified city (the médina, 2004 population 167,233) and an adjacent modern city (called Gueliz, 2004 population 173,101) for a total population of 340,334.
Marrakech has the largest traditional market (souk) in Morocco and also has one of the busiest squares in Africa and the world, Djemaa el Fna. The origin of its name remains unknown: it means "Assembly of the dead" in Arabic, but as the word djemaa also means mosque in Arabic, it could also mean place of the vanished mosque, in reference to a destroyed Almoravid mosque. The square bustles with acrobats, story-tellers, water sellers, dancers, and musicians. By night food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open-air restaurant.
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References:
Marrakech. Wikipedia.
Related:
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.Marrakech or Marrakesh, known as the "Red City", is an important and former imperial city in Morocco.
Like many North African cities, the city of Marrakech comprises both an old fortified city (the médina, 2004 population 167,233) and an adjacent modern city (called Gueliz, 2004 population 173,101) for a total population of 340,334.
Marrakech has the largest traditional market (souk) in Morocco and also has one of the busiest squares in Africa and the world, Djemaa el Fna. The origin of its name remains unknown: it means "Assembly of the dead" in Arabic, but as the word djemaa also means mosque in Arabic, it could also mean place of the vanished mosque, in reference to a destroyed Almoravid mosque. The square bustles with acrobats, story-tellers, water sellers, dancers, and musicians. By night food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open-air restaurant.
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References:
Marrakech. Wikipedia.
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Mount Kilimanjaro - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
Kilimanjaro, with its 3 volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is an inactive volcano in north-eastern Tanzania rising 4,600 m (15,092 ft) from its base and is additionally the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft, Kibo).
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In 1849, the German missionary Johannes Rebmann was laughed at when he returned to Europe with the report of a giant snow-covered mountain in the heart of the African savannah, at the equator.
Ernest Hemingway wrote a famous 1952 story entitled "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". Since then, there has been marked retreat of the glaciers, with the most recent ice cap volume dropping by more than 80%. By 2020, the glaciers will likely be gone due to melting.
The savannah has an average temperature of 86 F while the Mount Kilimanjaro summit temperature is around 32 F (0 C).
References:
Mount Kilimanjaro. Wikipedia.
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.Kilimanjaro, with its 3 volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is an inactive volcano in north-eastern Tanzania rising 4,600 m (15,092 ft) from its base and is additionally the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft, Kibo).
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In 1849, the German missionary Johannes Rebmann was laughed at when he returned to Europe with the report of a giant snow-covered mountain in the heart of the African savannah, at the equator.
Ernest Hemingway wrote a famous 1952 story entitled "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". Since then, there has been marked retreat of the glaciers, with the most recent ice cap volume dropping by more than 80%. By 2020, the glaciers will likely be gone due to melting.
The savannah has an average temperature of 86 F while the Mount Kilimanjaro summit temperature is around 32 F (0 C).
References:
Mount Kilimanjaro. Wikipedia.
Colonialism and the 'scramble for Africa' - CNN.com http://goo.gl/pRwJ
City of Fes (Fez), Morocco - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
Fes, the city
Fes or Fez is the fourth largest city in Morocco —after Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech— with a population of one million (2004 census).
Fes, a former capital, is one of the country's 4 "imperial cities," the others being Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat. It comprises three distinct parts, Fes el Bali (the old, walled city), Fes-Jdid (new Fes, home of the Mellah) and the Ville Nouvelle (the French-created, newest section of Fes).
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Fes el Bali is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its medina, the larger of the two medinas of Fes, is believed to be the world's largest contiguous car-free urban area. The University of Al-Karaouine, founded in 859 C.E., is the oldest continuously functioning university in the world.
Leather tanning in Fes. Image source: Wikipedia, Bernard Gagnon, GNU Free Documentation License.
History of the city
The city was founded on a bank of the Fez River by Idris I in 789, founder of the Idrisid dynasty, the works being continued on the opposite bank by his son Idris II (808).
Idris I was the first ruler and founder of the Idrisid Dynasty, ruling from 788 to 791 AD. He is credited with founding the dynasty that was instrumental in the early Islamization of Morocco and Spain. Idriss I was the great grandchild of Hassan, son of Ali the cousin of prophet Muhammad.
He conquered large parts of northern Morocco, and founded the city of Fes, which his son Idriss II would make capital city of the Idrissid dynasty. At the age of four little Idris II apparently could read, and at five write, prodigious achievements at the time.
Twenty years after his father had done so, Idris II refounded the city Fez on the left bank of the River Fez, opposite to where his father had founded it on the right bank.
Idris II died at 35 in 828. Curiously, for 1,200 years afterwards, the tradition of monarchy, established by Idris I and II, were continued. Idriss II was the father of 12 sons.
Fes, the hat
The fez (Greek: fesi, Turkish: fes, plural fezzes or fezes) is a red felt hat in the shape of a truncated cone. The fez originated in Ancient or Byzantine Greece, later finding popularity in the Ottoman Empire.
Fes, the hat. Image source: Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.
The origin of the name is controversial. The Turkish word "fes" may refer to the city of Fez in Morocco, or to the name of the crimson berry, which was imported from that country and was used to dye the felt.
In addition to Meknes, Fés and Marrakesh, Morocco's capital city of Rabat is one of the country's historic four royal cities. TravelVideoStore.
References:
Fes. Wikipedia.
