title: Depleted uranium

text: On 21 June 2009, Belgium became the first country in the world to ban: "inert ammunition and armour that contains depleted uranium or any other industrially manufactured uranium." The move followed a unanimous parliamentary vote on the issue on 22 March 2007. The text of the 2007 law allowed for two years to pass until it came into force. In April 2009, the Belgian Senate voted unanimously to restrict investments by Belgian banks into the manufacturers of depleted uranium weapons.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In September 2009, the Latin American Parliament passed a resolution calling for a regional moratorium on the use, production and procurement of uranium weapons. It also called on the Parlatino's members to work towards an international uranium weapons treaty.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In November 2010 the Irish Senate passed a bill seeking to outlaw depleted uranium weapons, but it lapsed before approval by the Dáil.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In December 2010, 148 states supported a United Nations' General Assembly resolution calling for the states that use depleted uranium weapons in conflict to reveal where the weapons have been fired when asked to do so by the country upon whose territory they have been used.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In April 2011, the Congress of Costa Rica passed a law prohibiting uranium weapons in its territories, becoming the second country in the world to do so.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In December 2012, 155 states supported a United Nations' General Assembly resolution that recalled that, because of the ongoing uncertainties over the long-term environmental impacts of depleted uranium identified by the United Nations Environment Programme, states should adopt a precautionary approach to its use.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In December 2014, 150 states supported a United Nations' General Assembly resolution encouraging states to provide assistance to states affected by the use of depleted uranium weapons, in particular in identifying and managing contaminated sites and material. In contrast to the previous biennial resolutions, Germany moved to an abstention from supporting to the resolutions. Prior to the vote, in a report to the United Nations Secretary General requested by 2012's resolution published in June 2014, Iraq had called for a global treaty ban on depleted uranium weapons.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Depleted uranium has a very high density and is primarily used as shielding material for other radioactive material, and as ballast. Examples include sailboat keels, as counterweights and as shielding in industrial radiography cameras.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Industrial radiography cameras include a very high activity gamma radiation source (typically Ir-192 with an activity above 10 TBq). Depleted uranium is often used in the cameras as a shield to protect individuals from the gamma source. Typically, the uranium shield is supported and enclosed in polyurethane foam for thermal, mechanical and oxidation protection.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Consumer product uses have included incorporation into dental porcelain, used for false teeth to simulate the fluorescence of natural teeth, and uranium-bearing reagents used in chemistry laboratories (e.g. uranyl acetate, used in analytical chemistry and as a stain in electron microscopy). Uranium (both depleted uranium and natural uranium) was widely used as a coloring matter for porcelain and glass in the 19th and early-to-mid-20th century. The practice was largely discontinued in the late 20th century. In 1999, concentrations of 10% depleted uranium were being used in "jaune no.17" a yellow enamel powder that was being produced in France by Cristallerie de Saint-Paul, a manufacturer of enamel pigments. The depleted uranium used in the powder was sold by Cogéma's Pierrelatte facility. In February 2000, Cogema discontinued the sale of depleted uranium to producers of enamel and glass.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Aircraft that contain depleted uranium trim weights for stabilizing wings and control surfaces (such as the Boeing 747-100) may contain between of DU. This application is controversial because the DU might enter the environment if the aircraft crashes. The metal can also oxidize to a fine powder in a fire. Its use has been phased out in many newer aircraft. Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas discontinued using DU counterweights in the 1980s. Depleted uranium was released during the crash of El Al Flight 1862 on 4 October 1992, in which was lost, but a case study concluded that there was no evidence to link depleted uranium from the plane to any health problems. DU counterweights manufactured with cadmium plating are considered non-hazardous as long as the plating is intact.


title: Depleted uranium

text: US Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations at 10 CFR 40.25 establish a general license for the use of depleted uranium contained in industrial products or devices for mass-volume applications. This general license allows anyone to possess or use depleted uranium for authorized purposes. Generally, a registration form is required, along with a commitment to not abandon the material. Agreement states may have similar, or more stringent, regulations.


title: Depleted uranium

text: "Pen Duick VI", a boat designed by and used for racing, was equipped with a keel of depleted uranium. The benefit is that, because of the very high density of uranium, the keel could be thinner for a given weight, and so have less resistance than a normal keel. It was later replaced by a standard lead keel.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Depleted uranium has been used in a number of sampling calorimeters (such as in the D0 and ZEUS detectors) because of its high density and natural radioactivity.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Normal functioning of the kidney, brain, liver, heart, and numerous other systems can be affected by uranium exposure because uranium is a toxic metal, although less toxic than other heavy metals, such as arsenic and mercury. It is weakly radioactive but is 'persistently' so because of its long half-life. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry states that: "to be exposed to radiation from uranium, you have to eat, drink, or breathe it, or get it on your skin." If DU particles do enter an individual, the type of danger presented—toxic vs. radiological—and the organ most likely to be affected depend on the solubility of the particles.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In military conflicts involving DU munitions, the major concern is inhalation of DU particles in aerosols arising from the impacts of DU-enhanced projectiles with their targets. When depleted uranium munitions penetrate armor or burn, they create depleted uranium oxides in the form of dust that can be inhaled or contaminate wounds. The Institute of Nuclear Technology-Radiation Protection of Attiki, Greece, has noted that "the aerosol produced during impact and combustion of depleted uranium munitions can potentially contaminate wide areas around the impact sites or can be inhaled by civilians and military personnel". The use of DU in incendiary ammunition is controversial because of potential adverse health effects and its release into the environment.


title: Depleted uranium

text: The U.S. Department of Defense claims that no human cancer of any type has been seen as a result of exposure to either natural or depleted uranium. Militaries have long had risk-reduction procedures for their troops to follow, and studies are in consistent agreement that veterans who used DU-enhanced munitions have not suffered, so far, from an increased risk of cancer (see the Gulf War and Balkans sections below). The effects of DU on civilian populations are, however, a topic of intense and ongoing controversy.


title: Depleted uranium

text: As early as 1997, British Army doctors warned the Ministry of Defence that exposure to depleted uranium increased the risk of developing lung, lymph and brain cancer, and recommended a series of safety precautions. According to a report issued summarizing the advice of the doctors, "Inhalation of insoluble uranium dioxide dust will lead to accumulation in the lungs with very slow clearance—if any. ... Although chemical toxicity is low, there may be localised radiation damage of the lung leading to cancer." The report warns that "All personnel ... should be aware that uranium dust inhalation carries a long-term risk ... [the dust] has been shown to increase the risks of developing lung, lymph and brain cancers." In 2003, the Royal Society called, again, for urgent attention to be paid to the possible health and environmental impact of depleted uranium, and added its backing to the United Nations Environment Programme's call for a scientific assessment of sites struck with depleted uranium. In early 2004, the UK Pensions Appeal Tribunal Service attributed birth defect claims from a February 1991 Gulf War combat veteran to depleted uranium poisoning. Also, a 2005 epidemiology review concluded: "In aggregate the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU." Studies using cultured cells and laboratory rodents continue to suggest the possibility of leukemogenic, genetic, reproductive, and neurological effects from chronic exposure.


title: Depleted uranium

text: The chemical toxicity of depleted uranium is identical to that of natural uranium and about a million times greater "in vivo" than DU's radiological hazard, with the kidney considered to be the main target organ. Health effects of DU are determined by factors such as the extent of exposure and whether it was internal or external. Three main pathways exist by which internalization of uranium may occur: inhalation, ingestion, and embedded fragments or shrapnel contamination. Properties such as phase (e.g. particulate or gaseous), oxidation state (e.g. metallic or ceramic), and the solubility of uranium and its compounds influence their absorption, distribution, translocation, elimination and the resulting toxicity. For example, metallic uranium is less toxic compared to hexavalent uranium(VI) uranyl compounds such as uranium trioxide ().


title: Depleted uranium

text: Uranium is pyrophoric when finely divided. It will corrode under the influence of air and water producing insoluble uranium(IV) and soluble uranium(VI) salts. Soluble uranium salts are toxic. Uranium slowly accumulates in several organs, such as the liver, spleen, and kidneys. The World Health Organization has established a daily "tolerated intake" of soluble uranium salts for the general public of body weight, or for a adult.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Epidemiological studies and toxicological tests on laboratory animals point to it as being immunotoxic, teratogenic, neurotoxic, with carcinogenic and leukemogenic potential. A 2005 report by epidemiologists concluded: "the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU."


title: Depleted uranium

text: Early studies of depleted uranium aerosol exposure assumed that uranium combustion product particles would quickly settle out of the air and thus could not affect populations more than a few kilometers from target areas, and that such particles, if inhaled, would remain undissolved in the lung for a great length of time and thus could be detected in urine. Violently burning uranium droplets produce a gaseous vapor comprising about half of the uranium in their original mass. Uranyl ion contamination in uranium oxides has been detected in the residue of DU munitions fires.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Approximately of natural uranium, on average, exist in the human body as a result of normal intake of water, food and air. Most is in the skeleton. The biochemistry of depleted uranium is the same as natural uranium.


title: Depleted uranium

text: The primary radiation danger from pure depleted uranium is due to alpha particles, which do not travel far through air, and do not penetrate clothing. However, in a matter of a month or so, a sample of pure depleted uranium will generate small amounts of thorium-234 and protactinium-234, which emit the more penetrating beta particles at almost the same rate as the uranium emits alpha particles. This is because uranium-238 decays directly to thorium-234, which with a half-life of 24 days decays to protactinium-234, which in turn decays in a matter of hours to the long-lived uranium-234. A quasi-steady state is therefore reached within a few multiples of 24 days.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Surveying the veteran-related evidence pertaining to the Gulf War, a 2001 editorial in the "BMJ" concluded that it was not possible to justify claims of radiation-induced lung cancer and leukaemia in veterans of that conflict. While agreeing with the editorial's conclusion, a reply noted that its finding in the negative was guaranteed, given that "global dose estimates or results of mathematical modelling are too inaccurate to be used as dose values for an individual veteran", and that, as of April 2001, no practical method of measuring the expected small doses that each individual veteran would receive had been suggested. The author of the reply, a radiation scientist, went on to suggest a method that had been used several times before, including after the 1986 Chernobyl accident. Despite the widespread use of DU in the Iraq War, at least a year after the conflict began, testing for UK troops was still only in the discussion phase.


