WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:04.320 Welcome. This is Marcia for Radio I and today I 2 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:08.720 will be reading National Geographic Magazine dated December twenty twenty four. 3 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:12.439 As a reminder, RADIOI is a reading service intended for 4 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.800 people who are blind or have other disabilities that make 5 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:19.280 it difficult to read printed material. Please join me now 6 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:23.399 for the first article Why cats make Great Sailors by 7 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:28.679 Scott Christensen. They famously detest water, but have been fixtures 8 00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:32.520 on ships since the dawn of seafaring. They had names 9 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.159 such as Tom the Terror, wakele Beunce, Dirty Face, and 10 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:39.640 Bilge Water. They traveled thousands of miles on the most 11 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:44.240 storied warships with some of history's saltiest sailors. They were 12 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:48.920 valued members of the crew, often even issued custom miniature 13 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:53.000 uniforms for photographs and their own tiny hammocks for cat napping. 14 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.039 They were the cats that served in the world's navies. 15 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.840 Shipcats are not a recent phenomenon. They have been so 16 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.560 serving on ships for almost as long as humans have 17 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.519 been going to see Ancient Egyptian tune paintings depict them 18 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:09.840 hunting from boats sailing down the Nile, and cats made 19 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:14.439 their way across the Mediterranean aboard Phoenician and Greek trading vessels. 20 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:18.879 Cats hunting prowess on land made them valuable companions at sea. 21 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:24.040 Rodent infestations caused major problems on ships, as rats and 22 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:29.400 mice contaminated and consumed food stores, chewed through equipment, and 23 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:32.959 spread disease. Cats were a cheap and effective solution to 24 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.519 the vermin, and they were also good company on long voyages. 25 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.120 They could provide a vessel's crew with a morale boost 26 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:42.000 in the form of much needed affection and a bit 27 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:45.760 of softness in the spartan environment of a ship. Since 28 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:48.840 cats were considered mascots to be shared by all the sailors, 29 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:53.480 they also helped create bonds among the crew. Perhaps not surprisingly, 30 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:59.079 sailors developed plenty of superstitions around feline behavior. Seamen preparing 31 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.120 to sail considered at good luck when cats chose to 32 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:05.519 board their vessels, but it was a dreadful sign indeed 33 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.840 when a cat decided to jump ship, and even worse 34 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:11.680 omen the sight of two cats fighting out a pier, 35 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.479 which could be forewarning that those setting sail would perish. 36 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.360 Some early mariners believed that cats could control the weather 37 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:22.680 with their tails. Twitching them in a certain manner meant 38 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.039 that the cats were angry and preparing to unleash a 39 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:29.759 violent storm. Sailors later realized that cats twitched their tails 40 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:32.479 when they were agitated by a sudden drop in air pressure, 41 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:38.319 indicating that the ship could soon face unfavorable weather. Crews 42 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:41.439 began to monitor all the mannerisms of their ship's cats 43 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:44.840 and viewed any unusual behavior as a storm warning. The 44 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:49.080 felines were, in a sense, little furry barometers. Though cats 45 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:52.879 are known for their aversion to water, their biology makes 46 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:56.680 them surprisingly suited to life at sea. Unlike sailors such 47 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:59.639 as the Limeys of the Royal Navy, who famously drank 48 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:02.840 sick t used to prevent scurvy, cats can make their 49 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:06.039 own vitamin sea and can therefore survive on a diet 50 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.400 that lacks fruits and vegetables. Cats are also able to 51 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.439 obtain most of the water they need from their prey, 52 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.319 so they do not require a lot of poudable water, 53 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:19.360 as human sailors do. In addition, cats have an excellent 54 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:22.840 internal filtration system that allows them to drink a bit 55 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:26.680 of sea water if necessary. Throughout the so called Age 56 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:30.319 of Discovery, cats were a mainstay on European vessels and 57 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.439 even played a role in the insurance protocols of the day. 58 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:38.639 Legal codes published in Valencia and Spain in fourteen ninety 59 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:41.680 four held the patron of a vessel responsible for any 60 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:45.400 damage done to merchandise by rats if he had neglected 61 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:48.919 to provide for on board feline protection. If cats were 62 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:52.280 on board, then the patron was in the clear. Into 63 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:56.000 the twentieth century, cats remained fixtures on ships in the 64 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.159 United Kingdom. One of the earliest and largest cat rescue 65 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:02.840 programs occurred during the First World War, when thousands of 66 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:05.680 strays were rounded up in cities and given to the military. 