Digital Commons Network^™

A Sacred Mountain And Storytelling About Pilgrimage: Contemporary Religious Practice Of Incense Associations At Mount Tai, Ziqi Xuan

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

As a form of pilgrimage in China, the Chaoshan jinxiang (朝山進香, ‘offering incense towards the mountain’), is a ritual that has garnered significant academic attention. However, research on contemporary incense offering practices remains inadequate. Grounded in fieldwork conducted from September 2023 to January 2024, this paper delves into the pilgrimage practices of local incense associations at Mount Tai, a historical site steeped in profound religious significance for centuries. Within the framework of collective memory studies, the paper posits that the contemporary practices of incense offering used to connect with spiritual beings during the pilgrimage to Mount Tai highlight a shift …

The Kyoto Trail: Sacred Sites On A Pseudo-Pilgrimage, Wayne E. Arnold, John A. Shultz

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

How should we conceive of a secular walking trail that traverses a country’s premier holy sites in and around its spiritual capital? The Kyoto Trail is something of an oddity in comparison to the plentiful sacred walking paths throughout Japan. The 84-kilometer circuit probes and circumambulates the city of Kyoto via a horseshoe-like arc. It links an array of holy mountains with lush realms of nature and connects dozens of famous pilgrimage locations of exceptionally varied descriptions. However, while the trail sometimes overlaps with medieval pilgrimage routes, it is a relatively new course, established in the early 1990s through initiatives …

Gut Microbial Changes Associated With Obesity In Youth With Type 1 Diabetes, Heba M Ismail, Dimuthu Perera, Rabindra Mandal, Linda A Dimeglio, Carmella Evans-Molina, Tamara Hannon, Joseph Petrosino, Sara Javornik Cregeen, Nathan W Schmidt

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Context: Obesity is prevalent in type 1 diabetes (T1D) and is problematic with higher risk for diabetes complications. It is unknown to what extent gut microbiome changes are associated with obesity and T1D.

Objective: This work aimed to describe the gut microbiome and microbial metabolite changes associated with obesity in T1D. We hypothesized statistically significant gut microbial and metabolite differences in lean T1D youth (body mass index [BMI]: 5%-< 85%) vs those with obesity (BMI: ≥95%).

Methods: We analyzed stool samples for gut microbial (using metagenomic shotgun sequencing) and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) differences in lean (n = 27) and obese (n = 21) T1D youth in …

High Cellular Plasticity State Of Medulloblastoma Local Recurrence And Distant Dissemination, Hailong Liu, Jing Zhang, Ziwei Wang, Wei Wang, Dongming Han, Xuan Chen, Yu Su, Jiao Zhang, Craig Daniels, Olivier Saulnier, Zeyuan John Wang, Chunyu Gu, Fei Liu, Kaiwen Deng, Dongyang Wang, Zhaoyang Feng, Yahui Zhao, Yifei Jiang, Yu Gao, Zijia Liu, Mingxu Ma, Yanong Li, Zitong Zhao, Hongyu Yuan, Youliang Sun, Yanfeng Shi, Tao Yang, Wenxing Li, Xueling Qi, Zejun Duan, Junping Zhang, Mingshan Zhang, Chunjiang Yu, Wei Jin, Xinguang Yu, Yu Tian, Shuaicheng Li, Chunde Li, Michael D Taylor, Jiankang Li, Yong-Qiang Liu, Xiaoguang Qiu, Tao Jiang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Medulloblastoma (MB), a heterogeneous pediatric brain tumor, poses challenges in the treatment of tumor recurrence and dissemination. To characterize cellular diversity and genetic features, we comprehensively analyzed single-cell/nucleus RNA sequencing (sc/snRNA-seq), single-nucleus assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing (snATAC-seq), and spatial transcriptomics profiles and identified distinct cellular populations in SHH (sonic hedgehog) and Group_3 subgroups, with varying proportions in local recurrence or dissemination. Local recurrence showed higher cycling tumor cell enrichment, whereas disseminated lesions had a relatively notable presence of differentiated subsets. Chromosomal alteration evaluation revealed distinct genetic subclones during MB progression, such as chr7q gain and chr11 loss in Group_3 …

Gut Microbial Changes Associated With Obesity In Youth With Type 1 Diabetes, Heba M Ismail, Dimuthu Perera, Rabindra Mandal, Linda A Dimeglio, Carmella Evans-Molina, Tamara Hannon, Joseph Petrosino, Sara Javornik Cregeen, Nathan W Schmidt

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Context: Obesity is prevalent in type 1 diabetes (T1D) and is problematic with higher risk for diabetes complications. It is unknown to what extent gut microbiome changes are associated with obesity and T1D.

