prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Which is farther north, Steel Venom or Wicked Twister?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
Cass Corridor
The Cass Corridor is the name of the neighborhoods on the west end of Midtown Detroit  It includes the Cass Park Historic District, the Cass-Davenport Historic District and Old Chinatown  The corridor's main street, Cass Avenue, runs parallel with M-1 (Woodward Avenue), a main Detroit artery running north toward New Center  Though Cass runs from Congress Street, ending a few miles farther north at West Grand Boulevard, the Cass Corridor generally is defined as between Interstate 75 (I-75) at its southern end and Interstate 94 (I-94) to the north, and stretches from Woodward to the east and to the west: John C  Lodge (M-10 service drive) north of Temple, and Grand River Avenue south of Temple 

History
Significant landmarks of the area include the Detroit Masonic Temple (the world's largest building of its kind), Cass Technical High School, and the Metropolitan Center for High Technology are all located along Cass  Little Caesars Arena, open since September 5, 2017, as the new home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and the NBA's Detroit Pistons, is on the west side of Woodward Avenue near I-75 
In the 1960s and '70s, the Cass Corridor became an area of cultural significance  Artists began renting cheap studio space in the Cass Corridor, which was near Detroit's Cultural Center Historic District  Artists associated with or influenced by the Cass Corridor artist movement include Brenda Goodman, Gary Grimshaw, Tyree Guyton, Charles McGee, Ann Mikolowski, Jim Pallas, Ellen Phelan, Gilda Snowden, Robert Wilbert, and Theo Wujcik In the 1970s, the Cass Corridor was a poor neighborhood known for drugs, prostitution and sex crimes against children  The area was of significance in the Oakland County Child Killer case Creem, which billed itself as "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," had its headquarters in the area  The student population contributes to the bohemian atmosphere in Cass Corridor  The artistic community has produced a number of significant artists, including Sixto Rodriguez, Negative Approach and The White Stripes, who played their first show at the Gold Dollar 
Cass Corridor is also the location of the annual Dally in the Alley arts festival Since the 2000s, Joel Landy, president of the Cass Avenue Development construction company, has renovated and remodelled several buildings in the Cass Corridor  Landy was also featured in the television series American Pickers (season 3 episode "Motor City", September 19, 2011)  Since 1997, Avalon International Breads has been located in the Cass Corridor  In 2015, Jack White of the White Stripes, opened a retail store for his Record Label, Third Man Records at the Corner of Canfield and Cass From 2009, Dr  Alesia Montgomery of Michigan State University conducted a 5-year study visualizing a reinvented Detroit as a green city, with a particular emphasis on the Cass Corridor 

See also
Chinatown Detroit
List of places named for Lewis Cass
Passage 2:
Possessed (roller coaster)
Possessed is an Inverted Impulse launched roller coaster located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania  Manufactured by Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel, the roller coaster originally debuted at Six Flags Ohio amusement park as Superman: Ultimate Escape on May 5, 2000  After Cedar Fair purchased the park and renamed it back to Geauga Lake in early 2004, the coaster was immediately renamed Steel Venom  The ride closed in 2006 and was moved to Dorney Park  It reopened in 2008 briefly under the name Voodoo, and was renamed Possessed for the 2009 season  The model is identical to five other impulse coaster installations at other amusement parks  A larger version called Wicked Twister was located at Cedar Point until its closure in September 2021 

History
Geauga Lake era (2000–2006)
The ride opened on May 5, 2000 at Six Flags Ohio as Superman: Ultimate Escape  It was based on the DC Comics character Superman  Following Cedar Fair's acquisition of the park in 2004, in which the original Geauga Lake name was reinstituted to the park, all Looney Tunes and DC Comics branding owned by Six Flags was removed  In the process, the coaster was renamed Steel Venom, while receiving a new logo with a black background featuring a silver and purple snake  Even though Cedar Fair removed any mentions of Superman from the ride, the original blue, red, and yellow color scheme remained intact The coaster was dismantled after the 2006 season and put into storage  At the end of the 2007 season, Cedar Fair announced the amusement park section of the park would close and the park would operate exclusively as Wildwater Kingdom  Many rides at the park were relocated to other parks in the Cedar Fair chain 

Dorney Park era (2007–present)
Steel Venom was relocated to Dorney Park, where it reopened as Voodoo several weeks into the 2008 season on May 17, 2008  Prior to opening at Dorney Park, it was repainted to its current color scheme, as shown in the picture above, the supports were repainted teal and the track was repainted yellow  In 2009, the name was changed to Possessed after Six Flags expressed concerns over the name Voodoo, which it had recently trademarked for another ride  Instead of challenging, Cedar Fair opted to appease Six Flags and rename the coaster  Cedar Fair turned the incident into a marketing opportunity, which focused on a story that the ride was overtaken by evil spirits, fitting in line with the ride's original theme Possessed was closed for the entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic  It reopened in 2021 

Design
The coaster's layout consists of two vertical spikes, one twisted and the other straight vertical with a holding brake, connected by a launch and station tract to form a basic "U" layout  The original ride began with riders being launched forward by the use of linear induction motors  After the initial launch, the train heads up the twisted vertical spike that twists the train 180 degrees  The train then falls and is launched backwards up the vertical spike  It shuttles back and forth three times  During the ride's initial years, the holding brake at the top of the vertical rear spike would engage on the final launch, locking the train in place for a very brief moment  This holding brake is no longer operational  Valleyfair's Steel Venom is currently the only Intamin impulse coaster in the United States still operating with its holding brake 
The maximum G-force of the ride is 3 7 Gs, expectantly low for a twisted impulse coaster 

Gallery
Passage 3:
Georgia Depression
The Georgia Depression is a depression in the Pacific Northwest region of western North America  The depression includes the lowland regions of southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington along the shores of the Salish Sea 

Formation
The Georgia Depression was formed out of the collision of continental plates about 150 million years ago  During this period, the depression manifested as a broad valley with various rivers flowing down into it to reach the Pacific Ocean where the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca lies Much of the current topography was formed through the erosion of the depression by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the Vashon Glaciation, which lasted from about 19,000 – 16,000 BP  The retreat of the ice sheet revealed a scarred landscape that filled in with sea water once it had retreated beyond what is now the Strait of Juan de Fuca, forming the Salish Sea 

Geography
The Georgia Depression is encompassed by the Pacific Ranges to the north, Vancouver Island Ranges and Olympic Mountains to the west, and North Cascades to the east  The depression includes the Fraser Lowland, Nanaimo and Nahwitti lowlands of Vancouver Island, Puget Sound basin, and all the islands and adjoining waterways of the Salish Sea The majority of the population of British Columbia and Washington reside within this depression 

Geology
The landscape features glacially striated tablelands and rolling hills underlain by sedimentary rocks  The majority of soils in the depression are formed from glacial till, glacial outwash, and Lacustrine deposits 

Ecology
Much of the Georgia Depression is dry, flat, and at low elevation relative to the surrounding highlands  As such, a wide diversity of flora and fauna thrive within the depression Human activity has greatly altered much of the natural environment here through industrialization, agriculture, forestry, urbanization, and suburban sprawl 

See also
List of physiogeographic regions of British Columbia
Royal eponyms in Canada
Passage 4:
Steel Venom (Valleyfair)
Steel Venom is an inverted launched roller coaster located at Valleyfair amusement park in Shakopee, Minnesota, United States  The Impulse Coaster model from Intamin, which opened in 2003, reaches a height of 185 feet (56 m) and a maximum speed of 68 mph (109 km/h) 

History
Valleyfair unveiled Steel Venom in September 2002, a new roller coaster for the 2003 season manufactured by Intamin  It is an Impulse Coaster model, compact by design, and is also both Valleyfair’s and Minnesota’s first and only launch coaster  Steel Venom opened to the public on May 17, 2003 

Ride description
The coaster's single seven-car (28-passenger) train runs along a 200 m (656 ft) U-shaped track, incorporating two 185-foot (56 m) vertical spikes   The forward spike incorporates a twisted spiral, and the rearward spike provides a straight freefall   The 20 m (65 ft) train, propelled by linear induction motors (LIMs,) is accelerated in less than four seconds to 68 mph (109 km/h) toward the forward tower before dropping back down through the station house and up the rearward tower   A holding brake is incorporated on the rear straight tower and is able to suspend the train momentarily (usually on the final ascent during each ride) before dropping it back down to the station house 
Passage 5:
Alouette Lake
Alouette Lake, originally Lillooet Lake and not to be confused with the lake of that name farther north, is a lake and reservoir in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada  It is located at the southeast foot of the mountain group known as the Golden Ears and is about 16 km in length on a northeast–southwest axis   It and the Alouette River, formerly the Lillooet River, were renamed in 1914 to avoid confusion with the larger river and lake farther north, with "Alouette", the French word for "lark", being chosen as being melodious and reminiscent of the original name in tone 
Most of the basin of Alouette Lake has never been logged and its north flank is protected as part of Golden Ears Provincial Park (formerly part of Garibaldi Provincial Park until that park's division)  A small portion of the lake and its largely inaccessible northwestern shore, near its narrows, are actually part of the District of Mission due to the rectangular shape of that district's boundary   North of the portion of the lake that is in Mission, the rest of its northern end is not in either municipality 

Alouette Dam
Originally only 2 km in length, the lake was considerably expanded by the 1928 construction of the Alouette Dam at 49°17′10″N 122°29′12″W, which is 11 5 km (7 mi) along the upper reaches of the South Alouette River  A 1,067 m (3,501 ft) long tunnel connects Alouette Lake and Stave Lake  At the end of the tunnel is a penstock which feeds the small Alouette Powerhouse, an 8 MW power station operated by BC Hydro, which lies midway along the west shore of Stave Lake 49°22′16″N 122°18′47″W There is no powerhouse at the dam, however, as the point of the reservoir is to feed the tunnel through the flank of the ridge between Mounts Crickmer and Robie Reid  A former railway grade leading to the dam along the river was also used as a logging railway 

Facilities
A large public beach, picnic site and campground that are part of the provincial park are located on the lake's western shore 
Passage 6:
Excalibur (Valleyfair)
Excalibur  is a steel roller coaster with a wooden structure located at Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minnesota  It was built in 1989 by Arrow Dynamics, for the cost of $3,000,000  The ride is 105 feet (32 m) tall with a top speed of 54 5 mph (87 7 km/h) and has a minimum height requirement of 48 inches  It follows a customized figure-eight track layout and is rather short for a major roller coaster, with a total ride duration of two minutes and thirteen seconds A few years after the ride was built, trim brakes were added at the top of the first hill  The bottom and first half of the turn were re-profiled in an attempt to reduce roughness  The photo spot and the "Excalibur Photos" booth were also removed  The photo booth was replaced with a Refreshment stand, which has also been removed 

Potential closure
Valleyfair has applied for a permit with the US Army Corps of Engineers that includes the removal of Excalibur to be replaced by a road and parking lot 
"APPLICATION FOR PERMIT TO discharge dredged and fill material into 4 52 acres of wetland for the purpose of constructing a new road around the park for employee access and for the construction of a new parking lot  The Valleyfair expansion project includes a proposed road relocation that will be used by park guests and primarily park employees to access nonpublic areas of the park and two parking areas, one for guests and one for staff "
Passage 7:
Bobo people
The Bobo are a Mande ethnic group living primarily in Burkina Faso, with some living north in Mali  Bobo is also a shortened name of the second-largest city in Burkina Faso, Bobo-Dioulasso 

Background
In much of the literature on African art, the group that lives in the area of Bobo-Dioulasso is called Bobo-Fing, literally "black Bobo"  These people call themselves Bobo and speak the Bobo language, a Mande language  The Bambara people also call another ethnic group "Bobo", the Bobo-Oule/Wule, more precisely called the Bwa  While the Bwa (Bobo-Oule) are a Gur people, speaking Gur languages (the Bwa languages), the true Bobo (Bobo Madare, Bobo Fing) are a Mande people 

Demographics
The Bobo number about 110,000 people, with the great majority in Burkina Faso  The major Bobo community in the south is Bobo-Dioulasso, the second-largest city of Burkina Faso and the old French colonial capital  Further north are large towns, including Fô and Kouka, with Boura in the extreme north in Mali 
The Bobo are far from homogeneous  They are an ancient aggregation of several peoples who have assembled around a number of core clans that do not preserve any oral traditions of immigration into the area  Their language and culture are more closely related to those of their Mandé neighbours to the north and west, the Bamana (as well as the Minianka, also known as Mamara Senoufo, and a Gur people) than to their Voltaic neighbours the Gurunsi and Mossi, but they should be thought of as a southern extension of the Mandé people who live in what is now Burkina Faso, rather than an intrusive Mandé group that has recently penetrated the region  Although over 41% of Bobo lineages claim a foreign origin, they also say that they are autochthonous 

Economy
Farming among the Bobo is of primary importance  Agricultural activity is not merely a way of providing for subsistence among the Bobo, it is the essential component of their day-to-day existence  The major food crops are red sorghum, pearl millet, yams, and maize  They also cultivate cotton, which is sold to textile mills in Koudougou  The imposition of colonial rule and the construction of these mills led to the disintegration of the local co-operative labor systems, which had served to bond the members of Bobo society together 

Political system
The Bobo lineage is the fundamental social building-block  The Bobo are an inherently decentralized group of people  The concept of placing political power in the hands of an individual is foreign to the Bobo  Each village is organized according to the relationship among individual patriline  The lineage unites all descendants of a common ancestor, called the wakoma, a word whose stem, wa-, is a contraction of the Bobo word for house wasa  The Bobo lineage comprises the people who live in a common house  The head of a lineage is called the wakoma or father of the lineage  He may also be called the sapro, which is the term for ancestors  As among other peoples in Burkina, each clan has a totem, so that when a Bobo introduces himself he gives his given name, then his clan name, followed by the totem that he respects 

Religion
The creator god is called Wuro  He cannot be described and is not represented by sculptures  Bobo cosmogony describes the creation of the world by Wuro and the ordering of his creations  He is responsible for the ordering of all things in the world into opposing pairs: man/spirits, male/female, village/bush, culture/nature and so on 
The balances between forces as they were created by Wuro are precarious, and it is easy for men to throw the forces out of balance  Farming, for instance, can unbalance the precarious equilibrium between culture/nature and village/bush when the crops are gathered in the bush and brought into the village 
For the Bobo people there are two important epochs  The time of Wuro, when the universe was created and the historical time, when Wuro gave man his son Dwo 

Sources
Christopher Roy: Art of the Upper Volta Rivers  Traduction et adaptation en francais F Chaffin  Alain et Françoise Chaffin, Meudon, 1987
Guy Le Moal : Les Bobo  Nature et fonction des masques  Musée royale de l'Afrique centrale, Tervuren, 1999 

External links

The Art of Burkina Faso by Christopher D  Roy
Passage 8:
Eureka, Nunavut
Eureka is a small research base on Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Qikiqtaaluk Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut  It is located on the north side of Slidre Fiord, which enters Eureka Sound farther west  It is the third-northernmost permanent research community in the world   The only two farther north are Alert, which is also on Ellesmere Island, and Nord, in Greenland   Eureka has the lowest average annual temperature and the lowest amount of precipitation of any weather station in Canada 
Eureka's postal code is X0A 0G0 and the area code is 867 

Divisions
The base consists of three areas:

the Eureka Aerodrome which includes "Fort Eureka" (the quarters for military personnel maintaining the island's communications equipment)
the Environment and Climate Change Canada Weather Station
the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), formerly the Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Observatory (AStrO)PEARL is operated by a consortium of Canadian university researchers and government agencies known as the Canadian Network for Detection of Atmospheric Change  PEARL announced it would cease full-time year-round operation as of April 30, 2012, due to lack of funding, but this decision was reversed in May 2013 with the announcement of new funds 

History
Eureka was founded on April 7, 1947, as part of an initiative to set up a network of Arctic weather stations  On this date, 100 t (98 long tons; 110 short tons) of supplies were airlifted to a promising spot on Ellesmere Island, and five prefabricated Jamesway huts were constructed  Regular weather observations began on January 1, 1948  The station has expanded over the years  At its peak, in the 1970s, at least fifteen staff were on site; in 2005, it reported a permanent population of zero with at least 8 staff on a continuous rotational basis Several generations of buildings have been developed  The latest operations centre, with work areas and staff quarters in one large structure, was completed in 2005 

Location and accessibility
The complex is powered by diesel generators  The station is supplied once every six weeks with fresh food and mail by air, and annually in the late summer, a supply ship from Montreal brings heavy supplies  On July 3, 2009, a Danish Challenger 604 MMA jet landed at Eureka's aerodrome 
The jet is a military observation aircraft based on the Challenger executive jet  This jet visited Eureka on a familiarization trip, in order to prepare for the possibility of Danish aircraft assisting in search and rescue missions over Canadian territory  The Canadian American Strategic Review noted critically that the first jet to fly a mission to Eureka was not Canadian At Eureka's latitude, a geosynchronous communications satellite, if due south, would require an antenna to be pointed nearly horizontally; satellites farther east or west along that orbit would be below the horizon  Telephone access and television broadcasts arrived in 1982 when Operation Hurricane resulted in the establishment of a satellite receiving station at nearby Skull Point, which has an open view to the south  The low-power Channel 9 TV transmitter at Skull Point was the world's most northern TV station at the time  In the 1980s, TV audio was often connected to the telephone to feed CBC-TV news to CHAR-FM in isolated CFS Alert  More recently, CANDAC has installed what is likely the world's most northerly geosynchronous satellite ground-station to provide Internet-based communications to PEARL Other inhabited places on Ellesmere Island include Alert and Grise Fiord 

Flora and fauna
Eureka has been described as "The Garden Spot of the Arctic" due to the flora and fauna abundant around the Eureka area, more so than anywhere else in the High Arctic  Fauna include muskox, Arctic wolves, Arctic foxes, Arctic hares, and lemmings  In addition, summer nesting geese, ducks, owls, loons, ravens, gulls and many other smaller birds nest, raise their young, and return south in August 

Climate
Eureka experiences a polar climate (ET)  The settlement sees the midnight sun between April 10 and August 29, with no sunlight at all between mid-October and late February  Eureka has the lowest average annual temperature and least precipitation of any weather station in Canada with an annual mean temperature of −18 8 °C (−1 8 °F)  Average winter temperatures are almost comparable to those found in northeastern Siberia  However, summers are slightly warmer than other places in the Canadian Arctic because Eureka is somewhat landlocked, being near the centre of Ellesmere Island  Even so, since record keeping began, the temperature has never exceeded 20 9 °C (69 6 °F), first reached on July 14, 2009  Although a polar desert, evaporation is also very low, which allows the limited moisture to be made available for plants and wildlife  Its frost-free  season averages 56 days, much longer than many other places nearby 

See also
List of research stations in the Arctic
Passage 9:
Battle of White Plains
The Battle of White Plains was a battle in the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War, fought on October 28, 1776, near White Plains, New York   Following the retreat of George Washington's Continental Army northward from New York City, British General William Howe landed troops in Westchester County, intending to cut off Washington's escape route   Alerted to this move, Washington retreated farther, establishing a position in the village of White Plains but failed to establish firm control over local high ground   Howe's troops drove Washington's troops from a hill near the village; following this loss, Washington ordered the Americans to retreat farther north 
Later British movements chased Washington across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania   Washington then crossed the Delaware and surprised a brigade of Hessian troops in the December 26 Battle of Trenton 

Background
British General William Howe, after evacuating Boston in March 1776, regrouped in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and embarked in June on a campaign to gain control of New York City   The campaign began with an unopposed landing on Staten Island in early July  British troops made another unopposed landing on Long Island on August 22, south of the areas where General George Washington's Continental Army had organized significant defenses around Brooklyn Heights After losing the Battle of Long Island on August 27, General Washington and his army of 9,000 troops escaped on the night of August 29–30 to York Island (as Manhattan was then called)   General Howe followed up with a landing on Manhattan on September 15, but his advance was checked the next day at Harlem Heights   After an abortive landing at Throg's Neck, he landed troops with some resistance at Pell's Point on October 18 to begin an encircling maneuver that was intended to trap Washington's army between that force, his troops in Manhattan, and the Hudson River, which was dominated by warships of the Royal Navy   Howe established a camp at New Rochelle, but advance elements of his army were near Mamaroneck, only 7 miles (11 km) from White Plains, where there was a lightly defended Continental Army supply depot 

