I. Bronze Age Aegean glyptic art. Seals and sealings: their implications for social, economic and political relationships. Economic administration and the development of bureaucracy in the Bronze Age (evidence from Cretan Hieroglyphics, Linear A, Linear B).
II. Iconography and the social implications of imagery.
III. Cultural interactions between the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt, primarily in the Bronze Age.
IV. Palmyra and the Third Century C.E. Caravan cities and the Silk Road. Sasanian Persia.
PROCESSIONS: Studies of Bronze Age Ritual and Ceremony Presented to Robert B. Koehl, 2023
Edited by Judith Weingarten, Colin F. Macdonald, Joan Aruz, Lara Fabian, Nisha Kumar. Robert Koeh... more Edited by Judith Weingarten, Colin F. Macdonald, Joan Aruz, Lara Fabian, Nisha Kumar. Robert Koehl has long considered processions to have played an integral role in Aegean Bronze Age societies. Processions are a unique social phenomenon in that they engage large groups with a singular purpose or outcome, acting as a cohesive force in societies. Yet they are elusive both in Aegean art and texts, which has challenged the participants in this volume to approach the subject from various viewpoints, providing evidence of ritual and ceremonial places, pathways and practices, based on archaeological and, in one instance, textual evidence. Artistic depictions in a variety of media provide a means of identifying settings, participants and the possible roles they play, while specific ritual objects are the subject of some contributions, their context and imagery offering another means of enhancing our picture of processions. Papers concentrate mainly on evidence from Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland, with additional perspectives from abroad, these geographic divisions forming the basic outline of the volume.
This book is about a single Minoan seal shape, the cushion seal - a rectangular stone with biconv... more This book is about a single Minoan seal shape, the cushion seal - a rectangular stone with biconvex faces -- so called because its profile resembles a cushion. This shape is specific to Minoan culture. The first securely-dated cushions appear in Middle Minoan IIB but its floruit is Middle Minoan III-Late Minoan IA, after which it essentially dies out. While, in its early days, the materials, style, and motifs were similar to those of other seal shapes, it later developed a recognizable, perhaps semi-independent style and iconography of its own. Some of the finest examples of Minoan glyptic art appear on cushions. Who crafted them? Had they any special meaning? Why did the shape so abruptly disppear? This book is the first to examine all aspects of cushion seals and to compare them with other contemporary forms of glyptic art. It aims to cast new light on style and form at the transition from the Protopalatial to early Neopalatial period on Crete.
Giulia Dioniso, MA in Archaeology, holds a degree in Conservation and Restoration from the Institute of Art and Restoration Palazzo Spinelli, and is presently studying for her PhD in the Science and Technology of Cultural Heritage at the University of Florence. She is a member of the Italian Archaeological Mission of Erimi- Laonin tou Porakou (Cyprus) and in charge of the Restoration Laboratory. Anna Margherita Jasink is Professor of Aegean Civilizations at the University of Florence. Her research interests are focussed on historical and philological problems of the Aegean and Near Eastern worlds. Her many publications include Cilicia, Dall'età di Kizzuwatna alla conquista macedone (with Paolo Desideri), Gli stati neo.ittiti, Analisi delle fonti scritte e sintesi storica, and Cretan Hieroglyphic Seals: a new classification of symbols and ornamental|filling motifs. She is chief editor of the Periploi series of Aegean and Cypriot studies, and directs two web portals: an interactive museum on Italian Aegean and Cypriot collections (musint.sns.it) and the Aegean Laboratory (dbas.sciant.unifi.it). Judith Weingarten, M. Litt. (Oxford), is author of numerous articles and monographs on Minoan-Mycenaean glyptic art, its implications for social, economic, and political relationships, and cultural interactions between the Aegean and East Mediterranean and Egypt. Books include The Zakro Master and His Place in Prehistory, and The Transformation of Egyptian Taweret into the Minoan Genius. Her non-archaeological passion is Palmyra and the Roman East (Zenobia: The Rebel Queen, and Sign of Taurus). She blogs at Zenobia: Empress of the East, and regularly reviews for the Times Higher Education. Year: 2014 Publisher: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER Series: Studia Archaeologica, 196 ISBN: 978-88-913-0681-4 Binding: Paperback Pages: 280 Size: 17 x 24 cm
The Zakro sealings are a unique source of evidence for the art and administration of a provincial... more The Zakro sealings are a unique source of evidence for the art and administration of a provincial palace town on the eve of its violent destruction. It is unique artistic evidence in that, unlike the contemporary sealing hoards from Ayia Triada and Chania, many seals seem to have been the work of a single artist, he who may fairly be called "the Zakro Master." Perhaps as many as seventy works from his hand remain, an oeuvre unrivalled in prehistory.
