title: Lance Berkman

text: On January 5, 2013, Berkman agreed to a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers for approximately $10 million. In 73 games, Berkman hit .242 with six home runs and 34 RBIs in 256 at bats. On October 31, the Rangers declined his option, which made him a free agent. On January 29, 2014, he decided to retire. Berkman, along with former teammate Roy Oswalt signed a one-day contract with Houston to officially retire as a member of the Astros on April 5, 2014.


title: Lance Berkman

text: In 1,879 games over 15 seasons, Berkman posted a .293 batting average (1,905-for-6,491) with 1,146 runs, 422 doubles, 30 triples, 366 home runs, 1,234 RBI, 86 stolen bases, 1,201 bases on balls, .406 on-base percentage and .537 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .991 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions and first base. In 52 postseason games, he hit .317 (59-for-186) with 38 runs, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 41 RBI and 31 walks.


title: Lance Berkman

text: In 2009, Berkman stated that after his major league career he would like to coach baseball at the University of Texas at Austin even though he attended Rice University. Since he didn't finish his degree at Rice, he would need to return to school and complete three more semesters to earn a business degree with a minor in sports management. He hypothesized then that "I know [Texas Coach Augie] Garrido's going to coach four or five more years. I figured that might dovetail nicely with the end of my career." With Berkman's retirement in 2014, however, it is at his alma mater, Rice, that the former Owl has spent time assisting young hitters. Rice Coach Wayne Graham has made clear that Rice would be interested, stating that "[i]t sounds like he wants to coach. Hopefully at one time or another it will be here. We’ll manage to always find a place for him."


title: Lance Berkman

text: As of 2015, Berkman is serving as the head baseball coach at Second Baptist School in Houston, Texas, along with his former Astros teammate Andy Pettitte serving as assistant coach. Berkman and Pettitte led Second Baptist to a Tapps State Title in 2016.


title: Lance Berkman

text: Berkman was eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. He received 5 votes, or 1.4%, which is less than 5% threshold and became thus ineligible for further consideration.


title: Lance Berkman

text: Berkman and his wife, Cara, live in Houston with their four daughters. Berkman has been very outspoken about his Christian beliefs throughout his career. Berkman uses his position as a professional athlete to discuss his religious beliefs with others. He told The 700 Club in May 2007: "What you’re running after, what you’re trying to find will not provide you with any lasting fulfillment. The only place you can find that is Jesus Christ. It's in the service of God you’ll find that lasting fulfillment."


title: Lance Berkman

text: In 2001, Berkman began leading a charity called "Berkman's Bunch" where 50 underprivileged kids could meet Berkman before each Saturday home game for autographs and other gifts. In April 2012, Forbes named Berkman one of the 30 most generous celebrities as he and his wife had donated $2,412,245 to a foundation they established called To The Lord's Fund.


title: Lance Berkman

text: In July 2013, Berkman purchased a fire truck and had it overhauled by the City of Arlington. He then donated it to the City of West, Texas, in the wake of the West Fertilizer Company explosion that took place earlier in the year. The fire truck is white with a red Maltese cross on the doors and the name Berkman over the cross with his number "17" encircled within the cross.


title: Lance Berkman

text: Berkman filmed an advertisement against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which was aimed at protecting LGBT individuals from discrimination. The ordinance sought to ban discrimination on a variety of levels, including sex, race, color, ethnicity and other classifications. Despite the wording of the ordinance, HERO's opponents including Berkman, instead honed in on the sexual orientation and gender identity protections. Berkman took to the airwaves to repeat a popular stance of HERO’s critics, arguing that the law would allow male predators dressed in drag to enter women’s bathrooms, rather than open public accommodations to transgender people. Berkman’s appearance garnered criticism from many, including former Minnesota Vikings kicker Chris Kluwe. The controversy flared when Houston Mayor Annise Parker stated of Berkman, "That someone who made his name in our city would inject himself into this debate by taking to the airwaves to discredit an effort to ban discrimination in all forms did upset me. This ordinance protects all Houstonians and his remarks diminished it to something trivial." The ordinance was rejected by Houston voters in a ballot initiative in November 2015.


title: Lance Berkman

text: He is most popularly known as "Fat Elvis" and "The Big Puma." Before the 2006 season started, in an interview with a local Houston sports radio station, Lance joked "I'm more like a puma so I'm not sure why people call me Fat Elvis." The show's hosts, John Granato and Lance Zierlein, ran with the moniker and Houston fans and media latched onto "The Big Puma." When questioned further, Berkman explained the nickname is simply logical. "Agile, athletic, sleek ... all the things that describe my game", he said, somewhat tongue-in-cheek. With his outstanding start in 2008, this nickname also became known on a national level. That same year, a Lance Berkman fan club calling themselves "The Little Pumas" emerged. During Berkman's long tenure with the Astros, they could be seen wearing puma costumes and foam puma paws at most Astros home games near the Conoco Pump in left-center field. The group became relatively well-known among Astros fans, as they were shown often during Astros broadcasts on Fox Sports Houston.


title: Lance Berkman

text: Berkman was also one of the Astros' "Killer B's" in the mid-2000s, along with Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, and Derek Bell.


title: Margaret Garner

text: Margaret Garner, called "Peggy" (died 1858), was an enslaved African-American woman in pre-Civil War America who killed her own daughter rather than allow the child to be returned to slavery. Garner and her family had escaped enslavement in January 1856 by traveling across the frozen Ohio River to Cincinnati, but they were apprehended by U.S. Marshals acting under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Garner's defense attorney, John Jolliffe, moved to have her tried for murder in Ohio, to be able to get a trial in a free state and to challenge the Fugitive Slave Law. Garner's story was the inspiration for the novel "Beloved" (1987) by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and its subsequent adaptation into a film of the same name starring Oprah Winfrey (1998).


title: Margaret Garner

text: Garner, described as a mulatto, was born a house slave to the Gaines family of Maplewood plantation, Boone County, Kentucky. She may have been the daughter of the plantation owner John Pollard Gaines. In 1849 she married Robert Garner, an enslaved man. That December, the plantation and all the people enslaved there were sold to John P. Gaines's younger brother, Archibald K. Gaines. The Garners' first child, Thomas, was born early in 1850.


title: Margaret Garner

text: Three of Garner's younger children (Samuel, Mary, and Priscilla) were described as mulattoes; each was born five to seven months after a child born to Archibald Gaines and his wife. These light-skinned children were likely the children of Archibald Gaines, the only adult white male at Maplewood. The timing of the pregnancies suggests that the children were each conceived after Gaines's wife had become pregnant and was sexually unavailable to him.


title: Margaret Garner

text: In a contemporary account, abolitionist Levi Coffin described Margaret Garner at her arrest as "a mulatto, about five feet high ... she appeared to be about twenty-one or twenty-three years old." She also had an old scar on the left side of her forehead and cheek, which she said had been caused when a "White man struck me." Her two sons were about four and six years old, and her daughter Mary was two and a half, and baby girl Priscilla, an infant.


title: Margaret Garner

text: On January 28, 1856, Robert and Margaret Garner, who was pregnant, together with family members, escaped and fled to Storrs Township, a rural area just west of Cincinnati, along with several other enslaved families. Robert Garner had stolen his enslaver's horses and sleigh along with his gun. Seventeen people were reported to have been in their party. In the coldest winter in 60 years, the Ohio River had frozen. At daybreak, the group crossed the ice in Boone County, Kentucky, just west of Covington, and escaped to Storrs Township before dividing to avoid detection.


title: Margaret Garner

text: The Garners and their four children, with Robert's father Simon and his wife Mary, made their way to the home of Margaret's uncle Joe Kite, who had himself been formerly enslaved, and who lived along Mill Creek below Cincinnati. The other nine people in their party reached safe houses in Cincinnati and eventually escaped via the Underground Railroad to Canada. Kite went to abolitionist Levi Coffin for advice on how to get the group to safety. Coffin agreed to help them escape the city, and told Kite to take the Garner group further west of the city, where many free Black people lived, and to wait until night.


title: Margaret Garner

text: Slave catchers and U.S. Marshals found the Garners barricaded inside Kite's house before he returned. They surrounded the property and then stormed the house. Robert Garner fired several shots and wounded at least one deputy marshal. Margaret killed her two-year-old daughter Mary with a butcher's knife rather than see the child returned to slavery. She had wounded her other children, preparing to kill them and herself, when she was subdued by the posse.


title: Margaret Garner

text: The entire group was taken to jail. The subsequent trial lasted for two weeks, after which the judge deliberated another two weeks. It was "the longest and most complicated case of its kind." A typical fugitive slave hearing would have lasted less than a day. The core issue was whether the Garners would be tried as persons, and charged with the murder of their daughter, or tried as property under the Fugitive Slave Law. The defense attorney argued that Ohio's right to protect its citizens should take precedence. The slave catchers and owner argued for the precedence of federal law over the state.


title: Margaret Garner

text: The defense attempted to prove that Margaret Garner had been liberated under a former law covering slaves taken into free states for other work. Her attorney proposed that she be charged with murder so that the case would be tried in a free state (understanding that the Governor would later pardon her). The prosecuting attorney argued that the federal Fugitive Slave Law took precedence over state murder charges. Over a thousand people turned out each day to watch the proceedings, lining the streets outside the courthouse. Five hundred men were deputized to maintain order in the town.


title: Margaret Garner

text: The presiding judge, Pendery, ruled that Federal fugitive warrants had supervening authority. Defense attorney John Jolliffe then tried a strategy of arguing that the Fugitive Slave Act violated the guarantee of religious freedom, by compelling citizens to participate in evil by returning slaves. Pendery rejected this argument.


title: Margaret Garner

text: On the closing day of the trial, the antislavery activist Lucy Stone took the stand to defend her earlier conversations with Margaret (the prosecution had complained.) She spoke about the interracial sexual relationship that underlay part of the case:


title: Margaret Garner

text: Recalling to everyone's memory the faces of Margaret's children, and of A. K. Gaines, Stone told the packed courtroom: "The faded faces of the Negro children tell too plainly to what degradation the female slaves submit. Rather than give her daughter to that life, she killed it. If in her deep maternal love she felt the impulse to send her child back to God, to save it from coming woe, who shall say she had no right not to do so?"


