Learning Skills

By Unknown Author from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2VsqKhm

Article of the day for April 26, 2019 is Benty Grange helmet . The Benty Grange helmet is a boar-crested Anglo-Saxon helmet from the 7th century. It was excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1848 from a burial mound at the Benty Grange farm in Monyash in western Derbyshire. The grave had likely been looted by the time of Bateman's excavation, but still contained other high-status objects suggestive of a richly furnished burial, such as the fragmentary remains of a hanging bowl. The ornate helmet was constructed by covering the outside of an iron framework with plates of horn and the inside with cloth or leather, now decayed. It would have provided some protection against weapons, but may have also been intended for ceremonial use. It was the first Anglo-Saxon helmet to be discovered; others have been found at Sutton Hoo, York, Wollaston, Shorwell, and Staffordshire. The helmet is displayed at Sheffield's Weston Park Museum, which purchased it from Bateman's estate in 1893.

With a high of 80F and a low of 60F.

By STEPHANIE DANLER from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2GxpZdq

By SARAH LYALL from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2XFKD1T

By Unknown Author from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2GwwoFK

Article of the day for April 25, 2019 is Alodia . Alodia was a medieval Nubian kingdom in what is now Central and Southern Sudan. Its capital was Soba, near modern-day Khartoum at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers. In 580 it became a part of the Christian world, following the other two Nubian kingdoms, Nobadia and Makuria. Alodia reached its peak during the 9th–12th centuries, when it exceeded its northern neighbor and close ally, Makuria, in size, military power and economic prosperity. A large, multicultural state, Alodia was ruled by a powerful king and provincial governors appointed by him. Soba was a prosperous town and trading hub, and literacy in Nubian and Greek flourished. Goods arrived from Makuria, the Middle East, western Africa, India and even China. Alodia began a slow decline in the 12th century, possibly because of invasions from the south, droughts and a shift of trade routes, before finally collapsing around 1500.