Sixth Century Research Articles

Топография средневекового города на плато Эски-Кермен

The Polish ambassador to the Crimean khan Marcin Broniewski was the first to inform of the “ancient town and castle” located in the vicinity of Mangup and the settlement of Cherkes-Kermen: he visited the site in 1578. The historical name of the town remains obscure. Travelogues often call the ruins of the nameless town the “Circassian castle,” or Cherkes-Kermen after the name of the nearby village. In the late nineteenth century, the site received the common name of Eski-Kermen (Crimean Tatar for the “old castle”), which was used by the locals already in the eighteenth century. In the last decades of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the picturesque ruins of the cave town were popular among the travellers, whose accounts contained myths and legends about the ancient place along with valuable information on the condition of the site and particular objects in its territory. The archaeological excavations in 1928–1934, 1936–1937, and 1978–1982 uncovered the remains of fortifications, sacral complexes, urban buildings, and cemetery allowing the one to infer that there was a typical provincial Byzantine town in the Middle Ages. The archaeological researches in recent decades considerably expanded the notion of the layout of the town. This paper analyses all the currently available data on the topography of the town. Taking the recent years excavations into account, the topography of the town has been reconstructed by different stages, from the Early Byzantine (late sixth and seventh centuries) to the Golden Horde periods (fourteenth century).

Mourning for Tammuz: Prophecy and Projection in Ezekiel 8:14

Abstract While many commentators take Ezek 8:14 at face value, ancient Near Eastern parallels call this understanding into question. Both East and West Semitic sources indicate that mourning rituals for a goddess’s dead consort were carried out in state-sponsored temples that symbolized the goddess. Since this does not accord with what is known about the Jerusalem temple in the early sixth century BCE, it is probable that the visionary writer of verse 14 has projected onto the temple observances for the dying god that did not belong to it. There are indications, however, that his mourning rites were also observed in less formal settings. Women were prominent participants in these popular rituals (as they were in funeral observances in general). It is likely, therefore, that the author of verse 14 knew of mourning rites for a dead god observed in Judah outside of the temple context. Since Ezekiel indicted illegitimate cultic activities that took place throughout the nation for defiling the central sanctuary, the vision of ritual mourning for Tammuz buttressed the prophet’s claim that YHWH had decided to abandon the temple. As it is uncertain that women in Judah called the dead god “Tammuz,” the use of that divine name may come from Ezekiel.

Early Reception of Yu Xin in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries


 
 
 This article investigates the early reception of Yu Xin, one of the most important court writers of the sixth century in China. It traces portrayals and evaluations of Yu Xin and his work from the late years of the Northern Zhou (557–581) to the early Tang (618–907) by focusing on four texts of different nature: a preface to the literary collection of Yu Xin dated to 579, his biography in the Zhoushu, and two discourses in historical records that evaluate his achievement as a writer. While the former two texts supply valuable information about Yu’s family background, official career, and social network, the latter two voice their criticism of the man along with their overall negative attitude toward literature of the Southern Dynasties. The perception of Yu Xin as a frustrated and nostalgic poet as highlighted by his Zhoushu biography has played a major role in the interpretation of his writings in later ages, but an examination of a wider range of sources shows that there was more than one way of evaluating his writings in the sixth and seventh centuries. A study of these multiple voices in interpreting Yu Xin and his works reminds us of the vibrancy and complexity of understanding the identities of poets of the medieval period.
 
 

The Greek Fragments of the Apophthegmata Patrum in Vat. iber. 4

Abstract This contribution presents and analyses a new discovery of three passages from the Greek Apophthegmata Patrum (Pambo 7–8, Sisoes 14) as the middle layer of a double palimpsest (Vat. iber. 4). These passages seem to have been brought together for this manuscript (ff. 1 + 5, middle layer) in either Palestine or Egypt in a multilingual environment between the sixth and eighth centuries. The variant readings demonstrate a close affinity with the old Greek alphabetical collection. At the same time, the association of Pambo 8 and Sisoes 14 shows an attempt to group the apophthegms thematically. The script evinces some peculiar palaeographic features worthy of attention.

