Middle Kingdom Research Articles

The English Renaissance and the Far East: Cross-Cultural Encounters by Adele Lee

Reviewed by: The English Renaissance and the Far East: Cross-Cultural Encounters by Adele Lee Miriam Lau (bio) English Renaissance, East Asian Renaissance, China, Japan, Shakespearean adaptations, Chinese Shakespeare, Japanese Shakespeare Review of Adele Lee. The English Renaissance and the Far East: Cross-Cultural Encounters. London: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2018, 185 pages. $95.00 hardcover. $39.99 paperbck. Adele Lee's The English Renaissance and the Far East: Cross-Cultural Encounters is a significant and engaging work that illustrates the transition from the English Renaissance to the East Asian Renaissance in the twenty-first century. The book is neatly divided into two sections. In "Part One: The English Renaissance," Lee painstakingly outlines English encounters with two East Asian powers, China and Japan, in the Renaissance period. She also gives a detailed historical account of the convergences of East and West in the sociopolitical realms. In chapters one and two, respectively, Lee recounts the English imagination of China before setting foot in the "Middle Kingdom" and records their actual encounters with the Chinese after the first Englishmen, Captain Jeremy Weddell, Thomas Robinson, William Bushell, and Peter Mundy, visited China in 1637. Chapter one, "Decrypting Dee's Dreams: An Elizabethan Magus and the Search for Cathay," focuses on the imagination [End Page 119] of "Cathay" (an old Mongolian name for China) by Dr. John Dee who served as the advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. Lee states that there was a widespread opinion in the Renaissance that the "Chinese were Adamite people, that is, original members of the human race" (19). In addition, the Chinese language was regarded as the original lingua humana by Francis Bacon. Chapter two, "'Dumb Shewes of (Dis) Curtesie': England's First Encounter with China," draws a comparison between the English and the Iberians' (Jesuits in particular) early presence in China. Lee argues that, compared to the Iberians, the English had "limited understanding of Chinese culture and the type of men sent on trading missions in this period tended to lack education and refinement" (35). One such example is John Weddell's reckless attempt to secure trading rights in China through force in 1637, which "ruined [England's] chances of direct trading with China for the rest of the seventeenth century" (34). On the other hand, Lee states that Macau, known as the "City of the Name of God," was the "keystone of the Portuguese trade empire" and also a "well-known Jesuit stronghold" (34). Therefore, it was not difficult for the Portuguese to shape local opinion of the English as a "dangerous, quarrelsome race with little to offer in terms of trade" (35), as recorded in Peter Mundy's journal, the earliest, firsthand description of China by an Englishman. In chapter three, "'Naturalized Japanners': 'Samurai William' and the English in Hirado, 1613-1623," Lee continues to explore the Renaissance English's perceptions of another Asian superpower—Japan. She begins by recording the Renaissance English view of Japan as an "island of great wealth" (63) and the perception that Japanese people far exceed all nations lately discovered in terms of wit and virtue. Lee then describes the legacy of William Adams, better known as "Samurai William," the first Englishman to set foot in Japan, in 1600. Adams formed a long-lasting friendship with Tokugawa Ieyasu, who awarded him samurai status, a large estate in Hemi-mura, and the marriage of a Japanese noblewoman. After living in Kyushu for almost two decades, Adams became a "naturalized Japanner," and "spoke Japanese, wore Japanese clothes . . . married a Japanese woman, with whom he fathered two children, despite already having a wife in England" (78). At that time, anxieties stirred in Renaissance England about Englishmen who had "gone native," leaving the interests of their homeland behind. After underscoring the social and political contexts of China and Japan in part one, Lee proceeds to examine Shakespearean adaptations in the two regions in "Part Two: The East Asian Renaissance." The book's recurring [End Page 120] mention of the 2006 Beijing Olympics serves as linkage between parts one and two in which Lee quotes Yiyi Lu that there is a "deep-rooted Chinese desire to always present its best image to foreigners and win admiration...