title: Depleted uranium

text: The Royal Society Working Group on the Health Hazards of Depleted Uranium Munitions (RSDUWG) concluded in 2002 that there were "very low" health risks associated with the use of depleted uranium, though it also ventured that, "[i]n extreme conditions and under worst-case assumptions" lung and kidney damage could occur, and that in "worst-case scenarios high local levels of uranium could occur in food or water that could have adverse effects on the kidney". In 2003, the Royal Society issued another urgent call to investigate the actual health and environmental impact of depleted uranium. The same year, a cohort study of Gulf War veterans found no elevated risks of cancer generally, nor of any specific cancers in particular, though recommended follow up studies.


title: Depleted uranium

text: According to the World Health Organization, a radiation dose from DU would be about 60% of that from purified natural uranium with the same mass; the radiological dangers are lower because of its longer half-life and the removal of the more radioactive isotopes.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Since 1991, the year the Gulf War ended, veterans and their families voiced concern about subsequent health problems. In 1999, an assessment of the first 1,000 veterans involved in the Ministry of Defence's Gulf War medical assessment programme found "no evidence" of a single illness, physical or mental, that would explain the pattern of symptoms observed in the group. Nevertheless, in 1999, MEDACT petitioned for the WHO to conduct an investigation into illnesses in veterans and Iraqi civilians. A major 2006 review of peer-reviewed literature by a US Institute of Medicine committee concluded that, "[b]ecause the symptoms vary greatly among individuals", they do not point to a syndrome unique to Gulf War veterans, though their report conceded that the lack of objective pre-deployment health data meant definitive conclusions were effectively impossible. Simon Wessely praised the IOM's review, and noted that, despite its central conclusion that no novel syndrome existed, its other findings made it "equally clear that service in the Gulf war did aversely affect health in some personnel". Aside from the lack of baseline data to guide analysis of the veterans' postwar health, because no detailed health screening was carried out when the veterans entered service, another major stumbling block with some studies, like the thousand-veteran one, is that the subjects are self-selected, rather than a random sample, making general conclusions impossible.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Increased rates of immune system disorders and other wide-ranging symptoms, including chronic pain, fatigue and memory loss, have been reported in over one quarter of combat veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. Combustion products from depleted uranium munitions are being considered as one of the potential causes by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, as DU was used in 30 mm and 25 mm cannon rounds on a large scale for the first time in the Gulf War. Veterans of the conflicts in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo have been found to have up to 14 times the usual level of chromosome abnormalities in their genes. Serum-soluble genotoxic teratogens produce congenital disorders, and in white blood cells causes immune system damage.


title: Depleted uranium

text: A 2005 epidemiology review concluded: "In aggregate the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU." A 2001 study of 15,000 February 1991 U.S. Gulf War combat veterans and 15,000 control veterans found that the Gulf War veterans were 1.8 (fathers) to 2.8 (mothers) times as likely to have children with birth defects. After examination of children's medical records two years later, the birth defect rate increased by more than 20%:


title: Depleted uranium

text: In early 2004, the UK Pensions Appeal Tribunal Service attributed birth defect claims from a February 1991 Gulf War combat veteran to depleted uranium poisoning. Looking at the risk of children of UK Gulf War veterans suffering genetic diseases such as congenital malformations, commonly called "birth defects", one study found that the overall risk of any malformation was 50% higher in Gulf War veterans as compared to other veterans.


title: Depleted uranium

text: The U.S. Army has commissioned ongoing research into potential risks of depleted uranium and other projectile weapon materials like tungsten, which the U.S. Navy has used in place of DU since 1993. Studies by the U.S. Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute conclude that moderate exposures to either depleted uranium or uranium present a significant toxicological threat.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In 2003, Professor Brian Spratt FRS, chairman of the Royal Society's working group on depleted uranium, said: "The question of who carries out the initial monitoring and clean-up is a political rather than scientific question," and "the coalition needs to acknowledge that depleted uranium is a potential hazard and make in-roads into tackling it by being open about where and how much depleted uranium has been deployed."


title: Depleted uranium

text: A 2008 review of all relevant articles appearing in the peer-reviewed journals on MEDLINE through to the end of 2007, including multiple cohort studies of veterans, found no consistent evidence of excess risks of neoplasms that could have some link to DU, and that "[t]he overall incidence of cancers is not increased in the cohort studies of Gulf war and Balkans veterans".


title: Depleted uranium

text: Though a more comprehensive assessment is possible, a 2011 update on a cancer scare regarding Italian soldiers who had served in the Balkans found lower than expected incidence rates for all cancers, a finding "consistent with lacking evidence of an increased cancer incidence among troops of other countries deployed in the areas of Iraq, Bosnia, and Kosovo, where armour-penetrating depleted uranium shells have been used."


title: Depleted uranium

text: One particular subgroup of veterans that may be at higher risk comprises those who have internally retained fragments of DU from shrapnel wounds. A laboratory study on rats produced by the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute showed that, after a study period of 6 months, rats treated with depleted uranium coming from implanted pellets, comparable to the average levels in the urine of Desert Storm veterans with retained DU fragments, had developed a significant tendency to lose weight with respect to the control group.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Substantial amounts of uranium were accumulating in their brains and central nervous systems, and showed a significant reduction of neuronal activity in the hippocampus in response to external stimuli. The conclusions of the study show that brain damage from chronic uranium intoxication is possible at lower doses than previously thought. Results from computer-based neurocognitive tests performed in 1997 showed an association between uranium in the urine and "problematic performance on automated tests assessing performance efficiency and accuracy."


title: Depleted uranium

text: A 18 February 2021 report titled "Resolving whether inhalation of depleted uranium contributed to Gulf War Illness using high-sensitivity mass spectrometry” by Randall R. Parrish and Robert W. Haley concluded that uranium from exploding munitions did not lead to Gulf War illness (GWI) in veterans deployed in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The report was based on a study using high-precision multicollector mass spectrometry for the first time in such a study. Their report states their study found no differences in secretion of uranium isotopic ratios from those meeting the standard-case definitions of GWI and control veterans without GWI. The researchers say that the most likely remaining causes for GWI are widespread low-level exposure to sarin nerve gas released by the destruction of Iraqi chemical weapons storage facilities in January 1991. This was possibly compounded by the use of anti-nerve agent medications and the use of pesticides to prevent insect-borne diseases in coalition forces.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Since 2001, medical personnel working for the Iraqi state health service controlled by Saddam Hussein at the Basra hospital in southern Iraq have reported a sharp increase in the incidence of child leukemia and genetic malformation among babies born in the decade following the Gulf War. Iraqi doctors attributed these malformations to possible long-term effects of DU, an opinion that was echoed by several newspapers. In 2004, Iraq had the highest mortality rate due to leukemia of any country. In 2003, the Royal Society called for Western militaries to disclose where and how much DU they had used in Iraq so that rigorous, and hopefully conclusive, studies could be undertaken out in affected areas. The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW) likewise urged that an epidemiological study be made in the Basra region, as asked for by Iraqi doctors, but no peer-reviewed study has yet been undertaken in Basra.


title: Depleted uranium

text: A medical survey, "Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009" published in July 2010, states that the "...increases in cancer and birth defects...are alarmingly high" and that infant mortality 2009/2010 has reached 13.6%. The group compares the dramatic increase, five years after wartime exposure in 2004, with the lymphoma that Italian peacekeepers developed after the Balkan wars and the increased cancer risk in certain parts of Sweden because of the Chernobyl fallout. The origin and time of introduction of the carcinogenic agent causing the genetic stress the group will address in a separate report. The report mentions depleted uranium as one "potentially relevant exposure" but makes no conclusions on the source.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Four studies investigating links between the use of depleted uranium by Coalition forces during the Second Battle of Fallujah were conducted in 2012, one of which described the people of Fallujah as having "the highest rate of genetic damage in any population ever studied." In response to these studies, Ross Caputi, a former U.S. Marine who participated in the battle, wrote a Guardian article calling for the United States government to conduct its own study into the matter. Despite its known use by Coalition forces, no depleted uranium has been found in soil samples taken from Fallujah.


title: Depleted uranium

text: In 2001, the World Health Organization reported that data from Kosovo was inconclusive and called for further studies. That same year, governments of several European countries, particularly Italy, reported an increase in illnesses and developments of cancers among veterans that served in Balkan peacekeeping missions.


title: Depleted uranium

text: A 2003 study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that low levels of contaminant were found in drinking water and air particulate at DU penetrator impact points. The levels were stated as not a cause for alarm. Yet, Pekka Haavisto, chairman of the UNEP DU projects stated, "The findings of this study stress again the importance of appropriate clean-up and civil protection measures in a post-conflict situation."


title: Depleted uranium

text: A team of Italian scientists from the University of Siena reported in 2005 that, although DU was "clearly" added to the soil in the study area, "the phenomenon was very limited spatially and the total uranium concentrations fell within the natural range of the element in soils. Moreover, the absolute uranium concentrations indicate that there was no contamination of the earthworm species studied."


