Classical and post-Classical periods Essay

The Silk Roads were created when classical empires were established, and the scope of long distance trade expanded, connecting much of Eurasia. Throughout the Classical and post-Classical periods, the Silk Roads provided a way for not only goods to be introduced to new lands, but also ideas, religions and technology. The Silk Roads changed drastically due to expanding empires, new technology and diseases. Although the effects and empires with which the Silk Road was connected changed continuously throughout the Classical and post-Classical period, the thing that remained constant was the trade of spices and goods to and from Asia and Europe, and the Silk Road never lost its importance to the economies of the empires. The growing empires directly affected the Silk Roads. The growth and spread of empires was a direct result of who had the most control over the routes and what ideas were being spread, for instance religion. When disease decreased much of a population, that empire would stop trade with other nations and focus on interregional trade, until their empire was back up on its feet, and then it would again join in trade on the silk roads. This constantly happened with the introduction of new diseases to empires throughout the end of the Classical period and all of the post-Classical period. One example of this was China, when diseases were brought to its shore from the ships, its population decimated and they stopped trading with vast nations for luxuries and kept the trade within its empire till its economy grew and then they continued in trade throughout the silk road. The new technology introduced to the Silk Road had the most impact on the trade patterns. Throughout the classical period not many changes in technology occurred, however during the post-Classical, you start to see many new technologies introduced to the Silk Road. Yolks, saddles and stirrups were just some of the new transportation technology developed. In the 600s B.C.E., yolks, saddles and stirrups were used to allow more goods to be carried on horse, camels and ox and allowed them to travel further distance. Saddles were first developed in Southern Arabia for transportation. Then, Stirrups first appeared in Afghanistan, created by the Kushan folk. The stirrup is a piece of equipment that extends from a saddle on both sides, and the person sitting in the saddle can put their feet into the stirrup while riding to gain better control of the animal being ridden and to be more secure on the animals back. Lastly, the yoke allowed for more than one ox to plow fields. The yoke would link the two oxen together and attach them to something heavy, like a plow or a tool used for turning the earth. Another invention, which came from China, was a compass, which pointed north, and allowed sailor to navigate more easily. They also invented better-equipped, long-lasting ships to travel greater distances for the sole purpose of acquiring goods that people at home in China so desperately desired. These boats were called junks, and allowed for the Chinese to sail great distances for the goods they desired. However, they were not alone in the making of these big ships, Indians also began to craft larger and improved boats called dhows. Another major innovation that fueled trade was the Grand Canal. Created under the authority of Sui Yangdi in the Sui Dynasty. The Chinese needed a fast and easy way to transport essential crops, such as rice, from the Yangzi River to the North. Therefore they built the Grande Canal running through North and Southern China, creating an efficient way to transport good through northern and southern China. Other than transportation technology, there was other technology introduced in the post-Classical period. The Chinese invented printing and paper, which created an even faster and easier way to spread ideas, religion, and technology throughout the Silk Roads. Although the Silk Roads had many positive features, along with the spread of ideas came the spread of