Minoan Culture ( c. 2200 B.C - 1450 B.C )

             The First European civilization began with the Minoans on the island of Crete. The Minoans were named after a character from Greek mythology named King Minos. The name Minos may also have been a title for their leaders similar to "Pharaoh" in Egypt.

             The Minoans build their towns on the coast where there was rich farm land. They traveled by sea and traded their pottery and other goods with Egypt, Syria, and the southern islands of the Aegean. The largest palace was built and rebuilt in their capital city, Knossos.

            It appears they believed in life after death, as the dead were buried with possessions to take to the afterlife. They developed an early Greek alphabet known as "Linear A" They were a hedonistic (pleasure-seeking) culture. Many paintings portray festivals including some depicting "bull-leaping." Apparently the culture anded from a combination of volcanic activity and attack from the Myceneans

Knosos

Knossos in Crete was one of the westrn world's earlies cities. During its great age, from just after 2000 until 1400 B.C, it had small two storied houses packed along narrow streets.
 The population of

Knossos and Aminsos may have reached 100.000 - extremely large for that time. Knosos has been major archeologist, Arthur Evans, in 1990. Digging has revealed evidence  of sophisticated culture, one that benefited from a system of running water carried in day pipes..

Phoenician Civilization and the Alphabet ( c. 1200 B.C-1000 B.C)

       Originally desert nomand, the Phoenicians ( the Canaanites of the Bible) lived in the land of Canaan. About 1200 B.C. they began to be called Phoenicians, named from the Greek word phoinos, or red, because of a wonderful reddish-purple dye they puduced. The Phoenicians were merchants and traders and made extensive use of the sea to transport goods to and from their land. Due to their advanced ships, they were known as the greaters seafarers of the ancient world.
      The Phoenician Alphabet was their most important contribution to civilization. This, the firs known alphabet, became the basis of our own 26 letter alphabet. However, their alphabet had 30 consonants and no vowels.
       The Phoenician founded colonies at Sardinia, Utica, and Carthage. Chartage would emerge as a powerful trading empire whose conflicts with Rome would result in the Punic Wars.

The Trojan Horse (1)

It is three thousand years ago in the land now called Turkey. Asherpherd stands above a grassy field, watching his sheep. To the west the sea sparkles in the sunlight. To the east the dusty plain stirs in the wind.

About four miles from the sea there is a great stone wall built on a hill. Inside the wall there is a rich, proud kingdom.

It is the ancient kingdom of Troy. The wall around Troy is there to protect the city. It is made of stones that men cut and fit together. In some places it is very high and very thick. The lower part of the wall is covered with limestone. The limestone makes the wall slippery. Climbing up the wall is impossible.
At the top of the wall there are places where the trojan bowmen can stand. Here they can pull back their bowstrings and let their arrows fly. So going over the wall is impossible too!

There is only one way into Troy-through the great double gate. Shepherds go through, with their carts full of vegetables. Traders go through, with their treasures of gold and silver and bronze.

Gatekeepers guard the gate day and night. If a hosetile army is coming across the plain, the close the gate and push the bolts. Behind the stone wall. Troy is save.

Troy is an important city in the ancient world. And Priam, the king of Troy, is a very powerful ruler. He has many allies. He rules the land and sea for miles around. But King Priam is not content. He want to be more powerful than the Greeks, who live far away across the Aegean Sea.

The Greeks speak the same language as the Trojans and believe in the some gods as the Trojans. But they are enemies, not Friends!

The land where the Greeks live is Rocky and Hilly. They cannot grow enough wheat. They must sail to Asia to buy more. But to get to Asia the Greeks must pass through a narrow channel of water that connects the Aegean Sea with the black Sea. Troy is located at the very entrance to this Channel.

King Priam takes advantage of this! When a Greek ship full of cargo sails past Troy, the Trojans stop it. They demand a toll. If the Greeks want to go by, they must pay!

Cargo ship are big and heavy. They are not made to go fast like warship. So the Greeks have to pay the toll-with bags of wheat, jars of oil, bars of gold.

The Greeks are furious. Why Should they have to pay to use the cahnnel? The sea is  free. If the Trojans keep this up, there will be war!
But King Priam is not afraid. There is a great stone wall around his city. No one- not even a Greek army- can get into Troy.

Smile...

Aku juga punya BAPA....

Saat anak-anak yang lain memanggil ayah, aku hanya menoleh melihat betapa bahagianya mereka yang riang saat digendong dalam pelukan seorang ayah. Sebenarnya pemandangan seperti itu sudah sering kualami. Sejak kecil aku sering menangis melihat anak-anak yang lain yang  diantar dan dijemput saat pulang sekolah oleh ayah mereka. aku selalu mengadu pada ibu mengapa aku tak punya ayah dan ibu hanya diam kemudian ikut bersedih...

