A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NUMISMATIC EVIDENCES ASSOCIATED TO MINING ACTIVITIES IN PARTHIAN AND SELEUCID DYNASTIES

Author(s): Hassan Karimian / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2020

Knowledge of the number and location of mines of the ancient periods has been the subject of common research between archaeologists and archaeo-mineralogists. The scientific significance of the subject becomes apparent when the direct relation between the power of the ancient rulers and number of the mines they owned is perceived. The gold and silver mines, like today, were accounted as the main economic credit and backing of the ancient states. Although mixing silver with other metals was used to produce diverse metal artefacts, silver on its own was most popular for minting coins. Since coin was a symbol of the sovereignty of rulers and an indicator of the economic power of ancient civilizations, silver mining was probably one of the main activities of the ancient craftsmen. The main aim of this research is to investigate the conditions surrounding, and the techniques used for, extraction of silver from different mines during the reign of Alexander of Macedon, Seleucid rulers (336-129 BC), and Parthian kings (247 BC-224 AD). The kings, whose coins are studied in this research, ruled in Iran from 4th -1st BC. This research is focused on the laboratory results obtained from XRF tests on 24 coins belonging to the mentioned kings.The analysis of the results revealed that despite the advanced technology used for recovering silver from zinc and lead mines in the Seleucid era, the Parthian craftsmen were not highly skilled in this field. In other words, the silver recovery technology was more advanced in the Seleucid era than the Parthian period

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO APPROACHING LATE ANTIQUE VILLA TRANSFORMATIONAL TRAJECTORIES

Author(s): Dodd James / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

The mutation of the villa in the Western Roman Empire is a key element to our understanding of the transformation of the rural landscape between Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period. The archaeology of this transitional phase has long been identified and has been dated to between the 3rd century in some regions and as late as the 6th and 7th centuries and in other areas; however, it is only in the last 20 years that work has begun to examine the phenomenon in detail, with a number of regional studies emerging and a few larger but primarily non-empirical studies undertaken. Despite this, an overarching unified conceptual approach is lacking with little or no attention payed to the trajectories of individual sites. This paper intends to develop and demonstrate a new approach to the phenomenon of villa change, establishing a clear classification system, augmenting the work done by Chavarría (2004) and Ripoll and Acre (2000), categorising the different elements of transformation and applying this to the development of site trajectories It will also discuss the basis and feasibility of a standardised terminology to refer to these diverse features, replacing the biased catch-all phrase ‘squatter occupation’.

A Database Model for Social History: Historical Data Grinder and the Transylvanian Society of 19th and 20th Centuries

Author(s): Angela-Cristina Lumezeanu / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

A Database Model for Social History: Historical Data Grinder and the Transylvanian Society of 19th and 20th Centuries – The study presents a new model for building a historical database, namely, the Historical Data Grinder (HDG). It is based on the EAV design model developed in bio-medicine and it offers some advantages for the historian especially when dealing with a large variety of heterogeneous sources. The database is very flexible and has a simple architecture, with fewer tables and relations when compared to a relational database. The HDG database has the possibility to store any kind of historical information with no limitations regarding the time period, geographic area or thematic range to which reference is made, and is also suitable as a teaching and experimental tool.

A digitalis térbeli kiigazítás

Author(s): Daniel Greene,Daniel Joseph / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 23/2018

This article brings distinct strands of the political economy of communication and economic geography together in order to theorise the role digital technologies play in Marxian crisis theory. Capitalist advances into digital spaces do not make the law of value obsolete, but these spaces do offer new methods for displacing overaccumulated capital, increasing consumption, or accumulating new, cheaper labour. We build on David Harvey’s theory of the spatial fix to describe three digital spatial fixes, fixed capital projects that use the specific properties of digital spaces to increase the rate of prof- it, before themselves becoming obstacles to the addictive cycle of accumulation: the primitive accumulation of time in the social Web, the annihilation of time by space in highfrequency trading, and affect rent in virtual worlds. We conclude by reflecting on how these digital spatial fixes also fix the tempo of accumulation and adjust the time-scale of Marxian crisis theory.

