The Byzantine Shops at Sardis

The Byzantine Shops at Sardis
Author: J. Stephens Crawford
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 1990
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780674089686

The Byzantine Shops at Sardis form a complex of commercial establishments lining the south wall of Sardis's renowned synagogue and bath complex. They offer scholars a unique opportunity to study urban life and commercial architecture in the Late Antique period. Remarkably well preserved, these shops provide economic data vital to an understanding of the trade and commerce of their time. J. Stephens Crawford was a primary excavator of the shops and has worked at contemporary sites in Asia Minor. His first-hand insights elucidate his publication of the functions of the shops, which include dye shops, glass shops, a "hardware store," and a restaurant. Crawford explores the evidence of religious diversity in the shops, where Jews and Christians lived and worked side by side. The contributors to this volume include Martha Goodway, George M. A. Hanfmann, Jane Ayer Scott, Pamela Vandiver, and Michael Weishan. Descriptions of the finds, which are extensively illustrated, are contributed by J. A. Scott. A comprehensive chapter of architectural comparanda from Asia Minor, Greece, Egypt, and the Near East presents some interesting parallels. Pamela Vandiver and Martha Goodway of the Smithsonian Conservation Laboratory provide an appendix of analyses of metal and fruit residues from the crucibles found in the shops, and a numismatic appendix summarizes the currency by mint.

The Bath-Gymnasium Complex at Sardis

The Bath-Gymnasium Complex at Sardis
Author: Fikret K. Yegül
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 372
Release: 1986
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780674063457

The Bath-Gymnasium at Sardis is the most important known example of a complex that combines the gymnasium, a Greek institution, with the Roman bath, a unique architectural and cultural embodiment comparable in size and organization to the great Imperial thermae of Rome. The restoration by the Harvard-Cornell Expedition of the "Marble Court" or Imperial cult hall provides a rare opportunity to appreciate firsthand the scale and elegance of the major Imperial monuments. In this fully illustrated volume Fikret Yeg l describes the complex from the palaestra of the east through the richly decorated Marble Court to the vast swimming pool, lofty halls, and hot baths, including analysis of the excavation, evidence for structural systems, roofing, vaulting, and decoration, and the significance of building inscriptions. The author traces the building history from its completion in the second century through five centuries of renovation and redecoration. Mehmet Bolgil, a practicing architect who was in charge of the restoration at Sardis, contributes a clear description of the reconstruction process.

Housing in Late Antiquity

Housing in Late Antiquity
Author: Luke Lavan
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 556
Release: 2007
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9004162283

This collection of papers, arising from the conference series Late Antique Archaeology, examines the housing in the late antique period, through thematic and regional syntheses, complemented by cases studies and two bibliographic essays.

Humanities

Humanities
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 594
Release: 1988
Genre: Humanities
ISBN:

The Archaeology of Byzantine Anatolia

The Archaeology of Byzantine Anatolia
Author: Philipp Niewohner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2017-03-17
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 019066262X

This book accounts for the tumultuous period of the fifth to eleventh centuries from the Fall of Rome and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire through the breakup of the Eastern Roman Empire and loss of pan-Mediterranean rule, until the Turks arrived and seized Anatolia. The volume is divided into a dozen syntheses that each addresses an issue of intrigue for the archaeology of Anatolia, and two dozen case studies on single sites that exemplify its richness. Anatolia was the only major part of the Roman Empire that did not fall in late antiquity; it remained steadfast under Roman rule through the eleventh century. Its personal history stands to elucidate both the emphatic impact of Roman administration in the wake of pan-Mediterranean collapse. Thanks to Byzantine archaeology, we now know that urban decline did not set in before the fifth century, after Anatolia had already be thoroughly Christianized in the course of the fourth century; we know now that urban decline, as it occurred from the fifth century onwards, was paired with rural prosperity, and an increase in the number, size, and quality of rural settlements and in rural population; that this ruralization was halted during the seventh to ninth centuries, when Anatolia was invaded first by the Persians, and then by the Arabs---and the population appears to have sought shelter behind new urban fortifications and in large cathedrals. Further, it elucidates that once the Arab threat had ended in the ninth century, this ruralization set in once more, and most cities seem to have been abandoned or reduced to villages during the ensuing time of seeming tranquility, whilst the countryside experienced renewed prosperity; that this trend was reversed yet again, when the Seljuk Turks appeared on the scene in the eleventh century, devastated the countryside and led to a revival and refortification of the former cities. This dynamic historical thread, traced across its extremes through the lens of Byzantine archaeology, speaks not only to the torrid narrative of Byzantine Anatolia, but to the enigmatic medievalization.

