Explaining the complexity of Republika Srpska and the Bosnian War

Republika Srpska, in blue

For those of you who don't know, the 90s has seen the dissolution of Yugoslavia into several successor states, one of which was the Republic of Bosnia & Herzegovina, as well as Serbia.

Bosnia comprised of 43% Muslims (calling themselves Bosniaks), 31% Bosnian Serbs and 17% Croats, in the 1991 census.

A referendum for independence was boycotted by the Bosnian Serbs (who were against secession from Serbia, then-considered the main successor of Yugoslavia).

Violence ensued.

Following the declaration of independence, Bosnian Serb forces, supported by the Serbian government of Slobodan Milošević and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) attacked the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to secure Serbian territory and war soon broke out across Bosnia, accompanied by the ethnic cleansing of the Bosniak population, especially in Eastern Bosnia.

It was principally a territorial conflict, initially between the Serb forces mostly organized in the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) on the one side, and the multiethnic Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) which was largely though not exclusively composed of Bosniaks, and the Croat forces in the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) on the other side

. The Croats also aimed at securing parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Croatian. The Serb and Croat political leadership agreed on a partition of Bosnia with the Karađorđevo and Graz agreements, resulting in the Croats forces turning on the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croat-Bosniak war.The war was characterized by bitter fighting, indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns, ethnic cleansing, systematic mass rape and genocide mostly led by the Serb forces. Events such as the Siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre would become iconic of the conflict.

The Serbs, although initially superior due to the vast amount of weapons and resources provided by the JNA eventually lost momentum as Bosniaks and Croats allied themselves against Republika Srpska in 1994 with the creation of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina following the Washington agreement.

After the Srebrenica and Markale massacres, NATO intervened during the 1995 Operation Deliberate Force against the positions of the Army of Republika Srpska, which proved key in ending the war. The war was brought to an end after the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Paris on 14 December 1995.

Peace negotiations were held in Dayton, Ohio, and were finalized on 21 December 1995. The accords are known as the Dayton Agreement. A 1995 report by the Central Intelligence Agency found Serbian forces responsible for 90 per cent of the war crimes committed during the conflict. 

As of early 2008 the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had convicted 45 Serbs, 12 Croats and 4 Bosniaks of war crimes in connection with the war in Bosnia. The most recent research places the number of killed people at around 100,000–110,000 and the number displaced at over 2.2 million,making it the most devastating conflict in Europe since the end of World War II

The horrific aspect of the war was because of the intentional ethnic cleasnsing of the Bosniak ethnic group (usually Muslims).
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A few months ago, I had the good fortune of meeting a man from the Balkans, a Bulgarian, who helped me understand just how complex and horrific the 90s has been for the Balkans.

Here is a transcript of his explanation to me:

Me: What is Republika Srpska ? Is it a country ?

Ans: No it is not a different country. It is a political entity, a seperate zone from the Bosnians. Bosnian Serbs live there with different parliment, with their own president and prime minister, seperated from the bosnians.
In the near past Bosnians and bosnian serbs had quite a "disagreement", such a great disagreement it was, that it costed the lives of many. As you might now also Bosnians are mainly Muslims, while bosnian serbs are orthodox christians.

The future of Srpska ? It hang in Bosnia only under threat of foreign force. Bosnia Herzegovina is basically an EU protectorate with an EU governor appointed to watch over it with right to disband Bosnian institutions and veto any national legislation.

Serbs in Republica Serpska probably wish to unite their country with Serbia.

Republica Serbska was created as a result of breakup of Yugoslavia and following civil war. On territory of Bosnia Hercegovina lot of Serbs was living. Up to 40% of its population probably. When Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia, these Serbs disagreed with it and wanted to stay in Yugoslavia. They therefore in turn declared their independence from Bosnia. War erupted. 

He explained how all the ethnic groups were divided and scattered around

 Me: So it is all a matter of maps ? Everyone is scattered around ?

Ans: Was. War changed that. People fled or were forced out of territories controlled by other people in to territories controlled by their own.

Me: What about the Croatians ? What part did they play ?

