The Daily Telegraph is a broadsheet newspaper which was established in 1855 as a 2d paper by Colonel Sleigh. Several months later it was bought by Levy who reduced the price to 1d. It was a Liberal supporting paper until 1878, then from 1886 it was unionist and raised funds for needy causes. Today it is nicknamed the 'Torygraph' from its strong support of the Conservative party. Research Daily Telegraph
Terrorism is the systematic use of violence and intimidation to coerce a government or a community into adopting certain specific political ends, such as national independence for a region, or reunification or self-government, or even the adoption of a political system more sympathetic to another country's economic interests. The term terrorism was first coined in England referring to the French revolution, the agents of which were called 'terrorists' by the hostile English press, particularly the Daily Telegraph. Terrorism is so called because of the employment of 'terror' tactics, typically the bombing of property and the murder of civilians which leads to general unrest and pressure from the public onto a government or encourages the public to remove a leader. Within this definition, resistance fighters - civilians who take up arms against another country's uniformed soldiers occupying their country - are not terrorists, but a country which bullies another country with threats of war unless political changes occur within the country, perhaps the adoption of a government more sympathetic to the bullying country's economic interests, clearly is an example of terrorism. Recent examples of terrorism included the Republican terrorists of northern Ireland which sought reunification with the Republic of Ireland through making attacks on the British people in an attempt to coerce the British government into agreeing to their terms. The Islamic fundamentalist attack on the Twin Towers on September the 11th 2001 were not seeking a stated political end, and as such were not a terrorist attack, but were a criminal act of murder and destruction. America's threats to the country of Iraq unless they change their leader - President Saddam Hussein - could be construed as terrorism as the alternative for the Iraqi people is clearly all out war, in which many civilians would be killed and lose their property. A clear use of intimidation for political ends. Research Terrorism
Clement William Scott was an English dramatic critic. He was born in 1841 at Hoxton, London and died in 1904. He entered the War Office in 1860 and retired in 1877. In 1872 he became dramatic critic to 'The Daily Telegraph', a position he held until a few years before his death. In 1900 he founded the 'Free Lance'. Research Clement Scott
Sir Edwin Arnold was a British scholar and poet. He was born in 1832 and died in 1904. After studying at Oxford he became a schoolmaster and principle at a college in Poona before in 1861 joining the 'Daily Telegraph' newspaper. His best known poem is his 1879 'Light of Asia' which is a rendering on the life and teaching of the Buddha. Research Edwin Arnold
George Murray Smith was an English publisher. He was born in 1824 at London and died in 1901. He joined the publishing and book selling business, George Smith Elder and Company his father had started with a partner some years earlier, and became head of the business in 1846. In 1859 he founded 'The Cornhill Magazine' and in 1865 'The Pall Mall Gazette'.
George Smith was an English Assyriologist. He was born in 1840 at London and died in 1876. An engraver, while studying some cuneiform plates entrusted to him he became curious and led him to study the British Museum inscriptions. Observed by Rawlinson he became museum assistant in 1867 and collaborated in his Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia'. George Smith deciphered the Cypriotescript and wrote 'A History of Assurbanipal' published in 1871. His discovery and translation in 1872 of the Chaldean account of the deluge occasioned his Nineveh expeditions for The Daily Telegraph in 1873 and the British Museum in 1874. the results of the Nineveh expeditions were published in 'Assyrian Discoveries' in 1875, and 'The Chaldeon Account of Genesis' in 1876. George Smith died while on another expedition at Aleppo. Research George Smith
Sir Henry Morton Stanley was a Welsh journalist and African explorer. He was born in 1841 and died in 1904. He was originally James Rowlands, but after going to America at the age of seventeen found employment with a Mr H. M. Stanley and assumed his benefactors name. After serving in the American Civil War he became a journalist and war correspondent. In 1869 he was commissioned to find Livingston, and met him on November 10th 1871 at Ujili on Lake Tanganyika, and returned to the coast at Bagamoyo, bringing with him the traveller's journals and papers.