disease. This occurred throughout the whole period. Unbeknownst to the traders the ships and caravans, with which they traded, brought disease along with their many goods. Worlds apart, neither the two parties, the transmitter and the infected, were aware, at least primarily, of what the devastating effects would be when coming in contact with these diseases. Due to the fact that they were from different parts of the world, and seas away from each other, those who were infected were not immune yet to the diseases the merchants carried, and it had devastating effects of the population. These massive disease outbreaks resulted in drastic changes, beginning at the end of the Classical period. As the germs traveled from one side of the world to the other, they became more dangerous. One of the most obvious examples of what disease did throughout the Silk Road was in the Americas. When European settlers came to colonize America, they brought with them infectious diseases such as the bubonic plague, and malaria, killing off almost 90% of the native people. This made it especially easy to conquer lands and force Natives to work, and when they were running out of native workers, they just imported slaves from Africa. The diseases they brought made it possible for them to conquer as much land as they did and it also made it possible for the Europeans to destroy many of the Natives history, because the Natives could not stop them, for they only had few people left. Other than the natives in the Americas, both the Han Empire and the Roman Empire, tremendous trade destinations, had immense problems with disease in the 100s and the 200s C.E.: most likely these people experienced the bubonic plague, smallpox, and measles. For example, in the 100s C.E., about 45 million people lived in the Roman Empire, but in the 400s C.E. the population dropped at least 5 million. Likewise, the population in China dropped by 10 million in the 200 years following 200 C.E., sinking to 50 million. Unfortunately, the transfer of these devastating diseases to places without natural immunity to them caused devastating population decline throughout the classical and post-classical period. Despite the constant changes in materials traded, the original purpose of the Silk Road remained undamaged throughout the Classical and Post-Classical period. Asian goods were traded with European merchants along the Silk Road and vice versa. In particular, spices from Asia, which were traded with most wealthy empires, particularly Europe, fueled Asia’s economy. These spices were wanted by the Europeans constantly and elaborated the importance of the Silk Road. During the Post-Classical period, many countries like Portugal and Spain, tried to take control of the Spice trade. Although unsuccessful, it shows the importance of the spice trade to the Silk Roads. The spice trade created an economic boom in Asia and every other country wanted that leading to wars and a race to find the quickest route to Asia. Furthermore, Asia’s economy, specifically China’s economy, was dependent on the money from trade on the Silk Road, regardless the type of goods that were traded to fuel their economy. Likewise, Asian trades drove Europe’s economy. Throughout 200 B.C.E to 1450 C.E., the Silk Roads had drastic changes due to its growing empires, new technology and spread of diseases. One thing that remained constant was trade between Asia and Europe and their economies’ reliance on such trade. The effect the Silk Road had on empires and how it allowed ideas, like religion and philosophies, to be spread throughout the Silk Roads also remained constant throughout the Classical and Post-Classical period. Growing empires contributed new ideas, technology and crops. It also controlled much of the influence throughout Eurasia. New technology provided better transportation and faster ways to spread ideas. Lastly, diseases directly affected populations that were not immune to foreign diseases such as the bubonic plague, malaria and small pox and decimated populations.

