Ancient Near East

Jusqu’à peu, on ne savait pas grand-chose de ce royaume. On connaissait à travers quelques documents (Listes royales) l’existence d’une succession de souverains – une dizaine – qui avait régné sur cette principauté maritime de la Basse Mésopotamie, ce qui était bien mince pour couvrir deux siècles d’histoire, de 1720 à 1500 av. J.-C. !

Edith Porada was born on 22 August 1912 in Vienna and died at the age of 81 after a brief illness on 24 March 1994 in the home of her sister, Hilde-gard Randolph, in Honolulu, Hawaii. A renowned scholar of the art of the ancient Near East, she received in 1977 the 12th annual Gold Medal Award of the Archaeological Institute of America for distinguished archaeological achievement. In awarding the medal, the Institute recorded "its gratitude to a generous scholar to whom all of us, laymen, students and scholars, are indebted for making the world of archaeology more learned and more human" (AJA 82 [1978] 248). This tribute, along with the many others accumulated over a long and active life, captures the two traits that stood at the core of this great teacher, scholar, and friend: work and love. Porada's passion for the ancient world, for works of art, and more generally for the life of the mind was formed early under the guidance of tutors who taught both her and her sister in Vienna and at Hagengut, the family estate not far from the pilgrimage center of Mariazell in the mountains of central Austria. Drawn at first to the civilizations of the Minoans and Mycenaeans, she was encouraged by a relative to work in the ancient Near East where, he advised her, "there was still much work to be done." Her gifts and determination were fully manifest by the time she earned her Ph.D. at the age of 23, studying at the University of Vienna with Victor Christian and writing her dissertation on glyptic art of the Old Akkadian period. In 1937 she went to Paris and on the advice of A. Leo Oppenheim, then an

Thorkild Jacobsen (1963; 1976) entwarf ausgehend von den Begriffen von Rudolf Otto (1917) ein Modell der mesopotamischen Religion, das sich durch seine Konsistenz auszeichnet und weite Bereiche von Göttervorstellungen, Mythologie und Ritual abdeckt. Dieser Beitrag will sowohl die Attraktivität wie die Grenzen des substanzialistischen religionsphänomenologischen Ansatzes herausarbeiten, der durch eine monotheistisch geprägte Perspektive gekennzeichnet ist. Des weiteren zeigt sich, wie weit verbreitet dieser Ansatz in der Altorientalistik war und ist, während funktionalistische Ansätze (etwa von E. Durkheim, C. Geertz) kaum rezipiert wurden. In Hinblick auf die religionshistorischen Befunde ist hervorzuheben, dass bei heutigem Wissensstand die Repräsentation von Herrschaft in der Götterwelt schon in der Uruk-Zeit nachweisbar ist, während der von Jacobsen als urtümlich aufgefasste Dumuzi-Amaʼušumgalana aufgrund seiner Namensform einer späteren Schicht des frühen dritten Jahrtausends angehört. Die Quellen der Uruk-Zeit, insbesondere die schriftliche Repräsentation von Städtenamen durch ihre jeweiligen Götter, deuten die Existenz eines mesopotamischen Pantheons schon im Chalkolithikum an. Man muss deshalb davon ausgehen, dass mit der Differenzierung von Göttern nach ihren Funktionsbereichen schon in der Uruk-Zeit auch eine lokale Gliederung einherging.

