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231_21 | Six weeks after the stories ran, Gannett reached a settlement with Chiquita, averting a lawsuit. Under the terms of the settlement, on 28 June 1998, the Enquirer retracted the entire series of stories and published a front-page apology saying it had "become convinced that [the published] accusations and conclusions are untrue and created a false and misleading impression of Chiquita's business practices". The Enquirer also agreed to pay a multi-million-dollar settlement. The exact amount was not disclosed, but Chiquita's annual report mentions "a cash settlement in excess of $10 million". Gallagher was fired and prosecuted and the paper's editor, Lawrence K. Beaupre, was transferred to the Gannett's headquarters amid allegations that he ignored the paper's usual procedures on fact-checking. |
231_22 | In an article examining the Chiquita series, Salon.com said the "Chiquita Secrets Revealed" series "presents a damning, carefully documented array of charges, most of them 'untainted' by those purloined executive voice mails."
Payments to foreign terrorist groups |
231_23 | In the 1990s and early 2000s, faced with an unstable political situation in Colombia, Chiquita and several other corporations including the Dole Food Company, Fresh Del Monte Produce and Hyundai Motor Corporation made payments to paramilitary organizations in the country, most notably the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Chiquita paid the AUC $1.7 million in a ten-year period. Although official accounts from the company state they only made these payments as the AUC was extorting payments from Chiquita in order to ensure their security, these claims are disputed as Chiquita also allowed AUC to use their loading facilities to transport AK-47s. Indeed, the Chiquita's United States counsel had warned them against using this extortion defense in cases where the company benefitted from these payments, and the company's lawyer reportedly told them to stop making the payments. Chiquita's dealings with AUC continued even after it was officially designated as a terrorist |
231_24 | organization in the United States. Although the company eventually voluntarily disclosed their involvement with AUC to the United States Department of Justice, they still sent over $300,000 to the organization even after the Justice Department instructed them to halt all payments. |
231_25 | On 14 March 2007, Chiquita Brands was fined $25 million as part of a settlement with the United States Justice Department for having ties to Colombian paramilitary groups. According to court documents, between 1997 and 2004, officers of a Chiquita subsidiary paid approximately $1.7 million to the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), in exchange for local employee protection in Colombia's volatile banana harvesting zone. Similar payments were also made to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as well as the National Liberation Army (ELN) from 1989 to 1997, both left-wing organizations. All three of these groups are on the U.S. State Department's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Chiquita sued to prevent the United States government from releasing files about their illegal payments to Colombian left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups. |
231_26 | On 7 December 2007, the 29th Specialized District Attorney's Office in Medellín, Colombia subpoenaed the Chiquita board to answer questions "concerning charges for conspiracy to commit an aggravated crime and financing illegal armed groups". Nine board members named in the subpoena allegedly personally knew of the illegal operations. One executive for the company penned a note which proclaimed that the payments were the "cost of doing business in Colombia" and also noted the "need to keep this very confidential – people can get killed."
In 2013 and 2014, Chiquita spent $780,000 lobbying against the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, hiring lobbyists from Covington and Burling, a high-powered white shoe law firm. |
231_27 | On 24 July 2014, a US appeals court threw out a lawsuit against Chiquita by 4,000 Colombians alleging that the corporation was aiding the right-wing paramilitary group responsible for the deaths of family members. The court ruled 2-1 that US federal courts have no jurisdiction over Colombian claims.
In 2016, Judge Kenneth Marra of the Southern District of Florida ruled in favor of allowing Colombians to sue former Chiquita Brand International executives for the company's funding of the outlawed right-wing paramilitary organization that murdered their family members. He stated in his decision that “'profits took priority over basic human welfare' in the banana company executives' decision to finance the illegal death squads, despite knowing that this would advance the paramilitaries' murderous campaign."
In February 2018, an agreement between Chiquita and the families of the victims had been reached. |
231_28 | Information about who was behind the Chiquita payments to terrorist groups was made available by the National Security Archive, a nongovernmental research organization, in a series of document releases related to Chiquita's operations.
In 2018, Colombia's Office of the Attorney General filed charges against 13 Chiquita Brands International executives and administrators after tracing payments made by a local Chiquita affiliate to the paramilitary group AUC, some of which was used to buy machine guns.
Workers' rights
A recurrent issue in agricultural large-scale production are workers' rights violations, in which Chiquita has been involved as well. |
231_29 | In May 2007, the French non-governmental organization (NGO) Peuples Solidaires (fr) publicly accused the Compañia Bananera Atlántica Limitada (COBAL), a Chiquita subsidiary, of knowingly violating "its workers' basic rights" and endangering their families' health and their own. According to the charge, the banana firm carelessly exposed laborers at the Coyol plantation in Costa Rica to highly toxic pesticides on multiple occasions. Additionally, COBAL was accused of using a private militia to intimidate workers. Finally, Peuples Solidaires claimed that Chiquita ignored some union complaints for more than a year.
Another, more recent case of exploitative working conditions dates from April 2019. The Swiss magazine Beobachter publicised severe labour rights issues on Ecuador's banana plantations, some of which supply Chiquita. These violations involve 12-hour workdays, poverty wages and employment without contracts.
Environmental issues |
231_30 | In 1998, a coalition of social activist groups, led by the European Banana Action Network (EUROBAN), targeted the banana industry in general and Chiquita in particular, aiming to create a new climate of corporate social responsibility. Their strategy was to encourage small farming of bananas rather than large scale monoculture, and to push for subsidies and other government relief to level the field for small producers. The fair trade movement, which sought to influence consumers to purchase the products of smallholders, also joined in the action. |
231_31 | Chiquita responded to the activism with changes in corporate management and new patterns of global competition, according to J. Gary Taylor and Patricia Scharlin. Chiquita partnered with the Rainforest Alliance, an environmental group dedicated to preserving the rainforest, and made major reforms in the way they plant and protect their bananas. The changes focused on the use of pesticides but also affected corporate culture. In 2000, Chiquita adopted a new code of conduct that included Social Accountability International's SA8000 labor standard. Also in 2000, Chiquita achieved Rainforest Alliance certification for environmentally friendly practices on 100% of its farms. In 2001, Wal-Mart named Chiquita as the "Environmental Supplier of the Year". |
231_32 | Chiquita has more recently been involved in the hazardous use of pesticides: The Danish media and research centre Danwatch, who specialise in investigative journalism, published a report on pesticide use on banana plantations in Ecuador, some of which supply Chiquita. They found aerial spraying of pesticides without warnings to workers, and the handling of pesticides without proper protections or equipment. Among the pesticides sprayed is Paraquat, a highly hazardous pesticide forbidden in Switzerland and the EU. When approached for comment, Chiquita would neither confirm nor deny the allegations, but reportedly began an internal investigation, the results of which have not been made public.
See also
Grand Nain
Paramilitarism in Colombia
Union of Banana Exporting Countries
United Fruit Company
References
Further reading |
231_33 | Mike Gallagher & Cameron McWhirter, "Chiquita Secrets Revealed," Cincinnati Enquirer, 3 May 1998.
"The Business and Human Rights Management Report—Chiquita Brands International", Ethical Corporate Magazine, Nov. 2004.
"The Importance of Corporate Responsibility", Economist Intelligence Unit, January 2005.
"Chiquita Brands: A Turnaround That Is Here to Stay", Winslow Environmental News, January 2004.
