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1600s BC

1600s BC

Centuries: 18th century BC - 17th century BC - 16th century BC Decades: 1650s BC 1640s BC 1630s BC 1620s BC 1610s BC - 1600s BC - 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC 1560s BC 1550s BC ----

Events and trends


- Egypt: End of Fourteenth Dynasty.
- The creation of one of the oldest surviving astronomical documents, a copy of which was found in the Babylonian library of Ashurbanipal: a 21-year record of the appearances of Venus (which the early Babylonians called Nindaranna).
- The end of the Indus Valley civilization.
- The overthrow of the ruling Amorite dynasty in Aleppo, Syria.
- The date of the earliest discovered rubber balls.
- Egypt conquered by Asian tribes known as the Hyksos - see History of ancient Israel and Judah.
- 1600 BC - Shang Dynasty instituted in China.

Significant people


- Category:1600s BC

Centuries

These pages contain the trends of millennia and centuries. The individual century pages contain lists of decades and years. See history for different organizations of historical events. See calendar and list of calendars for other groupings of years. For earlier time periods, see cosmological timeline, geologic timescale, evolutionary timeline, pleistocene, and logarithmic timeline.
- Paleolithic
- 10th millennium BC | 9th millennium BC | 8th millennium BC
- 7th millennium BC | 6th millennium BC | 5th millennium BC
- 5th millennium | 6th millennium | 7th millennium
- 8th millennium | 9th millennium | 10th millennium
- 11th millennium and beyond
- ja:年表 th:คริสต์ศตวรรษ simple:Centuries

17th century BC

----

Overview

Events


- 1700 – 1500 BC -- Hurrian conquests.
- 1700 BC - Belu-bani became the King of Assyria.
- c. 1700 BC - Lila-Ir-Tash started to rule the Elamite Empire.
- c. 1698 BC - Lila-Ir-Tash the ruler of the Elamite Empire died. Temti-Agun I started to rule the Elamite Empire.
- 1691 BC - Belu-bani, the King of Assyria died.
- c. 1690 BC - Temti-Agun I, the ruler of the Elamite Empire, died. Tan-Uli started to rule the Elamite Empire.
- 1690 BC - Libaia became the King of Assyria.
- 1680s BC - Egypt: Start of Sixteenth Dynasty.
- 1680s BC - Egypt: Development of leavened bread (date approximate).
- 1670s BC - Egypt: Start of Fifteenth Dynasty.
- 1650s BC - Egypt: Start of Seventeenth Dynasty.
- c. 1655 BC - Tan-Uli, the ruler of the Elamite Empire, died.
- 1645 BC - Santorini, in the Aegean Sea, erupts, contributing to the demise of Minoan civilization (the date is suggested by 1990s Greenland ice coring.
- 1633 BC -- End of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties of Egypt, start of the Fifteenth dynasty.
- 1628 BC -- Estimated date of the volcanic eruption on Thera which possibly affected the fate of Minoan civilization.
- 1600s BC - Egypt: End of Fourteenth Dynasty.
- 1600s BC - The creation of one of the oldest surviving astronomical documents, a copy of which was found in the Babylonian library of Ashurbanipal: a 21-year record of the appearances of Venus (which the early Babylonians called Nindaranna).
- 1600s BC - The end of the Indus Valley civilization.
- 1600s BC - The overthrow of the ruling Amorite dynasty in Aleppo, Syria.
- 1600s BC - The date of the earliest discovered rubber balls.
- 1600s BC - Egypt conquered by Asian tribes known as the Hyksos - see History of ancient Israel and Judah.
- Unetice culture
- Development of leavened bread in Egypt.

Significant persons


- Hammurabi, died 1686 BC short chronology.
- 1684 BC - Death of Heremon, Irish legend.
- Jie , The last ruler of Xia Dynasty, ruled China for 52 years until 1600 BC according to the Xia Shang Zhou Chronology Project.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions


- Category:17th century BC ja:紀元前17世紀

Decades

:For other uses of the term, see decade (disambiguation). This is a list of decades which have articles with more information about them. See also centuries and history. During the 20th Century and continuing today it became popular to look at that century's decades as historical entities in themselves. Particular trends, styles, and attitudes would be associated with and define different decades of the century, and thus the names of the decades themselves have come to be synonymous with them. Some commentators suggest that this phenomenon will not continue into the 21st Century with its decades.
17th century BC 1690s BC 1680s BC 1670s BC 1660s BC 1650s BC 1640s BC 1630s BC 1620s BC 1610s BC 1600s BC
16th century BC 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC 1560s BC 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC 1520s BC 1510s BC 1500s BC
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4th century BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC
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1st century 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s
2nd century 100s 110s 120s 130s 140s 150s 160s 170s 180s 190s
3rd century 200s 210s 220s 230s 240s 250s 260s 270s 280s 290s
4th century 300s 310s 320s 330s 340s 350s 360s 370s 380s 390s
5th century 400s 410s 420s 430s 440s 450s 460s 470s 480s 490s
6th century 500s 510s 520s 530s 540s 550s 560s 570s 580s 590s
7th century 600s 610s 620s 630s 640s 650s 660s 670s 680s 690s
8th century 700s 710s 720s 730s 740s 750s 760s 770s 780s 790s
9th century 800s 810s 820s 830s 840s 850s 860s 870s 880s 890s
10th century 900s 910s 920s 930s 940s 950s 960s 970s 980s 990s
11th century 1000s 1010s 1020s 1030s 1040s 1050s 1060s 1070s 1080s 1090s
12th century 1100s 1110s 1120s 1130s 1140s 1150s 1160s 1170s 1180s 1190s
13th century 1200s 1210s 1220s 1230s 1240s 1250s 1260s 1270s 1280s 1290s
14th century 1300s 1310s 1320s 1330s 1340s 1350s 1360s 1370s 1380s 1390s
15th century 1400s 1410s 1420s 1430s 1440s 1450s 1460s 1470s 1480s 1490s
16th century 1500s 1510s 1520s 1530s 1540s 1550s 1560s 1570s 1580s 1590s
17th century 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s 1690s
18th century 1700s 1710s 1720s 1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1780s 1790s
19th century 1800s 1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
20th century 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
21st century 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s 2060s 2070s 2080s 2090s
ja:10年紀 simple:Decade Category:Decades

