Sixth Century Research Articles

Decentering Exile

Abstract I argue that the Levitical Prayer offered in Neh 9:5–37 (LP) offers a version of Judean history that does not include the Babylonian exile. Instead, it narrates an unbroken chain of possession of Judean territory that spans from the conquest and settlement of Canaan to the post-monarchic context of the prayer’s composition. Drawing insights from the study of cultural trauma, I make the case that the interpretive importance of such a catastrophic event cannot be assumed for subsequent Judean communities who sought to form a sense of cultural identity through the retelling of a shared past. Potentially traumatic events like the Babylonian exile are not actualized naturally; communal trauma is instead the product of social processes in the present that serve the needs of present and future communities. An elision of the Babylonian exile from a piece of post-monarchic period literature like the LP does not, therefore, require the interpretative conclusion that the prayer was written by the descendants of Judeans who avoided exile and remained in Judea during the sixth century ʙᴄᴇ. Importantly, neither does it exclude the possibility that the LP was produced by a community whose ancestors were displaced and resettled in Babylonia during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. Through this analysis I invite scholars to explore a broader range of interpretative possibilities in their study of Ezra-Nehemiah as a composition and the understanding of the defining elements of Judean identity in the post- monarchic period.

Serving the Dead as Serving the Living: Examining the Concept of Burial and Life Consciousness in Medieval China

In the minds of ancient people, tombs and burials were where the lives of this world ended and another type of life began. By incorporating the concepts of life found in Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and the widespread belief in ghosts and immortals, burial ceremonies evolved during the Wei and Jin 魏晋 dynasties (220–420) into an integrated and unified notion of burial. The funeral ritual’s imaginative and fanciful depictions of the hereafter express sentimental devotion to life and contemplation of death. The burial ceremony and tomb architecture change in accordance with how the concepts of sacrifice and ghosts develop. The features of people’s belief in ghosts and immortality are reflected in particular burial practices. The popularity of necromancy burials and ghost marriages during the Middle Ages (third to sixth centuries) bring to light the binary antagonism between the soul and the body in burial, as well as the emphasis on spiritual freedom and physical immortality in the life philosophy.

Vachana Sahitya: A Revisitation to the Contribution of Sivasaranes (Women Saints ) to the Literary World

It was presumed that writing was the talent of only the male bastion till the recent past. Women were not to be seen or heard in the scenario of literature. To the contrary, the pages of history give some instances of women’s writings, such as hymns from the Rig Veda by Lopmudra, Gargi, Maitreye ; the testimonials of Buddhist nuns from the sixth century BC; body of work by 12th century Vachanakartiyaru (Women Saints) and a number of works by unknown women poets, novelists and so on. When we look at the status of women during various historical ages, we realise that it is not very satisfactory except during the Rig Vedic period. It was the same during the early 12th century. The women were controlled by the old orthodox traditions and rigid practices with no freedom and no voice of their own. The multi-faceted socio-religious movement called Sarana Movement or Vachana Chaluvali brought huge changes in the society. This movement involved all spheres of life such as social, economic, religious and literary reforms. The movement aimed at establishing a casteless, classless society and sowed the seeds of Gender equality. The movement brought women an honourable existence. Women were not only given opportunities to realize their physical and spiritual potential but also enjoyed equality with men. A free atmosphere during the 12th century led more than thirty women writers to express their independent and new thoughts. The vachanas became the medium to express their every day experiences. Since the ‘Saranas’ & ‘Saranes’ used common regional dialect to compose the poems they were able to reach the people. Through this simple medium called ‘vachanas’ they were able to bring in changes in the society. Women writers like Akkamahadevi, Bonta Devi Sattyakka, Lakkamma, Nilambike, Gangambike and others wrote about various concerns, mystic experiences, vows, nature, kindness, blind beliefs & other ill practices in the society. This paper is an attempt to revisit the contribution of women saints to the literary world.

The Role of Cities in the Early Medieval Economy

ABSTRACT This contribution explores the economic roles of cities in the early medieval economy, through the presentation of a range of archaeological datasets that can all be linked to urban production and/or consumption. The individual classes of evidence each highlight aspects of economic exchange that, when combined, help to flesh out a general model of the systems of exchange at work in post-Roman Iberia. These systems revolved around cities whose individual experiences varied according to local circumstances and whose participation in the wider trade networks also depended heavily on local conditions. As a supplement to the written sources of this period, the archaeological materials surveyed here contribute to an emerging picture of elite and non-elite economic activity in the sixth and seventh centuries. This in turn shapes a more nuanced understanding of the role played by cities in the transition from late Roman to post-Roman economic and political circumstances.

Living on the Edge: Commerce and Trade on the Southwest Lusitanian Port Ensembles in Late Antiquity

ABSTRACT In Antiquity, coasts witnessed the growth of cities and the expansion of a range of different economic activities due to the maritime networks with which they were associated. Late Antiquity in Lusitania was a period of change, mainly as a result of adaptation to the socio-political events that determined different commercial flows within each region. These variations are very well identified in harbour areas with intense commercial activity. New ceramic contexts and the revisiting of existing data have resulted in the extension of the chronology of the occupation of many coastal sites into the sixth and seventh centuries, demonstrating that commerce and trade in Lusitania did not end, as previously thought, in the fifth century with the arrival of Vandals, Sueves and Visigoths. This article explores evidence for how populations lived on the edge, on the banks of rivers and along the Atlantic coast, while remaining attached to long-distance trading networks during this period.

Isaiah and the Issue of Genre in the Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite

Abstract: This article seeks to elucidate the thesis and literary programme of the Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, which was written in Syriac in Edessa by an anonymous author sometime in the first two decades of the sixth century during the reign of the Roman emperor Anastasius. To do so, it examines how the anonymous author situates events in the Chronicle against historical and theological precedent from the book of Isaiah, through both implicit allusions and explicit references. It suggests that the creation of this inter-text between the Chronicle and the book of Isaiah was intended to function as both a model of and model for the harmonization of local history with the much larger trajectories of salvation history and the history of the late Roman empire. It argues, therefore, that the Chronicle represents one of the many ways in which late antique Syriac writers negotiated not only their place in the late Roman empire but also their place in contemporary Roman literary discourses. As a result, its ultimate contention is that the Chronicle is an example of the trend of "theological Roman patriotism" found in other historiographical texts written in Greek and Latin from the eastern empire in the sixth century.

Architecture and Afterlife: Small Portable Shrines and Ritual Activities from Tyre to Ibiza

ABSTRACT The miniaturization of architecture in past and modern societies is a cross-cultural phenomenon, which has received enormous attention in scholarship, particularly in works relating to the Bronze and Iron Age eastern Mediterranean. This article focuses on some small-scale terracotta buildings known from Phoenicia around the seventh to the sixth centuries BCE, argues for their identification as portable shrines, compares them to similar examples from Cyprus, and includes finds from Carthage, Malta, and Ibiza in the discussion. All of this evidence reflects a time when small chapels were increasingly adopted in Phoenician architecture, reproduced at different scales in multiple media, and used in a variety of contexts. Finally, Tyre al-Bass Tomb 8 and other funerary assemblages yielding portable shrines support the idea that they were the focus of ritual activities at burial sites, and their deposition may have followed their use in practices involving storytelling, the libation of scented liquids, and/or the burning of aromatic substances.

Shaping Urban Religious Topography in the Iberian Peninsula between the Fourth and Sixth Centuries: “Coopetitive” Rivalry and Social Power

This study analyses the reshaping of the religious landscape of the cities of Hispania, from the disappearance of polytheistic sanctuaries to the construction of Christian churches, from the fourth to the middle of the sixth centuries CE. The focus is placed on the agents who financed these complexes and the motivations behind their euergetic activities. The study highlights that the configuration of places of worship in the urban landscape was a contingent process often dependent on individual (layperson) initiative, challenging the widespread assumption that the Church and its bishops were the main promoters of urban redevelopment in Hispanic cities during this period.

