This dissertation explores how representations of the Holy Land shaped nineteenth-century Americans' conceptions of racial identity in the emerging United States. In the nineteenth century, Americans physically encountered Palestine for the first time, exploring, mapping, and essentially inventing the Holy Land during a century of U.S. nation-building, expansion, and imperialism. "Sacred Geographies" reveals how the Holy Land provided a durable and fertile resource for writers wrestling with the place of race in the burgeoning nation. Analyzing a variety of "national" writings, including frontier romances, Gothic tales, slave narratives, and domestic novels, I demonstrate U.S. writers' engagement with a rapidly growing Holy Land industry. Attention to this often overlooked fascination with the Holy Land highlights the interdependence of racial and religious histories in U.S. culture. By examining the Holy Land's fundamental impact on U.S. perceptions of racial and national belonging, "Sacred Geographies" exposes the flexibility of the racial categories used to constitute U.S. culture, and it demonstrates the vital role religious identity played in the development of U.S. racial ideologies.

Egyptomania| American cultural representations of Egypt during the Cold War

The end of the Middle Bronze Age in Palestine during the 16th century B.C.E. coincides with the expulsion of the Hyksos and the rise of the 18th Dynasty in Egypt. During the transitional period between the Middle Bronze Age and the Late Bronze Age in Palestine (circa. 16th∼15th century B.C.E.), many sites that had enjoyed prosperity in the Middle Bronze Age suffered destruction that was so devastating that they were left abandoned until the Late Bronze Age I period. What exactly happened to cause such prosperous sites to be destroyed and abandoned during the transitional period? To answer this question, we have surveyed Egyptian texts from Ahmose to Thutmosis III and ten key sites: Hazor, Megiddo, Shechem, Shiloh, Jericho, Gezer, Tell Beit Mirsim, Tell el-'Ajjul, Tell el-Far'ah (South) and Tell el-Dab'a (Avaris). The results are as follows: Destruction was observed at all sites with the exception of Megiddo, Tell el-Far'ah (South) and perhaps Tell el-Dab'a, whose graves were thoroughly plundered. There is a consistency in the date of destruction; it occurred in the MB/LB transition while Jericho was destroyed sometime in the Middle Bronze Age. Sites after destruction also show some consistency: They experienced overall collapse as gaps of occupation followed. The fact that Egyptians, led by Ahmose, plundered the graves of Avaris, suggests that the action was punitive. After establishing his campaign residence at Avaris, Ahmose planned to break the power of the Hyksos in southern Palestine and attacked Sharuhen. Thutmosis III's claim that he took 119 cities might not be an exaggeration: His siege of Megiddo lasted seven months, which would have allowed the Egyptians to dispatch auxiliary forces against other cities. After considering various causes that could account for destruction, we have concluded that the only one that can explain why destruction consistently occurred in the same phase, and why gaps of occupation consistently followed destruction, is the Egyptian campaigns.

In view of the pressures accompanying modern life and population growth, there is great need and importance in the preservation of historic sites, which can create balance between the past and future and strengthen the sense of stability and cultural continuity. This study critically analyzes plans for preservation and development of four of the seven colonies which were founded in Palestine in the 19th century by the German Templers who immigrated because of religious convictions. The history of the group and their contribution to the development of Palestine are described, as are the present condition of the colonies. Criteria for critical analysis of preservation plans which drawn from existing laws in the modern state of Israel, international charters, and interviews with people connected to the colonies in one way or another. The conclusions from this analysis show that only one plan fits the criteria.

