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Pod maską wiktoriańskiej kobiecości. Kulturowe implikacje przedstawień Heleny Modrzejewskiej w prasie amerykańskiej (1877–1909)

Behind the Facade of Victorian Womanhood: Cultural Implications of Helena Modjeska’s Coverage in the American Press, 1877–1909

Author(s): Irmina Wawrzyczek / Language(s): English / Issue: 52/2021

Keywords: Helena Modrzejewska/Modjeska; actress; Victorian „true womanhood”; „the New Woman”; feminism; penny press; media image; America

Helena Modrzejewska, professionally known also as Modjeska, a renowned Polish-American theatre actress of the second part of the 19th century, lived and performed in the USA in the years 1876–1909. She became an object of interest to the American press soon after her debut in 1877 and stayed in the media spotlight till her death. The present study in cultural and women’s history examines Modjeska’s abundant newspaper reports, notices, stories and reviews in the context of emerging American feminism. Employing content and topical analysis of randomly-selected texts published about her at three different points of time, two parallel yet contradictory femininities have been identified as parts of her mediated identity: an embodied ideal of Victorian „true womanhood” and a genuine New Woman of the fin de siècle. Although Modjeska was keeping up the conventional facade of a perfect gentlewoman for the sake of publicity, her activities were nevertheless consistently subverting the patriarchal codes authorising it. Whether she intended it or not, her media presence moved her to the forefront of feminist ferment in America.

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Niepoliczone i niepoliczalne (?) Ofiary broni chemicznej, maj 1915 r.

Countless and Uncountable (?) Victims of Chemical Weapons, May 1915

Author(s): Anna Izbaella Zalewska / Language(s): English / Issue: 52/2021

Keywords: the Great War; Eastern Front; chemical weapon (CW); 1915; chlorine; fatal and non-fatal poisonings; estimation of the number of fatalities; resting places as memory triggers; war cemeteries

The subject of this discussion are the almost forgotten victims of chemical weapons on the Eastern Front of World War I. Source data related to military operations, in particular to the German gas attacks in the region of the Bzura and Rawka rivers, are the basis for presenting problems related to the estimation of the number of victims of poisonous chlorine gas in the period between May and July 1915. Using the example of selected data relating to the wave attack of May 31, 1915, I show the specificity and complexity of the source documents closely related to the problem under consideration, that is the issue of the countability of victims of chemical weapons. Indirectly, I show the need and legitimacy of systematizing and interpreting all available information on what resulted from the historical use of chemical weapons. This would be conducive to deepening our knowledge about the fallen soldiers and their resting places. It would be helpful to initiate work on a digital repository of knowledge on the use of chemical weapons in the past, taking into account the very diverse descriptions of events and victims of chemical weapons from the Eastern Front of the Great War. Such a digitized resource could contribute to the systematization of highly dispersed source data, their further interpretation and reinterpretation, and their social activation, for the benefit of deepening knowledge about history and historical awareness and preventing the threat of again turning to the use of such weapons of mass destruction.

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Odzyskanie niepodległości w świetle prowincjalnej prasy jidysz. Listopad 1918 r. na łamach dziennika „Lubliner Tugblat”

Regaining Independence in the Light of the Provincial Yiddish Press. November 1918 on the Pages of the „Lubliner Tugblat” Daily

Author(s): Adam Kopciowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 52/2021

Keywords: Regaining independence; Jews; Yiddish press; „Lubliner Tugblat”; folkism

The aim of the article is to present the attitude of the provincial Yiddish press (based on the example of the Lublin daily „Lubliner Tugblat”) towards regaining independence and forming Polish statehood in November 1918. It discusses both the news content of the title newspaper (focused mainly on local events) and its opinion journalism (concerning almost exclusively national matters) separately. The daily reported on various stages of regaining independence from a strictly Jewish perspective, focusing primarily on matters related to security issues, collective anti-Jewish violence trundling through the country, as well as the role and place of the Jewish community in the reborn state. The newspaper’s attitude to the events of November 1918 went through three distinct phases: recognition, struggle and disappointment, but the constant determinant of its narration was the conviction, taken from folkist ideology, that Jews constitute a separate nation, pursuing an independent policy, expecting from the newly formed state to ensure equal rights to them and, in the longer term, grant them national and cultural autonomy.

