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Many metals occur in their native state or in readily accessible ores. Thus, the extraction and working of metals dates much further back in time than does the mining industry. Some of the earliest known mines were those developed by the Greeks in the sixth century B.C. As were mines for many centuries thereafter, the workers in these mines were slaves and prisoners of war. By the time, the Roman Empire reached its peak; it had established mines throughout the European continent, in the British Isles, and in parts of North Africa.

Archaeological investigations in late antique Marea, modern northern Hawwariya, Egypt, have revealed that a significant part of the site was a well-planned urban undertaking on a large scale, founded in the second half of the sixth century AD. Such newly planned urban sites are extremely rare in late antiquity.

The Gongsanseong Fortress in Gongju, Republic of Korea, is one of the most essential remains for historical research of Baekje Kingdom, and reinforces on the fortress wall has continuously been implemented since the sixth century to present. Through visual inspections of the fortress ramparts, sections in which structural deformations have occurred, and then they were classified by morphological characteristics based on lithofacies that compose the ramparts, shape of each rock, and construction method. Also, automatic sensors that can measure behavior changes of the ramparts, and the surrounding environment were installed to monitor microscale movements of the ramparts and changes in the surrounding microclimate. As a result, damages were shown intensively on the ramparts that retain specific morphological characteristics, and it has been discovered that, even for the ramparts located in an identical environment, morphological characteristics affect damages and structural deformations of the ramparts because of behavior changes for minutes. Such changes in behavior can be classified based on reversibility and predictability, and different management schemes must be applied based on behavior change patterns. If we continuously operate and develop this monitoring system, it is expected to be meaningfully utilized in efficient maintenance of the cultural heritage of the ramparts.

This study aims to better understand the development of group identity, mobility, and health in the Early Medieval Meuse Valley. This is achieved by combining existing demographic and palaeopathological information from 73 cremation deposits from Echt, the Netherlands, with new strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) and strontium concentrations ([Sr]) that are performed on pars petrosa, diaphysis, and rib fragments. Although the surrounding Early Medieval cemeteries practiced inhumation, the initial burial community of Echt persisted in expressing the divergent burial ritual of cremation. Thirty-two radiocarbon dates demonstrate the fifth- to sixth-century cremation deposits to be chronologically separated from the seventh-century inhumations that were preserved in situ, suggesting a subsequent burial community replaced cremation with inhumation in the seventh century. Nutritionally inadequate diets may have contributed to the relatively high prevalence of porotic hyperostosis (~ 34%), resulting from decreasing foods supplies caused by deteriorating climatic conditions. The inhabitants are postulated to have mainly consumed foods originating from the land directly surrounding their farmsteads, expressed by the great variability in the 87Sr/86Sr of the diaphyses and ribs (0.7096 to 0.7131), matching the geological complexity of the area. The lack of significant differences between the 87Sr/86Sr and [Sr] of ribs and diaphyses connotes little change in the geological origin of the foods occurred over time, stressing the importance of the yield of local harvests. In contrast, large differences in childhood (i.e. pars petrosa) vs. adult (i.e. ribs and diaphyses) 87Sr/86Sr suggest the regional movement of individuals to possibly support inter-farmstead relationships (e.g. via marriages)., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Taking the recent publication of Sebastion Gertz’s translation of three late Platonic Introductions by Elias, David and Olympiodorus in the Ancient Commentaries on Aristotle series as a starting point, this review paper provides an assessment of Gertz’s translation and textual choices. In addition, it also provides an original contribution to the study of these texts by proposing an emendation of David’s text, and by discussing some of the source-texts of the three Introductions and of their parallels in the ancient commentary tradition. One case elaborated on in somewhat greater detail concerns Olympiodorus’ arguments against scepticism. ispartof: International Journal of the Platonic Tradition vol:15 issue:1 pages:27-48 status: published

In this paper, I study the three chapters devoted to human physiognomy in the Garuḍapurāṇa. Two of the three come directly from Varāhamihira’s sixth-century Bṛhatsaṃhitā with the commentary (vivṛti) of the Kaśmirian Bhaṭṭotpala (fl. ca. 966 or 969 CE). I hope to make two research contributions. First, I hope to show that the date of this section of the Purāṇa, if not indeed the entire Purāṇa, cannot be before the sixth century and probably after the tenth century. Second, I will illustrate how a text in different metres was normalised into anuṣṭubh metre for ease of memory and recitation. I shall conclude with a discussion of the lessons we can learn from this kind of ancient Indian redaction process