67 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:09.360 The cats supplied to the Royal Navy even received a 68 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:14.080 weekly victually allowance of one shilling and sixpence to pay 69 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.680 for treats from the ship's canteen. The large U. S 70 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:19.800 Navy vessel could be home to as many as two 71 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:22.879 dozen cats, some that prowled the galley and grew fat, 72 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:25.639 while others preferred the bowels of the ship, where they 73 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:28.680 could find refuge from the loud sounds of a ship's guns. 74 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.720 Cats have a reputation for being notoriously difficult to train, 75 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.160 but some sailors claimed they learned to speak cat and 76 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:39.439 were able to get their mascots to perform feats such 77 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:43.600 as standing at attention, saluting, walking tight ropes, and ringing bells. 78 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:47.160 This especially contributed to the U. S. Navy's good wild 79 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:50.920 efforts in foreign ports. When locals were invited for ship 80 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:56.639 tours that included a brief show featuring performing cats, the 81 00:04:56.680 --> 00:04:59.480 friendliest felines were happy to stay in the birthing area, 82 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.920 where they received plenty of attention from sailors. They could 83 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:06.160 also sleep in hammocks that reduced the sensation of swaying 84 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:10.399 felt aboard a ship. After all, ship cats would get 85 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:14.560 just as seasick as humans. Following the end of the 86 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.519 Second World War, the special position that cats held on 87 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:21.639 Navy ships began to decline. In the United States, improvements 88 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:25.720 in fumigation and pest control made them somewhat redundant as 89 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:30.399 chief mousers. Some commanding officers even viewed them as distractions. 90 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:32.839 But the bigger problem for cats in the U. S. 91 00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:36.600 Navy lay in public relations. In the immediate post World 92 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:39.800 War two era, members of Congress were looking to enact 93 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.399 deep defense cuts, including to the Navy's budget. To make 94 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:47.680 a point about inefficiency, legislators revealed that one ship had 95 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.800 staffed a three man committee to plan a funeral for 96 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:55.040 their mascot cat. The example was misleading. The true costs 97 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.240 of keeping cats to maintain morale were nominal and often 98 00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:01.680 paid by the crew themselves, but the charge of frivolous 99 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:05.800 spending none the less embarrassed navy brass more than anything. 100 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:08.319 The long run of the ship cat was ended by 101 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:12.759 stricter international quarantine laws imposed after the war. Prior to 102 00:06:12.839 --> 00:06:16.600 the nineteen fifties, many nations gave ship cats special status 103 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:20.480 that made them exempt from quarantine laws, allowing them to 104 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:24.120 roam free in foreign ports, where perhaps the worst consequence 105 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.839 was a scrap with a local tom the news. The 106 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.959 new laws enacted by many countries mandated a lengthy quarantine 107 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:36.040 period for disembarking cats. If local officials caught one sneaking 108 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:39.160 off ship, the captain could be heavily fined or even 109 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:43.759 placed under arrest. Recognizing the cats our natural escape artists, 110 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:46.800 the U. S. Navy wanted to avoid having its captains 111 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:50.319 involved in legal and diplomatic dust ups due to a 112 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:56.439 curious feline trying to circumvent quarantine. Current U. S. Navy 113 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:00.480 policy does not explicitly ban cats on ships, but the 114 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.399 special permission that sailors now need to bring a feline 115 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:06.879 friend on board is almost ever granted. Most davies of 116 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:11.040 the world have adopted a similar policy, except for Russia. 117 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:16.959 Next The New Stars of Polar Science by Lois Harshly. 