Objective: This work aimed to describe the gut microbiome and microbial metabolite changes associated with obesity in T1D. We hypothesized statistically significant gut microbial and metabolite differences in lean T1D youth (body mass index [BMI]: 5%-< 85%) vs those with obesity (BMI: ≥95%).

Methods: We analyzed stool samples for gut microbial (using metagenomic shotgun sequencing) and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) differences in lean (n = 27) and obese (n = 21) T1D youth in …

Punish Yet Cannot Discipline: Two Iraqi Prison Novels, Hanan Jasim Khammas

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Al-Munāḍil (The Militant) (1972) by ʿAzīz al-Sayyid Jāsim, and Iʿjām (Iʿjaam) (2004) by Sinan Antoon are two prison novels about the historical turning points which mark the rise and fall of the Baʿth regime in Iraq. While the first employs imprisonment as a lens through to expose the corruption and injustice exercised by the monarchy against the emergent revolutionary power, the second shows the Baʿthist government applying similar methods of surveillance, and of physical and psychological torture. Reading these texts by al-Sayyid Jāsim, who died in the Baʿth prisons, and by Antoon who wrote Iʿjaam …

Terrorists, Spies, And Diplomatic Crises: The Birth Of Morocco’S Multimedia Prison Literature, Brahim El Guabli

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This article captures the literary shift that accompanied the transformation of the nature of political imprisonment in Morocco in the last twenty years. Focusing on the new victims of state violence, who fall within two categories: prisoners accused of terrorism and those accused of heinous sexual crimes, this article argues that the emergence of these new criminal profiles has led to the establishment of a transnational “Multimedia Prison Literature” (MPL). Drawing on the cases of Ali Arras, a Belgian-Moroccan whom Spain delivered to Morocco for terrorist charges, and Mohamed Hajib, a German-Moroccan citizen whom Germany extradited to his country of …

Captivity, Resistance And Political Consciousness In Walid Daqqa’S Prison Literature, Ashjan Ajour

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This article examines the prison literature of the Palestinian intellectual Walid Daqqa who has been serving a life sentence for resistance since 1986 in Israeli prisons. From the depth of his experience he writes about his conceptualization of captivity, colonial violence, the resistance of the Palestinian political prisoners in the Israeli prison system and the construction of Palestinian national imagination in his book Consciousness Molded: or The Re-Identification of Palestinian Torture (2010) Published in Arabic and his first young adults novel The Story of the Oil’s Secret (Ḥikayat Sir al-Zeit) published in 2018 in Arabic. Daqqa has become …

Palestinian Prisoners: Smuggling Freedom, Writing From Captivity, Basil Farraj

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This article discusses writings by Palestinian political prisoners and the broader body of prison literature situating them as practices of ‘smuggling freedom’ from Israel’s carceral regime, shedding light onto their political and social meaning. Through discussing writings by prisoners, the article points to a long history through which Palestinian prisoners confronted the Israeli regime’s torture and violent practices, and its broader project of eliminating the political nature of captivity. The article argues that prisoners’ writings reveal much about the dynamics of carceral power and violence, and the logic behind the confrontation practices used by prisoners in Palestine and beyond. These …

An Early Bronze Age Tomb Of The ‘Common People’(?) In The ‘En Esur (‘Ein Asawir) Cemetery (Pp. 85–112), Amir Gorzalczany, Jacob Sharvit

'Atiqot

Within the boundaries of the ancient cemeteries associated with the protohistoric settlement of ‘En Esur, another tomb (T80), dated to EB IB–EB II, was discovered. A close examination of the burial gifts reveals a notable regionalism, in contrast with the imported and luxurygoodsdiscovered in other tombs in the ‘En Esur cemeteries. The local nature of the finds and lack of prestige items, as well as the anthropological analysis of the interred, might suggest that a less-affluent group of people was buried here.

