Headscarf and Veiling Glimpses from Sumer to Islam edited by Roswitha del Fabbro, Frederick Mario Fales, Hannes D. Galter, 2021
This volume represents a small, but specifically targeted contribution to a field of research and... more This volume represents a small, but specifically targeted contribution to a field of research and discussion which has increasingly come to the fore in the last two decades, regarding the practice of covering or veiling womens’ heads or faces over different times and places. “Dress is never value free”, as anthropologists state, and veiling functions as an assertion/communication of relationship dynamics in terms of gender, of social and cultural identity, of the phases and stages of life (puberty, marriage, death) or of religious beliefs – even reaching to a typical dichotomy of our times, the female condition between tradition and modernity. This book stems from an international conference at the University of Graz on March 2, 2020 – just before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. The conference brought together Austrian specialists from the Graz Department of Ancient History and Classical Studies and from the URANIA für Steiermark Association, with academics from different Italian universities connected by the Cultural Association A.C. CulturArti of Udine within the framework of its second Alpe-Adria Festival of Public Archeology – No Borders project, funded by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region. A felicitous meeting between specialists from Austria and Italy, under the aegis of a mixed public and private management, now finds its outcome in the present volume, jointly edited by academics and organizers from both countries, with all papers in English.
Catalogue of the Exhibition in Venice, Palazzo Loredan, Campo Santo Stefano, January 30, 2017 – A... more Catalogue of the Exhibition in Venice, Palazzo Loredan, Campo Santo Stefano, January 30, 2017 – April 25, 2017. Catalogue edited by Adriano Favaro. Texts by F.M. Fales and R. Del Fabbro (Chs. 1-9: subdivision given on frontispiece), with brief essays by S. de Martino, P. Matthiae, P. Odifreddi, D.I. Owen. Prefaces by I. Ligabue, F.M. Fales, G. Ortalli, A. Favaro. Photographs by V. Grier Dufournier, Nicola Facchini. Translated from the Italian original by R. Battista, L. Culver, L. Filippone, C. Frost. Pp. 272; 58 Figs.;193 photographs of catalogued pieces. Low resolution searchable scan. SEE ALSO UNDER "TALKS" FOR A VIRTUAL VISIT TO THE EXHIBITION.
Manual of the Aramaic texts of the 10th-7th centuries B.C. from Mesopotamia, Syri,a and adjacent... more Manual of the Aramaic texts of the 10th-7th centuries B.C. from Mesopotamia, Syri,a and adjacent regions. Historical framework. Outline of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax). Presentation of all texts known at present in transliteration, Italian translation, line-by-line commentary. Palaeographical appendix by E. Attardo. Reproduction in line drawings of the main inscriptions (tab. I-X); Map (tab. XI).
Proceedings of a conference in Cetona (Siena) 1980. Articles by Hayim Tadmor, A. Kirk Grayson, L... more Proceedings of a conference in Cetona (Siena) 1980. Articles by Hayim Tadmor, A. Kirk Grayson, Louis D. Levine, Manfred Weippert, Simo Parpola, Julian Reade, F. Mario Fales, Mario Liverani, Carlo Zaccagnini.
A full ten years after its publication, here is the PDF of this book, drawn from a course held i... more A full ten years after its publication, here is the PDF of this book, drawn from a course held in Paris at the Ecole pratique des hautes etudes - Section de sciences religieuses, by the kind invitation of Prof. M.G. Masetti.
A history of the Neo-Assyrian empire, seen mainly from the point of view of the "everyday" docum... more A history of the Neo-Assyrian empire, seen mainly from the point of view of the "everyday" documents from the state archives of the Assyrian capital cities, analyzed by genre and function, with many textual quotes.
No treatise of ancient Mesopotamian clinical neurology has yet been written, although much ground... more No treatise of ancient Mesopotamian clinical neurology has yet been written, although much groundbreaking work on medical or medically-related texts from this area (modern Iraq) has been performed in recent years. All through Mesopotamian civilization (c. 3000-100 BC), literary and erudite knowledge, recorded on clay tablets in cuneiform script, thrived; within the scholarly collections of medical texts, signs and symptoms of many afflictions were referred back to external agents entering in contact with the patient's body, albeit invisibly. This external etiological sphere pertained to the supernatural, although the Mesopotamians viewed it as a constituent part of reality. A similar deterministic approach may be traced in the earliest layers of Greek medicine, but it was repudiated by Hippocratic medical thought. The 40-tablet series of sakikkū ("Symptoms") shows a vast number of entries on neurological symptoms and syndromes pertaining to: headache, motor and sensory impairments, coma, seizure and epilepsy, cranial trauma, spinal cord trauma, brain tumors and abscesses, strokes, pediatric neurology, basal ganglia disorders, (perhaps) Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, rabies, tetanus, and cerebral malaria. Recurring sets of supernatural agents are behind these afflictions: possibly they had become, over time, mere "labels" for a technical pinpointing of the disorders themselves.