Prelude
On October 20, General Washington sent Colonel Rufus Putnam out on a reconnaissance mission from his camp at Harlem Heights   Putnam discovered the general placement of the British troop locations and recognized the danger to the army and its supplies   When he reported this to Washington that evening, Washington immediately dispatched Putnam with orders to Lord Stirling, whose troops were furthest north, to immediately march to White Plains   They arrived at White Plains at 9 am on October 21, and were followed by other units of the army as the day progressed   Washington decided to withdraw most of the army to White Plains, leaving a garrison of 1,200 men under Nathanael Greene to defend Fort Washington on Manhattan   General Howe's army advanced slowly, with troops from his center and right moving along the road from New Rochelle to White Plains, while a unit of Loyalists occupied Mamaroneck   The latter was attacked that night by a detachment of Lord Stirling's troops under John Haslet, who took more than thirty prisoners as well as supplies, but suffered several killed and 15 wounded   As a result, Howe moved elements of his right wing to occupy Mamaroneck   On October 22, Howe was reinforced by the landing at New Rochelle of an additional 8,000 troops under the command of Wilhelm von Knyphausen 
Washington established his headquarters at the Elijah Miller House in North White Plains on October 23, and chose a defensive position that he fortified with two lines of entrenchments  The trenches were situated on raised terrain, protected on the right by the swampy ground near the Bronx River, with steeper hills further back as a place of retreat  The American defenses were 3 miles (4 8 km) long  Beyond that, on the right, was Chatterton's Hill, which commanded the plain over which the British would have to advance  The hill was initially occupied by militia companies numbering several hundred, probably including John Brooks' Massachusetts militia company On October 24 and 25, Howe's army moved from New Rochelle to Scarsdale, where they established a camp covering the eastern bank of the Bronx River   This move was apparently made in the hopes of catching Charles Lee's column, which had to alter its route toward White Plains and execute a forced march at night to avoid them   Howe remained at Scarsdale until the morning of October 28, when his forces marched toward White Plains, with British troops on the right under General Henry Clinton, and primarily Hessian troops on the left under General von Heister 

Composition of forces
British & Hessians
British
British troops involved included:
16th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
1st Battalion, Guards Brigade
2nd Battalion, Guards Brigade
5th Regiment of Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers)
23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers)
27th Regiment of Foot
28th Regiment of Foot
35th Regiment of Foot
42nd (Royal Highland, The Black Watch) Regiment of Foot
49th Regiment of Foot
52nd Regiment of Foot
No 1 Company, 4th Battalion, Royal Artillery
No 2 Company, 4th Battalion, Royal Artillery
No 4 Company, 4th Battalion, Royal Artillery (Specially thanked in General Orders)
No 5 Company, 4th Battalion, Royal Artillery (Thanked in General Orders)
No 8 Company, 4th Battalion, Royal Artillery (Thanked in General Orders)Hessians

Grenadier Regiment von Rahl
Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen

Americans
American (continental) forces in the battle included:
Spencer's Division
Parson's Brigade under Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons
10th Continental Regiment (6th Connecticut)
20th Continental Regiment (20th Connecticut)
21st Continental Regiment (Ward's Militia)
Wadsworth's Brigade under Brigadier General James Wadsworth
Gay's Battalion
Douglas' Battalion
Delaware Regiment
1st New York Regiment
3rd New York Regiment
Maryland Regiment
Connecticut Regiment
Brook's New York Militia
Graham's Massachusetts Militia

Battle
While Washington was inspecting the terrain to determine where it was best to station his troops, messengers alerted him that the British were advancing  Returning to his headquarters, he ordered the 2nd Connecticut Regiment under Joseph Spencer out to slow the British advance, and sent Haslet and the 1st Delaware Regiment, along with Alexander McDougall's brigade (Rudolphus Ritzema's 3rd New York Regiment, Charles Webb's 19th Continental Regiment, William Smallwood's 1st Maryland Regiment, and the 1st New York Regiment and 2nd New York Regiments) to reinforce Chatterton Hill Spencer's force advanced to a position on the old York road at Hart's corners (Hartsdale, New York) and there exchanged fire with the Hessians led by Colonel Johann Rall that were at the head of the British left column   When Clinton's column threatened their flank, these companies were forced into a retreat across the Bronx River that was initially orderly with pauses to fire from behind stone walls while fire from the troops on Chatterton Hill covered their move, but turned into a rout with the appearance of dragoons   Rall's troops attempted to gain the hill, but were repelled by fire from Haslet's troops and the militia, and retreated to a nearby hilltop on the same side of the river   This concerted defense brought the entire British Army, which was maneuvering as if to attack the entire American line, to a stop While Howe and his command conferred, the Hessian artillery on the left opened fire on the hilltop position, where they succeeded in driving the militia into a panicked retreat   The arrival of McDougall and his brigade helped to rally them, and a defensive line was established, with the militia on the right and the Continentals arrayed along the top of the hill   Howe finally issued orders, and while most of his army waited, a detachment of British and Hessian troops was sent to take the hill The British attack was organized with Hessian regiments leading the assault   Rall was to charge the American right, while a Hessian battalion under Colonel Carl von Donop (consisting of the Linsing, Mingerode, Lengereck, and Kochler grenadiers, and Donop's own chasseur regiment) was to attack the center  A British column under General Alexander Leslie (consisting of the 5th, 28th, 35th, and 49th Foot) was to attack the right   Donop's force either had difficulty crossing the river, or was reluctant to do so, and elements of the British force were the first to cross the river   Rall's charge scattered the militia on the American right, leaving the flank of the Maryland and New York regiments exposed as they poured musket fire onto the British attackers, which temporarily halted the British advance   The exposure of their flank caused them to begin a fighting retreat, which progressively forced the remainder of the American line, which had engaged with the other segments of the British force, to give way and retreat   Haslet's Delaware regiment, which anchored the American left, provided covering fire while the remaining troops retreated to the north, and were the last to leave the hill   The fighting was intense, and both sides suffered significant casualties before the Continentals made a disciplined retreat 

Casualties
John Fortescue's History of the British Army says that Howe's casualties numbered 214 British and 99 Hessians  However, Rodney Atwood points out that Fortescue's figure for the Hessians includes the entire Hessian casualties from 19–28 October and that in fact only 53 of these casualties were incurred at the Battle of White Plains  This revised figure would give a total of 267 British and Hessians killed, wounded or missing at White Plains  Henry Dawson, on the other hand, gives Howe's loss as 47 killed, 182 wounded and 4 missing 
The American loss is uncertain  Theodore Savas and J  David Dameron give a range of 150–500 killed, wounded and captured  Samuel Roads numbers the casualties of 47 killed and 70 wounded  Henry Dawson estimates 50 killed, 150 wounded and 17 missing for McDougall's and Spencer's commands but has no information on the losses in Haslet's regiment 

Aftermath
The two generals remained where they were for two days, while Howe reinforced the position on Chatterton Hill, and Washington organized his army for retreat into the hills   With the arrival of additional Hessian and Waldeck troops under Lord Percy on October 30, Howe planned to act against the Americans the following day   However, a heavy rain fell the whole next day, and when Howe was finally prepared to act, he awoke to find that Washington had again eluded his grasp Washington withdrew his army into the hills to the north on the night of October 31, establishing a camp near North Castle   Howe chose not to follow, instead attempting without success to draw Washington out   On November 5, he turned his army south to finish evicting Continental Army troops from Manhattan, a task he accomplished with the November 16 Battle of Fort Washington Washington eventually crossed the Hudson River at Peekskill with most of his army, leaving New England regiments behind to guard supply stores and important river crossings   Later, British movements chased him across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, and the British established a chain of outposts across New Jersey  Washington, seeing an opportunity for a victory to boost the nation's morale,  crossed the Delaware and surprised Rall's troops in the December 26 Battle of Trenton 

Legacy
Each year on or near the anniversary date, the White Plains Historical Society hosts a commemoration of the event at the Jacob Purdy House in White Plains, New York   Two ships in the United States Navy were named for the Battle of White Plains  CVE-66 was an escort carrier in World War II  AFS-4 was a combat stores ship that was decommissioned in 1995 According to some historians, the Headless Horseman depicted in Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was inspired by a real-life Hessian soldier who lost his head by cannon fire during this battle 

See also
List of American Revolutionary War battles
American Revolutionary War §British New York counter-offensive  The 'Battle of White Plains' placed in overall sequence and strategic context 

Notes
Bibliography
Major Francis Duncan, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Volume II, 1873 London John Murray 
Fischer, David Hackett (2004)  Washington's Crossing  New York: Oxford University Press  ISBN 978-0-19-517034-4  OCLC 186017328 
Digby Smith, Kevin E  Kiley, and Jeremy Black, An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of the American War of Independence, 2017 Lorenz Books, London, United Kingdom  ISBN 978-0-7548-1761-1 

External links

The Battle of White Plains
White Plains Historical Society
Passage 10:
Wicked Twister
Wicked Twister was an inverted roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, United States  Designed by Werner Stengel, it was a second-generation, double-twisting Impulse model manufactured by Intamin  Wicked Twister opened as the tallest and fastest inverted coaster in the world on May 5, 2002  It was retired by the park on September 6, 2021, closed on September 7, and gave over 16 million rides during its lifetime 

History
Construction on Wicked Twister began on October 15, 2001, shortly after Stadium Games, formerly known as the Aquarium, was razed  The new coaster was officially announced the following month, and its media day was held on May 2, 2002 Billed as the tallest and fastest double-twisting impulse coaster ever built, Wicked Twister actually opened as the tallest and fastest inverted coaster in the world on May 5, 2002  It held both records until the opening of Legendary Twin Dragon at Chongqing Sunac Land in China in 2021  Additional supports were added to the ride's structure for the 2003 season  Two yellow supports were added to each spike to connect the track to the top of the main support structure 

In May 2021, park official Tony Clark implied in a series of tweets that Wicked Twister was going to be retired  This was confirmed on August 6, 2021, when Cedar Point officially announced the closure of Wicked Twister, scheduled for September 6, 2021  The ride then closed September 7, and on its last day of operation, park employees handed out "last launch" buttons to riders, sold limited-edition commemorative t-shirts, and gave away 16 "golden tickets" granting winners a spot on the last public train  Wicked Twister had accumulated over 16 million rides in 20 seasons of operation On November 3, 2021, Cedar Point announced that Wicked Twister would be demolished  Demolition and removal was completed on February 8, 2022 

Ride details
Wicked Twister consisted of two 215 feet (66 m) tall spikes  Both ends of the track were designed with 450-degree vertical twists, referred to as the front and rear towers, which differentiated Wicked Twister from other Impulse Coaster models from Intamin  The loading platform and linear induction motor (LIM) propulsion system sat between the two towers along a horizontal track section  The ride was built directly on Cedar Point Beach, and its entrance plaza was located in the former Aquarium location  The track was painted yellow with teal supports The ride featured one train that consisted of eight cars  Riders were arranged two across in two rows for a total of 32 riders  Wicked Twister's theme song was "The Winner" by the Crystal Method 

Layout
Linear induction motors propelled the train forward out of the station at 50 mph (80 km/h) during the first launch, which carried the train approximately halfway up the front tower  After coming to a stop, the train then fell and returned through the station, re-entering the LIM section and accelerating for a second launch to 63 mph (101 km/h) in the opposite direction  After climbing to its peak approximately halfway up the rear tower, the process would repeat a third time accelerating to 69 mph (111 km/h) and climbing to its highest point on the front tower 
A fourth and final LIM launch on the train's return through the station accelerated the train to its maximum speed of 72 mph (116 km/h), reaching a maximum height of 206 ft (63 m) up the rear tower  The train then made one more final pass through the station without any interaction from the LIM launch section and up the front spike  Subsequent passes through the station were met with the brakes being applied to slow the train slightly more each time until finally coming to rest 

See also
The Flash: Vertical Velocity – similar coaster located at Six Flags Great America
Possessed – similar coaster located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
Steel Venom – similar coaster located at Valleyfair
Context 2: Passage 1:
Ovambo people
The Ovambo people (pronounced [ovambo] (listen)), also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo (Ndonga, Nghandjera, Kwambi, Kwaluudhi, Kolonghadhi, Mbalantu), or Ovawambo (Kwanyama), are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily modern Namibia  They are the single largest ethnic group in Namibia, accounting for about half of the population  They have retained many aspects of their cultural practices, despite concerted efforts from Christian missionaries to wipe out what were believed to be ‘pagan practices’  They are also found in the southern Angolan province of Cunene, where they are more commonly referred to as "Ambo"  The Ovambo consist of a number of kindred Bantu ethnic tribes who inhabit what was formerly  called Ovamboland  In Angola, they are a minority, accounting for about two percent of the total Angolan population There are about 2 million ethnic Ovambo, and they are predominantly Lutheran Christians (97%) 

Demographics
The Ovambo people reside in the flat sandy grassy plains of north Namibia and the Cunene Province in south Angola, sometimes referred to as Ovamboland  These plains are generally flat, stoneless and at high altitude Water courses, known as oshanas, irrigate the area  In the northern regions of Ovamboland is tropical vegetation sustained by abundant but seasonal rainfall that floods the region into temporary lakes and islands  In dry season, these pools of water empty out  The Ovambo have adapted to the widely varying seasonal weather patterns with their housing, agriculture, and livestock practices The Ovambo people are a Bantu-speaking group  In Namibia, these are the AaNdonga, Ovakwanyama, Aakwambi, Aangandjera, Aambalantu, Ovaunda, Aakolonkadhi, Aakwaluudhi and Aambandja  In Angola, they are the Ovakwanyama, Aakafima, Evale and Aandonga  The Ovakwanyama are the largest sub-tribe 

History
The Ovambo started migrating to their current location around the 14th century from the Zambia region to the northeast  They settled near the Angola-Namibia border then expanded further south in Namibia in the 17th century  They have a close cultural, linguistic and historical relationship to the Herero people found in more southern parts of Namibia, and Kavango people to their east settled around the Okavango River In contrast to most ethnic groups in Africa, their isolated, low-density pastoral nomadic lifestyle left the Ovambo people largely unaffected by Swahili-Arab and European traders before the 19th century  When Germany established a colony in Namibia in 1884, they left the Ovambo people undisturbed  The Germans focused on the southern and coastal regions  After World War I, Namibia was annexed by the South African government into the Union of South Africa as the Territory of South West Africa  This brought major changes, with South African plantation, cattle breeding and mining operations entering the Ovamboland  The Portuguese colonial administration in Angola, who had previously focused on their coastal, northern and eastern operations, entered southern Angola to form a border with the expanding South African presence  The Ovambo people launched several armed rebellions against South African rule in the 1920s and 1930s, which were all suppressed by the Union Defence Force The South African administration in Namibia continued the so-called "Police Zone" in south, a region created by the Germans with a veterinary Red Line covering about two-thirds of the province later to become Namibia  Ovambo people were not allowed to move into the Police Zone, neither other tribes nor Europeans could move north without permits  This isolated the Ovambo people, preserving traditional authorities and reducing numbers of White farmers in the north  However, because of labor shortage in the Police Zone and South Africa, in part because of massacre of native Africans such as through the Herero and Namaqua genocide, the South African government allowed migrant wage labor  Numerous Ovambo people became migrant laborers in South African towns such as Cape Town and in the Police Zone, where they experienced segregation and lived under highly restrained human rights The South African Apartheid rule was brought into the Ovamboland in 1948  The South African government declared the Ovamboland an independent province in 1973, and appointed chiefs aligned with the South African government's policies  The Ovambo people rejected these developments, and in 1975 the appointed chief minister of Ovamboland was assassinated  In conjunction with the armed SWAPO movement, Namibia and its Ovambo people gained independence from South Africa in 1990 

Religion
Traditional religion
The traditional religion of the Ovambo people is the primary faith of less than 3%, as most state Christianity to be their primary faith  The Ovambo's traditional religion envisions a supreme being named Kalunga, with their rites and rituals centered around sacred fire like many ethnic groups in southwestern Africa  The Kalunga cosmology states that the Supreme Being created the first man and first woman, who had a daughter and two sons  It is the daughter's lineage that created Ovambo people, according to the traditional beliefs of the matrilineal Ovambo people The rituals involve elaborate fire making and keeping ceremonies, rain making dance, and rites have involved throwing herbs in the fire and inhaling the rising smoke  The head priest traditionally was the king of a tribe, and his role was in part to attend to the supernatural spirits and be the chief representative of the Ovambo tribe to the deities 

Christianity
Christianity arrived among the Ovambo people in the late 19th century  The first Finnish missionaries arrived in Ovamboland in the 1870s, and Ovambo predominantly converted and thereof have identified themselves as Lutheran Christians  The influence of the Finnish missions not only related to the religion, but cultural practices  For example, the typical dress style of the contemporary Ovambo women that includes a head scarf and loose full length maxi, is derived from those of the 19th-century Finnish missionaries The Ovambo now predominantly follow Christian theology, prayer rituals and festivities, but some of the traditional religious practices have continued, such as the use of ritual sacred fire  They also invoke their supreme creator Kalunga  Thus, the Ovamba have preferred a syncretic form of Christianity  Most weddings feature a combination of Christian beliefs and Ovambo traditions  Their traditional dancing is done to drumming (Oshiwambo folk music) 

Society and culture
The traditional home is a complex of huts surrounded by a fence of large vertical poles linked by two horizontal poles on each side  The complex is a maze with two gates but it is easy to get lost within the homestead  Each hut generally has a different purpose, such as a Ondjugo (the woman of the homestead's hut) or Epata (kitchen area) 
The Ovambo people lead a settled life, relying mostly on a combination of agriculture and animal husbandry  The staple crops have been millet and sorghum (iilyavala), and beans (omakunde) are another popular crop  In drier regions or seasons, pastoral activity with herds of cattle (eengobe/eenghwandabi), goats (iikombo/onakamela) and sheep (eedi) becomes more important  The animal husbandry is not for meat (ombelela), but primarily as a source of milk (omashini)  Their food is supplemented by hunting, fishing, and gathering During the colonial era, the Ovambo were active in elephant (eenjaba) hunting for their tusks to supply the ivory demand, and they nearly hunted the elephants in their region to extinction 

Each Ovambo tribe had a hereditary chief who is responsible for the tribe  Many tribes adapted representation by having a council of headmen who run tribal affairs  Members of the royal family of the Owamboland are known as aakwanekamba, ovakwaluvala, ovakwamalanga, ovakwaanime, aakwanyoka and many more; only those who belong to this family by birth, through the maternal line, have a claim to chieftainship  The tribes figure their descent by a matrilineal kinship system, with hereditary chiefs arising from the daughter's children, not the son's  Polygyny is accepted, with the first wife recognized as the senior 

Ovambo brew a traditional liquor called ombike  It is distilled from fermented fruit mash and particularly popular in rural areas  The fruit to produce ombike are collected from makalani palms (Hyphaene petersiana), jackal berries (Diospyros mespiliformis), buffalo thorns (Ziziphus mucronata), bird plumes and cluster figs (Ficus racemosa)  Ombike, with additives like sugar, is also brewed and consumed in urban areas  This liquor is then called omangelengele; it is more potent and sometimes poisonous  New Era, a Namibian English-language daily newspaper, reported that clothes, shoes, and tyres have been found to have been brewed as ingredients of omangelengele 

Ovambo clans
The following table contains the names, areas, dialect names and the locations of the Ovambo according to T  E  Tirronen's Ndonga-English Dictionary  The table also contains information concerning the classification of noun class of the Proto-Bantu language for these words 

See also
Herero people
Himba people
Nama people
Oorlam people
Passage 2:
Santería
Santería (Spanish pronunciation: [san̪ t̪eˈɾi a]), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diasporic religion that developed in cuba during the late 19th century  It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa, the Catholic form of Christianity, and Spiritism  There is no central authority in control of Santería and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as creyentes ("believers") 
Santería is polytheistic and revolves around deities called oricha  Deriving their names and attributes from traditional Yoruba divinities, they are equated with Roman Catholic saints  Each human is believed to have a personal link to a particular oricha who influences their personality  Various myths are told about these oricha, who are regarded as subservient to Olodumare, a transcendent creator deity  Olodumare is believed to be the ultimate source of aché, a supernatural force permeating the universe that can be manipulated through ritual actions  Practitioners venerate the oricha at altars, either in the home or in the casa (temple), which is run by a santero (priest) or santera (priestess)  Membership of the casa requires initiation  Offerings to the oricha include fruit, liquor, flowers and sacrificed animals  A central ritual is the toque de santo, in which practitioners drum, sing, and dance to encourage an oricha to possess one of their members and thus communicate with them  Several forms of divination are used, including Ifá, to decipher messages from the oricha  Offerings are also given to the spirits of the dead, with some practitioners identifying as spirit mediums  Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies and talismans also play a prominent role 
Santería developed among Afro-Cuban communities following the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries  It formed through the blending of the traditional religions brought to Cuba by enslaved West Africans, the majority of them Yoruba, and Roman Catholicism, the only religion legally permitted on the island by the Spanish colonial government  In urban areas of West Cuba, these traditions merged with Spiritist ideas to form the earliest casas during the late 19th century  After the Cuban War of Independence resulted in an independent republic in 1898, its new constitution enshrined freedom of religion  Santería nevertheless remained marginalized by Cuba's Roman Catholic, Euro-Cuban establishment, which typically viewed it as brujería (witchcraft)  In the 1960s, growing emigration following the Cuban Revolution spread Santería abroad  The late 20th century saw growing links between Santería and related traditions in West Africa and the Americas, such as Haitian Vodou and Brazilian Candomblé  Since the late 20th century, some practitioners have emphasized a "Yorubization" process to remove Roman Catholic influences and created forms of Santería closer to traditional Yoruba religion 
Practitioners of Santería are primarily found in Cuba's La Habana and Matanzas provinces, although communities exist across the island and abroad, especially among the Cuban diasporas of Mexico and the United States  The religion remains most common among working-class Afro-Cuban communities although is also practiced by individuals of other class and ethnic backgrounds  The number of initiates is estimated to be in the high hundreds of thousands  These initiates serve as diviners and healers for a much larger range of adherents of varying levels of fidelity, making the precise numbers of those involved in Santería difficult to determine  Many of those involved also identify as practitioners of another religion, typically Roman Catholicism 

