Where Russia Began

In what is now northwestern Russia there was once a group of tribes. They had succeeded in resisting being ruled by anyone else. But the tribes just couldn't get along with each other.

They ended up seeking some order by actually inviting an outside prince or chieftain to rule over them. The one that ended up being was named Rurik. It doesn't seem to be known for sure where he was from, but Rurik was almost certainly of Viking or Scandinavian origin.

This began, in 862, what was known as the Rurik Dynasty that would last over 700 years.

The Rurik Dynasty ruled over a kingdom known as the Kievan Rus. Vladimir the Great was a Rurik prince in Kiev who made what would turn out to be the momentous decision to adopt the Byzantine rite of Christianity for his kingdom. This was, as we saw in "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began", was because his envoys were so impressed with the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

The Kievan Rus ultimately broke apart, but had succeeded in being a conduit for the spread of Christianity and it is today acknowledged as the predecessor state of Russia, Ukraine and, Belarus, and is where the name of Russia comes from.

The next power that arose was the Grand Duchy of Moscow. This state gradually annexed the neighboring states that had been the remnants of the Kievan Rus, and lands to the east as well. This was still the Rurik Dynasty that had been founded centuries before.

A leader called Ivan the Great had married the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, from before Constantinople had been conquered by the Ottomans. Since Constantinople had been claimed to be the "Second Rome", the holy successor city to Rome, Ivan claimed Moscow as the "Third Rome", meaning the center of Christianity.

Finally, in 1547, the grandson of Ivan the Great, known as Ivan the Terrible, proclaimed the annexed lands as the Tsardom of Russia, with himself as tsar. But he is the one who built the magnificent St. Basil's Cathedral, and how terrible can someone be who can build something like that?

The place where Rurik had arrived to begin his rule over the quarreling tribes was Novgorod, to the northwest of Moscow on the way to what is now St. Petersburg. This was Rurik's capital and Ivan the Great eventually annexed what was known as the Republic of Novgorod into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, before all of it became the modern nation of Russia.

In 1862, a metal monument was unveiled in the Kremlin of Novgorod to celebrate the millennium since the arrival of Rurik in 862. His arrival is considered as the beginning of Russia and the monument is known as the Millennium of Russia. We usually think of the Kremlin as being in Moscow but it is simply a term for a walled citadel and there are also kremlins in some other Russian cities.

The first of the following scenes in the Novgorod Kremlin is of the Millennium of Russia Monument. The figure holding the shield is Rurik. The other figures, both on the top and the bottom of the monument, are other important people from Russia's history. The adjacent cathedral, St. Sophia, was the main cathedral of the Novgorod Republic.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@58.5209835,31.2751234,3a,37.5y,33.81h,111.7t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sbOSDN7YUwGpqmu-8dydwZA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DbOSDN7YUwGpqmu-8dydwZA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D50.051704%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Notice how the Millennium of Russia Monument resonates with the Tsar Bell, in the Moscow Kremlin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell#/media/File:Tsar_Bell_in_Kremlin.jpg

The alphabet that is used in Russia is the Cyrillic Alphabet. It was originally based on an alphabet created by St. Cyril, who was a missionary from Byzantium. The alphabet was so that people who spoke Slavic languages could read the Bible. Peter the Great, of the Romanov Dynasty which followed the Ruriks, made some of the letters look more like the Latin alphabet. He personally created the letter that looks like a backwards "R".

There is an enclave of Russia far to the west of the rest of the country, on the Baltic Sea. This is Kaliningrad. The city began with a medieval fortress built by the Teutonic Knights. Kaliningrad used to be part of East Prussia, when it's German name was Konigsberg. It was repopulated with Russians after the Second World War. The city had been part of Russia before, at the time of the Romanov Dynasty, and had also once been part of Poland.

One thing that the city is known for is a famous puzzle, known as the Seven Bridges of Konigsberg. This is a simplified illustration. It is supposedly impossible to walk a route that will cross each bridge once and only once. No swimming, tunneling or flying is allowed. It has to be only walking. It has to be one continuous walk, not two separate walks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Bridges_of_K%C3%B6nigsberg#/media/File:7_bridgesID.png

Anyway, here is Kaliningrad.

https://www.google.com/maps/@54.7208414,20.501261,3a,75y,81.01h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sf-Hc43dWzoVW53TAF26cHg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Df-Hc43dWzoVW53TAF26cHg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D74.68767%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

The city of Yaroslavl was, like Novgorod, a state that was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The great river of the European part of Russia is the Volga River. It runs a very long route from north to south and is kind of like the Mississippi River of Russia. Yaroslavl is, like several other major cities, on the Volga River. All of these cities originated in medieval times and are important industrial centers.

https://www.google.com/maps/@57.6283552,39.8927423,3a,75y,66.49h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sempfXYVBMbmiAOQ3HeCAkg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DempfXYVBMbmiAOQ3HeCAkg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D50.901157%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The city to the east of Moscow, on the Volga River, that used to be called Gorky has been renamed Nizhny Novgorod. "Novgorod" seems to mean something like "new town" and the original Novgorod has been named Veliky Novgorod, to distinguish the two cities. The following scenes begin in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.

https://www.google.com/maps/@56.3277047,44.0017685,3a,75y,217.8h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sSLfopn6KL2Er1VGYVuV9Wg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DSLfopn6KL2Er1VGYVuV9Wg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D203.2707%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Far to the east of Moscow is another medieval city on the Volga River, about a thousand years old, Kazan, that is now an important industrial city. The following scenes begin in the center of Kazan.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7962188,49.1252096,3a,75y,3.07h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sREyesZgqMmrvwtrqgkLkUQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DREyesZgqMmrvwtrqgkLkUQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D1.7296219%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Well to the west, and not on the Volga River, is another major city that originated in medieval times, Voronezh.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6641768,39.1973719,3a,75y,104.82h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0CiNWlB5-Geq5cxZeW5WPw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0CiNWlB5-Geq5cxZeW5WPw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D113.10479%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Moving on to southern Russia, Rostov-on-Don is on the Don River.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.2200934,39.7077414,3a,75y,20h,110t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s6T9HJ0ou9Ghpp81GkxOmbg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6T9HJ0ou9Ghpp81GkxOmbg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D20%26pitch%3D-20%26thumbfov%3D100

This is Krasnodar, in the central part of the city beginning at Memorial Arch.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.024688,38.9704395,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1su0qvWSJ-0sPMfizBQQWdKA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Du0qvWSJ-0sPMfizBQQWdKA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D125.36427%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Back eastward to the Volga River is the city of Saratov. The following scenes begin in the center of Saratov.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5356972,46.0265931,3a,75y,91.7h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slaXe5-tA3gKGyplpBz_xQQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DlaXe5-tA3gKGyplpBz_xQQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D92.733284%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Another major city that originated in medieval times but is now an industrial city on the Volga River is Samara. I can remember that, when I was a youth, this city was called Kuibyshev.

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.189431,50.1006053,3a,75y,140h,100t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sr-sr-ZPox-CPGx0c-373EQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dr-sr-ZPox-CPGx0c-373EQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D140%26pitch%3D-10%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Finally, on the Volga River, we come to the city that is named for the river, Volgograd.

Of course, Volgograd is the city that was formerly known as Stalingrad. The greatest battle that the world has ever seen took place here, in 1942-43. It was given to the world as a glimpse of apocalypse.

But that is not what our view of Volgograd is going to focus on. In another way of looking at things, it is not fair that this quiet and peaceful city be defined solely by the battle that took place there. There was an equally horrific battle at St. Petersburg, then Leningrad, a siege that went on for nearly three years. But St. Petersburg is a larger city that has plenty of other things to distinguish it. For Volgograd, in contrast, the battle that took place there is the only thing that comes to mind.

The vast majority of people that were involved in the Battle of Stalingrad had never been to the city otherwise.

Here is what the world does not see very often, quiet scenes of everyday life in the city that was once known as Stalingrad. But you may notice that there are far fewer older buildings than there are in the other cities of southern Russia.