Different Aspects of Mobility and Migration During the Middle Kingdom

Different Aspects of Mobility and Migration During the Middle Kingdom

El acto sexual como agente del (re)nacimiento de Osiris

One of the most important myths of the Ancient Egypt civilization is Osiris’ cyclical myth. Even though not enough attention has been given to it, one of the most important mythemes is the sexual act between the god and Isis. This sexual act establishes two pillars of the monarchy in Ancient Egypt: the conception and the subsequent birth of Horus (the archetype of the earthly Egyptian king) and Osiris’ (re)birth (king of the Underworld and archetype of the dead). Regardless of the great importance of this sexual act, the sources that relate to it are scarce. On a textual level, the intercourse between both divinities has been documented since the Pyramid Texts until the end of the Pharaonic Period. However, it appears narrated on very few occasions with verbs carrying explicit sexual meaning. Only the context allows one to see that the protagonists are having sexual relations. Since Osiris is dead, Isis is the obvious agent of the action, an exception that makes the goddess different from the rest of her peers. Regarding iconography, only three images have been documented in the Dynastic Period: one in the Middle Kingdom and two in the New Kingdom. In all of them the image is the same, the anthropomorphic Osiris, lies in his funerary bed while Isis, in the shape of a bird of prey, copulates with him.

The Diffusion of Christian Mysticism: From the Medieval Rhineland to Contemporary China

The Diffusion of Christian Mysticism: From the Medieval Rhineland to Contemporary China Glen G. Scorgie (bio) It was 1938, between the two great World Wars. China was in upheaval, and the Middle Kingdom’s first experiment with Western-style democracy was in tatters. The Communists under Chairman Mao would not be able to consolidate their hold on the nation for another decade. But meanwhile, Japan was encroaching, and local gangs and militias roamed the country. Regional conflicts ebbed and flowed. Against this volatile backdrop, a new, growing, fiercely independent and theologically conservative network of Protestant churches known as the Little Flock decided to prepare and publish the first-ever Chinese translation of the autobiography of the seventeenth century French mystic Madame Guyon. The title of this abridged translation was Sweet Smelling Myrrh.1 Observing this is rather like wandering through some farmer’s pasture and discovering an asteroid. How on earth did this get here? By what sequence of events, what chain of relationships and baton relays did Madame Guyon and her Quietist mysticism show up in China, and to such a surprisingly warm welcome from earnest Chinese Protestants? Not so long ago Jonah Berger published for a wide readership a book entitled Contagious: Why Things Catch On.2 A lot of people found it quite fascinating. For a time, it enjoyed the spotlight as a New York Times bestseller. And in a more scholarly format, Everett M. Rogers has pioneered the sociological study of the diffusion of innovations.3 How do things catch on? Scholars of Christian spirituality should begin searching for answers to this question, which is so critical to the future of Christian spirituality itself. We need more studies of how various spiritual themes, practices, and experiences have traveled through time, diffused across geographic regions, and taken root in new settings. Such studies will also surely confirm that elements of Christian spirituality inevitably morph as they adapt to new traditions and contexts, and embrace local wisdom. As a small contribution to this recommended genre of inquiry, this essay explores (admittedly, from a very high-altitude vantage point) the journey of Christian mysticism from the medieval Rhineland to parts of modern-day China via rather unexpected carriers—populist Protestant preachers, Holiness [End Page 1] evangelists, and missionaries shaped by the Keswick Movement. It is a narrative that would have been difficult to predict, and one in which, incidentally, thin little books play pivotal roles. THE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM In order to trace any historical pathway of Christian mysticism, we must first penetrate “the cloud of unknowing” that too often surrounds the term itself. If at all possible, we should try to put the mystification of mysticism behind us. Built into the very word mysticism is an acknowledgment of the ultimately ineffable nature of this experience. But the mystery in the experience does not justify murkiness in its definition. I think it is best (and in our circles, probably safest) to align with Bernard McGinn’s generously inclusive depiction of mysticism as direct and immediate apprehension of the divine presence.4 The consciousness of which he speaks goes beyond, or moves deeper than, the more familiar and more objective experiences of sensing, knowing and loving.5 Karl Rahner has helpfully tagged at least a couple of important additional features of the mystical experience when he described it as “a genuine experience of God emerging from the very heart of our existence.”6 In the language of the biblical Psalmist, deep calleth unto deep. The function of mystical theology is to provide seekers with an interpretive orientation to such a quest, and to guide them into proven pathways toward its realization. Typically, the term mystic is reserved for those who are “all in” in their yearning for, and their relentless pursuit of, such experience of the divine. Nevertheless, it must also be acknowledged that there is at least a mystical dimension to the experiences of most Christians, and it is difficult to imagine how a religious commitment can be sustained in the long haul without it. A strain of the mystical has been present in the Christian tradition from the very beginning.7 Its earliest phase was catalyzed...

