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Bangkok Post
07-07-2025
- General
- Bangkok Post
Diminishing roots of Tai Ahom language and its links with Thailand
The influence of ancient Tai culture in India and Thailand is evident in their language. People from Assam, a state in the northeast of India, for example call themselves "axomiya", with roots from the Tai Ahom community. Tai language belongs to the Tai Kadai family and has three branches; Southwestern, Central, and Northern. Thai falls in the Southwestern group. Everyday terms have been retained in both Tai Ahom and Thai, illustrating the deep linguistic connection between the Tai peoples of Northeast India and Thailand. The Tai Ahom trace their origins to the Mong Mao region, located in present-day Dehong, Yunnan province of China, or the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar. Their settlement in Assam and subsequent assimilation with local peoples created an enduring cultural and historical bridge between the Tai world of Southeast Asia and Northeast India. However, their traditional language is diminishing as modernisation remains a threat to indigenous culture. Dr Damrongphon Inchan, the dean of the Faculty of Archaeology (Department of Anthropology), Silpakorn University, and also co-author of Festival Of Joys: Dai/Tai/Thai Songkran And BohagBihu Of The Tai Ahomstates, said: "Ahom people cannot communicate in Ahom language except the priest who can read ancient scripts and practise rituals. It is not commonly spoken now. Only some people who get training can speak to the priest's family." The paper was presented at the 3rd Colloquium on the Dai's History and Culture (CDHC) in Yunnan, China, in April. Dr Damrongphon also participated in an international seminar titled "Recent Archaeological Pursuits In Burial Traditions Of South Asia And Southeast Asia" in Assam, India, in May. Despite later assimilation with the local Assamese population, Tai Ahoms retained certain customs, rituals and festivals, some of which remain similar to those practised by Tai peoples in Thailand, such as the New Year "Sonkranti festival" and Assamese Bihu. The Tai Ahom connection to both Thailand and Northeast India is rooted in their origins as part of broader Tai migrations from southern China and northern Southeast Asia, which included the territories of present-day Thailand. In the early 13th century, a Tai prince named Sukaphaa led a migration from this area, moving through northern Myanmar and eventually settling in Assam, India, in 1228. This migration was part of a broader movement of Tai peoples during the 11th to 13th centuries, when various Tai groups dispersed from southern China and northern Southeast Asia into regions that now comprise Thailand, Laos and Northeast India. The reasons for these migrations likely included pressures from the expanding Chinese empire and the search for new lands suitable for wet-rice cultivation. The Tai Ahom established a powerful kingdom in Assam that lasted nearly 600 years (1228–1826), paralleling the rise of Tai-led kingdoms in Thailand such as Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. The Tai Ahoms brought with them traditions, language and wet-rice agriculture -- cultural features shared with Tai groups in Thailand and neighbouring regions. The Tai Ahom community's advancements in literature shows a record of their history. The Buranjis chronicles reveal their history and culture written in their language and later translated into modern-day Assamese. Dr Damrongphon said that he wants to revive Ahom language and history. He believes that through conferences and collaboration with the Tai community, their language and culture can be revived.
