Contrary to popular perceptions of North Korea as a hermit kingdom, its capital city used to be a hotspot for international travel. During the Cold War an eclectic mix of politicians, soldiers,... Show moreContrary to popular perceptions of North Korea as a hermit kingdom, its capital city used to be a hotspot for international travel. During the Cold War an eclectic mix of politicians, soldiers, journalists, and students travelled to Pyongyang for conferences, meetings, and training courses. Of particular importance was the stream of African visitors to North Korea, a largely overlooked but nonetheless important phenomenon in the history of the Global South. The connections that were forged between Africans and North Koreans were part of a larger framework of Afro-Asian cooperation that sought to change the global order. Show less
The story of Joseph, in the Islamic tradition known as Yusuf, is widely known both from the Bible and the Qur’an. It found great popularity in the Turko-Persian world between 1000 and 1500, when it... Show moreThe story of Joseph, in the Islamic tradition known as Yusuf, is widely known both from the Bible and the Qur’an. It found great popularity in the Turko-Persian world between 1000 and 1500, when it started to appear in a growing variety of genres. This culminated in the 15th century, when the poet ʿAbd al-Rahman Jami composed his famous version of the narrative in the Timurid capital Herat. Earlier in the 15th century, the story became connected to one of the great names of Persian poetry: Abu’l-Qasim Firdausi, the poet who composed the Shahnama or Book of Kings, around the year 1000. The glorious pre-Islamic past as presented in the Shahnama was embraced in many ways by the Turkic and Mongol rulers who reigned over much of the Islamic world since the year 1000, and so was the moving and pious narrative of Joseph. How and why were the two brought together? This article explores the story of Joseph and its role in the cultural production of the Turko-Persian world, and discusses the connections between the story of Joseph, Firdausi, and the court culture of the Timurids. Show less
Throughout history, the elephant has been employed to represent abstract, unseen ideas of royalty, sanctity, and morality. In Asia, elephant traditions that were passed down and spread out from... Show moreThroughout history, the elephant has been employed to represent abstract, unseen ideas of royalty, sanctity, and morality. In Asia, elephant traditions that were passed down and spread out from ancient India formed a strand connecting various Asian cultures together, ranging at the very least from Persia to Southeast Asia. Histories of connected Asia have been written mainly by focusing on cross-cultural contacts but still lack in noticing what has been shared across cultures. This article will shed light on the iconography and iconology of the composite elephant, which helped create commensurability between Asian cultures and beyond in an age of globalization of the early modern period. Show less
Het afsnijden van y-assen, het gebruiken van 3D-effecten en slechts een deel van de beschikbare data laten zien: het zijn allemaal tactieken om mensen te misleiden met grafieken. Maar je hoeft... Show moreHet afsnijden van y-assen, het gebruiken van 3D-effecten en slechts een deel van de beschikbare data laten zien: het zijn allemaal tactieken om mensen te misleiden met grafieken. Maar je hoeft niet altijd misleid te blijven, blijkt uit onderzoek. Show less
We are conducting geoarchaeological fieldwork and analysis of Umhlatuzana, a rockshelter in KwaZulu-Natal. Due to lockdowns, we missed our 2020 wintery encounters with spitting cobra’s and vervet... Show moreWe are conducting geoarchaeological fieldwork and analysis of Umhlatuzana, a rockshelter in KwaZulu-Natal. Due to lockdowns, we missed our 2020 wintery encounters with spitting cobra’s and vervet monkeys. It did give us the time to concentrate on publishing our first results (Sifogeorgaki et al. 2020). Our work aims to clarify the stratigraphic integrity of the Pleistocene part of the sedimentary sequence associated with Middle and Later Stone Age archaeological materials. Show less
Een eeuwenoude uitdrukking in het Klassiek Chinees luidt: yǔ zhòng bù tóng 與眾不同, wat zoveel betekent als ‘anders dan alleman’. Het had de lijfspreuk kunnen zijn van Burchard J. Mansvelt Beck, die... Show moreEen eeuwenoude uitdrukking in het Klassiek Chinees luidt: yǔ zhòng bù tóng 與眾不同, wat zoveel betekent als ‘anders dan alleman’. Het had de lijfspreuk kunnen zijn van Burchard J. Mansvelt Beck, die deze taal jarenlang heeft onderwezen aan de Universiteit Leiden. Wat maakte hem anders? Hij was buitengewoon begaafd, behulpzaam en bovenal kleurrijk. Show less
An age-old expression in Classical Chinese is yǔ zhòng bù tóng 與眾不同, meaning ‘out of the ordinary.’ It could have been the motto of Burchard J. Mansvelt Beck, who taught that language for decades... Show moreAn age-old expression in Classical Chinese is yǔ zhòng bù tóng 與眾不同, meaning ‘out of the ordinary.’ It could have been the motto of Burchard J. Mansvelt Beck, who taught that language for decades at Leiden University. What was different about him? He was extraordinarily gifted, helpful, and above all things colorful. Show less
