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Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. It was an important city in central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert.<br/><br/> The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means 'the town that repels' in Amorite and 'the indomitable town' in Aramaic) is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. It was an important city in central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert.<br/><br/> The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means 'the town that repels' in Amorite and 'the indomitable town' in Aramaic) is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. It was an important city in central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert.<br/><br/> The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means 'the town that repels' in Amorite and 'the indomitable town' in Aramaic) is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. It was an important city in central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert.<br/><br/> The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means 'the town that repels' in Amorite and 'the indomitable town' in Aramaic) is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.
Wat Xieng Thong (Golden City Temple) with its low sweeping roofs epitomising the classic Luang Prabang style, was built in 1560 by King Setthathirat (1548–71) and was patronised by the monarchy right up until 1975.<br/><br/>The temple was spared by the Black Flag gangs that sacked Luang Prabang in 1887.<br/><br/>Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Wat Xieng Thong (Golden City Temple) with its low sweeping roofs epitomising the classic Luang Prabang style, was built in 1560 by King Setthathirat (1548–71) and was patronised by the monarchy right up until 1975.<br/><br/> The temple was spared by the Black Flag gangs that sacked Luang Prabang in 1887.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Wat Xieng Thong (Golden City Temple) with its low sweeping roofs epitomising the classic Luang Prabang style, was built in 1560 by King Setthathirat (1548–71) and was patronised by the monarchy right up until 1975.<br/><br/> The temple was spared by the Black Flag gangs that sacked Luang Prabang in 1887.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Wat Xieng Thong (Golden City Temple) with its low sweeping roofs epitomising the classic Luang Prabang style, was built in 1560 by King Setthathirat (1548–71) and was patronised by the monarchy right up until 1975.<br/><br/> The temple was spared by the Black Flag gangs that sacked Luang Prabang in 1887.<br/><br/> Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hanoi's Old Quarter lies immediately north of Ho Hoan Kiem lake. It's better known locally as Bam Sau Pho Phuong or the ‘Thirty Six Streets’. 'Phuong' means a trade guild, and most of the streets begin with the word 'hang' meaning merchandise. This ancient section of the city has long been associated with commerce, and it remains very much so today.
Greece: Golden funeral mask also known as the Agamemnon Mask. Found in Tomb V in Mycenae by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876, 16th century BCE. Photo by DieBuche (CC BY-SA 3.0 License).<br/><br/> In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope; the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. When Helen, the wife of Menelaus, was abducted by Paris of Troy, Agamemnon was the commander of the Greeks in the ensuing Trojan War. Upon Agamemnon's return from Troy he was murdered by Aegisthus, the lover of his wife Clytemnestra. The so-called 'Agamemnon Mask' is preserved in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
The ruins of Thaj can be seen about 80 km west of Al-Jubail. It is a small village situated beside a dry lakebed. The archaeological excavations undertaken by the Danish Mission in 1967 and those carried out by the Saudi Deputy Ministry of Antiquities in 1985 revealed Thaj as a complete buried city surrounded by a strong wall.<br/><br/> Much of the wall is damaged, but one section of about 900 meters is in good condition. Several mounds, walls, housing foundations, pottery shards, glass, necklaces and earrings, decorative objects, clay pots and figurines have been recovered from the site. It is possible that Thaj was established during the Greek Seleucid period, possibly around early third-century BCE.
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. It was an important city in central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert. The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (which means "the town that repels" in Amorite and "the indomitable town" in Aramaic) is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.
The ancient Sabaean Kingdom established power in the early 1st millennium BC. In the 1st century BC it was conquered by the Himyarites, but after the disintegration of the first Himyarite empire of the Kings of Saba' and Dhu-Raydan, the Middle Sabaean Kingdom reappeared in the early 2nd century. It was finally conquered by the Himyarites in the late 3rd century. Its capital was Ma'rib. The kingdom was located along the strip of desert called Sayhad by medieval Arab geographers, which is now named Ramlat al-Sab`atayn.<br/><br/> The Sabaean people were South Arabian people. Each of these had regional kingdoms in ancient Yemen, with the Minaeans in the north along the Red sea, the Sabeans on the south western tip, stretching from the highlands to the sea, the Qatabanians to the east of them and the Hadramites east of them.<br/><br/> The Sabaeans, like the other Yemenite kingdoms of the same period, were involved in the extremely lucrative spice trade, especially frankincense and myrrh. They left behind many inscriptions in the monumental Musnad (Old South Arabian) alphabet, as well as numerous documents in the cursive Zabur script.
Qataban was an ancient Yemeni kingdom. Its heartland was located in the Baihan Valley. Like some other Southern Arabian kingdoms it gained great wealth from the trade of frankincense and myrrh incense which were burned at altars. The capital of Qataban was named Timna and was located on the trade route which passed through the other kingdoms of Hadramaut, Sheba and Ma'in. The chief deity of the Qatabanians was Amm, or 'Uncle' and the people called themselves the 'children of Amm'.<br/><br/> Qataban was the most prominent Yemeni kingdom in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BCE.
South Arabia as a general term refers to several regions as currently recognized, in chief the Republic of Yemen; yet it has historically also included Najran, Jizan, and 'Asir which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and Dhofar presently in Oman. The frontiers of South Arabia as linguistically conceived would include the historic peoples speaking the related South Arabian languages as well as neighboring dialects of Arabic, and their descendants. Anciently there was a South Arabian alphabet, which was borrowed by Ethiopia. South Arabia as generally conceived would include the lands inhabited by peoples partaking of its distinctive traditions and culture, which overlap recently demarcated political boundaries.<br/><br/> Yemen or al-yaman means 'the south'. One etymology derives Yemen from yamin the 'right side' as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise; yet this etymology is considered suspect. Another derives Yemen from yumn meaning 'felicity' as the region is fertile; indeed the Romans called it Arabia Felix. In an ancient, traditional Arabian genealogy, the people of the peninsula are divided between north and south, those of the north descending from Ishmael and Adnan (from whom Muhammad descended), and those of South Arabia being the descendants of Qahtan or Joktan (Yoqtan) and Jokshan.<br/><br/> Three thousand years ago several different state entities occupied the region of South Arabia, including M'ain, Qataban, Hadhramaut and Saba.In those ancient times South Arabia claimed several notable features, e.g., the famous dam at Marib, the cosmopolitan incense trade, as well as the legendary Queen of Sheba. Two thousand years ago the Himyarites became the masters of South Arabia, remaining for several centuries until displaced by the armies of Axum which landed from nearby Ethiopia; rule by the Ethiopians was followed by that of Persia under the Sassanids, who also arrived by sea. A half-century later, in the year 638, the region became Muslim.