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Old World Order | Documentary

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Old World Order (2024)

Khayzuran - The first woman to rule in Islamic history

Born in Yemen, Khayzuran was captured as a slave and taken to the palace of Caliph al-Mahdi in Baghdad, seat of the Abbasid Empire that ruled the Islamic world from the 8th century until 1258, when the Mongols conquered the city.  If you don't know much about Baghdad beyond what you've heard on the news in recent years, clear your mind of these perceptions and start again in the year 775, when al-Mahdi, the third Abbasid caliph, came to power.

Baghdad at this time, and for centuries after, was illuminated.  ' Well-regulated markets offered trade from India, China and virtually everywhere else.  People came from all over and shared scientific and literary knowledge.  Baghdad has been obsessed with books since the beginning.  Educated Baghdadi citizens frequented libraries and bookstores and read works from around the world translated into Arabic at one of the city's translation schools.

Now forget what you think you know about harems.  If you have vague memories of the word or paintings of women standing about half naked, know that these images come from the minds of horny white European men, the kind of men who nowadays visit a Middle Eastern country for a week and hold court in all social gatherings on the mysteries of the East.

In reality, the harem was the private sphere of women in an imperial court, and it was a highly political place.  Quite a few powerful women who started out as harem slaves but ended up ruling empires through the work of their wits, their alliances, their education, their skill at political intrigue, and, sure, their beauty .

When Khayzuran was brought to the palace in Baghdad, her impoverished family came with her, and their fates would be altered beyond their wildest imagination.

Khayzuran became al-Mahdi's wife and maneuvered their children into being named her heirs despite a previous marriage.  As the wife of the caliph, Khayzuran was an active public face of state affairs, and she arranged excellent positions in government for her highly elevated family.

When al-Mahdi died in 785, Khayzuran's two sons were away from Baghdad, but she acted quickly to assert her family's claim to power.  To quell any unrest in a sudden power vacuum, she paid two years' pay to the army.  You wouldn't be interested in a coup if you just received two years' salary, would you?

Khayzuran recalled her sons and organized dignitaries and power brokers to pledge allegiance to her eldest son, al-Hadi.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, al-Hadi turned out to be a trash son.  (There's one in every family, and if you don't know who yours is, it's you. ) He was also jealous of his younger brother, who was obviously loved more than him.  Al-Hadi felt very threatened by her mother, who had cultivated a powerful network of advisors and officials who regularly visited her at the palace.  “It is not in the power of women to intervene,” she had the courage to tell her own mother who gave birth to him, “in matters of sovereignty. Look to your prayers and your prayer beads.

Well, instead of looking at her prayer beads, Khayzuran might be involved in the murder of her son.  Did she do it?  Who can say!  Whoever she was, she might have sent sexy women into her bedroom to smother him with sissy pillows, putting a sexy end to al-Hadi's rules after just over a year.

It appears that al-Hadi was probably planning the death of his mother and brother.  Once, he sent her mother some of her food with instructions for her to eat it because it's so good!  'but she gave it first to her dog, which promptly died.  So better to get in early when you're playing the murder game, I guess.

And so Khayzuran's second son, Harun, took power.  Khayzuran continued to manage his affairs of state well, and Harun trusted his mother for advice on political matters.  He happily shared responsibility and power with her, and presided over a glorious court.

The moral of this story, children, is listen to your mother, or you will die.

This extraordinary work is known as the “Double Statue of Mephistopheles and Daisy”. This particular "two-faced" wooden statue is exhibited at the Salar Jung Museum in the city of Hyderabad, India. Built in the 19th century in France by an unknown artist, it is positioned in front of a mirror to show both sides, where an arrogant Mephistopheles on one side is compared to a demure Margaritta on the other. The characters of this double wooden statue are inspired by Goethe's famous work "Dr. Faust" and represent good and evil divided, albeit together

THE WARRIOR OF CAPESTRANO

In 1934, a farmer working on his vineyard just outside the town of Capestrano in Abruzzo found the buried statue of what appeared to be a warrior. The front was badly worn, but the back was in perfect condition. It was broken below the knees but the base with the legs and the hat were found a short distance away.
Further excavations revealed more than 100 graves belonging to a 6th-century village without direct access to water. The people were sheep farmers and led very hard lives, with an average life expectancy of 25 years for women and slightly more for men.
They were Vestini, one of many pre-Roman indigenous tribes who spoke very similar dialects of a language called Oscan, close to Latin and descended from an Indo-European native language called Sabellic. Rome was then ruled by the Etruscans until the last king was overthrown in 509 BC. and the Roman Republic was founded.

The statue is taller than the human remains in the cemetery: 171 cm without hat or pedestal. Carved from a single block of limestone, it depicts a warrior standing between two pillars that reach up to his armpits. A spear is engraved on the outside of each pillar, and on the front of the right pillar is a vertical inscription that was finally deciphered in 2010: "Aninis made this statue of King Nevíi Pompíi". Who King Nevíi Pompíi was is a matter of speculation, but it seems likely that he was the powerful king Vestinus Nevius Pompuledius, while Aninis may have been the carver or the one who paid for the statue.
The warrior wears a crest hat with a very wide brim, the lower part of which is decorated with three concentric circles. His face appears to be covered by a mask that leaves his eyes and mouth uncovered, while his ears are painted red. Around the neck is a triple chain with a square amulet and on the chest and back are two rings holding knotted straps attached to a decorated sword and hatchet. On the right arm is a smooth bracelet and the hand rests on the chest, touching the sword and axe. The left arm has two bracelets, one with pendant decorations, and the hand rests in a similar position to the other, but on the stomach.
The warrior also wears a large war belt visible from the back, just above the buttocks, to which is attached a small triangular apron and a decorated band that follows the curve of the hips and ends in the groin, just below a small slit that appears a representation of the female sex – an extremely unusual depiction at a time when male warriors were always shown with their attributes. Likewise, the hips are wide and the waist thin, like that of a woman, although the complete absence of breasts confuses things.

The posture of the warrior's hand is also intriguing, very similar to that of the Celtic warrior of Hirschlanden, also dated to the 6th century BC. and found near Stuttgart, in southwestern Germany. His face, however, resembles that of the Nuragic giants of Mont'e Prama, dating back to between 900 and 750 BC. and found in Sardinia. They hold a large shield above their heads, different from the large hat worn by our warrior, but appears to be similar in its use.
In fact, although the statue has particular and unique characteristics, scholars have detected similarities with Etruscan, Italian, Celtic and Greek-archaic styles, confirming the existence of vast commercial networks that served as a means of cultural exchange.

With his intimidating appearance, the astonishing craftsmanship of his armour, his transcultural references and his uncertain gender, the Capestrano warrior is one of the most evocative and fascinating relics of Italian history.

Jon Levi - Hydro Electric Dams (Elephant in the Room)

https://youtu.be/z-lWjlEFQeg?si=3F-N6boO2PBHl5el