History.

Blantyre was founded in 1876 through the missionary work of the Church of Scotland. It was named after Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, birthplace of the explorer David Livingstone. Blantyre's historical importance is rivaled by no other Malawian city. It has many historic and cultural heritage resources, which constitute a vital part of the city and are crucial to its identity, cultural and social well-being and attractiveness to business and tourism. It became a British consular in 1883 and attained municipality status by 1895, making it Malawi's oldest municipality. By the time of World War I, Blantyre was diverse with Africans from neighbouring districts as well as South Asian traders.  The city's status as Malawi's centre of commerce and industry began through its role as a centre for colonial trade in ivory. Thus, Blantyre quickly established itself as a crossroads for trade in Southern Africa. Today the city is Malawi's main manufacturing core including "shoe manufacturing, corn (maize) milling, brewing, soft drink production, baking, printing, and tobacco manufacturing".  From 1876 to 1905, urban development in Blantyre was confined to three distinct areas within 2 km of each other: Blantyre Mission at HHI, Mandala (European commercial venture), and the government zone and commercial centre triangle marked by Haile Selassie Road, Glyn Jones Road and Hannover Street. In Limbe development started in 1906 following the establishment of the Shire Highlands Railways Company headquarters and repair and servicing facilities and Imperial Tobacco Group (ITG) packaging and tobacco grading factory nearby. As a result of the establishment of these large operations, easy accessibility and flat topography, Limbe experienced a development boom of Indian wholesale and retail shops. By 1910 Limbe town surpassed Blantyre town. Low- and medium-density housing for the European and Asian staff was in Mpingwe, ITG and Mudi in Limbe and in Mount Pleasant, Sunnyside, Namiwawa, Kabula and Mandala in Blantyre. The Indian shops included accommodation at the rear or on the top floor. High-density housing for the African workforce was far away except the Chiwembe compound in Limbe.  The development history of Blantyre was principally dictated by piecemeal un-co-ordinated development as a result of individual and interest group decisions relating to evangelism, commerce, farming, industry and administration.  Blantyre is named after the town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, where the explorer David Livingstone was born. Livingstone's missionary endeavours saw the establishment of the St Michael and All Angels church. The church dates from 1891 and was famously built by a team of local workmen with no knowledge of European architecture or building techniques. Urban development was further stimulated by the construction of the railway. In 1956 it was merged with its sister city, Limbe (7 miles (11 km) to the East, founded in 1909), to form one city. Here, it became the "headquarter of Malawi (then Nyasaland) Railways."  Blantyre City has a total of eight gazetted National Monuments, mostly buildings of historic importance. The City Assembly has nominated two sites for designation as National Monuments and another 23 sites for investigation with regard to their eligibility for designation as national and local monuments.

Demographics.

Ethnic Groups.

According to the 2018 census, the Lomwe are the largest ethnic group in the city with 39.59% of the population. The largest ethnic minority are the Ngoni with 19.12% of the population. Other minor ethnic groups include the Yao with 14.32%, Chewa with 9.34%, Sena with 5.74%, Mang'anja with 4.26%, Tumbuka with 4.01%, Tonga with 1.24%, Nyanja with 0.87%, Nkhonde with 0.34%, Lambya with 0.2%, Sukwa with only 0.02%, and other ethnic groups with 0.93% of the city's population.

Religion.

The largest religious denomination in Blantyre City is Catholicism with 17.94% of the city. The largest religious minority is Church of Central Africa Presbyterian with 17.61%. Other minority religions include Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, and Apostolic with 15.44% combined, Pentecostal with 9.75%, Anglican with 1.7%, other Christian with 24.33%, Islam with 10.11%, Traditional with only 0.08%, other religions with 2.41%, and no religion with 0.63% of the city.

Geography.

Blantyre City, the largest commercial and industrial capital of Malawi, is in the Shire Highlands and geographical centre of the Southern Region of the country and lies 35° east of Greenwich Meridian and 15° 42" south of the Equator. It is a transport communications node with road, rail and air links to all parts of the country and neighbouring countries of Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania. It covers an area of 228 km. The city is classified as a 'National Urban Centre' within the designated six hierarchical levels system of urban centres of the country and is the regional administrative headquarters of the Southern Region.  The geology of the city consists of two principal types of rocks of an ancient Basement Complex, a result of a process that took place during the late Pre-Cambrian period about 500 million years ago. The most extensive rock formation consists of pyroxene granulite gneiss that covers more than 50% of the city area, from the northwest to the east and extends in two small bands southward in the western part of the city. Syenitic gneiss accounts for about 40% covering the southern, western and north-eastern corner of the city and also in form of scattered small intrusions into the pyroxene granulite gneiss. In their unweathered state, both rock types are impervious hence poor aquifers, but they provide a valuable resource for road and building construction. Blantyre City is on the eastern edge of the southern branch of the Eastern African Rift, and thus some prominent faults occur within and in the vicinity of the city rendering it prone to earthquakes. The main faults and associated zones of deeply fractured bedrock run from the north of the city in a southwesterly direction and are potential aquifers for groundwater.  Blantyre City lies in a hilly area; it has varied topography ranging from an elevation of about 780 to 1,612 metres above sea level. There are three main types of topographical features, which have major implications for the development of the city: the hills, plateau and ridge, and the natural drainage system.  The most conspicuous and dominant physical features are the numerous hills found in all parts of the city. The main hills are the headwaters of several rivers and streams that originate and radiate from the city, forming a natural drainage system with nine distinct catchment areas: Likhubula, Lunzu, Mombezi and Khombwi, which drain the northern part of the city, and Mudi, Chisombezi, Limbe, Luchenza and Mwampanzi draining the middle and southern parts. Because of the hilly topography, these natural drainage channels are narrow and have steep sides and gradients.  The plateau and ridge comprises all the land that is suitable for urban development including extensive relatively flat land, the mountain piedmonts and plains, and long narrow watersheds and strips of land that separate the rivers and streams.  Its rather unconventional location has meant that Blantyre is surrounded by Mount Soche, Ndirande mountain, Chiradzulu mountain and Michiru Mountain, which constitute the Michiru Mountain Conservation Area.

Climate.

The climate of Blantyre is classified by Köppen-Geiger climate classification system as a Tropical climate, more specifically a tropical savanna climate (Aw) and is greatly influenced by its location in the tropical zone and altitude. The city experiences the tropical continental climate with two distinct seasons in the year (three proper seasons). The rainy season is from November to April, with continuing light cold showers locally known as chiperoni from the end of May to July. The dry season is from May to October. The mean annual rainfall is, of which about 80% falls within 31⁄2 months between November and March.  The city is generally cool with mean monthly temperatures ranging from during the cool season (May to July) to during the hot season (September to November). There are two particularly uncomfortable spells of weather; the hottest season associated with high humidity soon before the onset of the first rains (end October to November), and the frost along rivers, mist and chilly showers and winds characteristic of the cold season in June and July.

Economy.

Blantyre City is the commercial and industrial capital. It is by far the major employment generator in the country and has the greatest multiplier effect on the urban economy. The city is Malawi's industrial centre with many manufacturing plants. There are eight designated industrial areas: Makata, Ginnery Corner, Maselema, Limbe, Chirimba, South Lunzu, Maone and Chitawira. Of these Makata, Ginnery Corner, Maselema, Limbe, Chirimba and Maone are actively hosting industries whilst South Lunzu is yet to be developed.  The existing industrial sites are further categorised into heavy and light sites. Makata and Limbe, for example, are the sole heavy industrial sites hosting more than 30 companies.  While Chirimba industrial area is designated a heavy industrial area, it is the least developed in terms of number of industries. Apart from Makata, Ginnery corner industrial site is another active site followed by Limbe and Maselema. The least are Chirimba and Maone industrial sites. Chitawira and Maselema are classic examples of light industrial areas. All the industrial areas are located along the banks of the main rivers or streams of Blantyre city. Makata industrial area lies between Mudi and Nasolo streams whilst Ginnery Corner industrial area is along Mudi River. Maselema industrial area exists along the Naperi river and Chirimba stream hosts Chirimba industrial area.  There are several rules for treatment of wastes in the industries, but disposal of untreated wastewater into drains and, subsequently, into the city's major streams is very common, thus posing a potential health and environmental risk to the people in Blantyre and downstream. Other sources of water pollution in the city such as run-offs from domestic and agricultural activities and vehicle emissions have been identified. Previous studies have indicated substantial heavy metal pollution in the city's water bodies including streams. Major changes in industrial activities have occurred in the city including a decrease in volumes of wastewater generated by the David Whitehead company, which used to be a major contributor of wastewater effluent in Makata industrial area; change of ownership and wastewater management of Cold Storage Company; closure of the Shire Bus Line; doubling of wastewater generation from both Carlsberg and Chibuku Products due to increase in production and installation of some industrial pre-treatment plants such as at Chibuku, Plascon and Dulux.  Manufacturing contributes approximately 14% to GDP. In the period 1996–1999 the sector showed 0% growth, partly due to the rapid liberalisation of markets exposing Malawi's manufacturers to competition from South Africa and Zimbabwe. The sector is still hampered by monopolistic behaviour (cotton), trade barriers, lack of access to capital, illegal imports, and unpredictable implementation or lack of implementation of existing bilateral trade agreements.  The employment structure includes formal and informal sectors, together offering employment that is estimated to be between 50,000 and 55,000 jobs and absorbing 62% of the labour force. The formal sector employment consists of primary, secondary and tertiary industry sub-sectors, and the informal sector is principally small-scale business operations. The tertiary or services industry sub-sector is leading in terms of employment creation and importance to the economy of the city; it employs 26,074 people accounting for 56.5% of total formal employment. The secondary industry sub-sector employs 18,824 people principally in manufacturing and accounts for about 41% of the total employment. Information on informal sector activities is scanty or non-existent. But a recent study by Africon and field investigation under the Blantyre City Environmental City Profile, leads to the conclusion that it is a substantial and vibrant economy, offering employment to about 4,500 people who would otherwise be unemployed.  Blantyre is home to the Malawi Stock Exchange located on Victoria Avenue, the heart of the city. It opened its doors in November 1996 and operates under the Capital Market Development Act 1990 and the Companies Act 1984. Before the listing of the first company, the major activities that were being undertaken were the provision of a facility for secondary market trading in Government of Malawi bonds, namely Treasury Bills and Local Registered Stocks.  As Malawi's main economic and financial hub, the city plays host to an annual international trade fair each May. The event seeks to showcase the best of Malawian commerce, industry, agriculture and information technology and opened under a theme of "Building Productivity Capacity to Achieve Export Competitiveness" in 2007.  According to the Mercer 2017 Cost of Living Rankings, Blantyre is the city with the fifth-lowest cost of living for expatriates in the world.

