Early life and career.

Raúl Alfonsín was born on 12 March 1927, in the city of Chascomús, 123 km (76 mi) south of Buenos Aires. His parents were Serafín Raúl Alfonsín Ochoa and Ana María Foulkes. His father was of Spanish and German descent, and his mother was the daughter of Welsh immigrant Ricardo Foulkes and Falkland Islander María Elena Ford. Following his elementary schooling, Raúl Alfonsín enrolled at the General San Martín Military Lyceum, graduating after five years as a second lieutenant. He did not pursue a military career, and began studying law instead. He began his studies at the National University of La Plata, and completed them at the University of Buenos Aires, graduating at the age of 23. He married María Lorenza Barreneche, whom he met in the 1940s at a masquerade ball, in 1949. They moved to Mendoza, La Plata, and returned to Chascomús. They had six sons, of whom only Ricardo Alfonsín would also follow a political career.  Alfonsín bought a local newspaper ("El Imparcial"). He joined the Radical Civic Union (UCR) in 1946, as a member of the Intransigent Renewal Movement, a faction of the party that opposed the incorporation of the UCR into the Democratic Union coalition. He was appointed president of the party committee in Chascomús in 1951, and was elected to the city council in 1954. He was detained for a brief time, during the reaction of the government of Juan Perón to the bombing of Plaza de Mayo. The "Revolución Libertadora" ousted Perón from the national government; Alfonsín was again briefly detained and forced to leave his office in the city council. The UCR broke up into two parties: the Intransigent Radical Civic Union (UCRI), led by Arturo Frondizi, and the People's Radical Civic Union (UCRP), led by Ricardo Balbín and Crisólogo Larralde. Alfonsín did not like the split, but opted to follow the UCRP. Alfonsín was elected deputy for the legislature of the Buenos Aires province in 1958, on the UCRP ticket, and was reelected in 1962. He moved to La Plata, capital of the province, during his tenure. President Frondizi was

Presidential campaign.

Alfonsín was appointed candidate of the UCR for the 1983 general elections, with Víctor Martínez as candidate for the vice-presidency. Fernando de la Rúa, who would have run in the primary elections against him, declined his candidacy because of Alfonsín's huge popularity. The publicity was managed by David Ratto, who created the slogan "Ahora Alfonsín" (), and the gesture of the shaking hands. His campaign used a non-confrontational approach, in stark contrast with the Peronist candidate for the governorship of the Buenos Aires province, Herminio Iglesias. Iglesias burned a coffin with the seals of the UCR on live television, which generated a political scandal. Both Iglesias and Ítalo Luder, the Peronist candidate to the presidency, saw a decrease in their public image as a result.  During the campaign, both parties made similar

Presidency.

First days.

The presidential inauguration of Alfonsín was attended by Isabel Perón. Despite internal recriminations for the defeat, the Peronist party agreed to support Alfonsín as president, to prevent a return of the military. By this time, the left-wing terrorism had been neutralized and was no longer a menace. There were still factions in the military ambitious to keep an authoritarian government, and groups such as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo seeking reparations for the actions of the military during the Dirty War.  Three days after taking office, Alfonsín sent a bill to the Congress to revoke the self-amnesty law established by the military. This made it possible for the judiciary to investigate the crimes committed during the Dirty War. During the campaign, Alfonsín had promised that he would do this while Luder had been non-committal. Alfonsín

Aftermath of the Dirty War.

The first priority of Raúl Alfonsín was to consolidate democracy, incorporate the armed forces into their standard role in a civilian government, and prevent further military coups. Alfonsín first tried to reduce the political power of the military with budget cuts, reductions of military personnel and changing their political tasks. As for the crimes committed during the Dirty War, Alfonsín was willing to respect the command responsibility and accept the "superior orders" defense for the military of lower ranks, as long as the Junta leaders were sentenced under military justice. This project was resisted by human rights organisations such as Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and public opinion, as it was expected that the defendants would be acquitted or receive

Relation with unions.

Peronism still controlled the labor unions, the most powerful ones in all of Latin America. The biggest one was the General Confederation of Labour (CGT). Alfonsín sought to reduce the Peronist influence over the unions, fearing that they may become a destabilizing force for the fledgling democracy. He rejected their custom of holding single-candidate internal elections, and deemed them totalitarian and not genuine representatives of the workforce. His proposal was to change the laws for those internal elections, remove the union leaders appointed during the dictatorship, and elect new ones under the new laws. The CGT rejected the proposal as interventionist, and prompted Peronist politicians to vote against it. The law was approved by the Chamber of Deputies but failed to pass in the Senate by one vote. A second bill proposed simply a call to elections, without supervision from the government, which was approved. As a result, the unions remained Peronist.  The CGT was splintered in internal factions at the time. Lorenzo Miguel had close ties to

Social policies.

With the end of the military dictatorship, Alfonsín pursued cultural and educational policies aimed at reducing the authoritarian customs of several institutions and groups. He also promoted freedom of the press. Several intellectuals and scientists who had left the country in the previous decade returned, which benefited the universities. The University of Buenos Aires returned to the quality levels that it had in the 1960s. Many intellectuals became

Foreign policy.

Argentina had a tense relationship with the United Kingdom because of the recently ended Falklands War. The British government banned all foreign ships from the exclusion zone of the islands in 1986. Argentina organised air and marine patrols, as well as military maneuvers in the Patagonia. However, this was not enough to placate the military hard-liners in Argentina. Alfonsín proposed the postponement the sovereignty discussions, instead negotiating for a "de jure" cease of hostilities, with a reduction in the number of military forces and a normalization of Argentina–United Kingdom relations. The United Kingdom did not trust the proposal, suspecting that it was a cover-up for sovereignty discussions.  The Beagle conflict was still an unresolved problem with Chile, despite the 1978 Papal mediation. The military, troubled by the trial of the juntas, called for rejection of the proposed agreement and a continuation of the country's claim over the islands. Alfonsín called for a referendum to settle the dispute. Despite opposition from the military and the Justicialist party, who called for abstention, support for the resolution referendum reached 82%. The bill passed in the Senate by a single vote majority, as the PJ

Economic policy.

Alfonsín began his term with many economic problems. The foreign debt was nearly 43 billion dollars by the end of the year, and the country had narrowly prevented a sovereign default in 1982. During that year, the gross domestic product fell by 5.6%, and the manufacturing profits by 55%. Unemployment was at nearly 10%, and inflation was nearly 209%. It also appeared unlikely that the country would receive the needed foreign investment. The country had a deficit of $6.7 billion. Possible solutions such as a devaluation of the currency, privatization of industry, or restrictions on imports, would probably have proven to be unpopular.  Bernardo Grinspun, the first minister of the economy, arranged an increase in wages, reaching the levels of 1975. This caused inflation to reach 32%. He also tried to negotiate more favourable terms on the country's foreign debt, but the negotiations failed. Risking a default, he negotiated with the IMF, which requested spending cuts. International credits prevented default at the end of 1984, but he resigned in March 1985 when the debt reached $1 billion and the IMF denied further credits. Grinspun was succeeded by

Midterm elections.

The actions taken against the military contributed to a strong showing by the UCR in the November 1985 legislative elections. They gained one seat in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, which meant control of 130 of the 254 seats. The Justicialists lost eight seats (leaving 103) and smaller, provincial parties made up the difference. Alfonsín surprised observers in April 1986 by announcing the creation of a panel entrusted to plan a transfer of the nation's capital to Viedma, a small coastal city 800 km (500 mi) south of Buenos

Later years.

Amid rampant inflation, Angeloz was heavily defeated by PJ candidate Carlos Menem in the 1989 election. By the winter of 1989, the inflation had grown so severe that Alfonsín transferred power to Menem on 8 July, five months earlier than scheduled.  Alfonsín stayed on as president of the UCR, leaving after the party's defeat in the 1991 legislative elections. Suffering damage to its image because of the hyperinflation of 1989, the UCR lost in several districts. Alfonsín became president of the party again in 1993. He supported the creation of a special budget for the province of Buenos Aires, led by governor Eduardo Duhalde. The radical legislator Leopoldo Moreau supported the new budget even more vehemently than the Peronists. Both parties had an informal alliance in the province. Alfonsín also supported the amendment to the constitution of Buenos Aires that allowed Duhalde to run for re-election.  President Carlos Menem sought a constitutional amendment to allow his re-election, and Alfonsín opposed it. The victory in the 1993 midterm elections strengthened the PJ, which approved the bill in the Senate. Menem proposed a referendum on the amendment, to force the radical deputies to support it. He also proposed a bill for a law that would allow a constitutional amendment with a simple majority of the Congress. As a result, Alfonsín made the Pact of Olivos with him. With this agreement, the UCR would support Menem's proposal, but with further amendments that would reduce presidential power. The Council of Magistracy of the Nation reduced the influence of the executive power over the judiciary, the city of Buenos Aires would become an autonomous territory allowed to elect its own mayor, and the presidential term of office would be reduced to four years. The presidential elections would

Death.

Alfonsín died at home on 31 March 2009, at the age of 82, after being diagnosed a year before with lung cancer. The streets around his house at the Santa Fe avenue were filled with hundreds of people, who started a candlelight vigil. The radical Julio Cobos, Fernández de Kirchner's vice president, was the acting president at the moment and ordered three days of national mourning. There was a ceremony in the Congress, where his body was displayed in the Blue Hall, that was attended by almost a thousand people. His widow María Lorenza Barreneche

Legacy.

Historians Félix Luna, Miguel Angel de Marco and Fernando Rocchi all praise the role of Raúl Alfonsín in the aftermath of the Dirty War and the restoration of democracy. Luna also considers that Alfonsín was an effective president, and that he set an example of not using the state for personal profit. De Marco points out that it was a delicate time period, and any mistake could have endangered the newly founded democracy and led to another coup. The aforementioned historians do not agree, though, on their view of the Pact of Olivos. Luna considers that it was a necessary evil to prevent the chaos that would have been generated if Menem managed to proceed with the constitutional amendment without negotiating with the UCR. De Marco and Rocchi instead believe that it was the biggest mistake of Alfonsín's political career.  Alfonsín received the 1985 Princess of Asturias Award for international cooperation because of both his role in ending the Beagle dispute and his work to reestablish democracy in Argentina. He was named "Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires Province" in 2008, and "Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires" in 2009. The latter award was granted posthumously and received by his son Ricardo Alfonsín.

Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín Foulkes (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as the President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically elected president after more than seven years of military dictatorship and is considered the "father of modern democracy in Argentina". Born in Chascomús, Buenos Aires Province, he began his studies of law at the National University of La Plata and was a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires. He was affiliated with the Radical Civic Union (UCR), joining the faction of Ricardo Balbín after the party split.

Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín Foulkes(音译劳尔·里卡多·阿方辛·福克斯,1927年-3月13日-2009年-3月31日)是一位阿根廷的律师和政治家,1983年12月10日至1989年7月8日担任阿根廷总统。出生于布宜诺斯艾利斯省查斯科穆斯,在国立拉普拉塔大学修习法律,并毕业于布宜诺斯艾利斯大学。他与激进公民联盟(UCR)有联系,在党分裂后加入里卡多·巴尔宾的派别。


Nomenclature.

"θ Scorpii" (Latinised to "Theta Scorpii") is the system's Bayer designation. The designations of the two components as "Theta Scorpii A" and "B" derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).  It bore the traditional name "Sargas", of Sumerian origin. Another possible origin is Persian for "Arrow Head سر گز". The name 'Sar Gaz' is used in Iran as a star name, and was used for timing irrigation water shares. In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN decided to attribute proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems. It approved the name "Sargas" for the star θ Scorpii A on 21 August 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.  In Chinese, (), meaning "Tail", refers to an asterism consisting of Theta Scorpii, Epsilon Scorpii, Zeta Scorpii and Zeta Scorpii, Eta Scorpii, Iota Scorpii and Iota Scorpii, Kappa Scorpii, Lambda Scorpii, Mu Scorpii and Upsilon Scorpii. Consequently, the Chinese name for Theta Scorpii itself is (), "the Fifth Star of Tail".

Properties.

The primary (θ Scorpii A) is an evolved bright giant star with a stellar classification of F0 II. With a mass 5.7 times that of the Sun, it has expanded to about 26 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 1,834 times as much luminosity as the Sun from its outer envelope at an effective temperature of 7,268 K, giving it the yellow-white hued glow of an F-type star. This star is rotating rapidly, giving it an oblate shape with an equatorial radius 19% larger than the polar radius.  The magnitude 5.36 companion (θ Scorpii B) is at an angular separation of 6.470 arcseconds.

Modern legacy.

θ Scorpii appears on the flag of Brazil, symbolising the state of Alagoas.

Theta Scorpii (θ Scorpii, abbreviated Theta Sco, θ Sco) is a binary star in the southern zodiac constellation of Scorpius. The apparent visual magnitude of this star is +1.87, making it readily visible to the naked eye and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It is sufficiently near that the distance can be measured directly using the parallax technique and such measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission yield an estimate of approximately 300 light-years (90 parsecs) from the Sun.

尾宿五 (天蝎座θ,θ Sco, θ Scorpii)是在黄道南端天蝎座内的恒星,它在西方的固有名称是源于的Sargas。在中国,它属于尾宿的星官 的第五颗星,故称之为尾宿五。它的视星等是 +1.87,所以列名在最亮的恒星表中,裸眼就很容易看见。它的距离够近,所以可以利用视差的技术来测量,估计大约是300光年(90秒差距)。


Nomenclature.

"δ Corvi" (Latinised to "Delta Corvi") is the star's Bayer designation.  It bore the traditional name "Algorab" derived from Arabic "الغراب" "al-ghuraab", meaning 'the crow'). In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included "Algorab" for this star.  In Chinese, (), meaning "Chariot (asterism)", refers to an asterism consisting of Delta Corvi, Gamma Corvi, Epsilon Corvi and Beta Corvi. Consequently, Delta Corvi itself is known as (,.).

Stellar properties.

Delta Corvi has more than 2.7 times the mass of the Sun, which is causing it to radiate a much higher energy output—roughly 69 times the Sun's luminosity. The effective temperature of the outer atmosphere is, giving it the white hue of an A-type star. The spectrum matches a stellar classification of. However it is more luminous—65-70 times that of the Sun—than it would be if it were on the main sequence. Hence it is either a subgiant star around 260 million years old that has nearly exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core and is in the process of evolving away from the main sequence of stars like the Sun, or a pre main sequence star around 3.2 million years old that has not completely condensed and settled on the main sequence.  In 1823, Delta Corvi was found to be a wide double star by British astronomers James South and John Herschel. Since that time, the position of the two stars with respect to each other has not changed. The magnitude 9.3 companion, HR 4757 B, with a classification of K2Ve, is at an angular separation of 24.2 arcseconds along a position angle of 214°. Although the two stars share a common proper motion, the significant differences in their estimated ages suggests that they may not be physically connected.  A 2006 study found that Delta Corvi displayed no excess infrared emission that would otherwise suggest the presence of circumstellar matter, however warm interstellar dust was detected in a 2014 study.

In culture.

USS Algorab (AKA-8) is a United States navy ship named after the star.

Delta Corvi (δ Corvi, abbreviated Delta Crv, δ Crv), also named Algorab, is a third magnitude star at a distance of from the Sun in the southern constellation of Corvus.

轸宿三(δ Crv/乌鸦座δ),其英文传统名称为Algorab,是一颗位于南天星座乌鸦座的恒星三等星,距离太阳87光年。


Name.

The name is recorded as Ugaritic ( or ), Akkadian.  In Ugaritic, the root also means "grain": in Hebrew, (Samaritan Hebrew ), is an archaic word for grain.  According to Philo of Byblos, the Phoenician author Sanchuniathon explained "Dagon" as a word for "grain" (). Sanchuniathon further explains: "And Dagon, after he discovered grain and the plough, was called Zeus Arotrios." The word means "ploughman" or "pertaining to agriculture" (from ).  The theory relating the name to the Hebrew word "fish", based solely upon a reading of 1 Samuel 5:2–7, is discussed in below.

Ancient Near East.

Bronze Age.

The god Dagon first appears in extant records about 2500 in the Mari texts and in personal Amorite names in which the Mesopotamian gods Ilu (Ēl), Dagan, and Adad are especially common.  At Ebla (Tell Mardikh), from at least 2300, Dagan was the head of the city pantheon comprising some 200 deities and bore the titles "BE-DINGIR-DINGIR", "Lord of the gods" and "Bekalam", "Lord of the land". His consort was known only as Belatu, "Lady". Both were worshipped in a large temple complex called E-Mul, "House of the Star". One entire quarter of Ebla and one of its gates were named after Dagan. Dagan is called "ti-lu ma-tim", "dew of the land" and "Be-ka-na-na", possibly "Lord of Canaan". He was called lord of many cities: of Tuttul, Irim, Ma-Ne, Zarad, Uguash, Siwad, and Sipishu.  Dagan is mentioned occasionally in early Sumerian texts but becomes prominent only in later Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions as a powerful and warlike protector, sometimes equated with Enki. Dagan's wife was in some sources the goddess Shala (also named as wife of Adad and sometimes identified with Ninmah). In other texts, his wife is Ishara. In the preface to his famous law code, King Hammurabi calls himself "the subduer of the settlements along the Euphrates with the help of Dagan, his creator". An inscription about an expedition of Naram-Sin to the Cedar Mountain relates ("ANET", p. 268): "Naram-Sin slew Arman and Ibla with the 'weapon' of the god Dagan who aggrandizes his kingdom."  An interesting early reference to Dagan occurs in a letter to King Zimri-Lim of Mari, 18th century, written by Itur-Asduu an official in the court of Mari and governor of Nahur (the Biblical city of Nahor) ("ANET", p. 623). It relates a dream of a "man from Shaka" in which Dagan appeared. In the dream, Dagan blamed Zimri-Lim's failure to subdue the King of the Yaminites upon Zimri-Lim's failure to bring a report of his deeds to Dagan in Terqa. Dagan promises that when Zimri-Lim has done so: "I will have the kings of the Yaminites ["coo"]"ked" on a fisherman's "spit", and I will lay them before you."  In Ugarit around 1300, Dagon had a large temple and was listed third in the pantheon following a father-god and Ēl, and preceding Ba`al Ṣapān (that is the god Haddu or Hadad/Adad). Joseph Fontenrose first demonstrated that, whatever their deep origins, at Ugarit Dagon was sometime identified with El, explaining why Dagan, who had an important temple at Ugarit is so neglected in the Ras Shamra mythological texts, where Dagon is mentioned solely in passing as the father of the god Hadad (Ba'al), but Anat, El's daughter, is Ba'al's sister, and why no temple of El has appeared at Ugarit. It is suspected that Dagon was one of the "seventy sons of El and Athirat" that later sired Hadad (Ba'al) who would eventually attempt to forcefully insert himself in the second-tier of the council of El (although he would ultimately fail in this attempt)  "Dagan" was sometimes used in Mesopotamian royal names. Two kings of the pre-Babylonian Dynasty of Isin were Iddin-Dagan (c. 1974–1954 ) and Ishme-Dagan (c. 1953–1935 ). The latter name was later used by two Assyrian kings: Ishme-Dagan I (c. 1782–1742 ) and Ishme-Dagan II (c. 1610–1594 ).

Iron Age.

The stele of the 9th century BC Assyrian emperor Ashurnasirpal II ("ANET", p. 558) refers to Ashurnasirpal as the favorite of Anu and of Dagan. In an Assyrian poem, Dagan appears beside Nergal and Misharu as a judge of the dead. A late Babylonian text makes him the underworld prison warder of the seven children of the god Emmesharra.  The Phoenician inscription on the sarcophagus of King Eshmunʿazar of Sidon (5th century BC) relates ("ANET", p. 662): "Furthermore, the Lord of Kings gave us Dor and Joppa, the mighty lands of Dagon, which are in the Plain of Sharon, in accordance with the important deeds which I did."  Sanchuniathon reportedly made Dagon the brother of Cronus, both sons of the Sky (Uranus) and Earth, but not truly Hadad's father. Hadad (Demarus) was begotten by "Sky" on a concubine before Sky was castrated by his son Ēl, whereupon the pregnant concubine was given to Dagon. Accordingly, Dagon in this version is Hadad's half-brother and stepfather.  The Byzantine "Etymologicon Magnum" lists Dagon as the Phoenician Cronus.