Ans:   At first Croats allied with Serbs against Bosnians, then Croats allied with Bosnians against Serbs. Temporary alliances were rampant at the time. It was practically everyone for himself

Me: So its just ethnicity and nationalism clashing together ?

Ans: To put it in a nut shell, yes. Nationalism is one of the arguments used by power to convince people and make them hate each other.It succeeds when education fails.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

Can you believe it ? We've managed to come through 2011 and now we're just less than a week away from 2012. All I can say is : What a year !

It has been incredible. Both on a personal note and on an overall note. We'd be stupid to say that 2011 was a just a normal year.

Nope. It was special. What year would you ever see loads of revolutions, earthquakes, the Royal Wedding ?

Cairo was rocked. Christchurch was crushed, Japan was faced with earthquakes and a tsunami, a fairytale-like Royal Wedding in Westminister, a Bin Laden-live tweeted-assassination, a new Sudan was born (and now Algeria is the largest country in Africa!), a divided Libya was reunited, the world has officially reached 7 billion and counting, and to top it off, the Iraq war is over.

This was the year of Steve Jobs' passing, of Qadaffi's death, of Bin Laden's end, of Socrates' departure and of many others as well.
We may feel like some deserve it and others do not. But ultimately, death can just come at you in a blink of an eye.

What is remarkable is that 2011 was actually documented from space! Have a look at these wonderful shots 

Now, if you thought 2011 was exciting, something tells me 2012 will be even more eventful (especially with the History-Channel-sponsored 2012 Doomsday thing).

While I'm on the topic (well, I sorta derailed it), I'd like to wish my Christian readers (or to anyone celebrating), a happy Christmas (over here, Christmas is locally known as "Epic Movies Day"!) .

And I'd also like to congratulate you, reader. You have survived and lived through what was possibly the most influential, jaw-dropping, headache causing year! You have lived through history at first hand and all these will be in history books.

One thing is for sure. We have lived in interesting times, indeed.

From myself and the people of Bahrain.

Must-Read Book for Bahrain History enthusiasts

I've spent the past week reading this book about the history of Manama.

Available in local Bahraini bookstores

Written by Abdul Karim al Orrayed , who is a lifelong artist and historian (born in the 1930s!), he also received the Shaikh Isa Medal for his contributions in art in 2007.

The book was originally written in Arabic and was translated by Loona al Orrayed (the author's daughter). The book is 358 pages long , so mind you, it is a good long read.

To make it easier to explain the book, I'll list the positives and negatives of the book.

Positive:

• The book talks about Manama history and it is, according to the author, written via numerous accounts from eye-witnesses and people who lived through those times
• The book is well sourced (although the references are written in Arabic)
• The book generally explains Bahraini customs in a satisfactory method (and often detailed).
• The book has 6 Chapters dealing with Manama history, detailing each and every village that used to exist in the present location of Manama , often with vivid descriptions.
• A whole chapter is dedicated to the oldest known continuously inhabited village of Bahrain, Bilad al Qadeem, with numerous units explaining the society, cultural and education aspect of the community.
• The book provides accounts of foreigners' accounts of Bahrain, from visitors in the 19th century to those of Charles Belgrave in the early 30s and 60s.
• The book takes a particular interest in highlighting the intellectual climate that existed in Manama, both in the 11th century and in the 20th century.
• The book details and outlines carefully how Bahrain had modernized during the 20th century, and provides an excellent case-study about the American Missionary Hospital's role in pioneering healthcare in the country.
• The book contains a chapter devoted to explaining the history of Islam in Bahrain and also highlighting the different religions present in Manama, each having a description of their own.
• Religious buildings, events are clearly marked in the book, and perhaps most interestingly is that the book highlights the lives of minority religious groups such as the Jews in Bahrain.
• And most interestingly, an index of families of Bahrain is provided.
• Colourful pictures and illustrations are present!