The nature of the relationship between the Assyrian state and the Syro-Hittite states is often represented in the writings of archaeologists and ancient historians under the rubric of imperialism, Assyrian sovereignty, and the Syro-Hittite resistance, an unchanging formula largely based on center-periphery models. This structuralist model of fixed relationships is thus characterized as a firmly-set trajectory of power relations and a teleological narrative of conquest, ending without exception with the eventual and complete submission and subjugation of Syro-Hittite states to Assyrian military power. While Syro-Hittite states are represented as vulnerable and politically weak entities, the Assyrian state is referred as an “expansionistic imperial power” or “superior invading force”. Had they escaped direct Assyrian sovereignty, these peripheral communities were at least deemed “Assyrianizing” in their material culture. This a priori qualification of Syro-Hittite-Assyrian relationships as an imbalanced power distribution is an outcome of the preponderance of studies of Assyrian sovereignty with an obsession with the (cosmic) image of the sovereign in his visual and verbal manifestations. Secondly it is often assumed that the study of Assyrian imperialism has always operated through coercion and military violence. Alternative forms of engagement between the Neo-Assyrian state and the Syro-Hittite kingdoms such as diplomacy, political negotiation, trade, exchange of ideas, politics of settlement, land management, taxation or traveling craftsmen and circulation of technology and knowledge are much more rarely discussed. In this paper, I suggest that historical perspectives on the unchallenged Assyrian imperialism are often driven by the alluring, yet biased perspectives offered by the sumptuous, if not excessive corpus of Assyrian annalistic accounts, state sponsored texts, and imperial monuments. Therefore such perspectives prioritize short-term political histories of conquest and domination over other longer term and more horizontally distributed aspects of the past such as cultural practices, ecological histories, political landscapes, socialization, or material worlds. The historicist accounts of the Near Eastern past can be challenged and perhaps balanced by evidence offered by archaeological, material, and environmental research, which present alternative and often contrasting perspectives on these particular histories. Prioritizing textual evidence often leaves out the material flows, delicate negotiations of power, dynamics of trade and exchange and the politics of resource extraction. Attending to other forms of evidence allows us to reflect on the complexity of the relationships between Assyria and the Syro-Hittite states. In this article, I pay particular attention to such interactions and encounters that are other than military in nature, and give priority to material evidence that challenge standard imperialist narratives of Assyrian textual accounts.

"This book is the first-ever monograph on the family of royal converts from Adiabene including the broader perspective of the cultural and political environment of Hellenistic and Parthian Adiabene. It collects, arranges and discusses all available sources on the topic.
The study consists of three parts. Part 1 (chapters 1-5) is devoted to the longest ancient account on the Adiabene royalty from all ancient literature – Josephus, Ant. 20:17-96 (“the Adiabene Narrative”). It examines the Adiabene narrative as Josephus’ conscious literary product with all its rhetorical features and ideological agendas.
Part 2 (chapters 6-7) deals with other sources about the family of royal converts from Adiabene. Chapter 6 is devoted to Rabbinic traditions about Queen Helena and King Munbaz. Chapter 7 discusses all Jewish and non-Jewish literary sources which refer to the resting place of Queen Helena and to the palaces of the Adiabene royalty in Jerusalem, what is more, it also provides an updated discussion of relevant archaeological sites in Jerusalem (Le Tombeau des Rois and the Givati Parking Lot).
Part 3 (chapters 8-13) presents the material and political environment of Adiabene from the third century BCE to the third century CE. It discusses all available kinds of sources: geographical and ethnographical texts (chapter 8), archaeological sites (chapter 9), epigraphic and numismatic material (chapter 10), as well as onomastic evidence (chapter 11). Furthermore, chapter 12 provides a basic chronology of the Adiabene royalty in the Hellenistic and Parthian periods, and chapter 13 presents the political environment of Adiabene and Judea in the context of the international relations between Rome and Parthia."
P.S.
So far reviewed by K. Atkinson, Biblica 96 (2015) 635-638; D.M. Jacobson, Palestine Exploration Quarterly 147 (2015) 169-170; E. Kettenhofen, Anabasis. Studia Classica et Orientalia 6 (2015) 297-307; E. Lipiński, Polish Journal of Biblical Research 14 (2015) 201-207;  D.M. Downing, Journal of American Oriental Studies 137 (2017) 428-430; E. Nodet, Revue Biblique 122-124 (2015) 634-635; K. Berthelot, Syria 94 (2017) 415-416; J.-S. Caillou, L’Antiquité Classique 86 (2017) 517-519.

