Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons^™

Embodiment And Ritual Clothing: Dressing The Israelite High Priest, Ally Huffmire

Studia Antiqua

Exodus 28 and 39 contain a detailed description of the clothing God instructed to be made and worn by Israelite priests. In this essay, sacred clothing will be understood through the lens of ritual studies, characterizing clothing with a sense of liminality that defines and endows the human wearer with identity and power. The social meanings and implications of the high priest’s dress will be reconstructed by engaging in sensory criticism, drawing upon insights from the greater eastern Mediterranean world. Given the ancient world’s unique conception of a permeable body, ritual clothing had the ability to imbue the wearer with …

The Carnivalesque And The Carmel Competition In 1 Kings 18, Paul Bryner

Studia Antiqua

While humor is a difficult feature to identify in the Bible, the concept of the “carnivalesque”—a form of literary humor with sociological implications, coined by Mikhail Bakhtin — is much easier to apply. I argue for the presence of carnivalesque themes in the Elijah narrative of 1 Kings 18 which give a subtle, implicit social commentary on Israelite society.

Front Matter

Studia Antiqua

No abstract provided.

Fallen Kingdoms And Ancient Monoliths: The Influence Of Atlantis And Egypt In Tolkien’S Númenor, Charlotte J. Brockway

Journal of Tolkien Research

In light of the recent publication of The Fall of Númenor, my essay aims to focus on Tolkien’s, somewhat underappreciated, influences on Gondor; particularly Ancient Egypt. This essay looks at Plato's Timaeus and Critias, Ignatius Donnelly's theories, and examines the Atlantean and Egyptian motifs in Tolkien’s version of Westernesse, in particular, the remnants of Atlantean civilization survived by Egyptian colonists which mirror the Realms of Exile (Gondor and Arnor).

Ordinary Care: Affective Politics Of Migration And The Everyday Lives Of Syrian Refugees In Istanbul, Yasemin Ozer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation makes two significant interventions into the literature on Syrian refugees in Turkey and the anthropology of migration and refugee studies more broadly. First, it focuses on the everyday lives of working-class urban refugees and argues that “ordinary care” is a crucial means by which they build sustainable and dignified lives while living in precarity in an often hostile environment in the aftermath of war and displacement. Ordinary care, as I theorize in this ethnography, includes sharing of resources, information, and advice as well as the formation of mutual relationships between kin, neighbors, and friends. Compared to the more …

Networked Authoritarianism And Economic Resilience In Syria, Karam Shaar, Steven Heydemann

Middle East Studies: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Late Babylonian Administrative And Legal Texts, Concerning Craftsmen, From The Eanna Archive, Yuval Levavi, Elizabeth E. Payne

Yale Oriental Series

Yuval Levavi and Elizabeth E. Payne present 315 previously unpublished texts held in the Yale Babylonian Collection at the Yale Peabody Museum. The texts shed light on textile and metal workers in the Eanna temple in Uruk during the Neo-Babylonian Period, about 626 to 539 BCE. This volume of the Yale Oriental Series features a full edition of each text, including hand copies, transliterations, translations, and essential commentary, allowing unprecedented access to these primary sources.

Making Sense Of The Arab State, Steven Heydemann, Marc Lynch

Middle East Studies: Faculty Books

Book abstract:

No region in the world has been more hostile to democracy, more dominated by military and security institutions, or weaker on economic development and inclusive governance than the Middle East. Why have Arab states been so oppressively strong in some areas but so devastatingly weak in others? How do those patterns affect politics, economics, and society across the region? The state stands at the center of the analysis of politics in the Middle East, but has rarely been the primary focus of systematic theoretical analysis. Making Sense of the Arab State brings together top scholars from diverse theoretical …

Anxious Futures: Capital, Nation And Advertising In Beirut, Lebanon, Caitlin Alais Callahan

Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary billboard advertising in Beirut fuels anxiety in Beirut’s citizens. In a city suffering from daily uncertainties caused by a devastating financial collapse in 2019, and mourning victims of the worst non-nuclear explosion to ever occur in the Port of Beirut in 2020, Beirutis are also faced with advertising which constantly reinforces uneasiness. Visual advertisements market visas to leave the country, purchasing second passports and money counting machines, forming quotidian reminders of the current state of the country. Using interviews and visual ethnographic material collected during the summer of 2023, this thesis discusses how billboards help to foster dialogue around …