This dissertation consists of two parts. Part one is a translation of the Egyptian history within the Futuh Misr wa Akhbaruha of Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam. The Futuh Misr, as I refer to it in this dissertation, is a ninth century history written by the Egyptian historian/legalist, Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam. Its pages encompass the history of pre-Islamic Egypt, as Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam saw it, the conquest of Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The section on Egypt, and even North Africa and Spain, is one of the oldest histories we have dealing with this conquest. The second half of this dissertation is an historical analysis of Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam's history on the conquest of Egypt. Although at first glance the Futuh Misr does not seem to yield much useful information, it is surprisingly deceptive, particularly the Egyptian section. I have examined this section and have analyzed the contents to see what they reveal about the history of that time. From the themes that emerge, it is obvious that Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam's Futuh Misr not only provides useful information about the Arab conquest of 640 CE, but gives modern scholars an incite into the mentality of the author and his time period, and thus adds to our understanding of the attitude of historians during the medieval period in the Islamic world.

This study investigates changes in ceramics at Tell Leilan, Syria, during three consecutive periods between 2500 and 2200 B.C. These changes co-occur with significant socio-political changes: urbanization of the region and fledgling statehood. The approach developed to examine ceramic change in this work is Ceramic Technical Sequence Analysis (CTSA) which combines the strategies of ceramic ecology, the French technique et culture school, and behavioral archaeology. CTSA is also informed by practice theory; thus, the limitations of previous work in ceramic technology are reduced. This technologically-based work discloses that the ceramic change noted at Leilan is the result of intensified ceramic production, notably faster manufacturing techniques. Estimates of labor costs were attempted through proxy measures of time expended in procuring and processing raw materials, and in pottery production techniques, including vessel formation, decoration and firing. Investigations are ordered according to the chaine operatoires used in ceramic manufacture at Leilan, and each aspect of the chaine operatoire is specifically examined in regard to changes in time expended during manufacture activities. Though archaeologists often inform their research with scientific techniques, this project is atypical in the number of methods applied, as well as the additional information gleaned from interviews with contemporary artisan-craft potters (N > 40). Investigation of multiple lines of evidence, rather than reliance on a single technique, strengthen this study's conclusions. Data were derived from a variety of characterization techniques used in Materials Science and Geosciences. Neutron activation analysis (INAA), systematic refiring tests, examination of petrographic thin sections, strength testing, dilatometry studies (thermal expansion), xeroradiography, observation of and consultation with modern potters and macroscopic examination of artifacts, were used to observe changes in ceramic production between the three stratigraphically delineated temporal phases at Tell Leilan. Not every aspect of chaine operatoire informs equally, nor agrees, on the topic of time expenditure. Vessel forming techniques deduced through "pot reading" of manufacture marks left on vessel surfaces proved to be the most fruitful. Ceramic Technical Sequence Analysis is productive in investigation of ceramic change, and when guided by larger research questions, may provide a link between ceramic- and social change.

This dissertation is a partial translation of the thirteenth-century Islamic physician, Ibn Abi Usaybi'ah's biographical dictionary, the 'Uyun al-anba' fi tabaqat al-atibba' ( Sources of Information on Classes of Physicians) and an historical analysis of the 'Uyun. The 'Uyun is a biographical dictionary which encompasses the biographies of physicians from the ancient Greek period through the author's time, the thirteenth century. It contains the lives and works of the most elite physicians of these periods. The translation portion of the dissertation is of the fourteenth chapter of the 'Uyun which is the chapter on physicians of Egypt from the 'Abbasid period to the early Mamluk period. The historical analysis of this dissertation is an examination of the contents of the 'Uyun to see what it reveals about the status of physicians during this period and about the author's intentions in writing this book. Since the author was from Syria and studied in both Syria and Egypt, I have based my analysis mainly on the translation of the chapter on Egypt and also on evidence found in the fifteenth chapter on Syria. Thus, this dissertation serves to give modern scholars incite into the mentality of the author and his class during this time period in the Islamic world.

