From: ane-digest-owner@oi.uchicago.edu To: ane-digest@oi.uchicago.edu Subject: Ancient Near East Digest V1 #64 Reply-To: ane@oi.uchicago.edu Errors-To: ane-digest-owner@oi.uchicago.edu Precedence: bulk Ancient Near East Digest Wednesday, 16 March 1994 Volume 01 : Number 064 In this issue: Syriac Texts Re: Syriac Texts E.J.Brill on-line trying to reach Avi Ofer You thought BAR was bad? Nebi Samwil Re: Nebi Samwil trying to reach Avi Ofer Re: Syriac Texts Re: Sleeplessness of Kings Motif in ANE nebi samwil Re: Syriac Texts Syriac Computing Institute / Syriac Texts Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks Re: Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks Anc. Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks "Rules are there to be broken" More mud bricks (Yemen) scoring texts [none] Beni Hasan project Re: Re: Phonology and Hebrew (fwd) Re: Syriac Texts Re: Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks X-Mailer: Netmail V3.00 See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the ANE or ANE-Digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: flheb01@emducms1.sis.ucm.es (Juan Jose Alarcon Sainz) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 16:42:02 +0100 Subject: Syriac Texts Just a simple question. Do any of you know about Syriac Texts available in the net (I mean Electronic texts). Can you supply a list, or the way to get it? Thank you Juan J. Alarcon-Sainz ------------------------------ From: George Kiraz Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 16:01:55 +0000 Subject: Re: Syriac Texts > Just a simple question. Do any of you know about Syriac Texts available > in the net (I mean Electronic texts). Can you supply a list, or the way > to get it? > > Thank you > > Juan J. Alarcon-Sainz > Yes, we have some syriac texts at the Syriac Computing Institute. They are available for academic use. We have the following: - Pshitta NT - Old Syriac: texts of S and C (next summer) - Harklean (next summer) - Acts of St George - few other things (I have to check the list) Also the CAL project people may have some. George Kiraz ------------------------------ From: cejo@midway.uchicago.edu (Charles E. Jones) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 10:50:13 CST Subject: E.J.Brill on-line E.J. Brill's catalogues are now consultable via the Internet. Gopher to infx.infor.com for the main menu. Ordering information is included. - -Chuck- ------------------------------ From: JMAGNESS@PEARL.TUFTS.EDU Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 12:46:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: trying to reach Avi Ofer I apologize to the subscribers to the list for using this message for personal purposes. I am trying to reach Avi Ofer; could you please contact me at the following addresses: JMAGNESS@Pearl.Tufts.Edu (e-mail) or (617) 627-3032 (fax). Thanks, Jodi Magness, Dept. of Classics, Tufts University ------------------------------ From: umw8f@maxwell.acc.virginia.edu Date: Mon, 14 Mar 94 14:33:59 EST Subject: You thought BAR was bad? Re: the recent string on unprovenanced antiquities -- Readers of the popular press will note a provocative article in the most recent _Vanity Fair_ on an American mogul/coin dealer & smuggler extraodinaire. The article is useful in that it clearly establishes the illegality of the smuggling of antiquities, and it exposes links between antiquities thieves and other criminal (esp. drug-running) circles. However, since the tone seems to me rather tolerant of the "Indiana Jones" spirit, casting greed and criminality in a "boys will be boys" light, it misses a golden opportunity to educate the general public about the evil consequences of site-robbing. The problematic premise that stolen antiquities are of "academic" interest is accepted unquestioningly. I note with chagrin that he was, according to the article, diverted from grad school into illegal-coin dealing by his own professors! cheers Constanze - -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Constanze Witt McIntire Department of Art Associate Director of Studies Fayerweather Hall The New College University of Virginia University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 22903 Charlottesville, VA 22903 (804) 924-6123 (804) 982-4873 umw8f@maxwell.acc.virginia.edu ------------------------------ From: Robert Daniel Ibach Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 14:14:36 -0600 (CST) Subject: Nebi Samwil I've been told there are some small scale excavations underway at Nebi Samwil. Can anyone confirm this and tell me who is doing the dig? What sorts of materials have been found? Have any preliminary reports been published? Bob Ibach Dallas Theological Seminary ------------------------------ From: "Bob Haak" Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 