The Dutch artist, Bierenbroodspot, tells the stories of Caravan Cities and of countries where she... more The Dutch artist, Bierenbroodspot, tells the stories of Caravan Cities and of countries where she has travelled, whether on horseback or with her Land Rover, as she went looking for painting adventures. The Codex is an art object, enclosed within red copper covers, 50 new paintings, hundreds of photographs and collages, and her chronicles of places and areas where she lived and worked. Many are now destroyed by war or robbed of their magic by mass tourism. Limited edition 1-100. Format 34 x 45 cm | 396 pages | real copper cover, front and back / 50 full-colour facsimile paintings | 30 pages with photographs / 280 pages text, journal extracts, drawings and maps. Text by Bierenbroodspot, Editor-in-chief Judith Weingarten. ISBN 978-94-91525-80-3
The Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete has produced five seals (and o... more The Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete has produced five seals (and one unfinished seal), seal impressions on clay vessels, two roundels and one nodulus, as well as two Linear A tablets and two inscriptions on clay vessels. Dating between Early Minoan II and Late Minoan IB, these documents form valuable evidence for the development of sealing, marking and writing practices at a small but important rural settlement, including a penchant for using antique seals for stamping jars. They contribute too to understanding the regional hierarchical and, probably, political cultures of Crete throughout this long period, especially in the late Protopalatial phase of Middle Minoan IIB, when there seems to have been a special relationship with Malia on the north coast, and again in Late Minoan IB, when there was a relationship with Knossos. Finally, the paper discusses a pithos fragment from Tel Haror in Israel, which appears to have an inscription in Cretan Hieroglyphic or Linear A, and may well have been a product of Myrtos or nearby.
Megistos Kouros: Studies in honour of Hugh Sackett , 2022
Can we establish if the purpose of an image was to represent a specific event, involving specific... more Can we establish if the purpose of an image was to represent a specific event, involving specific persons? A triple stacked-cube bone seal (1.85 x 1.28 x 5.67 cm), CMS II.1 391, from Middle Minoan IA Archanes, Ossuary 6, is unique in having 14 distinct faces, each bearing a picture or sign(s). Fourteen faces give fourteen opportunities for images: if any seal was created to tell a story, this would be it.
The focus of this paper is to present a new methodology that examines Cretan Hieroglyphic seals f... more The focus of this paper is to present a new methodology that examines Cretan Hieroglyphic seals from both epigraphic and glyptic standpoints to be understood as parts of an integrated and multimodal system of communication. As our premise, we consider the newly published material from Myrtos-Pyrgos (Ferrara, Weingarten, Cadogan, 2016), and then compare and contrast local trends impacting the presence and use of inscribed seals from reasonably well provenanced Middle Minoan contexts in the East of the island. The goals are : 1) to throw light on the cultural significance of the administrative and functions played by Hieroglyphic seals and seal impressions ; and 2) to gain a synoptic appreciation of the emergence and use of this relatively short-lived writing system.
Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Mino... more Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete west of Ierapetra. The excavation has also produced a vase inscription that is more likely to be Hieroglyphic than Linear A. The seals are four-sided prisms; the impressions, which include one from a four-sided prism, are on the handles of oval-mouthed amphorae. The vessel with the inscription may be classed simply as a jar. The seals are significant as inscribed objects owned, and potentially to be used, by the higher echelons of the administrative pyramid, especially because one was not only of highly refined manufacture, but was also inscribed with sequences that are often repeated in the Hieroglyphic corpus; while the inscription emphasises the close connection of Cretan Hieroglyphic to Linear A. The seals and impressions add to the considerable evidence for cultural, and probably political, links between Myrtos-Pyrgos and Malia in MM IIB at the end of the Protopalatial.
Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Mino... more Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete west of Ierapetra. The excavation has also produced a vase inscription that is more likely to be Hieroglyphic than Linear A. The seals are four-sided prisms; the impressions, which include one from a four-sided prism, are on the handles of oval-mouthed amphorae. The vessel with the inscription may be classed simply as a jar. The seals are significant as inscribed objects owned, and potentially to be used, by the higher echelons of the administrative pyramid, especially because one was not only of highly refined manufacture, but was also inscribed with sequences that are often repeated in the Hieroglyphic corpus; while the inscription emphasises the close connection of Cretan Hieroglyphic to Linear A. The seals and impressions add to the considerable evidence for cultural, and probably political, links between Myrtos-Pyrgos and Malia in MM IIB at the end of the Protopalatial.
The Great Islands: Studies of Crete and Cyprus presented to Gerald Cadogan (C. Macdonald, E. Hatzaki, and S. Andreou, eds.), Kapon Editions, Athens., 2015
In (A-M. Jasink, J. Weingarten, S. Ferrara [eds.]), *Non-scribal Communication Media in the Bronz... more In (A-M. Jasink, J. Weingarten, S. Ferrara [eds.]), *Non-scribal Communication Media in the Bronze Age Aegean and Surrounding Areas: The semantics of a-literate and proto-literate media:*, University of Firenze, Firenze 2017, 99-110.
In Pini, Ingo und Poursat, Jean-Claude (eds.): Sceaux minoens et myceniens: IVe Symposium international, Clermont-Ferrand, Heidelberg, Berlin 1995 (online: Propylaeu, 2018)
This paper set out to explore Hieroglyphic administrative system especially as it relates to the ... more This paper set out to explore Hieroglyphic administrative system especially as it relates to the use of hieroglyphic seals.
In Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press , 2021
Introduction to Bronze Age Aegean, Greek, and early Roman Empire seals, sealings, seal impressio... more Introduction to Bronze Age Aegean, Greek, and early Roman Empire seals, sealings, seal impressions, gemstones, stone-cutting, signet- and finger rings, and cameos.
PROCESSIONS: Studies of Bronze Age Ritual and Ceremony Presented to Robert B. Koehl, 2023
Edited by Judith Weingarten, Colin F. Macdonald, Joan Aruz, Lara Fabian, Nisha Kumar. Robert Koeh... more Edited by Judith Weingarten, Colin F. Macdonald, Joan Aruz, Lara Fabian, Nisha Kumar. Robert Koehl has long considered processions to have played an integral role in Aegean Bronze Age societies. Processions are a unique social phenomenon in that they engage large groups with a singular purpose or outcome, acting as a cohesive force in societies. Yet they are elusive both in Aegean art and texts, which has challenged the participants in this volume to approach the subject from various viewpoints, providing evidence of ritual and ceremonial places, pathways and practices, based on archaeological and, in one instance, textual evidence. Artistic depictions in a variety of media provide a means of identifying settings, participants and the possible roles they play, while specific ritual objects are the subject of some contributions, their context and imagery offering another means of enhancing our picture of processions. Papers concentrate mainly on evidence from Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland, with additional perspectives from abroad, these geographic divisions forming the basic outline of the volume.
This book is about a single Minoan seal shape, the cushion seal - a rectangular stone with biconv... more This book is about a single Minoan seal shape, the cushion seal - a rectangular stone with biconvex faces -- so called because its profile resembles a cushion. This shape is specific to Minoan culture. The first securely-dated cushions appear in Middle Minoan IIB but its floruit is Middle Minoan III-Late Minoan IA, after which it essentially dies out. While, in its early days, the materials, style, and motifs were similar to those of other seal shapes, it later developed a recognizable, perhaps semi-independent style and iconography of its own. Some of the finest examples of Minoan glyptic art appear on cushions. Who crafted them? Had they any special meaning? Why did the shape so abruptly disppear? This book is the first to examine all aspects of cushion seals and to compare them with other contemporary forms of glyptic art. It aims to cast new light on style and form at the transition from the Protopalatial to early Neopalatial period on Crete.
