Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2012. Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke. Preliminary results By Peter M. Fischer & Teresa Bürge. With contributions by I. Trinks, B. Stolle, K. Heiß, J.A.I. van der Does & D.M. Blattner Abstract The third season of excavation at Hala Sultan Tekke added knowledge to the project, the main objective of which is the investigation and determination of the complete occupational sequence of the pre-12th century BC levels. New walled and open spaces from Strata 1 and 2 were exposed in Area 6. Another pictorial krater with birds was excavated. The terminology for the much discussed Cypriote-produced White Painted Wheel-made ware has been revised and a new terminology is suggested, i.e. “White Painted Wheel-made Geometric Style (WPGS)” and “White Painted Wheel-made Pictorial Style (WPPS)”, of which the latter includes the Creature Krater from 2010 and the Bird Krater from this season. The hypothesis that a tsunami destroyed parts of the city in the 14th or 13th century BC is discussed. An additional radar survey of some 1.3 hectares revealed substantial structures, i.e. new city quarters,…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. Fragments with horses and wolf’s teeth. Black impasto and its association with periods and buildings in the monumental area at Acquarossa By Margareta Strandberg Olofsson Abstract A number of vessels in Black impasto, also known as “Impasto buccheroide”, are presented here. The decoration shows a combination of relief, incision and excision. Typical of this specific kind of Black impasto are excised zoomorphic figures, predominantly horses, and rows of excised wedges or “wolf’s teeth”. The find contexts are accounted for and the conclusion is that Black impasto is present in all building periods in the monumental area at Acquarossa. The decorative elements are combined in a way that forms variants which can be placed in a chronological sequence, earlier ones with horses and wolf’s teeth and later ones without zoomorphic figures but still with wolf’s teeth, executed slightly differently and combined with grooves and pit lines. The geographical spread of this particular kind of Black impasto seems to be fairly limited and the production may have been rather local. The chronological span is the last part of the 7th century…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. The agency of Greek and Roman statues. From Homer to Constantine By Jan N. Bremmer Abstract In the Archaic period the Greeks did not yet conceptualize the difference between a divinity and its statue. Therefore, stories that stressed the agency of statues separate from their divinities must have seemed less strange at that time than when the statues had become independent, so to speak, from their gods or goddesses. The latter started to happen in the transitional period to the Classical era when the well-known triad of divinities—heroes—mortals came into being, and philosophers began to criticize the worship of statues. All these changes together led to a development in which the agency of statues increasingly became noteworthy. After the 5th century BC we keep hearing about the agency of statues but we can also notice a growing critique of the worship of statues by different philosophical schools. In both Greece and Rome divine statues manifested themselves in particular during moments of crisis or of a decisive political character. In the Greek East the belief in the agency of statues…

Opuscula 5 (2012) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com, and Adlibris.com. Books reviewed in Opuscula 5 (2012) Adam J. Goldwyn | G. Van Steen. Theatre of the Condemned: Classical Tragedy on Greek Prison Islands (Classical Presences), Oxford: Oxford University Press 2011. xiv + 354 pp., 5 figs. ISBN 978-0-19-957288-5. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-05-09 Susanne Carlsson | N. Papazarkadas, Sacred and public land in ancient Athens (Oxford Classical Monographs), Oxford: Oxford University Press 2011. xii + 395 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-969400-6. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-05-10 Gunnel Ekroth | Aspects of ancient Greek cult. Context, ritual and iconography (Aarhus Studies in Mediterranean Antiquity, ASMA, 8), eds. Jesper Tae Jensen, George Hinge, Peter Schultz and Bronwen Wickkiser, Aarhus 2009. 245 pp. ISBN 978-87-7934-253-8. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-05-11 Susanne Carlsson | A. Powell & S. Hodkinson (eds.), Sparta. The body politic (Study of Sparta), The Classical Press of Wales: Oxford 2010. viii + 348 pp., 5 figs. ISBN 978-1-905125-26-5. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-05-12 Ingela M.B. Wiman | L. Bouke van der Meer (ed). Material Aspects of Etruscan Religion. Proceedings of the International Colloquium, Leiden, May 29 and 30, 2008. BABESCH, Annual Papers on Mediterranean Archaeology, supp 16, 2010, Leuven: Peeters, 2010. 1-164 pp. ISBN 978-90-429-2366-9. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-05-13 Örjan…

Opuscula 5 (2012) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com, and Adlibris.com. The Swedish Jordan Expedition 2009 and 2010 at Tall Abu al-Kharaz. Preliminary results from the Early Iron Age occupation in Area 9. With appendices by T. Bürge, and A. Gustafsson & J. Azzopardi By Peter M. Fischer Abstract Tall Abu al-Kharaz, in the central Jordan Valley, was occupied during approximately five millennia. A walled town, which had a dominant position in the Jordan Valley, existed already in the Early Bronze Age IB, viz. before 3050 BC. Walled settlements also flourished at the end of the Middle Bronze Age (around 1600 BC), during the Late Bronze Age (roughly 1500–1200 BC) and throughout the entire Iron Age (roughly 1200–600 BC). It is most likely that Tell Abu al-Kharaz is identical with Jabesh Gilead: this city is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament. During earlier seasons most of the Early Iron Age remains were found to have been disturbed by later settlers. It is, therefore, essential for the documentation of the settlement history of this city, that the expedition of 2009 unearthed an extremely well-preserved city quarter dating to the 12/11th century…

