Earthquake-Resistant Construction and the Wrath of the "Earth-Shaker"

1987 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Driessen
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Near East ◽  
Town Planning ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Earthquake Resistant ◽  
Partition Walls

The writer investigates possible anti-seismic construction techniques used in Minoan architecture on Bronze Age Crete. The frequency of earthquakes in the Aegean seems to imply the presence of such techniques. Starting by noting the methods still in use in Turkey and other dangerous areas, the writer looks at the practice of projections and setbacks, the near absence of windows, room dimensions, roof and floor construction, the presence of partition walls, the size and number of stories, town planning, the presence of cornices and ring beams, and other construction details which helped to improve the anti-seismic capability of Minoan houses. Attention is given to the location of houses and to the question of whether or not the Minoans used these methods consciously. The writer believes they did, not only because of the frequency of these earthquakes but also because of the religious connotations and the existence of an architectural koiné in earthquake-stricken areas in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, in contrast with Egypt.

Dairy Queen. Churns and milk products in the Aegean Bronze Age

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 205-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah P. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Near East ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Specific Function ◽  
Milk Products ◽  
The Third ◽  
Household Processing

This article assembles examples of an unusual vessel found in domestic contexts of the Early Bronze Age around the Aegean and in the Eastern Mediterranean. Identified as a “barrel vessel” by the excavators of Troy, Lesbos (Thermi), Lemnos (Poliochni), and various sites in the Chalkidike, the shape finds its best parallels in containers identified as churns in the Chalcolithic Levant, and related vessels from the Eneolithic Balkans. Levantine parallels also exist in miniature form, as in the Aegean at Troy, Thermi, and Poliochni, and appear as part of votive figures in the Near East. My interpretation of their use and development will consider how they compare to similar shapes in the archaeological record, especially in Aegean prehistory, and what possible transregional relationships they may express along with their specific function as household processing vessels for dairy products during the third millennium BC.

“Eternal Bodies”: images of archangels in the upper parts of Nubian buildings

2020 ◽  
pp. 713-736
Author(s):  
Magdalena Łaptaś
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Christian Art ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Cosmic Space

Images of archangels and angels, which were painted on the walls, in the upper parts of the buildings and, on their structural elements, were very popular in Christian Nubian painting as attested by the discoveries from Church SWN.BV on the citadel in Old Dongola. These images, which derive from pre-Christian art, depict the eternal nature of the archangels and angels. Presenting this group of representations, the author traces the origins of these images to highlight the role of these spiritual beings as intermediaries between God and humankind. As such, they move freely between the Heavens and the Earth, so the air and cosmic space are their natural surroundings. Moreover, archangels govern the forces of nature, the planets, and the seven skies. Therefore, their sanctuaries were located on hill summits, in the upper chapels, on structural elements of ecclesiastical buildings, etc. The Nubian tradition is therefore part of a broader Mediterranean tradition, the roots of which should be sought in the Near East.

Cosmic Deer as an Archaic Symbol in the Narratives and Rituals of the Tungus-Manchus

2020 ◽  
pp. 112-121
Author(s):  
Татьяна Юрьевна Сем
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Time Model ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Cosmic Scale ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Bronze Age

Статья посвящена мифологическому образу космического оленя в традиционной культуре тунгусо-маньчжуров. В работе рассматриваются материалы фольклора, шаманства, промысловых и календарных ритуалов, а также искусства. Впервые систематизированы материалы по всем тунгусо-маньчжурским народам. Образ космического оленя в фольклоре эвенов имеет наиболее близкие аналогии с амурскими народами, которые представляют его с рогами до небес. Он сохранился в сказочном фольклоре с мифологическими и эпическими элементами. В эвенском мифе образ оленя имеет космические масштабы: из тела его происходит земля и всё живущее на ней. У народов Амура образ оленя нашел отражение в космогенезе, отделении неба от земли. Своеобразие сюжета космической охоты характеризует общесибирскую мифологию, относящуюся к ранней истории. В ней наиболее ярко проявляется мотив смены старого и нового солнца, хода времени, смены времен года, календарь тунгусо-маньчжуров. В результате анализа автор пришел к выводу, что олень в тунгусо-маньчжурской традиции моделирует пространство и время Вселенной, характеризует образ солнца и хода времени. Космический олень является архетипичным символом культуры тунгусо-маньчжуров, сохранившим свое значение до настоящего времени в художественной культуре This article is devoted to the mythological image of cosmic deer in traditional Tungus-Manchu culture. It examines materials of folklore, shamanism, trade and calendar rituals as well as art and for the first time systematizes materials from all of the Tungus-Manchu peoples. The image of cosmic deer in the folklore of the Evens has its closest analogy in that of the Amur peoples, reflected in the image of a deer with horns reaching up to the sky. This image is preserved in fairytales with mythological and epic elements. In the Even myth, the image of a deer is on a cosmic scale, as the cosmos issues from its body. Among the Amur peoples, the image of a deer is also related to cosmogenesis, to the separation of the earth from the sky. The plot of a cosmic hunt is reflected in pan-Siberian mythology, dating back to the Bronze Age. It clearly illustrates the motif of the change of the old and new sun, the passage of time, the change of seasons, the Tungus-Manchu calendar. The author comes to the conclusion that deer in the Tungus-Manchu tradition, in depicting the image of the sun and the passage of time, model the space and time of the Universe. The cosmic deer is an archetypal symbol of Tungus-Manchu culture, which has retained its significance in artistic culture to the present day.

