The objective of this research project is to build a sound defense of the hypothesis that Genesis 22, the story of the testing of Abraham, functioned in Persian Period Judah to benefit the systematic socio-religious reforms implemented by Ezra the priestly scribe. It is argued in this dissertation that the “Book of the Law” Ezra read to the Temple community is a version of the Pentateuch, which under Ezra’s care had become the holy writ of Judaism. Based on Ezra’s scribal abilities, priestly status, royal commission to teach God’s Law to the people of the Trans-Euphrates Satrapy, and his impetus to reform the apostate Temple community, it is argued that Ezra is the final redactor of the Book of the Law of Moses. Being deeply immersed in the Pentateuch, it is most likely that Ezra would have used the narrative material in the corpus that would best effect socio-religious reform. It is shown in this dissertation that there could be no better text than Genesis 22 to instill that ideology in the apostate Temple community. It is further postulated that Genesis 22 would have been used at that time to instill in the apostate members of that community a sense of reverence for God, obedience to the tenets of the Book of the Law, which overwhelmingly advocates a lifestyle of socio-religious separateness. It is also argued that embracing that ideology was paramount to the survival of the Temple community as a distinct religious entity in the Persian Empire, as well as to regaining their autonomy over the Land. A redaction critical analysis, an examination of key words and phrases, a consideration of separateness as the ideology of the postexilic period, and a study on cultic reform in Ancient Israel are used to support the argument that Genesis 22 was used to impact the wayward fifth-century Jews. Furthermore, it is shown that divine testing, the fear of God, covenant, and socio-religious separateness expressed in the Abraham cycle (all of which culminate in Genesis 22) are the main concerns of Ezra, making the narrative an indispensable didactic in the reform and indoctrination of the apostate elders, priests and Levites of the Jerusalem Temple community. It is shown that Abraham’s demonstration of utter reverence and radical obedience to God’s directives would have best set the standard of the God fearing Jew at that time. Having apparently lost their identity as the people of Yahweh, whose original vocation it was to bless the nations with the revelation of the one true God of creation and his Law, it has been argued in this dissertation that Genesis 22 would have been used in the effort to restore that identity to the Temple community in the fifth-century reform movement.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / The Persian Gulf region is, in all likelihood, going to remain crucial to American interests through the next several decades. The world depends on the petroleum reserves of the Gulf region to fuel its economic engine. The recent history of the region has been rife with conflict, and the U.S. has had to intervene militarily on several occasions to ensure its vital interests were protected. This thesis examines the strategic circumstances in the Gulf region and ways in which American political, diplomatic, and military policy can help shape the environment to conform to its interests. Several scenarios are developed which attempt to forecast the results of different environments on regional stability. The thesis reaches the conclusion that the United States must take a proactive role if its short- and long-term interests are to be protected. The short-term goal of U.S. policy must be to maintain a balance of power and regional correlation of forces which serves to deter any would-be aggressor nations. In the long run, the United States must seek a comprehensive regional peace. Various methods of achieving these goals are examined. / http://archive.org/details/strategicplanfor00ward / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

Entropy is a process of gradual decline as a system loses the strength to maintain itself. It begins with disorder and results in complete transformation. As a multi-cultural American, it has been my experience that the maintenance of my Iranian heritage parallels this concept. A method of visual communication that incorporates entropy is able to express notions of impermanence, disorder and transformation. This project is focused on employing entropy in the process of design and image making by using the transformation of my cultural identity as primary content.

The unusual way in which Britain's empire in Arabia was connected politically and constitutionally to the metropole, and the perceived – in some instances exaggerated – view of its strategic and economic importance, created both an opportunity and a justification for the British disengagement from the region to happen differently than in most of the rest of the empire. Strong personalities – in the metropole, amongst the men on the spot, and among local elites – played a crucial role in decision-making, and this thesis argues that informal networks from among these three constituencies worked in parallel to the established formal channels, impacting policy and driving the decision-making process. These networks initially contributed to a break in the political consensus within the metropole, but eventually also helped to restore it. The manipulation of local elites was the tool of choice, used by Britain (under both Conservative and Labour Governments) and its "men on the spot", in their endeavour to secure a lasting privileged position in Arabia. How key actors adapted to change, both in their own societies and in the international system, often determined the success or otherwise of their endeavours. This tangled tale of Britain’s last imperial stand in Arabia is far from being a unique case of how modern empires have handled unusual episodes of imperial retreat. The story has echoes in two other imperial exits of the late 20^th century – the French disengagement from Algeria from 1954 to 1962, and Russian efforts to maintain a privileged position in Georgia, immediately before and after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and since. Even if it is too early to draw firm conclusions, similar patterns – as the ones discussed in this thesis with regards to the end of the British Empire in Arabia – can also be observed in the other two cases, allowing us to draw some observations and lessons.