"The banana giant that found its gentle side", Financial Times, December 2002
'"Chiquita Wins Raves for Outstanding Sustainability Reporting", Greenbiz.com, 3 April 2003
Media
External links
Chiquita Brands International website
United Fruit Historical Society: This site contains a detailed chronology of the history of Chiquita, biographies of the company's main protagonists, and an extensive bibliography. |
231_34 | Food and drink companies established in 1871
Food manufacturers of the United States
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Agriculture companies of the United States
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001
Multinational food companies
United Fruit Company
Fruit production
Banana production
2014 mergers and acquisitions
Agriculture companies established in the 19th century
Agriculture companies disestablished in the 21st century |
232_0 | Hydraulic shock (colloquial: water hammer; fluid hammer) is a pressure surge or wave caused when a fluid in motion, usually a liquid but sometimes also a gas is forced to stop or change direction suddenly; a momentum change. This phenomenon commonly occurs when a valve closes suddenly at an end of a pipeline system, and a pressure wave propagates in the pipe.
This pressure wave can cause major problems, from noise and vibration to pipe rupture or collapse. It is possible to reduce the effects of the water hammer pulses with accumulators, expansion tanks, surge tanks, blowoff valves, and other features. The effects can be avoided by ensuring that no valves will close too quickly with significant flow, but there are many situations that can cause the effect.
Rough calculations can be made using the Zhukovsky (Joukowsky) equation, or more accurate ones using the method of characteristics.
History |
232_1 | In the 1st century B.C., Marcus Vitruvius Pollio described the effect of water hammer in lead pipes and stone tubes of the Roman public water supply.
Water hammer was exploited before there was even a word for it.
The Alhambra, built by Nasrid Sultan Ibn al-Ahmar of Granada beginning AD1238, used a hydram to raise water. Through a first reservoir, filled by a channel from the Darro River, water emptied via a large vertical channel into a second reservoir beneath, creating a whirlpool that in turn propelled water through a much smaller pipe up six metres whilst most water drained into a second, slightly larger pipe. |
232_2 | In 1772, Englishman John Whitehurst built a hydraulic ram for a home in Cheshire, England. In 1796, French inventor Joseph Michel Montgolfier (1740–1810) built a hydraulic ram for his paper mill in Voiron. In French and Italian, the terms for "water hammer" come from the hydraulic ram: coup de bélier (French) and colpo d'ariete (Italian) both mean "blow of the ram". As the 19th century witnessed the installation of municipal water supplies, water hammer became a concern to civil engineers. Water hammer also interested physiologists who were studying the circulatory system. |
232_3 | Although it was prefigured in work by Thomas Young, the theory of water hammer is generally considered to have begun in 1883 with the work of German physiologist Johannes von Kries (1853–1928), who was investigating the pulse in blood vessels. However, his findings went unnoticed by civil engineers. Kries's findings were subsequently derived independently in 1898 by the Russian fluid dynamicist Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky (1847–1921), in 1898 by the American civil engineer Joseph Palmer Frizell (1832–1910), and in 1902 by the Italian engineer Lorenzo Allievi (1856–1941). |
232_4 | Cause and effect
When a pipe with water flowing through it is suddenly closed at the outlet (downstream), the mass of water before the closure is still moving, thereby building up pressure and a resulting shock wave. In domestic plumbing this shock wave is experienced as a loud banging resembling a hammering noise. Water hammer can cause pipelines to break if the pressure is high enough. Air traps or stand pipes (open at the top) are sometimes added as dampers to water systems to absorb the potentially damaging forces caused by the moving water. |
232_5 | In hydroelectric generating stations, the water traveling along the tunnel or pipeline may be prevented from entering a turbine by closing a valve. For example, if there is of tunnel of diameter full of water travelling at , that represents approximately of kinetic energy that must be arrested. This arresting is frequently achieved by a surge shaft open at the top, into which the water flows. As the water rises up the shaft its kinetic energy is converted into potential energy, which causes the water in the tunnel to decelerate. At some hydroelectric power (HEP) stations, such as the Saxon Falls Hydro Power Plant In Michigan, what looks like a water tower is actually one of these devices, known in these cases as a surge drum.
At home, a water hammer may occur when a dishwasher, washing machine or toilet shuts off water flow. The result may be heard as a loud bang, repetitive banging (as the shock wave travels back and forth in the plumbing system), or as some shuddering. |
232_6 | On the other hand, when an upstream valve in a pipe closes, water downstream of the valve attempts to continue flowing creating a vacuum that may cause the pipe to collapse or implode. This problem can be particularly acute if the pipe is on a downhill slope. To prevent this, air and vacuum relief valves or air vents are installed just downstream of the valve to allow air to enter the line to prevent this vacuum from occurring. |
232_7 | Other causes of water hammer are pump failure and check valve slam (due to sudden deceleration, a check valve may slam shut rapidly, depending on the dynamic characteristic of the check valve and the mass of the water between a check valve and tank). To alleviate this situation, it is recommended to install non-slam check valves as they do not rely on gravity or fluid flow for their closure. For vertical pipes, other suggestions include installing new piping that can be designed to include air chambers to alleviate the possible shockwave of water due to excess water flow.
Water hammer can also occur when filling an empty pipe that has a restriction such as a partially open valve or an orifice that allows air to pass easily as the pipe rapidly fills, but once full the water suddenly encounters the restriction and the pressure spikes.
Related phenomena |
232_8 | Steam distribution systems may also be vulnerable to a situation similar to water hammer, known as steam hammer. In a steam system, this phenomenon most often occurs when some of the steam condenses into water in a horizontal section of the piping. The rest of the steam forces this liquid water along the pipe, forming a "slug", and hurls this at high velocity into a pipe fitting, creating a loud hammering noise and greatly stressing the pipe. This condition is usually caused by a poor condensate drainage strategy: having more condensate in the pipe makes the slug easier to form. Vacuum caused by condensation from thermal shock can also cause a steam hammer. |
232_9 | Steam hammer can be avoided by using sloped pipes and installing steam traps. Where air-filled traps are used, these eventually become depleted of their trapped air over a long period through absorption into the water. This can be cured by shutting off the supply, opening taps at the highest and lowest locations to drain the system (thereby restoring air to the traps), and then closing the taps and re-opening the supply. |
232_10 | On turbocharged internal combustion engines, a "gas hammer" can take place when the throttle is closed while the turbocharger is forcing air into the engine. There is no shockwave but the pressure can still rapidly increase to damaging levels or cause compressor surge. A pressure relief valve placed before the throttle prevents the air from surging against the throttle body by diverting it elsewhere, thus protecting the turbocharger from pressure damage. This valve can either recirculate the air into the turbocharger's intake (recirculation valve), or it can blow the air into the atmosphere and produce the distinctive hiss-flutter of an aftermarket turbocharger (blowoff valve). |
232_11 | From a jet of water
If a stream of high velocity water impinges on a surface, water hammer can quickly erode and destroy it. In the 2009 Sayano-Shushenskaya power station accident, the lid to a 640 MW turbine was ejected upwards, hitting the ceiling above. During the accident, the rotor was seen flying through the air, still spinning, about 3 meters above the floor. Unrestrained, per second of water began to spray all over the generator hall. The geyser caused the structural failure of steel ceiling joists, precipitating a roof collapse around the failed turbine. |
232_12 | During an explosion
When an explosion happens in an enclosed space, water hammer can cause the walls of the container to deform. However, it can also impart momentum to the enclosure if it is free to move. An underwater explosion in the SL-1 nuclear reactor vessel caused the water to accelerate upwards through of air before it struck the vessel head at with a pressure of . This pressure wave caused the steel vessel to jump 9 feet and 1 inch (2.77 m) into the air before it dropped into its prior location. It is imperative to perform ongoing preventive maintenance to avoid water hammer, as the aftermaths of these powerful explosions have resulted in fatalities. |
232_13 | Mitigation measures
Water hammer has caused accidents and fatalities, but usually damage is limited to breakage of pipes or appendages. An engineer should always assess the risk of a pipeline burst. Pipelines transporting hazardous liquids or gases warrant special care in design, construction, and operation. Hydroelectric power plants especially must be carefully designed and maintained because the water hammer can cause water pipes to fail catastrophically. |
232_14 | The following characteristics may reduce or eliminate water hammer:
Reduce the pressure of the water supply to the building by fitting a regulator.
