Possible Areas of Research

ANCIENT SOCIETIES

1  Alexandria - Ancient Egypt

·       historical context of Alexandria from foundation to the late Roman period

·       geographic and historical context including location, topography and town planning, Alexander the Great and foundation of the city, the city and the Ptolemies, impact of Rome

·       architecture – structure, decoration, purpose and function including the Pharos lighthouse, a ‘wonder of the world’, the Temple of Sarapis, the Serapeum, palaces and temples, the harbour, gymnasium, theatre and stadium

·       social and political life including the Greek elite, Egyptians, Jews and other immigrants, privileges and roles of a citizen, the role of the ruler, social control, public entertainment and spectacles

·       economic life including the Mediterranean and the Nile, trade and commerce, industries and employment

·       religious and cultural life including Egyptian cults, beliefs and practices, Hellenised Jews, library, educational and philosophical schools, the sciences and literature

·       relevant archaeological and/or written sources.

2  Deir-el Medina - Ancient Egypt

·       the village: location and purpose; founders: Amenhotep I and his mother Ahmose-Nefertari

·       stages of settlement from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties

·       work of modern Egyptologists: Mariette, Maspero, Schiaparelli, Bruyere and Cerny

·       village workers: social structure, occupations and payment: official and unofficial, commerce and trade, place of work: the Valley of the    Kings, construction of royal tombs, eg tombs of Thutmose III and Sety I, construction of non-royal tombs, eg tombs of Sennedjem, and Kha and Meryt, the workers’ strike and tomb robberies

·       role of women: wife and mother, rights, work outside the house, the unmarried woman and the ‘stranger’, images of women in the written and archaeological record

·       everyday life: housing and furniture, food, leisure, clothing and jewellery

·       religious beliefs and practices: gods and goddesses of New Kingdom Egypt, festivals, magic, amulets, oracles, ‘personal piety’

·       burial beliefs and practices: royal and non-royal tombs: changing structures and decoration, royal ‘Books of the Netherworld’, eg Am Duat Litany of Ra, Book of the Dead, coffins and other tomb contents.

3  Nineveh - Ancient Assyria

·       historical overview of the Assyrian Empire from Tiglath-Pileser I to Sennacherib

·       early capital cities – Nimrud and Khorsabad

·       site of Nineveh: the mounds of Kuyunjik and Nebi Yunus; city of the Goddess Ishtar

·       discovery of the site and its excavation: Rich, Botta and Layard

·       construction of the site, from Assurnasirpal II to Ashurbanipal

·       architectural features of the site such as: the palaces of Assurnasirpal II, Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal; temples of Nabu and Ishtar; armoury (for Esharhaddon); the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal; walls and gates; rivers and canals; wells and gardens

·       Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, George Smith and the ‘Flood Tablet’

·       palace wall reliefs: Sennacherib’s Siege of Lachish; Ashurbanipal’s lion hunting scenes and his battle scenes as well as Ashurbanipal and his wife drinking in a garden

·       destruction of Nineveh.

4  Persepolis - Persia

·       historical overview of the Persian Empire from Cyrus the Great to Darius I

·       early capital cities – Ecbatana and Pasargadae

·       site of Persepolis

·       discovery of the site and its excavation

·       construction of the site, from Darius I to Artaxerxes I

·       architectural features of the site such as: Apadana, the terrace, the palaces, gatehouse, Hall of the Hundred Columns (Throne Hall), tripylon staircase, Harem and treasury buildings

·       design and ornamentation of the Achaemenid period: glazed brick panels, columns and reliefs; foreign influences in the work, use of wood and mud brick, stone carving and masonry; Bisitun (Behistan) inscription of Darius I

·       objects used by the Royal Household

·       burial sites of the Achaemenid kings: Pasargadae – Naqsh-i-Rustam (near Persepolis)

·       destruction of the site by Alexander the Great – conflicting views.