title: Depleted uranium

text: In 2018, Serbia set up a commission of inquiry into the consequences of the use of depleted uranium during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in southern Serbia and its link to the rise of diseases and tumors among citizens, particularly in young children born after 1999. NATO has repeatedly claimed that depleted uranium found in the ammunition used in the 1999 bombardments cannot be linked to adverse health effects.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Between 1995 and 1996, U.S. Marine AV-8B Harrier jets accidentally fired more than 1500 DU rounds at the Tori Shima gunnery range but the military did not notify the Japanese government until January 1997.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Depleted uranium has been named as a possible contributing factor to a high incidence of birth defects and cancer near the Salto di Quirra weapons testing range on the Italian island of Sardinia.


title: Depleted uranium

text: The Canadian Uranium Medical Research Centre obtained urine samples from bombed civilian areas in Jalalabad that showed concentrations of of undepleted uranium, far higher than the typical concentration in the British population of ≈.


title: Depleted uranium

text: On 8 December 1988, an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet of the United States Air Force crashed onto a residential area in the city of Remscheid, West Germany. The aircraft crashed into the upper floor of an apartment complex. In addition to the pilot, five people were killed. Fifty others were injured, many of them seriously. When the number of cancer cases in the vicinity of the accident rose disproportionately in the years after, suspicion rose that the depleted uranium ballast in the jet may have been the cause. This was denied by the US military. However, 70 tons of top soil from the accident scene was removed and taken away to a depot. Also, film material taken during the top-soil removal show radiation warning signs. 120 residents and rescue workers reported skin diseases. Medical diagnosis concluded that these symptoms related to toxic irritative dermatitis.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Studies in 2005 and earlier have concluded that DU ammunition has no measurable detrimental health effects.


title: Depleted uranium

text: A 1999 literature review conducted by the Rand Corporation stated: "No evidence is documented in the literature of cancer or any other negative health effect related to the radiation received from exposure to depleted or natural uranium, whether inhaled or ingested, even at very high doses," and a RAND report authored by the U.S. Defense department undersecretary charged with evaluating DU hazards considered the debate to be more political than scientific.


title: Depleted uranium

text: A 2001 oncology study concluded that "the present scientific consensus is that DU exposure to humans, in locations where DU ammunition was deployed, is very unlikely to give rise to cancer induction". Former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson stated in 2001 that "the existing medical consensus is clear. The hazard from depleted uranium is both very limited, and limited to very specific circumstances".


title: Depleted uranium

text: A 2002 study from the Australian defense ministry concluded that "there has been no established increase in mortality or morbidity in workers exposed to uranium in uranium processing industries... studies of Gulf War veterans show that, in those who have retained fragments of depleted uranium following combat related injury, it has been possible to detect elevated urinary uranium levels, but no kidney toxicity or other adverse health effects related to depleted uranium after a decade of follow-up." Pier Roberto Danesi, then-director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Seibersdorf +Laboratory, stated in 2002 that "There is a consensus now that DU does not represent a health threat".


title: Depleted uranium

text: The IAEA reported in 2003 that, "based on credible scientific evidence, there is no proven link between DU exposure and increases in human cancers or other significant health or environmental impacts," although "Like other heavy metals, DU is potentially poisonous. In sufficient amounts, if DU is ingested or inhaled it can be harmful because of its chemical toxicity. High concentration could cause kidney damage." The IAEA concluded that, while depleted uranium is a potential carcinogen, there is no evidence that it has been carcinogenic in humans.


title: Depleted uranium

text: A 2005 study by Sandia National Laboratories' Al Marshall used mathematical models to analyze potential health effects associated with accidental exposure to depleted uranium during the 1991 Gulf War. Marshall's study concluded that the reports of cancer risks from DU exposure are not supported by his analysis nor by veteran medical statistics. Marshall also examined possible genetic effects due to radiation from depleted uranium. Chemical effects, including potential reproductive issues, associated with depleted uranium exposure were discussed in some detail in a subsequent journal paper.


title: Depleted uranium

text: Elevated radiation levels consistent with very low level atmospheric depleted uranium contamination have been found in air samples taken by the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment at several monitoring sites in Britain. These elevated readings appear to coincide with Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan, and the Shock and Awe bombing campaign at the start of the Second Gulf War.


title: Depleted uranium

text: On 4 October 1992, an El Al Boeing 747-F cargo aircraft (Flight 1862) crashed into an apartment building in Amsterdam. Local residents and rescue workers complained of various unexplained health issues, which were being attributed to the release of hazardous materials during the crash and subsequent fires. Authorities conducted an epidemiological study in 2000 of those believed to be affected by the accident. The study concluded that there was no evidence to link depleted uranium (used as counterbalance weights on the elevators of the plane) to any of the reported health complaints.


title: Depleted uranium

text: About 95% of the depleted uranium produced until now is stored as uranium hexafluoride, (D)UF, in steel cylinders in open air yards close to enrichment plants. Each cylinder contains up to 12.7 tonnes (or 14 US tons) of UF. In the U.S. alone, 560,000 tonnes of depleted UF had accumulated by 1993. In 2005, 686,500 tonnes in 57,122 storage cylinders were located near Portsmouth, Ohio, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Paducah, Kentucky.


title: Depleted uranium

text: The long-term storage of DUF presents environmental, health, and safety risks because of its chemical instability. When UF is exposed to moist air, it reacts with the water in the air and produces UOF (uranyl fluoride) and HF (hydrogen fluoride), both of which are highly soluble and toxic. Storage cylinders must be regularly inspected for signs of corrosion and leaks. The estimated lifetime of the steel cylinders is measured in decades.


title: Depleted uranium

text: The vulnerability of DUF storage cylinders to terrorist attack is apparently not the subject of public reports. However, the U.S. government has been converting DUF to solid uranium oxides for disposal.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Al Hilal Saudi Football Club (), simply known as Al Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their football team competes in the Saudi Professional League. They are the most decorated club in Asia winning 65 official trophies. They also hold the record for the most continental trophies in Asia, as well as a record 18 Professional League titles.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Founded on 16 October 1957, Al Hilal are one of four teams to have participated in all seasons of the Saudi Professional League since its establishment in 1976.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Overall, Al Hilal have won 65 official titles and 100 when unofficial trophies are counted. In domestic competitions, they have won a record 18 Professional League titles, a record 13 Crown Prince Cup titles, a record seven Saudi Federation Cup titles, nine King Cup titles, a record three Super Cup titles, and also the Saudi Founder's Cup.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Internationally, Al Hilal have won a record eight Asian Football Confederation trophies – the AFC Champions League in 1991, 2000, 2019 and 2021, the Asian Cup Winners Cup in 1997 and 2002, and the Asian Super Cup in 1997, 2000. In September 2009, Al Hilal was awarded Best Asian Club of the 20th Century by the IFFHS.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Al Hilal Club was originally known as the Olympic Club during its founding by Abdul Rahman bin Saad bin Saeed on 15 October 1957 in Riyadh. The club's name lasted for only one year before it was changed to its current name on 3 December 1958 by King Saud. He changed the name after he attended a tournament that was contested between the Olympic Club, Al Nassr, Al Riyadh and El Kawkab clubs. As soon as the club's establishment, Al Hilal enjoyed not only grassroots support but also royal attention.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: After spending their formative years building a squad, the club made their first mark by lifting the King's Cup trophy in 1961. Al Hilal won the King's Cup again in 1964, with a penalty shootout victory over two-time Asian champions Al-Ittihad. The club also won the crown prince cup in 1963-64