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.6983053,44.4724059,3a,75y,100h,100t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOeocd1HFm_RHE6j5h2pslA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DOeocd1HFm_RHE6j5h2pslA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D100%26pitch%3D-10%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Prophecy And War In Ukraine

This Russian invasion of Ukraine is apparently so utterly illogical that it has completely baffled the world. The majority of Ukrainians do not want to be ruled by Russia and whatever Vladimir Putin might gain from this will nowhere near make up for what the war and the economic cutoff from the world will cost.

But people who are secular often do not understand people who are motivated by religion. We saw this in the posting on this blog, "How Secularism Leads Us Astray" April 2020, and that is what is going on here.

This new Cold War is not at all like the old Cold War. The old Cold War was western Capitalism against Communism, and Communism was atheist. In most Communist countries it wasn't actually illegal to be religious, but it was discouraged.

In this new Cold War Russia has returned to it's Eastern Orthodox roots. Vladimir Putin is very religious and now it's "Holy Russia" against the drug-addicted, crime-ridden, decadent west.

It must be said that Kyiv is where the Eastern Orthodox Church began. Another Vladimir, Prince Vladimir, conducted a mass baptism of his people in the Dneiper River, in the Byzantine Rite of Christianity in the year 988. In the year 1054 the Byzantine Church broke away from the pope altogether to form the Eastern Orthodox Church. The center of the church moved to Moscow because Kyiv had been utterly devastated by the Mongols in the Thirteenth Century. 

The roots of the conflict in Ukraine go back far into history. They go all the way back to the Hagia Sophia, the House Of Holy Wisdom, in the city that is now called Istanbul. It is impossible to really understand this crisis, which has so upset the world, without going all the way back to it's roots in the Hagia Sophia.

It was there that the monumental split between the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches took place. The split itself was rooted in the magnificence of the Hagia Sophia, which had earlier caused Prince Vladimir to choose the Byzantine Rite of Catholicism for his kingdom, rather than the Latin Rite.

This long-ago split in the Catholic Church has come back to us in secular form in modern times. It's manifestations include Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, the eastern fronts of both world wars, the Cold War, and now this crisis in Ukraine.

This split that is rooted in the Hagia Sophia is why we just can't get away from the Cold War. Has anyone stopped to think that the present hostile dialogue between Vladimir Putin and western leaders is a virtual secular mirror image of that which took place in the Hagia Sophia in 1054, nearly a thousand years ago, between the representatives of the pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople?

If you have some reading time and would like to really understand this crisis that is so disturbing the world, here is a link to the compound posting about the Hagia Sophia:

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-house-of-wisdom-where-modern-world.html?m=0

Part of the present scenario is that the Ukraine Orthodox Church split from the Russian Orthodox Church in October 2018. This was followed by the Russian Orthodox Church splitting from the Patriarchate of Constantinople (now Istanbul) shortly afterwards. This is known as the 2018 Moscow-Constantinople Schism. 

If the pope created the Holy Roman Empire to prevent a schism by the eastern Christians then why shouldn't Putin take action to prevent this schism? The Russian Orthodox Church has blessed this invasion of Ukraine, with the exception of a limited minority.

The split of the Eastern Orthodox Church from Catholicism is known as the Great Schism of 1054. The Eastern Rite of Catholicism, known as Byzantine Christianity, began in Kyiv as described above. The actual schism with Catholicism took place in Constantinople, in 1054.

When Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans, in 1453, the Eastern Orthodox Church would have moved it's focal point to Kyiv, except that it had been so devastated by the Mongols. It ended up moving to Moscow, which is what made Moscow an important city. The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans led many scholars to take their manuscripts and leave for western Europe, this is what sparked the Renaissance which ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation which is the other great schism of the church.

Vladimir Putin has mystified the world by claiming that his purpose is to "denazify" Ukraine. But let's stop and think, what exactly were the Nazis? They called themselves the "Third Reich", with the Holy Roman Empire being the "First Reich", and the time of the Kaisers was the Second. 

The Holy Roman Empire was set up by the pope, with Charlemagne crowned as it's first emperor in the year 800, to rein in the eastern Christians who were questioning the authority of the pope. These eastern Christians would later split away altogether to form the Eastern Orthodox Church, in 1054. This is Vladimir Putin's church, which is so important to his invasion of Ukraine.

Now you can see what I mean because Newsweek Magazine reported that a prominent Russian lawmaker, Vyacheslav Nikonov, stated that Russia's enemy in Ukraine is the "Fourth Reich". According to Wikipedia this is the grandson of the famous Soviet foreign minister, Vyacheslav Molotov. On behalf of the Soviet Union Molotov would sign the ill-fated non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, the later breaking of which would be Hitler's attempt to fulfill the original purpose of the Holy Roman Empire.

The real center of the Holy Roman Empire was Nuremberg which is why the Nazis, the Third Reich, focused their rallies there and set up the "Cathedral of Light", with searchlight beams. 

The major project of the Nazis was, of course, their ultimately unsuccessful attempt to conquer the Soviet Union, which included Russia and Ukraine. This is what the world might have expected since they were the spiritual descendants of the Holy Roman Empire, which was set up to rein in the wayward eastern Christians.

What Vladimir Putin means by "denazification" is the liberation of the Eastern Orthodox holy city of Kyiv from a government that leans toward the historically Catholic domain of Europe, which formerly organized the Holy Roman Empire to rein in the eastern Christians and whose descendants are the Nazis, but which has now descended into western-style decadence.

Putin also mystified the world by demanding that Ukraine be guaranteed never to join NATO. Ukraine has been independent for over thirty years, surely if it was going to join it would have done so by now. Also it isn't exactly like NATO always sticks together, remember the Iraq war in 2003.

But NATO is a euphemism for the Latin Catholic domain from which Putin's Eastern Orthodox Church broke away, remembering that this split happened before the Protestants also later broke away. Kyiv, in Ukraine, is where the Eastern Orthodox Church began.

The first Cold War ended, with the Berlin Wall coming down, because the former Eastern Orthodox domain, now secularized as Communism, had overreached too far west. But now the opposite has occurred and the Russian view is that the former Latin Catholic domain has overreached too far east, occupying the sacred city where the Eastern Orthodox Church began. Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014, is also viewed as sacred because that is where Prince Vladimir was baptized.

Now Communism is gone in Russia and the Eastern Orthodox Church has been revived. Meanwhile the west, the Latin Catholic and Protestant domains, has fallen into apostasy and decadence. Surely God would be on the side of Holy Russia and the Eastern Orthodox Church is now the real Christianity. What will all of the economic sanctions of the west amount to if God is with Russia?

We know that the Antichrist, the great leader in the Last Days as described in the Bible, will be from western Europe. This shouldn't surprise Putin, or anyone else in the Eastern Orthodox Church, because it is the now-decadent Latin Catholic domain that they broke away from. Remember that they consider the now mainly-Protestant countries as part of this domain because their split happened before the Protestant split.

The real purpose for the invasion of Ukraine is to alarm and upset the world enough to prompt the emergence of the Antichrist, who will seem to have the answers to everything. The war to compare this with is George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq in 2003. If Putin was looking to gain anything material from this invasion of Ukraine he would be trying to get the world to accept it, instead he is alarming and reminding the world that he has nuclear weapons. 

This is the kind of global crisis that could induce the Antichrist to make his appearance. Whoever could solve this crisis world really be a hero to the world and would have the world's confidence. The Bible tells us that, in the Last Days of the world, a great leader will emerge who the world will follow. This leader is referred to as the Antichrist.

If Vladimir Putin really wanted a place in history, not just in human history but in eternal history, he could be the one who induced the Antichrist to emerge. This would begin the Tribulation Period that will end with the establishment of the Kingdom of Jesus on earth.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, very much against world opinion, was undertaken by George W. Bush. It was for the dubious reason of supposed "weapons of mass destruction", which were never found, and "harboring of terrorists". Has anyone noticed that Putin's invasion of Ukraine is along just about exactly the same lines as the invasion of Iraq in 2003?

