The Greek frigate opened fire when the two UAVs approached within 5 nautical miles. Credit: Greek Navy
Greek frigate Hydra opened fire on two Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Gulf of Aden, off Yemen during the early hours of Thursday, downing one while the second changed course.
According to information, the air radar of the Greek frigate detected at 5.15 a.m. eight unmanned aerial vehicles. Two of them started moving towards a commercial ship of European interests, to which Hydra provides protection.
The Greek frigate opened fire when the two UAVs approached within 5 nautical miles.
This is the second engagement of the Hellenic Navy’s MEKO 200 frigate since joining the EU naval mission Aspides, designed to safeguard merchant ships from assaults by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia.
The Hydra frigate sailed from the Salamis Naval Station on February 26, and on March 3, 2024, it was deployed in the Red Sea area and joined the European Union Operation “Aspides”, which translates to “shields” in Greek, mandated to protect shipping in the Red Sea.
The EU mission is run from a military base in Larissa in central Greece under the command of Greek navy Cdre. Vasilios Griparis.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels fire missile
On Wednesday a warship — part of a US-led coalition protecting shipping in the Mideast — intercepted an anti-ship ballistic missile fired over the Gulf of Aden, the American military said, marking a new attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels after a recent lull.
The Houthis claimed the assault, which comes after a period of relatively few rebel attacks on shipping in the region over Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The explosion happened some 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said in a statement.
Early Thursday, the US military’s Central Command said a coalition warship shot down the missile likely targeting the MV Yorktown, a US-flagged, owned and operated vessel with 18 US and four Greek crew members.
“There were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition or commercial ships,” Central Command said.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack but insisted without evidence that the missile hit the Yorktown. Saree also claimed the Houthis targeted another ship in the Indian Ocean, without providing proof. The Houthis have made repeated claims that turned out to not be true during their yearslong war in Yemen.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the US Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a US-led airstrike campaign in Yemen and shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.
American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the US-led campaign against them and firing off drones and missiles steadily in the last months.
The Houthis have said they would continue their attacks until Israel ends its war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.
Built around 550 BC, it’s one of the earliest large-scale tunnel projects in history. Public Domain
Even by modern standards, the ancient Tunnel of Eupalinos on Samos, Greece is considered a marvel of engineering and craftsmanship.
Built around 550 BC, it’s one of the earliest large-scale tunnel projects in history. Over 1000 meters long, it was dug from two starting points and met remarkably close in the middle, demonstrating impressive planning and surveying techniques for the time.
Engineer Eupalinos, who designed and built it, likely used geometric principles to not only align the tunnels but also adjust their course to avoid hard rock. The tunnel functioned as an aqueduct for over 1100 years, a testament to its durability and importance to Samos’s water supply.
The engineer from the city of Megara used what are now well-known principles of geometry. Credit: Zach Marshall, CC BY-SA 2.0
Even by modern standards, the Eupalinos Tunnel represents a significant feat of engineering, showcasing the ingenuity of ancient Greece.
The engineer from the city of Megara used what are now well-known principles of geometry, which were codified by Euclid several centuries later.
The tunnel is cited by Herodotus, without whom it would not have been discovered.
“I have dwelt longer upon the history of the Samians than I should otherwise have done, because they are responsible for three of the greatest building and engineering feats in the Greek world: the first is a tunnel nearly a mile long, eight feet wide and eight feet high, driven clean through the base of a hill nine hundred feet in height. The whole length of it carries a second cutting thirty feet deep and three broad, along which water from an abundant source is led through pipes into the town. This was the work of a Megarian named Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus.” (Herodotus, Histories 3.60)
Eupalinos tunnel on Samos is in the UNESCO World Heritage List
It continued to supply the town of Pythagoreion (the ancient capital of Samos) with fresh water for 1,100 years.
The tunnel took water from an inland spring, located about 52 meters (171 ft) above sea level near the modern village of Ayiades. It discharges about 400 m3 of water per day. This spring was covered over.
