One may conclude from the lull in publications on the Gāthic Ahuna Vairiia that a satisfactory understanding of the stanza is athand. This is, however, not the case. The last substantial treatment of thestanza is from Humbach (1991 II) in his 1991 two-volume edition of the OldAvestan texts. Somewhat less extensive is the discussion we find in Kellens’and Pirart's monumental three-volume edition and study of the Old Avestantexts (1991). In 1975, Insler published a detailed article on the Ahuna Vairiia. The late 1950s saw the appearance of fourstudies of the stanza by distinguished Avesta scholars: Benveniste, Humbach,Duchesne-Guillemin and Hinz. As for the number of translations there are, itvirtually equals the number of scholars in the field. The source of thedifficulties is the syntax of the stanza. The disagreements are due for themost part to the scholar's analysis of syntactic units. Thus the variety oftranslations may be reduced to a few basic types.

If the measure of the man is reflected in the circle of his friends thenSandy Morton is impressively out-size. The turn-out for his memorial servicewas large and varied and the prevailing mood was warm and pleasinglynostalgic. Sandy would very definitely have enjoyed it. The choice of StGeorge's Church, Bloomsbury was appropriate and fitting as was the relaxedreception later in the British Museum's Islamic Gallery. Sandy's presencecould be felt appreciatively basking in the gentle tide of warmreminiscences as friends, family, and colleagues mixed easily and exchangedanecdotes and memories. The mood was light and relaxed and it contrastedwith the more respectfully sombre memorial service which had combined hymns,Persian verse and eulogies from his brothers, William and James andcolleagues Narguess Farzad and Charles Melville. In St George's theatmosphere was reflective and emotions were heightened. Even CharlesMelville's courtly and measured address cracked and stumbled as aparticularly poignant memory broke through his famously unflappable façade.Emotional but not oppressively so, the service reminded us of our loss butalso informed us of our gains and the many ways Sandy had entered andenriched our lives.

At the end of the second century ah al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820) advocated stoning as the sole penalty for adultery instead of an earlier rule that combined flogging with stoning. Al-Shāfiʿī's innovative doctrine was barely noticed by the jurisprudents, exegetes and ḥadīth collectors during the first half of the third century ah, but apparently provoked a legal debate shortly thereafter. This article explores the development of the third-century dual- vs. single-penalty dispute and its implications for the chronology of al-Shāfiʿī's Risāla.

This article brings together evidence from both documentary texts and royal inscriptions from Susa in order to develop a chronological and historical perspective on the transitional period between the loss of control of the Ur III empire and the institutionalization of the Sukkalmaḫ regime. A study of the archaeological and archival context of the administrative texts resulted in a new chronology for the beginning of the Sukkalmaḫat, the basic argument for which is the early dating of the rule of Atta-ḫušu. Newly discovered inscriptions and new interpretations of existing inscriptions serve not only to adjust this chronology, but also to pave the way for an innovative and coherent socio-economic history of the early Sukkalmaḫat.

John Michael Gullick (who died at his home in Woodford Green, Essex, on 8April 2012, aged 96) had careers in the colonial service, business and thelaw, and was the last in a remarkable line of Malayanscholar-administrators.