Restricciones, privilegios y violencias : algunos aspectos sobre los mudéjares hispánicos (ss. XII-XV)

En el presente trabajo nos proponemos abordar algunos aspectos relacionados con las restricciones, los privilegios y la violencia, que se implementaron sobre los mudéjares de Castilla, Aragón y Valencia. En relación con los primeros, daremos cuenta del endurecimiento legal –real y eclesiástico– que se desplegó hacia los moros hispánicos y que regló casi todos los aspectos del vivir cotidiano y de sus prácticas religiosas. Sin embargo, los mudéjares y sus aljamas en algún área en particular, fueron sujetos de privilegios reales. Es por esto que analizaremos restricciones y privilegios como dos caras de un mismo proceso que se desplegó durante el tránsito de la baja edad media. Finalmente, indagaremos sobre los episodios de violencia hacia los mudéjares contrastando particularidades regionales, para conectar estos sucesos con la segregación y la restricción.

Espectáculos cortesanos en la América española del siglo XVII : las fiestas como caso para el análisis de la relación entre la Corte y la Corte virreinal

La Corte madrileña de los Austrias, al igual que el resto de las monarquías europeas del siglo XVII, generó una variada gama de fiestas públicas y privadas, como por ejemplo teatro musical, mascaradas y procesiones callejeras en las que desfilaban carros alegóricos con danzantes y músicos. Estos espectáculos no eran un mero entretenimiento sino que estaban destinados a resaltar las virtudes del monarca y a hacer conscientes a los espectadores del lugar que les cabía ocupar en esa sociedad recurriendo para ello a un complejo discurso simbólico. Las Cortes virreinales de América trasladaron a sus territorios estas prácticas que valían, fundamentalmente, para hacer presente la figura del rey y mantener viva la lealtad a la corona. Analizamos dos ejemplos de fiesta, una mascarada celebrada en Pausa (Perú) y un intermedio dramáticomusical en Sucre, que nos revelan la forma de pensamiento, las conductas y la organización de la sociedad cortesana virreinal.

Sentido y significado de la historia para el canonista

Sumario: I.- Introducción. II.- El canon 6 § 2 del Código de Derecho Canónico de 1983. 1. La tradición canónica. III.- La Historia del Derecho Canónico. 1. El método. 2. Desarrollo histórico de la disciplina. 3. Condiciones de la Historia del Derecho Canónico. IV.- Importancia y utilidad de la Historia del Derecho Canónico. V. Conclusiones

Parentesco, prestigio y poder en la alta edad media : la antroponimia aristocrática en el Reino de León (siglos X y XI)

Resumen: El presente trabajo analiza la antroponimia de la aristocracia leonesa en los siglos X y XI, a fi n de contribuir a la comprensión de las estructuras de parentesco de los grupos aristocráticos, las manifestaciones de la memoria familiar y el papel del parentesco en la construcción del poder y el prestigio social. Se plantea que la aristocracia desarrolló una antroponimia específi ca basada en la reiteración de determinados nombres propios a lo largo de las generaciones, que constituyó un importante elemento de identifi cación de la parentela y que expresó en el plano simbólico la organización de los grupos de parentesco en función de la transmisión del poder y la afi rmación del prestigio familiar.

Bronze and iron weapons from Luristan

The 30,000 km2 province of Luristan is situated in western Iran and encompasses the upper valleys of the Zagros Mountains. Even today, local tribesmen inhabit Luristan with their settlement patterns similar to ancient times. Several scientific excavations in the Luristan region have uncovered evidence that this particular region was a major attraction for human settlements from the Paleolithic era onwards. In Ancient Iran, the existence of rich mines together with discoveries made by innovative and inventive artisans spurred the growth of the metalworking culture as an art and a skill among early human communities in Ancient Iran. The art of Luristan can be described as the art of nomadic herdsmen and horsemen with an emphasis on the crafting of small, easily portable objects, among these a number of bronze daggers, swords and other weapons. Throughout its history, Luristan was never an ethnic or political entity because Luristan has been occupied by various tribes and races, throughout its history. Next to Elamites, other tribes who inhabited Luristan were the Hurrians, Lullubians, Kutians, and Kassites. As local tribesmen of Luristan were illiterate, information about their history can only be partially reconstructed from the literature of their southern neighbors: the Elamites and Babylonians. Luristan smiths made weapons for both civilizations. The region was later invaded by Assyrians and finally the Iranians settled the area and absorbed the local tribes. Following an accidental find by the local inhabitants in Luristan in 1928 CE, a number of unlawful diggings reveal a number of metal objects made of bronze and iron that showed a high level of craftsmanship. These objects were offered for sale on the art market with fancy names to hide their origin. The subsequent scientific excavations several decades after the initial discovery provided fascinating information about the culture of Luristan. The metalworking art of Luristan spans a time period from the third millennium BC to the Iron Age. The artifacts from Luristan seem to possess many unique and distinctive qualities, and are especially noteworthy for the apparently endless, intricate diversity and detail that they characteristically depict. The bronze artifacts found in or attributed to Luristan can be each be classed under five separate heads: a) arms and armor, including swords, dirks, daggers, axes, mace heads, spearheads, shields, quiver plaques, protective bronze girdles, helmets; b) implements related to horsemanship, including decorative or ornamental objects for horses as well as bits and snaffles; c) items for personal adornment and hygiene, including anklets, bangles, bracelets, finger rings, earrings and tweezers; d) ceremonial and ritual objects, including talismans, idols, pins, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines; and e) utilitarian objects comprising various vessels and tools, including beakers, bowls and jugs. The scope of this article is limited to a discussion of the bronze and iron weapons made in Luristan. The techniques used for making bronze weapons in Luristan included: casting with open molds, casting with close molds, and casting with lost wax process. For metal sheets used for quiver plaques and bronze protective belts, the hammering technique was used. Edged weapons made in Luristan can be classified into: a) daggers, dirks, and swords with tangs; b) daggers, dirks, and swords with flanges; and c) daggers, dirks, and swords with cast-on hilts. Next to bronze, iron was also used for making weapons such as the characteristic weapon from this area, the iron mask sword.

