Although the story of ‟Sindbad the Sailor” is one of the best-knownn tales of the Arabian Nights, many readers are still unaware of the fact that this story was not originally part of the Arabian Nights and the oldest Arabic versions we know were preserved in independent manuscripts often circulated within the Arabic Christian milieu. This article aims to present six Garšūnī (Arabic Christian) versions of Sindbad hitherto neglected (i.e. MSS Mardin CFMM 306, ff. 65b–109a; Gotha HB 2652, ff. 8b–35b; Aleppo SOAA 124 M, ff. 85b–162a; Birmingham Mingana syr. 146, ff. 45a–65a; Birmingham Mingana syr. 463, ff. 79a– 121b; and London British Library Or. 4437, ff. 109–169), as well as an overview of the Arabic corpus of the independent versions of the story. The study is part of the research project entitled ‟La formazione del romanzo in area vicino-orientale nel periodo post-classico (1200–1800): i Sette Viaggi di Sindbād il marinaio”, carried out at the University of Turin.

The paper contains a brief insight into the beginnings of contacts between Rome and Egypt, especially during the reign of Ptolemy XII and at the beginning of the reign of his successors. The struggle for power in Alexandria is presented in the context of financial situation of the Ptolemies and of the beginnings of the Roman exploitation of the land on the Nile.

W artykule¹ zarysowano etymologię terminu „hipokryta” w języku greckim, hebrajskim i arabskim. Zajmuje on szczególną pozycję wśród wielu wywodzących się z języka greckiego „europeizmów”, które przejęły znaczenie nieco lub bardzo odmienne od tego potwierdzonego w klasycznej literaturze greckiej. Ustalono podobieństwa między słowem „hipokryta” i terminami równoważnymi, które powtarzają się w hebrajskim biblijnym, post-biblijnym i w językach ekumeny islamskiej. „Hipokryta” jest terminem fundamentalnie związanym z monoteistyczną percepcją świata. Poruszono problem identyfikacji terminu hebrajskiego ḥānēf. To słowo przeszło semantyczną ewolucję, nie mniej głęboką niż hupokritḗs. W odróżnieniu od europeizmu „hipokryta”, który się zlaicyzował”, munāfiq, odpowiednik arabski, nigdy się nie uwolnił od swojego znaczenia religijnego.

The article refers to the issues surrounding ideas of art and the creativity in arts. I intend to illustrate such concerns by drawing on the example of the works of César Manrique. The following samples of his work show that the relationship between man and nature can reveal the problem of artistic creativity in a new cultural perspective. This article was written in scientific cooperation with the César Manrique Foundation (Lanzarote, Canary Islands) and is part of a research project conducted by the author and Mr. Wojciech Rubiś.

The functions of metaphors are not solely stylistic; they are also cognitive. It is argued that metaphor scenarios in particular play an important role in the constitution and transfer of cultural constructs like, for instance, in the narrative of transcendent justice. Three examples of this narrative in three different cultures and ages are discussed, outlining the differences but also the similarities of the constituting metaphor scenarios. To conclude, the thesis of a cultural influence between the three narratives is discussed.

The purpose of this article is to analyse and compare the eponymous characters from two plays: Solomon Ettingerʼs Serkele, or, In Mourning for a Brother and Gabriela Zapolskaʼs The Morality of Mrs. Dulska. A petty-bourgeois tragic-farce. Both characters have become the embodiments of a terrifying female in Yiddish and Polish cultures respectively. The plays are briefly summarised, then compared and, finally, a new interpretation of the main characters is proposed. According to this new interpretation, they can be seen as women who disagreed with their position according to tradition and society and therefore tried to break free of the mould.

This is a much revised version of the paper that appeared in “Eastern Quaterly”, Vol. 3, Issue II, July–August 2005, pp. 75–85. A Hindi Translation, by Om Prakash, has appeared in “Pahal”, 84, November 2006. Polish translation based on M. Nanda, How Modern Are We? Cultural Contradictions of India’s Modernity [in:] eadem, Breaking the Spell of Dharma and Other Essays, Three Essays Collectives, Gurgaon, Haryana 2007, s. 145–164.

Przekładu na język polski dokonano na podstawie: M. Nanda, How Modern Are We? Cultural Contradictions of India’s Modernity [w:] eadem, Breaking the Spell of Dharma and Other Essays, Three Essays Collectives, Gurgaon, Haryana 2007, s. 145–164.