Tory Island

Tory Island is a remote island off the coast of Ireland. Separated from County Donegal by a little more than seven miles of ocean, it is the last remaining part of Ireland to have a King. Tory is known for its art, culture, scenery, and mythic past. According to the stories, Tory used to be home to the Fomorians-- massive one-eyed giants with a thirst for human blood.

Dún Bhaloir

According to legend, Balor, the king of the Fomorians, lived in a gigantic fortress on Tory Island. He had locked his daughter Eithne in a tower, because of a prophecy that said he would be killed by his own grandson. Balor did end up being killed by his grandson Lugh, the son god, but the ruins of the fortress where Eithne was supposedly imprisoned stands on Tory Island today as the Dún Bhaloir, a narrow, rocky natural stone wall that juts out dramatically into the sea.

Ancient legend aside, Tory Island's history is defined by the arrival of Colm Cille, or St. Colombcile. Colm arrived on Tory sometime in the 6th century, prepared to spread Christianity. He encountered only pagans, but in a surprising turn of events, there was no hostility from either side, in fact, an Islander named Duggan asked for Colm's help. Tory was being raided by pirates all the damn time, and Duggan was, understandably worried about trifling things like his home, family,  life. Colm was so impressed by this man who took the initiative to share his problems, he declared Duggan king of Tory Island. He told Duggan to challenge the pirates. Duggan did so, and the pirates never bothered the island again. Impressed, the entire island converted to Christianity, and Colm built a monastery. Colm also gave Duggan a pot made of magical clay that drove all the rats out of Tory. While many people may be skeptical of 'magical clay', there are no rats on Tory, and the pot rests in the possession of the Duggan family to this day.

Tau Cross, erected by Colm Cille, is one of
the few T shaped crosses in Ireland

St. Colombcile's declaration of kingship became one of the island's most cherished traditions, a tradition that carries on to this day. In modern times the king is elected, and his kingly duties include things like greeting tourists at the docks, seeing tourists off, maintaining the cultural integrity of the island, and politely refusing the Irish government's offers to resettle the people on Tory on the mainland. The current king of Tory is one Patsy Dan Rodgers. Rodgers, like many of the inhabitants, is an artist.

Art is another thing that Tory is famous for. The Islanders have a style of 'primitive painting' unique to the island. It was started in the 1950s when artist Derek Hill stopped by, and was saucily told by local James Dixon that he, Dixon, could paint much better than Hill. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, and the beginning of a new school of painting devoted to capturing the beauty of island life. You can see the contents of the local art gallery here.

Today, Tory is a summer home for artists, and a short stop for tourists. The permanent population is rapidly shrinking in growth, with only four children being born on the island in the last eight years. The Donegal government has, more than once, offered to resettle the islanders on the mainland, but the few islanders that live on Tory can't be bought, and remain faithfully on the island.

2019 Update: Unfortunately, Patsy Dan Rodgers passed away on October 19, 2018. His successor as king has not been nominated, and it is unsure if the tradition of kingship on Tory will continue.

Patsy Dan Rodgers

Sources
Story of the Irish Race by Seamus MacManus
Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks
History of Tory
A Visit to Tory Island
Tory Island, the Secret Kingdom
The Last King of Ireland
Balor

The Milk War

The Russian-Belarusian 'Milk War' of 2009 lasted a little over two weeks, and during those two weeks no shots were fired. One of the pettiest wars of all time, the only victims were Belarusian wallets and Russian dairy consumers.

Belarus and Russia are neighbors, and have traditionally
had good diplomatic relations.

This war started when Russia banned all dairy imports from Belarus, supposedly because Belarusian dairy didn't meet Russian health standards, but more likely because Belarus wasn't doing what Russia told it to. Russia has a history of banning imports from countries that make it made, and they were pretty upset with Belarus for a few reasons.

1. Belarus refused to recognize the breakaway states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia had assisted South Ossetia and Abkhazia in declaring independence from the country of Georgia. The only other country than Russia to have recognized those countries was the Central American country of Nicaragua. Russia wanted some support, but Belarus just wasn't there for them.
2. Russia depends on a Belarus pipeline to pipe its oil to the rest of Europe. Russia tried to buy this pipeline from Belarus, but Belarus refused to sell.
3. Belarus had become decided more pro European, releasing political prisoners, and trying to make good with the rest of Europe. This angered Russia, who isn't very friendly with Europe.

Russian and Belarusian military marching together
on parade in 2011, two years after the end of the milk war

Belarus responded in a spectacularly mature fashion by imposing stricter border checkpoints on the Russia-Belarus border, and by refusing to attend the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a confederation of former Soviet states. The meeting had been to solidify a confederation wide military union. Belarus, formerly one of Russia's biggest supporters, not being present really infuriated the Russian government.

You can essentially envisage the Milk War as an argument between two particularly passive-aggressive teenage girls. Belarus won't give Russia what it wants, so Russia won't let Belarus bring its stuff over to Russia's house. This upsets Belarus, who decides that Russia can't come over to their house either. There had been a party planned for Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and a whole bunch of other people, but Belarus was still pissed off at Russia, so Belarus decided not to show up, which made Russia mad. A couple weeks later, they realize they need each other, and talk it out.

