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Oath-taking during Roman Antiquity constitutes a telling example of how words and material matter interplay and relate to one another. Ancient Latin literature provides a myriad of representations of oaths sworn, both fictive and supposedly historical, which allude to contemporary notions of materiality. In this study, a selection of personal oaths (oaths sworn between individuals, as opposed to large-scale official ones) from Roman literature are explored in terms of materiality and agency. The chosen oath examples are all phrased using a ‘material language’ and their oath formulae include what is here termed as objectifying wordings, that is the reference to abstract things through material matter. The present article aims to demonstrate that Roman authors sometimes chose to (have their characters) swear by material matter – instead of something abstract and intangible – in order to better express what is actually sworn by or what is actually put up as deposit in the portrayed oath: in other words, how they could utilize contemporary notions of materiality as literary tools for the formulation of personal oaths.

Over the past century, six studies – the most recent data from 2000 – and one review have comprehensively examined the content of medical oaths and oath-taking practices, all focusing on North America, providing an insight into the ethical beliefs of each era. Our study sought to establish a new point of reference. In 2014/2015, oaths from 150 of all 153 US and Canadian medical schools were collected and analyzed. All but one school administered medical oaths and most schools administered more than one. Since 2000, student-written oaths became more popular, and new themes, such as self-care and professionalism, were identified in the oaths for the first time. However, as was identified in 2000, the oaths' contents are disparate and even conflicting at times, raising questions as to whether medicine is being taught or practiced with a coherent ethical worldview. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are no arguments that swearing is a universal linguistic and psychological phenomenon. Many studies proved that people all over the world and in different times used to swear while talking. Of course, each society has its own way in talking the oath, whether in the expressions used or by some body movements that accompanied swearing. Regardless these differences, swearing almost always is used to achieve a common purpose. The current study sheds the light on this aspect linguistically in Iraqi Arabic society. There would sometimes be a reference to Arab people in general for the similarity between Iraqi and other Arab countries in many respects. This is in addition to take into account some shared features with other foreign communities. Religious oaths, swearing by holy people (alive or dead), shrines, times in addition to dear persons were the most elements to be sworn by according to the findings of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role that African Traditional Religion (ATR) plays in giving ammunition to human trafficking, a role that serves as an emerging perspective in the understanding and critical engagement with this subject area. Elements within African traditional religion, popularly and often wrongfully termed 'Juju', proffer a method of control often used by certain traffickers to keep their victims in perpetual bondage. The data used in this article was derived from extensive fieldwork in Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK) where forty-six (46) anti-trafficking stakeholders including victims were interviewed. The data indicates that this control mechanism was present in several cases of human trafficking from Nigeria, serving to impede effective investigations and the prosecution of traffickers. Consequently the protection of victims has also been obstructed. This article hence asserts that trafficking should also be understood from the perspective of the belief system of victims, one rooted in ATR rather than being attributed to brainwashing. It is also pertinent that policymakers and practitioners understand this emerging perspective if appropriate and sustainable anti-trafficking measures are to be fashioned to stem the tide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Old Russian Primary Chronicle reports on four tenth-century treaties concluded on oath between unchristianised merchants coming from Scandinavia and the Greek emperor, describing the oaths and ceremonies, the objects used, and the gods invoked. This article presents an investigation into the oaths and the formalities performed on those occasions. The opportunity is given for a comparison with fragmentary data elsewhere in the Scandinavian area of the time, and for a clarification of the portrayal of the oath in its pre-Christian form. As the agreements were concluded on the eve of Russian’s official Christianisation, interesting encounters between pagans and Christians are signalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]