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cincinnatusvirtue · 1 year

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Countries that are no more: Achaemenid Empire (550BC-330BC)

It was not the first empire of Iranian peoples, but it arose as probably the greatest in terms of influence and became the measure by which all subsequent Iranian empires tended to compare themselves and its influence on culture, government & civil infrastructure would influence others beyond the span of its territory and the span of time. This is the Achaemenid Empire.

Name: In Old Persian it was known as Xšāça or the "The Kingdom or the Empire", it was named the Achaemenid Empire by later historians. Named after the ruling dynasty established by its founder Cyrus the Great who cited the name of his ancestor Haxāmaniš or Achaemenes in Greek as progenitor of the dynasty. It is sometimes also referred to as the First Persian Empire. The Greeks simply referred to it as Persia, the name which stuck for the geographic area of the Iranian plateau well into the modern era.

Language: Old Persian & Aramaic were the official languages. With Old Persian being an Iranian language that was the dynastic language of the Achaemenid ruling dynasty and the language of the Persians, an Iranian people who settled in what is now the southwestern Iranian plateau or southwest Iran circa 1,000 BC. Aramaic was a Semitic language that was the common and administrative language of the prior Neo-Assyrian & Neo-Babylonian Empires which centered in Mesopotamia or modern Iraq, Syria & Anatolian Turkey. After the Persian conquest of Babylon, the use of Aramaic remained the common tongue within the Mesopotamian regions of the empire, eventually becoming a lingua franca across the land. As the empire spread over a vast area and became increasingly multiethnic & multicultural, it absorbed many other languages among its subject peoples. These included the Semitic languages Akkadian, Phoenician & Hebrew. The Iranian language of Median among other regional Iranian languages (Sogdian, Bactrian etc). Various Anatolian languages, Elamite, Thracian & Greek among others.

Territory: 5.5 million kilometers squared or 2.1 million square miles at its peak circa 500BC. The Achaemenid Empire spanned from southern Europe in the Balkans (Greece, Bulgaria, European Turkey) & northwest Africa (Egypt, Libya & Sudan) in the west to its eastern stretches in the Indus Valley (Pakistan) to parts of Central Asia in the northeast. It was centered firstly in the Iranian Plateau (Iran) but also held capitals in Mesopotamia (Iraq). Territory was also found in parts of the Arabian Peninsula & the Caucausus Mountains.

Symbols & Mottos: The Shahbaz or Derafsh Shahbaz was used as the standard of Cyrus the Great, founder of the empire. It depicts a bird of prey, typically believed to be a falcon or hawk (occasionally an eagle) sometimes rendered gold against a red backdrop and depicts the bird holding two orbs in its talons and adorned with an orb likewise above its head. The symbolism was meant to depict the bird guiding the Iranian peoples to conquest and to showcase aggression & strength coupled with dignity. The imperial family often kept falcons for the pastime of falconry.

Religion: The ancient Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism served as the official religion of the empire. It was adopted among the Persian elite & and had its unique beliefs but also helped introduce the concept of free-will among its believers, an idea to influence Judaism, Christianity & Islam in later centuries. Despite this official religion, there was a tolerance for local practices within the subject regions of the empire. The ancient Mesopotamian religion in Babylon & Assyria, Judaism, the Ancient Greek & Egyptian religions & Vedic Hinduism in India was likewise tolerated as well. The tolerance of the Achaemenids was considered a relative hallmark of their dynasty from the start. Famously, in the Old Testament of the Bible it was said that it was Cyrus the Great who freed the Jews from their Babylonian captivity and allowed them to return to their homeland of Judea in modern Israel.

Currency: Gold & silver or bimetallic use of coins became standard within the empire. The gold coins were later referred to as daric and silver as siglos. The main monetary production changes came during the rule of Darius I (522BC-486BC). Originally, they had followed the Lydian practice out of Anatolia of producing coins with gold, but the practice was simplified & refined under the Achaemenids.

Population: The estimates vary ranging from a low end of 17 million to 35 million people on the upper end circa 500BC. The official numbers are hard to determine with certainty but are generally accepted in the tens of millions with the aforementioned 17-35 million being the most reasonable range based on available sources.

Government: The government of the Achaemenid Empire was a hereditary monarchy ruled by a king or shah or later referred to as the ShahanShah or King of Kings, this is roughly equivalent to later use of the term Emperor. Achaemenid rulers due the unprecedented size of their empire held a host of titles which varied overtime but included: King of Kings, Great King, King of Persia, King of Babylon, Pharaoh of Egypt, King of the World, King of the Universe or King of Countries. Cyrus the Great founded the dynasty with his conquest first of the Median Empire and subsequently the Neo-Babylonians and Lydians. He established four different capitals from which to rule: Pasargadae as his first in Persia (southwest central Iran), Ecbatana taken from the Medians in western Iran's Zagros Mountains. The other two capitals being Susa in southwest Iran near and Babylon in modern Iraq which was taken from the Neo-Babylonians. Later Persepolis was made a ceremonial capital too. The ShahanShah or King of Kings was also coupled with the concept of divine rule or the divinity of kings, a concept that was to prove influential in other territories for centuries to come.

While ultimate authority resided with the King of Kings and their bureaucracy could be at times fairly centralized. There was an expansive regional bureaucracy that had a degree of autonomy under the satrapy system. The satraps were the regional governors in service to the King of Kings. The Median Empire had satraps before the Persians but used local kings they conquered as client kings. The Persians did not allow this because of the divine reverence for their ShahanShah. Cyrus the Great established governors as non-royal viceroys on his behalf, though in practice they could rule like kings in all but name for their respective regions. Their administration was over their respective region which varied overtime from 26 to 36 under Darius I. Satraps collected taxes, acted as head over local leaders and bureaucracy, served as supreme judge in their region to settle disputes and criminal cases. They also had to protect the road & postal system established by the King of Kings from bandits and rebels. A council of Persians were sent to assist the satrap with administration, but locals (non-Persian) could likewise be admitted these councils. To ensure loyalty to the ShahanShah, royal secretaries & emissaries were sent as well to support & report back the condition of each satrapy. The so called "eye of the king" made annual inspections of the satrapy to ensure its good condition met the King of Kings' expectations.

Generals in chief were originally made separate to the satrap to divide the civil and military spheres of government & were responsible for military recruitment but in time if central authority from the ShahanShah waned, these could be fused into one with the satrap and general in chiefs becoming hereditary positions.

To convey messages across the widespread road system built within the empire, including the impressive 2,700 km Royal Road which spanned from Susa in Iran to Sardis in Western Anatolia, the angarium (Greek word) were an institution of royal messengers mounted on horseback to ride to the reaches of the empire conveying postage. They were exclusively loyal to the King of Kings. It is said a message could be reached to anywhere within the empire within 15 days to the empire's vast system of relay stations, passing message from rider to rider along its main roads.

Military: The military of the Achaemenids consisted of mostly land based forces: infantry & cavalry but did also eventually include a navy.

Its most famous unit was the 10,000-man strong Immortals. The Immortals were used as elite heavy infantry were ornately dressed. They were said to be constantly as 10,000 men because for any man killed, he was immediately replaced. Armed with shields, scale armor and with a variety of weapons from short spears to swords, daggers, slings, bows & arrows.

The sparabara were the first line of infantry armed with shields and spears. These served as the backbone of the army. Forming shield walls to defend the Persian archers. They were said to ably handle most opponents and could stop enemy arrows though their shields were vulnerable to enemy spears.

There was also the takabara light infantry and though is little known of them it seems they served as garrison troops and skirmishers akin to the Greek peltast of the age.

The cavalry consisted of four distinct groups: chariot driven archers used to shoot down and break up enemy formations, ideally on flat grounds. There was also the traditional horse mounted cavalry and also camel mounted cavalry, both served the traditional cavalry functions and fielded a mix of armor and weapons. Finally, there was the use of war elephants which were brought in from India on the empire's eastern reaches. These provided archers and a massive way to physically & psychologically break opposing forces.

The navy was utilized upon the empire's reaching the Mediterranean and engaged in both battles at sea and for troop transport to areas where troops needing deploying overseas, namely in Greece.

The ethnic composition of Achaemenid military was quite varied ranging from a Persian core with other Iranian peoples such as the Medians, Sogdian, Bactrians and Scythians joining at various times. Others including Anatolians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Anatolians, Indians, Arabs, Jews, Phoenicians, Thracians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Libyans & Greeks among others.

Their opponents ranged from the various peoples they conquered starting with the Persian conquest of the Medians to the Neo-Babylonians, Lydians, Thracians, Greeks, Egyptians, Arabs & Indians and various others. A hallmark of the empire was to allow the local traditions of subjugated areas to persist so long as garrisons were maintained, taxes were collected, local forces provided levies to the military in times of war, and they did not rebel against the central authority.

Economy: Because of the efficient and extensive road system within the vast empire, trade flourished in a way not yet seen in the varied regions it encompassed. Tax districts were established with the satrapies and could be collected with relative efficiency. Commodities such as gold & jewels from India to the grains of the Nile River valley in Egypt & the dyes of the Phoenicians passed throughout the realm's reaches. Tariffs on trade & agricultural produce provided revenue for the state.