On his return from the Ashanti expedition of 1873 - 1874 he was provided by the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph and New York Herald with funds for a journey across Central Africa, which he commenced from Bagamoyo on November 17th 1874. On this occasion he circumnavigated the Victoria Nyanza and LakeTanganyika, partly surveyed the Albert Nyanza, and traced the Congo from Nyangwe, the lowest point on the Lualaba reached by Cameron and Livingstone, to the highest point reached from the ocean by Tuckey in 1816, proceeding thence to Banana. He returned to the Congo at the instance of the King of Belgium and remained there from August 1879 until June 1884. His last visit to Africa was in 1887 as leader of the Emin Pasha relief expedition, when he discovered Ruwenzori and the Albert Edward Nyanza. Research Henry Stanley
Henry Duff Traill was an English writer and journalist. He was born in 1842 at Blackheath and died in 1900. Educated at the Merchant Taylors' School and St John's College, Oxford, he became a barrister and in 1871 a civil servant and a part time journalist. He was the first editor of 'Literature' and wrote biographies of Coleridge, Sterne, William III, Shaftsbury, Strafford, Lord Salisbury, Lord Cromer and Sir John Franklin as well as writing numerous letters to the Pall Mall Gazette, St James' Gazette, Saturday Review and the Daily Telegraph. Research Henry Traill
Philip Arthur Larkin was a British poet. He was born in 1922 at Coventry and died in 1985. Educated at Oxford on a scholarship, he published his first book of poetry privately in 1945 and in 1946 had his first novel, 'Jill' published. From 1961 to 1971 he was Jazzcritic for the Daily Telegraphnewspaper. Research Philip Larkin
High tea was formerly the meal served with cold meats, vegetables, and pastry in substitution for dinner. In 1893 the Daily Telegraph carried a description of a high tea thus:
A well understood 'high tea' should have cold roast beef at the top of the table, a cold Yorkshire pie at the bottom, a mighty ham in the middle. The side dishes will comprise soused mackerel, pickled salmon (in due season), sausages, potatoes etc, etc. Rivers of tea, coffee and ale with dry and buttered toast, sally-lunns, scones, muffins and crumpets, jams and marmalade. Research High Tea
Assyria (the Asshur of the Hebrews, Athurd of the ancient Persians) was an ancient monarchy in Asia, intersected by the upper course of the Tigris, and having the Armenianmountains on the north and Babylonia on the south; area, probably about 100,000 sq. miles; surface partly mountainous, hilly, or undulating, partly a portion of the fertile Mesopotamian plain. The numerous remains of ancient habitations show how thickly this vast flat must have once been peopled; now, for the most part, it is a merewilderness. The chief cities of Assyria in the days of its prosperity were Nineveh, the site of which is marked by mounds opposite Mosul (Nebi Yunus and Koyunjik), Calah or Kalakh (the modern Nimrud), Asshur or Al Asur (Kalah Sherghat), Sargina (Khorsabad), and Arbela (Arbil).
Much light has been thrown on the history of Assyria by the decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions obtained by excavation. The assertion of the Bible that the early inhabitants of Assyria went from Babylon is in conformity with the traditions of later times, and with inscriptions on the disinterred Assyrian monuments. For a long period the country was subject to governors appointed by the kings of Babylon, but about 1500 BC it became independent. About the end of the fourteenth century its king, Shalmaneser, is said to have founded the city of Kalakh or Calah; his son Tiglath-ninip conquered the whole of the valley of the Euphrates. The five following reigns were chiefly occupied by wars with the Babylonians. About 1120 Tiglath-Pileser I, one of the greatest of the sovereigns of the first Assyrian monarchy, ascended the throne, and carried his conquests to the Mediterranean on the one side and to the Caspian and the Persian Gulf on the other. At his death there ensued a period of decline, which lasted over 200 years. Under Assur-nazir-pal, who reigned from 884 to 859 BC, Assyria once more advanced to the position of the leading power in the world, the extent of his kingdom being greater than that of Tiglath-Pileser. The magnificent palaces, temples, and other buildings of his reign prove the advance of the nation in wealth, art, and luxury. In 859 he was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser II, whose career of conquest was equally successful. He reduced Babylon to a state of vassalage, and came into hostile contact with Benhadad and Hazael of Damascus, and with Ahab and Jehu of Israel, from whom he exacted tribute, as also from the king's of Tyre and Sidon. The old dynasty came to an end in the person of Assurnirari II, who was driven from the throne by a usurper, Tiglath-Pileser, in 745, after a struggle of some years. No sooner was this able ruler firmly seated on the throne than he made an expedition into Babylonia, followed by another to the east in
