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[Creeperopolis]

Ai-Khanoum (/aɪ ˈhɑːnjuːm/, meaning 'Lady Moon';[2] Uzbek: Oyxonim) is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. The city, whose original name is unknown,[a] was likely founded by an early ruler of the Seleucid Empire and served as a military and economic centre for the rulers of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom until its destruction c. 145 BC. Rediscovered in 1961, the ruins of the city were excavated by a French team of archaeologists until the outbreak of conflict in Afghanistan in the late 1970s.

The city was probably founded between 300 and 285 BC by an official acting on the orders of Seleucus I Nicator or his son Antiochus I Soter, the first two rulers of the Seleucid dynasty. There is a possibility that the site was known to the earlier Achaemenid Empire, who established a small fort nearby. Ai-Khanoum was originally thought to have been a foundation of Alexander the Great, perhaps as Alexandria Oxiana, but this theory is now considered unlikely. Located at the confluence of the Amu Darya (a.k.a. Oxus) and Kokcha rivers, surrounded by well-irrigated farmland, the city itself was divided between a lower town and a 60-metre-high (200 ft) acropolis. Although not situated on a major trade route, Ai-Khanoum controlled access to both mining in the Hindu Kush and strategically important choke points. Extensive fortifications, which were continually maintained and improved, surrounded the city.

Ai-Khanoum, which may have initially grown in population because of royal patronage and the presence of a mint in the city, lost some importance through the secession of the Greco-Bactrians under Diodotus I (c. 250 BC). Seleucid construction programmes were halted and the city probably became primarily military in function; it may have been a conflict zone during the invasion of Antiochus III (c. 209 – c. 205 BC). Ai-Khanoum began to grow once more under Euthydemus I and his successor Demetrius I, who began to assert control over the northwest Indian subcontinent. Many of the present ruins date from the time of Eucratides I, who substantially redeveloped the city and who may have renamed it Eucratideia, after himself. Soon after his death c. 145 BC, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom collapsed—Ai-Khanoum was captured by Saka invaders and was generally abandoned, although parts of the city were sporadically occupied until the 2nd century AD. Hellenistic culture in the region would persist longer only in the Indo-Greek kingdoms.

While on a hunting trip in 1961, the King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, rediscovered the city. An archaeological delegation, led by Paul Bernard, unearthed the remains of a huge palace in the lower town, along with a large gymnasium, a theatre capable of holding 6,000 spectators, an arsenal, and two sanctuaries. Several inscriptions were found, along with coins, artefacts, and ceramics. The onset of the Soviet-Afghan War in the late 1970s halted scholarly progress and during the following conflicts in Afghanistan, the site was extensively looted.

[Creeperopolis]

Nasutoceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76.0–75.5 million years ago. The first known specimens were discovered in Utah in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) from 2006 onwards, including a subadult skull with a partial postcranial skeleton and rare skin impressions and two other partial skulls. In 2013, the subadult was made the holotype of the new genus and species Nasutoceratops titusi; the generic name means "large-nosed horned face", and the specific name honors the paleontologist Alan L. Titus for his work at the GSENM. The dinosaur was noted for its large nose in news reports, and later featured in Jurassic World films.

The holotype skull of Nasutoceratops is approximately 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long, and its body length has been estimated at 4.5 m (14.8 ft), its weight at 1.5 t (1.7 short tons). Nasutoceratops is distinct in features such as the snout region being unusually deep but short from front to back, with the external nostril forming 75% of the skull length in front of the eye sockets. The nasal bones were possibly pneumatized (air-filled), which is unknown in other ceratopsids. Its nasal horn is low and blade-like while the brow horns are notable for pointing forward and being approximately 40% of total skull length; they are up to 457 mm (18.0 in), the longest known of any centrosaurine, and have been likened to those of a Texas Longhorn bull. The neck frill is almost circular with its widest point at the middle. The epiossifications on the margins of the frill are shaped like low crescents, and there is one at the midline at the top of the frill, unlike in other centrosaurines. Nasutoceratops was a basal (early diverging) member of Centrosaurinae, and may have formed a distinct clade within this group, Nasutoceratopsini, with its closest relatives.

The function of the deep front of the skull of Nasutoceratops is unknown, but may have been related to mastication. The functions of ceratopsian frills and horns have been debated, and include signalling, combat, and species recognition. The forward oriented brow horns of Nasutoceratops may have enabled interlocking with opponents, as in modern bovids. The Kaiparowits Formation dates to the late Campanian age and was deposited on Laramidia, an island continent, when North America was divided at the center by the Western Interior Seaway. This environment was dominated by wetlands and supported a diverse fauna, including other ceratopsians. Based in part on the relationship between Nasutoceratops and other centrosaurines from around the same time, it has been proposed that Laramidia was divided into dinosaur "provinces" with separate endemic species, but this has been contested.

[Spode]

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[gagium]

Gagium

[Creeperopolis]

Marie Sophie Hingst (20 October 1987 – 17 July 2019) was a German historian and blogger who falsely claimed to be descended from Holocaust survivors. Born in Wittenberg to a Protestant family, she fabricated a Jewish background and sent documentation for 22 misrepresented or non-existent relatives, who she claimed were Holocaust victims, to the official Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem.

Hingst maintained the blog Read On, My Dear, Read On, writing about her supposed Jewish background and identity, along with her experiences as a German expatriate in Ireland, where she moved in 2013. The blog received hundreds of thousands of views, and she was awarded "Blogger of the Year" in 2017 by Die Goldenen Blogger [de] (The Golden Bloggers).

Throughout her life, Hingst falsified much of her background, connections, and achievements. She claimed a background in sex education, having purportedly founded a hospital in New Delhi and worked in sex education outreach to refugees in Germany. Hingst used her fraudulent credentials to gain awards and recognition; alongside her "Blogger of the Year" recognition, she wrote for the German newspaper Die Zeit, was one of the winners of the 2017 Financial Times Future of Europe project, and held positions of prestige in Jewish communities across Europe. In June 2019, the Der Spiegel journalist Martin Doerry [de] exposed Hingst's claims as false with the assistance of a team of historians and archivists. She was castigated in the German media, leading to the destruction of her reputation.

Hingst committed suicide on 17 July 2019 at the age of 31. Her fraud and death attracted attention across Europe. German and Irish coverage of Hingst differed: German coverage focused on the extreme sensitivity of the subject she had lied about and how she should have been stopped earlier; Irish coverage focused on her mental health and accused Doerry of ignoring her vulnerability. She was compared to other women who had been uncovered as misrepresenting their backgrounds, such as Anna Sorokin and Rachel Dolezal. The particular similarity between Hingst and Dolezal, as people who claimed to have faced ethnic discrimination, sparked discussion of the role of identity politics in such claims.

[Quebecshire]

I am here because the forum monitor is back