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At Lucian Verae historiae 2.20 Homer is asked "whether he wrote the Odyssey before the Iliad , as most people say." In the form in which it is transmitted, the text implies that the view that the Odyssey was composed before the Iliad was the (by far) prevailing one in antiquity. This paper argues that such an assumption is contradicted by all the positive evidence provided by literary sources and scholiography. The problem can be solved by correcting the transmitted τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν τῆς Ἰλιάδος into τῆς Ὀδυσσείας τὴν Ἰλιάδα. Thus emended, the passage reads: "whether he wrote the Iliad before the Odyssey , as most people say." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kassite Babylonia counts among the great powers of the Late Bronze Age Near East. Its kings exchanged diplomatic letters with the pharaohs of Egypt and held their own against their Assyrian and Elamite neighbors. Babylonia's internal workings, however, remain understood in their outlines only, as do its elite's expansionary ambitions, the degrees to which they may have been realized, and the nature of ensuing imperial encounters. This is especially the case for the region to the northeast, where the Mesopotamian lowlands meet the Zagros piedmonts in the Diyala River valley and where a series of corridors of movement intersect to form a strategic highland-lowland borderland. In this paper, we present critical new results of regional survey in the Upper Diyala plains of northeast Iraq and excavations at the Late Bronze Age site of Khani Masi. Not only do our data and analyses expand considerably the known extent of Babylonia's cultural sphere, but also the monumental character of Khani Masi and its wider settlement context prompt a fundamental rethinking of the nature and chronology of Babylonian presence in this transitional landscape. As such, this paper contributes an important new case study to the field of archaeological empire and borderland studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bangudae petroglyphs in the southeastern corner of the Korean Peninsula feature images of numerous aquatic and terrestrial animals as well as human figures and scenes of whaling and hunting. Since their first recording in 1971, the predominant view has been that this rock art was engraved in the Korean Bronze and Early Iron ages. An alternate dating to the Neolithic has generated conflict in interpretation of the imagery because some researchers have been skeptical of the occurrence of whaling in prehistoric Korea. Although a number of whale bones were recovered from Neolithic sites, these bones have been regarded as result of prehistoric peoples harvesting stranded whales rather than active hunting. Based on the rock art motifs and archaeological materials uncovered in and around the study area, this paper argues that whaling was practiced by prehistoric peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isaac Newton (1642–1727) has come down in history as one of the most famous and influential scientists of all time. His Principia (1687) and Opticks (1704) were key texts during the Scientific Revolution and shaped our modern understanding of the world. Yet Newton himself considered his studies of Scriptures, in particular the prophecies in the books of Daniel and Revelation, as far more important. This is testified also by his manuscript Nachlass : over five million words, about half of his written output, were devoted to religious topics, including eschatology, church history, and Scripture-driven chronology. Contemporaries were impressed with the breadth and depth of his theological knowledge and understanding, to the extent that John Mill sought—and received—his help in compiling what would become the standard critical edition of the Greek New Testament, published in 1707. Yet Newton the scholar is hardly known beyond the boundaries of the discipline of history of science. With one or two exceptions, historians of scholarship or theology have ignored Newton's scholarly writings all together. But this does not hold just for Newton: his contemporary Robert Boyle was a prolific writer in both science and theology, yet his theological writings are completely forgotten. In this essay, I trace back how already during his lifetime Newton was fashioned as an icon of science and how, after his death, his scholarly writings were considered inconvenient truths. In conjunction with the shaping of the modern disciplines in the nineteenth century and the establishment of the fields of history of science and history of scholarship in the twentieth century, my essay serves as stimulus to scholars to carefully inspect, and look beyond, the boundaries of their discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to contextualize the renewed vigor with which ethical codes have been discussed in anthropology in the 1990s. It outlines, with four historical sketches set in chronological order, different ways in which morals have been conceptualized and institutionalized in anthropology. It argues that the history of professional anthropology has been marked by a tension between an Occidental discourse on ethical duplicity and a more specifically anthropological epistemology of double identities. This has led to a situation of moral duplexity: an unintentional use of "double standards" in professional practice. An examination of the different ways in which this tension has worked out in different periods of the history of the discipline will show that the institutionalization of anthropological morals in the form of a code of ethical conduct is not only a very recent but—in terms of professional aims—a fairly unusual strategy. The emphasis now seems to lie on negotiation with the people studied as well as the sponsors of anthropological research, and this move may make the institutionalization of anthropological morals in an ethical code obsolete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study discusses the archaeological and chronological context of a small White Lustrous Wheel-made Ware (WLW-mW) spindle bottle excavated in Ras Shamra by Claude F.-A. Schaeffer in 1933. This spindle bottle is the first of its kind to be positively identified in the Minet el-Beida/Ugarit region, but others could be also identified from Schaeffer's publications. This spindle bottle belongs to a group of now four similar small WLW-mW examples found in the eastern Mediterranean, which should probably be added to the classification of this ware as a Type IIb. More generally this article reviews the chronology of WLW-mW in the eastern Mediterranean and argues for a broad Late Bronze IB date (1550–1450 b.c.e.) for the ware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On Monday, July 13, 1936, the venerable London auction firm Sotheby's began a sale of manuscripts by Isaac Newton, to a relatively sparse audience. Newton scholarship was transformed by the 1936 Sotheby's auction, not least because the sale itself had the effect of scattering the manuscripts across several continents. None of this detracts from Schilt's overview of Newton's scholarly methods and his analysis of Newton's manuscripts on idolatry. [Extracted from the article]

