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Barbarian

Barbarian

:For other meanings of Barbarian see Barbarian (disambiguation)

Greek origins of the term

Barbarian comes from the ancient Greek word barbaros which meant a non-Greek, someone whose (first) language was not Greek. The word is imitative, the "bar-bar" representing the impression of random hubbub produced by hearing spoken a language that one cannot understand. Originally the term is empty of content beyond 'not Greek'. The Greeks encountered scores of different foreign cultures (Egyptian, Persian, Phoenician, Etruscan, Roman, Carthaginian, Kurdish, Basque and so on) which had no characteristics in common with each other. (Plato Statesman 262de rejects the Greek-barbarian dichotomy as a logical absurdity on just such grounds: dividing the world into Greeks and non-Greeks tells you nothing about the second group.) It is not the case that Greeks automatically despised all alien cultures. They were aware of the greater antiquity of the much more developed civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia, from whom they borrowed extensively. In Homer the term appears only once (Iliad 2.867), in the form barbarophonos ("of incomprehensible speech"), used of the Carians fighting for the Trojans. Notably the Trojans themselves, who despite bearing Hellenized names in the Homeric telling are emphatically not Greek, are not called barbaroi. In general the concept of barbaros does not figure largely in archaic literature (before 5th cenury BC). A change occurred in the connotations of the word after the Greco-Persian Wars in the first half of the 5th century BC. Here a hasty coalition of Greeks defeated a vast empire. Indeed in the Greek of this period 'barbarian' is often used expressly to mean Persian. In the wake of this victory they began to see themselves as superior militarily and politically. A stereotype developed in which hardy Greeks live as free men in city-states where politics are a communal possession, whereas among the womanish barbarians everyone beneath the Great King is no better than his slave. This marks the birth of the cultural view termed "orientalism". A parallel factor was the growth of chattel slavery especially at Athens. Although enslavement of Greeks for non-payment of debt continued in most Greek states, it was banned at Athens under Solon in the early 6th century BC. Under the Athenian democracy established ca 508 BC slavery came to be used on a scale never before seen among the Greeks. Massive concentrations of slaves were worked under especially brutal conditions in the silver mines at Laureion (a major find there in 483 BC), while skilled slave craftsmen producing manufactured goods in small factories and workshops becoming increasingly common. Furthermore, all but the poorest of Athenian households came to have slaves to supplement the work of their free members. Slaves were no longer the preserve of the rich. Overwhelmingly, they were "barbarian" in origin, drawn especially from lands around the Black Sea such as Thrace and the Tauric Chersonese (Crimea), while from Asia Minor came above all Lydians, Phrygians and Carians. It is hard not to despise the people you are keeping as your slaves, even essential: in the intellectual justification of slavery (Aristotle Politics 1.2-7; 3.14), barbarians are slaves by nature. From this period words like barbarophonos cited above from Homer began to be used not only of the sound of a foreign language but of foreigners speaking Greek improperly. In Greek the notions of language and reason are easily confused in the word logos, so speaking poorly was easily conflated with being stupid—an association not of course limited to ancient Greeks.

Hellenic stereotype

Out of those sources the Hellenic stereotype was elaborated: barbarians are like children, unable to speak or reason properly, cowardly, effeminate, luxurious, cruel, unable to control their appetites and desires, politically unable to govern themselves. These stereotypes were voiced with much shrillness by writers like Isocrates in the 4th century BC who called for a war of conquest against Persia as a panacea for Greek problems. But one could cite in particular Xenophon who wrote the Cyropedia, a laudatory fictionalised account of Cyrus, the founder of Persian empire, effectively a utopian text. In his Anabasis, Xenophon's accounts of the Persians and other non-Greeks he knew or encountered hardly seem to be under the sway of these stereotypes at all. Barbarian is used in its Hellenic sense by Paul in the New Testament (Romans 1:14) to describe non-Greeks, and to describe one who merely speaks a different language (1 Corinthians 14:11). The word is not used in these scriptures in the modern sense of "savage".

Later developments, other cultures

Historically, the term barbarian has seen widespread use. Many peoples have dismissed alien cultures and even rival civilizations as barbarians because they were unrecognizably strange. The Greeks admired Scythians and Eastern Gauls as heroic individuals— even in the case of Anacharsis as philosophers—but considered their culture to be barbaric. The Romans indiscriminately regarded the various Germanic tribes, the settled Gauls, and the raiding Huns as barbarians all. The Chinese (Han Chinese) of the Chinese Empire regarded the Xiongnu, Tatars, Turks, Mongols, Jurchen, Manchu, and Europeans as barbaric. The Chinese used different terms for barbarians from different directions of the compass. Those in the east were called Dongyi (东夷), those in the west were called Xirong (西戎), those in the south were called Nanman (南蛮), and those in the north were called Beidi (北狄). The Japanese adopted the Chinese usage. When Europeans came to Japan, they were called nanban (南蛮), literally Barbarians from the South, because the Portuguese ships appeared to sail from the South. Converted barbarians have historically proved sometimes the staunchest supporters of the more developed culture they have recently subverted. Historic examples are the Lombards and the Manchu. "The best Romans," wrote Henry James, "are often northern barbarians." Even today, barbarian is used to mean someone violent, primitive, uncouth or uncivilized in general, in very much the same disapproving and superior sense that Edward Gibbon used the term in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which recounts how "the Roman world was overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians" a usage epitomized in Gibbon's [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/gibbon-fall.html Book I, chapter 38]: :"Beyond the Rhine and Danube, the northern countries of Europe and Asia were filled with innumerable tribes of hunters and shepherds, poor, voracious, and turbulent; bold in arms, and impatient to ravish the fruits of industry. The Barbarian world was agitated by the rapid impulse of war; and the peace of Gaul or Italy was shaken by the distant revolutions of China." Compare the modern usage of Philistine.

A functional definition

A non-pejorative, simply functional concept of "barbarian", as sociologists have redefined the term, depends upon a carefully-defined use of "civilization", denoting a settled, urban way of life that is organized on principles broader than the extended family or tribe, in which surpluses of necessities can be stored and redistributed, and division of labor produces some luxury goods (even if only for gods and kings). The barbarian is technically a social parasite on civilization, who depends on settlements as a source of slaves, surpluses and portable luxuries: booty, loot and plunder. In this limited sense, without cities there can be no barbarians. The culture of the nomad is not to be confused with the barbarian. "Culture" should not simply connote "civilization": rich, deep authentic human culture exists even without civilization, as the German writers of the early Romantic generation first defined the opposing terms, though they used them as polarities in a way that a modern writer might not. The nomad subsists on the products of his flocks, and follows their needs. The nomad may barter for necessities, like metalwork, but does not depend on civilization for plunder, as the barbarian does. A famous quote from anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss says: "The barbarian is the one who believes in barbary" (Le barbare, c'est d'abord celui qui croit à la barbarie). By there, meaning like in Race et histoire ("Race and history", UNESCO, 1952) metaphor, that two cultures are like two different trains crossing each other: each one has chosen the good progress sense.

Romantic and post-Romantic barbarians

The modern sympathetic admiration for such fantasy barbarians as Conan the Barbarian is a direct descendant of the Enlightenment idealization of the "Noble Savage". The German Romantics recharacterized the barbarian stereotype. Now it was the civilized Roman—or that modern Romanized Gaul, the Frenchman—who was effeminate and soft, and the stout-hearted German barbarian who exemplified manly virtue. The reforming of Arminius as "Hermann" the noble barbarian countering evil Rome provided a prototype from the 16th century onwards. In fantasy novels and role-playing games, barbarians (or berserkers) are still depicted as brave uncivilized warriors, often able to attack with a crazed fury. Conan is simply best known of the type.

Compare

- Oriental, of or pertaining to the Orient, East Asia, now also with pejorative connotations.

