This book is the first to explore the rich festival culture of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century France as a tool for diplomacy. Bram van Leuveren examines how the late Valois and early... Show moreThis book is the first to explore the rich festival culture of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century France as a tool for diplomacy. Bram van Leuveren examines how the late Valois and early Bourbon rulers of the kingdom made conscious use of festivals to advance their diplomatic interests in a war-torn Europe and how diplomatic stakeholders from across the continent participated in and responded to the theatrical and ceremonial events that featured at these festivals. Analysing a large body of multilingual eyewitness and commemorative accounts, as well as visual and material objects, Van Leuveren argues that French festival culture operated as a contested site where the diplomatic concerns of stakeholders from various national, religious, and social backgrounds fought for recognition. Show less
This dissertation focuses on the creation of loyalty networks in the Mongol Empire and its successor states during the 13th and 14th centuries. It uses the framework of ‘categories of loyalty’ to... Show moreThis dissertation focuses on the creation of loyalty networks in the Mongol Empire and its successor states during the 13th and 14th centuries. It uses the framework of ‘categories of loyalty’ to examine how political actors made loyalty decisions. These categories can be broadly divided into two types: ideal loyalties and loyalties of self-interest. This work shows how these loyalties interacted, and how people explained their decisions, as well as how contemporary historians framed these actions. Show less
Throughout northern Europe, thousands of burial mounds were erected in the third millennium BCE. Starting in the Corded Ware culture, individual people were being buried underneath these mounds,... Show moreThroughout northern Europe, thousands of burial mounds were erected in the third millennium BCE. Starting in the Corded Ware culture, individual people were being buried underneath these mounds, often equipped with an almost rigid set of grave goods. This practice continued in the second half of the third millennium BCE with the start of the Bell Beaker phenomenon. In large parts of Europe, a ‘typical’ set of objects was placed in graves, known as the ‘Bell Beaker package’. This book focusses on the significance and meaning of these Late Neolithic graves. Why were people buried in a seemingly standardized manner, what did this signify and what does this reveal about these individuals, their role in society, their cultural identity and the people that buried them? By performing in-depth analyses of all the individual grave goods from Dutch graves, which includes use-wear analysis and experiments, the biography of grave goods is explored. How were they made, used and discarded? Subsequently the nature of these graves themselves are explored as contexts of deposition, and how these are part of a much wider ‘sacrificial landscape’. A novel and comprehensive interpretation is presented that shows how the objects from graves were connected with travel, drinking ceremonies and maintaining long-distance relationships. Show less
Previous examinations of ancient Egyptian graffiti have focused on textual graffiti and developed interpretations specific to this class of evidence. In contrast, relatively few studies have... Show morePrevious examinations of ancient Egyptian graffiti have focused on textual graffiti and developed interpretations specific to this class of evidence. In contrast, relatively few studies have considered the communicative power and meaning of figural graffiti, presumably because of the inherent challenges that this data set presents to academic research. To counterbalance the current emphasis on textual graffiti, this contribution examines graffiti making in the New Kingdom necropolis at Saqqara using an integrated approach taking in both textual and figural material. In accordance with the imagistic principle of Egyptian magic, the authors propose that certain types of figural graffiti may be regarded as pictorial prayers in their own right, intended to ensure the permanent presence of the graffitist in the tomb, or to protect and beatify the deceased in the afterlife. Since literacy is not a prerequisite for drawing a picture, the important question is raised of whether the production of figural graffiti expanded throughout the social scale or, like textual graffiti, was restricted to the elite and sub-elite. Show less
This is a study of the mandalas that depict the teachings of the Liqujing (Guiding Principle Scripture), which was translated from Sanskrit to Chinese by the Esoteric Buddhist master Amoghavajra ... Show moreThis is a study of the mandalas that depict the teachings of the Liqujing (Guiding Principle Scripture), which was translated from Sanskrit to Chinese by the Esoteric Buddhist master Amoghavajra (705–774). These mandalas were prescribed in his Liqushi (Explanation on the Guiding Principle Scripture). Amoghavajra considered this scripture, its commentaries, and mandalas to be crucial works in a new Esoteric Buddhist system he called the Yoga of the Adamantine Crown. I examine the set called the Liqujing shibahui mantuluo (Mandalas of the Eighteen Assemblies of the Guiding Principle Scripture) in Kyoto’s Daigo Temple. The Shingon school claims that the iconography is based upon Amoghavajra’s Liqushi. A systematic investigation of the Liqushi, the mandalas it prescribes and the iconography of the Daigoji set has not been done by Asian or Western scholars. I assign responsibility for the iconographical and iconological changes seen in the Daigoji set to the transmission of the Chinese master Faquan (c. 800–870), whose transmission has not yet been studied. I investigate the transmissions of Amoghavajra and the Chinese Esoteric Buddhist masters who followed him, especially Faquan. Such an investigation reveals the concerns of these masters and the Chinese assimilation and transformation of Indian Esoteric Buddhism. Show less