The Bible is full of references to magic and divination, but we rarely find attestations of witches and witchcraft, i.e. women performing acts of black magic. However, there is a mysterious passage in the Book of Ezekiel which seems to relate exactly that. In this compelling lecture Dr Alinda Damsma throws light on the identity and practices of these women, seeing them in the context of other known activities in the Ancient Near East. More info: https://www.treadwells-london.com/events-1/the-bibles-own-witches?mc_cid=27225007b0&mc_eid=50358b363f

The murmuring narratives of the books of Exodus and Numbers depict Israel in the desert as constantly complaining. By taking these ten narratives, Walter Bührer shows that and how Israel's murmuring is more and more negatively interpreted – both in canonical terms as well as regarding the formation of the texts, which become increasingly interwoven.

The chronology of the Late Bronze Age (second half of the 2nd millennium BC), a key period characterised by a flourishing development of urban civilisation, is well known in western Syria, especially on the coast at Ugarit. However, the Late Bronze Age chronology in inner Syria and in particular in the middle Orontes valley still needs to be clarified. Recent excavations and archaeological surveys conducted at the site of Qatna and its surroundings have revealed new challenging data inducing a review of the Late Bronze Age chronology. This paper presents preliminary results of my PhD research on new ceramic findings from the Late Bronze Age excavations carried out in different operations by the Syrian team at Qatna from 2005 to 2010. An innovative approach is suggested that will allow the revision of chronological issues by establishing a new baseline reference for the stratigraphic sequences from Qatna through the examination of ceramic material. This examination based on traditional pottery studies is enhanced by petrographic analyses of ceramic sherds from Qatna and is accompanied by a comparative study of other Late Bronze Age sites in the Orontes valley region.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a case for the Exodus mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a historical event. In an academic environment where most people simply ignore certain parts of the Bible due to the so-called "supernatural" aspects, debates like this ultimately go around in circles more than necessary. The first body paragraphs of this paper, therefore, tackle the stigmas which keep the Exodus from being considered as a serious topic from which history can be determined in one way or another, beginning with a supposed lack of archaeological evidence which, ironically, is rather comparable to what is only slightly more available for the Scythians as compared to the Hebrews. The rest of the papers deals in various historical, linguistic, cultural, geographical, and literary contexts  from which the historicity of the event in question can be sufficiently determined in either the affirmative or negative. The coherence of the arguments made herein will be left up to all the qualified scholars in related fields to determine.

This monograph posits the presence of Meluhha artisans and seafaring merchants in Dilmun and failaka. This presence explains the decipherment of Dilmun seals, Barbar temple bronze bull's head and Failaka seals as Indus Script inscriptions constituting wealth-accounting ledgers, metalwork catalogues. Dilmun and Failaka seals are archives recording trade transactions with Meluhha (Sarasvati Civilization). Dilmun finds mention in cuneiform texts as a trade partner and as a trading post of the Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilization trade route. The bronze bull's head found in Barbar Temple of Bahrein is paralleled by the artifacts of Early Dynastic Sumer as posited by Elisabeth CL During Caspers and also by the Indus Script rebus representation of ḍhangra 'bull' Rebus: ṭhakkura m. ʻ idol, deity (Pkt.); Mth. ṭhākur ʻ blacksmith.ʼ Thus, the deity venerated as the bull's head is a veneration of the ancestor blacksmith who has attained divinity; hence, ṭhakkura m. ʻ idol, deity in Meluhha (Indian sprachbund, 'speech union'). Three temples were discovered in Barbar village, Bahrein, and the oldest is dated to 3000 BCE. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbar_Temple

Audiences are among the dominant elements of courtly life and may be referred to as a central aspect of representation of power in many societies. Audiences also served as a stage for negotiation and political decision-making. Beyond that, the ceremonial of audience acted as an integrative factor, strengthening the connections between the ruler and his subjects, the élite and his dynastic background. It thus reflects the structure, or at least the intended structure of rule, and allows us to get insight into the perception of the ruler in the respective society. This volume offers an approach to forms and structures of audiences in different epochs and regions. Choosing a transcultural and diachronic perspective, it aims at delineating similarities and differences as well as possible lines of development of the ceremonial on a broad basis of case studies.

