Patterns of Christian activity and dispersion in nineteenth-century Jerusalem

Various Christian communities existed in Jerusalem during the nineteenth century. The three largest ones were the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholics (Latins) and the Protestants. These communities were strongly supported by the European Powers, thus enabling them to be very active in the development of the city. Differences in historical background and interest in Jerusalem, plus different culturally based attitudes and values led each community to make a distinct contribution to the developing city landscape. Christian building activity was pronounced: there was the construction of big imposing institutions, churches and convents which usually were used as hospices for pilgrims as well as institutions for education, health and welfare and representative functions. The dispersal of Christian residences took a special form for their locations seem to have been determined by the wish to adhere to historical sites that had special meaning to the various communities. Also the distinctiveness of the religious communal neighbourhoods was confirmed. The contribution of the Christian communities to the urban landscape of Jerusalem during the nineteenth century thus included the construction of prominent buildings which still today dominate the morphology and skyline of the city, and also the strengthening of the special spatial pattern of this historical religious Holy City.     

Analysis of resinous material present on an alabaster lid excavated from Nabataean Moa in the Arava valley

An alabaster lid with a resinous accretion burnt or stuck next to the handle and on the base was uncovered in the Nabataean rest stop in Moyat Aawad (Moa) in the Arava valley in Israel. The analysis of this resin sample utilising GC‐MS revealed several types of compounds. The chemical analysis revealed compounds typically present in pine tar and plant lipid material (probably oil). The use of pine resin, tar and pitch derived from plant resins is documented in antiquity, not only as a sealant or caulking material but also as medicines, antiseptics and ritual balms.     

A Soviet outpost in Tel Aviv: the Soviet legation in Israel, 1948–53

This article inquires into the reasons why the ideal type of ethnic democracy proposed by Sammy Smooha has no viable manifestation other than Israel. Ethnic democracy exists in the tensions between the two contradictory principles of inclusive and egalitarian democracy, on the one hand, and a preference for a majority ethnic group on the other. The archetype of the ideal type of ethnic democracy is Israel. Yet since the conceptual tool of ideal type was developed by Weber for the purpose of overcoming idiosyncrasies and discovering similarities, other manifestations of the ideal type must be found. Although Smooha presupposes that ethnic democracy is essentially “non-Western,” he finds its manifestations mainly in “Western” democracies. He tries to overcome this difficulty by characterizing Israel as the sole embodiment of the ideal type of ethnic democracy. However, a comparison with West European democracies renders the ethnic attributes of Israeli democracy empirically dubious and logically circular.     

The first debate on Palestine in the permanent mandates commission of the league of nations

Francis R. Nicosia, The Third Reich and the Palestine Question, University of Texas Press, Austin, xiv + 319 pp., bibliography, index.

Wm. Roger Louis and Robert W. Stookey (eds.), The End of the Palestine Mandate, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1986, 181 pp.

Norman Rose, Chaim Weizmann, Elizabeth Sifton Books Viking, New York, 1986, illustrated, 520 pp.

Immanuel Jakobovits, If Only My People... : Zionism in My Life, Washington, D.C., B'nai B'rith Books, 1986, xiii + 280 pp.

Moshe Shokeid, The Dual Heritage: Immigrants from the Atlas Mountains in an Israeli Village, Transaction Books, New Brunswick (USA) and Oxford (UK), 1985, xxxiv + 253 pp.

Yahadut Zemanenu: Shenaton le‐'iyun u‐le‐mehkar (Contemporary Jewry: A Research Annual), vol. 3, 1986, ed., Menahem Kaufman, Magnes Press, Jerusalem.

Ze'ev Tzahor and Ze'ev Venia Hadari, Voyage To Freedom: An Episode in the Illegal Immigration to Israel, London, 1985, 214 pp.