Let's remember what will happen during the Apocalypse. Jesus will remove the true Christians before it starts, in the event known as the Rapture although that word is not in the Bible. The Antichrist will be a great leader that appears to have all the answers and that the world will follow. The Antichrist will be allowed to reign for seven years. The first half of this seven-year period will actually be the best time that the world has ever seen. But it will all be a fantastic satanic lie. Things will begin to fall apart and the second half of this seven-year period will be the worst time that the world has ever seen, or ever will see. Jesus will return with the believers that he took out in the beginning to end the seven-year Tribulation Period, and set up His Kingdom on earth. Jesus makes it clear in the Gospels that, had He not returned to end the Tribulation Period, no one would be left alive on earth. If you find yourself in the Tribulation Period you can still be saved, spend eternity with God, but you will probably be killed.

The plan is not to conquer Ukraine too quickly. It will cause more alarm, and be more likely to cause the emergence of the Antichrist, if the campaign lasts for a while. Putin wants most of the world to pull together against his country. This is because we know that the world must someday be united under the Antichrist.

It is not just alarm about the war that is forcing the world to pull together, it is economic pain. What if a great leader emerged with the answers to bring down fuel and food prices, not to mention to save the environment. 

We know that the Antichrist must be from western Europe. When has Europe ever been as united as it is now? Brexit seems to have evaporated. One foreign leader that Putin always seems ready to deal with is Emmanuel Macron. Does Putin think that Macron might be the Antichrist or is he just setting the precedent for being willing to deal with a prominent European leader?

This invasion is being done to evoke the end of the world, as described in the Bible prophecies. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told the world that Russia would fight "until the end". Why would it be necessary to say that when Russia was invading a smaller country?

The symbol of the war in Ukraine has become the "Z" that has been observed painted on so many Russian military vehicles.

What makes it so interesting is that Z is a letter in the Latin alphabet. It isn't even in the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet. Why would Russia make such use of a letter of the west and NATO that it was supposedly trying to stop from encroaching on Ukraine?

This isn't the old Cold War, now it's the religious "Holy Russia" against the decadence and apostasy of the west. The purpose of this invasion is to prompt the emergence of the Antichrist, which we know will come from the west. The End of the World events will favor Russians because now the Eastern Orthodox Church, which had split from the west, has been revived while the west has fallen into apostasy and decadence.

That is where the Z comes in. Z is The End of the Latin alphabet. It is used by those apostate western nations from where we know the Antichrist must emerge. Remember how the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, announced that Russia will fight until "The End".

The End for the now-decadent western nations is represented by the final letter of their alphabet, which is Z. The Z represents the Apocalypse in the Bible.

Another letter that is sometimes seen painted on Russian military vehicles is V, although that isn't in the Russian alphabet either. What could "V" mean? The Antichrist will have a "false prophet" promoting him. A prophet implies religion and many people believe that the false prophet will be the pope at the time of the Antichrist. So "V" could mean "Vatican".

As we saw in the posting, "The End Of The World As We Know It", the invasion of Israel from the north that will set off the final series of wars of the world will use paratroopers. Russia used paratroopers to attack Kharkhiv early in the invasion. Why was it necessary to use paratroopers? Dropping paratroopers is complicated and risky. Paratroopers in wartime have a very high casualty rate. Paratroopers are usually only used when the enemy has a strong front line. This was just done to evoke Bible prophecy.

If this invasion can bring about the emergence of the Antichrist it will be followed, as described in Bible prophecy, by the Return of Jesus and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth. Holy Russia, even though it will be destroyed along with most of the rest of the world, will have fulfilled it's national mission. Vladimir Putin will go down in eternal history as having outsmarted the now-apostate and decadent west, causing the Antichrist to emerge from it which will lead to the Return of Jesus.

That is what is really going on in Ukraine. I have long noticed how people with a secular mindset often just don't understand people who are motivated by religion. People who believe that they are doing God's work, and that God is with them, probably aren't going to fold because of a few economic sanctions.

The Most Attractive Building

I once chose St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow as the most attractive and intriguing building in the world. I have always been fascinated by this building. My favorite of the onion domes is the red and white one, which faces away from Red Square. Image from Google Street View.

Moscow And St. Basil's Cathedral

A thousand years ago, there was nothing to indicate that Moscow should ever be a great city. But then events elsewhere came along that changed things. One thing that Moscow had going for it was it's location. Many cities have been built because of what they were near. Moscow grew into the largest city that is within Europe not because of what it was near but because of what it was away from, and that was conflict.

The Great Schism of 1054 took place over controversy between eastern and western Christians over how much authority the pope should have. The eastern part of the church split away to form the Eastern Orthodox Church. The center of this church was the Hagia Sophia, in Constantinople, and this was where the split took place.

But in subsequent centuries Byzantium, of which Constantinople was the capital, was threatened by Moslem conquerors known as the Ottomans. They ultimately conquered the city in 1453.

The reason was that the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church, which split away in 1054 to form the Eastern Orthodox Church, was due to the great impression that it made on Vladimir of Kiev. It was him who chose it as the religion of what is known as the Kieven Rus, which was the predecessor of Russia, as well as Ukraine.

After the fall of Constantinople, although it remained the official center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, it needed a new practical center of operations. The obvious choice would be Kiev. As the name implies, it was the center of the Kievan Rus, which were now the bearers of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

But there was a problem with that. Kiev had suffered devastating destruction in a Mongol invasion of the Thirteenth Century. It would not fully recover it's importance as a city until the Nineteenth Century. It was this Mongol invasion that brought the Kievan Rus to an end.

What ended up happening is that the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity ended up moving further north, to a place called Moscow, which became the capital of Russia as well. Moscow became known as the "Third Rome". The papacy was based in Rome. When the split of 1054 occurred, Constantinople became the "Second Rome". With the conquest of that by the Ottomans, and the destruction of Kiev by the Mongols, Moscow became the "Third Rome".

However the Rurik Dynasty died out and was eventually replaced by the Romanovs, best-known for Peter the Great, and had St. Petersburg especially built as their capital. This allegedly happened because Peter the Great was in the Kremlin when there was an uprising in Moscow. This moved the center of gravity away from Moscow. St. Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city.

But that ultimately changed due to conflict. St. Petersburg was close to the other countries of Europe. When the Romanov Dynasty was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in 1917, they moved the capital back to Moscow.

It was not that they sympathized with the Ruriks, or necessarily thought that Moscow would be a better capital that St. Petersburg. After all, St. Petersburg was a special place to the Bolsheviks because that was where their revolution had begun. It was simply that Russia had been at war with Germany and the Central Powers and Moscow was further away, at a safe distance from the conflict. Even if enemy forces could reach Moscow, by that time the capital city functions could be shifted to a city further east.

For the second time, the center of power had been moved to Moscow not because of anything that had been done there but because of conflict elsewhere. Today, it is the largest city that is completely within Europe.

One way that you can see this procession from Constantinople to Kiev, and then to Moscow, is that Vladimir founded the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. It was named for the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sophia%27s_Cathedral,_Kiev#/media/File:Kij%C3%B3w_-_Sob%C3%B3r_M%C4%85dro%C5%9Bci_Bo%C5%BCej_02.jpg

Today the Danilov Monastery in Moscow is the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church, and is colored exactly the same green and white, with gold domes, as St. Sophia in Kiev.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danilov_Monastery#/media/File:Danilov_convent_02.jpg

THE KREMLIN AND RED SQUARE

Moscow is centered around the Kremlin, from where Russia is governed. A kremlin is actually a walled citadel, and there are kremlins in other Russian cities as well. But the Moscow Kremlin is by far the best-known and is the one being referred to any time the term is mentioned outside Russia.

The Moscow Kremlin was completed in 1495. Inside it's red walls with the familiar red towers are several each palaces and cathedrals. But the Grand Kremlin Palace, with the green roof and from where the country is actually governed, was completed in 1849. Some of the red towers of the Kremlin walls are square and some are cylindrical. The best-known, with the accompanying gate, is the Spasskaya Tower. The Spasskaya Tower is immediately adjacent to St. Basil's Cathedral. Each of the Kremlin towers has it's own story.

