At what time, however, the first Jewish settlement in China took
place it is difficult to say. In all likelihood Jewish merchants
immigrated, or changed a temporary sojourn into a permanent one, at
various epochs. In an "Account Written by Two Mohammedan Travelers
Through India and China" in 851 (Renaudot, transl., London, 1733, p.
42), it is stated that "the Jews have been settled in that empire
[China] from time immemorial." Notwithstanding this, it is as hazardous
to connect the first Jewish settlement in China with the Lost Ten Tribes
("Jew. Quart. Rev." xiii. 23) as it is an unwarranted skepticism to
doubt the correctness of the tradition of the Chinese Jews themselves,
which traces the first immigration back to the Han dynasty between 206 B.C. and 221 C.E.
(Möllendorf, in "Monatsschrift," 1895, p. 329), and more exactly to the
time of the emperor Ming-ti. This opinion is based upon the oral
tradition of the Jews, reported by Father Brotier: "These Jews say that
they entered China under the Han dynasty during the reign of Han Ming-ti
[58-76 C.E.]." And further: "Several of these Jews have
assured me that they arrived during the reign of Ming-ti" (Tobar,
"Inscrip. Juives de Kai-Fung-Fu," p. 90). A certain Sulaiman (Jewish
traveler of the ninth century) similarly claims that they entered in 65 C.E. Grätz (iv. 376) places the first immigration in the year 231 C.E.,
connecting it with the persecution of Jews in Persia, which caused also
their first settlement in India; furthermore, the Jews of K'ai-Fung-Foo
themselves claim that they received their religion from India (compare
Finn, "The Orphan Colony of Jews in China," p. 40; but see passages
cited below); but there is nothing to support this hypothetical date, or
the statement of Glover in the "Babylonian and Oriental Record," vi.
247, 288; vii. 149, that the Jews were not in China before the fifth
century. On the other hand there are many reasons for the assumption of
an earlier date.
"the Jews have been settled in that empire
[China] from time immemorial."
Definition of immemorial
extending or existing since beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition
In
1951, a young mother of five named Henrietta Lacks visited The Johns
Hopkins Hospital complaining of vaginal bleeding. Upon examination,
renowned gynecologist Dr. Howard Jones discovered a large, malignant
tumor on her cervix. At the time, The Johns Hopkins Hospital was one of
only a few hospitals to treat poor African-Americans.
As medical
records show, Mrs. Lacks began undergoing radium treatments for her
cervical cancer. This was the best medical treatment available at the
time for this terrible disease. A sample of her cancer cells retrieved
during a biopsy were sent to Dr. George Gey's nearby tissue lab. For
years, Dr. Gey, a prominent cancer and virus researcher, had been
collecting cells from all patients who came to The Johns Hopkins
Hospital with cervical cancer, but each sample quickly died in Dr. Gey’s
lab. What he would soon discover was that Mrs. Lacks’ cells were unlike
any of the others he had ever seen: where other cells would die, Mrs.
Lacks' cells doubled every 20 to 24 hours.
Today, these incredible
cells— nicknamed "HeLa" cells, from the first two letters of her first
and last names — are used to study the effects of toxins, drugs,
hormones and viruses on the growth of cancer cells without experimenting
on humans. They have been used to test the effects of radiation and
poisons, to study the human genome, to learn more about how viruses
work, and played a crucial role in the development of the polio vaccine.
Although Mrs. Lacks ultimately passed away on October 4, 1951, at the age of 31, her cells continue to impact the world.
Researchers have known for a long time that eumelanin—the pigment that
colors human skin, hair, and eyes—can conduct electricity. But eumelanin
in its natural form isn't conductive enough to be very useful, and
nobody could figure out how to give it a boost. This week, that changed.
In a paper published this week in the journal Frontiers in Chemistry,
an interdisciplinary team of Italian scientists describe a breakthrough
process that dramatically enhances eumelanin's conductivity.
Ezekiel 1:13
“As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and
like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living
creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth
lightning.”
Exposure
to the sun has the potential to cause premature aging of the skin, as
well as various skin cancers. These range in severity from basal cell
carcinoma to melanoma, an aggressive cancer that spreads more rapidly
than milder skin cancers. Your ability to withstand the potentially
damaging effects of the sun's ultraviolet radiation depends on the
amount of melanin in your skin, which is determined by the number of
melanocytes that are active beneath the surface of your skin. In even
the most light-skinned people, the body's melanocytes respond to sun
exposure by producing more melanin, which creates the effect known as
tanning. However, there is a limit to the degree of protection that
melanin can provide, and it's significantly higher in people with
naturally darker skin.
In
"Dark Deception: Discover the Truths About the Benefits of Sunlight
Exposure," author Joseph Mercola suggests that skin color is a
reflection of the geographical area from which your ancestors
originated. Thus, descendants of people who traditionally lived in
tropical regions with high levels of sun exposure tend to have darker
skin, and those whose roots are traceable to ancestors from cooler,
northern climes are generally fairer in color.
Younger-Looking Skin
Dermatologist
Susan C. Taylor, author of "Brown Skin," points out that
African-Americans and other people of color generally look younger than
their lighter-skinned peers because of the higher levels of melanin in
their skin. The increased melanin protects those who have it from
short-term damage from the sun, as well as the long-term signs of aging,
such as age spots, deep wrinkles and rough texture, according to
Taylor.
Targets Free Radicals
Free
radicals have been implicated as the cause of widespread damage to
human cells. In an article written for The Sun and Your Skin website,
Diana Clarke, the website's founder, writes about melanin's role in
scavenging free radicals, preventing the skin damage they can cause. To
explain how melanin fights free-radical damage, Clarke quotes Sergio
Nacht, a principal in the skin care consulting firm of Riley-Nacht LLC:
"It affects the delicately designed lipids that hold moisture in the
stratum corneum." This is the outermost layer of the epidermis. "If the
skin loses its moisture, it becomes rigid and cracks."
Some Drawbacks
Although
increased melanin levels have many benefits for people with naturally
darker skin, having more melanin has a few disadvantages. In "Brown
Skin," Dr. Taylor says that having more melanin tends to make the skin
of African-Americans and other people of color more reactive. She
writes: "That means almost any stimulus -- a rash, scratch, pimple or
inflammation -- may trigger the production of excess melanin, resulting
in dark marks or patches on the skin."
"Malignant melanoma develops in the melanocytes: Yup!
Melanin just stabbed you in the back. As if that’s not enough,
the type of cancer (malignant melanoma) that develops in the
melanocytes (specialized cells that produce melanin) is the
most dangerous form of skin cancer, causing 75% of skin cancer
death, and if untreated can spread to other parts of the body. It then
becomes important to protect the skin and wear sunscreen to
prevent abnormal alterations in the melanocytes, which lead
to cancerous growth."