Definitions
The term Santería translates into English as the "way of the saints"  This term was first used by scholarly commentators in the 1930s and later spread among the religion's practitioners themselves  It has become the most popular name for the religion, although some practitioners find it offensive  A common alternative is Regla de Ocha, meaning "the rule of ocha", ocha being a term for the religion's deities  Some adherents regard this as the religion's "official" name  The tradition has also been called Lucumí, in reference to the colonial Spanish term for the Yoruba people, or alternatively La Religión Lucumí ("the Lucumí religion") or Regla Lucumí ("the rule of Lucumí") Santería is an Afro-Caribbean religion, and more specifically an Afro-Cuban religion  In Cuba it is sometimes described as "the national religion", although it has also spread abroad  Santería's roots are in the traditional religions brought to Cuba by enslaved West Africans, the majority of them Yoruba, between the 16th and 19th centuries  In Cuba, these religions mixed with the Roman Catholicism introduced by Spanish colonialists  Roman Catholic saints were conflated with West African deities, while enslaved Africans adopted Roman Catholic rituals and sacramentals  In the 19th century, elements from Spiritism—a French variant of Spiritualism—were drawn into the mix, with Santería emerging as a distinct religion in western Cuba during the late 19th century Although Santería is the best known of the Afro-Cuban religions, and the most popular, it is not the only one  Others include Palo, which derives from practices originating in the Congo Basin, and Abakuá, which has its origins among the secret male societies practiced among the Efik-Ibibio  Many practitioners of Palo and Abakuá also follow Santería  Another Afro-Cuban religion is Arará, which derives from practices among the Ewe and Fon; although its origins are not Yoruba, it is sometimes considered a branch of Santería rather than a separate system  
Santería also has commonalities with other West African and West African-derived traditions in the Americas which collectively form the "Orisha religion", "Orisha Tradition", or "Orisha worship " These include Haitian Vodou and Brazilian Candomblé, sometimes characterized as "sister religions" of Santería due to their shared origins in Yoruba traditional religion Santería is a flexible and eclectic tradition, with considerable variation in how it is practiced  There is no strict orthodoxy, no key sacred text, and no central authority in control of the entire religion  It has absorbed elements from many cultures that it has encountered, such as that of the Chinese migrants who came to Cuba in the 19th century, while in continental North America, Santería has also incorporated influences from Central American and Mexican religions as well as from New Age and modern Pagan practices  As well as it being common for Cubans to idiosyncratically blend ideas from different religions, many of Santería's practitioners claim multiple religious allegiances  Santería's adherents often consider themselves to be Roman Catholics—some priests and priestesses of Santería refuse to initiate anyone who is not a baptised Roman Catholic—and others consider themselves to be Spiritists, Hindus, Vodouists, or Jews 

Terms for practitioners
Different vocabulary indicates the level of a practitioner's involvement, with the various terms sometimes reflecting different political and social agendas  Practitioners of both Santería and other Afro-Cuban religions are called creyentes ("believers")  Some people external to the religion have referred to its practitioners as "santerians" although this is not used by adherents themselves  A non-initiate, including those who may attend public Santería ceremonies, is an aleyo ("stranger"); these non-initiates make up the majority of people involved in the religion  Initiates are known as santero if male, and santera if female, although these two terms have sometimes been used for anyone, initiate or not, who participates in the religion  Alternative terms for an initiate are babalocha or babaloricha ("father-deity") if male and an iyalocha or iyaloricha ("mother-deity") if female  Those who have a sustained engagement with the religion are also referred to as omoricha ("children of the oricha"), aboricha ("one who worships the oricha"), and an oloricha ("one who belongs to the oricha") 

Beliefs
Olodumare and the oricha
Santería teaches the existence of an overarching divinity, known as Olodumare, Olofi, or Olorun  Practitioners believe that this divinity created the universe but takes little interest in human affairs  As this creator deity is inaccessible to humanity, no major offerings are dedicated to it  The three facets of this divinity are understood slightly differently; Olodumare represents the divine essence of all that exists, Olorun is regarded as the creator of all beings, while Olofi dwells in all creation  In taking a triplicate form, this deity displays similarities with the Christian Trinity 

The oricha
Santeria is polytheistic, revolving around deities called oricha, ocha, or santos ("saints")  The term oricha can be both singular and plural, because Lucumí, the ritual language of Santería, lacks plural markers for nouns  Practitioners believe that some oricha were created before humanity, while others were originally humans who became oricha through some remarkable quality  Some practitioners perceive the oricha as facets of Olodumare, and thus think that by venerating them they are ultimately worshipping the creator god  Certain oricha are female, others male  They are not regarded as wholly benevolent, being capable of both harming and helping humans, and displaying a mix of emotions, virtues, and vices Origin myths and other stories about the oricha are called patakíes  Each oricha is understood to "rule over" a particular aspect of the universe, and they have been described as personifications of different facets of the natural world  They live in a realm called orún, which is contrasted with ayé, the realm of humanity  Oricha each have their own caminos ("roads"), or manifestations, a concept akin to the Hindu concept of avatars  The number of caminos an oricha has varies, with some having several hundred  Practitioners believe that oricha can physically inhabit certain objects, among them stones and cowrie shells, which are deemed sacred  Each oricha is also associated with specific songs, rhythms, colors, numbers, animals, and foodstuffs 

Among the oricha are the four "warrior deities", or guerrors: Eleguá, Ogun, Ochosi, and Osun  Eleguá is viewed as the guardian of the crossroads and thresholds; he is the messenger between humanity and the oricha, and most ceremonies start by requesting his permission to continue  He is depicted as being black on one side and red on the other, and practitioners will frequently place a cement head decorated with cowrie shells that represents Eleguá behind their front door, guarding the threshold to the street  The second guerro is Ogun, viewed as the oricha of weapons and war, and also of iron and blacksmiths  The third, Ochosi, is associated with woods and hunting, while the fourth, Osun, is a protector who warns practitioners when they are in danger Perhaps the most popular oricha, Changó or Shango is associated with lightning and fire  Another prominent oricha is Yemaja, the deity associated with maternity, fertility, and the sea  Ochún is the oricha of rivers and of romantic love, while Oyá is a warrior associated with wind, lightning, and death, and is viewed as the guardian of the cemetery  Obatalá is the oricha of truth and justice and is deemed responsible for helping to mould humanity  Babalú Ayé is the oricha associated with disease and its curing, while Osain is linked to herbs and healing  Orula is the oricha of divination, who in Santería's mythology was present at the creation of humanity and thus is aware of everyone's destiny  Ibeyi takes the form of twins who protect children  Olokún is the patron oricha of markets, while his wife Olosá is associated with lagoons  Agagyú is the oricha of volcanoes and the wasteland  Some oricha are deemed antagonistic to others; Changó and Ogun are for instance enemies Although in Santería the term santo is regarded as a synonym of oricha and is not a literal reference to Christian saints, the oricha are often conflated with one or more Roman Catholic saints based on similar attributes  For instance, the Holy Infant of Atocha, a depiction of Christ as a child, is conflated with Eleguá, who is seen as having a childlike nature  Babalú Ayé, who is associated with disease, is often identified with the Catholic Saint Lazarus, who rose from the dead, while  Changó is conflated with Santa Barbara because they both wear red  Cuba's patron saint, Our Lady of Charity, is equated with Ochún  It has been argued that Yoruba slaves initially linked their traditional deities with Christian saints as a means of concealing their continued worship of the former from the Spanish authorities, or as a means of facilitating social mobility by assimilating into Roman Catholic social norms 

Relationships with the oricha
Santería's focus is on cultivating a reciprocal relationship with the oricha, with adherents believing that these deities can intercede in human affairs and help people if they are appeased  Practitioners argue that each person is "born to" a particular oricha, whether or not they devote themselves to that deity  This is a connection that, adherents believe, has been set before birth  Practitioners refer to this oricha as one that "rules the head" of an individual; it is their "owner of the head"  If the oricha is male then it is described as the individual's "father"; if the oricha is female then it is the person's "mother"  This oricha is deemed to influence the individual's personality, and can be recognised through examining the person's personality traits, or through divination To gain the protection of a particular oricha, practitioners are encouraged to make offerings to them, sponsor ceremonies in their honor, and live in accordance with their wishes, as determined through divination  Practitioners are concerned at the prospect of offending the oricha 
Creyentes believe that the oricha can communicate with humans through divination, prayers, dreams, music, and dance  Many practitioners also describe how they "read" messages from the oricha in everyday interactions and events  For instance, a practitioner who meets a child at a traffic intersection may interpret this as a message from Eleguá, who is often depicted as a child and who is perceived as the "guardian" of the crossroads  At that point the practitioner may turn to divination to determine the precise meaning of the encounter  The information obtained from these messages may then help practitioners make decisions about their life 

Birth and the dead
Santería teaches that the human head contains a person's essence, their eledá or orí  It maintains that before birth, the eledá goes before Olodumare, where it is given its essential character, and forms a link with the oricha who becomes "the owner of the head"  The concept of the eledá derives from Yoruba traditional religion, where it is seen as a person's "spiritual double"  In Santería, this concept idea has syncretised with Roman Catholic beliefs about guardian angels and Spiritist notions of the protecciones or protector spirits  There is no strict orthodoxy on this issue and thus interpretations differ  Practitioners often believe that everyone has a specific destiny, their destino (destiny) or camino (road), although their fate is not completely predetermined Ancestor veneration is important in Santería  The religion entails propitiating the spirits of the dead, known as egun, espíritus, or muertos  Practitioners believe that the dead must be treated with respect, awe, and kindness; they are consulted at all ceremonies  Although the dead are not deemed as powerful as the oricha, they are still thought capable of assisting the living, with whom they can communicate through dreams, intuition, and spirit possession  Santería teaches that a person can learn to both see and communicate with the dead  Practitioners will often provide offerings, typically seven glasses of water, to the egun to placate and please them  Especially propitiated are those egun regarded as ancestors; these ancestors can include both hereditary forebears or past members of one's congregation, with practitioners believing that a creyente becomes an ancestor when they die Adherents believe that everyone has a cuadro espiritual ("spiritual portrait" or "spiritual picture") of egun who protect them  Individuals can have as many as 25 protectores, or protective spirits  The religion maintains that all people have multiple egun accompanying them at all times, and that these can be benevolent, malevolent, or a mix of both  Practitioners also believe that the number and identities of these spirits can be determined through divination  It draws a distinction between evolved spirits, who can help those they are attached to, and unevolved spirits, who lack the wisdom and skill to be useful and instead cause havoc  Santería teaches that through offerings and prayers, individuals can help some of their unevolved spirits to become evolved  Santería also divides the spirits into categories that each exhibit different traits, reflecting stereotypes about different social groups, with such spirits often portrayed as African, Haitian, Gypsy, Arab, or Plains Indian  The gitano (gypsy) spirits for instance are believed capable of foreseeing impending troubles and diagnosing illnesses while the congo spirits of Africa are perceived as strong-willed, powerful, and adept at guiding people through hostile circumstances 

Aché
Aché is a major cosmological concept in Yoruba traditional religion and has been transferred to Santería  Aché is regarded as the organizing power of the cosmos; the Hispanic studies scholars Margarite Fernández Olmos and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert referred to it as "a spiritual-mystical energy or power found in varying degrees and in many forms throughout the universe"  The medical anthropologist Johan Wedel described it as "life force" or "divine force", while the folklorist Michael Atwood Mason called aché the "ritual generative power"  The ethnomusicologist Katherine Hagedorn described aché as "the realized and inherent divine potential in all aspects of life, even in apparently inert objects " She added that "Aché is neither good nor bad; rather, aché is motion" While deeming Olodumare the ultimate embodiment of aché, practitioners believe that aché permeates all life, and is present in both the visible and invisible world  It is nevertheless deemed to sometimes congregate more densely, for instance in the forces of nature, specific locales, and in certain human individuals; initiates are believed to attract more of it than other humans  Santería holds that aché can emanate from the human body via speech, song, dance, and drumming, and can be transmitted through such acts as singing praise songs for the oricha or sacrificing an animal  Among practitioners, aché is sometimes described as conveying notions of luck, health, and prosperity, and has the power to fortify a person's health 

Morality, ethics, and gender roles
Santería has standards for behavior expected of practitioners, encouraging behaviors influenced by the mythological stories about the oricha  The religion presents strict rules regarding how to interact with other people and with the supernatural, for instance placing emphasis on respect for elders and superiors  A general attitude in Santería is that if an individual maintains good character, the oricha will aid them  Practitioners generally take socially conservative stances, having high regard for traditional family structures, marriage, fidelity, and child-rearing; adherents in the United States often adopt more progressive stances on issues surrounding gender and sexuality than their counterparts in Cuba The religion is non-dualistic and does not view the universe as being divided between good and evil; rather, all things are perceived as being complementary and relative  Several academics have described Santería as having a "here-and-now" ethos distinct from that of Christianity, and the social scientist Mercedes C  Sandoval suggested that many Cubans chose Santería over Roman Catholicism or Spiritism because it emphasizes techniques for dealing with pragmatic problems in life  In the U S , some African American adherents have contrasted what they regard as the African-derived ethos of Santería with the non-African origins of Christianity, thus adopting it as a religion readily combined with black nationalism The scholar of religion Mary Ann Clark labelled Santería a "female oriented and female normative" religion, arguing that all of its practitioners are expected to take on "female gender roles" during its rituals  Women can hold the highest leadership positions, although restrictions are placed on them while menstruating  Similar restrictions are also placed on homosexual males, traditionally prohibiting them from taking part in certain forms of divination and ritual drumming  Many gay men are nevertheless santeros, and some santeras are lesbians  A stereotype exists that all male Santería priests are homosexual, and members of other Afro-Cuban traditions with a more masculinist orientation, such as Palo, have often denigrated it for being dominated by women and men they consider to be "womanly" 

Practices
Santería is a practice-oriented religion; ritual correctness is considered more important than belief  It has an elaborate system of ritual, with its rites termed ceremonias (ceremonies)  Most of its activities revolve around the oricha, focusing on solving the problems of everyday life  Practitioners usually use the term "work" in reference to ritual activity; thus "working ocha" describes its rites Santería is an initiatory religion, one which is organized around a structured hierarchy  An ethos of secrecy pervades many of its practices, with initiates often refusing to discuss certain topics with non-initiates  For this reason, Mason described Santería as a secret society  For ritual purposes, the Lucumí language is often used  Sometimes referred to as la lengua de los orichas ("the language of the oricha"), it is regarded as a divine language through which practitioners can contact the deities  Although some practitioners are uncomfortable using it, most initiates know tens or hundreds of Lucumí words and phrases  Most Cubans do not understand the Lucumí language, barring a few words that have filtered into Cuban Spanish  Lucumí derives from the Yoruba language, although it has become "increasingly fragmented and unintelligible" since the 19th century  As Yoruba transitioned into Lucumí, the Yoruba pronunciations of many words were forgotten, and in the early 21st century some practitioners have studied the Yoruba language to better understand the original meaning of Lucumí words 

Houses of worship
Rituals take place in the casa templo ("house of worship"), casa de santos ("house of saints"), casa de religión ("house of religion"), or ilé ("house")  This casa ("house") is usually the personal home of a santero or santera  It will typically have an inner room, the igbodu ("sacred grove of the festival"), where the most important rituals take place  There will also be an eyá aránla or sala, often a living room, where semi-private rites can be conducted  Another space, the iban balo, or patio, will be used for public occasions, as well as for the cultivation of plants and the housing of animals due to be sacrificed  The casa will typically include a place to store ritual paraphernalia, kitchen facilities, and space for visitors to sleep The casa refers not only to the building where ceremonies take place, but also the community of practitioners who meet there  In this sense, many casas trace a lineage back to the 19th century, with some santeros and santeras capable of listing the practitioners who have been initiated into it  In some ceremonies, the names of these individuals, who are regarded as the ancestors of the house, are recited in chronological order 
Although members of different houses often interact, each casa is largely autonomous, allowing for variation in their practices  In Cuba, it is common for Santería practitioners to meet with each other regularly, and to regard each other as being akin to a family: the familia de santo  Conversely, in an area like Veracruz in Mexico, many practitioners attend group rituals and then leave, sometimes never seeing their co-practitioners again Most casas are established by a santero or santera who has attracted a following  An apprentice is known as their ahijado (godson) or ahijada (goddaughter)  They refer to their santero/santera as padrino (godfather) or madrina (godmother)  The relationship between santeros/santeras and their "godchildren" is central to the religion's social organization, and practitioners believe that the more "godchildren" a santera or santero has, the greater their aché  The "godchildren" are expected to contribute both their labor and finances to events held at the casa and in return the santero/santera provides assistance for their needs  Within the religion, offending one's godparent is regarded as also offending the oricha that "rules the head"  Practitioners express respect both to their godparent and the oricha via a ritual prostration, the moforibale, in which they bow their head to the floor  The precise form of the moforibale differs depending on whether the individual's personal oricha is male or female 

Shrines
Altars or shrines to the oricha are typically found both within the igbodu and in practitioners' homes  Central to these altars are sacred objects, termed fundamentos ("fundamentals"), which are contained within porcelain vessels, often tureens, called sopera  The most important of the fundamentos are stones termed otanes (sing  otán), which are regarded as the literal and symbolic representation of the oricha, and thus living entities  They are deemed to be sources of aché, with older otanes having more aché than younger ones Practitioners will collect stones from the landscape and then use divination to determine which ones contain an oricha and, if so, which oricha it is  Specific otanes sometimes display traits linking them to particular oricha; for example ocean stones are linked with Yemaya, river pebbles with Ochún, and meteorite fragments with Changó  Each oricha is deemed to prefer a particular color and number of otanes in sopera devoted to them; Changó has six or ten black stones, Obatala has eight white stones, while Ochún favors five yellow stones  New otanes undergo a bautismo ("baptism") rite, entailing them being washed in osain, a mixture of herbs and water, and then "fed" with animal blood  When an initiate receives their stones, they take an oath to protect them and feed them at least annually 

Other material placed inside the sopera includes cowrie shells; usually 18 are added although the precise number differs depending on which oricha the sopera is devoted to  The sopera will often be covered by a cloth known as a pañuelo that is colored in accordance with the oricha in question  Often laid over the sopera are necklaces known as collares, again representing a particular oricha  On the altar, the sopera will be arranged in a descending hierarchy depending on which oricha each is dedicated to, with that of Obatala at the top Many altars contain few or no anthropomorphic depictions of the oricha, although will often include objects associated with them; a wooden axe for Changó or a fan for Ochún, for instance  Creating these altars is deemed expensive and time-consuming  Material may be selected based on the tastes of the adherent; anthropologists have observed practitioners who have included Taoist figurines or statues of wizards, on their altars  Food and flowers are often placed on the altar as offerings  Although rarely included on their altars, practitioners will often have statues of Roman Catholic saints elsewhere in their homes In addition to their altar to the oricha, many practitioners have altars set aside for the spirits of the dead  These typically consist of a white-covered table known as a bóveda, something derived from the White Table of Spiritism  Bóveda often feature photographs of deceased relatives, to whom offerings are given; popular offerings for the spirits of the dead include seven glasses of water, a cafecito coffee, and the aguardiente liquor  Alternatively, many practitioners of Santería—like those who follow Palo—will have a rinconcito ("little corner"), a small area in which they collect together assorted objects, often those typically found in a household, as a material manifestation of the dead  Offerings to the dead may be placed here  Many practitioners will also enshrine their family ancestors under the bathroom sink  This location is chosen so that the ancestors can travel between the realms of the living and the dead via the water in the pipes 

Offerings and animal sacrifice
Offerings are called ebbó (or ebó), and are given to the oricha, ancestral spirits, to a person's own ori, and sometimes to the earth  These offerings can consist of fruit and other foodstuffs, liquor, flowers, candles, money, or slaughtered animals  Divination is often used to determine the exact nature of the offering; initiates are supposed to provide offerings on a regular basis, and at least once a year  Given to strengthen the supernatural forces, to thank them, or as a supplication, they help form a reciprocal relationship with these entities in the hope of receiving something in return  If this fails to materialise, practitioners may resort to several explanations: that the details of the ritual were incorrect, that the priest or priestess carrying out the rite lacked sufficient aché, or that the wrong ebbó was provided for the situation Conducted by a matador, animal sacrifice is called matanza  It is usually carried out by a man, with menstruating women prohibited from involvement   Birds—including guinea fowl, chickens, and doves—are commonly sacrificed, usually by having their throats slit or their heads twisted and ripped off  For rituals of greater importance, sacrifices are often of four-legged animals  Some practitioners describe the killing of animals as an acceptable substitute to human sacrifice, and in Cuba there have been persistent rumours of children being sacrificed in Santería rites  The oricha and egun are believed to "eat" the blood of the victim; the latter's lifeforce is deemed to transfer to the oricha, thus strengthening its aché  An animal that struggles to avoid being killed is sometimes understood as having particular strength which will then pass to the oricha Once killed, the animals' severed heads may be placed on top of the sopera belonging to the oricha to which the sacrifice has been directed  After the carcass has been butchered, some of the organs—known as acheses—may be cooked and offered to the oricha; other parts will be eaten by practitioners  Some of the blood may be collected and added to omiero, an infusion of herbs and water  Believed to contain much aché, this liquid is used for removing malevolent influences and in ceremonies for baptising ritual tools  Santería's animal sacrifice has been a cause of concern for many non-practitioners  It has sometimes brought adherents into confrontation with the law, as with the 1993 case of Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v  City of Hialeah, in which the U S  Supreme Court ruled that animal cruelty laws targeted specifically at Santería were unconstitutional 

