Khartoum

The Nubian Pyramids built by the predecessors of Ethiopia are in what is now Sudan, the capital city of which is Khartoum. In the public consciousness this ancient civilization is somewhat overshadowed by Egypt, to the north, but it is one of the most important of early civilizations.

Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, is located where the White Nile, from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, flowing from Ethiopia, intersect. Khartoum originated as an Egyptian military outpost. It was founded by Ibrahim, the son of Muhammad Ali Pasha who broke away from the Ottoman Empire and founded the Pasha Dynasty in Egypt, that lasted until the overthrow of King Farouk in 1952.

Sudan was the largest country in Africa until it was split in 2011, with South Sudan becoming the world's newest nation. There is also conflict involving Darfur, the western part of Sudan that used to be an Islamic sultanate.

Nubia is a region of northeast Africa that was a site of early civilization. The southern part of Nubia is in what is now Sudan. Nubians ruled Egypt for what is known as the 25th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Like the Egyptians, the Nubians built pyramids as tombs for royalty. Nubian pyramids are much smaller in scale, but much more numerous, than Egyptian pyramids.

The Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt built massive pyramids but this eventually fell out of favor and kings came to be buried at what is referred to as the "Valley of the Kings". King Tut, as one example, never had a pyramid but is buried here. We saw the Valley of the Kings in the posting on this blog, "Ramesses I". We saw the best-known Egyptian pyramids, at Giza, in "The Underground Orion Correlation Theory".

Building the smaller Nubian pyramids was much more sustainable that the Egyptian pyramids, and that is why there are so many more of the Nubian pyramids. We have already seen the Nubian pyramids at Meroe, in our visit to "Ethiopia", although the pyramids are actually in Sudan. The following pyramids are at Nuri. A pharaoh of Egypt that is mentioned in the Bible, Tarhaka, was actually a Nubian of the 25th Dynasty and has his tomb here.

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. 

The first three images of the Pyramids of Nuri are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@18.5639858,31.9158115,3a,75y,91.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNm6gJBKgO-HbuNNQSVRb0pIysDkTnlkC6V5fPC!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNm6gJBKgO-HbuNNQSVRb0pIysDkTnlkC6V5fPC%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya176.5-ro0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584

These Nubian pyramids and structures, some reconstructed, are at Karima. The first four images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@18.5380981,31.8220521,3a,75y,253.5h,96.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOiCPeVxWDSUV0WY3mmeF7aoVqbdUioiJ7g4u3Q!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOiCPeVxWDSUV0WY3mmeF7aoVqbdUioiJ7g4u3Q%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.941883-ya196.49998-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

The following scenes begin around the central area of Khartoum. The first six images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@15.6000985,32.5288184,3a,75y,80h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNYl80kIs3ZtHbtauzCymltiXhbq3E_03z8mCy6!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNYl80kIs3ZtHbtauzCymltiXhbq3E_03z8mCy6%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya264.29434-ro0-fo100!7i6080!8i3040

This is around the University of Khartoum. The National Museum of Sudan has a lot of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Remember that the 25th Dynasty that ruled ancient Egypt was Nubian, from further south in Africa. The first image is from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@15.6092655,32.5404897,3a,75y,163.5h,92.44t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPwSccO38qV5tEGk0xpzxaGl5g1h3TBsGQ7-Wk0!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPwSccO38qV5tEGk0xpzxaGl5g1h3TBsGQ7-Wk0%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.4351845-ya352.5-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i4428

This is further east in Khartoum.

https://www.google.com/maps/@15.6131186,32.565581,3a,75y,34.5h,93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMYNWRO_SmLlOEwM15c0XvOkYzfGc1uT7ZSnSmp!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMYNWRO_SmLlOEwM15c0XvOkYzfGc1uT7ZSnSmp%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya294.5-ro0-fo100!7i6144!8i3072

In Khartoum North, notice how the Al Noor Islamic Center resembles the Hagia Sophia and the Tomb of Muhammad Ali Pasha, in Cairo. Remember that Khartoum was founded by the Pasha Dynasty. The first two images, inside the Al Noor, are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@15.6273377,32.5608524,3a,75y,271.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNDi6d637iEWvEPb2cjMXE_xAsb5NUMi9_sBEV4!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNDi6d637iEWvEPb2cjMXE_xAsb5NUMi9_sBEV4%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya271.5-ro-0-fo100!7i10000!8i5000

To the west of the Nile River from Khartoum is the city of Omdurman. The first four images of Omdurman are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@15.6390289,32.4881478,3a,75y,85.5h,108.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP-X1ayN7cPG8dX2jqcUyc9DeAFsEydygVnxe4X!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP-X1ayN7cPG8dX2jqcUyc9DeAFsEydygVnxe4X%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-18.941883-ya71.5-ro-0-fo100!7i3840!8i1919

Geoffrey Of Monmouth

When I was about four years old I was somewhere with my parents and they showed me a wooden statue of a man holding a book. It must have made an impression on me because I have been a lifelong avid reader, and now am writing here. Although I don't think I knew what a book was at the time, as I wasn't old enough to have started school. 

