HIST 100: Engineering The Past

Hagia Sophia

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The Hagia Sophia is a large place of worship. This place was full of religious items that surrounded a giant wall called an iconostasis. An Iconostasis is described as a wall of religious icons, separating the nave (the main body of the church) from the sanctuary. The relics are usually made up of tombs or tangible items that show how the person was alive. Relics important in every religion including Christianity, Hinduism, ect. Catholic’s however don’t worship any sacred relics, they practice that the only thing/person to be worshiped is God. When this first began, no one could varify if the relics were authentic or not, so many fraudulent relics began to appear. After this became a little out-of-hand, the church decided to “authenticate” the relics as they came. The Hagia has since displayed some amazing artifacts, including the nails from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Competing Interpretations of the First Thanksgiving

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1.

“The Pilgrims and America’s First Thanksgiving” was the basic elementary school lesson according to most of the “My First Thanksgiving” posts that I have read. The basic understanding that for a brief moment in history, all was well between the pilgrims and Native Americans. There is a lot of factual information in this but there is also lots of facts missing.

2.

I think that it would be hard to not find the differences in how the articles were written interesting. People these days usually thrive on drama and this is a very dramatic argument even in today’s politics. However I find that with reading upon any topic it is important to check other sources and try to weed out the hard facts and create your own opinion on the topic.

3.

I find these articles much more interesting than those in part 2. They provide a first person feeling to the story. I can remember sitting down next to my great grandfather and listening to his story about WW2. Now his opinion played a huge part in these stories so not everything that he said about the European countries can be taken for the truth, but it sure helps you build a good idea of what happened in the eyes of someone that was there for the event.

4.

I think that it would be hard not for a historian to create an opinion on the “First Thanksgiving”. That is how our minds work as people. The trick is to put your opinion aside and search for the truthful facts. I think that it easy to see that historians have changed the common persons knowledge of the past. They are the ones writing school books and when they leave parts of history out or only telling part of the story, it is equivalent to being completely biased. There are countless historic events that are left out of school books. And the youth learning from these books have no idea of the full story.

Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles

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Isidore of Miletus was one of the main Byzantine Greek architects that was commissioned by a Byzantine emperor, Justinian I. Also known as Justinian the Great or Saint Justinian the Great. Isidore of Miletus was commissioned specifically for Hagia Sophia. Aside from Hagia Sophia he presented the first completed collection of Archimedes’ works. Prior to the Hagia Sophia he was a famed mathematician and scientist. He was a part of the third bascilla. Side note: when the dome collapsed in 558 it is believed that Isidore of Miletus’s nephew, Isodorus the younger led the reconstruction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isidore_of_Miletus

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jordanpickett/8523204040/in/photolist-dZaDBN-8bZroP-pLrGJH-9ZTFGQ-5jYH16-5k3VaU-35gTYP-dZ4X36-fWXyHc-wtrvMQ-eiiJiQ-8hVhym-9Frsh9-dZ4Mnp-8miXaY-5jYbuZ-4JB44w-bEdAJX-rnjedv-aKiH3a-CjdWyt-wwbSwT-8bZ5R2-kxgfC2-7NQzXW-uYSBJK-az5gWJ-5jY9NK-w3oSR1-5NJdey-5jYBfr-eAXazh-g6pgz7-5jYaGk-eQoujf-dZaZLG-eAU3bR-myhmv-7T5PT2-a7JzsW-35mitu-pb1tJf-35gNHi-eh5YvK-4JB1VE-8rYZ2h-ec6oH-9FrteN-8DRLqq-p7aXDM

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jellybean/6888959871/in/photolist-buKHLc-buKKzB-dZ5jcz-rDEtRV-dZaWF1-dZ5dJt-6Z8ryz-5k3rR9-35gJ7x-rekEse-kxi1F1-i1Gw3p-aKiFfe-i1Hkq8-35gGUg-aKiEq8-p3eXyP-dbMXPu-qyMRuG-8bYZ56-mge7iZ-qtAfCS-dZaBgf-9ZW3xG-8pUCN6-4MWWdz-dbMXdZ-8bZdvD-i1GANC-7NLBJT-ekxTuT-rDJMvP-dZaRDQ-CQoWwG-jwGA43-5k3Vcj-dwHs51-4JwGMk-tQ6Gh-buKJTg-cZv43h-CSJ9d6-dZ5jkv-cZuQyu-dZ5g7v-5jYHuc-9ZUUFZ-9YBY2B-i1H5yf-i1JAkX

Anthemius of Tralles was a Greek and son of Stephanus of Tralles a physician. Prior to partaking as an architect he was a geometer. It is said that he died in the early stages of Hagia Sophia around 534 but that is unconfirmed because it was said that the church was dedicated in 537. It is said that as a child he annoyed his neighbor by one, creating an artificial earthquake and two, by imitating lightening flashing in eyes.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Isidorus_of_Miletus.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthemius_of_Tralles

Istanbul, Hagia Sophia

Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles were obviously directly related to Hagia Sophia because they were the architects in the third church built, the first two of which were destroyed. Justinian I wanted to guarantee that this one would no be destroyed, so it was built of stone. The second church being destroyed during the Nika Riot. Though these two men were not first architects, the knowledge and expertise they had in their respected fields proved to assist in their abilities to create and assist in building the Hagia Sophia. Another side note: hardly any of the websites, wiki, Britannica, and encyclopedia gave the exact same titles for the two men prior to becoming architects.

I chose these three images because while only reading about Hagia Sophia and not really pay attention to the pictures and only imagining the structure in my head I honestly did’t realize how different the structure would be in the present. Obviously I just wasn’t thinking about it but for some reason it was a small surprise seeing the structure in the present.