Lifespan: The empire was founded by Cyrus the Great circa 550BC with his eventual conquest of the Median & Lydian Empires. He started out as Cyrus II, King of Persia a client kingdom of the Median Empire. His reign starting in 559BC. Having overthrown and overtaken the Medians, he turned his attention Lydia and the rest of Anatolia (Asia Minor). He later attacked the Eastern Iranian peoples in Bactria, Sogdia and others. He also crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and attacked the Indus Valley getting tribute from various cities.

Cyrus then turned his attention to the west by dealing with the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Following his victory in 539BC at the Battle of Opis, the Persians conquered the Babylonia with relative quickness.

By the time of Cyrus's death his empire had the largest recorded in world history up to that point spanning from Anatolia to the Indus.

Cyrus was succeeded by his sons Cambyses II and Bardiya. Bardiya was replaced by his distant cousin Darius I also known as Darius the Great, whose lineage would constitute a number of the subsequent King of Kings.

Darius faced many rebellions which he put down in succession. His reign is marked by changes to the currency and the largest territorial expansion of the empire. An empire at its absolute zenith. He conquered large swaths of Egypt, the Indus Valley, European Scythia, Thrace & Greece. He also had exploration of the Indian Ocean from the Indus River to Suez Egypt undertaken.

The Greek kingdom of Macedon in the north reaches of the Hellenic world voluntarily became a vassal of Persia in order to avoid destruction. This would prove to be a fateful first contact with this polity that would in time unite the Greek-speaking world in the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. However, at the time of Darius I's the reign, there were no early indications of this course of events as Macedon was considered even by other Greek states a relative backwater.

Nevertheless, the Battle of Marathon in 490BC halted the conquest of mainland Greece for a decade and showed a check on Persia's power in ways not yet seen. It is also regarded as preserving Classical Greek civilization and is celebrated to this day as an important in the annals of Western civilization more broadly given Classical Greece & in particular Athens's influence on western culture and values.

Xerxes I, son of Darius I vowed to conquer Greece and lead a subsequent invasion in 480BC-479BC. Xerxes originally saw the submission of northern Greece including Macedon but was delayed by the Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae, most famously by Spartan King Leonidas and his small troop (the famed 300). Though the Persians won the battle it was regarded as a costly victory and one that inspired the Greeks to further resistance. Though Athens was sacked & burnt by the Persians, the subsequent victories on sea & land at Salamis & Plataea drove the Persians back from control over Greece. Though war would rage on until 449BC with the expulsion of the Persians from Europe by the Greeks.

However, the Greeks found themselves in a civil war between Athens & Sparta and Persia having resented the Athenian led coalition against their rule which had expelled them from Europe sought to indirectly weaken the Greeks by supporting Greek factions opposed to Athens through political & financial support.

Following this reversal of fortune abroad, the Achaemenid Empire not able to regain its foothold in Europe, turned inward and focused more on its cultural development. Zoroastrianism became the de-facto official religion of the empire. Additionally, architectural achievements and improvements in its many capitals were undertaken which displayed the empire's wealth. Artaxerxes II who reigned from 405BC-358BC had the longest reign of any Achaemenid ruler and it was characterized by relative peace and stability, though he contended with a number of rebellions including the Great Satraps Revolt of 366BC-360BC which took place in Anatolia and Armenia. Though he was successful in putting down the revolt. He also found himself at war with the Spartans and began to sponsor the Athenians and others against them, showcasing the ever dynamic and changing Greco-Persian relations of the time.

Partially for safety reasons, Persepolis was once again made the capital under Artaxerxes II. He helped expand the city and create many of its monuments.

Artaxerxes III feared the satraps could no longer be trusted in western Asia and ordered their armies disbanded. He faced a campaign against them which suffered some initial defeats before overcoming these rebellions, some leaders of which sought asylum in the Kingom of Macedon under its ruler Philip II (father of Alexander the Great).

Meanwhile, Egypt had effectively become independent from central Achaemenid rule and Artaxerxes III reinvaded in around 340BC-339BC. He faced stiff resistance at times but overcame the Egyptians and the last native Egyptian Pharaoh Nectanebo II was driven from power. From that time on ancient Egypt would be ruled by foreigners who held the title Pharaoh.

Artaxerxes III also faced rebellion from the Phoenicians and originally was ejected from the area of modern coastal Lebanon, Syria & Israel but came back with a large army subsequently reconquered the area including burning the Phoenician city of Sidon down which killed thousands.

Following Artaxerxes III's death his son succeeded him but a case of political intrigue & dynastic murder followed. Eventually Darius III a distant relation within the dynasty took the throne in 336BC hoping to give his reign an element of stability.

Meanwhile in Greece, due to the military reforms and innovations of Philip II, King of Macedon, the Greek speaking world was now unified under Macedon's hegemony. With Philip II holding the title of Hegemon of the Hellenic League, a relatively unified coalition of Greek kingdoms and city-states under Macedon premiership that formed to eventually invade Persia. However, Philip was murdered before his planned invasion of Asia Minor (the Achaemenid's westernmost territory) could commence. His son Alexander III (Alexander the Great) took his father's reforms and consolidated his hold over Greece before crossing over to Anatolia himself.

Darius III had just finished reconquering some rebelling vestiges of Egypt when Alexander army crossed over into Asia Minor circa 334BC. Over the course of 10 years Alexander's major project unfolded, the Macedonian conquest of the Persian Empire. He famously defeated Persians at Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela. The latter two battles against Darius III in person. He took the King of Kings family hostage but treated them well while Darius evacuated to the far eastern reaches of his empire to evade capture. He was subsequently killed by one of his relatives & satraps Bessus, whom Alexander eventually had killed. Bessus had declared himself King of Kings though this wasn't widely recognized and most historians regard Darius III, the last legitimate ShahanShah of Achaemenids.

Alexander had taken Babylon, Susa & Persepolis by 330BC and effectively himself was now ruler of the Persian Empire or at least its western half. In addition to being King of Macedon & Hegemon of the Hellenic League, he gained the titles King of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt & Lord of Asia. Alexander would in time eventually subdue the eastern portions of the Achaemenid realm including parts of the Indus Valley before turning back to Persia and Babylon where he subsequently became ill and died in June 323BC at age 32. Alexander's intentions it appears were never to replace the Achaemenid government & cultural structure, in fact he planned to maintain and hybridize it with his native Greek culture. He was in fact an admirer of Cyrus the Great (even restoring his tomb after looting) & adopted many Persian customs and dress. He even allowed the Persians to practice their religion and had Persian and Greeks start to serve together in his army. Following his death and with no established successor meant the empire he established which essentially was the whole Achaemenid Empire's territory in addition to the Hellenic world fragmented into different areas run by his most trusted generals who established their own dynasties. The Asian territories from Anatolia to the Indus (including Iran and Mesopotamia) gave way to the Hellenic ruled Seleucid Empire while Egypt became the Hellenic ruled Ptolemaic Kingdom. The synthesis of Persian and Greek cultures continued in the Seleucid and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms of antiquity.

The Achaemenid Empire lasted for a little over two centuries (550BC-330BC) but it casted a long shadow over history. Its influence on Iran alone has persisted into the modern age with every subsequent Persian Empire claiming to be its rightful successor from the Parthian & Sasanian Empires of pre-Islamic Iran to the Safavids of the 16th-18th century and the usage of the title Shah until the last Shah's ejection from power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Even the modern Islamic Republic of Iran uses Achaemenid imagery in some military regiments and plays up its importance in tourism and museums as a source of pride to Persian (Farsi) & indeed Iranian heritage. Likewise, its form of governance and the pushing of the concept of divine rights of kings would transplant from its Greek conquerors into the rest of Europe along with various other institutions such as its road & mail system, tax collection & flourishing trade. Its mix of centralized & decentralized governance. Its religious & cultural tolerance of local regions even after their conquest would likewise serve as a template for other empires throughout history too. The Achaemenid Empire served as a template for vast international & transcontinental empires that would follow in its wake & surpass its size & scope of influence. However, it is worth studying for in its time, it was unprecedented, and its innovations so admired by the likes of Alexander the Great and others echo into the modern era.

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tsalmu · 1 year

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So-called "Ivory of Shapash" (North-Semitic Sun Goddess) Origin: Syro-Phoenician, ca. 8th century BCE Found in palace of Ashurnasirpal II Nimrud, Iraq (Assyria) (Met Museum 59.107.7, Pub Domain, Enhanced) Built by the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, the palaces and storerooms of Nimrud housed thousands of pieces of carved ivory. Most of the ivories served as furniture inlays or small precious objects such as boxes. While some of them were carved in the same style as the large Assyrian reliefs lining the walls of the Northwest Palace, the majority of the ivories display images and styles related to the arts of North Syria and the Phoenician city-states. Phoenician style ivories are distinguished by their use of imagery related to Egyptian art, such as sphinxes and figures wearing pharaonic crowns, and the use of elaborate carving techniques such as openwork and colored glass inlay. North Syrian style ivories tend to depict stockier figures in more dynamic compositions, carved as solid plaques with fewer added decorative elements. However, some pieces do not fit easily into any of these three styles. Source: The Met Museum

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miochimochi · 6 months

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Simplified History of Canaan/Israel/Palestine

A good story starts at the beginning. In this case, about 15 thousand years ago in Canaan. The Canaanites were a Northwest Semitic people in the late bronze age comprised of a number of tribes: the Edomites, Amalekites, Phoenicians, Samaritans, and the Israelites, among others.

