document_title: The X-Files (season 2)

question_text: when does scully come back in season 2

question_tokens: when does scully come back in season 2

text: The X-Files (season 2)

text: Plot overview[edit]

text: Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is reassigned to teach at the FBI Academy while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is given lowly surveillance assignments. After he investigates extraterrestrial cases at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico,[1][2] Mulder is given a new partner, Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), and meets a secretive informant, X (Steven Williams).[3][4] Mulder is recruited to assist in a hostage negotiation when Duane Barry, an alien abductee, captures four people.[5][6] Barry eventually kidnaps Scully, believing that if he brings her to his original abduction site, Skyland Mountain, aliens will take her instead of him. Mulder follows but is delayed by Krycek, who is revealed to be a mole working for Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis). When Mulder reaches Skyland Mountain, Scully is gone. Barry, who insists that aliens took him, dies soon after an interrogation by Krycek. When Krycek vanishes, Skinner re-opens the X-Files, claiming that is what the conspirators will fear most.[7][8]

text: Scully turns up comatose in a hospital three months later with no explanation about how she got there. X provides Mulder with information allowing him to take revenge on her captors, but Mulder is instead convinced by Scully's sister Melissa to visit her bedside. Scully recovers and returns to work shortly thereafter.[9][10] The agents later investigate a case involving alien biology being injected into teenagers in Wisconsin, and once again they encounter Deep Throat's killer, who is killed by the local sheriff.[11][12]

text: When investigating a case involving the murder of identical doctors, the agents come across a shapeshifting Alien Bounty Hunter (Brian Thompson) responsible for executing a series of alien clones. During this case a grown woman claiming to be Mulder's sister Samantha appears, telling Mulder of the Bounty Hunter's objectives and that she has the ability to identify him.[13][14] When Scully is kidnapped by the Bounty Hunter, Mulder is forced to trade Samantha for her. During a botched attempt to kill the Bounty Hunter, Samantha is killed. However, it is discovered that this was simply one of many alien clones of Samantha. With the help of X, Mulder pursues the Bounty Hunter to a submarine in the Arctic. Mulder is nearly killed when exposed to the Bounty Hunter's toxic blood, but is saved by Scully.[15][16]

text: When a hacker downloads decades' worth of classified information about aliens onto a digital tape, he gives it to Mulder, who finds that the entire tape is written in Navajo. Cigarette Smoking Man begins searching for the tape and visits Mulder's father, who calls Mulder to see him shortly afterwards. Before he can reveal anything to Mulder, however, he is murdered by Alex Krycek. Scully brings Mulder to New Mexico, where she introduces him to Albert Hosteen, a code-talker who can translate the digital tape. Albert's grandson shows Mulder a boxcar filled with alien corpses. Cigarette Smoking Man tracks Mulder's location, however, and orders the boxcar burned.[17][18]

text: Production[edit]

text: Writing and development[edit]

text: The season premiere was originally supposed to have been written by series creator Chris Carter. In his initial pitch, Mulder would have been sent to Moscow. In fact, the producers wanted to film the episode in Russia, but they were not able to secure the appropriate arrangements. In the end, Carter was unable to complete the script idea, which would have also featured the reopening of the X-Files.[19] Instead, co-executive producers Glen Morgan, James Wong and Howard Gordon penned the opening premiere, "Little Green Men"; the episode was the first entry to actually show an alien in the series.[20] This delay gave Carter time to write "Duane Barry", the start of the first two-parter and also the entry wherein the X-Files are re-opened.[19]

text: As the series ended its first season, a problem had arisen for the producers: the pregnancy of Gillian Anderson, who played Dana Scully. Some network executives wanted the role recast, which Carter refused to do.[21] Though they considered having Scully giving birth to an alien child, the producers decided to work around Anderson's pregnancy by having her abducted and appearing comatose several episodes later.[22] This was described by executive producer Frank Spotnitz as "the best thing that ever happened to the series" as it helped form the intricate mythology that would run throughout the show.[23] The writers decided to close the X-Files at the end of the first season and thus separate Mulder and Scully in the earlier episodes of the season.[22] To hide Anderson's pregnancy in the early episodes, the producers disguised it with "very fancy trick angles, trench coats, and scenes where she is seated rather than standing".[24] Anderson was not featured at all in the episode "3", as she was giving birth to her daughter at the time.[25]

text: Casting[edit]

text: The season introduced the character X, played by Steven Williams, who replaced Deep Throat as Mulder's informant, following Deep Throat's assassination in the first-season finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask". X was originally intended to be a woman with Natalija Nogulich already cast in the role, but was replaced by Williams as the writers did not believe she had the "right chemistry" with her co-stars.[26] X was written to be different than Deep Throat; Deep Throat had been selfless, while X was intended to be selfish and scared.[27] Nicholas Lea, who had previously appeared in a small part in the season one's "Gender Bender", was cast as Alex Krycek.[28] Krycek was originally intended as a temporary replacement for Scully when she was abducted, but grew into a character who would last seven seasons on the show.[29]

text: During the production of the season, Duchovny asked Carter "wouldn't it be great if we had like an alien bounty hunter?"[30] Carter was positive towards the idea and acted upon it, creating with Spotniz the character of the Alien Bounty Hunter for the two-part episodes "Colony" and "End Game".[30] Actor Brian Thompson auditioned for the role in a casting session, where he was competing with another actor. Spotnitz and Carter did not have much time to cast the character, but they knew this casting would be important since they intended the character to become a recurring character. Thompson was chosen according to Spotnitz because he had a very "distinctive look" about him, most notably his face and mouth.[31] Megan Leitch also appeared in "Colony" and "End Game" as a grown-up clone version of Samantha Mulder, and would return to play Samantha or one of her clones over the other seasons. Carter did not want it to be the real Samantha, since that would have been "straight science fiction" and it was too "ridiculous" to give too many answers.[31] Darren McGavin, star of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, was sought out for the part of Senator Matheson in "Little Green Men" and Mulder's father in "Colony" and "End Game", but the roles went to Raymond J. Barry and Peter Donat respectively, while McGavin agreed to play X-Files founder Arthur Dales in season five.[32]

text: Crew[edit]

text: Carter also served as executive producer and showrunner and wrote seven episodes. Co-executive producers and writing team Glen Morgan and James Wong wrote five episodes for their final season as regular writers for the series, although they would both return as consulting producers for part of season four. Supervising producer Howard Gordon wrote five episodes. Frank Spotnitz joined the series, writing two episodes. Cast member David Duchovny collaborated with Carter for two episodes receiving story credit. Glen Morgan's younger brother Darin Morgan joined the series, contributing the story for an episode written by his older brother and James Wong, and writing another script solo. Paul Brown joined the series as a producer and wrote two episodes. Sara B. Charno, another staff writer, wrote two episodes. Vince Gilligan joined the series, writing one episode. Former supervising producer Alex Gansa returned to co-wrote one episode with writing partner Howard Gordon. Chris Ruppenthal returned to write one more freelance episode after last season. Steve De Jarnatt also contributed one freelance episode for the season. Line producer and production manager Joseph Patrick Finn was promoted to producer with this season. Paul Rabwin continued to serve as co-producer for the show.[33]

text: Producing-directors for the show included Rob Bowman, David Nutter, Kim Manners and co-executive producer R. W. Goodwin, who all directed the most of the season; Bowman with seven, Nutter with five, and Manners and Goodwin each with two.[33] Series creator Chris Carter directed one episode, making his directorial debut,[34] while Daniel Sackheim, Michael Lange, James Contner, James Whitmore, Jr., Michael Vejar, Nick Marck, Stephen Surjik and Win Phelps each directed one episode.[33]

text: Cast[edit]

text: Main cast[edit]

text:
David Duchovny as Special Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scullya

text: a ^ She does not appear in "3".

text: Recurring cast[edit]

text:
Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner
Steven Williams as X
William B. Davis as Cigarette Smoking Man
Nicholas Lea as Alex Krycek
Tom Braidwood as Melvin Frohike
Bruce Harwood as John Fitzgerald Byers
Dean Haglund as Richard Langly
Peter Donat as William Mulder
Sheila Larken as Margaret Scully
Megan Leitch as Samantha Mulder
Steve Railsback as Duane Barry
Brian Thompson as Alien Bounty Hunter
Raymond J. Barry as Richard Matheson
Nick Chinlund as Donnie Pfaster
Don S. Davis as William Scully
Lindsey Ginter as Crew Cut Man
Melinda McGraw as Melissa Scully
Rebecca Toolan as Teena Mulder
Floyd Westerman as Albert Hosteen

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Episodes marked with a double dagger () are episodes in the series' Alien Mythology arc.[nb 1]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Prod.
code [33]
U.S. viewers
(millions)

25
1
"Little Green Men"
David Nutter
Glen Morgan & James Wong
September 16, 1994 (1994-09-16)
2X01
16.1[35]

With the X-Files shut down, FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) finds his own belief in the truth waning. So when an old political ally (Raymond J. Barry) gives him a new reason to believe, he goes alone to an abandoned SETI program site—Arecibo Observatory—in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Concerned for his safety, fellow FBI agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) has to track down his whereabouts before someone or something else does.

26
2
"The Host"
Daniel Sackheim
Chris Carter
September 23, 1994 (1994-09-23)
2X02
15.9[36]

When a man's decomposed body is found in the sewers of Newark, Mulder is given the supposed "grunt" work. But after Scully's autopsy turns up a parasite living inside the body and a sewer worker is attacked and bitten by something, it opens up a whole new can of worms. Guest starring Darin Morgan.

27
3
"Blood"
David Nutter
Story by : Darin Morgan
Teleplay by : Glen Morgan & James Wong
September 30, 1994 (1994-09-30)
2X03
14.8[37]

Prompted by messages from digital appliances with instructions to kill, several residents of a small farming community suddenly turn violent and dangerous. Guest starring William Sanderson and John Cygan.

28
4
"Sleepless"
Rob Bowman
Howard Gordon
October 7, 1994 (1994-10-07)
2X04
13.4[38]

An audio cassette hidden in his morning paper brings Mulder to request the case of a scientist's death consistent with burning, despite the lack of any evidence of any flames or burns. He is given his request along with a new partner, Agent Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea). Guest starring Tony Todd.

29
5
"Duane Barry"
Chris Carter
Chris Carter
October 14, 1994 (1994-10-14)
2X05
13.9[39]

An ex-FBI agent (Steve Railsback) escapes from a mental hospital and holds several people hostage in a travel agency. Mulder and Krycek are sent in to help with the negotiations since the man claims to have been a UFO abductee.