Avec la mondialisation, le Maghreb a connu, ces dernières années, de nombreux bouleversements dans les grandes villes. Les médinas et centres anciens ne sont plus au centre des débats comparativement aux morceaux de villes internationales, réalisés par des mécanismes d'investissement ou de partenariat entre les gouvernements maghrébins et les investisseurs originaires des pays arabes du Golfe Persique.Ces nouveaux projets urbains, localisés principalement dans les sites offrant un grand potentiel touristique –tel les fronts d'eau- témoignent d'une part, de l'ampleur des opérations, de leurs implications, et d'autre part, indiquent des changements profonds qui interrogent le chercheur dans de multiples directions : sociale, économique, architecturale, urbanistique...En effet, et en dépit du fait que les avantages de ce genre d'opérations sont multiples, la projection au sein des capitales maghrébines d'une architecture de haut-standing importée des pays émiratis, donne naissance à ce que les spécialistes de l'urbain appellent «des greffes urbaines» qui marquent profondément les espaces urbains concernés.La présente recherche tente de cerner les différentes dynamiques urbaines, nées de l'ouverture des territoires urbains maghrébins à l'investissement étranger et d'étudier le passage des façons de faire la ville dites locales, à une nouvelle fabrique de la ville, importée d'ailleurs. Il s'agit de mesurer les impacts sur la ville-hôte et son système de gestion et d'interroger les changements introduits du point de vue social et économique tout en l'inscrivant dans les politiques de développement durable. / Since the opening of the Maghreb to the world, many changes were recorded in large cities. Many big urban projects, whose realization is provided by investors from Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and located in sites with great potential like waterfronts, are carried out like in international cities.Those projects demonstrate the originality of the operations, their implications and indicate profound changes.Despite the fact that the benefits of such operations are manifold, the projection of architecture imported from Persian Golf countries in the capitals of the Maghreb, give rise to what town planners call "urban transplants".This research will identify the different urban dynamics, born after the opening of the territories and especially strategic sites of the region to foreign investment.In a nutshell, this research identifies the impacts of projects on the city and its management system, and examine changes relative to the concept of sustainable development.

Le Šarafnāma est un ouvrage écrit en persan par Šaraf Xān Bidlīsī (949-1009/1543-1600), gouverneur kurde de la principauté de Bidlīs, en 1005/1596-1597 environ. Il s’agit d’une chronique des dynasties et tribus kurdes, commençant avec la dynastie des Marwānides, à la fin du IVe/Xe siècle, pour se terminer avec les événements de l’année 1005/1596-1597 et le récit de l’histoire des Diyādīnides de Bidlīs, lignée dont était issu l’auteur. La chronique est composée d’une introduction (muqaddima) et de quatre ṣaḥīfas (livres). À cette chronique, l’auteur a également ajouté un épilogue (xātima) constitué par des annales ottomanes et safavides. Il existe, à ce jour, une quarantaine de manuscrits du Šarafnāma encore existants. Notre première tâche a été d’identifier ces manuscrits et de les consulter, sous forme physique ou numérique, afin de les comparer et de produire un stemma codicum des copies de l’ouvrage. Une fois ceci fait, notre recherche a plus particulièrement porté sur les manuscrits produits du vivant de l’auteur, dans les années 1005-1007/1596-1599, ainsi que sur les copies effectuées au XIe/XVIIe siècle, soit le siècle suivant la composition de l’ouvrage. Après une première partie consistant en une étude générale sur le travail historiographique de Šaraf Xān, nous avons, dans une deuxième partie, étudié spécifiquement les trois manuscrits transcrits de sa main ou sous sa supervision, afin de mettre en lumière le caractère réfléchi et collaboratif du processus de composition de l’ouvrage. Dans la troisième partie, nous nous sommes intéressés à la dizaine de manuscrits produits au XIe/XVIIe siècle à Bidlīs, Kilīs, Alep et dans la région d’Ardalān, et aux processus de réappropriation et de réinterpréation de l’oeuvre originale visible dans ces copies. / The Šarafnāma is a book written in Persian by Šaraf Xān Bidlīsī (949-1009/1543-1600), Kurdish governor of the principality of Bidlīs, in about 1005/1596-1597. It is a chronicle of Kurdish dynasties and tribes, starting with the Marwānid dynasty, at the end of the 4th/10th century, and concluding with the events of the year 1005/1596-1597 and the story of the Diyādīnids of Bidlīs, the author’s own household. The chronicle is composed of an introduction (muqaddima) and four ṣaḥīfas (books). The author has also added an epilogue (xātima), which is an annalistic history of the Ottomans and the Safavids. There are around forty extant manuscripts of the Šarafnāma. Our first task has been to identify and physically or digitally consult these manuscripts, in order to compare them and produce a stemma codicum of the book’s copies. Once this was done, we have focused our research on the manuscripts copied during the author’s lifetime, in the years 1005-1007/1596-1599, as well as on the copies made in the 11th/17th century, immediately following the book’s composition. The first part of our work is a general study of Šaraf Xān’s historiographical outlook. In the second part, we have studied the three manuscripts transcribed by the author or under his supervision, in order to highlight the thought out and collaborative nature of the book’s composition. In the third part, we have focused on the dozen manuscripts produced in the 11th/17th century in Bidlīs, Kilīs, Aleppo and the Ardalān region, and on the processes of reappropriation and reinterpration of the original work manifest in these copies.

My project is first and foremost about developing a pedagogical method for teaching Middle Eastern folk and classical music on the violin. As a secondary goal, I want to know if my own playing could benefit from applying such a method and become more skilled in expressing myself artistically on my instrument.  In order to achieve this, first, I have transcribed and notated music from different music styles of the Middle East, including Kurdish, Persian, Arabic and Turkish music and described the specific traits of these different styles. Then, I have created a method of how to represent different stylistically important elements in the music, e.g. the most popular ornaments used in this music, as well as finding new ways of representing them by new symbols. Finally, I have devised exercises for learning and perfecting these style elements, such as ornaments.           There is no well-established method for teaching the Middle Eastern styles of violin playing (Eilenberg, 1993). This fact makes it challenging for students to learn and pass on the tradition. Unlike Western Classical music, Middle Eastern music involves using different modal systems, including scales with quarter tones. The modes and corresponding scales are called Maqam and there are a great many of them. (Todorov, 2018)A violinist playing this style of music, usually uses intricate ornamentations in playing on these scales when making an extemporization or improvisation on the maqam, called Taksim. Not having a method for this complicated music style, makes a new learner to rely solely on learning by ear and learn through imitation, which is today often performed by listening to recorded sources. In my personal experience, it took many years of careful listening and imitating to learn how to play Middle Eastern music on the violin.          As an accomplished violinist and teacher, now I want to establish and develop my method so students can take advantage of it and learn this music more thoroughly, faster and become more accomplished in expressing themselves within the style. My hope is that this method will help preserve the Middle Eastern style of violin playing and make it easier to pass on to the next generations. Furthermore, the method will also help an interested foreigner to understand and potentially learn Middle Eastern music on the violin. Thus, my research interest is to investigate in what way I can describe, notate the pertinent stylistic elements of the music for to develop a ‘Method for oriental violin playing’, including notations, exercises, and teaching process, that can make a musician understand the Middle Eastern music styles and learn to play them. The ultimate aim is to pass the tradition easier and faster, giving aspiring violinists possibility to develop their violin playing within this field. Hopefully, from notating and transcribing these styles the tradition can be preserved. A specific question is also to investigate the usefulness of the method for groups of violins.   Secondary research interest is to investigate how this work might influence the development of my own playing, in terms of technique and expressing.    Summary of research questions:    -              How can I describe and notate the Middle Eastern violin styles with details? -              What are the most important stylistic elements and techniques?  -              How can I teach this music? -              How can I pass on the tradition faster and easier with the help of a method in a way that develops the field of Middle Eastern violin styles? -              Can I develop my own playing and artistic skills by applying exercises for stylistic features? / <p>Samai Hijaz                                       Göksel Baktagir (Turkish) Bogazici                                            Baki Kemanci (Turkish)</p><p>Alan Kamil – Violin </p><p>Feras Sharstan – Kanun</p><p>Saman Taha – Piano</p><p>Mårten Hillbom – Raqq and Cajon </p><p> </p><p>Swedish folk music meets Kurdish folk music!    (Kurdish and Swedish)</p><p>Alan Kamil – Violin </p><p>Tommy Lundberg – Violin </p><p> </p><p>Pirozbe                                          Nasir Razazi’s Song (Kurdish)</p><p>              Violins:</p><p>Alan Kamil</p><p>Tommy Lundberg </p><p>Anna Ekborg</p><p>Sandra Arvman</p><p>Nichelle Johansson</p><p> </p><p>Saman Taha – Piano </p><p>Mårten Hillbom – Cajon</p><p> </p><p>Swan Lake                                        Mojtaba Mirzadeh (Persian) Soran Badinan                                  Dilshad Said (Kurdish)</p><p>Alan Kamil – Violin </p><p>Saman Taha – Piano </p><p> </p><p>Nassam Aleyna el Hawa                 Rahbani Brothers – Fairouz (Arabic)</p><p>Alan Kamil – Violin </p><p>Feras Sharstan – Kanun</p><p>Saman Taha – Piano</p><p>Mårten Hillbom – Darbuka </p><p> </p><p>Eshveh                                              Bijan Mortazavi (Persian)</p><p>Alan Kamil – Violin </p><p>Saman Taha – Piano </p>

