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The Namazu, also called the Onamazu, is a creature in Japanese mythology and folktales. The Namazu is a gigantic catfish said to cause earthquakes and tremors. Living in the mud under the Japanese isles, the Namazu is guarded by the protector god Kashima, who restrains the catfish using the <i>kaname-ishi</i> rock. Whenever Kashima lets his guard down, Namazu thrashes about and causes violent earthquakes.<br/><br/>

The Namazu rose to new fame and popularity after the Ansei great earthquakes that happened near Edo in 1855. This lead to the Namazu being worshipped as a god of world rectification (<i>yonaoshi daimyojin</i>), sent by the gods to correct some of the imbalances in the world.<br/><br/> 

Catfish woodblock prints known as <i>namazu-e</i> became their own popular genre within days of the earthquake. They were usually unsigned and often depicted scenes of a namazu or many namazu atoning for their deeds. They were quickly squashed by the Tokugawa Shogunate, the prints censored and destroyed, with only a handful surviving to this day.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (January 1, 1798 - April 14, 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting. He is associated with the Utagawa school.<br/><br/>

The range of Kuniyoshi's preferred subjects included many genres: landscapes, beautiful women, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals. He is known for depictions of the battles of samurai and legendary heroes. His artwork was affected by Western influences in landscape painting and caricature.
Ignazio (Egnatio or Egnazio) Danti (April 1536 – 19 October 1586), born Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti, was an Italian priest, mathematician, astronomer, and cosmographer.
The Shore Temple was constructed in the early 8th century CE during the reign of Narasimhavarman II (also known as Rajasimha) of the Pallava Dynasty. It is so named because it overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite.<br/><br/>

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram (Tamil: மாமல்லபுரம்) is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport from as early as the 1st century CE.<br/><br/>

By the 7th Century it was the main port city of the South Indian Pallava dynasty. The historic monuments seen today were built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries CE.
The Shore Temple was constructed in the early 8th century CE during the reign of Narasimhavarman II (also known as Rajasimha) of the Pallava Dynasty. It is so named because it overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite.<br/><br/>

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram (Tamil: மாமல்லபுரம்) is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport from as early as the 1st century CE.<br/><br/>

By the 7th Century it was the main port city of the South Indian Pallava dynasty. The historic monuments seen today were built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries CE.
The Shore Temple was constructed in the early 8th century CE during the reign of Narasimhavarman II (also known as Rajasimha) of the Pallava Dynasty. It is so named because it overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite.<br/><br/>

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram (Tamil: மாமல்லபுரம்) is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport from as early as the 1st century CE.<br/><br/>

By the 7th Century it was the main port city of the South Indian Pallava dynasty. The historic monuments seen today were built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries CE.
The Shore Temple was constructed in the early 8th century CE during the reign of Narasimhavarman II (also known as Rajasimha) of the Pallava Dynasty. It is so named because it overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite.<br/><br/>

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram (Tamil: மாமல்லபுரம்) is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport from as early as the 1st century CE.<br/><br/>

By the 7th Century it was the main port city of the South Indian Pallava dynasty. The historic monuments seen today were built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries CE.
The Shore Temple was constructed in the early 8th century CE during the reign of Narasimhavarman II (also known as Rajasimha) of the Pallava Dynasty. It is so named because it overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite.<br/><br/>

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram (Tamil: மாமல்லபுரம்) is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport from as early as the 1st century CE.<br/><br/>

By the 7th Century it was the main port city of the South Indian Pallava dynasty. The historic monuments seen today were built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries CE.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.<br/><br/>

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram (Tamil: மாமல்லபுரம்) is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport from as early as the 1st century CE.<br/><br/>

By the 7th Century it was the main port city of the South Indian Pallava dynasty. The historic monuments seen today were built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries CE.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.<br/><br/>

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram (Tamil: மாமல்லபுரம்) is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport from as early as the 1st century CE.<br/><br/>

By the 7th Century it was the main port city of the South Indian Pallava dynasty. The historic monuments seen today were built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries CE.
The Shore Temple was constructed in the early 8th century CE during the reign of Narasimhavarman II (also known as Rajasimha) of the Pallava Dynasty. It is so named because it overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite.<br/><br/>

Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram (Tamil: மாமல்லபுரம்) is an ancient historic town and was a bustling seaport from as early as the 1st century CE.<br/><br/>

By the 7th Century it was the main port city of the South Indian Pallava dynasty. The historic monuments seen today were built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries CE.
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, iislets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia (Sabah), about one third of the way to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land area spread over more than 425,000 square kilometers of sea. The Spratlys are one of three archipelagos of the South China Sea which comprise more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which complicate governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia.<br/><br/>

Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries. There are no native islanders but there are rich fishing grounds and initial surveys indicate the islands may contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas.<br/><br/>

