title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Hall directed extensively in the United States including the world premiere of John Guare's "Four Baboons Adoring the Sun" (Lincoln Center, 1992), three Shakespeare plays with Center Theater Group, Los Angeles (1999 and 2001) and John Barton's nine-hour epic "Tantalus" (2000), an RSC co-production with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: In 2003, Hall became the founding director of The Rose Theatre a new venue to be constructed in Kingston upon Thames whose design was inspired by the Elizabethan original. He directed a number of productions there including Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", which opened the building in 2008, and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (with Judi Dench as Titania, 2010). Hall was also appointed "Director Emeritus" of The Rose Kingston.


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Peter Hall was also an internationally celebrated opera director. His first experience was in 1957, directing "The Moon and Sixpence" by John Gardner at Sadler's Wells. He was able to play the piano well enough to read opera scores. His first major project was Schoenberg's "Moses und Aron" at Covent Garden, which led on to further productions at that house.


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Hall worked at many of the world's leading houses as well as Royal Opera House, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Bayreuth Festival where he, with conductor Georg Solti, directed Wagner's Ring Cycle ("Der Ring des Nibelungen") in 1983 to honour the centenary of the composer's death. The production was played until 1986. Hall staged the world premieres of Michael Tippett's "The Knot Garden" (1970) and "New Year" (1989). He had a close relationship with the Glyndebourne Festival where he was artistic director from 1984 to 1990, directing more than twenty productions including the Mozart/Da Ponte operas. His production of Benjamin Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1981) was revived nine times, most recently 35 years after its premiere, in August 2016. Hall also directed "Albert Herring" by Benjamin Britten, Cavalli's "La Calisto", Monteverdi's "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" and Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice" (all with Janet Baker); "L'incoronazione di Poppea" and "Carmen" – both with his then wife, Maria Ewing, with whom he also staged a celebrated "Salome" (The Royal Opera London and L.A. Opera) in 1986. "Opera magazine" noted Hall's characteristics as (in relation to "La Cenerentola" at Glyndebourne) "dignity and emotional veracity", recalling that "he would always insist that 'the singers, like actors, played off each other'".


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Hall's films for cinema and TV include "Akenfield" (1974), a fictionalisation based on Ronald Blythe's oral history and filmed in Blythe's native Suffolk with a cast of local people. It was restored and relaunched in 2016 by the BFI. Hall's film "She's Been Away" was written by Stephen Poliakoff and starred Peggy Ashcroft and Geraldine James who both won awards for their performances at the Venice Film Festival. Hall also directed "The Camomile Lawn" and "The Final Passage" for Channel 4 television, as well as a number of his opera and stage productions. His only American studio movie, the 1995 erotic thriller "Never Talk to Strangers", "proved to me that I have no aptitude whatever for surviving the Hollywood rat race," as Hall wrote in the updated edition of his memoir "Making an Exhibition of Myself". For several years during the 1970s he presented the arts programme "Aquarius" for London Weekend Television. In 2005 he was the subject of a two-hour documentary for "The South Bank Show", "Peter Hall, Fifty Years in Theatre".


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Hall began acting as a student at Cambridge University, where Dadie Rylands taught him to speak Shakespearean verse. He was also influenced in his understanding of Shakespeare by the literary critic and teacher F. R. Leavis. He subsequently acted in three German films in the 1970s: "Der Fußgänger" ("The Pedestrian", directed by Maximilian Schell, 1973), "Als Mutter streikte" ("When Mother Went on Strike", 1974) and "Der letzte Schrei" ("The Last Word", 1974).


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: His books on theatre include "The Necessary Theatre" (Nick Hern, 1999), "Exposed by the Mask" (Oberon, 2000) and "Shakespeare's Advice to the Players" (Oberon, 2003). "The Peter Hall Diaries the Story of a Dramatic Battle", edited by John Goodwin (Hamish Hamilton) were first published in 1983 and documented his struggle to establish the National Theatre on the South Bank. His autobiography, "Making an Exhibition of Myself" (Sinclair-Stevenson), was published in 1993.


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Peter Hall was appointed a CBE in 1963 and knighted in 1977 for his services to the theatre. He was awarded the Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1965), received the Hamburg University Shakespeare Prize (1967) and was elected Member of the Athens Academy for Services to Greek Drama (2004). His professional awards and nominations included two Tony Awards ("The Homecoming" and "Amadeus") and four awards for lifetime achievement in the arts. In 2005 Hall was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. He was Chancellor of Kingston University (20002013), held the Wortham Chair in Performing Arts at the University of Houston (19992002) and was awarded honorary doctorates from a number of universities including Cambridge, York, Liverpool, Bath and London.


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Hall was married four times. He had six children and nine grandchildren. His first wife was French actress Leslie Caron, with whom he had a son, Christopher (b. 1957), and a daughter, Jennifer (b. 1958). With his second wife, Jacqueline Taylor, he had a son, Edward (b. 1966), and a daughter, Lucy (b. 1969). Hall married American opera singer Maria Ewing in 1982 with whom he had one daughter, Rebecca (b. 1982). He was finally married to Nicki Frei; the couple had one daughter, Emma (b. 1992).


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Hall worked with all his children: for the National Theatre, Jennifer played Miranda in "The Tempest" (1988); Rebecca, aged nine, played young Sophie in the Channel 4 adaptation of "The Camomile Lawn", for The Peter Hall Company she played Vivie in "Mrs Warren's Profession" (2002), Rosalind in "As You Like It" (2003), Maria in "Gallileo's Daughter" (2004) and, for the NT, Viola in "Twelfth Night" (2011); Emma, aged two, played Joseph in "Jacob" (2004, TV Movie); for the Peter Hall Company, Lucy designed "Hamlet" (1994), "Cuckoos" (2003) and "Whose Life is it Anyway?" (2005); Christopher produced the Channel 4 television drama "The Final Passage" (1996); Edward co-directed the stage epic "Tantalus" (2000).


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Hall was described by "Guardian" contributor Mark Lawson as a "committed atheist, from as early as his 20s", leading "to a punishing work rate in his hurry to get everything done".


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: On 11 September 2017, Hall died from pneumonia at University College Hospital, London, surrounded by family. He was 86 years old.


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: His obituary in "The Times" declared him "the most important figure in British theatre for half a century" and a Royal National Theatre statement declared that Hall's "influence on the artistic life of Britain in the 20th century was unparalleled".


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Many luminaries of British theatre paid tribute to Hall. Nicholas Hytner said: "Without him there would have been no Royal Shakespeare Company." Trevor Nunn said: "Not only a thrilling director, he was the great impresario of the age." Richard Eyre called Hall the "godfather" of British theatre: "Peter created the template of the modern director – part-magus, part-impresario, part-politician, part celebrity." Impresario Cameron Mackintosh said: "It's thanks to Peter Hall that people like Trevor Nunn, Nicholas Hytner and Sam Mendes transformed musical theatre around the world." Theatre critic Michael Coveney said that he believed Hall's production of "The Wars of the Roses" "recast the [Shakespeare] history plays and put them at the centre of our culture".


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: Peter Brook said: "Peter was a man for all seasons – he could play any part that was needed". Elaine Paige said: "Peter Hall had absolute authority and, as a heavyweight of the theatre, real presence." Griff Rhys Jones said: "Peter was an absolute smoothie, the most charming and diplomatic man" and Samuel West said "Peter was an extraordinarily energetic, imaginative director – if you left him in the corner of a room he'd direct a play – but he was also a great campaigner. He never stopped arguing for the role of subsidised art in a civilised society and its ability to change people's lives."


title: Peter Hall (director)