A főhatalomváltás „első felvonása” Érsekújvárban 1918–19191

Author(s): Dávid Bencze / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2020

The historical event of “Trianon” is the most neuralgic point in the history of the Carpathian Basin. This period (1918-1920) means the disintegration of “Historic Hungary” and the separation of nationalities from Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The results of the national-aspirations of independence was the establishment of new “nation states” in the Carpathian Basin. Czechoslovakia as a multiethnic nation state was also created in 1918. The professional historians today agree that the Treaty of Trianon has many factors and different precedents. The new minority-communities had a “traumatic experience”, because they separated from Hungary and they became citizens of the new states. The paper explains this problem – the empire-changes – as a longer process. The study focuses on the progression of “Trianon” in Czechoslovakia. In the frame of our research we examine a South-Slovakian city – Érsekújvár. The aim of this paper is to present events which happened in the city during the end of 1918 and the beginning of 1919. After the empire-changes, Érsekújvár became an ethnically mixed (Slovakian-Hungarian)city. In my research I use archival sources from the Archive of District Office in Érsekújvár and press materials, more specifically, a regional newspaper Érsekújvár és Vidéke [Érsekújvár and its region] and some state newspapers. I also examine remembrances.

A FRESH LOOK AT HUNNIC CAULDRONS IN THE LIGHT OF A NEW FIND FROM HUNGARY

Author(s): Zsófia Masek / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

The discovery of a fragment of a Hunnic cauldron by a metal detectorist acted as the springboard of this study, in which various aspects of Hunnic cauldrons are discussed: their findspots and find contexts, their typology, their dating and their origins. Questions regarding the broader cultural context of Hunnic cauldrons in the Roman and the Hunnic Empires are also addressed, as are their functional, ritual and social dimensions. The archaeological findings are complemented by metallographic analyses that shed light not only on the composition of the cauldron, but also on its possible use.

A hálózatok diadala

Author(s): Fred Turner / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 23/2018

In the mid-1990s, as the Internet swung into public view, talk of revolution filled the air. The Internet was about to flatten organizations, globalize society, decentralize control, and help harmonize people. But only thirty years earlier, computers had been the tools and emblems of the same unfeeling industrial-era social machine whose collapse they now seemed ready to bring about. How did the cultural meaning of information technology shift so drastically? This article traces the history of an extraordinarily influential group of San Francisco Bay area journalists and entrepreneurs: Stewart Brand and the Whole Earth network. For this wing of the counterculture, the technological and intellectual output of American research culture held enormous appeal. To a generation that had grown up in a world beset by massive armies and by the threat of nuclear holocaust, the cybernetic notion of the globe as a single, interlinked pattern of information was deeply comforting. But instead of building a brave new world, their tactics have become important features of an increasingly networked mode of living, working, and deploying social and cultural power.

A High Level Political Meeting Decisive for Romania’s Neutrality

Author(s): Ștefan Radu Vergatti / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

Close to the outbreak of World War I, the relationships between the Kingdom of Romania and the Tsarist Empire were not warm. Tsar Nicholas II decided to pay a visit to Romania, aimed at improving relationships with King Carol I. On 1 June 1914 the tsar arrived in Constanța harbour. It was the first official visit of a Russian head of state to Romania in the 20th century. The tsar had talks with King Carol I, with Prime Minister Ion I. C. Brătianu and with the Foreign Affairs Minister Emanoil Porumbaru. The tsar was seconded by the Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Dmitryevich Sazonov. The consequence of this official visit was that Romania preserved its neutrality status from 1914 to 1916.