The Kremlin is the area enclosed by walls, with the mostly-white cathedrals and palaces with gold onion domes inside. It was built mainly between the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Just outside it's red walls are Red Square, which has St. Basil's Cathedral, with the eight onion domes, at it's southwest end, and the red building of the State Historical Museum at the other end.

The fantastic St. Basil's Cathedral was built in 1561. On the opposite side of Red Square from the wall of the Kremlin is the stone building of GUM, the State Department Store that is now a popular mall. The Mausoleum of Lenin is in Red Square against the wall of the Kremlin. Also inside the Kremlin walls are both the world's largest cannon, the Tsar Cannon from 1586, and also the world's largest bell, the Tsar Bell.

One thing that I have wondered about is that St. Petersburg has the Peter and Paul Fortress, which is a citadel like a kremlin but, unlike walled citadels in other Russian cities, it is not referred to as a kremlin.

I have also wondered about the blank shot from a naval gun of the cruiser Aurora, anchored at St. Petersburg, that was used by the Bolsheviks to signal the beginning of the October Revolution, in 1917. Was it done to evoke a historical link with the famous Tsar Cannon, the largest cannon in the world, that was a showpiece of the Kremlin? This blank shot in 1917 effectively acted as the opening bell of the Revolution, which would evoke a historical link to the largest bell in the world, the Tsar Bell, the largest bell in the world near the Tsar Cannon as another showpiece of the Kremlin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Cannon#/media/File:Moscow_July_2011-10a.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell#/media/File:Tsar_Bell_in_Kremlin.jpg

A good perspective from which to begin our visit to Moscow is the northeast corner of Red Square. The small red cathedral with the gold dome is Kazan Cathedral. To the left of that cathedral are two gates with two spires above, this is the Iberian Gate to Red Square. Both were razed by the Communists but rebuilt in the 1990s. The red building to the left of that is the State Historical Museum. At the opposite end of Red Square is St. Basil's Cathedral, with it's multiple domes. Adjacent to that is the Spasskaya Tower and Gate to the Kremlin.

If you see a metal status of a man carrying a cross, that is Vladimir the Great. He is the one who made the momentous decision of choosing the Byzantine rite of Christianity as the religion of the kingdom known as the Kievan Rus. This kingdom was the predecessor of Russia, Belarus and, Ukraine, and is where the name of Russia comes from. As we saw in the compound posting on this blog, "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began", this decision was made because Vladimir's envoys were so impressed with the Hagia Sophia. Without this decision the formation of the Eastern Orthodox Church, to replace the Catholic Church in the east, would likely not have occurred following the Great Schism of 1054.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7549952,37.6193208,2a,75y,332.81h,100.32t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sqC0mue77IAAQd9h5ttI78g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DqC0mue77IAAQd9h5ttI78g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D240.11717%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Just north of Red Square is Lubyanka Square. Near that is the famous Bolshoi Theater. The following scenes begin in the food court of a mall, known as TSUM, on Lubyanka Square. The Bolshoi Theater is the light-colored building with the eight white columns in front.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7601534,37.6252551,3a,75y,78.98h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM9bxPBqrDaQE2fk5at34z4GTtwpiYJO6-3c2ey!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM9bxPBqrDaQE2fk5at34z4GTtwpiYJO6-3c2ey%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya230.90912-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Central Moscow is set up in a "ring road" pattern. There was once a rampart around what was then the city that was removed and is now the series of roads, known as the Garden Ring. Does this remind you of the Ringstrasse that we saw on our visit to Vienna? The following scenes begin at the main intersection at the Garden Ring, north of Red Square and the Kremlin.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7733192,37.621255,3a,75y,113.16h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sj6SUtKSDXL1RXF_lihrNAQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dj6SUtKSDXL1RXF_lihrNAQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D127.258156%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

This is central Moscow south of the Moscow River, what we could call the "South Bank" of Moscow. You can see many more churches with onion domes.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7410901,37.625154,3a,75y,8.83h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP6n2_sTFTMkr8Pvbt1ExPnuhCfOYVWnzlQY0ai!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP6n2_sTFTMkr8Pvbt1ExPnuhCfOYVWnzlQY0ai%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya35.112617-ro-0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

This is the district of Tverskaya, beginning along the main street of the same name. It is in central Moscow and within the Garden Ring. Like any great city, there is more to it than historical sites and famous buildings. This is more of a look at everyday life in Moscow.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7650145,37.6046323,3a,75y,3.1h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s-j-zNSL1-Y8TowmZNOmzww!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-j-zNSL1-Y8TowmZNOmzww%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D1.7434248%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

To understand Moscow, we have to be familiar with it's "Seven Sisters". These are tall buildings that were built in the Mid-Twentieth Century. The Seven Sisters are all similar, but not identical, to one another. You have already seen one, near the Kremlin and Red Square, the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building, beside the Moscow River. Possibly the best-known of the Seven Sisters is the main building of Moscow State University. This is Russia'a premier university and is more then two hundred years old, although the following "Seven Sister" building is from the Mid-Twentieth Century.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7020924,37.5292423,3a,75y,40.94h,111.22t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1suEVvkajeo3LewP8owMLaPQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DuEVvkajeo3LewP8owMLaPQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D71.815926%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is some of modern Moscow, west of the Kremlin along New Arbat Avenue. There is yet another of the "Seven Sisters" nearby, the Hotel Ukraina.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7527203,37.5880783,3a,75y,132.89h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sLii-YL_AEq7d5ndvduUeRQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DLii-YL_AEq7d5ndvduUeRQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D148.79292%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

There were originally intended to be "Nine Sisters", but only seven were built. Along the river near the Kremlin was the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It had originally been built to commemorate the victory over Napoleon. The cathedral was dynamited in 1931 to make way for what would surely have been the "princess" of the sister buildings, the Palace of the Soviets. The foundation was built but the Second World War brought a halt to construction. The building was never completed and, after the war, the foundation was made into a vast swimming pool. Finally, to the delight of Christians across the world, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was rebuilt just as it had originally been. The color of the cathedral is white with gold onion domes, just like most of the buildings within the nearby Kremlin.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7444815,37.6053456,3a,75y,90.82h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN_OAzkkvyc_isrzPUkdWsojk3B0OhY7_IjY7k!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN_OAzkkvyc_isrzPUkdWsojk3B0OhY7_IjY7k%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya292.13358-ro-0-fo100!7i10000!8i5000

Here is the modern skyscrapers of Moscow, the Moscow International Business Center. Notice how the building with the "twisted" structure resonates with some of the domes at St. Basil's Cathedral.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.748776,37.5387674,2a,75y,74.92h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s3VvSoyY5LAT3BEmWWBYYuQ!2e0!3e2!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D3VvSoyY5LAT3BEmWWBYYuQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D64.4156%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

We can see a reflection of St. Basil's Cathedral in the northern part of Moscow. The Ostankino Tower, I remember when it was the tallest structure in the world, it was built in the 1960s in the form of a rocket, as a monument to space exploration after Sputnik had been the first object to be launched into space, and Yuri Gagarin had been the first human in space.

Not far from the Ostankino Tower is the Church of the Holy Trinity at Ostankino, that is based on the architecture of St. Basil's. In the images of that church, you can see the same structure the color of fire, the green roof below the central dome, the high semi-circles that could represent astronomical bodies or craters on the moon and, the towers that could represent the rockets of the future. But this church does not seem to have the triangles pointing upward that are seen on St. Basil's cathedral.

The following scenes begin at the observation deck of the Ostankino Tower. Notice how much parkland and green space Moscow has within the city. Russia has more land area than any other country and so Moscow has plenty of room to spread out.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.8199298,37.6120561,2a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sRVNjiEbv_UsAAAQ4-fe_Sw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DRVNjiEbv_UsAAAQ4-fe_Sw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D100.468155%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

THE FANTASTIC ST. BASIL'S CATHEDRAL

St. Basil's Cathedral, in Red Square and just outside the Kremlin, was built by Ivan the Terrible (who was no doubt named by his enemies) to commemorate military victories. It was completed in 1561. The cathedral consists of eight churches built around a central church, and supposedly represents fire rising into the sky.