Two rectangular openings, each measuring 28 by 26 centimeters (11 by 10 in), feed the water into a large reservoir with a roughly elliptical ground plan. Fifteen large stone pillars support a roof of massive stone slabs. The spring was thus completely concealed from enemies. The construction of this reservoir seems to have caused the outlet of the spring to subside by several meters.
The tunnel is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with the nearby Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos, and it was designated as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2017.
Greek soldiers welcome Australian forces during WWII. Public Domain
ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served”
It commemorates the date the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at Gallipoli, Turkey on April 25, 1915, marking the first time the two armies fought together away from home for the noble ideas of freedom and democracy.
It is also a remembrance day for the 102,000 Australians who sacrificed their lives.
It was the first campaign for the Anzacs, a year after World War I (1914-1918) broke out. The aim was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul) and kick the Ottoman Empire out of the war, as the Ottomans were allied with Germany.
The Anzacs joined Britain, France and Russia in the Gallipoli Campaign. The campaign is often considered to be the beginning of Australian and New Zealand national consciousness.
The Gallipoli campaign lasted eight months with fierce battles that cost the lives of dozens of thousands of deaths on both sides. The ANZAC casualties were 8,709 Australians dead, 2,779 New Zealanders dead, 19,441 Australians wounded and 5,212 New Zealanders wounded.
Yet the Gallipoli Battle was the only one the Ottomans won, forcing the Allies to withdraw from the area and move to Egypt.
ANZAC’s fighting in the eastern Mediterranean. Public Domain
The ANZACs in Greece
Twenty-five years after Gallipoli, the Anzacs returned to the Mediterranean for World War II. Over 17,000 brave men served with distinction in the Battle of Crete and the Greek Campaign.
On the 6th of April 1941, the Battle in Greece; which was one of the first engagements of the Australian Army against the Nazis in World War II, took place.
Many of the Anzacs of Greece and Crete had also fought in Gallipoli and are known as rare “Dual Anzacs”. Several of the Anzacs of Greece and Crete came from Greek Australian migrant families.
The Greek and Crete Campaign included Australia’s highest-ranked Indigenous Australian soldier Captain Reginald Saunders, who was supported and saved by the Cretan people for nearly a year. Their human bonds are an important Australian story.
The relationship the Anzacs developed with the Greek people during the war, saved over one thousand Australian lives.
It is estimated that the descendants of Anzacs who fought in Crete and Greece together with Australians of Greek heritage, are in the order of more than 1,500,000 people.
Of the 1,686 Anzacs (Australian and New Zealand ) 646 Australians are buried or memorialized in Greece in Phaleron, Athens, Rhodes and Suda Bay in Crete. Over 50 percent of deceased Australians have never been found or are unidentified and are memorialized at the Athens Memorial.
About 8,900 ANZAC prisoners of war were captured in the Battle of Crete and Greece, representing 83 percent of the Australian soldiers captured by the Nazis in World War II.
Archbishop Makarios paid tribute to the ANZAC soldiers who fought and died for the universal values of freedom, democracy, justice, and human dignity during the First and Second World Wars, in a statement.
“The soil of our homeland – from Lemnos to Crete, and in many corners of mainland Greece and the islands, is watered with the blood of hundreds of Australian soldiers, who fought and sacrificed their lives for the universal values during the First and Second World Wars. These heroes were just some of the thousands of ANZAC men and women who, although far from their homeland and families, unselfishly defended the values of freedom, democracy, justice and human dignity,” Makarios said in his statement.
The Lamian War was an unsuccessful attempt by Athens and a large coalition of Greek states to end the hegemony of Macedonian Greeks over them. Credit: DALLE for the Greek Reporter
Alexander the Great died unexpectedly in 323 BC, suddenly leaving his vast empire without a leader. Sensing a chance to break free of the not-so-popular autocratic rule of Macedon, Athens, along with other Greek states, rallied in revolt. The Lamian War had begun.