Sport facilities.

Malawi's largest stadium (Bingu International Stadium) is in the capital city of Lilongwe. Construction finished in 2016 and it is estimated to hold 70,000 people. The stadium is home to the Malawi Flames, the country's national football team. It is also used for track and field events as well as the majority of the important functions of the nation.  Malawi's second-largest stadium, Kamuzu Stadium, which holds an estimated 60,000, is in Chichiri, Blantyre. Due to the age of the structure, however, it has been downsized to seat an estimated 25,000. International football games are played here as well as major Malawian events such as presidential inaugurations and Independence Day celebrations. Other sports centres are College of medicine sports complex, Blantyre Youth centre and the Chiwembe Sports complex.

Transport.

Blantyre City is served by a road network totalling about consisting of six categories of roads: designated, collector, distributor, residential, industrial and access (in descending order of importance or traffic volumes).  Private cars and minibuses have completely replaced buses as a means of public transport in the city. The taxis mainly found outside the city's top hotels, Mount Soche and Ryalls, provide an alternative mode of transport to the residents of Blantyre.  Railway services contribute enormously to the city's status as Malawi's main commercial and industrial hub. The Central East African Railway, formerly "Malawi Railways", has its headquarters in Limbe. The city has an important railway station on the Sena railway, which connects it by operating a connection between Blantyre to Nsanje, near the southern border with Mozambique, and connects Malawi with the Mozambican ports of Beira and Nacala; Mchinji, near the border with Zamibia; Salima and Lilongwe; and between Nkaya and Nayuchi on the eastern border with Mozambique, covering a total of. There is a rail-lake interchange station at Chipoka on Lake Malawi, from where Malawi Railways vessels operate services to other lake ports in Malawi. In September 2007, President Bingu wa Mutharika commissioned locomotives donated by the Taiwanese government that will provide passenger train services from Blantyre to other parts of the country. Prior to this, a government subsidised passenger rail service operated three times weekly from Blantyre to Makhanga and the border with Mozambique at Nayuchi.  Chileka International Airport, located approximately nine miles from Blantyre city centre, has two runways and serves Blantyre with flights to South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, and domestic points. The airport is the second base for the country's flagship airline, Malawian Airlines. Chileka airport also houses important weather stations. In 2007, the Government of Malawi proposed expansion plans that are yet to be realised. In 2009 it was announced that the Government of Malawi was seeking partners for a $1 billion rehabilitation of the airport, which will include the construction of a new terminal building and the widening of the current runway.  The city has coach services that run from the city centre and Wenela bus station to Lilongwe, Mzuzu and other African cities including Johannesburg and Harare.

Culture.

The Mandala House is a historic building in Blantyre that was built in 1882 as a place of relaxation for the managers of the Mandala Trading Company. Inside there is a cafe, as well as the Society of Malawi Library and Archive. The Chichiri Museum is located in the city. Carlsberg Brewery is a location where visitors can try the country's favourite drink, the "Green". This drink was created by a Danish foreign minister who visited Malawi during the independence celebration in 1966.

Places of worship.

Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples : Lutheran Church of Central Africa (Lutheran World Federation), Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Baptist Convention of Malawi (Baptist World Alliance), Assemblies of God, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Blantyre (Catholic Church).There are also Muslim mosques.

Education.

Blantyre City has a wide range of educational facilities comprising primary school, secondary school and tertiary education as well as pre-school. These are provided by the government, City Assembly, missionary institutions and the private sector.  Tertiary education includes technical and higher learning institutions mostly in the Chichiri-Ginnery Corner area, Malawi Polytechnic, University of Malawi College of Medicine, Kamuzu College of Nursing, Blantyre School of Health Sciences and Malawi College of Accountancy, Telecommunications National and SADCC Multi-Country Training Schools, Technical School, Police Training School and Blantyre Teachers' College.  Schools include Saint Andrews International Primary and Saint Andrews International High School, Central High School, Nyasa Junior Academy, St Patrick's Primary School, St Patrick's Academy, South End Secondary School, Phoenix Primary School, Hillview International Primary School in Limbe and Kalibu Academy.

Health.

The health care delivery system in the city has both curative and preventative health care services, and this is provided through a network of hospitals and health centres/clinics that are distributed throughout different parts of the city. The government runs Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), the biggest referral hospital in the country, which has a total of 1,000 hospital beds, and the three private hospitals that have a total of 122 hospital beds. The 18 public clinics are run by the District Health Office in partnership with the Blantyre City Assembly and service Bangwe, Chigumula, Chilomoni, Chirimba, Limbe, Ndirande, Manyowe, Masala, Mapanga, Misesa, Mzedi, Nancholi, Nkolokoti, Ntenje, Ntonda, South Lunzu, Zingwangwa and Civic Centre.  There are several clinics run by religious organisations where people receive paying health care services, and there are also clinics owned by statutory corporations/companies (serving their staff) such as ADMARC, Malawi Railways, Portland Cement, Lever Brothers, Tobacco Processors, and National Seed Company of Malawi. Following the liberalisation policy, the city has witnessed the establishment of many private clinics and hospitals (including Blantyre Adventist Hospital and Mwaiwathu PVT Hospital) that complement the few limited old facilities. The majority of these offer outpatient services while the few well-established ones offer both. Besides the city-based health services, many city residents make regular use of mission hospitals that are outside the city to the extent that these form part of the city's health delivery system (Mlambe Hospital and Nguludi). In addition, traditional healers (herbalists) and traditional birth attendants play an important role in providing health care to the city residents.  The health delivery system of the city is grossly inadequate. The public hospital wards are very congested and long queues are characteristic of outpatient services.  Mwaiwathu Private Hospital and Blantyre Adventist Hospital provide the best medical services in the city, with many residents of Lilongwe travelling to Blantyre to receive treatment from them. There is also the Beit CURE International Hospital, one of the very few hospitals where hip and knee replacement surgery can be done in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Twin towns – sister cities.

Blantyre is twinned with:

Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants. It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is the capital of the country's Southern Region as well as the Blantyre District.

Blantyre est une ville du Malawi et la capitale de la Région Sud. Elle est, avec ses, la deuxième ville la plus peuplée du pays, ainsi que sa capitale économique.


Career.

Early years.

Masaaki Endoh was born in the Miyagi Prefecture on August 28, 1967. After graduating from high school, he joined a group called The Hiptones, but after it dissolved in 1993, he became half of the acoustic duo Short Hopes. In 1995, music producer Inoue Shunji approached Endoh for a record deal, and he debuted as a solo artist. In this time, he also worked as Steeple Jack with other musicians, and they also released two albums before disbanding.  He sang some opening themes for anime until two years later, he and Hironobu Kageyama joined together to form the Metal Brothers. This duo only lasted from 1997 to 1998, when the group broke apart. During this time, he released an album, and formed the musical act Blind Pig with two other musicians. The group released two rock albums before they disbanded.

JAM Project.

In 2000, Ichirou Mizuki gathered four artists to form JAM Project: Masaaki Endoh, Eizo Sakamoto, Rica Matsumoto, and Hironobu Kageyama.  Vocally, Endoh specializes in sustained high notes, covering the upper male range that the other male members cannot hit easily. Although he is a very versatile vocalist, Masaaki Endoh rarely writes with the group, although he is becoming more active towards the recent best albums. Some of the songs he wrote for the group include "SAMURAI PARTY" on THUMB RISE AGAIN, "Kimi no Moto he" on X cures Earth, and "WE ARE ONE" on AREA Z. He has shown particular favor to a special type of outfit he wears to most performances, a jacket that is cut at the shoulders, revealing his arms. His hair is usually styled high in concerts.  Endoh often stars in songs that have very long notes or extremely high notes, and this ability was dubbed "Super Endoh Time" by fans. The most well-known example being containing a twenty-second note. Another example is "Seventh Explosion", where he would hold a note for twenty-five seconds, and five seconds in, Fukuyama would join him. The JAM Project songs with the highest note that Masaaki Endoh sings as of the release of their 15th anniversary album is a sustained E5 in "Rocks". He is also well known for yelling English words in JAM Project songs such as "MAXON".

