scholarly journals The Cubit: A History and Measurement Commentary

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark H. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Chronological Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Francis Galton ◽  
Over Time

Historical dimensions for the cubit are provided by scripture and pyramid documentation. Additional dimensions from the Middle East are found in other early documents. Two major dimensions emerge from a history of the cubit. The first is the anthropological or short cubit, and the second is the architectual or long cubit. The wide geographical area and long chronological period suggest that cubit dimensions varied over time and geographic area. Greek and Roman conquests led to standardization. More recent dimensions are provided from a study by Francis Galton based upon his investigations into anthropometry. The subjects for Galton’s study and those of several other investigators lacked adequate sample descriptions for producing a satisfactory cubit/forearm dimension. This finding is not surprising given the demise of the cubit in today’s world. Contemporary dimensions from military and civilian anthropometry for the forearm and hand allow comparison to the ancient unit. Although there appears no pressing need for a forearm-hand/cubit dimension, the half-yard or half-meter unit seems a useful one that could see more application.

Correcting for the Problems of the Survey Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Shields
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Come ◽  
Over Time

Every year, I teach a broad survey course on the Modern Middle East (between 120 and 200 students), along with seminars on a wide range of topics. Regardless of the content of these courses, I have three big goals. I want them to come away understanding that the history of the region is more complex and fascinating than they learned in high school and from the pundits, and the simplistic assumptions and solutions they offer answer no questions. Second, I want to persuade them that things change over time, and we can't understand anything without knowing its context—and the context of the Middle East is global. But most imperative: I want to convince students to be critical in analyzing sources of information. Informed citizenship requires students to be able to think critically, and that is what historians do offer. We analyze multiple sources in myriad ways.

Press Propaganda and Subaltern Agents of Pan-Islamic Networks in the Muslim Mediterranean World prior to World War I

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Odile Moreau
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
World War I ◽  
North Africa ◽  
World War ◽  
Subaltern Studies ◽  
Resistance Movements ◽  
The Press ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
History Of

This chapter explores movement and circulation across the Mediterranean and seeks to contribute to a history of proto-nationalism in the Maghrib and the Middle East at a particular moment prior to World War I. The discussion is particularly concerned with the interface of two Mediterranean spaces: the Middle East (Egypt, Ottoman Empire) and North Africa (Morocco), where the latter is viewed as a case study where resistance movements sought external allies as a way of compensating for their internal weakness. Applying methods developed by Subaltern Studies, and linking macro-historical approaches, namely of a translocal movement in the Muslim Mediterranean, it explores how the Egypt-based society, al-Ittihad al-Maghribi, through its agent, Aref Taher, used the press as an instrument for political propaganda, promoting its Pan-Islamic programme and its goal of uniting North Africa.

The Making of the Medieval Middle East

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Tannous
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Religious History ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Conversion To Islam ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
The Middle Ages

In the second half of the first millennium CE, the Christian Middle East fractured irreparably into competing churches and Arabs conquered the region, setting in motion a process that would lead to its eventual conversion to Islam. This book argues that key to understanding these dramatic religious transformations are ordinary religious believers, often called “the simple” in late antique and medieval sources. Largely agrarian and illiterate, these Christians outnumbered Muslims well into the era of the Crusades, and yet they have typically been invisible in our understanding of the Middle East's history. What did it mean for Christian communities to break apart over theological disagreements that most people could not understand? How does our view of the rise of Islam change if we take seriously the fact that Muslims remained a demographic minority for much of the Middle Ages? In addressing these and other questions, the book provides a sweeping reinterpretation of the religious history of the medieval Middle East. The book draws on a wealth of Greek, Syriac, and Arabic sources to recast these conquered lands as largely Christian ones whose growing Muslim populations are properly understood as converting away from and in competition with the non-Muslim communities around them.

The Path of Standard Albanian Language Formation

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-115
Author(s):  
Sindorela Doli Kryeziu
Keyword(s):  
Single Unit ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Language History ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors ◽  
Cultural Body ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Language Literature

