Tradition as a governing theme in the writings of John Cassian

John Cassian has been criticized in recent scholarship for historical inaccuracy – but it is not self‐evident that his works were intended as histories in the sense that is supposed by that criticism. Instead, Cassian presents himself as the promoter of key traditions. This paper describes of Cassian's own thinking about ‘tradition’ as a key theme in his works. To that end, it aims to redress scholarly misgivings about the worth of Cassian's writings by taking them as the transmission of identifiable traditions into early to mid‐fifth‐century Gaul (rather than as documentary evidence for late fourth‐century Egyptian monasticism).     

Roman-Period and Byzantine Landscapes Between Sepphoris and Nazareth

Abstract

A reinterpretation of the Roman-period (late first century BC to fourth century AD) and Byzantine-period (early fifth to early seventh century AD) landscapes between Sepphoris and Nazareth, in the Lower Galilee, Israel, is presented. This derives from a multi-period archaeological survey, in September 2004 and September 2005, of a 5 km×3 km transect — Israel grid 1760–2340, 1790–2390. Some of the relevant results from the 2004–2005 seasons are outlined, rather than providing a full report on this survey, which will form part of a forthcoming PEF monograph. For this reason, survey data are described in summary form and — as it is the Roman-period and Byzantine evidence that is the focus of attention — both earlier and later material are mentioned here only in relation to those periods.     

Looting and vandalism around a World Heritage Site: Documenting modern damage to archaeological heritage in Petra’s hinterland

Abstract

In 2012 the ancient city of Petra celebrated the 200th anniversary of its Western re-identification. The Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP) has sought to document the northern hinterland of Petra through a multi-component methodology that includes intensive field survey, feature documentation, and limited test excavations. The iconic site of Petra has a long and storied history, and it is a site that presents many challenges to archaeologists and cultural heritage managers. During a series of test excavations, meant to ground truth locations earmarked by the overlapping intensive field survey and feature documentation, several patterns of looting were identified. These instances of looting were often paralleled by observed vandalism that defaced archaeological heritage, within and outside the Petra Archaeological Park, with archaeological artifacts being sold to tourists at nearby shops. This study provides crucial documentation of these processes of vandalism and looting recorded over the last three years. We propose that only through continued monitoring can local authorities be provided with ample evidence calling for additional cultural heritage protection.     

The titles of Petra in the sixth century: the evidence from the Petra papyri

Since their discovery in 1993, the Petra papyri have drawn the attention of both historians and archaeologists because of the amount of information they contain. The content of the papyri essentially deals with the property inheritance and transaction of a certain Theodoros son of Obodianos and his family in Petra and its vicinity, in the period between AD 537 and 593. The present paper focuses on the titles of Petra mentioned in these papyri and on their importance for the understanding of Petra in the Roman and Byzantine periods. Petra's full titles are: ‘Imperial Colony Antoniana, Distinguished, Holy (?), Mother of the Colonies, Hadriana Petra, and Metropolis of [the Province] Tertia Palaestina Salutaris’. The main components of these titles are attested elsewhere, but they appear in their entirety in the Petra papyri for the first time. The various titles of Petra as they appear in the papyri concerned clearly indicate that Petra continued to style itself as an important place in the Byzantine Empire. The picture that emerges from Petra's titles and other evidence from the papyri is that, in the sixth century Petra was still a place inhabited by relatively wealthy people, which had a major role in the economy of the Byzantine Empire.     

Agriculture in sixth‐century Petra and its hinterland,the evidence from the Petra papyri

Since their discovery in 1993 the Petra papyri have drawn the attention of both historians and archaeologists because of the amount of information they contain. They deal with the property of Theodoros, son of Obodianus, and his family in Petra and its vicinity in the period between AD 537 and 593. This paper focuses on agriculture and its importance in Petra and the surrounding area in the sixth century AD, according to the information derived from the scrolls. It appears that agriculture played a major role in the economy of Petra and its hinterland at the time these documents were written. The papyri repeatedly mention agricultural lands throughout the region and in many cases specify their locations and toponyms. Some of the latter are significantly still in use. There is also information about springs, some of which are still active and contribute to local agriculture. Some papyri even contain information about the type of plants grown in the area. Finally, the authors present the current state of agriculture at selected places and compare it with the state of agriculture in the sixth century AD in the study area.     

