A Technical Note on the ‘Gloucester Candlestick’

Abstract

The Association is pleased to acknowledge the generous support of Manx National Heritage towards this publication.

The excavation of the only Cistercian abbey firmly established on the Isle of Man produced evidence for an east range of only three rooms, apparently dated to a single constructional period. After the Dissolution this range was gradually robbed and then the area was used as a farm-yard, receiving rubbish deposited from the neighbouring mansion. It was partly excavated in 1914 and turned into an aviary and later into a rose garden. The rere-dorter was not found nor was there any evidence of the main drain adjoining this range.     

A Note on the Meaning of Ḥamas in Ezekiel

ABSTRACT

The entries for ?amas in the biblical lexicons read “violence, wrong”; “treat violently”; or “theft, exploitation, social oppression;” namely, this word is understood as referring to the social sphere. On this basis, in the usual exegesis of the verses in which it appears in Ezekiel, ?amas is understood to refer to social violence. I suggest, however, that a closer examination of each of the seven occurrences of this term in Ezekiel indicates that it refers to the sins of the people that led to the destruction of the Temple—including idolatry and bloodshed—and that Ezekiel utilized and adjusted this pentateuchal concept to his prophetic needs.     

A Critical Note on ‘The Rise of Illiberal Democracy’

Almost a decade ago, Fareed Zakaria published an article claiming that ‘illiberal democracies’, i.e., countries combining the presence of free and fair elections with the absence of constitutional liberalism, were on the rise in the present; and were beckoning as a new species of democracy in the future. In this research note, I revisit and reassess Zakaria's claim. On the basis of a simple conceptual critique – that it is logically necessary to treat the two components of liberal democracy as different attributes, conceptually independent of each other – I reach an equally simple empirical conclusion: illiberal democracies were not really on the rise in the 1990s and they have decreased rapidly in the 2000s. The latter finding even comes out using Zakaria's own, arguably flawed, conceptualization.     

Manchester Railway Warehouses— A Short Note

Abstract

In 1840, Francis Wishaw described three warehouse ranges at Liverpool Road, Manchester, estimating the floor area to be some 5 acres and the capacity 4 million cubic feet. By means of turntables, wagons were conveyed, loaded and unloaded within the warehouses. Flaps in the floors and openings in the yard side facilitated the quick dispatch of business. The internal structure of these early railway buildings followed canal practice but by the 1860s the jack-arched, iron-framed structure had been adapted from the cotton factory. Goods handling at first was by gravity hoist, platforms and mobile or fixed steam cranes. Subsequently, the use of hydraulic power was a significant improvement. This paper describes the railway warehouses of Manchester.     

The Trouble-maker's Ballot Box? A Note on the Evolving Role of the Australian Federal By-election

By-elections have the capacity to result in political outcomes beyond simply filling casual vacancies when they arise. This paper examines data pertaining to federal by-elections in Australia since 1949 in order to ascertain the extent to which there have been changes in these special electoral contests. This paper argues that, although the rate of representational change has not been great in federal by-elections, there has nonetheless been an evolving notion that these contests give non-major party candidates greater scope to influence the political debate. However, it is also argued that this enhanced scope for non-major party 'trouble-making' has been the product of an emerging feature in Australian by-elections-specifically, the increasing incidence of strategic absenteeism by the major political parties.     

A Note on the Benefits to Current Residents of State Employment Growth: Is There an Industry Mix Effect on Migration?

Although there is evidence that regional employment growth benefits current residents, an unexplored aspect of this relationship is the industry composition of the growth. Using 1981–1991 migration data for the 48 contiguous U.S. states, this paper examines whether the industry mix of employment growth matters for migration. We find that state employment growth that results from having a larger share of nationally fast-growing industries leads to less net in-migration compared to growth that results from each industry in the state growing faster than its national average. Therefore, state employment growth that is attributable to its mix of industries yields greater benefits for current state residents.     

Editor s Note

The JOURNAL OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS (JAC) is published annually by the Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations (Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin Province, People’s Republic of China).     

Editor s Note

The JOURNAL OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS (JAC) is published annually by the Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations (Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin Province, People's Republic of China).