<p>In this dissertation I explore the relationship between spatial organization of domestic practices and their role in the process of community constitution at the local and regional levels during an enigmatic time period on the Iranian Plateau called the Proto-Elamite horizon. This horizon spans from the end of the fourth millennium and the beginning of the third millennium BCE (i.e. 3100-2700 B.C.E.) and marks the beginning of a period of widespread social and political administrative complexity on the Iranian Plateau. For this study, I reviewed the preliminary and published reports of 12 settlements that contain material culture of the Proto-Elamite horizon. I have chosen to investigate the daily practices and patterns of usage of domestic spaces in four of these settlements. I have studied the quality and quantity of macro-remains and artifacts, including architectural features, ceramics and small finds, to infer the types and intensities of daily practices, subsistence patterns and the way indoor and outdoor areas were used in each of these settlements. Then the results are compared in order to examine the similarities and differences among local communities and the possibility of the existence of a larger imagined community in this vast territory during this time period. In this study, I demonstrate that the perceived uniformity of the Proto-Elamite horizon in different settlements is only superficial. Due to the variations in the types and intensities of daily practices and the pattern of presumed domestic space usage, certainly social practices involved in creating and maintaining the Proto-Elamite communities were far from homogenous. The Proto-Elamite horizon as an imagined community functioned more or less as a network with nodes and links that in some cases bypassed certain geographic areas. The Proto-Elamite phenomenon was constituted of local and imagined communities coexisting as nested and/or cross-cutting entities. Shared living conditions in local communities and frequent interactions among their members gave each local community its own character different from the fluid larger imagined community. Ultimately however, local and imagined Proto-Elamite communities were not fully separate and distinct. The Proto-Elamite network was dynamic and did not penetrate every location into the same cultural mould.

<p> Using theories of nationalism from Anthony D. Smith, Benedict Anderson, and Barry Shenker, alterity as discussed by Kim Knott and Jonathan Z. Smith, and conversion theories from Joseph Rosenbloom, Lewis Rambo, and Andrew Buckser, this thesis examines four "snapshots" of Israelite/Jewish history for evidence of the use of conversion as a necessary component of "nation building." Periods analyzed include the Israelite Period, Post-Exilic Ezra and Nehemiah, Second Temple Hasmonean Kingdom, and the Late Antique Mishnaic Period. By analyzing primary sources and related scholarship, this thesis seeks to show that conversion is not only a necessary component of building an intentional community, but also that the early Jewish community leaders employed conversion as a means to ensure the continuity of their people and history.</p>

<p> The archaeological site of K&uuml;ltepe (ancient Kanesh), located in south-central Anatolia, in the present-day Republic of Turkey, was the capital city of a native Anatolian kingdom during the early Middle Bronze Age (20^th - late 18^th c. BC). Uninterrupted archaeological excavations at the site since 1948 by the Turkish Historical Society under the directorship of the late Prof. Tahsin &Ouml;zg&uuml;&ccedil; have revealed wide exposures of densely settled residential neighborhoods at the foot of a high citadel mound with palaces and temples. Archaeological evidence from the site indicates a millennium-long settlement sequence of the Early Bronze Age (EBA), predating the Level II settlement, during which a demographic explosion occurred at the site. Circumstantial evidence from Anatolia contemporary with the poorly understood levels of the EBA and direct archaeological and textual evidence from the Level II and Ib settlements of the MBA demonstrate a complex history of immigration to Kanesh. By the turn of the 2^nd millennium BC, at least five languages, namely Neshili (Hittite), Luwian, Hattian, Hurrian, and Old Assyrian were spoken in this city, as can be understood on the basis of prosopographic data. The three centuries, during which the city existed as the largest known urban site in central Anatolia, were times of political turmoil, characterized by the formation of territorial states on the Anatolian plateau, which culminated in the establishment of the Old Hittite Kingdom that was born at Kanesh. </p><p> K&uuml;ltepe/Kanesh is widely known beyond the academic circles of Ancient Near Eastern and Anatolian archaeology as an Old Assyrian Trade Colony due to the 22,500 cuneiform texts in the Old Assyrian language found in the private family archives of merchants in the residential quarters of the lower town. On the basis of these texts, the excavated areas of the lower town have been regarded as a colonial settlement (Karum) established outside the citadel walls and scholarship on Kane has been structured by colonial frameworks. Moreover, due to certain organizational principles of the Old Assyrian trade operations, which resemble free market economy, the historical evidence from Kanesh has received a great deal of attention from economic historians. On various occasions, the case of Kanesh has been cited as an ancient example of capitalism, colonialism, and World Systems that resulted in underdevelopment in Anatolia. Since the excavators' research agenda has targeted areas that bear a higher potential to yield cuneiform texts, this well-investigated mercantile district of the city has remained like an island isolated from its past and its surroundings. As such, the case of Kane represents a prime example of "the tyranny of the text" in the archaeology of Anatolia and calls for alternative perspectives beyond the straight-jacketing colonial paradigms. In recent years, the new campaign of excavations under the directorship of Prof. Fikri Kulakoglu have begun to embrace interdisciplinary and integrative research agendas, which sets a promising direction for K&uuml;ltepe studies. </p><p> In this dissertation, I place the native communities of prehistoric Anatolia at the center of my inquiries and investigate the questions of residential mobility and cultural pluralism at K&uuml;ltepe within a long-term, local perspective in relationship to the process of urbanization in the region. I use the methodological approaches of history-from-below and text-aided archaeology to counteract the interpretative biases of colonial frameworks and reconstruct a diachronic framework for demographic mobility at Kanesh in relationship to its political history. Guided by concepts borrowed from archaeology of communities that focus on the study of human interaction in face-to-face societies in light of analogies to the ethnographic record of Anatolia, I attempt to identify social, economic, and cultural distinctions of individuals and households at Kane based on the diversity of its archaeological remains, beyond a restricted notion of ethnicity. I propose a systematic research model for the reconstruction of household biographies and investigate the utility of the funerary remains from the site for demographic assessments. And finally, I present the results of the strontium and stable light isotope analyses I conducted on human tooth samples from K&uuml;ltepe graves encountered during the 2006-2010 excavation seasons, in light of which I identify local individuals, immigrants, and mixed households, and make preliminary observations on the sources of diversity in paleodiet.</p>

