Session: #177

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
4. Polis, Empire, League and Beyond – Living in Interconnected Societies
Session format:
Regular session

Title & Content

Title:
Organic Materials in Tombs: The Quiet Protagonists
Content:
Remnants of textiles and other organic materials (cellulosic and proteinaceous, apart from bones) are often found in tombs of the Classical and Hellenistic/Roman periods in the eastern Mediterranean. Apart from clothing, organic materials provide care for the deceased and decorate the tomb. Hangings, textiles, pillows, mattresses, ribbons, leather covers or bags, reed mats, aromatic resins woven into fabrics, vegetal matter, etc., all contribute to transform the tomb into a homey environment. At the same time, for those left behind, all five senses are stimulated by the organic materials, aiding in the construction of personal evocative memories.
Organic materials in funerary settings provide us with invaluable evidence for the burial customs of the time, details that hardly ever come down to us through the literary sources. They signify both the care and comfort that the relatives wished to provide for the deceased. The journey to the Otherworld is equipped with familiar images and smells, in the hope that it continues uneventful. In cases where the tombs are sealed, never to be opened again, this setting becomes a memory of the life once lived and allows for some sort of continuing existence of the soul in the Afterlife.
This session aims to attract scholars working on organic materials (other than bones) in funerary contexts in the Greek and Roman Mediterranean (including Ptolemaic Egypt), to discuss issues regarding their use and re-use, their significance in burial customs, and cross-cultural connections.

The proposed session is based on work conducted within the COST Action “Europe through Textiles: Network for an Integrated and Interdisciplinary Humanities” (EuroWeb) CA 19131, WG 2 and 3.
Keywords:
organic materials, funerary customs, Classical and Hellenistic Greek world, Ptolemaic Egypt, funerary bedding and textile decoration
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
The proposed session is based on work conducted within the COST Action “Europe through Textiles: Network for an Integrated and Interdisciplinary Humanities” (EuroWeb) CA 19131, WG 2 and 3.

Organisers

Main organiser:
Demi Andrianou (Greece) 1
Co-organisers:
Anne Kwaspen (Belgium) 2
Affiliations:
1. Senior Researcher, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Greece
2. Researcher, Center for Textile Research, Copenhagen