Initiation
Initiation is known as kariocha, "making ocha", or "making santo"  A charge is levied for initiation; this varies depending on the client, but is often equivalent to a year's wage  Each initiation varies in its details, which are often concealed from non-initiates  The initiate is known as an iyabó or iyawó, a term meaning both "slave of the oricha" and "bride of the oricha"  As well as the santero or santera overseeing the initiation ceremony, the event may be attended by an oyubona or oyugbona ("one who witnesses"), who acts as a secondary godparent to the new initiate The initiation process takes seven days, plus two days of preparatory rituals  During this preparation, a misa espiritual ("spiritual mass") will typically take place to gain the blessings of the ancestral egun, and an ebó de entrada ("opening sacrifice") will be made to the oricha or the egun  Next comes the ceremonia del río ("ceremony of the initiate"), in which offerings are given to Ochún, and the rompimiento ("breaking"), in which the oyubona takes the initiate to purify themselves in a river  The rest of the initiation takes place in the igbodu, where the initiate sleeps upon a mat on the floor for the seven days  No one uninvolved in the initiation is permitted entry  The initiate is given their own otanes, as well as objects representing the warrior oricha  They are also given beaded necklaces, known as elekes, ilekes, or collares  Each necklace is a different color associated with a specific deity  During the prendición ("pinning") ritual, a heavy necklace known as the collar de mazo is placed on the initiate  During the lavatorio ("washing"), the initiate's head is bathed in omiero, designed to rid them of any malevolent spirits attached to them  Often, their hair will be shaved off 

On the día del itá ("day of history"), usually the third day, the initiate will undergo the itá, a session with a diviner  The diviner will reveal the initiate's Lucumí ritual name, a praise name of the oricha that rules their head  This name often incorporates elements indicating the initiate's tutelary oricha; devotees of Yemajá for instance usually include omí ("water"), while those of Changó often have obá ("king")  Next comes the asiento ("seating"), or coronación ("coronation"), which marks the point when the aché of the tutelary oricha is believed to literally enter the initiate's cranium  The otanes of several oricha are placed to the initiate's head, culminating in those of their tutelary oricha  An animal sacrifice usually follows, involving at least five four-legged animals and 25 birds  The following day is el Día del Medio ("the middle day"), when guests—including the initiate's family and friends—pay homage to them  It includes drumming and a feast  On the seventh day of the initiation, the new initiate leaves the casa and visits the marketplace, where they make offerings to Eleguá and steal something small, also as an offering to Eleguá The initiate can finally take their otanes home  They may then undergo a year-long period, the iyaworaje ("journey of the iyawo"), during which they must observe certain restrictions, the nature of which depends on their tutelary oricha  This may for instance include abstaining from sexual intercourse, wearing only white, or not cutting their hair  The iyaworaje ends with the ebó del año ceremony  Once this is done, they may lead rituals and help initiate others  Thenceforth, they will celebrate the annual anniversary of their initiation, their cumpleaños de santo ("birthday in the saint")  Although a largely orally-transmitted tradition, santeros and santeras often emphasise teaching in a non-verbal manner, encouraging their initiates to learn through taking part in the ritual activities  Since at least the 20th century, some initiates have kept libretas, notebooks in which they have written down material relevant to the practice of Santería  These may be shared with their own initiates or kept private 

Toque de santo
Santería's main public ritual is a drumming ceremony called the toque de santo, or tambor  Lasting for up to several hours, this is usually seen as an offering to the oricha, performed to gain their favor  The goal of the rhythms and songs is to summon the oricha to earth, at which point they can possess one of the participants  It is believed that the collective energy built up by the group is necessary in achieving this  In turn, the oricha are believed capable of soothing the grieving, healing the sick, blessing the deserving, and rebuking those who have behaved badly The toque de santo uses double-headed drums called batá, which are sometimes regarded as the central symbol of Santería  There are multiple types of batá: the iyá is the largest, the itótele is smaller, and the okónkolo is the smallest  For ceremonial purposes, these drums must be wooden; adding metal elements could offend Changó, who is associated with wooden artefacts, because of their links with his enemy, Ogun  They may however have brass bells associated with Ochún, known as chaworo, affixed to their rim  Before being used in ceremonies, these drums are baptized, after which they are referred to as a tambor de fundamento  This baptism entails washing the drums in omiero, making sacrifices to Osain, and affixing an afoubo, a small leather bag containing items including a parrot feather and glass beads, to the interior of the drum 

Practitioners believe that the consecrated batá contain a substance called añá, itself an avatar of Ochún  Many drummers avoid mentioning the añá in public and may not refer to it by name  Drums which have not been baptised are not viewed as containing añá, and are called tambores judìos ("Jewish drums")  Particular rhythms played on the drums may be associated with a specific oricha, a group of oricha, or all of the oricha  Those playing the batá are called batáleros  Santería drumming is male dominated; women are discouraged from playing the batá during ceremonies, although by the 1990s some women practitioners in the U S  had taken on the role  Practitioners explain the taboo with the view that menstrual blood can weaken the drum's añá, and that women playing these drums during ceremonies become infertile Praise songs are sung for the oricha, with specific songs associated with particular deities  The lead singer at such ceremonies is known as an akpwón  During the opening verse of the song, the akpwón may break into a personal prayer  The akpwón can switch from song to song quickly, with the drummers having to adapt their rhythm accordingly  A chorus of singers will respond to the akpwón, often while swaying back and forth  These choral responses may split into a two or three-part harmony  Dancing also takes place, with each oricha associated with a particular dance style  The dances at the toque de santo are believed to generate aché, strengthening the link between the realms of the oricha and humanity  Dancing either alone or first in front of the drums at the toque de santo is considered a privilege and is usually reserved for the most experienced initiate present  There are specific rules of engagement that are laid out for taking part in the toque de santo; dancing poorly at the ritual is considered an insult to the oricha 

Possession
Possession is important in Santería, and the purpose of the toque de santo is to call down an oricha to possess one of the participants  The possessed individual is referred to as the "horse", with the oricha having "mounted" them  According to practitioners, becoming possessed by an oricha requires an individual giving up their consciousness to the deity, and accordingly they often claim no memory of the events that occurred during the possession  Some have stated that reaching the mental state whereby an individual can become possessed takes much practice  The onset of the trance is marked by body spasms, termed arullarse Once an individual is possessed, they may be taken into an adjacent room where they are dressed in the ritual clothing pertaining to the possessing oricha, after which they are returned to the main room  As well as speaking in the Lucumí language, those possessed may then display gestures associated with a particular oricha; for instance, those believing themselves possessed by Ochún may wipe their skirt over other people, representing the waves of the ocean, while those regarding themselves as being possessed by Eleguá may steal from assembled participants  The possessed individual will then provide healing or dispense advice; sometimes a possessed person will reprimand others present, for instance for failing to carry out their ritual obligations, or issue them a warning  Some practitioners have also reported becoming possessed by an oricha in non-ritual contexts, such as while sleeping or walking through the streets, or during drumming performances carried out for non-religious purposes 

Healing and amuletic practices
Healing is important in Santería, and health problems are the most common reason why people approach a santero or santera for help  When operating as healers, practitioners are sometimes termed curanderos, or osainistas  Particular focuses of Santería healing include skin complaints, gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, sexually transmitted infections, and issues of female reproduction; some practitioners provide concoctions to induce abortion  Santería healers will typically use divination to determine the cause of an ailment before prescribing treatment Santería teaches that supernatural factors cause or exacerbate ailments  It claims that oricha may make someone sick, either as punishment or to encourage them to make a change in their life, often to become an initiate  The oricha must then be propitiated to stop, sometimes with the sick individual receiving initiation  Santería also holds that a spirit of the dead may attach itself to an individual and thus harm them  Adherents also often believe that humans can harm one another through supernatural means, either involuntarily, by giving them the mal de ojo (evil eye), or deliberately, through brujería (witchcraft)  The latter are often perceived as acting out of envy, utilising cursing techniques from Palo, for which they have employed material, such as hair or nail clippings, taken from their victim Herbalism is a major component of Santería healing practices, with healing plants, termed egwe, having an important role in the religion  Practitioners believe that each species of plant has its own aché which holds healing power; medicinal plants are deemed more powerful if harvested from the wild rather than being cultivated, for the latter can lack aché  Adherents often believe that different types of plant have different temperaments and personalities; some are shy or easily frightened and thus need to be approached with the appropriate etiquette 

To heal a patient, the santero/santera may also prescribe omiero, give them a cleansing bath, or provide them with a collares necklace  They may perform a ritual to transfer the sickness to an animal, sacrifice an animal to a specific oricha to request healing, or encourage an oricha to possess the sick individual and thus heal them  Different oricha are linked to the healing of specific ailments; Ochún is for instance usually requested when dealing with genital problems  People who are sick may undergo the rogación de la cabeza ("blessing of the head"), in which coconut water and cotton are applied to the head to feed the orí  Many practitioners will also encourage their clients to seek mainstream medical assistance, either from doctors or psychotherapists, with Santería healing seen as complementary to medical science Santería features protective talismans known as resguardos  These are created using herbs and blood and produced while in contact with the otanes  Resguardos are often given to small children, who are deemed particularly vulnerable to sorcery  Charms and amulets are also used as a general prophylaxis against illness; one example are ears of corn that are wrapped in purple ribbon and placed behind a doorway  Other rituals are designed to protect against sorcery, as for instance with the scattering of petals of the gálan de día in the house or the placement of okra by the door  In Cuba, protective rituals from Santería have often been invoked in hospitals to prevent the cambio de vida ("life switch"), a practice by which the ailments of a sick person are believed to be transferred to another individual, often without the latter's knowledge 

Divination
Divination is a central aspect of Santería, taking place before all major rites and being utilized by adherents at critical moments of their life  Three main divinatory techniques are employed: obi, dilogún, and Ifá  Highly skilled diviners are known as an oríate or italero/italera (male and female), and sometimes work in this role fulltime 

Clients approach these diviners for a divinatory consulta (consultation), usually to ask for advice about their health, family problems, or legal issues, and in doing so will pay the diviner a fee, the derecho  Attending a divination ritual in this way is commonly the first time that an individual encounters Santería so directly  During the session, offerings will be given to an overseeing oricha; the diviner will then cast small objects onto a board or table and interpret the way in which they fall  The diviner asks the client questions and seeks to answer them by making multiple throws  The diviner will ultimately determine which oricha will assist the client in dealing with their problems and outline what sacrifices will be appropriate to secure the aid of said oricha Obi, also known as biagué, involves the casting of four pieces of a dried coconut shell, with the manner in which they fall being used to answer a question  Any practitioner can utilise this technique, which is also used in Palo  Dilogún entails the casting of cowrie shells, and is considered more complex in that it requires a knowledge of the patakie stories  Dilogún typically involves a set of 21 cowrie shells, filed flat on their round side; these are fed with both omiero and blood  Like obi, dilogún is generally seen as being open to all practitioners of Santería, although some groups reserve it for postmenopausal women Ifá is the most complex and prestigious divinatory system used in the religion  It typically involves the casting of consecrated palm nuts to answer a question, with the nuts offering 256 possible configurations  Although Ifá also has a separate existence from Santería, the two are closely linked, sharing the same mythology and conception of the universe; the oricha of Ifá, Orula or Ọ̀rúnmila, has a prominent place within Santería  High priests of Ifá are known as babalawos and although their presence is not essential to Santería ceremonies, they often attend in their capacity as diviners  Many santeros are also babalawos, although it is not uncommon for babalawos to perceive themselves as being superior to most santeros  Unlike the more open policy for Santería initiates, only heterosexual men are traditionally allowed to become babalawos, although some babalawos are gay men, and since the 21st century a small number of women have also been initiated 

Funerals and mediumship
Funeral rites, called itulu, are designed to appease the soul of the deceased  As part of this, a funeral mass is held in a Roman Catholic church nine days after the individual has died to ensure that their soul successfully travels to the realm of the spirits  A year of additional rites for the dead individual follow, a period ended with the levantamiento de platos, the breaking of a dish, to symbolise the deceased's final departure from the realm of the living As well as having been influenced by Spiritism, Santería is often intertwined with Espiritismo, a Puerto Rican tradition focused on contacting the dead; this is particularly the case in areas such as New York and New Jersey  Sometimes the word "Santerismo" is used to refer to a blend between the two traditions  Various santeros or santeras are believed capable of communicating with spirits; seances conducted for this purpose are called misas espirituales ("spiritual masses") and are led by mortevas ("deaders") who are usually women  During these rituals, the medium may be possessed by a spirit of the dead, who then engages in healing practices or offers advice and warnings to those assembled  Adopted from Espiritismo, they are often included in initiation and funerary rites  An additional ritual found in Santería is the tambor para egún, a drum ceremony for the spirits of the dead Some practitioners whose approach to Santería is influenced by Espiritismo also create cloth dolls for deceased family members and spirit guides  The spirit is believed to enter and inhabit the doll, with some practitioners stating that they can see the inhabiting spirit  Sometimes the doll's clothing is changed to please the spirit, while offerings, such as glasses of water or fruit, are placed before them  These spirit dolls may also be passed down through the generations within a family 

History
Background
After the Spanish Empire conquered Cuba, the island's Arawak and Ciboney populations dramatically declined  To provide a new labor source for the sugar, tobacco, and coffee plantations they had established on Cuba, the Spanish then turned to buying slaves sold at West African ports  Slavery was widespread in West Africa; most slaves were prisoners of war captured in conflicts with neighbouring groups, although some were convicted criminals  The first enslaved Africans arrived in Cuba in 1511, although the largest numbers came in the 19th century  Cuba continued to receive new slaves until at least 1860, with full emancipation occurring in 1886  In total, between 702,000 and 1 million enslaved Africans were brought to Cuba  Most came from a stretch of Western Africa between the modern nation-states of Guinea and Angola  The great plurality were Yoruba, from the area encompassed by modern Nigeria and Benin; the Yoruba had a shared language and culture but were divided among different states  They largely adhered to Yoruba traditional religion, which incorporated many local orisha cults although with certain orisha worshipped widely due to the extent of the Yoruba-led Oyo Empire In Cuba, slaves were divided into groups termed naciones (nations), often based on their port of embarkation rather than their own ethno-cultural background; those who were Yoruba speakers, as well as Arara and Ibo people, were identified as the "Lucumí nation"  Enslaved West Africans brought their traditional religions with them to Cuba; some were from the priestly class and possessed knowledge of traditions such as Ifá  While hundreds of orisha were worshipped across West Africa, fewer than twenty became prominent in Santería, perhaps because many kin-based orisha cults were lost when traditional kinship networks were destroyed through enslavement  Orisha associated with agriculture were abandoned, probably because slaves had little reason to protect the harvests of slave-owners  Many myths associated with the oricha were transformed, creating kinship relationships between different oricha which were not present in West African mythologies  As Santería formed, separate West African orisha cults were reconstituted into a single religious system, one which had a newly standardized pantheon of oricha In Spanish Cuba, Roman Catholicism was the only religion that could be practiced legally  Cuba's Roman Catholic Church made efforts to convert the enslaved Africans, but the instruction in Roman Catholicism provided to the latter was typically perfunctory and sporadic  In Cuba, traditional African deities perhaps continued to be venerated within clubs and fraternal organizations made up of African migrants and their descendants  The most important of these were the cabildos de nación, associations that the establishment regarded as a means of controlling the Afro-Cuban population  These operated as mutual aid societies and organized communal feasts, dances, and carnivals  The Catholic Church saw these groups as a method for gradual evangelisation, through which they tolerated the practice of some African customs while stamping out those they most fiercely objected to  It is probable that in these groups, priests of different West African orisha interacted and began to develop a new system  In the late 18th and early 19th century new laws restricted the cabildos' activities, although their membership expanded in the 19th century 
The final decades of the 19th century also saw a growing interest in Spiritism, a religion based on the ideas of the French writer Allan Kardec, which in Cuba proved particularly popular among the white peasantry, the Creole class, and the small urban middle class  Ideas from Spiritism increasingly filtered into and influenced Santería 

Formation and early history
The earliest casas teaching Santería emerged in urban parts of western Cuba during the late 19th century  As a trained priesthood emerged, they ensured a level of standardisation among new initiates  Although it drew on older West African cults, Santeria was, as described by Clark, "a new religious system"  Urban-to-rural migration then spread Santería elsewhere in Cuba, and in the 1930s it probably arrived in Cuba's second largest city, Santiago de Cuba, which lies at the eastern end of the island Following the Cuban War of Independence, the island became an independent republic in 1898  In the republic, Afro-Cubans remained largely excluded from economic and political power, and negative stereotypes about them remained pervasive throughout the Euro-Cuban population  Afro-Cuban religious practices were often referred to as brujería (witchcraft) and thought to be connected to criminality  Although the republic's new constitution enshrined freedom of religion and Santería was never legislated against, throughout the first half of the 20th century various campaigns were launched against it  These were often encouraged by the press, who promoted allegations that white children were being abducted and murdered in Santería rituals; this reached a fever pitch in 1904 after two white children were murdered in Havana in cases that investigators speculated were linked to brujería One of the first intellectuals to examine Santería was the lawyer and ethnographer Fernando Ortiz, who discussed it in his 1906 book Los negros brujos (The Black Witchdoctors)  He saw it as a barrier to the social integration of Afro-Cubans into broader Cuban society and recommended its suppression  In the 1920s, there were efforts to incorporate elements of Afro-Cuban culture into a wider understanding of Cuban culture, such as through the Afrocubanismo literary and artistic movement  These often drew upon Afro-Cuban music, dance, and mythology, but typically rejected Santería rituals themselves  In 1942, Rómula Lachatañeré's Manuel de santería was published, representing the first scholarly attempt to understand Santería as a religion; in contrast to Ortiz, he maintained that the tradition should be seen as a religious system as opposed to a form of witchcraft  Lachatañeré was instrumental in promoting the term Santería in reference to the phenomenon, deeming it a more neutral description than the pejorative-laden terms such as brujería then in common use 

After the Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution of 1959 resulted in the island becoming a Marxist–Leninist state governed by Fidel Castro's Communist Party of Cuba  Committed to state atheism, Castro's government took a negative view of Santería  Practitioners experienced police harassment, were denied membership of the Communist Party, and faced limited employment opportunities  They required police permission to perform rituals, which was sometimes denied  The state nevertheless promoted art forms associated with Santería in the hope of using them to promote a unified Cuban identity  While espousing anti-racism, Castro's government viewed the promotion of a separate Afro-Cuban identity as counter-revolutionary Following the Soviet Union's collapse in the 1990s, Castro's government declared that Cuba was entering a "Special Period" in which new economic measures would be necessary  As part of this, it selectively supported Afro-Cuban and Santería traditions, partly out of a desire to boost tourism; this Santería-focused tourism was called santurismo  Priests of Santería, Palo, and Ifá all took part in government-sponsored tours for foreigners desiring initiation into such traditions, while Afro-Cuban floor shows became common in Cuban hotels  In 1991, the Communist Party approved the admission of religious members, and in 1992 the constitution was amended to declare Cuba a secular rather than an atheist state  This liberalisation allowed Santería to leave behind its marginalisation, and during the 1990s it began to be practiced more openly 

The second half of the 20th century saw a growing awareness of Santería's links with other orisha-worshipping religions in West Africa and the Americas  These transnational links were reinforced when the Ooni of Ife Olubuse II, a prominent Yoruba political and religious leader, visited Cuba in 1987  Cuba's government permitted the formation of the Yoruba Cultural Association, a non-governmental organization, in the early 1990s, while various practitioners of Santería visited Nigeria to study traditional Yoruba religion  A yorubización (Yorubization) process emerged, with attempts made to remove Roman Catholic elements from Santería; this process was criticised by those who saw Santería's syncretism as a positive trait The Cuban Revolution fuelled Cuban emigration, especially to the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela  With an increased Cuban presence in the U S , Santería grew in many U S  cities, being embraced by Latino Americans as well as European Americans and African Americans  Some African Americans regarded it as an authentically African religion, especially when purged of Roman Catholic elements, sometimes perceiving it as a religious wing of the Black Power movement  A prominent exponent of this approach was the black nationalist activist Walter King  After being initiated in Cuba, he established a temple in Harlem before relocating with his followers in 1970 to a community in Sheldon, South Carolina, that they called the Yoruba Village of Oyotunji  Having a strained relationship with many other santeros and santeras, who accused him of racism, King gradually came to call his tradition "Orisha-Voodoo" rather than Santería  In the U S , Santería, along with Haitian Vodou, also proved an influence on the revival of Louisiana Voodoo in the late 20th century  One of the most prominent figures in this revival, Ava Kay Jones, had previously been involved in King's Orisha-Voodoo 

