Ade no send dem. He simply doesn't give a shit!!

The Nag Hammadi Library
Upper (Southern) Egypt
Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945, the Gnostic view of early Christianity had largely been forgotten. The movement’s teachings—vilified since the rise of orthodox Christianity in the fourth century—had been virtually erased from history by the early church fathers, its gospels banned and even burned to make room for the view of Christian theology outlined in the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.


But when two peasants discovered a 13-volume library of Coptic texts hidden beneath a large boulder near the town of Nag Hammadi in upper Egypt, the world was reintroduced to this long-forgotten and much-maligned branch of early Christian thought. The 13 leather-bound volumes, which dated to the mid-fourth century, contained an unprecedented collection of more than 50 texts, including some that had been composed as early as the second century. Once translated and published by a team of scholars led by Claremont Graduate University’s James M. Robinson, the documents showed that Gnosticism (from the Greek word gnosis, “knowledge”) was not the depraved cult described by orthodox Christian writers, but rather a legitimate religious movement that offered a competing testament to Jesus’ life and teachings.



The writings, which represent a range of Gnostic attitudes and beliefs and include everything from competing gospels to apocalyptic revelations, all assert the primacy of spiritual and intellectual knowledge over physical action and material well-being. The Apocryphon of John, for example, is the most important tractate of classic Sethian Gnosticism. In it the risen Jesus reveals to John, son of Zebedee, the truth of creation. According to this myth the God of the Hebrew Bible is actually a corrupted lower deity. Only through the intervention of Sophia (Wisdom) can gnosis be revealed and salvation attained. Thus, while Christian Gnostics certainly acknowledged the role of Jesus in their faith, their theology placed greater significance on the intellectual revelation of his message than on his crucifixion and resurrection.



Also among the Nag Hammadi texts was the fully preserved Gospel of Thomas, which does not follow the canonical Gospels in telling the story of Jesus’ birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection, but rather presents the reader with a very early collection of Jesus’ sayings.b Although this mystical text was originally believed to be a Gnostic text, it now seems to reveal yet another strand of early Christianity.
From a historical perspective, the Nag Hammadi texts provided a clear picture of the diverse theological and philosophical currents that found expression through early Christianity. Indeed, Gnosticism and its classically inspired philosophical ideals permeated not just early Christian thought, but also the Jewish and pagan traditions from which Christianity arose. The Nag Hammadi library, widely regarded as one of the most significant finds of the 20th century, revealed this complex religious milieu and offered an unparalleled glimpse into alternative visions of early Christianity.

Mona Lisa of the Galilee
Sepphoris
In 363 A.D., an earthquake destroyed the Roman city of Sepphoris. Although the disaster was catastrophic for the Galilee city’s inhabitants, it proved crucial to the preservation of a mosaic floor in one of the city’s villas.
More than 16 centuries later, beneath the debris and collapsed buildings of the earthquake’s destruction, in the villa’s triclinium (dining room) archaeologists uncovered a white mosaic floor measuring 23 by 40 feet, at one end of which was a stunning 20-by-20 mosaic carpet of colorful tesserae in an excellent state of preservation.



The mosaic, which dates to the early third century A.D., is a fine example of Hellenistic art. The panels depict scenes from the life of Dionysus (the Greek god of wine) labeled with Greek inscriptions, surrounded by an elaborate border of hunting scenes and acanthus vines, and flanked on two sides by processional scenes. The crowning jewel of this mosaic, however, is the elegant portrait of an unnamed woman (or goddess) at the center of one end. The enchanting tilt of her head and near-smile earned her the nickname “Mona Lisa of the Galilee.” Although she had a counterpart in antiquity at the other end of the mosaic, that portion was unfortunately destroyed in the earthquake.
The high level of artistic skill in the mosaic is apparent. The artist used tiny tesserae (less than 0.2 in. square) in a wide range of natural stone colors. The bright whites of the subject’s earrings and the trim of her garment, as well as the gentle shading of her blush and the wreath that sits in her wavy hair, all demonstrate an exquisite attention to detail.
Perhaps as mysterious as the Mona Lisa is the character of the city in which she was found. The proximity of Sepphoris to Nazareth (hardly 4 mi. away) has focused scholarly attention on the influences from Sepphoris that surrounded Jesus as he grew up.
Some scholars have argued that Sepphoris in the first century was essentially a typical Roman city where Jesus was exposed to various Western ideas and philosophies. These scholars have suggested, for example, that Jesus’ repeated use of the word “hypocrites” (which comes from the Greek word for “actor”) reflects his familiarity with the grand theater at Sepphoris, which he and his father Joseph may even have helped build!
To be sure, first-century Sepphoris was a bustling urban center with highly developed infrastructure and some undoubtedly Hellenistic influences, but archaeology also paints a decidedly more Jewish picture of the city.
The dating of the theater’s construction is actually a subject of debate. Some archaeologists prefer a late-first-century or early-second-century date—after the time of Jesus. And further excavation shows that Sepphoris lacked many of the features of a traditional Roman city, such as a gymnasium, hippodrome, amphitheater, nymphaeum, shrines or statues. Moreover, archaeologists have uncovered several signs of Jewish culture: negligible amounts of pig bones (suggesting that pork was not part of the diet), several fragments of stone vessels (preferred for their resistance to ritual impurity) and mikva’ot (stepped ritual baths). And unlike most coins of the Roman Empire, the coins minted at Sepphoris bear no human or animal likenesses—probably in deference to the Second Commandment’s prohibition of graven images.
After the end of the First Jewish Revolt in 70 A.D., Sepphoris, which had opted for peace and welcomed the Roman soldiers, began to change. It still remained home to many Jews and was an important center of rabbinic study (the Mishnah was codified here in the second century A.D.), but it also became progressively more Hellenized in its art, architecture and culture. It was even renamed Diocaesarea. Thus did a major Jewish city from Jesus’ youth come to be home of one of the Roman world’s greatest works of art: the Mona Lisa of the Galilee.