Criticism:

• False information is written in the book, with the idea that Phoenicians had lived in Bahrain in 2600 BC, when they had not existed until centuries later.
• The book often becomes too detailed and easy to get lost in.
• The 'table of contents' is on the right side of the book , instead of the traditional left side (not much of a problem but unorthodox).
• Grammatical mistakes are present in some chapters.
• The book does not highlight the Persian community in Bahrain, aside from mere mentions.
• Certain family names are not present in the family index.
• Book does not state when Arabic transliterations occur, therefore making it difficult to understand the word in Arabic (for example, Um Ehmar is written in the book , when it is pronounced Um E7mar)
• Though the book is greatly detailed, not everything is present.

All in all, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Bahraini history, but mind you, I do not guarantee its accuracy (see the Phoenician example). Though, the author deserves praise. The book has obviously taken a very long time to write, to the very detail, and especially deserves to be commended for providing pictures and illustrations into the book (thus preventing it from becoming too boring!). It records Manama's history, from a time of villages, swamps and springs to becoming a cosmopolitan metropolis


The book does something that has never been done before, and that is to contain the history of a country (or capital) that is smaller than the City of London!

Freshen Up With Archaeology Friday (Post II)

A lot of things have been going on since last week and this all should be a good summary of it :

Did Malaria cause the Fall of Rome?

There has never been any real proof of Malaria having been present at all in the Roman Empire. While there are several mentions of a disease sounding very similar to malaria in historical documents from Roman times, there has never been any hard evidence of its presence.

But last year, for the first time, a British scientist proved conclusively that the most dangerous type of malaria was a killer in imperial Rome. The scientist relied on the latest DNA techniques that are revolutionizing the understanding of the role of disease in ancient times.

The malarial DNA from a Roman site, dating from around AD 450, is the oldest definite evidence of malaria in history. The finding of malaria was a remarkable and complicated piece of detective work, which spanned the last ten years.

At its height, the Roman Empire stretched from Scotland in the northern hemisphere to the deserts of Africa in the south. The empire lasted for over 500 years, although its eastern part, the Byzantine Empire, lasted for several more centuries. When the empire collapsed, hordes of barbarian armies, including the infamous Vandal pirates, invaded Italy throughout the fifth century AD. Rome was transformed from a bustling city of millions to a provincial town of a few thousand, surrounded by swamps.

The anarchy of the Dark Ages had begun.

Although there has been no shortage of theories, it has never been clear why Rome became so vulnerable to foreign invaders at this time. Political instability, the collapse of food supplies to Rome, and even the infamous lead in the water supplies have all been implicated. Historians have generally agreed that Rome's downfall was due to a combination of many factors.

More information can be found in this BBC-History article Malaria and the Fall of Rome

The Great Pyramid's Secret Doors to be opened in 2012:

The Great Pyramid of Egypt, secrets to be revealed

Might sound a bit prophetical with it being opened in 2012 but worry not, chances of doomsday are slim-to-none!

Back to the story here:

New revelations on the enduring mystery were already expected this year, following a robot exploration of the 4,500-year-old pharaonic mausoleum.

But unrest in Egypt froze the project at its most promising stage, after it produced the first ever images behind one of the Great Pyramid's mysterious doors.

Now the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), once led by the controversial yet charismatic Zahi Hawass, is slowly returning to granting permits for excavations and archaeological research.

"As with other missions, we have had to resubmit our application to be allowed to continue. We are currently waiting for the various committees to formalize the approval," project mission manager Shaun Whitehead, of the exploration company Scoutek UK, told Discovery News. 

"Once we're allowed to continue, I have no doubt that we can complete our work in 2012," he added.

Built for the pharaoh Cheops, also known as Khufu, the Great Pyramid is the last remaining wonder of the ancient world.

The monument is the largest of a family of three pyramids on the Giza plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, and has long been rumored to have hidden passageways leading to secret chambers. Archaeologists have long puzzled over the purpose of four narrow shafts deep inside the pyramid since they were first discovered in 1872.

Two shafts, extend from the upper, or "Kings Chamber" exit into open air. But the lower two, one on the south side and one on the north side in the so-called "Queen's Chamber" disappear within the structures, deepening the pyramid mystery. 

To those interested, the full story is here - Will The Great Pyramid's secrets be finally revealed?