Melanoma is more than 20 times more common in whites than in African
Americans. Overall, the lifetime risk of getting melanoma is about 2.6%
(1 in 38) for whites, 0.1% (1 in 1,000) for blacks, and 0.58% (1 in 172)
for Hispanics.
The risk for each person can be affected by a number of different
factors, which are described in Risk Factors for Melanoma Skin Cancer.
Neuromelanin (NM) is a dark pigment found in the brain which is structurally related to melanin. It is a polymer of 5,6-dihydroxyindole monomers.[1] Neuromelanin is expressed in large quantities in catecholaminergic cells of the substantia nigra pars compacta and locus coeruleus, giving dark color to the structures.
Neuromelanin gives specific brain sections, such as the substantia nigra
or the locus coeruleus, distinct color. It is a type of melanin and
similar to other forms of peripheral melanin. It is insoluble in organic
compounds, and can be labeled by silver stains. It is called
neuromelanin because of its function and the color change that appears
in tissues containing it. It contains black/brown pigmented granules.
Neuromelanin is found to accumulate during aging, noticeably after the first 2–3 years
of life. It is believed to protect neurons in the substantia nigra from
iron-induced oxidative stress. It is considered a true melanin due to
its stable free radical structure and it avidly chelates metals.
Neuromelanin is found in higher concentrations in humans than in other primates.[2] Neuromelanin concentration increases with age, suggesting a role in neuroprotection (neuromelanin can chelate metals and xenobiotics[6]) or senescence.
Neuromelanin-containing neurons in the substantia nigra undergo neurodegeneration during Parkinson's disease. Motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease are caused by cell death in the substantia nigra, which may be partly due to oxidative stress.
This oxidation may be relieved by neuromelanin. Patients with
Parkinson's disease had 50% the amount of neuromelanin in the substantia
nigra as compared to similar patients of their same age, but without
Parkinson's. The death of neuromelanin-containing neurons in the
substantia nigra, pars compacta, and locus coeruleus have been linked to Parkinson's disease and also have been visualized in vivo with neuromelanin MRI.[7]
Neuromelanin has been shown to bind neurotoxic and toxic metals that could promote neurodegeneration.
Dark pigments in the substantia nigra were first described in 1838 by Purkyně,[8] and the term neuromelanin was proposed in 1957 by Lillie,[9]
though it has been thought to serve no function until recently. It is
now believed to play a vital role in preventing cell death in certain
parts of the brain. It has been linked to Parkinson's disease and
because of this possible connection, neuromelanin has been heavily
researched in the last decade.
Age-standardized
Parkinson disease prevalence (per 100,000) was 2,168.18 (±95.64) in
White men, but 1,036.41 (±86.01) in Blacks, and 1,138.56 (±46.47) in
Asians. The incidence ratio in Blacks as compared to Whites (0.74; 95%
CI = 0.732–0.748) was higher than the prevalence ratio (0.58; 95% CI =
0.575–0.581), whereas the incidence ratio for Asians (0.69; 95% CI =
0.657–0.723) was similar to the prevalence ratio (0.62; 95% CI =
0.617–0.631). Bayesian mapping of Parkinson disease revealed a
concentration in the Midwest and Northeast regions. Mean county
incidence by quartile ranged from 279 to 3,111, and prevalence from
1,175 to 13,800 (per 100,000). Prevalence and incidence in urban
counties were greater than in rural ones (p < 0.01). Cluster analysis
supported a nonrandom distribution of both incident and prevalent
Parkinson disease cases (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Parkinson disease is substantially more common in Whites, and is nonrandomly distributed in the Midwest and Northeastern US.
Every year, about 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
This does not reflect the thousands of cases that go undetected.
The combined direct and indirect costs of Parkinson’s in the U.S.
including treatment, disability, and similar costs, plus lost income
from an inability to work, are estimated at $25 billion per year.
The average cost of Parkinson’s medication is $2,500 per year. Parkinson’s-related surgery can cost up to $100,000 per patient.
Canada
According to UCB,
a global biopharma company focused on severe diseases with operations
in approximately 40 countries, there are over 100,000 Canadians living
with Parkinson’s disease today, with about 6,600 new cases of
Parkinson’s diagnosed each year in Canada (based on an annual incidence
of 20 new cases per 100,000 people).
Overall,
men are more likely to have the disease than women. The figures are
0.3% of men compared to 0.2% of women in private households, and 6.6% of
men vs. 4% of women in care facilities.
About 56% of patients receive formal or informal assistance due to
their condition. Of these, 84% rely on family, friends, or neighbors,
while 56% obtain other assistance.
United Kingdom
The prevalence of Parkinson’s in the U.K. is about one in 500 people, with a total of about 127,000 people living with the disease.
Someone is diagnosed with Parkinson’s every hour in the U.K. Most are 50 or older.
Biracial couples and families are becoming increasingly common.
Companies are using them in advertisements to reflect that reality, and
to sell to those who value diversity.
Infiniti USA recently released an advertisement featuring a dad
repeatedly heading out to grab more food for a holiday meal with his
wife and two daughters.
First it’s sweet potatoes, then
shrimp, and finally the wife takes over to get a pecan pie. It’s a
fairly straightforward 30-second advertisement riffing off of the idea
that the husband and wife love to drive their cars so much they look
forward to these types of trivial errands.
The unique part has to do with the actors who play this adoring family:
The father is white, the mother is black, and their teenage daughters
are biracial.
While the detergent’s ad
showed a white husband with his black wife using Tide PODS to quickly
clean their daughter’s laundry before leaving for a trip, Calvin Klein
advertised its Eternity fragrance with Jake Gyllenhaal reciting an e.e. cummings poem with model Liya Kebede, who plays his black wife, to their young daughter, played by a 4-year-old called Leila.
In a 2016 commercial for Chase,
the viewer follows the relationship between a white boy and a black
girl who grow from hand-holding as young children on their way to
school, to a joyful marriage as adults. It’s advertising the company’s
investment guidance through the message: Some things are worth waiting
for.
In a Toyota owner testimonial
for Mirai released in late 2016, the company featured a white man with
his Asian wife talking about their decision to drive a hydrogen-fueled
car.
State Farm’s “engagement” advertisement, featuring a black man and white woman, predictably attracted criticism from racists.
America’s white population has been increasing since the first census was taken in 1790.
