A first ceramic chronology for the Late Islamic Arabian Gulf

© Equinox Publishing Ltd. Islamic archaeology in the Arabian Gulf has grown tremendously in recent years. However, a ceramic chronology for the Late Islamic Arabian Gulf has not yet been put forward. The present paper constitutes a first attempt at a refined periodization based on the occupational sequence of al-Ain, UAE. The study is based on the typological quantification of sherds from stratified excavations undertaken by the Historic Buildings and Landscapes Section of the Tourism and Culture Authority Abu Dhabi. It is broadly based on the methodology developed by Derek Kennet in his much-cited Sasanian and Islamic Pottery from Ras al-Khaimah (2004). The c. 13,500-sherd assemblage has been divided into six periods of thirty to seventy years spanning the later seventeenth to mid-twentieth centuries. The al-Ain assemblage is compared to published ceramics from contemporary sites in the Gulf region and further compared to relevant historical sources to draw out the wider implications of the findings. The present study constitutes an interim report and full publication of ceramics from al-Ain will appear in a multi-authored pottery handbook currently in preparation

A Comparison of Soviet and American Maritime Arbitration

Maritime arbitration has a long history both in the United States, where it dates from the late 19th century, and in the Soviet Union, where the permanent arbitration body known as the Maritime Arbitration Commission (MAC or Commission) has existed since 1930. Although both countries have similar procedures for maritime arbitration, the history, ideology, and commercial goals of each country have created systems that differ markedly in approach and style. The American experience has fostered an ad hoc system where the parties establish arbitration panels as disputes arise and where the parties have almost unlimited discretion in choosing arbitrators and rules. By contrast, the Soviet system has established a permanent arbitration body with a limited choice of arbitrators and rules. The contrast between two such differing systems can shed considerable light on each of them. This Note will discuss the major aspects of Soviet maritime arbitration with reference to the relevant portions of the MAC\u27s statute and Rules of Procedure. It will then consider American maritime arbitration with particular emphasis on arbitration in New York under the rules and procedures of the Society of Maritime Arbitrators (SMA or Society). Finally, this Note will compare and contrast the two systems of arbitration

The executive toolbox:building legislative support in a multiparty presidential regime

How do presidents win legislative support under conditions of extreme multipartism?Comparative presidential research has offered two parallel answers, one relying on distributivepolitics and the other claiming that legislative success is a function of coalition formation. Wemerge these insights in an integrated approach to executive-legislative relations, also addingcontextual factors related to dynamism and bargaining conditions. We find that the twopresidential “tools” – pork and coalition goods – are substitutable resources, with porkfunctioning as a fine-tuning instrument that interacts reciprocally with legislative support. Porkexpenditures also depend upon a president’s bargaining leverage and the distribution oflegislative seats.

Gamson going global? Cabinet proportionality in comparative perspective

We conduct a global, large-N analysis of proportionality in the partisan distribution of cabinet portfolios. Formulated in the context of postwar Western European parliamentary democracy, Gamson’s Law predicts that parties joining a coalition government will receive cabinet ministries in direct proportion to the seats they are contributing to the coalition on the floor of the legislature. Using a sample of 1551 country-years of coalitional government in 97 countries from 1966 to 2019, and comparing all main constitutional formats (parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential), we find that Gamson’s Law does not travel well outside its context of origin. Among the constitutional predictors of cabinet proportionality, we find that pure presidentialism is a major outlier, with an exaggerated form of formateur advantage. Introducing party-system and assembly-level predictors to the debate, we find that party institutionalization tends to increase fairness in portfolio allocation within parliamentary systems only

It's my party and I'll lie if i want to: elite ideological obfuscation in post-authoritarian settings

This paper examines the origins and evolution of the direita envergonhada (“embarrassed right”) phenomenon, a pattern of ideological obfuscation by right-of-center politicians that was originally identified and documented in post-authoritarian Brazil. Conservative politicians refused to identify themselves as right-wing, defining themselves instead as centrists and placing themselves ideologically to the left of their own political parties. We find that this phenomenon is not restricted to Brazil, but is widespread across Latin America’s Third Wave of democratization. We also find that politicians personally connected to the defunct authoritarian regime were more likely to engage in obfuscation and that, contrary to previous hypotheses, obfuscation has faded in recent times

