What historical event do you wish you could have witnessed?

The tragic downfall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–612 BCE)

The Neo-Assyrian Empire was not just conquered but was deliberately eradicated by an alliance between the Medes [1], the Babylonians, and other groups, which they had previously invaded.

The accounts relating to the Medes reported by Herodotus [2] have left the image of a powerful people, who would have formed an empire at the beginning of the 7th century BCE that lasted until the 550s BCE, played a determining role in the fall of the Assyrian Empire and competed with the powerful kingdoms of Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire [3].

According to other scholars, Assyria, which had dominated the Near East, came to an end at around 612/09 BCE due to several factors including military pressure by the Medes (a pastoral mountain people, again from the Zagros mountain range), the Babylonians, and possibly also civil war.

While I may understand the anger that triggered extreme hatred, which led to the invasion of Assyria, given the former’s incredible cruelty throughout its three centuries of glory, I shall never condone the invading “alliance’s” radical deeds. Indeed, the Medes obliterated Assyria’s great cities.

In 612 BCE the glorious city of Nineveh was sacked and burned by a coalition of Babylonians, Persians, Medes, and Scythians, among others. The destruction of the palace brought the flaming walls down on the library of Aššurbanipal (reign: 669–631 BCE) and, although it was far from the intention, preserved the great library for posterity, as well as the history of the Assyrians, due to baking hard and burying the clay tablet books. Kriwaczek [4] writes, “Thus did Assyria's enemies ultimately fail to achieve their aim when they razed Ashur and Nineveh in 612 BCE, only fifteen years after Ashurbanipal's death: the wiping out of Assyria's place in history.”

Finally, what I consider the most unforgivable act lies in the total obliteration of the great Assyrian cities, which was so complete that, within two generations of the empire's fall, no one knew where they had been located. The ruins of Nineveh were covered by the sands and lay buried for the next 2,000 years.

[1] The Medes (Akkadian: 𒆳𒈠𒁕𒀀𒀀 Ancient Greek Μῆδοι Mêdoi) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northwestern Iran.

[2] Herodotus was an ancient Greek writer, geographer, and historian born in the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire. He is known for having written the Histories – a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus was the first writer to do a systematic investigation of historical events.

[3] The Neo-Babylonian Empire was a civilization in Mesopotamia between 626 BCE and 539 BCE. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by the Akkadians and Assyrians but threw off the yoke of external domination after the death of the last strong Assyrian ruler.

[4] Paul Kriwaczek (1937 - 2011) was a British historian and television producer

 When was the first war in human history?

Warfare is as old as civilization itself, and some experts believe that the earliest armed discords surfaced more than 10,000 years ago among prehistoric city-states of the Fertile Crescent [1]. These early confrontations were likely waged over resources, goods, or land. Yet, since these events predate the advent of writing by some 7,000 years, we have scant data from them, save for what archaeologists have been able to glean from the smallest fragments of information.

Following the revolutionary invention of cuneiform scripts by the Sumerian civilization (circa 3200 BCE), early scribes from Mesopotamia left behind history’s first-known preserved accounts of the war, involving Sumerians and Elamites, in and around the area of modern Basra, Iraq.

Although historians and archeologists have meager details of its causes, some speculate that it, most likely, emerged when the belligerent parties began to compete for limited resources – precisely when agriculture began to replace millenary, well-established hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Indeed, scholars believe this remote confrontation took place circa 2700 BCE, between the forces of Sumer and Elam when king Enembaragesi [2] led the Sumerians to victory.

At any rate, this remote conflict most likely constitutes just the first of a nearly constant series of ongoing military clashes in the region; given the archaic nature of both realms. As such, it is not surprising that the earliest military engagement was fought in the region when the Sumerians – led by Enembaragesi, King of Kish – defeated an invading force of Elamites, who represented their most significant historical foe.

Enembaragesi is known from inscriptions about him on vase fragments, as well as from later traditions. He was the penultimate ruler of the first dynasty of Kish.

He “despoiled the weapons of the land of Elam,” one inscription asserts.

His son, Agga, was the last king of such a dynasty, owing to his defeat by legendary Gilgamesh – king of Uruk - according to the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh and Agga of Kish.

ADDENDA

• The Sumerians called themselves "black-headed people" and their territory “the land of the civilized lords.”
• The Elamites defined themselves as “Servants of Kirwashir” [3] and called their territory “HALTAMTI”.