199. K. Sonik – U. Steinert (Eds,), The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East, London – New York: Routledge, 695-724, 2022
This in-depth exploration of emotions in the ancient Near East illuminates the rich and complex w... more This in-depth exploration of emotions in the ancient Near East illuminates the rich and complex worlds of feelings encompassed within the literary and material remains of this remarkable region, home to many of the world's earliest cities and empires, and lays critical foundations for future study. Thirty-four chapters by leading international scholars, including philologists, art historians, and archaeologists, examine the ways in which emotions were conceived, experienced, and expressed by the peoples of the ancient Near East, with particular attention to Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the kingdom of Ugarit, from the Late Uruk through to the Neo-Babylonian Period methodological issues through thematic analyses and the second encompassing corpus-based explores happiness and joy; fear, terror, and awe; sadness, grief, and depression; contempt, pity, empathy, and compassion. Numerous sub-themes threading through the volume explore such topics as emotional expression and suppression in relation to social status, gender, the body, and particular social and spatial conditions or material contexts. The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East is an invaluable and and medieval studies, and a must-read for scholars, students, and others interested in the history and cross-cultural study of emotions.
Kahramanmaras’ta bulunmus kucuk bir Yeni Asurca metin grubu icinde, 36-25-07 envanter numarali Ar... more Kahramanmaras’ta bulunmus kucuk bir Yeni Asurca metin grubu icinde, 36-25-07 envanter numarali Arami alfabe yazili bir kil tablet vardir. Tarafima gonderilen tabletin renki fotograflari sayesinde metni detayli bir sekilde inceledim. Maalesef asagida ayrintili sekilde belirtilecegi uzere, tabletin yazili kisminin bir bolumunde silinti mevcuttur. Ayrica yazi bir sekilde tabletin kose ve kenarlarinda yayvan bir sekilde yazilmistir. Bu iki unsur (ki kaliteli fotograflara ragmen kismen yanilticidir) hem isaretlerin m â kul bir sekilde okunabilmesi icin gereken zamana ihtiyac dogurmustur hem de yazitin etraflica yorumlanmasini olumsuz yonde etkilemistir. Tabletin gozleme dayali olarak, yani dogrudan elle tutularak incelenmesi, daha fazla ve saglikli sonuclar elde edilmesini saglayabilir; fakat –hala belirsiz olsa da- bu sekliyle tanitilabilir.
Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale, 2012
La decouverte recente a Tell Ta’yinat (ancienne Kinalia) d’un exemplaire en grande partie complet... more La decouverte recente a Tell Ta’yinat (ancienne Kinalia) d’un exemplaire en grande partie complet de l’ade de Esarhaddon de 672 BC fournit l’occasion d’examiner a nouveau ce document politique neo-assyrien bien connu, et de tenter une nouvelle perspective de ses principes et objectifs constitutifs. La copie de Tell Ta’yinat demontre que le texte constituait en effet un serment de loyaute en faveur de la dynastie regnante d’Assyrie, et qu’il avait ete accepte par les representants de tout l’Etat et la societe assyrienne, ainsi que par les allies soumis. Son statut devint celui d’un document de fondation de statut quasi-theophorique, qui pouvait etre utilise comme garantie pour les questions de justice et d’administration.
The aqueduct in limestone blocks at Jerwan in the present day Dohuk region of Iraqi Kurdistan is ... more The aqueduct in limestone blocks at Jerwan in the present day Dohuk region of Iraqi Kurdistan is one of the most imposing monuments erected by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704–681 b.c.) as part of his vast hydraulic program for Nineveh. This aqueduct, subject of a precise and innovative, albeit brief, investigation by Thorkild Jacobsen and Seton Lloyd in 1933, was re-examined in September 2012 by the two authors with an eye to the cuneiform texts engraved on the stone surfaces. The present study is aimed at a survey of the various specimens of royal inscriptions A–C, in their various occurrences and in relation to the architectural features of the monument; specifically, a new geographical analysis of inscription B is suggested. An updated contextual overview is provided of the approximately 200 inscribed blocks bearing so-called “inscription D”, benefitting from new collations. Finally, working hypotheses are presented on the probable place of origin of this text, and on the hist...
The term massartu is well attested in letters in cuneiform to and from the Neo-Assyrian court, wr... more The term massartu is well attested in letters in cuneiform to and from the Neo-Assyrian court, written in the main in the 7th century BC. In itself, massartu is a general Akkadian term, meaning "watch, guard", but in the early 1st millennium BC it takes on two interesting semantic specializations, both of which are tied to the practical and political needs of the Assyrian empire. In astrological-astronomical terms, massartu denotes the wake, vigil, or watch for astronomical observations on the part of the court specialists: such a wake was required by the Assyrian king on a nightly basis, for the subsequent consultation of the vast compilation of omens called Enuma Anu Enlil, and the drawing of conclusions relating to the state of the empire and of the royal dynasty. Many interesting texts show us the workings of the massartu in the capital city Nineveh or in other cities of Mesopotamia. But massartu had also a wider meaning, "vigilance", which denoted the requir...
