Ancient Studies

The fact that the Achaemenids controlled Anatolia for two centuries provokes a question about the extent of Greek, Anatolian, and Persian contacts and exchange during this period. The growing
evidence for foreign domination has been accompanied by new and revised evidence of the region’s acculturation, which appears to have been a natural process. Archaeological finds from funerary contexts provide
a large amount of information and testify to the cosmopolitan art and culture. Artists and craftsmen spread their artistic styles far and wide along with iconographic norms closely connected to exchange networks, circulation of people, and common lifeways.

The paper evaluates works of ancient authors who mention and provide details of the burial of fallen soldiers in ancient Greece, and then it compares them with preserved archaeological finds. Textual analysis shows a long-term tradition of war graves on battlefields. The commanders of the troops provided funeral services in the first place, as the extradition request of bodies was equal to the recognition of defeat. In most cases both sides had enough time to take care of their fallen after the battle, but there were exceptions when the last honors were rather provisional. In addition to burial directly on the battlefield, it seems that, depending on the circumstances, the removal of the remains to the hometown or burial outside the battlefield and outside the home also applies. The tombstones could have various forms, in the case of collective burials, tumuli with stelae bearing the names of the deceased were preferred, in the case of burial of military commanders, tombstones took the form of a monumental statue. Cremation burial is thought to have prevailed over inhumation.

Resumo: O presente artigo busca discutir a ficção para além do ψεῦδος (pseûdos) no mundo grego. Para tanto, examino o estatuto da ficção e do ficcional a partir de moedas falsas. Na relação do homem grego com sua moeda, falsa ou verdadeira, deparamo-nos com situações em que moedas falsas são autorizadas a integrar a circulação, tornando-se, consequentemente, equivalentes às verdadeiras; há também moedas falsificadas capazes de pôr em xeque as verdadeiras; e ainda as falsas que podem se tornar mais verdadeiras do que as reais. É preciso notar que o contraste vocabular entre ψεῦδος e ἀλήθεια (alétheia) não permite perceber a fluidez da fronteira entre uma ideia e outra. Donde, talvez, a contribuição de observar como essa mesma fronteira se comporta nas práticas do mundo grego pouco familiares às noções de ψεῦδος e ἀλήθεια (como no caso das moedas), mas que, inevitavelmente, participam de sua elaboração e sofisticação. Tais práticas ajudam, assim, a explicar o pacto de ficcionalidade no teatro clássico.
Palavras-chave: falsificação; moedas falsas; moedas verdadeiras; ficção; teatro.

LA CONTREFAÇON ET LE THÉÂTRE GREC: DEUX FACES D'UNE MÊME PIÈCE
Résumé: Dans cette réflexion, je voudrais discuter la fiction au-delà du ψεῦδος (pseûdos) dans le monde grec. J'examine, pour ce faire, le statut de la fiction ou du fictionnel, en particulier dans les fausses pièces. Dans la relation de l'homme grec avec sa monnaie, tant réelle que fausse, on est confronté à des situations où il y a des pièces fausses qui sont autorisées à intégrer la circulation et, par conséquent, sont équivalentes aux vraies; ainsi que pièces contrefaites qui sont capables de mettre en échec la vraie monnaie; et encore des contrefaites qui peuvent devenir plus réelles que les réelles. Il faut noter que le contraste entre ψεῦδος e ἀλήθεια (alétheia) ne permet pas de percevoir la fluidité de la frontière entre une idée et l’autre. D’où, peut-être, la raison d’observer comment cette même frontière se comporte dans les pratiques du monde grec, en principe pratiques peu habituées aux notions de ψεῦδος e ἀλήθεια (comme dans le cas de la monnaie), mais qui, inévitablement, ont participé à leur élaboration et à leur sophistication. Et qui aident (ces pratiques) à expliquer le pacte de fiction au théâtre classique.
Mots-clés: contrefaçon; fausses pièces; varies pièces; fiction; théâtre.

Abstract: This article claims, under the form of some coments, to explore the ambiguities and the ambivalences, as well the challenges, that historians have toface in order to rethink the place and true role of History in our postmodern society. ln fact, just after the 70s, we live under the sign ofrelativism or; as Sennett has pointed some years ago, under "the tyranny of the self" which affects the traditional faith in the reason and in the Enlightenment norms that, since Modern times, had governed social life. Can historians, in this disturbed times, resist the growing sceptical wave that seems to jeopardize the historical craft? Or is our knowledge-definitely condemned to be a rhetorical one, just an historical imagination?
Keyword: Historiografia.

