In many Babylonian sales, loan, and other economic texts dated to Achaemenid period there appear several terms qualifying silver such as ša ginnu, pisû, ša ina išten šiqil bitqa and nuhhutu. However, the meanings and usage of these terms are by no means clear. The purpose of this study is to clarify the meanings of these terms and to suggest possible implications of their usage against the commercial background in Babylonia under the rule of Darius I.
As the results of the examination of these terms in some 320 economic texts written during the reign of Darius I, I would like to suggest the following.
(1) ša ginnu, “(silver) with ginnu-mark, ” occurs alone in most of its appearances. The term probably means silver with an official guarantee concerning the purity of the metal.
(2) pisû, “white” silver, occurs together with any of the qualifying terms examined in this study except ša ginnu. The term indicates “white (silver)” which is often followed in apposition by more specific qualifiers: ša ina išten šiqil bitqa and/or nuhhutu.
(3) ša ina išten šiqil bitqa, “(silver) which has 1/8 alloys per 1 shekel, ” that is 87.5% pure silver. The term may not, however, indicate a specific purity but simply “pure silver” good enough to be circulated. Actually, most of the silver objects in hoards are known to have a higher percentage of purity.
(4) nuhhutu, “cut-off (silver), ” occurs with ša ina išten šiqil bitqa in most of the cases but not with ša ginnu! In other words a piece of cut-off silver cannot be “silver with ginnu-mark” or with an official guarantee so that it needs some assurance regarding its purity. Hence, the appearance of nuhhutu in combination with pisû and/or ša ina išten šiqil bitqa.
(5) Observations (1) through (4) lead me to posit that there were two types of silver in circulation in Babylonia during the reign of Darius I, the silver with a ginnu-mark (ša ginnu) on the one hand and the white (pisû) silver on the other hand which was often a cut-off (nuhhutu) piece from a silver utensil or even a silver coin minted in other countries but was pure enough (ša ina išten šiqil bitqa) to be circulated. This in turn would suggest that there existed a complex commercial situation in Babylonia at the time of Darius I particulaly in silver in circulation.

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Byzantine emperor Leon III (717-741) is well known as the emperor who introduced the official policy of Iconoclasm, and who was successful in repulsing the Arab raids which had started since the first half of the seventh century. At the fact that he was a Strategos (Chief General) of the theme (Byzantine land army) of the Anatolikon before he became an emperor, modern scholars have often regarded him as a soldier emperor.
Once we examine his career in detail, however, we notice that his experience as a soldier or general is quite limited. Nevertheless, it can be pointed out that Leon III had a close relation with the fleet. For when he commanded the Byzantine army during the second Arab siege of Constantinople (717-718), he took a direct command over the fleet, not the land army. Therefore, in this paper, I will analyze the relation between Leon III and the Byzantine fleet.
The Byzantine fleet was strengthened in the middle of the seventh century in order to counter the Arab fleet, which became offensive in the Mediterranean Sea at that time. During the seventh century, there were two Byzantine fleets in the Mediterranean Sea: one was the Carabisianoi, which had a control of the eastern Mediterranean, and the other was the Sicilian fleet controlling the central Mediterranean.
During the reign of the Leon III, the Carabisianoi were divided. One reason for the division was that the Carabisianoi, as well as the theme of the Opsikion, raised a number of rebellions against the emperors. Although it had posed more serious threat to the Byzantine throne, the theme of Opsikion was not divided during the reign of the Leon III. So the question arises why Leon III divided only the Carabisianoi.
The reason can be traced in the situation of the war against the Arabs. In his time, the Arab army was raiding the Asia Minor almost every year. Under such a situation, it was impossible to divide the Opsikion. However, the action of the Arab fleet was stagnant in the eastern Mediterranean. This is why Leon III was able to divide the Carabisianoi.
In the central Mediterranean, the Sicilian fleet fought against the Arab fleet, which was based in North Africa (Ifriqiyah), which was conquered by the Arabs at the end of seventh century. The Arab fleet of Ifriqiyah barraged Sicily and Sardinia during the reign of Leon III, though this attack was far from successful and received a counterattack by the Byzantine fleet of Sicily, for the Sicilian fleet was strengthened especially in the 730s. Toward the end of his reign, the Sicilian fleet came to overwhelm the Arab fleet in the central Mediterranean.
In this way, the time of Leon III saw the Byzantine fleet gain a notable victory over the Arab fleet. Leon III himself had a great interest in the Byzantine fleet. It was one of the main policies of the Byzantine emperors in the seventh century to put more importance on the role of the fleet. Taking in consideration that he was the last emperor who took over that policy, we can call appropriately Leon III the last “soldier emperor of the sea.”