Table 1 shows the change in the non-Hispanic white population using
data from the censuses of 1970 to 2010, and annual population estimates
for 2011 to 2017, based on the recent release. These new numbers show,
for the first time, an absolute decline in the nation’s white population
of more than 9,000 whites between 2015 and 2016 and more than 31,000
whites between 2016 and 2017. (These new estimates revised earlier
census estimates, which showed white gains between 2015 and 2016.)
Although these annual white declines are extremely modest (of -0.005
and -0.016 percent in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively), they are an
early harbinger of the long-term trend that the Census Bureau projected previously this year. Those projections showed the white population declining after 2023.
This is indicative of a general aging of the white population, which
means proportionately fewer white women in their childbearing years, and
an excess of deaths over births (a natural decrease). The recent
downsizing of the white population could reflect post-recession-related
fertility declines in the white population, leading to an inflation of
white natural decrease to its highest levels of the last six years. The
past year also showed a downturn in white immigration.
In theosophy and anthroposophy, the Akashic records are a compendium
of all human events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have
occurred in the past, present, or future. They are believed by theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the etheric plane. There are anecdotal accounts but there is no scientific evidence for the existence of the Akashic records.
A related concept is The Preserved Tablet (al-Lawhu 'l-Mahfuz) of Islamic theology; the heavenly preserved record of all that has happened and will happen
According to ancient and medieval science, aether (Ancient Greek: αἰθήρ, aither), also spelled æther or ether and also called quintessence, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere.
The word αἰθήρ (aithēr) in Homeric Greek means "pure, fresh air" or "clear sky". In Greek mythology, it was thought to be the pure essence that the gods breathed, filling the space where they lived, analogous to the air breathed by mortals. It is also personified as a deity, Aether, the son of Erebus and Nyx in traditional Greek mythology. Aether is related to αἴθω "to incinerate". and intransitive "to burn, to shine" (related is the name Aithiopes (Ethiopians; see Aethiopia), meaning "people with a burnt (black) visage").
Ancient Aethiopia, (Greek: Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia) also known as Ethiopia, first appears as a geographical term in classical documents in reference to the upper Nile region, as well as certain areas south of the Sahara desert. Its earliest mention is in the works of Homer: twice in the Iliad, and three times in the Odyssey. The Greek historian Herodotus specifically uses the appellation to refer to such parts of Africa as were then known within the inhabitable world.
In classical antiquity, Africa (or Ancient Libya) referred to what is now known as the Maghreb and south of the Libyan Desert and Western Sahara,
including all the desert land west of the southern Nile river.
Geographical knowledge of the continent gradually grew, with the first
century AD Greek travelogue the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describing areas along the Red Sea (Erythraean Sea). The Greek name Αἰθιοπία (from Αἰθίοψ, Aithiops, 'an Ethiopian') is a compound word, derived from the two Greek words, from αἴθω + ὤψ (aitho "I burn" + ops "face"). According to the Perseus Digital Library, the designation properly translates as Burnt-face in noun form and red-brown in adjectival form. It was used as a vague term for dark-skinned populations since the time of Homer.
It was applied to such dark-skinned populations as came within the
range of observation of the ancient geographers i.e. primarily in what
was then Nubia, and with the expansion of geographical knowledge, successively extended to certain other areas below the Sahara.
Before Herodotus
Homer
(c. 8th century BC) is the first to mention "Aethiopians" (Αἰθίοπες,
Αἰθιοπῆες); he mentions that they are to be found at the east and west
extremities of the world, divided by the sea into "eastern" (at the
sunrise) and "western" (at the sunset). In Rhapsody A of the Iliad, Thetis visits Olympus to meet Zeus, but the meeting is postponed, as Zeus and other gods are absent, visiting the land of the Aethiopians. Hesiod (c. 8th century BC) speaks of Memnon as the "king of Aethiopia".[citation needed]
In 515 BC, Scylax of Caryanda, on orders from Darius I of the Achaemenid Empire, sailed along the Indus River, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, circumnavigating the Arabian Peninsula. He mentioned "Aethiopians", but his writings on them have not survived. Hecataeus of Miletus
(c. 500 BC) is also said to have written a book about Aethiopia, but
his writing is now known only through quotations from later authors. He
stated that Aethiopia was located to the east of the Nile, as far as the
Red Sea and Indian Ocean; he is also quoted as relating a myth that the
Skiapods ("Shade feet") lived there, whose feet were supposedly large enough to serve as shade
In his Histories (c. 440 BC) Herodotus presents some of the most ancient and detailed information about "Aethiopia". He relates that he personally traveled up the Nile to the border of Egypt as far as Elephantine (modern Aswan);
in his view, "Aethiopia" is all of the inhabited land found to the
south of Egypt, beginning at Elephantine. He describes a capital at Meroë, adding that the only deities worshipped there were Zeus (Amun) and Dionysus (Osiris). He relates that in the reign of Pharaoh Psamtik I (c. 650 BCE), many Egyptian soldiers deserted their country and settled amidst the Aethiopians.
Herodotus tells us that king Cambyses II (c. 570 BC) of the Achaemenid Empire sent spies to the Aethiopians "who dwelt in that part of Libya
(Africa) which borders upon the southern sea." They found a strong and
healthy people. Although Cambyses then campaigned toward their country,
by not preparing enough provisions for the long march, his army
completely failed and returned quickly.[citation needed]
In Book 3, Herodotus defines "Aethiopia" as the farthest region
of "Libya" (i.e. Africa): "Where the south declines towards the setting
sun lies the country called Aethiopia, the last inhabited land in that
direction. There gold is obtained in great plenty, huge elephants abound, with wild trees of all sorts, and ebony; and the men are taller, handsomer, and longer lived than anywhere else."
Other Greco-Roman historians
The Egyptian priest Manetho (c. 300 BC) listed Kushite (25th) dynasty, calling it the "Aethiopian dynasty". Moreover, when the Hebrew Bible
was translated into Greek (c. 200 BC), the Hebrew appellation "Kush,
Kushite" became in Greek "Aethiopia, Aethiopians", appearing as
"Ethiopia, Ethiopians" in the English King James Version.
Agatharchides
provides a relatively detailed description of the gold mining system of
Aethiopia. His text was copied almost verbatim by virtually all
subsequent ancient writers on the area, including Diodorus Siculus and Photius.
With regard to the Ethiopians, Strabo
indicates that they looked similar to Indians, remarking "those who are
in Asia (South India), and those who are in Africa, do not differ from
each other." Pliny in turn asserts that the place-name "Aethiopia" was derived from one "Aethiop, a son of Vulcan" )the smith-god Hephaestus). He also writes that the "Queen of the Ethiopians" bore the title Kandake, and avers that the Ethiopians had conquered ancient Syria and the Mediterranean. Following Strabo, the Greco-Roman historian Eusebius notes that the Ethiopians had emigrated into the Red Sea area from the Indus Valley and that there were no people in the region by that name prior to their arrival.