This article reviews recent developments in Cypriot chronology, based on settlement history, regional sequences, ceramic and other typologies, radiocarbon 14 dates, and international synchronisms. The author's own 1977 paper is also updated, especially with reference to critiques of Salz (1977), Coleman (1985), and Åström (1987). The conclusion offers a "trial reformulation" of Cypriot Bronze Age dates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the chronological problems in the study of the ancient Near East are as varied and intractable as ever, the work done on resolving (and discovering) these problems provides an excellent laboratory for studying similar problems elsewhere. At the same time some of the work done on chronological (and by inference genealogical) matters in other areas can elucidate patterns and parameters. Five of these are discussed in this paper: synchronisms; father/son succession; generational/regnal averages; simultaneity masked as sequentiality; and telescoping. While analyzing work on these issues cannot resolve decisively any particular issue in ancient Near East chronology, it does suggest alternative approaches and hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information about a workshop on the earliest occupation of Europe that took place in France during November 19-20, 1993. The workshop critically reviewed the evidence concerning the earliest occupation of European regions from Great Britain to the Russian plains and from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. The workshop focused on four themes: chronology, environment, industries and subsistence. In the session dealing with the stone industries, chaired by Gerhard Bosinski, the artefactual character of some of the early assemblages was commented upon time and again. A detailed evaluation of artefactual and chronological especially biostratigraphical-evidence for the earliest occupation of Europe led to stress the differences between the evidence from before and after about 500,000 years B.P. The workshop concluded that although most regions have yielded sites with horizontal and vertical co-occurrence of artifacts and bones, very rarely could these be translated into meaningful behavioral scenarios.

A literary criticism of the play "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare is presented. It outlines the characters and explores their symbolic significance. It examines Shakespeare's work related to history, prophecy, chronology, memory, succession, eternity and sempiternity and dramatizations of the tension between two different temporalities. An overview of the story is also given.

