5,408 research outputs found
Calendars in the Book of Esther: Purim, festivals and cosmology
No full textThe paper hypothesises that Esther added an extra month and a day to the king’s calendar to thwart the date of the annihilation of the Jews on Adar 13, a date chosen by Haman’s casting of lots. The result was that the Jews in the provinces were preparing and celebrating Passover when the Jews of Sushan, who had the benefit of additional time, were fighting then feasting. It argues that Esther’s intervention is directly related to Babylonian apotropaic calendar manipulation and that the mathematical and calendrical data in the text indicate how two different Babylonian calendars in the Book of Esther might work: a 354-day lunar calendar and a 360-day calendar. I also suggest is also a relationship between the chronology in Esther and with the reigns of the Persian kings. The essay includes comparative material relevant for the discourses on the role of different calendars in Second Temple Judaism, astrology, cosmology and Jewish festivals. The analysis of the suggested calendars and the textual data in Esther includes different dates for Shavuot followed by different groups in Second Temple Judaism, one of which is reflected in a 364-day calendar scheme that is also attested at Qumran. (9,000 words
Introduction to Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World
No full textThis collection of essays by participants in the Magic and Divination in the Biblical World research group of the European Association of Biblical Studies represents a wide ranging, analytical, and often unconventional approach to a relatively neglected area within biblical studies. The original articles by new and established scholars include Mesopotamian demonology, Akkadian literary influences, exorcism, healing, calendars, astrology, bibliomancy, dreams, ritual magic, priestly divination, prophecy, magic in the Christian Apocrypha and the New Testament, magic in rabbinic literature, and Jewish biblical magic bowls
Introduction to Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World
No full textThis collection of essays by participants in the Magic and Divination in the Biblical World research group of the European Association of Biblical Studies represents a wide ranging, analytical, and often unconventional approach to a relatively neglected area within biblical studies. The original articles by new and established scholars include Mesopotamian demonology, Akkadian literary influences, exorcism, healing, calendars, astrology, bibliomancy, dreams, ritual magic, priestly divination, prophecy, magic in the Christian Apocrypha and the New Testament, magic in rabbinic literature, and Jewish biblical magic bowls
Calendars in the Book of Esther:Purim, festivals and cosmology
No full textThe paper hypothesises that Esther added an extra month and a day to the king’s calendar to thwart the date of the annihilation of the Jews on Adar 13, a date chosen by Haman’s casting of lots. The result was that the Jews in the provinces were preparing and celebrating Passover when the Jews of Sushan, who had the benefit of additional time, were fighting then feasting. It argues that Esther’s intervention is directly related to Babylonian apotropaic calendar manipulation and that the mathematical and calendrical data in the text indicate how two different Babylonian calendars in the Book of Esther might work: a 354-day lunar calendar and a 360-day calendar. I also suggest is also a relationship between the chronology in Esther and with the reigns of the Persian kings. The essay includes comparative material relevant for the discourses on the role of different calendars in Second Temple Judaism, astrology, cosmology and Jewish festivals. The analysis of the suggested calendars and the textual data in Esther includes different dates for Shavuot followed by different groups in Second Temple Judaism, one of which is reflected in a 364-day calendar scheme that is also attested at Qumran. (9,000 words
Introduction to Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World
No full textThis collection of essays by participants in the Magic and Divination in the Biblical World research group of the European Association of Biblical Studies represents a wide ranging, analytical, and often unconventional approach to a relatively neglected area within biblical studies. The original articles by new and established scholars include Mesopotamian demonology, Akkadian literary influences, exorcism, healing, calendars, astrology, bibliomancy, dreams, ritual magic, priestly divination, prophecy, magic in the Christian Apocrypha and the New Testament, magic in rabbinic literature, and Jewish biblical magic bowls
Calendars in the Book of Esther:Purim, festivals and cosmology