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In the Marne’s Shadow: Everyday Life in Paris on the Brink of the Great War in the Light of Popular Parisian Press

Author(s): Małgorzata Nossowska / Language(s): English / Issue: 51/2021

Keywords: Paris; August 1914; everyday life in Paris; French daily press

Along with the approaching war, the organization and character of the Parisian daily life changed at the turn of July and August 1914. The mobility of people, principles and opening hours of shops, and public transport came under new regulations, together with the function of public institutions, entertainment venues, and cafes. Additionally, problems closely related to war appeared, which left their mark on the city’s life, i.e.: taking care of the wounded, problem of refugees and of living conditions of families of the enlisted soldiers, and those related to preparations for the city’s defense in the face of the defeat at the border. Over the course of a few weeks, Paris undergoes a change from „la ville de lumière” to „la ville de guerre”, while the daily press records the aforementioned changes on the ongoing basis, at the same time reporting on the public mood and drawing attention to problems that were the most crucial from the Parisians’ pointof view. The press also becomes one of the instruments for boosting people’s morale bythe articles’ overtones and topics.

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From „Catholic Red Banners” to the Christian Social Association. The Evolution of the Understanding of the Socio-Political Tasks of Catholicism in the Political Reflection of Jan Frankowski (1912–1976)

Author(s): Ariel Orzełek / Language(s): English / Issue: 51/2021

Keywords: Christian Social Association; Jan Frankowski; Catholic Social Teaching; Third Way; „PAX” Association

One of the most important elements of the political thought of the Polish Catholic activist, Jan Frankowski, was a reflection on the social and economic tasks of Catholicism in the modern world. However, it depended on the volatile political conditions. In the Second Polish Republic, Frankowski, cooperating with the „young conservatives” movement, called for the renewal of the Church and increase in the activity of the laity. They were to replace, in respect of many issues, the listless clergy, seeking and finding the answer to the question regarding the new Catholic thought in the era of atheist totalitarianisms. He, himself, believed that it cannot be found in slogans: corporatism and solidarity, but it should be sought in the creative interpretation of the papal encyclicals in accordance with the „third way” and personalism. However, his thought was rather „against” certain elements than „in support” of other, he tried to pave the way for new ideas. During the Second World War, Frankowski was cooperating with „Unia” Catholic group, but as early as in 1944, he commenced cooperation with communist authorities. Despite the fact that he distanced himself from many aspects of operation of „Dziś i Jutro” group and „PAX” Association, he cooperated with them, trying to, unsuccessfully, adjust the „third way” to the new conditions. In 1956, he left „PAX”. However, he opposed the concept of „nonpartisan democratic left”, causing the split of „Za i Przeciw” weekly group and creating the Christian Social Association. It was, in general, a group with no ideology, based on the cooperation with authorities and the guarantee of basic rights of Church in Poland. Not only did Frankowski not succeed as a creator of great concepts, but he also did not achieved much as a politician with limited ambitions. In 1968, he lost the position of the chairperson of the Christian Social Association. He died 8 years later as an almost completely forgott en activist. This situation resulted also from his decision to discontinue bold ideological reflections.

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The History of Poland in the Service of State Promotion: an Example of Activities in Japan

Author(s): Renata Gałaj-Dempniak / Language(s): English / Issue: 51/2021

Keywords: Manga; Japan; Poland; promotion

History is strongly linked to the country and its citizens. It identifies the nation and the country, it helps to preserve the identity by reminding the people of their legacy. That is why it is a perfect means of building a country’s brand and evoking associations with its location and society. Poland is constantly searching for new markets for its products, even in countries in which it is barely present. One of the countries whose market Poland is trying to get into is Japan, a country whose citizens do not know much about Poland. In order to facilitate the relations between these two countries, the Polish government decided to launch an information campaign about Poland’s past and present, its possibilities, its significance in the international arena, and its people. Considering the character of Japanese culture a comic has been chosen to be the adequate medium.