Barbarian (disambiguation)

Barbarian may refer to:
- A Barbarian - the Greek/Roman term originally applied to any foreigner, now often used to denote a savage
- Barbarian F.C., a Rugby union team
- Barbarian kings of Italy: a list of the highly civilized Ostrogothic rulers, who avoided the term "king".
- Barbarian, a one or two player fighting game by Palace Software
- Barbarian, an icon driven adventure game by Psygnosis/Melbourne House
- The Barbarian, a professional wrestler.

Foreign

For the American magazine, see Foreign Policy. A foreign policy is a set of political goals that seeks to outline how a particular country will interact with the other countries of the world. Foreign policies generally are designed to help protect a country's national interests, national security, ideological goals, and economic prosperity. This can occur as a result of peaceful cooperation with other nations, or through aggression, war, and exploitation. The 20th century saw a rapid rise in the importance of foreign policy, with virtually every nation in the world now being able to interact with one another in some diplomatic form. Creating foreign policy is usually the job of the head of government and the foreign minister (or equivalent). However, in the United States, Congress also has considerable power and influence, and is able to pass Foreign Relations Authorization bills. Two major schools of foreign policy theory are Idealism and Realism.

External links

- [http://www.ericdigests.org/1994/war.htm Teaching Foreign Policy in the Post-Cold War Era]
- [http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/1/1/12 Globalisation, health and foreign policy: emerging linkages and interests] Category:Politics

Persia

Persia can refer to:
- the Western name for Iran. (See Iran naming dispute)
- the country under authority of ancient Persian Empire.

Other place names

- Persia, Iowa
- Persia, New York
- Persia, California

Etymology

English Persia < Latin Persia, < ancient Greek Persis, < Old Persian Parsa.

Phoenicia

Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria, between the Lebanon Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread right across the Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. Though ancient boundaries of such city-centered cultures fluctuated, the city of Tyre seems to have been the southernmost. Sarepta between Sidon and Tyre, is the most thoroughly excavated city of the Phoenician homeland. Although the people of the region called themselves the Canaani or Kenaani, the name Phoenicia became common thanks to the Greeks who called them the Phoiniki - Φοινίκη (Phoiníkē; see also List of traditional Greek place names); the Greek word for Phoenician was synonymous with the colour purple/red or crimson, φοῖνιξ (phoinix), through its close association with the famous dye Tyrian purple (cf also Phoenix). The dye was used in ancient textile trade, and highly desired. The Phoenicians became known as the 'Purple People'. The Phoenicians, most likely a Semitic people, spoke the Phoenician language, later called Punic since the Roman word for purple was Puniceus. In addition to their many inscriptions, the Phoenicians, contrary to some reports, wrote many books that have not survived. Evangelical Preparation by Eusebius of Caesarea quotes extensively from Philo of Byblos and Sanchuniathon. Furthermore, the Phoenician Punic colonies of North Africa continued to be a source of knowledge about the Phoenicians. Saint Augustine (who spoke Punic, and calls it "our language") refers to their books as containing much wisdom.

Origins

Herodotus's account (written c. 440 BC) refers to a faint memory from 1000 years earlier, and so may be subject to question (History, I:1): :"According to the Persians best informed in history, the Phoenicians began to quarrel. This people, who had formerly reached the shores of the Erythraean Sea, having migrated to the Mediterranean from an unknown origin and settled in the parts which they now inhabit, began at once, they say, to adventure on long voyages, freighting their vessels with the wares of Egypt and Assyria..." But this is merely a legendary introduction to Herodotus' brief retelling of some mythic Hellene-Phoenician interactions: he follows directly with succinct accounts of the abduction of Io from Pylos, and the retaliatory abduction of Europa by the Cretans. "The Cretans say that it was not they who did this act, but, rather, Zeus, enamored of the fair Europa, who disguised himself as a bull, gained the maiden's affections, and thence carried her off to Crete, where she bore three sons by Zeus: Sarpedon, Rhadamanthys, and Minos, later king of all Crete." Few modern archaeologists would confuse this myth with history. In terms of archaeology, language, and religion, there is little to set the Phoenicians apart as markedly different from other local cultures of Canaan. However, they are unique in their remarkable seafaring achievements. Indeed, in the Amarna tablets of the 14th century BC they call themselves Kenaani or Kinaani (Canaanites); and even much later in the 6th century BC, Hecataeus writes that Phoenicia was formerly called χνα, a name Philo of Byblos later adopted into his mythology as his eponym for the Phoenicians: "Khna who was afterwards called Phoinix". To many archaeologists therefore, the Phoenicians are simply indistinguishable from the descendants of coastal-dwelling Canaanites, who over the centuries developed a particular seagoing culture and skills. But others believe equally firmly, like Herodotus, that the Phoenician culture must have been inspired from an external source. All manner of suggestions have been made: that the Phoenicians were sea-traders from the Land of Punt who co-opted the Canaanite population; or that they were connected with the Minoans; or the Sea Peoples or the Philistines further south; or on the other side of the fence, that they represent the activities of supposed coastal maritime Israelite tribes like Dan. While the Semitic language of the Phoenicians, and some evidence of invasion at the site of Byblos, suggest origins in the wave of Semitic migration that hit the Fertile Crescent between 2300 and 2100 BC, many scholars, including Sabatino Moscati believe that the Phoenicians evolved from a prior non-Semitic people of the area, suggesting a mixture between the two populations. Historian Gerhard Herm further asserts that, because the Phoenicians' legendary sailing abilities are not well attested before the invasions of the Sea Peoples around 1200 BC, that these Sea Peoples would have merged with the local population to produce the Phoenicians, who seemingly gained these abilities rather suddenly at that time. This idea is backed up by archaeological evidence that the Philistines, often thought of as related to the Sea Peoples, were culturally linked to Mycenaean Greeks, who were also known to be great sailors even in this period. And so the debate has persisted. Professional archaeologists have now been at work on the origins of the Phoenicians for generations, basing their analysis in the mainstream of excavated sites, the remains of material culture, contemporary texts set into contemporary contexts, and the even more slippery slopes of linguistics. Modern cultural agendas, both personal and national, have been brought to bear. But ultimately, the origins of the Phoenicians are still unknown: where they came from and just when (or if) they arrived, and under what circumstances, are all still energetically disputed. Some Lebanese, Syrians, Maltese, Tunisians, Algerians and a small percentage of Somalis, along with certain other island folk in the Mediterranean, still consider themselves descendants of Phoenicians.

The cultural and economic "empire"

Fernand Braudel remarked (in The Perspective of the World) that Phoenicia was an early example of a "world-economy" surrounded by empires. The high point of Phoenician culture and seapower is usually placed ca 1200 – 800 BC. Many of the most important Phoenician settlements had been established long before this: Byblos, Tyre, Sidon, Simyra, Aradus and Berytus all appear in the Amarna tablets; and indeed, the first appearance in archaeology of cultural elements clearly identifiable with the Phoenician zenith is sometimes dated as early as the third millennium BC. This league of independent city-state ports, with others on the islands and along other coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, was ideally suited for trade between the Levant area, rich in natural resources, and the rest of the ancient world. Suddenly, during the early Iron Age, in around 1200 BC, an unknown event occurred, historically associated with the appearance of the Sea Peoples. The powers that had previously dominated the area, notably the Egyptians and the Hittites, became weakened or destroyed; and in the resulting power vacuum a number of Phoenician cities established themselves as significant maritime powers. Authority seems to have stabilized because it derived from three power-bases: the king; the temple and its priests; and councils of elders. Byblos soon became the predominant centre from where they proceeded to dominate the Mediterranean and Erythraean (Red) Sea routes. However, Byblos was attacked by successive invaders, and by around 1000 BC Tyre and Sidon had taken its place. The collection of city-kingdoms constituting Phoenicia came to be characterized by outsiders and the Phoenicians themselves as Sidonia or Tyria, and Phoenicians and Canaanites alike came to be called Zidonians or Tyrians, as one Phoenician conquest came to prominence after another.