Which Tools Can Aid The Management Of Intangible Cultural Heritage In Community Based Heritage Organizations In Cairo? A Case Study Of Shubra’S Archive, Mienke Zwemstra

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a comprehensive overview of cultural heritage management in Cairo, focusing particularly on intangible heritage and the potential benefits of digital tools in this field. It highlights the marginalization of community-based organizations in the broader narrative of heritage management in Cairo, along with the limited alignment and collaboration between local, national and international heritage institutions. Drawing from ethnographic research conducted at the Shubra’s Archive (SARD), this study identifies the challenges faced by such organizations, including the reliance on volunteers and international funding for mission implementation. It emphasizes the importance of strategic planning and collaboration with municipal and national …

The Subconscious Of Traditional Practices: Turkish Cuisine, Serife Umay Cicik

Dublin Gastronomy Symposium

Turkey stands out among the leading countries, particularly in the consumption of meat, milk, and dairy products. In terms of climate and physical conditions, it has the capacity to produce these commodities domestically. Additionally, it is situated in a geographically advantageous position rich in seafood resources. Turkish cuisine is further enriched by dishes and desserts prepared with dough. However, food preparation and cooking methods, equipment, storage conditions, presentation styles, consumption habits, spices, and sauces bear traces of various culinary cultures. Wars, natural disasters, political events, trade routes, and religious structures are among the factors that most significantly influence these differences. …

Authoritarian Learning, Steven Heydemann

Middle East Studies: Faculty Publications

Authoritarian learning plays an increasingly important role in global processes of autocratization and democratic backsliding yet remains understudied and undertheorized. This chapter reviews conditions that elevate the role of authoritarian learning in the international system. It assesses the state of research with a focus on definitional debates concerning what authoritarian learning is and is not. In contrast to more restrictive definitions, the chapter presents an expansive definition of authoritarian learning as a process in which autocratic actors assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of ideas, rules, norms, and practices based on their observed utility. It argues that such processes are evident …

Picturing Consumer Culture, Cultural Hybridity, And Womanhood: Farah Al Qasimi’S Photographs From 2012 To 2020, Minji Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Farah Al Qasimi’s 2012-2020 color photographs, arguing that this work presents a distinctive and salient critique of domesticity, material culture, and womanhood in the UAE. Through her lens as a woman and a culturally hybrid subject, Al Qasimi explores the tensions of modernization, globalization, consumerism, and gender.

The Trial Of Abraham And The Trembling Of The Audience: Rereading The Aqedah, Michael Zhaohan Tang

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

This thesis reexamines the Aqedah narrative from Genesis 22:1–19, focusing on the conveyance of emotions and the portrayal of characters in a story that lacks explicit descriptions of thoughts and feelings. Approaching the text through a literary and narratological lens, I propose that through phraseological techniques like diction and parataxis and compositional strategies such as allusion and juxtaposition, the text captures the psychological depth of biblical characters, thereby enhancing its emotional impact on the audience. I dissect the narrative into eight scenes and within each scene, I conduct close readings to identify and analyze subtle lexical choices and rhetorical devices. …

Student Perceptions Of Icc Development And The Reasons For It During Casa@Auc, Stephen Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Research has described how studying abroad has become a major goal in the Arabic world, focusing on understanding the ideas and way of life of another culture and people. Study abroad programs increase students' “Intercultural communicative competence” as indicated by researchers like Maharaja (2018) and Lee and Song (2019). The current study is a case study involving three participants. It focuses on students' perceptions of the influence of the CASA@AUC study abroad program on their intercultural communicative competence (ICC) as reflected by ACTFL performance indicators they are capable of executing. Results of the study indicate that they have reached advanced …

Lost & Found (Game Series) [Book Chapter], Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Description of game series for use in the classroom with best practices.

A Study Of “Kurar”: Its Historical And Cultural Significance To The Kingdom Of Bahrain, Tomoko Torimaru

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

When contemplating the origin and development of weaving and textiles, one must consider the role of warp twining. My research indicates that textile technology originated with the twisting and interlacing of strands of fiber, producing thin and long practical articles, such as belts, bands, ties, cords, and ribbons. This evolved into a wider cloth and necessitated the invention of a reed. Eventually warp and weft became balanced in contrast to the earlier warp-faced weavings. My current research has focused on “finger-held loop-manipulated warp twining,” an ancient technique for building woven structures, which is still practiced in scattered areas.