This building is representative of Moscow becoming the center of the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity. The Orthodox Church had split from the Catholics in 1054. The center of the new church was Constantinople, until Byzantium was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453. The center of the Orthodox Church then moved to Kiev, and later to Moscow.

The thing that is so special about this building is that it is completely original, with no predecessor. It is a unique mix of symmetry and asymmetry that goes by rules that are all it's own. Very likely, it could be considered as the single most attractive building in the world.

Have you ever wondered what meanings might be in the architecture of this building?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil%27s_Cathedral#/media/File:Moscow_05-2012_StBasilCathedral.jpg

The towers vary in height. Some of the towers are polygons, while some are cylindrical. Maybe this represents different situations, in life and in history, sometimes things fit together neatly, and sometimes they don't. But that is only the way it seems to us because everything always fits together neatly for God, even if we cannot see how.

This is what the world looks like. It doesn't always fit together as neatly as we would like it to, and sometimes doesn't seem to make sense at all, at least from our limited human perspective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil's_Cathedral#/media/File:St_Basils_Cathedral_closeup.jpg

The domes are all different from one another, yet there is a basic similarity between them. Can this represent how people are different, and come in different colors and vary in height, but are much more similar than they are different, and all are created by the same God?

Notice how Moscow's "Seven Sister" buildings are a reflection of the towers and domes of St. Basil's Cathedral. They are not exactly the same, and vary in height, but there is a basic sameness about them.

Is there a political prophecy in the cathedral, with the high central tower representing Russians and the other towers representing the other nationalities that would eventually come together to make up the republics of the Soviet Union? Or did the cathedral act as a model of the future Soviet Union, and set the precedent to bring it about?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil's_Cathedral#/media/File:Sant_Vasily_cathedral_in_Moscow.JPG

Do the upward pointing triangles, with semi-circles above them, stand for the flame and smoke which would be a welcome sight in the cold winter? Or are they prophetic, standing for the many rockets that Russia would someday launch into earth orbit, the moon and other planets, with the semi-circles standing for these astronomical bodies?

Or, as in all of these examples, does it work in reverse? Is it the symbolism in this cathedral that led Russia to be such a space-faring nation? Did these triangles, pointing upward on the towers of the cathedral toward semi-circles, lead Russia to point the rocket upward that would put Sputnik, represented by a semi-circle, as the first man-made object to orbit the earth, to be followed by Yuri Gagarin as the first human to orbit the earth?

The semicircles atop the tall central tower look like craters on the moon. They also look like eyes of the lens of cameras. Could this be a prophecy that Russia would be the first nation to photograph the far side of the moon, which would turn out to be much more heavily cratered than the side facing earth?

We can only see one side of the moon from earth. Unlike other buildings, the domes of St. Basil's Cathedral cannot be seen all at once. There is no vantage point at ground level where all of the domes can be seen. Is this what led Russia to be the first nation to photograph the far side of the moon?

St. Basil's Cathedral consists of eight churches, each with a tower and a dome, around a central church.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil's_Cathedral#/media/File:St_Basil%27s_Cathedral_Line_Drawing.png

It wasn't known at the time of construction, but there would turn out to be eight planets in orbit around the central sun. The idea that the sun was the center of the Solar System had only relatively recently been introduced, and was not widely-known. The green roof of the lower level seems to represent the plants that cover the earth, and depend on the sun for life.

Could it be that the arrangement of this cathedral was actually a prophecy of the structure of the Solar System, of which Russia would take such an important role in exploring? At the time that the cathedral was built it was not known that the planets, including the earth, vary in size and color and composition, just like the domes on the cathedral.

Not only that but the "ring road" layout of the streets of Moscow very much resembles the orbits of the planets in the Solar System, with St. Basil's Cathedral in the place of the sun.

Incredibly, the four outer planets were found to be striped in the same way as some of St. Basil's domes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter#/media/File:Jupiter_and_its_shrunken_Great_Red_Spot.jpg

You can spend a long time wondering about the meaning of this fantastic building. Has anyone ever thought of naming the domes for the planets?

My favorite dome is the one with red and white horizontal stripes, the one facing away from Red Square. Which is your favorite dome?

Here are some scenes around St. Basil's Cathedral. You can collapse the side panel for a full-screen view.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7528746,37.6235137,3a,75y,259.54h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1solHSqe3GuOwalVRO0GkVag!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DolHSqe3GuOwalVRO0GkVag%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D251.8405%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

The Sagrada Familia And St. Basil's Cathedral

Here is a comparison that I cannot find any documentation of but cannot stop wondering about. I wonder if the Sagrada Familia was inspired by, if not modeled on, St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. There is no record of the architect of the Sagrada Familia ever visiting Russia. The cathedral was begun in the time of the tsars, and I can find no record that a tsar ever visited Spain. So, I will just let readers have a look and decide if there is a connection between the two.

Let's take a look at the fantastic cathedral in Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia. There are many photos, you do not have to look through all of them.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/La+Sagrada+Familia/@41.4036299,2.1743558,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipO6_K23guoBo1Eoleg5OwE2dyu9aI5TURy-_zQ1!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO6_K23guoBo1Eoleg5OwE2dyu9aI5TURy-_zQ1%3Dw86-h114-k-no!7i3456!8i4608!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x12a4a2dcd83dfb93:0x9bd8aac21bc3c950!2sLa+Sagrada+Familia!8m2!3d41.4036299!4d2.1743558!3m4!1s0x12a4a2dcd83dfb93:0x9bd8aac21bc3c950!8m2!3d41.4036299!4d2.1743558

Now, let's take a look at St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. This cathedral is far older, nearly five hundred years old, than the Sagrada Familia. But look at the design of the outside, with the domes atop towers that are congruent to the spires of the Sagrada Familia. Concentrate on the outside of this cathedral, rather than the inside.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/St.+Basil's+Cathedral/@55.7525229,37.6230868,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipNPAaHFpG-hZACG1LpeIAbMWM7SMnXllc8c5tJO!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNPAaHFpG-hZACG1LpeIAbMWM7SMnXllc8c5tJO%3Dw86-h86-k-no!7i2600!8i2599!4m5!3m4!1s0x46b54a5962e69605:0xa4cf168ae7cb3ae5!8m2!3d55.7525226!4d37.623087

St. Basil's Cathedral has domes instead of spires but both have a tallest one in the middle, or at least the Sagrada Familia will have when it is completed.

Notice the prominent upward-pointing triangles on both cathedrals.

Both ignore architectural conventions, and make rules of their own. The Sagrada Familia seems to particularly ignore the architectural norms of straight lines and right angles.

St. Basil's Cathedral looks different when seen from different vantage points, the domes cannot be seen all at once from the ground. Likewise, the Sagrada Familia has three different facades facing different directions.

Both are known for being colorful, with St. Basil's Cathedral being colorful on the outside while the Sagrada Familia is colorful on the inside, due to it's windows.

There is no reference to it but I will leave it up to you to decide if St. Basil's Cathedral was an inspiration, or at least a great influence, on the Sagrada Familia.

Ukraine And Revelation

Doesn't anyone see what Vladimir Putin is doing? First a dam in Ukraine was breached, which means a lot of water everywhere. Then tactical nuclear weapons were moved into neighboring Belarus.

Ukraine is where the disastrous Chernobyl nuclear meltdown took place, in 1986, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. The name of Chernobyl means "wormwood", which is a shrub.

In the Book of Revelation, Chapter 8 Verses 10 and 11, a "falling star" is described, which is also named Wormwood. Bible readers for centuries must have been mystified by this because nowhere else in the Bible is Wormwood mentioned, nor is a "falling star" named for a shrub.

