title: Doncaster

text: The town also has regular involvement in the Tour de Yorkshire cycling event, having the finish line of stage two, of the 2016 Tour de Yorkshire hosted in Doncaster, as well as the finish line of stage one of the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire hosted in the town as well.


title: Doncaster

text: Several roads in the Lakeside area are named after Doncaster's twin towns, such as Gliwice Way, Herten Way, Wilmington Drive and Carolina Way, named after the state where Wilmington lies.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The Cave of the Patriarchs or Tomb of the Patriarchs, known to Jews by its Biblical name Cave of Machpelah (, ', ) and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque (, ' ), is a series of caves situated south of Jerusalem in the heart of the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank. According to the Abrahamic religions, the cave and adjoining field were purchased by Abraham as a burial plot, although most historians believe the Abraham-Isaac-Jacob narrative to be primarily mythological.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Over the cave stands a large rectangular enclosure dating from the Herodian era. During Byzantine rule of the region, a basilica was built on the site; the structure was converted into the Ibrahimi Mosque following the Muslim conquest of the Levant. By the 12th century, the mosque and its surrounding regions had fallen under Crusader-state control, but were retaken in 1188 by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin, who again converted the structure into a mosque.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: During the Six-Day War of 1967, the entire Jordanian-occupied West Bank was seized and occupied by the State of Israel, after which the mosque was divided, with half of it repurposed as a synagogue. In 1968, special Jewish services were authorized outside the usual permitted hours on the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement, leading to a hand-grenade attack on 9 October which injured 47 Israelis; and a second bombing on 4 November, which wounded 6 people. In 1972, the Israeli government increased the Jewish prayer area. New change to the "status quo" were made by Israeli authorities in 1975, which again led to protests by Muslims. In 1976, a scuffle took place between Jewish and Muslim worshippers, during which a Quran was torn. Muslim and Arab figures went to Hebron the next day to protest what was called a "profanation of the Quran". The Tomb was closed and a curfew was imposed on the whole city. A few days later, about two hundred Arab youths entered the Tomb and destroyed Torah scrolls and prayer books. In May 1980, an attack on Jewish worshippers returning from prayers at the tomb left 6 dead and 17 wounded. In 1994, the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre occurred at the Ibrahimi Mosque, in which an armed Israeli settler entered the complex during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and opened fire on Palestinian Muslims who had gathered to pray at the site, killing 29 people, including children, and wounding over 125.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The etymology of the Biblical name for the site, "Me'arat haMakhpela", is uncertain. The word "Me'arat" means "cave of" and "haMakhpela" may mean "doubled", "multiplied" or "twofold", so a literal translation would be "cave of the double". Two hypotheses are discussed by the Talmud in b. Eruvin 53a:The cave of "makhpela": Abba Arikha and Samuel of Nehardea [disputed]; one said, "It is two chambers, one behind the other", and one said, "It is two chambers, one above the other."The position that the chambers are stacked is satisfactory -- this is "makhpela". However, according to the position that one is behind the other, what is "makhpela"? That it is doubled in [that it contains] couples:"And Jacob came to his father Isaac, [to] Mamre, the 'City of the Four' which is Hebron . . ." (Gen. 35:27). Isaac the Smith said, "The City of the Four Couples: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah".According to b. Bava Batra 58a, Abba Arikha and Samuel of Nehardea agreed that the two chambers, whatever their layout, shared identical dimensions. Genesis Rabbah 58 gives a third hypothesis:"And Epron's field which was in the "makhpela" . . ." (Gen. 23:17). This teaches that it universally "doubles" the renown of those [within], as whoever is interred within is believed to have earned a very great reward [in Heaven].


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Saadia b. Joseph and Abraham ibn Ezra believed it referred to a "cave within a cave". Another hypothesis, supported by Samuel b. Meir, Moses b. Nachman, Obadiah Sforno, Moses Mendelssohn, Ernst Rosenmüller, and Samuel David Luzzatto, holds that "makhpela" isn't an adjective describing the cave but rather is a proper noun describing the tract of land on which it sits. This hypothesis is supported by the phrasing of some Bible verses, such as , "the cave in the field of the Makhpela . . ." The question over the right interpretation of "makhpela" has been discussed extensively in various Biblical commentaries.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: According to , Abraham's wife Sarah dies in Kiryat Arba near Hebron in the land of Canaan at the age of 127, being the only woman in the Bible whose exact age is given, while Abraham is tending to business elsewhere. Abraham comes to mourn for her. After a while he stands up and speaks to the sons of Heth. He tells them that he is a foreigner in their land and requests that they give him a burial site so that he can bury his dead. The Hittites flatter Abraham, call him a Lord and mighty prince, and say that he can bury his dead in any of their tombs. Abraham doesn't take them up on their offer and instead asks them to contact Ephron the Hittite, the son of Zohar, who lives in Mamre and owns the cave of Machpelah which he is offering to buy for "the full price". Ephron slyly replies that he is prepared to give Abraham the field and the cave within it, knowing that it would not result in Abraham having a permanent claim to it. Abraham politely refuses the offer and insists on paying for the field. Ephron replies that the field is worth four hundred shekels of silver and Abraham agrees to the price without any further bargaining. He then proceeded to bury his dead wife Sarah there.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The burial of Sarah is the first account of a burial in the Bible, and Abraham's purchase of Machpelah is the first commercial transaction mentioned.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The next burial in the cave is that of Abraham himself, who at the age of 175 years was buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael. The title deed to the cave was part of the property of Abraham that passed to his son Isaac. The third burial was that of Isaac, by his two sons Esau and Jacob, who died when he was 180 years old. There is no mention of how or when Isaac's wife Rebecca died, but she is included in the list of those that had been buried in Machpelah in Jacob's final words to the children of Israel. Jacob himself died at the age of 147 years.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In the final chapter of Genesis, Joseph had his physicians embalm his father Jacob, before they removed him from Egypt to be buried in the cave of the field of Machpelah. When Joseph died in the last verse, he was also embalmed. He was buried much later in Shechem after the children of Israel came into the Promised Land.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In the Ugaritic texts (13th–12th century BCE), three out of the six real estate contracts discovered were for the sum of 400 silver shekels, and the terms of sale in them parallel the Biblical description of the sale of Machpelah. Apparently 400 shekels was a common price for Canaanite real estate transactions in this period.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In 2020, Israeli archaeologists led by David Ben-Shlomo (Ariel University) dated pottery from the caves (recovered surreptitiously by local residents in 1981) to the 8th century BCE. The different origins of the shards, from various areas around Hebron and Jerusalem, suggest the site may have been a pilgrimage site as early as this date, according to the study authors.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The time from which the Israelites regarded the site as sacred is unknown, though some scholars consider that the biblical story of Abraham's burial there probably dates from the 6th century BCE.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Between 31 and 4 BCE, Herod the Great built a large, rectangular enclosure over the cave to commemorate the site for his subjects. It is the only fully surviving Herodian structure from the period of Hellenistic Judaism. Herod's building, with stone walls made from stones that were at least tall and sometimes reach a length of , did not have a roof. Archaeologists are not certain where the original entrance to the enclosure was located, or even if there was one. The Herodian building stands on an earlier structure possibly built during the Hasmonean dynasty ( 2nd century BCE).


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Until the era of the Byzantine Empire, the interior of the enclosure remained exposed to the sky. Under Byzantine rule, a simple basilica was constructed at the southeastern end and the enclosure was roofed everywhere except at the centre.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: During this period, the site became an important Christian pilgrimage destination. The Pilgrim of Bordaux, c. 333, reported "a monument of square form built of stone of wondrous beauty, in which lie Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sara, Rebecca, and Leah". The Piacenza Pilgrim (c. 570) noted in his pilgrimage account that Jews and Christians shared possession of the site.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In 614, the Sasanid Persians conquered the area and destroyed the castle, leaving only ruins; but in 637, the area came under the control of the Arab Muslims and the building was reconstructed as a roofed mosque.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: During the 10th century, an entrance was pierced through the north-eastern wall, some way above the external ground level, and steps from the north and from the east were built up to it (one set of steps for entering, the other for leaving). A building known as the "qal'ah" (قلعة i.e. "castle") was also constructed near the middle of the southwestern side. Its purpose is unknown but one historic account claims that it marked the spot where Joseph was buried (see Joseph's Tomb), the area having been excavated by a Muslim caliph, under the influence of a local tradition regarding Joseph's tomb. Some archaeologists believe that the original entrance to Herod's structure was in the location of the "qal'ah" and that the northeastern entrance was created so that the kalah could be built by the former entrance.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In 1100, after the area was captured by the Crusaders, the enclosure once again became a church and Muslims were no longer permitted to enter. During this period, the area was given a new gabled roof, clerestory windows and vaulting.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In the year 1113 during the reign of Baldwin II of Jerusalem, according to Ali of Herat (writing in 1173), a certain part over the cave of Abraham had given way, and "a number of Franks had made their entrance therein". And they discovered "(the bodies) of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", "their shrouds having fallen to pieces, lying propped up against a wall...Then the King, after providing new shrouds, caused the place to be closed once more". Similar information is given in Ibn al Athir's Chronicle under the year 1119; "In this year was opened the tomb of Abraham, and those of his two sons Isaac and Jacob ...Many people saw the Patriarch. Their limbs had nowise been disturbed, and beside them were placed lamps of gold and of silver." The Damascene nobleman and historian Ibn al-Qalanisi in his chronicle also alludes at this time to the discovery of relics purported to be those of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a discovery that excited eager curiosity among all three communities in the southern Levant, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Towards the end of the period of Crusader rule, in 1166 Maimonides visited Hebron and wrote, "On Sunday, 9 Marheshvan (17 October), I left Jerusalem for Hebron to kiss the tombs of my ancestors in the Cave. On that day, I stood in the cave and prayed, praise be to God, (in gratitude) for everything."


