Historical Archaeology in the Ancient Mediterranean

Ole Miss and a PKAP Update

Finally made it to Ole Miss.  Tomorrow morning I will meet with Bill Griffith, curator of the David Robinson Collection, and begin illustrating and photographing the inscribed military equipment from Robinson's excavations at Olynthus.  I will then meet Dr. Aileen Ajootian, head of the Classics department, to have lunch and be escorted to the archives.  David Robinson's papers are preserved at the library.  The collection includes several boxes of Olynthus material (photos, budgets, field notebooks, and various manuscripts).  I will use the Olynthus material in my dissertation on literacy in the Greek and Roman armies.

The PKAP season is drawing near.  One of the new additions to the PKAP website is a blog aggregator for the site's many blogs (http://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/wcaraher/PKAPBlogAggregator.html).  It will be the largest season to date so make sure to check the aggregator and this blog for frequent updates.

Back to Blogging

Well after a three month break I am back to blogging.  Having read through and taken extensive notes on the works of Xenophon, Curtius, Arrian, Plutarch, Herodotus, Caesar, Vegetius, Onasander, Aeneas Tacticus, a slew of textbooks, and various articles, I am about half way through the "essential" items in my reading lists for comps.  Now time for Thucydides and a bunch of Roman authors.  So I have made good use of the off-time. 

Today I finished grading and submitted my UND MA thesis in article form to the editor of Vulcan, I'll keep my fingers crossed.  On Sunday I am off to the University of Mississippi to study inscribed items in the David Robinson Collection for my dissertation.  Then Cyprus, then Turkey, and then comps the day I return.  I plan to continue blogging throughout the summer when I have a break from fieldwork and more reading, so keep posted. 

Archimedes Palimpsest Project

Last week Dr. William Noel, curator of manuscripts at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and director of the Archimedes Palimpsest Project, gave a talk at Penn State discussing his work with the Archimedes Palimpsest Project.  It just happened to be my birthday and the last thing I wanted to go before our basketball game at 7:15 was sit in a lecture hall for 2-hours (I had been on campus since 8:00 am).  Part of being a graduate student is going to these talks and I typically find them interesting.  So with a little encouragement from a fellow graduate student I decided to go and boy was I happy I did!

In 1997 a badly damaged book of prayers with was sold at Christie's in New York to an anonymous buyer for two million dollars.  Scholars knew that some of Archimedes was beneath the Christian text.  A Christian scribe had scraped the goat hide clean to compose his work.  After the auction the buyer deposited the work at the Walter's Art Museum in Baltimore for conservation and study.  Noel discussed the methods employed to make the Archimedes text legible.  After years of various forms of photography and x-ray, scholars identified seven of Archimedes' treatises on mathematics including the Stomachion and the Method.  Both of which are not known to exist anywhere else.  The best part is all the transcriptions and images of the text are available online for free at: http://www.archimedespalimpsest.org/  It is not very often that new versions of ancient texts are discovered and made available to the public for free.

Comps, Comps, and More Comps

Today I sat down with my comp readings lists and wrote up a reading schedule.  I began reading last November but with a very hectic Fall 2008 semester I barley made adent.  Now that I have an easier course load, it is time to start knocking out books.  On slate for this week: Aeneas Tacticus, Onasander, Arrian, and Aristotle's Athenian Constitution.  Below I have posted my three reading lists.

Download Comp Reading Lists

Egyptian Cosmogonies

Well we finally have internet at our new place, really slow Satellite internet in fact.  Now back to blogging.  Today I lectured on Egyptian cosmogonies in my Near Eastern myth class.  As a TA I am responsible for grading, taking attendance, making quizzes, and, every so often, lecturing.   Last semester was pretty hectic (coursework, conferences, a new baby, moving, etc) so I did not have time to prepare a lecture in Classical myth.  I am slated to give two more lectures, one on Hesiod and one on the Iliad, this semester.  Lecturing provides invaluable practice.  Provided that I pass my comps in July, I will have my own class in the Fall.  I have posted a link to my Egyptian Cosmogonies Powerpoint below for anyone interested.

Download Introducing_Egyptian_Religion  

One Year of Blogging

It has been a little over a year now since I took the plunge and began blogging.  The experience has been very rewarding.  In the last year I have written 189 posts, which averages to about 3.5 posts per week.  There are noticeable highs during the summer field season months with lows coming during Christmas break.  I have had hits from 64 different countries and 47 U.S. states.  Strangely, I have not had a single hit from Montana (I know people in Montana), West Virginia, and Alaska.  The top five states include: 1) Pennsylvania 2) Massachusetts 3) Virginia [again no hits from West Virginia] 4) California 5) Connecticut.  In that time I have met many new colleagues and friends. 

Like Bill Caraher, my former advisor and the individual responsible for making me a blogger, I have asked myself why do I blog?  I have three reasons.  The first reason is strictly personal.  I blog to keep my family and friends up to date on my academic progress and fieldwork.  Second, I hope to demystify the archaeological process (as much as a blog can).  One of the goals of archaeology, in my opinion, is to be as transparent as possible and present data in a way that is accessible to everyone, not just those well-versed in the discipline.  Finally, I provide insight into a graduate program focusing on the ancient world.  I hope to give those interested in graduate school an idea of what to expect.  Now with all that said back to the AIA paper.

I'm Back

Well after wrapping up my last official semester of coursework, celebrating Christmas, supporting my wife while we had our second child, and entertaining family I am back to blogging.  Since we now have an infant and a two year old in the house and plan to move in January, I have complied a short academic to do list for Christmas break.  It includes inking artifact pencil drawings from this summer [provided that I can get my hands on some good drafting film], creating a bibliography for the Roman ceramic references Scott Moore and I compiled this summer, putting the final touches on my AIA paper "The Dedication of Roman Arms and Armor as a Religious Ritual," update the Penn State Study Abroad Website for Greece, and create an outline for a paper on Eastern Sigillata for the Mopsos Survey.  We will see how it goes.

Candidacy Exams

Just a quick post today. At about 1:30 today I officially passed my candidacy exams!  Now back to reality, one more paper, 3 more quizzes, and two final exams left for this semester.

2008 Penn State Graduate History Conference

Just a quick congratulations to the conference planners responsible for the 2008 graduate history conference here at Penn State.  The panels were well-organized and the papers were of a high caliber.  Great job everyone!

Turkey Flyer

Last summer I spent five weeks working with the Mopsos Survey Project.  I found the experience very rewarding and enjoyable.  Recruitment for the project has started so if anyone is interested or has questions please do not hesitate to contact me at bro118@psu.edu