Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

Zur Textilterminologie Auf Römischen Bleitäfelchen: Probleme Der Lesung Und Interpretation, Herbert Graßl

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

Die Vorlage und das Studium römischer Bleitesserae, das in den letzten Jahren einen beachtlichen Aufschwung erlebt hat,1 lieferte gerade für die kaiserzeitliche römische Textilwirtschaft viele neue Einsichten. Dazu zählen neben dem in diesem Wirtschaftszweig tätigen Personenkreis vor allem die Herstellung, Verarbeitung und Vermarktung von Textilien, ihre Bezeichnungen und auch Preise in verschiedenen Provinzen des Imperiums. Trotz aller neuer Erkenntnisse bleibt auf diesem Feld aber noch viel zu tun: die Lesung der Texte ist häufig nicht gesichert, die inhaltliche Deutung auch wegen der häufigen Verwendung von Abkürzungen schwierig, dazu kommt noch die verstreute und oft nur schwer erreichbare Publikationsform. Dass sich …

A Name Of A Private Factory (Or Workshop) On A Piece Of Textile: The Case Of The Document A.L.18 (Vienna), Anne Regourd, Fiona J. L. Handley

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

The Arabic Leinwand (A.L.) collection is held by the Department of Papyrus (Papyrussammlung) in the Austrian National Library of Vienna.1 The collection was acquired in Egypt in the late 19th century by an antiquity trader in Cairo commissioned by Joseph von Karabacek, the famous papyrologist, and contains 68 items.2 Almost all of these have an association with writing, hence the reason why they were collected for the Library, and only eight objects have no association at all. The language for the most part is Arabic with a few texts in Greek, or with Greek with Arabic. The collection of pieces …

A Diachronic View On Fulling Technology In The Mediterranean And The Ancient Near East: Tools, Raw Materials And Natural Resources For The Finishing Of Textiles, Elena Soriga

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

Among the operations required in the overall cycle of the ancient production of textiles, Greek and Roman sources refer to the fulling of woollen fabrics as the most complex and expensive technical process performed both in the 1st millennium BC and the 1st millennium AD. Indeed, the finishing of woollen clothes needed a large amount of time, energy and labour, as well as involving the use of specialized skills and costly raw materials. Fulling fulfilled two functions that were necessary for the proper finishing of cloth, namely the scouring and consolidation of the fibres in the fabric. Woven cloth straight …

Flax And Linen Terminology In Talmudic Literature, Nahum Ben-Yehuda

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

Material culture data is mentioned in Talmudic (or ‘rabbinical’) literature when a relevant legal (‘halakhic’) or homiletic (‘midrashic’) context arises. Therefore, certain details may be lacking or ambiguously stated. This however is not presented in a systematic and detailed manner, such as in ‘Pliny’s Natural History’.2 Additional classical authors mention flax and linen. First and foremost: Diocletian3 in his edict of maximum prices. And in less scope and detail: Xenophon,4 Virgil,5 Strabo,6 Columella,7 Pausanias,8 and Theodosius II9 – in his codex. In some instances, these sources may be useful for comparison, contrast and clarification – to Talmudic sources. It is …

Armenian Karmir, Sogdian Karmīr ‘Red’, Hebrew Karmīl And The Armenian Scale Insect Dye In Antiquity, Agnes Korn, Georg Warning

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

This paper looks at three terms denoting the colour ‘red’, viz. Armenian karmir, the obviously corresponding Sogdian word karmīr, and karmīl ‘scarlet’ found in the Hebrew Bible. It will first briefly discuss the etymology of these words (summarising an argument made elsewhere) and argue that the words in question represent a technical term for a red dye from Armenia produced by scale insects. We will then attempt to show that historical data and chemical analysis of extant historical textiles confirm the Armenian red as the relevant dye.