One of these tribes, the Israelites, revered the Canaanite god Yahweh above the rest. He would be worshiped alongside his consort Asherah and fellow gode El, and Baal. Over time, Yahweh came to lead the whole of the pantheon and became the sole subject of worship - a stage in the Israelite religion dubbed Monolatrism. This would later develop into a Monotheistic position, with gods like Baal being subject to demonization and El being to various epitaphs of Yahweh such as El-Shaddai. This change happened over a number of centuries, although we're unsure how many. What we do know is that the Monolatrist Yahwism was still a major religion in the region around 600BC.

Then came the Iron Age and the establishment of an Israelite kingdom in 1047BC. Saul rose as the first king of the now united Israel. It would continue until Jeroboam's Revolt in 930BC which would split the kingdom into two. Israel to the north, Judah to the south. Israel held control from east of the Jordan to the Mediterranean sea. Judah, on the other hand, had only the Jordan as its bordering water. The west side of Judah was held by the Philistine city states in what is today Gaza.

The Kingdom of Israel, also called the Kingdom of Samaria, had 4 capitals over its short time: Shiloh, Shechem, Tirzah, and Samaria. They lasted for 210 years before being subjugated by the Assyrians. The Assyrian Exile saw the forceful relocation of thousands of Israelites. There were 2 waves out of Israel up into Assyria and 1 other relocation that happened later in Beth-Eden out to Media. They took the northern Israel and dubbed it the province of Semarina. But the Assyrians would find themselves up against the Babylonians who sought the land for themselves. The Neo Assyrian Empire fell to the Neo Babylonian Empire and the lands of Israel, down to Judah as well, would be under Babylonian control.

Jerusalem was the capital of Judah, part of what was known under the Neo Babylonian Empire as the province of Yehud. Judah was not very happy about or compliant with their Babylonian captivity. The Judahite revolts lasted about 15 years and concluded with the Neo Babylonian Empire laying seige to Jerusalem. The seige lasted 2 years, ending in 587BC, ending the Kingdom of Judah after 343 years with the Babylonian exile. The Kingdom of Judah was later granted permission by the Babylonians to return, but no such Edict was made for the Kingdom of Israel. The split is said to be 2 tribes returning to Judah, 10 tribes still in exile. Fun fact: there are actually 13 tribes, the 13th being the Tribe of Levi, a tribe with no territory!

It's likely that this Babylonian exile was a big catalyst for the monotheistic Judaism we know now and a good portion of the Tanakh was written during this time. This was the period in which the Hebrew identity really began to take shape. From their faith, to their politics, and even the writing of their history. It's possible that either the majority of Judah was exiles or that only the few elites, now embittered by their exile and the taking of their land by those who were below them, were the only ones taken into exile.

Keep in mind that since the seige of Jerusalem, the Israelites did not have their temple. It was almost a century later under the Persian empire that the second temple would be built, starting a new age of Hebrew identity. The Persians were rather open to Jewish self-governance, allowing an autonomous kingdom of Israel to rise in the province of Yehud Medinata.

Israel stayed relatively undisturbed for centuries after. The Greeks would conquer Persia and establish the province of Celesyria. The Hasmonean dynasty took rise in 140BC and lasted until 37BC. It was first under the Seleucid empire and then gained a brief period of autonomy until the Hasmonean Civil War broke out and the Roman empire took the opportunity to intervene and subjugate the kingdom in 63BC. The dynasty would collapse with the rise of the Herodian dynasty.

This Herodian Kingdom would continue to be a client state of the Roman empire. After the death of King Herod, the Romans divided the kingdom among his children, marking the beginning of the Herodian Tetrarchy. This too would come to an end and Provincia Iudaea and Iturea would take its place. It was during this time that a man named Yeshua had done his teachings - teachings which would have a great effect on the region in later years. It was also during this time that the Second Temple period came to an end when the Romans besieged Jerusalem in the First Jewish-Roman War.

Provincia Iudaea would find itself changing as a result of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The region would be named Provincia Syria Palastina in its restructuring and the Jews once again found themselves in exile. Those who remained after the defeat and execution of Bar Kokhba would be themselves executed or enslaved. But the Roman Empire began its decline and would break apart some time later. The region would fall into the hands of the Byzantine Empire. The Jewish land was now under the first empire to be Christian from its founding.

This Christian control would hold until the Muslim conquests began. These conquests fundamentally changed the cultural and demographic landscape of the whole Levant. What was once Northwestern Semitic was now decisively Arabic, a Central Semitic culture. The land of Israel was split between Jund Filastin and Al-'Urduun. It would remain this way under three separate caliphates until the Pope declared the First Crusade which established the Kingdom of Jerusalem which lasted for almost 200 years, then had a 5 year gap in which it was under Muslim control again, and then a nearly 100 more years after it was recaptured with the Third Crusade.

From here, the lands gets continuously taken and divided between various Caliphates, Sultanates, Emirates, and Principalities. But none of them quite got a great hold of the region until the Ottoman Empire got in the game. The empire lasted over 600 years, although the first half of it did not have the region under its control. A joint effort of British, French, and Arab forces would take control of the region away from the Ottoman empire in 1917, and in 1920 there was the establishment of Mandatory Palestine.

In the 1800s, a nationalist movement arose among the Jewish diaspora within Europe called Zionism. The movement called for a Jewish homeland to be reestablished within the region of Palestine, at the time under the control of the Ottoman Empire. It partly rose as a response to the Haskalah, an intellectual movement among Jews in Europe and the Middle East. The Haskalah saw a turn away from traditional dress and institutions, but, likely more importantly, a revival of the Hebrew language. You see, Hebrew at this point was only a liturgical language, the way Latin is in Catholicism. The Haskalah sought for it to be used among even secular society. The Haskalah helped to unify Jews, especially in Europe.

Zionism was always a diverse movement with various leaders holding various different positions, but all agreed on the thing that unified the whole ideology: a return to Israel at any cost. At this point, Jewish identity was still scattered and the bloodlines were muddled by centuries of exile. The Jews were found throughout Eurasia and Africa, but it was particularly the European Jews that had the biggest push towards resettlement and the reestablishment of an Israeli state. The Aliyah had picked up more in earnest.

It's believed that less than 1% of the Jewish diaspora were living in the Palestinian region in the late 19th century. Many Jews began to make aliyah to the region in the 1880s and they began to settle into the land. This was further spured on by the various persecutions Jews had faced in various places, making for a refugee settlement within the land. Through the involvement of the British, French, and Arabs, the political landscape shifted around these new settlers until 1948 when Israel officially became a sovereign nation. In 1950, Israel issued the Law of Return, calling for the global Jewish diaspora to return to the region and be granted citizenship within Israel.

There were clashes between the Jews and Arabs in Palestine during their migrations, but it was at the founding of an Israeli state that tensions soared. Both Israel and new Palestinian states of Gaza and the Jordanian Annexed West Bank argued over their capital. East Jerusalem was held as the Palestinian capital and West Jerusalem was held as the Israeli capital, but both wanted full control of Jerusalem. The conflicts would see the scales tilted most towards the side of Israel, with Palestinians taking the most casualties since Israel's founding.

Thy founding of Israel wasn't a peaceful one. The Arab League was instantly hostile to David Ben Gurion declaring an independent Israel and on May 14th 1948 attacked. The war was decisive, but bloody. Israel lost around 6,000, two thirds of that being civilians, while the Arab League had a combined loss upwards of 20,000 soldiers and civilians. This conflict established the All-Palestine Government, Egyptian occupation of Gaza, the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, the cementing of Israel as a new nation. The Nakba occurred during this war and is what contributed most to the civilian casualties on the side of the Arab League. This event is seen as an ethnic cleansing of Palestine, with many targeted massacres of Arab majority towns and villages. Israel had displaced over 750,000 Arabs from the region during this time.

The Armistance signed at the end of the war was being observed by the parties involved but there was tension over the Straits of Tiran. This culminated in an Israeli invasion of Egypt when Egypt closed off the Suez Canal to Israel. This invasion reopened the canal and placed UNEF forces at the Egypt-Israel border. Israel would then threaten Egypt with a casus belli should they close the canal again. About a decade later, Egypt would mobilize troops to a defensive position at the border, call for the UNEF to leave, and closed the canal again. The UNEF obliged and began to leave. In response to all of this, Israel launched airstrikes against Egyptian airfields and other locations. Israel would simultaneously invade the Sinai peninsula and Gaza sparking the Six Day War. Jordan would launch attacks aimed at slowing the Israeli forces. Syria would join in the fifth day with attacks in the north, and on the sixth day Egyptian president Nasser would call for an evacuation of troops and civilians from the peninsula. The casualties were in the thousands for one side and the hundreds for the Israeli side. Israel didn't even believe Egypt would attack Israel, as the troop movements were not significant enough to engage an offensive.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) would exchange fire at the Israel-Lebanon border, resulting in a number of soldier and civilian casualties on both sides. Back in the UK, a gunman tried to assassinate Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov. Prime Minister Menachem Begin blamed the PLO for the attack and launched an invasion of southern Lebanon. In reality, the PLO had nothing to do with it - in fact, it was one of the PLO's enemies, the Abu Nidal Organization, that attempted the assassination. With the help of a number of domestic Lebanese-nationalist Christian groups, Israel occupied territory in southern Lebanon. Again with thousands dead on one side, hundreds on the Israeli. The invasion led to an Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, to the chagrin of their Christian allies who had proclaimed the land the Free Lebanon State.

