The Acra was a fortified compound in Jerusalem of the 2nd century BCE. Built by Antiochus Epiphanes, ruler of the Seleucid Empire, following his sack of the city in 168 BCE, the fortress played a significant role in the events surrounding the Maccabean Revolt and the formation of the Hasmonean Kingdom. It was destroyed by Simon Maccabeus during this struggle. The exact location of the Acra, critical to understanding Hellenistic Jerusalem, remains a matter of ongoing discussion. Historians and archaeologists have proposed various sites around Jerusalem, relying mainly on conclusions drawn from literary evidence. This approach began to change in the light of excavations which commenced in the late 1960s. New discoveries have prompted reassessments of the ancient literary sources, Jerusalem's geography and previously discovered artifacts. Yoram Tsafrir has interpreted a masonry joint in the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount platform as a clue to the Acra's possible position. During Benjamin Mazar's 1968 and 1978 excavations adjacent to the south wall of the Mount, features were uncovered which may have been connected with the Acra, including barrack-like rooms and a huge cistern.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acra_%28fortress%29
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1520:
Portuguese maritime explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European expedition to navigate the Strait of Magellan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Magellan
1611:
The first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest was held at the Palace of Whitehall in London, exactly seven years to the day after the first certainly known performance of his tragedy Othello was held in the same building. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest
1755:
A 9.0 Mw earthquake and subsequent tsunami destroyed Lisbon, killing between 10,000 and 100,000 people in Portugal and Morocco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake
1800:
John Adams became the first U.S. President to take residence in the Executive Mansion, later re-named the White House (pictured today). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House
1928:
As part of the reforms implemented under the leadership of Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the current 29-letter Turkish alphabet was established to replace the Ottoman Turkish alphabet as the official writing system of the Turkish language. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_alphabet
1963:
The Arecibo Observatory, with the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, officially opened in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
sanctify (v): 1. To make holy; to consecrate; to set aside for sacred or ceremonial use. 2. To free from sin; to purify. 3. To endorse with religious sanction http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sanctify
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Some say this world of trouble
Is the only one we need But I’m waiting for that morning When the new world is revealed.
Oh, when the saints go marching in, When the saints go marching in,
Oh Lord, I want to be in that number, When the saints go marching in! --w:When the Saints Go Marching In http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/w%3AWhen_the_Saints_Go_Marching_In