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: The club were the inaugural winners when the Saudi Premier League came into existence in the 1976–77 season. Al Hilal also won the league title in 1978–79.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: With the success, a number of players and coaches from outside Saudi Arabia joined the club in the 1970s, including Brazilian legends Mario Zagallo and Roberto Rivelino.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: After the establishment of the Saudi Premier League in the late 70's and with Al Hilal winning the competition twice including the inaugural edition. The eighties brought about a new dawn of success to the riyadh giants, with group of talented homegrown players such as the charismatic figurehead defender Saleh Al-Nu'eimeh who captained both Al-Hilal and the Saudi National Football Team, together with the promotion of the extremely gifted player maker Yousuf Al-Thunayan and the young and prolific forward Sami Al-Jaber. The club went on to win four league titles as well as four kings cup titles in ten years, two of those being season double's. Al Hilal were the runners-up in the Asian club Championship twice. They were second after the round-robin in the final round in 1986. They reached the final the following year in 1987, but Yomiuri FC were crowned the champion automatically as Al-Hilal were unable to field a team for the final due to nine of the starting players being chosen for the Saudi team's preparation camp that clashed with the date fixed for the first leg.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: The 90's marked a shift in the dominant teams challenging for the title, such as the emergence of a Al-Shabab as a new contender and force in the league. As well as the resurgence of bitter rivals Al-Nasser and Al-Ittihad made the league become contested and shared between the four, Al-Hilal achieved three titles during this period (1995–96, 1997–98, 2001–02). The club continued to churn out talent from its academy with players such as Nawaf Al-Temyat, Mohammed Al-Shalhoub, Abdallah Al-Jamaan, Ahmad Al-Dokhi as well as Zambian defender Elijah Litana. Al-Hilal's continental spoil's during this period defined the clubs identity, decadence and standing in the Asian continent for years to come. The first of which came in 1991 when the club won their first Asian title, the Asian Club Championship, beating Iranian club Esteghlal F.C. in penalties in the final. In 1997 the Asian Cup Winners Cup and Asian super cup were also obtained. The club won the Asian Club Championship again in 1999–2000, when they scored an equaliser in the 89th minute and won the match against Júbilo Iwata in the extra-time, with the final being one of the most exciting and competitive in the competition's history; A super cup was also achieved in the same year. Finally the last of the Asian titles to be secured in this era was the 2002 Cup Winners Cup.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: At the turn of the century the historic rivalry between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad had reached levels never seen before in Saudi football. Historically, since their first meeting, Al-Hilal/Al-Ittihad matches have always been aggressive and passion filled spectacles that drew huge crowds due to both teams being from the two major Saudi cities of Riyadh and Jeddah. Each team represented different cities, backgrounds and values. Al-Hilal is based in Riyadh the capital of Saudi Arabia, in addition to having traditional Najdi values the club is most commonly supported by the upper and middle class and also enjoyed royal attention. While on the other hand, Al-Ittihad is based in the port city of Jeddah and is commonly supported by the lower and middle class as well as non-Saudi natives giving it the nickname "the people's club". Both teams dominated this era of Saudi football history. Al-Hilal won the title/s in ( 2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11). Al-Ittihad's golden generation in this period of time equaled Al-Hilal's two AFC Champions League titles, as well as winning the league title/s in (2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2008–09). This resulted in both teams exchanging winner and runner-up positions almost every season in the league for eleven years with the exception of two seasons.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: The pinnacle moment of the era was in the 2007–08 season when Al-Ittihad was leading the table the whole season with Al-Hilal always right behind in second, the final match day pitted both teams against each other in the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah with Al-Ittihad needing a draw at the minimum to clinch the league title at home. Al-Ittihad were the clear favourites due to their much superior quality and home advantage. The match began with Al-Ittihad leading in possession and attacking opportunities but to no avail. In the 49th minute Ahmed Al-Fraidi crossed the ball from the edge of the box, to which Yasser Al-Qahtani skimmed with a header to the right bottom corner of the goal giving Al-Hilal a 1–0 lead four minutes after half time. Al-Ittihad franticly tried to equalise with an abundance of shots but Mohamed Al-deayea goalkeeping heroics the whole match denied them the goal they so desperately needed, and even more so after Al-Qahtani's goal. The referee finally blew the whistle and Al-Hilal were crowned the league champions in Jeddah, and under whose management of Cosmin Olăroiu was coupled with the Crown Prince Cup finishing the season with a double. The league is commonly known and remembered with the nickname (Arabic: شعره ياسر) which roughly translates to "Yasser's hair" due to the winning goal being scored with a header that skimmed the ball with Yasser's hair veering the ball towards the goal. What made the occasion even more special is that the same outcome happened the previous season but the teams were in the opposite situation.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Before the beginning of the 2009–10 season Eric Gerets was hired as the new Al-Hilal manager. Under his management Al-Hilal tactically adopted a very attacking style, combining an already talented local group of players with star foreign players such as the versatile South Korean right back Lee Young-pyo, the powerful and dominant defensive midfielder Mirel Rădoi, the speedy Swedish winger Christian Wilhelmsson and the technically gifted Brazilian attacking midfielder Thiago Neves. This blend of local and foreign talent guided by a tactically astute manager dominated the league and were crowned champions with three games to spare, a crown prince cup was also won in the same season. In the following 2010–11 season Al-Hilal continued to dominate domestically and continentally until their semi-final exit from the 2010 ACL, shortly following their exit Eric Gerets left to become the new head coach of the Morocco national football team. After Gerets's departure Gabriel Calderon took over as head coach of Al-Hilal and finished the updated 14 team league as undefeated champion with 19 wins and 7 draws, becoming the second team to achieve this feat after Al-Ettifaq. The season finished as a double due to the Crown Prince Cup being retained


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: After their back-to-back league titles and generally consistent success in the domestic front, Al-Hilal always seemed to come up short in their continental pursuit since their last triumph in the 1999-2000 campaign. Adding to an already aging local core and departing key players, Al-Hilal was in a transition period to rebuild the team that was able to challenge domestically and in the Champions league. Al Hilal reached the final of AFC Champions League in 2014, 14 years after their last appearance in the final. This time they faced Western Sydney Wanderers. The Australian club won 1–0 on aggregate with some very questionable refereeing decisions by Yuichi Nishimura. During this period of time Al-Hilal was not able to win the league title for five seasons beginning from the 2011–12 to the 2015–16 season, finishing runner up in three of those seasons, and was only able to achieve five cup titles: Crown Prince cup (2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16), King cup (2015) and a Super cup (2015) Against arch rivals Al-Nasser held at Loftus Road Stadium, in London


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: At the start of the 2016–17 season a string of bad results caused Gustavo Matosas to be sacked and replaced by Ramón Díaz. Diaz's reorganised the tactical shape and style of play in which the team was engaging with as well as the conditioning his players to quickly grasp his philosophy. Taking advantage of the fact that throughout the generations Al-Hilal's success largely came from academy players as well as key signings, which the squad already possessed but the group was not in sync or able to reach their true potential. Players such as goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf was brought back From Al-Ahli because of his distribution abilities, right and left backs Yasser Al-Shahrani and Mohammed Al-Breik excelled in chance creation and also in attacking output, Salman Al-Faraj and Abdullah Otayf connection in the midfield linked exceptionally for their vision, technical and passing abilities and intelligence in reading the game as well as rarely giving away possession. Salem Al-Dawsari was extremely talented but unpolished player when he was promoted to the first team in 2011, but has matured to become a key player. These player became the spine of the team and an integral part of Al-Hilal squad for years to come. The managerial replacement radically changed the team's performance by playing possession-based attacking football which the aforementioned players turned out to be very adept to. Al-Hilal finished the season as champions of the league and King cup with the former being achieved with record points in a season.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: The following season continued in the same rhythm with Al-Hilal leading in the domestic league and reaching the 2017 AFC Champions league final. But they ultimately lost to the Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds 1–2 in aggregate after Carlos Eduardo suffered an ACL tear in the first minutes of the first leg, and Omar Kharbin suffered an injury in the second leg. The team slumped mentally after the defeat and began a series of subpar performances which lead to their exit from the next edition's group stage which was their first time leaving the group stage since 2010. Ramón Díaz was sacked on 21 February 2018 and he was replaced Juan Brown as caretaker until the end of the season, he managed to salvage the season by winning Al-Hilal their 15th domestic league title.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: The 2018–19 season saw drastic changes to the league with an increase in the number of clubs from 14 to 16, as well as the increase of foreign players to 8. This season saw the arrival of Bafetimbi Gomis, Andre Carrillo and Sebastian Giovinco managed by Jorge Jesus. The season started very well winning first nine matches of the league, when a new president was appointed Jesus was sacked on 30 January with no specified reason even though he had won 20 matches, was leading the league by 9 points and had won the 2018 super cup. Things started to go downhill from there, by the end of the season Al-Hilal ended up as runner-up in the league by one point to Al-Nasser and runner-up in the 2018–19 Arab Club Champions Cup, lost out to Al-Taawon in the semi-final of the king cup. Mohammed bin Faisal resigned as president on the 1st of may before the season ended.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Fahad bin Nafil was elected president for a four-year term. Răzvan Lucescu was appointed as the new manager, several players that were deemed unneeded were released. South Korean defender Jang Hyun-soo was signed alongside Colombian international Gustavo Cuéllar. The season started well and Al-Hilal was leading the table almost the whole season with the Al-Nasser being the only other club in the title race with Al-Hilal finishing the season as champions and setting a new points record of 72, Al-Hilal beat Al-Nasser 4–1 to end their title hopes. During the 2019 Champions League campaign Al Hilal produced one of the most dominating and exciting performances in the competition history to reach the final midway through the season. The first Champions league match of the season was against Al-Ahli in the round of 16 Al-Hilal won 4–1 away With Gomis scoring a hattrick, and lost 0–1 at home, Al-Hilal qualified to the next stage with an aggregate score of 4–2. The quarter final matched Al-Hilal against local rivals Al-Ittihad, the first match ended in a 0-0 stalemate away while the second match Al-Hilal won 3–1 at home with memorable performances from Salem, Carrillo and Giovinco, Al-Hilal qualified to the semi-final with an aggregate score of 3–1. In the semi-final Al-Hilal was against their toughest opponent in the competition Al-Sadd, in the away match Al-Hilal won 4–1 in Doha while the opposing team player Abdulkarim Hassan was sent off. In the return leg at home in Riyadh Al-Sadd was able to turn around the score by scoring four goals to two, and in the last minute of the game they were awarded a free kick at the edge of the box and needed to score one more goal to go through to the final, but Abdullah Al-Mayouf saved the ball and the original time finished with Al-Hilal winning 6–5 on aggregate, Al-Hilal qualified to their third final in 5 years. After trying and failing to win on two previous finals in 2014 and 2017. They played against the Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds, to whom they lost to in the final two years before. They successfully took a revenge and won 3–0 on aggregate 1–0 at home and 2–0 away, ending a nineteen-year wait for the Asian crown, Bafetimbi Gomis was also the tournaments top scorer and MVP. With both the 2019–20 Saudi Professional League as well as the 2019 AFC Champions league titles secured Al-Hilal had one more title to win to wrap up the treble. Al-Hilal reached the 2019-20 King cup final to face Al-Nasser who hadn't won the cup title since 1990, Al-Hilal won by 2–1 to complete the historic Treble.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Lasty, In the 2021 AFC Champions league Al-Hilal had barley qualified to the knockout stages of the competition. In the round of 16 They faced Esteghlal F.C. and won the match 2–0, in the quarter finals they faced another Iranian team Persepolis F.C. whom they defeated 3–0 to qualify to the next stage. In the semi-final stage Al-Hilal came up against their perennial rivals Al-Nasser which was dubbed as the match of the century due to the long-standing animosity these historic rivals had for each other. This was the first time both teams would face each other in this competition, Further more Al-Nasser had never won the AFC Champions league before and Al-Hilal needed one more title to be the AFC Champions league outright record title holders. The stakes of the game were so high that the tension was felt in the city of Riyadh weeks before the game. The game finished with Al-Hilal winning 2–1 against Al-Nasser to reach the final in addition to bragging rights for many years to come. Al Hilal reached the final in 2021 to face Pohang Steelers, both clubs had held a record of three Asian champions league titles. Al-Hilal came up on top to score the first goal 16 seconds after the match began. In the end a 2–0 win secured the fourth Asian champions league title and Al-Hilal became the AFC Champions League unequivocal record title holders.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: As the champions of the AFC Champions League, Al Hilal qualified for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in the UAE, Al Hilal in their first match faced hosts Al Jazira and managed to win 6–1. Al Hilal later faced UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea FC but lost 1–0 to face off Egyptian club Al Ahly SC for the match for 3rd place, who are the winners of the 2020-21 CAF Champions League, in which Al Hilal lost in a 4–0 defeat with a disappointing performance hence Al Hilal were awarded the 4th position in the tournament.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: In September 2022, Al Hilal offered Cristiano Ronaldo a two-year contract worth €242 million. However, Ronaldo rejected the proposal, calling it "obscene". If accepted, Ronaldo's transfer would have been the most expensive, exceeding Neymar's €222 million transfer. The reports of the offer first surfaced in July 2022, but the Saudi club name was not known. The President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Yasser Al Misehal said he would like to see Ronaldo play in Saudi, but that it "won’t happen before January unfortunately".


