With topics ranging from social and economic history to literature, language, and to art history and arachaeology, the essays in his book reflect the broad spectrum of interests of its honoree, Benjamin R. Foster.
Over the course of three centuries, Yale has been actively and seriously engaged in Near Eastern learning, in both senses of the term-training students in the knowledge and skills needed to understand the languages and civilizations of the region, and supporting generations of scholars renowned for their erudition and pathbreaking research. This book traces the history of these endeavors through extensive use of unpublished archival materials, including letters, diaries, and records of institutional decisions. Developments at Yale are set against the wider background of changing American attitudes toward the Near East, as well as evolving ideas about the role of the academy and its curriculum in educating undergraduate and graduate students. In the case of the Near East, this also involves considering how several of its disciplines made the transition from biblically motivated enterprises to secular fields of study. Yale has notable firsts to her credit: the first American professional program in Arabic and Sanskrit; the first American learned society and periodical devoted to Oriental subjects; the first American research institutes in Jerusalem and Baghdad; the first American university to have endowed funds to establish and curate one of the world's largest collections of cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals. Yet at the same time, especially over the past half-century, Yale has found it challenging to deal administratively with a small humanities department whose standards and philosophy of teaching and learning seemed increasingly at odds with trends in the university as a whole. This book places these tensions in the context of Yale's responses to post-World War 2 interest in the modern Middle East, the rise of government-supported "area studies," and the consequences of American military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Numerous illustrations, many of them previously unpublished and drawn from a wide range of source material, round out the portrait of three centuries of Near Eastern learning at Yale.
This volume publishes hand copies of 292 cuneiform texts in the Yale Babylonian Collection dating to the Sargonic and Pre-Sargonic periods. It continues publication of the Pre-Ur III texts begun by George Hackman and Ferris Stephens in the series Babylonian lnscriptions in the Collection of J. B. Nies, volume 8. The tablet copies presented here include accounts and records from Isin, Nippur, Shuruppak, Umma, Zabala, Girsu, Umma, Lagash, Eshnunna, and Kish, as well as the Mesag archive.
An appreciation of the beautiful, iconic, and endangered Eastern Hemlock and what it means to nature and society The Eastern Hemlock, massive and majestic, has played a unique role in structuring northeastern forest environments, from Nova Scotia to Wisconsin and through the Appalachian Mountains to North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. A “foundation species” influencing all the species in the ecosystem surrounding it, this iconic North American tree has long inspired poets and artists as well as naturalists and scientists. Five thousand years ago, the hemlock collapsed as a result of abrupt global climate change. Now this iconic tree faces extinction once again because of an invasive insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid. Drawing from a century of studies at Harvard University’s Harvard Forest, one of the most well-regarded long-term ecological research programs in North America, the authors explore what hemlock’s modern decline can tell us about the challenges facing nature and society in an era of habitat changes and fragmentation, as well as global change.
The Age of Agade is the first book-length study of the Akkadian period of Mesopotamian history, which saw the rise and fall of the world’s first empire during more than a century of extraordinary political, social, and cultural innovation. It draws together more than 40 years of research by one of the world’s leading experts in Assyriology to offer an exhaustive survey of the Akkadian empire. Addressing all aspects of the empire, including its statecraft and military, territory and cities, arts, religion, economy, and production, The Age of Agade considers what can be said of Akkadian political and social history, material culture, and daily life. A final chapter also explores how the empire has been presented in modern historiography, from the decipherment of cuneiform to the present, including the extensive research of Soviet historians, summarized here in English for the first time. Drawing on contemporaneous written and artifactual sources, as well as relevant materials from succeeding generations, Foster introduces the reader to the wealth of evidence available. Accessibly written by a specialist in the field, this book is an engaging examination of a critical era in the history of early Mesopotamia.
In Civilizations of Ancient Iraq, Benjamin and Karen Foster tell the fascinating story of ancient Mesopotamia from the earliest settlements ten thousand years ago to the Arab conquest in the seventh century. Accessible and concise, this is the most up-to-date and authoritative book on the subject. With illustrations of important works of art and architecture in every chapter, the narrative traces the rise and fall of successive civilizations and peoples in Iraq over the course of millennia--from the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians to the Persians, Seleucids, Parthians, and Sassanians. Ancient Iraq was home to remarkable achievements. One of the birthplaces of civilization, it saw the world's earliest cities and empires, writing and literature, science and mathematics, monumental art, and innumerable other innovations. Civilizations of Ancient Iraq gives special attention to these milestones, as well as to political, social, and economic history. And because archaeology is the source of almost everything we know about ancient Iraq, the book includes an epilogue on the discovery and fate of its antiquities. Compelling and timely, Civilizations of Ancient Iraq is an essential guide to understanding Mesopotamia's central role in the development of human culture.
