s.b.f's blog

Ali Ben Youssef Medersa (Madrasa)

The Ben Youssef Madrasa was an Islamic college in Marrakech and was named after the amoravid sultan Ali ibn Yusuf (reigned 1106–1142), who expanded the city and its influence considerably.

The college was founded during the period of the Marinid (14th century) by the Marinid sultan Abu al-Hassan and allied to the neighbouring Ben Youssef Mosque.

The building of the madrasa, as it is now, was (re-)constructed by the Saadian Sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib (1557–1574).

It is the largest Medrasa in all of Morocco.

In 1565 the works ordered by Abdallah al-Ghalib were finished, as confirmed by the inscription in the prayer room.

Saadian Tombs

The Saadian tombs in Marrakech date back from the time of the sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (1578-1603). The tombs were only recently discovered (in 1917) and were restored by the Beaux-arts service. The tombs have, because of the beauty of their decoration, been a major attraction for visitors of Marrakech.

Outside the building is a garden and the graves of soldiers and servants.

This was one of my favorite places too, although I was disappointed at how it really didn't look like Tombs.

There were Orange trees near each grave. There were fresh oranges on the ground.

Genetic 'map' of Asia's diversity

Their findings support the hypothesis that Asia was populated primarily through a single migration event from the south.

The researchers described their findings in the journal Science.

They found genetic similarities between populations throughout Asia and an increase in genetic diversity from northern to southern latitudes.

The team screened genetic samples from 73 Asian populations for more than 50,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

These are variations in pieces of the DNA code, which can be compared to find out how closely related two individuals are genetically.

Diversity explained

Outliers

Someone recommended me to read: 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell.

I haven't yet.

But I was reading about it.

"Outlier" is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience. In the summer, in Paris, we expect most days to be somewhere between warm and very hot. But imagine if you had a day in the middle of August where the temperature fell below freezing. That day would be outlier.

So we all know what an Outlier is.

In this book I'm interested in people who are outliers—in men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August.

Sounds good doesn't it?

The Tummy Beast

This is what I often think about when I'm hungry. Smile

The Tummy Beast

Roald Dahl

One afternoon I said to mummy,
"Who is this person in my tummy?
"He must be small and very thin
"Or how could he have gotten in?"
My mother said from where she sat,
"It isn't nice to talk like that."
"It's true!" I cried. "I swear it, mummy!
"There is a person in my tummy!
"He talks to me at night in bed,
"He's always asking to be fed,
"Throughout the day, he screams at me,
"Demanding sugar buns for tea.
"He tells me it is not a sin
"To go and raid the biscuit tin.
"I know quite well it's awfully wrong
"To guzzle food the whole day long,
"But really I can't help it, mummy,
"Not with this person in my tummy."
"You horrid child!" my mother cried.

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