title: Margaret Garner

text: Margaret Garner's actions were driven by her master's abuse and the well known abuse slaves faced nationwide. Women were known to practice infanticide to alleviate the burden of slavery from their children; however, in Garner's case her children faced even more opposition due to their being mulattos. Mulattos were seen as a threat as well as a disgrace among the plantation and white families because the birth of mulatto children highlighted infidelity within the slave-owning families. They reminded the family of a perceived sin, and were often beaten or sold. Garner underwent drastic measures to protect her child not only from the cruelty of the institution of slavery but from the double threat, due to the child's mulatto status.


title: Margaret Garner

text: Margaret Garner was not immediately tried for murder but was forced to return to a slave state along with Robert and their youngest child, a daughter of about nine months old. When Ohio authorities got an extradition warrant for Garner to try her for murder, they were unable to find her for the arrest. Archibald K. Gaines, her owner, kept moving her between cities in Kentucky.


title: Margaret Garner

text: Ohio officials missed finding Margaret in Covington by a few hours, missed apprehending her again in Frankfort, and finally caught up with her enslaver in Louisville, only to discover that he had put the enslaved people on a boat headed for his brother's plantation in Arkansas. "The Liberator" reported that, on 6 March 1856, the steamboat "Henry Lewis", on which the Garners were being transported, began to sink after colliding with another boat. Margaret Garner and her baby daughter were either thrown overboard during the collision or, according to an alternate account, Garner deliberately jumped overboard after tossing her baby into the river. The baby drowned. It was reported that Margaret expressed "frantic joy" that her baby had died, and that she had tried to drown herself. She and Robert were kept in Arkansas only a short time before being sent to Gaines' family friends in New Orleans as a household servant. The Garners then disappeared from sight.


title: Margaret Garner

text: In 1870, a reporter from "The Cincinnati Chronicle" found Robert Garner and gathered more about his life. Robert and Margaret Garner had worked in New Orleans, and in 1857 were sold to Judge Dewitt Clinton Bonham for plantation labor at Tennessee Landing, Mississippi. Robert said Margaret had died in 1858 of typhoid fever, in an epidemic in the valley. He said that before she died, Margaret urged him to "never marry again in slavery, but to live in hope of freedom."


title: Margaret Garner

text: Garner's life story was the basis of Frances Harper's 1859 poem "Slave Mother: A Tale of Ohio". She also inspired Kentucky painter Thomas Satterwhite Noble's 1867 painting, "The Modern Medea"; Medea was a woman in Greek mythology who killed her own children. The painting, owned by Cincinnati manufacturer Procter and Gamble Corporation, was presented as a gift to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, where it remains on permanent display.


title: Margaret Garner

text: Toni Morrison was inspired to write her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Beloved" (1987). Morrison also wrote the libretto for the opera "Margaret Garner" (2005), composed by Richard Danielpour.


title: Margaret Garner

text: Other fiction writing inspired by Garner's story include, John Jolliffe's "Belle Scott" (1856), N. K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season" (2015), and K. A. Simpson's "A Coven's Lament" (2017).


title: Sattriya

text: Sattriya (), or "Sattriya Nritya", is a major Indian classical dance. This dance was initially created as part of Bhaona which are performances of "Ankiya Nat", one-act plays, originally created by Sankardev, the 15th-16th century polymath from Assam. These dances are part of the living traditions today of Sattras, which are communities of live-in devotees belonging to the Ekasarana dharma, the religion established by Sankardev.


title: Sattriya

text: The themes played are related to Lord Krishna, sometimes other Vishnu avatars such as Rama and Sita and stories from the epics (Mahabharata and Ramayana) are also referred to. The philosophic religion of Mahapurush Srimanta Sankaradeva was based on Vedanta, Bhagavadgītā and the Bhāgavata Purāna, so there is no presence of Radha in Sattriya dance presentations.


title: Sattriya

text: On November 15 in the year 2000, the Sangeet Natak Akademi of India recognized "Sattriya" as one of the eight classical dances of India. Modern "Sattriya" explores many themes and plays, and its performances are staged worldwide.


title: Sattriya

text: Sattriya is a classical dance of India, tracing its roots to ancient drama and music texts of India, particularly Bharata Muni's Nātya Śāstra. Its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The most studied version of the Nātya Śāstra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters. The text describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva, expression, gestures, acting techniques, basic steps, standing postures – all of which are part of Indian classical dances.


title: Sattriya

text: The history of dance arts in Assam goes back to antiquity, as evidenced by copper plate inscriptions and sculpture relating to Shaivism and Shaktism traditions. Singing and musical traditions, similarly, have been traced to Assamese chorus singing tradition for the Hindu epics: the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.


title: Sattriya

text: The modern form of Sattriya is attributed to the 15th century Sankaradeva, who systematized the dance using the ancient texts, and introduced drama and expressive dancing ("nritta" and "nritya") as a form of a community religious art for emotional devotion to Krishna.


title: Sattriya

text: Since the 15th century, the Sattriya art grew as part of the Vaishnava bhakti movement, in Hindu monasteries called "Sattra". The art was developed and practiced by monks in the form dance-dramas about legends and mythologies of Krishna, particularly from texts such as the Bhāgavata Purāna. One distinctive part of the Sattriya dance inside temples and monasteries is that the dance is not celebrated before any idol, but is performed before a copy of the Bhagavata Purana placed in eastern (sun rise) corner called "Manikut" of the dance hall ("namghar").


title: Sattriya

text: These dance-dramas were, in the early days, written and directed by the Assamese poet-saint Sankaradeva, and by his principal disciple Madhavadeva. They were mostly composed during the 16th century. Once the domain of male monks, it is now performed by male as well as female dancers. In the second half of the 20th century, "Sattriya Nritya" moved from the sanctum of Assam's "sattras" / monasteries to the metropolitan stage.


title: Sattriya

text: The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognized "Sattriya Nritya" as an official classical dance of India in 2000. "Sattriyas" are now performed on world's stages.


title: Sattriya

text: Like the other schools of Indian Classical dance, "Sattriya" encompasses the principles required of a classical dance form: the treatises of dance and dramaturgy, like Nātya Śāstra, Abhinaya Darpana, and Śārngadeva's Sangīta Ratnākara; The "Sangīta Ratnākara" of Śārngadeva complements his "Bhakti Ratnakara", which traces the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Yoga and Vedanta themes, the ethical values such as non-violence (ahimsa), truthfulness (satya) and others, thus premising a theological foundation to Sattriya. To Shankaradeva, religious values, ethics, joys of life and performance arts were intimately linked, and he asked the leaders of Hindu monasteries to compose at least one play, during their tenure, before they die.


title: Sattriya

text: Sattriya repertoire (mārg) includes "nritta" (pure dance, solo), "nritya" (expressive dance, solo), and nātya (dramatic play, group). Like all major classical Indian dance forms, those three categories of performances are:


title: Sattriya

text: The hand gestures ("mudras"), footwork ("padas"), postures, rhythms, training of artistes and other aspects of the Sattriya dance drama closely follow those described in Nātya Śāstra and other classical Hindu dance texts, and are quite similar to other major classical dances such as Odishi, Kathakali, Bharatanātyam and others found in southern and northern India. Some basic elements and features of Sattriya match those found in the Manipuri dance found in neighboring Manipur state.


title: Sattriya

text: "Sattriya Nritya" is a genre of dance drama that tells mythical and religious stories through hand and face expressions. The basic dance unit and exercise of a Sattriya is called a "Mati Akhara", equal 64 just like in "Natya Shastra", are the foundational sets dancers learn during their training. The Akharas are subdivided into Ora, Saata, Jhalak, Sitika, Pak, Jap, Lon and Khar. A performance integrates two styles, one masculine ("Paurashik Bhangi", energetic and with jumps), and feminine ("Stri Bhangi", Lasya or delicate).


title: Sattriya

text: Traditionally, "Sattriya" was performed only by "bhokot"s (male monks) in monasteries as a part of their daily rituals or to mark special festivals. Today, in addition to this practice, "Sattriya" is also performed on stage by men and women who are not members of the "sattras", on themes that go beyond the mythological.


title: Sattriya

text: The plays choreographed in a Sattriya are those found in Hindu texts such as the Bhāgavata Purāna, the Epics, and the compositions by Assamese scholars.


title: Sattriya

text: The costume of Sattriya dance is primarily of two types: the male costume comprising the "dhoti," "chadar" and the "paguri" (turban) and the female costume comprising the "ghuri", "chadar" and "kanchi" (waist cloth). Traditionally the costumes were of white or raw silk color with use of red, blue and yellow for specific dance numbers. In earlier times velvet and satin materials were mostly used for the costumes. With change of time, as this dance form evolved from the sattras onto stage, the design and materials of the dance costumes changed. Pat (also spelled paat) – a silk produced in Assam which is derived from the mulberry plant and muga silk ("golden silk of Assam") is also used in preparing the dance costume. Other bright colours are also used in the female costumes. These hand-woven materials normally have intricate local motifs like "Kingkhap, Miri Motif, Kolka" etc.


title: Sattriya

text: Uses of play-specific costumes are also seen in Sattriya dance. The dress of "Krishna Nritya" and "Nadubhangi Nritya" is of yellow and blue keeping in line with the attire of Lord Krishna. The "Sutradhar Nritya" also has its specific white costume with a special turban.


title: Sattriya

text: Traditional Assamese jewellery is used in Sattriya dance. The jewellery is made by a unique technique in "Kesa Sun" (raw gold). Artistes wear Kopali on the forehead, "Muthi Kharu" and "Gam Kharu" (bracelets), different type of neck pieces like "Mata Moni" (for male dancers), "Golpata", "Dhulbiri" (shaped like the musical instrument dhol), "Bena" (pendant shaped like a crescent), "Jethipata" (lizard shaped), "Dugdugi" (leaf shaped), Senpata (eagle shaped), "Dhansira" (strand of rice grain) and "Lokaparo" (pigeon design). Earrings are made in similar designs and also "Thuka Suna" and "Keru" are worn by dancers. Female dancers wear white flowers in the hair.


title: Sattriya

text: The costumes of "Ankiya Naats" (dramas) are colourful and character specific. Use of "Mukha" (Masks) to depict demons and special characters are also unique of this dance form. The art of mask-making is an integral part of Sattriya culture and originated in the Sattras of Assam. Beautifully decorated turbans and crowns made by the local artisans are used in the "Ankiya Naats".


title: Sattriya

text: The facial makeup of Sattriya dance resembles other classical dance forms of India. However, in earlier times traditional materials and herbs were used for make up.


title: Sattriya

text: "Sattriya Nritya" is accompanied by musical compositions called "bargeets" (composed by Sankardeva and Shree Shree Madhavdev, among others) which are based on classical ragas.


