Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2013 January 12

= January 12 =

Sunni and Shia majority provinces of Iraq
Which provinces of Iraq are Sunni majority and which are Shia majority?--Donmust90 (talk) 01:03, 12 January 2013 (UTC)Donmust90
 * There's information at Religion in Iraq, Islam in Iraq, and a nice map at Demographics of Iraq. Before we go down this well-trodden road, there are similarly-named articles for every country in the world, just about, so just replace the word Iraq with whatever country you seek, and there you go.  -- Jayron  32  02:19, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Maps. --Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 10:29, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

SOE rogue op
Given the command structure of the SOE during World War 2, how hard would it have been to run an unauthorized small-scale "rogue" operation without Headquarters finding out (by "small-scale" I mean that no more than 5-6 people in England know about it, including the person actually running it, and maybe 10-15 on the Continent)? 24.23.196.85 (talk) 02:28, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * You might get more response here if you spelt out what SOE stands for. You have linked it to our disambiguation page listing, among others, Stella One Eleven, an Australian pop/rock band formed in 1997, and Society of Operations Engineers, a British professional organization. HiLo48 (talk) 20:55, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * It stands for this. 24.23.196.85 (talk) 21:00, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
 * To be fair to the OP, the context provided of operations in World War II was a fairly strong clue that it wasn't a pop group. I don't have enough knowledge of SOE to answer your question directly, but there are a couple of results on Google Books that have substantial previews, which may help. Special Operations Executive: A New Instrument of War By Mark Seaman and S.O.E.: An outline history of the special operations executive 1940 - 46by M R D Foot.  Alansplodge (talk) 15:16, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Fred Burnham
I have been reading the book Burnham, King of Scouts by Peter van Wyk, (September 2003. He states that Burnham never worked as a scout for the U.S. Army. I am going to try to find Burnham autobiography to see if that is true. Just thought I would pass this along. Thanks always for the info you provide. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.42.211.242 (talk) 12:44, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * The relevant Wikipedia article is Frederick Russell Burnham, which also says nothing about the US Army. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 12:47, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I had a good look through Google, but couldn't find anything except the van Wyk book that you have already read. Alansplodge (talk) 14:53, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Major Burnham worked as a scout in the Geronimo campaign, but he was never a soldier for the U.S. Army. He also left the Klondike to join Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders on their way to Cuba, but he arrived in Washington too late to participate.  In WWI, Roosevelt selected Burnham to raise a division of U.S. volunteers to fight in France, but President Wilson refused to use the volunteers and the unit was disbanded. Ctatkinson (talk) 13:12, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Is being a homosexual punishable by the sword in Saudi Arabia as well?
I read of an execution recently in Saudi Arabia and wondered if the homosexual, the Baha'i and others were under the same sword. Kyxx (talk) 13:23, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
 * There's an article titled LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia. I'm not sure what the Baha'i have to do with homosexuality, but Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia may have some general information on the attitude of the Saudi authorities.  -- Jayron  32  13:45, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Note that Kyxx has been booted for being yet another sock. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 14:52, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Gender ratio in biblical studies and theology?
What is the gender ratio of men and women in biblical studies, religious studies, and theological seminaries in various countries? There seems to be an overwhelming number of men than women in these fields. How many female biblical scholars, female religious studies majors, and female theologians are there in various religions in various countries? For one thing, nearly every book in the library that I checked out is written by a man. Only one book is actually written by a woman, and that is Conversations with God: Fifty Dramatic Dialogues To Bring The Old Testament Alive, by Sharon Swain. It sometimes makes me wonder if men are just attracted to this field or something or completely dominate this field as much as how some women used to dominate the fields of social work and nursing, or I'm just not looking in the right place. 75.185.79.52 (talk) 16:48, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * One reason is of course that many students of theology and of the Bible are looking to become pastors, and that is restricted to men in conservative churches. - Lindert (talk) 17:44, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * OK... so I guess it's not a perception then, but reality. I still wonder what is the gender ratio, though. Not sure if I should trust this website: [1 ]75.185.79.52 (talk) 18:08, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Maybe in some conservative churches. 216.93.234.239 (talk) 22:56, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * You can check the entries in the lists in Category:Lists of theologians and religious studies scholars.
 * —Wavelength (talk) 00:38, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
 * There are almost certainly more women among present-day students than among established scholars. Try looking in the higher education statistics. For the UK www.hesa.ac.uk; equivalents in other developed countries, or try OECD. Itsmejudith (talk) 01:44, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Oh, I just looked at the website you linked to. Seems OK, why not go to the actual survey they link to. Also, the proportion of women among undergraduates might be quite different. Itsmejudith (talk) 01:48, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Mr Fiebig and his Kallifthongon
Something I happened to stumble upon: This print, supposedly from c. 1829, advertises a concert with an somewhat piano-like instrument called a Kallifthongon:

Argyll Rooms. The Kallifthongon. The Lovers of Music are respectfully informed, that Mr Fiebig from Germany, the Inventor and Constructor of this novel and harmonious Instrument, has the honor of displaying its musical powers at the above Rooms every day at 2 o'Clock..... This Isntrument is palyed upon in the same manner as the Pianoforte,....but any person who heard it....would imagine he was listeningt o a Quartet........ Admittance 1s/-.

(I can't read the text in the image of the print, so I can't make out if the typos are in the original or only in the seller's webpage)

So what else is known about this instrument and its maker?

Google has a few more hits, such as this one from The Literary Gazette, but little of use in answering this question.

There appears to have been a maker of musical instruments called Johann Christoph Fiebig in a place called Berngrund near Dresden, but he would seem to be a generation or so earlier and a maker of brass instruments. (A digression, but Berngrund, supposedly a small town on the small river Müglitz, is another mystery, as all hits appear to mention J. C. Fiebig. Google Maps gives no hit for a place of this name. I guess it could be a tiny hamlet, now abandoned or renamed, or even the former name of a street somewhere. Either way, it may not be relevant for identifying the Mr Fiebig with the Kallifthongon.) --Hegvald (talk) 18:24, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * (To be quite honest, I don't actually expect anybody to be able to add much more about the "Kallifthongon", but the question may serve someone as an inspiration to write about other and similarly forgotten musical contraptions. Assuming sources are to be found somewhere, that is. And it may serve as an illustration of the limits of easily-found on-line "knowledge". --Hegvald (talk) 12:04, 13 January 2013 (UTC) )

When will I be able to upload it?
A picture of a Japanese boy who locks himself up in his bedroom and refuses to leave. I am from Japan and it's a well-known social disease, I don't know if you Westerners know what I'm talking about and if you indeed have an article on it. If you have it, when will I upload the pic? Thank. Kotjap (talk) 20:57, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * If you you own this image, or it's under an acceptable license, you can upload it to Wikimedia Commons. It sounds like this is may be a type of agoraphobia.   However, if it's brief, it may just be teenage rebellion or something else. Superm401 - Talk 21:05, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

No no, two things, first, it's a social disease only in my country and has its specific name and there's an article on the Japanese Wikipedia about it, and secondly, I am not allowed to upload the pic and don't know why. Kotjap (talk) 21:07, 12 January 2013 (UTC) The Japanese name for the disease is ひきこもり — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kotjap (talk • contribs) 21:11, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Our article is Hikikomori. Rmhermen (talk) 21:41, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Note that this behavior isn't unique to Japan, they just assigned a name to it. StuRat (talk) 00:54, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

Oh okay and why can't I upload the picture? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kotjap (talk • contribs) 21:44, 12 January 2013 (UTC)


 * You have to be autoconfirmed to upload an image. To get that, you generally have to be around for 4 days and make 10 edits (changes to Wikipedia). These can be as simple as spelling and grammar fixes. Superm401 - Talk 22:19, 12 January 2013 (UTC)