In 1978, upon the occasion of a Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale on «Mesopotamien und sein... more In 1978, upon the occasion of a Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale on «Mesopotamien und seine Nachbarn», two separate contributions, by P. Garelli and H. Tadmor, were devoted to the Arameans in the Neo-Assyrian empire1. Both of these studies - which surprisingly ...
Headscarf and Veiling Glimpses from Sumer to Islam edited by Roswitha del Fabbro, Frederick Mario Fales, Hannes D. Galter, 2021
This volume represents a small, but specifically targeted contribution to a field of research and... more This volume represents a small, but specifically targeted contribution to a field of research and discussion which has increasingly come to the fore in the last two decades, regarding the practice of covering or veiling womens’ heads or faces over different times and places. “Dress is never value free”, as anthropologists state, and veiling functions as an assertion/communication of relationship dynamics in terms of gender, of social and cultural identity, of the phases and stages of life (puberty, marriage, death) or of religious beliefs – even reaching to a typical dichotomy of our times, the female condition between tradition and modernity. This book stems from an international conference at the University of Graz on March 2, 2020 – just before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. The conference brought together Austrian specialists from the Graz Department of Ancient History and Classical Studies and from the URANIA für Steiermark Association, with academics from different Italian universities connected by the Cultural Association A.C. CulturArti of Udine within the framework of its second Alpe-Adria Festival of Public Archeology – No Borders project, funded by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region. A felicitous meeting between specialists from Austria and Italy, under the aegis of a mixed public and private management, now finds its outcome in the present volume, jointly edited by academics and organizers from both countries, with all papers in English.
Catalogue of the Exhibition in Venice, Palazzo Loredan, Campo Santo Stefano, January 30, 2017 – A... more Catalogue of the Exhibition in Venice, Palazzo Loredan, Campo Santo Stefano, January 30, 2017 – April 25, 2017. Catalogue edited by Adriano Favaro. Texts by F.M. Fales and R. Del Fabbro (Chs. 1-9: subdivision given on frontispiece), with brief essays by S. de Martino, P. Matthiae, P. Odifreddi, D.I. Owen. Prefaces by I. Ligabue, F.M. Fales, G. Ortalli, A. Favaro. Photographs by V. Grier Dufournier, Nicola Facchini. Translated from the Italian original by R. Battista, L. Culver, L. Filippone, C. Frost. Pp. 272; 58 Figs.;193 photographs of catalogued pieces. Low resolution searchable scan. SEE ALSO UNDER "TALKS" FOR A VIRTUAL VISIT TO THE EXHIBITION.
Manual of the Aramaic texts of the 10th-7th centuries B.C. from Mesopotamia, Syri,a and adjacent... more Manual of the Aramaic texts of the 10th-7th centuries B.C. from Mesopotamia, Syri,a and adjacent regions. Historical framework. Outline of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax). Presentation of all texts known at present in transliteration, Italian translation, line-by-line commentary. Palaeographical appendix by E. Attardo. Reproduction in line drawings of the main inscriptions (tab. I-X); Map (tab. XI).
Proceedings of a conference in Cetona (Siena) 1980. Articles by Hayim Tadmor, A. Kirk Grayson, L... more Proceedings of a conference in Cetona (Siena) 1980. Articles by Hayim Tadmor, A. Kirk Grayson, Louis D. Levine, Manfred Weippert, Simo Parpola, Julian Reade, F. Mario Fales, Mario Liverani, Carlo Zaccagnini.
A full ten years after its publication, here is the PDF of this book, drawn from a course held i... more A full ten years after its publication, here is the PDF of this book, drawn from a course held in Paris at the Ecole pratique des hautes etudes - Section de sciences religieuses, by the kind invitation of Prof. M.G. Masetti.
A history of the Neo-Assyrian empire, seen mainly from the point of view of the "everyday" docum... more A history of the Neo-Assyrian empire, seen mainly from the point of view of the "everyday" documents from the state archives of the Assyrian capital cities, analyzed by genre and function, with many textual quotes.
No treatise of ancient Mesopotamian clinical neurology has yet been written, although much ground... more No treatise of ancient Mesopotamian clinical neurology has yet been written, although much groundbreaking work on medical or medically-related texts from this area (modern Iraq) has been performed in recent years. All through Mesopotamian civilization (c. 3000-100 BC), literary and erudite knowledge, recorded on clay tablets in cuneiform script, thrived; within the scholarly collections of medical texts, signs and symptoms of many afflictions were referred back to external agents entering in contact with the patient's body, albeit invisibly. This external etiological sphere pertained to the supernatural, although the Mesopotamians viewed it as a constituent part of reality. A similar deterministic approach may be traced in the earliest layers of Greek medicine, but it was repudiated by Hippocratic medical thought. The 40-tablet series of sakikkū ("Symptoms") shows a vast number of entries on neurological symptoms and syndromes pertaining to: headache, motor and sensory impairments, coma, seizure and epilepsy, cranial trauma, spinal cord trauma, brain tumors and abscesses, strokes, pediatric neurology, basal ganglia disorders, (perhaps) Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, rabies, tetanus, and cerebral malaria. Recurring sets of supernatural agents are behind these afflictions: possibly they had become, over time, mere "labels" for a technical pinpointing of the disorders themselves.
