Publication of proceedings of 'Material Worlds' workshop held at ISAW in 2016
ISAW is delighted to announce that the proceedings of ‘Material Worlds: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Contacts and Exchange in the Ancient Near East’, edited by Arnulf Hausleiter (2015-2016 Visiting Research Scholar at ISAW), was published by Archaeopress in December 2023. The workshop was originally held at ISAW on 7th March 2016, with contributions delivered by 11 leading experts in their respective fields.
Tackling interdisciplinary questions based on the most recently obtained late 3rd/early 2nd millennium BC evidence from excavations on the Arabian Peninsula, the workshop drew on a wide range of case studies. Spanning a broad chronological and geographical field, the contributions lay out a compelling argument that West Asian exchange networks were situated within a larger network linked to systems operating in adjacent regions. Through consideration of case studies from the Middle Bronze to Iron Age periods (20th to 7th centuries BC), the publication explores one of the most dynamic contact zones of the ancient world and ultimately advocates for expanding the boundaries of the previously defined ‘Ancient Near East’.
The open access publication is available at this page, as well as through print options available for purchase.
Contributing authors: Gojko Barjamovic (Harvard University), Celia J. Bergoffen (Fashion Institute of Technology, New York), Lorenzo D’Alfonso (ISAW, NYU), Nancy A. Highcock (The British Museum, London and IFA, NYU Alumnus), Robert W. Homsher (San Francisco), Alice M. W. Hunt (University of Georgia, Athens), Marta Luciani (University of Vienna), Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris), Beate Pongratz-Leisten (ISAW, NYU), Lisa Saladino Haney (Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh), Jonathan Valk (University of Helsinki and ISAW, NYU Alumnus).
ISAW congratulates Arnulf Hausleiter on the publication of the book and is delighted to see the legacy of the workshop held at ISAW.