The Siloam Pool in Jesus’ Time
Jerusalem
The Siloam Pool has long been a place of sacred significance to many Christians, even if the correct identification of the site itself was uncertain. According to the Gospel of John, it was at the Siloam Pool where Jesus performed the miracle of restoring sight to the blind man (John 9:1–11). Traditionally, the site was believed to be the pool and church that were built by the Byzantine empress Eudocia (c. 400–460 A.D.) to commemorate the miracle recounted in the New Testament. However, the exact location of the pool itself as it existed during the time of Jesus remained a mystery until June 2004.



During construction work to repair a large water pipe south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, on the ridge known as the City of David, archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron identified two ancient stone steps. Further excavation revealed that they were part of a monumental pool from the Second Temple period, the period in which Jesus lived. The structure Reich and Shukron discovered was 225 feet long, with corners that are slightly greater than 90 degrees, indicating a trapezoidal shape, with the widening end oriented toward Tyropoeon valley. The pool is adjacent to the area in the ancient City of David known as the King’s Garden, and is just southeast of the remains of the fifth-century church and pool originally believed to be the sacred site.
(artists recreation)



The pool is fed by waters from the Gihon Spring, located in the Kidron Valley. As with many sites in the Holy Land, the origins of the Siloam Pool reach back even further in history—at least seven centuries before the time of Jesus. Judah’s King Hezekiah (late eighth century B.C.) correctly anticipated a siege against Jerusalem by the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib. To protect the city’s water supply during the siege, Hezekiah undertook a strategic engineering project that would be an impressive feat in any age: He ordered the digging of a 1,750-foot tunnel under the City of David to bring water from the Gihon Spring, which lay outside the city wall, inside the city to a pool on the opposite side of the ridge. In the years that followed, “Hezekiah’s Tunnel” continued to carry fresh water to this section of Jerusalem, and different pools were built here over the centuries, including the Second Temple pool that Jesus knew.
What was the function of the pool during Jesus’ time? The naturally flowing spring water would have qualified the pool for use as a mikveh for ritual bathing. However, it could also have been an important source of fresh water for the inhabitants on that side of the city. One scholar has even suggested that it was a Roman-style swimming pool. Whatever its original purpose, the pool remains a place of great significance to many Christians, and its discovery represents a watershed moment in the field of Biblical archaeology.

St. Peter’s House
Capernaum
For much of his adult life, Jesus resided in the small fishing village of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. It was here that he began his ministry in the town synagogue (Mark 1:21), recruited his first disciples (Mark 1:16–20) and became renowned for his power to heal the sick and infirm (Mark 3:1–5).