118 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:21.839 As climate research becomes more critical, a small Arctic research 119 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:26.000 station in Dorway has emerged as a scientific boomtown. It's 120 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:29.920 a haven for an increasingly female lead contingent of experts 121 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:32.839 doing some of the planet's most important studies, and for 122 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:36.199 the workers who make life in this demanding place more hospitable. 123 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:41.759 Nay Alisund, a small international research outpost nestled among the 124 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:46.879 snowy mountains and icy fiords of Swalbard, a Norwegian archipelago 125 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:50.079 and the Arctic Ocean, is one of the northernmost settlements 126 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:53.519 on Earth. During the winter months, it's a frigid, inhospitable 127 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:57.120 place where the sun never rises, leaving the community's low 128 00:07:57.240 --> 00:08:00.600 song buildings bathed in the inky blue darkness of an 129 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:05.959 unbroken polar night. Despite the harsh weather, Spalbard is unmistakably 130 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.199 warming and at an alarming rate, more than four times 131 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:13.279 faster than the global average. This has caused unsettling changes 132 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:17.480 to its environment. Take the arrival of helmet jellyfish, thought 133 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:20.240 to have entered these far north Arctic waters about a 134 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:23.720 decade ago. They feed on krill and small fish that 135 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:26.639 native marine life such as cod and herring depend on. 136 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.079 Or the continually warming permafrost, which is threatening to release 137 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:35.799 previously locked in place carbon into the atmosphere. In Spalbard, 138 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:39.120 the averaged air temperature has increased by about seven degrees 139 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:44.039 fahrenheit since the early nineteen seventies. In nay Ellisund, it's 140 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.279 now just a few degrees below freezing. This summer and 141 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:50.879 extreme heat wave led to extensive melting across the archipelago's 142 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:55.240 ice caps, but other ships are happening in the region too. 143 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:59.159 Dozens of scientists from over ten countries continue to deepen 144 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.000 or under standing about climate change when it's needed more 145 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:06.519 than ever, and many are women. That's a striking shift 146 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:10.480 for the outpost, where men have historically predominated and haven't 147 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:14.679 always been particularly inviting. Originally found founded as a coal 148 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:19.799 mining settlement, naig Ellisund began its conversion into a research 149 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:23.440 hub in the nineteen sixties after a fatal accident precipitated 150 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:28.879 the end of mining operations. Climate scientist Ingar Hanssenbauer spent 151 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.879 the winter of nineteen eighty three eighty four in Nile 152 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:36.480 assunt working for the Norwegian Polar Institute. She remembers the 153 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:39.240 isolation she felt as the only woman at the station. 154 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:42.879 I gradually understood that there was communication between the men 155 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:45.559 in which I was not a part, and there was 156 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:51.279 no parallel female female Gravine change, Hassenbauer says, has come 157 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:55.080 incrementally alongside the long overdue rise of more women in 158 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:59.759 science and in areas involving the MRSA fieldwork. Julia Boiki, 159 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:04.799 a research with Berlin's Humboldt University and the Alfred Wegener 160 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.519 Institute in Potsdam, Germany, was still among the minority when 161 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:11.720 she began collecting data on permafrost in nineteen ninety eight. 162 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:15.000 Last year, however, she looked around and realized that for 163 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:18.799 the first time her three persentine was entirely women. The 164 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:22.639 work atmosphere has improved, she says, noting better fur, food 165 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:25.720 and general hygiene, but at the same time their jobs 166 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:28.559 have gotten harder as a result of the climate change. 