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In 1170, Benjamin of Tudela visited the city, which he called by its Frankish name, St. Abram de Bron. He reported:


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In 1188 Saladin conquered the area, reconverting the enclosure to a mosque but allowing Christians to continue worshipping there. Saladin also added a minaret at each corner—two of which still survive—and added an existing minbar (pulpit) from Ashkelon to the mosque's interior. Samuel ben Samson visited the cave in 1210; he says that the visitor must descend by twenty-four steps in a passageway so narrow that the rock touches him on either hand.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Between 1318 and 1320, the Mamluk governor of Gaza, a province that included Hebron, Sanjar al-Jawli ordered the construction of the Amir Jawli Mosque within the Haram enclosure to enlarge the prayer space and accommodate worshipers. In the late 14th century, under the Mamluks, two additional entrances were pierced into the western end of the south western side and the "kalah" was extended upwards to the level of the rest of the enclosure. A cenotaph in memory of Joseph was created in the upper level of the "kalah" so that visitors to the enclosure would not need to leave and travel round the outside just to pay respects. The Mamluks also built the northwestern staircase and the six cenotaphs (for Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah, Abraham, and Sarah, respectively), distributed evenly throughout the enclosure. The Mamluks forbade Jews from entering the site, allowing them only as close as the fifth step on a staircase at the southeast, but after some time this was increased to the seventh step.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: During the Ottoman period, the dilapidated state of the patriarchs' tombs was restored to a semblance of sumptuous dignity. Ali Bey, one of the few foreigners to gain access, reported in 1807 that,all the sepulchres of the patriarchs are covered with rich carpets of green silk, magnificently embroidered with gold; those of the wives are red, embroidered in like manner. The sultans of Constantinople furnish these carpets, which are renewed from time to time. Ali Bey counted nine, one over the other, upon the sepulchre of Abraham.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: A contemporary traveller, M. Ermete Pierotti, in 1862 described the great jealousy with which the Muslims guarded the sanctuary and the practice of sending petitions to the patriarchs:


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: After Jordan occupied the West Bank in 1948, no Jews were allowed in the territory and consequently no Jews could visit the tomb. In the 1960s, Jordan renovated the area surrounding the mosque, destroying several historical buildings in the process, among them, the ruins of the nearby Crusader fortress built in 1168.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in the Six-Day War, Hebron came under Jewish control for the first time in 2,000 years and the 700-year-long restriction limiting Jews to the seventh step outside was lifted.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: According to the Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Major general Rabbi Shlomo Goren's autobiography on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War, he made his way from Gush Etzion to Hebron. In Hebron he realized that the Arabs had surrendered and quickly made his way to the Cave of the Patriarchs. He shot at the doors of the mosque with his Uzi submachine gun. But when that was ineffective in prying the doors open, he attached chains to his Jeep and the doors, proceeding to pull them down. He entered the mosque and began to pray, becoming the first Jew to enter the compound for about 700 years. While praying, a messenger from the Mufti of Hebron delivered a surrender note to him, whereby the rabbi replied "This place, Ma'arat HaMachpela, is a place of prayer and peace. Surrender elsewhere."


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The first Jew to enter the underground caves was Michal Arbel, the 13-year-old daughter of Yehuda Arbel, chief of Shin Bet operations in the West Bank, because she was slender enough to be lowered into the narrow, wide hole on 9 October 1968, to gain access to the tomb site, after which she took photographs.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Israeli settlers reestablished a small synagogue under the mosque. The first Jewish wedding ceremony to take place in it was on 7 August 1968. The stone stairway leading to the mosque was also destroyed in order to erase the humiliating "seventh step".


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In 1968, a special arrangement was made to accommodate Jewish services on the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement. This led to a hand-grenade being thrown on the stairway leading to the tomb on 9 October; 47 Israelis were injured, 8 seriously. On 4 November, a large explosion went off near the gate to the compound and 6 people, Jews and Arabs, were wounded. On Yom Kippur eve, 3 October 1976, an Arab mob destroyed several Torah scrolls and prayer books at the tomb. In May 1980, an attack on Jewish worshippers returning from prayers at the tomb left 6 dead and 17 wounded.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In 1981, a group of Jewish settlers from the Hebron community lead by Noam Arnon broke into the caves and took photos of the burial chambers.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Tensions would later increase as the Israeli government signed the Oslo Accords in September 1993, which gave limited autonomy to the PLO in the West Bank city of Jericho and the Gaza Strip. The city of Hebron and the rest of the major Palestinian population centers in the West Bank were not included in the initial agreement. The Cave of the Patriarchs massacre committed by Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli-American settler in February 1994, left 29 Palestinian Muslims dead and scores injured. The resulting riots resulted in a further 35 deaths.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The increased sensitivity of the site meant that in 1996 the Wye River Accords, part of the Arab–Israeli peace process, included a temporary status agreement for the site restricting access for both Jews and Muslims. As part of this agreement, the "waqf" (Islamic charitable trust) controls 81% of the building. This includes the whole of the southeastern section, which lies above the only known entrance to the caves and possibly over the entirety of the caves themselves. As a consequence, Jews are not permitted to visit the Cenotaphs of Isaac or Rebecca, which lie entirely within the southeastern section, except for 10 days a year that hold special significance in Judaism. One of these days is the Shabbat "Chayei Sarah", when the Torah portion concerning the death of Sarah and the purchase by Abraham of the land in which the caves are situated, is read.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The Israeli authorities do not allow Jewish religious authorities the right to maintain the site and allow only the "waqf" to do so. Tourists are permitted to enter the site. Security at the site has increased since the Intifada; the Israel Defense Forces surround the site with soldiers and control access to the shrines. Israeli forces also subject locals to checkpoints and bar all non-Jews from setting foot on some of the main roads to the complex and ban Palestinian vehicles from many of the roads in the area.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: On 21 February 2010, Israel announced that it would include the site in a national heritage site protection and rehabilitation plan. The announcement sparked protests from the UN, Arab governments and the United States. A subsequent UNESCO vote in October aimed to affirm that the "al-Haram al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in al-Khalil/Hebron"


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Israeli authorities have placed restrictions on calling the faithful to prayer by the muezzin of the Ibrahimi mosque. The order was enforced 61 times in October 2014, and 52 times in December of that year. This was following numerous complaints by the Jewish residents who claim that the calls violate legal decibel limits. In December 2009 Israeli authorities banned Jewish music played at the cave following similar complaints from the Arab residents.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The rectangular stone enclosure lies on a northwest–southeast axis, and is divided into two sections by a wall running between the northwestern three fifths, and the southeastern two fifths. The northwestern section is roofed on three sides, the central area and north eastern side being open to the sky; the southeastern section is fully roofed, the roof being supported by four columns evenly distributed through the section.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Nearly the entire building itself was built by King Herod and it remains the only Herodian building surviving today virtually intact.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In the northwestern section are four cenotaphs, each housed in a separate octagonal room, those dedicated to Jacob and Leah being on the northwest, and those to Abraham and Sarah on the southeast. A corridor runs between the cenotaphs on the northwest, and another between those on the southeast. A third corridor runs the length of the southwestern side, through which access to the cenotaphs, and to the southeastern section, can be gained. An entrance to the enclosure exists on the southwestern side, entering this third corridor; a mosque outside this entrance must be passed through to gain access.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: At the center of the northeastern side, there is another entrance, which enters the roofed area on the southeastern side of the northwestern section and through which access can also be gained to the southeastern (fully roofed) section. This entrance is approached on the outside by a corridor which leads from a long staircase running most of the length of the northwestern side. The southeastern section, which functions primarily as a mosque, contains two cenotaphs, symmetrically placed, near the center, dedicated to Isaac and Rebecca. Between them, in the southeastern wall, is a mihrab. The cenotaphs have a distinctive red and white horizontal striped pattern to their stonework but are usually covered by decorative cloth.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Under the present arrangements, Jews are restricted to entering by the southwestern side, and limited to the southwestern corridor and the corridors that run between the cenotaphs, while Muslims may enter only by the northeastern side but are allowed free rein of the remainder of the enclosure.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The caves under the enclosure are not themselves generally accessible; the waqf have historically prevented access to the actual tombs out of respect for the dead. Only two entrances are known to exist, the most visible of which is located to the immediate southeast of Abraham's cenotaph on the inside of the southeastern section. This entrance is a narrow shaft covered by a decorative grate, which itself is covered by an elaborate dome. The other entrance is located to the southeast, near the mihrab, and is sealed by a large stone, and usually covered by prayer mats; this is very close to the location of the "seventh step" on the outside of the enclosure, beyond which the Mamelukes forbade Jews from approaching.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: When the enclosure was controlled by crusaders, access was occasionally possible. One account, by Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela dating from 1163 CE, states that after passing through an iron door, and descending, the caves would be encountered. According to Benjamin of Tudela, there was a sequence of three caves, the first two of which were empty; in the third cave were six tombs, arranged to be opposite to one another.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: These caves had been rediscovered only in 1119 CE by a monk named Arnoul, after an unnamed monk at prayer "noticed a draught" in the area near the present location of the mihrab and, with other "brethren", removed the flagstones and found a room lined with Herodian masonry. Arnoul, still searching for the source of the draught, hammered on the cave walls until he heard a hollow sound, pulled down the masonry in that area, and discovered a narrow passage. The narrow passage, which subsequently became known as the "serdab" (Arabic for "passage"), was similarly lined with masonry, but partly blocked up. Having unblocked the passage, Arnoul discovered a large round room with plastered walls. In the floor of the room, he found a square stone slightly different from the others and, upon removing it, found the first of the caves. The caves were filled with dust. After removing the dust, Arnoul found bones; believing the bones to be those of the biblical Patriarchs, Arnoul washed them in wine and stacked them neatly. Arnoul carved inscriptions on the cave walls describing whose bones he believed them to be.This passage to the caves was sealed at some time after Saladin had recaptured the area, though the roof of the circular room was pierced, and a decorative grate was placed over it. In 1967, after the Six-Day War, the area fell into the hands of the Israel Defense Forces, and Moshe Dayan, the Defence Minister, who was an amateur archaeologist, attempted to regain access to the tombs. Ignorant of the "serdab" entrance, Dayan concentrated his attention on the shaft visible below the decorative grate and had the idea of sending someone thin enough to fit through the shaft and down into the chamber below. Dayan eventually found a slim 12-year-old girl named Michal to assist and sent her into the chamber with a camera.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Michal explored the round chamber, but failed to find the square stone in the floor that led to the caves. Michal did, however, explore the passage and find steps leading up to the surface, though the exit was blocked by a large stone (this is the entrance near the mihrab). According to the report of her findings, which Michal gave to Dayan after having been lifted back through the shaft, there are 16 steps leading down into the passage, which is 1 cubit wide, and high. In the round chamber, which is below the entrance to the shaft, there are three stone slabs, the middle of which contains a partial inscription of Sura 2, verse 255, from the Quran, the famous Ayatul Kursi, Verse of the Throne.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: In 1981, Seev Jevin, the former director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, entered the passage after a group of Jewish settlers from Hebron had entered the chamber via the entrance near the mihrab and discovered the square stone in the round chamber that concealed the cave entrance. The reports state that after entering the first cave, which seemed to Jevin to be empty, he found a passage leading to a second oval chamber, smaller than the first, which contained shards of pottery and a wine jug. Findings published in the "Israel Exploration Journal" in 2020 stated that the pottery dated from the 8th century BCE and originated from various locations in the Hebron and Jerusalem areas.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham specifically purchased the land for use as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite, making it one of two purchases by Abraham of real estate in the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land. The book describes how the three patriarchs and their wives, the matriarchs, were buried there.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: The only matriarch missing is Jacob's other wife, Rachel, described in Genesis as having been buried near Bethlehem. These verses are the common source for the religious beliefs surrounding the cave. While they are not part of the Quran they exist in Islam's oral tradition. The story of Abraham's burial is recounted in, for example, Ibn Kathir's 14th century Stories of the Prophets.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Jewish midrashic literature avows that, in addition to the patriarch couples, Adam, the first man, and his wife, Eve, were also interred in the Cave of the Patriarchs, a tradition supported by ancient Samaritan texts. The tradition is supported by the simple wording of Genesis 23:2, which refers to "Kiryat Arba... Hevron" ("arba" means 'four'). Commenting on that passage, Rashi listed the four couples chronologically, starting with Adam and Eve.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Another Jewish tradition tells that when Jacob was brought to be buried in the cave, Esau prevented the burial, claiming that he had the right to be buried in the cave; after some negotiation Naphtali was sent to Egypt to retrieve the document stating Esau sold his part in the cave to Jacob. As this was going on, Hushim, the son of Dan, and who was hard of hearing, did not understand what was transpiring, and why his grandfather was not being buried, so he asked for an explanation; after being given one he became angry and said: "Is my grandfather to lie there in contempt until Naphtali returns from the land of Egypt?" He then took a club and killed Esau, and Esau's head rolled into the cave. This implies that the head of Esau is also buried in the cave. Some Jewish sources record the selling of Esau's right to be buried in the cave—according to a commentary on the "Book of Exodus", Jacob gave all his possessions to acquire a tomb in the Cave of the Patriarchs. He put a large pile of gold and silver before Esau and asked, "My brother, do you prefer your portion of this cave, or all this gold and silver?" Esau's selling to Jacob his right to be buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs is also recorded in "Sefer HaYashar".


