Myrrh and Frankincense

Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, Italy

Everybody knows what gold is. But what about the other two gifts presented to Jesus at his birth (Mt 2:11): myrrh and frankincense? Those are less well-known in the modern world. Both are scented tree resins that, in ancient times, served multiple purposes.

Frankincense is gathered from small thorny trees by scraping them and collecting the resin that leaks out. The resin is then dried and hardened into flat round cakes and sold all around the world. When burned, it produced a sweet, woody-smelling smoke. In ancient times, it was burned ceremoniously by most of the predominant religious cults, including Greek, Roman, Babylonian, Jewish (Ex 30:34-38), Buddhist, and other local communities. Additional uses included perfumes, massage oils, cosmetics, and medicine. Its myriad of uses resulted in it being as expensive as gold.

Myrrh is very similar. It too is collected from small thorny trees by scraping them and drying the outpouring of resin. At the time, it was more expensive than frankincense, so its use during religious ceremonies was limited. However, like frankincense, it was used for embalming, in perfume (SS 1:12-13), in cosmetics (Est 2:12), as a painkiller (Mk 15:23), and as a medicinal cure-all.

Myrrh and frankincense grew and were collected solely in southern Arabia and parts of eastern Africa. From there, it was traded all across the Roman empire.

Sources:
The Bible (New International Version)
"And Man Created God" - Selina O'Grady

Deborah

In the time before Israel had a king (sometime between 1380 and 1050 BC), God brought forth a series of exceptional individuals, referred to as judges, to help steer the Israelites when they began to stray from their faith. One of these judges was Deborah. She was a prophetess and leader of a band of Israelites. She's interesting to me because she managed to bring together several tribes to fight and win against a more advanced Canaanite army.

So here's the situation: The Canaanites army consists of about 900 armoured chariot archers, basically the M1 Abrams of the day. They are led by a man named Sisera.

Meanwhile, the Israelites are a scattering of disparate tribal groups. Deborah managed to bring together enough groups for a 10,000-strong army of light infantry. This may sound like a large number, but they had little armour, and the chariot archers could easily out-maneuver and chew them up. That was probably the Canaanite plan, anyway. Deborah expected this and put together a strategy to counter it.

It went something like this. Her commander, Barak, would have one chunk of the army stationed on a mountaintop to lure out Sisera's force. Deborah's army would come from behind to pinch Sisera in a marshy riverbed, where his chariot archers would be mired.

Barak balked, and insisted that Deborah fight with his soldiers on the mountain. She agreed, but reminded him that in this situation, the victory would belong to her, a woman. No, really! The Bible quotes her saying, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman." (Judges 4:9)

The battle played out as predicted, with an added bonus. A thunderstorm, ostensibly sent by God, caused flooding in the river valley, further impeding the Canaanite chariots. Deborah's forces fell upon them and crushed them.

As an aside, Sisera actually managed to escape from this battle. He tried to hide in the tent of a woman named Jael. After feeling safe and dozing off, Jael proceeded to drive a tent stake into his head with a hammer. That was probably for the best. Imagine what his life would be like if everyone found out he was defeated by a girl!

With the opposing army and its leader dead, Deborah led the Israelites to overthrow the Canaanite king. The peace afterwards lasted for about another forty years, before the Israelites again did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Sources:
The Bible (New International Version)
"4000 Years of Uppity Women" - Vicki León
"Battles of the Bible" - Chaim Herzog, Mordechai Gichon

Mohammed's First Wife

Mother of Believers - Robert Hunt

As I'm reading this book about Mohammed, I'm reminded of just how awesome his first wife, Khadija, really was. Mohammed's first biographer described her as "determined, noble, and intelligent". Twice a widow and single-mother, Khadija nevertheless became a wealthy, independent merchant in the trading hub of Mecca.

Side note: Khadija's name is often followed by the acronym RA. This is short for the Arabic phrase Radiallhu Anhu, or "May God be pleased with him/her."

Their meeting was interesting. Mohammed was hired by her to manage some caravans. He seemingly did such a good job that he caught Khadija's attention. He was already well-known in the community for his honesty and trustworthiness, and it was for these reasons, in spite of his low status in society, that Khadija extended her hand to him.

Mohammed was 25-years-old when they married, but I'm having a hard time finding any definitive source of how old Khadija was when she married Mohammed. The book I'm reading now suggests she was in her late thirties when she married. Further research (i.e. Googling for about fifteen minutes) shows that the most commonly accepted age was 40 at marriage, but the idea that she was closer to 28 is gaining ground in some small circles.

The marriage was described as one of mutual respect and love. Despite living in a polygamous society, Mohammed never married another while Khadija lived. Of his many political marriages after her death, this marriage to Khadija was the only one for which this was true.

When Mohammed received his first revelation from God, he was extremely shaken. He crawled down from the mountain and went immediately to his wife, who wrapped him in her arms until he was calm. She believed his story immediately, reasoning that God would not allow any demon to tell such a lie to a good, honest person. Because of this, she is described as "the first Muslim."

