This paper focuses on stratification and role of the elite Muslim women in the State of Awadh during the second-half of the eighteenth, and first-half of nineteenth century India. It evaluates the categorization of women associated with the court and the division of political and domestic power among them. It also seeks their economic resources and their contribution in fields of art and architecture. The study finds that the first category of royal women of Awadh, including queen mothers and chief wives, enjoyed a powerful position in the state-matters unlike many other states of the time in India. Besides a high cadre of royal ladies, three more cadres of royal women existed in Awadh’s court with multiple ratios of power and economic resources. Elite women’s input and backing to various genres of art, language and culture resulted in growth of Urdu poetry, prose, drama and music in addition to religious architecture. The paper has been produced on the basis of primary and secondary sources. It includes the historical accounts, written by contemporary historians as well as cultural writings, produced by poets and literary figures of the time, besides letters and other writings of the rulers of Awadh. The writings produced by the British travelers, used in this paper, have further provided an insightful picture and a distinctive perspective.
{"title":"Stratification and Role of the Elite Muslim Women in the State of Awadh, 1742-1857","authors":"Naumana Kiran","doi":"10.30958/ajhis.7-4-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.7-4-2","url":null,"abstract":"This paper focuses on stratification and role of the elite Muslim women in the State of Awadh during the second-half of the eighteenth, and first-half of nineteenth century India. It evaluates the categorization of women associated with the court and the division of political and domestic power among them. It also seeks their economic resources and their contribution in fields of art and architecture. The study finds that the first category of royal women of Awadh, including queen mothers and chief wives, enjoyed a powerful position in the state-matters unlike many other states of the time in India. Besides a high cadre of royal ladies, three more cadres of royal women existed in Awadh’s court with multiple ratios of power and economic resources. Elite women’s input and backing to various genres of art, language and culture resulted in growth of Urdu poetry, prose, drama and music in addition to religious architecture. The paper has been produced on the basis of primary and secondary sources. It includes the historical accounts, written by contemporary historians as well as cultural writings, produced by poets and literary figures of the time, besides letters and other writings of the rulers of Awadh. The writings produced by the British travelers, used in this paper, have further provided an insightful picture and a distinctive perspective.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"87 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127544176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper shows that the overall situation in the Pannonian-Balkan area led to the facts in the 14th-16th centuries on the background of which the Romanian medieval states were formed and consolidated. The origins of these facts derive from the interactions between the first Hungarian tribes who came to the Pannonian area and the situation that was encountered here, which can be staged as follows: the first stage is related to the arrival of the Hungarian tribes from the northern part of Europe and the conquest of the territory between the eastern Alps and the Dniester; the second stage is the period between the Christianization of the Hungarian King Stephen and the arrival of the Angevins. The second and the third period, post-Angevin, or rather Sigismundian-Lazarević, are epochs of colonization of different populations from the Germanic, North Pontic or Balkan space that are integrated into the noble structure of the Kingdom, consolidating its authority. The expansion of Serbian civilization came after the claim to the throne of Hungary of the Serbian King Stefan Dragutin when the Árpád dynasty came to end. Thus, the medieval Romanian Orthodox states, the Romanian Country-Wallachia and Moldavia are the rest of Andrew III’s, the last of Árpádian’s posterity of his Serbian posterity, and catholic Hungary, the rest of his Angevin Posterity.
