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As you are all probably already aware, yesterday ISIS managed to successfully recapture the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. Palmyra is an ancient city located in central Syria. Prior to the Syrian Civil War, Palmyra was widely renowned for its beautiful ancient monuments. It was one the most popular tourist destinations in the Middle East. It was, and still is, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In May of 2015, ISIS captured Palmyra. On June 27, 2015, ISIS destroyed the Lion of Al-lat, an ancient staute of a lion created during the first century A.D.

Continue reading “Palmyra: Chronicling the Destruction of an Ancient City”

You have all doubtlessly heard the story of Pandora at some point or another. The story begins with Zeus, who decides to punish humans for having received fire from the Titan Prometheus, so he creates Pandora, the first woman, and gives her to Prometheus’s twin brother Epimetheus. Epimetheus accepts Pandora and marries her, even though Prometheus has previously warned him never to accept any kind of gifts from Zeus under any circumstances. Along with Pandora, Zeus also gives Epimetheus a jar with a lid and instructs him that the jar must never be opened under any circumstances. Epimetheus warns Pandora not to open the jar, but then, once Epimetheus is out of the house, Pandora ignores his warning, opens the jar, and unleashes all the evils of the earth, causing untold suffering for all mankind. Pandora slams the lid shut on the jar, trapping the one thing left inside, Hope.

Continue reading “Misunderstood Myths, Part One: Pandora’s Jar”

You may have occasionally found yourself wondering who the longest-reigning monarch in all of recorded history was, but, chances are, you have probably never had the time to look it up.

Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is the longest-reigning monarch who is currently still alive. She ascended to the throne on February 6, 1952 and has remained queen ever since. In spite of this, however, she is not the longest-reigning monarch of all time or even the longest-reigning monarch in modern history.

The longest reigning monarch in modern history is King Sobhuza II of Swaziland, who ascended to the throne on December 10, 1899 and continued to reign until his death on August 21, 1982. He reigned for nearly eighty-three years, which is truly an astonishingly long period of time. Nonetheless, although King Sobhuza II is the longest-reigning monarch in modern times, he is not even close to being the longest-reigning monarch of all time.

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