In the 80s, a series of protests and acts of civil disobedience occurred in the Israeli occupied Palestinian territories. People would take to the streets, fights would break out, and people would be killed. It lasted until 1993 with the Israel-PLO mutual recognition letters. These letters saw the PLO recognizing Israel as a sovereign state and Israel recognizing the PLO as the legitimate Palestinian authority. This set the groundwork for the Oslo I accords which resulted in the creation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Upwards of 200 Israelis were killed and almost 2,000 Palestinians were killed, about 350 of those were killed by other Palestinians.

The accords would call for a 5 year period of peace in which plans for permanent peace could be negotiated. The PNA were to have administrative control of Palestine and the IDF would withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank. Oslo II would be signed in 1995 as an agreement by Israel to transfer authority of the Palestinian Council while also making it so the only armed groups allowed in Palestine would be the Israeli police, Israeli military, and Palestinian police. This would bar Palestine from any formal military or militia.

In 2001, Netanyahu would be secretly recorded as he said "They asked me before the election if I'd honor [the Oslo accords]... I said I would, but [that] I'm going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the '67 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones; as far as I'm concerned, the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone. Go argue."

Hamas was founded in 1987 and was an opposition force to, not only Israel but, the ruling party of Palestine: Fatah. It formed out of a charity affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. By 2006, they had won the majority vote in the Palestinian legislative election and in 2007 they seized control of Gaza from Fatah. Their position was a reinstatement of Mandatory Palestine, but over time they declared they would settle for the 1967 border. They offered a truce with Israel should they honor the '67 border, to which Israel rejected.

Hamas had received backing from Israel during its foundation, according to Israeli officials Yitzhak Segev and Avner Cohen. It was meant to act as a sort of balance to act against the PLO and Fatah. This means that Hamas, considered a threat to Israeli security, began as a sort of proxy for Israel, although likely unknowingly. Israel would find themselves regretting this decision as Hamas would commit multiple acts of violence against Israeli citizens and soldiers over the years since their creation. Even with as much as there is documented, though, much of what is attributed to them is rather unclear as to whether they were actually their acts.

On October 7th, Hamas would launch a small scale attack around a music festival. Israel is believed to have also contributed to the fatalities that day. More people would be killed amidst the fallout of this event and many unsupported accusations would be made by Israel, such as a claim that Hamas engaged in mass rape during this event. Netanyahu would use this event as a springboard for what he viewed as just cause to launch an invasion of Palestine, focusing heavily on the Gaza Strip. Since then, there has been documented atrocities committed by Israel, little reliable coverage of what Hamas has been doing during this time frame, and a lot of unsubstantiated claims from both Israel and Palestine. Among the documented atrocities committed would be: humiliation and execution of Palestinians (including children), firing upon medical personnel and journalists, giving as little as only 5 minutes of warning before dropping bombs in heavily populated areas, firing upon Israeli hostages Hamas had released while they waived white flags, invaded a hospital and killed people (including children) lying in hospital beds, kidnapping, and executing an unarmed old man begging for his life at his bedside.

I've brought everything here up to show that history is not as simple as people like to present it as. There are many ups and downs, twists and turns, and even fabrications. I've seen people on both sides of the aisle present false information, deny history, and act like everything is entirely black and white the whole way down. And when I speak, I'm accused of supporting the worst things imaginable. Ancient Israel and the Israelites has been a topic of interest for me at different points in my life, I've done my digging. It would be wrong to say that the Arab Palestinians are the indigenous people and that ethnic Jews aren't. It would also be wrong to say that Israel has done no wrong, acting only in defense.

I don't take a side between Israel and Hamas. I take my side with the people caught in between this conflict that's been going on for a long time. It did not start October 7th. It all started much much much more long ago. Knowing your history is important to understanding today.

Also I wrote this on and off for about a month now and I just want to finally finish and post it, I'm not proofreading to make sure everything's entirely cohesive and strung together the best way possible, don't ever just trust some rando on the internet, do your own research.

No, I'm not pro-genocide nor antisemitic. I just like history and hate statists. Fuck this all. Heartless bastards always running the show and the people pay the price.

#israel #palestine #fuck israel #palestine genocide #israel hamas war #israel hamas conflict #Hamas #hamas is isis #history #canaan

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leroibobo · 3 months

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ok here's another explainer post explaining the aramaic language very basically:

what is aramaic?

to paraphrase wikipedia, aramaic is a northwest semitic language that the arameans (where the name comes from) spread somehow a really long time ago. it since became the prestige language in a bunch of empires like the neo-assyrian empire. although its place was eventually taken by other languges, it's still preserved to this day in many different forms.

nowadays, "aramaic" is a broad label for a very diverse dialect continuum, sort of like “arabic”, “kurdish”, “persian”, or “hindustani". in other words, it's like if we referred to all the languages in italy, including older ones like the latin spoken in roman times, collectively as “latin”. (this isn’t too far off how some governments think of minority languages actually, but that’s beside the point.)

how is aramaic related to other semitic languages?

being a northwest semitic language, aramaic is a sister of the caananite languages (making it an aunt of hebrew and phonecian), a cousin of arabic, and the second cousin of the ethio-semitic languages (making it the second cousin once removed of ge'ez). if you need a comparison, english is the second cousin of dutch.

how is aramaic used today?

specific sorts of aramaic are used today for religious and vernacular purposes. some religious aramaic:

classical syriac, which developed from eastern aramaic, is the liturgical language of the christian east and west syriac rites, each using their own dialect. classical syriac was also historically used as a literary language.

mandaic has a similar history, and is now used in the liturgy of the mandaean faith of the ethnoreligious mandaean people.

targumic aramaic refers to the archaic aramaic used in several antique translations of the tanakh from biblical hebrew into aramaic. the talmud is also in two different versions of older aramaic as well as mishnaic hebrew. these are used for study in general by all jews, and yemenite jews still use the targumim liturgically.

samaritans also have their own aramaic which is similar in form and use the jewish one.

all of these forms of aramaic are different evolutions in their own right - influencing and possibly descending directly from newer aramaic forms. we don’t know exactly what came from where, and linguists tend not to always be exactly right when figuring it out (which is why “vulgar latin” was a thing people thought was real for a while).

the vernacular aramaic spoken today are the neo-aramaic languages, which represent the latest vernacular evolutions of aramaic from late medieval times. most of the neo-aramaic varieties spoken today are central and northeastern neo-aramaic, which stem from eastern aramaic, and most of the speakers are ethnic assyrians. smaller communities speaking the only surviving variety of neo-aramaic which came from western aramaic exist in a few villages along the anti-lebanon mountains (like the village of maaloula in syria). a mostly aging community of judeo-aramaic speakers live in palestine.

a map of the homes of the living neo-aramaic varieties, which doesn't necessarily reflect where each variety is spoken (the labels are a bit confusing - pretend syriac/aramaic say "neo-aramaic", and specifically that "western syriac" says "central neo-aramaic"):

here's a map of the "larger" judeo-aramaic varieties by 1948 (judeo-aramaic was generally spoken in these areas but "smaller" dialects may not be shown or named):

i should say that not all speakers of these types of aramaic agree with some of the names linguists have ascribed what they speak. for example, "turoyo" speakers refer to their language as "surayt". linguists also gave the name "aromay" to the neo-aramaic spoken in maaloula, but the speakers themselves refer to their language as "siryon". "neo-aramaic" is itself an exonym. this part of the world is in general not written about a whole lot, and when it is, it's not always with the input of the people who are from there.

another interesting thing about the names is that, while christians tend to call it some form of s-y-r (sureth, suryat, siryon, etc, ie syriac), jews tended to call it some variation of either "our language", "jewish", or "targumic". you can find this in some other jewish languages/dialects/ethnolects.

christian/assyrian varieties seem to be a lot more widespread than jewish ones. what's that about?

there's a lot more christians in the world than there are jews.

what do you mean by “jewish” neo-aramaic, anyways?