A Christian View of Beauty Essay

Beauty, a term once revered in ancient days as the pinnacle of physical attributes embodied in worldly entities, has seemingly in this day lost much of its meaning. Phrases like â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder† have surprisingly become commonplace, and even Christians have begun to subscribe to the notion of aesthetic relativism. Specifically, this is the idea that beauty is purely contained within the observer and objects on their own have no aesthetic value in and of themselves. It is what has effectively stripped the main essence from the old ideal of beauty, and in my opinion a primary reason why there are so many who cannot see or refuse to see God in the world today. â€Å"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder†, the oft-heard phrase today, refers to one’s belief in the subjectivity of beauty—that is, aesthetic relativism. This prevailing belief dictates that my own perception of what is beautiful does not necessarily correlate to others’ perception of what they find beautiful. Simply because I find a song inspiring and relaxing does not necessarily mean that everyone will and it’s even pretentious and rude of me to insist so. And since everyone has their own particular tastes in all types of art, it is inferred that those tastes correlate to true beauty in their own eyes. But, this whole concept of beauty in each man’s own perception is severely lacking: it gives our own God far too little credit for the creation itself. In my opinion, a greatly preferable view for one who professes to believe in a divine creator is the belief in the objectivity of beauty. Perhaps the ancient Greeks were on to something after all when artists such as Polykleitos sought the perfect proportions of beauty. Such a pursuit required one to see beauty as objective: something contained within the object itself. Especially farseeing was Plato’s belief in the â€Å"idea† realm, in which perfect prototypes of every living and nonliving thing existed. It was a transcendent realm which we could never quite reach in terms of achieving this perfect â€Å"idea form†. Such a theory, old as it is, is not very far from the truth in my opinion. The real truth of beauty lies in none other than our own God. Nevertheless, I think it is necessary to divide beauty into two types to see how God influences it. There is a physical beauty in each living and nonliving thing; something which can be perceived by the eye. Such beauty, I think, aligns with Plato’s â€Å"idea form† concept—that is, we perceive things as the most beautiful when they are closest to that ideal shape from which they were wrought. Among my beliefs is that God really does have ideal forms in His own mind, from which spring forth every single precious creation. God’s creations are often universally seen as beautiful to us—forests, rivers, grasslands, domestic animals and wild animals alike are loved by us and sometimes even worshipped for their beauty. Their forms tend to be very similar among their own kind, and many different organizations strive to find the perfect proportions, coloring, and other attributes of them. A well-known example is the American Kennel Club, which appoints judges in dog shows who determine the ideal proportions of many breeds of dogs. In such competitions, we are striving to find the ideal, most beautiful form of dogs, which strongly hints at a belief in an archetypal â€Å"idea form†. Perhaps the human form itself could even have its archetypal roots in Adam and Eve; but regardless, humans who most closely fit this prototypical form are perceived as most beautiful by others. Ugliness is the disfiguration or mutilation of this form, such as severed parts or scars or even obesity. Even so, there is always some degree of the supreme beauty in each and every creation, for God’s own light can shine through even the darkest of places. Indeed, God’s original beauty shining through us and our own creations is the main source of aesthetic pleasure in this world. God revealed this to us in Ezekiel 16:14, when He declared â€Å"And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect†. This constitutes a second kind of beauty, a nonphysical and more conceptual beauty. Such beauty is what normally would be seen in man’s creations and his very personality. It can be witnessed in personalities such as a warm and inviting host, a charitable man who goes out of his way to help others, or something as simple as one who laughs often. And, of course, a massive demonstrator of this kind of beauty is creations of man’s own design such as music, paintings, and sculptures which frequently grab hold of our emotions. The reason these things are so beautiful is simple: God’s immense love when He created us and our intellects is still shown brilliantly in things which we produce. These do not necessarily have to be direct reflections of God’s own exquisite creations (as in the Realist style of art); His magnificence can be shown in abstract art as well. A good example is the Asian kanji form of writing, which for centuries has been considered highly artistic and stylized. The Japanese kanji ai, or â€Å"love† (Appendix A) has a very smooth and majestic feel, and is capable of triggering human emotions of wonder and calmness on its own. It is a mere thirteen strokes of a brush, yet because of God’s own love and inventiveness shining through the artist onto the paper, we can consider it beautiful. Truly, God’s creativeness can be seen in every single thing which man has created, and therefore we can see some degree of beauty in everything. Looking at the world in this objective way is doubtlessly far greater than the popular aesthetic relativist stance in contemporary culture. It introduces a sense of wonder in the individual in everything he perceives, because he has the knowledge that it was specifically created by the supreme God and personally beheld in all its glory as â€Å"very good† (Genesis 1:31). Hiking through mountainous forests can fill a man with such a sense of sheer majesty that it can be a religious experience, and I have personally witnessed even unbelievers profess to see a glimpse of God in such prime examples of His glorious creation. Even more typical occurrences such as a snowy night under a star-speckled sky or waking up to a dazzling sunrise peeking through lush treetops can in a person bring forth extreme awe if that person accepts aesthetic objectivity through God. Maybe the subjectivity of beauty is not as enlightened as it appears to countless millions in our culture. The beauty in that captivating mountainous forest or star-speckled sky becomes fully dependent on the individual. It’s reduced to a matter of taste, and if a person finds such things wondrous, that in itself does not make them truly and rapturously divine as it does in one who believes that God Himself has blessed such occurrences. Beautiful entities are simply something which an individual deems â€Å"nice† or â€Å"quaint† to which someone else might readily disagree, in contrast to a glimpse of the utter splendor of God. Some things are beautiful, some are ugly, and it all depends on preference; whereas objectivity of beauty proclaims that beauty is to be found everywhere in varying degrees. Aesthetic relativism ultimately leads to a sense of incuriosity towards much of the world and blocking out what does not â€Å"suit your taste†, a sort of omnipresent mild malaise of the subconscious. It would be wiser to consider that â€Å"the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect† (Ezekiel 16:14), and approach the magnificent world with an ever-growing curiousness and a watchful eye for the inherent beauty present in each and every creation.