167 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:32.480 They are documenting. Rainfall has increased, Boike says, and the 168 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:37.039 snow cover period has shrunk. Diminishing sea ice means small 169 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.879 bards polar bears spend more time on land, making Boykes 170 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:43.799 Field work more difficult. She won't go to her long 171 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:47.720 standing research site when the predators are near by. In 172 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:52.360 twenty twenty one, photographer Esther Horbough, who specializes in covering 173 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:57.000 scientific expeditions in polar regions, arrived to chronicle the lives 174 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:01.159 of these researchers, hoping to humanize their increasingly urgent work. 175 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.639 She begran photographing the kind of role models she wished 176 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:07.759 she'd had as a child growing up in Hungary. I 177 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:09.960 always imagined that I would love to feel this fighting 178 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:13.399 cold on my face, Corvoth says. But I was a girl. 179 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:16.039 I only saw men doing that. I didn't even dare 180 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:19.200 to dream that one day I would experience it. In 181 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:23.399 these photographs, Krvoth highlights researchers and staff who make life 182 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.519 in the community possible. He just pictured with something that 183 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:32.639 sustains her or represents her work. Bodol Houvic, community shop 184 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:37.279 manager King's Bay s unexpected items make life at the 185 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:41.279 station easier. How Vic works for the Norwegian state owned 186 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:45.440 company's stores, supplying residents with toiletries and some essential goods, 187 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:49.039 including warm socks and chocolate. She's holding a baritone horn 188 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:51.519 and instruments she learned to play as a child and 189 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:55.360 picked up again recently. Instruments, how VIC purchased have made 190 00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:58.519 it possible for amateur musicians at the station to play together. 191 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:04.639 Xena Garcia Espada, station manager and engineer, Norwegian Mapping Authority. 192 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:08.240 Observing changes on Earth involves looking up at the stars. 193 00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:14.720 Espada stands in the authority's Geodetic Observation Office, where scientists 194 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:18.639 track changes in Earth's shape, gravity, field, and rotation. These 195 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:22.320 measures help them more precisely monitor sea level rise and 196 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:29.159 ice melt. Charlotte Habermann's marine zoologist, University of Bremen, Germany. 197 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:34.720 As the Arctic warms, its ecosystems are changing dramatically, scientists 198 00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:39.000 began documenting the presence of helmet jellyfish, a species generally 199 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.240 found in more temperate waters near Spalbard about a decade ago. 200 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:47.519 Havermant stands with a net for sampling jellyfish. She uses 201 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.039 environmental DNA to detect the animals in the waters off 202 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:56.039 nigh Ellisund and models their predictive expansion farther into the Arctic. 203 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:05.240 Ingrid shares God coordinator Norwegian Polar Institute Kiersgard visits Gessbo, 204 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.840 a hot two miles outside of Nila sund with her 205 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:12.879 dog Yukon. The half malamut half husky, is one of 206 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:17.679 Kiersgod's two dogs. He regularly accompanies her on trips away 207 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:20.240 from the station, though she notes he is more interested 208 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:23.039 in small birds than polar bears. Even if he's not 209 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:25.360 the best guard dog, she says, Yukon is still the 210 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:31.480 best buddy. Marie Kotch Marine biology doctoral student Alfred Wegener 211 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:36.159 Institute Hatch, shown with the sampling net containing sea urturns, 212 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.840 is researching how warming waters affect the physiology and feeding 213 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:44.279 behavior of the spiny palm size omnivores, a key link 214 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.200 in the Arctic food chain. The threat of climate change 215 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:49.639 is ever present, she says, which makes it even more 216 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:53.279 important to understand all the tiny parts of this system. 217 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:57.919 The next article from the National Geographic History Magazine, November 218 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:04.799 December twenty twenty two. Soaring Buddhist temples of Bagan brought 219 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:07.799 to greatness by a unifying ruler. The Kingdom of Bagan 220 00:14:08.039 --> 00:14:10.960 was home to thousands of towering Buddhist temples the seat 221 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:14.399 of an empire. This sacred sky line would enthrall pilgrims 222 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:18.559 for centuries. For centuries, visitors to a bend of the 223 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:23.480 Ayari Wadi River in central Mayanmar Burma have been greeted 224 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:27.240 with a breadth taking spectacle, hundreds of rose colored from 225 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:31.399 godhas and temples rising above red soil and emerald green vegetation. 