Department of Archaeology and AnthropologyPutusk Academy of Humanities

Third Interdisciplinary Conference: Thinking Symbols

Putusk 30 June-2 July 2015Abstracts of Papers

Edited by Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska

Jadwiga Iwaszczuk

Edited by Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska, Jadwiga IwaszczukProofreading in English by Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska, Maria F. Szymaska

DTP by Jadwiga IwaszczukCover design by Jakub Affelski

All rights reserved Copyright 05

by Putusk Academy of Humanities

Publisher:Putusk Academy of Humanities

ul. Daszyskiego 17, 06-100 Putusktel./fax (+48 23) 692 50 82e-mail: rektorat@ah.edu.pl

Internet: www.ah.edu.pl

Preface

The Third Interdisciplinary Conference: Thinking Symbols will be held from 30th June to 2nd July, 2015 at the Pultusk Academy of Humanities in Pultusk in Poland. The meeting is intended to be a scholarly discussion concerned with various approaches to studies concerned with widely understood symbols in all its aspects and forms, including papers of ancient as well as contemporary times. We will welcome scholars of various specialities, archaeologists, historians, cultural anthropologists, art historians and artists, philosophers, ethnographers, linguists, philologists, sociologists, psychologist, cultural studies scholar, political scientist, scholars studying the issue in its broad sense.

The conference is planned as the third in the series of interdisciplinary conferences at the Putusk Academy of Humanities. The First Interdisciplinary Conference: Seeking Origins and Manifestations of Religion took place in June 00, the Second Interdisciplinary Conference: Disasters, Catastrophes and the Ends of the World in Sources was held in June 0.

This booklet is a collection of abstracts received for the Third Interdisciplinary Conference: Thinking Symbols. The abstracts have been given limited editing for grammar and spelling as well as consistency of format. In most cases it proved impossible to consult the authors about the changes and the editors are responsible for textual errors or omissions.

We are deeply indebted to Rector Magnificus, Professor Adam Koseski, for rendering the Putusk Academy of Humanities accessible for the conference and for his inestimable support.

We are especially grateful to the Academy Bursar, Ms. Agnieszka Bakiewicz and the Administration Director, Mr. Bogdan Mroziewicz, for their support and assistance.

Moreover, we want to thank the Head of the Academy Hostel, Ms. Anna Brzeziska and the heads and employees of the Academy bar as well as our students for their inestimable help.

Joanna Popielska-GrzybowskaBoena Jzefw-Czerwiska

Wadysaw DuczkoMaria F. Szymaska

Jadwiga IwaszczukPutusk, 15th June 2015

Scientific Committee

Maria Helena Trindade LopesJos das Candeias Montes Sales

James CogswellTeresa DobrzyskaWadysaw Duczko

sds EgilsdttirEva Katarina GlazerJadwiga Iwaszczuk

Boena Jzefw-CzerwiskaJolanta Karbowniczek

Dorota KulczyckaAdam ukaszewicz

Joanna Popielska-GrzybowskaIna Shved

Maria F. Szymaska

Third Interdisciplinary Conference: Thinking Symbols

Putusk Academy of Humanities, PolandPutusk, 30 June-2 July 2015

Programme

Tuesday, 30th June 2015Putusk Academy of Humanities17, Daszynskiego st.

8.00-9.00 breakfast8.00-9.00 registration9.00 Conference InaugurationHis Magnificence Rector of the Putusk Academy of Humanities Professor dr. Adam Koseski and dr. Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska, dr. Boena Jzefw-Czerwiska, professor dr. Wadysaw Duczko and dr. Maria F. Szymaska.

Opening Session9.30-10.15 Maria Helena Trindade Lopes (Lisbon, Portugal), Ramesses II and the Art of Narrating History10.15-10.45 Jos das Candeias Montes Sales (Lisbon, Portugal), The Ritual Scenes of Smiting the Enemies in the Pylons of the Egyptian Temples: Symbolism and Functions0.5-.0 James Cogswell (Michigan, United States of America), Cosmogonic Tattoos: Epistemic Limits and the Will to Adorn11.30-12.00 Sebastian Szymaski (Poland) Music as a Symbol of Communication

.00-.5 Coffee Break

Opening Session (continuation)12.15-12.45 Ina Shved (Brest, Belarus), The Symbolism of Loaf in the Belarusian Wedding Ceremony.5-.5 Jolanta Karbowniczek (Cracow, Poland), The Stimulation and Multi-intelligent Principle of Students Functioning in the Educational Process Exemplification in Practice

13.15-13.45 Maria F. Szymaska (Putusk/Cracow, Poland), Word the Storage of Meanings in Building Communicative Thinking. Exemplary Pedagogical Context

13.45-15.15 Lunch break, Putusk Town Hall

15.15-15.40 Adam ukaszewicz (Warsaw, Poland), Christian Symbols in Pagan Context: from the Milvian Bridge to the Tomb of Memnon (KV 9)15.40- 16.05 Ronaldo G. Gurgel Pereira (Lisbon, Portugal/Brazil), Sounds Full of Power or a Mere Noise of Words? The Importance of Speech in the Hermetic Literature en face the Book of Thoth16.05-16.30 Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska (Putusk, Poland), Federica Manfredi (Rome, Italy), The Body of the Pharaoh in the Pyramid Texts as Symbol?16.30-16.55 Susana Moser (Trieste, Italy), Old Signs, New Hieroglyphs. How Symbols Become a Language

16.55-17.10 Coffee Break

17.10-17.35 sds Egilsdttir (Reykjavik, Iceland), Serpents and Dragons17.35-18.00 Wadysaw Duczko (Putusk, Poland), Spirals the Most Ancient and the Most Potent Symbols18.00-18.25 Boena Jzefw-Czerwiska (Putusk, Poland), Symbol or Metonimical-magical Connotations? Beliefs in Polish Traditional Culture18.25-18.50 Jacek Jan Pawlik (Olsztyn, Poland) Turning into Symbol. Head of State as a Political Icon during the Dictatorial Regime in Togo, 1967-2005

19.00 Reception Caf, Putusk Academy of Humanities, 17, Daszyskiego st.21.00 Party, Polonia House. Karolina Ambroziak sings Portugalskie tangoGondola ride

5Wednesday, 1st July 2015Putusk Academy of Humanities17, Daszynskiego st.

8.00-9.00 breakfast

Section A, Auditorium Maximum9.00-9.25 Guilherme Borges Pires (Lisbon, Portugal), Aquatic Symbolism in Ancient Egypt: a Complex Issue9.25-9.50 Brbara Botelho Rodrigues (Lisbon, Portugal), Osiris One Deity, One Deity, One Deity, Many Symbols9.50-10.15 Marcus Vinicius Carvalho Pinto (Lisbon, Portugal/Brazil), Seeing the Unseen: The Matter of Union in Middle Kingdom10.15-10.40 Ana Alexandra Fraga Vieira Fraga (Lisbon, Portugal), For All Eternity: Existence in the sx.t-jArw (Field of Rushes)10.40-11.05 Jessica Alexandra Monteiro Santos (Lisbon, Portugal), Amulets and Apotropaic Objects: Childrens Protection Symbols in Ancient Egypt11.05-11.30 Piotr Czerkwiski (Warsaw, Poland), Symbolic Burials from the Temple of Thutmose IIIs in Deir el-Bahari. But Are They Really Symbolic?

Section B, Green Chamber9.00-9.25 Tomasz Gralak (Wrocaw, Poland), Symbols or visualisations. Genesis of Scythian Animal Style9.25-9.50 Pawe F. Nowakowski (Cracow, Poland), The Symbols of the Spiritual Warfare in the Writings of the Hussite Thinkers9.50-10.15 Eithan Orkibi (Samaria, Israel), Abusing the Emblems of the Republic: Jamming National Symbols in French Political Dissent10.15-10.40 Tomasz Szajewski (Warsaw/Putusk, Poland), Symbolism of Commanding Attributes in Polish Army at 17th18th Centuriesth Centuriesth Centuries

.0-.50 coffee break

.50-.5 Sightseeing

.0-5.0 lunch break

Section A, Auditorium Maximum5.0-5.55 Eva Katarina Glazer (Zagreb, Croatia), Betyls Symbols of Gods and Deities in the Ancient Near East15.55-16.20 Richard Vallance Janke (Ottawa, Canada), The Role of Supersyllabograms in Mycenaean Linear B

16.20-16.45 Pantelis Komninos (Thessaloniki, Greece), Symbols and Landscape Iconography on Aegean LBA Mural Depictions16.45-17.10 Spyridon Bakas (Athens, Greece), Psychological Warfare in Greek Bronze Age. Mycenaean Panoplies and Weapons as Symbols of Power and Divinity17.10-17.35 Christy Emilio Ioannidou (Athens, Greece) Negative Verbal Symbols in Ancient Greek Warfare

Section B, Green Chamber 15.30-15.55 Teresa Dobrzyska (Warsaw, Poland), Lutes on the Willows, Harps on the Poplars. The Dilemmas Involved in Translation of Psalm 137 (read by JPG)15.55-16.20 Adriana Teodorescu (Trgu-Mure Romania), Representations of Symbolic Immortality in The Book Thief Novel16.20-16.45 Aleksandra Rycka (Lublin, Poland), The Visualisation of Suffering in Polish Gothic Painting16.45-17.10 Ivan Badanjak (Zagreb, Croatia), Codex Gigas as a Symbol of the Occult17.10-17.35 Olga Konstantinova (Putusk, Poland/Ukraine), Stanisaw Lems Pseudoterms Translated into Russian: A Comparative Analysis of Connotations