30
6
"Ascension"
Michael Lange
Paul Brown
October 21, 1994 (1994-10-21)
2X06
15.5[40]

Continuing from the previous episode, Mulder races to Scully's house after listening to the recording of her attack on his answering machine. Duane Barry (Steve Railsback) has kidnapped Scully, determined to offer her to the aliens in his place. Mulder goes to great lengths to attempt to locate Scully.

31
7
"3"
David Nutter
Chris Ruppenthal and Glen Morgan & James Wong
November 4, 1994 (1994-11-04)
2X07
15.0[41]

Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) reopens the X-Files, but Mulder is finding it difficult to work without the missing Scully. When he recognizes a Los Angeles killing as the work of the Trinity murderers, a trio of killers with a fetish for drinking blood, it gives him work in which to immerse himself. Guest starring Perrey Reeves.

32
8
"One Breath"
R. W. Goodwin
Glen Morgan & James Wong
November 11, 1994 (1994-11-11)
2X08
15.3[42]

When Scully mysteriously re-appears comatose in a hospital, Mulder fixates himself on finding the people responsible, though his quest for vengeance could make him exactly like those he despises.

33
9
"Firewalker"
David Nutter
Howard Gordon
November 18, 1994 (1994-11-18)
2X09
15.2[43]

A malfunction in a robot designed for volcanic exploration yields evidence of a lifeform living in the caves. When this lifeform seemingly causes the death of a member of the research team, Mulder and a newly recovered Scully are flown out to the site in The Cascades to investigate before anyone else dies. Guest starring Bradley Whitford and Leland Orser.

34
10
"Red Museum"
Win Phelps
Chris Carter
December 9, 1994 (1994-12-09)
2X10
16.1[44]

Several Wisconsin teens are found wandering in the woods in their underwear with "He Is One" scrawled on their backs. Mulder and Scully travel to investigate this aberrant behavior, though the strangest thing in this meat-producing area is a mysterious cult of vegetarian "walk-ins." The Crew Cut Man (Lindsey Ginter) returns, this time working alone. Several relics from the mythology like purity control and Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) are revisited here.

35
11
"Excelsis Dei"
Stephen Surjik
Paul Brown
December 16, 1994 (1994-12-16)
2X11
14.2[45]

Mulder and Scully's latest case begins with the rape and battery of a nurse (Teryl Rothery) in a Massachusetts nursing home - what makes it an X-File is her claim that her attacker was invisible. However, upon their arrival, they uncover strange secrets about the home and its residents.

36
12
"Aubrey"
Rob Bowman
Sara B. Charno
January 6, 1995 (1995-01-06)
2X12
16.2[46]

When a detective mysteriously uncovers the remains of an FBI agent who disappeared in the 1940s while investigating a murder case eerily similar to a modern-day one she is investigating, Mulder and Scully believe that the original 1940s killer passed his genetic trait of violence to his grandchild. Guest starring Terry O'Quinn and Deborah Strang.

37
13
"Irresistible"
David Nutter
Chris Carter
January 13, 1995 (1995-01-13)
2X13
14.7[47]

Someone is excavating graves in Minneapolis, removing body parts from the corpses. Mulder and Scully are contacted because the agent on the case believes it is the work of aliens; however Mulder quickly dismisses the idea, profiling the perpetrator as a fetishist. Later key evidence shows up and Scully realises the case is more personal than she thought. Guest starring Nick Chinlund and Bruce Weitz.

38
14
"Die Hand Die Verletzt"
Kim Manners
Glen Morgan & James Wong
January 27, 1995 (1995-01-27)
2X14
17.7[48]

New Hampshire teenagers feign an occult ritual in an attempt to "score" and inadvertently cause the murder and mutilation of one of their group. When Mulder and Scully are called to look into the matter, the town's real worshippers attempt to hide their tracks, though it seems there is a mysterious force at work that even the worshippers are afraid of. Guest starring Susan Blommaert.

39
15
"Fresh Bones"
Rob Bowman
Howard Gordon
February 3, 1995 (1995-02-03)
2X15
17.8[49]

One morning, after two gruesome hallucinations, Private Jack McAlpin crashes his car into a tree that has a voodoo symbol drawn on it; the second death of a marine in two weeks that has featured that symbol. The marines in question were guarding a processing centre for Haitian refugees, and when Mulder and Scully visit the centre they find the deaths were not as unexpected as they seemed.

40
16
"Colony"
Nick Marck
Story by : David Duchovny & Chris Carter
Teleplay by : Chris Carter
February 10, 1995 (1995-02-10)
2X16
15.9[50]

At the beginning, a frozen Mulder is brought to a hospital. The episode flashes back to a scene two weeks before, where the crew of a research vessel find the wreckage of a UFO in the Beaufort Sea. The pilot who survives this crash walks out of the hospital and kills identical-looking doctors in various abortion clinics. Guest starring Peter Donat, Brian Thompson, Megan Leitch and Dana Gladstone.

41
17
"End Game"
Rob Bowman
Frank Spotnitz
February 17, 1995 (1995-02-17)
2X17
17.5[51]

An alien bounty hunter kidnaps Scully and wants to trade her for Mulder's sister, Samantha Mulder (Megan Leitch). Mulder asks for Skinner's help in making the trade, and has the FBI Director set up a sniper to take down the bounty hunter. Guest starring Peter Donat, Brian Thompson and Megan Leitch.

42
18
"Fearful Symmetry"
James Whitmore, Jr.
Steve De Jarnatt
February 24, 1995 (1995-02-24)
2X18
16.5[52]

The death of a federal construction worker and the destruction of various property can only be tied to an escaped elephant, yet the witnesses claim to have seen no animals which might have caused the turmoil. Soon, Mulder and Scully discover the local zoo whose claim to fame is that they've never had a successful animal birth.

43
19
"Død Kalm"
Rob Bowman
Story by : Howard Gordon
Teleplay by : Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa
March 10, 1995 (1995-03-10)
2X19
17.1[53]

Mulder and Scully are called in when a boatload of survivors from a U.S. Navy destroyer escort are found. What particularly catches Agent Mulder's attention is that all of these Sailors appear to have aged many decades in the course of a few days. Mulder and Scully travel to Norway where they find a civilian fisherman who is willing to take them to the ship's last known position. Guest starring John Savage, David Cubitt and Vladimir Kulich.

44
20
"Humbug"
Kim Manners
Darin Morgan
March 31, 1995 (1995-03-31)
2X20
15.7[54]

Mulder and Scully must find the paranormal among the abnormal when they are sent to investigate a long standing series of ritualistic killings which match no known patterns. The latest of which was the death of the "Alligator Man", just one of many sideshow acts around which the town of Gibsonton, Florida, is built.

45
21
"The Calusari"
Michael Vejar
Sara B. Charno
April 14, 1995 (1995-04-14)
2X21
12.9[55]

A photograph taken just before the death of a two-year-old boy yields evidence of some supernatural intervention which piques Mulder's curiosity. When another death in the family occurs, the grandmother of the remaining child requests the aid of some Romanian ritualists (called "căluşari" or "horsemen") in order to cleanse the home of evil. Guest starring Helene Clarkson, Joel Palmer, Ric Reid, Lilyan Chauvin and Kay E. Kuter.

46
22
"F. Emasculata"
Rob Bowman
Chris Carter & Howard Gordon
April 28, 1995 (1995-04-28)
2X22
14.0[56]

After several men in a prison die of a mysterious illness, Scully tries to discover the cause while Mulder attempts to find two escapees who could potentially spread the disease.

47
23
"Soft Light"
James Contner
Vince Gilligan
May 5, 1995 (1995-05-05)
2X23
12.9[57]

An ex-student of Scully's (Kate Twa) asks the agents to help her with her first investigation concerning a number of disappearances with very few clues. Mulder ponders the idea of spontaneous human combustion but rethinks it when they find a man (Tony Shalhoub) who is afraid of his own shadow. The man is Dr. Banton, a scientist researching dark matter. Guest starring Tony Shalhoub, Kevin McNulty and Steven Williams as X.

48
24
"Our Town"
Rob Bowman
Frank Spotnitz
May 12, 1995 (1995-05-12)
2X24
14.5[58]

Dudley, Arkansas, is the site of the latest investigation for Mulder and Scully, who are sent to find a missing poultry inspector. The case takes a twist when another poultry worker is shot after she goes insane, giving Mulder a hunch that the townsfolk really are what they eat.

49
25
"Anasazi"
R. W. Goodwin
Story by : David Duchovny & Chris Carter
Teleplay by : Chris Carter
May 19, 1995 (1995-05-19)
2X25
16.6[59]

The trust that Mulder and Scully have is sorely tested when Mulder begins acting strangely. His aberrant behavior is compounded when the Lone Gunmen direct him to a hacker who managed to break into some very closely guarded files. The files are encrypted in Navajo and need to be decoded by a former Navajo code talker.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Ratings[edit]

text: The second season of The X-Files debuted with "Little Green Men" on September 16, 1994. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.3, with a 19 share, meaning that roughly 10.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 19 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode.[60] The episode was viewed by 9.8 million households, an increase from the first season's finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask", which was viewed by 8.3 million households.[60] "Little Green Men" was, at the time, the highest-rated episode of The X-Files to air.[60] As the season continued, ratings began to grow.[60] The season hit a high with the fifteenth episode, "Fresh Bones", which was viewed by 10.8 million households.[60] The season hit a low with the twenty-first episode, "The Calusari", which was viewed by 7.9 million households and received a rating of 8.3/16.[60] The season finale, "Anasazi", earned a Nielsen rating of 10.1, with an 18 share, and was viewed by 9.6 million households,[60] marking a 13.5 percent increase in households when compared to the previous season finale.[nb 2] The series was ranked as number 63 during the 1994–95 television season,[61] a significant increase in ratings when compared to the first season, which finished at number 111.[62]

text: Reviews[edit]

text: The DVD Journal gave the season four out of four stars, calling it a "memorable season". The review highlighted "The Host", "Duane Barry" and "Ascension", the cliffhanger finale "Anasazi", the "unforgettable" "Humbug", and meeting Mulder and Scully's families in "Colony" and "One Breath".[63] IGN gave the season a rating of 9 out of 10, with the reviewer noting it was an improvement upon the first as it had "started to explore a little" and the "evolution of the characters makes the product shine even though the plotlines have begun to seem familiar".[64] Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated several episodes across the season highly, awarding five stars out of five to "Little Green Men", "Duane Barry", "One Breath", "Irresistible", "Die Hand Die Verletzt", and "Anasazi". However, several episodes rated poorly, with "3", "Excelsis Dei", and "The Calusari" being considered particularly poor.[65]

text: Many critics considered the "Duane Barry"/"Ascension"/"One Breath" story arc to be the best part of the season. Shearman singled out the three-parter as the highlight of the season, noting that the "intimacy" and "sincerity [of] the emotion" of the episodes allowed the mythology of The X-Files to play out for a further seven seasons.[65] Tom Kessenich, in his book Examination: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6–9 of the X-Files named the story arc the top episode of The X-Files and wrote, "to this day, this remains the defining moment in the series run. So much sprang forth from this trio of episodes. ... Sensational."[66]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The second season earned the series seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including its first for Outstanding Drama Series. The episode "Duane Barry" received four nominations for different categories; CCH Pounder for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series; Chris Carter for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Drama Series; James Coblentz for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production; and for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Editing for a Series. Other nominations included John S. Bartley for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Series for "One Breath" and Stephen Mark for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production for "Sleepless".[67][68] This season would also earn the series its first of three wins for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama.[68][69]

text: DVD release[edit]

text:
The X-Files – The Complete Second Season

Set details[33]
Special features[33]

