by Tom Pollack
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The Hebrew name for God, Yahweh, was revealed to Moses at the burning bush on Mt. Sinai. In English Bibles, however, the translation reads, “I AM WHO I AM.” [back]
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The great mariners of the ancient Mediterranean, the Phoenecians were skilled ship builders and navigators. As sea traders who dealt with fine glass works, cloth and metalwork, they also become quite skilled crafters of these things themselves. They are also known for the form of writing they created that influenced the Aramaic and Greek alphabets. [back]
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In Greek mythology, Aphrodite was the goddess of love and fertility. She was also worshipped as a war goddess, sea goddess and patroness of sailors. Typically shown pictured in a large shell, she was accompanied by other symbols such as the swan, dove, and myrtle. [back]
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An ancient Greek poet and musician, Arion invented the dithyramb, an ancient Greek hymn sung to Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility. Besides his musical abilities, Arion is also known for his fantastical tale of being rescued by a dolphin when forced to jump ship at the hands of pirates. [back]
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Agamemnon is a figure in Greek mythology. In Homer’s Illiad, Agamemnon was the King of Mycenae and leader of the Greek armed forces during the Trojan War. [back]
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One of the most influential of the Greek gods, Apollo was the god of multiple functions, from music and poetry, to plague, light and the sun, medicine, and others. On the one hand, he was associated with medicine and healing; on the other, he could assign ill health and plague. [back]
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An Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, and mystic, Pythagoras (570 – 495 BC), is best known for his Pythagorean theorem. He founded a short-lived religious movement known as Pythagoreanism. Below is diagram of the Pythagorean theorem: the sum of the areas of the two squares on the legs equals the area of the square on the hypotenuse. [back]
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In 510 BC, Milo of Croton led the Greeks to an important military victory over Sybaris. He was also an accomplished wrestler who claimed many wins in ancient Greek athletic festivals. As an associate of Pythagoras, whose life he once saved when a roof nearly collapsed on him, Milo was the subject of many stories. One story suggested that he married Pythagoras' daughter, Myia. [back]
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An Athenian statesman and naval commander, Themistocles (528–462 BC) was instrumental in building up the Athenian fleet, which was then in place to defeat Persia when it invaded in 480 BC. [back]
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Mardonius, a Persian military leader, was second-in-command to King Xerxes during the early 5th century BC wars with Greece. When the Athenians defeated Persia’s naval fleet at the battle of Samalis, Xerxes withdrew but left Mardonius to lead the Persian army’s campaign against Greece. The Greeks went on to be the victors, and Mardonius was killed in 479 BC. [back]
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King Mausolus, 4th century BC ruler of Caria (which is modern-day Bodrum, Turkey), planned for an elaborate burial place. Upon his death, his wife, Artemisia, carried out his wishes and built a tomb—a mausoleum—for her husband at Halicarnassus. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
In the Battle of Salamis, Artemisia was serving as the commander of one of Xerxes' ships when she found herself being pursued by a faster enemy vessel. In an effort to prove that they were ships on the same side, Artemisia rammed one of her own sister ships, causing the pursuing ship to abandon the chase. Xerxes, who witnessed the ramming but believed it was an enemy vessel, remarked of Artemisia's bravery, "My men have become women, and my women men."[back]
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The king of ancient Persia, Artaxerxes (464 – 425 BC), succeeded his father, Xerxes. Mentioned throughout the biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, Artaxerxes allowed the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem. [back]
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Alexander the Great (353 – 323 BC) studied under Aristotle and later became the king of Macedon and conquered a majority of Asia. Though he died young at the age of 32, at the time of his death he was the ruler of the largest Western empire of the ancient world. [back]
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At the age of 15, Philip II was held hostage by the Greeks at Thebes. But while there, he was able to observe their military techniques. Shortly after his return to his home of Macedon, his older brother, King Perdiccas III was killed and Philip took the throne at the age of 23. King Philip was assassinated in 336 BC as he was preparing to attack the Persian Empire. His son, Alexander the Great, was left with the task. [back]