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Al Hilal currently plays their home games at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, stadium that was constructed in 1987 with a capacity of 67,000 supporters. The club's reserve team stadium, Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, was used in 2011–12 when King Fahd Stadium was under renovation. When prince Abdulrahman bin Musa'ad became the President of the club in 2008, there was some serious idea of making Al-Hilal a home avenue but the plans have not come to fruition. Al-Hilal became the tenants of King Saud Stadium from the second part of the 2017–18 season until the end of the 2019–20 season. In February 2022 it was announced that both Al Hilal and Al Nasser would become the tenants of the "Qiddiya’s planned cliff-top 40,000+ seat stadium, once complete, will eventually become the new venue for home games for both teams and the full range of sporting facilities being developed will be made available for both clubs".


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Al Hilal has a long-standing rivalry with Ittihad. From the start of national competition the clubs were seen as representatives of the two biggest cities in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh and Jeddah. While Al Hilal have won four Asian Club Championship in years 1991, 1999–2000, 2019 and 2021, Ittihad has won AFC Champions League two times in a row, in 2004 and 2005. Al Hilal won the Saudi El Clasico 62 times, while Ittihad has won it 50 times and two sides have drawn 35 times. As of 2019, the biggest win was when Al Hilal defeated Ittihad 5–0 in 2009–10.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Another rivalry is with their neighbors Al-Nassr, which is called Riyadh's Derby. They have met 148 times, Al Hilal has won 59 times, and lost 48 times, while 41 games have ended in a draw. The biggest win is for Al Hilal when they defeated Al-Nassr 5–1 in 2016–17. The rivalry with Al-Nasser is more violent between them than the rivalry with Al-Ittihad. As an example, when Al Hilal reached the 2014 AFC Champions League Final, in 2nd leg Al-Nassr fans awaited Western Sydney Wanderers arrival at the airport to spur them on against Al Hilal and tried to sabotage Al Hilal's ticket plan.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Mobily was the main sponsor of Al Hilal, and as part of the sponsorship deal, their logo was displayed on the front of the club's shirts and a plethora of other merchandise. The Mobily deal was announced by the club's previous President Abdulrahman bin Musa'ad on 14 October 2008, and is worth a Saudi record SAR 517 million, to be paid over six years (SAR 69.1 million per year).


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Also, the previous president Prince Abdulrahman bin Musa'ad made a contract with Omar Almady, CEO of Volkswagen Group in Saudi Arabia. the contract period is 6 years and was signed on 18 September 2014.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Al-Hilal receives a certain amount from the Saudi Arabia Football Federation as the federation sell the complete matches' right in one package and all the clubs in the Saudi Professional League share the revenue equally. The Saudi league broadcasting rights currently were sold to Saudi Broadcasting Authority's SBC Channel, as well as Shahid streaming service.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: The club's president and other board members secure any extra income required to run the club from merchandising of the club's kit and other products as well as establishing an investment company owned by the club to increase the club's revenue. Recently Sponsorships have been instrumental to the clubs finances due to the numerous lucrative deals signed by the club, owing to the fact that the clubs huge popularity and appeal locally, regionally and continentally generates a huge number of supporters and admirers especially on social media; Where the club has an over 15m+ followers across all social media accounts.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: Special seats have been allocated for the disabled to watch the training. Twenty-five percent of the income of tickets sold goes to charities. Players and board members arrange and attend social activities for charities during Eid and other holidays.


title: Al Hilal SFC

text: In 2009, the club opened a new camp in Riyadh. It contains 25 rooms, meeting rooms, smart room for lectures, library, eating room, living rooms, a big salon and a medical clinic. It also has entertainment corners for video games, table tennis, billiards, table football and many others. There are two training fields for the senior team.


title: Bovidae

text: The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, the family Bovidae consists of 11 (or two) major subfamilies and thirteen major tribes. The family evolved 20 million years ago, in the early Miocene.


title: Bovidae

text: The bovids show great variation in size and pelage colouration. Excepting some domesticated forms, all male bovids have two or more horns, and in many species, females possess horns, too. The size and shape of the horns vary greatly, but the basic structure is always one or more pairs of simple bony protrusions without branches, often having a spiral, twisted or fluted form, each covered in a permanent sheath of keratin. Most bovids bear 30 to 32 teeth.


title: Bovidae

text: Most bovids are diurnal. Social activity and feeding usually peak during dawn and dusk. Bovids typically rest before dawn, during midday, and after dark. They have various methods of social organisation and social behaviour, which are classified into solitary and gregarious behaviour. Bovids use different forms of vocal, olfactory, and tangible communication. Most species alternately feed and ruminate throughout the day. While small bovids forage in dense and closed habitat, larger species feed on high-fiber vegetation in open grasslands. Most bovids are polygynous. Mature bovids mate at least once a year and smaller species may even mate twice. In some species, neonate bovids remain hidden for a week to two months, regularly nursed by their mothers; in other species, neonates are followers, accompanying their dams, rather than tending to remain hidden.


title: Bovidae

text: The greatest diversities of bovids occur in Africa. The maximum concentration of species is in the savannas of Eastern Africa. Other bovid species also occur in Europe, Asia, and North America. Bovidae includes three of the five domesticated mammals whose use has spread outside their original ranges, namely cattle, sheep, and goats. Dairy products, such as milk, butter, and cheese, are manufactured largely from domestic cattle. Bovids are also raised for their leather, meat, and wool.


title: Bovidae

text: The name "Bovidae" was given by the British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1821. The word "Bovidae" is the combination of the prefix "bov-" (originating from Latin "bos", "ox", through Late Latin "bovinus") and the suffix "-idae".


title: Bovidae

text: The family Bovidae is placed in the order Artiodactyla (which includes the even-toed ungulates). It includes 143 extant species, accounting for nearly 55% of the ungulates, and 300 known extinct species.


title: Bovidae

text: Until the beginning of the 21st century it was understood that the family Moschidae (musk deer) was sister to Cervidae. However, a 2003 phylogenetic study by Alexandre Hassanin (of National Museum of Natural History, France) and colleagues, based on mitochondrial and nuclear analyses, revealed that Moschidae and Bovidae form a clade sister to Cervidae. According to the study, Cervidae diverged from the Bovidae-Moschidae clade 27 to 28 million years ago. The following cladogram is based on the 2003 study.


title: Bovidae

text: Molecular studies have supported monophyly in the family Bovidae (a group of organisms comprises an ancestral species and all their descendants). The number of subfamilies in Bovidae is disputed, with suggestions of as many as ten and as few as two subfamilies. However, molecular, morphological and fossil evidence indicates the existence of eight distinct subfamilies: Aepycerotinae (consisting of just the impala), Alcelaphinae (bontebok, hartebeest, wildebeest and relatives), Antilopinae (several antelopes, gazelles, and relatives), Bovinae (cattle, buffaloes, bison and other antelopes), Caprinae (goats, sheep, ibex, serows and relatives), Cephalophinae (duikers), Hippotraginae (addax, oryx and relatives) and Reduncinae (reedbuck and kob antelopes). In addition, three extinct subfamilies are known: Hypsodontinae (mid-Miocene), Oiocerinae (Turolian) and the subfamily Tethytraginae, which contains "Tethytragus" (mid-Miocene).


title: Bovidae

text: In 1992, Alan W. Gentry of the Natural History Museum, London divided the eight major subfamilies of Bovidae into two major clades on the basis of their evolutionary history: the Boodontia, which comprised only the Bovinae, and the Aegodontia, which consisted of the rest of the subfamilies. Boodonts have somewhat primitive teeth, resembling those of oxen, whereas aegodonts have more advanced teeth like those of goats.


title: Bovidae

text: A controversy exists about the recognition of Peleinae and Pantholopinae, comprising the genera "Pelea" and "Pantholops" respectively, as subfamilies. In 2000, American biologist George Schaller and palaeontologist Elisabeth Vrba suggested the inclusion of "Pelea" in Reduncinae, though the grey rhebok, the sole species of "Pelea", is highly different from kobs and reduncines in morphology. "Pantholops", earlier classified in the Antilopinae, was later placed in its own subfamily, Pantholopinae. However, molecular and morphological analysis supports the inclusion of "Pantholops" in Caprinae.


title: Bovidae

text: Alternatively, all members of the Aegodontia, can be classified within the subfamily Antilopinae, with the individual subfamilies being tribes in this treatment.