25 episodes
7-disc set
1.33:1 aspect ratio
Subtitles: English, Spanish
English (Dolby 2.0 Surround)

"The Truth About Season Two" documentary
Chris Carter talks about 12 episodes: "Little Green Men", "The Host", "Sleepless", "Duane Barry", "Ascension", "One Breath", "Irresistible", "Die Hand Die Verletzt", "Colony", "End Game", "Humbug", and "Anasazi"
Selected special effects clips
Deleted scenes
9 "Behind-the-truth" spots from F/X
49 promotional television spots

Release dates

Region 1
Region 2
Region 4

November 28, 2000 (2000-11-28)
April 30, 2001 (2001-04-30)
April 20, 2001 (2001-04-20)

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ The episodes were included in the DVD collection The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 – Abduction, released by Fox.
Jump up ^ "The Erlenmeyer Flask" was viewed by 8.3 million households whereas "Anasazi" was viewed by 9.6.[60] Subtracting the two figures and then dividing them by 9.6 million, which represents the largest possible audience, yields a percent increase of 13.5 percent.


document_title: Santería

question_text: what is the process to become a santero

question_tokens: what is the process to become a santero

root

text: Santería

text: History[edit]

text: Santería is a system of beliefs that merges aspects of Yoruba religion brought to the New World by enslaved Yoruba people along with Christianity and the religions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.[2] The Yoruba people carried with them various religious customs, including a trance and divination system for communicating with their ancestors and deities, animal sacrifice, and sacred drumming and dance.[3][4] The need to preserve their traditions and belief systems in a hostile cultural environment prompted those enslaved in Cuba, starting from as early as 1515, to merge their customs with aspects of Roman Catholicism.[4]

tag: p

text: This religious tradition evolved into what is now recognized as Santería.

text: The colonial period from the standpoint of enslaved African people can be defined as a time of perseverance. Their world quickly changed. Tribal kings and their families, politicians, business and community leaders all were enslaved and taken to a foreign region of the world. Religious leaders, their relatives and their followers were no longer free people to worship as they saw fit. Colonial laws criminalized their religion. They were forced to become baptized and worship a god their ancestors had not known who was surrounded by a pantheon of saints. The early concerns during this period seem to have necessitated a need for individual survival under harsh plantation conditions. A sense of hope was sustaining the internal essence of what today is called Santería, a misnomer (and former pejorative) for the indigenous religion of the Lukumi people of Nigeria. In the heart of their homeland, they had a complex political and social order. They were a sedentary hoe farming cultural group with specialized labor. Their religion, based on the worship of nature, was renamed and documented by their slave owners. Santería, a pejorative term that characterizes deviant Catholic forms of worshiping saints, has become a common name for the religion. The term santero(a) is used to describe a priest or priestess replacing the traditional term Olorisha as an extension of the deities. The orishas became known as the saints in image of the Catholic pantheon.

text: In order to preserve and shield (mask) their traditional beliefs, the Lucumí people syncretized their Orichás with Catholic saints.[4] (As a consequence, the terms "saint" and "orichá" are commonly used interchangeably among practitioners.) Spanish colonial planters who saw the enslaved African people celebrating on saints' days did not know that they were actually performing rituals related to Orichás, and assumed that they were showing more interest in Catholic saints than in the Christian God—hence the derisory origin of the term Santería.[4]

text: The historical veiling of the relationship between Catholic saints and Orichás is compounded by the fact that the vast majority of santeros in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, are also Roman Catholics, have been baptized, and often require initiates to be baptized in Roman Catholicism as well.

text: The spread of Santería beyond the Spanish-speaking parts of the Caribbean, including to the United States, was catalyzed by the Cuban Revolution of 1959.[4] In 1974, the Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye became the first Santería church in the United States to become officially incorporated.[5]

text: Rituals and ceremonies[edit]

text: Santería does not use a central creed for its religious practices; though it is understood in terms of its rituals and ceremonies.[6]:102 These rituals and ceremonies take place in what is known as a house-temple or casa de santos (house of saints), also known as an ilé. Most ilés are in the homes of the initiated priests and priestesses. Ilé shrines are built, by the priests and priestess, to the different orichás, which creates a space for worship, called an igbodu (altar).[6]:102 In an igbodu there is a display of three distinct thrones (draped with royal blue, white, and red satin) that represent the seats of the queens, kings, and the deified warriors.[7]:168

text: Each ilé is composed of those who occasionally seek guidance from the orishas, as well as those who are in the process of becoming priests.[8]:6

text: The many cabildos and casas that bridged the 19th and 20th centuries are fondly remembered by contemporary priests as the origins and strongholds of Cuban Lucumí culture and religion.[8]:57

text: To become a Santero or Santera (Priest or Priestess of Santería), the initiator must go through an intensive week-long initiation process[7]:165 in which the teaching of the ritual skills and moral behavior occurs informally and nonverbally. To begin with, the initiator goes through what is called a cleansing ritual. The initiator's Padrino (godfather) cleanses the head with special herbs and water. The Padrino rubs the herbs and water in a specific pattern of movements into the scalp of the head. However, if a person is entering Santería for the need of healing, they will undergo the rogación de la cabeza (blessing of the head), in which coconut water and cotton are applied on the head to feed it.[9]:26–28 Once cleansed, there are four major initiation rituals that the initiator will have to undergo: obtaining the elekes (beaded necklace), receiving Los Guerreros (the Warriors), making Ochá (Saint), and Asiento (ascending the throne).[6]:107

text: Obtaining the ilekes[edit]

text: The first ritual is known as the acquisition of the beaded necklaces (known as ilekes); according to De La Torre, "the colors and patterns of the beads on the ilekes will be those of the orichá that serves as the iyawo's (bride) ruling head and guardian angel and so the first thing that must be done is to determine who the orichá is. The ilekes necklace is bathed in a mixture of herbs, sacrificial blood, and other potent substances and given to the initiated.[6]:107

text: The initiate most often receives the necklace of the five most powerful and popular oricha, as the multicolored beads of the elekes are each patterned for the primary Orichás (Eleguá, Obatalá, Yemayá, Changó, and Ochún), and they serve as a sacred point of contact with these Orichás. When the necklace is received, the initiated must bow over a bathtub and have his/her head washed by the olo orichá. The elekes[9]:28 serves as the sacred banners for the Orichás and act as a sign of the Orichá's presence and protection; however, it must never be worn during a woman's menstruation period, nor during sex, nor when bathing.[6]:107

text: Medio Asiento[edit]

text: The second important ritual is known as medio asiento, the creation of an image of the orichá Eleguá. The individual will go through a consultation with a Santero, where all the recipients' life, past, present, and future, will be reviewed. During the consultation, the Santero determines which path of Eleguá the recipient will receive. Then, based on his findings, he chooses materials that will be used to construct the image of the Eleguá, a sculpture that is used to keep evil spirits away from the initiator's home. This ritual is only prepared by men as the orichás take some of the Santero's "manly" spirit in the process.[10]:xi

text: Los Guerreros[edit]

text: The third ritual, known as "receiving the warriors", is a ritual where the initiated receives objects from their padrino that represents the warriors; Iron tools to represent Ogún; an iron bow and arrow to represent Ochosi; and an iron or silver chalice surmounted by a rooster to represent Osún.[6]:112 This ritual begins a formal and lifelong relationship that the initiate will have with these Orichás, as the orichás devote their energies to protecting and providing for the initiate on their path.

text: Asiento[edit]

text: The last ritual of the initiation process is known as Asiento (ascending the throne), and is the most important and the most secretive ritual in Santería, as it is the ceremony where the iyawo (bride of the oricha) becomes "born again" into the faith. This ritual is a culmination of the previous rituals, and cannot be made unless the others have been completed. Asiento is a process of purification and divination whereby the initiated becomes like a newborn baby and begins a new life of deeper growth within the faith.[6]:112

text: Post-initiation[edit]

text: Once the initiation is completed, depending on the individuals "house", there is a year-long waiting period, known as iyaboraje, in which the newly appointed Priest and Priestess can not perform cleansings and other remedies.[11] It is a time where the Iyawo or Bride of the Orichá must follow a strict regimen of wearing all white and must avoid physical contact with those who have not been initiated. Once the ebo del año has been completed there will be an end of year ceremony, which will enable the Priest or Priestess to consult clients, perform cleansings, provide remedies and perform initiations. And according to Gonzalez: "they are also regarded as royalty in the religion, as they are considered representatives of the Orichás and are vested with the power to work with the forces of those Orichás in full."[10]:xi

text: With Santería rituals there are musical ceremonies and prayers that are referred to as bembé, toque de santo, or tambor. It is a celebration dedicated to an Orichá, where the batá drums (set of three drums known as the iya (the largest drum), itoltele, and okonkolo) are played in the Orichá's honor.[12]:11 Through these sacred drums, messages of worshippers reach the orichás and the orichás respond to their devotees. These drums are used only by men and must always be treated with respect; for example, dancers must never turn their backs towards the drums while dancing, as it is considered disrespectful.[6]:118

text: Clergy[edit]

text: Priests are commonly known as Santeros or Olorichas. Once those priests have initiated other priests, they become known as babalorichás, "fathers of orichá" (for men), and as iyalorichás, "mothers of orichá" (for women). Priests can commonly be referred to as Santeros (male) and Santeras (female), and if they function as diviners (using cowrie-shell divination known as Dilogun) of the Orichás they can be considered Italeros, or if they go through training to become leaders of initiations, Obas or Oriates.