Gonzalo in the Middle Kingdom: What Abimael Guzmán Tells Us in His Three Discussions of His Two Trips to China

Author(s): Rothwell, Matthew | Abstract: While thousands of Latin Americans traveled to China during the Mao years (1949-1976) to learn from the experience of the Chinese Revolution, only Abimael Guzman went on to lead a Maoist people’s war in his home country. Chinese records on Guzman’s time in China are closed, but Guzman has on three occasions talked in some detail or written about his experiences in China. This paper closely examines what Guzman has said and written in order to better understand this pivotal time in the development of one of the most important figures in twentieth century Peruvian history.Mientras que miles de latinoamericanos viajaron a China durante los anos de Mao (1949-1976) para aprender de la experiencia de la Revolucion China, solo Abimael Guzman llego a dirigir una guerra popular maoista en su pais de origen. Los archivos chinos sobre el tiempo de Guzman en China estan cerrados, pero en tres ocasiones Guzman ha hablado con algun detalle o escrito sobre sus experiencias en China. Este articulo examina de cerca lo que Guzman ha dicho y escrito para comprender mejor este momento crucial en el desarrollo de una de las figuras mas importantes de la historia peruana del siglo XX.

Different Aspects of Mobility and Migration During the Middle Kingdom

Different Aspects of Mobility and Migration During the Middle Kingdom

Hong Kong's Last English Bishop: The Life and Times of John Gilbert Hindley Baker by Philip L. Wickeri (review)