The "falling star" is described as causing the "waters to turn bitter", and many people to die from drinking the bitter waters. This is exactly what happens after their has been a nuclear explosion. A cardinal rule is to never drink from open water afterward. Since there was no word in biblical times for anything nuclear, this is what happens after a nuclear explosion, and "Chernobyl" means "Wormwood", we can presume that this "falling star" is a prophecy of a nuclear missile.

Now can you see what Vladimir Putin is doing? First breaching the dam and then moving tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus? It is evoking this prophecy.

News

FACIAL RESEMBLANCE 

Facial resemblance can be a factor in politics. I have written here about how Archbishop Desmond Tutu closely resembles Mahatma Gandhi, who lived for a long time in South Africa, even though Tutu was black and Gandhi was Indian. Also the present Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, closely resembles the long-time Soviet foreign minister, Andrei Gromyko. The top Iranian general Soleimani, who was killed on orders of Donald Trump, resembled Ayatollah Khomeini.

Silvio Berlusconi resembled Benito Mussolini in a similar way and I think Italians acted out their mixed feelings about Mussolini on him.

What about Boris Johnson? His posture looks just like that of Winston Churchill. It looks like he could be Churchill's grandson.

THE DEATH OF DANIEL ELLSBERG 

Daniel Ellsberg died this week. The U.S. Government commissioned a secret report about what was really going on in the conduct of the Vietnam War, a lot of which the public wasn't being told. Daniel Ellsberg, in the course of his work, got hold of one of the copies of the report. He took it home and secretly copied it. He was very much in opposition to the war and secretly leaked the report to major newspapers. The government figured out that he did it.

The report became known as the "Pentagon Papers". The administration of Richard Nixon set about discrediting Ellsberg. There was a June 1972 burglary into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist, at the Watergate complex in Washington.

The burglars were caught. The complex was closed for the day. It had the kind of doors that could be opened from the inside, but not from the outside. A security guard noticed that someone put tape over the latch on a door and removed the tape. When he went by again the tape has been replaced. The guard called police, who found the burglars.

I am unsure if Richard Nixon knew about the burglary before it happened. But he definitely tried to cover it up afterward. It ended with Nixon's shocking resignation as president.

When I was a child we would hardly ever have dinner around a table. We would watch the news while having dinner, and now I am glad of that because I witnessed so many things that I can write about here.

In the compound posting "Investigations", December 2018, there are two investigations involving the Watergate scandal, 9) THE REAL BATMAN and "49) THE BUFFALO NY CONNECTION TO WATERGATE.

AMERICA AND ROYALTY

We saw in the posting "America And Royalty", September 2022, that America is really as royal as anywhere, despite officially being a republic. You can see what I mean in how President Biden recently closed a speech by referring to "God Save The Queen", which is Britain's national anthem.

REMEMBERING THE "SON OF SAM"

The recent death of the Unabomber reminds us of another serial killer that would send puzzles containing clues to newspapers.

What would you do to get revenge on people who allow their dog to bark outside if you had already shot and wounded the dog and sent anonymous letters threatening the life of it's owner?

What David Berkowitz did was to become a serial killer, name himself after the owner of the dog, claim that it was the dog's owner who compelled him to kill, terrorize New York City, and then claim that you thought the barking of the dog were demonic instructions being given you to carry out the killings.

But, unlike the Unabomber, the case of the "Son of Sam" has some happiness in it's ending. David Berkowitz is in prison for life. He has become a born-again Christian and carries on a ministry from prison. Other people help because he isn't allowed to use a computer. Even a serial killer has the way open to salvation if he wants it.

We saw the Son of Sam in the compound posting "Investigations", December 2018, section 1) DID THE SON OF SAM WANT TO GET CAUGHT?

Mongolia

We have seen the Mongols in the posting on this blog, "Why We Should Understand The Mongols". Let's have a look at what Mongolia, the land of the Mongols, looks like today.

Mongolia is a vast country in terms of geography, but a small country in terms of population. The only large city is the capital of Ulan Bator. Life is traditionally semi-nomadic in Mongolia, revolving around the portable tent-like dwelling, known as a "yurt". The country is between Russia and China and has been influenced and affected by both.

Ulan Bator was founded by Buddhists in 1639. There are many Buddhist temples and monasteries in the city today. Mongolia was where the Mongols originated, although their conquests extended far beyond what is now the nation's borders. Mongolia was ruled by the Qing Dynasty of China, the Manchus, but became independent when the Qing were overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.

The October Revolution of 1917, which began the Soviet Union, was echoed in the 1921 Revolution in Mongolia. Communism ended there in 1990.

Genghis Khan is considered as the founder of Mongolia. Outside the capital city of Ulan Bator there is a massive statue of him. "Genghis" is sometimes spelled as "Chinggis". The following scenes begin inside the Genghis Khan statue complex. The cylindrical form of the building is the same shape as a traditional Mongolian yurt.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.8081027,107.5299207,2a,75y,309.9h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIWjIkqMZOkQAAAQXM0sFxg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DIWjIkqMZOkQAAAQXM0sFxg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D321.2289%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Notice how the arch leading to the statue of Genghis (Chinggis) Khan on horseback is very much like the arch of another conqueror. Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is so named because it was on the Carrousel, which was a parade ground for horses. This is why a merry-go-round with horses is called a carousel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_du_Carrousel#/media/File:Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel_2006.jpg

The focal point of the city of Ulan Bator is Sukhbataar Square. It is named for the hero of Mongolia's 1921 Revolution, Damdin Sukhbataar, who is depicted on horseback in the statue in the center of the square, in a way similar to that of Genghis Khan. The name of the city of Ulan Bator means something like "The Red Hero". The following scenes of the central part of the city begin in Sukhbataar Square. The building with the pillars is the Mongolian Parliament.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.9190048,106.9176053,2a,75y,320.17h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s_15f0WNxlE9m-bEkQFIOvQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D_15f0WNxlE9m-bEkQFIOvQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D330.79755%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Near the center of the city is a link to the west, a monument of the Beatles. The apple represents Apple Records, which was their label. The following scenes begin at the Beatles Monument.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.9156828,106.9065078,3a,75y,316.15h,91.88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMA783FExTUcAtXnlrtAwjwBYuIHO5DXR2zp3-k!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMA783FExTUcAtXnlrtAwjwBYuIHO5DXR2zp3-k%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya195.4038-ro0-fo100!7i3840!8i1919

This is what was the winter palace of the Emperor of Mongolia, in the southern part of the city. Ulan Bator has a very continental climate, high in elevation in central Asia, and is known for how cold it gets during the winter.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.8976797,106.9070154,2a,75y,129.03h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1svdjzXPps6oz5-85Jz3PknA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DvdjzXPps6oz5-85Jz3PknA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D140.40285%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Also in the southern part of Ulan Bator is the Zaisan Monument. It is a ring-shaped mural tribute to the alliance and cooperation between Mongolia and Russia, and below the ring is a panoramic view of the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.8840709,106.9154427,2a,75y,97.71h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1spj0e1WrZS2p4zMEqgVM4Iw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dpj0e1WrZS2p4zMEqgVM4Iw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D101.410835%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Away from the monuments and tourist sites, the following scenes are around the center of the everyday city of Ulan Bator.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.9153824,106.8946152,3a,75y,169.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPrHb3-ep02ceSCgJ6PTpRuJ0Zv0FOgkeFwWNl9!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPrHb3-ep02ceSCgJ6PTpRuJ0Zv0FOgkeFwWNl9%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya30.499992-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Finally, this is a mostly-residential development to the northeast of the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.9345956,107.0059474,3a,75y,97.5h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sX_GQ9DPwNWo9WLXXoBsOmQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DX_GQ9DPwNWo9WLXXoBsOmQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D97.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Review Of The Mongols

With our visit today to the land named for the Mongols, here is a link to "Why We Should Understand The Mongols":

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/05/why-we-should-understand-mongols.html?m=0

This Week's News

 SMOKE FROM WILDFIRES 

The northeastern U.S. is shrouded in smoke from fires in Nova Scotia and Quebec. Does this remind you of the beginning of Chapter 9 of the Book of Revelation? There will be smoke everywhere.

