No 3, 2023

Publishing Date: 2024-01-25

HISTORY

Fedchenko O.D. The birthplace of the Sumerian civilization

The paper studies the location of the Dilmun region based on ancient sources. Along with the Sumerian and ancient Greek sources the achievements of modern researchers from related fields are involved. It has been established that the Euphrates and Tigris rivers discharged into the Persian Gulf during the time of the Sumerian civilization. Therefore, based on the materials studied, the author determined the localization of Dilmun Island around Sanam Mountain, located in the southern part of the Iraqi province of Basra. It is this area that corresponds to the existence of Dilmun both in prehistoric times and in ancient times. The proposed article together with other studies on this issue allows to take a fresh look at the development of the Sumerian civilization.

Kuleshova E.V., Starostin D.N. Vasily Vasilievsky and Ivan Grevs on the causes of the fall of the Western Roman Empire (based on little-known sources)

The use of little-known sources in this paper, such as student competition work by Ivan Grevs and the scientist’s sketches on the study of Roman land ownership, preserved only in manuscript, makes it possible to add a number of touches to his and Vasily Vasilevsky’s concept of the causes of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. The authors of the paper tried to show that I. Grevs developed the idea of small farms as the cause of the fundamental instability of the economy of the Roman Empire, which was first used by his teacher V. Vasilevsky. The main thesis of I. Grevs was that if latifundia appeared, it was only the personal property of the emperor, which could then be maintained for some time by the nobility appropriating these possessions. Thus, contemporaries correctly considered I. Grevs to be a supporter of the C. Rodbertus and K. Bücher economic theory on the features of traditional economics, but this theory did not exhaust his views. From this point of view it is possible to say that I. Grevs initially proceeded from the thesis that the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West was a natural result of the economic models that existed in the World of late Antiquity of the Mediterranean.

Christensen C.S. Legendary islands or phantom islands: in the search of mythical lands in old folk tales, on historical maps and in weather phenomena on open sea

What is the meaning of legendary or phantom islands? A phantom island is a purposed island which was included on maps for a period of time, but was later found not to exist. Most of these phantom islands appeared on maps from the 1200s until the early 1800s. Some of islands did not disappear on maps until our time. But is an island simply falsely mapped and then turned out to be not existent. This paper analyses the histories, meaning of and the etymologies of these phantom islands in different parts of the world ocean. It can be argued that these mysterious lands were almost all found in the Middle Ages and some centuries later. To which depictions of sea monsters, dragons and Cyclops on various maps from the Middle Ages bear witness? Or these fantasies and hallucinations are in the minds of sailors? This paper also tries to put these legendary islands into a far much larger perspective. Be it in the world of mythology or in the world of fantasy, in the inexplicable universe or simply in weather phenomena under extreme conditions both among the sailors and in the world of nature.

Pavlov K.V. Francesco Guicciardini’s essay “Del suicidio per ragione di libertà o di servitù” for the Florentine republican tradition

The study considers the work “Del suicidio per ragione di libertà o di servitù” by Francesco Guicciardini, the Florentine historian, thinker and diplomat. It contains reasoning with justification of the moral and ethical choice of accepting or refusing to accept the restructuring of state political system according to the tyranny or people’s power by people who represented in this system a “line” polar to the formed one. Despite the fact that Guicciardini analyses this ethical problem using examples from ancient history, his maxims are also related to the problems of his contemporary Florence of the Italian Wars, which lost its political sovereignty under the attack of the Habsburg Empire and committed a kind of suicidal act against itself as a great republic as a result of a series of internal political perturbations. The author concludes that the character of the considered work of Guicciardini as a “requiem” on the history of republicanism in Florence of thinker’s era, clad in metaphors on the theme of ancient history. The author of the study has prepared a translation of Guicciardini’s work “Del suicidio per ragione di libertà o di servitù” into Russian, which is placed in the appendix.

Kuznetsova N.Y. Some aspects of the classical educational tradition in training of future publicists of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century (according to the academic dictionary “Figures of the revolutionary movement of Russia”)

The article analyses the educational experience of a number of publicists, representatives of the revolutionary movement in Russia in the first half of the 19th century. The presence of a classical element in the educational system during their studies in high school institutions is traced. The source for the analysis was the first volume of the Bio-Bibliographic Dictionary “Figures of the revolutionary movement in Russia. From the predecessors of the Decembrists to the fall of Tsarism”. The analysis showed that the subjects of the classical (ancient) cycle were presented in sufficient numbers in educational institutions where studied those who were placed in the first volume of the considered Bio-Bibliographic Dictionary.

