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Charax Spasinu
Charax Spasinu, also called Charax Spasinou, Charax Pasinu, Spasinu Charax (), Alexandria () or Antiochia in Susiana (), was an ancient port at the head of the Persian Gulf in what is now Iraq and the capital of the ancient kingdom of Characene. Etymology The name Charax, probably from ancient Greek , means "palisaded fort" and was applied to several fortified Seleucid towns. Charax was initially named Alexandria after Alexander the Great, and he perhaps even personally founded it. After destruction by floods, it was rebuilt by Antiochus IV (175-164 BC) and renamed Antiochia. It was at this time provided with a massive antiflood embankment almost 4½ km long by Antiochus's governor, Hyspaosines, and renamed "Charax of Hyspaosines." There is a theory that Charax derives from the Aramaic word ''karkā'', meaning "a fortification," but Charax is often attested at several other Seleucid towns with the meaning palisade. Location of Charax Charax was located on a large mound kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naysān (Iraq)
Naysān (also known as Jabal Khayabar and Naisān) is a tell and an archaeological site in Basrah, southern Iraq. Identification The site has been identified as the ruins of Charax Spasinu, once capital of the Messene Kingdom. This claim is based on the scale of the ruins, the fact that the local name for the ruins is Naysān which is probably a corruption of the Parthian name for Mesene, Maysān, (from which Maysan Governorate also derives its name.) The location of the ruins is at the confluence of the Tigris and Karkheh Rivers, as stated of Charax Spasinu, by Pliny the Elder. Archaeology The tell was not excavated before 2016, due to ongoing conflict and instability in the area, however, a preliminary survey was conducted in 1965. That survey identified a series of impressive bastion walls of baked brick and significant pottery shards on the surface. The shards that could be identified belonged to the Sasanian or early Islamic periods That preliminary survey in 1965 found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyspaosines
Hyspaosines (also spelled Aspasine) was the founder of Characene, a kingdom situated in southern Mesopotamia. He was originally a Seleucid satrap installed by king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (), but declared independence in 141 BC after the collapse and subsequent transfer of Seleucid authority in Iran and Babylonia to the Parthians. Hyspaosines briefly occupied the Parthian city of Babylon in 127 BC, where he is recorded in records as king (''šarru''). In 124 BC, however, he was forced to acknowledge Parthian suzerainty. He died in the same year, and was succeeded by his juvenile son Apodakos. Name and background Of Iranian descent, Hyspaosines' name is a Hellenized name of Persian or Bactrian origin, possibly derived from the Old Iranian ''vispa-čanah'' ("who appreciates all hings). Hyspaosines' father, Sagdodonacus, seemingly had a Bactrian name and was presumably of Bactrian origin himself. He had served the local dynasts ('' frataraka'') of Persis, who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arabia Felix
Arabia Felix (literally: Fertile/Happy Arabia; also Ancient Greek: Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία, ''Eudaemon Arabia'') was the Latin name previously used by geographers to describe South Arabia, or what is now Yemen. Etymology The Latin term ''Arabia Felix'' was the Roman translation of the earlier Hellenistic , attributed to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. ''Felix'' has the meanings of both "fecund, fertile" and "happy, fortunate, blessed", this area being the best irrigated of the Arabian peninsula. Arabia Felix, referring to Yemen, was one of the three regions into which the Romans divided the peninsula: Arabia Deserta, Arabia Felix, and Arabia Petraea. History The southwestern corner of the peninsula experienced more rainfall in ancient times and was thus much greener than the rest of the peninsula, enjoying more productive fields. The high peaks and slopes are capable of supporting significant vegetation and river beds called wadis help make other soil fertile. Part of what ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multi-ethnic
The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for multiracial people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethnic'', ''biracial'', ''mixed-race'', ''Métis'', '' Muwallad'', ''Melezi'', ''Coloured'', ''Dougla'', ''half-caste'', '' ʻafakasi'', ''mulatto'', ''mestizo'', '' mutt'', ''Melungeon'', ''quadroon'', ''octoroon'', '' griffe'', ''sacatra'', '' sambo/zambo'', '' Eurasian'', ''hapa'', '' hāfu'', ''Garifuna'', ''pardo'', and '' Gurans''. A number of these once-acceptable terms are now considered offensive, in addition to those that were initially coined for pejorative use. Individuals of multiracial backgrounds make up a significant portion of the population in many parts of the world. In North America, studies have found that the multira ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satrap