199. K. Sonik – U. Steinert (Eds,), The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East, London – New York: Routledge, 695-724, 2022
This in-depth exploration of emotions in the ancient Near East illuminates the rich and complex w... more This in-depth exploration of emotions in the ancient Near East illuminates the rich and complex worlds of feelings encompassed within the literary and material remains of this remarkable region, home to many of the world's earliest cities and empires, and lays critical foundations for future study. Thirty-four chapters by leading international scholars, including philologists, art historians, and archaeologists, examine the ways in which emotions were conceived, experienced, and expressed by the peoples of the ancient Near East, with particular attention to Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the kingdom of Ugarit, from the Late Uruk through to the Neo-Babylonian Period methodological issues through thematic analyses and the second encompassing corpus-based explores happiness and joy; fear, terror, and awe; sadness, grief, and depression; contempt, pity, empathy, and compassion. Numerous sub-themes threading through the volume explore such topics as emotional expression and suppression in relation to social status, gender, the body, and particular social and spatial conditions or material contexts. The Routledge Handbook of Emotions in the Ancient Near East is an invaluable and and medieval studies, and a must-read for scholars, students, and others interested in the history and cross-cultural study of emotions.
Kahramanmaras’ta bulunmus kucuk bir Yeni Asurca metin grubu icinde, 36-25-07 envanter numarali Ar... more Kahramanmaras’ta bulunmus kucuk bir Yeni Asurca metin grubu icinde, 36-25-07 envanter numarali Arami alfabe yazili bir kil tablet vardir. Tarafima gonderilen tabletin renki fotograflari sayesinde metni detayli bir sekilde inceledim. Maalesef asagida ayrintili sekilde belirtilecegi uzere, tabletin yazili kisminin bir bolumunde silinti mevcuttur. Ayrica yazi bir sekilde tabletin kose ve kenarlarinda yayvan bir sekilde yazilmistir. Bu iki unsur (ki kaliteli fotograflara ragmen kismen yanilticidir) hem isaretlerin m â kul bir sekilde okunabilmesi icin gereken zamana ihtiyac dogurmustur hem de yazitin etraflica yorumlanmasini olumsuz yonde etkilemistir. Tabletin gozleme dayali olarak, yani dogrudan elle tutularak incelenmesi, daha fazla ve saglikli sonuclar elde edilmesini saglayabilir; fakat –hala belirsiz olsa da- bu sekliyle tanitilabilir.
Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale, 2012
La decouverte recente a Tell Ta’yinat (ancienne Kinalia) d’un exemplaire en grande partie complet... more La decouverte recente a Tell Ta’yinat (ancienne Kinalia) d’un exemplaire en grande partie complet de l’ade de Esarhaddon de 672 BC fournit l’occasion d’examiner a nouveau ce document politique neo-assyrien bien connu, et de tenter une nouvelle perspective de ses principes et objectifs constitutifs. La copie de Tell Ta’yinat demontre que le texte constituait en effet un serment de loyaute en faveur de la dynastie regnante d’Assyrie, et qu’il avait ete accepte par les representants de tout l’Etat et la societe assyrienne, ainsi que par les allies soumis. Son statut devint celui d’un document de fondation de statut quasi-theophorique, qui pouvait etre utilise comme garantie pour les questions de justice et d’administration.
The aqueduct in limestone blocks at Jerwan in the present day Dohuk region of Iraqi Kurdistan is ... more The aqueduct in limestone blocks at Jerwan in the present day Dohuk region of Iraqi Kurdistan is one of the most imposing monuments erected by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704–681 b.c.) as part of his vast hydraulic program for Nineveh. This aqueduct, subject of a precise and innovative, albeit brief, investigation by Thorkild Jacobsen and Seton Lloyd in 1933, was re-examined in September 2012 by the two authors with an eye to the cuneiform texts engraved on the stone surfaces. The present study is aimed at a survey of the various specimens of royal inscriptions A–C, in their various occurrences and in relation to the architectural features of the monument; specifically, a new geographical analysis of inscription B is suggested. An updated contextual overview is provided of the approximately 200 inscribed blocks bearing so-called “inscription D”, benefitting from new collations. Finally, working hypotheses are presented on the probable place of origin of this text, and on the hist...
