Symbolic Da'wah of Cultural Acculturation of Muhammad Cheng Hoo Mosque Purbalingga

This study examines the symbolic preaching of Chinese Islam at the Muhammad Cheng Hoo Mosque, Purbalingga Regency, Central Java. A place of worship that has become a symbol of a house of worship for Chinese Muslims in particular and Muslims in general. The architecture of the building which is unique, interesting, and similar to that of a temple as a place of worship for the Confucian people is a distinctive feature of the Islamic treasures. Cheng Hoo Purbalingga Mosque has an attraction, from the physical side, it is not so visible as a mosque building, but when you go inside, the nuances of Islam will clearly show the mixture of Chinese cultural acculturation with Islam. This study concludes that the ornaments and shapes of this mosque contain symbolic values ​​and messages (wisdom) of da’wah. The symbolic values ​​of da’wah contained, namely: the value of beauty (artistic), cultural values ​​(turats), accommodative values, brotherhood values ​​(ukhuwah) and the value of unity. The establishment of the Cheng Hoo Mosque gave a message (wisdom) of da’wah that Islam teaches hospitality and openness to all cultural entities, Islam adapts and interacts with various social traditions and Islam teaches tolerance in a life full of diversity.

Disentangling the Multidimensional Relationship between Livestock Breeds and Ecosystem Services

There is an increasing interest in assessing livestock breed contributions to ecosystem services (ES) and including this knowledge in decision making. However, this task has been limited due to the complexity of the multidimensional relationship between livestock diversity and ecosystem services. In this work, we elaborate on the livestock breed characteristics central to developing a comprehensive approach to livestock breed inclusion in the ecosystem services framework. Thus, we explore the multidimensional nature of livestock breeds, i.e., as eco-cultural entities, biodiversity components, and drivers of livestock system heterogeneity and functioning. First, anthropogenic and natural factors have acted jointly to develop breeds as eco-cultural entities. This fact represents an opportunity to move toward farming system sustainability by Nature-Based Solutions and Nature’s Contribution to People paradigms. Second, livestock breeds are components of biodiversity, and as such, can be framed as goods, as final ecosystem services, and as regulators of ecosystem processes. Third, livestock breeds contribute to livestock system heterogeneity and resilience. By integrating these aspects, we might better understand how livestock breeds provide and modulate ecosystem service provision and, therefore, how to improve breed conservation and livestock policies toward farming system sustainability.

Making mega-space for others: Towards theology of mega-friendship from the table fellowship story according to Luke 5:27–32

The purpose of the article is to interpret the story of the table fellowship in the Gospel of Luke 5:27–32 and construct the theology of mega-friendship with the Other in the context of a pluralistic society. What is happening in the present is that human communities should be living together and facing the fact of differences in the races, ethnic groups, cultural entities or religious communities. In this context, there is a kind of global fear of strangers, rejection of others and conflict or violence against those who differ. By interpreting the text, I argue that Christianity is called to participate in the mega-friendship created by God by making mega-space and befriending the Other. Mega-friendship in the table fellowship is to sustain life in love, equality, compassion, peace and transformation. The theology’s construction begins by explaining the socio-historical context of the table fellowship story, exposing the meaning of the story and constructing the theology of mega-friendship in the context of a pluralistic society.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research has interdisciplinary implications. It departs from New Testament studies to constructive theology by using a pluralism perspective. By interpreting the table fellowship story in Luke 5:27–32, there is a meaning of the text on theology of friendship and its relevance as a sign of Christian presence in the pluralistic society of the Indonesian context.

Untranslated Javanese Words in Translation of Okky Madasari’s Novel The Years of Voiceless

This article will try to investigate the Javanese words which are left untranslated found in Okky Madasari’s novel that has been translated into English under the title “The Years of Voiceless”. The research is directed to reveal the reasons that motivate the translators not to translate those words. By applying sociolinguistic theory which strongly believes that linguistic performances are influenced by extralinguistic factors, it is found that Javanese words referring to specific cultural entities, such as address terms, religious beliefs, foods and drinks, performing and architectural arts, and politics are left untranslated.

The first casting mould for a ‘Syrian Bottle’ from Lipnik, Bulgaria

The following article presents the first mould ever discovered for casting a so-called “Syrian Bottle”, a distinctive vessel type that originated in Mesopotamia around the mid 3rd millennium BC and soon after spread to Anatolia, the Aegean and Southeast Europe, as imports and local derivatives. A few examples were made from precious metals and lead, the most notable one being a golden globular bottle, part of “Priam’s” Treasure A” from Early Bronze Age Troy. The mould from Lipnik seems to have been intended for the production of small metal bottles of ‘Syrian’ shape, and supportive agents like a green sand core applied for the production of such a complex item. The mould, however, was obviously never used. A review of associated manufacturing details like pegholes, riser and vent show that although these features were particularly prominent in the 2nd millennium BC, moulds from earlier (Anatolian) contexts do possess such characteristics as well. This currently unique, locally produced example is therefore dated to the latest 3rd or earliest second millennium BC, coinciding with ever-growing interaction between distant cultural entities stretching from Mesopotamia to Southeast Europe and beyond, and allowing for the exchange of ideas, fashions and technologies.

