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.

Cervix Uteri Cancer in Lebanon: Incidence, Temporal Trends, and Comparison to Countries From Different Regions in the World

Background Invasive cervix uteri cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in women globally. This study investigates the incidence and trends of cervix uteri cancer in Lebanon, a country in the Middle East, and compares these rates to regional and global ones. Methods Data on cervix uteri were obtained from the Lebanese national cancer registry for the currently available years 2005 to 2016. The calculated age-standardized incidence and age-specific rates were expressed as per 100,000 population. Results From 2005 to 2016, cervix uteri cancer was the tenth most common cancer among women. Its age-standardized incidence rate fluctuated narrowly between 3.5 and 5.7 per 100,000, with the lowest rate in 2013 and the highest rate in 2012. The age-specific incidence rate had 2 peaks, the highest peak at age group 70–74 years and the second at age group 50–59 years. The annual percent change (+.05%) showed a non-statistically significant trend of increase. The age-standardized incidence rate of cervix uteri cancer in Lebanon was comparable to that of the Western Asia region that has the lowest incidence rate worldwide. The rate was intermediate as compared to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa Region and relatively similar to the ones in Australia, North America, and some Western European countries. Conclusion The incidence rates of invasive cervix uteri are low in Lebanon. This could be attributed to the low prevalence of human papilloma virus infection and other sexually transmitted infections among Lebanese women, and the opportunistic screening practices. It is important to adopt a comprehensive approach to decrease the potential burden of cervix uteri, especially with the rising patterns of risky sexual behaviors. This includes improving awareness, enhancing access to preventive services, developing clinical guidelines, and training health care providers on these guidelines.

New records of leeches of the genus Limnatis (Hirudinea, Praobdellidae) from the South Caucasus and Central Asia: phylogenetic relationships of Eurasian and African populations

Leeches of the genus Limnatis Moquin–Tandon, 1827 infest mucous membranes of various mammals, including humans and domestic ungulates. The type species of the genus L. nilotica (Savigny, 1822) was initially thought to occur throughout the Western Palaearctic, from North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia. It was later found that L. paluda (Tennent, 1859) is a widespread Western Asian species. However, the South Caucasus and vast areas of Central Asia have not been explored sufficiently in terms of leeches of the genus Limnatis. We recorded L. paluda from Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan for the first time. We also carried out the first molecular characterisation of L. nilotica herein. We found a deep genetic differentiation (8 %) between the Western Asian L. paluda and North African (Moroccan) L. nilotica based on their COI sequences. This finding corroborates a previous morphology–based hypothesis on their separate species assignments. The low genetic diversity of L. paluda is explained by the recent colonisation of arid landscapes of Western Asia.

A new species of the genus Rhaphidosoma Amyot et Serville, 1843 (Heteroptera, Reduviidae), with data on its chromosome complement

A new species, Rhaphidosoma paganicumsp. nov. (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae: Rhaphidosomatini), is described from the Dry Zone of Myanmar. It is the fifth species of Rhaphidosoma Amyot et Serville, 1843, known from the Oriental Region, and the first record of the genus for Myanmar and Indochina. The structure of the external and internal terminalia of the male and female is described and illustrated in detail. The completely inflated endosoma is described for the first time in reduviids. The complex structure of the ductus seminis is shown; it terminates with a voluminous seminal chamber which opens with a wide secondary gonopore and may be a place where spermatophores are formed. The new species is compared with all congeners from the Oriental Region and Western Asia. It is characterised by the absence of distinct tubercles on the abdominal tergites of the male, the presence only two long tubercles and small rounded ones on the abdominal tergites VII and VI, respectively, in the female, the presence of short fore wing vestiges which are completely hidden under longer fore wing vestiges, and other characters. In addition to the morphological description, an account is given of the male karyotype and the structure of testes of Rh. paganicumsp. nov. and another species of Harpactorinae, Polididus armatissimus Stål, 1859 (tribe Harpactorini). It was found that Rh. paganicumsp. nov. has a karyotype comprising 12 pairs of autosomes and a multiple sex chromosome system (2n♂=24A+X1X2X3Y), whereas P. armatissimus has a karyotype comprising five pairs of autosomes and a simple sex chromosome system (2n♂=10A+XY). The males of these species were found to have seven and nine follicles per testis, respectively. FISH mapping of 18S ribosomal DNA (major rDNA) revealed hybridisation signals on two of the four sex chromosomes (Y and one of the Xs) in Rh. paganicumsp. nov. and on the largest pair of autosomes in P. armatissimus. The presence of the canonical “insect” (TTAGG)n telomeric repeat was detected in the chromosomes of both species. This is the first application of FISH in the tribe Raphidosomatini and in the genus Polididus Stål, 1858.

First report of nut rot caused by Neofusicoccum parvum on hazelnut (Corylus avellana) in Italy

Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.), which is native to Europe and Western Asia, is a widely distributed and economically important crop in Italy, cultivated on 82,104 ha and its production is 110,618 t (ISTAT 2021). A total of one hundred and eleven black rotted nuts (incidence: 41%) with sunken lesions from Lu and Cuccaro (45°00'21.8"N/8°28'59.6"E), north-western Italy, were collected during the ripening stage of hazelnuts during October-December 2020. Symptomatic half cut kernels were sterilized in 1% NaClO for 1 min, washed in sterile water twice, and dried on sterile filter paper. The fragments were placed onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) containing streptomycin. After 48 to 72 h of incubation at 25°C, fast-growing white colonies with abundant aerial mycelia were observed. On the opposite side of the plates, colonies were initially white, then turned to dark-grayish olive after one week of incubation. Dark colonies produced globose, hyaline, ellipsoidal, unicellular conidia ranging from 12.23-15 μm x 5-6.71 μm. Morphologically, the causal agent was identified as Neofusicoccum parvum (Pennycook & Samuels) Crous, Slippers & A.J.L. Phillips (Crous et al. 2006; Zhang et al. 2021). The DNA from the isolates HMa-19-2 and Hwb-4b-2 was extracted with the E.Z.N.A. Fungal DNA mini kit (Omega Bio-tek) according to manufacturer instructions. Molecular identification was confirmed by sequencing of rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) using primers ITS1/ITS4 (White et al. 1990) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef-1α) gene by using the primers EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone & Kohn, 1999). The sequences of both isolates were deposited in GenBank for ITS (accession numbers MZ848132 and MZ848133) and for tef-1α gene (accession numbers MZ913266 and MZ913267). The BLAST analysis showed 99% identity with ex-type strain of N. parvum (CMW9081) for ITS and tef-1α. Maximum likelihood method based on combined sequences of ITS and tef-1α genes was performed and the isolates of N. parvum clustered with ex-type strain of N. parvum (CMW9081; eXtra file). Pathogenicity of both isolates were tested on ripening hazelnuts (BBCH: 85) to evaluate Koch’s postulates. Three nuts per isolate, and per three replicates, were surface disinfected with 1% NaClO. A piece of shell (5 mm diameter) from nuts was removed with a sterile cork borer, then nuts were inoculated with PDA mycelium plugs of the same diameter cut from 7 days old PDA colony (Seddaiu et al. 2021). The control nuts were treated with sterilized PDA plugs. All inoculated nuts produced black lesions with softening pulp (eXtra file). Additionally, abundant white-gray mycelium developed on the inoculation sites. Control nuts showed no symptoms. Neofusicoccum parvuwas recently reported in Italy on chestnut (Seddaiu et al. 2021) and blueberry (Guarnaccia et al. 2021). The fungal pathogen was also reported as agent of grey necrosis of hazelnut in Chile (Duran et al. 2020). However, this is the first report of N. parvum on hazelnut nut in Italy. The findings suggest that N. parvum could severely affect hazelnut production in Italy. Accurate identification of the pathogen will support the growers to manage the disease.

Metal Quivers from Western Asia

This paper presents a review of metal quivers, which belong to a category of metal objects found in Iron Age archaeological contexts in the Ancient Near East, especially in the variegate cultures living in the mountainous highlands bordering Mesopotamia. Each cultural sphere is considered separately, focusing on material brought to light during archaeological excavations. An analysis of different traditions allows comparison of these artifacts in order to detect evidence of contacts and reciprocal influences between different cultural regions, which strongly interacted during the first half of the Iron Age.

The Spirit in Ephesians and Philippians

This study aims to shed light on the richness, essence, and range of πνεῦμα lexemes in Paul’s correspondence to Christ followers in Western Asia Minor and Roman Philippi. I will endeavor to show the import of each occurrence of πνεῦμα or its cognate in these letters and provide a synthesis of the findings at the conclusion. It will become apparent that Paul does not have one consistent referent for πνεῦμα, either to the Holy Spirit or to other spiritual activities. The study will also show that Paul’s use of πνεῦμα lexemes is predicated upon the occasion and provenance of the letter in question. The analysis begins with Ephesians due to its higher frequency and range of πνεῦμα usage compared to its five appearances in Philippians.

Archaeological Evidence of the Relationship of the Cimmerians with the Phrygian and Lydian Kingdoms in the 7th c. B.C.

В статье предпринята попытка обзора результатов раскопочных работ последних десятилетий, связанных с активностью киммерийцев в центральной и за- падной Малой Азии. Несмотря на то, что недавние исследования ставят под сомнение некоторые сообщения античных авторов о роли киммерийцев в военно-политических процессах в регионе в VII в. до н. э., в частности факт захвата и разрушения ими Гордио- на, выявленные к настоящему времени во фригийских и лидийских центрах артефакты в сочетании со следами интенсивного фортификационного строительства указыва- ют на критическую важность кочевнического фактора и серьезность созданной им для местных цивилизаций угрозы в рассматриваемый период. The article attempts to review the results of excavation work of recent decades related to the activity of the Cimmerians in central and western Asia Minor. Despite the fact that recent studies cast doubt on some reports of ancient authors about the role of the Cimmerians in the military and political processes in the region in the 7th c. B.C., particularly the fact of the capture and destruction of Gordion by them, artifacts found to date in the Phrygian and Lydian centers in combination with traces of intensive fortifi cation construction indicate the critical importance of the nomadic factor and the seriousness of the threat it created for local civilizations during the period under review.

The genomes of 204 Vitis vinifera accessions reveal the origin of European wine grapes

In order to elucidate the still controversial processes that originated European wine grapes from its wild progenitor, here we analyse 204 genomes of Vitis vinifera and show that all analyses support a single domestication event that occurred in Western Asia and was followed by numerous and pervasive introgressions from European wild populations. This admixture generated the so-called international wine grapes that have diffused from Alpine countries worldwide. Across Europe, marked differences in genomic diversity are observed in local varieties that are traditionally cultivated in different wine producing countries, with Italy and France showing the largest diversity. Three genomic regions of reduced genetic diversity are observed, presumably as a consequence of artificial selection. In the lowest diversity region, two candidate genes that gained berry–specific expression in domesticated varieties may contribute to the change in berry size and morphology that makes the fruit attractive for human consumption and adapted for winemaking.