Qumran Calendars: A Survey of Scholarship 1980—2007

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Ben-Dov ◽  
Stéphane Saulnier

The present article surveys the scholarship on the calendars represented in the Qumran texts and the Pseudepigrapha. The survey commences with the influential articles by VanderKam in the late 1970s, while relating also to Jaubert's earlier hypothesis. After a presentation and classification of the relevant texts, we proceed to elucidate the prominent calendrical and historical themes: the calendar in Jubilees and the Temple Scroll; the early history of the 364-day year in Judah; the non-Jewish origins of the 364-day calendar tradition; intercalation and the beginning of the day; and the various accounts of lunar phases in writings from Qumran. Broadly speaking, present-day research tends to emphasize the schematic aspect of the 364-day calendar tradition, renouncing the older view of this system as a `solar' calendar. In addition, Jaubert's hypothesis on the antiquity of the 364-day calendar, although still upheld in significant parts of current scholarship, is seriously challenged when viewed in a broader historical context. Finally, the Jewish astronomical and calendrical lore is increasingly explained on the background of astral sciences in the Hellenistic world—from Mesopotamia to Egypt.

1970 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Claus Peter Zoller

We owe to Ralph Lilley Turner the correct classification of Romani as originating from a central or inner form of Indo-Aryan. Turner also clarified that the “Dardic” elements in Romani have been borrowed into early Romani after its speakers had left their original home and reached the north-west of South Asia where they stayed for several hundred years before finally leaving the subcontinent. Until now, the extent of the “Dardic” influence on early Romani was poorly understood. In the present article much data has been put together which shows that this impact indeed is considerable. But it is intelligible only if we accept Turner’s hypothesis of a long stopover in north-western South Asia. The data presented below will also show that the notion of “Dardic” is too narrow in this context: the impact on early Romani, in fact, comprises linguistic elements and features found in Nuristani, Dardic and West Pahāṛī.


Author(s):  
Susanne Wagini ◽  
Katrin Holzherr

Abstract The restorer Johann Michael von Hermann (1793–1855), famous in the early nineteenth century, has long fallen into oblivion. A recent discovery of his work associated with old master prints at the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München has allowed a close study of his methods and skills as well as those of his pupil Ludwig Albert von Montmorillon (1794–1854), providing a fresh perspective on the early history of paper conservation. Von Hermann’s method of facsimile inserts was praised by his contemporaries, before Max Schweidler (1885–1953) described these methods in 1938. The present article provides biographical notes on both nineteenth century restorers, gives examples of prints treated by them and adds a chapter of conservation history crediting them with a place in the history of the discipline. In summary, this offers a surprising insight on how works of art used to be almost untraceably restored by this team of Munich-based restorers more than 150 years before Schweidler.


1991 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 149-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Momigliano

This article is a critical reassessment of the major Knossian deposits assigned by Evans to the Middle Minoan I A phase. It is divided into three main sections: first, an introduction, in which the author discusses the development of the definition of Knossian MM IA pottery; second, a detailed discussion of each deposit, based upon a systematic and first-hand re-examination of the ceramic material, and of the relevant written sources; third, a discussion of the problems concerning the classification of these deposits, and a typological study of their ceramic assemblages. The picture of Knossian MM IA pottery which emerges from this study is remarkably different from that presented by Evans, which is generally accepted. This has further implications not only for the study of Minoan pottery, but also for the early history of the site.


A brief review of the major advances since 1979 in Silurian and Devonian palaeobotany is followed by a preliminary report on a Gedinnian assemblage from the Welsh Borderland. This is dominated by rhyniopsids and includes several species of Cooksonia and Salopella . Spores have been isolated from a number of taxa. The assemblage is used to illustrate the problems of recognition and classification of early vascular plants. Parallel sedimentological and palaeogeographical studies permit speculation on the ecology and life histories of the plants that colonized the Old Red Continent. It is concluded that the lack of well preserved and independently dated assemblages from elsewhere in the world (an exception being the Baragwanathia flora of Australia) prevents the detection of any provincialism in the late Silurian and early Devonian and makes generalizations on the early history of vascular plants premature.


1986 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 656-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Sloan ◽  
P. Leichner

The significance of sexual conflicts in many patients with eating disorders has been well documented. However, even when these have been considered to have some degree of etiological importance, the occurrence of actual sexual trauma or incest in the early lives of these patients has been generally neglected in the literature. At one point in time, it was noted that five of six patients on an inpatient unit for eating disorders revealed an early history of sexual abuse or incest. These five cases are described. A parallel is drawn between the psychological problems experienced by victims of childhood sexual abuse and by patients with anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia. Our suspicion that these experiences may not be atypical led to the present article, which has implications for the investigation and management of eating-disordered patients.