A historical and politico-geographical analysis of Hungarian-Polish border before 1939 in the Hungarian historical geography

Author(s): Zoltán Hajdú / Language(s): English / Issue: 08/2019

The historical development of the common borders took place in many respects simultaneously since the epoch of the two states’ establishment. The territories and borders of both states have greatly changed ever since, yet during the periods of joined kingdom the common borders always showed a high degree of stability. The first description of the common state borders can be found in the Anonymous Latin Gesta by around 1200 AD. From the 15th century on, the Hungarian Parliament on several occasions appointed and sent different committees by legal acts to the borders of neighbouring countries, including Poland, in order to delimit or adjust its state borders. Due to the threefold dissolution of the Polish State, the former common border fundamentally changed. After the First World War, the common state border between the reborn Poland and the historical Hungary completely vanished after the latter lost some two-thirds of its territory. During the Second World War the common borders were restored for a short time through which thousands of Polish escaped to Hungary. Thus, the partially shared state history and the changing (disappearing and reappearing) common state border represent an international singularity in many respects.

A Horthy-„fehér lovas bevonulás” 100. évfordulóján (képriport)

Author(s): / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 4/2019

A könyv, amit nem lehet elfelejteni

Author(s): Iván Balog / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 3/2019

Borsi-Kálmán Béla: Pszeudo-fociesszék. Széljegyzetek a futball, a politika és az irodalom határvidékéről. L’Harmattan, Budapest, 2018. 226 oldal

A Lost Lady: A Narrative of Manifest Destiny and Neocolonialism

Author(s): Ammar Aqeeli / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

The greatly examined story of A Lost Lady usually depicts Mrs. Forrester’s success in meeting and adapting to the challenges of a changing world, a world characterized by materialism and self-fulfilment. However, the overlooked story, one far more disturbing than the privileged story in the text, is the narrative of oppressed groups of people of other races and the lower class. Drawing on some aspects of postcolonial theory, this paper explores Willa Cather’s own reactions to real changes in her society, to the waning power of imperialism, and of her nostalgic longing for the western prairies of her youth, without showing any sympathy for the dispossessed Native Americans and other oppressed races. It will also disclose the unmistakable colonial overtones, which remarkably resonate with the common discourse of “Manifest Destiny” during the time period of American expansion to the Wild West.

A Lurking City: Nicopolis ad Nestum between Mark Antony and Trajan

Author(s): Ivaylo Lozanov / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

Despite longstanding archaeological research in Nicopolis ad Nestum in Roman Thracia, the site still has not yielded any conclusive evidence on its foundation date. Instead, the debate has long been focused on scanty numismatic and ancient literary sources, pointing largely to city’s Trajanic origins. Latest attempts to re-evaluate the situation in favour of an earlier enterprise taken by the triumvir Mark Antony in the last years of the Roman Republic are much disputable. Along with many arguments denying Nicopolis’s Antonian foundation, the present paper discusses several neglected documents – military diplomas, issued to veteran-sailors from the Ravenna fleet in the summer of AD 142 after 26 years of service. Three copies speak of “Nicopolis ex Bessia” as sailors’ home, which is to be identified with Nicopolis ad Nestum. Peculiar expression “ex Bessia” is not to be understood strictly formulaic as “city ex province” (i.e. “ex Thracia”), as is the case with the majority of later documents, but rather as a residual practice from the 1st century in designating the tribal home of the veterans. In a larger sense it is the territory (or at least part of it) of the Thracian Bessi. The evidence is met by Pliny (NH 4.11.40), and his “Bessorumque multa nomina” inhabiting the Middle Mesta (Nestus) region. Thus “Nicopolis ex Bessia” has entered military records upon soldiers’ recruitment in AD 116, marking a new-born civic foundation and the still incipient phase of organizing the urban territory within the larger tribal area of the Bessi. Therefore, the discharge documents in question can only confirm the information from other sources and in the same time to narrow the foundation date of Nicopolis ad Nestum under Trajan somewhere between AD 107, after the Dacian wars, and the emperor’s Parthian campaign of AD 116.

A Magyar Athenastól az Új Magyar Athenasig. Benkó József és Szathmári Mihály pótlásai mint köztes terek

Author(s): Adél Csata / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 0

In the last quarter of the 18th century, Protestant intellectuals were trying to write substitutions for Péter Bod’s Magyar Athenas. Mihály Szathmári Pap and József Benkő also took part in this. The notes of the two scientists can be found in Cluj-Napoca. These lists can be defined as intermediate spaces that emerged between the appearance of Hungarian Athenas and the New Hungarian Athenas. In my lecture, I would like to reveal the relation of the texts to each other because in this way we do not only gain insight into how these corpora were enriched but can also understand what kind of professional relationships were formed.

