Sofia from Greece

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   Hi everybody,
my name is Sofia and I am a greek freelance journalist. I write mostly about science issues and also about nautical tradition.
I am 52 years old and live in Athens
I thought of contacting people from all over the world to let them know about a monument in my country which has been left without care.
Today the inital part of the Ancient Diolkos (a paved road of 600 BC which was used to transport ships over land), has been swept by the erosion because it is near the Corinth Canal and, as I said, no measures were taken to protect it.
I have started an international petition directed to the Greek Prime Minister because, as I found out, although the authorities were supposedly willing to restore the monument, they kept themselves TOTALLY unprepared; so, the monument was left to decay while the authorities said that they cared...
Till now, people from 77 countries have signed this petition - and I am very glad because there are also signatures from the islamic world.
If you go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/870477005
you can see the petition (and all the countries from which there are signatures so far). You can find additional information at http://greece.org:8080/opencms/opencms/HEC_Projects/DIOLKOS/
and I also am at your disposal for any questions you may have.
I am looking forward to hearing from you. Kalimera se olous (good day to everybody).
Sofia

Edited by sofia.greek

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sofia.greek Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 October 2007 Location: Greece Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote sofia.greek Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Sofia from Greece Posted: 06 October 2007 at 5:50am
	Hi everybody, my name is Sofia and I am a greek freelance journalist. I write mostly about science issues and also about nautical tradition. I am 52 years old and live in Athens I thought of contacting people from all over the world to let them know about a monument in my country which has been left without care. Today the inital part of the Ancient Diolkos (a paved road of 600 BC which was used to transport ships over land), has been swept by the erosion because it is near the Corinth Canal and, as I said, no measures were taken to protect it. I have started an international petition directed to the Greek Prime Minister because, as I found out, although the authorities were supposedly willing to restore the monument, they kept themselves TOTALLY unprepared; so, the monument was left to decay while the authorities said that they cared... Till now, people from 77 countries have signed this petition - and I am very glad because there are also signatures from the islamic world. If you go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/870477005 you can see the petition (and all the countries from which there are signatures so far). You can find additional information at http://greece.org:8080/opencms/opencms/HEC_Projects/DIOLKOS/ and I also am at your disposal for any questions you may have. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Kalimera se olous (good day to everybody). Sofia Edited by sofia.greek

sulooni Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 04 January 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 103	Post Options Post Reply Quote sulooni Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 October 2007 at 12:10pm
	i have a question sofia... would u like to join my forum? www.insight-info.com
	www.insight-info.com/forum/default

sofia.greek Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 October 2007 Location: Greece Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote sofia.greek Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 October 2007 at 12:26pm
	OK... Some of its topics just don't come out at my monitor, though. Since I am not very familiar with forums and discussion groups (I have begun posting the Diolkos petition just some weeks ago, before then I hadn't even thought of doing this), I am not certain what to do. What kind of discussion do you think I could participate in??? By the way, where do you come from???

sulooni Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 04 January 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 103	Post Options Post Reply Quote sulooni Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 October 2007 at 12:31pm
	YES THE SITE IS UPDATING IT WILL BE UP IN ABOUT 9 HOURS - SORRY ABOUT THAT. WHAT IS A DIOLKOS?
	www.insight-info.com/forum/default

sofia.greek Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 October 2007 Location: Greece Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote sofia.greek Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 October 2007 at 1:26pm
	Diolkos actually comes from two words: the first is dia (a preposition with various meanings, like "through") and the second is olkos (from the verb elko, which means "pull") So the word diolkos rather means that something (in this case ships) was pulled between two places - in this case the Corinthian Gulf (north) and the Saronic Gulf (south) of a piece of land. Ancient people, from what I know, used to pull ships over land (for example their warships did not remain in the water but were pulled ashore). They also pulled their ships over land to reach another sea but, from what I know, THIS Diolkos was very ancient and it was also a permanent structure, well built, as you can see at www.greece.org:8080/opencms/opencms/HEC_Projects/DIOLKOS/ (go to the gallery section, there are some nice photos there) The last images are very interesting, since it can be seen that Diolkos was a forerunner of the modern railway (or rather tramway)... Since it was constructed around 600 B.C. (i.e. more than 2,500 years ago), it is a valuable relic of the past... Also, ships were transported over Diolkos in the course of historic events, as ancient wars...

seekshidayath Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Female Islam Joined: 26 March 2006 Location: India Status: Offline Points: 3357	Post Options Post Reply Quote seekshidayath Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 October 2007 at 7:12pm
	As'Salamu Alaikum, We are glad to have a member from Greece. As far as i know u are the only member here. We WELCOME u to our family of IslamiCity. Can u let me know how is Islam there? I mean how is it both practiced and viewed there? Since u are a journalist, we hope a detailed report. We wish u to participate at all other sections and am sure and hope that u enjoy your stay here Edited by seekshidayath
	Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: �All the descendants of Adam are sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent."

sofia.greek Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 06 October 2007 Location: Greece Status: Offline Points: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote sofia.greek Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 October 2007 at 9:50pm
	Hi seekshidayath, thanks for the welcome! It is a nice question you are posing, there. I will try to get some info. As I told you (first post) I write mostly on science issues. I am far from topics of religion and I am not even "in" as far as general topics are concerned... The only "big" issue I have looked into is Diolkos, and this not as part of my regular job but as an amateur thing. So, I must ask around before I can aswer your question... and come back with some answers. Good day to all! By the way, what's "Alaikum"? (I know the first word of your message is like hello, but what is the second?).

seekshidayath Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Female Islam Joined: 26 March 2006 Location: India Status: Offline Points: 3357	Post Options Post Reply Quote seekshidayath Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11 October 2007 at 7:05pm
	Hi Sofia, I thought u to be a muslim. Anyways I just signed the petition. It was great to know of Diolkos and i wish your efforts be successful. Your last part of the question, regarding Alaikum Let me explain u, that as we use the terms "Hi' and 'Hello" to start up conversation, though they have no meaning in it, similarly, we muslims, before starting any type of conversation greet each other by saying "As'Salamu Alaikum" which means 'peace be upon you". Islam urges on saying salam and even return the greeting. the greeting of salaam is better than all of these, because it has the meaning of safety which is life, without which nothing else can be achieved. So this takes precedence over all other aims or objectives. A person has two main aims in life: to keep himself safe from evil, and to get something good. Keeping safe from evil takes precedence over getting something good��. Such greetings, spread love and fraternity amongst us. When Islam came, Allaah prescribed that the manner of greeting among Muslims should be �Al-salaamu alaykum,� and that this greeting should only be used among Muslims and not for other nations. The meaning of salaam (literally, peace) is harmlessness, safety and protection from evil and from faults. The name al-Salaam is a Name of Allaah, may He be exalted, so the meaning of the greeting of salaam which is required among Muslims is, �May the blessing of His Name descend upon you.� The usage of the preposition �ala in �alaykum (upon you) indicates that the greeting is inclusive. Apart from religion, u can also discuss other issues at 'Current events" or even other section of "Islam and science" [As u said ,science intrests u}, U may find it intresting. But do let me about Islam at Greece and shall be delighted to know even your views of Islam, no matter how sour they are . Edited by seekshidayath
	Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: �All the descendants of Adam are sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent."