January 2009 Archives
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January 31, 2009
Friday Saturday Culture Word: Iron
The following is a list of languages and words. All the words mean iron. Akkadian parzillu Aramaic פַּרְזְלָא Old South Arabic frsn Ugaritic brdl Phoenician/Punic brzl Hebrew בַרְזֶל To the list one might add Arabic, فرزل (firzil) but the Arabic...
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Posted by Duane Smith at 1:29 PM
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January 28, 2009
More Work and I Keep Thinking I'm Retired
I just got word about a paper on משׁתין בקיר that I submitted for publication back in June of last year. I'd all but given up on it. I worried that it was a little too long and that it...Read all of "More Work and I Keep Thinking I'm Retired"
Posted by Duane Smith at 1:22 PM
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January 27, 2009
It Must Be A Slow News Day
Why else would CNN run this story on a 2012 Apocalypse? Dozens of titles about 2012 have been published and more are scheduled to go on sale in the coming months. Current offerings include "Apocalypse 2012," in which author Lawrence...Read all of "It Must Be A Slow News Day"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:21 PM
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January 26, 2009
Brandeis to Sell Art to Pay the Bills
Rocked by a budget crisis, Brandeis University will close its Rose Art Museum and sell off a 6,000-object collection that includes work by such contemporary masters as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Nam June Paik. And other things, as draconian,...Read all of "Brandeis to Sell Art to Pay the Bills"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:28 PM
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January 25, 2009
An Amulet for Rakab-El
Between other projects, I've been messing around with several of the texts from Zincirli. This is in anticipation of the formal publication of Pardee's work on the new Kuttamuwa Inscription. The short text KAI 25 is as good a place...Read all of "An Amulet for Rakab-El"
Posted by Duane Smith at 4:36 PM
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January 24, 2009
Following Duane's Law
I've mentioned Duane's Law before. Simply stated it claims, "Ceteris paribus, the amount of actual knowledge on any specific subject is inversely proportional to number of books on that subject in a general-purpose bookstore." Even if he doesn't know it,...Read all of "Following Duane's Law"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:53 PM
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January 23, 2009
Friday Culture Word: *'θpt/quiver
Look at the following list of languages and words. Hurrian išpanti Hittite išpanti Akkadain išpatu Ugaritic uṯpt Egyptian ispt There can be little doubt that *'θpt was a wide spread culture word in the Late Bronze Age Levant and even...Read all of "Friday Culture Word: *'θpt/quiver"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:22 PM
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January 22, 2009
This Year's Oranges
Every weekday morning Shirley and I each drink a smoothie. We make our two smoothies from one orange, one banana, some pineapple and a few berries plus ice. We use various berries to provide different colors and flavors. A small...Read all of "This Year's Oranges"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:29 PM
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January 20, 2009
Happy to be Included
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers." Barack Obama, Inaugural Address I do worry that the President still excluded some from the list. Perhaps it is time to stop making such a list...Read all of "Happy to be Included"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:26 AM
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Mr. President
If you tell us the truth when it is good for us and when it isn't; tell us the truth when it is good for you and when it isn't; we'll get along just fine....
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:21 AM
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January 19, 2009
Our Dream
I've spent sometime yesterday and today trying to write a post for Martin Luther King Day. I thought about the recent CNN poll. I thought about Barack Obama's election. I thought about the racist light parents who raised me: equal...
