6 'lost' cities

 
Archaeologists have been very busy excavating lost civilizations, but they haven't found everything. There are still prominent ancient cities, including capitals of large kingdoms and empires, that have never been unearthed by scholars.
 

We know these cities exist because ancient texts describe them, but their location may be lost to time.
 
In a few cases, looters have found these cities, and have looted large numbers of artifacts from them. But these robbers have not come forward to reveal their location. In this countdown Live Science takes a look at six ancient cities whose whereabouts are unknown.
 
1. Irisagrig
 
Not long after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, thousands of ancient tablets from a city called "Irisagrig" began appearing on the antiquities market. From the tablets, scholars could tell that Irisagrig was in Iraq and flourished around 4,000 years ago.
 
Those tablets reveal that the rulers of the ancient city lived in palaces that housed many dogs. They also kept lions which were fed cattle. Those that took care of the lions, referred to as "lion shepherds," got rations of beer and bread. The inscriptions also mention a temple dedicated to Enki, a god of mischief and wisdom, and say that festivals were sometimes held within the temple.
 
2. Itjtawy
 
Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhat I (reign circa 1981 to 1952 B.C.) ordered a new capital city built. This capital was known as "Itjtawy" and the name can be translated as "the seizer of the Two Lands" or "Amenemhat is the seizer of the Two Lands." As the name suggests Amenemhat faced a considerable amount of turmoil. His reign ended with his assassination.
 
Despite Amenemhat's assassination, Itjtawy would remain the capital of Egypt until around 1640 B.C, when the northern part of Egypt was taken over by a group known as the "Hyksos," and the kingdom fell apart.
 
While Itjtawy has not been found, archaeologists think it is located somewhere near the site of Lisht, in central Egypt. This is partly because many elite burials, including a pyramid belonging to Amenemhat I, are located at Lisht.
 
3. Akkad
 
The city of Akkad (also called Agade) was the capital of the Akkadian Empire, which flourished between 2350 and 2150 B.C. At its peak the empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to Anatolia. Many of its conquests occurred during the reign of "Sargon of Akkad," who lived sometime around 2300 B.C. One of the most important structures in Akkad itself was the "Eulmash," a temple dedicated to Ishtar, a goddess associated with war, beauty and fertility.
 
Akkad has never been found, but it is thought to have been built somewhere in Iraq. Ancient records indicate that the city was destroyed or abandoned when the Akkadian empire ended around 2150 B.C.
 
4. Al-Yahudu
 
Al-Yahudu, a name which means "town" or "city" of Judah, was a place in the Babylonian empire where Jews lived after the kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 B.C. He sent part of the population into exile, a practice the Babylonians often engaged in after conquering a region.
 
About 200 tablets from the settlement are known to exist and they indicate that the exiled people who lived in this settlement kept their faith and used Yahweh, the name of God, in their names. Al-Yahudu's location has not been identified by archaeologists, but like many of these lost cities, was likely located in what is now Iraq. Given that the tablets showed up on the antiquities market, and there is no record of them being found in an archaeological excavation, it appears that at some point looters succeeded in finding its location.
 
5. Waššukanni
 
Waššukanni was the capital city of the Mitanni empire, which existed between roughly 1550 B.C. and 1300 B.C. and included parts of northeastern Syria, southern Anatolia and northern Iraq. It faced intense competition from the Hittite empire in the north and the Assyrian empire in the south and its territory was gradually lost to them.
 
Waššukanni has never been found and some scholars think that it may be located in northeastern Syria. The people who lived in the capital, and indeed throughout much of its empire, were known as the "Hurrians" and they had their own language which is known today from ancient texts.
 
6. Thinis
 
Thinis (also known as Tjenu) was an ancient city in southern Egypt that flourished early in the ancient civilization's history. According to the ancient writer Manetho, it was where some of the early kings of Egypt ruled from around 5,000 years ago, when Egypt was being unified. Egypt's capital was moved to Memphis a bit after unification and Thinis became the capital of a nome (a province of Egypt) during the Old Kingdom (circa 2649 to 2150 B.C.) period, Ali Seddik Othman, an inspector with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, noted in an article published in the Journal of Abydos.
 
Thinis has never been identified although it is believed to be near Abydos, which is in southern Egypt. This is partly because many elite members of society, including royalty, were buried near Abydos around 5,000 years ago.
 
