DOCSLIB.ORG

Animal Sacrifice in the Mycenaean World," Journal of Prehistoric Religion 15 (2001) 32-38

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Animal Sacrifice in the Mycenaean World, "Animal Sacrifice in the Mycenaean World," Journal of Prehistoric Religion 15 (2001) 32-38. 4 5 7 Fig. 4. Seal impressionfrom Pylos showinga pre-potnia motif. Fig. 5. Lentoid sealfeaturing a pre­ potnia scene. Fig. 6. Ivory plaquefrom Mycenae with possiblepotnios theme. Fig. 7. Jasper ringfrom Mycenaefeaturing a potnios theron scene. 10 Animal Sacrifice in the Mycenaean World.* Stephie Nikoloudis Introduction Animal sacrifice is attested, directly and 16) and enhances community spirit indirectly, in the textual, iconographical through an associated celebration and and archaeological remains of the feast (Killen 1994: 70). Interestingly, by Mycenaean Bronze Age. The following serving to intensify group identity, synthesis of the current evidence sacrifice may deliberately exclude (archaeological, iconographical, anthro­ outsiders (Seaford 1994: xii). At the same pological and textual) is presented in the time, it articulates status and role hope that it may help to generate new divisions, thereby reinforcing the internal insights into this topic. Much new social structure of a given community evidence has appeared in the last decade (Seaford 1994: xii). in all four categories of specialized study. A predominantly synchronic approach It is examined, here, in a combinatory is adopted in comparing the information way. The aim is to ascertain, as far as retrievable from the administrative possible, the identity of the sacrificers and records (tablets and sealings), seals and the receivers, the animals sacrificed and seal-rings, frescoes and archaeological the occasion(s) and place(s) at which this remains from the Mycenaean palatial was carried out, the procedure(s) and centres of Thebes, Pylos and Knossos paraphernalia involved, and the under­ dating from the LH/LM ill period. It lying reasons for the fulfilment of this should also be underlined that as sacrifice practice. constitutes an example of religious Preliminary answers to these questions practice, definitive conclusions cannot be are offered by ethnographic studies, drawn about its associated belief system, which highlight the link between religion especially given the secular nature of the and society. Sacrifice itself effects textual evidence and the difficulties communion between the mortal and inherent in decoding (and reconstructing) divine spheres and involves the the iconographical remains. Furthermore, expectation of resulting well-being for the while different levels/strata may well have givers. It resolves the human conflict been operating in the Mycenaean world, between the need to kill (for food) and the e.g. officiaVstate and popular cult, guilt associated with killing by probably with some overlap and levels in constituting a means through which part between (Hagg 1996: 601), the current of the kill is offered to the gods (Burkert project is concerned with the level(s) 1983: 38; Dietrich 1988: 36). It enforces attested in the Linear B texts (i.e. community solidarity by channelling palatially-connected sacrifice). Nor is the aggression away from the human issue of human sacrifice explored here. members of a society (Marinatos 1988: 11 The Linear B Texts 1 to the payment of a religious fine, derived from the verb 'ttVCOand meaning 'due to Thebes. Sixty sealings (nodules) have be paid' (Hutton 1990-91: 125-6). The been recovered from Building III, a term a-ko-ra (e.g. TI-I Wu 49, 50), from complex resembling a workshop, at the verb a')'Etpco, is relatively more Thebes (Piteros, Olivier and Melena: intelligible to us, referring to 'a passim). Each sealing has three faces and, collection' or 'gathering together' of in general, bears a seal impression on side animals. The verb a-pu-do-ke (3rd sing. a and an animal ideogram usually on top Aor. of a1t'l){)tOcoµt)on TI-I Wu 89 of this, accompanied by a Linear B implies a transaction: the 'handing over' inscription on sides ~ and y. Each sealing of something (* 190) to someone. Killen is thought to have represented a single alleviates the difficulty in determining animal and twenty-three seal or ring whether this particular sealing impressions have been identified, authenticates 'entry' into or 'exit' from interpreted as the personal authentication the Palace by noting that the verb a-pu­ marks of twenty-three individual seal­ do-ke (='he paid') regularly appears users. elsewhere on the Linear B records in Several toponyms occur on the Theban relation to the payment of taxes and, thus, sealings, including the Euboean a-ma-ru­ most likely concerns incoming supplies at to (f\µapuv0oc;) on TI-I Wu 58 and ka-ru­ Thebes (Killen 1994: 71). to (Kapucr'toc;) on TI-I Wu 55. The The animals on the Thebes sealings allative-form