Demographics
The scholars of religion Anibal Argüelles Mederos and Ileana Hodge Limonta estimated that in the early 21st century around 8% of Cubans were initiates of Santería, which would amount to between 800,000 and 900,000 people  There are a greater number of people who are not initiates but turn to santeros and santeras for assistance on practical matters  In 1991, the Cuban anthropologist López Valdés suggested that about 90 percent of Cuba's population practiced some form of religion and that of that 90 percent, a greater number practiced one of the Afro-Cuban religions than "pure Catholicism"  In 2004, Wedel suggested that practitioners of Santería "greatly outnumber" those who practiced Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Judaism in Cuba Although also found in rural areas, in Cuba Santería has always been a primarily urban phenomenon, predominating in the north-west provinces of La Habana and Matanzas  While it has both Afro-Cuban and Euro-Cuban followers, Wedel noted that in the 1990s Santería was "more common in working-class, low-income neighborhoods dominated by Afro-Cubans " Wedel believed that men and women practice in roughly equal numbers  Some practitioners grow up in Santería as the children of initiates, although others only approach the religion as adults  While it accepts new followers, Santería is a non-proselytizing religion Emigration has spread Santería across most of Latin America and also to the United States and Europe  In Mexico, it established a particular presence in Veracruz and Mexico City, in Canada it centred in Toronto, while in Europe casas have been formed in Spain and Germany  Santería was present in the U S  by the 1940s, increasing its presence following the Cuban Revolution  Clustering in Florida, California, New Jersey, and New York, it attracted converts from varied ethnic backgrounds  U S  casas vary in their ethnic makeup, often reflecting broader racial divisions in U S  society  Based on his ethnographic work in New York City during the 1980s, Samuel Gregory noted that there Santería was not a "religion of the poor", but contained a disproportionately high percentage of middle-class people such as teachers, social workers, and artists  The American Religious Identification Survey of 2001 estimated that there were then approximately 22,000 practitioners in the U S , although in the mid-1990s the scholar Joseph Murphy suggested that hundreds of thousands of people in the country had engaged with Santería in some form, often as clients 

Reception
By the late 1980s, Santería had received considerable interest from established Christian churches, health professionals, and social scientists  Some initiates mistrusted academics and were thus either vague or deliberately misleading in their answers to the latter's questions, although the 1990s saw non-Cuban ethnographers seeking initiation into the religion, thus blurring the distinction between practitioner and anthropological observer  The religion was also explored in other media; the Cuban filmmaker Gloria Rolando released the film Oggún in 1992  Various songs have referenced Santería and its oricha; the Cuban American singer Celia Cruz for example recorded a version of "Que viva Chango" ("Long Live Chango"), while a Cuban band called themselves Los Orichas  Santería's influence can also be seen in the names of the Cuban liquor Santero and the state-owned machete factory Ogún Christian views of Santería have been largely negative, and in Cuba, it has faced much opposition from the Roman Catholic clerical establishment over the centuries  Many Cuban intellectuals and academics also take a dim view of Santería  Opposition to the religion is also evident outside Cuba  When the International Afro-Caribbean Festival in Veracruz was launched in 1994, it showcased art and ritual by Mexican santeros/santeras, although this brought public protests from Roman Catholic organizations, who regarded such rites as Satanic, and animal welfare groups, who deemed the sacrifices to be inhumane  The festival's organizers yielded to the pressure, cutting the Santería elements of the festival by 1998  Pervasive stereotypes link Santería to criminal activity, and its rituals for self-protection have been adopted by various groups involved in narcotics trafficking within the U S  Santeros and santeras are often accused of financially exploiting their initiates and clients—an accusation sometimes made by other practitioners of Santería itself  Various practitioners have also found that their involvement in Santería has strained their relationship with spouses or other family members who are not involved, and in some cases adherents have abandoned Santería to join other religious movements such as Pentecostalism 
Passage 3:
Fezara people
Fezara is an ethnic group of Sudan, who emigrated from Arabia to Egypt, and then to Sudan  The number of persons in this ethnic group is about 200,000  Most members of this ethnic group are Muslims  This ethnic group speaks Sudanese Arabic 
Passage 4:
Migene González-Wippler
Migene González-Wippler is a Puerto Rican new-age author and a leading expert on the Afro-Caribbean religion of Santería 

Education
González-Wippler was born in Puerto Rico and has degrees in psychology and anthropology from the University of Puerto Rico, and from Columbia University, from where she earned a Ph D  in cultural anthropology 

Career
In addition to her solid background in social sciences she has also worked as a science editor for the Interscience Division of John Wiley, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Museum of Natural History, and as an English editor for the United Nations in Vienna, where she resided for many years    She is a cultural anthropologist and lectures frequently at universities and other educational institutions    She writes about Santeria-its practices, beliefs and organization 

Bibliography
El libro completo de magia, hechizos, y ceremonias
El libro de las sombras
Keys to the Kingdom: Jesus & the Mystic Kabbalah
Book of Shadows
The Complete Book of Amulets & Talismans
Luna, Luna: Magia, poder y seducción
La Magia de las piedras y los cristales
Sueños: Lo que significan para usted
Amuletos y Talismanes
La magia y tú
What Happens After Death: Scientific & Personal Evidence for Survival
Santería: La Religión
Dreams and What They Mean to You
The Complete Book of Spells, Ceremonies & Magic
Las llaves del reino: Jesús y la cábala cristiana
Kabbalah For The Modern World
Angelorum: El libro de los ángeles
Santería: mis experiencias en la Religión
Peregrinaje: la vida después de la muerte
 Santería: the Religion: Faith, Rites, Magic, Llewellyn Publications: 2002 ISBN 9781567183290
Cabala para el mundo moderno
 Powers of the Orishas: Santeria and The Worship of Saints



ground_truth: Wicked Twister

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Migene González-Wippler is leading expert on a religion that developed among which ethnic group ?

The following are given passages.
Context 4: Passage 1:
WLLZ-LP
WXII-LD (channel 12) is a low-power television station in Cedar, Michigan, United States, serving the Traverse City–Cadillac area with programming from MyNetworkTV and Cozi TV  Owned by Bridge Media Networks, it is sister to Lake City-licensed NewsNet flagship WMNN-LD (channel 26)  Both stations share studios on West 13th Street in Cadillac, while WXII-LD's transmitter is located west of downtown Traverse City near Harris and Cedar Run roads 
Despite having a digital signal of its own, WXII-LD is only 1 5 kW whereas WMNN-LD is 15 kW, so WXII-LD is simulcast over WMNN-LD's fifth digital subchannel (UHF channel 17 5 or virtual channel 26 5) to expand its over-the-air reach 

History
On December 12, 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a construction permit for a low-power television station on UHF channel 51 in Pinconning, Michigan with the call sign W51CS  In 2001, the permit was moved to VHF channel 12 in Traverse City under call letters W12CX  In 2003, the call letters were changed to WLLZ-LP  From 1980 to 1996, the WLLZ calls were used by an album oriented rock FM radio station broadcasting on 98 7 in the Detroit area, nicknamed "Detroit's Wheelz" (later Smooth Jazz WVMV "V98 7" and now top-40 "AMP Radio" WDZH)  After the FM station dropped the call letters, they were used for several years on an AM station in the market, and were picked up by Channel 12 after the AM station dropped them in 2003  WLLZ's owner at the time, P & P Cable Holdings, is known for picking up calls discarded by other Michigan radio and television stations for use on their own stations 
WLLZ-LP signed on in January 2004 as an affiliate of Urban America Television  It added America One programming to its schedule in Summer 2004  WLLZ became a full affiliate of the network in May 2006 when Urban America Television ceased operations 

In June 2008, the station was added to Charter digital channel 202 throughout the northern Lower Peninsula  It moved to the basic tier on channel 72 in December 2008 and has now moved to channel 11 in 18 counties on Charter cable  Also in December 2008, WLLZ became a primary affiliate of MyNetworkTV; the station was then branded as "My TV 12"  Until then, there was no local affiliate in the northern Michigan market 
On May 15, 2009, WLLZ discontinued an affiliation with The Sportsman Channel (which was phasing out its over-the-air affiliations) and added RTV, with America One programming significantly reduced (though not eliminated)  Previously from 2007 until 2008, NBC affiliate WPBN-TV (channel 7) carried RTV on a second digital subchannel  This was dropped in favor of a simulcast of ABC affiliate WGTU (channel 29)  Due to its low-powered status, WLLZ was exempt from switching to digital-only broadcasting on June 12, 2009 
The station discontinued their affiliation with America One in 2015, when it merged with Youtoo TV into Youtoo America, allowing a contractual out of that agreement  With the start of the 2015–16 season, WLLZ has wound down carrying nearly all of their syndicated programming, with Cozi TV being carried most of the day and MyNetworkTV in prime time 
On November 1, 2017, the FCC approved the sale of WLLZ-LP to Freelancer Television Broadcasting, Inc  On December 4, 2017, the sale to Freelancer Television Broadcasting was completed, making it a sister station to WMNN-LD; the station then modified its branding to "MI TV 12"  It changed its call sign to WXII-LP on December 21, 2017 On April 23, 2019, the FCC granted WXII-LP a construction permit to operate a digital companion channel on UHF channel 30  In the meantime, digital over-the-air access to this station had been being provided through a simulcast over a digital subchannel of co-owned station WMNN-LD; that simulcast continued post-transition to improve this station's over-the-air reach and also to feed local cable systems  On September 14, 2021, WXII-LP commenced digital operations and the FCC changed this station's call sign to WXII-LD to reflect this station's new digital operations  Concurrent with the launch of this station's digital operations, an uninterrupted national feed of the NewsNet service, absent of any locally-produced content, was added as a second subchannel On January 13, 2022, Freelancer Television Broadcasting's portfolio, including NewsNet, WMNN-LD, and WXII-LD, were sold to investor Manoj Bhargava, with Eric Wotila retaining 10% ownership in the new company Bridge News, LLC  Under the terms of the deal, Bridge News would operate the stations via a time brokerage agreement with Freelancer Television Broadcasting  The sale was consummated on March 24 

News programming
Until May 2009, WLLZ aired INN National News, a newscast produced by Independent News Network in Davenport, Iowa from America One  It also carried a video simulcast of an hour of radio station WMKT's morning show hosted by Greg Marshall  The simulcast was discontinued in early 2011 
In late 2017, following the station's callsign switch to WXII-LP, sister station WMNN-LD began producing 90-second news updates for channel 12 that aired during prime time over the first commercial break aired each hour  News programming expanded in March 2018, when WMNN-LD began producing hour-long 7:00 and 11:00 p m  newscasts for the station each weeknight  The early newscast competes against a half-hour newscast produced by CBS affiliate WWTV (channel 9) that airs on Fox affiliate WFQX-TV (channel 32), while the 11:00 p m  competes against longer-established late night newscasts on WWTV (and its Sault Ste  Marie satellite WWUP, channel 10), and WPBN-TV (and its Cheboygan satellite WTOM-TV, channel 4) as well as a pre-recorded broadcast on the latter's sister ABC affiliate, WGTU (and Sault Ste  Marie satellite WGTQ, channel 8) 

Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Passage 2:
White House, Tennessee
White House is a city in Robertson and Sumner counties in the United States state of Tennessee  The population was listed as 12,982 in the 2020 census  It is approximately twenty-two miles north of downtown Nashville 

History
Settlers
The area that is now White House was purchased around 1828 by Richard Stone Wilks, a settler from Virginia   A trail running from Kentucky to Nashville, originally created by Native Americans, cut through the area   This trail was originally known as the Louisville & Nashville Turnpike during the mid-19th century   In 1928, the trail was renamed US Highway 31W 

Naming the town
In the mid-19th century, the Carter, Thomas, and Hough Stagecoach Company traveled the L&N Turnpike carrying passengers  A typical stop along the way was a white, two-story house built by Wilks in 1829  The house was a popular stop for lodging, food, and changing out horses  President Andrew Jackson was even heard to have stayed here during his travels between his home and the White House   During this time, houses were rarely painted white, particularly in this underdeveloped area  The stage coach drivers began to call this stop and the surrounding area White House 

Original White House torn down, building replaced
The monument for which the town was named was torn down in 1951 to make way for new development   However, in 1986, the community erected a replica of the original building   The reproduction, called the White House Inn Library and Museum, currently sits in the center of town next to the Fire Department   It contains the library, a museum with artifacts from the area's early years, and the city's Chamber of Commerce  In 2015, the replica White House Inn Library and Museum was turned solely into a museum and Chamber of Commerce after the city built a new library 

Growth and development
White House was incorporated in 1971  Currently, the young town is experiencing population growth, economic progress, and community development, with many apartment projects and subdivisions planned for the area  There are over 800 homes planned for the area, and at least 5 apartment subdivisions are planned for the city  The city is located north of Nashville within the greater Nashville region, and is anticipated to grow rapidly in the future as a suburb of Nashville 

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9 0 square miles (23 2 km2), all land 
White House is located along Interstate 65 at the intersection of State Highway 76 and US Highway 31W  The town, as of 2007, covers eleven square miles and is situated about 22 miles (35 km) north of downtown Nashville, lying in both Robertson and Sumner Counties 

Climate
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 12,982 people, 4,345 households, and 3,512 families residing in the city 

2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,220 people, 2,497 households, and 2,060 families residing in the city  The population density was 805 3 inhabitants per square mile (310 9/km2)  There were 2,578 housing units at an average density of 287 5 per square mile (111 0/km2)  The racial makeup of the city was 97 35% White, 1 33% African American, 0 25% Native American, 0 35% Asian, 0 30% from other races, and 0 42% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1 02% of the population 
There were 2,497 households, out of which 48 8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71 0% were married couples living together, 8 4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17 5% were non-families  15 4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older  The average household size was 2 89 and the average family size was 3 22 
In the city, the population was spread out, with 31 7% under the age of 18, 6 6% from 18 to 24, 37 8% from 25 to 44, 17 6% from 45 to 64, and 6 3% who were 65 years of age or older  The median age was 32 years  For every 100 females, there were 99 6 males  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93 8 males 
The median income for a household in the city was $51,649, and the median income for a family was $55,731  Males had a median income of $38,448 versus $26,216 for females  The per capita income for the city was $19,890  About 2 3% of families and 3 3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2 6% of those under age 18 and 9 0% of those age 65 or over 

Government
White house was incorporated under the Mayor and Aldermanic charter in 1971  The town's current mayor is John Corbitt 

Notable People
Mason Jones

Education
Public schools
The city is split into two counties, and therefore has two public school districts 
Sumner County public schools:

Harold B  Williams Elementary School (K-4)
White House Middle School (5-8)
White House High School (9-12)Robertson County public schools:

Robert F  Woodall Elementary School (K-2)
White House Heritage Elementary School (3-6)
White House Heritage High School (7-12)

Private schools
Christian Community Schools (CCS)
Dayspring Academy (DSA)
Passage 3:
Kokomo, Indiana metropolitan area
The Kokomo Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of Howard county in Indiana, anchored by the city of Kokomo  As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 101,541 (though a July 1, 2009 estimate placed the population at 98,787)  The official 2013 population estimate for the metro area is 82,760 people are in the Kokomo metropolitan area  The MSA formerly included Tipton County, Indiana  Kokomo is also the principal city of the area known as North Central Indiana, the area around Kokomo with economic ties   The six county area including Cass, Clinton, Fulton, Howard, Miami, and Tipton counties had population of 228,331 people in 2010 

Counties
Howard
Tipton (no longer included)

Communities
Incorporated places
Cities
Elwood (partial)
Kokomo (Principal city)
Tipton (no longer included)
Towns
Greentown
Kempton
Russiaville
Sharpsville
Windfall

Census-designated places
Note: All census-designated places are unincorporated 

Indian Heights (annexed to city of Kokomo in 2012)

Unincorporated places
Townships
Howard County
Tipton County
Cicero
Jefferson
Liberty
Madison
Prairie
Wildcat

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 101,541 people, 41,269 households, and 28,307 families residing within the MSA  The racial makeup of the MSA was 91 13% White, 5 50% African American, 0 33% Native American, 0 90% Asian, 0 02% Pacific Islander, 0 76% from other races, and 1 36% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1 88% of the population 
The median income for a household in the MSA was $46,017, and the median income for a family was $54,566  Males had a median income of $42,938 versus $25,814 for females  The per capita income for the MSA was $21,988 

Combined Statistical Area
The Kokomo–Peru Combined Statistical Area (CSA) is made up of three counties in Indiana  The statistical area includes one metropolitan area and one micropolitan area  As of the 2000 Census, the CSA had a population of 137,623 (though a July 1, 2009 estimate placed the population at 134,788)  A 2013 population estimate placed the combined statistical area at 118,900 however, which again, further leads to the idea that the Kokomo Metropolitan area now only includes Howard County 

Components
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
Kokomo (Howard and Tipton counties)
Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSA)
Peru (Miami County)

See also
Indiana census statistical areas
Passage 4:
Salt Lake City metropolitan area
The Salt Lake City metropolitan area is the metropolitan area centered on the city of Salt Lake City, Utah  The Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau currently define the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area as comprising two counties: Salt Lake and Tooele  As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 1,257,936  The Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area and the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Area were a single metropolitan area known as the Salt Lake City-Ogden Metropolitan Area until being separated in 2005 The metropolitan area is part of the Salt Lake City–Provo–Ogden, UT Combined Statistical Area, which also includes the Ogden–Clearfield metropolitan area, the Provo–Orem metropolitan area, and the Heber City, Utah micropolitan area  As of the 2020 census, this CSA had a population of 2,701,129, comprising 82 6 percent of Utah's then 3,271,616 residents 

Counties
Salt Lake
Tooele

Communities
Incorporated places
Unincorporated places
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 968,858 people, 318,150 households, and 231,606 families residing within the MSA  The racial makeup of the MSA was 86 63% White, 1 04% African American, 0 90% Native American, 2 43% Asian, 1 15% Pacific Islander, 5 33% from other races, and 2 53% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11 71% of the population 
The median income for a household in the MSA was $53,036, and the median income for a family was $59,139  Males had a median income of $40,683 versus $26,302 for females  The per capita income for the MSA was $23,426 

Combined Statistical Area
The Salt Lake City–Provo–Ogden Combined Statistical Area is made up of ten counties in northern Utah  The statistical area includes three metropolitan areas and one micropolitan area 

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
Salt Lake City MSA (Salt Lake and Tooele counties)
Ogden–Clearfield MSA (Box Elder, Davis, Morgan, and Weber counties)
Provo–Orem MSA (Juab and Utah counties)
Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSAs)
Heber City (Summit and Wasatch counties)

See also
Utah census statistical areas
Wasatch Front
Passage 5:
Mount Kaukau
Mount Kaukau (Māori: [kaʉkaʉ]) is a large hill in the northern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand near Johnsonville, Khandallah and Ngaio   The summit is 445 metres above sea level and is the most visible high point in the Wellington landscape further accentuated by Wellington's main television transmitter mast, which stands 122m from the summit  The city, harbour and the Remutaka and Tararua Ranges can be seen from the summit  On a clear day Mt  Tapuae-o-Uenuku and the Kaikoura Ranges in the South Island may be seen, whilst northwest is the Porirua Basin and the Tasman Sea 

Name
The hill's original name Tarikākā means 'where the parrots rested' and is shared with the nearby settlement in Ngaio at the base of the mountain  Before the clearing of the native totara forest on the slopes and general area, the native parrot kākā was common through the city  Over a hundred years later today, the population of kākā has begun to regenerate thanks mostly to the efforts at Zealandia, and are becoming a more regular sight throughout the city and in the rejuvenating native forest on the slopes of Mount Kaukau 

Slopes and surrounding area
Much of the eastern 'city side' slopes of Mount Kaukau make up Khandallah Park, which is one of the oldest parks in New Zealand, established in 1888 and then registered as a domain in 1909  Khandallah Park has more than 60 hectares of native forest  Native birds such as the kererū, tūī and New Zealand fantail are common sights when walking through the native forest  Stumps of the old totara trees can also be seen walking through the first lower parts of the forest  In mid 2017 an old bunker off Woodmancote Road, at the base of Mount Kaukau, was rediscovered after it had been sealed off and forgotten many years previously  The bunker in an 'H' shape, had been built for Royal New Zealand Signals Corps in 1942  Due to poor construction the bunker was very leaky and was never used  Mount Kaukau forms part of the Northern Skyline track from Johnsonville to Karori and Makara 

Recreation
Khandallah Park has 9 kilometres of walking tracks allowing access to the peak of Mt Kaukau from Khandallah, Johnsonville, Ngaio and Crofton Downs  Some tracks are also open to mountain biking and e-biking 

Transmitter
The 122-metre Mount Kaukau television transmitter was built in 1965 to transmit television channel WNTV1 offering improved coverage over the channel's previous transmitter at Mount Victoria  Today it is the main television and FM radio transmitter for the Wellington metropolitan area 
In May 2022, Kordia removed the top 18 metres of the aerial, as the section was redundant following the end of analogue television broadcast 

Transmission frequencies
The following table contains television and radio frequencies currently operating at Mount Kaukau:

Former analogue television frequencies
The following frequencies were used until 29 September 2013, when Kaukau switched off analogue broadcasts (see Digital changeover dates in New Zealand) 

Kaukau Challenge
Every year Khandallah School, which is at the base of Mount Kaukau, organises a fun walk / fun run from the school to the summit and back, called the Kaukau Challenge  The Kaukau Challenge has been an annual event since 2006 with about 500 people taking part each year 

Snowfall of 2011
In mid-August 2011, two Wellington men, Nick Fone and Daniel McFadyen claimed to be the first people to ski and snowboard down Mount Kaukau when they took advantage of the unusual weather pattern delivering snow to most parts of the North Island  As Wellington has a temperate climate, snow down to near sea level is extremely rare, happening less often than once every 15 years 
Passage 6:
Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City ( TRAV-ərs) is a city in the U S  state of Michigan  It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County  It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region  The population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, with 153,448 in the four-county Traverse City micropolitan area  Traverse City is also the second-largest city in Michigan north of the Tri-Cities, behind Marquette 
Traverse City is located at the head of the East and West arms of Grand Traverse Bay, a 32-mile-long (51 km) bay of Lake Michigan  Grand Traverse Bay is divided into arms by the 17-mile-long (27 km) Old Mission Peninsula, which is attached at its base to Traverse City  The city borders four townships–East Bay, Elmwood, Garfield, and Peninsula–all of which contain substantial suburban sprawl 

Traverse City is well-known for being a cherry production hotspot, as the area was  the largest producer of tart cherries in the United States in 2010  The city hosts the National Cherry Festival, attracting approximately 500,000 visitors annually  The area is also known for its viticulture industry, and is one of the centers of wine production in the Midwest  The city is home to a redeveloped psychiatric hospital and an active Coast Guard air base  Traverse City is located near the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, as well as a number of freshwater beaches, downhill skiing areas, and numerous forests  For these reasons, Traverse City is a year-round tourism hotspot, winning multiple accolades and awards  Traverse City has also been noted as one of Michigan's top LGBT-friendly locations 

History
19th century
American Indians
The Traverse City area is home to the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi people  They lived through the European colonization and the establishment of the Northwest Territory  These people groups inhabited the area surrounding the Great Lakes, including Michigan  The Traverse City area was known to Natives as gichi-wiikwedoongsing (Ojibwe: 'at the head of the great bay'), which was often anglicized to Wequetong  This settlement was located near the current-day mouth of the Boardman River, then known as adaawewiziibi (Ojibwe: 'river of trade'), however Wequetong was abandoned upon the advent of European settlement to the region 

European-American settlement
After the colonists came in, they discovered the Grand Traverse Bay  The bay earned its name from 18th-century French voyageurs who made la grande traverse, or "the long crossing", across the mouth of bay, from present-day Norwood to Northport  The area was owned by the French, followed by Great Britain as the Province of Quebec  After 1776, the area was owned by the Americans  On the Old Mission Peninsula, Rev  Peter Doughtery established the first permanent settlement in 1839  This was called "Grand Traverse", and is today known as Old Mission In 1847, Captain Horace Boardman of Naperville, Illinois, purchased the land at the mouth of the Boardman River (then known as the Ottawa River) at the head of the west arm of the bay, which at the time was still inhabited by Native Americans  In 1847, the captain, his son, and their employees built a dwelling and sawmill near the mouth of the river  In 1851 the Boardmans sold the sawmill to Hannah, Lay & Co (made up of Perry Hannah, Albert Tracy Lay and James Morgan), who improved the mill greatly  The increased investment in the mill attracted additional settlers to the new community  Perry Hannah today is known as the founding father of Traverse City 
Traverse City was originally part of Omeena County, which was originally set off in 1840 from Michilimackinac County  The county remained unorganized, lacking a central government until 1851, when it was reorganized as Grand Traverse County  The newly designated county government was assigned a county seat at Boardman's Mills, a location in present-day downtown Traverse City 

Further growth
As of 1853, the only operating post office in the Grand Traverse Bay region was the one located at Old Mission, which was then known as "Grand Traverse"  While in Washington, D C  in 1852, Mr  Lay had succeeded in getting the U S  Post Office to authorize a new post office at his newer settlement  As the newer settlement had become known as "Grand Traverse City", after the Grand Traverse Bay, Lay proposed this name for its post office, but the Post Office Department clerk suggested dropping the "Grand" from the name, as to limit confusion between this new office and the one at nearby Old Mission  Mr  Lay agreed to the new, shortened name of "Traverse City" for the post office, and the village took on this name  Also around this time, the first cherry trees were being planted on the Old Mission Peninsula, something the peninsula is widely known for today 

Late 19th century
In December 1872, rail service arrived in Traverse City via a Traverse City Railroad Company spur from the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad line at Walton Junction  The railroad tracked along the Boardman River and along Boardman Lake into Traverse City, and ended at a station along the Grand Traverse Bay, at the corner of present-day Grandview Parkway and Park Street  This new line of transportation from Southern Michigan opened up the area to settlement and industrial development  Many more people started flocking to the small community, and in 1881, Traverse City was incorporated as a village  This began the major commercial growth of the town 
In 1890, another rail line was extended to Traverse City, this one from Baldwin via Copemish and Interlochen  This line primarily served lumber companies, such as the Buckley & Douglas Lumber Company, and was used to transport logs from the vast forest of Northwest Michigan to sawmills in Manistee and Traverse City  Two years later, new railroads were extended out of Traverse City  One line was extended along the bay into Leelanau County, and curved south to a preexisting spur at Lake Ann  Another line was extended east into present-day Williamsburg, and to Charlevoix and Petoskey  This railroad was largely to serve tourists 
In 1881, the Northern Michigan Asylum, later the Traverse City State Hospital, was established as the demand for a third psychiatric hospital in Michigan, in addition to those established in Kalamazoo and Pontiac, began to grow  Perry Hannah, by then a prominent Michigan Republican, used his political influence to secure its location in Traverse City  Under the supervision of prominent architect Gordon W  Lloyd, the first building, known as Building 50, was constructed in Victorian-Italianate style according to the Kirkbride Plan  The hospital opened in 1885 with 43 residents  Under Dr  James Decker Munson, the first superintendent from 1885 to 1924, the institution expanded  Twelve housing cottages and two infirmaries were built between 1887 and 1903 to meet the specific needs of male and female patients  The institution became the city's largest employer and contributed to its growth  While the hospital was established for the care of the mentally ill, its use expanded during outbreaks of tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria, influenza, and polio  It also cared for the elderly, served as a rehab for drug addicts, and was used to train nurses 
On May 18, 1895, Traverse City was incorporated as a city  Perry Hannah served as the first mayor of Traverse City, after also serving as first and third village president 

20th century
The first National Cherry Festival was held in Traverse City in 1925  It was first called "Blessing of the Blossoms" and held in the spring to attract people during the blooming season  With the exception of the years before and during World War II, this tradition has been carried on since in Traverse City  The legislature moved the date of the festival to the summer, and it attracts tourists from around the state  During the week the festival takes place, the population of Traverse City rises from about 15,000 to about 500,000  In 2004 the legislature added "Blossom Days", again as a spring festival 
Also in 1925, Munson Medical Center opened, and has since grown to serve much of Northern Michigan and serves as one of Traverse City's largest employers In 1929, Traverse City's first airport, Ransom Field, opened, offering flights to Grand Rapids  It closed in 1936, when the new Traverse City Airport (now called Cherry Capital Airport) was opened  In 1953 the grounds of Ransom Field were redeveloped as Memorial Gardens Cemetery 
In 1934, the original Traverse City High School building burnt down, with no casualties  For three years, while the high school was being rebuilt, classes were moved to the Perry Hannah House, the former residence of the city's founder  Classes were moved back to the new school building in September 1937  In 1960, the high school was moved from downtown Traverse City to a new college-style campus on the grounds of Northwestern Michigan College, which opened a few years prior in 1951  The former high school building was converted to Traverse City Junior High  In 1997, the high school split into Traverse City Central and Traverse City West High Schools due to extreme overcrowding at the 1960s building In 1989, the Traverse City State Hospital closed, leaving hundreds without jobs, massive abandoned buildings, and many homeless former patients  Since 2000, the Minervini Group has undertaken the project of renovating the entire property into a social center, including many restaurants, retail spaces, office space, and residential space 

21st century
In 2005, Michigan filmmaker Michael Moore organized the first Traverse City Film Festival in downtown Traverse City  In 2015 and 2016, Traverse City was called the best small town in America by Livability com On November 3, 2015, Traverse City elected Jim Carruthers, its first openly gay mayor  After serving as mayor of Traverse City for 6 years, in June 2021 Jim Carruthers announced he would not run for his 4th mayoral term May 18, 2020, served as the city's 125th anniversary of Traverse City's incorporation as a city in 1895, and was known as the "quarantine quasquicentennial" On June 1, 2020, commissioners of Traverse City approved a plan that would close two blocks of Front Street and return State Street to two-way traffic, until Labor Day of that year  This was enacted in order to prevent crowding in reopening businesses following the COVID-19 pandemic  This followed the cancelation of the 2020 National Cherry Festival and Traverse City Film Festival On November 2, 2020, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence appeared at a campaign rally at Traverse City's Cherry Capital Airport, the day before the 2020 election In April 2021, a group composed mostly of White students from two Traverse City area school districts held an online mock slave auction via social media app in a private group chat titled "Slave Trade", wherein they traded their Black student peers for monetary amounts while using derogatory language  After the local community was made aware of this event, a coalition of community members and Traverse City Area Public School (TCAPS) Board of Education officials drafted in response a resolution which denounced the behavior  The draft of the resolution itself led to community backlash initiated largely by White conservative parents and community members who regarded the planned resolution to be "   interlaced with critical race theory"  In the aftermath of the backlash, the resolution was edited by TCAPS school board officials



ground_truth: West African descendants

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: In modern history of Syria this kingdom lasted for only four months, this kingdom surrendered to who?

The following are given passages.
Context 3: Passage 1:
Arab Kingdom of Syria
The Arab Kingdom of Syria (Arabic: المملكة العربية السورية, al-Mamlakah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūrīyah) was a self-proclaimed, unrecognized constitutional monarchy existing briefly in the territory of historical Syria  It was announced on 5 October 1918 as a fully and independent Arab constitutional government with the permission of the British military  It gained de facto independence as an Emirate after the withdrawal of the British forces from OETA East on 26 November 1919, and was proclaimed as a Kingdom on 8 March 1920 
As a Kingdom it existed only a little over four months, from 8 March to 25 July 1920  During its brief existence, the kingdom was led by Sharif Hussein bin Ali's son Faisal bin Hussein  Despite its claims to the territory of Greater Syria, Faisal's government controlled a limited area and was dependent on Britain which, along with France, generally opposed the idea of a Greater Syria and refused to recognize the kingdom  The kingdom surrendered to French forces on 25 July 1920 

History
Foundations
The Arab Revolt and the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence were crucial factors in the foundation of the Arab Kingdom of Syria  In the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence promises of an Arab Kingdom were made by the British in return for an Arab uprising against the Ottomans : 209–215  As the British were promising independence, The French made the Sykes–Picot Agreement  Ultimately, the implementation of the Sykes–Picot Agreement would lead to the undermining and end of the Arab Kingdom of Syria  Despite the significance of the Arab Revolt to modern Arab countries formed in its wake, at the time there was significant distrust and even opposition to the idea of an Arab Kingdom or series of Arab Kingdoms 
This opposition was due in part to the heavy influence of the French and the British in facilitating the revolt and the establishment of what would be considered, by modern standards, puppet states : 185–191  The involvement of foreign powers in distributing large sums of money and military support to establish an empire that would be led by imperial aspirants, rather than legitimate Arab nationalists, was instrumental in the disintegration of the majority of the early Hashemite Kingdoms (Kingdom of Hejaz and Kingdom of Iraq)  Additionally, at the time, many Arabs expressed grave concerns that the family of the Sharif of Mecca, the Hashemites, could wrest control from the Ottoman Sultan, with whom their loyalty had rested for centuries : 187

Arab constitutional government
Near the end of World War I, the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force, under command of Edmund Allenby, captured Damascus on 30 September 1918  Shortly thereafter, on 3 October, Faisal entered the city : 30  The jubilation would be short lived, as Faisal would soon be made aware of the Sykes–Picot agreement  Faisal had come to expect an independent Arab kingdom in the name of his father but was soon told of the division of territory and how Syria fell under French protective power  Faisal saw this admission as a betrayal by the British, but believed the actual settlement would be worked out at a later date when the war had ended  There was some likelihood that by then the British would have changed their support for French pretensions in Syria 
On 5 October, with the permission of General Allenby, Faisal announced the establishment of a fully and absolutely independent Arab constitutional government : 34  Faisal announced it would be an Arab government based on justice and equality for all Arabs regardless of religion  The French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau found disconcerting the establishment of a semi-independent Arab state without international recognition and under the auspices of the British  Even reassurances by Allenby that all actions taken were provisional did not ease the looming tensions between the British, the French, and the Arabs  For Arab nationalists, and many of the Arabs who fought in the Arab Revolt, this independent state would be the realization of a long hard-fought goal 

Determining the status
After the war, at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Faisal pushed for Arab independence  At the Conference, the victorious Allies decided what was to become of the defeated nations of the Central Powers, especially who was to control their territories, such as the Ottoman Empire's Middle East possessions  The status of the Arab lands in the Middle East was the subject of intense negotiations between the French and British  In May 1919, the French and British prime ministers met in Quai d’Orsay to decide between them their respective claims to territories or spheres of influence in the Middle East  The meeting determined that in return for a British guarantee of French control in Syria, the British would be given a mandate over Mosul and Palestine 
At about the same time, an American compromise resulted in an agreement to set up a commission to determine the wishes of the inhabitants  Though they initially supported the idea, Britain and France eventually backed out, leaving the King–Crane Commission of 1919 solely American : 268  The findings of the commission, not published until 1922 after the vote on the mandates in the League of Nations, indicated strong Arab support for an independent Arab state and opposition to a French presence 

Creation
These events in Europe led Syrian nationalist societies like al-Fatat (the Young Arab Society) to make preparations for a national congress  These Syrian nationalist societies advocated complete independence for an Arab Kingdom that united Arabs under Faisal  The King–Crane Commission encouraged efforts to unify, and hasty elections were called including representatives from all over the Arab lands, including Palestine and Lebanon, although French officials prevented many of their representatives from arriving  The first official session of the Syrian Congress was held on 3 June 1919 and al-Fatat member Hashim al-Atassi was elected its president : 17 When the King–Crane Commission arrived in Damascus on 25 June 1919, it was met with a flurry of leaflets saying "Independence or Death" 
On 2 July the Syrian National Congress in Damascus passed the Damascus Program, a series of resolutions calling for a completely independent constitutional monarchy with Faisal as king, asking for assistance from the United States, and rejecting any rights claimed by the French : 19  The resolutions defined the borders as 

on the north, the Taurus Range; on the south, a line running from Rafah to Al-Jauf and following the Syria-Hejaz border below 'Aqaba; on the east, the boundary formed by the Euphrates and Khabur rivers and a line stretching from some distance east of Abu-Kamal to some distance east of al-Jauf; on the west, the Mediterranean Sea 
Any hope that Faisal may have had that either the British or Americans would come to his aid and counter French moves quickly faded, especially after the Anglo-French Agreement for the withdrawal of British troops from Syria and the end of the British military government in Syria  The British withdrew from the region on 26 November 1919 In January 1920, Faisal was forced into an agreement with France which stipulated that France would uphold the existence of the Syrian state and would not station troops in Syria as long as the French government remained the only government supplying advisers, counselors and technical experts : 167  News of this compromise did not bode well with Faisal's vehemently anti-French and independence-minded supporters who immediately pressured Faisal to reverse his commitment, which he did  In the aftermath of this reversal, violent attacks against French forces took place and the Syrian Congress assembled in March 1920 to declare Faisal the king of Syria as well as to officially set up the Arab Kingdom of Syria with Hashim al-Atassi as Prime Minister and Yusuf al-'Azma as Minister of War and Chief of Staff 
This unilateral action was immediately repudiated by the British and French and the San Remo Conference was called by the Allied Powers in April 1920 to finalise the allocation of League of Nations mandates in the Middle East  This was in turn repudiated by Faisal and his supporters  After months of instability and failure to make good on the promises to the French, the commander of French forces General Henri Gouraud gave an ultimatum to King Faisal on 14 July 1920 declaring he surrender or fight : 215

Dissolution
Worried about the results of a long bloody fight with the French, King Faisal surrendered  However, Yusuf al-'Azma, the defense minister, ignored the King's order, and led a small army to confront the French advance into Syria  This army depended mainly on individual weapons and were no match to the French artillery  At the Battle of Maysalun, the Syrian army was easily defeated by the French, with General al-'Azma being killed during the battle  The loss led to the siege and capture of Damascus on 24 July 1920 and the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was put into effect thereafter 

Legacy
After surrendering to French forces, Faisal was expelled from Syria and went to live in the United Kingdom in August 1920  In August 1921 he was offered the crown of Iraq under the British Mandate of Iraq 
A pro-French government under the leadership of 'Alaa al-Din al-Darubi was installed one day after the fall of Damascus, on 25 July 1920 : 37  On 1 September 1920, General Gouraud divided the French mandate territory of Syria into several smaller states as part of a French scheme to make Syria easier to control 
The Kingdom, through its short and tumultuous existence, would become a subject of great inspiration to later Arab liberation movements  It would be the often-repeated story of an Arab people breaking out from their colonial bonds only to be castigated for their revolutionary fervor and for their resistance to the imperial powers  The symbolism of the fall of the Kingdom of Syria also imparted deep mistrust of European powers, who were seen as liars and oppressors 

Politics of Syria (1918–1920)
Heads of Government
King
Prime Ministers
Gallery
Passage 2:
Gouding
Gouding (Chinese: 句町) was a monarchical state that lasted approximately 400 years, from 111 BC to 316 AD, and was centered on Guangnan County in modern-day Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China 

In December 2015, artifacts unearthed from Gouding were on display at the Guangnan Minorities Museum 

See also
Đông Sơn drums
Neighbouring kingdoms of Dian and Yelang 
Southward expansion of the Han dynasty
Zomia (geography)
Passage 3:
Modern history of Syria
The modern history of Syria begins with the termination of Ottoman control of Syria by French forces and the establishment of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration during World War I  The short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria emerged in 1920, which was however soon committed under the French Mandate, which produced the short-lived autonomous State of Aleppo, State of Damascus (later State of Syria), Alawite State and Jabal al-Druze (state); the autonomies were transformed into the Mandatory Syrian Republic in 1930  Syrian Republic gained independence in April 1946  The Republic took part in the Arab-Israeli War and remained in a state of political instability during the 1950s and 1960s 
The 8 March 1963 coup resulted in the installation of the National Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), a group of military and civilian officials who assumed control of all executive and legislative authority  The takeover was engineered by members of the Ba'ath Party led by Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar  He was overthrown in early 1966 by Marxist-Leninist military dissidents of the party led by General Salah Jadid  Since the Arab Spring of 2011, Bashar al-Assad's government has been involved in the ongoing Syrian civil war 

Syria under the Mandate
OETA
The Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) was a joint British and French military administration over Levantine and Mesopotamian provinces of the former Ottoman Empire between 1918 and 1920, set up following the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I  The administration ended following the assignment of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon and British Mandate for Palestine at the 19–26 April 1920 San Remo conference 

Initial civil administration
Following the San Remo conference in April 1920 and the defeat of King Faisal's short-lived monarchy in Syria at the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920, the French general Henri Gouraud established civil administration in the territory  The mandate region was subdivided into six states  They were the states of Damascus (1920), Aleppo (1920), Alawites (1920), Jabal Druze (1921), the autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921) (modern-day Hatay), and the State of Greater Lebanon (1920), which later became the modern country of Lebanon 
The drawing of those states was based in part on the sectarian make-up on the ground in Syria  However, nearly all the Syrian sects were hostile to the French mandate and to the division it created  This was best demonstrated by the numerous revolts that the French encountered in all of the Syrian states  Maronite Christians of Mount Lebanon, on the other hand, were a community with a dream of independence that was being realized under the French; therefore, Greater Lebanon was the exception to the newly formed states 

Syrian Federation (1922-24)
In July 1922, France established a loose federation between three of the states: Damascus, Aleppo, and the Alawite state under the name of the Syrian Federation (Fédération syrienne)  Jabal Druze, Sanjak of Alexandretta, and Greater Lebanon were not parts of this federation, which adopted a new federal flag (green-white-green with French canton)  On 1 December 1924, the Alawite state seceded from the federation when the states of Aleppo and Damascus were united into the State of Syria 

The Great Syrian Revolt
In 1925, a revolt in Jabal Druze led by Sultan Pasha el Atrash spread to other Syrian states and became a general rebellion in Syria  France tried to retaliate by having the parliament of Aleppo declare secession from the union with Damascus, but the voting was foiled by Syrian patriots 

First Syrian Republic
The red stars that represented the three districts of the republic (Damascus, Aleppo, and Deir ez Zor) 