226 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:35.440 This vast sacred landscape is one of the largest concentrations 227 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.799 of Buddhist temples anywhere in the world. Designated a UNESCO 228 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:43.720 World Heritage seve in twenty nineteen, Bagan is the legacy 229 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:47.799 of a complex relationship between religion and culture, whose role 230 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.759 in the forging of Burmese identity would be explored by 231 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:54.919 scholars in the early nineteen hundreds rapid rise. The name 232 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:57.679 of the modern state of Mayanmar and its previous name 233 00:14:57.720 --> 00:15:01.320 of Burma both derive from a people known either as 234 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:07.399 the Maramma or the Burman. Historians believed the Burman originated 235 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:10.639 in the lands bordering western China and Tibet. In the 236 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:14.639 mid nineteenth century, a d As the Burman swept south 237 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:17.879 to occupy the lands of the Pew culture. Then in 238 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:22.320 military decline, establishing Bagan as their capital in eighty eight 239 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.879 four nine. It was not a total conquest, however, The 240 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:29.919 Pew had been shaped by cultural and economic ties with India. 241 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:35.960 They practiced Buddhism, which the newcomers adopted accustomed to the 242 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:39.759 train and climate of much higher altitudes. The Burman also 243 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:43.519 learned from the Pew wet and rice algriculture that is 244 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:49.039 still practiced in the Ayayaruada Delta. Bagan was a modest 245 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:54.200 kingdom until ten forty four, when its greatest ruler, King Onowahta, 246 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:58.960 ascended the throne. As accession heralded a major shift in 247 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.000 the fortunes of Baga in the region. The new king 248 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:05.840 improved his kingdom's irrigation systems to make Bagan a major 249 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:10.240 rice producer. He also laid ambitious military plans. In ten 250 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:13.879 fifty seven, he captured the city of Thatan, capital of 251 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:17.960 the rich and cultured Man kingdom to the south, encouraging 252 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:23.279 other Man rulers to submit to Burman authority. Onoratha rapidly 253 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:27.639 united the whole Arawadi region under Bagan rule, creating the 254 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:33.240 first Burmese Empire. Anawatra's achievement was as much about cultural 255 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:36.720 exchange as military conquest. He fell under the influence of 256 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:41.200 the mad variety of Theravada Buddhism, and seeing this practice 257 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:45.559 as a useful means of unification, the king promoted it 258 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:51.480 across the Bagan realm, building Bagan Honoratha also recognized the 259 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:56.200 enormous value of Man culture, which was steeped in Indian influences. 260 00:16:56.240 --> 00:17:01.240 Thanks to the wealthy gained from conquering the manport, Anawahra 261 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:07.079 could pay mon artists, engineers, goldsmiths, and woodworkers to beautify Bagan. 262 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:11.880 He commissioned countless stupas, pagodas, and temples, each one seemingly 263 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:16.559 grander than the next. Following Anaratha's death, Bagan's golden age 264 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:20.279 rolled on, with buoyant trade paying for the fast expanding 265 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:24.960 temple legacy. Sharing the fate of so many other states, 266 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:29.400 Pagan power was eventually crushed under the onslaught of Mongol invasions. 267 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:35.519 At first void by victories, King Narathapati shunned diplomacy with 268 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:41.359 Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongols. Bagan's luck changed, and 269 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.000 a major defeat in twelve seventy seven at the Battle 270 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:47.799 of Nyanga, Sagan was the beginning of the end. A 271 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:51.279 decade later, Bagan fell, Although many of the temples and 272 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:55.200 pagodas fell into disuse in the following centuries, Pagan resumed 273 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:58.720 importance as a place of Buddhist pilgrimage in the fifteenth century. 274 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.559 The thousands of surviving monuments include temples, monasteries, and stupas, 275 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.720 structures which house Buddhist relics that are shaped like bounds, 276 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.720 bell like domes or clones. These sacred buildings are nearly 277 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:16.200 all constructed of brick based with stucco. Among the thousands 278 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.440 of structures, from tiny one room monasteries to sprawling temples, 279 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:26.359 several landmarks stand out. The Lakwanada Pagoda, built by Anaratha, 280 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:29.720 astonished as visitors with its gleaming dome topped with an 281 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:34.319 umbrella shaped finial known as a padhi. This pagoda contains 282 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:36.559 a relic believed to be one of the Buddha's teeth. 