Community detection is a major issue in network analysis. This paper combines a socio-historical approach with an experimental reconstruction of programs to investigate the early automation of clique detection algorithms, which remains one of the unsolved NP-complete problems today. The research led by the archaeologist Jean-Claude Gardin from the 1950s on non-numerical information and graph analysis is retraced to demonstrate the early contributions of social sciences and humanities. The limited recognition and reception of Gardin’s innovative computer application to the humanities are addressed through two factors, in addition to the effects of historiography and bibliographies on the recording, discoverability, and reuse of scientific productions: 1) funding policies, evidenced by the transfer of research effort on graph applications from temporary interdisciplinary spaces to disciplinary organizations related to the then-emerging field of computer science; and 2) the erratic careers of algorithms, in which efficiency, flaws, corrections, and authors’ status, were determining factors.

The article reads the invention of the Exodus-Narrative in its historical context of the religious and political system of the Ancient Near East. It reconstructs the revolutionary different approach to political power and theological foundation in the development of the Mose- and Exodus-Narrative and its innerbiblical Fortschreibung. For this development it is most decisive that the Exodus-Narrative is not based on a historical migration-movement "from point A to point B", but on a historical confrontation with the political powers at that time. The foundation of a strict monotheistic understanding of theology and the invention of “textual authority” that diverged from the status of scripture in the Ancient Near East and which can be reconstructed through the structure of the Exodus-Narrative and its canonical form as the Tora of Mose, has laid the foundation for the identity of Israel and the basis for the three Monotheistic Religions. The article's argument is strictly developed in correspondence with contemporary exegetical and historical research (esp. E. Otto and Chr. Dohmen) and is brought together with contemporary accounts to political thought from poststructuralist and deconstructive philosophers like Derrida, Levinas, Badiou and Agamben. The outcome of this study is articulated as a contribution to an affirmative reading of the so-called »crisis of representation«.

Data mining of Indus Script Corpora reveal the purpose of ceramic (stoneware) bangles (22), seals, fillets as dharma saṁjñā, 'badges of responsibility'.They are Corporate badges, with deciphered Indus Script inscriptions. Socio-cultural framework of a workshop (smithy-forge as a temple) for a cluster of Vedic villages unravels organization of artisanal-seafaring merchant society as a Corporation with ancient guilds.

The reference to an archaeological settlement of Sarasvati civilization is based on the finds of fire-altars in many sites (80% or over 2000 sites out of 2600 sites of the Indus valley civilization are on the banks of Vedic River Sarasvati), exemplified by the octagonal brick found in Binjor fire-altar (close to Anupgarh and Ganweriwala). At Anupgarh, the river forks into two channels: one flowing southwards towards Jaisalmer and another westwards towards Ganweriwala.


Binjor Indus Script seal PLUS fire-altar with octagonal brick (a signature tune of Vedic culture). See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/12/binjor-seal-with-indus-script.html 
Binjor seal with Indus Script deciphered. Binjor attests Vedic River Sarasvati as a Himalayan navigable channel en route to Persian Gulf
Locus of Binjor, near Anupgarh on Vedic River Sarasvati

There are clear intimations of precursors to corporate life in ancient Bharatam with the social organization of the samajam governed by the weltanchauung of dharma. By unambiguous allocation of socio-cultural responsibilities governing the economic activity and businesses (production and marketing) of Bharatam Janam in clusters of villages, dharma was enshrined as the inviolate principle of all cosmic phenomena manifested in material aspects of living.

