“Temple” at the Baba-ata fortifi ed settlement, a monument of fallacies

Few studies have collected and analyzed the astronomical events recorded in Arabic literature. In this paper, we present some additional events reported in four Arabic historical sources that could be classified as an aurora. These observations occurred from 9th to 20th century and cover a large geographic area: North Africa, Arabian-Peninsula and Middle-East. Some of them were observed at very low geomagnetic latitude, such as the event seen in Yemen in AD 1919 that can be considered as one of the lowest latitude auroras ever documented by Arabic scholars. In the same Yemenite source, the author describes a twilight phenomenon of 1883 October 03–November 01 which can be considered as an atmospheric-optical phenomenon arising from the major explosive eruptions of Krakatoa in 1883 August 26–27. We also noticed that one of the events which was seen for 7 days coincide probably with the prolonged manifestation of auroras of 1870 September 24–25. Including published records, we compiled a so far most complete catalog of potential auroral candidates in the Arabic sources. This data set can be used in order to study the solar activity variations and magnetic storms in the historical past. One of the interesting auroras was seen in Mecca ($\sim17^{\circ}$ MLAT) in 1872 February 04. This event is further evidence for the equatorward extension of auroral display and the planetary consequences of the great geomagnetic storm of 1872. Finally, it should be underlined that no aurora observations were recorded during the Maunder minimum (MM).

The article provides a comprehensive architectural and historical-geographical analysis of a unique monument of medieval religious-defensive architecture – the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Vasilcau village, located on the banks of the Dniester River, near the state border of the Republic of Moldova and the Ukraine. Vasilcau was the border point between the Principality of Moldavia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Middle Ages. Its geographical position led to the formation of a fortified border point here, which served as an eastern outpost of the Soroca tsinut (county). The elevated cape with steep slopes, on which a temple with a bell tower, a courtyard, a trading square, as well as an ancient trade road and a river crossing was built, is a vivid example of a natural, historical-cultural complex, the basis of which is a medieval fortified point with a unique cult-defensive monument of architecture. The church represents a widespread type of place of worship, whose architecture combines the planimetric features of wooden architecture with those used in medieval buildings built of stone, highlighted in the found proportions. The solution of the historical-geographical enigmas that envelop the history of the heritage monument in the absence of written sources is carried out on the basis of a complex poly-scale historical and cartographic analysis and the use of modern geoinformation methods.

In 2013, the Livoberezhna Archaeological Expedition made the rescue excavations at the Vyshenky 1 settlement near the Vyshenky village Korop district of Chernihiv region. The settlement is located on the edge of the high right bank of the Desna River. In the excavation area of 120 m2 more than 20 ancient household pits, a number of post-holes and the part of building 1. In addition to some finds of the Bronze Age and Kyiv Rus the main materials date to the 1st millennium AD.
 The lower horizon (building 1, pits 4, 12, 20, 21, 23) belongs to the Kyiv culture of the Late Roman period. The building was probably square semi-dwelling house with a central pillar. Pottery is represented mainly by pots of weakly profiled and ribbed forms. The flattened biconical spindle whorls with a large hole, as well as single fragments of pottery were occurred in the objects. In addition to fragments of typical Chernyakhiv pottery, the fragment of a red slip bowl of the second half of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th centuries, unique for Desna basin region, was found. Obviously, this is t the possible final date for the layer of Kyiv culture.
 The upper horizon of the settlement belongs to the sites of the Sakhnivka-Volyntsevo circle. Pits 6, 17—19, 22 contained the fragments of convex-sided pots with bent rims, usually ornamented with finger impressions on the edge, and frying pans. The flattened-rounded spindle whorls and fragments of clay ovoid blocks belong to the same period.
 The hand-made pottery from sites of the Sakhnivka type is practically indistinguishable from significant part of the ceramics of the Volyntsevo culture, so the pottery of different types which often occurs in complexes with the hand-made ceramics usually becomes the diagnostic sign. In Sakhnivka sites there are sometimes pottery of the Pastyrske type, and in the Volyntsevo sites dating a little later there are so-called “pots of the Volyntsevo type”. However, in the settlement of Vyshenky 1 the household pits of this horizon contained only hand-made pottery, so it is difficult to draw a final conclusion about its cultural and chronological identification.