Faunal Remains From Tel Malot (East) (Pp. 83–84), Ron Kehati

'Atiqot

A small assemblage of 36 animal bone fragments was retrievedfrom loci dating to the Pottery Neolithic period and the Middle and Late Bronze Ages at Tel Malot (East). The predominant species were sheep and goats, exploited for husbandry and for secondary products at the site, and probably also for meat.

Remains From The Late Prehistoric To Early Islamic Periods At The Foot Of Tel Malot (East) (Pp. 25–77), Giora Parnos, Ianir Milevski, Hamoudi Khalaily

'Atiqot

This report presents the results of two separate salvage excavations conducted east of Tel Malot in the region of ‘Emeq Ayyalon. The earliest presence at the site dates to the early Pottery Neolithic period, comprising an occupation horizon and pits. Several other pits contained artifacts of the Chalcolithic period. The excavated area was also settledduring Middle Bronze Age II, and possibly through Late Bronze Age I, when the area served for agricultural and industrial activities. Remains from the Iron Age and Persian period are meager. A winepress from the Hellenistic period suggests the existence of a farming community at the …

Prehistoric Investigations Along The Cross-Israel Highway: State Of Research (Pp. 5–23), Hamoudi Khalaily, Ofer Marder

'Atiqot

Prehistoric research along the Cross-Israel Highway was undertaken from the earliest planning stages of the archaeological surveys along the intended route. During this survey, much data was accumulated concerning site function, economics, intra-site interaction etc. In the systematic survey and the subsequent excavations, 31 prehistoric sites were identified, dating from the Lower Paleolithic period to the Chalcolithic period, covering a time span of c. 500,000 years. This review presents a brief description of the surveyed and excavated sites for which there is available data, as well as a comparison with other sites from the same period.

Pottery From The Late Byzantine Remains Near Shiqmona (Pp. 183–208), Rivka Calderon

'Atiqot

The pottery from the Byzantine monastery near Shiqmona was found in three loci, sealed beneath the chapel floor; they date the construction of the floor to the sixth–seventh centuries CE. The finds from the buildings include bases with impressed decorations—male figures, a rabbit and a cross—common in the late fifth–early sixth centuries CE. The pottery from the winepress was found in the collecting pits, which later became waste dumps, comprising vessels from the sixth century CE, most of which continued until the seventh century. The finds from the tombs, although robbed or disturbed prior to the excavation, also date to …

Late Byzantine Remains Near Shiqmona: A Monastery, A Cemetery And A Winepress (Pp. 147–182), Raz Kletter

'Atiqot

Excavation at the site of Shiqmona, east of the Tel Aviv–Haifa highway, revealed finds from the late Byzantine period, including a monastery, a large winepress, a dozen rock-cut tombs and two large buildings. The monastery is a large building, incorporating the chapel excavated by Makhouly in 1940, which was re-discovered. The monastery was dated on the basis of the meager pottery finds to the sixth century CE. North and south of the chapel were found marble and stone fragments, probably originating from the chapel, adorned with motifs known from mosaics of the same period. The finds here point that Shiqmona …

A Bronze Age Site At Naḥal Rimmonim In The Jezreel Valley (Pp. 53–74), Karen Covello-Paran

'Atiqot

In salvage excavations carried out at the site of Naḥal Rimmonin, in the southwestern part of the Jezreel Valley, three superimposed strata were revealed: two dating from the Intermediate Bronze Age and one, to Middle Bronze Age IIA. The pottery repertoire of the Intermediate Bronze Age is typical of contemporary sites in the Jezreel Valley, dominated by bowls, holemouths, cooking pots and storage jars; flint tools were found as well. The MB IIA stratum revealed a domestic structure, beneath the floors of which were interments of infants. The pottery assemblage from this period represents two archaeological contexts: accumulations and burials. …

