The Roman temple of Bziza is a well-preserved first-century AD Roman
temple in the Lebanese town of Bziza. It is dedicated to Azizos, a
personification of the morning star in the Canaanite mythology. The
temple's name is a corruption of Beth Azizo, meaning the house or temple
of Azizos. The building has two doors that connect the portico to a
square chamber. To the back of the temple lie the remains of the adyton
where images of the deity once stood. The ancient temple was meant to
function as the dwelling place of the deity. It was converted into a
church and underwent architectural modification during two phases of
Christianization: in the Early Byzantine period and in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. The church, colloquially known until modern times
as the Lady of the Pillars, fell into disrepair. Despite the church's
condition, Christian devotion was still maintained in the nineteenth
century in one of the temple's niches.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_temple_of_Bziza>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1862:
American astronomer Alvan Graham Clark first observed the faint
white dwarf companion of Sirius (both stars pictured), the brightest
star in the night sky.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius>
1945:
Second World War: The British 3rd Commando Brigade defeated the
Japanese 54th Division at the Battle of Hill 170, causing Japanese
forces to withdraw from Burma's Arakan peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hill_170>
2000:
Alaska Airlines Flight 261, experiencing problems with its
horizontal stabilizer system, crashed in the Pacific Ocean off Anacapa
Island, California, killing all 88 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Airlines_Flight_261>
2010:
James Cameron's Avatar became the first film to earn over $2
billion worldwide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_%282009_film%29>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Tiggerish:
(Britain) (Excessively) cheerful and exuberant; bouncy.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tiggerish>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or
retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a
little bit.
--Norman Mailer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Mailer>