BLACK AND RED GRANITES IN THE EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITY MUSEUM OF TURIN: A MINERO‐PETROGRAPHIC AND PROVENANCE STUDY

A recent project to investigate the stone artefacts preserved in the Egyptian Antiquity Museum of Turin has been undertaken, with the aim of supplying their systematic classification and suggesting the provenance site of the original raw materials. This paper focuses on seven sculptures dating back to the New Kingdom (18th–19th Dynasties): the statue of Ramses II, three of the 21 sculptures of the goddess Sekhmet, the statue of the goddess Hathor, the Ram‐headed Sphinx and the sarcophagus lid of Nefertari. Petrographic observations have shown that all the sculptures are made of granitoid rocks, with variable composition from granite to granodiorite and tonalite. The observation of strong macroscopic analogies with the so‐called black and red granites outcropping in the Aswan area has suggested a common origin of all the raw materials used for their manufacture. In order to verify this provenance hypothesis, several samples were collected in the Aswan quarry districts. According to results of a minero‐petrographic and geochemical comparison between the statues and the Aswan quarry samples, it was possible to identify the source area of the stone sculptures and finally to highlight the importance of an archaeometric approach to the solution of archaeological problems.     

THE NEED FOR PROGRAM AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

This article makes the case for evaluation specific to local government. The article examines the impact of Proposition 13 in California with an eye toward the usefulness of program and performance evaluation. In an era of resource scarcity there is a need for enhanced performance. Performance evaluation is one way for local government administrators to enhance their programs and improve performance.     

EXHIBITION FEATURING TIBETAN BUDDHISM OPENS IN PALACE MUSEUM

An exhibition on the theme of the successive Panchen Lamas and Buddhism art opened on Dec.8,2019 in the Palace Museum.The exhibition,with the theme of"the Fortune and Longevity of Sumeru:an Encounter between the Tashilhunpo Monastery and the Palace Museum",shows the cultural and historical significance of the Buddhism arts and heritage of the monastery.A total of 280 pieces of cultural relics preserved in the museum and the monastery are displayed at the exhibition,which will run through February,2020.     

数字化时代的城市与区域发展构想

随着计算机网络的出现,人类的生产、生活开始进入了所谓的数字化时代。一个新的数字化空间正开始改变着我们所生活的城市和地球。本文首先探讨了数字化对人类活动的影响,其次分析了数字化时代城市与区域发展动力的改变、城市与区域空间结构变化以及一些新的空间现象,最后对数字化时代的城市与区域发展战略提出了相应的对策。     

THE SED-FESTIVAL AND ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY

The problem of the periodic character of the sod-festival, as with other aspects of this mysterious ceremony, has long been discussed and is still the subject of debate. This ritual was intended to be celebrated by the king, normally after a reign of thirty years had elapsed -- the so-called ＂thirty-year principle,＂ --which is taken by general consent to be a significant feature of the sed-festival. Yet, there is disagreement as to how to use records relating to the sed-festival in chronological studies on account of the fact that a number of records of the sed-festival are dated prior to the thirtieth regnal year of the king. Due to our hunger and need for datable sources, none the less, historians cannot always resist the temptation to assess the length of a king＇s reign on the basis of the sed-festival records, sometimes even though only scant evidence is available.     

THE ORIGIN,DESTRUCTION AND RESTORATION OF COLOUR IN EGYPTIAN TRAVERTINE*

Travertine was one of ancient Egypt's most popular ornamental stones. Upon prolonged exposure to sunlight, the rock's translucent brownish calcite is bleached to nearly white. Ultraviolet and gamma irradiation experiments were undertaken to investigate the source of the brownish colour and the process by which it fades. It was found that the coloration results from the activation of colour centres by natural radioactivity within the rock, and that these colour centres are deactivated by the ultraviolet component of sunlight. The results also demonstrate that the original brownish colour of sun‐bleached, travertine objects can be restored by artificial gamma irradiation.     

中国大城市边缘区的概念辨析及其划分

城市边缘区是城市化的前沿地区,是城乡作用力交织碰撞的地域空间,对它的概念描述及划分因城乡发展的背景各异以及研究角度的差异而不同。本文回顾了国内外城市边缘区概念的发展,比较了我国描述城市边缘地带的几个概念之间的差异及其使用范围,针对当前国情,提出了突出地域空间、土地、社会、经济方面特征的城市边缘区概念;结合常用的划分边缘区的几种方法,以武汉市为例,提出从城市规划角度划分边缘区的主要原则及其方法。     

CONCEPT FOR PRESERVING AND RESTORING THE ARAL SEA AND NORMALIZING THE ECOLOGICAL,PUBLIC HEALTH,AND SOCIOECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE ARAL REGION

The government committee charged by the former USSR Supreme Soviet with formulating measures for resolving the Aral Sea crisis presents a list of basic recommendations for ameliorating public health and economic problems in the Aral Region and reversing the decline of the sea. Considerable emphasis is placed on basic structural change in the regional economy and water budget. A staged procedure is outlined for the gradual transformation of the water balance and economic structure while maintaining the Aral Sea as a single (unified) water body.     

THE PORT OF THOLOS IN EASTERN CRETE AND THE ROLE OF A ROMAN HORREUM ALONG THE EGYPTIAN 'CORN ROUTE'

Summary. Roman provincial warehouses and rural horrea in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean remain largely undocumented and their functions are poorly understood. A recent intensive archaeological survey at the bay of Tholos in the Kavousi area of northeastern Crete has investigated one such horreum and has explored the regional archaeological context of the building and its hinterland. The present study discusses the architectural form and archaeological context of this warehouse and assesses its function within the broader political and economic sphere of eastern Mediterranean trade routes in the second century A.D. Patterns of coastal urbanization, settlement development, and land use in eastern Crete in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, are examined as background for discussion of Roman rule, and as factors that are crucial in understanding the economics of settlement and the role of Cretan cities and the port of Tholos in the first and second centuries A.D.     

REDATING THE 'PHILISTINE SWORD' AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM: A CASE STUDY IN TYPOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY

Summary. The famous sword exhibited in the British Museum is to date still the sole example known of the Sea People's weapons. Although its archaeological context is not known and its dating is purely typological, it is still accepted among scholars as a Shardanian weapon also used by the Philistines, from Beth-Dagon, near Jaffa. The aim of this article is to examine these 'facts' in the light of a combined typological and technological study.