A Matter of Pure Conscience? Franz Wieacker and his “Conceptual Change” [CRITIQUE]

Author(s): Tomasz Giaro / Language(s): English / Issue: 82/2020

Based on a recent biography of Franz Wieacker (1908–1994) two central questions are examined. Is it allowed to analyze a young, but already prominent German law professor of the Nazi era as a pure scholar whose identity remained unchanged from the times of Weimar to the Federal Republic of Germany? Is it plausible to treat the Nazis as progenitors of current European legal history, and in particular as founding fathers of European legal tradition?

A múlt mint történelem. Elmélkedések Stefan Berger könyve és a Writing the Nation sorozat kapcsán

Author(s): Vilmos Erős / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2019

A new exploratory project: The ethnoarchaeology of salt in the Inner Carpathian area of Romania

Author(s): Valerii Kavruk,Roxana-Gabriela Curcă / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2017

This new ethnoarchaeological research project focuses on the inner-Carpathian area of Romania. The archaeological and ethnographic vestiges of salt exploitation in this area are among the most consistent in Europe. They are closely interconnected and reveal the continuity of salt exploitation in the same locations from prehistory to the present. From the methodological point of view, the project avail itself of the experience gained and validated by the projects carried out under the aegis of the “Al. I. Cuza” University of Iași and of the National Museum of the Eastern Carpathians in collaboration with prominent research centres from France, UK, US, and Germany. The new project will tackle a number of new issues, including the reconstruction of the prehistoric salt-exploitation techniques that employed wooden installations such as those unearthed in a number of archaeological sites from northern Transylvania and Maramureș, the transport of salt along streams with limited discharges, and others. New research methods will also be tested, such as the virtual simulation of certain salt-exploitation technological processes.

A New Thracian Name From Dacia? AD CIL III 294

A New Thracian Name From Dacia? AD CIL III 294

Author(s): Alexander Falileyev / Language(s): English / Issue: 18/2009

A newspaper on the edge of two eras, December 22, 1989.

Author(s): Matei Gheboianu / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

In this article I analyze how Scînteia, the official newspaper of the Romanian Communist Party, was transformed in just one day into Scînteia Poporului. The analysis will be based on interviews with journalists and the collection of the two publications. The first issue appeared in the early morning hours of December 22, the second in the evening of the same day.

A place of Life and Death. Burials and human bone finds in the Iron Age settlement at Saharna Mare / ”Dealul Mănăstirii”: archaeological data and anthropological analysis

Author(s): Mihail Băţ,Angela Simalcsik,Aurel Zanoci / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2019

Among the numerous vestiges of the Iron Age at Saharna Mare / “Dealul Mănăstirii”, there are 11 finds of human remains, which are of particular in¬terest for the interdisciplinary research of the site. In this article, we propose combining archaeological data with anthropological ones. The analyzed skele¬tal material comes from six types of archaeological contexts: “cultic structure”, “ditch”, “rampart”, “grave”, “dwelling”, and “cultural layer” (Fig. 2; 3). In all the analyzed cases the identified osteological remains come from a single individu¬al. In total, seven individuals were identified, one of whom is female and six are male. Regarding age distribution, most individuals fall within the age range of 30-60 years (maturus). One individual falls within the age range of 20-30 years (adultus), and another one has passed the age of 60 (senilis). As a result of the paleopathological analyses, a wide spectrum of dental pathologies (supragingi¬val calculus, cavities, abscess, antemortem tooth loss) and bone pathologies (os¬teoarthritis, intervertebral disc herniation, porotic hyperostosis) were recorded. The analysis of occupational indicators showed over-demanding physical activities, spatial mobility, and horseback riding. Traces of violent death, such as cra¬nial and postcranial fractures, have been reported in several cases. There were also identified injuries with signs of healing