Initially victorious under the brilliant General Leosthenes, Athens and its allies soon met their match. Though Leosthenes died heroically in the battle, Antipater, who was leading the Macedonian Greeks, the Euboeans, and the Boeotians, escaped to regroup.
This gave the Macedonians an opportunity to crush the outnumbered Athenians and their allies at Crannon. By 322 BC, Athenian democracy had dissolved, its navy had been shattered, and an oligarchy and garrison imposed by the victorious Macedonians were in place.
The Lamian War marked the desperate last grasp for autonomy on behalf of once mighty Athens, tragically sealing its fate as a minor player on the newly-emerged Greek stage.
Nineteenth-century painting by Philipp Foltz depicting the Athenian politician Pericles delivering his famous funeral oration in front of the Assembly. Credit: Philipp Foltz, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Athens’ former glory and decline
Athens emerged as a leading Greek city-state in the 5th century BC. It became the birthplace of democracy under the reforms of Cleisthenes. This was the so-called Golden Age of Athens. It was an era described by political hegemony and economic growth within the Delian League, a military alliance against Persia and anyone else who threatened the Greeks.
However, after peace was made with Persia, the Delian League soon turned into an Athenian empire. Athens tightened control over its allies, funding massive and extravagant building projects like the Parthenon. These public constructions were heavily funded with money from the allies of Athens. Under Pericles, the city managed to dominate Greece militarily as well as culturally, producing playwrights like Sophocles and philosophers like Socrates.
However, Athens overreached with the Peloponnesian War against Sparta. The city suffered plague and defeat. In 338 BC, Philip II of Macedon finally defeated democratic Athens as well as Thebes at the consequential battle of Chaeronea. This was a turning point for Athens, as it limited its autonomy. The city, however, remained a center of culture and learning, but this military and political defeat marked the end of its political independence. The centuries of dominance within the Greek world by Athens gave way to Macedonian control of Greece.
An AI depiction of Alexander the Great and his horse, Bucephalus. Credit: MidJourney for the Greek Reporter.
Outbreak of revolt after Alexander’s death
As it was understandable, resentment simmered amongst Athenians over years of Macedonian domination under Philip II and Alexander the Great’s autocratic rule. When Alexander died in 323 BC, city-states, mainly across Southern Greece, revolted, seeing a chance to break free from the despotic rule of the Macedonians.
Athens raised an army and fleet, allying with states like the Aetolian League against the Macedonian forces, led by Antipater, in Greece. The Athenians started off strong under General Leosthenes. The visionary general drove Antipater back to the fortified city of Lamia some 150 kilometers from Athens. This marked the beginning of a long siege that eventually gave the war its name.
Initial success by the Athenians and their allies continued with victories blocking Macedonian reinforcements in places such as Thermopylae and Plataea. However, the tide turned when Macedonian reinforcements arrived from Asia. During this time, Leosthenes was also killed at Lamia, giving the Athenians the final blow. With the siege now broken, the war entered its final stage at the Battle of Crannon.
Athens fought hard for its freedom but ultimately lost. As one can imagine, the tide turned decisively against Athens and their allies from Thessaly and the Aetolian League when Leosthenes bravely perished during the siege of Lamia. This was a major blow, with Hyperides later praising Leosthenes’ earlier victory in his funeral oration.
Antipater, on his behalf, broke out of Lamia. He managed to do this after Leonnatus, a Macedonian officer of Alexander the Great and one of the diadochi, arrived with reinforcements. Though Antiphilus killed Leonnatus, Antipater managed to escape and regroup, boosting the chances of victory for the Macedonians.
During this time, Athens also lost its significant naval supremacy, as its overextended navy was defeated off the Echinades island and Amorgos.