Have you ever noticed that down through history, all across the world, wilderness and forest fires are very rarely, if ever, mentioned? But then, for the past 60 or 70 years or so, there are major fires virtually every summer. Incredibly this is because, in the past, humans didn't have the capability to battle such major fires but now they do.

If that doesn't sound like it makes sense it is because putting out wilderness fires is the problem, rather than the solution. A low level fire every few years burns off the dead underbrush that builds up. The fire doesn't do lasting damage to trees and the animals know how to avoid it. The purpose of lightning is to start such fires and this is the way nature has been working for millions of years. 

But then humans come along and think we know better. We keep putting fires out so that the dead underbrush keeps building up. Then, when it might have been 70 or 80 years since the last fire, we get the kind of fires that we see now. For that reason maybe the smoke from wildfires is part of the End Times scenario.

Variations in rainfall, due to climate change, is another factor. If there is a lot of rain one year it will produce a lot of plant growth. But if there is a shortage of rain the following year it will not be able to sustain the plant growth from the previous year and there will be a lot of dead and dry plant matter.

The reason that the sky may appear orange during a major fire is the scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere. Light, or other electromagnetic radiation, is reflected by objects that are about the same size as the wavelength. The microscopic particles of dust in the air scatter blue, the shorter wavelength of light the most. But the fire fills the air with larger particles which scatter longer wavelengths, which are orange. At morning or evening the sunlight passes through a thicker section of atmosphere to get to us, so the blue is scattered away altogether and we see orange and red.

FAREWELL TO PAT ROBERTSON

We know that Pat Robertson did a lot for Christianity in the U.S. I used to watch the 700 Club. But his putting politics together with religion, and running for president, is yet another manifestation of what we saw in "The Great Revolution Of Our Time", January 2017. Billy Graham came before Pat Robertson and didn't try to mix politics and religion. Billy Graham running for president is unimaginable.

Manchuria

The far northeastern part of China is commonly referred to as Manchuria. This is from where the last imperial dynasty of China originated, the Qing Dynasty that ruled the country from 1644 to The Xinhai Revolution of 1911. The Qing Dynasty was also known as the Manchus, from the name of Manchuria.

Just as Florida is the place where America meets the Caribbean, Manchuria has traditionally been the place where China has met Korea, Russia and, Japan. But the climate of Manchuria is somewhat colder than that of Florida and the population centers have largely grown in modern times due to railroads.

The city of Changchun is not extremely old. Today it is very important in China's auto industry.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.8750191,125.3004226,3a,75y,118.5h,96.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNNAAtKrJnnyB-Te1jrBHoncNcrvqb1aW_rK0pw!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNNAAtKrJnnyB-Te1jrBHoncNcrvqb1aW_rK0pw%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.941883-ya343.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

This is around the center of Changchun.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.8570697,125.2479828,3a,75y,79.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPfw0fsaC-zyotWLG6XBU5M0Jom8Bguij7Rvy0h!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPfw0fsaC-zyotWLG6XBU5M0Jom8Bguij7Rvy0h%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya278.5-ro0-fo100!7i2508!8i1254

Unlike Changchun, Shenyang is an ancient city. Today, it's basis is industrial but it was once the capital city of the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty to rule China. This is the area around the Catholic church.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7879297,123.4463713,3a,75y,34.5h,104.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNvsNt1RWDnpKpM_26NV2tw6o_40hvTrlwTg-U_!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNvsNt1RWDnpKpM_26NV2tw6o_40hvTrlwTg-U_%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.933861-ya0.5535746-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

The following views are around the center of Shenyang.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8082303,123.4249887,3a,75y,91.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOJvg8MxLc3FIHCZjA2ITmXWYjdRsqsoIYMcTGB!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOJvg8MxLc3FIHCZjA2ITmXWYjdRsqsoIYMcTGB%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya257.5-ro0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

This is the tall buildings of the central business district of Shenyang.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7580566,123.430275,3a,75y,136.5h,104.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMzSLSkAEnVgAi-lOh1bBzGu-mIMCpNroH3LAmY!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMzSLSkAEnVgAi-lOh1bBzGu-mIMCpNroH3LAmY%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.933861-ya136.5-ro-0-fo100!7i5472!8i2736

Shenyang is a very old city and there is plenty of traditional Chinese architecture. Skyscrapers look pretty much like skyscrapers anywhere else in the world but here is some traditional architecture so we know for sure that we are in China. You may have noticed that such old places in China are often surrounded by willow trees. But this isn't Canton or Hong Kong, this is the far north of China and it snows here.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8397408,123.4284744,3a,75y,7.5h,96.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMEvAhLfq6A2pV08T8UG_za97SAkFkWfkRe4CNP!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMEvAhLfq6A2pV08T8UG_za97SAkFkWfkRe4CNP%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.941883-ya4.358164-ro-0-fo100!7i11984!8i5992

Like Changchun, but unlike Shenyang, the city of Harbin is not extremely old but grew into a major city due to railroad connections. Harbin can be described as the place where Russia meets China. It is a Chinese city but there have been a lot of Russian immigrants. After the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War the losing sides in both, Romanov supporters and the Whites, withdrew to Harbin and it became somewhat of a preserve of Romanov times in Russia. Anyone accustomed to the frigid winter temperatures in much of Russia would feel right at home in Harbin.

The first of the following scenes is of St. Sophia Cathedral. This is an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral that appears to be right out of Russia.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7700163,126.6273327,3a,75y,268.62h,100.88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOZLf63oltQXZrFPk_ZZ2V_2Tbur2zyYIgycuo!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOZLf63oltQXZrFPk_ZZ2V_2Tbur2zyYIgycuo%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya166.61127-ro-0-fo100!7i10752!8i3760

This is the northern area of Harbin.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7993951,126.5366636,3a,75y,130.5h,96.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOTgJ1ju9xMfin1MaIN58RBNQSYw52-vhoJQws!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOTgJ1ju9xMfin1MaIN58RBNQSYw52-vhoJQws%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.941883-ya164.50002-ro0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Here is around the center of Harbin.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7550011,126.6361084,3a,75y,316.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOrx2zHSdf1TryWMexE88xlVNyesn-tMG2qJ7l4!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOrx2zHSdf1TryWMexE88xlVNyesn-tMG2qJ7l4%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi1.4574571-ya357.27863-ro-3.2336066-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Finally, let's remember that Harbin is still in China with some traditional Chinese architecture surrounded by willow trees.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.777499,126.660597,3a,75y,214.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNnE0Kixgq-MD6thNRW8UihNVVuV5RFdkjeAHAp!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNnE0Kixgq-MD6thNRW8UihNVVuV5RFdkjeAHAp%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya255.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

The Great Wall is a system of walls, rather than a single wall. The idea of a defensive wall across the north of China goes far back into ancient times. Most of the Great Wall today is from the Ming Dynasty of the Late Middle Ages. The Ming Dynasty also built the city walls of Xian that we see today, although Xian is a very old city that was the first capital of a united China.

There have been a lot more walls across the world, down through history, than we see today. What tends to happen is that a wall is built as a defensive measure but, after times change so that the wall is no longer necessary, it becomes a ready source of stone for further building.

The Great Wall likely had an effect on China that went far beyond it's defensive purpose. It's construction, along with other national projects like the Grand Canal, tied China together as a nation in the same way that the pyramids did for Egypt. Great stone monuments and structures are what make the difference between an ancient nation disappearing into the sands of time or still being around today.

The Great Wall may have had a limiting effect on China also. The thought once occurred to me that, if not for the Great Wall, China would likely own Siberia today.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4309295,116.5644804,3a,75y,90.86h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOrHhI2M0P2y11K_43LZfcfCPvQRWp0TwqwfUkg!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOrHhI2M0P2y11K_43LZfcfCPvQRWp0TwqwfUkg%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya26.125317-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

The Binding Power Of Stone Monuments And Walls

With our visit to the Great Wall of China today why don't we have a look at this?

