Guest editors’ foreword

This special issue of Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy is the result of the conference ‘Archaeological Failaka, Recent and Ongoing Investigations’ organised at the National Library of Kuwait by the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters (NCCAL) of the State of Kuwait and the French Research Center of the Arabian Peninsula (CEFREPA, formerly known as CEFAS) between 26 and 28 November 2019. Not less than 13 articles on the archaeology of Failaka offer an overview of the most recent works on sites dating from its first occupation in the Bronze Age to the late Islamic period. It provides a new insight into the rich history of Failaka – an island explored by Kuwaiti and international teams since the 1950’s and that was connected with Mesopotamia, Iran, the Near East and India – and begin to fill in some gaps, in particular concerning the late Islamic period, the pottery studies, the long-distance trade and the geomorphology of the island.     

《中国国家图书馆藏敦煌遗书》序

1900年敦煌藏经洞被发现,公诸于世.国家为了制止珍贵文物继续流失,把余下的敦煌遗书交给京师图书馆(即今中国国家图书馆)保管收藏.1922年,陈垣先生主持整理《敦煌劫余录》;1929年,胡鸣盛、许国霖先生对这些敦煌遗书继续整理、编目,作了大量工作.国家图书馆的这批敦煌遗书,部分曾以缩微胶卷的形式公布,但缩微胶卷有不少不足之处;部分从未公布,不为人们所知.今天全部公之于众,给世界文献宝库增添新内容,意义非同寻常.