‘A Local Terrorist Made Good’: the Callaghan government and the Arab–Israeli peace process, 1977–79

The British government had played an important role during the 1950s and 1960s as a mediator in the Arab–Israeli conflict, most notably through the development of Project Alpha between 1954 and 1956, and through the negotiation of United Nations Security Council resolution 242 in 1967. Between 1977 and 1979, British Prime Minister James Callaghan played a supporting role to US President Jimmy Carter as he negotiated the Camp David Accords of 1978. Callaghan adopted a pro-Israeli stance, cultivating close relations with the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and defending Begin’s position over key issues, particularly his reluctance to remove settlements from the occupied territories. In this respect Callaghan’s government departed from established British policy, even abstaining over United Nations Security Council resolution 446 in March 1979 which condemned continuing Israeli settlement activity. This resulted in damage to Britain’s relations with moderate Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan.     

An Arab Chariot Monument at Umm al-Jimāl

ABSTRACT

This article deals with unpublished fragments of sculpture in basalt found at Umm al-Jimāl, a site of a ruined Nabataean-Roman to Byzantine settlement in northern Jordan, six kilometers south of the border with Syria. The sculptures are typical for the southern Syrian volcanic zone of the Hawrān. The site is located at the extreme southern outcrop of this area, today part of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The fragments are contemporary with a better-preserved corpus of similar sculptures investigated by the authors in the basalt desert of al-Ledjā, ancient Trachon(itis). At Umm al-Jimāl, an analogous chariot group driven by deities can be identified by a wheel block with traces of the tail hairs of animals in harness. The assembled figures in human shape with drapery are parallel to the Sahr al-Ledjā statuary. Taking all extant evidence into account, the authors propose recognizing the sculptural remnants from Umm al-Jimāl as testimony of a strongly Hellenistic-Romanized embellishment of a hitherto little-known Arab-Nabataean sanctuary dating to the first or second century AD. This shrine together with its sculptures had most probably been destroyed by the Palmyrenean Campaign in the later third century AD.     

春秋战国时期优抚思想管见

优抚思想在春秋战国时期的发展．与长期的战争环境有直接关系,是时代的产物。战争要求军事家和政治家们调动一切手段来激励将士奋勇杀敌,这是优抚思想产生和发展的最重要动因。春秋战国时期的优抚范围涉及所有将士,优抚对象有烈士家属、现役军人家属、残疾军人和没有后代的阵亡将士等;优抚内容既有物质奖赏．也有精神鼓励;优抚费用来自国家税收和“以战养战”。     

论井渠技术的起源

井渠是我国古代发明的一项用地下暗渠引水灌溉的技术,西汉龙首渠是最早见于记载和经考古调查证实的井渠,秦始皇陵园发现的排水暗渠早于龙首渠,且技术已较成熟。根据我国早期矿冶遗址和相关的文献记载,井渠之法至迟在春秋时期即已出现。井渠起源于本土,它是坎儿井的源头,该项技术被后世广泛应用于隧道的开凿等。     

2011 Cultural heritage legal summary

Abstract

This article summarizes the legal developments during 2011 that affect archaeological heritage. Among the more significant developments were advances in and challenges to the use of international law in deterring the trade in undocumented antiquities and questions of whether artifacts on loan to U.S. institutions from Iran could be used to satisfy judgments against Iran awarded to victims of terrorist bombings. Finally, the article presents a preliminary assessment of the impact of the "Arab Spring" conflicts on cultural heritage preservation.     

寿县西圈发现的墓葬

寿春城遗址西部清理的3座墓葬,从建造规模及随葬的铜饰件、车马器、铜剑来看,均为中型墓葬,年代可能为春秋晚期,该墓地很可能是历史上的蔡国故地。     

春秋时期河洛地区少数民族研究

春秋时期是河洛地区民族融合的重要历史时期,这里的少数民族以戎、狄为代表,分布在以黄河为中轴线的山地丘陵地区,这些少数民族的生活条件恶劣,大多仍处于游牧阶段。其与诸侯国的关系是和、战并存。二之间安和局面的出现既有诸侯国为了自身的需要而利用少数民族为其争霸服务,也有少数民族依附于某一强大诸侯国以求得庇护的因素。其衰亡既有自身不适应社会发展需要的原因,也有诸侯国统一战争的必然。     

大冶五里界春秋城址勘探发掘简报

本文通过对五里界城考古调查、勘探、发掘资料的整理研究,初步判定五里界城为春秋时期的城址,其主要功能是当时采矿、冶炼生产过程中的管理、仓储、转运中心。简报报道的田野考古资料, 为探索鄂东南楚文化进入之前的考古学文化面貌以及楚文化在鄂东南的历史进程与特征提供了较为系统的资料。     

桃源不在世外:论三至十三世纪武陵地区“桃花源”实体景观的建构过程

虽然陶渊明撰成《桃花源记》后,文人羽士对"桃花源"进行过不同的描述和阐释,且将其附会到武陵地区,但是迄至唐中叶,桃花源仍仅是传说中的意象,并无确指之地。唐宋之际,在道士、当地官员的推动下,桃花源在武陵县渐被塑造成了一个具体的洞天,人们开始有意识的从事桃花源的实体景观构建,此种努力至桃源建县时达到一个高峰。不同时代形塑"桃花源"的主体与背景的差异留下了不同的景观,作为实体的非连续性和作为文化资源的接续性统一于其塑造过程。     

An Iron Age II snake cult in the Oman peninsula: evidence from Bithnah (Emirate of Fujairah)

Excavations carried out by the French Archaeological Mission at Bithnah-44/50 (Emirate of Fujairah) have provided new data about Iron Age II cultic practices in the Arabian Peninsula centred on the symbol of the snake. The site includes a public building, various types of shrines, and a central area of offerings where the remains of animal sacrifices were buried in pits. These remains are presented and a preliminary account of the evolution of the site is given on the base of the site's stratigraphy.