text:
Abydos, Egypt

Abydos (أبيدوس or افود; Sahidic Ⲉⲃⲱⲧ Ebōt) is one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, and also of the eighth nome in Upper Egypt. It is located about 11 km west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of El Araba El Madfuna and El Balyana. In the ancient Egyptian language, the city was called Abedju (ꜣbḏw or AbDw)(Arabic Abdu عبد-و). The English name Abydos comes from the Greek Ἄβυδος, a name borrowed by Greek geographers from the unrelated city of Abydos on the Hellespont. Abydos name in hieroglyphs

Considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt, the sacred city of Abydos was the site of many ancient temples, including Umm el-Qa'ab, a royal necropolis where early pharaohs were entombed. These tombs began to be seen as extremely significant burials and in later times it became desirable to be buried in the area, leading to the growth of the town's importance as a cult site.

Today, Abydos is notable for the memorial temple of Seti I, which contains an inscription from the Nineteenth Dynasty known to the modern world as the Abydos King List. This is a chronological list showing cartouches of most dynastic pharaohs of Egypt from Menes until Seti I's father, Ramesses I. It is also notable for the Abydos graffiti, ancient Phoenician and Aramaic graffiti found on the walls of the Temple of Seti I.

The Great Temple and most of the ancient town are buried under the modern buildings to the north of the Seti temple. Many of the original structures and the artifacts within them are considered irretrievable and lost; many may have been destroyed by the new construction.

History

Most of Upper Egypt became unified under rulers from Abydos during the Naqada III period (3200–3000 BCE), at the expense of rival cities such as Hierakonpolis. The conflicts leading to the supremacy of Abydos may appear on numerous reliefs of the Naqada II period, such as the Gebel el-Arak Knife, or the frieze of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis.

Tombs and at least one temple of rulers of the Predynastic period have been found at Umm El Qa'ab including that of Narmer, dating to c. 3100 BCE. The temple and town continued to be rebuilt at intervals down to the times of the Thirtieth Dynasty, and the cemetery was in continuous use.

The pharaohs of the First Dynasty were buried in Abydos, including Narmer, who is regarded as the founder of the First Dynasty, and his successor, Aha. It was in this time period that the Abydos boats were constructed. Some pharaohs of the Second Dynasty were also buried in Abydos. The temple was renewed and enlarged by these pharaohs as well. Funerary enclosures, misinterpreted in modern times as great 'forts', were built on the desert behind the town by three kings of the Second Dynasty; the most complete is that of Khasekhemwy, the Shunet El Zebib.

From the Fifth Dynasty, the deity Khentiamentiu, foremost of the Westerners, came to be seen as a manifestation of the dead pharaoh in the underworld. Pepi I (Sixth Dynasty) constructed a funerary chapel which evolved over the years into the Great Temple of Osiris, the ruins of which still exist within the town enclosure. Abydos became the centre of the worship of the Isis and Osiris cult.

During the First Intermediate Period, the principal deity of the area, Khentiamentiu, began to be seen as an aspect of Osiris, and the deities gradually merged and came to be regarded as one. Khentiamentiu's name became an epithet of Osiris. King Mentuhotep II was the first to build a royal chapel. In the Twelfth Dynasty a gigantic tomb was cut into the rock by Senusret III. Associated with this tomb was a cenotaph, a cult temple and a small town known as "Wah-Sut", that was used by the workers for these structures. Next to the cenotaph at least two kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty were buried (in tombs S9 and S10) as well as some rulers of the Second Intermediate Period, such as Senebkay. An indigenous line of kings, the Abydos Dynasty, may have ruled the region from Abydos at the time.

New construction during the Eighteenth Dynasty began with a large chapel of Ahmose I. The Pyramid of Ahmose I was also constructed at Abydos—the only pyramid in the area; very little of it remains today.

Thutmose III built a far larger temple, about 130 x. He also made a processional way leading past the side of the temple to the cemetery beyond, featuring a great gateway of granite.

Seti I, during the Nineteenth Dynasty, founded a temple to the south of the town in honor of the ancestral pharaohs of the early dynasties; this was finished by Ramesses II, who also built a lesser temple of his own. Merneptah added the Osireion, just to the north of the temple of Seti.

Ahmose II in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty rebuilt the temple again, and placed in it a large monolith shrine of red granite, finely wrought. The foundations of the successive temples were comprised within approximately 18 ft. depth of the ruins discovered in modern times; these needed the closest examination to discriminate the various buildings, and were recorded by more than 4,000 measurements and 1,000 levellings.

The last building added was a new temple of Nectanebo I, built in the Thirtieth Dynasty. From the Ptolemaic times of the Greek occupancy of Egypt, that began three hundred years before the Roman occupancy that followed, the structures began to decay and no later works are known.

Cult centre
From earliest times, Abydos was a cult centre, first of the local deity, Khentiamentiu, and from the end of the Old Kingdom, the rising cult of Osiris. A tradition developed that the Early Dynastic cemetery was the burial place of Osiris and the tomb of Djer was reinterpreted as that of Osiris.

Decorations in tombs throughout Egypt, such as the one displayed to the right, record pilgrimages to Abydos by wealthy families.

Great Osiris Temple
From the First Dynasty to the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, nine or ten temples were successively built on one site at Abydos. The first was an enclosure, about 30 x, enclosed by a thin wall of unbaked bricks. Incorporating one wall of this first structure, the second temple of about 40 ft square was built with walls about 10 ft thick. An outer temenos (enclosure) wall surrounded the grounds. This outer wall was made wider some time around the Second or Third Dynasty. The old temple entirely vanished in the Fourth Dynasty, and a smaller building was erected behind it, enclosing a wide hearth of black ashes. Pottery models of offerings are found in these ashes and were probably the substitutes for live sacrifices decreed by Khufu (or Cheops) in his temple reforms.

At an undetermined date, a great clearance of temple offerings had been made and the modern discovery of a chamber into which they were gathered yielded the fine ivory carvings and the glazed figures and tiles that demonstrate the splendid work of the First Dynasty. A vase of Menes with purple hieroglyphs inlaid into a green glaze and tiles with relief figures are the most important pieces found. The Khufu Statuette in ivory, found in the stone chamber of the temple, gives the only portrait of this great pharaoh.

The temple was entirely rebuilt on a larger scale by Pepi I in the Sixth Dynasty. He placed a great stone gateway to the temenos, an outer wall and gateway, with a colonnade between the gates. His temple was about 40 x inside, with stone gateways front and back, showing that it was of the processional type. In the Eleventh Dynasty Mentuhotep II added a colonnade and altars. Soon after, Mentuhotep III entirely rebuilt the temple, laying a stone pavement over the area, about 45 ft square. He also added subsidiary chambers. Soon thereafter, in the Twelfth Dynasty, Senusret I laid massive foundations of stone over the pavement of his predecessor. A great temenos was laid out enclosing a much larger area and the new temple itself was about three times the earlier size.

Brewery
On 14 February 2021, Egyptian and American archaeologists discovered what could be the oldest brewery in the world dating from around 3100 BCE at the reign of King Narmer. Dr. Matthew Adams, one of the leaders of the mission, stated that it was used to make beer for royal rituals.

Seti I Temple
The temple of Seti I was built on entirely new ground half a mile to the south of the long series of temples just described. This surviving building is best known as the Great Temple of Abydos, being nearly complete and an impressive sight. A principal purpose of the temple was to serve as a memorial to king Seti I, as well as to show reverence for the early pharaohs, which is incorporated within as part of the "Rite of the Ancestors".

The long list of the pharaohs of the principal dynasties—recognized by Seti—are carved on a wall and known as the "Abydos King List" (showing the cartouche name of many dynastic pharaohs of Egypt from the first, Narmer or Menes, until Seti's time). There were significant names deliberately left off of the list. So rare, as an almost complete list of pharaoh names, the Table of Abydos, rediscovered by William John Bankes, has been called the "Rosetta Stone" of Egyptian archaeology, analogous to the Rosetta Stone for Egyptian writing, beyond the Narmer Palette.

There were also seven chapels built for the worship of the pharaoh and principal deities. These included three chapels for the "state" deities Ptah, Re-Horakhty, and (centrally positioned) Amun and the challenge for the Abydos triad of Osiris, Isis and Horus. The rites recorded in the deity chapels represent the first complete form known of the Daily Ritual, which was performed daily in temples across Egypt throughout the pharaonic period. At the back of the temple is an enigmatic structure known as the Osireion, which served as a cenotaph for Seti-Osiris, and is thought to be connected with the worship of Osiris as an "Osiris tomb". It is possible that from those chambers was led out the great Hypogeum for the celebration of the Osiris mysteries, built by Merenptah. The temple was originally 550 ft long, but the forecourts are scarcely recognizable, and the part still in good condition is about 250 ft long and 350 ft wide, including the wing at the side. Magazines for food and offerings storage were built to either side of the forecourts, as well as a small palace for the king and his retinue, to the southeast of the first forecourt (Ghazouli, The Palace and Magazines Attached to the Temple of Sety I at Abydos and the Facade of This Temple. ASAE 58 (1959)).