<p>This dissertation is an attempt to understand and map the development of Persian writings on music, focusing on their various approaches and variations of topics from the beginning of the 11th century to the end of the 15th century which can be called the classical period of Persian writing on music. </p><p>The rise of Persian musical literature as a part of Persian learned literature was a result of the political and cultural decentralization of the Abbasid Caliphate. Like most other genres of learned literature in Persian, translation and abridgements of and commentaries (<i>šarhs</i>) on Arabic works played a crucial role in the rise and es-tablishment of Persian musical literature.</p><p>The most important conclusions to be drawn from the present study are that we can distinguish between two main approaches in Persian writings on music, viz the religious and non-religious approaches, and that there is a pattern in the development of Persian writings on music which provides us with a periodization of the develop-ment of this literary genre. According to the macro periodization of Persian writings on music which is presented in this study, we can identify five different stages in the development of the genre; 1) the initial period: <i>ca</i> 1000-1110; the first intermezzo: <i>ca</i> 1110 up to 1175; 3) the period of establishment: <i>ca</i> 1175-1299; 4) the first Golden Age of the genre: <i>ca</i> 1300-1435; 5) the second intermezzo: <i>ca</i> 1435-1500.</p>

This dissertation is an attempt to understand and map the development of Persian writings on music, focusing on their various approaches and variations of topics from the beginning of the 11th century to the end of the 15th century which can be called the classical period of Persian writing on music. The rise of Persian musical literature as a part of Persian learned literature was a result of the political and cultural decentralization of the Abbasid Caliphate. Like most other genres of learned literature in Persian, translation and abridgements of and commentaries (šarhs) on Arabic works played a crucial role in the rise and es-tablishment of Persian musical literature. The most important conclusions to be drawn from the present study are that we can distinguish between two main approaches in Persian writings on music, viz the religious and non-religious approaches, and that there is a pattern in the development of Persian writings on music which provides us with a periodization of the develop-ment of this literary genre. According to the macro periodization of Persian writings on music which is presented in this study, we can identify five different stages in the development of the genre; 1) the initial period: ca 1000-1110; the first intermezzo: ca 1110 up to 1175; 3) the period of establishment: ca 1175-1299; 4) the first Golden Age of the genre: ca 1300-1435; 5) the second intermezzo: ca 1435-1500.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Terri Fine. Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-123).