Workshops
1. Achaemenid History: methods, approaches and interdisciplinarity
20 November 2010
Leaders: M.Jursa, W.Henkelman, A.Kuhrt, C.J.Tuplin, L.Allen
This workshop will occur towards the end of the preparatory linguistic stage; it will frame a series of questions about the current state of Achaemenid studies, in relation to the Arshama dossier.
2. Achaemenid Art, Text and Images.
29 January 2011
Leaders: D.Kaptan, J.Boardman, C.Draycott, M. Garrison
This will use the Arshama letter dealing with artists (already read in class) as an introduction to an examination of Arshama’s seal and of more general issues about the character (artistic and ideological) and the commissioning of “Achaemenid art”. The workshop will bring together archaeologists, art historians, historians, and philologists.
3. Achaemenid Egypt
5 March 2011
Leaders: L.Fried, G.Vittmann, C.J.Tuplin
This workshop will place the Arshama letters in their specific provincial context. Parallel material from Elephantine will be studied by L.Fried; G.Vittmann will lead a session on Demotic material that parallels and illuminates the Aramaic documents. C.J.Tuplin will sum up, with thoughts on dating the letters, post-revolt society in Achaemenid Egypt, and the value of the Egyptian test case.
4. Travel and Empire
14 May 2011
Leaders: W.Henkelman, M. Weszeli
This workshop starts from the “travel chit” included in the Arshama archive (already read in class). It will consider its relationship to processes reflected in the Persepolis Fortification Archive and to broader questions around the management of resources over extended geographical areas.
5. The Languages of Empire
4 July 2011
Leader: B.Porten, M.Jursa, J. Tavernier
The focus will be on socio-linguistics: the language of the Arshama letters; loan-words from Persian; workings and constitution of an imperial lingua franca. Parallel material will be considered from Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Iran and Bactria. Participants in the reading classes will present findings and questions from the previous two terms’ work.