2000s.

Masaaki Endoh enjoyed moderate success from 2000 to 2003, when he released his first studio album, "Chakuriku!!". At around the same time, he sang the opening for Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, for which he gained much popularity. After its success, he halted singing opening themes to focus more on JAM Project.  By 2006, he released his second album M.e. and followed by a concert organized by Lantis to promote the release. The album included "Carry On" and "CLOWN", which were also released on the soundtrack for the series Muv-Luv. Masaaki Endoh released ENSON and ENSON2 in the summer of 2008, which proved to be a massive success. The album contained covers of popular anime opening themes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including "Uninstall" by Chiaki Ishikawa and "Sousei no Aquarion" by Akino.  In 2009, he returned to singing opening themes. He followed up with the release of his third studio album, Circus Man. He introduced the concept of him being a circus show performer, the cover showing his face with clown makeups. A concert was organized but never released as home media.

2010s.

In May 2010, he participated in "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'S", the third series in the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" franchise, starting with its fourth opening, "Believe in Nexus". Following this, he released an insert single, "Clear Mind," for the show's soundtrack. Later in December, he released a third single for the show, being the fifth and final opening, on the same day JAM Project released their 10th Anniversary BOX. He appeared in Hironobu Kageyama's 2011 Live Birthday concert with other JAM Project members. In 2011, he formed SV Tribe with Hiroshi Kitadani and Aki Misato and the group continues to write and perform opening music for many anime series.  In July 2012, he released his fourth studio album (e)-STYLE and promoted the album by touring Japan for three nights from July 24 to August 6, 2011. For the release, the YouTube channel of Lantis released a set of videos showing Masaaki Endoh breaking down the lyrics of each song on the record. In the summer of 2011, he joined JAM Project in Animelo as a returning regular performer. He also participated in the Type-Moon 10th anniversary by singing "Fellows".  To celebrate Christmas in 2010, Masaaki Endoh performed five concerts from November 11 to December 24 titled "Christmas Acoustic Night 2010 ~present of the voice~" that contained acoustic songs across his albums and covers. In December 2012, he performed three more concerts under the title "Christmas Acoustic Night 2012 ~present of the voice~" for three nights from the 2nd to the 23rd. The tradition continued in 2013; while on tour with JAM Project for their latest album, he took Christmas Eve to perform a single live show called "Christmas Acoustic Night2013 ~present of the voice~".  He released his 5th studio album in August 2013, and went on a live tour titled "Masaaki Endoh Live Tour 2013 ~Extreme V Machine~" in September 2013 to promote the album. He explained that the "V" stands for "voice" on his Extreme V Machine live tour, as well as signifying the number 5 in Roman numerals. In spring 2014, he formed a small group called "Endoh-kai" to sing the opening theme of Kenzen Robo Daimidaler and Lantis launched a small campaign to promote the group.  In November 2014, Endoh released his first acoustic album called "Present of the Voice", containing several arrangements of his signature songs. A campaign to promote the album requested fans send in photos which would be shown while the track "my beloved" played. In 2015, he released the third ENSON album, which followed the previous iterations with more covers of famous theme songs.  He released his 6th studio album in February 2017, this time with a more steampunk and robotic approach to some of the songs. In 2018, he released his first single in 6 years for the Angels of Death anime adaptation. In December 2018, he released the follow-up to "Present of the Voice" with "Present of the Voice 2". The album contained arrangements of "Vital" and "Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger" along with his original songs.

Personal life.

Because he was in the rugby club in high school, Masaaki Endoh was very physically-fit with chest measurements of 120 cm, now measuring 105 cm. He dislikes coriander, and has a difficult time with the food abroad when touring with JAM Project, so he brings along Japanese instant noodles. He also dislikes being alone in hotel rooms, and hates roller coasters. He is often referred to as "En-chan" by fellow JAM Project members.

Endoh took the industry by storm when he released the two Enson albums and the subsequent third, in which he covered many famous anime theme songs. Due to their success, Endoh went on to sing signature songs with the respective artists, such as "Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite" with Chihiro Yonekura, "Sousei no Aquarion" with Akino, "Butter-Fly" with Kōji Wada, "Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger" with Hideyuki Takahashi from Project.R, "Eternal Blaze" with Nana Mizuki, "Yuzurenai Negai" with Naomi Tamura, "Pegasus Fantasy" with NoB, "Makka na Chikai" with Yoshiki Fukuyama, "Kimi Taiyou ga Shinda Hi" with Maon Kurosaki, "SERIOUS-AGE" with Faylan, "We Are" with Hiroshi Kitadani, "KINGS" with Angela, "DREAM SOLISTER" with True, and "UNINSTALL" with Chiaki Ishikawa.

Masaaki Endoh (遠藤正明 "Endō Masaaki"), né en à préfecture de Miyagi au Japon. Il est un chanteur et compositeur japonais qui est en avant dans le secteur des bandes sonores pour productions de "anime" et tokusatsu. Il a récemment coopéré avec des musiciens camarade Hironobu Kageyama et Rica Matsumoto dans le groupe anison JAM Project. Il a aussi fait partie du groupe Blind Pig entre 2000 et 2003.


Early life.

Godward was born in 1861 and lived in Wilton Grove, Wimbledon. He was born to Sarah Eboral and John Godward (an investment clerk at the Law Life Assurance Society, London). He was the eldest of five children. He was named after his father John and grandfather William. He was christened at St. Mary's Church in Battersea on 17 October 1861. The overbearing attitude of his parents made him reclusive and shy later in adulthood.

Career.

He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1887. When he moved to Italy with one of his models in 1912, his family broke off all contact with him and even cut his image from family pictures. Godward returned to England in 1921, died in 1922, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, West London.  One of his best-known paintings is "Dolce far Niente" (1904), which was purchased for the collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1995. As in the case of several other paintings, Godward painted more than one version; in this case, an earlier (and less well-known) 1897 version with a further 1906 version.  He committed suicide at the age of 61 and is said to have written in his suicide note that "the world is not big enough for [both] myself and a Picasso".  His estranged family, who had disapproved of his becoming an artist, were ashamed of his suicide and burned his papers. Only one photograph of Godward is known to survive.

Works.

Godward was a Victorian Neo-Classicist, and therefore, in theory, a follower of Frederic Leighton. However, he is more closely allied stylistically to Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, with whom he shared a penchant for the rendering of Classical architecture — in particular, static landscape features constructed from marble.  The vast majority of Godward's extant images feature women in Classical dress posed against landscape features, although there are some semi-nude and fully nude figures included in his "oeuvre," a notable example being "In The Tepidarium" (1913), a title shared with a controversial Alma-Tadema painting of the same subject that resides in the Lady Lever Art Gallery. The titles reflect Godward's source of inspiration: Classical civilization, most notably that of Ancient Rome (again, a subject binding Godward closely to Alma-Tadema artistically).  Given that Classical scholarship was more widespread among the potential audience for his paintings during his lifetime than in the present day, meticulous research of detail was important in order to attain a standing as an artist in this genre. Alma-Tadema was an archaeologist as well as a painter, who attended historical sites and collected artifacts he later used in his paintings: Godward, too, studied such details as architecture and dress, in order to ensure that his works bore the stamp of authenticity.  In addition, Godward painstakingly and meticulously rendered other important features in his paintings, animal skins (the paintings "Noon Day Rest" (1910) and "A Cool Retreat" (1910) contains examples of such rendition) and wildflowers ("Nerissa" (1906) and "Summer Flowers" (1903) are again examples of this).  The appearance of beautiful women in studied poses in so many of Godward's canvases causes many newcomers to his works to categorize him mistakenly as being Pre-Raphaelite, particularly as his palette is often a vibrantly colorful one. The choice of subject matter (ancient civilization versus, for example, Arthurian legend) is more properly that of the Victorian Neo-classicist. However, it is appropriate to comment that in common with numerous painters contemporary with him, Godward was a 'High Victorian Dreamer', producing beautiful images of a world which, it must be said, was idealized and romanticized, and which in the case of both Godward and Alma-Tadema, came to be criticized as a world-view of 'Victorians in togas'.  Godward "quickly established a reputation for his paintings of young women in a classical setting and his ability to convey with sensitivity and technical mastery the feel of contrasting textures, flesh, marble, fur and fabrics." Godward's penchant for creating works of art set in the classical period probably came from the time period in which he was born. "The last full-scale classical revival in western painting bloomed in England in the 1860s and flowered there for the next three decades."

List of works by the artist.

This list is not a complete list but serves to illustrate the extent of Godward's output.