1640s BC

Centuries: 18th century BC - 17th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1690s BC 1680s BC 1670s BC 1660s BC 1650s BC - 1640s BC - 1630s BC 1620s BC 1610s BC 1600s BC 1590s BC ----

Events and trends


- Santorini, in the Aegean Sea, erupts, contributing to the demise of Minoan civilization; a date of 1645 BC is suggested by 1990s Greenland ice coring.

Significant people


- Category:1640s BC

1620s BC

Centuries: 18th century BC - 17th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1670s BC 1660s BC 1650s BC 1640s BC 1630s BC - 1620s BC - 1610s BC 1600s BC 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC ----

Events and trends


- 1628 BC -- Estimated date of the volcanic eruption on Thera which possibly affected the fate of Minoan civilization.

Significant people


- Category:1620s BC

1590s BC

Centuries: 17th century BC - 16th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1640s BC 1630s BC 1620s BC 1610s BC 1600s BC - 1590s BC - 1580s BC 1570s BC 1560s BC 1550s BC 1540s BC ----

Events and trends


- 1595 BC - Mursilis I, king of the Hittites, sacks Babylon. This brings and end to the rule of the descendants of Hammurabi in that kingdom.

Significant people


- 1597 BC - Aaron born to Amram and his wife Jochebed (traditional date). Category:1590s BC

1580s BC

Centuries: 17th century BC - 16th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1630s BC 1620s BC 1610s BC 1600s BC 1590s BC - 1580s BC - 1570s BC 1560s BC 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC ----

Events and trends


-

Significant people


- Category:1580s BC

1570s BC

Centuries: 17th century BC - 16th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1620s BC 1610s BC 1600s BC 1590s BC 1580s BC - 1570s BC - 1560s BC 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC 1520s BC ----

Events and trends


-

Significant people


- Kamose, last Pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty of Egypt (1573 - 1570 BC).
- Ahmose I, Pharaoh and founder of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1570 - 1546 BC). Category:1570s BC

1560s BC

Centuries: 17th century BC - 16th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1610s BC 1600s BC 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC - 1560s BC - 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC 1520s BC 1510s BC ----

Events and trends


- 1567 BC - Egypt: End of Fifteenth Dynasty, end of Sixteenth Dynasty, end of Seventeenth Dynasty, start of Eighteenth Dynasty.

Significant people


- Ahmose I, Pharaoh and founder of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt ( 1570- 1546 BC). Category:1560s BC

Egypt

The Arab Republic of Egypt, commonly known as Egypt, (in Arabic: مصر, romanized Misr), is a republic in North Africa. While it is geographically located in Africa, it is sometimes associated with the Middle East for political reasons. Covering an area of about 1,020,000 km², Egypt shares land borders with Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the northeast and has coasts on the north and east by the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, respectively. Egypt is the second most populous country in Africa, second only to Nigeria, and the vast majority of its 77 million population (2005) live near the banks of the Nile River (about 40,000 km²), where the only arable agricultural land is found. Large areas of land are part of the Sahara Desert and are sparsely inhabited. The majority of Egyptians today are urban, living in the great Arab population centers of greater Cairo, the largest city in Africa, and Alexandria. Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world's most stunning ancient monuments, including the Giza Pyramids, the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings; the southern city of Luxor contains a particularly large number of ancient artifacts. Today, Egypt is widely regarded as the main political and cultural centre of the Arab and Middle Eastern regions.

Origin and history of the name

Misr, the Arabic and official name for modern Egypt, is of Semitic origin directly cognate with the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם Misráyim meaning "the two straits", and possibly means "a country" or "a state." The ancient name for the country, kemet, or "black land," is derived from the fertile black soils deposited by the Nile floods, distinct from the 'red land' (deshret) of the desert. This name became keme in a later stage of Coptic. The English name "Egypt" came via the Latin word Aegyptus derived from the ancient Greek word Αίγυπτος Aiguptos (see also List of traditional Greek place names), which in turn is derived from the ancient Egyptian phrase ḥwt-k3-ptḥ ("Hwt ka Ptah") meaning "home of the Ka (part of the soul) of Ptah," the name of a temple of the god Ptah at Memphis. For details see the article Copt.

History

Main article: History of Egypt The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom was founded circa 3200 BC by King Menes, and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty, known as the Thirtieth Dynasty, fell to the Persians in 341 BC who dug the predecessor of the Suez canal and connected the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Later, Egypt fell to the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Persians again. It was the Muslim Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the seventh century changing Egypt into a linguistically and mostly ethnically "Arab" nation. Muslim rulers nominated by the Islamic Caliphate remained in control of Egypt for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern even after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub; however, the country also fell heavily into debt. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II. Between 1924-1936 there existed a short-lived attempt to model Egypt's constitutional government after the European style of government; known as Egypt's Liberal Experiment. In 1952 a popularly-supported military coup d'état forced King Farouk I, a constitutional monarch, to abdicate in support of his son King Ahmed Fouad II. Finally the Egyptian Republic was declared on 18 June 1953 with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic. After Naguib resigned in 1954, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real architect of the 1952 Revolution, assumed power as President and nationalized the Suez Canal leading to the 1956 Suez Crisis. Nasser came out of the war an Arab hero, and Nasserism won widespread influence in the region. Between 1958 and 1961 Egypt and Syria formed a union known as the United Arab Republic. Three years after the 1967 Six Day War, in which Egypt lost the Sinai to Israel, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat, who presented his takeover in terms of a Corrective Revolution. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972, and launched the Infitah economic reform, while violently clamping down on religious and secular opposition alike. In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched a surprise attack on Israel in the October War,which despite not being a complete military success was by most accounts a political victory. Both the United States and the USSR intervened and a cease-fire was reached between Egypt and Israel. In 1979, Sadat made peace with Israel in exchange for the Sinai, a move which sparked enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab League (it was readmitted in 1989). Sadat was murdered by a religious fundamentalist in 1981, and succeeded by Hosni Mubarak. Hosni Mubarak