Hebrew Bible.

In the Hebrew Bible, Dagon is particularly the god of the Philistines with temples at Beth-dagon in the territory of the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19.27), and in Gaza (see Judges 16.23, which tells soon after how the temple is destroyed by Samson as his last act). Another temple, located in Ashdod, was mentioned in 1 Samuel 5:2–7 and again as late as 1 Maccabees 10.83 and 11.4. King Saul's head was displayed in a temple of Dagon after his death (). There was also a second place known as Beth-Dagon in Judah (Joshua 15.41).  The first-century Jewish historian Josephus mentions a place named Dagon above Jericho. Jerome mentions Caferdago between Diospolis and Jamnia. There is also a modern Beit Dejan south-east of Nablus. Some of these toponyms may have to do with grain rather than the god.  The account in 1 Samuel 5.2–7 relates how the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and taken to Dagon's temple in Ashdod. The following morning the Ashdodites found the image of Dagon lying prostrate before the ark. They set the image upright, but again on the morning of the following day they found it prostrate before the ark, but this time with head and hands severed, lying on the "miptān" translated as "threshold" or "podium". The account continues with the puzzling words "raq dāgôn nišʾar ʿālāyw", which means literally "only Dagon was left to him." (The Septuagint, Peshitta, and Targums render "Dagon" here as "trunk of Dagon" or "body of Dagon", presumably referring to the lower part of his image.)  Thereafter we are told that neither the priests nor anyone else ever steps on the "miptān" of Dagon in Ashdod "unto this day". "We have remarkable evidence of the permanence of the custom in, where the Philistines are described as 'those that leap on, or more correctly over, 'the threshold'". This story is depicted on the frescoes of the Dura-Europos synagogue as the opposite to a depiction of the High Priest Aaron and the Temple of Solomon.

Marnas.

The "vita" of Porphyry of Gaza, mentions the great god of Gaza, known as Marnas (Aramaic "Marnā" the "Lord"), who was regarded as the god of rain and grain and invoked against famine. Marna of Gaza appears on coinage of the time of Hadrian. He was identified at Gaza with Cretan Zeus, "Zeus Krētagenēs". It is likely that Marnas was the Hellenistic expression of Dagon. His temple, the Marneion—the last surviving great cult center of paganism—was burned by order of the Roman emperor during the Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire in 402. Treading upon the sanctuary's paving-stones had been forbidden. Christians later used these same to pave the public marketplace.  Dagon is still mentioned as a figure of cultic worship in the First Book of Ethiopian Maccabees (12:12), which was composed sometime in the 4th century AD.

Fish-god tradition.

The "fish" etymology was accepted in 19th and early 20th century scholarship. This led to the association with the "merman" motif in Assyrian and Phoenician art (e.g. Julius Wellhausen, William Robertson Smith), and with the figure of the Babylonian "Oannes" (Ὡάννης) mentioned by Berossus (3rd century BC). The first to cast doubt on the "fish" etymology was Schmökel (1928), who suggested that while Dagon was not in origin a "fish god", the association with "dâg" "fish" among the maritime Canaanites (Phoenicians) would have affected the god's iconography. Fontenrose (1957:278) still suggests that Berossos's "Odakon", part man and part fish, was possibly a garbled version of Dagon. Dagon was also equated with Oannes. The association with "dāg"/"dâg" 'fish' is made by 11th-century Jewish Bible commentator Rashi. In the 13th century, David Kimhi interpreted the odd sentence in 1 Samuel 5.2–7 that "only Dagon was left to him" to mean "only the form of a fish was left", adding: "It is said that Dagon, from his navel down, had the form of a fish (whence his name, Dagon), and from his navel up, the form of a man, as it is said, his two hands were cut off." The Septuagint text of 1 Samuel 5.2–7 says that both the hands "and the head" of the image of Dagon were broken off.

In popular culture.

The Semitic god Dagon has appeared in many works of popular culture.  Notable examples include John Milton's epic poems "Samson Agonistes" and "Paradise Lost", "Dagon" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H. P. Lovecraft, "Dagon" by Fred Chappell, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, and "King of Kings: a Novel of the Life of David" by Malachi Martin. Also main villain in "The Night Rebel series" by Jeanne Frost. Likely inspired by Lovecraft, several Ironborn characters in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series bear the name Dagon.

Dagon (; "Dāgōn") or Dagan () is an ancient Mesopotamian and ancient Canaanite deity. He appears to have been worshipped as a fertility god in Ebla, Assyria, Ugarit, and among the Amorites.

大(Dagon,天主教译为达贡)是闪米特人的一个主要的神,司农业,由早期阿摩利人所崇拜。他的形状是一个披着鱼皮的男性,是非利士民族的众神之首,被信奉犹太教的以色列人认为是魔鬼。


Geography.

Qom, the capital of Qom province, is located 125 kilometers south of Tehran, on a low plain. The shrine of Fatimeh Masumeh, the sister of Imam Reza, is located in this city, which is considered by Shiʿa Muslims holy. The city is located in the boundary of the central desert of Iran ("Kavir-e Markazi"). At the 2011 census its population was 1,074,036, comprising 545,704 males and 528,332 females.  Qom is a focal center of the Shiʿah. Since the revolution, the clerical population has risen from around 25,000 to more than 45,000 and the non-clerical population has more than tripled to about 700,000. Substantial sums of money in the form of alms and Islamic taxes flow into Qom to the ten "Marja'-e taqlid" or "Source to be Followed" that reside there. The number of seminary schools in Qom is now over fifty, and the number of research institutes and libraries somewhere near two hundred and fifty.  Its theological center and the Fatima Masumeh Shrine are prominent features of Qom. Another very popular religious site of pilgrimage formerly outside the city of Qom but now more of a suburb is called Jamkaran. Qom's proximity to Tehran has allowed the clerical establishment easy access to monitor the affairs and decisions of state. Many Grand Ayatollahs possess offices in both Tehran and Qom; many people simply commute between the two cities as they are only apart. Southeast of Qom is the ancient city of Kashan. Directly south of Qom lie the towns of Delijan, Mahallat, Naraq, Pardisan City, Kahak, and Jasb. The surrounding area to the east of Qom is populated by Tafresh, Saveh, and Ashtian and Jafarieh.

Climate.

Qom has a hot desert climate (Köppen "BWh" border on "BWk") with low annual rainfall due to remoteness from the sea and being situated in the vicinity of the subtropical anticyclone aloft. Summer weather is very hot and essentially rainless, whilst in winter weather can vary from warm to – when Siberian air masses are driven south across the Elburz Mountains by blocking over Europe – frigid. An example of the latter situation was in January 2008 when minima fell to on the 15th, whilst earlier similar situations occurred in January 1964 and to a lesser extent January 1950, January 1972 and December 1972.

History.