No full textThe paper hypothesises that Esther added an extra month and a day to the king’s calendar to thwart the date of the annihilation of the Jews on Adar 13, a date chosen by Haman’s casting of lots. The result was that the Jews in the provinces were preparing and celebrating Passover when the Jews of Sushan, who had the benefit of additional time, were fighting then feasting. It argues that Esther’s intervention is directly related to Babylonian apotropaic calendar manipulation and that the mathematical and calendrical data in the text indicate how two different Babylonian calendars in the Book of Esther might work: a 354-day lunar calendar and a 360-day calendar. I also suggest is also a relationship between the chronology in Esther and with the reigns of the Persian kings. The essay includes comparative material relevant for the discourses on the role of different calendars in Second Temple Judaism, astrology, cosmology and Jewish festivals. The analysis of the suggested calendars and the textual data in Esther includes different dates for Shavuot followed by different groups in Second Temple Judaism, one of which is reflected in a 364-day calendar scheme that is also attested at Qumran. (9,000 words
Becoming an HR strategic partner: tales of transition
Full text linkThis paper aims to bridge the gap between previous examinations of HR strategic partnership from a role perspective (Truss et al. 2002; Caldwell 2003) and an emerging interest in the social construction of identity (Alvesson et al. 2008). I consider ‘strategic partner’ as a local, flexible social construction framed by the broader occupational context. Based on a year-long ethnographic study, I examine the experiences of HR practitioners ‘becoming’ strategic partners, considering the themes of becoming strategic, becoming a partner and remaining a generalist. Practitioners depict becoming strategic as a ‘release’ from previous constraints, with becoming a partner positioned as filling a gap created by clients’ deficiencies in people management. Meanwhile, tensions develop as strategic partners attempt to retain a say in transactional issues. I reflect on the resulting practical issues while also considering the role of HR practitioners in “the dynamic and socially complex nature of HRM” (Francis 2003: 323)
Estuarine Muds manual
Full text linkThis report is an update of the working manual part of 'The hydraulic engineering characteristics of estuarine muds' Report No SR77, December 1986, made in the light of research conducted at Hydraulics Research Ltd (HR) and invited comments received from end users in the industry. A considerable research programme has been undertaken by HR since the publication of Report No SR77 and valuable information has been gained in respect of the behaviour of mud during tidal cycles (Ref 2), the deposition of sediment from flowing water (Ref 20), the consolidation of weak mud beds (Ref 26), the effect of sand on the consolidation and erosion processes (Ref 27) and the response of mud beds under waves (Refs 32 and 33). These findings have been incorporated into this revised manual. Report No SR77 was widely circulated to consulting engineers, contractors, academics and staff at HR, with a request for their views on the reports technical content, style and usability. Approximately half of the recipients replied with helpful and, in many cases detailed comments. Overall, the general impression was positive and encouraging. This report has been drafted with these comments taken into account wherever possible. This report summarises, in an engineering form, the main processes of cohesive sediment behaviour, namely, deposition, consolidation and erosion. The data presented are intended to show the practicing engineer which parameters are important in each of the processes and to enable broad estimates of the rates of deposition, consolidation and erosion to be made based on a limited knowledge of the field conditions. The behaviour of cohesive sediment does vary considerably in quantitative terms from one source to another. Therefore, it is crucial that the engineer appreciates that estimates based on the data presented herewith may well be in error by half an order of magnitude. For most serious engineering problems involving cohesive sediment it would be essential to undertake a detailed study. This would involve some of the following techniques: field measurements, laboratory testing of sediment, numerical modelling of hydrodynamics and sediment transport and physical modelling of hydrodynamics
River regime based on sediment transport concepts
No full textRational regime relationships for the width, depth and slope of a river in equilibrium are developed using the Ackers and White sediment transport formula and the White, Paris and Bettess friction relationships, together with a principle of maximum sediment transporting capacity. This concept of maximising the sediment transporting capacity is shown to be equivalent to minimising the slope of the river. The relationships which are developed show good agreement with other empirically derived regime relationships and data from sand channels. Some comparisons are made with data from gravel rivers and the difficulties in applying regime concepts to these rivers are discussed
A New General Method for Predicting the Frictional Characteristics of Alluvial Streams
No full textA new method for predicting the frictional resistance of alluvial channels is developed using experimental data. The method is exhaustively tested on an extensive range of field and flume data and compared with the three existing methods due to Einstein and Barbarossa, Engelund and Raudkiv
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