Decisive defeat for Athens at Crannon
Now left without control of the seas, critical troop transport to the mainland became impossible for the enemies of Macedon. Antipater soon returned along with additional forces from Craterus. Their large and reinforced army defeated the Athenians and their allies decisively at the battle of Crannon in Thessaly.
Faced with a catastrophic invasion, Athens decided to surrender. As the historian Dexippus concluded, “It was irrational for Athens to attack the many times more powerful Macedonia.”
This outcome had profound consequences as it marked the end of Athenian autonomy and significant military influence in the wider Greek world in general.
The distribution of satrapies in the Macedonian Empire in 323 BC. Credit: Generic Mapping Tools, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA-3.0
End of an era for the power of Athens
The terms of Athenian surrender were harsh. They included the loss of democracy as a form of government and their precious independence. A new, oligarchic government was imposed with a large Macedonian garrison installed. Athens also had to surrender all of its possessions outside of the Attica region, making the city much weaker in terms of influence in the broader Mediterranean.
The once-leading power of the Greeks now also had to lose the right to control foreign policy. Athens would become a direct subject and protectorate of Macedonia, following its lead no matter what.
To add to their misery, the deaths of leaders like Demosthenes and Hypereides symbolized total Athenian defeat, as the famous orator Demosthenes “committed suicide to avoid his capture.”
The Lamian War marked the final time Athens played a major military role in the Greek world. Their loss in the Lamian War was monumental in terms of historical significance. It ended centuries of autonomy, and Greece was then left largely under Macedon’s control.
Though Antipater soon turned west to confront the Aetolians, Athens had to face the most significant consequences of the war. This defeat was effectively the end of the era of the independent Greek city-state and of Athens as a leading power.
The Lamian War represented Athens’ final bid for political autonomy against an increasingly dominant Macedon. Their catastrophic defeat, though brave, proved that the autonomy of the great classical city-states was largely over. Macedon, even without its visionary leader, was the supreme power of Greece. This marked the beginning of the Hellenistic period.
‘Unprecedented’ ancient monument uncovered in France. Credit: Jérôme Berthet, Inrap
An ancient monument dsicovered in Eastern France has caused curiosity with not just one but three connected ancient circular structures.
The French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) describes the find in Marliens near Dijon as “unprecedented.” Digging up the site revealed evidence of human activity from the Neolithic era to the First Iron Age.
Three connected enclosures including a horseshoe-shaped one
The oldest part of the site includes a monument made up of three connected enclosures. The main circle in the center measures 36 feet across, making it the biggest.
On the north side, there’s a smaller horseshoe-shaped enclosure that is about 26 feet long. That is directly linked to the main circle. On the south side, there’s a circular design that’s open on one side but still connected to the main circle.
The team believes all three structures are related both in their layout and time of construction. They also found a layer of gravel on the two side enclosures, indicating there might have been a fence around them, as reported by Popular Mechanics.
The research team stated they had never seen a monument like this before, and nothing comparable had previously been found. They discovered several artifacts in the ditches of the site, including seven flint arrowheads, two archer’s bracers, a flint lighter, and a copper alloy dagger.
These items match cut flints, indicating they might belong to the Neolithic period, possibly dating as far back as 10,000 to 2,200 BC. The team plans to use radiocarbon analysis to pinpoint the exact age.
Traces of iron oxide to light fires
The team found an armband with iron oxide traces attached to pyrite, suggesting it might have been used for igniting fires. Such items are commonly found with burials, but the team is not yet certain if that is the case.
The scientists plan to analyze the composition of the copper alloy dagger to determine where it came from and learn about trade during that period.
In a different area of the site, the team discovered five circular enclosures spread across a 64,000-square-foot area. Four of these were open, while one was closed. It was determined these structures were built between 1500 BC and 1300 BC.
In the ditches surrounding the largest enclosure, they found evidence of burials and a funeral pyre. However, due to the acidic soil, the team couldn’t find any well-preserved bones from complete burials.
They dated these findings using five copper alloy pins, a necklace with 40 amber beads, and some rare ceramic fragments, all of which confirmed the timeframe.