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:03 PM
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January 18, 2009
Not Sure How To Look Words Up In An Ugaritic Dictionary
Jim Getz has the lowdown at Ketuvim. I agree with Jim. If there is anything that can be easily standardized it must certainly be an alphabetical order. As an old more mature student of Ugaritic, I prefer Cyrus Gordon’s ordering....Read all of "Not Sure How To Look Words Up In An Ugaritic Dictionary"
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:20 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
January 17, 2009
Snail Shells and Descent of Ištar
Aydin Örstan of Snail's Tales linked to the latest issue of the Archaeo+Malacology Group Newsletter. So I followed the link. There is almost always something abnormally interesting there. The first article is by Karin Tamar and Henk K. Mienis, "Conus...Read all of "Snail Shells and Descent of Ištar"
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:19 PM
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January 16, 2009
Friday Culture Word: *'nk/tin
I compiled the following list of languages and words from the works of Mankowski, 35, and Landsberger, 285-296. All the words mean "tin." I haven't checked every case. But I have checked the Sumerian, the Akkadian, the Hittite, and the...Read all of "Friday Culture Word: *'nk/tin"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:38 PM
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January 15, 2009
No More Bibles In South Carolina
Here is the first section of South Carolina Senate Bill S. 56. SECTION 1. Article 3, Chapter 15, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: "Section 16-15-370. (A) It is unlawful for a person in a public...Read all of "No More Bibles In South Carolina"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:12 PM
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January 13, 2009
Sad News
I am saddened to report the death of Henri Cazelles, Professeur Honoraire à l’Institut Catholique de Paris. Back in the late 1960s or early 1970s, I'm not sure which year, Dr. Cazelles was a visiting professor at School of Theology...
Posted by Duane Smith at 3:21 PM
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January 12, 2009
Loanwords and "Borrowability"
Over the last few months I've been running a Friday series on loanwords that has morphed into series on ancient near eastern cultural words. Saturday Mark Liberman wrote a post for Language Log on Uri Tadmor and Martin Haspelmath's presentation...Read all of "Loanwords and "Borrowability""
Posted by Duane Smith at 2:57 PM
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January 11, 2009
Ancient Near East Sites on Google Earth
J. P. van de Giessen of Aantekeningen bij de Bijbel directs us to the work of Olof Pedersén of Uppsala University. Pedersén has flagged some 1300 ancient near eastern locations on Google Earth. Another wonderful timesink and a useful tool...Read all of "Ancient Near East Sites on Google Earth"
Posted by Duane Smith at 10:03 AM
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January 9, 2009
Friday Culture Word: 'gn/bowl
The root, if that is the correct word, *'gn occurs in Akkadian (agannu), Aramaic, (אַגָּנָא) Hebrew (אַגָּן), Ugaritic (agn), Arabic (إجانه), Phoenician/Punic ('gn), and also in Hittite (or Hurrian) (aganni), Egyptian (ikn) and perhaps even Greek (τον ειγαν). In most...Read all of "Friday Culture Word: 'gn/bowl"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:41 PM
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January 7, 2009
Linguistic Diversity In Pre-State Contexts
Darrell Pursiful, Dr. Platypus, directs us to a guest by Don Ringe on Language Log. Ringe's post is "The Linguistic Diversity of Aboriginal Europe." While this post is abnormally interesting in its own right, I couldn't help but wonder if...Read all of "Linguistic Diversity In Pre-State Contexts"
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January 6, 2009
Visiting Major Intellectual Monuments
The other day, our son, Shirley (my wife), and I were playing around with a metaphor for major intellectual achievements. Most of our discussion had to do with the calculus and evolution by natural selection as such intellectual achievements. Our...Read all of "Visiting Major Intellectual Monuments"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:13 PM
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January 5, 2009
Mark Twain at Stormfield, the Film
Sunday evening I read long neglected (by me) threads from the Mark Twain Forum. Much of the discussion was on a YouTube film clip of Twain and two women at Stormfield in 1909. One of the women, the one on...Read all of "Mark Twain at Stormfield, the Film"
Posted by Duane Smith at 9:03 AM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
January 3, 2009
Four Stone Hearth Is Up
I'm a little late on this but the New Year edition of Four Stone Hearth is up at Testimony of the Spade. Go find something abnormally interesting....Read all of "Four Stone Hearth Is Up"
Posted by Duane Smith at 6:40 PM | TrackBack (0) | Abnormal Archive Link |
January 2, 2009
100% Correct and Still No Respect
I continue to be upset that major news outlets do not pick up my predictions. I was 100% correct with my predictions for 2008 and not a single editor has asked what I think will happen in 2009. Unlike many...Read all of "100% Correct and Still No Respect"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:06 PM
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January 1, 2009
Pseudo-Archaeological
Thaddeus Nelson lists his candidates for the "Top Ten Pseudo-Archaeological Subjects of 2008" on Archaeoporn. What do you think? Happy New Year if this is the beginning of a new year for you....Read all of "Pseudo-Archaeological"
Posted by Duane Smith at 8:36 AM
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