Space and rite in Elymais: Considerations on Elymaean religious Architecture and rock reliefs during the Arsacid Period.

Central to this thesis is the identification of religious architecture in a region which has a special position in Ancient Iran, the mountainous area of Khuzestan known to classical sources under the name Elymais. This area can be considered Iranian only due to its geographical position, since its population was not of Iranian origin. A more direct approach to the study of Elymaean archaeology concerns not just the Susiana plain – which shows a strong Greek and Semitic influence – but also the sites with major rock reliefs (Tang-e Sarvak, Shimbar, Izeh-Malamir), as well as the religious architecture of Bard-e Neshandeh and Masjed-e Soleyman. This study will try to prove, working from religious architecture in Elymais of the Arsacid era, that there were hereditary ties (historical, archaeological, philological) between the Elymaeans and the Elamites, the ancient inhabitants of these territories (Ancient Elam). Given the strong relationship between Elam and neighbouring Mesopotamia, the possible presence of Mesopotamian or other foreign influences in the religious architecture and consequently the use of these types in an Elymaean context can be examined in detail. A review will be made of previously accepted hypotheses of Elymais and its population. The cultural-historical and religious interactions that occurred in this area will be examined in an attempt to establish a nexus of identity for the people of Elymais. This work aims to bring together, perhaps for the first time, diverse studies concerning Elymais: archaeological, historical, philological, numismatic and religious. This key goal will be pursued to provide a platform for their analysis as a corpus. To achieve this, details of archaeological and historical contexts including locations, excavation reports, grave goods, descriptions of monuments and observations regarding rock reliefs have been collected from a number of available sources, many of them in the form of short articles

Space and rite in Elymais: Considerations on Elymaean religious Architecture and rock reliefs during the Arsacid Period.

Central to this thesis is the identification of religious architecture in a region which has a special position in Ancient Iran, the mountainous area of Khuzestan known to classical sources under the name Elymais. This area can be considered Iranian only due to its geographical position, since its population was not of Iranian origin. A more direct approach to the study of Elymaean archaeology concerns not just the Susiana plain – which shows a strong Greek and Semitic influence – but also the sites with major rock reliefs (Tang-e Sarvak, Shimbar, Izeh-Malamir), as well as the religious architecture of Bard-e Neshandeh and Masjed-e Soleyman. This study will try to prove, working from religious architecture in Elymais of the Arsacid era, that there were hereditary ties (historical, archaeological, philological) between the Elymaeans and the Elamites, the ancient inhabitants of these territories (Ancient Elam). Given the strong relationship between Elam and neighbouring Mesopotamia, the possible presence of Mesopotamian or other foreign influences in the religious architecture and consequently the use of these types in an Elymaean context can be examined in detail. A review will be made of previously accepted hypotheses of Elymais and its population. The cultural-historical and religious interactions that occurred in this area will be examined in an attempt to establish a nexus of identity for the people of Elymais. This work aims to bring together, perhaps for the first time, diverse studies concerning Elymais: archaeological, historical, philological, numismatic and religious. This key goal will be pursued to provide a platform for their analysis as a corpus. To achieve this, details of archaeological and historical contexts including locations, excavation reports, grave goods, descriptions of monuments and observations regarding rock reliefs have been collected from a number of available sources, many of them in the form of short articles

NGC6362: the least massive globular cluster with chemically distinct multiple populations

We present the first measure of Fe and Na abundances in NGC 6362, a low-mass globular cluster where first and second generation stars are fully spatially mixed. A total of 160 member stars (along the red giant branch and the red horizontal branch) have been observed with the multi-object spectrograph FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope. We find that the cluster has an iron abundance of [Fe/H]=--1.09$\pm$0.01 dex, without evidence of intrinsic dispersion. On the other hand, the [Na/Fe] distribution turns out to be intrinsically broad and bimodal. The Na-poor and Na-rich stars populate, respectively, the bluest and the reddest red giant branches detected in the color-magnitude diagrams including the U filter. The red giant branch is composed of a mixture of first and second generation stars in a similar proportion, while almost all the red horizontal branch stars belong to the first cluster generation. Until now, NGC 6362 is the least massive globular cluster where both the photometric and spectroscopic signatures of multiple populations have been detected

The Kingdom of Elymais (ca. 301 BC-224 AD): a comprehensive analysis (archaeological, artistic, and textual) of one of the most important minor reigns in southern Iran

Theoretical thesis.Includes bibliographical references.Introduction -- Part I. The background -- Part II. Corpus of evidence -- Part III. Discussions and interpretations -- Part IV. Maps, tables and plates.The Seleucid and Arsacid periods (ca. 301 BC – 224 AD)‚ spanning the centuries from the end of the Achaemenid dynasty to the rise of the Sasanid empire with the arrival of Ardashir ‚ long persisted as one of the most obscure hiatus in the history of southwestern Iran. Although less renowned than its neighbours in the lowlands of Susiana and Mesopotamia, the Zagros-Bakhtiari highland (now the mountainous part of the Khuzestan‚ and the Kohgiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad provinces) represents nonetheless a distinctive cultural lens through which the heterogeneous socio-political dynamics about one of the most vital regions of western Asia may find an explanation. In this context‚ the last survival of the Elamite civilization clearly emerges in that small kingdom which was widely know during the antiquity by the name of Elymais. In reality, while Classical sources speak of Elymais, Mesopotamian authors reproposed the long-established designation of Elam, suggesting that this kingdom – so often overlooked in the academic world – was probably heir to the millennial Elamite kingship and culture. During the last few decades‚ scholars have moderately progressed to disclose a clearer picture of the Elymaean culture and its material evidence‚ even though a comprehensive study has remained surprisingly absent.This work investigates the origin and development of Elymais through both epigraphic and archaeological data‚ and reassessed its relevance placing it in the perspective of the latest archaeological and historical scholarship. A thorough analysis with the aim to confront th etopic of Elymais from all sides (textual, archaeological, cultural) is suggested then to provide for the first time in academic studies a complete vision of all the fragmentary material records so as to collate them as a corpus. I assume that my own efforts may adequately indicate the signiПicance‚ and indeed the necessity‚ to enhance these artistic assets in order to remodel the Elymaean history and socio-cultural identity. Narrowing the gap in scholarship through the elaboration of a critical review‚ which is also refined by supplementary data from written sources and other prospects of the material attestation‚ a new general overview has been elaborated for this intriguing society.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (400 pages) illustrations, map