Late Biblical Hebrew karmīl occurs only three times. All three attestations are …

Textilnet.Dk – A Toolkit For Terminology Research And Presentation, Susanne Lervad, Tove Engelhardt Mathiassen

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

Since February 2015, the digital dictionary or term database, textilnet.dk, has been accessible on the Internet.1 The purpose of this paper is to present the background and methods of this pilot project. Since 2010, the project has collaborated with The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research (CTR), University of Copenhagen, and has gained moral support from Sabine Kirchmeier-Andersen, director of Dansk Sprognævn, the Danish National Language Advisory Committee.2 From 2011 to 2015, we have been working with generous funding from the Danish Ministry of Culture. The objective of textilnet.dk is to preserve and communicate the cultural heritage of …

Irritating Byssus – Etymological Problems, Material Facts, And The Impact Of Mass Media, Felicitas Maeder

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

Byssus and sea-silk made of the fibre beard of the Pinna nobilis – zoologically called byssus – have both become subjects of scholarly interest in the last decade. The subject is discussed not only in scientific books and journals, but also in mass media around the world. Although scientific research has clarified some old misunderstandings, the double meaning of the term byssus has created new doubts and scepticism in the scholarly debate, bearing the danger of new, additional erroneous interpretations. This article recapitulates the present state of knowledge and calls attention to the consequences of assumed ‘old/new knowledge’ entering the …

The Oscillum Misunderstanding, Francesco Meo

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

In this passage the Latin term oscillum refers to a particular class of objects: a small face or mask hung on trees during certain religious feasts celebrated by the Ausones in honour of Bacchus (Fig. 1). The Roman oscilla most probably derives from the Aἰῶραι, small images related to Dionysus hung on trees during the Aἰῶρα, an Athenian public feast. They were believed to purify the air as they swung in the wind. Both the Greek and the Latin words refer to objects used during particular sacred feasts, in the first case public and in the second case …

The Textile Terminology In Ancient Japan, Mari Omura, Naoko Kizawa

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

This paper investigates key Japanese words related to textiles and their production in ancient Japan that is during the 1st millennium AD. At this time the language known as ‘Old Japanese’ evolved and eventually systems for writing it down emerged, based on borrowing the Chinese characters. Textiles used for clothing, coverings, tax items, and ritual objects played an integral role in the society, and thus terms related to textiles provide insight into the life style, politics, religion and economy of Japan as it emerged from a tribal-based localized society into a centralized nation state. The linguistic study also points to …

Review Of "Homer's Iliad: The Basel Commentary, Book Xix", Rachel H. Lesser

Ancient Greek and Roman Studies Faculty Publications

Marina Coray’s commentary on Iliad 19, originally published in German in 2009, is part of the ongoing Basel commentary series on Homer’s Iliad, edited by Anton Bierl and Joachim Latacz. So far thirteen volumes of the series have been published in German, and five in English translation. Coray’s commentary is a work of great erudition and will be an indispensable resource for scholars of Homer. Here I focus on the utility of this slightly revised new English edition for anglophone readers at various levels, and consider how this commentary relates to and supplements Mark W. Edwards’ outstanding commentary on …

Inscribed Administrative Material Culture And The Development Of The Umayyad State In Syria-Palestine 661-750 Ce, Tareq Ramadan

Wayne State University Dissertations

The seventh century CE in the Near East was a period characterized by major political transition and cultural change, representing an era that witnessed the decline of the region’s long-standing major political institutions alongside the emergence of a powerful Arab Caliphate that supplanted both the offices of the Byzantine Emperor and the Persian, Sasanid Shah in most or all of the region. This Arab Caliphate, first based out of the Hejaz, then out of Syria-Palestine with the rise of the Umayyads (r. 661-750 CE), Islam’s first hereditary dynasty, embarked on a successful campaign of Arab and Muslim hegemony across three …

Textile Terminology In Old High German Between Inherited And Loan Words, Roland Schuhmann

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

A particular language consists of course not only of words inherited from its respective parent language but contains also a certain amount of loan words (however, this amount differs depending on the respective language). This universal principle then also holds true for the speakers of the Germanic languages. The vocabulary of the Germanic languages includes not only the lexicon inherited from Proto‑Indo‑European but a range of languages later on heavily influenced it. In the times before the documentation of the Germanic languages, the two most important sources that influenced the Germanic lexicon were Celtic and (prolonged) Latin. Influence in the …

Terminology Associated With Silk In The Middle Byzantine Period (Ad 843-1204), Julia Galliker

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

During the 1st millennium AD, silk became the most desirable fibre in the Mediterranean region. While the expansion of silk production and consumption is widely acknowledged, specific features of the industry’s development are more difficult to discern. Chroniclers had little reason to document silk manufacturing processes, and producers were not inclined to record or publicise their trade secrets. Historical knowledge of silk comes mainly from accounts of its consumption in a variety of forms and contexts.

