1883 Geography Cards

Tonight I was looking through a set of Geography Cards from 1883. For more information about them see my post: Early Flash Cards

A few of the cards caught my eye, so I will share them tonight.

Freeman Geography Cards, 1883, flash cardsWith this card for Germany you definitely need to keep in mind that it is from 1883.

  1. The Greatest Military Power in the World – This was before the World Wars.
  2. Consists of twenty-six States. – There are sixteen states today (blog idea).
  3. Has the Best Schools In the World – Is this still true?
  4. The Rhine is the Chief River – Still the same.
  5. Martin Luther lived here – Still a fact.
  6. One of the Five Great Powers of Europe – Still one of the five most important countries.

Freeman Geography Cards, 1883, flash cards
Here is a card from Great Britain.

  1. The Most Powerful Government in the World – Not anymore.
  2. Has Twenty Thousand Merchant Vessels – Nice fact.
  3. The Sun never sets on its Dominions. – This was true in 1883.
  4. A Constitutional Monarchy. – This is still true.
  5. Owns British America, Hindostan and Australia. – Not anymore.

Freeman Geography Cards, 1883, flash cardsThere are some interesting facts about the Palestine of that time on this card.

  1. Holy Land of the Bible.
  2. Contains same area as Maryland.
  3. Contains the Dead Sea and the River Jordan.
  4. The Land that Moses saw, but was not permitted to enter.
  5. Where the Wars of the Crusades were fought.

Freeman Geography Cards, 1883, flash cardsHere is a card about Singapore. It is much larger today than it was in 1883.

  1. In the Strait of Malacca, on an Island of the same name.
  2. Owned by Great Britain – No longer true.
  3. One of the Most Important Ports of the East.
  4. An Important Station for Ships between India and China.

Freeman Geography Cards, 1883, flash cardsThis card about Tokio was interesting.

  1. City on an Island
  2. Burns down every seven years. – Edo had 97 major fires between 1603 and 1868.
  3. Capital of Japan.

Which of these cards is the most interesting?

Steven

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An Ibex at Masada

Back in 2015 after digging at Lachish we stayed in Israel for a short tour of the country.

Ein Gedi, Waterfall, Wildlife preserve, Pools of Ein GediAfter washing off the last bit of dirt from Lachish under a waterfall at Ein Gedi, we visited Masada. The water was a bit cold, but it felt so refreshing.

We were a bit disappointed that we didn’t see any wildlife during out hike to the pools.North end of Masada, Herod, King HerodWe then headed to Masada where we had lunch and toured the site.Nubian Ibex, Ibex, Capra nubiana, wild goat, masadaJust as we were leaving we spotted an ibex on the way to the parking area.

This is a Nubian Ibex (Capra nubiana).Nubian Ibex, Ibex, Capra nubiana, wild goat, masadaThe Nubian Ibex is a wild goat. There are several ways that they differ from the sheep family.

The first is the presence of a beard on the males.Ibex scent glandsWild goats also have scent glands under the eye. You can see here that they have beautiful eyes.Nubian Ibex, Ibex, Capra nubiana, wild goat, masadaThe wild goats also have a hairless callus on the knee.Nubian Ibex, Ibex, Capra nubiana, wild goat, masadaBecause of the beard we could tell that this ibex was male, but there are other ways to tell also. Here are two of them: The male has a dark brown stripe down the back and has long sweeping horns that can be a meter in length. The female also has horns, but they are only about a foot long.

After the disappointment of not seeing an Ibex at Ein Gedi, it was a surprise to see on up close at Masada.

Steven

 

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