Trade and Power in Ancient Egypt: Middle Egypt in the Late Third/Early Second Millennium BC

Middle Egypt provides a unique insight into the organization of power, politics, economy, and culture at the turn of the third millennium BC. The apparently easy integration of this region into the reunified monarchy of king Mentuhotep II (2055–2004 BC) was possible because the interests and the local lineages of potentates were preserved. Trade and access and/or control of international exchange networks were important sources of wealth and power then. And Middle Egypt appears as a crossroads of diverse populations, as a hub of political and economic power, as a crucial node of exchanges through the Nile Valley, and as a power center whose rulers provided support to the monarchy in exchange of local autonomy and considerable political influence at the Court. In the new conditions of early second millennium, potentates from Middle Egypt succeeded in occupying a unique advantageous position, not matched elsewhere in Egypt, because of the concentration of wealth, trade routes, new technologies, political power, and autonomy in the territories they ruled.     

The reflection of human activity in the sediments of Iwankowskie Lake from Subatlantic Phase (Polish Outer Carpathians)

The paper presents the analysis of organic and mineral sediments filling the depression, which developed over the landslide located at the slope (767–773 m a.s.l.) of Lubań ridge decscending to the Ochotnica river valley in the Polish Flysch Carpathians. The landslide formed in an early stage of the Subatlantic Phase (2490 ± 35 BP). The top of peat is dated at 1360 ± 50 years BP and is covered by 72 cm of clayey silts with some sandy intercalations, which indicate slopewash after deforestation. The pollen of ruderal plants and Cerealia (undiff.) reflect agricultural activity in the surroundings. The fragments of charcoal indicate the age of the forest clearance to the first half of the 17^th century. The late forest clearance at the elevated north exposed slopes followed 200–300 years later in relation to the foundation of the village at the valley floor.     

Reluctant liars? Public debates on propaganda and democracy in twentieth-century Britain (ca. 1914–1950)

The place of propaganda in a democratic society has been discussed long before the age of fake news, as the heated debate on this issue that took place in the UK and other democracies from around 1914 to 1950 clearly shows. Drawing upon a variety of published and archival sources, the article examines the changing views of British political elites, intellectuals, publicity experts and the public on the proper role of government in the public sphere, while discussing their influence on government policies and exploring the light they shed on British—and, more broadly, liberal democratic—culture and identity.