THE ‘LORD OF THE STONEMASONS’: PART I. THE ‘SWORD DEITY’ AT PETRA

Abstract

During the 2000 Season of the Brown University excavations of the so-called Great Temple at Petra, an elusive rock-cut figure (termed the ‘Sword Deity’) was discovered in the southern perimeter wall. Since then, the current authors have identified other such figures as belonging to this previously unknown type, which has similarities with the Greek herm. Based on a contextual analysis of these figures, it is proposed that the type may depict a protective deity or ‘lord’ of the Nabataean stonemasons, most likely Dushara. According to this interpretation, the stonemasons sought divine protection during their work by carving the image of the deity high in the rock faces. This paper sheds new light not only on the representation of Nabataean deities, but also on the role of religion in the daily life of the inhabitants of Petra and their relationship with the natural environment.     

Race,space and moral climatology: notes toward a genealogy

This paper is a contribution to the genealogy of the presupposition that climatic zones and their inhabitants may legitimately be portrayed in the vocabulary of moral judgement. Focusing on four different scholarly domains at different points in time—Enlightenment philosophy, early Victorian anthropology, late nineteenth century tropical medicine, and early twentieth century climatology—it discloses the extent to which intellectual exchange among a Western elite was concerned with the mobilization of «moral climatology» for racial purposes. The persistent and widespread inclination to use climate as the vehicle for moralistic construals of global space is thus demonstrated.     

Le Danger des liaisons: Censoring Laclos’s Liaisons dangereuses

When Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos’s Liaisons dangereuses first appeared in late March 1782, it was an immediate succès de scandale. Laclos’s focus on his characters’ libertine psychology and his creation of a “monstrous” female villain, Merteuil, distinguished the novel from mainstream eighteenth-century French works. As an analysis of the novel’s reception demonstrates, Laclos’s suggestive portrayal of female sexuality and empowerment—and, specifically, of Merteuil—led first to the text’s association with dangerous works known as “mauvais livres” or “livres philosophiques” such as the Marquis de Sade’s Justine (1791) and the anonymous Histoire de Dom Bougre, Portier de Chartreux (1741), and later contributed to its classification as a pornographic work at the time the concept was invented in the early nineteenth century—and, ultimately, to its censorship in 1823. If the novel was devoid of explicitly sexual scenes, it nonetheless elicited such images in the minds of (at least some of) its readers and thereby caught the attention of the authorities. Les Liaisons dangereuses may be one of the most prominent historical cases of a book being banned not for what was depicted in its pages, but for the fantasies it inspired—providing a compelling twist to the adage that “pornography is in the eyes of the beholder,” or the mind of the reader.     

21世纪的社区地理学

本文简述了社区地理学的形成、研究现状和面临的形势,对21世纪的社区地理学进行了展望。指出21世纪的社区地理学有12个热点课题,即:(1)社区发展合作组织;(2)社区发展;(3)社区环境;(4)社区规划;(5)社区管理;(6)农村社区城市化;(7)城市社区病态;(8)社区贫困;(9)社区经济;(10)社区文化;(11)精神社区;(12)虚拟社区。从目前世界范围内的社区发展运动看,从21世纪社区地理学研究的领域看,21世纪将是社区地理学的大发展时代。     

Nabataean Dushārā (Dusares) — an overlooked cuirassed god

Abstract

This paper sheds new light on the images of the Nabataean god Dushārā on the coins of Roman Bostra under Commodus, Caracalla and Philip the Arab. It analyses and interprets for the first time iconographic details such as the god's cuirass, his Alexander-like hairstyle and the assimilation of his facial features to the emperor of the day on the coin obverses. This study argues that Dushārā's image is a late ad-hoc creation for a local Bostran context that did not travel far beyond the city. Alongside the anthropomorphic representation, Dushārā continued to be depicted and worshipped in the form of a betyl at Bostra, Petra and throughout the Roman province of Arabia.     

Rethinking the Creation of North Norway as a Region

Abstract

The subject of this article is the creation of North Norway from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Some initial remarks about the relationship between nations and regions are followed by a number of interpretations of recent national and nationalism debates. The former synthesis of the creation of North Norway as a region is analysed, using approaches that on the one hand could be described as an actor stage theory, and on the other as structurally modernistic. As an alternative, a new theoretical approach inspired by cultural hegemonic theories is presented. This cultural hegemonic approach uses the works of Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) as a point of departure and is related to the concepts he developed, such as “hegemony”, “counter-hegemony”, “historic bloc”, “civil society” and “organic intellectuals”. A new synthesis of the historical regional formation process, based on a cultural hegemonic approach, is then presented, showing that North Norway as a region is the result of a long-lasting, contradictory and continuous process. Six periods are identified in the creation of the region: the period from the late eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century up to the second decade of the twentieth century emerges as a time-frame for a counter-hegemonic nation-building project. Since then, North Norway as a region has developed through hegemonic struggle between different kinds of region- and nation-building projects within and outside the region.     