title: Sattriya

text: A key musical instrument that accompanies a Sattriya performance is the "khol" (two-faced, asymmetrical drum quite different from the rest of India) played with fingers. The special shape and materials of construction – clay, wood, leather, rice dough, iron filings, rope straps – of Sattriya "khol" produces a high pitch with the right side ("Daina"), while producing a deep bass sound on the left ("Bewa").


title: Sattriya

text: Accompanying the "khol" are various types of "Tālas" or cymbals (Manjira, Bhortal, Bihutal, Patital, Khutital) and the flute (bansuri). Other instruments like the violin and the harmonium have been recent additions.


title: Sattriya

text: A Sattriya performance comes in many styles such as the "Sutradhara" (or Sutra-bhangi), character specific "Bhangi", "Prabesh", "Nritya" and "Jhumura". The "Sutradhara" is a style that tells a story and presents the spiritual values of Vaisnavism in a complete classical format: nritta, nritya and natya. One feature of the Sutradhara (or Sutradhari) style is the included commentary for the audience in local language.


title: Sattriya

text: "Ankiya Nat" is a subgenre consisting of one-act plays of "Sattriya". These are dedicated compositions but feature a ballad, dance and drama.


title: Sattriya

text: The character specific different styles of Sattriya have their own costume variations, and focus on the various life stages and activities of Radha, Krishna and the gopis.


title: Gukurahundi

text: The Gukurahundi was a genocide in Zimbabwe which arose in 1982 until the Unity Accord in 1987. It derives from a Shona language term which loosely translates to "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".


title: Gukurahundi

text: During the Rhodesian Bush War two rival nationalist parties, Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), had emerged to challenge Rhodesia's predominantly white government. ZANU initially defined "Gukurahundi" as an ideological strategy aimed at carrying the war into major settlements and individual homesteads. Following Mugabe's ascension to power, his government remained threatened by "dissidents" – disgruntled former guerrillas and supporters of ZAPU.


title: Gukurahundi

text: ZANU recruited mainly from the majority Shona people, whereas ZAPU had its greatest support among the minority Mathebele tribes (which incorporates the Northern Ndebele and Kalanga peoples). In early 1983, the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade, an infantry brigade of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), began a crackdown on dissidents in Matabeleland North Province, Midlands Province and Matabeleland South Province, a homeland of the Mathebele. Over the following two years, thousands of Mathebele were detained by government forces and either marched to re-education camps, tortured, raped and/or summarily executed. Although there are different estimates, the consensus of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) is that more than 20,000 people were killed. The IAGS has classified the massacres as a genocide.


title: Gukurahundi

text: Before the Rhodesian Bush War, the main black nationalist organisation in Southern Rhodesia, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), split into two groups in 1963, the split-away group being the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). Though these groups had a common origin they gradually grew apart, with the split away group, ZANU, recruiting mainly from the Shona regions, while ZAPU recruited mainly from Ndebele-speaking regions in the west.


title: Gukurahundi

text: There is a much earlier source for Shona hostility to the Mathebele, going back to the arrival in 1837 of Mzilikazi and his Mathebele kingdom. Mzilikazi carved out a territory for himself by fighting and dispossessing the local VaRozvi led by Changamire Chirisamhuru,the then patriach.


title: Gukurahundi

text: The armies of these two groups, ZAPU's Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), and ZANU's Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), developed rivalries for the support of the people and would fight each other. When Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980, following the Lancaster House Agreement, the two armies so distrusted each other that it was difficult to integrate them both into the National Army. In the elections held in April 1980, ZANU received 57 out of 100 seats and Robert Mugabe became prime minister.


title: Gukurahundi

text: Dr. Stuart Doran, a historian specializing in Zimbabwe, using historical documents, has written a short article 'New documents claim to prove Mugabe ordered Gukurahundi killings' way back in 1983. Quoted in part: The documents point to internal killings neither provoked nor sustained by outsiders, suggesting that the atrocities were driven from the top by Zanu-PF in pursuit of specific political objectives. Viewed across a period of several years, the documents appear to provide evidence that the massacres were but one component of a sustained and strategic effort to remove all political opposition within five years of independence. Zanu-PF leaders were determined to secure a "victory" against a non-existent opposition in elections scheduled for 1985, after which there would be a "mandate" from the people to impose a one-party state.


title: Gukurahundi

text: In November 1980 Enos Nkala made remarks at a rally in Bulawayo, in which he warned ZAPU that ZANU would deliver a few blows against them. This preceded the first outbreak of fighting in Entumbane Bulawayo, during which ZIPRA and the Zimbabwe National Army fought a pitched battle for two days.


title: Gukurahundi

text: In February 1981 there was a second uprising, which spread to Glenville and also to Connemara in the Midlands. ZIPRA troops in other parts of Matabeleland headed for Bulawayo to join the battle, and the Zimbabwean National army units had to come in to stop the fighting.


title: Gukurahundi

text: The government asked Justice Enoch Dumbutshena, the former Chief Justice of Zimbabwe, to hold an inquiry into the uprising – ZIPRA was found to be preparing for war.


title: Gukurahundi

text: This situation became worse after the government claimed to have found of arms caches in February 1982. ZANU now openly accused ZAPU of plotting another war and ZAPU leaders were arrested or removed from cabinet. However, the treason trial in 1982 involving Dumiso Dabengwa, Lookout Masuku and four others failed to prove a case against them. All were released although Dabengwa and Masuku were re-detained without trial for four years. As a result, ex-ZIPRA cadres deserted the army after this. They did this out of necessity to stay alive. With their leaders all locked up or in exile, they felt there was nobody to protect them within the army. "We were threatened, that was why I decided to desert," said one dissident.


title: Gukurahundi

text: The army integration scheme saw former ZIPRA recruits being harassed and accused of sympathising with their deserted colleagues. They were no longer trusted and were being constantly harassed. However, Joshua Nkomo publicly disowned the deserted soldiers and thus discouraged any others from leaving the army.


title: Gukurahundi

text: Meanwhile, South Africa's policy of destabilising Zimbabwe by military means, while blaming ZAPU for the actions of South African agents, continued and escalate the breakdown between ZAPU and ZANU.


title: Gukurahundi

text: Robert Mugabe, then Prime Minister, had signed an agreement with North Korean President Kim Il Sung in October 1980 to have the North Korean military train a brigade for the Zimbabwean army. This was soon after Mugabe had announced the need for a militia to "combat malcontents."


title: Gukurahundi

text: Mugabe replied by saying dissidents should "watch out," announcing the brigade would be called "Gukurahundi." This brigade was named the Fifth Brigade. The members of the Fifth Brigade were drawn from 3500 ex-ZANLA troops at Tongogara Assembly Point, named after Josiah Tongogara, the ZANLA general. There were a few ZIPRA (ZAPU) troops in the unit for a start, but they were withdrawn before the end of the training. The training of 5th Brigade lasted until September 1982, when Minister Sekeramayi announced training was complete.


title: Gukurahundi

text: The first Commander of the Fifth Brigade was Colonel Perrance Shiri. The Fifth Brigade was different from all other Zimbabwean army units in that it was directly subordinated to the Prime Minister office, and not integrated to the normal army command structures. Their codes, uniforms, radios and equipment were not compatible with other army units. Their most distinguishing feature in the field was their red berets.


title: Gukurahundi

text: In January 1983, a crackdown by the elite Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland North was initiated to purge the dissidents, and its participation lasted until late 1984. The brigade's directives apparently specified a search for local ZAPU officials and veterans of ZAPU's armed wing, the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). Seizure or detention by the Fifth Brigade was arbitrary. In Bulawayo, for instance, Ndebele men of fighting age were considered potential dissidents and therefore, guilty of subversive activities. Most detained were summarily executed or marched to re-education camps. Most of the dead were shot in public executions, often after being forced to dig their own graves in front of family and fellow villagers. On occasion the Fifth Brigade also massacred large groups of Ndebele, seemingly at random—the largest such incident occurred in March 1983, when 62 young men and women were shot on the banks of the Cewale River, Lupane. Seven survived with gunshot wounds, the other 55 died. Another way 5 Brigade used to kill large groups of people was to burn them alive in huts. They did this in Tsholotsho and also in Lupane. They would routinely round up dozens, or even hundreds, of civilians and march them at gun point to a central place, like a school or bore-hole. There they would be forced to sing Shona songs praising ZANU, at the same time being beaten with sticks. These gatherings usually ended with public executions. Those killed could be ex-ZIPRAs, ZAPU officials, or anybody chosen at random. The Zimbabwe government repudiated these allegations and accused the hostile foreign press of fabricating stories. Zimbabwean Minister for National Security Sydney Sekeramayi countered that allegations of atrocities were part of a ZAPU disinformation programme to discredit the army. The government characterised such allegations as irresponsible, contrived propaganda because it failed to give proper weight to the violence by dissidents, who targeted ZANU officials. It is estimated that 700–800 people were murdered by dissident gangs in rural regions. In August 1985, dissidents massacred 22 Shona civilians in Mwenezi. On a mission farm in Matobo, dissidents massacred 16 people.


title: Gukurahundi

text: The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe documented at least 2,000 deaths, and speculated that the actual number could be 8,000 or higher. Locals from the affected regions put the figure between 20,000 and 40,000. Journalist Heidi Holland referred to a death toll of 8,000 as a typical conservative estimate. In February 1983 the International Red Cross disclosed that 1,200 Ndebele had been murdered that month alone. In a unanimously adopted resolution in 2005, the International Association of Genocide Scholars estimated the death toll at 20,000.


title: Gukurahundi

text: In 1992 serving Defence Minister Moven Mahachi became the first ZANU official who publicly apologised for the execution and torture of civilians by the Fifth Brigade. Five years later, Enos Nkala, former Defence Minister, described his involvement with "Gukurahundi" as "eternal hell" and blamed President Mugabe for having orchestrated it. Speaking at Joshua Nkomo's memorial service on 2 July 2000, Mugabe admitted that "thousands" had been killed during the campaign, calling it a "moment of madness".


title: Gukurahundi

text: Robert Mugabe and ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo signed the Unity Accord on 22 December 1987. This effectively merged ZAPU and ZANU into the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF). On 18 April 1988, Mugabe announced an amnesty for all dissidents, and Nkomo called on them to lay down their arms. A general ordinance was issued saying all those who surrendered before 31 May would get a full pardon. This was extended not just to dissidents but to criminals of various types serving jail terms. Over the next few weeks, 122 dissidents surrendered. In June, the amnesty was extended to include all members of the security forces who had committed human rights violations.