Phoenician Trade

In the centuries following 1200 BC, the Phoenicians formed the major naval and trading power of the region. Perhaps it was through these merchants that the Hebrew word kena'ani ('Canaanite') came to have the secondary, and apt, meaning of "merchant". The Greek term "Tyrian purple" describes the dye they were especially famous for, and their port town Tyre. Phoenician trade was founded on this violet-purple dye derived from the Murex sea-snail's shell, once profusely available in coastal waters but exploited to local extinction. James B. Pritchard's excavations at Sarepta in Lebanon revealed crushed Murex shells and pottery containers stained with the dye that was being produced at the site. Brilliant textiles were a part of Phoenician wealth. Phoenician glass was another export ware. Phoenicians seem to have first discovered the technique of producing transparent glass. Phoenicians also shipped tall Lebanon cedars to Egypt, that consumed more wood than it could produce. Indeed, the Amarna tablets suggest that in this manner the Phoenicians paid tribute to Egypt in the 14th century. From elsewhere they got many other materials, perhaps the most important being tin from Spain and from Cornwall in Britain, that together with copper (from Cyprus) was used to make bronze. Trade routes from Asia converged on the Phoenician coast as well, enabling the Phoenicians to govern trade between Mesopotamia on the one side, and Egypt and Arabia on the other. The Phoenicians established commercial outposts throughout the Mediterranean, the most notable being Carthage in North Africa, with others in Cyprus, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Spain, and elsewhere. (The name Spain comes from the Phoenician word I-Shaphan, meaning, thanks to an early double misidentification, 'island of hyraxes'.) The date when many of these cities were founded has been very controversial. Greek sources put the foundation of many cities very early. Gades (Cadiz) in Spain was traditionally founded in 1110 BC, while Utica in Africa was supposedly founded in 1101. However, no archaeological remains have been dated to such a remote era. The traditional dates may reflect the establishment of rudimentary way stations that left little archaeological trace, and only grew into full cities centuries later. (The World of the Phoenicians, Sabatino Moscati, 1965). Alternatively, the early dates may reflect Greek historians' belief that the legends of Troy (mentioning these cities) were historically reliable. Phoenician ships used to ply the coast southern Spain up along the coast of present-day Portugal. The fishermen of Nazaré and Aveiro in Portugal are traditionally of Phoenician descent. This can be seen today in the unusual and ancient design of their boats ‑ soaring pointed bows with mystical symbols painted on. Other ventured north into the Atlantic ocean as far as Britain, where the tin mines in what is now Cornwall provided them with important materials. They also sailed south along the coast of Africa. A Carthaginian expedition led by Hanno the Navigator explored and colonized the Atlantic coast of Africa as far as the Gulf of Guinea; and according to Herodotus, a Phoenician expedition sent out by pharaoh Necho II of Egypt even circumnavigated Africa. The Phoenicians were not an agricultural people, because most of the land was not arable; therefore, they focused on commerce and trading instead. They did, however, raise sheep and sell them and their wool. The Phoenicians exerted considerable influence on the other groups around the Mediterranean, notably the Greeks, who later became their main commercial rivals. They appear in Greek mythology. Traditionally, the city of Thebes was founded by a Phoenician prince named Cadmus when he set out to look for his sister Europa, who had been kidnapped by Zeus. In the Bible, king Hiram I of Tyre is mentioned as co-operating with Solomon in mounting an expedition on the Red Sea and on building the temple. The temple of Solomon is considered to be built according to Phoenician design, and its description is considered the best description of what a Phoenician temple looked like. Phoenicians from Syria were also called Syrophenicians. The Phoenician alphabet was developed around 1200 BC from an earlier Semitic prototype that also gave rise to the Ugaritic alphabet. It was used mainly for commercial notes. The Greek alphabet, that forms the basis of all European alphabets, was derived from the Phoenician one. The alphabets of the Middle East and India are also thought to derive, directly or indirectly, from the Phoenician alphabet. Ironically, the Phoenicians themselves are largely silent on their own history. Other than inscriptions on stone, Phoenician writing has largely perished. They are described by Sallust and Augustine as possessing an extensive literature, but of this only a single work survives, in Latin translation: Mago's Agriculture. What we know of them comes mainly from their neighbors, the Greeks and Hebrews. With the rise of Assyria, the Phoenician cities one by one lost their independence, and were afterwards dominated by Babylonia and then Persia. They remained very important, however, and provided these powers with their main source of naval strength. The stacked warships, such as triremes and quinqueremes, were probably Phoenician inventions, though eagerly adopted by the Greeks.

Decline

Phoenicia accepted rule by the Persians. Cyrus the Great conquered Phoenicia in 538 BC. Phoenician influence declined and later the culture that they were known for disappeared.

Persian and Hellenistic Phoenicia

Information on Phoenician cities and their hinterlands under the Achaemenid Persians is sparse. The famous event is the revolt of Sidon against Achaemenid rule in 345 BC and its destruction, dramatically (perhaps too dramatically) described by Diodorus Siculus. The arrival of Alexander the Great in 333 – 332 BC is the main turning point, for Hellenistic Phoenicia lost its influential mercantile role, and the distinctive culture of its cities was Hellenized under Alexander and his Macedonian successors. The responses of the individual Phoenician cities to Alexander's conquest of Persia varied: the ruler of Aradus submitted; the king of Sidon was overthrown (perhaps by internal plotters who valued the city more than their king). Tyre resisted with the most energy. It was captured after a prolonged siege, one of the most famous sieges in Antiquity (see Siege of Tyre), and Alexander was exceptionally harsh. He executed 2000 of the leading citizens, but maintained the king in power. A popular king who owed everything to Alexander, made for a more secure city than a deeply-rooted local oligarchy. If Tyre was meant to set an example, it was effective: the Phoenician resistance was utterly broken, and no Phoenician city thereafter seems to have resisted occupation. In the following decades, shifting frontiers between Ptolemaic armies, and Antigonid or Seleucid forces, required some flexible diplomacy and alacrity in accepting a new alliance. This is the period when the cult of Tyche, goddess of Fortune, reached a prominence it had never enjoyed before. In 287 – 225 BC, after decades of meaningless violence and small empty victories that simply ravaged the countryside, the Ptolemies regained some stabilized control of the cities (except for Aradus), and the last of the old Phoenician city-kings disappeared. In their new forms, the cities were scarcely different from the Greek cities interspersed along the coastal plain - all nominal republics with a very limited suffrage, and autonomy that was formal and local, while they were ruled from a distance by a great king at Alexandria. The center of Phoenician power had shifted westward to the Tyrian colony of Carthage, that had not merely gained its independence, but had become a major power in the Western Mediterranean in its own right. At the beginning of the 2nd century BC, the Seleucid monarchy had finally reasserted its primacy on the former Phoenician coast, but the last Seleucid kings' local power was increasingly a fiction, as the cities, now thoroughly Hellenistic, regained local independence.

Important Phoenician Cities & Colonies

From the 10th century BC, their expansive culture established cities and colonies throughout the Mediterranean. Canaanite deities like Baal and Astarte were being worshipped from Cyprus to Sardinia, Malta, Sicily, and most notably at Carthage in modern Tunisia. In the Phoenician homeland:
- Batroun
- Berytos
- Byblos
- Safita
- Sidon
- Tyre
- Arwad
- Tripoli
- Arka
- Zemar (Sumur) Phoenician colonies (this list is very incomplete):
- Carthage
- Tripoli
- Palermo
- three cities dependent on Carthage, known by their later Hellenic and Roman names:
- Oea
- Sabrata
- Leptis Magna
- Hadrumetum (modern Sousse, Tunisia)
- Abdera (Adra, Spain)
- Acra (Morocco)
- Arambys (Morocco)
- Caricus Murus (Morocco)
- Nova Cartago, now Cartagena, Spain
- Cerne Mauritania
- Gadir (Cádiz)
- Gytta (Morocco)
- Kition (Cyprus)
- Lixus (Morocco)
- Malaca (Málaga, Spain)
- Melitta(Melilla) (Spain)
- Motya (Sicily)
- Onoba (Huelva, Spain)
- Sexi (Almuñecár, Spain)
- Utica
- Coastal Sardinia
- Tingis(Tanger (Morocco)
- Thymiaterium (Morocco)

