Self-reflection,Egyptian Beliefs,Scythians and “Greek Ideas”: Reconsidering Greeks and Barbarians in Herodotus1

This article addresses the debate between Afrocentrists like Martin Bernal and classical scholars such as Mary Lefkowitz and Robert Palter concerning the origins of ancient Greek civilization. Focusing on the first half of Herodotus’ Histories, I argue that, although Greek cultural developments can be attributed to the Greeks themselves, Herodotus indicates that the conditions that made these developments possible were due to the prior Greek absorption of important aspects of Egyptian religion. Herodotus shows that the Greeks learned from the Egyptians to individualize their gods and to appreciate the humanity of women. This Egyptian influence, Herodotus suggests, is what allowed the Greeks, in contrast to the Scythians, to become an object to themselves within the context of stable city life. I conclude that this habit of self-reflection is the source of the uniquely Greek contribution to the art, philosophy, science and politics of the West.     

Shopping Centre Siting and Modal Choice in Belgium: A Destination-Based Analysis

Abstract

Although modal split is only one of the elements considered in decision-making on new shopping malls, it remarkably often arises in the arguments of both proponents and opponents. Today, this is also the case in the debate on the planned development of three major shopping malls in Belgium. Inspired by such debates, the present study focuses on the impact of the location of shopping centres on the travel mode choice of the customers. Our hypothesis is that destination-based variables such as embeddedness in the urban fabric, accessibility and mall size influence the travel mode choice of the visitors. Based on modal split data and location characteristics of 17 existing shopping centres in Belgium, we develop a model for a more sustainable siting policy. The results show a major influence of the location of the shopping centre in relation to the urban form, and of the size of the mall. Shopping centres that are part of a dense urban fabric, measured through population density, are less car dependent. Smaller sites will attract more cyclists and pedestrians. Interestingly, our results deviate significantly from the figures that have been put forward in public debates on the shopping mall issue in Belgium.     

Pests in an ancient Egyptian harbor

Our investigations combine detailed identification and interpretation of plant remains and associated fauna and their mode of arrival in one of the rock-cut galleries, Cave 3, at the site of Mersa/Wadi Gawasis on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. The site served as a staging area and harbor from which Middle Kingdom pharaohs launched seafaring expeditions to the land of Punt in the early second millennium BC. Quantities of wood, including ship timbers, fastenings, debris related to ship dismantling and reworking, and charcoal were excavated and analyzed. Evidence of marine mollusk infestation (shipworm) was abundant in Cave 3, as were the remains of insect pests of stored foods. We also report on a unique find of a plaster “spill” that preserved the floor of Cave 3 as it was when people worked in the gallery ca. 3800 years ago. The plaster spill created a sealed deposit of plant and insect remains with a diagnostic ceramic fragment, allowing us to securely associate insect remains and “hollow” spikelets of emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) recovered from the gallery. An impression of the beetle Trachyderma hispida and its associated exoskeleton fragments provide new evidence of this species as a potential pest not yet reported from an archaeological grain storage site in Egypt. The finding of Tenebroides mauritanicus from the same deposit is the earliest known association of this pest with stored grains. These unique finds shed new light on the risks associated with preserving food supplies, combating pest infestation, and dealing with marine organisms on land and at sea in the pharaonic harbor.     

Book reviews

“AFTERMATH” (FRANCE, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, JUGOSLAVIA, 1945 and 1946). By Francesca M. Wilson. 1947. (Penguin series).

CO‐OPERATIVE COMMUNITIES AT WORK. By Hendrick F. Infield. 1948. (Kegan Paul & Co., London, pp. 182).

THE CHINESE IN MALAYA. By Victor Purcell. 1948. (Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press, London, pp. 327 + xvi).

THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY THE ROLE OF THE DOMINIONS, 1919–1939. By Gwendolen Carter. Issued under the auspices of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. Ryerson Press, Toronto, pp. xx + 326).

OLD CHINA HANDS AND THE FOREIGN OFFICE. By Nathan A. Pelcovits. 1948. (King's Crown Press under the auspices of the American Institute of Pacific Relations, New York, pp. xiv + 349, one map).

POST‐WAR GOVERNMENTS OF THE FAR EAST. Edited by Taylor Cole and John H. Hallowell. 1947. (Reprinted from the Journal of Politics, ed. Taylor Cole, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 473–744).

THE BRITISH YEAR BOOK OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, 1946, Vol. XXIII —Issued under the auspices of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. (Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press).

RICHER BY ASIA. By Edmond Taylor. 1948. (Secker & Warburg Ltd., London, pp.432).