The price of natural diamonds has plummeted due to decreased demand and growth of lab-grown diamonds. Credit: Kim Alaniz. CC BY 2.0/flickr
The price of natural diamonds has fallen by 26 percent in the past couple of years with decreasing US and Chinese demand for diamond jewelry being one culprit. Another is the growing popularity of more affordable, lab-grown diamonds (LGD).
Following a short-lived pandemic-era boom in diamond jewelry, miners are fighting to stop the oversupply of the precious gems. Anglo-American’s De Beers, along with Russia’s Alrosa, control two-thirds of the natural diamond supply, and De Beers this week said its sales had dropped 23 percent in the first quarter, as reported by the “Financial Times.”
It’s true that rough stone inventory has stabilized slightly, but polished stone stocks remain very high. At more than $23 billion at the close of 2023, these were near five-year highs, up a third since the end of 2022, according to Bank of America. What’s worse, as lab-grown diamonds have increased their market share, their prices have come down, too, to around 15 percent or less of their natural counterparts.
Synthetic gems are not a new creation, having first appeared around 70 years ago primarily for industrial purposes. However, in the past decade, lab-grown gems have really taken off. In 2015, LGD supply was in no way near being a rival to natural gems, but, by last year, it was more than 10 percent of the global diamond jewelry market, according to specialist Paul Zimnisky, as per the “Financial Times.”
This situation has brought about a competitive frenzy among producers, with LGDs’ lower costs meaning they are able to reduce prices. In October last year, WD Lab Grown Diamonds, America’s second-largest maker of synthetics, filed for bankruptcy. Since then, it has had to move its business away from retail towards industrial customers.
Russian supply has pushed natural diamond prices down even further. Last year, the country provided 27 percent of the world’s rough diamonds with Asian and Middle Eastern countries not taking part in G7 trade sanctions against Russian gems. Russian stones continued to flow to India, the hub for cutting and polishing gems.
Diamond prices are now nearing the same level as in early 2011, and miners are reportedly struggling. Smaller producers such as Canada’s Lucara and UK-listed Petra and Gem Diamonds have market values at around $100 million or less, worth three or four of the mega-stones they aim to discover.
How are diamonds formed?
The gems are made up of billions of carbon atoms, and most were formed between one to three billion years ago deep below the Earth’s surface under intense heat and high pressure.
Older than humankind itself, diamonds are one of nature’s most incredible and unique gifts. Much like a snowflake, every gem has a natural pattern telling a different story, each one is unique, and no two are alike.
The Greek Supreme Court has prevented the far-right Spartiates party from entering European elections. Credit: European Parliament CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Greece’s Supreme Court has published the final list of parties that will compete in June’s European elections with the roster excluding the far-right party Spartiates (the Spartans).
The ruling party New Democracy, along with opposition parties PASOK and New Left, filed a memorandum challenging the Spartans’ participation. The far-right group has been under scrutiny as a result of their associations with convicted members of the now-defunct neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, notably Ilias Kasidiaris.
The prosecution process has been started against eleven Spartan parliamentary members for potential parliamentary and electoral fraud linked to their leadership roles.
The electoral court has not yet decided on objections regarding the legitimacy of Spartan MPs, but in a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court has stated that 31 out of 46 total parties will compete for voters’ support in the June 9 elections. It has been reported that 14 parties failed to submit the required 20,000 euro fee.
Earlier today, an MP elected with the Spartans was arrested after he assaulted a colleague from the populist Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) party in the colonnade outside the plenum hall.
Konstantinos Floros, now an independent MP, assaulted and punched MP Vasilis Grammenos. In addition to immediately evicting Floros under guard, Parliament President Constantinos Tasoulas gave orders that he should be immediately handed over to law enforcement authorities to face criminal charges in the assault of a member of Parliament.
