Assyria and Babylonia

This article discusses the architecture of Assyria and Babylonia, two kingdoms that were located in modern-day Iraq and surrounding parts of Syria, Turkey, and Iran. This region overlaps with Mesopotamia (an ancient Greek name for the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers). The rise to prominence around c. 1800 bce of the cities of Assur in northern Iraq and of Babylon in central Iraq is taken as the article’s starting point. The main focus is, however, on the later histories of Assyria (c. 900–612 bce) and Babylonia (c. 626–538 bce). Both kingdoms can be said to have reached an imperial scale during these periods (Assyria around 730 bce during the reign of King Tiglath-Pileser III, and Babylonia when its armies conquered Assyria in 612 bce). Both empires came to control large parts of western Asia and at times also Egypt. This chapter will, however, focus on Mesopotamia proper, what might be described as its architectural koine (a multiregional shared material culture). The conquest of Babylonia by the Achaemenid Persian armies in 538 bce is taken as the end date. Architecture is an integral part of society and cannot therefore be studied on its own. The discourse on Mesopotamian architecture is notably sparse and uneven (as becomes apparent in this article). The limited nature of the discourse can be explained in several ways. First, although Mesopotamian architects created some of the most renowned buildings of their times, those architects did not write down their ideas, nor did they claim authorship. Ancient textual sources, although abundantly preserved, provide limited information when it comes to architecture. The activity of architecture was instead based on learned practice. Second, the architecture of the region was predominantly constructed of mud bricks supplemented with wood. More-extensive use of stones was generally limited to monumental buildings. Over the centuries, these buildings have collapsed and come to be buried under their own, and later, debris. Generally, only the lowest parts of the ground floor walls have survived. Our knowledge of ancient architecture is therefore dependent on archaeological excavations that commenced in the middle of the 19th century. Third, from the time the first excavations in the region commenced, archaeologists have focused mostly on the big urban centers and their monumental palaces and temples. Archaeologists have become more interested in other types of buildings and settlements over time, but our knowledge remains limited and biased to certain regions and periods. These biases, unfortunately, continue to shape the discourse and limit what can be referenced. Although this chapter does not aim to be comprehensive, it does include a substantial selection of the works that have been published on the architecture of the region.

Insights on Eastern Hellenistic Historical and Archaeological Material Culture of the Oikoumene: Globalisation and Local Socio-Cultural Identities

This paper focuses on the Hellenistic Middle East, especially the age of Ptolemaic Alexandrian and Syrian Seleucid influence. It investigates and clarifies some of the Hellenistic-age historical and archaeological material culture within the Hellenisation and globalisation conceptions. Furthermore, it suggests that by reviewing the context of the local socio-cultural identities in the Hellenistic Oikoumene, mainly based on the lingua franca about local identity and how the local identity was expressed on coinage during Hellenistic times, many related insights issues can be revealed. In addition, it also attempts to discuss and reveal aspects of the cultural sharing achievements in Hellenistic art, architecture, and urban built environment planning. Finally, how did Eastern Hellenistic cities manage to benefit from the process of Hellenistic globalisation and localisation/globalisation while minimising identity risks? The focus is on the transnational socio-cultural and economic area of Ptolemaic Alexandria, the centre of the post-Classical Greek world, and the Syrian Seleucid influence. As an investment, mass migration and the transfer of goods, culture, and ideas increasingly transformed these Middle Eastern cities and shaped their translocal culture conception, local socio-cultural identities, cultural sharing, art and architecture edifice forms, and spatial patterns in the Hellenistic period. One of the main contributions and significance of this study is to continue the dialogue of how non-Greek influence in Hellenistic times impacted an area that has been traditionally seen as unaffected or minimally affected by years under foreign rule. This also sheds new light on some Greco-Macedonian topics not sufficiently debated in the Oikoumene discussion dialogue. These two aspects would furthermore contribute to better understanding and accepting the neglected role of the contribution of non-Greek culture to Greek achievements, as well as how the local non-Greek customs of the indigenous peoples of the Ptolemy and Seleucid kingdoms would affect how they assimilated Greco-Macedonian practices, and how the vision of Alexander the Great and Hellenisation worked in the different territories of these two kingdoms.

