A Sacred Landscape of Sumer: Statuettes from Ur Depicting a Goat on a Tree

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Naomi F. Miller ◽  
Philip Jones ◽  
Richard L. Zettler ◽  
Holly Pittman
Keyword(s):  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Third Millennium ◽  
Daily Ritual ◽  
Rosette Leaf

Abstract The statuettes commonly referred to as “Ram Caught in a Thicket” (2500 BC) may well be associated with what is known from later texts (2nd millennium BC) as the (daily) determining-of-the-fates ritual that occurred at sunrise. Symbolic elements (tree, rosette, leaf, possible mountain), and motifs (quadruped facing a tree) occur in other media—glyptic, musical instruments—and their meaning informs the unique combination of elements found in these two statuettes. It is proposed that the statuettes are offering stands. The composition as a whole represents a sacred landscape rather than a charming genre scene. It is likely that the statuettes were associated with the daily ritual of the determining of the fates, which would push the later attestations of that ritual and the cosmological view behind it back to the mid-third millennium BC.

Waltillia, a new monotypic genus in Tillandsioideae (Bromeliaceae) arises from a rediscovered, allegedly extinct species from Brazil

Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 299 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELTON M. C. LEME ◽  
HEIDEMARIE HALBRITTER ◽  
MICHAEL H. J. BARFUSS
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequence ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Monotypic Genus ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
Sequence Analyses ◽  
Extinct Species ◽  
Rosette Leaf

A new monotypic genus of Bromeliaceae, Waltillia, is described to accommodate a single rediscovered species, Waltillia hatschbachii, thought to be extinct and formerly placed in either Vriesea or Alcantarea. This new genus is ecologically and morphologically distinct from the remaining genera of subfamily Tillandsioideae in its unique combination of characters including those of habit, leaf rosette, leaf blades, flowers, petals, anthers, pollen, stigma, and seeds. Phylogenetic DNA sequence analyses indicate that the individuals of W. hatschbachii form a monophyletic, highly supported group in sister position to Alcantarea s.str., with Alcantarea and Waltillia being sister to the clade containing Vriesea s.str. and Stigmatodon.

Microstructural and fractographic characterization of B4C-Al cermets tested under dynamic and static loading

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 562-563
Author(s):  
Gyeung Ho Kim ◽  
Mehmet Sarikaya ◽  
D. L. Milius ◽  
I. A. Aksay
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Static Loading ◽  
Carbon Deposition ◽  
Full Density ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
Strong Component ◽  
Reaction Products

Cermets are designed to optimize the mechanical properties of ceramics (hard and strong component) and metals (ductile and tough component) into one system. However, the processing of such systems is a problem in obtaining fully dense composite without deleterious reaction products. In the lightweight (2.65 g/cc) B4C-Al cermet, many of the processing problems have been circumvented. It is now possible to process fully dense B4C-Al cermet with tailored microstructures and achieve unique combination of mechanical properties (fracture strength of over 600 MPa and fracture toughness of 12 MPa-m1/2). In this paper, microstructure and fractography of B4C-Al cermets, tested under dynamic and static loading conditions, are described.The cermet is prepared by infiltration of Al at 1150°C into partially sintered B4C compact under vacuum to full density. Fracture surface replicas were prepared by using cellulose acetate and thin-film carbon deposition. Samples were observed with a Philips 3000 at 100 kV.

Athens and Jerusalem in the Third Millennium

2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-267
Author(s):  
Alexander H. Joffe
Keyword(s):  
The Third ◽  
Third Millennium

A Different Kind of Animal

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
Essential Ingredient ◽  
Princeton University

Human beings have evolved to become the most dominant species on Earth. This astonishing transformation is usually explained in terms of cognitive ability—people are just smarter than all the rest. But this book argues that culture—our ability to learn from each other—has been the essential ingredient of our remarkable success. The book shows how a unique combination of cultural adaptation and large-scale cooperation has transformed our species and assured our survival—making us the different kind of animal we are today. The book is based on the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, featuring challenging responses across the chapters.

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