1981 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 323-328
Author(s):  
Carlos Arturo Picón

A fruitful combination of excavation, fieldwork, and research has in recent years increased our knowledge of the Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassai. In particular, the sculptured frieze which encircled the interior of the cella has been the subject of numerous studies, the most recent being the monograph by C. Hofkes-Brukker and A. Mallwitz published in 1975. The investigations made at Bassai by N. Yalouris and F. A. Cooper have produced important new evidence. As a result of the excavations conducted by Yalouris since 1959, the early history of the sanctuary and of the structures preceding the classical (‘Iktinian’) temple are reasonably clear. Furthermore, Cooper has shown that the ‘Iktinian’ building, the fourth in a series of temples to Apollo on the site, was not designed to receive pedimental sculpture, and that some, if not all, of this temple's akroteria were floral. The traditional attributions of pedimental and akroterial statues must be discarded, along with the theory that the ‘Iktinian’ building was started as early as the middle of the fifth century B.C.Yet, despite this progress, and the fact that the temple is one of the best-preserved monuments from antiquity, many issues remain controversial. Scholars postulate several building phases for the Classical temple. The chronology of the sculptures is still debated, as is the order of the twenty-three frieze-slabs within the cella.


Author(s):  
Thomas Bauman

This chapter focuses on the “Little Pekin,” a theater opened by Robert T. Motts in Chicago in 1904. Chicago's black population around 1900 could not be called segregated in the modern sense of the term. It first provides an overview of the Black Belt, a neighborhood predominated by blacks, before discussing the role of social divisions among Chicago's black populace in the early history of Motts's theatrical venture. It then discusses the Pekin Theater, which Motts called “Temple of Music,” and its three elements that were to remain fundamental to its character: music, family, and vaudeville. It also considers the Pekin's strategy for racial uplift as part of Motts's commitment to his positive philosophy of economic activism. Finally, the chapter describes the entertainment that various performers offered at the Pekin on a nightly basis during its first seventeen months of operations, including bands playing ragtime as well as musical acts, comedians, dancers, acrobats, and other novelties.


2016 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Tallini ◽  
R. Michael Tuttle ◽  
Ronald A. Ghossein

Abstract Context: This review provides historical context to recent developments in the classification of the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FVPTC). The evolution of the diagnostic criteria for papillary thyroid carcinoma is described, clarifying the role of molecular analysis and the impact on patient management. Methods: A PubMed search using the terms “follicular variant” and “papillary thyroid carcinoma” covering the years 1960 to 2016 was performed. Additional references were identified through review of the citations of the retrieved articles. Results: The encapsulated/well-demarcated, noninvasive form of FVPTC that occurs annually in 45,000 patients worldwide was thought for 30 years to be a carcinoma. Many studies have shown almost no recurrence in these noninvasive tumors, even in patients treated by surgery alone without radioactive iodine therapy. The categorization of the tumor as outright cancer has led to aggressive forms of treatment, with their side effects, financial costs, and the psychological and social impacts of a cancer diagnosis. Recently, the encapsulated/well-demarcated, noninvasive FVPTC was renamed as noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features. The new terminology lacks the carcinoma label, enabling clinicians to avoid aggressive therapy. Conclusions: By understanding the history of FVPTC, future classification of tumors will be greatly improved.


2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-94
Author(s):  
John Curran

Recent research on the textual tradition of Latin versions of the Testimonium Flavianum prompts another enquiry into the original text and the transmission of the famous passage. It is suggested here that the Greek/Latin versions highlight a western/eastern early history of the Testimonium and that in turn directs our attention back to the original circumstances of its composition and publication in the city of Rome in the later years of the first century. Restored to its original historical context, the Testimonium emerges as a carefully crafted attack upon the post-Pauline community of Christ-followers in the city.


PMLA ◽  
1948 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 456-484
Author(s):  
Germaine Dempster

While some of the most interesting questions regarding the early history of the Canterbury Tales will undoubtedly never be settled, it seems equally certain that in the full corpus of variants prepared by Professors Manly and Rickert evidence lies embedded which little by little should add to our understanding of the conditions in which the first manuscripts were prepared, hence, possibly, lead to a clearer picture of the situation when Chaucer died. The present article will deal with the lost ancestor of the manuscript family which Dr. Manly and Dr. Rickert have called group d, that ancestor to be designated hereafter as √d. Section I will be devoted to the origin of the material used in the preparation of √d; Section II to the √d editor's handling of that material.


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