Lyubushkin A.D. The problem of medical staff shortage in the system of provincial medicine of the Tula province at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

The article examines the problem of staffing zemstvo medicine in the Tula province at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The shortage of medical personnel in the province, which was present throughout almost the entire period of the zemstvo medicine existence, was one of the main negative factors in the development of protection of public health system. The study identified the main reasons for the small number of doctors in the Tula province and also provided the socio-economic characteristics of the medical personnel of the region. The author comes to the conclusion that zemstvo was unable to create an attractive and promising model and conditions of service for medical personnel in the province.

Kuklin D.V. The historical aspect of the formation and development of operational investigative activities in Russia: tasks, grounds and means

The purpose of the article is to perform a historical analysis of the formation and development of operational investigative activities in Russia in order to disclose its tasks, the grounds for implementation and the means used. The author conducted a study of methods and means of legal regulation of operational investigative activities in the following periods: 1) investigation during the period of the 9th-17th centuries; 2) the process of formation of the detective work in the era of Peter the Great; 3) the development of investigative activities during the reforms of the 19th-20th centuries; 4) the revolution and the Soviet period 1917-1991; 5) the modern stage of operational investigative activities development. The author’s historical analysis of the formation and development of modern operational investigative activities prototype in Russia testifies to its complexity and often inconsistency. The evolution of this activity reflects not only the transformation of the nature of crime, but also the changing dynamics of Russian society and government.

POLITOLOGY and LAW

Vlasova O.Y. Scenarios of economic sanctions termination: key causes and factors

The author sets out to examine potential reasons, motives and scenarios for lifting economic sanctions in the global economy and politics. The paper explores theories and approaches to defining economic sanctions as well as international trends in their imposition and removal. The practice of using and lifting sanctions is examined in terms of the possibilities for their potential removal. The author identifies several critical aspects crucial for a country to emerge from under sanctions as a result of the research. It is emphasized that a significant portion of imposed sanctions continues to exist and strengthen over time, becoming a key factor in deciding whether to maintain or lift sanction pressures.

Shishkina Y.O. Features of the legal status of transport workers

In the modern period when life and health depend on transport workers as well as the successful functioning of enterprises, there is a need to ensure detailed regulation of these relations. Since vehicles are classified by civil legislation as sources of increased danger, the state sets increased requirements for transport workers, and along with Russian legislation, international legal acts apply to this category of workers. Employees who are directly engaged in transport management as well as those who ensure the movement of transport are sometimes at considerable distances from their organization for long periods of time. In addition, labour on transport is often associated with the impact on workers of such negative production factors as noise, overheating of premises, vibration, change of climatic and time zones, etc., which leads to increased nervous and emotional stress. Therefore, taking into account all of the above, the work of this category of employees is subject to special legal regulation.

THEOLOGY

Belonogova Y.I. Book review: Self-immolations of old believers (the second half of the 17th – 20th centuries) by M.V. Pulkin

The monograph by Maxim Viktorovich Pulkin describes the history of Old Believer self-immolations. The author examines the history of the ritual suicide ideology formation, gives examples of the most famous or major self-immolations, studies the geography of the burnings. The monograph examines the responses of the state and the Church – both repressive and admonitory as well as the response of the Old Believers to them, the reaction of local authorities to the change in the policy of the supreme power in relation to schismatics. It tells about the technology of suicide, the choice of methods and places of their commissions. The main ideologists and organizers of the burnings were Old Believer mentors, to whom the main repressive attention of the authorities was directed. The elder wanderers prepared the people for the acceptance of fiery death, organised the necessary premises, preached and encouraged suicides. Special houses were built for the burnings, which were kind of outposts that protected the victims from possible escapes and from the authorities. The subject of the perception of self-immolations among the people, the attitude of believers to suicides during the faith, their justification by supporters and exposure by opponents is also considered.

Pulkin M.V. The office work for ordination in the 18th – early 20th centuries (by the materials of the Olonets diocese)

The article discusses problems of the office work for ordination studying in the Olonets diocese based on the researching of a significant array of Spiritual Consistory papers. It was revealed that office work in this area was under the influence of parish traditions, frequently changing norms adopted in Spiritual Consistories and all-Russian Church legislation. The main trend in the development of the office work for ordination was to increase the number of demands placed on the parish clergy, while at the same time excluding from the necessary documents certificates of priests elections by parishioners.

PHILOLOGY

Malakhov S.V. Etymologies of the names of the Euphrates in its upper course

The paper substantiates the etymologies of some toponyms of the upper Euphrates and the historical regions adjacent to it. The period of the last two-three and a half thousand years provided the most significant information. The methodology of the performed work is not borrowed. The phonetic and semantic matrices presented in the article can be used to determine the etymology of the corresponding toponyms in subsequent studies.