They were married 25 years until Khadija passed away. Even later with his younger wives, Mohammed would still speak highly of his first wife.

Sources:
"Muhammad: A Prophet For Our Time" - Karen Armstrong
“Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansar
Google

The Annexation of Hawaii

The Saint Paul Globe, 1897

It seems that some of my assumptions about Hawaii's annexation aren't entirely true. I was always under the impression that a group of sugar barons pressured the US government into annexing the island chain and that was that. While it's certainly possible to spin the story into such an oversimplification, it misses a lot of what was going on.

It is true that there were several planters on the islands making big money selling sugar to the United States. The US government was even on good terms with Hawaii and had economic treaties to ensure unhindered sugar trade. However, the States had several sources of sugar, so losing Hawaii as a trade partner would not be catastrophic to the industry.

Obviously, the sugar planters wanted to ensure that they held sway in the Hawaiian government in order to continue growing their profits. When the queen at the time, Lili'uokalani, made a move to secure more power for the crown, the planters saw this as a cause for alarm.

Without orders from the United States, the group of influential, pro-annexation planters had US marines march from the coast to the royal palace and demand the creation of a new constitution that further limited royal power. I felt like this was something important. It's true that these Americans pushed for more American power in Hawaii, but it was not the direct will of the US government. It was a group of independent individuals.

In fact, the president did not approve. He sent a trusted adviser to the islands to ascertain the situation. The adviser concluded, in the so-called Blount Report, that the planters were a bunch of jerks that did not act in the best interest of the Hawaiian people (I'm paraphrasing, by the way).

Meanwhile, the now declawed queen attempted to stage a military overthrow. She gathered weapons and freedom fighters from around the islands, but was eventually discovered by the ruling junta's spies. She was arrested, tried, and sentenced to house arrest. Thus, the monarchy was effectively and completely destroyed.

President Cleveland did what he could to stall any annexation plans. In 1897, he was replaced with President McKinley, who eventually agreed to Hawaii's annexation. However, it had nothing to do with sugar, the currently ruling junta, nor to end the constant native petitions for independence. The annexation was signed primarily to keep the growing Japanese power from taking the island chain and having a strategic advantage in the Pacific.

In 1898, the Hawaiian flag was lowered and officially replaced with that of the United States.

Sources:
"Captive Paradise" - James L. Haley

The Ruler of Hawaii

Hawaii is an interesting place. For the longest time, its people had been largely isolated by its location in the middle of the Pacific, surrounded by miles and miles of deadly nothingness. It was controlled by an assortment of rulers that held demesne across the islands. It wasn't until around the 1780's that the warring states began to consolidate around a single warlord: Kamehameha.

He didn't have an easy time of it. After many years of fighting and peace-making, the only lands he could control were a few districts on the Big Island and, through a diplomatic marriage, another few districts in Maui.

The breakthrough came when he turned to foreign traders. Admittedly, foreign ships had been visiting the Hawaiian islands for quite some time. Its location in the middle of the Pacific made it a useful halfway point in many journeys. Whenever possible, Kamehameha traded island goods for weapons.

After several victories, he was eventually drawn into another stalemate as other powers began amassing their own stock of Western weapons. It wasn't until a timely volcanic eruption all but wiped out the army of a rival leader that Kamehameha turned things around again. He then invited his rival to a peace meeting to discuss their differences. Upon landing, the rival was swiftly executed and offered as a sacrifice to the god of war. And with that sacrifice, Kamehameha became the undisputed ruler of the big island, Hawaii.

Maui, the next island on Kamehameha's wishlist, was exhausted after a war against neighbouring Oahu and soon fell to Kamehameha's forces.

The ruler of Oahu knew what was coming and beefed up his arsenal of American weapons. However, even that was no match for Kamehameha's tactics and he eventually fell.

Kamehameha next wanted to take Kauai, but rebellions in his holding forced him to bide his time. A few years later, Kauai was struck with an outbreak of cholera. Seeing his weak position, the ruler of Kauai agreed to become Kamehameha's vassal, a bitter arrangement that the ex-ruler resented. Nevertheless, Kamehameha finally held all of the populated Hawaiian islands.

After conquering all of the islands, Kamehameha set upon boosting the government, economy, and foreign relations. He actively encouraged trade of the islands' resources and quickly grasped the concept of currency. Trade flourished, especially with America, Britain, and eventually Russia. He maintained a group of trusted advisers and administrators, and took steps to ensure they guided his son and heir after his death.

Upon his death, Kamehameha was buried in a secret grave to ensure his bones would never be disturbed. He was succeeded by his son, crowned Kamehameha II, and his wife, now queen regent. These two ushered in a series of reforms that changed Hawaii for ages to come.

Sources:
"Captive Paradise" - James L. Haley

Military Intelligence

As someone who works in computer security, I have a passing fascination with the intelligence community. One name that interested me recently is COL Oscar Koch. He was the head intelligence officer for LTG Patton during World War II and basically predicted the Ardennes Counteroffensive, a.k.a. The Battle of the Bulge.