<p> In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, America was reeling on multiple fronts. While experiencing a collective wave of bereavement, Americans struggled to understand a phenomenon that they had been uniquely shielded from&mdash;that of holy war or the Islamic variant, <i>jihad.</i> Demonizing the enemy was a defensive reaction in the aftermath of 9/11, but cultural projections of "us versus them" fuel terrorist mindsets increasing the likelihood of further conflicts. </p><p> While it is typically assumed that holy war emerges in monotheism, the dissertation argues the custom arises in the polytheistic ancient Near East where indigenous ideologies view deities foremost as warriors. The Babylonian <i> Enuma Elish</i> is an exemplar of polytheistic <i>divine warrior </i> mythologies expressing cultural ideals about warfare as an existential struggle for order over chaos, equated to life over death. The earliest generation of deities fights to the death in epic battles that result in the creation of the cosmos and the human race. The work of humans is to toil for the gods, most particularly in warfare, as earthly conflicts have lethal cosmic consequences. </p><p> The human world of ancient warfare was saturated in the supernatural. Divination determined war strategies and warrior kings were viewed as divinely selected. Immanent deities lived in temple cultic statues carried to the battlefield where they actively adjudicated disputes through war. Warfare is ongoing because polarization between "good and evil" is perpetual. These indigenous customs migrated into monotheistic holy war. While single God religion influences ideas about holy war, polytheistic customs and rites remain surprisingly intact and can be detected in the 9/11 attacks. </p><p> This dissertation engages an interdisciplinary approach that includes mythological studies, depth psychology, religious studies, cultural-military history, archeology, political science, interviews with suicide killers, and field research in the Middle East. </p><p> The dissertation's findings alter concepts about modern <i>jihad, </i> positing that its central tenets are rooted in polytheistic customs and rituals. To the modern mind, the connection between religion and warfare is often viewed as pathological. From the perspective of human history, invoking deities to legitimize warfare is normative and typical.</p>

<p> This dissertation explores the process, effects, and results of codification of Egyptian personal status laws as seen through the eyes of the <i> 'ulam&amacr;'.</i> The codification process began in the mid-1800s and continued until the abolishment of the Shar&imacr;'a courts in 1955 with the absorption of personal status statutes into the newly drafted civil code and the national courts that administered them. Throughout this time period the codification process entailed finding appropriate rulings from the annals of Islamic law and structuring these rulings using the model and language of European legal codes, usually the French code. </p><p> Prior to the abolition of the Shar&imacr;'a courts in 1955 the area of personal status law was the exclusive domain of the <i>'ulam&amacr;' </i> and the Shar&imacr;'a. In Egypt, personal status laws were exclusively based on H&dotbelow;anaf&imacr; law, and issues of consolidation and codification of these laws first took place <i>within</i> the framework of classical Islamic law, not outside of it. To understand the significance of the process of codification of personal status law, therefore, one must examine the attitudes of the <i>'ulam&amacr;'</i> regarding it and consider its place within the edifice of Islamic law. </p><p> From a prima facie reading it would seem that a codification of Islamic law is something that the <i>'ulam&amacr;'</i> would consider an anathema. There were those, however, who supported it. In fact early drafts of codified personal status and civil laws were written and compiled by certain <i> 'ulam&amacr;'.</i> There were also others who had mixed feelings about it. The purpose of this study is to acknowledge and understand these various positions since they have been largely ignored throughout the secondary literature, and when they have been considered, have been viewed as uniform and singular. </p><p> Ultimately this dissertation seeks to draw out these nuances and to draw conclusions as to why the codification of Islamic law is today a forgone conclusion amongst the <i>'ulam&amacr;'.</i></p>

