Eros and Dionysus

Abstract

Liberty was once praiseworthy because it enabled a free choice for the good. Technology recasts the classical link between liberty and virtue by making human well-being depend on technological advance. Till recently, technology signified human mastery over nature. But now virtual reality offers itself as a substitute for nature. Unlike machines which hold us at a distance, it draws us in with images. It no longer shapes the soul indirectly through the effects of using machines, but involves the soul directly. The modern attempt to bracket the soul has brought it back virtually. The argument between fight and flight is at a standstill. Instead, the irony which many lament as a feature of postmodernity can provide a distance from the technologies which have made themselves necessary.     

Philosophy,Eros, Judaism

Abstract

A careful reading of Caritas in Veritate shows it to be framed and permeated by two principles. The first is that human persons in their consciences and deeds are the principal agents of economic and political life, whether directly in interpersonal relations or mediated through their work in and for institutions. The second is that human persons as citizens are best prepared to promote “integral human development” and “the common good” when they are urged on by charity or love that is lived in truth. In these respects Caritas in Veritate is a clear continuation of the line of thought that Benedict developed in his earlier encyclicals Deus Caritas Est and Spe Salvi, and before that in his theological writings as Joseph Ratzinger. Benedict's work thus underscores the need modern societies and political communities have for charity, and thus for faith and for hope. We explicate this aspect of Benedict's political vision throughout this essay, anticipating and beginning to respond to some objections to the thesis that politics even in a secular age requires theological virtues to flourish.     

The dry summer on the Upper Nile

EUROPE

Scottish Farming in the Eighteenth Century. By James E. Handley. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Pp.314. London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 1953. 25s.

The Scottish Islands. By George Scott‐Moncrieff. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Pp. 208. 98 illustrations. 4 sketch maps. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1952. 21s.

Skye: The Island and its Legends. By Otta F. Swire. Foreword by Sir William Tarn. 7 1/2 × 5. Pp. xii+244. Sketch map. London: Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press, 1952. 15s.

The Central Highlands. Edited by H. Macrobert. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Pp. viii+145. 15 figs. 49 photographs. End‐paper sketch map. [The Scottish Mountaineering Club Guides.] Edinburgh: The Scottish Mountaineering Club. Second edition, 1952. 15s.

Granite City: A Plan for Aberdeen. By W. Dobson Chapman, M.A., P.P.T.P.I., L.R.I.B.A., F.I.L.A., and Charles F. Riley, Dip.Arch., Dip.T.P., A.R.I.B.A., M.T.P.I. Foreword by The Hon. Thomas Johnston, P.C., LL.d., F.E.I.S. 13 × 9 3/4. Pp. xx+168. 22 figs. 73 plates. City Development Plan (4 1/4 in. to 1 mile). [Published on behalf of the Corporation of the City and Royal Burgh of Aberdeen.] London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1952. 42s.

Round and about Spain. By A. F. Tschiffely. 8 3/4 × 5 5/8. Pp.317. Decorations and sketch maps by the Author. End‐paper map by A. Spark. London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd, 1952. 20s.

ASIA

The Orphaned Realm: Journeys in Cyprus. By Patrick Balfour (Lord Kinross). 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Pp. 221. 17 illustrations. Decorative end‐paper sketch map. London: Percival Marshall and Co. Ltd, 1951. 18s.

Die Türkei. By Karl Krüger. 8 1/2 × 5 1/4. Pp. 392. 13 figs. 68 plates. Berlin: Safari‐Verlag, 1951.

Tirich Mir: The Norwegian Himalaya Expedition. Translated by Sölvi and Richard Bateson. Foreword by Professor Georg Morgenstierne. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Pp. 192. 57 illustrations. 3 sketch maps. London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd, 1952. 21s.

The Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition, 1951. By Eric Shipton. 10 1/2 × 8 1/2. Pp. 128. Photogravure illustrations. London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd, 1952. 25s.