The term massartu is well attested in letters in cuneiform to and from the Neo-Assyrian court, wr... more The term massartu is well attested in letters in cuneiform to and from the Neo-Assyrian court, written in the main in the 7th century BC. In itself, massartu is a general Akkadian term, meaning "watch, guard", but in the early 1st millennium BC it takes on two interesting semantic specializations, both of which are tied to the practical and political needs of the Assyrian empire. In astrological-astronomical terms, massartu denotes the wake, vigil, or watch for astronomical observations on the part of the court specialists: such a wake was required by the Assyrian king on a nightly basis, for the subsequent consultation of the vast compilation of omens called Enuma Anu Enlil, and the drawing of conclusions relating to the state of the empire and of the royal dynasty. Many interesting texts show us the workings of the massartu in the capital city Nineveh or in other cities of Mesopotamia. But massartu had also a wider meaning, "vigilance", which denoted the requir...
In 1978, upon the occasion of a Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale on «Mesopotamien und sein... more In 1978, upon the occasion of a Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale on «Mesopotamien und seine Nachbarn», two separate contributions, by P. Garelli and H. Tadmor, were devoted to the Arameans in the Neo-Assyrian empire1. Both of these studies - which surprisingly ...
V. Brugnatelli – L. Magini (a cura di), “Suadìti?”. Scritti di amici e colleghi in memoria di Francesco Aspesi, Milano 2022, 149-166, 2022
Back to a well-worn --and still not completely solved-- enigma: the recent and updated republi... more Back to a well-worn --and still not completely solved-- enigma: the recent and updated republication of the official and self-laudatory inscriptions of King Sargon II of Assyria (722-705 BC), yields some philological and historical insights for a comparison with Genesis 11: 1-9, the famous biblical story about the "Tower of Babel".
G. Fournier Facio (Ed.), Il canto dell'anima. Vita e passioni di Giuseppe Sinopoli, Milano: Il Saggiatore , 114-132, 2021
The passion of the classical composer and concert director Giuseppe Sinopoli (1946-2001) for arc... more The passion of the classical composer and concert director Giuseppe Sinopoli (1946-2001) for archaeology: from Greece and Rome, Egypt, the Ancient Near East, in its implications for cultural memory.
I _ INTRODUCTION
Luc Bachelot – Frederick Mario Fales
1. Avant-propos et remerciements p. I
2. Le... more I _ INTRODUCTION Luc Bachelot – Frederick Mario Fales 1. Avant-propos et remerciements p. I 2. Le cadre des fouilles archeologiques du Haut Euphrate syrien p. VII 3. Le cadre historique p. XXI 4. Les enjeux de la recherche dans la zone du Tishrin p. XXXIX Bibliographie p. XLIII
Juan-Pablo Vita (ed.), History of the Akkadian Language, vol. II. Handbook of Oriental Studies vol. 152/2, 2021
Neo-Assyrian language: definition and chronological/geographical range, text types, history of re... more Neo-Assyrian language: definition and chronological/geographical range, text types, history of research, grammatical outline.
R. Del Fabbro - F.M. Fales - H.D. Galter (Eds.), Headscarf and Veiling Glimpses from Sumer to Islam, 2021
Particularly interesting textual evidence on the use of the veil in ancient Mesopotamia comes fro... more Particularly interesting textual evidence on the use of the veil in ancient Mesopotamia comes from 15th-14th century BC Assyria. No comprehensive code of laws has reached us from this age, but only a collection of 14 tablets, which are named ad hoc “Middle Assyrian Laws”, from the religious and political capital Aššur. Veiling was prescribed for appearances in public of married women, even if widows, but also applied to the vaster class of women who were ‘Assyrian’, i.e. of free status and native-born. On the other hand, prostitutes had no right to wear a veil, and severe punishments were foreseen for transgression; and the same applied to slave women. These harsh rulings on the veil and other matters in the “Middle Assyrian Laws” do not, curiously enough, find counterparts in the contemporaneous legal deeds, which show women endowed with a much more liberal status. Perhaps the “Laws” reflected normative codifications applying to the stricter moral and intellectual ‘climate’ of the city of Aššur, dominated by its temple and royal palace.
Visioni d'Oriente. Stereotipi, impressioni, rappresentazioni dall'antichità ad oggi, , 2021
FOR A COMPLETE COPY, SEND MESSAGE WITH YOUR E-MAIL
English abstract: The topic of ‘Orientalism’ ... more FOR A COMPLETE COPY, SEND MESSAGE WITH YOUR E-MAIL English abstract: The topic of ‘Orientalism’ rose to popularity thanks to the book with this title of 1978 by Edward W. Said (1935-2003), which described the Western attitude of cultural superiority and its practice of exploitative dominance, since Napoleon’s time, over the peoples to the immediate East, especially in Islamic lands. This paper reviews the achievements of the Palestinian-born but British-educated author, who became, as Professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia, a very productive and outspoken intellectual, and spent a large part of his career in decrying the dispersal of the Palestinians by the Israelis in 1948, while at the same time advocating a political solution which would satisfy both the older and the more recent ‘victims’ of historical displacement – a condition which Said himself felt strongly in his personal life. Viciously criticized and reviled by Neo-conservatives and pro-Zionists on different grounds, Said’s main book attracted on the other hand an enormous audience in many languages, entailing a host of secondary applications in its method over various lands, cultures, and peoples, and also opening by extension new horizons in the field of post-colonial studies, from race to migration to gender issues. The untimely demise of this veritable maître à penser prevented him from witnessing – after 9/11 and the Second Gulf War – the particularly vicious segment of Near Eastern political and military struggles during the last two decades, from the ‘Arab springs’ to the Syrian war and ISIS. Most unexpected to all concerned was, however, the opening of diplomatic relations between Israel and some Gulf states in August 2020. We may thus ask once again: will this new development finally bring a permanent peaceful solution to the situation of Israel/Palestine so dear to Said’s sensitivity, and will it – more widely – represent the conclusion of the 200-year- old ‘Orientalist’ rift between West and East which he uniquely unveiled?
