By VALERIE TARICO, ALTERNET Le sacrifice d’Abraham (Matthias Stom) Some of humanity’s technological innovations are things we would have been better off without: the medieval rack, the atomic bomb and powdered lead potions come to mind. Religions tend to invent ideas or concepts rather than technologies, but like every other creative human enterprise, they produce some…
By Max Fisher , VOX Map of modern Saudi Arabia (Nations Online) Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud became king of Saudi Arabia this week on the death of his older brother King Abdullah. When Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud was born in 1935, his country was only three years old. The Saudi Arabia of Salman’s birth had not yet discovered…
By ALEX DE WAAL, NYTimes Credit Anthony Russo On one of the last occasions an Egyptian president visited Addis Ababa, he got no further than the road from the airport: In 1995 the motorcade of President Hosni Mubarak came under fire from Egyptian jihadists. Mr. Mubarak was saved by his bulletproof car, his driver’s skill and…
The builders of the obelisks were not Christians but people who had same faith or similar to that of Ancient Egypt. These objects have no affiliation with Christianity and indeed pre-date Christianity. They erected such objects because they believed their soul and spirit will reach the Heavens to their God (sky/sun). The priest and the…
By Gemoraw, Gondar Online መ/ር ሳሙኤል ተስፋዬ ጥያቄ በየዓመቱ የጥምቀት በዓል በድመቀት ይከበራል፡፡ ከበዓሉ በፊት የከተራ በዓል የሚከበርበትን ታሪካዊና ሃይማኖታዊ ፋይዳውን ብታብራሩልን ዮስቲና ከአዲስ አበባ መልሱ ከተራ ከበበ ካለው የግእዝ ግሥ የወጣ ነው፡፡ ፍችው ውኃ መከተር፣ መገደብ ማለት ነው፡፡ የጥምቀት ዋዜማ ታቦተ ሕጉ ከቤተ መቅደስ ወጥቶ ውኃ ባለበት አካባቢ ስለሚያድር የየአጥቢያው ሕዝብ እየተሰበሰበ በወንዝ ዳር ወይም በምንጭ…
BY CHRISTIANE GRUBER, Newsweek The Charlie Hebdo killers were operating under a misapprehension. TOPKAPI PALACE LIBRARY In the wake of the massacre that took place in the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, I have been called upon as a scholar specializing in Islamic paintings of the Prophet to explain whether images of Muhammad are banned in…
By M R Reese The Tiya stones are part of an archaeological site located in central Ethiopia, in an area known as the Gurage Zone. The 46 large, decorated Tiya megaliths have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the construction of such megaliths is an ancient tradition in Ethiopia, the Tiya stones are…
By ARMIN ROSEN Last week, the US announced additional sanctions on North Korean government officials and state-owned entities in response to the cyber-attack on Sony, which both the FBI and President Barack Obama have attributed to Pyongyang. The Kim regime should be well-versed with US and international sanctions by now. UN Security Council resolution 1874,…
By: Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN Silicon Africa When tourists visit sub-Saharan Africa, they often wonder “Why there are no historical buildings or monuments?” The reason is simple. Europeans have destroyed most of them. We have only left drawings and descriptions by travelers who have visited the places before the destructions. In some places, ruins are still visible.…