He noted that parliamentary immunity does not apply in the case of violent criminal offenses. Floros is expected to be charged with violating Article 157 of the Criminal Code, according to which it is a felony to attack a member of Parliament during the performance of his duties.
Spartiates party in last year’s elections
The Spartiates party was the biggest surprise of the 2023 elections in Greece, getting 4.64 percent of the vote and gaining twelve seats in Parliament. The grouping was catapulted from relative obscurity after support from Ilias Kasiadiaris, the frontman of the now-banned Golden Dawn far-right party. His own party was barred from the elections, and he endorsed the Spartiates while serving his prison sentence.
The party believes the traditions of Hellenism are missing from public life nowadays. They describe themselves as “the iron arm and the real bulwark that will stop the decline and the sell-out of Greece and the Greeks.”
The Spartiates are among three fringe parties of the right that gained parliamentary representation after the elections. Elliniki Lysi, a nationalist, pro-Russia party, formed by former journalist and TV salesman Kyriakos Velopoulos, got 4.47 percent of the vote and is represented in Parliament with twelve MPs.
Niki, or the Victory party, which emphasizes Orthodox Christian traditions, got 3.71 percent and ten MPs.
Sumerian Civilization relief. Credit: Jackatndy000 Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
Sumerian civilization appears to have been established in southern Mesopotamia around 4000 BC, while some historians place it as far back as 5000 BC.
Established in the Fertile Crescent between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in modern-day Iraq, Sumer was the first urban civilization in the region. From early on, they had developed skills in farming and raising cattle. They also wove textiles and were skilled carpenters and pottery makers. More importantly, Sumerians are credited with inventing the wheel around 2500 BC.
Mesopotamians are noted for developing one of the first written scripts around 3000 BC in the form of wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay tablets. This cuneiform script was also adapted and used for roughly two thousand years by surrounding peoples.
One of the world’s first great works of literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh, was written in cuneiform. This form of writing was used for sales and purchases, correspondence, and sharing tales.
Sumerians had developed a merchant navy to import and export goods, traveling into the Persian Gulf and making trade and cultural exchanges with other peoples, such as the Harappans in Northern India. They made and traded textiles, leather goods, and jewelry for semi-precious stones, copper, pearls, and ivory of the Harrapans.
They were polytheistic and many of their deities had anthropomorphic forms, much like the gods worshipped by ancient Greeks. Their dedicated temples were built atop massive ziggurats situated in the centers of most Sumerian cities. Like the pyramids in Egypt, these structures would have taken thousands of people and many years to construct.
Sumerian cities
Sumer was not a country in the modern-day definition. It was a combination of various city-states that were often at war with one another. This is why they were surrounded by walls with the villages spread around them. The Sumerians were the first to establish a city in terms of urban structure and organization. They had schools in order to pass knowledge to children and were the first documented people to have learning establishments. Moreover, they invented the cylinder seal, a personal identification seal for citizens.
Sumerian Uruk is considered the first city in the world by some historians, boasting a population ranging from 40,000 to 80,000 in around the year 2800 BC. However, the Sumerians themselves believed that the first city was Eridu, established by Enki, the god of wisdom and water. Enki is said to have raised it from the watery marshes and established the concept of kingship and order in the land.
Enki raising Eridu from the watery marshes refers to the EriduGenesis, a manuscript dating to 2300 BC that was found in the ruins of Eridu. It is a story that resembles that of Noah’s Ark. Here, the mortal is Ziusudra, who is the only man saved from the great flood when Enki tells him to build an ark and rescue two of every kind of animal. Afterwards, the gods relent and determine to control the annoying human population by introducing death and disease into the world. In this way, they reestablished order and set a limit to human life and ambition. Tablet XI of The Epic of Gilgamesh relates the exact same story a few centuries later.
For Sumerians, order was crucial, and the duty of the citizens was to try to keep order throughout their lives. It was the citizens’ main obligation. The gods themselves, however, would return the world to chaos when humanity’s noise and trouble became too great to bear.