te-qa-de, 'to Thebes,' on TH include numerous pigs, ovids and caprids Wu 51, 65 and 96 implies the movement but only two bovids (one of each sex, as of livestock from outlying districts to indicated by the ideograms on TI-I Wu 53 Thebes. The formula 'pa-ro + personal and 76). The sealing inscriptions betray a name' (= from/in the care of 'Name') on variety of other characteristics of the TH Wu 47, 59 and 60 tends to strengthen animals. For example, the adjective this hypothesis referring, as it seems 'sacred' occurs as i-je-ra (neut. pl.) on TH likely, to the person (official or herdsman) Wu 44 (probably meant as a collective of in charge of the animals or other items in origin, but potentially problematic as such question. since it does not reflect the 1:1 The economic vocabulary appear-ing correspondence attested elsewhere in on the sealings includes the problematic support of the theory that one sealing term qe-te-o (e.g. TI-I Wu 49, 50) which represents one animal) and as i-je-ro occurs in other contexts, too, with animals (neut. sing.) on TI-I Wu 66, 86 and 87, and products, including oil and textiles, in referring to goats, sheep and a pig (all which the palatial administration has a males). The abbreviation SJ, for si-a2-ro certain interest, e.g. PY Fr 1206, Fr 1241; (crta,11,oc;),describes the pigs on TI-I Wu KN Fh 348, Fp 363 (Piteros et al. 1990: 52 and 68 as 'fattened'. Both words, 152-3). Hutton suggests that it may refer 'sacred' and 'fattened', are suggestive in 12 terms of animals which may be int ended guarantees for, delivery and constituted for sacrifice or slaughter. So, too, is the primary information documents from term o-pa (taken to be an action noun which palatial tablets could be compiled. from the verb ercro), which is found on The three bone styluses found in the room TII Wu 46, 56, 58, 64, 76 and 88 in in which the sealings were discovered association with male and female animals may have been intended for such a of all sorts and which, as Killen suggests, transfer of information. may refer to a 'finishing' process to be Pylos. Turning to the textual evidence understood as 'fattening' in the case of from Pylos, Piteros, Olivier and Melena livestock (Killen 1999: 332, 336). (1990) have pointed to the similarities The abbreviation we, for wetalon between the number and type of animals (=yearling) on TII Wu 74 and 78, the recorded on the Thebes Wu sealings and word po-ro-e-ko-to 'superior' (from rcpo those listed as 'due(?)' from Dunios on PY Un 138. They propose that these two + exro on TII Wu 67 and 92, and the sets of animals were destined for a similar form e-qi-ti-wo-e (Perf. participle of fate, consumption at a ceremonial cp0ivro-'to decay, perish'- in the plural or banquet. According to their calculations, dual) further reflect the effort made to each group of livestock would have record accurately the sex, age and other provided roughly the same quantity of characteristics of these animals. This may meat. In terms of recorded details, the have been required by the Palace as a 'yearlings' and 'fattened' pigs are precaution against fraud and welcomed by reminiscent of those on the Thebes the men responsible for the deliveries as nodules, as is the significantly small security against unfair retribution for the number of bovids (here, two bulls and one untimely, natural death or deterioration of cow), which is understandable given the inferior animals (Piteros et al. 1990: 157; higher worth and maintenance cost of Killen 1992-93: 102). Additionally, the such creatures in relation to sheep, goats sealings contain a number of problematic and pigs. ideograms which have been variously Other familiar vocabulary includes the associated with fodder or other 2 term qe-te-a 2 and 'pa-ro + personal commodities. name,' leading to the proposal that PY Un Overall, the sealings from Thebes 138 may itself have been compiled from suggest the transfer of animals from information derived from similar sealings. outlying districts/centres of production to One obvious difference between the two Thebes itself, either to the palace proper sets of data is the mention of a single or to some nearby pastures, at which time person (Dunios) as responsible for they were physically separated from the roughly the same number of animals as sealings which accompanied them. opposed to at least 23 individuals (as · Alternatively, the sealings may have presumed) in the Theban case .. This may preceded the arrival of the animals. They simply be the result of two distinct stages would have acted as certificates of, or of information processing, with a single 13 official assuming complete responsibility equipment compiled when Phygebris once he had been handed the nodules and carried out an inspection on the occasion perhaps even personally inspected the when the wanax appointed Aukewas to the delivery. The olives and wine noted on office of da-mo-ko-ro.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mathias Mehofer
