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1

A case of decapitation from Giza

100%

Lebedev M., Dobrovolskaya M., Mednikova M.

Pražské egyptologické studie (Prague Egyptological Studies)

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2018

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issue 21

106-119

EN

In 2010, the Russian archaeological mission at Giza excavated chamber 2B of tomb GE 19 at the eastern edge of the necropolis and discovered an intact burial there. The male found in the chamber had been decapitated, and the skull with the lower jaw was lying separately from the postcranial skeleton on a layer of clean sand facing east. The paper discusses the archaeological context of the burial, the paleopathology, and the possible reasons for this rare case of decapitation dating back to the Old Kingdom.

2

Śmierć M. Licyniusza Krassusa: pomiędzy mors aurata a Bachantkami Eurypidesa

71%

Madejski P.

Res Historica

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2020

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issue 49

EN

The defeat at Carrhae is usually seen as a turning point of the Roman imperialism. But this is a view of the modern historiography. For the Latin historiography of the period the defeat was primarily a pretext to justify next military or quasi-military actions. This is why Latin-writing authors stressed a motif of revenge. It is especially manifest when descriptions of M. Licinius Crassus’ death are concerned. Although the earliest reports on the matter have not survived to our time, thanks to indirect or direct mentions it is possible to reconstruct the narrations about Crassus’ death. The Latin versions stressed Parthian brutality and deceit, while paying less attention to the triumvir himself – and it was a justifiable step – and Crassus’ lost. This is the main reason to describe him as a careless general. Too accurate depiction was not necessary and undesirable. Crassus died during a retreat, after his soldiers mutinied, cheated by the Parthians, having no time and opportunity to deliver any last words or perform any symbolic gesture. It was not a dignified death of a Roman politician, leader or a Roman. The Greek view was more different. Some of the authors of course shared the Roman view, but the other developed a story of a post-mortem fate of Crassus. This motive was known to the Latin readers as well and in the 4th century A.D. developed into a moralizing narration about punished greed. What is more surprising, within this trend Crassus had been brought to life: he suffered mors aurata alive! The late antique authors just reworked an element of the narration present already in the Livian version.

PL

Pogrom rzymskich legii w bitwie pod Karrami (Carrhae) jest zazwyczaj postrzegany jako punkt zwrotny rzymskiego imperializmu. Jest to jednak pogląd nowożytny. Z punktu widzenia historiografii łacińskiej narracja o porażce służyła przede wszystkim uzasadnianiu kolejnych antypartyjskich posunięć militarnych lub dyplomatycznych. Z tego powodu łacińscy autorzy na plan pierwszy wysunęli temat zemsty. Co prawda najstarsze przekazy o bitwie i śmierci M. Licyniusza Krassusa (M. Licinius Crassus) nie zachowały się, ale na podstawie późniejszych informacji można zrekonstruować kierunki rozwoju narracji o zgonie triumwira i podstawowych czynnikach kształtujących ją. Wersje łacińskie podkreślały partyjską brutalność i podstępność mniej koncentrując się na osobie triumwira i porażce. Zbyt dokładna relacja nie była wskazana. Kładziono nacisk na wszelkie potknięcia Krassusa jako wodza, czyniąc go w ten sposób odpowiedzialnym za klęskę. Był to standardowy wybieg w przypadku narracji o militarnych niepowodzeniach. Krassus zmarł w sposób mało godny, nie pozostawiając po sobie żadnych ostatnich słów, nie zdobywając się na żaden symboliczny gest. Co gorsza, zginął podczas odwrotu. Greckie przekazy były nieco inne. Część podzielała wersje rzymskie i rzymski punkt widzenia. Podkreślano natomiast losy szczątków zabitego Rzymianina – zwłaszcza jego odciętej głowy. Najprawdopodobniej już Liwiusz znał opowieść o wkładaniu w usta odciętej głowy złota, ale moralizatorskie przesłanie tej sceny zostało rozwinięte nieco później przez autorów łacińskich i greckich i przyniosło około IV w. informację o Krassusie wziętym do niewoli żywcem, któremu dopiero później wlano do ust stopione złoto.

3

L’Éros sauvage. Figures féminines de la viciation du désir. (Haut Livre du Graal, Vengeance Raguidel, Livre d’Artus)

63%

Poisson-Gueffier J.-F.

e-Scripta Romanica

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2018

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vol. 6

17-29

EN

The High Book of the Grail, the Vengeance Raguidel and the Livre d’Artus include a scene in which a damsel offers a lurid inversion of desire, concerning not a knight conceived as a being, but seen as an object she possesses through death. The decapitation that she aims to make the knight undergo shows a viciation of feminine desire, which turns into a sulphureous veneration of his corporeal relic.