Lower fluid velocities. To keep water hammer low, pipe-sizing charts for some applications recommend flow velocity at or below
Fit slowly closing valves. Toilet fill valves are available in a quiet fill type that closes quietly.
Non-slam check valves do not rely on fluid flow to close and will do so before the water flow reaches significant velocity.
High pipeline pressure rating (does not reduce the effect but protects against damage).
Good pipeline control (start-up and shut-down procedures).
Water towers (used in many drinking water systems) or surge tanks help maintain steady flow rates and trap large pressure fluctuations. |
232_15 | Air vessels such as expansion tanks and some types of hydraulic accumulators work in much the same way as water towers, but are pressurized. They typically have an air cushion above the fluid level in the vessel, which may be regulated or separated by a bladder. Sizes of air vessels may be up to hundreds of cubic meters on large pipelines. They come in many shapes, sizes and configurations. Such vessels often are called accumulators or expansion tanks.
A hydropneumatic device similar in principle to a shock absorber called a 'Water Hammer Arrestor' can be installed between the water pipe and the machine, to absorb the shock and stop the banging.
Air valves often remediate low pressures at high points in the pipeline. Though effective, sometimes large numbers of air valves need be installed. These valves also allow air into the system, which is often unwanted. Blowoff valves may be used as an alternative.
Shorter branch pipe lengths. |
232_16 | Shorter lengths of straight pipe, i.e. add elbows, expansion loops. Water hammer is related to the speed of sound in the fluid, and elbows reduce the influences of pressure waves.
Arranging the larger piping in loops that supply shorter smaller run-out pipe branches. With looped piping, lower velocity flows from both sides of a loop can serve a branch.
Flywheel on a pump.
Pumping station bypass. |
232_17 | Magnitude of the pulse
One of the first to successfully investigate the water hammer problem was the Italian engineer Lorenzo Allievi.
Water hammer can be analyzed by two different approaches—rigid column theory, which ignores compressibility of the fluid and elasticity of the walls of the pipe, or by a full analysis that includes elasticity. When the time it takes a valve to close is long compared to the propagation time for a pressure wave to travel the length of the pipe, then rigid column theory is appropriate; otherwise considering elasticity may be necessary.
Below are two approximations for the peak pressure, one that considers elasticity, but assumes the valve closes instantaneously, and a second that neglects elasticity but includes a finite time for the valve to close.
Instant valve closure; compressible fluid
The pressure profile of the water hammer pulse can be calculated from the Joukowsky equation |
232_18 | So for a valve closing instantaneously, the maximal magnitude of the water hammer pulse is
where ΔP is the magnitude of the pressure wave (Pa), ρ is the density of the fluid (kg/m3), a0 is the speed of sound in the fluid (m/s), and Δv is the change in the fluid's velocity (m/s). The pulse comes about due to Newton's laws of motion and the continuity equation applied to the deceleration of a fluid element.
Equation for wave speed
As the speed of sound in a fluid is , the peak pressure depends on the fluid compressibility if the valve is closed abruptly.
where
a = wave speed,
B = equivalent bulk modulus of elasticity of the system fluid–pipe,
ρ = density of the fluid,
K = bulk modulus of elasticity of the fluid,
E = elastic modulus of the pipe,
D = internal pipe diameter,
t = pipe wall thickness,
c = dimensionless parameter due to on wave speed. |
232_19 | Slow valve closure; incompressible fluid
When the valve is closed slowly compared to the transit time for a pressure wave to travel the length of the pipe, the elasticity can be neglected, and the phenomenon can be described in terms of inertance or rigid column theory:
Assuming constant deceleration of the water column (dv/dt = v/t), this gives
where:
F = force [N],
m = mass of the fluid column [kg],
a = acceleration [m/s2],
P = pressure [Pa],
A = pipe cross-section [m2],
ρ = fluid density [kg/m3],
L = pipe length [m],
v = flow velocity [m/s],
t = valve closure time [s].
The above formula becomes, for water and with imperial unit,
For practical application, a safety factor of about 5 is recommended:
where P1 is the inlet pressure in psi, V is the flow velocity in ft/s, t is the valve closing time in seconds, and L is the upstream pipe length in feet. |
232_20 | Hence, we can say that the magnitude of the water hammer largely depends upon the time of closure, elastic components of pipe & fluid properties.
Expression for the excess pressure due to water hammer
When a valve with a volumetric flow rate Q is closed, an excess pressure ΔP is created upstream of the valve, whose value is given by the Joukowsky equation:
In this expression:
ΔP is the overpressurization in Pa;
Q is the volumetric flow in m3/s;
Z is the hydraulic impedance, expressed in kg/m4/s.
The hydraulic impedance Z of the pipeline determines the magnitude of the water hammer pulse. It is itself defined by
where
ρ the density of the liquid, expressed in kg/m3;
A cross sectional area of the pipe, m2;
B equivalent modulus of compressibility of the liquid in the pipe, expressed in Pa. |
232_21 | The latter follows from a series of hydraulic concepts:
compressibility of the liquid, defined by its adiabatic compressibility modulus Bl, resulting from the equation of state of the liquid generally available from thermodynamic tables;
the elasticity of the walls of the pipe, which defines an equivalent bulk modulus of compressibility for the solid Bs. In the case of a pipe of circular cross-section whose thickness t is small compared to the diameter D, the equivalent modulus of compressibility is given by the formula , in which E is the Young's modulus (in Pa) of the material of the pipe;
possibly compressibility Bg of gas dissolved in the liquid, defined by
γ being the specific heat ratio of the gas,
α the rate of ventilation (the volume fraction of undissolved gas),
and P the pressure (in Pa).
Thus, the equivalent elasticity is the sum of the original elasticities: |
232_22 | As a result, we see that we can reduce the water hammer by:
increasing the pipe diameter at constant flow, which reduces the flow velocity and hence the deceleration of the liquid column;
employing the solid material as tight as possible with respect to the internal fluid bulk (solid Young modulus low with respect to fluid bulk modulus);
introducing a device that increases the flexibility of the entire hydraulic system, such as a hydraulic accumulator;
where possible, increasing the fraction of undissolved gases in the liquid.