Reviewed by: Hong Kong's Last English Bishop: The Life and Times of John Gilbert Hindley Baker by Philip L. Wickeri Rob York (bio) Philip L. Wickeri. Hong Kong's Last English Bishop: The Life and Times of John Gilbert Hindley Baker, vol. 6. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2021. 212 pp. $62.00, isbn 9789888528714. Philip L. Wickeri had a unique story to tell with the life of John Gilbert Hindley Baker, the last English priest to head the Diocese of Hong Kong and Macau. Sandwiched between his venerable predecessor, Ronald Hall, and the first Chinese bishop of the territory, Peter Kwong, Baker was not considered as towering a figure as the former—nor did he have as long a tenure—and his time was perhaps less transformative than the latter, who oversaw the diocese's transition to the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. However, Baker's journey was noteworthy, which is why the efficient-to-a-fault treatment he receives in Wickeri's Hong Kong's Last English Bishop: The Life and Times of John Gilbert Hindley Baker is so frustrating. Wickeri ultimately seems content—or perhaps was only permitted—to summarize Baker's life story and provide little deeper [End Page 229] analysis or grappling with the deeper themes of that story, ultimately producing a book of little interest to people other than those with an inherent interest in related subjects. Chapter 1 begins the book with Baker's early life from 1910–1934, including his upbringing in the Anglican Church and his family's interest in missionary work, sparked by missionary literature and an aunt's work in India, plus his pastoral training before his recruitment for work in China. Chapter 2 describes this work across the Middle Kingdom from 1934 to 1951, working against factors such shallow church penetration in some areas, complacent church members elsewhere, but also the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and China's fall to communism in 1949. Here, the book reveals that Baker, through his personal writings, had sympathy for the communists and their revolution despite his commitment to the church and the Communist Party's denunciation of missionaries. Chapter 3 discusses his time outside China, including pastoring at an Episcopal Church in Connecticut and authoring the study booklet The Church Faces Communism, designed to provide a nuanced take on the phenomenon amid the Red Scare. He then moved back to the United Kingdom to take up new responsibilities, including overseeing missionary strategy. The chapter ends with his return to Hong Kong, with what seemed, at the time, to be an interim position. But in Chapter 4 readers learns that Bishop Ronald Hall was preparing to step down—he was seventy at that point, and had been a bishop for more than three decades. Hall favored other candidates as his replacement and negatively assessed Baker's leadership potential (Wickeri notes that Hall's stated reasons were vague). Yet these nominations fell through for assorted reasons, and Gilbert was eventually chosen due to the support of Chinese-speaking priests with memories of Gilbert's earlier service on the mainland. This chapter is truly the meat of the book, as it depicts Gilbert promptly going to work at his surprising new ministry, usually quietly, but sometime impactfully, such as through the ordination of women priests. While successful, Gilbert's time was tumultuous, coming amid the riots of 1967, and Gilbert, sympathetic to calls for equitable distribution, spoke out for managers to treat laborers fairly as Hong Kong's economy expanded—along with its inequalities. Chapters 5 and 6 continue with his time as bishop, with the former noting his interest in addressing the territory's problems with drug abuse, with documenting church history, and dealing with an influx of Vietnamese refugees following the fall of Saigon. In the latter, the book notes the death of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, with whom Baker and other priests had struck up a relationship and saw as a stabilizing figure during the Cultural Revolution, leading to a surprisingly reverential eulogy from Baker. It also notes the suicide of Baker's wife Patty, who had been living with constant pain for several...

Between Land and Sea: Tell Mirhan and the Chekka Regional Survey

In 2016 the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) and the Department for History and Archaeology at the American University of Beirut (AUB) launched a new archaeological project in the Chekka region in Lebanon. The Chekka region borders the shore of the Mediterranean and is situated between Batroun in the south and Tripoli in the north. At the northern end of the modern town of Chekka directly at the seashore one finds the remains of Tell Mirhan on the premises of a modern cement factory (Fig. 1). This tell and its hinterland have never been the subject of a thorough and systematic archaeological investigation. A survey conducted at Tell Mirhan in 2016 and an excavation in 2018 revealed an early Iron Age occupation (1200– 700BC) superimposing a massive rampart fortification of the Middle Bronze Age. Egyptian pottery from the Middle and New Kingdom as well as imports from Cyprus and Greece testify to the importance of this site as a harbour town during these periods. In order to investigate the site’s relation with its hinterland, a survey of the region from the coast into the foothills of Mount Lebanon was launched. To cope with a rather difficult terrain and intensive modern construction activities and changes of the ancient landscape, we conducted a LiDAR scan of the survey area in November of 2018.

Más allá de la narrativa: aportes para una aproximación integral a la Segunda Estela de Kamose

The aim of this contribution is to highlight the traces of diverse social practices on the Second Stela of Kamose, whose relevance is not usually recognized. The stone on which the Stela was engraved has a long history. It comes from a Middle Kingdom door jamb probably belonging to a royal building erected at the temple. After several centuries of being located in the temple, the Stela was buried into the base of a statue of Ramesses II, where it was found in 1954, in front of the Second Pylon. Not only is the reuse of monuments highlighted here, but also other practices made on the monument’s surface: the damnatio memoriae and the scribble of graffiti. Thus, the Stela becomes an appropriate example to observe, analyze and reflect on those social practices, which in turn make it a relevant monument by itself, beyond the content of the well-known written text