    REINHARD JUNG · MATHIAS MEHOFER MYCENAEAN GREECE AND BRONZE AGE ITALY: COOPERATION, TRADE OR WAR? »I continue to believe it probable that the occasion for the first introduction of Type II swords to the Aegean was military necessity that drove Mycenaean princes to hire warriors from outside Greece. These warriors brought their own armouries with them. Their swords in particular were greatly admired by their em - ployers, who set their own swordsmiths to copy and adapt them.« 1 Since the publication of Hector Catling’s paper, which contains the above interpretation of Late Bronze Age relations between Mycenaean Greece and its north-western neighbours, various research ers have decisively contributed to a better understanding of the pro - cesses that lead 1) to the adoption of new types of weapons, armour, dress accessories and implements (often referred to as metallurgical koiné or »urnfield bronzes«) at the end of the Aegean Bronze Age and 2) to the local production of impasto pottery of Italian Recent and Final Bronze Age type in the Aegean and beyond. Thanks to the results of recent studies, we are provided with detailed typological arguments 2 that support the theory that the origin of those bronze and pottery types has to be traced back to Italy (figs 1-2). Other schools of research argued that the majority of the types forming the Fig. 1 Sites of the studied objects in Italy. – (Map R. Jung / metallurgical koiné was invented in the regions of M. Mehofer). Fig. 2 Sites of the studied objects in Greece. – (Map R. Jung / M. Mehofer). Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 43 · 2013 175 the Balkans and/or Central Europe and reached the Aegean via a Balkan route 3, whereas still others proposed to ascribe at least specific types to a Central European/Balkan origin 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Mycenaean Arkadia: Space and Place(S) of an Inland and Mountainous Region
    Early Mycenaean Arkadia: Space and Place(s) of an Inland and Mountainous Region Eleni Salavoura1 Abstract: The concept of space is an abstract and sometimes a conventional term, but places – where people dwell, (inter)act and gain experiences – contribute decisively to the formation of the main characteristics and the identity of its residents. Arkadia, in the heart of the Peloponnese, is a landlocked country with small valleys and basins surrounded by high mountains, which, according to the ancient literature, offered to its inhabitants a hard and laborious life. Its rough terrain made Arkadia always a less attractive area for archaeological investigation. However, due to its position in the centre of the Peloponnese, Arkadia is an inevitable passage for anyone moving along or across the peninsula. The long life of small and medium-sized agrarian communities undoubtedly owes more to their foundation at crossroads connecting the inland with the Peloponnesian coast, than to their potential for economic growth based on the resources of the land. However, sites such as Analipsis, on its east-southeastern borders, the cemetery at Palaiokastro and the ash altar on Mount Lykaion, both in the southwest part of Arkadia, indicate that the area had a Bronze Age past, and raise many new questions. In this paper, I discuss the role of Arkadia in early Mycenaean times based on settlement patterns and excavation data, and I investigate the relation of these inland communities with high-ranking central places. In other words, this is an attempt to set place(s) into space, supporting the idea that the central region of the Peloponnese was a separated, but not isolated part of it, comprising regions that are also diversified among themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • Backyard Farming and Slaughtering 2 Keeping Tradition Safe
    Backyard farming and slaughtering 2 Keeping tradition safe FOOD SAFETY TECHNICAL TOOLKIT FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Backyard farming and slaughtering – Keeping tradition safe Backyard farming and slaughtering 2 Keeping tradition safe FOOD SAFETY TECHNICAL TOOLKIT FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Bangkok, 2021 FAO. 2021. Backyard farming and slaughtering – Keeping tradition safe. Food safety technical toolkit for Asia and the Pacific No. 2. Bangkok. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. © FAO, 2021 Some rights reserved. This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO license (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo). Under the terms of this license, this work may be copied, redistributed and adapted for non- commercial purposes, provided that the work is appropriately cited. In any use of this work, there should be no suggestion that FAO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the FAO logo is not permitted.
    [Show full text]
  • Albanian Families' History and Heritage Making at the Crossroads of New
    Voicing the stories of the excluded: Albanian families’ history and heritage making at the crossroads of new and old homes Eleni Vomvyla UCL Institute of Archaeology Thesis submitted for the award of Doctor in Philosophy in Cultural Heritage 2013 Declaration of originality I, Eleni Vomvyla confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signature 2 To the five Albanian families for opening their homes and sharing their stories with me. 3 Abstract My research explores the dialectical relationship between identity and the conceptualisation/creation of history and heritage in migration by studying a socially excluded group in Greece, that of Albanian families. Even though the Albanian community has more than twenty years of presence in the country, its stories, often invested with otherness, remain hidden in the Greek ‘mono-cultural’ landscape. In opposition to these stigmatising discourses, my study draws on movements democratising the past and calling for engagements from below by endorsing the socially constructed nature of identity and the denationalisation of memory. A nine-month fieldwork with five Albanian families took place in their domestic and neighbourhood settings in the areas of Athens and Piraeus. Based on critical ethnography, data collection was derived from participant observation, conversational interviews and participatory techniques. From an individual and family group point of view the notion of habitus led to diverse conceptions of ethnic identity, taking transnational dimensions in families’ literal and metaphorical back- and-forth movements between Greece and Albania.
    [Show full text]
  • ANIMAL SACRIFICE in ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION The
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN ANIMAL SACRIFICE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION JOANN SCURLOCK The relationship between men and gods in ancient Mesopotamia was cemented by regular offerings and occasional sacrifices of ani­ mals. In addition, there were divinatory sacrifices, treaty sacrifices, and even "covenant" sacrifices. The dead, too, were entitled to a form of sacrifice. What follows is intended as a broad survey of ancient Mesopotamian practices across the spectrum, not as an essay on the developments that must have occurred over the course of several millennia of history, nor as a comparative study of regional differences. REGULAR OFFERINGS I Ancient Mesopotamian deities expected to be fed twice a day with­ out fail by their human worshipers.2 As befitted divine rulers, they also expected a steady diet of meat. Nebuchadnezzar II boasts that he increased the offerings for his gods to new levels of conspicuous consumption. Under his new scheme, Marduk and $arpanitum were to receive on their table "every day" one fattened ungelded bull, fine long fleeced sheep (which they shared with the other gods of Baby1on),3 fish, birds,4 bandicoot rats (Englund 1995: 37-55; cf. I On sacrifices in general, see especially Dhorme (1910: 264-77) and Saggs (1962: 335-38). 2 So too the god of the Israelites (Anderson 1992: 878). For specific biblical refer­ ences to offerings as "food" for God, see Blome (1934: 13). To the term tamid, used of this daily offering in Rabbinic sources, compare the ancient Mesopotamian offering term gimi "continual." 3 Note that, in the case of gods living in the same temple, this sharing could be literal.