Politics

Main article: Politics of Egypt Egypt has been a republic since 18 June 1953. President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has been the President of the Republic since October 14 1981, following the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat on October 6 1981. Mubarak is currently serving his fifth term in office. He is the leader of the ruling National Democratic Party. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was sworn in as Prime Minister on 9 July 2004, following the resignation of Dr. Atef Ebeid from his office. The permanent headquarters for the League of Arab States is located in Cairo. Egypt was the first Arab state to establish peace with the State of Israel after the signing of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty after the Camp David Accords. Egypt also has a major influence on the other Arab states. Historically, Egypt has played the role of a mediator in resolving disputes of various Arab nations. Most Arab nations still use Egypt in that role. Egypt supposedly operates under a multi-party semi-presidential system where the executive power is divided between the President and the Prime Minister. Egypt holds regular single-candidate presidential and multi-party parliamentary elections. The last presidential election was held in September 2005, in which Mubarak won again. However, after the September elections there has been expressed concern from international human rights observers concerning freedom of speech, government interference in local elections and vote-rigging. I had been, as previous elections, just a pantomime. There had been many cases of misrespect for the oposition candidates and their followers' human right. In late February 2005, Mubarak announced on a surprise television broadcast that he has ordered the reform of the country's presidential election law, paving the way for multi-candidate polls in the coming election. For the first time in Egypt's history, the people will have a chance to elect their leader in a closely watched election. The President said his initiative came "out of my full conviction of the need to consolidate efforts for more freedom and democracy." However, the new law places draconian restrictions on the filing of presidential candidacies designed to pave the road for Mubarak's easy re-election. As a result most Egyptians are sceptical about the process of democratisation and the role of elections. As expected, Mubarak was re-elected. Newspapers however have exhibited an increasing freedom in criticizing the president, and the results of the parlimentary elections genuinely indicate that a democratic transition is underway, as evidenced by the strong showing of rival political parties.

Military

Main article: Military of Egypt The Egyptian Armed Forces (Arabic: القوات المسلحة المصرية) consists of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Air Defense. The Coast Guard and Border Guard operate as subordinates to the Navy and Army Command respectively. The Egyptian military is the strongest military power on the African continent, and the second largest in the Middle East, after Israel - (Source: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual Middle East Strategic Balance). The Egyptian Armed Forces also ranks among the most battle-trained armed forces in the region. Its inventory includes F-16s, Mirage 2000 aircraft, Apache helicopters, M1 Abrams Tanks and medium-long range missiles. The Egyptian Armed forces, has a combined troop strength of 450,000 active personel. The Commander-in-Chief is Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The Chief of Staff is Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan. Conscription is compulsory for egyptian men of 18 years of age. Full-time students may defer their service until the age of 28. The length of the service depend on the level of education achieved by the conscripted. Military relations between Egypt and the US are strong. Military cooperation between the two countries covers a number of strategic areas, including cooperation in the ongoing process of modernising Egyptian armaments and training the Egyptian armed forces. While military cooperation between the US and Egypt is close and diversified this does not constitute a form of military alliance. Nothing could furnish clearer proof of this than the high degree of transparency surrounding all aspects of Egyptian-US military cooperation. Bilateral exercises, mutual training are carried out regularly and according to one US source, reflect the great esteem in which the US holds the high levels of professionalism and commitment and the growing excellence of the fighting men and women in the various branches of the Egyptian armed forces. Egypt take part regularely in military exercises with the US and other European and Arab allies, including the manoeuvres that take place in Egypt every two years. Egypt continues to contribute regularly to United Nations peacekeeping missions, most recently in East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

Governorates

Liberia Main article: Governorates of Egypt Egypt is divided into 26 governorates (Muhafazat; singular – Muhafazah):

- Aswan
- Asyut
- al-Bahr al-Ahmar (Red Sea)
- Bani Suwayf
- al-Buhayrah
- Bur Sa'id (Port Said)
- ad-Daqahliyah
- Dumyat (Damietta)
- al-Fayyum
- al-Gharbiyah
- al-Iskandariyah (Alexandria)
- al-Isma'iliyah
- Janub Sina' (South Sinai)
- al-Jizah (Giza)
- Kafr ash Shaykh
- Matruh
- al-Minufiyah
- al-Minya
- al-Qahirah (Cairo)
- al-Qalyubiyah
- Qina
- Shamal Sina' (North Sinai)
- ash-Sharqiyah
- Suhaj
- as-Suways (Suez)
- al-Wadi al-Jadid (New Valley)