Giulia Dioniso, MA in Archaeology, holds a degree in Conservation and Restoration from the Institute of Art and Restoration Palazzo Spinelli, and is presently studying for her PhD in the Science and Technology of Cultural Heritage at the University of Florence. She is a member of the Italian Archaeological Mission of Erimi- Laonin tou Porakou (Cyprus) and in charge of the Restoration Laboratory. Anna Margherita Jasink is Professor of Aegean Civilizations at the University of Florence. Her research interests are focussed on historical and philological problems of the Aegean and Near Eastern worlds. Her many publications include Cilicia, Dall'età di Kizzuwatna alla conquista macedone (with Paolo Desideri), Gli stati neo.ittiti, Analisi delle fonti scritte e sintesi storica, and Cretan Hieroglyphic Seals: a new classification of symbols and ornamental|filling motifs. She is chief editor of the Periploi series of Aegean and Cypriot studies, and directs two web portals: an interactive museum on Italian Aegean and Cypriot collections (musint.sns.it) and the Aegean Laboratory (dbas.sciant.unifi.it). Judith Weingarten, M. Litt. (Oxford), is author of numerous articles and monographs on Minoan-Mycenaean glyptic art, its implications for social, economic, and political relationships, and cultural interactions between the Aegean and East Mediterranean and Egypt. Books include The Zakro Master and His Place in Prehistory, and The Transformation of Egyptian Taweret into the Minoan Genius. Her non-archaeological passion is Palmyra and the Roman East (Zenobia: The Rebel Queen, and Sign of Taurus). She blogs at Zenobia: Empress of the East, and regularly reviews for the Times Higher Education. Year: 2014 Publisher: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER Series: Studia Archaeologica, 196 ISBN: 978-88-913-0681-4 Binding: Paperback Pages: 280 Size: 17 x 24 cm
The Zakro sealings are a unique source of evidence for the art and administration of a provincial... more The Zakro sealings are a unique source of evidence for the art and administration of a provincial palace town on the eve of its violent destruction. It is unique artistic evidence in that, unlike the contemporary sealing hoards from Ayia Triada and Chania, many seals seem to have been the work of a single artist, he who may fairly be called "the Zakro Master." Perhaps as many as seventy works from his hand remain, an oeuvre unrivalled in prehistory.
The Dutch artist, Bierenbroodspot, tells the stories of Caravan Cities and of countries where she... more The Dutch artist, Bierenbroodspot, tells the stories of Caravan Cities and of countries where she has travelled, whether on horseback or with her Land Rover, as she went looking for painting adventures. The Codex is an art object, enclosed within red copper covers, 50 new paintings, hundreds of photographs and collages, and her chronicles of places and areas where she lived and worked. Many are now destroyed by war or robbed of their magic by mass tourism. Limited edition 1-100. Format 34 x 45 cm | 396 pages | real copper cover, front and back / 50 full-colour facsimile paintings | 30 pages with photographs / 280 pages text, journal extracts, drawings and maps. Text by Bierenbroodspot, Editor-in-chief Judith Weingarten. ISBN 978-94-91525-80-3
The Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete has produced five seals (and o... more The Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete has produced five seals (and one unfinished seal), seal impressions on clay vessels, two roundels and one nodulus, as well as two Linear A tablets and two inscriptions on clay vessels. Dating between Early Minoan II and Late Minoan IB, these documents form valuable evidence for the development of sealing, marking and writing practices at a small but important rural settlement, including a penchant for using antique seals for stamping jars. They contribute too to understanding the regional hierarchical and, probably, political cultures of Crete throughout this long period, especially in the late Protopalatial phase of Middle Minoan IIB, when there seems to have been a special relationship with Malia on the north coast, and again in Late Minoan IB, when there was a relationship with Knossos. Finally, the paper discusses a pithos fragment from Tel Haror in Israel, which appears to have an inscription in Cretan Hieroglyphic or Linear A, and may well have been a product of Myrtos or nearby.
Megistos Kouros: Studies in honour of Hugh Sackett , 2022
Can we establish if the purpose of an image was to represent a specific event, involving specific... more Can we establish if the purpose of an image was to represent a specific event, involving specific persons? A triple stacked-cube bone seal (1.85 x 1.28 x 5.67 cm), CMS II.1 391, from Middle Minoan IA Archanes, Ossuary 6, is unique in having 14 distinct faces, each bearing a picture or sign(s). Fourteen faces give fourteen opportunities for images: if any seal was created to tell a story, this would be it.
The focus of this paper is to present a new methodology that examines Cretan Hieroglyphic seals f... more The focus of this paper is to present a new methodology that examines Cretan Hieroglyphic seals from both epigraphic and glyptic standpoints to be understood as parts of an integrated and multimodal system of communication. As our premise, we consider the newly published material from Myrtos-Pyrgos (Ferrara, Weingarten, Cadogan, 2016), and then compare and contrast local trends impacting the presence and use of inscribed seals from reasonably well provenanced Middle Minoan contexts in the East of the island. The goals are : 1) to throw light on the cultural significance of the administrative and functions played by Hieroglyphic seals and seal impressions ; and 2) to gain a synoptic appreciation of the emergence and use of this relatively short-lived writing system.
Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Mino... more Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete west of Ierapetra. The excavation has also produced a vase inscription that is more likely to be Hieroglyphic than Linear A. The seals are four-sided prisms; the impressions, which include one from a four-sided prism, are on the handles of oval-mouthed amphorae. The vessel with the inscription may be classed simply as a jar. The seals are significant as inscribed objects owned, and potentially to be used, by the higher echelons of the administrative pyramid, especially because one was not only of highly refined manufacture, but was also inscribed with sequences that are often repeated in the Hieroglyphic corpus; while the inscription emphasises the close connection of Cretan Hieroglyphic to Linear A. The seals and impressions add to the considerable evidence for cultural, and probably political, links between Myrtos-Pyrgos and Malia in MM IIB at the end of the Protopalatial.
Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Mino... more Two Cretan Hieroglyphic seals and three Hieroglyphic seal impressions have been found at the Minoan settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos on the south coast of Crete west of Ierapetra. The excavation has also produced a vase inscription that is more likely to be Hieroglyphic than Linear A. The seals are four-sided prisms; the impressions, which include one from a four-sided prism, are on the handles of oval-mouthed amphorae. The vessel with the inscription may be classed simply as a jar. The seals are significant as inscribed objects owned, and potentially to be used, by the higher echelons of the administrative pyramid, especially because one was not only of highly refined manufacture, but was also inscribed with sequences that are often repeated in the Hieroglyphic corpus; while the inscription emphasises the close connection of Cretan Hieroglyphic to Linear A. The seals and impressions add to the considerable evidence for cultural, and probably political, links between Myrtos-Pyrgos and Malia in MM IIB at the end of the Protopalatial.
The Great Islands: Studies of Crete and Cyprus presented to Gerald Cadogan (C. Macdonald, E. Hatzaki, and S. Andreou, eds.), Kapon Editions, Athens., 2015
In (A-M. Jasink, J. Weingarten, S. Ferrara [eds.]), *Non-scribal Communication Media in the Bronz... more In (A-M. Jasink, J. Weingarten, S. Ferrara [eds.]), *Non-scribal Communication Media in the Bronze Age Aegean and Surrounding Areas: The semantics of a-literate and proto-literate media:*, University of Firenze, Firenze 2017, 99-110.
In Pini, Ingo und Poursat, Jean-Claude (eds.): Sceaux minoens et myceniens: IVe Symposium international, Clermont-Ferrand, Heidelberg, Berlin 1995 (online: Propylaeu, 2018)
This paper set out to explore Hieroglyphic administrative system especially as it relates to the ... more This paper set out to explore Hieroglyphic administrative system especially as it relates to the use of hieroglyphic seals.
In Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press , 2021
Introduction to Bronze Age Aegean, Greek, and early Roman Empire seals, sealings, seal impressio... more Introduction to Bronze Age Aegean, Greek, and early Roman Empire seals, sealings, seal impressions, gemstones, stone-cutting, signet- and finger rings, and cameos.
"Introductory Remarks, Aegean." In M. Ameri, S. Costello, G. Jamison, & S. Scott (Eds.), Seals an... more "Introductory Remarks, Aegean." In M. Ameri, S. Costello, G. Jamison, & S. Scott (Eds.), Seals and Sealing in the Ancient World: Case Studies from the Near East, Egypt, the Aegean, and South Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2018, 327-333.
The papers published here are dedicated to the memory of Ellen N. Davis, one of the most valued a... more The papers published here are dedicated to the memory of Ellen N. Davis, one of the most valued and beloved Aegean scholars of her generation.