4. A year later he defeated the confederate princes of Armenia, Syria, etc, and advancing against Syria, overthrew the ancient kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath, and placed his vassal Hosea on the throne of Samaria. A protracted campaign in Media from 737 to 735, another in Armenia, and the expedition into Syria mentioned in 2 Kings XVI, are among the most important events of the latter years of his reign. Tiglath-Pileser carried the Assyrian arms from Lake Van on the north to the Persian Gulf on the south, and from the confines of India on the east to the Nile on the west. He was, however, driven from his throne by Shalmaneser IV in 727, who blockaded Tyre for five years, invaded Israel, and besiegedSamaria, but died before the city was reduced. His successor Sargon - who reigned from 722 to 705 - was a usurper who claimed descent from the ancient Assyrian kings. After taking Samaria and leading over 27,000 people captive, he overthrew the combined forces of Elam (Susiana) and Babylon. He defeated the King of Hamath, who along with other princes had revolted, took him prisoner, and flayed him alive, advanced through Philistia and captured Ashdod; then pushing southwards totally defeated the forces of Egypt and Gaza at Raphia in 719. The revolted Armenians had also more than once to be put down. In 710 Merodach-Baladan was driven out of Babylonia by Sargon, after holding it for twelve years as an independent king, and being supported by the rulers of Egypt and Palestine; his allies were also crushed, Judah was overrun, and Ashdod levelled to the ground. Sargon latterly crossed over and took Cyprus, where he left an inscription telling of his expedition. He spent the latter years of his reign in internal reforms, in the midst of which he was murdered, being succeeded by Sennacherib, one of his younger sons, in 705. Sennacherib at once had to take up arms against Merodach-Baladan, who had again obtained possession of Babylon. In 701 fresh outbreaks in Syria led him
n that direction. He captured Zidon and Askelon, and defeated Hezekiah and his Egyptian and Ethiopian allies, and forced him to pay tribute, after which he returned to Assyria to overawe the Babylonians, Elamites, and the northern hill tribes. A second expedition into Syria is briefly recorded in 2 Kings XIX., where we are told, that, as his army lay before Libnah, in one night the angel of Jehovah went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 men (2 Kings XIX 35). In 681 he was murdered by his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, but they were defeated by their brother Esar-haddon, who then mounted the throne. Esar-haddon fixed his residence at Babylon, and made it his capital. The most important event of this reign was the conquest of Egypt, which was reduced to a state of vassalage, the Ethiopian ruler Tirhakah being driven out and the land divided into twenty separate kingdoms, the rulers of which were the vassals of Esar-haddon. He associated his son Assur-bani-pal wi
h him in the government of the kingdom (669), and two years later this prince (the Sardanapalus of the Greeks) became sole ruler. In 652 a general insurrection broke out, headed by Sammughes, governor of Babylonia, Assur-bani-pal's own brother, and including Babylonia, Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia. Egypt was the only power, however, which regained its independence; fire, sword, and famine reduced the rest to submission. In 640 the Medes revolted, and latterly made themselves independent.
Though the king's character was marked by cruelty and sensuality, he was a zealous patron of the arts and learning. He died in 625, and was succeeded by his son Assur-emid-ilin (or Sarakos), under whom Babylon definitely threw off the Assyrian yoke. The country continued rapidly to decline, fighting hard for existence until the capital Nineveh was captured and burned by the allied forces of the Medes and Babylonians, about 607 or 606 BC. The story of Sardanapalus associated with this event is a mere myth or legend. Assyria now fell partly to Media, partly to Babylonia, and afterwards formed with Babylonia one of the satrapies of the Persian empire. In 312 BC it became part of the kingdom of the Seleucidae; later on it came under Parthian rule, and was more than once a Roman possession. Eor a long period it was under the caliphs of Bagdad. In 1638 the Turks wrested it from the Persians, and it long continued under their dominion until the mid 20th century.
The original inhabitants of Assyria and Babylonia are known as Accadians (or Sumerians). They belonged to the Turanian or Ural-Altaic race, and were, therefore, of the same stock as that from which the Finns, Turks, and Magyars have descended. In early times a Semitic race of people spread themselves over the country, and mingled with or supplanted the original inhabitants, while their language took the place of the Accadian, the latter becoming a dead language. These later Assyrians were thus akin to the Hebrews, Phoenicians, and modern Arabians. Their language differed little from the Babylonian, and both retained traces of the influence of the earlier Accadian. Assyrian is closely allied to Hebrew and Phoenician, and changed little throughout the 1500 years during which we can trace it in the inscriptions. It continued to be written with the cuneiform or arrow-headed character down to the third century BC The greater part of the Assyrian literature was stamped in minute characters on baked bricks, the subjects comprising hymns to the gods, mythological and epic poems, and works on history, chronology, astrology, law, etc. The Assyrian religion was almost the same as that of Babylonia, but in addition to the worship of the Babylonian deities the Assyrians adored their national deity Assur, who was called king of all the gods, the god who created himself. He was symbolically represented by a winged circle inclosing the figure of an archer. After Assur came twelve chief deities, including Anu, the father of the gods; Bel, the lord of the world; Hea, the lord of the sea; Sin, the moon-god; Shamas, the sun-god; Istar, a powerful goddess with various attributes; Ninip, god of hunting (the man-bull); Nergal, god of war (the man-lion); etc. A number of spirits, good and evil, presided over the minor operations of nature. There were set forms regulating the worship of all the gods and spirits, and prayers to each were inscribed on clay tablets with blanks for the names
f the persons using them.