I remember the name of "Arthur". The statue is of Geoffrey Of Monmouth. Monmouth is a Welsh town near where I was born. It is known as the hometown of Charles Rolls, of Rolls-Royce. The following image is from the Wikipedia article "Geoffrey Of Monmouth".

Geoffrey Of Monmouth was a Catholic cleric who lived nine hundred years ago. The statue is near Tintern Abbey. This was a cathedral-scale monastery church that had been operating for about four hundred years when the Protestants decided to abandon it following the Reformation, as it was in a somewhat remote location that wasn't suitable for a cathedral. Tintern Abbey is now a tourist attraction that has been falling into ruin for the five hundred years since the Reformation. But Geoffrey Of Monmouth lived before the Reformation, at the time Tintern Abbey was built.

Geoffrey Of Monmouth was a writer, and wrote a history of the Kings of Britain. But his writing, while widely influential, is now considered as having a storytelling element to it, and probably not being entirely factual. What his writing is really known for is to popularize the story of King Arthur. 

The Celtic people, including the Welsh and Cornish, are generally considered as being the original people of Britain, while English people are mostly descended from the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings that came later. Welsh mythology has heroes who may one day reappear and rid the island of invaders, meaning English people. The root of this mythology is the writing of Geoffrey Of Monmouth, although he was believed to be just colorizing the history of the Kings and didn't have anything revolutionary in mind.

The two kings that were really popularized by Geoffrey Of Monmouth are King Arthur and Cadwaladr, who was supposedly the final king of the Welsh kingdom that existed before the Anglo-Saxons came. But it is King Arthur who has really captured the public imagination. 

Whether or not King Arthur ever actually existed depends on who you ask. Some believe that he was really two or more people that Geoffrey Of Monmouth combined into one. Others believe that the historical embellishments of Geoffrey Of Monmouth were probably not intentional but that he confused people with similar names, particularly in the case of Cadwaladr. But there are other who not only believe that King Arthur existed, but that he will return someday as a messianic figure.

The knights that were with King Arthur are known as the Knights Of The Round Table. The reason for a round table was supposedly that, with a rectangular table, the seat at the head of the table is considered as a higher-status position. A round table meant that everyone was equal. Their supposed round table is on display in Winchester, which is believed to have been associated with King Arthur. Image from Google Street View.

250 years after the time of Geoffrey Of Monmouth came the Welsh rebellion of Owain Glyndwr. This was certainly motivated, at least in part, by his stories, even if that had not been his intention. 

Decades after this rebellion some world-changing events took place. Henry Tudor was born in Pembroke Castle, in Wales. When I was a teenager I saw the castle from outside. Image from Google Street View.

The ruling royal House Of Plantagenet had two rival cadet branches, the House Of Lancaster and the House Of York. Henry Tudor's family was part of the Lancastrian branch. When a Yorkist king took the throne, Henry spent more than a decade in exile in France. 

Henry returned to Britain to seize the throne, landing in Wales near his birthplace. As he proceeded across Wales, gathering support before defeating the Yorkists in battle and taking the throne, he linked himself with these heroes that had been popularized by Geoffrey Of Monmouth. 

Henry named his first son, who would inherit the throne, Arthur. This was the beginning of the world-famous Tudor Dynasty, and would give the impression that King Arthur had returned. But Arthur Tudor would die as a teenager and it would be another son, Henry, who would inherit the throne and become known to the world as Henry VIII (The Eighth). The Tudors were of Welsh origin and their rule of England can definitely be seen as rooted in the long-before writings of Geoffrey Of Monmouth.

Henry VIII never fulfilled the Arthurian vision of restoring the island to the native people, now the Welsh, by ridding it of English people. He ruled England. It was still England, instead of Britain, because Scotland was still a separate country at this time. But Henry VIII did something else that was momentous. He joined England to the Protestant Reformation that was already underway in continental Europe. So he didn't rid Britain of English people but he did rid England of Catholicism.

This ultimately led to England's Civil War which, unlike in continental Europe, wasn't between Protestants and Catholics but between the two branches of Protestantism that emerged, the Anglicans and the Puritans. In political terms it was between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. It ultimately resulted in some of the Puritans leaving England altogether, and that is where America's Pilgrims and Puritans came from.