5  Thera (Santorini) - Minoans

·       location of Thera/Santorini in relation to mainland Greece and Crete

·       discovery and excavations at Thera/Santorini: German excavations of 1835, 1894 – 1903, excavations of Spyridon Marinatos 1967, Dumas

·       wall paintings of Santorini: Akrotiri: the Spring Fresco, the Young Boxers, the Naval Campaign Fresco and the Fisherman Fresco

·       pottery and architecture of Akrotiri

·       relationship of Thera to Minoan civilisation on Crete

·       role of the eruption at Thera in ending the Minoan civilisation

·       later history of Thera/Santorini

·       theories relating to Dorian or ‘Sea Peoples’ domination of the Mediterranean world
c1000 BC

·       Cycladic and geometric influences: later history of Thera – the founding of Cyrene, Athenian domination and Hellenistic influences

·       significance of the site.

6  Early Israel

·       textual problems of the biblical narratives: Samuel I and II; sources, dating, authenticity, inconsistencies

·       location and international context: Mesopotamia, ‘Canaan’, Palestine, Syria, Phoenicia and Egypt; the ‘Sea Peoples’ and Philistines

·       biblical history of the Hebrews: the tradition of the Exodus, Mount Sinai, the covenant, the conquest and the ‘Law’

·       religious practices and beliefs: Yahweh, Shechem, Shiloh, the Ark, anointment, Ba’al

·       social and political structure of the Hebrews: tribes, elders, ‘charismatic’ judges

·       Eli, Samuel and the Ark

·       pressures for and resistance to ‘kingship’: Samuel and Saul, Melek and Nagid

·       family background and early career of David

·       Israel’s wars with the Philistines and the recovery of the Ark

·       David’s kingship: ‘accession’, foreign and domestic policies, revolts and family feuds

·       importance of the capture and establishment of Jerusalem as capital of the kingdom

·       nature of the early monarchy and ‘empire’

·       changing role and organisation of the military

·       role of women in the biblical narratives: Abigail, Michal, Tamar, Bathsheba

·       role of the prophets: Samuel, Nathan, Gad

·       assessment and legacy of David as an historical figure and biblical role model

·       Hebrew view of history and the role of divine intervention

·       archaeological and inscriptional sources and the biblical narratives – Stele of Dan

·       modern reconstructions and interpretations of the biblical narratives.

7  Vergina

·       location and early history: ancient capital of Macedonia

·       excavations of the site by Andronicus and Petsas

·       changing uses of the site

·       Macedonian palace at Aegae: iron weapons, jewellery, pottery and tombs

·       Royal Graves: controversies and issues of the burials of Philip, Alexander, Philip and Cleopatra

·       Macedonian burial customs and nearby tombs: the comparison between Vergina burials and tombs and Derveni (late fourth century BC), construction and artistic techniques used, eg wall paintings

·       later history of the site: taken by Pyrrhus in 274 – 73 BC, royal graves sacked and destroyed by Gallic mercenaries

·       Great Tumulus constructed  over existing buildings.

8  Greek society in the Archaic Period

·       evidence of poetry, epic and lyric, eg Homer, Sappho, Archilochus

·       social structure: writings of Hesiod and Herodotus

·       religion: Hesiod’s Theogony

·       development of pan-hellenism and pan-hellenic sanctuaries: Olympia, Delphi, Nemea and Isthmia

·       architecture: development of stone temples: Olympia, Corcyra, Sicily

·       military changes: cavalry and hoplites

·       foreign influences: Phoenicians

·       pottery: Athens and Corinth as centres of production

·       trade: long distance and local; development of coinage

·       intellectual developments, eg science, philosophy, alphabet and writing

·       technological change.

9  Ancient China in the Qin and Han Dynasties

The Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BC)

·       historical overview of the ‘Warring States’ era (403 – 221 BC)

·       rise of the Kingdom of Qin

·       victories of King Zheng of Qin (259 – 210 BC) and the unification of China: Zheng becomes Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor of China

·       anti-Confucian legalist philosophy

·       First Emperor’s advisers and officials: Lu Buwei, Li Si and Meng Tian

·       reforms: standardisations

·       building programs

·       technologies

·       use of terror

·       manner and impact of the death of the First Emperor.

The Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220)

·       Western or Former Han (206 BC – AD 9)

·       Eastern or Later Han (AD 25 – 220)

·       dissatisfaction with Qin and the rise of the Han (210 – 195 BC)

·       expansion of the Chinese empire

·       reassertion of Confucian philosophy

·       emperors: Gaozu (Liu Bang), Wudi and Guangwudi

·       reforms: government, education, provincial and administration

·       building programs

·       technologies and inventions

·       intellectual and religious life

·       interregnum period.

 

10  Roman writers on provincial government

 

·       Roman provinces from Cicero to Pliny

·       system of government at work in the provinces

·       justice, bribery and corruption: the evidence of Sallust’s Jugurtha and/or Cicero’s Verrines

·       connection of Roman political careers with provincial administration: Tacitus’ Agricola on Britain

·       changes in provincial administration in the empire

·       a Roman governor in action – Pliny’s correspondence from Bithynia with the emperor Trajan

·       role of the emperor in relation to the provinces.

 

11  The Celts in Europe

 

·       origins of the Celtic peoples

·       early Celtic Cultures: Urnfield (1200 – 600 BC), Hallstatt (700 – 500 BC)

·       La Tène Culture (500 BC – AD 100): forts and settlements: Maiden Castle and Heuneberg, burial sanctuaries and cemeteries, social organisation, technology and art

·       personalities of the Celtic world: Boudicca, Cassivellaunus, Commius, Vercingetorix

·       interactions with other civilisations

·       Celtic religion, the Druids

·       Celtic legacies: art, literature, music, film, mythology

·       Woman of Vix and the Hochdorf Grave.

 

12  The City of Rome in the late Republic

 

·       the geographical features: rivers, hills, marshes

·       the water system, drains: Cloaca Maxima

·       the Forum Romanum: the Via Sacra (road)

·       the Regia, Temple of Vesta, the Curia, Temple of Saturn, Basilica Aemilia, Basilica Julia, the Rostra, the Tabularium, the Comitium: main features and purposes of the buildings

·       activities in the Forum: politics, administration, religion, courts, theatre, gladiatorial displays, triumphs, speeches, funerals

·       the area of the Campus Martius: buildings: Circus Flaminius, Villa Publica, Altar of Mars; Pompey’s theatre, military training ground

·       the Circus Maximus: main features and uses

13  Roman Britain

 

·       brief historical outline of the Roman occupation of Britain, AD 43 – 410

·       organisation and administration of Roman Britain: governors, client kings, roads

·       economic life: agriculture, trade and commerce

·       urban and rural life: towns, villas, baths, leisure, entertainment

·       Roman army in Britain: organisation, duties, activities

·       fortifications: Hadrian’s Wall, the Antonine Wall, forts on the Saxon Shore

·       Roman occupation of Scotland and Wales

·       British resistance to Roman rule: Caractacus, Boudicca

·       significant Romans: Claudius, Suetonius Paullinus, Agricola, Hadrian, Septimus Severus, Carausius, Constantius Chlorus

·       important towns: Londinium, Aquae Sulis (Bath), Camulodunum (Colchester), Silchester, Verulamium, Eboracum (York)

·       archaeological evidence for Romanisation: coins, pottery, mosaics, treasure hordes, metalwork, tombstones, statues, roads, towns, villas.

VIKINGS 800-1100AD

 

How does the study of Vikings, contribute to our understanding of the past in discovering the Americas?

How does the study of Vikings contribute to an alternative perspective or interpretation of the discovery of the Americas.

How do the study of Viking knoweldge of the seas debunk Columbus's discovery of America?

Should the history of the discovery of America be revised?

How should revisionist history interpret the Viking discovery of America?

Their culture and society

Their seafaring expansion

Their discovery of the Americas.

Beliefs and rituals

Myths and Legends

Farming

War and Looting

Expansion through Europe

Journeys across the Seas

Vikings in the new world

Vikings expansion through Europe

Archaeological evidence supporting Viking discoveries both in Europe and the new world.

Important towns they found.

Viking technology, with ships.

Viking tactics.

Personalities

Written evidence

Writings and text.