This weekly feature is a place to discuss new developments in fields of history and archaeology. This can be newly discovered documents and archaeological sites, recent publications, documents that have just become publicly available through digitization or the opening of archives, and new theories and interpretations.
Our very own reddit users are putting together an extraordinary effort to find info pertaining to the exact location of wrecked German U-Boat U-852. The search started in a /r/history thread and has since yielded fascinating results of research from redditors all around the world!
It's turning out to be the history version of the reddit mystery safe.
Not a topic I know about but this may be of interest, a 2,200 year old Greek rental agreement has been discovered on a stela at a site outside Izmir, Turkey: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/centuries-old-rental-agreement-unearthed-in-turkeys-izmir.aspx?PageID=238&NID=104520&NewsCatID=375
According to it, students of the Gymnasium between the age of 20 and 30 - called Neos - inherited from a person in Teos. This person donated his land, which included structures, slaves and the holy altar, to the Neos. In order to meet the expenses of this land and to get income, the Neos rented the land. The inscription tells us who owned the land in the past and what it includes. It also mentions a holy altar. The Neos express in the agreement that they want to use this holy place three days a year. In this period, the state collected tax from lands. But since the land was defined ‘holy,’ it was exempted from tax. It is understood that the land was rented at an auction and the name of the renter is written on the inscription,” Adak said.
“A guarantor was needed for the agreement. The names of the renter and his father were written in the agreement. Six witnesses were also necessary for this agreement to be valid, three of whom were the top administrators in the city,” he added.
Punishments
“This inscription reveals the structure of the Gymnasium and that the Neos were able to own a property. This is first and only example in the ancient world. Almost half of the inscription is filled with punishment forms. If the renter gives damage to the land, does not pay the annual rent or does not repair the buildings, he will be punished. The Neos also vow to inspect the land every year,” said the Akdeniz University professor. “There are two particularly interesting legal terms used in the inscription, which large dictionaries have not up to now included. Ancient writers and legal documents should be examined in order to understand these words mean,” Adak said.
A new book by Rémy Limpach details extreme violence during the Indonesian National Revolution. The book describes the violence as structural on the part of the Dutch army and singles out three leaders as main culprits. This contradicts the official story of the state.
(This is the only English article I could find on the new book. Here's a more in-depth Dutch article.)