At the time, most intelligence officers had little motivation and collected meager information about the enemy directly in front of them. Koch handled things differently. He took in everything he could get. He knew troop positions, towns, rivers, railways, bridges, contours, and every other little thing for hundreds of miles around.

His collection methods were as varied as the data coming in. Reconnaissance planes would mark enemy positions. Draftsmen would map out an entire area to determine optimal paths around obstacles. American soldiers that could pass for Germans would disguise themselves behind enemy lines and eavesdrop in bars and restaurants. Encrypted radio transmissions would be broken.

All of this data would pour in for analysis by Koch. In Patton's war room, he would physically mark everything he could onto a large 1:250,000 scale map showing the entire Western Front.

That's great and all, but what's really impressive is how Koch was able to tie together subtle troop movements, on both sides, and realize that a large counteroffensive was imminent. 

Around October of 1944, Koch noticed a buildup of German troops to the north. At the time, most intelligence officers considered the area of the Ardennes Forest to be a rest area for the Germans, where troops rotated in and out between stints. Movement was not uncommon. However, Koch felt something was unusual. Wehrmacht troops were collecting there in much higher numbers. More of the movements occurred at night. All of the movements were under complete radio silence. The Germans clearly did not want the Allies to know about this.

Koch reported his ideas to Patton in very certain terms. Considering Koch's reluctance to speak in certainties unless, well, absolutely certain, Patton took him at his word and established a contingency plan to shoot north if anything should occur. Regrettably, most intelligence officers did not agree and assumed the German army was too weak for such a counteroffensive.

As Patton made his march eastward, Koch received signal intelligence of the Germans leaving their staging area before switching to radio silence. Koch reported that the Germans were almost certainly launching their attack. Patton immediately turned his army 90 degrees to the north and flanked the Germans during their attack.

Even though the Germans did break through the Allied line, they eventually ground to a halt and Patton's army rammed into their southern side while Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery pinched from the north. Supply lines were cut and the German troops eventually had to retreat.

The important thing to take away is this: thanks to Koch's thorough intelligence, Patton's army was ready and able to counter the German offensive before it even had a chance to start. I just thought that was very impressive.

Sources:
"Killing Patton" - Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
"Oscar Koch and the Confidence of the Commander"
"Oscar Koch: An Unsung Hero Behind Patton's Victories" - MAJ Kevin Dougherty (p.66-68)

18th Century Healthcare

The late 1700s was a weird time for healthcare. True medical knowledge was scarce, while superstition and home remedies were rampant. Here are some alleged "treatments" folks performed to cure what ailed them.

Have a nasty stye on your eye? Just stroke the eyelid with the tail of a black cat and the swelling should go down after about an hour!

Cut yourself while shaving? Kill a moth fluttering around your candle and apply the insect to the bleed. The bleeding will stop instantly!

Have skin covered in blots and blemishes? A mix of onion juice and vinegar takes them all away!

Have a toothache? Try pouring some freshly squeezed beet juice up your nose to quickly relieve the pain!

Still have a toothache? Have the tooth removed then jammed back in! This will probably destroy the nerve and cease the pain.

Have a cough and a fever? Get some powdered rhubarb root, mix it with some ginger, brandy, and water, drink the mixture, and within a few days all symptoms will dissipate! ORDER NOW and the rhubarb powder can even help cure other ailments, including but not limited to: gout, styes, ear aches, jaundice, nearsightedness, and much, much more!

If none of these treatments help, there's always bloodletting! Bring balance to the humours by physically removing the bad blood.

Sources:
"Jane Austen's England" - Roy and Lesley Adkins
"Culpeper's Complete Herbal" - Nicholas Culpeper

Candles

I don't know why, but I found the section in Jane Austen's England about candles strangely fascinating.  Around the turn of the 19th century, there was no electricity, and gas lighting was still a fancy new technology. Aside from the home's hearth, the primary source of light at night came from candles. Depending on your status in life, there were plenty of candle options, too.

The most expensive and highest-quality candles were made of beeswax. The flax or cotton wicks were either wrapped with sheets of beeswax or melted into a solid candle. Because they worked well in chandeliers and produced very little smoke, these candles were favoured in public buildings like theatres and churches.

Whale oil candles filled a similar niche as beeswax candles. They could be made in moulds and also burned cleanly.

Unfortunately, these pleasant candles were expensive, so the everyday folks had to turn to tallow candles. The wick of these candles would be repeatedly dipped in hot animal fat, then cooled to solidify. These candles would give off a flickering light and a bad smell. They also needed thicker wicks that would produce smoke. This wick would need to be regularly trimmed with scissors called "snuffers" while burning to avoid the charred wick getting too long. Mutton tallow was the choice animal fat, but beef and pork fat were also used.

