Las reformas emprendidas en Túnez de la mano del FMI y el BM ¿Precedente para la revolución de los Jazmines?”(1987-2010)

El estallido de la “Revolución de los Jazmines” cuestionó el éxito de un país que por más de dos décadas fue exaltado por el Banco Mundial (BM) y el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) por los logros alcanzados gracias a un programa de restructuración económica. Las exigencias e inconformidades de los manifestantes, que iban más allá de la falta de garantías democráticas, permitieron ver que el país sufría de problemas estructurales relacionados a los altos niveles de desempleo, la precariedad de la situación laboral y la desigualdad. Esta monografía pretende evaluar el papel que tuvieron las reformas económicas y en general el modelo de desarrollo que siguió Túnez de la mano del FMI y el BM, en el surgimiento y consolidación de las condiciones que dieron lugar a la Revolución de los Jazmines a finales del año 2010.

Sealing practices in the Near East during the Late Bronze II period: administration and trade in the age of internationalism

This PhD research investigates sealing practices in the Near East during the Late Bronze II period (ca. 1375-1175 BCE). Sealings from archaeological contexts in the Southern Levant, North Syria, Upper and Lower Mesopotamia and South-Western Iran are taken under consideration and analyzed on multiple aspects at local, regional, and international levels. The contextual, functional, and iconographic analysis of these materials, in fact, allows to reconstruct the nature of the transactions and the agents involved in the sealing operations within local administrative systems, highlighting at the same time aspects of inter-regional interactions during the age of internationalism. Following a survey of the available evidence, a corpus consisting of 1845 records from 28 different sites across the ANE, has been filed using MS Access and MS Excel, including 740 unpublished sealing from Karkemish. Among this large evidence, the corpus of recently discovered sealings from Karkemish and the other scattered sealings from the North Syrian provinces, for instance, provide insights on the core-periphery relationships under the Hittite Empire; while the deposit from Building P at Tell Sheikh Hamad, that of the Middle Assyrian houses at Tell Fekheriye, and of the dunnu of Tell Sabi Abyad, significantly contributes to defining the administration of provinces within the Middle Assyrian state and the regional circulation of good. The less extensive evidence from South Mesopotamia under the Kassite rule and from Middle Elamite contexts in South-Western Iran somewhat contribute as well to the understanding of sealing practices in the LB II period. The South Levantine kingdoms, on the other hand, seems participates to the Egyptian regional network of exchanges and sealing practices.

From images to signs: Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A in context

This dissertation adopts a multidisciplinary approach to investigate graphical and formal features of Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A. Drawing on theories which understand inscribed artefacts as an interplay of materials, iconography, and texts, I combine archaeological and philological considerations with statistical and experimental observations. The work is formulated on three key-questions. The first deals with the origins of Cretan Hieroglyphic. After providing a fresh view on Prepalatial seals chronology, I identify a number of forerunners of Hieroglyphic signs in iconographic motifs attested among the Prepalatial glyptic and material culture. I further identified a specific style-group, i.e., the ‘Border and Leaf Complex’, as the decisive step towards the emergence of the Hieroglyphic graphic repertoire. The second deals with the interweaving of formal, iconographical, and epigraphic features of Hieroglyphic seals with the sequences they bear and the contexts of their usage. By means of two Correspondence Analyses, I showed that the iconography on seals in some materials and shapes is closer to Cretan Hieroglyphics, than that on the other ones. Through two Social Network Analyses, I showed that Hieroglyphic impressions, especially at Knossos, follow a precise sealing pattern due to their shapes and sequences. Furthermore, prisms with a high number of inscribed faces adhere to formal features of jasper ones. Finally, through experimental engravings, I showed differences in cutting rates among materials, as well as the efficiency of abrasives and tools unearthed within the Quartier Mu. The third question concerns overlaps in chronology, findspots and signaries between Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A. I discussed all possible earliest instances of both scripts and argued for some items datable to the MM I-IIA period. I further provide an insight into the Hieroglyphic-Linear A dubitanda and criteria for their interpretation. Finally, I suggest four different patterns in the creation and diversification of the two signaries.