Egyptian Truncated Female Figurines in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

The paper represents the first detailed publication of three Ancient Egyptian figurines from the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (I, 1a 5882, I, 1a 5900, I, 1a 5912). They be-long to the group of small figurines usually depicting naked women lacking legs below the knees. Their key features are complex lush hairstyles; detailed elaboration of both the front and the reverse surface; various types of jewelry. The figurines are dated back to the late Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. The figurine I, 1a 5882 (12.1 cm) is made of bright blue (turquois) faience and represents the most typical example of truncat-ed figurines of the early phase of their existence. The figurines I, 1a 5900 (11.5 cm) and I, 1a 5912 (9.8 cm) are made of limestone and belong to the end phase. Moreover, figurine I, 1a 5912 represents a rare type of naked female carrying a small child. The paper exam-ines in detail the appearance of three figurines (hairstyles, jewelry, tattoos etc.) in the cul-tural and historical context of the period. Truncated figurines were in different ways in-terpreted in historiography: dolls, the Divine Mother, concubines, dancing girls, fertility figurines. The authors of the paper analyze basic points of view on functions of truncated figurines and make conclusion that they belonged to the feminine domestic rites connect-ed to conception, birth, health of a child and a mother and in a broader sense to fertility that is directly associated with the goddess Hathor. It is no coincidence that they are found together with paddle-dolls, clappers, magic wands, mirrors, figurines of hippopota-mi, monkeys, lions, Besit, Ipi/Taweret. These are objects connected one way or another with birth, childhood, fertility. The category of fertility was of particular importance dur-ing the antiquity. High infant mortality and frequent infant and maternal death during la-bour made people especially protect everything connecting to conception, birth, health of a child and a mother.

Speaking with Birds in Chinese. Franciscan Thought on the Middle Kingdom Proselytization

The difficult task of preaching Christianity in China was undertaken by several Catholic missionary orders, the first of which was the order of the Franciscans. The article examines philosophical and theoretical foundations of Franciscan “inculturation”, which served as the basis of their missionary practice, arising from the ideas and activities of the founder of the order – Francis of Assisi, in particular from his belief in the need to declare the truth of the Gospel to all things from stones and birds to the pagans.According to the author’s hypothesis rational seeds of the Franciscan inculturation were carefully incorporated into the theory and practice of the famous Jesuit teologia accomodativa, which allowed the Renaissance Jesuit order to bring the ideas of medieval scholastics-Franciscans to a new level, thereby achieving great success in missionary work, and stay in China at the court of Ming and Qing emperors in spite of the persecutions.The first part of the article examines the fusion of the basic principles of both orders, both in historical retrospect, and the embodiment of this synthesis in the modern Catholic Church in the current Pope Francis. It is shown how the Franciscans, who postulated the importance of personal charisma and the need to bring Gospel’s message to the largest possible audience, played a fatal role in suppressing the activities of Catholic missions in the Middle Empire due to their de facto intolerance to the more radical methods of inculturation used by the Jesuits.Summing up 700 years ofFranciscan presence in China (with an inevitable break after the Yuan Dynasty and the prohibition of Christian preaching under Emperor Yongzheng), the author believes that the fundamental developments of the order's thinkers, glorified in medieval Europe, turned out to be ineffective when trying to spread Christian ideas in the Confucian Celestial Empire.

Poselstwo Jana Potockiego do Chin w 1806 r.

Jan Potocki’s mission to China in 1806 Jan Potocki – the most famous European traveler of the Enlightenment and a scholar who was expert in many cultures – made a journey by land to China in 1806. As part of a group of eleven scholars, which he led, he was included in an official Russian mission numbering 250 persons that traveled to the Middle Kingdom in order to establish trading links. On the way, the scholars carried out, inter alia, geological, botanical, and climate research. Potocki prepared maps, descriptions of specimens, and reports of scientific achievements. However, the Russian mission was turned back from the border area for infringing diplomatic principles regarding respect for the traditions and culture of China. Only Potocki obtained permission to cross the border of the Empire on the return journey. This was the first entry of a European into China by land.

