Zafar, Watershed of Late Pre-Islamic Culture

Research since 1998 sheds light on the formative role which Zafar as capital of the Himyarite confederacy played in the history of Old South Arabia. Since most of the excavation reports on Zafar are still in press, new excavation results from the site are not commonly known. Highlights of the excavation from 2000 to 2006 include the discovery of the Stone Building. The main topics of our paper include the nature of the defences, the appearance of Zafar’s cityscape, and its post-Himyarite history. The final section discusses briefly and from an archaeological point of view select aspects of late pre-Islamic Judaism in the highlands

Des femmes à Qumrân ? Entre textes et objets

La question du sexe des résidents du site de Qumrân a longtemps été ignorée, comme s’il allait de soi qu’une telle communauté ne pouvait compter que des hommes. Longtemps aussi les spécialistes ont raisonné en utilisant uniquement les textes des manuscrits trouvés dans les grottes de la mer Morte comme si les données matérielles fournies par les fouilles du site archéologique de Qumrân ne pouvaient leur être associées. Cet article entend analyser les raisons pour lesquelles les chercheurs ont pu affirmer que les femmes étaient a priori exclues de Qumran. Il entend également montrer comment les objets produits par les fouilles prouvent, au contraire, une présence de femmes sur le site.Scholarship long assumed that only men inhabited the architectural site of Qumran and thus failed to query the sex of the residents. Similarly specialists of the Dead Sea scrolls focused on these texts without linking them to the material evidence of the archeological site. This article explores the reasons why scholars assumed the absence of women at Qumran. It uses the material evidence from archeological digs to argue the contrary

Women at Qumrân? Between texts and objects

Scholarship long assumed that only men inhabited the architectural site of Qumran and thus failed to query the sex of the residents. Similarly specialists of the Dead Sea scrolls focused on these texts without linking them to the material evidence of the archeological site. This article explores the reasons why scholars assumed the absence of women at Qumran. It uses the material evidence from archeological digs to argue the contrary.La question du sexe des résidents du site de Qumrân a longtemps été ignorée, comme s’il allait de soi qu’une telle communauté ne pouvait compter que des hommes. Longtemps aussi les spécialistes ont raisonné en utilisant uniquement les textes des manuscrits trouvés dans les grottes de la mer Morte comme si les données matérielles fournies par les fouilles du site archéologique de Qumrân ne pouvaient leur être associées. Cet article entend analyser les raisons pour lesquelles les chercheurs ont pu affirmer que les femmes étaient a priori exclues de Qumran. Il entend également montrer comment les objets produits par les fouilles prouvent, au contraire, une présence de femmes sur le site

Elite Education, Mass Education, and the Transition to Modern Growth

For most of human history there existed a well-educated and innovative elite whereas mass education, market R&D, and high growth are phenomena of the modern period. In order to explain these phenomena we propose an innovation-driven growth model for the very long run in which the individual-specific return to education is conceptualized as an compound of cognitive ability and family background. This allows us to establish a locally stable steady state at which family background determines whether an individual experiences education and a locally stable steady state at which education is determined by cognitive ability. Compulsory schooling can move society from elite education to mass education. An interaction between education and life expectancy explains why the education period gets longer with ongoing economic development. Embedding this household behavior into a macro-economy we can explain different paths to modern growth: According to the Prussian way, compulsory education is implemented first and triggers later on the onset of market R&D and modern growth. According to the British way, market R&D and the take off to growth is initiated without mass education, which is triggered later by technical progress and economic development

Finding Jerusalem: Archaeology between Science and Ideology

Archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem capture worldwide attention in various media outlets. The continuing quest to discover the city’s physical remains is not simply an attempt to define Israel’s past or determine its historical legacy. In the context of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is also an attempt to legitimate—or undercut—national claims to sovereignty. Bridging the ever-widening gap between popular coverage and specialized literature, Finding Jerusalem provides a comprehensive tour of the politics of archaeology in the city. Through a wide-ranging discussion of the material evidence, Katharina Galor illuminates the complex legal contexts and ethical precepts that underlie archaeological activity and the discourse of “cultural heritage” in Jerusalem. This book addresses the pressing need to disentangle historical documentation from the religious aspirations, social ambitions, and political commitments that shape its interpretation