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: An early Jewish text, the Genesis Rabbah, states that this site is one of three that enemies of Judaism cannot taunt the Jews by saying "you have stolen them," as it was purchased "for its full price" by Abraham.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: According to the Midrash, the Patriarchs were buried in the cave because the cave is the threshold to the Garden of Eden. The Patriarchs are said not to be dead but "sleeping". They rise to beg mercy for their children throughout the generations. According to the Zohar, this tomb is the gateway through which souls enter into Gan Eden (heaven).


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: Muslims believe that Muhammed visited Hebron on his nocturnal journey from Mecca to Jerusalem to stop by the tomb and pay his respects. For this reason the tomb quickly became a popular Islamic pilgrimage site. It was said that Muhammad himself encouraged the activity, saying "He who cannot visit me, let him visit the Tomb of Abraham" and "He who visits the Tomb of Abraham, Allah abolishes his sins."


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: According to one tradition, childless women threw petitions addressed to Sarah, known for giving birth at an advanced age, through a hole in the mosque floor to the caves below.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: After the conquest of the city by Umar, this holy place was "simply taken over from the Jewish tradition" by the new rulers; the Herodian enclosure was converted into a mosque and placed under the control of a waqf. The waqf continues to maintain most of the site, while the Israeli military controls access to the site.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: According to some Islamic sources the cave is also the tomb of Joseph. Though the Bible has Joseph buried in Shechem (the present-day Palestinian city of Nablus), Jewish aggadic tradition conserved the idea that he wished to be interred at Hebron, and the Islamic version may reflect this. The Jewish apocryphal book, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, also states that this is the burial place of Jacob's twelve sons.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: According to some sources, the mosque is the 4th holiest in Islam; other sources rank other sites as 4th.


title: Cave of the Patriarchs

text: A Fatimid-era minbar is kept at the mosque. According to an Arabic inscription written on the minbar, it was commissioned by Fatimid vizier Badr al-Jamali during the reign of Caliph al-Mustansir when he discovered the head of Husayn ibn Ali in 1092 CE (448 AH) at Ashkelon and kept it at a mosque and shrine there.


title: Kate Flannery

text: Kate Destiny Flannery (born June 10, 1964) is an American actress. Following her early theatre work, Flannery had her screen breakthrough playing Meredith Palmer on the NBC series "The Office", which won her two Screen Actors Guild Awards. She went on to star as Principal Saperstein on the Hulu series "All Night", compete on the 28th season of "Dancing with the Stars", and voice Carol on the animated series "OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes".


title: Kate Flannery

text: Flannery was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, daughter of parents Joan and Tom Flannery, and was raised in the suburb of Ardmore, Pennsylvania. She studied for two years at Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia and then transferred to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has five sisters and a brother, and is three minutes younger than her twin sister, who is a social worker.


title: Kate Flannery

text: A former member of The Second City's National Touring Company, Flannery is an original member of Chicago's Annoyance Theater, where she appeared in over 15 shows including "The Miss Vagina Pageant" and "The Real Live Brady Bunch".


title: Kate Flannery

text: "The Lampshades", her cult comedy lounge act with veteran improviser Scot Robinson, has been running in Hollywood and in comedy festivals all over the country since 2001 and was seen at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. "The Lampshades" was "New York" magazine's "LA Pick" for 2006, and was declared "Best Saturday Comedy Show of the Year" by "LA Weekly".


title: Kate Flannery

text: Flannery appeared as the alcoholic, divorced, single mother Meredith Palmer on the television comedy "The Office". Before "The Office", she made appearances on "The Bernie Mac Show", "Boomtown", "Curb Your Enthusiasm", and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". "The Office" earned her and the rest of its cast acclaim, along with several accolades, such as winning two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, with an additional five nominations for the same award. In 2008, Flannery was a talent scout on "Last Comic Standing" with her "Office" costar Brian Baumgartner, and she appeared with the cast of "The Office" on "Celebrity Family Feud".


title: Kate Flannery

text: In 2010, she played Harper's mom on the Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place" as Elaine Finkle. Flannery also appeared as a judge in a 2009 episode of "Iron Chef America". Flannery has been touring with Jane Lynch as her sidekick on stage since 2013 in her show "See Jane Sing" with Tim Davis and the Tony Guerrero Quintet, playing the Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, the Borgata and 30 cities.


title: Kate Flannery

text: Flannery was in the long running New York hit, Nora Ephron's "Love, Loss, and What I Wore". She also played Neely O'Hara in the 1996 off-Broadway hit "Valley of the Dolls ", an adaptation of the 1967 film at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City and Los Angeles. Also in Los Angeles, she played the teen prostitute and Blair's sister in "The Phacts of Life" at the Renberg Theatre and in the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner production of "Three Feet Under" at The Evidence Room. Jane Lynch's Christmas album "A Swingin' Little Christmas" features Kate Flannery, and reached #8 on the "Billboard" top 100 charts.


title: Kate Flannery

text: She also appeared on "The Jay Leno Show" portraying Wendy in a skit at the time of the burger chain's 40th anniversary. She was a contestant on 19 episodes of "Celebrity Name Game", two episodes of "Hollywood Game Night" with Jane Lynch. Flannery also appeared on "Don't Forget the Lyrics" and hosted "Standup in Stilettos" for two seasons on the TV Guide network. She is the former musical director of the Los Angeles Drama Club, teaching Shakespeare to children and young adults.


title: Kate Flannery

text: In 2016, she recurred on ABC's "American Housewife" as Crossing Guard Sandy, played a janitor in an episode of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", appeared on FOX's "New Girl" and MTV's "Mary + Jane", and in 2017, recurred on Cartoon Network's "Steven Universe" as Barbara "Barb" Miller. Flannery was a member of the band Mono Puff under the stage name "Lady Puff". She toured with the band and sang on their second album, "It's Fun to Steal".


title: Kate Flannery

text: In 2019, Flannery was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on season 28 of "Dancing with the Stars". She was partnered with first-time professional Pasha Pashkov and was eliminated fifth. She joined the show's live tour in 2020, but it was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; ; ; ) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into effect on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections in December 2015.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: The region covers an area of , making it the third largest in metropolitan France; it had a population of 7,994,459 in 2018, second to Île-de-France. It consists of twelve departments and one territorial collectivity (Lyon Metropolis) with Lyon as the prefecture.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: This new region combines diverse geographical, sociological, economic and cultural regions, which was already true of Rhône-Alpes, as well as Auvergne, to a lesser extent. While the old Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne regions each enjoyed an unity defined by axes of communication and the pull of their respective metropoles, the new combination is heterogeneous; it sustained lively opposition from some local officials after its creation.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: The text of the territorial reform law gives interim names for most of the merged regions, combining the names of their constituent regions alphabetically, separated by hyphens. Permanent names would be proposed by the new regional councils and confirmed by the Conseil d'État by 1 October 2016.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: The interim name of the new administrative region was a hyphenated placename, composed of the historic region of Auvergne, the river Rhône and the French Alps ("Alpes"). The same name has been chosen as the definitive name, which was officialized by the Conseil d'État on 28 September 2016.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: According to several online polls from "Lyon Capitale", the name "Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne" led voting, ahead of "Alpes-Auvergne" and "AURA" (an acronym for Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), which was proposed by Jean-Jack Queyranne, former president of the regional council of Rhône-Alpes. Schoolchildren were consulted about the name of the new region in February 2016; local residents were consulted in March.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: After adjusting the votes in proportion to the number of inhabitants of the regions (Rhône-Alpes having five times the population of Auvergne) the name "Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne" was still leading, ahead of "Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes" and the acronym "AURA".