This book is the first authoritative and up-to-date survey of the history of Iraq from earliest times to the present in any language. It presents a concise narrative of the rich and varied history of this land, drawing on political, social, economic, artistic, technological, and intellectual material. It also includes excerpts from works of ancient, medieval, and modern literature written in Iraq, some of which are translated for the first time into English.The final chapters provide an introduction to the history of archaeology in Iraq, set in the wider context of the development of archaeology into a scientific discipline. A special section highlights selected objects from the Iraq Museum, with emphasis on their cultural significance and current status in the aftermath of the looting in April 2003. The last chapter offers a unique guide to the complex international and national legal regimes for the protection of cultural heritage.The American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq are a turning point in Iraq's modern history, with important cultural consequences for all periods of its past. For all who seek to understand more fully the current situation, this book includes discussion of cultural and legal issues of the war and occupation, placing recent events in their full context.
This volume publishes hand copies of 292 cuneiform texts in the Yale Babylonian Collection dating to the Sargonic and Pre-Sargonic periods. It continues publication of the Pre-Ur III texts begun by George Hackman and Ferris Stephens in the series Babylonian lnscriptions in the Collection of J. B. Nies, volume 8. The tablet copies presented here include accounts and records from Isin, Nippur, Shuruppak, Umma, Zabala, Girsu, Umma, Lagash, Eshnunna, and Kish, as well as the Mesag archive.
This fascinating monograph is filled with information formerly found only in periodicals and symposia proceedings. Chapters discuss the different models of cerebral ischemia in use today, including their advantages and disadvantages. This one-of-a-kind resource also contains essential chapters on cellular mechanisms of ion and acid-base homeostases, and energy metabolism of the ischemic brain. It reviews the possible role of lipids, free fatty acids, and free radicals. Four chapters are devoted to neurotransmitters and neuroregulators in cerebral ischemia. This extraordinary work also covers aspects of protection against and resuscitation from cerebral ischemia. An extremely informative volume, this book is an absolute must for every student in the field of cerebral ischemia, as well as the clinician or scientist who is already involved with this worldwide problem.
Over the course of three centuries, Yale has been actively and seriously engaged in Near Eastern learning, in both senses of the term-training students in the knowledge and skills needed to understand the languages and civilizations of the region, and supporting generations of scholars renowned for their erudition and pathbreaking research. This book traces the history of these endeavors through extensive use of unpublished archival materials, including letters, diaries, and records of institutional decisions. Developments at Yale are set against the wider background of changing American attitudes toward the Near East, as well as evolving ideas about the role of the academy and its curriculum in educating undergraduate and graduate students. In the case of the Near East, this also involves considering how several of its disciplines made the transition from biblically motivated enterprises to secular fields of study. Yale has notable firsts to her credit: the first American professional program in Arabic and Sanskrit; the first American learned society and periodical devoted to Oriental subjects; the first American research institutes in Jerusalem and Baghdad; the first American university to have endowed funds to establish and curate one of the world's largest collections of cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals. Yet at the same time, especially over the past half-century, Yale has found it challenging to deal administratively with a small humanities department whose standards and philosophy of teaching and learning seemed increasingly at odds with trends in the university as a whole. This book places these tensions in the context of Yale's responses to post-World War 2 interest in the modern Middle East, the rise of government-supported "area studies," and the consequences of American military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Numerous illustrations, many of them previously unpublished and drawn from a wide range of source material, round out the portrait of three centuries of Near Eastern learning at Yale.
Because society is increasingly secular, it may seem irrelevant to consider the psychology of religion. But the diversity of our multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society in fact makes religion more important to the social sciences than it has ever been before. What are the social consequences of religion? Every day the news is full of events that can be blamed on religion perpetrated by a range of groups from whole societies to individuals. Beit-Hallami and Argyle are renowned for their clear, analytical approach to topics and this new, state-of-the-art study of psychology and religion is no exception. It will be welcomed as an update to their previous work in the area by social psychologists, sociologists and theologians worldwide.
This volume continues publication of the Sargonic tablets from Telloh in the Istanbul Archeological Museums begun with STTI in 1982. Presenting transliterations of 693 texts from this site, it represents a further step towards meaningful engagement with the Sargonic records from Girsu.
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