Foreign relations

al-Wadi al-Jadid al-Wadi al-Jadidal-Wadi al-Jadid al-Wadi al-Jadid and the Middle East]]Middle Easts]]Middle East]]Middle East Geography, population, history, military strength, and diplomatic expertise give Egypt extensive political influence in the Middle East. Cairo has been a crossroads of Arab commerce and culture for millennia, and its intellectual and Islamic institutions are at the center of the region's social and cultural development. The League of Arab States headquarters is in Cairo. The Secretary General of the League has traditionally been an Egyptian. Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa is the present Secretary General of the Arab League. Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali served as Secretary General of the United Nations from 1991 to 1996. Egypt is on good terms with all of its neighbours, and was the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel. It has a territorial dispute with Sudan over the Hala'ib Triangle.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Egypt Egypt's economy depends mainly on agriculture, media, petroleum exports, and tourism; there are also more than 5 million Egyptians working abroad, mainly in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf area like UAE, and Europe. The United States as well has a large population of Egyptian immigrants. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to ready the economy for the new millennium through economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure, much financed from U.S. foreign aid (since 1979, an average of 2.2 billion dollars per year). Egypt is the third largest recipient of such funds from the United States following the Iraq war. Economic conditions are starting to improve considerably after a period of stagnation due to the adoption of more liberal economic policies by the government, as well as increased revenues from tourism and a booming stock market. In its annual report, the IMF has rated Egypt as one of the top countries in the world undertaking economic reforms.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Egypt Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world, at about 77,500,000 people. Nearly all the population is concentrated along the River Nile, notably Alexandria and Cairo, and along the Nile Delta and near the Suez Canal. Approximately 90% of the population adheres to Islam and most of the remainder to Christianity (primarily the Coptic denomination). The Egyptians are a fairly homogeneous people. In the northern part of the country, North African and Mediterranean elements are more predominant, and the south is home to populations more closely related to Ethiopians and Somalis from the Horn of Africa. The bulk of the modern Egyptian people still maintain a homogenous genetic tie to ancient Egyptian society, which has always been regarded as rural and most populous compared to the neighboring demographics. The Egyptian people have spoken only languages from the Afro-Asiatic family (previously known as Hamito-Semitic) throughout their history starting with Old Egyptian, to modern Egyptian-Arabic. Ethnic minorities include a small number of Bedouin Arab nomads in the Sinai and eastern and western deserts, as well as a Nubian minority clustered along the Nile in Upper (southern) Egypt who are estimated for about 0.8% of the population. The once-vibrant Jewish community in Egypt has disappeared, but several important archeological and historical sites remain.

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Egypt Geography of Egypt Towns and cities include Alexandria, Aswan, Asyut, Cairo, El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Giza, Hurghada, Luxor, Kom Ombo, Port Safaga, Port Said, Sharm el Sheikh, Shubra-El-Khema, Suez, Zagazig,Al-Minya. Deserts: Egypt includes parts of the Sahara Desert and of the Libyan Desert Oases include: Bahariya Oasis, Dakhleh Oasis, Farafra Oasis, Kharga Oasis, Siwa Oasis. Egypt borders on Libya on the west, on Sudan on the south and on Israel on the northeast. It controls the Suez Canal between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Egypt's important role in geopolitics stems from its strategic position: as a land bridge between Africa and Asia, and as a passage between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Egypt Egypt's capital city, Cairo, is Africa's largest city and has been renowned for centuries as a center of learning, culture and commerce. The Egyptian Academy of the Arabic Language is responsible for regulating the Arabic Language throughout the world. Egypt also hosts two major religious institutions. Al-Azhar University, the oldest Islamic institution for higher studies (founded around 970 CE) with its corresponding mosque Al-Azhar. The head of Al-Azhar is traditionally regarded as the supreme leader of Sunni Muslims all over the world. Egypt also has a strong Christian heritage as evidenced by the existence of the Coptic Orthodox Church headed by the Patriarch of Alexandria, which has a following of approximately 50 million Christians worldwide (one of the famous Coptic Orthodox Churches is Saint Takla Haimanot Church in Alexandria http://www.St-Takla.org). Though considered a low-income country, Egypt has a thriving media and arts industry, with more than 30 satellite channels and more than 100 motion pictures produced each year. To bolster its media industry, especially with the keen competition from the Persian Gulf states and Lebanon, it has built a large media city that it has promoted as the "Hollywood of the East". Egypt is the only Arab country with an opera house. Some famous Egyptians include:
- Gamal Abdel Nasser (former president)
- Boutros Boutros-Ghali (former Secretary General of the United Nations)
- Naguib Mahfouz (Nobel Prize-winning novelist)
- Umm Kulthum (singer)
- Omar Sharif (actor)
- Ahmed Zewail (Nobel Prize-winning chemist)
- Mohamed ElBaradei (Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize)
- Anwar Sadat (former president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize)

See also


- Communications in Egypt
- Coptic Christianity
- Egyptian mythology
- Egyptian pyramids
- History of the Jews in Egypt
- History of Armenians in Egypt
- List of Egypt-related topics
- List of Egyptian companies
- List of famous Egyptian people
- List of writers from Egypt
- Military of Egypt
- Music of Egypt
- Transportation in Egypt
- Corruption in Egypt

References


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External links

Government


- [http://www.egypt.gov.eg/ Official Egyptian Government Portal]
- [http://www.investment.gov.eg/ Egyptian Investment Portal] official government site
- [http://www.sis.gov.eg/ Egypt State Information Service] official government site
- [http://www.presidency.gov.eg/ The Egyptian Presidency]
- [http://www.parliament.gov.eg/EPA/en/Index.jsp The People Assembly of Egypt]
- [http://www.shoura.gov.eg/ Egyptian Shoura Council]

News


- [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ Al-Ahram Weekly]
- [http://allafrica.com/egypt/ AllAfrica – Egypt] news
- [http://www.egypttoday.com/ Egypt Today] magazine
- [http://www.businesstodayegypt.com/ Business Today Egypt] magazine
- [http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Egypt Yahoo! News Full Coverage – Egypt] headline links