John William Godward (9 August 1861 – 13 December 1922) was an English painter from the end of the Neo-Classicist era. He was a protégé of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, but his style of painting fell out of favor with the rise of modern art.

John William Godward ( – ) est un peintre anglais de la fin de la période pré-raphaélite et néo-classique. Il était un protégé de Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, et son style est tombé en désuétude avec l'avènement de peintres comme Picasso. Il s'est suicidé à 61 ans.


Name.

He was born when his father was still a co-regent with Seti I. He was originally called "Amun-her-wenemef" ("Amun Is with His Right Arm"). He changed his name to "Amun-her-khepeshef" ("Amun Is with His Strong Arm") early in his father's reign. He appears to have changed his name once again to "Seth-her-khepeshef" around Year 20 of Ramesses II. Seth-her-khepeshef was formerly thought to be another son of Ramesses II.

Biography.

Amun-her-khepeshef was the crown prince of Egypt for the first 25 years of Ramesses II's reign but eventually predeceased his father in Year 25 of his father's reign. Ramesses B, Ramesses II's second oldest son then succeeded him as Crown Prince for another 25 years (from Year 25 to Year 50 of this pharaoh's reign). Merenptah, Ramesses II's 13th son, would later assume the throne in Year 67 of Ramesses II.  Amun-her-khepeshef, as heir to the throne, held several titles. Some of them were unique such as "Commander of the Troops", "Effective Confidant" and "Eldest Son of the King of his Body." Some of his other titles were shared with other prominent princes such as "Fan-bearer on the King's Right Hand" and "Royal Scribe". His titles indicate that he held a high position in the army, and according to some relief depictions, he and his younger half-brother Khaemwaset fought in the Battle of Kadesh and the campaigns in Nubia (or at least he accompanied his father to these battles). He appears on a wall in the Temple of Beit el-Wali. Amun-her-khepeshef was involved in an exchange of diplomatic correspondence with the Hittites after Ramesses II's Year 21 peace treaty with them.  Statues and depictions of Amun-her-khepeshef appear in his father's famous temples in Abu Simbel, Luxor, in the Ramesseum, and in Seti's Abydos temple. He is depicted with his father lassoing a bull in the Abydos temple walls and appears frequently on Ramesses II's statues.

Death.

Amun-her-khepeshef died around Year 25 of his father's reign. He is known to have had a wife named Nefertari – who could be identical with Ramesses' daughter, Nefertari, possibly a child of Queen Nefertari – and a son named Seti. The next crown prince was his half-brother Ramesses, the eldest son of Queen Isetnofret. Amun-her-khepeshef was buried in tomb KV5 in the Valley of the Kings, in a large tomb built for the sons of Ramesses II. His interment was apparently inspected in Year 53 of Ramesses II.  Among the artefacts found in the tomb were canopic jars labeled with Amun-her-khepeshef's name and containing organs. Also found were bones from four males including a skull with a deep fracture, believed to have been made by a mace.  Amun-her-khepeshef's father, Ramesses II, is one of the more popular candidates postulated to be the Pharaoh of The Exodus in the Bible. Adherents to that theory believe that Amun-her-khepeshef was the firstborn son of the pharaoh described in the book of Exodus as being killed in the final biblical plague in Egypt.

Amun-her-khepeshef (died ca. 1254 BC; also Amonhirkhopshef, Amun-her-wenemef and Amun-her-khepeshef A to distinguish him from later people of the same name) was the firstborn son of Pharaoh Ramesses II and Queen Nefertari.

Amonherkhépeshef, puis Séthiherkhépeshef (né sûrement à Memphis vers -1289/-1288 et mort, soit vers -1258/-1254, soit plus vraisemblablement vers -1226), est le fils aîné de Ramsès et de Néfertari.


History.

There is evidence that indicates the hill was settled even in prehistoric times. Pieces of pottery from the Michelsberg culture have also been found here. Excavations in the vicinity of the present-day collegiate church have revealed traces of ditches, ramparts and posts. Radio carbon dating points to their origin in the pre-Roman Iron Age. In addition the wooden posts were made from trees that can be dated to between 420 and 370 B.C.  Earlier research viewed the Eresburg as a border castle of the Cherusci tribe and a fortress of Prince Segestes, who was supposed to have held his daughter, Thusnelda, prisoner here. However, there are no records supporting that theory.  Thanks to its favourable position on the border, the castle was repeatedly attacked and hard fought for before being conquered in 772 A.D. during the Saxon Wars by the Frankish king, Charlemagne. Charlemagne had the Irminsul, a pagan religious site here or in the vicinity, destroyed. In 779, he charged the Fulda abbot, Sturmius, with mission service in this area and directed him to this location. As early as 784/785 Charlemagne overwintered at Eresburg and had a church built, probably on the site of the former Saxon temple. Pope Leo III is supposed to have stayed at the Eresburg in 799 on his way to Paderborn. In 915 there was a bloody feud at the Eresburg between the Saxon Duke Henry the Fowler and the East Francian king, Conrad. The Bishop of Paderborn, Theoderic is also supposed to have participated personally in the battle. Also in 915 at Eresburg the invading Hungarians defeated a German army.

Eresburg as site of the Irminsul.

Eresburg may have been the site of the Irminsul, a sort of pillar or tree, and one of the chief pagan religious sites of the Saxons. The wording of the "Royal Frankish Annals" in 772 suggests that the Irminsul might have been located either at the Eresburg itself or in the near vicinity. The "Annales Petaviani" states: ""He conquered the Eresburg and found the place which is called Ermensul, and set these places on fire."" On the one hand, therefore, Charlemagne captured the Eresburg and, on the other, ""pervenit ad locum, qui dicitur Ermensul"", i. e. he found the site that was called Irminsul. The writer calls the site of the Eresburg, "Erisburgo", i.e. not "Ermensula". The third part of the sentence runs ""et succendit ea loca"", i. e. he set "these places" (plural) on fire, possibly implying that Charlemagne moved on from the Eresburg to the Irminsul.  According to other sources, Charlemagne stayed near the Bullerborn, an intermittent spring near Altenbeken, before he conquered and destroyed the Irminsul site in the days that followed.  The question over the location of the Irminsul is however, probably, misleading; because there may have been several of them.

The Eresburg is the largest, well-known (Old) Saxon refuge castle ("Volksburg") and was located in the area of the present German village of Obermarsberg in the borough of Marsberg in the county of Hochsauerlandkreis. It was a hill castle built on the plateau of a low table hill, known as the "Eresberg", at a height of 130–150 metres above the Diemel, a tributary of the Weser, in the extreme south of the Saxon Gau of Engern on the border with the Duchy of Franconia.

Du château d'Eresburg, qui fut le sanctuaire saxon d'Irminsul, il ne reste plus aujourd'hui qu'une colline surplombant la ville de Marsberg sur la Diemel, un affluent de la Weser, près de Paderborn.


Description.

This is a small wrasse, averaging 10 cm long (14 cm max). It can be recognized thanks to a wide longitudinal black stripe running along the side and eye; the back and the stomach are white (sometimes slightly yellowish). This white part changes to a bright blue on the front of the animal, while the black band widens at the tail. The young are black with an electric blue line.  A genetic analysis of "L. dimidiatus" revealed the population fell into two monophyletic clades, with Indian Ocean populations generally having different stripe widths to western Pacific fishes. The Japanese cleaner wrasses, though, fell within the same group as Indian Ocean fish, despite differing in appearance, and both clades overlap around Papua New Guinea. Two closely-related cleaner wrasse species, "Labroides pectoralis" and "Labroides bicolor", were grouped inside the "L. dimidiatus" clade, so the bluestreak cleaner wrasse may in fact be polyphyletic, incorporating several species.

Distribution.

The bluestreak cleaner wrasse is found on coral reefs in the tropics from the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to the western Pacific (including Papua New Guinea, Japan, Fiji, and French Polynesia). It was first recorded from the Kermadec Islands Marine Reserve north of New Zealand in 2015, after researchers examined hundreds of hours of unused documentary film footage.

Cleaning.

Cleaner wrasses are usually found at cleaning stations. Cleaning stations are occupied by different units of cleaner wrasses, such as a group of youths, a pair of adults, or a group of females accompanied by a dominant male. When visitors come near the cleaning stations, the cleaner wrasses greet the visitors by performing a dance-like motion in which they move their rear up and down. The visitors are referred to as "clients". Bluestreak cleaner wrasses clean to consume ectoparasites on client fish for food. The bigger fish recognise them as cleaner fish because they have a lateral stripe along the length of their bodies, and by their movement patterns. Cleaner wrasses greet visitors in an effort to secure the food source and cleaning opportunity with the client. Upon recognising the cleaner and successfully soliciting its attention, the client fish adopts a species-specific pose to allow the cleaner access to its body surface, gills and sometimes mouth. Other fish that engage in such cleaning behavior include goby fish ("Elacatinus "spp.)  Some fish mimic cleaner wrasses. For example, a species of blenny called "Aspidontus taeniatus" has evolved the same behavior to tear small pieces of flesh or skin from bigger fish rather than rid them of parasites. Another species, the bluestreak fangblenny, "Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos", mimics juvenile cleaner wrasse so its presence is tolerated by the cleaners, which, it is assumed, enables it to take advantage of the concentration of potential victims.