17.35-17.50 Coffee break

Section A, Auditorium Maximum17.50-18.15 Marta Fitua (Noto, Italy), Occhio e Malocchio. Eye Symbol from the Neolithic Material Culture to the Modern Magical Practice in Sicily18.15-18.40 Hanna Rubinkowska-Anio (Warsaw, Poland), Imperial Clothes as a Symbol of Change the Case of Haile Sillasie I and 20th-century Ethiopia18.40-19.05 Edyta ubiska (Cracow, Poland), Symbolism of African Funeral Rituals (Case of the Mbomou Zande People from the Central African Republic)

Section B, Green Hall17.50-18.15 Dorota Kulczycka (Zielona Gra, Poland), Archetypes and symbols in the Films of M. Night Shyalaman18.15-18.40 Magorzata Okupnik (Pozna, Poland), Symbols of Death, Dying and Mourning in the Polish Art Cinema18.40-19.05 Lidia Ambroziak (Putusk, Poland), Mind Maps as a Symbol of Mmodern Education Methods19.05-19.30 Anna Hamling (New Brunswick, Canada), An Introduction to the Historical and Artistic Significance of Two Religious Icons

6Thursday, 2nd July 2015Pultusk Academy of Humanities17, Daszynskiego st.

8.00-9.00 breakfast

Auditorium Maximum9.00-9.25 Paulina Stachowicz (Warsaw, Poland), Symbols on Roman urns 9.25-9.50 Aleksandr Farutin (St. Petersburg/Putusk, Russia/Poland), Crucifixion: Emergence of the Symbol9.50-10.15 Tomasz Twardziowski (Warsaw, Poland), The Symbolism of Nature in the Canonical Gospels10.15-10.40 Jacek Konik (Warsaw, Poland), The Kabbalah Mystique of Symbols and Numbers10.40-11.00 Pawe Szczepanik (Toru, Poland), Symbols, Material Culture and Images in Western Slavonic pre-Christian Religion

.00-.0 Coffee break11.30-11.55 Renata Zych (Cracow, Poland), Kujavian long barrows Through Time the symbolism of the cemeteries11.55-12.20 Waldemar Gniadek (Putusk, Poland), Symbols in Freemansonery. 00 years of tradition12.20-12.45 Katarzyna Szczypka (Putusk/Warsaw, Poland), Symbolism in Turkish carpets12.45-13.10 Alicja Skwirut (Putusk/Warsaw, Poland), Colour symbolism in ceremonial dresses based on Matejkos and Baccios paintings of Polish kings13.10-13.35 Joanna Wawrzeniuk (Warsaw, Poland), How do they understand death? What does the symbol mean?

13.35-14.45 Lunch break

.5-5.0 Federica Manfredi (Rome, Italy), Body Symbols. The use of body from an anthropological perspective15.10-15.35 ukasz Karol (Putusk/Warsaw, Poland), The light from the wall of church. Penance holes as the sign of activities connected with starting a fire15.35-16.00 Hanna uraw (Warsaw/Putusk, Poland), Disability as a symbol16.00-16.25 Krzysztof ukawski (Putusk, Poland), University studies as a door to a career and a symbol of elitism on the medieval and the modern Mazovia

16.25-16.45 Coffee break

16.45-17.10 Anna Garczewska (Toru, Poland), Symbols of law in pop culture - the example of the gavel17.10-17.35 Krystyna Kamiska (Warsaw/Putusk, Poland), Being in Culture, that is Contemporary Relation Human Being World17.35-18.00 Krzysztof Garczewski (Putusk, Poland), Berlin Wall as a symbol of politics and pop culture18.00-18.25 Agata mieja (Warsaw, Poland), How to create the symbol of beauty? The process of shaping the image of Cleopatra VII concerning both antique and modern sources

.5 Concluding discussion

7Lidia AmbroziakPutusk Academy of HumanitiesPutusk, Polandlili5@wp.pl

Mind Mapsin Creative Knowledge Gaining Process by Students

Mind maps, as an expression of multidirectional thinking, follow the natural way of working of the human mind. It is constructed on the basis of interactive quotation, which is a reflection of what is happening outside in the head of person creating it. The brain functions in a radial manner. It means that thought passing through the brain explodes in all directions. The brain processing the information that it receives, uses imagination and a network of associations.

Mental maps allow to express your thoughts fuller and faster. Visually, the design is based on a multi-coloured graphic technique with the main element the central figure symbolising the topic of discussion. This compilation of techniques for supporting the learning process is also invaluable in managing, organising, analysing, communicating or making decisions.

Mind maps contain not only facts, but also take into account the links between them, which contributes to a better understanding of a topic or issue. By its form they arouse interest in a young person as a unique way of assimilation or summarising the knowledge and dispose to greater activity and concentration in the classroom. During the process of their formation, new neural connections that empower the brain are created, increasing the creativity of young person. They may be symbols of an appropriate knowledge gaining.

Notes

Ivan BadanjakDepartment of HistoryCentre for Croatian StudiesUniversity of Zagrebivan.badanjak91@gmail.com

Codex Gigas as a Symbol of the Occult

Codex Gigas is medieval manuscript written in the early th century in the Czech region. Due to its large dimensions and weight of 165 pounds (75 kg), it has a reputation of the largest hand-written book in the world. It contains a whole copy of the Bible, historical and medical texts, calendar with necrology, conjurations, entire confession of the writer and large illuminated images. According to the legend, manuscript was written during a single night, after the writer sold his soul to the Devil. Because of that, manuscript received the name The Devils Bible.

Even though the manuscript was not written as a book of magic or a book of the occult, it was considered, almost throughout its entire history, as such. The reason is that we can find in it the legend about its creation, conjuration texts and the portrait of the Devil and also it was transmitted by bad omens that happened to people who were in the possession of it. But to me those reasons are not enough to identify this manuscript as an occult one. However, the most famous person who had Codex Gigas in his possession was emperor Rudolf II Habsburg. He was obsessed with the occult and thus he borrowed the manuscript from its original owners Benedictine monks. After many years of research he became mad and many people believed that the Codex was the reason for that, but I believe that there were many more reasons of it. Moreover, even though the manuscript certainly was not written with the help of the Devil himself and its content does not deal only with the occult, then why did the writer created such enormous manuscript. I believe that the answer to these questions can be found in the manuscript itself that is in the Confession.

Even if we could know the complete answers to the above mentioned questions, still this manuscript would remain enigmatic, because there are many more unanswered doubts and there is still plenty of space for further research, and so we can only hope that one day we will know entire story about the world largest manuscript.

Notes

9Spyridon BakasInstitute of ArchaeologyUniversity of WarsawPoland/Greecekoryvanteshoplites@gmail.com

Psychological Warfare in Greek Bronze Age.Mycenaean Panoplies and Weapons

as Symbols of Power and Divinity

Greek Bronze Age designates an era of extensive and multiform military activity. Local war struggles, naval incursions, broadened military conflicts were common practices among the Aegean populations. Confronting sea raiders, land invaders or regulated armies, the Mycenaean warrior had to use all of his abilities in the battlefield to defend his ground and encounter his enemies. Exotic weapons with bizarre shapes and usages, impressive body armours with megalithic structure and shining bronze, helmets with series of horns and colourful plumes were some of the psychological weapons that Mycenaeans used in order to affect their opponents. Symbols of military superiority and divine heritage with military items characterised a new type of warfare that introduced the psychological factor that would evolve in the later Greek armies.

Notes

0

Guilherme Borges PiresCHAM/ FCSH/ Universidade Nova de Lisboa/ UALisbon, Portugalguilhermecborgespires@gmail.com

Aquatic Symbolism in Ancient Egypt: a Complex Issue

A symbol is a mysterys epiphany (Gilbert Durand). In that sense, symbols have not a meaning per si but rather evoke multiple senses, which cannot be reduced to a single definition. The quotidian expression of the symbol, whose function is mainly to reconcile the human being with the universe, is the symbolic language, composed of central metaphors. The purpose of this paper is thus to show how water can be regarded as a vital symbol, and consequently a metaphor, to the Ancient Egyptians.

As stated by the historian of religion Mircea Eliade, the Waters pre-existed the Earth, hence it should be the first element we focus on. In fact, the Waters are fons et origo, being the means by which every creation takes place. The Ancient Egyptians perfectly assimilated this as they envisaged their origins from the Primeval Waters, believing everything started in Nun, the primordial ocean that gave life to all living forces and beings, from gods to plants. The Nile, as the river that enabled the continuing fertility of the Valley, was seen as the mimetic watercourse of Nun, sacred and eternal.

Although it was true that the Waters open the path to existence it was also undeniable that they represented the end of life, destruction and alienation. Annually, the Niles flood caused several damage, which partially explains why the Egyptians thought their apocalypse would be a return to the Waters. But the destruction embodied a new beginning: after the flood subsided, the fields would be ready to be cultivated and once again the Egyptians would not starve.

However, when one thinks about the water symbol in Ancient Egypt, it is also crucial to look to the other waterways, for instance, the Mediterranean Sea, both an opportunity and a threat to the Nilotic people.