{"title":"Serbian Royal Right to the Throne of Hungary at the Basis of the Formation of Medieval Romanian Orthodox States","authors":"Ştefan Stareţu","doi":"10.30958/ajhis.7-3-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.7-3-3","url":null,"abstract":"This paper shows that the overall situation in the Pannonian-Balkan area led to the facts in the 14th-16th centuries on the background of which the Romanian medieval states were formed and consolidated. The origins of these facts derive from the interactions between the first Hungarian tribes who came to the Pannonian area and the situation that was encountered here, which can be staged as follows: the first stage is related to the arrival of the Hungarian tribes from the northern part of Europe and the conquest of the territory between the eastern Alps and the Dniester; the second stage is the period between the Christianization of the Hungarian King Stephen and the arrival of the Angevins. The second and the third period, post-Angevin, or rather Sigismundian-Lazarević, are epochs of colonization of different populations from the Germanic, North Pontic or Balkan space that are integrated into the noble structure of the Kingdom, consolidating its authority. The expansion of Serbian civilization came after the claim to the throne of Hungary of the Serbian King Stefan Dragutin when the Árpád dynasty came to end. Thus, the medieval Romanian Orthodox states, the Romanian Country-Wallachia and Moldavia are the rest of Andrew III’s, the last of Árpádian’s posterity of his Serbian posterity, and catholic Hungary, the rest of his Angevin Posterity.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126883089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Claims that Herodotus reveals himself as a proto-biographer are not yet widely accepted. To advance this claim, I have selected one man, Alexander I, who finds himself and his kingdom caught in the middle of the Greco-Persian Wars and whose activities are recounted in the Histories. It is to a near contemporary, Heraclitus, to whom we attribute the maxim—character is human destiny. It is the truth of this maxim—which implies effective human agency—that makes Herodotus’ creation of historical narrative possible. He is often read for his off-topic vignettes, which colour-in the character of the individuals depicted without necessarily advancing his narrative. But by hop scotching through five of the nine books of the Histories, we can assemble a largely continuous narrative for this remarkable individual. This narrative permits us to attribute both credit and moral responsibility for his actions. Arguably, this implied causation demonstrates that Herodotus’ writings include much that amounts to proto-biography.
{"title":"Alexander of Macedon: An Early Biography","authors":"Oliver R. Baker","doi":"10.30958/ajhis.7-3-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.7-3-4","url":null,"abstract":"Claims that Herodotus reveals himself as a proto-biographer are not yet widely accepted. To advance this claim, I have selected one man, Alexander I, who finds himself and his kingdom caught in the middle of the Greco-Persian Wars and whose activities are recounted in the Histories. It is to a near contemporary, Heraclitus, to whom we attribute the maxim—character is human destiny. It is the truth of this maxim—which implies effective human agency—that makes Herodotus’ creation of historical narrative possible. He is often read for his off-topic vignettes, which colour-in the character of the individuals depicted without necessarily advancing his narrative. But by hop scotching through five of the nine books of the Histories, we can assemble a largely continuous narrative for this remarkable individual. This narrative permits us to attribute both credit and moral responsibility for his actions. Arguably, this implied causation demonstrates that Herodotus’ writings include much that amounts to proto-biography.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115586596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Beer Sheba in the Byzantine period was a large and important city in the province of Palestine Tertia. It served as an administrative, religious, and military center, and seat of the Roman military commander of Palestine. Beer Sheva is mentioned in many sources, including historical texts, epigraphic sources, and archaeological research. In recent years, following archaeological excavations conducted at the city's new transportation center have been uncovered Be'er Sheva's Byzantine residential neighborhoods. These excavations open a new window into the daily life of the city, in a way that did not exist before. The residential neighborhoods surrounded the city center to the north, east, and west and included buildings built on local loess soil and complexes dug within it. Industrial areas and large cemeteries with hundreds of tombs were located around the city. The state historical and archaeological research to date does not allow for a complete picture of the city in the Byzantine period. This article centralizes and summarizes most of the work on the subject to date and brings new insights to Byzantine Beer Sheva.
{"title":"Byzantine Archaeological Remains in Beer Sheva, Israel","authors":"D. Varga, Svetlana Talis","doi":"10.30958/ajhis.7-3-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.7-3-2","url":null,"abstract":"Beer Sheba in the Byzantine period was a large and important city in the province of Palestine Tertia. It served as an administrative, religious, and military center, and seat of the Roman military commander of Palestine. Beer Sheva is mentioned in many sources, including historical texts, epigraphic sources, and archaeological research. In recent years, following archaeological excavations conducted at the city's new transportation center have been uncovered Be'er Sheva's Byzantine residential neighborhoods. These excavations open a new window into the daily life of the city, in a way that did not exist before. The residential neighborhoods surrounded the city center to the north, east, and west and included buildings built on local loess soil and complexes dug within it. Industrial areas and large cemeteries with hundreds of tombs were located around the city. The state historical and archaeological research to date does not allow for a complete picture of the city in the Byzantine period. This article centralizes and summarizes most of the work on the subject to date and brings new insights to Byzantine Beer Sheva.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130797156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
An examination of the historical and political background of Athens, combined with close readings of several Athenian ἐπίνητρα whose dates span the Late Archaic after the institution of democratic rule and Classical Periods, reveals the possibility that the iconography conveys targeted messages to women consumers – who although perhaps not the purchasers of the ἐπίνητρα, are certainly the ones using them – that their their textile contributions to the πόλις (city-state) play a role in the continued success of Athenian democracy.