text: Lucumí traditional healing practices[edit]

text: Lucumí traditional healing practices are rooted in the spiritual influences of America, Europe, and West Africa. Having a strong spiritual component, these traditional healing practices also use the pathways of the herbalist, psychologist, ethicist, and that of a respected spiritual medium interceding between God and human beings. Du Toit refers to Cuban traditional healing practices as ethnomedicine, which taps on the biodynamic chemical properties of certain plants, from which some commercial drugs were derived, such as the cardiac medications, digitalis, quinine, and curare – chemicals causing neuromuscular paralysis.[13]:19 Du Toit categorizes Cuban ethnomedicine as having health specialists, which are el yerbero (the herbalist), el curandero (the curer), el santero (the religious healer), and el conocedor (the botanist). Du Toit continues, "Cuba is one of the regions in which a great deal of ethnographic and ethnobotanical research has been conducted."[13]:21

text: Du Toit cites the studies of Lydia Cabrera on the religious and healing role of indigenous medicinal plants, and Jose Gallo on the 900-page compilation of folk medicine, and also mentions that with the 31 herbs prescribed as bronchodilators, only Datura candida was effective, due to its contents of scopolamine and atropine in the leaves. Lemongrass or caña de limón is used for low blood pressure and anti-inflammatory effects. Thyme tea and castor oil are used to speed the delivery of babies and the broomweed (Corchorus siliquosus) induces the quick expulsion of the placenta.[13]:21 Herbs are also used to create a trance possession using the hallucinogenic properties of Datura metel and Datura stramonium (both have scopolamine and atropine, causing amnesia), the psychoactive ingredients from the cane toad (Bufo marinus).[13]:23

text: Aside from being herbalist, Santería traditional healing practice has a spiritual aspect. Santería has a holistic approach, acknowledging the connection with heart, mind, and body.[14]:50 In Santería, the world flows with the primal life energy called aché or growth, the force toward completeness and divinity. Aché is the current that Santería initiates channel so that it empowers them to fulfill their path in life, because aché is connected to all that has life or exhibits power; aché comprises blood, grace, and power.[6]:12 When a person is sick, the healer thinks, interprets and reacts, considering the illness not just a physical dysfunction but also an interface with suffering and bad luck in life, believed to be brought on by the activity of bad spirits.

text: Prevalent in Caribbean cultures, espiritismo is a part of the Latin American traditional healing practice. Du Tout reveals that Santería has a "strong element of spiritism."[13]:26 McNeill also concurs that some Santeros have the power to communicate with spirits asking for guidance to improve the situation of a person consulting.[15]:69 However, in general, the Santeros of the Regla de Ochá primarily turn to religion as their practice to address personal challenges and identify means to improve a situation.[15]:77 Many people may go and see espirititas who don't see a Santero. Also, espiritistas may work hand in hand with Santeros.

text: While psychotherapy tends to use mostly allopathic principles, spiritism uses homeopathic principles that aim to reduce the anxiety, or permit the patient to acknowledge pent-up emotions, unexpressed guilt, or repressed behavior through catharsis meant to release emotions the patient may not even be aware of.[13]:25 It is said that "healing can occur when the spirit medium assists the sufferer to come into harmony with the spirit world so as to change his or her physical condition, emotions, way of life, or destiny."[13]:25

text: The reputation of espiritistas was tinged with negativity, being accused of witchcraft because they deal with health through the unfamiliar paradigm of the spirit world, which was not understood by either the medical doctors or the Catholic priests. Consequently, espiritistas or traditional healers of Santería and other Latin American cultures working with healing through the spirit world are attacked as "works of the devil" from the pulpits of the Catholic Churches and labeled as "quackery" from the journals of the medical profession. This unique system of knowledge is appreciated as ethnopharmacology or ethnomedicine.[13]:25

text: Aligning and harmonizing with the forces of nature, practitioners of the Regla de Ochá invoke on the guidance of Orichás. There are three foremost orichás that are predominantly concerned with folk-healing, however, other orichás may be invoked to help a person with a specific problem. These main orichás are: Osaín, the orichá of the herbs; Babalú-Ayé, the orichá of contagious and epidemic diseases; and Inle, the patron of physicians. Osaín is the patron of curanderos or traditional herbal healers, also called Osainistas.[6]:78 According to de la Torre, Osaín is believed to be embodied in the omiero, which is a combination of "blood from sacrifices offered during the ceremony and juices extracted from herbs that are sacred to the Orichás with water (from rain, rivers, or seas) honey, aguardiente, powdered eggshell, corojo, and cocoa butter."[6]:78 The forest has everything that would maintain a robust health and keep a person away from malevolence, thus, Santería practitioners would agree that no spell will be able to work without the sanction of Osaín, the master herbalist commanding the healing secrets of plant life.[6]:50 Osaín is syncretized with Saint Joseph, Saint Benito, or Saint Jerome. Babalú-Ayé is revered by its victims and survivors like smallpox, leprosy, and skin diseases. Babalú-Ayé has become the guardian of those with HIV/AIDS. He is syncretized with Saint Lazarus.[6]:78 Inle is the patron of physicians, known as a healer who favors scientific methods. Inle is ranked as one of the orichás that is approached for very specific health issues. Thus, Inle is also known as the protector of homosexuals and feminosexuals.[6]:82

text: People go to a consulta for many reasons, mainly for health-related issues. Divination is a means that traditional healers utilize to inquire further on the details of a problem. Divination may articulate the origin/cause of the problem; in addition, it may include prescriptions for solutions/suggestions to certain difficulties.[8]:96 Divination establishes an interpretative frame for the situation a person finds himself in.[8]:97 Hence, the Santeros offer cowrie-shell divination or other appropriate traditional practices. Rituals, or the reading of patakís may be done to clarify a problem, of which sometimes the person consulting may not even be aware. Passed orally from many generations, patakí are parables used by diviners to guide or give insights or moral lessons to a person who came for consultation.[11] The patakí recited by the Santero corresponds to the number that the cowrie shell divination brings.

text: Aside from the use of herbs and divination, the Santería traditional healing is achieved through rituals that include animal sacrifice, offerings, altar building, music, dance, and possession trance.[16]:108 When the patient is a child, the Santero uses the curative system known as santiguo, which means "to heal by blessing". Perceiving health problems, most Santeros recommend that the client seeks a medical doctor. Parallel to the medical treatment, the patient might be prescribed some herbal teas, cleansing baths, or a special diet from the traditional healing practice. Sometimes, a Santero might advise a client to receive omiero, whose efficacy is widely disputed by many in the medical community. An omiero is claimed by believers to be a sacred mixture that is made for specific Santería ceremonies and to embody the orichá ruler of herbs, Osaín.[6]:108 Most clients who see Santeros would never be told to drink it.[11]

text: Santería traditional healing is just one of the many traditional healing practices used in Caribbean and Latin American cultures. Traditional healing practices are practiced side by side with mainstream medical practices through the Cuban healthcare system. Traditional healers recognize but do not compete with Western medicine.

text: Current distribution[edit]

text: Santería is mainly found in the Spanish speaking Americas (notably the Caribbean), including but not limited to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico, as well as in the United States, mainly as a result of migration from these countries, especially Cuba and Puerto Rico.

text: In 2001, there were an estimated 22,000 practitioners in the US alone,[17] but the number may be higher as some practitioners may be reluctant to disclose their religion on a government census or to an academic researcher. Of those living in the United States, some are fully committed priests and priestesses, others are godchildren or members of a particular house-tradition, and many are non-committal clients seeking help with their everyday problems.

text: A similar religion of Yoruba origin called Candomblé Queto is practiced in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. This is referred to as "parallel religiosity".[18]

text: United States court rulings[edit]

text: In 1993, the issue of animal sacrifice in Santería was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. The court ruled that animal cruelty laws targeted specifically at Santería were unconstitutional.[19]

text: In 2009, legal and religious issues that related to animal sacrifice, animal rights, and freedom of religion were taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the case of Jose Merced, President Templo Yoruba Omo Orisha Texas, Inc., v. City of Euless. The court ruled that the Merced case of the freedom of exercise of religion was meritorious and prevailing and that Merced was entitled under the Texas Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (TRFRA) to an injunction preventing the city of Euless, Texas, from enforcing its ordinances restricting his religious practices relating to the use of animals,[20] (see Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 110.005(a)(2)) without the court having to reach his claims under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. After the court case was settled, a news article was published in the Dallas Observer documenting the volume and brutality of the animal sacrifices.[21]


document_title: 2014 Winter Paralympics

question_text: how many countries participated for the first time in the 2014 olympic winter games in sochi

text: 2014 Winter Paralympics

text: Bidding process[edit]

text: As part of a formal agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee first established in 2001, the winner of the bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics was also to host the 2014 Winter Paralympics.[3] Following the second and final round of voting at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City, Guatemala on 4 July 2007, the city of Sochi, Russia was awarded the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.[4]

text:
2014 Host City Election – results

City
Country
Round 1
Round 2

Sochi
 Russia
34
51

Pyeongchang
 South Korea
36
47

Salzburg
 Austria
25
—

tag: table

text: Organization[edit]

text: Venues[edit]

text: As with previous Paralympics, the 2014 Winter Paralympics used most of the same venues that were used by the Olympics, situated within the Sochi Olympic Park and the resort of Krasnaya Polyana.[1] Despite the IPC believing that Russia had "zero track record in terms of accessibility"—given that the Soviet Union passed on hosting the 1980 Summer Paralympics after claiming no disabled athletes lived in Russia, the venues were built to the IPC's standards, organizers were quick to fix some of the issues pointed out by officials during an audit of the venues in January 2014, and an IPC spokesperson stated that they were "confident and expect everything to be ready for Games time." Organizers and the IPC hoped that the Paralympics' legacy would make Sochi a role model for inclusive design throughout the country, and IPC president Philip Craven went as far as dubbing Sochi the first accessible city in Russia, commending the country's changed stance on disability since 1980.[5][6]

text: Sochi Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster)[edit]

text: The Sochi Olympic Park was built by the Black Sea coast in the Imeretin Valley, about 4 km (2.5 miles) from Russia's border with Abkhazia.[7][8] The venues are clustered around a central water basin with a synchronized fountain, allowing all indoor venues to be within walking distance.[9][10] Off these, the venues used during the Paralympics included:

text:
Fisht Olympic Stadium – ceremonies (opening/closing) 40,000 spectators
Shayba Arena – sledge hockey, 7,000 spectators
Ice Cube Curling Center – wheelchair curling, 3,000 spectators

tag: ul

text: Krasnaya Polyana (Mountain Cluster)[edit]

text:
Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex – Biathlon, Cross-country skiing
Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort – Alpine skiing
Rosa Khutor Extreme Park – Snowboarding

text: Mascots[edit]

text: A shortlist of 10 Olympic and 3 Paralympic designs were shown to the public on 7 February 2011, while the winners were revealed on 26 February 2011.[11] The Paralympic mascots, Ray of Light and Snowflake, represented contrasts and inclusivity: their fictional backstories portrayed them as having respectively come to Earth from a hot planet and a cold comet. After Ray of Light overcame his struggle to adapt to a winter environment, he bonded with Snowflake through a shared passion for winter sports.[12]

text: The Games[edit]

text: Opening ceremony[edit]

text: The opening ceremony of the Games were held at Fisht Olympic Stadium on 7 March 2014. Entitled "Breaking the Ice", the ceremony was themed around equality and "breaking" barriers, featuring ballet sequences set to music by notable Russian composers, and animated segments by Aleksandr Petrov based on the story of the firebird. During the parade of nations, Ukraine's athletes declined to participate in protest of the situation in Crimea, and was represented solely by its flagbearer Mykailo Tkachenko. In his opening speech, IPC president Philip Craven praised Russia for finally fulfilling its "dream" of hosting the Paralympics after previously passing on the opportunity in 1980. He called upon spectators to have a "barrier-free mind", stating that "the sport you witness here will change you. Not just for now, but forever." The Paralympic cauldron was jointly lit by Russian Paralympians Olesya Vladykina and Sergey Shilov.[13][14]

text: Participating National Paralympic Committees[edit]

text: Athletes representing forty-five National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, an increase of one NPC over 2010.

