The Journal of the American Oriental Society articles from July 2006

The Journal of the American Oriental Society archives from July 2006

When texts conceal: why vedic recitation is forbidden at certain times and places (Presidential Address).(Presidential Address Gary Beckman of American Oriental Society)(Report)
July 1, 2006... During last year's (2005) Presidential Address Gary Beckman spoke on the "Limits of Credulity" (Beckman 2005), or more forthrightly stated, "when texts lie." We know that texts can lie, as when untruths or exaggerations are inscribed or when...

The composition of the Maitreyi dialogue in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad.(Critical essay)
July 1, 2006... 0. INTRODUCTION In a familiar episode from the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, as the sage Yajnavalkya is about to depart, he tells his wife Maitreyi that he wishes to divide his possessions between her and her co-wife, Katyayani. Instead of...

The art of severing relationships (juejiao) in early medieval China.(Report)
July 1, 2006... From Han to Tang there were still friends such as Fan [Shi] and Zhang [Shao], Chen [Zhong] and Lei [Yi], (1) Yuan [Zhen] (779-831) and Bai (Juyi) (772-846) or Liu [Yuxi] (772-843) and Liu [Zongyuan] (773-819). They stayed close to...

Changing minds through examinations: examination critics in late imperial China.(Report)
July 1, 2006... At a time when conferences and panels are commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the imperial Chinese civil service examinations, we should be reminded that criticisms of the examinations are nearly as old as the...

"Religion is for God, the Fatherland is for everyone": Arab-Jewish writers in modern Iraq and the clash of narratives after their immigration to Israel.(Report)
July 1, 2006... Jews writing in Arabic have only seldom been able to make a name for themselves in the history of Arabic belles-lettres. There are Jewish poets in the pre-Islamic period, such as al-Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya', (1) but once Islam appeared it is almost...

Qusayr and Geniza documents on the Indian Ocean trade.(Report)
July 1, 2006... Hundreds of paper fragments from the early thirteenth century written by participants in the India trade have been discovered in excavations in a warehouse at the Red Sea port of Qusayr (hereafter: Quseir) since 1978. In light of the momentous...

The role of the Phoenician kings at the battle of Salamis (480 B.C.E.).(Report)
July 1, 2006... The role of the Phoenician kings at the battle of Salamis in 480 B.C.E. has been questioned and interpreted in different manners, depending on the point of view considered--Greek, Persian, or Phoenician. The point of view of scholars...

Hittite [.sup.GIS/GI.kurtal(i)], Akkadian nab-bu, and the cuneiform sign NAB.(Report)
July 1, 2006... J. Puhvel gave in his Hittite Etymological Dictionary, Volume K (Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 1997), 227, under the entry kurtal(i), kurtalli- (n.) the meaning 'crate, hamper, basket.' Indeed the meaning of this Hittite word, many times preceded...

The old Babylonian paronomastic infinitive in -am.(Report)
July 1, 2006... 1. The paronomastic infinitive in Akkadian is an interesting construction. The phenomenon comprises two basic types, based upon form, one ending in -um(-ma), the other in -am. The former, which is attested in about seventy cases from the OB...

Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire. By GABOR AGOSTAN. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilisation. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2005. Pp. xvii, 277. $77. Battles and wars are an...

A Traditional Mu'tazilite Qur'an Commentary: The Kashshaf of Jar Allah al-Zamakhshari (d. 538/1144).(Book review)
July 1, 2006... A Traditional Mu'tazilite Qur'an Commentary: The Kashshaf of Jar Allah al-Zamakhshari (d. 538/1144). By ANDREW LANE. Texts and Studies in the Qur'an, vol. 2. Leiden: BRILL, 2006. Pp. xxiv + 418. $183. One of the problems facing scholars of...

Changing Social Identity with the Spread of Islam: Archaeological Perspectives.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Changing Social Identity with the Spread of Islam: Archaeological Perspectives. Edited by DONALD WHITCOMB. Oriental Institute Seminars, no. 1. Chicago: THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, 2004. Pp. 101. What can we learn from material culture about the...

Qu'est-ce que le shi'isme?(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Qu'est-ce que le shi'isme? By MOHAMMAD-ALI AMIR-MOEZZI and CHRISTIAN JAMBET. Paris: FAYARD, 2004. Pp. 387, tables. [euro] 20 (paper). In comparison with other currents of Islam, the independent study of Shiism is a rather new phenomenon,...

The Oral Background of Persian Epics: Storytelling and Poetry.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... The Oral Background of Persian Epics: Storytelling and Poetry. By KUMIKO YAMAMOTO. Brill Studies in Middle Eastern Literatures. Leiden: BRILL, 2003. Pp. xxiv + 191. The issue of the sources that Firdawsi employed for the compilation of the...

Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer: Nach der Edition Venedig 1544 unter Berucksichtigung der Edition Warschau 1852.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer: Nach der Edition Venedig 1544 unter Berucksichtigung der Edition Warschau 1852. Edited and translated by DAGMAR BORNER-KLEIN. Studia Judaica, vol. 26. Berlin: WALTER DE GRUYTER, 2004. Pp. xlix + 800. [euro]198. ...

The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt's New Kingdom.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt's New Kingdom. By ELLEN FOWLES MORRIS. Probleme der Agyptologie, vol. 22. Leiden: BRILL, 2005. Pp. xvii + 891, illus. $299. Ellen Morris's...

The Graffiti on the Khonsu Temple Roof at Karnak: A Manifestation of Personal Piety.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... The Graffiti on the Khonsu Temple Roof at Karnak: A Manifestation of Personal Piety. By HELEN JACQUET-GORDON. The Temple of Khonsu, vol. 3. Oriental Institute Publications, vol. 123. Chicago: THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, 2003. Pp. xxiv + 119,...

D'un monde a l'autre: Textes des pyramides, textes des sarcophages.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... D'un monde a l'autre: Textes des pyramides, textes des sarcophages. Edited by SUSANNE BICKEL and BERNARD MATHIEU. Bibliotheque d'Etude, vol. 139. Cairo: INSTITUT FRANCAIS D'ARCHEOLOGIE ORIENTALE, 2004. Pp. vii + 311, illus. (paper). This...

Neo-Babylonian Texts in the Oriental Institute.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Neo-Babylonian Texts in the Oriental Institute. By DAVID B. WEISBERG. Oriental Institute Publications, vol. 122. Chicago: THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, 2003. Pp. xxvi + 262, plates. $100. Diese Rezension wurde im Rahmen unseres vom Fonds fur die...

The Law of Testimony in the Pentateuchal Codes.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... The Law of Testimony in the Pentateuchal Codes. By BRUCE WELLS. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur Alt-orientische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 4. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2004. Pp. x + 226. [euro]64. In this monograph, Bruce...

The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900. By RUDI MATTHEE. Princeton: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2005. Pp. xv + 346. $30.50. The author of this book has produced a fine account covering a largely...

Archaische Verwaltungstexte aus Uruk: Die Heidelberger Sammlung.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Archaische Verwaltungstexte aus Uruk: Die Heidelberger Sammlung. By ROBERT K. ENGLUND and HANS J. NISSEN. Archaische Texte aus Uruk, vol. 7. Berlin: GEBRUDER MANN, 2001. Pp. 71, plates. DM 104. The present volume includes a catalogue,...

The Fara Tablets in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.(Book review)
July 1, 2006... The Fara Tablets in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. By HARRIET P. MARTIN, FRANCESCO POMPONIO, GIUSEPPE VISICATO, and AAGE WESTENHOLZ. Bethesda, Md.: CDL PRESS, 2001. Pp. xxvii + 162, plates. $60. This...