S. Ermidoro - C. Riva (Eds.), RETHINKING LAYARD 1817-2017, pp. 183-203,, Venice : Istituto veneto di scienze lettere ed arti, 2020
A painting, Layard with his servant Saleh, from a private collection, brings us back to the young... more A painting, Layard with his servant Saleh, from a private collection, brings us back to the young Layard's travels to the lands of the Bakhtiyari nomadic tribes in SE Iran. This was Austen Henry's sole experience as a solitary wanderer in perilous territory and difficult times, due to which-on the other hand-he drew the attention of British Ambassador Stratford Canning in Constantinople, leading to all the momentous decisions for Ancient Near Eastern archaeology that were to ensue. The picture also opens the way for a look at the life and career of the first American Orientalist painter, Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, whom Layard befriended in Constantinople in 1845: a well-known portraitist, to whom Layard owed the later publicity of his archeological endeavors and books in the U.S.. Finally, we have Saleh: a youth from Luristan, who helped Austen Henry in dire situations among the Bakhtiyari, and who was so devoted to him as to come on foot to the Ottoman capital to visit his English master-as we know from Layard's memoirs written decades later in the peace of Ca' Cappello in Venice.
Sorry, publisher prevents display of full article on academia.edu etc. for the time being. Please... more Sorry, publisher prevents display of full article on academia.edu etc. for the time being. Please write me a message with your e-mail, and I'll send the paper to you ASAP.
FROM: Babylonian and Assyrian Poetry and Literature: An Archive of Recordings
This website collec... more FROM: Babylonian and Assyrian Poetry and Literature: An Archive of Recordings This website collects recordings of modern Assyriologists reading ancient Babylonian and Assyrian poetry and literature aloud in the original language. It is the first undertaking of its kind, and accordingly some explanation of its aims is called for. It is intended to serve several purposes, some for Assyriologists, and some for the wider public. First, it aims to foster interest among students of Babylonia and Assyria in how these civilisations’ works of verbal art were read aloud in the past, and how they should be read aloud today. Second, it provides a forum in which scholars who have theories about Babylonian and Assyrian pronunciation, metre, etc. can present a concrete example of how their theories sound in practice. (In this function the archive does not of course aim to replace scholarly discussion in established channels, but rather to provide a useful complement to written publications). Third, as a record of the ways in which contemporary scholars read Babylonian and Assyrian, it will some day serve a historical function. Many great Assyriologists, including some who had influential theories of Babylonian metre and phonology, passed into history without leaving a single recording of how they read Babylonian and Assyrian. This archive will provide at least some record of how scholars read Babylonian and Assyrian in the twenty-first century. Finally, but not least, the questions which students of ancient languages most frequently hear from laymen are: "How did they sound? And how do you know?". This website is meant to serve as an introduction to these issues, providing the public with some idea of how modern Assyriologists think Babylonian and Assyrian were pronounced. The Recordings Special characters (tsade and tet) are in Steve Tinney's Ungkam font, derived from sil.org's Gentium font. To display them correctly, download the font from oracc.museum.upenn.edu/doc/user/fonts. The download is free. There are both a Mac Suitcase version and a Win/Linux OpenType version.
Presentation shown upon invitation on Nov. 26, 2019 at the Collegio Borromeo, University of Pavia... more Presentation shown upon invitation on Nov. 26, 2019 at the Collegio Borromeo, University of Pavia, to undergraduate students and PhD candidates, in the framework of the local "Winter School: Visioni d'Oriente", organized by Prof. Donatella Mazza (with the collaboration of Prof. Clelia Mora).
Talk for a mixed audience (academics, general public) delivered at the Conference "InfinitaMENTE"... more Talk for a mixed audience (academics, general public) delivered at the Conference "InfinitaMENTE", organized by the City and the University of Verona, Verona 2014
An overview of the history of research and of beliefs on epilepsy, from ancient Mesopotamia to th... more An overview of the history of research and of beliefs on epilepsy, from ancient Mesopotamia to the end of the Middle Ages. Talk delivered at the 10th Latin-American Summer School on Epilepsy (LASSE) on February 26, 2016.