Abundances of NGC 6362 member stars

VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomical Journal (AAS) with title 'NGC 6362: the least massive globular cluster with chemically distinct multiple populations.' (bibcode: 2016ApJ...824...73M

A 3D view of dwarf galaxies with Gaia and VLT/FLAMES. I. The Sculptor dwarf spheroidal

International audienceWe present a new homogeneous survey of VLT/FLAMES LR8 line-of-sight radial velocities (vlos) for 1604 resolved red giant branch stars in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy. In addition, we provide reliable Ca II triplet metallicities, [Fe/H], for 1339 of these stars. From this combination of new observations (2257 individual spectra) with ESO archival data (2389 spectra), we obtain the largest and most complete sample of vlos and [Fe/H] measurements for individual stars in any dwarf galaxy. Our sample includes VLT/FLAMES LR8 spectra for ∼55% of the red giant branch stars at G 70% of the brightest stars, G < 18.75. Our spectroscopic velocities are combined with Gaia DR3 proper motions and parallax measurements for a new and more precise membership analysis. We look again at the global characteristics of Sculptor, deriving a mean metallicity of ⟨[Fe/H]⟩ = −1.82 ± 0.45 and a mean line-of-sight velocity of ⟨vlos⟩ = + 111.2 ± 0.25 km s−1. There is a clear metallicity gradient in Sculptor, −0.7deg dex−1, with the most metal-rich population being the most centrally concentrated. Furthermore, the most metal-poor population in Sculptor, [Fe/H]< − 2.5, appears to show kinematic properties distinct from the rest of the stellar population. Finally, we combine our results with the exquisite Gaia DR3 multi-colour photometry to further investigate the colour-magnitude diagram of the resolved stellar population in Sculptor. Our detailed analysis shows a similar global picture as previous studies, but with much more precise detail, revealing that Sculptor has more complex properties than previously thought. This survey emphasises the role of the stellar spectroscopy technique and this galaxy as a benchmark system for modelling galaxy formation and evolution on small scales

Cluster Ages to Reconstruct the Milky Way Assembly (CARMA)

We present CARMA, the Cluster Ages to Reconstruct the Milky Way Assembly project, the aim of which is to determine precise and accurate age measurements for the entire system of known Galactic globular clusters (GCs) and to use them to trace the most significant merger events experienced by the Milky Way. The strength of CARMA relies on the use of homogeneous photometry, theoretical isochrones, and statistical methods, which will enable us to define a systematic uncertainty-free chronological scale for the complete sample of Milky Way GCs. In this paper, we describe the CARMA framework in detail, and present a first application on a sample of six metal-rich GCs, with the aim being to unequivocally elucidate the debated origin of NGC 6388 and NGC 6441. Our results demonstrate that this pair of clusters is coeval with another four systems that have a clear in situ origin. Moreover, their location in the age–metallicity plane matches that occupied by in situ field stars. The accurate age comparison enabled by the CARMA methodology rules out the possibility that NGC 6388 and NGC 6441 were accreted as part of a past merger event

A 3D view of dwarf galaxies with

We present a new homogeneous survey of VLT/FLAMES LR8 line-of-sight radial velocities (vlos) for 1604 resolved red giant branch stars in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy. In addition, we provide reliable Ca II triplet metallicities, [Fe/H], for 1339 of these stars. From this combination of new observations (2257 individual spectra) with ESO archival data (2389 spectra), we obtain the largest and most complete sample of vlos and [Fe/H] measurements for individual stars in any dwarf galaxy. Our sample includes VLT/FLAMES LR8 spectra for ∼55% of the red giant branch stars at G  70% of the brightest stars, G < 18.75. Our spectroscopic velocities are combined with Gaia DR3 proper motions and parallax measurements for a new and more precise membership analysis. We look again at the global characteristics of Sculptor, deriving a mean metallicity of ⟨[Fe/H]⟩ = −1.82 ± 0.45 and a mean line-of-sight velocity of ⟨vlos⟩ = + 111.2 ± 0.25 km s−1. There is a clear metallicity gradient in Sculptor, −0.7deg dex−1, with the most metal-rich population being the most centrally concentrated. Furthermore, the most metal-poor population in Sculptor, [Fe/H]<  − 2.5, appears to show kinematic properties distinct from the rest of the stellar population. Finally, we combine our results with the exquisite Gaia DR3 multi-colour photometry to further investigate the colour-magnitude diagram of the resolved stellar population in Sculptor. Our detailed analysis shows a similar global picture as previous studies, but with much more precise detail, revealing that Sculptor has more complex properties than previously thought. This survey emphasises the role of the stellar spectroscopy technique and this galaxy as a benchmark system for modelling galaxy formation and evolution on small scales