S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 The course \u201cMetropolises of the desert: Petra, Palmyra and Dura-Europos \u2013 The Hellenistic Civilization and the origins of the Arab Culture\u201d begins this Thursday (13) at Espa\u00e7o Lente Cultural, in S\u00e3o Paulo. It includes three classes with professor Pl\u00ednio Freire Gomes, always on Thursdays (September 13, 20 and 27), from 7:30 pm to 10 pm. The entire course costs BRL 225 (USD 55.84). The cost of only one class is BRL 85 (USD 21.10).<\/p>\n
In the first class, Gomes will offer a broad overview of the rise of the cities in the desert, with the domestication of the camel as a working animal at around 1,000 BC, which allowed trade routes to develop throughout the desert, enabling a large trade and transportation revolution for the era, shortening distances and, thus, cutting costs. Before, the routes were done throughout inhabited areas, near rivers and seas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe camel revolutionizes this geography because it allows the desert to become accessible to the large trade routes. So much so that in Arabic, the camel was called safinat al-sahra, <\/em>which means \u2018desert\u2019s ship\u2019\u201d, said Gomes.<\/em><\/p>\n According to the professor, these are only three of a plethora of cities that emerged in the desert from this moment on, in the Hellenistic period. \u201cBoth Petra (Jordan), Palmyra (Syria) and Dura-Europos (Syria), in the beginning, were designated stops for traders and gradually became large trade centers, aiming at connecting distant markets, linking the Mediterranean to China, to India, to Eastern Asia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In this first class, the focus will be on Petra, which reached its peak at the time of Christ, around 1 AD, and features monuments sculpted in reddish stones (picture above)<\/em>, which contains an abundance of iron oxide, giving them this colorful effect. Politically, Petra (Stone, in Latin) was a city protected by city walls made of natural rocks that formed a canyon, making it impossible to be conquered by the Romans.<\/p>\n According to Gomes, Islam was created in the mid-7th<\/sup> century, with the first Qur\u2019an, which made the Arabic language official, since it was spoke in many variations since the 5th<\/sup> century. \u201cIn this moment [of year 1], there was Aramaic, the Semitic languages, but the creation of the Arab language and culture was only made official with the Qur\u2019an and the creation of Islam as a religion, and that\u2019s why the cultures are so linked to each other to this day,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n The second class, about Palmyra, will discuss the 3rd century, with the capture of the town by the Roman Empire and the troop of legionnaires willing to regain their independency, led by queen Zenobia, descendant of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The Romans won the battle and Zenobia is made prisoner and, later, killed.<\/p>\n \u201cPalmyra, in Arabic, is Tatmor<\/em>, which means oasis with dates and it really offers both; and there one can also see mirages, which is a real optical phenomenon,\u201d said Gomes. Palmyra is in a strategic point at the heart of Syria, a very important crossing point in the desert, with cargo coming from the port of Tartus, which, since the 1970s, hosts a Russian naval base, the only one by the country in the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n The third class will discuss Dura-Europos, a Syrian city with a Greek name, also in the Hellenistic period, around 100 BC. Founded two hundred years before by Greek settlers, when Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire, the city, throughout the 1st<\/sup> century, gradually becomes a part of the Roman Empire, the Eastern border of the Empire, a strategic point alongside the Euphrates river.<\/p>\n The course targets those interested in history in general and the histories of architecture, art and economy, plus the Arab culture. Registration are open and can be made at Lente Cultural\u2019s website.<\/p>\n Quick info:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMetropolises of the desert: Petra, Palmyra and Dura-Europos \u2013 The Hellenistic Civilization and the origins of the Arab Culture\u201d Translated by S\u00e9rgio Kakitani <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nSeptember 13, 20 and 27, from 7:30 pm to 10 pm
\nEspa\u00e7o Lente Cultural
\nAvenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 1690, conj. 41 \u2013 S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 SP
\nCost for the three classes: R$ 225 (USD 55.84)
\nRegistrations here<\/p>\n