Finding Jerusalem

Archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem capture worldwide attention in various media outlets. The continuing quest to discover the city’s physical remains is not simply an attempt to define Israel’s past or determine its historical legacy. In the context of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is also an attempt to legitimate—or undercut—national claims to sovereignty. Bridging the ever-widening gap between popular coverage and specialized literature, Finding Jerusalem provides a comprehensive tour of the politics of archaeology in the city. Through a wide-ranging discussion of the material evidence, Katharina Galor illuminates the complex legal contexts and ethical precepts that underlie archaeological activity and the discourse of “cultural heritage” in Jerusalem. This book addresses the pressing need to disentangle historical documentation from the religious aspirations, social ambitions, and political commitments that shape its interpretation. “A brilliant book on the contested historical roles of archaeology in modern Jerusalem, a city torn by religious, ideological, and political conflicts. This is a must-read for both scholars and laymen interested in the fascinating, tormented history of the Holy City.” -YARON EZRAHI, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem “In a work made possible by her remarkable ability to move between Israeli and Palestinian perspectives, Galor uncovers the political dimensions of archaeology as practiced in Jerusalem, bringing to bear her expertise as an archaeologist and an intimate knowledge of the city and its history.” -STEVEN WEITZMAN, Abraham M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures and Ella Darivoff Director of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania KATHARINA GALOR teaches Judaic Studies and Urban Studies at Brown University. She is the coauthor of The Archaeology of Jerusalem: From the Origins to the Ottomans

Finding Jerusalem: Archaeology between Science and Ideology

Archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem capture worldwide attention in various media outlets. The continuing quest to discover the city’s physical remains is not simply an attempt to define Israel’s past or determine its historical legacy. In the context of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is also an attempt to legitimate—or undercut—national claims to sovereignty. Bridging the ever-widening gap between popular coverage and specialized literature, Finding Jerusalem provides a comprehensive tour of the politics of archaeology in the city. Through a wide-ranging discussion of the material evidence, Katharina Galor illuminates the complex legal contexts and ethical precepts that underlie archaeological activity and the discourse of “cultural heritage” in Jerusalem. This book addresses the pressing need to disentangle historical documentation from the religious aspirations, social ambitions, and political commitments that shape its interpretation

Making Gender with Things

What do objects have to teach historians who seek to understand better the workings of gender? This issue of Clio HGF « Making Gender with Things » attempts to answer this question. Focusing on the specificity of material culture from biblical times to the present, the contributors analyze political handkerchiefs, soldiers’ uniforms, jewelry, advertising games, dishes, and fragments of fabric and pottery. Some authors work from the objects themselves, others approach them through literary or visual representations. Using these varied methods and sources, the articles show how women and men use objects to construct their identities and subjectivities, how objects make gender, and how objects tell us a different history from that told by texts. Qu’est-ce que les objets ont à apprendre aux historiennes et historiens qui cherchent à mieux comprendre les dynamiques du genre ? Ce numéro de Clio HGF « Objets et fabrication du genre » tente de répondre à cette interrogation. En insistant sur la spécificité de la culture matérielle des temps bibliques au très contemporain, les auteur.e.s analysent des mouchoirs politiques, des uniformes de soldat, des bijoux, des jouets publicitaires, de la vaisselle, des fragments de tissu et de poteries, mais aussi des représentations littéraires et visuelles….À partir de ces approches et de ces sources variées, les articles montrent comment les femmes et les hommes se construisent grâce aux objets, comment l’objet-acteur construit le genre, comment les objets nous racontent une autre histoire que les mots

Human Capital, Basic Research, and Applied Research: Three Dimensions of Human Knowledge and Their Differential Growth Effects

We analyze the differential growth effects of basic research, applied research, and embodied human capital accumulation in an R&D-based growth model with endogenous fertility and endogenous education. In line with the empirical evidence, our model allows for i) a negative association between long-run economic growth and population growth, ii) a positive association between long-run economic growth and education, and iii) a positive association between the level of per capita GDP and expenditures for basic research. Our results also indicate that raising public investments in basic research reduces the growth rate of GDP in the short run because resources have to be drawn away from other productive sectors of the economy. These short-run costs of basic research might be an explanation for the reluctance of governments to increase public R&D expenditures notwithstanding the long-run benefits of such a policy

Objets et fabrication du genre

Qu'est-ce que les objets ont à apprendre aux historiennes et historiens qui cherchent à mieux comprendre les dynamiques du genre ? Ce numéro de Clio HGF « Objets et fabrication du genre » tente de répondre à cette interrogation. En insistant sur la spécificité de la culture matérielle des temps bibliques au très contemporain, les auteur.e.s analysent des mouchoirs politiques, des uniformes de soldat, des bijoux, des jouets publicitaires, de la vaisselle, des fragments de tissu et de poteries, mais aussi des représentations littéraires et visuelles… À partir de ces approches et de ces sources variées, les articles montrent comment les femmes et les hommes se construisent grâce aux objets, comment l'objet-acteur construit le genre, comment les objets nous racontent une autre histoire que les mots