283 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:41.079 It was obtained by Anaratha in Sri Lanka. Finding the 284 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:44.440 story Bagan could not be discovered as it had been 285 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:48.480 treasured by the Burmese for centuries. However, its history was 286 00:18:48.519 --> 00:18:53.599 based on royal chronicles. The eighteenth century Maha Yazauen and 287 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:59.079 the nineteenth century Kaman Yawazi. These accounts placed the origins 288 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.799 of Bagan in the very distant pass and mixed legends 289 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:06.079 with veritable history. In the early nineteen hundreds, Burmese scholars 290 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.279 sought new data to provide more solid historical information on Bagan. 291 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:15.119 Among these were Burmese scholar u Pei muang Tin and 292 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:19.319 the British academic Gordon Luz. After graduating in classics at 293 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:24.640 Cambridge University, LuSE taught literature in Rangoon today Yangon, the 294 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.279 capital of Burma today Mayanmar when it was part of 295 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:33.160 the British Empire. There at Luis befriendreed u Pei muang Tin, 296 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:38.359 a specialist in Pali, the sacred language of Theravada Buddhism. 297 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.960 The friendship kindled Lusa's passion for Burmese history. He spent 298 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:46.079 much time at U Peng wang Tin's home, where he 299 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:48.960 fell in love with his sister, nay t T. The 300 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.880 two married in nineteen fifteen. In nineteen eighteen, Loose published 301 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:56.240 his first article on Bagan. Two years later, when he 302 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:59.680 applied for a professorship at Rangoon University, he was told 303 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:02.680 by the British Chancellor that he had been excluded because 304 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:07.039 of his marriage to a Burmese woman. Disappointed, Luis returned 305 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:10.440 to Europe, where he continued his studies of Burmese history, language, 306 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:14.240 and culture in Paris and London, where he studied Chinese. 307 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.519 In nineteen twenty three, he and u peim Wang King 308 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:23.960 collaborated on the first English translation of the Manan Yahwazin. Later, 309 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:28.200 having returned to Rangoon, LUs concentrated on researching the Bagan 310 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:32.960 Empire by compiling references to Bagan in medieval texts in Chinese. 311 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:36.880 Combining this knowledge with his and u Peimwang King's study 312 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:42.160 of inscriptions at Bagan, both men set out to charge 313 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:45.279 the history of Burma and of Bagan that is accepted 314 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:49.119 today that the Burmese originated in the ninth century AD 315 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:52.559 with the Burman conquest of the Pew, and not centuries 316 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:56.400 earlier as the chronicles claimed. Bogan has faced challenges in 317 00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:00.000 the twentieth century. Restoration of the site by Mayanmar's Mille 318 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.759 military government has been criticized by archaeologists. Two earthquakes in 319 00:21:04.839 --> 00:21:10.079 nineteen seventy five and twenty sixteen destroyed many structures. Specialists 320 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:13.839 of Bagan history hope that the World Heritage designation will 321 00:21:13.880 --> 00:21:18.240 foster a cooperation between specialists and the Mayanbar government to 322 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:22.799 preserve Bagan's sacred structures for years to come. This article 323 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:27.240 written by Julius Purcell, Down to Earth Thought bay Yinu 324 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:30.519 is the tallest temple in Bagan, consisting of five stories 325 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.480 standing some two hundred feet tall. It was built by 326 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:38.640 King a Langshidu also known as Sithu I, at the 327 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:42.279 end of his reign in the eleven sixties. Photographed in 328 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.960 nineteen thirty one for National Geographic the main Buddha statue 329 00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:50.440 inside the pagoda sits in a posture called Uma Parshana Mudrap, 330 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:54.359 the ground touching gesture. His right hand touches the ground 331 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:57.839 to request the Earth goddess to assist his victory over Marak, 332 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:02.519 the demon King Thought Benini shows signs of two of 333 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:06.880 the greatest threats to Bagan structures, significant earthquake damage and 334 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:10.759 spaces where reliefs once hung and which were probably looted. 335 00:22:11.880 --> 00:22:15.880 Spiritual Center of Bagan Timeline eighty eight forty nine. A 336 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:20.200 Western Chinese people, the Burman founded Bagan in the Aya 337 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:24.799 Yarwadi Delta ten forty four to ten seventy seven, on 338 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:28.960 Oratha founds an empire centered on Bagan and begins building temples. 