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: Despite this result, Laurent Wauquiez and his team decided not to follow the preference of the citizens of the new region, and the name Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was put to the vote by the regional council and adopted unanimously on 23 June 2016; it was made official on 28 September 2016 through a decree appearing in the "Journal Officiel de la République Française".


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: In October 2017, the region was given a coat of arms that combines those of Auvergne, Savoie, Lyonnais and Dauphiné. The region also has a flag, which initially consisted of the coat of arms on a white background, but was replaced by a heraldic flag in January 2018. On 9 February 2018, the region formalised the flag and the coat of arms on its website, as implemented by Mattieu Casali, a historical scholar. It was received favourably by the national heraldic commission.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: The blazon is described on the region's website (in French) as which translates roughly to: "Quartered: the first quarter, with an or (gold) background, containing a gules (red) banner fringed with vert (green), representing Auvergne; the second quarter, with a gules background, containing an argent (silver) cross, representing Savoie; the third quarter, with a gules background, containing an argent lion, representing Lyon; the fourth quarter, with an or background, containing an azure dolphin with gules details, representing the Dauphiné."


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: In Arpitan and in Occitan, two of the three languages that are historically spoken in the region, the name is pronounced:


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes administrative region covers an area of 69 711 km in the centre and east of the south of France. It is a collection of regions of diverse topographies, climates, natural resources, cultures, folklore, architecture, and languages. It is bordered by five other administrative regions: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté to the north, Centre-Val de Loire to the northwest, Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the west, Occitanie to the south-west, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to the south-east. It is also bordered by Italy (Aosta Valley and Piedmont) to the east and Switzerland (Cantons of Geneva, Valais, and Vaud) to the north-east.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes comprises twelve departments: Ain, Allier, Ardèche, Cantal, Drôme, Haute-Loire, Haute-Savoie, Isère, Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône and Savoie.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 270.0 billion euros (327.0 billion dollars) in 2018, accounting for 11.9% of French economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 30,200 euros or 100% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 109% of the EU average.


title: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

text: The region is governed by the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes consisting of 204 members. The current regional council was elected in regional elections on 20 and 27 June 2021, with the list of Laurent Wauquiez consisting of The Republicans (LR), and the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) securing an absolute majority of 136 seats.


title: IPad Pro (3rd generation)

text: The third generation of iPad Pro is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Two models, with a 12.9 inch or 11 inch screen, were both announced on October 30, 2018, and were available to purchase on November 7. This generation of iPad Pro was the first iPad compatible with the new (second generation) Apple Pencil stylus. Like the second generation, a larger size and stylus compatibility were a point of difference from the rest of Apple's available iPads, but the third generation iPad Pro was also the first iPad to use facial recognition (Face ID) to unlock the device.


title: IPad Pro (3rd generation)

text: Upgrades from the second generation iPad Pro include the more powerful A12X Bionic processor, storage capacity up to 1 terabyte and the larger display of the 11 inch model (upgraded from a 10.5 inch model). The third generation iPad Pro also premiered a new design, with a screen that covers more of the front face, and has rounded corners.


title: IPad Pro (3rd generation)

text: The redesigned iPad Pro was announced on October 30, 2018, during an Apple Special Event at the Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York. The 2018 models feature new edge-to-edge Liquid Retina displays, Face ID, improved 12 megapixel and 7 megapixel cameras, USB-C connector, and Apple A12X Bionic processors. The tablets are offered in 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes, and are the first iPad models to offer tap-to-wake LCD displays (following the iPhone X), and up to 1 TB of internal storage. The 1 TB models featured more RAM than the smaller storage sizes with an increase to 6 GB, up from 4 GB. These devices are the first iPads to feature a USB Type-C connector, replacing Apple's proprietary Lightning connector The third-generation iPad Pro lacked a home button and a headphone jack, a first for the iPad lineup. Additionally, the tablets lack Touch ID, which has been superseded by Face ID using a sensor array on the top bezel. Unlike iPhone models featuring Face ID until iOS 16, the third-generation iPad Pro can unlock in any orientation. The tablets were released on November 7, 2018, only available in Silver and Space Gray as the Gold and Rose Gold finishes from the previous generation have been removed. The 3rd-generation iPad Pro were notably the thinnest iPad yet at 5.9 mm thick.


title: IPad Pro (3rd generation)

text: The 2018 iPad Pro models were praised for their improved displays, slimmer bezels, the addition of Face ID and general speed improvements. Ben Sin from "Forbes" noted that although the screen is still a LCD screen, the 120 Hz refresh rate makes it feel more responsive. The switch to a USB-C connecter received a mixed response; easier external monitor support and more universal device charging were added at the cost of extra dongles to use older cables and headphones. Some reviewers noted that although the hardware updates are great steps forward, iOS's limitations, including the lack of external storage capabilities, which was addressed with the iPadOS 13 update, prevents the iPad Pro from competing against traditional computers. The increased prices across the lineup were also criticized.


title: IPad Pro (3rd generation)

text: iPadOS addresses the lack of external storage on supported iPads by adding support for external storage.


title: IPad Pro (3rd generation)

text: The chassis has been criticized for bending and breaking easily. Users on forum boards have reported the iPad bending after a few days of use, such as after carrying it around in a backpack. YouTuber Zack Nelson then published a video on his channel "JerryRigEverything" showing the device cracking and snapping in half after applying just a small amount of pressure with his hands in the center of the device. Nelson concluded that the "two weakest points [were] right dead center on either side of the iPad Pro, [and] the crack happened at the very poorly placed microphone hole and the new Apple Pencil 2 charging duct". Users reported devices already bent right out of the box, mostly cellular models. Apple responded to these reports quickly, asserting that this is normal and a non-issue, a response which has been criticized by many. According to Apple, the bending is a byproduct of its new manufacturing process and within their tolerances. Apple has added a support page relating to these issues.


title: Rick Steiner

text: Robert Rechsteiner (born March 9, 1961) is an American real estate broker and retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Rick Steiner.


title: Rick Steiner

text: Steiner is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he was an eight time World Tag Team Champion (seven times with his brother Scott as half of The Steiner Brothers, and once with Kenny Kaos). In addition to tag team success, he was also a one time United States Heavyweight Champion and a three time World Television Champion. Beyond WCW, Steiner found success in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he and Scott held the IWGP Tag Team Championship twice, and the World Wrestling Federation, where they won the World Tag Team Championship twice.


title: Rick Steiner

text: Steiner was a freestyle wrestling standout at the University of Michigan, where he placed second at the Big Ten Championships in 1983 for the Wolverines, became an NCAA qualifier, and established the fastest pin record in the school's history at 15 seconds. At the 1983 NCAA tournament, Steiner wrestled against three-time All-American and future National Champion Tab Thacker of North Carolina State. After earning his bachelor's degree in education, he was introduced to professional wrestling by George "The Animal" Steele and entered pro wrestling immediately out of college.


title: Rick Steiner

text: He initially wrestled under the name Rob Rechsteiner before he took on the simpler ring name Rick Steiner. He spent time in the American Wrestling Association, Montreal promotion International Wrestling, and the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). While in the UWF he formed a tag team with Sting, winning the UWF World Tag Team Championship in 1987. Also in 1987 he wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The UWF was bought out by Jim Crockett Jr. in 1988, acquiring much of its roster (including Steiner), for his National Wrestling Alliance territory, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP).


title: Rick Steiner

text: Steiner was a charter member of the faction known as The Varsity Club along with Mike Rotunda and their manager Kevin Sullivan, with the long-term angle being that Rotunda was favored by Sullivan and both of them looked at Steiner as their dull-witted underling. It also started a slow fan favorite turn for Steiner, as he began breaking rules less often and was portrayed as a dim but good-hearted guy who was a villain by association only. Steiner and Rotunda were given a spot at the second ever Clash of the Champions, which took place in Miami on June 8, 1988. The duo faced Jimmy Garvin and Ronnie Garvin in a losing effort. Eventually, this would lead to a breakup and Steiner subsequently became a fan favorite before winning the Television Championship from Rotunda at Starrcade.


title: Rick Steiner

text: In early 1989, his brother Scott began accompanying him to the ring and eventually, the two formed a tag team. They proved they were a serious tag team by defeating the Freebirds for the World Tag Team Championship in November 1989. The pair continued to dominate in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) (as JCP came to be known following its sale to Turner Broadcasting System), winning multiple championships and making occasional trips to New Japan Pro-Wrestling.