The overthrowing and execution of a king, by popular revolt to establish a new order without a monarchy, could well have set the precedent for the later French Revolution, which can be seen as initiating the modern political era.

Protestants can have a somewhat dim view of the world. The Bible typically portrays "the world" as a foolish and sinful place that, for the most part, has failed to follow the Word of God. But that can be a good thing. When we have too much respect for the way that things have always been done we are less likely to notice better ways of doing things. This is why Protestants are progressive and it is no coincidence that the Industrial Revolution started in England following the Reformation.

Protestants are individualistic, with a "think for yourself" ideal. This started in religious terms, with anyone now being able to read the Bible for themselves and to join any church or set up their own instead of having no choice but to belong to the same church as everyone else. The result was the modern concept of democracy, which is very much a Protestant creation. An essential element of the Reformation was the invention of the printing press, in northern Germany which was Protestant territory. 

The presidential court of John F. Kennedy was known as "Camelot". This was the name of King Arthur's court. Ireland was originally Celtic, like Wales, and, while King Arthur isn't usually associated with Ireland, Kennedy was Irish-American. Could this have been an attempt to imply that Kennedy was the return of King Arthur?

There were early kings who fit the general description of Arthur, Alfred the Great and his grandson Athelstan. But they were Anglo-Saxons who battled Vikings, which came later. Both were known for their wisdom, character and, benevolence. I believe that it was these early kings that inspired the Legend of King Arthur.

For another mystery, the following image from the Wikipedia article "King Arthur" shows the "Three Crowns", on both his vest and the pennant. We saw this in the posting "Three Crowns And Fleur De Lis", January 2024. 

So much of the modern world can be traced back to the writing of Geoffrey Of Monmouth.

Apocalyptic Developments

Happy U.S. Thanksgiving. 

It was in the news today that an AI version of Jesus has been installed in a chapel in Switzerland. This is interesting to us, relative to the scenario explained in the posting "The End Of The World As We Know It", because Verses 14 and 15 of Chapter 13 in the Book of Revelation describe an "image" of the Antichrist that will be able to speak. 

It is also interesting that these verses are right before the explanation that there will be a "mark" that people will have in the Last Days, that will be necessary to buy or sell. This is because both are based on the same kind of modern technology. I explained in that posting what the "mark" actually is. It is phones.

Berlin Wall Anniversary

It was recently the anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. Why don't we review how history works.

THE BERLIN WALL

The Berlin Wall was an artificial barrier that ultimately didn't last. But why was this so?

The most important historical factor in the Berlin Wall is the split between east and west that we saw in the compound posting "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began" January 2016. This is where the monumental split, known as the "Great Schism of 1054" took place. The Eastern Orthodox Church split away from the Catholic Church, over disagreements about how much authority the Pope had, and the world has not been the same ever since. The conflicts between the two domains, from Napoleon's invasion of Russia to the Eastern Fronts of both world wars to the Cold War to the present war in Ukraine, are all rooted in this split, even if in modern secular form.

Another factor is the "The Rule Of Successive Revolutions" that we saw in the posting by that name, October 2024. The French Revolution of 1789 opened the modern political era. The king and queen were overthrown and guillotined in favor of a republic. But the revolution was messy and bloody and ultimately ended in the rule of Napoleon, who was the prototype of the modern dictator. 

There have been two major reenactments of the French Revolution, as well as many minor ones. The two major reenactments have each changed the basic direction of the French Revolution. The first reenactment, what we could call the Second Revolution, was the October Revolution of 1917, which was the beginning of world Communism. The second major reenactment, which we could call the Third Revolution, was the Iranian Revolution of 1979. This turned the direction of the revolution series back to religion.

The Berlin Wall was built by the Communists. It was their era, the era of the Second Revolution, and this enabled them to overreach westward, relative to the split defined by the Great Schism of 1054. But once the Second Revolution was supplanted by the Third Revolution, in 1979, it was only a matter of time before the Berlin Wall came down. Anniversaries are important and it came down in 1989 because that was the bicentennial of the French Revolution.

THE FIRST GULF WAR

During my youth, there was one major event that really took me by surprise. It was the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990. I had thought that the two countries were friendly, and Kuwait had seemed to favor Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War. 

Now I understand but, like so many other things, it goes back to the French Revolution.

Iraq underwent a repetition of the French Revolution. Iraq actually had it's own revolution, where the king was overthrown and killed in favor of a republic, on Bastille Day, and it is known as the July 14 Revolution. But just like the original French Revolution the republic would end up under the rule of a Napoleonic figure in a military uniform. That figure's name was Saddam Hussein. I consider Iraq as one of the most perfect reenactments of the French Revolution. 