FR

Le Haut Livre du Graal, la Vengeance Raguidel et le Livre d’Artus présentent une scène-miroir dans laquelle une demoiselle figure une inversion macabre du désir, qui ne porte plus sur un sujet chevaleresque inaugurant une relation courtoise, mais sur un chevalier devenu objet et véritablement possédé dans la mort. La décapitation qu’elle projette de lui faire subir manifeste une viciation du désir féminin, qui dégénère en un culte sulfureux de sa relique corporelle.

4

Palaeopathology of human remains of the 1st century BC–3rd century AD from Armenia (Beniamin, Shirakavan I)

63%

Khudaverdyan A. Y.

Anthropological Review

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2015

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vol. 78

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issue 2

213-228

EN

The aim of this article was to document the pathology of the individuals from the archeological sites of Beniamin and Shirakavan I, Armenia, dated on the 1st century BC - 3rd century AD. The findings revealed that two groups differed in mean age at death of adults. At Beniamin it was 24 years, 40.8 years for males and 30.9 years for females, whereas at Shirakavanit it was 29.3 years, 29.6 years for males and 35.8 years for females. The greatest mortality appeared to have occurred when the children reached the age of one year (Beniamin). The population had high number of young-adult females with a cause of death associated with child-bearing. Very few females survived to old age. Traumatic conditions (63.64%) and enamel hypoplasias (57.2%) have a high frequency in the skeletal material from Shirakavan. The volume of selection of Shirakavan does not allow itself to so big discussion as it was possible with the Beniamin site. Fewer hypoplasias in Beniamin group indicate that food resources were more abundant and more easily exploited. The small frequency of a periodontal disorder indicates that dental hygiene was good during the Antiquity period. We here report a case of possible pituitary dwarfism and a case of decapitation.

5

Procesy i egzekucje „żywych trupów” przed sądami miejskimi i wiejskimi w XVI–XVIII wieku – przyczynek do wierzeń w magia posthuma na Śląsku

45%

Wojtucki D.

Opolskie Studia Administracyjno-Prawne

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2018

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vol. 16

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issue 4 (1)

77-92

PL

There are references reaching back to the Middle Ages, regarding the fear of the “undead” or “living dead” who would rise from their graves in a local cemetery to haunt and harm the community. The fear of the “undead” was extremely strong, and the entailing hysteria often affected entire communities. In the 16th to the 18th century, in Silesia, effective forms of coping with the harmful deceased were developed. Analysing the preserved source material, we are able to determine that the basic actions involved finding the grave of the “undead” in the cemetery, exhuming the corpse and destroying it. However, this did not always mean the total annihilation of the poor man’s corpse. The trial and execution of the corpse of a person suspected of the harmful activity against the living took place observing almost the same rules as in the case of the living. Apart from the authorities, who usually commissioned local jurors to handle the situation, opinions and advice were also sought from the clergy as well as gravediggers and executioners. The last were considered to be experts of sorts and were often called upon to see corpses of the suspected dead. In the analysed cases of posthumous magic (magia posthuma) in Silesia, we deal with two directions of handling the corpse accused of a harmful posthumous activity. In both cases, the main decision was made to remove such corpses from the cemetery’s area. Costs of the trial and execution of the “undead” were considerable. They included expenses incurred due to rather frequent court hearings at which sometimes dozens of witnesses were heard, payments to expert witnesses, payments to guards watching graves, costs of legal instructions, services of gravediggers who would dig up suspicious graves, and, finally, the remuneration of executioners and their people. In the second half of the 18th century, despite relevant decrees issued by supreme authorities, trials and executions of the dead were not completely abandoned.

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1 Anthropological Review

1 Opolskie Studia Administracyjno-Prawne

1 Pražské egyptologické studie (Prague Egyptological Studies)

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1 Dobrovolskaya M.

1 Khudaverdyan A. Y.

1 Lebedev M.

1 Madejski P.

1 Mednikova M.

1 Poisson-Gueffier J.-F.

1 Wojtucki D.

1 2020

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1 2015

A case of decapitation from Giza

Śmierć M. Licyniusza Krassusa: pomiędzy mors aurata a Bachantkami Eurypidesa

L’Éros sauvage. Figures féminines de la viciation du désir. (Haut Livre du Graal, Vengeance Raguidel, Livre d’Artus)

Palaeopathology of human remains of the 1st century BC–3rd century AD from Armenia (Beniamin, Shirakavan I)

Procesy i egzekucje „żywych trupów” przed sądami miejskimi i wiejskimi w XVI–XVIII wieku – przyczynek do wierzeń w magia posthuma na Śląsku