Overviews


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/737642.stm BBC News Country Profile - Egypt]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/eg.html CIA World Factbook - Egypt]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c3729.htm US State Department - Egypt] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Egypt Open Directory Project - Egypt] directory category
- [http://www.joinafrica.com/countries1/Egypt/people.htm Joinafrica.com - Egypt]

Education

See: List of Egyptian universities
- [http://www.worldwide.edu/ci/egypt/index.html Study Destinations in Egypt]
- [http://www.scu.eun.eg/eng/scu-eng.htm/ Supreme Council of Universities] U suck

Tourism

See: List of museums in Egypt
-
- [http://www.touregypt.net/ Tour Egypt] (Association of Egyptian Travel Businesses)
- [http://www.egypt-travelguide.com/ Egypt Hotel & Travel Guide]
- [http://www.eternalegypt.org/ Journey through Eternal Egypt]
- [http://ancient-egypt.blogspot.com/ History of Ancient Egypt]

Other


- [http://www.fonsvitae.com/archit.html CAIRO - 1001 Years of Islamic Art and Architecture (Video series in four parts)]
- [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/egypt.html Egypt Maps - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection]
- [http://ianandwendy.com/OtherTrips/Egypt Egypt Photo Galleries] Pictures from a visit in December 2004
- [http://st-takla.org/Egypt-1.html Egypt through the ages..]
- [http://www.egyptianculture.net Egyptian Mythology]
- Khnumhotep & Niankhkhnum
- [http://en.jurispedia.org/index.php/Egypt Egyptian law] from Jurispedia
Category:Arab League Category:Near Eastern countries Category:Middle Eastern countries Category:African Union member states Category:Bicontinental countries zh-min-nan:Ai-ki̍p als:Ägypten ko:이집트 ms:Mesir ja:エジプト simple:Egypt th:ประเทศอียิปต์

Babylonian

Babylonia, named for the city of Babylon, was an ancient state in Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. Its capital was Babylon. The earliest mention of Babylon can be found in a tablet of the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 23rd century BC.

History

During the first centuries of the "Old Babylonian" period (that followed the Sumerian revival under Ur-III), kings and people in high position often had Amorite names, and supreme power rested at Isin. A constant intercourse was maintained between Babylonia and the West — with Babylonian officials and troops passing to Syria and Canaan, while "Amorite" colonists were established in Babylonia for the purposes of trade. One of these Amorites, Abi-ramu or Abram by name, is the father of a witness to a deed dated in the reign of Hammurabi's grandfather. The city of Babylon was given hegemony over Mesopotamia by their sixth ruler, Hammurabi (1780–1750 BC; dates highly uncertain). He was a very efficient ruler, giving the region stability after turbulent times, and transforming it into the central power of Mesopotamia. A great literary revival followed the recovery of Babylonian independence. One of the most important works of this "First Dynasty of Babylon", as it was called by the native historians, was the compilation of a code of laws. This was made by order of Hammurabi after the expulsion of the Elamites and the settlement of his kingdom. A copy of the Code of Hammurabi was found by J. de Morgan at Susa, where it had been taken as plunder, and is now in the Louvre. Ammiditana, the great-grandson of Hammurabi, still titled himself "king of the land of the Amorites", and his father and son bore the Canaanite names of Abieshuh and Ammisaduqa. The armies of Babylonia were well-disciplined, and they conquered the city-states of Isin, Elam, and Uruk, and the strong Kingdom of Mari. The rule of Babylon was even obeyed as far as the shores of the Mediterranean. But Mesopotamia had no clear boundaries, making it vulnerable to attack. Trade and culture thrived for 150 years, until the fall of Babylon in 1595 BC. The last king of the dynasty was Samsu-Ditana, son of Ammisaduqa. He was overthrown following the sack of Babylon in 1595 BC by the Hittite king Mursili I, and Babylonia was turned over to the Kassites (Kossaeans) from the mountains of Iran, with whom Samsu-Iluna had already come into conflict in his 6th year. The Kassite dynasty was founded by Kandis or Gandash of Mari. The Kassites renamed Babylon "Kar-Duniash", and their rule lasted for 576 years. With this foreign dominion — that offers a striking analogy to the contemporary rule of the Hyksos in Egypt — Babylonia lost its empire over western Asia. Syria and Canaan became independent, and the high-priests of Asshur made themselves kings of Assyria. Most divine attributes ascribed to the Semitic kings of Babylonia disappeared at this time; the title of "god" was never given to a Kassite sovereign. However, Babylon continued to be the capital of the kingdom and the 'holy' city of western Asia, where the priests were all-powerful, and the only place where the right to inheritance of the old Babylonian empire could be conferred.