The British invasion and occupation of Egypt in 1882 has long been a subject of interest for British Empire and Middle Eastern historians. This action by the Gladstone government is considered central to any discussion of the British in the Middle East and North Africa. As a result, its causes and major personalities have been examined in detail and discussed at length. Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840-1922), however, has generally been overlooked, ignored, or dismissed as inconsequential by historians of these events. While words like "naive," "gadfly," "romantic" and other less charitable terms have been used by historians and others to characterize him, it is the contention of this paper that Blunt's attempts to mediate the crisis did have an impact on the course of events. Moreover, recent research, in particular that of Alexander Scholch in his Egypt for the Egyptians! The Socio-Political Crisis in Egypt 1878-82 , has shown that Blunt's The Secret History of the English Occupation of Egypt: Being a Personal Narrative of Events is a generally reliable and accurate resource concerning what took place in Cairo and London in 1882. Furthermore, Blunt was the victim of a government coverup aided and abetted by a jingoist London press at the time. Thus, his cause was considered treasonous in some quarters and his integrity questioned. The subsequent publication of the memoirs of others involved in the events supported the government's story (and their own involvement) only added to the negative perception of Blunt. As a result, his attempts to bring about a peaceful resolution of the Egyptian crisis in 1882 have generally been ignored by historians and Blunt considered to be of little consequence in the outcome of the entire episode. This paper will show that this attitude towards Blunt is unwarranted and unjustified. Furthermore, his attempts to mediate the crisis were a factor in the British invasion and occupation of Egypt. Finally, it will show that omission of Blunt and his activities, as well as his Secret History as a source, in any discussion of the British invasion and occupation of Egypt in 1882 makes that work incomplete.

Mamluk equestrian expertise in Egypt and Syria from mid-thirteenth to early sixteenth century reflects skills derived from a variety of sources incorporated artfully into their military institution, and which exerted influence beyond the period and the region with which it is directly concerned. With a thorough examination of its various vocations including Furusiyah and equestrian-related activities, a reconstruction of the Mamluk military society leads to the inescapable conclusion that the mounted military sector was absolutely essential to the operation and defense of the State. Maintaining a top-notch cavalry fluctuated at different periods in Mamluk history but seems to have been especially crucial in the first twenty years in the wars against the Crusaders and Mongols. The Mamluk's armies are credited with having cleared the remnants of the Crusaders out of the Levant region, checked the westward advance of the fearsome Mongol hordes into Syria and Palestine, and carved out an empire that extended northwards as far as eastern Turkey. How and where the Mamluks acquired the tactical and riding expertise to accomplish these feats is examined in this dissertation along with the legacy they passed on to later Egyptian and French horsemen. Classical equitation's origins trace to a period of progressive development in horsemanship's history stimulated by Mamluk preoccupation with furusiyah as well as the French Knights' chivalric tournament and battle honor code. Mamluk horsemanship literature left in manuscript form contains systematized military games and tactics patterned after the ancient Greco-Roman world's military, joined with Mamluk cavalry training experience. The main corpus of surviving horsemanship treatises from the Mamluk period awaits translation and/or remains unpublished.

Conventional interpretations agree that Islamic jurisprudence officially prohibits adoption. Anthropologists have thus tended to presume that adoption does not exist in the Muslim world. This dissertation explores a conflicted and complex array of practices--extra-legal, illegal, customary, and religiously valorized--that fill the lacuna which official proscription leaves open. It focuses particularly upon two such practices: secret adoptions, which are considered a criminal activity and therefore create a fragile legal fiction of family continuity; and kafala (tutelage-fostering) which is religiously encouraged but creates an equally fragile family unit in which there is no continuity. The dissertation further addresses the failure of the one legal practice (kafala) to absorb the rapidly increasing number of "illegitimate" and unwanted children, and the consequent emergence of what has recently been identified as a national crisis: that of abandoned children. The dissertation explores legal, historic, literary, sociological, and administrative literature, and is based on field research combining interviews and participant volunteering. I examine adoption as a practice and juxtapose legal apparatus, state and bureaucratic edifice, the world of development and philanthropy, individual and family stories, and elements of the cultural repertoire to depict the highly fluid world of secret adoptions and kafala within Moroccan society. Through adoptions, kafala, and abandoned children, this dissertation analyzes core symbols and institutions in Moroccan society--family, state, social politics, affect--and performs a cultural critique of their internal mechanisms.