Enembaragesi - King of Kish

[1] The Fertile Crescent is a horseshoe-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern Turkey, and the western portion of Iran.
[2] Enembaragesi (or Enmebaragesi) was the penultimate king of the First Dynasty of Kish [4] and is recorded as having reigned for “900 years” in the Sumerian King List.
[3] Kirwashir was an important Elamite divinity.
[4] The First Dynasty of Kish (c. 4401-2844 BCE) was the first Sumerian lineage after the “Great Flood,” according to most Sumerian King Lists. When the city of Kish was excavated, the earliest level was from the Jemdet Nasr period, ca. 2800-2400 BCE.

 An amusing conjecture – A Roman Earth (in an Alternate Universe) - FICTION 
Updated on June 12, 2022 (whereby some 2008 errors have been rectified)

The premise of this short story is based on currently popular scientific discussions about the Multiverse – which were recently developed after the String Theorists defeated an earlier group of Physicists in connection with the number of existing dimensions (Nine versus Eleven dimensions)

Fiction Background
A brilliant disillusioned scientist from our Universe, after enduring significant personal loss, drastically turned against his society and decided to use his knowledge (sparing no effort), to fundamentally alter the status quo. To achieve this objective, the “scientific Villain” decided to brilliantly manipulate Space-Time & Gravity, thereby discovering the “Secrets of Time Travel”.

After conducting some preliminary testing with minor mammals and other primates, our brilliant Villain eventually utilized his formidable contraption to reach the Italic peninsula - circa 59 BCE - a few weeks after Julius Gaius Caesar had been elected Consul of the Roman Republic; a few weeks after having solidified a strategic alliance with Pompey (offering his daughter Julia’s hand in marriage) – approximately two decades before the Roman Civil War was “scheduled” to unfold...

After managing a successful meeting with the newly elected Consul, the mischievous scientist using the disguise of a Messenger from Jupiter (the Roman “main God”) bestowed Julius Caesar with the “Gift of Foresight” into a possible “future World” where his assassination and the eventual downfall of Rome would have been ordained... Therefore, under the clever pretext whereby the gods favored the Consul, our Villain disclosed to Julius the necessary information thereby preventing the unfolding of such distressing events; this gift should be perceived as a token of Jupiter’s favor and was designed to ensure the eternal Glory of Rome under the Guidance of the Consul (soon named Emperor) and his successors, following the wise counsel of the Divine envoy (who was readily nominated a Roman Senator, Chief Scholar and First Advisor to the Throne)

Unlike most similar Sci-Fi stories (based on “Time Travel”), because of the Multiverse (and its eleven dimensions) and unlike the presumption whereby the plot’s Creator, the original “timeline,” would not be endangered despite the Scientist’s Machiavellian deeds… Rather, instead of altering his world’s history, his interference simply triggered the automatic creation of a separate Universe which would unfold along a separate but parallel pathway, parallel to the original one, which would proceed impervious of the above-referenced developments in its Ancient Past….

THE ACTUAL STORY

Date - December 5, 2110 AG
In that newly created Universe, following the time when our Villain embarked on his adventure into the mysteries of Time-Space (2008 CE/AD), due to a completely different calendar (based on distinct Time-Keeping conventions) the current year reads 2110 AG – where AG stands for “After” (Julius) “Gaius” (Caesar’s birth).
Location - Roma Novae, Luna Province

A group of Privileged school children eagerly trailed their Tutor during a special visit to the oldest Museum on Luna – the site of the very first Roman colony in space – at the center of "Roma Novae's" main module. As the pupils admired the amazing museum’s façade, ancient-looking Doric and Ionic columns – the remarkable construction of which had been the first to combine Classical design with the necessary technical requirements of Surface exposed to vacuum and solar radiation - built during the early days of space exploration, a mere 100 years following Planet Rome’s colonization of outer space (400 years ago).
Like most students anywhere in the vast Roman Empire, the youngsters were often querying their impatient History Preceptor about nearly everything spotted along their pathway, particularly after reaching the old Lunar Temples of Jupiter, Minerva, and Dionysius, where the tutor finally located the museum’s section devoted for Ancient Terran History and Early Mythological Creeds. Relived for reaching the intended area – specially selected for his monthly “in locus” class – after examining priceless Sumerian, Babylonian and Greek statues, as well as various artifacts and papyrus from Terra – which survived not only the rigors of time but also the challenge of an arduous space tow to Luna aboard an ancient Space-Galley Freighter, the teacher leads the curious pupils towards the section hosting the “Early Pre-Atlantic” religions (Roman-given denomination for the period preceding America’s discovery - settled by the Romans in 957 CE/AD), when he is suddenly interrupted, once again, by the most curious of the little rascals in the group – the elder son of the Lunar Consul.