It is precisely this complexity connoting the Waters in Ancient Egypt that we intend to explore.

Notes

Brbara Botelho RodriguesCHAM/ FCSH/ Universidade Nova de Lisboa/ UALisbon, Portugalbarbara.botelho.rodrigues@gmail.com

Osiris One Deity, Many Symbols

Osiris is undoubtedly one of the most popular and important deities in the Egyptian pantheon. At first glance, one might associate the gods popularity with its role as god and king of the dead, due to the importance of the Afterlife in the ancient Egyptian imaginary. However, Osiris had various spheres of action besides ruling the world of the dead. He is associated with the ideas of regeneration and rebirth and ultimately with the cosmos and the cycle of life, since the Egyptians perceived time as cyclical. He was also linked with vegetation and the waters of the Nile the vehicle through which his rebirth is made possible and also with the monarchical system and with Order (Maat), acting as the opposite of his brother, Seth.

Osiris is not only a deity which has symbols connected with him, he is also at the same time a symbol better yet, various symbols himself. In other words, Osiris as many other deities was identified with symbols, for instance, the djed pillar, a symbol of stability. However, he is also a symbol of various other things mentioned above.

Using Plutarchs account of the Osirian mythic cycle as our source, we intend to identify and analyse the symbols associated with this god. Likewise we intend to look at Osiris as a figure containing many symbols and try to understand why such image of a deity was made by the ancient Egyptians. More than a god with powers and attributes, Osiris was a god of symbols, incorporating a multitude of meanings and attributes in himself.

Notes

Nicholas CampionSophia CentreUniversity of Wales Trinity Saint DavidBath, Great Britainncampion@caol.demon.co.uk

Astrology:the Survival of an Ancient Symbolic Language

Modern western astrology is a survival of a pre-modern, pre-Christian worldview. It is common for modern western astrologers to rationalise astrology as a symbolic language. However, it is also widely believed that astrological claims are true; that astrology can, for example, make accurate forecasts. This paper questions what astrologers actually mean by the phrase symbolic language. There are apparent contradictions in the astrological position: do astrologers really think symbolically? Do some, but not all uses of astrology rely on the interpretation of symbols? Does some astrology rely on the assumption of absolute, literal, truth, rather than the reading of symbols? And, are these approaches compatible? explores the understanding of symbolism through the western astrology of the English-speaking world, focusing on the legacy of Platonism and theosophy.

Notes

Jos das Candeias Montes SalesCHAM/ FCSH/ Universidade Nova de Lisboa/ UA/ Universidade AbertaLisbon, PortugalJose.Sales@uab.pt

The Ritual Scenes of Smiting the Enemiesin the Pylons of Egyptian Temples:

Symbolism and Functions

The use of symbolism by the ancient Egyptians is an important and powerful way to impose their view of life. By definition, symbols represent something other than what they actually depict, based on conventionally agreed-on meanings. The case of the civilization of ancient Egypt is paradigmatic because the ancient Egyptians expressed and affirmed many of their ideas through symbols and symbolic languages.

In the representational forms of Egyptian art visual symbols were employed to manifest some ideas of political domination. Is the case of the ritual scenes of smiting the enemies, a topos of the Egyptian iconography of military nature which goes through Egyptian history almost in its entirety, from the th millennium BC until the nd century AD.

In this paper we would like to presented some important examples of the use of the ritual scenes of smiting enemies, especially in architectural structures (pylons of divine and funerary temples), to understand the meaning and functions of this visual symbol.

Notes

Marcus Vicinius Carvalho PintoCHAM/ FCSH/ Universidade Nova de Lisboa/ UALisbon, Portugalmarcus.carvalhopinto@hotmail.com

Seeing the Unseen:The Matter of Union in the Middle Kingdom

Ideology was in the heart of Egyptian monarchy and, since Narmer, the unification of the Two Lands became one of its essential myths. Middle Kingdom was marked by the restauration of the union and also the restructuration of the central State. Its rulers developed a political-cultural project, in accord with past models, centering in the image of the king as the unifier of the land. Known as a period of rebirth under the Pharaohs rule, loyalty and the maintenance of MAat over Isfet are common themes.

It is not possible to think about Egypt forgetting the magical and symbolic aspect intrinsic to their choices. Their thinking always containeds a deeper meaning whose aspirations could be fulfilled and accomplished through its depicting.

The symbolic expression of unification of equal parts is the hieroglyph smA (F36) and it was commonly used to depict the union of the Kingdom. The symbol was elaborated in the IV dynasty and usually depicted on the sides of royal thrones the Pharaoh ruling over the Two Lands in union. It is a symbol worked out to express a concept and, as an abstract idea, may be present even in its absence.

This paper aims to explore a few questions related to smA through pieces of literature, as well as the choices of Pharaohs names considering the symbolic aspect of names as part of the beings identity and the union expressed in architecture taking the example of Senusrets White Chapel.

Notes

5

Jim CogswellUniversity of MichiganMichigan, United States of Americajcogs@umich.edu

Cosmogonic Tattoos:Epistemic Limits and the Will to Adorn

As an artist I am fascinated by how pattern works in accord with the human mind, mind in its most expansive sense, not just as the brain, or even the bounded body, but working through and in concert with the material world that we are part of. I question the lowly role that pattern has been afforded in our own culture, these acts of marking that are as archaic as the first human artifacts, commonly understood as frame or background to figuration and meaning, at best granted the role of establishing a sense of order in the world.

I have been invited by the University of Michigan Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and the University of Michigan Museum of Art to create a set of public window installations in response to the objects in their collections. My project will deploy invented patterns derived from my research and drawings of those objects, using adhesive window vinyl tattooed in saturated colors to the skin of their two buildings. By heightening my awareness of pattern in objects from antiquity, my research for this project is forcing me to re-examine dismissive modernist attitudes to the decorative.

My talk will examine how this and earlier artistic projects interrogate the categories separating ornament and figuration, taking advantage of the hypnotic qualities of pattern that render it suspect to our intellectualised constructions and revealing it as a window to our own minds and a tool for connecting us with the world. I want to examine how pattern helps us to see how we see, how it might be used as a tool for thinking about thinking.

Notes

16

Piotr CzerkwiskiAntiquity of Southeastern Europe Research CentreUniversity of WarsawWarsaw, Polandp.czerkwinski@gmail.com

Symbolic Burialsfrom the Temple of Thutmose IIIs in Deir el-Bahari.

But are they really symbolic?

During excavations carried out on the territory of the Thutmose IIIs temple in Deir el-Bahari in the 1960s evidence was found and confirmed that this area was used as a necropolis. Some of the excavated burial sites proved quite unique. Instead of mummies, expected to be found in coffins, there were only embalming materials such as linen and bags filled with natron. On this basis the discovery was interpreted as, for instance, symbolic burials. But are they really so and does the interpretation hold true today? Many years have passed from the time of finding these burial sites thus the issue of symbolic burials discovered near the Theban Necropolis should be re-examined.

Notes

17

Andrzej wiekAdam Mickiewicz University/ Pozna Archaeological MuseumPozna, Polandandrzejcwiek@yahoo.com

Pedj-aha

Pedj-aha is an enigmatic object of a peculiar shape, occurring in various and different contexts, infrequently discussed thus far. It appears first in the sun temple of Niuserra in the heb-sed scenes. The pedj-aha and the big bow are there carried by members of the royal suite. It occurs in the Pyramid Texts, denoting, together with the standard of Wepwawet and the bow, the Followers of Horus. In the Middle Kingdom it is represented in the frises dobjets, and it appears in the scenes of funerary rites in the New Kingdom tombs, still in relation to the big bow. It also occurs in the funerary equipment, with seemingly more amuletic than functional role. One may notice not only a transfer from the royal to private sphere, but also a change from utilitarian into symbolic use. This extended meaning is reflected in the afterlife books, where the term pedj-aha occurs as an epithet of gods. The original function of this implementation, significantly related to the etymology of the term, may be reconstructed while using an iconographic and textual analysis as well as experimental archaeology. This may help to explain further developments and later functions.

Notes

Teresa DobrzyskaInstitute of Literary ResearchPolish Academy of SciencesWarsaw, Polanddobter@hotmail.com

Lutes on the Willows, Harps on the PoplarsThe Dilemmas Involved in Translation of Psalm 137

When comparing the different English translation versions of Psalm 137, it is already in its opening lines that one can discern certain odd discrepancies. This reoccurs when including modern Polish translations, such as the one published in the Bible of the Millennium and those by the poets Roman Brandstaetter and Czesaw Miosz. The Psalm portrays the Hebrews who, sitting/getting seated/having settled by the rivers of Babylon, have hung their musical instruments on the trees the instruments being harps, lyres, or lutes [Polish, harfy/liry/lutnie], and the trees being described as poplars [topole] or willows [wierzby], depending on the translation. With the earlier Polish translations taken into consideration, beginning with the earliest contained in Psaterz floriaski (Sankt Florian Psalter, late th/early 5th century) the array of instruments hung in the trees would be even richer: for instance, the Gdansk Bible features a violin [skrzypce], whilst the other Polish translators proposed gle (a sort of primitive fiddle), or cytra (cither).

These divergences with respect to the translated versions of a text that forms part of the Bible and thus calls for a particularly penetrating rendering of its content, are pretty astonishing. The diverse concepts become intriguing especially with respect to modern translations.

