In this contribution we publish a lead circus curse tablet written in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (Princeton Art Museum excavation no. 3608-I57). The tablet was found in 1935 during excavations near... Show moreIn this contribution we publish a lead circus curse tablet written in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (Princeton Art Museum excavation no. 3608-I57). The tablet was found in 1935 during excavations near the first turning-post at the hippodrome of Antioch on the Orontes (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). The use of Greek and Latin defixiones agonist-icae (agonistic binding spells) in chariot races was a wide-spread phenomenon during the Roman Byzantine Period. Curse tablets were inscribed with aggressive incantations that aimed at the defeat of rivals in the chariot races. The tablet under discussion is a unique piece: It is the only known lead circus curse tablet that was written in a Jewish language and script. The tablet is datable to the fifth or sixth century CE. Show less
A wooden chapel dedicated to St. Servatius in sixth-century Maastricht has gotten a bad press. Historical and archaeological comparisons may redeem this humble shrine and illuminate the darkest... Show moreA wooden chapel dedicated to St. Servatius in sixth-century Maastricht has gotten a bad press. Historical and archaeological comparisons may redeem this humble shrine and illuminate the darkest years of post-Roman towns. Show less
Ecologically and politically peripheral areas, such as mountains, deserts and marshes have often been seen as zones of resistance against the encroaching state. At first sight, the mountainous... Show moreEcologically and politically peripheral areas, such as mountains, deserts and marshes have often been seen as zones of resistance against the encroaching state. At first sight, the mountainous uplands and the desert fringe of North Africa seem to be such an area of resistance: in the Late Roman and Byzantine period, the Atlas Mountains and the Tripolitanian Sahara were epicentres of indigenous revolt against the Roman state, particularly during the Moorish Wars c. 533-548 AD. The question is whether the physical geography truly determined a cultural antagonism between inland zones and the Mediterranean coast. Using evidence from survey archaeology, epigraphy and literary sources, this paper tests models on connectivity and resistance, disputing the simple opposition between an inland, indigenous world on the one hand, and a cosmopolitan , Mediterranean and Roman world on the other. Instead, evidence shows that the relationship between "Roman" and "native" was much more complex, entangled and ambivalent, despite the peripheral nature of the inland landscapes. The cultural landscape was determined as much by historical factors as environmental. Show less
The Manichaeans of Kellis: Religion, Community, and Everyday Life is the first monograph examining daily life of a Manichaean community in the Roman Empire. It shows where and when a... Show moreThe Manichaeans of Kellis: Religion, Community, and Everyday Life is the first monograph examining daily life of a Manichaean community in the Roman Empire. It shows where and when a Manichaean affiliation mattered for ancient individuals and families, how it affected their personal letters, as well as their day-to-day interactions in a fourth-century village. The papyrological and archaeological evidence from the village of Kellis (modern Ismant el-Kharab) presents a unique perspective on this late antique religion that is otherwise mostly known for its theological and cosmological system. The specific setting of these finds, in particular having liturgical texts and personal letters from the same houses, offers many opportunities to reconstruct family networks, village interactions, as well as some of the underlying religious structures and practices. By pursuing a bottom-up approach, this study brings Manichaeism to life as a religion for ordinary people. It also engages with the larger theoretical debates concerning the role and position of “lived religion” in the academic Study of Religion, as well as current perspectives on the fundamental transformation of religion in Late Antiquity. Show less
This article, written for a wide audience in Dutch, provides a summary of the author's PhD dissertation, Episcopal Networks and Authority in Late Antique Egypt (defended in November 2017, published... Show moreThis article, written for a wide audience in Dutch, provides a summary of the author's PhD dissertation, Episcopal Networks and Authority in Late Antique Egypt (defended in November 2017, published by Peeters in Leuven in 2018), on seventh-century bishops who represented a new church hierarchy and were organizing it on a local level. This hierarchy is the forerunner of the present-day Coptic Orthodox Church. Show less
This dissertation is a study of archaeological remains left behind by nomadic communities in the Black Desert, situated in the northeast of modern Jordan. Between the Hellenistic and Early Islamic... Show moreThis dissertation is a study of archaeological remains left behind by nomadic communities in the Black Desert, situated in the northeast of modern Jordan. Between the Hellenistic and Early Islamic periods - roughly the late 1st millennium BC and the 1st millennium AD - the Black Desert was frequented by nomadic communities who are best known for the Safaitic inscriptions and rock art they left behind on the basalt boulders that characterise this desert environment. These remains, however, provide an incomplete view of those who carved them, and this study aims to provide new information on these nomads by studying the rich and well-preserved archaeological remains they left behind. It specifically focuses on stone-built architecture, notably burial cairns found often on hilltops and ridges, and enclosures situated at campsites used by nomads. These features are studied through archaeological methods such as remote sensing, field surveys and excavations. The study makes clear that in addition to textual and pictorial carvings nomadic communities invested significantly in their surroundings through the construction of elaborate and long-lasting structures. These served various social and economic purposes on the short and long term. The study thus provides an alternative view on nomad-landscape interaction in anntiquity. Show less
The study of the integration of areas peripheral to the main urban centres of the conquered lands to the Islamic sphere of authority in the 7th century poses great issues to historians because of... Show moreThe study of the integration of areas peripheral to the main urban centres of the conquered lands to the Islamic sphere of authority in the 7th century poses great issues to historians because of the scarcity of sources available. The Egyptian countryside however beneficiates from a large body of documentary evidence composed of papyri in Greek, Coptic and Arabic in addition to archaeological data and local historiography. This study offers to explore the history of Middle-Egypt, precisely the region of Antinoe/Anṣinā and Hermopolis/Ašmūn/Ašmūnayn as it became part of the empire of the Medinan (642-659), Umayyad (659-750) and Abbasid caliphs (750-868). The very detailed documentation available for the region allows to investigate the immediate measures that were taken locally after the conquest to insure and installation of the conquerors and their sustenance. It also shows how cooperation with the local au thorities was working from the very first years of Islamic dominance. One of the examples of that is given by the office of the duke of the Thebaid in Antinoe, revealing over time how such position contributed to the formation of the Islamic administrative hierarchy during the Umayyad period. However, the city of Anṣinā progressively fades away from the available documentation from the 8th century on as Ašmūn/Ašmūnayn becomes the main administrative centre of the area indicating a shift in the administrative system completed by the 9th century Show less