title: Bovidae

text: In the early Miocene, bovids began diverging from the cervids (deer) and giraffids. The earliest bovids, whose presence in Africa and Eurasia in the latter part of early Miocene (20 Mya) has been ascertained, were small animals, somewhat similar to modern gazelles, and probably lived in woodland environments. "Eotragus", the earliest known bovid, weighed and was nearly the same in size as the Thomson's gazelle. Early in their evolutionary history, the bovids split into two main clades: Boodontia (of Eurasian origin) and Aegodontia (of African origin). This early split between Boodontia and Aegodontia has been attributed to the continental divide between these land masses. When these continents were later rejoined, this barrier was removed, and either group expanded into the territory of the other. The tribes Bovini and Tragelaphini diverged in the early Miocene. Bovids are known to have reached the Americas in the Pleistocene by crossing the Bering land bridge.


title: Bovidae

text: The present genera of Alcelaphinae appeared in the Pliocene. The extinct Alcelaphine genus "Paramularius", which was the same in size as the hartebeest, is believed to have come into being in the Pliocene, but became extinct in the middle Pleistocene. Several genera of Hippotraginae are known since the Pliocene and Pleistocene. This subfamily appears to have diverged from the Alcelaphinae in the latter part of early Miocene. The Bovinae are believed to have diverged from the rest of the Bovidae in the early Miocene. The Boselaphini became extinct in Africa in the early Pliocene; their latest fossils were excavated in Langebaanweg (South Africa) and Lothagam (Kenya).


title: Bovidae

text: The middle Miocene marked the spread of the bovids into China and the Indian subcontinent. According to Vrba, the radiation of the subfamily Alcelaphinae began in the latter part of middle Miocene. The Caprinae tribes probably diverged in the early middle Miocene. The Caprini emerged in the middle Miocene, and seem to have been replaced by other bovids and cervids in Eurasia. The earliest fossils of the antilopines are from the middle Miocene, though studies show the existence of the subfamily from the early Miocene. Speciation occurred in the tribe Antilopini during the middle or upper Miocene, mainly in Eurasia. Tribe Neotragini seems to have appeared in Africa by the end of Miocene, and had become widespread by the Pliocene.


title: Bovidae

text: By the late Miocene, around 10 Mya, the bovids rapidly diversified, leading to the creation of 70 new genera. This late Miocene radiation was partly because many bovids became adapted to more open, grassland habitats. The Aepycerotinae first appeared in the late Miocene, and no significant difference in the sizes of the primitive and modern impala has been noted. Fossils of ovibovines, a tribe of Caprinae, in Africa date back to the late Miocene. The earliest Hippotragine fossils date back to the late Miocene, and were excavated from sites such as Lothagam and Awash Valley. The first African fossils of Reduncinae date back to 6-7 Mya. Reduncinae and Peleinae probably diverged in the mid-Miocene.


title: Bovidae

text: All bovids have the similar basic form - a snout with a blunt end, one or more pairs of horns (generally present on males) immediately after the oval or pointed ears, a distinct neck and limbs, and a tail varying in length and bushiness among the species. Most bovids exhibit sexual dimorphism, with males usually larger as well as heavier than females. Sexual dimorphism is more prominent in medium- to large-sized bovids. All bovids have four toes on each foot – they walk on the central two (the hooves), while the outer two (the dewclaws) are much smaller and rarely touch the ground.


title: Bovidae

text: The bovids show great variation in size: the gaur can weigh more than , and stand high at the shoulder. The royal antelope, in sharp contrast, is only tall and weighs at most . The klipspringer, another small antelope, stands at the shoulder and weighs just .


title: Bovidae

text: Differences occur in pelage colouration, ranging from a pale white (as in the Arabian oryx) to black (as in the black wildebeest). However, only the intermediate shades, such as brown and reddish brown (as in the reedbuck), are commonly observed. In several species, females and juveniles exhibit a light-coloured coat, while those of males darken with age. As in the wildebeest, the coat may be marked with prominent or faint stripes. In some species such as the addax, the coat colour can vary by the season. Scent glands and sebaceous glands are often present.


title: Bovidae

text: Some species, such as the gemsbok, sable antelope, and Grant's gazelle, are camouflaged with strongly disruptive facial markings that conceal the highly recognisable eye. Many species, such as gazelles, may be made to look flat, and hence to blend into the background, by countershading. The outlines of many bovids are broken up with bold disruptive colouration, the strongly contrasting patterns helping to delay recognition by predators. However, all the Hippotraginae (including the gemsbok) have pale bodies and faces with conspicuous markings. The zoologist Tim Caro describes this as difficult to explain, but given that the species are diurnal, he suggests that the markings may function in communication. Strongly contrasting leg colouration is common only in the Bovidae, where for example "Bos", "Ovis", bontebok and gemsbok have white stockings. Again, communication is the likely function.


title: Bovidae

text: Excepting some domesticated forms, all male bovids have horns, and in many species, females, too, possess horns. The size and shape of the horns vary greatly, but the basic structure is a pair of simple bony protrusions without branches, often having a spiral, twisted, or fluted form, each covered in a permanent sheath of keratin. Although horns occur in a single pair on almost all bovid species, there are exceptions such as the four-horned antelope and the Jacob sheep. The unique horn structure is the only unambiguous morphological feature of bovids that distinguishes them from other pecorans. A high correlation exists between horn morphology and fighting behaviour of the individual. For instance, long horns are intended for wrestling and fencing, whereas curved horns are used in ramming. Males with horns directed inwards are monogamous and solitary, while those with horns directed outwards tend to be polygynous. These results were independent of body size.


title: Bovidae

text: Male horn development has been linked to sexual selection, Horns are small spikes in the monogamous duikers and other small antelopes, whereas in the polygynous, they are large and elaborately formed (for example in a spiral structure, as in the giant eland). Thus, to some extent, horns depict the degree of competition among males in a species. However, the presence of horns in females is likely due to natural selection. The horns of females are usually smaller than those of males, and are sometimes of a different shape. The horns of female bovids are believed to have evolved for defence against predators or to express territoriality, as nonterritorial females, which are able to use crypsis for predator defence, often do not have horns. Females possess horns only in half of the bovid genera, and females in these genera are heavier than those in the rest. Females use horns mainly for stabbing.


title: Bovidae

text: In bovids, the third and fourth metapodials are combined into the cannon bone. The ulna and fibula are reduced, and fused with the radius and tibia, respectively. Long scapulae are present, whereas the clavicles are absent. Being ruminants, the stomach is composed of four chambers: the rumen (80%), the omasum, the reticulum, and the abomasum. The ciliates and bacteria of the rumen ferment the complex cellulose into simpler fatty acids, which are then absorbed through the rumen wall. Bovids have a long small intestine; the length of the small intestine in cattle is . Body temperature fluctuates through the day; for instance, in goats the temperature can change slightly from nearly in the early morning to in the afternoon. Temperature is regulated through sweating in cattle, whereas goats use panting for the same. The right lung, consisting of four to five lobes, is around 1.5 times larger than the left, which has three lobes.


title: Bovidae

text: Most bovids bear 30 to 32 teeth. While the upper incisors are absent, the upper canines are either reduced or absent. Instead of the upper incisors, bovids have a thick and tough layer of tissue, called the dental pad, that provides a surface to grip grasses and foliage. They are hypsodont and selenodont, since the molars and premolars are low-crowned and crescent-shaped cusps. The lower incisors and canines project forward. The incisors are followed by a long toothless gap, known as the diastema. The general dental formula for bovids is . Most members of the family are herbivorous, but most duikers are omnivorous. Like other ruminants, bovids have four-chambered stomachs, which allow them to digest plant material, such as grass, that cannot be used by many other animals. Ruminants (and some others like kangaroos, rabbits, and termites) are able to use micro-organisms living in their guts to break down cellulose by fermentation.


title: Bovidae

text: The bovids have various methods of social organisation and social behaviour, which are classified into solitary and gregarious behaviour. Further, these types may each be divided into territorial and nonterritorial behaviour. Small bovids such as the klipspringer, oribi, and steenbok are generally solitary and territorial. They hold small territories into which other members of the species are not allowed to enter. These antelopes form monogamous pairs. Many species such as the dik-dik use pheromone secretions from the preorbital glands and sometimes dung, as well, to mark their territories. The offspring disperse at the time of adolescence, and males must acquire territories prior to mating. The bushbuck is the only bovid that is both solitary and not territorial. This antelope hardly displays aggression, and tends to isolate itself or form loose herds, though in a favourable habitat, several bushbuck may be found quite close to one another.


title: Bovidae

text: Excluding the cephalophines (duikers), tragelaphines (spiral-horned antelopes) and the neotragines, most African bovids are gregarious and territorial. Males are forced to disperse on attaining sexual maturity, and must form their own territories, while females are not required to do so. Males that do not hold territories form bachelor herds. Competition takes place among males to acquire dominance, and fights tend to be more rigorous in limited rutting seasons. With the exception of migratory males, males generally hold the same territory throughout their lives. In the waterbuck, some male individuals, known as "satellite males", may be allowed into the territories of other males and have to wait till the owner grows old so they may acquire his territory. Lek mating, where males gather together and competitively display to potential mates, is known to exist among topis, kobs, and lechwes. The tragelaphines, cattle, sheep, and goats are gregarious and not territorial. In these species, males must gain absolute dominance over all other males, and fights are not confined to territories. Males, therefore, spend years in body growth.


title: Bovidae

text: Most bovids are diurnal, although a few such as the buffalo, bushbuck, reedbuck, and grysbok are exceptions. Social activity and feeding usually peak during dawn and dusk. The bovids usually rest before dawn, during midday, and after dark. Grooming is usually by licking with the tongue. Rarely do antelopes roll in mud or dust. Wildebeest and buffalo usually wallow in mud, whereas the hartebeest and topi rub their heads and horns in mud and then smear it over their bodies. Bovids use different forms of vocal, olfactory, and tangible communication. These involve varied postures of neck, head, horns, hair, legs, and ears to convey sexual excitement, emotional state, or alarm. One such expression is the flehmen response. Bovids usually stand motionless, with the head high and an intent stare, when they sense danger. Some like the impala, kudu, and eland can even leap to heights of a few feet. Bovids may roar or grunt to caution others and warn off predators. Bovids such as gazelles stot or pronk in response to predators, making high leaps on stiff legs, indicating honestly both that the predator has been seen, and that the stotting individual is strong and not worth chasing.