Except for the list of pharaohs and a panegyric on Ramesses II, the subjects are not historical, but religious in nature, dedicated to the transformation of the king after his death. The temple reliefs are celebrated for their delicacy and artistic refinement, utilizing both the archaism of earlier dynasties with the vibrancy of late 18th Dynasty reliefs. The sculptures had been published mostly in hand copy, not facsimile, by Auguste Mariette in his Abydos, I. The temple has been partially recorded epigraphically by Amice Calverley and Myrtle Broome in their 4 volume publication of The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos (1933–1958).

Osireion
The Osirion or Osireon is an ancient Egyptian temple. It is located to the rear of the temple of Seti I. It is an integral part of Seti I's funeral complex and is built to resemble an 18th Dynasty Valley of the Kings tomb.

Helicopter hieroglyphs
Some of the hieroglyphs carved over an arch on the site have been interpreted in esoteric and "ufological" circles as depicting modern technology.

The "helicopter" image is the result of carved stone being re-used over time. The initial carving was made during the reign of Seti I and translates to "He who repulses the nine [enemies of Egypt]". This carving was later filled in with plaster and re-carved during the reign of Ramesses II with the title "He who protects Egypt and overthrows the foreign countries". Over time, the plaster has eroded away, leaving both inscriptions partially visible and creating a palimpsest-like effect of overlapping hieroglyphs.

Ramesses II temple
The adjacent temple of Ramesses II was much smaller and simpler in plan, but it had a fine historical series of scenes around the outside that lauded his achievements, of which the lower parts remain. The outside of the temple was decorated with scenes of the Battle of Kadesh. His list of pharaohs, similar to that of Seti I, formerly stood here; the fragments were removed by the French consul and sold to the British Museum.

Umm El Qa'ab
The royal necropolises of the earliest dynasties were placed about a mile into the great desert plain, in a place now known as Umm El Qa'ab "The Mother of Pots" because of the shards remaining from all of the devotional objects left by religious pilgrims.

The earliest burial is about 10 x inside, a pit lined with brick walls and originally roofed with timber and matting. Other tombs also built before Menes are 15 x. The probable tomb of Menes is of the latter size. Afterwards, the tombs increased in size and complexity. The tomb-pit was surrounded by chambers to hold offerings, the sepulchre being a great wooden chamber in the midst of the brick-lined pit. Rows of small pits, tombs for the servants of the pharaoh, surrounded the royal chamber, many dozens of such burials being usual. Some of the offerings included sacrificed animals, such as the asses found in the tomb of Merneith. Evidence of human sacrifice exists in the early tombs, such as the 118 servants in the tomb of Merneith, but this practice was changed later into symbolic offerings.

By the end of the Second Dynasty the type of tomb constructed changed to a long passage with chambers on either side, the royal burial being in the middle of the length. The greatest of these tombs with its dependencies, covered a space of over 3000 m2, however it is possible for this to have been several tombs which abutted one another during construction; the Egyptians had no means of mapping the positioning of the tombs. The contents of the tombs have been nearly destroyed by successive plunderers; but enough remained to show that rich jewellery was placed on the mummies, a profusion of vases of hard and valuable stones from the royal table service stood about the body, the store-rooms were filled with great jars of wine, perfumed ointments, and other supplies, and tablets of ivory and of ebony were engraved with a record of the yearly annals of the reigns. The seals of various officials, of which over 200 varieties have been found, give an insight into the public arrangements.

A cemetery for private persons was put into use during the First Dynasty, with some pit-tombs in the town. It was extensive in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties and contained many rich tombs. A large number of fine tombs were made in the Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties, and members of later dynasties continued to bury their dead here until the Roman period. Many hundreds of funeral steles were removed by Auguste Mariette's workmen, without any details of the burials being noted. Later excavations have been recorded by Edward R. Ayrton, Abydos, iii.; Maclver, El Amrah and Abydos; and Garstang, El Arabah.

"Forts"
Some of the tomb structures, referred to as "forts" by modern researchers, lay behind the town. Known as Shunet ez Zebib, it is about 450 x over all, and one still stands 30 ft high. It was built by Khasekhemwy, the last pharaoh of the Second Dynasty. Another structure nearly as large adjoined it, and probably is older than that of Khasekhemwy. A third "fort" of a squarer form is now occupied by a convent of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; its age cannot be ascertained.

Kom El Sultan
The area now known as Kom El Sultan is a big mudbrick structure, the purpose of which is not clear and thought to have been at the original settlement area, dated to the Early Dynastic Period. The structure includes the early temple of Osiris.

title: Abydos, Egypt


text:
Abydos (Hellespont)

Abydos (Ἄβυδος, Abydus) was an ancient city and bishopric in Mysia. It was located at the Nara Burnu promontory on the Asian coast of the Hellespont (the straits of Dardanelles), opposite the ancient city of Sestos, and near the city of Çanakkale in Turkey. Abydos was founded in c. 670 BC at the most narrow point in the straits, and thus was one of the main crossing points between Europe and Asia, until its replacement by the crossing between Lampsacus and Kallipolis in the 13th century, and the abandonment of Abydos in the early 14th century.

In Greek mythology, Abydos is presented in the myth of Hero and Leander as the home of Leander. The city is also mentioned in Rodanthe and Dosikles, a novel written by Theodore Prodromos, a 12th-century writer, in which Dosikles kidnaps Rodanthe at Abydos.

Archaeology
In 1675, the site of Abydos was first identified, and was subsequently visited by numerous classicists and travellers, such as Robert Wood, Richard Chandler, and Lord Byron. The city's acropolis is known in Turkish as Mal Tepe.

Following the city's abandonment, the ruins of Abydos were scavenged for building materials from the 14th to the 19th century, and remains of walls and buildings continued to be reported until at least the 19th century, however, little remains and the area was declared a restricted military zone in the early 20th century, thus little to no excavation has taken place.

Classical period
Abydos is mentioned in the Iliad as a Trojan ally, and, according to Strabo, was occupied by Bebryces and later Thracians after the Trojan War. It has been suggested that the city was originally a Phoenician colony as there was a temple of Aphrodite Porne (Aphrodite the Harlot) within Abydos. Abydos was settled by Milesian colonists contemporaneously with the foundation of the cities of Priapos and Prokonnesos in c. 670 BC. Strabo related that Gyges, King of Lydia, granted his consent to the Milesians to settle Abydos; it is argued that this was carried out by Milesian mercenaries to act as a garrison to prevent Thracian raids into Asia Minor. The city became a thriving centre for tuna exportation as a result of the high yield of tuna in the Hellespont.

Abydos was ruled by Daphnis, a pro-Persian tyrant, in the 520s BC, but was occupied by the Persian Empire in 514. Darius I destroyed the city following his Scythian campaign in 512. Abydos participated in the Ionian Revolt in the early 5th century BC, however, the city returned briefly to Persian control as, in 480, at the onset of the Second Persian invasion of Greece, Xerxes I and the Persian army passed through Abydos on their march to Greece crossing the Hellespont on Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges. After the failed Persian invasion, Abydos became a member of the Athenian-led Delian League, and was part of the Hellespontine district. Ostensibly an ally, Abydos was hostile to Athens throughout this time, and contributed a phoros of 4-6 talents. Xenophon documented that Abydos possessed gold mines at Astyra or Kremaste at the time of his writing.

During the Second Peloponnesian War, a Spartan expedition led by Dercylidas arrived at Abydos in early May 411 BC and successfully convinced the city to defect from the Delian League and fight against Athens, at which time he was made harmost (commander/governor) of Abydos. A Spartan fleet was defeated by Athens at Abydos in the autumn of 411 BC. Abydos was attacked by the Athenians in the winter of 409/408 BC, but was repelled by a Persian force led by Pharnabazus, satrap (governor) of Hellespontine Phrygia. Dercylidas held the office of harmost of Abydos until at least c. 407. According to Aristotle, Abydos had an oligarchic constitution at this time. At the beginning of the Corinthian War in 394 BC, Agesilaus II, King of Sparta, passed through Abydos into Thrace. Abydos remained an ally of Sparta throughout the war and Dercylidas served as harmost of the city from 394 until he was replaced by Anaxibius in c. 390; the latter was killed in an ambush near Abydos by the Athenian general Iphicrates in c. 389/388. At the conclusion of the Corinthian War, under the terms of the Peace of Antalcidas in 387 BC, Abydos was annexed to the Persian Empire. Within the Persian Empire, Abydos was administered as part of the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia, and was ruled by the tyrant Philiscus in 368. In c. 360 BC, the city came under the control of the tyrant Iphiades.

Hellenistic period
Abydos remained under Persian control until it was seized by a Macedonian army led by Parmenion, a general of Philip II, in the spring of 336 BC. In 335, whilst Parmenion besieged the city of Pitane, Abydos was besieged by a Persian army led by Memnon of Rhodes, forcing Parmenion to abandon his siege of Pitane and march north to relieve Abydos. Alexander ferried across from Sestos to Abydos in 334 and travelled south to the city of Troy, after which he returned to Abydos. The following day, Alexander left Abydos and led his army north to Percote. Alexander later established a royal mint at Abydos, as well as at other cities in Asia Minor.

