My Science School

The gladiator was a fighter of Ancient Rome. The name derives from gladio, the Latin word for the sword used during the fighting. The Colosseum gladiators were usually slaves or prisoners of war, or people condemned for committing some crime.

The duels between gladiators were born in Etruria and were later taken up by the Romans. Their origin is attributable to the munera, or public works created for the sake of the Roman people. The munera gladiatoria were public shows offered by wealthy people on certain occasions. Among these were gladiator games.

Roman gladiators were pro at fighting. The familiae were the groups of gladiators trained by the lanists: in the schools they were taught how to die in the arena. At the entrance to the arena, the competitors went under the Emperor’s gallery and shouted: “Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant” (“Hail, Caesar! Those about to die salute thee”). The defeated gladiator had to know how to die with dignity, the winner instead made him swing his sword in the air before piercing the opponent’s neck. The public expressed their appreciation for the possibility of granting life or death, but the killing of a professional gladiator was rare. The winning gladiator would gain success and well-being, as well as the possibility of obtaining leave after a career of triumphs.

Credit : Ancient and Recent

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Shah Jahan was the fifth ruler of the Mughal dynasty. During his third regnal year, his favorite wife, known as Mumtaz Mahal, died due to complications arising from the birth of their fourteenth child.  Deeply saddened, the emperor started planning the construction of a suitable, permanent resting place for his beloved wife almost immediately. The result of his efforts and resources was the creation of what was called the Luminous Tomb in contemporary Mughal texts and is what the world knows today as the Taj Mahal.

Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in Agra, where he took the throne in 1628. First conquered by Muslim invaders in the eleventh century, the city had been transformed into a flourishing area of trade during Shah Jahan’s rule. Situated on the banks of the Yamuna River allowed for easy access to water, and Agra soon earned the reputation as a “riverfront garden city,” on account of its meticulously planned gardens, lush with flowering bushes and fruit-bearing trees in the sixteenth century.

When Mumtaz Mahal died at age 38 in 1631, the emperor is reported to have refused to engage in court festivities, postponed two of his sons’ weddings, and allegedly made frequent visits to his wife’s temporary resting place (in Burhanpur) during the time it took for the building of the Taj to be completed. Stories like these have led to the Taj Mahal being referred to as an architectural “symbol of love” in popular literature. But there are other theories: one suggests that the Taj is not a funeral monument, and that Shah Jahan might have built a similar structure even if his wife had not died. Based on the metaphoric specificity of Qur’anic and other inscriptions and the emperor’s love of thrones, another theory maintains that the Taj Mahal is a symbolic representation of a Divine Throne—the seat of God—on the Day of Judgment. A third view holds that the monument was built to represent a replica of a house of paradise. In the “paradisiacal mansion” theory, the Taj was something of a vanity project, built to glorify Mughal rule and the emperor himself.

Credit : Khan Academy

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Many of the world’s most amazing sights were not made by people. Nature has some of the best attractions.

Some of the most beautiful natural wonders on Earth feature spectacular rivers or waterfalls. For instance, the Amazon River in South America is so wide that in some places you can’t see the other side. It is the second longest river in the world. The Amazon starts in Peru and flows all the way across Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean.

Also in South America are the Iguacu Falls. This is actually an entire system of nearly 500 waterfalls that are separated by small islands. The falls form part of the border between Argentina and Brazil. The site is one of the most popular attractions in South America.

Wide beams of coloured light shine on rushing falling, crashing water at Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls is made up of two waterfalls, the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of the border and the American Falls on the U.S. side. Millions of people visit this site each year.

In Africa, the rushing waters of the Victoria Falls, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, sound like thunder. The fall's huge clouds of spray look like thick white smoke. At its highest point, this waterfall on the Zambezi River plunges 111 metres into a rocky canyon.

The world's largest desert is also a natural wonder. This desert, the Sahara, also lies in the continent of Africa. The Sahara is almost the size of the entire United States. Part of this desert is sand, but most of it is rock and gravel plains.

