Category: history

photo of a Traditional Chinese Raincoat

Photo of a Traditional Chinese Raincoat in Yangshuo (near Guilin), China. The photo is from a touristy (but well done and where people still live) “ancient city” in Yangshuo, China. I saw a similar raincoat in the Shanghai History Museum.

Related: Floating Down River in Yangshuo, China on a Bamboo RaftMe, with My Walking Stick, Fraser’s Hill, MalaysiaSunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat

Buddha at Borobudur

Borobudur is amazing. This photo gives a small glimpse of what it is like for more see more from my visit to Borobudur, Java, Indonesia (including a video of the view all around where this photo is taken).

Related: Buddha Statues, Borobudur Temple, IndonesiaDome of the Rock, JerusalemEgyptian Hieroglyphs at the Met in NYC

carving at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

photo of carving at Angkor Wat, Cambodia by John Hunter

Related: Banyon Tree Overgrowing Temple, Siem Reap, CambodiaWater Buffaloes, CambodiaTa Prohm temple, Siem Reap, Cambodia

close up photo of the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

Close up view of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem by Bill Hunter.

The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: مسجد قبة الصخرة‎ – Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah, Hebrew: כיפת הסלע‎ – Kipat Hasela) is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Foundation Stone, at its heart, bears great significance for Jews, Christians and Muslims.

The Dome of the Rock is situated in the center of the Temple Mount, the site of the Jewish Second Temple. The location is holy to Christians primarily because of the role the Temple played in the life of Jesus. The Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, who built a temple to Jupiter on the site. During the Byzantine era, Jerusalem was primarily Christian, and pilgrims came by the tens of thousands to experience the places where Jesus walked.

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photo of the  Statue of Amenhotep III by John Hunter

Colossal Statue of Amenhotep III Reinscribed by Merneptah, 1390–1353 B.C.. The statue is from Thebes, Luxor, in the Temple of Amun.

The Temple of Dendur, in the background, was built during the reign of Augustus Caesar in the Roman period.

The room in the Metropolitan museum is quite excellent with a huge window looking into Central Park.

See more photos of my visit to the Met. And more photos around NYC. And photos from my trip to Egypt.

Related: Statue of King Mankaure and His Queen (Egypt)Egyptian Hieroglyphs at the Met in NYC

photo of Assyrian relief carving of man with wings

The winged genie is shown holding a conical fruit which has presumably been dipped into a bucket of pollen held in preparation for fertilizing the Tree of Life, an important symbol in Assyrian religious belief.

I took these photos at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The reliefs are from interior walls of the palace of Ashurnasirpal II who reigned from 883 to 859 BC. He was the first Assyrian king to use carved reliefs on the interior walls of a palace at the site of Kalhu (now called Nimrud).

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fantastic ceramic art on Cheng Hoon Teng temple roof.

Detail from ceramic tile artwork on roof of Cheng Hoon Teng temple in Malacca, Malaysia.

Related: Colorful Mosaic Building Design, Moscow, USSR in the 1960′sBuenos Aires Street ArtLiving in Malaysia blog

photo of banyan tree growing over temple entranceway

I can’t remember the temple name, I’ll add it once I have a chance to go through my photos and organize them. The temple is in the Angkor park area, which includes: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm (which is famous for the banyans growing over the temple) and many more.

Related: Banteay Srei Temple in CambodiaMesa Verde National Park, USACypress Garden Swamp, South Carolina, USA

photo of Candi Sewu entrance

Sewu temple is the second largest Buddhist temple in Indonesia, Borobudur is the largest. The Sewa temple is located in the Prambanan temple complex in Yogyakarta, Indonesia (about 1 km away from Prambanan temple). They are rebuilding many of the temples on the site which now lie in ruins.

Candi Sewu was likely built in the 8th century as the royal palace at the end of the Rakai Panangkaran kingdom.

Related: Buddha Statues, Borobudur Temple, Java, IndonesiaBanteay Srei temple, CambodiaGrand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand

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Borobudur is an amazing Buddhist temple built in the 9th century. This site is well worth a visit. It is located outside Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia. I have posted more photos and a video from my visit to the Borobudur Buddhist temple site, which is a world heritage site.

Borobudur includes 504 Buddha statues. I didn’t notice the bat in this photo, when I was visiting.

photo of a bat using an alcolve for a Buddha statue as a resting place.

I did notice this lizard.

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