Saddam Hussein is generally considered as having invaded neighboring Iran, in September 1980, with the hope to acquire Iran's oil-rich, and Arab-majority, Khuzestan Province. The Iranian Revolution was still going on and Saddam was certainly worried about it spilling over into his own majority Shiite population. Border clashes between the two countries had been going on for several months. Iran was cut off from the U.S., which had been it's main ally, and Saddam decided to take advantage of the situation.

The war went on for eight years, without either side gaining much of anything. Since Iran was at odds with the west, Saddam Hussein seemed to think that the west "owed" him something for keeping Iran at bay, and would acquiesce if he seized neighboring oil-rich Kuwait. This would be Iraq's reward instead of Khuzestan Province.

Saddam Hussein seemed greatly surprised at the world's reaction to his seizure of Kuwait. America and it's allies demanded the withdrawal from Kuwait and began mobilizing immediately. Saudi Arabia would join the coalition and allow the forces of the other countries to assemble on it's territory. A deadline of January 15, 1991, was announced for Iraqi forces to leave Kuwait, because that would allow time for the Allies to assemble a sufficient force. 

But let's remember the all-important French Revolution. Iraq's own mirror revolution actually took place on Bastille Day. Iraq was ruled by a Napoleon-like figure in Saddam Hussein, in a military uniform and ultimately emerging from the revolution that overthrew the king. But Kuwait was ruled by an emir, which is a king, from the Al-Sabah family. This put the two apparently-friendly countries on diametrically opposite sides of the French Revolution.

Remember that we saw in the compound posting "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris", December 2015, that the Republican side of America, despite the name, represents a continuation of the French Bourbon Dynasty that was overthrown by the French Revolution. The king and queen that were overthrown and guillotined, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, had been America's first allies and helped it to gain independence. This is what led America to react so quickly in favor of Kuwait, although I don't think it had been that close of an ally to America before that. Saudi Arabia was also ruled by a king and quickly joined in. It amounted to the kingdoms against the revolutionaries. 

CHINA'S CIVIL WAR

The influence of the French Revolution and this Revolution Series reaches to the Far East. 

Japan and China both had revolutions. But their revolutions went in opposite directions. China had it's version of the French Revolution in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which overthrew the emperor. Japan's revolution was in reverse. The power of the warrior class, the Samurai, was ended and full power was restored to the emperor. During the war between the two countries Japan got the former emperor of China, who had been a child when overthrown in 1911, and put him in power in the northeastern part of China, Manchuria.

After the end of the Second World War was the Chinese Civil War, between the Nationalists and the Communists. China had it's version of the French Revolution in 1911, and Chiang Kai-Shek emerged as it's Napoleon figure. But that was the First Revolution. Since the October Revolution of 1917, it had been the era of the Second Revolution. This favored the Communists and is why they ultimately won. 

THE FOURTH REVOLUTION 

Since there have been three revolutions in this all-important series, what might we expect if there should someday be another revolution in the series?

I wasn't thinking about it when I wrote about this series of revolutions but what about the emergence of the Antichrist, as described in Bible prophecy? This is described in the posting "The End Of The World As We Know It".

The First Revolution was hostile to religion, the Second even more so, but the Third was all about religion and brought the world generally back in that direction. The emergence of the Antichrist will certainly be revolutionary and what would be more logical as the next step in the revolution series than someone actually claiming to be God?

The Bible states that the Antichrist will go into the Temple of God and claim to be God. Remember that Napoleon was about to be crowned as emperor, in Notre Dame Cathedral by the Pope who had come to crown him, but he snatched the crown from the Pope and put it on himself, showing that he was above the Pope. 

Decades later Napoleon's nephew, known as Napoleon III or Louis Napoleon, would be the first president of the French Republic. When his term of office was over, in true Napoleonic fashion, simply declared the republic at an end, and France again as an empire, with himself, as we might expect, as emperor.

All three of the revolutions in the series has removed the existing order and had some kind of "storming" as it's signature event. The original French Revolution had the Storming of the Bastille. The October Revolution had the Storming of the Winter Palace. The Iranian Revolution had the Storming of the U.S. Embassy. What is referred to as the "Rapture", although the word is not in the Bible, is the removal by Jesus of all true Christians from the earth before the Tribulation Period begins. Although it will not be the work of humans, it fits ideally with being the Storming and overthrow of the existing order in the Fourth Revolution.

The Intricacy Of Gravity

It was in the news this week that the earth has tilted on it's axis nearly a meter since the beginning of the millennium because the incessant pumping of groundwater has changed the mass distribution of the planet. The fact that change in it's mass distribution should cause the earth to tilt on it's axis verifies my hypothesis that it was the tectonic movement of continents that caused the 23.5 degree axial tilt, relative to the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun, which is what causes the seasons. 