"jewish neo-aramaic" is a term linguists gave to the many languages jews in those regions on the map spoke which are descendants of araaic. like the other types of neo-aramaic, judeo-aramaic is not one, all-encompassing language, but multiple languages that all happen to be spoken by jews. variations in regional languages can be as small as from town to town all over the world, communities with some form of separation may have their own dialects, religion has often had an effect on where you lived in the me historically, and this part of the world was known to be a place you fled to if you didn't like whatever government was in power (you could call it the "mashriq's appalacia"), hence, jewish neo-aramaic[s].

the degree of mutual intelligibility between jewish neo-aramaic types and other neo-aramaic types varies - some are unintelligible to other kinds despite the two being in the same city/town, others are exactly the same save for the stress in a word being on different syllables. differences don't mean jews and other aramaic-speakers couldn't have spoken each other's dialects, understood each other, or gotten influence from one another in addition to other contact languages. there was usually some other sort of medium they were using, be it arabic, kurdish, turkish, or a "neutral" aramaic. it's kind of like an amplified version of the differences between different arabic dialects in that way.

the association of "jewish language" usually brings about the questions of loanwords from hebrew or targumic (which many jewish neo-aramaics did have), mutual intelligibility with the "standard" form of a language, or social isolation (such as in yiddish, which itself wasn't even isolated, quite the contrary in fact), but that isn't what makes a jewish variation of a language "jewish". it's more that some variation of a language was used by jews in a specific context. (sort of like how the class differences in different english accents in the uk don't actually render different types of british english unintelligible to one another. or even how i'd probably avoid talking to my mom about my favorite video game characters because she has no idea what a "jun oda" is, but i can talk to her about other things.)

what about muslims? did/do they speak aramaic?

you can't switch the language you speak overnight, so yes, muslims who lived in places where aramaic was still widely spoken spoke aramaic instead of and even in addition to other languages in the past. also, that someone stopped speaking aramaic doesn't necessarily mean it's gone forever - not only are muslims thought to have retained an understanding of aramaic their non-muslim neighbors may've spoken even if they didn't speak it themselves, but aramaic influenced some of today's regional arabic dialects. (more on that later.) the association of neo-aramaic with non-muslims is actually rather recent in that regard.

as for aramaic-speaking muslims today, most of the the aramaic-speakers in the speaking communities on the anti-lebanon mountains i talked about earlier are muslim. the communities are close-knit, and the isolation helps.

and what about mandaeans and samaritans? do they have a vernacular aramaic?

not only do mandaeans have one - neo-mandaic - but it's the only surviving pre-medieval vernacular aramaic dialect. (it’s the only vernacular aramaic that isn’t a “neo”.)

i’m sure samaritans also had their own vernacular aramaic before switching to arabic (which they spoke before the occupation happened). western vernacular aramaic usually didn’t last.

how come? does it have anything to do with most neo-aramaic being central and northeastern, like the map showed?

it does. differences in geography (east med = more densely populated; north mesopotamia = less densely populated and more mountains), which pre-arab and post-jesus empires ruled where (byzantines ended up with most of the places west aramaic was spoken), and how much those empires cared about aramaic resulted in arabic taking over as the vernacular in pretty much all the western areas except in more rural places, while more of the generally more isolated eastern aramaic-speaking communities lasted. in general, the more urban and shami you were, the shorter time it took you to adopt arabic.

also, classical syriac having a lasting literary history and barely any western aramaic languages being able to say the same contributed to what future generations were able to pick up on. the greek-influenced christians in those west armaic speaking areas had a habit of burning aramaic-language manuscripts because of church fandom drama. there's some revival efforts in traditionally western neo-aramaic speaking communities, though in places like palestine and lebanon, these may take on a certain political dimension that they don't have elsewhere.

what else differentiates different types of aramaic?

the same things that differentiate different versions of other dialect continuums: languages speakers spoke before, the passage of time, different neighboring languages, and geographic distance (“western”, “eastern”) bring about new quirks in pronunciation/phrasing/grammar/loanwords. this is pretty heavy stuff, so if you want the specifics, i recommend looking into the timeline of a specific aramaic language.

is western neo-aramaic closer to what jesus spoke? is it more authentic?

in theory, sure - he would've spoken a western vernacular variety called galilean jewish aramaic specifically. in reality, this question is like asking if british english is more authentic to the english shakespeare spoke. aramaic in general and the world as a whole have changed so much from the time jesus would've lived. he would understand any of today's aramaic just as much as shakespeare would understand the english spoken on tiktok.

how's mutual intelligibility?

it can vary significantly or not at all, but the same aramaic "basis" is still there in all forms. i'd wager it's about the same level of differences you'd find between different romance languages.

here's some transliterations of the lord's prayer (our father who art in heaven etc) in western neo-aramaic, suryat/turoyo, the eastern dialect of classical syriac, and (for some reason) hebrew courtesy of wikipedia to show a few differences:

or this one, of the assyrian and jewish urmia dialects:

did aramaic influence other languages at all?

like i implied in the second question, all the semitic languages are super close, and a lot of them have cognates or similar words/phrases. in that sense, it may not be as easy to say what definitively came from where, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

before levantine and mesopotamian arabic speakers spoke arabic, aramaic was the lingua franca in the areas where they lived. aramaic forms a substrate in all of these types of arabic in loanwords, some pronunciation, and a few grammatical features. aramaic influence is more significant in certain types, such as in more rural dialects of levantine arabic as well as northern and jewish dialects of mesopotamian arabic, which speaks to how arabic spread in those areas. (i also heard the dialect of arabic marsh arabs speak has a lot of aramaic influence but i couldn't find a good source.) this is a pattern you can find in regional variations of arabic in general, such as the influence of coptic on egyptian arabic.

(arabic in general also has a number of aramaic loanwords, like دفتر (daftar), or "notebook". this word is originally greek but came via aramaic.)

hebrew, being often used together with it in the past (and aramaic eventually supplanting it as a spoken language), has been influenced by it for a while now. aramaic also formed an influence on pretty much all the non-aramaic (since those are already aramaic) jewish languages in a similar way to what happened with levantine/mesopotamian arabic, though hebrew influences jewish languages more than aramaic generally. it also influenced most of the loans in modern hebrew, including the words they made up (like "glida" for "ice cream", which comes from an identical word meaning "ice" or "frost". i don't know if the word "gelato" had anything to do with this as well, but it might as well have.)

aramaic also has influences on kurdish, farsi, armenian, ge'ez, turkish, latin, greek, and probably more that i can't think about right now via loanwords and terms, though they're not as significant. and yes, that latin/greek means we have aramaic-derived words in english, too, such as "messiah", though they're mostly in the form of given names like "matthew" and "peter".

is aramaic endangered? are the other varieties of aramaic extinct?

the religious languages are all in continuous use in one way or another, but not as vernacular with native speakers, so they'd be considered "dead". (this is what hebrew was before its revival.) an "extinct" language is a language that didn't even survive via written records, which some varieties of aramaic (mostly western ones, like i mentioned earlier) are.

as for vernacular aramaic, all of them are endangered - i don't think there's any varieties with over a million speakers, and no varieties are an official language anywhere - but some varieties are safer than others. the ones that are doing the worst right now are probably neo-mandaic (which only has a few thousand native speakers), the jewish neo-aramaic dialects (which can vary from a few thousand to a few hundred to single digit speakers, the one with the most speakers right now is the hulaulá ("jewish") dialect with 10,000 due to most of its speakers coming much later than others (from iran in 1979)), and a handful of christian/assyrian regional dialects (like the one of hertevin).

western neo-aramaic is endangered in the sense that it's the only surviving vernacular western neo-aramaic with a speaking community, but there's 30k speakers as of 2023, so it could be doing worse.

what scripts are used to write aramaic?

it's worth noting that vernacular neo-aramaic everywhere was only passed down orally for generations, and written forms, especially for teaching, are quite recent. also, all the scripts i'm about to mention are right-to-left abjads. that said:

the old aramaic script was used to write it in the past. from a combination of it and paleo-hebrew developed the hebrew script (which used to be called "ktav ashuri", or "assyrian script"), which has been used to write all jewish variations of aramaic since, and is used to write judeo-aramaic today. samaritans use their own script to write in aramaic.

the old aramaic script also birthed the nabataean script (which is the parent of the arabic script) and a few historic persian scripts like the pahlavi script (which gave us the avestan script).

syriac script, in use from the first century, is used to write classical syriac as well as the many varieties of neo-aramaic spoken by christians/assyrians today. the revival efforts in maaloula originally used a very familiar script but eventually switched to the syriac one because that one looked a little too familiar.

the syriac script also developed from the aramaic script. (if you know how to read the hebrew or arabic scripts, see if you can recognize letters below.) there's some variations between the eastern and western syriac scripts (called "maḏnḥāyā" (eastern) and "serṭā" (line) respectively), along with the classical 'esṭrangelā (rounded) script. the two main differences are:

vowel notation - western uses small greek letters (ܓܱ = ga, notice the small A on the bottom), eastern uses an older form (ܓܲ = ga, with a dot above and below). like with other abjads, you won't usually see vowel notations in use at all.

font/shape - you can't see them in unicode, but each have a particular style they're written in. as you can guess from the name, 'estrangela is more "rounded", eastern is generally heavier and conservative in its rendering, and western is more simplified. (the kind used in unicode is 'estrangela.)

some examples, again courtesy of wikipedia:

syriac script also has some descendants. its child, the sogdian script, was used to write the iranian sogdian language, and is the parent of the manichaean aramaic script, the old turkic script (which gave birth to the old hungarian script), and the old uyghur script (which gave birth to the mongolian and manchu scripts).

