Levant Region in the Eastern Mediterranean In 1581, England set up the Levant Company to trade with the Ottoman Empire.[3] The name Levant States was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and Lebanon after World War I.[3][2] This is probably the reason why the term Levant has come to be used more specifically to refer to modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus.[3] Some scholars mistakenly believed that it derives from the name of Lebanon.[3] Today the term is often used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. The Levant has been described as the "crossroads of Western Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Northeast Africa",[18] and in geological (tectonic) terms as the "northwest of the Arabian Plate".[19] The populations of the Levant[20][21] share not only the geographic position, but cuisine, some customs, and history. Etymology Geography and modern-day use of the term In archaeology: a definition Subregions History Demographics Groups Others
Akkadian Empire Historical state in Mesopotamia Coordinates: 33°6′N 44°6′E / 33.100°N 44.100°E / 33.100; 44.100 During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.[5] Akkadian, an East Semitic language,[6] gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate).[7] The Akkadian Empire reached its political peak between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests by its founder Sargon of Akkad.[8] Under Sargon and his successors, the Akkadian language was briefly imposed on neighboring conquered states such as Elam and Gutium. After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the people of Mesopotamia eventually coalesced into two major Akkadian-speaking nations: Assyria in the north, and, a few centuries later, Babylonia in the south. History of research[edit] Dating and periodization[edit] Sargon of Akkad[edit]
In the US, white supremacists have infiltrated police and military to get weapons training “Many people from my crew went on to be Chicago police officers, they went on to be prison guards,and they certainly took their ideology with them. A lot of people that I know ended up enlisting in the military to recruit [racists] and to get weapons and combat training.” Picciolini says he “frequently” gets requests for help from people in the military - or parents or friends - concerned by rhetoric within the ranks. “They are denying the Holocaust, their views are in line with white supremacists and white nationalists, and they are coming back from serving in the military angry,” he says. Picciolini’s experience is echoed by a 2015 FBI Counterterrorism Policy Guide that highlights its investigations into domestic terrorism. The FBI identified active links to officers who were employed by some of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States. “Most people thought extremists were what I used to be - Nazi skinheads and KKK and very visible,” Picciolini says.
Anatolia Peninsula in Western Asia Anatolia,[a] also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Turkish Straits to the northwest, the Black Sea to the north, the Armenian Highlands to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean seas through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the Balkan peninsula of Southeast Europe. The eastern border of Anatolia has been held to be a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea, bounded by the Armenian Highlands to the east and Mesopotamia to the southeast. Geography[edit] Etymology[edit] The English-language name Anatolia derives from the Greek Ἀνατολή (Anatolḗ) meaning "the East" and designating (from a Greek point of view) eastern regions in general. Names[edit]
Babylonia Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking Semitic nation state and cultural region based in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). It emerged as an independent state c. 1894 BC, with the city of Babylon as its capital. It was often involved in rivalry with its fellow Akkadian state of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia. The Babylonian state retained the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use (the language of its native populace), despite its Amorite founders and Kassite successors not being native Akkadians. The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad (2334- 2279 BC), dating back to the 23rd century BC. Periods[edit] Old Pre-Babylonian period[edit] The extent of the Babylonian Empire at the start and end of Hammurabi's reign The empire eventually disintegrated due to economic decline, climate change and civil war, followed by attacks by the Gutians from the Zagros Mountains. The Empire of Hammurabi
MI6 boss Sir John Scarlett still signs letters in green ink Sir John said that he keeps a special coloured pen in his desk for official correspondence and to inspire junior agents with the history of the service. MI6 bosses have been known colloquially as the "green ink brigade" since the days of Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the former Royal Navy officer who established the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6, to gather intelligence on the Germans before the First World War. A man who revelled in the secrecy and glamour of espionage, Sir George signed all his correspondence with his final initial in green pen – the writing implement of choice for conspiracy theorists and cranks. His successors in the role adopted the convention and in a rare interview the current incumbent Sir John revealed that it continues to this day. "That's a tradition that we have kept," he told BBC Radio 4's MI6: A Century in the Shadows. Sir John spent his career in MI6 before leaving in 2001 to head the Government's Joint Intelligence Committee.
Iran Country in West Asia Iran,[a][b] officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI),[c] also known as Persia,[d] is a country in West Asia. It borders Turkey to the northwest and Iraq to the west, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Caspian Sea, and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to the southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. A cradle of civilization, Iran has been inhabited since the Lower Palaeolithic. In the 16th century, the native Safavids re-established a unified Iranian state with Twelver Shi'ism as the official religion. Etymology The Persian pronunciation of Iran is [ʔiːˈɾɒːn]. History Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC.[33] The western part of the Iranian plateau participated in the traditional ancient Near East with Elam (3200–539 BC), and later with other peoples such as the Kassites, Mannaeans, and Gutians. Since the 1990s Geography Islands Law
Assyrian people Assyrian people (Syriac: ܐܫܘܪܝܐ), or Syriacs[37] (see terms for Syriac Christians), are an ethnic group indigenous to the Middle East.[38][39] Some of them self-identify as Arameans,[40] or as Chaldeans.[41] They speak East Aramaic languages as well as the primary languages in their countries of residence.[42] The Assyrians are typically Syriac Christians who claim descent from Assyria, one of the oldest civilizations in the world, dating back to 2500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia.[43] Assyrians are predominantly Christian, mostly adhering to the East and West Syrian liturgical rites of Christianity.[48] The churches that constitute the East Syrian rite include the Assyrian Church of the East, Ancient Church of the East, and Chaldean Catholic Church, whereas the churches of the West Syrian rite are the Syriac Orthodox Church and Syriac Catholic Church. Both rites use Classical Syriac as their liturgical language. History Pre-Christian history Language Early Christian period Arab conquest Culture
Kaczynski's comments on McVeigh The following is from Appendix B, pages 398 - 402 of the book American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma city bombing by Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck. On April 25, 2000, convicted Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski sent a letter to the authors of this book detailing his impressions of Timothy McVeigh. Its text---eleven pages in the handwritten original---is reproduced here in full. I should begin by noting that the validity of my comments about McVeigh is limited by the fact that I didn't know him terribly well. We were often put in the outdoor rec yard together in separate wire-mesh cages, but I always spent most of the rec period running in a small oval, because of the restricted area of the cages and consequently I had only about 15 or 20 minutes of each rec period for talking with other inmates. On a personal level I like McVeigh and I imagine that most people would like him. Another reason why he knew more about what was going on was that he was very observant.