{"title":"Weaving the Body Politic: The Role of Textile Production in Athenian Democracy as Expressed by the Function of and Imagery on the Éπίνητρον","authors":"D. Gilby","doi":"10.30958/ajhis.7-3-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.7-3-1","url":null,"abstract":"An examination of the historical and political background of Athens, combined with close readings of several Athenian ἐπίνητρα whose dates span the Late Archaic after the institution of democratic rule and Classical Periods, reveals the possibility that the iconography conveys targeted messages to women consumers – who although perhaps not the purchasers of the ἐπίνητρα, are certainly the ones using them – that their their textile contributions to the πόλις (city-state) play a role in the continued success of Athenian democracy.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129522553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article examines what the author argues is Ovid's accidental discovery of gender dysphoria with recourse to an incident in the Metamorphoses. The author argues that Ovid has accidentally discovered gender dysphoria as evidenced through the character of Iphis in Book IX of the Metamorphoses. It is unlikely that Ovid could have imagined the ramifications of such a “discovery”; however, the “symptoms” described in his narrative match exceedingly closely with modern, clinical definitions. These are explored in the article along with how Ovid may have, through personal experience, been able to achieve such a penetrating, albeit accidental, insight. The wider, epistemological context of this topic is considered alongside Ovid's personal circumstances which may have contributed to his unique understanding of a condition that modern science has only recently identified.
{"title":"The Iphis Incident: Ovid’s Accidental Discovery of Gender Dysphoria","authors":"K. Moore","doi":"10.30958/AJHIS.7-2-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/AJHIS.7-2-1","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines what the author argues is Ovid's accidental discovery of gender dysphoria with recourse to an incident in the Metamorphoses. The author argues that Ovid has accidentally discovered gender dysphoria as evidenced through the character of Iphis in Book IX of the Metamorphoses. It is unlikely that Ovid could have imagined the ramifications of such a “discovery”; however, the “symptoms” described in his narrative match exceedingly closely with modern, clinical definitions. These are explored in the article along with how Ovid may have, through personal experience, been able to achieve such a penetrating, albeit accidental, insight. The wider, epistemological context of this topic is considered alongside Ovid's personal circumstances which may have contributed to his unique understanding of a condition that modern science has only recently identified.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115042537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The elusive populist phenomenon has been the focus of numerous studies in recent years, with the reliance of populism on divisive and aggressive rhetoric being acknowledged. The paper aims to apply these findings to the Athenian forensic rhetoric and identify manifestations of populist rhetoric in the antagonistic arena of Athenian courts. By reference to the most ‘political’ of public trials, namely the indictments against inexpedient laws and illegal decrees, it is argued that the rhetorical strategies employed by the Athenian litigants who sought to persuade mass audiences in a zero-sum process, have much in common with modern populist discourse. Aiming to secure the good will of the dicasts, speakers competed over their level of adherence to the shared traditional values and norms of Athenian society, making the audience the nodal point of their rhetoric. Artfully interpellating the audience into a fictitiously pure and homogeneous group, litigants sought to establish concord with the dicasts while alienating the opponent. The division between the pure demos and the corrupt establishment, allowed the speakers to use a divisive and aggressive rhetoric, through which the adversary was presented as an outsider, representative of the out-group of corrupt political elite who undermined the political and moral principles upon which the Athenian identity was based.
