Chapter 4.
THE EPOCH OF THE XII CENTURY
19. BAALBEK.
Baalbek 'platform' in Lebanon is amazing. It consists of a stack of enormous blocks. The weight of some of them exceeds EIGHT HUNDRED tons [1065]. Nearby rests a colossal block of weighing A THOUSAND TONS. Fig.35 shows a part of the Baalbek platform. You can see several rows of the enormous blocks-parallelepipeds laid into the foundation of the temple's complex. Above the tower are the remains of the 'very ancient' temple of Jupiter. The size of the blocks can be appreciated by considering a tiny figure of a person bottom left. The above mentioned one thousand ton block could have possibly chipped off some structure during an earthquake or during a deliberate demolition. Most likely it was blown up with gunpowder. It is possible that to the side of Baalbek they started building another temple, but ran out of time. One of the gigantic cement blocks was still cast, but that was all [��] ch.6:2.
Vague arguments that allegedly 'ancient' master-builders could move such boulders at least by one centimetre are absurd. To cast of cement – possible. To move and moreover to lift even by millimetre – impossible.
Some historians possibly feel the embarrassment of the situation in which they were put by the chronologists of the XVI-XVII cc., making such megalithic constructions so 'ancient'. But profound speculations about the 'very intelligent ancient' master-builders, who allegedly knew how to do things, which the modern builders don't know, convince very few.
In fact Baalbek was built in the 'ancient' epoch of the XV-XVI cc. by the Horde craftsmen. Aka the 'ancient Roman' master-builders. At that time all similar constructions were erected by the 'Mongol' Empire. It was only within capability of a mighty and wealthy kingdom to carry out such megalithic construction. From Asia to Europe and across the ocean to America.
On the territory of Palmyra in Syria also survive some 'means of the cement production'. Here and there (in year 2005) we came across some old grinder-mills with the help of which the soft formations were grounded and produced cement flour. Practically the same stone mills were discovered in 'ancient' Pompeii in Italy, fig.36. You can see how one of such mill-grinders worked. Circular grind stones were put on a spindle. When rolling hemispheric stones along the inside of a vessel, the rock or grain could be milled [��] ch.6.
20. WHERE AND WHEN ROMAN NUMERALS WERE INVENTED.
It is considered that Roman numerals appeared long before AD. In the times of the 'ancient Romans'. At which time the numerals less than fifty were written with three signs: I, V, X. Why precisely these and only these signs were used for small numbers? At first people operated in small values. Only later big numbers came into general use – hundreds, etc. At that time came the need for some new signs like L, C, D, M. So the signs for the small numbers were the original and the oldest.
We suggest the following hypothesis. When the carpenters build using timber and then move it to a new place, they mark the logs with their axes. The marks are necessary in order to put the logs together in the same order after moving them, as they have already been adjusted to fit each other precisely. Nowadays the marks are made with oil paint using Roman or Arabic numerals. But before the carpenters' marks were made only with an axe and only with Roman numerals. Indeed you cannot cut the Arabic numerals with an axe. It is terribly awkward. But Roman numerals seemed especially designed for effortlessly inscribing with an axe on a round log. Let us explain.
A carpenter marking a log with an axe has to do so with dawks. It is easy to do it either against the grain of the logs, or at a comparatively small angle to them. To cut a dawk with the grain is very awkward.
It means that a carpenter has only three easily distinguishable signs which he can make. They are: a vertical cut, i.e. a Latin letter I. Then two interconnected side cuts, i.e. a Latin letter V. An upside-down letter V cannot be considered as a separate symbol, as a carpenter could have approached the log from a different side and a mix-up could occur. And lastly are two cuts crossing each other, i.e. a Latin letter X. All the symbols made by an axe should comprise of these signs. Or be close to them.
So, the three main Roman numerals should have appeared exactly so in the carpeting business. It appears that the ancient Romans for some reason allegedly invented the very same symbols, which should have come about as a result of people who build a lot of wooden log structures (notably with the steel axes). But in Italy the main ancient building activity was from masonry and bricks. Wooden log structures were a rarity there. There are not so many forests there. Especially not of the timber variety.