All of those candles were taxed, however. The poor would need to make their own rushlights. Rushes would be picked, peeled, dried, and drawn through used cooking grease. Rushlights didn't last very long, but were cheap and gave a reasonably clean source of light.

Oil lamps were popular in coastal areas with access to cheap whale oil. Essentially, lamps were shallow containers filled with oil and held a suspended wick. Cheaper lamps produced more smoke and stink than candles, but some of the later lamps with glass chimneys did a better job of preventing that.

Sources:
"Jane Austen's England" - Roy and Lesley Adkins

The Safavids – Pre-Iran Iran

For those that don't realize, Persia and Iran are interchangeable words for the same place and have been for centuries. It's a interesting thing to think about. The Iran of today is a descendant of many great civilizations and empires, predating even Islam.

This post is about a specific period in Iranian history: the Safavid dynasty. This was a dynasty that grew out of the destruction wrought by the Mongols across Asia and Arabia, and essentially made Iran the Shi'a heartland it still is today.

It has its beginnings as a community that collected around a Sufi Sheikh named Safi al-Din. From the outset, Safi al-Din's Sufi order was similar to others. It was a spiritual community of like-minded individuals that followed the charismatic leader's teachings. The group did not have any particular political aspirations. However, as time went on, a pattern of hereditary leadership developed. After Safi al-Din's passing, his son inherited, followed by the son's son, then the son's son's son, &c.

As time continued, this Safavid order began to militarize and more resemble an insular cult. As the group began to interact more with anti-government groups, the local princes decided to put a stop to things. In 1488, the current head of the Safavid order was killed, along with his eldest son.

However, the younger son, Ismail, survived and was whisked away into a life of hiding for roughly a decade. At the age of twelve, he left his life of hiding, mobilized his Safavid military force, and overtook the prince that had his father and brother assassinated. Three years later, he was strong enough to declare himself Shahanshah, "the king of kings". This was an ancient Persian title that was intentionally chosen to distinguish himself from the Arab caliphs and sultans to the west.

Another major shift was Ismail's declaration of the state religion as Twelver Shi'ism (a Shi'a branch that would take a while to explain, so maybe I'll save it for another post). He declared that he had direct communication with the Shi'a's Hidden Imam (seriously, it's a long story), and directed missionaries to spread the word across the Ottoman Empire to the west. He even began persecuting the Sunnis living within his domain for not following the correct path.

Needless to say, the Ottoman sultan of the time was less than pleased with this attempted power grab and began executing Shi'i living within his own borders. This led to a polarization of Islamic sects, with Sunnis fleeing west to Ottoman lands and Shi'is fleeing east toward Safavid lands. Ismail pushed to blend Shi'ism with Persian culture and intertwine the two.

Tempers finally broke years later when the Ottoman army marched on Iran. The two armies met at a place called Chaldiran. With the use of their powerful firearms, the Ottomans defeated the Safavid army and ostensibly won the battle. However, they could not hold the city they conquered during the onset of winter and fell back. The Safavids retook the city, destroyed the land between the two empires, and ensured that neither army could cross over. The old dividing line, to this day, marks the border between the two modern successor states: Turkey and Iran.

The Iranian border solidified, and Ismail's remaining reign was relatively peaceful. Succeeding leaders oversaw a glorious growth in arts, architecture, industry, and technology.

For better or worse, time marched on, and the usual pattern of dynastic succession began to set in. After several great rulers, the Safavid dynasty began to devolve, preferring the decadent lifestyle over actual governance. Meanwhile, the Shi'a scholars began to draw power away from the monarchy. They gradually felt that the ruler did not really speak for the Hidden Imam; these ayatollahs actually spoke with that authority. Unfortunately for the ruling class, the merchants and the peasants believed them.

Now, monarchies don't like it when others question their authority. The Safavid rulers imported European military consultants to ensure that its armies were strong enough to keep the rabble in check.

This did little to slow the Safavid collapse during the late 18th century. Succession struggles allowed factions and provinces to break away, while Sunni neighbours were able to break in. Eventually, the Safavid dynasty completely dissolved. A new dynasty, the Qajars, filled the vacuum, but they were little more than puppets of the European powers. The Shi'a scholars continued to hold their religious authority, and felt nothing but disgust for this state of foreign control.

Sources:
“Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansary

Sufism - The Mystical Side of Islam

[image source]

Sufism is the more mystical branch of Islam. It grew out of many Muslims' desires to have a more personal experience with God. They would look at the religious laws coming into existence and felt there must be more to Islamic spirituality than blindly obeying. To accomplish this, believers would collapse into themselves and not only fulfill God's laws, but also completely dedicate themselves.

These early Sufis would find all sorts of ways to express their love of God. Some would pray constantly. Some, known as dervishes, would voluntarily relinquish all of their wealth. Some would wear clothing made of rough-spun wool, also known as suf in Arabic. Making the etymological connection will be left as an exercise for the reader.

Generally, Sufis were pretty laid back, so to speak. They weren't trying to form a new religion, sect, branch, or fork. They just really loved God and wanted to do everything they could to get closer to Him.

