A Bit of History

Gentlemen,

My cousin and I have collaborated on a number of videos, he as videographer and editor and I as script writer and voice narrator. The video here tells a small story about the Assyrian empire thousands of years ago. Of course, that’s my heritage, and I thought I should share it with my friend here. We filmed the video in my study. The fountain pen is the Pelikan M400.
https://vimeo.com/58127370

Very nice Obie

Very nice Obie

Ah, my friend, thank you for being kind.

Thanks Obie ,very well done and your voice was perfect for the narration. I found the piece thought provoking - why do civilizations fall, never to rise again?  Maybe we should consider that a little more carefully and stop taking what we have for granted for we may not always have it.

Thanks Obie ,very well down and your voice was perfect for the narration. I found the piece thought provoking - why do civilizations fall, never to rise again?  Maybe we should consider that a little more carefully and stop taking what we have for granted for we may not always have it.

Marko,
Thank you for the kind words. Indeed, why do some civilizations never rise again? The Hiksos, the Hittites, the Thracians (of Spartacus fame). These were not as prominent as the Assyrian empire, which flourished in Mesopotamia for thousands of years. The first of April in our language, Aramaic, the same language that Christ spoke, is Kha B’ Neesan, and this April we celebrated the year 6770. That’s a long time. The Assyrian empire, which extended into the Caucasus, Anatolia (Turkey), down to the Persian Gulf, and other lands in the middle east, fell in 612 B.C., when the combined forces of the Medes (precursors to the Persians) and the Babylonians Torched Nineveh, Assyria’s capitol. The empire was so devastated that it never rose again. I will always wonder why. 
Stay well, my friend.

Thanks Obie ,very well down and your voice was perfect for the narration. I found the piece thought provoking - why do civilizations fall, never to rise again?  Maybe we should consider that a little more carefully and stop taking what we have for granted for we may not always have it.

Marko,
Thank you for the kind words. Indeed, why do some civilizations never rise again? The Hiksos, the Hittites, the Thracians (of Spartacus fame). These were not as prominent as the Assyrian empire, which flourished in Mesopotamia for thousands of years. The first of April in our language, Aramaic, the same language that Christ spoke, is Kha B’ Neesan, and this April we celebrated the year 6770. That’s a long time. The Assyrian empire, which extended into the Caucasus, Anatolia (Turkey), down to the Persian Gulf, and other lands in the middle east, fell in 612 B.C., when the combined forces of the Medes (precursors to the Persians) and the Babylonians Torched Nineveh, Assyria’s capitol. The empire was so devastated that it never rose again. I will always wonder why. 
Stay well, my friend.

Its complicated, however, I believe that its human nature - the age old struggle between light and dark.  For every builder there seems to be countless destroyers who for whatever reason, greed, envy, pride or just outright evil - want to destroy the accomplishments of the builders.  Building takes time and effort while destruction is easy and, apparently satisfying to the destroyers despite that they generally don't have anything better to offer.  There also seems to be a tendency with civilizations that have attained "greatness" or at least have risen above the average level of development to rest on their laurels, become arrogant and complacent and thus the ever-present destroyers gain the advantage for they never rest and even if defeated never actually disappear.  They recede to safety where they can lick their wounds and brood and plot their vengeance.  They hone their hatred rather than fall prey to the complacency of the victors and builders.  Its difficult for the builders to keep their edge honed while abiding in comfort and wealth - a case in point from history tells how after the conquest of Bejing Genghis Khan would not allow his occupying army to spend more than six months in the comfort of the city.  They had to be rotated out lest they become lazy and slothful and lose their effectiveness as warriors.  The further a great civilization strays in time or temperament from the capacity for violence and savagery that established their civilization at the outset, the more vulnerable they become.  While they may have lost their appetite for violence, their enemies have not and there will always be enemies of even the most seemingly just and benevolent civilizations.  The ever present destroyers - they're among us still.

Obie, I really enjoyed this video. I have always wanted to visit areas such as this, but unfortunately it is much too dangerous to travel there, and many other places in the world now. Your insight gave me a glimpse of Assyria and inspires me to do additional research. Thank you for committing your time and effort to this. I, for one, appreciate your pride in your heritage. If on;y more youth had the same pride.

Well done, Obie. Lovely video.