HELD ON TUESDAY MAY 25TH 2021, 20:00 CET
AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES IN LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS
Dr. Tamar Hodos
EGGSTRAORDINARY OBJECTS
OSTRICH EGGS AS LUXURY ITEMS IN THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN
Decorated ostrich eggs were traded as luxury items from the Middle East to the western Mediterranean during the second and first millennia BCE. The eggs were engraved, painted, and occasionally embellished with ivory, precious metals and faience fittings. While archaeologists note their presence as unusual vessels in funerary and dedicatory contexts, little is known about how or from where they were sourced, decorated and traded. Researchers at Bristol University, Durham University, and the British Museum have established techniques to identify where the eggs originated and how they were decorated. This talk shares the results of this study, revealing the complexity of the production, trade, and economic and social values of luxury organic items between competing cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world.
Tamar Hodos is Reader in Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Bristol. A world authority on the archaeology of the Mediterranean Iron Age, she uses postcolonial and globalisation theories to tease out the complex connections between the wider ancient Mediterranean’s diverse populations. Her most recent books include The Archaeology of the Mediterranean Iron Age and The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and Globalization. She spearheads Globalising Luxuries, which explores the role luxuries play in social and economic relations between communities of the ancient world. She is also an active field archaeologist, having worked previously in Turkey and currently in Israel.
Program
Welcome and introduction by Eric Moormann (editor-in-chief BABESCH)
BABESCH Byvanck Lecture by Tamar Hodos (University of Bristol)
Discussion, moderated by Gert-Jan Van Wijngaarden (University of Amsterdam)
