According to the Sumerian king list, Akkad (Agade) was built by Sargon of Akkad, 23th century BC, and is often called the first empire in history. Even so, it is known from older cuneiform writings that the city was already there before Sargon, in the time of the kings of Uruk. According to the Bible (Genesis 10:10), it was one of the cities started by Nimrod. Also, in the earliest records, when Mesopotamian kings started calling themselves "lord of the four quarters" around Sumer, these were listed as: Martu, Shubar, Elam, and Uri-ki.
As the capital city of the Akkadian Empire beginning with Sargon, the city ruled from around 2300 to 2215 BC, when it was destroyed by the Gutians who invaded from the mountains.
Sargon conquered many of the surrounding regions. He created an empire which reached as far as the Mediterranean Sea and Anatolia, and extended his rule to Elam, and as far south as Oman. He ruled over this area for 56 years. Trade extended from the silver mines of Anatolia to the lapis lazuli mines in Afghanistan, the cedars of Lebanon and the copper of Oman. This consolidation of the city-states of Sumer and Akkad reflected the growing economic and political power of Mesopotamia. The empire's breadbasket was the rain-fed agricultural system of northern Mesopotamia and a chain of fortresses was built to control the imperial wheat production.
Images of Sargon were erected on the shores of the Mediterranean, in token of his victories, and cities and palaces were built at home with the spoils of the conquered lands. Elam and the northern part of Mesopotamia (Subartu) were also subjugated and rebellions in Sumer were put down. Contract tablets have been found dated in the years of the campaigns against Canaan and against Sarlak, king of Gutium.
The Akkadian language was one of the Semitic languages, and at the time of the Akkadian Empire it was made official in both Mesopotamia and Elam. Akkadian remained the main diplomatic language of Mesopotamia for centuries.
During the 3rd millennium BC, an intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism. Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate), but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.
The fall of the empire established by Sargon seems to have been as sudden as its rise, and little is known about the Gutian period. From the fall of Akkad ca. 2083 BC until the Sumerian renaissance ca. 2050 BC, there is much that is still dark. It has recently been suggested that the regional decline at the end of the Akkadian period (and also in the Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom) was associated with rapidly increasing aridity, and failing rainfall in the region of the Ancient Near East.
Faisal Mosque
Faisal Mosque is a mosque in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is the National mosque of Pakistan, and one of the largest mosques in the Islamic world. It is named after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It was the biggest mosque for a period of six yrs (1986-1993).
Song cycle
A song cycle in classical music is a group of songs that belong together. Although each song may be sung separately, the composer really imagined that they would be performed together as one work. Sometimes they tell a story, but sometimes they just belong together because they are about the same idea (e.g. the sadness that can be caused by love). They are often for solo voice and piano accompaniment, but they can also be without accompaniment, or with several instruments or even a whole orchestra. The words of a cycle are often by the same poet, but this is not always the case.
Song cycles started to become popular with composers in the Romantic period. Although there were examples of song cycles written before that, it was the German composers of the 19th century who are most often thought of as writers of song cycles. Their songs are called "Lieder".
The great composer Franz Schubert wrote about 600 songs. These include two long song cycles: "Winterreise" ("Winter’s Journey") and "Die schöne Müllerin" ("The beautiful miller’s daughter"). Each of these song cycles is long enough for a whole concert. Robert Schumann wrote song cycles including two which he simply called "Liederkreise" ("Song Cycles"), and his well-known "Dichterliebe" ("Poet’s Love") and "Frauenliebe und -Leben" ("Women’s Love and Life"). Brahms wrote "Vier ernste Gesänge" ("Four Serious Songs"), and Gustav Mahler, who became very interested in folk song, wrote several song cycles with orchestra accompaniment, including "Das Lied von der Erde" ("The Song of the Earth").
French composers who wrote song cycles include Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy. Russian composers include Modest Mussorgsky and Dmitri Shostakovich, and English and American composers in the 20th century include Michael Tippett, Benjamin Britten and Aaron Copland as well as the South American Alberto Ginastera, Juan María Solare and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Quetta
Quetta () is the capital and largest city of Balochistan province in Pakistan. It is famous for its climate and buildings. It is to the north of Balochistan, 133 kilometers away from Spin Buldak, Afghanistan.
In 1935, a powerful earthquake hit Quetta. The earthquake was felt between 2:30 am to 3:40 am. It resulted in the collapse of buildings, that is why there is no historical building in Quetta.
Quetta is also spelled Kuwatah which is a variation of Kot, a Pashto word meaning "fortress".
Quetta was captured by Mehmood Ghaznavi in the 11th century. The Khans of Kalat ruled Quetta until 1556 when the Persians conquered the city, only to have it retaken by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1595. Despite all this, the Khans of Kalat were successful in restoring their rule in the region by the 18th century.
The predominantly Muslim population supported the Muslim League and the Pakistan Movement. On joining Pakistan, Quetta was made the capital city of the newly created province of Balochistan.
Quetta lies close to the borders of Afghanistan. Traders and invaders have passed through Quetta since pre-historic times. Quetta is 1,645 meters above the sea level. It is near the Hazarganji-Chitan National Park.
It has a cold and windy in winter moderate summers.
Gilgit
Gilgit () is the capital and largest city of Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan. About 216.000 people live there.
Frottola
The frottola (plural: frottole) was the most popular kind of secular (non-religious) song in Italy during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Frottole were quite simple and fun. They were often sung by small groups of singers. They were not contrapuntal, but they had a tune in the top part while the other singers sang chords to accompany the tune. Sometimes they might have been sung by a solo voice with a lute accompaniment.
The most famous composer of frottole was Bartolomeo Tromboncino. The great composer Josquin also composed frottole, although that is not what he called them. For example, there is a well-known one called "El Grillo" ( The Cricket) in which the singers try to sound like the chirping of a cricket in the grass.
About the year 1530 the frottola developed into the madrigal.
Bartolomeo Tromboncino
Bartolomeo Tromboncino (born Verona around 1470; died in or near Venice in 1535 or later) was an Italian composer. He lived in the Renaissance period. He is famous as a composer of songs called "frottole". He is also remembered because he murdered his wife.