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A Greek grammarian and first superintendent of the Library at Alexandria (from 284 BC), Zenodotus edited Homer and other epic poets. He also introduced alphabetic organization; he first assigned the library’s scrolls by subject matter into separate rooms, and then alphabetically. [back]
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King Ptolemy I served as one of the most trusted Macedonian generals for Alexander the Great. Ptolemy eventually rose to power to become the leader of Egypt (323 BC – 283 BC), founding the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. He later took the title of pharaoh. [back]
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A Greek scholar, Eratosthenes (276 – 195 BC) was head of the Library at Alexandria in 240 BC until his death. He was quite versatile and renown for his work in mathematics, poetry, philosophy, astronomy and geography. He drew a map of the world and was the first to measure the circumference and tilt of the Earth. [back]
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According to the Bible, Adam was the first man created, formed out of dust by God and in the image of God (book of Genesis). He was married to Eve, the first woman, and their children were Cain, Abel, and Seth. [back]
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The oldest person listed in the Bible (book of Genesis) and grandfather of Noah, Methuselah lived to be 969 years old. [back]
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As the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty from 221 until his death in 210 BC, Qin Shihuangdi unified China after years of regional wars. He undertook massive projects like the Great Wall of China and his burial place, a city-sized mausoleum with a massive army of terracotta soldiers and horses. [back]
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A Chinese teacher and philosopher, Confucius (551 – 479 BC) emphasized benevolence, ritual and propriety. His teachings became the basis for the Chinese ideology known as Confucianism. [back]
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As the influential Prime Minister to the feudal state of Qin, Li Si (280 – 208 BC) served under Qin Shihuangdi, King of Qin and first emperor of the Qin dynasty, and later, Qin’s son and second emperor. Li Si was key to Qin’s efficiency as a state and its successful military conquests. In post-unified China, he helped to systemize standard measures and currency, as well as the written script. [back]
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One of the most famous charioteers in Roman times, Scorpus claimed 2048 victories and was a favorite of audiences at Circus Maximus. Scorpus lived at the end of the first century AD, and not surprisingly, died an early death at the age of 27. [back]
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As King of Judea during the time of Jesus’s birth (37 – 4 BC), of the most famous charioteers in Roman times, Herod felt threatened when he heard of a baby who had been born to be king of the Jews. When wise men sent out by Herod did not return with news of the infant’s whereabouts, Herod ordered the killing of all baby boys two years old and younger in Bethlehem and surrounding areas. [back]
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Judas Iscariot was one of the 12 apostles in the New Testament. He led an armed crowd to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, planting a kiss upon his cheek to identify him. For this he received 30 pieces of silver. After Jesus died, Judas, filled with quilt and remorse, returned the silver pieces and hung himself. [back]
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The Twelve Apostles were discipled by Jesus and sent out to spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (book of Matthew). They were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon, Thaddeus, and Judas Iscariot. After Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, and then killed himself, another apostle, Matthias, was chosen to replace him. [back]
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At the death of her husband, the leader of the British tribe of Iceni, a will stated that Boudica and her two daughters had joint ownership of the kingdom with the Roman Emperor. Her part of the will was ignored and the kingdom was eventually conquered. In AD 60 or 61, Boudica led her people in a revolt that was soon squashed. [back]
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A Roman naval and army commander, natural philosopher and author, Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 AD) had an insatiable quest for knowledge. He spent his free time reading and investigating the natural world and authored 102 volumes, most notably the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia. He died while trying to rescue a friend by ship from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. [back]
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Although the title of our novel was not inspired by the 1976 hit classic single by Kansas, many of the lyrics of the song “Carry On Wayward Son” could relate to the life of our main protagonist, Cain. Below is an excerpt of the song lyrics:
....“You will always remember
(Carry on)
Nothing equals the splendor
Now your life's no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you”
Other titles considered by our reader posse included Secret's of the Tile, The Gift of Cain, and Mark of the Immortal.
