scholarly journals Muslim Tombstones of Kamak (Turkestan Region) as a Historical and Archaeological Source

Author(s):  
Dosbol S. Baigunakov ◽  
◽  
Gulmira E. Sabdenova ◽  

In 2013, an archaeological and ethnographic expedition of the Scientific Research Institute of Culture LLP explored the southern regions of Kazakhstan. The main priority was given to field research on the issues of archaeology, ethnography, culture and art of nomads. In the village of Karnak, Turkestan Region, unique tombstones were discovered, which are an integral component of the moral foundations of Muslim culture. Karnak necropolis is located in the northern part of the village of the same name and covers more than 3 hectares of area, the main part of which is occupied by modern memorial complexes of the 20th century. The researchers' interest was aroused by a part of the Karnak cemetery, where monuments of funerary and cult architecture of the late Middle Ages and modern times were located. The novelty of this study is associated with an attempt to clarify a number of provisions in the study of the funeral and cult architecture of South Kazakhstan. Many people believe that traditional burial and cult architecture has survived only in the western regions of the republic. Nevertheless, the Karnak memorial complex studied for the first time and the materials contained in it prove that an attempt to reconstruct the history of the tombstones, identify its origins, the factors that caused the formation of various attributes are still far from being solved. The study of burial and cult architecture in the context of Muslim archaeology makes it possible to solve a number of issues in the humanities dedicated to the memorial complex and folk craft, including the stone-cutting art of the southern regions of Kazakhstan.

Kavkaz-forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 101-119
Author(s):  
Г.Н . Вольная (Керцева)

Материальная культура позднего средневековья Дигорского ущелья Северной Осетии недостаточно хорошо изучена по сравнению с другими периодами. В статье впервые представлен комплекс археологических памятников, расположенных на Поляне Мацута Дигорского ущелья: памятники, их расположение, история изучения. Цель исследования – рассмотреть Поляну Мацута как погребальный и культовый комплекс, где находятся позднесредневековые полуподземные склепы, каменные ящики, менгиры, цырты, «нартовский» ныхас, поселения кобанского и аланского периодов. Это памятники являются почитаемыми у местного населения, упоминаются в нартовском эпосе. В статье использовались полевые методы исследования, метод анализа и аналогий. В статье представлен авторский материал спасательных раскопок 2020 г. «Грунтового могильника Мацута I, средневековье» XVI-XVIII вв. в зоне реализации проекта «Строительство фельдшерско-акушерского пункта в с. Мацута». Могильник представляет собой погребения в каменных ящиках. Всего было раскопано 75 ящиков, в которых покойные лежали вытянуто на спине головой на запад с широтными отклонениями. Некоторые ранние погребения сопровождаются обрядом кремации. Погребальный обряд находит аналогии в горной Балкарии. Для погребального обряда характерно отсутствие керамической посуды в погребениях. Над ранними погребениями могильника была устроена тризна с кремацией и большим количеством фрагментированной керамики, скорее всего местного производства. Погребальный инвентарь достаточно беден и характерен для горнокавказской культуры позднего средневековья. Во взрослых погребениях найдены одежда, обувь, пояса, головные уборы, пояса; в женских – украшения; в мужских – ножи, оселки. В детских погребениях (в большинстве случаев) слева от головы обнаружены только куриные яйца, либо погребальный инвентарь совсем отсутствует. Отмечается высокая детская смертность. Детские погребения составляют почти 50% от всего числа раскопанных погребений. The material culture of the late middle ages of the Digor gorge in North Ossetia is not well studied in comparison with other periods. The article presents for the first time a complex of archaeological monuments located in The Matsuta Glade of the Digor gorge: monuments, their location, and history of study. The purpose of the study is to consider the Matsuta Glade as a funerary and cult complex, where there are late medieval semi-underground crypts, stone boxes, menhirs, tsyrts, "nartovsky" Nykhas, settlements of the Koban and Alan periods. These monuments are revered by the local population, mentioned in the Nart epic. The article uses field research methods, the method of analysis and analogies. The article presents the author's material of rescue excavations in 2020 of the "Ground burial ground of Matsuta I, middle ages" of the XVI-XVIII centuries in the area of the project "Construction of a paramedic and midwifery station in the village of Matsuta". The burial ground is a burial in stone boxes. In total, 75 boxes were excavated, in which the deceased lay stretched out on their backs with their heads facing West with latitude deviations. Some early burials are accompanied by a cremation ceremony. The funeral rite finds analogies in the mountainous Balkaria. The funeral rite is characterized by the absence of ceramic dishes in the burials. A funeral feast with cremation and a large amount of fragmented pottery, most likely of local production, was built over the early burials of the burial ground. The grave goods are rather poor and typical for mountain Caucasian culture of the late middle ages. In adult burials found clothes, shoes, belts, headwear, belts; women's jewelry; the men's knives, whetstones. In most children's burials, only chicken eggs are found to the left of the head, or there is no burial equipment at all. Children's funerals account for almost 50% of the total number of excavated graves.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-338
Author(s):  
Ekaterina V. Zakharova ◽  
◽  
Denis V. Kuzmin ◽  
Irma I. Mullonen ◽  
◽  
...  