Dynamic equations
The water hammer effect can be simulated by solving the following partial differential equations.
where V is the fluid velocity inside pipe, is the fluid density, B is the equivalent bulk modulus, and f is the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor. |
232_23 | Column separation |
232_24 | Column separation is a phenomenon that can occur during a water-hammer event. If the pressure in a pipeline drops below the vapor pressure of the liquid, cavitation will occur (some of the liquid vaporizes, forming a bubble in the pipeline, keeping the pressure close to the vapor pressure). This is most likely to occur at specific locations such as closed ends, high points or knees (changes in pipe slope). When subcooled liquid flows into the space previously occupied by vapor the area of contact between the vapor and the liquid increases. This causes the vapor to condense into the liquid reducing the pressure in the vapor space. The liquid on either side of the vapor space is then accelerated into this space by the pressure difference. The collision of the two columns of liquid (or of one liquid column if at a closed end) causes a large and nearly instantaneous rise in pressure. This pressure rise can damage hydraulic machinery, individual pipes and supporting structures. |
232_25 | Many repetitions of cavity formation and collapse may occur in a single water-hammer event. |
232_26 | Simulation software
Most water hammer software packages use the method of characteristics to solve the differential equations involved. This method works well if the wave speed does not vary in time due to either air or gas entrainment in a pipeline. The wave method (WM) is also used in various software packages. WM lets operators analyze large networks efficiently. Many commercial and non-commercial packages are available.
Software packages vary in complexity, dependent on the processes modeled. The more sophisticated packages may have any of the following features:
Multiphase flow capabilities.
An algorithm for cavitation growth and collapse.
Unsteady friction: the pressure waves dampens as turbulence is generated and due to variations in the flow velocity distribution.
Varying bulk modulus for higher pressures (water becomes less compressible).
Fluid structure interaction: the pipeline reacts on the varying pressures and causes pressure waves itself. |
232_27 | Applications
The water hammer principle can be used to create a simple water pump called a hydraulic ram.
Leaks can sometimes be detected using water hammer.
Enclosed air pockets can be detected in pipelines.
See also
Blood hammer
Cavitation
Fluid dynamics
Hydraulophone – musical instruments employing water and other fluids
Impact force
Transient (civil engineering)
Watson's water hammer pulse
References
External links
What Is Water Hammer and Why Is It Important That You Prevent it?
Use accumulator to prevent water hammer in pipeline
What Is Water Hammer/Steam Hammer?
"Water hammer"—YouTube (animation)
"Water Hammer Theory Explained"—YouTube; with examples
Hydraulics
Irrigation
Plumbing
Physical phenomena |
233_0 | Doors of Perception is a design conference in Europe and India which brought together grassroots innovators to work with designers to imagine sustainable futures – and take practical steps to meet basic needs in new and sustainable ways. Its founder and first director is John Thackara.
This hybrid community of practice was inspired by two related questions: "we know what new technology can do, but what is it for?" and, "how do we want to live?". The results are published on the Doors of Perception website, and discussed at the Doors of Perception conference.
Numerous people and organizations contributed over the years to the conferences and its organisation. The first editions were supported by the Netherlands Design Institute and Mediametic and people such as Jules Marshall and Gert Staal. In the new millennium the Center for Knowledge Societies organized three of the later conferences in India.
History |
233_1 | Key Doors of Perception events
The first Doors of Perception from 1993 to 2000 took place in Amsterdam. After the first edition they all had a theme of their own. The first conference and theme were:
Doors 1 (Amsterdam, 1993)
Doors 2 "Home" (Amsterdam, 1994)
Doors 3 "Info-Eco" (Amsterdam, 1994)
Doors 4 "Speed" (Amsterdam, 1996)
Doors 5 "Play" (Amsterdam, 1998)
Doors 6 "Lightness" (Amsterdam, 2000)
In the year 2000 a dual conference was held in India, called 'Doors East,' and in the year 2002 there were two conferences as well. The tradition to focus on one central theme continued.
Doors East (Ahmedabad, India, 2000)
Doors 7 "Flow" (Amsterdam, 2002)
Doors East 2 "Tomorrow's Services" (Bangalore, 2002)
Doors 8 "Infra" (Bangalore, 2005)
Doors 9 "Food" (Delhi 2007) |
233_2 | The separate editions
In every edition multiple subjects were under debate, such as:
1993
Tomorrow's Literacies - lectures and exhibition at Frankfurt Book Fair
Eternally Yours - conference and book on product endurance
The New Old report and conference (with UK DesignAge Network)
Materials of Invention: seminar series and book
The Cultural Economy Of The Applied Arts - report
Design And The Culture Industries - international professional meeting
Doors of Perception 1: plus DoP CDRom
1994
European Community Design Prize (with EU)
European Design Industry Summit (with EU)
Design Across Europe - report on the European design industry
Toshio Iwai: Media Artist - exhibition for opening of Institute's building
Action-Reaction - exhibition in Japan
Doors of Perception 2 "Home"
Smart Matter - smart materials seminar, with Stedelijk Museum |
233_3 | 1995
Doors of Perception 3- "Info-Eco"
The Flat Space - exhibition and CDRom of design for electronic screens
The Prototype- workshop series
From Dada To Data, conference, with Virtual Platform & Council of Europe
1996
World Internet Expo: Dutch Pavilion
Doors of Perception 4 - "Speed"
Legible City - conference on cities and information
Things That Think : design/business workshops on smart materials
Doors of Perception 4 - 'Speed'''
1997
Design In The Knowledge Economy - seminar series
The Flat Space 2 - screen design futures
European Design Industry Summit
European Design Prize
Winners! - book published
Wisseltroom - design scenarios for the future of mobility
Eternally Yours – conference and book on long-life products
1998
Doors of Perception 5 - "play" O2 Website - for eco-designers worldwide
Lightness – book + lectures
Young Designers and Industry 18 European companies + scenarios
From Practice To Policy - new media conference with Virtual Platform |
233_4 | 1999Presence – European project on elderly and internetMaypole - European project on social computingTrespassers - publication on design scenarios for sustainabilityWisselstroom - design scenarios for transport intersectionsKust op de Kaart - website and knowledge map of coastal projects If/Then'' - Europe/USA publication of "yearbook of the near future"
Hong Kong Design Task Force. 2000
Thackara was the expert advisor to the Hong Kong Design Task Force (chair: Victor Lo) which developed a new innovation and research policy for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The task force plotted the best way for Hong Kong and China to move up the value chain from a product-based to a service-and-flow based economy. Following the report, Hong Kong launched a "DesignSmart" initiative with the creation of a HK$250million (25 million euros) fund. |
233_5 | Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, Italy, 2001–04
Thackara was an advisor and then served on the start-up Steering Committee (chaired by Franco Debenedetti) of this start-up postgraduate institute founded by Telecom Italia. Its founding director was Gillian Crampton Smith. Thackara's specific tasks were to help develop and articulate the institute's basic concept and organisational form; define and articulate the roles of, and benefits to, industry sponsors; organize an international workshop of experts to refine the research programme; and produce an inaugural event |
233_6 | Designs of The Time (Dott 07) North East England 2005–08
During 2005–2007 Thackara was programme director of Designs of the Time (Dott 2007) in North East England. Dott 07 was a two-year programme of sustainability projects commissioned by the Design Council and the region's economic Regional development agency, One NorthEast. Dott 07 culminated in a two-week festival on the banks of the River Tyne in North East England and was visited by 30,000 people. Dott was inspired by two questions: "what might life in a sustainable region be like? (and) what design steps might get us there?". |
233_7 | City Eco Lab (St Etienne, France) 2007–08
As Commissioner of France's main design biennial, Thackara curated an event called City Eco Lab. Conceived as a 'nomadic market of projects’, City Eco Lab made projects visible to the wider populace and started people talking about ways they might be improved or about doing similar projects themselves. 46 live projects from the St Etienne region were shown side-by-side with best practice projects from other parts of the world. The event was hosted by the Cite du Design; its designers were Exyzt and Gaelle Gabillet.