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Abydos, as part of the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia, came under the control of Leonnatus as a result of the Partition of Babylon. At the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, Arrhidaeus succeeded Leonnatus as satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia.

In 302, during the Fourth War of the Diadochi, Lysimachus, King of Thrace, crossed over into Asia Minor and invaded the kingdom of Antigonus I. Unlike the neighbouring cities of Parium and Lampsacus which surrendered, Abydos resisted Lysimachus and was besieged. Lysimachus was forced to abandon the siege, however, after the arrival of a relief force sent by Demetrius, son of King Antigonus I. According to Polybius, by the third century BC, the neighbouring city of Arisbe had become subordinate to Abydos. The city of Dardanus also came under the control of Abydos at some point in the Hellenistic period. Abydos became part of the Seleucid Empire after 281 BC. The city was conquered by Ptolemy III Euergetes, King of Egypt, in 245 BC, and remained under Ptolemaic control until at least 241, as Abydos had become part of the Kingdom of Pergamon by c. 200 BC.

During the Second Macedonian War, Abydos was besieged by Philip V, King of Macedonia, in 200 BC, during which many of its citizens chose to commit suicide rather than surrender. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus met with Philip V during the siege to deliver an ultimatum on behalf of the Roman senate. Ultimately, the city was forced to surrender to Philip V due to a lack of reinforcements. The Macedonian occupation ended after the Peace of Flamininus at the end of the war in 196 BC. At this time, Abydos was substantially depopulated and partially ruined as a result of the Macedonian occupation.

In the spring of 196 BC, Abydos was seized by Antiochus III, Megas Basileus of the Seleucid Empire, who refortified the city in 192/191 BC. Antiochus III later withdrew from Abydos during the Roman-Seleucid War, thus allowing for the transportation of the Roman army into Asia Minor by October 190 BC. Dardanus was subsequently liberated from Abydene control, and the Treaty of Apamea of 188 BC returned Abydos to the Kingdom of Pergamon. A gymnasium was active at Abydos in the 2nd century BC.

Roman period
Attalus III, King of Pergamon, bequeathed his kingdom to Rome upon his death in 133 BC, and thus Abydos became part of the province of Asia. The gold mines of Abydos at Astyra or Kremaste were near exhaustion at the time was Strabo was writing. The city was counted amongst the telonia (custom houses) of the province of Asia in the lex portorii Asiae of 62 AD, and formed part of the conventus iuridicus Adramytteum. Abydos is mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana and Antonine Itinerary. The mint of Abydos ceased to function in the mid-3rd century AD.

It is believed that Abydos, with Sestos and Lampsacus, is referred to as one of the "three large capital cities" of the Roman Empire in Weilüe, a 3rd-century AD Chinese text. The city was the centre for customs collection at the southern entrance of the Sea of Marmara, and was administered by a komes ton Stenon (count of the Straits) or an archon from the 3rd century to the 5th century AD.

Medieval period
Pope Martin I rested at Abydos in the summer of 653 whilst en route to Constantinople. As a result of the administrative reforms of the 7th century, Abydos came to be administered as part of the theme of Opsikion. The office of kommerkiarios of Abydos is first attested in the mid-7th century, and was later sometimes combined with the office of paraphylax, the military governor of the fort, introduced in the 8th century, at which time the office of komes ton stenon is last mentioned.

After the 7th century AD, Abydos became a major seaport. Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, during his campaign against Constantinople, crossed over into Thrace at Abydos in July 717. The office of archon at Abydos was restored in the late 8th century and endured until the early 9th century. In 801, Empress Irene reduced commercial tariffs collected at Abydos. Emperor Nikephoros I, Irene's successor, introduced a tax on slaves purchased beyond the city. The city later also became part of the theme of the Aegean Sea and was the seat of a tourmarches.

Abydos was sacked by an Arab fleet led by Leo of Tripoli in 904 AD whilst en route to Constantinople. The revolt of Bardas Phokas was defeated by Emperor Basil II at Abydos in 989 AD. In 992, the Venetians were granted reduced commercial tariffs at Abydos as a special privilege. In the early 11th century, Abydos became the seat of a separate command and the office of strategos (governor) of Abydos is first mentioned in 1004 with authority over the northern shore of the Hellespont and the islands of the Sea of Marmara.

In 1024, a Rus' raid led by a certain Chrysocheir defeated the local commander at Abydos and proceeded to travel south through the Hellespont. Following the Battle of Manzikert, Abydos was seized by the Seljuk Turks, but was recovered in 1086 AD, in which year Leo Kephalas was appointed katepano of Abydos. Abydos' population likely increased at this time as a result of the arrival of refugees from northwestern Anatolia who had fled the advance of the Turks. In 1092/1093, the city was attacked by Tzachas, a Turkish pirate. Emperor Manuel I Komnenos repaired Abydos' fortifications in the late 12th century.

By the 13th century AD, the crossing from Lampsacus to Kallipolis had become more common and largely replaced the crossing from Abydos to Sestos. During the Fourth Crusade, in 1204, the Venetians seized Abydos, and, following the Sack of Constantinople and the formation of the Latin Empire later that year, Emperor Baldwin granted the land between Abydos and Adramyttium to his brother Henry of Flanders. Henry of Flanders passed through Abydos on 11 November 1204 and continued his march to Adramyttium. Abydos was seized by the Empire of Nicaea, a successor state of the Eastern Roman Empire, during its offensive in 1206–1207, but was reconquered by the Latin Empire in 1212–1213. The city was later recovered by Emperor John III Vatatzes. Abydos declined in the 13th century, and was eventually abandoned between 1304 and 1310/1318 due to the threat of Turkish tribes and disintegration of Roman control over the region.

Ecclesiastical history
The bishopric of Abydus appears in all the Notitiae Episcopatuum of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the mid-7th century until the time of Andronikos III Palaiologos (1341), first as a suffragan of Cyzicus and then from 1084 as a metropolitan see without suffragans. The earliest bishop mentioned in extant documents is Marcian, who signed the joint letter of the bishops of Hellespontus to Emperor Leo I in 458, protesting about the murder of Proterius of Alexandria. A letter of Peter the Fuller (471–488) mentions a bishop of Abydus called Pamphilus. Ammonius signed the decretal letter of the Council of Constantinople in 518 against Severus of Antioch and others. Isidore was at the Third Council of Constantinople (680–681), John at the Trullan Council (692), Theodore at the Second Council of Nicaea (787). An unnamed bishop of Abydus was a counsellor of Emperor Nikephoros II in 969.

Seals attest Theodosius as bishop of Abydos in the 11th century, and John as metropolitan bishop of Abydos in the 11/12th century. Abydos remained a metropolitan see until the city fell to the Turks in the 14th century. The diocese is currently a titular see of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Gerasimos Papadopoulos was titular Bishop of Abydos from 1962 until his death in 1995. Simeon Kruzhkov was bishop of Abydos from May to September 1998. Kyrillos Katerelos was consecrated bishop of Abydos in 2008.

In 1222, during the Latin occupation, the papal legate Giovanni Colonna united the dioceses of Abydos and Madytos and placed the see under direct Papal authority. No longer a residential bishopric, Abydus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Abydos (Hellespont)


text:
August 15

Pre-1600

 * 636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate begins.
 * 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, which will last for nearly a year.
 * 718 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Raising of the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople.
 * 747 – Carloman, mayor of the palace of Austrasia, renounces his position as majordomo and retires to a monastery near Rome. His brother, Pepin the Short, becomes the sole ruler (de facto) of the Frankish Kingdom.
 * 778 – The Battle of Roncevaux Pass takes place between the army of Charlemagne and a Basque army.
 * 805 – Noble Erchana of Dahauua grants the Bavarian town of Dachau to the Diocese of Freising
 * 927 – The Saracens conquer and destroy Taranto.
 * 982 – Holy Roman Emperor Otto II is defeated by the Saracens in the Battle of Capo Colonna, in Calabria.
 * 1018 – Byzantine general Eustathios Daphnomeles blinds and captures Ibatzes of Bulgaria by a ruse, thereby ending Bulgarian resistance against Emperor Basil II's conquest of Bulgaria.
 * 1038 – King Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, dies; his nephew, Peter Orseolo, succeeds him.
 * 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.
 * 1070 – The Pavian-born Benedictine Lanfranc is appointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
 * 1096 – Starting date of the First Crusade as set by Pope Urban II.
 * 1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia.
 * 1224 – The Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a Catholic military order, occupy Tarbatu (today Tartu) as part of the Livonian Crusade.
 * 1237 – Spanish Reconquista: The Battle of the Puig between the Moorish forces of Taifa of Valencia against the Kingdom of Aragon culminates in an Aragonese victory.
 * 1248 – The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the Three Wise Men, is laid. (Construction is eventually completed in 1880.)
 * 1261 – Michael VIII Palaiologos is crowned as the first Byzantine emperor in fifty-seven years.
 * 1281 – Mongol invasion of Japan: The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan is destroyed by a "divine wind" for the second time in the Battle of Kōan.
 * 1310 – The city of Rhodes surrenders to the forces of the Knights of St. John, completing their conquest of Rhodes. The knights establish their headquarters on the island and rename themselves the Knights of Rhodes.
 * 1430 – Francesco Sforza, lord of Milan, conquers Lucca.
 * 1461 – The Empire of Trebizond surrenders to the forces of Sultan Mehmed II. This is regarded by some historians as the real end of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor David is exiled and later murdered.
 * 1483 – Pope Sixtus IV consecrates the Sistine Chapel.
 * 1511 – Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquers Malacca, the capital of the Malacca Sultanate.
 * 1517 – Seven Portuguese armed vessels led by Fernão Pires de Andrade meet Chinese officials at the Pearl River estuary.
 * 1519 – Panama City, Panama is founded.
 * 1534 – Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
 * 1537 – Asunción, Paraguay is founded.
 * 1540 – Arequipa, Peru is founded.
 * 1549 – Jesuit priest Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: 22 July 1549).
 * 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin, Yi Eok-gi, and Won Gyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu.
 * 1599 – Nine Years' War: Battle of Curlew Pass: Irish forces led by Hugh Roe O'Donnell successfully ambush English forces, led by Sir Conyers Clifford, sent to relieve Collooney Castle.