Some Sufis, apparently, were better at getting close to God than others. These charismatic leaders would occasionally attract groups of followers, form little communities of their own, and earn the honorific "Sheikh", or "elder". These groups would start to form their own traditions, beliefs, and understandings, but would generally move on when they lose their leader. In rare cases, however, a Sufi group can grow into a powerful dynasty. Actually, I think I'll save that last bit for another post.

Believe it or not, one of the earliest Sufi stars was a woman. Rabia al-Basri was born in Basra during the early 700's. As a child, her parents died and she was sold to a rich household as a slave. One night, her master heard her praying and was so awestruck by her passion that he agreed to free her and arrange a marriage for her. However, she declined and declared that she was already in love. She was in love with God. From then on, she became an ascetic and a mystical poet. Many Muslims gravitated toward her message of love for God and hoped some of her spirituality would transfer to them.

Needless to say, traditional Muslim scholars did not appreciate these shenanigans. They began to drop the hammer when some Sufi Sheikhs began declaring themselves God. Executions and torture were put into effect, but did little to stop the growing popularity of Sufi mysticism.

Mind, not all Sufi Sheikhs were overtly heretical. Most were relatively tame. For example, a Baghdad Sufi named al-Junayd would go to work every day, but would then return home and devote himself to God. He would perform four-hundred units of Muslim prayer, read the Qu'ran constantly, and generally try to win the struggle with his own desires.

Sufism remained a big deal for centuries. The people's interest in establishing a more personal connection with God never really abated. Overtime, Sufism's more relaxed, pick-and-choose spirituality helped spread Islam to further nomadic people.

Sources:
“Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansary

Ye Olde C-Sections

As it turns out, the caesarean section isn't as modern as I thought it was. For some reason, I assumed it was a 20^th century invention. In England, as it turns out, this surgery was a thing since at least the 1770's. It's likely Europeans had been carving out babies since even earlier. Though, back then, this operation was always a last resort sort of thing.

Childbirth in the 18^th century was much riskier than today's ultra sterile birthing facilities. Generally, the whole thing involved only the mother and some female family and friends. Occasionally, a paid midwife would be brought in. These midwives had no formal qualifications, just a lot of experience birthing babies.

Formally-trained male midwives were a relative rarity. However, they knew what they were doing. They had the research knowledge, experience, and fancy forceps to get things done right.

Either way, there were no anaesthetics or antibiotics. Mothers-to-be just had to grin (or grimace) and bear it. This was further exacerbated when birthing complications necessitated a caesarean.

William Cooper, in 1774, was the first doctor to perform a caesarean in England where the baby lived. However, the mother did not survive. It should be noted that surgical pain and a lack of anaesthetics usually results in dead bodies.

In 1793, James Barlow performed the first c-section where the mother survived. In this case, however, the baby did not survive.

It wasn't until around 1819 that the first recorded successful c-section, for both parties, was performed in the British Empire. In this case, it was performed in South Africa by an educated female midwife posing as a man.

Childbirth remained difficult and deadly for decades. Before 1800, about 1.5% of women died in childbirth. Compare that to about 0.0082% in 2010. (Note: the book that gives the former figure does not clarify if it was 1.5% of childbirths resulted in death or 1.5% of all womanly deaths were from childbirth)

Sources:
"Jane Austen's England" - Roy and Lesley Adkins
"Maternal mortality: how many women die in childbirth in your country?" - Simon Rogers
"Cesarean Section - A Brief History" - Jane Eliot Sewell, Ph.D.

The Early Caliphate

Rashidun - The Rightly Guided Caliphs

In the year 632 CE, Mohammed passed away. Barely a moment passed before the expanding Muslim community began asking who would lead them. The first leader to step up took the title of "caliph", which modestly meant "deputy". This man, Abu Bakr, Mohammed's father-in-law, became the first of the four so-called Rightly Guided Caliphs, which, according to Sunni tradition, tried hardest to stay true to Mohammed's revelations.

Abu Bakr

Shortly after Mohammed's death, the Muslim community faced an existential crisis. Without a single leader, it was going to break apart into the separate communities that existed before. To prevent this, representatives gathered together and decided to elect someone that will hold everyone together. To fill this newly created role of caliph, they chose Abu Bakr, Mohammed's well-respected father-in-law.

This was one of many contentious moments of the early caliphate. There were those who saw Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, as heir apparent. While the others were electing the new caliph, Ali respectfully stayed by Mohammed's side. This was the beginning of the well-known Shia-Sunni schism.

An aside: In an extreme oversimplification, Sunnis see reaching communal consensus as spiritual guidance, while the Shia see appointed leaders as the proper spiritual guides (i.e. Mohammed's chosen successor, Ali, and not the community-elected successor, Abu Bakr). As a result, the followers of Ali felt cheated and victims of the tyranny of the majority.