Neo-Babylonian Empire

Through the centuries of Assyrian domination, Babylonia enjoyed a prominent status, or revolting at the slightest indication that it did not. However, the Assyrians always managed to restore Babylonian loyalty, whether through granting of increased privileges, or militarily. That finally changed in 627 BC with the death of the last strong Assyrian ruler, Ashurbanipal, and Babylonia rebelled under Nabopolassar the Chaldean the following year. With help from the Medes, Niniveh was sacked in 612, and the seat of empire was again transferred to Babylonia. Nabopolassar was followed by his son Nebuchadnezzar II, whose reign of 43 years made Babylon once more the mistress of the civilized world. Only a small fragment of his annals has been discovered, relating to his invasion of Egypt in 567 BC, and referring to "Phut of the Ionians". Of the reign of the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus (Nabu-na'id), and the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus, there is a fair amount of information available. This is chiefly derived from a chronological tablet containing the annals of Nabonidus, supplemented by another inscription of Nabonidus where he recounts his restoration of the temple of the Moon-god at Harran; as well as by a proclamation of Cyrus issued shortly after his formal recognition as king of Babylonia. It was in the sixth year of Nabonidus (549 BC) that Cyrus, the Achaemenid Persian "king of Anshan" in Elam, revolted against his suzerain Astyages, "king of the Manda" or Medes, at Ecbatana. Astyages' army betrayed him to his enemy, and Cyrus established himself at Ecbatana, thus putting an end to the empire of the Medes. Three years later Cyrus had become king of all Persia, and was engaged in a campaign in the north of Mesopotamia. Meanwhile, Nabonidus had established a camp in the desert, near the southern frontier of his kingdom, leaving his son Belshazzar (Belsharutsur) in command of the army. In 538 BC Cyrus invaded Babylonia. A battle was fought at Opis in the month of June, where the Babylonians were defeated; and immediately afterwards Sippara surrendered to the invader. Nabonidus fled to Babylon, where he was pursued by Gobryas, the governor of Kurdistan, and on the 16th of Tammuz, two days after the capture of Sippara, "the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting." Nabonidus was dragged from his hiding-place, and Kurdish guards were placed at the gates of the great temple of Bel, where the services continued without interruption. Cyrus did not arrive until the 3rd of Marchesvan (October), Gobryas having acted for him in his absence. Gobryas was now made governor of the province of Babylon, and a few days afterwards the son of Nabonidus died. A public mourning followed, lasting six days, and Cambyses accompanied the corpse to the tomb. Cyrus now claimed to be the legitimate successor of the ancient Babylonian kings and the avenger of Bel-Marduk, who was assumed to be wrathful at the impiety of Nabonidus in removing the images of the local gods from their ancestral shrines, to his capital Babylon. Nabonidus, in fact, had excited a strong feeling against himself by attempting to centralize the religion of Babylonia in the temple of Merodach (Marduk) at Babylon, and while he had thus alienated the local priesthoods, the military party despised him on account of his antiquarian tastes. He seems to have left the defence of his kingdom to others, occupying himself with the more congenial work of excavating the foundation records of the temples and determining the dates of their builders. The invasion of Babylonia by Cyrus was doubtless facilitated by the existence of a disaffected party in the state, as well as by the presence of foreign exiles like the Jews, who had been planted in the midst of the country. One of the first acts of Cyrus accordingly was to allow these exiles to return to their own homes, carrying with them the images of their gods and their sacred vessels. The permission to do so was embodied in a proclamation, whereby the conqueror endeavoured to justify his claim to the Babylonian throne. The feeling was still strong that none had a right to rule over western Asia until he had been consecrated to the office by Bel and his priests; and accordingly, Cyrus henceforth assumed the imperial title of "king of Babylon." A year before Cyrus' death, in 529 BC, he elevated his son Cambyses II in the government, making him king of Babylon, while he reserved for himself the fuller title of "king of the (other) provinces" of the empire. It was only when Darius Hystaspis ("the Magian") acquired the Persian throne and ruled it as a representative of the Zoroastrian religion, that the old tradition was broken and the claim of Babylon to confer legitimacy on the rulers of western Asia ceased to be acknowledged. Darius, in fact, entered Babylon as a conqueror. After the murder of Darius, it briefly recovered its independence under Nidinta-Bel, who took the name of Nebuchadnezzar III, and reigned from October 521 BC to August 520 BC, when the Persians took it by storm. A few years later, probably 514 BC, Babylon again revolted under Arakha; on this occasion, after its capture by the Persians, the walls were partly destroyed. E-Saggila, the great temple of Bel, however, still continued to be kept in repair and to be a center of Babylonian patriotism, until at last the foundation of Seleucia diverted the population to the new capital of Babylonia and the ruins of the old city became a quarry for the builders of the new seat of government.

Science and mathematics

Among the sciences, astronomy and astrology occupied a conspicuous place in Babylonian society. Astronomy was of old standing in Babylonia, and the standard work on the subject, written from an astrological point of view, later translated into Greek by Berossus, was believed to date from the age of Sargon of Akkad. The zodiac was a Babylonian invention of great antiquity; and eclipses of the sun and moon could be foretold. Observatories were attached to the temples, and reports were regularly sent by astronomers to the king. The stars had been numbered and named at an early date, and we possess tables of lunar longitudes and observations of the phases of Venus. Great attention was naturally paid to the calendar, and we find a week of seven days and another of five days in use. In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were of a thoroughly scientific character; how much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The development of astronomy implies considerable progress in mathematics; it is not surprising that the Babylonians should have invented an extremely simple method of ciphering, or have discovered the convenience of the duodecimal system. The ner of 600 and the sar of 3600 were formed from the unit of 60, corresponding with a degree of the equator. Tablets of squares and cubes, calculated from 1 to 60, have been found at Senkera, and a people acquainted with the sun-dial, the clepsydra, the lever and the pulley, must have had no mean knowledge of mechanics. A crystal lens, turned on the lathe, was discovered by Austen Henry Layard at Nimrud along with glass vases bearing the name of Sargon; this could explain the excessive minuteness of some of the writing on the Assyrian tablets, and a lens may also have been used in the observation of the heavens. The Babylonian system of mathematics was sexagesimal, or a base 60 numeral system (see: Babylonian numerals). From this we derive the modern day usage of 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 360 (60 x 6) degrees in a circle. The Babylonians were able to make great advances in mathematics for two reasons. First, the number 60 has many divisors (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30), making calculations easier. Additionally, unlike the Egyptians and Romans, the Babylonians had a true place-value system, where digits written in the left column represented larger values (much as in our base ten system: 734 = 7×100 + 3×10 + 4×1). Among the Babylonians mathematical accomplishments were the determination of the square root of two correctly to seven places ([http://it.stlawu.edu/%7Edmelvill/mesomath/tablets/YBC7289.html YBC 7289 clay tablet]). They also demonstrated knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem well before Pythagoras, as evidenced by [http://www.tmeg.com/bab_mat/bab_mat.htm this tablet] translated by Dennis Ramsey and dating to c. 1900 BC: 4 is the length and 5 is the diagonal. What is the breadth? Its size is not known. 4 times 4 is 16. 5 times 5 is 25. You take 16 from 25 and there remains 9. What times what shall I take in order to get 9? 3 times 3 is 9. 3 is the breadth.