The present town of Qom in Central Iran dates back to ancient times. Its pre-Islamic history can be partially documented, although the earlier epochs remain unclear. Excavations at Tepe Sialk indicate that the region had been settled since ancient times (Ghirshman and Vanden Berghe), and more recent surveys have revealed traces of large inhabited places south of Qom, dating from the 4th and 1st millennium BC. While nothing is known about the area from Elamite, Medes, and Achaemenid times, there are significant archeological remains from the Seleucid and Parthian epochs, of which the ruins of Khurha (about southwest of Qom) are the most famous and important remnants. Their dating and function have instigated long and controversial debates and interpretations, for they have been interpreted and explained variously as the remains of a Sasanian temple, or of a Seleucid Dionysian temple, or of a Parthian complex. Its true function is still a matter of dispute, but the contributions by Wolfram Kleiss point to a Parthian palace that served as a station on the nearby highway and was used until Sasanian times.  The recently published results of the excavations carried out in 1955 by Iranian archeologists have, however, revived the old thesis of a Seleucid religious building. Besides Khurha, which is already mentioned as Khor Abad at Qomi in the 9th century, the region has turned up a few other remnants from this epoch, including the four Parthian heads found near Qom, now kept in the National Museum of Iran in Tehran. Qomi names Parthian personalities as founders of villages in the Qom area. The possible mention of Qom in the form of Greek names in two ancient geographical works (the Tabula Peutingera and Ptolemy's geographical tables) remains doubtful. The Sasanian epoch offers many archeological findings and remnants, besides the fact that various sources mention Qom. The most interesting building from an archeological point of view is the Qalʿa-ye Doḵtar in Qom itself, which was long thought to have served religious purposes, while more recent research points to an administrative use. The wider surroundings of Qom also contain numerous traces from palaces, religious, military and administrative buildings. Some of these are mentioned by Qomi, who also names many more fire temples in the urban area of present Qom and its region, of which no archeological traces are left although the location of one fire temple can probably be equated with today's Masjed-e Emām in the city. According to Qomi, the most important fire temple of the area stood in the nearby village of Dizijan.  Tāriḵ-e Qom and some other sources also speak of genuine historical figures of the Sasanian epoch in connection with Qom and its region. They shed new light on the time of the seizure of power by the first Sasanian king Ardashir I, who fought his decisive battles near Qom, and the collapse of the Sasanian empire, which is extensively reported by Ebn Aʿṯam Kufi and the Nehāyat al-Erab and names a certain Šērzād as the satrap of the region. The existence of an urban settlement in the Sasanian epoch is furthermore verified by Middle Persian sources (literary sources, inscriptions, and seals) that mention in the time of Shapur I and Kawād I the names Godmān/Gomān and Ērān Win(n)ārd Kawād, both of which could be identified as Qom. Altogether one can assume that Qom functioned as a small administrative unit throughout the whole Sasanian era. Probably the urban structure of the Sasanian settlement of Qom can be compared with the type of city of Ctesiphon (Or. Madāʾen) and consisted of several villages and little towns with Abaraštejān, Mamajjān and Jamkarān as the bigger settlements that were loosely connected by defense installations.  It is difficult to decipher the actual process of the Arab conquest of Qom from the extant Arabic sources. According to Balāḏori, the first tentative conquest of Qom took place in 23/644 by Abu Musa Ashaari after a few days of fighting (although Abu Musa's route through Western Persia, as narrated by Balāḏori, appears somewhat confusing). It remains unclear who the defenders of Qom were; probably fleeing Sasanian nobles and local soldiers returning from the great battles against the Arabs formed the core of the resistance. The area remained largely untouched for 60 years after the initial conquest and was probably administered from Isfahan.  The first permanent settlement of Arab settlers in Qom took place during the revolts of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi and Moṭarref b. Moḡira b. Šaʿba in 66–77/685–96, when small groups of refugees moved there and Qom itself was affected by the fighting between the Umayyad state power and the rebels  The decisive step for the later urban development of Qom occurred when a group of Ashaari Arabs came to the area. These Ashaaries originated in Yemen and the first important figure among them was the first conqueror of the area of Qom, the above-mentioned Abu Musa Ashaari. ʿAbd-Allāh b. Saʿd and Aḥwaṣ b. Saʿd were grandsons of Abi Musa's nephew and led the group of Ashaaries that emigrated from Kufa to the region of Qom. It is not exactly clear why they migrated, but it might have also been a general opposition to the Umayyad dynasty. A central element was the early contact with the leading local Zoroastrian Persian noble Yazdanfadar.  As the Arabs required a great deal of pasture for their large herds of cattle and were much wealthier than the local Persians, they slowly started to buy land and take over more villages. The decisive step for controlling the area was the elimination of the local Persian noble class that took place after the death of Yazdanfadar in 733. The emigration and the subsequent settlement and building activities led to the fusion of the original six villages on the area of Qom to an urban conglomerate which probably happened within two generations after the first coming of Arabs. Although a few names of governors and their tax assessments are known from the time after the administrative independence, the death of Fātimah bint Mūsā, the sister of the eighth Imam of Shias Ali al-Ridha in the city in 201/816–17 proved to be of great importance for the later history of Qom. Fātimah bint Mūsā died while following her brother to Khorasan, a region in northern Iran. The place of her entombment developed from 869–70 into a building that was transformed over time into today's magnificent and economically important sanctuary.  In 825–26 a major rebellion against the tax regulations of the caliphate broke out in Qom. It was caused by the refusal of the caliph Al-Ma'mun to lower the yearly tax assessment as he had done in Ray. The revolt was led by an Ashaari named Yahya ibn Emran, maintaining that taxes should not be paid to an unlawful ruler. Yahya was killed by troops sent by the caliph and the citizens were severely punished; the taxes were raised from 2 million to 7 million dirhams. Two years later the taxes were again raised by 700,000 dirham by the Ashaari governor Ali ibn Isa, who was subsequently deposed because he was strongly rejected by the inhabitants of Qom. But in 833 Ali returned to the post of governor (wali) and forcefully collected tax debts that were laid upon him by the caliph. He destroyed parts of Qom and handed over a wanted rebel to caliphal authorities under Al-Moʿtasem. Between 839–42 two contradicting tax assessments were carried out under turbulent circumstances which amounted to a sum of 5 million dirhams. The names of those involved have survived.  The move of a Hadith transmitter from Kufa to Qom, which took place probably in the middle of the 9th century, indicates the increased importance of Qom as a center of Shia learning. At about the same time another military attack on the city occurred in 254/868, when Mofleḥ, the Turkish officer of the caliph Al-Mostaʿin, executed some of its inhabitants because of the city's refusal to pay taxes. Mofleḥ became governor of Qom and lasted in that position for at least five years. During his governorship important Alids moved to Qom and there are references to close contacts between the representative of the 11th Shia's Imam, Hassan al-Askari, in Qom and other Qomis. The representative Aḥmad b. Esḥāq was at the same time administrator of the Fāṭema sanctuary and the agent (wakil) responsible for the pensions of the Alids.  The first Friday mosque in Qom was built in 878–79 on the site of a fire temple, although there are also confusing reports concerning a possible earlier Friday mosque. In 881–82 Qom was occupied by the Turkish military leader Edgu Tegin (Arabic: Yadkutakin b. Asātakin or Aḏkutakin), who tried to collect the tax arrears for seven years which partially ruined the guarantors (some of whom are known) of these taxes. At about the same time the early orthodox Shias achieved their victory in the town. In 893–94, at the latest, all extremists (ḡolāt) were driven out of town by the leading Shia shaikh of Qom, Aḥmad b. Moḥammed b. Isa Ashaari. Probably one year later the famous Islamic mystic Ḥosayn b. Manṣur Ḥallaj stayed in Qom, where he was arrested.  From 895–96 onwards the history of Qom was connected with a family of Turkish military leaders from the army of the caliph Al-Moʿtazed, including the governor Berun (Birun). In the same year, Berun destroyed a big and probably still active fire temple located on the territory of the evolving city and probably opposite today's sanctuary of Fātimah bint Mūsā. In these unstable political times, Qom was visited by the vizier of Al-Moʿtazed, Obayd-Allah ibn Solayman, and two tax assessments were organized. An administrative peculiarity of Qom was put to an end at about the same time, to wit the independent appointment of judges through the Arab inhabitants of Qom until the time of al-Moktafi, which, together with the dispatch of a joint Arab-Persian delegation to the vizier Ḥamid ibn Abbas indicate the end of the elevated position of the Arabs in Qom. The period of the governor Abbas ibn Amr Ganawi (292–96/904–09) is remarkable for the presence of non-Twelver Shias in Qom and the establishment of the office of the jahbaḏ (financial officer) as the tax broker for the city, which fostered local self-determination.  In 909 Hosayn ibn Hamdan ibn Hamdun was appointed governor of Qom and Kāšān by the caliph Al-Moqtader and had to assist the caliph's army against the Saffarids in Fars. Altogether he stayed in power only for two years before he had to return to Baghdad. In the years 301/913–14 to 315/927 the people of Qom had, besides another tax assessment (meanwhile the eighth), a caliphal intervention that resulted in the appointment of a governor to stabilize the administrative grip over the region. This move caused more unrest and affected the balance of power in an area that was disputed between the powers of the time (Daylamites, Samanids). Beginning in 316/928 Qom fell into the sphere of interest of Daylami warlords and was relieved from the direct authority of the caliph, although it changed hands several times between 928 and 943. The Daylamites brutally exploited the city through harsh taxes. With the firm establishment of Buyids control from 340/951–52 on, the political circumstances were less troubled than before, although the economic situation deteriorated.  No outstanding events are reported for the relatively stable political period until 988–89, but Qom seems to have been isolated inside Persia because of its Shia creed. At the same time, the Fatima sanctuary was enlarged and the number of sayyeds residing in Qom reached a considerable number. In 373/984 Qom and its environs were affected by the revolt of the Kurdish Moḥammad Barzikāni against the Buyid Fakr-Al-Dawla.  The population amounted to 50,000 inhabitants at the most and consisted of Persians and Arabs who had adopted the Persian of the time as their language and many social customs from the Persians, whose proportion was probably smaller than the Arabs. The Kurds lived in the countryside to the west. The Twelver Shia constituted the great majority of the population and many important Shia scholars of the time came from Qom or lived there. As many as 331 male Alids lived in Qom in 988–89, and they produced a good number of community leaders and there is also mention of one prominent female ʿAlid besides Fātimah bint Mūsā. These Alids descended from the Imams and were supported by pensions.  Apart from the Shia mainstream, other Shia sects existed in the city and one can also assume the presence of Sunnies. Ḏemmis, or followers of other revealed religions (Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians) must have lived in the city, too, as the payment of poll tax (jezya) indicates, although their number can only be very roughly estimated at a few thousand at the end of the 9th century and must have shrunk drastically in the 10th century. The majority of these non-Muslims were Zoroastrians, who made their living mostly as farmers. Jews must have lived in Qom as well, but information on them is scant. It is striking that the formerly dominant Ashaaries had lost their leading positions by the end of the 10th century. This points at a new social situation that allowed assimilated Persians to join the local establishment.  The city's topography in the 10th century still reflected the evolutionary merging of the original six villages; these were still separated by fields. The town center was located in the village of Mamajjān, which was connected to other parts of the city on the other side of the river by four bridges. There were about eight squares whose function is not clear and three mosques within the city. There is almost no information about madrasas. The sanctuary must have still been quite small as only two cupolas are mentioned. A bazaar and bathhouses must have existed, too, as well as certain administrative buildings (prison, mint). Five bigger and eight smaller roads indicate good traffic connections, which were supported by at least three or maybe even nine city gates.  Qom was then in a difficult economical and social position. Many houses inside the city as well as bridges and mills were ruined and the roads and agriculture were suffering from an insecure situation. This has to be attributed to difficult social circumstances and excessive taxation. The water supply seems to have been satisfactory and the Ashaaries seem to have undertaken continuous renovation works on the irrigation channels between 733 and 900. The Ašʿaris were also the proprietors of the water rights, which were safeguarded in the water authority (divān-e āb) that regulated the water shares. The system made the Ašʿaris the wealthiest inhabitants of Qom and stayed in place until 347/958–59 when they were expropriated by the Buyids, which consequently brought about a decline in the whole system of irrigation. Although there were attempts at restoration in 371/981–82, only three of originally twenty-one channels had flowing water which meant enough drinking water was supplied for the population, but the available amount could not have been adequate for agricultural purposes.  Altogether the state of cultivation in Qom seems to have resembled that of the other regions of Persia, although the thirty different crops and plants are only indirectly mentioned in connection with the tax assessments. The soil is reported to have good quality and produced big quantities of food. Little is known about animal husbandry in the region, but the considerable number of fifty-one mills existed, of which a fifth was in decay. Legends speak of mineral deposits and mines of silver, iron, gold and lead, while Kurds seem to have produced salt from a lake nearby (see Qom Lake). The production of chairs, textiles, and saddle equipment indicates craftsmanship.  The city's taxation has to be distinguished between the more proper rule of the Abbasid tax bureaucracy and the time of the Deylamid warlords where rules were bent arbitrarily. A stunning diversity of taxes is known (often meant to serve the ever greedy Abbasid bureaucracy and the Deylamid and Buyid war machinery) but the Karaj (land tax), which was composed of many different separate sums, was the most important single tax existing in Qom at least since post-Sasanian times. Within the known 18 tax figures ranging over 160 years there are great differences and the tax figures vary from 8 million to 2 million dirhams with a mean value at around 3 million. In taxation Qom always followed the solar calendar with its own local variation, starting from the death of the Sasanian Yazdegerd III. A highly differentiated tax administration existed and is known in great detail; 24 tax collectors (ʿommāl) are listed from 189/804–05 to 371/981–82 plus two jahabaḏa who acted as mediators after the attempt to enforce collective responsibility by the taxpayers had failed. The information in the Tāriḵ-e Qom on taxation also mention by name 21 tax districts (rasātiq) in the region with 900 villages.  Little is known about the time until the period of Seljuki dominance. In 387/997, Qom became involved in internal Buyid quarrels and was subsequently unsuccessfully besieged. In 418/1027–28, Qom fell under the rule of Šahryuš from the Kakuyid dynasty and a few years later (1030–40) it became part of the Ghaznavid domain. The Seljuki did not occupy Qom at once but left the town and Jebāl in Kakuyid hands for ten years. From 442/1050–51 on, the city was under Seljuk rule and nothing is known about its fate until 487/1094. Afterwards the growing instability of the Seljuk empire involved Qom in the power struggles between the competing Seljuk factions in Jebāl and the city changed hands many times. The most stable period seem to have been the 14 years (513–27/1119–33) when Qom lay in Sanjar's sphere of power and witnessed the construction of a second Friday mosque.  Surprisingly, Qom enjoyed relative prosperity in its economy in the Seljuk period. The rigidly Sunni Seljuks seem to have practiced a pragmatic policy and one of the main sources of this time (ʿAbd-al-Jalil Qazvini) speaks of good relations between the famous vizier Nizam al-Mulk and Seljuk sultans on the one hand, and members of the local nobility on the other. Sultans reportedly visited the sanctuary (although no specific sultan is mentioned by name) and in general no religiously motivated punitive action against Qom is known to have taken place. Under Seljuk rule a considerable number of religious buildings were erected. At least ten madrasas are known by name. Two Friday mosques seem to have existed in Seljuk times: the old one was renovated and a new one, located outside of the town area, was built in 528/1133–34 by the order of Sultan Togrel II ("Persian:" ). Qom must have expanded during this period, but precise reasons for its prosperity are not known. A family of Ḥosaynid Alids was influential and provided a number of community leaders. Another important Shia family was that of the Daʿwidār ("Persian:" ), whose members were judges ("Arabic:" ) in town, which indicates the transformation of Qom from a town governed by the Sunnis to a completely Shai domain.  The following epochs of the Eldiguzids and Khawrazmshahs lasted for almost 30 years and brought different systems of rule in quick succession. The two noteworthy events of this period are the execution of ʿEzz-al-Din Yaḥyā, the naqib of the Shias, by the Tekesh in 592/1196 and the work on the tiles of the sanctuary (probably in 605–13/1208–17), which indicate a certain economic prosperity at a time of unstable political conditions. From 614/1217–18 until the Mongol attack, Qom remained under Muhammad II of Khwarezm.  The Mongol invasion led to the total destruction of Qom by the armies of the Mongol generals, Jebe and Sübedei, in 621/1224 and left the city in ruins for at least twenty years, when the sources (Jovayni) tell of the levying of taxes. Twenty years later, reconstruction and repair works, probably sponsored by some wealthy inhabitants, were being done on the mausoleums of Shia saints in the city, which contradict those sources, such as Ḥamd-Allāh Mostawfi, that describe Qom as a ruined and depopulated city throughout the Ilkhanid period. Besides, the fact that the Ilkhanid vizier Šams-al-Din Jovayni took refuge in the Fātimah bint Mūsā sanctuary in 683/1284, indicates that the city must have experienced at least a modest comeback. The city walls were probably rebuilt and, moreover, four graves of saints are known to have been constructed between 720/1301 and 1365. Additionally some fine tiles are known from this period. Nothing is known about the irrigation systems of the town, but nearby a dam was built in the Ilkhanid period and the local administration must have functioned again, as the name of a judge shows. The agricultural situation is described as flourishing with a variety of cultivated plants and a good supply of water, and legends indicate the use of deposits of mineral resources. Information exists concerning taxes for the post-Mongolian period. Qom paid 40,000 dinars, but more remarkable is the fact that some of the surrounding rural districts paid as much as Qom or even more, which suggests that the whole administrative structure of districts had also changed.  In the late 14th century, the city was plundered by Tamerlane and the inhabitants were massacred. Qom gained special attention and gradually developed due to its religious shrine during the Saffavid dynasty. By 1503, Qom became one of the important centers of theology in relation to Shia Islam, and became a significant religious pilgrimage site and pivot.  The city suffered heavy damage again during the Afghan invasions, resulting in consequent severe economic hardships. Qom further sustained damage during the reign of Nader Shah and the conflicts between the two households of Zandieh and Qajariyeh in order to gain power over Iran. Finally in 1793 Qom came under the control of Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar. On being victorious over his enemies, the Qajar Sultan Fath Ali Shah was responsible for the repairs done on the sepulchre and Holy Shrine of Hæzræt Mæ'sume, as he had made such a vow.  The city of Qom began another era of prosperity in the Qajar era. After Russian forces entered Karaj in 1915, many of the inhabitants of Tehran moved to Qom due to reasons of proximity, and the transfer of the capital from Tehran to Qom was even discussed. But the British and Russians defeated prospects of the plan by putting Ahmad Shah Qajar under political pressure. Coinciding with this period, a "National Defense Committee" was set up in Tehran, and Qom turned into a political and military apex opposed to the Russian and British colonial powers.  As a center of religious learning Qom fell into decline for about a century from 1820 to 1920, but had a resurgence when Shaykh Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi accepted an invitation to move from Sultanabad (now called Arak, Iran), where he had been teaching, to Qom.  In 1964–65, before his exile from Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini led his opposition to the Pahlavi dynasty from Qom. After the Islamic revolution in 1979, Khomeini spent time in the city before and after moving to Tehran.  On 19 February 2020, the Iranian Students News Agency reported that the first two cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran were detected in Qom.

