HMS Sidon was a British Sealion Class submarine of 715 tons displacement launched during the early 1940's. HMS Sidon was armed with one 4-inch gun; one 20 mm anti-aircraft gun; three machine-guns; six 21-inch torpedo tubes in the bow and one external 21 inch torpedo tube. She had a top speed of 14.5 knots surfaced and 10 knots submerged, could crash dive in 30 seconds and carried a complement of 44. Research Sidon
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.
Architecture is the art or science of designing and building structures (houses, bridges etc) for human use. The term is particularly applied to the design and construction of large structures for human use which incorporate both practicality, and aesthetics.
The Egyptians are the most ancient nation known to us among whom architecture had attained the character of a fine art. Other ancient peoples among whom it had made great progress were the Babylonians, whose most celebrated buildings were temples, palaces, and hanging-gardens; the Assyrians, whose capital, Nineveh, was rich in splendid buildings; the Phoenicians, whose cities, Sidon, Tyre, etc, were adorned with equal magnificence; and the Israelites, whose temple was a wonder of architecture. But comparatively few architectural monuments of these latter nations have remained until our day.
This is not the case with the architecture of Egypt, however, of which we possess ample remains in the shape of pyramids, temples, sepulchres, obelisks, etc. Egyptian chronology is far from certain, but the greatest of the architectural monuments of the country, the pyramids of Ghizeh, are at least as old as 2800 or 2700 BC. The Egyptian temples had walls of great thickness and sloping on the outside from bottom to top; the roofs were flat, and composed of blocks of stone reaching from one wall or column to another. The columns were numerous, close, and very stout, generally without bases, and exhibiting great variety in the designs of their capitals. The principle of the arch though known was not employed for architectural purposes. Statues of enormous size, sphinxes carved in stone, and on the walls sculptures incut-line of deities and animals, with innumerable hieroglyphics, are the decorative objects which belong to this style.
The earliest architectural remains of Greece are of unknown antiquity, and consist of massive walls built of huge blocks of stone. In historic times the Greeks developed an architecture of noble simplicity and dignity. This style is of modern origin compared with that of Egypt, and the earliest remains give indications that it was in part derived from the Egyptian. It is considered to have attained its greatest perfection in the age of Pericles, or about 460-430 BC. The great masters of this period were Phidias, Ictinus, Gallicrates, etc. All the extant buildings are more or less in ruins. The style is characterized by beauty, harmony, and simplicity in the highest degree. Distinctive of it are what are called the orders of architecture, by which term are understood certain modes of proportioning and decorating the column and its superimposed entablature. The Greeks had three orders, called respectively the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
Greek buildings were abundantly adorned with sculptures, and painting was extensively used, the details of the structures being enriched by different colours or tints. Lowness of roofs and the absence of arches were distinctive features of Greek architecture, in which, as in that of Egypt, horizontality of line is another characteristic mark. The most remarkable public edifices of the Greeks were temples, of which the most famous is the Parthenon at Athens. Others exist in various parts of Greece as well as in Sicily, Southern Italy, Asia Minor, etc, where important Greek communities were early settled. Their theatres were semicircular on one side and square on the other, the semicircular part being usually excavated in the side of some convenient hill. This part, the auditorium, was filled with concentric seats, and might be capable of containing 20,000 spectators. A number exist in Greece, Sicily, and Asia Minor, and elsewhere. No remains of private houses exist in Greece, Sicily, and Asia Minor, and elsewhere. No remains of private houses are known to exist. By the end of the Peloponnesian War, about 400 BC. the best period of Greek architecture was over; a noble simplicity had given place to excess of ornament. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 the decline was still more marked.
Among the Romans there was no original development of architecture as among the Greeks, though they early took the foremost place in the construction of such works as aqueducts and sewers, the arch being in early and extensive use among this people. As a fine art, however, Roman architecture had its origin in copies of the Greek models, all the Grecian orders being introduced into Rome, and variously modified. Their number, moreover, was augmented by the addition of two new orders: the Tuscan and the Composite. The Romans became acquainted with the architecture of the Greeks soon after 200 BC, but it was not until about two centuries later that the architecture of Rome attained (under Augustus) its greatest perfection.
