Meshing archaeological and literary sources

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ficino
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Meshing archaeological and literary sources

Post by ficino »

The book under review here looks fascinating, and if I were "doing" ancient history, I would definitely rush out and read it. It is on the problem, how do we mesh evidence from archaeological excavations and from literary sources to create a coherent picture of a site, or of the events that we think are associated with the inhabitants or users of the site?

The book is Jonathan M. Hall, Artifact and Artifice: Classical Archaeology and the Ancient Historian. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. here reviewed by Andrea Guzzetti of San Jose State:

http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2015/2015-03-39.html

Chapter 10, acc. to Guzzetti, discusses the excavations of the purported tomb of St. Peter 'neath the Vatican. That tomb was discussed by some of us over a year ago.
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Peter Kirby
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Re: Meshing archaeological and literary sources

Post by Peter Kirby »

ficino wrote:The book under review here looks fascinating, and if I were "doing" ancient history, I would definitely rush out and read it. It is on the problem, how do we mesh evidence from archaeological excavations and from literary sources to create a coherent picture of a site, or of the events that we think are associated with the inhabitants or users of the site?

The book is Jonathan M. Hall, Artifact and Artifice: Classical Archaeology and the Ancient Historian. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. here reviewed by Andrea Guzzetti of San Jose State:

http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2015/2015-03-39.html

Chapter 10, acc. to Guzzetti, discusses the excavations of the purported tomb of St. Peter 'neath the Vatican. That tomb was discussed by some of us over a year ago.
That is interesting. Thanks. A long time ago now I read this book on the tomb of St. Peter that was unabashedly positive about the whole thing, and it may have contributed to my acceptance (for a while, anyway) of the idea that Peter went to Rome and was martyred there. I'd be curious what this book says there (and on the subjects generally).
"... almost every critical biblical position was earlier advanced by skeptics." - Raymond Brown
ficino
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Re: Meshing archaeological and literary sources

Post by ficino »

As to Peter, if you're still interested, check back on our earlier threads, esp. Otto Zwierlein's works against Petrine burial there. There is also a neglected article in Mnemosyne, which I cite on one of those threads, that makes it appear that the "pro-Petrine" dating of the relevant tombs cannot be correct.
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MrMacSon
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Re: Meshing archaeological and literary sources

Post by MrMacSon »

ficino wrote: ... how do we mesh evidence from archaeological excavations and from literary sources to create a coherent picture of a site, or of the events that we think are associated with the inhabitants or users of the site?

The book is Jonathan M. Hall, Artifact and Artifice: Classical Archaeology and the Ancient Historian. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014.

here reviewed by Andrea Guzzetti of San Jose State: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2015/2015-03-39.html
It'd be great to see a wider view of ancient history beyond 'literary sources'.
Clive
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Re: Meshing archaeological and literary sources

Post by Clive »

search for the individual
From op link

Maybe a huge amount of work is needed, especially around checking assumptions.

I liked the comment in the review about is there any relationship between a text and an artefact!
"We cannot slaughter each other out of the human impasse"
Clive
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Re: Meshing archaeological and literary sources

Post by Clive »

And why is it a founder of Rome gets to have all sorts of questions asked about him, but an only begotten son of a god doesn't?
"We cannot slaughter each other out of the human impasse"
Thor
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Re: Meshing archaeological and literary sources

Post by Thor »

Clive wrote:And why is it a founder of Rome gets to have all sorts of questions asked about him, but an only begotten son of a god doesn't?
Well... To be fair the founder of the Roman Empire was also claimed to be the begotten son of god.
Clive
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Re: Meshing archaeological and literary sources

Post by Clive »

I meant Rome - Romulus!
Romulus /ˈrɒmjʉləs/ and Remus /ˈriːməs/ were the twin brothers and main characters of Rome's foundation myth.
wiki

Actually, does Jesus have a twin anywhere?
"We cannot slaughter each other out of the human impasse"
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