Reflection Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection Questions - Assignment Example These weapons were devastating to soldiers as death tolls during the Great War’s massive battles resulted to horrific loss of life due to these new weapons. Civilian populations were mobilized to many industrial factories as these weapons were needed to be manufactured at both high rate and volume. While Russia’s initial involvement in the Great War was seen in a positive light, most Russian soldiers were conscripts who were not close to willing to join in. Coupled by the lack of effective logistics, poor leadership of Russia’s many officers, and the eventual staggering casualties and desertions; it would be no surprise that such news would increase the discontent in the already disillusioned Russian population to the point of revolt. As Trotsky (1930) observed, â€Å"the revolutionary elements, scattered at first, were drowned in the army almost without a trace, but with the growth of the general discontent they rose to the surface† (p.15). The withdrawal of Russia would lead to military and political changes in Europe afterwards. Howard (2002) posited that â€Å"by then the Russians might well be out of the war and the Germans able to concentrate all their forces on breaking the Western allies†, this would add military pressure to the Western Front which France and Great Britain were engaged in. Politically, Russia’s humiliating withdrawal would lead to the downfall of the Tsarist regime and pave way for the rise of the Communist Soviet Russia. The Russian Provisional Government under the Kerensky administration insisted on remaining in the Great War in was to adhere to its obligations with Russia’s wartime allies to continue the fight against the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. This did not make the soldiers feel any better since such an objective showed less concern for the country’s welfare and situation. Vladimir â€Å"Lenin† Ulyanov and Lev Bronshtein,

File Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

File - Essay Example For a long time, those who supported Dreyfus had not been able to make any objections but the publication of Zola’s article gave them the much needed boost to challenge the affair. The emergence of two opposing camps definitely had a great impact on the Third Republic. It is rather hard to determine when the Dreyfusard camp came into existence. The truth is that a large section of public opinion, together with a large section of intellectuals, politicians, journalists and writers were sure that Dreyfus was guilty by the time his trial came into an end in 1894. If anything, the court had declared him guilty and the newspapers had broadcasted this guilty sentence. Even though individuals such as Zola were dismayed by the anti-Semitism direction that the trial had taken in dying years of 1894, no one came out publicly to challenge the outcome of the sentence. In addition to this, from the moment that Dreyfus had been arrested, a very small number of individuals were convinced of his innocence. After the conviction, several individuals led by Edgar Demange, a criminal lawyer soon began to see the conviction as a case of racial profiling. Upon the passage of the guilty verdict, Demange held a press conference where he declared that the incarceration wa s a judicial mistake. On the other hand, the anti-Dreyfusard’s were the individuals who were convinced that Dreyfus was guilty of the charges brought against him and was therefore fit to be in prison. For the Dreyfusard’s, their main issue at the beginning of the affair was calling for a revision of the issue. At first, revisionism only meant for the review of Dreyfus sentence but with the passage of time it generated into a larger fight against anti-Semitism, militarism, nationalism, and conservatism. In later years, revision turned into a call for the change in ideology. As the movement grew, Dreyfusard’s started addressing the issue of French anti-Semitism that had not been

