Ghost and demons of ancient Mesopotamia played a significant role in the daily life of common people where they acted as one of the main causes of illnesses and othe misfortune. Medical texts therefore appear as an important source that gives us insight into these malevolent forces. The article present selected ghosts, demon Lamaštu, demon Lilû/Lilītu/ Ardat-lilî, demon rābisu, demon Šulak and demon gallû from the perspective of medical texts – especially diagnostic and prognostic series SA.GIG and therapeutical texts. It tries to assign particular ghosts and demons to the specific health problems. Although the symptoms often overlap and the whole systém of sorting is not entirely clear, the effort of Mesopotamian physicians is evident: the systematic classification of diseases (and symptoms) according to the type of difficulties using the names of ghosts and demons. The article reflects the conception of ghosts and demons as a cause of diseases as well and presents several remarkable examples of healing rituals for their repulse., Veronika Sobotková., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The article is based on field research of oral history of Zakhchin, one of the Western Mongolian (or Oriat) small ethnic groups living in Khovd aimag, Mongolia. It brings together orally transmitted stories and other oral historical mentions on Mergen tsorj, a famous monk, who lived inb the beginning of the 20th century in the contemporary Uyench sum. The focus of the article is to show, how a historical person has been transformed into a mythological hero in the oral history of Western Mongolians. Narrators are convinced that deeds of Mergen tsorj had positive influence on his region both in time and after his death. The storytelling about important local religious personalities as a part of the local oral history express the relation of the narrators to their birthplace (nutag). As far as these personalities are only rarely registered in archive sources, this small case study emphaises the importance of the authentic oral history in the Mongolian countryside., Ondřej Srba., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
This article seeks to reveal the circumstances of the recent crackdown by Abkhazian and Russian security forces on the members of the Abkhazian jamaat, an alleged subgroup of the Caucasus Emirate. Focusing on the role of infamous Gitsba brothers in the military campaign against the Georgian Army in the early 1990s, their relationship to Shamil Basayev´s Chechen insurgents, and Abkhazia´s increasingly vocal Muslim community, among whom Salafi ideas have gained momentum recently, the article scrutizines the issue of the Abkhazian jamaat within the overal context of the security triangle of Abhkazia, Georgia, and Russia., Emil Souleimanov., and Obsahuje seznam literatury