 

Sometimes, it's not the place that's a natural wonder-but what lives there. Tsavo (SAH voh) National Park in Kenya stretches for thousands of miles. But the wondrous part of the park is the animals-buffaloes, cheetahs, elephants, rhinoceroses, and zebras, for instance that roam freely there. With some wonders, it is the actual site that's amazing. In North America, the Colorado River has been cutting a giant canyon in Arizona for 6 million years.

This valley is so deep that people call it the Grand Canyon. In some places, the canyon is 1.6 kilometres deep and up to 29 kilometres wide.

Some natural wonders are underwater! A coral reef is made up of the hardened skeletons of tiny animals called coral polyps. The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia, is the largest coral reef in the world. This chain of reefs extends for about 2,000 kilometres. People from all over the world come to see the amazing variety of fish that live there.

Some natural wonders are mountains. Mount Fuji is the pride of Japan and is sacred to many Japanese people.

The highest mountain in the world is also in Asia. Mount Everest, on the borders of Tibet and Nepal, is 8,850 metres high. Everest is called Chomolungma by the Tibetans and Sagarmatha by the Nepalese, both names basically mean "Goddess Mother of the Earth." Many Buddhists-followers of a major religion founded about 500 B.C. by a teacher who came to be known as Buddha-consider Mount Everest to be sacred.

 

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Did you know that there are monuments, tombs, and huge walls that were built hundreds or even thousands of years ago? Sometimes only small parts, or ruins, of these places remain. But you can still visit them today.

In England, tourists and scientists alike are amazed by Stonehenge, a group of huge, rough-cut stones set in circles. Scientists believe that ancient people built Stonehenge as a gathering place. Much of the monument is gone, but scientists think that when it was first built, an earth wall about 98 metres across circled it. Thirty blocks of grey sandstone stood like guards 4 metres above the ground.

Another wonder from long ago is the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt. Pyramids were built by Egyptians about 4,500 years ago as tombs for their kings. The Great Pyramid contains more than 2 million stone blocks.

In Peru, you can visit the ruins of Machu Picchu, once a walled city on the top of a mountain. It was built during the late 1400’s by the Inca and was probably a home for the Inca royal family.

The longest structure ever built is the Great Wall of China. Its main part stretches more than 8,850 kilometres. The wall was built to protect the northern Chinese border against enemies. Most of the wall that stands today was built in the 1400’s.

Another famous ruin is the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. The structure was completed in A.D. 90. From that time until 404, the Colosseum was a place where people could watch fights between gladiators who were slaves or paid fighters. Battles between men and wild animals and other events entertained Romans. The Colosseum was later abandoned. Many of its stones were used to build other structures.

The Colosseum was the largest outdoor theatre in ancient Rome. It could seat about 50,000 people. It is made of brick and concrete and is surrounded by 80 entrances.

The Parthenon is a famous ruin on top of a hill in Athens, Greece. It was constructed between 447 and 432 B.C. The Parthenon was a temple built to honour the Greek goddess Athena.

The Parthenon is shaped like a rectangle. It stands about 18 metres high. When the Parthenon was built, it had many brightly coloured statues and sculptured panels that showed stories from ancient Greece. Today, many of those statues are at museums in Athens and in London, England.

 

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People have built many incredible structures. Some soar to dizzying heights. Others cross huge lakes or rivers. Here are just a few modern wonders you can see around the world.

The Eiffel Tower is a huge iron tower in Paris. Built for a world’s fair in 1889, the tower rises 300 metres. You can take stairs or lifts to the top. The Eiffel Tower was the highest structure in the world for many years.

In Toronto, Canada, stands the CN Tower, one of the world’s highest free-standing structures. The communications and observation tower stands 553 metres high. It was completed in 1976.