title: Gukurahundi

text: In the 1990s, the disturbances were finally at an end. This brought relief nationwide, but in parts of the country it left behind many problems that remain unsolved. These include poor health, poverty, practical and legal problems and a deep-rooted suspicion of Government officials. With the emergence of a 'new dispensation' under Emmerson Mnangagwa, there was a general expectation that for the first time the government would publicly apologize for the atrocities. However, like his predecessor, Mnangagwa has not done anything that can be accepted by the victims as bringing closure. This comes after Mnangagwa set up a seven-member Commission of Inquiry in early 2019 chaired by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe which critics like the Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP) argue, will not solve the underlying problems. There is general discontent and people from the affected communities do not believe that the Government is sincere in its commitments towards the "Gukurahundi" genocide issue.


title: Tintagel

text: Tintagel () or Trevena ( meaning "village on a mountain") is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, England. The village and nearby Tintagel Castle are associated with the legends surrounding King Arthur and in recent times has become a tourist attraction.


title: Tintagel

text: Toponymists have had difficulty explaining the origin of 'Tintagel': the probability is that it is Norman French, as the Cornish of the 13th century would have lacked the soft 'g' ('i/j' in the earliest forms: see also Tintagel Castle). If it is Cornish then 'Dun' would mean "Fort". Oliver Padel proposes 'Dun' '-tagell' meaning "narrow place" in his book on place names. There is a possible cognate in the Channel Islands named "Tente d'Agel", but that still leaves the question subject to doubt.


title: Tintagel

text: The name first occurs in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae" (c. 1136, in Latin) as "Tintagol", implying pronunciation with a hard [g] sound as in modern English "girl". But in Layamon's "Brut" (MS Cotton Otho C.xi, f. 482), in early Middle English, the name is rendered as "Tintaieol". The letter "i" in this spelling implies a soft consonant like modern English "j"; the second part of the name would be pronounced approximately as "-ageul" would be in modern French.


title: Tintagel

text: An oft-quoted Celtic etymology in the "Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names", accepts the view of Padel (1985) that the name is from Cornish *"din" meaning "fort" and *"tagell" meaning "neck, throat, constriction, narrow" (Celtic *"dūn", "fort" = Irish "dún", "fort", "cf". Welsh "dinas", "city"; *"tagell" = Welsh "tagell", "gill, wattle").


title: Tintagel

text: The modern-day village of Tintagel was always known as Trevena () until the Post Office started using 'Tintagel' as the name in the mid-19th century. Until then, 'Tintagel' had been restricted to the name of the headland and of the parish.


title: Tintagel

text: Treknow is the largest of the other settlements in the Tintagel parish, which also include Bossiney, Truas, Trebarwith, Tregatta, Trenale, Trethevy, Treven, Trevillet, and Trewarmett. The population of the entire parish was 1,727 at the 2011 census, down from 1,820 people at the 2001 census, and the area of the parish is . (The population recorded in the 2011 census was 1,782 but this includes Knightsmill in the parish of St Teath.)


title: Tintagel

text: An electoral ward also exists extending inland to Otterham. The population of this ward at the same census was 3,990.


title: Tintagel

text: A small cliff castle was established at Bossiney in Norman times, probably before the Domesday Survey of 1086. In "Domesday Book", there are certainly two manors in this parish (for a probable third see Trethevy).


title: Tintagel

text: Bossiney and Trevena were established as a borough in 1253 by Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. Bossiney (which included Trevena) was held from the monks of Bodmin by the Earl of Cornwall: there was land for six ploughs and of pasture (before the Conquest it had been held from the monks by Alfwy). The monks of Bodmin held Treknow themselves: there was land for eight ploughs and of pasture. Tintagel was one of the 17 Antiqua maneria of the Duchy of Cornwall. The parish feast traditionally celebrated at Tintagel was 19 October, the feast day of St Denys, patron of the chapel at Trevena (the proper date is 9 October but the feast has moved forward due to the calendar reform of 1752). The market hall and the site of the fair were near the chapel. "Tintagel (Trevena) declined towards the end of the medieval period for it was ill-equipped to take up fishing as an alternative occupation. Paradoxically it now enjoys a temporary prosperity as a result of tourist interest in the castle which was converted so romantically by Geoffrey of Monmouth into an ancient residence of King Arthur." (W. G. V. Balchin 1954)


title: Tintagel

text: The Tithe Commissioners' survey was carried out in 1840–41 and recorded the area of the parish as , of which arable and pasture land was . The land owned by the largest landowner, Lord Wharncliffe, amounted to , and there was of glebe land. Precise details of the size and tenure of every piece of land are given. Sidney Madge did research into the history of the parish and compiled a manuscript "Records of Tintagel" in 1945. The villages of Trevena and Bossiney were until the early 20th century separated by fields along Bossiney Road.


title: Tintagel

text: Trebarwith was the scene of the shipwreck of the "Sarah Anderson" in 1886 (all on board perished), but the most famous of the wrecks happened on 20 December 1893, at Lye Rock when the barque "Iota" was driven against the cliff. The crew were able to get onto the rock and apart from a youth of 14 were saved by four men (three of these from Tintagel: one of them, Charles Hambly, received a Vellum testimonial and three medals for bravery afterwards). The story is told in verse in "Musings on Tintagel and its Heroes" by Joseph Brown, 1897; the youth was buried in Tintagel Churchyard and the grave is marked by a wooden cross (his name is given in the bureaucratic Italian usage, surname first: Catanese Domenico). On 6 July 1979, Tintagel was briefly subject to national attention when an RAF Hawker Hunter fighter aircraft crashed into the village following an engine malfunction; the unusual incident caused significant damage and consternation, but no deaths.


title: Tintagel

text: The borough of Bossiney was given the right to send two MPs to Parliament c. 1552 and continued to do so until 1832 when its status as a borough was abolished. For the purposes of local government, Tintagel is currently a civil parish and councillors are elected every four years. The principal local authority in this area is Cornwall Council, but until March 2009 the parish was in the area of North Cornwall District Council. Parish council minutes can be found on Tintagel Web. From 1894 to 1974, the parish was in the Camelford Rural District.


title: Tintagel

text: In Geoffrey's "Historia", Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, puts his wife Igraine in "Tintagol" while he is at war ("posuit eam in oppido Tintagol in littore maris": "he put her in the "oppidum" Tintagol on the shore of the sea"). Merlin disguised Uther Pendragon as Gorlois so that Uther could enter Tintagel and impregnate Igraine while pretending to be Gorlois. Uther and Igraine's child was King Arthur. Some events of the Tristan and Iseult legend are also set at Tintagel.


title: Tintagel

text: The Ravenna Cosmography, of around 700, makes reference to Purocoronavis (almost certainly a corruption of Durocornovium), 'a fort or walled settlement of the Cornovii': the location is unidentified, but Tintagel and Carn Brea have both been suggested. If this is correct then it would have been on the site of Tintagel Castle. Excavations around Tintagel Castle have supported the notion of trade goods there, with ships from along the Atlantic Coast and the Mediterranean Sea bringing pots carrying wine or oil, in the Early medieval period. The site appeared to be one of the places where a local king or warlord, perhaps of Dumnonia, and his entourage settled for a time, and traded with ships arriving from those far ports.


title: Tintagel

text: Major excavations beginning with C. A. Ralegh Radford's work in the 1930s on and around the site of the 12th-century castle have revealed that Tintagel headland was the site of either a high status Celtic monastery (according to Ralegh Radford) or a princely fortress as well as trading settlement dating to the 5th and 6th centuries (according to later excavators), in the period immediately following the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain. Finds of Mediterranean oil and wine jars show that Sub-Roman Britain was not the isolated outpost it was previously considered to be, for an extensive trade in high-value goods was taking place at the time with the Mediterranean region. Finds from the excavations are preserved at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro. In 1998, excavations discovered the Artognou stone, which has added to Tintagel's Arthurian lore, although historians do not believe the inscription refers to King Arthur. Two seasons of excavation work were undertaken in Tintagel churchyard in the early 1990s.


title: Tintagel

text: The largest of the Bronze Age barrows is at the highest point in the parish, Condolden, another is at Menadue, and there are a number of others along the cliffs. In the Iron Age there were probably fortifications at Willapark and Barras Head, and inland at Trenale Bury. Two of the Roman milestones found in Cornwall are at Tintagel (the earlier of the two is described under Trethevy: the later one was found in the walls of the churchyard in 1889 and is preserved in the church. The inscription can be read as '[I]mp C G Val Lic Licin' which would refer to the Emperor Licinius (d. 324).


title: Tintagel

text: There are many other relics of antiquity to be found here such as the so-called King Arthur's Footprint on the Island and a carved rock from Starapark which has been placed outside the Sir James Smith's School at Dark Lane, Camelford. Rodney Castleden has written about these as Bronze Age ritual objects. "King Arthur's Footprint" is a hollow in the rock at the highest point of Tintagel Island's southern side. It is not entirely natural, having been shaped by human hands at some stage. It may have been used for the inauguration of kings or chieftains as the site is known to have a long history stretching back to the Dark Ages. The name is probably a 19th-century invention by the castle guide.


title: Tintagel

text: Stone crosses, of which there are two, have both been moved from their original positions: the plainer of the two is Hendra cross (see Bossiney). Aelnat's cross which was found at Trevillet and then moved to the Wharncliffe Arms Hotel at Trevena, is finely carved. The inscription can be read as 'Aelnat fecit hanc crucem pro anima sua' (Ælnat made this cross for [the good of] his soul) – the back of the stone has the names of the four evangelists. The name of this man is Saxon, and together with Alfwy mentioned in 1086 he is the only Anglo-Saxon recorded in connection with the area. One of Thomas Hardy's poems, "By the runic stone" (1917) was interpreted by Evelyn Hardy as referring to Aelnat's cross.


title: Tintagel

text: The village has the Tintagel Old Post Office, which dates from the 14th century. It became a post office during the 19th century, and is now listed Grade I and owned by the National Trust.


title: Tintagel

text: Tintagel Primary School was built at Treven in 1914 to replace the old church school (founded 1874) and has been extended since. Those who go on to a comprehensive school attend Sir James Smith's School, Camelford. The Gift House was purchased by the Trustees of Tintagel Women's Institute from Catherine Johns and not donated as previously thought. It adjoins the Old Post Office.


