The Sea Peoples, from cuneiform tablets to carbon dating

The 13(th) century BC witnessed the zenith of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean civilizations which declined at the end of the Bronze Age, similar to 3200 years ago. Weakening of this ancient flourishing Mediterranean world shifted the political and economic centres of gravity away from the Levant towards Classical Greece and Rome, and led, in the long term, to the emergence of the modern western civilizations. Textual evidence from cuneiform tablets and Egyptian reliefs from the New Kingdom relate that seafaring tribes, the Sea Peoples, were the final catalyst that put the fall of cities and states in motion. However, the lack of a stratified radiocarbon-based archaeology for the Sea People event has led to a floating historical chronology derived from a variety of sources spanning dispersed areas. Here, we report a stratified radiocarbon-based archaeology with anchor points in ancient epigraphic-literary sources, Hittite-Levantine-Egyptian kings and astronomical observations to precisely date the Sea People event. By confronting historical and science-based archaeology, we establish an absolute age range of 1192-1190 BC for terminal destructions and cultural collapse in the northern Levant. This radiocarbon-based archaeology has far-reaching implications for the wider Mediterranean, where an elaborate network of international relations and commercial activities are intertwined with the history of civilizations

The Sea Peoples, from Cuneiform Tablets to Carbon Dating

The 13th century BC witnessed the zenith of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean civilizations which declined at the end of the Bronze Age, ∼3200 years ago. Weakening of this ancient flourishing Mediterranean world shifted the political and economic centres of gravity away from the Levant towards Classical Greece and Rome, and led, in the long term, to the emergence of the modern western civilizations. Textual evidence from cuneiform tablets and Egyptian reliefs from the New Kingdom relate that seafaring tribes, the Sea Peoples, were the final catalyst that put the fall of cities and states in motion. However, the lack of a stratified radiocarbon-based archaeology for the Sea People event has led to a floating historical chronology derived from a variety of sources spanning dispersed areas. Here, we report a stratified radiocarbon-based archaeology with anchor points in ancient epigraphic-literary sources, Hittite-Levantine-Egyptian kings and astronomical observations to precisely date the Sea People event. By confronting historical and science-based archaeology, we establish an absolute age range of 1192–1190 BC for terminal destructions and cultural collapse in the northern Levant. This radiocarbon-based archaeology has far-reaching implications for the wider Mediterranean, where an elaborate network of international relations and commercial activities are intertwined with the history of civilizations

Effects of GPR139 agonism on effort expenditure for food reward in rodent models: Evidence for pro-motivational actions

Apathy, deficiency of motivation including willingness to exert effort for reward, is a common symptom in many psychiatric and neurological disorders, including depression and schizophrenia. Despite improved understanding of the neurocircuitry and neurochemistry underlying normal and deficient motivation, there is still no approved pharmacological treatment for such a deficiency. GPR139 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor expressed in brain regions which contribute to the neural circuitry that controls motivation including effortful responding for reward, typically sweet gustatory reward. The GPR139 agonist TAK-041 is currently under development for treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia which include apathy. To date, however, there are no published preclinical data regarding its potential effect on reward motivation or deficiencies thereof. Here we report in vitro evidence confirming that TAK-041 increases intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and has high selectivity for GPR139. In vivo, TAK-041 was brain penetrant and showed a favorable pharmacokinetic profile. It was without effect on extracellular dopamine concentration in the nucleus accumbens. In addition, TAK-041 did not alter the effort exerted to obtain sweet gustatory reward in rats that were moderately food deprived. By contrast, TAK-041 increased the effort exerted to obtain sweet gustatory reward in mice that were only minimally food deprived; furthermore, this effect of TAK-041 occurred both in control mice and in mice in which deficient effortful responding was induced by chronic social stress. Overall, this study provides preclinical evidence in support of GPR139 agonism as a molecular target mechanism for treatment of apathy

Identification of epitopes recognised by mucosal CD4+ T-cell populations from cattle experimentally colonised with Escherichia coli O157:H7

Additional file 5. Sequence alignment of Intimin epitopes against Intimin sequences from non-O157 EHEC serotypes. Alignment of Intimin CD4+ T-cell epitope sequences with representative Intimin sequences from EHEC serotypes O145, O127, O26, O103, O121, O45 and O111. Percentage values indicate % similarity to the EHEC O157:H7 reference sequence

The late bronze age collapse and the early iron age in the levant: the role of climate in cultural disruption

It is generally accepted from the historical sources that the fall of the city and kingdom of Ugarit was the result of a military invasion by the Sea Peoples in the first quarter of the 12th century BC. Here we present an advanced picture of cultural and landscape changes for the Late Bronze Age collapse and the ancient Dark Age of history. The Gibala data indicate that the collapse of Levantine countryside towns occurred during a c. 1175-825 calibrated yr BC severe drought event corresponding with the Dark Age and suggest a link between climate induced environmental changes and eastern Mediterranean cultural history. This key study examines the diachronic urban development of the ancient coastal site of Gibala-Tell Tweini. Urban collapse and urban change of Gibala was linked with the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age new social adaption, possibly stimulated by a climatic stress event in the northern Levant

The ancient near east, a Life! Festschrift Karel Van Lerberghe

This volume in honour of Karel Van Lerberghe contains 47 contributions by his colleagues and students dealing with the history and archaeology of the Syro-Mesopotamian area. The focus on Syria and on the Old-Babylonian period reflects Karel's main research interests. Quite some cuneiform tablets are published here for the first time (both in hand-copy and with the help of the Portable Light Dome). Most recent archaeological field research is presented in contributions concerning Ugarit, Tell Tweini, Tell Beydar and many other sites.This volume in honour of Karel Van Lerberghe contains 47 contributions by his colleagues and students dealing with the history and archaeology of the Syro-Mesopotamian area. The focus on Syria and on the Old-Babylonian period reflects Karel's main research interests. Quite some cuneiform tablets are published here for the first time (both in hand-copy and with the help of the Portable Light Dome). Most recent archaeological field research is presented in contributions concerning Ugarit, Tell Tweini, Tell Beydar and many other sites.B

Radiosonde measurements co-located with ascends of the unmanned aerial system LUCA (Panker, Germany 2020-07-03 and 2021-05-28)

The unmanned aerial system LUCA was designed and build to measure atmospheric profiles as radiosondes do. Two test flights were carried out in northern Germany. The data presented here contain measurements of co-located radiosoundings for comparison with LUCA

Atmospheric profile measurements conducted by the unmanned aerial system LUCA (Panker, Germany 2020-07-03 and 2021-05-28)

The unmanned aerial system LUCA was designed and build to measure atmospheric profiles as radiosondes do. The data presented here contains measurements of atmospheric variables of two test flights carried out in northern Germany. There were co-located radiosoundings for comparison

Supplemental_Material – Supplemental material for Automated MALDI Target Preparation Concept

<p>Supplemental material, Supplemental_Material for Automated MALDI Target Preparation Concept by Martin Winter, Robert Ries, Carola Kleiner, Daniel Bischoff, Andreas H. Luippold, Tom Bretschneider and Frank H. Büttner in SLAS Technology</p