The first century AD Greek travelogue known as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea first describes the Horn of Africa littoral, based on its author's intimate knowledge of the area. The Periplus does not mention any dark-skinned "Ethiopians" among the area's inhabitants. They only later appear in Ptolemy's Geographia, but in a region far south, around the "Bantu nucleus" of northern Mozambique. According to John Donnelly Fage, these early Greek documents altogether suggest that the original inhabitants of Azania, the "Azanians", were of the same ancestral stock as the Afroasiatic-speaking populations to the north of them in the ancient Barbara region along the Red Sea. Subsequently, by the tenth century, these original "Azanians" had been replaced by early waves of Bantu settlers.
Several
notable personalities in Greek and medieval literature were identified
as Aethiopian, including several rulers, male and female: Memnon and his brother Emathion, King of Arabia. Cepheus and Cassiopeia, parents of Andromeda,
were named as king and queen of Aethiopia. Homer in his description of
the Trojan War mentions several other Aethiopians. In some cults of the
youngest Olympian god, Dionysus, his maternal origins are believed to be Aethiopia.[citation needed] Ptolemy the geographer and other ancient Greek commentators believed that the "Aethiopian Olympus" was where the gods lived when they were not in Greece
Pliny the Elder mentions an "Azanian Sea" (N.H. 6.34) that began around the emporium of Adulis and stretched around the south coast of Africa.
The 1st century AD Greek travelogue the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea first describes Azania based on its author's intimate knowledge of the area. Chapter 15 of the Periplus
suggests that Azania could be the littoral area south of present-day
Somalia (the "Lesser and Greater Bluffs", the "Lesser and Greater
Strands", and the "Seven Courses").[4] Chapter 16 clearly describes the emporium of Rhapta, located south of the Puralean Islands at the end of the Seven Courses of Azania, as the "southernmost market of Azania". The Periplus does not mention any dark-skinned "Ethiopians" among the area's inhabitants. They only later appear in Ptolemy's Geographia, but in a region far south, around the "Bantu nucleus" of northern Mozambique. According to John Donnelly Fage,
these early Greek documents altogether suggest that the original
inhabitants of the Azania coast, the "Azanians", were of the same
ancestral stock as the Afro-Asiatic populations to the north of them along the Red Sea. Subsequently, by the 10th century AD, these original "Azanians" had been replaced by early waves of Bantu settlers.[5]
Afroasiatic (Afro-Asiatic), also known as Afrasian and in older sources as Hamito-Semitic (Chamito-Semitic) or Semito-Hamitic, is a large language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and parts of the Sahel. Though estimations vary widely, it is believed by scholars to have been spoken as a single language around 12,000 to 18,000 years ago, making it the oldest established language family in the world.
Afroasiatic languages have over 495 million native speakers, the fourth largest number of any language family (after Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan and Niger–Congo). The phylum has six branches: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Omotic and Semitic. By far the most widely spoken Afroasiatic language or dialect continuum is Arabic. A de facto group of distinct language varieties within the Semitic branch, the languages that evolved from Proto-Arabic have around 313 million native speakers, concentrated primarily in West Asia and North Africa.
In addition to languages spoken today, Afroasiatic includes several important ancient languages, such as Ancient Egyptian, which forms a distinct branch of the family, and Akkadian, Biblical Hebrew and Old Aramaic, all of which are from the Semitic branch. The original homeland of the Afroasiatic family, and when the parent language (i.e. Proto-Afroasiatic) was spoken, are yet to be agreed upon by historical linguists. Proposed locations include North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Eastern Sahara and the Levant
Etymology
During the early 1800s, linguists grouped the Berber, Cushitic and Egyptian languages within a "Hamitic" phylum, in acknowledgement of these languages' genetic relation with each other and with those in the Semitic phylum.[failed verification] The terms "Hamitic" and "Semitic" were etymologically derived from the Book of Genesis, which describes various Biblical tribes descended from Ham and Shem, two sons of Noah.[9] By the 1860s, the main constituent elements within the broader Afroasiatic family had been worked out.
Friedrich Müller introduced the name "Hamito-Semitic" for the entire family in his Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft (1876).[10]Maurice Delafosse (1914) later coined the term "Afroasiatic" (often now spelled "Afro-Asiatic"). However, it did not come into general use until Joseph Greenberg
(1950) formally proposed its adoption. In doing so, Greenberg sought to
emphasize the fact that Afroasiatic spanned the continents of both
Africa and Asia.
Individual scholars have also called the family "Erythraean"
(Tucker 1966) and "Lisramic" (Hodge 1972). In lieu of "Hamito-Semitic",
the Russian linguist Igor Diakonoff
later suggested the term "Afrasian", meaning "half African, half
Asiatic", in reference to the geographic distribution of the family's
constituent languages.
The term "Hamito-Semitic" remains in use in the academic traditions of some European countries.
Arabic
is the most widely spoken Afroasiatic language with over 300 million
native speakers. Other widely spoken Afroasiatic languages include:
Hausa (Chadic), the dominant language of northern Nigeria and southern Niger, spoken as a first language by over 40 million people and used as a lingua franca by another 20 million across West Africa and the Sahel.
Amharic (Semitic),
spoken in Ethiopia, with over 25 million native speakers in addition to
millions of other Ethiopians speaking it as a second language.
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
The House of Plantagenet (/plænˈtædʒənɪt/) was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses: the Angevins, who were also counts of Anjou; the main body of the Plantagenets following the loss of Anjou; and the Plantagenets' two cadet branches, the houses of Lancaster and York. The family held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1485, when Richard III died in battle.
Under the Plantagenets, England was transformed – although this
was only partly intentional. The Plantagenet kings were often forced to
negotiate compromises such as Magna Carta.
These constrained royal power in return for financial and military
support. The king was no longer just the most powerful man in the
nation, holding the prerogative of judgement, feudal tribute and
warfare. He now had defined duties to the realm, underpinned by a
sophisticated justice system. A distinct national identity was shaped by
conflict with the French, Scots, Welsh and Irish, and the establishment
of English as the primary language.
In the 15th century, the Plantagenets were defeated in the Hundred Years' War
and beset with social, political and economic problems. Popular revolts
were commonplace, triggered by the denial of numerous freedoms. English
nobles raised private armies, engaged in private feuds and openly
defied Henry VI.
The rivalry between the House of Plantagenet's two cadet branches of York and Lancaster brought about the Wars of the Roses, a decades-long fight for the English succession, culminating in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, when the reign of the Plantagenets and the English Middle Ages both met their end with the death of King Richard III. Henry VII, of Lancastrian descent, became king of England; five months later, he married Elizabeth of York, thus ending the Wars of the Roses, and giving rise to the Tudor dynasty.