1601–1900

 * 1695 – French forces end the bombardment of Brussels.
 * 1760 – Seven Years' War: Battle of Liegnitz: Frederick the Great's victory over the Austrians under Ernst Gideon von Laudon.
 * 1824 – The Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the American Revolutionary War, arrives in New York and begins a tour of 24 states.
 * 1843 – The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawaii is dedicated. Now the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, it is the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in continuous use in the United States.
 * 1843  – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark.
 * 1863 – The Anglo-Satsuma War begins between the Satsuma Domain of Japan and the United Kingdom (Traditional Japanese date: July 2, 1863).
 * 1893 – Ibadan area becomes a British Protectorate after a treaty signed by Fijabi, the Baale of Ibadan with the British acting Governor of Lagos, George C. Denton.
 * 1899 – Fratton Park football ground in Portsmouth, England is officially first opened.

1901–present

 * 1907 – Ordination in Constantinople of Fr. Raphael Morgan, the first African-American Orthodox priest, "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
 * 1914 – A servant of American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, sets fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, and murders seven people there.
 * 1914  – The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship SS Ancon (1901).
 * 1914  – World War I: The First Russian Army, led by Paul von Rennenkampf, enters East Prussia.
 * 1914  – World War I: Beginning of the Battle of Cer, the first Allied victory of World War I.
 * 1915 – A story in New York World newspaper reveals that the Imperial German government had purchased excess phenol from Thomas Edison that could be used to make explosives for the war effort and diverted it to Bayer for aspirin production.
 * 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw, so-called Miracle at the Vistula.
 * 1935 – Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed after their aircraft develops engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.
 * 1939 – Twenty-six Junkers Ju 87 bombers commanded by Walter Sigel meet unexpected ground fog during a dive-bombing demonstration for Luftwaffe generals at Neuhammer. Thirteen of them crash and burn.
 * 1939  – The Wizard of Oz premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California.
 * 1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the GREEK CRUISER Elli at Tinos harbor during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.
 * 1941 – Corporal Josef Jakobs is executed by firing squad at the Tower of London at 07:12, making him the last person to be executed at the Tower for espionage.
 * 1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal: The oil tanker SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.
 * 1943 – World War II: Battle of Trahili: Superior German forces surround Cretan partisans, who manage to escape against all odds.
 * 1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon: Allied forces land in southern France.
 * 1945 – Emperor Hirohito broadcasts his declaration of surrender following the effective surrender of Japan in World War II; Korea gains independence from the Empire of Japan.
 * 1947 – India gains independence from British rule after near 190 years of British company and crown rule and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
 * 1947  – Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is sworn in as first Governor-General of Pakistan in Karachi.
 * 1948 – The First Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established in the southern half of the peninsula.
 * 1950 – Measuring 8.6, the largest earthquake on land occurs in the Assam-Tibet-Myanmar border, killing 4,800.
 * 1952 – A flash flood drenches the town of Lynmouth, England, killing 34 people.
 * 1954 – Alfredo Stroessner begins his dictatorship in Paraguay.
 * 1959 – American Airlines Flight 514, a Boeing 707, crashes near the Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York, killing all five people on board.
 * 1960 – Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) becomes independent from France.
 * 1961 – Border guard Conrad Schumann flees from East Germany while on duty guarding the construction of the Berlin Wall.
 * 1962 – James Joseph Dresnok defects to North Korea after running across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Dresnok died in 2016.
 * 1963 – Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.
 * 1963  – President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.
 * 1965 – The Beatles play to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City, an event later regarded as the birth of stadium rock.
 * 1969 – The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in Bethel, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.
 * 1970 – Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.
 * 1971 – President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
 * 1971  – Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
 * 1973 – Vietnam War: The USAF bombing of Cambodia ends.
 * 1974 – Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President Park Chung Hee.
 * 1975 – Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is killed along with most members of his family during a military coup.
 * 1975  – Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.
 * 1976 – SAETA Flight 232 crashes into the Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador, killing all 59 people on board; the wreckage is not discovered until 2002.
 * 1977 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project.
 * 1984 – The Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey starts a campaign of armed attacks upon the Turkish Armed Forces with an attack on police and gendarmerie bases in Şemdinli and Eruh.
 * 1985 – Signing of the Assam Accord, an agreement between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement to end the movement.
 * 1989 – China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashes after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, killing 34 of the 40 people on board.
 * 1995 – In South Carolina, Shannon Faulkner becomes the first female cadet matriculated at The Citadel (she drops out less than a week later).
 * 1995  – Tomiichi Murayama, Prime Minister of Japan, releases the Murayama Statement, which formally expresses remorse for Japanese war crimes committed during World War II.
 * 1998 – Northern Ireland: Omagh bombing takes place; 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) killed and some 220 others injured.
 * 1998  – Apple introduces the iMac computer.
 * 1999 – Beni Ounif massacre in Algeria: Some 29 people are killed at a false roadblock near the Moroccan border, leading to temporary tensions with Morocco.
 * 2005 – Israel's unilateral disengagement plan to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank begins.
 * 2005  – The Helsinki Agreement between the Free Aceh Movement and the Government of Indonesia was signed, ending almost three decades of fighting.
 * 2007 – An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090.
 * 2013 – At least 27 people are killed and 226 injured in an explosion in southern Beirut near a complex used by Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A previously unknown Syrian Sunni group claims responsibility in an online video.
 * 2013  – The Smithsonian announces the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years.
 * 2015 – North Korea moves its clock back half an hour to introduce Pyongyang Time, 8$1/2$ hours ahead of UTC.
 * 2020 – Russia begins production on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
 * 2021 – Kabul falls into the hands of the Taliban as Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan along with local residents and foreign nationals, effectively reestablishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Pre-1600

 * 1013 – Teishi, empress of Japan (d. 1094)
 * 1171 – Alfonso IX, king of León and Galicia (d. 1230)
 * 1195 – Anthony of Padua, Portuguese priest and saint (d. 1231)
 * 1385 – Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford, English commander (d. 1417)
 * 1432 – Luigi Pulci, Italian poet (d. 1484)
 * 1455 – George, duke of Bavaria (d. 1503)
 * 1507 – George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, German prince (d. 1553)
 * 1575 – Bartol Kašić, Croatian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1650)
 * 1589 – Gabriel Báthory, Prince of Transylvania (d. 1613)