mandaic also has its own script, the mandaic script. it's another descendant of the aramaic script (maybe via parthian) in use since the 2nd century ce. it's used to write both classical and neo-mandaic. instead of traditional semitic letter names like "aleph", "bet", "gimel", etc, it's known to use its own names, like "a", "ba", "ga", etc. neo-mandaic uses a modified version of the classical script but it's barely written to begin with.

here's a written sample of article 1 of the universal declaration of human rights written in classical mandaic script:

i don't have any familial or religious connection to aramaic, but i'd like to learn it. can i?

after you pick which sort of "aramaic" you wanna learn, i don't see why not. it's not closed or anything. there's probably someone out there who feels differently but that's their problem.

where can i learn [aramaic type], or learn more about it?

i'm trying to find this out myself. the only actual judeo-aramaic learning resource i could find was the mysterious once-a-year class offered by oxford's school of rare jewish languages. that said, here's some resources i know about:

northeast neo-aramaic database project - a database by cambridge of info on different dialects of nena neo-aramaic, including recordings, layouts of the grammar, and comparisons between different dialects.

resources on reddit's language learning sub

two pdfs to make up for that broken first one

šlama.io - focuses on assyrian neo-aramaic (sureth)

surayt.com - resources for surayt

mandaean network - resources on mandaic.

r12a - resources on how different scripts in all languages work, good resource for languages/scripts in general.

if you know any more resources, reply with them to this post and i'll put 'em here.

#languageposting #aramaic #christian #jewish #assyrian #mizrahi #my posts

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baalsblade · 8 months

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So who is Baal?

Baal or Baʻal, was a title and honorific meaning 'owner', 'lord' in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity.

Baal is a God of fertility, weather, rain, wind, lightning, seasons, war, sailors and so on.

Baal worship is also called Baalism.

Solid cast bronze of a votive figurine representing the god Baal discovered at Tel Megiddo, dating to the mid-2nd millennium BC.

His holy symbols are bull, ram and thunderbolt.

Baal was worshipped in ancient Syria, especially Halab, near, around and at Ugarit, Canaan, North Africa and Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

Baʿal is well-attested in surviving inscriptions and was popular in theophoric names throughout the Levant but he is usually mentioned along with other gods, "his own field of action being seldom defined". Nonetheless, Ugaritic records show him as a weather god, with particular power over lightning, wind, rain, and fertility. The dry summers of the area were explained as Baʿal's time in the underworld and his return in autumn was said to cause the storms which revived the land. Thus, the worship of Baʿal in Canaan—where he eventually supplanted El as the leader of the gods and patron of kingship—was connected to the regions' dependence on rainfall for its agriculture, unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, which focused on irrigation from their major rivers. Anxiety about the availability of water for crops and trees increased the importance of his cult, which focused attention on his role as a rain god. He was also called upon during battle, showing that he was thought to intervene actively in the world of man, unlike the more aloof El. The Lebanese city of Baalbeck was named after Baal.

The Baʿal of Ugarit was the epithet of Hadad but as the time passed, the epithet became the god's name while Hadad became the epithet. Baʿal was usually said to be the son of Dagan, but appears as one of the sons of El in Ugaritic sources. Both Baʿal and El were associated with the bull in Ugaritic texts, as it symbolized both strength and fertility. He held special enmity against snakes, both on their own and as representatives of Yammu (lit. "Sea"), the Canaanite sea god and river god. He fought the Tannin (Tunnanu), the "Twisted Serpent" (Bṭn ʿqltn), "Lotan the Fugitive Serpent" (Ltn Bṭn Brḥ, the biblical Leviathan), and the "Mighty One with Seven Heads" (Šlyṭ D.šbʿt Rašm). Baʿal's conflict with Yammu is now generally regarded as the prototype of the vision recorded in the 7th chapter of the biblicalBook of Daniel. As vanquisher of the sea, Baʿal was regarded by the Canaanites and Phoenicians as the patron of sailors and sea-going merchants. As vanquisher of Mot, the Canaanite death god, he was known as Baʿal Rāpiʾuma (Bʿl Rpu) and regarded as the leader of the Rephaim (Rpum), the ancestral spirits, particularly those of ruling dynasties.

From Canaan, worship of Baʿal spread to Egypt by the Middle Kingdom and throughout the Mediterranean following the waves of Phoenician colonization in the early 1st millennium BCE. He was described with diverse epithets and, before Ugarit was rediscovered, it was supposed that these referred to distinct local gods. However, as explained by Day, the texts at Ugarit revealed that they were considered "local manifestations of this particular deity, analogous to the local manifestations of the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church". In those inscriptions, he is frequently described as "Victorious Baʿal" (Aliyn or ẢlỈyn Baʿal), "Mightiest one" (Aliy or ʿAly) or "Mightiest of the Heroes" (Aliy Qrdm), "The Powerful One" (Dmrn), and in his role as patron of the city "Baʿal of Ugarit" (Baʿal Ugarit). As Baʿal Zaphon (Baʿal Ṣapunu), he was particularly associated with his palace atop Jebel Aqra (the ancient Mount Ṣapānu and classical Mons Casius). He is also mentioned as "Winged Baʿal" (Bʿl Knp) and "Baʿal of the Arrows" (Bʿl Ḥẓ). Phoenician and Aramaic inscriptions describe "Baʿal of the Mace" (Bʿl Krntryš), "Baʿal of the Lebanon" (Bʿl Lbnn), "Baʿal of Sidon" (Bʿl Ṣdn), Bʿl Ṣmd, "Baʿal of the Heavens" (Baʿal Shamem or Shamayin), Baʿal ʾAddir (Bʿl ʾdr), Baʿal Hammon (Baʿal Ḥamon), Bʿl Mgnm.

The epithet Hammon is obscure. Most often, it is connected with the NW Semitic ḥammān ("brazier") and associated with a role as a sun god. Renan and Gibson linked it to Hammon (modern Umm el-‘Amed between Tyre in Lebanon and Acre in Israel) and Cross and Lipiński to Haman or Khamōn, the classical Mount Amanus and modern Nur Mountains, which separate northern Syria from southeastern Cilicia.

The major source of our direct knowledge of this Canaanite deity comes from the Ras Shamra tablets, discovered in northern Syria in 1958, which record fragments of a mythological story known to scholars as the Baal Cycle. Here, he earns his position as the champion and ruler of the gods. The fragmentary text seems to indicate a feud between him and his father El as background. El chooses the fearsome sea god Yam to reign as king of the gods. Yam rules harshly, and the other deities cry out to Ashera, called Lady of the Sea, to aid. Ashera offers herself as a sacrifice if Yam will ease his grip on her children. He agrees, but Baal opposes such a scheme and boldly declares he will defeat Yam even though El declares that he must subject himself to Yam.

With the aid of magical weapons given to him by the divine craftsman Kothar-wa-Khasis, Baal defeats Yam and is declared victorious. He then builds a house on Mount Saphon, today known as Jebel al-Aqra. (This mountain, 1780 meters high, stands only 15 km north of the site of Ugarit, clearly visible from the city itself.)

Lo, also it is the time of His rain. Baal sets the season, And gives forth His voice from the clouds. He flashes lightning to the earth. As a house of cedars let Him complete it, Or a house of bricks let Him erect it! Let it be told to Aliyan Baal: 'The mountains will bring Thee much silver. The hills, the choicest of gold; The mines will bring Thee precious stones, And build a house of silver and gold. A house of lapis gems!'

However, the god of the underworld, Mot, soon lures Baal to his death, spelling ruin for the land. His sister Anat retrieves his body and begs Mot to revive him. When her pleas are rebuffed, Anat assaults Mot, ripping him to pieces and scattering his remains like fertilizer over the fields.

El, in the meantime, has had a dream in which fertility returned to the land, suggesting that Baal was not indeed dead. Eventually he is restored. However, Mot too has revived and mounts a new attack against him.

They shake each other like Gemar-beasts, Mavet [Mot] is strong, Baal is strong. They gore each other like buffaloes, Mavet is strong, Baal is strong. They bite like serpents, Mavet is strong, Baal is strong. They kick like racing beasts, Mavet is down. Baal is down.

After this titanic battle, neither side has completely prevailed. Knowing that the other gods now support Baal and fearing El's wrath, Mot finally bows before him, leaving him in possession of the land and the undisputed regent of the gods.

Baal is thus the archetypal fertility deity. His death signals drought and his resurrection, and brings both rain and new life. He is also the vanquisher of death. His role as a maker of rain would be particularly important in the relatively arid area of Palestine, where no mighty river such as the Euphrates or the Nile existed.

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templeofoccultpractices · 1 year

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29-Dutchess Astaroth

Enn:Tasa alora foren Astaroth

Other Names: Ashtaroth, Ashtarot, Ashtoreth, Astarot

(Astarte is another name, though often thought to be a separate entity, potentially Ishtar.)