In 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge opened in Japan. Its main suspension span, the world’s longest, stretches 1,990 metres across the Akashi Strait. The bridge took about 10 years to build.

The Channel Tunnel is an undersea railway that connects the United Kingdom with France. It opened in 1994. Fast electric trains carry cars and buses, people and goods through the tunnel, under the English Channel. The journey can take less than 35 minutes.

The Suez Canal waterway joins the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea in Egypt. It is 190 kilometres long and 19.5 metres deep. When the canal opened in 1869, ships travelling between England and India no longer had to sail around Africa. This shortened the trip by 8,000 kilomteres!

Another famous canal was built between North America and South America to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. When the Panama Canal was finished in 1914, it shortened the trip between New York City, New York and San Francisco, California, by 14,500 kilometres. Ships no longer had to sail around South America.

 

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Mount Elbrus is a dormant volcano and the highest mountain in Europe. Its summit is 18,510 feet (5,642 meters) above sea level. It is located in Russia.

With an elevation of 18,510 feet (5,642 meters), it is part of the Caucasus Range that straddles Asia and Europe, although most geographers place it in Europe. This makes it the tallest mountain in Europe and one of the Seven Summits, the highest mountains in each of the continents and elite climbers aspire to summit all of them.

Mount Elbrus’ prominence —a measure of how distinct a mountainis from nearby peaks — is 15,554 feet (4,741 m), making it the 10th most prominent mountain in the world. The east summit is slightly lower at 18,442 feet (5,621 m).

Elbrus has a unique cable car system, which was built on the south side of the mountain from 1959 to 1976. The cable car reaches 12,500 feet (3,658 m).  From there, most climbers take the Standard Route up the south side to the summit.

While the lack of crevasses can lull climbers into a false sense of safety, the Standard Route is challenging due to the snow, high winds and a high elevation. About 15 to 30 climbers die each year, which is a fairly high ratio of climbers to climber deaths when compared to other mountains.

 

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The Eisriesenwelt is one of nature’s jewels. It is located in Werfen, Austria, about 40km south of Salzburg and is accessible by a steep cable car ride.

The Eisriesenwelt is the largest ice cave in the world. Gigantic walls of blue ice greet you as you enter the 42 km-long labyrinth of caves in the mountains of the Tennengebirge. Although the cave extends for over 42 km, only the first kilometre, the area that tourists are allowed to visit, is covered in ice. The rest of the cave is formed of limestone.

Eisriesenwelt was formed by the Salzach River, which eroded passageways into the mountain. The ice formations in the cave were formed by thawing snow which drained into the cave and froze during winter. Since the entrance to the caves is open year-round, chilly winter winds blow into the cave and freeze the snow inside. In summer, a cold wind from inside the cave blows toward the entrance and prevents the formations from melting.

The chilly winds blowing in and out of the cave freeze the water from the melting snow that trickles into the cracks and crevices of the rocks. The result is a crystalline wonderland of natural ice formations. Apart from the frosty stalagmites and stalactites, the shapes resemble a gushing river frozen solid in time. The more you gaze, the more variety of forms you can imagine, such as a waterfall, caste, an icy chapel or an organ! When the guide sets off magnesium flare, the cave gleams with an ethereal glow. Here, the temperature hovers at 0  and lower even in the height of summer. So visitors have to wear warm jackets and gloves.

Before the cave was studied by scientists, locals believed that it was an entrance to Hell and refused to explore it. Though it was first discovered by Anton Pooselt in 1879, expeditions to the cave began only after over 30 years.

 

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In the lush green valley of Bekaa, about 79 km from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, stand the ruins of once-resplendent Roman temples. The city of Baalbek was built in Phoenician times and it was dedicated to Baal the sun god. Later, the Greeks renamed it Heliopolis or the City of the Sun. In 47 B.C., Julius Caesar made Baalbek a Roman colony, the beginning of its golden age.