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The present article presents a discussion on the silk fabrics which were used and produced in Sogdiana. The Sogdians were not only traders, but also users of Chinese and Persian brocades. On Sogdian mural paintings we can see Sogdians with clothes made of polychrome silks (_??_jin). At the same time the Sogdians were producers of brocade, and it is suggested here that one group of that kind of textiles unearthed in Turfan was manufactured in Sogdiana. In this article the so-called “Zandaniji” silks are not mentioned, because their identification with actual textiles is problematic.
The Sogdian wall paintings from Pendzhikent, Afrasiab and Varakhsha show a series of patterned textiles which became popular there from the 6th to the first half of the 8th centuries (Fig. 1-2). In the 6th and 7th centuries textiles were patterned with small ornaments. From the second half of the 7th century large ornaments came into fashion, and in the Afrasiab mural, datable from around 660, the costumes are filled with Sasanian patterns (animal motifs encircled in pearl roundels). Chinese damask (_??_ ling) and Tang rosette silks (_??__??__??__??__??_ bao xiang hua wen jin) appear in the paintings of the early 8th century. In the murals from the middle of the 8th century animal motifs in medallions are no longer to be seen and are replacecd by flowers (Marshak 2001).
In two cases it is possible to determine the place of origin of the textiles depicted on murals. Firstly, as monochrome damask and Tang rosette silks are specific products of China, those depicted on the murals are surely Chinese. Secondly, studying the textile motifs in the Afrasiab painting (Fig. 2, Left), M. Mode had identified them as Sasanian textiles. In his opinion, Senmurv (mythical creature), which is one of the animals represented on brocades in the Afrasiab mural, is a motif specific to Sasanian art. When comparable animals are depicted in Sogdian art (wall paintings and silver vessels) they are not the Senmurv, but winged camels or winged lions. The brocades with various animal motifs on the Afrasiab painting have an unity, and all of them are undoubtedly Sasanian.

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In Islamic jurisprudence, hiyal (sg. hila) signify “legal devices, ” or skills used to achieve a certain objective through legal methods. They were not ipso facto “evasions of law” as have been understood. It was common to consult with jurists about certain devices to solve legal problems in daily life. Not to neglect is that hiyal were produced as a result of jurists' ever-lasting endeavor to solve all possible problems using all possibilities allowed by the doctrine, and that they therefore made up an authentic part of jurisprudence except some controversial cases. Among the Sunni schools of law, the Hanafis sanctioned h (iyal most extensively, but the Shafi⁽is and the Hanbalis, even though criticizing some evasions of law, pursued hiyal within the framework of their jurisprudence. It is only the Malikis of whom no single work on hiyal is known. They adopted the principle of “blocking ways (sadd al-dhara⁾i⁽)” which run against hiyal. Moreover, they never used the term “hiyal” in their legal discussion. However, we cannot conclude that the Malikis had nothing to do with hiyal which played an important role in the development of Islamic jurisprudence, if we examine the Mudawwana.
The Mudawwana, ascribed to Sahnun (d. 240/855), a Maliki jurist and qadi under the Aghlabids, is one of the oldest Islamic legal texts. This text shows that jurisprudence in Qairawan had much in common with its Hanafi counterpart in Baghdad as formulated in the Asl. As one of the most important works of Shaybani (d. 189/805), the Asl represents the authoritative transmission of Hanafi doctrine in all fields of law, including hiyal. For this reason, we find many discussions common to Hanafi hiyal-literature and the Mudawwana. These discussions fall into two groups.
In the first group, the hiyal suggested by the Hanafis are rejected as invalid by Malik or his disciple, Ibn al-Qasim (d. 191/806), who was the teacher of Sahnun. The basis of this rejection seems to be the Maliki principle of sadd al-dhara⁾i⁽, i. e. “blocking roads” that probably lead to an evil end. In the second group, however, Malik or Ibn Qasim, without using the term hiyal, gives his own solutions, and they, in some cases, differ from those of the Hanafis, and, in other cases, agree with them.