References
External links
Doors of Perception
DOTT
Design institutions |
234_0 | Clare () is a townland in Killare, Rathconrath, County Westmeath, Ireland.
Geography
Clare is bounded on the north by Clonickilroe and Clonnamanagh townlands, on the west by Ballinlig Lower and Clonybane townlands, on the south by Ballinaspick townland and on the east by Dungaghy, Rackavra, Rathskeagh Upper and Taghnafearagh townlands. Its chief geographical features are Clare Hill which reaches a height of 433 feet, small streams, forestry plantations and dug wells. Clare is traversed by the local L1240 road, minor public roads and rural lanes. The townland covers 854 acres.
History |
234_1 | The earliest surviving mention of Clare is in the Táin Bó Cúailnge set in the first century A.D. which states (lines 4227-4230)- Is and sain ra gabsatar cethri ollchóiceda Hérend dúnad & longphort ac Cláthra in n-aidchi sin. Ra fácsatar fiallach foraire & freccométa úathu ra hagid Ulad ná tístais Ulaid gan robud gan rathugud dá saigid, ('Then the four great provinces of Ireland made their encampment at Clártha that night. They left a band to keep watch and guard against the Ulstermen lest they should come upon them unawares'). (Line 4150) states- Is hí inn adaig cétna rabert Dubthach Dáel Ulad na briathra sa oc feraib Hérend i Slemain Mide in n-aidchi sin: Móra maitne maitne Mide. Móra ossud ossud Cullend. Móra cundscliu cundscliu Chláthra. Móra echrad echrad Assail. Móra tedmand tedmand Tuath Bressi. Móra in chlóe clóe Ulad im Chonchobor. Cossénait a mná. Raseisset a n-éiti for Gárig & Ilgárig isin matin se monairther, ('On that same night, Dubthach Doel ('the Scorpion') of Ulster |
234_2 | uttered these words in his sleep among the men of Erin at Slemain Mide that night: "Great be the morn, The morn of Meath! Great be the truce The truce of Culenn! Great be the fight, The fight of Clartha! Great, too, the steeds, The steeds of Assal!" '). |
234_3 | A legendary explanation for the townland name is give in the tale Bruiden Da Choca (The destruction of Da Coca's hostel) which also occurred about the same time as the Táin Bó Cúailnge. It states Clare Hill was named after the hero Clartha Cloen- Do-rochair Clartha Claon la Cet mac Magach i Clathra conid uaid ainmnighther, ('Clartha Cloen was slain by Cet Mac Maga in Clartha, and that hill is named after him').
Urard Mac Coise the Chief Ollam of Ireland lived in Clare townland and died 990 A.D. He refers to Clare in his poem Airec Menman ('The Strategem of Urard (Irard) mac Coisse'), about a cattle raid on his farm c. 956 A.D., as follows- Irard mac Coisi arrainic ind urec menmansa do ceneol iarna indred co hindligthech i cinaidh Muiredaigh mic Eogain do guin do co nairnecht indliged friss co rucsat a bú a seotu 7 gur airgset a dún feissin .i. Clarthá, (The homestead of the poet Urard mac Coisse in Clartha is raided by the family of ard-rí Domnall úa Néill). |
234_4 | Maol Milscothach d'eis a bó itir Chlartha ocus Chló.
Massa neach uaibh rug a bhú.
Nicon marfot a ócu.
A óca batar.
('Maol Milscothach lost his cattle,
between Clártha and Cló.
If it was one of you who took them away,
his warriors will not survive
"O you warriors" ')
The Annals of the Four Masters for 1544 A.D. states- Rory O'Melaghlin was slain at Clartha, by Richard Dalton and his kinsmen, in a nocturnal assault; and it was for the interests of Kedagh O'Melaghlin they committed this slaughter, (Rudhraighe Ó Maoíleachlainn do mharbhadh h-i c-Clartha lá Risderd Dalatún, & lá a bhraithribh ar amus oidhche, & as ar mhaith do Chédach Ua Maoíleachlainn do-rónsat an marbhadh íshin). |
234_5 | On 8 December 1600 Queen Elizabeth I of England granted pardons to the following residents of Clare townland for fighting against the Queen's forces- Robert Tuite, Gillemorey O'Greadie, Teig O'Connor, Redmund Magroice, Tibbott Dalton, Phillme Dalton, Shane mac Morish Dalton, Patrick Duffe O'Machaghane, Brian boye O'Dirrevane and Simon Tuite and on 13 November 1602 she also pardoned the following Clare residents for the same offence- Donill O'Carbry, Moyllmory O'Cluane, Edmund Tuite, James Tuite and William McShane buye.
The owner of the townland from 1625 to 1650 was the Protestant bishop of Meath, Anthony Martin (bishop), and the townland remained in the ownership of the Bishops of Meath until the 20th century.
The Down Survey 1656 map of Killare parish depicts the townland as Clare and shows Clare Castle. |
234_6 | The 1659 Pender's Census of Ireland gives a population of 40 adults over the age of 15 in Clare townland, all of whom were Irish, (in general the percentage of the Irish population aged under 15 runs at about 20% so the total population in 1659 would have been about 48).
The Clare Valuation Office books are available for 1840-1841.
Griffith's Valuation of 1857 lists ten landholders in the townland.
A local folktale about the imprint of a giant's foot is found in the 1937 Dúchas collection.
Census
In the Census of Ireland, 1901, there were seven families listed in the townland.
In the 1911 census of Ireland, there were eight families listed in the townland.