{"title":"Populist Rhetorical Strategies in the Courts of Classical Athens","authors":"V. Adamidis","doi":"10.30958/ajhis.7-1-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.7-1-2","url":null,"abstract":"The elusive populist phenomenon has been the focus of numerous studies in recent years, with the reliance of populism on divisive and aggressive rhetoric being acknowledged. The paper aims to apply these findings to the Athenian forensic rhetoric and identify manifestations of populist rhetoric in the antagonistic arena of Athenian courts. By reference to the most ‘political’ of public trials, namely the indictments against inexpedient laws and illegal decrees, it is argued that the rhetorical strategies employed by the Athenian litigants who sought to persuade mass audiences in a zero-sum process, have much in common with modern populist discourse. Aiming to secure the good will of the dicasts, speakers competed over their level of adherence to the shared traditional values and norms of Athenian society, making the audience the nodal point of their rhetoric. Artfully interpellating the audience into a fictitiously pure and homogeneous group, litigants sought to establish concord with the dicasts while alienating the opponent. The division between the pure demos and the corrupt establishment, allowed the speakers to use a divisive and aggressive rhetoric, through which the adversary was presented as an outsider, representative of the out-group of corrupt political elite who undermined the political and moral principles upon which the Athenian identity was based.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114486540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent work has shown that animal symbols in European Palaeolithic cave art and at two ancient sites in southern Turkey, namely Gobekli Tepe and Catalhoyuk, can be interpreted as star constellations, practically the same constellations we continue to use in Europe today. It appears they were often used to represent dates using precession of the equinoxes, where each animal symbol represents a constellation corresponding to one of the solstices or equinoxes. Here, I trace the evolution of this method for writing dates after Catalhoyuk was abandoned in the 6th millennium BCE through to its last known use in Pictish symbol stones during the 1st millennium AD.
{"title":"Zodiacal Dating Prehistoric Artworks","authors":"M. Sweatman","doi":"10.30958/ajhis.6-3-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.6-3-2","url":null,"abstract":"Recent work has shown that animal symbols in European Palaeolithic cave art and at two ancient sites in southern Turkey, namely Gobekli Tepe and Catalhoyuk, can be interpreted as star constellations, practically the same constellations we continue to use in Europe today. It appears they were often used to represent dates using precession of the equinoxes, where each animal symbol represents a constellation corresponding to one of the solstices or equinoxes. Here, I trace the evolution of this method for writing dates after Catalhoyuk was abandoned in the 6th millennium BCE through to its last known use in Pictish symbol stones during the 1st millennium AD.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"520 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134440487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
From a random sample of five-hundred petitions submitted (1819–1840) by felons convicted at the Old Bailey, only thirty-nine were female petitioners. This approximates the female-male felony ratio of convictions for felonious property crimes in London during this period.1 The thirty-nine female petitioners are the focus of this article. In particular, the article examines evidence and arguments suggesting that ideas of morality and social constructions of femininity and masculinity rather than legality most influenced the outcome of their appeals. Second, the article will examine the extent to which elite decision-makers used their ideals of motherhood, marriage status, and chastity to determine both the credibility of appeals and the moral integrity of the petitioners. Third, the article will examine how constructions of respectability were also applied to those who petitioned on behalf of female convicts and whether these ideas influenced the perception of the petitioner as credible. Ultimately, the article will conclude by assessing the degree to which subjective perceptions of petitioners and prisoners as moral or respectable determined who was deemed "fit subject of mercy." 1. Peter King, Crime and Law in England 1750–1840 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 172–175.
{"title":"Women, Pleas and Property Crime: Understanding the Fortunes of Female Petitioners in London, 1819–1840","authors":"D. Orr","doi":"10.30958/AJHIS.6-2-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/AJHIS.6-2-2","url":null,"abstract":"From a random sample of five-hundred petitions submitted (1819–1840) by felons convicted at the Old Bailey, only thirty-nine were female petitioners. This approximates the female-male felony ratio of convictions for felonious property crimes in London during this period.1 The thirty-nine female petitioners are the focus of this article. In particular, the article examines evidence and arguments suggesting that ideas of morality and social constructions of femininity and masculinity rather than legality most influenced the outcome of their appeals. Second, the article will examine the extent to which elite decision-makers used their ideals of motherhood, marriage status, and chastity to determine both the credibility of appeals and the moral integrity of the petitioners. Third, the article will examine how constructions of respectability were also applied to those who petitioned on behalf of female convicts and whether these ideas influenced the perception of the petitioner as credible. Ultimately, the article will conclude by assessing the degree to which subjective perceptions of petitioners and prisoners as moral or respectable determined who was deemed \"fit subject of mercy.\" \u0000 \u00001. Peter King, Crime and Law in England 1750–1840 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 172–175.","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130128525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The End of the Satrapies: The Date of Alexander IV’s Death","authors":"Harry Tolley","doi":"10.30958/ajhis.5-4-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.5-4-3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":120643,"journal":{"name":"ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124376339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}