This paper presents a unique bronze weight manufacturedby the order of a little-known son of [ain]Abdal-Malik, who was governor of Jund Filastîn for ashort period. The weight, of the Byzantine disctype, but bearing Arabic inscriptions, was found inthe excavations carried out by the Institute ofArchaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in1990. It is discussed here in the context of othermetal weights of the period which bear Arabicinscriptions but are of Byzantine form, and whichsometimes also bear Byzantine symbols and Greekinscriptions.

James Legge (1815–1897) is primarily remembered todayas the heroic translator of the Chinese Classics(1861–1872, 1893–1895). Allowing for changes instylistic taste, these massive translations arestill considered the “standard” versions of worksthat “classically” and “scripturally” defined aso-called Confucian “great tradition” in China.Unfortunately a fixation on this singular scholarlyaccomplishment has tended to brand Legge as merely agreat, though plodding, translator – someoneprimarily remarkable for his indefatigable habits ofworking. Certainly it was often felt that hiscontributions to the emergent SinologicalOrientalism of the nineteenth century in no waymatched the achievements of the great Parisianacademicians (Abel Rémusat and Stanislas Julien);nor was he seen as a particularly significant figurein any other aspect of British tradition in thenineteenth century. Even worse, and seeming to makehim a fit candidate for Lytton Strachey's debunkingcriticism of all insufferably righteous Victorianparagons of virtue, was that his identity as asinologist and scholar was forever tainted by hisoriginal vocation as a Congregationalist missionaryagent for the London Missionary Society.

Wayang kulit (shadow puppet theatre;henceforth “wayang”) as practiced in Java(Indonesia) has been recognized by exegetes –European and Indonesian alike – for its centralityas both a performative vehicle forand a symbolic figuration ofunderstandings of the human developmental cycle, thevariety of character models available toindividuals, the precarious balance of chaos andstability in society, and kinship dialectics ofconflict and complementariness. It is Java's mostcomplex art form, in terms of dramaturgy, music, andrepertoire, and also one of its most highlymediated. The beginning of what Iwould like to discuss is located at theend of Ward Keeler's exemplaryethnography of Central Javanesewayang and the dialogical play ofselves and others in relations of hierarchy. Keelerconcludes his evocative account of Javanese selvesand theatre (and here I paraphrase) with thestatement that “the peculiar fascination” of thedhalang in Javanese culture stemsfrom his ability to dissimulate his self inperformance. The puppeteer's voice is splintered,his presence veiled by a screen and mediated bypuppets and the constraints of tradition, and hisauthority derived from indirect relations to aritual sponsor, the Javanese autarchy, theancestors, and the unseen world. “He is at once adissembled authority, one whose power is great,non-coercive, and unworldly, and a dissembledinterpreter, one who mediates between an unreal butpersuasive and distracting world, and our own”.

At the start of the millennium Council reviewed medalsand prizes and decided to discontinue the Gold Medal(which had not in any case been awarded for sometime) and establish in its place the Society'sAward. This Award will be made every two or threeyears in recognition of outstanding scholarship inAsian studies. Having considered a number oftenders, Council commissioned Ms DanutaSolowiej-Wedderburn to design and cast a medalbearing versions of two of the original Daniellimages: the elephant and howdah on one side and thebanyan-tree on the other (see John Hansman, “TheEmblems, Medals and Medallists of the Royal AsiaticSociety”, JRAS [1984 Part 1], pp.99–119. Council approved the nomination of Mr JohnM. Gullick, who was recommended by a searchcommittee (chaired by the Director) to be the firstrecipient of the RAS Award. On 10 January 2002 thePresident presented the RAS Award for 2001 to MrGullick who replied with a lecture, “An Indianofficial in Singapore: Governor Cavanagh(1859–1867)”.