Wayward Son (60 page)

READERPEDIA®

Shem
was the oldest son born to Noah before the flood.  He is the father of the Semites, namely the Hebrews and Arabs.  The patriarchal father Abraham is in his family line.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

Japheth
was one of three sons born to Noah before the flood.  He’s believed to be the father of those who would occupy the Mediterranean lands of Europe and Asia Minor.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

Ham
was one of Noah’s three sons born before the flood. He is the father of Canaan and the Canaanites, those who lived in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea—including Sodom and Gomorrah.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

Probably one of the better-known pharaohs of the Third dynasty of Egypt,
Djoser
built the first of the pyramids.  His official, Imhotep, was commissioned to build it.  During his reign, he subdued the Sinai Peninsula and went on to mine copper and turquoise from the area.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

Considered one of the most powerful pharaohs of the Egyptian Empire,
Ramessess II
was also known as Ramessess the Great. He ruled for 66 years—from 1279 BC to 1213 BC—and is buried in the Valley of the Kings.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

Moses
, the most important prophet in Judaism and Christianity and author of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (The Torah), led the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea on dry ground. Later, God gave him two stone tablets with The 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai. He spent 40 years wandering through the desert with the Israelites, but did not cross over into the Promised Land.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

The Hebrew name for God,
Yahweh
, was revealed to Moses at the burning bush on Mt. Sinai. In English Bibles, however, the translation reads, “I AM WHO I AM.” 
[back]

READERPEDIA®

The great mariners of the ancient Mediterranean, the
Phoenecians
were skilled ship builders and navigators.  As sea traders who dealt with fine glass works, cloth and metalwork, they also become quite skilled crafters of these things themselves. They are also known for the form of writing they created that influenced the Aramaic and Greek alphabets.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

In Greek mythology,
Aphrodite
was the goddess of love and fertility. She was also worshipped as a war goddess, sea goddess and patroness of sailors. Typically shown pictured in a large shell, she was accompanied by other symbols such as the swan, dove, and myrtle.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

An ancient Greek poet and musician,
Arion
invented the dithyramb, an ancient Greek hymn sung to Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility. Besides his musical abilities, Arion is also known for his fantastical tale of being rescued by a dolphin when forced to jump ship at the hands of pirates.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

Agamemnon
 is a figure in Greek mythology.  In Homer’s
Illiad
, Agamemnon was the King of Mycenae and leader of the Greek armed forces during the Trojan War.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

One of the most influential of the Greek gods,
Apollo
 was the god of multiple functions, from music and poetry, to plague, light and the sun, medicine, and others.  On the one hand, he was associated with medicine and healing; on the other, he could assign ill health and plague.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

An Ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, and mystic,
Pythagoras
(570 – 495 BC), is best known for his Pythagorean theorem. He founded a short-lived religious movement known as Pythagoreanism. Below is diagram of the Pythagorean theorem: the sum of the areas of the two squares on the legs equals the area of the square on the hypotenuse. 
[back]

READERPEDIA®

In 510 BC,
Milo of Croton
led the Greeks to an important military victory over Sybaris. He was also an accomplished wrestler who claimed many wins in ancient Greek athletic festivals. As an associate of Pythagoras, whose life he once saved when a roof nearly collapsed on him, Milo was the subject of many stories. One story suggested that he married Pythagoras' daughter, Myia. 
[back]

READERPEDIA®

An Athenian statesman and naval commander,
Themistocles
(528–462 BC) was instrumental in building up the Athenian fleet, which was then in place to defeat Persia when it invaded in 480 BC.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

Mardonius
, a Persian military leader, was second-in-command to King Xerxes during the early 5th century BC wars with Greece. When the Athenians defeated Persia’s naval fleet at the battle of Samalis, Xerxes withdrew but left Mardonius to lead the Persian army’s campaign against Greece. The Greeks went on to be the victors, and Mardonius was killed in 479 BC.
[back]

READERPEDIA®

King Mausolus, 4th century BC ruler of Caria (which is modern-day Bodrum, Turkey), planned for an elaborate burial place. Upon his death, his wife,
Artemisia,
carried out his wishes and built a tomb—a mausoleum—for her husband at Halicarnassus. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

In the Battle of Salamis, Artemisia was serving as the commander of one of Xerxes' ships when she found herself being pursued by a faster enemy vessel. In an effort to prove that they were ships on the same side, Artemisia rammed one of her own sister ships, causing the pursuing ship to abandon the chase. Xerxes, who witnessed the ramming but believed it was an enemy vessel, remarked of Artemisia's bravery, "My men have become women, and my women men."
[back]

READERPEDIA®

The king of ancient Persia,
Artaxerxes
(464 – 425 BC), succeeded his father, Xerxes. Mentioned throughout the biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, Artaxerxes allowed the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem.
[back]