5000 Year Old Burial Sites Discovered in Sohar, Oman:

The 600km sq burial site

 At least 5,000 year old burial sites have been discovered by archaeologists during the two-year-long Sohar Heritage Project, according to a press release from the Ministry of Heritage and Culture on Sunday (the 11th).

The ministry-run project, which has carried out major survey within Sohar town and surrounding areas, is mainly funded by the industrial sector in the this port town.

"An area of 600sqkm has been covered and many new sites have been found that will shed light on Oman and its glorious past," informs to Biubwa Ali Al Sabri, Director of Excavation and Archaeological Sites at the Ministry of Heritage and Culture.

She added that many of the sites found in Sohar are burial sites belonging to the Wadi Souq period (1900- 1100 BC). "Also older sites that are as old as 5000 years have been found and a distinctive pattern can be seen within the area that stretches from Liwa to Gyal as Shabol," pointed out the Omani archaeology expert.

"Many Islamic sites have also been found that have the potential to shed light of how Sohar has come to develop. Also other surveys have been conducted over the years in the area but not in this scale," Al Sabri added.

"This will also be something that can be used in other projects within and outside the Ministry of Heritage and Culture as a base for future development of Omani heritage," said Swedish Project manager Gunnar Ohrnell.

More information and background here - 5,000 year old burial sites found in Oman

Dead Sea Was Almost Dried Up 120,000 years ago:

The Dead Sea, clearly labelled

The Dead Sea nearly disappeared about 120,000 years ago, say researchers who drilled more than 1,500 feet below one of the deepest parts of the politically contentious body of water.

The discovery looms large at a time when the Dead Sea is shrinking rapidly, Middle Eastern nations are battling over water rights, and experts hotly debate whether the salt lake could ever dry up completely in the years to come.

New data from drilled deposits are also helping piece together geological history that slices through Biblical times. Further research may offer opportunities to verify whether earthquakes destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah or if Joseph stockpiled grains in Egypt to weather a real famine.

"We see a lot of these different stories in the Bible about fat years and lean years," said Steven Goldstein, a geochemist at Columbia University in New York. "And we can see in the record that there were these intervals where it looks like it was a land of milk and honey, and there were intervals where there was no water, no rain and I'm sure, famine. Climate validates that there were these rhythms."

The new research started, not as an attempt to investigate Biblical events, but to understand the history of the Dead Sea, which has been drying up at dramatic rates in recent decades.
As a result of both evaporation and intensive human demands for water from inflowing rivers, the surface of the lake dropped 23 meters (75 feet) from 1930 to 2000, said Emi Ito, a geochemist at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

And the lake's rate of shrinking seems to be accelerating. From 2000 to 2008, levels dropped 8 m (26 feet), with another 1.5 m (5 feet) lost in 2010 alone.

Even as the lake's salty shores recede, though, scientists have long debated whether it could ever totally dry up. Because the water is so salty and because salt and water molecules attract each other, many modeling studies have suggested that some amount of water will always remain there.

To see if history could help settle that debate and others, an international team of researchers drilled down about 460 m (more than 1,500 feet) into sediments of the Dead Sea in Israeli territory at a spot that was just slightly shallower than the lake's deepest point, which lay on the other side of the border in Jordan. The cores they pulled up stretched back 200,000 years.At a level corresponding with 120,000 years ago, during a warm period between ice ages, the researchers found a layer of small round pebbles sitting on top of 45 meters (nearly 150 feet) of thick salt deposits. Those pebbles, they announced this week at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, look just like the rocks that normally appear on the lake's beaches -- suggesting that one of the deepest parts of the lake was once dry.

More Information here - A Dry Dead Sea Before Biblical Times

Enigmatic standing stele of Al-Rajajil 

Perhaps the equivalent of Stonehenge, this unusual structure is believed to be the oldest human monument in the whole Arabian Peninsula

In the Jawf province of Saudi Arabia, outside of Sakkaka lies this three metre high fingers of stone.

Etched with ancient Thamudic graffiti, these monuments to a long extinct culture have maintained their lonely vigil for six millennia. Many have fallen over and others lean at bizarre random angles.

Al-Rajajil (“the men”), the sandstone stele weighing up to five tons each, is popularly called Saudi Arabia’s Stonehenge. They are possibly the oldest human monuments on the peninsula.