There are clear indications that cororate form (sreni) was used for the business of people. One one ceramic (stoneware) bangle (m1639) such a sreni is clearly identified headed by a sreshthin, guild-master. Thus, millennia before the Roman proto-corporations, Bharatam Janam, 'metalcaster folk' had evolved a system of socio-cultural organization of commonwealths (janapadas) for conducting businesses. Assets of the sreni were deposited into the treasury of the commonwealth and were distinct from the assets of the individual members of the sreni, many of whom were artisans and seafaring merchants.
Location of Balakot, a site of Saraswvati civilization where a ceramic (stoneware) bangle with inscription was found. (Balakot 06)
See: http://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/shell-working-at-ancient-balakot-pakistan/ Shell working at Ancient Balakot, Pakistan (Expedition, UPenn., Vol. 19, Issue 2, January, 1977)
  Balakot 06 Ceramic (stoneware) bangle with inscription

Intimations of such janapadas are seen in the way distinct badges (as corporate badges) evolved for specific functionaries. Roots of the corporate form detailed in Kautilya's Arthas'astra are to be found in the corporate identities indicated by distinct structural elements in Indus Script corpora such as ceramic (stoneware) bangles, fillets, seals -- all with inscriptions -- as Dharma saṁjñā Corporate badges. For an Economic History of Corporate form in Ancient India, see a paper by Vikramaditya S. Khanna (2005): http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=796464

It is possible to read the sã̄gāḍā°ḍī 'lathe, portable furnace' hieroglyph-multiplex as rebus: sanghar 'fortification'; jangada 'consignments on approval' The pronunciation in Gujarati is jangaḍ relatable to jangāḍiyo ‘a military guard who accompanies treasure into the treasury’ (of the commonwealth or guild)(Gujarati). Such a dharma saṁjñā 'corporate badge' may be the gold fillet with 'lathe' hieroglyph.

Gold paṭa, 'fillet'. Punctuated design on both ends. Mohenjodaro.


Executive summary: Socio-cultural framework of Vedic village clusters of Bronze Age

The workshops evidenced by circular platforms are Corporations of the Bronze Age, with the emergence of guilds of artisans with specific functions and responsibilities to promote the Corporation as a commonwealth. It was a smiths' guild at work on circular platforms of Harappa using tablets as category 'tallies' for the final shipment of package with a seal impression. each functionary in the guild had a recognizable paṭa 'badge' (Corporate badge of dharma, of responsibility assigned in a socio-cultural organization of the samajam). A Bronze Age village of Bharatam Janam or a cluster of such villages was a janapada, a Corporation of artisan guilds.

Three paṭa 'badges' are shown on the stone statue of the so-called 'priest-king' who wears a fillet on his forehead and also on hi right shoulder. A third badge is signified on his uttariyam (shawl) which is embellished with the hieroglyphs of 'trefoils' signifying tri-dhAtu 'three mineral' strands of dhā̆vaḍ 'smelter', with assigned functional responsibility.of a Potr 'purifier'.

It is suggested that many such badges were worn by artisans of a Vedic village of the Bronze Age; such badges were ceramic (stoneware) bangles.
  An "eye bead" made of gold with steatite inlay, Harappa. Fired steatite beads appear to have been extremely important to the Indus people because they were incorporated into exquisite ornaments, such as this "eye bead" made of gold with steatite inlay found in 1995 at Harappa [Harappa Phase]. https://www.harappa.com/slide/gold-disc
The central ornament worn on the forehead of the famous "priest-king" sculpture from Mohenjo-daro appears to represent an eye bead, possibly made of gold with steatite inlay in the center. https://www.harappa.com/slide/priest-king-forehead

 
The weltanchauung, 'world perception' of artisans in a Vedic village was governed by 1. dharma, assigned responsibilities and 2. the metaphor of a kole.l 'smithy-forge' as a kole.l 'temple'.
Male head probably broken from a seated sculpture. Finely braided or wavy combed hair tied into a double bun on the back of the head and a plain fillet or headband with hanging ribbons falling down the back. The upper lip is shaved and a closely cropped and combed beard lines the pronounced lower jaw.
  Male head shows the typical arrangement of the hair in a double bun, held in place by a thin fillet (badge) tied on the forehead.