1601–1900

 * 1607 – Herman IV, landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg (d. 1658)
 * 1608 – Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1652)
 * 1613 – Gilles Ménage, French lawyer, philologist, and scholar (d. 1692)
 * 1615 – Marie de Lorraine, duchess of Guise (d. 1688)
 * 1652 – John Grubb, American politician (d. 1708)
 * 1702 – Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian painter and Royal Academician (d. 1788)
 * 1717 – Blind Jack, English engineer (d. 1810)
 * 1736 – Johann Christoph Kellner, German organist and composer (d. 1803)
 * 1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet and author (d. 1815)
 * 1769 – Napoleon Bonaparte, French general and emperor (d. 1821)
 * 1771 – Walter Scott, Scottish novelist, playwright, and poet (d. 1832)
 * 1785 – Thomas De Quincey, English journalist and author (d. 1859)
 * 1787 – Eliza Lee Cabot Follen, American writer, editor, abolitionist (d. 1860)
 * 1798 – Sangolli Rayanna, Indian warrior (d. 1831)
 * 1807 – Jules Grévy, French lawyer and politician, 4th President of the French Republic (d. 1891)
 * 1810 – Louise Colet, French poet (d. 1876)
 * 1824 – John Chisum, American businessman (d. 1884)
 * 1839 – Antonín Petrof, Czech piano maker (d. 1915)
 * 1844 – Thomas-Alfred Bernier, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1908)
 * 1845 – Walter Crane, English artist and book illustrator (d. 1915)
 * 1856 – Keir Hardie, Scottish politician and trade unionist (d. 1915)
 * 1857 – Albert Ballin, German businessman (d. 1918)
 * 1858 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (d. 1924)
 * 1859 – Charles Comiskey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1931)
 * 1860 – Florence Harding, American publisher, 31st First Lady of the United States (d. 1924)
 * 1863 – Aleksey Krylov, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
 * 1865 – Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual leader, founded Reiki (d. 1926)
 * 1866 – Italo Santelli, Italian fencer (d. 1945)
 * 1872 – Sri Aurobindo, Indian guru, poet, and philosopher (d. 1950)
 * 1873 – Ramaprasad Chanda, Indian archaeologist and historian (d. 1942)
 * 1875 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, English pianist, violinist, and composer (d. 1912)
 * 1876 – Stylianos Gonatas, Greek colonel and politician, 111th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1966)
 * 1877 – Tachiyama Mineemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 22nd Yokozuna (d. 1941)
 * 1879 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (d. 1959)
 * 1881 – Alfred Wagenknecht, German-American activist and politician (d. 1956)
 * 1882 – Marion Bauer, American composer and critic (d. 1955)
 * 1882  – Gisela Richter, English archaeologist and art historian (d. 1972)
 * 1883 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect (d. 1962)
 * 1885 – Edna Ferber, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (d. 1968)
 * 1886 – Bill Whitty, Australian cricketer (d. 1974)
 * 1890 – Jacques Ibert, French composer and educator (d. 1962)
 * 1892 – Louis de Broglie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
 * 1892  – Abraham Wachner, New Zealand politician, 35th Mayor of Invercargill (d. 1950)
 * 1893 – Leslie Comrie, New Zealand astronomer and academic (d. 1950)
 * 1896 – Gerty Cori, Czech-American biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
 * 1896  – Catherine Doherty, Russian-Canadian activist, founded the Madonna House Apostolate (d. 1985)
 * 1896  – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer and educator (d. 1958)
 * 1898 – Jan Brzechwa, Polish author and poet (d. 1966)
 * 1900 – Estelle Brody, American silent film actress (d. 1995)
 * 1900  – Jack Tworkov, Polish-American painter and educator (d. 1982)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Arnulfo Arias Madrid, 21st president of the republic of Panamá (d. 1988)
 * 1901  – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1975)
 * 1902 – Jan Campert, Dutch journalist and critic (d. 1943)
 * 1904 – George Klein, Canadian inventor, invented the motorized wheelchair (d. 1992)
 * 1909 – Hugo Winterhalter, American composer and bandleader (d. 1973)
 * 1912 – Julia Child, American chef and author (d. 2004)
 * 1912  – Wendy Hiller, English actress (d. 2003)
 * 1914 – Paul Rand, American graphic designer and art director (d. 1996)
 * 1915 – Signe Hasso, Swedish-American actress (d. 2002)
 * 1916 – Aleks Çaçi, Albanian journalist and author (d. 1989)
 * 1917 – Jack Lynch, Irish footballer and politician, 5th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1999)
 * 1917  – Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop (d. 1980)
 * 1919 – Huntz Hall, American actor (d. 1999)
 * 1919  – Benedict Kiely, Irish journalist and author (d. 2007)
 * 1920 – Judy Cassab, Austrian-Australian painter (d. 2008)
 * 1921 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor and director (d. 2012)
 * 1922 – Leonard Baskin, American sculptor and illustrator (d. 2000)
 * 1922  – Giorgos Mouzakis, Greek trumpet player and composer (d. 2005)
 * 1922  – Sabino Barinaga, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1988)
 * 1923 – Rose Marie, American actress and singer (d. 2017)
 * 1924 – Robert Bolt, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1995)
 * 1924  – Hedy Epstein, German-American Holocaust survivor and activist (d. 2016)
 * 1924  – Yoshirō Muraki, Japanese production designer, art director, and fashion designer (d. 2009)
 * 1924  – Phyllis Schlafly, American lawyer, writer, and political activist (d. 2016)
 * 1925 – Mike Connors, American actor and producer (d. 2017)
 * 1925  – Rose Maddox, American singer-songwriter and fiddle player (d. 1998)
 * 1925  – Oscar Peterson, Canadian pianist and composer (d. 2007)
 * 1925  – Bill Pinkney, American singer (d. 2007)
 * 1925  – Erik Schmidt, Swedish-Estonian painter and author (d. 2014)
 * 1926 – Julius Katchen, American pianist and composer (d. 1969)
 * 1926  – Eddie Little Sky, American actor (d. 1997)
 * 1926  – Sami Michael, Iraqi-Israeli author and playwright (d. 2024)
 * 1926  – John Silber, American philosopher and academic (d. 2012)
 * 1926  – Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, Greek lawyer and politician, 6th President of Greece (d. 2016)
 * 1927 – Eddie Leadbeater, English cricketer (d. 2011)
 * 1927  – Oliver Popplewell, English cricketer and judge
 * 1928 – Carl Joachim Classen, German scholar and academic (d. 2013)
 * 1928  – Malcolm Glazer, American businessman (d. 2014)
 * 1928  – Nicolas Roeg, English director and cinematographer (d. 2018)
 * 1931 – Ernest C. Brace, American captain and pilot (d. 2014)
 * 1931  – Richard F. Heck, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
 * 1932 – Abby Dalton, American actress (d. 2020)
 * 1932  – Robert L. Forward, American physicist and engineer (d. 2002)
 * 1932  – Jim Lange, American game show host and DJ (d. 2014)
 * 1932  – Johan Steyn, Baron Steyn, South African-English lawyer and judge  (d. 2017)
 * 1933 – Bobby Helms, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1997)
 * 1933  – Stanley Milgram, American social psychologist (d. 1984)
 * 1933  – Mike Seeger, American folk musician and folklorist (d. 2009)
 * 1934 – Bobby Byrd, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2007)
 * 1934  – Reginald Scarlett, Jamaican cricketer and coach (d. 2019)
 * 1934  – Darrell K. Sweet, American illustrator (d. 2011)
 * 1934  – Valentin Varlamov, Soviet pilot and cosmonaut instructor (d. 1980)
 * 1935 – Jim Dale, English actor, narrator, singer, director, and composer
 * 1935  – Régine Deforges, French author, playwright, and director (d. 2014)
 * 1936 – Pat Priest, American actress
 * 1936  – Rita Shane, American soprano and educator (d. 2014)
 * 1938 – Stephen Breyer, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
 * 1938  – Stix Hooper, American jazz drummer
 * 1938  – Pran Kumar Sharma, Indian cartoonist (d. 2014)
 * 1938  – Maxine Waters, American educator and politician
 * 1938  – Janusz Zajdel, Polish engineer and author (d. 1985)
 * 1940 – Gudrun Ensslin, German militant leader, founded Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
 * 1941 – Jim Brothers, American sculptor (d. 2013)
 * 1941  – Don Rich, American country musician (d. 1974)
 * 1942 – Pete York, English rock drummer
 * 1943 – Eileen Bell, Northern Irish civil servant and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
 * 1944 – Dimitris Sioufas, Greek lawyer and politician, Greek Minister of Health (d. 2019)
 * 1945 – Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
 * 1946 – Jimmy Webb, American singer-songwriter and pianist
 * 1947 – Rakhee Gulzar, Indian film actress
 * 1948 – Patsy Gallant, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
 * 1948  – Tom Johnston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1949 – Phyllis Smith, American actress
 * 1950 – Tommy Aldridge, American drummer
 * 1950  – Tess Harper, American actress
 * 1950  – Tom Kelly, American baseball player
 * 1950  – Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom
 * 1951 – Ann Biderman, American screenwriter and producer
 * 1951  – Bobby Caldwell, American singer-songwriter (d. 2023)
 * 1951  – John Childs, English cricketer
 * 1952 – Chuck Burgi, American drummer
 * 1953 – Carol Thatcher, English journalist and author
 * 1953  – Mark Thatcher, English businessman
 * 1953  – Wolfgang Hohlbein, German author
 * 1954 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish journalist and author (d. 2004)
 * 1956 – Lorraine Desmarais, Canadian pianist and composer
 * 1956  – Freedom Neruda, Ivorian journalist
 * 1956  – Robert Syms, English businessman and politician
 * 1957 – Željko Ivanek, Slovenian-American actor
 * 1958 – Simon Baron-Cohen, English-Canadian psychiatrist and author
 * 1958  – Craig MacTavish, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1958  – Simple Kapadia, Indian actress and costume designer (d. 2009)
 * 1958  – Victor Shenderovich, Russian journalist and radio host
 * 1958  – Rondell Sheridan, American actor and comedian
 * 1959 – Scott Altman, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
 * 1961 – Ed Gillespie, American political strategist
 * 1961  – Matt Johnson, English singer-songwriter and musician
 * 1961  – Gary Kubiak, American football player and coach
 * 1961  – Suhasini Maniratnam, Indian actress and screenwriter
 * 1962 – Tom Colicchio, American chef and author
 * 1962  – Rıdvan Dilmen, Turkish footballer and manager
 * 1962  – Inês Pedrosa, Portuguese writer
 * 1962  – Vilja Savisaar-Toomast, Estonian lawyer and politician
 * 1963 – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1963  – Simon Hart, Welsh soldier and politician
 * 1963  – Jack Russell, England cricketer and coach
 * 1964 – Jane Ellison, English lawyer and politician
 * 1964  – Melinda Gates, American businesswoman and philanthropist, co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
 * 1965 – Rob Thomas, American author, screenwriter, and producer
 * 1966 – Scott Brosius, American baseball player and coach
 * 1966  – Dimitris Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player and coach
 * 1967 – Tony Hand, Scottish ice hockey player and coach
 * 1967  – Peter Hermann, American actor
 * 1968 – Debra Messing, American actress
 * 1969 – Bernard Fanning, Australian singer-songwriter
 * 1969  – Carlos Roa, Argentine footballer
 * 1970 – Anthony Anderson, American comedian, actor, and producer
 * 1970  – Ben Silverman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter, founded Electus Studios
 * 1971 – Adnan Sami, Indian singer, musician, music composer, pianist and actor
 * 1972 – Ben Affleck, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1972  – Jennifer Alexander, Canadian ballerina (d. 2007)
 * 1972  – Mikey Graham, Irish singer
 * 1974 – Natasha Henstridge, Canadian model and actress
 * 1974  – Tomasz Suwary, Polish footballer
 * 1975 – Bertrand Berry, American football player and radio host
 * 1975  – Vijay Bharadwaj, Indian cricketer and coach
 * 1975  – Brendan Morrison, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1975  – Kara Wolters, American basketball player
 * 1976 – Boudewijn Zenden, Dutch footballer and manager
 * 1977 – Martin Biron, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1977  – Anthony Rocca, Australian footballer and coach
 * 1978 – Waleed Aly, Australian journalist and television host
 * 1978  – Lilia Podkopayeva, Ukrainian gymnast
 * 1978  – Stavros Tziortziopoulos, Greek footballer
 * 1978  – Kerri Walsh Jennings, American volleyball player
 * 1979 – Carl Edwards, American race car driver
 * 1980 – Fiann Paul, Icelandic explorer
 * 1981 – Brendan Hansen, American swimmer
 * 1981  – Óliver Pérez, American baseball player
 * 1982 – Casey Burgener, American weightlifter
 * 1982  – Germán Caffa, Argentine footballer
 * 1982  – David Harrison, American basketball player
 * 1983 – Siobhan Chamberlain, English association football goalkeeper
 * 1984 – Jarrod Dyson, American baseball player
 * 1984  – Emily Kinney, American actress and singer-songwriter
 * 1985 – Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (d. 2019)
 * 1985  – Emily Kinney, American actress, singer, and songwriter
 * 1987 – Ryan D'Imperio, American football player
 * 1987  – Michel Kreder, Dutch cyclist
 * 1987  – Sean McAllister, English footballer
 * 1988 – Oussama Assaidi, Moroccan footballer
 * 1989 – Joe Jonas, American singer-songwriter
 * 1989  – Ryan McGowan, Australian footballer
 * 1989  – Carlos PenaVega, American actor and singer
 * 1989  – Jordan Rapana, New Zealand rugby league player
 * 1990 – Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
 * 1991 – Petja Piiroinen, Finnish snowboarder
 * 1992 – Baskaran Adhiban, Indian chess player
 * 1992  – Matthew Judon, American football player
 * 1993 – Rieah Holder, Barbadian netball player
 * 1993  – Clinton N'Jie, Cameroonian footballer
 * 1993  – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, English footballer
 * 1994 – Lasse Vigen Christensen, Danish footballer
 * 1994  – Kosuke Hagino, Japanese swimmer
 * 1995 – Chief Keef, American rapper
 * 1995  – Setyana Mapasa, Indonesian-Australian badminton player
 * 1999 – Paola Reis, BMX rider