Tel Esur is identifiable with D-f-tj (Djefty) , mentioned by Thutmose III in his description of his march to Megiddo through the ʿAruna Pass. Recent excavations provide the first unequivocal indication that the site was inhabited during the Late Bronze Age as a farm/hamlet, perhaps also a waystation. The main architectural feature is a large partially-excavated structure, whose contents—mainly pottery—were well preserved by a destruction level. We propose that the destruction assemblage dates around the mid-14th century b.c.e. and that the structure was built around 1400 b.c.e. , thus somewhat later than Thutmose III's famed first campaign. Since pottery of this period is known primarily from large/central sites, Tel Esur offers an exceptional glimpse into a 14th century b.c.e. assemblage from the rural Canaanite domain. Currently, it is also the only small site excavated along the ʿAruna Pass between Megiddo and the Sharon, inter alia offering insights about this stretch of the Via Maris during the Late Bronze Age. This is the first synthesis of Tel Esur during this period. We focus on typo-chronology, and on the main characteristics of the ceramic assemblage, including unique phenomena such as storage in Cypriot-Style pithoi and Egyptianizing pottery in a rural setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A coherent deposit of dumped debris, excavated at Gordion in 1950 and the 1990s, was apparently formed during the cleanup following the Achaemenid Persian attack on the city, ca. 540 b.c.e. It offers a first glimpse of life at Gordion during the mid-6th century (end of the Middle Phrygian period, Yassıhöyük Stratigraphic Sequence 5A). Greek imports provide a relatively firm date for the deposit and allow a chronologically specific snapshot of locally produced fine, household, and coarse wares. Vessels made of traditional Phrygian black-polished ware were used primarily for drinking. Lydian influence at the site is seen in the large number of burnished gray stemmed vessels, although the size of Gordion's stemmed dishes and the way in which they were used apparently differ from the Lydian capital, Sardis. Bowls come in a variety of wares, shapes, and sizes, while large jars and jugs are primarily gray-slipped household wares, with some imports. Puzzling is a large terracotta object with pseudomorph appliqués suggesting metal attachments, which may have been a niche for a household cult. This initial presentation of the pottery from the mid-6th-century dump provides insight into multiple concerns and behaviors of Gordion's inhabitants just before the Achaemenid Persian Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the astronomical works of Pierre de Lille, a little-known French participant in the debates on calendar reform during the Fifth Lateran Council (1512–1517). It argues that astrological ideas coupled with eschatological beliefs motivated his astronomical propositions to reform the Julian calendar. De Lille conceived the calendar solar year as a unit of a great cosmic year spanning 7,153 years, the duration that he assigned to the now-obsolete theory of the motion of trepidation of the eighth sphere. Although his use of this astronomical model for astrological speculations about world chronology was not new, de Lille gave an original and bold reply to Pico della Mirandola's devastating critique of astrology. The astronomical model and its astrological implications were eventually contested at the court and in academia in France, but the alliance of chronology, astrology, and apocalypticism was to play a major role during the second half of the sixteenth century in Lutheran thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent article published in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 375, Felix Höflmayer and his colleagues present a set of radiocarbon data from Tell el-Burak on the Lebanese coast and claim that these data argue for dating the early phase of the Middle Bronze Age in the Levant (Middle Bronze Age IIA/I) between ca. 2000 and the early 18th century B.C. Considering these radiocarbon dates, the authors assert that the low chronology for this period suggested by Manfred Bietak, based on archaeological evidence from Tell el-Dab'a, should be raised by roughly 120 years. The aim of this article is to show that ceramic and glyptic evidence from Egypt and the Levant firmly support the low chronology and historical synchronisms proposed by Bietak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most well-known debates about synagogue dating concerns the synagogues excavated as part of the Meiron Excavation Project. According to the excavators, Eric Meyers, Carol Meyers, James Strange, and Thomas Kraabel, these buildings were constructed in the second and third centuries c.e. Jodi Magness, however, claims that the archaeological evidence supports moving the construction dates into the late-fourth, fifth, and even sixth centuries c.e. This article addresses a methodological issue that significantly affects how we should interpret the competing historical conclusions. Whereas the excavators' chronologies are based on evidence that includes the excavation experience, notes taken in the field, discussions in the field and in the lab, unpublished photos and drawings, personal correspondence, etc., the revised chronologies are based primarily on the published evidence. The problem for the revised chronologies is that archaeological data deteriorate from excavation to publication, which means that the two sides of the debate are not basing their conclusions on the same evidence. Using unpublished data from the Khirbet Shema? and Gush ?alav excavations, this article shows why traditional print archaeological publications are insufficient as sources of data when writing alternative interpretations of archaeological evidence. It also provides evidence that pushes the dating of the Khirbet Shema? and Gush ?alav synagogues in the direction of the excavators' original conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concentrates on the overall analysis of the glass vessel finds, some published here for the first time, recovered in numerous excavations and surveys in refuge caves, in Judaea, Israel. These caves were used by Jewish refugees fleeing the Roman army in the late stages of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135/136 C.E. The glass vessels consist mostly of daily bowls, beakers, jars, bottles, and jugs. However, a few luxury vessels, such as the renowned molded and wheel-cut bowls from the Cave of Letters, were also found. Therefore, the comprehensive study of the glass finds discovered in refuge caves, used in a time of a major political conflict, offers a rare possibility to promote our understanding of social, cultural, chronological, and regional issues through the study of glass vessel use by a specific ethnic group in a very narrow date frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay by Guillory appears to rest on an essential distinction between natural and historical time, correlated with the absence or centrality of reversible monument/documents (a concept taken over from Panofsky), where the sciences inhabit natural time (devoid of monuments/documents) and the humanities inhabit historical time (in which all its objects are monuments/documents). How though is this distinction to be maintained in the face of decades of evidence and arguments from both science and philosophy that would break it down? Bauman credits Panofsky with a strong belief that historical time unites science and the humanities, whence it follows that both scientific and humanistic disciplines deal with monuments and documents--a unity that may be masked by an idealized vision of science as an ahistorical conveyor belt of endless progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chronology of Iron Age Israel in general, and that of the Iron Age IIA in Judah in particular, has received a great deal of scholarly attention over the last two decades, especially because of its implications for the debate on the historicity of the United Monarchy. The number of large and well-dated Iron IIA assemblages in Judah, however, is quite small, and in most cases the relevant assemblages are composed of sherds only. The authors of this article are currently preparing for publication a large assemblage of about 200 complete and intact vessels that were unearthed in 1968 by Trude Dothan in an Iron Age IIA tomb below Tel 'Eton. This, along with additional recently published "new" assemblages, warrants a reexamination of the chronology of Judah in this important era. The present article presents the ceramic finds from the tomb at Tel(Eton and then analyzes the recently published assemblages from other sites in Judah. Those assemblages are then organized in relative sequence, from transitional Iron I-IIA assemblages, through early and late Iron IIA assemblages, and up to terminal Iron IIA (or even transitional Iron IIA-IIB) assemblages. Finally, we attempt to offer (approximate) absolute dates for those ceramic horizons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on the role that the ancient Kingdom of Hana (in modern day Syria) plays in what is referred to as the Low Chronology of the Old Babylonian period. An overview of the kings of Hana, including their seals for official documents and tablets and Hana kings' relationship with Babylonia, is provided. Real property in the Hana Kingdom, including in regard to land sales and land grants, is discussed.