Functions assigned were recognized by distribution of ceramic (stoneware) bangles worn as paṭa, 'socio-cultural honour-badges'. Such a paṭa m. ʻ slab, tablet, metal plate ʼ,was distinct from the seals and tablets.

Such a paṭa was a gold fillet with the inscribed sã̄gāḍā°ḍī 'lathe, portable furnace' hieroglyph-multiplex .

Hieroglyph: सांगड [ sāṅgaḍa ]  That member of a turner's apparatus by which the piece to be turned is confined and steadied. सांगडीस धरणें To take into linkedness or close connection with, lit. fig.Rebus 1: Sangara [fr. saŋ+gṛ1 to sing, proclaim, cp. gāyati & gīta] 1. a promise, agreement J iv.105, 111, 473; v.25, 479; sangaraŋ karoti to make a compact Vin i.247; J (Pali) Rebus 2: śã̄gaḍa 'catamaran'. Such a सांगड [ sāṅgaḍa ] is alsoa hieroglyph-multiplex, f A body formed of two or more (fruits, animals, men) linked or joined together.

Such a paṭa were two anthropomorphs of copper/bronze with spread legs of a human body. The rebus reading of the hieroglyph-multiplex (hypertext) on the badges: 1. helmsman, merchantman, (metal) suercargo, engraver, merchant, worker in wood and iron; 2. helmsman, (metal) supercargo, iron worker

Spread legs on both anthropomorphs signify कर्णक 'spread legs' rebus: 'helmsman'

Sharply defined inscriptions on each of the 22 ceramic (stoneware) bangles indicate 21 sharply assigned responsibilities within the guild for metalwork, for e.g. 21 functional allocations of responsibilitie of artisans delineated in a Vedic village:
1. iron smelting, furnace work (m1659)
2. metal casting, engraving, documenting supercargo (m1647)
3. bronze (casting)(m1646)
4. gota (laterite) (m1641)
5. Seafaring merchant, magnetite ingot workshop (m1643)
6. Smithy, forge (m1641)
7. Moltencast copper, brass (m1640)
8. Alloy metal mint, weapons, implements workshop, guild master workshop (m1639)
9. Bronze ingots, implements, magnetite ingots (m1638)
10. Metalcasting workshop (cire perdue?)(m1637)
11. Metal implements, weapons, smithy, forge (m1636)
12. Blacksmith, seafaring merchant (m1634)
13. Helman for supercargo boat, iron furnace work, metals workshop (m1633)
14. Metal casting, alloy mixing workshop (m1632)
15. dhā̆vaḍ 'smelter', supercargo of implements (m1631)
16. Magnetite ingots, furnace work, supercargo engraver (m1630)
17. Iron furnace work, metal casting of tin, helmsman supercargo of metals, bharat ‘mixed alloys’  metalworker (m1629)
18. Minerals workshop guild (h2576)
19. Magnetite ingots, smelter (h1010)
20. dhā̆vaḍ 'smelter' tri-dhAtu, '‘three minerals (H98-3516/8667-01)
21. Seafaring merchant, supercargo engraver(Blkt-6)

This Forum discussion aims to explore the topic of repatriation from a variety of viewpoints considering twenty-first century realities in the region. The contributions
fall into three main categories addressing general background matters, presenting case studies and offering future directions. We hop  that the differing perspectives assembled in this issue of JEMAHS will contribute to the ongoing debate regarding repatriation, curation and ownership of artifacts, some now housed far from their places of origin.