text: In April 2018, the Society of London Theatre, which presents the annual Laurence Olivier Awards recognizing achievements in London theatre, changed the award for Best Director to the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: The Oakland County Child Killer (OCCK) is the name given to the perpetrator(s) responsible for the serial killings of at least four children in Oakland County, Michigan, United States, between 1976 and 1977. The victims were held captive before being killed, and forensic DNA testing has indirectly implicated two suspects, one of whom has since died, with the other serving life in prison for offenses against children. A DNA profile created from samples taken from some of the victims' bodies is from the main perpetrator, but does not match the DNA of anyone named in connection with the case; the perpetrator's identity is unknown.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: Between February 15, 1976, and March 16, 1977, two boys and two girls aged between 10 and 12 years old went missing outside their homes, en route to or from another location, in Oakland County, Michigan, north of Detroit. Each child's body was discovered in a public area within nineteen days of his or her disappearance. The children were all either strangled or shot, with the two boys having been sexually abused. The four deaths triggered a murder investigation which at the time was the largest in U.S. history, with Detroit's two daily newspapers, as well as the area's numerous radio and television stations, covering the case. A presentation on WXYT radio, entitled "Winter's Fear: The Children, the Killer, the Search", won the Peabody Award in 1977.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: There were other abductions and murders around the Oakland County area within the same period. These are not specifically tied to the four victims above due to variations in the cases.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: After the discovery of Mihelich's body, authorities noticed similarities shared by her case and those of Stebbins and Robinson, and reports were released warning the public that a serial killer was possibly operating in the Oakland County area. The Michigan State Police led a group of law-enforcement officials from thirteen communities in the formation of a task force, devoted solely to the investigation into the killings of the three children.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: After King disappeared, a woman told authorities that she had seen a boy with a skateboard (like King) talking to a man in the parking lot of the pharmacy that he visited on March 16, 1977. A composite drawing of the suspected kidnapper and his blue AMC Gremlin was released, and authorities questioned every Gremlin owner in Oakland County. Investigators created a profile based on witnesses' descriptions of the man seen talking to King—a white male aged between 25 and 35 with a dark complexion, shaggy hair and sideburns, who had a job that gave him freedom of movement and made him appear trustworthy to children, was familiar with the area and could keep children captive for long periods of time without rousing neighbors' suspicions.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: The task force checked more than 18,000 tips, which resulted in about two dozen arrests on unrelated charges and the discovery of a multi-state child pornography ring operating on North Fox Island in Lake Michigan. The task force was unable to make much headway in the investigation, disbanding in December 1978, with the investigation being turned over to the State Police.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: A few weeks after King's murder, a psychiatrist who worked with the task force received a letter, riddled with spelling errors, written by an anonymous author ("Allen") claiming to be a sadomasochist slave of the killer ("Frank"). "Allen" wrote that they had both served in the Vietnam War, that "Frank" was traumatized by having killed children, and that "Frank" had taken revenge on more affluent citizens, such as the residents of Birmingham, for sending forces to Vietnam. "Allen" expressed fear and remorse in his letter, saying he was losing his sanity and was endangered and suicidal, and admitted to having accompanied "Frank" as the latter sought boys to kill. He instructed the psychiatrist to respond by printing the code words "weather bureau says trees to bloom in three weeks" in that Sunday's edition of the "Detroit Free Press", before offering to provide photographic evidence in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The psychiatrist arranged to meet "Allen" at a bar, but "Allen" did not show up and was never heard from again.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: Archibald Edward Sloan, a child molester who victimized young boys in his neighborhood, became a person of interest after hair samples found in his 1966 Pontiac Bonneville matched hair found on the bodies of King and Stebbins, but the hair was not from Sloan himself. A witness claimed to have seen King being abducted by two men, one described as being in his late 20s and the other described as bearing a strong resemblance to serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was allegedly in Michigan around the time of the killings. Gacy's DNA did not match DNA found on the victims' bodies.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: Police in Parma Heights, Ohio arrested Ted Lamborgine, a retired auto worker believed to have been involved in a child pornography ring in the 1970s. On March 27, 2007, investigators told Detroit television station WXYZ that Lamborgine was considered the top suspect in this case. Lamborgine pleaded guilty to fifteen sex-related counts involving young boys rather than accept a plea bargain that would have required him to take a polygraph test on the Oakland County killings. He also rejected an offer of a reduced sentence in exchange for a polygraph on the case. In October 2007, the family of Mark Stebbins filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lamborgine seeking $25,000. The lawsuit alleges Lamborgine, who lived in Metro Detroit in the late 1970s, abducted Stebbins and held him captive in a Royal Oak house for four days in February 1976 before smothering him to death during a sexual assault. Lamborgine has never been formally linked nor charged in the death of Stebbins. Attorney David A. Binkley has sought compensation, including funeral costs, for Stebbins' brother, Michael, but stressed that money is secondary.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: The case sparked new interest when King's father, Barry, and brother, Chris, tried to get the State Police to release information about Chris Busch, the son of General Motors executive Harold Lee Busch. Chris Busch had been in police custody shortly before King's abduction for suspected involvement in child pornography. He allegedly committed suicide in November 1978. There was no gunshot residue found on him, though, and no blood spatter; the entry wound was between his eyes. Furthermore, there were four shell casings found in Busch's room. He was also found wrapped neatly under his sheets. Bloodstained ligatures were found in his apartment, as was a hand-drawn image of a boy closely resembling Stebbins screaming which was found pinned to the wall. There had been no confirmed activity by the Oakland County Child Killer for nearly twenty months prior to Busch's death.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: Police reports obtained by Barry King included new revelations, including DNA testing of new suspects and the bloodstained ligature and sketch from Busch's apartment. Catherine Broad, King's sister, compiled an archive of investigation material as the case grew.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: Upon researching the case records, the King family produced a documentary entitled "Decades of Deceit", which condemns the police and prosecutors for alleged shoddy investigations and uncooperative communication, and, in particular, of disregarding leads the family discovered in 2006. Funds generated from the sale of the documentary were donated to the Tim King fund, designated to help abused children and support activities for Birmingham children.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: Forensic DNA tests conducted in 2012 showed that hair found on the seat of Sloan's car and on the bodies of Stebbins and King were a match and came from the same unknown man. The hair DNA does not match Sloan, but implicates someone he knew or lent his car to.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: In 2013, an anonymous informant reported a blue AMC Gremlin buried in a farm field now being developed in Grand Blanc. Police are investigating the Gremlin for ties to the crime as King was last seen in a blue Gremlin.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: In 2005, an unidentified man, who would later emerge to become a common figure in the case and has been referred to by the alias of


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: "Jeff", was reminded of a relationship he had in 1977 with an acquaintance. In an interview given to Oakland County investigators in 2010, Jeff informed them of atypical observations and actions while driving and conversing with the acquaintance, such as taking him to buildings where satanic rituals were allegedly performed. The acquaintance navigated through lesser-known routes associated with the case with ease. The acquaintance also spoke of details written in "Allen's" letter (see above). Jeff requested information about the "Allen" letter to help confirm his suspicions, but was denied.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: In 2010, Jeff gave a recorded interview to Oakland County investigators and Prosecutor Jessica Cooper to present evidence pertaining to the investigation. Jeff claimed to have tried to approach Cooper with his findings and to convince her to place the case under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice. The department was already involved through the FBI and through resources such as the ViCAP database. Cooper dismissed his suggestions and, as there was no new evidence presented, his request to inspect the "Allen" letter was denied. Cooper described the interview as "a rambling statement outlining a theory that the Oakland County Child Killer abductions and murders were related to pagan holidays, the lunar calendar, and Wiccan rituals".


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: Jeff proceeded to correspond with Deborah Jarvis, mother of victim Kristine Mihelich, and investigative journalists such as Bill Proctor and Heather Catallo in 2010. He claimed that he was among a team of a dozen investigators involved with the case and could identify the perpetrator of the crimes, but refused to indicate which law enforcement division he worked for. Jeff claimed to have invested 10,000 hours into the investigation over several years, but was reluctant to release his results as he doubted the competence of Wayne and Oakland County investigators. In a press release email, Jeff indicated possible meddling by Cooper and other reasons as to why he had not made his investigation public. According to Paul Hughes, an attorney representing Jarvis, Jeff's investigation discovered the murderer. However, according to Hughes, Jeff refused to identify the culprit unless the authorities divulged crucial information which Jeff requested during the initial interviews in 2010. Jeff wanted to positively confirm the identity of his suspect using the police evidence before proceeding further.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: In 2012, Jeff presented his findings to a select group of Detroit journalists on Hughes' cell phone. To preserve his anonymity he insisted that his phone interview with Hughes not be recorded. He theorized that the killers were conducting Wiccan human sacrifice rituals coinciding with pagan celebrations or the lunar calendar. According to Jeff, there was a total of approximately 11–16 victims, significantly more than the four officially confirmed victims. He claimed his team found a number of similarities among the cases that were highly unlikely to be purely coincidental.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: Based on this information, Hughes attempted a lawsuit against the Oakland County authorities for $100 million, citing mishandling of the investigation and demanding Cooper's resignation. The lawsuit alleged a cover-up conspiracy and obstruction. Hughes' website solicited donations, and offered a copy of Jeff's report for a donation of $1,500. The families of the victims, as well as Cooper, claimed that Hughes and Jeff were attempting to profit on their distress. The case was dismissed in March 2012 for lack of evidence.


title: Oakland County Child Killer

text: In February 2019, the Investigation Discovery channel aired a two-part, four-hour documentary about the killings. At this same time, WXYZ-TV investigative reporter Heather Catallo announced that a key suspect, convicted child sex offender Arch Edward Sloan, had failed a polygraph test when he was interviewed by the Oakland County Child Killer Task Force in 2010 and 2012. Back in 2012 new DNA technology found that Sloan's car contained hair with the same mitochondrial profile as evidence found on the victims; however, it is not Sloan's.


title: Susan Flannery

text: Susan Flannery (born July 31, 1939) is an American actress and director known for her roles in the daytime dramas "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "Days of Our Lives".


title: Susan Flannery

text: Flannery was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on July 31, 1939, and attended school in Manhattan. She received her BA degree from Stephens College, a women's college in Columbia, Missouri, in 1962.


title: Susan Flannery

text: Flannery is known for playing Dr. Laura Spencer Horton from 1966 until 1975 on "Days of Our Lives", where she met writer William J. Bell (who later cast her in "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 1987). She acted in feature films, including "The Towering Inferno" (1974) and "The Gumball Rally" (1976). She also acted in the primetime television series "Dallas", playing Leslie Stewart during season four (1980–1981), and appeared in an ensemble cast with Kirk Douglas, Joan Collins and Christopher Plummer in the 1976 NBC miniseries "The Moneychangers".


title: Susan Flannery

text: Flannery became best known worldwide for portraying Stephanie Douglas Forrester on the American soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" (1987–2012). She was one of the original cast members of the series, only two of whom still appear (Katherine Kelly Lang and John McCook). Flannery was also a regular director on the show, and was twice nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for her work. After 25 years, she decided to leave the show in 2012. In her final storyline, Stephanie Forrester died from lung cancer.


title: Susan Flannery

text: Flannery appeared in two episodes of ABC's situation comedy "Hope & Faith" in 2004 with other well-known actors from rival soaps.


title: Susan Flannery

text: Flannery also appeared as a special guest on "Good News Week". She appeared in a special episode of "Wheel of Fortune" with Deidre Hall (Marlena, "Days of Our Lives") and Peter Bergman (Jack, "The Young and the Restless") in 2006. Flannery also directed the October 13, 2008, episode of "Guiding Light".


title: Susan Flannery

text: Flannery came in at #1 in the Top 50 Soap Actresses of All Time poll on the internet blog We Love Soaps in 2010.


title: Susan Flannery

text: Flannery took an active role in the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and advocated for securing cable rights and foreign residuals for actors when their work appears in other media. Her efforts have had a positive impact on how "The Bold and the Beautiful" actors (and other soap actors) are paid when the show is televised in countries outside the United States.


title: Susan Flannery

text: Gay rights activist Rita Mae Brown socialized with Flannery in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. They met through their mutual friend writer and performer Fannie Flagg, with whom Flannery had a multi-year relationship. Brown wrote the following about Flannery in her 1997 memoir "Rita Will":She'd been a star in a long-running TV program and had left to take a prominent role in a film. Almost white-blonde, with a heart-shaped face, blue eyes and a great figure, she appeared every inch a woman ready to become a major movie star. She had looks, talent and drive. What she lacked was the ability to kiss ass. Just when her career should have rocketed, it began to drop to Earth. Approaching forty added to the tension.