Pre-1600

 * 398 – Lan Han, official of the Xianbei state Later Yan
 * 423 – Honorius, Roman emperor (b. 384)
 * 465 – Libius Severus, Roman emperor (b. 420)
 * 698 – Theodotus of Amida, Syrian Orthodox holy man
 * 767 – Abu Hanifa, Iraqi scholar and educator (b. 699)
 * 778 – Roland, Frankish military leader
 * 873 – Yi Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 833)
 * 874 – Altfrid, bishop of Hildesheim
 * 912 – Han Jian, Chinese warlord (b. 855)
 * 932 – Ma Xisheng, Chinese governor and king (b. 899)
 * 978 – Li Yu, ruler ('king') of Southern Tang
 * 986 – Minnborinus, Irish missionary and abbot
 * 1022 – Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos, Byzantine rebel
 * 1038 – Stephen I, Hungarian king (b. 975)
 * 1057 – Macbeth, King of Scotland
 * 1118 – Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1048)
 * 1196 – Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
 * 1224 – Marie of France, Duchess of Brabant (b. 1198)
 * 1257 – Saint Hyacinth of Poland
 * 1274 – Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and educator, founded the College of Sorbonne (b. 1201)
 * 1275 – Lorenzo Tiepolo, Doge of Venice
 * 1328 – Yesün Temür, emperor of the Yuan dynasty (b. 1293)
 * 1369 – Philippa of Hainault, Queen consort of Edward III of England (b. 1314)
 * 1388 – Adalbertus Ranconis de Ericinio, Bohemian theologian and rector of the University of Paris (b. circa 1320)
 * 1399 – Ide Pedersdatter Falk, Danish noblewoman (b. 1358)
 * 1496 – Infanta Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile and León (b. 1428)
 * 1506 – Alexander Agricola, Flemish composer (b. c. 1445)
 * 1507 – John V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1439)
 * 1528 – Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, French general (b. 1485)
 * 1552 – Hermann of Wied, German archbishop (b. 1477)
 * 1594 – Thomas Kyd, English playwright (b. 1558)

1601–1900

 * 1621 – John Barclay, Scottish poet and author (b. 1582)
 * 1666 – Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German missionary and astronomer (b. 1591)
 * 1714 – Constantin Brâncoveanu, Romanian prince (b. 1654)
 * 1728 – Marin Marais, French viol player and composer (b. 1656)
 * 1758 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (b. 1698)
 * 1799 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and author (b. 1729)
 * 1844 – José María Coppinger, governor of Spanish East Florida (b. 1733)
 * 1852 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (b. 1760)
 * 1859 – Nathaniel Claiborne, American farmer and politician (b. 1777)

1901–present

 * 1907 – Joseph Joachim, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1831)
 * 1909 – Euclides da Cunha, Brazilian sociologist and journalist (b. 1866)
 * 1917 – Thomas J. Higgins, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1831)
 * 1925 – Konrad Mägi, Estonian painter and educator (b. 1878)
 * 1928 – Anatole von Hügel, Italian ethnologist and academic, co-founded St Edmund's College, Cambridge (b. 1854)
 * 1935 – Wiley Post, American pilot (b. 1898)
 * 1935  – Will Rogers, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (b. 1879)
 * 1935  – Paul Signac, French painter and author (b. 1863)
 * 1936 – Grazia Deledda, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
 * 1942 – Mahadev Desai, Indian activist and author (b. 1892)
 * 1945 – Korechika Anami, Japanese general and politician, 54th Japanese Minister of the Army (b. 1887)
 * 1945  – Fred Hockley, English lieutenant and pilot (b. 1923)
 * 1951 – Artur Schnabel, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1882)
 * 1953 – Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist and engineer (b. 1875)
 * 1962 – Lei Feng, Chinese soldier (b. 1940)
 * 1967 – René Magritte, Belgian painter (b. 1898)
 * 1971 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1887)
 * 1975 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bengali politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (b. 1920)
 * 1975  – Clay Shaw, American businessman (b. 1913)
 * 1975  – Harun Karadeniz, Turkish political activist and author (b. 1942)
 * 1981 – Carol Ryrie Brink, American author (b. 1895)
 * 1981  – Jørgen Løvset,  Norwegian gynaecologist and academic (b. 1896)
 * 1982 – Ernie Bushmiller, American cartoonist (b. 1905)
 * 1982  – Jock Taylor, Scottish motorcycle sidecar racer (b. 1954)
 * 1982  – Hugo Theorell, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
 * 1989 – Minoru Genda, Japanese general, pilot, and politician (b. 1904)
 * 1989  – Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos, Greek general and diplomat (b. 1897)
 * 1990 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician and actor (b. 1962)
 * 1992 – Linda Laubenstein, American physician and academic (b. 1947)
 * 1994 – Wout Wagtmans, Dutch cyclist (b. 1929)
 * 1995 – John Cameron Swayze, American journalist and actor (b. 1906)
 * 1997 – Ida Gerhardt, Dutch poet and educator (b. 1905)
 * 1999 – Hugh Casson, English architect and interior designer (b. 1910)
 * 2000 – Lancelot Ware, English barrister and biochemist, co-founder of Mensa (b. 1915)
 * 2001 – Yavuz Çetin, Turkish singer-songwriter (b. 1970)
 * 2001  – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan runner (b. 1972)
 * 2001  – Kateryna Yushchenko, Ukrainian computer scientist and academic (b. 1919)
 * 2004 – Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
 * 2004  – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (b. 1941)
 * 2005 – Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana, Indian dermatologist and academic (b. 1927)
 * 2006 – Te Atairangikaahu, New Zealand queen (b. 1931)
 * 2006  – Rick Bourke, Australian rugby league player (b. 1955)
 * 2006  – Coenraad Bron, Dutch computer scientist and academic (b. 1937)
 * 2006  – Faas Wilkes, Dutch footballer and manager (b. 1923)
 * 2007 – Richard Bradshaw, English conductor and director (b. 1944)
 * 2007  – John Gofman, American biologist, chemist, and physicist (b. 1918)
 * 2007  – Geoffrey Orbell, New Zealand physician (b. 1908)
 * 2007  – Sam Pollock, Canadian businessman (b. 1925)
 * 2008 – Vic Toweel, South African-Australian boxer (b. 1929)
 * 2008  – Jerry Wexler, American journalist and producer (b. 1917)
 * 2011 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1984)
 * 2012 – Bob Birch, American bass player and saxophonist (b. 1956)
 * 2012  – Altamiro Carrilho, Brazilian flute player and composer (b. 1924)
 * 2012  – Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (b. 1925)
 * 2013 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (b. 1944)
 * 2013  – Sławomir Mrożek, Polish-French author and playwright (b. 1930)
 * 2013  – Marich Man Singh Shrestha, Nepali politician, 28th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1942)
 * 2013  – August Schellenberg, Canadian actor (b. 1936)
 * 2014 – Licia Albanese, Italian-American soprano and actress (b. 1909)
 * 2015 – Julian Bond, American academic, leader of the civil rights movement, and politician (b. 1940)
 * 2015  – Hamid Gul, Pakistani general (b. 1936)
 * 2017 – Gunnar Birkerts, Latvian-American architect (b. 1925)
 * 2020 – Robert Trump, American real-estate developer, business executive (b. 1948)
 * 2021 – Gerd Müller, German footballer (b. 1945)