Abstract In our paper we will talk about the whole process of standardization of the Albanian language, where it has gone through a long historical route, for almost a century.When talking about standard Albanian language history and according to Albanian language literature, it is often thought that the Albanian language was standardized in the Albanian Language Orthography Congress, held in Tirana in 1972, or after the publication of the Orthographic Rules (which was a project at that time) of 1967 and the decisions of the Linguistic Conference, a conference of great importance that took place in Pristina, in 1968. All of these have influenced chronologically during a very difficult historical journey, until the standardization of the Albanian language.Considering a slightly wider and more complex view than what is often presented in Albanian language literature, we will try to describe the path (history) of the standard Albanian formation under the influence of many historical, political, social and cultural factors that are known in the history of the Albanian people. These factors have contributed to the formation of a common state, which would have, over time, a common standard language.It is fair to think that "all activity in the development of writing and the Albanian language, in the field of standardization and linguistic planning, should be seen as a single unit of Albanian culture, of course with frequent manifestations of specific polycentric organization, either because of divisions within the cultural body itself, or because of the external imposition"(Rexhep Ismajli," In Language and for Language ", Dukagjini, Peja, 1998, pp. 15-18.)

TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST

2019 ◽  
pp. 13-24
Author(s):  
Evgenii V. Palamarenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Major Trading Partner ◽  
Economic Interaction ◽  
History Of ◽  
Close Cooperation ◽  
Economic Ties ◽  
Israeli Economy

The lack of Russian-language research on the features of the economic development of Israel as an OECD member state underlines the urgent need to identify new trends in the Israeli economy. Not taking into account the existing variety of humanitarian studies, and especially the concentration of studies on the political history of Israel and its modern component, we can recognize a clear lack of work that would cover Israeli economy. Current trends in Israeli trade relations, which have begun to make the mselves clear, require both consideration of effective trade and economic interaction between Israel and Palestine, and identification of the peculiarities of hidden regional trade and economic ties. Israel and Palestine are in close cooperation on the exchange of labor and goods, despite the lack of a political settlement. For Palestine, Israel is a major trading partner, and Palestine plays a key security role for Israel. The second important aspect in covering new trends in the Israeli economy may be the need to study the nascent format of cooperation between Israel and the Middle East. The article explores the specifics of economic relations between Israel and the countries of the Middle East, reveals the growing role of economic relations between Israel and the countries of the region.

Turkey’s foreign policy priorities in the Middle East and Afghanistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10-3) ◽  
pp. 228-237
Author(s):  
Marina Shpakovskaya ◽  
Oleg Barnashov ◽  
Arian Mohammad Hassan Shershah ◽  
Asadullah Noori ◽  
Mosa Ziauddin Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
Turkish Foreign Policy ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
East Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle East Region

The article discusses the features and main approaches of Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East. Particular attention is paid to the history of the development of Turkish-American relations. The causes of the contradictions between Turkey and the United States on the security issues of the Middle East region are analyzed. At the same time, the commonality of the approaches of both countries in countering radical terrorism in the territories adjacent to Turkey is noted. The article also discusses the priority areas of Turkish foreign policy, new approaches and technologies in the first decade of the XXI century.

Битвазапрошлое:храмсвятогоГеоргия вИзраавэпицентре церковно-политическойборьбыконцаXIXв.

2019 ◽  
pp. 256-281
Author(s):  
E.M. Kopot`
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Late 19Th Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Church

The article brings up an obscure episode in the rivalry of the Orthodox and Melkite communities in Syria in the late 19th century. In order to strengthen their superiority over the Orthodox, the Uniates attempted to seize the church of St. George in Izraa, one of the oldest Christian temples in the region. To the Orthodox community it presented a threat coming from a wealthier enemy backed up by the See of Rome and the French embassy. The only ally the Antioch Patriarchate could lean on for support in the fight for its identity was the Russian Empire, a traditional protector of the Orthodox Arabs in the Middle East. The documents from the Foreign Affairs Archive of the Russian Empire, introduced to the scientific usage for the first time, present a unique opportunity to delve into the history of this conflict involving the higher officials of the Ottoman Empire as well as the Russian embassy in ConstantinopleВ статье рассматривается малоизвестный эпизод соперничества православной и Мелкитской общин в Сирии в конце XIX века. Чтобы укрепить свое превосходство над православными, униаты предприняли попытку захватить церковь Святого Георгия в Израа, один из старейших христианских храмов в регионе. Для православной общины он представлял угрозу, исходящую от более богатого врага, поддерживаемого Римским престолом и французским посольством. Единственным союзником, на которого Антиохийский патриархат мог опереться в борьбе за свою идентичность, была Российская Империя, традиционный защитник православных арабов на Ближнем Востоке. Документы из архива иностранных дел Российской Империи, введены в научный оборот впервые, уникальная возможность углубиться в историю этого конфликта с участием высших должностных лиц в Османской империи, а также российского посольства в Константинополе.