title: Susan Flannery

text: Word got about [directors and screenwriters] that she was difficult. That was amended to "difficult dyke." It wasn't too long before she languished in her beautiful shared Montecito, California home wondering what the hell had happened.


title: Susan Flannery

text: Were Susan at the same career fulcrum today [in 1996], she'd have a fifty-fifty chance of swinging up. In the mid-seventies, she had no chance. Today she's back on television [in supporting roles and character parts].


title: Susan Flannery

text: Because she didn't marry to play the game, she might as well have announced that she was gay. Other people announced it for her. She kept silent but stiff-armed any attempts to create a bogus heterosexual life. She and Fannie [Flagg] had been together for eight years. The cracks in their relationship widened under the pressure. Many of Susan and Fannie's friends knew they were lovers, but many didn't. The isolation, under the circumstances, had to have been extremely painful for Susan.


title: Susan Flannery

text: My heart went out to her. After my initial visit [to their Montecito home], the three of us palled around together. The more I knew Susan, the more I liked her.


title: Susan Flannery

text: If there had been a way for the three of us to live together, I would have tried it because I grew to respect Susan and to value her for the generous and kind person she is. Like her Irish forebears, she engaged her crisis with good humor and the hope that she'd learn something.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: Hicham El Guerrouj (; ; born 14 September 1974) is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder of the outdoor 1500 metres, mile, and 2000 metres events. He also held indoor world records for the mile and 1500 metres until 2019, and is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to earn a gold medal in both the 1500 metres and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games. El Guerrouj is widely regarded as the greatest middle-distance runner in history and is also viewed as one of the greatest athletes of all time.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: El Guerrouj has also won the world championship in the 1500 meters six times: four consecutive times outdoors in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003 and two times indoors in 1995 and 1997 and has won the World Athlete of the Year awards three times. He holds seven of the 10 fastest times ever run in the 1500 metres and in the mile.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: In November 2014, he was inducted into the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Hall of Fame.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: Born in Berkane, Hicham El Guerrouj's first international triumph was at age 18, when he was third in the 5000 metres of the 1992 Junior World Championships in Seoul, behind Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and Ismael Kirui of Kenya. A year later, he was the #2 man on the Moroccan team at the World Junior Cross Country Championships.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: In 1994, he was a member of the Moroccan team in the 1994 IAAF World Road Relay Championships, which won the race in world record time.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: El Guerrouj rose to international prominence in the mid-1990s with near-record times in the 1500 metres and mile. At the age of 20 he finished second in the 1500 metres to then world record holder Noureddine Morceli at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. In 1996 after setting a new personal best in the 1500 metres of 3:29.59 in Stockholm, he was considered one of the favourites for the Olympic gold.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: El Guerrouj competed in his first Olympic Games in 1996 at Atlanta. Running the 1500 metres final, as he was moving into position to challenge for the lead, he fell with 400 m to go and finished last in 12th place. He had been expected to challenge the world record holder and three-time World champion, Noureddine Morceli.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: One month later, at the Grand Prix final in Milan, El Guerrouj became the first runner to defeat Morceli over 1500 m in four years. In the following years, El Guerrouj became the only middle distance runner to win four consecutive world titles in 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: El Guerrouj set two world indoor records at the start of the 1997 season, starting with a 1500 m record of 3:31.18 at the Sparkassen Cup, which was not beaten until 22 years later, in 2019 by Samuel Tefera. He also set a new indoor best of 3:48.45 in the mile run at the Indoor Flanders meeting a few weeks later. In 1998 in Rome, El Guerrouj broke Morceli's 1500 m world record (3:27.37) with a time of 3:26.00.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: In 1999, also in Rome, El Guerrouj broke the world record in the mile set by Noureddine Morceli in 1993, with a time of 3:43.13. Noah Ngeny of Kenya, who ran second, was also under the previous world record with a time of 3:43.40. This was the first time in over 40 years that two men had bettered the mile world record in the same race.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: Later that season he set a new world record over 2000 m in Berlin at 4:44.79, bettering the previous mark set by Morceli by more than three seconds. He also ran the second fastest 3000 m ever in Brussels.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: At the Sydney Olympics, El Guerrouj was favourite to take gold but finished second in the 1500 metres, behind Noah Ngeny, a talented Kenyan runner at the peak of his career who had run as El Guerrouj's pacemaker when El Guerrouj ran his 1500m world record in Rome in 1998.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: El Guerrouj successfully defended his 1500 m title in the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and came close to breaking his own 1500 m record in Brussels in 2001 with a time of 3:26.12. He also won 3 consecutive IAAF Golden League prizes in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He was the only middle distance athlete to produce the winning streak necessary to be entitled for a share of the jackpot of 50 kilograms (1,608 troy ounces) of gold (2000–2002) or US$1 million (1998–1999, 2003–present). He remains the only athlete to have won it three times in a row.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: In 2003, El Guerrouj set a personal best of 12:50.24 in the 5000 metres, which is the 26th fastest ever in the event. Later in the year, at the World Track & Field Championships, he finished a close second to Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge in the 5000 metres, adding a silver to the gold he had previously won in the 1500 metres.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: After a relatively poor start to the 2004 season that included slow times and an 8th-place finish in a 1500-metre race in Rome, El Guerrouj entered both the 1500 metres and the 5000 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: Only 20 days before the Olympic final, 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Bernard Lagat ran the fastest 1500 m in 2004 (3:27.40), narrowly defeating El Guerrouj (3:27.64) at the Weltklasse Zürich meet on August 6. On August 24, in the final straight of the Olympic 1500m final, El Guerrouj beat Lagat by 0.12 seconds, winning the gold medal. In the finale, entering the home straight El Guerrouj led, only to be overtaken by Lagat- and then El Guerrouj re-took the lead a few strides from the line.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: Four days later, El Guerrouj won the 5,000 m final with a time of 13:14.39, preventing Kenenisa Bekele from achieving the 5000 m/10000 m distance double, last achieved by Ethiopian Miruts Yifter in 1980 Moscow Olympics.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: El Guerrouj became the first man in 80 years to win both 1500m and 5000m titles in the same Olympics, previously achieved only by the "Flying Finn" Paavo Nurmi in 1924.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: Having fulfilled his sporting ambitions, El Guerrouj never competed internationally again and announced his retirement on May 22, 2006.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: His sporting career is marked by numerous recognitions such as the award to humanitarian effort from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which he received in 1996. He is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. El Guerrouj was named IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2001, 2002 and 2003 after remaining unbeaten in more than 20 races, becoming the first man to win the award in consecutive years. He was also named best athlete of the year by the athletics journal "Track and Field News" in 2002. In 2003, he was elected as a member of the IAAF Athletes Committee.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: On September 7, 2004, El Guerrouj was decorated with the "Cordon de Commandeur" by King Mohammed VI of Morocco. In the same year, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Awards.


title: Hicham El Guerrouj

text: Hicham El Guerrouj is today an Ambassador for Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization, as well as a member of its "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport.


title: Fujifilm

text: , trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals.


title: Fujifilm

text: The offerings from the company that started as a manufacturer of photographic films, which it still produces, include: document solutions, medical imaging and diagnostics equipment, cosmetics, pharmaceutical drugs, regenerative medicine, stem cells, biologics manufacturing, magnetic tape data storage, optical films for flat-panel displays, optical devices, photocopiers and printers, digital cameras, color films, color paper, photofinishing and graphic arts equipment and materials.


title: Fujifilm

text: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. was established in 1934 as a subsidiary of Daicel with the aim of producing photographic films. Over the following 10 years, the company produced photographic films, motion-picture films and X-ray films. In the 1940s, Fuji Photo entered the optical glasses, lenses and equipment markets. After the Second World War, Fuji Photo diversified, penetrating the medical (X-ray diagnosis), printing, electronic imaging and magnetic materials fields. In 1962, Fuji Photo and UK-based Rank Xerox Limited (now Xerox Limited) launched Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. through a joint venture.


title: Fujifilm

text: From the mid-1950s, Fuji Photo accelerated the establishment of overseas sales bases. In the 1980s, Fuji Photo expanded its production and other bases overseas, stepping up the pace of its business globalization. Meanwhile, Fuji Photo developed digital technologies for its photo-related, medical and printing businesses. As a result, it invented computed radiography (CR), which solved a number of issues of traditional radiography, resulting a decrease of radiation exposure to both technician and patient. Fujifilm's systems were marketed and sold under the FCR brand.


title: Fujifilm

text: Like its rival Eastman Kodak which dominated in the US, Fuji Photo enjoyed a longtime near-monopoly on camera film in Japan. By becoming one of the title sponsors of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (an opportunity that Kodak passed on), offering cheaper camera film, and establishing a film factory in the US, Fuji gained considerable market share there, while Kodak had little success in penetrating Japan. In 1994 the vice president Juntarō Suzuki announced that the company would halt paying Sōkaiya, a type of protection racket bribe, to Yakuza. In retaliation of this he was murdered in front of his home by them. In May 1995, Kodak filed a petition with the US Commerce Department under section 301 of the Commerce Act arguing that its poor performance in the Japanese market was a direct result of unfair practices adopted by Fuji. The complaint was lodged by the US with the World Trade Organization. On January 30, 1998, the WTO announced a "sweeping rejection of Kodak's complaints" about the film market in Japan.


title: Fujifilm

text: The new millennium witnessed the rapid spread of digital technology, and demand for photographic films plunged in line with the growing popularity of digital cameras. In response, Fuji Photo implemented management reforms aimed at drastic transformation of its business structures. Even as early as the 1980s, the company had foreseen the switch from film to digital, so "it developed a three-pronged strategy: to squeeze as much money out of the film business as possible, to prepare for the switch to digital and to develop new business lines." While both film manufacturers recognized this fundamental change, Fuji Photo adapted to this shift much more successfully than Eastman Kodak (which filed for bankruptcy in January 2012). Fuji Photo's diversification efforts also succeeded while Kodak's had failed; furthermore Kodak built up a large but barely profitable digital camera business that was undone quickly by smartphone cameras.