Fez (hat). Wikipedia.
Discover Morocco at Epcot – No Passport Needed « Disney Parks Blog http://bit.ly/PW2iP7
Related:
100 Wonders of the World
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.Fes, the city
Fes or Fez is the fourth largest city in Morocco —after Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech— with a population of one million (2004 census).
Fes, a former capital, is one of the country's 4 "imperial cities," the others being Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat. It comprises three distinct parts, Fes el Bali (the old, walled city), Fes-Jdid (new Fes, home of the Mellah) and the Ville Nouvelle (the French-created, newest section of Fes).
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Fes el Bali is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its medina, the larger of the two medinas of Fes, is believed to be the world's largest contiguous car-free urban area. The University of Al-Karaouine, founded in 859 C.E., is the oldest continuously functioning university in the world.
Leather tanning in Fes. Image source: Wikipedia, Bernard Gagnon, GNU Free Documentation License.
History of the city
The city was founded on a bank of the Fez River by Idris I in 789, founder of the Idrisid dynasty, the works being continued on the opposite bank by his son Idris II (808).
Idris I was the first ruler and founder of the Idrisid Dynasty, ruling from 788 to 791 AD. He is credited with founding the dynasty that was instrumental in the early Islamization of Morocco and Spain. Idriss I was the great grandchild of Hassan, son of Ali the cousin of prophet Muhammad.
He conquered large parts of northern Morocco, and founded the city of Fes, which his son Idriss II would make capital city of the Idrissid dynasty. At the age of four little Idris II apparently could read, and at five write, prodigious achievements at the time.
Twenty years after his father had done so, Idris II refounded the city Fez on the left bank of the River Fez, opposite to where his father had founded it on the right bank.
Idris II died at 35 in 828. Curiously, for 1,200 years afterwards, the tradition of monarchy, established by Idris I and II, were continued. Idriss II was the father of 12 sons.
Fes, the hat
The fez (Greek: fesi, Turkish: fes, plural fezzes or fezes) is a red felt hat in the shape of a truncated cone. The fez originated in Ancient or Byzantine Greece, later finding popularity in the Ottoman Empire.
Fes, the hat. Image source: Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.
The origin of the name is controversial. The Turkish word "fes" may refer to the city of Fez in Morocco, or to the name of the crimson berry, which was imported from that country and was used to dye the felt.
In addition to Meknes, Fés and Marrakesh, Morocco's capital city of Rabat is one of the country's historic four royal cities. TravelVideoStore.
References:
Fes. Wikipedia.
Fez (hat). Wikipedia.
Discover Morocco at Epcot – No Passport Needed « Disney Parks Blog http://bit.ly/PW2iP7
Related:
100 Wonders of the World
Amphitheatre of El Jem (Latin, Thysdrus) - 100 Wonders of the World
This series of blog posts is based on the book 100 Wonders of the World by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.
El Djem (Latin Thysdrus) is a town in Tunisia which is home to some of the most impressive Roman remains in Africa.
History
Roman Thysdrus prospered especially in the 2nd century, when it became an important centre of olive oil manufacturing for export.
By the early 3rd century AD, when the amphitheatre was built, Thysdrus rivalled Hadrumetum (modern Sousse) as the second city of Roman North Africa, after Carthage. However, following the abortive revolt that began there in 238 AD, and Gordian I's suicide in his villa near Carthage, Roman troops loyal to the Emperor Maximinus Thrax destroyed the city. It never really recovered.
Amphitheatre
El Djem is famous for its amphitheatre (often incorrectly called "a coliseum"), capable of seating 35,000 spectators. Only Rome's Colosseum (about 45,000 spectators) and the ruined theatre of Capua are larger. The amphitheatre at El Djem was built by the Romans under proconsul Gordian, who was acclaimed Emperor at Thysdrus, around 238 and was probably used for gladiator shows and chariot races (like in Ben-Hur).
Until the 17th century it remained more or less whole. From then on its stones were used for building the nearby village of El Djem and transported to the Great Mosque in Kairouan.
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Video: Global Treasures - El Djem - Tunisia.
by Michael Hoffman and Alexander Krings.El Djem (Latin Thysdrus) is a town in Tunisia which is home to some of the most impressive Roman remains in Africa.
History
Roman Thysdrus prospered especially in the 2nd century, when it became an important centre of olive oil manufacturing for export.
By the early 3rd century AD, when the amphitheatre was built, Thysdrus rivalled Hadrumetum (modern Sousse) as the second city of Roman North Africa, after Carthage. However, following the abortive revolt that began there in 238 AD, and Gordian I's suicide in his villa near Carthage, Roman troops loyal to the Emperor Maximinus Thrax destroyed the city. It never really recovered.
Amphitheatre
El Djem is famous for its amphitheatre (often incorrectly called "a coliseum"), capable of seating 35,000 spectators. Only Rome's Colosseum (about 45,000 spectators) and the ruined theatre of Capua are larger. The amphitheatre at El Djem was built by the Romans under proconsul Gordian, who was acclaimed Emperor at Thysdrus, around 238 and was probably used for gladiator shows and chariot races (like in Ben-Hur).
Until the 17th century it remained more or less whole. From then on its stones were used for building the nearby village of El Djem and transported to the Great Mosque in Kairouan.
View Larger Map
Video: Global Treasures - El Djem - Tunisia.
The ruins of the amphitheatre were declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.
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