The article marks the 50th anniversary of onomastic research in Karelia which has brought about 12 monographs and dictionaries, as well as several hundred articles. The paper summarizes the most important advances made by the research team in local toponymy studies: a typology of the Balto-Finniс toponyms, the peculiarities of Karelian and Vepsian name motivation, and the ways that Karelian and Vepsian names are adapted to the Russian naming system. The development of methods of areal typology allowed the researchers to restore the picture of ethno-linguistic history of Karelia and adjacent territories, based on toponymic evidence. In the field of anthroponymy, the progress relates to the identification of numerous Karelian folk variants of Orthodox names and the reconstruction of medieval male and female personal names system of Karelians and Vepsians. The latter also proved the fact that non-calendar Russian names were actively used among the Karelians at the turn of the Middle Ages and the Modern Times. Particular attention is given to the research team’s activity and achievements in the field of onomastic lexicography, which produced a number of toponymic dictionaries of different types. The important role of the continuous fieldwork of Karelian toponymists, carried out both in the territory of Karelia and outside the republic, is noted. Ultimately, the work of three generations of researchers has been brought together in a comprehensive toponymic card-index comprising 300.000 units in Karelian, Veps, and Russian, as well as its electronic version (GIS Toponymy of Karelia) with additional mapping and analytical functionalities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-133
Author(s):  
A Dzh Magomedov ◽  
Kh A Yusupov

Article is devoted to it to the phenomenon of the Dagestan ethnographic culture «forgotten» by scientists as superimposed forge locks. They aren't also in the state museums of the republic. Dagestanis had still such locks in which the locking mechanism widely known in the Middle Ages was used, as in Russia until recently, and in the east and the West. At the same time, the type of the lock (delivery note), a form of a design, its variation, an original forge pattern, names testify to the original ethnocultural phenomenon which sources aren't up to the end clear. Superimposed forge locks for the first time were revealed by us at Dargins of Dakhadayevsky district. Still in due time the famous caucasiologist E. M. Shilling paid attention that the ethnoculture of Dargins contains the interesting materials of archaic type which didn't remain at other mountain people of Dagestan. Field material demonstrates that such locks were generally manufactured by masters of villages Amuzgi and Harbuk. The description of a design of locks, in particular their spring mechanism is given. Some data on names of locks are provided in article and the attempt to explain their origin becomes. Material shows that all versions of names of forge locks of a local origin. In the Dargwa language the word "meg" means "iron", "metal". The same word, as a rule, designates also the lock. Forge superimposed locks of Dargins - the unique phenomenon of cultural history of Dagestan bearing on itself a seal of early traditions of metal working. It is obvious that it is necessary to continue searches of new materials and studying of this phenomenon of culture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 108-115
Author(s):  
Mariia A. Shutova

It is impossible to dispute the fact that China has had an enormous influence on the culture of the entire Korean Peninsula. The writing system, the thoughts of Chinese philosophers, paper, the xylography method and the idea of a movable type – all this came to the peninsula long before the founding of the Joseon State. China was not only the overlord of Joseon, but also a kind of cultural donor. Of course, under such conditions, the Joseon authorities considered contacts with this region as the most important area of foreign policy and trade. In addition, a significant part of various kinds of literature — from Confucian writings to treatises on medicine was acquired in China for further circulation in Joseon. Due to the constant need for official and commercial communication between states, it was impossible to go without knowledge of a spoken language. For this purpose, the textbook titled “Nogeoldae” (lit. “Elder brother from China”) was created. Using the Goryeo merchant’s trip to China (in later editions this became the Joseon merchant) as the key example, the main situations accompanying such trips were examined in the form of dialogues. With the help of this manual it was possible to learn the phrases necessary for communication in the courtyard, conducting trade negotiations, participating in banquets, communicating with a doctor, and so on. The exceptional practical benefit ensured that this manual underwent several systematic reprints, as well as translation into Manchurian, Mongolian and Japanese languages. “Nogeoldae” is a unique written source on the history of the development of both the northern dialect of the Chinese language and Korean in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern times.