title: Tintagel

text: The former Vicarage was built in the early 17th century and substantial additions were made in the late 18th and mid-19th centuries. In the grounds is Fontevrault Chapel and a columbarium which is one of the best preserved in Cornwall. The site and glebe lands were the home of the vicars as early as the mid-13th century when the benefice came into the hands of the Abbey of Fontevraud in Anjou, France. In 2008, the Diocese of Truro decided to acquire new accommodation for future vicars and to sell the vicarage.


title: Tintagel

text: King Arthur's Hall at Trevena is a substantial building of the early 1930s. It was built for custard powder manufacturer F. T. Glasscock as the headquarters of the "Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table", behind Trevena House. A variety of Cornish stones are used in the construction and the 73 stained glass windows illustrating the Arthurian tales are by Veronica Whall; there are several paintings of scenes from the life of King Arthur by William Hatherell. In 1927, the "Order of the Fellowship of the Knights of the Round Table" was formed in Britain by Frederick Thomas Glasscock (a retired London businessman, d. 1934) to promote Christian ideals and Arthurian notions of medieval chivalry. Glasscock was resident at Tintagel (in the house "Eirenicon" which he had built) and responsible for the building of King Arthur's Hall (an extension of Trevena House which had been John Douglas Cook's residence and had been built on the site of the former Town Hall and Market Hall). The hall is now used as a Masonic Hall, and is home to four Masonic bodies.


title: Tintagel

text: The King Arthur's Castle Hotel (now called Camelot Castle Hotel) opened in 1899; it was an enterprise of Sir Robert Harvey and the architect was Silvanus Trevail. It was originally intended as the terminus hotel for a planned branch railway line from Camelford that was never built. The hotel stands alone on land previously known as Firebeacon. The hotel was built in 1896. The front has battered walls, a central entrance tower rising to five storeys and projecting four-storey corner towers; the towers have machicolations and rise above the three storeys of the rest of the building. The Great Hall on the first floor is designed around a replica of the Winchester Round Table and has Romanesque arcades with Italian marble piers. In 2010, an exposé of the hotel's business practices was broadcast by the BBC television programme "Inside Out South West".


title: Tintagel

text: There were two hotels on Fore Street, Trevena: the Wharncliffe Hotel and the Tintagel Hotel. The Wharncliffe has now been converted into flats (next to the King Arthur's Hall): the Aelnat Cross (Hiberno-Saxon) stands in the grounds. It is named after the Earl of Wharncliffe who was the largest landowner in the parish until his holdings were sold at the beginning of the 20th century. Opposite the Wharncliffe is the former Tintagel Hotel, once commonly known as Fry's Hotel: this was the terminus for coaches in the days before the railway to Camelford Station and stands on the site of the medieval chapel of St Denys. Near Dunderhole Point on Glebe Cliff stands a building from the former slate quarry that has been used as Tintagel Youth Hostel (managed by YHA) for many years.


title: Tintagel

text: The Church of St Materiana (Tintagel Parish Church) has been Anglican since the English Reformation. It was originally built in Norman times. Writing in 1951, Nikolaus Pevsner was uncertain about the dating and suggests that the Norman work has some Saxon features while the tower may be 13th or 15th century in date. It stands on the cliffs between Trevena and Tintagel Castle and is listed Grade I. The first church on the site was probably in the 6th century, founded as a daughter church of Minster: these are the only churches dedicated to St Materiana though she is usually identified with Madryn, Princess of Gwent. The existing church may be late 11th or early 12th century: the tower is some three centuries later and the most significant change since then was the restoration in 1870 by James Piers St Aubyn. An area of the churchyard was excavated in 1990–91 by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit. There are modern stained glass windows, three modern copies of Old Master paintings, and a Roman milestone (described above under "Antiquities"). The parish war memorial stands at the western end of the churchyard and a modern churchyard cross (c. 1910) near the south entrance.


title: Tintagel

text: There was a Norman chapel of St Julitta at the castle, now in ruins, which was excavated in Ralegh Radford's excavations. It is a simple rectangular building and the chancel is of a later date than the nave.


title: Tintagel

text: In the Middle Ages, there was also a chapel of St Denys at Trevena: the annual fair was therefore celebrated in the week of his feast day (19 Oct). From 1925 until 2008 part of the Vicarage outbuildings were also in use as a chapel (the Fontevrault Chapel). The name commemorates the abbey in France which held the patronage of Tintagel during the Middle Ages (the commune is now known as Fontevraud-l'Abbaye), founded by Robert of Arbrissel.


title: Tintagel

text: The Methodist Church has chapels at Trevena and Bossiney. Formerly there were more chapels of various Methodist sects (Wesleyans, Bible Christians), including at Trenale and Trewarmett: the Methodist Cemetery is at Trewarmett. Wesleyan Methodism in Tintagel began in 1807 at Trenale and over the next sixty years gained many adherents though divided among a number of sects (Wesleyan Methodist, Methodist Association, Bible Christian): chapels were built at Trevena in 1838 and Bossiney in 1860. In the 1830s and 1840s, the Camelford Wesleyan Methodist circuit, which included Tintagel, underwent a secession by more than half the members to the Wesleyan Methodist Association. The various Methodist churches were united again by the agreements of 1907 and 1932. Mary Toms, a Bible Christian from Tintagel, evangelised parts of the Isle of Wight.


title: Tintagel

text: St Paul's Church, Tintagel has a thirty-thousand piece mosaic of the saint within its walls. Since January 2008, when the church celebrated its 40th anniversary, a modern-day version of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" by local artist Nicholas St John Rosse has hung above the main altar in the church. It has made international headlines due to its use of modern clothing and local people as the apostles. People from many other countries also come to Tintagel to view the names of their babies who have been lost due to miscarriage, stillbirth or other cause. The names are recorded in the Miscarriage & Infant Loss Memorial Book which is kept at the church.


title: Tintagel

text: The extensive Tintagel Slate Quarries are largely responsible for the jagged coastline south of Tintagel and stretch all the way to Trebarwith Strand. The quarries were worked from the fifteenth until the early twentieth centuries. The slate was mainly used for roofing and the remains of quarry buildings and machinery strong points can be seen from both sea level and the South West Coast Path. Tintagel's youth hostel building formerly housed the office, powerhouse and smithy for Lambshouse quarry. A 19th century engine house still stands above the Prince of Wales quarry and Bowithick quarry is now a waste disposal facility. The only slate quarries in Tintagel that remain operational are Trevillet and Trebarwith Road Rustic Quarry.


title: Tintagel

text: The coastline around Tintagel is significant because it is composed of old Devonian slate; about a mile southwards from Tintagel towards Treknow the coastline was quarried extensively for this hard-wearing roofing surface. Quarries inland at Trebarwith and Trevillet continued to be worked until the mid-20th century. Apart from the island headlands on the coast include Willapark and Start Point.


title: Tintagel

text: The turquoise green water around this coast is caused by the slate/sand around Tintagel which contains elements of copper: strong sunlight turns the water a light turquoise green colour in warm weather. The rocks contain various metal ores in small amounts: a few of these were mined in the Victorian period.


title: Tintagel

text: Though very near the coast the hill of Condolden (or Kingsdown) is among the very few areas in Cornwall outside Bodmin Moor which exceeds 1000 feet. At Trethevy is the waterfall known as St Nectan's Kieve in a wooded valley. The beach at Bossiney Haven is close by and Trebarwith Strand, just half an hour's walk south of Tintagel, is one of Cornwall's finer beaches, boasting clear seas, golden sands, and superb surf. There is also a small beach at Tintagel Haven immediately north of the castle, as well as a cave known as Merlin's Cave under the castle. A stream called the Trerammett River flows from Treven to Tintagel Haven.


title: Tintagel

text: The cliffs from Backways Cove, south of Trebarwith Strand to Willapark just to the south of Boscastle are part of the Tintagel Cliffs SSSI (a Site of Special Scientific Interest), designated for both its maritime heaths and geological features. There are also four Geological Conservation Review sites.


title: Tintagel

text: Tintagel lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). National Trust properties include, besides the Old Post Office in Trevena (see above), fine stretches of the cliffs along the coast including Glebe Cliff, Barras Nose and Penhallick Point. The coastal footpaths include part of the South West Coast Path.


title: Tintagel

text: The birds of the coast are well worth observing: in 1935 an anonymous writer mentions Willapark as the scene of spectacular flocks of seabirds (eight species); inland he describes the crows (including the Cornish chough and the raven) and falcons which frequent the district. B. H. Ryves mentions the razorbill as numerous at Tintagel (perhaps the largest colony in the county) and summarises reports from earlier in the century. In 1991, a local bird keeper, Jon Hadwick, published "Owl Light" about his experiences keeping ten owls and a buzzard. In the early days of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Charles Hambly (also known for saving shipwrecked sailors) was a correspondent for the Society. A hundred years later Harry Sandercock observed that even modern agricultural changes had not reduced the bird populations.


title: Tintagel

text: The Social Hall established by Mrs Ruth Homan and the Old School in Fore Street have been the chief meeting places during most of the 20th century. Both the Women's Institute and the football and cricket teams are well-supported. Tintagel A.F.C. were champions of Cornwall in 1955–56 and have been in existence over a hundred years; goalkeeper Harry Cann also played for Plymouth Argyle F.C. Until the 1930s there were two golf courses and a few tennis courts: neither golf course reopened in the postwar period. Camelford Rugby Football Club was formed in 2008 and plays its home matches at Parc Tremain, Tintagel.


title: Tintagel

text: The Tintagel Orpheus Male Voice Choir was founded in 1926 by Jack Thomas, a Welshman who worked at Trevillet Quarry. The choir has rehearsed weekly, and performed frequently, ever since.


title: Tintagel

text: Tintagel is used as a locus for the Arthurian mythos by the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the poem "Idylls of the King" and Algernon Charles Swinburne's "Tristram of Lyonesse", a literary version of the Tristan and Iseult legend. Thomas Hardy's "The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall at Tintagel in Lyonnesse", a one-act play which was published in 1923, is another version of the same legend with events set at Tintagel (the book includes an imaginary drawing of Tintagel Castle at the period). Hardy and his first wife visited Tintagel on various occasions: she drew a sketch of the inside of the church as it was about 1867. It is very prominent in the books in Fay Sampson's "Daughter of Tintagel" series of Arthurian novels (later retitled "Morgan le Fay").


