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Angkor Wat, a photo essay of Elizaveta Malinina presenting world-wide known monument in Cambodia, opens the issue.
- Svetlana Sysoeva. Golden Fever on the Island of Lombok. Gold was discovered on Indonesian Lombok island but its reserves had no industrial meaning. Nevertheless the real golden fever started there: the locals rushed to mine the pieces of this precious metal and succeed.
- Yury Zinin. The Arabesques. Under this title are being published three plots on everyday life of North African and Arabian Peninsula countries. These are traditional occupations of the Fassis, Moroccan city of Fes inhabitants, marriage in Sudan and falcon hunting in Saudi Arabia.
- Tatyana Filatova. Stones, Crowns and the History. The treasury collected by Iranian shahs for more than two centuries is now an open for all museum in the basement of the National Bank of Iran. The article deals the review of items of this unique museum — jewelry made of emerald, ruby, turquoise, pearl, brilliants. And nearly all of them have some history behind.
- Tatyana Solovyova. Witch Love of Simon the Mage. Insolent philosopher, almighty theurg, desperate adventurer, lucky mystifier — who was he, Simon the Mage, Christ’s contemporary and most important rival? By searching an answer the author turns to narrative sources and fascinating legends which altogether reconstruct the enigmatic image of this unusual person.
- Vyacheslav Kalikinsky. Two Around-the-Worlds of Enomoto Takeaki. The biography of the Japanese military and state authority Enomoto Takeaki is full of adventures, heroic and dramatic events, highs and lows. Among the high posts he occupied is the one of first Japan’s diplomatic representative in our country. On his return to Motherland he got the superior permit for travel through whole Siberia. Enomoto’s impressions were fixed in his book «The Siberian Diary».
- Vladimir Belyakov. With Own Eyes. Enlightened Russian public even in the middle 18th century had some idea of Egypt. It was formed first of all with the notes of Russian pilgrims and travellers known as walkings. The author reviews and widely quotes the most interesting works of this genre.
- Olga Bibikova. To Be or Not the Great Wazir... The duties of great wazirs of Ottoman Empire changed depending of their participation in country’s affairs. Some sultans controlled state affairs personally and gave commissions to wazirs, others kept themselves far from state affairs and spent time in idleness and pleasures. In such situation the great wazirs became so powerful that they were compared with rulers. Splendid clothes, suite including Janissary guardians — all this kept them prestigious.
- Natalia Zhukovskaya. «The Itigelov’s Phenomenon»: Versions. Professor Natalia Zhukovskaya, RAS, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology sector, head and «Oriental Collection», editing board member and permanent author. In her recently issued fascinating book «On Buddhism and Buddhists» the Soviet and post-Soviet epoch of Russian Buddhism development is reflected. Presenting her work to its readers the magazine publishes one of the book’s chapters that deals on «The Itigelov’s phenomenon» — being kept in Buryatia imperishable body of the 12th Buryatian Pandito Hambo Lama D. Itigelov (1852–1927).
- Anna Bychkova. The Lost and Returned World. The 2nd author’s travel to Indian state of Nagalend took place in late 2012 — early 2013 (for her 1st travel check: «Oriental Collection», № 2/2012). The author followed the route of British military expedition of 1936 and told of contemporary situation of the region where the headhunters’ descendants live.
- Katerina Karavaeva. City of Shrimps. Chiberon on the Northern coast of the island of Java was the centre of first Muslim state on the territory of contemporary Indonesia. By the way there are precious monuments of Hindu art.
- Ksenia Mironova. Peacocks, Elephants and Twelve Thousand Fields. In the Chinese province of Yunnan live numerous national minorities. One of them is Dai people who have their own system of chronology and syllabic alphabet, rites, fairs and delicacies.
- Irina Chelysheva. Beautiful Kali. Kinnaur is one of most interesting regions of Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Here, to Bhima Kali temple in Sarahan, hundreds and thousands religious pilgrims come. Also the history of appearance and rule in Kinnaur of its rajas is full of enigmas and unknown.
- Elena Voytishek. Six Countries — Five Tastes. The history of art of perfume composing and esthetic attitude to incenses in Japan has more than thousand years. By the time was elaborated the whole system of noting the kinds and usefulness of an aroma. The art of Kodo («Way of Aroma») got its development as a sophisticated entertainment, including existing now competitions in perfume composing.
- Andrey Shugayev. Galina and Her Congratulating Postcards. Galina Makhrova is a distinctive French artist of Russian origin. After being married to French diplomat Kirill Makhrov she visited many countries and everywhere painted. After this she was carried away by publishing congratulating postcards using for this her watercolours.
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