METAPHYSIS Ritual, Myth and Symbolism in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum 39, 2016
The Minoan craft of carving and decorating natural triton shells is, as far as we know, restricte... more The Minoan craft of carving and decorating natural triton shells is, as far as we know, restricted to Phaistos and Middle Minoan IIB. Before this time, however, a remarkably similar triton shell carved with sphinxes in relief had appeared in central Anatolia. The sole extant example of what must have been a wider tradition was found in Kültepe-Kanesh Level II – that is, several generations before the Phaistian shells. This paper explores both the craft of carving triton shells and the adoption of sphinx iconography by the Minoans.
In (J. Phillips, ed) Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East. Studies in Honour of Martha Rhoads Bell, 1997
The chryselephantine statue of a young Minoan male was discovered in the town of Palaikastro on t... more The chryselephantine statue of a young Minoan male was discovered in the town of Palaikastro on the northeastem coast of Crete. Standing nearly 50 cm. high, it is the largest Minoan sculpture ever found and it is virtually complete. Its very fine workmanship is evident, with highly realistic details such as sinews and blood vessels clearly indicated both on hands and feet. The statue is built up from 8 separate pieces of hippopotamus ivory. The craftsman's ability to unite the pieces flawlessly was particularly intriguing. What technical procedure could he have used to ensure identical proportions on each of the sections? For example, Egyptian artists worked within a framework of guidelines or grids in order to draw and sculpt human figures according to a fixed canon of proportions. Such a grid would have also undoubtedly facilitated the fitting of separate parts into a seamless whole. Had the kouros been carved and assembled following some similar proportional system?
NEΩTEΡOΣ. STUDIES IN BRONZE AGE AEGEAN ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY. Fest. JOHN G. YOUNGER (eds. B. DAVIS & R.LAFFINEUR), 2020
An extraordinary ring impression discovered among the Late Minoan
IB destruction debris inside B... more An extraordinary ring impression discovered among the Late Minoan
IB destruction debris inside Building 5 at Palaikastro, eastern Crete. Despite its unique imagery, publication (BSA 84 , 1989) did not bring the ring fame or favour; in fact, it has rarely been mentioned since. This paper sets out to reclaim the ring as a masterpiece of Minoan glyptic art.
PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR PDF (due to publisher's restriction)
The story of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, and how she was viewed from the early Renaissance until t... more The story of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, and how she was viewed from the early Renaissance until today.
Zenobia van Palmyra
Vorstin tussen Europese en Arabische traditie,
De gebundelde essays van... more Zenobia van Palmyra
Vorstin tussen Europese en Arabische traditie,
De gebundelde essays van het Eerste Zenobiacongres werden gepubliceerd bij de Wereldbibliotheek in Armada 53 (2008). Ter gelegenheid van het tienjarig bestaan van Stichting Zenobia geeft Uitgeverij Verloren deze uitverkochte Armada uit in een nieuw jasje, als extra deel in de Zenobiareeks. De bundel laat kenners uit verschillende disciplines aan het woord over Zenobia.
The October-November special issue of 'NILE Magazine: Discover Ancient Egypt Today' has just appe... more The October-November special issue of 'NILE Magazine: Discover Ancient Egypt Today' has just appeared. Its main feature story is on 'THE GOVERNORS OF ELEPHANTINE'. These were the princes who are buried in the tombs of Qubbet el-Hawa....
This post was written for the Getty Research Institute’s blog, The Iris, in conjunction with thei... more This post was written for the Getty Research Institute’s blog, The Iris, in conjunction with their online exhibition 'The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra', stories and perspectives that complement their virtual exhibition.
Last week, the Peruvian architect Karina Puente sent me her brand-new drawing of the "Invisible c... more Last week, the Peruvian architect Karina Puente sent me her brand-new drawing of the "Invisible city of Zenobia", one of the fifty-five Invisible Cities that Italo Calvino created in his novel (more a prose poem, really) of the same name.
So many books about Women in Antiquity really tell 'just so' stories about fictional females -- ... more So many books about Women in Antiquity really tell 'just so' stories about fictional females -- and very much less about real women of the distant past. They might, for example, kick off with tales of goddesses and heroines, perhaps followed by fanciful Amazons, and then go on to describe famous female characters from the classics, harking back to Homer, Hesiod, or Virgil -- just as if those ladies had actually existed.