Golden Mean and Proportion in Dental Esthetics after Orthodontic Treatments: An In Vivo Study.

The definition of the golden ratio was established around the sixth century BC; Levin and Snow developed specific theories applicable in dentistry, which apply the golden proportion rule with the intention of reproducing a perfect smile. This study analyzed the literature and assessed whether these concepts remain valid and applicable in clinical practice, evaluating the theories with a group of patients followed by an experienced orthodontic team. This study was retrospectively performed on 400 patients (241 females and 159 males) who underwent orthodontic treatments. The analysis was conducted on intraoral frontal photos, both pre-treatment and post-orthodontic treatment, to observe if there was a statistically significant difference in the tooth display according to the golden mean and golden proportion theories. The canine at the end of the orthodontic treatment had a greater visibility than that proposed by Levin and Snow. This study revealed how these theories could be considered in certain respects, but nowadays are not totally valid and applicable to the clinical reality. Snow's theory appears to be more consistent with the clinical findings than Levin's theory.

الأقوال النصية والمحكية عن الأخفش في كتب العروض من القرن الثالث وحتى القرن السادس الهجري

The research is divided into: an introduction, a preface, three chapters, and a conclusion. This study is based on the collection of textual and spoken sayings about Al-Akhfash in Al-Aroodh books from the third century to the sixth century AH. The research presented an introductory introduction to Al-Akhfash, then the first topic: a definition of the textual sayings in the chapter on naming rhymes, and the pronouns of poetry and its types, and what was mentioned about it. As for the third topic, it deals with movements and poetic construction, its parts, and the defects that befall the poetic verse. And since the field of collecting in transferring what distinguished scholars in the field of accidental study is one of the areas in which there is little interest, it was necessary to collect this legacy, which must be included in the course of accidental studies so that the effort is not wasted and the intention becomes clear, and God is behind the intent.

:Etruscan Literacy in Its Social Context

:<i>Etruscan Literacy in Its Social Context</i>

Heaven and Buddhist Land: Buddhist Kingship of Southern Dynasties of China and the Maritime Silk Road in the Sixth Century

&lt;p&gt;本文以六世紀中國南朝與海上絲路國家的往來為基礎，透過佛教王權的視角，探討中國南朝官方如何運用佛教王權的理論，將南朝國都建康建構為東亞世界的中心，並以此中心建構新穎且特別的對外關係。南朝是中國與海上諸國貿易、外交往來的興盛期，建康城成為此一時期中國與海上絲路諸國往來的重要城市。在梁朝佛教王權的發展下，建康城幾乎成為了佛教都城，梁王權的性質深刻地影響中國與海上絲路諸國的外交往來。在六世紀中國的官方文獻記載中，南朝官方與海上絲路諸國的外交往來，佛教成為外交文書的創作母題。這些帶有佛教色彩的外交文書，透過中國官方對於外國文書的翻譯與製作，梁朝彷彿成為了海南諸國眼中理想的佛教帝國。這除了可見南朝佛教王權的發達，亦可發現中國梁王權利用佛教與海南國家締結關係，透過海上諸國對其佛教聖王地位的承認，滿足梁朝作為中國與東亞世界中心的目的。&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This article focuses on the communication between Southern dynasties of China and countries of the maritime silk road in the sixth century, via the perspective of Buddhist kingship, to discuss how the authority of Southern dynasties of China utilized the Buddhist kingship as a political and diplomatic idea to construct the capital Jiankang (建康) as the center of East Asia and developed the new and special international relations. The international trade and diplomatic communications were prosperous in the period of Southern dynasties of China and the capital Jiankang had become an important city on the maritime silk road. Under the development of Buddhist kingship of the Liang dynasty, the capital Jiankang almost had become a Buddhist sacred city and the Buddhist kingship of the Liang dynasty strongly affected the diplomatic communications between the countries of the maritime silk road. In the Chinese official records in the sixth century, Buddhism was the main motif in the diplomatic documents of the Southern dynasties of China and countries of the maritime silk road. These highly Buddhism-influenced diplomatic documents, were translated and retouched by the Chinese official government of Liang that the kingdom of Liang almost regarded as the ideal Buddhist empire in the eyes of the countries of the maritime silk road. It could illustrate the development of the Buddhist kingship of Liang dynasty. Also, it demonstrates that the official authority of Liang took advantage of establishing formal diplomatic relations with Buddhist ideas, through receiving the diplomatic recognition of being the sacred Buddhist empire, Liang succeeded in fulfilling the goal of being the heartland of China and East Asia.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