AFRICA

The Zambesi Journal of James Stewart, 1862–1863, with a Selection from his Correspondence. Edited by J. P. F. Wallis. 10 × 6 1/2. Pp. xxvi+276. Portrait. Map of the Shiré River (1867). [Central African Archives: Oppenheimer Series, No. 6.] London: Chatto and Windus, 1952. 35s.

AMERICA

Suwannee River: Strange Green Land. By Cecile Hulse Matschat. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Pp. 256. Illustrated by Alexander Key. [Rivers of America.] Edinburgh, Glasgow, London: William Hodge and Co. Ltd, 1951. 15s.

The Rural Land Classification Program of Puerto Rico. Preface by Malcolm J. Proudfoot. 11 × 8 1/2. Pp. vii+261. Illustrated. (Lithoprinted). [Northwestern University Studies in Geography, No. 1.] Evanston, Illinois: Department of Geography, Northwestern University, 1952.

Uruguay: South America's first Welfare State. By George Pendle. 8 × 5 1/4. Pp. viii+100. 2 sketch maps. London and New York: The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1952. 11s 6d.

POLAR REGIONS

The Antarctic To‐day: A Mid‐Century Survey by the New Zealand Antarctic Society. Edited by Frank A. Simpson, M.A., Dip.Jour. 9 3/4 × 7 1/4. Pp. 389. 50 figs. 46 plates. Folding map. Wellington: A. H. and A. W. Reed, in conjunction with the New Zealand Antarctic Society, 1952. 47s 6d.

BIOGEOGRAPHY

Geography of Living Things. By M. S. Anderson, M.A. General Introduction by Frank Debenham. 7 1/4 × 4 3/4. Pp. xiv+202. 5 illustrations. [Teach Yourself Geography.] London: The English Universities Press Ltd, 1951. 8s 6d.

The Origin and History of the British Fauna. By Bryan P. Beirne, M.A., M.Sc, Ph.D., M.R.I.A., F.R.E.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Pp. x+164. 60 figs. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd, 1952. 18s.

EDUCATIONAL

Practical and Experimental Geography. By W. G. V. Balchin, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.G.S., F.R.Met.S., and A. W. Richards, M.A., B.Sc., F.R.Met.S. 8 1/2 × 6 1/2. Pp. viii+136. Frontispiece. 73 figs. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd, 1952. 12s 6d.

Geomorphologie. By Fritz Machatschek. 9 × 6 1/4. Pp. 203. 89 figs. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner Verlagsgesellschaft. Fifth edition, 1952. DM 9.60.

Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Edited by E. D. Laborde, Ph.D., F.R.G.S. 8 1/2 × 5 1/2. Pp. xii+268. 48 figs. 8 plates. London: William Heinemann Ltd. Second edition, 1952. 12s 6d.     

Eros and Modernity,or Sympathy and Nihilism

Chantal Delsol's work is distinguished by its articulation of the interdependence of an effective defense of human rights with a truthful understanding of the dignified responsibility of the human person. Most of the experience of the modern world, however, has called into question the sustainability of the experience of the person, while also making it clear that human beings do not have the option of returning to some more holistic world. Delsol reflects on the emptiness of the experience of the modern individual, the inability of modern societies to accord proper dignity to caregiving, and the continuing need for a personal theology.     

Igbo-Ukwu and the Nile

The external connections of Igbo-Ukwu, in the forest belt of south-eastern Nigeria, around the ninth century AD, are demonstrated by the large numbers of glass beads, apparently of Egyptian manufacture, and are implicit in the rich collection of bronze artwork that lacks known prototypes. Although the metals were mined locally, the labor and the expert alloying and casting of numerous ritual or ornamental objects indicate an accumulation of wealth derived from distant trade of special commodities. The identification of these commodities, however, and the routes by which they—and in the reverse direction the beads—would have traveled, remain unsatisfactorily resolved. A preference is repeated here for an eastern Sahelian routing from Lake Chad to the Middle Nile kingdoms (Alwa and Makuria/Dongola), then at their height, thus avoiding the Sahara. The alternative direction suggested recently (Insoll, T., and Shaw, T. (1997) Gao and Igbo-Ukwu: Beads, interregional trade and beyond. African Archaeological Review, 14:9–23), through Gao on the Niger bend and across the west-central Sahara, seems less likely on grounds of geography and chronology. The essential items of merchandise deriving from Igbo-Ukwu are unlikely to be those commonly assumed for sub-Saharan Africa, notably ivory and slaves, but would have been more local and precious, presumably metals. The bronzes stored and buried at Igbo-Ukwu might be regarded as by-products of this export activity. Demands in the Nile Valley for tin (for bronze alloying) and for silver, both of which occur in the ores exploited, deserve consideration. A call is made for comparative study of metals and their uses between the Middle Nile and West Africa in the first millennium AD—a neglected subject owing to the intellectual gulf that persists between Africanists and Egyptologists.Les contacts extérieurs d'Igbo-Ukwu, dans la région forestière du sud-est du Nigéria, vers le 9^e siècle après J. C., sont indiqués par les très nombreuses perles de verre, apparemment de fabrication Égyptienne. Ils sont aussi suggérés par un ensemble remarquable d'objects en bronze dont on ne connaît aucun prototype. Bien que les métaux proviennent de la région, le travail, et aussi l'alliage et la fonte très spécialisés de nombreux objects rituels ou décoratifs, indiquent une accumulation de richesse résultant du commerce à longues distances de produits recherchés. Pourtant, l'identification de ceux-ci, et les itinéraires pour leur transport—et, en sens inverse, ceux des perles—restent hypothétique. Nous réiterons une préférence pour une route est-Sahelien, de Lac Tchad jusqu'aux royaumes du Nil Moyen (Alwa et Makouria/Dongola), à leur apogée à cette époque, et donc évitant le Sahara. L'autre direction, proposée récemment (dans cette revue par Insoll et Shaw), via Gao sur la boucle du Niger et à travers le Sahara ouest-central, semble moins probable pour les raisons géographiques et chronologiques. Les objets principaux de ce commerce qui provenaient d'Igbo-Ukwu ne seraient pas ceux qui sont normalement imaginés pour l'Afrique Sub-saharienne, notamment l'ivoire et les esclaves; ce seraient des produits plus locaux et précieux, vraisemblablement des métaux. Les bronzes enterrés à Igbo-Ukwu pourraient être les sous-produits de cette activité destinée à l'exportation. La demande dans la vallée du Nil pour l'étain (pour l'alliage du bronze) et pour l'argent, qui existent tous les deux dans les minerais du sud-est du Nigéria, mérite considération. Il faut qu'on fasse des recherches comparatives sur les métaux et leurs emplois entre le Nil Moyen et l'Afrique de l'Ouest durant le premier millénaire après J. C.—un sujet négligé à cause du fossé intellectuel qui persiste entre les études Africanistes et Égyptologiques.     

Monuments on a migrating Nile

River courses migrate, but many Egyptologists plot the present-day River Nile on maps of the valley in archaeological times. This may have misled interpretations of ancient monuments and settlements. We show a river migrating rapidly on historical timescales in the Luxor region, sweeping > 5 km across the valley at rates on the order of 2–3 km per 1000 years. Satellite elevation data (SRTM), processed by a novel method, and Landsat imagery are used to trace ancient river levees and extend trends present in 200 years of archive maps thousands of years into the past. This supplements observations by Ptolemy (121–141 AD) and places local geo-archaeological studies in a wider spatial and temporal context. Satellite data are demonstrated to be a relatively quick and easy constraint upon ancient river courses, and a basis for investigations along the Egyptian Nile, even in logistically inaccessible regions.     

