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Birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami' at-Tawarikh (literally 'Compendium of Chronicles' but often referred to as 'The Universal History or History of the World'), by Rashid al-Din, Tabriz, Persia, 1307 CE, now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
The Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh, (Mongolian: Судрын чуулган, Sudar-yn Chuulgan; Arabic: جامع التواريخ ‎; Persian: جامع‌التواریخ ), ('Compendium of Chronicles') or Universal History is an Iranian work of literature and history written by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani at the start of the 14th century.
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama (Persian: شاهنامه Šāhnāmeh, 'The Book of Kings') is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Iran and related Perso-Iranian cultures. Consisting of some 60,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells the mythical and to some extent the historical past of Greater Iran from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.<br/><br/> The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Zoroastrian ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest.
At a young age Bai joined the Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe, where she entered the Shanghai entertainment industry. She used the stage name (白虹), which translates as 'White Rainbow'.<br/><br/> By the 1930s, she was a popular icon, known for her mastery of language and clarity in expressing lyrics, which helped her gain many fans. In the 1930s, she was recognized as one of the three great 'mandopop' singers with Zhou Xuan and Gong Qiuxia.<br/><br/> Her career peaked in the 1940s, when her music style changed more to uptempo jazz. She was married to the composer Li Jin Guang(黎锦光), though they later separated in a divorce in the 1950s. She stayed in China after 1949 and continued making films. During the Cultural Revolution her past association with the old Shanghai days caught up to her, and she was subjected to persecution and abuse. In 1992, she died at the age of 73.
Yahyâ ibn Mahmûd al-Wâsitî was a 13th-century Arab Islamic artist. Al-Wasiti was born in Wasit in southern Iraq. He was noted for his illustrations of the Maqam of al-Hariri.<br/><br/> Maqāma (literally 'assemblies') are an (originally) Arabic literary genre of rhymed prose with intervals of poetry in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The 10th century author Badī' al-Zaman al-Hamadhāni is said to have invented the form, which was extended by al-Hariri of Basra in the next century. Both authors' maqāmāt center on trickster figures whose wanderings and exploits in speaking to assemblies of the powerful are conveyed by a narrator.<br/><br/> Manuscripts of al-Harīrī's Maqāmāt, anecdotes of a roguish wanderer Abu Zayd from Saruj, were frequently illustrated with miniatures.
Phnom Penh lies on the western side of the Mekong River at the point where it is joined by the Sap River and divides into the Bassac River, making a meet place of four great waterways known in Cambodian as Chatomuk or 'Four Faces'. It has been central to Cambodian life since soon after the abandonment of Angkor in the mid-14th century and has been the capital since 1866.<br/><br/> An elegant Franco-Cambodian city of broad boulevards and Buddhist temples, it was considered one of the jewels of Southeast Asia until Cambodia became involved in the Second Indochina War in 1965. Ten years later victorious Khmer Rouge forces captured the city. These extreme left-wing communists, led by the secretive Pol Pot, ordered the immediate evacuation of Phnom Penh causing up to two million deaths during the period 1975-79. During this time the city was abandoned and fell into ruin. Since the defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 it has been gradually recovering, but still bears scars of a terrible past.
Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, earlier transliterated as Algoritmi or Algaurizin, (c. 780 – c. 850) was a Persian mathematician, astronomer and geographer, a scholar in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.<br/><br/> In the twelfth century, Latin translations of his work on the Indian numerals, introduced the decimal positional number system to the Western world. His Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing presented the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations in Arabic. In Renaissance Europe, he was considered the original inventor of algebra, although we now know that his work is based on older Indian or Greek sources. He revised Ptolemy's Geography and wrote on astronomy and astrology.<br/><br/> Some words reflect the importance of al-Khwarizmi's contributions to mathematics. 'Algebra' is derived from al-jabr, one of the two operations he used to solve quadratic equations. Algorism and algorithm stem from Algoritmi, the Latin form of his name.
The Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated world history. Its structure follows the story of human history as related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel, with a version in German translation by Georg Alt, it appeared in 1493. It is one of the best-documented early printed books. It is classified as an incunabulum – that is, a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed (not handwritten) before the year 1501 in Europe. It is also one of the first to successfully integrate illustrations and text.<br/><br/> Latin scholars refer to it as Liber Chronicarum (Book of Chronicles) as this phrase appears in the index introduction of the Latin edition. English speakers have long referred to it as the Nuremberg Chronicle after the city in which it was published. German speakers refer to it as Die Schedelsche Weltchronik (Schedel's World History) in honour of its author. The illustrations in many copies were hand-coloured after printing.
The Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated world history. Its structure follows the story of human history as related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel, with a version in German translation by Georg Alt, it appeared in 1493. It is one of the best-documented early printed books. It is classified as an incunabulum – that is, a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed (not handwritten) before the year 1501 in Europe. It is also one of the first to successfully integrate illustrations and text.<br/><br/> Latin scholars refer to it as Liber Chronicarum (Book of Chronicles) as this phrase appears in the index introduction of the Latin edition. English speakers have long referred to it as the Nuremberg Chronicle after the city in which it was published. German speakers refer to it as Die Schedelsche Weltchronik (Schedel's World History) in honour of its author. The illustrations in many copies were hand-coloured after printing.
The lingam, or linga, meaning 'mark' or 'sign', represents the penis and is an aniconic representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples. Although most Hindu sculpted images (murtis) are anthropomorphic, the aniconic Shiva linga is an important exception. The lingam is often represented with the Yoni, the aniconic symbol of the goddess.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama (Persian: شاهنامه Šāhnāmeh, 'The Book of Kings') is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Iran and related Perso-Iranian cultures. Consisting of some 60,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells the mythical and to some extent the historical past of Greater Iran from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.<br/><br/> The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Zoroastrian ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest.
Birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami' at-Tawarikh (literally 'Compendium of Chronicles' but often referred to as 'The Universal History or History of the World'), by Rashid al-Din, Tabriz, Persia, 1307 CE, now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.
It is estimated that between two thirds and three quarters of the Bhutanese population follow Vajrayana Buddhism, which is also the state religion. About one quarter to one third are followers of Hinduism.<br/><br/> Buddhism was introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche ordered the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen to have 108 temples built all over the Himalayas. Doing so would aid in subduing a demoness and allow for the construction of Samye Temple in neighbouring Tibet.
Wat Pa Daet (วัดป่าแดด), the name – ‘sunlit woodland’ – indicates this was formerly a forest temple. A walled enclosure contains a viharn, sala and ho trai or library, while just outside stands an ubosot in traditional northern style, surrounded by a narrow moat.<br/><br/> The viharn dates from 1877 and was painstakingly restored in the mid-1980s. Decorated in black and gold, the three-tiered roof sweeps low in typical Lan Na style, with elaborate winged gables supporting flaring naga. The steps leading to the portico are guarded by Burmese-style chinthe lions and naga-makara balustrades, with the chinthe emerging from the makara mouths, an unusual synthesis found elsewhere in the Mae Chaem Valley as well as at the ho trai of Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai.<br/><br/> Within the viharn, after passing beneath gilded eyebrow pelmets, are a series of relatively well-preserved late 19th century murals, some of which appear to have been restored, while others are fading almost completely away due perhaps to salinity in the plaster. Of particular interest are panels showing northern Thai women with their long tresses, quite different to Bangkok fashions of the time, and a Buddha birth-scene, northern Thai style, with women crowding around Gautama’s mother as she gives birth standing upright, holding on to the branches of a tree.<br/><br/> Tucked away in a narrow valley, Mae Chaem (แม่แจ่ม) must rank as one of the least accessible corners of Chiang Mai. Located on the westernmost frontier of the province, it is isolated from the main Chiang Mai valley by the East Thanon Thongchai Range dominated by Doi Inthanon (ดอยอินทนนท์; at 2,565m Thailand’s highest mountain), and from neighbouring Mae Hong Son province to the west by the Central Thanon Thongchai Range, including Doi Khun Bong (ดอยขุนบง; 1,772m).