Language & Literature

See main articles: Phoenician language, Phoenician alphabet, Alphabet. Though the Phoenicians are credited with developing the Phoenician alphabet, their alphabet is actually what is termed an abjad (different from an alphabet, in that it contains no vowels). The Phoenician abjad, first making its appearance in the 11th century BC, evolved out of the proto-Canaanite abjad, that originated around the 17th century BC. A cuneiform abjad originated to the north in Ugarit, a Canaanite city of northern Syria, in the 14th century BC. Phoenician traders disseminated the concept along Aegean trade routes, to coastal Anatolia, Crete and eventually Mycenean Greece. Classical Greeks remembered that the alphabet arrived in Greece with the mythical founder of Thebes, Cadmus. Their language, Phoenician, was a Northwest Semitic language of the Canaanite subgroup. Its later descendant in North Africa is termed Punic. The Amarna letters, dated to the 14th century BC, although written in Akkadian, the language of diplomacy at the time, contain solecisms that are not 'mistakes', but actually early Canaanite words and phrases. Because of their Lebanese provenance, some identify these as Phoenician; however, most scholars reserve that term for a later era. The earliest known inscriptions in Phoenician come from Byblos and date back to ca. 1000 BC. Phoenician inscriptions are found in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Cyprus and other locations, as late as the early centuries of the Christian Era. Punic, a language that developed from Phoenician in Phoenician colonies around the western Mediterranean beginning in the 9th century BC, slowly supplanted Phoenician, similar to the way Italian supplanted Latin. Punic Phoenician was still spoken in the 5th century CE: St. Augustine, for example, grew up in North Africa and was familiar with the language.

External link

- [http://phoenicia.org/semlang.html The Semitic languages, including Phoenician.]

Phoenicians in the Bible

In the Old Testament there is no reference to the Greek term Phoenicia; instead, the inhabitants of the coastal are identified by their city of origin, most often as Sidonians (Gen. x. 15; Judges iii. 3; x. 6, xviii. 7; I Kings v. 20, xvi. 31). Early relations between Israelites and the Canaanites were cordial: Hiram of Tyre a Phoenician, by modern assessment, furnished architects, workmen and cedar timbers for the temple of his ally Solomon at Jerusalem. Later, reforming prophets railed against the practice of drawing royal wives from among foreigners: Elijah execrated Jezebel, the princess from Tyre who became a consort of King Ahab and introduced the worship of her gods. Long after Phoenician culture had flourished, or Phoenicia had existed as any political entity, Hellenized natives of the region where Canaanites still lived were referred to as "Syro-Phoenician", as in the Gospel of Mark 7:26: "The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter."

External links

- [http://phoenicia.org/index.shtml Encyclopedia Phoeniciana website] largest and most comprehensive website on Phoenicia about 1,000 pages
- [http://www.museum.upenn.edu/Canaan/Phoenicians.html University of Pennsylvania Museum offers simplified but unbiased information on Canaan and Phoenicians, emphasizing common aspects of culture among Israel and the other kingdoms in Canaan.]
- [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/2587/phoenicia.html Phoenician history, from a patriotic Lebanese point of view.]
- [http://www.lost-civilizations.net/phoenicians-overview.html Phoenicians overview] by Genry Joil.

References

- The History of Phoenicia, first published in 1889 by George Rawlinson is available under Project Gutenberg at: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=2331 Rawlinson's 19th century text needs updating for modern improvements in historical understanding.
- Maria Eugenia Aubet, The Phoenicians and the West: Politics, Colonies and Trade, tr. Mary Turton ([http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2003/2003-12-17.html Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2001: review)] Category:Ancient Roman provinces Category:Ancient peoples Category:History of Lebanon Category:History of Syria
- ja:フェニキア

Roman

Roman or Romans has several meanings, primarily related to the Roman citizens, but also applicable to typography, math, and several geographic locations.

Usages relating to the people and society of Rome

Roman most often refers to one of three eras of ancient Rome:
- Roman Kingdom (753 BC to 509 BC) — there were seven traditional Kings of Rome before the establishment of the Roman Republic.
- Roman Republic (509 BC to 44 BC) — the government of Rome and its territories from 509 BC until the establishment of the Roman Empire, typically placed at 44 BC or 27 BC.
- Roman Empire (44 BC to AD 476) — conventionally used to describe the Roman state in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Caesar Augustus. Roman in reference to the Middle Ages may refer to:
- Byzantine Empire (330 to 1453) — a modern term for the Eastern Roman Empire
- Name of the Greeks
- Holy Roman Empire (c. 900 to 1806) — a conglomeration of mostly Germanic lands in western and central Europe with pretenses to the Roman Empire. In modern times, Roman may refer to:
- Rome — the capital city of Italy, formely the seat of the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire.

Other usages

Christianity

asd
- Roman sadfNew Roman — a popular font fasdfsafas als:Römer simple:Roman

Kurdish people

The Kurds are an Iranian people (a classification that is more linguistic than 'ethnic' in the case of many Kurds) inhabiting a mountainous area of Southwest Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Turkey, and Iran as well as smaller sections of Syria, Armenia and Lebanon. Kurds speak the mostly mutually intelligible dialects of the Kurdish language, which has Indo-European roots. Ranging anywhere from 25 to 27 million people, the Kurds comprise one of the largest ethnic groups without their own country in the world. For over a century, many Kurds have campaigned and fought for the right to 'self-determination' in an autonomous homeland known as "Kurdistan". The governments of those countries with sizable Kurdish populations are actively opposed to the possibility of a Kurdish state, believing such a development would require them to give up parts of their own national territories.

Historical Roots of the Kurdish People

The earliest evidence, thus far, of a unified and distinct culture and peoples inhabiting the Kurdish mountains dates back to the Halaf culture of 8,000-7,400 years ago. This was followed by the Hurrian period which lasted from 6,300 to about 2,600 years ago. The Hurrians spoke a language that was possibly part of the Northeast Caucasian family of languages (or Alarodian), akin to modern Chechen and Lezgian. The Hurrians spread out and eventually dominated significant territories outside their Zagros-Taurus mountainous base. Like their Kurdish descendents, they however did not expand too far from the mountains. The "Hurrian" name survives now most prominently in the dialect and district of Hawraman/Auraman in Kurdistan. They were divided into many clans and subgroups and settled in city-states, kingdoms and empires with eponymous clan names. These included the Gutis, Kurti, Khaldi, Mards, Mushku, Mannaeans (Mannai), Hatti, Urartu, Lullubi and the Kassites among others. All these tribes were part of the larger group of Hurrians, and together helped to shape the Hurrian phase of Kurdish history [http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/kurdish/htdocs/his/orig.html]. The region of Mahabad was the centre of the Mannaeans, who flourished in the early 1st millennium BC.[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050086] Approximately 4,000 years ago, the first groups of Indo-European-speaking peoples started trickling into Kurdistan. These groups included the Medes, Mitanni, Scythians and Sagarthians and other Indo-European-speaking Aryans who settled in Kurdistan. Approximately 2,600 years ago, the Medes had already formed an empire that included much of what is today Kurdistan and beyond. There are numerous historical records that refer to the antecedents of the modern Kurds. The ancient Greek historian Xenophon referred to the Kurds in the Anabasis as "Khardukhi", a 'fierce and protective mountain-dwelling people' who attacked Greek armies in 400 BCE. The Lullubi people inhabited the "Sharazor" plain in Iraqi Kurdistan and are known for having fought wars with the Akkadians around 2300-2200 B.C. Today a Kurdish clan is known as Lullu and may be a possible derivation of the ancient Lullabi.[http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Lullubi.html] Moreover, the name Madai appears in the Book of Genesis as a Japhethic grandson of Noah in the Biblical tradition. Scholars have identified Madai with various nations, from the early Mitanni to the Medes who were contemporaries of the ancient Persians. The modern Kurds are the descendants of many invaders and migrants who settled the region including the aforementioned Hurrians, Guti, Lullubi, Kurti, Medes, Mards, Carduchi, Gordyene, Adiabene, Mushku, Mannai, Mitanni, Kassites, Zila, and Khaldi. In addition, the lands populated by the Kurds were also invaded by the Assyrians, Akkadians, Armenians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, and Turks and these groups also made contributions to the modern Kurds both culturally and/or genetically. As a result of the vast parade of peoples who have come to Kurdistan, it is safe to say that the Kurds are a combination of indigenous peoples who were living in the Zagros Mountains, Aryan tribes, and numerous other invaders and migrants.[http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/history/origin-e.html] Recent genetic tests of random Kurdish populations show links to the Caucasus, various Iranian peoples, Europeans, northern Semites, and Anatolia.