My field …

A Construção Da Guerra Civil Através De Dois Discursos Na Farsália, De Lucano, Leni Ribeiro Leite, Thayrynne De Faria Coutinho

Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures Faculty Publications

O presente trabalho analisa a construção da Guerra Civil nos cantos II e IV da Farsália, do poeta Lucano, por meio da caracterização e dos discursos de duas personagens: a mãe e o soldado. Em uma épica em que o confronto entre membros de um mesmo povo é central, defendemos que Lucano, ao apresentar essas duas personagens, apresenta dois pontos de vista romanos em relação a dinâmica da guerra. Para essa análise, tomamos como base a concepção de Dominique Maingueneau (1995, 2008) de ethos e elementos retóricos da Antiguidade apresentados, em especial, na Institutio Oratoria, de Quintiliano.

Learning Chinese Vocabulary: Understanding Students' Perspectives, Austin Gasiecki, Zuotang Zhang

The Coastal Review

This study used a survey to investigate self-study and university-enrolled Chinese learners’ habits in studying Chinese vocabulary in order to determine what study methods influence a.) learners’ confidence in learning Chinese vocabulary and b.) what aspects of Chinese vocabulary they consider easy or difficult. We were particularly interested in seeing what the data had to say about students’ attitudes towards characters and the written language, given that the field of Chinese language pedagogy is known for a stronger focus on the written language as opposed to the spoken language. We found that aspects of Chinese vocabulary associated with the spoken …

Between Pain And Glory: Memory Disputes Of The Brazilian Dictatorship In Retrato Calado And O Que É Isso, Companheiro?, Angela R. Mooney

The Coastal Review

This article analyzes Luiz Roberto Salinas Fortes’ Retrato calado (Silent Portrait) published in 1988, considering the theoretical discussions on testimonio's epistemology—addressing the challenge of narrating trauma and the risk of stylization. It compares Fortes' memoir with Fernando Gabeira's O que é isso, companheiro? (What's This, Comrade?) from 1979, examining diverse approaches to capturing historical trauma through literature and its impact on collective memory about Brazilian Dictatorship (1964-1985).

Global Communities: The Potential Of Street Art And The Public Space, Elena Picech

The Coastal Review

This paper highlights the significance of physical proximity and the potentiality of socio-spatial situations as tools to enrich study abroad programs. Particular attention is given to street art and the public space. While, studying on-site can be somewhat uncomfortable, it can potentially prompt unique reflections, enhance student’s learning and encourage introspection. Being on-site provides the opportunity to come into contact and to connect with the physical objects and their environment. It enables a multisensory and immersive embodied experience. Leveraging art for communicative educational activities can facilitate a participatory experience, promote critical thinking and enhance cultural understanding.

The Femme-Fatale “Bear’Ing Her Teeth: The Relation Between Women And Animals In Prosper Mérimée’S Lokis, William B. Holley

The Coastal Review

Abstract: Many French fantastic texts from the nineteenth century employ the use of a femme-fatale to highlight and underscore the dangers inherit with the female figure. This can be seen in vampires, ghosts, fairies, and other supernatural phenomena wherein a female character takes on incredible attributes. Propser Mérimée’s Lokis offers readers a tale wherein those same female figures are given traits that resemble the traditional femme-fatale, but in doing so they highlight the deadly nature of the titular half-man/half-bear creature. This paper offers a reading of Lokis which brings together an understanding of the social and political climate in which …

You Got That From Where?: Unpacking Art Imperialism In Western Museums Through The Seated Scribe And The Bust Of Nefertiti, Emmy Shouse

Honors Program Theses

This thesis examines how major Western museums perpetuate colonial narratives in their displays of cultural property through analyses of the displays of two ancient Egyptian antiquities–the Seated Scribe and the Bust of Nefertiti. Despite stated goals of decolonization, institutions like the Louvre and Neues Museum prioritize object presentations glorifying Western imperial excavations and acquisitions over providing historical and cultural context about the objects' Egyptian origins. Sparked by site visits to Egyptian museums and subsequent visits to Berlin’s Neues Museum and the Louvre in Paris, this thesis contrasts disappointing imperialist displays of Egyptian antiquities in European institutions to each object’s full …

Music Making In Iran From The 15th To The Early 20th Century, Amir Hosein Pourjavady

Music & Performance in Muslim Contexts

Music Making in Iran looks at the change and evolution of music in Iran from both social and theoretical perspectives.

