Grave Marking and Wailing: Ritual Responses to the Babylonian Crisis in Jeremiah’s Poetry (Jer 31, 21)

This article explores Jer 31,15-22, which recapitulates the history of the Babylonian crisis from invasion to exile to manumission. Against traditional “triumphalistic” approaches to this poem that view the restored Israel in its repatriation as a victorious warrior (vv. 21-22), this article argues for a ritual reading of the text. It demonstrates that the need for a ritual response to the Babylonian crisis was so strong that Jeremiah prescribes mourning rites to Judah not only at the time of its demise (v. 15) but also at the time of its manumission from captivity (v. 21). Since the use of laments and other mourning rites in the restoration of “collapse societies” was well attested in the ANE, their appearance in the Book of Consolation as part of the poetic vision of Judah’s reconstitution can also be construed as a socio-religious necessity.     

Accurate measurements with primitive instruments: the “paradox” in the qanat design

Qanats are up to 3000 years old artificial sub-horizontal underground water channels, 5–80 km long, widespread in Iran, but also common in western China, Arabia and the Mediterranean; they were excavated from the bottom of vertical shafts, starting from their exit and advancing upstream till main, productive wells, constructed at the very beginning of the project were met. Successful qanat excavation therefore required accurate geodetic design, though based on primitive instruments; an apparent “paradox”, obscured by the tremendous social and economic significance of qanats controlling lifestyle in arid regions.     

古巴比伦婚姻习俗若干问题的再考察

长期以来,法制史家和亚述学家分别依据《汉穆拉比法典》有关婚姻的条款和古巴比伦时期有关婚姻的文献来研究古巴比伦时期的婚姻习俗,然而,他们的研究方法以及某些结论值得商榷。童养媳、婚约、聘金以及离婚权等问题的研究表明,只有将《汉穆拉比法典》有关婚姻的条款与古巴比伦时期的婚姻文献相结合,才能研究古巴比伦时期的婚姻习俗问题。上述问题的研究还表明,古巴比伦妇女在婚姻中处于被动地位,商品经济对婚姻影响很大。     

初一数学教学体会谈

初一学生处于半幼稚、半成熟阶段,掌握其规律教学,更应善于引导,使他们旺盛的精力,强烈的好奇化为强烈的求知欲望和认真学习的精神,变被动学习为主动自觉学,习让学生的各种素质都得到有效的发展和培养。     

初中数学活动课操作策略初探

数学活动课可安排学生进行探索性的活动,通过一些具体的操作,亲自实践,然后由学生对问题进行思考,得出数学结论,培养学生解决问题的能力和探索问题的精神。学习的过程,不仅是一个学生主动参与的过程,更是一个学生创造的过程。学生在这个探索空间里,不仅是一个发现者、探索者,更是一个创造者。     

新教材背景下初中数学教学的实施

数学教学的核心是学生的再创造,让学生经历知识的再创造过程,培养了学生的创造性思维。学生从教师的教转向主动地学,在教师的指导下去建构数学知识,为学生能够顺利地用数学知识解决实际问题奠定了良好的知识基础。     

浅谈初中数学的启发式教学

根据初中数学的特点和初中学生的认知水平、高中升学考试中难度题的分值增加大,为了让学生能考出好成绩,帮助他们找到分析难题的方法,从而达到学会解题。     

Hosea: a Schizophrenic Prophet

ABSTRACT

In this literary analysis of Jer 13,1-11, various suggestions are discussed in regard to the intention of the author, the peculiarity of God’s commands in the story, the identification of Perath, the choice for a linen gir-dle, the relation between the narrative part and the prophecies at the end of the passage, the symbolic meaning of the river Euphrates, and the hidden meaning of the text as a whole. Discarding existing less probable interpreta-tions, the author offers a new reading of the text and clarifies its place within the book of Jeremiah as a literary composition.     

Between science and empire: the diplomatic struggle over Mesopotamian antiquities in Lisbon (1914–1926)

A powerful curiosity to discover the ancient world – reaching its peak in the nineteenth century – led to British, French, and German museums to enhance their collections with a great number of Mesopotamian antiquities. Most of these were the product of excavation work, which took years, followed by a shipping process fraught with hurdles and delays – much as when Babylonian and Assyrian antiquities were stranded in Portugal over the period 1914–26. In that case Portuguese officials seized the hoard of Babylonian and Assyrian items due to be sent to Germany at the beginning of the First World War by the German Oriental Society, which had carried out excavation works in Ottoman territories in the name of Kaiser II Wilhelm. The extensive British efforts and diplomatic exchanges aimed at bringing the pieces to London after the war, presents us with important clues regarding ownership disputes over antiquities, and the imperial struggle to acquire the cultural heritage of the near east. This study reveals that, under the existing legal framework, the items eventually taken to Berlin actually belonged to the Imperial Museum in Istanbul, and analyzes the discourse of ‘scientific concern’ constructed by British diplomacy.