Archaeometric evidence for the authenticity of the Jehoash inscription tablet

A gray, fine-grained arkosic sandstone tablet bearing an inscription in ancient Hebrew from the First Temple Period contains a rich assemblage of particles accumulated in the covering patina. Two types of patina cover the tablet: a thin layer of black to orange iron-oxide-rich layer, a product of micro-biogenic processes, and a light beige patina that contains feldspars, carbonate, iron oxide, subangular quartz grains, carbon ash particles and gold globules (1 to 4 microns [1 micron = 0.001 millimeter] in diameter). The patina covers the rock surface as well as the engraved lettering grooves and blankets and thus post-dates the incised inscription as well as a crack that runs across the stone and several of the engraved letters. Radiocarbon analyses of the carbon particles in the patina yield a calibrated radiocarbon age of 2340 to 2150 Cal BP. The presence of microcolonial fungi and associated pitting in the patina indicates slow growth over many years. The occurrence of pure gold globules and carbon ash particles is evidence of a thermal event in close proximity to the tablet (above 1000 degrees Celsius). This study supports the antiquity of the patina, which in turn, strengthens the contention that the inscription is authentic.

Toward a new synthesis of the god of Edom and Yahweh

This article deals primarily with two things: 1) the history and nature of the Edomite deity Qos, as far as these can be determined from the known archaeological and textual evidence, and 2) the similarities between Qos and Yahweh, the god of Israel, particularly in regard to the theories concerning the origins of the deities. Through the article I will consider some of the recent suggestions concerning the origin of Qos and how this may relate to the origin of Yahweh. I will suggest that both deities originated in the northwestern portion of the Arabian Peninsula and, that ultimately, the mutual origin of the deities accounts for the fact that the Bible makes no reference to Qos as the god of Edom.

Proto-alphabetic inscriptions from the Wadi Arabah

Abstract: Three early West Semitic inscriptions from the Arabah valley are studied here, all of them apparently connected with the Egyptian copper-mining activity in the region, notably at Timna, in the period of the Ramessides. The most striking detail in these texts is a sign corresponding to an Egyptian hieroglyph (N6B ) which depicts two serpents guarding the sun-disc, and another with one serpent (N6 , ); these never appear on conventional tables of early alphabetic letters; this leads to a critical reappraisal of current identifications of the original picture-signs, and elaboration of a new system of interpreting early Canaanite inscriptions, involving recognition that the signs could sometimes stand for whole words and could also be used as rebuses.

Timna revisited : egyptian chronology and the copper mines of the southern Arabah

This article studies the chronology of the New Kingdom Egyptian copper mining in the southern Arabah valley, and particularly Timna, traditionally dated in the 13th– 12th centuries BCE. a reassessment is made of the local archaeological evidence and especially of the findings of the Hejazi Qurayya pottery in archaeological assemblages of the southern Levant. It is argued that the chronology of the New Kingdom activities at Timna needs a revision towards lower dates.