On Foreign Translation of Chinese Agricultural Classics from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication

The classics have always been a relatively important part of Chinese traditional culture, and the vast number of classics is the main carrier of Chinese traditional culture. At the same time, the translation of agricultural texts is an indispensable part of Chinese culture to go out and enhance its communication power and influence. Through the translation of agricultural classics texts into English, the target readers who lack Chinese cultural background or have insufficient cultural background can recognize the excellent Chinese traditional culture. While the number of agricultural texts is relatively small compared with other fields and has not been given due attention. Moreover, Chinese agricultural texts are mostly in literary languages, which are not only difficult to understand but also require strong professional translations. The Qi Min Yao Shu is one of the most complete books on agriculture in China, reflecting the knowledge of agricultural science accumulated by the working people of China before the sixth century, and is a treasure of knowledge on agriculture. From the perspective of cross-cultural communication, the foreign translations of culturally loaded words, agricultural terms, sentences, and styles in the Qi Min Yao Shu are studied with typical cases selected from them. Finally, the significance of the study of the foreign translation of Chinese agricultural texts is that: (1) according to different translation methods, the translation principles of agricultural texts are summarized (2) this thesis can enrich the number of foreign translations of agricultural texts and serve as a reference for later research.

An Example of Geographic Network Analysis: The Case Study of the Fortore Valley (Molise and Apulia, Italy)

Abstract Today, the Fortore River is the geographic and administrative boundary between the regions of Molise and Apulia. In the past decade, scholars have debated Fortore’s role during the pre-Roman and Roman periods, specifically focusing on how this physical boundary may have influenced the interaction and connectivity between Samnium (modern-day Molise) and Daunia (modern-day northern Apulia). Both ancient literary sources and archaeological finds indicate the situation is complicated, and it is challenging to locate the geographical and cultural borders, especially in the pre-Roman period. This article suggests a model to understand the past interaction between the two modern-day areas of Macchia Valfortore (Molise) and Carlantino (Apulia). These sites were in the proximity of the Fortore River, and an investigation of material culture in both locations revealed a complex and diverse society between the sixth century BC and the first century BC. The small-scale spatial networks constructed help to explain the interchange dynamics between the two districts and, furthermore, how each of them related to the ancient road system. The case study demonstrates, moreover, how a not conventional archaeological approach may also highlight the prominence of river connections for economic and social development.

Three monuments to Rhodopaios: a case study of re-use and continuity at Aphrodisias in the sixth century

The honorific monuments erected in late antiquity in the city of Aphrodisias are striking in their preservation and in their appearance. Two scholars, Charlotte Roueché and R.R.R. Smith, have provided full and ground-breaking publications of these monuments and have extracted important information from careful study of the epigraphic and sculptural elements. Further study conducted under the aegis of Smith and B. Ward-Perkins in the Last Statues of Antiquity Project, has grounded these monuments in the larger, empire-wide context of late antiquity. These fine academic studies have made these late Aphrodisian honours points of reference. Without the work of these distinguished scholars, this paper would not be possible or relevant. This paper seeks merely to focus attention on small details of structure, technique, and iconography in an attempt to sharpen our vision of the very last of these monuments. It endeavours to distinguish tendencies specific to the sixth-century honorific statuary habit at Aphrodisias and to understand the concept of re-use and recycling in that last moment of the statue culture in this conservative city, by looking at three monuments dedicated to the same man in the last moments of the habit. These are three statues monuments to one Rhodopaios of the second quarter of the sixth century, preserved in different states. The paper is divided into three parts; an introduction that considers the main trends of honorific statuary, the presentation of the three monuments of Rhodopaios, and a conclusion. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Epigraphic Practice and the Making of State Society in Eastern Madhya Pradesh (Circa Fifth–Sixth Centuries ce)

The essay explores the process of state formation under the Parivråjakas and the Uccakalpðyas in eastern Madhya Pradesh (MP) during circa fifth–sixth centuries ce. A total of 14 epigraphic records inform us about the development of the institutional structures under these two local powers. We delve into the process of transformation of the a»avika-råjya into full-fledged monarchical powers. Besides the internal factors, an attempt has been made to understand the external Gupta and Våkå»aka influence, in relation to the spread of Sanskrit culture, state society and pattern of patronage in eastern MP. Like the well-known Malwa corridor on the western side of MP, the present essay finds the making of another corridor that formed under these two local powers to the eastern side of MP. It, therefore, suggests the existence of another route that connected north India and the Deccan via central India, which catalysed the state formation in the region.