title: Tintagel

text: The novelist Dinah Craik visited Tintagel in 1883 and published an informative account of her journey through Cornwall the following year. William Howitt's visit was quite different: his account is called "A day-dream at Tintagel" (in "Visits to Remarkable Places"). Relatively few works of fiction have Tintagel as a setting: these include Anthony Trollope's short story "Malachi's Cove" and the Charles and Alice Muriel Williamson's epistolary novel "Set in Silver" published in 1909. Ernest George Henham was a novelist resident in Devon who used the pseudonym John Trevena for many of his books; it is probable that the surname he chose was derived from the original name for Tintagel, though his writings are concerned mainly with Devon. Tintagel features prominently in Edith Wharton's final, unfinished novel, "The Buccaneers", the protagonist of which, Nan St. George, meets her future husband, the Duke of Tintagel, while exploring the ruins of Tintagel Castle. Wharton styled the characters as Duke and Duchess of Tintagel, while Tintagel actually lies within the Duchy of Cornwall; in the novel, the Duke and Duchess live in a newer, fictional Tintagel Castle, built in approximately the late 18th century.


title: Tintagel

text: Arnold Bax was inspired to compose his symphonic poem "Tintagel" after a visit to the village. Edward Elgar also composed while on a visit to Tintagel.


title: Tintagel

text: The film "Knights of the Round Table" had some sequences filmed near Tintagel Castle with local people as extras: this was in 1953 though it was not released until 1954. Some other filming has been carried out in Tintagel, e.g. "Malachi's Cove" at Trebarwith. The exterior of the Camelot Castle Hotel was used to portray Dr. Seward's asylum in the 1979 film "Dracula". The Youth Hostel doubled for the coastguard station in the 1981 BBC serial "The Nightmare Man".


title: Tintagel

text: The Earls and Dukes of Cornwall (to whom the castle belonged) were never resident at Tintagel though a few of them are known to have visited. From 1552 to 1832, Tintagel was a parliamentary borough (generally known as the Borough of Bossiney) sending two members to the House of Commons; these included Sir Francis Drake, Sir Simon Harcourt and James Stuart-Wortley, 1st Baron Wharncliffe. During the same period, there were also mayors of the borough of whom the best known is William Wade (fl. 1756–1786). Contemporaries of Mayor Wade were the Rev. Arthur Wade (vicar 1770–1810) and Charles Chilcott (d. 1815) (known for his gigantic stature). The Rev. R. B. Kinsman (vicar 1851–1894) was also honorary constable of the castle.


title: Tintagel

text: During the 19th century, Tintagel was visited by many writers, including Robert Stephen Hawker, Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, and the mystic philosopher Rudolf Steiner. It was also the occasional residence of John Douglas Cook, founder editor of the "Saturday Review" (d. 1868) who is buried at Tintagel. He bought Trevena House as an occasional residence: it later became the front part of King Arthur's Hall (see ).


title: Tintagel

text: Henry George White, the village schoolmaster for many years was also a prolific amateur painter. The Very Rev. Cliff Piper, Dean of Moray, Ross and Caithness was born at Tintagel.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: Invasion is an American science fiction television series created by Shaun Cassidy. It originally aired on ABC from September 21, 2005 through May 17, 2006. Somewhat similar to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", the show told the story of the aftermath of a hurricane in which water-based creatures infiltrate a small Florida town and begin to take over the bodies of the town's inhabitants through a cloning process (by first merging with then replacing them). It stars an ensemble cast featuring William Fichtner, Eddie Cibrian, Kari Matchett, Lisa Sheridan, Tyler Labine, Alexis Dziena, Evan Peters and Ariel Gade. The show was produced by Shaun Cassidy Productions and Warner Bros. Television.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: Due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the aftermath in the southern United States, early on-air promotions were quickly pulled by ABC. The advertising then switched emphasis completely to the alien invasion aspect of the series, while the hurricane received no mention. The premiere was also preceded with a warning that the show featured images of a fictional hurricane, to which viewers could be sensitive.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: "Invasion" received critical acclaim, with the performances of the cast, the writing and the musical score being singled out for praise. The series was officially canceled on May 17, 2006. Since then, the show has appeared in numerous lists of shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon", including lists by Entertainment Weekly and The Huffington Post. The show was originally conceived for 5 seasons.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: "Invasion" received mostly positive critical reception. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 80% approval rating with an average rating of 8.8/10 based on 10 reviews. Metacritic gave the season a score of 72, making it generally favorable.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: The show was nominated on the "32nd Saturn Awards" for "Best Network TV Series" and "Best Television Actor" for William Fichtner.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: It has been included in many "gone too soon" lists. In the independent web critic, Critics at large, the show was reviewed as a Lost Treasure. In 2022, "Invasion" was reviewed as one of the ""Best Alien Invasion TV Show To Binge"" by Collider. Stephen King also


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: In 2010, William Fichtner singled Tom Underlay, as one of the characters he "mostly get recognized for". He also considered his character as the one he wants to revisit:


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: Many actors including Eddie Cibrian, Kari Matchett, Evan Peters, Nathan Baesal and Tyler Labine singled out "Invasion" as one of their favorite shows they worked on. On a chat live between "Bullz-eye.com" and Labine, the actor says: ""Invasion" did get lots of love. Critics loved it. There was quite a huge following by the time we got cancelled. It was just the network didn't love it, that's all." He also praised Shaun Cassidy's writing, calling him a "mad genius". Later Labine reiterates his statement about the show's cancellation: "I still to this day don’t know why that show got canceled. We had great numbers, we had a good show, good critical acclaim… I don’t know. But it was a really fun show.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: Shaun Cassidy made a similar statement about the show's cancellation: "I think there were unrealistic expectations that any show following "Lost" should do better. But no show after ours ever DID do better, so I suspect some of the execs may have regretted taking our show off the air." To the question "Of all the shows you’ve created that were canceled far too soon, which hurt the most ... and why?", Cassidy personally picked "Invasion" because "it was the most surprising".


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: In 2020, Writer Carlos Coto, blamed the time slot for the show's cancelation: "They put us on after "Lost". It made sense on paper, but audiences weren't up for two mythology-rich shows at once. "Lost" was awesome, but exhausting -- in a good way (and so were we)"


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: The series premiered on ABC on September 21, 2005, and aired for one season. The series included twenty-two episodes, which aired Wednesday evening at 10:00pm. After the show's cancellation there were reports of a possible move to The CW, however, a deal never came to fruition. The final episode aired on May 17, 2006. On August 22, 2006, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released the complete first season as a six-disc DVD box set.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: In the UK, the show premiered as a double bill on Channel 4, with the third episode shown shortly afterwards on 4's digital sister channel E4. In Bulgaria, "Invasion" premiered on February 21, 2007, on Nova Television and in Romania it premiered on March 10, 2009, on Pro Cinema movie channel. In Australia, the series premiered on the Nine Network in March 2006.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: According to Nielsen ratings, the series premiere garnered 17 million viewers airing after "Lost". By the November 30, 2005 episode, the show was only garnering 10 million viewers.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: For the episodes shown on January 11, 18, and 25 the Nielsen Ratings only reached 9.7 million, 9 million and 9.3 million, respectively. It had lost nearly half of the first episode's audience, far behind CBS's "", which had 13.7 million, 15.5 million and 14.9 million, for the same period. The show was then put on hiatus for the second time, during which time it was replaced with "The Evidence".


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: In the "August 14–20, 2006" issue of "TV Guide", actor Tyler Labine relayed what creator Shaun Cassidy had planned for the following season, saying that Cassidy had said, "Larkin was going to be presumed dead. Russell and I were going to join forces against Tom. Tom was going to find out that his first wife was alive and running this whole military operation, and she was Szura's boss."


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: William Fichtner also relayed that storyline: "There was something in there that I thought that was so good. I discovered who it really was who was orchestrating [everything]. I didn't even see it coming from a million miles away. It was my [first wife, Grace], who got on the plane with me. Two people lived after that [1996] plane crash, not just one. She went in another direction altogether. It's amazing. It was, "ah, what you could have done with that.'"


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: In 2010, Labine gave an interview that detailed some of the ideas for the entire show. Included were plans to have Larkin coming back as an evolved hybrid/antagonist. Ultimately, the show was meant to branch into the conception of evolution vs. invasion


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: "Invasion" features an orchestral score performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra and composed by Jon Ehrlich and Jason Derlatka, incorporating many recurring themes and dramatic melodies. Their music was well received. The soundtrack of the show became available on October 21, 2008 at "moviescoremedia.com". The album features more than 60 minutes of carefully selected tracks from the series.


title: Invasion (2005 TV series)

text: "Invasion" is one of Ehrlich and Derlatka's favorite works saying: "Its always a treat working with a great orchestra. We love working with Shaun Cassidy."


title: China Forbes

text: China Forbes (born April 29, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter who has been the lead singer of the band Pink Martini since 1995.


title: China Forbes

text: The daughter of Peggy (née Woodford) and Donald Cameron Forbes, China Forbes was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father was of French and Scottish descent, and her mother is African-American. She attended Phillips Exeter Academy ('88), then studied visual arts at Harvard University, where she met Thomas Lauderdale, a classically trained pianist. They became friends and met regularly to play music together. At Harvard, she won the Jonathan Levy Prize for acting.


title: China Forbes

text: After graduating in 1992, Forbes worked as an actress for several years, performing Off-Broadway in New York City. She then became a musician, forming a band and recording a solo album. She sang the song "Ordinary Girl" for the television series "Clueless" and "Que Sera Sera" over the credits for the movie "In the Cut". While living in Portland, Oregon, Lauderdale asked her to sing with Pink Martini, a band he had assembled to play at political fundraisers. After three years commuting from New York, she moved to Portland in 1998 to work full-time with the band. Forbes and Lauderdale co-wrote the band's hit "Sympathique (Je ne Veux Pas Travailler)" among many other band originals.


title: China Forbes

text: Apart from her work with Pink Martini, she has released solo albums, including "Love Handle" (November 1995) and "78" (Heinz 2008) which includes her song "Hey Eugene" in its original version. She is featured on Michael Feinstein's album "The Sinatra Project", singing a duet of "How Long Will It Last?". She recorded two songs in French with Georges Moustaki for his album "Solitaire".


title: China Forbes

text: She is a cousin of former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and indie-rock musician Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear. Her sister is Maya Forbes, a screenwriter and director.