Kali ini aku sudah bisa tersenyum karena tak ingin membuat ibu sedih, namun tak bisa kubohongi bahwa dilubuk hatiku yang paling dalam aku masih menangis, air mata hatiku deras mengalir tak terbendung. aku harus berjuang untuk tetap tersenyum hingga senyumku mampu membendung air mata hati itu, menahan semua rasa hingga kadang terasa sedikit  sesak di dada...

Masih terus aku bertanya, mengapa aku tak seperti mereka? merasakan pelukan kasih sayang dari sosok orang yang mereka namai ayah. 

Bertahun-tahun aku merindukan pelukan seorang ayah tapi disaat yang sama aku sangat membenci laki-laki yang mereka sebut sebagai ayahku.. mengapa ia pergi dan ingin membuangku saat aku masih dalam kandungan? Berat rasanya berjalan dengan memikul kisah ini. aku hanya anak yang ditolak, anak yang lahir dari hubungan terlarang. 

aku tertunduk melihar diriku yang yang kini mulai dewasa.. sampai kapan aku harus memikil rasa ini? kadang aku tak tega melihat ibuku yang berjuang membesarkan adik-adikku....

Oh Tuhan..... Mengapa pada saat itu Engkau mengijinkanku terlahir di dunia ini? mengapa Engkau tidak biarkan aku mati saja saat mereka tak menginginkan kehadiranku?

Semakin Perih rasanya..

Kadang rasanya ingin mencari orang yang telah meninggalkan Ibu dan kami. namun hati kecilku bertanya.. Untuk apa?

Mungkinkah dia akan membuat aku bahagia? atau sebaliknya? aku hanya akan makin sedih ketika bertemu dengannya...

aku memang membutuhkan sosok seorang ayah seperti mereka, tapi kini kusadari bahwa aku lebih membutuhkan BAPA...

BAPA yang sudah mengijinkan aku lahir ke dunia ini..BAPA yang akan terus membuatku berdiri dan melangkah sesuai rencana-Nya karena BAPA mengasihiku..

Kini saat anak-anak yang lain menggil ayah, Hatiku mengarah padaMU dan kurasakan bahwa Engkau juga sedang menungguku untuk memanggil Engkau BAPA.....

Ted Kaczynski

Ted Kaczynski menyelesaikan studinya di sekolah menengah atas dengan cepat, tanpa perlu menyelesaikan sekolah menengah pertama, dan tidak banyak berusaha menjalin kontak sosial. Ia diterima di Harvard pada usia 16 tahun. Kaczynki adalah seorang penyendiri semasa kuliahnya. seorang rekan sekamarnya mengatakan bahwa Kaczynski selalu menghindari orang lain dengan cara berjalan tergesa-gesa melewati mereka dan membanting pintu setelah memasuki ruangan. Setelah memperoleh gelar Ph.D untuk bidang matematika di University of Michigan, Kaczynski menjadi pengajar di University of California di Berkeley. Rekan-rekannya mengingat Kaczynski sebagai orang yang menghindari lingkungan sosial- tidak memiliki kawan, kelompok, ataupun jaringan sosial.

Setelah beberapa tahun di Berkeley, Kaczynsky mengundurkan diri dan pindah ke sebuah pedesaan di Montana, dimana ia mengasingkan diri di sebuah rumah sederhana selama 25 tahun. Warga sekitarnya menggambarkan Kaczynski sebagai seorang eksentrik berjanggut.
Kaczynski menelusuri sendiri masa kanak-kanaknya yang sulit sebagai seorang jenius dan kelihatan sangat berbeda dengan anak-anak lain. Pada Tahun 1996, ia ditahan dan didakwa sebagai sang Unabomber, Pembunuh yang paling dicari di amerika. Kaczynski mengirimkan sebanyak 16 paket bom (mail bomb) selama jangka waktu 17tahun yang menyebabkan 23 orang terluka dan 3 orang meninggal. Pada tahun 1998, ia mengaku bersalah atas kejahatan tersebut dan dihukum penjara seumur hidup.

Kacziynski melewati masa kanak-kanak yang sulit sebagai seorang jenius dan ia tidak dapat menyesuaikan diri dengan lingkungan dimana ia berada. awalnya Kaczynski adalah anak yang berbakat tapi bakat dan kemampuannya tidak diarahkan dengan baik sehingga kemampuannya digunakan untuk hal-hal negatif dan membuatnya melakukan tindakan kekerasan dan brutal.


Sumber : 
Santrock John W, Life-Span Development; Edisi Ketigabelas Jilid 1, Erlangga, 2011