Ancient History | A Moment in Time

Battle of Marathon II

February 21, 2022PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAncient History, Mediterranean History, Military History, Political History

Lead: The victory of the Greek forces at the Battle of Marathon helped set the course of western development.

Intro.: "A Moment In Time" with Dan Roberts.

Content: The ever-expanding Persian empire under Cyrus the Great, Darius and Xerxes came to a halt as it collided with the Greek city-states and their colonies on the Aegean Sea. A powerful invasion force landed at the Bay of Marathon, twenty miles northeast of Athens, in the fall of 490 BC. As was often the case, the democratic Athenians were busy arguing who would command their army even as the Persians were at the gates. Finally, one of the generals, Miltiades, persuaded Callimachus, a civil official, to break the impasse and vote to attack the Persians first. Apparently there was evidence that some Athenians were sympathetic with the invaders and if the City waited too long the seeds of betrayal would undermine its resistance.

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Battle of Marathon I

February 20, 2022PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAncient History, Mediterranean History, Military History, Political History

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Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights II

December 4, 2021PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAncient History, Religious History

Lead: Each year in December, Jewish families around the world celebrate their heritage and deliverance from persecution during Hanukkah - the Festival of Lights.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Taking advantage of a split in Jewish society between Hasidean traditionalists and pro-Greek reformers, in 168 BC Seleucid emperor Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Jerusalem. He garrisoned the City with Syrian troops, and set up a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the Temple, thus desecrating the holiest place in the world of Judaism.

Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights I

December 3, 2021PermalinkNancy WaldoToday's AMITAncient History, Religious History

Lead: Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is a celebration of deliverance from oppression. It grew out of a dispute with the community on how Jews relate to the non-Jewish world.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Alexander the Great died in 323 BC at the age of 32. In just a few years he had led the armies of Macedonia and Greece in creating one of history’s largest empires. From Europe to the valleys of India, Greek culture, law, and religion were firmly established. Alexander had no successor and his generals almost immediately fell out. Eventually the empire was divided with the largest section going to Seleucus (se leu kes). At various times, he and 25 successors ruled over lands stretching from present day Turkey south to Palestine east to India.

Coptic Christianity II

November 20, 2021PermalinkMetasebia TessemaToday's AMITAncient History, Religious History

Lead: It was not easy, but in the years following the birth of Islam, Coptic Christianity was able to coexist in Egypt alongside its rival religion near the heart of Islamic culture.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: In the seventh century CE, not too many years after the hijira of Mohammed, Arabs invaded Egypt. For several centuries, Coptic Christians lived under various Muslim regimes, sometimes protected, sometimes persecuted, sometimes under onerous conditions, but able to survive and conduct worship. There were taxes and restrictions and the inevitable pressure to convert to Islam, but Muslim scholars respected Coptic erudition and permitted a certain flowering and preservation of this brand of Christianity.

Coptic Christianity I

November 19, 2021PermalinkMetasebia TessemaToday's AMITAncient History, Religious History

Lead: The establishment of Christianity in Egypt was early and reflected the richness of the Alexandrian Jewish community from which it probably emerged. It has continued ever since.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Coptic Christianity, the name from a European corruption of the Arabic “kibt,” itself derived from the Greek, “aiguptioi” or Egyptians, was probably in place by the end of the first century. It is said that the evangelist Mark brought the Gospel to Alexandria and preached to the large, educated Jewish community there, found a significant response, and was martyred for his efforts. There was a Catechetical School in Alexandria by 200 C.E. and in the following century, the Coptic Church was established.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Pharos – The Alexandria Lighthouse

August 14, 2021PermalinkMetasebia TessemaToday's AMITAncient History, Egyptian History

Lead: Designed to protect commerce sailing in and out of the port of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, Pharos, the Alexandria lighthouse has proven to be the model for most lighthouses built since.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Almost as if anticipating a modern list of curiosities such as Ripley’s Believe it or Not, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was a constantly varying and occasionally updated list of architectural accomplishments maintained by historians such as the Greek scholar Herodotus and Antipater (An-TI-pa-tor) of Sidon. Revisions to the list were made almost into the modern era as structures disappeared or new ones were built. On nearly all the lists was the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria built on the island of Pharos just off the port in about 290 B.C.E.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

February 20, 2021PermalinkMetasebia TessemaToday's AMITAncient History, Mediterranean History

Lead: The colossal temple of Artemis in the port city of Ephesus blended the size of Greek architecture and the decorative style of the East. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Ephesus was a major trading port in western Asia Minor, now in the Turkish province of Izmir. It was a commercial center and, by the beginning of the sixth century BCE, a cultural hub largely due to the construction in its precincts of the cultic Temple of Artemis, in several versions built on the same site over many decades, climaxing in a huge temple enshrined to the worship of the fertility goddess of hunting, Artemis, also associated with the goddess Diana, who according to the cult provided protection for Ephesus and for supplicants from all over the region in trouble and fleeing their enemies. The final structure was recognized by ancient historians as one of the wonders of the Mediterranean world.