For the middle Byzantine period (AD 843-1204), the two most elaborated sources associated with silk date from the 10th century. The Book of the …

The Textile Term Gammadia, Maciej Szymaszek

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

This paper aims to investigate the origin of the term gammadia by determining the oldest examples of its use both in source texts and secondary literature.1 For nearly four centuries this term was commonly applied to the various motifs on mantles of figures represented in art of the 1st millennium AD.2 These right-angled and letter-like signs attracted the attention of several authors who were seeking to explain their possible symbolic meaning, but they did not pay attention to the correctness of the term adapted to name such motifs.3 This approach contributed to the terminological confusion and difficulties in understanding the …

“Der Faden Soll Nicht Reißen, Während Ich Meine Dichtung Webe…”: Zum Metaphorischen Gebrauch Von Textilterminologie Im Rigveda, Stefan Niederreiter,

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

Wenn man sich als historisch-vergleichender Sprachwissenschaftler mit einem speziellen realienkundlichen Thema einer ausgewählten Epoche einer altindogermanischen Sprache beschäftigt, so ist man aus Erfahrung darauf gefasst, dass Informationen zumeist lückenhaft vorhanden sind und die Erschließung der Texte mit den unterschiedlichsten philologischen und linguistischen Schwierigkeiten verbunden sein kann. Trägt man das Erkenntnisinteresse textilterminologischer Fragestellungen an den ältesten indischen Text, den Rigveda (RV), heran, liegt es schon an der Textsorte der für rituelle Zwecke bestimmten sacerdotalen Dichtung, dass Informationen zur handwerklichen Praxis des Webens allenfalls verstreut, beiläufig und dann vor allem in poetischen Metaphern den vedischen Hymnen zu entnehmen sind. Aber gerade der …

Purple And Its Various Kinds In Documentary Papyri, Ines Bogensperger

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

The colour purple evokes an inestimable, priceless luxury in our understanding. It almost belongs in a legendary world along with other exquisite goods. Purple is seen as example par excellence for a symbol of social status, a token of prestige. A significant study on the importance of purple has brought to light the persistent desire for this colour throughout the Greek and Roman world.2 Literary sources from Roman times provide us quite comprehensive information on the colour and its sources. The most often quoted author is doubtlessly Caius Plinius Secundus, known as Pliny the Elder, who compiled specialist knowledge in …

Sagp Newsletter 2016/17.1 East Scs, Anthony Preus

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Navigating Tricky Topics: The Benefits Of Performance Pedagogy, Christopher Bungard

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

The Amazons Of Exekias And Eupolis: Demystifying Changes In Gender Roles, Marisa Anne Infante

The Larrie and Bobbi Weil Undergraduate Research Award

In this paper, I will examine the changing gender roles of women as the Athenian government changes from a tyranny in the Archaic period to a democracy in the Classical period by comparing a Black-Figure Amphora, which depicts an image of Achilles Killing Penthesilea, by Exekias and a Red-Figure Column Krater, which depicts an image of an Amazon on Side A and an unidentified figure on Side B, by Eupolis. The creation of democracy was not the universal celebration that it is often praised to be in modern times. I will demonstrate this through a visual analysis of how the …

Ammianus Marcellinus: An Annotated Bibliography, 1474 To The Present, Fred W. Jenkins

Roesch Library Faculty Publications

In Ammianus Marcellinus: An Annotated Bibliography, 1474 to the Present, Fred W. Jenkins surveys scholarship on Ammianus from the editio princeps to the present. Included are bibliographies, editions, translations, commentaries, concordances and indexes, Web sites, and secondary scholarship in many languages.