Governance.

Authority for the city lies with the mayor, who is elected by a municipal board. The municipal board is periodically elected by the city's residents. The municipal central office is located on Saheli Street. The current mayor of Qom is Mohammad Delbari.

Tourism.

Historical and cultural heritage.

Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization lists 195 sites of historical and cultural significance in Qom. But the more visited sites of Qom are:

Educational institutions.

Qom is well known for its many religious seminaries and institutes that offer advanced religious studies, which made this city the largest center for Shia scholarship in the world. There are an estimated 50,000 seminarians in the city coming from 80 countries, including 6,000 from Pakistan alone. Qom has seminaries for women and some non-Shia students. Most of the seminaries teach their students modern social sciences and Western thought as well as traditional religious studies.

Hawzah 'Ilmiyya Qom (Qom Seminary).

The Hawzah (a short form of al-Hawzah al-Ilmiyya), which presently consists of over 200 education and research centres and organisations, catering for over 40,000 scholars and students from over 80 List of sovereign states. The modern Qom hawza was revitalized by Abdul Karim Haeri Yazdi and Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi and is barely a century old. There are nearly three hundred thousand clerics in Iran's seminaries. At present Hossein Vahid Khorasani heads Hawza 'Ilmiyya Qom.

Fordow uranium enrichment facility.

The Fordow uranium enrichment facility is located 20 miles north east of Qom. In January 2012 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that Iran had started producing uranium enriched up to 20% for medical purposes and that material "remains under the agency's containment and surveillance.” Iranian authorities state the facility is built deep in a mountain because of repeated threats by Israel to attack such facilities, which Israel believes can be used to produce nuclear weapons. However, attacking a nuclear facility so close to a city considered so holy in Shia Islam brings concern of a potential risk of a Shiite religious response.

Qom space center.

Qom space center is one of the two places where the Iranian Space Agency is launching its suborbital Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, the other being the Emamshahr space center.

Notable people.

Twin towns.

Qom is twinned with:

Qom ( ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its population was 1,201,158. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River.

库姆(波斯文:)是伊朗伊斯兰共和国库姆省省会,距首都德黑兰西南。自伊斯兰教什叶派十二伊玛目派第八伊玛目阿里·里达将其妹法蒂玛·马苏玛埋葬在这里开始,库姆就成为十二伊玛目派的圣地之一,是伊朗国内仅次于里达陵墓所在的马什哈德的十二伊玛目派第二大圣城。


Taxonomy and etymology.

The scientific name of the waterbuck is "Kobus ellipsiprymnus". The waterbuck is one of the six species of the genus "Kobus" and belongs to the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. The generic name "Kobus" is a New Latin word, originating from an African name, "koba". The specific name "ellipsiprymnus" refers to the white elliptical ring on the rump, from the Greek'(ellipse) and'("", hind part). The animal acquired the vernacular name "waterbuck" due to its heavy dependence on water as compared to other antelopes and its ability to enter into water for defence.  The type specimen of the waterbuck was collected by South African hunter-explorer Andrew Steedman in 1832. This specimen was named "Antilope ellipsiprymnus" by Ogilby in 1833. This species was transferred to the genus "Kobus" in 1840, becoming "K. ellipsiprymnus". It is usually known as the common waterbuck. In 1835, German naturalist Eduard Rüppell collected another specimen, which differed from Steedman's specimen in having a prominent white ring on its rump. Considering it a separate species, Rüppell gave it the Amharic name "defassa" waterbuck and scientific name "Antilope defassa". Modern taxonomists, however, consider the common waterbuck and the defassa waterbuck a single species, "K. ellipsiprymnus", given the large number of instances of hybridisation between the two. Interbreeding between the two takes place in the Nairobi National Park owing to extensive overlapping of habitats.

Evolution.

Not many fossils of the waterbuck have been found. Fossils were scarce in the Cradle of Humankind, occurring only in a few pockets of the Swartkrans. On the basis of Valerius Geist's theories about the relation of social evolution and dispersal in ungulates during the Pleistocene, the ancestral home of the waterbuck is considered to be the eastern coast of Africa - with the Horn of Africa to the north and the East African Rift Valley to the west.

Subspecies.

37 subspecies of the waterbucks had been initially recognised on the basis of coat colour. They were classified into two groups: the ellipsen waterbuck group and the defassa waterbuck group. Owing to the large number of variations in the coat colour in the defassa waterbuck group, as many as 29 subspecies were included in it; the ellipsen waterbuck group consisted of eight subspecies. In 1971, however, the number of subspecies was reduced to thirteen (four for the ellipsen waterbuck group and nine for the defassa waterbuck group). Though they occur in Zambia as well, their ranges are separated by relief features or by the Muchinga escarpment. The subspecies have been listed below (along with notes about the former subspecies which were recombined into a single subspecies):

Description.