Materials and methods. This article is a collective research conducted by the members of the Nubian archaeological and anthropological expedition of the Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. The article outlines the main results of the expedition's work over four field seasons at the Deraheib site, located at the headstream of Wadi al-Allaqi, in the northern part of the Nubian desert (Central Atbai) in the Republic of Sudan. From 2017 to 2022 The Nubian expedition excavated the Northern Fortress, Building 3 (Mosque) at the settlement of Deraheib, the Southern Necropolis; carried out an reconnaissance mission to the Onib ring structure. Results and discussion. Based on the study of the obtained archaeological materials (primarily the analysis of ceramics and textiles), as well as data from written sources, it was established that the medieval part of history of the monument covers the period between the 9th and 12th centuries. The archaeological site of Deraheib can be associated with the city of Al-Allaqi, mentioned in Arabic sources as a gold mining center in the Nubian desert, a trading city that was located on one of the caravan routes connecting the Red Sea port of Aidhab and the city of Aswan. The materials of the excavations of the Northern Fortress made it possible to advance a hypothesis that the building, erected in the 9th century, functioned more like a fortified castle of the local ruler rather than a fortress. The study of Building 3 allows us to say with confidence that it was a Friday mosque, founded at the beginning of the 10th century. Ongoing excavations in the Southern Necropolis have revealed Muslim burials (25 out of 31 investigated burials) and burials that are associated with the population that lived on the territory of Atbai in the Late Antique — Early Medieval period, known from classical sources as Blemmyes. A group of anthropologists obtained important data on the sex and age of the population of Deraheib, traces of daily activities and pathologies reflected in the skeleton. An important direction in the research of the MSU complex expedition is the study of the modern population of Central Atbai, primarily the Bisharin tribe of the Beja tribal union. The article outlines the main directions of these studies and preliminary results.

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Annual Meeting HighlightsFull AccessEnjoy the Opulence of a Bygone Era at Casa LomaNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:18 Feb 2015https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2015.2b7AbstractThis elegant 98-room castle built by Canadian financier Sir Henry Pellatt in 1914 harkens back to the days of kings, knights, and maidens fair.Like many a youth, Sir Henry Pellatt dreamed of living in a castle and feeling like a king. Unlike most other dreamers, though, Pellatt developed the means to make that dream a reality. Overlooking Toronto from its hilltop perch, Casa Loma was completed in 1914 at a cost of over $3.5 million and was the largest private residence in Canada on its completion.Danielle PettiOne of the leading Canadian financiers of the late 19th century, Pellatt was a shrewd investor in land, railroads, and electricity and amassed a fortune fit for royalty. In 1914, following three years of labor and incurring over $3 million in costs, Casa Loma, a hilltop castle overlooking the city of Toronto, was completed. However, the same financial tides that helped Pellatt realize his vision soon receded, and he and his wife were forced to sell the estate a few years after moving in. The building experienced its own turbulence over the years as well, but thanks to the efforts of the Kiwanis Club and other benefactors, today it still stands on that hill as one of Toronto’s top tourist attractions.From the moment people enter the castle and bask in the Great Hall and its 60-foot ceilings, they are surrounded by opulence. While visitors cannot explore all seven floors, 98 rooms, and 64,000 square feet of the castle, there is plenty to admire.Some of the highlights include the Oak Room, featuring hand-carved oak panels and beams that took French artisans three years to create and the hallway on the main floor modeled after Peacock Alley in Windsor Castle. (Pellatt, the son of British immigrants, was a noted Anglophile, and homages to his heritage are peppered throughout his estate.) Besides the Old World splendor, Casa Loma also boasts many modern marvels—for its time. The building contains an elevator, a central vacuum system, and thousands of electric lights. Plumbing was also quite sophisticated, as Casa Loma features steam pipes that helped keep the flowerbeds in the conservatory warm, while pipes filled with ammonia and brine were used to chill the wine cellar. (The wine cellar is also connected to Henry Pellatt’s study by a secret passage—another medieval touch.) At Casa Loma, even the stables (which can be accessed from the house via an underground passage) speak of opulence.ourism TorontoVisitors who make it to the third floor will be rewarded with a small museum dedicated to the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, a reserve regiment in which Pellatt served, as well as a tribute to one of the building’s more interesting historical roles. During World War II, Casa Loma was used as a clandestine base of operations for constructing an early sonar device known as ASDIC (Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee). The castle was open to tourists during this time; the secret project was contained in one section of the building, guarded by only a simple sheet, a padlock, and an “Under Repairs” sign.Once done with the building, visitors can explore the surrounding gardens, which should be in bloom and quite lovely in May, and take a peek at the stables and the carriage room, which houses a collection of vintage cars.Eventually, the tour of Casa Loma will end, but visitors can go back down the hill with a smile and a spring in their step, as for a little while at least, they could feel like the welcome guests of a king. ■Casa Loma is located at 1 Austin Place, a short walk from the Dupont subway stop. The admission fee includes a multimedia audio guide. More information about Casa Loma can be accessed here. ISSUES NewArchived