SOURCE: MSN

Μ ά ϊ ο ς

 
Όπως οι μήνες Ιανουάριος, Μάρτιος, Απρίλιος, Ιούνιος, έτσι κι ο μήνας Μάϊος έχει το όνομα θεότητας. Ανάγεται στο λατ. "Maius" < θηλ. "Maia", ονομασία γυναικείας ρωμαϊκής θεότητας, που εθεωρείτο μητέρα τού θεού Ερμή και απεκαλείτο επίσης "Maiesta" «μεγίστη». Η Μαία, κατά την ελληνική μυθολογία, ήταν η μεγαλύτερη και ομορφότερη από τις Πλειάδες, η οποία ενώθηκε με τον Δία και του γέννησε γιο, τον Ερμή:
 

    📜 «Ζηνί δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ Ἀτλαντίς Μαίη τέκε κύδιμον Ἑρμῆν,
            κήρυκ᾽ ἀθανάτων, ἱερόν λέχος εἰσαναβᾶσα.»
 
(=Η Μαία, κόρη του Άτλαντα, στο Δία γέννησε τον ξακουστό Ερμή,  των αθανάτων κήρυκα, μετά από ιερή συνεύρεση μαζί του) - (Ησιόδου Θεογονία 938). 
 
◾Στο αρχαίο αττικό ημερολόγιο αντιστοιχούσε περίπου στον μήνα "Θαργηλιώνα", που αντιστοιχεί με το χρονικό διάστημα 23 Απριλίου-23 Μαΐου.
 
◾Μερικές (από τις πολλές) παροιμίες για τον μήνα αυτόν: 
 
🔹 Ζήσε Μάη μου, να φας τριφύλλι.
🔹 Στον καταραμένο τόπο Μάη μήνα βρέχει.
🔹 Αν βρέξει ο Απρίλης δυο νερά κι ο Μάης άλλο ένα τότε τ' αμπελοχώραφα χαίρονται τα καημένα (ΣΗΜ υπάρχει σε διάφορες παραλλαγές, π.χ. «Αν ρίξει ο Μάρτης δυο νερά κι ο Απρίλης άλλο ένα, χαρά σ' αυτό το γεωργό που 'χει πολλά σπαρμένα» κ.λπ.).
🔹 Μάη μου, Μάη δροσερέ κι Απρίλη λουλουδάτε.
🔹Να ’μουν το Μάη μπιστικός, τον Αύγουστο δραγάτης.
🔹 Τον Μάη ό,τι δέσει και τον Αύγουστο ό,τι στέσει.
 
🌹🌸🌺   ΚΑΛΟ ΜΗΝΑ!  🌹🌸🌺

On the way to Hades

 
We drove the length of the Mani to the tip at Cape Taenaron; there, the road ended. It was August, but only a handful of cars had come this far. The middle of the day. 41 degrees. We took refuge in the small cafeteria to consider what next? That was easy - two zero beers.
 

In winter, it had seemed simple: leave Stoupa early morning and arrive here before the sun was too high and hot. With hats, water and strong shoes, three kilometres on from where the road ended, on the path across the bare headland to Hades, then three kilometres back - that should be no problem for us; we who are part of that group marketing men call ‘the old fit’. 
 
On our way down the Mani, we had been delayed in Areopolis, just wandering through the streets of this magnificent old town. We had only ourselves to blame.
 
The waiter wasn’t busy and had time to chat. A young man with a long, thin beard, he could have been a novice monk but was in fact a shepherd on Evia who worked here two months a year. He knew more about Taenaron than Google or all the guidebooks. We had parked, he told us, at the Temple of Poseidon. Originally, it had been dedicated to Apollo, the sun god, which seemed appropriate as Taenaron is the sunniest place in Greece. Next to it is the Necromanteio where the oracle might pass messages from the dead. In this area, Zeus had grazed his cattle. The mythology poured out of him.
 
He pointed out the path we must take across the headland to the underworld. But he shook his head: You mustn’t go. You may not make it back.
 
We looked at each other - we knew he was right. We thought of Michael Moseley, the doctor and broadcaster, who had set off over a similar headland on an equally hot day in Symi last year. He did not return. Such an intelligent man who died a foolish death.
 
Disappointed, but not defeated, we finished our beers and walked a few metres along the path to Hades. Then we turned back. We had, at least, set out on the path to Hades. We know now where it is and will return, no doubt, when the time comes…
 
An old widow, small, bent and dressed in black, then appeared in front of us. Madam, I asked, have you come from Hades? No, she explained, like us, she and her family had walked just a little way along the path but, anyway, she said, this isn’t the path to Hades. She explained that her husband had once been to Hades - swimming through an underwater cave at Porto Kayio. Madam, I stopped her, your husband went to Hades but returned because of his great love for you! Her whole face opened in one big smile and she was young again! So often, it is the people you meet who make the places you visit.
 
Richard Devereux