Promoting Women's Rights,Hiding the Empire: Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux,an Imperialist Woman at the United Nations

This contribution examines the role of Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux, the French representative in the UN Commission on the Status of Women between 1948 and 1953. By focusing on Lefaucheux's activism and connection with the French government, this article intends to analyse how French post-imperial policy carried out by reformist women's organisations pursued the expansion of women's and human rights whilst supporting the empire. Using a range of archival sources and the Commission's reports, this work argues that the role of reformist imperial women and organisations was crucial in influencing the Commission which was both a place of contestation and protection of the gendered and colonial order.     

The nature of third-millennium settlement: The example of al-Tikha (Rustaq) an Umm an-Nar site on the Batinah coast of Oman

al-Tikha is a mid to large Umm an-Nar (c. 2700–2000 BC) settlement situated near Rustaq at the back of the Southern Batinah coastal plain in the Sultanate of Oman that was discovered (or rediscovered) in 2014. The site is unique because its layout and spatial organisation are very largely (possibly completely) visible on the surface. This includes two separate areas of stone-built housing, a large pottery scatter of varying density, three or four typical Umm an-Nar round towers and a small cemetery consisting of at least four tombs, along with a few other features. The layout of the site is described and discussed in detail, in particular, in relation to what it might tell us about the nature of Umm an-Nar settlement and social organisation more generally. The location of the site within a pattern of repeating Umm an-Nar settlement along Wadi Far (Wādī al-Farʿī) is also described and discussed.     

Al-Ghoryeen: An Early Bronze Age settlement in central Oman peninsula

Al-Ghoryeen, located 95 km southwest of Muscat, is a unique settlement dating to the Umm an-Nar period and is built upon a Late Hafit period settlement. It was found in 2004 and excavation began in 2018. Preliminary analysis of the results revealed two major occupation phases with an occupational gap in between. A change occurred between the earlier and later phases of the settlement system reflected mainly in the difference in building sizes and plan. We excavated either partially or completely a stone round tower and more than 10 domestic structures. The distribution of the architectural features including the round tower, domestic structures and burials showed some kind of organised settlement structure. The Hafit period settlement was tested in two trenches where ¹⁴C analysis dated the earliest occupation to the late Hafit period.     

Hafit tombs in ash‐Sharqiyah,Oman: assessing the accuracy and precision of Google Earth remote‐sensing survey and analysing their distribution in the landscape

Google Earth and high‐resolution satellite imagery provide a means of carrying out remote‐sensing survey of Hafit tombs able to cover large areas in short periods of time. While the potential of such research has already been demonstrated in the Wādī Andam area, the accuracy and precision of the methodology are not yet clear. A ground survey carried out by a Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) team in western Ja'alan provides an excellent control to assess the efficacy of the method. The study area was surveyed using Google Earth, and the two datasets were compared. Hafit tombs were identified to a high level of accuracy, but approximately 50% of the structures were not visible, with badly preserved tombs more likely to be missed than those in good condition. Remote sensing can be used in the preliminary stages of survey or more generally to discover and analyse broad patterns of Hafit tomb distribution. Comparisons of the distribution of Hafit tombs in western Ja'alan and Wādī Andam reveal clear similarities: the structures occupy elevated positions adjacent to sizeable wadi channels. The density of tombs is much greater in the western Ja'alan study area, which may suggest that Wādī Batha supported a larger Hafit population than Wādī Andam.     

The Early Bronze Age funerary archaeological landscape of western Ja'alan: results of three seasons of investigation

This paper presents the results of three seasons of investigations in the western part of Ja'alan in the southern al‐Sharqyiah Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman. The results highlight the importance of this part of Ja'alan during the Early Bronze Age (EBA), particularly the Hafit period and provide us with important information about the funerary archaeological landscape during this period. The results also reveal important aspects of landscape utilisation and occupation during this time and add to our knowledge of the cultural and economic facets of the earliest Bronze Age societies. The distribution of tombs in the landscape suggests that they were constructed by nomadic or semi‐nomadic pastoral groups that shifted from one location to another in search of grazing for their livestock. The availability and seasonality of natural resources such as water, pasture and game made it necessary for them to mark their tribal territory with their funerary structures.     

The agricultural basis of Umm an-Nar society in the northern Oman peninsula (2500–2000 BC)

This paper argues that the agricultural aspect of the Umm an-Nar economy has been largely ignored by researchers, due to an overemphasis on copper production and trade. This is true at the level of the smallest rural settlements, villages and settlements whose primary focus was agricultural production.
The key social developments of this period have often been explained by linking them to the exploitation of copper ore and its trade with surrounding regions such as Mesopotamia and the Indus. However, this paper will argue — based on quantified pottery analysis — that it is during this time that we see the development, for the first time in the Oman peninsula, of widespread sedentary occupation that was based on small agricultural villages where there is no evidence of copper ore exploitation, thus suggesting that the economic basis of Umm an-Nar society was essentially agricultural.
Furthermore, it will be argued that, through the use of a new survey methodology, it is possible to locate such settlements, even where they have left no traces of monuments, such as tombs or round towers. The methodology allows preliminary comparisons to be made between the intensity of occupation in different periods. The paper also argues that the Umm an-Nar period was one of the most intensive periods of occupation in pre-Islamic history.     

Reading What Is Political Philosophy?

Abstract

Leo Strauss is responsible for the revival of political philosophy as a necessary response to the problem of human life. This essay articulates his own summary account of this necessity, the intellectual underpinning of his division of political philosophy into the classical and the modern approahces, and his preference for the former as the natural path leading to the understanding of man's political situation.     

An Umm an‐Nar culture stone bas‐relief from Al‐Qutainah,Sultanate of Oman

The Al‐Qutainah stone with its bas‐relief decoration was found in a secondary position, reused through time. The object is clearly a facing stone, originally part of an Umm an‐Nar period tomb, and was subsequently repeatedly reused for making new engravings. While working out the sequence of images it became clear that the very first image was a pair of human figures. This artwork is associated to grave architecture and therefore dates to the Umm an‐Nar period. Two models of interpretation can be suggested, the image of a human pair or the image of a supplicant and deity. Changes in the original meaning of the image indicate conceptual changes in subsequent periods, most probably alterations in the underlying social structure. The importance of the Qutainah stone is not solely due to rare monumental human figurative expression of the period in Oman; furthermore, the find spot in the Adam region is at a distance from the central location of Umm an‐Nar culture that has so far emerged.     

The agricultural basis of Umm an-Nar society in the northern Oman peninsula (2500–2000 BC)

This paper argues that the agricultural aspect of the Umm an-Nar economy has been largely ignored by researchers, due to an overemphasis on copper production and trade. This is true at the level of the smallest rural settlements, villages and settlements whose primary focus was agricultural production.
The key social developments of this period have often been explained by linking them to the exploitation of copper ore and its trade with surrounding regions such as Mesopotamia and the Indus. However, this paper will argue — based on quantified pottery analysis — that it is during this time that we see the development, for the first time in the Oman peninsula, of widespread sedentary occupation that was based on small agricultural villages where there is no evidence of copper ore exploitation, thus suggesting that the economic basis of Umm an-Nar society was essentially agricultural.
Furthermore, it will be argued that, through the use of a new survey methodology, it is possible to locate such settlements, even where they have left no traces of monuments, such as tombs or round towers. The methodology allows preliminary comparisons to be made between the intensity of occupation in different periods. The paper also argues that the Umm an-Nar period was one of the most intensive periods of occupation in pre-Islamic history.