Resumo: Compreendemos a construção e formação da identidade e memória no Judaísmo tendo como base o texto bíblico. Para tal, realizamos um estudo da formação do texto bíblico. Cabe ressaltar que a Bíblia Hebraica, Tanach, constitui a pedra fundamental da cultura, do pensamento e da prática judaica, e toda a literatura judaica subseqüente consiste, em grande escala, em comentários a seu respeito.
Palavras-chave: texto bíblico; identidade; memória; interpretação; judaísmo.

Abstract: This article tries to understand the construction andformation ofthe identity and memory in Judaism, using the texts in the Hebrew bible as base. Witchfor we accomplished a study of the formation of the Hebrew bíblica! text. lt is necessary to stand out that the Hebraic Bible, Tanach, constitutes the fundamental stone of the culture, of the thought and of the Jewish practice, and the whole subsequent Jewish literature consists, in great scale, in comments about these texts.
Keywords: biblical text; identity; memory; interpretation; judaism.

Die Vermessung der Größe der Erde durch Eratosthenes gilt als Meilenstein in der Erkenntnis der Welt und steht daher in vielen Schulbüchern beschrieben-natürlich mit abgewandelten Begriffen der modernen Mathematik und daher in abgewandelter Methode. Überliefert ist das Verfahren allerdings auch antik in didaktischer Reduktion durch Cleomedes und wenn man die Messung im Rahmen der experimentierenden Wissenschaftsgeschichte nachstellen wollte, stellt sich die Frage, wie groß die Skaphe gewesen sein mag, die Eratosthenes verwendet. Wir fragen also nach seiner Messgenauigkeit, nach der Größe der Skala, auf der er ablas und sein Beobachtungs-oder Messverfahren. Das Ergebnis könnte eine besonders groß ausgeführte antike Skaphe mit einer Teilung in 900 Skalenstriche sein oder ein Obelisk im Innenhof des Museion. Abstract: The measurement of the Earth's circumference is regarded as cornerstone in the knowledge of mankind and, therefore, presented in many schoolbooks today and in former times. Of course, schoolbooks use contemporary terminology and present the method in didactical reduction-today as well as in antiquity when Cleomedes explained Eratosthenes' method. Using experimental methods for research in history of science we raise the question on the size of Eratosthenes' sundial. This addresses topics like the margin of error, the size of the scale of his instrument as well as the number and distance of ticks on its scale, and finally, of course, how he observed. The result of our discussion will be an unusually big spherical sundial with a scale of 900 ticks or an obelisk in the court of the museion.

Ancient authors such as Aelian, Asclepiodotus, and Polybius all mention the Macedonian phalanx adopting a formation called the synaspismos in which the files of soldiers are so close together that their shields would overlap. Modern authors such as Walbank, English and Matthew argue that such a formation was impossible to assume in a battle scenario and that the ancient writers were mistaken, in its use in combat. Their argument is based on the fact that the manner of bearing the shield (peltē) and pike (sarissa) does not allow for such a tight formation. Through the use of experimental archaeology, this article however argues that the synaspismos formation was indeed a possibility , and that we are mistaken in the modern view of how the phalangite wielded the sarissa pike.

Wydanie Staroruskiej Inglistycznej cerkwi Prawosławnej Starowierców�Inglistów. Asgard Iryjski (Omsk), rok 7500.

Oryginalne San'ti jedynie obrazowo można nazwać "książką". San'ti - to płyty z metalu
szlachetnego, nie poddającego się korozji, na których umieszczono stare H'Aryjskie Runy.

Runy H'Aryjskie to nie litery i nie hieroglify w naszym współczesnym tego słowa
rozumieniu. Runa - to tajne Obrazy zawierający ogromny zakres pradawnej wiedzy.

Ta stara forma pisma nie zniknęła w otchłani wieków tak, jak inne stare alfabety, takie jak
choćby bukwica, lecz nadal pozostaje podstawową formą pism u Kapłanów Staroruskiej
Cerkwi Inglistycznej. W czasach starożytnych h'Aryjskie runy stały się główną bazą dla
stworzenia uproszczonych form zapisu: starego Sanskrytu, pisma klinowego, Dewanagari,
germano-skandynawskiej runiki i liczny innych.