Notes

19

Wadysaw DuczkoPultusk Academy of HumanitiesPutusk, Polandwladyslawduczko@gmail.com

Spirals: Most Ancient and Most Potent Symbols

Studies of symbolic sphere of ancient world of humans is a popular field of research which seems to be well-worked through since a long time. But, as it used to happen, some symbols, while recognised, were never studied in detail and thus did not become broadly known, although they certainly deserved it. It is the case with three symbols made of spiral elements: double spiral, volute and omega. These signs appeared about 5000 BC among Neolithic cultures of Balkans and Anatolia and since then were used in almost all European cultures until Middle Ages, in some cases even long after. Each of these symbols had its place in religious cults, first in fertility, later, when they were accepted by Christianity, in symbolic iconography representing various meanings.

Notes

0

sds EgilsdttirDepartment of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural StudiesUniversity of IcelandReykjavik, Icelandasd@hi.is

Serpents and dragons

The theme of a confrontation with a dragon or other monstrous beast is common in the folklore and mythology of numerous ancient cultures. Combat with a dragon is the most common myth in heroic tales and is its most important theme. The dragon/serpent-combat myth is a creation-myth with the monster symbolising chaos, the formless and desolate. In Old Norse mythology, the serpent Migarsormr (Midgard Serpent, World Serpent) surrounded the earth and kept its forces together by biting his tail. When he lets it go, the world will end. Well-known and popular myths tell of the god rrs battle with Migarsormr. When the world ends at Ragnark, rr kills Migarsormr and then walks nine paces before falling dead, having been poisoned by the serpents venom. The role of the Migarsormr is both positive, by tying the world together, and negative, by being one of the gods most dangerous enemies. In Christian culture, dragons and serpents represent evil. In one of the oldest (th century) Nordic translations of Descensus Christi, the devil is translated as Migarsormr. In my paper, I intend to analyse the appearence of dragons and serpents in popular medieval Icelandic texts, the translation of the Passio of St Margaret and the Ketils saga hngs, an entertaining story of a male Cinderella. In the Passio of St Margaret of Antioch, a dragon, representing the devil, swallows the young Margaret. Thanks to her purity and faith, the dragon bursts open and she is saved. The miraculous rescue of St Margaret made her a patron saint of childbirth. The Male Cinderella hides away in the kitchen, despised by his father and other grown-up men, but loved and protected by the mother. Such unpromising boys are a popular motif in late Icelandic literature. When they come of age they have to break free from the mother and leave her area, the kitchen and the home. They need to prove their manhood to both men and women, by winning heroic deeds and overcoming his shyness regarding physical contact with women. The narrative shows how they grow up mentally, physically and sexually and are finally able to fulfill the model male role accepted by the society, no longer different from other men. Slaying a dragon becomes an initiation rite in Ketils saga hngs and resembles a version of rrs encounter with the Migarsormr. In my proposed paper I intend to show how conquering dragons in both the Passio of St Margaret and Ketils saga

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Aleksandr FarutinSaint Petersburg State Universityand Putusk Academy of HumanitiesPutusk, Polandalexanderfarutin@gmail.com

Crucifixion: Emergence of the Symbol

The paper deals with historical circumstances accompanying the emergence of one of the most important symbols of the Western world the crucifixion. It starts with describing the history of that kind of execution in a non-Roman world with a special attention to Alexander Janneus crucifying 00 Pharisees in Palestine in st century B.C.E. The author continues telling about crucifixion procedure among Romans including social, moral and technical aspects of the execution. The presentation will end with the description of the supposed crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the reaction of Early Church to that event.

Notes

Marta FituaSiciliAnticaNoto, Italymarta.fitula@libero.it

Occhio e Malocchio.Eye Symbol from the Neolithic Material Culture

to the Modern Magical Practice in Sicily

The Neolithic culture of Stentinello appeared on the Ionic coast of Sicily in the 5th millennium BC, diffusing tradition developed in the Near East with economy based on agriculture. One of the peculiarities of Stentinello material culture, derived from context of the Impressed Ware pottery is image of an eye on the clay vessels. The symbol of this human body part was widespread in the Mediterranean various civilisation and present in different periods in Sicily island cultures the background of great conquest. Apotropaic big eyes were comprised on the 6th century BC Greek kylix ad occhioni (eye-cups). Painted or modelled reproduction of a miraculously healed eyes as an ex voto votive offering to a saint or to a divinity, so popular Christian custom, had already been produced in the classic world. We have a lot of testimonies in Greek and Roman sanctuaries. Votive eyes shaped in a form of breads (called uccioli) are still prepared to celebrated Saint Lucia of Syracuse Day (saint patron of the blind). With the Arab invasion to the Sicilian culture there was introduced Allah eye, singular or in the centre of the Fatima hand amulet symbol of the wish khamsa fi ainek (five fingers in your eye), protecting from the evil eye. The Eye of Providence (or the all-seeing eye of the God) is shown in triangle, which was also adapted by the Masons such as Grand Lodge of the Sicily. The eyes, windows of the soul expressing emotions and according to the Sicilian tradition can be used to generate maleficent power. The victims of Malocchio (the evil eye), which cause misfortune or injury, happened to have problems manifested by strong headache. They can receive help only by lucciatura rites consisting of the complicate system of symbols, combination of pagan magical practices and Christian tradition.

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NotesAna Alexandra Fraga VieiraUniversidade Nova de LisboaLisbon, Portugalyoshuafraga@gmail.com

For All Eternity:Existence in the sx.t-jArw (Field of Rushes)

Ancient Egyptian man believes in the existence beyond the limits of death: that idea was present in several aspects of Egyptian mentality, not only in both art and literature, but also in ritual practices. Within the framework of symbolic expressions of the death conception appear the Field of Rushes (sx.t-jArw), a place located where the sun rises, being described as a flooded marshland favourable to the existence of life. It should be noted their appearance in the funerary texts, namely in the Old Kingdom Pyramid Text and the Book of the Dead (chapters 109-110, 149). So, the scope of this study is to present and analyse some imagery represented in the tombs, scrutinising the iconography with textual references. Paying attention to the images of the repertoire we can see the deceased in quotidian scenes, like agriculture or fishery. This way, life in the hereafter would reflect the existence in the human world, with its hierarchies. However, the arrival in the Field in question emerges only after passing through the court of Osiris. These illustrations can be observed like an artistic frame, where the author seeks to express the vision of his time in the face of death. Furthermore, it is necessary to scrutinise the elements that make up the whole, in which case the symbolism of greenery elements, the colour, writing, and among other things, the divine presence in this picture. This image was reinterpreted by other cultures, whereby the Greeks had their Elysian Fields, for example, thus creating a new artistic style to express the meaning of life.

Anna GarczewskaKolegium Jagielloskie Toruska Szkoa WyszaToru, Polandannatorun@gmail.com

Symbols of Law in Pop Culture the Example of the Gavel

There are many depictions of law and lawyers that can be found in popular culture. We are taught about law and lawyers by way of popular culture, it influences us the audience. Symbols of law are widely used in pop culture as they tend to have supranational associations. Some symbols are attributed to law in all its aspects, some only to courts or judges and not to justice. One of the legal symbols used in courtroom dramas and music is the gavel. It is interesting that an object used mostly only in American courts became widely connected with the judges in collective imagination. There seems to be quite strong influence of popular culture representations on the image of the legal system. This paper aims to analyse the image of the gavel as an example of symbols of law in a pop culture.

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Krzysztof GarczewskiPutusk Academy of HumanitiesPutusk, Polandkgarczewski@wp.pl

Berlin Wall as a Symbol of Politics and Pop Culture

Symbols play important role in both politics and popular culture. One of the most recognizable symbols is Berlin Wall, built in 1961, symbolised not only divided Germany, but also Europe split by the Iron Curtain. The fall of the Wall in November 1989 was seen by many people as a symbol of political changes happening both in Germany and in the Eastern Bloc countries as well. Since 1989-1990 the Wall has been used widely in pop culture. Berlin Wall is an essential element of German politics of memory. Hence, it became the symbol of German and European culture of remembrance. The fall of the Wall (1989) and German reunification (1990) did not fill in the gap between the Germans who had lived in two different political systems. One can say that the wall still exists within the minds of many German citizens.

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Eva Katarina GlazerDepartment of History Centre for Croatian StudiesUniversity of ZagrebZagreb, Croatiaekglazer@gmail.com

Betyls Symbols of Gods and Deities in the Ancient Near East

The Semitic word beth-el (bytl), means dwelling/house/temple of god and is mostly used to describe sacred stones which ancient people used to erect in the Levant. There are many examples and different types of sacred stones because they were in use from Bronze Age (or even earlier) to the Hellenistic period and further on. Archaeological excavations have provided many examples of sacred stones from the Levant, most of which have been published. Their iconography can sometimes help us determine to what deities they were presented but most of them can be recognised only by their position, shape, size or other characteristics. Erecting stones as a religious and sacred act is well attested in ancient literature but they do not always have a unique feature. The need for an interdisciplinary approach to studying and unveiling the meaning of betyls is well understood but it is a difficult task. This paper will try to present guidelines for such research with a short synthesis of the results so far collected in an effort to reevaluate the importance of this interesting symbol.