A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empires. A satrapy is the territory governed by a satrap. A satrap served as a viceroy to the king, though with considerable autonomy. The word came to suggest tyranny or ostentatious splendour, and its modern usage is a pejorative and refers to any subordinate or local ruler, usually with unfavourable connotations of corruption. Etymology The word is derived via Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek (), itself borrowed from an Old Iranian languages, Old Iranian . In Old Persian, which was the native language of the Achaemenids, it is recorded as (, literally "protector of the province"). The Median language, Median form is reconstructed as . Its Sanskrit cognate is (). The Biblical Hebrew form is , as found in Esther 3:12. In the Parthian l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great, and ruled by the Seleucid dynasty until its annexation by the Roman Republic under Pompey in 63 BC. After receiving the Mesopotamian regions of Babylonia and Assyria in 321 BC, Seleucus I began expanding his dominions to include the Near Eastern territories that encompass modern-day Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Lebanon, all of which had been under Macedonian control after the fall of the former Achaemenid Empire. At the Seleucid Empire's height, it had consisted of territory that covered Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and what are now modern Kuwait, Afghanistan, and parts of Turkmenistan. The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic culture. Greek customs and language were privileged; the wide vari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macedonia (ancient Kingdom)
Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal Argead dynasty, which was followed by the Antipatrid dynasty, Antipatrid and Antigonid dynasty, Antigonid dynasties. Home to the ancient Macedonians, the earliest kingdom was centered on the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula,. and bordered by Epirus (ancient state), Epirus to the southwest, Illyria to the northwest, Paeonia (kingdom), Paeonia to the north, Thrace to the east and Ancient Thessaly, Thessaly to the south. Before the 4th century BC, Macedonia was a small kingdom outside of the area dominated by the great city-states of Classical Athens, Athens, Sparta and Classical Thebes, Thebes, and Achaemenid Macedonia, briefly subordinate to Achaemeni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pella
Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella (town), Pella. Pella was probably founded at the beginning of the 4th century BC by Archelaus I of Macedon, Archelaus I as the new capital of Macedon, supplanting Aegae (Macedonia), Aigai. The city was the birthplace of Philip II of Macedon, Philip II in 382 BC, and of Alexander the Great, his son, in 356 BC. Pella quickly became the largest and richest city in Macedonia and flourished particularly under the rule of Cassander and Antigonus II Gonatas, Antigonus II. In 168 BC the city was sacked by the Roman Republic, Romans during the Third Macedonian War and entered a long period of decline, its importance eclipsed by that of the nearby Thessaloniki, Thessalonica. Etymology The name is probably derived from the word ''pella'', (), "ston ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deme
In Ancient Greece, a deme or (, plural: ''demoi'', δήμοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Classical Athens, Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside existed in the 6th century BC and earlier, but did not acquire particular significance until the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC. In those reforms, enrollment in the citizen-lists of a deme became the requirement for citizenship; prior to that time, citizenship had been based on membership in a phratry, or family group. At this same time, demes were established in the main city of Athens itself, where they had not previously existed; in all, at the end of Cleisthenes' reforms, Classical Athens, Athens was divided into 139 demes., Three other demes were created subsequently: Berenikidai (224/223 BC), Apollonieis (201/200 BC), and Antinoeis (AD 126/127). The establishment of demes as the fundamental units of the state weakened the ''genos, gene'', or aristocratic family groups, that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jona Lendering
Jona Lendering (born 29 October 1964) is a Dutch historian and the author of books on antiquity, Dutch history and modern management. He has an MA in history from Leiden University and an MA in Mediterranean culture from the Amsterdam Free University, taught history at the Free University, and worked as an archivist employed by the Dutch government, before becoming one of the founders of the history school Livius Onderwijs. Career and works Born on 29 October 1964 in Beneden-Leeuwen, Gelderland, Lendering's biography of Alexander the Great (''Alexander de Grote'') attempted to make greater use than earlier scholars of Persian and Babylonian sources. For example, he argued from Babylonian astronomical diaries that Darius III of Persia was deserted by his troops when he faced Alexander at the Battle of Gaugamela, rather than personally leading the retreat as reported by Greek sources. His work, "Alexander de Grote. De ondergang van het Perzische rijk" was described by ''Bry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Numismatic
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other means of payment used to resolve debts and exchange goods. The earliest forms of money used by people are categorised by collectors as "odd and curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even where used as a circulating currency (e.g., cigarettes or instant noodles in prison). As an example, the Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit, and gave small change in lambskins; the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horses are not. Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones, and gems. Etymology First attested in English in 1829, the word ''numismatics'' comes from the ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