At the end of his report on his successful visit to Palmyra ('A Relation of a Voyage from Aleppo ... more At the end of his report on his successful visit to Palmyra ('A Relation of a Voyage from Aleppo to Palmyra in Syria', 1695), the Rev.William Halifax added a note to announce the very latest news:
In the summer of 1678, sixteen intrepid Englishmen with 24 muleteers and servants departed from A... more In the summer of 1678, sixteen intrepid Englishmen with 24 muleteers and servants departed from Aleppo to make the first attempt by Westerners to reach the fabled city of Palmyra (in Arabic, known as Tadmor). It was not unusual for the foreign merchants of Aleppo, whose education had been broadly based on the Classics, to undertake “Voyages of Curiosity to visit the celebrated Remains of Antiquity in those Parts." Yet, throughout the 17th century, Palmyra wasn't even on the map, and only rumour spoke of it:
Two men, by the names of Aesop and Babrius, and a schoolboy walked into a bar in ancient Palmyra.... more Two men, by the names of Aesop and Babrius, and a schoolboy walked into a bar in ancient Palmyra. Aesop ordered three cups of date-palm wine and toasts his companions, telling a fable about an eagle and a jackdaw (Aesop 2). Babrius laughs, buys another round of wine, and says....
A journalist working for the Swedish newspaper Expressen has managed to place a hidden video came... more A journalist working for the Swedish newspaper Expressen has managed to place a hidden video camera on a bus on its way into Palmyra.* This is the first time anyone has filmed in the city since ISIS took control in May 2015 ...
You also, son of man, take a written scroll, feed your stomach and fill your belly with what I gi... more You also, son of man, take a written scroll, feed your stomach and fill your belly with what I give you, and it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth. Thus begins the medieval Hebrew manuscript Megillat Yehudit (Scroll of Judith).* Beneath the title, in smaller letters, is the instruction: "to be said on Hanukkah."
The Peregrinations of a Lady. This funerary portrait of an elegant upper-class woman from Palmyra... more The Peregrinations of a Lady. This funerary portrait of an elegant upper-class woman from Palmyra used to belong to the wealthy Italian art historian and critic, Federico Ziro. Before it entered Ziro's collection, however,...
Harald Ingholt and Palmyra; The Palmyra Portrait Project, Museum of Ancient Art at University of... more Harald Ingholt and Palmyra; The Palmyra Portrait Project, Museum of Ancient Art at University of Aarhus
1. Extremely rare ancient Roman frescos have just been discovered in the bedroom of a freshly-du... more 1. Extremely rare ancient Roman frescos have just been discovered in the bedroom of a freshly-dug Roman villa in Arles (Latin Arelate). 2. Join an Archaeological Research Project
As of last count, only 13 life-size statues of mortal women are known from Hatra compared to some... more As of last count, only 13 life-size statues of mortal women are known from Hatra compared to some 120 statues of men. This undoubtedly reflects (I am sorry to say) womens' lower social status in Hatrene society. It seems that, as ever, even a Queen or Princess was first and foremost a female, and thus inferior in the greater scheme of things. Still, all is not bleak.
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Giulia Dioniso, MA in Archaeology, holds a degree in Conservation and Restoration from the Institute of Art and Restoration Palazzo Spinelli, and is presently studying for her PhD in the Science and Technology of Cultural Heritage at the University of Florence. She is a member of the Italian Archaeological Mission of Erimi- Laonin tou Porakou (Cyprus) and in charge of the Restoration Laboratory.
Anna Margherita Jasink is Professor of Aegean Civilizations at the University of Florence. Her research interests are focussed on historical and philological problems of the Aegean and Near Eastern worlds. Her many publications include Cilicia, Dall'età di Kizzuwatna alla conquista macedone (with Paolo Desideri), Gli stati neo.ittiti, Analisi delle fonti scritte e sintesi storica, and Cretan Hieroglyphic Seals: a new classification of symbols and ornamental|filling motifs. She is chief editor of the Periploi series of Aegean and Cypriot studies, and directs two web portals: an interactive museum on Italian Aegean and Cypriot collections (musint.sns.it) and the Aegean Laboratory (dbas.sciant.unifi.it).