Holidays and observances

 * Armed Forces Day (Poland)
 * Christian feast day:
 * Altfrid
 * Alypius of Thagaste
 * Feast day of the Assumption of Mary, one of the Catholic holy days of obligation. (a public holiday in Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, France, some states in Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu); and its related observances:
 * Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches)
 * Ferragosto (Italy)
 * Lady's Day (Ireland)
 * Māras (Latvia)
 * Mother's Day (Antwerp and Costa Rica)
 * National Acadian Day (Acadians)
 * Navy Day (Romania)
 * Virgin of Candelaria, patron of the Canary Islands. (Tenerife, Spain)
 * San La Muerte (Paraguayan Folk Catholicism)
 * Santa Muerte (Mexican Folk Catholicism)
 * Tarcisius
 * August 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Constitution Day (Equatorial Guinea)
 * Founding of Asunción (Paraguay)
 * Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Korea from Japan in 1945:
 * Gwangbokjeol, "Independence Day" (South Korea)
 * Jogukhaebangui nal, "Fatherland Liberation Day" (North Korea)
 * Independence Day, celebrates the independence of India from the United Kingdom in 1947.
 * Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Republic of the Congo from France in 1960.
 * National Day (Liechtenstein)
 * National Day of Mourning (Bangladesh)
 * The first day of Flooding of the Nile, or Wafaa El-Nil (Egypt and Coptic Church)
 * The main day of Bon Festival (Japan), and its related observances:
 * Awa Dance Festival (Tokushima Prefecture)
 * Victory over Japan Day (United Kingdom), and its related observances:
 * End-of-war Memorial Day, when the National Memorial Service for War Dead is held (Japan)

title: August 15


text:
Acacia sensu lato

Acacia s.l. (pronounced or ), known commonly as mimosa, acacia, thorntree or wattle, is a polyphyletic genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. It was described by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773 based on the African species Acacia nilotica. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not. All species are pod-bearing, with sap and leaves often bearing large amounts of tannins and condensed tannins that historically found use as pharmaceuticals and preservatives.

The genus Acacia constitutes, in its traditional circumspection, the second largest genus in Fabaceae (Astragalus being the largest), with roughly 1,300 species, about 960 of them native to Australia, with the remainder spread around the tropical to warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and the Americas (see List of Acacia species). The genus was divided into five separate genera under the tribe "Acacieae". The genus now called Acacia represents the majority of the Australian species and a few native to southeast Asia, Réunion, and Pacific Islands. Most of the species outside Australia, and a small number of Australian species, are classified into Vachellia and Senegalia. The two final genera, Acaciella and Mariosousa, each contain about a dozen species from the Americas (but see "Classification" below for the ongoing debate concerning their taxonomy).

Classification
English botanist and gardener Philip Miller adopted the name Acacia in 1754. The generic name is derived from ἀκακία (akakia), the name given by early Greek botanist-physician Pedanius Dioscorides (middle to late first century) to the medicinal tree A. nilotica in his book Materia Medica. This name derives from the Ancient Greek word for its characteristic thorns, ἀκίς (akis; "thorn"). The species name nilotica was given by Linnaeus from this tree's best-known range along the Nile river. This became the type species of the genus.

The traditional circumscription of Acacia eventually contained approximately 1,300 species. However, evidence began to accumulate that the genus as described was not monophyletic. Queensland botanist Les Pedley proposed the subgenus Phyllodineae be renamed Racosperma and published the binomial names. This was taken up in New Zealand but generally not followed in Australia, where botanists declared more study was needed. Eventually, consensus emerged that Acacia needed to be split as it was not monophyletic. This led to Australian botanists Bruce Maslin and Tony Orchard pushing for the retypification of the genus with an Australian species instead of the original African type species, an exception to traditional rules of priority that required ratification by the International Botanical Congress. That decision has been controversial, and debate continued, with some taxonomists (and many other biologists) deciding to continue to use the traditional Acacia sensu lato circumscription of the genus, in defiance of decisions by an International Botanical Congress. However, a second International Botanical Congress has now confirmed the decision to apply the name Acacia to the mostly Australian plants, which some had been calling Racosperma, and which had formed the overwhelming majority of Acacia sensu lato. Debate continues regarding the traditional acacias of Africa, possibly placed in Senegalia and Vachellia, and some of the American species, possibly placed in Acaciella and Mariosousa.

Acacias belong to the subfamily Mimosoideae, the major clades of which may have formed in response to drying trends and fire regimes that accompanied increased seasonality during the late Oligocene to early Miocene (~25 mya). Pedley (1978), following Vassal (1972), viewed Acacia as comprising three large subgenera, but subsequently (1986) raised the rank of these groups to genera Acacia, Senegalia (s.l.) and Racosperma, which was underpinned by later genetic studies.

In common parlance, the term "acacia" is occasionally applied to species of the genus Robinia, which also belongs in the pea family. Robinia pseudoacacia, an American species locally known as black locust, is sometimes called "false acacia" in cultivation in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe.

Description
The leaves of acacias are compound pinnate in general. In some species, however, more especially in the Australian and Pacific Islands species, the leaflets are suppressed, and the leaf-stalks (petioles) become vertically flattened in order to serve the purpose of leaves. These are known as "phyllodes". The vertical orientation of the phyllodes protects them from intense sunlight since with their edges towards the sky and earth they do not intercept light as fully as horizontally placed leaves. A few species (such as Acacia glaucoptera) lack leaves or phyllodes altogether but instead possess cladodes, modified leaf-like photosynthetic stems functioning as leaves.

The small flowers have five very small petals, almost hidden by the long stamens, and are arranged in dense, globular or cylindrical clusters; they are yellow or cream-colored in most species, whitish in some, or even purple (Acacia purpureopetala) or red (Acacia leprosa 'Scarlet Blaze'). Acacia flowers can be distinguished from those of a large related genus, Albizia, by their stamens, which are not joined at the base. Also, unlike individual Mimosa flowers, those of Acacia have more than ten stamens.

The plants often bear spines, especially those species growing in arid regions. These sometimes represent branches that have become short, hard, and pungent, though they sometimes represent leaf-stipules. Acacia armata is the kangaroo-thorn of Australia, and Acacia erioloba (syn. Acacia eriolobata) is the camelthorn of Africa.

Acacia seeds can be difficult to germinate. Research has found that immersing the seeds in various temperatures (usually around 80 °C (176 °F)) and manual seed coat chipping can improve growth to around 80%.

Symbiosis
In the Central American bullthorn acacias—Acacia sphaerocephala, Acacia cornigera and Acacia collinsii — some of the spiny stipules are large, swollen and hollow. These afford shelter for several species of Pseudomyrmex ants, which feed on extrafloral nectaries on the leaf-stalk and small lipid-rich food-bodies at the tips of the leaflets called Beltian bodies. In return, the ants add protection to the plant against herbivores. Some species of ants will also remove competing plants around the acacia, cutting off the offending plants' leaves with their jaws and ultimately killing them. Other associated ant species appear to do nothing to benefit their hosts.