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Tomasz GralakUniversity of WrocawWrocaw, Polandtomasz.gralak@gmail.com

Symbols or Visualisations.Genesis of Scythian Animal Style

The ethnological and linguistic research shows that indigenous peoples languages had the image-representation character. In addition, they were characterised by small amount of abstract concepts. Most likely, the languages of prehistoric peoples also had such features. It can, therefore, be assumed that the lack of abstract concepts resulted in the lack of abstract thinking, and this, in turn, in the lack of abstract ideas. The adoption of such assumptions results in the thesis that decoration applied by prehistoric peoples imaginations had to represent concrete entities, really existing in the contemporary conceptual apparatus. This thesis would be verified by analysis of stylistic transformations in prehistoric Central Asia. The pottery of the Andronovo culture developed in the Bronze Age was characterised by geometric ornamentation motifs dominated by triangles. The applied decoration, however, was not abstract. The patterns were imitation of decoration of wickerwork vessels, resulted from the mode of production. By combination and multiplication of geometric figures (mostly triangles) also animals and humans were represented, which was recorded in petroglyphs as well. This way of perceiving the world, thus became the fundamental principle of the style, which expressed itself by various media. The decline of the Andronovo culture is associated with profound economic and cultural changes. As a result of climate change the dominant sector of the economy instead of agriculture becomes nomadic animal husbandry. People involved in this activity created a new decoration style, which became typical of Saka-Scythian tribes. In the Early Iron Age the most common motifs become animals representations. Based on written sources it was assumed that at least some of them were identified with gods represented by certain celestial bodies. Also repeating scenes of fight were supposed to be a realisation of a mythological scenario, but also of cyclical changes of certain constellations positions in the sky. It is characteristic, however, that representations of animals are constructed of repeating curvilinear elements: semicircles, ellipses, spirals, S-shapes etc. It seems that the new style expressed common experience of nomadic population. The cyclical movement of people and their herds (they moved in circles seeking pastures) corresponds to the cyclical and circular movement of the celestial bodies. Both phenomena

Notes

are related in terms of space (stars and the Sun determine the location) and time (stars, the Moon and the Sun define the seasons, i.e. periods of migration). Hence, also in the case of the Saka-Scythian art abstract ideas were not applied. Curvilinear motifs depicted movement, both in physical and time aspect.

Ronaldo G. Gurgel Pereira CHAM/ FCSH/ Universidade Nova de Lisboa/ UALisbon, PortugalRonaldo.gurgel@yahoo.de

Sounds Full of Power or a Mere Noise of Words?The Importance of Speech in the Hermetic Literature

en face the Book of Thoth

This study aims to establish a dialogue between hermetic discourses and the Demotic Book of Thoth. It aims to analyse the status given by both sources to the power of the spoken word. The comparative approach is necessary to the best understanding of disputes in the Hermetica concerning the relevance of human and animal languages in the quest for the divine.

If one compares the content of hermetic discourses, it must be noticed that they, sometimes, led its receptor to deal with contradictions on many topics of debate. Definitely, the task of debating such contradictions is sometimes too much subjective, since the Hermetica are a product of different authors and the text production was extended through many generations.

In that context, the most emblematic case of contradictory treatment in the hermetic literature is that on the usages of the spoken word. Thus, this study posits the following question: How relevant was the usage of any spoken word to achieve the gnosis, according to the hermetic teachings? By presenting a comparative dialogue with the Book of Thoth, some new lights are shed over that matter. According to the Book of Thoth, both the speeches of human and animals were equally legit channels for the understanding of the divine will. On the other hand, the spoken word received sometimes derogatory, sometimes flattering treatments in hermetic discourses.

The Book of Thoth deals with elements which are from time to time similarly acknowledged, and sometimes are deliberately denounced in the hermetic discourses. It also portrays the religious worldview of the late Egyptian priestly-class. On the one hand, traditional Egyptian religion praises in general the art of eloquence and the magic power of sacred words. Hence, the social taboo over translation assures that the purity of the original sounds stay untouched. On the other hand, the Hermetica claim to be Greek translation of Egyptian knowledge. Thus, both sources stand as intellectual production of two distinguished symbolic universes which coexisted during the Greco-Roman age.

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Anna HamlingUniversity of New BrunswickFredericton, Canadaahamling@unb.ca

An Introduction to the Historical and Artistic Significance of Two Religious Icons

The Black Madonna art pieces of Czestochowa, Poland and Guadalupe, Mexico have been the most popular religious and cultural icons since the 16th century. The well-known religious images have both symbolic and practical functions in their countries of origin. What is their historical and artistic significance? What is their influence on the Polish and Mexican people and millions of other visitors every year? What if any are the similarities between two works of art? This study will make a preliminary analysis of the historical and artistic significance of both paintings.

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Christy Emilio IoannidouNaval History ResearcherAthens, Greece

Negative Verbal Symbols in Ancient Greek Warfare

Words are an essential tool of each exercise of Psychological Operations (PSYOPs). A message real or fake usually includes keywords that charge emotionally and cause the immediate reaction of the receiver.

Beyond the positively charged words (such as freedom, faith, homeland, justice etc) there are negatively charged words too. These are addressed directly to the receiver and cause negative emotions (for example, by using insults, the transmission of a message tends to become more personal).

In ancient Greek battle fair (naval or land), the use of negative verbal symbols in a witty way, could alter the outcome of the clash of opponents. Written on papyrus or leather, engraved in stone or slingshots or expressed orally, in most cases, undermines severely the morale of the enemy.

Notes

NotesRichard Vallance JankeOttawa, Ontario, Canadavallance@gmail.com

The Role of Supersyllabograms in Mycenaean Linear B

Supersyllabogram (SSYL): the first syllabogram = first syllable of a Linear B word or phrase, always found adjacent to or inside an ideogram, and always with the same invariable meaning in a particular sector of Minoan/Mycenaean society. Sectors include agriculture, military, textiles, vessels & religious. If the ideogram or the sector changes, so does the meaning of the supersyllabogram.

Scribes would never have written single syllabograms unless they meant something! with ideograms, they do. SSYLs are a form of shorthand.

Examples:r rZf O = onato o0nato/n lease field , ,dJZ KI = kitimena kiti/mena plot of

land jj PE = periqoro peri/boloj enclosure or sheep pen, all adjacent to the

ideogram for ram, ewe or sheep;{ {t. ZE = zeuko zeuko/j a team of horses with ideogram for horse + a set of

chariot wheels adjacent to ideogram chariotq qlMu A = aporewe a0mforh#ej amphorae l lf PO = poto poto/n (drink)

& t tF U = water u3dwr inside an ideogram for vessel28 of 61 syllabograms are supersyllabograms. About 800/3000 tablets from

Knossos I meticulously examined use supersyllabograms (27%).

Boena Jzefw-CzerwiskaPultusk Academy of HumanitiesPutusk, Polandbozenajozefow@hotmail.com

Symbol or Metonimical-Magical Connotations?Beliefs in Polish Traditional Culture

Research on intangible heritage of Polish traditional culture shows that in the beliefs, the phenomenon of metonymy has a much deeper meaning that we explain in linguistic definition. Metonymy generally defined as the relation of substitution, which is reflected in the notations used for the expression of metonymic relations, for example: A for B. Metonymy, for example, replacing the name of a thing, the name of another thing that remains with relationship contiguity.

This phenomenon, according to our research in the area of the traditional culture shows that it is much more complicated. We could find beliefs concerning the spiritual and indissoluble connections between human and things. They are related to the establishment of the principles of ritual. Thus relationship is not only symbolic of contact, but remaining inseparable relationship, which if they are broken have a huge consequences for members. Can cause even the death of a man, if these relationships will be broken.

Notes

Krystyna Kamiska Pultusk Academy of HumanitiesPutusk, Polandkrystyna.danuta.kaminska@gmail.com

Being in CultureThat Is Contemporary Relation Human Being World

For some time, apart from the academic debate on culture, it can be seen today a raise of interest on the relation between human and world. Both the cultural repesentation of human in life according to values context and the linguistical image of the world composed thanks to this context, are rich in semantic meanings and intensively valorised. However, because the traditional understanding of the ideas within the field of culture sciences (concentrating on such ideas as identification and ethnicity) is not explicit among all the texts, there has been made many new qualifiers, that contrary to these definitions mentioned above creates new cognitive categories. The contemporary paradigm of culture allows to analyse it variously by situating the culture in the past, in the present and in the future so that it could be redefined without any temporal or geographical conditions, yet also without giving up the relation before history, round it and after it. Culture considered as above-mentioned (and also in its dynamic aspect) does not refer to gain understanding of some ideas (once narrowly tied with culture itself), but to apply a specific open access to cognitive categories. This allows to replace tradition with memory, symbol with metaphor or border with borderland more and more often nowadays. Thus, is it necessary to put the binding between on the one hand human and culture, on the other human and language (the one in which we try to express this relation). All that from perspective representing the human (in the new cultural reality)? Does this modernization of nomenclature have a practical effect on the new way noticing the centuries-old relation human world?