Model of the essential attributes of visual culture as the criteria for studying artifacts and design of new visual images

The object of this research is visual culture in the context of studying artifacts and design of new visual images. The subject of this research is the theoretical reflection on the essential attributed as the general characteristics of visual culture. The author compares the depiction of the artifacts of visual culture artifacts in postmodernism and constructivism. Postmodernism does not aim to build holistic images and reveal the content through visual form. Constructivism, in turn, structures holistic and aesthetically expressive forms of artifacts in unity with the content. The knowledge and meanings in visual artifacts are constructed via graphic spatial and artistic features. Special attention is given to the constructivist approach as a theoretical-methodological substantiation for studying the essential attributes of visual artifacts. Such approach allows the cultural entities to build semantic models by means of the general cultural geometric language in the dialectical synthesis of various forms, content, and conventional meanings. The artistic interpretations contribute to creation of the unique content. The constructivist approach includes the following methods: deconstructivism of conducting detailed analysis of the artifacts; constructivism of building new aesthetically expressive images. The result of this research lies in systematization of the essential attributes of visual culture for all forms and content. The novelty of consists in correspondence of the constructivist approach to the object and subject of the research, as well as in examination of the actual reality of the modern visual culture of digital technologies and new constructive methods of visualizing form and content in the images.

Local Housing Market Dynamics Predict Rapid Shifts in Cultural Openness: A Nine-Year Study across 199 Cities

Accumulating evidence suggests that culture changes in response to shifting socioecological conditions; economic development is a particularly potent driver of such change. Previous re-search has shown that economic development can induce slow but steady cultural changes within large cultural entities (e.g., countries). Here we propose that economically driven culture change can occur rapidly, particularly in smaller cultural entities (e.g., cites). Drawing on work in cultural dynamics, urban economics, and geographical psychology, we hypothesize that changes in local housing prices – reflecting changing availability of local amenities – can induce rapid shifts in local cultures of Openness. We propose two mechanisms that might underlie such cultural shifts: selective migration (i.e., people selectively moving to cities that offer certain amenities) and social acculturation (i.e., people adapting to changing amenities in their city). Based on trait Openness scores of 1,946,752 U.S. residents, we track annual changes in local Openness across 199 cities for nine years (2006-2014). We link these data to annual infor-mation on local housing markets, an established proxy for local amenities. To test interdepend-encies between the time series of local housing markets and Openness, we use Panel Vector Autoregression modelling. In line with our hypothesis, we find robust evidence that rising housing costs predict positive shifts in local Openness but not vice versa. Additional analyses leveraging participants’ duration of residence in their city suggest that both selective migration and social acculturation contribute to shifts in local Openness. Our study thus offers a new window onto the rapid changes of cultures at local levels.

STUDY OF THE AURIGNACIAN-GRAVETTIAN «TRANSITION» EAST OF THE CARPATHIANS: BLADELET PRODUCTION FEATURES FROM MITOC-MALU GALBEN (ROMANIA) AND MOLODOVA V (UKRAINE)

In the frame of the Aurignacian to Gravettian «transition», this research aims at highlighting the modalities of this shift in the middle Prut and Dniestr area through the comparison of bladelets production schemes in both cultural entities. Two Late Aurignacian assemblages from Mitoc-Malu Galben (Romania) and relevant materials from Molodova V (Ukraine) were then examined in this perspective. In the case of Mitoc-Malu Galben, qualitative preliminary results underline the consistence and continuity of production from «Aurignacian I» to «III» levels, which aims for twisted naturally blanks produced from convergent shaped knapping surfaces. Less documented, the «Aurignacian III Supйrieur» level seems to follow, despite some potential slight discrepancies. In Molodova V, cultural horizons 10 and 9 apply to a different consistent pattern, as cores are shaped and exploited to produce straighter blanks with parallel sides. Those technological insights reaffirm the independent identity of the local Gravettian in comparison to the Aurignacian. Based only on the large set of radiocarbon dates available for both sites, a simultaneity model arises, in slight contradiction with the technological data. Then, a «classic» succession model should not be left aside. Re-investigation of contextual data, including association of materials to dates, is needed to confirm any population dynamics model.