There used to be temples to Thutmose III and Amenh

There used to be temples to Thutmose III and Amenhotep III on the island prior to 1822, when they were destroyed by the Ottoman government. Both were relatively intact at that time.

The Elephantine papyri are caches of legal documents and letters written in Aramaic, which document the community of Jewish soldiers stationed here during the Persian occupation of Egypt. They maintained their own temple to their God, functioning alongside that of Chnum. The Jewish community at Elephantine was probably founded as a military installation in about 650 BCE during Manasseh’s reign, to assist Pharaoh Psammetichus I in his Nubian campaign. The documents cover the period 495 to 399 BCE.

The Island is very famous because the "Well of Eratosthênes" is located here (most probably the same Nilometer) and was where Eratosthenes was able to make the first measuremnt of the circumpherence of the earth in around 240 BC[1].

In addition to the archaeological site, the island today houses the Aswan Museum at the southern extreme, a sizable population of Nubians in three villages in the middle, and a large, dominating luxury hotel at the downstream end.

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Known to the Ancient Egyptians as Abu or Yebu

Known to the Ancient Egyptians as Abu or Yebu, Elephantine stands at the border between Egypt and Nubia. The island was an excellent defensive site for a city and its location made it a natural transshipping point for river trade. According to Egyptian mythology, here was the dwelling place of Chnum, the ram-headed god of the cataracts, who controlled the waters of the Nile from caves beneath the island: he was worshipped here as part of a triad comprising him, his wife Satis, and their daughter Anuket. There are records of a temple to Chnum here as early as the third dynasty, and most of the southern tip of the island is taken up by the ruins of the later temple to him that was completely rebuilt in the Late Period (30th dynasty). In ancient times, the island was an important stone quarry provinding granite materials for monuments.

Ongoing excavations at the town by the German Archaeological Institute have uncovered many findings, including a mummified ram of Chnum, that are now on display in the museum located on the island. Artifacts dating back to predynastic times have been found on Elephantine. The oldest ruins still standing on the island are a granite step pyramid from the third dynasty and a small shrine, built for the local sixth-dynasty nomarch Hekayib.

A rare calendar, known as the Elephantine Calendar, dating to the reign of Thutmose III, was found in fragments. Also on the island is one of the oldest nilometers in Egypt, last reconstructed in Roman times and still in use as late as the 19th century CE. The 90 steps that lead down to the river are marked with Hindu-Arabic, Roman, and hieroglyphic numerals, and inscriptions carved deep into the rock during the 17th dynasty can be seen at the water’s edge.

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Posthumous recognition and cause for canonization

Posthumous recognition and cause for canonization

Statue of John Paul II in Caracas, Venezuela

Since the death of John Paul II, a number of clergy at the Vatican and laymen throughout the world have been referring to the late pontiff as "John Paul the Great"—only the fourth pope to be so acclaimed, and the first since the first millennium.

His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, referred to him as "the great Pope John Paul II" in his first address from the loggia of St Peter’s Church. Pope Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger, stirred excitement by some devotees of the pope when in his published written homily for the Mass of Repose, he referred to Pope John Paul II as "the Great."

Since giving his homily at the funeral of Pope John Paul, Pope Benedict XVI has continued to refer to John Paul II as "the Great." At the 2005 World Youth Day in Germany, Pope Benedict XVI, speaking in Polish, John Paul’s native language, said, "As the great Pope John Paul II would say: keep the flame of faith alive in your lives and your people." In May 2006, Pope Benedict XVI visited John Paul’s native Poland. During that visit he repeatedly made references to "the great John Paul" and "my great predecessor."

In addition to the Vatican calling him "the great," numerous newspapers have also done so. For example the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera called him "the Greatest" and the South African Catholic newspaper, The Southern Cross, has called him "John Paul II The Great.

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Scholars of Canon Law say that there is no officia

Scholars of Canon Law say that there is no official process for declaring a pope "Great"; the title establishes itself through popular, and continued, usage. The three popes who today commonly are known as "Great" are Leo I, who reigned from 440–461 and persuaded Attila the Hun to withdraw from Rome, thus saving Christianity and Catholicism in Europe from destruction; Gregory I, 590–604, after whom the Gregorian Chant is named; and Nicholas I, 858–867, who also withstood a siege of Rome (in this case from Carolingian Christians, over a dispute regarding marriage annulment).

One of many John Paul II statues

On May 9, 2005 Benedict XVI began the beatification process for his predecessor, John Paul II. Normally five years must pass after a person’s death before the beatification process can begin. However, in an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, Camillo Ruini, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome and the one responsible for promoting the cause for canonization of any person who dies within that diocese, cited "exceptional circumstances" which suggested that the waiting period could be waived.

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Funeral

Funeral

The tomb of John Paul II

Main article: Funeral of Pope John Paul II

The death of Pope John Paul II set into motion rituals and traditions dating back to medieval times. The Rite of Visitation took place from 4 April through 22:00 CET (20:00 UTC) on 7 April at St. Peter’s Basilica. On 8 April the Mass of Requiem was conducted by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Joseph Ratzinger, who would become the next pope under the name of Benedict XVI. It has been estimated to have been the largest attended funeral of all time.