Las estacas de madera de Haraga y la pesca en el-Fayum durante el Reino Medio

In 1923, Reginald Engelbach published the report of the works carried out from 1913 to 1914 in the excavation of the tombs of Haraga. In one of the structures of C Cemetery, Engelbach found a set of objects that he called fisherman’s equipment, comprising the remains of fishing nets, floats, net weights and wooden stakes. In this article, which is a summary of one of the chapters of the author’s doctoral thesis, she analyses the fishing instruments from Haraga and exposes the methods of capture in which stakes are used. The text is concluded with a proposal of the fishing gears and catching methods that could have been used in el-Fayum from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom by means of a diachronic perspective and the ichthyological species possibly caught. In order to accomplish this goal, the author uses the archaeological record and other sources such as iconographic, documentary and ethnographic ones

Krótka historia kultu Mao Zedonga – wybrane elementy podtrzymywania politycznej legendy Wielkiego Sternika w Chinach

A short history of the Mao Zedong cult – selected elements involved in the maintenance of the political legend of the Great Helmsman in China The annual celebration of various anniversaries related to the history of the Chinese Communist Party and its leaders regularly recalls the controversial theme of the heritage of communism and the legacy of Mao Zedong in China. On many of these occasions, the question of the need for “Father of the Nation” worship in the Middle Kingdom arises. One answer is to preserve the memory of the President and his achievements in order to make the younger generation aware of how long the party founders had to travel on the long road to make China an international power again. This article presents selected elements of social and political life in China associated with important party anniversaries that are used to uphold the legend of Mao Zedong in his homeland. The character of the ceremony that is discussed relates to the anniversary of Mao’s birth, the commemoration of his leadership in the ideology of political and business leaders, and Mao’s legacy in terms of tourism. The interest of the Chairman in collecting artifacts and in film was also discussed. This article is the second part of a two-part article dedicated to the leader.

Pots, gold, and viceroys: shifting dynamics of Egyptian-Nubian relations at the transition to the New Kingdom, from the viewpoint of Middle Nubian pottery at Tell Edfu

This paper attempts to marry together the archaeological and historical records for the transition into the New Kingdom, from the view-point of the Nubian ceramic sequence at Tell Edfu. The evidence in question dates to a period span-ning the late Middle Kingdom through to the early 18th Dynasty and is notable for a distinct change in the character of the assemblage that seems to correspond to marked changes in the social and political relationship between Egypt and Nubia. These changes include an increased Egyptian vig-our in goldmining activities and the establishment of the viceregal administration. More broadly, the paper suggests that Tell Edfu and its surrounding region (Hierakonpolis and Elkab) were enmeshed in broad social and political shifts that occurred at that time. It is also suggested that the southern half of Upper Egypt as far as Hierakonpolis should be perceived as a transitional zone in which the Egyptian and Nubians spheres over-lapped, both administratively and culturally

The Ancient Near East: History, Texts, etc.