Ashrapov B.P. Comparative analysis of word-building potential of Tajik adverbial prefix бa- and its English equivalents

The article dwells on the issues beset with the comparative analysis of word-building potential of Tajik adverbial prefix ба-and its English equivalents.It is noted that adverb is recognized as an independent part of speech in the languages being compared. However, adverb classification as a special category in these languages is uncertain, their lexical boundaries are wide, and their functional types are diverse. Summing up the results of the analysis, the author concludes that adducing word-building potential of the prefix in question forming Tajik adverbs is of many similarities and differences in certain cases. It is worth mentioning that English equivalents of Tajik derivative adverbs formed by this prefix are not identical and the same-formed ones and some of them are used and translated as simple, derivative and composite ones.

Bogatyrev A.V. Means of communication in Agatha Christie’s creative concept: telephone, mail, radio

Agatha Christie’s literary heritage is studied from the point of view of various communication devices use, which are abundantly mentioned in the author’s works. Within the framework of a single work, heroes frequently use several devices to exchange information, which is associated with the development of science and technology in A. Christie’s era. Telephone, postal service, radio are used as evidence to introduce the situation to a reader, to intensify the plot. In a number of works they form the “core” of the intrigue. When developing crime schemes for her works, the writer resorted to techniques from the “arsenal” of radio shows. The author of the paper was the first to point out the intersection of A. Christie’s plots with the creativity of the mystical writer Edward Frederic Benson. Along with several other authors, A. Christie anticipated discussions about the “electronic voice phenomenon”, debates on which began in the second half of the 20th century. The article raises the idea of the inevitability of punishment: trying to use communication tools in their own interests, criminals find themselves exposed by them.

Markov A.V. The Amsterdam text in the poetry of the Russian emigration: Oleg Ilyinsky and Yuri Ivask

Two leading Russian poets in American emigration portray Amsterdam as an otherness of New York, a more successful meeting place for intellectuals and workers than the one in the New World due to the picturesqueness of Holland life. Oleg Ilyinsky draws on the poetics of Mayakovsky; however, he thinks exclusively of the clash of elements, and of social life as a projection of that clash. Yuri Ivask in his philosophy of the game sees the element as a thin layer that is tested for authenticity by new encounters. Poets equally perceive both a critique of servile labour and a combination of landscape excess and the melancholy of the collector’s still life, through which a meaningful switch between the Old and the New World imagery is possible, in the images of Amsterdam.

Sedakova E.N. Representation and popularisation of the memory of the Great Patriotic War in heavy metal music (on the example of “Radio Tapok” band creativity)

This article examines the features of the representation of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) memory in a peculiar field – heavy metal music on the example of musical compositions by a national band “Radio Tapok”. The purpose of the study is to identify and describe songs about the Great Patriotic War from the albums of this band as well as to make an attempt to eliminate the shortcomings of previous studies on this issue. The texts of this musical band are dedicated not only to military events, but also to the heroes who took part in combat actions. The author analyses lyrics and musical techniques of the chosen songs and provides comments from listeners from the official YouTube channel of the band creator, which confirm the educational component of the songs with a historical plot. Based on the results the author comes to the conclusion about the effectiveness of such popularization of historical events and images, especially among young people.

PHILOSOPHY

Dezhits A.D. The concept of human Aristotle’s philosophy

The paper analyses anthropological views of Aristotle based on his holistic philosophical doctrine. The human was defined through the concept of the soul, which represents his essence, formal and targeted causes, in this doctrine. The human soul is considered as the realization of the abilities inherent in by nature within the framework of political communication. The difference in the essential abilities of human souls forms the basis of Aristotle’s ontology of inequality which justifies contemporary social and political practices.

Gerashchenko I.G. The formation of Western European philosophical ideology

The article attempts to substantiate the utilitarian-pragmatic character of Western European philosophy. Various Western philosophical systems are considered in the context of philosophical ideology formation. Rational and irrational systems, which developed their own alternatives of philosophical ideology, are compared. It is proved that there was an active development of Western European philosophical ideology, which became the basis for political ideology, in the 18th-20th centuries.

Beshenich C. Effectively creating change: one step at a time

The article explores the idea of people coming together in order to effectively make changes in their communities, countries, and world. The research problem focuses on the issue of how to unify people to more succinctly solve problems together and facilitate change from the individual’s perspective to the universal. The proposed efforts are based on the utilitarian philosophy and refer to John Stuart Mill’s works. Following a theoretical discussion, the article offers three proposals for providing adequate clothing to individuals in need across the levels of analysis.