UNUSUAL NEW FINDINGS AT FILIPPOVKA-1 BURIAL MOUND 1, SOUTHERN URALS

The philosopher as necromancer is a commonplace medieval reality. This paper traces how William of Malmesbury invents the figure of a necromantic philosopher in the person of Gerbert of Aurillac. This new image of the philosopher, which William elaborates using many classical and religious reminiscences, gave personal expression, at the beginning of the 12th century, primarily to fears generated by new knowledge arriving from Arabic sources. As a figure inspiring terror, however, the necromantic philosopher did not exist for long. As the second part of the paper will argue, his disappearance owes nothing to scientific progress or religious enlightenment, but is rather connected with the emergence of a new cycle of legends. Virgil is their protagonist: in the new legends that begin to circulate in the late 12th century, the Latin vates becomes a kind of magician. He uses his magical powers, however, not so much for his own benefit as to help out his adopted hometown of Naples. Thanks to Virgil, or rather thanks to the new Neapolitan stories about him, the formerly evil necromantic philosopher turns into a good necromantic philosopher, whose newly positive image colours the representation of many great philosophers in the following centuries.

The sanctuary of Shaykh ʿAdī, the only monumental complex of the Yezidis, lies at Lalish, 35 kilometres north of Mosul, in Iraqi Kurdistan. It is dedicated to its founder, Shaykh ʿAdī (d. 1162). Although it has been suggested that it was converted from a Christian monastery, Arabic sources and architectural analysis indicate that it may originally have been thezāwiyawhere Shaykh ʿAdī and his disciples retired to meditate. After his death, the sanctuary grew up around his tomb and became a centre of pilgrimage. It is a large complex containing buildings of different sizes and functions. It was not conceived as a centrally planned structure and its different parts were added progressively as and when circumstances dictated. The dominant architectural style is derived from that which characterizes the twelfth–thirteenth-century Shiite buildings of Mosul, and was continued by the Yezidis until the present day.

19th century written Estonian – from interlanguage to amalgam While in Western Europe the period from the French Revolution to World War I is regarded as the long 19th century − the time of the development of nationalism and the modernization of society, in the countries forming the western part of Czarist Russia similar developments emerged a bit later, from the beginning of the 19th century. Estonia entered the 19th century as a class society, in which the upper class was formed by Baltic Germans and the lower class by Estonians. Germans were also the developers and primary users of the Estonian written language. In the 19th century, the Enlightenment reached the Baltics, societal reforms took place, and the economic situation and educational opportunities of the native population improved. In the second half of the 19th century, the Estonian national awakening began, and the status of Estonians and Estonian in society gradually rose. Beginning from the mid-19th century, Estonian-language texts were written primarily by native Estonian speakers, although their language of education and culture was German. As in neighboring countries, the linguistic situation in Estonia was characterized by double diglossia (cf. Nordlund 2007). Both German and Estonian were in use, and there were different varieties of Estonian, standard written Estonian and spoken vernacular Estonian – the former bearing high status (H-variety), the latter lower status (L-variety) (see Rutten 2016). The article examines the variation in usage of three morphosyntactic indicator features in 19th-century Estonian texts written by influential authors (J.W.L. von Luce, F.R. Kreutzwald, C.R. Jakobson, E. Vilde) in different decades, exploring the reflection of sociolinguistic conditions in the dynamics of language usage. The research material comes from the University of Tartu Corpus of Old Written Estonian. The three indicator features examined are 1) the partial vs. total object opposition, which exists in Estonian but not in German, 2) the complexity of verbal structures, which is generally higher in German, and 3) the saama ‘get, become’ future construction, which was introduced into written Estonian by 17th-century Germans as a calque of the German werden future. Our previous research results have shown that the form of written Estonian developed by German scholars (for whom Estonian was an L2) in the 16th – 18th centuries can be considered a sort of collective interlanguage. It is characterized by the excessive preference for the total object form, overuse of complex verbal structures and the use of a future construction foreign to Estonian. The first of these we regard as a qualitative feature of interlanguage, the second and third we regard as quantitative features. Our research shows that the overuse of the total object form declines over the course of the 19th century, but the opposite extreme can also be observed, overuse of the partial object. By contrast, the quantitative features are preserved and even broadened in texts by Estonian authors (in comparison to the texts of the German author Luce from the beginning of the century). Therefore, the written language of the transition period beginning in the mid-19th century can be regarded as an amalgam (L3), wherein native speakers partially adopt the interlanguage of L2 speakers (see Thomason 2001).The authors’ linguistic choices reflect different strategies and their changes over time. Kreutzwald, writing in the middle of the century, shows many interlanguage characteristics, and some amalgam features even become more pronounced in his writing over time (complexity of verbal structure, saama future). Jakobson also frequently uses interlanguage-like verbal structures, but shows a strong preference for the partial (partitive) object. In the texts of Vilde, from the end of the century, the overuse of these complex verbal structures is reduced, but saama future constructions are very common. He too is somewhat inconsistent in object case usage, which indicates that a stable system for object case had not yet developed in the written language by the end of the 19th century.The amalgam phase in the history of the development of written Estonian continued beyond the beginning of the 20th century. In further studies, we plan to analyze the rest of the long 19th century until World War I and Estonian independence.