scholarly journals Dogs accompanied humans during the Neolithic expansion into Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 20180286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgane Ollivier ◽  
Anne Tresset ◽  
Laurent A. F. Frantz ◽  
Stéphanie Bréhard ◽  
Adrian Bălăşescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Near East ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Mitochondrial Lineage ◽  
Domestic Species ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Neolithic Expansion ◽  
The Bronze Age

Near Eastern Neolithic farmers introduced several species of domestic plants and animals as they dispersed into Europe. Dogs were the only domestic species present in both Europe and the Near East prior to the Neolithic. Here, we assessed whether early Near Eastern dogs possessed a unique mitochondrial lineage that differentiated them from Mesolithic European populations. We then analysed mitochondrial DNA sequences from 99 ancient European and Near Eastern dogs spanning the Upper Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age to assess if incoming farmers brought Near Eastern dogs with them, or instead primarily adopted indigenous European dogs after they arrived. Our results show that European pre-Neolithic dogs all possessed the mitochondrial haplogroup C, and that the Neolithic and Post-Neolithic dogs associated with farmers from Southeastern Europe mainly possessed haplogroup D. Thus, the appearance of haplogroup D most probably resulted from the dissemination of dogs from the Near East into Europe. In Western and Northern Europe, the turnover is incomplete and haplogroup C persists well into the Chalcolithic at least. These results suggest that dogs were an integral component of the Neolithic farming package and a mitochondrial lineage associated with the Near East was introduced into Europe alongside pigs, cows, sheep and goats. It got diluted into the native dog population when reaching the Western and Northern margins of Europe.

THE COSMIC JOURNEY OF ODYSSEUS

Numen ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanno Marinatos
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Near East ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Polar Axis ◽  
The Sun ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Universe ◽  
East Mediterranean Region

AbstractIn vain have scholars tried to produce a coherent geographical picture of Odysseus' travels. It is argued here that Odysseus makes a cosmic journey at the edges of the earth (perata ges), a phrase used in the text to describe several lands that the hero visits. The cosmic journey was a genre current in the East Mediterranean region in the Iron Age. It was modeled on the Egyptian the journey of the sun god who travels twelve hours in the darkness of the underworld and twelve hours in the sky. Evidence of similar concepts in the Near East is provided by a Babylonian circular map (now in the British Museum) as well as by Phoenician circular bowls. Gilgamesh seems to perform a cosmic journey. As well, Early Greek cosmology utilizes the concept of a circular cosmos. Odysseus' journey spans the two cosmic junctures of the universe: East, where Circe resides, and West, where Calypso lives. Another polar axis is the underworld and the island of the sun.

The cretulae and the Linear A accounting system

1960 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 200-210
Author(s):  
Maurice Pope
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Near East ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Coherent System ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Seal Impressions ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Proper Analysis

Cretulae is the name given in this article to the small clay nodules, stamped with one or more seal impressions, that have been found in quantity at most Bronze Age sites in the Near East. The Minoan examples are generally smaller than those found at other sites, and the great majority of them have a hole through which string once passed. That is to say, they are lumps of clay squeezed round string and then sealed. At most of the sites in Crete where they are known, they have been found in conjunction with inscribed clay tablets and clay disks. At Hagia Triada they are unique in being for the most part countermarked with a sign of the Linear A script. The interrelationships of the countermarks and sealings have not previously been recorded, and it is the primary purpose of this article to publish them. The catalogue will be found in Appendix A. Proper analysis of it should shed light on Minoan methods of administration, and perhaps too on the purpose of the Linear A tablets. That the tablets, or some of them, belong to a coherent system of administration, and are not all mere inventory lists of what happened to be coming into or going out of store at a particular moment, seems guaranteed by the fact, to which I shall revert later, that totals in the same numerical proportion are found at widely distant sites.

scholarly journals Architecture in the Islamic Vision

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Yehia Hassan Wazeri
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Town Planning ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
The World ◽  
Holy Quran ◽  
The Holy Quran ◽  
Shed Light

The Qur’an contains about eighteen verses that refer to the architecture of the earth. Nearly two hundred elements (terminologies) of architecture and town planning have been mentioned in the Quran. This paper aims to present examples from the Quran to shed light on the Islamic vision of architecture and art. It uses content analysis method to achieve the objective of the research. The analysis is done by studying and discussing verses of the Holy Quran, which is related to architecture and urbanism. One of the most important results of this research is to give distinct architectural and urban examples, include the following: building materials, environmental architecture, houses of insects, visual illusions in architecture, and the centrality of Mecca to the world. All of them is explained in the Qur’an verses, such as Al-Baqarah, An-Naml, An-Nahl, Al-Kahf, and Al-Fajr. 

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