15:05:36 GMT-500 Subject: Re: Nebi Samwil I have seen these excavations....they are not so 'small scale.' I don't remember who the excavator was--I think through the Antiquities Authority. Sam Wolf should be able to give more details? Bob Haak Augustana College > Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 14:14:36 -0600 (CST) > From: Robert Daniel Ibach > Subject: Nebi Samwil > > I've been told there are some small scale excavations underway > at Nebi Samwil. Can anyone confirm this and tell me who is doing > the dig? What sorts of materials have been found? Have any > preliminary reports been published? > > Bob Ibach > Dallas Theological Seminary > > > ------------------------------ From: JMAGNESS@PEARL.TUFTS.EDU Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 17:04:35 -0400 (EDT) Subject: trying to reach Avi Ofer I just wanted to thank Carl Rasmussen, Thomas Longstaff, Mike Jacobs, and Harold Forshey (hello to you too!) for kindly providing me with Avi Ofer's address. Jodi Magness, Dept. of Classics, Tufts University ------------------------------ From: Sigrid Peterson Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 17:43:58 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Syriac Texts I've transliterated one of the three Syriac Ignatian epistles, the one called Romans, into ascii in Michigan-Claremont conventions. And I even think I proofread it. Let me know if you're interested. Sigrid Peterson UPenn petersig@ccat.sas.upenn.edu ------------------------------ From: "Bernard F. Batto" Date: 14 Mar 1994 16:09:23 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Sleeplessness of Kings Motif in ANE With regard to King Ahasuerus's sleeplessness (Esther 6:1), I suspect that the king's sleeplessness owes more to common human experience than to "a common motif in Oriental/ANE tales" per se. I can suggest a couple of passages which may be remotely comparable. In Ugaritic literature Kirta has a fitful sleep (Keret A.i.30ff). In Mesopotamian literature Gilgamesh describes how in his preoccupation for answers he could neither sleep nor rest but wandered on and on in his quest (Gilgamesh X.v.25-28)--this in contrast to the earlier depiction of Gilgamesh where for quite different reason he is said never to rest by day or night (Gilg. I.v.19). Both Kirta and Gilgamesh are kings, like Ahsuerus. On the subject of sleep (and sleeplessness), a helpful monograph is Thomas H. McAlpine, SLEEP, DIVINE & HUMAN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT (JSOTS 38; Sheffield: JSOT, 1987); with the bibliography therein. However, I do not recall that McAlpine treats Ahasuerus's sleeplessness specifically. For the motif of divine sleeplessness, may I recommend my own article, "The Sleeping God: An Ancient Near Eastern Motif of Divine Sovereignty," BIBLICA 68 (1987) 153-177, with bibliographical references therein. See also P. Machinist, "Rest and Violence in the Poem of Erra," JAOS 103 (1983) 221-26. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Bernard F. Batto Dept. of Philosophy & Religion DePauw University Greencastle, IN 46135 317-658-4716 Internet: bbatto@depauw.edu ------------------------------ From: BSAJ@HUJIVMS.BITNET Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 11:04 +0200 Subject: nebi samwil On seeing Bob Ibrach's request for information about the Nebi Samwil excavation in 1993 we telephoned the excavator Mr. Mikel Dadon who works on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. He has exposed massive Crusader vaulted structures round the well known church/mosque with ditch and industrial installations. He hopes to publish a preliminary report in the next Hadashot Arkhiologiyot. Richard Harper. ------------------------------ From: George Kiraz Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 12:12:56 +0000 Subject: Re: Syriac Texts > I've transliterated one of the three Syriac Ignatian epistles, the > one called Romans, into ascii in Michigan-Claremont conventions. And > I even think I proofread it. Let me know if you're interested. > Sigrid Peterson UPenn petersig@ccat.sas.upenn.edu Yes, can you send us a copy to included it in our archive? George ------------------------------ From: George Kiraz Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 12:17:27 +0000 Subject: Syriac Computing Institute / Syriac Texts Thanks for all the emails requesting info on the Syriac Computing Institute and the texts we have. ============================== THE SYRIAC COMPUTING INSTITUTE ============================== INTRODUCTION - ------------ SyrCOM is a non-profit making research institute, independent of any organisation. It carries out projects in the rather small field of Syriac Computing which in turn contributes to the field of Syriac studies in general and to related fields