text:
[hide]Participating National Paralympic Committees

 Andorra (1)
 Argentina (3)
 Armenia (1)
 Australia (9)
 Austria (13)
 Belarus (10)
 Belgium (2)
 Bosnia and Herzegovina (2)
 Brazil (2)
 Bulgaria (2)
 Canada (54)
 Chile (2)
 China (10)
 Croatia (2)
 Czech Republic (18)
 Denmark (2)
 Finland (13)
 France (14)
 Germany (13)
 Great Britain (12)
 Greece (1)
 Iceland (2)
 Iran (1)
 Italy (34)
 Japan (20)
 Kazakhstan (5)
 South Korea (27)
 Mexico (1)
 Mongolia (1)
 Netherlands (7)
 New Zealand (3)
 Norway (31)
 Poland (7)
 Romania (1)
 Russia (68) (host)
 Serbia (1)
 Slovakia (16)
 Slovenia (1)
 Spain (7)
 Sweden (22)
 Switzerland (8)
 Turkey (2)
 Ukraine (23)
 United States (74)
 Uzbekistan (2)

text: Brazil, Turkey and Uzbekistan made their Winter Paralympic debut in Sochi, while Hungary and South Africa, who participated in Vancouver, did not send any athletes.

text: Sports[edit]

text: Competitions in the 2014 Winter Paralympics were held in five Winter Paralympic sports, with 72 medal events in total. New for 2014 was the addition of snowboarding events, which were incorporated into the alpine skiing program.

text:
Alpine skiing (32) (details)
 Biathlon (18) (details)
 Cross-country skiing (20) (details)
 Ice sledge hockey (1) (details)
 Wheelchair curling (1) (details)

text: Calendar[edit]

text:
OC
Opening ceremony
●
Event competitions
#
Event finals
CC
Closing ceremony

text:
March
7th
Fri
8th
Sat
9th
Sun
10th
Mon
11th
Tue
12th
Wed
13th
Thu
14th
Fri
15th
Sat
16th
Sun
Events

Ceremonies
OC

CC

 Alpine skiing

6
3
3
●
3
3
8
3
3
32

 Biathlon

6

6

6

18

 Cross-country skiing

2
4

6

2
6
20

 Ice sledge hockey

●
●

●
●
●
●
1

1

 Wheelchair curling

●
●
●
●
●
●
●
1

1

Total events

12
5
7
6
9
3
14
7
9
72

Cumulative total

12
17
24
30
39
42
56
63
72

March
7th
Fri
8th
Sat
9th
Sun
10th
Mon
11th
Tue
12th
Wed
13th
Thu
14th
Fri
15th
Sat
16th
Sun
Events

text: Closing ceremony[edit]

text: The closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Paralympics was held on 16 March 2014 at Fisht Olympic Stadium. Entitled "Reaching the Impossible", the ceremony was themed around inclusivity, and featured sequences paying tribute to Russian abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky, and Alexey Pajitnov's classic video game Tetris. During his closing remarks, deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak stated that the Games had become a "catalyst for our efforts to create a barrier-free environment in Russia", and promised that "this important work will continue throughout our vast country." Sir Phillip Craven congratulated Russia for hosting what he deemed to be the best Winter Paralympic Games, and stated that the Games' participants had "shown the world that absolutely anything is possible and that life is about amazing capabilities and not perceived deficiencies."[15][16][17]

text: Medals[edit]

text: Sochi's Paralympic medal design was unveiled in May 2013 alongside its Olympic equivalent. The design incorporates a "patchwork quilt" of diamonds, some of which are translucent, containing designs that reflect Russia's regions, and also contain inscriptions in braille.[18][19]

text: Medal table[edit]

text: *   Host nation (Russia)

text:
Rank
NPC
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total

1
 Russia (RUS)*
30
28
22
80

2
 Germany (GER)
9
5
1
15

3
 Canada (CAN)
7
2
7
16

4
 Ukraine (UKR)
5
9
11
25

5
 France (FRA)
5
3
4
12

6
 Slovakia (SVK)
3
2
2
7

7
 Japan (JPN)
3
1
2
6

8
 United States (USA)
2
7
9
18

9
 Austria (AUT)
2
5
4
11

10
 Great Britain (GBR)
1
3
2
6

11–19
Remaining NPCs
5
7
8
20

Total
72
72
72
216

text: Broadcasting[edit]

text: In February 2013, following its successful broadcast of the 2012 Summer Paralympics, British broadcaster Channel 4 announced on February 2014 that it had obtained the broadcast rights to further Games, including the 2014 Winter Paralympics, and 2016 Summer Paralympics. Channel 4 planned to broadcast more than 45 hours of coverage from Sochi.[20][21] Australian coverage was provided by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, including live online streaming. However, aside from the opening ceremony (which was broadcast live), television coverage was limited to a daily half-hour highlights show.[22]

text: In the United States, NBC Sports acquired the rights to the 2014 and 2016 Paralympics in September 2013. Following criticism of its minimal coverage of past Paralympics (such as at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where in contrast to its extensive Olympics coverage, it broadcast only five-and-a-half hours of highlights), NBC announced plans for a total of 52 hours of coverage during the Games, with at least 27 hours of coverage broadcast live, and live coverage of the opening ceremony. The majority of its coverage was relegated to NBC Sports Network, but NBC aired highlights of the opening ceremony the following afternoon, and live coverage of the sledge hockey finals.[23][24] CBC Sports, in conjunction with the Canadian Paralympic Committee, produced and syndicated television and digital coverage of the Games in Canada for CBC Television (30 hours), Ici Radio-Canada Télé (French, 7 hours), Sportsnet, AMI-tv (coverage with open described video), and Yahoo! Sports Canada.[25]

text: Concerns and controversies[edit]

text: Although concerns over LGBT rights still had a minor effect on the Games, they were overshadowed by a crisis in the Ukrainian region of Crimea which began during the Olympics, but became more severe immediately prior to the Paralympics.

text: Crimean crisis[edit]

text: On 27–28 February 2014 in the aftermath of the Ukrainian revolution, Russian troops seized control of most of the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea—roughly 480 kilometres (300 mi) from Sochi,[26] including civil buildings, airports, and military bases.[27] On 1 March 2014, the Russian legislature approved the use of the Russian military in Ukraine, and Russian officials stated that their military forces in Crimea were not a breach of existing agreements between Russia and Ukraine.[28] The Ukrainian response has been muted trying to find a diplomatic solution, with no military action on the part of Ukraine's government, which was formed in Kiev less than a week before the intervention. Russia vowed troops would stay until the political situation was "normalised".[29] A referendum on whether Crimea would separate from Ukraine was held on 16 March 2014—the same day as the closing ceremony of these Games.[30]

text: The effects of these developments led to several notable political actions surrounding the Paralympics. On 2 March 2014, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that British government officials were planning to boycott the 2014 Winter Paralympics in response to the situation in Crimea, while Prince Edward cancelled plans to travel to Sochi for the Games "on the advice of government."[31][32] On 3 March 2014, United States National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden announced that the United States would not send a presidential delegation to Sochi (which was to be led by Tammy Duckworth) at all, "in addition to other measures we are taking in response to the situation in Ukraine." Neither of the boycotts affected the participation of their respective athletes in the Games; Hayden went on to say that "President Obama continues to strongly support all of the U.S. athletes who will participate in the Paralympics and wishes them great success".[31][33]

text: IPC communications head Craig Spence reported prior to the Games that there were not any boycott efforts among athletes, and stated that although the organization would keep an eye on the situation in the Crimea, "we've obviously expressed our disappointment with what's going on in the political situation, but at the end of the day, we're not here to do politics. We're here to organize a sporting event." He went on to emphasize that the same level of security measures in place during the Olympics were in place during the Paralympics, ensuring that Sochi would be the "safest place" in the country during the Games.[26][34]

text: The Ukraine team still participated in the Games, but Valeriy Sushkevich, head of the country's National Paralympic Committee, warned that "if there is an escalation of the conflict, intervention on the territory of our country, God forbid the worst, we would not be able to stay here. We would go." Similarly to the Olympics, political protests and statements among athletes were forbidden during Paralympic events, although two major, symbolic protests by the Ukrainian team occurred during the Games. During the opening ceremonies, all but one of the country's 31 athletes declined to participate in the parade of nations. The country was represented solely by Nordic skier and flagbearer Mykailo Tkachenko, whose entrance was greeted with an ovation from the audience.[6] Some Ukrainian medalists were seen covering their medal with their hand during ceremonies as another form of silent protest; Sushkevich stated that the covering was "a demonstration that aggression and the high ideals of Paralympic sports are incompatible."[35]

text: Russian doping scandal[edit]

text: On 18 July 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency published the first part of an independent report detailing a state-sponsored doping program in Russian Olympic and Paralympic sport, coordinated by the country's Ministry of Sport and Federal Security Service (FSB), where positive urine samples were swapped in favour of clean ones in order to evade detection.[36] The IPC found evidence that swapping of positive samples had occurred during the 2014 Winter Paralympics.[37][38][39][40]

text: On 7 August 2016, the International Paralympic Committee announced that it had suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee. The country was banned from the 2016 Summer Paralympics. At the 2018 Winter Paralympics, the RPC remained suspended, but the IPC did allow clean Russian athletes to compete neutrally under the Paralympic flag (mirroring a similar decision by the IOC for the 2018 Winter Olympics).[41].[40][42]

text: LGBT rights[edit]

text: Concerns surrounding LGBT rights in Russia and the country's "gay propaganda" law continued into the Paralympics. On 4 February 2014, Norway's openly gay health minister Bent Høie announced he would attend the Games with his husband, as is common for cabinet officials to travel with their spouses.[43] The Federation of Gay Games also started a petition calling for IPC president Philip Craven not to attend the Games if Russian authorities did not allow the Russian Open Games, a multi-sport event for LGBT athletes which organizers attempted to hold prior to the Paralympics, to occur. These games were faced with a bomb threat, and its venues arbitrarily pulling out of providing their services for events, which was believed to be a result of government pressure.[44]


document_title: Batting average

question_text: who has the best batting average in test cricket

text: Batting average

text: Cricket[edit]

text: In cricket, a player's batting average is the total number of runs they have scored divided by the number of times they have been out. Since the number of runs a player scores and how often they get out are primarily measures of their own playing ability, and largely independent of their teammates, batting average is a good metric for an individual player's skill as a batter. The number is also simple to interpret intuitively. If all the batter's innings were completed (i.e. they were out every innings), this is the average number of runs they score per innings. If they did not complete all their innings (i.e. some innings they finished not out), this number is an estimate of the unknown average number of runs they score per innings. Batting average has been used to gauge cricket players' relative skills since the 18th century.