MIRACLES, HISTORICAL TESTIMONIES, AND PROBABILITIES

The topic and methods of David Hume's “Of Miracles” resemble his historiographical more than his philosophical works. Unfortunately, Hume and his critics and apologists have shared the pre‐scientific, indeed a historical, limitations of Hume's original historical investigations. I demonstrate the advantages of the critical methodological approach to testimonies, developed initially by German biblical critics in the late eighteenth century, to a priori discussions of miracles. Any future discussion of miracles and Hume must use the critical method to improve the quality and relevance of the debate. Hume's definition of miracles as breaking the laws of nature is anachronistic. The concept of immutable laws of nature was introduced only in the seventeenth century, thousands of years after the Hebrews had introduced the concept of miracles. Holder and Earman distinguish the posterior probability of the occurrence of a particular miracle from that of the occurrence of some miracle. I argue that though this distinction is significant, their formulae for evaluating the respective probabilities are not useful. Even if miracle hypotheses have low probabilities, it may still be rational to accept and use them if there is no better explanation for the evidence of miracles. Biblical critics and historians do not examine the probabilities of miracle hypotheses, or any other hypotheses about the past, in isolation, but in comparison with competing hypotheses that attempt to better explain, increase the likelihood of a broader scope of evidence, as well as be more fruitful. The fruitful and simple theories of Hume's later and better contemporaries, the founders of biblical criticism, offer the best explanation of the broadest scope of evidence of miracles. Moreover, they do so by being linguistically sensitive to the ways “miracle” was actually used by those who claimed to have observed them. The lessons of this analysis for historians and philosophers of history—that the acceptance of historical hypotheses is a comparative endeavor, and that the claims of those in the past must be assessed in their own terms—ought to be clear.     

Original DocumentsExtracts from The Bursar’s Accounts,Preserved Among The Muniments of Winchester College

This paper challenges the interpretation of late Roman Verulamium which has stood since Frere's excavations in 1955–61. A quantitative analysis of construction work and occupation phases forms the basis of two new interpretative conclusions. First, in contrast to a view which sees urban vigour continuing to the end of the Roman period, it is suggested that the town experienced a sharp decline in both construction and occupation from the early fourth century onwards. Second, the late town is portrayed as radically different in character from that of the second century—a defended ‘post-classical’ outpost of the decaying empire rather than a garden-city of romanizing local gentry.     

THE ‘LORD OF THE STONEMASONS’: PART II. ‘STANDING FIGURE WITH BETYLS’ AT PETRA

Abstract

This paper presents the second type of representation of the ‘lord’ of the Nabataean stonemasons, a male figure standing with betyls. This type is found in five rock-cut reliefs in Petra, usually high in the walls of quarries or monuments. It is argued that, like the so-called ‘sword deity’ figures presented in Part I, this second type was also carved by the stonemasons as another representation of their tutelary deity, possibly Dushara. Study of these little-known figures reveals new information on the diverse depiction of Nabataean deities, as well as on the religious beliefs of the stonemasons at Petra.     

Excavation and Survey at Higher Woodhill Mill,Bury

Abstract

Recent landscaping and conservation works on the site of the long-demolished Higher Woodhill Mill provided an opportunity for limited excavation and recording work on this early water-powered cotton-spinning factory. Evidence suggested that a new large waterwheel and beam engine were installed as complementary features in the mid-nineteenth century, and the recent work concentrated upon the physical remains related to these features. Additionally, the historical development of the site appeared to reflect the progression of spinning technology through the water and throstle frames, and the self-acting mule.     

CHARACTERIZATION AND PROVENANCE OF LATE ANTIQUE WINDOW GLASS FROM THE PETRA CHURCH IN JORDAN*

Fifth‐ to seventh‐century window glass fragments from the Petra Church in Jordan were analysed by EPMA and spectrophotometry to characterize their optical properties and chemical composition. The objective of this study was to determine the provenance of the raw glass and the secondary production procedures of the window‐panes. Judging from the material evidence, both the crown window‐panes and possibly the rectangular samples were produced through glass‐blowing techniques. The chemical data show that the assemblage forms a homogeneous group of soda–lime–silica glass of the Levantine I type. The green glass, however, has higher silica and lower soda contents than the aqua‐blue fragments. The composition of one sample suggested the recycling of Roman glass. Our results confirm the trade of glass between the Levantine coast and Petra during Late Antiquity. No colouring agents other than iron were detected. Spectrophotometry confirmed the presence of iron and showed that the window fragments absorbed light relatively equally across the visible part of the spectrum. The windows thus seem to have provided an almost colourless illumination for the sacred interior.