The Tudors worked to centralise English royal power, which allowed them
to avoid some of the problems that had plagued the last Plantagenet
rulers. The resulting stability allowed for the English Renaissance, and the advent of early modern Britain.
Edward J. Cowan traced the first mention of Scota in literature to the 12th century.[2] Scota appears in the Irish chronicle Book of Leinster (containing a redaction of the Lebor Gabála Érenn).[3] However, a text found in the 11th-century Historia Brittonum contains an earlier reference to Scota.[4] 12th-century sources state that Scota was the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh, a contemporary of Moses, who married Geytholos (Goídel Glas), the founder of the Scots and Gaels after being exiled from Egypt.[5] The earliest Scottish sources claim Geytholos was a king of Greece, Neolus or Heolaus, while the Lebor Gabála Érenn describes him as a Scythian. Other manuscripts of the Lebor Gabála Érenn contain a variant legend where Míl Espáine appears as Scota's husband, and connects him to ancient Iberia.[6]
A variant myth in the Lebor Gabála Érenn states that there
was another Scota. She was the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh named
Cingris, a name found only in Irish legend. She married Niul, son of
Fenius Farsaid. Niul was a Babylonian who traveled to Scythia after the
collapse of the Tower of Babel.
He was a scholar of languages and was invited by the Pharaoh to Egypt
to take Scota's hand in marriage. Scota and Nuil had a son, Goídel Glas,
the eponymous ancestor of the Gaels, who created the Gaelic language by
combining the best features of the 72 languages then in existence.
"After the
fall of Akhenaton (1400 BC), Scythian-Hyksos-Atonists made their way
Westward to later invade Spain and Ireland. These conquerors - known in
Irish mythology as the Milesians - were responsible for the destruction
of the Druids. One of their elite members was Atonist Princess
Meritaten, daughter of Akhenaton and Nefertiti. She was also known as Scota, a name derived from Scuti or Scut, by which Scythians were originally known. After the Milesian-Atonist invasion, Ireland was given the name Scota. Later, the Irish took their princess's name to Scotland ("Land
of Scota" or "Land of the Scots or Scythians"). The
Scythian-Hyksos-Atonists were none other than the "Israelites" and
"Judites" of the Old Testament. A study of their symbolism leaves us in
no doubt of this."
"The first pharaoh of the first dynasty of Egypt, and founder of the great city of Memphis, King Menes is
buried in Northern Ireland. [...] It is not surprising, therefore, that
he should have wished to travel to Ireland, the original homeland of
his ancestors."
The MILESIANS ALSO CALLED THEMSELVES SCOTS, and part of them settled
later on in Scotland. The Scottish Declaration of Independence
(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320 A.D.) makes the following statement:
“We know, Most Holy Father and Lord, and from the chronicles and books
of the ancients gather, that among other illustrious nations, ours, to
wit THE NATION OF THE SCOTS, has been distinguished by many honours;
which PASSING FROM THE GREATER SCYTHIA through the Mediterranean Sea and
Pillars of Hercules, and SOJOURNING IN SPAIN among the most savage
tribes through a long course of time, could nowhere be subjugated by any
people however barbarous AND COMING THENCE ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED
YEARS AFTER THE OUTGOING OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, THEY, BY MANY
VICTORIES AND INFINITE TOIL, ACQUIRED FOR THEMSELVES THE POSSESSIONS IN
THE WEST, WHICH THEY NOW HOLD...”
The
Scottish Declaration of Independence, a prized document attested by
Robert the Bruce's barons in Parliament assembled, dated A.D.1320,
asserts that the nation of the Scots - with a king-list of one-hundred
and thirteen monarchs - moved to the British Isles from Scythia by way
of Spain. The document emphasises an Israelite context to the effect
that the migration occured "1200 years after the outgoing of Israel"
(from Egypt). This would indicate a period of the 3rd-2nd centuries B.C.
Comments
At what time, however, the first Jewish settlement in China took place it is difficult to say. In all likelihood Jewish merchants immigrated, or changed a temporary sojourn into a permanent one, at various epochs. In an "Account Written by Two Mohammedan Travelers Through India and China" in 851 (Renaudot, transl., London, 1733, p. 42), it is stated that "the Jews have been settled in that empire [China] from time immemorial." Notwithstanding this, it is as hazardous to connect the first Jewish settlement in China with the Lost Ten Tribes ("Jew. Quart. Rev." xiii. 23) as it is an unwarranted skepticism to doubt the correctness of the tradition of the Chinese Jews themselves, which traces the first immigration back to the Han dynasty between 206 B.C. and 221 C.E. (Möllendorf, in "Monatsschrift," 1895, p. 329), and more exactly to the time of the emperor Ming-ti. This opinion is based upon the oral tradition of the Jews, reported by Father Brotier: "These Jews say that they entered China under the Han dynasty during the reign of Han Ming-ti [58-76 C.E.]." And further: "Several of these Jews have assured me that they arrived during the reign of Ming-ti" (Tobar, "Inscrip. Juives de Kai-Fung-Fu," p. 90). A certain Sulaiman (Jewish traveler of the ninth century) similarly claims that they entered in 65 C.E. Grätz (iv. 376) places the first immigration in the year 231 C.E., connecting it with the persecution of Jews in Persia, which caused also their first settlement in India; furthermore, the Jews of K'ai-Fung-Foo themselves claim that they received their religion from India (compare Finn, "The Orphan Colony of Jews in China," p. 40; but see passages cited below); but there is nothing to support this hypothetical date, or the statement of Glover in the "Babylonian and Oriental Record," vi. 247, 288; vii. 149, that the Jews were not in China before the fifth century. On the other hand there are many reasons for the assumption of an earlier date.
"the Jews have been settled in that empire [China] from time immemorial."
Definition of immemorial
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/index.html
The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks
In 1951, a young mother of five named Henrietta Lacks visited The Johns Hopkins Hospital complaining of vaginal bleeding. Upon examination, renowned gynecologist Dr. Howard Jones discovered a large, malignant tumor on her cervix. At the time, The Johns Hopkins Hospital was one of only a few hospitals to treat poor African-Americans.
As medical records show, Mrs. Lacks began undergoing radium treatments for her cervical cancer. This was the best medical treatment available at the time for this terrible disease. A sample of her cancer cells retrieved during a biopsy were sent to Dr. George Gey's nearby tissue lab. For years, Dr. Gey, a prominent cancer and virus researcher, had been collecting cells from all patients who came to The Johns Hopkins Hospital with cervical cancer, but each sample quickly died in Dr. Gey’s lab. What he would soon discover was that Mrs. Lacks’ cells were unlike any of the others he had ever seen: where other cells would die, Mrs. Lacks' cells doubled every 20 to 24 hours.