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 42

Philosophy - Essay Example Searching for knowledge is just like trying to get bigger and bigger squares than the one we have started with. Actually, the basis of most of Plato’s philosophical ideas was mathematics. He was fond of mathematics because of its idealized abstractions and its separation from the merely material. According to Plato, the mathematician could well consider himself as dealing only with the purest form of thought and as having nothing to do with the imperfect everyday world. The eagerness to be enlightened and greediness to be experienced are the real cause of man’s destruction and suffering, according to Plato in the Meno. In fact, the continuous search for knowledge about the unknown is an aspect that has been characterizing human beings since their early existence on earth. In that sense, an important characteristic of human nature in general is the easiness with which man can commit a sin, despite the fact that he clearly knows the good. This is what is referred to as "Menos paradox" in Platos Meno. Plato, in this play, sends an important message about the nature of man, saying that, in many cases, man can clearly differentiate between what is good and what is evil and still can fail to do the good. Consequently, Plato had his own philosophy of ethics. His ethical theory rests on the assumption that virtue is knowledge and can be taught, which has to be understood in terms of his theory of Forms. The highest Form for Plato is the Form of the Good, and knowledge of this Form is the source of guidance in moral decision making. Accordingly, Plato argued that to know the good is to do the good. The epitome of this is that anyone who behaves immorally does so out of ignorance. This assumption is derived from Platos conviction that the moral person is the t ruly satisfied person, and because individuals always desire their own happiness, they always desire to do that which is moral. Therefore, it can be said that Plato’s

Read the assigned readings and answer questions regarding gram stain Essay

Read the assigned readings and answer questions regarding gram stain and lab safety - Essay Example Clothes on fire should be dropped or the person should roll to smother the flames. At the eye wash station your partner should your eyes wide open on a running water. I will incorporate the above safety precautions in my laboratory by ensuring that their posters with guidelines and instruction at every working area in the laboratory. I may also take some time to address my lab mates on safety precautions. A technician may use   physical state  , chemical composition, and purpose, functional type as made to differentiate different bacteria. Physical state media involve the use of non reactive physical substances such as water to nature the bacterias. Chemical reagents may also be used as in the case of chemical media. Microbiologists have many types of media at their disposal. The purpose / functional type may be employed as in a complex bacteria case. One should always have a protective gear, should wear proper clothes, one should care about his hygiene by not bringing food into the room, one should always consider all the materials he or is handling to be harmful. They should also know fire exits and fire drill procedures so that in case of fire the escape, be familiar with all lab process before carrying out any exercise this because some processes are too dangerous, lastly they should keep the working area clutter free and clean to enable easy access to all equipments hey need and also to avoid more injuries in case of an accident. One is not supposed to smell, touch or taste chemicals they may have negative effects on the persons health, youre not supposed to do experiments on your own because a mixture of chemicals may be explosive, never eat in the lab because the food may get contaminated with the chemicals and never add water into an acid this is because it will react explosively. The gram stain procedure distinguishes between gram positive and gram negative groups by coloring the cells red or

Is The World Flat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Is The World Flat - Essay Example This essay stresses that in the Information Age, information becomes power. There is a transfer of information in the world, from Western locations, such as the United States of America and the European Union, to Asian ones like China and India. Most notably, China has been a much preferred place to outsource because of the low cost of labour. Because of this, the many countries are gaining power in the global market, but this does not necessarily create a level playing field. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, China is preferred because it has lower cost of labour. Thomas Friedman mentioned that â€Å"entrepreneurs and CEOs were responding to the flattening of the world.† However, by moving to China, it is not necessarily the flattening of the world that they are thinking about but simply practicality in the face of economic crisis. There must be some misunderstanding when people say the world is becoming flatter to mean that everyone has equal opportunity for work or in come. The previous illustration should have dispelled that mistaken notion. Companies will more often than not choose and develop three inexperienced but cheap labourers than pay more for one experienced person to do the same job. This paper makes a conclusion that health care and education should be improved. Health care ensures that employees can continue working and education ensures that people can find creative-type jobs in the future, if ever governments decide to ship grunt-type jobs out of the country.