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The 35th volume of the ASLU series develops and applies a new approach to study Aegyptiaca Romana from a bottom-up, Roman perspective. Current approaches to these objects are often still plagued by top-down projections of modern definitions and understandings of Egypt and Egyptian material culture onto the Roman world. "Egypt beyond representation" instead argues that these artefacts should be studied in their own right, without reducing them from the onset to fixed (Egyptian) meanings. Starting from a novel focus on the materials and materiality of a selection of stone Aegyptiaca from Rome, and by combining archaeological and archaeometric perspectives, this study shows that, while 'Egyptianness' may have been among Roman associations, these objects were able to do much more than merely representing notions of Egypt.Sander Müskens is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at Leiden University.

Tulou are traditional fortified multifamily dwellings prevalent in southern Fujian. In this 34st volume of the ASLU series Renyu Wang discusses three aspects of Chinese tulou heritage management. He first examines the tulou interpretation prevailing in southern Fujian. Based on building studies, oral history, genealogies and interviews, Wang tries to reconstruct a relatively complete landscape biography to describe the essential episodes of built environment evolution in the Hekeng River Valley. This biography highlights the part non-tulou architecture and non-agricultural economic forms have played in the evolution of the settlement environment. It then discusses the regulations and laws which may have direct impact on not only the built heritage but also the life of local lineage society and criticizes the harsh control of the local government over local people's built heritage and their environment in the name of heritage preservation. Further, Wang examines the roles of different stakeholders in the heritage framework concerning the use of local people's built heritage. And finally he explores the possibility of reaching equilibrium among all the heritage players in the form of contracts, and offers some suggestions to the stakeholders getting involved in the tulou management issues.Renyu Wang majored in linguistics and cultural studies (BA) in mainland China and obtained his Master's degree in cultural heritage studies from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL). He has worked in various positions in the fields of archaeological heritage management.

How is it possible that three playwrights in the early modern Dutch Republic wrote dramas based on contemporary political events in Asia? Reflecting on this remarkable phenomenon, "Staging Asia" traces the passage of the stories surrounding three political revolutions from seventeenth-century Asia through to the Dutch Republic and their ultimate manifestation as dramas. This book explores the nature of the representation of the Orient in these plays and evaluates how this characterization was influenced by the channels that these dramatists relied on to gather information for their works. As these dramas exhibit strong connections to the Dutch East India Company, this work additionally examines the role of that enterprise in disseminating information on Asia and producing imagery about the Orient. Manjusha Kuruppath received her PhD from the Department of History, University of Leiden. Her research interests include literary history, history of the Dutch East India Company and early modern Asian history.

This volume focuses on reconstructing the daily lives of Bronze Age farmers as well as the landscape for their subsistence practices. Doing so, Wild West Frisia analyses the separate components comprising Bronze Age subsistence (i.e. crop and animal husbandry, hunting and gathering) rather innovatively: instead of summarizing the known data for each subsistence strategy and drawing conclusions solely based on these observations, this study first determines what may have been present yet perhaps is no longer visible. Contrasting this expectation with the actual archaeological data reveals missing elements, findings for which include recognizing that wild resource exploitation was perhaps equally if not more vital to farming life than crop and animal husbandry. Comparing the case-study area of West Frisia, the Netherlands, with north-west European coastal communities in general, local variation appears to be a consistent feature of Bronze Age farming. It can in fact be regarded as a common feature of subsistence during this time. Yvonne F. van Amerongen is a palaeo-ecologist at the archaeological company EARTH in Amersfoort, the Netherlands.