Author(s):  
Maurizio Viroli

Religion and liberty are often thought to be mutual enemies: if religion has a natural ally, it is authoritarianism—not republicanism or democracy. This book challenges this conventional wisdom. It argues that political emancipation and the defense of political liberty have always required the self-sacrifice of people with religious sentiments and a religious devotion to liberty. This is particularly the case when liberty is threatened by authoritarianism: the staunchest defenders of liberty are those who feel a deeply religious commitment to it. The book makes its case by reconstructing, for the first time, the history of the Italian “religion of liberty,” covering its entire span but focusing on three key examples of political emancipation: the free republics of the late Middle Ages, the Risorgimento of the nineteenth century, and the antifascist Resistenza of the twentieth century. In each example, the book shows, a religious spirit that regarded moral and political liberty as the highest goods of human life was fundamental to establishing and preserving liberty. It also shows that when this religious sentiment has been corrupted or suffocated, Italians have lost their liberty. This book makes a powerful and provocative contribution to today's debates about the compatibility of religion and republicanism.


1963 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Z. (J. W.) Hirschberg

Students of the history of North Africa in general, and of the history of the Jews there in particular, commonly think that a considerable proportion—one half or more—of the Jews who live, or until recently lived, in North Africa are descended from the Berbers, who prior to the Arab conquest formed the overwhelming majority of the population. In their opinion, these Jews were the offspring of tribes among which Jewish beliefs spread in the pre-Arab era and part of which actually embraced Judaism. This assumption, which seemingly answers the question as to the origin of the Jews who inhabited the North African hinterland, and especially the districts bordering on the Sahara, has gained such wide currency that the term ‘Berber Jew’ has been coined, i.e. Jew descended from Judaized Berbers. The proponents of this assumption apparently suppose that the stories of Jews, or Judaized people, living among Berber tribes, though describing events of the late Middle Ages or of modern times, reflect conditions precedent to the Muslim conquest of North Africa. In other words, the supporters of the theory of the Judaized Berbers think that this phenomenon cannot have originated in Muslim times since the new religion precluded every chance of Jewish proselytizing. If, therefore, Judaized people are found in Africa, even in recent times, they must be remnants of a religious movement going back to the period before the Arab conquest. In the view of the adherents of this theory, Judaism spread among the Berbers during the first centuries of the Christian era.


Author(s):  
Oleg R. Khromov

For the first time the manuscript book with engravings as a special genre in book culture is described, its formation in the XVII century is analysed. The reasons of origin of a genre and the main stages of its development, its historical role and a place in book culture of Russia are shown. Some issues of book art and art connections of the Russian and European book are highlighted.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mbuzeni Mathenjwa

The history of local government in South Africa dates back to a time during the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. With regard to the status of local government, the Union of South Africa Act placed local government under the jurisdiction of the provinces. The status of local government was not changed by the formation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961 because local government was placed under the further jurisdiction of the provinces. Local government was enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa arguably for the first time in 1993. Under the interim Constitution local government was rendered autonomous and empowered to regulate its affairs. Local government was further enshrined in the final Constitution of 1996, which commenced on 4 February 1997. The Constitution refers to local government together with the national and provincial governments as spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. This article discusses the autonomy of local government under the 1996 Constitution. This it does by analysing case law on the evolution of the status of local government. The discussion on the powers and functions of local government explains the scheme by which government powers are allocated, where the 1996 Constitution distributes powers to the different spheres of government. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the legal status of local government within the new constitutional dispensation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-446
Author(s):  
Sylvain Roudaut

Abstract This paper offers an overview of the history of the axiom forma dat esse, which was commonly quoted during the Middle Ages to describe formal causality. The first part of the paper studies the origin of this principle, and recalls how the ambiguity of Boethius’s first formulation of it in the De Trinitate was variously interpreted by the members of the School of Chartres. Then, the paper examines the various declensions of the axiom that existed in the late Middle Ages, and shows how its evolution significantly follows the progressive decline of the Aristotelian model of formal causality.


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