The present paper intends to analyze the Christianization of the city of Paris and its growing importance in the Merovingian period. The article begins with an introduction of the context of the Gallo-Roman city and the transformations that happened during the final centuries of the Roman Empire. In the third section, the Merovingian Paris will be examined (6th-7th centuries), specifically its three most important churches. Finally, in the final section of the paper, the process on which Paris, a relatively unimportant city at a regional level until the sixth century, became one of the most important cities in Merovingian Gaul will be explained. The consolidation of the Merovingian royal power and the Christianization of the city were part of the same process. Keywords: Paris; Merovingians; Christian City. Resumo: O presente trabalho pretende analisar a cristianizacao da cidade de Paris e sua crescente importância no periodo merovingio. O artigo comeca com uma introducao sobre o contexto da cidade galo-romana e as transformacoes que ocorreram durante os ultimos seculos do Imperio Romano. Na terceira secao, a Paris Merovingia sera considerada (VI-VII d.C.), especificamente suas tres mais importantes igrejas. Finalmente, na secao final, sera explicado o processo pelo qual Paris, uma cidade relativamente sem importância em nivel regional ate aquele momento, transformou-se em uma das mais importantes cidades na Galia Merovingia. A consolidacao do poder real merovingio e a cristianizacao da cidade foram partes de um mesmo processo. Palavras-chave: Paris; Merovingios; Cidade Crista.

The Ecclesiastical Province of Cambrai may sound unfamiliar to modern readers. The bishopric of Cambrai dates to the sixth century but only became an archdiocese and, consequently, the centre of a church province in the sixteenth century. The elevation of the see resulted from the heavily contested reorganization of the diocesan map of the Low Countries by King Philip II in 1559. The new province included the medieval sees of Arras, Cambrai and Tournai, as well as the newly created bishoprics of Saint-Omer and Namur. Its borders were established to encompass the French-speaking Walloon provinces in the south of the Low Countries, territories that are now divided between France and Belgium.1 In the early modern period, this area was already a border and transit zone between France, the Low Countries, the Holy Roman Empire and the British Isles. The province’s history in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was deeply marked by recurrent and devastating warfare between the kings of Spain and France, eventually resulting in the transfer of significant territory to France.2 However, the Province of Cambrai was also the scene of frequent cross-border mobility, and a safe haven for Catholic exiles originating from the British Isles, France and other parts of the Low Countries.

In this study, we will focus on the illnesses and disabilities mentioned in the Neo-Babylonian Chronicles Series (ABC 1-7 and MC 16-17, 21-26) which were compiled in the second half of the first millennium BC. The information in these records will be evaluated with regards to medical history in the first millennium BC. Particular attention will be given to the details concerning illnesses with fatal consequences for Mesopotamian and Elamite kings who had ruled before the time that the texts were compiled. It is very important to think about why the medical problems in question are included in some of the chronicles since the chronicles speak of accounts of noteworthy political and military events in general. Including information about the medical disorders concerning kings, the chronicles contents can contribute to evaluations of the relationship between the political, religious and traditional aspects of Babylonian historiography. The modern assumption, that Neo-Babylonian and certain other chronicles are “models of historical probity” and impartial texts sharing a historical critique on the records of the kings’ illnesses, will be discussed. This study is related to the historical period between the middle of the third millenium and the end of the sixth century BC. In addition, other chronicles such as the Weidner Chronicle and the Chronicle of Early Kings concerning this period will be referenced considerably as well. Cite this article as: Kagnici, Gokhan, “Tibbi Bilginin Ideolojik Kullanimi Uzerine Okumalar: Yeni Babil Kroniklerinde Hastaliklar ve Babil Tarih Yaziciligi”, Turk J Hist sayi 69 (2019), s.1-36.