Mary Douglas defined "dirt" as matter out of place, but dirt can be matter out of time as well. This essay uses the concept of chronological pollution to interrelate times and places often categorized as separate: pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica; medieval Europe; and the Muslim, Christian, and Native American worlds of the sixteenth-century transatlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions of globalization and time-space compression have not acknowledged the implications of the relationship of time and place on a rotating globe where each locale has its own cycles of day and night. When these cycles are recognized, several contradictions in contemporary capitalism emerge, most notably temporal conflicts between locations on the globe, desynchronization of biological cycles, and lack of correspondence between those cycles and social life. These contradictions are increasingly being addressed but not resolved through the power of the media to determine the timing of social activity and pharmacological interventions to ameliorate the bodily suffering caused by desynchronization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" contains many time-cruces which have long puzzled scholars. Editors can't agree how many days the action covers. Why did Shakespeare make Juliet thirteen years old-and birth her on "Lammas Eve at night"—when the sources have her sixteen years of age or older and set her birthday in September? This essay provides the answer to these and many other conundrums. All of Shakespeare's time-riddles in "Romeo and Juliet"—even its hugger-mugger pace of meet-love-marry-die-are artifacts of the playwright's previously unrecognized "mise-en-scène": he set his story in 1582—the year of the Gregorian calendar reform—the shortest year in Europe in more than 2000 years—and calendrically the most confused since 46 BC. This essay finally reveals why the play's first word is "Gregorie," why the Capulets have a servant named Samson, and why the Chorus promises us "Two howres traffique of our stage" when the play runs almost three hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional Iron Age chronology has recently been challenged by I. Finkelstein who proposed a wholesale lowering of its dates. The cornerstone of the new chronology is the seeming absence of Philistine Monochrome pottery in 20th Dynasty Egyptian strongholds in southern Canaan and the absence of Egyptian(ized) pottery in Philistine sites. According to Finkelstein, the only viable explanation for this phenomenon is chronological. Adherents of the traditional schema, on the other hand, prefer an interpretation based on cultural segregation and reject the low chronology. Both views, however, are based on the implicit premise that there is a straightforward correlation between the extent of interaction among human groups and the degree of similarity in their material culture. Relying on ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological evidence, we intend to show that this premise is flawed, and that restricted distribution of artifacts does not contradict interaction. This observation on human behavior is enough to cast serious doubts on the foundations and methodology of the low chronology. Furthermore, since symbolic delineation of group identity and boundaries is accentuated at times of competition, items symbolizing cultural identity may be held back in spite of interaction. As competition seems to characterize Iron I Philistia, it is highly tenable that the social meaning of the Philistine Monochrome pottery as well as of its Egyptian counterpart prevented their diffusion and adoption outside the restricted zones in which they communicated group identity and cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the discrepancies encountered by scholars in determining proper chronological order of events. Argument on the employment of either the lunar or the solar calendar; Result to distorted history; Use of the Assyrian king-lists as an example.