After some time, Ali accepted Abu Bakr, and Abu Bakr got to work dying. I don't mean clothes, I mean no longer living. Abu Bakr was caliph for only about two years before dying of a fever. During his short tenure, he managed to hold the community together, but to do so he established the idea linking apostasy with treason.

Omar

On his deathbed, Abu Bakr nominated Omar as his successor, and the community properly elected him. Omar was described as having a tough-guy exteriour. However, he was actually very frugal and humble.

At the time, Byzantium and Persia were moving to take advantage of young Arabia's weakness. The Byzantines were largely kept at bay, but Omar decided to face the Persian threat head on. This war against the Persians was the first physical battle to be declared a jihad. Meanwhile, the battle against Byzantium resulted in the capture of Jerusalem. Following all of these battles, Omar was not strict with the conquered. He did not force anyone to convert, so long as they agreed to pay a jizya, or religious tax.

Ten years following his election, Omar was assassinated by a crazed Persian slave. On his deathbed, instead of choosing a successor, he chose representatives from the community to elect the next caliph.

Othman

The company elected Othman, the old and rich fifth cousin of Mohammed. When I say rich, I mean exceptionally rich. He was a skilled businessman that maintained much of his wealth after moving to Medina with the rest of the community.

Nevertheless, Othman was very humble and charitable. He converted to Islam early and always had a nagging fear that he was not worthy of the heaven that awaited. At all times, he tried to do good for the community.

When Othman was elected as caliph, the Muslim community was no longer a small group that needed minimal governance. It had grown into its own entity, with its own taxes, courts, and infrastructure that was managed by the caliph. Othman was a very capable manager, but he had a habit of filling positions with friends and family of his own clan, the Umayyads. One name in particular was Mu'awiya, who Othman appointed as governor of Damascus. Remember that name, since it will be important later.

Meanwhile, the appointed governor of Egypt was collecting a much larger tax than his predecessor. If there's one thing the common folk dislike, it's a tax increase. A mass of petitioners marched on Othman's palace demanding the replacement of the governor. After some time, Othman relented and agreed. The mob was largely satisfied.

At least, they were satisfied until they received word of a "secret letter". On their way home, the group intercepted a messenger carrying a message that ordered the governor to arrest and physically punish the protestors. The letter did have Othman's seal, but, when confronted, he denied all knowledge of it.

The truth is not known, but Othman paid with his life. The mob eventually stormed his palace and assassinated the elderly caliph. Many believe someone's hand moved the mass to murder, but it is not agreed whose hand it was: Ali? Aisha? Mu'awiya?

Ali

Battle of Siffin

At last, it was Ali's turn to be elected caliph. His election succeeded largely to appease the mob that lingered following Othman's death, and he entered the leadership role with the cloud of death hanging above him. Making matters worse were separatists chipping away at his legitimacy from the inside. Mu'awiya was calling for punishment of the unknown assassins, the upper class politicians would not listen to him, and Aisha was raising her own army and denouncing Ali.

Mu'awiya was using symbolism to its fullest. He had and frequently waved around the supposed bloody shirt that Othman wore when he was killed. He demanded that the assassins receive just punishment for the death of the caliph. This was not simple, as no one knows who exactly killed Othman, and executing an entire mob was simply not practical.

In an effort to appease the mobs, Ali attempted to sack many of Othman's appointed governors and tried to reverse the economic reforms. Unfortunately for Ali, many of Othman's reforms had created a new upper class that refused to live the austere, religious life style. Most of the governors refused to step down.

Aisha, picking up on Mu'awiya's rabble-rousing, began a charismatic effort to denounce Ali. This came to a head when the armies of Aisha and Ali met. Before there could be any bloodshed, the two met and managed to clear the bad blood between them diplomatically. Unfortunately, some of Ali's men acted against orders and launched a surprise attack. This escalated into a full battle known as the Battle of the Camel. At the end of the bloodshed, Ali arguably won and settled things between Aisha, but a great deal of Muslim blood was spilled.

Shortly after this confrontation, Mu'awiya officially declared that the caliphate belonged to him. In 657 CE, the armies of Ali and Mu'awiya met at Siffin, Syria. The battle lasted for months. Mu'awiya's troops finally gained the upper hand by attaching pages of the Qu'ran to their weapons, which forced Ali's troops into talks for fear of defiling the holy text. At the end of the talks, Mu'awiya kept his hold on Syria and Egypt, while Ali kept his hold on everything else.

In 661 CE, a member of the radical Kharijites that disagreed with Ali's peace deal stabbed the caliph with a poison laced sword, resulting in Ali's death. The last of the Rightly Guided Caliphs was dead. Whether Mu'awiya had a hand in this or not continues to be debated, but he had won. He had become the caliph.

With Mu'awiya's ascension, the Arabs had ceased to be a solely a religious community. The Sunni-Shia split was all but assured. The Ummayyad Empire had begun.

 Sources:
“Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansary
“After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split” - Lesley Hazleton

…And Love The Bomb

Lets speak for a moment about the atomic bomb. Specifically, a bit about its history. Since this particular weapon is so pivotal in human history, I figured it'd be a good idea to see what happened.