Between the 9th–10th and the 14th–15th centuries, the two high points of incursions originating from the Dār al-islām, the Gulf of Lion coast seems to have been spared the threat of Saracen raids. Of course, historiography did record some attacks in the 11th and 12th centuries, but saw them as insignificant. A diverse Latin literature – more so than Arab sources – attests to the fact that the threat always remained significant. The summary of expeditions from the power centers arising out of the fragmentation of the Caliphate of Cordoba (mainly the Emirates of Denia and Majorca) shows that they were able to mobilize significant resources and inflict severe damage. Beyond the traditional rhetoric of pagan depredation, the more generic allusions to raids against churches and defenses confirm how much the fear of the Saracens had taken root in people’s minds. Captivity was also a constant worry since expeditions essentially aimed to supply the slave trade. Finally, a chronology of these incursions must be linked both to the power struggles of the aristocracy in the South and to diplomatic and commercial relations in the Western Mediterranean.

New Light from Arabic Sources on Galen and the Fourth Figure of the Syllogism NICHOLAS RESCHER The Problem of the Origin of the Fourth Figure FLYING IN THE FACE of the long-standing tradition--going back in Europe to Renaissance times--which credits Galen of Pergamon with the origination of the fourth syllogistic figure, recent authorities have almost to a man evinced doubt about Galen's claim to this innovation. Heinrieh Scholz speaks of "the Galenian syllogistic figure which has been attributed to him, probably wrongly." i j. W. Stakelum concludes his careful discussion of the matter with the categorical assertion that "Galen did not teach the fourth figure." ~ I. M. Bochenski--following Lukasiewicz (see below)--says that the fourth figure "was only ascribed to Galen by a misunderstanding." : William Kneale (also following Lukasiewicz) writes that "it is easy to see how misunderstanding.., by some Arabian philosopher... could have given rise to the tradition that Galen added a fourth figure to Aristotle's syllogistic theory." 4 The currently received account of the matter is that of Jan Lukasiewicz who, in his book on Aristotle's Syllogistic (1951; 2d ed., 1957), presents the known reports about Galen and the fourth figure as follows (I list them in the order in which they came to light) : 1) Several passages in Averroes' (d. 1198) Middle Commentary on Prior Analytics credit Galen with introducing a fourth figure (ad Anal. Pr. I, 5; I, 8; I, 23). These passages, known in Europe through a Renaissance Latin translation of a Hebrew version, provided the basis upon which Zabarella in his work, De Quarta Syllogismorum Figura (in his Opera [Leiden: 1587], pp. 41-53), popularized the "Galenian figure" in European logic. 2) In 1844 Minoides Mynas published in the Preface to his edition of Galen's EisagSg~ dialektik~ an anonymous Greek fragment (late, perhaps 6th century) which states that certain "later scholars" transformed the indirect moods of the first figure added by Theophrastus and Eudeffms into a new fourth figure, citing Galen as the originator of this doctrine.~ 1Abriss der Geschichte der Logik (Miinster: 1931), trans, into English by K. F. Leidecker, ConciseHistory of Logic (NewYork: 1961);p. 38ofthe Englishversion. "Why 'Galenian' Figure?" The New Scholasticism, XVI (1942),289-296. s Formale Logik (Miinchen-Freiburg:1956; 2nd. ed., 1962), trans, into English by Ivo Thomas, A History of Formal Logic (Notre Dame: 1961);p. 142of the Englishversion. Williamand Martha Kneale, The Developmentof Logic (Oxford: 1962),p. 184. Alsoprinted in Karl Kalbfieisch, ~ber Galen s Einleitung in die Logik, 2~. Supplementband der Jahrbi~cherfi~r klassische Philologie (Leipzig:1897), p. 707. This datum casts some 28 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 3) A Greek fragment was found around 1858 by Karl Prantl in a logical work of the Byzantine scholar Ioannes Italus (llth century) which says that Galen taught the existence of a fourth figure, adding sarcastically that he (Galen) thought thus to appear cleverer than the older logical commentators (presumably Theophrastus and Eudemus are intended), but fell far short.6 4) In 1899 Maximilian Wallies published7 an anonymous Greek scholium (of perhaps the 6th or the 7th century) on Ammonins' commentary on Prior Analytics which states that Galen "says in his Apodictic that there are four figures, because he looks at the compound syllogisms consisting of four terms (i.e., with three premisses )" rather than the simple (three-term, two-premiss) syllogisms of Aristotle. (The scholiast goes on to explain at some length how such compound syllogisms can be sorted into four groups.) It is readily seen that, given these data, two possibilities stand before us: a) Galen did actually invent the traditional fourth figure. Reports (1)-(3) are correct, and the anonymous scholiast of (4) was put on the wrong track by the fact that Galen also said that compound syllogisms of four terms can be classed into four groups. b) Galen did not invent the traditional fourth figure. Only after his time when once the indirect moods of the first figure had--somehow--become systematized into a separate "figure," was this credited to Galen by a mistake along the lines described by the anonymous scholiast. Thus (4) alone is right, and (1)-(3) are mistaken. Which of...

