PRIVATE COLLECTION OF CUNEIFORM TABLETS IN JERUSALEM

Cuneiform texts presented in this article are part of the Av collection of cuneiform tablets belonging to a private collector in Jerusalem. I was introduced to this collection almost a couple of years ago by a chance through a mutual friend. The collection was     

DETECTION OF LOCAL INTERACTIONS FROM THE SPATIAL PATTERN OF NAMES IN FRANCE*

ABSTRACT Using data on the geographic distribution of names in France, we investigate the social transmission of parental preferences. Drawing on recent work on nonmarket interactions, we develop a linear discrete choice model that relates choices made in one location to those made in nearby areas. We explain the shares of parents that give their children Saint, Arabic, and American‐type names. We also examine the effect of distance between locations on differences in naming patterns. We find that the importance of geographic distance is declining over time while differences in class and national origins have increasing explanatory power.     

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: THOMAS JACKSON AND THE CONTROVERSY OVER PRODIGIES IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I

Abstract

This article focuses on Hobbes's use of metaphor, particularly the larger structural metaphor of the artificial man in Leviathan. Hobbes claims to draw his political animal according to the figurative outlines of the natural one, despite the significant differences between these two bodies. In Part I we see the scientifically-minded Hobbes reject the old dualistic imagery of body and soul, act and will; but in Part II the politically-minded Hobbes appeals to exactly these dualistic distinctions in order to lend his radical vision of the state the numinous appeal of the medieval and Tudor formulations. An understanding of Hobbes's rhetorical strategy, and what I call his strategic use of dualism, can show how the recent linguistic turn in Hobbes studies can in fact re-open the much older debate on the overall unity of his philosophical system.     

SIX SUMERIAN CUNEIFORM TEXTS IN JAPAN

The six cuneiform texts below are housed by two Japanese universities and recently attracted my attention. With the kind permissions of Prof. Koichi Yoshiike of the Faculty of Foreign Studies, the Aichi Prefectural University, and of Prof. Ryozo Matsumoto, Executive Director of the Tokai University Library, they are published.     

TRISANTONA RIVERS: A LANDSCAPE APPROACH TO THE INTERPRETATION OF RIVER NAMES

Summary. Etymological conclusions from river names are notoriously inconclusive. An alternative approach is to explore possible consistencies in the character or use of rivers with names of similar origin in a given area. This paper examines examples of the British river-name Trisantona (Trent, Tarrant, etc.), and pursues suggestions that the name indicates a thoroughfare or route used in early times.     

关中平原历史地名演变中的文化政治格局——基于批判地名学的研究

基于GIS技术，分析从夏到明清，关中平原历史地名空间格局和命名方式的演变规律。从景观表征和布尔迪厄符号权利视角，借鉴批判地名学研究理论，揭示关中平原历史地名空间格局和命名方式演变过程中的文化政治格局。研究发现：①作为关中平原历史地名空间置换的高密度区域，以西安—咸阳为核心的政治中心区，以及以潼关、陈仓（今宝鸡）为核心的军事中心区构成了政治权利空间斗争的中心；而零星分布于外围的自然景观类地名集中区则体现出其作为政治权利空间斗争边缘区的历史稳定性。②统治阶层和群众围绕宫殿陵寝、官宦氏族、人物姓氏、意愿祈福及祭祀庙宇类地名展开命名博弈，各阶层均希望借助地名这一社会文化符号表达“自我”价值和愿望。③关中平原历史地名具有鲜明的时代特征，地名的命名与变更整体上呈现出去阶层意识形态、关注民生文化的特征。     

THE SIGNS THAT INDICATE PHYSICAL DECAY IN TIBETAN CULTURE

At each and every moment the things of our universe are subject to change. The human body too,from the very moment it is born, begins the process that will ultimately lead to death.     

Disability and the NAMES project

This essay considers how the AIDS quilt can function within the public historical record as a disability artifact; it connects contestations over the quilt to contestations over the meaning of disability in American cultures. Although the AIDS quilt is a very different artifact from others constructed during the Disability Rights Movement, the movement that generated the AIDS quilt has likewise been propelled by a commitment to more democratic futures. This essay considers how interpretations of the past can contribute to such futures and asks what can be gained by broadening our still-fluctuating sense of what disability history might be.     

RUSSIAN PLACE NAMES IN ALASKA

A Moscow University place-name linguist traces the origins ot Russian place names in Alaska through the three periods of Russian settlement–the early mercantile activities, colonization of the southern areas, and penetration of the interior–and the extent to which aboriginal names were combined with Russian names. The various types of Russian settlements and the terms used to designate them are discussed, and the evolution of Russian names into the American period is traced. Alaska is found to be a unique case of Russian-American language contact.     

The New Approach to TIBETAN NAMES

<正>To differentiate it from the common name"Tseten Dekyi"(a Tibetan name,meaning longevity and happiness)the 30-year-old Drolkar gave her baby girl the name"Tseten Dekyi"(same pronunciation as the first but using different Chinese characters).Drolkar's intention was to avoid giving her baby the same name as all the other Tibetan babies."Although the pronunciation is exactly the same for these two names,and both mean‘longevity' in Tibetan,the written characters for each name in Chinese are totally different so that it is unnecessary to differentiate one name from the other,"Drolkar said.