title: Fujifilm

text: In March 2006, Noritsu and Fuji announced a strategic alliance for Noritsu to manufacture all of Fuji's photofinishing hardware, such as minilabs. Each company produces its own software for the minilabs.


title: Fujifilm

text: On September 19, 2006, Fujifilm announced plans to establish a holding company, Fujifilm Holdings Corp. Fujifilm and Fuji Xerox would become subsidiaries of the holding company. A representative of the company reconfirmed its commitment to film, which accounts for 3% of sales.


title: Fujifilm

text: On January 31, 2018, Fujifilm announced that it would acquire a 50.1% controlling stake in Xerox for US$6.1 billion, which will be amalgamated into its existing Fuji Xerox business. The deal was subsequently dropped after intervention by activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason. In late 2019, Fujifilm announced its acquisition of Xerox's 25% stake in the 57-year-old joint venture, Fuji Xerox.


title: Fujifilm

text: Amid the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, one of Fujifilm Toyama Chemical drugs, i.e. favipiravir, an antiviral commercially named Avigan, is being considered as a possible treatment for the virus, after having been approved by China, Russia, and Indonesia authorities by June 2020.


title: Fujifilm

text: In June 2020, Fujifilm announced a US$928 million investment to a Denmark-based biologics production facility, which it acquired from Biogen a year earlier for around US$890 million, to double the manufacturing capacity. A tape cartridge using strontium ferrite that could store up to 400TB was showcased by Fujifilm in the late same month.


title: Fujifilm

text: Fuji Xerox was a joint venture between Fujifilm and Xerox Corporation of North America. After the dissolution of their partnership in 2019, Fujifilm made it a wholly owned subsidiary. In January 2020, the corporate name change was announced, from Fuji Xerox to Fujifilm Business Innovation Corporation, effective on April 1, 2021.


title: Fujifilm

text: Fujifilm bought Sericol Ltd., a UK-based printing ink company specializing in screen, narrow web, and digital print technologies in March 2005.


title: Fujifilm

text: Fujifilm de México is a Fujifilm subsidiary in Mexico that sells Fujifilm products since 1934 and has been recognized as one of The Best Mexican Companies (Las Mejores Empresas Mexicanas) from 2012 to 2015, a recognition promoted by Banamex, Deloitte México and Tecnológico de Monterrey.


title: Fujifilm

text: Fujifilm is active in pharmaceutical products and contract manufacturing through its subsidiaries including Fujifilm Toyama Chemical, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, etc.


title: Fujifilm

text: As of July 2020, the Fujifilm Group has two operating companies, which encompass more than 300 subsidiaries in total, and three "shared services companies" under the umbrella. The group structure and a list of some Fujifilm subsidiaries are the following:


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus: mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are Aghwank and Aluank, among the Udi people, who regard themselves as descended from the inhabitants of Caucasian Albania. However, its original endonym is unknown.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The name Albania is derived from the Ancient Greek name and Latin . The prefix "Caucasian" is used purely to avoid confusion with modern Albania of the Balkans, which has no known geographical or historical connections to Caucasian Albania.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Little is known of the region's prehistory, including the origins of Caucasian Albania as a geographical and/or ethnolinguistic concept. In the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, the area south of the Greater Caucasus and north of the Lesser Caucasus was divided between Caucasian Albania in the east, Caucasian Iberia in the center, Kolchis in the west, Armenia in the southwest and Atropatene to the southeast.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In 252, Caucasian Albania acknowledged the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire, appearing among its provinces in Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht. The kingdom would remain an integral part of the empire until its fall. By the end of the 3rd-century, the kings of Caucasian Albania were replaced with an Arsacid family, and would later be succeeded by another Iranian royal family in the 5th century AD, the Mihranids.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Aghuank (Old Armenian: Աղուանք "Ałuankʿ", Modern Armenian: Աղվանք "Aġvank’") is the Armenian name for Caucasian Albania. Armenian authors mention that the name derived from the word "ału" («աղու») meaning amiable in Armenian. The term "Aghuank" is polysemous and is also used in Armenian sources to denote the region between the Kur and Araxes rivers as part of Armenia. In the latter case it is sometimes used in the form "Armenian Aghuank" or "Hay-Aghuank".


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Armenian historian of the region, Movses Kaghankatvatsi, who left the only more or less complete historical account about the region, explains the name Aghvank as a derivation from the word "ału" (Armenian for sweet, soft, tender), which, he said, was the nickname of Caucasian Albania's first governor Arran and referred to his lenient personality. Movses Kaghankatvatsi and other ancient sources explain "Arran" or "Arhan" as the name of the legendary founder of Caucasian Albania (Aghvan) or even of the Iranian tribe known as Alans (Alani), who in some versions was a son of Noah's son Yafet. James Darmesteter, translator of the Avesta, compared "Arran" with "Airyana Vaego" which he also considered to have been in the Araxes-Ararat region, although modern theories tend to place this in the east of Iran.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Parthian name for the region was "Ardhan" (Middle Persian: "Arran"). The Arabic was "ar-Rān". In Georgian, it was known as რანი ("Rani"). In Ancient Greek, it was called . What its inhabitants were called is unknown.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In pre-Islamic times, Caucasian Albania/Arran was a wider concept than that of post-Islamic Arran. Ancient Arran covered all eastern Transcaucasia, which included most of the territory of the modern-day Azerbaijan Republic and part of the territory of Dagestan. However, in post-Islamic times the geographic notion of Arran reduced to the territory between the rivers of Kura and Araks.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Ancient Caucasian Albania lay on the south-eastern part of the Greater Caucasus mountains. It was bounded by Caucasian Iberia (present-day Georgia) to the west, by Sarmatia to the north, by the Caspian Sea to the east, and by the provinces of Artsakh and Utik in Armenia to the west along the river Kura. These boundaries, though, were probably never static—at times the territory of Caucasian Albania included land to the west of the river Kura.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Albania or Arran in Islamic times was a triangle of land, lowland in the east and mountainous in the west, formed by the junction of the Kura and Aras rivers, Mil plain and parts of the Mughan plain, and in the pre-Islamic times, corresponded roughly to the territory of the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Classical sources are unanimous in making the Kura River (Cyros) the frontier between Armenia and Albania after the conquest of the territories on the right bank of Kura by Armenians in the 2nd century BC.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The original territory of Albania was approximately 23,000 km. After 387 AD the territory of Caucasian Albania, sometimes referred to by scholars as "Greater Albania," grew to about 45,000 km². In the 5th century the capital was transferred to Partav in Utik', reported to have been built in the mid-5th century by the King Vache II of Albania, but according to M. L. Chaumont, it existed earlier as an Armenian city.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In a medieval chronicle ""Ajayib-ad-Dunia"", written in the 13th century by an unknown author, Arran is said to have been 30 "farsakhs" (200 km) in width, and 40 "farsakhs" (270 km) in length. All the right bank of the Kura River until it joined with the Aras was attributed to Arran (the left bank of the Kura was known as Shirvan). The boundaries of Arran have shifted throughout history, sometimes encompassing the entire territory of the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan, and at other times only parts of the South Caucasus. In some instances, Arran was a part of Armenia.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Medieval Islamic geographers gave descriptions of Arran in general, and of its towns, which included Barda, Beylagan, and Ganja, along with others.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Originally, at least some of the Caucasian Albanians probably spoke Lezgic languages close to those found in modern Daghestan; overall, though, as many as 26 different languages may have been spoken in Caucasian Albania.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: After the Caucasian Albanians were Christianized in the 4th century, part of the population was assimilated by the Armenians (who dominated in the provinces of Artsakh and Utik that were earlier detached from the Kingdom of Armenia) and Georgians (in the north), while the eastern parts of Caucasian Albania were Islamized and absorbed by Iranian and subsequently Turkic peoples (modern Azerbaijanis). Small remnants of this group continue to exist independently, and are known as the Udi people.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The pre-Islamic population of Caucasian Albania might have played a role in the ethnogenesis of a number of modern ethnicities, including the Azerbaijanis of Qabala, Zaqatala, Shaki, and Oguz. the Armenians of and , the Georgians of Kakhetia and Hereti (Ingiloy), the Laks, the Lezgins and the Tsakhurs of Daghestan.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: According to Armenian medieval historians Movses Khorenatsi, Movses Kaghankatvatsi and Koryun, the Caucasian Albanian (the Armenian name for the language is Aghvank, the native name of the language is unknown) alphabet was created by Mesrob Mashtots, the Armenian monk, theologian and translator who is also credited with creating the Armenian alphabet. This alphabet was used to write down the Udi language, which was probably the main language of the Caucasian Albanians.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Koryun, a pupil of Mesrob Mashtots, in his book "The Life of Mashtots", wrote about how his tutor created the alphabet:


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Then there came and visited them an elderly man, an Albanian named Benjamin. And he (Mashtots) inquired and examined the barbaric diction of the Albanian language, and then through his usual God-given keenness of mind invented an alphabet, which he, through the grace of Christ, successfully organized and put in order.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: A Caucasian Albanian alphabet of fifty-two letters, bearing resemblance to Georgian, Ethiopian and Armenian characters, survived through a few inscriptions, and an Armenian manuscript dating from the 15th century. This manuscript, Matenadaran No. 7117, first published by Ilia Abuladze in 1937 is a language manual, presenting different alphabets for comparison – Armenian alphabet, Greek, Latin, Syriac, Georgian, Coptic, and Caucasian Albanian among them. The alphabet was titled: ""Ałuanicʿ girn ē"" (, meaning, "These are Albanian letters").