It's hard to believe that Russian carpenters, who in the old days were largely uneducated, studied 'ancient', allegedly Italian numerals. Nevertheless the carpenters in Russia marked logs with the very same "Roman numerals'. But with one provision. They did not share the rule, that the numeral on the left is deducted from the numeral on the right. As the carpenter did not employ such terms as 'right' and 'left', as you can approach a log from either side. That is why the numeral 9 was written as VIIII, and not as IX.
Most likely the Roman numerals originated in Russia, and not among the scholarly circles, but among the builders. They were doing a lot of construction in Russia, mainly of timber. There were many carpenters, and this sphere of activity was considered to be important.
Later when the Empire expanded to the West the 'Roman joinery numerals' were brought there, to Italy in particular. At first there were also some forests there, and timber building started. But soon the Italian woods were cut down to a large degree. As Italy is comparatively small. But there was a large quantity of stone. As there is in the South in general. And the Russian joinery numerals transgressed to the sphere of scholars and were called 'ancient Greek'. And this is correct. They were invented by the Russians who had colonized Europe. As from the view point of the XVII century Western Europeans they were those very ancient Romans who had founded the Roman = Horde Empire of the XIV-XVI cc. But in the XV-XVI cc. The Ottoman Conquest commenced, which also originated in Russia. The Western Europeans perceived it as the collapse of Ancient Rome and stopped associating Rome with Russia. A false theory has emerged that Ancient Rome came into existence in the deep antiquity in Italy. And 'consequently' it was Italy where allegedly Roman numerals were invented.
Later, when they started to write Roman numerals down on paper with a quill, of course the L, M, C and D signs, which were necessary to denote large numbers, appeared. By the way, if Roman numerals were written on paper from the very beginning, then together with a 'five' = V, most likely there should have also appeared a 'tick', i.e. an 'upside down' V. These two symbols are easily told apart, providing that the terms 'top' and 'bottom' are determined.
It is possible that the monasteries of the Empire were created as places where the retired Cossack=Tatars were sent to, i.e. the Hordians who had completed their service. As we said before [4v1], ch.4:1., recruiting children for the military service was a 'tagma'=blood-tribute, well-known in Russia. It was recruiting for the army. The matter of military conscription was decided in childhood, thereafter a person would serve for the rest of his life. During this period they didn't start a family. They dedicated themselves completely to the Rat'(army)=Horde. In the XIV-XVI cc. the troops would depart to destinations as far as thousands of kilometres away, even to different continents. Few would come back. The family ties would be severed forever, home was just a dim memory.
Only the young men were able to serve in the Hordian army. As soon as a Cossack-Tatar reached advanced years military service became impossible. The czars-khans became aware of this problem – where to place a large number of still capable men. They may not be able to fight any more, but former soldiers were not old yet. To bring them back home? Except that after the decades that passed by the notion of home itself had dissolved, became a mere word. No wife, no children, no family. Not many could build a family at this age. Then an intelligent solution to this problem was found. All over the Horde Empire, - not Just in Russia, but also in Europe, Africa, Asia, etc., male monasteries were created where the retired Hordian soldiers were sent to. They started to call them monks. There they were occupied by civil activities and also, if necessary, military activities familiar to them. To the best of their ability they grew wheat and made bread, fished, worked on the undeveloped land, amassed riches, wrote and preserved books, built up the famous monastic libraries, studied science and defended themselves against the enemy.
The monasteries grew richer, turning into the centres which the surrounding civil communities gravitated to. The monasteries were well fortified. Behind their walls not only the monks, but the local residents too could find security. The word MONASTERY itself (MONASTERIUM in Latin) probably originated from MONKS - TATARS and point to a place where the retired MONGOLS=TATARS lived, where there were MANY TATARS. It is also clear that convents for women were created as well. The Empire engaged in many wars, producing many widows. So they were gathered together in nunneries. Originally only the elderly widows, who were incapable of bearing children any longer, were sent there. Thus the emergence of both monasteries and nunneries was a result of the expansion of the Empire and of the conquest and colonization of vast territories. Later in the XVII-XIX cc., the original intended purpose of the monasteries and nunneries was forgotten.