in biblical research, theology, classics, history, philosophy and linguistics. All the work is done by volunteers. BOARD - ----- Executive Committee: George A. Kiraz, University of Cambridge Director Daniel Ponsford, Cambridge University Press Secretary Advisory Committee: Dr Sebastian P. Brock, University of Oxford, UK Dr Susan Harvey, Brown University, USA Dr R. Ebied, University of Sydney, Australia AIMS/GOALS - ---------- - - Holding a bi-annual forum on Syriac computing. - - Providing consultations to academics on Syriac computing projects. - - Taking up projects to promote the knowledge of Syriac culture. - - Compiling an electronic archive of Syriac texts. PROJECTS - -------- - - Syriac Electronic Data Retrieval Archive (SEDRA) A lexical database for the Syriac language. It builds on the database of the Way International. Now contains 2000 roots, 3500 lexical headings, 31000 words, 6400 English meanings. - - Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospels (CESG) Aims at producing a comparative edition of the Syriac Gospels: Sinaticus, Curetonianus, Pshitta, Harklean. Will be published in New Testament Tools and Studies (ed. Bruce Metzger), E. J. Brill. All texts are entered, and we are now in the alignment process. We are aiming to finish this year (hopefully). - - Arabic-Syriac Lexicon (ASL) Aims at producing an Arabic-Syriac lexicon. SEDRA (above) contains a list of Syriac words; by the summer we will finish entering Wehr's Arabic lexicon. Then we shall start marking correspondences. When finished, a draft lexicon will be produced and given to a reviewing committee. - - Syriac Hyper-Text Project (SHT) An electronic encyclopaedia on Syriac studies. We go through books on Syriac studies and collect information on people, places, etc. We have now about 1000 entries. - - Syriac Electronic Corpora An electronic library of Syriac texts. The following are in ASCII, unless otherwise specified: a. Pshitta New Testament b. Old Syriac Gospels, S and C - summer 1994 c. Harklean Gospels, based on MS Vat Syr 268 - summer 1994 d. Acts of St George (MLS 3.2 format) The texts are available for scholarly use. To use them for publications, a special permission is required (usually from the person/institute which provided the text). We will suggest a minimum-donation which covers costs (disk, shipping, etc.), and we appreciate any contribution. HOW CAN YOU HELP - ---------------- Volunteering: - Arabic-Syriac Lexicon: Starting this summer, we need volunteers who know Arabic and Syriac to start marking correspondences between words, e.g. kitaab --> ktaba. We will provide all necessary software. Those who join will be co-compilers of the lexicon. - Syriac Hyper-text: We need volunteers to go through books on Syriac studies and summerise in English any information they find about people, places, etc. We specially need volunteers who can read French and German. If you are interested, please let us know. Address ======= George A. Kiraz (SyrCOM) St John's College, Cambridge CB2 1TP United Kingdom email: George.Kiraz@cl.cam.ac.uk Fax: +44 223 334678, Attrn. T36 - - ------- End of Unsent Draft - ------- End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------ From: krejci@praha1.ff.cuni.cz (Jaromir Krejci) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 13:45:56 +0100 (MET) Subject: Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks I'm preparing the disertation on the mudbrick masonry of the Ranferef's Pyramid Temple in Abusir /Vth.Dynasty, Egypt/. One part of this work deals with the making of mudbricks /adobes/ in Ancient Egypt. Because the technology of the mudbrickmaking is, in my opinion, invariable, I want also to use the modern ethonological parallels from Egypt and other ANE-countries. Does anybody know anything about this? I have three quotations: Salonen, H.: 1972, Die Ziegeleien im Alten Mesopotamia, Helsinki, p.34; Fathy, H.: 1969, A Tale of Two Villages, Cairo, pp.286-293; Clark, S., Engelbach, R.:1930, Ancient Egypt Masonry, Oxford. Thanks, Jaromir.Krejci@ff.cuni.cz Czech Institute of Egyptology, Charles University Celetna 20 CZ 110 00 PRAHA 1 Czech Republic phone: OO42-2-24491396 /24491394/ ------------------------------ From: "Bob Haak" Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 07:39:55 GMT-500 Subject: Re: Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks I don't know of written sources on this topic but you might find something even better. On a recent trip to Oman I observed mudbricks being made in connection with reconstruction projects of 'castles.' If the technology is 'invariable' as you suggest, the observations of these brickmakers would be valuable. You might try writing to the Minister of Culture in Oman to see what information they could supply- - -or even better, go there to see