title: Rick Steiner

text: The two jumped to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), WCW's biggest competitor, in December 1992 after then WCW Executive Vice President Bill Watts lowballed them on a contract extension and then gave them the option for an early release from their present contracts. They found success there as well, winning the WWF World Tag Team Championship from Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) on two occasions.


title: Rick Steiner

text: The Steiners left the WWF in 1994, with Rick stating that he felt that Vince McMahon was not following through with promises made to the team.


title: Rick Steiner

text: After leaving the WWF, Steiner debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling in April 1995 at Three Way Dance, substituting for Sabu in the main event.


title: Rick Steiner

text: The Steiner Brothers reunited in ECW on July 28, 1995, defeating Dudley Dudley and Vampire Warrior. A few days later on August 4, they defeated Dudley Dudley and 2 Cold Scorpio. The following day, the Steiner Brothers made their debut in the ECW Arena at Wrestlepalooza, where they teamed with Eddie Guerrero in a loss to Scorpio, Dean Malenko, and Cactus Jack. On August 25, they defeated Scorpio and Malenko and then Scorpio and Chris Benoit the following evening. On August 28, they defeated Dudley Dudley and Dances with Dudley.


title: Rick Steiner

text: At Gangstas' Paradise on September 16, 1995, they teamed with Taz in a loss to The Eliminators (John Kronus and Perry Saturn) and Jason. On September 23, they defeated Raven and Stevie Richards. Rick made his final ECW appearance on October 28, teaming with Taz in a loss to The Eliminators in a tag team match.


title: Rick Steiner

text: Steiner made his return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1991 with Scott. They won the IWGP Tag Team Championship two times. In 1995, the Steiners wrestled for NJPW full-time until going to WCW in March 1996. Rick returned later that year while under contract with WCW with Keiji Muto as a tag team. On May 3, 1997 he teamed with Scott and Muto as they lost to Masahiro Chono and The Outsiders, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.


title: Rick Steiner

text: On January 4, 2000 Steiner defeated Randy Savage at the Tokyo Dome. This would be Savage's last match for a few years.


title: Rick Steiner

text: On the March 11, 1996 episode of "Nitro", the Steiner Brothers redebuted in World Championship Wrestling in a losing effort to The Road Warriors. The following week on "Nitro", the Steiners picked up their first win since returning after they defeated The Public Enemy. After briefly feuding with both the Warriors and Public Enemy, the Steiners began feuding with the World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat. On July 24 at a house show, the Steiner Brothers defeated Harlem Heat to win the World Tag Team Championship, although they re-lost the title to Harlem Heat three days later. The Steiner Brothers then reclaimed the title after defeating The Outsiders on January 25, 1997 at Souled Out. Only two days later, they were stripped of the title by Eric Bischoff. Rick then faced Kevin Nash for the title at Spring Stampede on April 6 due to Scott Hall not appearing, but was unable to win the title back.


title: Rick Steiner

text: In a shocking move during the August 4, 1997 episode of "Nitro", the Steiner Brothers introduced Ted DiBiase as their new manager (DiBiase was no longer a member of the nWo and had not been seen on TV since April). After starting a winning streak, the Steiner Brothers defeated the Outsiders in a rematch for the World Tag Team Title on August 9 at Road Wild, but due to winning via disqualification, they did not win the title. On the October 13 episode of "Nitro", the Steiner Brothers finally reclaimed the World Tag Team Title after defeating Hall and his substitute tag team partner Syxx. On the October 27 episode of "Nitro", the Steiners successfully retained the title in their first defense against The Public Enemy. After several successful title defenses, they re-lost the title to the Outsiders on the January 12, 1998 episode of "Nitro". Nearly a month later, they defeated the Outsiders for the championship on the February 9 episode of "Nitro".


title: Rick Steiner

text: During a title defense against the Outsiders during SuperBrawl VIII on February 22, the Steiner Brothers disbanded when Scott turned on Rick and DiBiase, becoming a villain in the process by allowing the Outsiders to pin Rick and win the World Tag Team Championship. Scott subsequently joined the New World Order (nWo) faction and began feuding with Rick, whilst also trying to get him to join. In addition to Scott, Rick also began feuding with various members of the nWo, facing them in either singles matches or teaming with Lex Luger on occasion in tag team matches over the following months, and DiBiase remained in Rick's corner during this stretch. Rick took several months off soon after this due to shoulder surgery caused by an ambush attack from Scott and Brian Adams during the May 4 episode of "Nitro".


title: Rick Steiner

text: Scott would talk trash about Rick for months until Rick finally healed and was ready to return for revenge. Upon returning from his injury, Rick was no longer accompanied by DiBiase (Rick made his return to TV during the August 3 episode of "Nitro"). Rick and Scott were then scheduled for a long-anticipated match at "Road Wild", but the match didn't happen after Scott and Bagwell came out to claim to J. J. Dillon that Scott couldn't compete "due to injury". Then, after wrestling to a "no contest" against Scott at "Fall Brawl" on September 13, Rick teamed up with Scott's "former" ally Buff Bagwell to defeat Scott (who was a substitute for Scott Hall) and The Giant for the World Tag Team Championship at Halloween Havoc on October 25 despite Bagwell turning on Rick during the match. Immediately after the tag team match, Rick defeated Scott in a singles match (which included overcoming an ambush attack from Bagwell and Stevie Ray.


title: Rick Steiner

text: The next night on "Nitro", Steiner nominated Kenny Kaos as his new tag team partner to hold the World Tag Team Championship with due to Bagwell turning against him after winning the title at "Halloween Havoc" the previous night. Later on in the night, Steiner and Kaos successfully retained their title against nWo members The Giant and Stevie Ray. At "World War 3" on November 22, Steiner was attacked backstage by nWo Hollywood, who injured his right shoulder. Despite the attack, Rick still made his way to the ring for his scheduled match against Scott, but he was clearly wasn't healthy enough to wrestle which led to the match ending in a "no contest" (Rick was further attacked by Scott and Bagwell in the ring before Goldberg ran in to make the save). This would be Steiner's last TV appearance for several months. On January 7, 1999, the titles were vacated, with a Tag Team Title tournament beginning that evening on Thunder.


title: Rick Steiner

text: On the March 1, 1999 episode of "Nitro", he made his televised return as he and Goldberg defeated Scott and Bagwell. After winning several matches, Steiner became a villain and lost to Booker T in a match for Booker's World Television Championship on the April 12 episode of "Nitro". On May 9 at Slamboree, Steiner defeated Booker in a rematch to win the World Television Title. After becoming a villain, Rick reunited with Scott on a few occasions and began feuding with Sting, culminating with a successful title defense at The Great American Bash on June 13. After four months as champion, he lost the title to Chris Benoit on the September 13 episode of "Nitro", before reclaiming it a little over a month later at Halloween Havoc on October 24. At Mayhem, Scott Hall defeated Booker T to retain his United States Heavyweight Championship as well as win Steiner's World Television Championship, which he had to vacate due to being injured.


title: Rick Steiner

text: On December 19 at Starrcade, Steiner reformed the Varsity Club with Mike Rotunda and Kevin Sullivan to wrestle an eight-man tag team match with Jim Duggan against the Revolution, whom Duggan had been feuding with. However, the Club turned against Duggan, allowing him to be pinned. After Starrcade, Sullivan left the club as Steiner and Rotunda wrestled as a tag team throughout the rest of 1999 and into March 2000.


title: Rick Steiner

text: After taking a hiatus in late August, Rick returned on the January 15, 2001 episode of "Nitro" as he helped Kevin Nash fend off Scott after a World Heavyweight Championship match, turning Rick into a fan favorite again. Two days later on "Thunder", he made his in-ring return with a victory over Kwee Wee. On the February 5 episode of "Nitro", Steiner defeated Shane Douglas to win the United States Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, he teamed with Nash to face Scott in a handicap match, but turned on Nash and allowed Scott to pick up the victory, thus turning into a villain once more and also joining Scott's group the Magnificent Seven. After winning the U.S. Heavyweight Title, Steiner began a brief feud with Dustin Rhodes over the title, which culminated at SuperBrawl Revenge with Steiner being victorious in a title match. On March 18 at WCW's final pay-per-view, Greed, Steiner lost the U.S. Heavyweight Title to Booker T. On the final episode of "Thunder" on March 21, Steiner wrestled his final match for WCW in a losing effort to Hugh Morrus. WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation only days later and Steiner's contract was not picked up. Rick would not wrestle for a year.


title: Rick Steiner

text: Following WCW's closure, Steiner returned to the ring in February 2002; returning to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He continued to wrestle in local venues and made several appearances, with fellow former WCW superstar Buff Bagwell, around the southeast United States and the independent circuit. In May 2002 Rick reunited with Scott, since the closing of WCW, and defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kensuke Sasaki which was refereed by Chyna. In 2002, he also made an appearance in All Japan Pro Wrestling losing to Bill Goldberg. In 2003, he teamed with Scott Norton in New Japan.


title: Rick Steiner

text: On January 4, 2008 the Steiners lost to Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko for New Japan at the Tokyo Dome.


title: Rick Steiner

text: The brothers reunited for the Wrestling Fan Xperince in Winnipeg, Manitoba to defeat Buff Bagwell and G-Man on December 6, 2005. On June 2, 2006, Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) defeated Elvis Elliot & Original Sinn (Sinn Bodhi) at a UCW wrestling show at Bay City Western High School in Auburn, Michigan entitled "Steiner Brothers Return Home." They went to United Wrestling Federation in Wilson, North Carolina to defeat the team of Matt Bentley and Frankie Kazarian. They also defeated Team 3D the next night in Wilmington, North Carolina. On December 9, 2006, the Steiners won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship.


title: Rick Steiner

text: He then debuted for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling during the promotion's debut show on June 19, 2002, where he participated in the 20-Man Gauntlet for the Gold match to determine a winner for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was ultimately won by Ken Shamrock. Steiner made a one-night return to TNA in October 2003, brawling with Jeff Jarrett. On the May 4, 2006 episode of "Impact!", he returned as a possible partner for Sting at the pay-per-view Sacrifice. He made a second appearance on May 11 in a similar role.


