Losing—and Salvaging?—the Rural Landscape of Graeco-Roman Philadelphia

Between Biblical ‘Ammon’ and Early Umayyad ‘Amman’ lie a thousand years of Graeco-Roman Philadelphia. During this period the population of the classical city and its hinterland reached a peak not seen again until the 20^th century. During the Middle Ages, however, the population shrank dramatically, the city was abandoned, an island of crumbling grandeur, surrounded by an equally depopulated landscape—the skeleton of a once thriving network of roads, villages, farms, monasteries, and field-systems. Even after re-settlement began at Amman in the 1870s, population in city and hinterland was thin and scattered, the abundant ruins often well-preserved. Development throughout the Belqa—the extensive fertile hinterland of Amman, was evident but relatively slow for some 70 years. After 1948, the impact of successive waves of refugees on top of a region-wide population explosion, began to transform the landscape and devastate the archaeological record. The process is accelerating and spreading. Even in the city, many substantial buildings captured on 19^th century photographs have been lost to development; in the hinterland, the vital rural context of a great Classical city has been extensively overwhelmed. Nevertheless, much can yet be salvaged. Beginning with Seetzen in 1806, westerners began to explore ‘east of Jordan’. Many recorded their observations and some mapped, painted, drew, and increasingly photographed—including from the air. Collectively, the corpus of evidence is considerable, ranging from the observations of scores of early western visitors to the more recent archaeological surveys of the 1970s. Appropriately for present purposes, outstanding amongst such visitors and explicitly scientific and systematic were the PEF surveys of Warren in 1867 and Conder in 1881.     

Neutron Activation Analysis of Metal Artefacts from the Moche Site,North Coast of Peru

Neutron activation analysis has been used to characterize 60 metal objects from the Moche site, of which four are associated with the Chimú Period, two with the Early Chimú Period and the others with various Moche IV contexts. Different types of utilitarian and non‐utilitarian objects were analysed to identify the metals present, and to investigate their chemical composition and their eventual source. The results clearly indicate the distinction between Chimú and Moche artefacts and confirm the generalized opinion that arsenic bronze was popular after ad 900. They also indicate that gilding copper objects with gold was already a common practice during the Moche era.     

Occurrence of the ammonite Goodhallites goodhalli (J. Sowerby) in the Eromanga Basin,Queensland: an index species for the late Albian (Cretaceous)

Mortoniceratid ammonites of the Eromanga Basin of Queensland, although uncommon, are reviewed and reassessed utilising all known collections. Representatives of this group are restricted to the Allaru Formation and almost all specimens are Goodhallites goodhalli, a well-known species from the English Gault. The Allaru Formation overlies the Toolebuc Formation, widely considered to be an essentially isochronous unit because of its unusual sedimentary and geochemical character. Using G. goodhalli, the middle and upper Allaru Formation can be directly correlated with the early late Albian orbignyi and auritus Subzones of the Mortoniceras inflatum Zone as recognized in the reference ammonite zonation embedded in the standard Cretaceous time scale. Overlapping ranges of G. goodhalli and Labeceras and Myloceras allow these common Austral heteromorph genera to be also confidently assigned a late Albian age in Australia, matching their biostratigraphic occurrence in South Africa.     

Prime Suspect: William Cowper Prime in the Holy Land and the Identity of “An American” In Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1858

One of the most popular writers for travellers to Egypt, the Holy Land and Syria in the later nineteenth century was William Cowper Prime. His journey of 1855–1856 resulted in two books which went through multiple editions over a period of twenty years, a stimulus to follow in his footsteps and a standard text in the hands of many pious Christians. A series of five long articles published anonymously in Harper's New Monthly Magazine in the mid- to late 1850s can be shown as by Prime. All have been accepted as factual reports of actual events, places, and people but closer examination leaves little doubt they are fictitious. In the light of these conclusions, it is clear Prime had a taste not just for the wild exaggeration parodied by Mark Twain, but also outright invention and we must be cautious in using his writings as sources.     