The Ancient Near East:History, Texts, etc. Christopher T. Begg, William J. Urbrock, and Michael W. Duggan 1670. [Rendering of Accounts Theme] Georgia Barker, "Classification of a Funerary Model: The Rendering of Accounts Theme," JARCE 55 (2019) 5-13. The three-dimensional funerary models that were housed in burial chambers from the late Old Kingdom down to the end of the Middle Kingdom periods display a number of similarities with the so-called "scenes of daily life" found on ancient Egyptian tomb-chapel walls. A comparison of the two media might thus help classify otherwise unidentifiable artworks. One such funerary model currently housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon evidences many parallels with scenes depicting the rendering of accounts theme. This article examines the similarities in question in order to determine if the Lyon model can appropriately be understood as a representation of the above theme. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1671. [Babylonian Priestly Families] Paul-Alain Beaulieu, "Temple Towns and Nation Building: Migrations of Babylonian Priestly Families in the Late Periods," JANER 19 (2019) 3-17 [see #1682]. This article surveys the Babylonian evidence regarding inter-city migrations of priests and their families. The phenomenon in question is already attested during the Old Babylonian period, and there are some indications that it continued under Kassite rule. However, most of the relevant evidence comes from temple archives of the 1st millennium, with a heavy concentration during the long sixth cent. (ca. 626–484 b.c.). Although numerous [End Page 609] studies have called attention to specific cases of priestly migrations, the phenomenon has not yet been assessed in its entirety. B. concludes that such migrations were far more common than previously thought. These migrations were motivated primarily by political considerations, e.g., the establishing of the cult of official deities at local sanctuaries or a need to maintain a memory landscape for venerable cult centers. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1672. [P. Cairo Zen. 1 59004] Andrea M. Berlin, "Zenon's Flour: Grains of Truth from Tel Kedesh," BARev 45 (6, 2019) 34-40. B. discusses the contents and significance of a papyrus document (P. Cairo Zen. 1 59004) that dates to 259 b.c.e. and records a list of eleven towns, including Kudissos (= Tel Kedesh on the Lebanese border in northern Israel), where the Egyptian bureaucrat Zenon acquired quantities of flour. Analyses of residue from ancient storage jars at the site indicate that the flour obtained there was probably made from bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), perhaps to be equated with the previously unidentified "Syrian wheat." Photo-illustrated.—W.J.U. 1673. [Shallow Bowls; Early Dynastic Mortuary Meals] Martin Bommas and Eman Khalifa, "Shallow Bowls for Mortuary Meals from Tarkhan. Archaeology of the Path towards the Intellectual Formation of the State in Early Dynastic Egypt," MDAIK 74, 21-32 [see #2434]. During the so-called Early Intermediate Period (EIP, 3300–3150 b.c.) of ancient Egypt's history, the process of state formation generated diversity rather than simplification of material data, as had been thought earlier. An example of this phenomenon is the stratification of social groups whose access to resources defined their rank in society. Thus, e.g., while shallow bowls made of stone were utilized for exclusive mortuary meals celebrated with divinized ancestor gods in the hidden chambers of mastaba tombs in the Memphis area during the above period, shallow bowls made of clay were used by those strata of society that lacked access to the resources, infrastructure, and methods of production available to the elite. On the basis of both archaeological and textual evidence, our article argues that the emergence of social stratification in EIP Egypt was the result of an intellectual process. In this connection, the Pyramid Texts provide valuable, retrospective insight into the development of funerary rituals long prior to the Verschriftlichung of those rituals. As evidence from Tarkhan situated in the northern Nile valley shows, newly developed funerary rituals catered both to socialization with elite deities associated with shallow bowls as well to the living's offering of dishes in the context of funerary festivals...

Древнеегипетское заклинание из гробницы Неха в эль-Катта

A translation and commentary on the spell in the tomb of Neha at el-Qatta previously discussed by H. D. Schneider (1977) and T. J. Allen (2013). The spell was believed to provide Neha, after his death, with magical powers over representations (possibly statuettes) of his “workers-kAwtyw” designed to serve him in the next world. However, as an indispensable condition for the effectiveness of the spell was considered to be the faultlessness of the acquisition of the representations, the latter was asserted in passages resembling an ideal autobiography. The expression mr(y)t(=f) Ds=f “his own household people” in l. 22 is the Middle Kingdom colloquial equivalent of the mr(y)t=f n(y)t Dt=f, which has survived in nomarch Nehery’s tomb at el-Bersheh and on the pedestal of a sculptural group of four figurines from the mastaba of Shepi at Dahshur (CG 512). The latter parallel is of special significance, since in the selection and arrangement of other spells Neha’s burial chamber is also comparable to certain tombs in the Dahshur–Lisht region. Neha was most likely influenced by one of the magical traditions of this metropolitan area. If Neha, like Shepi, had a sculptural group of four “household people”, this could explain his words about acquiring “the fourth one (fdnw)” to serve very early and late extra meals (ll. 23 ̶ 24). The noun nDs in l. 17 and the use of the word Ds with the meaning “own” in connection with people date the composition to no later than the reign of Senusret I.