text: Most players have career batting averages in the range of 20 to 40. This is also the desirable range for wicket-keepers, though some fall short and make up for it with keeping skill. Until a substantial increase in scores in the 21st century due to improved bats and smaller grounds among other factors, players who sustained an average above 50 through a career were considered exceptional, and before the development of the heavy roller in the 1870s (which allowed for a flatter, safer cricket pitch) an average of 25 was considered very good.[2]

text:
All-rounders who are more prominent bowlers than batsmen typically average something between 20 and 30.
15 and under is typical for specialist bowlers.
A small number of players have averaged less than 5 for a complete career, though a player with such an average is a liability unless an exceptional bowler as Alf Valentine, B. S. Chandrasekhar or Glenn McGrath were.

text: Career records for batting average are usually subject to a minimum qualification of 20 innings played or completed, in order to exclude batsmen who have not played enough games for their skill to be reliably assessed. Under this qualification, the highest Test batting average belongs to Australia's Sir Donald Bradman, with 99.94. Given that a career batting average over 50 is exceptional, and that only five other players have averages over 60, this is an outstanding statistic. The fact that Bradman's average is so far above that of any other cricketer has led several statisticians to argue that, statistically at least, he was the greatest athlete in any sport.[3]

text: Batting averages in One Day International (ODI) cricket tend to be lower than in Test cricket,[4] because of the need to score runs more quickly and take riskier strokes and the lesser emphasis on building a large innings. It should also be remembered, especially in relation to the ODI histogram above, that there were no ODI competitions when Bradman played.

text: If a batter has been dismissed in every single innings, then their total number of runs scored divided by the number of times they have been out gives exactly the average number of runs they score per innings. However, for a batter with innings which have finished not out, this statistic is only an estimate of the average number of runs they score per innings – the true average number of runs they score per innings is unknown as it is not known how many runs they would have scored if they could have completed all their not out innings. If their scores have a geometric distribution then total number of runs scored divided by the number of times out is the maximum likelihood estimate of their true unknown average.[5]

text: Batting averages can be strongly affected by the number of not outs. For example, Phil Tufnell, who was noted for his poor batting,[6] has an apparently respectable ODI average of 15 (from 20 games), despite a highest score of only 5 not out, as he scored an overall total of 15 runs from 10 innings, but was out only once.[7]

text: A different, and more recently developed, statistic which is also used to gauge the effectiveness of batsmen is the strike rate. It measures a different concept however – how quickly the batter scores (number of runs from 100 balls) – so it does not supplant the role of batting average. It is used particularly in limited overs matches, where the speed at which a batter scores is more important than it is in first-class cricket.

text: Leading Test batting averages[edit]

text: (Source: Cricinfo Statsguru)

text:
Rank
Batter
Tests
Innings
N.O.
Runs
Highest
Ave
Career dates

1
 Don Bradman
52
80
10
6996
334
99.94
1928–48

2
 Adam Voges
20
31
7
1485
269*
61.87
2015–16

3
 Steve Smith
64
117
16
6199
239
61.37
2010–Present

4
 Graeme Pollock
23
41
4
2256
274
60.97
1963–70

5
 George Headley
22
40
4
2190
270*
60.83
1930–54

6
 Herbert Sutcliffe
54
84
9
4555
194
60.73
1924–35

7
 Eddie Paynter
20
31
5
1540
243
59.23
1931–39

8
 Ken Barrington
82
131
15
6806
256
58.67
1955–68

9
 Everton Weekes
48
81
5
4455
207
58.61
1948–58

10
 Wally Hammond
85
140
16
7249
336*
58.45
1927–47

text: Table shows players with at least 20 innings completed.

text: * denotes not out.

text: Baseball[edit]

text:
A
V
G
=

H

A
B

{\displaystyle AVG={\frac {H}{AB}}}

text: In baseball, the batting average (BA) is defined by the number of hits divided by at bats. It is usually reported to three decimal places and read without the decimal: A player with a batting average of .300 is "batting three-hundred." If necessary to break ties, batting averages could be taken beyond the .001 measurement. In this context, a .001 is considered a "point," such that a .235 batter is 5 points higher than a .230 batter.

text: Henry Chadwick, an English statistician raised on cricket, was an influential figure in the early history of baseball. In the late 19th century he adapted the concept behind the cricket batting average to devise a similar statistic for baseball. Rather than simply copy cricket's formulation of runs scored divided by outs, he realized that hits divided by at bats would provide a better measure of individual batting ability. This is because while in cricket, scoring runs is almost entirely dependent on one's own batting skill, in baseball it is largely dependent on having other good hitters on one's team. Chadwick noted that hits are independent of teammates' skills, so used this as the basis for the baseball batting average. His reason for using at bats rather than outs is less obvious, but it leads to the intuitive idea of the batting average being a percentage reflecting how often a batter gets on base, whereas in contrary, hits divided by outs is not as simple to interpret in real terms.

text: In modern times, a season batting average higher than .300 is considered to be excellent, and an average higher than .400 a nearly unachievable goal. The last player to do so, with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship, was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, who hit .406 in 1941, though the best modern players either threaten to or actually do achieve it occasionally, if only for brief periods of time. There have been numerous attempts to explain the disappearance of the .400 hitter, with one of the more rigorous discussions of this question appearing in Stephen Jay Gould's 1996 book Full House.

text: Ty Cobb holds the record for highest career batting average with .366, 9 points higher than Rogers Hornsby who has the second highest average in history at .358. The record for lowest career batting average for a player with more than 2,500 at-bats belongs to Bill Bergen, a catcher who played from 1901 to 1911 and recorded a .170 average in 3,028 career at-bats. The modern-era record for highest batting average for a season is held by Napoleon Lajoie, who hit .426 in 1901, the first year of play for the American League. The modern-era record for lowest batting average for a player that qualified for the batting title is held by Rob Deer, who hit .179 in 1991. While finishing six plate appearances short of qualifying for the batting title, Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox hit .159 for the 2011 season, twenty points (and 11.2%) lower than the record. The highest batting average for a rookie was .408 in 1911 by Shoeless Joe Jackson.

text: For non-pitchers, a batting average below .230 is often considered poor, and one below .200 is usually unacceptable. This latter level is sometimes referred to as "The Mendoza Line", named for Mario Mendoza (a lifetime .215 hitter), a stellar defensive shortstop whose defensive capabilities just barely made up for his offensive shortcomings. The league batting average in Major League Baseball for 2016 was .255,[8] and the all-time league average is between .260 and .275.

text: In rare instances, MLB players have concluded their careers with a perfect batting average of 1.000. John Paciorek had three hits in all three of his turns at bat. Esteban Yan went two-for-two, including a home run. Hal Deviney's two hits in his only plate appearances included a triple, while Steve Biras, Mike Hopkins, Chet Kehn, Jason Roach and Fred Schemanske also went two-for-two. A few dozen others have hit safely in their one and only career at-bat.

text: Sabermetrics, the study of baseball statistics, considers batting average a weak measure of performance because it does not correlate as well as other measures to runs scored, thereby causing it to have little predictive value. Batting average does not take into account walks or power, whereas other statistics such as on-base percentage and slugging percentage have been specifically designed to measure such concepts. Adding these statistics together form a player's On-base plus slugging or "OPS". This is commonly seen as a much better, though not perfect, indicator of a player's overall batting ability as it is a measure of hitting for average, hitting for power and drawing bases on balls.

text: In 1887, Major League Baseball counted bases on balls as hits. The result of this was skyrocketed batting averages, including some near .500, and the experiment was abandoned the following season.

text: Qualifications for the batting title[edit]

text: The Major League Baseball batting averages championships (often referred to as "the batting title") is awarded annually to the player in each league who has the highest batting average. Ty Cobb holds the MLB (and American League) record for most batting titles, officially winning 11 in his pro career.[9] The National League record of 8 batting titles is shared by Honus Wagner and Tony Gwynn. Most of Cobb's career and all of Wagner's career took place in what is known as the Dead-Ball Era, which was characterized by higher batting averages and much less power, whereas Gwynn's career took place in the Live-Ball Era.

text: To determine which players are eligible to win the batting title, the following conditions have been used over the sport's history:[10]

text:
Pre-1920 – A player generally is required to appear in at least 100 or more games when the schedule was 154 games, and 90 games when the schedule was 140 games. An exception to the rule was made for Ty Cobb in 1914, who appeared in 98 games but had a big lead and was also a favorite of League President Ban Johnson.
1920–1949 – A player had to appear in 100 games to qualify in the National League; the AL used 100 games from 1920–1935, and 400 at-bats from 1936–1949. The NL was advised to adopt 400 at-bats for the 1945 season, but League President Ford Frick refused, feeling that 100 games should stand for the benefit of catchers and injured players. (Taffy Wright is often erroneously said to have been cheated out of the 1938 batting title; he batted .350 in exactly 100 games, with 263 ABs. Jimmie Foxx hit .349, in 149 games and 565 AB. But since the AL requirement that year was 400 at-bats, Foxx's batting title is undisputed.)
1950–1956 – A player needed 2.6 at-bats per team game originally scheduled. (With the 154-game schedule of the time, that meant a rounded-off 400 at-bats.) From 1951–1954, if the player with the highest average in a league failed to meet the minimum at-bat requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification (e.g., 5, if the player finished the season with 395 ABs) were hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still topped the league, he was awarded the title. This standard applied in the AL from 1936–1956.
1957 to the present – A player has needed 3.1 plate appearances per team game originally scheduled; thus, players were no longer penalized for walking so frequently, nor did they benefit from walking so rarely. (In 1954, for example, Ted Williams batted .345 but had only 386 ABs, while topping the AL with 136 walks. Williams thus lost the batting title to Cleveland's Bobby Ávila, who hit .341 in 555 ABs.) In the 154-game schedule, the required number of plate appearances was 477, and since the era of the 162-game schedule, the requisite number of PAs has been 502. (Adjustments to this 502 PA figure have been made during strike-shortened seasons, such as 1972, 1981, 1994, and 1995.)