medieval fisheries of Galicia (Northwestern Iberia): A preliminary archaeozoological overview

The origin and development of the Iberian Medieval fisheries is a poorly documented phenomenon both from the standpoint of historical (documentary) and material (archaeological) evidence. Such dearth of knowledge can be explained in terms of proximal (i.e., a deficient retrieval of fish remains) and ultimate causes. Among the latter, the Muslim invasion, that lasted ca. 800 years of the “medieval millennium” in the Iberian Peninsula, needs to be taken into account as it probably delayed the development of fishing fleets within the Christian kingdoms for a substantial period of time. Be it as it may, the lack of knowledge does not allow one to explore a range of critical issues of Spanish and Portuguese history, such as the role played by the ever-expanding fishing fleets of Portugal and Castilla in the process of maritime discovery and colonization that these two kingdoms fostered by the end of the Middle Ages. In this paper, the results from a comparative analysis of selected fish assemblages from primary (i.e. coastal) deposits of the northern Iberian shores are presented. The aim is to check whether changes can be documented both at the level of (1) the range of species occurring in sites from the late Iron Age (Castreña culture, IV-I BC) to the Late Middle Ages (XV AD), and (2) the skeletal spectra of certain species that could reveal a differential processing of taxa meant for local consumption and those that appear in inland sites.

Wayang Beber Pacitan dalam Analisis Struktural

Wayang Beber Pacitan as a myth can be seen as a text, which contains signifier and signified. The characters in the puppet is an intermediary for people to interpret the content in Java and basic human traits. Structural analysis Wayang Beber Pacitan bring the following conclusions: First, that the structure of the three are often found in the Java community. Second, that the ideal marriage expected in Pacitan beber wayang stories are cousins once between the two kingdoms (Kediri and Jenggala), although in the Java community does not explicitly recognize their ideal mate. Third, the story Wayang Beber Pacitan is a political story that serves to legitimize the power of the kingdom of Kediri and Janggala. Fourth, that behind the story is that there is a notion of Java: “sopo kang nandur bakal ngundhuh”.

Interkingdom Comparison of Threonine Metabolism for Stem Cell Maintenance in Plants and Animals

In multicellular organisms, tissue generation, maintenance, and homeostasis depend on stem cells. Cellular metabolic status is an essential component of different differentiated states, from stem to fully differentiated cells. Threonine (Thr) metabolism has emerged as a critical factor required to maintain pluripotent/multipotent stem cells in both plants and animals. Thus, both kingdoms conserved or converged upon this fundamental feature of stem cell function. Here, we examine similarities and differences in Thr metabolism-dependent mechanisms supporting stem cell maintenance in these two kingdoms. We then consider common features of Thr metabolism in stem cell maintenance and predict and speculate that some knowledge about Thr metabolism and its role in stem cell function in one kingdom may apply to the other. Finally, we outline future research directions to explore these hypotheses.

John Knox and John Calvin

John Calvin and John Knox were very different personalities, with the Scotsman looking to the French Reformer for religious leadership and defending Calvin’s reputation with fierce loyalty. Their personal relationship was forged between 1554 and 1559 when Knox was based in Geneva and served as co-minister to the English exile congregation in the city. When dealing with this enthusiastic, if independent, Scottish admirer, Calvin demonstrated patience and forbearance. Knox sought to follow Calvin’s lead on predestination but was prepared to go his own way on worship and especially on the validity of resistance to a ruler. Knox’s 1558 resistance tracts, not sanctioned by Calvin, brought major consequences for the way in which Calvin, Beza, and the ‘example of Geneva’ were viewed in Tudor England and Stewart Scotland. This had long-lasting implications for the Protestant identities of the two kingdoms and for the unity of the wider Reformed family.