The bluestreak cleaner wrasse, "Labroides dimidiatus", is one of several species of cleaner wrasses found on coral reefs from Eastern Africa and the Red Sea to French Polynesia. Like other cleaner wrasses, it eats parasites and dead tissue off larger fishes' skin in a mutualistic relationship that provides food and protection for the wrasse, and considerable health benefits for the other fishes.

Le labre nettoyeur commun ("Labroides dimidiatus") est un poisson des mers tropicales de l'Indo-Pacifique qui entretient des relations inter-espèces mutualistes particulières : les espèces marines plus grandes laissent ce poisson les nettoyer de leurs parasites et les débarrasser des peaux mortes, qui constituent l'essentiel de sa nourriture. Il se démarque également comme étant le seul poisson à avoir obtenu un résultat positif au test du miroir.


Causes.

Brown-Séquard syndrome may be caused by injury to the spinal cord resulting from a spinal cord tumour, trauma [such as a fall or injury from gunshot or puncture to the cervical or thoracic spine], ischemia (obstruction of a blood vessel), or infectious or inflammatory diseases such as tuberculosis, or multiple sclerosis. In its pure form, it is rarely seen. The most common cause is penetrating trauma such as a gunshot wound or stab wound to the spinal cord. Decompression sickness may also be a cause of Brown-Séquard syndrome.  The presentation can be progressive and incomplete. It can advance from a typical Brown-Séquard syndrome to complete paralysis. It is not always permanent and progression or resolution depends on the severity of the original spinal cord injury and the underlying pathology that caused it in the first place.

Pathophysiology.

The hemisection of the cord results in a lesion of each of the three main neural systems:  As a result of the injury to these three main brain pathways the patient will present with three lesions:  In addition if the lesion occurs above T1 of the spinal cord it will produce ipsilateral horner's syndrome with involvement of the oculosympathetic pathway.

Diagnosis.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the imaging of choice in spinal cord lesions.  Brown-Séquard syndrome is an incomplete spinal cord lesion characterized by findings on clinical examination which reflect hemisection of the spinal cord (cutting the spinal cord in half on one or the other side). It is diagnosed by finding motor (muscle) paralysis on the same (ipsilateral) side as the lesion and deficits in pain and temperature sensation on the opposite (contralateral) side. This is called ipsilateral hemiplegia and contralateral pain and temperature sensation deficits. The loss of sensation on the opposite side of the lesion is because the nerve fibers of the spinothalamic tract (which carry information about pain and temperature) crossover once they meet the spinal cord from the peripheries.

Classification.

Any presentation of spinal injury that is an incomplete lesion (hemisection) can be called a partial Brown-Séquard or incomplete Brown-Séquard syndrome.  Brown-Séquard syndrome is characterized by loss of motor function (i.e. hemiparaplegia), loss of vibration sense and fine touch, loss of proprioception (position sense), loss of two-point discrimination, and signs of weakness on the ipsilateral (same side) of the spinal injury. This is a result of a lesion affecting the dorsal column-medial lemniscus tract, well localized (deep) touch, conscious proprioception, vibration, pressure and 2-point discrimination, and the corticospinal tract, which carries motor fibers. On the contralateral (opposite side) of the lesion, there will be a loss of pain and temperature sensation and crude touch 1 or 2 segments below the level of the lesion via the Spinothalamic Tract of the Anterolateral System. Bilateral (both sides) ataxia may also occur if the ventral spinocerebellar tract and dorsal spinocerebellar tract are affected.  Crude touch, pain and temperature fibers are carried in the spinothalamic tract. These fibers decussate at the level of the spinal cord. Therefore, a hemi-section lesion to the spinal cord will demonstrate loss of these modalities on the contralateral side of the lesion, while preserving them on the ipsilateral side. Upon touching this side, the patient will not be able to localize where they were touched, only that they were touched. This is because fine touch fibers are carried in the dorsal column-medial lemniscus pathway. The fibers in this pathway decussate at the level of the medulla. Therefore, a hemi-section lesion of the spinal cord will demonstrate loss of fine touch on ipsilateral side (preserved on the contralateral side) and crude touch (destruction of the decussated spinothalamic fibers from the contralateral side) on the contralateral side.  Pure Brown-Séquard syndrome is associated with the following:

Treatment.

Treatment is directed at the pathology causing the paralysis. If the syndrome is caused by a spinal fracture, this should be identified and treated appropriately. Although steroids may be used to decrease cord swelling and inflammation, the usual therapy for spinal cord injury is expectant.

Epidemiology.

Brown-Séquard syndrome is rare as the trauma would have to be something that damaged the nerve fibres on just one half of the spinal cord.

History.

Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard studied the anatomy and physiology of the spinal cord. He described this injury after observing spinal cord trauma which happened to farmers while cutting sugar cane in Mauritius. French physician, Paul Loye, attempted to confirm Brown-Séquard's observations on the nervous system by experimentation with decapitation of dogs and other animals and recording the extent of each animal's movement after decapitation.

Brown-Séquard syndrome (also known as Brown-Séquard's hemiplegia, Brown-Séquard's paralysis, hemiparaplegic syndrome, hemiplegia et hemiparaplegia spinalis, or spinal hemiparaplegia) is caused by damage to one half of the spinal cord, i.e. hemisection of the spinal cord resulting in paralysis and loss of proprioception on the same (or ipsilateral) side as the injury or lesion, and loss of pain and temperature sensation on the opposite (or contralateral) side as the lesion. It is named after physiologist Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard, who first described the condition in 1850.

Le syndrome de Brown-Séquard est un consécutif à une atteinte de l'hemi-moelle. Il se traduit par : En d'autres termes, ce syndrome associe :


History.

Ancient period.

First mentioned in 901 BCE, Naşibīna was an Aramean kingdom captured by the Assyrian king Adad-Nirari II in 896. By 852 BCE, Naṣibina had been fully annexed to the Neo-Assyrian Empire and appeared in the Assyrian Eponym List as the seat of an Assyrian provincial governor named Shamash-Abua. It remained part of the Assyrian Empire until its collapse in 608 BCE.  It was under Babylonian control until 536 BCE, when it fell to the Achaemenid Persians, and remained so until taken by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. The Seleucids refounded the city as Antiochia Mygdonia (), mentioned for the first time in Polybius' description of the march of Antiochus III the Great against Molon (Polybius, V, 51). The Greek historian Plutarch suggested that the city was populated by descendants of Spartans. Around the 1st century CE, Nisibis (, "Netzivin") was the home of Judah ben Bethera, who founded a famous yeshiva there.

Classical period.