THE BINDING POWER OF STONE MONUMENTS

There is something that I have never seen written in history that should be explained. It applies from ancient times until now, and concerns stone monuments and their enduring power to bind nations together.

To begin with, what makes Egypt different from the rest of north Africa? The simple answer is that Egypt has been a nation since ancient times while Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and, Chad are relatively recent arrangements as nations.

My hypothesis is that it is the pyramids, and other monuments such as the Sphinx and Abu Simbel, that literally held Egypt together. If not for these massive monuments, Egypt would be just another name from ancient history and not the nation that it is today.

One thing that is different in history about Egypt is that those who managed to conquer it did not erase it's identity, but rather adapted it themselves. The Hyksos were a Semitic people who conquered Egypt in ancient times. But they, in many ways, became Egyptians rather than the other way around. The same can be said for the Ptolemies.

Likewise, the Seventh Century Arab conquest of Egypt converted it to Islam but in no way diminished it's national identity. Assyria and then Babylon both matched Egypt in power, but neither has existed in two-and-a-half millenniums while Egypt still stands. I see this as all due to the influence of the pyramids.

The other modern nations of north Africa have ancient ruins, Carthage in Tunisia began as a Phoenician colony and was later the great rival of Rome. But there is nothing like the pyramids of Egypt anywhere else in the region.

Ethiopia, once known as Cush or Kush, is another ancient nation that has endured to the present day. It lies to the south of Egypt, in east Africa. Just like Egypt, Ethiopia has pyramids from ancient times that has held it together as a nation. Ethiopia has about twice the number of pyramids that Egypt has, although they are smaller in scale.

Greece, across the Mediterranean from Egypt, is another modern nation that has been around since ancient times. Just as Egypt has staying power as a nation that nearby kingdoms in north Africa did not, the same can be said of Greece with regard to the rest of the Balkans. The difference being that Greece had stone monuments remaining from it's early days, such as the Acropolis, which held it together as a nation. Alexander's empire did not hold together after his death, but the home country did in the same way as Egypt.

What about the modern nation of Iran? It also goes back to ancient times, and is traditionally known as Persia. The name was changed to Iran, meaning "The Land of the Aryans", in 1935. Persia did not have pyramids like Egypt, but did have abundant ruins from it's glory days.

The ruling shah that was overthrown in 1979 had celebrated the 2500th anniversary of the Peacock Throne in 1971. Possibly the grandest party ever given in human history was held in the ruins of Persepolis in the autumn of 1971. Only a king that doesn't need approval from congresses and parliaments to spend money could put on a party like this.

Further east, we find a great modern nation in China that has been around for about as long as Egypt. China is a vast country that would seem likely to fragment into smaller states. The Chinese language is written in one way but spoken in several ways besides the standard Mandarin, such as Cantonese and Fujianese.

But, once again, we find the binding power of stone monuments at work. The legendary "Great Wall of China" was a network of walls that were built to keep out barbarians from the north. My theory is that it, and other national projects such as the Grand Canal, accomplished something that was much more important, it was what bound this diverse country together into one so that it has lasted from ancient times until now, although much of the Great Wall was built in relatively recent times.

To the south, the Khmer people of what is now called Cambodia have been there as a nation for a very long time. There was once a great Khmer Empire. As we might expect, we find an ancient stone monument from the early days of the Khmer Empire in the Temple of Angkor Wat.

It seems to me that without the binding power of such stone monuments, nations simply do not last for thousands of years. Neither language nor religion can hold a nation together over the long span of history like a massive stone monument. The working together to build the monument would likely be a powerful force in the binding of the nation to begin with.

THE POWER OF WALLS

A related concept is how the development of nations is affected by walls. Examples of how physical walls, constructed along borders, affect developments far into the future are much more rare than examples of how nations are bound, over the long term, by stone monuments that they have constructed. But there are three examples, that I can see, where physical walls have had a great long-term effect. A wall along a border can have a powerful effect on future developments long after it ceases to be an actual political or military barrier.

Let's start with Scotland. Scotland was a separate nation from England until 1707, and has always had it's own identity even though it speaks English and both nations landed on the same side of the Protestant Reformation. Scotland is more Celtic in nature than England, but it seems to me that there had to be more to the separate sense of identity then this.

But what about Hadrian's Wall? it was built by the Roman emperor of that name to keep out the tribes to the north. This means that the wall has been there for two thousand years, making it one of the oldest structures in Britain. The wall is not exactly on the boundary between England and Scotland any more, but what kind of psychological effect must it have had through all of that time?

The question is not why Scotland has a separate identity, but how it could not have a separate identity? If you take people that are exactly the same, and have a wall across their territory for two thousand years even if that wall is not an actual impermeable barrier, and you can be sure that there will be some kind of separate identity on opposite sides of the wall.

About six hundred years after the construction of Hadrian's Wall, but before England was a united country, there was a kingdom known as Mercia in the region that is now known as the Midlands, as well as areas to the south and west. I am actually a Mercian because this includes the area where I was born. The Midlands is still occasionally referred to as Mercia.

There was a great Mercian king, known as Offa. Mercia was a very powerful state at the time of Offa's reign and this period, when Mercia was the dominant state of those that now make up England, is known as the Mercian Supremacy. Offa is recorded as having begun construction of a military barrier against the Kingdom of Powys, the area that is now known as Wales, to the west. 

This barrier, known as Offa's Dyke, was a simple ditch and berm of earth along the border, designed to give a military advantage to the Mercian side. I had been to castles in the area, such as Chepstow and Goodrich, but cannot remember ever seeing Offa's Dyke and never considering it as really any more than a name on a map.

But now I realize how important Offa's Dyke has been, not for England but for Wales. It has formed essentially the boundary between England and Wales ever since and, more importantly, has been a basis for a separate sense of Welsh identity in the same way as Hadrian's Wall for Scotland.

Wales and Scotland are Celtic domains that have always had some sense of a separate identity from England. But my conclusion is that these two walls, Hadrian's Wall and Offa's Dyke, have been essential to that separate identity. There are two other such Celtic domains in the area, other than Ireland, which do not have as strong of a separate identity. These are Cornwall, the southwestern county of England, and Brittany in France.

Brittany occupies the long peninsula off western France, giving it a sound geographic definition. Cornwall is on a parallel peninsula and once had it's own language. But neither has the separate sense of identity of Wales or Scotland. This can be explained by the fact that neither is defined by a wall, like Hadrian's Wall or Offa's Dyke.

Now, let's apply this concept of the power of walls to the other side of the world. The most significant wall in the world is by far the Great Wall of China. Wikipedia describes it as having been begun by the first Chinese emperor. The Great Wall is actually a complex structure of many different walls that were built over centuries. Construction of these walls certainly helped to bind China as a nation.

I read an article that one thing about the world that seems incongruous is that Siberia should really belong to China, rather than Russia. There are quite a few articles online about this issue. Siberia seems psychologically very distant from Moscow, and it has vast stores of resources that China's voracious economy needs. The native people of Siberia look much more Oriental then European.

Historically China has traded abroad along the fabled "Silk Road", which included both land and sea trading routes, and has sent ventures like the fleet of Admiral Zheng He abroad. To the west, China incorporated the vast central Asian territory of Xinjiang. But China has never had the same kind of economic interactions with lands to the north, what is now known as Siberia.

My conclusion is that the reason for this is that the Great Wall acted as a psychological barrier over the centuries, and prevented incorporation of Siberia into China.

This does not mean that China would necessarily be better off today with Siberia. For one thing, it was the shared construction of the Great Wall that helped to bind it as a nation as described in "The Binding Power Of Stone Monuments". For another, there is the phenomenon known as the "resource curse" or the "paradox of plenty", where the people of a nation that is rich in natural resources end up being worse off as a result.

In the posting "Understanding The World In Terms Of The South And West And The North And East ", April 2016, we saw how the nations of the North And East tend to have existed since ancient times while the nations of the South And West tend to come into existence with new ideas. We saw that there are some exceptions to this rule, such as Egypt, Iran and, Greece in the South And West. What we see here is that it is the Binding Power Of Stone Monuments that brings about the exceptions.