Antiquities |
234_7 | Clare Castle (Caisleán Chlártha) founded by the Dalton family.(National Monuments reference number RMP WM024–078). The Annals of Westmeath, ancient and modern, by James Woods, (1907, page 206) states- "A mile south of Ballymore lies the ruins of the old castle of Clare, on a farm belonging to Mr. Charles Kelly, J. P., Lunestown. I searched all the old records in my possession, but failed to discover its past history. I inquired of an old woman if she knew anything about it, and she told me confidently that a remarkable traveller lived there once, celebrated in street ballad lore, and she showed me a bush where a ghost had taken up its residence to scare night walkers". The Heritage Council of Ireland website describes it as- "Clare Castle, also known as Mullaghcloe, situated on NE edge of a steep sided hillock, in pasture, with extensive views in all directions. Poorly preserved castle ruins standing on NE angle of bawn (approx. dims. 27m N-S x 33m E-W) which is defined by the |
234_8 | grass-covered remains of a collapsed wall. The bawn is divided internally by a slight bank with the footings of a stone wall running E-W in the N quadrant." Castle described in 2004 as a "tower measuring 12.4m by 8m over walls 1.8m thick partly projects out from the east side of a hill-top bawn 40m by 50m marked by a stoney bank" (Salter 2004, 147). See attached plan and profile of monument surveyed and drawn by the ASI. |
234_9 | Six medieval earthen ringforts, one of which is probably the residence of the aforementioned Urard Mac Coise. Descriptions of each are on The Heritage Council of Ireland website. |
234_10 | Vernacular House built c. 1860. www.buildingsofireland.ie describes it as- Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c.1860, with three gable fronted dormer windows with pitched natural slate roofs and a single-bay gable-fronted entrance porch to the main elevation (northwest). Single-storey outbuilding attached to the southwest side. Now derelict and out of use. Pitched natural slate roof with cast-iron rainwater goods and a single rendered chimneystack. Rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth. Square-headed window openings with cut stone sills and remains of one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed opening to the northeast face of porch with timber sheeted door. Gable fronted projecting entrance porch has remains of timber door. Fronts onto yard to the northwest having three rubble stone outbuildings with natural slate or corrugated roofs. Structure to northeast side of yard comprises five-bay single-storey building with yellow brick dressing to |
234_11 | square-headed and segmental-headed openings. Structure to northwest side of yard with rendered chimneystack may be original dwelling house, c.1800. Single-bay single-storey structure to northeast side of yard has cut stone voussoirs to head of openings. Located to the southeast of Ballymore. Appraisal- An interesting vernacular house and farmyard, representing a good example of its type, which retains much of its early form and character. These buildings are well-built using local materials and the retention of much of the original fabric enhances the quality of the site and makes it an important element of the vernacular heritage of County Westmeath. The form the two-storey house suggests that it was originally a single-storey structure. The single-storey building forming the northwest side of yard, having a rendered chimneystack, may have been the original dwelling house on site. The wrought-iron gate and rubble limestone boundary walls complete the setting of this composition. |
234_12 | Stone bridge on the border with Ballinlig Lower townland, built 1787. www.buildingsofireland.ie describes it as- Single-arch road bridge over small river/stream, dated 1787. Constructed using rubble limestone with dressed limestone voussoirs to arches. Rubble limestone coping over parapets. Date stone to parapet engraved '1787'. Located to the southeast of Ballymore. Appraisal. A well-built small-scale bridge, which retains its early form and fabric. It is well-built using local rubble limestone, attesting to the skillful craftsmanship available at the time of its construction. This bridge is very typical of the many small-scale bridges that were built by the Grand Juries to improve the transport system in Ireland, particularly during the late eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, a period of relative economic prosperity. According to local sources, a stone missing to the arch was removed by the I.R.A, c.1920, who planted a bomb in its place and attempted to blow up a Black and |
234_13 | Tan unit that was to travel over the bridge by foot. However, the Black and Tan patrol never turned up. |
234_14 | References
External links
The IreAtlas Townland Data Base
Townlands of County Westmeath |
235_0 | "If I Told You That" is a 2000 duet by American singer Whitney Houston and British singer George Michael. The song was released as the first UK single and the second US single from Houston's Whitney: The Greatest Hits album. The song first appeared on Houston's 1998 multi-Platinum My Love Is Your Love album, where she sang it solo. George Michael's vocals were later recorded and added to the song when it was being included on Houston's greatest hits package. In addition to adding Michael's vocals to the newer version of the song, the arrangement of the song was also modified, albeit only very slightly. The song was originally to feature Michael Jackson. "If I Told You That" peaked at number 1 in Iceland, Croatia and Poland.
While Houston performed the song in concert, the two never collaborated on a live version. Michael never performed the song live at any of his concerts. Although "If I Told You That" was a hit, it did not appear on Michael's compilation album Twenty Five. |
235_1 | Critical reception |
235_2 | Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that "whatever magic might be found in this effort most certainly is going to come from the fine vocal performances. Houston scats and offers shout-outs that give "If I Told You That" a spontaneity and energy [...], while Michael still stands tall as one of the finer soul men to step in front of the mike. This pairing is mightily inspired[.], adding that "the track's instrumental palette is definitely of the moment, with a driving shuffle beat and layered vocals[.] The hook is catchy enough, with a chorus that's simple and easy to sing along with." J. D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun felt that "If I Told You That" is a song on which Houston is "faking attraction with George Michael". LA Weekly in its review for Whitney: The Greatest Hits commented that "[o]n paper, the Houston-Michael coupling is inspired[.] But Michael simply adds his pinched, nasal vocals to the track [...], the result of which is two people singing at one another and daring the |
235_3 | listener to care". |
235_4 | The Baltimore Sun wrote: "when she sings in "If I Told You That" about giving in to temptation and having a fling with a friend, we shouldn't suppose she's thinking of any friend in particular." |
235_5 | Music video
The music video directed by Kevin Bray features Houston and Michael in a nightclub, eventually meeting on the dance floor, similar to that of Mary J. Blige and Michael's UK hit "As". The US DVD single for Houston's song "Fine" includes the music video for "If I Told You That". The video is also included on George Michael's video compilation Twenty Five.
The music video on YouTube has 36 million views as of May 2021.
Live versions
Houston performed the song regularly in her set for the My Love Is Your Love World Tour in 1999, and performed the song during her four-date promotional Greatest Hits Live in 2000 and the Soul Divas Tour in 2004.
Track listings and formats
Australian maxi single
"If I Told You That" (album version) — 4:33
"Fine" (album version) — 3:35
"If I Told You That" (Johnny Douglas Mix) — 4:48
"I'm Your Baby Tonight" (Dronez Mix) — 5:05 |
235_6 | European maxi single
"If I Told You That" (album version) — 4:33
"If I Told You That" (Johnny Douglas Mix) — 4:48
"Fine" (album version) — 3:35
Promo CD single
"If I Told You That" (radio edit) — 4:05
"If I Told You That" (album version) — 4:38
Personnel
Produced by Rodney Jerkins for Darkchild Entertainment Inc.
Additional production: George Michael
Remix recorded by Dexter Simmons at The Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, FL
Mixed by Jon Douglas
Mix engineer: Ren Swan
All instruments: Rodney Jerkins
Charts
Covers
Filipino R&B Band Freestyle covered their version of their song from their 2000 live album, "Freestyle Live".
References
External links
If I Told You That at Discogs |
235_7 | 2000 singles
Whitney Houston songs
George Michael songs
Song recordings produced by Rodney Jerkins
Song recordings produced by George Michael
Vocal duets
Songs written by Rodney Jerkins
Songs written by Fred Jerkins III
Arista Records singles
Songs written by LaShawn Daniels
2000 songs
Number-one singles in Iceland |
236_0 | The plague of Amwas (), also spelled plague of Emmaus, was a bubonic plague epidemic that afflicted Islamic Syria in 638–639, during the first plague pandemic and toward the end of the Muslim conquest of the region. It was likely a reemergence of the mid-6th-century Plague of Justinian. Called after Amwas in Palestine, the principal camp of the Muslim Arab army, the plague killed up to 25,000 soldiers and their relatives, including most of the army's high command, and caused considerable loss of life and displacement among the indigenous Christians of Syria. The appointment of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan to the governorship of Syria in the wake of the commanders' deaths paved the way for his establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661, while recurrences of the disease may have contributed to the Umayyad dynasty's downfall in 750. Depopulation in the Syrian countryside may have been a factor in the resettlement of the land by the Arabs unlike in other conquered regions where the Arabs |
236_1 | largely secluded themselves to new garrison cities. |
236_2 | The plague of Amwas received more attention in the Arabic sources than any other epidemic until the 14th-century Black Death. Traditional narratives about reactions to the plague of Amwas by Caliph Umar and his top commander Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah informed medieval Muslim theological responses to epidemics, including the Black Death. Principles derived from the narratives were cited in debates about predestination and free will, prohibitions on fleeing or entering plague-affected lands and contagion.