Over a span of 200 years, starting from the 1st century A.D., a succession of Roman emperors supervised the construction of temples in honour of the popular Roman deities, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury, as well as the god of wine Bacchus. All the temples were built on a raised platform giving a breathtaking view of the surrounding countryside. Earthquakes destroyed much of Baalbek till it was re-discovered and restored in the 19th century. Today, a few Corinthian pillars, the colonnaded entrance and some sculptures and staircases are all that remain.

When archaeologists dug up the site, they found part of a massive stone wall containing three of the largest cut blocks of stone in the world. Named the Trilithon, each of the three stones would be as tall as a six-storey house if stood on end. It would be extremely difficult even with the most modern industrial cranes available today, to transport and place such large stones in a horizontal position. How did the Romans achieve such a stupendous task, not seen on this scale anywhere else in their vast empire?

The largest stone measures 19 x 4 x 3.5 metres and weighs some 800 tons. The quarry is more than a kilometer away, from where each block was transported to Baalbek, lifted up 7.5 metres and placed precisely on top of a platform of smaller stones. So precisely in fact, that it is impossible to insert the blade of a knife between the joints! Some people believed that it must have been built by the devil himself. Others believe that a supernatural or extra-terrestrial force was at work.

Another block of stone weighing about 1000 tons lies unused in the quarry. That it was too heavy for the people, who transported the Trilithion, is an explanation that doesn’t quite satisfy.

 

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Nestling in the Sierra Nevada, the Yosemite National Park, California, is a geological marvel with awesome rock formations, waterfalls and spectacular scenery.

Over 3 million tourists visit Yosemite, a World Heritage site, every year to get a glimpse of its natural beauty – lakes, coniferous forests, glaciers and mountain peaks. Its landscape is ideal for rock climbing, camping, hiking, bicycling, horse-riding, skiing, and snowshoeing.

Highlights

• At 739 m, the Yosemite Falls in North America’s tallest waterfall and the third highest in the world.


• Yosemite houses three groves of giant sequias, the world’s largest living things, including the world’s oldest sequoia. The Grizzly Giant is 27,00 years old and has branches which are thicker than the trunks of most sequoias!


• The world’s largest granite monoliths, El Capitan (1097m) and Half Dome (1463m), can be found here. Their steep faces are a rock climber’s delight.


• The expansive park (3,100 sq. km) contains five major types of vegetation zones, supporting a wide diversity of plants and wildlife, especially the black bear.

 

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Just south of Osaka City, in an area known as Mozu, is a cluster of 49 ancient burial mounds or tombs, the most well-known and best-preserved of the 160, 000 such tombs found in Japan. The large mounds of earth are located on a plateau that rises above the Osaka Plain. Known as ‘kofun’, Japanese for ‘old burial mound’, the size of a mound and the decorations atop it indicate the social status of the person buried there.

The kofun are in the form of keyholes, scallops, squares or circles. The tombs for the elite ruling class contain a number of funerary objects such as weapons, armour and ornaments. The mounds are adorned with clay figures that represent houses, tools, weapons and humans.

The tombs were built between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The largest kofun measuring 800m by 600m, is that of Emperor Nintoku. It is in the shape of a keyhole and is surrounded by moats.

Though the tombs are not open to the public, they can be viewed from the observation deck on the 21st floor of the Sakai City Hall, which is located about a kilometre away.

UNESCO designated the Mozu Kofun a World Heritage Site in 2019.

 

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If you are in the town of Binche in Belgium before Lent, around February-March, you can witness a masterpiece of intangible heritage in action.The carnival of Binche which has its roots in the Middle Ages is one of Europe’s oldest celebrations.

The six weeks before Lent are marked by merrymaking, masquerades, musical acts and dancing. The gala event takes place on the three days before Lent. The streets are abuzz with live music and a parade of peculiarly dressed men in peasant, Harlequin and Pierrot costumes.