The MBA-LBA I period in the Kourion region : new evidences from Erimi- Laonin tou Porakou (Lemesos, Cyprus)

The evidence from Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou within the Kouris valley settlement system can offer further new data to outline a picture of the development trends from MBA to LBA I periods in the Kourion region. As to this area, such a “transitional” phase could be particularly relevant to better understand the development process of the mature LBA II–III urban centers (in Alassa as well as the most recent discovered in Erimi-Pitharka). In 2008–2009 a focus investigation (an intensive survey, geoperspections and excavations) within the Kouris Valley Project has been addressed to the site of Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou, which lies on one of the highest hilltops facing southward the Kouris dam. The excavations evidenced a double circuit wall which surrounds the top mound and the lower terrace. The top mound (Area A) has been widely occupied by a complex workshop, directly linked with a storage area. The natural limestone bedrock has been worked out to arrange a system of carved deep basins connected each other by a series of flow channels. Southward from the workshop, a large storage area has been cleared, with a relevant assemblage of big pithoi and storage devices. The first lower terrace area (Area B) has been possibly occupied by a domestic quarter; a cemetery area (Area E) has been also evidenced outside the external circuit wall, where a series of five rock-cut tombs (Tombs 228– 232) with single chamber and small incoming dromoi has been excavated.

The pottery from A and C-Group tombs at Serra West in the Museum of Natural History, La Plata

Abstract: The Museum of Natural History, La Plata, Argentina, houses a ceramic collection of the A-Group and C-Group cultures from Nubian tombs at Serra West (AA and ACS cemeteries), on the west bank of the Nile in Lower Nubia. It has been originated from the division after the excavations made by the Franco-Argentine Archaeological Expedition in Sudan between 1961 and 1963, as part of the UNESCO campaigns to save the Nubian monuments.

A theoretical perspective of the Telepinu Myth : archetypes and initiation rites in historical contexts

Abstract: Research on the Telepinu Myth (CTH 324) has shown that it is an inexhaustibly rich document and that therefore the different, and sometimes conflicting, lines of analysis need to be pursued further. In the light of the symbolic evidence presented by this mythological tradition, we propose to focus on the privileged position granted to spatial symbols and to hypothesize the function this Myth served in specific contexts of the Hittite history, characterized by the increase and reduction of lands under Hittite jurisdiction. In this regard, we propose to evaluate the symbolic function that the Telepinu Myth displayed in order to rebuild the sacred space of the territories governed by the Hittites, when they were undergoing changes brought about by increased political and military contact with neighboring societies.

La conexión árabe : una hipótesis sobre el surgimiento sociopolítico de Israel en Palestina

Abstract: Recent scholarship has shown that there is no solid archaeological or epigraphic evidence to deem the narratives about the rise to kingship of David and his son Solomon as reflecting the rise and consolidation of Israel as a Nation-State during the 10th century BCE. It is rather during the 9th century in the Palestinian highlands that we can find the emergence of a socio-political entity named Bīt Humri/ya or Israel in the contemporary archaeological and epigraphic records, but with an ambiguous character as a state. In this paper, it is suggested the possibility that the rise of such a polity and the constitution of an ethnogenesis are notably and directly related to the appearance of the Arabian network of exchanges in the early first millennium BCE in the Near East. Furthermore, from a critical point of view, one may suggest that there is no direct ethnic connection between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and the later Jewish cults of Yahweh in Palestine.

A possible alchemist apparatus from the early islamic period excavated at Ramla, Israel

Abstract: During extensive salvage excavations carried out during the years 2004-2008 in a large Early Islamic industrial area at the vicinities of Ramla, in Central Israel, an unparalleled industrial device was unearthed. The star-shaped, soil embedded installation, whose lower part was preserved, consisted of a central pottery jar surrounded by five minor jars, linked by ceramic pipes. Evidence of heat was observed mainly around the central vessel, and metal hollow cones perforated in the tip were found inside the surrounding jars. Although the manufacturing procedures and operation techniques of the installation are not completely clear, it is proposed that the installation is part of an industrial workshop or an alchemy laboratory. Both industry and alchemy were well-developed during the Early Islamic period and very often closely related, to the point that sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between them. The identification proposed is based on comparisons with tools described in literary sources, and somewhat later drawings and etchings. Circumstantial ceramic evidence was found, as well as the proximity of a bathhouse whose guests could have been the consumers of perfumes and unguents seem to reinforce this possibility. Due to the poor state of preservation of the device and the lack of available comparisons, the identification proposed here is tentative, and future research coupled with eventual new discoveries is needed in order to clarify this matter.

Sources of contention and the emerging reality concerning Qohelet's Carpe Diem advice

Abstract: When Qohelet declares “there is nothing new under the sun,” his own words are no exception. It has been known for a century now that not all of Qohelet’s material is original to his own genius, and the idea that Qohelet is directly dependent on a literary source(s) is standard fare. The hallmark example continues to be Siduri the alewife’s advice to Gilgamesh which displays remarkable correspondence with Ecclesiastes 9: 7-9. However, what may have been construed as an instance of clear literary dependency a century ago cannot be maintained in light of the data that continues to emerge from the ancient Near East. New sources have risen that contend with the Gilgamesh Epic, and there has yet to emerge a definitive victor. This paper calls into question the very idea that Qohelet was directly dependent on a literary precursor and joins with a few select voices both past and present in suggesting an alternate interpretation of the data.