1930s – The Science

It was 33 years since Albert Einstein asserted his famous equation, E=mc², which implies that mass can be transformed into energy. Two Berlin scientists, performing an experiment with uranium, bombarded the heavy atoms with neutrons and split it. This was nuclear fission. This was transforming mass into energy. This was what would power the first generation of nuclear weapons.

1940s – The Atomic Bomb

In August of 1939, Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Roosevelt expressing concern that the Germans may be developing a weapon that was powered by a nuclear chain reaction. The President agreed that "this requires action". The Manhattan Project begins. There were many challenges involved, including: how to procure enough refined uranium and plutonium, how to begin a chain reaction, and, finally, how to detonate the fuel. These issues were largely worked out by the summer of 1945, when US scientists had created the first nuclear bomb. On 1945 July 16, "Fat Man" was detonated at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The blast was about as powerful as 15,000-20,000 tons of TNT.

Fast forward a few weeks and refocus on the Pacific theatre of World War II. Japan has yet to surrender. President Truman, who "regarded the bomb as a military weapon", issued orders to prepare and deploy three atomic weapons on Japan.

On 1945 August 6, the B-52 "Enola Gay" made a bombing run for Hiroshima, Japan and dropped a 13-kiloton atomic bomb. About 142,000 people died.

On 1945 August 9, the B-29 "No. 77" dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. About 75,000 people died.

On 1945 August 14, Japan surrendered. Whether these bombings encouraged Japan's surrender continues to be debated, but the atomic bomb had become a centerpiece of American foreign policy. The US thought it would be another several decades before any other countries could have this power.

Around 1949 August 27, the Soviet Union detonated their own atomic bomb.

1950s – The Hydrogen Bomb

Feeling threatened by the USSR's rapid advancement, President Truman approved research into a new type of weapon on 1950 January 31, the hydrogen bomb. Instead of fission, the hydrogen bomb relied on nuclear fusion, and would be roughly one-thousand times more powerful than current fission bombs.

There were similar questions as with the first atomic bomb: what kind of fuel to use and how to get it, and how to generate enough initial energy to begin the fusion. The decision was to use lithium deuteride as fuel and traditional fission explosives to trigger the fusion. It was the first day of November 1952, on a Pacific islet known as Elugelab, that the first fusion bomb, "Mike", was detonated. The blast was about as powerful as 12,000,000 tons of TNT. It was only nine months later when the Soviet Union detonated their own hydrogen bomb.

On the plus side, nobody died as a result of nuclear explosions. Well, not directly, at any rate.

1960s – Missiles and Submarines

Now that the Soviets had the hydrogen bomb, the new question for the US was how to deliver these bombs. The traditional bombers were relatively slow and easily destroyed by enemy defences. Interest shifted to missiles.

Beginning in 1957, US engineers created newer and newer versions of nuclear ballistic missiles. The first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was the Atlas: 85 feet long, 120 tons, and accurate within 5 miles. What followed were continuous improvements with missiles named: Titan, Titan II, and Minuteman. The Minuteman had a range of 6,000 miles and was significantly more accurate. For most intents and purposes, there is no defence for a missile closing in at 9,400 miles per hour.

Alongside ballistic missile research, developments were being made to submarine warfare. In 1956, the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), Polaris, was introduced. At only about 28 feet long, this nuclear warhead could be loaded into and fired from a submarine. Further refinements to firepower and distance were made with the Poseidon and Trident missiles.

Starting in 1967, the US started to seriously look into anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defence. Many ideas were developed, including The Safeguard system that would shoot down incoming missiles with its own missiles. However, none of the ideas bore effective fruit. Before any decent solutions could be created, new weapons were being developed that defeated them anyway. For example, the multiple independently targeted reentry vehicle (MIRV) overcame these proposed defences by simply putting a cluster of warheads on each missiles. An ABM system may take out the first warhead, but the others would still make the target. It wasn't until 1973 that the Soviets would test their own MIRV.

1970s – Improved Accuracy and Cheap Uranium

In October of 1973, the Yom Kippur War flared up, resulting in nuclear-armed tension akin to the Cuban Missile Crisis. This encouraged another push into further research. Specifically, improving accuracy. The better a missile's accuracy, the better the destructive power.

Building off of the MIRV, US engineers began work on the maneuverable reentry vehicle (MARV). By adding weights, flaps, sensors, and GPS to the vehicle, it can be guided as it descended on its target.

Next came the cruise missile. These missiles could be launched from just about any type of vehicle and flew relatively low to the ground to avoid radar. Cruise missiles were cheap ($1.4 million each), far-reaching (2,000 miles), and accurate (within 100 feet).

The USSR was, of course, developing the same technology. At this point, only five countries had the technical know-how to develop and deploy nuclear weapons: the US, the USSR, the UK, France, and China. That changed on 1974 May 18, when India detonated their own 12-kiloton nuclear bomb.