Demographics

The exact number of Kurdish people living in the Middle East is unknown, due to both an absence of recent and extensive census analysis, and the reluctance of the various governments in Kurdish-inhabited regions to give accurate figures. The fact that some Kurds have mixed with other local ethnic groups has also contributed to the uncertainty as to who can be counted as a 'Kurd'. For example, many Kurds in Turkey have adopted Turkish, having moved to mainly Turkish regions of the country and assimilated to some extent, while most Kurds in Iraq have attempted to maintain their distinct identity. In addition, groups such as the Zaza and Dimli are often counted by some as Kurds, but are actually a closely- related Iranian people. Nonetheless, if estimated figures are accurate, comprising between 25 and 27 million people, the Kurds are, as Carole A. O’Leary (a professor at the American University) commented, the largest ethnic group without a separate state in the world. [http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2002/issue4/jv6n4a5.html]

Religion

The majority of the Kurds are Sunni Muslims, belonging to the Shafi and Hanafi Schools of Islam. There is also a significant minority of Kurds that are Shia Muslims, and they primarily live in the Kermanshah and Ilam provinces of Iran and Central Iraq ("Al-Fayliah" Kurds). Another religious minority among the Kurds are the Alevi Shia Muslims, who are mainly found in Turkey. The remaining Kurds are either Christians, Kurdish Jews or Yezidis. Before the spread of Islam in the 7th century CE, the majority of Kurds practiced Zoroastrianism, which is believed to be one of the oldest religions in the world. The Kurdish Kingdom of Adiabene converted to Judaism in the course of the 1st century BC, along with, a large number of Kurdish citizens in the kingdom [http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/religion/judaism/judaism.html]. Rabbi Asenath Barzani,who lived in Mosul, Kurdistan, from 1590 to 1670 was among the very first Jewish women to become a Rabbi (see Kurdish Jews). 'Yezidism' is an ancient Kurdish religion. The name of this religion in Kurdish language is Êzidî. Most Yezidis live in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the vicinity of Mosul, Sinjar, and Lalish. Large numbers of Yezidis are also found in Syria, Armenia and Turkey. The holy book of the Yezidis is "Mishefa Reş" (The Black Book)[http://kurdistanica.com/english/religion/yazdani/yezidi/yezidi.html]. There is also another native Kurdish religion in eastern parts of Kurdistan, called Yarsan or Ahl-e Haqq.

Language

The Kurdish language is part of the northwestern group of the Iranian section of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. Even though Kurdish is an Iranian language, Kurds have been greatly-influenced by languages around them, especially Arabic, as well as Turkish and Persian. In addition, the Northern Kurdish dialects such as Kurmanji are written using the Roman alphabet, while the southern dialects tend to be written in the Arabic alphabet. The Kurdish languages form a dialect continuum, with comprehensibility diminishing as the distance from one's native dialect increases. The principal Kurdish languages are:
- Northern Kurdish including Kurmanji/Bahdinan
- Central Kurdish or Sorani
- The Southern Kurdish dialects
- Hewrami or Auramani

Kurds in Iraq

Under the former Iraqi Ba'athist regime, which ruled Iraq from 1968 until 2003, Kurds were initially granted limited autonomy (1970), and after the Barzani revolt in 1961, were given some high-level political representation in Baghdad. However, for various reasons, including the pro-Iranian sympathies of some Kurds during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980's, the regime implemented anti-Kurdish policies and a de facto civil war broke out. Iraq was widely-condemned by the international community, but was never seriously punished for oppressive measures, including the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds, which resulted in thousands of deaths. (See Halabja poison gas attack.)

Anfal Genocidal Campaign

Anfal--"the Spoils"(of War)--is the name of the eighth sura of the Koran. From March 29, 1987 until April 23, 1989, Ali Hassan Al-Majid was granted power that was equivalent, in Northern Iraq, to that of the President himself, with authority over all agencies of the state. Al-Majid, who is known to this day to Kurds as "Ali Anfal" or "Ali Chemical," was the overlord of the Kurdish genocide. The regime designated areas in which Peshmerga were active as "Prohibited Areas". Al-Majid ordered that, "All persons captured in those villages (in the prohibited area) shall be detained and interrogated by the security services and those between the ages of 15 and 70 shall be executed after any useful information has been obtained from them, of which we should be duly notified." Halabja poison gas attack was only a small part of the larger Anfal operation. The campaigns of 1987-199 were characterized by the following gross violations of human rights: a) mass summary executions and mass disappearance of many tens of thousands of non-combatants, including large numbers of women and children, and sometimes the entire population of villages; b) the widespread use of chemical weapons, including mustard gas and the nerve agent GB, or Sarin, against the town of Halabja as well as dozens of Kurdish villages, killing many thousands of people, mainly women and children; c) the wholesale destruction of some 2,000 villages, which are described in government documents as having been "burned," "destroyed," "demolished" and "purified," as well as at least a dozen larger towns and administrative centers (nahyas and qadhas); Since 1975, some 4,000 Kurdish villages have been destroyed by the Former Iraqi Regime. d) By the most conservative estimates, 50,000 rural Kurds died during Anfal. Middle East Watch has documented three cases of mass executions in late 1988; in one of them, 180 people were put to death. e) Army engineers even destroyed the large Kurdish town of Qala Dizeh (population 70,000) and declared its environs a "prohibited area," removing the last significant population center close to the Iranian border. ( For more details see [http://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/] by the Human Rights Watch. Also see [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/4.html]) During the 1990's, Kurdish regions gained some measure of autonomy with fully-functioning civil administrations; they were protected by the US-enforced Iraqi no-fly zone, which prevented air attacks by Iraqi government forces. During this period, armed clashes developed between three main political/military groups in the area (including the Kurdistan Democratic Party) over political authority. In the aftermath of the US invasion which unseated the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003, the 'Kurdistan issue' became a major concern. Iraqi Kurds were unwilling to accept a strong central government and many of them called for outright independence. However, neighboring Turkey made it clear that an independent Kurdistan would be unacceptable. President Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, distanced himself from the movement for independence. The Kurdish delegation to the Constitutional Committee succeeded in achieving a highly federal structure in exchange for certain Islamist conditions demanded by Shia delegates. The Kurdish provinces (governorates) will be allowed to unite into a largely autonomous region that can maintain its own armed forces, levy taxes and overrule federal laws. Also, Kurdish was made a national language alongside Arabic.

Kurds in Turkey

About half of all Kurds live in Turkey, numbering some 14 million. They comprise 20% of the total population of Turkey and are predominantly distributed in the southeastern corner of the country. Modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal (better known as Atatürk in Turkish--"father of the Turks"), enacted a constitution 70 years ago which denied the existence of distinct cultural sub-groups in Turkey. As a result, any expression by the Kurds (as well as other minorities in Turkey) of unique ethnic identity has been harshly repressed. For example, until 1991, the use of the Kurdish language--although widespread--was illegal. To this day, music, radio and TV broadcasts, and education in Kurdish are not allowed except under extremely limited circumstances. Teaching Kurdish in public schools is still banned. The Turkish government has consistently thwarted attempts by the Kurds to organize politically. Kurdish political parties are shut down one after another, and party members are harassed and imprisoned for "crimes of opinion."