Literature

:Main article: Babylonian literature

Location

The city of Babylon, the main city of Babylonia, was found on the Euphrates River, about 110 kilometres south of modern Baghdad, just north of what is now the Iraqi town of al-Hillah.

See also


- Ancient Orient
- Mesopotamia
- Assyriology
- Babylonia and Assyria
- Assyria and Babylonia contrasted
- History of Sumer
- Kings of Babylon
- Geography of Babylonia and Assyria
- Chaldean mythology
- Babylonian law
- Art and architecture of Babylonia and Assyria
- Social life in Babylonia and Assyria
- Proper names of Babylonia and Assyria
- Babylonian numerals Many of these articles were originally based on content from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. Update as needed.

Further reading


- Ancient Iraq Georges Roux
- Ancient Mesopotamia : Portrait of a Dead Civilization A. Leo Oppenheim
- Ancient Mesopotamia: The Sumerians, Babylonians, And Assyrians Virginia Schomp
- The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: From the Old Stone Age to the Persian Conquest Seton Lloyd
- Babylon Joan Oates
- Babylonian Religion and Mythology Leonard William King
- Babylonians HWF Saggs
- The Babylonians: An Introduction Gwendolyn Leick
- Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat
- King Hammurabi Of Babylon: A Biography Marc Van De Mieroop
- The Life and Times of Hammurabi Tamera Bryant
- Mesopotamia Gwendolyn Leick
- Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria Lewis Spence

External links


- [http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Old_Kingdom_of_Babylonia.html The History of the Ancient Near East]
- [http://www.math.tamu.edu/~don.allen/history/babylon/babylon.html Babylonian Mathematics]
- [http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Babylonian_numerals.html Babylonian Numerals]
- [http://www.halloran.com/babylon1.htm Babylonian Astronomy/Astrology]
- [http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/babylon/babybibl.htm Bibliography of Babylonian Astronomy/Astrology]
- [http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/rbaa.htm The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria by Theophilus G. Pinches (Many deities' names are now read differently, but this detailed 1906 Work is a classic)]
- [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/BM530xK531l/ Legends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition], by Leonard W. King, 1918 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/BM530xK531l/1f/legends_of_babylon_and_egypt.pdf layered PDF] format)
- [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/BL1620xB7/ The Babylonian Legends of the Creation] and the Fight between Bel and the Dragon, as told by Assyrian Tablets from Nineveh, 1921 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/BL1620xB7/1f/babylonian_legends_of_creation.pdf layered PDF] format) Category:Former monarchies Category:Civilizations Category:Ancient Iranian provinces ja:バビロニア

Venus (Planet)

Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is named after the Roman goddess Venus. A terrestrial planet, it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet", as the two are very similar in size and bulk composition. Although all planets' orbits are elliptical, Venus's orbit is the closest to circular, with an eccentricity of less than 1%. As Venus is closer to the Sun than the Earth, it always appears in roughly the same direction from Earth as the Sun (the greatest elongation is 47.8°), so on Earth it can usually only be seen a few hours before sunrise or a few hours after sunset. However, when at its brightest, Venus may be seen during the daytime, making it one of only two heavenly bodies that can be seen both day and night (the other being the Moon). It is sometimes referred to as the "Morning Star" or the "Evening Star", and when it is visible in dark skies it is by far the brightest star-like object in the sky. The cycle between one maximum elongation and the next lasts 584 days. After these 584 days Venus is visible in a position 72 degrees away from the previous one. Since 5
- 584 = 2920, which is equivalent to 8
- 365 Venus returns to the same point in the sky every 8 years (minus two leap days). This was known as the Sothis cycle in ancient Egypt, and was familiar to the Maya as well. Another association is with the Moon, because 2920 days equal almost exactly 99 lunations (29.5
- 99 = 2920.5). Venus has a very slow retrograde rotation, meaning that, unlike with most planets, the direction of rotation (around its axis) is the opposite of its orbital rotation (around the Sun). The very slow rotation means that the distinction between the Sidereal day (rotation relative to the stars) and the Solar day (relative to the Sun) is very significant. Solar day The pentagram has long been associated with the planet Venus and the worship of the goddess Venus, or her equivalent. It is most likely to have originated from the observations of prehistoric astronomers. When viewed from Earth, the successive conjunctions of Venus plot the points of a pentagram around the Sun every eight years, returning to its starting point after a forty year cycle. Venus was known to ancient Babylonians around 1600 BC, and to the Mayan civilization (the Mayans developed a religious calendar based on Venus's motion) and must have been known long before in prehistoric times, given that it is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. The Maasai people in Africa named the planet Kileken, and have a myth about it called "The Orphan Boy." The Morning Star was called the Bearer of Light ("phōsphoros" or "eōsphoros" in Greek and "Lucifer" in Latin, a term later used of the fallen angel cast out of heaven, see Isaiah 14:12). To the Jews it was known as Noga ("shining") and it was used in rabbinic literature as a symbol of beauty and purity Isaiah Its symbol is the sign also used in biology for the female sex, a stylized representation of the goddess Venus's hand mirror: a circle with a small cross underneath (Unicode: ♀). The Venus symbol also represents femininity, and in ancient alchemy stood for copper. Alchemists constructed the symbol from a circle (representing spirit) above a cross (representing matter). The association with sex and femininity is supposed to relate to the period of 266 days between the conjunction and maximum elongation of Venus, which corresponds more or less to the length of human pregnancy. The adjective Venusian is commonly used for Venus, but it is etymologically incorrect. The true adjective coming from Latin, Venereal, is avoided because of its modern association with sexually transmitted diseases. Some astronomers use Cytherean, which comes from Cythera. Other less common adjectives include Venerean, Venerian, and Veneran. The Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese cultures refer to the planet as the metal star, 金星, based on the Five Elements.