Mass redistribution causes the axial tilt because the line between the center of masses of the earth and the sun must remain constant. We saw this in section 78) of "Summary Of Science On This Blog", July 2024. It is also part of my hypothesis about "The Intricacy Of Gravity".

We usually think of gravity as a simple, large-scale force. There is apparently nothing intricate about gravity. But I wonder if gravity can be more intricate than it gets credit for.

There is something about the earth and Mars that really gets my attention.

Orbits in the Solar System operate much like an arrangement of gears, except that they operate by gravity rather than by being in direct contact.

Let's start with the earth's orbit around the sun. The orbit is elliptical, with the earth being closest to the sun in January and furthest in July. The northern hemisphere of the earth is heavier than the southern hemisphere because of the mass of the continents, as most of the earth's land area is in it's northern hemisphere.

The earth is tilted on it's axis, relative to the plane of it's orbit around the sun, at an angle of 23 1/2 degrees. The earth's heavier northern hemisphere tilts toward the sun when the earth is furthest from the sun. This provides a kind of mechanical balance to the earth's orbit. The earth's mass, relative to it's orbit around the sun, is more consistent than if the heavier hemisphere tilted toward the sun when the earth is closest to the sun.

Next is the question of why the earth has to be tilted on it's rotational axis, relative to the plane of it's orbit around the sun, at all. We know that the earth's continents have drifted tectonically northward. This changed the earth's center of gravity although not, relatively speaking, by much. 

But when the earth is in orbit around the sun, the line between the center of mass of the earth and of the sun must remain constant. It cannot just be changed by tectonic movement of the earth's continents, which is driven by the centrifugal force of the earth's rotation.

The way that this line is kept constant is by the earth tilting on it's axis by the 23 1/2 degrees. This is what gives us seasons, summer when our hemisphere is pointing toward the sun and winter when it is facing away.

The Solar System formed when a large star that preceded the sun exploded in a supernova. Only the largest stars explode in a supernova. Some of the matter that was scattered across space fell back together by gravity to form the sun and planets. We know that the sun is such a second-generation star because it already contains heavy elements that are beyond it's current stage in the fusion process. 

The heavier matter that did not fall in to become part of the sun fell into groupings to become the planets. Eventually one geometric plane became predominant and this is the general plane in which the planets orbit today, sometimes referred to as the Ecliptic.

But after this plane of the rotation of the planets formed, it took time for all of the matter in orbit around the sun in other geometric planes to consolidate into the predominant orbital plane, the Ecliptic, by the gravity of the planets.

But if we can see how the earth had to tilt on it's axis, as the continents moved technically, so that the line between the centers of gravity of the earth and sun could be maintained, then doesn't it make sense that the center line of the masses of the planets around the sun would also have to be maintained as constant?

What I find to be so interesting about the earth and Mars is that earth's northern hemisphere is heavier, due to the mass of the continents, while Mars' southern hemisphere is heavier, because it's average elevation is 1-3 km higher than it's northern hemisphere.

Presuming that the upper layers of Mars is made of rock that is of roughly the same density as that of the upper layers of rock on earth, the difference in mass between Mars' lighter northern hemisphere and heavier southern hemisphere is just about exactly the same as the difference between earth's heavier northern hemisphere and lighter southern hemisphere.

This is just so interesting. Could it be that it had to turn out like this so that the center line of the mass of the planets in orbit around the sun had to be maintained just as the earth tilted on it's rotational axis when it's continents moved tectonically northward so that the line between the centers of gravity of the earth and the sun would remain constant?

Both the continents on earth and the higher in elevation, and thus heavier, southern hemisphere of Mars are both the results of matter that had been orbiting the sun colliding with the planets. Having the earth's northern hemisphere heavier, while Mars' southern hemisphere is heavier by an approximately equal amount, kept the center line of the mass of the planets in orbit around the sun from changing.

In ways that mean gravity is capable of operating with greater intricacy than we usually give it credit for, the earth's continents moved tectonically northward, driven by the spin of the earth, so that the difference in mass between earth's northern and southern hemispheres was equal, but opposite, to the corresponding difference on Mars. 

This maintained the center line of the masses of the planets in orbit around the sun, which could not just be changed from within, without input from outside. But it would have changed the line between the centers of mass of the sun and the earth. To avoid this, the earth tilted on it's axis by the 23 1/2 degrees. 

To achieve further balance of mass, the earth's heavier northern hemisphere leans toward the sun when the earth is furthest from the sun, and the lighter southern hemisphere leans toward the sun when the earth is closest to the sun.

