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Kuphar
A ''kuphar'' (also transliterated ''kufa, kuffah, quffa, quffah'', etc.) is a type of coracle or round boat traditionally used on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in ancient and modern Mesopotamia. Its circular shape means that it does not sail well against the current, as it tends to spin, but makes it safe, sturdy and easy to construct. A ''kuphar'' is propelled by paddling, rowing or setting pole, poling. Etymology The word "kuphar" is derived from the Arabic word (), meaning a basket woven from reeds and leaves. The boat visually resembles a basket and is used for a similar purpose: transporting fruits, vegetables, and other goods. The Arabic word in turn originated from the Akkadian language, Akkadian word , meaning basket. History Reliefs depicting kuphars have been found in Assyrian ruins dating to the reigns of Kings Ashurnasirpal II (883 to 859 BC), Sennacherib (705 to 681 BC), and Ashurbanipal (668 to 627 BC), who reigned during the 9th, 8th, and 7th centuries BC, respec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coracle
A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the west of Ireland and also particularly on the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used for similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq, and Tibet. The word ''coracle'' is an English spelling of the original Welsh language, Welsh , cognate with Irish language, Irish and Scottish Gaelic , and is recorded in English text as early as the sixteenth century. Other historical English spellings include ''corougle'', ''corracle'', ''curricle'' and ''coricle''. Structure The structure is made of a framework of split and interwoven willow rods, tied with willow bark. The outer layer was originally an animal skin such as horse or Cattle, bullock hide (corium), with a thin layer of tar to waterproof it; today replaced by tarred Calico (textile), calico, canvas, or fibreglass. The Vietnamese/Asian version of the coracle is made of interwove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Hornell
James Hornell (1865 – February 1949) was an English zoologist and seafaring ethnographer. He was a cousin of Edward Atkinson Hornel, a Scottish painter. Career As a zoologist Hornell published a number of papers on marine organisms working most notably with his father in law Joseph Sinel in Jersey, and in 1900 traveled to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to report on the pearl fisheries. Staying there for six years, Hornell published a number of papers on the pearling industry. While there he was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society for his work on marine worms. After working for several more years in India, organizing the fisheries of Madras, he retired, and thus began his next career as an ethnographer of seafarming and maritime life. He traveled extensively around the Indian Ocean world and east Asia, making records of indigenous watercraft, sailing on Junks and Sampans, and as a member of an expedition to the south seas made many records of the watercraft of Polynesia. Fur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bitumen
Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American English, the material is commonly referred to as asphalt or tar. Whether found in natural deposits or refined from petroleum, the substance is classed as a pitch (resin), pitch. Prior to the 20th century, the term asphaltum was in general use. The word derives from the Ancient Greek word (), which referred to natural bitumen or pitch. The largest natural deposit of bitumen in the world is the Pitch Lake of southwest Trinidad, which is estimated to contain 10 million tons. About 70% of annual bitumen production is destined for road surface, road construction, its primary use. In this application, bitumen is used to bind construction aggregate, aggregate particles like gravel and forms a substance referred to as asphalt concrete, which is collo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basketry
Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets may be known as basket makers and basket weavers. Basket weaving is also a rural craft. Basketry is made from a variety of fiber, fibrous or pliable materials—anything that will bend and form a shape. Examples include pine, straw, willow (esp. Common osier, osier), oak, wisteria, forsythia, vines, plant stem, stems, fur, Hide (skin), hide, grasses, thread, and fine wooden splints. There are many applications for basketry, from simple mats to hot air balloon gondolas. Many Indigenous peoples are renowned for their basket-weaving techniques. History While basket weaving is one of the widest spread crafts in the history of any human civilization, it is hard to say just how old the craft is, because natural materials like wood, grass, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reed (plant)
