When The Horizons Close

On its surface the book of Ecclesiastes appears to offer a type of wisdom that bears little reference to social or historical issues. But from her own perspective in Central America, Elsa Tamez finds in this ancient book a surprisingly current message. Ecclesiastes reflects a time when utopian hopes have been crushed, when the prospects for change seem remote, and the challenge is how to live faithfully in the present while maintaining some openness to a different future. Because that describes the situation of many people today, especially in the third world, the book of Ecclesiastes bears a message of unusual relevance.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1867.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1862.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871.

Broadening Horizons is a series of international congresses dedicated to researchers, including postgraduate students, in the early-stages of their careers who are involved in a number of different disciplinary areas in the study of the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean. The general aim of the conferences is to encourage discussion of new topics and to promote the exchange of ideas, data and scientific information among students and scholars of many different specialties – archaeology, prehistory, history, anthropology, archaeobiology and philology – throughout the geographical area known as the Ancient Near East. The 3rd of these congresses was held in Barcelona (Spain), from the 19th to the 21st of July 2010 in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, following previous congresses which had taken place at Ghent University (Belgium) in 2006 and at Université Lyon 2 (France) in 2007. This volume includes not only the very interesting and diverse set of papers presented in Barcelona but also the invited contributions of the key speakers. These two sections are followed by a final paper by the editors about the trajectory of the BH conferences and about the particularities and difficulties confronting young scholars who are doing research in the Near East.

Near and Distant Horizons: In Search of the Primary Sources of Knowledge With originality and insight, the author makes a compelling case for the need to identify the sources of a traditional knowledge that still has the power to enrich people's lives in today's materialistic and anti-spiritual world. What are the true sources of knowledge? Are there headwaters for the universal laws of nature? Is there a source so transcendent that it can resolve the perennial mystery concerning the origin of life and the creation of man? Is there a wellspring of knowledge that can neutralize the duality of the world by offering a unified vision of the Whole? This work reflects upon the significance of three principal sources of knowledge in the Islamic Traditions. They are Revelation as the expression of the supreme mind of God, Nature as the universal body of God, and Man as the human image of God. The book's absorbing inquiry and reflective style throw light on the dark mysteries that still confront people today, and will appeal to readers interested in an alternative to the theories of modern science, taking them on an inward journey whose destination lies far beyond the horizon of our time. John Herlihy, an American Muslim, was educated at Boston University and Columbia University in New York City. He has written a number of books on traditional themes, including Modern Man at the Crossroads and Borderlands of the Spirit. He is the Director of an educational program at the Petroleum Institute, a new engineering university in the United Arab Emirates.

The horizons were of fundamental importance to Columbus. The western horizon was the focus of his lifelong quest for undiscovered territory. He used the stars grazing his northern horizon as his guides for sailing constant latitudes, and the lunar-planetary conjunctions (LPCs) at his eastern and western horizons to measure his longitudes. Most 15th Century oceanic sailors knew how to sail constant latitudes guided by the stars, but few, other than Columbus, knew how to use the heavens to measure longitude. His innovative navigation method measured longitudes by comparing measurements of LPCs at his eastern and western horizons using celestial data tabulated in his Ephemerides. Major findings include: Columbus used celestial events, he served on a 1477 voyage to Nova Scotia, comprehensive evidence reveals his 1492 landfall was at Egg Island, Amerigo Vespucci beat Ponce de Leon to Florida by a dozen years, and Columbus may have facilitated a deliberate sinking of the Santa Maria.