Kurdish IDP's in Turkey

Security forces in Turkey forcibly displaced Kurdish rural communities during the 1980s and 1990s in order to combat the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) insurgency, which drew its membership and logistical support from the local peasant population. Turkish security forces did not distinguish the armed militants they were pursuing from the civilian population they were supposed to be protecting. By the mid-1990s, more than 3,000 villages had been virtually wiped from the map, and, according to official figures, 378,335 Kurdish villagers had been displaced and left homeless.(see [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/turkey0305/3.htm#_Toc97005223],[http://hrw.org/reports/2002/turkey/] and [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/turkey0305/]. Also see Report D612, October, 1994, "Forced Displacement of Ethnic Kurds"(A Human Rights Watch Publication)[http://store.yahoo.com/hrwpubs/tur.html] )

Leyla Zana

Most famously, in 1994 Leyla Zana--who, three years prior, had been the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament--was sentenced to 15 years for "separatist speech". At her inauguration as an MP, she reportedly identified herself as a Kurd. Amnesty International reported "She took the oath of loyalty in Turkish, as required by law, then added in Kurdish, 'I shall struggle so that the Kurdish and Turkish peoples may live together in a democratic framework.' Parliament erupted with shouts of 'Separatist', 'Terrorist', and 'Arrest her'".

PKK Insurgency

The PKK is a formerly Marxist separatist group that until recently sought to create an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey and parts of neighboring countries inhabited by Kurds. (It’s known as the PKK after its Kurdish name, Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan.) During a rebellion that began in the mid-1980s and claimed some 35,000 lives, the group used guerrilla warfare and terrorism, including kidnappings of foreign tourists in Turkey, suicide bombings, and attacks on Turkish diplomatic offices in Europe. The PKK has also repeatedly attacked civilians who refuse to assist it. The organization was founded in 1973 by Abdullah Ocalan. He ruled the party until his capture in 1999 by Turkish special forces in Kenya, after taking refuge in the Greek embassy in Kenya. Ocalan remains imprisoned on an island (Imrali) near Istanbul.(see [http://cfrterrorism.org/groups/kurdistan_print.html] and [http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/pkk-pr.cfm])

Kurds in Iran

For a detailed account of history of the Kurds in the Persian Empire and Iran see History of the Kurds and Iranian Kurdistan. In recent years, intense fighting occurred between Kurds and the Iranian state between 1979 and 1982. Since 1983 the Iranian government has had control over the area which the Kurds inhabit. This area encompasses Kurdistan Province and greater parts of West Azarbaijan, Kermanshah, Ilam Province and smaller parts of Lorestan that totally is called Iranian Kurdistan. In Iran Kurds, like other minorities, express their cultural identity with difficulties and they are denied the right of self-government or administration. Membership of any Kurdish 'separatist' party could be punishable by death. The Kurdish language is also banned from being taught in schools; which is a breach of the current constitution, and there are restrictions today on publishing Kurdish literature. In 2005, the Islamic government banned the two Kurdish magazines "Aso" and "Ashti" (following many Persian-language ones in other areas of Iran in recent years), and their editors have been arrested. Kurdish human rights activists in Iran have been threatened by Iranian authorities in connection with their work. [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE130102005?open&of=ENG-370]

Kurds in Syria

Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. It is claimed that Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated. No political parties are allowed for any group, Arab or Kurdish. Population is 10% or about 1.8 million. According to Human Rights Watch, there are 142,465 Kurds (by the government's count), and well over 200,000 Kurds (according to Kurdish sources), who have been arbitrarily denied the right to Syrian nationality in violation of international law. These Kurds, who have no claim to a nationality other than Syrian, are literally trapped in Syria: not only are they treated in a discriminatory fashion in the land of their birth, but also they do not have the option of relocating to another country because they lack passports or other internationally recognized travel documents. They are not permitted to own land, housing or businesses. They cannot be employed at government agencies and state-owned enterprises, and cannot practice as doctors or engineers. They may not legally marry Syrian citizens. Kurds with "foreigner" status, as they are called, do not have the right to vote in elections or referenda, or run for public office. They are not issued passports or other travel documents, and thus may not legally leave or return to Syria. [http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm] Suppression of ethnic identity of Kurds in Syria include: various bans on the use of the Kurdish language; refusal to register children with Kurdish names; replacement of Kurdish place names with new names in Arabic; prohibition of businesses that do not have Arabic names; not permitting Kurdish private schools; and the prohibition of books and other materials written in Kurdish. (see [http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm] and [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/syria9812.htm])

Kurds in Armenia

In the Soviet Union, from the 1930's to the 1980's, the Kurds were a 'protected minority', under Soviet Law. They had their own state-sponsored newspaper, radio broadcast and cultural events.During the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, many Kurds were forced to leave their homes.