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In my previous papers, I demonstrated how Zoroastrianism changed drastically after the downfall of the Sasanian dynasty. I have indeed made clear the substance of change in the following three points; (1) Until the 16^th century, Zoroastrian priests split into three groups: according to my classification based on the geographical location the Yazd-Kermanian group, the Gujaratian group and the Shirazian group; (2) Among them, the Shirazian Zoroastrians might take over the Greek-philosophical tradition of the medieval Zoroastrian church; and (3) the leader of the Shirazian Zoroastrians Azar Kayvan had necessarily read Sufi writings but considered himself the true successor to ancient Zoroastrianism. But the cause (s) of these changes still remain unsettled.
In this paper, I will deal with a main cause. It is difficult to explain these drastic changes of modern Zoroastrianism without supposing any outside stimulus, and this view should lead us to think that some political or social affairs played important role in establishing the new phase in the history of Zoroastrianism. If we are to seek political affairs relative to Zoroastrian community in Iran and India, we will find the enthronement of Akbar in Mughal India and its serious impact on Zoroastrian messianism.
In this connection, I will attempt to show that there are many inherent incentives in Zoroastrian messianism after the downfall of the Sasanian dynasty until the 16^th century, and Akbar's enthronement functions as a last stimulus for Zoroastrian messianism to take on a new aspect. This transformation, in its turn, has influence on the other thoughts of the Shirazian Zoroastrians, and indication of such facts justifies my assumption. Having said above, I conclude that the transformation of Zoroastrian messianism in Mughal India may be the main cause of the drastic changes in modern Zoroastrianism.

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In the middle of the first millennium B. C., South Arabian kingdoms flourished, not only as a major source of frankincense and myrrh but also as an entrepot of various incense from the eastern coast of Africa and the countries beyond the Indian Ocean. Egypt was one of the most important consumers of the incense throughout antiquity, and how the long-distance trade between South Arabia and Egypt was done actually is of much note. In this article, the relations between ancient Egypt and South Arabia will be considered by using archaeological and epigraphical sources from both Egypt and Yemen.
Except the coffin of a Minaean, all South Arabic inscriptions from Egypt were found in the Eastern Desert, on the ancient route either between Qift (Coptos) and Qusayr (Myos Hormos) or between Qift and Berenike. Though it is impossible to date three inscriptions from the former route, one of them is supposed to be incised after the third century A. D. One from the latter route was incised by a Minaean. Himyarite symbols from the same route suggest that it was used by the Himyarites around the fourth century A. D. From Qusayr al-Qadim, a pottery sherd with a South Arabic graffito was excavated and it mostly belongs to the first century A. D.
Greek inscriptions from Egypt show the existence of a Greek-Egyptian who returned from South Arabia to Idfu (Apollinopolis Magna) via Berenike in the Hellenistic period, and also that of a merchant of Aden who was active in Berenike and Qift between 54 and 70 A. D.
As for South Arabic inscriptions referring to Egypt (Msr), the texts date back from the fifth century B. C. to the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period, and are all Minaean. Together with Msr, they exhibit the names of the caravan cities (Didan, Yathrib, Ghazza etc.) which Minaeans visited on their way to Egypt.
Summing up the information from those materials, the following conclusions can be drawn.
1. Before the Ptolemaic Period, the Minaean merchants came to Egypt via the inland route of Arabia which ran along the Red Sea coast, and most probably they entered Egypt by way of Ghazza.
2. After the foundations of the Egyptian Red Sea ports by Ptolemy II, it seems that Minaeans used the Berenike-Coptos route as well as the Arabian inland route to enter Egypt. A route to Idfu was also available from Berenike. Until this period, it seems that a considerable number of Minaeans were staying in Egypt.
3. In the Roman Period, the main transportation route between South Arabia and Egypt was the seaway. Among the Egyptian ports, Berenike and Qusayr were the most utilized for loading and unloading the merchandise from South Arabia, and for other purpose.

