1,720,972 research outputs found
The Archaeology of Wine in the Southern Caucasus. New Methods for an Old Tradition
Full text linkThe Southern Caucasus belongs to the core area where viticulture and wine production first developed in the Neolithic period (sixth millennium BC). Since then wine occupied, and still continues to occupy, a central role in the local cultures, as part of the subsistence economy, a focus of ritualised consumption and a source of visual symbols. Archaeology provides ample material evidence of this tradition and of its continuity/development, in particular from the territory of Georgia: wine production installations, areas for storage, consumption and deposition, specialised tools and vessels, wine-related iconography, etc. The article presents a selection of the different categories of evidence and focuses on the new results obtained on the ‘Archaeology of Wine’ in the region through a multidisciplinary approach and with the help of bioarchaeology and ‘archaeological science
Wine, Women, and Royalty in Gandhara
Full text linkCurtius Rufus (VIII. 10.33-34) narrates that when Alexander had conquered the city of Massaga, which was the capital of the kingdom of the Assacenians, the inhabitants asked the king for clemency by sending ambassadors. When they had obtained it, the queen presented herself to the conqueror with a numerous retinue of high-born women who libated wine from golden cups: in this way she managed to maintain her high role. Beyond the episode that can reproduce a topos relating to the relationship between Alexander and women, the paper will investigate the plausibility of the ritual act that the text reports, i.e., the libation of wine, in the historical context of ancient Gandhara and, more in general, of North/West India in connection with royalty and the presence of women of rank
Wine in Gandhāra. Notes on a Mythical and Economical Geography
No full textThe contribution focuses on the geography of places associated by the Greeks in the retinue of Alexander with wine and the myth of Dionysus and Herakles
in Gandhāra, specifically the city of Nysa in the Kunar/Chitral valley. The study then
analyzes the economic spaces of wine production in the region until late antiquity. The existence of an actual ‘Wine Belt’ has been hypothesized in the past on the basis of archaeological data. This encompasses both Swat and the Kunar/Chitral area and roughly corresponds to the cultural region today called Greater Kafiristan or Peristan
Wine in India and Other Substances. An Anthropology of ‘Entheogens’
Full text linkThe history of studies on psychotropic and psychoactive substances in general and on hallucinogens concerning the religious experience and altered states of consciousness is undoubtedly wide and intriguing. Today, it clearly emerges that the scientific perspective has too often been shaped, or even spoiled, by socio-economic trends, political backgrounds, fashions and pop culture of the times. From Prohibition to the psychedelic revolution, reported academic positioning shifts dramatically regarding these substances, which eventually were defined as entheogens in the 1970’s. This contribution traces the history of these studies with a particular focus on South Asia, from the still largely unsolved mystery of Soma/Amṛta to the first archaeological evidence of wine production in Gandhāra. Via a comparative perspective, an ethnographic study is proposed on the production of alcoholic, fermented products and traditional fermentation starters (and their related ritual uses) among the indigenous ādivāsī communities of India
Wine in Gandhāra. Notes on a Mythical and Economical Geography
No full textThe contribution focuses on the geography of places associated by the Greeks in the retinue of Alexander with wine and the myth of Dionysus and Herakles in Gandhāra, specifically the city of Nysa in the Kunar/Chitral valley. The study then analyses the economic spaces of wine production in the region until late antiquity. The existence of an actual ‘Wine Belt’ has been hypothesised in the past on the basis of archaeological data. This encompasses both Swat and the Kunar/Chitral area and roughly corresponds to the cultural region today called Greater Kafiristan or Peristan
The Buddhist Text Known in Pāli as Milindapañha and in Chinese as Nàxiān bǐqiū jīng 那先比丘經. Some Philological Remarks and the Problem of the Archetype
Full text linkThis article is conceived as an introduction to questions concerning the relationship between various versions of a Buddhist text known in its Pāli variant as Milindapañha, and in its Chinese versions as Nàxiān bǐqiū jīng (那先比丘經; T 1670 versions A and B). After a brief account of the conjectures about its redactor(s) and its public of the original Indian environment, the Chinese versions of the text will be dealt with in more detail, with particular attention to the Western reception and the problem related to the reconstruction of a possible archetype. The guidelines provided by Gérard Fussman will be taken into consideration, with some additional comments regarding the suggestion, in the case of the Chinese versions, of taking the Chinese audience into account. To confirm this point, a passage with an eristic dialogue, attested in both Pāli and in Chinese, will be analysed in detail to show how the Chinese translator(s) modified the text for the benefit of the public
The Gandhāric Roots of the Indian Symposion and Sympotic-like Elements in Buddhist Literature
Full text linkStarting with a recent work by Kenneth G. Zysk “From Symposion to Goṣṭhī: The Adaptation of a Greek Social Custom in Ancient India”, this contribution aims to analyse evidence about the three sympotic elements (alcohol, sex, and intellectual pursuits) in the Gandhāra region. Gandhāra is, indeed, the ideal area in which a métissage of cultures could occur, and an ideal place in which the Greek symposion could at first be accommodated and then later spread. Then, Buddhist literary sources (with a special reference to those in Pāli) will be considered in order to analyse some relevant sympotic-like elements. Most notably, a feast occurring in the Pāli Vinaya, the regulative monastic code of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, will be examined, highlighting its sympotic characteristics. Furthermore, three groups of deities known as karoṭapāṇi ‘Those with cups in hands’, mālādhara ‘Garland-bearers’, and sadāmatta/sadāmada ‘Always euphoric/drunk’ will be discussed. These deities are represented in iconography, well attested in Buddhist literary sources in Sanskrit and Chinese, and even mentioned in Pāli literature. Their sympotic function in Buddhist cosmology as hypostatisations of the three sympotic elements of the symposion will be advanced
Accenni di marzialità nelle fonti buddhiste in lingua pāli: riflessioni sulla base di alcuni elementi storico-artistici dal Gandhāra
Full text linkThis article will discuss some early references to the martial arts as they appear in the Pāli canon from a historical perspective. At first, a passage involving fighting shows occurring during festivals will be analysed, highlighting the early Buddhist attitude connected with its ascetic background. Then, a possible shift in attitude that occurred during the reign of Aśoka (III century BCE) will be discussed, and some evidence from Gandhāran Buddhism will be introduced, highlighting a developed stage in which Buddhism has integrated into society, negotiating values and coming to terms with foreign elements, such as symposia, bacchanals and martial arts. Eventually, a Pāli account which includes a sympotic party and an early reference to martial arts practiced within an Indian Buddhist monastery will be discussed
Prefazione
No full textPrefazione alla traduzione italiana del libro di Rupert Gethin intitolato "I fondamenti del buddhismo
Where is Grape Wine? On Grapes and Wine in Pāli Buddhist Literature and Beyond
Full text linkThis article will review some passages concerning grapes and grape wine in Indian sources, taking the Pāli Buddhist texts as a starting point. Some social aspects related to the consumption of grape juice will be highlighted and, on the basis of evidence, the possibility that an autochthonous production of grapes and wine might have occurred in the Indian mainland, initially prompted by medical reasons, will be discussed. Grape wine could, indeed, be present in Pāli texts either as an element of a macro-category or implied through madhu, an ambiguous term that can mean ‘sweet’, ‘honey’ and even ‘grape wine’. Eventually, an intriguing passage from the Pāli Milindapañha will be analysed to argue that it contains a hitherto unrecognised reference to the ‘grape wine’ under the guise of madhu, being it one of the earliest clear references with such a us
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