Origins and political setting |
236_3 | The plague of Amwas (ta'un Amwas in Arabic) was likely a bubonic plague epidemic, though the sources do not elaborate on specific symptoms of the disease. It was the second recorded plague of the Islamic era, which began in the 620s, and the first to directly afflict the Muslims. It was likely a reemergence of the Plague of Justinian, which originated in Pelusium (near modern Suez) in 541 AD and spread west to Alexandria and east to Palestine before reaching the Byzantine capital Constantinople in 541–542 and afflicting the rest of Europe and the Sasanian Empire, as noted by the Byzantine historian Procopius (d. ). The Plague of Justinian recurred in at least nine to twelve cycles throughout the mid-6th century and the 7th century. |
236_4 | The first caliph (head of the Muslim community) Abu Bakr () dispatched four armies from Medina led respectively by Amr ibn al-As, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan, Shurahbil ibn Hasana and Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah to conquer Byzantine Syria (Abu Ubayda may not have been dispatched until after the accession of Abu Bakr's successor Caliph Umar in mid-634). Amwas, the Arabic name for Emmaus-Nicopolis, had been a fortified Roman army camp in the 1st century AD, which grew into a small city by the early 3rd century. It was captured by the Muslims from the Byzantines following the Battle of Ajnadayn in 634 or the Battle of Yarmouk in 636. At the onset of the plague, the site served as the principal camp of the Arab Muslim troops in Syria where spoils were divided and soldiers paid. |
236_5 | Chronology
The plague of Amwas occurred in the Islamic calendar years of 17 AH/638 AD and/or 18 AH/639 AD. According to the 8th-century historian Sayf ibn Umar, it struck in Muharram–Safar 17 AH/January–February 638, then dissipated before returning once more and inflicting numerous deaths "to the advantage of the enemy [the Byzantines]." Al-Suyuti (d. 1505) holds the plague had reemerged not long after its initial outbreak, which Dols suggests "accounts for the two dates [638 and 639]". |
236_6 | The plague struck at some point during a nine-month drought in Syria referred to by the Arabs as the 'Year of the Ashes'. Widespread famine in Syria–Palestine possibly set the stage for the plague due to weakened immune resistance and the stockpiling of food reserves in towns and villages, which could attract plague-infected rodents and bring them into contact with the human population, according to Dols. It spread across Syria and also affected Iraq and Egypt, before subsiding in Shawwal 18 AH/ October 639.
Consequences
Response and immediate impact |
236_7 | According to one of the main narratives of the Islamic traditional sources, Umar, intending to prevent the illness and death of his top commander Abu Ubayda, summoned the latter to Medina; Abu Ubayda, aware of Umar's intent, refused to abandon his men. Umar subsequently embarked for Syria to assess the situation, meeting with the army leaders at a desert way-stop called Sargh (thirteen days' march north of Medina). His first consultations were with leaders from the Muhajirun and Ansar factions, collectively the earliest Muslim converts and elite of the nascent Muslim state, who argued against fleeing the plague-affected areas. Disagreeing with their recommendations, he next consulted the leaders of the later converts from the Quraysh, the tribe to which the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the caliphs belonged, who proposed that the army should withdraw from the area of the epidemic, which Umar accepted. Abu Ubayda protested the army's withdrawal on the basis of a purported prohibition by |
236_8 | Muhammad on Muslims fleeing or entering a plague-affected land. Umar retorted that a person would naturally choose the green side of a valley rather than the barren side, but regardless of the person's decision it would be God's will. This narrative was used by medieval Muslim scholars as a precedent justifying flight from an epidemic. The summit at Sargh concluded with Umar ordering Abu Ubdaya to lead the army to healthier grounds and the caliph's return to Medina. |
236_9 | Abu Ubayda moved to encamp the army at the old Ghassanid capital of Jabiya in the highland region of the Hauran. Due to its healthy climate, Jabiya effectively acted as a sanatorium for plague-stricken troops and the center for the distribution of war spoils. On the way there, in 639, Abu Ubayda succumbed to the plague. His successor Mu'adh ibn Jabal and two of Mu'adh's wives and son (or his entire family) died immediately after, followed by Mu'adh's successor Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan. Shurahbil also died from the plague. Among the other prominent Muslims and companions of Muhammad in the army to succumb were Suhayl ibn Amr, Suhayl's son Abu Jandal, al-Fadl ibn Abbas, al-Harith ibn Hisham, and many of al-Harith's seventy family members who had settled in Syria. Amr ibn al-As is credited for leading the surviving Muslim troops to Jabiya. In December 639, he embarked on the conquest of Egypt, either with Umar's reluctant sanction or without the caliph's authorization. |
236_10 | The Islamic traditional accounts maintain between 20,000 and 25,000 Muslim soldiers in Syria and their family members died in the plague. By 639, 4,000 Muslim troops were left in Jabiya out of some 24,000 in 637, though the modern historian Fred Donner notes that it is unclear how many of the missing troops had died or had temporarily fled and returned to Syria eventually.
The plague caused substantial loss of life among the local Christian population in Syria. It also resulted in price rises and hoarding, prompting Umar to prohibit hoarding. According to al-Tabari (d. 923), after returning to Medina from Sargh, Umar informed his advisers of his intention to visit his troops in Syria–Palestine and assess the chaos wrought by the plague. During his purported visit in 639, he gave directions on the disposition of the estates of the Muslims who died in the epidemic and settled suspicious claims by some of the troops. |
236_11 | Long-term political and societal effects
As a result of the deaths of his top commanders in Syria, Umar appointed Yazid's brother and deputy, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, commander of the army there, ultimately laying the foundation for the establishment of the Syria-centered Umayyad Caliphate by Mu'awiya in 661. The historian Wilferd Madelung surmises that the plague in Syria had precluded Umar from deploying commanders more preferable to him from Medina and he thus appointed Mu'awiya in lieu of a suitable alternative. The losses among the Muslim troops in Syria caused by the Amwas plague contributed to Mu'awiya's heavy military reliance on older-established, formerly Byzantine-allied and Christian Arab tribes in Syria, particularly the Banu Kalb, who had largely stayed neutral during the fighting between the Muslims and the Byzantines in Syria during the 630s. |
236_12 | The heavy toll on the indigenous Christian population and increased emigration from Syria as a result of the plague of Amwas may have been a contributing factor in the increased settlement of Syria by the Arabs and their penetration of local society during Umayyad rule (640s–750). According to the historian Lawrence Conrad, the Arabs, relying on revenue from the poll tax collected from the non-Arabs in the conquered regions, may not have intended to settle Syria, but were forced to repopulate the deserted countryside in the aftermath of the plague. The policy of settling Arab tribesmen on the land proved exceptional; in other conquered areas, such as Iraq, early Arab settlement was mostly confined to newly built garrison cities. |
236_13 | Amwas was replaced as the Arabs' headquarters in Palestine first by Lydda and/or Jerusalem, followed by Ramla, which was founded by the Umayyad caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik in the early 8th century. As late as the 1870s a well in the village of Amwas bore the name bir al-ta'un (well of the plague). Jabiya remained the Arabs' principal military camp in Syria until the reign of Sulayman.
