Autumn+D

Hi! enjoy my page! Please label each entry! Kaaba

Kaaba is located within the Great Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is a stone cube structure covered by a black cloth. In Islam tradition it is a very sacred site and it is believed that it was built by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham and the descendants of Noah. They have another name for it and that is the House of god. The structure itself has been taken down and rebuilt multiple times over its history. There is a restricted area around it called haram. This area extends as far as 12 miles. In this area only Muslims can enter. The cube itself used to be a shrine and stored many idols. While playing in that 12 mile are the Muslims must face the direction of the Kaaba.

The Black Stone is located at on of the outside corners. This stone is venerated and ritually kissed. The stone is now hollow because of years of wear but it is held together by a silver band. The Black Stone is believed to be sent down to Earth by Allah, it was once white but the sins of the son of Adam made it black. Touching the stone and kissing is part of a ritual of a path of life or spirituality.

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The Forbidden City - Beijing, China

The Forbidden City is a building more of a palace that was very significant ‍‍‍‍‍in the Ming dynasty slowly tapering off at the start of the Qin dynasty‍‍‍‍‍. It was built for the emperor at the time and was used for political center and many ceremonies were performed here. About 24 emperors lived here and it took 14 years to build. It is still a significant structure to this day but it is now more of a historical site. The reason I say it is more of a palace is because it holds about 1000 different buildings. The name originates from the fact that no one could enter or leave without the leader's permission. In 1925 it was put in the care of a museum to preserve it and now is a popular tourist site. []



The Ancient Underwater Ruins of Japan These ruins are believed by Maasaki Kimura to be the remains of an ancient civilization dating back to 5000 years ago. The ruins are pyramid like and are undetected as to what they mean. Marine biologist Maasaki believes that the city was sunk by a massive earthquake 2000 years ago. Only some believe that this could be the ancient city, Japan's government doesn't recognize this as a national site although it is pretty amazing when you see it. Some say it is simply sandstone formed by the ocean but others see more. At the bottom of the ocean floor just off the coast of Taiwan is where they believe the ancient fabled city of Mu lies. What do you believe? Interesting stuff. How connected to our class discussions? -SW





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School of Athens

Hypatia is the woman in the white robe. I picked her because she was one of the few women that stood out in the photo. Hypatia was a philosopher in Egypt and was the fist well known female mathematician. She was also the head of the Platonist school in Alexandria. She was a strong woman figure of the time. 350-415 AD. In my opinion they should have had someone like Genghis Khan. He brought so many areas together and he could add even more to this piece. Pictures? GK really fits in here? He did smite a lot of folks and that might be an issue fitting in! -SW