Over the past decade the Middle East has undergone huge geopolitical shifts, including widespread war and violence, the collapse of numerous regimes, a changing American role, a restored Russian presence, and the emergence of ISIS. In this book Graham Fuller addresses the character of these shifts and how they will shape the future of this tumultuous region as well as the role of major outside powers.Fuller firstly focuses on Shari'a law and its appropriate role, if any, in the politics and governance of the Muslim world, thereby further exploring why identity may be the most important factor in examining Middle East politics today. Next he addresses the current Shi'ite-Sunni conflict, not simply by scrutinizing the essentially theological approach found in most Western analysis but also through better understanding the many more extra-religious factors behind the scenes. Finally the author claims that the appearance of ISIS has stretched the perennial phenomenon of Political Islam to the extreme. What, then, does ISIS imply for the future of the Middle East and for Islamist movements in general, not to mention for Muslims' understanding of Islam itself?Graham E. Fuller is a former Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council at CIA in charge of long-range forecasting. He has lived and worked in the Middle East for nearly two decades. He has written numerous books on Middle East politics and Islamic movements and Eurasian geopolitics, recently Turkey and the Arab Spring: Leadership in the Middle East.

Textiles from the early medieval period that are occasionally found in excavations are the scarce remains of garments, household fabrics, sails etc. Although several authors have published textile finds from the Netherlands in the past,systematic research of these finds has not been conducted yet. Where the surrounding countries have witnessed a development in which textile archaeology has become a fundamental part of archaeological research, a similar development has been lacking in the Netherlands. As a result our knowledge of the production and use of textiles is mainly derived from the surroundingcountries, where more research has been carried out.In this book Chrystel Brandenburgh has focused on the use of cloth and clothingin the area now defined as the Netherlands, in the period between 400 and1000 AD. For this purpose textile remains from both settlements andcemeteries have been analysed from different parts of the country. Thisgeographical distribution, the large timespan of the dataset as well as theobvious differences in site context result in a very varied picture of the use of fabrics in this period. Using the textile remains from the Dutch cemeteries it was nevertheless possible to reconstruct the way people were dressed whenburied, as well as to establish the differences between cemeteries and groupsof individuals within these cemeteries. Moreover, by studying the fabrics fromthe settlements insight was gained into the production process and techniquesused in this period.Chrystel Brandenburgh obtained her degree in archaeology in 1997 at theFaculty of Archaeology of Leiden University. From 2003 onwards she has beenworking as a municipality archaeologist of Leiden. In 2008 Chrystel registeredas a PhD extramural at Leiden University. During subsequent years shecombined her job in Leiden with her PhD-research on early medieval textilesfrom the Netherlands.

This book is intended for Chinese Studies majors, China-focused students in other fields, heritage learners, and professionals. It will help improve vocabulary and grammar competence, and foster reading strategies and writing and translation skills, for use in academic and professional settings. Paint Feet on a Snake *is available in full-form and simplified character editions*is aimed at learners of Mandarin with a command of about 850 characters and 1200 vocabulary items*is suitable for language acquisition programs and for programs combining linguistic and cultural competence*has been optimized in pilot editions at Leiden UniversityLin Chin-hui is lecturer in Mandarin at the University of GöttingenMaghiel van Crevel is professor of Chinese language and literature at Leiden University

This book is intended for Chinese Studies majors, China-focused students in other fields, heritage learners, and professionals. It will help improve vocabulary and grammar competence, and foster reading strategies and writing and translation skills, for use in academic and professional settings. Paint Feet on a Snake *is available in full-form and simplified character editions*is aimed at learners of Mandarin with a command of about 850 characters and 1200 vocabulary items*is suitable for language acquisition programs and for programs combining linguistic and cultural competence*has been optimized in pilot editions at Leiden UniversityLin Chin-hui is lecturer in Mandarin at the University of GöttingenMaghiel van Crevel is professor of Chinese language and literature at Leiden University

Poetry expressing criticism of social, political and cultural life is a vital integral part of Persian literary history. Its principal genres - invective, satire and burlesque - have been very popular with authors in every age. Despite the rich uninterrupted tradition, such texts have been little studied and rarely translated. Their irreverent tones range from subtle irony to crude direct insults, at times involving the use of outrageous and obscene terms. This anthology includes both major and minor poets from the origins of Persian poetry (10th century) up to the age of Jâmi (15th century), traditionally considered the last great classical Persian poet. In addition to their historical and linguistic interest, many of these poems deserve to be read for their technical and aesthetic accomplishments, setting them among the masterpieces of Persian literature.