Suchergebnisse

This paper considers the topic of sacred spaces in North America through the vantage offered by Chacoan roads, monumental avenues constructed by Ancestral Four Corners people of the US Southwest from ca. AD 850-1150. I begin with a critique of the concept of the "sacred" as applied to the Chacoan past, suggesting instead that the Indigenous North American concept of power (in the sense of potent, generative force infused throughout the environment) offers a more culturally relevant framing. Next, I present three examples of locations along Chacoan roads that I argue were recognized as places of power due to the inherent landscape affordances of these locales. I close by briefly describing some of the practices carried out along Chacoan roads and drawing a connection between the understanding of "sacredness" evidenced through the archaeology of Chacoan roads and contemporary Native American activist efforts to protect landscapes of great power and meaning.

"The Law of Genocide" published on by Oxford University Press.

The Jewish legend of the golem is often considered the prototype as the "original" superhero (influencing the creation of Superman and other characters). During the 1970s Marvel Comics used the golem legend to create their own unique brand of "monster" superhero. This essay describes the various ways Marvel has used the golem motif in its sequential art stories. First appearing in the pages of Strange Tales , this golem differed from the original stories of Rabbi Loew's supernatural savior. The character really did not resonate with the comic book-buying public, lasting only three issues and one guest appearance. Yet the concept of the golem was too powerful a metaphor to be discarded. Marvel Comics brought back another type of golem for their Invaders World War II series. The creators (specifically writer Roy Thomas) tried to answer the question, what if a golem had been there to protect Jews during the Holocaust? This golem was a man/ clay hybrid who was also a Rabbi.