title: Bovidae

text: In the mating season, rutting males bellow to make their presence known to females. Muskoxen roar during male-male fights, and male saigas force air through their noses, producing a roar to deter rival males and attract females. Mothers also use vocal communication to locate their calves if they get separated. During fights over dominance, males tend to display themselves in an erect posture with a level muzzle.


title: Bovidae

text: Fighting techniques differ amongst the bovid families and also depend on their build. While the hartebeest fight on knees, others usually fight on all fours. Gazelles of various sizes use different methods of combat. Gazelles usually box, and in serious fights may clash and fence, consisting of hard blows from short range. Ibex, goat and sheep males stand upright and clash into each other downwards. Wildebeest use powerful head butting in aggressive clashes. If horns become entangled, the opponents move in a circular manner to unlock them. Muskoxen will ram into each other at high speeds. As a rule, only two bovids of equal build and level of defence engage in a fight, which is intended to determine the superior of the two. Individuals that are evidently inferior to others would rather flee than fight; for example, immature males do not fight with the mature bulls. Generally, bovids direct their attacks on the opponent's head rather than its body. The S-shaped horns, such as those on the impala, have various sections that help in ramming, holding, and stabbing. Serious fights leading to injury are rare.


title: Bovidae

text: Most bovids alternately feed and ruminate throughout the day. While those that feed on concentrate feed and digest in short intervals, the roughage feeders take longer intervals. Only small species such as the duiker browse for a few hours during day or night. Feeding habits are related to body size; while small bovids forage in dense and closed habitat, larger species feed upon high-fiber vegetation in open grasslands.


title: Bovidae

text: Subfamilies exhibit different feeding strategies. While Bovinae species graze extensively on fresh grass and diffused forage, Cephalophinae species (with the exception of "Sylvicapra") primarily consume fruits. Reduncinae and Hippotraginae species depend on unstable food sources, but the latter are specially adapted to arid areas. Members of Caprinae, being flexible feeders, forage even in areas with low productivity. Tribes Alcelaphini, Hippotragini, and Reduncini have high proportions of monocots in their diets. On the contrary, Tragelaphini and Neotragini (with the exception of "Ourebia") feed extensively on dicots. No conspicuous relationship exists between body size and consumption of monocots.


title: Bovidae

text: Most bovids are polygynous. In a few species, individuals are monogamous, resulting in minimal male-male aggression and reduced selection for large body size in males. Thus, sexual dimorphism is almost absent. Females may be slightly larger than males, possibly due to competition among females for the acquisition of territories. This is the case in duikers and other small bovids. The time taken for the attainment of sexual maturity by either sex varies broadly among bovids. Sexual maturity may even precede or follow mating. For instance, the impala males, though sexually mature by a year, can mate only after four years of age. On the contrary barbary sheep females may give birth to offspring even before they have gained sexual maturity. The delay in male sexual maturation is more visible in sexually dimorphic species, particularly the reduncines, probably due to competition among males. For instance, the blue wildebeest females become capable of reproduction within a year or two of birth, while the males become mature only when four years old.


title: Bovidae

text: All bovids mate at least once a year, and smaller species may even mate twice. Mating seasons occur typically during the rainy months for most bovids. As such, breeding might peak twice in the equatorial regions. The sheep and goats exhibit remarkable seasonality of reproduction, in the determination of which the annual cycle of daily photoperiod plays a pivotal role. Other factors that have a significant influence on this cycle include the temperature of the surroundings, nutritional status, social interactions, the date of parturition and the lactation period. A study of this phenomenon concluded that goats and sheep are short-day breeders. Mating in most sheep breeds begins in summer or early autumn. Mating in sheep is also affected by melatonin, that advances the onset of the breeding season; and thyroxine, that terminates the breeding season. Estrus lasts for at most a day in bovids, with the exception of bovines and tragelaphines. Except for the hartebeest and the topi, all bovids can detect estrus in females by testing the urine using the vomeronasal organ. Once the male is assured that the female is in estrus, he begins courtship displays; these displays vary greatly from the elaborate marches among gregarious species to the fervent licking of female genitalia among solitary species. Females, initially not receptive, ultimately mates with the male which has achieved dominance over others. Receptiveness is expressed by permission for mounting by the male and setting aside the tail by the female. Copulation generally takes a few seconds.


title: Bovidae

text: Gestational period varies among bovids - while duiker gestation ranges from 120 to 150 days, gestation in African buffalo ranges from 300 to 330 days. Usually, a single offspring is born (twins are less frequent), and it is able to stand and run by itself within an hour of birth. In monogamous species, males assist in defending their young, but that is not the case in polygynous species. Most newborn calves remain hidden for a week to two months, regularly nursed by their mothers. In some bovid species, the neonates start following about their mothers immediately or within a few days, as in the impala. Different bovids have different strategies for the defence of juveniles. For instance, while wildebeest mothers solely defend their young, buffaloes exhibit collective defence. Weaning might occur as early as two months (as in royal antelope) or as late as a year (as in muskox).


title: Bovidae

text: Most wild bovids live for 10 to 15 years. Larger species tend to live longer; for instance, American bison can live up to 25 years and gaur up to 30 years. The mean lifespan of domesticated individuals is nearly ten years. For example, domesticated goats have an average lifespan of 12 years.


title: Bovidae

text: Usually males, mainly in polygynous species, have shorter lifespans than females. This can be attributed to several reasons: early dispersal of young males, aggressive male-male fights, vulnerability to predation (particularly when males are less agile, as in kudu), and malnutrition (being large in size, the male body has high nutritional requirements which may not be satisfied). Richard Despard Estes suggested that females mimic male secondary sexual characteristics like horns to protect their male offspring from dominant males. This feature seems to have been strongly selected to prevent male mortality and imbalanced sex ratios due to attacks by aggressive males and forced dispersal of young males during adolescence.


title: Bovidae

text: Most of the diverse bovid species occur in Africa. The maximum concentration is in the savannas of eastern Africa. Depending on their feeding habits, several species have radiated over large stretches of land, and hence several variations in dental and limb morphology are observed. Duikers inhabit the equatorial rainforests, sitatunga, and lechwe occur near swamps, eland inhabit grasslands, springbok and oryx occur in deserts, bongo and anoa live in dense forests, and mountain goats and takin live at high altitudes. A few bovid species also occur in Europe, Asia, and North America. Sheep and goats are found primarily in Eurasia, though the Barbary sheep and the ibex form part of the African fauna. The muskox is confined to the arctic tundra. Several bovid species have been domesticated by human beings. The domestication of goats and sheep began 10 thousand years ago, while cattle were domesticated about 7.5 thousand years ago.


title: Bovidae

text: The domestication of bovids has contributed to shifting the dependence of human beings from hunting and gathering to agriculture. The Bovidae includes three of the six large domesticated herbivores whose use has spread outside their original ranges, namely cattle, sheep, and goats; all are from Eurasia, and are now found across the world. The other three species are the horse, donkey, and pig. Other large bovids that have been domesticated but which remain within the ranges of their wild ancestors are the water buffalo (from the Indian water buffalo), domestic yak (from the wild yak), zebu (from the Indian aurochs), gayal (from the gaur) and Bali cattle (from the banteng).


title: Bovidae

text: Some antelopes have been domesticated including the oryxes, addax, elands and the extinct bubal hartebeest. In Ancient Egypt oryxes, addaxes and bubal hartebeests are depicted in carved walls.


title: Bovidae

text: The earliest evidence of cattle domestication is from 8000 BC, suggesting that the process began in Cyprus and the Euphrates basin.


title: Bovidae

text: Dairy products such as milk, butter, ghee, yoghurt, buttermilk and cheese are manufactured largely from domestic cattle, though the milk of sheep, goat, yak, and buffalo is also used in some parts of the world and for gourmet products. For example, buffalo milk is used to make mozzarella in Italy and "gulab jamun" dessert in India, while sheep milk is used to make blue Roquefort cheese in France.


title: Bovidae

text: Beef is a food source high in zinc, selenium, phosphorus, iron, and B vitamins. Bison meat is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef, but has a higher protein content.


title: Bovidae

text: Bovid leather is tough and durable, with the additional advantage that it can be made into leathers of varying thicknesses - from soft clothing leather to hard shoe leather. While goat and cattle leather have a wide variety of use, sheepskin is suited only for clothing purposes. Wool from Merino hoggets is the finest and most valuable. Merino wool is long and very soft. Coarse wools, being durable and resistant to pilling, are used for making tough garments and carpets.


title: Bovidae

text: Bone meal is an important fertilizer rich in calcium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, effective in removing soil acidity. Bovid horns have been used as drinking vessels since antiquity.