Dowiedz sie wiecej o runach I slowianskiej historii w tej niezwyklej publikacji.

*SPRAWDZ MOJA STRONE I POBIERZ JUZ TERAZ WYDANIE SLOWIANSKO-ARYJSKICH WED Z ZAPISEM RUNICZNYM!

V. G. Borukhovich regarded the classics as a complex of different disciplines. In this he followed not only his university teacher S.Ya. Lurie, but also the St. Petersburg school of history and philology as a whole, to which he undoubtedly belonged. As a researcher and creative person, S. Ya. Lurie influenced many aspects of V. G. Borukhovich, namely: on the problems of his works, on his translations of the works of ancient authors into Russian, on the methods and principles of his research. S. Ya. Lurie and V. G. Borukhovich were both historians and philologists. In V. G. Borukhovich’s research activities history and philology formed a close unity and, in many respects, determined not only his specifics as a researcher of the ancient world as a whole, but also his approach to the study of ancient literature. V. G. Borukhovich studied the history of Greek literature during all periods of his life as a researcher: in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) and Saratov. He explored in detail the most important genres of Greek literature: epic, lyric, drama, philosophical and historical prose, oratory and mythography. V. G. Borukhovich investigated development of the literary process like a historian, and in the study of historical problems he widely used the methods of philology.

Celem niniejszego tekstu jest przedstawienie gatunków zwierząt, które były hodowane dla towarzystwa w starożytnej Grecji i Rzymie, a także zbadanie, na ile owe zwierzęta można określić mianem domowych, gdyby posługiwać się współczesnymi definicjami (K. Thomas, J. Serpell, H. Herzog). Tekst odpowiada w szczególności na trzy pytania: 1. czy zwierzęta te hodowane były w przestrzeni domu, poza nim, czy też w miejscach specjalnie do tego wyznaczonych, 2. w jakim celu je hodowano – czy jedynie towarzyszyły właścicielowi, czy również pełniły funkcje użytkowe, 3. jaki był stosunek właścicieli do nich – a zwłaszcza czy można mówić o emocjonalnym przywiązaniu. Artykuł oparty jest na greckich i rzymskich źródłach pisanych oraz częściowo na materiale archeologicznym.

A word-by-word explanation of the translation of the so-called creation hymn of Rigveda. The translation is very different from traditional ones.

As I demonstrate, the hymn has been completely misunderstood by previous translators.

The hymn has nothing to do with the origin or creation of the Universe. It is in fact, simply a prayer to God.

Il lavoro ripercorre in modo non sistematico, bensì occasionale, procedendo per exempla che generalizzino la problematica, esaurendola, il tema della diatriba tra vita attiva e contemplativa, dimostrando come la storia abbia insegnato che questi due modi vivendi debbano essere tenuti separati e distinti, non mischiati nella stessa persona, però debbano esistere entrambi, non bastandone uno soltanto, per il fine ultimo della vita stessa.

Perfume was an important material throughout history of human being which was used in ceremonies (marriage, death and religious) and for beauty, sexuality and health. Lots of unguent bottles were found in archaeological excavations. The aim of this paper is to study the perfumes in various cultures in ancient times. At the present day, the word "perfume" comes from the Latin words "per" and "fumus". We have only a few data from the prehistoric times but ancient texts describing the methods of production came from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The perfumes were used mostly from the 7th century BC. onwards... Öz:  Tarih boyunca, kokulu yağlar/parfümler, insanların yaşamında önemli yer tutmuştur. Güzellik ve sağ-lıkla ilgili uygulamaların yanı sıra, evlilik, cenaze ve ibadet törenlerinde de kullanılmıştır. Arkeolojik kazılarda yerleşim alanlarında ve mezarlarda çok sayıda parfüm kabı ele geçmektedir. Bu çalışmadaki amaç, antik dönemde çeşitli kültürlerdeki parfüm üretimi, çeşitleri ve kullanımı konusunu incelemektir. Günümüzde kullanılan "parfüm" kelimesi, Latince "per" (içinden) ve "fumus" (koku) kelimelerinin bileşiminden oluşmaktadır Prehistorik dönemdeki parfüm ya da kokulu kremlerin kullanımıyla ilgili bilgilerimiz azdır. Mısır'da Eski Krallık zamanında ve Mezopotamya'daki eski metinlerde, çeşitli par-fümlerin üretimlerinden söz edilmektedir. MÖ 7. yüzyıldan itibaren artan parfüm üretimi, Hellenistik ve Roma İmparatorluk Dönemleri'nde daha da yaygınlaşmıştır.