The waterbuck is the largest amongst the six species of "Kobus". It is a sexually dimorphic antelope, with the males nearly 7 percent taller than females and around 8 percent longer. The head-and-body length is typically between and the average height is between. Males reach approximately at the shoulder, while females reach. The waterbuck is one of the heaviest antelopes. a newborn typically weighs, and growth in weight is faster in males than in females. Males typically weigh and females. The tail is long.  The waterbuck is of a robust build. The shaggy coat is reddish brown to grey, and becomes progressively darker with age. Males are darker than females. Though apparently thick, the hair is sparse on the coat. The hair on the neck is, however, long and shaggy. When sexually excited, the skin of the waterbuck secretes a greasy substance with the odour of musk, giving it the name "greasy kob". The odor of this is so unpleasant that it repels predators. This secretion also assists in water-proofing the body when the animal dives into water. The facial features include a white muzzle and light eyebrows and lighter insides of the ears. There is a cream-coloured patch (called "bib") on the throat. Waterbuck are characterised by a long neck and short, strong and black legs. Females have two nipples. Preorbital glands, foot glands and inguinal glands are absent.  The common waterbuck and the defassa waterbuck are remarkably different in their physical appearances. Measurements indicate greater tail length in the latter, whereas the common waterbuck stand taller than the defassa waterbuck. However, the principal differentiation between the two types is the white ring of hair surrounding the tail on the rump, which is a hollow circle in the common waterbuck but covered with white hair in the defassa waterbuck.  The long, spiral horns curve backward, then forward. Found only on males, the horns range from in length. To some extent, the length of the horns is related to the bull's age. A rudimentary horn in the form of a bone lump may be found on the skulls of females.

Ecology and behaviour.

Waterbuck are rather sedentary in nature, though some migration may occur with the onset of monsoon. A gregarious animal, the waterbuck may form herds consisting of six to 30 individuals. The various groups are the nursery herds, bachelor herds and territorial males. Herd size increases in summer, whereas groups fragment in the winter months, probably under the influence of food availability. As soon as young males start developing horns (at around seven to nine months of age), they are chased out of the herd by territorial bulls. These males then form bachelor herds and may roam in female home ranges. Females have home ranges stretching over. A few females may form spinster herds. Though females are seldom aggressive, minor tension may arise in herds.  Males start showing territorial behaviour from the age of five years, but are most dominant from the age of six to nine. Territorial males hold territories in size. Males are inclined to remain settled in their territories, though over time they may leave inferior territories for more spacious ones. Marking of territories includes no elaborate rituals - dung and urine are occasionally dropped. After the age of ten years, males lose their territorial nature and replaced by a younger bull, following which they recede to a small and unprotected area. There is another social group, that of the satellite males, which are mature bulls as yet without their own territories, who exploit resources, particularly mating opportunities, even in the presence of the dominant bull. The territorial male may allow a few satellite males into his territory, and they may contribute to its defence. However, gradually they may deprive the actual owner of his territory and seize the area for themselves. In a study in the Lake Nakuru National Park, only 7 percent of the adult males held territories, and only half of the territorial males tolerated one or more satellite males.  Territorial males may use several kinds of display. In one type of display, the white patch on the throat and between the eyes is clearly revealed, and other displays can demonstrate the thickness of the neck. These activities frighten trespassers. Lowering of the head and the body depict submission before the territorial male, who stands erect. Fights, which may last up to thirty minutes, involve threat displays typical of bovids accompanied by snorting. Fights may even become so violent that one of the opponents meets its death due to severe abdominal or thoracic wounds. A silent animal, the waterbuck makes use of flehmen response for visual communication and alarm snorts for vocal communication. Waterbuck often enter water to escape from predators which include lions, leopards, cheetahs, African wild dogs and Nile crocodiles (leopards and spotted hyenas prey on juveniles). However, it has been observed that the waterbuck does not particularly like being in water. Waterbuck may run into cover when alarmed, and males often attack predators.

Diseases and parasites.

Waterbuck are susceptible to ulcers, lungworm infection and kidney stones. Other diseases from which these animals suffer are foot-and-mouth disease, sindbis fever, yellow fever, bluetongue, bovine virus diarrhoea, brucellosis and anthrax. The waterbuck is more resistant to rinderpest than are other antelopes. They are unaffected by tsetse flies but ticks may introduce parasitic protozoa such as "Theileria parva", "Anaplasma marginale" and "Baberia bigemina". 27 species of ixodid tick have been found on waterbuck - a healthy waterbuck may carry a total of over 4000 ticks in their larval or nymphal stages, the most common among them being "Amblyomma cohaerens" and "Rhipicephalus tricuspis". Internal parasites found in waterbuck include tapeworms, liverflukes, stomachflukes and several helminths.

Diet.

The waterbuck exhibits great dependence on water. It can not tolerate dehydration in hot weather, and thus inhabits areas close to sources of water. However, it has been observed that unlike the other members of its genus (such as the kob and puku), the waterbuck ranges farther into the woodlands while maintaining its proximity to water. With grasses constituting a substantial 70 to 95 percent of the diet, the waterbuck is predominantly a grazer frequenting grasslands. Reeds and rushes like "Typha" and "Phragmites" may also be preferred. A study found regular consumption of three grass species round the year: "Panicum anabaptistum", "Echinochloa stagnina" and "Andropogon gayanus". "Hyparrhenia involucrata", "Acroceras amplectens" and "Oryza barthii" along with annual species were the main preference in the early rainy season, while long life grasses and forage from trees constituted three-fourths of the diet in the dry season.  Though the defassa waterbuck were found to have a much greater requirement for protein than the African buffalo and the Beisa oryx, the waterbuck was found to spend much less time on browsing (eating leaves, small shoots and fruits) in comparison to the other grazers. In the dry season about 32 percent of the 24-hour day was spent in browsing, whereas no time was spent on it during the wet season. The choice of grasses varies with location rather than availability; for instance, in western Uganda, while "Sporobolus pyramidalis" was favoured in some places, "Themeda triandra" was the main choice elsewhere. The common waterbuck and the defassa waterbuck in the same area may differ in their choices; it has been observed that while the former preferred "Heteropogon contortus" and "Cynodon dactylon", the latter showed less preference for these grasses.

Reproduction.

Waterbuck are slower than other antelopes in terms of the rate of maturity. While males become sexually mature at the age of six years, females reach maturity within two to three years. Females may conceive by the age of two-and-a-half years, and remain reproductive for another ten years. In equatorial regions, breeding takes place throughout the year, and births are at their peak in the rainy season. However, breeding is seasonal in the Sudan (south of Sahara), with the mating season lasting four months. The season extends for even longer periods in some areas of southern Africa. Oestrus lasts for a day or less.  Mating begins after the male confirms that the female is in oestrus, which he does by sniffing her vulva and urine. A resistive female would try to bite or even fight off an advancing male. The male exhibits flehmen, and often licks the neck of the female and rubs his face and the base of his horns against her back. There are several attempts at mounting before the actual copulation. The female shifts her tail to one side, while the male clasps her sides with his forelegs and rests on her back during copulation, which may occur as many as ten times.  The gestational period lasts for seven to eight months, followed by the birth of a single calf. Twins are rare. Pregnant females isolate themselves in thickets as parturition approaches. Newborn calves can stand on their feet within a half-hour of birth. The mother eats the afterbirth. She communicates with the calf by bleating or snorting. Calves are kept hidden from two to three weeks up to two months. At about three to four weeks, the calf begins following its mother, who signals it to do so by raising her tail. Though bereft of horns, mothers will fiercely defend their offspring from predators. Calves are weaned at eight months, following which time they join groups of calves of their own age. Young females remain with their mothers in nursery herds, or may also join bachelor herds. The waterbuck lives to 18 years in the wild and 30 years in captivity.

Distribution and habitat.

The waterbuck is native to southern and eastern Africa (including countries such as Angola, Botswana, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda) besides a few countries of western and northern Africa such as Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. Though formerly widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, its numbers have now decreased in most areas.  The common waterbuck is found east of the Eastern African Rift. Its southern range extends to the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve (KwaZulu Natal) and to central Namibia. By contrast, the defassa waterbuck inhabits western and central Africa. The defassa waterbuck occurs west of the Albertine Rift and ranges from Eritrea to Guinea Bissau in the southern Sahel, its most northerly point of distribution being in southern Mali. Its range also stretches east of the Congo basin through Zambia into Angola, while another branch extends to the Zaire River west of the Congo basin. While the common waterbuck is now extinct in Ethiopia, the defassa waterbuck has become extinct in Gambia.  Waterbuck inhabit scrub and savanna areas alongside rivers, lakes and valleys. Due to their requirement for grasslands as well as water, the waterbuck have a sparse distribution across ecotones (areas of interface between two different ecosystems). A study in the Ruwenzori Range showed that the mean density of waterbuck was 5.5 per square mile, and estimates in the Maasai Mara were as low as 1.3 per square mile. It has been observed that territorial size depends on the quality of the habitat, the age and health of the animal and the population density. The greater the age of the animal or the denser the populations, the smaller are the territories. In Queen Elizabeth National Park, females had home ranges in area whereas home ranges for bachelor males averaged between. The oldest female (around 18 years old) had the smallest home range.

Threats and conservation.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) lists the waterbuck as of least concern (LC). More specifically, the common waterbuck is listed as of Least Concern while the defassa waterbuck is near threatened (NT). The population trend for both the common and defassa waterbuck is decreasing, especially that of the latter, with large populations being eliminated from their habitats due to poaching and human settlement. Their own sedentary nature too is responsible for this to some extent. Numbers have fallen in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Akagera National Park, Lake Nakuru National Park, and Comoé National Park. Population decrease in the Lake Nakuru National Park has been attributed to heavy metal poisoning. While cadmium and lead levels were dangerously high in the kidney and the liver, deficiencies of copper, calcium and phosphorus were noted.  Over 60 percent of the defassa waterbuck populations thrive in protected areas, most notably in Niokolo-Koba, Comoe, Mole, Bui, Pendjari, Manovo-Gounda St. Floris, Moukalaba-Doudou, Garamba, Virunga, Omo, Mago, Murchison Falls, Serengeti, and Katavi, Kafue and Queen Elizabeth National Parks, the national parks and hunting zones of North Province (Cameroon), Ugalla River Forest Reserve, Nazinga Game Ranch, Rukwa Valley, Awash Valley, Murule and Arly-Singou. The common waterbuck occurs in Tsavo, Tarangire, Mikumi, Kruger and Lake Nakuru National Parks, Laikipia, Kajiado, Luangwa Valley, Selous and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi game reserves and private lands in South Africa.