Reed is a common name for several tall, grass-like plants of wetlands. Varieties They are all members of the order Poales (in the modern, expanded circumscription), and include: In the grass family, Poaceae * Common reed ('' Phragmites australis''), the original species named reed * Giant reed ('' Arundo donax''), used for making reeds for musical instruments * Burma reed ('' Neyraudia reynaudiana'') * Reed canary-grass ('' Phalaris arundinacea'') * Reed sweet-grass ('' Glyceria maxima'') * Small-reed ('' Calamagrostis'' species) In the sedge family, Cyperaceae * Paper reed or papyrus (''Cyperus papyrus''), the source of the Ancient Egyptian writing material, also used for making boats In the family Typhaceae * Bur-reed ('' Sparganium'' species) * Reed-mace (''Typha'' species), also called bulrush or cattail In the family Restionaceae * Cape thatching reed ('' Elegia tectorum''), a restio originating from the South-western Cape, South Africa. * Thatching reed ('' Thamno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United States customary units) and the long ton ( British imperial units). It is equivalent to approximately 2,204.6 pounds, 1.102 short tons, and 0.984 long tons. The official SI unit is the megagram (Mg), a less common way to express the same amount. Symbol and abbreviations The BIPM symbol for the tonne is t, adopted at the same time as the unit in 1879.Table 6 . BIPM. Retrieved on 2011-07-10. Its use is also official for the metric ton in the United States, having been adopted by the United States |
Donkey
The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domesticated in Africa some years ago, and has been used mainly as a working animal since that time. There are more than 40 million donkeys in the world, mostly in underdeveloped countries, where they are used principally as Working animal, draught or pack animal, pack animals. While working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence, small numbers of donkeys or asses are kept for breeding, as pets, and for livestock protection in developed countries. An adult male donkey is a ''jack'' or ''jackass'', an adult female is a ''jenny'' or ''jennet'', and an immature donkey of either sex is a ''foal''. Jacks are often mated with horse, female horses (mares) to produce ''mule, mules''; the less common hybrid of a stalli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talent (measurement)
The talent (Ancient Greek: , ''talanton'', Latin: , Biblical Hebrew: ''kikkar'' כִּכָּר, Ugaritic: ''kkr'' (𐎋𐎋𐎗), Phoenician: ''kkr'' (𐤒𐤒𐤓), Syriac: ''kakra'' (ܟܲܟܪܵܐ),, Akkadian: ''kakkaru'' or ''gaggaru'' in the Amarna letters, Amarna tablets, later Aramaic: ()) was a unit of weight used in the ancient world, often used for weighing gold and silver. In the Hebrew Bible, it is recorded that the gold used in the work of the sanctuary (Tabernacle, tabernacle), where the Ark of the Covenant was, weighed 29 talents and 730 shekels , and silver 100 talents and 1775 shekels. (1 talent=3000 shekels. ) The enormous wealth of King Solomon is described as receiving 666 gold talents a year. The talent is also mentioned in connection with other metals, ivory, and frankincense. In Homer's poems, it is always used of gold and is thought to have been quite a small weight of about , approximately the same as the later gold stater coin or Persian daric. In lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palm-tree
The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially called palm trees. Currently, 181 genera with around 2,600 species are known, most of which are restricted to tropical and subtropical climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves, known as fronds, arranged at the top of an unbranched stem, except for the Hyphaene genus, who has branched palms. However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts. Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families. They have been important to humans throughout much of history, especially in regions like the Middle East and North Africa. A wide range of common products and foods are deriv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armenian Highlands
The Armenian highlands (; also known as the Armenian upland, Armenian plateau, or Armenian tableland)Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century''. Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.) New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997, pp. 1–17 comprise the most central and the highest of the three plateaus that together form the northern sector of West Asia. Clockwise starting from the west, the Armenian highlands are bounded by the Anatolia, Anatolian plateau, the Caucasus, the Kur-Araz Lowland, Kura-Aras lowlands, the Iranian Plateau, and Mesopotamia. The highlands are divided into western and eastern regions, defined by the Ararat Plain, Ararat Valley where Mount Ararat is located. Western Armenia is nowadays referred to as Eastern Anatolia. On the other hand, Eastern Armenia is part of Lesser Caucasus or Caucasus Minor, which was historically known by some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known as willow, but some narrow-leaved shrub species are called osier, and some broader-leaved species are referred to as sallow (from Old English ''sealh'', related to the Latin word ''salix'', willow). Some willows (particularly arctic and alpine species) are low-growing or creeping shrubs; for example, the dwarf willow (''Salix herbacea'') rarely exceeds in height, though it spreads widely across the ground. Description Willows all have abundant watery bark sap, which is heavily charged with salicin, soft, usually pliant, tough wood, slender branches, and large, fibrous, often stoloniferous roots. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity to live, and roots readily sprout from aerial parts of the plant. Lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