Neglected Architectural Decoration from the Late Antique City

Neglected Architectural Decoration from the Late Antique City
Author: Solinda Kamani
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2023-10-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004520597

This book examines neglected architectural decoration from the late antique city of the East Mediterranean. It addresses the omission in scholarship of discussion about the embellishment of non-monumental secular buildings (public porticoes, small public baths, shops/workshops, and non-elite houses). The finishing of these structures has been overlooked at the expense of more lofty buildings and remains one of the least known aspects of the late antique city. The author surveys the archaeological evidence for decoration in the region, with the maritime sites of Ostia and Ephesus selected as case studies. Drawing upon archaeological, written, and visual sources, it attempts to reconstruct how such buildings appeared to late antique viewers and investigates why they were decorated as they were.

Writing on the Wall

Writing on the Wall
Author: Karen B. Stern
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2020-11-03
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0691210705

What ancient graffiti reveals about the everyday lives of Jews in the Greek and Roman world Few direct clues exist to the everyday lives and beliefs of ordinary Jews in antiquity. Prevailing perspectives on ancient Jewish life have been shaped largely by the voices of intellectual and social elites, preserved in the writings of Philo and Josephus and the rabbinic texts of the Mishnah and Talmud. Commissioned art, architecture, and formal inscriptions displayed on tombs and synagogues equally reflect the sensibilities of their influential patrons. The perspectives and sentiments of nonelite Jews, by contrast, have mostly disappeared from the historical record. Focusing on these forgotten Jews of antiquity, Writing on the Wall takes an unprecedented look at the vernacular inscriptions and drawings they left behind and sheds new light on the richness of their quotidian lives. Just like their neighbors throughout the eastern and southern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt, ancient Jews scribbled and drew graffiti everyplace--in and around markets, hippodromes, theaters, pagan temples, open cliffs, sanctuaries, and even inside burial caves and synagogues. Karen Stern reveals what these markings tell us about the men and women who made them, people whose lives, beliefs, and behaviors eluded commemoration in grand literary and architectural works. Making compelling analogies with modern graffiti practices, she documents the overlooked connections between Jews and their neighbors, showing how popular Jewish practices of prayer, mortuary commemoration, commerce, and civic engagement regularly crossed ethnic and religious boundaries. Illustrated throughout with examples of ancient graffiti, Writing on the Wall provides a tantalizingly intimate glimpse into the cultural worlds of forgotten populations living at the crossroads of Judaism, Christianity, paganism, and earliest Islam.

Byzantium, Pliska, and the Balkans

Byzantium, Pliska, and the Balkans
Author: Joachim Henning
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 764
Release: 2009-05-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110218836

MILLENNIUM pursues an interdisciplinary approach transcending historical eras. The editorial board and the advisory board represent a wide range of disciplines - contributions from art and literary studies are just as welcome as historical, theological and philosophical contributions on both the Latin and Greek and the Oriental cultures. The STUDIES present relevant monographs or collections of papers from across the whole range of topics. The YEARBOOK contains authoritative articles. As the links between the various articles are sketched out in a comprehensive editorial, their diversity is intended to encourage dialogue between the disciplines and national research cultures. MILLENNIUM does not publish individual reviews, but does on occasions produce literature surveys. The languages of publication are principally English and German, but articles in French, Italian and Spanish can also be accommodated.

The Sixth Century

The Sixth Century
Author: Hodges
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2003-04-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004502602

In his assessment of the transformation of the Roman World Henri Pirenne assigned little significance to the sixth century, seeing it primarily as a period of continuity. In this volume twelve scholars assess the period in the light of new evidence and new perspectives. The result is an infinitely complex picture, covering Scandinavia and Central Europe as well as the western Mediterranean, in which continuity and change exist side by side.

Exploring urbanism in ancient North Syria

Exploring urbanism in ancient North Syria
Author: Michael Blömer
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2022-07-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110747952

This book accounts for the results of fieldwork in Doliche, located in Gaziantep, South East Turkey. Doliche was an important city of ancient North Syria which continued to thrive into the Middle Ages. For the first time, an international research project started to explore the site in 2015. The chapters collected in this volume discuss the main discoveries of the first seasons. It is divided in two parts. The first part considers the main excavation results, with a particular emphasis on a newly discovered early Christian basilica and its decoration. This section also contains the first comprehensive discussion of a newly discovered Roman Imperial hypogeum from the city necropolis. The chapters of the second part deal with the preliminary findings from an intra-urban intensive survey. Between 2017 and 2019, a significant portion of the city area has been investigated, and the results of the survey offer new insights in the spatial and chronological of the city. The chapters consider methodological questions, but also discuss artefact groups. In general, the results presented in this volume add to the knowledge of urbanism in Roman and Late antique North Syria.