1. The ultimate “rogue state” of Antiquity
2. The many available sources
3. Archaeological inform... more 1. The ultimate “rogue state” of Antiquity 2. The many available sources 3. Archaeological information 4. The impact of time and space 5. Strategy, tactics, logistics, economics 6. The final goal: absolute power or pax assyriaca?
FROM HERITAGE TO HOSTAGE: A SIX-STEP RECONSTRUCTION OF THE USE OF IRAQI ANTIQUITIES IN A POLITICA... more FROM HERITAGE TO HOSTAGE: A SIX-STEP RECONSTRUCTION OF THE USE OF IRAQI ANTIQUITIES IN A POLITICAL LIGHT Step I. Iraqi antiquities were discovered and first exploited by Great Britain– entailing the removal of many pieces to the West. Step II. The Mandatary power utilized Iraqi cultural heritage as one of its vectors of a “civilizing” process within the country. Step III. In the age of decolonization, Iraqi cultural heritage was sponsored by the new élite in a nationalistic perspective, but also to win international favor (salvage digs, tourism). Step IV. In the last 20 years, political hostility toward the élite has caused the (pre-Islamic) heritage to be decried as ideologically remote from local tradition, and Iraqi archaeologists to be denounced as stooges of Western culture. Step V. The war of 2003 and its aftermath has caused severe economic shortage, thus forcing the local population to seek and sell antiquities for profit – with the support of Western collectors. Step VI. The mid-to-long-term block of militant archaeology and of cultural tourism in disrupted Iraq is forcing us toward new avenues of research and teaching, hinging on virtual reconstructions, satellite-based observations,and “Museum digs”.
Two entries for the catalogue "Gli Assiri all'ombra del Vesuvio" (S. Graziani [Ed.], Milan 2019) ... more Two entries for the catalogue "Gli Assiri all'ombra del Vesuvio" (S. Graziani [Ed.], Milan 2019) accompanying the exhibition held at the Museo Archeologico nazionale di Napoli (MANN, July 8 - Sept. 16, 2019). The first is "L'impero neo-assiro" (pp. 27-34); the second, "La riscoperta dell'Assiria" (pp. 156-160).
COLOPHON of the Exhibition "PRIMA DELL' ALFABETO" (BEFORE THE ALPHABET : Journey to Mesopotamia a... more COLOPHON of the Exhibition "PRIMA DELL' ALFABETO" (BEFORE THE ALPHABET : Journey to Mesopotamia at the Origins of Writing)- Venice, Feb. 20 - April 25, 2017, Palazzo Loredan (near Academy Bridge), 10:00-17:00 daily (closed on Mondays). Some 200 pieces (tablets, seals, figurative works) from the Giancarlo Ligabue Collection plus loans from Venice and Turin archaeological museums. CATALOGUE IN ITALIAN AND ENGLISH: SEE LINKS
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Books by Mario Fales
This book stems from an international conference at the University of Graz on March 2, 2020 – just before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. The conference brought together Austrian specialists from the Graz Department of Ancient History and Classical Studies and from the URANIA für Steiermark Association, with academics from different Italian universities connected by the Cultural Association A.C. CulturArti of Udine within the framework of its second Alpe-Adria Festival of Public Archeology – No Borders project, funded by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region.
A felicitous meeting between specialists from Austria and Italy, under the aegis of a mixed public and private management, now finds its outcome in the present volume, jointly edited by academics and organizers from both countries, with all papers in English.
Historical framework. Outline of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax).
Presentation of all texts known at present in transliteration, Italian translation, line-by-line commentary. Palaeographical appendix by E. Attardo. Reproduction in line drawings of the main inscriptions (tab. I-X); Map (tab. XI).
REVIEWS: Dominique Charpin, Revue d'Assyriologie 103 (2009), 190; JoAnn Scurlock, JAOS 132 (2012), 313-315; Brigitte Lion, Revue des Etudes anciennes 115 (2013) , n° 1.
Reviews: Pierre VILLARD, Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, 57/3 (2002), 675-677. doi:10.1017/S039526490003465X
Papers by Mario Fales
This book stems from an international conference at the University of Graz on March 2, 2020 – just before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. The conference brought together Austrian specialists from the Graz Department of Ancient History and Classical Studies and from the URANIA für Steiermark Association, with academics from different Italian universities connected by the Cultural Association A.C. CulturArti of Udine within the framework of its second Alpe-Adria Festival of Public Archeology – No Borders project, funded by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region.
A felicitous meeting between specialists from Austria and Italy, under the aegis of a mixed public and private management, now finds its outcome in the present volume, jointly edited by academics and organizers from both countries, with all papers in English.
Historical framework. Outline of grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax).
Presentation of all texts known at present in transliteration, Italian translation, line-by-line commentary. Palaeographical appendix by E. Attardo. Reproduction in line drawings of the main inscriptions (tab. I-X); Map (tab. XI).
REVIEWS: Dominique Charpin, Revue d'Assyriologie 103 (2009), 190; JoAnn Scurlock, JAOS 132 (2012), 313-315; Brigitte Lion, Revue des Etudes anciennes 115 (2013) , n° 1.