Timeline of modern Kurdish history

1919: Shaikh Mahmoud Barzanji, proclaimed himself King of an independent Kurdish state and took over the city and area of Sulaimania.(see [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/4.html]) 1920: Treaty of Sèvres determines the borders for the territory of Kurdistan. 1921: Boundaries of the modern Iraq overlaps the territory of Kurdistan, which had been determined by the Treaty of Sèvres. When a referendum was held in 1921 to approve the appointment of Faisal as King of Iraq, in Kirkuk the Kurdish majority there voted against him, whilein the Kurdish heartland city of Sulaimania, the referendum was totally boycotted. 1923: Boundaries of the modern Turkey determined by the Treaty of Lausanne overlaps the territory of Kurdistan, which had been determined by the Treaty of Sèvres. 1922 to 1958: The Iraqi Kurds live under the Iraqi Kingdom. 1925: The first Kurdish revolt in Turkey, supported by British powers from Iraq, by Sheikh Sayid, is overcome. 1925: The League of Nations decided to attach the former Ottoman Vilayet of Mosul to the State of Iraq, with two conditions. One was that the British Mandate should last another 25 years; the other was that "the desire of the Kurds that the administrators, magistrates and teachers in their country be drawn from their own ranks and adopt Kurdish as the official language in all their activities will be taken into account."[http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/4.html] 1930: Anglo-Iraq Treaty. Iraq is granted independence. the Kurds rebelled, in protest at the failure of both the British and the Iraqis to fulfill the League's recommendations of 1925.[http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/4.html] 1930: Tunceli demonstrations were stopped. 1937: Agri demonstrations were suppressed. (See Republic of Ararat) 1946: Although Iran had declared its neutrality during the Second World War, it was occupied by allied forces. The kurdish inhabited areas of Mukriyan in the West Azerbaijan province in north western iran were occupied by the soviet forces. with the support of which a Kurdish state was created in the city of Mahabad under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad and Mustafa Barzani. The republic of Mahabad, as it is often called, lasted less than a year, however; as with the end of the War, and the withdrawal of the occupying Soviet forces, the central government crushed the separatists and re-joined Kurdistan with Iran. 1958: Abdel Kareem Qasem becomes President of Iraq; Iraq's new constitution declares 2 major ethnic groups in Iraq: Arabs and Kurds. The President invites Mustafa Barzani from the Soviet Union to Iraq for discussions about Kurds. 1961: Failed negotiations between the government and Kurds ignites the September 11 revolt of Barzani. Fighting continues until 1970. 1970: The March 11 autonomy agreement reached by both sides (the Baath party is now in power). 1971: In September 1971, tens of thousands of Faily Kurds were deported to Iran. [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/4.html] 1973: In early 1973, the Iraqi army began expelling Kurds from villages in the Kirkuk area and from certain sectors of Iraq's borders with Turkey and Iran.[http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/4.html] 1974: Relations break up again about economic issues. Fighting erupts again. Governments bombs Kurdish towns such as Qela Dize where over 250 people die, half of which are children. 1975: The Algiers agreement declares an end to the Kurdish revolt and Iran discontinues its support of Iraqi Kurds. Kurdish uprising disbanded. Barzani flees to the United States. 1975 to 1980: The son of Mustafa, Masoud Barzani, encourages a new uprising against the government. 1979: :
- The Islamic Revolution in Iran gives the Kurds an opportunity to receive some autonomy. They failed. :
- The PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) is created. 1980: :
- PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan flees to Syria and trains his armed supporters in several places including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and possibly Iran. :
- The Iran-Iraq war affects Kurds in both countries. Support to either government by Kurds could cause repercussions for Kurds in the other country. Both governments send Kurds to the frontlines. More than 1 million die on both sides. 1984: PKK guerillas launch their first attacks on Turkish targets in Turkey and abroad. 1988: The genocidal Anfal-campaign is being carried out by the Iraqi government to "decrease" the Kurds. Some 4500 villages are completely destroyed, and 182,000 Kurds are relocated to unknown destinations, in this year alone. 1988: The Halabja-disaster on the 16th of March, with intensive aerial chemical bombing (by Saddam's regime), such as Nerve gas, VX and Mustard gas, kills more than 5000 Kurds and wounds an estimated 12,000. 1990's: The massive PKK uprising propels Turkey into a state of civil war. Attacking the KDP in Iraq in order to control another part of Kurdistan, Turkey repels PKK guerillas and pursues them into Iraq. 1991: A popular uprising by the Kurds, encouraged by George Bush Sr. ignites, after the Iraqi defeat of the Persian Gulf war. The uprising is initially successful, but government forces crack down; causing more than 2 million Kurds to flee to Turkey and Iran. Thousands die of starvation, cold and hunger. 1991: Turkey's 70-year ban on using the Kurdish language is lifted. 1992: After the set-up of the no-fly zones in the North and South to protect the civil Iraqi population, the Allied forces make a security zone in the north of Iraq, so that the refugees can return. After that, the Kurds seize their area, set up their own government, start their own elections and draw autonomous borders. 1992 to 2003: The Kurds enjoy self-rule, but heavy fighting erupts between the two main Kurdish factions. The KDP and the PUK almost commit 'political suicide' in fighting in 1994, 1996 and 1997. In 1999, the two parties agree to a cease-fire. 1994: Leyla Zana, the first Kurdish woman MP in Turkey's Parliamnet, is sentenced to 15 years in prison. She is also the first person to have spoken in Kurdish in Turkey's Parliament. 1995: Leyla Zana is awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, while still in jail. 1998: PKK leader flees from Syria to Russia after threats from Turkey against Syria. 1999: After spending months in Russia, Italy, and Kenya, Abdullah Öcalan is arrested by Turkish special forces in the Greek embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and is brought to Turkey for trial. 2002: PKK changes its name to 'KADEK', in an effort to remove the 'terrorist' connotations of the name PKK. 2003: :
- The 2003 Invasion of Iraq by the United States removes the Baath-regime from power. Kurds celebrate. :
- March 12: The European Court of Human Rights rules that the Turkish trial of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the terrorist organisation PKK, was not fair. :
- January 4: Invasion of Iraq commences. :
- February 25: Both major parties of Kurdistan, an autonomous region in Northern Iraq, vow to fight Turkish troops if they enter Kurdistan to capture Mosul, or if they interfere in Kurdish self-rule. Between them, the two parties can mobilize up to 80,000 guerillas - most likely no match for the modern Turkish army; but complicate relations between U.S. allies on the Northern front, expected in the U.S. plan to invade Iraq. :
- March 21: The arrest of alleged Ansar al-Islam leader Mullah Krekar is ordered by Økokrim, a Norwegian law enforcement agency; to ensure he does not leave Norway while accusations that he had threatened terrorist attacks are investigated. :
- April 6: In a 'friendly fire' incident, U.S. warplanes struck a convoy of allied Kurdish fighters and U.S. Special Forces, during a battle in northern Iraq. At least 18 people were killed and more than 45 wounded; including senior Kurdish commanders. :
- April 10: U.S. Green Berets and Kurdish fighters enter the city of Kirkuk in Iraq, with little resistance. Turkey and U.S., in separate statements, say they will not allow the Kurds to occupy the city. [http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-200341121717.htm], [http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id=45D53827-FA52-4452-9E87-7DF9276D26B9] :
- June 12: In Dokan, Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leaders set up a six-member committee to map out a plan for unification. 2004: In the city of Qamishli, Syria, violence broke out between Arab supporters and Kurds at a soccer match. As many as 40 Kurds died, causing the Kurdish population in Syria to rise up and riot in the days of the aftermath. Thousands were arrested; and some were taken to prisons. 2004: Under pressure from European Union, Turkey frees Leyla Zana. She is still awaiting a new trial. 2004: KADEK changes its name to KONGRA-GEL. 2005: :
- Iraqi transitional assembly and Kurdistan national assembly elections held. Jalal Talabani, secretary-general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, is elected as President of Iraq. Kurds receive more than a quarter of the votes. :Declaration by Abdullah Öcalan of Democratic Confederalism. :
- KONGRA-GEL changes its name to the historic PKK. 2005: Massoud Barzani is elected by the Kurdish Parliament in Arbil (Hewlêr) as the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. (see [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4092926.stm])
- See also: History of the Kurds
- See also: History of the Kurdistan Workers Party

Culture

- Kurdish music

Renowned Kurdish individuals

- Saladin, the great Muslim conqueror and founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty.
- Malaye Jaziri (or Melayê Cizîrî), Renowned Kurdish poet and sufi (1570-1640)
- Faqi Tayran (or Feqîyê Teyran), Kurdish poet (1590-1660), Author of the epic Sheik San'an.
- Ahmad Khani (or Ehmedê Xanî), the great Kurdish poet, (1651-1707) (Author of Mem û Zîn).
- Rabbi Asenath Barzani (1590-1670), the first Jewish woman Rabbi in Mosul, Kurdistan. (see Kurdish Jews)
- Emîr Xanî Lep-Zêrîn (Amir Khan the Golden Hand), Leader of the Kurdish Principality of "Baradost", who fought Shah Abbas I in the Battle of Dimdim (1609-1610). (see Kurdistan)
- Shaikh Said Piran, Leader of Kurdish Nationalist movement in Turkey. (1925)
- Shaikh Mahmood Barzenji, Leader of the Kurdish Nationalist Movement in Iraq. (1920)
- Jaladat Ali Badirkhan (or Celadet Alî Bedirxan), (1893-1951), Intellectual, Linguist, Journalist and Politician.
- Qazi Muhammad (1893-1947), President of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad in 1946.
- Arab Shamilov (or Erebê Şemo) (1897-1978), Kurdish writer and novelist in Armenia.
- Mustafa Barzani (1903-1979), Leader of the Kurdish Nationalist movements in Iraq and Iran.
- Abdulla Goran, (1904-1962), Founder of the modern Kurdish Poetry.
- Jamal Nebez, (1933- ), Writer, Linguist, Translator and Academic, Germany.
- Sherko Bekas, (1940- ), Contemporary Kurdish Poet
- Yitzhak Mordechai, (1944- ), Kurdish Israeli general and politician
- Abdulla Pashew, (1946- ), Contemporary Kurdish Poet
- Jalal Talabani, current President of Iraq.
- Massoud Barzani, current President of Iraqi Kurdistan region.
- Leyla Zana, Politician and Human Rights Activist
- Abdullah Öcalan, founder of PKK. (currently in İmralı)
- Bahman Ghobadi, film director.
- Yilmaz Güney, film director.
- Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan (Kurdish mother)
- Turgut Özal, 1989-1993 Prime Minister of Turkey.
- İbrahim Tatlıses, the most well-known star in Turkey, artist, musician, businessman, producer, director, etc...
- Yıldız Tibe, musician.