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In 1996, Zaza Aleksidze of the Georgian Centre of Manuscripts discovered at Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai, Egypt, a text written on parchment that had been reused in a Georgian palimpsest. In 2001 Aleksidze identified its script as Caucasian Albanian, and the text as an early lectionary dating to perhaps before the 6th century. Many of the letters discovered in it were not in the Albanian alphabet listed in the 15th-century Armenian manuscript.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Muslim geographers Al-Muqaddasi, Ibn-Hawqal and Estakhri recorded that a language which they called Arranian was still spoken in the capital Barda and the rest of Arran in the 10th century.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Iranian contact in the region goes back to the Median and Achaemenid times. During this Arsacid Dynasty of Caucasian Albania, the Parthian language spread in the region. It is possible that the language and literature for administration and record-keeping of the imperial chancellery for external affairs naturally became Parthian, based on the Aramaic alphabet. According to Toumanoff: "the predominance of Hellenism, as under the Artaxiads, was now followed by a predominance of "Iranianism", and, symptomatically, instead of Greek, as before, Parthian became the language of the educated".


title: Caucasian Albania

text: With the establishment of the Sassanids, Middle Persian, a closely related language to Parthian, became an official language of the Sassanid Empire. At this time, Persian enjoyed even more success than the Caucasian Albanian language and the region was greatly affected by Iran. According to Vladimir Minorsky: "The presence of Iranian settlers in Transcaucasia, and especially in the proximity of the passes, must have played an important role in absorbing and pushing back the aboriginal inhabitants. Such names as Sharvan, Layzan, Baylaqan, etc., suggest that the Iranian immigration proceeded chiefly from Gilan and other regions on the southern coast of the Caspian". The presence of the Persian language and Iranian culture continued during the Islamic era.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The original population of the Caucasus followed different pagan religions. Under Achaemenid, Parthian and especially Sassanid influence, Zoroastrianism also grew in the region. Christianity started to spread in the late 4th century in the Sassanid era.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Arab conquest and the Chalcedonian crisis led to severe disintegration of the Church of Caucasian Albania. Starting from the 8th century, much of the local population converted to Islam. By the 11th century there already were conciliar mosques in Partaw, Qabala and Shaki; the cities that were the creed of Caucasian Albanian Christianity.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: These Islamised groups would later be known as Lezgins and Tsakhurs or mix with the Turkic and Iranian population to form present-day Azeris, whereas those that remained Christian were gradually absorbed by Armenians or continued to exist on their own and be known as the Udi people.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Caucasian Albanian tribes of Hereti were converted to Eastern Orthodoxy by Dinar, Queen of Hereti in the 10th century. The religious affairs of this small principality were now officially administered by the Georgian Orthodox Church. In 1010, Hereti became absorbed into the neighbouring Georgian kingdom of Kakheti. Eventually, in the early 12th century, these lands became part of the Georgian Kingdom under David the Builder finalising the process of their Georgianisation.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: According to one hypothesis, Caucasian Albania was incorporated in the Median empire, as early as the 7th or 6th century BC. However, an increasing Persian influence on the region is usually believed to be connected with the defence of Persia's northern frontiers, from invading nomads. As early as the Achaemenid empire, measures may have been taken to fortify the Caucasian passes. By the mid-6th century BC, Albania has been incorporated in the Achaemenid empire; it was later controlled by the Achaemenid satrapy of Media. The building of fortifications and gates in and around Darband is traditionally ascribed to the Sassanid Empire.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Greek historian Arrian mentions (perhaps anachronistically) the Caucasian Albanians for the first time in the battle of Gaugamela, where the Albanians, Medes, Cadussi and Sacae were under the command of Atropates. Albania first appears in history as a vassal state in the empire of Tigranes the Great of Armenia (95-56 BC). The kingdom of Albania emerged in the eastern Caucasus in 2nd or 1st century BC and along with the Georgians and Armenians formed one of the three nations of the Southern Caucasus. Albania came under strong Armenian religious and cultural influence.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Herodotus, Strabo, and other classical authors repeatedly mention the Caspians but do not seem to know much about them; they are grouped with other inhabitants of the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, like the Amardi, Anariacae, Cadusii, Albani (see below), and Vitii (Eratosthenes apud Strabo, 11.8.8), and their land (Caspiane) is said to be part of Albania (Theophanes Mytilenaeus apud Strabo, 11.4.5).


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In the 2nd century BC parts of Albania were conquered by the Kingdom of Armenia, presumably from Medes (although possibly it was earlier part of Orontid Armenia).


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The original population of the territories on the right bank of Kura before the Armenian conquest consisted of various autochthonous people. Ancient chronicles provide the names of several peoples that populated these districts, including the regions of Artsakh and Utik. These were Utians, Mycians, Caspians, Gargarians, Sakasenians, Gelians, Sodians, Lupenians, Balas[ak]anians, Parsians and Parrasians. According to Robert H. Hewsen, these tribes were "certainly not of Armenian origin", and "although certain Iranian peoples must have settled here during the long period of Persian and Median rule, most of the natives were not even Indo-Europeans". He also states that the several peoples of the right bank of Kura "were highly Armenicized and that many were actually Armenians "per se" cannot be doubted". Many of those people were still being cited as distinct ethnic entities when the right bank of Kura was acquired by the Caucasian Albanians in 387 AD.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Latin rock inscription close to Boyukdash mountain in Gobustan, Baku, which mentions Legio XII Fulminata, is the world's easternmost Roman evidence known. In Albania, Romans reached the Caspian Sea for the first time.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Roman coins circulated in Caucasian Albania till the end of the 3rd century AD. Two denarii, which were unearthed in the 2nd-century BC layer, were minted by Clodius and Caesar. The coins of Augustus are ubiquitous. The Qabala treasures revealed the denarii of Otho, Vespasian, Trajan and Hadrian.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In 69-68 BC Lucullus, having overcome Armenian ruler Tigranes II, approached the borders of Caucasian Albania and was succeeded by Pompey.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: After the 66-65 BC wintering Pompey launched the Iberian campaign. It is reported by Strabo upon the account of Theophanes of Mytilene who participated in it. As testified by Kamilla Trever, Pompey reached the Albanian border at modern Qazakh District of Azerbaijan. Igrar Aliyev showed that this region called Cambysene was inhabited mainly by stock-breeders at the time. When fording the Alazan river, he was attacked by forces of Oroezes, King of Albania, and eventually defeated them. According to Plutarch, Albanians "were led by a brother of the king, named Cosis, who as soon as the fighting was at close quarters, rushed upon Pompey himself and smote him with a javelin on the fold of his breastplate; but Pompey ran him through the body and killed him". Plutarch also reported that "after the battle, Pompey set out to march to the Caspian Sea, but was turned back by a multitude of deadly reptiles when he was only three days march distant, and withdrew into Lesser Armenia". The first kings of Albania were certainly the representatives of the local tribal nobility, to which attest their non-Armenian and non-Iranian names (Oroezes, Cosis and Zober in Greek sources).


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The population of Caucasian Albania of the Roman period is believed to have belonged to either the Northeast Caucasian peoples or the South Caucasian peoples.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: According to Strabo, the Albanians were a group of 26 tribes which lived to the north of the Kura river and each of them had its own king and language. Sometime before the 1st century BC they federated into one state and were ruled by one king.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Albania is also mentioned by Dionysius Periegetes (2nd or 3rd century AD) who describes Albanians as a nation of warriors, living by the Iberians and the Georgians.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The rock inscription near the south-eastern part of Boyukdash's foot (70 km from Baku) was discovered on June 2, 1948 by Azerbaijani archaeologist Ishag Jafarzadeh. The legend is IMPDOMITIANO CAESARE·AVG GERMANIC L·IVLIVS MAXIMVS> LEG XII·FVL. According to Domitian's titles in it, the related march took place between 84 and 96. The inscription was studied by Russian expert Yevgeni Pakhomov, who assumed that the associated campaign was launched to control the Derbent Gate and that the XII Fulminata has marched out either from Melitene, its permanent base, or Armenia, where it might have moved from before. Pakhomov supposed that the legion proceeded to the spot continually along the Aras River. The later version, published in 1956, states that the legion was stationing in Cappadocia by that time whereas the centurion might have been in Albania with some diplomatic mission because for the talks with the Eastern rulers the Roman commanders were usually sending centurions.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In 1953 twelve denarii of Augustus were unearthed. In 1958 one denarius, coined in c. 82 AD, was revealed in the Şamaxı trove.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: During the reign of Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138) Albania was invaded by the Alans, an Iranian nomadic group. This invasion promoted an alliance between Rome and the Albanians that was reinforced under Antoninus Pius in 140 AD. Sassanians occupied the area around 240 Ad but after a few years, the Roman Empire regained control of Caucasian Albania.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Indeed, in 297 the treaty of Nisibis stipulated the reestablishment of the Roman protectorate over Caucasian Iberia and Albania. But fifty years later Rome lost the area that since then remained an integral part of the Sasanian Empire.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Under Parthian rule, Iranian political and cultural influence increased in the region. Whatever the sporadic suzerainty of Rome, the country was now a part—together with Iberia (East Georgia) and (Caucasian) Albania, where other Arsacid branches reigned—of a pan-Arsacid family federation. Culturally, the predominance of Hellenism, as under the Artaxiads, was now followed by a predominance of "Iranianism", and, symptomatically, instead of Greek, as before, Parthian became the language of the educated. An incursion in this era was made by the Alans who between 134 and 136 attacked Albania, Media, and Armenia, penetrating as far as Cappadocia. But Vologases persuaded them to withdraw, probably by paying them.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In 252-253, Caucasian Albania, along with Caucasian Iberia and Greater Armenia, was conquered and annexed by the Sassanid Empire. Albania became a vassal state of the Sassanid Empire, but retained its monarchy; the Albanian king had no real power and most civil, religious, and military authority lay with the Sassanid marzban (military governor) of the territory.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Roman Empire again obtained control of Caucasian Albania as a vassal state for a few years around 300 AD, but then the Sassanids regained control and subsequently dominated the area for centuries until the Arab invasions.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Albania was mentioned among the Sassanid provinces listed in the trilingual inscription of Shapur I at Naqsh-e Rustam.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In the middle of the 4th century, King Urnayr of Albania arrived in Armenia and was baptized by Gregory the Illuminator, but Christianity spread in Albania only gradually, and the Albanian king remained loyal to the Sassanids. After the partition of Armenia between Byzantium and Persia (in 387 AD), Albania with Sassanid help was able to seize from Armenia all the right bank of the river Kura up to river Araxes, including Artsakh and Utik.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In the mid-5th century, the Sassanid King Yazdegerd II passed an edict requiring all the Christians in his empire to convert to Zoroastrianism, fearing that Christians might ally with Roman Empire, which had recently adopted Christianity as its official religion. This led to a rebellion of Albanians, along with Armenians and Georgians. At the Battle of Avarayr, the allied forces of Caucasian Albania, Georgia, and Armenia, devoted to Christianity, suffered defeat at the hands of the Sassanid army. Many of the Armenian nobility fled to the mountainous regions of Albania, particularly to Artsakh, which had become a center for resistance to Sassanid Persia. The religious center of the Albanian state also moved here. However, King Vache of Albania, a relative of Yazdegerd II, was forced to convert to Zoroastrianism, but soon thereafter converted back to Christianity.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: According to "The History of the Country of Albania", Peroz ordered the Albanian king Vache II to have the city of Perozapat ("the city of Peroz" or "Prosperous Peroz") constructed. However, this is unlikely as the Kingdom of Caucasian Albania had been abolished by Peroz after suppressing a revolt by Vache II in the mid-460s. The city was seemingly founded by Peroz himself after the removal of the ruling family in Caucasian Albania. Due to its more secure location, it was made the new residence of the Iranian . Albania remained kingless until 485, when Vachagan III () was installed on the throne by Peroz's brother and successor Balash (). In 552, the seat of the Albanian Catholicos was also transferred to Partaw.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: By the end of the 5th century, the ancient Arsacid royal house of Albania, a branch of the ruling dynasty of Parthia, became extinct, and in the 6th century, it was replaced by princes of the Persian or Parthian Mihranid family, who claimed descent from the Sassanids. They assumed the Persian title of Arranshah (i.e. the Shah of Arran, the Persian name of Albania). The ruling dynasty was named after its Persian founder Mihran, who was a distant relative of the Sasanians. The Mihranid dynasty survived under Muslim suzerainty until 821-22.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In the late 6th to early 7th centuries the territory of Albania became an arena of wars between Sassanid Persia, Byzantium, and the Khazar Khanate, the latter two very often acting as allies against Sassanid Persia. In 628, during the Third Perso-Turkic War, the Khazars invaded Albania, and their leader Ziebel declared himself Lord of Albania, levying a tax on merchants and the fishermen of the Kura and Araxes rivers "in accordance with the land survey of the kingdom of Persia". Most of Transcaucasia was under Khazar rule before the arrival of the Arabs. However, some other sources state that the Khazars later left the region because of political instability.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: According to Peter Golden, "steady pressure from Turkic nomads was typical of the Khazar era, although there are no unambiguous references to permanent settlements", while Vladimir Minorsky stated that, in Islamic times, "the town of Qabala lying between Shirvan and Shakki was a place where Khazars were probably settled".