text: From 1967 to the present, if the player with the highest average in a league fails to meet the minimum plate-appearance requirement, the remaining at-bats until qualification (e.g., 5 ABs, if the player finished the season with 497 plate appearances) are hypothetically considered hitless at-bats; if his recalculated batting average still tops the league, he is awarded the title. This is officially called Rule 10.22(a), but it is also known as the Tony Gwynn rule because the Padres' legend won the batting crown in 1996 with a .353 average on just 498 plate appearances (i.e., was four shy). Gwynn was awarded the title since he would have led the league even if he'd gone 0-for-4 in those missing plate appearances. His average would have dropped to .349, five points better than second-place Ellis Burks' .344.[11] In 2012, a one-time amendment to the rule was made to disqualify Melky Cabrera from the title. Cabrera requested that he be disqualified after serving a suspension that season for a positive testosterone test. He had batted .346 with 501 plate appearances, and the original rule would have awarded him the title over San Francisco Giants teammate Buster Posey, who won batting .336.[12][13]

text: All-time leaders[edit]

text:
#
Player
Avg[14]
Team(s)
Year(s)

1
Ty Cobb
.366
Philadelphia (AL), Detroit (AL)
1905-1928

2
Rogers Hornsby
.358
St. Louis (NL), New York (NL), Boston (NL), Chicago (NL), St. Louis (NL), St. Louis (AL)
1915–37

3
Shoeless Joe Jackson
.356
Philadelphia (AL), Cleveland (AL), Chicago (AL)
1908-20

4
Lefty O'Doul
.349
New York (AL), Boston (AL), New York (NL), Philadelphia (NL), Brooklyn
1919–23, 1928–34

5
Ed Delahanty
.346
Philadelphia (NL), Cleveland (PL), Philadelphia (NL), Washington
1888–1903

6
Tris Speaker
.345
Boston (AL), Cleveland, Washington (AL), Philadelphia (AL)
1907–28

7
Billy Hamilton
.34442
Kansas City (AA), Philadelphia (NL), Boston (NL)
1888–1901

8
Ted Williams
.34441
Boston (AL)
1939–42, 1946–60

9
Dan Brouthers
.34212
Troy, Buffalo, Detroit (NL), Boston (NL), Boston (PL), Brooklyn (NL), Baltimore (NL), Louisville, Philadelphia (NL), New York (NL)
1879–96, 1904

10
Babe Ruth
.34206
Boston (AL), New York (AL), Boston (NL)
1914–36

text: Note: Batting averages are normally rounded to 3 decimal places. Extra detail here is used for tie-breaker.

text: Other contexts[edit]

text: Following from usage in cricket and baseball, batting average has come to be used for other statistical measures of performance and in the general usage on how a person did in a wide variety of actions.

text: An example is the Internet Archive, which uses the term in ranking downloads. Its "batting average" indicates the correlation between views of a description page of a downloadable item, and the number of actual downloads of the item. This avoids the effect of popular downloads by volume swamping potentially more focused and useful downloads, producing an arguably more useful ranking.


document_title: Fertile Crescent

question_text: how did the fertile crescent get its nickname

text: Fertile Crescent

text: Terminology[edit]

text: The term "Fertile Crescent" was popularized by archaeologist James Henry Breasted in Outlines of European History (1914) and Ancient Times, A History of the Early World (1916).[4][5][6][7][8][9] Breasted wrote:[4]

text:
This fertile crescent is approximately a semicircle, with the open side toward the south, having the west end at the southeast corner of the Mediterranean, the center directly north of Arabia, and the east end at the north end of the Persian Gulf (see map, p. 100). It lies like an army facing south, with one wing stretching along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean and the other reaching out to the Persian Gulf, while the center has its back against the northern mountains. The end of the western wing is Palestine; Assyria makes up a large part of the center; while the end of the eastern wing is Babylonia.

This great semicircle, for lack of a name, may be called the Fertile Crescent.1 It may also be likened to the shores of a desert-bay, upon which the mountains behind look down—a bay not of water but of sandy waste, some eight hundred kilometres across, forming a northern extension of the Arabian desert and sweeping as far north as the latitude of the northeast corner of the Mediterranean. This desert-bay is a limestone plateau of some height—too high indeed to be watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, which have cut cañons obliquely across it. Nevertheless, after the meager winter rains, wide tracts of the northern desert-bay are clothed with scanty grass, and spring thus turns the region for a short time into grasslands. The history of Western Asia may be described as an age-long struggle between the mountain peoples of the north and the desert wanderers of these grasslands—a struggle which is still going on—for the possession of the Fertile Crescent, the shores of the desert-bay.

1 There is no name, either geographical or political, which includes all of this great semicircle (see map, p. 100). Hence we are obliged to coin a term and call it the Fertile Crescent.

text: In current usage, the Fertile Crescent includes Iraq, Kuwait, and surrounding portions of Iran and Turkey, as well as the rest of the Levantine coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. Water sources include the Jordan River. The inner boundary is delimited by the dry climate of the Syrian Desert to the south. Around the outer boundary are the Anatolian highlands to the north and the Sahara Desert to the west.

text: Biodiversity and climate[edit]

text: As crucial as rivers and marshlands were to the rise of civilization in the Fertile Crescent, they were not the only factor. The area is geographically important as the "bridge" between Africa and Eurasia, which has allowed it to retain a greater amount of biodiversity than either Europe or North Africa, where climate changes during the Ice Age led to repeated extinction events when ecosystems became squeezed against the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Saharan pump theory posits that this Middle Eastern land-bridge was extremely important to the modern distribution of Old World flora and fauna, including the spread of humanity.

text: The area has borne the brunt of the tectonic divergence between the African and Arabian plates and the converging Arabian and Eurasian plates, which has made the region a very diverse zone of high snow-covered mountains.

text: The Fertile Crescent had many diverse climates, and major climatic changes encouraged the evolution of many "r" type annual plants, which produce more edible seeds than "K" type perennial plants. The region's dramatic variety in elevation gave rise to many species of edible plants for early experiments in cultivation. Most importantly, the Fertile Crescent was home to the eight Neolithic founder crops important in early agriculture (i.e., wild progenitors to emmer wheat, einkorn, barley, flax, chick pea, pea, lentil, bitter vetch), and four of the five most important species of domesticated animals—cows, goats, sheep, and pigs; the fifth species, the horse, lived nearby.[10] The Fertile Crescent flora comprises a high percentage of plants that can self-pollinate, but may also be cross-pollinated.[11] These plants, called "selfers", were one of the geographical advantages of the area because they did not depend on other plants for reproduction.[10]

text: History[edit]

text:
The ancient Near East

Regions and states

Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia

Akkadian Empire
Assyria
Babylonia
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Neo-Babylonian Empire
Sumer

Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Persia

Achaemenid Empire
Elam
Medes

Anatolia

Hittites
Hurrians
Neo-Hittite states
Urartu

The Levant

Ancient Israel
Phoenicia

Archaeological periods

Chronology
Bronze Age
Bronze Age collapse
Iron Age

Languages

Akkadian
Aramaic
Assyriology
Cuneiform script
Elamite
Hebrew
Hittite
Hurrian
Phoenician
Sumerian
Urartian

Literature

Babylonian
Hittite texts
Sumerian

Mythology

Babylonian
Hittite
Mesopotamian
Egyptian

Other topics

Cradle of civilization
Assyrian law
Babylonian astronomy
Babylonian law
Babylonian mathematics
Cuneiform law
History of the Middle East

v
t
e

text: As well as possessing many sites with the skeletal and cultural remains of both pre-modern and early modern humans (e.g., at Tabun and Es Skhul caves in Israel), later Pleistocene hunter-gatherers, and Epipalaeolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers (the Natufians); the Fertile Crescent is most famous for its sites related to the origins of agriculture. The western zone around the Jordan and upper Euphrates rivers gave rise to the first known Neolithic farming settlements (referred to as Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), which date to around 9,000 BCE (and includes sites such as Göbekli Tepe and Jericho).

text: This region, alongside Mesopotamia (which lies to the east of the Fertile Crescent, between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates), also saw the emergence of early complex societies during the succeeding Bronze Age. There is also early evidence from the region for writing and the formation of hierarchical statelevel societies. This has earned the region the nickname "The cradle of civilization".

text: It is in this region where the first libraries appeared, some 5,000 years ago. The oldest known library was found in northern Syria, in the ruins of Ebla, a major commercial center that was destroyed around 1650 BCE.[12]

text: Both the Tigris and Euphrates start in the Taurus Mountains of what is modern-day Turkey. Farmers in southern Mesopotamia had to protect their fields from flooding each year, except northern Mesopotamia which had just enough rain to make some farming possible. To protect against flooding, they made levees.[13]

text: Since the Bronze Age, the region's natural fertility has been greatly extended by irrigation works, upon which much of its agricultural production continues to depend. The last two millennia have seen repeated cycles of decline and recovery as past works have fallen into disrepair through the replacement of states, to be replaced under their successors. Another ongoing problem has been salination — gradual concentration of salt and other minerals in soils with a long history of irrigation.

text: Early domestications[edit]

text: Prehistoric seedless figs were discovered at Gilgal I in the Jordan Valley, suggesting that fig trees were being planted some 11,400 years ago.[14] Cereals were already grown in Syria as long as 9,000 years ago.[15] Small cats (Felis silvestris) also were domesticated in this region.[16]

text: Languages[edit]

text: Linguistically, the Fertile Crescent was a region of great diversity. Historically, Semitic languages generally prevailed in the lowlands, whilst in the mountainous areas to the east and north a number of generally unrelated languages were found including Elamite, Kassite, and Hurro-Urartian. The precise affiliation of these, and their date of arrival, remain topics of scholarly discussion. However, given lack of textual evidence for the earliest era of prehistory, this debate is unlikely to be resolved in the near future.