Today, dairy products pass freely through Belarus and Russia. Belarus still doesn't recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and continue to make pro-European overtures. Russia isn't very happy about this, but for the sake of regional security, they bite their tongues.

Sources

'Milk War' Strains Russia-Belarus Ties

Russia Ends Dairy Ban on Belarus

Russia-Belarus Ties Sour Over Milk Ban

Damn, Girl-Enheduanna, High Priestess of Ur and the World's First Author Known by Name

Living more than 2000 years before the common era, Enheduanna was, without a doubt, one of the most important religious and political figures of ancient Mesopotamia. Not only was she one of the first women to serve as high priestess to the moon god Nanna, but she successfully integrated the Sumerian and Akkadian pantheons, uniting the Sumerians and Akkadians into one people under the rule of her father, Sargon the Great.

Alabaster disk depicting Enheduanna and three unknown
males. She is the second from the left, and the largest
figure, showing her importance. 

To really explain why Enheduanna is such a remarkable woman, I need to explain the political situation of her era. Enheduanna was born into ancient Mesopotamia--arguably one of the most bloody and turbulent civilizations to exist. Located in modern Iraq, the ancient state of Sumer was in the process of being unified (read as 'conquered') by an upstart, fatherless Akkadian named Sargon. Sargon was eventually successful, but he didn't just want to conquer unify all of Sumer. No, Sargon dreamed big, Sargon wanted the impossible; he wanted peace.

The Mesopotamians had a whole pantheon of violent and angry goods whom they relied on very much. Being located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers might have given them lush farmland, but the rivers were wildly unpredictable, and violent floods could happen at any moment. To try and keep the rivers, as well as more bloodshed, at bay, the Sumerians were devout worshipers. Their lives depended on it.

The Akkadians worshiped a different set of gods. Sargon came to the conclusion that to unite his people, he should unite them under one religion. That's when he asked his daughter, Enheduanna, to step in.

Now, before I go further, I must note that Enheduanna may not have been Sargon's literal daughter. Sargon may have designated her his 'daughter' as a symbolic gesture to link his kingship with the gods. However, if Enheduanna was Sargon's literal, biological daughter, it would certainly explain the Sumerian tradition of appointing princesses as high priestesses.

Clay tablet of Enheduanna's poetry

Sargon appointed Enheduanna as high priestess to the moon and creator god Duanna. It is presumed that Enheduanna changed her name to Enheduanna to reflect her position. Enheduanna's job was to unite the Akkadian and Sumerian gods into one pantheon; a job Enheduanna set to with relish. To do this, she picked up her scribe, and proceeded to dictate several hundreds of hymns and religious texts.

Though Enheduanna was priestess to Duanna, she was much more interested in Inanna, goddess of fertility, love and beauty. She seemed to have considered Inanna her goddess, and most of her surviving works are devoted mainly to Inanna, not Nanna.

Enheduanna was also quite interested in the Akkadian goddess Ishtar. Ishtar was similar to Inanna--goddess of love, fertility, etc.--but she was also the goddess of war. In her hymns to Inanna, Enheduanna started to slowly combine the aspects of Inanna with the aspects of Ishtar--depicting Inanna on the battlefield, sword of judgement in her hand.

Enheduanna was briefly exiled from Ur during a coup d'etat orchestrated by political enemy Lugal-Ane. Lugal-Ane overthrew Enheduanna's father Sargon, and forced Enheduanna out of the city. Enheduanna had proclaimed Lugal-Ane unworthy and ungodly because of his treatment of the priestesses. It was in response to this exile that Enheduanna wrote her seminal work.

Inanna with a lion.

The Temple Hymn, Enheduanna's most famous work, was preserved in stone on pillars in her temple. It is a poem starting in the third person, then gradually moving to the first, praising Inanna, calling Inanna to rid Enheduanna of her enemies, telling the story of Enheduanna's exile from Ur, then telling the story of Enheduanna's triumphant return. In reading of the poem, Enheduanna seems to take on the place of Inanna as a goddess herself. Unsurprisingly, there is evidence saying that Enheduanna may have been worshiped as a deity after her death.

Despite having lived more than 4,000 years ago Enheduanna is well known because of the many copies of her works that exist today. Hundreds of clay tablets have been excavated that contains copies of her poetry. Additionally, in 1929 an alabaster disk containing Enheduanna's image was found. This disk portrays Enheduanna as the central character, and confirms that she held a great position of importance in Sumerian society.

In addition to the many great things she did politically, Enheduanna has quite a few literary firsts to her name. She is the first (known) author in the world. While there are certainly texts written before Enheduanna's hymns and poetry, all are written anonymously; Enheduanna was the first to claim credit for her work. In addition, Enheduanna is the first (known) author to have written in the first person.

Enheduanna was an exceptional woman for many reasons. She effected tremendous change in the politics, religion, and literature of her time, and those changes made history. Sumer wouldn't have been who it was without her contributions to their religion. Though she isn't well known, Enheduanna life's work is still taught in schools today.

Sources
Enheduana-Ancient History Encyclopedia
Enheduana-Dr. Roberta Binkley
Enheduana-New World Encyclopedia
Enheduanna, Daughter of King Sargon. Princess, Poet, Priestess. 2300 BC