Notes

Jolanta KarbowniczekJesuit University Ignatianum in Cracow CracowCracow, Poland

The Stimulation and Multi-intelligent Principleof Students Functioning in the Educational Process

Exemplification in Practice

The main task of contemporary school is to prepare students for active and creative activity in their everyday life. The sense of presented principle is covered by outer impacts incentives, situations, didactic-pedagogical events, animating the childs psychological functions that enable him/her multi- side personality formation, and multi-intelligent functioning in a school environment. Early elementary education creates opportunities for releasing creative potentiality, cognitive skills development, talents, interests and preferences, thanks to which, a person can realise his/her own interior possibilities. Teacher of early school education stimulates varied spheres of a childs activities: perceptive, motional, verbal one, proposing multiplicity of acts of doing and tasks to be performed, diagnosing development; defines strong and weak points of students personality determining their intelligence profile; cares for creating autonomous, sustainable individuals with their readiness for independence, undertaking challenges and discovering themselves within complex social layers.

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ukasz KarolPultusk Academy of Humanities/ University of WarsawPutusk/ Warsaw, Polandkarol_lukasz@wp.pl

The Light from the Wall of a Church.Penance Holes as the Sign of Activities

Connected with Starting Fire

Penance holes are small, cupular hollows appearing on the walls of gothic churches in Poland (and abroad). Their form resembles cups and ring marks that can be found in the rocks and stones all over the world. However, only seemingly they are similar to hollows and spirals made by the representatives of prehistoric cultures.

Some of the hypothesis claim that the hollows are characteristic of their penitential values. They are also connected with traditional medicine, as well as the rite of marking burial places. What is more, they can be seen as wars remainings (bullets holes). However, the most credible explanation for their existence is the use of bow drill as the way of starting the fire. Why such activity would consider the meaning of the church walls and would be aligned with the symbolic ritual of starting a new fire during church festivals?

The speech, supported by the photographic materials gathered by the author, will show the current state of studies on the discussed subject.

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Pantelis KomninosAristotle University of ThessalonikiDepartment of ArchaeologyThessaloniki, Greecepkomnino@gmail.com

Symbols and Landscape Iconographyon Aegean LBA Mural Depictions

The basic intention of this paper is to show how symbols and other ideology elements of the Aegean person were reflected in the material culture, such as the mural depictions in Minoan Crete and the Cyclades in the Late Bronze Age. Thus, the symbols, inspired by the natural world, seem to form a frame of reference, where the symbols function as a communication bridge between the real and the imaginary world. Elements of nature, such as felines, birds, blossoms and plants, are interwoven with fantastic creatures and form a ritual landscape. Through this landscape, recorded in the wall paintings, the Aegean person expressed his/her own ideological narrative, built his/her own social and ethnic identity objectifying the cultural context of an acting agent. Thus, the symbol in Aegean iconography is the means that the narrator will incorporate in his/her narration and ritual in order to express their collectivity.

Notes

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NotesJacek KonikWysza Szkoa Przymierza RodzinWarsaw, Polandjacek_konik@yahoo.ca

The Kabbalah Mystique of Symbols and Numbers

The Kabbalah is the part of Jewish culture which although in some sense strongly present in the popular culture has not been thoroughly examined by the scientists. Obviously there are people engaged in the Kabbalah researches but this phenomenon is so diverse and multidimensional that even its minor aspects need serious and comprehensive studies. Moreover the reliable scientific researches on the Kabbalah have to be based on the knowledge of history of Israel and the history of Kabbalah tradition itself, as well as on the understanding of the basic meanings of the Kabbalah symbols and the issues related to gematria.

The Kabbalah and its entire accompanying tradition, although it was born within the Jewish diaspora in medieval Spain, is deep-rooted in the mysticism of the ancient Israel. In the Kabbalah we can find biblical symbolism of numbers and related gematria, as well as different biblical motives (e.g. the tree of life), Jewish angelology and mystical ideas. Kabbalists supplemented all these motifs with their own concepts and on such a wide foundation they built the philosophical and theological tradition which became the form of expression of the Jewish mysticism, with its complicated symbolism of signs and numbers.

According to the Kabbalists the world consists of the levels in other words, circles or spheres which ascend from the earth to the heaven, where, in the highest circle, God lives. From this circle ten sephirot come they start in the highest circle Keter (crown) and reach the earth. It is difficult to define the Hebrew term sephirot in a simple way they can be described as the rays of Divine Wisdom which penetrate all the spheres of the surrounding world.

In the Kabbalistic iconography ten sephirot are often put within the biblical tree of life which in this way also goes through all circles of reality. Its roots penetrate down into the earth while its branches reach the sphere of Gods presence. In this iconography there is also another characteristic element, Adam Kadmon, a mystic creature, the original man, depicted with his feet standing on the earth and his head, as the branches of the tree of life, reaching the highest circle of reality. Thus the symbolism of the Kabbalah tradition is the form of reality description which shows that the whole world is penetrated by Gods presence and that one can experience, see and understand Gods message on condition of having the open mind.

Olga Konstantinova Putusk Academy of Humanities, PutuskPoland/Ukraineolga.konstantinowa@gmail.com

Stanisaw Lems Pseudoterms Translated into Russian: A Comparative Analysis

of Connotations

The paper deals with comparative analysis of Stanisaw Lems neologisms connotations when translated from Polish into Russian. The analysed pseudoterms designate the biological species human beings as a representative of one of civilizations coexisting in the universe. S. Lem plays on symbolical and cultural meanings of the

scientific term Homo sapiens (literally wise man), speaks ironically and puts a very different complexion on the human being. The Stanisaw Lems human being is horrible. After introducing of some of that pseudoterms into the text Homo Sapiens becomes a degenerate immoral life form. Connotations really matter in constructing a new image of

human beings. In the lecture the author reveals the way S. Lem gives a human existence a new symbolical sense and the way a translator reflects the neologisms shades of meaning in Russian.

Notes

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NotesDorota KulczyckaUniwersytet ZielonogrskiZielona Gra, Polandkulczycka.dorota@wp.pl

Archetypes and Symbolsin the Films of M. Night Shyalaman

In my presentation I will discuss the features characteristic of the creative imagination by M. Night Shyamalan film director-screenwriter-producer (and actor) and the creator of several films including The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable and After Earth. The significant attention in these films is directed to mighty trees and the elements of water and air, with highly characteristic motives of wind, gust and gale. Finding, so to speak, his balance between the traditions of the Orient (he is a Hindu) and the West (who lives and works in Philadelphia, USA), Shyalaman offers a unique take on the centuries old and rich symbolism that has accrued around these works of nature (rather than culture). When dealing with those images, the director chooses to think in terms of archetypes, making his films brim with a multitude of symbolic, but not archetypal, meanings related to particular gestures (such as a touch of a hand) and objects (including old dolls and paintings). Embedding seemingly everyday things and phenomena in a much broader symbolic and mythical context, the artist suffuses his work with a particular aura of the ethereal.

0

Edyta ubiskaCultural StudiesDepartment of International and Political StudiesThe Jagiellonian UniversityCracow, Polandedyta.lubinska@doctoral.uj.edu.pl

Symbolism of African Funeral Rituals(Case of the Mbomou Zande People from the Central African Republic)

Death is a significant event in every tribal community in Africa. It does not mean the end, but it is an exceeding of the human way, of living, moving to the other side of life. Although the significance of such an event largely depends on age and the posi-tion of a deceased, death of any member of the community, man or woman, child or newborn, becomes the cause of the internal division and may cause a long-term loss of balance in life of a social group. Funeral rites celebrated by the particular community have aimed to re-organised the group and restore the lost balance. These rites include some necessary but fixed phases: prepara-tion of a body and a burial, specified period of time after burial to the beginning of mourning, and the period of mourning until its termination. However, contact with the dead does not end in the same time as the period of mourning. Generally speaking, it is believed that death is not the end, but it is a change in condition (status). Death is linked closely with the journey of life, also with a transition from the real world to the invisible one. The deceased, even if he or she is not physically present, remains a member of the community. The only thing that has been changed is a place of his/her existence. Multistage funeral rites affirm belief in the afterlife while fixed forms of its exercise, a number of relevant actions and accompanying gestures maintain the tradition.

During her presentation the author will use material from her field studies carried out among the Mbomou Zande people in the heart of Africa.

Notes

Adam ukaszewiczUniversity of WarsawWarsaw, PolandAdam.Lukaszewicz@adm.uw.edu.pl

Christian Symbols in Pagan Context:from the Milvian Bridge to the Tomb of Memnon (KV 9)

It is a common knowledge that Christianity has taken a lot of ideas and symbols from the pagan heritage. However, during the long co-existence of Christendom with the pagans, a parallel phenomenon can be observed in the context of the traditional pre-Christian religion. The pagan pre-history of the Signa Christi will be briefly discussed. Some examples of the use of Christian symbols by non-Christians will be added.

Notes

Krzysztof ukawskiPultusk Academy of HumanitiesPutusk, Polandkrzysio_lukawski@wp.pl

University Studiesas a Door to a Careerand a Symbol of Elitism

in the Medieval and Modern Mazovia

Since the beginning of universities people joined them seeking the knowledge of life and the world. They searched to find answers to their questions, they searched for wisdom. For poorer students receiving the title was a ticket to a better world, was a secular career or a career in the Church. The same was in Mazovia. This region needed educated people, that is why, the Bishop of Plock Andrew Noskowski founded in Krakow dormitory for 0 students from Mazovia. Using his speech I will discuss some biographies of some students from Mazovia typical and untypical careers examples.

Notes

Federica ManfrediRome, Italyfedericamanfredi@hotmail.fr

Body Symbols.The Use of Body from an Anthropological Perspective

The present abstract proposes a reflection on two main topics studied during anthropological researches from 00 to 0 in Italy and in the United States of America (explorative phase): body modifications and body suspensions. Analysing and comparing these subjects, exposed in the following paragraphs, the author proposes a new perspective to observe marks on bodies in the contemporary Italian culture. The present paper aims to share preliminary results of fieldwork in a working progress.