Furthermore, the bestowment of Enki with the title of god of wisdom is an indication of how advanced the Sumerian civilization was in 3000 BC.
The earliest cities established in Sumer other than Uruk were: Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Isin, Adab, Kullah, Nippur, and Kish. Like in most ancient cities, the main temple complex was at the center marked by the tall ziggurats, which is said to have inspired the story of the Tower of Babel. Each city was dedicated to a god who lived in the temple to protect the citizens.
Sumerian scientific advancements
Other than inventing the wheel, Sumerians exhibited advanced scientific knowledge. They were capable in mathematics, as their intricate architecture and engineering shows. They also had advanced knowledge in hydraulic engineering. Evident in their network of canals, they had invented a system of ditches to control flooding and are credited with the first advanced system of irrigation, using the power of the Tigris and Euphrates.
Their system of medicine was based on magic and herbalism, but they were also knowledgeable about extracting parts from natural substances. Surgical instruments found in archaeological sites indicate they performed surgery, meaning they had an advanced knowledge of anatomy.
One fascinating achievement of the Sumerians was their time-keeping structure. They invented the sexagesimal (base-60) system and first divided the movements of the heavens into countable intervals, finding that 60 was the perfect number. The number 60 can be divided into 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30 equal parts.
Ancient astronomers believed there were 360 days in a year, a number in which 60 fits neatly into six times. Sumerian astronomers and mathematicians were the first to systematically divide the passage of time. Their work was widely accepted and spread throughout Eurasia.
The legend of Oannes and theories of extraterrestrials
The advanced civilization of Sumerians and certain depictions of their deities have led some people to believe the Sumerian gods were actually extraterrestrials who visited Sumer and embedded their advanced knowledge.
Renowned astronomer and astrophysicist Carl Sagan (1934-1996) has speculated it is not impossible that an alien species has visited the Earth at some point. It cannot be proven, but it is not impossible. The subject is discussed in the book he co-wrote with Iosif Shklovsky, Intelligent Life in the Universe (1966).
The line of logic is that, in the vast universe of countless planets, there must be an advanced species that can travel for light years and make a stop on Earth. After all, the first piece of writing in the world dates to 3400 BC. What if aliens came before that, and there is no documentation of their visit? What if extraterrestrials visited the Sumerians and passed their wisdom to them, and the locals depicted them in sculptures?
Sagan wrote about the legend of Oannes from Sumer coming out of the Persian Gulf. His whole body “was like that of a fish; and had under the fish’s head another head, and also feet below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to the fish’s tail.”
According to the legend, Oannes bestowed upon the early Sumerians “insight into letters, and sciences, and every kind of art. He taught them to construct houses, establish temples, and compile laws. He also explained the principles of geometric knowledge to them.” After Oannes, a similar creature named Apkallou came to check on the work of the Sumerians,” it was said.
“Sumerian civilization is depicted by the descendants of the Sumerians themselves to be of non-human origin,” Sagan commented, adding that several strange creatures appeared over the course of generations “with the only apparent purpose to instruct mankind.”
Sagan further commented that stories like the Oannes legend and representations, especially of the earliest civilizations of Earth, deserve to be studied thoroughly “with the possibility of direct contact with an extraterrestrial civilization as one of the many possible alternative interpretations.”
The ancient Greek sanctuary and theater of Dodona, home to the oldest oracle, and located in Epirus, northwestern Greece, are part of a uniquely historic site in the country, which predated even the more universally-known Delphi.
Questions that required a prophetic answer from the Oracle of Dodona on matters of politics, religion, family, health, work, travel and property, were written on sheets of lead, and many of these small tablets have been excavated on the site of the Dodona Oracle.
Here is a sample of the questions asked to the oracle of Dodona:
Over the course of centuries, people from across the Greek world traveled to the Oracle of Dodona in Epirus and asked questions inscribed on lead tables.