[back]
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An ancient Phoenician city, Tyre (depicted below) is located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea in present-day Lebanon. By 1400 BC, this coastal city was flourishing and exceled in maritime trade, most notably for its rare, and expensive, purple Tyrian dye. Conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, it was later destroyed by Muslims in 1291 AD. [back]
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The Levant (“rising” in French, having to do with the sun rising) is a rarely used term for the lands bordering the eastern Mediterranean, namely Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Palestine and Egypt. [back]
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An ancient city of Libya, Leptis Magna flourished as a port city under the reign of Septimius Severus. Some of the most impressive Roman ruins are contained there, and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Dig a little deeper at:
whc.unesco.org/en/list/183
[back]
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Founded in 813 BC by Phoenicians, the ancient city of Carthage sits on the north coast of Africa in Tunisia. At the center of trade for the Mediterranean, it was a wealthy city, known for its textiles, silver, iron and gold. It was also the source of many conflicts with Greece, and Rome--during the Punic Wars--until the Romans eventually destroyed it in 146 BC. It flourished as a Roman city for many years, and was destroyed by the Arabs in 697 AD. [back]
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One of the oldest cities in upper Egypt, Abydos is located just over six miles from the Nile river. It is well known for its temples and tombs built for the early pharaohs, such as the Great Osirus Temple and the Temple of Seti. One important find there at the Temple of Seti is a list of Egyptian kings, showing the order of their reigns, from Menes to Seti. [back]
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The ancient city of Thebes in Egypt contains marvelous ruins: the temples of Luxor and Karnak, and nearby the Valley of the Kings. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. [back]
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As a tribute to himself and Queen Nefertari, Ramesses II built Abu-Simbel, two temples carved out of sandstone cliffs in the 13th century BC. In 1968 the structures were cut into blocks and relocated inland to avoid the rising waters of Lake Nasser, caused when a new dam was built. [back]
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The ancient city of Memphis, Egypt, was the capital of the Old Kingdom. It is believed that King Menes founded the city. The city held two statues of Ramses, the Apries Palace, and the Temple of Ptah. The Saqqara and Giza pyramids, and the great Sphinx were also nearby. [back]
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Located next to the Nile River, the city of Giza is Egypt’s third largest city. It contains some of Egypt’s greatest treasures of antiquity: the Sphinx, and three pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza (or Khufu), the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. [back]
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An area that has provided fertile ground for farming for centuries, the Nile delta played an important role throughout civilization. Situated at the northern tip of Egypt, this is where the Nile flows into the Mediterranean sea---in the shape of a large funnel or triangle. In fact, the term “delta” was first used by Greek historian Herodotus in describing this feature of the Nile, as he thought it looked like the Greek letter delta (which is a triangle). [back]
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Along the Nile River, there are shallow sections with large boulders and islets, even whitewater or rapids. These sections are called cataracts, and there were six of them; two have since become submerged. The first cataract runs through Aswan, a busy tourist center in modern-day Egypt. [back]
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The ancient city of Antioch, founded in the 4th Century BC, lies along the eastern shore of the Orontes River in modern-day Turkey. It was the site of early Christianity’s spread, due to visits by Peter and Paul. [back]
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The ancient city of Xi’an served as China’s capital through several important dynasties. One of China’s oldest cities, it is rich in cultural and historical significance, and holds many treasures, including The Terracotta Army. Today it is a thriving metropolis with a population of eight million. [back]
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On the western border of China, bordering Tajikistan, sits the oasis city, Kashgar. The Northern Silk Road passed through here. In fact, the city was first mentioned by members of the Han Dynasty who were traveling the Silk Road, exploring western lands. China’s largest mosque is here, as is the tomb of Abakh Khoja, considered a holy site by Muslims. [back]
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The Library of Alexandria was founded by Ptolemy I Soter, and opened in 283 BC. It is believed to have contained as many as 500,000 scrolls. A place of study, it had up to 100 scholars living on the premises, which included a zoo of exotic animals, gardens, and lecture areas. Ironically, Julius Caesar accidentally burned the library down when he was forced to set fire to his ships while fighting Ptolemy XIII.
Dig a little deeper at:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/14417/Library-of-Alexandria
[back]
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The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, were not actually hanging but built into terraces on the side of a hill. Water from the Euphrates was pumped up to irrigate the plants. The gardens were most likely built around 600 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar. [back]
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Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, all that remains of the ancient city Babylon is a mound, or “tell,” located in southern Iraq. In the Hebrew Bible, the name reads “Babel,” making it the likely location of the Tower of Babel. What started out as a small town, possibly 3rd millennium BC, grew to be the biggest city of the world at the time (1770 to 1670 BC), with a population of 200,000. [back]
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Rome’s largest venue for public games, most notably for chariot racing, was the Circus Maximus. This large stadium could hold about 150,000 spectators. It was just over 2,000 feet in length, and 387 feet wide. Its origins go back to the 6th Century BC, when a track was built between the Palatine and Aventine Hills of Rome. [back]
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One of the Seven Hills of Rome, Palatine Hill is believed to be t
he location where a cave held mythical twins, Romulus and Remus. The hill was inhabited as early as 1000 BC. Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, and Domitian built palaces there, the remains of which can still be seen. The hill overlooks the Circus Maximus on one side and the Coliseum on the other. [back]
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