what they are doing. It is a beautiful country! Bob Haak Augustana College > Subject: Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks > I'm preparing the disertation on the mudbrick masonry of the > Ranferef's Pyramid Temple in Abusir /Vth.Dynasty, Egypt/. One part of this > work deals with the making of mudbricks /adobes/ in Ancient Egypt. > Because the technology of the mudbrickmaking is, in my opinion, invariable, > I want also to use the modern ethonological parallels from Egypt and > other ANE-countries. Does anybody know anything about this? > I have three quotations: Salonen, H.: 1972, Die Ziegeleien im Alten > Mesopotamia, Helsinki, p.34; Fathy, H.: 1969, A Tale of Two Villages, Cairo, > pp.286-293; Clark, S., Engelbach, R.:1930, Ancient Egypt Masonry, Oxford. > > Thanks, > > Jaromir.Krejci@ff.cuni.cz > Czech Institute of Egyptology, > ------------------------------ From: griffox@vax.ox.ac.uk Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 14:33:47 +0000 Subject: Anc. Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks On Hassan Fathy, the most important modern Egyptian architect who designed for mud brick, see J. Steele, "Hassan Fathy", Architectural Monographs, 13. Academy Editions, London and St Martin's Press, New York, 1988. Jaromir Malek griffox@vax.ox.ac.uk ------------------------------ From: Bruce Verhaaren Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 10:06:57 CST Subject: Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks You might also look at Nerthus Christensen (1967), "Haustypen und Gehoeftbildung in Westpersien," Anthropos 62:89-138 T.H. Carter & R. Pagliero (1966) "Notes on Mudbrick Preservation," Sumer 22:65-76. Arlene Miller Rosen (1986), Cities of Clay: The geoarchaeology of tells, University of Chicago Press Sigimund Reich (1937), Etudes sur les villages Arameens del'Anti-Liban, Documents d'Etudes Orientales vol. 7, L'Istitut Francais de Damas. Rudolf Naumann (1971) Architektur Kleinasiens: von ihren Anfang bis zum Ende der hethitische Zeit, Tuebingen: Ernst Wasmuth. Olivier Aurenche (1981) La Maison orientale, Bibliotheque Archeologique et Historique no. 109 Carol Kramer (1982) Village Ethnoarchaeology: Rural Iran in archaeological perspective, New York: Columbia University Press. Patty Jo Watson (1979) Archaeological Ethnography in Western Iran, Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology no. 57, Tucson: University of Arizona Press ------------------------------ From: George Kiraz Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 17:10:56 +0000 Subject: "Rules are there to be broken" Does anyone know an Arabic quotation/proverb similar to "Rules are there to be broken"? I recall something with the word /nawamiis/, plural of /naamuus/? George ------------------------------ From: cejo@midway.uchicago.edu (Charles E. Jones) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 12:41:44 CST Subject: More mud bricks (Yemen) You might well find something interesting in: Damluji, Salma Samar. The Valley of Mud Brick Architecture: Shibam, Tarim and Wadi Hadramut. Reading: Garnet Publishing Limited; 1992. 1 volume (xix + 472 pages [illustrated]). ISBN: 1-873938-01-2. - -Chuck- ------------------------------ From: susan kamionkowski Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 00:06:45 +0200 (WET) Subject: scoring texts I am currently studying variants of Akkadian prayers, and as a part of this, I am preparing texts with a scored format. Is anyone aware of any Macintosh programs that would help me in this task? Thanks, S. Tamar Kamionkowski ------------------------------ From: LEILAN@YALEVM.CIS.YALE.EDU Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 17:14:25 EST Subject: [none] To: U.S. Syria Researchers, Research Centers, and Related Academic Programs, Faculty and Students From: Harvey Weiss, President, ARIS (P.O. Box 1504A Yale Station, New Haven CT 06520-7425; e-mail: leilan@yalevm.cis.yale.edu) Subject: AMERICAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN SYRIA: 1. history 2. current activities 3. research roster 4. membership 1. HISTORY. The American Research Institute in Syria was incorporated on March 11, 1993 to "enhance US and Syrian scholarship through a reciprocal program of research exchange, to provide US and Syrian scholars access to research resources and expand research opportunities; to facilitate scientific and academic research in Syria, to promote and develop Syrian studies in the US in all relevant academic disciplines, to encourage the exchange of scholars and foster collaborative research efforts, and to give assistance in the publication and dissemination of the results of these activities." By October 1993, ARIS had 13 founding institutional members: University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Chicago; Columbia University; Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of Michigan; University of Pennsylvania; Princeton University; Syrian Studies Group; University of Utah; Villanova University; College of William and Mary; Yale University. The steering committee of the American Research Institute in Syria held an open meeting of ARIS members at the Middle East Studies Association meeting, November 11, 1993, in Chapel Hill. The meeting was organized by Fred Donner (University of Chicago) and presided over by Oleg Grabar (Institute for Advanced Study). In attendance were the following representatives of ARIS institutional members: University of California, Santa Barbara: Stephen Humphreys, Department of History University of Chicago: MacGuire Gibson, Oriental Institute of Chicago Columbia University: Reeva Simon, Middle East Institute, Harvard University: William Graham, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Michigan: Elizabeth Barlow M.I.T.: H. al-Harithy, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture University of Pennsylvania: Brian Spooner, Middle East Center Villanova University: Linda S. Schilcher, Center for Arab and Islamic Studies Yale University: Harvey Weiss, Dept. Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Also present were the following individual ARIS members: Michael Bonine, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona; Jere Bacharach, Center for Near Eastern & North African Studies, University of Washington; Gerald Vincent, Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC)(Steering Committee Executive Director); Fred Donner, The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago (Steering Committee Vice-President); Oleg Grabar, Institute for Advanced Study (Steering Committee President); Mary Ellen Lane, Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC); Rebecca Foote, graduate student, Harvard University; Simone Samoeil, Middle East Librarian, Yale University. At this meeting the Steering Committee of ARIS was dissolved and transformed itself into ARIS's first board of directors. In keeping with ARIS by-laws, officers were nominated and elected as follows: President: Harvey Weiss, Yale University Vice President: Linda Schilcher, Villanova University Treasurer: Gerald Vincent, Esq., CAORC A motion to allow these officers to select a Secretary was passed, and Dennis Pardee, Professor of Northwest Semitic Languages, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, subsequently accepted the officers' nomination. 2. CURRENT ACTIVITIES. ARIS officers are presently engaged in 4 activities: a. coordination and preparation of a 1994-1995 budget proposal to USIA through CAORC. This budget proposal will allow for the creation of short-term doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships for use in Syria beginning 1995. Upon award of this budget proposal the ARIS executive committee will establish fellowship award procedures and a fellowship award review committee. We anticipate the ability to award between 6 and 10 fellowships in 1995. b. solicitation of private funds to supplement USIA/CAORC funding and to create an ARIS endowment. ARIS hopes to secure the funding to support both an office and hostel in Damascus, a resident director, and office and research equipment to assist ARIS fellows and ARIS affiliated research projects. Discussions with potential US corporate sponsors have already been initiated. c. application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SAR, for an ARIS office in Syria. This request has been passed to the Ministry through Ambassador Christopher Ross. Ambassador Ross and the officers of the US Embassy, Damascus, have graciously supported the organizational efforts of ARIS and have provided valuable counsel to the ARIS steering committtee and officers. d. expansion of ARIS membership and coordination with Syrian academic and governmental partners. Notification of ARIS activities is now being passed to relevant US and SAR researchers, academic institutions and government agencies. 3. RESEARCH ROSTER. Institutional academic profiles which itemize the Syrian activities of US researchers and academic institutions are now needed to help inform US and SAR government and private sponsors of ARIS activities and needs. Please forward to me a 1 to 2 page statement of the following aspects of your institution's teaching and research relationships with Syria: 1. courses and faculty 2. research programs and researchers 3. graduate student research and departments 4. exchanges, conferences, consultations, publications, etc. _Guidelines:_ Institutions should present a concise statement of the ways in which its program is active in Syrian studies and the projects it anticipates in the coming decade. This statement could, for