The Jewish Communities of Central Asia in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods

When the Jews first settled in Central Asia is uncertain, but circumstantial evidence clearly indicates that this happened at least two and a half thousand years ago. In the first millennium AD, the Jews lived only in cities no farther than 750?km east of the Caspian sea (in the eighth–eleventh centuries the sea was called Khazarian). Only later did they migrate to the central part of the region, to cities like Samarkand and Bukhara. It is possible that Jews from Khazaria joined them, since they already had tight trade connections with Central Asia and China. There is no trace of evidence regarding the existence of Jews in the entirety of Central Asia in the early sixteenth century. At the very end of the sixteenth century Bukhara became the new ethnoreligious center of the Jews in that region. In the first half of the nineteenth century, thanks to European travelers visiting Central Asia at that time, the term “Bukharan Jews” was assigned to this sub-ethnic Jewish group. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary source materials, this article aims to prove that the presence of Jews in Central Asia was not continuous, and therefore the modern Bukharan Jews are not descendants of the first Jewish settlers there. It also attempts to determine where Central Asia’s first Jewish population disappeared to.     

Waterfalls,science and aesthetics

Waterfalls and rapids are a subject of study by scientists and scholars from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. Unlike cave research, known as speleology, which also involves many different disciplines, the study of waterfalls is not generally regarded as a distinct branch of knowledge. Long neglected as subjects of research, waterfalls have received considerable attention since the 1980s. This paper traces the study of waterfalls from the late eighteenth century, a period when both a scientific and an aesthetic interest in landscape developed in Europe, to the present. The work of geographers, geologists and others who studied landforms and landscapes is examined, with particular attention to those who expressed a special interest in waterfalls, notably Alexander von Humboldt. The study argues that the scientific and aesthetic approaches to landscape research are not incompatible and supports the view that both are necessary for a full understanding and appreciation of the environment in which we live.     

从离婚权的演变透视中世纪欧洲犹太妇女的婚姻地位

犹太教允许离婚.在<圣经>时代,犹太男子可以随心所欲地休妻,犹太妇女没有任何话语权.到了<塔木德>时代,犹太社会尽管对男子的单方面休妻权利有所限制,但是并没有从根本上改变婚姻的男权制结构,犹太妇女在离婚问题上依然处于完全被动的地位.这种局面在中世纪的欧洲有了质的改变,而且,这种改变通过犹太社团最具权威的"市集大会"颁布的法规条例而不断地强化,从而使得犹太妇女的婚姻地位在附属中有了改善.     

Moroccan Jewish first-places: contraction,fabrication, dissipation

Abstract

The idea of first places is inevitably linked with diasporas. At the heart of this idea and since the very start, there has always been the Jewish case. The diaspora of the Jews of Morocco, in the periphery, was presented by some authors, as a good case with which to relativize the theoretical pertinence and conceptual inspiration of the Jewish model. Focusing on Jewish history, heritage, and travelling in Morocco, I will continue to question the paradigm of social studies based on the bi-polar center-diaspora model. I will testify to the emergence and fabrication of new Jewish ‘first-places’, a process attending the aging and departure of the last Jews of Morocco and with the support of the Kingdom, while following current, and disruptive trends of contraction, commutation and dissipation of ‘first-places’ in different Jewish practices and narratives. The individualization of religious practice in post-secular societies allows and includes – and often merges – secular, ethnic and political approaches of what once was purely designated as religious identity. Heritage Moroccan landscape (and landscaping) allows different approaches and thus probably why one can think of it as an emerging ‘first-place’ for some.     

Early Medieval Jet-like Jewellery in Ireland: Production,Distribution and Consumption

JET-LIKE JEWELLERY, encompassing polished black stone arm-rings, bangles and bracelets, has not been subject to detailed study in Ireland for over 50 years. This paper refocuses attention on the archaeological evidence for the indigenous production of this type of jewellery in early medieval Ireland, with the aims of exploring its distribution and consumption, and its relevance to networks of social control and economic expansion. Using geospatial and stratigraphic interrogation of the archaeological record, and contemporary comparison with recent studies from Scotland, this article demonstrates a hitherto unrecognised level of complexity and diversity in the handling of this ubiquitous luxury item. Regional specialised production centres and separate distribution centres are identified, and while a focus on indigenous sources is apparent, this is not exclusive. Degrees of cooperation and exclusivity are suggested for ecclesiastical and secular social hierarchies.