Body ModificationsTattoos, piercings, implants and scarifications are ways to modify bodies that

a little step by step have appeared in the contemporary Italian culture. We are not astonished by a draw on the skin or a piercing on a lip: our perception of body modification has changed deeply compared even to the last generation. Why are we witnessing this spread of new body interventions that do not belong to the local tradition? What needs are elaborated throughout these performances?

The anthropological approach proposed by the author is used to answer these questions showing the results of an Italian fieldwork conducted from 2008 and 2009. In this research we can find the empty rite as a central concept proposed to understand this trend: tattoos (and many other body modifications) are considered as spontaneous cultural tools used to elaborate the need to sanctify some important moments of life (or perceived like this by the protagonists). Body modifications are realised to mark and control changes, as the access to the adult life, the start of a new love story, a baby birth or the death of an acquaintance. The local culture loses its rites of passage to celebrate and to mark the big moments of the existence; consequently individuals are called to fix it taking some rituals from other cultures. The stolen rite is emptied by its traditional original meaning and it is refilled with a new one, the meaning that the protagonist needs to celebrate. This is the empty rite, actually emptied and refilled ritual on-demand.

Body SuspensionsAmong the contemporary extreme ways to modify a body, we can find the

body suspension as an example of using the body in a ritual way, very far from

all the rest of the body modifications such as tattoos or scarifications. Deep differences characterise these two categories of body interventions: aesthetic result, preparation and complexity of their organization, the mark remaining on the skin, emotional input, final effect. Across the analysis of these elements, the research shows a special ritual valence among body suspensions in agreement with the concept of empty rite: even if body suspension is a ritual technique coming from abroad, it is emptied and refilled with something individual and different, it is not done to celebrate a special passage in the protagonists life. The body suspension is something special, a real ritual of passage that creates a new perspective and consideration of life. The form is less present because almost any marks left on the body can be interpreted as a celebrative sign. The sense of the performance is the opposite when compared with the rest of body modifications: the body suspension is not made to sanctify a critical event of the life, but in order to create a passage, a truly special event. Even in this case, the culture does not provide appropriate tools to help its members: once again, the protagonist needs to invent a rite taking it from outside his/her cultural environment.

Reading this modern phenomena we can see that we live in a culture devoid of rituals and thus people, spontaneously, modify the tradition creating new rites to answer to this shortage of cultural models. This cultural bricolage is very interesting and the author proposes to study it from the theory of the antropo-poiesis perspective.

Notes

. F. Remotti, Forme di Umanit, Mondadori 00.

Jessica Alexandra Monteiro SantosCHAM/ FCSH/ Universidade Nova de Lisboa/ UALisbon, Portugaljessica.06@live.com.pt

Amulets and Apotropaic Objects:Childrens Protection Symbols in Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptians perceived amulets and apotropaic objects as important protection symbols. This conceptualization is evident not only through the designation of the first category, sa, which is translated as amulet or protection, but also by the manner that Egyptians used them. Those two types of objects were used by all individuals, independently of gender, age or social status in order to avoid or to overcome the misfortunes of daily life or death. However, several authors argue that those were used mainly by mothers and their children, who were regarded as the most vulnerable members of society due to high maternal and infant mortality rates.

The Egyptians produced a wide and diversified set of this kind of objects, since their shape, material, colour and other physical features depended on the specific function and the desired effect. Taking into account this diversity, the aim of this communication is to demonstrate what features that particular amulets and apotropaic objects should be considered as the most adequate for the Egyptian childrens protection, in detriment of others.

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Susana MoserCivico Museo di Storia ed ArteTrieste, Italysusanna_moser@hotmail.it

Old Signs, New Hieroglyphs.How Symbols Become a Language

This paper is not the result of a systematic study, but rather a collection of thoughts which hopefully will be the source of further meditation and debate.

The origin of writing is a fascinating as much as a widely debated subject. It is usually assumed that each writing system must be born in close and exclusive connection with the language it expresses, but the nature of some writing systems, which are also among the oldest ones attested so far, demand this assumption to be reviewed. The continuous use of ideograms in Chinese writing for several millennia, as well as the mixed writing systems of Japanese and Egyptian hieroglyphs, as well as cuneiform signs, hint at the idea that the most natural way of writing down a concept is actually that of drawing it. Of course, a simple sequence of drawings can hardly be defined as a writing system, because it lacks the possibility of rendering accurately the morpho-syntactic characteristics of a specific language, nonetheless the point here is that it probably all begun with a drawing. The reason for this is suggested by studies of cognitive sciences and neuro-linguistics: the way human brain is structured forces us to actually think in symbols. A proof of this is the large use of meaningful symbols in countries which writing systems are alphabetic, simply because the information conveyed by them can be received in an immediate way (sometimes even without the mediation of a specific language!). This is even true when we speak about single words written alphabetically: after the painstaking process of learning how to read, our brain does not treat each word as a sequence of letters, but it gathers it as a whole. In fact, it treats it as a hieroglyph.

Going back to the beginning and closing the circle, the main suggestion deriving from the thoughts shared in this paper is that the contribution

of different disciplines, including exact sciences like neuro-linguistics or physical anthropology, can be of great help, especially when confronting with such universal matters as the origin of writing.

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Andrzej NiwiskiInstitute of ArchaeologyUniversity of WarsawWarsaw, Polandandrzejniwi.egipt@gmail.com

What Have Ancient Egyptians Seen, Lookingat the Decoration of the Coffins of the 21st Dynasty?

Symbols and Thinking Process at Burial

The religious iconography of the st Dynasty is particularly rich, and the number of symbols used then for the decorative repertoire of the coffins and funerary papyri of those days is incomparable with any other period of the Egyptian history. The decipherment of the meaning of these figures and scenes is rather difficult task for the modern mind. Theories are developed attempting the understanding of these on the mythological and ritual levels. The theological ideas concerning the universe, the human being and the relation of these two entities towards God certainly constitute one important subject. This was, however, as it seems, understood only by a very limited number of the participants of the burial ceremonies. Probably only a small group of the craftsmen producing the coffins and papyri was able to read properly the sense of the scenes, which were, in general, supposed to be mysterious ones, with the meaning situated outside the living human thinking process. Therefore, a tendency can be observed, in some workshops, to enrich this mysterious atmosphere of the scene by adding still stranger elements, sometimes quite a lot distant from the original patterns created by theologians and eternised by the best artists. The elapsing time made this hiatus more and more visible. Sometimes the original ideas could hardly be recognisable even by the ancient experts in religious matters.

A question arises, which associations may have had common onlookers present at the ceremony? It seems that an important number of the scenes decorating the coffins should be interpreted as symbols very well understandable for everybody, evoking places situated in the sacred Theban landscape, and ritual activities often repeated, and therefore well recognisable by the Theban citizens.

This everyday life approach to the funerary iconography shall be attempted by the present author.

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Pawe F. NowakowskiJesuit University Ignatianum in CracowCracow, Polandpill1980@o2.pl

The Symbols of the Spiritual Warfarein the Writings of the Hussite Thinkers

Symbols are always an important factor in thinking about and imagining religious ideas. The more complex the ideas are the more important role symbols play. In the Hussite Revolution religious thinking was a mixture of reformist ideas and the experience of actual warfare in the context of crusades against Hussites. The aim of the paper is to show the connection between religious thinking and military influences on the symbols used to demonstrate and describe spiritual warfare. The treatises, letters and other polemical texts form a base for analysis. Among the Hussite thinkers especially the writings of Petr Chelick, Jan Rokycana and Mikula of Pelhimov will be presented as showing a range of radical and moderate views, all using symbols of the spiritual warfare, sometimes in different meaning. It is also interesting to see how the symbols change during different stages of the religious disputes in the 5th century Bohemia.

Notes

Magorzata OkupnikFaculty of Choral Conducting, Music Education and Church MusicThe Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in PoznaPozna, Polandm.okupnik@onet.eu

Symbols of Death, Dying and Mourningin the Polish Art Cinema

Recently Polish art cinema acquired two feature films about death and dying: Tatarak (Sweet Rush) by Andrzej Wajda and 33 sceny z ycia (33 Scenes from the Life) by Magorzata Szumowska. The films differ in genre and composition, however, they portray certain common characteristics:

. The main theme the experience of loss, the death of near and dear people, coping with death and mourning;

. The action of both pictures set in an artistic community;3. The similar musical esthetics (Pawe Mykietyn composed music to both

films);. Intertextuality and intermediality (that means using literature, painting,

music, others films, photographs in the film narration). 5. Symbols of death, dying and mourning.Andrzej Wajda has often taken up a topic of death. In the screen adaptation

of Sweet Rush (2009) he shows the loneliness of the married couple in the face of death and serious illness. The director uses two stories Tatarak by J. Iwaszkiewicz and The sudden call by S. Marai. The most important plot of the film is Krystyna Jandas private confession after her husbands death (Krystyna Janda is a well-known and widly-recognisable Polish actress). The story about the loss and loneliness is a form of a therapy for her.

