Adrian J. Boas
On Extreme Fragility and a Homage to the Restorer
I recall three aged aunts, or more accurately cousins several times removed, sisters, spinsters, so ancient that they had shrivelled away...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Aug 10, 2020
- 4 min
On the Eminence of Tyre
Viewing a city from above is very different from observing it at ground level. I once had the opportunity of seeing the city of Tyre both...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Aug 7, 2020
- 5 min
On Fundamental Decency
It is hardly surprising that we, the lookers-on, the ordinary people, those of us who are not in the public eye, the "average joes" to...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Aug 4, 2020
- 3 min
On Dubious Origins
Qal'at al-Subeibe or Qal'at Namrud occupies a spur descending south-west from Mount Hermon. It is among the most marvellous of all...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 31, 2020
- 4 min
On Deception
The traffic on the northern section of Route 6 was heavy and I turned off and took the road that continues via Megiddo. I had not passed...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 27, 2020
- 3 min
On Eminence and its Limitations
Fortresses fulfilled a variety of roles. Some were intended to actively defend, some primarily to fulfil a regional administrative role,...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 23, 2020
- 6 min
On Disputed Authenticity
While travelling across Europe in the summer of 1975, a friend and I met up with some other young backpackers in Athens and rented a car...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 20, 2020
- 4 min
On Islomania
Lawrence Durrell, a writer particularly charmed by islands, opens his travel book on Rhodes, Reflections on a Marine Venus, with the...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 17, 2020
- 4 min
On a Peculiar Mountain
A “monadnock”, to use the Native American term, or “inselberg”, island mountain, in German, its isolation makes this dome-shaped hill...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 13, 2020
- 3 min
On Expressions of Grief at the Loss of a Child
Among the possessions I keep on my desk is a tiny brown shoe. It is companion to various other objects, most of which are either entirely...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 9, 2020
- 4 min
On a Note from the Past
One must flow with the times, but who does not miss those simple things of the past. I recall forgotten and cherished possessions: a...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 6, 2020
- 3 min
On Perhaps Another Forgotten Frankish Innovation
Terrace houses, also known as row houses or sometimes townhouses, are near-identical dwellings built in rows adjacent to a street,...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jul 1, 2020
- 3 min
On Originality and the Usefulness of Names
A popular childhood book was the whimsical history of England titled 1066 and All That written by two British humourists, W. C. Sellar...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jun 29, 2020
- 3 min
On Food for Thought
Hospital food. Who has not felt a rapid decline of appetite on being presented with an overflowing plastic bowl of lukewarm, watery...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jun 25, 2020
- 2 min
On Understatement
Composed in a hospital bed, in gratitude for being alive. The minibus ascends the narrow twisting road up to the heights, and here it is,...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jun 22, 2020
- 3 min
On Seeking a Balance
The word "nature" refers to all physical existence, though when we speak of nature we are often thinking of life. One of the most...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jun 19, 2020
- 3 min
On a Place of Contemplation
One needs a quiet place to contemplate. For me it is a seat under the fig tree in my tiny garden with its three fountains. It is my...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jun 15, 2020
- 4 min
On the Eremitic Life
During the current crisis most people have had to undergo some degree of isolation, whether self-imposed or enforced. Human beings are...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jun 12, 2020
- 3 min
On Apocalyptic Times and Dubious Reliance
In a second-hand bookshop I noticed the title: The Unfinished History of the World. Well, I thought, thank Heavens! And how very astute...
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Adrian J. Boas
- Jun 8, 2020
- 4 min
On Accessibility (and the Value of Making an Effort)
In the summer of 2002, my wife and I drove through south-eastern Turkey visiting a number of medieval fortresses, among them several that...
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