IGS Expedition to Tarsus
The Imperial Geographical Society yesterday conducted an expedition to Tarsus, the biblical hometown of St Paul the Apostle. The expedition was comprised of Lord Dionisiy Tezdzhan-Smahin and his wife Lady Mariia. It was the first expedition to take place outside of Europe, and the first to not have included Emperor Jonathan I amongst its participants. This is a major step for the IGS, which since 2017 has been aiming to conduct an expedition not requiring the personal direction of the Emperor. Tarsus is an ancient settlement, dating back to the Neolithic period and named by the Hittites. The expedition first encountered the Danyal Makami or Mausoleum of Daniel, one of several claimants to be the tomb of the Prophet Daniel. This site is thought to have been identified as the prophet’s tomb by the Caliph Umar (r. 634-644). The expedition then continued past a Roman section of the city walls to Saint Paul’s Well, a well situated next to the ruin of a Roman house claimed to have been that of St Paul himself. The well is twenty metres deep and still yields drinkable water. It is supposed that St Paul would have drunk from the well during his lifetime. The Duke and Duchess continued by car to the Tarsus Waterfall, where the expedition concluded with lunch.
New Austenasian March founded
Thursday 5th saw Harlemum founded as a March of Theodosiopolis. Lord Dionisiy Tezdzhan-Smahin, the Representative of Theodosiopolis, moved from said town to a new home earlier this year with his wife Lady Mariia. Their new residence has therefore been annexed as the Harlemum March. Harlemum is an enclave of the Dutch city of Haarlem, and is located just over thirteen miles west of Theodosiopolis. A March is a territory which is attached to a Town for the purposes of parliamentary representation but is governed autonomously from its Town Council. Before Thursday there had only been one March, Caldari, for which the status was created in 2014. Prior to this move, Theodosiopolis had five residents, the other three of whom remain living there.
