At around 9 a.m. on 13 June 2007, suspected al-Qaeda people destroyed the two remaining 36m-high golden minarets flanking the dome's ruins. No fatalities were reported. Iraqi police have reported hearing "two nearly simultaneous explosions coming from inside the mosque compound at around 9 a.m." A report from state run Iraqia Television stated that "local officials said that two mortar rounds were fired at the two minarets."
Hathor
Hathor was an Egyptian goddess. She was a cow goddess and was associated with the Milky Way. Hathor was the daughter of Ra.
There are still remains of Hathor's temple in Dendera, Egypt. Dendara was her most well known. Her temple is 37 miles away from Luxor. It is thought that the temple of Hathor was built and decorated between the second century B.C.E. and the first century C.E. It had two intricately designed columned halls with the head of the goddess Hathor engraved in to each of them. Additionally, several shrines were built on the flat roof of the temple. There was also an enclosed sacred lake where the priests and patients would bath in order to heal themselves and become pure. There was sacred treasure hidden in two underground rooms near the sanctuary. At her temple people would pray to her for good wealth. Overall, Hathor was a busy goddess, as were most of the other gods and goddesses.
In Egypt, Hathor was the goddess of love, beauty, dancing, music, and fertility. Hathor is one of the main goddesses. Hathor means "House of Horus". Before Hathor was the nice goddess she was the goddess of destruction. There was a myth that Ra ordered Hathor (Sekmet) to go out to eat the people. But days passed and Ra wanted Sekmet (Hathor) to stop but Sekmet was enjoying it. So Ra dyed beer red and scattered it all over the land. Sekmet saw it and thought it was the blood of the people she killed, so she drank it all and became drunk. After she slept for three days and woke up renewed, she didn't want to eat human flesh any more and became a new goddess, Hathor.
Hathor appeared in four different forms. In human form, Hathor had a cow head with two cow horns. She was represented as a cow because cows were highly valued animals. She wore a menat which was a special necklace. A menat is a heavy beaded necklace with a crescent shape in the front and a tall mushroom shaped piece in the back. In one of her animal forms, she was a cow with an ankh. An ankh was the symbol of life. Another of Hathor's animal forms was a fierce lion. Hathor's symbol was a cow with a sun disc. The ancient Egyptians drew her as the sky of the Milky Way. Hathor's titles include the Golden One, the Lady of Song, the Mistress of Maidens, and the Lady of the Sycamore. She had traveled to Greece from a horrible argument with the gods and goddesses, she was banished from the land, and she was so ashamed of herself, she became the goddess of beauty and love.
Hathor had a lot of power over Ancient Egyptians moods. Hathor had the power to bring laughter, happiness and joy. If she was far away the Egyptians mood would become miserable. Hathor very much enjoyed helping and changing others moods embracing them and loving them dearly. Hathor saw past the hell that was placed and granted Peace to all for eternity. Everyone then became their own Ptah.
Santorini
Santorini is a Greek island. The capital is Thira. Santorini is 63 miles from the island of Crete. The total population is 13,600.
Santorini is considered an active volcano.
Human presences on the island seem to have existed since the middle of the 3rd millennium B.C. The excavations at Akrotiri have confirmed that human activity on the island continued until the eruption of the volcano around 1500 B.C, which entirely buried the island beneath very thick layers of pozzuolona. At that point, all traces of human activity vanished from the island until the end of the 13th century B.C.
According to Herodotus, the island was initially called Strongyle (the Round One). Then later, because of its beauty, it was named Kalliste (the Fairest One). The Phoenicians settled in Kalliste, and after the Phoenicians, the Lacedaemonians arrived and renamed the island after their leader, Theras. In the 9th century B.C. Thera, became an important stopping point of that era in the travel routes between the East and the West. The Phoenician alphabet was adopted at this time for writing in the Greek language. Interestingly though, the conservative Therans, did not follow the cultural development of their counterparts in the other Cycladic islands. At about 630 B.C the Therans reached the north coast of the African continent where they founded Cyrene, the only Theran colony. From as early on as the 6th century B.C. Thera had its own coinage. During the Classical period in Greece [5th and 4th century B.C.] Thera did not play any significant role in the events of that Hellenic time. During the Peloponesian War Thera sided with Sparta, as expected. In Hellenistic times the island's strategic position made Thera an important base for the war campaigns in the Aegean of the successors to Alexander the Great.
During the Roman Empire, Thera was little more than a small, insignificant island. However, when Christianity reached the island early, an organized church was established by the 4th century A.D. The island had neither political nor military significance in Byzantine times, although Alexius I Comnenus [1081 - 1118] founded the church of the Panagia Episkopi at Gonia. After the fall of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade [1204], the Duchy of Naxos was founded and Thera became the seat of one of the four Catholic Bishops of the Duchy. The name Santorini was given at that time by the Crusaders, named after a small chapel of Agia Irini [Santa Irene] which some say was at Perissa and others say it was at Riva on Therasia.
In the years under Frankish rule [1207 - 1579], Santorini experienced the development of a thriving cotton cultivation and viticulture, but the island suffered as much from piratical raids as it did from the rivalries between the local Latin rulers as well as the Duke and the Sultan.
The Turkish dominion [1579 - 1821] resulted in the abolition of piracy and the development of international trade. The Santorinians created close contacts with the great harbours of the Eastern Mediterranean (Alexandria, Constantinople, Odessa) where they founded important communities.
In 1821, Santorini with its shipping power, took part in the fight for independence from the Turks, and in 1830, the island became part of the independent Greek state. Up until the beginning of the 20th century shipping, textiles, tomato production and viticulture were all flourishing markets, but the change from sail to steam-driven ships and the relocation of the island's factories to mainland Greece had a negative effect on the island's economy. After the 1956 earthquake there was a huge decrease in the population resulting in an economic catastrophe. Towards the end of the 1970s however, tourism began to develop, bringing economic relief to the island.
The present-day crescent shape of the island is a consequence of the activity of the volcano in prehistoric times. The island itself owes its very existence to the volcano.
The last huge eruption of the volcano dates back 3,600 years, to the late Bronze Age. Thirty million cubic meters of lava in the form of pumice and ash were blown to a height of up to 36 kilometers above the island. Pumice deposits, dozens of meters thick, buried one of the most prosperous pre-historic settlements of that period, feeding the myth of the lost Atlantis.
The mild activity of the volcano after this major eruption continues into the present (the most recent eruption occurred in 1950) building up two small islands within the caldera, Palea and Nea Kameni. These islands represent the volcano's most recent activity.