An Iron Age ceramic sequence from the Bayt Bin Ati, al-Ain, UAE

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Rescue excavations associated with the adaptive reuse of a historic building in the Qattara Oasis revealed a 5 m stratigraphic sequence spanning the past 3000 years. The main period of occupation—roughly half the sequence—belongs to the Iron Age II and III periods (c.1100–300 BC). Evidence of agriculture and industry was found which complements our understanding of the well-known Iron Age settlements of al-Ain. The present paper sets out the stratigraphic sequence and presents the phased ceramic assemblage, before considering the broader implications for the archaeology of Iron Age south-east Arabia

Scaling Symmetries of Scatterers of Classical Zero-Point Radiation

Classical radiation equilibrium (the blackbody problem) is investigated by the use of an analogy. Scaling symmetries are noted for systems of classical charged particles moving in circular orbits in central potentials V(r)=-k/r^n when the particles are held in uniform circular motion against radiative collapse by a circularly polarized incident plane wave. Only in the case of a Coulomb potential n=1 with fixed charge e is there a unique scale-invariant spectrum of radiation versus frequency (analogous to zero-point radiation) obtained from the stable scattering arrangement. These results suggest that non-electromagnetic potentials are not appropriate for discussions of classical radiation equilibrium.Comment: 13 page

High-Temperature Crystal-Growth Cartridge Tubes Made by VPS

Cartridge tubes for use in a crystal growth furnace at temperatures as high as 1,600 deg. C have been fabricated by vacuum plasma spraying (VPS). These cartridges consist mainly of an alloy of 60 weight percent molybdenum with 40 weight percent rhenium, made from molybdenum powder coated with rhenium. This alloy was selected because of its high melting temperature (approximately equal.2,550 C) and because of its excellent ductility at room temperature. These cartridges are intended to supplant tungsten/nickel-alloy cartridges, which cannot be used at temperatures above approximately equal 1,300 C

Plasma spray nozzle with low overspray and collimated flow

An improved nozzle for reducing overspray in high temperature supersonic plasma spray devices comprises a body defining an internal passageway having an upstream end and a downstream end through which a selected plasma gas is directed. The nozzle passageway has a generally converging/diverging Laval shape with its upstream end converging to a throat section and its downstream end diverging from the throat section. The upstream end of the passageway is configured to accommodate a high current cathode for producing an electrical arc in the passageway to heat and ionize the gas flow to plasma form as it moves along the passageway. The downstream end of the nozzle is uniquely configured through the methodology of this invention to have a contoured bell-shape that diverges from the throat to the exit of the nozzle. Coating material in powder form is injected into the plasma flow in the region of the bell-shaped downstream end of the nozzle and the powder particles become entrained in the flow. The unique bell shape of the nozzle downstream end produces a plasma spray that is ideally expanded at the nozzle exit and thus virtually free of shock phenomena, and that is highly collimated so as to exhibit significantly reduced fanning and diffusion between the nozzle and the target. The overall result is a significant reduction in the amount of material escaping from the plasma stream in the form of overspray and a corresponding improvement in the cost of the coating operation and in the quality and integrity of the coating itself

Defining new technological traditions of Late Islamic Arabia: a view on Bahlā Ware from al-Ain (UAE) and the lead-barium glaze production

© 2019, The Author(s). In this paper, the monochrome glazed Bahlā Ware from al-Ain dated between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries (Late Islamic Arabian Period) has been analysed aiming to reconstruct the production technology of the ceramic fabrics and glazes. The results of the petrographic and chemical analyses suggest a unique technological tradition embedded in the culture of Late Islamic Arabia. This tradition incorporates the production of a lead-barium glaze coated over a single type of ceramic fabric that spans for nearly three centuries. Since this is the first evidence for the production of a lead-barium glaze in the Islamic World, the origins of this technology remain uncertain, but the results of the ceramic petrography identify the Omani Peninsula as the most likely source for the ceramic fabric. During the economic peak of al-Ain in the eighteenth century, this tradition shows signs of technological diversity visible in the appearance of new fabrics and glazes. Considering the wide distribution of Bahlā Ware in the Western Indian Ocean, understanding of the production technology and provenance of al-Ain’s ceramics has important implications for archaeological interpretation