Physical characteristics

Atmosphere

Venus has an atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon dioxide and a small amount of nitrogen, with a pressure at the surface about 90 times that of Earth (a pressure equivalent to a depth of 1 kilometer under Earth's oceans); its atmosphere is also roughly 90 times more massive than ours. This enormously CO2-rich atmosphere results in a strong greenhouse effect that raises the surface temperature more than 400 °C (750 °F) above what it would be otherwise, causing temperatures at the surface to reach extremes as great as 500 °C (930 °F) in low elevation regions near the planet's equator. This makes Venus's surface hotter than Mercury's, even though Venus is nearly twice as distant from the Sun and only receives 25% of the solar irradiance (2613.9 W/m² in the upper atmosphere, and just 1071.1 W/m² at the surface). Owing to the thermal inertia and convection of its dense atmosphere, the temperature does not vary significantly between the night and day sides of Venus despite its extremely slow rotation of less than one rotation per Venusian year, meaning that, at the equator, Venus' surface rotates at a mere 6.5 km/h (4 mph). Upper atmosphere winds circling the planet approximately every 4 days help distribute the heat to other areas on the surface. The solar irradiance is so much lower at the surface of Venus because the planet's thick cloud cover reflects the majority of the sunlight back into space. This prevents most of the sunlight from ever heating the surface. Venus's bolometric albedo is approximately 60%, and its visual light albedo is even greater. Thus, despite being closer to the Sun than Earth, the surface of Venus is not as well heated and even less well lit by the Sun. In the absence of any greenhouse effect, the temperature at the surface of Venus would be quite similar to Earth. A common conceptual misunderstanding regarding Venus is the mistaken belief that its thick cloud cover traps heat, as the opposite is actually true. The cloud cover keeps the planet much cooler than it would be otherwise. The immense quantity of CO2 in the atmosphere is what traps the heat by the greenhouse mechanism. There are strong 300 km/h (200 mph) winds at the cloud tops, but winds at the surface are very slow, no more than a few miles per hour. However, owing to the high density of the atmosphere at Venus's surface, even such slow winds exert a significant amount of force against obstructions. The clouds are mainly composed of sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid droplets and cover the planet completely, obscuring any surface details from the human eye. The temperature at the tops of these clouds is approximately −45 °C (−50 °F). The mean surface temperature of Venus, as given by NASA, is 464 °C (864 °F). The minimal value of the temperature, listed in the table, refers to cloud tops —the surface temperature is never below 400 °C (750 °F). (This makes the surface temperature hot enough to melt lead.) The atmosphere also contains hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbonyl sulfide (SCO). Hydrogen sulfide reacts with sulfur dioxide, which implies that some process must be creating these components. It is unclear how the carbonyl sulfide could be formed--it is often a sign of biological activity. Some have suggested that microbes exist in the clouds (which also contain droplets of water), and produce these components from water, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. [http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17523621.800.html New Scientist, Sept. 28, 2002, p. 16]

Surface features

sulfur dioxide Venus has slow retrograde rotation, meaning it rotates from east to west, instead of west to east as most of the other major planets do. (Pluto and Uranus also have retrograde rotation, though Uranus's axis, tilted at 97.86 degrees, almost lies in its orbital plane.) It is not known why Venus is different in this manner, although it may be the result of a collision with a very large asteroid at some time in the distant past. If the Sun could be seen from Venus' surface, it would appear to rise and set in a 116.75 day cycle (Venus' synodic rotation period), and a Venusian year would thus last 1.92 Venusian "days". In addition to this unusual retrograde rotation, the periods of Venus' rotation and of its orbit are synchronized in such a way that it always presents the same face toward Earth when the two planets are at their closest approach (5.001 Venusian days between each inferior conjunction). This may simply be a coincidence, but there is some speculation that this may be the result of tidal locking, with tidal forces affecting Venus' rotation whenever the planets get close enough together —although the tides raised by Earth on Venus are vanishingly small. Venus has two major continent-like highlands on its surface, rising over vast plains. The northern highland is named Ishtar Terra and has Venus's highest mountains, named the Maxwell Montes (roughly 2 km taller than Mount Everest) after James Clerk Maxwell, which surround the plateau Lakshmi Planum. Ishtar Terra is about the size of Australia. In the southern hemisphere is the larger Aphrodite Terra, about the size of South America. Between these highlands are a number of broad depressions, including Atalanta Planitia, Guinevere Planitia, and Lavinia Planitia. With only the exception of Maxwell Montes, all surface features on Venus are named after real or mythological females. Venus' thick atmosphere causes meteors to decelerate as they fall toward the surface, and even large meteors will strike the surface at too low a speed to form an impact crater if they have less than a certain threshold kinetic energy. Because of this, no impact crater smaller than about 3 km (2 mi) in diameter can form. Nearly 90% of Venus's surface appears to consist of recently (in the geological sense) solidified basaltic lava, with very few meteorite craters. The oldest features present on Venus seem to be only around 800 million years old, with most of the terrain being considerably younger (though still not less than several hundred million years for the most part). This suggests that Venus underwent a major resurfacing event in the not too distant geological past. The interior of Venus is probably similar to that of Earth: an iron core about 3000 km in radius, with a molten rocky mantle making up the