The reason that Mars' southern hemisphere is heavier than it's northern hemisphere is also due to balance. A planet's axis of rotation is defined as north-south. The rotation of a spherical body has to be balanced. If one hemisphere of the planet is significantly heavier than the other, it has to be either the northern or southern hemisphere, in order to keep the rotation balanced. It cannot be the eastern or western hemisphere, as this will unbalance the rotation. The planet will shift so that the heavier hemisphere is either the northern or southern.

Another way we can see how important balance is in the Solar System is Kepler's Law that a line between the center of a planet and the center of the sun must sweep over equal areas of space in equal periods of time. 

The planetary orbits are elliptical, rather than circular. It has to be this way because planets formed by smaller orbiting pieces collecting together by gravity. The orbits of the pieces that were closer to the sun, as well as those that were further, have to still be maintained and the way this is done is for the planet to be in an elliptical orbit. But the planet moves faster in orbit when it is closer to the sun so that balance is maintained as the line between the centers of the planet and the sun sweep over equal areas of space in equal periods of time.

So we can see how important balance is in the operation of the Solar System. The way it seems is that gravity is capable of more intricacy than is generally supposed in maintaining that balance. 

The rotation of the earth caused it's continents to move tectonically northward in a way that counterbalanced the difference in mass between Mars' lighter northern and heavier southern hemispheres by making the earth's northern hemisphere heavier by just about exactly the same amount that Mars' southern hemisphere is heavier.

This maintains the center line of the orbital plane of the planets around the sun. But it couldn't possibly have come about by the slight direct gravity between the earth and Mars. The gravitational influence would have had to go through the sun.

This can only mean that gravity, the simple attractive force that dominates the universe on a large scale, must be capable of far greater intricacy than it is generally given credit for.

The Positive Side Of Watergate

In June of 1972 a burglary by five men occurred at the Watergate office complex in Washington. The following two images are from Google Earth.

The campaign was under way for the 1972 presidential election. The incumbent president, Republican Richard Nixon, was seeking reelection against Democrat challenger George McGovern. The five burglars were working for the Republicans and their target was Democrat headquarters, seeking information.

The burglary took place after the office complex was closed for the day. The doors of the building to the outside had latches so that the doors could be opened from the inside, for someone leaving the building, but not from the outside. The building's security guard noticed that someone had put tape over a latch, making it possible to enter from outside. The guard removed the tape but when he passed by the door again the tape had been replaced. The guard called the police, who caught the five burglars. 

At first the burglary was considered as a minor incident. It was two reporters from the Washington Post who kept digging and turned it into one of the great events of American history. The trail led all the way to the presidency. 

Whether or not Nixon ordered the burglary, he definitely tried to cover it up and hindered the investigation of it. The crisis went on for two years, dominating the news with resignations of government officials, arrests and, televised hearings. It finally concluded with Richard Nixon addressing the nation to announce his resignation. Nothing like this had ever happened in American history.

It wasn't entirely unprecedented as Nixon's predecessor as president, Lyndon Johnson, had similarly shocked the country by making a televised speech in 1968 that he would not be running for reelection. Johnson had been plagued by protests against the Vietnam War in a way similar to Nixon being plagued by the Watergate investigation. Nixon's Vice President, Spiro Agnew, had also resigned over tax evasion the year before Nixon's own resignation, although this had nothing to do with Watergate.

The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous. Nixon won the 1972 election in a landslide, without any help from the Watergate burglary. The only one of the 50 states that McGovern won was the Democrat bastion of Massachusetts. It was like a sports team being ahead 49-1 in a game, cheating just to make certain that they win, and then getting disqualified for cheating. It just didn't make sense.

America moved past Watergate relatively quickly but what I want to discuss here is the positive effect that it might have had on the outside world in favor of democracy. Watergate was actually good for democracy. It showed that no one is above the law, and the same law is written down for everyone. If the average citizen does something wrong then he or she is in trouble, and if the president does something wrong then the president is in trouble.

We have seen how it was the French Revolution that set the modern political era in motion, the overthrowing and execution of a king and queen in favor of a republic or military ruler. There was certainly an element of reenactment of the French Revolution in the protests of the 1960s, both for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. There is always some "storming" that is a reenactment of the Storming of the Bastille and this shows up as the attempt to levitate the Pentagon and the occupation of campus buildings by protesting college students. But what Watergate added to it was a leader being forced out of office and making a resignation speech, instead of being guillotined.

Watergate was likely part of the motivation of the final stage of the Vietnam War, in 1975. A truce had been agreed to two years before. But the Communists saw America distracted by Watergate and gambled that it wouldn't get re-involved in the war if they broke the truce and invaded South Vietnam. The invasion was successful and the resignation speech of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu very much resembled that of Nixon the year before.

In 1979 the Shah of Iran, who had been a friend of Nixon, made a similar farewell speech, although he did not abdicate and left his prime minister in charge.