This article reviews recent attempts to view the Dios Apate of Iliad Book 14 as essentially derived from (a series of) Ancient Near Eastern texts, and seeks to demonstrate that such attempts overplay supposed similarities and fail to understand the traditional construction of Homeric poetry in its Hellenic context. Interaction with Ancient Near Eastern traditions remains likely, but it is not to be reduced to an exercise in simplistic Quellenforschung.

Most scholars in the late 20th and early 21st century believed that cultic activity in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah was practiced in various temples that were scattered throughout the kingdoms. Still, a detailed study of the archaeological evidence on Israelite cult reveals that Israelite cultic buildings were extremely rare, both in absolute terms and when compared to other ancient Near Eastern societies, suggesting that cultic activity in temples was the exception rather than the norm and that typical Israelite cult was practiced in the household and in other, non-temple settings. Hence, the evidence suggests that rather than viewing temples, like the one in Arad, as exemplifying typical cultic activity, they should be viewed as exceptions that require a special explanation. The first part of the article develops and updates the suggestion, first raised about ten years ago, that Israelite temples were indeed extremely rare. Given the ancient Near Eastern context, however, such practices seems to be exceptional, and the second part of the article will therefore explain why was such a unique pattern not identified in the past, and will suggest a possible explanation as to how was such an outstanding practice developed and adopted.

This study seeks to ascertain the identification and origins of the commodities in trade between the Levant and Aegean during the Persian period, ca. 540-330 B.C.  Using Semitic and Greek textual sources, as well as numismatic, epigraphic and archaeological evidence, I identify and discuss nearly 200 commodities, including spices, pigments, dyes, chemicals, and manufactured items such as coinage and ceramics.  In the final chapter, a synthesis of the material is presented along with the historic and economic conclusions for Persian period trade that can be drawn from the assembled evidence.

The terms Dt and nHH have often been treated as synonyms reflecting notions related to the vastness of time. However, from the study of original source material – the texts and iconography compiled over some three millennia, and authored by those who surely had complete understanding of their subject matter – it becomes clear that those modern interpretations are somewhat questionable. Clues to the connotations which may be ascribed to Dt and nHH are perhaps most clearly apparent in texts and imagery from the reign of Tutankhamun – a time of some political upheaval during which it was more than usually important to express traditional mores with some clarity so as to demonstrate a return to the well-established ideology underpinning pharaonic culture prior to the Amarna interlude. Testing those indications against the wider range of extant literary material confirms that Dt and nHH were neither synonyms, nor were they entirely temporal in nature, but rather referenced a duality of ontological conditions which together were fundamental to the fabric of pharaonic ideology. The reappraisal of this duality of conditions allows the many texts and iconographic depictions surviving from dynastic Egypt to be considered from a new perspective – one providing deeper insight into the character of pharaonic culture. Moreover, it becomes apparent that the influences of an ideology which evolved during times pre-dating the pyramid builders permeated the philosophical and theological treaties of the scholars of ancient Greece and Rome, and thence into more recent times. At least two great gods may live on.

An enormous amount of research and the synthesization of historical events and archaeological artifacts has led the author to verify Israelite residence in Egypt from 1876–1446 BC. This research is connected to the unexpected discovery of interconnecting archaeological, epigraphical, and iconographical evidence that attests to the presence of Israelites in Egypt over virtually the entire 430 years. By the sheer volume of verifiable evidence of complementary historical data—when comparing the biblical text and the artifactual and epigraphical record—the author attempts to demonstrate convincingly to objective readers that the biblical story of the Egyptian origins of the Israelite ‘nation’ is reliable as a factual account. Never again will students of the Bible have to listen to uniformed university professors denounce the story of Israelites in Egypt without a ready defense for its validity.