External links

- [http://www.institutkurde.org/ The Kurdish Institut of Paris] Kurdish language, history, books and latest news articles.
- [http://www.kurdistanica.com/ The Encyclopaedia of Kurdistan]
- [http://www.kurdishmedia.com/ News and Articles about Kurdish People (in English)]
- [http://www.peyamner.com/ Peyamner News Agency, News in Kurdish/English]
- [http://www.kurdishworld.com Kurdish] 1000 Kurdish sites, Kurdish people and Internet organisations.
- [http://www.kurdishjewry.org.il/ Kurdish Jewry] (יהדות כורדיסתאן) An Israeli site on Kurdish Jewery (in Hebrew).
- [http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/religion/yazdani/yezidi/yezidi.html Introduction to Yezidi Religion]
- [http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/religion/yazdani/yaresan/yarasan.html Introduction to Yarsan Religion]
- [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/4.html/ Ethnic Cleansing and the Kurds]
- [http://www.bangimela.org bangimela.org Malpereke Çandî, İlmî û Olî ye]
- [http://www.khoshkan.com khoshkan.com Jina Musluman]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4461755.stm History Lost in Dust]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/post_saddam_iraq/html/1.stm Reconstruction of Iraq]
- [http://www.halabjamonument.com Halabjamonument]
- [http://www.kurdislam.org Kurdish islamic Website's]
- [http://www.puk.org Patriotic Union Of Kurdistan's Website]
- [http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/history/origin-e.html "Mesopotamian Origins, The Basic Population of the Near East," by E.A.Speiser]
- [http://www.fhe.cc/html/DieKurden-fhe-Begriffsgeschichte.pdf "Die Kurden" by Ferdinand Hennerbichler, ISBN 963 214 575 5, Mosonmagyarovar, Slovakia, 2004]
- [http://www.thueringen.de/de/publikationen/pic/pubdownload488.doc "Das Volk Ohne Anwalt: Geschichte, Kultur, Literatur und Religion in Kurdistan - eine Einfuehrung," by Nazif Telek, Der Auslaenderbeauftragte der Thueringer Landesregierung, Weimardruck GmbH Weimar, 1. Auflage: 500 Exemplare, November 2003]
- [http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/kurds.html Ancient bonds between Kurds and Jewish People]
- [http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJHG/journal/issues/v74n5/40813/40813.text.html?erFrom=-6713733784582991273Guest Where West Meets East: The Complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor]
- [http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/71008903/ABSTRACT Georgian and Kurd mtDNA sequence analysis shows a lack of correlation between languages and female genetic lineages] The Kurdish Issue in Turkey
- [http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/idpSurvey.nsf/wCountries/Turkey A report on the Kurdish IDP's - 2005]
- [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1484632,00.html A German newspaper's take on the Kurdish issue - 2005]
- [http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=ma99mckiernan The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' take - 1999] Category:Ethnic groups of the Middle East Kurds Category:Iranian peoples Category:U.S.-Iraqi relations Category:Ethnic groups of Iran ja:クルド人

Plato

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων Plátōn) (ca. May 21? 427 BC – ca. 347 BC) In his youth he was given the nickname Plato ("broad"), which referres to his athletic countenance, his wrestling stance. Born Aristocles, was an immensely influential classical Greek philosopher, student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, writer, and founder of the Academy in Athens. In countries speaking Arabic, Turkish, Persian, or Urdu, he is called Eflatun, which means a spring of water, and, metaphorically, of knowledge. Plato lectured extensively at the Academy, but he also wrote on many philosophical issues. The most important writings of Plato are his dialogues, although a handful of epigrams also survive, and some letters have come down to us under his name. It is believed that all of Plato's authentic dialogues survive. However, some dialogues ascribed to Plato by the Greeks are now considered by the consensus of scholars to be either suspect (e.g., First Alcibiades, Clitophon) or probably spurious (such as Demodocus, or the Second Alcibiades). Socrates is often a character in the dialogues of Plato. How much of the content and argument of any given dialogue is Socrates' point of view, and how much of it is Plato's, is heavily disputed. However, Plato was doubtless strongly influenced by Socrates' teachings, so many of the ideas presented, at least in his early works, were probably borrowings.

Biography

Plato was born in Athens or Aegina in May or December in 428 BC or 427 BC. He was raised in a moderately well-to-do aristocratic family. His father was named Ariston, and his mother Perictione. His family claimed descent from the ancient Athenian kings, and he was related—though there is disagreement as to exactly how—to the prominent politician Critias. Plato's own real name was Aristocles; his nickname, Plato, originated from wrestling. Since Plato means broad, it probably refers either to his physical appearance or to his wrestling stance or style. Plato became a pupil of Socrates in his youth, and—at least according to his own account—he attended his master's trial, though not his execution. He was deeply affected by the city's treatment of Socrates, and much of his early work records his memories of his teacher. It is suggested that much of his ethical writing is in pursuit of a society where similar injustices could not occur. Plato was also deeply influenced by a number of prior philosophers, including: the Pythagoreans, whose notions of numerical harmony have clear echoes in Plato's notion of the Forms; Anaxagoras, who taught Socrates and who held that the mind, or reason, pervades everything; and Parmenides, who argued for the unity of all things and may have influenced Plato's concept of the soul. When he was 40 years old, Plato founded one of the earliest known organized schools in Western civilization on a plot of land in the Grove of Academe. The Academy was "a large enclosure of ground which was once the property of a citizen at Athens named Academus... some, however, say that it received its name from an ancient hero" (Robinson, Arch. Graec. I i 16), and it operated until AD 529, when it was closed by Justinian I of Byzantium, who saw it as a threat to the propagation of Christianity. Many intellectuals were schooled in the Academy, the most prominent one being Aristotle.

Work

Aristotle.]]

Themes

Unlike Socrates, Plato wrote down his philosophical views, leaving behind a considerable number of manuscripts. In Plato's writings are debates concerning the best possible form of government, featuring adherents of aristocracy, democracy, monarchy as well as other issues. A central theme is the conflict between nature and convention, concerning the role of heredity and the environment on human intelligence and personality long before the modern "nature versus nurture" debate began in the time of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, with its modern continuation in such controversial works as The Mismeasure of Man and The Bell Curve. Another key distinction and theme in the Platonic corpus is the dichotomy between knowledge and opinion, which foreshadow modern debates between David Hume and Immanuel Kant, and has been taken up by postmodernists and their opponents, more commonly as the distinction between the 'objective' and the 'subjective'. Even the story of the lost city or continent of Atlantis came to us as an illustrative story told by Plato in his Timaeus and Critias.

Form and basis

Plato wrote mainly in the form known as dialogue. In the early dialogues, several characters discuss a topic by asking questions of one another. Socrates figures prominently, and a lively, more disorganized form of elenchos/dialectic is present; these are called the Socratic Dialogues. The nature of these dialogues changed a great deal over the course of Plato's life. It is generally agreed that Plato's earlier works are more closely based on Socrates' thought, whereas his later writing increasingly breaks away from the views of his former teacher. In the middle dialogues, Socrates becomes a mouthpiece for Plato's own philosophy, and the question-and-answer style is more pro forma: the main figure represents Plato and the minor characters have little to say except "yes", "of course" and "very true". The late dialogues read more like treatises, and Socrates is often absent or quiet. It is assumed that while some of the early dialogues could be based on Socrates' actual conversations, the later dialogues were written entirely by Plato. The question of which, if any, of the dialogues are truly Socratic is known as the Socratic problem. The ostensible mise-en-scene of a dialogue distances both Plato and a given reader from the philosophy being discussed; one can choose between at least two options of perception: either to participate in the dialogues, in the ideas being discussed, or choose to see the content as expressive of the personalities contained within the work. The dialogue format also allows Plato to put unpopular opinions in the mouth of unsympathetic characters, such as Thrasymachus in The Republic.

Metaphysics

:Main article: Platonic idealism Platonism has traditionally been interpreted as a form of metaphysical dualism, sometimes referred to as Platonic or Exaggerated Realism. According to this reading, Plato's metaphysics divides the world into two distinct aspects: the intelligible world of "forms", and the perceptual world we see around us. The perceptual world consists of imperfect copies of the intelligible forms or ideas. These forms are unchangeable and perfect, and are only comprehensible by the use of the intellect or understanding—i.e., a capacity of the mind that does not include sense-perception or imagination. This division can be found before Plato in Zoroastrian philosophy (6th century BC), in which the dichotomy is referenced as the Minu (intelligence) and Giti (perceptual) worlds. The Zoroastrian ideal city, Shahrivar, also exhibits certain similarities with Plato's Republic. Republic In the Republic Books VI and VII, Plato uses a number of metaphors to explain his metaphysical views: the metap

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