NEW FRAGMENTS OF RUFUS OF EPHESUS’ON THE RETENTION OF MENSES

AbstractRufus of Ephesus (fl. c.100c.e.) was a prolific medical author and practitioner in the Imperial period whose historical importance has been obscured by the loss of most of his works. One of the largest gaps in our knowledge of Rufus’ corpus is his gynaecological writings, none of which survives in full. This article assembles and comments on several fragments from Rufus’ lost gynaecological workOn the Retention of Menses(perhapsΠερὶ τῶν ἐπεχομένων ἐμμήνων). Comparison of overlapping passages from the authors Ibn al-Jazzār (tenth century) and Aëtius of Amida (sixth century) reveals that more fragments of this work in Arabic and Greek have survived than previously thought. These fragments provide new evidence for the analysis of Rufus’ medical thought, and further our understanding of gynaecology in the Roman empire.

An archaeology of conversion? Evidence from Adulis for early Christianity and religious transition in the Horn of Africa

The port-city of Adulis in modern Eritrea was a key node on the Red Sea linking the Kingdom of Aksum to the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean. Recent excavations at Adulis have reinvestigated two early Christian churches. New radiocarbon analysis dates both structures to the sixth and early seventh centuries AD, with multiple phases of architectural development reflecting changing use and liturgy. The author uses evidence for both continuity and change in architectural materials, construction styles and sacred practices to assess religious transition at Adulis, and across the Aksumite Kingdom more broadly. Moving beyond an archaeology of conversion, the article reinforces recent work on cosmopolitanism in the Horn of Africa.

Political theories of money and the politics of contextualisation

AbstractThis essay engages with Stephan Eich’s The Currency of Politics. It finds that the book pursues two goals at once: a minimalist goal of bringing money as a subject of inquiry back into the fold of political theory and a maximalist goal consisting in the stated ambition to ‘articulate more democratic visions of the future of money’. It interrogates Eich’s effort to harnesses a historical perspective to normative claims from the standpoint of a historian of pre-modern Europe. More specifically, it asks what role close reading, intertextuality and contextualisation play in Eich’s approach; why he recognises certain episodes from the (distant) past rather than others as relevant to current predicaments and potential future scenarios; and why he singles out the English financial revolution of the 1690s as the first relevant moment of crisis after the monetary reforms undertaken in Athens in the sixth century BCE.

A New Inscription of the Pāṇḍuvaṃśins of Dakṣiṇa Kosala

Abstract This is the first notice, edition, and translation of a royal order in Sanskrit, engraved on a set of three copper-plates kept in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The inscription is dated to the seventh year of the reign of Nannarāja I, king of the Pāṇḍuvaṃśin lineage active in Dakṣiṇa Kosala in the sixth and seventh centuries CE. The inscription provides important new information about a family of engravers, probably relocated from Śarabhapura to Sirpur, who served both the Śarabhapurīya and Pāṇḍuvaṃśin courts. The plates further suggest that Nannarāja I, as the first Pāṇḍuvaṃśin king of South Kosala, continued the epigraphic traditions of the Śarabhapurīyas, whom he may have served with his father Indrabala in his early career before the conflicts which brought him to power.

