Day: April 25, 2022

Djoser’s Step Pyramid in Saqqara is one of Egypt’s most iconic monuments—and rightfully so. It constitutes a significant historical turning point in ancient Egyptian funerary monuments, revolutionizing stone architecture and royal burials. In addition to its beauty and monumental scale, it is not only the very first pyramid that the ancient Egyptians ever built, but also the oldest known ancient Egyptian stone structure.

The sheer age of the Step Pyramid is astounding. It was built in the early Third Dynasty, during the reign of King Netjerykhet (c.2667–2648 BC), who is now more well-known as Djoser.

Before his reign, royal and elite Egyptians were buried in mastabas. This word, meaning “bench” in Arabic, refers to a type of funerary structure that was generally rectangular in shape and built over the tomb proper, which was underground. The Step Pyramid is composed of six stacked mastabas, thus creating the stepped effect. Imhotep, its architect, may very well have been responsible for this major innovation.

At one end of the pyramid complex, a structure known as the South Tomb is believed to have acted as an additional, symbolic, tomb for Djoser, perhaps reflecting his role as the dual king of both Upper and Lower Egypt. Djoser’s pyramid complex also has some unique features. The two courts in front of the pyramid recreate the setting of the Sed Festival, a royal ceremony aimed at rejuvenating the king and regenerating his power. The structures on the side of the eastern court emulate in stone the ephemeral shrines that were used in this festival, thus ensuring that the king could continue being rejuvenated forever.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

On April 25, the Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Azerbaijan Colonel General Kamaladdin Heydarov met with Minister of Finance of Israel Avigdor Lieberman who is on a visit o Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations told APA.

Kamaladdin Hedyarov sincerely greeting the guest has reminded that relations between our countries develop with the rising line. He has informed the guest about the activity directions of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The minister noting that there is good potential for expanding relations among the relative institutions of both countries said that the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on managing the emergency situations in the future may pave the way to the development of relations in the mentioned direction.

Minister of Finance of Israel Avigdor Lieberman thanked for the sincere meeting and noted that there are high-level relations between our countries. Touching upon the importance of expanding the relations among the relevant institutions of both countries, Avigdor Lieberman said that he positively evaluates the issue voiced regarding the potential signing of an intergovernmental agreement on combating emergency situations.

Source: Azeri-Press News Agency

“46 anti-personnel and 126 anti-tank mines, as well as 170 unexploded ordnances (UXO) were found and neutralized during the mine-clearing operations in Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan districts from April 18 to 23,” Azerbaijan’s Mine Action Agency said in a statement.

“As a result, 475.7 hectares were cleared of mines and UXOs,” the agency added.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

A child believed to be a 3-year-old girl was confirmed dead Monday, taking the death toll to 11 after a tourist boat with 26 passengers and crew aboard went missing in rough waters over the weekend off a World Heritage site on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, the coast guard and local officials said, according to Kyodo News.

Having dispatched aircraft and vessels, the Japan Coast Guard and Self-Defense Forces were continuing to search for the remaining 15 following the incident involving the 19-ton Kazu I.

Contact with the boat was lost after it reported that it was taking on water around 1:15 p.m. Saturday.

Seven men and three women were confirmed dead the next day. There were two children aboard the vessel.

According to the coast guard, the girl was found Sunday night in an unresponsive state in waters about 14 kilometers east of a lighthouse near the tip of Shiretoko Peninsula, a popular destination in the northeast of Hokkaido known for drift ice tours.

The coast guard said the child was likely to have drifted due to the wind and tide. According to officials in Shari, from where the boat departed, the girl was aboard with her parents who remain missing.

The coast guard and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said the 24 passengers ranged from under 10 to their 70s. All passengers and crew were believed to be wearing life jackets, but the girl was not wearing one when she was found.

The search continued through the night, expanding beyond the tip of the peninsula where many of the victims had been found. Nine of the 10 confirmed dead were found in the water or on nearby rocks around 10 km from where the boat issued its first rescue call.

Local fishing boats and tourist vessels have joined the search.

Suspecting that the boat may have sunk, searchers are using sonar to locate it.

The boat left port in Shari around 10 a.m. Saturday to cruise along the peninsula, designated as a World Natural Heritage site in 2005 and home to many rare species of animals and plants.

The vessel, crewed by 54-year-old captain Noriyuki Toyoda and a deckhand, told operator Shiretoko Yuransen that it was listing 30 degrees around 2 p.m., before contact was lost, according to the coast guard.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

Russian President Vladimir Putin has commented on the detention of a group planning to assassinate Russian journalist and TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov at a meeting of the Prosecutor General’s Office, APA’s Moscow correspondent reports.

“This morning, the (Russian) Federal Security Service suppressed the activities of a terrorist group that planned to kill a famous Russian TV journalist. Of course, now they will disown this, but the facts, the evidence are irrefutable,” he claimed.

Russia knows the CIA agents that allegedly recommended that Ukrainian saboteurs kill Russian journalists, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

“We know by name the curators of the Ukrainian Nazis from Western services, primarily the US CIA, who give such advice as the murder of (Russian) journalists,” Putin said, speaking at an expanded meeting of the Prosecutor General’s Office Board in Moscow.

He said the West is using its information space monopoly to fight Russia but with little success and so it started resorting to “open terrorism.”

Source: Azeri-Press News Agency

A meeting on the results of the first quarter of the training year 2022 was held in one of the military units of the Land Forces, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense told AZERTAC.

At first, the memory of national leader Heydar Aliyev and martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan was honored with observing a minute of silence. The national anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played.

In the course of the meeting, reports on the work done and tasks accomplished during the quarter were heard, and the implemented reforms, the state of combat readiness, logistics, military discipline, and military service were analyzed.

It was noted that during the reporting period, the Azerbaijan Army conducted various types of military exercises and combat training, increased the combat capability and the professionalism of the military personnel.

Construction work has been carried out in the military units deployed in the liberated territories, new military facilities have been commissioned, and important steps have been taken to improve the social and living conditions of military personnel.

Instructions on the planned conduct of educational work, further strengthening of ideological work and moral-psychological support were given during the meeting.

At the end of the meeting, the instructions of the Minister of Defense on the implementation of tasks assigned within the framework of the reforms carried out in the Azerbaijan Army under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Ilham Aliyev, as well as on the further improvement of combat duty and combat capability of the troops were delivered to the command staff.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency