This paper argues for a novel conception of Iliadic Tartarus as a fluid liminal space which includes a superterranean context alongside its (traditionally realised) subterranean localisation. A close reading of Iliad 8.477–81 reveals traces of superterranean imagery which, alongside the traditional subterranean reading of 8.13–6 and 14.198–311, allows for the identification of a fluid, dual-model of Tartarean space within the background of the poem. Further, grounded in recent developments regarding dual localisation within Homeric narrative, this paper explores how localisation can reflect narrative and/or thematic concerns, rather than exclusively denoting spatial-physical realities. Thus, the use of geographical imagery within the three Tartarean passages is examined for its narrative/thematic significance, considering themes such as the hierarchy of the gods and narrative developments such as the relocation of Zeus’ positioning within the larger cosmos. The identification of such nuances, in turn, provides a precedent for retaining ‘conflicting’ or fluid geographical space(s) within the narrative despite the ‘contradictions’ that they embody.

Two decades ago I published an article in this journal about Egyptian biographical films. It was the first study published in IJMES about Arab/Middle East film and the first to feature photographic illustrations. The editor sent it to four reviewers, some presumably to check my history, others my cultural scope. Three approved wholeheartedly, but one protested that IJMES should not publish a piece that was not based upon “Arabic sources.” Admittedly, there was little critical literature in Arabic on this topic; my primary theorization came from a recent study of Hollywood “biopics.” But Stephen Humphreys, the forward-thinking editor, recognized that my “Arabic sources” were the films analyzed and disregarded the negative review.

The 1990s marked an important moment in Egyptian television, when the country turned its attention increasingly (although never monolithically) toward historical drama as a means of recreating and reinterpreting modern Egyptian history. Mahfouz Abd al-Rahman and Osama Anwar Okasha, in particular, scripted long multi-year series aired during Ramadan, the peak season for television viewing, that covered decades of the late ninteenth century and pre-Nasserist history, in many ways re-writing public history, and making historical drama—and history—fashionable. I focus here on the former and his first mega-hit Bawabat al-Halawani (Halawani Gate). Biographical dramas, initially of artists, but later politicians, kings, and religious leaders would follow. As the Egyptian industry atrophied in the following decade these dramatists passed the mantle on to the Syrians, later the Turks, who broke the Egyptian monopoly and brought their own stories to the fore. But a rebirth may be in view.

Parasitic witchweeds inflict most of their damage while still underground and attached to crop roots. Most selective translocated herbicides are detoxified by crops such as corn and thus cannot reach the attached parasites. Corn with target site resistance to acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides was tested to ascertain whether these herbicides could control witchweeds, assuming that witchweeds do not obtain amino acids from the crop. Postemergence directed sprays of 27 g ae ha−1 imazapyr 54 d after planting (DAP) delayed Striga asiatica emergence on corn in South Carolina from 3 wk (control) to 7 wk and to 11 wk when mixed with 45 g ae ha−1 AC 263 222. Treatments with up to 71 g ae ha−1 imazamox, and up to 71 g ae ha−1 AC 263 222 only delayed Striga emergence by 1 wk, and 71 g ae ha−1 imazethapyr was ineffective. ALS-inhibiting herbicides were far more effective when applied in 1-ml drenches above the seed at planting. Chlorsulfuron (10 g ai ha−1) and sulfometuron (50 g ai ha−1) were somewhat phytotoxic to Pioneer 3245IR. Rimsulfuron (30 g ai ha−1), metsulfuron (10 g ai ha−1), halosulfuron (120 g ai ha−1), and imazethapyr (140 g ae ha−1) were marginally active in Kenya, with some mature Striga hermonthica seed-bearing capsules appearing at harvest (12 wk). Imazapyr at 15 g ae ha−1 gave 70 to 95% suppression of capsule formation, whereas no capsules appeared at 30 g ae ha−1. The use of imazapyr in Kenya increased the harvest index by 17% when corn plants in Striga-infested soils were kept insect and disease free by using insecticides and fungicides. Thus, complete control can be achieved at affordable cost by farmers in subsistence conditions.

The successful development of quantum computers is dependent on identifying quantum systems to function as qubits. Paramagnetic states of point defects in semiconductors or insulators have been shown to provide an effective implementation, with the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond being a prominent example. The spin-1 ground state of this center can be initialized, manipulated, and read out at room temperature. Identifying defects with similar properties in other materials would add flexibility in device design and possibly lead to superior performance or greater functionality. A systematic search for defect-based qubits has been initiated, starting from a list of physical criteria that such centers and their hosts should satisfy. First-principles calculations of atomic and electronic structure are essential in supporting this quest: They provide a deeper understanding of defects that are already being exploited and allow efficient exploration of new materials systems and “defects by design.”

This essay is an attempt to read popular melodrama as a reflection of changing societal appreciations of sentimentality, romance, family relations, and, ultimately, political authority over the course of a tumultuous decade in Egyptian and Middle Eastern history, the 1960s. I focus my gaze upon two particular films that were in their day popular hits, one of them an unprecedented blockbuster, and that remain genre classics. Both feature popular screen icon ءAbd al-Halim Hafiz, the greatest vocalist of his generation, a recording and performing artist who came of age with the onset of the July 1952 Free Officers' revolution and was intimately associated with the Nasserist project. Both films treat generation gaps relating specifically to issues of dating and courtship—what might be called, in the context of their era, “free love.” Both are concerned with troubled relationships between a son and his disapproving, authoritarian father. Halim's father in both films is played by the same actor, ءImad Hamdi, and Halim's love interest—albeit in very different contexts—is played by the same ravishing starlet, Nadia Lutfi. Finally, both films turn upon a single powerful dramatic act of parental discipline, a slap (or series of slaps) delivered by an outraged patriarch across the cheek of a rebellious, yet ultimately dutiful, son.

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This essay is an attempt to read popular melodrama as a reflection of changing societal appreciations of sentimentality, romance, family relations, and, ultimately, political power during the second decade of Nasserist rule in Egypt. The essay focuses on two film classics that bookend the 1960s—“family melodramas” starring singer ءAbd al-Halim Hafiz, the pop icon intimately associated with the Nasserist project. Each film turns upon a single dramatic act of parental discipline, a slap delivered by an outraged father across the cheek of a rebellious son. Released in 1962, still a time of heady optimism, al-Khataya raises troubling questions about paternity and social status yet resolves them in classic genre style. Abi fawq al-shagara, released in 1969, in the aftermath of the June 1967 “naksa” (setback), reflects a growing generation gap and suggests—if it does not quite deliver—a countercultural reading of patriarchal authority, as well as sexual and political liberation.