Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan
Online ISSN : 1884-1406
Print ISSN : 0030-5219
ISSN-L : 0030-5219
Volume 52, Issue 2
Displaying 1-10 of 10 articles from this issue
Articles
  • A Comparative Analysis with Japanese Constructions
    Akira KOYAMA
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 1-22
    Published: March 31, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 31, 2014
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In Middle Egyptian grammar, the construction known as the emphatic construction is a construction with a focalized adverbial adjunct. Two models have been proposed for the syntactic structure of this construction: the adverbial-sentence model (ASM) of H. J. Polotsky and the nominal-sentence model (NSM) of J. P. Allen.
    Ex. sḳdd t3 ḫft wḏ=k (Peas. B1 298-299)
    It is according to your command (ḫft wḏ=k) that the land sails (sḳdd t3).
    ASM: S ⇒ [sḳdd t3]NP [ḫft wḏ=k]AdvP
    NSM: S ⇒ [sḳdd t3 ḫft wḏ=k]NP
    (AdvP=adverbial phrase; NP=noun phrase)
    Although ASM has a very great influence on current research, the guestion of the relative merits of the two remains controversial. This paper treats this problem through a new approach. It compares these two models and two focus constructions in Japanese: (a) the “wa” cleft sentence corresponding to ASM and (b) the “no da” in-situ focus construction corresponding to NSM. The above sentence can be translated into Japanese in the following ways:
    ASM: kokudo-ga koukou suru na-wa, anata-no meirei ni shitagatte da.
     land-NOM sailing do NOMP-TOP you-GEN command to according COP
    NSM: kokudo-wa, anata-no meirei ni shitagatte koukou sum no da.
     land-TOP you-GEN command to according sailing do NOMP COP
    (COP=copula; GEN=genitive; NOM=nominative; NOMP=nominalizing particle; TOP=topic)
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  • David T. SUGIMOTO
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 23-46
    Published: March 31, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 31, 2014
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This article aims at clarifying the significance of the “tree of life” decoration engraved or painted on large jars recently found Iron Age strata in Israel. They are anomalies because most Iron Age pottery is red washed with little paint or engraving. During the Late Bronze Age a “tree of life” decoration appears quite often on the pottery, and at first glance these Iron Age decorations appear to suggest the continuation of the Canaanite tradition of a fertility goddess and a polytheistic worldview. However, the writer shows that with the passage of time the meaning of the “tree of life” changed from representing a fertility goddess to representing the blessings of Yahweh on the basis of (1) a study of the change in the symbolic world of the “tree of life” as reflected in iconographic artifacts from MBII to Iron Age IIC, and (2) interpretation of inscriptions and drawings from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud.
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  • The Distribution of Fine Ware on the Southwest Caspian Coast during and after Iron Age IV
    Yui ARIMATSU
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 47-75
    Published: March 31, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 31, 2014
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    From the Deilaman distinct and the Halimehjan distinct of northern Iran. Distinctive Parthian pottery has been excavated. For that reason, it has been thought that the southwest Caspian coast, which contains these two areas, in this period, was very isolated and peculiar. But this kind of pottery did not find in the other areas of the Southwest Caspian coast by the recent investigation. Furthermore, other kinds of pottery, which reveal a relationship with other regions, has been excavated and prospected from these areas.
     This paper re-exaines the regional variability of the pottery of the southwest Caspian coast and the position of this region, especially that of the Deilaman distinct taking into account new and unpublished material. As a result, it is shown that, at least in Iron Age IV, the Deilaman distinct shared some part of its material culture with other areas including the political center. Also in this region, each neightoring areas shared some fine ware. Probably because of this situation, the fine ware itself was diverse. Then, in the Parthian period, a distinctive, very local pottery assemblage emerged. It is important to note that this assemblage was more limited in period and region, and at the same time, the regional variation in the pottery was more complex and fluid than was previously assumed. One can say that such pottery distribution is characteristic of the southwest Caspian coast in this period.
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  • The Concept of Relation (nisbah) in the Metaphysics of Shams al-Dīn al-Fanārī
    Yuki NAKANISHI
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 76-92
    Published: March 31, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 31, 2014
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In classical discussions on the waḥdat al-wujūd (“Unity of Existence”), absolute existence (al-wujūd al-muṭlaq), that is “existence” itself, is recognized as the one and only reality. Existence is, in this system, identified with God, i.e. the “Necessarily Existent” (wājib al-wujūd), the entire universe being conceived to be self-manifestations of it. However, in the second half of the fourteenth century, this conception of existence was subjected to strong criticism by Sa‘d al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī (d. 1389/90).
     According to this Timurid philosopher-theologian, identifying existence with the Necessarily Existent is impossible, because “existence” itself is merely a secondary intelligible (al-ma‘qūl al-thānī) to which nothing in the external world corresponds. Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥamzah al-Fanārī (d. 1431), with whom we shall deal in this paper, refuted this attack, thereby laying the ontological foundation of waḥdat al-wujūd. The aim of the present study is firstly to cast some light on this “Taftāzānī-Fanārī controversy” from the viewpoint of “Necessity of Existence,” which plays a decisive role in Fanārī’s whole refutation, and then to elucidate the Ottoman scholar’s strategy in demonstrating the identification of existence with the Necessarily Existent.
     Taftāzānī’s criticism revolves around the three themes: 1. classification of existence; 2. existence of the Necessarily Existent and His distance from impurities (qādhūrāt); 3. the Necessarily Existent and unity. In refuting all this criticism, Fanārī posits a concept of “relation” (nisbah). According to Taftāzānī, “existence” is a concept of “being” (mafhūn al-kawn). According to Fanārī, existence thus understood is nothing other than the relation of “existene” itself to the “beings” (kā’ināt), i.e. the created things. Fanārī salvages the identification of “existence” itself with the Necessarily Existent through this equation of what Taftāzānī calls “existence” with the relation of existence.