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Armenian politics, culture and civilization played a critical role in the entire history of Caucasian Albania (Aghvank, in Armenian). This, due to the fact that after the partition of the Kingdom of Armenia by Persia and Byzantium in 387 AD, the Armenian provinces of Artsakh and Utik were disassociated from the Armenian kingdom and included by Persians into a single province (marzpanate) called Aghvank (Arran). This new unit included: the original Caucasian Albania, found between the River Kura and the Great Caucasus; tribes living along the Caspian shore; as well as Artsakh and Utik, two territories now detached from Armenia.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Armenian medieval atlas Ashkharatsuits (Աշխարացույց), compiled in the 7th century by Anania Shirakatsi (Անանիա Շիրակացի, but sometimes attributed to Movses Khorenatsi as well), categorizes Artsakh and Utik as provinces of Armenia despite their presumed detachment from the Armenian Kingdom and their political association with Caucasian Albania and Persia at the time of his writing. Shirakatsi specifies that Artsakh and Utik are "now detached" from Armenia and included in "Aghvank," and he takes care to distinguish this new entity from the old "Aghvank strictly speaking" (Բուն Աղվանք) situated north of the river Kura. Because it was more homogeneous and more developed than the original tribes to the north of the Kura, the Armenian element took over Caucasian Albania's political life and was progressively able to impose its language and culture.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Armenian population of Artsakh and Utik remained in place as did the entire political, social, cultural and military structure of the provinces. In the 5th century, early medieval historian Khorenatsi (Խորենացի) testifies that the population of Artsakh and Utik spoke Armenian, with the River Kura, in his words, marking the "boundary of Armenian speech" (... զեզերս հայկական խօսիցս). though this does not mean that its population consisted exclusively of ethnic Armenians.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Whatever little is known about Caucasian Albania after 387 AD comes from the Old Armenian text "History of the Land of Aghvank" (Պատմություն Աղվանից Աշխարհի) by the Armenian author Movses Kaghankatvatsi (also known as Movses Daskhurantsi), which in essence is the history of Armenia's provinces of Artsakh and Utik. Kaghankatvatsi, repeating Khorenatsi, mentions that the very name "Aghvank"/"Albania" is of Armenian origin, and relates it to the Armenian word "aghu" (աղու, meaning "kind," "benevolent". Khorenatsi states that "aghu" was a nickname given to Prince Arran, whom the Armenian King Vologases I (Vagharsh I) appointed as governor of northeastern provinces bordering on Armenia. According to a legend reported by Khorenatsi, Arran was a descendant of Sisak, the ancestor of the Siunids of Armenia's province of Syunik, and thus a great-grandson of the ancestral eponym of the Armenians, the Forefather Hayk. Kaghankatvatsi and another Armenian author, Kirakos Gandzaketsi, confirm Arran's belonging to Hayk's bloodline by calling Arranshahiks "a Haykazian dynasty".


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In Kaghankatvatsi's "History" and in the historical text of the Armenian early medieval author Agathangelos, the Kingdom of Aghvank's feudal system, including its political terminology, was Armenian. As in Armenia, nobles of Aghvank are referred to by the terms nakharars (նախարար), azats (ազատ), hazarapets (հազարապետ), marzpets (մարզպետ), shinakans (շինական), etc.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Princely families, which were later mentioned in Kaghankatvatsi's "History" were included in the Table of Ranks called "Gahnamak" (direct translation: "List of Thrones," Arm. Գահնամակ) of the Kingdom of Armenia, which defined Armenia's aristocratic hierarchy. Princely families of Caucasian Albania were also included in the Table of Armies called "Zoranamak" (Arm. Զորանամակ) of the Kingdom of Armenia which determined military obligations of key aristocratic families before the Armenian King in times of war.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: As in Armenia, the "Albanian" clergy used exclusively Armenian church terms for clerical hierarchy (katholikos/կաթողիկոս, vardapet/վարդապետ, sargavag/սարգավագ, etc.) Identifiably Armenian are also most if not all toponyms found in the "History." Not only are the names of most towns, villages, mountains, and rivers uniquely Armenian morphologically, exactly the same toponyms were and are still found in other parts of historical Armenia. They include the root kert ("town") for towns (Arm.: կերտ, such Dastakert, Hnarakert – compare with Tigranakert or modern Stapanakert in Nagorno Karabakh), shen and kan (village) for villages (Arm. շեն, and կան, such as Karashen or Dyutakan), etc.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: First names of most rulers, commoners and clergy in Kaghankatvatsi's "History" are uniquely Armenian. Many of these names survived for centuries and are still used only by modern Armenians. These include: Vachagan (Վախագան), Vache (Վաչե), Bakur (Բակուր), Taguhi (Թագուհի), Vrtanes (Վրթաննես), Viro (Վիրո), Varaz-Trdat (Վարազ-Տրդաթ), Marut (Մարութ), etc. Some of these names can be translated from Armenian as common words: e.g. Taguhi means "queen" and Varaz means "wild boar". In fact, Armenians to this day use the first name Aghvan (Աղվան) that directly refers to the Kingdom of Aghvank.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: After the partition, the capital city of Caucasian Albania was moved from the territories on the eastern bank of the River Kura (referred to by Armenians "Aghvank Proper," Arm. Բուն Աղվանք) to Partav, located in the former Armenian province of Utik. This was followed by the transfer of the Seat of the Kingdom of Albania's religious leader (Katholicos) from territories north of Kura to Partav.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The Kingdom of Albania was converted to Christianity at the start of the 4th century by none other than the Armenian evangelizer St. Gregory the Enlightener (Arm. Սբ. Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ), who baptized Armenia into the first Christian state by 301 AD. In about 330 AD, the grandson of St. Gregory, St. Grigoris, ecumenical head of the eastern provinces of Armenia, was designated bishop for the Kingdom of Aghvank. Mausoleum interning Grigoris’ remains, the Amaras Monastery stands as the oldest dated monument in Nagorno Karabakh. Amaras was started by St. Gregory and completed by St. Grigoris himself.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: According to tradition, the Amaras Monastery housed the first Armenian school in historical Armenia, which was opened early in the 5th century by the inventor of the Armenian alphabet St. Mesrob Mashtots. St. Mesrob Mashtots was intensely active in preaching Gospel in Artsakh and Utik. Movses Kaghankatvatsi's "History" dedicates four separate chapters to St. Mashtots’ mission, referring to him as "enlightener" and "saint" (chapters 27, 28 and 29 of Book One, and chapter 3 of Book Two). Overall, St. Mesrob made three trips to the Kingdom of Albania where he toured not only the Armenian lands of Artsakh and Utik but also territories to the north of the River Kura.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Kaghankatvatsi's "History" describes Armenian influence on the Church of Aghvank, whose jurisdiction extended from Artsakh and Utik to regions to the north of the River Kura, in the territories of the "original", "pre-Armenian" Caucasian Albania. One of the consequences of this was that the Armenian language progressively supplanted Albanian as the language of church and state (and only if there was any single "Albanian" language in the first place which is doubtful because the population of Albania/Aghvank was described as consisting of as many 26 different tribes). In the same 7th century, Armenian poet Davtak Kertogh writes his "Elegy on the Death of Grand Prince Juansher", where each passage begins with a letter of Armenian script in alphabetical order.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The polytheistic religion of Albania was centered on the worship of three divinities, designated by "Interpretatio Romana" as Sol, Zeus, and Luna.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Christianity started to enter Caucasian Albania at an early date, according to Movses Kaghankatvatsi, as early as during the 1st century. The first Christian church in the region was built by St. Eliseus, a disciple of Thaddeus of Edessa, at a place called Gis. Shortly after Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion (301 AD), the Caucasian Albanian king Urnayr went to the See of the Armenian Apostolic Church to receive baptism from St. Gregory the Illuminator, the first Patriarch of Armenia.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: King Vachagan III helped to implant Christianity in Caucasian Albania, through a synod allowing the church legal rights in some domestic issues. In 498 AD (in other sources, 488 AD) in the settlement named Aluen (Aghuen) (present-day Agdam District of Azerbaijan), an Albanian church council convened to adopt laws further strengthening the position of Christianity in Albania.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Albanian churchmen took part in missionary efforts in the Caucasus and Pontic regions. In 682, the "catholicos", Israel, led an unsuccessful delegation to convert Alp Iluetuer, the ruler of the North Caucasian Huns, to Christianity. The Albanian Church maintained a number of monasteries in the Holy Land. In the 7th century, Varaz-Grigor, ruler of Albania, and "his nation" were christened by Emperor Heraclius at Gardman.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: After the overthrow of Nerses in 705, the Caucasian Albanian elite decided to reestablish the tradition of having their Catholicoi ordained through the Patriarch of Armenia, as it was the case before 590. This event is generally regarded as the abolition of the Church of Caucasian Albania, and the lowering of its denominational status to that of a Catholicate within the body of the Armenian Apostolic Church.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Sassanid Albania fell to the Islamic conquest of Persia in the mid-7th century and was incorporated into the Rashidun Caliphate. King Javanshir of Albania, the most prominent ruler of Mihranid dynasty, fought against the Arab invasion of caliph Uthman on the side of Sassanid Iran. Facing the threat of the Arab invasion on the south and the Khazar offensive on the north, Javanshir had to recognize the caliph's suzerainty. The Arabs then reunited the territory with Armenia under one governor.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: By the 8th century, "Albania" had been reduced to a strictly geographical and titular ecclesiastical connotation, and was referred to as such by medieval Armenian historians; on its place sprang a number principalities, such as that of the Armenian principality and kingdom of Khachen, along with various Caucasian, Iranian and Arabic principalities: the principality of Shaddadids, the principality of Shirvan, the principality of Derbent. Most of the region was ruled by the Persian Sajid Dynasty from 890 to 929. The region was at times part of the Abbasid province of Armenia based on numismatic and historical evidence.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Early Muslim ruling dynasties of the time included Rawadids, Sajids, Salarids, Shaddadids, Shirvanshahs, and the Sheki and Tiflis emirates. The principal cities of Arran in early medieval times were Barda (Partav) and Ganja. Barda reached prominence in the 10th century, and was used to house a mint. Barda was sacked by the Rus and Norse several times in the 10th century as a result of the Caspian expeditions of the Rus. Barda never revived after these raids and was replaced as capital by Baylaqan, which in turn was sacked by the Mongols in 1221. After this Ganja rose to prominence and became the central city of the region. The capital of the Shaddadid dynasty, Ganja was considered the "mother city of Arran" during their reign.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The territory of Arran became a part of the Seljuk empire, followed by the Ildegizid state. It was taken briefly by the Khwarizmid dynasty and then overran by Mongol Hulagu empire in the 13th century. Later, it became a part of Chobanid, Jalayirid, Timurid, and Safavid states.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: The history of Caucasian Albania has been a major topic of Azerbaijani revisionist theories, which came under criticism in Western and Russian academic and analytical circles, and were often characterized as "bizarre" and "futile".