尼罗,尼罗,长比天河

正提到埃及,人们总会想到千百年来奔流不息的尼罗河,它是埃及人民生命的源泉。古埃及人形容自己的土地就像一朵莲花,尼罗河三角洲是盛开的花朵,而狭长的尼罗河就是花枝,它带给了埃及厚重的历史和文化。难怪希腊历史之父希罗多德深情地说:"埃及是尼罗河的献礼。"当地人赞美尼罗河为:"尼罗,尼罗,长比天河。"     

Contemporary Civil Conflicts in the Nile Basin States

This topic deals with the reasons for the civil conflicts in the Nile Basin Area in Africa. From the geographical point of view, these countries are suffering from the lack of demarcation of boundaries among them. From an economic point of view, they would fight over the abundant economic resources that were taken away wholly by the foreign companies, leaving the crumbs to be disputed over. Additionally, ethnic differences kindle ethnic and religious contradictions. This research will also ascertain some of these reasons, and then review examples of the civil conflicts in the area. Unless these contradictions can be rectified, or mitigated, they will continue to simmer and periodically re‐emerge as a full‐fledged civil war.     

Dental disease in the Nile Valley during the New Kingdom

This study examines evidence for dental disease (caries, abscesses, antemortem tooth loss and severity of dental wear) in Nubian and Egyptian groups living in the Nile Valley during the New Kingdom. Specific attention is given to individuals buried at the site of Tombos, a cemetery in Nubia used during the Egyptian colonial occupation. In addition, three Nubian and two Egyptian samples are included for comparative purposes. While some similarities in condition frequencies between Tombos and the comparative groups are apparent, especially in the rates of caries and abscesses, significant differences in antemortem tooth loss and severity of tooth wear point to variation in these Nile Valley samples. These differences are especially evident for males. Higher rates of these conditions at Tombos may be attributed to the socio‐political and cultural changes taking place during this time of colonial occupation. Changes in foodways and occupational environments may have resulted in stress, as demonstrated by these dental conditions experienced by the Tombos people throughout this transitional period. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Charles Bonnet: The Black Kingdom of the Nile

African Archaeological Review -     

Pottery tempered with sponge from the White Nile,Sudan

Pottery containing abundant organic and siliceous particles of the swamp-dwelling spongeEunapius nitens occurs at occupation sites dated between 3500 and 1500 bp flanking the White Nile in central Sudan. Megascleres, gemmoscleres and gemmules in vast numbers are well preserved in the pottery, megascleres forming the temper. Common features of sponge pottery are: fine paste; wall thickness in the range 4 to 9 mm; internal scoring; deepish, steep-walled bowls with straight or slightly everted rims often decorated with chevron pattern; and a variety of well executed external decoration by incision, rouletting and stamping. Thorough study of the distribution, economy, affinities and chronology of the peoples practising this swamp-based technology is yet to be made. The pottery forms part of a wider tradition in the Nile basin.

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Résumé Dans des sites d'habitat de 3500 à 1500 bp, le long du Nil Blanc, au Soudan central, se trouve une céramique contenant de nombreuses particules organiques et silicieuses de l'épongeEunapius nitens, qui habite les marais. D'énormes quantités de mégasclères, de gemmosclères et de gemmules sont bien préservées dans la céramique—les mégasclères en forment le dégraissant. Parmi les traits communs de la céramique à éponge sont: une pâte fine; des parois épaisses de 4 à 9 mm; des stries internes; des bols profonds à parois raides avec des bords droits ou un peu éversés, souvent décorés de chevrons; et une variété de décors externes bien exécutés par des incisions, des roulettes ou des estampages. On n'a pas encore fait une étude approfondie de la répartition, de l'économie, des affinités et de la chronologie des peuples qui pratiquaient cette technologie des marais. Cette poterie fait partie d'une tradition plus large dans le bassin du Nil.