Gendered adornment and dress soundscape in Etruscan dance

The Etruscans produced some of the most refined and elaborate pieces of jewellery in the ancient Mediterranean. While Etruscan jewellery is often interpreted as a sign of luxury, and prestige or as a means of legitimisation, the aim of this article is to show the communicative potential and function of adornment. In particular, what was the aim of such adornment in ritual performances and was there a gendered distinction between the jewellery worn by dancers? Did they have a sensory impact in dance? Based on visual evidence of dance from central Etruria from the sixth and fifth centuries BC, this article will focus on the sound these items could have produced. It appears that belts, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and diadems added to the male and female body highlighted, shaped, and performed gender, identity, and status; however, they could also blur, transform, and reverse them.

Re-carving is easy - when you are not detected

It has long been recognised that the majority of the portraits made in Rome and the western part of the Empire during the fourth through sixth centuries AD are recarved from older portraits. This conclusion derives primarily from studies of male portraits, whose facial features have been altered to a greater or lesser degree by the late-antique sculptors. In contrast, recarved female portraits have so far often gone undetected, because their faces have been altered in a more subtle manner or sometimes not at all. Instead, the sculptors focused their efforts on recarving coiffures, which served as individual markers. For the study of female recarved portraits, therefore, the back and profiles are more important than their faces. This observation makes it imperative to photograph female late-antique portraits (and preferably the male ones as well) from all four sides in order to enable scholars and students to see alterations made to their hair. This will allow for a fuller picture of recarving practices to be established. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

The Western Delta in Late Antiquity

This article reviews recent archaeological work—in particular archaeological surveys, excavations, and analysis of pottery—in the western Egyptian Delta. The goal is to present a synthesis and to elucidate patterns of settlement in this region that can be of value in a historical reconstruction. The article argues that in the fifth and sixth centuries the western Delta was booming and was deeply integrated into the economy of the Eastern Roman Empire. Settlement was at an all-time high point for the area. The desert margins were colonized with vineyards, saints, and monks; the northern swamps were filled with new villages. The western Delta had been a most important region of Egypt since the Saite period, yet it is argued here that the Roman period (including much of the fourth century) shows a contraction of settlement and economic activity. This contraction separates two periods of remarkable growth: the Ptolemaic and late antique periods. The western Delta is therefore another example of the widespread growth of the rural economy in the eastern Mediterranean in the last centuries of antiquity.

Narcotic analgesics.

There is documentation of the use of opium derived products in the ancient history of the Assyrians: the Egyptians; in the sixth century AD by the Roman Dioscorides; and by Avicenna (980-1037). Reference to opium like products is made by Paracelsus and by Shakespeare. Charles Louis Derosne and Fredrich Wilhelm Adam Serturner isolated morphine from raw opium in 1802 and 1806 respectively, and it was Sertürner who named the substance morphine, after Morpheus, the Greek God of dreams. By the middle 1800s, Opium and related opioid derived products were the source of a major addiction in USA, and to some extent in the United Kingdom. Opioid products are of major therapeutic value in the treatment of pain from injury, post surgery, intractable pain conditions, and some forms of terminal cancer.

Digital documentation of three largest subterranean structures of Hagia Sophia: The passage under the esonarthex, the vaults under the atrium and the hypogeum

The terrestrial scanning project of Hagia Sophia's subterranean structures took place in 2020. This initiative facilitated the creation of a three-dimensional point cloud model capturing the underground tunnels and structures. Subsequently, in 2022, a more detailed documentation of the older hypogeum within Hagia Sophia was conducted. This study particularly focused on the three largest subterranean structures on the site. The first of these is the passage beneath the esonarthex, delineating a structural transition between the Theodosian and Justinian periods, spanning from the fifth to the sixth centuries. Notably, the discovery of a previously unnoticed column base on the floor of this structure prompted an update to the plan of the Theodosian atrium. The second focus lies on the vaults beneath Justinian’s atrium, requiring an architectural visualization update since Schneider's documentation in 1941. These subterranean structures define the boundaries of the no longer physically existing Justinian atrium, and the debris within them awaits excavation to provide further insights. The last structure examined is the hypogeum dating back to the 4th century. This structure underwent a more detailed redocumentation following a partial clean-up and has been digitally visualized.