title: Caucasian Albania

text: In his article "The Albanian Myth", Russian historian and anthropologist Victor Schnirelmann states that Azerbaijani academics have been "renaming prominent medieval Armenian political leaders, historians and writers, who lived in Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia into "Albanians". Schnirelmann argues that these efforts were first launched in the 1950s and were directed towards "ripping the population of early medieval Nagorno Karabakh off from their Armenian heritage" and "cleansing Azerbaijan of Armenian history". In the 1970s, Azerbaijan made a transition from ignoring, discounting or concealing Armenian historical heritage in Soviet Azerbaijan to misattributing and mischaracterizing it as examples of Azerbaijani culture by arbitrarily declaring "Caucasian Albanians" as ancestors of modern Azerbaijanis. In this regard, Thomas de Waal, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes about the political context of Azerbaijan's historical revisionism:


title: Caucasian Albania

text: This rather bizarre argument has the strong political subtext that Nagorno Karabakh had in fact been Caucasian Albanian and that Armenians had no claim to it.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Schnirelmann states that a significant revisionist method used by Azerbaijani scholars was "re-publishing of ancient and medieval sources, where the term "Armenian state" was routinely and systematically removed and replaced with "Albanian state". American author George Bournoutian gives examples of how that was done by Ziya Bunyadov, vice-chairman of Azerbaijani Academy of Sciences, who earned the nickname of "Azerbaijan’s foremost Armenophobe".


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Buniatov’s scholarly credentials were dubious. It later transpired that the two articles he published in 1960 and 1965 on Caucasian Albania were direct plagiarism. Under his own name, he had simply published, unattributed, translations of two articles, originally written in English by Western scholars C.F.J. Dowsett and Robert Hewsen.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Hewsen, a historian from Rowan College and the acknowledged authority in this field, wrote in his volume "Armenia: A Historical Atlas", published by University of Chicago Press:


title: Caucasian Albania

text: According to de Waal, a disciple of Bunyadov, Farida Mammadova, has "taken the Albanian theory and used it to push Armenians out of the Caucasus altogether. She had relocated Caucasian Albania into what is now the Republic of Armenia. All those lands, churches, and monasteries in the Republic of Armenia—all had been Albanian. No sacred Armenian fact was left un-attacked". De Waal describes Mammadova as a sophisticated end of what "in Azerbaijan has become a very blunt instrument indeed". Both Ziya Bunyadov and Farida Mammadova are known for their anti-Armenian public pronouncements and pamphlets.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Historical revisionism in Azerbaijan supported a number of policies on the ground, including cultural vandalism directed against Armenian monuments in Soviet and post-Soviet Azerbaijan. Armenian memorial stone crosses known as ""khachkars" on the territory of Azerbaijan were regularly misrepresented as "Caucasian Albanian" both before and after Azerbaijan's independence. Furthermore, mischaracterization of Armenian "khachkars" as supposedly non-Armenian monuments of Caucasian Albania was associated with acts of cultural vandalism against Armenian historical monuments in Nakhichevan. The Khachkar destruction in Nakhchivan refer to the systematic campaign by the government of Azerbaijan to completely demolish the Armenian cemetery in Julfa with thousands of Armenian "khachkars" near the town of Julfa (known as Jugha in Armenian), Nakhchivan. Claims by Armenians that Azerbaijan was undertaking a systematic campaign to destroy and remove the monuments first arose in late 1998 and those charges were renewed in 2002 and 2005. Adam T. Smith, an anthropologist and associate professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, called the removal of the khachkars "a shameful episode in humanity's relation to its past, a deplorable act on the part of the government of Azerbaijan which requires both explanation and repair". Smith and other scholars, as well as several United States Senators, signed a letter to the UNESCO and other organizations condemning Azerbaijan's government. Azerbaijan instead contends that the monuments were not of Armenian, but of Caucasian Albanian, origin, which, per Thomas De Waal, did not protect "the graveyard from an act in the history wars".


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Anti-Armenian cultural vandalism in Azerbaijan perpetrated with the use of revisionist theories on Caucasian Albania was also noted in northern Azerbaijan, where Norwegian archeologists were involved in the restoration of an Armenian-Georgian church in the village of Kish near the city of Shaki. Azerbaijanis erased Armenian inscriptions on the church's walls, which led to by an official complaint by Norwegian foreign ministry.


title: Caucasian Albania

text: Furthermore, revisionist theories about Caucasian Albania have also been used by Azerbaijani statesmen in the ongoing Azerbaijani-Georgian dispute over the territorial status of David Gareja monastery complex, a Georgian spiritual and historical monument partially located on the territory of Azerbaijani Republic. David Gareja is a rock-hewn Georgian Orthodox monastery complex in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia, on the semi-desert slopes of Mount Gareja, some 60–70 km southeast of Georgia's capital Tbilisi. Giorgi Manjgaladze, Georgia's deputy foreign minister proposed that Georgia would be willing to exchange other territory for the remainder of David Gareja because of its historical and cultural significance to the Georgians. Baku disapproves of this land swap, and in April 2007, Azerbaijan's deputy foreign minister Khalaf Khalafov told a press conference in Baku that it was "out of the question" for Azerbaijan to "give up its claims to the borderlands" including David Gareja. Khalafov then stated that the monastery "was home to the Caucasian Albanians, who are believed to have been the earliest inhabitants of Azerbaijan". Georgian art historian Dimitri Tumanishvili dismissed this claim and stated that the complex "is covered in the work of Georgian masters". "There are Georgian inscriptions everywhere dating back to the sixth century," he said "There are no traces of another culture there. After that, I don’t think you need any further proof".


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé, from her third studio album, "I Am... Sasha Fierce" (2008). Columbia Records released "Single Ladies" as a single on October 13, 2008, as a double A-side alongside "If I Were a Boy", showcasing the contrast between Beyoncé and her aggressive onstage alter ego Sasha Fierce. It explores men's unwillingness to propose or commit. In the song, the female protagonist is in a club to celebrate her single status.