Judith Weingarten, M. Litt. (Oxford), is author of numerous articles and monographs on Minoan-Mycenaean glyptic art, its implications for social, economic, and political relationships, and cultural interactions between the Aegean and East Mediterranean and Egypt. Books include The Zakro Master and His Place in Prehistory, and The Transformation of Egyptian Taweret into the Minoan Genius. Her non-archaeological passion is Palmyra and the Roman East (Zenobia: The Rebel Queen, and Sign of Taurus). She blogs at Zenobia: Empress of the East, and regularly reviews for the Times Higher Education.
Year: 2014
Publisher: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
Series: Studia Archaeologica, 196
ISBN: 978-88-913-0681-4
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 280
Size: 17 x 24 cm
emergence and use of this relatively short-lived writing system.
of highly refined manufacture, but was also inscribed with sequences that are often repeated in the Hieroglyphic corpus; while the inscription emphasises the close connection of Cretan Hieroglyphic to Linear A. The seals and impressions add to the considerable evidence for cultural, and probably political, links between Myrtos-Pyrgos and Malia in MM IIB at the end of the Protopalatial.
Giulia Dioniso, MA in Archaeology, holds a degree in Conservation and Restoration from the Institute of Art and Restoration Palazzo Spinelli, and is presently studying for her PhD in the Science and Technology of Cultural Heritage at the University of Florence. She is a member of the Italian Archaeological Mission of Erimi- Laonin tou Porakou (Cyprus) and in charge of the Restoration Laboratory.
Anna Margherita Jasink is Professor of Aegean Civilizations at the University of Florence. Her research interests are focussed on historical and philological problems of the Aegean and Near Eastern worlds. Her many publications include Cilicia, Dall'età di Kizzuwatna alla conquista macedone (with Paolo Desideri), Gli stati neo.ittiti, Analisi delle fonti scritte e sintesi storica, and Cretan Hieroglyphic Seals: a new classification of symbols and ornamental|filling motifs. She is chief editor of the Periploi series of Aegean and Cypriot studies, and directs two web portals: an interactive museum on Italian Aegean and Cypriot collections (musint.sns.it) and the Aegean Laboratory (dbas.sciant.unifi.it).
Judith Weingarten, M. Litt. (Oxford), is author of numerous articles and monographs on Minoan-Mycenaean glyptic art, its implications for social, economic, and political relationships, and cultural interactions between the Aegean and East Mediterranean and Egypt. Books include The Zakro Master and His Place in Prehistory, and The Transformation of Egyptian Taweret into the Minoan Genius. Her non-archaeological passion is Palmyra and the Roman East (Zenobia: The Rebel Queen, and Sign of Taurus). She blogs at Zenobia: Empress of the East, and regularly reviews for the Times Higher Education.
Year: 2014
Publisher: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
Series: Studia Archaeologica, 196
ISBN: 978-88-913-0681-4
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 280
Size: 17 x 24 cm
emergence and use of this relatively short-lived writing system.
of highly refined manufacture, but was also inscribed with sequences that are often repeated in the Hieroglyphic corpus; while the inscription emphasises the close connection of Cretan Hieroglyphic to Linear A. The seals and impressions add to the considerable evidence for cultural, and probably political, links between Myrtos-Pyrgos and Malia in MM IIB at the end of the Protopalatial.
IB destruction debris inside Building 5 at Palaikastro, eastern Crete. Despite its unique imagery, publication (BSA 84 , 1989) did not bring the ring fame or favour; in fact, it has rarely been mentioned since. This paper sets out to reclaim the ring as a masterpiece of Minoan glyptic art.
PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR PDF (due to publisher's restriction)
Vorstin tussen Europese en Arabische traditie,
De gebundelde essays van het Eerste Zenobiacongres werden gepubliceerd bij de Wereldbibliotheek in Armada 53 (2008). Ter gelegenheid van het tienjarig bestaan van Stichting Zenobia geeft Uitgeverij Verloren deze uitverkochte Armada uit in een nieuw jasje, als extra deel in de Zenobiareeks. De bundel laat kenners uit verschillende disciplines aan het woord over Zenobia.
They might, for example, kick off with tales of goddesses and heroines, perhaps followed by fanciful Amazons, and then go on to describe famous female characters from the classics, harking back to Homer, Hesiod, or Virgil -- just as if those ladies had actually existed.
Thus begins the medieval Hebrew manuscript Megillat Yehudit (Scroll of Judith).* Beneath the title, in smaller letters, is the instruction: "to be said on Hanukkah."
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