The Twenty-ninth Spirit is Duke/Dutchess Astaroth. A spirit of divination/scrying, love, and friendship. He appears in the form of an hurtful angel riding on an Infernal beast like a dragon, and carrying in his right hand a viper. He is ghostly pale in color, something like a corpse with blackened eyes – no pupils. He gives true answers of things past, present, and to come, and can discover all secrets. He will declare wittingly how the spirits fell, if desired, and the reason of his own fall. He can make men wonderfully knowing in all liberal sciences. He rules 40 Legions of spirits.

Astarte

Astarte/Ἀστάρτη, is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar.

In the Baʿal Epic of Ugarit, Ashtart is one of the allies of the eponymous hero. With the help of Anat she stops him from attacking the messengers who deliver the demands of Yam and later assists him in the battle against the sea god, possibly "exhorting him to complete the task" during it. It's a matter of academic debate if they were also viewed as consorts. Their close relation is highlighted by the epithet "face of Baal" or "of the name of Baal."

A different narrative, so-called "Myth of Astarte the huntress" casts Ashtart herself as the protagonist, and seemingly deals both with her role as a goddess of the hunt stalking game in the steppe, and with her possible relationship with Baal.

Call upon Duke/Dutchess Astaroth for

⬩Answers on the past, present, or future

⬩Divination and scrying

⬩Discovery of secrets

⬩Liberal sciences

⬩Love and friendship and finding them

⬩War and hunting

⬩Ask him what else he's willing to work with you on⬩

⊱•━━━━━━⊰In Ritual⊱━━━━━•⊰

Enn:

Sigil:Posted above

Plant:Laurel

Incense:Sandalwood

⬩Green candles or objects

⬩Ask Duke Astaroth what he likes⬩

⬩It is important to learn protections before trying to work with any spirits. You can get tricksters and parasites if you don't.

Cleansings- cleaning your space of negative energies. You can burn herbs or incense for this.

Banishings- forcing negative energies out of your space. The lesser banishing ritual is one of the most commonly used.

Warding- wards keep negative energy out of your space. Amulets, sigils and talismans do this.

Set up a your space and do a cleanse and banishing. Have wards up in your home. Meditation is to calm yourself and get your mind ready. The sigil (symbol) is what you draw on paper. The enn is what you chant or say to call forth the spirit.⬩

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naareblogs · 5 months

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Yes I'm the person who grouped Finnish and Norwegian together in a language poll, and forgot Portuguese; I'm doing a whole new poll with the guide of this infographic

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hot-boy-autumn · 1 year

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🎃Intro post promo🎃

Hello! I’ve made this blog after being on tumblr for nearly 10 years. Autumn is my favorite season and I wanted to make a blog dedicated to this wonderful season. This blog would include

•Halloween

•autumn

•ghost hunting

•cryptidcore

•dark academia

•spooky stuff

•horror

•the lost boys

•the Pacific Northwest

•gravity falls

•gothic posts

•occasional winter posts depending on the vibes

And many more related to the season. This blog will be run year round and updated as frequently as I can, original aesthetic boards and posts are under #my posts, reblogs encourage and appreciated. I hope you enjoy your stay here!

🚫Don’t interact list under the cut (updated 12/1/23) Blog is anti Ai and I do block Ai blogs so if you can’t reblog my shit that’s why

Will add onto this

DNI terfs, radfems, racists, homophobes, pedos, maps, pro-ship, pro-paraphilia, anti-Semitic, zionists and genocide supporters fuck off, pro-incest, truescum, truecute, transphobes, transmeds, if you hate non-binary people get the fuck out of here, gender critical, pro ed or ana or thinspo, dd/lg or dd/lb (Seriously gross), Ace/Aro exclusionists, people who support ai art, if you are pro gun and anti gun control fuck off, pro life, if you don’t believe climate change, if you think all men are evil, trump supporters can fuck off, if you’re antivax,

#Halloween #autumn #halloweencore #autumncore #dark acamedia #cryptidcore #ghost hunting #spooky season #autumn aesthetic #halloween aesthetic #fall aesthetic #fall #autumn academia #fall academia #autumn blog #aesthetic blog #aesthetic blogs #my posts #pro ed bl0gs don’t fucking interact thanks

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deathlessathanasia · 1 year

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"Zeus himself, the central character in Hesiod’s Theogony, bears some of the most easily recognizable Northwest Semitic features, in addition to those of the Indo-European Sky God inherited by the Greeks. It is not necessary, therefore, to discuss them at length. It suffices to recall that the Canaanite Storm God Baal and the homologous Greek god share a similar position in the succession of kings in Heaven, as well as the position of the youngest son. They both reign from a palace on a northern mountain (Olympos, Zapanu/Zaphon), and they wield thunder as their distinctive weapon. As with his Near Eastern counterparts, thunder, lightning, and the thunderbolt were the “missiles/shafts of great Zeus.” The position of his sister and principal consort Hera is like that of Anat, Baal’s sister and partner (though not consort). For some, this coupling “violates the incest taboo” in Greek myth but allows Hera to remain an “equal” partner according to her right of birth, as the daughter of Kronos. In Il. 4.59 she is the oldest daughter, in Il. 16.432,18.352 she is called “sister and wife” and in Hesiod Th. 454 she is the youngest daughter of Kronos, exactly as Zeus is the last son.

The list of similarities between Zeus and the different manifestations of the Canaanite god (either Baal or El or Yahweh in the later Hebrew theology) is long and has been the subject of much discussion by classicists, Semitists, and biblical scholars. Perhaps most interesting are the parallels noticeable at the level of their epithets, such as Zeus the “cloud-gatherer” (nephelegereta)or “lightener” (asteropetes), and the frequent characterization of Baal in Ugaritic poetry as the “cloud-rider” (rkb ʿrpt). Other epithets of the Northwest Semitic Storm God Adad (Haddad) are preserved in Akkadian hymns, such as “lord of lightning” or “establisher of clouds.” …

Zeus’ “high-in-the-Sky” position and Sky-nature are reflected in other epithets such as hypatos and hypsistos. At the same time, similar divine epithets meaning “the high one” (eli, elyon, and ram) are very common in Northwest Semitic religious texts, accompanying several principal divinities. For instance, this epithet is used in the Ugaritic epic for Baal, and different forms of the adjective are attested in Aramaic, as well as in the Hebrew Bible accompanying El, Yahweh, and Elohim. … The association of the Storm God in Syro-Palestine with the bull as a symbol of fertility is also present in the various mythological narratives involving Zeus, most clearly in the famous motif of Zeus’ kidnapping the Phoenician princess Europa and carrying her on his back after taking the shape of a bull.

The final fight of Zeus with Typhon (Th. 820-880) has also been compared to the fight between Baal and Yam (the Sea) in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle and to that between Demarous and Pontos (the Sea) in Philon’s Phoenician History (P.E. 1.10.28). As mentioned earlier, the Storm God’s struggle with a monster also (albeit more distantly) resembles the clash between the Hurrian Weather God Teshub and the monsters Ullikummi, Illuyanka, and Hedammu. The figure of Typhon in Hesiod can in fact be seen as a Greek version of a “cosmic rebel” repeatedly reimagined with different characteristics in the specific versions, who endangers the Weather God’s power and generally has both marine and chthonic features. The Levantine and Greek adversaries probably have more than a merely thematic resonance, as the very name of Typhon might have a Semitic origin. It has hypothetically but quite convincingly been associated with the Semitic name Zaphon. Mount Zaphon (Ugaritic Zapunu or Zapanu) is a central point of reference in the geography and the religion of Ugarit. Known by Greeks and Romans as Kasion oros/ mons Casius (today Jebel al-Aqra), this peak on the north coast of Syria (south of the Orontes River) was also mentioned in Hurrian-Hittite myths. The mountain occupies a central spot in both the fight between Ullikummi and Teshub (as Mount Hazzi) and in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle. In the Ugaritic epic, the fight against Yam (the Sea) is not described as taking place on the mountain, but the celebration of Baal’s victory is, as it is the god’s abode overlooking the Mediterranean: “With sweet voice the hero sings / over Baalu on the summit / of Sapan (= Zaphon).” Much later, Apollodoros locates the cosmic fight with Typhon on Mons Casius precisely, which indicates that the link between Typhon and Zaphon had persisted, even though the name known to Hellenistic authors was the Greek, not the Semitic one."

- When the Gods Were Born: Greek Cosmogonies and the Near East by Carolina López-Ruiz

#greek mythology #ugaritic mythology #zeus #typhon #baal #canaanite religion #quotes #excerpts

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tanadrin · 2 years

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“Are you trying to say that the Palestinians aren't the original people of Judea?” what a funny way to phrase that. what ethnic group does anon think “Judea” might be named after?

This is, I'm afraid, just as stupid an ask as the original anon. Again, the Jews are not the original inhabitants of Palestine/Judea/the southwestern Fertile Crescent! In fact, according to Jewish mythology, the Jewish claim to the land rests on the divinely sanctioned massacre of its previous inhabitants, which is a very bad justification by modern standards. Indeed, the original name of the land, according to those narratives, was Canaan--after, y'know, the Canaanites. Archeologically speaking, the ancient Hebrews are a subgroup that emerges gradually out of the other Canaanite/Northwest Semitic cultures in the region--it's clear that that's not actually what happened--but these people are not culturally, genetically, or religiously identical to modern Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews. And having an ancient ancestral link to a distant place does not in fact give you property rights over that place, or else the United States would have a right to conquer Britain, partition the country, and expel the English.