Research.

Scientists with the ICIPE have developed tsetse-fly-repellant collars for cattle based on the smell of the waterbuck.

The waterbuck ("Kobus ellipsiprymnus") is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus "Kobus" of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. The thirteen subspecies are grouped under two varieties: the common or Ellipsiprymnus waterbuck and the Defassa waterbuck. The head-and-body length is typically between and the average height is between. A sexually dimorphic antelope, males are taller as well as heavier than females. Males reach approximately at the shoulder, while females reach. Males typically weigh and females. The coat colour varies from brown to grey. The long, spiral horns, present only on males, curve backward, then forward and are long.

水羚(学名:"Kobus ellipsiprymnus"),又称非洲大羚羊,是一种生活在西非、中非、东非及南非的羚羊。


Provinces.

Svealand is made up of the following six provinces:  Stockholm, the Swedish capital, is located in both Uppland and Södermanland, and a border stone can be found in the street Västerlånggatan in Stockholm Old Town (Gamla stan).

Counties.

Since 1634, Sweden has been divided into counties instead of provinces (see Län). Although Svealand is defined in terms of the historical provinces and not the counties, it roughly comprises the modern counties of Dalarna, Örebro, Södermanland, Stockholm, Uppsala, Värmland and Västmanland.

History.

Svealand was the original Sweden, to which it gave its name. This is supported by linguistics and is based on early medieval sources, such as the sagas. In Old Norse and in Old English, Svealand and Sweden are synonymous, and described as a separate country from Götaland/Gautland/Geatland.  A campaign to the east started by the kings of Svealand during the 12th century eventually conquered the provinces of Österland, an older name for Finland.  In the early Middle Ages the modern province of Gästrikland was part of Tiundaland, one of the three constituent parts of the modern province of Uppland, and therefore counted as a part of Svealand.  For a time in the early 19th century, the province of Värmland belonged to the Court of Appeal for Svealand. Even though Värmland historically belonged to Götaland (from 1815 until a new court, The High Court of Western Sweden, was instituted), it has by custom long been considered part of Svealand.

Svealand (), Swealand or (rarely or historically) Sweden proper is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, Tylöskog, and Kolmården, separated Svealand from Götaland. Historically, its inhabitants were called "Svear", from which is derived the English "Swedes".

斯韦阿兰()是瑞典历史发展的核心地区,位于瑞典中南部。它北临诺尔兰,而南边与约塔兰被森林分隔。


Structure.

The rectus abdominis is a long flat muscle, which extends along the whole length of the front of the abdomen, and is separated from its fellow of the opposite side by the linea alba. Tendinous intersections (incriptiones tendinae) further subdivide each rectus abdominis muscle into a series of smaller false muscle bellies. Tensing of the rectus abdominis causes the muscle to expand between each tendinous intersection, resulting in the characteristic six or eight pack observed in individuals with low body fat.  The upper portion, attached principally to the cartilage of the fifth rib, usually has some fibers of insertion into the anterior extremity of the rib itself.

Size.

It is typically around 10 mm thick (compared to 20 mm thick superficial fat), or 20 mm thick in young athletes such as handball players. Typical volume is around 300 cm3 in non-active individuals, or almost 500 cm3 in athletes.

Blood supply.

The rectus abdominis has many sources of arterial blood supply. Classification of the vascular anatomy of muscles: First, the inferior epigastric artery and vein (or veins) run superiorly on the posterior surface of the rectus abdominis, enter the rectus fascia at the arcuate line, and serve the lower part of the muscle. Second, the superior epigastric artery, a terminal branch of the internal thoracic artery, supplies blood to the upper portion. Finally, numerous small segmental contributions come from the lower six intercostal arteries as well.

Nerve supply.

The muscles are innervated by thoraco-abdominal nerves, these are continuations of the T7-T11 intercostal nerves and pierce the anterior layer of the rectus sheath. Sensory supply is from the 7-12 thoracic nerves

Variation.

The sternalis muscle may be a variant form of the pectoralis major or the rectus abdominis. Some fibers are occasionally connected with the costoxiphoid ligaments, and the side of the xiphoid process.

Function.

The rectus abdominis is an important postural muscle. It is responsible for flexing the lumbar spine, as when doing a so-called "crunch" sit up. The rib cage is brought up to where the pelvis is when the pelvis is fixed, or the pelvis can be brought towards the rib cage (posterior pelvic tilt) when the rib cage is fixed, such as in a leg-hip raise. The two can also be brought together simultaneously when neither is fixed in space.  The rectus abdominis assists with breathing and plays an important role in respiration when forcefully exhaling, as seen after exercise as well as in conditions where exhalation is difficult such as emphysema. It also helps in keeping the internal organs intact and in creating intra-abdominal pressure, such as when exercising or lifting heavy weights, during forceful defecation or parturition (childbirth).

Clinical significance.

An abdominal muscle strain, also called a pulled abdominal muscle, is an injury to one of the muscles of the abdominal wall. A muscle strain occurs when the muscle is stretched too far. When this occurs the muscle fibers are torn. Most commonly, a strain causes microscopic tears within the muscle, but occasionally, in severe injuries, the muscle can rupture from its attachment.  A rectus sheath hematoma is an accumulation of blood in the sheath of the rectus abdominis muscle. It causes abdominal pain with or without a mass. The hematoma may be caused by either rupture of the epigastric artery or by a muscular tear. Causes of this include anticoagulation, coughing, pregnancy, abdominal surgery and trauma. With an ageing population and the widespread use of anticoagulant medications, there is evidence that this historically benign condition is becoming more common and more serious.  On abdominal examination, people may have a positive Carnett's sign.  Most hematomas resolve without treatment, but they may take several months to resolve.

Other animals.

The rectus abdominis is similar in most vertebrates. The most obvious difference between animal and human abdominal musculature is that in animals, there are a different number of tendinous intersections.

The rectus abdominis muscle, also known as the "abdominal muscle", is a paired muscle running vertically on each side of the anterior wall of the human abdomen, as well as that of some other mammals. There are two parallel muscles, separated by a midline band of connective tissue called the linea alba. It extends from the pubic symphysis, pubic crest and pubic tubercle inferiorly, to the xiphoid process and costal cartilages of ribs V to VII superiorly. The proximal attachments are the pubic crest and the pubic symphysis. It attaches distally at the costal cartilages of ribs 5-7 and the xiphoid process of the sternum.

腹直肌(简称腹肌,英语:rectus abdominis muscle、英语:abdominal muscle)是指躯干下半部(或称腹部)的器官,由若干片状的肌肉保护着,并固定在适当的位置。他们包括两块腹直肌,沿着身体前面,从胸廓延伸到骨盆。当腹直肌收缩时,腹部被往内拉。在腹肌共同作用下,可使躯干向前或向侧面运动,甚至扭曲。


History.

The Republic.

Early in the history of the Roman Republic, "foederati" were the tribes that were bound by a treaty (foedus ) to come to the defense of Rome but which were neither Roman colonies nor a beneficiaries of Roman citizenship ("civitas"). The Latini tribe were considered blood allies, but the rest were federates or "socii". The friction between these treaty obligations without the corresponding benefits of Romanity led to the Social War between the Romans, with a few close allies, and the disaffected "socii". A law of 90 BCE ("Lex Julia") offered Roman citizenship to the federate states that accepted the terms. Not all cities were prepared to be absorbed into the Roman "res publica" (e.g., Heraclea and Naples). Other foederati lay beyond Italy: Gades (Cádiz) in Spain; and Massilia (Marseilles).

The Empire.

Later, the sense of the term "foederati" and its usage and meaning was extended by the Roman practice of subsidizing entire barbarian tribes — which included the Franks, Vandals, Alans, Huns and, best known, the Visigoths — in exchange for providing warriors to fight in the Roman armies. Alaric began his career leading a band of Gothic foederati.  At first, the Roman subsidy took the form of money or food, but as tax revenues dwindled in the 4th and 5th centuries, the "foederati" were billeted on local landowners, which came to be identical to being allowed to settle on Roman territory. Large local landowners living in distant border provinces (see "marches") on extensive, largely self-sufficient villas, found their loyalties to the central authority, already conflicted by other developments, further compromised in such situations. Then, as these loyalties wavered and became more local, the Empire began to devolve into smaller territories and closer personal fealties.

4th century.

The first Roman treaty with the Goths was after the defeat of Ariaric in 332, but whether or not this treaty was a "foedus" is unclear.  The Franks became foederati in 358 CE, when Emperor Julian let them keep the areas in northern Gaul, which had been depopulated during the preceding century. Roman soldiers defended the Rhine and had major armies south and west of the Rhine. Frankish settlers were established in the areas north and east of the Romans and helped with the Roman defense by providing intelligence and a buffer state. The breach of the Rhine borders in the frozen winter of 406 and 407 made an end to the Roman presence at the Rhine when both the Romans and the allied Franks were overrun by a tribal migration "en masse" of Vandals and Alans.  In 376 CE, some of the Goths asked Emperor Valens to allow them to settle on the southern bank of the Danube river, and were accepted into the empire as "foederati". These same Goths then rose in rebellion and defeated the Romans in the Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE. The critical ensuing loss of military manpower forced the Western Roman Empire to rely much more on foederati levies thereafter.  The loyalty of the tribes and their chieftains was never reliable, and in 395, the Visigoths, this time under the lead of Alaric, once again rose in rebellion. The father of one of the most powerful late Roman generals, Stilicho, was from the ranks of the "foederati".

5th century.