Today, these incredible cells— nicknamed "HeLa" cells, from the first two letters of her first and last names — are used to study the effects of toxins, drugs, hormones and viruses on the growth of cancer cells without experimenting on humans. They have been used to test the effects of radiation and poisons, to study the human genome, to learn more about how viruses work, and played a crucial role in the development of the polio vaccine.
Although Mrs. Lacks ultimately passed away on October 4, 1951, at the age of 31, her cells continue to impact the world.
https://www.popsci.com/eumelanin-conduct-electricity/Ezekiel 1:13
“As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.”https://www.livestrong.com/article/339696-the-health-benefits-of-melanin/
Protective Function
Exposure to the sun has the potential to cause premature aging of the skin, as well as various skin cancers. These range in severity from basal cell carcinoma to melanoma, an aggressive cancer that spreads more rapidly than milder skin cancers. Your ability to withstand the potentially damaging effects of the sun's ultraviolet radiation depends on the amount of melanin in your skin, which is determined by the number of melanocytes that are active beneath the surface of your skin. In even the most light-skinned people, the body's melanocytes respond to sun exposure by producing more melanin, which creates the effect known as tanning. However, there is a limit to the degree of protection that melanin can provide, and it's significantly higher in people with naturally darker skin.
In "Dark Deception: Discover the Truths About the Benefits of Sunlight Exposure," author Joseph Mercola suggests that skin color is a reflection of the geographical area from which your ancestors originated. Thus, descendants of people who traditionally lived in tropical regions with high levels of sun exposure tend to have darker skin, and those whose roots are traceable to ancestors from cooler, northern climes are generally fairer in color.
Younger-Looking Skin
Dermatologist Susan C. Taylor, author of "Brown Skin," points out that African-Americans and other people of color generally look younger than their lighter-skinned peers because of the higher levels of melanin in their skin. The increased melanin protects those who have it from short-term damage from the sun, as well as the long-term signs of aging, such as age spots, deep wrinkles and rough texture, according to Taylor.
Targets Free Radicals
Free radicals have been implicated as the cause of widespread damage to human cells. In an article written for The Sun and Your Skin website, Diana Clarke, the website's founder, writes about melanin's role in scavenging free radicals, preventing the skin damage they can cause. To explain how melanin fights free-radical damage, Clarke quotes Sergio Nacht, a principal in the skin care consulting firm of Riley-Nacht LLC: "It affects the delicately designed lipids that hold moisture in the stratum corneum." This is the outermost layer of the epidermis. "If the skin loses its moisture, it becomes rigid and cracks."
Some Drawbacks
Although increased melanin levels have many benefits for people with naturally darker skin, having more melanin has a few disadvantages. In "Brown Skin," Dr. Taylor says that having more melanin tends to make the skin of African-Americans and other people of color more reactive. She writes: "That means almost any stimulus -- a rash, scratch, pimple or inflammation -- may trigger the production of excess melanin, resulting in dark marks or patches on the skin."
Neuromelanin-containing neurons in the substantia nigra undergo neurodegeneration during Parkinson's disease. Motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease are caused by cell death in the substantia nigra, which may be partly due to oxidative stress. This oxidation may be relieved by neuromelanin. Patients with Parkinson's disease had 50% the amount of neuromelanin in the substantia nigra as compared to similar patients of their same age, but without Parkinson's. The death of neuromelanin-containing neurons in the substantia nigra, pars compacta, and locus coeruleus have been linked to Parkinson's disease and also have been visualized in vivo with neuromelanin MRI.[7]
Neuromelanin has been shown to bind neurotoxic and toxic metals that could promote neurodegeneration.Age-standardized Parkinson disease prevalence (per 100,000) was 2,168.18 (±95.64) in White men, but 1,036.41 (±86.01) in Blacks, and 1,138.56 (±46.47) in Asians. The incidence ratio in Blacks as compared to Whites (0.74; 95% CI = 0.732–0.748) was higher than the prevalence ratio (0.58; 95% CI = 0.575–0.581), whereas the incidence ratio for Asians (0.69; 95% CI = 0.657–0.723) was similar to the prevalence ratio (0.62; 95% CI = 0.617–0.631). Bayesian mapping of Parkinson disease revealed a concentration in the Midwest and Northeast regions. Mean county incidence by quartile ranged from 279 to 3,111, and prevalence from 1,175 to 13,800 (per 100,000). Prevalence and incidence in urban counties were greater than in rural ones (p < 0.01). Cluster analysis supported a nonrandom distribution of both incident and prevalent Parkinson disease cases (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Parkinson disease is substantially more common in Whites, and is nonrandomly distributed in the Midwest and Northeastern US.
Parkinson’s statistics in selected countries
United States
About one million Americans are thought to have Parkinson’s. This is more than those affected by multiple sclerosis (MS), muscular dystrophy (MD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) combined.
Every year, about 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s. This does not reflect the thousands of cases that go undetected.
The combined direct and indirect costs of Parkinson’s in the U.S. including treatment, disability, and similar costs, plus lost income from an inability to work, are estimated at $25 billion per year.
The average cost of Parkinson’s medication is $2,500 per year. Parkinson’s-related surgery can cost up to $100,000 per patient.
Canada
According to UCB, a global biopharma company focused on severe diseases with operations in approximately 40 countries, there are over 100,000 Canadians living with Parkinson’s disease today, with about 6,600 new cases of Parkinson’s diagnosed each year in Canada (based on an annual incidence of 20 new cases per 100,000 people).
Overall, men are more likely to have the disease than women. The figures are 0.3% of men compared to 0.2% of women in private households, and 6.6% of men vs. 4% of women in care facilities.
About 56% of patients receive formal or informal assistance due to their condition. Of these, 84% rely on family, friends, or neighbors, while 56% obtain other assistance.
United Kingdom
The prevalence of Parkinson’s in the U.K. is about one in 500 people, with a total of about 127,000 people living with the disease.
Someone is diagnosed with Parkinson’s every hour in the U.K. Most are 50 or older.
Infiniti USA recently released an advertisement featuring a dad repeatedly heading out to grab more food for a holiday meal with his wife and two daughters.
First it’s sweet potatoes, then shrimp, and finally the wife takes over to get a pecan pie. It’s a fairly straightforward 30-second advertisement riffing off of the idea that the husband and wife love to drive their cars so much they look forward to these types of trivial errands.