Reviews of Books

THOMAS FIGUEIRA. Athens and Aigina in the Age of Imperial Colonization. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. Pp. xii, 274. $29.95 (US). Reviewed by B. M. Lavelle

JUDITH LIEU, JOHN NORTH, and TESSA RAJAK, eds. The Jews among Pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire. London and New York: Routledge, 1992. Pp. xvii, 198. $39.95 (US). Reviewed by James E. Seaver

PAUL RATCHNEVSKY. Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy, trans, and ed. Thomas Nivison Haining. Oxford and Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1992. Pp. xvii, 313. $34.95 (US). Reviewed by Reuven Amitai-Preiss

RODERICH PTAK and DIETMAR ROTHERMUND, eds. Emporia, Commodities, and Entrepreneurs in Asian Maritime Trade, c.1400–1750. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1991. Pp. xi, 509. DM 102.00. Reviewed by Christine Dobbin

BERNARD COTTRET. The Huguenots in England: Immigration and Settlement, c.1550–1700. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Pp. xii, 317. $59.95 (US). Reviewed by Andrew Spicer

NICHOLAS B. DIRKS, ed. Colonialism and Culture. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992. Pp. xiv, 402. $27.00 (US). Reviewed by Dane Kennedy

JOYCELYNE G. RUSSELL. Diplomats at Work: Three Renaissance Studies. Gloucester, UK: Alan Sutton, 1992. Pp. xiii, 190. £28.00. Reviewed by Denys Hay

RICHARD HARDING. Amphibious Warfare in the Eighteenth Century: The British Expedition to the West Indies, 1740–1742. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press (Royal Historical Society), 1991. Pp. x, 248. £35.00; $73.00 (US). Reviewed by Philip Woodfine

BILLIE MELMAN. Women's Orients: English Women and the Middle East, 1718–1918: Sexuality, Religion, and Work. London: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. xix, 417. £45.00. Reviewed by Afaf Lutfi Al Sayyid Marsot

H. V. BOWEN. Revenue and Reform: The Indian Problem in British Politics, 1757–1773. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Pp. xi, 204. $47.50 (US). Reviewed by John Derry

PETER D. G. THOMAS. Revolution in America: Britain and the Colonies, 1763–1776. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1992. Pp. x, 101. £5.95. Reviewed by Philip Lawson

STEPHEN HOWARTH. To Shining Sea: A History of the United States Navy, 1775–1991. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991. Pp. xv, 620. £25.00. Reviewed by William S. Dudley

MIRON REZUN. Intrigue and War in Southwest Asia: The Struggle for Supremacy from Central Asia to Iraq. New York: Praeger, 1992. Pp. xiv, 149. $42.95 (US). Reviewed by M. E. Yapp

GERASIMOS AUGUSTINOS. The Greeks of Asia Minor: Confession, Community, and Ethnicity in the Nineteenth Century. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1992. Pp. x, 270. $39.00 (US). Reviewed by Stanford J. Shaw

JAVED MAJEED. Ungoverned Imaginings: James Mill's The History of British India and Orientalism. New York: The Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp. 225. $74.50 (CDN). Reviewed by Lynn Zastoupil

MICHAEL PARIS. Winged Warfare: The Literature and Theory of Aerial Warfare in Britain, 1859–1917. Manchester: Manchester University Press; dist. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Pp. 272. $59.95 (US). Reviewed by John Ferris

DAVID EDGERTON. England and the Aeroplane: An Essay on a Militant and Technological Nation. London: Macmillan, 1991. Pp. xx, 139. £14.99. Reviewed by John Ferris

MAARTEN KUITENBROUWER. The Netherlands and the Rise of Modem Imperialism: Colonies and Foreign Policy, 1870–1902, trans. Hugh Beyer. New York and Oxford: Berg Publishers; dist. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991. Pp. vii, 407. $71.50 (US). Reviewed by D. K. Fieldhouse