    [Show full text]
  • The Primal Greece : Between Dream and Archaeology
    The primal Greece : between dream and archaeology Introduction The Aegean civilisations in the French National Archaeological Museum « This unusual form […] reveals an unknown Greece within Greece […] as solemn, profound and colossal as the other is radiant, light and considered; […] all here meets the reputation of the Atrids and brings back the horror of the Achaean fables », wrote on 1830 in front of the walls of Mycenae, the traveller Edgard Quinet, who was passionate about Greek tragedies. Like other travellers before him, he was aware of approaching the memory of an unknown past, of a primal Greece, but he would never have believed that this Greece dated from prehistoric times. It will be the end of the 19th century before the pioneers of archaeology reveal to the world the first civilisations of the Aegean. The « Museum of National Antiquities» played then a key role, spreading the knowledge about these fabulous finds. Here, as well as in the Louvre, the public has been able to meet the Aegean civilisations. The Comparative Archaeology department had a big display case entirely dedicated to them. The exhibition invites visitors back to this era of endless possibilities in order to experience this great archaeological adventure. Birth of a state, birth of an archaeology As soon as it becomes independent (1832), Greece is concerned with preserving its antiquities and creates an Archaeological Service (1834). Shortly afterwards, Ephemeris Archaiologike, the first Greek archaeological review, is founded, at the same time as the Archaeological Society at Athens. The French School at Athens is founded in 1846 in order to promote the study of antiquities, and is followed by a German study Institute in 1874; many other countries will follow the example of France and Germany.
    [Show full text]
  • Theories of Sacrifice and Ritual
    UC Davis UC Davis Previously Published Works Title Inventing the Scapegoat: Theories of Sacrifice and Ritual Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/055689pg Journal Journal of Ritual Studies, 25(1) Author Janowitz, Naomi Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Inventing the Scapegoat: Theories of Sacrifice and Ritual No figure appears in studies of sacrifice more often than the scapegoat. Numerous societies, the argument goes, have a seemingly innate need to purge sins via an innocent victim. The killing of this victim constitutes the core of sacrifice traditions; explaining the efficacy of these rites outlines in turn the inner workings of all sacrifices, if not all rituals. I do not believe, however, that the enigmatic figure of the scapegoat can support a universal theory of sacrifice, especially if the general term “scapegoat” turns out refer to a variety of rituals with very different goals. Rene Girard’s extremely influential theory of the scapegoat includes a biological basis for the importance of the figure (Girard, 1977). According to Girard, humans are naturally aggressive, a la Konrad Lorenz. This innate aggression was channeled into an unending series of attacks and counterattacks during the earliest periods of history. A better outlet for aggression was to find a scapegoat whose death would stop the cycle of retribution (p. 2). For Girard, Oedipus was a human scapegoat, placing this model 2 at the center of Greek culture in addition to Biblical religious traditions (p. 72). Jonathan Smith’s observations on Girard’s model in “The Domestication of Sacrifice” are both simple and devastating (1987).