Early travelers to the site had long recognized the beautifully preserved remains of the ancient synagogue that many thought marked the site, if not the actual building, of Jesus’ earliest teachings. But an important question still remained: Where in the town had Jesus actually lived? Where was the house of Peter, where the Bible suggests Jesus stayed while in Capernaum (Matthew 8:14–16)?
As first reported in BAR more than 25 years ago, Italian excavators working in Capernaum may have actually uncovered the remnants of the humble dwelling Jesus once called home while in Capernaum.
Buried beneath the remains of a Byzantine martyrium church, excavators found the ruins of a rather mundane dwelling dating to the first century B.C. Although slightly larger than most, the house was a simple structure supported by coarse basalt fieldstone walls and roofed with nothing more than earth and straw. Like most early Roman-period houses, it consisted of a few small rooms clustered around two open courtyards. In a word, the house was ordinary. According to the excavators, however, it is what happened to the house after the middle of the first century A.D. that marked it as exceptional and most likely the home of Peter.
In the years immediately following Jesus’ death, the function of the house changed dramatically. The house’s main room was completely plastered over from floor to ceiling—a rarity for houses of the day. At about the same time, the house’s pottery, which had previously been basic domestic wares such as cooking pots and bowls, now consisted entirely of large storage jars and oil lamps. Such radical alterations indicate that the house no longer functioned as a residence but instead had become a place for communal gatherings, possibly even Christian gatherings.
More important, the excavators found that during the ensuing centuries, the plastered room from the original house had been renovated and converted into the central hall of a rudimentary church. The room’s old stone walls were buttressed by a newly built two-story-high arch that, in turn, supported a new stone roof. The room was even replastered and painted over with floral and geometric designs of various colors.
The Christian character of the building was confirmed by more than a hundred graffiti scratched into the church’s walls. Most of the inscriptions, according to the excavators, say things like “Lord Jesus Christ help thy servant” or “Christ have mercy.” They are written in Greek, Syriac or Hebrew and are sometimes accompanied by etchings of small crosses or, in one case, a boat. The excavators claim that the name of St. Peter is mentioned in several graffiti, although many scholars now dispute these readings.
This simple church survived for more than 300 years before it was finally replaced in the fifth century by a well-built octagonal martyrium church. Octagonal martyria were built to commemorate an important site, such as the original house that once stood here. The inner sanctum of the octagonal building was built directly above the remains of the very room of the first-century house that had formed the central hall of the earlier church.
Thus, even though there is no definitive proof that the original house uncovered by the excavators actually belonged to Peter, there is layer upon layer of circumstantial evidence to support its importance in earliest Christianity and association with Jesus and his foremost disciple. Were it not for its association with Jesus and Peter, why else would a run-of-the-mill first-century house in Capernaum have become a focal point of Christian worship and identity for centuries to come?

german007:

@krayola2,

Bros abeg take am easy oh, this one wey u wan sample baba fela song, make hin noh wake up from him grave tear u slap, come sue u for copyright infringement, lol

hahaha. Fela na for the people nah. If him come i go give am sumtin smoke him go calm down.

Mazaje, i think u are guilty of overgeneralizing. U keep lumping all Christians n a box, all Muslims in a box, all Jews in a box, etc. Not every one is a fundamentalist, u know?

If i were in Naija i swear i would go and beat hell and bastard out of his father. Cripple the idiot for the rest of his life. slowpoke!! Damn! i'm so mad. WTF is this madness?!?!?! An 11 yr old boy!

Russian Aje butter. Chelsea go juss bankrupt.

FBS:

ITT- Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

Correct guy! I'm looking for the instrumental for that song. I wnt to sample some parts of it. Don't know where to find it tho

Redman - let da monkey out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhitUfawu1k (Docs da name 2000 is my fave rap album of ALL TIME)

"I write the madness got ink foamin out the pen"----- Redman is God!!!!!!

50 cent - poor lil rich

dayokanu:

See van Rapist dey chop grass

hahaha. The guy chop am belleful. He needs his vitamins

Outkast- Spaghetti Junction

chic2pimp:

JOSEP GUARDIOLA

I have to meet ur dealer. he has the best dope in town!!

Leonardo- AC Milan

biina:

Premier League Pest Control: Stamping Out Weasels

that is a masterpiece. I should make it a poster and hang it on my wall!!

eldee:

Pick carefully . . . choose the wrong one and u'll end up cuffed to a bed and robbed

hahaha. Is that experience talkin?

chic2pimp:

Wetin u think U.K stand for ehn?

United Koboko.

haha. u don kolo!

TOPE2000!:



LOL . . .He always want to handcuff me to the bed, now i know why.
but he is a stallion in bed sha, are u?

hmmn!! I don't even use bed again cause i'm sick of buying new furniture every other week. They call me incredible hulk!!  

eldee:

You need to show him the light

no worry. . . e be like say me sef go find one for this side sample am 

eldee:

They're good for straight up banging . . . wiv no strings
But wifeying that is just calling for trouble.

AAHH!!  Eldee baba!! U sef don don reach there   . ,  omo, i don't trust all u UK guys. Una dey on some freaky shit!!  

~Sauron~:

Once they wear their masks, there's no difference.

haha. Sauron u be bad guy o!!

TOPE2000!:

so to be a real man u must bang some certain women?
mess real men then

No mind am jare. U are the only woman for me babe. When u travel i buy plenty soap and vaseline

~Sauron~:

U are not a REAL man if you are yet to bang a gothic woman.

Ahh. bobo, At least u go try find sexy goth chik. Not a Marilyn Manson look alike