America’s white population has been increasing since the first census was taken in 1790. Table 1 shows the change in the non-Hispanic white population using data from the censuses of 1970 to 2010, and annual population estimates for 2011 to 2017, based on the recent release. These new numbers show, for the first time, an absolute decline in the nation’s white population of more than 9,000 whites between 2015 and 2016 and more than 31,000 whites between 2016 and 2017. (These new estimates revised earlier census estimates, which showed white gains between 2015 and 2016.)
Although these annual white declines are extremely modest (of -0.005 and -0.016 percent in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively), they are an early harbinger of the long-term trend that the Census Bureau projected previously this year. Those projections showed the white population declining after 2023.
This is indicative of a general aging of the white population, which means proportionately fewer white women in their childbearing years, and an excess of deaths over births (a natural decrease). The recent downsizing of the white population could reflect post-recession-related fertility declines in the white population, leading to an inflation of white natural decrease to its highest levels of the last six years. The past year also showed a downturn in white immigration.
Ecclesiastes 12:14
In theosophy and anthroposophy, the Akashic records are a compendium of all human events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have occurred in the past, present, or future. They are believed by theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the etheric plane. There are anecdotal accounts but there is no scientific evidence for the existence of the Akashic records.
Akasha (ākāśa आकाश) is the Sanskrit word for 'aether', 'sky', or 'atmosphere'.
A related concept is The Preserved Tablet (al-Lawhu 'l-Mahfuz) of Islamic theology; the heavenly preserved record of all that has happened and will happenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_(classical_element)
Ancient Aethiopia, (Greek: Αἰθιοπία Aithiopia) also known as Ethiopia, first appears as a geographical term in classical documents in reference to the upper Nile region, as well as certain areas south of the Sahara desert. Its earliest mention is in the works of Homer: twice in the Iliad, and three times in the Odyssey. The Greek historian Herodotus specifically uses the appellation to refer to such parts of Africa as were then known within the inhabitable world.
In classical antiquity, Africa (or Ancient Libya) referred to what is now known as the Maghreb and south of the Libyan Desert and Western Sahara, including all the desert land west of the southern Nile river. Geographical knowledge of the continent gradually grew, with the first century AD Greek travelogue the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describing areas along the Red Sea (Erythraean Sea). The Greek name Αἰθιοπία (from Αἰθίοψ, Aithiops, 'an Ethiopian') is a compound word, derived from the two Greek words, from αἴθω + ὤψ (aitho "I burn" + ops "face"). According to the Perseus Digital Library, the designation properly translates as Burnt-face in noun form and red-brown in adjectival form. It was used as a vague term for dark-skinned populations since the time of Homer. It was applied to such dark-skinned populations as came within the range of observation of the ancient geographers i.e. primarily in what was then Nubia, and with the expansion of geographical knowledge, successively extended to certain other areas below the Sahara.
Before HerodotusHomer (c. 8th century BC) is the first to mention "Aethiopians" (Αἰθίοπες, Αἰθιοπῆες); he mentions that they are to be found at the east and west extremities of the world, divided by the sea into "eastern" (at the sunrise) and "western" (at the sunset). In Rhapsody A of the Iliad, Thetis visits Olympus to meet Zeus, but the meeting is postponed, as Zeus and other gods are absent, visiting the land of the Aethiopians. Hesiod (c. 8th century BC) speaks of Memnon as the "king of Aethiopia".[citation needed]
In 515 BC, Scylax of Caryanda, on orders from Darius I of the Achaemenid Empire, sailed along the Indus River, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, circumnavigating the Arabian Peninsula. He mentioned "Aethiopians", but his writings on them have not survived. Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 500 BC) is also said to have written a book about Aethiopia, but his writing is now known only through quotations from later authors. He stated that Aethiopia was located to the east of the Nile, as far as the Red Sea and Indian Ocean; he is also quoted as relating a myth that the Skiapods ("Shade feet") lived there, whose feet were supposedly large enough to serve as shadeIn Herodotus
In his Histories (c. 440 BC) Herodotus presents some of the most ancient and detailed information about "Aethiopia". He relates that he personally traveled up the Nile to the border of Egypt as far as Elephantine (modern Aswan); in his view, "Aethiopia" is all of the inhabited land found to the south of Egypt, beginning at Elephantine. He describes a capital at Meroë, adding that the only deities worshipped there were Zeus (Amun) and Dionysus (Osiris). He relates that in the reign of Pharaoh Psamtik I (c. 650 BCE), many Egyptian soldiers deserted their country and settled amidst the Aethiopians.
Herodotus tells us that king Cambyses II (c. 570 BC) of the Achaemenid Empire sent spies to the Aethiopians "who dwelt in that part of Libya (Africa) which borders upon the southern sea." They found a strong and healthy people. Although Cambyses then campaigned toward their country, by not preparing enough provisions for the long march, his army completely failed and returned quickly.[citation needed]
In Book 3, Herodotus defines "Aethiopia" as the farthest region of "Libya" (i.e. Africa): "Where the south declines towards the setting sun lies the country called Aethiopia, the last inhabited land in that direction. There gold is obtained in great plenty, huge elephants abound, with wild trees of all sorts, and ebony; and the men are taller, handsomer, and longer lived than anywhere else."
Other Greco-Roman historians
The Egyptian priest Manetho (c. 300 BC) listed Kushite (25th) dynasty, calling it the "Aethiopian dynasty". Moreover, when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (c. 200 BC), the Hebrew appellation "Kush, Kushite" became in Greek "Aethiopia, Aethiopians", appearing as "Ethiopia, Ethiopians" in the English King James Version.
Agatharchides provides a relatively detailed description of the gold mining system of Aethiopia. His text was copied almost verbatim by virtually all subsequent ancient writers on the area, including Diodorus Siculus and Photius.
With regard to the Ethiopians, Strabo indicates that they looked similar to Indians, remarking "those who are in Asia (South India), and those who are in Africa, do not differ from each other." Pliny in turn asserts that the place-name "Aethiopia" was derived from one "Aethiop, a son of Vulcan" )the smith-god Hephaestus). He also writes that the "Queen of the Ethiopians" bore the title Kandake, and avers that the Ethiopians had conquered ancient Syria and the Mediterranean. Following Strabo, the Greco-Roman historian Eusebius notes that the Ethiopians had emigrated into the Red Sea area from the Indus Valley and that there were no people in the region by that name prior to their arrival.