Nixon realized that he couldn't go on and resigned before he could be impeached, in favor of his vice president, but not before trying his best to hold on. In the following decade the "old guard" of Communists in the Soviet Union went through the same process, finally letting the new generation in the person of Mikhail Gorbachev take over following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. Nearly seven years later, Gorbachev himself would make a resignation speech that was very similar to Nixon's.

What about the revolutions that swept Eastern Europe in 1989, bringing the end of Communist rule? This was the bicentennial of the French Revolution and was certainly a reenactment of it. But most of the fallen Communist leaders made televised resignation speeches and then stepped down, as per Nixon, rather than being overthrown and executed like Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. 

The sole exception was Romania, where the unsuccessful escape attempt and then execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were a modern reenactment of the French Revolution. It might have been because of the symbolism of Bucharest having a copy of the Arc De Triomphe.

Ethiopia

Ethiopia, in east Africa, is a country that has something that no other country in the world has. It is the land where human beings began. In fact, the origin of human beings can be traced to just about where Ethiopia's capital city of Addis Ababa is located. Genetic diversity is at a maximum here, and decreases with distance from Addis Ababa, thus proving that it is where the first humans walked the earth.

Ethiopia is thus ultimately the ancestral homeland of all humans.

Meroe was the capital of the kingdom of Kush (or Cush). This was an ancient kingdom that was the predecessor of what we now call Ethiopia, which comes from the Greek name for the area. Meroe is actually in what is now Sudan. Nubian pyramids were of their own style that were distinct from Egyptian pyramids. There was a dynasty of Kushite pharaohs in ancient Egypt, the 25th Dynasty. Two Egyptian pharaohs mentioned in the Bible, Shabaka and Tarhaka, were Kushites. 

The first three images of Nubian Pyramids are from Google Street View.

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/@16.9380879,33.7488269,3a,75y,34.5h,104.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOHgQ3Y-zThoCXvtbpVRm787SrXR6uj1QBQJX1d!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOHgQ3Y-zThoCXvtbpVRm787SrXR6uj1QBQJX1d%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.933861-ya349.5-ro-0-fo100!7i6144!8i3072

A good place to begin our visit to Ethiopia's modern capital city of Addis Ababa is Menelik Square. Although Ethiopia is a very ancient country, it's capital city is not much more than a century old. Menelik I is the legendary son of Israel's King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and Ethiopia's first emperor. In more recent times, Menelik II, in the late Nineteenth Century, could be considered as the founder of modern Ethiopia. St. George's Cathedral, an octagonal building, is where the very popular Twentieth-Century emperor Haile Selassie was crowned.

The first two images, showing the statue of Menelik II in the square and the inside of St. George's Cathedral, are from Google Street View. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.0358334,38.7521052,3a,75y,138.82h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN_F2I6HNS4EoA0MoLbQPt3Wil6yBSHhlMQxW2o!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN_F2I6HNS4EoA0MoLbQPt3Wil6yBSHhlMQxW2o%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya139.17728-ro-0-fo100!7i7200!8i3600

You may notice that St. George's Cathedral (top), the octagonal building where Haile Selassie was crowned, bears a strong resemblance to the octagonal Dome of the Rock, which is where Solomon's Temple was once located and Haile Selassie is believed to be descended from Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who's visit to him is described in the Bible. Both images from Wikipedia.

Here are some more views around the center of Addis Ababa.

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.0361657,38.7630358,3a,75y,169.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOiEswTbmV5lQ7TjlpuiuXFzPz3diWc15oDqpb4!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOiEswTbmV5lQ7TjlpuiuXFzPz3diWc15oDqpb4%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya169.5-ro0-fo100!7i8850!8i4425

This is the monument that was set up by the former Communist government of Ethiopia to celebrate the alliance with Cuba, who assisted that government in a war with neighboring Somalia in the 1970s. The first two images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.019959,38.7514816,3a,75y,271.5h,104.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMugY-jHwYB3jCBMXzS3zM9QPSqmbyyTQQayIFJ!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMugY-jHwYB3jCBMXzS3zM9QPSqmbyyTQQayIFJ%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.933861-ya311.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

This is a newer area of Addis Ababa. The first two images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@9.0099257,38.7808659,3a,75y,187.5h,96.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO5fBpjzBg_81FWlpITnKrcxAoOfZ7KEeQBdcEk!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO5fBpjzBg_81FWlpITnKrcxAoOfZ7KEeQBdcEk%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-6.941883-ya187.5-ro0-fo100!7i7200!8i3600

Ethiopia underwent a reconciliation with neighboring Eritrea, which had once been a part of Ethiopia but had broken away to form a separate country in the 1990s. Eritrea is the region along the Red Sea coast. The two countries are not reuniting, but are no longer enemies or rivals. The following scenes are of Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea. The first two images are from Google Street View.