title: Rick Steiner

text: In 2007, Rick and Scott reunited at Sacrifice after Scott and Tomko lost a World Tag Team Championship match, leading to the Steiners attacking Tomko. On the episode of "Impact!" following Sacrifice, the Steiners busted down the door to Jim Cornette's office and asked for Cornette to have Team 3D meet them in the ring the next week for an opportunity at the World Tag Team Title. However, the match never transpired due to Scott needing emergency surgery after damaging his trachea during a match in Puerto Rico. Scott was then replaced by Road Warrior Animal at Slammiversary, where Rick and Animal lost to Team 3D for the World Tag Team Title.


title: Rick Steiner

text: At Victory Road, he interfered in the Match of Champions by attacking the referee during Brother Devon's pinfall attempt on Kurt Angle. A month later at Hard Justice, Scott returned to the ring following his recovery and the reunited Steiners defeated Team 3D, beginning a feud with Team 3D. In retaliation to their loss, Team 3D attacked the Steiners, ending with Rick being powerbombed through a table.


title: Rick Steiner

text: The Steiners returned to TNA in late September to challenge Team 3D in a two out of three falls tables match at Bound for Glory. Team 3D won the first fall after performing the 3D on Rick through a table. However, Brother Ray would take the first loss for his team after Scott performed the frankensteiner on him through a table. The deciding fall came when Scott lifted Ray on his shoulders and Rick performed his signature diving bulldog on Ray through a table, securing the win for the Steiners. On January 29, 2008, Rick Steiner was released due to budget cuts, splitting up the brothers once again.


title: Rick Steiner

text: After being released from TNA, Rick would continue to go on his own. On August 9, 2008 he lost to Bobby Eaton at Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. In 2009 Rick continued teaming with Scott. Rick wrestled for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling from 2010–2011. On May 31, 2013, the Steiner Brothers won the Preston City Wrestling Tag Team Championships before losing it the following day. On June 23, the Steiner Brothers defeated Eddie Kingston and Homicide at the House of Hardcore 2 event.


title: Rick Steiner

text: On November 5, 2016 Rick lost to GNW Canadian Heavyweight Champion Devon Nicholson for Great North Wrestling in Hawkesbury, Ontario. He made a return to Japan on September 19, 2019 for Tokyo Championship Wrestling teaming with Kazushi Miyamoto defeating Elliot Russell and Sigmon.


title: Rick Steiner

text: At "", Rick appeared in the now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in what is his first appearance since 1994, celebrated his son, Bron Breakker's first NXT Championship win over Tommaso Ciampa. Rick and Scott Steiner were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2022. A few days later, at the end of the April 5 episode of NXT after his son Bron retained the title, Rick was kidnapped by Joe Gacy and Harland, locked up and tied inside a cage.


title: Rick Steiner

text: Steiner has three sons: Hudson, Maveric, and Bronson. In 2020, Bronson signed with the National Football League's Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted rookie. In 2021, Bronson was signed to a professional wrestling contract by WWE and currently performs for NXT 2.0 under the name Bron Breakker.


title: Rick Steiner

text: In mid-2004, Steiner began selling real estate. He is currently with Rick Steiner and Associates at Atlanta Communities Real Estate Brokerage in the North Metro Atlanta area.


title: Rick Steiner

text: He is also a school board member of the Cherokee County School District. He was disqualified from entering the Republican primary for the 2006 term, due to using the Steiner name rather than his legal name. Steiner could have run for re-election had he presented a petition calling for this with 4,500 signatures; however, he was unable to do so. Consequently, Steiner ran unopposed as a write-in candidate in November 2006 and won.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Dihydrotestosterone (DHT, 5α-dihydrotestosterone, 5α-DHT, androstanolone or stanolone) is an endogenous androgen sex steroid and hormone. The enzyme 5α-reductase catalyzes the formation of DHT from testosterone in certain tissues including the prostate gland, seminal vesicles, epididymides, skin, hair follicles, liver, and brain. This enzyme mediates reduction of the C4-5 double bond of testosterone. Relative to testosterone, DHT is considerably more potent as an agonist of the androgen receptor (AR).


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: In addition to its role as a natural hormone, DHT has been used as a medication, for instance in the treatment of low testosterone levels in men; for information on DHT as a medication, see the androstanolone article.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT is biologically important for sexual differentiation of the male genitalia during embryogenesis, maturation of the penis and scrotum at puberty, growth of facial, body, and pubic hair, and development and maintenance of the prostate gland and seminal vesicles. It is produced from the less potent testosterone by the enzyme 5α-reductase in select tissues, and is the primary androgen in the genitals, prostate gland, seminal vesicles, skin, and hair follicles.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT signals mainly in an intracrine and paracrine manner in the tissues in which it is produced, playing only a minor role, if any, as a circulating endocrine hormone. Circulating levels of DHT are 1/10th and 1/20th those of testosterone in terms of total and free concentrations, respectively, whereas local DHT levels may be up to 10 times those of testosterone in tissues with high 5α-reductase expression such as the prostate gland. In addition, unlike testosterone, DHT is inactivated by 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3α-HSD) into the very weak androgen 3α-androstanediol in various tissues such as muscle, adipose, and liver among others, and in relation to this, DHT has been reported to be a very poor anabolic agent when administered exogenously as a medication.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: In addition to normal biological functions, DHT also plays an important causative role in a number of androgen-dependent conditions including hair conditions like hirsutism (excessive facial/body hair growth) and pattern hair loss (androgenic alopecia or pattern baldness) and prostate diseases such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer. 5α-Reductase inhibitors, which prevent DHT synthesis, are effective in the prevention and treatment of these conditions. Additionally, DHT may play a function in skeletal muscle amino acid transporter recruitment and function.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Metabolites of DHT have been found to act as neurosteroids with their own AR-independent biological activity. 3α-Androstanediol is a potent positive allosteric modulator of the GABA receptor, while 3β-androstanediol is a potent and selective agonist of the estrogen receptor (ER) subtype ERβ. These metabolites may play important roles in the central effects of DHT and by extension testosterone, including their antidepressant, anxiolytic, rewarding/hedonic, anti-stress, and pro-cognitive effects.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Much of the biological role of DHT has been elucidated in studies of individuals with congenital 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency, an intersex condition caused by a loss-of-function mutation in the gene encoding 5α-reductase type 2, the major enzyme responsible for the production of DHT in the body. It is characterized by a defective and non-functional 5α-reductase type 2 enzyme and a partial but majority loss of DHT production in the body. In the condition, circulating testosterone levels are within or slightly above the normal male range, but DHT levels are low (around 30% of normal), and the ratio of circulating testosterone to DHT is greatly elevated (at about 3.5 to 5 times higher than normal).