The title of this editorial must come as a surprise in a journal on the art of the medieval Mediterranean. When we began to include editorials in Convivium , our purpose was to provide space for the editors to discuss, beside the articles in the volume, broad topics vital for art history itself. Scholarship is closely linked to the world context in which it is conducted. In this volume’s “Chronicle & Debates” section, Michele Bacci announces a new discovery in the baptistery of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem. Bacci’s discovery, made just months ago, on 21 June 2019, would never have been possible if it were not for the ongoing political, cultural, and religious turmoil in the Levant. The Palestinian National Authority had made possible, since 2014, a dialogue between all the religious commu -nity present within the Nativity Church. Thanks to it and, after more than one and half century, restoration of the basilica began. It is in this very context, with the Palestinian National Authority acting as mediator between diverse Christian communities, that an extraordinary basin, dating probably to the sixth century, was discovered

St. Maximus the Confessor excelled in four interpretative directions of the Orthodox theology: biblical, dogmatic, spiritual and liturgica. Better known as adogmatist involved in Christological disputes since the beginning of the sixth century, St. Maximus is less studies in terms of his contribution to the history of Eastern biblical hermeneutics. The research studies of his exegetical work are reduced numerically comparad to those that emphasiye his quality as a dogmatic, philocalic and liturgical theologian. And this may be due to the fact that St. Maximus the Confessor has not fully commented on any Old or New Testament book. In this study, the emphasis is on highlighting the hermeneutic principles used by St. Maximus especially in the works of biblical exegesis.

The first stone ashlar blocks of Greek architecture, those of the mid-seventh-century temples at Isthmia and Corinth, pose a problem for understanding the beginnings of Greek stone construction.1Their peculiar feature is the presence of grooves plausibly explained as a way to move the blocks with ropes. Yet scholars disagree about how these ropes would have been used, and during what stage of construction. The first excavators of the two temples suggested that the ropes would have served to lift each block into place, and were subsequently extracted from the grooves once the block had been set against its neighbour. Later scholars dismissed this theory as both inconsistent with the evidence and technically impracticable, questioning whether lifting machines were used in Greek construction as early as the mid-seventh century. Currently, the widely accepted view holds that the crane appeared in the Greek world only in the late sixth century. An alternative hypothesis is that the grooves were cut early in the construction process so that ropes could be used to manoeuvre the blocks within the quarry. However, the ‘lifting’ theory continues to have its adherents. Clarifying the significance of these parallel grooves is thus a matter of some importance to the history of Greek construction. This article reassesses the alternative theses on the basis of a new examination of the evidence, and demonstrates that the idea that the grooves served for lifting is the most plausible. Furthermore, it argues that forerunners of the crane appeared in Greece well before the late sixth century. Finally, by examining how the blocks would have been manoeuvred into place after lifting, it contends that the grooves also served the purpose of placement, with a method anticipating the Classical period's sophisticated lever technique.

Reccopolis, in central Iberia, is the only archaeologically identified town founded by Germanic newcomers on Roman soil during the challenging socio-political and environmental circumstances of the mid to late sixth century AD. Despite archaeological investigations, doubts have persisted concerning the nature and size of Reccopolis. Recent geomagnetic survey, however, has revealed a dense urban fabric, unexpected new royal palace buildings, an extramural suburb and one of the potentially earliest Islamic mosques in Iberia. Reccopolis now stands as an exceptional example of early medieval urbanism that challenges our perceptions of urban development in sixth-century Europe.

This article explores the ways in which histories were used in the moral and doctrinal education of Christian elites in the West from the late Roman to the Carolingian periods. In the sixth century, Cassiodorus wrote that histories, whether Christian or not, were useful for ‘instructing the minds of readers in heavenly matters’. How far was this characteristic of the period? Traditionally, scholars have emphasized either the apologetic purpose or the moral of specific histories, such as Orosius'sHistoriaeor Bede'sHistoria Ecclesiastica. Few modern scholars, however, have examined the long-term development of history writing as a vehicle for Christian education during the transformation of the Roman world. Those who have done, such as Karl-Ferdinand Werner and Hans-Werner Goetz, have emphasized continuity rather than change. The article sketches some of the changes and continuities across the period. In particular, it demonstrates that there was a shift from the apologetic concerns of the fifth-century historians, writing to educate Christians from pagan backgrounds, to the doctrinal (as much as moral) concerns of Frankish historians, emerging from the Carolingian Renaissance.

In 1963 the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul purchased a female portrait of unknown provenance. It is clearly recut from an older head. In its final version, the head is late antique, but the recutting and the scarcity of comparable non-Imperial female portraits from this period have made a more secure dating difficult. Here the first half of the sixth-century ad is proposed. This article poses two main questions: 1) Is a non-Imperial female portrait in the round possible as late as the sixth century? 2) Could a woman in a period Shen covered dead were the norm, have herself portrayed with uncovered hair?

In this paper, I publish and analyse a compilation of observations of the synodic phenomena of Saturn from Babylon, which can be dated to the early sixth century b.c. By comparing these observations with records found in other early compilations of planetary observations it is possible to trace the development of observational practice in Babylonia. The compilation contains references to several stars that are previously unattested in cuneiform texts. An attempt is made to identify these stars.

This article shows the impact of clerical ordinations of monks on monastic communities of the late antique Latin West. Its first part demonstrates how the clerical hierarchy introduced by monk-presbyters and monk-deacons challenged the purely monastic power structure - based, above all, on the abbot’s supreme authority. It turns then to three organizers of monastic life active in the sixth century - Eugendus of Jura, Aurelian of Arles, and Benedict of Nursia - who, each in his own way, ensured that the appointment of monks to clerical ranks would leave the monastery’s hierarchy intact - or even reinforce it. In conclusion, it is argued that the problems provoked by monastic clergy were alleviated by the strict separation of monastic and ecclesiastical hierarchies, which is demonstrated particularly in the Benedict of Nursia’s Rule. This, in turn, contributed to the steady process of the clericalization of Western monasticism.

A feature of the standardization imposed by Roman bureaucracy on official documents all over the Empire is the presence of a distinctive Roman dating formula written in a large number of those documents, usually indicating the presiding pair of consuls, but sometimes augmented with the emperor’s regnal year. A distinction is to be made between documents in which the date is “organic” (i.e., written as part of the document itself and inserted into the document within the writing frame during the process of drafting) and documents, either Latin or Greek, in which the dating formula has been added afterward, either in the margins or any available space outside the writing frame. This paper will survey all papyri, ostraka, and manuscripts from the first to the sixth century AD that contain additions of Roman dating formulae after the document was written and that are introduced by a specific marker (data or accepta) or are apparently unmarked, to understand the reasons for the addition and the relevance (or lack thereof) of its position within the document. Ultimately, it will try to establish the history and nature of the legal requirements (if there were any) of such a practice.

Recent biomolecular evidence has proven that Yersinia pestis, the pathogen that causes bubonic plague, was infecting human hosts in Eurasia as early as the Bronze Age, far earlier than previously believed. It remains an open question, however, whether bubonic plague was affecting Mediterranean populations of classical antiquity. This article evaluates the textual evidence for bubonic plague in classical antiquity from medical sources and discusses methodologies for "retrospective diagnosis" in light of new developments in microbiology. A close study of Greek medical texts suggests that bubonic plague was unfamiliar to medical writers until sometime before the second century AD, when sources cited by Rufus of Ephesus report a disease that resembles bubonic plague. Rufus of Ephesus describes this disease around AD 100, and Aretaeus (fl. ca. AD 50 or 150) appears to describe the same disease as well. Intriguingly, the disease then disappears from our sources until late antiquity.

Old/Middle Chinese codas of the entering tone are well preserved in Sino-Korean except for Chinese *-t, which changed to Sino-Korean -l. This article claims that Old Chinese coda *-t changed to Sino-Korean -l because coda -t was not fully developed in Old Korean by the time the Sino-Korean phonological system was formed in the eighth century. This article also proposes that the syllabic structure of Old Sino-Korean was (C)V at the earliest stage and gradually changed to (C)V(C). Evidence is presented from place names of the Samguk sagi along with other relevant Old Sino-Korean materials. The results of this study suggest we must reject the views that Sino-Korean coda -l developed under the influence of similar changes that occurred in Chinese dialects, that Middle Chinese coda -t remained the same in Sino-Korean until the sixth century but changed to -l in the seventh century, or that it was realized as -r due to phonetic adjustment caused by released codas of Old Korean.

This article examines the instances when Greek script was used in the sixth- and seventh-century papyri documents originally preserved as part of the archive of the church of Ravenna. In interpreting these instances, we find both reflections of larger political events and smaller personal choices against the backdrop of continued migration from the Byzantine east to Italy following the conquest of the Ostrogothic kingdom by the armies of Justinian in the middle of the sixth century and the establishment of an exarchate dominated by military officials with various levels of clear »Greek« identity – political, hereditary, religious, and linguistic. Within this framework, participants in the creation of legal documents who were identified as grecus or wrote in Greek script did so for individual and micropolitical reasons that were distinct from conveying an ethnic identity, highlighting differences brought on by the situations in which they participated.

Owing to its geographical location, Istria was not directly exposed to the devasta- tion in the fourth and fifth centuries, when it avoided both the civil wars and the migratory movements accompanied by invasions of wandering barbarian tribes. After the victory of Christianity, newly created city elites, with the bishop at the helm, had, since the early fifth century, managed the construction activities in cities, primarily relating to monumental projects, which altered the physical appearance of the cityscape. Local peculiarities are often considered as one of the most import- ant factors both for the process of change and for the endurance of the preexist- ing values in political and religious life. Recent studies, however, suggest that the transformation of post-Roman cities was not exclusively a consequence of intense Christianization. The emergence of the new city elite was the result of a conscious effort by the representatives of state authorities. This phenomenon is noticeable as early as the Late Roman Empire and persisted during the times of the barbar- ian states of Odoacer and Theoderic. In Istria it is most evident during Byzantine reign when the intertwining of political and religious spheres is the clearly visible in post-classical urban centres. This phenomenon can be detected thanks to a greater number of written and material sources. The events that took place in the aftermath of the Byzantine-Gothic war and Justinianʼs reconquest of the former Arian regions between 535 and 555 were an intentional reaction of the Byzantine political and religious power centres. Their primary objective was the cleansing of the vestiges of the Arian heresy, followed by the construction of new Christian edifices. The spon- sors of these building projects were Justinian himself, then bishops, state officials and members of the aristocracy. Justinianʼs conquest of the territories of the Ostro- gothic Kingdom between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea – including Istria – caused not only social-political, but also religious-political changes. The transformation of Ravenna into a political power centre during the reign of Theoderic also marks a turning point for the historical development of Istria, although one should consider the situation on the peninsula before the onset of Byzantine rule, as well.

The article discusses the question of the relation between the sixth-century Miaenergism, which is the idea of Christ having one divine-human operation, and the Logos-sarx type of Christology. The purpose of the article is to argue that the Miaenergism was dependent on the Christology centered on the divinity of incar­nate Christ. The Logos was acknowledged as the active principle even of Christ’s humanity, so that the human volition and operation of Christ was neglected in fa­vor of the Logos. This model of Christology was being developed especially from the second century in the writings of Clemens of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria and Apollinarius of Laodicea; then it was continued by Cyril of Alexandria and Severus of Antioch; it also influenced Leontius of Byzantium and Theodore of Pharan. The Miaenergism of the sixth and then of the seventh century was being developed on a ground of the Logos-sarx type of Christology, although it acknowledged the Dyophysitism of Chalcedon.

The Roman theatre in Nicaea is the most famous and well preserved monument from the Roman Imperial Period which was built under the supervision of the Bithynia governor, Plinius, during the rule of Trajan. The examined Late Roman pottery was found in a rubbish dump which covered the theatre. Following the stratigraphy and dating of the dump it is estimated to be from between 368 A.D. and 557 A.D. There is a renovation of the colonnaded gallery probably after the earthquake of 368 A.D. which is mentioned in the records. Many coins of the fourth century A.D. which were found during excavations might also be related with this renovation. But further earthquakes resulted in the theatre being gradually destroyed and abandoned. It seems that the theatre was used as a rubbish dump after the late fourth century A.D. until the earthquake of 557 A.D. A great number of African Red Slip ware has been found in this fill of the theatre. The main ceramic types are plates and bowls –Hayes Forms 53, 61 and 67– which have recently been classified as Africana D by S. Tortorella. A small group of Phocean Red Slip Ware “Late Roman C”, mainly bowls, dated to early in the 4th century until its disappearance in the third quarter of the sixth century A.D. have also been attested in the theatre of Nicaea. There is some “Eastern Sigillata C”, mainly in Hayes 3, also discovered in this dump. We have discovered some Light Colored Ware fragments in the Nicaea theatre which appear to be quite similar to the ones found in Parion. Recently E. Ergurer has published a group of Light Colored Ware dated between the fifth early sixth centuries A.D. from Parion. The production center of this ware is not securely determined so far but it is interesting to note that this ware is quite common both in Bithynia, Propontis and the Troad. As a result the aforementioned wares, which are treated for the first time in Nicaea, were found in the same rubbish dump over the theatre and are dated between the late fourth century and third quarter of the sixth century A.D.

Theimpressive corpus of milestones recently edited by the late David Henry Frenchand set online by the British Institute at Ankara provides an extensive andin-depth knowledge of more than 1200 stones erected alongside the Roman roadsof Asia Minor from the late Republic to the Later Empire. Even if milestoneswere the commonest epigraphic display of power in the Roman world, modernactivity tends to obliterate them, and consequently it was more than urgent tocollect the remains before they vanish. This paper studies the unbalancedgeographical and chronological distribution of milestones. They seem to be moreor less scattered throughout Asia Minor, but they are mainly concentrated inthe north-western part of the Anatolian plateau. Besides most of them werebuilt, inscribed or frequently reused in Late Antiquity, especially between thelate third century and the early fourth century, that is from Diocletian toConstantine, both emperors overrepresented in this medium although they rarelyjourneyed in Asia Minor. According to the study of late milestones found in theregion, it did exist a close relation between the advent of a ruler and themultiplication of milestones, which had merely become dynastic monumentserected by local communities in honour of a new emperor. For this reason, theylost any practical purpose and completely disappeared from Asia Minor at thebeginning of the sixth century., Merhum David Henry French tarafından yakın zamanda edisyonuyapılan ve Ankara’daki İngiliz Enstitüsü tarafından online ortama konulanetkileyici miltaşları corpus’u, geç Cumhuriyet’ten Geç İmparatorluk Dönemi’nekadar Roma yolları boyunca dikilmiş 1200’den fazla taşın derinlemesine vekapsamlı bir bilgisini sunmaktadır. Miltaşları, Roma dünyasının gücünün en sıkepigrafik görünümü olsa da, modern aktiviteler onları yok etme eğilimindedir vesonuç olarak onlar ortadan kaybolmadan bu kalıntıları toplamak her zamankindendaha acil durumdur. Bu makale, miltaşlarının dengesiz coğrafik ve kronolojikyayılımını incelemektedir. Bunlar, hemen hemen tüm Küçük Asya boyunca dağılmışgörünmektedir ve temel olarak Anadolu platosunun kuzey batı bölümüneyoğunlaşmıştır. Ayrıca, birçoğu Geç Antik Çağ’da, özellikle de geç 3. yüzyılile erken 4. yüzyıl arasında, yani Diocletianus’dan Constantinus’a kadar geçendönemde yapılmış, kazınmış ve sık sık yeniden kullanılmıştır. Bu iki imparator,Küçük Asya’da nadiren seyahat etmesine rağmen bu yolla aşırı şekilde temsiledilmişlerdir. Bölgede bulunan Geç Antik Dönem miltaşları hakkında yapılançalışmaya göre, bir yöneticinin gelişiyle miltaşlarının artması arasında yakınbir ilişki mevcuttu. Bu miltaşları, yalnızca yeni bir imparatorun onuruna yereltopluluklar tarafından dikilen hanedanlığına ait eserlerdi. Bu sebepten pratikamacını kaybederek 6. yüzyılın başında tamamıyla Küçük Asya’dan kayboldular.

