The second boat pit of Khufu is located on the south side of the pyramid of Khufu at Giza, Egypt. In 2011, the cover stones of the second boat pit were lifted up by the Japanese-Egyptian joint mission. The graffiti in red, yellow and black inks were recognized on some of the cover stones. It is well known that the graffiti written on building stones provide information about transportation procedures and workmen involved in the work. This paper aims to examine the graffiti on the cover stones in order to understand transportation process and workmen responsible for these works.

　The graffiti on the cover stones can be chronologically divided into at least two stages by observing the surface treatment of each cover stones. The stone surfaces which show the older stage were roughly shaped. On the other hand, the surfaces at new stage were carefully smoothed. According to observation, it was presumed that the old stage corresponds to the phase from quarry to workshop and the new stage coincides with the phase after shaping stones at workshop.

　The old stage graffiti include the simple signs such as "ankh," "hetep," "nefer" which seem to represent the team of workmen in charge of transporting stones. The destination marks in old stage such as "pyramid," "temple" instruct transportation from quarry to pyramid area. The graffiti in new stage include inscriptions with the name of Khufu or Dedefra which represent the workmen in charge of drugging stones in the pyramid area. The destination marks include "boat" or "boat-pit" which seems to indicate the instructions of delivery to the second boat pit.

　The study of graffiti on the cover stones from second boat pit suggest that two distinctive organizations were involved in the transportation of stones from quarry to the building site at Giza.

This paper discusses how the accounts of rebellion in Assyrian royal inscriptions were described and manipulated, taking the Annals of Ashurnasirpal II as an example.

　Accounts that deal with rebellions can be divided into two types : 1） those where the suppression of the rebellion is clearly mentioned, and 2） those where a punitive expedition is presented in a way to suggest that the military activity is unrelated to a rebellion. Those of the first type present putting down rebellious acts that disturb the world order as the reason for the campaign. By describing those acts the accounts put enemy in the wrong and justify the military activity of the king.

　Those of the second type, where the rebellion is concealed, include not only accounts of unsuccessful punitive expeditions, but also those of campaigns that fulfilled their aim. A number of rebellions in the same region, even if the king subjugated them each time, might expose the incompetency of the king and the fragility of his rule. Since this does not lend itself to royal praise, the accounts describe only the last rebellion in a certain region as such.

　The failure to mention the rebellion in the account was not merely intended to cover up an unfavorable fact, but was also utilized to glorify a royal deed. If a description of the rebellion is left out of an account, it is indistinguishable from the account of a campaign against a foreign land. The punitive expedition is thus described as if it was a military activity against an unsubmissive ruler. In particular, through first hiding and then mentioning rebellions, the suppression of repeated rebellions in the same region is transformed into the conquest of "unsubmissive" land and the stabilization of the kings rule through the elimination of the rebel.

İmâm Birgivî (d. 981/1573) is universally recognized to have inspired the seventeenth century Islamic reform movement called the Ḳadzadeli movement. Several studies have been conducted on this movement ; however, little is known about Birgivî's thoughts, especially his attitude towards Taṣawwuf (Sufism), and therefore, discussion on this particular topic is difficult. This paper aims to discuss Birgivî's concept of Taṣawwuf and its link to social ethics. Birgivî's Taṣawwuf firmly followed the Quran, Sunna and Shaī‘ra, and he strongly condemned the deviated Sufis who never respected these laws. In his magnum opus al-Ṭarīqa al-Muḥammadyah (The Path of Muḥammad), he emphasizes the importance of controlling outer Muslim practices and the inner heart, stating that the latter is of utmost importance for all Muslims, since the heart is where all deeds originate. Birgivî's Taṣawwuf focuses on these ethical aspects. To provide an elaborate discussion on Birgivî's perspective of Taṣawwuf, this paper focuses on his criticism not only against Sufis but also against the 'ulama' (jurists). Birgivî tackled the issue of asking money in return for reciting the Quran, which often caused a judicial problem between the people and 'ulama'. He denied its legitimacy not only from a strict Hanafi perspective but also from the perspective of Taṣawwuf stating that the corruption of the hearts of the 'ulama' was behind the issue. He believed that a "true" Sufi who deals with the science of ethics (‘ilm al-akhlāq) could fix this corruption. This study shows that Birgivî's discourse on Taṣawwuf is not limited to the discussion of the thoughts and practices of Sufis but it also covers judicial issues. Birgivî believed that a Sufi is someone who has mastered the science of ethics, and who attempts to solve various social issues related to the inner corruptions of Muslims.

The arms trade in the Persian Gulf experienced a drastic expansion in the mid-1890s, and emerged as an important issue for the polities around the Gulf. This study investigated the factors giving rise to and sustaining this trade. Analysis was conducted from the perspective of the attempts of the Qajar dynasty of Iran to suppress the trade on the Gulfs northern shore.

　The Qajar government’s initial suppressive attempts remained unsuccessful, revealing the two factors sustaining the trade: first, the complicated interests within the Qajar government concerning the profits from the trade, and second, the difficulty in regulation that arose from the trade's international nature, namely, the existence of Muscat as a "loophole." This situation led the Qajar government to cooperate with the British Empire. Besides strengthening the existing suppressive measures, the Qajar government permitted the British Navy's activities in its territorial waters. Furthermore, a joint Qajar-British request was communicated to the Muscat government in December 1897 asking for the introduction of more effective suppressive measures. However, the joint request did not bring about the expected result, although the various interests within the Qajar government had been reconfigured and ceased to promote the arms trade by that time. This was probably due to the trade's economic importance for the Muscat government, the Muscat government's treaty obligations to the other great powers, and the noncooperation of France. This failure guaranteed the continuation of the trade itself, which became less visible and accelerated the influx of modern arms into southern Iran.

　In conclusion, the author asserts that the development and the failure of the measures taken to suppress the Persian Gulf arms trade reflected not only the characteristics of the arms trade, but also the nature of the regional order of the Persian Gulf at that time.

Pottery with cord decoration was spread throughout the Balkan Peninsula in the 4^th and the 3^rd millennia cal. BC. Researchers have considered that this reflects the spread over Europe of herders who supposedly belonged to the Proto-Indo-European group. Previous studies have focused on the Kurgans (mound tumuli) to tackle the issue of how the people spread. However, this paper looks at the issue by exploring whether and how the cord decoration was diffused from the northern Pontic area into the upper Thracian plain. In order to test the diffusion model mentioned by N. Merpert and G. Georgiev, I analyzed the pottery with cord decoration in the eastern Balkans, ranging from Southern Bulgaria (Upper Thrace) to Eastern Romania (the Moldova plain), focusing on decorating technique, vessel form and stylistic pattern. In particular I looked at the small bowls with a straight open rim, decorated with a fine geometric motif using a thin (less than 2 mm in width) Z-plied cord, which first appeared in Upper Thrace at around 3,000 cal. BC. The absence of this small bowl in the Balkans except in Upper Thrace suggests that the bowl was not imported from the north. My comparative analysis also showed that besides these bowls in Upper Thrace, thin Z-plied cord was used to decorate pottery only in the western Moldova plain during the 4^th and the earlier 3^rd millennia cal. BC. Therefore, the similarity in cord impression technique between the two regions demonstrates that this technique was presumably brought into Upper Thrace from the north when the northern groups moved southwards and had contacts with indigenous groups in Upper Thrace. It is highly probable that this technique was not diffused directly from the western Moldova plain to Upper Thrace. It must derive from the north Pontic area. It is clear that more research is needed on this subject.