Amir Hosein Pourjavady scrutinises the emergence and development of modal entities, rules for modulation, the formation of court repertoires, the progress of rhythmic structures, vocal and instrumental genres and forms of composition. Through this lens, Hosein investigates how Iranian music has been impacted by Western influence, socio-political developments and contact with other musical cultures.

Based on primary sources, the book reveals many new discoveries in its examination of music making during this period, including its centres of patronage, the social …

Exploring My Father's Rare Books, Magazines, And Newspapers Collection, Amal Nagah Elbeshbishi

Performances, Events, and Presentations

This presentation was delivered at the a workshop under the title "Here be dragons: Navigating newspaper archives in Egypt and the Middle East". It provides background information about the Nagah Elbeshbishi collection which is held at AUC and Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Decolonizing French: Afrophonics In Ken Bugul’S Aller Et Retour (2013), Hapsatou Wane

The Coastal Review

This article explores the innovative language strategies employed by Senegalese writer Ken Bugul in her novel Aller et retour to construct a dynamic and interconnected linguistic landscape that challenges fixed language boundaries. Ken Bugul's "langue fabriquée" combines elements of French, Wolof, and English, reflecting a transglocal dimension that embodies the essence of afrophonics—a poetics of resistance that empowers local cultures in a globalized context. Through a detailed analysis of Ken Bugul's linguistic choices, including the use of quotation marks, footnotes, and arbitrary transcription, the study reveals how she creates a language that defies categorization and decolonizes French without resorting to …

Japanese-English Translation: Nishida Kitarō––“Self-Determination Of The Eternal Now” 「永遠の今の自己限定」、西田幾多郎著（昭和六年七月） (July 1931) §1 Of 4; Complete Draft (Supersedes Draft Of 2 Jan 19); Translated By Christopher Southward; Revision And Expansion Underway, Christopher Southward

Comparative Literature Faculty and Student Scholarship

Japanese-English Translation: Nishida Kitarō––“Self-Determination of the Eternal Now” (July 1931) 「永遠の今の自己限定」、西田幾多郎著（昭和六年七月）

§1 of 4; Complete Draft (Supersedes Draft of 2 Jan 2019)

Translated from the Japanese by Christopher Southward; Revision and Expansion Underway, October 2023

"The Opium Of The People" - The Effects Of Soviet State Atheism On The Muslims Of Central Asia, Joshua Hughes

Senior Theses

This thesis explores the Soviet Union’s approach to Islam in the Central Asian republics of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan and the effects that these policies have had on believers following the collapse of the Soviet Union. As the first nation to adopt atheism as official policy, the Soviet Party-state employed many tactics to suppress Islam in the region through violence, propaganda, and strict control. Relying on existing literature written on the topic, I begin by offering a historical analysis of the attacks on Islam in the 1920s and 1930s. In an attempt to expand the scope of English-language …

Domestic Material Culture And Wealth: Equality Bronze Age Houses And Intramural Tombs At Titriş Höyük, Turkey, Yoko Nishimura

East Asian Studies Faculty Publications

This article measures differential accumulation of material wealth between houses at the intrasite level. The dwellings measured are located in two separate residential neighborhoods at the urban settlement of Titriş Höyük in southeastern Turkey. As proxies of the measurement, the author employed various architectural spaces, built-in features, and portable artifacts exposed from primary floor contexts, as well as grave inclusions from burials within the houses that were completely or partially excavated. Gini values are calculated for thirteen variables derived from the material culture. The results show that occupants of the houses shared a similar economic status from about 2300 to …

Greening The Desert: Emirati Youth’S Perceptions Of Green Branding, Gergana Alzeer, Tilde Rosmer

All Works

This chapter focuses on Emirati youth’s understanding of and practices related to a green shift in the UAE and how this correlates with the state’s efforts to brand the UAE as green and sustainable. This is part of a larger research project that investigates Emirati youth’s understanding of climate change. The UAE experience of environmental sustainability is unique as its green shift was initiated by the government in a top-down approach compared to the bottom-up green movements in most western states that has been the focus of most environmental studies so far. Environmental sustainability is part of UAE’s national Agenda …