Reviews: Pierre VILLARD, Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, 57/3 (2002), 675-677. doi:10.1017/S039526490003465X
Luc Bachelot – Frederick Mario Fales
1. Avant-propos et remerciements p. I
2. Le cadre des fouilles archeologiques du Haut Euphrate syrien p. VII
3. Le cadre historique p. XXI
4. Les enjeux de la recherche dans la zone du Tishrin p. XXXIX
Bibliographie p. XLIII
English abstract: The topic of ‘Orientalism’ rose to popularity thanks to the book with this title of 1978 by Edward W. Said (1935-2003), which described the Western attitude of cultural superiority and its practice of exploitative dominance, since Napoleon’s time, over the peoples to the immediate East, especially in Islamic lands.
This paper reviews the achievements of the Palestinian-born but British-educated author, who became, as Professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia, a very productive and outspoken intellectual, and spent a large part of his career in decrying the dispersal of the Palestinians by the Israelis in 1948, while at the same time advocating a political solution which would satisfy both the older and the more recent ‘victims’ of historical displacement – a condition which Said himself felt strongly in his personal life.
Viciously criticized and reviled by Neo-conservatives and pro-Zionists on different grounds, Said’s main book attracted on the other hand an enormous audience in many languages, entailing a host of secondary applications in its method over various lands, cultures, and peoples, and also opening by extension new horizons in the field of post-colonial studies, from race to migration to gender issues. The untimely demise of this veritable maître à penser prevented him from witnessing – after 9/11 and the Second Gulf War – the particularly vicious segment of Near Eastern political and military struggles during the last two decades, from the ‘Arab springs’ to the Syrian war and ISIS.
Most unexpected to all concerned was, however, the opening of diplomatic relations between Israel and some Gulf states in August 2020. We may thus ask once again: will this new development finally bring a permanent peaceful solution to the situation of Israel/Palestine so dear to Said’s sensitivity, and will it – more widely – represent the conclusion of the 200-year- old ‘Orientalist’ rift between West and East which he uniquely unveiled?
This website collects recordings of modern Assyriologists reading ancient Babylonian and Assyrian poetry and literature aloud in the original language. It is the first undertaking of its kind, and accordingly some explanation of its aims is called for.
It is intended to serve several purposes, some for Assyriologists, and some for the wider public. First, it aims to foster interest among students of Babylonia and Assyria in how these civilisations’ works of verbal art were read aloud in the past, and how they should be read aloud today.
Second, it provides a forum in which scholars who have theories about Babylonian and Assyrian pronunciation, metre, etc. can present a concrete example of how their theories sound in practice. (In this function the archive does not of course aim to replace scholarly discussion in established channels, but rather to provide a useful complement to written publications).
Third, as a record of the ways in which contemporary scholars read Babylonian and Assyrian, it will some day serve a historical function. Many great Assyriologists, including some who had influential theories of Babylonian metre and phonology, passed into history without leaving a single recording of how they read Babylonian and Assyrian. This archive will provide at least some record of how scholars read Babylonian and Assyrian in the twenty-first century.
Finally, but not least, the questions which students of ancient languages most frequently hear from laymen are: "How did they sound? And how do you know?". This website is meant to serve as an introduction to these issues, providing the public with some idea of how modern Assyriologists think Babylonian and Assyrian were pronounced.
The Recordings
Special characters (tsade and tet) are in Steve Tinney's Ungkam font, derived from sil.org's Gentium font. To display them correctly, download the font from oracc.museum.upenn.edu/doc/user/fonts. The download is free. There are both a Mac Suitcase version and a Win/Linux OpenType version.
2. The many available sources
3. Archaeological information
4. The impact of time and space
5. Strategy, tactics, logistics, economics
6. The final goal: absolute power or pax assyriaca?
Step I. Iraqi antiquities were discovered and first exploited by Great Britain– entailing the removal of many pieces to the West.
Step II. The Mandatary power utilized Iraqi cultural heritage as one of its vectors of a “civilizing” process within the country.
Step III. In the age of decolonization, Iraqi cultural heritage was sponsored by the new élite in a nationalistic perspective, but also to win international favor (salvage digs, tourism).
Step IV. In the last 20 years, political hostility toward the élite has caused the (pre-Islamic) heritage to be decried as ideologically remote from local tradition, and Iraqi archaeologists to be denounced as stooges of Western culture.
Step V. The war of 2003 and its aftermath has caused severe economic shortage, thus forcing the local population to seek and sell antiquities for profit – with the support of Western collectors.
Step VI. The mid-to-long-term block of militant archaeology and of cultural tourism in disrupted Iraq is forcing us toward new avenues of research and teaching, hinging on virtual reconstructions, satellite-based observations,and “Museum digs”.
Some 200 pieces (tablets, seals, figurative works) from the Giancarlo Ligabue Collection plus loans from Venice and Turin archaeological museums.
CATALOGUE IN ITALIAN AND ENGLISH: SEE LINKS