title: Tractor unit

text: A tractor unit (also known as a truck unit, power unit, prime mover, ten-wheeler, semi-tractor, tractor truck, semi-truck, tractor cab, truck cab, tractor rig, truck rig or big rig or simply a tractor, truck, semi or rig) is a characteristically heavy-duty towing engine that provides motive power for hauling a towed or trailered load. These fall into two categories: heavy- and medium-duty military and commercial rear-wheel-drive semi-tractors used for hauling semi-trailers, and very heavy-duty typically off-road-capable, often 6×6, military and commercial tractor units, including ballast tractors.


title: Tractor unit

text: Tractor units typically have large displacement diesel engines for power, durability, and economy; several axles; and a multi-ratio transmission (10, 13, or 18 gears) for maximum flexibility in gearing.


title: Tractor unit

text: The tractor-trailer combination distributes a load across multiple axles while being more maneuverable than an equivalently sized rigid truck. The most common trailer attachment system is a fifth wheel coupling, allowing a rapid shift between trailers performing different functions, such as a bulk tipper and box trailer. Trailers containing differing cargos can be rapidly swapped between tractors, eliminating downtime while a trailer is unloaded or loaded.


title: Tractor unit

text: Drawbar couplings are also found, particularly in dedicated exceptionally heavy-duty ballast tractors and as a means to connect intermediate fifth-wheel dollies for pulling multiple semi-trailers.


title: Tractor unit

text: A tractor unit can have many axles depending on axle load legislation. The most common varieties are those of 4×2, 6×2, and 6×4 types. However, some manufacturers offer 6×6, 8x4, 8×6, 8×8, 10×8, and 10×10 axle configurations. A 6×4 has three axles, normally an undriven front steer axle and the two rear axles driven. 6×4 units are more common in long-distance haulage in larger countries such as the United States and Australia. In Europe, the 4×2 and 6×2 variants are more commonplace.


title: Tractor unit

text: Tractors with three axles or more can have more than one steering axle, which can also be driven. Most 6×2 units allow the undriven rear axle to be raised when lightly loaded, or running without a trailer, to save tire wear, save toll road fees, and increase traction on the driven axle. The 6×6 units have three axles, all can be driven, and 8×6 units have four axles, with either the rear three driven and the front axle not, or the front and rear-most two axles powered and an unpowered lifting center axle to spread the load when needed. The 8×8 units also have four axles, but with all of them driven, and 10×8 units have five axles with the rear four usually driven and the front axle for steering. All five axles of 10×10 units are driven. The front two axles are usually both steer axles. The axle configurations are usually based on axle load legislation, and maximum gross vehicle weight ratings (BDM).


title: Tractor unit

text: Heavier versions of tractor units, such as those used in heavy haulage and road trains, tend to have four or more axles, with more than two axles driven. In certain countries (such as Switzerland), a certain amount of weight must be spread over driven axles, which led to heavier varieties having six-wheel drive, otherwise, another tractor unit would have to be used. Heavy haulage variants of tractor-units are often turned into a ballast tractor by fitting temporary ballast, which may require special permitting.


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: Suzanne Mubarak ( , née Thabet; born 28 February 1941) is the widow of Egyptian former president Hosni Mubarak and was the First Lady of Egypt during her husband's presidential tenure from 14 October 1981 to 11 February 2011. She has served as Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and founded the Cairo Child Museum in collaboration with the British Museum. Born to an Egyptian father and a British mother, she is a sociologist by education.


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: Suzanne Saleh Thabet was born in Al Minya Governorate, located on the Nile River about 250 kilometres to the south of Cairo, on 28 February 1941. Her father, Saleh Thabet, was an Egyptian pediatrician and her mother was Lily May Palmer (died in 1978), a nurse from Pontypridd, Wales. She went to St. Claire School in Heliopolis, Cairo.


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: She met her future husband, Egyptian Air Force officer Hosni Mubarak, when she was 16 years old. The couple married when she was 17 years old and had two sons; Alaa Mubarak and Gamal Mubarak. She returned to school ten years after her marriage.


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: Mubarak graduated from American University in Cairo (AUC) in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in political science and then received a master's degree in sociology from AUC in 1982. Her thesis is entitled "Social Action Research in Urban Egypt: Case study of primary school upgrading in Bulaq".


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: Mubarak became First Lady of Egypt upon her husband's accession to the presidency on 14 October 1981 and served as First Lady until her husband's resignation on 11 February 2011.


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: Mubarak's activities in projects relating to human trafficking and family affairs became prominent in Egypt. She led the Egyptian U.N. delegation in conferences relating to women and children. In 1985 she founded the Child Museum of Cairo in collaboration with the British Museum. In 2005, she opened the Hurghada branch of Mubarak's Public Library. In October 2008, she was nominated as Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). She was a patron of the children's television series, "Alam Simsim" (Arabic for "Sesame's World"), Egypt's version of the American series, "Sesame Street".


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: In March 2008, Egyptian journalist Ibrahim Eissa was arrested for reporting on Hosni Mubarak's health problems in August 2007. Mubarak then gave a rare television address to allege that Hosni was actually healthy and reporters who suggested otherwise deserve to be punished.


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: Mubarak was married to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. She is the daughter of an Egyptian paediatrician, Saleh Sabet, and Welsh nurse Lily Palmer. Saleh Sabet, at the time a 29-year-old medical student at Cardiff University, married the 29-year-old Lily May Palmer in Islington, London on 16 March 1934. Palmer was a trained nurse working at The Infirmary on Camden Road, Islington. She was the daughter of colliery manager Charles Henry Palmer, and grew up in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales. Mubarak's older brother, Mounir Sabet, is a former president of the Egyptian Olympic Committee.


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: She has two sons, Alaa and Gamal, a granddaughter, and two grandsons, one of whom, 12-year-old Muhammad Mubarak, died on 18 May 2009, in Paris after a two-day health crisis.


title: Suzanne Mubarak

text: On 12 March 2021, the European Union lifted the sanctions against nine Egyptian individuals including the Mubarak family, in place since 2011.


title: Myrrha

text: Myrrha (Greek: , "Mýrra"), also known as Smyrna (Greek: , "Smýrna"), is the mother of Adonis in Greek mythology. She was transformed into a myrrh tree after having had intercourse with her father, and gave birth to Adonis in tree form. Although the tale of Adonis has Semitic roots, it is uncertain where the myth of Myrrha emerged from, though it was probably from Cyprus.


title: Myrrha

text: The myth details the incestuous relationship between Myrrha and her father, Cinyras. Myrrha falls in love with her father and tricks him into sexual intercourse. After discovering her identity, Cinyras draws his sword and pursues Myrrha. She flees across Arabia and, after nine months, turns to the gods for help. They take pity on her and transform her into a myrrh tree. While in plant form, Myrrha gives birth to Adonis. According to legend, the aromatic exudings of the myrrh tree are Myrrha's tears.


title: Myrrha

text: The most familiar form of the myth was recounted in the "Metamorphoses" of Ovid, and the story was the subject of the most famous work (now lost) of the poet Helvius Cinna. Several alternate versions appeared in the "Bibliotheca", the "Fabulae" of Hyginus, and the "Metamorphoses" of Antoninus Liberalis, with major variations depicting Myrrha's father as the Assyrian king Theias or depicting Aphrodite as having engineered the tragic liaison. Critical interpretation of the myth has considered Myrrha's refusal of conventional sexual relations to have provoked her incest, with the ensuing transformation to tree as a silencing punishment. It has been suggested that the taboo of incest marks the difference between culture and nature and that Ovid's version of Myrrha showed this. A translation of Ovid's Myrrha, by English poet John Dryden in 1700, has been interpreted as a metaphor for British politics of the time, linking Myrrha to Mary II and Cinyras to James II.


title: Myrrha

text: In post-classical times, Myrrha has had widespread influence in Western culture. She was mentioned in the "Divine Comedy" by Dante, was an inspiration for "Mirra" by Vittorio Alfieri, and was alluded to in "Mathilda" by Mary Shelley. In the play "Sardanapalus" by Byron, a character named Myrrha appeared, whom critics interpreted as a symbol of Byron's dream of romantic love. The myth of Myrrha was one of 24 tales retold in "Tales from Ovid" by English poet Ted Hughes. In art, Myrrha's seduction of her father has been illustrated by German engraver Virgil Solis, her tree-metamorphosis by French engraver Bernard Picart and Italian painter Marcantonio Franceschini, while French engraver Gustave Doré chose to depict Myrrha in Hell as a part of his series of engravings for Dante's "Divine Comedy". In music, she has appeared in pieces by Sousa and Ravel. She was also the inspiration for several species' scientific names and an asteroid.


title: Myrrha

text: The myth of Myrrha is closely linked to that of her son, Adonis, which has been easier to trace. "Adonis" is the Hellenized form of the Phoenician word ""adoni"", meaning ""my lord"". It is believed that the cult of Adonis was known to the Greeks from around the sixth century B.C., but it is unquestionable that they came to know it through contact with Cyprus. Around this time, the cult of Adonis is noted in the Book of Ezekiel in Jerusalem, though under the Babylonian name Tammuz.


title: Myrrha

text: Adonis originally was a Phoenician god of fertility representing the spirit of vegetation. It is further speculated that he was an avatar of the version of Ba'al, worshipped in Ugarit. It is likely that lack of clarity concerning whether Myrrha was called Smyrna, and who her father was, originated in Cyprus before the Greeks first encountered the myth. However, it is clear that the Greeks added much to the Adonis-Myrrha story, before it was first recorded by classical scholars.


title: Myrrha

text: Over the centuries Myrrha, the girl, and myrrh, the fragrance, have been linked etymologically. Myrrh was precious in the ancient world, and was used for embalming, medicine, perfume, and incense. The Modern English word "myrrh" (Old English: "myrra") derives from the Latin "Myrrha" (or "murrha" or "murra", all are synonymous Latin words for the tree substance). The Latin "Myrrha" originated from the Ancient Greek "múrrā", but, ultimately, the word is of Semitic origin, with roots in the Arabic "murr", the Hebrew "mōr", and the Aramaic "mūrā", all meaning "bitter" as well as referring to the plant. Regarding "smyrna", the word is a Greek dialectic form of "myrrha".


title: Myrrha

text: In the Bible, myrrh is referenced as one of the most desirable fragrances, and though mentioned alongside frankincense, it is usually more expensive. Several Old Testament passages refer to myrrh. In the Song of Solomon, which according to scholars dates to either the tenth century B.C. as a Hebrew oral tradition or to the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century B.C., myrrh is referenced seven times, making the Song of Solomon the passage in the Old Testament referring to myrrh the most, often with erotic overtones. In the New Testament the substance is famously associated with the birth of Christ when the magi presented their gifts of "gold, frankincense, and myrrh".