At the Battle of Faesulae in 406, Stilicho defeated the Gothic king Radagaisus and his combined Vandal and Goth army, only with the support of Gothic chieftain Sarus and Hunnic ruler Uldin.  In 423, the general Flavius Aetius entered the service of the usurper Joannes as "cura palatii" and was sent by Joannes to ask the Huns for assistance. Joannes, a high-ranking officer, lacked a strong army and fortified himself in his capital, Ravenna, where he was killed in the summer of 425. Shortly afterwards, Aetius returned to Italy with a large force of Huns to find that power in the west was now in the hands of Valentinian III and his mother Galla Placidia. After fighting against Aspar's army, Aetius managed a compromise with Galla Placidia. He sent back his army of Huns and in return obtained the rank of "comes et magister militum per Gallias", the commander in chief of the Roman army in Gaul.  Around 418 (or 426), Attaces, the king of the Alans, fell in battle against the Visigoths, who at the time were still allies of Rome, in Hispania, and most of the surviving Alans appealed to Gunderic. Gunderic accepted their request and thus became King of the Vandals and Alans.  Late in Gunderic's reign, the Vandals themselves began to clash more and more with the Visigothic "Foederati", often getting the worse of these battles because the Visigoths were so much more numerous. After Gunderic died early in 428, the Vandals elected his half-brother Genseric as his successor, and Genseric left Iberia to the Visigoths in favor of invading Roman Africa.  By the 5th century, lacking the wealth needed to pay and train a professional army, Western Roman military strength was almost entirely reliant on "foederati" units. In 451, Attila the Hun was defeated only with help of the "foederati" (who included the Visigoths, Alans and Saxons), and the "foederati" would deliver the fatal blow to the dying nominal Western Roman Empire in 476, when their commander Odoacer deposed the usurper Western Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and sent the imperial insignia back to Constantinople with the Senate's request that the 81-year-old West/East sub-division of the empire be abolished. Even before the eventual collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 several kingdoms with the status of "foederati" managed to gain a full independence formally recognized by the Western Roman Empire, such as the Vandals through the peace treaty concluded in 442 between their king Genseric and Valentinian III and the Visigoths through the peace treaty concluded in 475 between their king Euric and Julius Nepos.  After the collapse of the Hunnic empire, the Ostrogoths entered into relations with the Eastern Roman Empire and were settled in Pannonia to become "foederati" of the Byzantines. During the latter half of the 5th century, the Ostrogoths relationship with the Byzantines started to shift from friendship to enmity, just as the Visigoths had done before them, and their king Theoderic the Great led them to frequently ravage the provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire, eventually threatening Constantinople itself. Eventually, Theoderic and emperor Zeno worked out an arrangement beneficial to both sides, in which Theoderic invaded Odoacer's kingdom and eventually conquered Italy.

6th century.

"Foederati" (Gr: Φοιδερᾶτοι or translated as Σύμμαχοι) were still present in the Eastern Roman army during the 6th century. Belisarius' and Narses' victorious armies included many "foederati", including Hunnic archers and Herule mercenaries, when they reconquered Africa and Italy. At the Battle of Taginae, a large contingent of the Byzantine army was made up of Lombards, Gepids and Bulgars.  In the east, foederati were formed from several Arab tribes to protect against the Persian-allied Arab Lakhmids and the tribes of the Arabian peninsula. Among these foederati were the Tanukhids, Banu Judham, Banu Amela and the Ghassanids. The term Foederati continues to be attested in the Eastern Roman armies until around the reign of Maurice.

Foederati ( in English; sing. foederatus ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as "foedus", with Rome. In Republican times the term identified the socii, whereas during the Imperial period it was used to describe foreign states, client kingdoms, or barbarian tribes to which the Roman Empire provided benefits in exchange for military assistance. The term was also used, especially under the Roman Empire, for groups of "barbarian" mercenaries of various sizes, who were typically allowed to settle within the Roman Empire.

联盟 (古罗马)(拉丁语:foederati),在古罗马时代而言,是专指最初罗马共和国的部落结盟,该结盟直至罗马帝国晚期,甚至以不同方式还存在着。罗马共和国初期,罗马条约订定,促进了这次联盟,联盟联系着古罗马不同部落与其殖民地,并以联盟公权力,来解决著部落间任何问题。古罗马维持一定数量的联盟,其中以拉齐奥最具代表性。


第9号交响曲 (德沃夏克)

Instrumentation.

This symphony is scored for the following orchestra:

Form.

A typical performance usually lasts around 40 minutes. The work is in four movements:

I. Adagio – Allegro molto.

The movement is written in sonata form and begins with an introductory leitmotif in Adagio. This melodic outline also appears in the third movement of Dvořák's String Quintet No. 3 in E major and his Humoresque No. 1. The exposition is based on three thematic subjects. The first in E minor is notable for its announcing and responsive phrases. The second is in G minor and undergoes a transformation such that it resembles a Czech polka. The exposition's closing theme in G major is known for being similar to the American negro spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". The development primarily focuses on the main and closing themes, and the recapitulation consists of a repetition of the main theme as well as a transposition of the second and closing themes up a semitone. The movement is concluded with a coda, with the main theme stated by the brass above an orchestral tutti.

II. Largo.

The second movement is introduced by a harmonic progression of chords in the wind instruments. Beckerman interprets these chords as a musical rendition of the narrative formula "Once upon a time". Then a solo cor anglais (English horn) plays the main theme accompanied by muted strings. Dvořák was said to have changed the theme from clarinet to cor anglais as it reminded him of the voice of Harry Burleigh. The movement's middle section contains a passage in C minor evoking a nostalgic and desolate mood which eventually leads into a funeral march above pizzicato steps in the basses. It is followed by a quasi-scherzo that incorporates this movement's theme as well as the first movement's main and closing themes. The Largo is concluded with the soft return of the main theme and introductory chords.

III. Molto vivace.

The movement is a scherzo written in ternary form, with influences from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha". The stirring rhythm of the first part is interrupted by a trio middle section. The first part is then repeated, followed by an echo in the coda of the first movement's main theme.

IV. Allegro con fuoco.

The final movement is also written in sonata form. After a brief introduction, the horns and trumpets declare the movement's main theme against sharp chords played by the rest of the orchestra. The second theme is then presented by the clarinet above tremolos in the strings. The development not only works with these two themes but also recalls the main themes of the first and second movements and a fragment of the Scherzo. Following the recapitulation which begins in the unexpected key of G minor but later corrects itself back to the original key, the movement reaches its climax in the coda, in which materials from the first three movements are reviewed for a final time while the Picardy third is expanded after the orchestra triumphantly plays a "modally altered" plagal cadence.

Influences.

Dvořák was interested in Native American music and the African-American spirituals he heard in North America. While director of the National Conservatory he encountered an African-American student, Harry T. Burleigh, who sang traditional spirituals to him. Burleigh, later a composer himself, said that Dvořák had absorbed their'spirit' before writing his own melodies. Dvořák stated:  The symphony was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, and premiered on 16 December 1893, at Carnegie Hall conducted by Anton Seidl. A day earlier, in an article published in the "New York Herald" on 15 December 1893, Dvořák further explained how Native American music influenced his symphony:  In the same article, Dvořák stated that he regarded the symphony's second movement as a "sketch or study for a later work, either a cantata or opera... which will be based upon Longfellow's "Hiawatha"" (Dvořák never actually wrote such a piece). He also wrote that the third movement scherzo was "suggested by the scene at the feast in "Hiawatha" where the Indians dance".  In 1893, a newspaper interview quoted Dvořák as saying "I found that the music of the negroes and of the Indians was practically identical", and that "the music of the two races bore a remarkable similarity to the music of Scotland". Most historians agree that Dvořák is referring to the pentatonic scale, which is typical of each of these musical traditions.  In a 2008 article in "The Chronicle of Higher Education", prominent musicologist Joseph Horowitz states that African-American spirituals were a major influence on Dvořák's music written in North America, quoting him from an 1893 interview in the "New York Herald" as saying, "In the negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music." Dvořák did, it seems, borrow rhythms from the music of his native Bohemia, as notably in his Slavonic Dances, and the pentatonic scale in some of his music written in North America from African-American and/or Native American sources. Statements that he borrowed melodies are often made but seldom supported by specifics. One verified example is the song of the Scarlet Tanager in the Quartet. Michael Steinberg writes that a flute solo theme in the first movement of the symphony resembles the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". Leonard Bernstein averred that the symphony was truly multinational in its foundations.  Dvořák was influenced not only by music he had heard, but by what he had seen, in America. He wrote that he would not have composed his American pieces as he had, if he had not seen America. It has been said that Dvořák was inspired by the American "wide open spaces" such as prairies he may have seen on his trip to Iowa in the summer of 1893. Notices about several performances of the symphony include the phrase "wide open spaces" about what inspired the symphony and/or about the feelings it conveys to listeners.  Dvořák was also influenced by the style and techniques used by earlier classical composers including Beethoven and Schubert. The falling fourths and timpani strokes in the "New World Symphony"s Scherzo movement evoke the Scherzo of Beethoven's Choral Symphony (Symphony No. 9). The use of flashbacks to prior movements in the New World Symphony's last movement is reminiscent of Beethoven quoting prior movements in the opening Presto of the Choral Symphony's final movement.

Reception.

At the premiere in Carnegie Hall, the end of every movement was met with thunderous clapping and Dvořák felt obliged to stand up and bow. This was one of the greatest public triumphs of Dvořák's career. When the symphony was published, several European orchestras soon performed it. Alexander Mackenzie conducted the London Philharmonic Society in the European premiere on 21 June 1894. Clapham says the symphony became "one of the most popular of all time" and at a time when the composer's main works were being welcomed in no more than ten countries, this symphony reached the rest of the musical world and has become a "universal favorite". It had been performed [as of 1978] more often "than any other symphony at the Royal Festival Hall, London" and is in "tremendous demand in Japan".

"Goin' Home".

The theme from the Largo was adapted into the spiritual-like song "Goin' Home" (often mistakenly considered a folk song or traditional spiritual) by Dvořák's pupil William Arms Fisher, who wrote the lyrics in 1922.

The Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 (), popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America from 1892 to 1895. It has been described as one of the most popular of all symphonies. In older literature and recordings, this symphony was – as for its first publication – numbered as Symphony No. 5. Astronaut Neil Armstrong took a tape recording of the "New World Symphony" along during the Apollo 11 mission, the first Moon landing, in 1969. The symphony was completed in the building that now houses the Bily Clocks Museum.

E小调第9号交响曲《来自新世界》,作品95,为捷克作曲家德沃夏克(Antonín Dvořák)于1893年在美国时所谱写,因此一般被称为《新世界交响曲》(New World Symphony)。