<p> The civil war in Syria has caused a mass influx of Syrian refugees all over the world. Jordan has received a large share of Syrian refugees, now reaching an alarming number. The presence of Syrian refugees drains Jordan, as it is a vulnerable state with limited resources. In an effort to better understand the impact of the humanitarian crisis and the challenge to the Jordanian government, this study examined the impact of Syrian refugees on the total public expenditure and the spending of the health care sector and public education in a step toward assessing the burden of Syrian refugees on the Jordanian government. Alongside that, a comprehensive analytical framework was developed to explore the impact of refugees on receiving states. Particularly, it goes on to provide evidence from Jordan to describe the effect of Syrian refugees&rsquo; presence on Jordan as a receiving state. This study utilized quasi-mixed designs as research strategies: quantitative analysis of governorate-level data and systematic reviews of gray literature and peer-reviewed articles. It concluded that the presence of Syrian refugees has increased the public spending at the expense of the public investment projects in northern and centered governorates that received more refugees. The analytical framework addressed the political, economic, sociocultural, and environmental impact of Syrian refugee adoption in Jordan. The analysis has resulted in a better capacity to discover the potential consequences of a massive refugee influx, including vital factors that contribute to shaping refugees&rsquo; burden and formulating policies based on specific critical arenas that need more attention and resources in response to the influx of the refugee crisis. </p><p>

<p> This research is the first exploratory survey of rule of law officials in Iraq. Prior to this research, little has been done to examine whether U.S. rule of law efforts in Iraq were informed by a proper knowledge of the culture and criminal justice systems of Iraq and whether the U.S. learned lessons over time. </p><p> This research demonstrates that understanding of the indigenous legal and social culture is critical to the success of rule of law programs, that there are distinctive characteristics of the legal culture in Iraq, and that the rule of law programs of the U.S. in Iraq were not informed by an adequate understanding of the culture of Iraq. The author concludes that a new paradigm &ndash; Enablement Plus &ndash; is necessary if the U.S. is to improve the chances of success for rule of law programs during and immediately after conflict.</p>

My dissertation analyzes the architectural voice of the Islamic bourgeoisie by evaluating contemporary government-funded urban renewal projects in Turkey. This topic also discusses the counter voices' response to the urban renewal programs which sparked the Gezi Park protests of summer 2013. My dissertation explores how the AK Party is framing Ottoman history and remaking the Turkish urban landscape by urban development projects. I spell out specific ways in which Erdogan uses cultural capital of the Ottoman past to frame Erdoganian Neo-Ottomanism. My work investigates the AK Party's Islamic form of neoliberalism with Pierre Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital. Specifically I look at the application of Istanbul as the European Capital of Culture (ECoC), an urban renewal project by the AK Party in the Ankara neighborhood of Hamamonu, and the protests at Istanbul's Gezi Park and Ankara's Ulucanlar prison complex.

During the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988, the Iraqi Baʿth party engaged in the production of historical narrative, which defined the party's ideal of Iraqi nationality and statehood, while promoting the legitimacy of its military efforts. Public intellectuals played an important role in the manufacture of such historical narrative. This thesis examines two works produced in the service of this project, Al-Ṣirāʿal-ʿIrāqiyy Fārisiyy, or "The Iraqi-Persian Conflict," and Tārīkh al-Munāzaʿāt wa-l-Ḥurūb Bayn al-ʿIrāq waʾĪrān, or "The History of the Conflicts and Wars Between Iraq and Iran." It will be demonstrated that these works reflected, and rarified a wartime nationalist discourse permeating the public sphere, in which an ideal of Iraqi nationality and statehood was defined through the demonization of an essentialist Persian other. Pre-Islamic and medieval Islamic history was employed to emphasize episodes of violence and cultural conflict between Iraqis and Iranians, in doing so illustrating the characteristics of both peoples. Iraqi nationality was defined as embodying superlative qualities of governance, military prowess, cultural achievement, and religiosity. Iraqi nationhood was defined and elevated in contrast to an opposite, malicious Persian nationality, rooted in anti-Arab hostility and characterized by inferiority in piety, culture, leadership, and warfare. Direct parallels existed between this nationalist narrative, and public sphere expressions of Baʿthist nationalist discourse, such as government statements, school textbooks, and monument construction.

This study focuses on the musical activities and views of Iranian immigrant artists who perform, teach, and support traditional Iranian music in Los Angeles and Southern California. This geographic area and its interconnected social networks, which I refer to as Irangeles, is part of a diaspora culture industry where music is central to everyday life, but where modern Iranian pop music dominates. Given Iran's historical negative stigma attached to entertainment-oriented music making, and the popularity of entertainment and dance-driven Persian pop in contemporary Irangeles, practitioners of traditional Iranian music express frustration and face challenges in promoting their art, what they feel is an authentic form of Iranian culture. The music they make expresses both personal and cultural values: it is a form of creative expression that presents itself as interwoven with their Iranian identity, reflecting personal and cultural ideals of character in Iranian culture. My findings highlight how Iranian immigrant artists avail themselves of the socio-cultural infrastructure of Irangeles to network with like-minded artists and strategically use satellite TV, online technology and social media to find recognition for, teach, and promote diverse genres of traditional Iranian music in this particular diaspora setting.