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Genetic males (46,XY) with 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency are born with undervirilization including pseudohermaphroditism (ambiguous genitalia), pseudovaginal perineoscrotal hypospadias, and usually undescended testes. Their external genitalia are female-like, with micropenis (a small, clitoris-like phallus), a partially unfused, labia-like scrotum, and a blind-ending, shallow vaginal pouch. Due to their lack of conspicuous male genitalia, genetic males with the condition are typically raised as girls. At the time of puberty however, they develop striking phenotypically masculine secondary sexual characteristics including partial virilization of the genitals (enlargement of the phallus into a near-functional penis and descent of the testes), voice deepening, typical male musculoskeletal development, and no menstruation, breast development, or other signs of feminization that occur during female puberty. In addition, normal libido and spontaneous erections develop, they usually show a sexual preference for females, and almost all develop a male gender identity.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Nonetheless, males with 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency exhibit signs of continued undervirilization in a number of domains. Facial hair was absent or sparse in a relatively large group of Dominican males with the condition, known as the Güevedoces. However, more facial hair has been observed in patients with the disorder from other parts of the world, although facial hair was still reduced relative to that of other men in the same communities. The divergent findings may reflect racial differences in androgen-dependent hair growth. A female pattern of androgenic hair growth, with terminal hair largely restricted to the axillae and lower pubic triangle, is observed in males with the condition. No temporal recession of the hairline or androgenic alopecia (pattern hair loss or baldness) has been observed in any of the cases of 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency that have been reported, whereas this is normally seen to some degree in almost all Caucasian males in their teenage years. Individuals with 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency were initially reported to have no incidence of acne, but subsequent research indicated normal sebum secretion and acne incidence.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: In genetic males with 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency, the prostate gland is rudimentary or absent, and if present, remains small, underdeveloped, and unpalpable throughout life. In addition, neither BPH nor prostate cancer have been reported in these individuals. Genetic males with the condition generally show oligozoospermia due to undescended testes, but spermatogenesis is reported to be normal in those with testes that have descended, and there are case instances of men with the condition successfully fathering children.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Unlike males, genetic females with 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency are phenotypically normal. However, similarly to genetic males with the condition, they show reduced body hair growth, including an absence of hair on the arms and legs, slightly decreased axillary hair, and moderately decreased pubic hair. On the other hand, sebum production is normal. This is in accordance with the fact that sebum secretion appears to be entirely under the control of 5α-reductase type 1.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: 5α-Reductase inhibitors like finasteride and dutasteride inhibit 5α-reductase type 2 and/or other isoforms and are able to decrease circulating DHT levels by 65 to 98% depending on the 5α-reductase inhibitor in question. As such, similarly to the case of 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency, they provide useful insights in the elucidation of the biological functions of DHT. 5α-Reductase inhibitors were developed and are used primarily for the treatment of BPH. The drugs are able to significantly reduce the size of the prostate gland and to alleviate symptoms of the condition. Long-term treatment with 5α-reductase inhibitors is also able to significantly reduce the overall risk of prostate cancer, although a simultaneous small increase in the risk of certain high-grade tumors has been observed. In addition to prostate diseases, 5α-reductase inhibitors have subsequently been developed and introduced for the treatment of pattern hair loss in men. They are able to prevent further progression of hair loss in most men with the condition and to produce some recovery of hair in about two-thirds of men. 5α-Reductase inhibitors seem to be less effective for pattern hair loss in women on the other hand, although they do still show some effectiveness. Aside from pattern hair loss, the drugs are also useful in the treatment of hirsutism and can greatly reduce facial and body hair growth in women with the condition.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: 5α-Reductase inhibitors are overall well tolerated and show a low incidence of adverse effects. Sexual dysfunction, including erectile dysfunction, loss of libido, and reduced ejaculate volume, may occur in 3.4 to 15.8% of men treated with finasteride or dutasteride. A small increase in the risk of affective symptoms including depression, anxiety, and self-harm may be seen. Both the sexual dysfunction and affective symptoms may be due partially or fully to prevention of the synthesis of neurosteroids like allopregnanolone rather necessarily than due to inhibition of DHT production. A small risk of gynecomastia has been associated with 5α-reductase inhibitors (1.2–3.5%). Based on reports of 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency in males and the effectiveness of 5α-reductase inhibitors for hirsutism in women, reduced body and/or facial hair growth is a likely potential side effect of these drugs in men. There are far fewer studies evaluating the side effects of 5α-reductase inhibitors in women. However, due to the known role of DHT in male sexual differentiation, 5α-reductase inhibitors may cause birth defects such as ambiguous genitalia in the male fetuses of pregnant women. As such, they are not used in women during pregnancy.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: MK-386 is a selective 5α-reductase type 1 inhibitor which was never marketed. Whereas 5α-reductase type 2 inhibitors achieve much higher reductions in circulating DHT production, MK-386 decreases circulating DHT levels by 20 to 30%. Conversely, it was found to decrease sebum DHT levels by 55% in men versus a modest reduction of only 15% for finasteride. However, MK-386 failed to show significant effectiveness in a subsequent clinical study for the treatment of acne.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT is a potent agonist of the AR, and is in fact the most potent known endogenous ligand of the receptor. It has an affinity (K) of 0.25 to 0.5 nM for the human AR, which is about 2- to 3-fold higher than that of testosterone (K = 0.4 to 1.0 nM) and 15–30 times higher than that of adrenal androgens. In addition, the dissociation rate of DHT from the AR is 5-fold slower than that of testosterone. The EC of DHT for activation of the AR is 0.13 nM, which is about 5-fold stronger than that of testosterone (EC = 0.66 nM). In bioassays, DHT has been found to be 2.5- to 10-fold more potent than testosterone.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: The elimination half-life of DHT in the body (53 minutes) is longer than that of testosterone (34 minutes), and this may account for some of the difference in their potency. A study of transdermal DHT and testosterone treatment reported terminal half-lives of 2.83 hours and 1.29 hours, respectively.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Unlike other androgens such as testosterone, DHT cannot be converted by the enzyme aromatase into an estrogen like estradiol. Therefore, it is frequently used in research settings to distinguish between the effects of testosterone caused by binding to the AR and those caused by testosterone's conversion to estradiol and subsequent binding to and activation of ERs. Although DHT cannot be aromatized, it is still transformed into metabolites with significant ER affinity and activity. These are 3α-androstanediol and 3β-androstanediol, which are predominant agonists of the ERβ.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT is synthesized irreversibly from testosterone by the enzyme 5α-reductase. This occurs in various tissues including the genitals (penis, scrotum, clitoris, labia majora), prostate gland, skin, hair follicles, liver, and brain. Around 5 to 7% of testosterone undergoes 5α-reduction into DHT, and approximately 200 to 300 μg of DHT is synthesized in the body per day. Most DHT is produced in peripheral tissues like the skin and liver, whereas most "circulating" DHT originates specifically from the liver. The testes and prostate gland contribute relatively little to concentrations of DHT in circulation.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: There are two major isoforms of 5α-reductase, SRD5A1 (type 1) and SRD5A2 (type 2), with the latter being the most biologically important isoenzyme. There is also third 5α-reductase: SRD5A3. SRD5A2 is most highly expressed in the genitals, prostate gland, epididymides, seminal vesicles, genital skin, facial and chest hair follicles, and liver, while lower expression is observed in certain brain areas, non-genital skin/hair follicles, testes, and kidneys. SRD5A1 is most highly expressed in non-genital skin/hair follicles, the liver, and certain brain areas, while lower levels are present in the prostate, epididymides, seminal vesicles, genital skin, testes, adrenal glands, and kidneys. In the skin, 5α-reductase is expressed in sebaceous glands, sweat glands, epidermal cells, and hair follicles. Both isoenzymes are expressed in scalp hair follicles, although SRD5A2 predominates in these cells. The SRD5A2 subtype is the almost exclusive isoform expressed in the prostate gland.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT under certain normal and pathological conditions can additionally be produced via a route that does not involve testosterone as an intermediate but instead goes through other intermediates. This route is called the "backdoor pathway".


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: The pathway can be outlined as 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone → 5α-pregnan-17α-ol-3,20-dione → 5α-pregnane-3α,17α-diol-20-one → androsterone → 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol (androstanediol) → DHT.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: This pathway is not always considered in the clinical evaluation of patients with hyperandrogenism, for instance due to rare disorders of sex development like 21α-hydroxylase deficiency. Ignoring this pathway in such instances may lead to diagnostic pitfalls and confusion, when the conventional androgen biosynthetic pathway cannot fully explain the observed consequences.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: As with the conventional pathway of DHT synthesis, the backdoor pathway similarly requires 5α-reductase.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: The plasma protein binding of DHT is more than 99%. In men, approximately 0.88% of DHT is unbound and hence free, while in premenopausal women, about 0.47–0.48% is unbound. In men, DHT is bound 49.7% to sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), 39.2% to albumin, and 0.22% to corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG), while in premenopausal women, DHT is bound 78.1–78.4% to SHBG, 21.0–21.3% to albumin, and 0.12% to CBG. In late pregnancy, only 0.07% of DHT is unbound in women; 97.8% is bound to SHBG while 2.15% is bound to albumin and 0.04% is bound to CBG. DHT has higher affinity for SHBG than does testosterone, estradiol, or any other steroid hormone.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT is inactivated in the liver and extrahepatic tissues like the skin into 3α-androstanediol and 3β-androstanediol by the enzymes 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, respectively. These metabolites are in turn converted, respectively, into androsterone and epiandrosterone, then conjugated (via glucuronidation and/or sulfation), released into circulation, and excreted in urine.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Unlike testosterone, DHT cannot be aromatized into an estrogen like estradiol, and for this reason, has no propensity for estrogenic effects.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT is excreted in the urine as metabolites, such as conjugates of 3α-androstanediol and androsterone.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Ranges for circulating total DHT levels tested with HPLC–MS/MS and reported by LabCorp are as follows:


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Ranges for circulating free DHT levels tested with HPLC–MS/MS and equilibrium dialysis and reported by LabCorp are as follows:


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Other studies and labs assessing circulating total DHT levels with LC–MS/MS have reported ranges of 11–95ng/dL (0.38–3.27nmol/L) in adult men, 14–77ng/dL (0.47–2.65nmol/L) for healthy adult men (age 18–59years), 23–102 ng/dL (0.8–35 nmol/L) for community-dwelling adult men (age <65years), and 14–92ng/dL (0.49–3.2nmol/L) for healthy older men (age 71–87years). In the case of women, mean circulating DHT levels have been found to be about 9ng/dL (0.3nmol/L) in premenopausal women and 3ng/dL (0.1nmol/L) in postmenopausal women. There was no variation in DHT levels across the menstrual cycle in premenopausal women, which is in contrast to testosterone (which shows a peak at mid-cycle). With immunoassay-based techniques, testosterone levels in premenopausal women have been found to be about 40ng/dL (1.4nmol/L) and DHT levels about 10ng/dL (0.34nmol/L). With radioimmunoassays, the ranges for testosterone and DHT levels in women have been found to be 20 to 70ng/dL and 5 to 30ng/dL, respectively.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Levels of total testosterone, free testosterone, and free DHT, but not total DHT, all measured with LC–MS/MS, are higher in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) than in women without this condition.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: Circulating DHT levels in eugonadal men are about 7- to 10-fold lower than those of testosterone, and plasma levels of testosterone and DHT are highly correlated (correlation coefficient of 0.7). In contrast to the circulation however, levels of DHT in the prostate gland are approximately 5- to 10-fold higher than those of testosterone. This is due to a more than 90% conversion of testosterone into DHT in the prostate via locally expressed 5α-reductase. Because of this, and because DHT is much more potent as an androgen receptor agonist than testosterone, DHT is the major androgen in the prostate gland.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT is available in pharmaceutical formulations for medical use as an androgen or anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS). It is used mainly in the treatment of male hypogonadism. When used as a medication, dihydrotestosterone is referred to as "androstanolone" () or as "stanolone" (), and is sold under brand names such as "Andractim" among others. The availability of pharmaceutical DHT is limited; it is not available in the United States or Canada, but is available in certain European countries. The available formulations of DHT include buccal or sublingual tablets, topical gels, and, as esters in oil, injectables like androstanolone propionate and androstanolone valerate.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT, also known as 5α-androstan-17β-ol-3-one, is a naturally occurring androstane steroid with a ketone group at the C3 position and a hydroxyl group at the C17β position. It is the derivative of testosterone in which the double bond between the C4 and C5 positions has been reduced or hydrogenated.


