10 Forgotten Nations That Once Ruled The Land History Rome annihilated Carthage to ensure it would never again rise as a major threat. The Ottomans forever ended Byzantium’s glory. The vast armies of Persia were repeatedly beaten back by the Greeks, subjugated by the might of Alexander, and destroyed by the rise of Islam. The fates of once great and proud nations fill the pages of history books—and then there are those forgotten powers even the history books seldom mention. 10BurgundyWestern Europe France’s greatest historical rivals are often considered to be England or Germany. We’ve previously mentioned how Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, divided the Carolingian Empire among his sons. For a time, it seemed that fortune favored Burgundy. 9NovgorodEastern Europe The city of Novgorod, whose residents sometimes called it “Lord Novgorod the Great,” truly lived up to its name. By the 14th century, Novgorod had become one of the busiest trading ports in Europe—an estimated 400,000 people lived in the city. 6MajapahitSoutheast Asia
Greek Sculpture Greek sculpture from 800 to 300 BCE took early inspiration from Egyptian and Near Eastern monumental art, and over centuries evolved into a uniquely Greek vision of the art form. Greek artists would reach a peak of artistic excellence which captured the human form in a way never before seen and which was much copied. Greek sculptors were particularly concerned with proportion, poise, and the idealised perfection of the human body, and their figures in stone and bronze have become some of the most recognisable pieces of art ever produced by any civilization. Influences & Evolution From the 8th century BCE, Archaic Greece saw a rise in the production of small solid figures in clay, ivory, and bronze. The oldest Greek stone sculptures (of limestone) date from the mid-7th century BCE and were found at Thera. Greek sculptors would strive to glorify the human body in marble and bronze. Materials & Methods The other favoured material in Greek sculpture was bronze. Sculptors The Masterpieces
The 33 Most Beautiful Abandoned Places In The World Many people doesn’t know, and didn’t even heard about these famous abandoned places. Many of these places are really something amazing, but they are also really sad when you take a closer look at them. On the folowing list, you can see abandoned planes, abandoned ships, as well as the abandoned houses, and so many other things, that are really amazing and magnificent. So, check out these amazing abandoned places photos. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 15th century monastery in the Black Forest in Germany 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 1984 Winter Olympics bobsleigh track in Sarajevo 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. What Vikings really looked like The fine decoration of the Oseberg ship in Norway, which was buried in the year 834, provides clues to what Vikings looked like. Inside the ship were two women and the archaeologists believe the ship has served as a sarcophagus. (Photo: Annie Dalbéra) There’s no shortage of myths about the appearance of our notorious Viking ancestors. To find out more about these myths, ScienceNordic’s Danish partner site, videnskab.dk, asked its Facebook readers to list their favourite myths about what the Vikings looked like. We have picked out five myths from the resulting debate and asked researchers to help us confirm or bust these myths. Armed with this information, our graphic designer then took a shot at drawing some examples of our infamous forefathers, which you can see in our picture gallery. The five myths are: MYTH 1: Vikings were dirty and unkempt Unwashed, rough warriors with froth hanging out of the corners of the mouth. But that’s unlikely to be true: It wasn’t enough just to be clean.
The Art Story: Minimalism Movement Minimalism emerged in New York in the early 1960s among artists who were self-consciously renouncing recent art they thought had become stale and academic. A wave of new influences and rediscovered styles led younger artists to question conventional boundaries between various media. The new art favored the cool over the "dramatic": their sculptures were frequently fabricated from industrial materials and emphasized anonymity over the expressive excess of Abstract Expressionism. Painters and sculptors avoided overt symbolism and emotional content, but instead called attention to the materiality of the works. By the end of the 1970s, Minimalism had triumphed in America and Europe through a combination of forces including museum curators, art dealers, and publications, plus new systems of private and government patronage. Minimalists distanced themselves from the Abstract Expressionists by removing suggestions of biography from their art or, indeed, metaphors of any kind. Post-Minimalism
Temple Of Karnak, engraved wall Part of the Holy Land, Egypt offers a fascinating mixture of ancient pyramids, temples and other religious monuments. There are numerous possibilities to explore Egypt from desert treks to trips down the Nile or scuba diving in the Red Sea and along the Sinai coast. Cairo, which means “The Triumphant”, is home to the pyramids, sphinx and over 17 million residents within its metropolitan area. A Year on the Medieval Farm What did medieval peasants do on a farm? Some documents from the period offer insights into the agricultural activities throughout the year. One of these works was the Liber ruralium commodorum, written by Pietro de’ Crescenzi around 1304-09. This treatise about agriculture offered advice on all kinds of things to be done on the medieval farm, ranging from beekeeping to winemaking, and includes a chapter detailing a monthly calendar of tasks. This work became very popular in the later Middle Ages, with numerous manuscripts and print versions coming out. Each spring would see the medieval farmers plant their fields and prepare their own gardens, as well as collect the wool from sheep. As the autumn moved into winter, work on the farm decreased but some of the outstanding chores could including repairing buildings, gathering firewood and bringing the animals in from the fields. Some of our other stories about medieval agriculture: A Medieval How-to Book for Shepherds Want more medieval?
UbuWeb Amazing Places To Experience Around the Globe (Part 3) Devetashkata Cave - Bulgaria Ben Bulben at County Sligo, Ireland Shark Island - Sydney Baatara Gorge Waterfall, Tannourine - Lebanon Abel Tasman National Park - New Zealand Myrtos Beach, Kefalonia - Greece Sichuan - China In The Gardens of Prague Castle Neist Point, Isle of Skye - Scotland Aiguill e du midi, Chamonix, France The Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve in Texas, USA 4 Hands - Etretat, France Río Tampaón in San Luis Potosí -México Madeira, Portugal Six Senses Evason Ma’In Hot Springs, Jordan Méandre - En-Vau - Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) More Amazing Places To Experience Around The Globe (Part 1 - click here) More Amazing Places to Experience Around The Globe (Part 2 - click here ) Discovered a place we should include in Part 4 of Amazing Places? We'll be publishing Amazing Places as a book in late 2012
How the Chicken Conquered the World | History & Archaeology The chickens that saved Western civilization were discovered, according to legend, by the side of a road in Greece in the first decade of the fifth century B.C. The Athenian general Themistocles, on his way to confront the invading Persian forces, stopped to watch two cocks fighting and summoned his troops, saying: “Behold, these do not fight for their household gods, for the monuments of their ancestors, for glory, for liberty or the safety of their children, but only because one will not give way to the other.” The tale does not describe what happened to the loser, nor explain why the soldiers found this display of instinctive aggression inspirational rather than pointless and depressing. But history records that the Greeks, thus heartened, went on to repel the invaders, preserving the civilization that today honors those same creatures by breading, frying and dipping them into one’s choice of sauce. How did the chicken achieve such cultural and culinary dominance?
Adrian Fletcher travels Renaissance & Medieval Italy, France, Spain and Britain 1,000 pages packed with Outstanding Photos, Stories, Books, Insights, Food, Restaurants and Travel Tips.