Militaries have played significant roles in the transition from authoritarian regimes to more democratic political systems. Most of these transitions took place during the seventies and eighties in...Show moreMilitaries have played significant roles in the transition from authoritarian regimes to more democratic political systems. Most of these transitions took place during the seventies and eighties in South Europe and Latin America. They often started with cracks within the ruling party, which ultimately led to a gradual transition towards the installation of another regime and in most cases to some form of democratization. Based on those empirical examples a few key indicators predicting the behaviour of a military in transitions can be distinguished. An institutionalised military, which is not directly involved in the administration apparatus and which position has been backed by a legal framework have been found willing to shape the transition period to a more democratic system. During the transition the civilian authorities should guarantee the military certain prerogatives in order to keep it satisfied. An end of the transition period is reached when an effective and strong civilian government is installed which is able to execute civilian oversight over the military. The recent popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East were not gradual and caused an abrupt regime change in several Arab countries. Only in Egypt the military took a leading role in the transition. This thesis shows that also in the case of Egypt the nature of the military as an institutionalized military, not directly involved in the day to day governing, made it very resistant to any form of democratization. In the three proposed constitutions since the 25 January revolution the military has demanded and granted itself extensive prerogatives and annulled any form of civilian oversight. This will make it very difficult for any future civilian leader to execute civilian oversight over the Egyptian military.Show less
This thesis is a study of three different statue cache deposits which were discovered at different locations in North Sudan. The three groups of statues represented colossal royal figures...Show moreThis thesis is a study of three different statue cache deposits which were discovered at different locations in North Sudan. The three groups of statues represented colossal royal figures representing kings of Nubia, and some who also ruled over Egypt as Pharaohs of the 25th Dynasty. The caches were discovered during archaeological investigations at three cult sites which were dedicated to the Nubian-Egyptian god Amun, within the main temples, at Gebel Barkal, Doukki Gel and Dangeil. The deposits are somewhat mysterious and unique as each royal statue was found fragmented into many pieces, all broken in the same way and in the same locations upon the statue, before being buried beneath the ground in a sacred place. The study explores the meaning and motivation behind image breaking and deposition in an attempt to postulate the circumstances of these burials. It will use comparisons from Egypt and the Near East to look for any parallels for such treatment of royal images, and examine the historical context of the estimated time of deposition in order to build up some form of narrative as to how and more importantly, why, these royal statues were treated in such a way. This thesis will scrutinize the popular theories which were previously proposed and return to the archaeological evidence in order to address the issue and attempt to come up with a hypothesis concerning the nature of the cachesShow less
Samenvatting In 1891 werd een belangrijk graf ontdekt in Deir el-Bahari, aan de andere kant van de Nijl bij Thebe in Egypte. In dit graf bevonden zich 153 mummiekisten van Priesters van Amon uit de...Show moreSamenvatting In 1891 werd een belangrijk graf ontdekt in Deir el-Bahari, aan de andere kant van de Nijl bij Thebe in Egypte. In dit graf bevonden zich 153 mummiekisten van Priesters van Amon uit de 21e Dynastie (ca. 1070– 945 v.Chr.). De priesters lagen hier samen met hun familieleden, omringd door grafgiften. Het graf werd ontdekt door Eugène Grébaut en zijn assistent, George Daressy. Het graf kreeg de Arabische naam Bab el-Gasus, dat betekent 'de Deur van de Priesters'. Na de vondst in 1891 is het graf binnen negen dagen ontruimd. Helaas is door de snelheid waarmee het graf werd ontruimd, de archeologische context onvoldoende opgetekend. De priesters die in het graf werden gevonden, leefden in een tijd van politieke en economische onrust. Deze woelige periode bracht een verandering in visie en rituelen rond de dood met zich mee. De architectuur van het graf Bab el-Gasus laat een spaarzaam rotsgraf zien, zonder enige decoratie die een nauwkeurige datering mogelijk gemaakt zou hebben. Aan de hand van de literatuur is de conclusie dat het hier gaat om een secundaire begraving. De datering kan helaas niet worden vastgesteld door het ontbreken van gegevens en de vergissingen die tijdens en na de opgraving zijn gemaakt. Wel kan worden vastgesteld dat het graf moet zijn uitgebreid om alle priesters van Amon een plek te kunnen bieden.Show less
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
Why do people who face rather similar situations sometimes resort to violence and others do not? While structural factors are often assumed to be of high explanatory value for explaining the...Show moreWhy do people who face rather similar situations sometimes resort to violence and others do not? While structural factors are often assumed to be of high explanatory value for explaining the occurrence of violence, more recent approaches focused more on local dynamics and the specific position of agents in the political and economic system. Case studies entangling the specific reasons why people engage in violence are suited to gain further insight into these dynamics. Based on a comparison of the cases of North Sinai and South Sinai which show very different levels of violence despite sharing many similarities, this thesis shows the diversity of motives for individuals to engage in violent activities in North Sinai. At the same time it illustrates the importance of a shared interest that increases societal cohesion in the South of the peninsula and allows the people there to maintain nonviolent discipline.Show less
This thesis argues that previous literature dealing with water scarcity conflicts and politics inside river basins misses out on important factors determining water scarcity. Hence, a political...Show moreThis thesis argues that previous literature dealing with water scarcity conflicts and politics inside river basins misses out on important factors determining water scarcity. Hence, a political geography and political ecology perspective is utilized in order to link international relations, political economy and geography. With this combination, concepts like food security, land-lease deals and their link with water scarcity are examined in order to illustrate that water scarcity is much more than water equity principles often found in transboundary river interaction between specific states. This thesis specifically focuses on the Nile Basin, most notably Egypt and Ethiopia in particular, and argues that many players from all over the world through investments and discursive practices interfere with Nile water allocation indirectly and obscurely. Hence, just hammering out a legal framework with Nile Basin riparians in not enough and should looked for in economic and discursive practices surrounding water scarcity.Show less
De Egyptische Predynastieke periode wordt in het aardewerkrepertoire onder andere gekenmerkt door versieringen, waarvan onderzoekers altijd hebben verondersteld dat het schepen betrof. Deze...Show moreDe Egyptische Predynastieke periode wordt in het aardewerkrepertoire onder andere gekenmerkt door versieringen, waarvan onderzoekers altijd hebben verondersteld dat het schepen betrof. Deze versieringen liggen ten grondslag aan veel theorieën betreft de vroeg Dynastieke religie en ideologie, en buitenlandse contacten met onder andere Mesopotamië, ondanks dat het materiaal nooit eerder kritisch onder de loep is genomen. In deze scriptie is het Predynastiek materiaal aan de hand van een door de auteur samengestelde catalogus aan de tand gevoeld om de variabiliteit van de iconografische componenten (units) vast te stellen. Hieruit blijkt dat een aantal onderzoekers er een levendige fantasie op nahoudt, de iconografie wezenlijk evolueert en ons begrip van deze decoraties momenteel nog steeds slechts van zeer oppervlakkige aard is.Show less