The fact that a sixth country detonated a nuclear explosive was not the shocking thing; what shocked the world was the fuel they used. Traditional uranium and plutonium for bombs was created in expensive enrichment facilities. Instead, India reprocessed spent nuclear reactor rods, which contained various forms of the weapons-grade material. As nuclear energy was not uncommon, the cost for other countries to create their own nuclear weapons significantly dropped. By 1977, nine more nations had the bomb: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Africa, Taiwan, and West Germany. By 1982, twenty-one more joined the club.

1980s – This Book Was Published

Sadly, the history lesson ends here. The book I was reading (see below) was published in 1982, so I don't have any more history close at hand. I'll probably do some more digging, but I think I've had enough writing for now.

Sources:

"The Bomb" - Sidney Lens

Post-Bomb Secrecy Bonanza

It seems that a lot of the super secret government organizations and procedures that are all the rage nowadays saw their start shortly after the successful deployment of the atomic bomb. The bomb was, well, the bomb-diggity and gave the US a major upper hand in global diplomacy. At least, for a little while. In an effort to ensure this advantage, the government established several new forms of secrecy to keep the enemy always one step behind. Three new measures that are immediately recognizable are as follows:

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

In 1947, the National Security Act was signed by President Truman. One of the things it established was the National Security Council, an intelligence organization for coordinating foreign and domestic policy in the Executive Branch. The operational branch of this organization is the CIA. 

National Security Agency (NSA)

Another executive order, at the behest of the National Security Council, created the NSA on 1952 Nov 4. Its existence was labeled as classified and not acknowledged for another five years. (This was all the book told me, so I did a little further digging to add some meat to this paragraph.) Originally, the various pre-NSA organizations had a messy chain of command. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the Director of Central Intelligence were given the task of of reorganizing these separate groups. The decision was made to bring them together and make them directly subordinate to the Secretary of Defense. It became official on 1952 Oct 24 with a revision to NSCIB No. 9. 

Classified information

Anyone that has ever worked for the US government is probably aware of its information sensitivity scale. This marks information from Confidential, Secret, or all the way up to Top Secret (nowadays, there are even some in between). This came to be via Executive Order 10501, signed by President Eisenhower on 1953 Nov 5. 

Sources:

"The Bomb" - Sidney Lens

"The Early History of NSA" - George F. Howe

Truman with Newsmen

The Life and Times of Mohammed

Okay, this post is going to sum up what I've learned about Islam's prophet from two books (see below). I read After the Prophet some time ago, but decided to bring it back out since I'm currently reading Destiny Disrupted, which gives Mohammed only about a single chapter. I figure the two of them together should give me a good enough picture.

Mohammed was born sometime around 570 CE. He was born a member of the Quraysh tribe, which was basically the leading group in Mecca. Sadly, both of his parents died while he was young, and he was basically a nobody for quite some time.

At 25, Mohammed was hired by a well-to-do businesswoman, Khadija. In a relationship that would totally work nowadays, boss and employee fell in love and married. This turned out to be pretty handy. After Mohammed was first visited by the angel Gabriel, Khadija was the first person to believe him. Until Khadija's death he never married another woman.

After a while, Mohammed received more revelations. Things along the lines of: there is only one God, give up immoral vices, help the poor, &c. He started to take this message public and gathered some followers. Several of these followers will be important later: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, and Ali.

Mecca's leadership did not like this one bit. They had built up a big religious tourism industry around various idols and gods. They decided this loudmouth had to be eliminated. The assassination was set for an evening in September, 622 CE. Mohammed found out about the plot and evacuated to Yathrib (later named Medina).

This flee from Mecca, called the Hijra, was kind of a big deal. It marks year 0 on the Muslim calendar. It's so big because it's considered the start of the Umma, or the Muslim community. Members would abandon their tribes and clans and become one with the Umma. They would live together in peace and all would be cared for.

Mecca wasn't done with Mohammed yet, though. After the Hijra, there were several battles that tried to eliminate Mohammed. They didn't succeed and, after a while, they basically gave up. A few years later, after a dream, Mohammed decided it was time to return to Mecca. So he did. Eventually, the elders of Mecca gave up the city and it rolled into the Umma.

One of the first things Mohammed did in Mecca was rededicate the Kaaba. Originally, this big black box was a tourist attraction that housed various local idols. Not anymore. The idols were destroyed and Mohammed declared it the most sacred place (supposedly, it was built by Abraham himself). The tourism industry in Mecca is still doing fine to this day.

Twenty-five years after their marriage, Khadija died. Mohammed married nine times after this for political reasons, but his favourite wife was the young firebrand Aisha. That's another name to remember, since it will be important later and on the test.

It was in Aisha's company that Mohammed would die of illness at the age of 63.

Sources:

“Destiny Disrupted: A History of theWorld Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansary

“After the Prophet: The Epic Story ofthe Shia-Sunni Split” - Lesley Hazleton