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: "Single Ladies" won three Grammy Awards in 2010, including Song of the Year, among other accolades. Several news media sources named it as one of the best songs of 2008, while some considered it one of the best songs of the decade. It topped the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart for four non-consecutive weeks and has been certified quadruple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song charted among the top ten within the singles category in several other countries. Globally, it was 2009's seventh best-selling digital single with 6.1 million copies sold.


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: A black-and-white music video accompanied the single's release. It won several awards, including the Video of the Year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Beyoncé has performed "Single Ladies" on television and during her concert tours. The song and particularly its music video have been widely parodied and imitated. Several notable artists have performed cover versions. Media usage has included placement in popular television shows.


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" was written by Beyoncé, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and was produced by Nash and Stewart. Beyoncé recorded the song in May 2008 at the Boom Boom Room Studio in Burbank, California, and it was mixed by Jaycen Joshua and Dave Pensado, with assistance from Randy Urbanski and Andrew Wuepper. Nash conceptualized "Single Ladies" after Beyoncé's secret marriage to hip hop recording artist Jay-Z in April 2008. Stewart commented that the song was "the only public statement that [Beyoncé and Jay-Z had] ever made about marriage", and that while in the studio recording the song Beyoncé had remained tightlipped, even to the point of removing her wedding band. Beyoncé's marriage inspired Nash to compose a song about an issue that affected many people's relationships: the fear or unwillingness of men to commit. In an interview with "Billboard" magazine, Beyoncé added that she was drawn to the song because of the universality of the topic, an issue that "people are passionate about and want to talk about and debate". She stated that although "Single Ladies" is a playful uptempo song, it addresses an issue that women experience every day.


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: In "Single Ladies", Beyoncé portrays her alter ego Sasha Fierce, which appears on the second part of "I Am... Sasha Fierce". The song was released simultaneously with "If I Were a Boy"; as lead singles, they were meant to demonstrate the concept of the dueling personalities of the singer. This reinforced the theme of the album, which was created by placing its ballads and uptempo tracks on separate discs. The singles debuted on US radio on October 8, 2008; "Single Ladies" did so on mainstream urban New York radio station Power 105.1. Both singles were added to rhythmic contemporary radio playlists on October 12, 2008; "Single Ladies" was sent to urban contemporary playlists the same day, while "If I Were a Boy" was instead classified for contemporary hit radio. The two songs were released as a double A-side single on November 7, 2008, in Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. Dance remixes of the song were made available in the US on February 10, 2009, and in Europe on February 16, 2009. "Single Ladies" was not originally released as a single in the UK, but the song became increasingly popular there and reached the top ten in the UK Singles Chart as a result of download sales. On February 16, 2009, it was released as a CD single, and the dance remixes became available as a digital download.


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: "Single Ladies" is an uptempo dance-pop, bounce, and R&B song with dancehall and disco influences. While the first measure is in , it is set in common time except for a change to for one measure before the final chorus. It makes use of staccato bounce-based hand claps, Morse code beeps, an ascending whistle in the background, and a punchy organic beat. The instrumentation includes a bass drum, a keyboard and spaced out synthesizers that occasionally zoom in and out; one commentator, Sarah Liss of CBC News, noted that their arrangement surprisingly comes as light, instead of dense. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Single Ladies" is written in the key of E major and played in a moderate groove of 96.9 beats per minute. Beyoncé's vocals range from the note of F to D. It has a chord progression of E in the verses, and Bdim–C–Bdim–Am in the chorus. J. Freedom du Lac of "The Washington Post" noted the song features "playground vocals".


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: "Single Ladies" is musically similar to Beyoncé's 2007 single "Get Me Bodied"; Andy Kellman of AllMusic called it a "dire throwback" to the song. Stewart and Harrell said in an interview given to "People" magazine that the similar rhythm of the two songs is "what Beyoncé responds to". Ann Powers of the "Los Angeles Times" saw the song's theme of female empowerment as an extension of that of "Irreplaceable" (2006), and Daniel Brockman of "The Phoenix" noted that its usage of "blurry pronouns" such as "it" resembles Beyoncé's 2005 single "Check on It". Liss commented that the beat of the "Single Ladies" evokes African gumboot dancing and schoolyard Double Dutch chants, a view shared by Douglas Wolf of "Time" magazine. Trish Crawford of the "Toronto Star" concluded that "Single Ladies" is "a strong song of female empowerment", and other music critics have noted its appeal to Beyoncé's fan base of independent women as in the song, Beyoncé offers support to women who have split up from their no-good boyfriends.


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: In "Single Ladies", Beyoncé emphasizes her aggressive and sensual alter ego Sasha Fierce. She displays much attitude in her voice, as stated by Nick Levine of Digital Spy. Echoing Levine's sentiments, Liss wrote that Beyoncé sounds "gleefully sassy". The lyrics reflect post-breakup situations. Accompanied by robotic-like sounds, the opening lines of the song are call and response; Beyoncé chants, "All the single ladies", and background singers echo the line each time. In the first verse, Beyoncé narrates the recent end to a poor relationship after she "cried [her] tears for three good years". She reclaims her right to flirt, have fun, and find a lover who is more devoted than the previous one. Beyoncé goes out to celebrate with her friends in a club where she meets a new love interest. However, her former boyfriend is watching her, and she directs the song to him. She then sings the chorus, which uses minor chords and contains several hooks, "If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it ... Oh oh oh".


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: In the second verse, Beyoncé tells her ex-lover that, as he did not attempt to make things more permanent when he had the chance, he has no reason to complain now that she has found someone else. On the bridge, she affirms that she wants her new love interest "to make like a prince and grab her, delivering her to 'a destiny, to infinity and beyond" while "Prince Charming is left standing there like the second lead in a romantic comedy". Towards the end of the song, Beyoncé takes a more aggressive vocal approach and employs a middle eight as she sings, "And like a ghost I'll be gone". When she chants the chorus for the third and final time, her vocals are omnipresent within layers of music, as described by Frannie Kelley of NPR. An electronic swoop tugs in continuously until the song ends.


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: The song received critical acclaim. Nick Levine of Digital Spy particularly praised its beats, which according to him, "just don't quit". Michelangelo Matos of "The A.V. Club" wrote that the song is "fabulous, with glowing production, a humongous hook, and beats for weeks". Ann Powers of the "Los Angeles Times" was also impressed with the overall production of the song, specifically the chorus, adding "More than most female singers, Beyoncé understands the funky art of singing rhythmically, and this is a prime example." Fraser McAlpine of BBC Online considered "Single Ladies" to be the best song Beyoncé has attempted since "Ring the Alarm" (2006) and complimented the former's refrain, describing it as "so amazingly catchy that it provides a surprisingly solid foundation for the entire song". Alexis Petridis of "The Guardian" commended the threatening atmosphere that "Single Ladies" creates by using minor chords. Daniel Brockman of "The Phoenix" complimented the song's use of the word "it", and wrote that the technique "sums up her divided musical persona far more effectively than the [album's] two-disc split-personality gimmick."


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: Darryl Sterdan of Jam! called the song single-worthy, and wrote that it is "a tune that actually sounds like a Beyoncé number". Sarah Liss of CBC News wrote that "Single Ladies" represents Beyoncé at her best, describing it as "an instantly addictive [and] a bouncy featherweight dance-pop track". She further commented that it was pleasant to hear a voice which "changes timbre naturally, a voice with actual cracks and fissures (however slight)" in contrast to the "Auto-Tune epidemic that seems to be plaguing so many of her mainstream pop peers". Douglas Wolf of "Time" magazine added that "Single Ladies" is a sing-along which allows Beyoncé to demonstrate her virtuosity and "a focused, commanding display of individuality that speaks for every raised hand without a ring on it". Sasha Frere-Jones of "The New Yorker" wrote that the song combines a jumble of feelings and sounds that "don't resolve but also never become tiring". He concluded that "Single Ladies" was generally jubilant and that Beyoncé's vocals were pure and glimmering. Andy Kellman of AllMusic and Jessica Suarez of "Paste" magazine noted the song as one of the standouts from "I Am... Sasha Fierce", and saw similarities to "Get Me Bodied".


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: Writers praised the song's dance beat; Colin McGuire of PopMatters praised "Single Ladies" as one of Beyoncé's best dance tracks. Spence D. of IGN Music described the song as a "Caribbean flair and booty shaking jubilation that should get even the most staid of listeners snapping their necks and gyrating joyfully". Joey Guerra of the "Houston Chronicle" wrote that it is a "hip-shaking club" song similar to "Check on It". Leah Greenblatt of "Entertainment Weekly" magazine wrote that "Single Ladies" is a "giddy, high-stepping hybrid of lyrical kiss-off and fizzy jump-rope jam". Describing the song as a "winning high-stepping" one, Adam Mazmanian of "The Washington Times" wrote that "Single Ladies" is designed to get the women out on the dance floor as Beyoncé sings it with "a genuinely defiant, independent voice". Some critics were unimpressed by "Single Ladies". Mariel Concepcion of "Billboard" magazine called it "standard screech-thump fare". "The Observer"s Adam Mattera saw "Single Ladies" and "Diva" as potential sources of inspiration for drag queens, although they may leave others confused. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine criticized its lyrical inconsistencies, suggesting it is a "leftover" from "B'Day".


title: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

text: "Rolling Stone" named "Single Ladies" the best song of 2008, and wrote, "The beat ... is irresistible and exuberant, the vocal hook is stormy and virtuosic." "Single Ladies" ranked as the second-best song of the 2000s decade in the magazine's 2009 readers' poll, and "Rolling Stone" critics placed it at number 50 on the list of the 100 Best Songs of the Decade. In 2021, the same magazine placed the song at number 228 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."Single Ladies" was placed at number two on MTV News' list of The Best Songs of 2008; James Montgomery called it "hyperactive and supercharged in ways I never thought possible. It's epic and sexy and even a bit sad." "There is absolutely zero chance Beyoncé ever releases a single like this ever again", Montgomery concluded. "Time" magazine critic Josh Tyrangiel, who called the song "ludicrously infectious", ranked it as the seventh-best song of 2008. Douglas Wolf of the same publication placed it at number nine on his list of the All-Time 100 Songs.