Some time in the Chalcolithic, or Copper Age, people living in the area where Al-Jouf is today laboriously erected 54 groups of rudely trimmed stone pillars. Each group contains two to 19 pillars.

At ground level there is no immediately obvious placement of the groups. However, aerial images suggest a rough alignment to sunrise and sunset. There is no positive answer to the question why they are there. An archaeological dig over 30 years ago at the base of one set of pillars failed to turn up any bones or votive offerings, suggesting that religious motives were not the reason.

 Political or astronomical reasons are a possibility, though not proven. It is possible that is a landmark for a trade route.

Al-Jouf was a significant stopover point on the trade route from Yemen to Mesopotamia. One trade route, the oldest land route in recorded history, ran from Yemen and parallel to the Red Sea coast through Madinah, Al-‘Ula and Madaen Salih.  It turned northeast to Al-Jouf and then north toward Damascus and Turkey.

The Arabian Peninsula and Saudi Arabia in particular has hugely rich archaeological wealth. Much can be definitively written into history, but the standing stele of Al-Rajajil remains an enigma.

London was built with the Blood of British Slaves ?

Long has it been believed that the Romans founded London (then Londinium) in AD 50 as a centre of trade and business in its empire...or so we thought.

The skulls that were uncovered, belonged to the Iceni tribe

Recent evidence suggests the capital has a more chilling history, built as a military base by slaves who were then slaughtered. Hundreds of skulls discovered along the course of the "lost" river Walbrook suggest London may have been built by forced labour.

Dominic Perring, director of the Centre for Applied Archaeology at University College London, says the skulls could be those of Queen Boudica's rebel Iceni tribesmen who were brought to London to build a new military base.

In an essay published in this month's British Archaeology magazine, Mr Perring argues that some of the skulls had been de-fleshed, which suggests the slaves may have been executed after building work was finished.
 Mike Pitts, the editor of British Archaeology, said:

"At a time when we're all wondering and worrying about the future of the City of London it's interesting to reflect on its foundation, which seems to have been very bloody indeed.

"The team has been looking at the evidence accumulated from decades of new excavation, and they offer a more convincing, and chilling, alternative to what has long been believed."

Mr Perring added:

"The timbers were prepared using 'native' British woodworking techniques, unlike the Roman carpentry used everywhere else. Might this have been the work of forced labour? Several hundred late Iron Age or early Roman skulls, from a population that must have numbered in thousands, have been found in and around the Walbrook and were predominantly of young males. London's civic centre was ignored in the rebuilding, and no new temples or basilicas were erected. This suggests London lacked independent legal status and remained under direct military control.

"It was singled out for attention in the period after the revolt because of its military importance, as both the site of an earlier fort and the principal port that supplied the army. This was the commanding centre from which Roman power in Britain was exercised."

And that sums up this week's post. Come back next week!

Update: A worthy mention for any Romanophiles out there, The University of Arizona published a paper (its actually someone's thesis) on Private Armies and Personal Power in the Late Roman Empire (written by Ryan H. Wilkonson

Survey Result: Was 2011 a Good Year?

Over the past 5 days, I have been organizing a survey out of 60 random people, asking them whether or not 2011 was a good year, overall.

The results are in...





53% of all people said that they thought 2011 was a good year. 47% voted that 2011 was a bad year ( I have received a few "2011 WAS THE WORST YEAR OF MY LIFE" comments so take that into account).

I'd put the error margin at around +/- 1, according to my calculator but I'd say the results are fairly accurate.

So chances are, around half of all people you meet will tell you 2011 was a bad year while the other half say the opposite.

What about you ? What do you think ? Was 2011 a good year?

A photo from yesteryear: The first Muharraq-Manama bridge

Translates to "A picture of the Shaikh Hamad bridge in the 1950s"

For Bahrainis nowadays, the idea that mainland Bahrain and the island of Muharraq were not connected with any roads, seems like a pretty unbelievable thing.

An old map of Bahrain, not showing current bridges

But for almost all of Bahrain's history, this was the case. No roads whatsoever.