ON SOME OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CHINESE INITIATIVE ONE BELT, ONE ROAD

recent years, much has been said and written about the Chinese BRI (Belt and Road initiative): the mainly discussed issues relating to its economic benefits for the participating countries and the possible impact in the global and regional balance of power. However, relatively little attention has been paid paid to the risks and problems affecting the success of the initiative in the long term. The diverse cultural, religious, economic, and socio-political situation in countries along BRI routes contributes to the inevitable and inherent risks and challenges for the project, both domestically and internationally. It may mean that in order to implement BRI, China will have to deal with powerful global competitors and some influential regional powers, which implies a new geopolitical rivalry in Eurasia and the struggle for global influence. With the expansion of coverage to more than 70 countries, some concerns and complaints have arisen regarding BRI that have received wide publicity. In the expert community and the mass media, mainly in the West, we increasingly see comments on the growing problems of BRI and even forecasts of the possible refusal of developing countries to participate in BRI, due to their unwillingness to become an economic, raw material and financial appendage to the Middle Kingdom. According to critics of the Chinese initiative, previously optimistic participants of BRI will “soon realize” that all promises about the benefits of the project for their economies are greatly exaggerated, therefore they will have to reconsider their financial terms of agreements with the Chinese partners.

Applying Stock Market Image Theory in China: Antecedents, Dimensions, and Consequences in the Middle Kingdom

This empirical study explores Chinese Mainland investors’ stock market image, as well as its antecedents and consequences. Stock market image theory, proposed by Dobni and Racine (2015, 2016), argues that personality, cognitive, and demographic variables impact investors’ image of the stock market, consequently impacting their investing motives and behaviors. This study asks the question: What factors influence Chinese investors’ image of the stock market? This quantitative study, based on surveys of 171 respondents, finds a strong relationship between Chinese investors’ inclinations to invest and to save for retirement and their perception of the stock market’s wealth-creating capacity.

Human remains from the Tomb of Khety (MMA 508/TT 311) in North Asasif

The North Asasif Necropolis, adjacent to the New Kingdom temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari, has been the subject of several excavations over the past century, first by H.E. Winlock in the early 20th century, and since 2013 by the Asasif Project. Most of the tombs in the necropolis are rock-cut tombs of honored officials dating to the Middle Kingdom. One of these officials, named Khety, was buried in a tomb designated by Winlock as MMA 508 (also known as Theban Tomb 311), though the tomb was subsequently reused for another burial (or burials) during the Third Intermediate Period. Though Winlock excavated this tomb in the early 20th century, he left much archaeological material behind, and systematic documentation of this excavation debris by the Asasif Project has yielded a wealth of information. This study focuses specifically on the human remains recovered from MMA 508 during the 2019 season. Despite the commingled nature of the MMA 508 assemblage, much information has been gleaned from the human remains. The remains of at least twenty individuals, including infants and children as well as adults, were recovered from the tomb debris. Evidence for systemic physiological stress and infection was observed in some of the remains, and both male and female individuals were identified. Various aspects of body treatment testify to the elite status of the individuals interred in this tomb. The relatively high percentage of sub-adult remains may support theories that the tombs in this part of the necropolis were sometimes used as multi-generational family tombs. Further study of the human remains from MMA 508 may shed light on burial practices from the Middle Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period.