The Early Bronze Age Site Of Ashqelon, Afridar—Area M (With Contributions By Hamoudi Khalaily, Moshe Sade And Elisabetta Boaretto) (Pp. 19–51), Amir Golani

'Atiqot

Two strata dating to Early Bronze Age IA were discerned in Area M in the Afridar neighborhood at Ashqelon. Both EB IA strata revealed settlement remains, featuring typical curvilinear architecture; however, the earlier buildings were built of stone, while the later ones were made of mudbricks. The Stratum I habitation level contained several copper-melting installations. The pottery assemblage is characteristic of EB IA in southwestern Canaan, including V-shaped bowls and holemouth jars. Also found were ground-stone artifacts and flint tools, dominated by the Canaanean Industry.

Excavations At Khirbat Marmita (Pp. 139–178), Lilly Gershuny

'Atiqot

Three building complexes were uncovered at the site, as well as various installations that were quarried into bedrock. The buildings date from the first half of the first century BCE (Building 20/23), from the Hellenistic–Early Roman period (Building 84) and from the Herodian period (c. 30 to at least 67 CE; Building 104). Among the installations were five simple winepresses, typical of the Roman and Byzantine periods; a lever-and-weights oil press; cisterns with square or circular shafts; 33 cupmarks; caves; quarries; and a miqweh. The finds include pottery vessels, stone and basalt vases, glass vessels and metal artifacts. It seems …

Archaeozoological Finds From The Excavations West Of Tell Qasille (Pp. 135–137), Moshe Sade

'Atiqot

Animal bones were found inside four of the tombs dated to Middle Bronze Age II. Each tomb contained the remains of one sheep/goat, usually within vessels. It seems that the people at this site raised cattle. A large number of donkey bones were also found. Sea shells were also present, probably due to the proximity of the site to the Mediterranean shore. Many animal bones were found in the Hellenistic-period assemblage.

A Middle Bronze Age Ii Site West Of Tell Qasille (Pp. 65–128), Raz Kletter

'Atiqot

The site remains comprise a cemetery, two pottery kilns and a settlement dating to Middle Bronze Age II. Ten burials were excavated, all except one (T800) were rectangular pit-graves dug into kurkar sandstone. Each grave contained one to three individuals; T800, which was round, contained seven individuals in secondary deposition. The average grave assemblage comprised about ten pottery vessels, which were usually placed in a row next to one long side of the burial. The pottery kilns are almost identical in size, direction and structure. They are of the vertical type, with two main superimposed parts: a combustion chamber and …

Chalcolithic Burial Sites At Ma‘Abarot And Tel Ifshar (Pp. 45–63), Yosef Porath

'Atiqot

The two burial sites are located in the Sharon plain, south and north of Naḥal Alexander. The kidney-shaped cave at Ma‘abarot was hewn in the kurkar sandstone. All the burials in the cave were secondary. Of the 63 burials identified, 42 were placed in three types of ceramic vessels—house-shaped ossuaries, chest-shaped ossuaries and large domestic kraters—and 21, in ‘bone heaps’. The finds consisted of pottery vessels typical of the Chalcolithic period, e.g., V-shaped bowls and fenestrated bowls and bottles, and a flake from a flint digging tool. At Tel Ifshar, two burial places were discovered, both damaged by infrastructure work. …

Building Fragments Of The Early Islamic Period On Ha-Gedud Ha-‘Ivri Street In Ramla (Hebrew, Pp. 39*–47*; English Summary, Pp. 237–238), Hervé Barbé

'Atiqot

Meager architectural remains were exposed: wall segments, without floors, belonging to two phases dating to the Early Islamic period, and the foundation channel of what appears to have been a massive Crusader building. The stones of the later building were robbed in the Late Ottoman period. The pottery finds (studied by Miriam Avissar) date to the Early Islamic (second half of eighth–tenth centuries CE) and Crusader periods. Fragments of vessels from the Late Ottoman period were documented as well.