JOHN W. CELL. Hailey: A Study in British Imperialism, 1872–1969. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. xv, 332. $47.95 (US). Reviewed by Robin J. Moore

HEINRICH WALLE, ed. Von der Friedenssicherung zur Friedensgestaltung: Deutsche Streitkräfte im Wandel. Herford and Bonn: Verlag E. S. Mittler und Sohn GmbH, 1991. Pp. 398. DM 34.80. Reviewed by Martin Kitchen

CHRISTOPHER J. WALKER, ed. Armenia and Karabagh: The Struggle for Unity. London: Minority Rights Group, 1991. Pp. ix, 162. £7.95. Reviewed by Michael B. Bishku

JOHN B. HATTENDORF, ed. The Influence of History on Mahan. Newport: Naval War College Press, 1991. Pp. vii, 208. NP. Reviewed by Bryan Ranft

RAYMOND F. BETTS. France and Decolonisation, 1900–1960. London: Macmillan, 1991. Pp. 152. £35.00. Reviewed by William B. Cohen

THOMAS B. STEPHENS. Order and Discipline in China: The Shanghai Mixed Court, 1911–1927. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1992. Pp. xiv, 159. $40.00 (US). Reviewed by Nicholas R. Clifford

PAUL LATAWSKI, ed. The Reconstruction of Poland, 1914–1923. London: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. xxi, 217. £45.00. Reviewed by Stefania Szlek Miller

JOHN TURNER. British Politics and the Great War: Coalition and Conflict, 1915–1918. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992. Pp. viii, 511. $40.00 (US) Reviewed by Trevor Wilson

PANIKOS PANAYI. The Enemy in Our Midst: Germans in Britain during the First World War. New York and Oxford: Berg Publishers; dist. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991. Pp. xii, 312. $66.50 (US). Reviewed by Trevor Wilson

DAVID M. ANDERSON and DAVID KIIXINGRAY, eds. Policing and Decolonisation: Nationalism, Politics, and the Police, 1917–1965. Manchester: Manchester University Press; dist. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Pp. xi, 227. $69.95 (US). Reviewed by John Flint

DAVID G. WILLIAMSON. The British in Germany, 1918–1930: The Reluctant Occupiers. New York and Oxford: Berg Publishers; dist. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991. Pp. xv, 374. $59.95 (US). Reviewed by John Hiden

JOHN MORISON, ed. Eastern Europe and the West. London: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. xix, 271. £40.00. Reviewed by Kay Lundgreen-Nielsen

MARK MAZOWER. Greece and the Inter-War Economic Crisis. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. Pp. xii, 334. $65.00 (CDN). Reviewed by Dimitri Kitsikis

JONATHAN HASLAM. The Soviet Union and the Threat from the East, 1933–41. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1992. Pp. vii, 208. $49.95 (US). Reviewed by Paul Dukes

DAVID R. MARPLES. Stalinism in Ukraine in the 1940S. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1992. Pp. xix, 228. $34.95 (CDN). Reviewed by David Saunders

JUDITH A. STOWE. Siam Becomes Thailand: A Story of Intrigue. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. Pp. xii, 394. $39.00 (US), cloth; $16.95 (US), paper. Reviewed by Anthony Short

DAVID DAY. Reluctant Nation: Australia and the Allied Defeat of Japan, 1942–45. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp. x, 366. $45.00 (CDN). T. B. Millar

KLEMENS VON KLEMPERER. German Resistance against Hitler: The Search for Allies Abroad, 1938–1945. New York: The Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp. xvi, 487. $49.95 (US). Reviewed by Katharine Sams

SAMUEL W. MITCHAM, JR. and GENE MUELLER. Hitler's Commanders. Lanham, MD: Scarborough House, 1992. Pp. 320. $23.95 (US). Reviewed by L. H. Gann

HARRY A. GAILEY. Bougainville: The Forgotten Campaign, 1943–1943. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1991. Pp. 237. $27.00 (US). Reviewed by Thomas M. Huber