The stars of the parade are the Gilles (clown-like performers). Hundreds costumes embellished with heraldic design, don wax masks.

On the last and most important day of the festivities - Mardi Gras – the Gilles appear in their full regalia from sunrise to sunset With sticks in hand to ward off ‘evil spirits’, bells attached to their belt, wooden clogs on their feet and towering headgears made of ostrich feathers, groups of Gilles parade down the town’s streets to the accompaniment of brass bands. The carnival culminates in a dance around a huge bonfire and a brilliant display of fireworks.

 

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North America is a land of natural marvels. One such is Cape Perpetua on the Oregon Coast in USA. The wooded headland that juts out into the Pacific Ocean was named by British explorer Captain James Cook in 1778 in honor of St. Perpetua’s Day.

Today, Cape perpetua is popular with picnickers and hikers because of its stunning oceanic scenery. On a day, one can gaze more than 30 km into the Pacific Ocean and get a pristine watching. There is also a 600-year-old spruce tree that has been designated a ‘Heritage Tree’ by the state.

What makes the cape more fascinating are the salt water fountains which are powered by the ocean tide. One of them, called Thor’s Well is a hole in the rocky shoreline. The waters of the swelling tide swirl into the hole; when the hole fills up, the water splashes back out and collides with the incoming surge. Photographers particularly love shooting this breathtaking scene at Thor’s Well. At the Spouting Horn, another such hole, the water spews out four metres into the air like the spout of a whale.

 

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‘Ithaa’ means ‘pearl’ in Dhivehi, the local language of the Maldives.

It is the world’s first all-glass undersea restaurant. It has been built five metres below the sea near the resort of Rangali, owned by a popular hotel chain. It measures five by nine metres and can hold 14 people at one time. It is covered by a transparent roof of acrylic and offers a breathtaking view.

The restaurant was designed and constructed by a company based in New Zealand and assembled in Singapore, then transported to the Maldives by ship.

Ithaa was thrown open to the public in June 2005.

 

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Ta Prohm, better known as the temple of trees, was featured on screen in 2001 when Angelina Jolie walked through the ruins of this exotic 12th Century Cambodian temple in her adventure as Lara Croft.

Originally called Rajavihara, the temple was built by Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Buddhist monastery dedicated to his mother. Influenced by the Indian style of temple architecture, its layout has a set of concentric walled galleries, linking 39 towers around the main shrine of Prajnaparamita, a Bodhisattva. Records claim that the temple was like a town, controlling 3,140 villages and housing more than 12,500 people including monks and dancers. It was abandoned after the fall of the Khmer empire and later ransacked by marauders.

Its most distinctive feature is its state of ruin. French archaeologists left the temple in the way they had discovered it in 1947. Its intricately carved stone walls are completely engulfed in the stranglehold of centuries-old silk-cotton and strangler fig trees. Like giant tentacles, the roots not only twist their way all over the structure, but in most cases, even hold nature’s silent yet steely grip on man’s creation draws thousands of visitors to Ta Prohm every year.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute have been entrusted with the restoration and conservation of the temple. The challenge is to restore the temple without damaging the trees. The ASI had earlier successfully restored the Angkor Wat temple.

 

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Nestled in the mountains of northern Philippines lies the hill station of Baguio City. In the month of February, the town is engulfed in a colourful burst of flowers. The Panagbenga Festival is a month-long flower festival intended to celebrate the history, traditions and values of Baguio.

Panagbenga means ‘season of blooming’ in the local language. The festival began in the 1990s to bring cheer to the people who were recovering from an earthquake in the region and to promote tourism.

Flower exhibitions, floral arrangement competitions, concerts and street dances fascinate onlookers. Shops and food stalls in the bazaars add to the general excitement. The highlights of the festival are the Grand Street Dancing Parade and the Grand Float Parade held during the last weekend of February. The dance parade features dancers in flower of various types. The festival draws to a close in a brilliant display of fireworks.

 

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