الملخص باللغة العربية الحضارة العربية الإسلامية هي حضارة کتاب، فقد اهتم المسلمون بالکتاب اهتماما عظيما؛ تأليفا ونسخا وتجليدا وحفظا، فزادت أعداد الکتب والمصنفات بسبب ازدهار الحرکة الفکرية والعلمية، وقد صاحب ذلک اهتمام المشايخ والفقهاء والعلماء وعامة الناس بشراء وجمع الکتب، من حيث هي وعاء المعرفة والأداة الوحيدة لإنتاجها وتداولها. تسعى هذه الدراسة إلى رصد ظاهرة جماعي الکتب في ظل الحضارة العربية الإسلامية خلال العصور الوسطى، لإيضاح حرص الأفراد في بلاد المشرق الإسلامي وبلاد الأندلس على جمع الکتب واقتنائها مع ما يلزم ذلک من بذل المال والجهد. وقد اعتمد الباحثان على المنهج العلمي التاريخي في جمع المعلومات والبيانات من المصادر الأصلية والثانوية التي تناولت جماعي الکتب، بالإضافة إلى المنهج الإحصائي الوصفي لتبويب البيانات وتحليلها. وقد توصلت الدراسة إلى حرص المشايخ والفقهاء والعلماء وطلاب العلم وعامة الناس على تحصيل العلوم والفنون من خلال جمع واقتناء الکتب والحفاظ عليها والاعتناء بها في خزائن خاصة، وقد انتعشت هذه الظاهرة بدءا من القرن السادس الهجري وحتى القرن الثامن الهجري. Book collectors in the Arab-Islamic civilization Historical and statistical study from the third century until the tenth century AH Islam is the religion of book, including the book par excellence, the Quran. Interest in books developed through reading, and dissemination. Books became a visible medium within the first century of Islamic civilization. Muslims soon came to know the use of paper, calligraphy, illumination, binding, publishing, marketing, lending and collection development, to name a few. Books became popular through book stores, writers, editors, copyist, translators, and most importantly, libraries. Libraries began in mosques, then in private homes and palaces. Public, school, academic and research libraries soon followed. The sheikhs, scholars and the general public have been interested in buying and collecting books, because the book is the container of knowledge and the only tool for its production and circulation. This study seeks to monitor the phenomenon of collective books in the Arab-Islamic civilization during the middle ages, to illustrate the keenness of individuals to exert effort and pay money for the collection of books. The researchers relied on the historical scientific method in collecting information and data from the original and secondary sources that dealt with the collection of books, in addition to descriptive statistical method for data classification and analysis. The study concluded that scholars, students of science and the general public are keen to study science and the arts by collecting and preserving books in private libraries. This phenomenon began from the sixth century AH until the eighth century AH.

In the framework of the EU-UNDP project 'Rehabilitation of Old Nicosia' (Cyprus, 2004-9), a high-resolution geoelectrical survey has been performed inside the partially ruined monumental complex of St Nicholas of the English, now called the Bedestan, which was designed to become a venue space for cultural activities. The aim was to detect buried traces of a Byzantine basilica of the sixth century, on the ruins of which, according to tradition, the construction of St Nicholas was begun in the 12th century. The survey has been conducted on the floor of the monument, using a dipole-dipole electrode array along two perpendicular sets of profiles. In order to model the resistivity distribution, the probability-based electrical resistivity tomography inversion (PERTI) method has been applied. Sets of aligned blocks with resistivity in the range 100-400 ohm center dot m, bounding a three-room rectangular space, and traces of a rounded structure with mean resistivity about 150 ohm center dot m, appearing at one extremity of the central room, are the main resistive features recognized down to 4 m depth, within a conductive background with resistivity in the range 20-40 ohm center dot m. Altogether, these resistive features, showing in plan the shape of a church characterized by a central nave with an apse and two side aisles, have been interpreted as an evidence of the existence of remains of the earlier Byzantine basilica. Moreover, small volumes with resistivity in the range 10-12.6 ohm center dot m have been found, scattered underneath the whole surveyed area. Taking into account the PERTI results, ground-truth has been performed in two sites, designed to become two permanent protected exposures of the archaeological findings beneath the floor of the newly restored Bedestan. At one site, excavations detected remains of masonry in correspondence of the alignment of resistive blocks at the left margin of the left side aisle of the churchlike structure. At the other site, graves, entirely filled with wet debris in an alluvial soil matrix, have, instead, been found in correspondence with the greatest conductive volume, detected outside the perimeter of the churchlike structure. Both findings have been dated back to the sixth century. Since the Bedestan case-history is one of the first applications of the PERTI algorithm to real field data sets, its performance has been tested using the well-known ERTLab(TM) commercial software as benchmark. The comparison has shown a general consistency between the two inversions, and also confirmed the much higher computing speed, better filtering capacity and greater versatility of the PERTI algorithm, already outlined in a previous paper where only synthetic models were tested.