This paper offers a survey of the oldest runic inscriptions of the northern parts of Europe. Runic writing is attested from the second century onwards to the Middle Ages, and was in use in several parts of northern Europe during different periods. The language used is formulaic, making the impression that inscriptions in runes were for special occasions and not for daily use. Germanic society was a non-literate society until Christendom arrived and with it a literate culture. Runes are applied epigraphically; only in ecclesiastical contexts they are used in manuscripts, thus offering very useful secondary information about rune-names, for instance. Runes had names for mnemonical and symbolical purposes. Resumen: Esta contribución ofrece una aproximación a las más antiguas inscripciones rúnicas de las partes septentrionales de Europa. La escritura rúnica se atestigua desde el siglo II d. E. hasta la Edad Media y fue empleada en distintas partes de Europa durante diferentes periodos. El lenguaje empleado es formular, lo que da la impresión de que las inscripciones rúnicas fueron para ocasiones especiales y no para un uso diario. La sociedad germánica permaneció ágrafa hasta la llegada del cristianismo y con él una cultura escrita. Las runas se usaron epigráficamente; solamente en contextos eclesiásticos las runas fueron usadas en manuscritos, lo que ofrece una muy útil información secundaria, por ejemplo, sobre los nombres rúnicos. Las runas poseían nombres con propósitos memorísticos y simbólicos.

In this paper, we try to locate and recognize in King Solomon’s temple
the architectural and decorative elements linked to the presence of the goddess Asherah.
Built during the polytheistic phase of the Israelite religion, the temple at first would not have been originally dedicated to the male deity of Israel, as the Deuteronomic editors of the Hebrew Bible wanted  the Israelite people to believe, butconsecrated to the goddess Asherah, the  protectress of the Davidic dynasty.
At a later stage, the temple would be occupied by the divine couple formed by the gods Yahweh and Asherah, and, from then, on Yahweh's presence in the temple would become ever more powerful, to the point of imposing the expulsion of the image of the goddess.
In the absence of any mention made by the Bible of the divine pair Yahvehand Asherah, we were forced to raise a series of theological hypotheses to justify not only the type of decoration and furniture employed inside and outside of the religious building, but also the strategic points in which these decorative and liturgical elements were situated.
From a certain historical moment, the divine essence for the Israelites began to express itself through the union of two cosmic principles, contrarian but equivalent and independent.
The cosmic masculine principle (Yahweh) took refuge within the temple, permanently immersed in the darkness of the Holy of Holies, where it was inaccessible, while the feminine cosmic principle (Asherah) appeared in full daylight, installed on the outer face of the temple, in the sight of men, assuming at night the  form of the Trees of Life in flames, called menorahs,  located in the intermediate space of internal construction.
In addition, to seeking to understand the divine functions assumed by Asherah during the period when she was considered a collaborator of Yahweh, we sought to recover the meaning and appearance of the famous bronze columns, which originally were to be considered the materializations of the goddess, as Tree of Life, and, later, symbols, as she was the protectress of the dynasty, of the unified monarchy of Israel and more afternoon of the monarchy of Judah.

As a consequence of Trajan’s military occupation of Nabataea in 106 CE, the former Late Hellenistic kingdom was turned into a Roman province and received a permanent garrison of Roman troops. Archaeological and epigraphic finds from recent years shed new light on the economic and military developments which occurred as a consequence of the Roman provincialisation as well as Rome’s military and economic interests in the frontier zones of the kingdom of Nabataea and provincia Arabia.

Incorporating the results of recent, primarily philological, research into an interdisciplinary methodology, this study aims to reintegrate queens into Neo-Assyrian history. Archaeologically, the Nimrud tombs provide evidence for the appearance, treatment, and personal identities of deceased women. Art historical analysis of large- and small-scale images of queens considers not only the nature of the queenly image, but the significance of the contexts in which these artworks would have been viewed. In addition, the royal use of divine and fantastical, often nude, female figures provides a window onto elite concepts of ideal feminine beauty, which royal women would have emulated and embodied. Enhancing the standard triad of textual, archaeological, and art historical evidence, ethnographic comparison can provide models to enliven and reinforce ancient sources, and digital reconstructions can be used to visually hypothesize and more actively analyze ancient realities. Finally, because neither male nor female histories exist independently, the relationship between king and queen is interpreted in the context of the palace, court, empire, and cosmos.