title: Myrrha

text: Published in 8 A.D. the "Metamorphoses" of Ovid has become one of the most influential poems by writers in Latin. The "Metamorphoses" show that Ovid was more interested in questioning how laws interfered with people's lives than writing epic tales like Virgil's "Aeneid" or Homer's "Odyssey". The "Metamorphoses" is not narrated by Ovid, but rather by the characters in the stories. The myth of Myrrha and Cinyras is sung by Orpheus in the tenth book of "Metamorphoses" after he has told the myth of Pygmalion and before he turns to the tale of Venus and Adonis. As the myth of Myrrha is also the longest tale sung by Orpheus (205 lines) and the only story that corresponds to his announced theme of girls punished for forbidden desire, it is considered the centerpiece of the song. Ovid opens the myth with a warning to the audience that this is a myth of great horror, especially to fathers and daughters:


title: Myrrha

text: The story I am going to tell is a horrible one: I beg that daughters and fathers should hold themselves aloof, while I sing, or if they find my songs enchanting, let them refuse to believe this part of my tale, and suppose that it never happened: or else, if they believe that it did happen, they must believe also in the punishment that followed.


title: Myrrha

text: According to Ovid, Myrrha was the daughter of King Cinyras and Queen Cenchreis of Cyprus. Ovid says that Cupid was not to blame for Myrrha's incestuous love for her father, Cinyras; he comments that hating one's father is a crime, but that Myrrha's love was a greater crime, and blames it instead on the Furies.


title: Myrrha

text: Over several verses, Ovid depicts the psychic struggle Myrrha faces between her sexual desire for her father and the social shame she would face for acting on it. Sleepless, and losing all hope, she attempts suicide; but is discovered by her nurse, in whom she confides. The nurse tries to make Myrrha suppress the infatuation, but later agrees to help Myrrha into her father's bed if she promises that she will not try to kill herself again.


title: Myrrha

text: During the Ceres' festival, the worshipping women (including Cenchreis, Myrrha's mother) were not to be touched by men for nine nights; the nurse tells Cinyras of a girl deeply in love with him, giving a false name. The affair lasts several nights in complete darkness to conceal Myrrha's identity, until Cinyras wanted to know the identity of his paramour. Upon bringing in a lamp, and seeing his daughter, the king attempted to kill her on the spot, but Myrrha escaped.


title: Myrrha

text: Thereafter Myrrha walked in exile for nine months, past the palms of Arabia and the fields of Panchaea, until she reached Sabaea. Afraid of death and tired of life, and pregnant as well, she begged the gods for a solution, and was transformed into the myrrh tree, with the sap thereof representing her tears. Later, Lucina freed the newborn Adonis from the tree.


title: Myrrha

text: The myth of Myrrha has been chronicled in several other works than Ovid's "Metamorphoses". Among the scholars who recounted it are Apollodorus, Hyginus, and Antoninus Liberalis. All three versions differ.


title: Myrrha

text: In his "Bibliotheca", written around the 1st century B.C. Apollodorus tells of three possible parentages for Adonis. In the first he states that Cinyras arrived in Cyprus with a few followers and founded Paphos, and that he married Metharme, eventually becoming king of Cyprus through her family. Cinyras had five children by Metharme: the two boys, Oxyporos and Adonis, and three daughters, Orsedice, Laogore, and Braisia. The daughters at some point became victims of Aphrodite's wrath and had intercourse with foreigners, ultimately dying in Egypt.


title: Myrrha

text: For the second possible parentage of Adonis, Apollodorus quotes Hesiod, who postulates that Adonis could be the child of Phoenix and Alphesiboia. He elaborates no further on this statement.


title: Myrrha

text: For the third option, he quotes Panyasis, who states that King Theias of Assyria had a daughter called Smyrna. Smyrna failed to honor Aphrodite, incurring the wrath of the goddess, by whom was made to fall in love with her father; and with the aid of her nurse she deceived him for twelve nights until her identity was discovered. Smyrna fled, but her father later caught up with her. Smyrna then prayed that the gods would make her invisible, prompting them to turn her into a tree, which was named the Smyrna. Ten months later the tree cracked and Adonis was born from it.


title: Myrrha

text: In his "Fabulae", written around 1 A.D. Hyginus states that King Cinyras of Assyria had a daughter by his wife, Cenchreis. The daughter was named Smyrna and the mother boasted that her child excelled even Venus in beauty. Angered, Venus punished the mother by cursing Smyrna to fall in love with her father. After the nurse had prevented Smyrna from committing suicide, she helped her engage her father in sexual intercourse. When Smyrna became pregnant, she hid in the woods from shame. Venus pitied the girl's fate, changing her into a myrrh tree, from which was born Adonis.


title: Myrrha

text: In the "Metamorphoses" by Antoninus Liberalis, written somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd century A.D., the myth is set in Phoenicia, near Mount Lebanon. Here King Thias, son of Belus and Orithyia, had a daughter named Smyrna. Being of great beauty, she was sought by men from far and wide. She had devised many tricks in order to delay her parents and defer the day they would choose a husband for her. Smyrna had been driven mad by desire for her father and did not want anybody else. At first she hid her desires, eventually telling her nurse, Hippolyte, the secret of her true feelings. Hippolyte told the king that a girl of exalted parentage wanted to lie with him, but in secret. The affair lasted for an extended period of time, and Smyrna became pregnant. At this point, Thias desired to know who she was so he hid a light, illuminating the room and discovering Smyrna's identity when she entered. In shock, Smyrna gave birth prematurely to her child. She then raised her hands and said a prayer, which was heard by Zeus who took pity on her and turned her into a tree. Thias killed himself, and it was on the wish of Zeus that the child was brought up and named Adonis.


title: Myrrha

text: The myth of Myrrha has been interpreted in various ways. The transformation of Myrrha in Ovid's version has been interpreted as a punishment for her breaking the social rules through her incestuous relationship with her father. Like Byblis who fell in love with her brother, Myrrha is transformed and rendered voiceless making her unable to break the taboo of incest.


title: Myrrha

text: Myrrha has also been thematically linked to the story of Lot's daughters. They live with their father in an isolated cave and because their mother is dead they decide to befuddle Lot's mind with wine and seduce him in order to keep the family alive through him. Nancy Miller comments on the two myths:


title: Myrrha

text: [Lot's daughters'] incest is sanctioned by reproductive necessity; because it lacks consequences, this story is not a socially recognized narrative paradigm for incest. [...] In the cases of both Lot's daughters and Myrrha, the daughter's seduction of the father has to be covert. While other incest configurations - mother-son, sibling - permit consensual agency, father-daughter incest does not; when the daughter displays transgressive sexual desire, the prohibitive father appears.


title: Myrrha

text: Myrrha has been interpreted as developing from a girl into a woman in the course of the story: in the beginning she is a virgin refusing her suitors, in that way denying the part of herself that is normally dedicated to Aphrodite. The goddess then strikes her with desire to make love with her father and Myrrha is then made into a woman in the grip of an uncontrollable lust. The marriage between her father and mother is then set as an obstacle for her love along with incest being forbidden by the laws, profane as well as divine. The way the daughter seduces her father illustrates the most extreme version a seduction can take: the union between two persons who by social norms and laws are strictly held apart.


title: Myrrha

text: James Richard Ellis has argued that the incest taboo is fundamental to a civilized society. Building on Sigmund Freud's theories and psychoanalysis this is shown in Ovid's version of the myth of Myrrha. When the girl has been gripped by desire, she laments her humanity, for if she and her father were animals, there would be no bar to their union.


title: Myrrha

text: That Myrrha is transformed into a myrrh tree has also been interpreted to have influenced the character of Adonis. Being the child of both a woman and a tree he is a split person. In Ancient Greece the word Adonis could mean both "perfume" and "lover" and likewise Adonis is both the perfume made from the aromatic drops of myrrh as well as the human lover who seduces two goddesses.


title: Myrrha

text: In her essay "What Nature Allows the Jealous Laws Forbid" literary critic Mary Aswell Doll compares the love between the two male protagonists of Annie Proulx' book "Brokeback Mountain" (1997) with the love Myrrha has for her father in Ovid's "Metamorphoses". Doll suggests that both Ovid's and Proulx' main concerns are civilization and its discontents and that their use of images of nature uncovers similar understandings of what is "natural" when it comes to who and how one should love. On the subject of Ovid’s writing about love Doll states:


title: Myrrha

text: In Ovid’s work no love is "taboo" unless it arises out of a need for power and control. A widespread instance for the latter during the Roman Empire was the practice by the elite to take nubile young girls as lovers or mistresses, girls who could be as young as daughters. Such a practice was considered normal, natural.


title: Myrrha

text: Cinyras' relationship with a girl on his daughter's age was therefore not unnatural, but Myrrha's being in love with her own father was. Doll elaborates further on this stating that Myrrha's lamenting that animals can mate father and daughter without problems is a way for Ovid to express a paradox: in nature a father-daughter relationship is not unnatural, but it is in human society. On this Doll concludes that "Nature follows no laws. There is no such thing as "natural law"". Still, Ovid distances himself in three steps from the horrifying story:


title: Myrrha

text: First he does not tell the story himself, but has one of his in-story characters, Orpheus, sing it; second, Ovid tells his audience not even to believe the story (cf. quote in "Ovid's version"); third, he has Orpheus congratulate Rome, Ovid's home town, for its being far away from the land where this story took place (Cyprus). By distancing himself, Doll writes, Ovid lures his audience to keep listening. First then does Ovid begin telling the story describing Myrrha, her father and their relationship, which Doll compares to the mating of Cupid and Psyche: here the lovemaking occurs in complete darkness and only the initiator (Cupid) knows the identity of the other as well. Myrrha's metamorphosing into a tree is read by Doll as a metaphor where the tree incarnates the secret. As a side effect, Doll notes, the metamorphosis also alters the idea of incest into something natural for the imagination to think about. Commenting on a Freudian analysis of the myth stating that Ovid "disconcertingly suggests that [father-lust] might be an unspoken universal of human experience". Doll notes that Ovid's stories work like metaphors: they are meant to give insight into the human psyche. Doll states that the moments when people experience moments like those of father-lust are repressed and unconscious, which means that they are a natural part of growing and that most grow out of it sometime. She concludes about Ovid and his version of Myrrha that: "What is perverted, for Ovid, is the use of sex as a power tool and the blind acceptance of sexual male power as a cultural norm."