text: The evidence which does exist suggests that by the third millennium BCE and into the second, several language groups already existed in the region. These included:[17][18]

text:
Proto-Euphratean language – a non-Semitic language considered to be the substratum language of the people that introduced farming into Southern Iraq in the Early Ubaid period (5300-4700 BC).
Sumerian – a non-Semitic language which displays a Sprachbund-type relationship with neighbouring Akkadian
Semitic languages – Akkadian, Amorite, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Canaanite.
Hurro-Urartian languages – a small family. (The otherwise isolated Kassite language may be related.)
Hattic – a language isolate, spoken originally in central Anatolia.
Indo-European languages – generally believed to be later intrusive languages, such as Hittite and the Indo-Aryan material attested in the Mittani civilization.

text: Links between Hurro-Urartian and Hattic and the indigenous languages of the Caucasus have frequently been suggested, but are not generally accepted.


document_title: Tad, The Lost Explorer

question_text: tad the lost explorer and the secret of king midas english cast

text: Tad, The Lost Explorer

text: Plot[edit]

text: Tad Stone (voiced in English by Kerry Shale) is a bricklayer from Spain who lives in Chicago, working on the construction of the city's subway. Ever since he was five years old, he has dreamed of being a professional archaeologist. After being fired from his job as a bricklayer for daydreaming and for his dog urinating on the construction foreman, Tad visits his friend Professor Humbert (voiced by Mac McDonald), asking for the professor's help in investigating an apparently vintage bottle of Coca-Cola Tad found on the construction site. The professor receives a letter from his friend Professor Lavrof summoning him to Peru to re-unite his half of a stone "key" that will unlock the legendary Incan city of Paititi. Arriving at the airport, Professor Humbert suffers an accident after taking the wrong pills and is taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, a member of the nefarious firm Odysseus Inc. is spying on them and sends the photo to the other members who are in the Sechura Desert.

text: Tad takes the professor's place and, along with his dog Jeff, travels from Chicago to Cusco, Peru. in the Cusco airport Tad meets Freddy (voiced by Cheech Marin), a local hustler. Tad is kidnapped by men from Odysseus, who threaten him to give them the stone key, but Tad is saved by Freddy and Sara (voiced by Ariel Winter), Professor Lavrov's daughter. After joining the two halves of the key, the group travels to Machu Picchu to meet up with Lavrov (also voiced by McDonald). Odysseus Inc., led by the evil Kopponen, (also voiced by Kerry Shale) again tries to steal the key, but Sara and Tad escape their clutches.

text: Arriving in Machu Picchu, they discover that Professor Lavrof was kidnapped by Odysseus. After a series of adventures, they find Lavrov and Max Morden (voiced by Adam Jones), a famous archaeologist and Sara's fiance. After cracking the code of a wall map. Kopponen searches the desert with Lavrov and Mordon to find the treasure of the Incas. But Tad and Sara have the real map, and they depart for the jungle. Kopponen discovers them and finds the underground temple.

text: After more adventures, it is revealed that Max is in league with Odysseus. After a booby-trap room that wipes out Kopponen and the rest of his henchmen in Odysseus Inc., Max sneaks into a room in the temple and tries to steal the Incan gold, thinking it will grant him eternal life. After deceiving a mummy and a golem, Max smashes the glass that protects the Indian gold and thus achieves eternal life — but as a mummy and the condition is irreversible. With Max disposed of upon being imprisoned in Paititi's darkest dungeon by the mummy inhabitants, the chief mummy releases Tad, Sara, and the Professor with the promise that they will not reveal what they know about the city. Upon returning to the surface, they convince Freddy believe that the treasure of the Incas does not exist. Tad confesses his feelings for Sara and kisses her.

text: The film ends with Tad, Sara, Lavrof, Jeff and escaping in one of the Odysseus vehicles.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Óscar Barberán as Tadeo Stone
Michelle Jenner as Sara Lavrof
Luis Posada as the mummy
Carles Canut as Professor Humbert
Félix Benito as Professor Lavrof
Miguel Ángel Jenner as Kopponen
Marta Martorell as Grandma
José Mota as Freddy
Pep Anton Muñoz as Max Mordon

text:
Kerry Shale as Tadheus "Tad" Stone, Kopponen
Ariel Winter as Sara Lavrof
Bruce Mackinnon as the mummy
Mac McDonald as Professor Humbert, Professor Lavrov
Liza Ross as Grandma
Cheech Marin as Freddy
Adam Jones as Max Morden
Fiona Glascott
Lewis MacLeod

text: Production[edit]

text: The film is produced between Lightbox Entertainment, Telecinco Cinema, El Toro Pictures, Telefónica Producciones and Ikiru Films co-produced by Media Networks. Also with the participation of AXN, Televisió de Catalunya, Grupo Intereconomía, Mediaset España and Canal +, the distribution was carried out by the subsidiary in Spain of Paramount Pictures. The film became the first animated feature characters, which started with the short animated Enrique Gato.

text: Enrique Gato decided to create a new character to give greater dynamism to their previous work, and wanted to make a parody of Indiana Jones. The character was created from the 3ds Max program. David García voiced the character in the first film, where not speak but did exclamations and murmurs, and the second for Jordi Brau where did speak. On the other hand, the first animated feature, the voice actors are José Mota, Michelle Jenner and Óscar Barberan as Freddy, Sara and Tadeo respectively. As for the dubbing of the film in Catalan, is José Corbacho who replaces the manchego comic. Character creation of Tadeo Jones came when, in 2001, Enrique Gato sought to give his work a touch of humor and action greater than their previous work, had already noticed that short-another Bicho hers very static movements, so I chose Indiana Jones parody. However, the project did not start until two years later when he started writing the script that would serve to bring it to the big screen. At first, the model was very simple and it became a test of facial animation, with 4 basic gestures, and a test used as a teaser animation, watching the director who had options to become the protagonist of a film. For the second short film, the director wanted to show something about the personal life of the character, something that was not shown in the anteriorcomo was the neighborhood where he lives and their food tastes, burger.

text: The filmmakers set up in April 2008 his own animation studio Lightbox Entertainment to produce 3D animated films for a global market. From that moment they began to make the film The Adventures of Tadeo Jones as the protagonist, it is a construction worker in his spare time is devoted to archeology. The two cartoons made by Jan to promote the film starring Tadeo, served as storyboards for this feature. Cat also tried to take the field of video games, but the result was not as expected and decided to abandon the idea. The elongated nose, big mouth and disproportionate tips Tadeo Jones character is inspired by the designs of comic artist Juan López Fernández (JAN).

text: The figure is mainly inspired by Indiana Jones, as you can see in his hat and outline its light colored shirt and dark pants. However, given an air of boy-scout to symbolize your child's mind, as is the use of a backpack. When animating the character, three forms based on the same geometric shape, one with all clothing, one without hat and shirt and last only boots and shorts were made. The animation was done in Character Studio, without adapting the volume of parts. The head is independent eye also had a separate geometry and eyelids specific controls. One problem was that they wanted the character lost his hat to the end of the short causing him to lose expressiveness, were encouraged to do everything except the hat and then adapted to Tadeo with this post. The animation team, composed of David Ordieres, among other hundred employees of the film, that worked for four years in development and animation of the characters.

text: Release[edit]

text: The film premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on 5 June 2012 and was theatrically released on 31 August 2012 in Spain by Paramount Pictures.

text: The DVD was released in Spain on 19 December 2012 in normal version and Blu-ray, and within days became the best selling Christmas DVD, drying up the issue quickly. Includes audio quality Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish version in addition to blind and language in Catalan. It also concludes a section of extras from the movie with the making of the trailer, video clip, short films and the design and creation of characters.

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
Tad, the Lost Explorer

Soundtrack album by Zacarías M. de la Riva

Released
12 September 2012

Recorded
2012

Genre
Film score

Length
55:27

Label
MovieScore Media

Producer
James Peterson

Zacarías M. de la Riva film scores chronology

Childish Games
(2012)
Tad, the Lost Explorer
(2012)
La mano de Nefertiti
(2012)

Singles from Tad, the Lost Explorer

"Te Voy A Esperar"
Released: August 7, 2012

text: The soundtrack of the film is composed by Zacarías M. de la Riva. However, the main theme is provided by Juan Magan and Belinda playing "Te Voy A Esperar" This song was placed at number 1 on the charts in Spain on iTunes and Spotify. On the other hand, the soundtrack of the film also features songs from One Direction and The Monomes, beyond the hit song "The Final Countdown" by the group of Swedish rock band called Europe. The soundtrack was released by MovieScore Media on 12 September 2012.[13][14]

text: Video games[edit]

text: A video game based on the film, titled Tadeo Jones, was developed by U-Play Studios for the PlayStation Vita. It was released by Deep Silver on 4 December 2013.[15][16] A follow-up game, Tadeo Jones and the Lost Manuscript (Tadeo Jones y el Manuscrito Perdido), was released on 28 November 2014 for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4.[17]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The film received positive reviews from Spanish critics. Fausto Fernandez, the Spanish film magazine Frames, put a score of three stars out of five, calling it the best film of Spanish animation history, where approved quality visuals, characters sharing, but mentioned that it sinned with the chosen songs. He added that he has nothing to envy titles with larger budget as a result of cartoons. Carmen L. Lobo, the newspaper La Razón, put a score of three stars out of five, calling it a candid history, strongly influenced by comics and exciting stripped of any double malicious and full sense also scenes that seem drawn from a video game, adding that the scenarios where they develop are impressive. Meanwhile, Jordi Batlle Caminal La Vanguardia wrote that "The animation is top notch. Side are designed with wit. In short, it's a decent product with blockbuster soul". He was also skilled with a score of three points on four.

text: Box office performance[edit]

text: Tad, the Lost Explorer was made on a budget of €8 million.[4] It earned €45 million ($60.8 million) worldwide.[5][18] In Spain, where it was released by Paramount Pictures in 500 theaters,[1] the film held number one spot at the box office for five weeks in a row,[19] and earned a total of €18.0 million ($24,4 million),[20] breaking domestic box office record for a Spanish-animated feature.[5] It became the highest-grossing film of the year in Spain,[6] outgrossing other animated features, including Ice Age: Continental Drift, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and Brave.[19] In other countries, the film earned over $36 million, topping box office charts in multiple South American territories.[20]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Organization
Award category
Result

Premios Forqué
Best Documentary and Animation
Won

Premios CEC
Best New Director
Won

Best Adapted Screenplay
Won

Best Music
Nominated

Best Animated Film
Won

Goya Awards
Best New Director
Won

Best Adapted Screenplay
Won

Best Original Score
Nominated

Best Original Song
Nominated

Best Animated Film
Won

text: Sequel[edit]

text: A sequel, titled Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas, was released in 2017.[11][12] It was co-directed by Enrique Gato and David Alonso,[11] and written by Jordi Gasull, Javier Barreira and Neil Landau.[20] It was distributed worldwide by Paramount Pictures.[11] And is Based on the myth of Midas