Similar mutualisms with ants occur on Acacia trees in Africa, such as the whistling thorn acacia. The acacias provide shelter for ants in similar swollen stipules and nectar in extrafloral nectaries for their symbiotic ants, such as Crematogaster mimosae. In turn, the ants protect the plant by attacking large mammalian herbivores and stem-boring beetles that damage the plant.

The predominantly herbivorous spider Bagheera kiplingi, which is found in Central America and Mexico, feeds on nubs at the tips of the acacia leaves, known as Beltian bodies, which contain high concentrations of protein. These nubs are produced by the acacia as part of a symbiotic relationship with certain species of ant, which also eat them.

Pests
In Australia, Acacia species are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moths of the genus Aenetus including A. ligniveren. These burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down. Other Lepidoptera larvae which have been recorded feeding on Acacia include brown-tail, Endoclita malabaricus and turnip moth. The leaf-mining larvae of some bucculatricid moths also feed on Acacia; Bucculatrix agilis feeds exclusively on Acacia horrida and Bucculatrix flexuosa feeds exclusively on Acacia nilotica.

Acacias contain a number of organic compounds that defend them from pests and grazing animals.

Use as human food

Acacia seeds are often used for food and a variety of other products.

In Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, the feathery shoots of Acacia pennata (common name cha-om, ชะอม and su pout ywet in Burmese) are used in soups, curries, omelettes, and stir-fries.

Gum
Various species of acacia yield gum. True gum arabic is the product of Acacia senegal, abundant in dry tropical West Africa from Senegal to northern Nigeria.

Acacia nilotica (syn. Acacia arabica) is the gum arabic tree of India, but yields a gum inferior to the true gum arabic. Gum arabic is used in a wide variety of food products, including some soft drinks and confections.

The ancient Egyptians used acacia gum in paints. The gum of Acacia xanthophloea and Acacia karroo has a high sugar content and is sought out by the lesser bushbaby. Acacia karroo gum was once used for making confectionery and traded under the name "Cape Gum". It was also used medicinally to treat cattle suffering poisoning by Moraea species.

Uses in folk medicine
Acacia species have possible uses in folk medicine. A 19th-century Ethiopian medical text describes a potion made from an Ethiopian species (known as grar) mixed with the root of the tacha, then boiled, as a cure for rabies.

An astringent medicine high in tannins, called catechu or cutch, is procured from several species, but more especially from Senegalia catechu (syn. Acacia catechu), by boiling down the wood and evaporating the solution so as to get an extract. The catechu extract from A. catechu figures in the history of chemistry in giving its name to the catechin, catechol, and catecholamine chemical families ultimately derived from it.

Ornamental uses
A few species are widely grown as ornamentals in gardens; the most popular perhaps is A. dealbata (silver wattle), with its attractive glaucous to silvery leaves and bright yellow flowers; it is erroneously known as "mimosa" in some areas where it is cultivated, through confusion with the related genus Mimosa.

Another ornamental acacia is the fever tree. Southern European florists use A. baileyana, A. dealbata, A. pycnantha and A. retinodes as cut flowers and the common name there for them is mimosa.

Ornamental species of acacias are also used by homeowners and landscape architects for home security. The sharp thorns of some species are a deterrent to trespassing, and may prevent break-ins if planted under windows and near drainpipes. The aesthetic characteristics of acacia plants, in conjunction with their home security qualities, makes them a reasonable alternative to constructed fences and walls.

Perfume
Acacia farnesiana is used in the perfume industry due to its strong fragrance. The use of acacia as a fragrance dates back centuries.

Symbolism and ritual

Egyptian mythology has associated the acacia tree with characteristics of the tree of life, such as in the Myth of Osiris and Isis.

Several parts (mainly bark, root, and resin) of Acacia species are used to make incense for rituals. Acacia is used in incense mainly in India, Nepal, and China including in its Tibet region. Smoke from acacia bark is thought to keep demons and ghosts away and to put the gods in a good mood. Roots and resin from acacia are combined with rhododendron, acorus, cytisus, salvia, and some other components of incense. Both people and elephants like an alcoholic beverage made from acacia fruit. According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, the acacia tree may be the "burning bush" (Exodus 3:2) which Moses encountered in the desert. Also, when God gave Moses the instructions for building the Tabernacle, he said to "make an ark" and "a table of acacia wood" (Exodus 25:10 & 23, Revised Standard Version). Also, in the Christian tradition, Christ's crown of thorns is thought to have been woven from acacia.

Acacia was used for Zulu warriors' iziQu (or isiKu) beads, which passed on through Robert Baden-Powell to the Scout movement's Wood Badge training award.

In Russia, Italy, and other countries, it is customary to present women with yellow mimosas (among other flowers) on International Women's Day (March 8). These "mimosas" may be from A. dealbata (silver wattle).

In 1918, May Gibbs, the popular Australian children's author, wrote the book 'Wattle Babies', in which a third-person narrator describes the lives of imaginary inhabitants of the Australian forests (the 'bush'). The main characters are the Wattle Babies, who are tiny people that look like acacia flowers and who interact with various forest creatures. Gibbs wrote "Wattle Babies are the sunshine of the Bush. In Winter, when the sky is grey and all the world seems cold, they put on their yellowest clothes and come out, for they have such cheerful hearts." Gibbs was referring to the fact that an abundance of acacias flower in August in Australia, in the midst of the southern hemisphere winter.

Tannin
The bark of various Australian species, known as wattles, is very rich in tannin and forms an important article of export; important species include A. pycnantha (golden wattle), A. decurrens (tan wattle), A. dealbata (silver wattle) and A. mearnsii (black wattle).

Black wattle is grown in plantations in South Africa and South America. The pods of A. nilotica (under the name of neb-neb), and of other African species, are also rich in tannin and used by tanners. In Yemen, the principal tannin substance was derived from the leaves of the salam-tree (Acacia etbaica), a tree known locally by the name qaraẓ (garadh). A bath solution of the crushed leaves of this tree, into which raw leather had been inserted for prolonged soaking, would take only 15 days for curing. The water and leaves, however, required changing after seven or eight days, and the leather needed to be turned over daily.

Wood
Some Acacia species are valuable as timber, such as A. melanoxylon (blackwood) from Australia, which attains a great size; its wood is used for furniture, and takes a high polish; and A. omalophylla (myall wood, also Australian), which yields a fragrant timber used for ornaments. A. seyal is thought to be the shittah-tree of the Bible, which supplied shittim-wood. According to the Book of Exodus, this was used in the construction of the Ark of the Covenant. A. koa from the Hawaiian Islands and A. heterophylla from Réunion are both excellent timber trees. Depending on abundance and regional culture, some Acacia species (e.g. A. fumosa) are traditionally used locally as firewoods. It is also used to make homes for different animals.

Pulpwood
In Indonesia (mainly in Sumatra) and in Malaysia (mainly in Sabah), plantations of A. mangium are being established to supply pulpwood to the paper industry.

Acacia wood pulp gives high opacity and below average bulk paper. This is suitable in lightweight offset papers used for Bibles and dictionaries. It is also used in paper tissue where it improves softness.

Land reclamation
Acacias can be planted for erosion control, especially after mining or construction damage.

Ecological invasion
For the same reasons it is favored as an erosion-control plant, with its easy spreading and resilience, some varieties of acacia are potentially invasive species. At least fourteen Acacia species introduced to South Africa are categorized as invasive, due to their naturally aggressive propagation. One of the most globally significant invasive acacias is black wattle A. mearnsii, which is taking over grasslands and abandoned agricultural areas worldwide, especially in moderate coastal and island regions where mild climate promotes its spread. Australian/New Zealand Weed Risk Assessment gives it a "high risk, score of 15" rating and it is considered one of the world's 100 most invasive species. Extensive ecological studies should be performed before further introduction of acacia varieties, as this fast-growing genus, once introduced, spreads quickly and is extremely difficult to eradicate.

Cyanogenic glycosides
Nineteen different species of Acacia in the Americas contain cyanogenic glycosides, which, if exposed to an enzyme which specifically splits glycosides, can release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in the "leaves". This sometimes results in the poisoning death of livestock.

If fresh plant material spontaneously produces 200 ppm or more HCN, then it is potentially toxic. This corresponds to about 7.5 μmol HCN per gram of fresh plant material. It turns out that, if acacia "leaves" lack the specific glycoside-splitting enzyme, then they may be less toxic than otherwise, even those containing significant quantities of cyanic glycosides.

Some Acacia species containing cyanogens include Acacia erioloba, A. cunninghamii, A. obtusifolia, A. sieberiana, and A. sieberiana var. woodii

Famous acacias
The Arbre du Ténéré in Niger was the most isolated tree in the world, about 400 km from any other tree. The tree was knocked down by a truck driver in 1973.

In Nairobi, Kenya, the Thorn Tree Café is named after a Naivasha thorn tree (Acacia xanthophloea) in its centre. Travelers used to pin notes to others to the thorns of the tree. The current tree is the third of the same variety.

title: Acacia sensu lato