ROY PALMER DOMENICO. Italian Fascists on Trial, 1943–1948. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1992. Pp. xvii, 295, $43.95 (US). Reviewed by Richard Bosworth

GRANT K. GOODMAN, ed. Japanese Cultural Policies in Southeast Asia during World War Two. London: Macmillan, 1991. Pp. xi, 223. $35.95 (US). Reviewed by Ricardo T. Jose

DONALD R. BAUCOM. The Origins of SDI, 1944–1983. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992. Pp. xix, 276. $29.95 (US). Reviewed by Edward Rhodes

STEIN TØNNESSON. The Vietnamese Revolution 0/1945: Roosevelt, Ho Chi Minh, and De Gaulle in a World at War. London: Sage, 1991. Pp. xiv, 458. $60.00 (US). Reviewed by Ralph Smith

LOWELL DITTMER. Sino-Soviet Normalization and Its International Implications, 1945–1990. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1992. Pp. viii, 373. $35.00 (US) Reviewed by Dennis J. Dunn

BEATRICE LEUNG. Sino-Vatican Relations: Problems in Conflicting Authority, 1976–1986. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. xix, 415. $74.95 (US). Reviewed by Dennis J. Dunn

ROGER BUCKLEY. US-Japan Alliance Diplomacy, 1945–1990. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. xiv, 225. $49.95 (US). Reviewed by Akira Iriye

JEFFREY GREY. Australian Brass: The Career of Sir Horace Robertson. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. xxi, 249. $59.95 (US). Reviewed by G. C. Bolton

SALLIE PISANI. The CIA and the Marshall Plan. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1991. Pp. x, 188. $25.00 (US). Reviewed by Lawrence S. Wittner

ANUSON CHINVANNO. Thailand's Policies towards China, 1949–54. London: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. xiv, 200. £40.00. Reviewed by Arlene B. Neher

THOMAS-DURRELL YOUNG. Australian, New Zealand, and United States Security Relations, 1951–1986. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992. Pp. xxii, 284. $35.00 (US). Reviewed by Ann Trotter

THOMAS W. ZEILER. American Trade and Power in the 1960s. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Pp. xiv, 371. $45.00 (US). Reviewed by Philip J. Funigiello

RAMESH THAKUR and CARLYLE A. THAYER. Soviet Relations with India and Vietnam. London: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. xi, 315. £45.00. Reviewed by Rajan Menon

EFRAIM KARSH. Soviet Policy towards Syria since 1970. London: Macmillan, 1991.Pp.ix, 235. £35.00 Reviewed by Michael Graham Fry, Tamara Bitar

OLES M. SMOLANSKY with BETTIE M. SMOLANSKY. The USSR and Iraq: The Soviet Quest for Influence. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 1991. Pp. xi, 346. $55.00 (US), cloth; $24.95 (US), paper. Reviewed by Michael Graham Fry, Tamara Bitar

JOHN NORTON MOORE, ed. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Volume IV: The Difficult Search for Peace (1975–1988). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991. Part One: Pp. xxvii, 1,066. $99.50 (US); Part Two: Pp. xvii, 1,072–1,960. $99.50 (US). Reviewed by L. Carl Brown

KATHLEEN BURK and ALEC CAIRNCROSS.‘Goodbye, Great Britain’: The 1976 IMF Crisis. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1992. Pp. xix, 268. $30.00 (US). Reviewed by John McDermott

RICHARD EDMUND WARD. India's Pro-Arab Policy: A Study in Continuity. New York: Praeger, 1992. Pp. x, 172. $39.95 (US). Reviewed by Anita Inder Singh

MARTIN VAN CREVELD. On Future War. London and New York: Brassey's, 1991. Pp. x, 254. £24.00. Reviewed by Geoffrey Blainey

MURRAY WOLFSON. Essays on the Cold War. London: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. x, 244. £45.00. Reviewed by Dietrich Fischer

ADAM WATSON. The Evolution of International Society. New York: Routledge, 1992. Pp. viii, 337. £14.99. Reviewed by Richard Langhorne