title: Dihydrotestosterone

text: DHT was first synthesized by Adolf Butenandt and his colleagues in 1935. It was prepared via hydrogenation of testosterone, which had been discovered earlier that year. DHT was introduced for medical use as an AAS in 1953, and was noted to be more potent than testosterone but with reduced androgenicity. It was not elucidated to be an endogenous substance until 1956, when it was shown to be formed from testosterone in rat liver homogenates. In addition, the biological importance of DHT was not realized until the early 1960s, when it was found to be produced by 5α-reductase from circulating testosterone in target tissues like the prostate gland and seminal vesicles and was found to be more potent than testosterone in bioassays. The biological functions of DHT in humans became much more clearly defined upon the discovery and characterization of 5α-reductase type 2 deficiency in 1974. DHT was the last major sex hormone, the others being testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone, to be discovered, and is unique in that it is the only major sex hormone that functions principally as an intracrine and paracrine hormone rather than as an endocrine hormone.


title: One-time pad

text: In cryptography, the one-time pad (OTP) is an encryption technique that cannot be cracked, but requires the use of a single-use pre-shared key that is not smaller than the message being sent. In this technique, a plaintext is paired with a random secret key (also referred to as "a one-time pad"). Then, each bit or character of the plaintext is encrypted by combining it with the corresponding bit or character from the pad using modular addition.


title: One-time pad

text: The resulting ciphertext will be impossible to decrypt or break if the following four conditions are met:


title: One-time pad

text: It has also been mathematically proven that any cipher with the property of perfect secrecy must use keys with effectively the same requirements as OTP keys. Digital versions of one-time pad ciphers have been used by nations for critical diplomatic and military communication, but the problems of secure key distribution make them impractical for most applications.


title: One-time pad

text: First described by Frank Miller in 1882, the one-time pad was re-invented in 1917. On July 22, 1919, U.S. Patent 1,310,719 was issued to Gilbert Vernam for the XOR operation used for the encryption of a one-time pad. Derived from his "Vernam cipher", the system was a cipher that combined a message with a key read from a punched tape. In its original form, Vernam's system was vulnerable because the key tape was a loop, which was reused whenever the loop made a full cycle. One-time use came later, when Joseph Mauborgne recognized that if the key tape were totally random, then cryptanalysis would be impossible.


title: One-time pad

text: The "pad" part of the name comes from early implementations where the key material was distributed as a pad of paper, allowing the current top sheet to be torn off and destroyed after use. For concealment the pad was sometimes so small that a powerful magnifying glass was required to use it. The KGB used pads of such size that they could fit in the palm of a hand, or in a walnut shell. To increase security, one-time pads were sometimes printed onto sheets of highly flammable nitrocellulose, so that they could easily be burned after use.


title: One-time pad

text: There is some ambiguity to the term "Vernam cipher" because some sources use "Vernam cipher" and "one-time pad" synonymously, while others refer to any additive stream cipher as a "Vernam cipher", including those based on a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator (CSPRNG).


title: One-time pad

text: The next one-time pad system was electrical. In 1917, Gilbert Vernam (of AT&T Corporation) invented and later patented in 1919 () a cipher based on teleprinter technology. Each character in a message was electrically combined with a character on a punched paper tape key. Joseph Mauborgne (then a captain in the U.S. Army and later chief of the Signal Corps) recognized that the character sequence on the key tape could be completely random and that, if so, cryptanalysis would be more difficult. Together they invented the first one-time tape system.


title: One-time pad

text: The next development was the paper pad system. Diplomats had long used codes and ciphers for confidentiality and to minimize telegraph costs. For the codes, words and phrases were converted to groups of numbers (typically 4 or 5 digits) using a dictionary-like codebook. For added security, secret numbers could be combined with (usually modular addition) each code group before transmission, with the secret numbers being changed periodically (this was called superencryption). In the early 1920s, three German cryptographers (Werner Kunze, Rudolf Schauffler, and Erich Langlotz), who were involved in breaking such systems, realized that they could never be broken if a separate randomly chosen additive number was used for every code group. They had duplicate paper pads printed with lines of random number groups. Each page had a serial number and eight lines. Each line had six 5-digit numbers. A page would be used as a work sheet to encode a message and then destroyed. The serial number of the page would be sent with the encoded message. The recipient would reverse the procedure and then destroy his copy of the page. The German foreign office put this system into operation by 1923.


title: One-time pad

text: A separate notion was the use of a one-time pad of letters to encode plaintext directly as in the example below. Leo Marks describes inventing such a system for the British Special Operations Executive during World War II, though he suspected at the time that it was already known in the highly compartmentalized world of cryptography, as for instance at Bletchley Park.


title: One-time pad

text: The final discovery was made by information theorist Claude Shannon in the 1940s who recognized and proved the theoretical significance of the one-time pad system. Shannon delivered his results in a classified report in 1945 and published them openly in 1949. At the same time, Soviet information theorist Vladimir Kotelnikov had independently proved the absolute security of the one-time pad; his results were delivered in 1941 in a report that apparently remains classified.


title: One-time pad

text: Suppose Alice wishes to send the message codice_1 to Bob. Assume two pads of paper containing identical random sequences of letters were somehow previously produced and securely issued to both. Alice chooses the appropriate unused page from the pad. The way to do this is normally arranged for in advance, as for instance "use the 12th sheet on 1 May", or "use the next available sheet for the next message".


title: One-time pad

text: The material on the selected sheet is the "key" for this message. Each letter from the pad will be combined in a predetermined way with one letter of the message. (It is common, but not required, to assign each letter a numerical value, e.g., codice_2 is 0, codice_3 is 1, and so on.)


title: One-time pad

text: In this example, the technique is to combine the key and the message using modular addition, not unlike the Vigenère cipher. The numerical values of corresponding message and key letters are added together, modulo 26. So, if key material begins with codice_4 and the message is codice_1, then the coding would be done as follows:


title: One-time pad

text: If a number is larger than 25, then the remainder after subtraction of 26 is taken in modular arithmetic fashion. This simply means that if the computations "go past" Z, the sequence starts again at A.


title: One-time pad

text: The ciphertext to be sent to Bob is thus codice_6. Bob uses the matching key page and the same process, but in reverse, to obtain the plaintext. Here the key is "subtracted" from the ciphertext, again using modular arithmetic:


title: One-time pad

text: Thus Bob recovers Alice's plaintext, the message codice_1. Both Alice and Bob destroy the key sheet immediately after use, thus preventing reuse and an attack against the cipher. The KGB often issued its agents one-time pads printed on tiny sheets of flash paper, paper chemically converted to nitrocellulose, which burns almost instantly and leaves no ash.


title: One-time pad

text: The classical one-time pad of espionage used actual pads of minuscule, easily concealed paper, a sharp pencil, and some mental arithmetic. The method can be implemented now as a software program, using data files as input (plaintext), output (ciphertext) and key material (the required random sequence). The exclusive or (XOR) operation is often used to combine the plaintext and the key elements, and is especially attractive on computers since it is usually a native machine instruction and is therefore very fast. It is, however, difficult to ensure that the key material is actually random, is used only once, never becomes known to the opposition, and is completely destroyed after use. The auxiliary parts of a software one-time pad implementation present real challenges: secure handling/transmission of plaintext, truly random keys, and one-time-only use of the key.


title: One-time pad

text: To continue the example from above, suppose Eve intercepts Alice's ciphertext: codice_6. If Eve tried every possible key, she would find that the key codice_4 would produce the plaintext codice_1, but she would also find that the key codice_11 would produce the plaintext codice_12, an equally plausible message:


title: One-time pad

text: In fact, it is possible to "decrypt" out of the ciphertext any message whatsoever with the same number of characters, simply by using a different key, and there is no information in the ciphertext that will allow Eve to choose among the various possible readings of the ciphertext.


title: One-time pad

text: If the key is not truly random, it is possible to use statistical analysis to determine which of the plausible keys is the "least" random and therefore more likely to be the correct one. If a key is reused, it will noticeably be the only key that produces sensible plaintexts from both ciphertexts (the chances of some random "incorrect" key also producing two sensible plaintexts are very slim).


title: One-time pad

text: One-time pads are "information-theoretically secure" in that the encrypted message (i.e., the ciphertext) provides no information about the original message to a cryptanalyst (except the maximum possible length of the message). This is a very strong notion of security first developed during WWII by Claude Shannon and proved, mathematically, to be true for the one-time pad by Shannon at about the same time. His result was published in the "Bell System Technical Journal" in 1949. Properly used, one-time pads are secure in this sense even against adversaries with infinite computational power.


title: One-time pad

text: Shannon proved, using information theoretic considerations, that the one-time pad has a property he termed "perfect secrecy"; that is, the ciphertext "C" gives absolutely no additional information about the plaintext. This is because (intuitively), given a truly uniformly random key that is used only once, a ciphertext can be translated into "any" plaintext of the same length, and all are equally likely. Thus, the "a priori" probability of a plaintext message "M" is the same as the "a posteriori" probability of a plaintext message "M" given the corresponding ciphertext.


title: One-time pad

text: Mathematically, this is expressed as formula_1, where formula_2 is the information entropy of the plaintext and formula_3 is the conditional entropy of the plaintext given the ciphertext "C". (Here, Η is the capital Greek letter eta.) This implies that for every message "M" and corresponding ciphertext "C", there must be at least one key "K" that binds them as a one-time pad. Mathematically speaking, this means formula_4 must hold, where formula_5 denote the quantities of possible keys, ciphers and messages, respectively. In other words, to be able to go from any plaintext in the message space "M" to any cipher in the cipher space "C" (via encryption) and from any cipher in cipher-space "C" to a plain text in message space "M" (decryption), it would require at least formula_6 keys (with all keys used with equal probability of formula_7 to ensure perfect secrecy).


title: One-time pad

text: Another way of stating perfect secrecy is that for all messages formula_8 in message space "M", and for all ciphers "c" in cipher space "C", we have formula_9, where formula_10 represents the probabilities, taken over a choice of formula_11 in key space formula_12 over the coin tosses of a probabilistic algorithm, formula_13. Perfect secrecy is a strong notion of cryptanalytic difficulty.