339 00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:33.480 Eleven seventy four to twelve eleven. The Bagan Empire reaches 340 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:37.160 its architectural and political zenith in the reign of Sichu 341 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:41.039 the Second twelve eighty seven, the Pagan Empire falls to 342 00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:45.799 the Mongols, its temples become a pilgrimage site. Next tomb 343 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:48.960 of Pared the Great, once standing eighty feet tall. The 344 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:52.880 masoleam reflects Heron's allegiance with Greco Roman culture, with a 345 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:56.039 nod to the Navitans, the Arab culture to which his 346 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:00.799 mother had belonged. Its large square stones ashlars are carved 347 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:04.759 from the limestone known as Meleke or royal stone, as 348 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:08.559 it was used for royal constructions. Although historians are convinced 349 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:11.759 this is indeed Herod's tomb, no inscription has yet been 350 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:16.519 found to definitely confirm it as such. Foundation the podium, 351 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:19.319 the base of the funerary building, was a square block 352 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.400 more than thirty feet across and containing two rooms. The 353 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:24.880 lower of these was some eleven feet high, and the 354 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:28.240 upper one nearly twenty feet high. The outer walls were 355 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:33.839 decorated with pilasters and around the top with rosettes funerary urns. 356 00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:37.400 The roof would have been adorned with decorative funerary urns. 357 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:41.079 This decoration is typical of Navitaean culture, and it is 358 00:23:41.160 --> 00:23:45.200 notable in such sites as Petra, the ancient Navitaan capital 359 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:50.359 to day in Jordan, sarcophagus chamber. Above the podium stood 360 00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:53.960 a circular structure known as a polos. Archaeologists believed that 361 00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:57.880 inside it was the chamber with the king's sarcophagus, surrounded 362 00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:02.519 by ionic style columns supporting a cornice decorated with rosettes. 363 00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:06.759 The main sarcophagus was covered with a triangular lid decorated 364 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.799 with rosettes, a common motif in Jewish austuaries and in 365 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:15.640 some sarcophagi of the time. The tomb of Mauzolis, the 366 00:24:15.720 --> 00:24:20.559 mausoleum at Helicarnassus, stood inside a teminos, or sacred enclosure. 367 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:24.119 It was accessed through a monumental door that abutted the 368 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:28.000 city's agorath. The mausoleum itself was made up of three parts, 369 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:30.519 one on top of the other. At the bottom was 370 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:34.200 a square structure that tapered slightly toward the top. The 371 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:38.680 middle section, called the pteron, was a peristyle formed of 372 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:42.799 thirty six ionic columns with sculptures placed between them. A 373 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:46.000 solid rock base supported a pyramid of twenty four steps, 374 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:49.720 also adorned with statues. The pyramid was topped by the 375 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:53.839 marble sculpture of a quadriga, a chariot drawn by four 376 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:59.480 horses abreast, driven by Mazolus and Artemisia a would be 377 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:04.680 conquered fate. The Assyrian king sena Cherab moved his capital 378 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:09.200 to Nineveh, which he expanded and beautified. Despite Assyria's formidable 379 00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:12.640 military power, revolts arose in various parts of the empire, 380 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:17.640 including Judah, which was ruled by King Hezekiah. The conflict 381 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:21.319 with Senacherab is chronicled in several books of the Old Testament. 382 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:24.400 In seven o one BC, in response to a revolt 383 00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:29.720 in Judah, Senecherab besieged Jerusalem, only spearing the city after 384 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:34.200 Hazikiah paid a large ransom. The Bible recounts how God 385 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:36.680 then sent an angel to strike down the Assyrians in 386 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:41.039 their camp, causing Senecherab to abandon the siege. The Book 387 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:44.680 of Kings recounts the monarch's unhappy end foretold by the 388 00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.880 prophet Isaiah. Now it came to pass, as he was 389 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:52.400 worshiping in the temple of Nisrak, that his sons Adra, 390 00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:57.000 Melakh and Shirezar struck him down with the sword. Then 391 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:01.039 Eserhad and his son reigned in his liad place two 392 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:06.880 kings nineteen thirty seven next the Persian shortcut. Faint traces 393 00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:09.640 of the Xerxes Canal are still discernible today in the 394 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:12.839 farmland on the narrowest part of the Mount Athos peninsula. 395 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:15.960 The canal once ran between the modern day towns of 396 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:21.160 Nearoda and Tripeiti. Research carried out between nineteen ninety one 397 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:24.240 and two thousand and one revealed that at its widest 398 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:27.839 point at the surface, the canal spanned some one hundred feet, 399 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:32.079 tapering to about fifty feet above its base. The canal 400 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:35.039 bed would have been around ten feet below sea level, 401 00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:38.079