example, include any of the following: a general statement of the university's attachments to Syria; a report of research and scholarly/academic activities in the last decade including individual and group missions; a profile of projects currently running in Syria; a projection of activities in the next five years. Please include work done in the wide variety of fields which fall within Syrian studies, e.g. archaeology (prehistoric, early historic), Hellenistic-Byzantine studies, Islamics, medieval studies, Ottoman and modern era studies in the humanities and social sciences, architectural and art history, language training programs, development studies, public administration, natural sciences (geology, meteorology, agronomy, etc.), medicine and public health. _CLOSING DATE FOR THE RESEARCH ROSTER IS APRIL 10, 1994._ 4. MEMBERSHIP. ARIS membership is open to individuals and institutions. The annual membership fee for individuals is $30, and for insitutions is $200. Please forward name, address, telephone number, fax number, e- mail address, institutional affiliation, institute director / administrator, and membership fee, to ARIS, c/o CAORC, 1100 Jefferson Drive SW, suite 3123, Washington DC 20560. ------------------------------ From: leprohon@epas.utoronto.ca (Ronald Leprohon) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 17:56:36 -0500 (EST) Subject: Beni Hasan project Dear ic@maties.sun.ac.z, Re your Beni Hasan project, I feel it is imperative that you get in touch with Dr. Donald B. Spanel at the Brooklyn Museum, who has been working on the Beni Hasan material for quite some time now. Might save you lots of time, as the work may be done already. He can be reached electronically at: 74242.324@compuserve.com All the best, Ronald Leprohon, University of Toronto ------------------------------ From: Joe Blanchard Smith <100136.2070@CompuServe.COM> Date: 15 Mar 94 20:22:24 EST Subject: Re: Re: Phonology and Hebrew (fwd) >> It's probably a minor point, but in thinking about revising Hebrew > transliteration it would be worth considering how we might simplify things > for ourselves when we type by reducing our dependence on diacriticals for > the consonants by adopting x and c to represent het and tsadi. Perhaps we > could find similar ways to handle some of the other consonants with the > means available on a standard keyboard. << I have to disagree with Jeff Tigay's recent post (above) on the simplification of transliteration systems "for ourselves when we type". It seems to reflect a common practice of bending our way of doing things to the computers, rather than /vice versa/. Computers are there to make our lives easier, not to make us abandon perfectly functional diacritic systems (/pace/ the discussion on Masoretic texts) in order to fit in with the demands of a standard keyboard. There appear to be a large number of good PC-based programs that handle most diacritics perfectly well, and there are certainly ways round it with Macs by using well-designed fonts. One problem with which we are faced in this (ie the Internet) environment is our dependence on ASCII, and I appreciate that a simple, standardised abbreviation system for diacritic characters is required. However, the problem inherent in the use of symbols that already have value (c, x, 3, 9 eg) is precisely that: that they already have value. It is irrelevant that the value they have does not exist in the languages we are discussing, and we can, as it were, substitute the new language's value for our own. The fact remains that they are of value. Far better, I would have thought, when we are confined to ASCII, to use a system that reflects the diacritics we use conventionally ({sh} or {sv} for shin, {s.} for tsade, {kh} for het) rather than try to use unmarked roman letters and assume our readers know what we mean. I write with some feeling, having -- as, I assume, have many of us -- set books and journals in Semitic languages in transliteration, where our simple, standard keyboard is simply not sufficient. This inevitably involves some sort of coding, but coding it should be. I remember trying to learn Arabic from a book that was typewritten, and used 3 for 'ayin (others I have seen use 9) -- which are numbers with number value, and render the transliteration almost unreadable. The other, obvious point, is that computers are tools -- we should make them do what we want them to do, not conform to their way of working. Firstly as an ethical point (we are thinking, they are not), secondly because our way of working, perfected over a number of years, however imperfectly, is a lot better than theirs. Solutions away from ASCII abound, including most usefully custom made fonts (see the thread on this some months ago on the list). Some electronic mail networks now allow for the