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Notes
  • Takuro ADACHI, Sumio FUJII
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 93-107
    Published: March 31, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 31, 2014
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Our research project entitled “Comparative Studies of Burial Practices of Semitic Ancient Pastoral Nomads” shed light on Bronze Age cairn fields in the northwestern flank of Mt. Bishri, central Syria. A comparative study of a toggle pin from Burial Cairn No. 09 of Wadi Hedaja 1 enabled us to tentatively date them to a time range the end of Early Bronze Age to the beginning of Middle Bronze Age. This paper briefly discusses the dating from another viewpoint, namely, a chronological review of stone and faience beads. Their reexamination shows that the Bishri Bronze Age cairn fields include Types 3 and 16 beads of K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop’s classification, and that similar examples were also found at the Early to Middle Bronze Age settlements along the Middle Euphrates River Basin. Both observations revalidated our previous dating.
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  • Kento ZENIHIRO
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 108-124
    Published: March 31, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 31, 2014
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Funerary cones have been regarded as items akin to passports, tomb markers, architectural ornaments, symbolically expressed architectural beams, symbolic offerings of bread to the deceased, and a symbol for the sun. The last option has recently become one of the most influential hypotheses―scholars such as Eggebrecht and Al-Thibi have fully or partly supported the idea. For example, Al-Thibi insisted that ‘[t]he m3‘-ḫrw formulations, either alone or in combination disappear before the reign of Amenhotep III, and this might be seen as a move away from a very obvious Osirian connection of the funerary cones to one where solar associations are more common’ (Al-Thibi 2005, 51.).
     This paper, however, rejects the hypothesis. First, as can be seen in fig. 10, the Osirian connection became stronger over time; in contrast, solar associations had been weak in every period examined (fig. 11). In addition, there are many examples of white-coated cones that have solar-connected texts with a circular outline, stamped on a circular base. For Egyptians, the sun is not white, but rather red or yellow. Thus, the notion that the cones were symbols of the sun is doubtful.
     To sum up, this paper argues the following points:
    1. Cones have a long history; therefore, it is better to discuss their functions by date.
    2. Though there were changes in neither the average diameter of the seals nor the average number of columns (figs. 6 & 7), the number of titles inscribed on the cones declined (fig. 5) because
    A. the dividers used became more common,
    B. there was information on relatives, and
    C. Osirian associations were inscribed instead.
    3. According to my figure, solar associations were relatively rare, so the hypothesis that cones are symbols of the sun is doubtful.
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  • An Essay on the Study of Historical Materials about Umayyads History
    Takashi MATSUMOTO
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 125-142
    Published: March 31, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 31, 2014
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    In this paper, I have analyzed the personality of Ibn al-Ash‘ath on the basis of the descriptions of his revolt contained in Tabarī’s Ta’rīkh and Ibn A‘tham’s Futūḥ. My analysis confirms the following points. First, the order of events of the revolt as described in the two materials is not significantly different. Second, there is consistency in the portrayal of Ibn al-Ash‘ath in each of the two materials. Third, while there is consistency in his portrayal in each materials, there are wide discrepancies in his portrayal between the two materials.
     Based on these findings, I arrived at the following understanding. (1) The difference in the portrayal of Ibn al-Ash‘ath is connected with who has been credited with leading the revolt in the two materials. In Ta’rīkh, the Iraqi army is considered to have led the revolt, whereas Futūḥ regards Ibn al-Ash‘ath as the leader. (2) In both the materials, the portrayal of Ibn al-Ash‘ath is closely related to the images of Ḥajjāj and the Iraqi army. Both Ḥajjāj and the Iraqi army appear many times in other events in Umayyad history. By analyzing the images of Ḥajjāj =aj and the Iraqi army that are baed on the descriptions of other events in both these materials, it would be possible to explore the significance of this revolt in the broader Umayyad history.
     Based on the above understanding, I believe there is a need to further study the various events in Umayyad history. Accumulating such studies would shed light on the positions which taken by historical narratives of the two materials.
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  • Takashi NINOMIYA
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 2 Pages 143-163
    Published: March 31, 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: March 31, 2014
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The aim of this paper is to examine the phonetic features of emphatics in Jibbāli, a Semitic languages of Oman. Jibbāli emphatics have been regarded variously as ejective or glottalized in previous research.
     I analyzed recordings of Amharic ejectives (t’, s’) and non-ejectives (t, s) as well as Korean glottalized (tʔ, sʔ) and non-glottalized consonants (t, s), and contrasted them with Jibbāli emphatics (T, K, S, S̃, Ś, Ṯ) and non-emphatics (t, k, s, s̃, ɫ, θ) recorded during my field research conducted in the Sultanate of Oman July-August, 2008. I examined them in terms of voice-bar, fill, intensity and duration of the adjacent silent period and the release burst, using Kay’s Multi-Speech (ver. 2.5).
     It turns out that all Jibbāli emphatics are unvoiced in terms of the voice-bar. In Amharic, the intensity of word-final tʔ is stronger than that of word-final t. In Jibbāli also, the emphatics were strong in comparison to the non-emphatics. The duration of the silent period of both Jibbāli emphatics and Amharic ejectives is longer than that of Korean glottalized consonants. Concerning the duration of release burst, in Amharic, that of fricative ejectives tends to be shorter than that of fricative non-ejectives. That of the Jibbāli emphatics likewise is shorter than that of the non-emphatic counterpart. However, in Korean, the release burst of the glottal sʔ has almost the same duration as that of the non-glottal s.
     In conslusion, judging from their intensity and duration, Jibbāli emphatics have been confirmed to be ejectives.
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