QUR’ANIC PERCEPTION OF MONOTHEISM AND GOD'S ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY (IN THE LIGHT OF MAULANA ABU AL-KALAM AZAD’S WRITINGS)

Abu al-Kalam Azad studied some historical facts that he dealt with in his book (Interpretation of al-Qur’an) and (Umm al-Kitab) but he did not ignore Darwin’s theory of ascension that everything grows slowly from the bottom up, except for the religious belief. Its matter is completely different because it descended from the top to the bottom and retreated from the best to the worst. Azad mentioned that God Almighty created all people as one nation, then people differed into various sects, meaning that the oldest human belief is the doctrine of monotheism. Azad tried to prove that most religions called people to monotheism, and the dispute among them resulted from internal contradictions. He believed that the dispute among the religions centers on depicting divine attributes, and there is no difference among them in the same deity. He did not try to call the people to the unity of religions - as it seems - but he wanted to call them to the unity of faith, which is the monotheism. The best form of monotheism for him is Islam, as stated in the Qur’an: (No doubt that the religion of God is Islam), (and any religion will not be accepted (Āl-ʻImrān: 19-85). Therefore, Azad called all people to Islam in an indirect way, he emphasized that what was the perception of worshiping God in the sixth century AD in the world was in need for the Qur’an to be revealed to correct the crookedness and corruption in the man’s religious thought.

Genetic history of East-Central Europe in the first millennium CE

BackgroundThe appearance of Slavs in East-Central Europe has been the subject of an over 200-year debate driven by two conflicting hypotheses. The first assumes that Slavs came to the territory of contemporary Poland no earlier than the sixth century CE; the second postulates that they already inhabited this region in the Iron Age (IA). Testing either hypothesis is not trivial given that cremation of the dead was the prevailing custom in Central Europe from the late Bronze Age until the Middle Ages (MA).ResultsTo address this problem, we determined the genetic makeup of representatives of the IA Wielbark- and MA Slav-associated cultures from the territory of present-day Poland. The study involved 474 individuals buried in 27 cemeteries. For 197 of them, genome-wide data were obtained. We found close genetic affinities between the IA Wielbark culture-associated individuals and contemporary to them and older northern European populations. Further, we observed that the IA individuals had genetic components which were indispensable to model the MA population.ConclusionsThe collected data suggest that the Wielbark culture-associated IA population was formed by immigrants from the north who entered the region of contemporary Poland most likely at the beginning of the first millennium CE and mixed with autochthons. The presented results are in line with the hypothesis that assumes the genetic continuation between IA and MA periods in East-Central Europe.

Food globalization in southern Central Asia: archaeobotany at Bukhara between antiquity and the Middle Ages

The Silk Road is a modern name for a globalization phenomenon that marked an extensive network of communication and exchange in the ancient world; by the turn of the second millennium AD, commercial trade linked Asia and supported the development of a string of large urban centers across Central Asia. One of the main arteries of the medieval trade routes followed the middle and lower Zarafshan River and was connected by mercantile cities, such as Samarkand and Bukhara. Bukhara developed into a flourishing urban center between the fourth and sixth centuries AD, served as the capital of the Samanid court between AD 893 and 999, and remained prosperous into the Qarakhanid period (AD 999–1220), until the Mongol invasion in AD 1220. We present the first archaeobotanical study from this ancient center of education, craft production, artistic development, and commerce. Radiocarbon dates and an archaeological chronology that has been developed for the site show that our samples cover a range between the third and eleventh centuries AD. These samples from Bukhara represent the richest systematically collected archaeobotanical assemblage thus far recovered in Central Asia. The assemblage includes spices and both annual and perennial crops, which allowed Sogdians and Samanids to feed large cities in river oases surrounded by desert and arid steppe and supported a far-reaching commercial market in the first millennium AD.