John Paul II was interred in the grottoes under the basilica, the Tomb of the Popes. He was lowered into a tomb that had been created in the same alcove that had been occupied by the remains of Blessed Pope John XXIII. The alcove had been empty since Pope John’s remains had been moved into the main body of the basilica after his beatification by John Paul II in 2000.

The funeral of Pope John Paul II saw the single largest gathering of heads of state in history who had come together to pay their respects.^{[citation needed]} In his memory, a number of Catholic schools have named their houses after him.

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Titles

Titles

His title was: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of Saint Peter, Head of the College of Bishops, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West (this title was recently removed from the papal list of titles by the reigning pope, Benedict XVI), Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the City State of the Vatican, Servant of the Servants of God, Pope John Paul II.

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Death

Death

President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, former Presidents Bush and Clinton pay their respects to John Paul II as he lies in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, 6 April 2005.

On 31 March 2005 the Pope developed a very high fever and profoundly low blood pressure, but was neither rushed to the hospital nor offered life support. Instead, he was offered medical monitoring by a team of consultants at his private residence. This was taken as an indication that the pope and those close to him believed that he was nearing death; it would have been in accordance with his wishes to die in the Vatican.^[12] Later that day Vatican sources announced that John Paul II had been given the Anointing of the Sick by his friend and secretary Stanislaw Dziwisz. During the final days of the Pope’s life, the lights were kept burning through the night where he lay in the Papal apartment on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace.

Tens of thousands of people rushed to the Vatican, filling St. Peter’s Square and beyond with a vast multitude, and held vigil for two days. Upon hearing of this, the dying pope was said to have stated: "I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you."

On Saturday 2 April, at about 15:30 CEST, John Paul II spoke his final words, "Let me go to the house of the Father", to his aides in his native Polish and fell into a coma about four hours later.^[13] He died in his private apartment, at 21:37 CEST (19:37 UTC), 46 days short of his 85th birthday. The mass of the vigil of the Second Sunday of Easter, that is, Divine Mercy Sunday which was put into the Church’s calendar by him on the occasion of the canonization of St. Faustina on 30 April 2000,^[14] had just been celebrated at his bedside. Several aides were present, along with several Polish nuns of the Congregation of the Sisters Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, who ran the papal household.

Wikinews has related news:

Pope John Paul II dies

A crowd of over two million within Vatican City, over one billion Catholics world-wide, and many non-Catholics mourned John Paul II. The Poles were particularly devastated by his death. The public viewing of his body in St. Peter’s Basilica drew over four million people to Vatican City and was one of the largest pilgrimages in the history of Christianity. Many world leaders expressed their condolences and ordered flags in their countries lowered to half-mast. Numerous countries with a Catholic majority, and even some with only a small Catholic population, declared mourning for John Paul II.

On his death certificate, (refractory) septic shock was listed as a primary cause of death along with profound arterial hypotension leading to complete circulatory collapse. In cases of fatal sepsis, the normal cause of death is complete circulatory collapse.

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Fungal cell walls

Fungal cell walls

Not all species of fungi have cell walls but in those that do, the plasma membrane is followed by three layers of cell wall material. From inside out these are:

• a chitin layer (polymer consisting mainly of unbranched chains of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine)
• a layer of β-1,3-glucan
• a layer of mannoproteins (mannose-containing glycoproteins) which are heavily glycosylated at the outside of the cell.

The fungal cell wall serves a similar purpose to those of plant cells, giving fungal cells rigidity and strength to build and hold their shape (morphogenesis) and offer protection against mechanical stress. Creation of a stable osmotic environment prevents osmotic lysis and helps to retain water. The fungal cell wall also limits the entry of molecules that may be toxic to the fungus, such as plant-produced and synthetic fungicides. The composition, properties, and form of the fungal cell wall change during the cell cycle and depend on growth conditions.

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The group Oomycetes also known as water molds

The group Oomycetes (also known as water molds) are saprotrophic plant pathogens like fungi, but anomalously possess cellulose cell walls. Until recently they were widely believed to be fungi, but structural and molecular evidence^[9] has led to their reclassification as heterokonts, related to autotrophic brown algae and diatoms.

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Bacterial cell wallsBacterial cell walls

Bacterial cell walls

Diagram of a typical gram-negative bacterium, with the thin cell wall (2) sandwiched between the yellow outer membrane and the thin red plasma membrane

Further information: Cell envelope

Around the outside of the cell membrane is the bacterial cell wall. Bacterial cell walls are made of peptidoglycan (also called murein), which is made from polysaccharide chains cross-linked by unusual peptides containing D-amino acids.^[4] Bacterial cell walls are different from the cell walls of plants and fungi which are made of cellulose and chitin, respectively.^[5] The cell wall of bacteria is also distinct from that of Archaea, which do not contain peptidoglycan. The cell wall is essential to the survival of many bacteria and the antibiotic penicillin is able to kill bacteria by inhibiting a step in the synthesis of peptidoglycan.^[5]

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