In 67 BCE, during Rome's first war with Armenia, the Roman general Lucullus took Nisibis from the brother of Tigranes.  Like many other cities in the marches where Roman and Parthian powers confronted one another, Nisibis was often taken and retaken. In 115 CE, it was captured by the Roman Emperor Trajan, for which he gained the name of Parthicus, then lost to and regained from the Jews during the Kitos War. After the Romans again lost the city in 194, it was once more conquered by Septimius Severus, who made it his headquarters and re-established a colony there. The last battle between Rome and Parthia was fought in the vicinity of the city in 217. With the fresh energy of the new Sassanid dynasty, Shapur I conquered Nisibis, was driven out, and returned in the 260s. In 298, by a treaty with Narseh, the province of Nisibis was acquired by the Roman Empire.  During the "Roman-Persian Wars" (337–363 CE) Nisibis was unsuccessfully besieged by the Sassanid Empire thrice, in 337, 346 and 350.  Upon the death of Constantine the Great in 337 CE, the Sassanid Shah Shapur II marched against Roman held Nisibis with a vast army composed of cavalry, infantry and elephants. His combat engineers raised siege works, including towers, so his archers could rain down arrows at the defenders. They also undermined the walls, dammed the Mygdonius River and constructed dikes to direct the river against the walls. On the seventieth day of the siege, the water was released and the torrent struck the walls; entire sections of the city walls collapsed. The water passed through the city and knocked down a section of the opposite wall as well. The Persians were unable to assault the city because the approaches to the breaches were impassable due to floodwater, mud and debris. The soldiers and citizens inside the city worked all night and by dawn the breaches were closed with makeshift barriers. Shapur's assault troops attacked the breaches, but their assault was repulsed. A few days later the Persian lifted the siege.  Nisibis was besieged a second time in 346 CE. The details of the second siege have not survived. Shapur besieged the city for seventy-eight days and then lifted the siege.  In 350 CE, while the Roman Emperor Constantius II was engaged in a civil war against the usurper Magnentius in the West, the Persians invaded and lay siege to Nisibis for the third time. The siege lasted between 100 and 160 days. The Persian engineers tried several innovative siege technics; using the River Mygdonius to bring down a section of the walls, and creating a lake around the city and using boats with siege engines to bring down another section. Unlike the first siege, as the walls fell, Persian assault troops immediately entered the breaches supported by war elephants. Despite all this they failed to break through the breaches and the attack stalled. The Romans, experts at close-quarter combat, and supported by arrows and bolts from the walls and towers checked the assault and a sortie from one of the gates forced the Persians to withdraw. Shortly after the Persian Army, suffering heavy casualties from combat and disease, lifted the siege and withdrew.  The Roman historian of the 4th century, Ammianus Marcellinus, gained his first practical experience of warfare as a young man at Nisibis under the master of the cavalry, Ursicinus. From 360 to 363, Nisibis was the camp of Legio I Parthica. Because of its strategic importance on the Persian border, Nisibis was heavily fortified. Ammianus lovingly calls Nisibis the "impregnable city" ("urbs inexpugnabilis") and "bulwark of the provinces" ("murus provinciarum").  Sozomen writes that when the inhabitants of Nisibis asked for help because the Persians were about to invade the Roman territories and attack them, Emperor Julian refused to assist them because they were Christianized, and he told them that he would not help them if they did not return to paganism.  In 363 Nisibis was ceded to the Sassanian Empire after the defeat of Julian. Before that time the population of the town was forced by the Roman authorities to leave Nisibis and move to Amida. Emperor Jovian allowed them only three days for the evacuation. Historian Ammianus Marcellinus was again an eyewitness and condemns Emperor Jovian for giving up the fortified town without a fight. Marcellinus' point-of-view is certainly in line with contemporary Roman public opinion.  According to Al-Tabari, some 12,000 Persians of good lineage from Istakhr, Isfahan, and other regions settled at Nisibis in the fourth century, and their descendants were still there at the beginning of the seventh century.  The School of Nisibis, founded at the introduction of Christianity into the city by ethnic Assyrians of the Assyrian Church of the East, was closed when the province was ceded to the Persians. Ephrem the Syrian, an Assyrian poet, commentator, preacher and defender of orthodoxy, joined the general exodus of Christians and reestablished the school on more securely Roman soil at Edessa. In the fifth century, the school became a center of Nestorian Christianity, and was closed down by Archbishop Cyrus in 489. The expelled masters and pupils withdrew once more, back to Nisibis, under the care of Barsauma, who had been trained at Edessa, under the patronage of Narses, who established the statutes of the new school. Those that have been discovered and published belong to Osee, the successor of Barsauma in the See of Nisibis, and bear the date 496; they must be substantially the same as those of 489. In 590, they were again modified. The monastery school was under a superior called "Rabban" ("master"), a title also given to the instructors. The administration was confided to a majordomo, who was steward, prefect of discipline and librarian, but under the supervision of a council. Unlike the Jacobite schools, devoted chiefly to profane studies, the School of Nisibis was above all a school of theology. The two chief masters were the instructors in reading and in the interpretation of Holy Scripture, explained chiefly with the aid of Theodore of Mopsuestia. The free course of studies lasted three years, the students providing for their own support. During their sojourn at the university, masters and students led a monastic life under somewhat special conditions. The school had a tribunal and enjoyed the right of acquiring all sorts of property. Its rich library possessed a most beautiful collection of Nestorian works; from its remains Ebed-Jesus, Bishop of Nisibis in the 14th century, composed his celebrated catalogue of ecclesiastical writers. The disorders and dissensions, which arose in the sixth century in the school of Nisibis, favoured the development of its rivals, especially that of Seleucia; however, it did not really begin to decline until after the foundation of the School of Baghdad (832). Notable people associated with the school include its founder Narses; Abraham, his nephew and successor; Abraham of Kashgar, the restorer of monastic life; and ArchbishopElijah of Nisibis.  As a fortified frontier city, Nisibis played a major role in the Roman-Persian Wars. It became the capital of the newly created province of Mesopotamia after Diocletian's organization of the eastern Roman frontier. It became known as the "Shield of the Empire" after a successful resistance in 337–350. The city changed hands several times, and once in Sasanian hands, Nisibis was the base of operations against the Romans. The city was also one of the main crossing points for merchants, although elaborate counter-espionage safeguards were also in place.

Islamic period.

The city was taken without resistance by the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate under Umar in 639 or 640. Under early Islamic rule, the city served as a local administrative centre. In 717, it was struck by an earthquake and in 927 it was raided by the Qarmatians. Nisibis was captured in 942 by the Byzantine Empire but was subsequently recaptured by the Hamdanid dynasty. It was attacked by the Byzantines once again in 972. Following the Hamdanids, the city was administered by Marwanids and Uqaylids. From the middle of the 11th century onwards, it was subjected to Turkish raids and being threatened by the County of Edessa, being attacked and damaged by Seljuq forces under Tughril in 1043. The city nevertheless remained an important centre of commerce and transport.  In 1120, it was captured by the Artuqids under Necmeddin Ilgazi, followed by the Zengids and Ayyubids. The city is described as a very prosperous one by the period's Arab geographers and historians, with imposing baths, walls, lavish houses, a bridge and a hospital. In 1230, the city was invaded by the Mongol Empire. Mongol sovereignty was followed by that of the Ag Qoyunlu, Kara Koyunlu and Safavids. In 1515, it was taken by the Ottoman Empire under Selim I thanks to the efforts of Idris Bitlisi.

Modern history.

On the eve of World War I, Nusaybin had a Christian community of 2000, along with a Jewish population of 600. A massacre of Christians took place in August 1915, after which the Christian community of Nusaybin diminished to 1200. Syrian Jacobites, Chaldean Catholics, Protestants, and Armenians were targeted.  As agreed upon by the governments of France and the new Republic of Turkey in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, the Turkey-Syria border would follow the line of the Baghdad Railway until Nusaybin, after which it would follow the path of a Roman road leading to Cizre.  Nusaybin was a place on the transit routes of Syrian Jews leaving the country after the 1948 formation of Israel and the subsequent Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries. Upon reaching Turkey, after a route that took them through Aleppo and the Jazira sometimes with the help of Bedouin smugglers, most headed for Israel. There had been a large Jewish community in Nisbis since antiquity, many of whom moved to Qamishli in the early 20th century for economic reasons. A synagogue in Jerusalem practises the Nisbis and Qamishli rites today.

21st century.

Nusaybin made headlines in 2006 when villagers near Kuru uncovered a mass grave, suspected of belonging to Ottoman Armenians and Assyrians killed during the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides. Swedish historian David Gaunt visited the site to investigate its origins, but left after finding evidence of tampering. Gaunt, who has studied 150 massacres carried out in the summer of 1915 in Mardin, said that the Committee of Union and Progress's governor for Mardin, Halil Edip, had likely ordered the massacre on 14 June 1915, leaving 150 Armenians and 120 Assyrians dead. The settlement was then known as Dara (now Oğuz). Gaunt added that the death squad, named "El-Hamşin" (meaning "fifty men"), was headed by officer Refik Nizamettin Kaddur. The president of the Turkish Historical Society, Yusuf Halaçoğlu, following the Turkish government's policy of Armenian Genocide denial, said that the remains dated back to Roman times. "Özgür Gündem" reported that the Turkish military and police pressed the Turkish media not to report the discovery.  The Turkish Interior Ministry looked into dissolving Nusaybin city council in 2012 after it decided to use Arabic, Armenian, Aramaic, and Kurmanji on signposts in the town, in addition to the Turkish language.

Recent tensions and violence.

In November 2013, Nusaybin's mayor, Ayşe Gökkan, commenced a hunger strike to protest against the construction of a wall between Nusaybin and the neighboring Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Rojava. Construction of the wall stopped as a result of this and other protests.  On 13 November 2015, the town was placed under a curfew by the Turkish government, and Ali Atalan and Gülser Yıldırım, two elected members of the Grand National Assembly from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), began a hunger strike in protest. Two civilians and ten PKK fighters were killed by security forces in the ensuing unrest. By March 2016, PKK forces controlled about half of Nusaybin according to "Al-Masdar News" and the YPS controlled "much" of it, according to "The Independent". Following eight successive curfews over several months and clashes between the Turkish army and Kurdish militants, much of the city was destroyed. 61 members of the security forces had been killed by May 2016. By 9 April, 60,000 residents of the city had been displaced, yet 30,000 civilians remained in the city, including in the six neighborhoods where fighting continued. YPS reportedly had 700–800 militants in the city, of which the Turkish army claimed that 325 were "neutralised" by 4 May. A curfew was in place between 14 March and 25 July in the majority of the town. After the fighting ended in a Turkish Army victory, in late September 2016 the Turkish government began demolishing a quarter of the city's residential buildings. This rendered 30,000 citizens homeless and caused a mass evacuation of tens of thousands of residents to neighboring towns and villages. Over 6,000 houses were bulldozed. After demolition was completed in March 2017, over one hundred apartment towers were built. The Turkish government offered to compensate homeowners at 12% of the value of their destroyed houses if they agreed to certain relocation conditions.

Economy.

As a result of Turkish government policy to close all border crossings with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the city's border with Syria (i.e. the large Syrian city of Qamishli) has been closed, with claims that the cessation in smuggling has led to a 90% rise in unemployment in the city.

Transportation.

Nusaybin is served by the E90 roadway and other roads to surrounding towns. The Nusaybin Railway Station is served by two daily trains. The closest airport is Qamishli Airport five kilometers to the south, in Qamishli in Syria. The closest Turkish airport is Mardin Airport, 55 kilometers northwest of Nusaybin.

Geography.