Some of the questions asked of the Oracle of Dodona
“Would it be in my best interests to migrate to Chalkis?” (a city in Evia, Central Greece)
“Should I go with another man in order to have children? To which Gods should I appeal?”, asks a woman called Kleoniki.
“Will Nikeas be well enough to fit out his workshop?”, a man called Alkinoos asks.
“Will I be happy if I marry the daughter of Filonedes?”
“I am Kittos, slave of Dionysios and ask: Will my boss release me as he promised?”
“I am Myrta and I would like to know if I will become a widow.”
The questions ancient Greeks asked at the oracle are a significant source of information on their everyday lives.
The oracular tablets, on which a total of 4.216 inscriptions can be read, date from the end of the 6th century B.C. to the mid-3rd century BC.
They are usually small lead sections measuring a few centimeters, which had generally been re-used many times.
The letters are no larger than 1-1.5 millimeters, while the questions are written in a variety of alphabets and dialects, as people from many places traveled to the Oracle; from Syracuse, Taras/Taranto, Boeotia, Athens and Corinth.
The historian Herodotus stated that the Dodoan oracle there dated all the way back to the second millennium BC. Even Homer mentioned Dodona, saying that there was an oracle of Zeus there. Situated in a remote region, far from the main Greek poleis or city-states, it was considered second only to the Oracle of Delphi in prestige.
Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas—even the region from which the Hellenes originated. The oracle, first under the control of the Thesprotians before it passed into the hands of the Molossians, remained an important religious sanctuary until the rise of Christianity during the Late Roman era.
The MP is led outside the parliament building. Credit: AMNA
An MP elected with the ultra-right Spartiates Party (Spartans) was arrested on Wednesday after he assaulted a colleague from the populist Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) party in the colonnade outside the plenum hall.
Konstantinos Floros, now an independent MP, assaulted and punched MP Vasilis Grammenos.
In addition to immediately evicting Floros under guard, Parliament President Constantinos Tasoulas gave orders that he should be immediately handed over to law enforcement authorities and face criminal charges of assaulting a member of Parliament.
He noted that Parliamentary immunity does not apply in the case of violent criminal offenses.
Floros is expected to be charged with violating Article 157 of the Criminal Code, according to which it is a felony to attack a member of parliament during the performance of his duties.
Greek ultra-right party the surprise of the last elections
The Spartiates party was the biggest surprise of the 2023 elections in Greece getting 4.64 percent of the vote and gained 12 seats in Parliament.
The grouping was catapulted from relative obscurity after support from Ilias Kasiadiaris, the frontman of the now-banned Golden Dawn far-right party. His own party was barred from the elections and he endorsed the Spartiates from jail.
The party considers that the traditions of Hellenism are missing from public life nowadays and describe themselves as “the iron arm and the real bulwark that will stop the decline and the sell-out of Greece and the Greeks.”
The Spartiates are among three fringe parties of the right that gained parliamentary representation after the elections.
Elliniki Lysi, a nationalist, pro-Russia party formed by former journalist and TV salesman Kyriakos Velopoulos, got 4.47 percent of the vote and is represented in Parliament with 12 MPs.
Niki, or Victory party which emphasizes Orthodox Christian traditions got 3.71 percent and 10 MPs.
Kasidiaris was also charged with morally instigating the deception of voters, as the prosecutor’s investigation revealed he is the true leader of the Spartiates party. It was he who secretly controlled events and was responsible for the party running in the elections and electing MPs to Parliament.
The charge is based on evidence showing that there was continuous contact between the Spartiates candidates and Kasidiaris while he was in prison. He is said to have provided the party with guidance and political support. This would be illegal for both him and other jailed members of Golden Dawn, which was ruled to have been a criminal organization.
The 11 lawmakers effectively “used the Spartiates party as a front for a new political entity under Kasidiaris, thereby aiding him in circumventing the electoral restrictions imposed by election legislation,” the prosecutor’s report said.