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Getahovit-2. New evidence of an Upper Palaeolithic settlement in Northern Armenia

Author(s): Irena Kalantaryan,Marcin Białowarczuk,Michał Przeździecki / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: Upper Paleolithic; cave settlement; Tavush; Armenia;

The cave settlement at Getahovit-2 in Armenia has a proven record of human occupation from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages, making it the third prehistoric cave site, after Aghitu-3 and Kalavan-1, to be known from this region. The current excavation of an Upper Palaeolithic horizon, discovered in 2014, has yielded a radiocarbon date placing the site within the Last Glacial Maximum, thus filling a gap in the archaeological record between the middle and late Upper Palaeolithic (between 24,000 and 18,000 cal. BP). The short-term occupation by a group of hunters, revealed by the preliminary results, is interpreted with considerable likelihood as a stop during a hunting expedition. Work at the cave site has been resumed under the flag of a newly established Armenian-Polish research cooperation between the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Science of the Republic of Armenia and the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw.

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Unearthing a Middle Nile crossroads – exploring the prehistory of the Letti Basin (Sudan)

Author(s): Piotr Osypiński,Marta Osypińska,Marek Chłodnicki,Justyna Kokolus,Marzena Cendrowska,Roman Łopaciuk,Beata Piotrowska,Jakub Sobko,Huyam Khalid Madani / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: survey; Letti; early Holocene; Palaeolithic; Neolithic; Kerma;

New research on early Holocene settlement and burial practices in the Southern Dongola Reach focused on the key areas of the Letti region, Argi (adjacent to Affad) and the outlets of Wadi el-Melik and Wadi Howar. The project follows up on ten years of investigations by the PalaeoAffad Project in the Affad region (Northern Province, Sudan). Unique data collected in the course of the first season of fieldwork reopens the debate on cattle domestication and early pottery production in the region (previously classified as the Tergis Group). The new finds, concerning Neolithic and Kerma settlement in the region, enables changes in the currently accepted absolute chronology of prehistoric settlement in the area.

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Return to Kadakol: new research on Site 1 (LTI019) in the Letti Basin (Sudan)

Author(s): Przemysław Bobrowski,Marek Chłodnicki,Marta Osypińska,Justyna Kokolus,Roman Łopaciuk,Marzena Cendrowska,Beata Piotrowska,Jakub Sobko,Huyam Khalid Madani / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: Nubia; Letti Basin; Kerma; Napatan/Christian period; burials;

Early comparative research on the material from the site of Kadakol 1 in the Letti Basin (Sudan), which was surveyed in the late 1960s, suggested an association with the Kerma Culture horizon while not excluding multicultural occupation. Investigations, which were resumed in 2022 within the frame of a new research project exploring the significance of the Middle Nile Valley in prehistoric times, have yielded data confirming the early findings and contributing information on younger occupational episodes from Napatan and Christian times, in both cases attested by extensive burial grounds.

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The contest scene in EDIII Mesopotamian glyptic art

Author(s): Dorota Ławecka / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: Early Dynastic period; bull-man; human-headed bull; Utu/Shamash; heroes; Anzu bird; “Star-spade”;

There are four main protagonists in Early Dynastic III contest scenes: two heroes, a bull-man and a human-headed bull. They are usually involved in guarding herbivores against predators. Contrary to common opinion, the protected herbivores are identified apparently as wild rather than domesticated species. The paper explores the role of the depicted beings, the interactions between them, and the secondary motifs that accompany them in the contest scenes. Despite the many composition variants and some intricacies of interpretation, the scene as such is considered consistent and imbued with a deeper mythological meaning, rather than being a purely ornamental arrangement of random decorative elements. The author observes the association between specific participants and certain elements of the contest scene and the god Utu/Shamash or else the mountainous region east of Mesopotamia. In both instances, the association points to the eastern horizon—a liminal location where the Sun-god rises, a region with the symbolism of rebirth bestowed upon it, where fates are determined and judgments passed—which is the setting suggested for the perpetual contest depicted in Mesopotamian glyptic art.

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Post-New Kingdom topography and chronology of the Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el-Bahari in light of new archaeological evidence

Author(s): Patryk Chudzik / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: Deir el-Bahari; Temple of Hatshepsut; Third Intermediate Period; rock-cut tomb; Roman era; reuse;

Around 1000 BCE, an earthquake brought down many temples in Western Thebes, thus putting an end to the cult centre at Deir el-Bahari which had been a key site for the celebration of the Beautiful Feast of the Valley all through the New Kingdom. Within a few dozen years the deserted chapels and rooms of the Hatshepsut temple were turned into a burial ground. The necropolis established on the ruins of one of the most famous temples of Egypt was first excavated in the 19th century; however, current work by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw expedition in the Hathor cult complex of the temple of the female pharaoh has resulted in the discovery of a group of shaft tombs and a great number of burial remains. These new finds have instigated a revisiting of both the topography and the chronology of this reuse of the older monument, as well as a contextualization of the work of the early explorers which has gradually been forgotten partly through lack of proper documentation.

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Continuity and change in the ceramic assemblage from Metsamor between the 10th and 7th centuries BCE (new data from the 2021 season)

Author(s): Mateusz Iskra,Tigran Zakyan,Maciej Sobczak,Bartosz Placak / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: South Caucasus; Iron Age; Urartian pottery; Lchashen–Metsamor pottery;

The morphology and distribution of what is considered as a local pottery assemblage from the Iron I and Iron II phases, which in Metsamor is part of a larger cultural phenomenon designated as the Lchashen–Metsamor pottery horizon, is the subject of continued discussion in terms of its continuity and change. This presentation, expanding on previous, preliminary research (see Iskra and Zakyan 2019; 2022), considers the input of new findings resulting from an examination of the results of the most recent excavations by an Armenian-Polish team, concentrated on phases of peak development (V and IVb) and gradual decline of urban life (IVa) in the Iron Age at this fortress site in Armenia. The discussion also contextualizes current knowledge of the presence of Urartian Red Burnished Ware in the Metsamor settlement, especially during the initial phase of Urartian presence, that is, in Phase IVa.

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“Indianisation” of a Roman coin design in Early Historic India: a study of an imitation from the British Museum Emilia

Author(s): Emilia Smagur / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: aureus; Early Historic India; imitation; Roman coins; Indian Ocean trade;

Roman aurei and solidi in India led to imitations of gold being produced there of these coins, with a gradual infiltration of indigenous elements observed in the iconography of some examples. An imitation of a Roman aureus, now in the British Museum collection, demonstrates how the Roman coin design was renegotiated to fit an Early Historic Indian cultural landscape. Specifically, the design of the reverse of this specimen finds no prototype in Roman coinage of the times. It must have been a local development, with the Indian craftsman reworking a representation of a female deity known from issues of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius and adding a temple to it. The Indian form of the building suggests that the figure should be interpreted as a Hindu goddess, possibly Lakshmi, shown in the act of blessing her temple.

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Burial practices in early Byzantine Syro-Palestine (4th–7th centuries CE) – review article

Author(s): Mariusz Gwiazda / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: burial practices; Syro-Palestine; early Byzantine; grave goods;

This review paper of current knowledge of burial customs in Syro-Palestine in the early Byzantine period (4th–7th centuries CE) identifies elements that were a continuation of burial practices from the Roman period (1st–3rd centuries CE) while noting new customs. It considers the material in terms of location of the burial grounds, forms of graves, variety of grave goods and body positioning data. A quantitative approach to the data demonstrates a gradual departure from chamber tombs and sarcophagi in the early Byzantine period. An emerging trend in this period are burials being made in monasteries and, to a lesser extent, in churches; this can be related to the spread of Christianity. Discussing the results of available radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis, the paper calls for more widespread use of these methods to further knowledge of burial customs in Syro-Palestine in the final phases of antiquity.

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From Roman industrial center to early Islamic town: archaeological excavations at 'Marea'/Philoxenite in the 2020–2021 field seasons

Author(s): Mariusz Gwiazda,Tomasz Derda,Tomasz Barański / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: Egypt; Roman period; Byzantine period; churches; town; graves;

Being one of the biggest and best preserved archaeological sites in the western hinterland of Alexandria, ‘Marea’/Philoxenite is, therefore, one of the most important points of reference for studies of the Mareotis region. Despite the fact that the site has been investigated for many years, by various excavation teams, the nature and chronology of the different phases of settlement remain unclear. Since 2018, systematic stratigraphic excavations have been carried out at the site with the aim of investigating insufficiently studied parts of the settlement. In 2020 and 2021, this goal was achieved by opening and surveying 11 trenches in the southwestern part of the site. This led to the identification of hitherto unknown structures: two churches, two tombs, an irrigation system and numerous rubbish dumps associated with the Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic phases. The study also determined the extent and functional changes of various parts of this settlement, in different historical periods.