Nusaybin is on the north side of the Syria-Turkey border, which divides it from the city of Qamishli. The Jaghjagh River flows through both cities. The Nusaybin side of the border has a minefield, with a total of some 600,000 landmines having been set by the Turkish Armed Forces since the 1950s.

Climate.

Nusaybin has a semi-arid climate with extremely hot summers and cool winters. Rainfall is generally sparse.

Demographics.

Nusaybin is predominantly ethnically Kurdish. The city's people have historically close ties with those of neighboring Qamishli, and cross-border marriages are a common practice. The city has also a minority Arab population. A very small Assyrian population remains in the city; what remained of the Assyrian population emigrated during the height of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in the 1990s and as a result of the resumption of the conflict in 2016, only one Assyrian family reportedly remained in the city.

Religion.

Sunni Islam is the religion of the majority of Nusaybin's population.

Christianity.

Nisibis (, "Nṣibin", later Syriac, "Ṣōbā") had an Assyrian Christian bishop from 300, founded by Babu (died 309). War was begun again by Shapur II in 337, who besieged the city in 338, 346, and 350, when St Jacob or James of Nisibis, Babu's successor, was its bishop. Nisibis was the home of Ephrem the Syrian, who remained until its surrender to the Sassanid Persians by Roman Emperor Jovian in 363. The bishop of Nisibis was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical province of Bit-Arbaye. By 410, it had six suffragan sees and as early as the middle of the 5th century was the most important episcopal see of the Church of the East after Seleucia-Ctesiphon, and many of its Nestorian or Assyrian Church of the East and Jacobite bishops were renowned for their writings: Barsumas, Osee, Narses, Jesusyab and Ebed-Jesus.  The Roman Catholic Church has defined titular archbishoprics of Nisibis, for various rites – one Latin and four Eastern Catholic for particular churches "sui iuris", notably the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Maronite Catholic Church.  When the Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Hassaké was promoted to archiepiscopal rank, at added Nisibi(s) to its name, becoming the Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Hassaké-Nisibi (not Metropolitan, directly dependent on the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch).  Latin titular see: Established in the 18th century as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Romans).  It has been vacant for several decades, having previously had the following incumbents, all of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank :  Armenian Catholic titular see: Established as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Armenians) in 1910?.  It was suppressed in 1933, having had a single incumbent, of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank :  Chaldean Catholic titular see: Established as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Chaldeans) in the late 19th century, suppressed in 1927, restored in 1970.  It has had the following incumbents, all of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank :  Maronite titular see: Established as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Maronites) in 1960. It is vacant, having had a single incumbent of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank:

Nusaybin (; Akkadian: "Naṣibina"; Classical Greek:, Nisibis;, Kurdish: "Nisêbîn";, "Nṣībīn"; Armenian:, "Mtsbin") is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is predominantly Kurdish. In Turkish Kurdistan, Nusaybin is separated from the larger Kurdish-majority city of Qamishlo by the Syria–Turkey border.

Nusaybin ou Nousseïbine (en ; en ; en ) est une ville du sud-est de la Turquie située dans la province de Mardin, à la frontière turco-syrienne jouxtant Qamishli.


Life.

Birth and youth.

Shen Kuo was born in Qiantang (modern-day Hangzhou) in the year 1031. His father Shen Zhou (; 978–1052) was a somewhat lower-class gentry figure serving in official posts on the provincial level; his mother was from a family of equal status in Suzhou, with her maiden name being Xu (). Shen Kuo received his initial childhood education from his mother, which was a common practice in China during this period. She was very educated herself, teaching Kuo and his brother Pi () the military doctrines of her own elder brother Xu Tang (; 975–1016). Since Shen was unable to boast of a prominent familial clan history like many of his elite peers born in the north, he was forced to rely on his wit and stern determination to achieve in his studies, subsequently passing the imperial examinations and enter the challenging and sophisticated life of an exam-drafted state bureaucrat. From about 1040 AD, Shen's family moved around Sichuan province and finally

Official career.

In 1063 Shen Kuo successfully passed the Imperial examinations, the difficult national-level standard test that every high official was required to pass in order to enter the governmental system. He not only passed the exam however, but was placed into the higher category of the best and brightest students. While serving at Yangzhou, Shen's brilliance and dutiful character caught the attention of Zhang Chu (; 1015–1080), the Fiscal Intendant of the region. Shen made a lasting impression upon Zhang, who recommended Shen for a court appointment in the financial administration of the central court. Shen would also eventually marry Zhang's daughter, who became his second wife.  In his career as a scholar-official for the central government, Shen Kuo was also an ambassador to the Western Xia Dynasty and Liao Dynasty, a military commander, a director of hydraulic works, and the leading chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. By 1072, Shen was appointed as the head official of the Bureau of Astronomy. With his leadership

Impeachment and later life.

The new Chancellor Cai Que (; 1036–1093) held Shen responsible for the disaster and loss of life. Along with abandoning the territory which Shen Kuo had fought for, Cai ousted Shen from his seat of office. Shen's life was now forever changed, as he lost his once reputable career in state governance and the military. Shen was then put under probation in a fixed residence for the next six years. However, as he was isolated from governance, he decided to pick up the ink brush and dedicate himself to intensive scholarly studies. After completing two geographical atlases for a state-sponsored program, Shen was rewarded by having his sentence of probation lifted, allowing him to live in a place of his choice. Shen was also pardoned by the court for any previous faults or crimes that were claimed against him. In his more idle years removed from court affairs, Shen Kuo enjoyed pastimes of the Chinese gentry and literati that would indicate his intellectual level and cultural taste to others. As described in his "Dream Pool Essays", Shen Kuo enjoyed the company of the "nine guests" (九客, "jiuke"), a

Scholarly achievements.

Shen Kuo wrote extensively on a wide range of different subjects. His written work included two geographical atlases, a treatise on music with mathematical harmonics, governmental administration, mathematical astronomy, astronomical instruments, martial defensive tactics and fortifications, painting, tea, medicine, and much poetry. His scientific writings have been praised by sinologists such as Joseph Needham and Nathan Sivin, and he has been compared by Sivin to polymaths such as his contemporary Su Song, as well as Gottfried Leibniz and Mikhail Lomonosov.

Raised-relief map.

If the account of Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BC) in his "Records of the Grand Historian" is proven correct upon the unearthing of Qin Shi Huang's (r. 221–210 BC) tomb, the raised-relief map has existed since the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC). Robert Temple and Joseph Needham suggest that certain pottery vessels of the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) showing artificial mountains as lid decorations may have influenced the raised-relief map. The Han Dynasty general Ma Yuan (14 BC – 49 AD) made a raised-relief map of valleys and mountains in a

Pharmacology.

For pharmacology, Shen wrote of the difficulties of adequate diagnosis and therapy, as well as the proper selection, preparation, and administration of drugs. He held great concern for detail and philological accuracy in identification, use and cultivation of different types of medicinal herbs, such as in which months medicinal

Civil engineering.

The writing of Shen Kuo is the only source for the date when the drydock was first used in China. Shen Kuo wrote that during the Xi-Ning reign (1068–1077), the court official Huang Huaixin devised a plan for repairing 60 m (200 ft) long palatial boats that were a century old; essentially, Huang Huaixin devised the first Chinese drydock for suspending boats out of water. These boats were then placed in a roof-covered dock warehouse to protect them from weathering. Shen also wrote about the effectiveness of the new invention (i.e. by the 10th century engineer Qiao Weiyo) of the pound lock to replace the old flash lock design used in canals. He wrote that it saved the work of five hundred annual labors, annual costs of up to 1,250,000 strings of cash, and increased the size limit

Anatomy.

The Chinese had long taken an interest in examining the human body. For example in 16 AD, the Xin Dynasty usurper Wang Mang called for the dissection of an executed man, to examine his arteries and viscera in order to discover cures for illnesses. Shen also took interest in human anatomy, dispelling the long-held Chinese theory that the throat contained three valves, writing, "When liquid and solid are imbibed together, how can it be that

Mathematics and optics.

In the broad field of mathematics, Shen Kuo mastered many practical mathematical problems, including many complex formulas for geometry, circle packing, and chords and arcs problems employing trigonometry. Shen addressed problems of writing out very large numbers, as large as (10). Shen's "technique of small increments" laid the foundation in Chinese mathematics for packing problems involving equal difference series. Sal Restivo writes that Shen used summation of higher series to ascertain the number of kegs which could be piled in layers in a

Magnetic needle compass.

Since the time of the engineer and inventor Ma Jun (c. 200–265), the Chinese had used the south-pointing chariot, which did not employ magnetism, as a compass. In 1044 the "Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques" (; "Wujing Zongyao") recorded that fish-shaped objects cut from sheet iron, magnetized by thermoremanence (essentially, heating that produced weak magnetic force), and placed in a water-filled bowl enclosed by a box were used for directional pathfinding alongside the south-pointing chariot. However, it was not until the time of Shen Kuo that the earliest magnetic compasses would be used for navigation. In his written work, Shen Kuo made the first known explicit reference to the magnetic compass-needle and the concept of true north. He wrote that steel needles were magnetized once they were rubbed with lodestone, and that they were put in floating position or in mountings; he

Archaeology.

