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Pope Leo IVPope Leo IV (died 17 July 855) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 April 847 to his death in 855. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during the Arab raid against Rome, and for building the Leonine Wall around Vatican Hill to protect the city. Pope Leo organized a league of Italian cities who fought and won the sea Battle of Ostia against the Saracens.
Roanoke ColonyThe Roanoke Colony ( ROH-ə-nohk) refers to two attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The first colony was established at Roanoke Island in 1585 as a military outpost, and was evacuated in 1586. The more famous second colony, known as the Lost Colony, began when a new group of settlers under John White arrived on the island in 1587; a relief ship in 1590 found the colony mysteriously abandoned. The fate of the 112 to 121 colonists remains unknown. Roanoke Colony was founded by Governor Ralph Lane in 1585 on Roanoke Island in present-day Dare County, North Carolina. Lane's colony was troubled by a lack of supplies and poor relations with some of the local Indian tribes. A resupply mission by Sir Richard Grenville was delayed, so Lane abandoned the colony and returned to England with Sir Francis Drake in 1586. Grenville arrived two weeks later and also returned home, leaving behind a small detachment to protect Raleigh's claim. A second expedition led by John White landed on the island in 1587. Sir Walter Raleigh had sent him to establish the "Cittie of Raleigh" on the Chesapeake Bay. During a stop to check on Grenville's men, ship's pilot Simon Fernandes forced White and his colonists to remain on Roanoke. White returned to England with Fernandes, intending to bring more supplies in 1588. The Anglo-Spanish War delayed his return to Roanoke until 1590, and he found the settlement fortified but abandoned. The cryptic word "CROATOAN" was found carved into the palisade, which White interpreted to mean that the colonists had relocated to Croatoan Island. Before he could follow this lead, rough seas and a lost anchor forced the mission to return to England. That attempt became known as the "Lost Colony". Speculation that the colonists had assimilated with nearby Indian tribes appears in writings as early as 1605. Investigations by the Jamestown colonists produced reports that the Roanoke settlers had been massacred, and there were stories of people with European features being seen in Indian villages, but no conclusive evidence was found. Interest in the matter fell until 1834, when George Bancroft published his account in A History of the United States. Bancroft's description of the colonists cast them as foundational figures in American culture, particularly White's infant granddaughter Virginia Dare, and it captured the public imagination.
Jiroft cultureThe Jiroft culture, also known as the Intercultural style or the Halilrud style, is an early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) archaeological culture, located in the territory of present-day Sistan and Baluchestan and Kermān provinces of Iran. The proposed type site is Konar Sandal, near Jiroft in the Halil River area. Other significant sites associated with the culture include Shahr-e Sukhteh (Burnt City), Tepe Bampur, Espiedej, Shahdad, Tal-i-Iblis and Tepe Yahya. The grouping of these sites as an "independent Bronze Age civilization with its own architecture and language", intermediate between Elam to the west and the Indus Valley civilization to the east, was first proposed by Yusef Majidzadeh, head of the archaeological excavation team in Jiroft (south central Iran). The hypothesis is based on a collection of artifacts that have been formally excavated and recovered from looters by Iranian authorities; accepted by many to have derived from the Jiroft area (as reported by online Iranian news services, beginning in 2001).
IraqIraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west. The country covers an area of 438,317 square kilometres (169,235 sq mi) and has a population of over 46 million, making it the 58th largest country by area and the 31st most populous in the world. Baghdad, home to over 8 million people, is the capital city and the largest in the country. Starting in the 6th millennium BC, the fertile plains between Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers, referred to as Mesopotamia, fostered the rise of early cities, civilisations, and empires including Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria. Known as the cradle of civilisation, Mesopotamia saw the invention of writing systems, mathematics, navigation, timekeeping, a calendar, astrology, the wheel, the sailboat, and a law code. After the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia, Baghdad became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and a global cultural and intellectual hub during the Islamic Golden Age, home to institutions such as the House of Wisdom. Following the city's destruction by the Mongols in 1258, the region faced a prolonged decline due to plagues and successive empires. Additionally, Iraq holds religious significance in Christianity, Judaism, Yazidism, and Mandaeism. It has a deep biblical history. Since independence in 1932, Iraq has experienced spells of significant economic and military growth alongside periods of instability and conflict. It was part of the Ottoman Empire until the end of World War I. Mandatory Iraq was then established by the British in 1921. It transitioned into an independent kingdom in 1932. Following a coup in 1958, Iraq became a republic, first led by Abdul Karim Qasim, followed by Abdul Salam Arif and Abdul Rahman Arif. The Ba'ath Party took power in 1968, establishing a one-party state under Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and later Saddam Hussein, who presided over war against Iran from 1980 to 1988 and then invaded Kuwait in 1990. In 2003, a U.S.-led coalition forces invaded and occupied Iraq, overthrowing Saddam and triggering an insurgency and sectarian violence. The conflict, known as the Iraq War, ended in 2011. From 2013 to 2017, Iraq faced another war with the rise and defeat of the Islamic State. Today post-war conflict continues at a lower scale, hampering stability alongside the rising influence of Iran. A federal parliamentary republic, Iraq is considered an emerging middle power. It is home to a diverse population, geography and wildlife. Most Iraqis are Muslim, while significant minorities include Christians, Mandaens, Yazidis, Yarsanis and Jews. Iraqis are ethnically diverse; mostly Arabs, as well as Kurds, Turkmen, Yazidis, Assyrians, Armenians, Domcs, and Shabakis. Arabic and Kurdish are the official languages of Iraq, while Suret, Turkish and Mandaic are spoken regionally. Iraq, home to one of the largest oil reserves in the world, has a significant oil and gas industry. It is also popular for its agriculture and tourism. At present, Iraq is rebuilding with foreign support.
Megiddo church (Israel)Megiddo church is an archaeological site near Tel Megiddo, Israel that preserves the foundations of one of the oldest Christian church buildings ever discovered by archaeologists. The ruins contain one of the oldest inscriptions referring to the divinity of Jesus. The church was dated to circa 230 AD on the basis of pottery, coins, and the inscriptional style. The site's abandonment, circa 305 AD, is evident in the purposeful covering of the mosaic, which may correlate to the Diocletianic Persecution.
Mike LawlerMichael Vincent Lawler (born September 9, 1986) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 17th congressional district since 2023. From 2021 to 2022, he was a Republican member of the New York State Assembly from the 97th district in Rockland County.
Andrew LawlerAndrew Francis Lawler (born May 25, 1961) is an American journalist and author. He has written for The New York Times, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Science, Archaeology, and other publications. Lawler investigated the looting of the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad as well as ancient sites during the American-led 2003 Iraq invasion. He also reported on cultural heritage destruction in Afghanistan from the Taliban’s 2001 fall from power until their return in 2021. His September 2023 National Geographic cover story on Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock was criticized by some pro-Israel commentators. Lawler has written four books, including the national bestseller The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke. “Mr. Lawler is an intrepid guide to this treacherous territory,” noted The Economist, which called The Secret Token “lively and engaging,” though The Wall Street Journal chided the author for giving a “social justice” spin to the tale. His third book is Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World’s Most Contested City, which The Washington Post called "a sweeping tale of archaeological exploits and their cultural and political consequences told with a historian’s penchant for detail and a journalist’s flair for narration." The book received the 2024 Felicia A. Holton Award from the Archaeological Institute of America, with the award committee praising "Mr. Lawler’s skillful use of prose" that highlighted "archaeology’s impact on the modern world." His fourth and most recent book, A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis that Spurred the American Revolution was published in 2025. The New York Times wrote that “the absorbing result of his meticulous research” is “a sharp-eyed look at the messy, sometimes absurd, often cruel birth pangs of a nation.” According to historian Gerald Horne, “this pathbreaking book is a gift this troubled nation needs as it approaches its 250th anniversary.”
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