The first century AD Greek travelogue known as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea first describes the Horn of Africa littoral, based on its author's intimate knowledge of the area. The Periplus does not mention any dark-skinned "Ethiopians" among the area's inhabitants. They only later appear in Ptolemy's Geographia, but in a region far south, around the "Bantu nucleus" of northern Mozambique. According to John Donnelly Fage, these early Greek documents altogether suggest that the original inhabitants of Azania, the "Azanians", were of the same ancestral stock as the Afroasiatic-speaking populations to the north of them in the ancient Barbara region along the Red Sea. Subsequently, by the tenth century, these original "Azanians" had been replaced by early waves of Bantu settlers.
Greek and medieval literature
Ancient Azania
Pliny the Elder mentions an "Azanian Sea" (N.H. 6.34) that began around the emporium of Adulis and stretched around the south coast of Africa. The 1st century AD Greek travelogue the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea first describes Azania based on its author's intimate knowledge of the area. Chapter 15 of the Periplus suggests that Azania could be the littoral area south of present-day Somalia (the "Lesser and Greater Bluffs", the "Lesser and Greater Strands", and the "Seven Courses").[4] Chapter 16 clearly describes the emporium of Rhapta, located south of the Puralean Islands at the end of the Seven Courses of Azania, as the "southernmost market of Azania". The Periplus does not mention any dark-skinned "Ethiopians" among the area's inhabitants. They only later appear in Ptolemy's Geographia, but in a region far south, around the "Bantu nucleus" of northern Mozambique. According to John Donnelly Fage, these early Greek documents altogether suggest that the original inhabitants of the Azania coast, the "Azanians", were of the same ancestral stock as the Afro-Asiatic populations to the north of them along the Red Sea. Subsequently, by the 10th century AD, these original "Azanians" had been replaced by early waves of Bantu settlers.[5]
Later Western writers who mention Azania include Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100 – c. 170 CE) and Cosmas Indicopleustes (6th century CE).
Azania was known to the Chinese as Zésàn (澤散) by the 3rd century AD.Afroasiatic (Afro-Asiatic), also known as Afrasian and in older sources as Hamito-Semitic (Chamito-Semitic) or Semito-Hamitic, is a large language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and parts of the Sahel. Though estimations vary widely, it is believed by scholars to have been spoken as a single language around 12,000 to 18,000 years ago, making it the oldest established language family in the world.
Afroasiatic languages have over 495 million native speakers, the fourth largest number of any language family (after Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan and Niger–Congo). The phylum has six branches: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Omotic and Semitic. By far the most widely spoken Afroasiatic language or dialect continuum is Arabic. A de facto group of distinct language varieties within the Semitic branch, the languages that evolved from Proto-Arabic have around 313 million native speakers, concentrated primarily in West Asia and North Africa.
During the early 1800s, linguists grouped the Berber, Cushitic and Egyptian languages within a "Hamitic" phylum, in acknowledgement of these languages' genetic relation with each other and with those in the Semitic phylum.[failed verification] The terms "Hamitic" and "Semitic" were etymologically derived from the Book of Genesis, which describes various Biblical tribes descended from Ham and Shem, two sons of Noah.[9] By the 1860s, the main constituent elements within the broader Afroasiatic family had been worked out.
Friedrich Müller introduced the name "Hamito-Semitic" for the entire family in his Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft (1876).[10] Maurice Delafosse (1914) later coined the term "Afroasiatic" (often now spelled "Afro-Asiatic"). However, it did not come into general use until Joseph Greenberg (1950) formally proposed its adoption. In doing so, Greenberg sought to emphasize the fact that Afroasiatic spanned the continents of both Africa and Asia.
Individual scholars have also called the family "Erythraean" (Tucker 1966) and "Lisramic" (Hodge 1972). In lieu of "Hamito-Semitic", the Russian linguist Igor Diakonoff later suggested the term "Afrasian", meaning "half African, half Asiatic", in reference to the geographic distribution of the family's constituent languages.
The term "Hamito-Semitic" remains in use in the academic traditions of some European countries.
Scholars generally treat the Afroasiatic language family as including the following branches:
- Berber
- Chadic
- Cushitic
- Egyptian
- Omotic
- Semitic
DemographicsArabic is the most widely spoken Afroasiatic language with over 300 million native speakers. Other widely spoken Afroasiatic languages include:
Amos 9:7 King James Version (KJV)
Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
Ethiopian Jews, also known as Beta Israel, claim descent from the Tribe of Dan, whose members migrated south along with members of the tribes of Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, into the Kingdom of Kush, now Ethiopia and Sudan, during the destruction of the First Temple. This position is supported by former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. They are said to have fought with the natives. Charles Upton relates the serpent voodoo God Danbhala as derived in part from a heterodox form of Ethiopian Judaism.
The House of Plantagenet (/plænˈtædʒənɪt/) was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses: the Angevins, who were also counts of Anjou; the main body of the Plantagenets following the loss of Anjou; and the Plantagenets' two cadet branches, the houses of Lancaster and York. The family held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1485, when Richard III died in battle.
Under the Plantagenets, England was transformed – although this was only partly intentional. The Plantagenet kings were often forced to negotiate compromises such as Magna Carta. These constrained royal power in return for financial and military support. The king was no longer just the most powerful man in the nation, holding the prerogative of judgement, feudal tribute and warfare. He now had defined duties to the realm, underpinned by a sophisticated justice system. A distinct national identity was shaped by conflict with the French, Scots, Welsh and Irish, and the establishment of English as the primary language.
In the 15th century, the Plantagenets were defeated in the Hundred Years' War and beset with social, political and economic problems. Popular revolts were commonplace, triggered by the denial of numerous freedoms. English nobles raised private armies, engaged in private feuds and openly defied Henry VI.
The rivalry between the House of Plantagenet's two cadet branches of York and Lancaster brought about the Wars of the Roses, a decades-long fight for the English succession, culminating in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, when the reign of the Plantagenets and the English Middle Ages both met their end with the death of King Richard III. Henry VII, of Lancastrian descent, became king of England; five months later, he married Elizabeth of York, thus ending the Wars of the Roses, and giving rise to the Tudor dynasty. The Tudors worked to centralise English royal power, which allowed them to avoid some of the problems that had plagued the last Plantagenet rulers. The resulting stability allowed for the English Renaissance, and the advent of early modern Britain.
The Badlands Guardian
A face emerges from the landscape when seen from the air.
A variant myth in the Lebor Gabála Érenn states that there was another Scota. She was the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh named Cingris, a name found only in Irish legend. She married Niul, son of Fenius Farsaid. Niul was a Babylonian who traveled to Scythia after the collapse of the Tower of Babel. He was a scholar of languages and was invited by the Pharaoh to Egypt to take Scota's hand in marriage. Scota and Nuil had a son, Goídel Glas, the eponymous ancestor of the Gaels, who created the Gaelic language by combining the best features of the 72 languages then in existence.