1936 Independence treaty
In 1936, the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence was signed, a treaty that would not be ratified by the French legislature  However, the treaty allowed Jabal Druze, the Alawite (now called Latakia), and Alexandretta to be incorporated into the Syrian republic within the following two years  Greater Lebanon (now the Lebanese Republic) was the only state that did not join the Syrian Republic  Hashim al-Atassi, who was Prime Minister under King Faisal's brief reign (1918–1920), was the first president to be elected under a new constitution adopted after the independence treaty 

Separation of Hatay
In September 1938, France again separated the Syrian district of Alexandretta and transformed it into the Republic of Hatay  The Republic of Hatay joined Turkey in the following year, in June 1939  Syria did not recognize the incorporation of Hatay into Turkey and the issue is still disputed until the present time 

World War II and the founding of the UN
With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II, Syria came under the control of the Vichy Government until the British and Free French invaded and occupied the country in July 1941  Syria proclaimed its independence again in 1941 but it was not until 1 January 1944 that it was recognized as an independent republic 
On 27 September 1941, France proclaimed, by virtue of, and within the framework of the Mandate, the independence and sovereignty of the Syrian State  The proclamation said "the independence and sovereignty of Syria and Lebanon will not affect the juridical situation as it results from the Mandate Act  Indeed, this situation could be changed only with the agreement of the Council of the League of Nations, with the consent of the Government of the United States, a signatory of the Franco-American Convention of 4 April 1924, and only after the conclusion between the French Government and the Syrian and Lebanese Governments of treaties duly ratified in accordance with the laws of the French Republic Benqt Broms said that it was important to note that there were several founding members of the United Nations whose statehood was doubtful at the time of the San Francisco Conference and that the Government of France still considered Syria and Lebanon to be mandates Duncan Hall said "Thus, the Syrian mandate may be said to have been terminated without any formal action on the part of the League or its successor  The mandate was terminated by the declaration of the mandatory power, and of the new states themselves, of their independence, followed by a process of piecemeal unconditional recognition by other powers, culminating in formal admission to the United Nations  Article 78 of the Charter ended the status of tutelage for any member state: 'The trusteeship system shall not apply to territories which have become Members of the United Nations, relationship among which shall be based on respect for the principle of sovereign equality '"On 29 May 1945, France bombed Damascus and tried to arrest its democratically elected leaders  While French planes were bombing Damascus, Prime Minister Faris al-Khoury was at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco, presenting Syria's claim for independence from the French Mandate 
Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups and British pressure forced the French to evacuate their last troops on 17 April 1946 

Republic of Syria 1946-1963
Syrian independence was acquired in 1946  Although rapid economic development followed the declaration of independence, Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s was marked by upheaval  The early years of independence were marked by political instability 
In 1948, Syria was involved in the Arab-Israeli War with the newly created State of Israel  The Syrian army was pressed out of the Israeli areas, but fortified their strongholds on the Golan and managed to keep their old borders and occupy some additional territory  In July 1949, Syria was the last Arab country to sign an armistice agreement with Israel 
In March 1949, Syria's national government was overthrown by a military coup d'état led by Husni al-Zaim in a coup  Some authors claim involvement by the United States CIA Later that year Zaim was overthrown by his colleague Sami al-Hinnawi and Adib al-Shishakli  The latter undermined civilian rule and led to Shishakli's complete seizure of power in 1951  Shishakli continued to rule the country until 1955, when growing public opposition forced him to resign and leave the country  The national government was restored, but again to face instability, this time from abroad  After the overthrow of President Shishakli in a 1954 coup, continued political maneuvering supported by competing factions in the military eventually brought Arab nationalist and socialist elements to power  Between 1946 and 1956, Syria had 20 different cabinets and drafted four separate constitutions 
During the Suez Crisis of 1956, after the invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by Israeli troops, and the intervention of British and French troops, martial law was declared in Syria  Later Syrian and Iraqi troops were brought into Jordan to prevent a possible Israeli invasion  The November 1956 attacks on Iraqi pipelines were in retaliation for Iraq's acceptance into the Baghdad Pact  In early 1957 Iraq advised Egypt and Syria against a conceivable takeover of Jordan 
In November 1956 Syria signed a pact with the Soviet Union, providing a foothold for communist influence within the government in exchange for planes, tanks, and other military equipment being sent to Syria  This increase in the strength of Syrian military technology worried Turkey, as it seemed feasible that Syria might attempt to retake Iskenderon, a formerly Syrian city now in Turkey  On the other hand, Syria and the USSR accused Turkey of amassing its troops at the Syrian border  During this standoff, communists gained more control over the Syrian government and military  Only heated debates in the United Nations (of which Syria was an original member) lessened the threat of war 
Syria's political instability during the years after the 1954 coup, the parallelism of Syrian and Egyptian policies, and the appeal of Egyptian President Gamal Abdal Nasser's leadership in the wake of the Suez crisis created support in Syria for union with Egypt  On 1 February 1958, Syrian president Shukri al-Kuwatli and Nasser announced the merging of the two countries, creating the United Arab Republic, and all Syrian political parties, as well as the Communists therein, ceased overt activities 
The union was not a success, however  Following a military coup on 28 September 1961, Syria seceded, reestablishing itself as the Syrian Arab Republic  Instability characterised the next 18 months, with various coups culminating on 8 March 1963, in the installation by leftist Syrian Army officers of the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), a group of military and civilian officials who assumed control of all executive and legislative authority  The takeover was engineered by members of the Arab Socialist Resurrection Party (Ba'ath Party), which had been active in Syria and other Arab countries since the late 1940s  The new cabinet was dominated by Ba'ath members 

Ba'athist Arab Republic of Syria 1963-today
First Ba'ath government
The Ba'ath takeover in Syria followed a Ba'ath coup in Iraq, the previous month  The new Syrian Government explored the possibility of federation with Egypt and with Ba'ath-controlled Iraq  An agreement was concluded in Cairo on 17 April 1963, for a referendum on unity to be held in September 1963  However, serious disagreements among the parties soon developed, and the tripartite federation failed to materialize  Thereafter, the Ba'ath governments in Syria and Iraq began to work for bilateral unity  These plans foundered in November 1963, when the Ba'ath government in Iraq was overthrown 
In May 1964, President Amin al-Hafiz of the NCRC promulgated a provisional constitution providing for a National Council of the Revolution (NCR), an appointed legislature composed of representatives of mass organisations—labour, peasant, and professional unions—a presidential council, in which executive power was vested, and a cabinet 

Second Ba'ath government
On 23 February 1966, a group of army officers carried out a successful, intra-party coup, imprisoned President Hafiz, dissolved the cabinet and the NCR, abrogated the provisional constitution, and designated a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government on 1 March  The coup leaders described it as a "rectification" of Ba'ath Party principles  In June 1967 Israel captured and occupied the Golan Heights  The Six Day War had significantly weakened the radical socialist government established by the 1966 coup 
On 18 September 1970, during the events of Black September in Jordan, Syria tried to intervene on behalf of the Palestinian guerrillas  Hafez al-Assad sent in armored forces equivalent to a brigade, with tanks, some of them allegedly hastily rebranded from the regular Syrian army for the purpose  Other Syrian units were the 5th Infantry Division and Commandos  On 21 September, the Syrian 5th Division broke through the defenses of the Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade, and pushed it back off the ar-Ramtha crossroads  On 22 September, the Royal Jordanian Air Force began attacking Syrian forces, which were badly battered as a result  The constant airstrikes broke the Syrian force, and on the late afternoon of 22 September the 5th Division began to retreat  The swift Syrian withdrawal was a severe blow to Palestinian guerillas  Jordanian armored forces steadily pounded their headquarters in Amman, and threatened to break them in other regions of the Kingdom as well  Eventually, the Palestinian factions agreed to a cease-fire  King Hussein and Yasser Arafat attended the meeting of the Arab League in Cairo, where the hostilities briefly ended  The Jordanian-Palestinian Civil War shortly resumed, but without Syrian intervention 
By 1970 a conflict had developed between an extremist military wing and a more moderate civilian wing of the Ba'ath Party  The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid the PLO during the "Black September" hostilities with Jordan reflected this political disagreement within the ruling Ba'ath leadership 

Ba'ath Party under Hafez al-Assad, 1970–2000
Power takeover
On 13 November 1970, Minister of Defense Hafez al-Assad effected a bloodless military coup, ousting the civilian party leadership and assuming the role of President 
Upon assuming power, Hafez al-Assad moved quickly to create an organizational infrastructure for his government and to consolidate control  The Provisional Regional Command of Assad's Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party nominated a 173-member legislature, the People's Council, in which the Ba'ath Party took 87 seats  The remaining seats were divided among "popular organizations" and other minor parties 
In March 1971, the party held its regional congress and elected a new 21-member Regional Command headed by Assad  In the same month, a national referendum was held to confirm Assad as president for a 7-year term  In March 1972, to broaden the base of his government, Assad formed the National Progressive Front, a coalition of parties led by the Ba'ath Party, and elections were held to establish local councils in each of Syria's 14 governorates  In March 1973, a new Syrian constitution went into effect followed shortly thereafter by parliamentary elections for the People's Council, the first such elections since 1962 

October War
On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt began the Yom Kippur War (also called the "Ramadan War" or "October War" because Syria and Egypt attacked during Muslim Ramadan holiday) by staging a surprise attack against Israel  Despite the element of surprise, Egypt and Syria lost their initial gains in a three-week-long warfare, and Israel continued to occupy the Golan Heights and the Sinai peninsula 

Intervention in Lebanon
In early 1976, the Lebanese Civil War was going poorly for the Maronite Christians, so the Lebanese President Elias Sarkis officially requested Syria intervene militarily  After receiving their first mandate from the Lebanese President, Syria was given a second mandate by the Arab League to intervene militarily in Lebanon  Syria sent 40,000 troops into the country to prevent the Christians from being overrun, but soon became embroiled in this war, beginning the 30 year Syrian presence in Lebanon  Over the following 15 years of civil war, Syria fought both for control over Lebanon, and as an attempt to undermine Israel in southern Lebanon, through extensive use of Lebanese allies as proxy fighters  Many saw the Syrian Army's presence in Lebanon as an occupation, especially following the end of the civil war in 1990, after the Syrian-sponsored Taif Agreement  Syria then remained in Lebanon until 2005, exerting a heavy-handed influence over Lebanese politics, that was deeply resented by many 
About one million Syrian workers came into Lebanon after the war ended to find jobs in the reconstruction of the country  Syrian workers were preferred over Palestinian Arabs and Lebanese workers because they could be paid lower wages, but some have argued that the Syrian government's encouragement of citizens entering its small and militarily dominated neighbor in search of work, was in fact an attempt at Syrian colonization of Lebanon  In 1994, under pressure from Damascus, the Lebanese government controversially granted citizenship to over 200,000 Syrians resident in the country 

Muslim Brotherhood uprising and Hama Massacre
On 31 January 1973, Assad implemented the new Constitution which led to a national crisis  Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the  president of Syria must be a Muslim, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs and Aleppo organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the ulama  They labeled Assad as the "enemy of Allah" and called for a jihad against his rule  Robert D  Kaplan has compared Assad's coming to power to "an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the Sunni majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries " The authoritarian government was not without its critics, a serious challenge arose in the late 1970s from fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, who reject the basic values of the secular Ba'ath program and object to rule by the Alawis whom they consider heretical  From 1976 until its suppression in 1982, the arch-conservative Muslim Brotherhood led an armed insurgency against the government  In response to an attempted uprising by the brotherhood in February 1982, the government crushed the fundamentalist opposition centered in the city of Hama, leveling parts of the city with artillery fire and causing many thousands of dead and wounded  During the rest of Hafez al-Assad's reign, public manifestations of anti-government activity were very limited 

During Gulf War
Syria's 1990 participation in the U S -led multinational coalition aligned against Saddam Hussein marked a dramatic watershed in Syria's relations both with other Arab states and with the Western world  Syria participated in the multilateral Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid in October 1991, and during the 1990s engaged in direct, face-to-face negotiations with Israel  These negotiations failed, and there have been no further Syrian-Israeli talks since President Hafiz al-Assad's meeting with President Bill Clinton in Geneva in March 2000 

Internal power struggle
In what has become known as the 1999 Latakia incident, violent protests and armed clashes erupted following the 1998 People's Assembly's Elections  The violent events were an explosion of a long-running feud between Hafez al-Assad and his younger brother Rifaat, who previously attempted to initiate a coup against Hafez in 1984, but was eventually expelled from Syria  Two people were killed in fire exchanges of Syrian police and Rifaat's supporters during police crack-down on Rifaat's port compound in Latakia  According to opposition sources, denied by the government, the clashes in Latakia resulted in hundreds of dead and injured 

Drought in Syria
From 2006 to 2010, Syria experienced its worst drought in modern history  The drought resulted in a mass migration from the Syrian countryside into urban centers, which notably strained existing infrastructure already burdened by the influx of some 1 5 million refugees from Iraq  The drought itself has been linked to human caused global climate change  It has also been directly linked as a contributing factor to the socieoeconomic conditions that led to initial protests and uprising  Adequate water supply continues to be an issue in the ongoing civil war and the supply is frequently the target of military action 

Under Bashar al-Assad, 2000–present
The Damascus Autumn
Hafiz al-Assad died on 10 June 2000, after 30 years in power  Immediately following al-Assad's death, the Parliament amended the constitution, reducing the mandatory minimum age of the President from 40 to 34, which allowed his son, Bashar al-Assad, to become legally eligible for nomination by the ruling Ba'ath party  On 10 July 2000, Bashar al-Assad was elected president by referendum in which he ran unopposed, garnering 97 29% of the vote, according to Syrian government statistics Bashar, who speaks French and English and has a British-born wife, was said to have "inspired hopes" for reform, and a "Damascus Spring" of intense political and social debate took place from July 2000 to August 2001  The period was characterized by the emergence of numerous political forums or salons where groups of like minded people met in private houses to debate political and social issues  The phenomenon of salons spread rapidly in Damascus and to a lesser extent in other cities  Political activists, such as, Riad Seif, Haitham al-Maleh, Kamal al-Labwani, Riyad al-Turk, and Aref Dalila were important in mobilizing the movement  The most famous of the forums were the Riad Seif Forum and the Jamal al-Atassi Forum  The Damascus Spring ended in August 2001 with the arrest and imprisonment of ten leading activists who had called for democratic elections and a campaign of civil disobedience 

International and internal tensions
On 5 October 2003, Israel bombed a site near Damascus, claiming it was a terrorist training facility for members of Islamic Jihad  Islamic Jihad said the camp was not in use; Syria said the attack was on a civilian area  The Israeli action was condemned by European governments  The German Chancellor said it "cannot be accepted" and the French Foreign Ministry said "The Israeli operation… constituted an unacceptable violation of international law and sovereignty rules " The Spanish UN Ambassador Inocencio Arias called it an attack of "extreme gravity" and "a clear violation of international law "The United States Congress passed the Syria Accountability Act in December 2003, with the goal of ending what the U S  sees as Syrian involvement in Lebanon, Iraq, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction through international sanctions 
Ethnic tensions increased in Syria, following an incident in a football stadium in Al Qamishli, 30 people were killed and more than 160 were injured in days of clashes starting from 12 March  Kurdish sources indicated that Syrian security forces used live ammunition against civilians after clashes broke out at a football match between Kurdish fans of the local team and Arab supporters of a visiting team from the city of Deir al-Zor  The international press reported that nine people were killed on 12 March  According to Amnesty International hundreds of people, mostly Kurds, were arrested after the riots  Kurdish detainees were reportedly tortured and ill-treated  Some Kurdish students were expelled from their universities, reportedly for participating in peaceful protests In June 2005, thousands of Kurds demonstrated in Qamishli to protest the assassination of Sheikh Khaznawi, a Kurdish cleric in Syria, resulting in the death of one policeman and injury to four Kurds Renewed opposition activity occurred in October 2005 when activist Michel Kilo launched with leading opposition figures the Damascus Declaration, which criticized the Syrian government as "authoritarian, totalitarian and cliquish" and called for democratic reform On 6 September 2007 a Syrian facility was bombed in the Deir ez-Zor region  While no one claimed responsibility for this act, Syria accused Israel, which in turn declared that the indicated site was a nuclear facility with a military purpose  Syria denied the claim 
On 26 October 2008 helicopter-borne CIA paramilitary officers and United States Special Operations Forces carried out a raid to the Syrian territory from Iraq The Syrian government called the event a "criminal and terrorist" attack on its sovereignty, alleging all of the reported eight fatalities were civilians  An unnamed U S  military source, however, alleged that the target was a network of foreign fighters who travel through Syria to join the Iraqi insurgency against the United States-led Coalition in Iraq and the Iraqi government 

Syrian civil war
The Syrian civil war is an ongoing internal violent conflict in Syria  It is a part of the wider Arab Spring, a wave of upheaval throughout the Arab World  Public demonstrations across Syria began on 26 January 2011 and developed into a nationwide uprising  Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, the overthrow of his government, and an end to nearly five decades of Ba’ath Party rule 
Since spring 2011, the Syrian government deployed the Syrian Army to quell the uprising, and several cities were besieged, though the unrest continued  According to some witnesses, soldiers, who refused to open fire on civilians, were summarily executed by the Syrian Army  The Syrian government denied reports of defections, and blamed armed gangs for causing trouble  Since early autumn 2011, civilians and army defectors began forming fighting units, which began an insurgency campaign against the Syrian Army  The insurgents unified under the banner of the Free Syrian Army and fought in an increasingly organized fashion; however, the civilian component of the armed opposition lacked an organized leadership 
The uprising has sectarian undertones, though neither faction in the conflict has described sectarianism as playing a major role  The opposition is dominated by Sunni Muslims, whereas the leading government figures are Alawites, affiliated with the Shia Islam  As a result, the opposition is winning support from the Sunni Muslim states, whereas the government is publicly supported by the Shia dominated Iran and the Lebanese Hizbullah 
According to various sources, including the United Nations, up to 13,470–19,220 people have been killed, of which about half were civilians, but also including 6,035–6,570 armed combatants from both sides and up to 1,400 opposition protesters  Many more have been injured, and tens of thousands of protesters have been imprisoned  According to the Syrian government, 9,815–10,146 people, including 3,430 members of the security forces, 2,805–3,140 insurgents and up to 3,600 civilians, have been killed in fighting with what they characterize as "armed terrorist groups " To escape the violence, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled the country to neighboring Jordan, Iraq and  Lebanon, as well to Turkey  The total official UN numbers of Syrian refugees reached 42,000 at the time, while unofficial number stood at as many as 130,000 
UNICEF reported that over 500 children have been killed, Another 400 children have been reportedly arrested and tortured in Syrian prisons  Both claims have been contested by the Syrian government  Additionally, over 600 detainees and political prisoners have died under torture  Human Rights Watch accused the government and Shabiha of using civilians as human shields when they advanced on opposition held-areas  Anti-government rebels have been accused of human rights abuses as well, including torture, kidnapping, unlawful detention and execution of civilians, Shabiha and soldiers  HRW also expressed concern at the kidnapping of Iranian nationals  The UN Commission of Inquiry has also documented abuses of this nature in its February 2012 report, which also includes documentation that indicates rebel forces have been responsible for displacement of civilians The Arab League, US, EU states, GCC states, and other countries have condemned the use of violence against the protesters  China and Russia have avoided condemning the government or applying sanctions, saying that such methods could escalate into foreign intervention  However, military intervention has been ruled out by most countries  The Arab League suspended Syria's membership over the government's response to the crisis, but sent an observer mission in December 2011, as part of its proposal for peaceful resolution of the crisis  The latest attempts to resolve the crisis has been made through the appointment of Kofi Annan, as a special envoy to resolve the Syrian crisis in the Middle East  Some analysts however have posited the partitioning the region into a Sunnite east, Kurdish north and Shiite/Alawite west 

See also
Politics of Syria
Foreign relations of Syria
Passage 4:
Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom
The Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom (traditional Chinese: 甘州回鶻; simplified Chinese: 甘州回鹘; pinyin: Gānzhōu Huíhú), also referred to as the Hexi Uyghurs, was established in 894 around Ganzhou in modern Zhangye  The kingdom lasted from 894 to 1036; during that time, many of Ganzhou's residents converted to Buddhism The Hexi Corridor, located within modern Gansu, was traditionally a Chinese inroad into Central Asia  From the 9th to 11th centuries this area was shared between the Ganzhou Uyghurs and the Guiyi Circuit  By the early 11th century both the Uyghurs and Guiyi Circuit were conquered by the Tangut people of the Western Xia dynasty The Ganzhou Uyghur rulers were descended from the House of Yaglakar 

