This thesis discusses the impact of opposition movements in effecting regime transition in Syria and Egypt during the Arab Spring, analyzing their organizational structure, objectives, strategies,...Show moreThis thesis discusses the impact of opposition movements in effecting regime transition in Syria and Egypt during the Arab Spring, analyzing their organizational structure, objectives, strategies, legitimacy, and de facto power. It starts out from the premise that it is crucial that the opposition influences 'soft-liners' within the regime to undermine its internal cohesion and stability. It is argued that the opposition in both countries has been durable due to intrinsic motivations of the participants and widespread social dissatisfaction, and their diffuse yet coherent grassroots forms of organization have rendered them hard to repress by the regime. In both countries, however, the opposition was unable to overthrow the regime by itself since it did not have sufficient military power resources to pose a real threat to the regime's survival. In Syria, the opposition could not generate enough division among the elite, while in Egypt, division already existed among the elite and this was augmented by the opposition, with the acquiescence of the military proving crucial in the regime transition. The extent of influence of the opposition was heavily constrained by the political opportunity structures in which they operated, with repression by the regime playing a large role and curtailing agency.Show less
This paper utilizes unpublished excavation data from Leiden University’s excavation at Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria to examine two types of figurines from the site’s Late Bronze Age Middle Assyrian...Show moreThis paper utilizes unpublished excavation data from Leiden University’s excavation at Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria to examine two types of figurines from the site’s Late Bronze Age Middle Assyrian occupation in the late 13th and 12th centuries BCE. Beyond the contextual and analytical presentation of new material to the archaeological community, it reestablishes an understudied typology through the promotion of a geographical, chronological, cultural, and functional frameworks. This study uses the figurines as a base to explore issues inherent in their find contexts and preservation. After establishing typologies and object catalogs, it explores the archaeological visibility of intentional material disregard, the dynamism of contemporary value attributions to representative material culture, and the interplay of ancient peoples with their local histories. In highlighting the functionality of a symbolic material culture that existed outside the settlement’s imperial sphere, this thesis uses the figurines to reveal the cosmopolitan nature of the common people at Tell Sabi Abyad.Show less
This BA Thesis concerns stone axes, adzes and chisels, generally referred to as celts, from Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, a site dated to the Late Neolithic Period, ca. 7000-5300 cal BC. It aims to...Show moreThis BA Thesis concerns stone axes, adzes and chisels, generally referred to as celts, from Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, a site dated to the Late Neolithic Period, ca. 7000-5300 cal BC. It aims to investigate the economic and social meaning of these stone tools at the Neolithic settlement excavated there, by examining the tools' morphological and technological features, their provenance, and the context in which they were found. In this thesis, it is stressed that a wide variety of different types of stone celts were used at Tell Sabi Abyad. Many of these celts seam to have been imported from hundreds of kilometers away. Many celts must have been used for a number of economic activities, but some celts seam to have had a more symbolic meaning. Finally, this thesis shows that the way in which stone celts were used during the Late Neolithic was not static, but changed through the course of time.Show less
