ISAW announces the publication of The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII: The Greek and Roman Pottery

By David Ratzan
02/15/2024

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World and NYU Press are pleased to announce the publication of the latest volume from ISAW Monographs, The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII: The Greek and Roman Pottery, by Antonis Kotsonas

The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII: The Greek and Roman Pottery presents in two volumes the Greek and Roman pottery recovered from the excavation of the sanctuary of Syme Viannou, one of the most long-lived and important cult sites of ancient Crete and the Aegean. The site, which is known as the Cretan Delphi, was dedicated to Hermes and Aphrodite for much of its history. The present study analyzes and catalogs 865 pieces, dating from across the early first millennium BCE to the mid-first millennium CE. Kotsonas integrates traditional typological and chronological inquiries with contextual considerations, macroscopic and petrographic analyses of ceramic fabrics, and quantitative studies. The resulting work provides detailed documentation of the pottery from Syme Viannou and explores its ritual and other roles within the diachronic panorama of cultic and other activities at the site. It also contributes to a broader understanding of the role of ceramics in sanctuary contexts by introducing systematically comparative perspectives on the evidence of pottery from other Cretan and Greek sanctuaries.

Volume 1 provides an introduction to the site of the sanctuary of Syme Viannou and its history, and contains an analytical catalog of the ceramic remains.

cover of volume 2 of syme viannou 7 showing an ancinet ceramic pieceVolume 2 presents synthetic studies of the material, exploring the use of different ceramic fabrics, the relationship between the form and function of the vessels, and the place of ceramic items in the cultic practice and daily life at the sanctuary in Greek and Roman antiquity.

This is the seventh volume in the publication series of the sanctuary of Syme Viannou, but the first to be published jointly by ISAW/NYU Press and the Archaeological Society at Athens (Library of the Archaeological Society at Athens 348 and 349). The Archaeological Society of Athens is a private, non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting the archaeology of Greece, founded in 1837 soon after the Greek War of Independence.

This book will be of interest primarily to archaeologists, ceramologists, and historians of ancient Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Antonis Kotsonas is Associate Professor of Mediterranean History and Archaeology at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University. He has published widely on the material culture and socio-economic history of ancient Greece and the Mediterranean, as well as on the history of Greek and Mediterranean archaeology and the reception of Classical antiquity. He is co-director of the Lyktos Archaeological Project in Crete.

ABOUT ISAW MONOGRAPHS

The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII: The Greek and Roman Pottery is the 16th volume to be published in the ISAW Monographs series, a joint publication project with NYU Press. ISAW Monographs publishes authoritative studies of new evidence and research into the texts, archaeology, art history, material culture, and history of the cultures and periods representing the core areas of study at NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. The topics and approaches of the volumes in this series reflect the intellectual mission of ISAW as a center for advanced scholarly research and graduate education whose aim is to encourage the study of the economic, religious, political, and cultural connections between ancient civilizations, from the Western Mediterranean across the Near East and Central Asia, to China.

As with ISAW Papers, ISAW's born-digital journal, ISAW is committed to publishing all volumes of ISAW Monographs free and online for the interested public and scholarship community in a timely fashion. Currently, five volumes of ISAW Monographs are available free online via the ISAW Publications page. 

Information about previous volumes, including how to order them in both print and online versions, is available via the ISAW Publications page and the NYU Press website. For information or questions about ISAW Monographs and ISAW's publishing projects, please email David M. Ratzan: david.ratzan@nyu.edu. To request review copies, please email Leah Baxter: leah.baxter@nyu.edu.

The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII:

The Greek and Roman Pottery

Volumes 1 and 2

By 

Antonis Kotsonas

Volume 1: 428 Pages | 869 illustrations | 8.5 x 11 in.

$85.00 | ISBNS 9781479830046 (Hardcover), 9781479830343 (ebook)

Volume 2: 652 Pages | 62 illustrations | 8.5 x 11 in.

$85.00 | ISBNS 9781479830053 (Hardcover), 9781479830367 (ebook)

Publication date: February 15, 2024

 

isaw.nyu.edu | www.nyupress.org

Contact: david.ratzan@nyu.edu