The Coins From Ḥorbat Hermas (Hebrew, Pp. 37*–38*; English Summary, P. 237), Robert Kool

'Atiqot

Ten coins were uncovered in the excavation at Ḥorbat Hermas, six were identified. Their dates range between the second–third and the fourteenth centuries CE.

Archaeozoological Finds From Khirbat Burin (Pp. 225–229), Moshe Sade

'Atiqot

Most of the faunal remains from the large, Mamluk-period building in Stratum II are of domestic animals, cattle being the most dominant species. In Stratum I, sheep/goats were the most dominant species. It could not be established whether these differences reflect a change in the economy of the site.

Note On A Glazed Bowl With A Medallion Of A Feline From Khirbat Burin (Pp. 215–219), Lev Kapitaikin

'Atiqot

A fragment from a large, Mamluk-period glazed-ware bowl was found in the Khirbat Burin excavations, decorated with a molded relief. The decoration is divided into three registers: the upper register is occupied by a naskh inscription, interrupted by a medallion enclosing a figure of a large feline; the two lower registers are decorated with simple geometric motifs. This vessel type dates from the fourteenth–fifteenth centuries CE, and is reported from many sites in the Levant. It might have been produced in greater Syria.

A Salvage Excavation At ‘Ein Ez-Zeituna In Naḥal ‘Iron (Pp. 31–69), Don Glick

'Atiqot

A monumental, nearly square, two-story peristyle building was revealed, dating to the second century CE. It was flanked on the east by a row of shops and on the west, by additional architectural remains. The structure is a typical Greco-Roman peristyle building, consisting of a central colonnaded courtyard, a portico and 20 rooms. The strikingly meticulous craftsmanship of the building’s construction and the high-quality stone masonry attest that it was built by professional builders. The finds included large amounts of Early Roman potsherds; several basalt vessels, pestles, grinding stones and millstones; metal objects, mostly nails; and domestic glass vessels from …

Khan Gesher (Jisr El-Majami‘), Abdullah Mokary, Zvi Gal

'Atiqot

Khan Gesher is one of the earliest khans in Galilee. Three periods of occupation were documented at the site. The khan was first built during the Mamluk period as a square complex, with a central courtyard surrounded by rooms and halls. The halls served as stables, and the rooms and the central courtyard served non-residential functions, e.g., a gate, a water system, and a prayer room. Thus, the khan might have had a second story for housing travelers. During the Ottoman period, the building underwent changes and modifications. The khan was probably destroyed in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth …

Hellenistic And Crusader Remains At Montmusard, Acre (‘Akko), Fanny Vitto

'Atiqot

The finds from the Hellenistic period comprise building remains that contained imported amphoras dating from the last third of the third century to the third quarter of the second century BCE, as well as pottery lamps, cooking vessels and bowls from the third–second centuries. The Crusader period yielded the remains of walls and pottery dating to the late twelfth–thirteenth centuries CE.

Salvage Excavations In The Modi‘In Landscape, Amir Golani

'Atiqot

Approximately 100 sites were investigated in the area by means of surveys and excavations. Thirteen winepresses were identified, surrounded by cupmarks and basins, alluding to the agricultural exploitation of the area. Thirty-two stone clearance piles were documented. In most piles, limited amounts of Late Hellenistic–Early Roman ceramics were recovered, suggesting they were constructed during that period. Some of these features were of a later date, the Byzantine–Umayyad periods. In the Medieval and Ottoman periods, the region was exploited for its natural resources. Nearly all the charcoal burners and limekilns seem to date to these times.

A Middle Bronze Age Burial Cave At Tur‘An, Lilly Gershuny, Emanuel Eisenberg

'Atiqot

The burial cave, carved into limestone, consists of a square, vertical shaft and an elliptical room. The cave’s contents, which included pottery vessels, carnelian beads, a bronze toggle pin and a stone pommel, were scattered on a fill on the floor. Six adult individuals and one child were identified. The bones of sheep and cattle, which served as food offerings, were found as well. The pottery included bowls, a storage jar, a large krater with loop feet, jugs, dipper and piriform juglets, and a unique Tell el-Yahudiyeh juglet with a zoomorphic protome. The cave is a typical Early Bronze Age …