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In the Islamic period, Egyptian society was controlled by the cycle of the Nilotic fluctuation without changing from the Pharaonic period. The Nile's annual flood usually reached 16 cubit measure on the Nilometer so called the level of wafa⁾ al-Nil (plentitude of the Nile) in the middle of the Coptic last month Misra (in the end of July or the beginning of August). The festival of wafa⁾ al-Nil was held because people in this society regarded the filled Nile as the requirement of their sufficient winter harvest. Consequently, they fixed their eyes on the rise of the Nile's water and looked forward to wafa⁾ al-Nil.
The festival consisted of two rituals, one was takhliq al-Migyas (perfuming the Nilometer) to perfume the column in the well and its walls of the Nilometer in Rawda island by saffron, the other was fath al-khalij (opening the canal) to open the earth dam built at the mouth of Khalij al-Qahira (Cairo canal) and introduce the Nile's water into the canal. The festival was the expression of the gratitude for the grace of Allah and the important partition of the year, showing the beginning of the irrigation, and announcing new agricultural season. For this reason, every Islamic dynasty ruling Egypt considered this festival important, and every monarch had administrated by his own hand since the Fatimid Caliph al-Mu⁽izz entered Cairo in 362/973.
As for the Burji Mamluk period, we can find, from narratives of chronicles, that sultan administered this festival from the reign of Sultan Barquq to that of Sultan Mu⁾ayyad Shaykh. However, on the other hand, we can also find that sultan's oldest son who had the title of maqam (crown prince) administered it after 826/1423 until 864/1460, between the reign of Sultan Barsbay and that of Sultan Inal.
This important suggestion that maqam involved in the festival as the administrator has never been pointed out before, although some researches deal with this festival. Moreover, maqam as the title has been paid no attention even in the studies of the Mamluk dominion. Therefore, this thesis aims to clarify the background of this issue, investigating the significant connection between the succession to the throne and the role of maqam.

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There are various kinds of kitab (“what is written”, or “book”) in Islamic thought. In the Qur'an are to be found the Heavenly Tablet, the Record Book and some Scriptures such as Zabur (the Psalms), Tawrah (the Torah), Injil (the Gospel) and the Qur'an. The two former parts are what we can call ‘invisible kitab’ because it is thought that the Heavenly Tablet is located near Allah in Heaven, and that the Record Book is usually kept by angels. On the other hand, we can call the Qur'an as a ‘visible kitab’ because it is a scripture sent down from Heaven to Earth. In this paper, it is pointed out that these kitabs are closely linked to the concept of predestination in Islamic thought.
Firstly, the relationship between the Heavenly Tablet and the Record Book will be focused on. It is thought that every decree of every creature, which will occur until the Last Day, i. e. predestination (qadar), was written on the Heavenly Tablet with a pen according to God's order. In the Record Book, all human deeds are written by angels, and will be used to judge the person to decide whether they should go to heaven or hell on the Last Day. The content of the Record Book is included in the Heavenly Tablet with the same words. Therefore, we could say that not only the Heavenly Tablet but also the Record Book exist within range of predestination by God.
As for the Qur'an, we can discover the linkage to the concept of predestination in the theory of sending down of the Qur'an (inzal), which is the revelation theory in Islamic thought. It is thought that the Qur'an was sent down in full from the Heavenly Tablet to the lowest heaven on the Night of Qadr, and then from the lowest heaven to the earth piece by piece, depending on situations which occurred in Muhammad's community. However, there is another opinion which says that the Qur'an was sent down to the lowest heaven on the Night of the Middle of the Month of Sha'ban. Both nights are considered to have a relationship to the concept of predestination because for each of the nights there are traditions which indicate that decrees for the following year are decided. Besides, the term ‘qadr’, which means power, is very close to the term ‘qadar’, predestination, and there is a verse in the Qur'an which suggests that the Qur'an was sent down on the Night of Qadr (Q. 97: 1), so it came to be believed as true that on this night the Qur'an was sent down. On the other hand, the Night of the Middle of the Month of Sha'ban also has reason to be regarded as the night when the Qur'an was sent down; there are traditions that on this night Allah comes down to the lowest heaven and forgives human beings, giving merciful gifts such as the Qur'an and so on. This image is very close to the theory of the sending down of the Qur'an to the lowest heaven, however this is not accepted as a correct theory. Through both of these illustrations, we can say that in both theories, there is deep linkage to the concept of predestination.
So far, it is clear that the concepts of ‘predestination’ and ‘kitab’ exist side by side in Islamic thought and closely match one another.