The lad was rudely pointing to a curious-looking wooden object nearly concealed by a statue of an equally ancient Roman Governor – it was a tiny cross… Annoyed, after taking a particularly deep sigh, the History Preceptor decides to indulge the prominent youngster, mostly due to the influence of his father, and replies in a surprised manner:
“Are you actually curious about this small contraption?
Ah, silly boy! The wooden object represents nothing but a mere mythological symbol associated with an obscure ancient sect of maniacal rebels…
If my memory serves, I understand such criminals were followers of one of the first Terrorists in recorded history – a bizarre criminal from Judea who was executed about two millennia ago”.

When further questioned whether the historical rebels had engaged any followers in Judea, the frustrated tutor reprimanded:
“Well, according to historical data, I understand there was a small group of followers, even in Rome! Yet to prevent further dissemination of their dangerous beliefs the Imperial authorities exterminated most of the fanatics within a few decades, mostly in the Roman main arena of the time: the Coliseum, located in the Imperial Capital on Terra. Now, just concentrate on important issues relating to your studies, and leave aside further considerations regarding any such irrelevant issues that bear little or no significant impact upon the course of History!”

Upon pronouncing his lasting words of wisdom, the History Preceptor quickly led the excited group of pupils along to the vast rooms of the main Lunar Museum.

ACTUAL HISTORICAL REFERENCE:
Gaius Julius Caesar, July 12, 102 BCE – March 15, 44 BCE (Roman Republic)

     UTNAPISHTIM AND THE PRESERVER OF LIFE

The mythological so-called "biblical flood stories" are based upon the Babylonian version of a much older Sumerian original, written in Akkadian cuneiform scripts pressed upon baked clay tablets, illustrating the famous, extremely archaic Epic of Gilgamesh.

According to Ancient Mesopotamian mythology (written circa 2500 BCE), Utnapishtim (the biblical equivalent of Noah) was the heroic survivor of a "Great Flood."  His extraordinary tale was fully depicted in the aforementioned saga, representing the source of some biblical narratives, including Judeo-Christian myths, such as Noah and his purported Ark.

In conformity with this Babylonian transliteration, however, the Great Flood was cast upon the world by the Sumerian god Enlil (in Akkadian Elil), simply because mankind was too noisy, thus precluding him from sleeping at night.

Enlil - the Mesopotamian God of Wind and Breath

Upon hearing about such dreadful plans, his younger brother - the god Enki (in Akkadian Ea), always deemed as humanity’s main protector, secretly informed Utnapishtim - via a dream - of the upcoming devastation, along with detailed instructions vis-à-vis the construction of a special, massive vessel (named the Preserver of Life).

Upon conclusion of such craft, and immediately prior to the foretold inundation, this celestial selected hero was poised to gather his family, along with a pair of each existing beast, bird, and insect to be rescued, do that the Earth could be duly repopulated…  Moreover, consistent with his divine directives, Utnapishtim also included an accomplished sailor among its crew, so that the "Preserver of Life" could be duly steered.

By and large, the successful execution of his convoluted task, considering his valiant efforts, Utnapishtim and his wife were granted the gift of immortality, in recompense for his great deed.

Can one write in any modern language with ancient Sumerian cuneiform script?

The Standard of Ur - British Museum, London, United Kingdom

While I am not duly accredited with the necessary credentials to provide any scholastically valid pronouncement vis-à-vis this excellent query, based on what I do know, I am nearly certain that texts written in any language (modern or otherwise) could be easily transliterated into the marvelous, Sumerian created cuneiform script.

The cuneiform characters or symbols, if you will, was originally developed by the Sumerians circa 3500 BCE (when the Proto-Cuneiform was invented to facilitate the control and accounting of a rapidly growing trade). It embodies a logo-syllabic script that was used to write at least fifteen languages of the Ancient Near East, and it was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the very beginning of the Common Era (also known as Anno Domini-”AD”).

The first foreign vernacular which adopted this archaic script was Akkadian, which was itself adopted, and slightly enhanced by the Babylonians, and then naturally embraced by the Amorite influenced version thereof by the Assyrians, their northern cultural and religious “cousins.”

In view of the highly successful use of the cuneiform characters throughout Mesopotamia,* the Assyrian version was successfully adapted to write the Indo-European Hittite** language sometime around the 17th century BCE. The other languages with significant cuneiform corpora consist of Eblaite, Elamite, Hurrian, Luwian, Old Persian and Urartian.

Because the cuneiform insignias successfully spread and fundamentally impacted every distinct language around the regions in the vicinity of modern Iraq, and specially because it could be effectively used to write the first Indo-European language - Hittite - I have no doubt that it could be easily implemented to transliterate texts composed in virtually all modern European languages (except for Finnish and Hungarian, which to not belong to this large group), along with Indian dialects like Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, and Tamil.

Finally, my conclusion may be, perhaps, validated if one compares it to our current ability to transliterate into modern European languages, every text that utilizes distinct scripts, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew and Arabic.