    [Show full text]
  • Euthanasia of Experimental Animals
    EUTHANASIA OF EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS • *• • • • • • • *•* EUROPEAN 1COMMISSIO N This document has been prepared for use within the Commission. It does not necessarily represent the Commission's official position. A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int) Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1997 ISBN 92-827-9694-9 © European Communities, 1997 Reproduction is authorized, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged Printed in Belgium European Commission EUTHANASIA OF EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS Document EUTHANASIA OF EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS Report prepared for the European Commission by Mrs Bryony Close Dr Keith Banister Dr Vera Baumans Dr Eva-Maria Bernoth Dr Niall Bromage Dr John Bunyan Professor Dr Wolff Erhardt Professor Paul Flecknell Dr Neville Gregory Professor Dr Hansjoachim Hackbarth Professor David Morton Mr Clifford Warwick EUTHANASIA OF EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS CONTENTS Page Preface 1 Acknowledgements 2 1. Introduction 3 1.1 Objectives of euthanasia 3 1.2 Definition of terms 3 1.3 Signs of pain and distress 4 1.4 Recognition and confirmation of death 5 1.5 Personnel and training 5 1.6 Handling and restraint 6 1.7 Equipment 6 1.8 Carcass and waste disposal 6 2. General comments on methods of euthanasia 7 2.1 Acceptable methods of euthanasia 7 2.2 Methods acceptable for unconscious animals 15 2.3 Methods that are not acceptable for euthanasia 16 3. Methods of euthanasia for each species group 21 3.1 Fish 21 3.2 Amphibians 27 3.3 Reptiles 31 3.4 Birds 35 3.5 Rodents 41 3.6 Rabbits 47 3.7 Carnivores - dogs, cats, ferrets 53 3.8 Large mammals - pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, horses 57 3.9 Non-human primates 61 3.10 Other animals not commonly used for experiments 62 4.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Anatolian Origin of Ancient Greek Σίδη
    GRAECO-LATINA BRUNENSIA 19, 2014, 2 KRZYSZTOF TOMASZ WITCZAK (UNIVERSITY OF ŁÓDŹ) MAŁGORZATA ZADKA (UNIVERSITY OF WROCŁAW) ON THE ANATOLIAN ORIGIN OF ANCIENT GREEK ΣΊΔΗ The comparison of Greek words for ‘pomegranate, Punica granatum L.’ (Gk. σίδᾱ, σίδη, σίβδᾱ, σίβδη, ξίμβᾱ f.) with Hittite GIŠšaddu(wa)- ‘a kind of fruit-tree’ indi- cates a possible borrowing of the Greek forms from an Anatolian source. Key words: Greek botanical terminology, pomegranate, borrowings, Anatolian languages. In this article we want to continue the analysis initiated in our article An- cient Greek σίδη as a Borrowing from a Pre-Greek Substratum (WITCZAK – ZADKA 2014: 113–126). The Greek word σίδη f. ‘pomegranate’ is attested in many dialectal forms, which differ a lot from each other what cause some difficulties in determining the possible origin of σίδη. The phonetic struc- ture of the word without a doubt is not of Hellenic origin and it is rather a loan word. It also seems to be related to some Anatolian forms, but this similarity corresponds to a lack of the exact attested words for ‘pomegran- ate’ in Anatolian languages. 1. A Semitic hypothesis No Semitic explanation of Gk. σίδη is possible. The Semitic term for ‘pomegranate’, *rimān-, is perfectly attested in Assyrian armânu, Akka- dian lurmu, Hebrew rimmōn, Arabic rummān ‘id.’1, see also Egyptian (NK) 1 A Semitic name appears in the codex Parisinus Graecus 2419 (26, 18): ποϊρουμάν · ἡ ῥοιά ‘pomegranate’ (DELATTE 1930: 84) < Arabic rummān ‘id.’. This Byzantine 132 KRZYSZTOF TOMASZ WITCZAK, MAŁGORZATA ZADKA rrm.t ‘a kind of fruit’, Coptic erman, herman ‘pomegranate’ (supposedly from Afro-Asiatic *riman- ‘fruit’, esp.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Article (PDF)
    Miguel Valério University of Barcelona; [email protected] ̔΋ΌЁΙΓΖΒΘΚ and word-initial lambdacism in Anatolian Greek The lexical pair formed by Mycenaean da-pu(2)-ri-to- and later Greek ΦΜΝВΪΤΧΣΩΫ presents a contrast between Linear B d and alphabetical Φ in a position where one would expect to find a similar sound represented. This orthographic inconsistency has been taken as a synchronic fluctuation between /d/ and /l/, both optimal adaptations of what is assumed to be a non- Greek (Minoan) sound in da-pu(2)-ri-to-. In turn, it has been proposed that this “special” and wholly theoretical sound, which according to some suggestions was a coronal fricative, was behind the Linear A d series. Here it is argued that there is actually no evidence that /d/ and /l/ alternated synchronically in Mycenaean Greek, and that therefore the /l-/ of ΦΜΝВΪΤΧΣΩΫ is more likely the result of a later shift. Starting from this premise, it is hypothesized that ΦΜΝВΪΤΧΣΩΫ derives from a form closer to Mycenaean da-pu(2)-ri-to-, an unattested *ΟΜΝВΪΤΧΣΩΫ, that underwent a shift /d-/ > /l-/ in Southern or Western Anatolia. The pro- posed motivation is the influence of some local Anatolian language that prohibited /d/ word- initially. The same development is considered for ΦηίΧ΢ and ΦϲάΥΩΫ, which Hesychius glossed as Pergaean (Pamphylian) forms of standard Greek ΟηίΧ΢ ‘sweet bay’ and ΟϲάΥΩΫ ‘discus, quoit’, and possibly also for the Cimmerian personal name Dugdammê/̥ВΞΟΜ÷ΤΫ. Of course, this hypothesis has implications for our perception of the Linear A d series and certain open questions that concern the Aegean-Cypriot syllabaries.