The people in southwest Asia actually haven't suffered any major population ruptures in the last 2,000 years from what I understand; what has changed enormously in that time is culture and religion--Hellenization from the conquests of Alexander, Romanization and Christianization under the Roman Empire, and Islamization and Arabization under the Muslim conquests. But genealogically the Palestinians are pretty much continuous with the ancient Hebrews. Language and religion change a lot more easily than actual people do.

And this is why treating ethnicity--which is an identity category not the same as but entangled with all these historically contingent markers like language and religion--as the primary unit of moral concerns is a bad idea. You do not get to expel people from their homes because they do not practice the ways of their ancient ancestors!

And again, let me remind you--the original inhabitants of "Judea" (which has had many names) were a group of Neanderthals whose language has been forgotten. If we're going to use names as signifiers of the original inhabitants, we should probably rename the country something in Pleistocenese, along with most of Europe and western Asia.

#it really is impossible to have a normal conversation in the context of israel-palestine discourse #which is why i do not want to discuss that political context specifically #i just want to push back against this kind of reflexive shallow nonsense #that sees expression in many other contexts as well

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elizabeth-halime · 1 year

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El/El Elyon/El Shaddai = "Ēl (Hebrew: אל) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning "god" or "god". In the English Bible, the derived name Elohim is usually translated as "God", while Yahweh is translated as "The Lord". El can be translated as "God" or "god", depending on whether it refers to the One God or a lesser divine being. As an element in proper names, "el" is found in ancient Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic languages, as well as in Hebrew (for example, "Samu·el" and "Jo·el"). In the post-biblical period, "el" becomes a regular element in the names of angels such as "Gabri·el", "Micha·el", and "Azri·el", to denote their status as divine beings. The semantic root of the Islamic word for God "Allah" is related to the Semitic word El. In the Bible, El was the deity worshiped by the Hebrew patriarchs, for example as El Shaddai (Almighty God) or El Elyon (Most High God) before the revelation of his name Yahweh to Moses. But El was also worshiped by non-Israelites, such as Melchizedek (Genesis 14:9). Scholars have found much extra-biblical evidence of canaanite worship of El as the supreme deity, creator of heaven and earth, the father of mankind, the husband of the goddess Asherah, and the father of many other gods. Canaanite mythology about El may have directly influenced the development of later Greco-Roman stories of the gods."

"In canaanite religion, or levantine religion as a whole, Eli or Il was the supreme god, the father of mankind and all creatures, and the husband of the goddess Asherah, as recorded in the tablets of Ugarit. The word El was found at the top of a list of gods as the Elder of the gods or the Father of all gods, in the ruins of the Royal Library of the Ebla civilization, at the archaeological site of Tell Mardikh in Syria dated to 2300 BC. He may have been a desert god at some point, as myths say he had two wives and built a shrine with them and their new children in the desert. El spawned many gods, but the most important ones were Hadad, Yam and Mot."

#history #El #God el #Canaanite god #Phoenician god #god of israel #Israel #Gods #my favorite #mythology #Mythology #God of storm #god of creation #God of heaven #God of bulls #God of skies

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menalez · 11 months

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Contrary to what the Bible says, the evidence strongly suggests that Jewish, Samaritan, Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese populations were originally Canaanite, with the last three becoming culturally Arab. The Exodus never happened and the Israelites were most likely a subgroup of Canaanites. Hebrew is itself belongs to the Canaanite subgroup of the Northwest Semitic languages along with languages like Phoenician.

The situation of the Samaritans in Israel is very interesting. I don’t fully understand the rational behind their not having the same rights as Jews without formal conversion if they are also descended from the Israelites and practise a religion which honestly doesn’t seem very different from Judaism.

i was just reading about the exodus due to ur anon as i’m not particularly informed about it and as you said, it seems evidence does not support it. there probably is some historical accuracy within it, but overall it is not historically accurate. which makes sense, holy books were not written as the events were ongoing but rather passed down and written long after.

and frankly the reasoning is that it is a religious ethnostate! there’s no rationale to any of it beyond that. even converts to judaism get every right in that country that indigenous people to the land do not. it’s transparent as hell. the fact that repeated research has shown palestinians to be descendants of the canaanites, not balkan invaders or russians or arab colonisers from the peninsula or anything else, and yet STILL the argument that they are colonisers in their own country purely bc they’re primarily christians & muslims says more than enough.

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voices-of-hyrule · 1 year

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Okay, maybe you've explained this somewhere, but why is Hylian apparently Gaelic? That's not a criticism, it's a beautiful and very fantastical language, I'm just wondering about your thought process and if there's any in game evidence of it that I can go admire.

(Sorry about the grammar, it makes my brain go 'brrrr'.)

So, (my version of) Hylian resembles Irish at a glance because I based the spelling/pronunciation of it heavily on Irish; however, I derived the language itself from Proto-Semitic (and especially Northwest and Central Semitic), so the vocabulary and grammar should be roughly familiar to speakers of Hebrew, Arabic, or Aramaic. I like to joke that I took Ancient Hebrew and steeped it for 2500 years in Irish and that's where Hylian came from. As for in-game reasons, I have literally zero of them — these decisions were entirely arbitrary on my part based on my love for both Irish and Hebrew.

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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The Publix heiress who bankrolled the Donald Trump rally that preceded the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack has donated money to another controversial cause — a congressional candidate who called J6 defendants "political prisoners," schmoozed with extremist Nick Fuentes, and supported a right-wing outfit known for violent clashes with left-wing groups.

Julie Jenkins Fancelli, daughter of late Publix Super Markets founder George W. Jenkins, has been offloading money to GOP campaigns and causes for years. In 2020, Fancelli sent the maximum federal donation to Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign. She proffered $3 million to back the January 6 rally, its organizers, and supporting groups, ultimately donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cause, the Washington Post reported. In July 2022, Fancelli gave $50,000 to Moms for Liberty, marking the first major contribution to the political action committee linked to the conservative group known for its school book-banning efforts across Florida.

Most recently, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records indicate Fancelli donated more than $13,000 to Republican Joe Kent, a Washington congressional candidate and military veteran who has been criticized for his support of far-right figures and groups.

On June 7, Fancelli gave $6,600 to the Joe Kent Victory Fund PAC and another $6,600 to Joe Kent for Congress, totaling $13,200 in donations to the candidate, according to FEC records.

Kent is vying to represent Washington's 3rd congressional district in 2024 after previously losing a bid for the seat to Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Since January, records show the Joe Kent Victory Fund PAC has raised more than $361,000, while Joe Kent for Congress has raked in more than $204,000.

Kent became a politician after serving in the military for 20 years, during which he was deployed as a U.S. Army Green Beret multiple times. The Oregon native has appeared as a guest on Steve Bannon's War Room, Alex Jones' Infowars channel, and Tucker Carlson Tonight.

A July 2022 Associated Press story reported that Kent was a political ally of Joey Gibson, founder of Patriot Prayer, and hired a member of the militant Proud Boys as a campaign consultant.

In a July 2021 video, Kent openly voiced support for Patriot Prayer, a group that organized increasingly tense rallies between 2017 and 2020 in Portland and Seattle, some of which descended into violent confrontations between left-wing activists and members of Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys. After a brawl with purported Antifa members outside the Cider Riot ciderhouse in Portland in 2019, members of Patriot Prayer pleaded guilty to riot charges. In July 2022, a judge cleared Gibson of charges stemming from the incident.

Kent hosted a call early in his first congressional campaign to discuss strategy with extremist Nick Fuentes, founder of the "Groyper Army," who said Kent praised his social media presence. Kent later disavowed the anti-Semite in March 2022, saying he did not want Fuentes' endorsement on account of Fuentes' exclusionary, white nationalist message. Kent's reproach led Fuentes to go on repeated public tirades about the candidate, including one in which he declared, "You're not going to take our support and then throw us under the bus."

At a 2022 event organized by Kent's political aide Matt Braynard to show solidarity with defendants charged in the Capitol riot, Kent made a spirited speech in which he referred to the defendants as "political prisoners."

According to Braynard, Kent's "inclusive populism rejects racism and bigotry and invites all Americans to support his aggressive America First agenda of rebuilding our industries, ending illegal immigration, and stopping stupid military interventions that don't directly support our national interest."

In May, Fancelli donated more than $15,000 to two other GOP candidates: $9,900 to Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, and $6,600 to Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana.

Publix did not respond to New Times' requests for comment, and attempts to reach Fancelli were unsuccessful.

Publix spokespeople previously told New Times that the Fancelli family is not involved in the management of the supermarket chain and holds no decision-making power over the company. A 2018 financial filing states that the prior year, Publix purchased food from Alma Foods, a supplier owned by Fancelli, but that "subsequent to April 2017, Julia Jenkins Fancelli has no ownership of Alma."

Fancelli grew up in Lakeland, Florida, home of Publix's headquarters. According to Forbes, the Jenkins family had an $8.8 billion fortune as of 2020, making it one of the wealthiest families in America.

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