In the almanac "In Umbra: Demonology as a Semiotic System," the works devoted to "lower" deities and demons are presented. The concept of invisible tempters, pests, and disease agents plays a vital role in different cultures. With their help, many disasters and cataclysms are explained, from personal to global. In traditional societies, spirits are perceived as natural neighbors of a person, relations with whom determine much in cultural life. Demonology develops on all "levels" of culture: from written literature to folklore, from medieval miniatures to computer games. The almanac "In Umbra" is dedicated to the images and plots associated with the lower spirits in world religions, folklore, art, and literature.

Twenty-three scholars from Russia and abroad contributed to the present volume with their articles on various aspects of Semitic and Afroasiatic linguistics as well as Ancient Near Eastern philology and Old Testamental studies. The scope of subjects ranges from synchronical linguistic descriptions of living Afroasiatic languages up to studies in Ancient Mesopotamian onomastics and historical phonology of Akkadian. The authors dedicate their articles to the sixtieth anniversary of Prof. A.Yu.Militarev, a prominent figure in Semitic and Afroasiatic comparative lexicography. The volume may be of interest for all specialists in Semitic and Ancient Near Eastern philology and Afroasiatic linguistics.

Proceedings of the Gasparov's Readings-2014, dedicated to the strategies of translating  and to the theory of translation by M.L. М.Л. Gasparov; the problems of translation and the ways to teach, how to translate poetry and fiction