Opuscula 5 (2012) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com, and Adlibris.com. The impact of restoration. The example of the dancing satyr in the Uffizi By Julia Habetzeder Abstract The aim of this article is to show that reputed restorations may have an unexpected impact on the study of ancient sculpture. During the 17th–19th centuries, a number of restored antiques were held in exceptionally high regard. One of the consequences of their renown was the production of copies and adaptations in different scales and media. Such reproductions did not distinguish between the ancient and the restored parts of the work. Today these reproductions are centuries old, and in many cases their provenance has long since been forgotten. Therefore, such post-Antique sculptures are easily misinterpreted as ancient. Subsequently, they are at times used as evidence of ancient sculptural production. Needless to say, this may cause flawed notions of Classical sculpture. The complexity of this relationship, between the ancient and the restored, is here exemplified by tracing the impact that a restored motif—“Satyrs with cymbals”—has had on the study of an ancient sculpture type: the satyr attributed to “The invitation to the dance”….

Opuscula 5 (2012) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com, and Adlibris.com. The water-mills on the Lamas River in Cilicia By Paavo Roos Abstract A water-mill establishment on the Lamas River in Cilicia was reported by travellers in the 19th century. It consisted of a series of parallel, horizontal-wheeled mills along an oblique rock face. It was the subject of examination in 1990 and a brief publication shortly afterwards. Due to its interesting and rather rare construction a more thorough publication is given here. Bibliographical information Paavo Roos, ‘The water-mills on the Lamas River in Cilicia’, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom) 5, 123–131. Stockholm 2012. ISSN: 2000-0898 ISBN: 978-91-977798-4-5. Softcover, 204 pages. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-05-06

Opuscula 5 (2012) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com, and Adlibris.com. Euergetism and city-walls in the Italian city of Telesia By Richard Ramanius Abstract Six inscriptions relating to the construction of the fortifications of the southern Italian town of Telesia were analyzed and compared to three inscriptions of the same type from the Italian town of Grumentum. The purpose of this was to gain insight into how Italian towns funded and organized the construction of city-walls during the Late Republic. The city-walls were built progressively in both towns, and in both cases were probably funded by private citizens, even if they were acting as magistrates. In Grumentum an older city-wall was gradually replaced by letting each new, annually elected magistrate build a new section. It would seem that in Telesia the walls were built first. The subsequent construction of the towers probably followed the plan of the local senate and was paid for by the magistrates themselves. The expressions pro ludeis/ludis on some inscriptions suggest that they were built instead of giving games. Bibliographical information Richard Ramanius, ‘Euergetism and city-walls in the Italian city of Telesia’, Opuscula. Annual of the…

Opuscula 5 (2012) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com, and Adlibris.com. The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2011. Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke. Preliminary results. With appendices by T. Bürge, L. Franz and R. Feldbacher By Peter M. Fischer Abstract The main objective of the excavations of the Late Cypriote city of Hala Sultan Tekke is the investigation and determination of the complete occupational sequence of the pre-12th century levels. The groundpenetrating radar survey (GPR) led to the discovery and excavation of numerous rooms of a large Late Cypriote complex. During the second year of excavations at the site the expedition exposed a third phase of occupation (Stratum 3). A Stratum 2 compound, with extraordinarily wide walls was uncovered in the eastern part of the excavations. Intact vessels include Base-ring I and II, and White Painted VI, and Late Helladic imports. Other wares include: White Painted Pendant/Cross Line Style, Red-on-Black/Red, Bichrome Wheel-made, White Slip I and II, Monochrome, Base-ring I and II, Red Lustrous Wheel-made, White Painted/Plain-White Wheel-made, and White Shaved. Unique discoveries amongst the small finds are a haematite cylinder seal and a stone pendant figurine. The numerous tools related…

Opuscula 5 (2012) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com, and Adlibris.com. Labraunda 2011. A preliminary report on the Swedish excavations with an appendix by Ragnar Hedlund By Lars Karlsson, Jesper Blid & Olivier Henry Abstract The main goals of the 2011 campaign were the excavation of the Kepez tower, the West Church and the necropoleis. The tower of Kepez was excavated and black-gloss pottery indicates a date in the 3rd century BC. The 2011 excavations in the West Church uncovered three Late Roman and Byzantine building phases. Among the finds from Late Antiquity was a well-preserved glass lamp with a Greek inscription and a marble figurine, possibly representing an apostle or a saint. The excavations in the necropolis uncovered eleven tombs in the Area 5B, located along the Sacred Way, completing the excavation initiated in 2010. New tombs were discovered in the territory east and south of the sanctuary. Finally, the three stone sarcophagi inside the Built Tomb were moved in order to facilitate complete excavation and the cleaning of all the interior space of this monumental tomb. The conservation of architectural marble was continued and included the conservation of…