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Unearthing 6th-century CE occupation on the fringes of the Nile Valley. Closing the PalaeoAffad Project in the Affad Basin (Sudan)

Author(s): Marta Osypińska,Justyna Kokolus,Paweł Wiktorowicz,Marzena Cendrowska,Roman Łopaciuk,Marek Chłodnicki,Beata Piotrowska,Jakub Sobko,Huyam Khalid Madani / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: survey; Nubia; Middle Nile Valley;

Archaeological sites located on the fringes of the current Nile river valley, 7 km inland, in the Affad Basin (Northern Province, Sudan), explored by the PalaeoAffad Project in the final season of fieldwork under the current grant project, revealed cultural affinities with pastoralism in a semi-desert environment dated to the period between the Meroitic and Makurian kingdoms. Excavated structures included possible drinkers for animals and an infant’s grave found under a stone tumulus.

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Zoomorphic motifs on early Islamic scratch-engraved glass from Alexandria: a case study

Author(s): Renata Kucharczyk / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: scratch-engraved glass; zoomorphic motifs; lion; camel; Alexandria;

The two pieces of scratch-engraved glass presented in this article, one with lion and the other with camel imagery, are to date the only examples of animal representations executed in this technique that are known from the archaeological excavation of the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria (Egypt). As such, they contribute significantly to the still very small assemblage of scratch-engraved glass with zoomorphic themes from the Islamic world, so far made up of altogether no more than seven fragments, including these two. The shards come from cylindrical cups, a popular form in use in the Early Islamic period, dated to the 8th–9th centuries.

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The glass from Jerash/Gerasa (Polish excavations in 1982–1983)

Author(s): Krystyna Gawlikowska / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: Jerash/Gerasa; glass tableware; glass lamps; cosmetic utensils; glass windowpanes;

The glass finds presented in this article—the catalog encompasses 200 pieces constituting a representative selection of tableware, lamps and windowpanes—span a time from the 1st century through the 9th, corresponding to the Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic/Abbasid periods in Jordan. The assemblage derives from 15 months of uninterrupted fieldwork, carried out within the frame of the Jerash International Project run by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan between October 1982 and the end of 1983, at two locations within the ancient urban site in Jerash, the ancient Gerasa. These locations were: a residential area by the South Decumanus and a small church founded by Bishop Marianos in the vicinity of the hippodrome and Hadrian’s Arch.

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Visual Viewshed Simulation: Applying a 3D environment in archaeological research at Faysaliyya (southern Jordan)

Author(s): Jacek Karmowski / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: virtual landscape; 3D in archaeology; simulation; visibility analysis; visibility reconstruction; landscape archaeology; GIS;

The shift from presenting and analyzing threedimensional data in 2D to displaying and analyzing them in a 3D environment is becoming increasingly prevalent in archaeological practice. This approach opens new possibilities, such as a 3D virtual reality, that archaeologists can take advantage of. This paper presents an application of the Visual Viewshed Simulation, a 3D virtual reality tool for (re)constructing the visibility of objects in the field, taking into account factors such as atmospheric and lighting conditions. This approach can provide a new way to research people–place relations and may be particularly useful in landscape archaeology.

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Amr Abdo, Alexandria Antiqua. A topographical catalogue and reconstruction

Author(s): Grzegorz Majcherek / Language(s): English / Issue: XXXI/2022

Keywords: Alexandria Antiqua; topography; archeology;

Review of: Amr Abdo, Alexandria Antiqua. A topographical catalogue and reconstruction. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2022; ISBN 978-1-78969-943-2 (print); ISBN 978-1-78969-944-9 (e-Pdf); 378 pages, 246 figures

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