Reexamining Nebuchadnezzar II’s ‘Thirteen-Year’ Siege of Tyre in Phoenician Historiography

AbstractThis study reexamines a lynchpin of Neo-Babylonian Levantine Phoenician historiography: Nebuchadnezzar II’s purported thirteen-year siege of Tyre in the early sixth centurybce. This detail about the length of the siege can be found only in Josephus’ (first centuryce) writings, but this study’s new assessment of the (sixth-fifteenth centuryce) manuscript evidence shows that the more commonly transmitted length of the siege was “three years and ten months.” Other manuscript variations further illustrate that there was little continuous cultural memory of the length of the event. When coupled with (a) other chronological problems in Josephus’ works, (b) a review of the complex Biblical, Mesopotamian, and Classical relevant literary sources, and (c) the lack of current evidence for any destruction levels or siegeworks at the site of Tyre, the case for insisting other sources be synchronized with this thirteen-year framework weakens. Shorter sieges or raids, blockades of the island or inland ports, and periodic Babylonian military presence to extract personnel and resources are all likely scenarios for Tyre and other Levantine sites during Nebuchadnezzar’s 43-year reign. Discarding a single “thirteen-year siege” as a reliable historical detail allows scholars of the Neo-Babylonian period in the central coastal Levant to shift their attention to more interesting questions, including exploring the causes and impacts of the evident changes in Tyre’s seaward and inland trading patterns in the sixth-fifth centuries.

Civilising the Eleusinian Sacred Way

The Sacred Way to Eleusis is one of the most interesting places in Greece for exploring the social and religious construction of the landscape in Ancient Greece. Eleusis was considered to be the borderland of Attica and its incorporation into the chóra of Athens was a long and hazardous process that apparently took place between the eighth and sixth centuries BC. In this paper, the spotlight is placed on the process of constructing this sacred way through myths and rituals. These are linked to some crucial places along the way, built as landmarks or nodes where rites, stories and cults intertwined to shape the religious experience of people and their memory of the past. Special emphasis is placed on the relationship between the liminal/reversal aspects of this space –constructed as an “eschatiá”– and the civilising and ordering elements integrating this potentially dangerous way in the correct and sacred order of the polis, thus sacralising it. Both aspects –reversal and civilisation– are examined in three areas: the ritual domestication of the agrarian space; rites linked to human sexuality and procreation; and the political appropriation of the territory through ritual.

Tracing the origin of Chinese early white porcelain in the late sixth century—evidence from Xing kiln

AbstractAs the criterion used by archaeologists for determining early white porcelain is quite ambiguous, the origin of Chinese white porcelain remains a point of disagreement. In this study, we systematically investigate 61 typical Xing porcelains of the late Northern dynasties to the early Sui dynasty (550–600 CE) using spectrophotometer, X‐ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), and analyze the differences between early white porcelain and celadon of Xing kiln in terms of their whiteness and raw materials characteristic. The results show that early white porcelain is a new type of ware that differs from celadon, which can be distinguished by whiteness, with a whiteness greater than 8% being early white porcelain and a whiteness less than 8% being celadon. It is assumed that the ancient potters created the whiter wares based on celadon by improving the glaze and selecting new raw materials for the body, but the production of this type of ware was short lived and subsequently refined in the Sui dynasty (581–618 CE) owing to the limited improvement in whiteness.

Intercultural Theology in the Multicultural Context of Muslim-Buddhist Relation in Malaysia: History, Identity, and Issues

Relationship-oriented questions have always been at the crossroads of ethnoreligious identity, religious freedom, religious conversion, religious prejudice, and religious pluralism throughout Muslim-Buddhist co-existence in the sixth century within the Malay Archipelago. Other faiths could be freely practised except for propagation towards Muslim communities with Islam being the religion of the federation. This study aimed to explore Muslim-Buddhist relation types and the issues underpinning the following themes: history, identity, and concerns. Content and thematic analysis as well discourse analysis were utilised as the study method for data collection and evaluation. The data were thematically analysed with ATLAS.ti, a qualitative analysis software. Resultantly, the Muslim-Buddhist interaction pattern in Malaysia has occurred (culturally and religiously) from the early establishment of both religious communities. This relation, which has shifted in ethnoreligious orientation at every interaction level, opens more avenues and complexities requiring holistic management.