This paper examines the demons Pazuzu and Lamaštu from a cognitive science perspective. As hybrid creatures, the iconography of these demons combines an array of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic properties, and is therefore marked by a high degree of conceptual complexity. In a technical sense, they are what cognitive researchers refer to as radically "counterintuitive " representations. However, highly complex religious concepts are difficult in terms of cognitive processing, memory, and transmission , and, as a result, are prone to being spontaneously simplified in structure. Accordingly, there is reason to expect that the material images of Pazuzu and Lamaštu differed from the corresponding mental images of these demons. Specifically, it is argued here that in ancient cognition and memory, the demons would have been represented in a more cognitively optimal manner. This hypothesis is further supported by a detailed consideration of the full repertoire of iconographic and textual sources.

MÖ 9. yüzyıldan itibaren Tuşpa merkezli olarak ortaya çıkan Urartu Krallığı’nın kuruluş süreci kaynakların kısıtlı olması nedeniyle tam anlamıyla açıklığa kavuşturulmuş değildir. Bu dönem genellikle Assur yazıtlarında geçen ‘Uruatri’ ve ‘Nairi’ gibi birtakım tanımlamalarla açıklanmaya çalışılmıştır. MÖ 13. yüzyıldan itibaren Assur kaynaklarında coğrafi birtakım adlandırmalar olarak kullanılan bu terimlerden Uruatri’nin Urartu Krallığı ile ilişkisi ancak MÖ 9. yüzyıldan itibaren kurulabilir. Bu ilişkinin kurulabilmesinde ise Urartulu kralların Assur karşısında ciddi bir siyasi rakip haline dönüşmesi etkilidir...

In this study, I argue that the literary depictions and iconographic images of wings on various hybrid creatures are a means of depicting that creature’s association with wind and the cardinal directions, and that recognizing this correlation offers greater insight into the function and meaning of these creatures in the written and iconographic records generally. As such, I intend to add to our increasing awareness of the close relationship between textual and iconographic motifs in the ancient Near East. Furthermore, I contend that attention to the number of wings a creature possesses informs our understanding of the entity’s perceived cosmological abilities.

It is a precious knowledge of ancient india. this script was originally composed by mahrshi BHARADWAJA, the great indian sage around 5000 BC  ,it content english transtation of some of its sanskrit stotras and shlokas.before wright brothers first aircraft was made by dr Talpade was an Indian scholar who is said to have constructed and flown an unmanned airplane in 1895 with reference of this ancient hindu sanskrit manuscript .

For about 150 years, scholars have attempted to identify the language of the world’s first alphabetic script, and to translate some of the inscriptions that use it. Until now, their attempts have accomplished little more than identifying most of the pictographic letters and translating a few of the Semitic words. With the publication of The World’s Oldest Alphabet, a new day has dawned. All of the disputed letters have been resolved, while the language has been identified conclusively as Hebrew, allowing for the translation of 16 inscriptions that date from 1842–1446 BC. These inscriptions expressly name 3 biblical figures and greatly illuminate the earliest Israelite history in a way that no other book has achieved, apart from the Bible.

Though Odysseus’ tales to Eumaios and Aninoos in Odyssey 14.199–359 and 17.417–44, respectively, are presented as fictional tales within Homer’s larger myth, some elements have striking analogs in Late Bronze–Early Iron Age reality.

This article examines these portions of the hero’s false ainoi within their fictive context for the purpose of identifying and evaluating those elements. Particular focus is given to Odysseus’ declaration that he led nine successful maritime raids prior to the Trojan War; to his twice–described ill–fated assault on Egypt; and to his claim not only to have been spared in the wake of that Egyptian raid, but to have spent a subsequent seven years in the land of the pharaohs, during which he gathered great wealth.

Through a comparative examination of literary and archaeological evidence from the Late Bronze–Early Iron transition in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is shown that these aspects of Odysseus’ stories are not only reflective of the historical reality surrounding the time in which the epic is set, but that Odysseus’ fictive experience is remarkably similar to that of one specific member of the ‘Sea Peoples’ groups best known from 19th and 20th dynasty Egyptian records: the ‘Sherden of the Sea.’