See - Sada Elbalad
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Here's Our First Look at "Al Mashrue X"
Yara Sameh The first look at Egyptian stars Karim Abdel Aziz and Yasmine Sabri's upcoming film "Al Mashrue X" has finally been unveiled. The pic features an ensemble cast that includes Eyad Nassar, Mariam El Gendy, Essam El Sakka, Ahmed Ghozzi, and more. Hannah El Zahed and Maged El Kedwany will also make an appearance in the pic. Specific details on the upcoming project remain under wraps, but the pic hails from acclaimed director Peter Mimi. In the clip, the protagonist (Abdel Aziz) was expelled from the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University and is now engaged in a highly dangerous mission. It also features Abdel Aziz's character in confrontations that take him to more than one country and location, from the desert and the pyramids to foreign countries and the depths of the sea. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Synergy Plus - تامر مرسي (@synergyplustm) Releasing in May, "Al Mashrue X" marks the third collaboration between Abdel Aziz and Mimi after the blockbuster film "Beit El Ruby" as well as the hit TV series 'El Ekhteyar S1 & S2" and "Al-Hashashin". It also witnesses the first collaboration between Sabri and Mimi. Abdel Aziz was last seen on the big screen in the comedy film ' Beit El Ruby ' and Sabri in the comedy film " Abu Nasab ". read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Lifestyle Pistachio and Raspberry Cheesecake Domes Recipe News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Videos & Features Bouchra Dahlab Crowned Miss Arab World 2025 .. Reem Ganzoury Wins Miss Arab Africa Title (VIDEO) Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple
Jordan Times
12-03-2025
- Science
- Jordan Times
Settlements of Jebel Qurma: Uncovering Jordan's ancient desert dwellings
The Jabel Qurma range contains thousands of petroglyphs accompanied with safaitic script (Photo courtesy of Jabel Qurma Archaeological Landscape Project) AMMAN — In northeastern Jordan, the rough and rocky Harra begins about 30 kilometres east of the small oasis town of Azraq. This basalt desert has been a home to different settlements and was occupied from the time immemorial. 'The Black Desert is characterised by basalt-capped table-mounds and plateaus that alternate with extensive gravel plains, mud flats of varying size, and low limestone ranges,' noted Merel Bruning from Leiden University. Bruning added that the hyper-arid and difficult-to-cross uplands have an average annual precipitation of less than 50 mm and are known as Jabel Qurma. "It is named after the prominent mound at the south-western edge of the Harra expanse, where Wadi Rajil debouches out of the basalt into the Hazimah plain. The site of QUR-595 is situated on small and low limestone hillock measuring about 45 m long, 20 m wide and 1–1.5 m high," said Bruning. The researcher added that it lies at the northern foot of the mound of Jebel Qurma and directly along one branch of Wadi Rajil. 'The 2013 survey and 2015 excavation at the site were carried out as part of the Jabel Qurma Archaeological Landscape Project, which seeks to address local settlement and quotidian activities from a multi-disciplinary and multi-period perspective, and investigates how these relate to the diverse landscapes and environment,' said the professor Peter Akkermans from Leiden University. Akkermans added that the project takes place under the auspices of the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University, and in close collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. "The excavation in 2015 made clear that the site had three [possibly four] roughly round or oval-shaped, stone-walled installations built against each other at the top of the limestone hillock. These structures are named A to D in this contribution for matters of convenience," Akkermans noted. "It seems that Structures A and B were constructed first as free-standing structures, with the smaller Structures C and D added afterwards," Akkermans underlined, noting that the buildings range in diameter from about 5.6 m (Structure A), to 5.9 m (Structure B), and 1.7/1.3 m (Structure C). Less clear is the outline of Structure D, although its stone concentrations suggest some irregular walling: This comprises an area about 2.3 by 1.3 m, Akkermans underlined. The professor noted that each structure was bounded by low (maximum 40 cm tall) and wide (between 40 and 80 cm) walls, which consisted merely of loosely piled heaps of basalt rocks, the outlines of which were often difficult to establish. "In general, the amount of basalt stones uncovered in and around the structures is too limited to account for any substantially raised walls." "The only undisputed remains of walling were found on the north side of Structure A, in the form of a relatively narrow wall made of basalt blocks carefully stacked up to three courses high [ca. 40 cm]," Akkermans said. However, it is highly likely that this wall is a (much) later addition to Structure A, not only because of its better state of preservation, but also because it seems to block the original entrance to the structure, Bruning said. Structures A and B were originally accessible through openings in their northern walls, while the later Structures C and D had passages in the south-east (C) and south (D), Bruning continued, adding that none of the buildings preserved evidence for intentionally made floors or any form of roofing. "Most likely the low structures were simply open to the elements or they had superstructures made of perishable materials [such as hides or brushes]," Bruning concluded.
