Making and Breaking the Emperors at Eretria

Some photos from a wet day visiting the excavations of ancient Eretria and its temple of the imperial cult with an interesting assemblage of seven heavily fragmented sculptures, possibly the outcome of late antique Christian response (see JRA 2001). We are eagerly awaiting Valentina di Napoli’s full publication of the finds.

The Death of Spolia? Roman Re-Use Cultures

Scholarship on reuse in the Roman (and late antique) world is growing at great speed. I have recently reviewed this large volume on “La sculpture et sesames reemplois”, edited by Vassiliki Gaggadis-Robin and Nicholas de Larquier (forthcoming in Latomus, 79.4): The volume compiles plenty of interesting new material, especially from the western Mediterranean, both in […]

Visiting Abu Mina – A Coptic Pilgrimage Site

The new monastic complex at Abu Mina, as seen from the ruined Northern Basilica. Photo: TMK, May 2008. In a post last month, I mentioned my emerging interest in pilgrimage, especially from as seen from the perspective of material and visual culture. This interest stems, at least in part, from visits to sites that are […]

Aanjar

Some snapshots from the spectacular Umayyad site of Aanjar in Lebanon. This fortified city was built in the early 8th century AD on the same principles as a Roman city, i.e. using a square grid plan and with colonnaded streets. Its builders also made extensive use of spolia. Aanjar had several bathhouses, heated by hypocaust […]

The Afterlife of Roman Sculpture

Here’s news of a seminar that I’m organizing next semester: The Afterlife of Roman Sculpture: Late Antique Perceptions and Practices Friday 26 September 1-5 pm Speakers: Silviu Anghel, Columbia University: “Burying Statues: Change or Continuity in Late Antiquity?” Ben Croxford, University of Cambridge: “The Destruction of Sculpture in Roman Britain: Re-evaluating the Action and its […]

Late Antique Archaeology 2008: A Recap

I was in London on Saturday for the 2008 meeting of Late Antique Archaeology. The theme of this year’s conference was “Recent Fieldwork in Urban Archaeology” and papers were presented on Noviodunum (Romania), Boeotia, Aphrodisias, Ephesus, Sagalassos, Ostia, Delphi, Apamea (Syria), Canterbury and Istanbul. The Temple of Apollo, Delphi. The temple was repaired after a […]