Ad Ghirath

Despite all the stories you heard as a child, the first 12 patriarchs and their wives were not gods or angels, they were men and women who came from a planet called Earth, much like this one, circling a single star like the two greater suns we see in our sky. Dr. Robert Davis and Captain Michael Walker sent twelve men and twelve women into space at the close of the twentieth century, to escape global destruction, chaotic weather patterns, crime, pollution, disease, nuclear war, or any number of anticipated calamities on their Earth. It was an insane gesture, but it succeeded. They left Earth headed for the Alpha Centaurus star system and came to this new world, Ad Girath. The Elederians still call this world Earth, but it is a name borrowed from the planet where the Walker-Davis Expedition originated. Old Earth circles a single sun that can be seen in our night sky as a bright star in the constellation of Cassiopeia, in line with Capella and Procyon in the constellation Gemini.   Because of the rotation of Ad Ghirath is of a similar length of time to Earth’s, but the revolution around the White and Yellow Suns is 800 EY (earth years) long, the colonists continued to calculate years by the old calendar of 365 days. This calendar has continued ever since in the records of the Planning Commission. This dating system is especially sacred to the Christim Holy Order. The first colonists arrived 10 EY before the first Great Heat, when our planetary rotation takes us closest to the Yellow Sun.   They found the new planet remarkably like their original home. The climate was moderate at first, and generally humid owing to the planet being 94% covered by water. Fruits, grains, and herbs somewhat resembling Earth varieties were in abundance. There were a variety of animals and birds also in the forests and plains. Some of the animals appeared to be domesticable. They found no archeological remains of a previous humanoid habitation. The Eco-starters from Earth did not respond to this unfamiliar environment and all the cultures and tissues brought with them died.   The new Ad Ghirathians began to multiply and establish a new civilization. They mapped the two continents and the near islands. They named the continents after the Earth name given to this star system: Alpha Continent on the west and Centaurus Continent on the east. There appeared to be no other land masses on the planet. The first fishing port was called Istan, meaning the land. The discovery of gold, a useful metal for covering surfaces to prevent rust, was found near the center of the habitable land surface, where the city of Istemedor, city of gold, became the first capital city.   From EY 2010-2020 the first Great Heat caused terrible drought in the center parts of the land and heavy continuous rains flooding all the surrounding regions on the western and southern parts of the Alpha, and the eastern and northern parts of Centaurus. The ten-year famine resulted in the early deaths of all the earth-born colonists.   The colonists tried to selectively preserve their heritage while avoiding some of their old world's mistakes. They were not entirely successful at either in the long run. Much of the knowledge about Earth and her technology was lost in the passing of that first generation, despite the records kept in the library at Istemedor. The library formed the first school, but since all information was kept on laser disks, microfilm, video tape and computer disks, as technology broke down ignorance replaced knowledge in many fields. A form of democracy was instituted to govern the Alpha colony, which gave equal voting privilege to all men and women above the age of 12 years. It lasted in some form for more than 300 Earth Years.