The article presents the authors' views on comments of various persons regarding their article "The Tortoise and the Hare: Small-Game Use, the Broad-Spectrum Revolution, and Paleolithic Demography," which has been published within the issue. The authors' article was related to demographic anthropology in the Paleolithic period. Appreciating the insights of the commentators, the authors justify the use of time and geography as factors for their research on the eating habits of primitive men.

Analysis the composition, structural relations and chronology of the Saskatchewan Craton and enveloping mylonitic rocks exposed in basement windows at the Glennie Domain, Trans-Hudson Orogen, with focus on geology. What is the Trans-Hudson Orogen; Comparison of the timing of thermotectonic events in southwest Glennie Domain; Details on the structural elements of the Glennie Domain.

The article examines evidence that would support the need to redefine the chronology and terminology for the Chalcolithic period of the Southern Levant located in the modern day Palestine in the Middle East. According to the author, due to the highly evolved character of the material culture, the internal chronology and periodization of the Chalcolithic period have long been disputative topics in Syro- Palestinian archeology. To give light on the matter, the past disputes over chronology of the Chalcolithic period, the results of surveys and excavations, and the results of petrographic and stratigraphic analyses are presented.

A bibliography on chronological classifications as of 1991 is presented including "Ethnomathematics: A Multicultural View of Mathematical Ideas," by Marcia Ascher, "Building in Egypt: Pharonic Stone Masonry," by Dieter Arnold, and "The Responsible Medical Historian," by Frederic L. Holmes in the "Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences."

In this article the authors comments on the suggestions made by Alejandro Garcia, in response to his criticism on it is study on the environmental changes brought by human occupation during the middle Holocene in Argentina. The authors emphasized that in contrary to the questions brought on the radiocarbon dates, its inclusion to the discussion does notes alter the pattern described from the middle Holocene in Argentina. The authors also discard Garcia's proposal on chronology.