If you wanted to go to Muharraq, you would have to get a boat ride (or if you're strong enough, you could swim!).

Then, in the 20th century, history was made. Muharraq and Manama, reconnected for the first time since the formation of the Bahrain islands!

Though, the bridge built was no highway. As you could see from the photo above, it was a single lane bridge, and had a relatively simple complex when compared to modern bridges.

Nonetheless, I blog this because I found this picture to have been a reminder about how Bahrain has progressed throughout the ages. How much Bahrain has modernized and grown. Shopping Malls come and go, so do sports events and stuff like that. But history remains forever.

Freshen Up With Archaeology Friday (Post I)

Every Friday, I shall be posting the latest news from the field of archaeology and hopefully, I won't miss a single Friday! So, lets start off with this week:

Ancient Stone Markings in Jerusalem stuns Experts:

The marks are believed to be 2,800 years old

On the seventh of December, 2011, Archaeologists discovered what seemed to have been a rather odd find in an excavation in Jerusalem.

The archaeologists uncovered a complex of rooms carved into the bedrock in the oldest section of the city recently found the markings: 

Three "V" shapes cut next to each other into the limestone floor of one of the rooms, about 2 inches (5 centimeters) deep and 20 inches (50 centimeters) long.

There were no finds to offer any clues pointing to the identity of who made them or what purpose they served.

he shapes were found in a dig known as the City of David, a politically sensitive excavation conducted by Israeli government archaeologists and funded by a nationalist Jewish group under the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem. The rooms were unearthed as part of the excavation of fortifications around the ancient city's only natural water source, the Gihon spring.

It is possible, the dig's archaeologists say, that when the markings were made at least 2,800 years ago the shapes might have accommodated some kind of wooden structure that stood inside them, or they might have served some other purpose on their own. They might have had a ritual function or one that was entirely mundane. 

Archaeologists faced by a curious artifact can usually at least venture a guess about its nature, but in this case no one, including outside experts consulted by Shukron and the dig's co-director, archaeologists with decades of experience between them, has any idea.

There appears to be at least one other ancient marking of the same type at the site. A century-old map of an expedition led by the British explorer Montague Parker, who searched for the lost treasures of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem between 1909 and 1911, includes the shape of a "V" drawn in an underground channel not far away. Modern archaeologists haven't excavated that area yet.

Ceramic shards found in the rooms indicate they were last used around 800 B.C., with Jerusalem under the rule of Judean kings, the dig's archaeologists say. At around that time, the rooms appear to have been filled with rubble to support the construction of a defensive wall.

It is unclear, however, whether they were built in the time of those kings or centuries earlier by the Canaanite residents who predated them.

Centuries-Old Witches' Cottage and Mummified Cat Unearthed in Britain

The ruined cottage where the mummified cat was found

A cottage believed to be linked to a famous group of 17th-century English witches and a mummified cat were unearthed by workmen in Lancashire, northern England.

The site, described by one archaeologist as "Lancashire's Pompeii," was discovered during a construction project, Sky News reported.

Water engineers found the 17th-century cottage during excavations in Pendle, and experts think it could be connected to the famous Pendle Witches, a group of 16 women tried for witchcraft in 1612.

It is thought the mummified cat -- found sealed into one of the walls -- may have been entombed in the wall while still alive, as paranormal protection.

"Cats feature prominently in folklore about witches. Whoever consigned this cat to such a horrible fate was clearly seeking protection from evil spirits," Pendle Witches expert Simon Entwistle said. "We're just a few months away from the 400th anniversary of the Pendle Witch trials, and here we have an incredibly rare find, which could well be the famous Malkin Tower."

Malkin Tower was said to be the site of a notorious meeting between the witches on Good Friday in 1612.
Frank Giecco, who led the team that unearthed the cottage, said, "It's like discovering your own little Pompeii. We rarely get the opportunity to work with something so well preserved. As soon as we started digging, we found the tops of doors and knew we were onto something special."

The cottage is said to be in remarkable condition and contained many 19th-century artifacts such as crockery, a cooking range and a bedstead. The construction project was put on hold while archaeologists investigate the site.