The film 33 Scenes from the Life by Szumowska (2008) is an autobiographical film, inspired by real incidents which happened in her life almost simultaneous death of her mother (Dorota Terakowska, a writer) and father ( Maciej Szumowski, a documentalist). The film Scenes was preceded by a documentary film A czego si tu ba? (What to be afraid of?) (2006), which showed the attitude of the rural community to the problem of death and the deceased. In the film 33 Scenes the other kind of experiencing death and mourning was represented. It was an urban and atheistic version, a mockery of the rituals connected with the death. Their disparity is determined not only by their religious versus atheistic character, but also, most importantly, the language and various symbols. The aim of my essay is the analysis of the film language and the process of taming the

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Eithan OrkibiDepartment of Sociology and AnthropologyAriel UniversitySamaria, Isrealeithanor@ariel.ac.il

Abusing the Emblems of the Republic:Jamming National Symbols in French Political Dissent

This presentation explores the rhetorical humor in the French Anti-Sarko movement, a network of political groups, organizations and activists which brought together various trends of the French left, all of which shared a strong opposition to Nicolas Sarkozys politics, and actively mobilised against his presidency. Between 2007 and 2012, the movement produced an extensive amount of anti-Sarko materials, mostly humoristic memes and caricatures which were diffused on-line.

In many of these images, French official national symbols are evoked: the Tricolor, the Marianne, the lyse Palace, as well as other symbolic historical figures: De-Gaulle, the Resistance, the Cross of Lorraine, etc. In the visual rhetoric of the Anti-Sarko movement, these symbols are decomposed, deformed, altered and rearranged. But while profanation of sacred symbols in the context of political protest, such as flag desecration in peace demonstrations, are documented and studied, less attention had been given to forms of cultural-jamming, in which national symbols are ridiculed as a part of the language expressing contention.

The presentation offers a rhetorical analysis of this form of political humor, and uncovers its hermeneutic functions, among which are the construction of the Anti-Sarko repertoire of political arguments, identity claims and historical frame resonance. It will be argued that despite its seemingly radical style, the political humor of this movement mobilised national symbols in order to reenergise a general debate with regard to national identity, cultural heritage and traditional values.

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NotesPiero PasiniUniversit di PadovaPadova, Venice, Italypiero.pasini@unive.it

No logo Country.Images, Representations, Allegories and Symbols

of Italy from Napoleon to the National Football Team

Has Italy a national identity as France or England or Spain? This is a highly inquiring question and a very difficult topic to discuss.

Considering the level of symbols, Italy seems to have many identities, as many as the Italians. In the Risorgimento, the elaboration of the idea of Italy, understood it as Homeland, as a state of mind, drove to some representations that initially (between 1796 and 1815) repurposed the same symbols of the revolutionary France and then developed till crystalising in the duo Italia turrita and Stellone. At the same time various and different souls of the national building movement pushed their symbols, logos and flags. The Tricolore itself (the national three striped flag) has been the national flag but (with some little modifications) the flag of the various movements. In 1849, after Savoy crown took an active role in the national movement, Italy had the unique case of a republican flag with a monarchic armour in the middle. Many variations of flag and symbols were produced during the Resistance against the nazi-fascists in 1943-45.

The representation of Italy in symbols and logos tells us a story of an identity search and seems to repeat itself till today in many different ambits, including sports and politics.

In my presentation I would like to give a quick review of the most representative and meaning charged symbols of the Country linking them with the difficulties that Italy has faced up in the searching for its identity. The search that is still on today.

5

Jacek Jan PawlikFaculty of TheologyUniversity of Warmia and Mazury in OlsztynOlsztyn, Polandjacek.pawlik@gmail.com

Turning into Symbol.Head of State as a Political Icon

during the Dictatorial Regime in Togo, 1967-2005

Common conception of the symbol is that it is something with a hidden meaning, which is neither entirely clear nor unambiguous. Of itself, the symbol means nothing. It acquires some meaning only within the framework of a specific cultural milieu and social structures of a given society, constructing the worldview of its members. Nearly forty-years-long rule of president Gnassingbe Eyadema in Togo was punctuated by recurring personality cult and a peculiar political religion. Taking his case study the image of the head of state in Togo as a symbol, the author of this essay examines the process of a government directed shaping of the symbol by means of ideology and mythologisation of the institution of power. Since the symbol becomes a substitute for sacrum, it must receive due veneration, even if it is under coercion. The official version presents the state as the icon of safety and prosperity. But the opposition perceives it as the tool of violence and oppression. Thus, the meaning of a symbol can be ambivalent. After a long ruling the head of state died. With him disappeared the symbols of the head. Unlike national symbols, suppressed during the dictatorship, the political symbol proved perishable.

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Joanna Popielska-GrzybowskaPultusk Academy of HumanitiesPutusk, Polandjoannapopielskag@hotmail.com

Federica ManfrediRome, Italyfedericamanfredi@hotmail.fr

The Body of the Pharaoh as Symbol? the Egyptian Pyramid Texts

The authors of the paper will attempt to scrutinise, with reference to contextual arguments, the linguistic image of the body of the pharaoh in the Old Kingdom ancient Egyptian religious texts the so-called Pyramid Texts. The analysis shall be done from two perspectives, this of an Egyptologist and the other of a cultural anthropologist.

The linguistic concept of the body of the Egyptian pharaoh seems to be a multi-faceted, well-thought idea. Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska has studied the topos of completeness in the Pyramid Texts and this pursuit allows to reconstruct linguistic image of the pharaoh, his role and predestined place in the world of the living and in the sky. Federica Manfredi has worked on the symbolic construction that various cultures operate in order to elaborate their vision of the humanity and the divine world.

We believe the theory of Anthropo-poiesis of Francesco Remotti may be of use while interpreting the complexity of the ancient Egyptian beliefs concerning the vital essence that the God share with the pharaoh. It may help to understand the way the Egyptians expressed their religious concepts regarding their ruler. However, we have noted some meaningful differences between ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and other cultures, discrepant patterns: if the manipulation of the human essence has always been studied in anthropology with implication of blood, dolour and painful body modification, in the Egyptian context we discover a milder and more poetic solution of transmission.

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Aleksandra RyckaKatolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawa IILublin, Polandolarozycka@gmail.com

The Visualisation of Suffering in Polish Gothic Painting

Art is one of the greatest sources of cognition of medieval society, religion and politics. It reflects not only specific events, but also mentality. Therefore, art can serve as an ideal source for the study of emotionality in the Middle Ages. This research focuses on such human feelings as suffering, grief and sorrow. I will present the ways of depicting suffering, based on analysis of selected examples of Polish panel paintings from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The research is limited to scenes of passion, as the most representative and one of the largest samples of this period. In addition, a subject of Passion itself forced the artist to use a variety of means of expression for the topos of suffering and to depict personalised signs of pain of each character individually. The issue of physical pain and the suffering of Christ are excluded from my research. Only the feelings of co-suffering and compassion were analysed. The period of selected images constitutes important reflection on the topic, as a moment of many cultural and social changes, the time of artistic maturity and emanation of feelings in religious sphere. I will also briefly discuss one of the issues with which artists have struggled in the Middle Ages treatment of the body and physicality. This is a crucial aspect for trying to understand the way in which suffering was depicted, using schematic gestures modifying well the whole characters corporeality. Analysis of medieval emotions covering aspect of feelings, was based on the philosophical context, from the perspective of Christian thought. The biblical text and the views on the feelings of the most influential medieval philosophers St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas Aquinas, were taken into consideration.

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Hanna Rubinkowska-AnioDepartment of Languages and Cultures of AfricaWarsaw, Polandhrubinkowska@yahoo.com

Imperial Clothes as a Symbol of Change the Case of Haile Sillasie I and 20th-century Ethiopia

The aim of the presentation is to analyse the change in the image of the emperor of Ethiopia through the lens of the outfits worn by Emperor Haile Sillasie I (1930-1974). Imperial clothes, as an element of royal symbols of power and due to being easily perceptible means of conveying certain information, provided a tool for propagating political ideas in the fast-changing circumstances of 0th-century Ethiopia.

Traditional clothes in Ethiopia, as elsewhere in the world, convey different notions and connotations connected to wearing a certain set of clothes. They suggest a persons role in society, ones origins, prestige or lack thereof, ones economic means, age; the clothes may also reflect ones gender or even features of character or mood.

In terms of the emperor and his outfit, the symbolic role of imperial clothes carried a different, and more meaningful message than did various individual features and conditions. Over the decades, Haile Sillasie switched from traditional Ethiopian outfits to Western-like suits and uniforms. This was a symbolic reflection of the changes and transformations the state was going through as well as a means of introducing a new image of imperial power.

The analysed sources include visual material (photography and films) as well as written texts, both Ethiopian and those written by Western observers.

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Magorzata RybkaAdam Mickiewicz UniversityPozna, Polandmalgorzatahrybka@gmail.com

Marta Wrzeniewska-PietrzakAdam Mickiewicz UniversityPozna, Poland

bez niego nie speni si CZOWIEK About the Symbol of Light in the Poetry and Dramas

Written by Karol Wojtya

The aim of this paper is to analyse Karol Wojtyas poetry and two dramas Przed sklepem jubilera [The Jewellers Shop], Promieniowanie ojcostwa [Radiance of Fatherhood]. In these texts Karol Wojtya associates two elements WATER and FIRE. The last one is often presented as LIGHT or SUN. Both of them have positive valuation, as they are parts of the two ster