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In the Twelver Shi'i belief, the reports (ahadith/akhbar), are considered to be authoritative sources of religious and legal guidance. In the Usuli legal school of thought, the categorization of a report to obtain legal knowledge is based heavily on an assessment of the reliability of its transmitters. It is the so-called rijal books that gives the information about the transmitters. That is why emphasis has been given to rijal books along with collections and records of reports and many works on this subject have been written from the early days of Shi'i history. However, the Akhbari scholars criticized the Usuli method of determining the reliability of transmitters through information given in rijal texts. They said that the categorization of reports based on the reliability of transmitters was assumptive and not objective, and therefore could not be trusted.
In this article, so-called four Shi'i fundamental rijal books are analyzed. These texts were written or composed by classical Shi'i scholars (al-qudama') in Baghdad in the 1^st half of the 5^th A. H./11^th century. They won great popularity among Usuli scholars and regarded the earliest and most reliable sources of information on the direct or contemporary transmitters of Imams' sayings. They had great influence on the assessment of transmitters in later rijal texts as well.
Through a comparison of these books, it is apparent that the judgement of the transmitters in these four fundamental rijal books is not so consistent, categorically or in norm, as has been claimed in the Usuli scholars. These books could be similar to the Sunni rijal books in style but different in element and motive. For Twelver Shi'a, rijal books give the information about al-nass that makes the absolute knowledge from Imams continuously existent among the people.

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There have been some studies of the Qajar dynasty which have highlighted political figures by examining each one of them from various points of view. It is thought that in addition to the analysis of historical events of significance, such studies are also needed to understand the Qajar political history. In this paper, I will examine the early political career of Hosein Qoli Khan-e Mafi, who was Prime Minister at the beginning of the twentieth century, and depict his growth process as a political figure.
In his early political life, Hosein Qoli worked under Hesam al-Saltaneh one of the influential members of the Royal Family. He served Hesam al-Saltaneh mainly as a secretary at first, and later as a provincial governor's agent in Tehran and as a chief official of Esfahan. He also managed Hesam al-Saltaneh's private property, which involved dealing with a merchant and attempting to purchase estates for his master's fortune.
After about fifteen years' service, Hosein Qoli was forced to leave Hesam al-Saltaneh because of human relation troubles in the political arena: the rivalry between Hesam al-Saltaneh and the prime minister and the rivalry among the people serving Hesam al-Saltaneh.
It was normal for those people like Hosein Qoli, who were neither members of the Royal Family nor members of another influential family to serve and work under a politically powerful person. Through his experience under Hesam al-Saltaneh, Hosein Qoli learned administrative work, the economic life of those in power, and the way in which human relations in the political world worked.

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