The Assyrians were far advanced in art and industry, and in civilization in general. They constructed large buildings, especially palaces, of a most imposing character, the materials being brick, burned or sun-dried, stone, alabaster slabs for lining and adorning the walls internally and externally, and timber for pillars and roofs. These alabaster slabs were elaborately sculptured with designs serving to throw much light on the manners and customs of the people. A most characteristic feature of the palaces were gigantic figures of winged, human-headed bulls, placed at gateways (often arched over) or other important points; figures of lions, etc, were also similarly employed. The palaces were raised on high terraces, and often comprised a great number of apartments; there were no windows, light being obtained by carrying the walls up to a certain height and then raising on them pillars to support the roof and admit light and air. The Assyrian sculptures, as a rule, were in relief, figures in the full round being the exception. In many cases, however, as in those of winged bulls and other monsters, a compromise was attempted between the full round and relief, the heads being worked free and the body in relief, with an additional leg to meet the exigencies of different points of view. More than three-quarters of the reliefs are of warlike scenes; hunting scenes are also favourite subjects; occasionally industrial scenes in connection with palace building are represented, and less frequently religious ceremonials. The artists had no conception of perspective. In some of the hunting scenes an exceedingly high level of art is attained. The vestiges of Assyrian painting consist chiefly of fragments of stucco and glazed tiles, on which are bands of ornament, rows of rosettes and anthemions, woven strap-work, conventionalized mythic animals, and occasionally figures. In these traces of Egyptian influence are to be found, but the Assyrian figure type is for the most part
a more voluptuous and vigorous fulness than the Egyptian. Of the advanced condition of the Assyrians in various other respects we have ample evidence. They understood and applied the arch; constructed tunnels, aqueducts, and drains; used the pulley, the lever, and the roller; engraved gems in a highly artistic way; understood the arts of inlaying, enamelling, and overlaying with metals; manufactured porcelain, transparent and coloured glass, and were acquainted with the lens; and possessed vases, jars, and other dishes, bronze and ivory ornaments, bells, gold ear-rings and bracelets of excellent design and workmanship. Their household furniture also gives a high idea of their skill and taste.
The cities of Nineveh, Assur, and Arbela had each their royal observatories, superintended by astronomers-royal, who had to send in their reports to the king twice a month. At an early date the stars were numbered and named; a calendar was formed, in which the year was divided into twelve months (of thirty days each), called after the zodiacal signs, but as this division was found to be inaccurate an intercalary month was added every six years. The week was divided into seven days, the seventh being a day of rest; the day was divided into twelve periods of two hours each, each of these being subdivided into sixty minutes, and these again into sixty seconds. The Assyrians employed both the dial and the clepsydra. Eclipses were recorded from a very remote epoch, and their recurrence roughly determined. The principal astronomical work, called the Illumination of Bel, was inscribed on seventy tablets, and went through numerous editions, one of the latest being in the British Museum. It treats among other things of comets, the polar star, the conjunction of the sun and moon, and the motions of Venus and Mars.
Assyriology the department of knowledge which deals with Assyrian antiquities and history, is entirely a modern study. Until 1842 the materials for Assyrian history were derived from the Jewish records of the Old Testament and from such comparatively late writers as Herodotus and Gtesias. In 1843-46 M. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, made the first explorations at Ko-yunjik and Khorsabad, and the objects thus obtained were transported to the Louvre. In 1845 and in 1849 valuable researches were conducted by Mr. Layard, and subsequently continued by the British Museum trustees. Later researches were instituted by the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph, and then by government, in which Mr. George Smith met with considerable success. Later Mr. Rassam carried on the work of discovery. In the decipherment and translation of the cuneiform inscriptions among the most distinguished names are those of Sir Henry Rawlinson, Mr. H. FoxTalbot, Mr. George Smith, M. Jules Oppert, Dr. Schrader, Dr. Hincks, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Mr. Le Page Renouf, Prof. Terrien de la Couperie, Mr. Boscawen, and Mr. Pinches.
Abbreviations
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