History
There was a pre-existing community of Uyghurs at Ganzhou by 840 at the very latest In 874, remnant forces of the Tibetan Empire known as the Wenmo, Han Chinese slave soldiers under the Tibetan Empire, in Ganzhou drove out the Uyghurs Around the years 881 and 882, Ganzhou slipped from the control of the Guiyi Circuit 
In 894 the Uyghurs led by Pangteqin (Huaijian Khagan) established the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom in Ganzhou In 902 the Ganzhou Uyghurs sent military aid to Emperor Zhaozong of Tang In 910 the Ganzhou Uyghurs attacked the Kingdom of Jinshan (Guiyi) 
In 911 the Ganzhou Uyghurs attacked the Kingdom of Jinshan and forced them into an alliance as a lesser partner In 916 a Ganzhou Uyghur princess was married to Cao Yijin, governor of the Guiyi Circuit 
In 920 Huaijian Khagan became sickly 
In 924 Huaijian Khagan died and his sons Diyin and Renmei fought over the throne with Diyin coming out on top  They received a royal appointment from the Later Tang dynasty  The Khitans of the Liao dynasty offered to let the Ganzhou Uyghurs return to their former homeland on the Orkhon but they refused the offer In 925 Cao Yijin led an attack on the Ganzhou Uyghurs and defeated them 
In 926 Diyin died and Aduoyu succeeded him as Shunhua Khagan  Shunhua Khagan married Cao Yijin's daughter 
In 930 Cao Yijin visited the Ganzhou Uyghur court in Ganzhou 
In 933 Shunhua Khagan died and Jingqiong succeeded him 
In 961 the Ganzhou Uyghurs accepted the Song dynasty as suzerains In 975 Jingqiong died and Yeluohe Mili'e succeeded him 
In 983 Jingqiong died and Lusheng succeeded him 
In 1003 Lusheng died and Zhongshun Baode Khagan succeeded him  The Tanguts attacked the Ganzhou Uyghurs but were defeated In 1008 the Ganzhou Uyghurs and Tanguts engaged in combat and the Uyghurs emerged victorious  The Liao dynasty attacked the Ganzhou Uyghurs and defeated them In 1009 the Ganzhou Uyghurs captured Liangzhou 
In 1010 the Liao dynasty attacked the Ganzhou Uyghurs and defeated them In 1016 Zhongshun Baode Khagan died and Huaining Shunhua Khagan succeeded him 
In 1023 Huaining Shunhua Khagan died and Guizhong Baoshun Khagan succeeded him 
In 1026 the Ganzhou Uyghurs were defeated in battle by the Liao dynasty In 1028 the Ganhzhou Uyghurs were defeated by the Tanguts  Guizhong Baoshun Khagan died and Baoguo Khagan succeeded him 
In 1036 the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom was annexed by the Tanguts  After the destruction of their realm, the Ganzhou Uyghurs migrated and settled in Dunhuang (Shazhou) and Guazhou  The Guazhou Uyghurs surrendered to the Tanguts in 1030 and Shazhou surrendered in 1036  A record of a Huolasan Khan ruling in Shazhou in 1127 shows that the Uyghurs there retained some amount of autonomy in Western Xia  Another group that settled between Dunhuang and the Qaidam Basin came to be known as the Yellow Head Uyghurs  They practiced Buddhism and lived as pastoral nomads  In the 13th century they were called the Sali Uyghurs  Their descendants are today known as the Yugurs 

Religion
The Uyghurs of Ganzhou originally practiced Manichaeanism as their state religion but abandoned it for Buddhism at the end of the 10th century due to pressure from the Tanguts  Like the Tanguts, they sent Buddhist pilgrimages to Mount Wutai, but the real reason for the expeditions may have been to spy on the Liao dynasty  According to Hong Hao, a Song dynasty diplomat on his way to the Jurchen Jin dynasty, the Uyghurs of the Hexi Corridor still practiced Buddhism:

The Uighur believe mostly in Buddhism  They place the (Buddhist) sculptures in the hall  At each sacrifice, they must slaughter a lamb  Some drink alcohol merrily  Then they dip their finger into the blood of the lamb and dye the mouth of the Buddha with blood  Some hold the foot of the Buddha screaming, which was meant to show intimacy and respect for the Buddha  When chanting the Scripture, they wore Kasaya (the monk’s robe) and used the Indian language 

Modern era
The modern day descendants of the Ganzhou Uyghurs are known as the Yugur 

See also
Yugur
Turkic peoples
Timeline of the Turkic peoples (500–1300) 
Uyghur Khaganate
Qocho
Passage 5:
Omukama of Toro
The Omukama of Tooro is the name given to the king of Tooro, one of the East African kingdom of Tooro  The kingdom was founded in 1830 by Omukama Kaboyo Olimi l who was the son of Kyebambe lll Nyamutukura, the king of Bunyoro  Since that time, Tooro existed as an independent kingdom until 1967 when President Apollo Milton Obote banned all kingdoms in Uganda  The kingdoms were reinstated as cultural institutions in 1993 
The Omukama of Tooro and the other kings play a vital role in Ugandan politics as cultural leaders and agents of peace and stability in their respective kingdoms  Tooro and Bunyoro kingdoms enjoy a close relationship 

List of Abakama (Kings) of Tooro
The following is a list of the Abakama of Tooro, starting around 1800 AD:
Kaboyo Olimi I, (Kasunsu Nkwanzi) c  1830 - 1861
Kazaana Ruhaga l, c 1861- 1862
Nyaika Kasunga Kyebambe I, c  1862-1863 and c  1864 - 1874
Kato Rukidi I, 1863-64
Mukabirere Olimi II, c  1874 -1876
Mukarusa Kyebambe II, c  1876 - 1877
Isingoma Rukidi ll, c  1877
Rubuubi Kyebambe lll c  1878 and 1879
Kakende Nyamuyonjo c  1878 and 1881 - 1882
Katera Rujwenge, c 1878–1879 a period of Interregnum, 1880–1891; reverted to Bunyoro
Daudi Kasagama Kyebambe IV, 1891–1928
George David Kamurasi Rukidi III, 1929–1965
Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III, 1966–1995 interrupted by the discontinuation by the Ugandan government, 1967–1993
Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, 1995–present

See also
Omukama of Bunyoro
Kabaka of Buganda
Toro Kingdom
Passage 6:
Omukama of Bunyoro
Omukama wa Bunyoro  Translates to The King of Bunyoro is the title given to rulers of the East African kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara   The kingdom lasted as an independent state from the 16th to the 19th century  The Omukama of Bunyoro remains an important figure in Ugandan politics, especially among the Banyoro people of whom he is the titular head  He is closely related to the Omukama of Toro Kingdom 
The Royal Palace, called Ekikaali Karuziika, (Karuziika Palace) is located in Hoima  The current Omukama is Rukirabasaija Solomon Iguru I Gafabusa Amooti and his wife is Omugo (the Queen) Margaret Karunga Adyeri  As a cultural head, the King is assisted by his Principal Private Secretary, a Cabinet of 21 Ministers and  Orukurato (a Parliament) 

Constitutional recognition
In 1962, the United Kingdom granted independence to Uganda  In February 1966, Prime Minister Milton Obote suspended the constitution and seized power, abolishing all of the traditional kingdoms—including Bunyoro—in 1967  The Omukama (King) of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom was reinstated by Statute No  8 of 1993, enacted by the Parliament of Uganda after the monarchy had been abolished for many years  Unlike the pre-1967 Omukama, who was both titular head and a political figure of the government of Bunyoro, the Omukama today is a cultural leader above partisan politics, although the king remains the titular head of the Bunyoro regional government Article 246 of the 1995 Ugandan constitution provides:

Etymology of Omukama
Omukama means ‘the milker’, as the leader of the kingdom provides his citizens with food and wealth  The word comes from Runyoro-Rutooro omu- (singular human-being class prefix) and -kama ‘to milk’, which ultimately comes from Proto-Bantu kám ‘squeeze, wring’ 
In modern Runyoro-Rutooro, however, dropping the initial vowel of this word (mukama ‘boss, sir’) changes its meaning considerably 

History of the Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara dynasties
Babiito dynasty
The Bachwezi dynasty was followed by the Babiito dynasty of the current Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara  Any attempt to pinpoint the dates of this, or any other dynasty before it, is pure conjecture; as there were no written records at the time  Modern day historians place the beginning of the Babiito dynasty at around the time of the invasion of Bunyoro by the Luo from the North  The first mubiito (singular) king was Isingoma Mpuga Rukidi I, whose reign is placed around the 14th century  To date, there have been a total of 27 Babiito kings of Bunyoro-Kitara 
Source: The official Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom website

List of Omukamas of the Babiito dynasty
Rukidi of Bunyoro, late fifteenth century
Ocaki of Bunyoro, late fifteenth/early sixteenth century
Oyo Nyiba of Bunyoro, early sixteenth century
Winyi I of Bunyoro, early sixteenth century
Olimi I of Bunyoro, mid sixteenth century
Nyabongo of Bunyoro, mid sixteenth century
Winyi II of Bunyoro, late sixteenth century/early seventeenth century
Olimi II of Bunyoro, mid seventeenth century
Nyarwa of Bunyoro, mid seventeenth century
Cwamali of Bunyoro, mid seventeenth century
Masamba of Bunyoro, late seventeenth century
Anabwani I of Bunyoro, late seventeenth century
Kyebambe I of Bunyoro, late seventeenth century
Winyi III of Bunyoro, early eighteenth century
Nyaika of Bunyoro, early eighteenth century
Kyebambe II of Bunyoro, early eighteenth century
Olimi III of Bunyoro, c  1710–1731
Duhaga of Bunyoro, 1731–c  1782
Olimi IV of Bunyoro, c  1782–1786
Nyamutukura Kyebambe III of Bunyoro, 1786–1835
Nyabongo II of Bunyoro, 1835–1848
Olimi V of Bunyoro, 1848–1852
Kyebambe IV of Bunyoro, 1852–1869
Kabalega of Bunyoro, 1869–1898
Kitahimbwa of Bunyoro, 1898–1902
Duhaga II of Bunyoro, 1902–1924
Winyi IV of Bunyoro, 1925–1967
Monarchy discontinued by the Ugandan government, 1967–1994
Solomon Iguru I, 1994–present
Passage 7:
Syrian National Congress
The Syrian National Congress, also called the Pan-Syrian Congress and General Syrian Congress (GSC), was convened in May 1919 in Damascus, Syria, after the expulsion of the Ottomans from Syria  The mission of the Congress was to consider the future of "Syria", by which was meant Greater Syria: present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan  The Congress also intended to present Arab views to the American King-Crane Commission of inquiry  The Congress was considered the first national parliament in the modern history of Syria 
The Congress was attended by representatives from all parts of Greater Syria, including Lebanon and Palestine, and was headed by Hashim al-Atassi  Some participants showed support for King Faisal's demands, while others were beginning to question his willingness to make concessions to pro-Zionist groups  In its final report it pleaded that "there be no separation of the southern part of Syria, known as Palestine, nor of the littoral western zone, which includes Lebanon, from the Syrian country " The King-Crane Commission recommended "the unity of Syria be preserved" in response The  Congress declared an independent Arab Kingdom of Syria on March 8, 1920, proclaiming:
The full and absolute independence of our country Syria, including Palestine, within her natural boundaries, based on a civil, representative form of government, protection of the rights of minorities, and rejection of the claims of the Zionists to Palestine as a national homeland or place of immigration for the Jews 
The new state intended to included Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and portions of northern Mesopotamia  King Faisal was declared the head of state  At the same time Prince Zeid, Faisal's brother, was declared regent of Mesopotamia  Hashim al-Atassi was named Prime Minister and Yusuf al-'Azma became Minister of War and Chief of Staff 
The Congress continued during the short-lived life of the Kingdom until July 17, 1920, when the French gave Faisal an ultimatum to surrender or fight, and Faisal surrendered, bringing to an end the Kingdom and dissolving its institutions 

Gallery
See also
Elizabeth F  Thompson (2020)  How the west stole democracy from the Arabs: The Syrian Arab Congress of 1920 and the Destruction of its Historic Liberal-Islamic Alliance  Grove Atlantic  ISBN 978-0-8021-4820-9  OL 29824859M  Wikidata Q108862853 
Passage 8:
Herodian dynasty
The Herodian dynasty was a royal dynasty of Idumaean (Edomite) descent, ruling the Herodian Kingdom of Judea and later the Herodian Tetrarchy as a vassal state of the Roman Empire  The Herodian dynasty began with Herod the Great, who assumed the throne of Judea, with Roman support, bringing down the century-old Hasmonean Kingdom  His kingdom lasted until his death in 4 BCE, when it was divided among his sons as a tetrarchy, which lasted for about 10 years  Most of those tetrarchies, including Judea proper, were incorporated into Judaea Province from 6 CE, though limited Herodian de facto kingship continued until Agrippa I's death in 44 CE and nominal title of kingship continued until 92 CE, when the last Herodian monarch, Agrippa II, died and Rome assumed full power over his de jure domain 

History
Origin
During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus (134–104 BCE), Judea conquered Edom (Idumea) and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism The Edomites were gradually integrated into the Judean nation, and some of them reached high-ranking positions  In the days of Alexander Jannaeus, the Edomite Antipas was appointed governor of Edom  His son Antipater, father of Herod the Great, was the chief adviser to Hasmonean Hyrcanus II and managed to establish a good relationship with the Roman Republic, who at that time (63 BCE) extended their influence over the region, following conquest of Syria and intervention in a civil war in Judea 
There are differing genealogies for the dynasty, depending on the source  According to Sextus Julius Africanus, Antipater's father was named Herod, and Epiphanius of Salamis writes that this Herod's father was named Antipas  It is Josephus who states that Antipas fathered Antipater, without further delineating his ancestry  This model is usually accepted by scholars 
Julius Caesar appointed Antipater to be procurator of Judea in 47 BCE and he appointed his sons Phasael and Herod to be governors of Jerusalem and Galilee respectively  Antipater was murdered in 43 BCE; however, his sons managed to hold the reins of power and were elevated to the rank of tetrarchs in 41 BCE by Mark Antony 

Rise to power
In 40 BCE, the Parthians invaded the eastern Roman provinces and managed to drive the Romans out of many areas  In Judea, the Hasmonean dynasty was restored under king Antigonus II Mattathias as a pro-Parthian monarch  Herod the Great, the son of Antipater the Idumaean and Cypros (possibly of Nabataean descent), managed to escape to Rome  After convincing the Roman Senate of his sincere intentions in favor of Romans he eventually was announced as king of the Jews by the Roman Senate Despite his announcement as king of the whole of Judea, Herod did not fully conquer it until 37 BCE  He subsequently ruled the Herodian kingdom as a vassal king for 34 years, crushing the opposition while also initiating huge building projects, including the harbor at Caesarea Maritima, the plaza surrounded by retaining walls at the Temple Mount, the Masada and the Herodium, among other fortresses and public works  Herod ruled Judea until 4 BCE; at his death, his kingdom was divided among his three sons as a tetrarchy 

Tetrarchies
Herod Archelaus, son of Herod and Malthace the Samaritan, was given the title of ethnarch and ruled over the main part of the kingdom: Judea proper, Idumea, and Samaria  He ruled for ten years until 6 CE, when he was "banished to Vienna in Gaul, where according to Cassius Dio, "Hist  Roma," lv  27—he lived for the remainder of his days " See also Census of Quirinius 
Philip, sometimes erroneously called Herod Philip II, was the son of Herod and his fifth wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem  He was given the title of tetrarch with jurisdiction over the northeast part of his father's kingdom: Iturea, Trachonitis, Batanaea, Gaulanitis, Auranitis, and Paneas  He ruled until his death in 34 CE 
Herod Antipas, another son of Herod and Malthace, was made a tetrarch of Galilee and Perea; he ruled there until he was exiled to Spain by emperor Caligula in 39 CE, according to Josephus  Herod Antipas is the person referenced in the Christian New Testament Gospels, playing a role in the death of John the Baptist and the trial of Jesus  The Gospel of Luke states that Jesus was first brought before Pontius Pilate for trial, since Pilate was the governor of Roman Judea, which encompassed Jerusalem where Jesus was arrested  Pilate initially handed him over to Antipas, in whose territory Jesus had been most active, but Antipas sent him back to Pilate's court 

Last rulers
Herod Agrippa was the grandson of Herod  Thanks to his friendship with Caligula, the emperor appointed him ruler with the title of king over the territories of Philip in 37 CE, which were after Philip's death in 34 CE shortly part of the Roman province of Syria, and in 40 CE he was given the territories of Herod Antipas  In 41 CE, Emperor Claudius added to his territory the parts of Judea province that previously belonged to Herod Archelaus  Thus Agrippa I practically re-united his grandfather's kingdom under his rule  Agrippa died in 44 CE 
Agrippa's son Herod Agrippa II was appointed a tetrarch of Chalcis and later king of the territories previously ruled by Philip  He actively participated in the quelling of the Great Revolt of Judea on the Roman side  Agrippa II was the last of the Herodians; with his death in c  92 or 100 CE the dynasty was extinct, and the kingdom became fully incorporated into the Roman province of Judaea 
In addition, Herod of Chalcis ruled as king of Chalcis, and his son, Aristobulus of Chalcis, was tetrarch of Chalcis and king of Armenia Minor 

List of Herodian rulers (47 BCE – 100 CE)
Antipater the Idumaean (Procurator of Judaea) 47–44 BCE
Herod the Great
Governor of Galilee 47–44 BCE
Tetrarch of Galilee 44–40 BCE
Elected king of all Judaea by the Roman Senate 40 BCE, reigned 37–4 BCE
Phasael (Governor of Jerusalem) 47–40 BCE
Pheroras (Governor of Perea) 20–5 BCE
Herod Archelaus (Ethnarch of Judaea) 4 BCE – 6 CE
Herod Antipas (Tetrarch of Galilee) 4 BCE – 39 CE
Philip the Tetrarch (Tetrarch of Batanaea) 4 BCE – 34 CE
Salome I (Tetrach of Jabneh) 4 BCE – 10 CE
Tigranes V of Armenia (King of Armenia) 6–12 CE
Herod Agrippa
King of Batanaea 37–41 CE
King of Galilee 40–41 CE
King of all Judaea 41–44 CE, previously Judaea (Roman province), given to him by Claudius, and reinstated as a province after his death 
Herod of Chalcis (King of Chalcis) 41–48 CE
Herod Agrippa II
Tetrarch of Chalcis 48–53 CE
King of Batanaea 53–100 CE
Aristobulus of Chalcis
King of Armenia Minor 55–72 CE
Tetrarch of Chalcis 57–92 CE
Tigranes VI of Armenia (King of Armenia) 58–61 CE
Gaius Julius Alexander (King of Cetis) 58–72 CE

Herodian dynasty in later culture
Literature
Novels
Hordos u-Miryam (1935), a Hebrew novel by Aaron Orinowsky
Mariamne (1967), a Swedish novel by Pär Lagerkvist
Claudius the God (1934), an English novel by Robert Graves, features Herod Agrippa I as an important character

Plays
Herod appears in some cycles of the Mystery Plays, played as an over the top villain   Such portrayals were still in folk memory in William Shakespeare's time, for Hamlet instructs the players not to "out-Herod Herod" (Act 3, Scene 2) 
Marianna (1565), an Italian drama by Lodovico Dolce
Mariam, the Faire Queene of Jewry (1613) an English drama by Elizabeth Tanfield Cary
Herod and Antipater, with the Death of Faire Mariam (1622), an English drama by Gervase Markham and William Sampson
Mariamne (1636), a French drama by François Tristan l'Hermite
La mort des enfants d’Hérode; ou, Suite de Mariamne (1639), a French drama by Gathier de Costes de la Calprenède
Herod and Mariamne (1673), an English drama by Samuel Pordage
La Mariamne (1696), an Italian opera by Giovanni Maria Ruggeri (mus ) and Lorenzo Burlini (libr )
Mariamne (1723), a French drama by Elijah Fenton
Herod features in two 18th century French plays on Mariamne, by Nadal and Voltaire 
Herodes und Mariamne (1850), a German drama by Christian Friedrich Hebbel
Myriam ha-Hashmonayith (1891), a Yiddish drama by Moses Seiffert
Tsar Irod I tsaritsa Mariamna (1893), a Russian drama by Dmitri Alexandrov
Herod and Mariamne (1938), an English drama by Clemence Dane

Poetry
Herod and Mariamne (1888), an English poem by Amelie Rives
Mariamne (1911), an English poem by Thomas Sturge Moore

Movies
The King of Kings (1927) by Cecil B  DeMille
Salome (1953) by William Dieterie
King of Kings (1961) by Nicholas Ray
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) by George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Nugelesco
Herod the Great (1959) (Italy) by Victor Tourjansky

Figurative arts
Painting
Mariamne Leaving the Judgment Seat of Herod (1887), a painting by John William Waterhouse

Performing arts
Music
Herod’s Lament for Mariamne (1815), an English song by Isaac Nathan (mus ) and George Byron (libr )
Herodes und Mariamne (1922), incidental music by Karol Rathaus
Lied der Mariamne (ohne Worte) (1927), incidental music by Mikhail Gnesin

Ballet
La Marianna (1785), an Italian ballet by Giuseppe Banti (chor )

Opera
Marianne (1796), opera in French with music by Nicolas Dalayrac and a libretto of Benoît-Joseph Marsollier
Hérodiade (1881), opera in French by Jules Massenet after Gustave Flaubert's play Hérodias (1877)
Salome (1905), opera in German by Richard Strauss after Oscar Wilde's play's Salome

Family tree of the Herodian dynasty
See also
Hasmonean dynasty
History of ancient Israel and Judah#Roman occupation
Herod's Temple
Herodian coinage
Herodian kingdom
Kings of Israel and Judah
Kings of Judah
List of High Priests of Israel
Promagistrate
Siege of Jerusalem (37 BC)



ground_truth: French