In Ayuuk worldview time is generated by the movement of stars and sun, which make their way through the sky and the worldview. Thanks this movement, both light and darkness as well as heat and... Show moreIn Ayuuk worldview time is generated by the movement of stars and sun, which make their way through the sky and the worldview. Thanks this movement, both light and darkness as well as heat and cold are distributed over the surface of the earth. Here the intervention of other divine beings plays an important role, such as water, rain, wind, thunder, and lightning, which lead to different climatic and meteorological conditions. From this perspective the world, the sun, moon, and stars are seen as animated beings with a sacred character. Also, the time that they generate, and the space in which this occurs, are considered sacred. The relationship between time ans space is conceived whithin the Ayuuk culture on a vertical line with a direction of movement that goes from top to bottom, in which the events thah have already occurred remain below and what is still to come is above. The cultural perception of the course of time can be represented as a spiral, wich starts from the center of the world and moves from right to left (counter clockwise in) continously rotating through the four major directions of the universe (east, north, west and south). Show less
A lamak is a long narrow hanging that is an essential requirement at most rituals in Bali. Made usually of palm leaves, it is by nature ephemeral. Although permanent forms of lamak, made of... Show more A lamak is a long narrow hanging that is an essential requirement at most rituals in Bali. Made usually of palm leaves, it is by nature ephemeral. Although permanent forms of lamak, made of cloth or coins, exist, the ephemeral palm leaf form must be present. Hung from altars and shrines, a lamak serves as base for offerings and attracts deities and deified ancestors to them. Decorative motifs representing sources of life are ordered according to Balinese concepts of the vertical structure of the cosmos. Through offerings and the active role of the lamak, worshippers offer thanks to their deities and request prosperity and protection. Despite decades of change and modernization in Bali, the role of the lamak has survived intact. This is the first study to examine in detail this unique form of ephemeral material culture which is a prominent aspect of Balinese creativity. The study answers the question: why do Balinese make lamak and why do they continue to make them time and again? It examines the use and function of the lamak in ritual, the motifs that decorate them, the materials and techniques to make them, regional and individual styles, and processes of change and commercialization. Show less
The specific time-count made up of the combination of 20 signs and 13 numbers (260 days), was one of the essential traits of ancient Mesoamerican civilisations. Interestingly, this calendar system... Show moreThe specific time-count made up of the combination of 20 signs and 13 numbers (260 days), was one of the essential traits of ancient Mesoamerican civilisations. Interestingly, this calendar system persists in some contemporary communities of Southern Mexico and Guatemala, where __daykeepers__, specialists in traditional healing and divination, still utilize it. The present study comprises a documentation of one of these calendars, among the Ayook people of Oaxaca, Mexico. The aim was to record the sacred count of the days, still managed effectively by women, along with its relationship to other culturally significant symbolism, for instance in the realm of ritual, divination, world vision perceptions, and origin narratives. This work expects to shed light on Mesoamerican calendars research, but also provide a respectful and dignified description of Ayook People__s heritage. Show less
Sometimes referred to as open-source religions, con-temporary Paganisms are under continuous construction. In this paper, I will discuss, from a psychological perspective, the relation between... Show moreSometimes referred to as open-source religions, con-temporary Paganisms are under continuous construction. In this paper, I will discuss, from a psychological perspective, the relation between creativity and Pagan ritual practice through notions like novelty, improvisation and non-intentionality. By elaborating on the plumber/diviner dichotomy in the work of Ronald Grimes, these notions will be fleshed out as practical and experiential aspects of the roles of the participants. On a grander scale, the discussion of ritual creativity will be tied in with the contemporary Paganisms’reconstructionism, egalitarianism, eclecticism, and their notion of immanent divinity, making a case for the importance of the phenomenon of creativity in interdisciplinary ritual studies. Show less