Recurrences |
236_14 | There were recurrences of the plague in Syria–Palestine about every decade between 688/89 and 744/45. "The Umaiyad [sic] dynasty was literally plagued by this disease", in the words of Dols. The deaths of the Umayyad caliphs Mu'awiya II (), Marwan I (), Abd al-Malik (), Sulayman () and the Umayyad governors in Iraq al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba () and Ziyad ibn Abihi () may all possibly have been caused by the plague epidemics in Syria and Iraq. The caliphs routinely withdrew from the cities to their desert palaces when the plague emerged during the summer months. Notable among them was Caliph Hisham (), who preferred his palace at Rusafa over Damascus because he viewed the latter to be unhealthy. |
236_15 | Dols speculates that the frequent recurrences may have consistently undercut natural population growth in Syria–Palestine, the center of the Umayyad Caliphate, and weakened Umayyad power. Concurrently, Arab tribal migrations into the far eastern province of Khurasan, which was apparently spared from the plague epidemics, may have led to the lopsided growth and predominance of the eastern half of the Caliphate and the rise of the Abbasid Movement there, which ultimately toppled the Umayyads in 750. In the view of Conrad, by the end of these plague cycles, the Umayyads has lost practical control of the eastern Caliphate and "it is tempting to view the interminable plagues of the last years of the dynasty as an important factor in the victory of the Abbasid revolution". |
236_16 | Theological interpretations
Modern historians concur that the actual circumstances of the plague of Amwas are not reconstructable and largely focus on the descriptions of the event in the 8th–10th-century Islamic histories and collections of hadith (traditions and sayings of Muhammad) in the context of theological debates on predestination, the status of Muslim sinners, and contagion. The plague of Amwas received more attention in medieval Arabic literature than any other epidemic until the 14th-century Black Death. Representations of the plague by the sources were "varied and contradictory", according to the historian Justin K. Stearns. The narratives of the response to the plague by Muhammad's companions Umar, Abu Ubayda, Amr and Mu'adh informed Muslim religious and legal interpretations of plague throughout the Middle Ages, including the response to the Black Death. |
236_17 | Medieval Muslim scholars derived three principals from the contemporary reactions to the plague of Amwas: the first was that the plague was a form of divine mercy or martyrdom for the Muslim faithful and a punishment to non-believers; the second was the prohibition on Muslims entering or fleeing plague-stricken lands; and the third was the plague was not a contagion, rather it was directly imposed by God. The tenets consistently caused theological disagreements throughout the epidemic recurrences of the Middle Ages as a result of the difficulty in accepting plague as divine mercy or punishment and observable contagion. |
236_18 | In the assessment of Dols, native Christian and Jewish attitudes and natural human anxieties likely influenced aspects of the first principle, namely that plague represented divine punishment or warnings. Muslims in this camp related the plague to lax morals among the Muslim troops in Syria, such as the consumption of wine, which supposedly led Umar to order the lashing of drinkers. On the other hand, the interpretation of plague as mercy or martyrdom is evident in Abu Ubayda's speeches to the troops at Amwas and in the council at Sargh. A poem about the plague of Amwas recorded by the Damascene historian Ibn Asakir (d. 1175) reflects the martyrdom belief: How many brave horsemen and how many beautiful, chaste women were killed in the valley of 'Amwas They had encountered the Lord, but He was not unjust to them When they died, they were among the non-aggrieved people in Paradise. We endure the plague as the Lord knows, and we were consoled in the hour of death. |
236_19 | On the principle of predestination, the events of Amwas were used to argue that whether a person fled or remained in a plague-affected area their death had already been decreed by God. During an episode of plague in the Iraqi garrison city of Kufa, the prominent statesman and scholar Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (d. 662) turned away visitors to his home due to someone in his household having the plague, and he justified Muslims fleeing plague on the basis of Umar's actions at Sargh. According to Dols, this also implied a recognition of contagion despite the contradiction with the purported hadith rejecting contagion as a pre-Islamic theory.
References
Bibliography
638
639
630s in the Rashidun Caliphate
7th-century disasters
First plague pandemic
Health disasters in Asia
Medieval health disasters
Medieval Palestine
Medieval Syria
7th century in Asia |
237_0 | The Georgia State Panthers represent the NCAA Division I sports teams of Georgia State University. Almost all GSU teams are members of the Sun Belt Conference, a conference of which they were a charter member. Previously, GSU was a member of the CAA, and prior to that, the ASUN Conference (then known as the Trans America Athletic Conference, or TAAC).
Two GSU sports play outside the Sun Belt, both in sports not sponsored by that league; both teams joined their current conference homes in July 2021. The women's beach volleyball team joined the newly launched beach volleyball league of Conference USA after having been members of the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association, a conference that sponsors only that sport plus men's and women's swimming & diving. The men's soccer team, which had competed in the Sun Belt through the 2020–21 school year, moved to the Mid-American Conference following the demise of the Sun Belt men's soccer league.
History |
237_1 | Prior to conference affiliation
Georgia State became a fully accredited NCAA Division I athletics program in 1963, which saw the university give scholarships at the highest level of competition for college athletics. However, sports did exist at GSU prior to becoming an NCAA member; In 1956, the Panthers began a baseball team, the oldest sport played at Georgia State. Prior to joining the NCAA, no scholarships were given and no sports were part of any national affiliate. When GSU did join the NCAA, only basketball, cross country, golf, and tennis were played as NCAA sports (only men's teams were allowed to compete in the NCAA until 1980). In 1975, five women's sports also joined, playing in the New South Women's Athletic Conference, or NSWAC, a conference of the AIAW. |
237_2 | Founding of the Sun Belt Conference
In 1976, the Sun Belt Conference was formed with Georgia State being one of its founding members. However, in 1980, the Panthers left the Sun Belt, with the most cited reason being that the conference encouraged its members to play in the largest basketball venue in town; in the case of the Panthers, that was the 16,500 seat Omni Coliseum, an NBA venue where the Atlanta Hawks played. With only a few hundred fans attending each game, this became a joke to media outlets, who purposefully tried to get pictures of the action with a lack of a crowd in the background. After leaving the Sun Belt, the Panthers played as independents for three years before joining the TAAC. |
237_3 | Addition of football |
237_4 | Once Georgia State entered the CAA, a recurring question of whether the university should add football was brought up, leading to the commissioning of a feasibility study in 2006. After gauging student and alumni interest, the administration found enough support to continue onwards with the effort, leading to the hire of former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves as a consultant. This culminated in the official launch of the football program on April 17, 2008. Due to GSU's membership as a part of the CAA, membership into the football division of the conference was sought after, leading to the Panthers being invited to become a football participant for the 2012 season. Due to the addition of men's scholarships (63 full scholarship equivalents for inclusion in the FCS), Title IX regulations required the university to have additional women's scholarships added, leading to the addition of beach volleyball (then called "sand volleyball" and, at the time, a non-NCAA sport). |
237_5 | With the addition of football, a rebrand of athletics took place, changing the logos, fight song, and mascot design. The university also decided to go back on one of its previous institutional name rules in making GSU a secondary name for the university.
In February 2012, the university announced that it had commissioned a study to find the feasibility of moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of collegiate football, citing that the shifts in landscape due to conference realignment offered opportunities that should be carefully considered. The study was conducted by Collegiate Consulting, who concluded that the university was in a good position to move up to the FBS. On April 9, 2012, Georgia State officially accepted an invitation to rejoin the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2013. |
237_6 | Relocation to Downtown Atlanta |
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