use of Latin-1, rather than ASCII, which at least allows us accents, umlauts, cedillas and so on. If list members wish to produce, suggest, or modify codes in ASCII to produce the simplification that Jeff wants, I would be very willing to get involved. (My apologies if this reads like a bad-tempered 'flame': typesetting Akkadian on an ancient word-processing system a year or two back, and now working with Apple Macs to set Akkadian again, has left me with fairly strong feelings on the subject...) Jonathan Blanchard Smith 100136.2070@Compuserve.COM ------------------------------ From: Schlemon.Moussa@mellost.lu.se Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 11:52:44 +0100 Subject: Re: Syriac Texts >From: Sigrid Peterson > >Subject: Re: Syriac Texts >To: George.Kiraz@cl.cam.ac.uk (George Kiraz) >Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 17:43:58 -0500 (EST) >Cc: flheb01@emducms1.sis.ucm.es, >ane@mithra-orinst.uchicago.edu > >I've transliterated one of the three Syriac >Ignatian epistles, the >one called Romans, into ascii in >Michigan-Claremont conventions. And >I even think I proofread it. Let me know if >you're interested. > >Sigrid Peterson UPenn >petersig@ccat.sas.upenn.edu > > Dear fru Peterson! If your message is privately directed just to Kiraz; then I dont understand why it is on ANE. If it, on the contrary, is common, then I too may declare my interest in your transliteration. Greetings Schlemon Moussa, Lund University Sweden ------------------------------ From: (Ellis Richard S) Date: Sun, 16 Mar 86 08:47:44 EST Subject: Re: Anc.Egypt/Ethnology - Mudbricks Dear Jaromir Krejci, Here are some things that popped up from my bibliographical database: 1. Aurenche, Olivier 1981 R!partition chronologique et spatiale de quelques traits architecturaux du Proche Orient ancien. In _Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Pr!histoire du Levant_ (Jacques Cauvin and Paul Sanlaville, organisateurs). Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 598, pp. 503-512. Paris: !ditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. 2. Blier, Suzanne Preston 1989 Moral architecture: Beauty and ethics in Batammaliba building design. In J. P. Bourdier and N. Alsayyad, eds., _Dwellings, Settlements and Tradition: Cross-cultural Perspectives_, pp. 335-55. Lanham, Maryland; Berkeley: University Press of America; International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments. 3. Boysan-Dietrich, Nil!fer 1984 "Bauweise und Bauelemente der hethitischen H!user: Eine Studie anhand der Keilschriftquellen." PhD dissertation, Philosophische Fakult!t der Universit!t W!rzburg. 4. Boysan-Dietrich, Nil!fer 1987 _Das hethitische Lehmhaus aus der Sicht der Keilschriftquellen_. Texte der Hethiter, 12. Heidelberg: Carl Winter. From dissertation, W!rzburg 1984 5. Delougaz, P. P. 1933 _Plano-convex Bricks and the Methods of their Employment_. Ancient Oriental Civilizations, 7/1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 6. Lambert, Wilfred G. 1987 Proportional guidelines in ancient Near Eastern art (Guitty Azarpay), Appendix A: The Sumero-Babylonian brick-god Kulla. _JNES_ 46:203-204. 7. McIntosh, Roderick J. 1974 Archaeology and mud wall decay in a West African village. _World Archaeology_ 6:154-71. 8. Oates, David 1990 Innovations in mud-brick: Decorative and structural techniques in ancient Mesopotamia. _World Archaeology_ 21/3:388-406. 9. Paulus, Marcel J. 1985 Traditional building materials in ancient Mesopotamian architecture. _Sumer_ 41:130-32. 10. Spencer, A. J. 1979 _Brick Architecture in Ancient Egypt_. Warminster, Wilts.: Aris & Phillips. 11. Toracca, Giorgio; Giacomo Chiari, and Giorgio Gullini 1972 Report on mud brick preservation. _Mesopotamia_ 7:259-86. 12. Wichman, Hans (ed.) 1983 _Architektur der Verg!nglichkeit: Lehmbauten der Dritten Welt_. Basel. - -------------------------------------------------------- Richard S. Ellis Office: (610) 526-5342 Department of Classical and Fax: (610) 526-7475 Near Eastern Archaeology Internet: rellis@cc.brynmawr.edu Bryn Mawr College 101 N. Merion Avenue Bryn Mawr, PA 19010 - -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: ic@maties.sun.ac.za Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 17:08 GMT+200 Subject: X-Mailer: Netmail V3.00 Can anybody help me? - I want to purchase H. Schneider's Shabtis (1979) which are out of print/not available anywhere! DR. I. Cornelius Ancient Near Eastern Studies University of Stellenbosch Cape of Good Hope South Africa THANKS! ------------------------------ End of Ancient Near East Digest V1 #64 ************************************** To subscribe to ANE-Digest, send the command: subscribe ANE-digest in the body of a message to "Majordomo@oi.uchicago.edu". 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