Among the great works now erected were temples, aqueducts, amphitheatres, magnificentvillas, triumphal arches, monumental pillars, etc. The amphitheatre differed from the theatre in being a completely circular or rather elliptical building, filled on all sides with ascending seats for spectators and leaving only the central space, called the arena, for the combatants and public shows. The Coliseum is a stupendous structure of this kind. The thermae, or baths, were vast structures in which multitudes of people could bathe at once. Magnificent tombs were often built by the wealthy. Remains of private residences are numerous, and the excavations at Pompeii in particular have thrown great light on the internal arrangements of the Roman dwelling-house. Almost all the successors of Augustus embellished Rome more or less, erected splendid palaces and temples, and adorned, like Hadrian, even the conquered countries with them. But after the period of Hadrian (117-138 AD) Roman architecture is considered to have been on the decline. The refined and noble style of the Greeks was neglected, and there was an attempt to embellish the beautiful more and more. This decline was all the more rapid latterly from the disturbed state of the empire and the incursions of the barbarians.
In Constantinople (Istanbul), after its virtual separation from the Western Empire, arose a style of art and architecture which was practised by the Greek Church during the whole of the middle ages. This is called the Byzantine style. The church of St Sophia at Istanbul, built by Justinian (reigned
527-565), offers the most typical specimen of the style, of which the fundamental principle was an application of the Roman arch, the dome being the most striking feature of the building. In the most typical examples the dome or cupola rests on four pendentives. After the dismemberment of the Roman Empire the beautiful works of ancient architecture were almost entirely destroyed by the Goths, Vandals, and other barbarians in Italy, Greece, Asia, Spain, and Africa; or what was spared by them was ruined by the fanaticism of the Christians. A new style of architecture now arose, two forms of which, the Lombard and the Norman Romanesque, form important phases of art. The Lombard prevailed in North Italy and South Germany from the eighth or ninth to the thirteenth century (though the Lombard rule came to an end in 774); the Norman Romanesque flourished, especially in Normandy and England, from the eleventh to the middle of the thirteenth century. The semicircular arch is the most characteristic feature of this style. With the Lombard Romanesque were combined Byzantine features, and buildings in the pure Byzantine style were also erected in Italy, as the Church of St Mark at Venice.
The conquests of the Moors introduced a fresh style of architecture into Europe after the eighth century - the Moorish or Saracenic. This style accompanied the spread of Islam after its rise in Arabia in the seventh century. The edifices erected by the Moors and Saracens in Spain, Egypt, and Turkey are distinguished, among other things, by a peculiar form of the arch, which forms a curve constituting more than half of a circle or ellipse. A peculiar flowery decoration, called arabesque, is a common ornament of this style, of which the building called the Alhambra is perhaps the chief glory.
The Germans were unacquainted with architecture until the time of Charlemagne (or Charles the Great, 742 to 814). He introduced into Germany the Byzantine and Romanesque styles. Afterwards the Moorish or Arabian style had some influence upon that of the western nations, and thus originated the mixed style which maintained itself till the middle of the thirteenth century. Then began the modern Gothic style, which grew up in France, England, and Germany. Its striking characteristics are its pointed arches, its pinnacles and spires, its large buttresses, clustered pillars, vaulted roofs, profusion of ornament, and, on the whole, its lofty, bold character. Its most distinctive feature, as compared with the Greek or the Egyptian style, is the predominance in it of perpendicular or rising lines, producing forms that convey the idea of soaring or mounting upwards. Its greatest capabilities have been best displayed in ecclesiastical edifices.
Buildings may be classified architecturally by period and by style. The chief British architectural periods are:
Among the most notable styles of architecture are Art Deco, a style popular in the 1920's and 1930's characterised by geometrical shapes and stylised natural forms and symmetry; Art Nouveau, a style popular between the 1880s and early 1900's with sinuous natural forms; Arts and Crafts, a reactionary style which rebelled against industrialisation and encouraged manual skills and simplicity; Baroque; Classical which is based upon Greco-Roman styles; Gothic which originated in Europe and was popular between the late 12th century and early 16th century, characterised by pointed arches; Queen Anne which was based on the Baroque style but included the intricate use of brick and Victorian which while partially associated with a revival of Gothic style also incorporated Classical elements and made great use of cast iron, typified in many of Britain's older railway stations before they were torn down and replaced with Modern style structures during the late 20th century. Research Architecture
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
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