About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia and the Philippines. Brunei has also claimed an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the southeastern part of the Spratlys encompassing just one area of small islands above mean high water (on Louisa Reef.)
Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn; Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina) is a n ame given to the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The region is also known as the Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ־ישראל Eretz-Yisra'el), the Holy Land and the Southern Levant.<br/><br/>

In 1832 Palestine was conquered by Muhammad Ali's Egypt, but in 1840 Britain intervened and returned control of the Levant to the Ottomans in return for further capitulations. The end of the 19th century saw the beginning of Zionist immigration and the Revival of the Hebrew language. The movement was publicly supported by Great Britain during World War I with the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The British captured Jerusalem a month later, and were formally awarded a mandate in 1922.<br/><br/>

In 1947, following World War II and the Holocaust, the British Government announced their desire to terminate the Mandate, and the United Nations General Assembly voted to partition the territory into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jewish leadership accepted the proposal but the Arab Higher Committee rejected it; a civil war began immediately, and the State of Israel was declared in 1948.<br/><br/>

The 1948 Palestinian exodus, known in Arabic as the Nakba (Arabic: النكبة‎, an-Nakbah, 'The Catastrophe') occurred when approximately 711,000 to 725,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War during which Israel captured and incorporated a further 26% of Palestinian territory.<br/><br/>

In the course of the Six Day War in June 1967, Israel captured the remainder of historic Palestine and began a continuing policy of Israeli settlement and annexation.
The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the 2nd century BCE, asserts (Onomasticon I, 45–49) that Purple Tyrian dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant.<br/><br/>

However, the recent archaeological discovery of substantial numbers of Murex shells on Crete suggests that the Minoans may have pioneered the extraction of Imperial purple centuries before the Tyrians. Dating from collocated pottery suggests the dye may have been produced during the Middle Minoan period in the 20th–18th century BCE. Accumulations of crushed murex shells from a hut at the site of Coppa Nevigata in southern Italy may indicate production of purple dye there from at least the 18th century BCE.
T. Enami (Enami Nobukuni, 1859 – 1929) was the trade name of a celebrated Meiji period photographer. The T. of his trade name is thought to have stood for Toshi, though he never spelled it out on any personal or business document.<br/><br/>

Born in Edo (now Tokyo) during the Bakumatsu era, Enami was first a student of, and then an assistant to the well known photographer and collotypist, Ogawa Kazumasa. Enami relocated to Yokohama, and opened a studio on Benten-dōri (Benten Street) in 1892. Just a few doors away from him was the studio of the already well known Tamamura Kozaburō. He and Enami would work together on at least three related projects over the years.<br/><br/>

Enami became quietly unique as the only photographer of that period known to work in all popular formats, including the production of large-format photographs compiled into what are commonly called "Yokohama Albums". Enami went on to become Japan's most prolific photographer of small-format images such as the stereoview and glass lantern-slides. The best of these were delicately hand-tinted.
T. Enami (Enami Nobukuni, 1859 – 1929) was the trade name of a celebrated Meiji period photographer. The T. of his trade name is thought to have stood for Toshi, though he never spelled it out on any personal or business document.<br/><br/>

Born in Edo (now Tokyo) during the Bakumatsu era, Enami was first a student of, and then an assistant to the well known photographer and collotypist, Ogawa Kazumasa. Enami relocated to Yokohama, and opened a studio on Benten-dōri (Benten Street) in 1892. Just a few doors away from him was the studio of the already well known Tamamura Kozaburō. He and Enami would work together on at least three related projects over the years.<br/><br/>

Enami became quietly unique as the only photographer of that period known to work in all popular formats, including the production of large-format photographs compiled into what are commonly called "Yokohama Albums". Enami went on to become Japan's most prolific photographer of small-format images such as the stereoview and glass lantern-slides. The best of these were delicately hand-tinted.
Balinese dance is a very ancient dance tradition that is a part of the religious and artistic expression among the Balinese people, native to Bali island, Indonesia. Balinese dance is dynamic, angular and intensely expressive. The Balinese dancers express the story of dance-drama through the whole bodily gestures; fingers, hands and body gestures to head and eyes movements.<br/><br/>

There is a great richness of dance forms and styles in Bali; and particularly notable are those ritualistic dance dramas which involve Rangda, the witch, and the great beast Barong. Most dances in Bali are connected to Hindu rituals, such as the Sanghyang Dedari sacred dance that invoke hyang spirits that are believed to possess the dancers in trance state during the performance. Other Balinese dances are not linked to religious rituals and created for certain purposes, such as the Pendet welcoming dance and the Joged dance, a social dance for entertainment.<br/><br/>

In Bali there are various categories of dance, including epic performances such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Certain ceremonies at village temples feature a special performance of a dance-drama, a battle between the mythical characters Rangda, the witch representing evil, and Barong, the lion or dragon, representing good.<br/><br/>

Among the dance traditions in Bali, the following deserve special mention: Barong, Legong and Kecak.