title: Bovidae

text: Bovidae have featured in stories since at least the time of Aesop's fables from Ancient Greece around 600 BC. Fables by Aesop include "The Crow and the Sheep", "The Frog and the Ox", and "The Wolf and the Lamb". The mythological creature Chimera, depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head, was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The sheep, synonymous with the goat in Chinese mythology, is the eighth animal of the Chinese zodiac, and a symbol of filial piety.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is a key element of the stories associated with the Trojan War. Its exact nature—whether it is an example of homosexual pederasty, a non-sexual deep friendship, or something else entirely—has been a subject of dispute in both the Classical period and modern times. In the "Iliad," Homer describes a deep and meaningful relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, where Achilles is tender toward Patroclus but callous and arrogant toward others. Homer never explicitly casts the two as lovers, but they were depicted as lovers in the archaic and classical periods of Greek literature, particularly in the works of Aeschylus, Aeschines and Plato.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Achilles and Patroclus quarter together in a tent near their Greek allies fleet of ships. King Agamemnon realizes that Achilles, due to his heroic reputation, needs to enter the fight, but Achilles, having been disrespected by Agamemnon, refuses. Agamemnon sends an envoy to change his mind. In Book IX (lines 225 to 241) the diplomats, Odysseus and Ajax, hear Achilles playing the lyre and singing all alone with Patroclus. They both spring to their feet in surprise as the guests enter. After much talk, the embassy fails to convince Achilles to fight.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: After more battle, Nestor arrives back to the Greek allies base with a wounded soldier. Achilles sends Patroclus out to speak with him. In Book XI (lines 952 to 978) Nestor reminds Patroclus that his father had long ago taught him that, although Achilles was nobler, he (Patroclus) was still Achilles' elder, and therefore he should counsel and guide Achilles wisely so that perhaps he would finally enter the fight against the Trojans, but if not, then he himself (Patroclus) should don Achilles' armor to deceive the Trojans into thinking that Achilles had joined the fight, which should scare them away from their base and back to their own walls.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Later on, the Trojans continue their advance on the Greek allies base and breech the defensive wall guarding their ships. Patroclus eventually dons Achilles' armor and scares them back, as planned, he also ends up killing Sarpedon, a son of Zeus, but is eventually killed by Hector. News of Patroclus' death reaches Achilles through Nestor's son Antilochus, which throws Achilles into deep grief. The earlier steadfast and unbreakable Achilles agonizes, touching Patroclus' dead body, smearing himself with ash and fasting. He laments Patroclus' death using language very similar to the grief of Hector's wife. He also requests that when he dies, his bones be mixed with Patroclus' in a vase.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: The rage that follows from Patroclus' death becomes the prime motivation for Achilles to return to the battlefield. He returns to battle with the sole aim of avenging Patroclus' death by killing Hector, despite a warning that doing so would cost him his life. After defeating Hector, Achilles drags his corpse by the heels behind his chariot.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Achilles' attachment to Patroclus is an archetypal male bond that occurs elsewhere in Greek culture: the mythical Damon and Pythias, the legendary Orestes and Pylades, and the historical Harmodius and Aristogeiton are pairs of comrades who gladly face danger and death for and beside each other.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: In the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the relationship was portrayed as same-sex love in the works of Aeschylus, Plato, Pindar, and Aeschines.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: In Athens, the relationship was often viewed as being loving and pederastic. The Greek custom of between members of the same-sex, typically men, was a political, intellectual, and sometimes sexual relationship. Its ideal structure consisted of an older (lover, protector), and a younger (the beloved). The age difference between partners and their respective roles (either active or passive) was considered to be a key feature. Writers that assumed a pederastic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, such as Plato and Aeschylus, were then faced with a problem of deciding who must be older and play the role of the .


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Aeschylus, in his lost tragedy "The Myrmidons" (5th century BC), assigned Achilles the role of or protector (since he had avenged his lover's death, even though the gods told him it would cost him his own life), and assigned Patroclus the roles of . Achilles publicly laments Patroclus' death, addressing the corpse and criticizing him for letting himself be killed. In a surviving fragment of the play, Achilles speaks of "the reverent company" of Patroclus' thighs and how Patroclus was "ungrateful for many kisses."


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Pindar's comparison of the adolescent boxer Hagesidamus and his trainer Ilas to Patroclus and Achilles in "Olympian" 10.16–21 (476 BC) as well as the comparison of Hagesidamus to Zeus' lover Ganymede in "Olympian" 10.99–105 suggest that student and trainer had a romantic relationship, especially after Aeschylus' depiction of Achilles and Patroclus as lovers in his play "Myrmidons".


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: In Plato's "Symposium," written , the speaker Phaedrus holds up Achilles and Patroclus as an example of divinely approved lovers. Phaedrus argues that Aeschylus erred in claiming Achilles was the because Achilles was more beautiful and youthful than Patroclus (characteristics of the ) as well as more noble and skilled in battle (characteristics of the ). Instead, Phaedrus suggests that Achilles is the whose reverence of his , Patroclus, was so great that he would be willing to die to avenge him.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Plato's contemporary, Xenophon, in his own "Symposium", had Socrates argue that Achilles and Patroclus were merely chaste and devoted comrades. Xenophon cites other examples of legendary comrades, such as Orestes and Pylades, who were renowned for their joint achievements rather than any erotic relationship. Notably, in Xenophon's Symposium, the host Kallias and the young pankration victor Autolycos are called and .


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Further evidence of this debate is found in a speech by an Athenian politician, Aeschines, at his trial in 345 BC. Aeschines, in placing an emphasis on the importance of to the Greeks, argues that though Homer does not state it explicitly, educated people should be able to read between the lines: "Although (Homer) speaks in many places of Patroclus and Achilles, he hides their love and avoids giving a name to their friendship, thinking that the exceeding greatness of their affection is manifest to such of his hearers as are educated men." Most ancient writers (among the most influential Aeschylus, Plutarch, Theocritus, Martial and Lucian) followed the thinking laid out by Aeschines.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: According to William A. Percy III, there are some scholars, such as Bernard Sergent, who believe that in Homer's Ionian culture there existed a homosexuality that had not taken on the form it later would in pederasty. However, Sergent and others have argued that it had, though it was not reflected in Homer. Sergent asserts that ritualized man-boy relations were widely diffused through Europe from prehistoric times.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Achilles is the most dominant, and among the warriors in the Trojan War he has the most fame. Patroclus performs duties such as cooking, feeding, and grooming the horses, yet is older than Achilles. Both characters also sleep with women:


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Attempts to edit Homer's text were undertaken by Aristarchus of Samothrace in Alexandria around 200 BC. Aristarchus believed that Homer did not intend the two to be lovers. However, he did agree that the "we-two alone" passage did imply a love relation and argued it was a later interpolation.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: When Alexander the Great and his confidant Hephaestion passed through the city of Troy on their Asian campaign, Alexander honoured the sacred tomb of Achilles and Patroclus in front of the entire army, and this was taken as a clear declaration of their own relationship. The joint tomb and Alexander's action demonstrates the perceived significance of the Achilles-Patroclus relationship at that time (around 334 BC).


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Commentators from the Classical period interpreted the relationship through the lens of their own cultures. The post-classical tradition shows Achilles as heterosexual and having an exemplary platonic friendship with Patroclus. Medieval Christian writers deliberately suppressed the homoerotic nuances of the figure.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: David Halperin compares Achilles and Patroclus to the traditions of Jonathan and David, and Gilgamesh and Enkidu, which are approximately contemporary with the Iliad's composition. He argues that while a modern reader is inclined to interpret the portrayal of these intense same-sex male warrior friendships as being fundamentally homoerotic, it is important to consider the greater themes of these relationships:


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: According to Halperin, these extra-institutional relationships were of necessity portrayed by using the language of other, institutionalized love relationships, such as those of parent/child and husband/wife. This can explain the overtones in Book 19 of the "Iliad" wherein Achilles mourns Patroclus (lines 315–337) in a similar manner used previously by Briseis (lines 287–300).


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: William Shakespeare's play "Troilus and Cressida" portrays Achilles and Patroclus as lovers in the eyes of the Greeks. Achilles' decision to spend his days in his tent with Patroclus is seen by Ulysses and many other Greeks as the chief reason for anxiety about Troy.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Jonathan Shay, whose book "Achilles in Vietnam" proposes readings of the Iliad that have been helpful and therapeutically useful for the healing of mental wounds in Vietnam veterans, pointed out that their familial relationship in the Iliad must not be overlooked: Patroclus is Achilles' cousin and his foster brother; symbolically, comrades in battle are "like brothers," making the Achilles/Patroclus model useful for thinking about the intensity of Vietnam veterans' feelings of loss when their comrades fell beside them. Shay places a strong emphasis on the relationships that soldiers who experience combat together forge, and points out that this kind of loss has in fact often led to "berserking" of soldiers stunned with grief and rage, in a way similar to the raging of Achilles in the Iliad. Shay points out that a frequent topos in veterans' grief for a companion is that companion's gentleness or innocence; similarly, while a warrior of great note, Patroclus is said in the "Iliad" by other soldiers and by Briseis the captive to have been gentle and kind.


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: The film "Troy" presented Patroclus as a younger relative of Achilles, without any romantic or sexual aspects. (In the "Iliad", it is explicitly stated that Patroclus was the older and more responsible of the two.)


title: Achilles and Patroclus

text: Madeline Miller's "The Song of Achilles" (2011) is a coming-of-age story told from Patroclus' point of view, showing the development of a loving and sexual relationship between Achilles and Patroclus.


title: Koyaanisqatsi

text: Koyaanisqatsi (), also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 American experimental non-narrative film directed and produced by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke.


title: Koyaanisqatsi

text: The film consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse footage of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and music. Reggio explained the lack of dialogue by stating "it's not for lack of love of the language that these films have no words. It's because, from my point of view, our language is in a state of vast humiliation. It no longer describes the world in which we live." In the Hopi language, the word means "life out of balance".


title: Koyaanisqatsi

text: The film is the first in the "Qatsi" film trilogy: it is succeeded by "Powaqqatsi" (1988) and "Naqoyqatsi" (2002). The trilogy depicts different aspects of the relationship between humans, nature and technology. "Koyaanisqatsi" is the best known of the trilogy and is considered a cult film. However, because of copyright issues, the film was out of print for most of the 1990s. In 2000, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, aesthetically, or historically significant".


title: Koyaanisqatsi

text: The film begins with the Great Gallery pictograph in Horseshoe Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, depicting several tall figures standing near a taller, crowned one. The next scene depicts the Saturn V rocket during its Apollo 11 launch. It then fades to a desolate desert landscape, before progressing to various natural phenomena.