FACETS OF JAIN PHILOSOPHY – AN OVERVIEW

Jainism is an ancient religion that is rooted in the philosophy that teaches the way to liberation and a path to spiritual purity and enlightment through disciplined nonviolence to all living creatures.It came into prominence in sixth century BCE, when Lord Mahavira propagated the religion. The main religious premises of the jain dharma are Ahimsa (nonviolence), Anekantavada (many-sidedness), Aparigraha (non-attachment) and asceticism (abstinence from sensual pleasure). Devout Jains take five main vows: Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (sexual continence) and Aparigraha (non- possessiveness). These principles have affected Jain culture in many ways, such as leading to a predominantly vegetarian lifestyle. Parasparopagraho jivanam (the function of souls is to help one another) is its motto and the Namokara mantra is its most common and basic prayer.

Christology and Grace in the Additions to Augustine's De Haeresibus

While a great number of manuscripts of Augustine's De haeresibus add to the text chapters on the Christological heresies that arose after Augustine's death, modern editions offer only a confused picture of their transmission. This article identifies three distinct sets of additional chapters, and analyses their sources, possible origins and theological implications. It demonstrates that their authors were taking distinct positions in the debate over neo-Chalcedonianism, the interpretation of Chalcedonian Christology that started to became dominant in the early sixth century. The additions also provide evidence that many neo-Chalcedonians saw an Augustinian understanding of grace as complementary to their Christology.

The Early Classic Genesis of the Royal Maya Capital of Tamarindito

Polities require individuals who envision and materialize them; in turn, people's political identity as residents depends on them. The polity and the resident are self-evident only in hindsight, and we discuss their co-constitution. During subjectification, people create and submit to an authority. Our case study is the Early Classic (AD 350–600) emergence of Tamarindito in the south-central Maya Lowlands (modern Guatemala). The Petexbatun Regional Archaeological Project and the Tamarindito Archaeological Project have extensively studied this capital of the Foliated Scroll polity. Although its divine rulers present themselves as fully formed since time immemorial, we discuss how they built their authority through self-serving narratives. Tamarindito originates in the Early Classic, and in the late fourth or fifth century, rulers selected a 70 m high hill as seat. Plaza A's monumentality conceals a small-scale labor effort and a slowly growing polity. Only two non-elite households attached themselves to the royal court during the fifth and sixth centuries, suggesting that non-elites recognized the royal authority only slowly. The formation of the Foliated Scroll polity was an immanent process. Self-aggrandizing divine kings struggled to claim authority, and non-elites subjectified themselves over several centuries.

Unpublished Coptic Writing Exercises from Thebes

The monastic groups that settled in Thebes during the sixth and eighth centuries CE contributed to the prosperity of many aspects of life in Thebes, including education. The Theban region provides us with many documents related to writing exercises, which reveal the development of education levels; there were many levels of writing and scripts, where the student would practice an entire course of literary education, with the goal of teaching the student to read and write properly. This course differed depending on the student’s level: beginner, intermediate, or professional. This study aims to track Coptic education levels by publishing three ostraca: the first ostracon is being published for the first time, bears alphabetical exercise, and is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum’s excavation storehouse in Qurna; the photo of the second ostracon was previously published in a catalogue of the Graeco–Roman Museum, bearing biblical extracts, and is preserved in the Graeco–Roman Museum in Alexandria; and the third ostracon, which bears epistolary exercise and is preserved in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, is being published for the first time as well.