    [Show full text]
  • On Security, Minorities, and Opportunistic Narcissism
    On Security, Minorities, and Opportunistic Narcissism Stavroula Pipyrou University of St Andrews Abstract At a global level, the last two decades have consistently witnessed the encroachment of right-wing rhetoric and anti-minority logos, with several states clearly promoting a discourse of fear of minorities. Seeing minorities either as the ‘enemy within’ or a political necessity that must be endured, states are sceptical in how they recognise or incorporate minority identities that threaten ideologies of national homogeneity. Adopting an anthropological perspective and having engaged in long-term research on minorities in Greece and Italy, I argue that the state selectively recognises minority traits that are deemed ‘secure’ enough to be incorporated into the national body of policies and governance in what I term opportunistic narcissism; the process of highlighting minority differences, territorialising them, and finally claiming them for the national corpus. Keywords: Freud; Greece; Italy; minorities; narcissism; nationalism; In Freud’s concept of the narcissism of minor differences, alterity relies upon the degree to which Otherness is, or is not, tolerated. In the same vein, traits of minority identity, evoked from the top-down (state to grassroots) or bottom-up, may promote certain levels of (in)security for minority populations. Is it ever enough for nations to simply recognise the existence of minorities without sustainably implementing policies that make them secure? What form should such policies take? In Italy, for instance, recognition of linguistic pluralism was a positive political step toward secure political representation for minority populations, turning away from classificatory systems intimately associated with the aesthetics of language celebrated under fascism.
    [Show full text]
  • Actant Stories and the Australian Xenotransplantation Network
    Constructing and Fracturing Alliances: Actant Stories and the Australian Xenotransplantation Network Copyright - Neil Leslie, Wellcome Images; reproduced with permission Peta S. Cook BPhoto; BSocSc (Sociol.) (hons.) Humanities Research Program Queensland University of Technology Submitted in full requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2008 “The XWP [Xenotransplantation Working Party] agree that, in retrospect, a sociologist would have been a useful addition to the group to help understand these issues” (Xenotransplantation Working Party 2004: 14, emphasis added). - i - Keywords sociology; xenotransplantation; transplantation; allotransplantation; actor-network theory; science and technology studies; public understanding of science (PUS); critical public understanding of science (critical PUS); scientific knowledge; public consultation; risk; animals - ii - Abstract Xenotransplantation (XTP; animal-to-human transplantation) is a controversial technology of contemporary scientific, medical, ethical and social debate in Australia and internationally. The complexities of XTP encompass immunology, immunosuppression, physiology, technology (genetic engineering and cloning), microbiology, and animal/human relations. As a result of these controversies, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia, formed the Xenotransplantation Working Party (XWP) in 2001. The XWP was designed to advise the NHMRC on XTP, if and how it should proceed in Australia, and to provide draft regulatory guidelines. During the period
    [Show full text]