This church in Asmara is so crowded that it's standing room only. Image from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@15.337074,38.9405837,3a,75y,120h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNfMkjlc0yUIjqdUHPK0l-yGZwlh0ciAy7-I8lu!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNfMkjlc0yUIjqdUHPK0l-yGZwlh0ciAy7-I8lu%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-17.23073-ya122.09165-ro11.397077-fo100!7i5760!8i2880

Ethiopia was one of the first Christian nations. The apostle Phillip encountered an Ethiopian in Chapter 8 of the Acts of the Apostles. Lalibela is considered as a model of Jerusalem, but where churches are carved into solid rock. Amazingly, the symbolic Tomb of Adam is located in Lalibela. The tomb was carved centuries ago, but modern science has proven that Ethiopia is definitely where humans originated. The first two images of Lalibela are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.0336665,39.043419,3a,75y,162.13h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOKZdtSjyoiS0YpP1eJFr0FUi4aYhbfxxPBJp7L!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOKZdtSjyoiS0YpP1eJFr0FUi4aYhbfxxPBJp7L%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya70.502945-ro-0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

This is the town of Gondar, founded in the 17th Century as the capital of Ethiopia. The castle belonged to King Fasillides, and is known as the Royal Enclosure. The first four images of Gondar and the castle are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.6083256,37.4697141,3a,75y,58.94h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPurd1t5aRf6dzPCwO6734hWn6uLZpBhz6JtyaK!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPurd1t5aRf6dzPCwO6734hWn6uLZpBhz6JtyaK%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya262.31448-ro0-fo100!7i11264!8i5632

Axum (or Aksum) is considered as probably the holiest city of Ethiopia. It is a very ancient city in the far north of the country.

One of the most sought-after objects in the world is the Ark of the Covenant. This is the gold-covered wooden box in which the Israelites carried the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, along with other holy objects, before they had a permanent worship center. The probability is that it was destroyed or irrecoverably lost when the Babylonians looted and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C. When the Persians conquered Babylon they allowed the Jews who the Babylonians had taken into exile to return, and gave back to them the items that had been looted, but the Ark of the Covenant was not mentioned among those objects.

But some people are convinced that the Ark of the Covenant somehow survived. There are legends of it being in various places, and one of those places is Axum in the Chapel of the Tablet. 

The first five images, all from Google Street View, are two of the Chapel of the Tablet and three of Axum.

https://www.google.com/maps/@14.1316252,38.7197075,3a,75y,208.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNdftkjRWQyX3U5nt5bO9sDQm7OmE-H9q6srQDS!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNdftkjRWQyX3U5nt5bO9sDQm7OmE-H9q6srQDS%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-4.4454465-ya50.860996-ro-3.0946338-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

These are the ruins of a mansion or palace in Axum and there is a legend that it once belonged to the Queen of Sheba. Another legend is that the Ethiopian emperor Menelik I was the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. This began the Solomonic Dynasty that continued until the overthrow of Haile Selassie by the Communists in 1974. Beta Israel is the name of the Ethiopian Jewish community, many of which were evacuated to Israel by airlift in recent times.

It is interesting that the major language of Ethiopia, Amharic, is a Semitic language.

The origin of Ethiopia's Jewish community is not entirely certain, escapees from bondage in Egypt or even some of the "Ten Lost Tribes" who were taken into exile by the Assyrians and lost to history. There were ancient Jewish communities in Yemen and what is now Iraq, as well as in Ethiopia, and we do have to wonder if at least some of the fabled "Ten Lost Tribes", who were relocated to other parts of the Assyrian Empire as punishment for defiance of Assyria, managed to carry on as Jews until modern times. Of particular interest is Kurdish Jews, who lived in what would have been at the opposite end of the Assyrian Empire at the time the "Ten Lost Tribes" were taken away. 

The first three images of the palace at Axum associated with the Queen of Sheba are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@14.1269667,38.7065389,3a,75y,40.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNLJsVkdYxmxutQtr3x7N70AEJgMQBKs2YyJzhN!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNLJsVkdYxmxutQtr3x7N70AEJgMQBKs2YyJzhN%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya301.34784-ro0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Ethiopia is the land of so many legends. But whether or not those legends are true, none compare in importance to what has been scientifically proven. That Ethiopia is the place where human beings began. This is ultimately the homeland of all of us. The Rastafarians of Jamaica deserve a lot of credit because they regarded Ethiopia, although it was on the other side of the world, as the sacred homeland decades before it was scientifically proven that this was indeed where the first humans originated.