Послестолетийодиночества:изменение социальнойпсихологиисирийскиххристианвновоевремя

2019 ◽  
pp. 218-255
Author(s):  
T.Yu. Kobischanov
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Historical Science ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
The World ◽  
Psychological Transformation ◽  
History Of

Quite often in the course of historical events, social and economic changes obscure the changes in cultural psychology of ethnic groups and their representatives. The historical science explains what happened, how and why it was happening but very rarely gives us a chance to understand what people were feeling in this respect, what processes were going on in their individual and common consciousness and in the subconscious. The drama that the Christians of the Middle East are going through, the final act of which we are probably witnessing these days, urges us to look for its roots in the distant past. The Ottoman period in the history of East Christian communities is of particular significance. The Middle East Christians got under the Turkish rule as a discriminated minority pushed out on the curb of sociopolitical life, but by the beginning of the 20th century the Christians of the Middle East as a whole, and Christian communities of Syria and Lebanon in particular, were flourishing and were perfectly well adapted to possibilities that inclusion of the Ottoman state into the world capitalist system had to offer. The upgrade of the Christians status was accompanied by gradual changes in their social psychology including self identification of the members of the Christian communities, remodelling of their behaviour patterns in everyday life and in conflict situations as well as psychology of introconfessional relations. This research is an attempt to describe and analyse this cultural and psychological transformation.Нередко в ходе исторических событий социальноэкономические изменения затмевают изменения в культурной психологии этнических групп и их представителей. Историческая наука объясняет, что произошло, как и почему это происходило, но очень редко дает нам возможность понять, что чувствовали люди в этом отношении, какие процессы происходили в их индивидуальном и общем сознании и в подсознании. Драма, которую переживают христиане Ближнего Востока, заключительный акт которой мы, вероятно, наблюдаем в эти дни, побуждает нас искать ее корни в далеком прошлом. Османский период в истории восточных христианских общин имеет особое значение. Ближневосточные христиане попали под турецкое правление как дискриминируемое меньшинство, вытесненное на обочину общественнополитической жизни, но к началу 20 века христиане Ближнего Востока в целом, и христианские общины Сирии и Ливана в частности, процветали и были прекрасно приспособлены к возможностям, которые могло предложить включение Османского государства в мировую капиталистическую систему. Обновление статуса христиан сопровождалось постепенными изменениями в их социальной психологии, включая самоидентификацию членов христианских общин, перестройку их моделей поведения в повседневной жизни и в конфликтных ситуациях, а также психологию внутриконфессиональных отношений. Это исследование является попыткой описать и проанализировать эту культурную и психологическую трансформацию.

The burden of cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Middle East: A systematic review and meta-analysis focusing on primary prevention

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula ◽  
Abdullah Shehab ◽  
Anhar Ullah ◽  
Jamal Rahmani
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Family History ◽  
Primary Prevention ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
History Of

Background: The increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) threatens the Middle Eastern population. Several epidemiological studies have assessed CVD and its risk factors in terms of the primary prevention of CVD in the Middle East. Therefore, summarizing the information from these studies is essential. Aim: We conducted a systematic review to assess the prevalence of CVD and its major risk factors among Middle Eastern adults based on the literature published between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2018 and carried out a meta-analysis. Methods: We searched electronic databases such as PubMed/Medline, ScienceDirect, Embase and Google Scholar to identify literature published from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2018. All the original articles that investigated the prevalence of CVD and reported at least one of the following factors were included: hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, smoking and family history of CVD. To summarize CVD prevalence, we performed a random-effects meta-analysis. Results: A total of 41 potentially relevant articles were included, and 32 were included in the meta-analysis (n=191,979). The overall prevalence of CVD was 10.1% (95% confidence interval (CI): 7.1-14.3%, p<0.001) in the Middle East. A high prevalence of CVD risk factors, such as dyslipidaemia (43.3%; 95% CI: 21.5-68%), hypertension (26.2%; 95% CI: 19.6-34%) and diabetes (16%; 95% CI: 9.9-24.8%), was observed. The prevalence rates of other risk factors, such as smoking (12.4%; 95% CI: 7.7-19.4%) and family history of CVD (18.7%; 95% CI: 15.4-22.5%), were also high. Conclusion: The prevalence of CVD is high (10.1%) in the Middle East. The burden of dyslipidaemia (43.3%) in this region is twice as high as that of hypertension (26.2%) and diabetes mellitus (16%). Multifaceted interventions are urgently needed for the primary prevention of CVD in this region.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document