Since the late nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, Erbil has been the administrative district of the province of Mosul. The fertility of its soil, its climate, and its location was economical and prestigious — its inhabitants have relied on agriculture to secure their lives. As they were interested in the production of some of the crops and crops that this research focused on in quantities and varieties of those products and crops accurately. Some were self-sustaining, such as wheat, barley, rice, as well as some other cash crops like tobacco and cotton. In addition, it has also been interested in the production of fruits and livestock. There is no doubt that each of these economic journals did not depart from natural and human problems and obstacles, And it was found to have affected the quantities and varieties of products and crops, and this has a negative impact on the lives of farmers. As for the financial struggle in Erbil, the established financial system was the same as that which existed during the days of the Ottoman Empire. In addition to the archaic system, the Baathist regime had taken over Kurdish society — The lands of Erbil were divided into different types depending on the royal stratification of the Ottoman Empire, In the last section of this paper, we discuss the circumstances surrounding the residents of Erbil in the years of the First World War. We have relied on sources from the Ottoman Empire, the British government, and a number of Kurdish and Arab sources.

Barely any period in Chinese history stands as an example of the turning of the country towards the maritime world as does the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the famous treasure fleets under the command of the Eunuch Admiral Zheng He (1371–c. 1433) sailed “down the western seas”. This was not for the discovery of new sailing routes or the establishment of colonies that would become so crucial for the European nations only decades later, but rather the strengthening of China’s political and economic relations along the shores of the Indian Ocean according to the patterns of her time-tested tributary system. While the first three voyages were still mainly confined to the South China Sea and the eastern parts of the Indian Ocean, the latter four reached further west to the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Swahili Coast. An analysis of the circumstances, political encounters, commodity exchanges and dating of the general course of events during those voyages in Arabian waters are the main objective of this paper. New insights and evidence are offered through the integration of so far largely overlooked Arabic sources.

The elemental and mineral composition of loose sediments from the Kan-i-Gut mine-cave (Central Asia) was compared. The obtained concentrations of Mn, Fe, and Zn agree with the minerals determined in the composition of samples from the middle and lower horizons. Increased concentrations of Y, as well as the correlation of this element with As in the researched samples were revealed, which gives grounds to assume the presence of yttrium arsenates in the loose formations. The mineral associations found in the mine-cave indicate the formation of the original karst cavity during sulfuric acid speleogenesis. The mineral gergeite was identified in this site for the first time.

The article reviews main works of Russian and foreign authors devoted to the study of the history of medieval Dagestan based on Arabic sources of the 9th-13th centuries on a chronological basis. The Dagestan society political and social life, historical geography, islamization of the region were these and other questions under the focus of these scholars who had developed them on the basis of the in-depth study and knowledge of Arabic historical and geographical sources. The scientific novelty of the paper is determined by the fact that in this work a comparative study of the literature throughout the 19th and early 21st centuries, belonging to the Russian and foreign historiography on Dagestan according to the Arab authors of the 9th-13th centuries, is carried out. The material presented in the article makes it possible to see the source-study outcomes of scholars in studying the history of medieval Dagestan from early Arabic sources, and shows different aspects of the problem which need further development.