This second volume in the series collects papers from two workshops held at the University of Göttingen in 2019 and 2020. The international meetings tackled questions related to merchants and money in a comparative perspective, with examples spanning from the Bronze Age to the early Modern period and embracing Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia and East Africa. The first part of this volume presents historical case studies of how merchants planned and carried out commercial expeditions; how risk, cost, and potential profit was calculated; and how the value of goods was calculated and converted. The papers in the second part address current theories and methods on the development and function of money before and after the invention of coinage. The introduction of balance scales around 3000 BCE enabled the formation of overarching indexes of value and the calculation of the commercial value of goods and services. It also allowed for a selected set of commodities to take on the role of currency. Around 650 BCE, this led to the invention of coinage in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Published in the American Journal of Archaeology (2022) 126.3, available open access here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/719697

The world of vinicultural archaeology has expanded exponentially over the past two decades, adding novel discoveries, methodologies, theories, and new archaeological evidence. Despite this, focused regional or site-specific approaches and syntheses dominate scholarship. This article provides an alternate, macroperspective via a comprehensive update and overview of the archaeological evidence for the entire Italian peninsula. When considered as a whole, the sheer quantity of evidence is simply a starting point for future research directions. New data from pre-Roman Italy might suggest localized indigenous winemaking experimentation, contrasting with traditionally dominant east–west colonial diffusionist models. Detailed cataloguing and interpretation of Roman wineries demonstrate that two dominant press types were present simultaneously. Along with these syntheses, previously unpublished evidence is analyzed for the first time, including conspicuous, lavish, and theatrical wine production at the Villa dei Quintili just outside Rome.

Resenha do livro SILVA, G. V. da; MENDES, N. M. (Org.) Repensando o Império Romano: perspectiva socioeconômica, política e cultural. Vitória, ES - Rio de Janeiro: Edufes - Mauad, 2006, 301 p., 3 ils., 3 mapas e 3 quadros., por Manuel Rolph de Viveiros Cabeceiras.

The influence of the outstanding scholar N. P. Kondakov and his research school on M. I. Rostovtsev as a scholar was multifaceted and powerful. The main lines of this influence are traced here: the young Rostovtsev’s attendance of his teacher’s lectures on art history and archaeology at the university, his participation in the circle established by Kondakov at the Museum of Antiquities, their joint research trips, especially to Italy and Spain in 1896, Rostovtsev’s visits to the zhurfixes in Kondakov’s home (the so-called Liberal Academy), his personal meetings and talks with Kondakov and Kondakov’s pupils, especially with Ya. I. Smirnov and S. A. Zhebelev, and his study of Kondakov’s scholarly works. M. I. Rostovtsev took a new approach to the animal style, which his teacher had researched for many decades. Kondakov’s idea that “mixing one’s own (local) forms and the forms of another people leads to the creation of something new” in culture and art was developed in detail by Rostovtsev using the example of Scythia and the Bosporus. This essay shows that the idea of progress in its pure form, which was relevant to the humanities and social sciences of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was alien to both teacher and disciple. Having passed through Kondakov’s school, M. I. Rostovtsev had completely mastered its characteristic method and was able to conduct a stylistic analysis of the most diverse works of art. However, he did not become an art historian, perhaps because he had another teacher, the celebrated philologist F. F. Zelinsky, thanks to whom he, as a researcher, he was able to profit from the life-giving source of classical philology. N. P. Kondakov was first and foremost an art historian and a Byzantinist, but also an archaeologist. For his part, M. I. Rostovtsev can rightfully be considered an archaeologist, all the more so because he directed the excavations at Dura-Europos in 1928–37. However, archaeology was not the main focus of his scholarly interests. He was one of the very rare universal scholars of antiquity in this era who was capable of working professionally in many branches of classical studies. Most of all, he was an ancient historian who was able to view the history of the ancient world as a kind of union of politics, economics, social relations, religion, culture and everyday life. M. I. Rostovtsev, as well as his prominent teachers N. P. Kondakov and F. F. Zelinsky, belongs to the classical tradition associated with St. Petersburg.