Many of Shen Kuo's contemporaries were interested in antiquarian pursuits of collecting old artworks. They were also interested in archaeological pursuits, although for rather different reasons than why Shen Kuo held an interest in archaeology. While Shen's educated Confucian contemporaries were interested in obtaining ancient relics and antiques in order to revive their use in rituals, Shen was more concerned with how items from archeological finds were originally manufactured and what their functionality would have been, based on empirical evidence. Shen Kuo criticized those in his day who reconstructed ancient ritual objects using only their imagination and not the tangible evidence from archeological digs or finds. Shen also disdained the notion of others that these objects were products of the "sages" or the aristocratic class of antiquity, rightfully crediting the items' manufacture and production to the common working people and artisans of previous eras. Fraser and Haber write that Shen Kuo "advocated the use of an interdisciplinary approach to archaeology and practiced such an approach himself through his work in metallurgy, optics, and geometry in the study of ancient measures."  While working in the Bureau of Astronomy, Shen Kuo's interest

Geology.

The ancient Greek Aristotle (384 BC–322 BC) wrote in his "Meteorology" of how the earth had the potential for physical change, including the belief that all rivers and seas at one time did not exist where they were, and were dry. The Greek writer Xenophanes (570 BC–480 BC) wrote of how inland marine fossils were evidence that massive periodic flooding had wiped out mankind several times in the past, but never wrote of land formation or shifting seashores. Du Yu (222–285) a Chinese Jin Dynasty officer, believed that the land of hills would eventually be leveled into valleys and valleys would gradually rise to form hills. The Daoist alchemist

Meteorology.

Early speculation and hypothesis pertaining to what is now known as meteorology had a long tradition in China before Shen Kuo.  Shen wrote vivid descriptions of tornadoes—the first known description of them in East Asia.  He also gave reasoning (earlier proposed by Sun Sikong, 1015–1076) that rainbows were formed by the shadow of the sun in rain, occurring when the sun would shine upon it. Paul Dong writes that Shen's explanation of the rainbow as

Astronomy and instruments.

Being the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy, Shen Kuo was an avid scholar of medieval astronomy, and improved the designs of several astronomical instruments. Shen is credited with making improved designs of the gnomon, armillary sphere, and clepsydra clock. For the clepsydra he designed a new overflow-tank type, and argued for a more efficient higher-order interpolation instead of linear interpolation in calibrating the measure of time. Improving the 5th century model of the astronomical sighting tube, Shen Kuo widened its diameter so that the new calibration could observe the pole star indefinitely. This came about due to the position of the pole star shifting in position since the time of Zu Geng in the 5th century, hence Shen Kuo diligently observed the course of the pole star for three months, plotting the data of its course and coming to the conclusion that it had shifted slightly

Movable type printing.

Shen Kuo wrote that during the Qingli reign period (1041–1048), under Emperor Renzong of Song (1022–1063), an obscure commoner and artisan known as Bi Sheng (990–1051) invented ceramic movable type printing. Although the use of assembling individual characters to compose a piece of text had its origins in antiquity, Bi Sheng's methodical innovation was something completely revolutionary for his time. Shen Kuo noted that the process was tedious if one only wanted to print a few copies of a book, but if one desired to make hundreds or thousands of copies, the process was

Other achievements in science and technology.

Shen Kuo described the phenomena of natural predator insects controlling the population of pests, the latter of which had the potential to wreak havoc upon the agricultural base of China.  While visiting the iron-producing district at Cizhou in 1075, Shen described the "partial decarburization" method of reforging cast iron under a cold blast, which Hartwell, Needham, and Wertime state is the predecessor of the Bessemer

Beliefs and philosophy.

Shen Kuo was much in favor of philosophical Daoist notions which challenged the authority of empirical science in his day. Although much could be discerned through empirical observation and recorded study, Daoism asserted that the secrets of the universe were boundless, something that scientific investigation could merely express in fragments and partial understandings. Shen Kuo referred to the ancient Daoist "I Ching" in explaining the spiritual processes and attainment of foreknowledge that cannot be attained through "crude traces", which he likens to mathematical astronomy. Nathan Sivin proposes that Shen was the first in history to "make a clear distinction between our unconnected experiences and the unitary causal world we postulate to explain them," which Biderman and Scharfstein state is arguably inherent in the works of Heraclitus, Plato, and Democritus as well. Shen was a firm believer in destiny and prognostication, and made rational explanations for the relations

Art criticism.

As an art critic, Shen criticized the paintings of Li Cheng (919–967) for failing to observe the principle of ""seeing the small from the viewpoint of the large"" in portraying buildings and the like. He praised the works of Dong Yuan (c. 934–c. 962); he noted that although a close-up view of Dong's work would create the impression that his brush techniques were cursory, seen from

Written works.

Much of Shen Kuo's written work was probably purged under the leadership of minister Cai Jing (1046–1126), who revived the New Policies of Wang Anshi, although he set out on a campaign of attrition to destroy or radically alter the written work of his predecessors and especially Conservative enemies. For example, only six of Shen's books remain, and four of these have been significantly altered since the time they were penned by the author.  In modern times, the best attempt at a complete list and summary of Shen's writing was an appendix written by Hu Daojing in his standard edition of "Brush Talks", written in 1956.

Dream Pool Essays.

Shen Kuo's "Dream Pool Essays" consists of some 507 separate essays exploring a wide range of subjects. It was Shen's ultimate attempt to comprehend and describe a multitude of various aspects of nature, science, and reality, and all the practical and profound curiosities found in the world. The literal translation of the title, "Dream Brook

Other written works.

Although the "Dream Pool Essays" is certainly his most extensive and important work, Shen Kuo wrote other books as well. In 1075, Shen Kuo wrote the "Xining Fengyuan Li" (; "The Oblatory Epoch astronomical system of the Splendid Peace reign period"), which was lost, but listed in a 7th chapter of a Song Dynasty bibliography. This was the official report of Shen Kuo on his reforms of the Chinese calendar, which were only partially adopted by the Song court's official calendar system. During his years of retirement from governmental service, Shen Kuo compiled a formulary known as the "Liang Fang" (; "Good medicinal formulas"). Around the year 1126 it was combined with a similar collection by the famous Su Shi (1037–1101), who was ironically a political opponent to Shen Kuo's faction of Reformers and New Policies supporters at court, yet it was known that Shen Kuo and Su Shi were nonetheless friends and associates. Shen wrote the "Mengqi Wanghuai Lu" (; "Record of longings forgotten at Dream Brook"), which was also compiled during Shen's retirement. This book was a treatise in the working since his youth on rural life and ethnographic accounts of living conditions in the isolated mountain

Legacy.

Praise, critique, and criticism.

In the "Routledge Curzon Encyclopedia of Confucianism", Xinzhong Yao states that Shen Kuo's legacy was tainted by his eager involvement in Wang Anshi's New Policies reforms, his actions criticized in the later traditional histories. However, Shen's reputation as a polymath has been well regarded. The British sinologist, historian, and biochemist Joseph Needham (1900–1995) stated that Shen Kuo was "one of the greatest scientific minds in Chinese history." The French sinologist Jacques Gernet is of the opinion that Shen possessed an "amazingly modern mind." Yao states of Shen's thorough recording of natural sciences in his "Dream Pool Essays": We must regard Shen Kuo's collection as an indispensable primary source attesting to the unmatched level

Burial and posthumous honors.

Upon his death, Shen Kuo was interred in a tomb in Yuhang District of Hangzhou, at the foot of the Taiping Hill. His tomb was eventually destroyed, yet Ming Dynasty records indicated its location, which was found in 1983 and protected by the government in 1986. The remnants of the tomb's brick structure remained, along with Song Dynasty glasswares and coins. The Hangzhou Municipal Committee completed a restoration of Shen's tomb in September 2001.  In addition to his tomb, Shen Kuo's "Mengxi" garden estate, his former two-acre (8,000 m2) property in Zhenjiang, was restored by the government in 1985. However, the

Shen Kuo (; 1031–1095) or Shen Gua, courtesy name Cunzhong (存中) and pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng (夢溪翁), was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman of the Song dynasty (960–1279). Excelling in many fields of study and statecraft, he was a mathematician, astronomer, meteorologist, geologist, entomologist, anatomist, climatologist, zoologist, botanist, pharmacologist, medical scientist, agronomist, archaeologist, ethnographer, cartographer, geographer, geophysicist, mineralogist, encyclopedist, military general, diplomat, hydraulic engineer, inventor, economist, academy chancellor, finance minister, governmental state inspector, philosopher, art critic, poet, and musician. He was the head official for the Bureau of Astronomy in the Song court, as well as an Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality. At court his political allegiance was to the Reformist faction known as the New Policies Group, headed by Chancellor Wang Anshi (1021–1085).

Shen Kuo (, Wade-Giles Shen K'uo, EFEO Chen K'ouo), Shen Guo, Shen Kua ou encore Shen Gua, né en 1031 à Hangzhou et mort en 1095 à Zhenjiang, est un scientifique polymathe chinois, fonctionnaire gouvernemental sous la dynastie Song (960-1279)