*Mesopotamia, which is an original word coined by Ancient Greece, namely, Μεσοποταμία, meaning the "land between rivers" represents a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent.*** This area occupies most of present-day Iraq and Kuwait.

**Hittite is the first historically identified, to date, "Indo-European language", which includes Germanic dialects such as English, Dutch, German, and Norwegian, among others, along with the Roman tongues, such as French, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish, and the Celtic ones (for instance, Welsh, Breton, and the Scottish Gaelic). Additionally, this fundamental block of idioms include Indo-Iranian, Greek, Armenian and even Albanian.

***The Fertile Crescent is the boomerang-shaped region of the Middle East that was home to some of the earliest human civilizations. Also known as the “Cradle of Civilization,” this area was the birthplace of a large number of technological innovations, including writing, the wheel, agriculture, and the use of irrigation.

The Fertile Crescent

Indo-European Hittite Cuneiform 

 

Why does China have total contempt for American culture and government?

Firstly, I would like to inform any reader that I am fully aware of the ways and means by which totalitarian governments operate, which, during the 21st century, includes a series of web-related interferences either by directly monitoring and implanting spy software, or by utilizing discrete Communist party propaganda.

Indeed, dictatorial regimes endeavor to control virtually all aspects of social life, including the economy, the education system, arts, science, and the private lives and morals of citizens through the use of an elaborate ghastly ideology, in order to pursue its goals, which include global domination!

Now, directly answering your query, I will simply declare that every totalitarian regime automatically expresses its contempt (which include some fear) vis-à-vis any nation in the Western Civilization, due to its freedom of speech, freedom of information, multi-party system, and partial absence of censorship (using the term “partial” because the United States enemies have recently, successfully manipulated to former corrupt government of the incompetent, self-centered Donald Trump).

In essence, all tyrannical polities have historically expressed their contempt to what they describe as “decadent, multi-party” governments, in order to attack their formidable Western foes, whereas concealing their horrific, authoritarian, oppressive one-party system, whereby their oppressive ideology subject their unfortunate citizens to coercion, intimidation, torture, and internment into “re-education camps” (such as those in Northwestern China which horridly abuses members of minority ethnic groups), in case they do not behave in conformity with the single party’s dogmatic rules (which applies to both communist and fascist political system - for there is nearly no difference between them).

Moreover, I am certain that there are many well disguised PRC agents in the US, the European Union, Latin America, Japan, South Korea, Canada, South Africa, and India, who navigate and scan various web platforms in order to implement a wide variety of purposes, as follows:

• To disseminate various aspects of discrete propaganda methodology (including obtaining or enhancing its influence);
• To scan for any type of information which might provide the Chinese Communist party with any possible detail that might enable and/or improve their obvious aim of brainwashing those who reside outside its sphere of direct control, in the West.

Consequently, it does not really matter what lies behind the PRC’s so-called contempt for American culture and government, since all it really want is to completely obliterate the Western culture in the long run.

P.S. What are the 5 characteristics of totalitarianism?

1. police terror
2. indoctrination
3. censorship
4. persecution
5. Modern Technology, which includes mass communication to spread propaganda, along with advanced military weapons to enhance the State Control of Society.

Sources:

What Is Totalitarianism? Definition and Examples

Totalitarian Regime

What Is Totalitarianism?

Definition and Examples Marxists vs. Fascists

Xinjiang internment camps:

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861)

 

Named Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel, this excellent prince was the husband (consort) of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europe's ruling monarchs. Due to his brilliance, exceedingly high-level education, and his integrity, morality along with an unswerving conviction, his spouse the queen came to depend more and more on his support and guidance, thereby allowing him to considerably contribute to the development of Britain's constitutional monarchy by persuading his wife to be less partisan in her dealings with Parliament. Unlike many landowners of his epoch, who approved of child labor and opposed Peel's repeal of the Corn Laws, Albert supported moves to raise working ages and free up trade. A man of progressive and relatively liberal ideas, Albert not only led reforms in university education, welfare, the royal finances and (for the repeal of) slavery, he had also a special interest in applying science and art to the manufacturing industry. Moreover, the prince presided over and successfully promoted The Great Exhibition of 1851, which arose from the annual exhibitions of the Society of Arts.

Most importantly, Albert became so prominent (if not indispensable) to all levels of Queen Victoria's life (especially her unforgettable great love), that she entered into a deep state of mourning and wore black for the rest of her life, while ensuring that Albert's rooms in all his houses were kept as they had been, even with hot water brought in the morning and linen and towels changed daily. Finally, despite Albert's request that no effigies of him should be raised, many public monuments were erected all over the country and across the British Empire, the most notable of which being the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial in London.