A characterisation study of Ubaid period ceramics from As-Sabbiya,Kuwait, using a non-destructive portable X-Ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer and petrographic analyses

The Ubaid cultural phenomena (6500–4200 BC) of southern Mesopotamia has been used to characterise other archaeological sites in the Arabian Gulf region. The aim of this inquiry is to explore the nature of the interaction between the homeland of the Ubaid and the wider Gulf region. Through the use of a non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer, this study seeks to characterise and identify the chemical and mineralogical compositions of the ceramic assemblage from the Bahra 1 site of the As-Sabbiya region, Kuwait. The chemical results demonstrated that a combination of six trace elements [rubidium (Rb), strontium (Sr), yttrium (Y), zirconium (Zr), niobium (Nb) and barium (Ba)] occur significantly enough to delineate clay-based artifact groups—local red coarse from Ubaid, while the mineralogical analysis confirms the pXRF result and identifies the source of the raw materials and temper as well. Also, the comparison between the Ubaid and Bronze Age assemblage results suggests that potters used different clay resources within their own regions and/or production techniques.     

Picturing Pasargadae: Visual Representation and the Ambiguities of Heritage in Iran

For Graham Seal

This paper probes the relationship between visual representations and visitation practices at Pasargadae, a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Iran. Presenting a systematic analysis of publicly available online images of Pasargadae, the paper examines the complex relationship between the place and its visual representations. Through analysis, the paper elaborates on a sense of intimacy that, while grounding Pasargadae, is also a potential common ground in pre-Islamic heritage in which the Iranian state and society could at once meet and contest versions of identity. Examining this relationship facilitates reflections into both heritage and the peculiarities of its visual representation in the Iranian context.     

A Single-Run Dynamic-Based Approach for Pushover Analysis of Structures Subjected to Near-Fault Pulse-Like Ground Motions

In this paper, a fairly effective procedure called dynamic load pattern (DLP), is proposed to account for the effects of near-fault ground motions in estimating the seismic demands of structures from pushover analyses. The seismic demands are obtained by enveloping the results of single-run conventional first-mode and single-run DLP pushover analyses. Improving the estimation of target displacement is another objective, implemented by performing response-spectrum analysis. Three special steel moment-resisting frames are considered and the seismic demands resulting from DLP are compared to those from the nonlinear time-history analysis as a benchmark solution, as well as to those predicted from modal pushover analysis.     

Seismic Performance Assessment of Non-Compliant SMRF-Reinforced Concrete Frame: Shake-Table Test Study

Seismic performance assessment is carried out for reinforced concrete structure built in low-strength concrete lacking confining ties in beam-column joint. Shake-table tests were performed on 1/3rd scaled two-story frame using design-spectrum-compatible accelerogram, scaled to various target levels. The frame is observed with beam longitudinal bar slip and pullout. Joints with no confining ties experienced extensive damage, observed with cover/core concrete spalling. The frame could resist 70% of the design ground motion to remain within the code-specified drift limit. The code requirement for minimum column depth will not avoid joint damageability in case of low-strength concrete and joints lacking confining ties.     

Strength Hierarchy at Reinforced Concrete Beam-Column Joints and Global Capacity

Strength hierarchy assessment is a method that can be utilized to identify the weakest structural element at a reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joint. The method was extensively used in various research activities at the University of Canterbury, which mainly involved beam-column joint subassembly tests. However, this method required improvements and refinements in order to be adopted in multi-story building applications. In this paper, the improvements made to the method are reported. In the improved method, capacity of the weakest element at every beam-column joint in an RC frame building can be related to the corresponding global base shear demand. The method has been illustrated via two example applications: an RC frame lacking joint shear reinforcement and a modern RC frame with adequate joint shear reinforcement. The case study examples confirmed the accuracy and the effectiveness of the method.     

Authorial Voices and the Sense of an Ending in Persian Diaries: Notes on Eʿtemād al-Saltaneh and ʿAlam

This essay examines certain common themes as well as conflicting voices in two extensive sets of Persian diaries, written almost a century apart, by Mohammad-Hasan Khān E?temād al-Saltaneh (1843?96), a long-time courtier and confidant of Nāser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848?86) and Asadollāh ?Alam (1919?78) a close associate and court minister of Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1941?79). On the whole these diaries provide significant amounts of information about the inner workings of the court and the overall institutional setup of the Iranian state in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Although in writing their diaries these authors did not set out to produce a literary work, and nor did they intend to chronicle a general history, each in his own way captured his respective epoch and, within their limitations of time, scope, and insight, each reflected a broad range of private and social relationships. Also each in his own way echoed older ministerial voices, reminiscent of the voice that often resonates in the “mirror for princes” genre, of part player part intimate observer, and with a certain sense of admonition and resignation, lamenting the loss of an era which they felt was slipping away as they wrote.